The First Human Faiths

“They had what the world has lost: the ancient, lost reverence and passion for human personality joined with the ancient, lost reverence and passion for the earth and its web of life. Since before the Stone Age they have tended that passion as a central sacred fire. It should be our long hope to renew it in us all.”

History “Of the total period of time during which people have been on earth, we have written records chronicling perhaps less than one-half of one percent.”

Population Indigenous people only comprise about four percent of the world population and not all of these people follow traditional ways of life.

Cosmic Religion Cosmic Religion is concerned with showing the relation of humankind to nature and the cosmos, it celebrates the turn of the seasons and places of special sacred power.”

Mana Just a simple awareness of an unseen force may be at the root of all religion.

A Religious Nature? That people have been religious by nature for most of human history seems to be one of the things that makes us different from the animals.

Knowledge and Wisdom Qualities like wisdom and love and compassion seem to have been with us a long time because they are a matter of inner development rather than outer knowledge.”

Animism “The belief that nature is alive with spirits that have feelings and can be communicated with is one of the most common to human religious experience.”

Indigenous Spirituality “Indigenous spirituality is a lifeway, a particular approach to all of life. It is not a separate experience.”

Interconnections “In this cosmos, human life is only complete in its total relationships--with family, tribe, ancestors, and all that is spirit.”

Myths “Myths are ways of thinking in pictures rather than abstract concepts.”

Common Motifs One of the things these stories have in common is a basic motif that things were better in the past. In the past humans were much closer to the world of the gods.

The Great Mystery Native Americans referred to the high God as the “Great Mystery.”

Initiations The argument is that gangs are one way that kids initiate themselves

Ultimate Meaning “Life is a series of initiations in which the deepest mysteries of the ultimate meaning of human existence are revealed.”

Tribal Rites Tribal rites emphasize that the spirits of nature work through the natural processes of the human body and celebrate that which sustains the tribe as coextensive with ultimate cosmic reality.”

Shamanism “Indeed, it has been argued that shamanism is the prototype of much of the religious world.”

Opening the Mind The point is to open and expand consciousness in a way that will lead to greater insight and compassion in one’s daily life and spiritual journey.

Spiritual Equality “The shaman may have more spirit helpers and more power, but visionary experiences and opportunities for worship are available to all.”

Hunting Spirituality “Going into the field, tracking, and taking the animal is, so to speak, an act of interplay with spiritual forces and in this respect is comparable to going to church or temple.”

Respect In order to live we all must eat. But what is important is how we go about our eating and the kind of respect we show in the process of getting our food.

The Role of Women Because women provided so much of the diet there was a level of respect and equality that is only now being shown toward women once again.

Herbal Wisdom There is also a good chance that as gatherers of plant food women had a superior knowledge of the plants used to heal which was an important part of the shaman’s business.

Work Load Many studies tell of how hunters and gatherers could do all of their “work” in three of four hours a day!

Post-Dogmatic Religion There will be less emphasis on what you believe and more emphasis on how you live.

Competition or Cooperation? The way we live influences how we live just as much as how we live influences the way we live. To see the earth as a provider rather than a competitor is profound.

Materialism When philosophers criticize materialism they do not mean the material things themselves; they mean the uncritical acceptance of the values that go with materialism.

A New Vision of Death “Agriculture seems to have brought out a new and darker sense of the interconnection of death and life.”

Restrictions They didn’t have jails and mental institutions, but they didn’t have much freedom to think for themselves either.

Gender and Language “Many traditional languages make no distinction between male and female pronouns, and some see the divine as androgynous, a force arising from the interaction of male and female.”

A Question The real question is can we find the wisdom in the past that we can take with us into the future even as the outer conditions change?