For hundreds of thousands of years, primitive man did not know religion. The beginnings of religious ideas appeared no earlier than the Upper Paleolithic era. Religion could only arise when man made his first attempts to understand natural phenomena. Observing the change of day and night, seasons, the life of plants and animals and much more, primitive man could not understand these phenomena. Incomprehensible and menacing natural phenomena, illness, and death instilled anxiety and horror in the minds of our distant ancestors. Gradually, people began to develop ideas about supernatural forces supposedly capable of causing these phenomena. This was the beginning of religious ideas
One of the earliest forms of religion was totemism - the idea that all members of the clan come from a certain animal - a totem. Sometimes a plant or some object was considered a totem. People believed that they were inextricably linked with their totem. According to them, the totem animal, if it wants, can turn into a person. The cause of death was seen as the transformation of a person into a totem. An animal that was considered a totem was sacred - it was forbidden to kill it. Subsequently, the totem animal was allowed to be killed, but the head, liver and heart were forbidden to eat. When killing a totem, people asked him for forgiveness or tried to blame him on someone else. Remnants of totemism are found in the religions of many peoples ancient East. IN ancient Egypt For example, they worshiped the bull, jackal, goat, crocodile and other animals. From ancient times to this day, tigers, monkeys, and cows have been considered sacred animals in India. The indigenous people of Australia at the time of discovery by Europeans also believed in kinship with some animal, which was considered a totem. If an Australian belonged to the kangaroo totem, then he would say about this animal: “This is my brother.” The genus that belonged to the bat or frog totem was called the genus of the Bat, the genus of the Frog.
Another form of primitive religion was magic or witchcraft . This was the belief that a person could allegedly influence nature with various “miraculous” techniques and spells. In the Montespan cave, discovered in 1923 in the Pyrenees, a headless figure of a bear sculpted from clay was discovered. The figure is riddled with round holes. These are probably dart marks. Around him on the clay floor there are prints of bare human feet. A similar discovery was made in the Tuc d'Auduber cave (France). Two clay sculptures of bison were found there, and around them there were also prints of bare feet.
Scientists suggest that in these caves, primitive hunters performed magical dances and spells to bewitch the animal. They believed that the bewitched animal would allow itself to be killed. The same magical rituals The North American Indians of the Mandan tribe also performed this. Before hunting for bison, for several days they used magical dances - “buffalo dance. The dance participants, holding weapons in their hands, wore buffalo skins and masks. The dance depicted a hunt. From time to time, some of the dancers pretended to fall, then others shot arrows and threw spears in his direction. When a bison was “hit” in this way, everyone surrounded it and, waving knives, pretended to skin it and dismember the carcass.
“Let a living beast be pierced with a spear, just as its image or skull is pierced” - such is the essence of primitive magic.
Gradually a new form of religion developed -- cult of nature Man's superstitious fear of menacing nature evoked a desire to somehow appease it. Man began to worship the sun, earth, water and fire. Man has populated all nature in his imagination with spirits. This form of religious ideas is called animism (from the Latin word - "animus" - spirit). Primitive people explained sleep, fainting, and death by the departure of the spirit. (soul) from the body. Associated with animism is the belief in an afterlife and the cult of ancestors. The burials speak of this: together with the deceased, his personal belongings were placed in the grave - jewelry, weapons and food supplies. According to primitive people, these things were supposed to serve the deceased in his afterlife.
An interesting discovery was made by archaeologists in 1887 during excavations in the Mas d'Azil cave in the foothills of the Pyrenees. They discovered a large number of ordinary river pebbles covered with drawings made with red paint. The drawings were not complex, but varied. These combinations of dots, ovals, dashes , crosses, Christmas trees, zigzags, lattices, etc. Some designs resembled letters of the Latin and Greek alphabets.
It is unlikely that archaeologists would have been able to unravel the mystery of the pebbles if they had not found similarities with similar drawings on stones of the Australian Arunta tribe, which was at a very low stage of development. The Arunta had warehouses of painted pebbles or pieces of wood called churingas. The Arunta believed that after a person’s death, his soul moves to the churungu. Each Arunta had his own churunga, the receptacle of the soul of his ancestor, whose properties he inherited.
Churingas of the living and the dead were kept in caves with a walled entrance, known only to old people who special attention belonged to the churungs.. From time to time they counted the churungs, rubbed them with red ocher - the color of life, in a word, treated them as relics.
The words “spirit” or “soul” in the minds of primitive people were associated with the animation of all nature. Religious ideas about the spirits of the earth, the sun, thunder, lightning, and vegetation gradually developed. Later, on this basis, the myth of dying and resurrecting gods arose.
With the decomposition of the primitive community, the emergence of classes and slave states, new forms of religious ideas appeared. Among the spirits and deities, people began to identify the main ones, to whom others obey. Arose myths about the kinship between kings and gods. Professional priests and ministers of worship appeared in the ruling strata of society, who used religion in the interests of the exploiters.
Early forms of religion.
Religious Education as a relatively independent spiritual sphere was preceded by a long process of formation and development of beliefs and rituals within the framework of mythology ( cm. Also MYTH). One of the earliest forms of tribal religions is totemism - the belief in a kinship between a tribe, on the one hand, and a certain animal, plant or natural phenomenon, on the other. In primitive society, fetishism was also widespread - the veneration of material objects supposedly endowed with supernatural properties. In addition, the clan system is characterized by the cult of ancestors, who supposedly influence the lives of their descendants. Belief in spirits and soul, the universal spirituality of nature is called animism. These forms of primitive religious ideas existed in close intertwining with each other. There was a widespread belief in magic, which through certain actions and spells was supposed to influence a person or natural phenomena.
Gradually, more complex ideas about the soul and its existence after the death of a person take shape, about the afterlife, about the actions of gods and heroes as participants in the everyday life of people. In antiquity, there was a strict hierarchy of gods, although there had not yet been a clear distinction between mythological and religious characters. Theistic religions emerge. Body and spirit, earthly and heavenly, are increasingly opposed, sacred heroes are elevated to the main thing, supreme god. Many of these religions have survived to this day: Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism ( see also MONOTHEISM).
Theistic religions include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Early religions, spread across ethnic and political boundaries, are inferior to supranational, world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam), which unite people regardless of their place of residence, language, ethnicity, etc. This idea is expressed in the New Testament: “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.”
Currently, along with established religions, a new type of religiosity is emerging, numerous non-traditional religions, which is caused by growing interest in the ideas of cosmism, various forms of esoteric knowledge, and the revival of archaic religious beliefs, often as symbols of national spirituality. see also RASTAFARIANITY;
Sacralization of the leader's power .
As the communal-tribal system decomposed, growing economic inequality led to the strengthening of the individual power of the leaders; from clan elders, who previously enjoyed purely moral authority, they gradually turned into hereditary despots, whose power was supported by direct violence; Military leaders also appeared who ruled, relying on their armed squad. This process can be observed especially in Oceania, among some peoples of America and Africa.
The new, despotic power of the leader-king, not based on traditional respect, on moral authority and ancient customs, needed support, more constant and deeper than naked violence - ideological support. This is what religion gave, which sanctified the growing power of the leaders with supernatural sanction.
The cult of leaders is a form of religion very close, genetically and morphologically, to the system of secret alliances. Where these forms exist together, as, for example, in Melanesia, it is impossible to draw a line between them. Melanesia is precisely the area where the earliest, rudimentary manifestations of the cult of leaders are clearly observed.
The sacralization of the leader’s power manifests itself in three forms, however, usually related to one another: firstly, in the supernatural sanction of his authority as based on magical power (mana, orenda, etc.) or on the support of a powerful spirit, secondly, in the veneration of deceased leaders who turn into strong and dangerous spirits; thirdly, and finally, in the leader’s performance of ritual and cult functions. All these three phenomena, between which it is sometimes difficult to draw a line, are very widespread, especially among peoples who have reached the threshold of the class system; they are quite well known and there is no need to give relevant examples.
Many Western scientists do not notice the close connection between these three manifestations of the cult of leaders and do not see their real conditionality. For Frazer, for example, the “holiness” of some black king and his performance of priestly functions is a product of the development of magical ideas about the possibility of human influence on nature, ideas about the sympathetic connection and taboo as its negative expression. The power of such a king, from his point of view, grew out of the functions of the sorcerer as a result of his gradual specialization in the field of magic. As for the worship of the spirits of deceased leaders, Frazer and other authors consider this kind of phenomenon in a completely different connection - under the heading of “ancestor cult” 1, understanding the latter, of course, as a consequence of the development of faith in the soul.
Such purely idealistic views, which, for formally logical reasons, tear apart parts of one whole and connect very dissimilar things, of course, cannot satisfy us to any extent. The tribal cult of deceased leaders and the family-tribal cult of ancestors have only formal similarities. In origin, in social significance, in ideological role, these two forms of religion are very far from each other. After everything that was said above regarding one and the other form, this hardly needs to be explained. On the other hand, the magical power of the sacred king over nature and the prohibitions imposed on him in connection with this, of course, have a connection with primitive magical ideas accompanying at least totemic or trade rituals, but to deduce on this basis, as Frazer does, royal power from the sorcerer's specialization - this means distorting the actual connection of phenomena. In fact, as we could see from the above facts and as is clear even a priori, the attribution of magical supernatural abilities to leaders and kings is only a reflection of the growth of their power, it is an expression of those feelings of unaccountable fear and admiration. which are generated in an undeveloped consciousness by the very fact of the emergence of the first social contradictions in the community, the identification of dominant groups 1.
Transferring ideas about magical influence on nature, ideas that grew on the soil of totemism and the cult of trade, is only a natural result of the sacralization of the power of the leader. If among some peoples this has resulted in an ugly system of strange and constraining restrictions imposed on the leader or king as a sacred person - there are many examples of this in Frazer’s Golden Bough - then this is only a side effect, perhaps unpleasant for the bearers themselves this power, but a completely understandable result of the extreme development of these ideas.
13. Types and types of religion: tribal, national, national-state. The emergence of systems of state religious cult.
TYPES OF RELIGIONS- - concepts that reflect common characteristics of some religions and on this basis the corresponding classification groups are distinguished. Religions are distinguished between “pagan and revealed”, “natural and spiritual”, “natural and ethical”, “dependence and freedom”, “polytheistic, henotheistic and monotheistic”, “regional and global”, etc. Taking into account the historical stages of development of ethnic groups, ethnic groups are distinguished as clan-tribal, national-national and world. Tribal formed under the conditions of a primitive communal system, but continue to exist today within the framework of relict cultures. They spontaneously grew out of the living conditions of the clan and tribe and sacralized these types of ethnic groups. An important place in them is occupied by the cult of ancestors, the tribal leader, the tribal god, rituals of age-related initiations, fetishism, totemism, magic, and animism are widespread. National-national religions assimilated well-known historical and cultural layers of tribalism, but unlike the latter, they formed and evolved during the period of formation and development of class society. They reflected the living conditions of the people, and then the nation, and sacralized these ethnic groups, their states, and the heads of these states. Their carriers are mainly representatives of this ethnic group. These religions are characterized by a detailed ritualization of everyday behavior of people (up to the organization of meals, compliance with hygiene rules, etc.), specific rituals, a strict system of regulations and prohibitions that separate representatives of these religions and ethnic groups from followers of other ethno-religious communities. Among the existing religions of this type are Hinduism, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, etc. . World religions- Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - are genetically related to tribal and national-national ones, but are significantly different from them. World religions appeared in eras of great historical turns, in the context of the formation of “world empires”; the founder or group of founders played a large role in their formation and development. World religions reflect the way of life of large regions, different classes, estates, castes, tribes, nationalities, and therefore representatives of these heterogeneous communities became carriers of new religions. World religions are characterized by strong proselytism and propaganda activity; their preaching is of an interethnic, cosmopolitan nature, addressed to representatives of different social groups; these religions preach the idea of equality of people. They discarded the divisive rituals characteristic of tribal and national-national religions. In specific historical conditions, various directions of world religions acquire ethnic connotations, and there is a tendency to identify ethnic and religious affiliation.
Rodo tribal primitive ancient beliefs. They originated in the distant past, but did not leave human consciousness, but were imprinted and exist among people to this day. From them arise numerous superstitions - primitive beliefs that are very similar to religion by nature emergence, but are not actually religions, since they do not presuppose the existence of a god or gods, they do not constitute a complete human worldview.
2. National state religions, which are the basics religious the lives of some peoples and nations (for example, Hinduism in India or Judaism among the Jewish people).
3. World religion- spread beyond the borders of nations and states and numbering big number followers all over the world. It is generally accepted that there are three world religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.
According to Harvard University, in 2000, 72 out of 188 countries in the world did not have state religion. 75 states considered one or another religion to be the state religion. The remaining countries were in a “transitional” state - for example, two or more religions were recognized as “official” in them.
Nowadays Islam is considered official religion 29 states, Catholicism - 22, Protestantism - 10, Orthodoxy - 8, Buddhism - 4, Hinduism and Judaism - one each. It is curious that if in the first half of the 20th century the number of states in which official religious cults, has been constantly declining, then in the last three decades this process has almost completely stopped.
A Harvard University study also showed that the most important factor that influences the decision of the authorities of a particular country to establish an official religious cult is religious history of this state. If a country ever had a state religion in the 20th century, then most likely that same religion will retain or regain the same status in the 21st century. At the same time, political disturbances do not affect state religions or have an extremely insignificant effect. For example, in all countries ruled by communist regimes, state religions were abolished (the only exception is Somalia, which in the early 1970s was ruled by people who considered themselves Marxists - they retained Islam as the state religion).
State religious cults appeared in ancient times and have successfully survived to this day. Sometimes the replacement of one state religious cult with another was explained not by objective circumstances, but by the voluntaristic actions of rulers. So, for example, in 1536, King Henry the Eighth of England created the Church of England and abandoned Catholicism because the Pope refused to give him permission to divorce. One of the consequences of this was the massive confiscation of property Catholic Church in England. Probably similar reasons forced King Gustav Vasa of Sweden to abandon Catholicism in favor of Lutheranism in 1527 - the change of faith led to the enrichment of the king at the expense of the property of Catholic hierarchs and monasteries (in 2000, Sweden officially ceased to consider Lutheranism as the state religion).
State religions operate differently in different countries. Thus, state Protestant churches in England and Scandinavia are much more liberal towards non-believers than the Shiite hierarchy in Iran. Anthony Gill, author of Political Reasons Religious Freedom" (The Political Origins of Religious Liberty), notes that the reason for this is the degree of separation of church and state - in many countries (mostly Islamic) such a separation does not exist.
Change of state religion in modern world happens for other reasons as well. Thus, many former colonies changed their state religion immediately after gaining independence. Similar processes occurred in cases where large multinational states collapsed (for example, the Ottoman Empire or the Soviet Union).
Rodney Stark, author of Alone Real God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism” (One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism), notes that the chances that a particular religious cult will be recognized as a “state” cult are higher in countries where the vast majority of residents profess it. However, there are certain subtleties here: for example, monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - have a greater chance of “statehood”. They are the ones who benefit the most from government support.
American economist Rafael La Porta has published a series of works in which he argues that the chances of establishing a state religion decrease if the economy of a given country grows and the population becomes richer. In his opinion, the opposite is also true: in conditions of economic problems and mass impoverishment of residents, state religious cults are introduced with great success, and these changes are perceived more positively by believers.
The first study on state religion was carried out by the British economist Adam Smith, who assessed the relationship between religion and the state from a market perspective (a chapter on this is included in his classic work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations), first published in 1791). According to Smith, a religion that received state status acquired the qualities of a spiritual monopolist, which received various subsidies and artificially limited the penetration of competitors into “its” market (Smith analyzed the situation Anglican Church in England and Catholic - in Spain and France). Smith also concluded that monopoly was not beneficial official cults: like any other monopolies, they became less competitive, more bureaucratic and “lazy”. As a result, the authority of the official churches declined, as did the popularity of the religious services they held. Interestingly, Smith's conclusions were confirmed by studies conducted already in the second half of the 20th century.
For example, a series of works on this topic was published by the famous American scientist Roger Finke. American researcher Nuno Garoupa and Portuguese Pedro Barros in a study “ Economic theory An Economic Theory of Church Strictness proves that “strict” (mostly “state”) church structures lose economically in the long run. The reason, in their opinion, is that believers are gradually beginning to perceive them as a “branch” of the state and a kind of “double” of the tax authorities. As a result, believers begin to visit such religious institutions less often, and sometimes change their religion.
Robert Barro and Rachel McCleary in their study “Religion and Economic Growth in Different countries"(Religion and Economic Growth across Countries) prove that the presence of a state religion in the short term increases the religiosity of a society. However, if a monopolist religion begins to fight competitors using forceful methods (for example, with the help of officials), the level of religiosity decreases.
Next to totemism and taboos, magic (from the Greek mbgeib - witchcraft, sorcery) has a significant place in the life of the original man of the village - a set of ideas and rituals, which are based on the belief in the possibility of influencing people, objects and phenomena of the objective world with the help of certain actions.
Magic is unity religious consciousness and actions, it seems to manifest itself in a concentrated form general characteristics religion as a specific practical-spiritual way of a person’s entry into the world. A motivated text, the logic of its magical actions can be expressed in this way: if ordinary objects and phenomena can be influenced practically, then with the same success one can practically influence in the desired direction the extraordinary, the supernatural, that is, fetishes, totems, souls and spirits . Therefore, magic is complemented by other types of tribal religions, such as animism, fetishism and totemism.
Famous different types original magic: industrial, agricultural, military, healing, love, etc. They consisted of hunting spells; traps, witchcraft procedures on the field, attempts to give a reason (that is, to spoil health, send darkness), to bewitch, in witchcraft over weapons, over the sick, in various kinds of conspiracies, etc. But in each case it was either fetishistic or totemistic, or animistic, or, in the end, associated with faith among spirits. After all, magic, as a fusion of witchcraft and belief in the possibility of influencing the supernatural through it, served its formation and development as component original religiosity in general and as the “language” of the forms of sensory-hypersensitive and demonic beliefs discussed above.
While studying the magical thinking of the Polynesian natives, J. Fraser noticed a very interesting pattern. It turned out that the natives use magic in agriculture when planting tuberous plants, the yield of which is inconsistent, but magic is not used when cultivating fruit trees, which produce a stable, stable harvest. In fishing, magical techniques are practiced when fishing for sharks and other large and dangerous fish, but when fishing for small fish, magic is considered unnecessary. The building of boats is always accompanied by magical rituals, but when building houses, magic is not used. This allowed J. Fraser to conclude that magical ideas arise if a person is not confident in his abilities, if he is faced with problems, the solution of which depends not so much on the person himself, but on a great variety of incidental factors. This is what makes him rely on help mysterious forces and perform magical actions.
According to Fraser, magical thinking is based on two principles. The first of them says: like generates like, or an effect similar to its cause. The first principle can be called the law of similarity, and the second - the law of contact. From the first principle, namely the law of similarity, the magician concludes that he can perform any desired action by simple inheritance. Based on the second principle, he concludes that everything that he does with an object will have an impact on the person who was once in contact with this object (as a part of his body or otherwise). Homeopathic or imitative magic can be called witchcraft techniques based on the law of similarity. Contagious magic can be called witchcraft techniques based on the law of contact.
The first type of magic is best designated by the term homeopathic, since the alternative term - imitative magic - does not even include conscious inheritance, which significantly narrows the scope of magic. After all, the sorcerer is sure that the principles that find practical application in his art also govern lifeless nature. In other words, he admits that the laws of similarity and collision do not only apply to human actions, but have a general application. As a system of natural laws, that is, a set of rules that “determine” the sequence of events in the world, it can be called theoretical magic. As the prescriptions that people must inherit in order to achieve their goal, it can be called practical magic. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the original sorcerer knows magic only from its practical side. He never analyzes the mental processes on which his actions are based, never reflects on the abstract principles that are embedded in them. For him, magic is an art, not a science; the very idea of science is absent from his undeveloped mind.
Homeopathic magic is based on the connection of ideas behind similarities; contagious magic is based on the connection of ideas behind the contiguity. The mistake of homeopathic magic is that the similarity of things is perceived as their identity. Contagious magic makes another mistake: it assumes that things, having once been in collision, are in constant contact. In practice, both types of magic are often combined. More precisely, if homeopathic, whether imitative, magic can be practiced on its own, then contagious magic, as a rule, is associated with the application of the homeopathic principle. Both types of magic - homeopathic and contagious - can be designated by a single term - sympathetic magic, since in both cases it is assumed that, thanks to secret sympathy, things influence one another at a distance and the impulse is transmitted from one to another using an invisible connection.
Depending on the mental laws that underlie them, both types of magic can be visually depicted in the following table:
Cute Magic
(law of sympathy)
homeopathic magic contagious magic
(law of similarity) (law of contact)
The entire system of pretty magic does not consist of only positive instructions, it also contains a large number of negative instructions, that is, prohibitions. It indicates not only what should be done, but also what should not be done. The totality of positive prescriptions constitutes witchcraft, and negative ones constitute taboos. In fact, all ideas about taboos, in any case, for the most part, are only partial cases of the application of pretty magic with its laws of similarity and contact. Although, of course, these laws are not formulated by the savage in verbal form and are not grasped by him in the abstract, he nevertheless believes that these laws regulate the course of natural phenomena entirely independently of the will of man.
Target positive magic or witchcraft - to make a desired event happen; the purpose of negative magic or taboo is to prevent an unwanted event from happening. But it is assumed that both consequences (desirable and undesirable) take place according to the laws of similarity or contact. And just as the desired phenomenon is in fact not at all a consequence of the implementation of a magical rite, the phenomenon that is feared does not actually result from the violation of a taboo.
Taboos and witchcraft are just opposite poles of a single system. Its negative pole is taboo, its positive pole is witchcraft. If we give this entire system the general name of theoretical and practical magic, then this relationship can be presented in the form of the following table:
Magic and religion. Magic, where it occurs in its pure form, presupposes that one natural event necessarily follows another without the intervention of a spiritual or personal agent. The fundamental assumption of magic is thus identical with the gaze modern science: At the core of both magic and science is a strong belief in the order and sameness of natural phenomena. The magician has no doubt that the same reasons will always give rise to the same consequences, that the implementation of the necessary ritual, accompanied by certain spells, will inevitably lead to the desired result. The magician does not beg a higher power, does not seek the favor of a fickle and willful supernatural being, and does not humiliate himself before a formidable deity. But his power, no matter how great he considers it to be, is by no means unlimited power. He masters it only to the extent that he strictly adheres to the rules of his art or natural laws, as he understands them. To neglect these rules, to transgress these laws (even to the smallest extent) means to invite failure upon yourself and even put your life in extreme danger. If the magician claims supreme power over nature, then this power is limited in its powers and exercised in strict accordance with ancient custom. So the analogy between the magical and scientific worldview is justified. In both cases, it is assumed that the sequence of events is completely definite, repeatable and is subject to the action of unchanging laws, the manifestation of which can be precisely defined and provided for.
If examples of pretty magic are analyzed, they will be found to be incorrect applications of one of the two fundamental laws of thought, namely, the association of ideas by similarity and the association of ideas by contiguity in space and time. Homeopathic or imitative magic is generated by the erroneous association of similar ideas, and contagious magic is generated by the erroneous association of adjacent ideas.
So, magic, as it turns out, is a close relative of science. It remains to be seen how it relates to religion. The answer to this question will undoubtedly depend on one's understanding of the nature of religion. According to Fraser, religion is “compassion and pacification of forces that are higher than man, forces that are believed to direct and control the course of natural phenomena and human life” (paragraph 2, p. 54). Religion in this understanding consists of theoretical and practical elements, namely, faith in the existence of higher powers and the desire to appease and please them. In the first place, of course, is faith, since before you please a deity, you must believe in his existence. But “if religion does not give rise to various kinds of religious actions, it is no longer a religion, but simply theology, since faith alone without actions is dead. On the other hand, behavior that is not supported by religious faith cannot be called religious. Therefore, belief and action are equivalent for religion, which cannot exist without one or the other” (paragraph 2, pp. 54-55). But it is not necessary and not always that a religious action take the form of a ritual, that is, it consists of the proclamation of prayers, feasible sacrifices and other external ritual actions, the purpose of which is to please the deity. “In seeking to pacify supernatural forces, religion recognizes the conscious and personal character of the deities... So religion - insofar as it assumes that the world is governed by conscious agents who can be diverted from their intentions by persuasion - is fundamentally opposed to magic and science.” (clause 2, p. 55).
The fusion and combination of magic and religion in different eras is found in many nations. But there is reason to think that such a merger is not eternal and that there was a time when man relied exclusively on magic to satisfy desires that went beyond the limits of immediate animal aspirations.
For example, the aborigines of Australia, which are the most backward of all savage tribes known to us, everywhere resort to magic, while religion in the content of propitiation and pacification of higher powers is obviously almost unknown to them. In short, every Australian is a magician, and not one of them is a priest, everyone imagines that with the help of pretty magic he can influence his fellow tribesmen and the course of natural processes, but no one even imagined the appeasement of the deities through prayer and sacrifices.
On this basis, it can be assumed that in the evolution of the human race, magic arose earlier than religion; that “man sought to subjugate nature with his desire by the power of enchantments and incantations, just as he constantly tried to appease and soften the withdrawn, capricious and angry deity with gentle prayer and sacrifice” (paragraph 2, p. 59).
If we assume that the era of magic everywhere preceded the era of religion, then, naturally, the reasons that prompted humanity (or part of it) to abandon the theory and practice of magic and move on to religion are subject to investigation. One can make the following assumption: over time, the original people must have noticed that in reality magical rituals and spells do not bring the results for which they are designed. This discovery led to the fact that people for the first time recognized their inability to manipulate at their own discretion the forces of nature, which by that time were considered completely subordinate to their power. Natural phenomena that people tried to cause with the help of magic occurred, but this happened without human intervention: the rain still fell on the dry land, the sun still carried out its daytime and the month’s night cycle. On earth, as before, people were born for work and suffering, and, as before, after a short stay on earth they went to their forefathers forever. Thus people came to new system faith and action, which allayed their anxious doubts and gave a substitute (however fragile) for the sovereignty over nature which they were forced to renounce.
It can be assumed that this, or approximately this, is how the smartest of people made the great transition from magic to religion. But even in them such a change could not take place suddenly. It probably happened very gradually and required many years for its more or less complete completion.
More than once they tried to consider magic as a certain form of religion. Other scientists, on the contrary, tried to dissociate magic from religion. However, the concept of “magic,” like the concept of “animism,” is only a general, extremely abstract designation for very diverse rituals and ideas. And these rituals and performances differ not only in the degree of complexity, not only in meaning, but again also in origin: the rituals of healing magic (witchcraft) are undoubtedly associated with their roots in traditional medicine, rituals of industrial magic - with hunting and fishing techniques, rituals of military magic - with enemy relations between tribes, etc. On the other hand, magical rituals and beliefs, as well as animistic ones, are known at all levels social development both in backward and among the most developed nations.
So, the system of prohibitions called “taboo” covered all spheres of life and was a single form of regulation that replaced everything that was in modern society ensured by morality, religion, law.
The way of the donkey
—…Magic reveals hidden abilities in a person, brings him to a high spiritual level, makes him an antenna-catcher and transmitter of energies and thoughts.
All religions are fictitious, they oppress a person as an individual, turning him into a slave, they are based not on love for God - on fear: he must be feared and revered, with his eyes lowered to the floor...
Religions categorically prohibit magic, calling it the devil's craft, because by engaging in it, a person becomes independent of faith.
— I agree: religion is bondage for a person. He is surrounded by a wall of vows, limiting his freedom of choice. It is not without reason that when Christianity reigned in Rus', they immediately began to burn out paganism, which was based on faith in the power of nature and the magic of the Universe.
- No, you don’t need to fear God - just honor him. And magic and religion seem to intersect, there is something mystical in both...
- Both of them are just ways of realizing the Personality, revealing the soul.
— Any religion is based on the strict implementation of rites and rituals, which “guarantees” something after death. But no one has yet provided evidence. The magician gets everything here and now: he can heal, change people’s destinies. And humiliating yourself, limiting yourself, whining is the way of the donkey.
- Ha-ha, your vaunted magic makes a person the same “Chinese dummy” as the church. Both are just two sides of the same coin, fighting each other...
“They simply cannot exist separately.” In religion there is great amount magical rites... And tell me, what kind of magic is complete without prayers?
— Religion is necessary so that the mass of the people do not do stupid things. This is magic, and very powerful. Exorcism of demons - what do you think? Or the great saints with their unique abilities? Magic is one of the paths, but the path is dangerous, where it is easy to stumble.
- What are you talking about? Magic and religion are slavery of the worst kind, not of the body, but of the soul. How does asking God on your knees for help differ from asking God for help? magical powers? I don’t see anything proud in reading spells composed by someone unknown and how... A free person is one whose strength depends only on himself.
“It’s not religion—man oppresses himself, hiding behind religion!”
— As far as I understand, magic is the subconscious influence of one person on another. And to say that it helps religion is simply nonsense. Without faith there is no core, then magic leads fragile souls to unconscious actions,
“People don’t need to know that religion turns a person into a slave!” Otherwise how to graze them?
— Judaism, Christianity and Islam are ordinary authoritarian sects, a magical invention of priests. Ban on criticism, hatred of others, black and white thinking...
- God, the devil, angels, demons are just stronger and more trained magicians. It’s clear why Christianity prohibits magic - why create competitors?
- Why should a person fear his Heavenly Father, like children fear a formidable alcoholic father? Listening to God in yourself is listening to your inner self.
— Magic as a science and secret philosophy underlies all religions of the world; it is knowledge of the laws of nature and the ability to partially control them. And religion is a lever through which forces initiated into magic control the crowd. They complement each other.
- I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all? Take a treatise on magic and the Bible and you will immediately see general parallels.
— If we discard the husks about God, then magic and religion are equivalent in principles of application. Jesus was clearly not only a good preacher, but an excellent magician and psychologist.
- And chants in religion have magical properties!
- Religions are pockets where the blind and lazy fall. No religion expresses the truth. In the temple there are all the same ceremonies, rituals, sacraments - isn’t this magic?
- Did the Heavenly Father really want to see his beloved children lying at his feet, licking his heels and forever screaming “Give me!”?
— The difference is that magic is based on the genius of the individual, on development, and experience. This is a piece of goods, while religion is consumer goods.
“Nowadays there is a flourishing of magic and, therefore, the decline of religion - clumsy and clumsy.
- But don’t forget about the prayerful nature of churches and symbols, which magic will never have...
— Of course, religion can be too totalitarian. But isn't there something like that in magic? Shouldn't an aspiring magician serve a mentor? He is just as much a slave, even more so.
— Magic is a part of a person, like skin color or hearing, and faith is a part of personality. Everything should serve the development of man, and not fanatical submission to some egregor.
- Do you really know at least one selfless religion?
Which would not collect donations, would not sell candles, icons, books, would not invite people?
- If you think about it, what is God? A force beyond the control of reason, the appearance of an explanation for the incomprehensible. Magic is a tool of Power. Those who were unable to use it came up with a religion: they identified an image (God), defined laws (can-do’s), based on their can-can’ts, and limited the range of questions that arise (fear of God). Well, they didn’t forget themselves - the opportunity to create in the name of God.
— Weddings, funerals, funerals, etc. are Kabbalistic rites. Only Kabbalists performed them for free...
— Is it necessary to extol the other by belittling one? Everything has the right to exist, and everyone chooses their Teacher.
— All religions use magic and magicians. Magic is a person’s high sensitivity, and religion is a certain type of meditation. The denial of magicians by religions is just a desire to conquer them. Religion is essentially a type of magic.
- Well, no, magic is in no way connected with religion - neither in confrontation, nor in joint goals, it is an art that obeys the few - and enslaves them!
— If for a person God is a punishing body, then there will be no development. Religion is the same magic, but dressed in a different shell.
— In the Bible you can find many elements of magic. It’s just that for the majority of both priests and magicians, their business is just business, hence the struggle with competitors.
— Magic is a talent, an opportunity, an ability! And religion is a way of life and thinking.
— The Church is a mediator between God and man, and a magician does not need intermediaries.
- Birds of a feather! What is frantic prayer? Just a request to the Lord to consider your life situation without waiting in line. What is a conspiracy? The same thing... 99% of the saints in Orthodoxy had supernatural abilities, were sorcerers and healers...
“As soon as a person with the gift of persuasion begins to gather people around him and instill in them his understanding, a person’s faith turns into a religion. And magic under someone’s influence can turn into religion, so you need to be able to be a free man!
- Not everyone has good, bright thoughts to selflessly help others. Imagine that all people suddenly began to wield magic! They insulted you, and in retaliation you cast a powerful curse or something else. We will kill each other so quickly... Not everyone needs to be trained! Religion curbs our passions, it uses magic itself, but does not allow others to do so, because “the less you know, the better you sleep!” You know what will happen if you steal it. And after death? We don’t know, and that’s why we’re scared. But it's good! People are afraid to do bad things!
— I have the right to choose the path to God. Is there a right to move away from it?
- Magic is the same kind of fooling the population as religion, in order to force them to pay money!
- In any religion there is a caste of priests-priests who have knowledge, rituals, spells that are inaccessible to the majority. All rituals are the same ceremonial magic. But we should be grateful to religions - they do the work of a guard, keeping out the uninitiated. I knew people who, being unprepared, ended up in a mental hospital or straight to the cemetery. There are always few people with unique abilities, and charlatans are a dime a dozen these days!
“I think that religion is perverted magic, far-fetched, emasculated, cut off from the root of truth.
- But is a conspiracy any different from sincere prayer?
- Not everything is as simple as the churches are trying to explain to us. Moreover, each in different ways, considering itself the only correct one. All this made me esoteric. For me there is a Higher Power, one. But I respect all religions, trying to understand a person and his actions.
— Magic is self-improvement, the development of certain abilities, but not the soul. There are too many religions... To believe or not is up to the individual to decide.
— Magic has nothing to do with faith, it is a tool for achieving what you want. In whose hands it is, such is the result of the work.
- I am for the occult, which “God’s” people are afraid of! It embraces all forms of manifestation of humanity. And religion is a poor attempt to curb it!
— I am a Buddhist myself, which does not at all limit me in spiritual development. Quite the contrary.
— Magic makes you believe in yourself and rely only on yourself, and religion makes you believe in God and count on his help. Millions pray from morning to night, banging their heads on the floor, but there is no help. And they begin to lament, saying that God punished them, thereby absolving themselves of responsibility for their actions. Magic is criticized only by those who do not have their own self in life.
— Magic is inseparable from our existence. Just like the desire for community, it’s easier and safer, at least psychologically. Most people are united in groups according to the types and comparability of the biofield, and the result is an amazing effect. And everyone should believe, first of all, in themselves.
- Real sorcerers are almost always loners. Have you ever seen a bunch of village witches?
— I remembered the film “Aibolit-66”. There Barmaley says: “I will make everyone happy! And whoever is not happy, I will bend him into a ram’s horn and grind him into powder!” This is roughly how we are asked to love God.
“And you also force magic on us!”
— Not all religions prohibit magic. Let's take paganism - there were sorcerers and shamans. Voodoo magic originated from Buddhism...
- God, in my opinion, is a figurative name for universal energy, and religion is just a suit. Who is at war with clothes?
— Magic is the ability to create miracles. And it’s a pity that we care more about how to break the human will, to bewitch or bewitch, to cause damage. We have such power in our hands - why not use it for good? For example, for healing. Now people don’t have money for treatment... In magic you need faith in a Higher Power. But you can’t get hung up on faith—it leads to worship. And worship turns a magician into a sectarian!
— Religion is a fairy tale invented by primitive people. Nowadays all natural phenomena are explained by fundamental sciences. And if they cannot, it means that scientists have not yet understood the essence of the phenomenon. Magic is also a science. Magicians can control energy flows, and man is an energy being. So, I believe that religious fairy tales are incompatible with magic!
— Magic is self-knowledge, accumulation of energy, search for hidden possibilities and secret knowledge.
— Prayer, in my opinion, is a combination of electromagnetic vibrations. No wonder in the ancient church books vowels were highlighted and they were read for healing. The result was an unclear muttering, but it had an unprecedented power of influence on the diseased organ!
- For me, religion is better than magic, where the mind is completely paralyzed...
- Both I and the other are another reason to subjugate people. This is power, and what it will be called does not matter.
- Magic is quackery! In schools of magic they teach how to fall into a hypnotic state of the 1st stage, and only the best learn magic itself, i.e. a way to put others into a hypnotic state.
- And what is it?
- During a hypnotic state, the “I” is weakened, and the person begins to use children’s stereotypical brain algorithms that have not been used for a long time... This is what my science says - algorithmic psychology.
— What about the treatment of such a disease as erysipelas? The doctors refuse and themselves give the addresses of the whispering grandmothers. And it really does!
— The so-called whispering is not mysticism. The Moscow Research Institute of Energy Information Technologies found that by influencing the crystalline structure of water, it changes its properties. What does 70% of a person consist of?
— Religion is needed only by those who cannot directly comprehend the truth. The church has long outlived its usefulness and has turned into a commercial organization.
— It is reckless to trust the Bible, which has been rewritten a hundred times. Christ certainly was, but clearly not who he is given to us as.
- There are many truths, but there is only one truth.
- Not much truth. The word “truth” comes from the ancient Slavic “rule” (peace of the gods and harmony). And he is one and indivisible.
— What everyone is accustomed to consider Christianity is a legend for the crowd, and what is for the elite differs little from magic. And should every child be given freedom along with a machine gun? And is imposed freedom good?
“That’s the right idea, not everyone deserves freedom and knowledge, and not everyone needs them - you sleep better this way.” If you don’t know, there are no worries. It’s easier for some to believe in God, that they will be rewarded, and they live in peace. Magic is needed by those who are attracted by the secrets of the Universe...
- Or money...
— You can’t refuse help, but you can’t impose it either. Anyone who wants to remain blissfully ignorant is also right—it’s his choice.
— Orthodox cross- a symbol of a murdered person! And the gesture of prayer puts a person in the position of a weakling! Prayer is a sign of weakness and cowardice!
- One interesting person said: people are divided into sheep, shepherds who herd and shear them, dogs who keep the sheep in the “stable”, and wolves...
— In Rus', Christianity is somehow pagan. I can go into a church, jump over a fire, cast a spell with the stars at night, listen to the wind in a field. I transform the energy of the elements into my own, magical...
- What does it mean to “spell with the stars”?
“I look at the stars, say the right words and wait for what will happen. And I draw conclusions.
— Prayer passes through me, the words are saturated with my energy. I noticed that many grandmothers christian prayers“they work”, they help, but the priests don’t.
- Nothing surprising. It's not about the words, but what you put into them.
“When magic reveals all its possibilities, there is no place for religion!” Women and men with broken hearts go to witches, oligarchs look for amulets on financial luck and do not sign a single contract without the advice of their guru. If it's about life and death, where will you go? That's right, to experts in occult sciences.
- God must be inside you, and his name is you!
These are the miracles...
- Now please tell us one or more cases that happened to you that are inexplicable from the point of view of the usual everyday logic.
“There have been a lot of mysterious things in every person’s life. At the age of 5, I saw in a dream that a neighbor’s girl would die, and in the morning I told my parents. They scolded me and forbade me to talk about it to anyone else. But soon we heard a loud cry from a mother who had just learned of her daughter’s death in the hospital.
At the age of 12, I was hunting with my father and his friends. One of them, looking at the retreating flock of birds, mechanically pulled the cocked trigger of his gun. A shot rang out. The pellet charge hit me right at my feet. At the same time, time seemed to stop. As if in a slow motion film, I saw how the ground next to me began to rise, then rose stronger, the crater from the shot grew larger... And only then I heard the loud sound of a shot. Although the hunter stood only three meters from me.
In September 1996, a stranger invited me to see how she put bones back together after a fracture. I was surprised by the strange offer and refused to go with her. A few days later I was hit by a car, and I ended up in intensive care with severe injuries. Having come to his senses, he remembered the strange visitor and asked to find her. For about seven months, Natalya Georgievna Kondrashova, in those years a lawyer at Smolny in the administration of the mayor of St. Petersburg, used manual massage to help me heal my bones and recover. In January 1997, she predicted that I would be involved in the unification of ancient spiritual knowledge. I was also skeptical about these words of hers. But in October 2003, when I was reading Count Saint-Germain’s book “Holy Trinosophia,” a colorful vision of the throne of Heavenly Light appeared to me, after which the symbolic meaning of spiritual knowledge began to reveal itself...
“One night I woke up from an unusually white light that illuminated the whole room. She started to wake up her sister: look, why is it shining so brightly? She mumbled something about a street lamp in a sleepy voice and immediately passed out again. And I sat on the bed, trying to understand what it was, since there was no lantern nearby. Suddenly I realized that I was seeing myself from the outside. For some reason, she stretched her arms forward and walked towards that light... through the window. I’m still trying to understand where I was and where I went. This morning I woke up realizing something new and strange. In the morning, my sister and I went outside to see if the lantern in the yard could shine like that. Of course not! This may seem crazy to you, but it happened, believe me. Such light did not recur, but from then on I began to dream about planets, worlds, unknown “plates” invited me somewhere, and I flew away with them...
— Once, being late for the train, I was running along the passage. There was a bee circling before my eyes, which I couldn’t brush aside. The doors of the train slammed in front of me, I was late for it. But a minute later I heard that the electric train in the direction I needed was on a different track, leaving in 10 minutes. It was not my train.
And further. I dreamed that I was kneading brown dough in my mother’s large saucepan. Everyone laughed - what a dream! A month later, a friend invites her over and asks her to bake two of her favorite Negro cakes - there will be a lot of guests. I ask my mother for her large saucepan. There is a lot of cocoa in the recipe, and the dough turns out brown... Such prophetic dreams There were about a dozen more - until my mother took me to some grandmother. She whispered, twirled the knives over her head - and they stopped.
I feel the pain of others, I tried to heal. They said it helped. Unfortunately, in my circle they don’t like these topics and look at them askance. I don't want to be a black sheep. I shared it only with you, please don’t judge strictly...
Leonid Terentyev
Evpatoria
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.proza.ru/avtor/terentiev45
Religions of the world: experience of the beyond Torchinov Evgeniy Alekseevich
Religion and magic
Religion and magic
The question of the relationship between religion and magic seems artificially complicated. Usually these two phenomena are rightly contrasted, but on false grounds. Firstly, they say that religion is based on reverence for higher powers and voluntary submission to them, while magic involves the submission of higher powers to the will of the magician. But this point of view is absolutely incorrect, since a number of highly developed religions (Buddhism, Jainism, some areas of Brahmanism, Taoism, etc.) are not only not based on reverent submission to higher powers, but also fundamentally deny it on various grounds. On the other hand, there were religions (the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans), the purpose of sacrifices and rituals of which was not to propitiate the gods, but to subordinate them to the will of the person on whose behalf the ritual was performed. Consequently, in this argument the word “magic” is simply used incorrectly, because by magic it is understood magic in the medieval sense, which presupposed the presence of means for subordinating the will of the magician to the light, angelic ( white magic) or demonic, dark (black magic) forces. This, in essence, is no longer magic, but a rather primitive form of utilitarian religiosity. However, in the Middle Ages there was also so-called natural magic (magia naturalis), which aimed to influence some secret, hidden (occult) forces of nature. This natural magic, which was believed not only by the monk Roger Bacon, but also by his namesake and great empiricist Francis already at the dawn of the Modern Age, is actually magic in the strict scientific and terminological sense of the word.
Secondly, magic is viewed as superstition (“empty belief”), in contrast to religion as an ontologically based faith. But such an argument is purely theological, because it a priori presupposes the truth (ontological relevance) of one of the religions (in this ideological context - Christianity; here even the word “religion” itself should be taken with a definite article, if such existed in the Russian language: religion = Christianity) and therefore simply does not deserve serious scientific criticism.
Other religious scholars, on the contrary, tend to consider magic as an essential element of any religion, finding its presence in the rites, rituals and sacraments of various religions. Moreover, they consider magic in its pure form to be one of the earliest forms of religion.
This point of view, especially the last statement (magic is one of the early forms of religion), must be considered as a sad fallacy, based on the premise that religion is equal to belief in the supernatural, and on the identification of the supernatural with the fantastic, or more precisely, with fantastic (false) ideas about the nature of physical reality. Actually, the basis of the idea of magic as a form of religion can be expressed through the following conclusion: “Religion is belief in the supernatural. There is nothing supernatural. Therefore, religion is belief in something that does not exist. Magic is based on the belief in something that is not true, that is false. Consequently, religion and magic are identical in their main characteristics. Magic is a form of religion, which is what needed to be proven.” Alas, this proof more geometrica actually does not prove anything, because, firstly, not every religion is a belief in the supernatural, and secondly, the concepts of the supernatural and the fantastic do not coincide even with the most atheistic interpretation of the first (the idea of people living on the Moon quite fantastic and false, but what does the supernatural have to do with it?) and, thirdly, magic does not imply any belief in either the supernatural or even the miraculous (in any case, the primitive magician sees in the principle of magic no more miraculous or supernatural than the physicist XIX century - in ether and phlogiston).
Strictly speaking, religion and magic have fundamentally different spheres of activity, and the relationship between religion and magic can be compared with some stretch (however, insignificant) with the relationship between religion and science. There have been many false sciences in the history of science (for example, phrenology; the examples of astrology and alchemy are not valid, since the latter were not in their principles sciences in the strict sense and did not pretend to be), but the fact that they were false does not mean at all that they based on belief in the supernatural or miraculous. Phrenologists attributed a special biological meaning to the protuberances of the skull, which these protuberances lacked, but where is the supernatural here? Essentially, we are dealing here with a misinterpretation of empirical data or connections between events, and not at all with superstition or religion.
Let us now consider the magical procedure as such. Suppose a hunter of a primitive tribe is going to hunt a bison.
Before the hunt, he makes an image of a buffalo and shoots it, being sure that there is some connection between the image and its prototype and that hitting the image guarantees success in the hunt. We see the same thing in the case of harmful magic, when an image of an enemy is made, which is then damaged (for example, it is pierced with a needle). There is also a belief in the connection between the image and the original. The same principle is present in partial magic, when the function of an image is performed by some part of the original (for example, the skull of an animal or a strand of human hair). Magic of this kind (and this is genuine magic) is also called sympathetic, since it presupposes the presence of some attraction, attraction, sympathy between similarities. The principle of sympathy is by no means the property of only primitive beliefs. Extended to a cosmological law, for example, it played an important role in Stoic philosophy. In medieval forms of science, it often acted as a leading methodological principle, and in the formulation “like cures like,” the principle of sympathy formed the basis of Paracelsus’ medical theory. Moreover, this principle, being quite universal, as magic was universal, is by no means limited in its use to European or, more precisely, Mediterranean cultures. In the form of a theory of species affinity (tong lei), he compiled important element in the methodology of traditional Chinese science and philosophy.
Modern science denies the existence of a connection between phenomena based on the principle of similarity, replacing it with causal interpretations and the principle of determinism. From the point of view of modern science, this principle does not reflect really existing connections and relationships; it is ontologically irrelevant, in other words, untrue. But what do religion and the supernatural have to do with it? With sound and unbiased reflection, it becomes quite obvious that magic is not based on belief in the supernatural or miraculous; moreover, any kind of religious intentionality is generally alien to it. Magic is based on a very definite and rational methodological principle, which, however, was not empirically confirmed during the development of science and therefore was rejected by it. That is why magic is related more to the history of science than to the history of religion, which was perfectly expressed in the title of his fundamental work by the American scientist Lynn Thorndike, who entitled it as follows: “The History of Magic and Experimental Sciences” (we are talking about medieval and Renaissance Europe) .
The situation becomes somewhat more complicated when magic turns out to be associated with ritual. Let’s imagine that before the start of a hunt, hunters of a certain tribe stage a ritual dance that imitates (simulates) a hunt (such rituals are widespread), and the tribe’s sorcerer, in a costume made from the skin of one or another animal and in a corresponding mask, depicts this animal, symbolically struck by the hunters. The purpose of the ritual is magical, the principle underlying it is the same as that described above. However, theoretically it can be assumed that it is also associated with certain transpersonal experiences. Cases have been repeatedly described when, under the influence of psychedelics or non-drug psychotherapeutic techniques, the patient identifies himself with animals (for example, in the context of phylogenetic experiences), and it can be assumed that for greater effectiveness of the ritual, the sorcerer enters a certain mental state in which he identifies himself with one or another animals, which is all the more likely since the ritual often has as its goal either the reproduction of a certain deep experience or, at least, its imitation. By the way, the belief in werewolf is largely based on this phenomenon - cases where people consciously achieve states of consciousness in which they self-identify with animals (usually predators) are well known; An example is the famous members of the secret alliance of leopard people, who terrify the population of Equatorial Africa.
But even the presence of a transpersonal experience in a magical ritual does not change its nature at all, since this experience here is not the source, essence or purpose of the ritual, but only an additional means of increasing its effectiveness. Hence, magic ritual is fundamentally different from the religious, which once again emphasizes both the heterogeneity and heterological nature of religion and magic.
However, certain elements of magic in different religions(especially in the sphere of ritual) are really present. For archaic beliefs, this is explained by the syncretic nature of the worldview of primitive man, who is by no means inclined to draw clear (or rather, no) lines between what would later become religion, art, science, philosophy, etc. Therefore, in later forms of religion the magical element is also often passed on, so to speak, by inheritance, due to historical continuity and continuity of tradition. But there are other reasons, which will be discussed below in connection with the problem of the place of proto-scientific (especially cosmological) ideas in various religions.
What we have said regarding the untruth or irrelevance of the theory of magic does not mean that we dogmatically a priori reject the possibility of the existence of special phenomena demonstrating the effectiveness of certain magical operations, as ethnologists quite often report (for example, the significant effectiveness of the practice of African rainmakers). However, we are deeply convinced that the cause of these effects lies in a completely different sphere than that which the sorcerers themselves and the whole sympathetic theory of magic speak about. We will no longer touch upon this topic as going far beyond the scope of our study, and we recommend that the interested reader become acquainted with the very interesting considerations expressed on this subject by A. Schopenhauer in the section on the magic of his work “On the Will in Nature.”
From the book History of Faith and religious ideas. Volume 3. From Mohammed to the Reformation by Eliade MirceaChapter XXXVIII RELIGION, MAGIC AND HERMETIC TRADITION BEFORE AND AFTER THE REFORMATION § 304. Remnants of pre-Christian religious traditions We have already repeatedly stipulated that the Christianization of European peoples was powerless to abolish local beliefs. Acceptance by Europe
From the book Cults and World Religions author Porublev NikolayChapter 9 SIKHISM: A RELIGION OF VOLUNTARY COMPROMISE Syncretic religion Sikhism, or the religion of the Sikhs, is a typical example of syncretism, that is, the emergence of a new religion based on the combination of two or more ideas of various religious systems. And although Sikhism
From the book Classical Demonology author Amphiteatrov Alexander Valentinovich From the book Aztecs [Life, religion, culture] by Bray Warwick From the book Primary Sources on the History of Early Christianity. Ancient critics of Christianity author Ranovich Abram Borisovich From the book Biblical Archeology author Wright George Ernest1. The Religion of Israel and the Religion of Canaan In this chapter we will compare the faith of Israel with the religious views of her neighbors. The success of archaeological research recent years allows us to speak with sufficient confidence about the theology of ancient polytheistic teachings that had
From the book The Golden Bough author Fraser James GeorgeCHAPTER IV MAGIC AND RELIGION The examples given in the previous chapter are sufficient to illustrate the general principles of the work of the two branches of sympathetic magic: homeopathic magic and contagious magic. In some of the examples given, as we have seen,
From the book History of Magic and the Occult by Seligmann Kurt From the book The Golden Bough author Fraser James George3. The magic of letters “Words do not fall into emptiness” Zohar If some researchers rushed after Jewish scientists into the sublime realms of metaphysical speculation, others were more attracted by the practical application of Kabbalah. And even in an era when the Christian West is already
From the book History of Religions. Volume 2 author Kryvelev Joseph Aronovich From the book Islamic Intellectual Initiative in the 20th Century by Cemal OrhanRELIGION OR ETHICAL SYSTEM? MAYBE AN ATHEISTIC RELIGION? If we rely on the famous Benares sermon of Buddha in its canonical presentation, which is considered the most fundamental religious document of Buddhism, then at first glance we have
From the book The National Idea of Rus' - Living Well. Civilization of the Slavs in actual history author Ershov Vladimir V.Ali Shariati: Red Shiism: a religion of martyrdom. Black Shiism: religion
Both magic and religion arise in situations of emotional stress: a crisis in life, the collapse of important plans, death and initiation into the mysteries of one’s tribe, unhappy love or unsatisfied hatred. Both magic and religion indicate ways out of such situations and dead ends in life, when reality does not allow a person to find any other path other than turning to faith, ritual, and the realm of the supernatural. In religion, this sphere is filled with spirits and souls, providence, supernatural patrons of the family and heralds of its secrets; in magic the primitive belief in the power of magic magic spell. Both magic and religion are directly based on the mythological tradition, on the atmosphere of miraculous anticipation of the revelation of their miraculous power. Both magic and religion are surrounded by a system of rituals and taboos that distinguishes their actions from how the uninitiated behave. But what is the difference between magic and religion?
Magic is the science of practical creation. Magic is based on knowledge, but spiritual knowledge, knowledge of the supersensible. Magical experiments aimed at studying the supernatural are themselves scientific character, therefore their presentation belongs to the genre scientific literature. Let's look at the differences and similarities between magic and religion and science.
Difference between magic and religion
Let's start with the most specific and striking difference: in the sacred sphere, magic acts as a kind of practical art that serves to perform actions, each of which is a means to achieve a specific goal; religion - as a system of such actions, the implementation of which in itself is a certain goal. Let's try to trace this difference at deeper levels. The practical art of magic has a specific technique of execution, applied within strict limits: witchcraft spells, ritual and the personal abilities of the performer form a constant trinity. Religion, in all its diversity of aspects and purposes, has no such simple technique; its unity is not reducible either to a system of formal actions, or even to the universality of its ideological content; rather, it lies in the function performed and in the value significance of faith and ritual. The beliefs inherent in magic, in accordance with its practical orientation, are extremely simple. It is always a belief in the power of a person to achieve a desired goal through witchcraft and ritual. At the same time, in religion we observe significant complexity and diversity of the supernatural world as an object: a pantheon of spirits and demons, the beneficial powers of a totem, spirits - guardians of the clan and tribe, the souls of forefathers, pictures of the future afterlife- all this and much more creates a second, supernatural reality for primitive man. Religious mythology is also more complex and varied, and more imbued with creativity. Typically, religious myths are centered around various dogmas and develop their content in cosmogonic and heroic narratives, in descriptions of the deeds of gods and demigods. Magical mythology, as a rule, appears in the form of endlessly repeating stories about the super-ordinary achievements of primitive people. B. Malinovsky “Magic, Science and Religion” - [Electronic resource |
Magic, as a special art of achieving specific goals, in one of its forms once enters the cultural arsenal of a person and is then directly transmitted from generation to generation. From the very beginning it is an art that few specialists master, and the first profession in the history of mankind is that of the sorcerer and sorcerer. Religion, in its most primitive forms, appears as the universal cause of primitive people, each of whom takes an active and equal part in it. Each member of the tribe goes through a rite of passage (initiation) and subsequently initiates others. Each member of the tribe mourns and weeps when his relative dies, participates in the burial and honors the memory of the deceased, and when his time comes, he will be mourned and remembered in the same way. Every person has his own spirit, and after death everyone himself becomes a spirit. The only specialization existing within the framework of religion - the so-called primitive spiritualistic mediumship - is not a profession, but an expression of personal talent. Another difference between magic and religion is the play of black and white in sorcery, while religion in its primitive stages is not very interested in the opposition between good and evil, beneficent and malefic forces. Here again the practical nature of magic is important, aimed at immediate and measurable results, whereas primitive religion addressed to fatal, inevitable events and supernatural forces and beings (albeit mainly in a moral aspect), and therefore does not deal with problems associated with human impact on the world around us.
Religious faith gives stability, formalizes and strengthens all value-significant mental attitudes, such as respect for tradition, a harmonious worldview, personal valor and confidence in the fight against everyday adversity, courage in the face of death, etc. This faith, supported and formalized in cult and ceremonies, has enormous vital significance and reveals to primitive man truth in the broadest, practically important sense of the word. What is the cultural function of magic? As we have already said, all the instinctive and emotional abilities of a person, all his practical actions can lead to such dead-end situations when all his knowledge misfires, they reveal their limited power of reason, and cunning and observation do not help. The forces that a person relies on Everyday life, leaving him at a critical moment. Human nature responds with a spontaneous explosion, releasing rudimentary forms of behavior and a dormant belief in their effectiveness. Magic is based on this belief, transforming it into a standardized ritual that takes on a continuous traditional form. Thus, magic gives a person a series of ready-made ritual acts and standard beliefs, formalized by a certain practical and mental technique. Thus, as it were, a bridge is erected across the chasms that arise before a person on the path to his most important goals, a dangerous crisis is overcome. This allows a person not to lose his presence of mind when solving the most difficult problems in life; maintain self-control and integrity of personality when an attack of anger, a paroxysm of hatred, the hopelessness of despair and fear sets in. The function of magic is to ritualize human optimism, to maintain faith in the victory of hope over despair. In magic, a person finds confirmation that self-confidence, perseverance in trials, and optimism prevail over hesitation, doubt and pessimism. Ibid.
According to J. Fraser, the radical opposition between magic and religion explains the inexorable hostility with which clergy throughout history have treated sorcerers. The priest could not help but be outraged by the arrogant arrogance of the sorcerer, his arrogance in relation to higher powers, his shameless claim to have equal power with them. To the priest of any god, with his reverent sense of divine majesty and humble adoration before him, such claims must have seemed an impious, blasphemous usurpation of the prerogatives belonging to one god. Sometimes baser motives contributed to the aggravation of this hostility. The priest proclaimed himself the only true intercessor and true mediator between God and man, and his interests, as well as feelings, often ran counter to the interests of his rival, who preached a surer and smoother path to happiness than the thorny and slippery path of gaining divine mercy.
But this antagonism, however familiar it may seem to us, seems to appear at a comparatively late stage of religion. In earlier stages the functions of the sorcerer and the priest were often combined, or rather not separated. Man sought the favor of gods and spirits through prayers and sacrifices, and at the same time resorted to charms and spells that could have the desired effect on their own, without the help of God or the devil. In short, a person performed religious and magical rituals, uttered prayers and spells in one breath, while he did not pay attention to the theoretical inconsistency of his behavior if, by hook or by crook, he managed to achieve what he wanted. J. Fraser "The Golden Bough"
As we can see, there are differences between magic and religion. Religion is focused on meeting the relevant needs of the people and on mass worship. Magic, by its nature, cannot be an assembly line production. IN magical training Constant personal guidance of a person from the Higher Powers is mandatory. There is a direct parallel here with experimental research in science.
No one will allow stranger to a closed laboratory where experiments are carried out, for example, with high energies, with low temperatures, and nuclear research. These experiments are carried out only by experienced scientists after preliminary mathematical and physical modeling in full compliance with safety precautions and the guaranteed absence of unauthorized persons in the laboratory.
magic religion rite ritual
Nature
