The Evolution of the Spirit World

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The Evolution of the Spirit World

• By Dawn M. Roark

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All Spirit Beings from Modern Religions have
their beginnings in prestate societies.
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Early peoples believed in gods who lived on top
of mountains or in the sky itself.

• These gods served as models for later supreme
  beings as well as other powerful sky gods.

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In Aboriginal Australia

• The sky god created the earth and its natural
  features.
• He showed humans how to hunt and make fire.
• Gave people their social laws.
• Showed them how to make adults out of children by
  performing rites of initiation.

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Selknam of Tierra del Fuegobelieved in the
one who is up there.
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Yaruro of Venezuela believed in thegreat
mother who created the world.
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Most of the early creator gods abstained from
contact with humans.

• They allowed lesser deities, animistic beings,
  and humans work out their problems.

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These Band-and-village societies had short
memories concerning specific people who had died.
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They often banned the use of the dead persons
name and tried to banish or evade his or her
ghost.
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However

• These societies would often memorialize and
  propitiate their communal ancestral spirits.
• They practiced totemism a form of ancestral
  worship.

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This obligation to their dead ancestors often
included

• Nourishment
• Protection
• Increase the number of totem poles so the dead
  ancestors would protect the people.

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The ancestral spirits would keep a close watch on
their descendentsPunishing them when they
didnt behave and blessing them on important
endeavors such as

• Hunting
• Gardening
• Pregnancy
• Warfare

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As populations grew

• There was greater wealth to be inherited from the
  dead
• The people paid more attention to specific and
  recently dead relatives
• They wanted to collect on inheritance to land and
  other resources

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Some societies would refer to the dead as Sir
Ghost
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With the emergence of states and empires

• A rulers soul would rise to take their place
  alongside the high gods
• Their remains were mummified
• Surrounded by exquisite furniture, rare jewels,
  golden chariots
• Interred in gigantic crypts and pyramids that
  only a true god could have built

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Since Neolithic times, man has believed in some
sort of spiritual being.

• These early gods served as models for modern
  religion.

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Interesting

• Different societies around the world had similar
  spiritual beliefs
• As time passes, the spiritual beings evolve
• How did these places have similar spirits?
• Perhaps
• cultural transmission

• As populations rise the characteristics of the
  gods evolve
• The infrastructure determines the superstructure?
• Diamond also states this in his theory of
  Cultural Materialism