Religions of The World Course lecture; discusses pale and neolithic religions and the Great Goddess religions, some Jungian concepts.

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Primal Religions & The
Goddess
PHIL 220 Week 22: Primal Religions, The Goddess & The Axial Age

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Black Elk Homework Questions
Please get in groups of 3-5 people and go over these questions. Comment on anything that surprised,
delighted or annoyed you!
1. Black Elk makes an ‘offering of the pipe,’ first to the four directions he identifies as spirits, then says ‘but
these four spirits are only One Spirit after all.” Which ‘–ism’ does this sound most like to you?
2. He also identifies the sky and earth using gendered language—are there any other faiths or belief systems
that gender them the same way? What are they?
3. The story about the two scouts and the sacred women teaches us a lesson about how we should approach
the sacred—what is it?
4. Black Elk talks about the Wasichus wanting to make the Lakota and animals live on ‘islands’—what is he
describing? Where do many American Indians still live?
5. Black Elk discusses the ‘summer he first heard the sacred voices’ calling to him. What religious orientation
is it when a person ‘hears a voice’ and then tells the others around him/her what the voice said? Outside of
religious orientations, how does modern western society generally view people who talk about hearing
‘sacred voices?”

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Primal religions developed in paleolithic (c.30,000
BCE) and neolithic (c. 10,000 BCE) times.
Paleolithic people were nomadic hunter-gatherers
living in small bands. What would their primary
concerns be?
Neolithic people transitioned from hunter-gatherers
to settled agriculturalists. What would their
concerns be?
What kind of art would the two eras of people
generate?
How did the hunter-gatherers and early
agriculturalists transmit their culture?
We can call primal or basic religions ‘oral.’
Primal Religions

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Oral People
Oral peoples often have prodigious
memories, but no written records.
Their stories tend to be mythic accounts
of creation, the rise of their culture, and
where their time will end.
All cultures have been oral, but peoples
that develop writing change their
cultures, because writing starts to
change relationships:
official, personal ,religious, economic.
Education becomes more reflective.

5. Australian Aborigines, African Child’s Circle, Native American dancer

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Primal Religion: Embedded in Place
When the Australian Kurnai go on walkabout specific, concrete items interest them. The springs,
major trees and rocks are not interchangeable with others; each triggers memories of the
legendary events they were a part of.
Do you have that kind of specific connection with a piece of land?

7. Primal Time
Primal time is not forward-looking, as in the religions of the west, or cyclical as in the Asian religions.
Primal time is atemporal, an ‘eternal now.’
The Hopi language gives an example: ‘past’ means closer to the gods, or beings who first made the world and
ordered it…those beings continue to exist, but the past is considered the golden age, when all was perfect and
right.
How would primal people view their elders?
Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient Civilizations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOWzcLuupi0
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8. Dreamtime of the Aborigines
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9. The wisdom traditions of earth's first people, and the source for
primal religious patterns.
Many of their stories have themes later found in ancient and the
modern major religions.
Daily life and religion are not separate- everything a tribal person
does has a religious meaning.
A Lakota Sioux saw his body as having a sacred function even when it
was dead- the bones would help the grass to grow season after
season.
Tribal religions support a life lived in the sacred world-- a holy life, in
tune with the divine force of life or in harmony with nature and
the spirit world. Why?
Tribal religions do have a notion of what is profane-- that which is not
holy, not in tune with the divine force, or not in harmony with
nature or the spirit world.

10. Very diverse
Not relics of the past, but ever changing
Over 700 nations recognized today in the U.S. alone
Most teachings in sacred narratives, or myths
Few religions have creed or statement of belief

11. Creation Narratives
Creators and Sacred Power
Human Origins and Human Ancestors
Life Lessons
The Importance of Balance: Humanity and the NaturalWorld
Sacred Places and Sacred Spaces
Sacred Language and SacredTime

12. Activity 1
1. Get out your Native American myth, your interpretation and an image or
object you brought to help explain your myth.
2. Tell your partner your myth (try not to read it!)
3. Ask your partner what s/he thinks the myth is trying to teach and why.
Compare your interpretations.
4. Switch!
5. Turn in your interpretation.

13. Because the world is not perfect now,
steps have to be taken to restore the
world to its original condition.
These steps are rites of renewal, which
primal
religious people ritually enact.
The annual Sun Dance of the Plains
Indians
is called, ‘The Dance forWorld and Life
Renewal.‘
Which religious orientation do they have?

14. For a Native American, the natural and supernatural worlds are
tied together by spirit power.
Spirit power is neutral, (it can be used either positively or
negatively by the shaman.)
Spirit power is the source of knowledge and abilities.
Like a kind of energy-- a spiritual essence that resides in all
living beings, all forms and forces of nature and all material
objects.What ‘ism’ does this sound like?
When objects are inhabited by spirit power they are considered
alive.
These objects can be used by shamans as sources of power to
cure illness or provide protection or for harmful activities
like causing disease and misfortune.

15. The energy of spirit power is released
through prayers, songs and in dance.
Spirit power is experienced collectively by the
community that prays, sings and dances together.
Have you ever been part of a community like this?
Dancers in sacred dances express their respect
for spirit beings and are vehicles for
transmitting spirit power to their communities.
What religious orientation does that sound like?
The hoops are the circles of life with no beginning
and no ending.The dancer begins with one and
keeps adding and weaving the hoops into
formations that represent our journey through life.
Each added hoop represents another thread in
the web of life.
Native American Hoop Dance by World
ChampionBrian Hammill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GGzrF8LoHWs&list=PLB47AB5F1325F4310

16. Rites of Renewal
Example:Yurok Jump Dance
Rites of Purification
Example: Sweat Lodge Ceremonies

17. Sweat lodge

18. Mt. Shasta, in
northern
California, is
regarded
as sacred by many
tribes in the region.

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Hopi Mythology
The emergence of humanity is the starting point of Hopi
mythology, the Kiva is the point where people first
emerge from darkness to light.
The circle represents what the Hopi call the sipapu; the
womb or the place of emergence. “We were not the first
ones to come to this world. The plants were already
here; the insects, the, the animals, the birds -- were
here. The clouds were here; the lightnings were here;
the stars were here. All of these are life forms for
us."
Handout 2 Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World

20. Myths and Ultimate Reality
Myths contain sacred knowledge about ultimate reality and
the nature of the world.
The world is believed to have been created by creator deities.
The entire world, and the many elements within it—including
human beings—may be believed to be infused by the spiritual
essence of a Supreme Being, or Great Spirit.

21. How Should We Live inThis
World?
Myths provide the foundations for the way people
should live their lives.
Humans are one part of the general order of existence
and live in a reciprocal relationship with the land,
plants, and other animals.
Myths teach that it is the responsibility of humans to
maintain balance, order, and right relationships with
other elements of creation.

22. What Is Our Ultimate Purpose?
Some religions focus on humanity’s role in maintaining
balance with the natural world.
Maintaining this balance can improve the human
condition, and upsetting the balance can have terrible
consequences.
Many Native American religions conceive of life and
death to be cyclical in nature.
In some religions, the deceased transitions to the land
of the dead, which may resemble this life.

23. The Great Goddess was the most common
deity worshipped in Europe, Asia, and the
Middle East for at least 30,000 years.
Later, the Goddess manifested many
different forms, some that shatter the
stereotypes commonly associated with
womanhood.
Europe- Paleolithic Goddesses
The earliest images are from 27,000 to
26,000 BCE, from areas spanning major
parts of Europe.
The goddess worshippers were tribal people
in the beginning:
-20-30 people per tribe
-hunter gatherers
-dependent on nature
-fertility was important
The Female images were probably used as
a form of ‘fertility magic’ in seasonal rights. http://www.thearchetypalconnection.com/EROS%20.htm

24. Neolithic Goddesses existed in Europe, Middle
East, North Africa, and India
Neolithic images (beginning 10,000 BCE) to
Paleolithic images are similar, suggesting goddess
religion continued through the ages.
-Neolithic people were agricultural, mostly peaceful
-Practiced ‘fertility magic’
-Time of growth in power for women who were
traditionally tenders of the soil and had knowledge
of medicinal plants.
-Male ‘sky gods’ were worshipped, too.
-The earth itself became deified as ‘Mother Earth,’ ‘Gaia.’
When God Was a Girl | BBC Documentary | Women and Religion
until 15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye5-_71NQhk

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Goddess Culture
Goddess worshippers were artists, peaceful. Example of Catal Huyuk, a neolithic village in Anatolia, Turkey, dating
from about 7,000 BCE.
A large settlement, 5,000+ inhabitants at its peak, lasted some 1200 years, in equality, peace, and surprising levels of
prosperity and comfort.
Art in the form of layered frescoes, statues, etc. was found. No weapons or surrounding walls. The settlement was
near a swamp with clay.
The start of the mother goddess—the giver of life? The creator of life and death?
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27. Mom is Everywhere
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The Mother Goddess
Tara-- an all-embracing, compassionate and merciful mother.
An altar is a mediating place between the divine and humans.
What does Tara’s iconography reveal about her?
What kinds of offerings are made to a compassionate mother?
Other compassionate mother figures:
The Virgin Mary, The Virgin of Guadalupe
Tonatzin, Kwan Yin, Demeter, Isis, etc…

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The Great Mother Archetype
The great mother archetype is universal. An archetype is a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or
emulated.
How do archetypes function? Jung thought there is a similarity between the 'mythological mind' and a child's mind.
Jung thought the primary, universal human experience is that of gestation in the mother, and that this view is
reinforced after the birth.
A child first views her or his mother as divine, or all good.
As the child grows older the mother says ‘no’ and the child can view the mother as all bad.
The most mature view of the mother is as a mixed human being; good and bad.
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30. A 'mixed' goddess. Durga’s
iconography and meaning:
-She was created by the Hindu
gods to defeat the buffalo-demon,
Mahisa.
-She is a warrior goddess who
has weapons, rides alone, and
rides a tiger or lion.
-She was created by gods
because the special power of a
woman was needed.
-Durga creates female warriors
to help her, such as Kali, and
Durga is often pictured alone,
without a consort.
http://grrrltraveler.com/countries/asia/india-asia/varanasi/durga-puja-festival-in-varanasi/

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Hindu Deity Presentations
 Choose a deity that is interesting to you: one of the Goddesses: Lakshmi (health & wealth), Sarasvati (Music,
art & learning), or one of the Gods: Ganesh (remover of obstacles), Krishna (shown with his lover Radha),
Shiva (destructive and erotic), Hanuman (monkey god, warrior). Form groups and look at homework handout!

33. Madame Pele
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34. Coatlicue, the Aztec goddess of the
earth and duality of life and death Ix Chel The Mayan Moon Goddess
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The Axial Age (c. 700 BCE to 200 CE)
The Axial Age
During the Axial Age, civilization developed along with the faiths which continue to nourish humanity:
Rationalism in Europe (500 BCE)
Taoism and Confucianism in China (500 BCE)
Hinduism and Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent (8,000-500 BCE)
Monotheism in the Middle East (2,000 BCE-570 CE)

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The Axial Age
Islam was the product of the Arabian Axial Age,
which started app. 300 CE.
Social Concern, Social Conditions
Why did social concern and compassion become
an essential part of the great world religions?
All pre-modern civilizations were based
economically upon a surplus of agricultural
produce.
Where would people go to barter surplus crops?
What other activities would be available at
marketplaces?

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Pastoralists and Elites
What were the lives of those who labored in the fields
to produce a surplus of food like compared to the lives
of those living in the manor or castle?
-The elite depended on the labor of the pastoralists for food.
-The pastoralists could not enjoy high culture, which was only
for the elite.
The new faiths stressed the importance of compassion and
concern about the fundamental injustice of their society.
What were some of the injustices concerning health, wealth,
literacy, and mobility?
Do we still have some of these injustices today?
Do the major world religions still emphasize compassion?