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Research Paper Supernatural Beliefs and Similarities between Them Natalia Horning John Rush III HIS 123 History of World Civilization November 23, 2012

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Supernatural Beliefs Predominant in Different Cultures

Introduction Believing in something is one of the qualities that make us humans, human. Societies either believe in a supernatural entity as an only superior being or in many gods that control every aspect in their lifes. Each culture has developed different beliefs and ways to justify their beliefs, creating ways of praise, adoration, and some cultures even go to the extreme and sacrifice living beings, which in turn has created a great symbolism with blood. Believing in something is not only a quality of humanity but it is a necessity because we need answers to the questions that puzzle even the brightest of minds. In this research paper we will try to cover what are the predominant beliefs of different societies and how they have developed and what aspects are in common between each other. Polytheistic Cultures Throughout history there have been a greater number of cultures that have believed in more than one god. The most ancient cultures have believed in a large amount of gods, for example, the Greeks. They had one of the most extensive series of gods where each one had its own role to govern over. It was thanks to them that we have such a large repertoire of mythology and in consequence many superstitions that come along with these. It is surprising that the culture where most of the brilliant ideas of the modern world came from, like democracy, philosophy, drama, etc., also created such an imaginative set of gods. A unique aspect of their gods was that they were quite humanized. They were born, usually in an uncommon way, they grew up and reached adulthood but they were immortal. As to any culture their beliefs and religion affect their society significantly. The Greeks modeled their gods according to their culture. Their views on love, relationships and

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everyday life were just like how they thought their gods would be. Meaning that if their gods had a free election on whom to love (male or female) it was because the people themselves believed that way. Their religion was a very large part of their life, it even changed the way they lived their everyday life. They strived to please the gods and especially during war where they believed that there was always a patron god to lead them on. Therefore their religion shaped the Greek society and in consequence shaped the society that assimilated their beliefs later on, the Roman Empire. A completely different type of a polytheistic religion is Hinduism. This religion is a very ancient set of beliefs but unlike the Greeks religion it has persisted through time. This religion has also influenced the culture of the Indians quite significantly. They worship about 330,000 gods and they have a system that regulates your actions to do good deeds. They believe in karma and samsara. This is the idea that all souls are equal and they are all accountable in their own way for their actions, after death they are reborn into another body according to their past life and good deeds. This belief has made the people who truly follow Hinduism very benign and loving because if they arent their next life will be worse than the last. This religion even though it is very different than the Greek beliefs of humanized gods there is still a similar aspect between the two. Both religions make sacrifices. Polytheism is the initial way of believing since the beginning of times. Every old culture and society believed that everything had a god. The Egyptians had a god for everything in nature, the sun had a god (Ra), the river that provided them with food and supplies also had a god. They had to praise the deity so they wouldnt lose favor it its eyes, so they would sacrifice something. In most cases it was animals, but it could also be grain or other food. Sacrifice is present in almost all religions; it is a direct message about humanity. Sacrifice is the ending of another life to credit for another. There is one religion in particular that is said to be the ultimate sacrifice, but I will talk about that later on.

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Monotheistic Cultures A monotheistic culture is that of one that only believes in one god. This god usually has a likeness to humans and there is always the presence of prophets or messengers to communicate this gods desires. There is usually a debate going on between different monotheistic groups because each one believes theirs to be the one and true god. This has made each culture develop a certain reproach for the other and this has also been the cause of many conflicts that have escalated to war. The most predominant religion and the most followed in the world is Christianity. This religion believes in one perfect and holy God who has sent his son, Jesus Christ to save humanity as the ultimate sacrifice, as was said before. There is only one god but he is composed of three parts: Father, son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Gods messenger to humanity. This religion in particular has been the cause of many discords because of the branching off of people from the main roots. This has created a bad reputation for Christianity. It has created such discord to the point that one branch off was against an opposite branch and killed thousands of people, this is what was called the inquisition where the Catholics searched and assassinated protestants. The people that truly follow Christianity are a very happy and kind people and believe in a loving God that is always there. This religion has not adhered to any society in particular because it has reached most of the world, but we can associate it to the western world. In the dawn of this religion people sacrificed animals and had to follow a strict set of rules of what to do, they had to watch out which kind of meat they offered, what they did with the blood, etc. Once again we can see the recurring motif of sacrifice and blood. As another monotheistic religion there is Islam. This religion is nearly the exact opposite of Christianity. It is not a religion of love and kindness, nor is their god

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compassionate and just, but the complete opposite. Their god is Allah and he is complete and perfect in every way, he is so sublime that you cant communicate with him directly (unlike Christianity where you can pray to God) but you can only access him through prophets or messengers. He is a god of wrath and judgment who creates fear in his followers which in consequence creates a very fearful, violent, loveless and unfriendly society. Another fact of this religion that shapes it society and influences others is the jihad, which is to engage in holy war against all non-believers, Allah promises rewards in heaven for death if it is done in his name. Jihad is basically a human sacrifice to a god and a direct involvement of others. This is probably one of the most violent examples of a sacrifice done for a belief. The last monotheistic religion that we will explain is Judaism. This is the set of beliefs Sacrifice A very important element in all religions is the fact of making a sacrifice, whether it be spiritual or physical it is necessary. Sacrifice can have many meanings but the most common is this: to offer and animal, plant or human as an offering to a deity. In any religion this is completely necessary because in order to praise or give homage to anything a sacrifice needs to be made. Here are a few examples of different sacrifices. First of all we will explain the most gruesome types of sacrifices. In the roman times very elaborate and gruesome animal sacrifices were made. In this case the animal would always be alive and sometimes dressed up for the occasion. Later it would be sprinkled with water and cereal or other things and then it would be killed, following the killing they would skin it and the others would try to predict the future using the animals organs. Not only did the romans kill animals but they offered all the fallen men that died in gladiator fights to the gods as well. Another culture that made many sacrifices was the Mayans. They sacrificed thousands of people to their gods and then threw them into

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sinkholes which they believed were passageways to the underworld. They ritually skinned and dismembered children and animals as an offering to the rain god. They believed that blood sacrifice would keep the world in balance. These religions took sacrificing very seriously, but not all religious sacrifices were so grueling and bloodstained. For example here are some more natural sacrifices. In the bible sacrificing animals was quite common during the Old Testament. All the book of Leviticus tells a series of rules that are to be followed by the people of god when it comes to daily life and sacrifices. Here is an example The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oila food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aromaand its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. (Bible, Leviticus 23:9-14). In the whole bible there is only one mention of a human sacrifice but it is not carried out. In genesis it appears Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you loveIsaacand go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you. (22:2) but God retracts his words because he was testing Abraham to see if he was loyal. Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. (22:12).

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Why do so many religions have sacrifice as part of their rituals? Sacrifice is a need to give thanks for everything that they receive. Sometimes its because of fear, other times its because of pure adoration. But it doesnt always have to be related to a religious practice. People make sacrifices every day in one way or another. There are many people who find the need to make a sacrifice on themselves, either because they dont feel worthy of what they have done or because they feel that not enough thanks were given for what they received. For example the Catholics make self-sacrifice by walking up and down stairs on their knees, sometimes to the point of making themselves bleed. Self-sacrifice is only something that is created by peer pressure or what others may think of you, meaning the currents standing of your own reputation. Giving money away to a charity can also be a sacrifice in a way because you give up part of your capital to give to others. This can be a selfless act or it can be a personal way to atone for something you have done, in other words, you want to be forgiven. This is how humanity has created their own personal gods like money, themselves, their possessions, etc. In the past sacrifices done for religious reasons were quite common but as time has passed and humanity has become more aware of personal rights and they realize the cruelty of this act. In our days it is believed that every life has a value and none can be discredited. Sacrifice-less cultures Even though the great majority of religions have rituals that involve sacrifice, there is always the exception. Cultures that have more of a pantheistic view of the world and that are closer to nature in everyday life are completely void of sacrifice. The wiccans do not sacrifice anything for the simple reason that they do not find any need in doing so. They are a neo-pagan religion therefore they praise nature, believe in

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energy that is present everywhere and they try to channel it through their bodies. They have two main gods: The Moon Goddess and the Horned God, who can also be called the Divine Female and Divine Male, both of them together act like the Yin and yang and together they compose the cosmos. They also have the use of magic where they make small rituals in nature. Another religion where sacrifice is not present is with the Australian aborigines. They praise the nature that surrounds them, meaning only the things that grow in Australia. They do not believe in animism, therefore they dont believe in souls in inanimate objects, but they can believe that a particular god created that rock for some reason. They have many rituals and dances done for different reasons, for example in initiation. But they dont have any need or reason to make any sacrifices. Why is it that these cultures do not have the need for sacrificing? It seems that the cultures that dont have any kind of dependency on a deity. It is this need of acceptance and reciprocation from a deity that makes the need of sacrifice present. The great majority of aboriginal religions do not have any sacrificing going on. Therefore these cultures are just fine the way they are and they dont feel like they have to conform to other gods or deities. The Ultimate Sacrifice This statement is present in many religions. What is an ultimate sacrifice? In Islam the ultimate sacrifice could easily be giving your life to go against everyone else that does not believe in Allah. This is a topic that makes everyone think because there are many things in life that we dont want to sacrifice for somebody else, but there is a book were it is said quite clearly: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (Bible, John 15:13). Meaning that there is no greater sacrifice than to give your own life for another. That is why it is said that the only true sacrifice and ultimate was Jesus Christ. For

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God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). Christianity has one of the strongest meanings of sacrifice of all religions for it is the sacrifice of Gods son that makes the basis of the religion. That thanks to this ultimate sacrifice humanity has the possibility of having eternal life, as was said in the last scripture mentioned. This sacrifice is compared also to the blood shed of a lamb, meaning that Gods son is as humble and meek as a lamb, a merciful God. It was this sacrifice that made all others before meaningless and also nullified the need to have any other sacrifices done unto him, means he already took care of that. Not only was this sacrificing a simple death put it meant that all the sins of humanity were put on Jesus shoulders and he had to bear the burden for us. So it is as if he is the only sacrifice necessary for all times. One thing that is quite unique about the Bibles sacrifices is that none of them are negative but they all are positive. They are all meant to praise and give glory to God, none of them are gruesome like the Mayans sacrifices. Not only are they positive but they have a purpose and they are very clean in nature, following a set of rules to be clean: If, however, their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day. Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up. If any meat of the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day, the one who offered it will not be accepted. It will not be reckoned to their credit, for it has become impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible.

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Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up. As for other meat, anyone ceremonially clean may eat it. But if anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord, they must be cut off from their people. Anyone who touches something uncleanwhether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature that moves along the groundand then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord must be cut off from their people. (Bible, Leviticus 7:16-21) Conclusion In the world there is an incredibly vast amount of religions, beliefs and rituals. Each one has its own set of rules and gods. Religion changes each cultures views and personality and it is thanks to this that makes each one of us so different. On the other hand there are always similarities, even between polytheistic and monotheistic religions. Some similarities are in beliefs, some in rituals. The most predominant similarity is the usage of sacrifices in almost every religion. In some this is a positive thing, only used to glorify the deity but in some religions it is used to tell the future by looking at the organs. That shows us the need of society to give praise because of fear or love. In the end it all depends on the character of the religion to determine our own beliefs.

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References The Holy Bible: new international version. (5. impr. ed.). (1984). London [u.a.: Hodder and Stoughton. Martin, W. (1985). The kingdom of the cults (Rev. and expanded ed.). Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers. Mauss, M. (1972). A general theory of magic;. London: Routledge and K. Paul. Jung, C. G. (1985). Science of mythology: essays on the myth of the divine child and the mysteries of Eleusis (Ark ed.). London: Ark Paperbacks. Opie, I. A., & Tatem, M. (1989). A Dictionary of superstitions. Oxford [England: Oxford University Press.