The Early Formation of Religions Across the World

Today, we as humans practice a certain religion and are generally aware of the religions that exist around the world. Modern religion differs greatly from those that were practiced in ancient civilizations across the globe.  Many have been modified from their original practices and many are rarely ever practiced anymore. On different continents and the countries that make up its geography have practiced religion since its very beginnings and have in fact changed throughout time.

When one thinks of evolution they envision the change of species through time. They think of the idea of species changing in order to survive. The same idea can be envisioned when thinking of the evolution of religion. In Yoruba, Africa, the religion of Santeria is a great example of evolution in terms of religion. In the colonial period Europeans enslaved Africans. Not only did they make them work for them, but also criminalized their religion. Inevitably the enslaved were forced to practice European religion, which is Roman Catholicism. They were forced to worship a different god that they knew nothing about and were forced to be baptized. Through the hardship of slavery they used Santeria as a means to keep their faith and spirituality alive. Santeria is a mixture of Indigenous traditions with Roman Catholic religion. Some of these traditions are the ability to communicate with ancestors, the sacrificing of animals, and sacred drumming. The idea behind this religion is that they would still practice their own rituals and sacrifices but their gods would generally take up different forms or forms that allowed the Europeans to believe that the enslaved were conforming to their religion. This evolved into a new form of their religion that is seen today. Once slavery was abolished people continued with the religion of Santeria. It is prominent in Latino and African cultures partly because many of the enslaved were taken over seas to work on sugar plantations. It is practiced around the world. It is prevalent in many movies and t.v shows. As a result of the religion practiced in Europe, slaves developed their own beliefs and religion that is widely known as Santaria instead of reverting to Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholicism in Europe is a modern religion that is practiced throughout the continent and other places. Ancient European religions shaped what Roman Catholicism is today.

Ancient European religions were generally pagan and polytheistic.  In fact each country had its own indigenous religion. Ancient Greek religion includes both ritual and cult practices.  The Greek religion was originally based off polytheism. They had a set hierarchy of gods and goddesses whom they worshipped. The ancient Greeks also believed in an afterlife in which the spirits of the dead went to an underworld after their death. They also held many festivals throughout each year celebrating certain deities.  Some of the rituals the ancient Greeks took part in included the sacrifice of animals usually as part of a ceremony at altars or temples. In ancient Rome religion also played a large role in people’s daily lives. Ancient Roman religions also had polythestic beliefs. The Emperor of Rome was often considered to be god and worshipped on certain occasions. They also practiced rituals and sacrafices. The Roman people kept few altars and shrines for their “lares” which were the head of the household family. In western Europe the Celts worshipped forces of nature unlike the ancient Greeks, and did not attribute human characteristics to gods. Germanic paganism included polytheism as well and  both human and animal sacrafices. Many of these ancient religions fell victim to influence and manipulation from Christianity and the Mediterranean culture. Then throughout the beginning of the early middle ages most of Europe underwent Christinization. Today paganism and polytheism are rarely practiced in Europe.

The divergence of religion across continents is in a large part due to the travel and eventual settling of humans in different parts of the world. As the earliest humans carried their religious practices to new territory, their beliefs developed into the diverse religions that we know of today. Take Central and South America for example. Some 40,000 years ago, humans began migrating from Asia into North America, through Central America and eventually reaching South America. Along the way, religious practices, though maintaining much of the same basic beliefs, evolved along with the civilization. For instance, despite the belief of polytheism in both Mayan and Incan cultures, the Mayans saw the afterlife as a journey through the evil underworld for most, and only those who were sacrificed could go to heaven. On the other hand the Incas developed a belief in reincarnation, where after death a spirit was given a new form to inhabit. The Incas also came up with a philosophy of equality among men and women, due to their particular gods and goddesses. Farther north, the Mayan people saw blood as nourishment for their gods, which caused them to perform various acts of self-torture and sacrifice. Alternatively, these two civilizations practice religions that are entirely different from those of the Native Americans of North America. There are plenty of other differences between religions of these territories, but the point is that cultures that come from the same initial population can develop such diverse religious practices and rituals as they evolve and spread out across continents. The reasons for all of these differences could be attributed to geographic differences, survival methods (such as how they obtain food), or possibly just the evolution of values within a culture. Whatever the reason, it is clear that as human beings began to diversify and evolve into the different peoples and societies we know today, so too did their religious customs and beliefs.

http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/geness.html

http://history-world.org/inca.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient_rome_and_religion.htm
http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/greecerome/Greecerelig1.html

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/europe/geness.html

The Origin of Religion

Sasha Pena

Edson Ramirez

John McGinness

Christian Mora

Origin of religion

The origin of religion has been an ongoing debate among scholars throughout history. Were humans the first to use religion or was it the Neanderthals? One of the arguments used in the justification of Neanderthal’s having a religion is the burial of their dead. Often times they would bury their dead in a certain position, or with different items. Some argue that the burial of the dead was used to hide smells or keep away from predators. However, many scholars disagree and state burials were done purposely because the Neanderthal’s had a belief in the afterlife, ritual, and practiced some sort of religion.

The specific burial position of some Neanderthal corpses is further evidence suggesting some sort of belief of an afterlife. Numerous excavations have revealed Neanderthal bodies buried intentionally in the fetal position, occasionally lacking a skull. This body placement indicates some type of burial ritual in which the body is returned to the same position as it was at birth. Perhaps the Neanderthals believed in a continuous life cycle in which the deceased would be reborn after death. As for the missing skull in some of the graves, it is possible that the head was a very significant part of the body to the Neanderthals, and was therefore given a separate burial or used for an additional ritual. Skeptics argue that the position of the bodies was simply to save space in the grave, and that the removal of the skull does not necessarily indicate a religious motive. However, those objections do not explain the traces of perfumed oil found on some Neanderthal bodies. This technique of covering the corpse with oils is very similar to embalming procedures of modern day society. With all of these similarities it is difficult to rule out the idea that Neanderthals in fact maintained some type of spiritually, or at least had some awareness regarding the implications of death and life beyond it.

Many believe that Neanderthals had a purpose for burying one another. Through excavation many Neanderthals have been discovered with items. Through research it has been found that many Neanderthals practiced similar burial techniques as individuals today do. This idea is important because it gives us a chance to make inferences through artifacts. Many Neanderthals have been found to have pollen surrounding their bones. This brings up the idea they were purposefully put there.  Many try to debate that burrowing rodents could have put pollen there. If that indeed was true then what explains the medical herbs found buried with the bodies. The evidence of medical herbs shows that there was probably some type of medicine man among them. Some were even found surrounded by pine branches and as many as eight different types of flowers. There has also been evidence of tools such as axes and stones that have been buried with the dead. If indeed there was not a belief in an after life why would they burry tools that they can use in their lives for survival? It is hard to believe that this was not intentional because of the variety of different ways each body was found. There had to be some belief of after life because of the procedures that were taken for burials. They had to have some sort of concept in respecting the dead. They not only buried them, but also buried them in a specific way that is seen through out all the bodies that have been excavated. The ways that they were buried are very similar to the ways we burry one another today. Perhaps, these forms of burial may suggest some sort of religiosity or worship of a higher being or supernatural entity. We may not have sufficient evidence that strongly suggests that Neanderthals believed in these things. Burying the corpses with tools seems to be a logical reason as to why Neanderthals believed in an afterlife, but we are not sure.

 http://www.garvandwane.com/religion/early_religion.html

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba66/feat1.shtml

http://www.scilogs.eu/en/blog/biology-of-religion/2009-10-17/the-burials-of-neanderthals-religion-evolved-at-least-two-times