Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

“Atheist-Humanist-Leftists” World Mythology Series, 20 videos: (there are some videos already added but others will be added as they are finished)

Show 1 blog: Comparative Mythology: the systematic comparison of mythic themes gathered from a wide variety of cultures and ideas https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/11/comparative-mythology-the-systematic-comparison-of-mythic-themes-gathered-from-a-wide-variety-of-cultures-and-ideas/

Show 2 blog: Creation myths: From chaos, Ex nihilo, Earth-diver, Emergence, World egg, and World parent https://damienmarieathope.com/2022/05/creation-myths-from-chaos-ex-nihilo-earth-diver-emergence-world-egg-and-world-parent/

Show 3 blog: Water and Mythology: Water Deities and Creation https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/06/water-and-mythology-water-deities-and-creation/

Show 4 blog: Cosmic egg/World Egg and the Mound of Creation/Mountain of God mythology, seen around the world, are loosely related? https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/09/cosmic-egg-world-egg-and-the-mound-of-creation-mountain-of-god-mythology-seen-around-the-world-are-loosely-related/

Show 5 blog: World Turtle, Cosmic Turtle, or World-bearing Turtle, is a mytheme of a giant turtle supporting or containing the world https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/11/world-turtle-cosmic-turtle-or-world-bearing-turtle-is-a-mytheme-of-a-giant-turtle-supporting-or-containing-the-world/

Show 6 blog: Chaotic Primordial Waters and Flood Catastrophe Myths Worldwide: commonly a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, and destroys civilization https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/11/chaotic-primordial-waters-and-flood-catastrophe-myths-worldwide-commonly-a-great-flood-usually-sent-by-a-deity-or-deities-and-destroys-civilization/

Show 7 blog: Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc. https://damienmarieathope.com/2023/03/sky-father-sky-mother-high-gods-or-similar-gods-goddesses-of-the-sky-more-loosely-connected-seeming-arcane-mythology-across-the-earth-seen-in-siberia-china-europe-native-american/

Show 8 blog: Sky Father/Sky Chief Mythology: Great spirit, Great Mystery, and Great Father https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/11/sky-father-sky-chief-mythology-great-spirit-great-mystery-and-great-father/

Show 9 blog: Confucianism’s Tiān (Shangdi god 4,000 years old): Supernaturalism, Pantheism or Theism? https://damienmarieathope.com/2018/01/confucianism-tian-pantheism-and-gods/

Show 10 blog: Low Gods (Earth/ Tutelary deity), High Gods (Sky/Supreme deity), and Moralistic Gods (Deity enforcement/divine order) https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/01/low-gods-earth-tutelary-deity-high-gods-sky-supreme-deity-and-moralistic-gods-deity-enforcement-divine-order/

Show 11 blog: Lightning Bolts and Thunderbolts Associated in Religion and Deities https://damienmarieathope.com/2025/05/lightning-bolts-and-thunderbolts-associated-in-religion-and-deities/

Show 12 blog: “Deities of war/violence” and/or “War Gods/Goddesses” https://damienmarieathope.com/2022/08/deities-of-war-violence-and-or-war-gods-goddesses/

Show 13 blog: Myths and Folklore: “Trickster gods and goddesses” https://damienmarieathope.com/2022/01/myths-and-folklore-trickster-gods-and-goddesses/

Show 14 blog: Duality in mythology: Dual Deities, Devine Couple, or Devine Twins beyond Proto-Indo-European https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/09/duality-in-mythology-dual-deities-devine-couple-or-devine-twins-beyond-proto-indo-european/

Show 15 blog: Single God Religions (Monotheism) = “Man-o-theism” started around 4,000 years ago with the Great Sky Spirit/God Tiān (天)? https://damienmarieathope.com/2016/03/single-god-religions-monotheism-man-o-theism/

Show 16 blog: Life-Death-Rebirth Deities: Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Attis, Zagreus, Dionysus, and Jesus https://damienmarieathope.com/2025/01/life-death-rebirth-deities-osiris-tammuz-adonis-and-attis-zagreus-dionysus-and-jesus/

Show 17 blog: Creation of Life/Humans from Clay, seen around the World, loosely related as many other Myths do https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/11/creation-of-life-humans-from-clay-seen-around-the-world-loosely-related-as-many-other-myths-do/

Show 18 blog: Weaving and Mythology: Spider Grandmother/Woman (rarely Spider Grandfather/Man), often related with moon deities, and/or WISE/Intelligent Creator/Crafter, seen in Indigenous Beliefs in the Americas as well as around the World https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/10/weaving-and-spider-mythology/

Show 19 blog: Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians: mountains, mounds, and temples: Ziggurats or Pyramids, with related Deities, as well as Mythology https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/10/sumerians-and-ancient-egyptians-mountains-mounds-and-temples-ziggurats-or-pyramids-with-related-deities-as-well-as-mythology/

Show 20 blog: Reincarnation/Rebirth in Indigenous Religions (Siberia, Americas, and Aboriginal Australians), Celtic druids, as well as “Indian Religions” such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism https://damienmarieathope.com/2025/03/reincarnation-rebirth-in-indigenous-religions-siberia-americas-and-aboriginal-australians-celtic-druids-as-well-as-indian-religions-such-as-hinduism-buddhism-jainism-and-sikhism/

Prehistoric Siberia: Shamanism, Myths, Lake Baikal, Altai Mountains, DNA, Migrations, and Language (VIDEO)

Shamanism in Siberia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism_in_Siberia

32,000-21,000 years ago Yana Culture, at the Yana Woolly Rhinoceros Horn Site in Siberia, with genetic proximity to Ancient North Eurasian populations (Mal’ta and Afontova Gora), but also Ust-Ishim, Sunghir, and to a lesser extent Tianyuan, as well as similarities with the Clovis culture https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/03/32000-21000-years-ago-yana-culture-at-the-yana-woolly-rhinoceros-horn-site-in-siberia-with-genetic-proximity-to-ancient-north-eurasian-populations-malta-and-afontova-gora-but-also-ust-ishim/

Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system https://damienmarieathope.com/2017/11/shamanism-an-approximately-30000-year-old-belief-system/

Lake Baikal and Myths of Creation: Primordial waters, Supernatural Creatures of water, and the Mounds of creation https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/03/lake-baikal-and-myths-of-creation-primordial-waters-supernatural-creatures-of-water-and-the-mounds-of-creation/

Shaman Rock, on Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Siberia, with a natural rock image that resembles a dragon. And is one of the “Nine Holy Sites of Asia.” https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/02/shaman-rock-on-olkhon-island-lake-baikal-siberia-with-a-natural-rock-image-that-resembles-a-dragon-and-is-one-of-the-nine-holy-sites-of-asia/

Earth diver, Axis Mundi, and World Turtle Mythology https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/03/earth-diver-axis-mundi-and-world-turtle-mythology/

Cosmic Hunt mythology motif of Northern Eurasia and the Americas yet absent in other parts of the World
https://damienmarieathope.com/2025/03/cosmic-hunt-mythology-motif-of-northern-eurasia-and-the-americas-yet-absent-in-other-parts-of-the-world/

Milky Way Mythology: Often a Path to the Afterlife, Souls of the Dead on the Milky Wayhttps://damienmarieathope.com/2024/12/milky-way-mythology-often-a-path-to-the-afterlife-souls-of-the-dead-on-the-milky-way/

The Center of the World “Axis Mundi” and/or “Sacred Mountains” Mythology Could Relate to the Altai Mountains, Heart of the Steppe, as well as a hub for Shamanism
https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/03/the-center-of-the-world-axis-mundi-and-or-sacred-mountains-mythology-could-relate-to-the-altai-mountains-heart-of-the-steppe/

Seeming Connections: Totem poles, Ceremonial poles, Spirit poles, Sacred poles, Deity poles, Deities with poles, Pole star, Axis Mundi, Sacred trees, World tree, Maypole, Sun Dance with poles, etc.
https://damienmarieathope.com/2023/09/seeming-connections-totem-poles-ceremonial-poles-spirit-poles-sacred-poles-deity-poles-deities-with-poles-sacred-trees-world-tree-pole-star-axis-mundi-maypole-sun-dance-with-poles-etc/

My thoughts on the Origin and Evolution of Ziggurats and Pyramids, Mountain/Hill/Axis Mundi Mythology and the Mound of Creation
https://damienmarieathope.com/2024/10/my-thoughts-on-the-origin-and-evolution-of-ziggurats-and-pyramids-mountain-hill-axis-mundi-mythology-and-the-mound-of-creation/

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Otiose meaning: “serving no practical purpose”

Religion: high gods

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Gods, like religions in general, are cultural products. To me, high gods, like “Sky Father” (Sun or Blue Sky usually, or Storm deities on the deity’s “dark side” like Yin and Yang) or “Sky Mother” (Moon or Stars) myths beliefs are at 39% when tested, in hunter-gatherers the world over.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Dogs in Neolithic/Ancient China (from Siberia: Ancient East Eurasian/Lake Baikal)

“The “Mytheme” of the dog guarding the Otherworld possibly stems from an older Ancient North Eurasian belief, as suggested by similar motifs found in Indo-European, Native American, and Siberian mythology. In Siouan, Algonquian, Iroquoian, and in Central and South American beliefs, a fierce guard dog was located in the Milky Way, perceived as the path of souls in the afterlife, and getting past it was a test. The Siberian Chukchi and Tungus believed in a guardian-of-the-afterlife dog and a spirit dog that would absorb the dead man’s soul and act as a guide in the afterlife. In Indo-European myths, the figure of the dog is embodied by Cerberus, Sarvarā, and Garmr. In Zoroastrianism, two four-eyed dogs guard the bridge to the afterlife called Chinvat Bridge. Anthony and Brown note that it might be one of the oldest mythemes recoverable through comparative mythology. A second canid-related series of beliefs, myths, and rituals, dogs with healing rather than death. For instance, Ancient Near Eastern and Turkic-Kipchaq myths are prone to associating dogs with healing and generally categorise dogs as impure. A similar myth-pattern is assumed for the Eneolithic site of Botai in Kazakhstan, dated to 3500 BCE, which might represent the dog as an absorber of illness and guardian of the household against disease and evil. In Mesopotamia, the goddess Nintinugga, associated with healing, was accompanied or symbolized by dogs. Similar absorbent-puppy healing and sacrifice rituals were practiced in Greece and Italy, among the Hittites, again possibly influenced by Near Eastern traditions.” ref

“Dogs have played a role in the religion, myths, tales, and legends of many cultures. They hold diverse and multifaceted roles in various religious traditions around the globe. These interpretations often revolve around the faithful and loyal nature of dogs, paralleling human devotion to higher powers. Across these religious contexts, the objectives regarding dogs in religion range from emblematic representations of virtues like loyalty and protection to teachings on purity and ritual practices. In mythology, dogs often serve as pets or as watchdogs. Stories of dogs guarding the gates of the underworld recur throughout Indo-European mythologies and may originate from Proto-Indo-European religion. Historian Julien d’Huy has suggested three narrative lines related to dogs in mythology. One echoes the gatekeeping noted above in Indo-European mythologies—a linkage with the afterlife; a second, “related to the union of humans and dogs”; a third relates to the association of dogs with the star Sirius. Evidence presented by d’Huy suggests a correlation between the mythological records from cultures and the genetic and fossil records related to dog domestication. The dog is one of the 12 animals honoured in Chinese astrology. The second day of the Chinese New Year is considered to be the birthday of all dogs, and Chinese people often take care to be kind to dogs on that day. In China, Korea, and Japan, dogs are viewed as kind protectors. Panhu is a dragon-dog (an important figure in Han and Yao mythologies) who transformed into a man and married a princess. Dogs have a significant presence in Chinese tradition and folklore, not only in astrology and mythology but also in religious and cultural aspects. The role of dogs within Chinese tradition was as Guardians of Temples and Homes. Dogs have been regarded as protectors and guardians in the Chinese culture. They are often depicted at the entrances of temples, homes, and other essential settings. In Chinese folk religion, it is believed that dogs have the ability to ward off evil spirits and protect against negative energies. This tradition of utilizing dogs as protectors is deeply ingrained in Chinese culture, which emphasizes their role as symbols of loyalty and vigilance.” ref 

“According to Bruno Schindler, the origin of using dogs as sacrificial animals dates back to a primitive cult in honour of a dog-shaped god of vegetation whose worship later became amalgamated with that of Shang Di/Tian, the reigning deity of the Shang pantheon.” ref

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Map of the Chinese Neolithic

“Neolithic China corresponds to an economic revolution during which populations learned to produce their food resources through the domestication of plants and animals.” ref

Around 9700 BCE, climate warming led to the development of wild food resources and a reduction in nomadism. Hunter-gatherers moved less; they began to store supplies, often stocks of acorns. Neolithization, which marks the transition to the Neolithic period, mainly occurred between 7000 and 5000 BCE. The appearance of pottery (c. 16000–12000 BCE) is separate from this process, as it occurred earlier, among populations of the Late Paleolithic. The Neolithic period began during a generally warm climatic phase called the Holocene. Among plant-based foods, wild rice appeared and was gradually domesticated in the Lower Yangtze region around 6000–5000 BCE; the same occurred in the Yellow River basin (Henan) with millet. Millet and rice, initially gathered and consumed in their wild forms, were progressively domesticated around 6000–5000 BCE. At first, they only made a minor contribution to the diet, competing with other wild plants and hunting resources. Underground silos were often used to store certain plant-based foods. Then, from around 5000 BCE, agriculture became a much more significant part of the diet of Chinese populations, with millet in the North and rice in the South.ref

“By the Late Neolithic (c. 3300–2000 BCE) in Gansu, on the edge of the Hexi Corridor, exchanges with the North and West as well as the East and South made it possible to cultivate up to six cereals: wheat, barley, oats, and two types of millet and rice. The archaeological cultures that emerged in the Late Neolithic (c. 5000–2000 BCE) produced items unique to China, such as jade artifacts, including those shaped like discs (bi) and tubes (cong). This material, difficult to work with, served as a marker of elite status, and this was the case in multiple regions, due to exchanges that sometimes occurred over very long distances. Chinese prehistoric cultures thus reveal a rich material culture. Pottery appeared particularly early and achieved a high level of refinement during this period. Jades followed, as did the first lacquered objects (Hemudu culture), which also appeared here. Neolithic artisans adopted glass technology through trade with the West, but this production remained very marginal. Few wooden objects have survived, but they generally indicate everyday use. In addition to these wooden objects, others made from natural fibers, basketry materials, and horns have survived locally. Many prestigious objects show hybrid forms, and their creators produced a wide variety. This abundant production offers evidence of symbolic activity that would accompany the economic development of the Bronze Age in China.ref

Neolithization is a complex process. In a landscape whose vegetation cover had changed, humans employed diverse strategies depending on local and temporal conditions. This neolithization is marked by the progressive sedentarization of human groups and the establishment of food reserves during the Early Neolithic (7000–5000 BCE). Neolithization, a slow and uneven process, is difficult to grasp when it comes to small groups whose strategies vary depending on the areas they encounter (as mobile hunter-gatherers) and local climatic variations. The difficulty also lies in trying to connect population movements (human migrations in Southeast Asia and connections with East Asia and the Pacific), linguistic histories (such as the expansion of Austronesian languages), technological changes indicating new economic or social adaptations (pottery, basic technologies, sedentarization), and evidence of domestication of animals and plants. This effort has created the illusion of a unified “neolithization” process, rather than acknowledging the complex histories of mosaics of peoples practicing eclectic strategies that cannot be easily classified as either hunter-gatherers or farmers.ref

“Polished stones seem to be associated with agriculture, in the case of grinding stones used to crush grains, but plants were already being crushed before that. However, flaked stone tools continued to be used for a long time, depending on the intended purpose. The intellectual processes involved are therefore complex, and it seems that some individuals distinguished themselves from their peers and entered into rivalry during this period. Furthermore, these societies came into contact with hunter-gatherers, and such exchanges were beneficial to both sides, transforming them reciprocally. Domestication of certain animals, cultivation of cereals and other plants, new tools—the essential traits of Neolithic culture—developed independently of one another, both in time and space, and exchanges with even the most distant cultures played a role in this slow and dispersed neolithization. Neolithic cultures, from 7000 to 1500 BCE, within which these practices continued to evolve, formed locally and sometimes disappeared, often witnessing—more or less gradually—the emergence of social differences and violent conflicts.ref

According to some Chinese prehistorians, this period is considered the “beginning of the Middle Neolithic.” For others, this period of neolithization corresponds to the Early Neolithic. The increasingly widespread use of ceramics corresponds with this sedentary lifestyle. This was a slow process that appeared sporadically across Chinese territory and was remarkably dispersed. Numerous centers of semi-sedentary lifestyle with food supplements provided by significant attempts at cultivation and animal husbandry emerged among groups whose primary subsistence still relied on hunting and gathering around 7000–6000 BCE. Acorns, which require complex preparation due to their toxicity, were often most used, ground on grinding stones, as at Peiligang. Wild fruits and plants were still gathered, along with fish and game products, forming a broad-spectrum subsistence strategy where wild foods remained the most consumed by far during this period. The first fermented beverages appeared in the form of rice beer around the 7th millennium BCE.ref

“The domestication of rice occurred over a very long period, and as of 2015, the emergence of domesticated varieties before 4000 BCE remains under debate. The domestication of plants seems to have been preceded by early phases of intensified exploitation, followed by a stage of “pre-domestic agriculture” (still involving mostly wild species), before fully domesticated varieties became widespread. Moreover, over the long period beginning around 17,000 BCE, ceramics diversified. By 7000–6000 BCE, pottery was initially a practical accessory linked to mobility, often showing evident aesthetic and even expressive choices, sometimes related to apparent ritual practices. Flat grinding stones and cylindrical grinders were first used to crush wild plants, particularly acorns and water chestnuts, in an environment rich for populations that were still very sparse for the space they occupied. These were societies with no preserved signs of differentiated hierarchy. However, already in the Xinglongwa culture (c. 6200–5200 BCE), in Inner Mongolia, jade objects[N 4] appear that seem to distinguish certain individuals (as of 2012, one male individual).ref

Yangtze delta region, “Pre-Hemudu”: Shangshan, Xiaohuangshan, and Kuahuqiao, 9000–5000 BCE

“Discoveries dating from 2005–2010 in the same region, south of Shanghai, between Ningbo and Shaoxing, revealed two previously little-known cultures from the very beginning of the Neolithic, predating the Hemudu culture (5000–3300 BCE) [sites of Hemudu, Zishan, Cihu, Tianluoshan, and Fujiashan, near the East China Sea]. The Hemudu culture was the first to demonstrate the ancient mastery of rice cultivation in China. These two new cultures are Shangshan (9000–5000 BCE) [Shangshan and Xiaohuangshan sites] and Kuahuqiao (6000–5000 BCE) [Kuahuqiao and Xiasun sites, 2 km apart]. At these sites, the progressive domestication of rice has been detected, occurring between 10,000/9000 and 5000 BCE. The Shangshan culture is (as of 2017) the oldest in the Yangzi region. On the banks of the Puyang River, near Shaoxing and about 200 km from the sea, the Shangshan site (2 hectares, dated to 9000–6000 BCE) shows signs of significant periodic variations following a dry and cold climate (11,000–9,670 BCE), corresponding to the Younger Dryas, followed by a subtropical-humid climate at the beginning of the Holocene.” ref

“The tools consist of rudimentary implements for scraping and cutting, stone balls (in the form of bolas), perforated pebble discs, stationary grinding slabs, pebble grinders, rare polished bifaces, and adzes. Numerous grinding tools (slabs and grinders/pestles) appear in various forms, indicating a diversified use in the preparation of plant materials, among others. The many storage pits/granaries, as well as the predominance of flat-bottomed pottery, which is unsuitable for mobility, suggest that hunter-gatherers settled there, at least temporarily. Initially, the rice husk and stalk were used as tempering agents in pottery, later replaced by sand. Clues visible to botanists on wild rice samples collected at the Shangshan site suggest that the abundance of wild rice may have inspired inhabitants to attempt its cultivation. The fact that it could be stored to get through the lean season made it, much later, an essential food — and at first, a luxury dish worthy of celebration. It is possible, then, that the oldest alcoholic beverages discovered in China originated from rice fermentation.” ref
North, Middle Yellow River: “Pre-Yangshao,” c. 7000–5000 BCE
The “Pre-Yangshao” sites include, among others, the Laoguantai culture (including Baijia–Dadiwan I), dated to around 6000–5000 BCE, and the PeiligangCishan culture: Peiligang, c. 7000–5000 BCE, and Cishan–Beifudi, c. 6500–5000 BCE. Some sites from the Peiligang culture show early evidence of millet (foxtail millet) cultivation. This area is currently considered the location of the first domestication of millet, alongside the Cishan culture. Beyond having pottery much more durable than in previous periods, the Peiligang culture also produced, at Jiahu, containers intended to hold fermented beverages made from rice,[N 8] honey, hawthorn berries, or grapes. This could represent the earliest known use of grapes in an alcoholic beverage. The Jiahu site included 45 houses, numerous storage pits, a few kilns, and cemeteries. Archaeologists suggest that the Peiligang communities were relatively egalitarian, with a rudimentary political organization, as there are few differences in burial offerings. However, grinding stones were systematically found in women’s graves, suggesting gendered roles in food preparation. Primarily located in Shandong, this culture still raises questions: further research is needed to determine whether sedentary life was the dominant lifestyle or whether it was more or less intermittent, interrupted by a nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers. Millet cultivation has been confirmed at one site: foxtail millet and common millet, as well as possible traces of rice.[N 9] Numerous stone objects, both chipped and polished, have been found, along with very limited ceramic types, characterized by simple utilitarian forms.” ref
Northeast: Xinglongwa, c. 6200–5200 BCE
From approximately 6200 to 5200 BCE, this is the earliest identified Neolithic culture in northeastern China. It is mainly located at the present-day borders of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning provinces. The dwellings often appear in village layouts organized in a grid pattern with parallel rows. Each house had a central hearth. The Xinglongwa site itself had two large central buildings (around 140 m²). Some structures appear to have had ritual purposes: many animal skeletons — mostly pigs and deer, some pierced and arranged in clusters on the ground — were discovered. In the richest tomb, a man was buried with two pigs and numerous ceramic, stone, bone, shell, and jade objects — a very rare practice in this region. The ceramics are of simple shape, with the bucket being the most common form. They were made of sandy, brownish clay, shaped using the coiling method, sometimes with cord-marked decoration.” ref
The origin of Austronesian populations, long assumed to be in southeastern continental Asia, is now confirmed. The Pearl River Delta is considered a second possible point of origin. Later, Taiwan became the departure point for these languages spreading toward Indonesia and the Pacific. Their movement from the continent to the island likely occurred via the coast facing Taiwan, where several sites show material culture similar to that found on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, in the Dapenkeng culture. The Neolithic sites of the southeast coast, such as Keqiutou, Fuguodun, and Jinguishan, emerged with a wide variety of pottery, polished stone tools, and bone tools around 6000 BCE, and disappeared with the appearance of bronze around 3500 BCE. The Dapenkeng culture, dating from 4500 to 2200 BCE, represents the initial Neolithic phase on the island of Taiwan. The inhabitants practiced horticulture and hunting, but also gathered marine shellfish and fished, before later supplementing their diet with rice and millet cultivation. As of 2016, there appears to be a consensus on this matter: Austronesian populations originated from the mainland and migrated to the island via these coastal sites.” ref

“Several sites, where highly differentiated cultures show early signs of Neolithization, partly or mostly transitioned to food production and storage, with domesticated millet and rice becoming highly valued staples. After a phase during which some populations experienced nutritional deficiencies, there was a significant demographic expansion. This transition took place both on the mainland and on the islands, particularly with the Dapenkeng culture in Taiwan. The use of polished stone, especially jade, which is very hard to work with, appeared in the Hongshan culture in the Northeast. As these populations came into contact with others across regions, the use of such prestige objects became an indication of societies with labor division and the emergence of elites. These elites distinguished themselves through ostentatious markers that have been preserved: luxury funerary ceramics in some areas, piles of precious jade in others. Polished stone thus signaled social differentiation; it was used both to create everyday tools and weapons for hunting and warfare, signs of which became increasingly common in certain regions around 3500–3000 BCE.ref

“All of the archaeological discoveries made since 1921, gradually grouped under the name “Yangshao culture” (named after the first discovery site), have proved to be highly diverse as research progressed. These cultures extended over a wide area, mainly around the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and over a very long period. After the cultures from around 5500–5000 BCE, known as “pre-Yangshao”, which reflect the first centers of Neolithization in China, current knowledge about this cultural complex reveals four major Neolithic periods. In the early and middle phases, these were egalitarian societies. Their production of painted funerary ceramics demonstrates a remarkable wealth of invention. These ceramics were well-fired, at around 900 °C. Shaped using the coiling method, they were later finished on a slow-turning wheel for smaller pieces toward the end of the period. Agriculture became a major source of food, leading to a significant population increase, and larger villages than before began to multiply—spreading from the foothills to the plains, and from east to west, due to demographic pressure. During the Middle Yangshao period, these lineage-based societies still appeared to be egalitarian, although adult and elderly women were excluded from collective burials, possibly because they came from other communities through marriage alliances. In the late phase, some anthropologists believe that these societies began to evolve into chiefdoms.ref

Emerging/Developing Social Structure/Organization and Hierarchy in Northeastern China

“The Xinglongwa culture showed several signs of communal planning. At three Xinglongwa sites, houses were built in rows. Several Xinglongwa sites also featured a large central building. In addition, several Xinglongwa sites were surrounded by ditches. Xinglongwa also featured an unusual burial custom, as some bodies were buried directly under the houses. Jade objects were also discovered. In the most lavish grave, a man was buried with a pair of pigs, as well as jade objects. Male individuals apparently predominate over female individuals (23 males vs. 11 females). No men were over 55 in age, whereas all of the females belonged to middle-to-old age group (no one younger than 35 years old).” ref

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Damien thinks the Sun Spirit seen in Neolithic China relates to the Sky gods/High Gods/Sky Father/Great Spirit from Siberian religion. (Sun and Moon Religion, China Male-Clan DNA in India) “A Phoenix could “symbolize renewal in general as well as the sun.” ref

“In Siberia, the sun and moon are considered the High God’s eyes.” ref

Sun spirits/Sun deities seem to relate to the new rise of Male Clans 7,000 years ago and Hierarchy. “Early Hemudu had maternal clans, descent through the female line, but in later periods, shifted into patrilineal clans, the social status of men rose, and descent was passed through the male line.” ref

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The Incised & Impressed Pottery Style of Mainland Southeast Asia: Following the Paths of Neolithization: The three main zones of cultural and economic development: 1. mid-lower Yangzi River valley; 2. the riverine systems of southern China (Provinces of Guangdong-Guangxi-Yunnan); 3. the river valleys of mainland Southeast Asia.” ref

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Universal Sky God/Sky Father: Tian, the Sky god (China), and Tengri, the Sky God of (Türks, Xianbei, Bulgars, Xiongnu, Yeniseian, Mongolic peoples, and Huns)

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According to the Book of Han, the Xiongnu called Heaven (天) ‘Chēnglí,’ (撐犁) a Chinese transcription of Tengri.  The ruler of the Xiongnu was called the chanyu. Under him were the tuqi kings. The chanyu or shanyu, a ruler equivalent to the Emperor of China, exercised direct authority over the central territory. Lajos Ligeti was the first to suggest that the Xiongnu spoke a Yeniseian language. Pulleybank and D. N. Keightley asserted that the Xiongnu titles “were originally Siberian words but were later borrowed by the Turkic and Mongolic peoples”. Titles such as tarqantegin, and kaghan were also inherited from the Xiongnu language and are possibly of Yeniseian origin. For example, the Xiongnu word for “heaven” is theorized to come from Proto-Yeniseian *tɨŋVr. Many scholars believe the Xiongnu confederation was a mixture of different ethno-linguistic groups, and that their main language (as represented in the Chinese sources) and its relationships have not yet been satisfactorily determined. According to Lee & Kuang, the main paternal lineages of 62 Xiongnu Elite remains in the Egiin Gol valley belonged to the paternal haplogroups N1c1Q-M242, and C-M217. One sample from Duurlig Nars belonged to R1a1 and another to C-M217. Xiongnu remains from Barkol belonged exclusively to haplogroup Q. They argue that the haplogroups C2, Q and N likely formed the major paternal haplogroups of the Xiongnu tribes, while R1a was the most common paternal haplogroup (44.5%) among neighbouring nomads from the Altai mountain, who were probably incorporated into the Xiongnu confederation and may be associated with the Jie people.” ref

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“Mapping Flood Myths is a project that looks at flood myths, stories, and legends from all over the world by mapping the locations of these myths on an interactive web map. Water, as the source of all life, has the power to create and destroy. Floods, prior to modern meteorology, would have been seen as acts of the divine, leading to the creation of flood myths, stories, and legends from many civilizations. The power of water transcends time and connects all of humankind. Present-day examples include hurricanes (in the United States, such as Katrina, Maria, and Irene, to name a few) and tsunamis (in Japan, such as Fukushima). A majority of the current flood myth analyses have targeted Eurocentric civilizations (ex, Noah’s Ark/Christianity, Gilgamesh’s flood/Babylon, and Deucalion’s flood/Greek). This project can allow for flood myths from other civilizations to be discovered and further researched. All of the data at this time was collected from The Flood in World Myth and Folklore by Mark Isaak. More information on the data can be found on the Data tab.” ref

Ashley Rojas created Mapping Flood Myths. They are a student at The Graduate Center, CUNY. I created Mapping Flood Myths as my capstone for the master’s program for Digital Humanities. Ashley Rojas received a bachelor’s degree in Classical Archaeology and Classical Studies, with a minor in Computer Science. They are interested in the relationships between cultures that can be found in their artifacts or stories. Whether directly influenced by one another or not, the similarities between different civilizations are fascinating. One such similarity is the creation of flood myths. As a visual learner, they wanted to be able to map the locations of such flood myths to see what connections may arise from where or when they were created. This project is a start to learning more about these connections and researching how these myths started. Learn more about them and their other projects at my website, arojas1.github.io.ref

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Haplogroup migrations related to the Ancient North Eurasians: I added stuff to this map to help explain.

“The human fossil remains of Afontova Gora 2, an Ancient North Eurasian genetic-related male burial with Y-DNA haplogroup Q1a1-F746, dated to 17,000 years ago, showed close genetic affinities to Mal’ta 1 (Mal’ta  boy). Afontova Gora 2 also showed a greater genetic affinity for the Karitiana people (an indigenous people of Brazil) than for the Han Chinese.” ref

People reached Lake Baikal Siberia around 25,000 years ago. They (to Damien) were likely Animistic Shamanists who were also heavily totemistic as well. Being animistic thinkers they likely viewed amazing things in nature as a part of or related to something supernatural/spiritual (not just natural as explained by science): spirit-filled, a sprit-being relates to or with it, it is a sprit-being, it is a supernatural/spiritual creature, or it is a great spirit/tutelary deity/goddess-god. From there comes mythology and faith in things not seen but are believed to somehow relate or interact with this “real world” we know exists.

Both areas of Lake Baikal, one on the west side with Ancient North Eurasian culture and one on the east side with Ancient Northern East Asian culture (later to become: Ancient Northeast Asian culture) areas are the connected areas that (to Damien) are the origin ancestry religion area for many mythologies and religious ideas of the world by means of a few main migrations and many smaller ones leading to a distribution of religious ideas that even though are vast in distance are commonly related to and centering on Lake Baikal and its surrounding areas like the Amur region and Altai Mountains region.

To an Animistic Thinker: “Things are not just as they seem, they may have a spirit, or spirit energy relates to them”

To a Totemistic Thinker: “Things are not just as they seem, they may have a spirit, or spirit energy relates to them; they may have religio-cultural importance.”

“Ancient North Eurasian population had Haplogroups R, P, U, and Q DNA types: defined by maternal West-Eurasian ancestry components (such as mtDNA haplogroup U) and paternal East-Eurasian ancestry components (such as yDNA haplogroup P1 (R*/Q*).” ref

Racists say that the Afontova Gora culture had the first light skin and light hair mt-DNA R1b, which from Afontova Gora 3, a female not related close to native Americans as the DNA went west, not east. And they claim this culture proves light skin and light hair went to the Americas (teaching the dark people) because this culture is closest to South Americans, but they leave out that relates to the male DNA of Afontova Gora 2 Y-DNA Q. Haplogroup Q-M242 has been found in approximately 94% of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and South America. ref, ref

Ancient North Eurasian (ANE)

Ancient Beringian/Ancestral Native American (AB/ANA)

Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG)

Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG)

Western Steppe Herders (WSH) 

Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherer (SHG)

Early European Farmers (EEF)

Jōmon people (Ainu people OF Hokkaido Island) 

Neolithic Iranian farmers (Iran_N) (Iran Neolithic)

Amur Culture (Amur watershed)

Haplogroup R possible time of origin about 27,000 years in Central Asia, South Asia, or Siberia:

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Ancient North Eurasian

A 2016 study found that the global maximum of Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestry occurs in modern-day KetsMansiNative Americans, and Selkups. ANE ancestry has spread throughout Eurasia and the Americas in various migrations since the Upper Paleolithic, and more than half of the world’s population today derives between 5 and 42% of their genomes from the Ancient North Eurasians. Significant ANE ancestry can be found in Native Americans, as well as in regions of northern EuropeSouth AsiaCentral Asia, and Siberia. It has been suggested that their mythology may have featured narratives shared by both Indo-European and some Native American cultures, such as the existence of a metaphysical world tree and a fable in which a dog guards the path to the afterlife.” ref

Ancient Northern East Asian/ later became Ancient Northeast Asian
Ancient Paleo-Siberian
Mal’ta–Buret’ culture (Mal’ta boy MA-1)

The Kolyma Shaitans: Legends and Reality (I only use just a small part)

“A unique “shaitan” burial was discovered on the bank of Omuk-Kuel Lake in the Middle-Kolyma ulus in Yakutia. According to the legends, buried in it are mummified remains of a shaman woman who died during a devastating smallpox epidemics in the 18th c. In an attempt to overcome the deadly disease, the shaman’s relatives used her remains as an emeget fetish. The author believes that these legends reflect the real events of those far-away years. The Arabic word “shaitan” came to the Russian language from Turkic languages. According to Islamic tradition, a shaitan is a genie, an evil spirit, a demon. During Russian colonization and Christianization of Siberia, all sacred things used by the aborigines as fetishes, patron spirits of the family, and the tribe, grew to be called “shaitans.” There are various facts, dating to the 18th and 19th cc., confirming that this word also referred to the mummified remains of outstanding shamans.” ref

“In the 1740s, a member of the Second Kamchatka Expedition Yakov Lindenau wrote, “Meat is scratched off the [shaman’s] bones and the bones are put together to form a skeleton, which is dressed in human’s clothes and worshipped as a deity. The Yukagirs place such dressed bones…in their yurts, their number can sometimes reach 10 or 15. If somebody commits even a minor sacrilege with respect to these bones, he stirs up rancor on the part of the Yukagirs… While traveling and hunting, the Yukagirs carry these bones in their sledges, and moreover, in their best sledges pulled by their best deer. When the Yukagirs are going to undertake something really important, they tell fortune using these skeletons: lift a skeleton up, and if it seems light, it means that their enterprise will have a favorable outcome. The Yukagirs call these skeletons stariks (old men), endow them with their best furs, and sit them on beds covered with deer hides, in a circle, as though they are alive.” (Lindenau, 1983, p. 155)” ref

“In the late 19th c., a famous explorer of aboriginal culture V. I. Jochelson noted the changes that occurred in the ritual in the last century and a half. So, the Yukagirs divided among themselves the shaman’s meat dried in the sun and then put it in separate tents. The dead bodies of killed dogs were left there as well. “After that,” V. I. Jochelson writes, “they would divide the shaman’s bones, dry them and wrap in clothes. The skull was an object of worshipping. It was put on top of a trunk (body) cut out of wood. A caftan and two hats – a winter and a summer one – were sewn for the idol. The caftan was all embroidered. On the skull, a special mask was put, with holes for the eyes and the mouth… The figure was placed in the front corner of the home. Before a meal, a piece of food was thrown into the fire and the idol was held above it. This feeding of the idol… was committed before each meal.” (V. I. Jochelson, 2005, pp. 236—237)” ref

“The idol was kept by the children of the dead shaman. One of them was inducted into the shamanism mysteries while his father was still alive. The idol was carried in a wooden box. Sometimes, in line with the air burial ritual, the box was erected on poles or trees, and the idol was taken out only before hunting or a long journey so that the outcome of the enterprise planned could be predicted. With time, the Yukagirs began using wooden idols as charms. V. I. Jochelson notes that by the late 19th c. the Yukagirs had developed a skeptical attitude towards idols and referred to them as “shaitans.” In this way, under the influence of Christianity, the worshipped ancestor’s spirit turned into its opposite – an evil spirit, a devil, a Satan.” ref

Ancestral Native AmericanAncient Beringian

14,000-year-old Ust-Kyakhta-3 (UKY) individual found near Lake Baikal

Amur River Region

Chertovy Vorota Cave/Devil’s Gate Cave

Afanasievo culture

Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex

But is Atlantis real?

No. Atlantis (an allegory: “face story” interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning) can’t be found any more than one can locate the Jolly Green Giant that is said to watch over frozen vegetables. Lol

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May Reason Set You Free

There are a lot of truly great things said by anarchists in history, and also some deeply vile things, too, from not supporting Women’s rights to Anti-Semitism. There are those who also reject those supporting women’s rights as well as fight anti-Semitism. This is why I push reason as my only master, not anarchist thinking, though anarchism, to me, should see all humans everywhere as equal in dignity and rights.

We—Cory and Damien—are following the greatness that can be found in anarchist thinking.

As an Anarchist Educator, Damien strives to teach the plain truth. Damien does not support violence as my method to change. Rather, I choose education that builds Enlightenment and Empowerment. I champion Dignity and Equality. We rise by helping each other. What is the price of a tear? What is the cost of a smile? How can we see clearly when others pay the cost of our indifference and fear? We should help people in need. Why is that so hard for some people? Rich Ghouls must End. Damien wants “billionaires” to stop being a thing. Tax then into equality. To Damien, there is no debate, Capitalism is unethical. Moreover, as an Anarchist Educator, Damien knows violence is not the way to inspire lasting positive change. But we are not limited to violence, we have education, one of the most lasting and powerful ways to improve the world. We empower the world by championing Truth and its supporters.

Anarchism and Education

“Various alternatives to education and their problems have been proposed by anarchists which have gone from alternative education systems and environments, self-education, advocacy of youth and children rights, and freethought activism.” ref

“Historical accounts of anarchist educational experiments to explore how their pedagogical practices, organization, and content constituted a radical alternative to mainstream forms of educational provision in different historical periods.” ref

“The Ferrer school was an early 20th century libertarian school inspired by the anarchist pedagogy of Francisco Ferrer. He was a proponent of rationalist, secular education that emphasized reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observation. The Ferrer movement’s philosophy had two distinct tendencies: non-didactic freedom from dogma and the more didactic fostering of counter-hegemonic beliefs. Towards non-didactic freedom from dogma, and fulfilled the child-centered tradition.” ref

Teach Real History: all our lives depend on it.

#SupportRealArchaeology

#RejectPseudoarchaeology

Damien sees lies about history as crimes against humanity. And we all must help humanity by addressing “any and all” who make harmful lies about history.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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My favorite “Graham Hancock” Quote?

“In what archaeologists have studied, yes, we can say there is NO Evidence of an advanced civilization.” – (Time 1:27) Joe Rogan Experience #2136 – Graham Hancock & Flint Dibble

Help the Valentine fight against pseudoarchaeology!!!
 
In a world of “Hancocks” supporting evidence lacking claims, be a “John Hoopes” supporting what evidence explains.
 
#SupportEvidenceNotWishfullThinking
 
Graham Hancock: @Graham__Hancock
John Hoopes: @KUHoopes

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

People don’t commonly teach religious history, even that of their own claimed religion. No, rather they teach a limited “pro their religion” history of their religion from a religious perspective favorable to the religion of choice. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Do you truly think “Religious Belief” is only a matter of some personal choice?

Do you not see how coercive one’s world of choice is limited to the obvious hereditary belief, in most religious choices available to the child of religious parents or caregivers? Religion is more commonly like a family, culture, society, etc. available belief that limits the belief choices of the child and that is when “Religious Belief” is not only a matter of some personal choice and when it becomes hereditary faith, not because of the quality of its alleged facts or proposed truths but because everyone else important to the child believes similarly so they do as well simply mimicking authority beliefs handed to them. Because children are raised in religion rather than being presented all possible choices but rather one limited dogmatic brand of “Religious Belief” where children only have a choice of following the belief as instructed, and then personally claim the faith hereditary belief seen in the confirming to the belief they have held themselves all their lives. This is obvious in statements asked and answered by children claiming a faith they barely understand but they do understand that their family believes “this or that” faith, so they feel obligated to believe it too. While I do agree that “Religious Belief” should only be a matter of some personal choice, it rarely is… End Hereditary Religion!

Opposition to Imposed Hereditary Religion

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

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

We are like believing machines we vacuum up ideas, like Velcro sticks to almost everything. We accumulate beliefs that we allow to negatively influence our lives, often without realizing it. Our willingness must be to alter skewed beliefs that impend our balance or reason, which allows us to achieve new positive thinking and accurate outcomes.

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

To me, Animism starts in Southern Africa, then to West Europe, and becomes Totemism. Another split goes near the Russia and Siberia border becoming Shamanism, which heads into Central Europe meeting up with Totemism, which also had moved there, mixing the two which then heads to Lake Baikal in Siberia. From there this Shamanism-Totemism heads to Turkey where it becomes Paganism.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Not all “Religions” or “Religious Persuasions” have a god(s) but

All can be said to believe in some imaginary beings or imaginary things like spirits, afterlives, etc.

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

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“These ideas are my speculations from the evidence.”

I am still researching the “god‘s origins” all over the world. So you know, it is very complicated but I am smart and willing to look, DEEP, if necessary, which going very deep does seem to be needed here, when trying to actually understand the evolution of gods and goddesses. I am sure of a few things and less sure of others, but even in stuff I am not fully grasping I still am slowly figuring it out, to explain it to others. But as I research more I am understanding things a little better, though I am still working on understanding it all or something close and thus always figuring out more. 

Sky Father/Sky God?

“Egyptian: (Nut) Sky Mother and (Geb) Earth Father” (Egypt is different but similar)

Turkic/Mongolic: (Tengri/Tenger Etseg) Sky Father and (Eje/Gazar Eej) Earth Mother *Transeurasian*

Hawaiian: (Wākea) Sky Father and (Papahānaumoku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*

New Zealand/ Māori: (Ranginui) Sky Father and (Papatūānuku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*

Proto-Indo-European: (Dyus/Dyus phtr) Sky Father and (Dʰéǵʰōm/Plethwih) Earth Mother

Indo-Aryan: (Dyaus Pita) Sky Father and (Prithvi Mata) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Italic: (Jupiter) Sky Father and (Juno) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Etruscan: (Tinia) Sky Father and (Uni) Sky Mother *Tyrsenian/Italy Pre–Indo-European*

Hellenic/Greek: (Zeus) Sky Father and (Hera) Sky Mother who started as an “Earth Goddess” *Indo-European*

Nordic: (Dagr) Sky Father and (Nótt) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Slavic: (Perun) Sky Father and (Mokosh) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Illyrian: (Deipaturos) Sky Father and (Messapic Damatura’s “earth-mother” maybe) Earth Mother *Indo-European*

Albanian: (Zojz) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*

Baltic: (Perkūnas) Sky Father and (Saulė) Sky Mother *Indo-European*

Germanic: (Týr) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*

Colombian-Muisca: (Bochica) Sky Father and (Huythaca) Sky Mother *Chibchan*

Aztec: (Quetzalcoatl) Sky Father and (Xochiquetzal) Sky Mother *Uto-Aztecan*

Incan: (Viracocha) Sky Father and (Mama Runtucaya) Sky Mother *Quechuan*

China: (Tian/Shangdi) Sky Father and (Dì) Earth Mother *Sino-Tibetan*

Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian: (An/Anu) Sky Father and (Ki) Earth Mother

Finnish: (Ukko) Sky Father and (Akka) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*

Sami: (Horagalles) Sky Father and (Ravdna) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*

Puebloan-Zuni: (Ápoyan Ta’chu) Sky Father and (Áwitelin Tsíta) Earth Mother

Puebloan-Hopi: (Tawa) Sky Father and (Kokyangwuti/Spider Woman/Grandmother) Earth Mother *Uto-Aztecan*

Puebloan-Navajo: (Tsohanoai) Sky Father and (Estsanatlehi) Earth Mother *Na-Dene*

refrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefrefref 

Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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.

“Theists, there has to be a god, as something can not come from nothing.”

Well, thus something (unknown) happened and then there was something. This does not tell us what the something that may have been involved with something coming from nothing. A supposed first cause, thus something (unknown) happened and then there was something is not an open invitation to claim it as known, neither is it justified to call or label such an unknown as anything, especially an unsubstantiated magical thinking belief born of mythology and religious storytelling.

How do they even know if there was nothing as a start outside our universe, could there not be other universes outside our own?
 
For all, we know there may have always been something past the supposed Big Bang we can’t see beyond, like our universe as one part of a mega system.

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: First City of Power)

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 Lugalzagesi and the First Empire)

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. 

To me, animal gods were likely first related to totemism animals around 13,000 to 12,000 years ago or older. Female as goddesses was next to me, 11,000 to 10,000 years ago or so with the emergence of agriculture. Then male gods come about 8,000 to 7,000 years ago with clan wars. Many monotheism-themed religions started in henotheism, emerging out of polytheism/paganism.

Gods?
 
“Animism” is needed to begin supernatural thinking.
“Totemism” is needed for supernatural thinking connecting human actions & related to clan/tribe.
“Shamanism” is needed for supernatural thinking to be controllable/changeable by special persons.
 
Together = Gods/paganism

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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