Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Kostyonki (or Kostenki) (Archaeological Complex)

Tianyuan man (Tianyuan Cave 42,000 and 39,000 years old)

Gravettian Culture (known for Venus figurines)

Pavlovian culture (Art or religious finds are bone carvings and figurines of humans and animals)

Dolní Věstonice (archaeological site)

Ancient North Eurasian (ANE)

Mal’ta–Buret’ Culture (Mal’ta Venus figurines)

Afontova Gora (Siberian Complex of Archaeological sites)

Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG)

Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG)

Yamnaya Culture (Identified with the Late Proto-Indo-Europeans)

 

Who were the Groups migrating and merging with the previous Groups of Europe?

Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system

Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are believed to be: intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds.

shaman is someone who is regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. The word “shaman” probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. According to ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen, “the word is attested in all of the Tungusic idioms” such as NegidalLamutUdehe/OrochiNanai, Ilcha, OrokManchu and Ulcha, and “nothing seems to contradict the assumption that the meaning ‘shaman’ also derives from Proto-Tungusic” and may have roots that extend back in time at least two millennia. The term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552. The term “shamanism” was first applied by Western anthropologists as outside observers of the ancient religion of the Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighbouring Tungusic and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Upon observing more religious traditions across the world, some Western anthropologists began to also use the term in a very broad sense, to describe unrelated magico-religious practices found within the ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa, Australasia and even completely unrelated parts of the Americas, as they believed these practices to be similar to one another. Mircea Eliade writes, “A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = ‘technique of religious ecstasy‘.” Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment. Beliefs and practices that have been categorised this way as “shamanic” have attracted the interest of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. 


Regional variations of Shamanism


“shamanist” Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife (you are a hidden shamanist/Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system) there is what is believed to be a female shaman burial with a matching carved ivory female head belonging to the Pavlovian culture  29,000 to 25,000 a variant of the Gravettian/(Gravettian culture 33,000 to 22,000 years ago), dated to 29,000 to 25,000-years old Dolní Vestonice, Moravia, Czech Republic. A carved ivory figure in the shape of a female head was discovered near the huts. The left side of the figure’s face was distorted image is believed to be a description of elder female’s burial around 40 years old, she was ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand holding the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of early female shamans. Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known namely from cave sites in France, Spain and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians — they include the Pavlovian culture — were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. The origins of the Gravettian people are not clear, they seem to appear simultaneously all over Europe. Though they carried distinct genetic signatures, the Gravettians and Aurignacians before them were descended from the same ancient founder population. According to genetic data, 37,000 years ago, all Europeans can be traced back to a single ‘founding population’ that made it through the last ice age. Furthermore, the so-called founding fathers were part of the Aurignacian culture which was displaced by another group of early humans members of the Gravettian culture. Between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago, different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population. To a greater extent than their Aurignacian predecessors, they are known for their Venus figurinesrefrefrefref


Religion Progression to me:
 
1. Animism (belief in a perceived spirit world) possibly by at least 100,000 years ago “the primal stage of early religion”
2. Totemism (belief that these perceived spirits could be managed with created physical expressions) possibly by at least 50,000 years ago “progressed stage of early religion”
3. Shamanism (belief that some special person can commune with these perceived spirits on the behalf of others by way rituals) possibly by at least 30,000 years ago
4. Paganism “Early organized nature-based religion” mainly like an evolved shamanism with gods (possibly by at least 13,000 years ago).
5. Institutional religion “organized religion” as a social institution with official dogma usually set in a hierarchical/bureaucratic structure that contains strict rules and practices dominating the believer’s life. And to me paganism and Institutional religion categorized into the following stages:
 *primal stage of organized religion is 13,000 years ago.
*proto-stage of organized religion is around 10,000 years ago.
*progressed stage of organized religion is around 7,000 years ago.
*developed stage of organized “Institutional” religion is around 5,000 years ago.


So, it all starts in a general way with Animism (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (theoretical belief in a mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religions development).

Sky Burials: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, and Paganism


‘Sky Burial’ theory and its possible origins at least

12,000 years ago to likely 30,000 years ago or older.


Black, White, and Yellow Shamanism?


Black shamanism is a kind of shamanism practiced in Mongolia and Siberia. It is specifically opposed to yellow shamanism, which incorporates rituals and traditions from Buddhism. Buddhism first entered Mongolia during the Yuan Dynasty (thirteenth-fourteenth century) and was briefly established as a state religion. The cult of Genghis Khan, who had been accepted into the tngri, the highest pantheon of spirits in Mongolian shamanism, became annexed into Buddhist practice as well. Mongolia itself was at a political and developmental standstill until the sixteenth century, when after the conversion of Altan Khan Buddhism re-established itself. In 1691, after Outer Mongolia had been annexed by the Qing Dynasty, Buddhism became the dominant religion of the entire area and shamanism began incorporating Buddhist elements. Violent resistance in the eighteenth century by the hunting tribes of Northern Mongolia against the (Buddhist) ruling group, the Khalk Mongols, led to the foundation of black shamanism. Klaus Hesse described the complex spiritual hierarchy in clan-based Mongolian society based on sources that go back to the 13th century. The highest group in the pantheon consisted of 99 tngri (55 of them benevolent or “white” and 44 terrifying or “black”), 77 natigai or “earth-mothers”, besides others. The tngri were called upon only by leaders and great shamans and were common to all the clans. After these, three groups of ancestral spirits dominated. The “Lord-Spirits” were the souls of clan leaders to whom any member of a clan could appeal for physical or spiritual help. The “Protector-Spirits” included the souls of great shamans (ĵigari) and shamanesses (abĵiya). The “Guardian-Spirits” were made up of the souls of smaller shamans (böge) and shamanesses (idugan) and were associated with a specific locality (including mountains, rivers, etc.) in the clan’s territory. According to Otgony Purev, the practice goes back to Genghis Khan and was practiced by the Darkhad people in defiance of the Buddhism introduced to the area by the KhalkaDuring the Soviet domination of the Mongolian People’s Republic, all varieties of shamanism were repressed; after 1991, when the era of Soviet influence was over, religion (including Buddhism and shamanism) made a comeback. The difference between great, white and small, black (in shamans, tngri, etc.) was also formative in a class division of three further groups of spirits, made up of “spirits who were not introduced by shamanist rites into the communion of ancestral spirits” but who could nonetheless be called upon for help—they were called “‘the three accepting the supplications’ (jalbaril-un gurban)”. The whites were of the nobles of the clan, the blacks of the commoners, and a third category consisted of “the evil spirits of the slaves and non-human goblins”. White shamans could only venerate white spirits (and if they called upon black spirits they “lost their right in venerating and calling the white spirits”), black shamans only black spirits (and would be too terrified to call upon white spirits since the black spirits would punish them). Black or white was assigned to spirits according to social status, and to shamans “according to the capacity and assignment of their ancestral spirit or spirit of the shaman’s descent line.” A large minority of people in North Asia, particularly in Siberia, follow the religio-cultural practices of shamanism. Some researchers regard Siberia as the heartland of shamanism. The people of Siberia comprise a variety of ethnic groups, many of whom continue to observe shamanistic practices in modern times. Many classical ethnographers recorded the sources of the idea of “shamanism” among Siberian peoples. The region supports a wide variety of cultures, practices and beliefs which fall within a classification of shamanism. Terms for ‘shaman’ and ‘shamaness’ in Siberian languages: 

  • ‘shaman’: saman (Nedigal, Nanay, Ulcha, Orok), sama (Manchu). The variant /šaman/ (i.e., pronounced “shaman”) is Evenk (whence it was borrowed into Russian).
  • ‘shaman’: alman, olman, wolmen (Yukagir)
  • ‘shaman’: [qam] (Tatar, Shor, Oyrat), [xam] (Tuva, Tofalar)
  • The Buryat word for shaman is бөө (böö[bøː], from early Mongolian böge.
  • ‘shamaness’: [iduɣan] (Mongol), [udaɣan] (Yakut), udagan (Buryat), udugan (Evenki, Lamut), odogan (Nedigal). Related forms found in various Siberian languages include utaganubakanutyganutüguniduan, or duana. All these are related to the Mongolian name of Etügen, the hearth goddess, and Etügen Eke ‘Mother Earth’. Maria Czaplicka points out that Siberian languages use words for male shamans from diverse roots, but the words for female shaman are almost all from the same root. She connects this with the theory that women’s practice of shamanism was established earlier than men’s, that “shamans were originally female.” Siberian shamans’ spirit-journeys (reenacting their dreams wherein they had rescued the soul of the client) were conducted in, e.g., Oroch, Altai, and Nganasan healing séances. ref, ref

Grouped by linguistic relatedness: Uralic languages are proven to form a genealogical unit, a language family. Not all Uralic peoples live in Siberia or have shamanistic religions. The largest populations, the Hungarians and Finns, live outside Siberia and are mostly Christian. Saami people had kept shamanic practices alive for a long time. They live in Europe, but practiced shamanism until the 18th century. Most other Uralic peoples (e.g. HungarianFinnicMari) have only remnant elements of shamanism. The majority of the Uralic population lives outside Siberia. Some of them used to live in Siberia, but have migrated to their present locations since then. The original location of the Proto-Uralic peoples (and its extent) is debated. Combined phytogeographical and linguistic considerations (distribution of various tree species and the presence of their names in various Uralic languages) suggest that this area was somewhere between the Kama and Vyatka rivers on the western side of the ural mountains. Among several Samoyedic peoples shamanism was a living tradition also in modern times, especially at groups living in isolation until recent times (Nganasans). There were distinguished several types of shamans among Nenets, Enetsand Selkup people. (The Nganasan shaman used three different crowns, according to the situation: one for upper world, one for underneath word, one for occasion of childbirth.) Nenets peopleEnets peopleNganasan people speak Northern Samoyedic languages. They live in North Siberia (Nenets live also in European parts), they provide classical examples. Selkups are the only ones who speak Southern Samoyedic languages nowadays. They live more to the south, shamanism was in decline also at the beginning of the 20th century, although folklore memories could be recorded even in the 1960s. Other Southern Samoyedic languages were spoken by some peoples living in the Sayan Mountains, but language shift has taken place, making all these languages extinct. Nenets: Tadibya, there were several types of shamans distinguishing ones contacting upper world, ones contacting underneath world, ones contacting the dead. Nganasan: the isolated location of Nganasan people enabled that shamanism was a living phenomenon among them even in the beginning of the 20th century, the last notable Nganasan shaman’s seances could be recorded on film in the 1970s. One of the occasions in which the shaman partook was the clean tent rite. held after the polar night, including sacrifice. Sayan Samoyedic: some peoples of the Sayan Mountains spoke once Southern Samoyedic languages. Most of them underwent a language shift in the beginning and middle of the 19th century, borrowing the language of neighboring Turkic peoples. The Kamassian language survived longer: 14 old people spoke it yet in 1914. In the late 20th century, some old people had passive or uncertain knowledge of the language, but collecting reliable scientific data was no longer possible. Today Kamassian is regarded as extinct. The shamanism of Samoyedic peoples in the Sayan Mountains survived longer (if we regard Karagas as a Samoyedic people, although such approaches have been refined: the problem of their origin may be more complex). Diószegi Vilmos could record not only folklore memories in the late 1950s, but he managed also to talk personally to (no longer practicing) shamans, record their personal memories, songs, some of their paraphernalia. An interesting question here: is this shamanism borrowed entirely from neighboring Turkic peoples, or does it have some ethnic features, maybe a remnant of Samoyedic origin? Comparative considerations suggest, certainly, there are influences. Karagas shamanism is affected by Abakan-Turkic and Buryat influence. Among the various Soyot cultures, the central Soyot groups, keeping cattle and horses, show Khalkha Mongol phenomena in their shamanism, the shamanism of Western Soyots, living on the steppe, is similar to that of Altai Turkic peoples. A shaman story narrates contacts between Soyots and Abakan Turkic peoples in a mythical form. Karagas and Eastern (reindeer-breeding, mountain-inhabiting) Soyots. have many similarities in their culture and shamanism. It was these two cultures who presented some ethnic features, phenomena lacking among neighboring Turkic peoples. E.g., the structure of their shamanic drum showed such peculiarity: it had two transoms. It was also these two cultures who showed some features, which could be possibly of Samoyedic origin: the shaman’s headdress, dress and boots has the effigies symbolizing human organs, mostly bones; in the case of headdress, representation of human face. Also the dress-initiating song of the Karagas shaman Kokuyev contained the expression “my shamanic dress with seven vertebrae”. Hoppál interprets the skeleton-like overlay of the Karagas shaman-dress as symbol of shamanic rebirth, similar remark applies for the skeleton-like iron ornamentation of the (not Samoyedic, but genealogically unclassified, PaleosiberianKet shamanic dress, although it may symbolize also the bones of the loon (the helper animal of the shaman). (The theory of Ket origin of the Karagas has already been mentioned above.) The skeleton-like overlay symbolized shamanic rebirth also among some other Siberian cultures. Hungarian: Shamanistic remnants in Hungarian folklore; during the 4th millennium BC the ancestors of the Hungarian people migrated from their Proto-Uralic homeland in Siberia to the Pannonian Basin, an area that includes present-day Hungary. Today, shamanism is no longer widely practiced by Hungarians, but elements of shamanism have been preserved in their folklore. Comparative methods reveal that some motifs used in folktales, fragments of songs and folk rhymes retain aspects of the ancient belief system. In an effort to prove that shamanistic remnants existed within Hungarian folklore ethnographer, Diószegi Vilmos, compared ethnographic records of Hungarian and neighboring peoples, and works about various shamanic traditions of some Siberian peoples. Mihály Hoppál continued Diószegi Vilmos’s work comparing shamanic beliefs of Uralic peoples with those of several non-Uralic Siberian peoples. Although Ugric (which includes Hungarian) folklore preserves many traces of shamanism, shamanism itself was a dying practice among the Khanty and Mansi people by the 1930s. Shamanism is still practiced by many indigenous peoples, but, among the Ugric people, shamanism is largely practiced by the Khanty certainly, there are influences. Karagas shamanism is affected by Abakan-Turkic and Buryat influence. Among the various Soyot cultures, the central Soyot groups, keeping cattle and horses, show Khalkha Mongol phenomena in their shamanism, the shamanism of Western Soyots, living on the steppe, is similar to that of Altai Turkic peoples. A shaman story narrates contacts between Soyots and Abakan Turkic peoples in a mythical form. Traditional culture of Ket people was researched by Matthias Castrén, Vasiliy Ivanovich Anuchin, Kai DonnerHans Findeisen, Yevgeniya Alekseyevna Alekseyenko. Shamanism was a living practice in the 1930s yet, but by the 1960s almost no authentic shaman could be found. Ket shamanism shared features with those of Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Besides that, there were several types of shamans, differing in function (sacral rites, curing), power and associated animal (deer, bear). Also among Kets (like at several other Siberian peoples, e.g. Karagas), there are examples of using skeleton symbolics, Hoppál interprets it as a symbol of shamanic rebirth, although it may symbolize also the bones of the loon (the helper animal of the shaman, joining air and underwater world, just like the shaman who travelled both to the sky and the underworld as well). The skeleton-like overlay represented shamanic rebirth also among some other Siberian cultures. Turkic peoples spread over large territories, and are far from alike. In some cases, shamanism has been widely amalgamated with Islam, in others with Buddhism, but there are surviving traditions among the Siberian TatarsTuvans and Tofalar. The Altai Turks may be related to neighboring UgricSamoyedicKet, or Mongols. The name “Altai” means “Gold Mountain” in Mongolian; “alt” (gold) and “tai” (suffix – “with”; the mountain with gold) and also in its Chinese name, derived from the Mongol name (Chinese金山; literally: “Gold Mountain”). In Turkic languages, altın means gold and dağ means mountain. The controversial Altaic language family takes its name from this mountain range. The Altai Mountains (also spelt Altay Mountains) are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where RussiaChinaMongolia, and Kazakhstan come together, and are where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The northwest end of the range is at 52° N and between 84° and 90° E (where it merges with the Sayan Mountains to the east), and extends southeast from there to about 45° N and 99° E, where it gradually becomes lower and merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. There may be also ethnographic traces of such past of these nowadays Turkic-speaking peoples of the Altai. For example, some of them have phallic-erotic fertility rites, and that can be compared to similar rites of Obi-Ugric peoples. The legends of Altai’s lakes:

  • The original name of the lake Teletskoje in Altai language – Altin-Kol – comes from the local tribes and means “golden lake”. It is explained by one of the many old legends of Altai: …Once there was a terrible famine in the region. A wealthy man, who had a very big gold ingot, was visiting all villages in Altai but could not find any food to buy for it. Starving, the “rich” poor man has thrown his ingot into the lake and died in its waves himself…
  • The second magnificent lake of Altai – Aya – translated from Turkish “Ay” means “moon”. Indeed the lake has the form of a half moon. The legend says that the Moon “Ay” once came down to the valley in order to seize the cannibal Delbegen and to save the Altai people. At the place where the moon has touched the Earth a dent was formed and the lake has appeared.

Mt Belukha 14,784 ft. is Siberia’s and the Altai Mountains’ highest peak. Archaeologist and some scholars of Buddhist history and philosophy believe that Mt Belukha may actually be the Central Asian mountain called Sumeru, which in Buddhist belief is the center of Shambala (Shangri-la )… where only the spiritually advanced may enter. Belukha is also the headwaters of the sacred Katun River. There are shrines, burial sites, petroglyphs, and standing stones scattered all around the mountain. Burkhanism accepts the “three worlds” of Mongolic and Turkic tradition. (These are the upper, middle, and lower worlds—in other words heaven, earth, and the underworld.) However, it rejects worship of traditional deities associated with the underworld. In addition, it imports into worship many figures from Altaian oral epic lore, which were not worshipped in the “shamanic” part of the Altaian religion. Uch Kurbustan–“Uch” means “three,” while “Kurbustan” comes from the Soghdian “Khormazta” (and thence from the Avestan “Ahura Mazda“). Thus, a triune God. Though imported from oral epics, Uch Kurbustan is a generalized spirit rather than a hero of stories with a personality. He may be analogous with the Turko-Mongolian High God Tengri (“Heaven”). Rather than an import from Buddhism, Christianity, or Turkic Islam, this particular trinity is likely to have been inspired by other triune gods and heroes from Turkic culture (sometimes in the form of a god with three sons). Burkhanism or Ak Jang (AltayАк јаҥ) is a new religious movement that flourished among the indigenous people of Russia‘s Gorno Altai region (okrug) between 1904 and the 1930s. On the whole, the Burkhanist movement was shown to be a syncretistic phenomenon combining elements of ancient pre-Shamanist, Shamanist, Lamaist and Orthodox Christian beliefs. According to a Professor of Tomsk State University L. Sherstova, it emerged in response to the needs of a new people – the Altai-kizhi or Altaians who sought to distinguish themselves from the neighboring and related tribes and for whom Burkhanism became a religious form of their ethnic identity. Burkhanism today insist on a link with Tibetan Buddhism and a veneration of Mount Belukha, elements not found in traditional Burkhanism. The Altai people, or Altaians, are closely related to Mongolians and are considered the original Turkic people. They continue to practice Shamanism, Buddhism, and Burkhanism (or Ak Jang, the “white faith”). Burkhanists revere totem animals (argali, wolf, leopard) and totem flowers. They use throat singing at gatherings and in fire ceremonies. Burkhanism is the usual English-language scholarly name, which has its origin in the Russian academic usage. One of the Burkhanist deities is Ak-Burkhan, or “White Burkhan.” Burkhan means “god” or “buddha” in Mongolic languages, yet Burkhanism is not considered Buddhist, as the term is also used in shamanistic nomenclature. For example, in Mongolian Shamanism, the name of the most sacred mountain, the rumored birthplace and final resting spot of Genghis Khan, is also Burkhan Khaldun. Ak-Burkhan is only one of a pantheon of deities worshiped by Burkhanists (see list below), but Ak-Burkhan nevertheless provides the name of the religion in Russian, and thence into other languages. The Altaian name for the religion is Ak Jang (“White Faith”). “White” refers to its emphasis on the upper world (in the three-world cosmology of the Turkic and Mongolian Tengriism). Alternatively, the name may also allude to Ak Jang’s rejection of animal sacrifices in favour of offerings of horse milk or horse-milk alcohol. “Jang” means authority; faith; custom; law or principle; and canon or rules of ensemble. In more colloquial settings, the term may also be used as a “way of doing things” and is used in reference to religions as well as political systems. There is evidence that herding tribes first appeared in Central Asia over 9,000 thousand years ago at least. In the area, there are ancient burial mounds, petroglyphs and stone carvings dating back thousands of years and can still be found all over Altai. The Altain mountains have retained a remarkably stable climate changing little since the last ice age. In addition the mix of mammals has remained largely the same – with a few exceptions such as extinct Mammoths – making it one of the few places on earth to retain an ice age fauna. The Altai mountains were home to the Denisovan branch of hominids who were contemporaries of Neanderthals and of Homo Sapiens (modern humans), descended from Hominids who reached Asia earlier than modern humans. The Denisova hominin, dated to 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the Denisova Cave of the Altai mountains in southern Siberia in 2008. Knowledge of the Denisovan humans derives primarily from DNA evidence and artifacts, as no complete skeletons have yet been recovered. DNA evidence has been unusually well preserved because of the low average temperature in the Denisova caves. The same cave has uncovered Neanderthal bones, and tools made by Homo sapiens, making it the only known locale in the world where all three hominids are known to have lived. A dog-like canid from 33,000 years ago was found in the Razboinichya Cave. DNA analysis published in 2013 affirmed that it was more closely related to modern dogs than to wolves. The Altai-Sayan ecoregions contain and share a name with the Altai Mountains and the Sayan Mountains. The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, where RussiaChinaMongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and are where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The Sayan Mountains lie between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia with a total area belongs to the territory of Russia(62%), Mongolia (29%), Kazakhstan (5%) and China (4%). Recent genetic studies have shown that the some indigenous peoples of the Americas are partially derived from southern Altaians. The Golden Mountains of Altai, consisting of the Altai and Katun Natural ReservesLake TeletskoyeBelukha Mountain, and the Ukok PlateauLake Baikal, which forms part of the eastern border of the region, and Uvs Nuur Basin in the Great Lakes Hollow. The Altai Mountains have been identified as being the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon which arose during the Bronze Age around the start of the 2nd millennium BC and led to a rapid and massive migration of peoples from the region into distant parts of Europe and Asia. it is thought that possablly the Altai Mountains region may have been the Original Shamans or at least a spot that it fully flurshed somewhat after its origins likely also in or among some other anchent Siberian cultures. Among the Tungusic peoples of Siberia, shamanism is also widespread. The Tale of the Nisan Shaman, a famous piece of folklore which describes the resurrection of a rich landowner’s son by a female shaman, is known among various Tungusic peoples including the ManchusEvenks, and Nanai people. Linguistically, Koryak and Chukchi are close congeners of Yup’il. Koryak shamanism is known. Shamanism among Eskimo peoplesYup’ik groups comprise a huge area stretching from Eastern Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada (including Labrador Peninsula) to Greenland. Shamanistic practice and beliefs have been recorded at several parts of this vast area crosscutting continental borders. Like Yup’ik cultures themselves, shamanistic practices reveal diversity. Some mosaic-like examples from various cultures: the soul concepts of the various cultures were diverse as well, some groups believed that the young child had to be taken for by guardian names inherited from a recently deceased relative. Among some groups, this belief amounted to a kind of reincarnation. Also shamanism might include beliefs in soul dualism, where the free-soul of the shaman could fly to celestial or underneath realms, contacting mythological beings, negotiating with them in order to cease calamities or achieve success in hunt. If their wrath was believed to be caused by taboo breaches, the shaman asked for confessions by members of the community. In most cultures, shamanism could be refused by the candidate: calling could be felt by visions, but generally, becoming a shaman followed conscious considerations. ref, ref, refref, ref, ref, ref

Yellow shamanism is the term used to designate a particular version of shamanism practiced in Mongolia and Siberiawhich incorporates rituals and traditions from Buddhism. “Yellow” indicates Buddhism in Mongolia, since most Buddhists there belong to what is called the “Yellow sect” of Tibetan Buddhism, whose members wear yellow hats during services. The term also serves to distinguish it from a form of shamanism not influenced by Buddhism (according to its adherents), called “black shamanism“. While the applicability of the term “yellow” (or any other term) is still somewhat disputed, scholars consider the variety of shamanism practiced by the Khalka Mongols, the largest population group of Mongolia, to be yellow shamanism; others refer to the shamanism practiced by the Buryats of Siberia as yellow shamanism. Ok, you seem confused so let’s talk about Buddhism. The term “yellow shamanism” was first introduced in 1992 by Sendenjav Dulam and its use then adopted by Otgony Pürev, who considers it to be the Buddhism-influenced successor of an unbroken practice that goes back to Genghis Khan—that earlier practice was “black shamanism” and was practiced by the Darkhad in defiance of the Buddhism introduced to the area by the Khalka. According to Pürev, the center of yellow shamanism was the Dayan Deerh monastery in Khövsgöl Province, where he found evidence of yellow practices in the recitations and prayers of a shaman born in the province in 1926; he argues that yellow shamanism has by now ceased to exist anywhere. Opponents argue that Pürev’s argument relies too much on the evidence of one single monk from one province, and that it is more likely that yellow shamanism developed as a result of the tension between the Buddhism of the Qing Dynasty, for which conversion to Buddhism was in part a colonializing tactic. In agreement with Pürev’s argument, though, yellow shamanism is also considered to not have survived Soviet and Communist rule. The territory of the Buryats, who live around Lake Baikal, located in southern Siberia in the Yenisei River basin was invaded by the Russian Empire in the seventeenth century, and came to accept Buddhism in the eighteenth century at the same time they were recognizing themselves as Mongol; to which extent Buryat shamanism mixed with Buddhism is a matter of contention among scholars. A nineteenth-century division between black and white shamanism, where black shamanism called on evil deities to bring people misfortune while white shamanism invoked good deities for happiness and prosperity, had completely changed by the twentieth century. Today, black shamanism invokes traditional shamanic deities, whereas white shamanism invokes Buddhist deities and recites Buddhist incantations but wears black shamanist accoutrements. White shamans worship Sagaan Ubgen and Burkhan Garbal (the “Ancestor of Buddhism”). ref

White shamanism is the term, according to JAMES CLIFFORD the author or the following information, “the idea of “white shamanism” has been used in several different ways, first coined by Cherokee critic Geary Hobson in 1978, it was used to refer to “the apparently growing number of small-press poets of generally white, Euro-Christian American background, who in their poems assume the persona of the shaman, usually in the guise of an American Indian medicine man,” (Hobson, About Whiteshamanism). In his essay, The Rise of the White Shaman, he focused on these poets who, though not associated with any Native American tribe, capitalize on the oral traditions of tribes such as the Apache and Tonkawa in order to write, publish, and perform “authentic” chants. Often, they would do this while pretending to be true “medicine men,” giving themselves names that sounded “Indian” and wearing stereotypical outfits while performing in public. In a follow-up essay entitled The Rise of the White Shaman: Twenty-Five Years Later, Hobson tells that the purpose of his original essay was to “lampoon such pretentions and to call attention to the degree of cultural arrogance implicit in such appropriations and capitalization of cultural Indian values,” (Hobson 2). Since this publication was released, “white shamanism” has expanded as a term, working in tandem with the terms “plastic shaman” and “plastic medicine man” to encompass a broad range of individuals who attempt to pass themselves off as shamans or other spiritual leaders in order to exploit the cultural traditions for money and/or power. These individuals put on a fraudulent persona as healers, spiritual leaders, psychics, and other titles, often selling inauthentic indigenous artifacts, spiritual ceremonies and tours of sacred sites to scam unknowing persons who are unable to tell the difference between true and fake cultural practices. Many critics of these plastic shamans assert that the exploitation and appropriation of such cultural values is “an exploitative form of colonialism, and one step in the destruction of indigenous cultures,” (Wikipedia, plastic shaman). Along with this, past efforts of white/plastic shamanism have also caused severe harm to individuals, including criminal actions taken by these imposters, as well as several injuries and deaths caused by improper sweat lodge ceremonies. Due to the harmful aspects of its nature, many native peoples and organizations have taken to fighting against white shamanism, and preventing future occurrences of it. A number of tribes and intertribal councils have even released declarations against these individuals, such as the Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality, which states “We assert a posture of zero-tolerance for any “white-man’s shaman” who rises from within our own communities to “authorize” the expropriation of our ceremonial ways by non-Indians; all such “plastic medicine men” are enemies of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people,” (The People’s Paths). A popular opponent of these plastic shamans is New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans (NAFPS), an activist group that hosts a website inviting discussion and research to help stop known and suspected exploiters of native culture. It is important to note that, as a classification, there is much controversy surrounding the use of the term “shamanism” in regards to the cultural traditions of Native American peoples in the first place. Though the term has been used by anthropologists in the past, many Native American scholars and critics, such as Wendy Rose, point out that “the term ‘shaman’ is one of convenience, as is the term ‘Indian,’” (Rose, About Whiteshamanism), and that the term, being of Siberian origin, has no place in being used as a descriptor for native medicine men and other spiritual leaders.” ref

“The of connection the ancestor between deities the that White made Shaman the first panel pilgrimage; and Uto-Aztec. A white myths cord has unites been exemplified the pilgrims; by the Boyd leader through of the analogies pilgrims between is identified motifs as the in fire the god; former Ceremonies and known expressions involving candles in the later are conducted The ethnographic to help analysis the sun of to Huichol rise at Dawn myth and Mountain; iconography. The by Boyd peyote (2010: ‐ deer 21) is slain reveals in the patterns land of which the dawn; are strikingly. The similar pilgrims to the collect patterns peyote in the ‐ rock deer to art transport at the White back to Shaman the west”. Features Each 1, year, 3, 4, preceding 5 and 6 may then be spring identified rain at — the bringing White Shaman ceremonies, panel. As bands Boyd of says Huichols (2010: ( Figure 6) 30): “The travel White west Shaman to east to panel Wirikúta is a to pictorial ensure document the continuance with multiple of the cosmos, functions Seven and features levels characterize of meaning this that pilgrimage, go well beyond according that of to instruction data which for Boyd how extracts to perform from a ritual several — the authors hunt for (Benítez peyote. 1975; It recounts Furst and an origin Anguiano story — 1976; the Myerhoff sacrifice of 1974): the deer “1) that During led the to the dry birth season, of peyote pilgrims and travel the birth from of the the west sun, to this the act east of in self single ‐ sacrifice. Pilgrims the birth confess of deities, transgressions placement and of stars then in acquire the heavens, the divine and the holistic division of the cosmos; day and night, hot and cold, rainy season and dry season were established for the first time as portrayed in the White Shaman rock art panel”. The coincidence between the rock art panel and Uto-Aztec myths is striking. The detail allows a much deeper interpretation. Thus, among others, the characteristic horn of Xolotl, as it appears in the Florentine Codex, has been found by Boyd in the head- down figure of White Shaman shelter who is also covered by the five rays which usually indicate the five synodic periods of Venus (Milbrath 1999: 162). Essences of the ancestor deities that made the first pilgrimage. A white cord unites the pilgrims; The leader of the pilgrims is identified as the fire god; Ceremonies involving candles are conducted to help the sun to rise at Dawn Mountain; The peyote ‐ deer is slain in the land of the dawn; and The pilgrims collect peyote ‐ deer to transport back to the west”. Features 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 may be identified at the White Shaman panel. As Boyd says (2010: 30): “The White Shaman panel is a pictorial document with multiple functions and levels of meaning that go well beyond that of instruction for how to perform a ritual — the hunt for peyote. It recounts an origin story — the sacrifice of the deer that led to the birth of peyote and the birth of the sun. This act of self ‐ sacrifice fostered the birth of deities, placement of stars in the heavens, and the holistic division of the cosmos; day and night, hot and cold, rainy season and dry season were established for the first time as portrayed in the White Shaman rock art panel”. The coincidence between the rock art panel and Uto-Aztec myths is striking. The detail allows a much deeper interpretation. Thus, among others, the characteristic horn of Xolotl, as it appears in the Florentine Codex, has been found by Boyd in the head- down figure of White Shaman shelter who is also covered by the five rays which usually indicate the five synodic periods of Venus (Milbrath 1999: 162). ref

Russian Anthropologists Discovered Shamans

“Geoffry Ashe describes how Russian anthropologists “discovered” shamanism when they studied tribal nomadic herders in Siberia in the 19th century. After their detailed descriptions of the unique set of practices of the spiritual practitioners and healers they observed, whom the tribesmen called shamans, were published, the term came to be used by anthropologists worldwide. The term shaman was a useful sort of shorthand for anthropologists. It described a certain role in society that they observed time after time in gathering-hunting cultures. They coined the term shamanism because it stood for a specific set of beliefs and practices that anthropologists began to recognize in gathering-hunting cultures around the world. Until the late twentieth centure, most people had never heard the terms shaman and shamanism. Anthropologist Michael Harner popularized the terms with his best-selling book, The Way of the Shaman. In his book, Dawn Behind the Dawn: A Search for the Earthly Paradise, historian Geoffrey Ashe traces many myths, legends, and beliefs of Europe, Asia, and the Near and Middle East all the way back to shamanic roots in Siberia. In Dawn Behind the Dawn, Ashe goes on to explain the later findings of Russian linguistic researchers who discovered that those original Siberian tribes had all branched out over thousands of years from one ancient original tribe. The researchers found that the words for a male shaman are actually different in each of the tribes, proving that the words were borrowed or invented long after the tribes branched apart. It seems probable that women were the first shamans. The startling news about the later Russian linguistic research on the shamanist tribes they first studied in Siberia is that the words for female shaman are very similar in all the tribes. All the words for female shaman are derived from the same root word in the original tribal language, which also means bear. The most important thing about their findings is that it proves that originally, before the tribes grew apart and went their separate ways, the only shamans were female.” ref

The 2002 census of the Russian Federation reports 123,423 (0.23% of the population) people of ethnic groups which dominantly adhere to “traditional beliefs.”  ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Aurignacian

The Aurignacian (/ɔːrɪɡˈnʃən/) is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe sometime after the Levant, where the Emiran period and the Ahmarian period form the first periods of the Upper Paleolithic, corresponding to the first stages of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa. They then migrated to Europe and created the first European culture of modern humans, the Aurignacian.” ref

One of the oldest examples of figurative art, the Venus of Hohle Fels, comes from the Aurignacian or Proto-Gravettian and is dated to between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago (though now earlier figurative art may be known, see Lubang Jeriji Saléh). It was discovered in September 2008 in a cave at Schelklingen in Baden-Württemberg in western Germany. The German Lion-man figure is given a similar date range. The Bacho Kiro site in Bulgaria is one of the earliest known Aurignacian burials.” ref

A “Levantine Aurignacian” culture is known from the Levant, with a type of blade technology very similar to the European Aurignacian, following chronologically the Emiran and Early Ahmarian in the same area of the Near East, and also closely related to them. The Levantine Aurignacian may have preceded European Aurignacian, but there is a possibility that the Levantine Aurignacian was rather the result of reverse influence from the European Aurignacian: this remains unsettled.” ref

Aurignacian figurines have been found depicting faunal representations of the time period associated with now-extinct mammals, including mammoths, rhinoceros, and tarpan, along with anthropomorphized depictions that may be interpreted as some of the earliest evidence of religion. Many 35,000-year-old animal figurines were discovered in the Vogelherd Cave in Germany. One of the horses, amongst six tiny mammoth and horse ivory figures, found previously at Vogelherd, was sculpted as skillfully as any piece found throughout the Upper Paleolithic. The production of ivory beads for body ornamentation was also important during the Aurignacian. The famous paintings in Chauvet cave date from this period.” ref

Gravettian

“The Gravettian was an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years ago. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by c. 22,000 years ago, close to the Last Glacial Maximum, although some elements lasted until c. 17,000 years ago. In Spain and France, it was succeeded by the Solutrean, and developed into or continued as the Epigravettian in Italy, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia. The Gravettian culture is known for Venus figurines, which were typically carved from either ivory or limestone. The culture was first identified at the site of La Gravette in the southwestern French department of Dordogne.” ref

“The Gravettians were hunter-gatherers who lived in a bitterly cold period of European prehistory, and the Gravettian lifestyle was shaped by the climate. Pleniglacial environmental changes forced them to adapt. West and Central Europe were extremely cold during this period. Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open-air sites.” ref

Epigravettian

“The Epigravettian (Greek: epi “above, on top of,” and Gravettian) was one of the last archaeological industries and cultures of the European Upper Paleolithic. It emerged after the Last Glacial Maximum around ~21,000 years ago and is considered to be a cultural derivative of the Gravettian culture. Initially named Tardigravettian (Late Gravettian) in 1964 by Georges Laplace in reference to several lithic industries found in Italy, it was later renamed in order to better emphasize its independent character. Three subphases, the Early Epigravettian (20,000 to 16,000 years ago), the Evolved Epigravettian (16,000 to 14,000 years ago), and the Final Epigravettian (14,000 to 8,000 years ago), have been established, that were further subdivided and reclassified. The Epigravettian is the last stage of the Upper Paleolithic succeeded by Mesolithic cultures after 10,000 years ago. ref

Magdalenian

“The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: Magdalénien) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in France’s Dordogne department. The Magdalenian epoch is associated with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other large mammals present in Europe toward the end of the last glacial period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north as France, the Channel Islands, England, and Wales. It is the third epoch of Gabriel de Mortillet’s cave chronology system, corresponding roughly to the Late Pleistocene. Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the epoch are Les Eyzies, Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d’Enfer in the Dordogne; Grotte du Placard in Charente and others in south-west France.” ref

“Bones, reindeer antlers, and animal teeth display crude pictures carved or etched on them of seals, fish, reindeer, mammoths, and other creatures. The best of Magdalenian artworks are a mammoth engraved on a fragment of its own ivory; a dagger of reindeer antler, with a handle in form of a reindeer; a cave-bear cut on a flat piece of schist; a seal on a bear’s tooth; a fish drawn on a reindeer antler; and a complete picture, also on reindeer antler, showing horses, an aurochs, trees, and a snake biting a man’s leg. The man is naked, which, together with the snake, suggests a warm climate in spite of the presence of the reindeer. In the Tuc d’Audoubert cave, an 18-inch clay statue of two bison sculpted in relief was discovered in the deepest room, now known as the Room of the Bisons. Examples of Magdalenian portable art include batons, figurines, and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, and perforated carnivore teeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils. Cave sites such as Lascaux contain the best-known examples of Magdalenian cave art. The site of Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian mobiliary art has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.” ref


A carving is associated with the Gravettian Upper Paleolithic culture approximately 25,000 years old, may relate to Later Goddess and the Bull cults like Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city”around 10,000 years ago. The Venus of Laussel is an 18.11-inch-high limestone bas-relief of a nude woman. It is painted with red ochre and was carved into the limestone of a rock shelter (Abri de Laussel) in the commune of Marquay, in the Dordogne department of south-western France. The figure holds a bison horn, or possibly a cornucopia, in one hand, which has thirteen notches.Alexander Marshack said about the Venus of Laussel that “One cannot conjecture on the basis of one engraved sequence any meaning to the marks, but that the unusually clean horn was notated with storied marks is clear.” She has her hand on her abdomen (or womb), with large breasts and vulva. There is a “Y” on her thigh and her faceless head is turned toward the horn.  It was carved into large block of limestone in a rock shelter (abri de Laussel) at the commune of Marquay in the Dordogne department of south-western France. The limestone block fell off the wall of the shelter. It was brought to the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux, France. ref


Bulls in Indo-European mythology

Sacred bull

Numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time-honored bulls as sacred. In Sumerian mythologyMarduk is the “bull of Utu“. In HinduismShiva‘s steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India. Taurus (Latin for “the Bull”) is one of the constellations of the zodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of the ecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere‘s winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient SumerAkkadAssyriaBabylonEgyptGreece, and Romeref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Chauvet cave

“The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southeastern France is a cave that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life. It is located near the commune of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the river Ardèche, in the Gorges de l’Ardèche. The dates have been a matter of dispute but a study published in 2012 supports placing the art in the Aurignacian period, approximately 32,000–30,000 years ago. A study published in 2016 using additional 88 radiocarbon dates showed two periods of habitation, one from 37,000 to 33,500 years ago and the second from 31,000 to 28,000 years ago, with most of the black drawings dating to the earlier period.” ref

“Hundreds of animal paintings have been cataloged, depicting at least 13 different species, including some rarely or never found in other ice age paintings. Rather than depicting only the familiar herbivores that predominate in Paleolithic cave art, i.e. horses, aurochs, mammoths, etc., the walls of the Chauvet Cave feature many predatory animals, e.g., cave lions, leopards, bears, and cave hyenas. There are also paintings of rhinoceroses. Typical of most cave art, there are no paintings of complete human figures, although there is one partial “Venus” figure composed of what appears to be a vulva attached to an incomplete pair of legs. Above the Venus, and in contact with it, is a bison head, which has led some to describe the composite drawing as a Minotaur. There are a few panels of red ochre hand prints and hand stencils made by blowing pigment over hands pressed against the cave surface. Abstract markings—lines and dots—are found throughout the cave. There are also two unidentifiable images that have a vaguely butterfly or avian shape to them. This combination of subjects has led some students of prehistoric art and cultures to believe that there was a ritualshamanic, or magical aspect to these paintings.” ref

“One drawing, later overlaid with a sketch of a deer, is reminiscent of a volcano spewing lava, similar to the regional volcanoes that were active at the time. If confirmed, this would represent the earliest known drawing of a volcanic eruption. The artists who produced these paintings used techniques rarely found in other cave art. Many of the paintings appear to have been made only after the walls were scraped clear of debris and concretions, leaving a smoother and noticeably lighter area upon which the artists worked. Similarly, a three-dimensional quality and the suggestion of movement are achieved by incising or etching around the outlines of certain figures. The art is also exceptional for its time for including “scenes”, e.g., animals interacting with each other; a pair of woolly rhinoceroses, for example, are seen butting horns in an apparent contest for territory or mating rights.” ref

Aurignacian burials (around 37,000-30,000 years ago) belong to the early phase of this period in Europe. Examples have been excavated at Cave of Cavillon, Liguria – a burial wearing a cap of netted whelk shells with a border of deer’s teeth, red ochre around the face, and a bone awl at the side. ref

Aurignacian in the Zagros region dates back to about 35,500 years ago at Yafteh Cave, Lorestan, Iran. ref 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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34,000 years ago Lunar Calendar Cave art around the Time Shift From Totemism to Early Shamanism?

“The Oldest Lunar Calendars and Earliest Constellations have been identified in cave art found in France and Germany. The astronomer-priests of these late Upper Paleolithic Cultures understood mathematical sets, and the interplay between the moon annual cycle, ecliptic, solstice and seasonal changes on earth. The archaeological record’s earliest data that speaks to human awareness of the stars and ‘heavens’ dates to the Aurignacian Culture of Europe, around 34,000 years ago. Between 1964 and the early 1990s, Alexander Marshack published breakthrough research that documented the mathematical and astronomical knowledge in the Late Upper Paleolithic Cultures of Europe. Marshack deciphered sets of marks carved into animal bones, and occasionally on the walls of caves, as records of the lunar cycle. These marks are sets of crescents or lines. Artisans carefully controlled line thickness so that a correlation with lunar phases would be as easy as possible to perceive. Sets of marks were often laid out in a serpentine pattern that suggests a snake deity or streams and rivers. Many of these lunar calendars were made on small pieces of stone, bone or antler so that they could be easily carried. These small, portable, lightweight lunar calendars were easily carried on extended journeys such as long hunting trips and seasonal migrations.” ref

“Hunting the largest animals was arduous, and might require hunters to follow herds of horses, bison, mammoth or ibex for many weeks. (Other big animals such as the auroch, cave bear and cave lion were well known but rarely hunted for food because they had a special status in the mythic realm. The Auroch is very important to the search for earliest constellations.) The phases of the moon depicted in these sets of marks are inexact. Precision was impossible unless all nights were perfectly clear which is an unrealistic expectation. The arithmetic counting skill implied by these small lunar calendars is obvious. The recognition that there are phases of the moon and seasons of the year that can be counted – that should be counted because they are important – is profound. “All animal activities are time factored, simply because time passes, the future is forever arriving. The reality of time factoring is objective physics and does not depend upon human awareness or consciousness. Until Marshack’s work, many archeologists believed the sets of marks he chose to study were nothing but the aimless doodles of bored toolmakers. What Marshack uncovered is the intuitive discovery of mathematical sets and the application of those sets to the construction of a calendar.” Bone is the preferred medium because it allows for easy transport and a long calendar lifetime. Mankind’s earliest astronomy brought the clan into the multi-dimensional universe of the gods. Objects used in the most potent rituals had the highest contextual, cultural value and were treated with great reverence.” ref

“Regarding the Aurignacian, between 43,000 and 35,000 years ago, the archaeological record from habitations is relatively poor in the Ardèche (Abri des Pécheurs, Grotte du Figuier) while appearing more abundant in the Languedoc (La Salpétrière, La Balauzière, Esquicho-Grapaou, La Laouza etc.). The same applies to the sites of the early phases of the Gravettian. During climatic fluctuations, and unlike the deep caves such as Chauvet, the porch and shelter fills seem to have better recorded the cold episodes than the humid phases. To date, 20 decorated caves are indexed in the gorges of the Ardèche and nearby; in other words as far as the valley of the Gardon (Baume-Latrone). This group includes several important caves (Ebbou, Oulen, Émilie etc.) which are not precisely dated and were judged to be of secondary importance until the discovery of the Chauvet Cave.” ref

“A 10,000-year-old engraved stone could be a lunar calendar. The rare pebble — found high up in the mountains near Rome, Italy, the hammer-stone was found on top of Monte Alta in the Alban Hills.  It’s believed that our early ancestors would’ve used the stone to keep track of the moon’s cycles. Notches were engraved “as if they were being used to count, calculate or store the record of some kind of information. And these notches — which total either 27 or 28 — suggest the stone’s engraver used the pebble to track lunar cycles.” ref

“Archaeologists excavating in Scotland found a series of huge pits were dug by Mesolithic people to track the cycle of the Moon. They found a series of twelve huge, specially shaped pits designed to mimic the various phases of the Moon. The holes aligned perfectly on the midwinter solstice to help the hunter-gathers of Mesolithic Britain keep precise track of the passage of the seasons and the lunar cycle. The holes were dug in the shapes of various phases of the moon. “Waxing, waning, crescents, and gibbous, they’re all there and arranged in a 50-meter-long (164-foot) arc. The one representing the full moon is large and circular, approximately two meters (roughly seven feet) across, and placed right in the center. And this arc is arranged perfectly with a notch in the landscape where the sun would have risen on the day of the midwinter solstice about 10,000 years ago. Placing their calendar in the landscape the way they did would have let the people who built it to recalibrate the lunar months every winter to bring their lunar calendar in line with the solar year. This means that any effort to keep track of the seasons using the moon alone will slowly drift ever further from true. An observer needs to know when to add or subtract an extra month to make good the time or hit the reset button and start counting again.” ref

“A moon-shaped calendar was found in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia that dates back 8,000 years, and is made from a wild boar’s tusk engraved with markings to denote a lunar cycle. Farmers may have used the device to plan when to plant crops. It is made from the tusk of a wild boar and is marked with engravings thought to denote a lunar cycle of 28 days, as well as the four phases of the moon.” ref

“A lunisolar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has been dated to c. 8000 BCE, during the Mesolithic period. Some scholars argue for lunar calendars still earlier—Rappenglück in the marks on a c. 17,000-year-old cave painting at Lascaux and Marshack in the marks on a c. 27,000-year-old bone baton—but their findings remain controversial. Scholars have argued that ancient hunters conducted regular astronomical observations of the Moon back in the Upper Palaeolithic. Samuel L. Macey dates the earliest uses of the Moon as a time-measuring device back to 28,000–30,000 years ago.” ref

“A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon‘s phases (synodic monthslunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gregorian calendar, is a solar calendar system that originally evolved out of a lunar calendar system. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from a lunisolar calendar, whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process of intercalation. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with some using newfull, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations.” ref

“Since each lunation is approximately 29+12 days, it is common for the months of a lunar calendar to alternate between 29 and 30 days. Since the period of 12 such lunations, a lunar year, is 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds (354.36707 days), purely lunar calendars are 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. In purely lunar calendars, which do not make use of intercalation, like the Islamic calendar, the lunar months cycle through all the seasons of a solar year over the course of a 33–34 lunar-year cycle.” ref

“Although the Gregorian calendar is in common and legal use in most countries, traditional lunar and lunisolar calendars continue to be used throughout the world to determine religious festivals and national holidays. Such holidays include Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew calendar); Easter (the Computus); the ChineseKoreanVietnamese, and Mongolian New Year (ChineseKoreanVietnamese, and Mongolian calendars, respectively); the Nepali New Year (Nepali calendar); the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok (Chinese and Korean calendars); Loi Krathong (Thai calendar); Sunuwar calendar; Vesak/Buddha’s Birthday (Buddhist calendar); Diwali (Hindu calendars); RamadanEid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (Islamic calendar).” ref

“The Japanese Calendar formerly used both the lunar and lunisolar calendar before it was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar during the Meiji government in 1872. Holidays such as the Japanese New Year were simply transposed on top as opposed to being calculated like other countries that use the lunisolar and Gregorian calendars together, for example, the Japanese New Year now falls on January 1, creating a month delay as opposed to other East Asian Countries. See customary issues in modern Japan.” ref

“Most calendars referred to as “lunar” calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars. Their months are based on observations of the lunar cycle, with intercalation being used to bring them into general agreement with the solar year. The solar “civic calendar” that was used in ancient Egypt showed traces of its origin in the earlier lunar calendar, which continued to be used alongside it for religious and agricultural purposes. Present-day lunisolar calendars include the ChineseVietnameseHindu, and Thai calendars.” ref

“Synodic months are 29 or 30 days in length, making a lunar year of 12 months about 11 to 12 days shorter than a solar year. Some lunar calendars do not use intercalation, for example, the lunar Hijri calendar used by most Muslims. For those that do, such as the Hebrew calendar, and Buddhist Calendars in Myanmar, the most common form of intercalation is to add an additional month every second or third year. Some lunisolar calendars are also calibrated by annual natural events which are affected by lunar cycles as well as the solar cycle. An example of this is the lunar calendar of the Banks Islands, which includes three months in which the edible palolo worms mass on the beaches. These events occur at the last quarter of the lunar month, as the reproductive cycle of the palolos is synchronized with the moon.” ref

“Lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. In some lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when an astronomical new moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on the day after the full moon. Others are based on the first sighting of the lunar crescent, such as the lunar Hijri calendar (and, historically, the Hebrew calendar).” ref

I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so.

Mesopotamian Deities and Bull Horns

Mesopotamian Gods and the Bull

Abstract: In Mesopotamia, gods were associated with the bull from at least the Early Dynastic Period until the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Period. This relationship took on many forms? the bull could serve as the god’s divine animal, the god could be likened to the bull, or he could actually take on the form of the beast. In this paper, the various gods identified with or related to the bull will be identified and studied in order to identify which specific types of gods were most commonly and especially associated with the bull. The relationships between the gods and the bull are evident in textual as well as iconographic sources, although fewer instances of this connection are found in iconography. Examples of the portrayal of the association between the various gods and the bull in texts and iconography can be compared and contrasted in order to reveal differences and similarities in these portrayals.” ref

“The bull was associated with a variety of Mesopotamian gods. More than one god was associated with the bull, which, as Ornan (2001, p. 25) points out, does not contradict ancient Near Eastern religious concepts, as polytheistic theology conceived the world as being simultaneously governed by several divine entities. These entities could govern the same or similar spheres and could be associated with the same objects and attributes. If the bull was associated with more than one god, it must be because the characteristics of the bull could be compared and likened to those of the different gods. In this regard, Watanabe (2002, p. 89-106) identifies a number of ways in which the bull was used in divine contexts: the bull could be used to express warlike qualities associated with a god, to express aspects of the storm, and to express various types of fertility, be that agricultural or sexual. There was though considerable overlap between these, with, for example, the storm also expressing both martial and fertility aspects. The bull could, therefore, broadly be associated with power, authority, and strength, and with fertility. ref

“The bull could also be both a symbol and an attribute of a god ( Seidl 2011-13, p. 180). Gods could be associated with bulls in three ways: They could be represented as a bull, in other words taking the physical form of a bull, or they could be represented like a bull, taking on or embodying certain characteristics associated with the bull, or they could be represented as having some relationship with cattle. By looking at the different gods which are symbolized by and associated with the bull and analyzing how these relationships were manifested in both textual and visual sources, greater understanding may follow. This will be done in order to determine whether there is consistency in the manner in which the gods are associated with the bull. This will entail both looking at how the bull and the individual gods were associated and with which aspects of the bull these gods were identified. ref

Cattle Gods

“The most obvious gods to be associated with the bull are Cattle Gods. Laar and Akkan were cattle gods in Sumerian mythology, but there do not appear to be iconographic depictions of either god. According to a debate poem 1relayed by Kramer (1972, p. 52), Lahar, the cattle god, and his sister Anan, the grain goddess, were created so that the Anunnaki would have food and clothing. Laar and A’nan descend to earth and begin arguing, each one proclaiming the advantages of their gifts and belittling those of the other. Enki and Enlil intervene and declare Anan to be the winner. There is, however, uncertainty over the identity of Lahar in this narrative. For example, Leick (1998, p. 109) identifies Lahar as a cattle goddess rather than a god, while according to Lambert (1980-1983, p. 431) this deity is a “god of flocks.” Black, Cunningham, Robson, and Zólyomi (2006, p.227) and Middleton (2005, p. 156-157) further both identify Lahar as female and as the personification of Sheep, rather than associated with cattle. Whatever the gender identity of Lahar in the debate poem, in the Theogony of Dunnu, Lahar is the son of Akkan and, therefore, male. The Theogony of Dunnu describes both the founding of the town Dunnu and the genealogy of its deities. In this narrative, Lahar kills his father and marries his mother, and in turn, is killed by his son. Neither the strength and power nor the fertility of the bull, therefore, seem to be associated with Lahar in these texts, although as a deity of the herds or flocks, he may be associated with fertility. ref

“Akkan, Lahar’s father, also appears to have been a Sumerian cattle god and was also known as Sumuqan ( Wiggermann 2011-13, p. 308). As with Lahar, his sphere of influence is not entirely certain. Lines 94-95 of a ?ir-namursa?a to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A)(ETCSL 2.5.3.1), mentions the numerous beasts of Akkan, the creatures of the plain, the four-legged animals, suggesting that this god was not only associated with cattle, but also with other quadrupeds. In this regard, he is also referred to as “the lord of donkeys” in line 41 of a ir-namub to Ninurta (Ninurta G) (ETCSL 4.27.07). In the Theogony of Dunnu Akkan marries his mother, Earth, and kills his father, Hain, perhaps to be identified as Heaven ( Lambert 2013:387), and later marries his sister, Sea, and is killed by his son Lahar. In line 33 of a Dedication of a statue to I me-Dagan (I me-Dagan S, line 33) (ETCSL 2.5.4.19), Akkan is mentioned with Enki, Ikur, and Ezina as “the lords of abundance.” He, therefore, appears to be associated with fertility, and it is this aspect of the bull with which he is associated if he is a cattle god. ref

“Ningublaga, the son of the moon god Nanna, was also a cattle god ( Cavigneaux and Krebernik 1998-2001, p. 374). In An adab to Ningublaga for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan c) (ETCSL 2.5.3.3 7) he is repeatedly referred to by his epithet “vigorous wild bull.” This adab praises his power, as, for example, in lines 16-17, Vigorous wild bull, you flatten those mountains and turn them over to ghostly winds. You make their young warriors submit, no longer able to enter into battle.? Therefore, although cattle gods were more commonly associated with fertility, the bull’s strength and power are emphasized in the poems in which Ningublaga is identified with the bull. ref

Dumuzi

“Dumuzi was the husband of Inanna, and can be linked to the cattle gods through his role as a shepherd, being associated with and caring for domesticated animals. Although never depicted as a bull in the visual repertoire, he is associated with the bull in a variety of ways in the textual sources. For example, his name is often preceded by the epithet “Wild Bull” which was a Sumerian metaphor for ?shepherd? ( Sefati, 1998, p. 76). In this regard, according to Jacobsen (1976, p.44), the title “shepherd” probably originally meant “cowherd.” This appears to be the case in texts like a Song of Inanna and Dumuzi (Dumuzid-Inana V) (ETCSL 4.08.22), in which Inanna ?goes to the shepherd in the sheepfold, goes to Dumuzid in the cattle-pen?. This relationship between “Wild Bull” and “shepherd” can be seen in The Wild Bull Who Has Lain Down, which recounts Dumuzi’s death,

“The wild bull who has lain down, lives no more,
the wild bull who has lain down,
lives no more,
Dumuzi, the wild bull, who has lain down,
lives no more,
…the chief shepherd, lives no more,
the wild bull who has lain down, lives no more…” Source: ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 53). ref

“A number of poems and songs recount the love and marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi. These are often expressed in pastoral terms, and Dumuzi is often likened to a wild bull. In these texts, it is Dumuzi’s virility that is compared to that of a bull. In The Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi, Inanna tells how “I bathed for the wild bull, I bathed for the shepherd Dumuzi” ( Wolkenstein & Kramer 1983, p. 44). Similarly, in lines 8-9 of Segment B of a balbale to Inana (Dumuzid-Inana P) (ETCSL 4.08.16), Inanna describes how “My bridegroom rejoices beside me, the {wild bul}{( 1 ms. has instead:) lord} Dumuzid rejoices beside me.” In lines 20-21 of Segment C of the same balbale, another aspect Dumuzi’s role as pastoral god is represented. In these lines, Inanna sings, “Wild bull Dumuzid, make the milk yellow for me, and I will drink the milk with you, my bridegroom!” According to Wiggermann (2010, p. 328), “shepherd” and “lover” are Dumuzi’s defining characteristics in the texts.” These both refer to aspects of fertility and abundance and can be associated with Dumuzi also through his epithet Wild Bull. ref

The Storm Gods

“The Storm God, identified in the visual repertoire by the forked lightning he holds, was also associated with the bull in both texts and images. According to Watanabe (2002, p. 92, 97-98), the Akkadian words for the noise of thunder and the bellowing of a bull are the same, thereby linking the god associated with the storm and the bull. This god was known as Ikur in Sumerian and as Adad in Akkadian. Storm clouds were referred to as Adad’s “bull-calves” ( Black & Green, 1992, p. 111). According to Bienkowski and Millard (2000, p.2), Ikur’s animal was the lion-dragon, while Adad’s was the bull. Schwemer (2001, p. 124-126) demonstrates that the association of the Storm God with the bull is not originally Sumerian, but rather that it is first encountered during the Akkadian Period, and becomes popular during the Old Babylonian Period. While usually associated with the lion, Ikur is described in one text as “the great ox who is radiant, the lord who mounts the storm, who mounts a great lion, producing grain? ( Leick, 1998, p. 95). ref

“Ikur had certain similarities with the agricultural and rain god Ninurta: they were both represented as warrior gods who drove their chariots across the sky ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 135). Green (2003, p.23) argues that during the Ur III period, Ninurta was associated with the lion, while Adad was associated with the bull. Ninurta, though is associated with the bull in Sumerian texts. For example, in line 32 of Ninurta’s exploits: air-sud to Ninurta (ETCSL 1.6.2), he is compared to a bull, “[m]y hero, you are like a bull.” In other texts, he is not only likened to the bull, but his epithets associate him with the bull, for example, in air-gida to Ninurta (Ninurta A) (ETCSL 4.27.01) “Ninurta, the fierce bull.” In these texts, the association between Ninurta and the bull may reflect the god’s role as a Storm God with his fertilizing rains, but it appears more likely that it is the strength and power of the bull with which Ninurta is associated. This is also made evident in lines 1-4 of atigi to Ninurta for u-Suen (u-Suen D) (ETCSL 2.4.4.4), in which Ninurta is associated with both the lion and the bull,

“Ancient warrior, greatly respected and forceful, with the strength of a full-grown lion! Ninurta, “flood, a great lion, a fierce opponent in battle! Mighty one, who ?? the enemy peoples, destroyer of cities, who turns the settlements into dust! Ninurta, great wild bull, a battering ram who, great walls! ref

“In this regard, Green (2003, p.23) argues that Storm Gods were associated with lions when their power, authority and strength were meant to be shown, while they were associated with bulls when the focus was on their fertility. While this may generally be the case, in the above tigi it is clear that Ninurta’s power is being praised when he is associated with both the bull and the lion. Furthermore, Enlil, who has aspects of a Storm God, is compared to a bull in line 3 of The Curse of Agade (ETCSL 2.1.5), which states that he (Enlil) “had slaughtered the house of the land of Unug in the dust as if it were a mighty bull.” In this case, it is Enlil’s personification of the force and violence of the storm which are compared to a great bull. In comparison, in the Debate between Summer and Winter (ETCSL 5.3.3), Enlil copulates with the mountains to produce Summer and Winter, and [a]s Enlil copulated with the earth, there was a roar like a bull’s (lines 13-14). Jacobsen (1976, p. 104) understands this to mean that Enlil, in the form of a huge bull, copulates with Ninhursag. Therefore, when Enlil is presented as a bull, it is both his fertility and his force that are emphasized. It appears then that in texts, the bull represented the Storm God’s aspect of fertility as well as his divine strength and power. ref

“The association between the bull and the Storm God is first attested in the visual repertoire during the Old Babylonian period when forked lightning, symbolizing the god, rested on the back of the beast. The bull could be either standing or recumbent. On the fourth register of the kudurru of the Kassite ruler Meli-Shipak II, now housed in the Louvre (Sb 22), Adad is symbolized by two-forked lightning, which stands on a platform on the back of a bull ( figure 1). In examples such as this, the bull and the symbol of the god are represented, although the Storm God himself is not. In other examples, the bull supported the Storm God himself. Occasionally he is shown standing with one foot resting on the back of a small bull, but more commonly, the Storm God is depicted standing on the bull. For example, on the Stele of Adad from the Temple of Itar at Arslan Tash, now housed in the Louvre (AO13092) ( figure 2), Adad is depicted holding three-forked lightning in either hand and standing in the smiting pose on the back of a bull. The Stele of Esarhaddon from Zincirli, and now in the Vorderasiatische Museum (VA 2708), depicts the Esarhaddon with a rope that is threaded through the lips of two vanquished kings. Above these kings are representations of symbols of the gods. As on the Stele of Adad, on the Esarhaddon Stele, Adad is shown as a god holding three-forked lightning and standing on a bull. ref

“As well as being depicted with the Storm God or with the forked lightning of the Storm God, the bull sometimes stood as an expression of Adad, and was used to represent the god. Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the city of Babylon was rebuilt. The famous Processional Street and the Itar Gate, through which it passed, were lined with glazed blue bricks decorated with golden reliefs of animals sacred to the gods. The lion, Itar’s sacred animal, interestingly does not decorate the Itar Gate but is found instead on the Processional Way. The walls of the Itar Gate have alternating rows of dragons, which were sacred to Marduk, the god of the state and city, and bulls, which were symbolic of Adad ( figure 3). The gateway had bronze-plated cedar doors and bronze statues of bulls and dragons ( Kunze, Jakob-Rost, Klengel-Brandt, Marzahn & Warkte, 1995, p. 50). The bull was therefore associated with the Storm God in three ways in the visual repertoire. The bull could either be depicted with forked lightning, the symbol of the Storm God, on its back, or it could be depicted with the Storm God on its back, or the bull could represent the Storm God, although in this case the bull should not be considered as being the Storm God.” ref

 The Moon God

“Inscriptions from the Old Babylonian Period inform us that the crescent moon was identified with the Moon God Sin ( Black & Green, 1992, p. 54). The horns of the bull came to signify the crescent of the moon, which lies almost horizontally, like the horns of the bull, in the skies of Mesopotamia ( Black et al,2006, p. 145 ). The bull, the crescent moon, and the Moon God, therefore, became associated with each other. In Sumerian, the Moon God was known as Nanna, Suen, or sometimes as Nanna-Suen. In Akkadian he was called Sin. His epithets included aimbabbar, which means “the luminous,” referring to the bright moon, amar, which means “calf,” and amar-ban3-da den-lil-a, which means “young calf of Enlil” (Leick, 1998, p. 126). Not only was this god likened to a bull calf, but in literary works, he was commonly portrayed as one ( Black et al,2006, p.145). A hymn to Sin begins, “Proud bull calf with thick horns and perfect proportions, with a lapis beard, full of virility and abundance” ( Cashford, 2003, p. 104). This hymn associates the Moon God with fertility, but also reveals the reason why the Moon God was associated with the bull ? the shape of the bull’s horns reflected the shape of the crescent moon. This relationship is highlighted in other texts which explicitly associate the horns and the light of the Moon God, such as line 13 of a hymn to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen E) (ETCSL 2.4.5.5), which describes “with shining horns, the light of heaven, youthful Suen. ref

“Associated with cattle herds, and with agricultural fertility in general, Nanna was also worshipped as the patron deity of herdsmen ( Rice 1998, p. 92). According to Jacobsen (1976, p. 124), he was originally envisaged as a bull, but in time his human form came to dominate, and he became the “cowherd”. This is reflected in various texts, such as the opening passage of a balbale to Nanna (Nanna A)(ETCSL 4.13.01), which praises the god as a herdsman taking care of his cows. This role is further explored in The herds of Nanna (Nanna F) (ETCSL 4.13.06). ref

The bull is also associated with the Moon God in the visual repertoire, particularly through the crescent. The crescent standard was associated with the Moon God from the Early Dynastic Period, and is perhaps best known as the standard of Sin of Harran. During the Early Dynastic Period, a cylinder seal depicts a crescent standard which is supported by a stand with feet in the form of hoofs (NBC 2589), directly associating this standard with cattle. The earliest known example of the crescent standard comes not from Mesopotamia, but from Chogha Mish on a seal impression in which the crescent standard is held by a figure who is seated in a boat behind a larger figure who is seated on a bull. This larger figure may represent the Moon God, both because of the crescent standard and the bull with which he is associated. However, because this seal impression is Proto-Elamite, from ancient Iran, and not from Mesopotamia, it appears that the association of the Moon God both with the crescent standard and with the bull may originate outside of Mesopotamia. ref

The Moon God is associated with the bull not only through the crescent standard, but also with the crescent. On an Early Dynastic whitestone plaque found in the Inanna Temple at Nippur (7N415) a crescent moon is found just above the depiction of the bull ( figure 4), demonstrating that there was already a connection between the bull and the moon at this period. Two bulls? heads from a copper frieze which decorated the Early Dynastic Temple of Ninhursag at Ubaid in southern modern-day Iraq (BM 118015) displayed a crescent on their foreheads ( figure 5), further identifying them with the moon, and by extension, with the Moon God. The crescent moon, the bull, and the Moon God were then already associated with each other as early as the Early Dynastic Period. ref

“A wall painting from Room 132 of the Palace at Mari shows an enormous black bull behind the Moon God, identifiable by the crescent on the top of his headdress, who is seated on a throne ( figure 6) ( Matthews, 1997, p. 149). The bull and Moon God are a scale pattern that symbolizes the mountains, which, according to Ornan (2001, p.12), “in Mesopotamian iconography implies a heavenly setting.” According to Bernett and Keel (1999, p.35) the black bull may embody the night time mountains. What is clear is that the bull is associated with the Moon God.” ref

“Baked clay plaques have been found with depictions of two crossed bulls (Israel Museum 99.81.10) ( figure 7). Between the bulls is a crescent mounted on a conical base. That the crescent symbolizes the Moon God is supported by cylinder seals depicting a god who is holding a crescent on a pole, and is standing on two crossed bulls. One such cylinder seal, from the Old Babylonian Period, depicts the Moon God standing on two recumbent bulls as well as the Storm God standing on one bull ( figure 8). The bull, therefore, must have been recognized to be representative of both gods ( Ornan, 2001, p. 15).” ref

“Two stamp seals from the eighth or seventh century, one from Nineveh ( figure 9) and one of unknown provenance ( figure 10), depict a bull and a crescent on a pole, representing the Moon God. The crescent on the pole appears to stand on the bull’s back, much like the lightning which was symbolic of the Storm God ( Ornan, 2001, pp. 19-21).” ref

Other Important Mesopotamian Gods Associated with the Bull

“While the Cattle, Storm, and Moon gods were the most important gods which were associated with the bull, they were not the only ones. The bull was identified not only with the Moon God but also with the Sun God, Utu in Sumerian, and “ama” in Akkadian. It was only during the Neo-Assyrian Period that the Sun God was associated with the bull in the visual repertoire when he is depicted standing on a bull ( Kurmangaliev 2009-2011, p. 62). More commonly, he was associated with the hybrid bull-man, the gudalim, or “Bison-Bull,” which represented the distant lands to which he traveled ( Green, 1995, p. 1867). According to Krebernik (2009-2011, p. 604)the relationship between the Sun God and the bull-man may be linked to the association of the god with the wild bulls in an Early Dynastic hymn. ref

“This association of the Sun God with the bull is also found in other texts. In line 7 of an adab to Utu for ulgi (ulgi Q) (ETCSL 2.4.2.17), Utu is described as “[t]he great wild bull, youthful Utu, who like a torch illuminates the Land from the holy heavens?. In the Gilgame” epic “ama” is depicted as a bull. In Tablet IV of the Gilgame epic, Enkidu explains a dream of Gilgame’s,

“The [god,] my friend, we are going against, he’s not the wild bull, he’s different altogether. The wild bull you saw was shining “ama,” he will grasp our hands in time of peril” Source: ( George, 2003, p. 37). ref 

“In lines 374-375 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), Utu is described as “the hero, the bull who comes of the forest, bellowing truculently, the youth Utu, the bull standing triumphantly, audaciously, majestically.” This suggests that it was the fearsome power of the bull with which the Sun God was associated. ref

“Enki was one of the highest gods of the Sumerian pantheon. His name meant “Lord Earth,” and he was associated with water, particularly the sweet water of the Apsu. Because of this association, Enki was also linked to fertility ( Leick, 1998, p. 40). Although not generally or consistently associated with the bull, there are examples of such an association. In line 13 of an adab to Enki for I me-Dagan (I me-Dagan D) (ETCSL 2.5.4.04), Enki is called “Nudimmud, great bull of the Abzu,” and in line 17 of The Lament for Ur (ETCSL 2.2.2), Enki is called the “wild bull of Eridug.” The fertility aspect of the bull associated with Enki is demonstrated in lines 252-254 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), “he stood up full of lust like a rampant bull, lifted his penis, ejaculated and filled the Tigris with flowing water.” The god is also found in association with bulls on cylinder seals. The Akkadian greenstone cylinder seal of Adda (BM 89115) contains a depiction of Ea, the Akkadian equivalent of Enki, with his foot upon a bull. ref

“An/Anu was the sky god and “the father and ancestor of all the gods” ( Jacobsen, 1976, p. 95), making him one of the most important gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon. He was called “Fecund Bull,” a reference to the fertility of the sky as the source of rain ( Leick, 1998, p. 6). In line 2 of Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), Enki, An’s son, is described “engendered by a bull, begotten by a bull.” These references suggest that it was the aspect of fertility of the bull with which An/Anu was associated when he was likened to a bull. ref

“In line 3 of Pabilsa’s journey to Nibru (ETCSL 1.7.8), the titular god, who was the city deity of Larak, is described as “Pabilsa,” the wild bull with brindled thighs, whose house is noble!” In lines 13-15 of the same narrative, Pabilsa” is described as being “like a scorpion rising up from among the thorns, he is a fearsome scorpion; like a wolf rising up from his lair, he is likely to growl; like a lion rising up in the pathway, he is likely to beat,” and in line 30 he is called “Warrior Pabilsa”. Here the god’s martial aspects are exemplified, and his awesome power and strength are described, and it appears then that his association with the bull may reflect a similar idea. ref

Conclusion to Mesopotamian Gods and the Bull

“A variety of Mesopotamian gods were therefore associated with the bull, and particularly associated with aspects of fertility and power associated with the bull. This was done primarily through textual evidence, and particularly through the use of epithets identifying a certain god with the bull. Of the gods associated with the bull, the Moon God is unique in that it appears that the relationship between the bull and this god is primarily through the physical comparison between the crescent moon and the shape of the horns of the bull, and not through the fertility or power associated with the bull. This is evident both in the textual and visual evidence. One hymn, though, does associate the Moon God with fertility, and he was the patron deity of herdsmen. Indeed, his role as a herdsman and his taking care of his own cattle is explored in numerous works. ref

“Similar to the Moon God in his role as the patron deity of herdsmen, the Cattle Gods, Ningublaga, Laar, and Akkan, if the latter two are indeed Cattle Gods, can also be associated with herds. In their role as Cattle Gods, they could logically be linked to fertility. However, only Akkan is explicitly associated with fertility in texts, and when Ningublaga is identified with the bull, it is the bull’s strength and power which are emphasized and not its fertility. In contrast, Dumuzi, who can be linked to the Cattle Gods through his role as a shepherd, is associated with the fertility of the bull, and not with its strength. ref

“The Storm God appears to be primarily associated with the power of the bull, identifiable with the thundering storm and the bellowing of the bull. The fertility associated with the bull does not appear to be explicitly manifested in the Storm God, although this may have been implied through the fertilizing rains associated with the storm. The Storm God is also the only god who is consistently associated with the bull in the visual repertoire. This was achieved in three ways: forked lightning, the symbol of the Storm God, could be mounted on the back of the bull, the Storm God himself could stand on the back of the bull, or the bull could be symbolic or representative of the bull. The Storm God, though is not depicted as the bull. ref

“Other gods were also associated with the bull. For example, the Sun God was depicted in the visual repertoire as standing on the back of the bull, much like the Storm God. In texts, it appears that it is the power of the bull with which the Sun God is associated. The same is true for Pabilsa, it is his martial aspects that are emphasized, linking him to the strength and power of the bull. On the other hand, both Enki and An appear to be associated with the fertility of the bull. This is particularly obvious of Enki in Enki and the World Order, where this god ejaculates into the Tigris River. ref

“None of these gods, though are depicted in the form of the bull, unless Jacobsen?s (1976, p. 104)understanding of the Debate between Summer and Winter in which Enlil, as a bull, copulates with Ninhursag. It is more likely though, that Enlil is represented as being like a bull, and in manifesting the fertility of the bull, in this passage. In the Epic of Gilgame where “ama” is represented in the form of a bull, it is in a dream relayed by Gilgame to Enkidu, and Enkidu needs to interpret the bull to represent the Sun God. The Sun God is not routinely depicted as a bull. Therefore gods were represented like the bull, and as being associated with herds, but not in the form of the bull. ref

“The association between the bull and Mesopotamian gods is compelling, but the manner in which individual gods are associated with fertility or strength of the bull are not consistent. For example, the Cattle Gods could logically have been thought to be linked with the fertility of the bull, but instead, Ningublaga is associated with the brute strength of the bull. The Storm Gods, through devastating storms, were associated with the forceful power of the bull, but not with the fertilizing rains which accompany the storm. However, all the gods are associated with either fertility or with power and authority through the bull. ref

 Damien Marie AtHope’s Art 

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“Woman of Caviglione cave/Cavillon cave, Liguria, (Italy) involved evidence of a ceremonial burial of an adult female wearing a cap of more than 200 shells with a border of deer’s teeth, red ochre around the face and a bone awl at the side. The lady Cavillon was first believed to be a man so was dubbed “The Man of Menton”. In this cave, the tomb of the Lady of Cavillon, who died aged thirty-seven 24,000 years ago, was discovered.  Interestingly, this woman was adorned with a funerary headpiece, which suggests that the people of this time might have believed in life after death.” RefRefRefRef 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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1. Kebaran culture 23,022-16,522 Years Ago, 2. Kortik Tepe 12,422-11,722 Years Ago, 3. Jerf el-Ahmar 11,222 -10,722 Years Ago, 4. Gobekli Tepe 11,152-9,392 Years Ago, 5. Tell Al-‘abrUbaid and Uruk Periods, 6. Nevali Cori 10,422 -10,122 Years Ago, 7. Catal Hoyuk 9,522-7,722 Years Ago

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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There are other clothing resembling miniskirts that have been identified by archaeologists and historians as far back as 3,390–3,370 years ago. But this is much older. ref

Leopard claw-bone pendant from the Possible Woman Shaman/Priestess burial with the plastered and painted woman’s head in her arms that is several generations removed. She was buried under the floor of the history house (house with multiple burials beyond that of the connected family) with the twin facing leopards at Catal Huyuk. Ref

“From about 7500 B.C.E to 5700 B.C.E., early farmers grew wheat, barley, and peas, and raised sheep, goats, and cattle. At its height, some 10,000 people lived there. Among its more noteworthy features, Çatalhöyük’s inhabitants were obsessed with plaster, lining their walls with it, using it as a canvas for artwork, and even coating the skulls of their dead to recreate the lifelike countenances of their loved ones.” ref 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Shamanism (beginning around 30,000 years ago)

Shamanism (such as that seen in Siberia Gravettian culture: 30,000 years ago). Gravettian culture (34,000–24,000 years ago; Western Gravettian, mainly France, Spain, and Britain, as well as Eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture). And, the Pavlovian culture (31,000 – 25,000 years ago such as in Austria and Poland). 31,000 – 20,000 years ago Oldest Shaman was Female, Buried with the Oldest Portrait Carving.

Shamanism is approximately a 30,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals that can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden shamanist.

Around 29,000 to 25,000 years ago in Dolní Vestonice, Czech Republic, the oldest human face representation is a carved ivory female head that was found nearby a female burial and belong to the Pavlovian culture, a variant of the Gravettian culture. The left side of the figure’s face was a distorted image and is believed to be a portrait of an elder female, who was around 40 years old. She was ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of early female shamans. Before 5,500 years ago, women were much more prominent in religion.

Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known namely from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians include the Pavlovian culture, which were specialized mammoth hunters and whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. The origins of the Gravettian people are not clear, they seem to appear simultaneously all over Europe. Though they carried distinct genetic signatures, the Gravettians and Aurignacians before them were descended from the same ancient founder population. According to genetic data, 37,000 years ago, all Europeans can be traced back to a single ‘founding population’ that made it through the last ice age. Furthermore, the so-called founding fathers were part of the Aurignacian culture, which was displaced by another group of early humans members of the Gravettian culture. Between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago, different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population. To a greater extent than their Aurignacian predecessors, they are known for their Venus figurines. refrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefref, & ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Animism: Respecting the Living World by Graham Harvey 

“How have human cultures engaged with and thought about animals, plants, rocks, clouds, and other elements in their natural surroundings? Do animals and other natural objects have a spirit or soul? What is their relationship to humans? In this new study, Graham Harvey explores current and past animistic beliefs and practices of Native Americans, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and eco-pagans. He considers the varieties of animism found in these cultures as well as their shared desire to live respectfully within larger natural communities. Drawing on his extensive casework, Harvey also considers the linguistic, performative, ecological, and activist implications of these different animisms.” ref

My thoughts on Religion Evolution with external links for more info:

“Religion is an Evolved Product” and Yes, Religion is Like Fear Given Wings…

Atheists talk about gods and religions for the same reason doctors talk about cancer, they are looking for a cure, or a firefighter talks about fires because they burn people and they care to stop them. We atheists too often feel a need to help the victims of mental slavery, held in the bondage that is the false beliefs of gods and the conspiracy theories of reality found in religions.

“Understanding Religion Evolution: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, Paganism & Progressed organized religion”

Understanding Religion Evolution:

“An Archaeological/Anthropological Understanding of Religion Evolution”

It seems ancient peoples had to survived amazing threats in a “dangerous universe (by superstition perceived as good and evil),” and human “immorality or imperfection of the soul” which was thought to affect the still living, leading to ancestor worship. This ancestor worship presumably led to the belief in supernatural beings, and then some of these were turned into the belief in gods. This feeble myth called gods were just a human conceived “made from nothing into something over and over, changing, again and again, taking on more as they evolve, all the while they are thought to be special,” but it is just supernatural animistic spirit-belief perceived as sacred.

 

Quick Evolution of Religion?

Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago) pre-religion is a beginning that evolves into later Animism. So, Religion as we think of it, to me, all starts in a general way with Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (Siberia/Russia: 30,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago) (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religions development). Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago)  with CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago).

Historically, in large city-state societies (such as Egypt or Iraq) starting around 5,000 years ago culminated to make religion something kind of new, a sociocultural-governmental-religious monarchy, where all or at least many of the people of such large city-state societies seem familiar with and committed to the existence of “religion” as the integrated life identity package of control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine, but this juggernaut integrated religion identity package of Dogmatic-Propaganda certainly did not exist or if developed to an extent it was highly limited in most smaller prehistoric societies as they seem to lack most of the strong control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine (magical beliefs could be at times be added or removed). Many people just want to see developed religious dynamics everywhere even if it is not. Instead, all that is found is largely fragments until the domestication of religion.

Religions, as we think of them today, are a new fad, even if they go back to around 6,000 years in the timeline of human existence, this amounts to almost nothing when seen in the long slow evolution of religion at least around 70,000 years ago with one of the oldest ritual worship. Stone Snake of South Africa: “first human worship” 70,000 years ago. This message of how religion and gods among them are clearly a man-made thing that was developed slowly as it was invented and then implemented peace by peace discrediting them all. Which seems to be a simple point some are just not grasping how devastating to any claims of truth when we can see the lie clearly in the archeological sites.

I wish people fought as hard for the actual values as they fight for the group/clan names political or otherwise they think support values. Every amount spent on war is theft to children in need of food or the homeless kept from shelter.

Here are several of my blog posts on history:

I am not an academic. I am a revolutionary that teaches in public, in places like social media, and in the streets. I am not a leader by some title given but from my commanding leadership style of simply to start teaching everywhere to everyone, all manner of positive education. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Low Gods “Earth” or Tutelary deity and High Gods “Sky” or Supreme deity

“An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the “chthonic” deities of the underworldKi and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi/Bhūmi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religionEgyptian mythology exceptionally has a sky goddess and an Earth god.” ref

“A mother goddess is a goddess who represents or is a personification of naturemotherhoodfertilitycreationdestruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother (also referred to as Mother in Heaven or Sky Mother) is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father.” ref

Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically. The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.” ref

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter and Germanic Týr, Tir or Tiwaz, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref

Tutelary deity

“A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of “tutelary” expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) iKorean shamanismjangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the SeonangdangIn Philippine animism, Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. Such as: Maria Makiling is the deity who guards Mt. Makiling and Maria Cacao and Maria Sinukuan. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. And similarly, Native American beliefs such as Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the Zapotec and Totems, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Austronesian beliefs such as: Atua (gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians), Hanitu (Bunun of Taiwan‘s term for spirit), Hyang (KawiSundaneseJavanese, and Balinese Supreme Being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology and this spiritual entity, can be either divine or ancestral), Kaitiaki (New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land), Kawas (mythology) (divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls of the living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts), Tiki (Māori mythologyTiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne and represents deified ancestors found in most Polynesian cultures). ” ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Mesopotamian Tutelary Deities can be seen as ones related to City-States 

“Historical city-states included Sumerian cities such as Uruk and UrAncient Egyptian city-states, such as Thebes and Memphis; the Phoenician cities (such as Tyre and Sidon); the five Philistine city-states; the Berber city-states of the Garamantes; the city-states of ancient Greece (the poleis such as AthensSpartaThebes, and Corinth); the Roman Republic (which grew from a city-state into a vast empire); the Italian city-states from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, such as FlorenceSienaFerraraMilan (which as they grew in power began to dominate neighboring cities) and Genoa and Venice, which became powerful thalassocracies; the Mayan and other cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including cities such as Chichen ItzaTikalCopán and Monte Albán); the central Asian cities along the Silk Road; the city-states of the Swahili coastRagusa; states of the medieval Russian lands such as Novgorod and Pskov; and many others.” ref

“The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE; also known as Protoliterate period) of Mesopotamia, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. City-States like Uruk and others had a patron tutelary City Deity along with a Priest-King.” ref

Chinese folk religion, both past, and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. Such as Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity and Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of an individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Hinduism, personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata. Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva is the patron of yogis and renunciants. City goddesses include: Mumbadevi (Mumbai), Sachchika (Osian); Kuladevis include: Ambika (Porwad), and Mahalakshmi. In NorthEast India Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of Manipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. Tibetan Buddhism has Yidam as a tutelary deity. Dakini is the patron of those who seek knowledge.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion:

You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.” ref

“Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era, when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games (ludi) in her honor.” ref

“Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus). The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned.” ref

“The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele) as “tower-crowned” represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims), the tutelary was Mars Camulus.” ref 

Household deity (a kind of or related to a Tutelary deity)

“A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia.” ref

“The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism, and Cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism. These survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoy.” ref

“Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible, often translated as “household gods” in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets, paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in the case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food and drink.” ref

“In many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities, existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include:

“Although the cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir, they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of the major pagan pantheons. Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches, could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space.” ref

“For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther‘s Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds. Eventually, rationalism and the Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities, until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae, not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots.” ref

“In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. In reality, this distinction is somewhat academic, since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and something of a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud. In Freud’s Totem and Taboo, both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize the psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces, but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component.” ref

William Edward Hearn, a noted classicist, and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic, and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of the Indo-European household, in Chapter II “The House Spirit”, Section 1, he states:

The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was … the spirit rule of dead ancestors.” ref

“In Section 2 he proceeds to elaborate:

It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa, and not a mere hypothesis. …

In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and the Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. … [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. … The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. … In [England] … [h]e is the Brownie. … In Scotland this same Brownie is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey.” ref

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ref, ref

Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old. ref

 Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500) ref, ref

Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)

“Judaism is an Abrahamic, its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Some scholars argue that modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions.” ref

“Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel, essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with his consort, the goddess Asherah; below them were second-tier gods and goddesses such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, all of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees, and a third and fourth tier of minor divine beings, including the mal’ak, the messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yahweh, however, was not the ‘original’ god of Israel “Isra-El”; it is El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, whose name forms the basis of the name “Israel”, and none of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have a Yahwistic theophoric name (i.e., one incorporating the name of Yahweh).” ref

“El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning “god” or “deity“, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-, meaning “god”. Specific deities known as ‘El or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “ʼĒl the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad“. The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾelōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However the documentary hypothesis for the Old Testament (corresponds to the Jewish Torah) developed originally in the 1870s, identifies these that different authors – the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly source – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.” ref

 

Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old. ref

Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old. ref

Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old. ref

Christianity around 2,o00 years old. ref

Shinto around 1,305 years old. ref

Islam around 1407–1385 years old. ref

Sikhism around 548–478 years old. ref

Bahá’í around 200–125 years old. ref

Knowledge to Ponder: 

Stars/Astrology:

  • Possibly, around 30,000 years ago (in simpler form) to 6,000 years ago, Stars/Astrology are connected to Ancestors, Spirit Animals, and Deities.
  • The star also seems to be a possible proto-star for Star of Ishtar, Star of Inanna, or Star of Venus.
  • Around 7,000 to 6,000 years ago, Star Constellations/Astrology have connections to the “Kurgan phenomenon” of below-ground “mound” stone/wood burial structures and “Dolmen phenomenon” of above-ground stone burial structures.
  • Around 6,500–5,800 years ago, The Northern Levant migrations into Jordon and Israel in the Southern Levant brought new cultural and religious transfer from Turkey and Iran.
  • “The Ghassulian Star,” a mysterious 6,000-year-old mural from Jordan may have connections to the European paganstic kurgan/dolmens phenomenon.

“Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the HindusChinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient GreeceRome, the Islamicate world and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person’s personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.” ref 

Around 5,500 years ago, Science evolves, The first evidence of science was 5,500 years ago and was demonstrated by a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world. ref

Around 5,000 years ago, Origin of Logics is a Naturalistic Observation (principles of valid reasoning, inference, & demonstration) ref

Around 4,150 to 4,000 years ago: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which was originally titled “He who Saw the Deep” (Sha naqba īmuru) or “Surpassing All Other Kings” (Shūtur eli sharrī) were written. ref

Hinduism:

  • 3,700 years ago or so, the oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rig Veda was composed.
  • 3,500 years ago or so, the Vedic Age began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Judaism:

  • around 3,000 years ago, the first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew”
  • around 2,500 years ago, many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed

Myths: The bible inspired religion is not just one religion or one myth but a grouping of several religions and myths

  • Around 3,450 or 3,250 years ago, according to legend, is the traditionally accepted period in which the Israelite lawgiver, Moses, provided the Ten Commandments.
  • Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament is the first part of Christianity’s bible.
  • Around 2,400 years ago, the most accepted hypothesis is that the canon was formed in stages, first the Pentateuch (Torah).
  • Around 2,140 to 2,116 years ago, the Prophets was written during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books.
  • Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections:
  • The first five books or Pentateuch (Torah).
  • The proposed history books telling the history of the Israelites from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon.
  • The poetic and proposed “Wisdom books” dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world.
  • The books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God:
  • Henotheism:
  • Exodus 20:23 “You shall not make other gods besides Me (not saying there are no other gods just not to worship them); gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.”
  • Polytheism:
  • Judges 10:6 “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.”
  • 1 Corinthians 8:5 “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.”
  • Monotheism:
  • Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

Around 2,570 to 2,270 Years Ago, there is a confirmation of atheistic doubting as well as atheistic thinking, mainly by Greek philosophers. However, doubting gods is likely as old as the invention of gods and should destroy the thinking that belief in god(s) is the “default belief”. The Greek word is apistos (a “not” and pistos “faithful,”), thus not faithful or faithless because one is unpersuaded and unconvinced by a god(s) claim. Short Definition: unbelieving, unbeliever, or unbelief.

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Expressions of Atheistic Thinking:

  • Around 2,600 years ago, Ajita Kesakambali, ancient Indian philosopher, who is the first known proponent of Indian materialism. ref
  • Around 2,535 to 2,475 years ago, Heraclitus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor or modern Turkey. ref
  • Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, according to The Story of Civilization book series certain African pygmy tribes have no identifiable gods, spirits, or religious beliefs or rituals, and even what burials accrue are without ceremony. ref
  • Around 2,490 to 2,430 years ago, Empedocles, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. ref
  • Around 2,460 to 2,370 years ago, Democritus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “father of modern science” possibly had some disbelief amounting to atheism. ref
  • Around 2,399 years ago or so, Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher was tried for sinfulness by teaching doubt of state gods. ref
  • Around 2,341 to 2,270 years ago, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher known for composing atheistic critics and famously stated, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ref

This last expression by Epicurus, seems to be an expression of Axiological Atheism. To understand and utilize value or actually possess “Value Conscious/Consciousness” to both give a strong moral “axiological” argument (the problem of evil) as well as use it to fortify humanism and positive ethical persuasion of human helping and care responsibilities. Because value-blindness gives rise to sociopathic/psychopathic evil.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

While hallucinogens are associated with shamanism, it is alcohol that is associated with paganism.

The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:

Show one: Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses.

Show two: Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”

Show tree: Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”

Show four: Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”

Show five: Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”

Show six: Emergence of hierarchy, sexism, slavery, and the new male god dominance: Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!

Show seven: Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State)

Show eight: Paganism 4,000 years old: Moralistic gods after the rise of Statism and often support Statism/Kings: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism)

Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIDEO

Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO

Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO

Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO

Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIDEO

Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves: VIEDO

Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State): VIEDO

Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism): VIEDO

I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.

The truth is best championed in the sunlight of challenge.

An archaeologist once said to me “Damien religion and culture are very different”

My response, So are you saying that was always that way, such as would you say Native Americans’ cultures are separate from their religions? And do you think it always was the way you believe?

I had said that religion was a cultural product. That is still how I see it and there are other archaeologists that think close to me as well. Gods too are the myths of cultures that did not understand science or the world around them, seeing magic/supernatural everywhere.

I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.

This series idea was addressed in, Anarchist Teaching as Free Public Education or Free Education in the Public: VIDEO

Our 12 video series: Organized Oppression: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of power (9,000-4,000 years ago), is adapted from: The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFjxmY7jQA by “History with Cy

Show #1: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid)

Show #2: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Eridu “Tell Abu Shahrain”)

Show #3: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Uruk and the First Cities)

Show #4: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (First Kings)

Show #5: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Early Dynastic Period)

Show #6: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (King/Ruler Lugalzagesi)

Show #7: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Sargon and Akkadian Rule)

Show #8: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Naram-Sin, Post-Akkadian Rule, and the Gutians)

Show #9: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Gudea of Lagash and Utu-hegal)

Show #10: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Third Dynasty of Ur / Neo-Sumerian Empire)

Show #11: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Amorites, Elamites, and the End of an Era)

Show #12: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Aftermath and Legacy of Sumer)

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.

Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?

Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.

I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.

Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.

At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.

Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d  

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)

Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft

Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie

Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.

Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”

I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist. 

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so. 

My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?

Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism

My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or QuotesMy YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com

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