Humankind has into him, the ability to believe. Intrinsically, naturally whether be it, an idea, a thing (trees, animals, the sun, the moon or any creatures..). He can also believes in a Higher Being, like God if he wants to make a meaning of his own existence and his surroundings. He's also able to believe in godless existence, that the life on earth is caused by chance and chaos through billions years evolution. He's also doubtful, sceptical. He's still not sure if there's a God. And, there's the 4th kind of human. He knows God exists but he doesn't want to believe. As he's able to believe he believes in anything. His journey of exploration and findings is full of symbols throughout his own existence. Symbols he made into his head they have a meaning, an explanation behind anything he's unable himself to explain. He sees symbols in everything, everywhere. As he's already surrounded by signs in his daily life, it makes him, unconsciously, an easy believer. Throughout ages, mankind has always believed in something. Ancient civilizations believed in their plants as they had cure to such illness and such till the point where generations to generations they believed these plants, flowers and tree as they were deities. Deities of cure and life versus deities of sufferings and death. Deities of love and peace versus deities of hate and war.. They put in everything surrounded them a belief.. To be continued..
1.0 version
Posted in
Off-topic
1.0 version
From the Nordic vikings in Scandinavia to the far South Eastern aborginals in Australia and from the eastern peoples of Asia to the pharaohs of Egypt. And through the Greeks and Romans in the mediteranean sea to the African tribes from the North to the South, and from the North native tribes in America to the South western tribes in south America, worldwide, they all believed that everything in nature possesses a spirit or a soul. The spirits of the trees, mountains, rivers, rocks, winds, thunders, volcanoes, earthquakes..or the sun and the moon were all personified. A human personification of these natural elements. In many cultures, the sun for eg: is a masculine entity and the moon is feminine. From that point, deities, gods and goddesses came into folks' existence. Because nature provides a rich amalgam of symbols to all people; the sun and moon and the stars are still seen as highly symbolic, because of their particular nature and by how they affect every aspect of human lives. The moon's gravity for example influences the waters, controlling the flow of tides, and it even controls human mood or blood pressure when they used to believe in ancient Rome that its gravity controls madness of their citizens. Greek and Roman, or Persian and Mesopotamian or Mayan and Aztec civilizations and else used their own calendar and gone further by giving names and attributes to planetes and stars according to their pagan beliefs and superstitions. In all cultures confounded, symbols grow in meaning and complexity throughout ages, but the mainly worldwide matter that have remained constant, is fertility, both of the human race and of the soil, like birth, life, and death. Associated with life, the pine tree symbolizes immortality. In Japan it has come to signify strength of character and vital energy, due to its ability to withstand with strong winds. Either to the Greeks or to the Romans, it symbolize fertility. Associated with death, the beech tree is sacred in the Roman mythology. It represents prosperity, divination, and immortality. Because of its leathery leaves, the beech symbolizes endurance. It's the emblem of Denmark. #Side note: Roman empire took everything from the people he conquered. Their architecture, their way of life, their gods and goddesses except foods, clothing, gladiator and joust.# Although the symbolism of a particular image may vary from place to place. The forest, for eg: is symbolic of retreat and meditation to many Asians. However, in the West, the forest tends to be a sinister place, gathering dangerous animals and robbers, and shadows representing the dark places of the unconscious. Other example, the cat, to many, has always been a domesticated animal, used to kill rats and mice, however something in the cat's nature and appearance has given it associations with the night, mystery, and mysticism. Now considered luck in many places, black cats were once associated with witchcraft. In ancient Egypt cats were worshipped and mummified like people.
In the Aboriginal culture, they have what's called Dreamtime. It is a belief where a supernatural past in which ancestral beings shaped and humanized the natural world. Australian Aboriginals feel alone with nature, and ritual music and art are vital expressions of the spirit essences of the Dreamtime. The native Americans have the totem pole which symbolizes the relationship btw a tribe or clan and its ancestors and nature, could it be trees, athmospheric changes or animals. These people eachtime they see a weather change or even a random meaningless form of a cloud or any animal they interpreted it as a mystic sign from their ancestors' spirit. An owl is a warning. A crow is bad news... Influenced by beliefs of the previous peoples, the Pharaoh's and high-ranked Egyptians developed a new belief from the merging of peoples' beliefs before them and their own to form one group of deities with human form and one with animal-shaped forms. These were well-known to be the cult of the dead. The same goes for the Romans. They were influenced by peoples they came into contact with. They adopted the Greek mythology as well as those of other peoples they conquered, and had hundreds of different gods, goddesses, demigods, and spirits each of which related to virtually every aspect of life. The Celts and the British Isles been halfly influenced by the Romans and they adopted their mythology as well mixing them with their own belief. The Vikings, who lived in icy and a harsh climate, been influenced by what they were facing and living, an unwelcoming weather. Due to their explorations through the Nordic seas they were able to reach other peoples they had not knew of their existence. Like the Franks, the Germans, and the Iberians in Vandalucia or later known as Andalucia by the coming and settlement of Muslims. Because of these new countries discovery they had a mixture of Pagan beliefs of theirs plus the beliefs of peoples they discovered but they mainly worshipped deities of nature elements like thunders, lightning, storms, sacred groves and trees, in the deity of Tor hoping to exert some control over the fierceness and destructive atmospheric conditions. Hinduism been influenced by the Aryans, who arrived in India with a pantheon of male gods in the second millennium BC. Mesoamericans or what is better known as the tribes that were in south America, as Mayan, Aztec or else been influenced in their beliefs by previous peoples they existed and settled their way of life into hunting-gathering and had put on sacrifices virgins to bring health and wealth in the name of their deities, the sun and the moon. To be continued Final part. 1 part out of 3.