What in primitive times was called the human soul. What did the ancient people believe in? Prayers and sacrifices

So, we can only make more or less reasonable assumptions about the existence of beliefs among the closest ancestors of modern man - the Neanderthals. One can speak more definitely about ancient beliefs in relation to Cro-Magnons - people of modern physical appearance.

In 1886, during the construction of a railway in the valley of the Vezere River (France), several skeletons of ancient people were found in a cave near the village of Cro-Magnon, who in their physical appearance were very close to modern people. One of the skeletons found belonged to an elderly man (“the old man from Cro-Magnon”). What did this Cro-Magnon representative look like? According to reconstructions, he was a tall man, about 180 cm tall, with very strong muscles. The Cro-Magnon skull was long and capacious (brain volume about 1560 cm 3). The forehead was straight, the face was relatively low, wide, especially in the cheekbones, the nose was narrow and long, the lower jaw had a pronounced chin.

Reconstructions of other Cro-Magnons found also allow us to imagine them as people whose faces no longer have anything animalistic, their jaws do not protrude forward, their chin is well developed and protruding, and their facial features are thin. The figure is completely straight, the position of the torso is the same as that of a modern person, the long bones of the limbs have the same dimensions.

The people of this era were skilled hunters. Compared to the Neanderthals, they already possessed more advanced tools - spears, darts with sharp stone and bone tips. The Cro-Magnons already used bolas in the form of stones and cannonballs, carved from mammoth bone and attached to the end of a long belt. They also used stone throwing discs for hunting. They had sharp daggers that were made from the bones of killed animals.

Their hunting ingenuity went much further than that of the Neanderthals. Cro-Magnons set various traps for animals. Thus, one of the simplest traps was a fence with one entrance, which could be easily closed if it was possible to drive the animal into it. Another hunting trick was to wear animal skins. The hunters, camouflaged in this way, crawled almost close to the grazing animals. They moved against the wind and, approaching a short distance, jumped up from the ground and, before the surprised animals could sense the danger and run away, struck them with spears and javelins. We learn about all these hunting tricks of the Cro-Magnons from their rock paintings. Cro-Magnons appeared approximately 30-40 thousand years ago.

We can judge more thoroughly the beliefs of the ancient people of this era. Many burials dating back to this time have been found. Cro-Magnon burial methods were very diverse. Sometimes the dead were buried where people lived, after which the Cro-Magnons left this place. In other cases, the corpses were burned at the stake. The dead were also buried in specially dug graves, and sometimes they covered their heads and feet with stones. In some places stones were piled on the head, chest and legs of the dead man, as if they were afraid that he would get up.

Apparently, for the same reason, the dead were sometimes tied up and buried in a strongly crouched position. The dead were also left in the cave, and the exit to it was blocked with large stones. Often the corpse or head was sprinkled with red paint; when excavating graves, this is noticeable by the color of the ground and bones. Many different things were put into the grave with the dead: jewelry, stone tools, food.

Among the burials of this era, the burial of “mammoth hunters” in Předmosti, near Přerov (Czechoslovakia), discovered in 1894 by K. E. Maška, became widely known. In this burial, 20 skeletons were found, which were laid in crouched positions and with their heads turned to the north: five skeletons of adult men, three of adult women, two of young women, seven of children and three of infants. The grave was oval in shape, 4 m long and 2.5 m wide. One side of the burial was lined with mammoth shoulder blades, the other with their jaws. The top of the grave was covered with a layer of stones 30-50 cm thick to protect it from destruction by predators. Archaeologists suggest that some group of ancient people used this grave for a long period, from time to time placing new deceased members of the clan group into it.

Other archaeological excavations provide a more complete picture of the beliefs of the people of this era. Some images painted by ancient people on the walls of caves are interpreted by scientists as figures of sorcerers. Drawings were found with people disguised as animals, as well as images of half-humans, half-animals, which allows us to conclude that there are elements of hunting magic and belief in werewolves. Among the figurines dating back to this era, there are many images of women. These figurines were called "Venus" in archeology. The faces, arms and legs of these figurines are not particularly pronounced, but, as a rule, the chest, belly, and hips are highlighted, i.e., the physical signs that characterize a woman. Scientists suggest that these female figures serve as a monument to some ancient cult associated with fertility. Many researchers do not doubt the religious nature of these beliefs.

So, according to archeology, only 30-40 thousand years ago ancient people began to have beliefs similar to the beliefs common among some modern peoples.

Science has accumulated a huge amount of material that allows us to identify the most characteristic beliefs of primitive society.

Let us first characterize them in general terms, that is, we will describe the main forms of primitive beliefs.

If we bring together the numerous data that archeology, anthropology, linguistics, folklore, ethnography and other sciences that study the early stages of the development of human society tell us, then we can identify the following main forms of beliefs of ancient people.

Fetishistic beliefs, or fetishism, - worship of individual objects and natural phenomena. This form of belief was called fetishism, and the objects that were worshiped were called fetishes, from the Portuguese word “fetiko” - “made”, “made”, this is how Portuguese sailors called the objects of worship of a number of African peoples.

Magical beliefs, or magic, - belief in the possibility, with the help of certain techniques, conspiracies, rituals, to influence objects and natural phenomena, the course of social life, and later the world of supernatural forces.

Totemistic beliefs, or totemism, - the belief that certain types of animals, plants, some material objects, as well as natural phenomena are the ancestors, ancestors, patrons of specific tribal groups. Such beliefs were called totemism in science, from the words “totem”, “ottotem” - “its kind”, taken from the language of one of the North American Indian tribes.

Animist beliefs, or animism, - belief in the existence of the soul and spirits (from the Latin word "anima" - "soul"). According to animist beliefs, the entire world around humans is inhabited by spirits, and every person, animal or plant has its own soul, a disembodied double.

Shamanistic beliefs, or shamanism, - beliefs according to which it is believed that certain people, shamans (the name of a sorcerer-witch doctor among many northern peoples) can, having brought themselves to a state of ecstasy, frenzy, directly communicate with spirits and use them to heal people from diseases, to ensure good hunting , catch, for making rain, etc.

Cult of nature- beliefs in which the main objects of worship are the spirits of various animals and plants, natural phenomena, celestial bodies: the sun, earth, moon.

Animatist beliefs, or animatism(from the Latin “animato” - “with soul”, “animated”) - beliefs in a special impersonal supernatural force that is diffused throughout the surrounding world and which can be concentrated in individual people (for example, in leaders), animals, objects.

Cult of patron ancestors- beliefs in which the main object of worship is the ancestors and their spirits, whose help can supposedly be enlisted by resorting to various rites and ceremonies.

Cult of tribal leaders- beliefs according to which community leaders, tribal leaders and leaders of tribal unions are endowed with supernatural properties. The main rituals and ceremonies in this cult are aimed at strengthening the power of the leaders, which supposedly should have a beneficial effect on the entire tribe.

Agricultural and pastoral cults, which develop with the separation of agriculture and cattle breeding into independent branches, are beliefs according to which the main objects of worship are spirits and supernatural beings - the patrons of livestock and agriculture, the givers of fertility.

As we see, the beliefs of the era of the primitive communal system were quite diverse and manifested themselves in various combinations. But they all have one common feature, according to which we classify them as beliefs that are close in nature to religion or are religious. In all these beliefs there is a moment of reverence for something supernatural, standing above the surrounding real world, dominating this world.

Ancient people worshiped material objects because they endowed them with supernatural properties. They revered animals because they felt they had a supernatural connection with these animals. Unable to really influence the elemental forces of nature, ancient man tried to influence them through witchcraft. Primitive people later endowed human consciousness and the human psyche with supernatural properties, representing it in the form of a soul independent of the body and controlling the body. The creation, with the help of fantasy, of a supernatural world placed above the real, natural world, was the result of the powerlessness and weakness of primitive man, suppressed by the elemental forces of nature.

In order to more clearly imagine the dependence of primitive people on nature, their powerlessness, it is best to turn to the life of modern peoples who are lagging behind in their development. Here is what, for example, the great Russian explorer of the Far North F. Wrangel wrote: “It is difficult to imagine to what extent hunger reaches among the local peoples, whose existence depends solely on chance. Often, from half the summer, people already feed on tree bark and skins, before which served them as beds and clothing. A deer caught or killed by chance is divided equally among members of the whole clan and eaten, in the full sense of the word, with bones and skin. Everything, even the entrails and crushed antlers and bones, is used for food, because something is needed fill your hungry stomach."

Further, the scientist writes that during all the days of this wild hunger strike, people live only with the thought of a successful deer hunt, and finally this happy moment comes. The scouts bring good news: a herd of deer has been discovered on the other side of the river. “Joyful anticipation enlivened all the faces, and everything predicted an abundant harvest,” F. Wrangel continues his description. “But, to the horror of everyone, suddenly the sad, fatal news was heard: “The deer has staggered!” Indeed, we saw that the entire herd was probably frightened by many hunters, he moved away from the shore and disappeared into the mountains. Despair took the place of joyful hopes. The heart was breaking at the sight of a people suddenly deprived of all means to support their miserable existence. The picture of general despondency and despair was terrible. Women and children moaned loudly, wringing their hands, others threw themselves on the ground and, with screams, blew up the snow and earth, as if they were preparing a grave for themselves. The elders and fathers of the family stood silently, fixing lifeless gazes on those elevations beyond which their hope had disappeared."

* (F. Wrangel. Travel along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea, part II. St. Petersburg, 1841, pp. 105-106.)

This is a vivid picture of hopeless despair, fear of the future, painted by F. Wrangel, but here we are talking about modern people. Primitive man, with his pitiful tools of labor, was even weaker and more helpless in the face of nature.

Primitive man was an excellent hunter; he knew well the habits and habits of the animals he hunted. From a barely noticeable trail, he could easily determine which animal had passed here, in which direction and how long ago. Armed with a wooden club and a stone, he boldly entered into single combat with predators and set cunning traps for them.

And yet, the ancient man was hourly convinced that success in the hunt depended not only on his cunning and courage. Days of good fortune, and therefore relative prosperity, were followed by long hunger strikes. Suddenly, all the animals disappeared from the places where he had recently hunted so successfully. Or, despite all his tricks, the animals bypassed his perfectly camouflaged traps, and fish disappeared for a long time in reservoirs. Gathering was also an unreliable support for life. At a time of year when the unbearable heat burned out all the vegetation, man did not find a single edible root or tuber in the petrified earth.

And suddenly the days of hunger strike also unexpectedly gave way to success in the hunt. The trees generously gave man ripe fruits, and he found many edible roots in the ground.

Primitive man could not yet understand the reasons for such changes in his existence. It begins to seem to him that there are some unknown, supernatural forces that influence both nature and his life. Thus, on the living tree of knowledge, as V.I. Lenin said, a barren flower arises - religious ideas.

Not counting on his own strength, not trusting his primitive tools, ancient man more and more often pinned his hopes on these mysterious forces, linking both his failures and his victories with them.

Of course, all of the listed forms of belief: the worship of objects, the veneration of animals and plants, witchcraft, and belief in the soul and spirits - are the product of long historical development. Science makes it possible to determine the earliest layers in the beliefs of primitive man.

As we have already said, at the earliest stages of development there was a lot of truth in man’s ideas about nature. Primitive man was a good hunter and well versed in the habits of animals. He knew which plant fruits were good for him. By making tools, he learned the properties and qualities of various materials. However, the low level of social practice, the primitiveness of the tools of labor, and the comparative poverty of experience determined that there was much that was incorrect and distorted in the ideas of ancient man about the world around him.

Not being able to understand some properties of objects or the essence of phenomena, not seeing the necessary real connections between them, ancient man often attributed false properties to them, establishing purely random, superficial connections between them in his mind. This was a delusion, but there was still no belief in the supernatural. We can say that such a distorted reflection of reality was a step towards religion, towards belief in the supernatural world, one of the origins of religion.

To clarify our thought, let us take the following example: primitive man, in his work and everyday life, was constantly faced with the fact of the transformation of some objects and phenomena into others. He has seen more than once how plants grow from seeds, chicks emerge from eggs, butterflies emerge from larvae, and fish emerge from eggs. From things that seemed at first glance inanimate, living organisms arose. Repeatedly, ancient man was faced with the facts of the transformation of water into ice or steam; he noted in his mind the movement of clouds, snow avalanches, falling stones from mountains, the flow of rivers, etc. It turned out that the inanimate world, like humans and animals, has the ability to movement. The line between a person and the objects of the surrounding world thus turned out to be fuzzy and vague.

Changing and transforming the objects of the surrounding world in accordance with his goals and needs, primitive man gradually began to endow them with other properties, to “remake” them in his consciousness and imagination. He began to endow natural phenomena and objects with the properties of living things; It seemed to him, for example, that not only a person or an animal could walk, but also rain, snow, that a tree “sees” a hunter sneaking through the forest, a rock lurking menacingly like an animal, etc.

One of man's early misconceptions about the world around him was the personification of nature, attributing to the inanimate world the properties of the living, often the properties of man himself.

Thousands of years separate us from this time. We know quite accurately, based on archaeological data, about the tools of labor of the ancient people of this era, about their way of life. But it is difficult for us to judge their consciousness with the same degree of accuracy. To some extent, ethnographic literature helps us imagine the spiritual world of ancient people.

The wonderful book of the great Soviet traveler and talented writer Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev “In the wilds of the Ussuri region” is widely known. Let us remind the reader about one of the heroes of this book - the brave hunter, brave guide of V.K. Arsenyev Dersu Uzala. He was a real son of nature, a subtle connoisseur of all the secrets of the Ussuri taiga, who perfectly understood its every rustle. But in this case, we are not interested in these qualities of Dersu Uzal, but in his views on the world, on nature, the life of which he felt so subtly.

V.K. Arsenyev writes that he was extremely struck by Dersu Uzal’s naive but firm conviction that all nature is something living. Once at a halt, says V.K. Arsenyev, “Dersu and I, as usual, were sitting and talking. A kettle forgotten on the fire persistently reminded us of its hissing. Dersu put it aside a little, but the kettle continued to hum. Dersu put it even further away Then the kettle began to sing in a thin voice.

Shout him! - said Dersu. - Thin people! - He jumped up and poured hot water on the ground.

How are "people"? - I asked him in bewilderment.

“Water,” he answered simply. - I can scream, I can cry, I can also play.

This primitive man spoke to me for a long time about his worldview. He saw the living force in the water, saw its quiet flow and heard its roar during floods.

Look,” said Dersu, pointing to the fire, “they are also people anyway.” *

* (VC. Arsenyev. In the wilds of the Ussuri region. M., 1949, p. 47.)

According to the descriptions of V.K. Arsenyev, in the ideas of Dersu Uzal, all the objects of the world around him were alive, or, as he called them in his language, they were “people.” Trees are “people”, hills are “people”, rocks are “people”, the thunderstorm of the Ussuri taiga - the tiger (in the Dersu language “amba”) is also “people”. But personifying nature, Dersu Uzala was not afraid of it. If necessary, he and his old single-barreled Berdan gun boldly entered into a duel with a tiger and emerged victorious.

It is impossible, of course, to completely identify these views of Dersu Uzal with the views of ancient man on the world, but apparently there is a lot in common between them. As has already been said, an incorrect explanation of reality is not yet a religion. At the stage of personification of nature, a person attributes properties that are not inherent to them to ordinary objects and phenomena. But, endowing natural objects with properties that are unnatural for them, imagining inanimate objects as living, a person does not yet worship them. Here, not only is there no worship of any supernatural forces hiding behind the world of real things, but there is also no idea of the existence of supernatural forces.

F. Engels, who dealt a lot with the problem of the origin of religion, pointed out in his works such origins of religion as the most ignorant, dark, primitive ideas of ancient people about their own and the external nature surrounding them (see cit., vol. 21, p. 313), identified the main stages in the formation of people’s views on the path to religion, and noted the personification of the forces of nature as one of these stages. The preparatory works for “Anti-Dühring” contain the following important thought of F. Engels: “The forces of nature appear to primitive man as something alien, mysterious, overwhelming. At a certain stage, through which all cultural peoples pass, he becomes familiar with them through personification.” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 20, p. 639.)

The personification of the forces of nature is undoubtedly one of the origins of religion. But here we should immediately make a reservation that not every personification is religious. Religious personification necessarily includes the idea of a supernatural world, supernatural forces that control the world around us. When the ancient Babylonian, personifying nature, subordinated it to the patron god of vegetation, Tammuz, this was already a religious personification. In the same way, when the ancient Greeks, personifying nature, attributed the entire plant cycle with its spring blossoming and autumn withering to the moods of the fertility goddess Demeter, who rejoiced at the return of her daughter Persephone from the dark kingdom of Hades and was sad when she left her, this was a religious personification.

The ancient people, at the early stages of personifying the forces of nature, most likely had no idea of the supernatural. Primitive man personified the world around him because his knowledge of nature was insignificant. The standards with which he approached the assessment of his surroundings were limited, and the comparisons were erroneous. Knowing himself best and observing those around him, he naturally transferred human properties not only to animals, but also to plants and even inanimate objects. And then the forest became alive, the babbling stream spoke, the animals began to be cunning. Such personification was incorrect, a distorted reflection of reality, but it was not yet religious. In the incorrect, distorted reflection of the surrounding world there was already hidden the possibility of the emergence of religion, or more precisely, of some of its elements. However, it would be a long time before this opportunity was realized.

When does this personification of nature acquire the features of religious ideas?

The matter apparently began with the fact that gradually ancient man began to endow real objects not only with qualities that were not inherent in them, but also with supernatural properties. In every object or natural phenomenon, he began to see fantastic forces on which, it seemed to him, his life, success or failure in hunting, etc. depended.

The first ideas about the supernatural were figurative, visual, almost tangible. The supernatural at this stage of development of human beliefs was not represented as an independent incorporeal being (spirit, god), things themselves were endowed with supernatural properties. In nature itself, its real objects and phenomena, ancient man saw something supernatural that had enormous, incomprehensible power over him.

The idea of the supernatural is a figment of the imagination of a person who is aware of his powerlessness before the forces of nature. However, it cannot be said that this fantasy has nothing to do with the real world. It distorts the actual connections of real objects, but the material for fantastic images is drawn by man from the world around him. However, in these fantastic images, real objects and natural phenomena already lose their actual outlines. People say that “fear has big eyes.” The imagination of the ancient man was in the grip of fear, it worked under the influence of his powerlessness before the formidable, powerful nature, the laws of which he did not know, many of the most important properties of which he did not understand.

Ethnographic data also speaks of fear of the formidable forces of nature as one of the sources of primitive beliefs. One of the researchers of Eskimo beliefs, Knut Rasmussen, recorded interesting statements of one Eskimo: “And you cannot give reasons when we ask you: why is life the way it is? This is how it is, and this is how it should be. And all our customs lead our origin from life and enter into life; we don’t explain anything, we don’t think anything, but what I showed you contains all our answers: we are afraid!

We are afraid of the weather, which we must fight, tearing food from the earth and from the sea. We are afraid of want and hunger in cold snowy huts. We are afraid of the diseases that we see around us every day. We are not afraid of death, but of suffering. We are afraid of dead people...

That is why our ancestors armed themselves with all the old everyday rules, developed by the experience and wisdom of generations.

We don’t know, we don’t guess why, but we follow these rules so that we can live in peace. And we are so ignorant, despite all our spellcasters, that we are afraid of everything that we do not know. We are afraid of what we see around us, and we are afraid of what legends and legends talk about. Therefore, we adhere to our customs and observe our taboos" * (prohibitions - V.Ch.).

* (K. Rasmussen. The Great Sleigh Road. M., 1958, pp. 82-83.)

Chained in the grip of fear, the consciousness of ancient man began to endow real objects with supernatural properties that for some reason caused fear. Researchers believe that, for example, poisonous plants were endowed with such supernatural properties. The similarity of the found stones, roots or branches with animals also made the imagination of the ancient man work. Noticing the similarity of the stone with the animal that was the main object of the hunt, a person could take this strange, unusual stone with him on the hunt. The coincidence of a successful hunt and this discovery could have led primitive man to the conclusion that this strange stone, similar to an animal, was the main reason for his luck. Success in a hunt was associated with a randomly found stone, which no longer became a simple object, but a miraculous object, a fetish, an object of worship.

Let's remember again about Neanderthal burials and warehouses of cave bear bones. As already mentioned, some scientists believe that Neanderthal burials indicate the emergence of people's belief in the soul and the afterlife. However, the emergence of ideas about the other world, an immortal soul separated from the body, requires a developed imagination, the ability to think abstractly. Such beliefs, as we will see later, arise in later stages of the development of human society. The beliefs of the Neanderthals were much simpler. In this case, we are most likely dealing with the fact that the corpse has been endowed with some supernatural properties. We observe similar beliefs among some backward peoples. For example, among Australians, funeral customs were generated by a superstitious attitude towards the corpse, the belief that the deceased himself could cause harm. Apparently, the attitude towards the bones of cave bears was similar; they were considered fetishes that had the supernatural properties of being reborn into new bears, and “ensure” a successful hunt in the future.

The veneration of material objects is often found among modern peoples. For example, the power of sorcerers among the indigenous people of Australia is directly associated with the presence of shiny, sparkling stones in the sorcerer’s possession: the more of them, the stronger the sorcerer. Among many African peoples, hunters did not start hunting until they found a suitable object (fetish), which, in their opinion, alone could make the hunt successful. Not a single big trip was complete without preparing or searching for a fetish. Often, much more attention was paid to the search for such items than to preparing supplies for the road.

The main features of fetishism, its specificity, focus on satisfying sensual desires, the desire to endow an ordinary thing with supernatural properties were noted by K. Marx. In one of his articles, he wrote: “Fetishism is very far from elevating a person above his sensual lusts - on the contrary, it is "religion of sensual desires". A fantasy inflamed by lust creates in the fetishist the illusion that an “insensible thing” can change its natural properties just to satisfy his whim. Rough lust of a fetishist breaks therefore, his fetish when he ceases to be his most loyal servant." * This vivid and accurate description of K. Marx allows us to draw a conclusion about the social harm that belief in the supernatural carries. After all, at this stage of human development, the supernatural has not yet separated from consciousness from natural objects, but how much effort is already wasted, how dearly his illusions cost a person!

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 1, p. 98.)

In the last century, an entire “museum” of fetishes was discovered in one African sorcerer. There were more than 20 thousand “exhibits.” According to the sorcerer, each of these items at one time brought one benefit or another to either him or his ancestors.

What were these objects? Among the numerous “exhibits” of this strange “museum” was a pot of red clay, into which a rooster’s feather was stuck; wooden stakes wrapped in wool; parrot feathers, human hair. There was also a tiny chair in the “museum”, with an equally small mattress next to it. In this “museum”, collected through the efforts of many generations, the old sorcerer came to “look after” the fetishes, he cleaned them, washed them, at the same time begging for various favors from them. Researchers noticed that not all objects in this museum enjoyed the same worship - some were revered almost like real deities, others were given more modest honors.

This is an interesting detail. A fetish, a revered object, is like a deity for a moment. It is useful only for a certain purpose, only for certain purposes. The fetish is specific, it does not have absolute power, valid in any conditions.

While initially honoring material objects, primitive man did not divide them into main and non-main. But gradually, from a number of fetishes, the main ones, that is, the most “powerful” ones, begin to stand out.

In those distant times we are talking about here, a person’s life and his food supply largely depended on the success or failure of a hunt, on whether he would find enough fruits, tubers, and roots. This constant dependence on the animal and plant world gave rise to false, fantastic ideas and aroused the imagination of ancient man. Not knowing any other social relationships other than blood relations, ancient man transferred them to nature. He represented various species of animals and plants as peculiar clans and tribes, related to the tribes of people; often animals were considered by ancient people to be the ancestors of their tribe. In other words, each clan group believed in some kind of kinship with its ancestor, the totem.

As studies have shown, in the first place among totems were plants and animals useful to humans. Thus, in Australia, among the tribes living on the coast, more than 60 percent of all totems were fish or sea animals. Among the tribes living inland, such “water” totems were less than 8 percent.

Totems for Australians, as ethnographic data show, are not deities, but related and close creatures. When talking about them, Australians usually use the following expressions: “This is my father,” “This is my older brother,” “This is my friend,” “This is my flesh.” The feeling of kinship with the totem most often manifested itself in the prohibition of killing it and eating it.

The main ceremonies associated with totemistic beliefs among Australians were the rites of “reproduction” of totems. Usually once a year, at a certain time, a totem animal was killed. The community leader cut off pieces of meat and, giving them to community members, said to everyone: “This year you will eat a lot of meat.” Eating the meat of a totem animal was considered an introduction to the body of the ancestor of the progenitor; its properties were, as it were, transferred to its relatives.

Totemistic beliefs are clearly associated with a certain type of practice, work activity and social relations. Among the Australians, whose main occupation was hunting and gathering, and the main type of social relations were tribal ones, totemistic beliefs dominated. Among their neighboring Melanesians and Polynesians, who already knew agriculture and had livestock (i.e., to a certain extent, they dominated animals and plants) and were at various stages of decomposition of the primitive communal system, totemistic beliefs were preserved only as weak remnants. Man does not worship those objects and natural phenomena that he has known, mastered, and “conquered.”

Scientists have long been confused by the fact that among the ancestral totems there are not only animals and plants, but also inanimate objects, in particular minerals. Apparently, this is a trace of more ancient, fetishistic beliefs.

Thus, we see that the worship of animals and plants fantastically reflected the dependence of ancient man on the blind forces of nature and a certain type of social relations. With the further development of mankind, when gathering was replaced by agriculture, and hunting by the domestication of animals, the strength of the primitive collective increased, it moved further along the path of conquering nature, totemism began to occupy a secondary place in ancient beliefs.

Primitive man did not simply passively venerate fetishes and totems. He tried to force them to serve himself, to satisfy the needs and desires of people. Due to the extremely low level of material production and man's knowledge of the world around him and himself, helplessness before the blind, elemental forces of nature pushed him to compensate for this real powerlessness with the imaginary power of witchcraft, magical activity.

The veneration of material objects by ancient people was accompanied by various actions (fetishes were “looked after,” cleaned, fed, watered, etc.), as well as verbal requests and appeals to these objects. Gradually, on this basis, a whole system of witchcraft actions arises.

A significant part of witchcraft rituals was based on the belief of primitive man that the desired phenomenon could be caused by actions that imitate this phenomenon. For example, during a period of drought, wanting to cause rain, the sorcerer climbed onto the roof of his hut and poured water from a vessel onto the ground. It was believed that the rain would follow his example and irrigate the fields dying from drought. Some Australian tribes, before going to hunt a kangaroo, drew its image in the sand and pierced it with spears: they believed that this would ensure good luck during the hunt. Archaeological scientists have found on the walls of caves in which ancient people lived, images of animals - bears, bison, rhinoceroses, etc., struck by spears and darts. This is how ancient people “secured” their luck in the hunt. Belief in the supernatural power of witchcraft forced ancient people to spend a lot of energy and time performing meaningless magical rituals.

It is precisely this feature of magic that K. Marx’s vivid description refers to: “Weakness has always been saved by faith in miracles; it considered the enemy defeated if it managed to defeat him in its imagination...” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 8, p. 123.)

The magical belief in miracles, which originated in ancient times, entered as an important component of all religions. And modern clergy call on believers to hope for a miracle and perform magical rituals. For example, one of the main rites of Christianity - baptism - is permeated with magic. In the Orthodox Church, during this ritual, four prayers are read, which are called “incantatory” prayers; they serve, according to the assurances of Orthodox clergy, “to drive away the devil being baptized.” Other magical actions are also performed during baptism: the person being baptized and his successors (godfather and godmother) at a certain moment turn to the west (because the west is “the country where darkness appears, and Satan is the prince of darkness”), renounce Satan three times, confirming this renunciation by "breathing and spitting on the evil spirit." The custom of spitting on Satan is a relic of the beliefs of ancient people, who attributed witchcraft powers to saliva. During the sacrament of baptism, the baby's hair is cut and thrown into the font. There are also traces of the beliefs of an ancient man who believed that by donating his hair to the spirits, he entered into a closer connection with the world of supernatural forces. All of these are examples of witchcraft in a “God-given” religion, which in words vehemently opposes magic as a sign of “lower” “pagan” beliefs compared to Christianity.

Scientists had to put a lot of effort and energy in order to make clear the bizarre world of witchcraft beliefs of ancient man. Apparently, at a certain historical stage, manipulations over revered objects begin to be carried out in a strictly defined, “canonized” order. In this way there arises action magic. Verbal requests and appeals to objects endowed with supernatural properties turn into witchcraft conspiracies, spells - the magic of words. Researchers of magical beliefs identify several types of magic: harmful, military, love, healing, protective, fishing, meteorological.

At the early stages of the development of primitive beliefs, as already mentioned, man endowed real objects with supernatural properties. He did not separate the supernatural from nature. But gradually a person developed ideas about a certain second supernatural nature of things, complementing their actual natural nature. It seemed to him that in every object there was some kind of mysterious double of this object, that a mysterious force lived in it. Over time, this double is separated in the imagination of an ancient person from an object or phenomenon and becomes an independent force.

Ideas arise that behind every bush, mountain, stream, any object or phenomenon, invisible spirits are hidden, that a certain spiritual force - the soul - lurks in humans and animals. Apparently, the initial ideas about this double were very vague. This can be illustrated by examples of the responses of the natives of Nicaragua when asked questions relating to their beliefs. When asked what happens when people die, the natives answered: “When people die, something like a person comes out of their mouth. This creature goes to the place where the men and women are. It looks like a person, but does not die. Body remains in the ground."

Question. Do those who go there retain the same body, the same face, the same members as here on earth?

Answer. No, only the heart goes there.

Question. But when a person's heart is cut out during captive sacrifices, what happens?

Answer. It is not the heart itself that goes away, but what in the body gives people life, and this leaves the body when a person dies.

Gradually, these ideas about the mysterious double became more and more clear, and a belief in spirits and the soul arose. In order to more concretely imagine the process of formation of animistic beliefs among primitive people, let’s look at how some existing peoples imagine the soul and spirits. According to the testimony of the major polar explorer F. Nansen, the Eskimos believe that the soul is connected with breathing. Therefore, while treating a person, shamans breathed on the patient, trying to either heal his soul or breathe a new one into him. At the same time, despite the fact that the soul in the ideas of the Eskimos is endowed with the properties of materiality, physicality, it is thought of as an independent being, independent of the body, therefore it is believed that the soul can be lost, like a thing, and that sometimes shamans steal it. When a person goes on a long journey, the Eskimos believe, his soul remains at home, and this explains the homesickness.

Many peoples believe that in a dream a person’s soul leaves, and his body sleeps. Dreams are the nightly adventures of the soul, the double, but the human body does not participate in these adventures and continues to lie.

Among a number of peoples (Tasmanians, Algonquins, Zulus, Basuts), the word “soul” also means shadow. This suggests that at the early stages of its formation, the concept of “soul” among these peoples coincided with the concept of “shadow”. Other peoples (Koren, Papuans, Arabs, ancient Jews) had a different specific idea of the soul; it was associated with blood. In the languages of these peoples, the concepts of “soul” and “blood” were denoted by one word.

Perhaps the Greenlandic Eskimos had a particularly clear idea of the soul. They believed that fat people have fat souls, and skinny people have skinny souls. Thus, we see that through the ideas of many peoples about the soul, the most ancient understanding of it shines through as some completely material carrier of the vital forces of animals and plants, which was associated with blood, heart, breath, shadow, etc. Gradually, bodily, material properties in ideas about the soul disappeared and the soul became more and more subtle, ethereal, spiritual and finally turned into a completely ethereal spiritual being, independent and independent of the real, bodily world.

However, with the advent of ideas about an incorporeal soul, independent of the real world, separating from the flesh, the ancient man was faced with the question: if the soul can be separated from the flesh, can leave it, leave the bodily shell, then where does it go when a person dies, when does his body become a corpse?

With the emergence of beliefs in the soul, ideas about the afterlife began to form, which was usually depicted in the image of the earthly one.

Primitive people, who did not know class stratification, property inequality, exploitation and exploiters, imagined the other world to be the same for everyone. Initially, the idea of rewarding sinners for their sins and rewarding the righteous for their virtues was not associated with the afterlife. In the afterlife of ancient people there was no hell and heaven.

Subsequently, as animistic ideas developed, every somewhat significant natural phenomenon in the consciousness of primitive man received its own spirit. In order to appease the spirits and win them over to their side, people began to make sacrifices to them, often human ones. Thus, in ancient Peru, several boys and girls of ten years of age were sacrificed annually to the spirits of nature.

We examined the main forms of beliefs of people who lived in the era of the primitive communal system. Contrary to theological theories about the primordial belief in a single omnipotent God, contrary to the concept of primitive monotheism, it turns out that initially people revered crude material objects, animals, plants. The fantasy of ancient man, inflamed by fear of everything unknown, endowed natural objects and phenomena with supernatural properties. Then there appeared an equally blind faith in the soul, which can leave the body, ideas about spirits that hide behind any object, behind every natural phenomenon.

However, at this stage we do not yet see faith in the gods, and the supernatural world itself in the minds of ancient man has not yet separated from the real world. The natural and supernatural in these beliefs are very closely intertwined; the supernatural world is not presented as something independent, standing above nature and society. F. Engels gave a very accurate description of the content of the beliefs of ancient man of this period: “It was a cult of nature and the elements, which was on the path of development towards polytheism” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 21, p. 93.)

What place did these beliefs occupy in the life of primitive man? In those cases when a person could confidently rely on himself, on his own strength and knowledge, he did not turn to supernatural forces for help. But as soon as people in their life practice encountered something incomprehensible, on which their well-being and even life largely depended, they began to resort to witchcraft, spells, trying to enlist the support of supernatural forces.

It would therefore be completely wrong to assert that primitive man could not have taken a step without witchcraft, magic, shamans, etc. Quite the contrary, if ancient people had relied on supernatural forces in everything, they would not have taken a step along the path of social progress. Work and the mind developing in work led man forward, helping him to understand nature and himself. Belief in the supernatural only prevented him from doing this.

What did ancient people believe?

As a result, ancient people logically associated any natural phenomenon or disaster with humans. The night sky, stars, the rustle of leaves, the sound of the sea, rustling sounds - in all this our ancestors saw fantastic images fueled by creative imagination. Trying to protect themselves from the “evil spirits” living in every pebble, tree, and plant, they created defenders for themselves. These guardian assistants were amulets and talismans.

So, the most ancient magic is based on the law of universal involvement and affinity: in the world around a person, everything is interconnected with everything, and the whole world, in turn, is connected with a person, just as a person himself is connected with his family. It is not for nothing that the most ancient myths describe the origin of the world from parts of the body of a person or, like the ancient Scandinavians, a giant.

On his website “Occult Seasonal Rituals,” the English researcher William Gray wrote that talismans and amulets can only be compared to mountains, hills, lakes: they are as old, majestic and invincible as nature itself, which was worshiped, feared and praised in ancient peoples in their songs.

The most ancient amulets were practically unprocessed objects that their owners endowed with magical powers. They can be divided into two groups:

1) amulets of animal and plant origin;

How to survive a forest fire caused by random lightning striking a tree? How to become so strong that there is no game in your family and not a single wild animal can defeat you in single combat? How to learn to run so fast that neither an enemy nor a wild animal can catch up with you? All the issues that ancient man solved for himself every day with the help of his own strength or primitive magic were naturally related to survival in harsh conditions. So how? The law of universal participation offers a simple solution: you need to borrow strength, agility, speed from those creatures that are superior to humans in these qualities - from animals.

Since ancient times, various parts of the body of animals - pieces of fur, claws, teeth, bones - have served as wonderful amulets. They gave the owner qualities inherent in the previous “owner”. Bear fangs and claws spoke of the strength of a warrior and hunter, because a bear killed during a hunt shared its wild power and rage with its more successful opponent. The claws of fleet-footed wild cats, which were used as amulets, gave people speed and dexterity of movement. Pieces of skins allowed hunters to become as invisible in the forest as animals. Such amulets had another very important property, according to their manufacturers and owners. The fact is that primitive people, who animated all living things around, believed that animals were close relatives to them. Each tribe had its own totem - an animal, bird or plant - which protected its human relatives, protected them from dangers, warned of troubles, and gave wise advice. And wearing a piece of some animal or totemic plant on one’s body made a person closer to the world of nature, showed kinship with its natural representatives, and granted protection in forests and steppes.

Another group of primitive amulets is not of animal origin at all. These are stones. Much more will be said about the stones, because since ancient times they have been used by people as amulets against troubles and misfortunes, as talismans that bring good luck and love, and simply as beautiful decorations. Of the stones that people used as amulets, perhaps the first to be named are meteorites. Solid bodies that fell from the sky were endowed with the strongest magical properties: the possession of such an object put a person on the same level as the powerful forces of nature, making it possible to control fire, water, and vibrations of the earth. Such amulets, which were simply unprocessed meteorite iron, were kept by people who were believed to have a connection with spirits: shamans, tribal magicians or powerful leaders.

Some of these sacred objects have existed for centuries. Many famous amulets of later times (the Middle Ages, for example) were recognized by them in ancient times, at a time when any piece of stone that suddenly fell off a rock was endowed with mind, soul, memory and magical power. Later it was processed - forged, encrusted with precious stones, set in precious metals and used as a powerful amulet.

Such an amulet is described, for example, in the famous “alchemical” novel by Gustav Meyrink “The Angel of the Western Window”, where it appears under the name “Spear of Hoel Data”: the hero encounters this ancient artifact, since he is the last representative of the family of the ancient commander and leader . A spear (more precisely, the tip of a spear) is a dagger made of an alloy unknown on earth and mounted on a hilt by craftsmen of later eras. Where does metal come from? This is a piece of meteorite iron, which took the form of a dagger in the hands of skilled blacksmiths. What did ancient people believe?

For many hundreds of thousands of years, primitive man did not know religion. The beginnings of religious beliefs appeared among people only at the end of the Old Stone Age, that is, no earlier than 50-40 thousand years ago. Scientists learned about this from archaeological sites: sites and burials of primitive man, preserved cave paintings. Scientists have not found any traces of religion dating back to an earlier period in the history of primitive mankind. Religion could only arise when human consciousness had already developed so much that he began to attempt to explain the causes of those natural phenomena that he encountered in his everyday life. Observing various natural phenomena: the change of day and night, seasons, the growth of plants, the reproduction of animals and much more, man could not give them a correct explanation. His knowledge was still insignificant. The tools of labor are imperfect. Man in those days was helpless before nature and its elements. Incomprehensible and menacing phenomena...

Ancient man could not immediately understand the world around him or understand natural phenomena. It seemed to him that the world was dominated by hostile forces; he was helpless in the face of natural phenomena and was afraid of them. Therefore, primitive people sought to appease the formidable forces of nature and make them their helpers.

That is why they began to make sacrifices to the wind, thunder, sun, rain, lightning, and performed solemn rituals in their honor. People revered animals, which they then ate, because they believed that in this way they could become related. This is how totemism arose - the belief in blood ties between humans and animals. In addition, another ancient form of religion was animism - belief in the immortality of the soul, in the existence of invisible spirits inhabiting everything around. At the same time, fetishism develops - a belief in the supernatural properties of some “sacred” things and, finally, magic - a belief in a person’s ability to influence supernatural forces, witchcraft.

Natural phenomena - wind, lightning, thunder, rain - primitive people...

Primitive beliefs. One form of religious belief is called "fetishism" from the Portuguese word fitico (magical thing), which in turn is derived from the Latin word factitius (magically skilled). It was first discovered by Portuguese sailors in West Africa, and then numerous analogues of fetishism were identified in many areas of the world. Any object that for some reason captured a person’s imagination could become a fetish: a stone of an unusual shape, a piece of wood, an animal tooth, a skillfully made figurine, a piece of jewelry. This object was attributed properties that were not inherent to it (the ability to heal, protect against enemies, help in hunting, etc.). If, after turning to the subject, a person managed to achieve success in practical activities, he believed that the fetish helped him in this, and kept it for himself. If a person suffered any misfortune, the fetish was thrown out or replaced by another. Another early form of religious views should be considered...

Culture and beliefs of primitive people

Primitive culture played a significant role in the development of mankind. It was from this cultural and historical period that the history of human civilization began, man was formed, and such forms of human spirituality as religion, morality, and art arose.

With the development of material culture, tools of labor, and the increasing importance of collective forms of labor, elements of spiritual culture developed, in particular thinking and speech, the embryos of religion and ideological ideas arose, some elements of magic and the embryos of art appeared in ancestral communities: wavy lines on the walls of caves, images contour of the hand However, most scientists call this protomistry a natural image of grumbling activity.

The formation of the communal-tribal system contributed to the development of the spiritual life of primitive man. The day of the early tribal community was characterized by noticeable successes in the development of speech and the foundations of rational knowledge

Knowledge of primitive people: Knowledge of nature developed the observation skills of ancient man. This is the Knowledge of primitive people
Knowledge of nature developed the observation skills of ancient man. This allowed him to make many wonderful discoveries. People gradually learned to understand the plant world around them. They learned to distinguish beneficial plants from those that could cause harm. They began to eat many plants and learned the medicinal properties of some of them. Infusions, ointments, and decoctions were made from medicinal plants. Poisons were used to put fish to sleep, but they were mainly used to coat arrowheads.
Already in such a distant past, people were able to identify certain diseases and apply appropriate treatment methods. If necessary, they stopped the bleeding and even performed surgical operations, such as opening an abscess or removing a diseased tooth. In exceptional cases, patients could amputate...

Today, dear friends, the subject of our article will be ancient religions. We will plunge into the mysterious world of the Sumerians and Egyptians, get acquainted with fire worshipers and learn the meaning of the word “Buddhism”. You will also find out where religion came from and when man’s first thoughts about the afterlife appeared.

Read carefully, because today we will talk about the path that humanity has taken from primitive beliefs to modern temples.

What is "religion"

A very long time ago, people began to think about questions that cannot be explained only by earthly experience. For example, where do we come from? What happens after death? Who created the trees, mountains, seas? These and many other tasks remained unanswered.

The solution was found in animation and worship of phenomena, landscape objects, animals and plants. It is this approach that distinguishes all ancient religions. We will talk about them in more detail below.

The term “religion” itself comes from Latin. This concept means...

Slide 1
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF ANCIENT PEOPLE

Slide 2
“THE PAGAN IS A DARK SAVAGE WHO STUPIDLY WORSHIPES WHAT HE CAN SEE AND TOUCH” AMBROSE BIERCE

Slide 3
THE FIRST OBJECTS THAT BECAME AN OBJECT OF WORSHIP BY MAN WERE STONES. THEY AMAZED ANCIENT MAN WITH THEIR UNUSUALITY AND CHARMING BEAUTY.

Slide 4
HOWEVER, THE DEEPEST IMPRESSION WERE MADE BY THE METEORITE STONES. THE FALLING STAR INSPIRED TERROR INTO THE ANCIENT PEOPLE, AND IT WAS EASY FOR THEM TO BELIEVE THAT ITS BURNING TRAIL WAS LEFT BY AN EARTH-DRIVEN SPIRIT. IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT PEOPLE STARTED TO WORSHIP SIMILAR PHENOMENA

Slide 5
TREE WORSHIP IS ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA. MANY PLANTS AND TREES ARE REVERED FOR THEIR REAL OR PERCEIVED HEALING PROPERTIES. THE SAVAGE BELIEVED THAT ALL CHEMICAL PHENOMENA WERE EXPLAINED BY THE DIRECT ACTION OF SUPERNATURAL FORCES.

Slide 6
The human mind since ancient times...

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Belgorod State Technological University

named after V. G. Shukhov

Department of History and Cultural Studies

ABSTRACT

student Alutin Ivan Grigorievich

group TM-11

Primitive beliefs

Accepted by: Radchenko A. A.

Belgorod 2004

1. The birth of religion.

2. Mythology of Australia.

3. Totemism.

5. Fetishism.

6. Animism.

7. Conclusion.

8. List of references.

The Birth of Religion

At the initial stages of development, people had no religion. For a long period in the history of human life there was no religion. The beginnings of religion appear only among paleoanthropes - ancient people who lived 80-50 thousand years ago. These people lived during the Ice Age, in harsh climatic conditions. Their main occupation was hunting large animals: mammoths, rhinoceroses, cave bears, wild horses. Paleoanthropes hunted in groups...

Primitive forms of religions

The Origin of Primitive Religions

The simplest forms of religious beliefs already existed 40 thousand years ago. It was at this time that the appearance of the modern type of man (homo sapiens) dates back, who differed significantly from his supposed predecessors in physical structure, physiological and psychological characteristics. But his most important difference was that he was a reasonable person, capable of abstract thinking.

The existence of religious beliefs in this remote period of human history is evidenced by the burial practices of primitive people. Archaeologists have established that they were buried in specially prepared places. At the same time, certain rituals were previously carried out to prepare the dead for the afterlife. Their bodies were covered with a layer of ocher, weapons, household items, jewelry, etc. were placed next to them. Obviously, at that time, religious and magical ideas were already taking shape that...

Read carefully, because today we will talk about the path that humanity has taken from primitive beliefs to modern temples.

What is "religion"

A very long time ago, people began to think about questions that cannot be explained only by earthly experience. For example, where are we from? Who created the trees, mountains, seas? These and many other tasks remained unanswered.

The term “religion” itself comes from Latin. This concept means a worldview that includes higher powers, moral and ethical laws, a system of cult activities and specific organizations.

Some modern beliefs do not meet all points. They cannot be defined as "religion". Buddhism, for example, is more likely to be classified as a philosophical movement.

Before the emergence of philosophy, it was religion that dealt with issues of good and evil, morality and ethics, the meaning of life and many others. Also, since ancient times, a special social stratum has emerged - the priests. These are modern priests, preachers, missionaries. They not only deal with the problem of “saving the soul,” but they represent a fairly influential state institution.

So, where did it all begin? Now we will talk about the emergence of the first thoughts about a higher nature and supernatural things in the environment.

Primitive beliefs

We know about beliefs from rock paintings and burials. In addition, some tribes still live at Stone Age levels. Therefore, ethnographers can study and describe their worldview and cosmology. It is from these three sources that we know about ancient religions.

Our ancestors began to separate the real world from the other world more than forty thousand years ago. It was at this time that such a type of person as the Cro-Magnon man, or homo sapiens, appeared. In fact, he is no different from modern people.

Before him there were Neanderthals. They existed for about sixty thousand years before the Cro-Magnons appeared. It was in the burials of Neanderthals that ocher and grave goods were first found. These are symbols of purification and materials for posthumous life in the other world.

Gradually, the belief is formed that all objects, plants, animals have a spirit within them. If you can appease the spirits of the stream, there will be a good catch. The spirits of the forest will give you a successful hunt. And the appeased spirit of a fruit tree or field will help with a bountiful harvest.

The consequences of these beliefs have persisted through the centuries. Is this why we still talk to instruments, machines and other things, hoping that they will hear us and the problem will go away by itself?

As animism developed, totemism, fetishism and shamanism appeared. The first involves the belief that each tribe has its own "totem", protector and progenitor. A similar belief is inherent in tribes at the next stage of development.

Among them are Indians and some other tribes from different continents. An example is the ethnonyms - the tribe of the Great Buffalo or the Wise Muskrat.

This also includes cults of sacred animals, taboos, etc.

Fetishism is the belief in a superpower that certain things can bestow upon us. This includes amulets, talismans and other items. They are designed to protect a person from evil influence or, conversely, contribute to the successful course of events.
Any unusual thing that stood out from among similar things could become a fetish.

For example, a stone from a sacred mountain or an unusual bird feather. Later, this belief is mixed with the cult of ancestors, and amulets dolls begin to appear. Subsequently they turn into anthropomorphic gods.

Therefore, the dispute about which religion is older cannot be resolved unambiguously. Gradually, fragments of primitive beliefs and everyday experience were assembled among different peoples. From such a plexus more complex forms of spiritual concepts arise.

Magic

When we mentioned ancient religions, we talked about shamanism, but did not discuss it. This is a more developed form of belief. It includes not only fragments from other worships, but also implies the ability of a person to influence the invisible world.

Shamans, according to the belief of the rest of the tribe, can communicate with spirits and help people. These include healing rituals, invocations of good luck, requests for victory in battle, and spells for a good harvest.

This practice still persists in Siberia, Africa and some other less developed regions. Voodoo culture can be mentioned as a transitional part from simple shamanism to more complex magic and religion.

There are already gods in it who are responsible for various spheres of human life. In Latin America, African images are superimposed on the properties of Catholic saints. This unusual tradition sets the voodoo cult apart from similar magical movements.

When mentioning the emergence of ancient religions, it is impossible to ignore magic. This is the highest form of primitive beliefs. Gradually becoming more complex, shamanic rituals incorporate experience from different areas of knowledge. Rituals are created that are designed to make some people stronger than others. It was believed that after undergoing initiation and receiving secret (esoteric) knowledge, magicians become practically demigods.

What is a magical ritual? This is a symbolic execution of the desired action with the best outcome. For example, warriors dance a war dance, attack an imaginary enemy, and suddenly a shaman appears in the form of a tribal totem and helps his children destroy the enemy. This is the most primitive form of the ritual.

More complex rituals are described in special books of spells, which have been known since ancient times. These include books of the dead, witches' books of spirits, Keys of Solomon and other grimoires.

Thus, over several tens of thousands of years, beliefs have gone from the worship of animals and trees to the veneration of personified phenomena or human properties. They are the ones we call gods.

Sumerian-Akkadian civilization

Next we will consider some ancient religions of the East. Why do we start with them? Because the first civilizations arose in this territory.
So, according to archaeologists, the oldest settlements are found within the “fertile crescent”. These are lands belonging to the Middle East and Mesopotamia. It is here that the states of Sumer and Akkad arise. We will talk about their beliefs further.

The religion of ancient Mesopotamia is known to us from archaeological finds on the territory of modern Iraq. Some literary monuments of that period have also been preserved. For example, the tale of Gilgamesh.

A similar epic was recorded on clay tablets. They were found in ancient temples and palaces and later deciphered. So, what do we know from them?
The most ancient myth tells about the old gods who personify water, sun, moon and earth. They gave birth to young heroes who began to make noise. For this, the originals decided to get rid of them. But the sky god Ea figured out the insidious plan and was able to put his father Abuz to sleep, who became the ocean.

The second myth tells of the rise of Marduk. It was written, apparently, during the subjugation of the remaining city-states by Babylon. After all, it was Marduk who was the supreme deity and guardian of this city.

The legend says that Tiamat (primary chaos) decided to attack the “heavenly” gods and destroy them. She won several battles and the originals became “despondent.” In the end, they decided to send Marduk to fight Tiamat, who successfully completed the task. He chopped up the body of the defeated woman. From its different parts he made the sky, the earth, Mount Ararat, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Thus, Sumerian-Akkadian beliefs become the first step towards the formation of an institution of religion, when the latter becomes an important part of the state.

Ancient Egypt

Egypt became the successor to the Sumerian religion. His priests were able to continue the work of the Babylonian priests. They developed sciences such as arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Stunning examples of spells, hymns, and sacred architecture were also created. The tradition of posthumous mummification of noble people and pharaohs has become unique.

The rulers of this period of history begin to proclaim themselves the sons of the gods and, in fact, the inhabitants of heaven themselves. It is on the basis of this worldview that the next stage of the religion of the ancient world is built. A tablet from the Babylonian palace speaks of the ruler's initiation received from Marduk. The texts of the pyramids illustrate not only the chosenness of the pharaohs by God, but also show a direct family connection.

However, such veneration of the pharaohs was not from the very beginning. It appeared only after the conquest of the surrounding lands and the creation of a strong state with a powerful army. Before this, there was a pantheon of gods, which subsequently changed a little, but retained its main features.

So, as stated in Herodotus’s work “History”, the religion of the ancient Egyptians included rituals dedicated to different seasons, the worship of deities and special rituals designed to strengthen the country’s position in the world.

Egyptian myths tell of the goddess of the sky and the god of the earth, who gave birth to everything that surrounds us. These people believed that the sky was Nut, standing above Geb, the god of the earth. She touches him only with the tips of her fingers and toes. Every evening she eats the sun, and every morning she gives birth to him again.

The main deity in the early period of Ancient Egypt was Ra, the sun god. Later he lost the championship to Osiris.

The legend of Isis, Osiris and Horus later formed the basis of many myths about the murdered and resurrected savior.

Zoroastrianism

As we mentioned at the beginning, the religion of ancient people attributed powerful properties to various elements and objects. This belief was preserved by the ancient Persians. Neighboring peoples called them “fire worshipers”, as they especially revered this phenomenon.

This is one of the first world religions that had its own Holy Scripture. This did not happen either in Sumer or in Egypt. There were only scattered books of spells and hymns, myths and recommendations for mummification. In Egypt, it is true, there was a book of the dead, but it cannot be called Scripture.

In Zoroastrianism there is a prophet - Zarathushtra. He received the scripture (Avesta) from the supreme god Ahura Mazda.

The basis of this religion is freedom of moral choice. Man fluctuates every second between evil (personified by Angro Manyu or Ahriman) and good (Ahura Mazda or Hormuz). The Zoroastrians called their religion “Good Faith” and called themselves “believers.”

The ancient Persians believed that man was given reason and conscience in order to correctly determine his side in the spiritual world. The main tenets were helping others and supporting those in need. The main prohibitions are violence, robbery and theft.
The goal of any Zoroastrian was to achieve good thoughts, words and deeds at the same time.

Like many other ancient religions of the East, the “Good Faith” ultimately proclaimed the victory of good over evil. But Zoroastrianism is the first creed in which such concepts as heaven and hell are found.

They were called fire worshipers for the special reverence they showed to fire. But this element was considered the crudest manifestation of Ahura Mazda. The faithful considered sunlight to be the main symbol of the supreme god in our world.

Buddhism

Buddhism has long been a popular religion in East Asia. Translated into Russian from Sanskrit, this word means “the teaching of spiritual awakening.” Its founder is considered to be Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in India in the sixth century BC. The term “Buddhism” appeared only in the nineteenth century, but the Hindus themselves called it “dharma” or “Boddhidharma”.

Today it is one of the three world religions, which is considered the most ancient of them. Buddhism permeates the cultures of the peoples of East Asia, so it is possible to understand the Chinese, Hindus, Tibetans and many others only after becoming familiar with the basics of this religion.

The main ideas of Buddhism are the following:
- life is suffering;
- suffering (dissatisfaction) has a reason;
- there is an opportunity to get rid of suffering;
- there is a way to deliverance.

These postulates are called the four noble truths. And the path that leads to getting rid of dissatisfaction and frustration is called “Eightfold”.
It is believed that the Buddha came to these conclusions after seeing the troubles of the world and sitting for many years under a tree in meditation on the question of why people suffer.

Today this belief is considered a philosophical movement, not a religion. The reasons for this are:
- in Buddhism there is no concept of God, soul and redemption;
- there is no organization, uniform dogmas and unconditional devotion to the idea;
- its adherents believe that there are an infinite number of worlds;
- besides this, you can belong to any religion and be guided by the principles of Buddhism, this is not prohibited here.

Antiquity

By adherents of Christianity and other monotheistic beliefs, people's first worship of nature is called paganism. Therefore, we can say that it is the oldest world religion. Now we will move from India to the Mediterranean coast.

Here, during the period of antiquity, Greek and Roman cultures were especially developed. If you look closely at the pantheons of ancient gods, they are practically interchangeable and equivalent. Often the only difference is the name of one character or another.

It is also noteworthy that this religion of the ancient gods identified the celestial beings with people. If we read ancient Greek and Roman myths, we will see that immortals are just as petty, jealous and self-interested as humanity. They help those they favor and can be bribed. The gods, angry over a trifle, can destroy an entire people.

Nevertheless, it was precisely this approach to understanding the world that helped shape modern values. On the basis of such frivolous relationships with higher powers, philosophy and many sciences were able to develop. If we compare antiquity with the era of the Middle Ages, it becomes clear that freedom of expression is more valuable than the inculcation of the “true faith.”

The ancient gods lived on Mount Olympus, which is located in Greece. Also, people then inhabited forests, ponds and mountains with spirits. It was this tradition that later resulted in European gnomes, elves and other fairy-tale creatures.

Abrahamic religions

Today we divide historical time into the period before and after the birth of Christ. Why did this particular event become so important? In the Middle East, the ancestor is considered to be a man named Abraham. It is spoken about in the Torah, the Bible and the Koran. He spoke about monotheism for the first time. About what the religions of the ancient world did not recognize.

The table of religions shows that the Abrahamic faiths have the largest number of adherents today.

The main movements are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They appeared in the order listed. Judaism is considered the most ancient, it appeared somewhere in the ninth century BC. Then Christianity appeared around the first century, and Islam appeared in the sixth century.

However, these religions alone have given rise to countless wars and conflicts. Intolerance towards people of other faiths is a distinctive feature of adherents of Abrahamic faiths.

Although if you carefully read the Scriptures, they talk about love and mercy. Only the laws of the early Middle Ages described in these books are confusing. The problem begins when fanatics want to apply outdated dogmas to a modern society that has already changed significantly.

Due to disagreements between the text of books and the behavior of believers, different currents arose over the centuries. They interpreted the Scriptures in their own way, which led to “wars of faith.”

Today the problem has not been completely solved, but the methods have improved a little. Modern “new churches” are more aimed at the inner world of the flock and the priest’s wallet than at conquering heretics.

Ancient religion of the Slavs

Today on the territory of the Russian Federation one can find both the most ancient forms of religion and monotheistic movements. However, who did our ancestors originally worship?

The religion of Ancient Rus' today is called the term “paganism”. This is a Christian concept meaning the faiths of other peoples. Over time, it took on a slightly derogatory connotation.

Today, attempts are being made to restore ancient beliefs in different countries of the world. Europeans, reconstructing the faith of the Celts, call their actions “tradition.” In Russia, the names “relatives”, “Slavic-Aryans”, “Rodnovers” and others are accepted.

What materials and sources help restore bit by bit the worldview of the ancient Slavs? Firstly, these are literary monuments, such as “The Book of Veles” and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”. Some rituals, names and attributes of different gods are mentioned there.

In addition, there are quite a lot of archaeological finds that clearly illustrate the cosmogony of our ancestors.

The supreme gods were different for different tribes. Over time, Perun, the god of thunder, and Veles stand out. Rod also often appears in the role of progenitor. Places of worship of deities were called “temples” and were located in forests or on river banks. Wooden and stone sculptures were placed on them. People came there to pray and make sacrifices.

Thus, dear readers, today we have become acquainted with such a concept as religion. In addition, we got acquainted with various ancient beliefs.

Good luck, friends. Be tolerant of each other!

Modern people do not always take the beliefs of primitive people seriously. Discussions about the faith of ancient society should not be reduced to primitive reasoning; they can only be comprehended from the point of view of historicism.

Totemism

Totemism is a special type of primitive religion in which an animal (the most common option) or a plant (such cases are less common) was perceived as the progenitor of a certain kind. A totem is a special type of animal or plant endowed with supernatural powers: the ability to bestow healing, good luck, life or death. In ethnography, it is customary to divide the concept of totem into several types:

In North America, the most common type of totem is an animal. Each genus has its own progenitor: a bear, an eagle, a snake and even a duck;
on the territory of modern Australia, even the manifestation of weather can be considered totems: rain, rays of the Sun, heat;
In the territory of Black Africa, the maize totem is especially common.

Animism

Animism is also a type of religion of primitive society. It should be noted that animism has successfully survived to this day and is present in all modern world religions. So, animism is the belief that every living and nonliving creature is animate and sentient. The only difference between “modern” animism is the denial of the soul of the inanimate. Ancient people believed that every person, all flora and fauna, all Nature is a single animate, but most importantly, conscious organism.

Magic

Primitive man was not endowed with the system of knowledge that we now possess. That is why he used the irrational to explain his environment. So, magic is an apparent secret, supernatural influence on surrounding matter. In primitive society, not every member of the tribe could master the secret meanings of magic. This unusual mission was entrusted to certain “classes” of people - priests, shamans. Initiated tribal sorcerers were sometimes even held in higher esteem than military leaders and clan elders. They, according to ancient people, could heal or harm health, improve productivity, cause good weather, destroy the enemy, and help in hunting.