In a two-tiered view of reality;
 the
divine & the profane
 the immanent & the transcendent
 the natural & the supernatural
In a unitary reality
 animism
or
 there is no divinity
(a.k.a
dualism)
(a.k.a
monism)
Early man
 Neanderthal
hunters: revered the cave
bear (burial chambers & rituals)
 Paleolithic: rituals and sacrifices for the
success of the hunt (magical)
 Neolithic: Farming  gods of Sun, Sky
and Earth.
Dualism: male sky & female earth .
Pleiades of Dodona (ancient Greek hymn):
The Earth is our mother, the Sky is our father.
The Sky fertilizes the Earth with rain, the Earth
produces the grains and grasses.
Wilhelm Schmidt, ethnologist, found a sky
god or high god almost universally in primal
societies in Africa
 High
god is creator; far
away and withdrawn
(most of his work is done
already)
 Lower gods: deal with
daily activities (the hunt,
fertility etc)
Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian
Sky god is creator and also sovereign; guarantees
cosmic order.
Varuna is an all-seeing king in the Rg Veda (see p157)


IndoEuropean language group has similar names for
the sky god:
Persian
Sanskrit
Latin
div
deva
deus
Greek Zeus in Homer’s Illiad and Hesiod’s Theogony is a
divine king. A pantheon of secondary gods are like the kings court.
Different
manifestations of
Zeus
Zeus Herkejos:
Zeus Polieus:
Zeus Katharsios:
household protector
protects the city-state
purification
Nearly universal, but especially prevalent in the ancient near
east and Mediterranean.
 Paleolithic
female figurines.
Fertility: exaggerated breasts,
abdomen, thighs.
Venus of Willendorf
 Neolithic
(farming) rituals connecting
human life cycle with agricultural cycle.
Goddess of life, death and rebirth
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Greece
Isis
Ishtar
Demeter
Isis is mother of Pharaohs.
Ishtar is a prostitute goddess.
Demeter is an earth – harvest
goddess.
Comparisons between images of Isis and her child Horus
and Mary and the infant Jesus are commonly made. The
mother & child image is an archetype; widespread and
emotionally evocative
 Hindu:
Kali (time)
 China: Bodhisattva Kuan Yin
 R. Catholic: Virgin Mary
Pregnant …….. virginal.
Chaste……..…..promiscuous.
Protector……...demanding blood sacrifices.
Creates…………..destroys.
 Local
deities seem to be variant
forms of universal gods .
 Animism: a spirit in every tree,
mountain, lake.
or
Polytheism: a god of water, war, love.
Greek: Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite
Karl Jaspers calls the 8th – 2nd century BC
Zoroaster
Hebrew Prophets
Buddha
Confucius
This period sees big new ideas in religion
appear independently in different
civilizations in many parts of the world.
Jaspers suggests man’s consciousness
reached a new level of moral
awareness.
Upanishads
Socrates/Plato/Aristotle