🧭 Religion: Origins, Mentality, and Symbolism Across Traditions By Rusty | Archival Series | September 2025

 

Prehistoric Foundations of Religion

Long before temples or texts, humanity expressed spiritual curiosity through burial rites, fertility symbols, and sacred art:

- Burial Rituals (c. 100,000 BCE): Red ochre and grave goods suggest belief in an afterlife and sacred continuity. See Wikipedia’s Timeline of Religion.

- Venus Figurines & Löwenmensch: Fertility and hybrid sculptures reflect symbolic thinking and proto-deities.

- Göbekli Tepe (c. 11,500 BCE): The World History Encyclopedia documents this ancient temple — a site of cosmic ordering before agriculture.

> Mentality Insight: Early religion wasn’t doctrine — it was symbolic behavior, ritualized meaning-making around death, nature, and identity.

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Hinduism: Cyclical Creation and Sacred Time

Hindu cosmology sees creation not as a one-time event, but as an eternal rhythm:

- Governed by Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Shiva (destroyer).

- Time unfolds in Kalpas (4.32 billion years) and Yugas (4.32 million years), repeating endlessly.

- Matter arises from Prakriti, shaped by the three gunas: purity (sattva), passion (rajas), and inertia (tamas).

Explore the Cycle of Creation for deeper insight.

> Symbolic Psychology: The universe is a dream, a dance, a womb — liberation comes from transcending illusion (maya) and karmic cycles.

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Judaism: Linear Creation and Moral Covenant

Judaism presents creation as a purposeful, singular act:

- Genesis 1–2: God creates the world in six days, followed by rest — a structured, poetic act of divine will.

- Yahweh: A personal creator who speaks reality into being.

- Time is directional — from creation to covenant to redemption.

For theological context, see Bible Study Tools.

> Mentality Insight: Creation encodes moral order — humans bear divine image (tzelem Elohim) and history unfolds toward justice.

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Hinduism vs. Judaism: Comparative Cosmology

| Feature | Hinduism | Judaism |

|--------|----------|---------|

| Time | Cyclical | Linear |

| Creation | Repeated cosmic births | Singular divine act |

| Supreme Concept | Brahman / Trimurti | Yahweh |

| Human Role | Liberation from cycles | Stewardship and covenant |

| Symbolic Function | Dream, dance, womb | Word, law, image |

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The Ethiopian Bible: Ancient Canon and Afrocentric Theology

The Ethiopian Orthodox canon preserves a mystical and expansive Christian tradition:

- Includes 81–88 books, such as Book of Enoch, Jubilees, and Meqabyan texts.

- Written in Geʽez, rooted in sacred ancestry and cosmic justice.

- Anchored by Menelik I, son of Solomon and Sheba — a symbol of divine lineage.

Access translations via BibleToRead.

> Mentality Insight: The Ethiopian canon encodes angelic warfare, divine justice, and ancestral identity — a cosmic theology of Afrocentric resilience.

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Native American Spirituality: Sacred Presence and Relational Cosmos

Indigenous traditions emphasize sacred presence over hierarchy:

- Belief in the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, Father Sky, and animal totems.

- Rituals align with sacred directions, seasons, and ancestral geography.

- Humans are part of nature — not rulers, but relatives.

Explore Britannica and Learn Religions for modern expressions and ceremonial continuity.

> Modern Practice: Continued through ceremonies, language revival, urban adaptations, and syncretic blends with Christianity and environmental activism.

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Symbolic Mentality Across Traditions

| Theme | Hinduism | Judaism | Native Spirituality |

|-------|----------|---------|---------------------|

| Time | Spiral | Arrow | Circle |

| Creation | Dreamed | Spoken | Emerged |

| Sacred Identity | Liberation from illusion | Moral obedience | Kinship with cosmos |

| Divine Presence | Immanent and transcendent | Personal and commanding | Diffuse and relational |

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