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March 8
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[Under Construction]

Class March 8

Bring: Bowl, candle, matches, picture, film: Inside Mecca—Islam; music

History of Religions

  1. Beginnings: Oral History
    1. Early peoples’ interest:
    2. Remembering their
      1. Great leaders
      2. Decisive battles
      3. Traumatic or joyous events
      4. Beginnings and transitional periods
      5. Challenges to their communities
  2. With writing: Chronicles (of the above stories)
    1. Ninth Century c.e.
      1. Japan: Shinto tradition, traditions, myths and legends
        1. —Kojiki and Nihongi Chronicles
    2. Eleventh Century c.e.
      1. Russia: Hebrew and Christian traditions, myths and legends
        1. –The Chronicle of Ancient Events
  3. God in history
    1. Judaism, Christianity, Islam: God is primarily manifested in historical events.
      1. "Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran." Genesis—Hebrew scriptures
    2. Sikhs and Baha’is also see God in history
  4. The historical study of religion
    1. Examines the past critically
    2. Attempts to ascertain the facts of past events accurately
    3. Interprets the causes, meanings and implications of those facts
    4. Avoids bias
    5. Dialogues with various religions
  5. Examples:
    1. German Protestant Theologian: Fredrich Schleiermacher
      1. Explored religion as "a feeling of absolute dependence"
    2. German scholar: *Max Muller—focus on literary evidence
      1. Wisdom books from Indian and Japan
      2. Philosophical, theological and spiritual concepts
      3. The Sacred Books of the East (1879-1910)
    3. English Anthropologist: *James G. Frazer
      1. The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic & Religion, 1890
        1. A monumental study in comparative folklore, magic and religion, The Golden Bough shows parallels between the rites and beliefs, superstitions and taboos of early cultures and those of Christianity. It had a great impact on psychology and literature and remains an early classic anthropological resource.
  6. What historians of the 19th and 20th centuries wanted to know about religion
    1. The lives and teachings of the founders of religions
    2. Early stages of a religion
    3. Whether the religion had holy scriptures
    4. Who were its major leaders
    5. What developments took place and why
    6. Whether the religion remained local or spread
    7. If the religion spread, what changes took place in other cultures
    8. About reforms, schisms, religious wars, reconciliations
    9. Interactions with other religions
    10. The present status of the religions in question
  7. Difficulties
    1. Biases
    2. Writer used their religious background as a measuring stick
      1. Australian tribal peoples not assumed to be religious
    3. Emphasis on "exotic" or different aspects from the "norm"
    4. Glorifying all things religious vs. balanced approach
  8. Advancements in the study of history of religion
    1. Distinguishing religions by type
      1. Living vs. extinct
      2. Great historical religions vs. ancient & contemporary & folk religions
      3. Founders/No founders
      4. Theistic/Non-theistic—Supreme being or none
      5. Polytheistic/monotheistic—many gods or one god
      6. Scriptural/Non-scriptural—has holy scripture or does not
      7. Other
    2. Debating how religions evolved
      1. From animism [spirits or beings attached to things] to monotheism [one god]
        1. Simple to complex
      2. Original monotheism
        1. Tribal monotheism; lost over time
          1. Unspoiled natives in isolated lands showed signs of monotheism
      3. Migration of peoples
  9. First half of 20th Century
    1. Comprehensive, interpretive accounts
  10. Second half of the 20th Century
    1. Monographs [detailed/documented writing]
      1. Specific religious phenomena
      2. Corrections to earlier studies
  11. Needed today
    1. Synthesis of the enormous amount of accumulated data

Part II—March 8 Class

Sacred Space and Making the World Sacred

Are their places, spaces, that are special to you? Why?

  1. Traditional religious belief
    1. The quality of space differs
      1. There is a sacred space, a strong, significant space = real
      2. Other spaces are not sacred
    2. Sacred space establishes a point of orientation
      1. Determined by a primary religious experience
      2. This "in-breaking" of Spirit is called a *"hierophany"-- Any purported appearance or experience of the sacred
      3. It establishes a place as a sacred place, with a sacred center
      4. Archetype: The center of the world
      5. "Now I know who I am and where I belong and what I am to do."
  2. Modern Western belief
    1. No qualitative difference to space
      1. Tremendous stress on the person to realize their identity, purpose and direction.
    2. Never found in the "pure" state
      1. The non-religious person never succeeds in eliminating all religious behavior.
  3. Comparing Sacred with Profane Space
    1. Profane space
      1. Doesn’t tell you who you are, where you belong or what to do. This is governed by our obligations in an industrial society.
        1. Psychology helps us here
        2. Religion can help us here
      2. Does have "privileged spaces"--one’s birthplace; a restaurant where you ate with your spouse while dating; something visited on a trip the first time out of the country…."holy places of one’s private universe". In this place I experienced a special reality.
    2. Sacred space
      1. Implies a "hierophany"—the sacred has been seen or experienced here
      2. Here the communication with the gods is made possible
        1. Here there is a "door to the world above"
        2. The story of Jacob and the angel
      3. "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.' 17 And he was afraid, and said: 'How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el, …" Genesis 28: 12-19
        1. The *"theophany" consecrates the space—the "more" breaks in here. [Theophany--a visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation of a deity to a human person]
  4. Space is not all the same—*nonhomogeneity of space
    1. Example: Outside a church > the threshold > Inside of church
      1. Outside = profane space
      2. Threshold = a place where passage from profane to sacred takes place; where the two worlds communicate; thresholds are both symbols and vehicles of passage.
      3. Inside = sacred space
    2. The importance of "threshold"—the boundary place
      1. Rituals of the threshold
        1. Class—What threshold rituals do you know?
        2. Traditional peoples: There are guardians of the threshold
          1. Class—Statuary? (Gargoyles, lions…)
  5. What if there is no theophany?
    1. A sign is asked for.
      1. A wild animal is hunted and the holy place is where the animal is killed.
      2. An animal is turned loose. > A few days later it is hunted. > The animal is killed as a sacrifice where it is found. > An altar is built.
      3. The human being is not free to determine the place; it must be determined by a sign.
        1. "Conversion" cannot happen on one’s own ego choice, but having made a choice, one may note "signs."
    2. A ritual is performed
      1. The ritual constructs the sacred space. Ritual involves the whole person: body, consciousness and the unconscious—our depths.
      2. The ritual must "reproduce the work of the gods" in art, dance, regalia, religious technology, song or stories. This is communication with the gods. Expectation is that there will be an in-breaking of Spirit. This creates for the participants and observers a hierophany.
      3. In Vedic ritual [early Hinduism], the God, Agni, is the divine fire. When a fire altar is erected, Agni is made present and communication with the gods is ensured. The space of the altar becomes the sacred space.
  6. Why the need to "create the sacred space?"
    1. Consecrating a space is the same thing as creating/establishing a "universe"-- the universe considered as an ordered and integrated whole.
      1. This establishes the "cosmos" [their sacred, inhabitable land] and separates it from the "chaos" [all other land].
    2. This amounts to a fresh "Creation"—*cosmogony: the origin and evolution and structure of the universe. This ritual is a repetition of the original act of creation and is considered *consecration--(religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God. A "creation" implies a superabundance of reality, in other words an irruption of the sacred into the world.
      1. For the Vedic fire altar:
        1. The clay for the altar is mixed with water—"the primordial water"
        2. The clay itself—symbolizes the earth
        3. The sides of the altar represent the atmosphere
        4. Songs proclaim which "cosmic region"—universe—has just been created—"I am at the center of the world."
      2. Australian Arunta tribe—Achilpa
        1. In sacred history, a being named Numbakula made a sacred pole (kauwa-auwa) and, after anointing it with blood, climbed it and disappeared into the sky.
        2. The pole represents the sacred axis--the center around which something rotates. It reproduces the pole that Numbakula used to consecrate the world.
        3. The pole is the means by which they communicate to the sky realm. Life is not possible without an opening to the transcendent.
        4. Where the pole is, there is the sacred land.
        5. If the pole is broken, it is the end of the world.
          1. The entire clan will wait for death. Contact with the transcendent is lost, existence ceases to be possible and the Achilpa let themselves die.
      3. In 1988, I was at a conference in Manila, Philippines, and became aware of a pigmy tribe in Africa that was dying because they had been displaced from their tribal/holy land. Medical doctors had been sent out, but what might have helped these people the most?
      4. The Spanish conquistadores—Raising the Crucifix or Cross
      5. Today: Class—sign a lease, buy a home, verbal agreement to co-rent, buy land and build on it….
      6. Archetype, found in Europe, Canary Islands, Northwest Coast Indians, and others: The sacred pillar
        1. Supports the heavens
        2. Opens the road to the world of the gods
    3. Class:--If you destroy the "Pillar"—the consecrated center, how does that affect the people?
  7. The *"system of the world"—prevalent in tribal societies
    1. A sacred space makes a break in the sameness of space
    2. This break is symbolized by an opening to other realms
    3. Communication with other realms is symbolized by an image of the *axis mundi.
    4. Around this "axis" lies "our" world and is located at the Center of the World—the "navel of the earth"
  8. Specific images of the Center of the World
      1. The cosmic or sacred Mountain-- Connection between heaven and earth
      2. Marks the highest point in the world since it touches heaven, the sky > "We live in the highest of countries."
      3. Islamic tradition: The ka’aba--The Ka'aba located in the holy Islamic city, Mecca, is a massive black meteorite, and the sacred stone of the Islamic faith. Muhammad deemed the meteorite was a sacred stone in 630 AD. Wherever a Muslim is located, they are instructed to pray towards Mecca and the Ka'aba. Every Muslim must make a pilgrimage to the Ka'aba once in their lifetime. The pilgrimage represents the ultimate in spiritual fulfillment. During the worship at the Ka'aba the pilgrims circle the shrine seven times, and then all make their way to kiss the sacred shrine. The prayer towards the Ka'aba and the pilgrimage to Mecca create a distinct unity between the Muslim people.
      4. Christian tradition: Golgatha, where Christ was crucified, the summit of the cosmic mountain, the Cross or Crucifix as symbol
      5. Jewish tradition: The holy land being the highest land, it was not submerged during the great Flood.
  9. Universal images of the Center
    1. Holy sites and sanctuaries
      1. Chinese: The capital of the perfect sovereign. On the day of the summer solstice the sundials pointer must cast no shadow.
      2. Jewish temple: Built on the rock, the navel of the earth

      Iran: Because *Zarathustra, a Persian prophet, founder of Zoroastrianism [17th century b.c.e.] was born in northeastern Iran (according to some), "the land of Iran is more precious than all other countries because it is set at the middle of the world".

      "When he was thirty years old, one early morning, he went to fetch some water from the river. It was around dawn. The sky had just turned color and the sun was about to rise. As he had gone into the waters of the river, Vohu Mana (the angel of the Good Mind) appears to him, and opens the portal to the Divine Light of Ahura Mazda. This was the first moment of Illumination and the first Revelations of Zarathushtra.

      In his vision, he perceived Ahura Mazda as the Wise Lord of Creation, and the six emanations of Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas as the guardians and artisans of this physical world. He perceived the laws upon which the universe operated, and understood the inter-relationship between Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas, and the Creation.

      Perhaps we try to personify these images and abstract notions, and try to think of them as angels, but in truth, Zarathushtra understood them as the abstract notions that they were."

    2. Temples (replicas of the cosmic mountain)
      1. Borobudur in Java (built as an artificial mountain); ascending represents a sacred journey to the center of the world and enters a "pure region" that transcends the profane world.
    3. Foundations of temples (deep in the ground to connect to the underworld)
      1. The world of death and of all that precedes and follows life.
  10. Construction recreates the Center
    1. The village comes into being around a central point, an intersection.
    2. Space in middle left empty for the sacred building
      1. Algonquins and the Sioux had their sacred lodge where initiations were performed. The roof symbolizes the dome of the sky, the floor represents earth, the four walls the four directions of cosmic space. The ritual construction of the space is emphasized by a threefold symbolism: four doors, four windows, four colors each signify the four directions.
      2. Four division structure also found in Italy and Germany.
  11. Sanctification-- a religious ceremony in which something is made holy
    1. The structure created always undergoes a ritual of sanctification because it is a symbol of the center of the world, the world being holy.
    2. If the gods created the world out of a dismembered being, sacrifice will likely be part of the ritual. [Yahweh dismembers the sea monster, Rahab (Pride).]
  12. Attack on the Center
    1. Chaos is threatened
    2. The enemy is considered in partnership with the enemy of their gods—the dragon: symbol of chaos, disorder, darkness and death.
    3. The attack is considered an attack by the enemy’s god(s)
    4. Today: Fundamentalist Islam: Feeling the darkness of western civilization with its materialism and immorality attacking them. Everybody needs to become Muslim or die—jihad, restore the center.
  13. The house of the gods
    1. The temple
      1. Holy place above all others
      2. Resanctifies the world because it both represents and contains the world.
      3. The temple’s structure represents a structure used by the gods in heaven.
        1. For the Israelites, the models of the tabernacle (holy tent), the sacred vessels and the temple itself has been revealed by God.
  14. Summary
    1. The experience of sacred space makes possible the "founding of the world."
    2. Where sacred manifests in space, the "real" reveals itself.
    3. The irruption of the sacred breaks open the living realm to the gods.
    4. This hierophany identifies the center of the world
      1. Gives orientation to the people
      2. Makes communication with the gods possible.
    5. Every hierophany is equivalent to a "creation" of the world anew.
    6. This world is the "real" world.
    7. Every world is the work of the gods.
    8. Tribal religious man/woman cannot live in chaos, but only in the "real" world which is open to the gods.

Tonight’s film:

Inside Mecca [UNR Library—DVD2223]

We will experience the pilgrimage to Mecca through the eyes of three Muslims.

The pilgrimage: Represents the holy journey to the "center of the world" where the place is open to the gods.

The ka’aba: Represents the sacred mountain, open to the heavens, to God.

What else do you notice about the use of sacred space?

 

 

 

 

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Last modified: March 09, 2006