gogess_2015_12_04_03_35_57_470

(1622 (1764)). The Way to Christ.
Pater-noster Row, London: M.

Richardson.
http://www.passtheword.org/DIALOGS-

FROM-THE-PAST/waychrst.htm.

8. ^ first broadcast on PBS in 1988 as a
documentary, The Power of Myth was also

released in the same year as a book
created under the direction of the late

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

9. ^ Chapter 6, "The Gift of the
Goddess" and Episode 5, "Love and the

Goddess" [1]

10. ^ p. 165, 1988, first edition

11. ^ pp.166–7, (1988, first edition)

12. ^ p. 176, 1988, first edition

13. ^ Betz, Hans Dieter (ed.) (1989). The
Greek Magical Papyri in Translation :
Including the Demotic Spells : Texts.
University of Chicago Press.

14. ^ OED: "Applied to a woman. one's
goddess: the woman whom one ‗worships‘

or devotedly admires."

References

· Barnhart, Robert K (1995). The Barnhart
Concise Dictionary of Etymology: the
Origins of American English Words.
HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-270094-7

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading
user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not
have been reviewed by professional editors

(see full disclaimer)

The Nature Of Nature Gods

Jun 04, 2008

Ancient mythology ascribes godlike identities
to the forces of nature. Could they be
representations of plasma phenomena?

No dictionary of mythology will waste any
words defining Agni as 'the god of fire', the
living force of nature encapsulated in any
and all natural manifestations of fire, ranging
from the cozy hearth fire at home to the most

devastating lightning strikes observed
outside.

But just how much does such a standard
definition of a mythical god tell us? To
qualify a mythical and religious character
such as Agni primarily in terms of his
common appearance in nature, not in terms
of his activities in myth, is a reflection of the
so-called 'nature school' of myth. This school
saw its heyday in the late 19th century but
has left an indelible stamp on the popular
understanding of mythical entities today, as

reflected in dictionary entries.

Starting from the assumption that each
mythical deity in each culture originated as a

metaphor for some aspect of the natural
world or of human society, countless familiar

definitions arose. Do Zeus, 'the sky god',
Hephaestus, 'the fire god', Helius, 'the sun
god', Poseidon, 'the sea god', Aphrodite, 'the
goddess of love', Artemis, 'the goddess of
hunting', and Ares, 'the god of war' reflect
anything of the way the ancients themselves

looked at these gods?

With a complex 'fluid' subject such as
mythology, it is better to identify historical
tendencies and geographic patterns than to

offer facile over-generalizations. Greek
thinkers from the Hellenistic period (4th
century BCE) onwards certainly tended to
compartmentalize the realms of nature and
culture into sections that would neatly

correspond to divinities on a one-to-one basis.
Some Roman mythologists famously took this

to extremes, naming specific gods for the
most nuanced aspects of any conceivable

activity in life.

But these rational efforts really reflect no
more than a contrived and secondary

systematization of the unfathomable welter of
overlapping and contradictory data
mythology really is. The comparative

mythologist knows that the closer you look at
the cult and myth of any given god or

goddess, the greater the discrepancy between
the straightforward dictionary definition and
the 'facts'. The further one goes back in time,

the stronger the following two tendencies.

Firstly, the boundaries between different
deities disappear and many begin to look like

duplicates of each other. And secondly, the
ancient texts rarely make an effort to 'define'

their gods in terms of nature definitions.
Instead, one is just offered detailed stories of

the 'deeds' and 'looks' of these gods. The
archaic state of mythology gives the strong
impression that the worship of deities had

little to do with a conscious attempt to
categorize nature.

Instead, it directly flowed forth from a series
of extremely impressive, arguably

traumatizing experiences mankind had had
with forces of nature rarely experienced
today. From the start, the 'gods' and
'goddesses' were merely labels for

recognizable and active forces observed in a
dangerously active sky. It was only long

afterwards that people looking at a quiescent
sky began to extract rational paradigms from

the jumble of remembered customs and
traditions they had inherited.

While the customary dictionary definitions of

deities are not exactly wrong, they tend to
detract from the mythical events in which
these gods are merely actors. Whoever can
suspend any preconceived ideas about the
'nature of the gods' and listens in to the
myths themselves will repeatedly be drawn to
the cycle of creation myths, in which the axis
mundi or world axis plays the prominent

role.

In the earliest Vedic texts, Agni surely
signifies fire, but this is specifically the
column of fire and smoke that rose up from
the altar that symbolically marked the 'navel
of the world': "Eager he rises like the
new-wrought pillar which, firmly set and
fixed, anoints the victims." This vaporous
column is none other than the tree of life:
"The other fires are, verily, thy branches; the
Immortals all rejoice in thee, O Agni. Center

art thou, Vaiśvānara, of the people,
sustaining men like a deep-founded pillar.

The forehead of the sky, earth's center, Agni
became the messenger of earth and heaven."

In recent years, an interdisciplinary study of
mythology and plasma physics has suggested

that highly uncommon electromagnetic
events observed in the earth's atmosphere
and ionosphere could successfully account for

a large segment of the visual content of
ancient creation mythology. In view of this, it

may prove fruitful for future mythologists
not to concentrate so much on the individual

'biographies' of the gods as on the 'bigger
picture' of the mythical events themselves,
specifically on the visual templates suggested

by cross-cultural mythical archetypes.

Contributed by:

Rens Van der Sluijs

One might almost say that the archaic
Romans did not have myths. That is to say:
until their poets began to borrow from Greek
models in the later part of the Republic, the
Romans had no sequential narratives about
their gods comparable to the Titanomachy or

the seduction of Zeus by Hera.
What the Romans did have, however, were:

· a highly developed system of rituals,
priestly colleges, and "clusters" of related

gods.
· a rich set of historical myths about the
foundation and rise of their city involving

human actors, with occasional divine
interventions.

Early mythology about the gods

The Roman model involved a very different
way of defining and thinking about the gods

than we are familiar with from Greece. For
example, if one were to ask a Greek about
Demeter, he might reply with the well-known
story of her grief at the rape of Persephone

by Hades.

An archaic Roman, by contrast, would tell
you that Ceres had an official priest called a

flamen, who was junior to the flamens of
Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, but senior to the
flamens of Flora and Pomona. He might tell
you that she was grouped in a triad with two

other agricultural gods, Liber and Libera.
And he might even be able to rattle off all of

the minor gods with specialized functions
who attended her: Sarritor (weeding),

Messor (harvesting), Convector (carting),
Conditor (storing), Insitor (sowing), and

dozens more.

Thus the archaic Roman "mythology", at
least concerning the gods, was made up not of

narratives, but rather of interlocking and
complex interrelations between and among

gods and humans.

The original religion of the early Romans was
modified by the addition of numerous and
conflicting beliefs in later times, and by the
assimilation of a vast amount of Greek

mythology. We know what little we do about
early Roman religion not through

contemporary accounts, but from later
writers who sought to salvage old traditions

from the desuetude into which they were
falling, such as the 1st century BC scholar
Marcus Terentius Varro. Other classical
writers, such as the poet Ovid in his Fasti
(Calendar), were strongly influenced by
Hellenistic models, and in their works they
frequently employed Greek beliefs to fill gaps

in the Roman tradition.

Early mythology about Roman "history"

In contrast to the dearth of narrative
material about the gods, the Romans had a
rich panoply of quasi-historical legends about
the foundation and early growth of their own
city. Primitive kings like Romulus and Numa
were almost wholly mythical in nature, and
legendary material may extend up as far as
accounts of the early Republic. In addition to

these laregly home-grown traditions,
material from Greek heroic legend was
grafted onto this native stock an early date,
rendering Aeneas, for example, an ancestor

of Romulus and Remus.

The Aeneid and the first few books of Livy
are the best extant sources for this human

mythology

.

Native Roman and Italic gods

The Roman ritual practice of the official
priesthoods clearly distinguishes two classes

of gods, the di indigetes and the de novensides
or novensiles. The indigetes were the original

gods of the Roman state (see List of Di
Indigetes), and their names and nature are
indicated by the titles of the earliest priests
and by the fixed festivals of the calendar; 30
such gods were honored with special festivals.
The novensides were later divinities whose

cults were introduced to the city in the
historical period, usually at a known date
and in response to a specific crisis or felt
need. Early Roman divinities included, in
addition to the di indigetes, a host of so-called
specialist gods whose names were invoked in
the carrying out of various activities, such as

harvesting. Fragments of old ritual
accompanying such acts as plowing or sowing

reveal that at every stage of the operation a
separate deity was invoked, the name of each
deity being regularly derived from the verb

for the operation. Such divinities may be
grouped under the general term of attendant,

or auxiliary, gods, who were invoked along

with the greater deities. Early Roman cult
was not so much a polytheism as a

polydemonism: the worshipers' concepts of
the invoked beings consisted of little more
than their names and functions, and the
being's numen, or "power", manifested itself

in highly specialized ways.

The character of the indigetes and their
festivals show that the early Romans were

not only members of an agricultural
community but also were fond of fighting and
much engaged in war. The gods represented
distinctly the practical needs of daily life, as
felt by the Roman community to which they
belonged. They were scrupulously accorded

the rites and offerings considered proper.
Thus, Janus and Vesta guarded the door and

hearth, the Lares protected the field and
house, Pales the pasture, Saturn the sowing,
Ceres the growth of the grain, Pomona the
fruit, and Consus and Ops the harvest. Even

the majestic Jupiter, the ruler of the gods,
was honored for the aid his rains might give

to the farms and vineyards. In his more
encompassing character he was considered,
through his weapon of lightning, the director
of human activity and, by his widespread
domain, the protector of the Romans in their
military activities beyond the borders of their
own community. Prominent in early times
were the gods Mars and Quirinus, who were
often identified with each other. Mars was a

god of young men and their activities,
especially war; he was honored in March and

October. Quirinus is thought by modern
scholars to hAt the head of the earliest
pantheon were the triad Jupiter, Mars, and
Quirinus (whose three priests, or flamens,
were of the highest order), and Janus and
Vesta. These gods in early times had little
individuality, and their personal histories
lacked marriages and genealogies. Unlike the
gods of the Greeks, they were not considered
to function in the manner of mortals, and

thus not many accounts of their activities
exist. This older worship was associated with
Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome,
who was believed to have had as his consort
and adviser the Roman goddess of fountains
and childbirth, Egeria, who is often identified

as a nymph in later literary sources. New
elements were added at a relatively early
date, however. To the royal house of the

Tarquins was ascribed by legend the
establishment of the great Capitoline triad,
Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, which assumed
the supreme place in Roman religion. Other
additions were the worship of Diana on the
Aventine Hill and the introduction of the
Sibylline books, prophecies of world history,
which, according to legend, were purchased
by Tarquin in the late 6th century BC from

the Cumaean Sibyl.

Foreign gods at Rome

The absorption of neighboring local gods
took place as the Roman state conquered the

surrounding territory. The Romans
commonly granted the local gods of the
conquered territory the same honors as the
earlier gods who had been regarded as
peculiar to the Roman state. In many
instances the newly acquired deities were
formally invited to take up their abode in
new sanctuaries at Rome. In 203 BC, the cult
object embodying Cybele was removed from
Phrygian Pessinos and ceremoniously
welcomed to Rome. Moreover, the growth of
the city attracted foreigners, who were
allowed to continue the worship of their own
gods. In this way Mithras came to Rome and
his popularity in the legions spread his cult as
far afield as Britain. In addition to Castor
and Pollux, the conquered settlements in
Italy seem to have contributed to the Roman

pantheon Diana, Minerva, Hercules, Venus,
and other deities of lesser rank, some of

whom were Italic divinities, others originally
derived from the Greek culture of Magna

Graecia. The important Roman deities were
eventually identified with the more

anthropomorphic Greek gods and goddesses,
and assumed many of their attributes and
myths.

Religious festivals

The Roman religious calendar reflected
Rome's hospitality to the cults and deities of

conquered territories. Roman religious
festivals known from ancient times were few

in number. Some of the oldest, however,
survived to the very end of the pagan empire,

preserving the memory of the fertility and
propitiatory rites of a primitive agricultural

people. New festivals were introduced,

however, to mark the naturalization of new
gods. So many festivals were adopted

eventually that the work days on the calendar
were outnumbered. Among the more

important of the Roman religious festivals
were the Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, the

Equiria, and the Secular Games.

Under the empire, the Saturnalia was
celebrated for seven days, from December 17
to December 23, during the period in which
the winter solstice occurred. All business was

suspended, slaves were given temporary
freedom, gifts were exchanged, and

merriment prevailed. The Lupercalia was an
ancient festival originally honoring Lupercus,

a pastoral god of the Italians. The festival
was celebrated on February 15 at the cave of
the Lupercal on the Palatine Hill, where the

legendary founders of Rome, the twins
Romulus and Remus, were supposed to have

been nursed by a wolf. Among the Roman

legends connected with them is that of
Faustulus, a shepherd who was supposed to
have discovered the twins in the wolf's den
and to have taken them to his home, in which

they were brought up by his wife, Acca
Larentia. See founding of Rome.

The Equiria, a festival in honor of Mars, was
celebrated on February 27and March 14,
traditionally the time of year when new
military campaigns were prepared. Horse

races in the Campus Martius notably marked
the celebration.

The Secular Games, which included both
athletic spectacles and sacrifices, were held at
irregular intervals, traditionally once only in
about every century, to mark the beginning

of a new saeculum, or "era". They were
supposed to be held when the last person who

had witnessed the previous Secular Games
died, marking the beginning of a new era.
The tradition, often neglected, was revived as
a spectacle by Augustus and honored by the

poet Horace with a series of odes.

Decline of the Roman religion

The distinctions among philosophy, religion,
cult and superstition that would be made by
an educated Roman of the 1st century BC

can be read in Lucretius, a philosopher
following Epicurus. Most educated Romans

were Stoic in the outlook on life. The
transference of the anthropomorphic
qualities of Greek gods to Roman ones, and
perhaps even more, the prevalence of Greek
philosophy among well-educated Romans,
brought about an increasing neglect of the
old rites, and in the 1st century BC the
religious importance of the old priestly offices
declined rapidly, though their civic
importance remained. Many men whose
patrician birth called them to these duties
had no belief in the rites, except perhaps as a

political necessity. Nevertheless, the positions
of pontifex maximus and augur remained

coveted political posts. Julius Caesar used his
election to the position of pontifex maximus
to influence the membership of the priestly
groups. The mass of the uneducated populace

became increasingly interested in foreign
rites being practiced by soldiers and traders

in the cosmopolitan centers.

A thorough reform and restoration of the old
system was carried out by Emperor

Augustus, who himself became a member of
all the priestly orders. Even though the

earlier ritual had little to do with individual
morality, being mainly a businesslike relation

with unseen powers in which humans paid
proper service to the gods and were

rewarded by security, it had promoted piety
and religious discipline and thus was fostered
by Augustus as a safeguard against internal
disorder. During this period the legend of the

founding of Rome by the Trojan hero Aeneas
became prominent because of the publication

of Virgil's Aeneid.

In spite of the reforms instituted by
Augustus, the Roman religion in the empire

tended more and more to center on the
imperial house, and Augustus himself was
deified after death. Such deification began
even before the establishment of the empire,
with Julius Caesar. The emperors Augustus,
Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus were also
deified, and after the reign (AD 96-98) of
Marcus Cocceius Nerva, few emperors failed

to receive this distinction.

Under the empire, numerous foreign cults
grew popular and were widely extended, such

as the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis
and that of the Persian god Mithras,
initiatory religions of intense personal

significance similar to Christianity in those

respects. Despite desultory persecutions,
usually at times of civic tensions beginning
with Nero, and more throrough persecutions
beginning under Diocletian, Christianity

steadily gained converts. It became an
officially supported religion in the Roman
state under Constantine I, who ruled as sole
emperor from AD 324 to 337. All cults save
Christianity were prohibited in AD 391 by an
edict of Emperor Theodosius I. Destruction
of temples and desecration of the fanes began

immediately, with the sacking of the
Serapeum in Alexandria as an encouraging

example.

Hindu gods and goddesses

Hindu gods is a much often disputed
property on the Internet. Why? The most
often typed query on the Internet relating to
Hindu gods is... do Hindu gods really exist?

What is the proof that Hindu gods exist?
Proof of existence of Hindu God! Truthfully

speaking... Hindu gods truly do not exist.
Hindu mythology is so large... it has created a

sort of doubt in the minds of most!

Before we indulge on the topic of Hindu
gods... we need to clear self about definition
of God... what we mean when we talk of God!
Are we talking of God Almighty... the one

and only one as per Hindu
mythology...spirituality or the manifested
man gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha,

Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed!

For that purpose even Sri Ramakrishna
Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana was a
man god! Lord Krishna who existed in times
of Dwaper Yuga has never been considered a
man God... he was an Avatar (god manifest
in human form)... a messiah of his era! An
Avatar is entirely separate from man gods...

human gods. Why?

Man gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha,
Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed were

born normal human beings but gained
enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in their
lifetime and became man God... one who
shall not manifest a body again. These
liberated man gods... the soul atman of these
man gods having liberated forever enters the
kingdom of God (termed Vaikuntha in

Hinduism).

On the contrary Lord Krishna also was born
a normal mortal yet, even as a child he

possessed supernatural powers to the extent
that the humanity considered him God
embodied in the human form. In simpler
terms... an Avatar is a combination of an

enlightened one coupled with the powers of a
Chanakya (the most able administrator
world has ever seen).

Only such a one... has the power and the
capability to become a messiah... an Avatar
(god manifest in human form). For such a
one re-establishing Dharma (righteousness) is
the only purpose in life. As per Hinduism lies
comes full circle every 3500 to 5000 years. At
the end of every cycle comes a messiah... an

Avatar of his era

(god manifest in human form).

In present world torn apart with strife...
people await coming of 10th Avatar of
Vishnu... the awaited Bhagwan Kalki...
messiah of present times! An enlightened one

coupled with powers of an able
administrator... Bhagwan Kalki would be a
one-man army. This gentleman would be so
powerful and upright that he would develop

a following of above 2000 million people
world over.

Coming back to the subject of Hindu gods...

one thing is absolutely clear... we just cannot
mingle the two! The Hindu gods as per
Hindu mythology are separate than man

gods... human gods! As per Hindu mythology
the foremost of Hindu gods is Lord Brahma
(the Creator)... then comes Lord Vishnu (the

maintainer) and finally Lord Shiva

(the destroyer... the ultimate maintainer).

Do these Hindu gods ever exist! What is the
myth behind Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu

and Shiva (aka Mahesh)? All the three
attributes of God Almighty Brahma, Vishnu

and Mahesh form part of Hindu Trinity.
Praying to one god as per Hinduism was
considered almost impossible... the prime
reason why sages and saints of yester era

created a Trinity of three gods.

All the three attributes of God Almighty...
namely Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
never existed in the history of mankind. Only

for the sake of worshipping God Almighty...
for the sake of saying our prayers Lord

Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva were
created. Their physical presence carry no

meaning... their physical presence was never
to be... they were simply attributes of God
Almighty!

Ask any Hindu... and he would confuse! Most
Hindus believe in the physical existence of

Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva!
The prime reason why Hinduism is

ritualistic... a nonbeliever of facts! As per
spirituality God Almighty is not the form of
human beings... it is a cluster of pure celestial
energy much beyond the comprehension of

five senses and the mind.

It is not possible for an ordinary mortal to
conceive what God Almighty is all about. In

every religion for the sake of prayers and
worshiping... different attributes of God

Almighty were created so that mankind could
survive the rigors of day-to-day life! None
has seen God Almighty still, by praying to
God... a deep sense of inner satisfaction is
perceived by an ordinary mortal!

As per Hindu mythology there exist 330
million Hindu gods which in itself clearly
indicates that none of these gods ever existed
physically. If we pray to goddess kali... or
goddess Durga does not mean these female
goddesses were ever present physically. They
are mere embodiments of absolute truth and
love which human beings have for God

Almighty.

It is difficult for human beings to conceive a
bachelor God Almighty. How it can be that in

Hinduism God Almighty does not have a
consort... and different goddesses were
created in Hindu mythology. Believers of
money power pray to goddess Lakshmi.

Believers of absolute truth pray to goddess
kali... the all powerful one!

We are presently passing through Kali Yuga
(the dark age... the metal age)... the age of
kali! In the age of kali materialistic
tendencies control mankind! What was a
means becomes an end. Dominated by a

bloated ego, the wanton desires and greed for
materialistic riches human beings run after

ephemeral riches of life... never truly
understanding what God is all about!

As per our convenience one can pray to any
God yet, for reaching God Almighty it is not

the path of religion but spirituality that is
necessitated! It is pure spirituality... the
uncharted spiritual path traveling which
Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ,
prophet Mohammed, Sri Ramakrishna
Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana finally
gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in

their lifetime!

The moment we understand the definition of
God Almighty all becomes clear by itself! The
definition of God Almighty as per spirituality

is the cluster of

all purified souls atmans in the Cosmos at a
given moment of time.

Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine given to
mankind by Lord Krishna details this
definition of God Almighty in absolute

clarity.

As per Bhagavad Gita for reaching God... we
as human beings need to eradicate the dross
impurities within our soul atman in totality.
This is also the ultimate goal of life for every

soul atman. Reaching the stage of
enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally
salvation (moksha) is the ultimate goal of

every soul atman in the Cosmos.

The moment human beings reached the stage
of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) all is over
for the soul atman within. Having reached
the 8.4 millionth manifestation... the last in

the cosmic life cycle... the liberated soul
enters the abode of God... the kingdom of
God (aka Vaikuntha in Hinduism). The
kingdom of God Vaikuntha is a point of no

return.

We may pray to any Hindu God... worship
any Hindu God but the essence of life

remains becoming a man God in our lifetime.
Unless we reach the stage of Mahavira,

Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or prophet
Mohammed... after the death of body our
soul atman shall continue manifesting life
form again and again until it reaches the

last... the 8.4 millionth manifestation!

Amongst myriads of Hindu gods... which
exist as per Hindu mythology... it is only for
the purpose of praying to God... worshipping

God... these rituals were created! But for
reaching God Almighty in our lifetime... for
reaching the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi

(when one can have a dialogue with God
Almighty on one-to-one basis) taking the

spiritual route is the necessity.

The spiritual path... the uncharted spiritual
territory is best traveled following the gist of

Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine given to
mankind by Lord Krishna in Mahabharata!
This one document suffices all requirements
to reach the stage of enlightenment (kaivalya
jnana) and finally salvation (moksha) in ones

lifetime. The contents of sacred Bhagavad
Gita are not meant for Hindus alone.

The sacrosanct Bhagavad Gita has universal
appeal. For following dictates of Bhagavad

Gita one need not convert to Hinduism.
Every single human being living on Mother
Earth... belonging to any religion, caste or
creed can ceremoniously follow the teachings

of sacred Bhagavad Gita and finally gain
enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in ones

lifetime.

God Almighty can never be reached via the
path of religion alone. God Almighty can
never be reached via path of Jainism,
Buddhism, Christianity or Islamic Dharma

alone! One needs understanding the doctrine
of Bhagavad Gita... the absolute truths of life

following which one finally emancipates
forever from the cycle of birth and death.

Believing in the physical existence of Hindu
gods is following rituals... being ritualistic!
Believing in God Almighty as the only truth
of life is traveling the spiritual path. Every
single human being has an element of God

Almighty as our soul atman... the spirit
within! If an independent grain of sand is a
single soul atman... the whole mound God

Almighty!

Ever since every soul atman separated from
its source, God Almighty... the crux of life is
regaining its original lost pure prime pristine
primordial form. It is only through the path
of karma... the process of karma... Our soul
atman reduces the dross impurities within.

Human being reaching the stage of
enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) was

envisaged by God Almighty.

Our soul atman being the master and
controller of the body... it is imperative upon

human beings to gain enlightenment and
finally salvation at the earliest... reach the

stage of a man God... a hu

How one sees the origins of human culture is
also a description of how one wish to see the

future of humanity. - William Irwin

Thompson, Gaia: A Way of Knowing

Origins is the keystone of the arch of
metahistory, not because the rise of
civilization is the supreme achievement of
humankind, but because stories of our
historical origins present the conventional
basis of our identity as a species and provide
the background for our sense of progress
through the ages. We of the modern world
are civilized people, distinguished from those
earlier versions of ourselves who lived in
―savage‖ conditions before civilization. Due
to the inherited model of Origins — that is,
the high civilizations of the past — we believe
that ―civilization masters nature‖ and so the
concept of ―living with nature‖ appears to
indicate an inferior form of adaptation.

The unrelenting message today is that the
―global market economy‖ is the hallmark of

advanced society. In many respects, the
world situation in 2000 CE mirrors the rise of

civilization in Sumer around 4000 BCE.
Historians identify the leading factors in the
rise of civilization as the introduction of new

technology (mainly, writing and
mathematics) and the spread of commerce.
Of the tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets
found in the Middle East, the vast majority
record business transactions, inventories of

grain and livestock, legal contracts, land
surveys. The technology of writing with a
stylus on clay that supported Sumerian
civilization reappears today in the far more

complex tool of the computer. The
sophistication of the technology is less
important than the innovations it introduces.

Civilization is a grand word but in reality it
may be reduced to the sound-alike

"citification": that is, urbanization, living in
cities. The belief that life in cities such as New

York and Tokyo is better than life in the
countryside (anywhere real countryside
happens to survive), is just that: a belief.

Urban living is the dominant option of the
global community, largely because the
commercial reward system needs mass

markets to operate profitably, but it's not the
only option for humanity. Indigenous peoples

do not look to the rise of civilization from
their ancestral origins, their sense of identity

or purpose. They look to Sacred Nature.

Because the human species consists of
different races, there cannot be one origin
story for humanity. But there are dominant
versions. Until 150 years ago the primary
historical origin story was focused in one
geographic area, the Fertile Crescent of
Mesopotamia. Because the Biblical narrative
of Noah, Abraham and the Patriarchs took

place in that area, it was assumed that
Judeo-Christian ―sacred history‖ was
interwoven with events leading to the rise of
civilization. Consequently, the Biblical
version of human origins was imposed for
centuries as the only valid version of our

collective experience.

Historians now concur that large-scale
civilizations arose simultaneously in several

regions of the world: Indo-China, Peru,
India, Mesopotamia and Egypt. They also
recognize the existence of civilized societies
that existed before the large-scale urban
settlements — that is, before 4500 BCE. The
belief that civilization begins with cities has
been challenged through the research of
Marija Gimbutas (Suggested Reading, below)
whose discoveries in Old Europe indicate
that ―civilized living precedes living in cities.‖
The work of Gimbutas and others represents

a major paradigm shift in our view of
prehistory

Caral, The Mother City

For most of the 20th Century historians
agreed that the origins of civilization could be

traced to the organization of society for the
purposes of war and conquest, but in 2001 a
lone woman archeologist changed this view.
At Caral in the Peruvian desert, archeologist
Ruth Shady found the remains of a ―mother

city,‖ the technical term for a site that
exhibits the first stage of city-building,
without preceding layers of settlement. In
pristine condition, this city is now recognized
as the oldest in the Americas, dating to the
epoch of the earliest Egyptian dynasties, circa
3200 BCE. To the shock and bafflement of
many experts, Caral reveals no battlements,
no weapons, no murals or sculptures to
glorify conquest, no bones evidential of a
violent ending. It appears to have been a
peaceful settlement whose inhabitants
dedicated their time to commerce, religious
ceremony, theatre and hedonistic activities,
including the use of mind-altering substances
and aphrodisiacs. Caral has changed the

paradigm on what brings people together in
large urban settlements. Love, not war, my
yet prove to be the prime motivating force in

the rise of civilization.

Origins is a double entendre in metahistory,
as already noted under Sacred Nature. Both

the biological and behavioral origins of
humanity are located in prehistory, but ―the

story of civilization‖ ignores the long
formative childhood of our species. What
happened in prehistory made us human in the
first place, but this development has long
been viewed as less significant than what

humanity has made of the world in the
course of history. Our view of history is laden

with beliefs about how the human species
came to dominate the world, how it created a

unique way of life, culture, society.

Since Darwin, prehistory has become a
matter of intense debate. The inquiry into

―the ascent of man‖ assumes the central role
in metahistory (corresponding to the

keystone of the arch) because it focuses our
deepest beliefs about the human experiment,

not because civilization is the supreme
achievement of humankind. The beliefs we
hold about our origins can be explored and
deconstructed by the metahistorical method.

While the creation of the world and the
origins of humanity are universally depicted

by the

intercourse of primordial parents, the
Origins of civilization are usually ascribed to

a male

deity, demi-god or culture-hero. The
designation of a male mastermind who

inaugurates

civilization is less a fact of history than a
policy of male scribes who write history.

Although "progress" is a very recent idea,
most people in the modern world believe that

the trajectory of civilization assures a
continuous ascent, progress without end with

advancing achievements in all realms.
Ancient myths about the Golden Age
challenge this belief, however. The notion
that great civilizations appear at an apex and
decline from there is typical of various
evolutionary schemes of ancient provenance.
According to the cyclic conception of time,
common to native-mind peoples, the Golden
Age in the past will recur in the future in
keeping with the eternal renewal of the
human experience. (Basic Reading: Memories
and Visions of Paradise). Curiously, some
historical studies seem to confirm the first
part of this proposition: the appearance of
culture at an apex. The oldest pyramids of
Egypt present obvious evidence of high
technology, but there is very little evidence,
either textual or archeological, of a long
trial-and-error process leading up to their

construction.

Both Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations
seem in many respects to have sprung up
from the ground, full-grown, or at least
highly evolved at the first stage of their
emergence. Paradoxically, the belief that
history progresses upward and that life

improves as civilization evolves is not
convincingly supported by historical

evidence.

The most common Origin script in the West
is Genesis in the O.T. version of the story, the

Biblical creation-myth. Genesis describes
how humanity emerges from a primordial

couple, Adam and Eve, how civilization
arises and was then eliminated by a flood
sent by God, only to arise again through the
Chosen People. Native-mind traditions as

far-ranging as Central America and
Southeast Asia also tell stories about a flood.

The universality of the flood stories may
indicate recurrent patterns in the ―collective

unconscious,‖ a theory proposed by C. G.
Jung. They may also be evidence of ancestral

memories of massive geological and
geophysical events. William Irwin Thompson

has suggested that some myths may be
half-remembered history. In Memories and
Visions of Paradise (Basic Reading), Richard
Heinberg cites a number of examples where

this does indeed appear to be the case.

Among the Hopi and other native peoples of
North America, the First People are said to

emerge from the navel of the Earth, as if
from a womb. This script links Origins to
Sacred Nature. It uses biological imagery for
the creation myth. The Child (humanity)
emerges from the Mother attached to her

placenta by a cord fixed to her belly.
Likewise, the First People emerge from
Mother Earth attached to her placenta

(society, the communal group) by an
umbilical cord, the symbiotic bond with
Sacred Nature. In this myth, the biological

Origins of humanity and the social order
formed by human groups belong to a single
creative event. This vision of life asserts the
belief that ―the earth produces humanity,‖

rather than the belief that ―God creates
humanity.‖ It also asserts that ―society
reflects its natural habitat,‖ a key belief in
many indigenous cultures, contrasted to the
belief that ―God projects and oversees
society,‖ as if the human social order were a
pretext for working out the divine will.
Beliefs specific to the emergence of social
order and social morality come under the
category of Origins. Beliefs about what
happens in social order, once it is established,
belong to the category of Moral Design.

In Occidental Mythology comparative
mythologist Joseph Campbell noted that ―one

of the chief characteristics of Levantine
mythology is that of man created to be God‘s

slave.‖ (The Levant is the geo-cultural
complex extending from Mesopotamia to

Palestine, the matrix of
Judeo-Christian-Moslem religions.) The
belief that humanity exists to serve and
worship God is totally commonplace in most
of the world, and rarely challenged. Quite a
different belief is asserted in the Asian
philosophical concept of Lila, ―delight and
cosmic play.‖ The belief that God‘s intent to
play determines what happens in the cosmos
bears witness to what Alan Watts calls
―humanity‘s eternal preoccupation with

ecstasy.― (Beyond Theology in Basic
Reading.) This contrasts radically with the
Christian belief that the suffering of Jesus

Christ saves the world from its fallen
condition. To be redeemed and liberated
through ecstasy rather than suffering was the
promise of the pagan religion of Dionysos,
whose counterpart in Asia was the Hindu
God Shiva. The essential need for play in the
making of civilization has been treated by the
Dutch historian Johan Huizinga who coined
the term Homo ludens, from the Latin root

ludere, ―to play.‖ Historians designate beliefs
and practices expressive of the playful and
ecstatic view of religion by the delightful
term mystico-ludic.

Lila is a cosmological principle expressing the
belief that the entire spectrum of human
experience is a game of the gods. With the

discovery of the mother city of Caral in Peru,
historians are now considering how this
belief may apply to the actual origins of

civilization. Artifacts at Caral show how the
inhabitants of the city complex gathered
together to play, dance, perform theatrics
and indulge in aphrodisiacs and other
mind-altering substances. Due to the huge

bias of the belief that life in nature is a grim
battle for survival, the belief that play might
be at the origin of civilization has not been

fairly assessed. Nevertheless, the evidence
from indigenous peoples and surviving
hunter-gathers (whose way of life is

presumed to resemble ―primitive‖ humanity

in prehistory) is that they devote far more
time to play than modern people. Moreover,
they have more time to play, for their lives
are not entirely consumed in the struggle to
survive. By contrast, the lifestyle of modern
people is fraught with stress and lack of time

to ―take it easy.‖ Play is of a passive,
spectator type, not participatory as it is with
native peoples. Usually play is not integrated
into daily life but represents a departure, a

diversion. All in all, modern life seems to
fulfill the belief that God intends enslavement

for human beings, following the Levantine
motif, even if it be enslavement they choose at

will and impose upon themselves.

Myths of the origins of racial and national
groups often occur in the same scripts. Since
most of these look back to Sacred Nature, the
stories are identical to those discussed under

that category. Racial-national scripts of
Origins invariably feature ―culture-heroes‖