Ghanima Atreides (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atreideslioness) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2009-10-05 08:28 am
atreideslioness) wrote in fandomhigh2009-10-05 08:28 am
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Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]
"Good morning," Ghanima said cheerfully as the students trickled into class today. "I see most of you managed to survive your families! Thank whatever god you believe in and grab some coffee, because we have a lot to cover today."
"Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, called gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals. Many religions, both historical and contemporary, have a belief in polytheism, such as Hinduism, Shinto, Ancient Greek Polytheism, Roman Polytheism, Germanic Polytheism, Slavic polytheism, Chinese folk religion, Neopagan faiths and Anglo-Saxon paganism."
"Now, Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally, but can be monolatrists, specialising in the worship of one particular deity. Other polytheists can be kathenotheists, worshiping different deities at different times," she said.
"The deities of polytheistic religions are agents in mythology, where they are portrayed as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires and histories. These gods are often seen as similar to humans in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or perceptions."
"Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions. The gods of polytheism are in many cases the highest order of a continuum of supernatural beings or spirits, which may include ancestors, demons, wights and others. In some cases these spirits are divided into celestial or chthonic classes, and belief in the existence of all these beings does not imply that all are worshipped."
"Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical attested pantheon which includes the Ancient Greek religion, and Roman Religion. Post classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others. Today, most historical polytheistic religions are pejoratively referred to as "mythology", though the stories cultures tell about their gods should be distinguished from their worship or religious practice. For instance deities portrayed in conflict in mythology would still be worshipped sometimes in the same temple side by side, illustrating the distinction in the devotees mind between the myth and the reality," Ghanima continued crisply. "Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion. Religion is the broader term: besides mythological aspects, it includes aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical experience. A given mythology is almost always associated with a certain religion, such as Greek mythology with Ancient Greek religion. Disconnected from its religious system, a myth may lose its immediate relevance to the community and evolve—away from sacred importance—into a legend or folktale."
"Today's religion will be tomorrow's mythology, simply because that is how humanity operates. Things become lost to the corridors of time and changing belief, until no one remembers the source anymore."
"For your assignment today, I have handouts regarding various early polytheistic religions. Please pick a religion and a deity from that pantheon, and discuss with a friend or two why you think people during that era might have worshiped such a god."
[OCD up!]
"Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, called gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals. Many religions, both historical and contemporary, have a belief in polytheism, such as Hinduism, Shinto, Ancient Greek Polytheism, Roman Polytheism, Germanic Polytheism, Slavic polytheism, Chinese folk religion, Neopagan faiths and Anglo-Saxon paganism."
"Now, Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally, but can be monolatrists, specialising in the worship of one particular deity. Other polytheists can be kathenotheists, worshiping different deities at different times," she said.
"The deities of polytheistic religions are agents in mythology, where they are portrayed as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires and histories. These gods are often seen as similar to humans in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or perceptions."
"Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions. The gods of polytheism are in many cases the highest order of a continuum of supernatural beings or spirits, which may include ancestors, demons, wights and others. In some cases these spirits are divided into celestial or chthonic classes, and belief in the existence of all these beings does not imply that all are worshipped."
"Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical attested pantheon which includes the Ancient Greek religion, and Roman Religion. Post classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others. Today, most historical polytheistic religions are pejoratively referred to as "mythology", though the stories cultures tell about their gods should be distinguished from their worship or religious practice. For instance deities portrayed in conflict in mythology would still be worshipped sometimes in the same temple side by side, illustrating the distinction in the devotees mind between the myth and the reality," Ghanima continued crisply. "Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion. Religion is the broader term: besides mythological aspects, it includes aspects of ritual, morality, theology, and mystical experience. A given mythology is almost always associated with a certain religion, such as Greek mythology with Ancient Greek religion. Disconnected from its religious system, a myth may lose its immediate relevance to the community and evolve—away from sacred importance—into a legend or folktale."
"Today's religion will be tomorrow's mythology, simply because that is how humanity operates. Things become lost to the corridors of time and changing belief, until no one remembers the source anymore."
"For your assignment today, I have handouts regarding various early polytheistic religions. Please pick a religion and a deity from that pantheon, and discuss with a friend or two why you think people during that era might have worshiped such a god."
[OCD up!]
Re: Class Discussion!
//Member of th'team I was on before ending up here showed up,// he replied. //It was... Expensive, mate. I don't think it's anything any of these blokes would care t'help me out with. Yours?//
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Because if you were good enough at doing wildly stupid, somewhat heroic things, people might even immortalize you in plastic someday!
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//It's a sad truth that most action figures look nothing like the blokes wot they're supposed to resemble,// Jono noted. //If I ever find one of myself- and that's highly bloody unlikely, mate- the first thing I'll have to do with it is burn it.//
And then it would be accurate! Until it melted.
//Something tells me that Thor here didn't get the option.//
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Um, Ben, this is a discussion about religion?
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//That'd explain th'hammer, mate. He'd need that and a chisel to get them off again.// A pause for consideration. //And yer know, I think he wears metal trousers. They very well could be.//
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Which explained why he had spent entirely too much money on the Fender guitar when he could have gotten something just as functional for a sixth of the price, yes. He wasn't pointing fingers, truly.
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He'd be laughing now, if he could. //It'd have to be, for people t'still look up to him in spite of the ridiculous wings he wears on his helmet. I suppose th'hammer has something to do with that, as well.//
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A pause, and he found himself glancing around the room. //But only fairly certain. Never know who might turn out to be a god at the end of th'day, around here.//
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As a matter of fact, he was descended from an individual who had done just that.
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//I suppose there are right and wrong reasons to do something like that, as well,// he ventured. //World conquest is a far cry from, perhaps, 'if they think I'm a god, it will be easier for me to make peace among them.' Or... something of the sort.//
Not everyone was Apocalypse. Right? Right. Probably?
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//That's a bit of an... unorthodox approach to it, mate.//
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Like Thor!
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