|
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
English
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Malay
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese|
Lecture notes, cheat sheets
History of world religions. Early forms of religious consciousness (lecture notes)
Directory / Lecture notes, cheat sheets Table of contents (expand) LECTURE No. 2. Early forms of religious consciousness The first stage of human history proper is, as is well known, the primitive communal era. During this period, the formation of man as a special biological species ends. On the border of the early and late Paleolithic, the zoological, herd organization smoothly flows into the tribal structure, is already the original human team. Subsequent development leads to the emergence of a communal-tribal way of life and the development of all kinds of methods of social life. According to the ideas available in historical science, chronologically, this period begins in the late Paleolithic and captures a period of time up to the beginning of the Neolithic. In the "social space" it corresponds to the movement of mankind from the early forms of social organization (clan) to the primitive neighborhood community. For primitiveness, a high degree of connection of human existence with everything that takes place in the surrounding nature is especially inherent. Relationships to earth and sky, climatic changes, water and fire, flora and fauna under the conditions of an appropriating (collective-hunting) economy were not only objectively necessary factors of human existence, but also constituted the direct essence of the life process. The unity of the existence of man and nature, obviously, should have been expressed in the identification of both already at the level of "living contemplation". The representations arising on the basis of the sensations received connected and stored the impression of sensory perception, and thought and feeling appeared as something unified, inseparable from each other. It can be assumed that the result could be endowing the mental image with the properties of a natural phenomenon perceived through the senses. Such a "fusion" of nature and its sensory-figurative reflection expresses the qualitative originality of primitive consciousness. Primitiveness becomes characterized by such features of the archaic worldview as the identification of human existence with natural and the overwhelming predominance of collective ideas in individual thinking. In unity, they form a specific state of the psyche, which is denoted by the concept primitive syncretism. The content of this type of mental activity lies in the undifferentiated perception of nature, human life (in its communal-tribal quality) and the sensory-figurative picture of the world. Ancient people were so included in their environment that they thought of themselves as participating in absolutely everything, without standing out from the world, much less opposing themselves to it. The primitive integrity of being corresponds to a primitive holistic consciousness that is not divided into special forms, for which, to put it simply, “everything is everything.” 1. Forms of behavior and orientation of archaic consciousness - animism, fetishism, totemism, magic Such an interpretation of the archaic stage of consciousness can serve as a methodological key to understanding the origins, content and role of early beliefs and rituals in primitive society. It can be assumed that the most common version of primitive beliefs was the transfer of human, intra-clan relations, ideas and experiences to the processes and elements of nature. At the same time, and along with this, there was a "reverse" process of transfer: of natural properties into the area of life of the human community. Thus, the world appeared in the primitive consciousness not only as a whole, when any phenomenon and the people themselves are "woven" into the fabric of a generalized existence, but also as having vital qualities, humanized. Since the human in this case is communal and tribal, to the extent that everything covered by the perception of an ancient person is identified with the familiar and familiar tribal way of life. In a number of archaic beliefs, the main value is the attitude to nature as a living creature that has the same properties as a person. In religious studies, there is such a point of view, according to which the early stage of such beliefs, animatism (from Lat. animatus - "animate"), assumed the permeation of the surrounding world with a universal, ubiquitous, but impersonal, life-giving force. Subsequently, with the expansion of subject-practical activity, the image of the life-giving principle was differentiated. It began to correlate already with certain phenomena of nature and human life, with those aspects of them, the real development of which was beyond the reach. Each being or sensually perceived object, if necessary, was dualized, endowed with a kind of double. They could be represented in a bodily or some other material form (breath, blood, shadow, reflection in water, etc.). At the same time, they were essentially devoid of materiality and were conceived as flawless entities. The disharmony of ideality and objectivity was overcome thanks to the syncretism of the original thinking: any object of the objective world could at the same time appear both in real and in incorporeal, a kind of spiritualistic form. As a result, the twin could also lead an independent life, leaving a person, for example, during sleep or in the event of his death. The general concept that entered the scientific circulation to denote such a belief was the term animism. Its content is very extensive. First of all, it is associated with the belief in the existence of souls, that is, supersensible formations inherent in objects and natural phenomena, as well as in humans. Souls could be taken out of the closed objective state. These are the so-called perfumes. In this case, the capabilities of ideal entities increased sharply: they could easily move in the objective world, be placed in any object and gain the ability to act on various objects, plants, animals, climate and even people themselves. The multiplicity of spirits also implies the diversity of their habitats. Almost the entire world around us is filled with them. Therefore, most of the acts of daily life of the clan community were carried out, probably, taking into account the existing views on relations with spirits, and the consequences associated with the influence of spirits are not always favorable. Difficulty and failure, individual and collective, are understood as manifestations of the cunning of evil spirits. The way out of this situation is to search for reliable mechanisms to counteract malicious machinations. The use of amulets, i.e., objects whose presence was considered as protection from the harmful influence of evil spirits, was widespread. As a rule, these are pieces of wood, stones, bones, teeth, animal skins, etc. Similar types of objects could also be used for the purpose of positive interaction as intermediaries. In all cases, the intermediary object served as a conductor of human needs; with its help, people actually replenished the meager arsenal of means for exploring the natural world. The ability to store, protect from harm or bring good luck was explained by the presence of magical, miraculous power in the object or the presence of some spirit in it. Such beliefs are called the concept of “fetishism” (a fetish is an enchanted thing; the term was proposed by the Dutch traveler W. Bosman in the 18th century). It is known that fetishes were often the embodiment of a person’s personal patrons. However, those who carried a social burden were considered more important and revered - defenders of the entire clan collective, ensuring the survival and continuation of the clan. Sometimes fetishism was associated with the cult of ancestors, in a unique way reinforcing the idea of continuity of generations. A natural consequence of the fetishistic attitude of consciousness was to be the transfer of magical and miraculous properties not only to natural or specially produced objects, but also to the people themselves. Proximity to a fetish enhanced the real meaning of a person (sorcerer, elder or leader), who through his experience ensured the unity and well-being of the clan. Over time, the sacralization of the tribal elite took place, especially the leaders, who became living fetishes when they were endowed with miraculous abilities. Perceiving nature in the images of the tribal community understandable to him, primitive man treated any natural phenomenon as more or less "kindred". The inclusion of tribal ties in the process of interaction with the spheres of the animal and plant world creates the prerequisites for the development of faith in the common origin of human beings with any animals or, which was much less common, plants. These beliefs, called totemism, are rooted in the consanguineous relationships that developed at the primitive stage and the living conditions of early human groups. The lack of reliability and the fairly frequent change of fetishes gave rise to a desire for a more stable foundation that would stabilize the vital activity of generic structures. The common origin and blood relationship with the totem were understood in the most direct way. People sought to become similar in their behavior to the habits of “totemic relatives”, to acquire their properties and appearance. At the same time, the life of animals chosen by totems and the attitude towards them were considered from the position of human communal tribal existence. In addition to its kinship status, the totem had the function of a patron and protector. Common to totemic beliefs is the fetishization of the totem. Numerous studies of primitive culture testify that all the named forms of behavior and orientation of the archaic consciousness (animism, fetishism, totemism) are of a stage-global nature. To build them in a certain sequence according to the degree of "development" would be unlawful. As necessary moments of mastering the world, they arise, unfold in the context of a single, holistic worldview, which distinguishes primitive syncretism. The general cultural significance of these phenomena lies in their focus on meeting the vital needs of human existence; they reflect the real, practical interests of the community-clan organization. At the primitive stage of culture, combined forms of rituals and beliefs arose, called the general concept magic (from the Greek and Latin words mageia and magia, translated as "witchcraft, magic, sorcery"). The magical perception of the world is based on the idea of universal similarity and interconnection, which makes it possible for a person who feels "participation in everything" to influence any objects and phenomena. Magical actions are common among all peoples of the world and are extremely diverse. In ethnography and research on the history of religion, there are many classifications and typological schemes of magical beliefs and techniques. The most common is the division of magic into well-intentioned, saving, done openly and for the benefit - "white", and harmful, causing damage and misfortune - "black". The typology that distinguishes offensive-aggressive and defensive-protective magic has a similar character. In the latter case, taboos play an important role - prohibitions on actions, objects and words, which are endowed with the ability to automatically cause all sorts of troubles for a person. The elimination of taboos expresses the instinctive desire of the entire community-tribal collective to protect itself from contact with factors that threaten survival. Often types of magic are classified according to spheres of human activity where they are one way or another necessary (agricultural, fishing, hunting, healing, meteorological, love, military types of magic). They are aimed at very real everyday aspects of life. The scale of magical actions varies, which can be individual, group, or mass. Magic becomes the main professional occupation of sorcerers, shamans, priests, etc. (institutionalization of magic). 2. The emergence of myth and mythological consciousness So, a feature of the being and consciousness of people of the primitive era is a kind of integrity, uniting in a complex the natural and human, sensual and speculative, material and figurative, objective and subjective. Direct dependence on the immediate conditions of existence stimulated such a warehouse of the psyche, in which adaptation to the world should probably consist in maximum self-identification with the environment. The collective organization of life extended the identity of man and nature to the entire tribal community. As a result, the dominant position of supra-individual attitudes of consciousness is established, which have a mandatory and undeniable significance for everyone. The best way to fix them in such a status would be, first of all, to refer to unquestioned absolute authority. They become symbols of the clan - totems or other fetishized objects, up to the sacralization of the tribal top. There are many reasons to believe that it was practical needs that were decisive for the content of primitive beliefs. In ancient beliefs, the moments of life activity necessary for the organization and preservation of the communal-clan way of life (in work and life, marriage, hunting, and the fight against hostile collectives) were recorded. The syncretism of consciousness determines the combination of these real relations with irrationalistic views, bringing them to interpenetration and complete fusion. The word becomes identical to the deed, the sign - to the subject, ideas receive a personified appearance. The emerging ideas and images were experienced and “lived through” by a person, first of all, as reality itself. It can be assumed that the public consciousness of the primitive tribal formation did not know the opposition of the earthly to the unearthly. There were no characters or phenomena in it that stood outside this world, in the realm of transcendental beings. This consciousness did not allow the doubling of the world. The environment was perceived in its involvement with a person, without breaking up into amenable to development and beyond control. In addition, the needs of life did not allow a passive-contemplative attitude to the world to be established, directing it into an active channel and strengthening it by means of magic. Thus, in the primitive era, a special type of consciousness is formed. There is no clear distinction between the real and the ideal in it, fantasy is inseparable from genuine events, the generalization of reality is expressed in sensually concrete images and implies their direct interaction with a person, the collective prevails over the individual and almost completely replaces it. The reproduction of this type of mental activity should have led to the emergence of "constructions" that made it possible to transfer the collective experience of ancient people in a form adequate to the primitive worldview. This form, which combines sensuality and emotionality with didacticity, and intelligibility and accessibility of assimilation - with inducement-volitional motivation for action, becomes myth (from the Greek. mythos - "tradition, legend"). In our time, this word and its derivatives ("mythical", "myth-making", "mythologeme", etc.) designate, sometimes unjustifiably, a wide class of phenomena: from individual fiction in some everyday situation to ideological concepts and political doctrines. But in some areas the concepts of "myth", "mythology" are necessary. For example, in science, the concept of "mythology" denotes the forms of social consciousness of the primitive era and the field of scientific knowledge related to myths and methods of studying them. For the first time the phenomenon of myth appears at the archaic stage of history. For a community-clan collective, a myth is not only a story about some kind of natural-human relationship, but also an undeniable reality. In this sense, myth and the world are identical. It is quite appropriate, therefore, to define the awareness of the world in the primitive communal era as mythological awareness. Through myth, certain aspects of the interaction of people within the clan and their relationship to the environment were learned. However, the absence of the main condition for the process of cognition - the distinction between the subject and the object of cognitive activity - calls into question the epistemological function of the archaic myth. Neither material production nor nature are perceived by mythological consciousness in this period as opposing man, and therefore are not an object of knowledge. In an archaic myth, to explain means to describe in some images that evoke absolute confidence (the etiological meaning of the myth). This description does not require rational activity. A sensually concrete idea of reality is sufficient, which by the mere fact of its existence is elevated to the status of reality itself. For mythological consciousness, ideas about the environment are identical to what they reflect. Myth is capable of explaining the origin, structure, properties of things or phenomena, but it does this outside the logic of cause-and-effect relationships, replacing them either with a story about the emergence of an object of interest at some “original” time through a “first action,” or simply by referring to a precedent. The unconditional truth of a myth for the “owner” of mythological consciousness eliminates the problem of separating knowledge and faith. In archaic myth, the generalizing image is always endowed with sensory properties and for this reason is an integral part, obvious and reliable, of the reality perceived by man. In their original state, animism, fetishism, totemism, magic and their various combinations reflect this general property of archaic mythological consciousness and are, in essence, its specific embodiments. 3. Formation of religion With the expansion of the spectrum of human activity, more and more diverse natural and social material is involved in its orbit, and it is society that enters the category of the main sphere of application of efforts. The institution of private property is emerging. Structurally complex formations arise (crafts, military affairs, systems of land use and cattle breeding), which can no longer be identified with any single basis (spirit, fetish, totem) within the limits of earthly existence. At the level of mythological representations, these processes also cause a series of evolutions. The ubiquitous animation of objects and phenomena is transformed into multifaceted generalizing images of certain areas of life. Being an extremely general expression of reality, these images are identical to it, that is, they themselves are reality, but they enter into the perception of people individualized, with specific features of appearance, character, proper names. Personified characters are increasingly acquiring an anthropomorphic appearance, endowed with quite understandable human qualities. In developed mythologies, they turn into various deities that displace and replace spirits, totemic ancestors, and various fetishes. This state is referred to as polytheism ("polytheism"). Usually, the transition to polytheistic beliefs accompanied the disintegration of tribal structures and the formation of early statehood. Each deity was assigned a certain sphere of control in nature and society, a pantheon (a collection of gods) and a hierarchy of gods were formed. Myths arise that explain the origin of the gods, their genealogy and relationships within the pantheon (theogony). Polytheism involves a rather complex system of cult actions addressed to specific gods and the pantheon as a whole. This significantly increases the importance of the priesthood, professionally wielding knowledge of the ritual. With the development of states, the gods are increasingly assigned the role of the highest sanction of the socio-political orders established by people. The organization of earthly power is reflected in the pantheon. Stands out, in particular, the cult of the main, supreme god. The rest lose their former position up to the transformation of their functions and properties into the quality of the only god. Arises monotheism (monotheism). It should be emphasized that the former orientations of consciousness towards magical and miraculous ways of solving human problems both with polytheism and monotheism are preserved. Most beliefs and rituals still enter people's lives through the "mechanisms" of mythological consciousness. However, in general, the role of myths, their share in the public consciousness are undergoing significant changes. Social relations in society are changing, and the person himself is changing. Mastering nature, he develops such ways of satisfying his needs that do not need to be supplemented by a magical operation. But the most fundamental change is that people begin to perceive the world around them in a different way. Little by little, it loses its mystery and inaccessibility. Mastering the world, a person treats it as an external force. To some extent, this was a confirmation of the growing opportunities, power and relative freedom of the human community from the natural elements. However, having stood out from nature and made it the object of their activity, people have lost their former integrity of being. In place of the feeling of unity with the entire universe comes the realization of oneself as something different from nature and opposed to it. The gap arises not only with nature. With a new type of social organization (neighborhood community, early class relations), the way of life that was cultivated from generation to generation and determined the content of primitive consciousness becomes a thing of the past. The connection with the clan is broken. Life is individualized, there is a distinction of one's own "I" in the environment of other human beings. What archaic mythological consciousness understood directly and "humanized" turns out to be something external to people. It is becoming increasingly difficult to take myth literally as the true content of the life process. It is no coincidence that the allegorical tradition is born and strengthened - the interpretation of the ancient myth as a shell convenient for transferring knowledge about nature, ethical, philosophical and other ideas. Mythology itself is moving into a new quality. It loses its universality and ceases to be the dominant form of social consciousness. There is a gradual differentiation of the "spiritual" sphere. There is an accumulation and processing of natural scientific knowledge, a philosophical and artistic understanding of the world is developing, political and legal institutions are being formed. At the same time, the formation of such an orientation in beliefs and worship is observed, which delimits the areas of the mundane (natural and human) and the sacred. Thus, the idea of a special, mystical connection between the earthly and the unearthly is established, which was perceived as supernatural, that is, religion. Author: Pankin S.F. << Back: Religion as a cultural phenomenon (Classification of religions. The problem of the emergence of religion. The structure of religion. The role of religion in human life and society >> Forward: Judaism (Judaism as a world religion. "Torah" - the main document of Judaism. "Talmud" - the Sacred Tradition of Judaism. Apophatic tendencies in the "Talmud". Commentary culture of Judaism. Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages)
▪ Anesthesiology and resuscitation. Lecture notes
The existence of an entropy rule for quantum entanglement has been proven
09.05.2024 Mini air conditioner Sony Reon Pocket 5
09.05.2024 Energy from space for Starship
08.05.2024
▪ Cooling material based on camel fur ▪ Creative people enjoy wasting time. ▪ Features of the Lytro Camera for Mobile Phones ▪ Video combine from PANASONIC ▪ 125W Thinkplus Lipstick Charger
▪ section of the site Instructions for use. Article selection ▪ article Facts speak for themselves. Popular expression ▪ article Nurse day hospital. Job description ▪ article Extraction of fragrant substances by infusion. Simple recipes and tips ▪ article A flower that changes color. Focus Secret
Home page | Library | Articles | Website map | Site Reviews
www.diagram.com.ua |
We recommend interesting articles Section 
See other articles Section 
Latest news of science and technology, new electronics:
All languages of this page