Myth defined…

1. Myth defined… • Religious, sacred, stories that provide basis for beliefs/practices • Origins of humanity, creation of the universe, nature of death/illness • Lay the founding for values/morals • Can be passed down verbally or in writing • Myths help to shape a culture’s worldview…

2. WorldviewThe collective body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality • Myths help to shape a culture’s worldview, the way they look at reality. • Ex: Judeo-Christian vs. Navaho worldview • Question: What do these myths say about each religion’s worldview?

3. What Functions Do Religion and Spirituality Serve? • All religions serve a number of important functions: • They reduce anxiety by explaining the unknown and offer comfort in times of crisis. • They provide notions of right and wrong, setting precedents for acceptable behavior. • Through ritual, religion may be used to enhance the learning of oral traditions.

4. Questions… • How many of you would consider yourselves religious? Agnostic? Atheist? What do these words mean? • No known group of people anywhere on the face of the earth, at any time over the past 100,000 years, have been without religion. • Why?

5. Major Religions of the World

6. Supernatural Beings • Supernatural: “above the natural” • Not obeying the laws of nature as we know them. • Many times the supernatural is explained by science, further blurring the line between religion and science. • Supernatural beings: • Major deities (gods and goddesses we mentioned before) • Ancestral spirits • Other sorts of spirit beings(?)

7. Polytheism • Belief in several gods and/or goddesses (as contrasted with monotheism–belief in one god or goddess). • Pantheon • The several gods and goddesses of a people. • Animism • A belief in spirit beings thought to animate nature. (Side question: Monotheism would mean what?)

8. Sacred Places • Sacred: Entitled to reverence and respect • Shrines • A shrine is an object or building that contains sacred objects or is associated with a venerated person or deity • Ex:: Fairy Circle • Ex: Aten temple, Akhenaten (King Tut’s dad) • Ex: Synagogue, Mosque, Church

9. Animism • A belief in spirit beings, other than ancestors, who are believed to animate all of nature. • These spirit beings are closer to humans than gods and goddesses and are concerned with human activities. • Ex: Kami (traditional Japanese Shinto beliefs) • Animism is typical of peoples who see themselves as a part of nature rather than superior to it. Animatism is a belief that the world is animated by impersonal supernatural powers. (I.e. “The Force”)

10. Question • Which of the following is an example of animism? • a lucky baseball bat • the goddess Athena in Greek mythology • the god Zeus • an ancestral spirit • the malevolent spirit inside your baseball who jumps erratically through the air just as you think you're about to hit a home run

11. Answer: E • The malevolent spirit inside your baseball who jumps erratically through the air just as you think you're about to hit a home run is an example of animism.