Connected
Nothing is ever simple. Let’s get that clear first and foremost. As human beings with lives and interests of our own, it’s all too easy to think of things in terms of black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. We are too ready to think our culture and our lives exist in a vacuum, untouched by other cultures and untouched by time.
I think there is confusion from people when I explain my love for mythology and world religion. To the western mind (for that’s the only mind I can speak of) these things lack relevance. They lack a place in our lives because of the seemingly vast gap between our time and theirs, but I feel that to understand mythology, world religion, and history is to understand the very heart of the modern human condition, to see the core of what has brought us here today. Taking one of these areas of study by itself simply isn’t enough, but by looking at modern life through the lens of all three we can see how everything is connected in a very real sense and often in very complicated ways.
To be more specific, reading studies on Shamanism across the globe and seeing the core of what makes shamanic religions tick has granted some interesting insights into the progression of religion in general. It’s fairly obvious that the shamanic rituals from which all religions are derived have lead to slow developments in religion that reflect changing human attitudes. Where people were once very focused on their interactions with the world around them and the animals they shared their environment with, they are now very centered on the human condition itself.
Clear examples abound.
Where shamanic cultures derive power from animals and tell stories of animals, the Norse and Egyptian cultures show signs of humanization within their religions, but also have some element of the shamanic well from which all religions have sprung. The idea that birds act as psychopomps, leading the souls of the dead from this world to the next, is a common one among shamanic cultures across the globe. Bird song is often considered magical and to learn the speech of birds is a method of acquiring magic for oneself. We can see these on display in the god Odin, who acquires magical powers for himself and who receives news of the world from his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn. We can see it in the Kalevala, the mythical story of the Finns, a culture with a rich tradition of relating song with magic.
We can see the progression of religion from being very outward to becoming very inward and with it, we can see a shift in the attitude of human thought. Whether religion informs culture or culture informs religion is a matter I, personally, can’t be sure, suffice to say that the two go hand in hand. As spirits and deities went from animal or plant in form to human, there was a shift (evidenced best by the Greeks) in how cultures treated the subject of the human condition. As time has passed into a time largely dominated by the Abrahamic faiths, some of the most humano-centric religions to date, there seems to have been a shift from simply focusing on human issues to a very human dominated worldview. Mankind, to most people, is no longer a part of the earth, but rather apart from it, above it. The Christian Bible instructs that the world is here for us to use, where the shamanic traditions tell us that we live alongside the animals and that we compete with them.
And with that worldview comes dangers that we are now seeing. The destruction of wildlife, the loss of forests, pollution. When we live apart from the world, we can’t be held responsible for the problems we cause. In addition, we (the general population) have turned from studying the world to studying ourselves. Discovery Channel now airs as much reality television as they do programs on scientific issues. History Channel is talking about present day pawn stars instead of airing specials on the Greeks or the Romans.
I’d like to make it clear that I’m not necessarily advocating a return to shamanic traditions, I am, however, advocating a shift in worldview. Humanity is very interesting, to be sure, I study our past and our present in mythology and history, but I also like to read and watch programs about the world I live in, the creatures i share the world with. We can’t go back to the way things were, but we can shift our focus from being narcissistic to a more holistic view that also includes recognizing the world we live in.
If we’re going to think about ourselves, we also need to think about our past and our surroundings, and there doesn’t seem to be enough of that around lately.
