Religious behaviors developed to what they are today beginning in the pre-historic times of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. There is evidence of these behaviors in the archaeological artifacts as well as mythological evidence. Religious behaviors evolved as humans evolved.
Religious beliefs changed too. In the Paleolithic we learn that people were very spiritual; everything was treated as a spiritual act. They approached everything ritualistically and their behaviors were in response to the numinous. The numinous is described as a feeling you get when you can’t explain something. There is archaeological evidence pointing to animal worship during this time too. Spiritual beliefs in the Paleolithic gave way to forms of
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The myths suggest that the three cultures (farmers, herders, and hunters), came from the three sons of Noah. Prior to that, in the myth of the First Family, there were two types of people, or two different cultures. There was Cain, who was a farmer, a tiller of the ground, and his brother Abel, who was a herder, or keeper of the flock. In a later myth we are introduced to Nimrod, who was a hunter, thus rounding out the three groups.
Those three groups had their own set of religious behaviors. Those behaviors included animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, ritual sex, and ritual abstinence. Other behaviors emerged that may not be considered religious behaviors but instead, ‘ways of life’, but are worth mentioning since they developed over time along with the religious behaviors and played a major role in the lives of the early humans and shaping evolution. Those ‘ways of life’ include: shamanism, priesthood, matriarchy, patriarchy, Apollonian and Dionysian. We can better understand the religious behaviors of the different cultures only after we identify the pattern of culture, or traits, each one exhibited. The patterns of culture are associated with the characteristics in the distinction between the gods Apollo and Dionysius. Apollo was the god of light and Dionysius was the god of wine. Therefore, the characteristics are referred to as Apollonian and Dionysian. During the Mesolithic, Dionysian tendencies gave way to Apollonian tendencies.
Dionysus, on the other hand, invents the timbrel, it is a drum beaten to furious, erratic rhythms that express his compulsive nature. Apollo retains abstract intellect, he is an educator of young men, and promotes logical and rational thought. Dionysus desires irrational power, he liberates humans to explore there potential for emotional and behavioral extremes, he allows his unconscious to flourish, and he is embodied by spontaneous emotion. Greek tradition said that each year Apollo left his sanctuary at Delphi to live with the Hyperboreans, a mythical tribe inhabiting the extreme north. When he did that, Dionysus reigned in Delphi for the 3 winter months. During these months a noticeable change would come over people. Spontaneity came over everyone, and the concept of rational thought would be lost until Apollo's return. Obviously Dionysus was much more liberal when compared to Apollo.
Although it has been assumed for a long period of time that early Paleolithic people have a very uninteresting and uniform history, studies have shown that many cultures of the time have demonstrated many different ways of expressing beliefs, relationships with others, and ways of getting food by hunting and gathering.
As far as I know the Apollonian and the Dionysian are both the sons of (God of the sky’s) Zeus, Apollonian is the god of reason and the rational, while the Dionysian is the god of the irrational and chaos, and that is coming from the Greek mythology. From that mythology I understand that the Apollonian is based on reason and the logic thinking, and the Dionysian is based on chaos and
Religion has been around since the discovery of America. Many European immigrants came to America to escape the traditions of the Church of England. The people wanted religious freedom. Most, however, tried to force their religious beliefs on the people who came to settle in their colonies creating a divide. It wasn’t until The Great Awakening, which started in the New England colonies, occurred that people rose up and revolted against the norms of religion and began to worship the way they wanted to. This divisive time period greatly impacted the American colonies by allowing true religious freedom to all the people.
Religion is a species-specific human universal phenomenon, complex, full of paradoxes, and found in all cultures. Social scientists and anthropologists since the late 17th century have attempted to rationally answer questions about religion, and while we can't evaluate the veracity of religion’s claims, we can attempt to understand its functions.
1. Dionysus was the god of wine and festivity but is also considered a patreon of the arts.
Every culture has its own religion; and people of those cultures take their religion very seriously. Early Americans used their religion to get through some tough times. Each situation showed that as long as they had faith they could make it through any kind of trouble. However, they also misused their religion or took it out of context. Some even changed their perceptive on religion as if they were trying to find themselves. Religion kept them going strong and allowed them to overcome many dangers. Religion has an important role to those who are religious; which is the case for the early American society.
Religion has existed for as long as man has. Both men, and women believed in a
The Sumerian, Egyptian, Hebrew, and Hellenistic religions all have one concept in common. Religion is central to their lives. In Sumerian religion, it was believed humans were created to serve and provide for the gods. The Sumerian people spent their days accommodating the gods because of this belief. . The Jews lived by their God’s commandments in their day-to-day life. The Greek polis was notably tied to their religion. The people’s daily lives depended greatly on following their gods.
The first scholars that existed named the whole period of human devolvement the “Stone Age.” The stone age is divided into three periods which are Paleolithic which means the old Greek age, Mesolithic and Neolithic which is the new Greek age. The Paleolithic and Neolithic stone ages have many great differences and has changed greatly between the two periods.
People in the middle ages were very religious. People believed that Roman Catholic Church represent God. The church had a big influence on the content spread in the Middle Ages, and they were content with religious or moralistic. The only religion recognized in Middle Ages Europe was Christianity and specifically Catholicism. Christianity in the middle ages dominated the lives. The life of the medieval people was dominated entirely by the church and many religious institutions gained power and wealth. It was single the larges institution in west of Europe. It touched everyone’s life no matter what rank in social class they lived in. Everyone in western Europe was Rome Catholic Christian at that time. From the reaches king all the way down.
Ancient Greece up to the 6th century BC was on a par with other civilizations by the level of spiritual development. Hellenic culture range was one of those, whose coordinate system covers the problems of family, God, nature and Eros. As a general rule, the mentality of this culture consisted the two vectors — Apollonian and Dionysian. Dionysian beginning was aimed at the satisfaction of the instinctual needs, as opposed to the Apollonian, whose essence consisted of creative and scientific elements. The widespread fall of the monarchy and the actualization role of the nation brought Hellenic
Religion can be defined as a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. It contains a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices that allow its followers to live their life a certain way. The world consists of 19 major religions, which are further subdivided into 270 larger groups. According to David Barrett et al, editor of the “World Christian Encyclopedia,” there are 34,000 separate Christian groups around the world. Just from those numbers alone, we can conclude that religion has a prevalent effect on people and society. Religion is viewed as a positive influence on an individual both psychologically and physically. Throughout history we can study the various effects that religion has on society. Studies generally provide great evidence in favor of religion having a positive effect on individuals and society as a whole.
Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods or a particular system of faith and worship. In the world we live in many have different religion and believes. Some are forced into religion to believe this is the right way and others were brought up into that religion since birth. This make others think they are more superior than others. Religion has been passed on from generation to generation. Has religion changed over time? Yes of course. We have many religions such as Christianity, Gnosticism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Others. According to the text or readings The Dream of the Rood, Julian of Norwich's Revelations, and Milton's Paradise Lost, they both had
An Apollonian would rather watch a play; a live theatre performance. They find it much more awe inspiring if they see the performance all in one take. They want to see the actors make the play a perfection, waiting to see if a mistake is made and if the actors can recover. A Dionysian,on the other hand, likes movies more. They don’t care how many outtakes it had, they want more. The symbolism, the story, the computer generated images, how a script can be brought to life. They don’t care how, they care how soon.