Animal worship
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Animal worship covers religious and ritual practices including the worship of a living animal considered as a deity incarnate, animal sacrifice as well as the respect for the bones of a slain animal. Such practices are very widespread in pre-modern societies, and are also found at the historical core of both Abrahamic religions and Dharmic religions. They hark back to hunting rituals which evolved in paleolithic times, and scholars of religion such as Walter Burkert derive all human religious behaviour such contexts (see hunting hypothesis).
Animal cults may be classified in two ways:
- according to their outward form;
- according to their inward meaning, which may of course undergo transformations.
[edit] Classification by outward form
There are two broad divisions:
- all animals of a given species are sacred, perhaps owing to the impossibility of distinguishing the sacred few from the profane crowd;
- one or a fixed number of a species are sacred. It is probable that the first of these forms is the primary one and the second in most cases a development from it due to
- the influence of other individual cults,
- anthropomorphic tendencies,
- the influence of chieftainship, hereditary and otherwise,
- annual sacrifice of the sacred animal and mystical ideas connected therewith,
- syncretism, due either to unity of function or to a philosophic unification,
- the desire to do honour to the species in the person of one of its members, and possibly other less easily traceable causes.
[edit] Classification by inward meaning
Treating cults according to their meaning, which is not necessarily identical with the cause which first led to the deification of the animal in question, we can classify them under ten specific heads:
[edit] Pastoral cults
The pastoral type falls into two sub-types, in which the species
- is spared and
- sometimes receives special honour at intervals in the person of an individual. (See Cattle, Buffalo, below.)
[edit] Hunting cults
In hunting cults the species is habitually killed, but
- occasionally honoured in the person of a single individual, or
- each slaughtered animal receives divine honours. (See Bear, below.)
[edit] Dangerous or noxious animals
The cult of dangerous animals is due
- to the fear that the soul of the slain beast may take vengeance on the hunter,
- to a desire to placate the rest of the species. (See Leopard, below.)
[edit] Animals regarded as human souls or their embodiment
Animals are frequently regarded as the abode, temporary or permanent, of the souls of the dead, sometimes as the actual souls of the dead. Respect for them is due to two main reasons:
- the kinsmen of the dead desire to preserve the goodwill of their dead relatives;
- they wish at the same time to secure that their kinsmen are not molested and caused to undergo unnecessary suffering. (See Serpent, below.)
[edit] Totemistic cults
One of the most widely found modes of showing respect to animals is known as totemism (see totem), but except in decadent forms there is but little positive worship; in Central Australia, however, the rites of the Wollunqua totem group are directed towards placating this mythical animal, and cannot be termed anything but religious ceremonies.
In secret societies we find bodies of men grouped together with a single tutelary animal; the individual, in the same way, acquires the nagual or individual totem, sometimes by ceremonies of the nature of the bloodbond.
[edit] Cults of tree and vegetation spirits
Spirits of vegetation in ancient and modern Europe and in China are conceived in animal form. (See Goat, below.)
[edit] Cults of ominous animals
The ominous animal or bird may develop into a deity. (See Hawk, below.)
[edit] Cults, probably derivative, of animals associated with certain deities
It is commonly assumed that the animals associated with certain deities are sacred because the god was originally theriomorphic; this is doubtless the case in certain instances; but Apollo Smintheus, Dionysus Bassareus and other examples seem to show that the god may have been appealed to for help and thus become associated with the animals from whom he protected the crops, and so on.
[edit] Cults of animals used in magic
The use of animals in magic may sometimes give rise to a kind of respect for them, but this is of a negative nature. See, however, articles by Preuss in Globus, vol. lxvii., in which he maintains that animals of magical influence are elevated into divinities.
[edit] Animal Cults
[edit] Bear
The bear enjoys a large measure of respect from all cultures that come in contact with it, which shows itself in apologies and in festivals in its honour. The most notable ceremonies involving bears are found in East Asia. The Ainu people, who maintain a ceremony called Iomante, are considered to be the only remaining bear cult. This ceremony is not as popular among the Ainu as it once was, but is still practiced in small, private gatherings.
There is a similar festival among the nearby Nivkhs, but here it takes the form of a celebration in honour of a recently dead kinsman, to whom the spirit of the bear is sent. There have been some attempts to revive the practice.
There is a good deal of evidence to connect the Greek goddess Artemis with a cult of the bear. Girls danced as "bears" in her honour, and might not marry before undergoing this ceremony. According to mythology, the goddess once transformed a nymph into a bear and then into the constellation Ursa Major.
The bear is traditionally associated with Bern, Switzerland. It is believed that the city's name derives from the Germanic word for "bears" (Bären in German) and a bear is featured on the city's flag and coat of arms. In 1832 a statue of the Celtic bear goddess Artio was dug up there.
[edit] Bison and Cattle
Cattle and bison are respected by many pastoral peoples that rely on the animals for sustenance and the killing of an ox is a sacrificial function.
The Toda of southern India abstain from the flesh of their domestic animal, the buffalo. However, once a year they sacrifice a bull calf, which is eaten in the forest by the adult males. The buffalo plays an important part in many Toda rituals. These buffalo are currently endangered.
Conspicuous among Egyptian animal cults was that of the bull, Apis. It was distinguished by certain marks, and when the old Apis died a new one was sought. The finder was rewarded, and the bull underwent four months' education at Nilopolis. Its birthday was celebrated once a year when oxen, which had to be pure white, were sacrificed to it. Women were forbidden to approach it when once its education was finished. Oracles were obtained from it in various ways. After death it was mummified and buried in a rock-tomb. Less widespread was the cult of the Mnevis, also consecrated to Osiris.
Similar observances are found in our own day on the Upper Nile. The Nuba and Nuer revere cattle. The Angoni of Central Africa and the Sakalava of Madagascar keep sacred bulls. In India respect for the cow is widespread, but is of post-Vedic origin; there is little actual worship, but the products of the cow are important in magic.
[edit] Crow/Raven
The Raven is the chief deity of the Tlingit people of Alaska. All over that region it is the chief figure in a group of myths, fulfilling the office of a culture hero who brings the light, gives fire to mankind, and so on. Together with the eagle-hawk the crow plays a great part in the mythology of southeastern Australia.
[edit] Dog
Actual dog worship is uncommon. The Nosarii of western Asia are said to worship a dog. The Kalang of Java had a cult of the red dog, each family keeping one in the house. According to one authority the dogs are images of wood which are worshipped after the death of a member of the family and burnt after a thousand days. In Nepal it is said that dogs are worshipped at the festival called Khicha Puja. Among the Harranians dogs were sacred, but this was rather as brothers of the mystae.
[edit] Elephant
In Thailand it is believed that a white elephant may contain the soul of a dead person, perhaps a Buddha. When one is taken the capturer is rewarded and the animal brought to the king to be kept ever afterwards. It cannot be bought or sold. It is baptized and fêted and mourned for like a human being at its death. In some parts of Indo-China the belief is that the soul of the elephant may injure people after death; it is therefore fêted by a whole village. In Cambodia it is held to bring luck to the kingdom. In Sumatra the elephant is regarded as a tutelary spirit. The cult of the white elephant is also found at Ennarea in southern Ethiopia. In India, the popular Hindu god Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a torso of a human.
[edit] Fish
According to the Jewish scholar Rashi, the Canaanite god Dagon was a fish god. This tradition may have originated here, with a misinterpretation, but recently uncovered reliefs suggest a fish-god with human head and hands was worshipped by people who wore fish-skins.
Supposedly, there were sacred fish in the temples of Apollo and Aphrodite in Greece, which may point to a fish cult. The goddess at Ashkelon, Atargatis was depicted as half woman, half fish, and according to Xenophon the fish of the Chalus were regarded as gods.
[edit] Goat
Dionysus was believed to take the form of a goat, probably as a divinity of vegetation. Pan, Silenus, the Satyrs and the Fauns were either capriform or had some part of their bodies shaped like that of a goat. In northern Europe the wood spirit, Leszi, is believed to have a goat's horns, ears and legs. In Africa the Bijago people are said to have a goat as their principal divinity. A deity known as the Goat of Mendes is associated with the pentagram.
[edit] Hawk
In North Borneo we seem to see the evolution of a god in the three stages of the cult of the hawk among the Kenyahs, the Kayans and the sea Dyaks. The Kenyahs will not kill it, address to it thanks for assistance, and formally consult it before leaving home on an expedition. It seems, however, to be regarded as the messenger of the supreme god Balli Penyalong. The Kayans have a hawk-god, Laki Neho, but seem to regard the hawk as the servant of the chief god, Laki Tenangan. Singalang Burong, the hawk-god of the Dyaks, is completely anthropomorphized. He is god of omens and ruler of the omen birds, but the hawk is not his messenger. For he never leaves his house. Stories are, however, told of his attending feasts in human form and flying away in hawk form when all was over.
[edit] Horse
There is some reason to believe that Poseidon, like other water gods, was originally conceived under the form of a horse. In the cave of Phigalia Demeter was, according to popular tradition, represented with the head and mane of a horse, possibly a relic of the time when a non-specialized corn-spirit bore this form. Her priests were called Poloi (Greek for "colts") in Laconia. In Gaul we find a horse-goddess, Epona. There are also traces of a horse-god, Rudiobus. The Gonds in India worship a horse-god, Koda Pen, in the form of a shapeless stone, but it is not clear that the horse is regarded as divine. The horse or mare is a common form of the corn-spirit in Europe.
[edit] Leopard
The cult of the leopard is widely found in West Africa. Among the Ashanti people a man who kills one is liable to be put to death; no leopard skin may be exposed to view, but a stuffed leopard is worshipped. On the Gold Coast a leopard hunter who has killed his victim is carried round the town behind the body of the leopard; he may not speak, must besmear himself so as to look like a leopard and imitate its movements. In Loango a prince's cap is put upon the head of a dead leopard, and dances are held in its honour.
[edit] Lion
The lion was associated with the Egyptian deities Horus, Nefertum, Ra and Sekhmet. There was a lion-god at Baalbek . The pre-Islamic Arabs had a lion-god, Yaghuth. In modern Africa we find a lion-idol among the Balonda.
[edit] Lizard
The cult of the lizard is most prominent in the Pacific, where it appears as an incarnation of Tangaloa. In Easter Island a form of the house-god is the lizard. It is also a tutelary deity in Madagascar.
[edit] Mantis
Cagn is a prominent figure in Bushman mythology. The mantis and the caterpillar, Ngo, are his incarnations. It was called the "Hottentots' god" by early European settlers.
[edit] Monkey
In India the monkey-god, Hanoman, is a prominent figure. In orthodox villages monkeys are safe from harm. Monkeys are said to be worshipped in Togo. At Porto Novo, in French West Africa, twins have tutelary spirits in the shape of small monkeys.
[edit] Rabbit
In North America the Algonquian tribes had as their chief deity a "mighty great hare" to whom they went at death. According to one account he lived in the east, according to another in the north. In his anthropomorphized form he was known as Menabosho or Michabo.
[edit] Rat
In Hindu mythology rat has a sacred position. Rat is believed to be the vehicle of Lord Ganesh in Hinduism. There is a temple in Deshnokenear Bikaner,India where rats are worshiped.
[edit] Serpent
The worship of the serpent is found in many parts of the Old World, although it is not unknown in the Americas. In Australia, the Aboriginal people worship a huge python, known by a variety of names but universally referred to as the Rainbow Serpent, that was said to have created the landscape, embodied the spirit of fresh water and punished lawbreakers. The Aborigines in southwest Australia called the serpent the Waugyl, while the Warramunga of the east coast worshipped the mythical Wollunqua. In Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was Dahomey. but the cult of the python seems to have been of exotic origin, dating back to the first quarter of the 17th century. By the conquest of Whydah the Dahomeyans were brought in contact with a people of serpent worshippers, and ended by adopting from them the beliefs which they at first despised. At Whydah, the chief centre, there is a serpent temple, tenanted by some fifty snakes. Every python of the danh-gbi kind must be treated with respect, and death is the penalty for killing one, even by accident. Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; a python was carried round the town in a hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the expulsion of evils. The rainbow-god of the Ashanti was also conceived to have the form of a snake. His messenger was said to be a small variety of boa. but only certain individuals, not the whole species, were sacred. In many parts of Africa the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives. Among the Amazulu, as among the Betsileo of Madagascar, certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes. The Masai, on the other hand, regard each species as the habitat of a particular family of the tribe.
In America some of the Native American tribes give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds or cause tempest. Among the Hopi of Arizona the serpent figures largely in one of the dances. The rattlesnake was worshipped in the Natchez temple of the sun and the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl was a feathered serpent-god. In many MesoAmerican cultures, the serpent was regarded as a portal between two worlds. The tribes of Peru are said to have adored great snakes in the pre-Inca days and in Chile the Mapuche made a serpent figure in their deluge beliefs.
Snake worship refers to the high status of snakes in Hindu mythology.Over a large part of India there are carved representations of cobras (nagas) or stones as substitutes. To these human food and flowers are offered and lights are burned before the shrines. Among the Dravidians a cobra which is accidentally killed is burned like a human being; no one would kill one intentionally. The serpent-god's image is carried in an annual procession by a celibate priestess.
Serpent worship was well known in ancient Europe. There does not appear to be much ground for supposing that Aesculapius was a serpent-god in spite of his connection with serpents. On the other hand, we learn from Herodotus of the great serpent which defended the citadel of Athens. The Roman genius loci took the form of a serpent where a snake was kept and fed with milk in the temple of Potrimpos, an old Slavonic god. Dewi was an Old Welsh god represented by a great red serpent. On the Iberian Peninsula there is evidence that before the introduction of Christianity, and perhaps more strongly before invasions of the Romans, Serpent-worship was part of local religion. To this day there are numerous traces in popular belief, especially in Germany, of respect for the snake, which seems to be a survival of ancestor worship, such as still exists among the Zulus and other tribes; the "house-snake," as it is called, cares for the cows and the children, and its appearance is an omen of death, and the life of a pair of house-snakes is often held to be bound up with that of the master and mistress themselves. Tradition says that one of the Gnostic sects known as the Ophites caused a tame serpent to coil round the sacramental bread and worshipped it as the representative of the Saviour. Ouroboros
[edit] Sheep
Only in Africa do we find a sheep-god proper. Amun, the god of Thebes, Egypt, was represented as ram-headed. His worshippers held the ram to be sacred, however, it was sacrificed once a year. Its fleece formed the clothing of the idol. Another Egyptian ram-headed god was Banebdjed, a form of Osiris.
[edit] Tiger
The tiger is associated with the Hindu deities Shiva and Durga. In Pokhara, Nepal the tiger festival is known as Bagh Jatra. Celebrants dance disguised as tigers and "hunted". The Warali tribe of Maharashtra, India worship Waghia the lord of tigers in the form of a shapeless stone. In Hanoi and Manchuria tiger-gods are also found.
[edit] Wolf
Both Zeus and Apollo were associated with the wolf by the Greeks, but it is not clear that this implies a previous cult of the wolf. It is frequently found among the tutelary deities of North American dancing or secret societies. The Tlingit had a god, Khanukh, whose name means "wolf," and worshipped a wolf-headed image.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Animal worship" by Thomas, Northcote Whitbridge, a publication now in the public domain.
For a fuller discussion and full references to these and other cults, that of the serpent excepted, see:
- N. W. Thomas in Hastings' Dictionary of Religions;
- Frazer, Golden Bough;
- Campbell's Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom;
- Maclennan's Studies (series 2);
- V. Gennep, Tabou et totémisme à Madagascar.
- For the serpent, see Ellis, Ewe-speaking Peoples, p. 54; Internat. Archiv, xvii. 113; Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. 239; Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship; Mähly, Die Schlange im Mythus; Staniland Wake, Serpent Worship, &c.; 16th Annual Report of the American Bureau of Ethnology, p. 273, and bibliography, p. 312.
