Elements of primitive religions are constantly present in our modern society. They arise, develop, "die" and reappear in a new form. They are so naturally "intertwined" in our daily life that we use fetishes and totems and animism (only in their modern form), without even noticing it. And, if we do not hang the label “mythological” on the thinking of our ancestors, if we remove all the “tinsel” in the form of differences in lifestyle, mentality and habits, then a strong similarity with our modern thinking is evident. And they and we "by themselves" appear pagan beliefs, which can be present in their original form for as long as you like, almost without changing.
What they write in textbooks
Modern scientific ideas about the origin and development of the religious worldview of ancient people are based on a number of unspoken postulates, conclusions and statements. They are made on the basis of the study of the material cultures of the past, as well as by analogy with the data on modern tribes that were not touched by the wave of civilization. The whole problem is that collecting factual material and drawing correct conclusions from it is not at all the same thing. The "one-sided" study of events also gives a "one-sided" result.
Promotional video:
The most persistent postulate, which historians and psychologists adhere to "by default", can be formulated something like this. Whatever the manifestations of religiosity among certain peoples in different periods of time, they are logical and natural processes. Religion develops and becomes more complex exclusively in an evolutionary way, reflecting changes in the social life of people. Historians and psychologists are not at all surprised that in one people spirits coexist with anthropomorphic gods, and paganism suddenly turns into monotheism. They are not surprised that several centuries after the adoption of monotheism, the population is still living in parallel, "quietly", living for themselves pagan rituals in their original form, as they were before. They are not surprised by the abundance of pagan superstitions and "consumerist" attitude to the official religion and the illiteracy of the population in matters of official dogmas (which boil down to a simplified, often semi-pagan interpretation). Here are some examples of the “selective”, “convenient”, “consumer” use of religions: The church considers Easter to be a joyful holiday and does not recommend visiting cemeteries on this day. What do we see in reality? The people "burst" at the cemetery in a crowd, because "it just so happened." The proverb “Until the thunder breaks out, the man will not cross himself” about the same - until “pressed”, we will not remember about God. But then, as it "squeezes", we promise a lot in our prayers! Of course, not everyone is in a hurry to fulfill the promise. Islam forbids alcohol. What do drinkers do? They drink under the roof so that "Allah does not see."
However, if the emergence of monotheism occurs in the course of the natural course of events, then why are there so few original monotheistic religions? They are immeasurably few compared to the number of polytheistic beliefs. Is it because monotheism was simply adopted from each other as a convenient tool for maintaining power? Like some kind of technology. And a very expensive technology! The adoption of monotheism, of course, adds potential allies in the future, but it really limits the country's sovereignty immediately and for a long time. And they buy technology only when they are absolutely sure that it will not be possible to invent it in their homeland …
The second postulate is the so-called "mythological" or "mystical" consciousness of our ancestors. A rather strange theory, full of contradictions and exaggerations. Due to its “blurring” it is able to give an explanation to anything, according to the principle: “Well, this is their thinking, we cannot understand it, we think differently”.
I am tormented by vague doubts that not everything is smooth here with the interpretation of the facts on the basis of which conclusions were drawn.
In L. Levy-Bruhl's article "Primitive Thinking," I did not find the categorical conclusions he draws from the examples he took out of context, not convincing. He focused his attention on the difference in the thinking of "savages" and modern man.
But what if it's not about thinking, but about mutual understanding? Modern differences in the mentality of different peoples are known to everyone. First of all, problems of mutual understanding are connected with this. And if you do not understand someone, then you should not draw conclusions about the “mythological nature” of the interlocutor's consciousness.
“Different thinking” is an illusion that arises from differences in upbringing and the cultural environment of representatives of different cultures. If we develop this idea and look for analogies in the motives and behavior of primitive people and our contemporaries, then we can understand the reasons for the emergence of "natural" religious beliefs and their types. By "naturalness" I mean precisely the evolutionary course of events. A religion with a complex structure, supported by a king or priesthood, will not interest me, since it is an artificial instrument for maintaining power. Imitation of faith for the sake of fashion, "for the company", to maintain the image (status), under pressure from the environment, etc. will not be of the same interest.
As a rule, "natural" forms of religions differ little from superstitions, except that over time their structure becomes more complex.
All men are brothers (man to man is a wolf)
One can endlessly compare and analyze the psyche of people of past eras with the psyche of a modern person. You can try to understand how their thinking is arranged, what motivates their actions, what are the moral principles and mores, how they differ from the modern person and why.
However, these are all consequences. And the reason is that personality traits and psyche were shaped by the environment and environment in which they were from birth. Take a dozen "ordinary" babies from different historical eras, "mix" them, as in an old fairy tale, and wait about 10 years. And nothing special will happen. Each will be almost a typical representative of his era.
History knows many such examples, when a child fell into a completely different society and grew up in it, almost not standing out among his peers.
Almost - because we know little about genetic memory, about how, when and where it manifests itself. Therefore, some non-fundamental differences are possible.
I see no reason why one should doubt the opposite conclusion. If the features of the "ordinary" individual are formed by his environment, then the "preparation" itself is no different from all the others. Yes, there will be differences in behavior, habits, appearance, abilities, inclinations and other little things, but from any human baby you can grow a typical representative of any society. You just need to place it in the appropriate environment for education.
Except for the inevitable physical changes that have occurred over many millennia, our "core" is almost identical to that of our troglodyte ancestors. If their baby got to us, he would have grown up quite a typical person of our time. Do not agree? Well, let's say he doesn't become an academician. Let's say he will be a species, behavior, psyche and thinking exactly like P. P. Sharikov from MA Bulgakov's novel "Heart of a Dog". Isn't this a typical representative of our era? Are there few such personalities in our world ?! Quite a lot. And it doesn't matter why such people appear among us - the illness is to blame or the environment, the main thing is that they exist!
Is it rare in our society that uncontrolled, "wild" actions happen on the basis of jealousy or sexual aggression? Regularly.
And the cases of cannibalism during the famine? Alas, it is also not uncommon.
But these are our contemporaries! They did not plan ahead for what they did. Simply, at some point, some secret mechanisms were turned on, transmitted to us by thousands of generations of our ancestors. Mechanisms formed by wildlife over the years of evolution. Uncompromising, primitive and reliable, laid by nature at the foundation of all living things.
Based on basic instincts, modern people can find many similarities with our distant ancestors, including on issues of religious beliefs. And let it be considered that the spiritual world is a certain sign of "humanization", far from savagery. The primitive basis with a predominance of behavioral instincts has not disappeared anywhere and continues to invisibly influence everything we do.
For the emergence of religious ideas, you need to have something else. At least with minimal intelligence, reflection (self-awareness) and imagination. Religion is inaccessible to animals - they do not possess reflection, and their imagination is almost undeveloped.
Some scientists believe that animals have the rudiments of a predisposition to religiosity, while in humans it is already taking on distinct forms.
For example, the idea of a person's natural predisposition to superstition was expressed after a series of psychological experiments and by a professor at the University of Bristol, Bruce Hood:
Our ancestors were religious for the same reason that we are. Possessing reflection, intellect and fantasy, a person will necessarily create for himself some images endowed with supernatural abilities. This is manifested with might and main in modern society. The main reasons why modern man creates abstract supernatural images for himself, in my opinion, are as follows:
- Fear. Strong emotional experiences.
- Creation of certain rules and norms of "safety measures".
- An attempt to simplify the explanation of a certain phenomenon (pattern), generalizing the reasons that give rise to it.
- Awareness of their weakness and an attempt to find protection, patron or source of mental strength.
- To make it more interesting and more fun.
What is most interesting, these conclusions in general do not contradict the conclusions of psychologists! But when analyzing, many are "carried away" either into "mythological consciousness" or into Marxist-Leninist philosophy, or somewhere else along the "beaten path" …
I would like to return to the previously mentioned PP Sharikov and note that although I used this vivid image in the example, I do not think that our ancestors possessed his consciousness. Sharikov's consciousness is rather "rough", because his "donors" are an animal and an alcoholic. I would rather compare primitive people with modern children with their "fine" organization of consciousness. Remember the primitive tribes - people in them are spontaneous and emotional, they have a simple and illogical explanation of the phenomena occurring in nature, they live "one day", not really caring about what will happen tomorrow, they are gullible, they have a rich imagination.
And in a number of tribes, moreover, there are no wars. They don't exist in principle. An individual member of the tribe will never go to kill a stranger if he has no personal complaints against him (recorded from the words of Vitaly Sundakov, a famous traveler). To us, "organized" people, this seems childishly naive, although we admit that there is something primitively ingenious in this immediacy.
Therefore, I am inclined to believe that the consciousness of primitive people is practically analogous to ours, but in the absence of a constant influx of knowledge, by the time of maturation, it ceases to develop and is "fixed" in an infantile state until the end of life. Which part of the consciousness “falls short” of the state of a modern person, I do not know. The child's consciousness will serve as the closest model of consciousness.
And now I will give examples of the emergence of abstract supernatural images of modern people and draw analogies with primitive ancestors. There will be animism, fetishism, totems and idols.
Only with magic is not so simple. It is very possible that among primitive peoples it had a practical basis. Being closer to nature in terms of its level of spiritual organization, a person could come into contact with it, and possibly owned simple forms of magic. Not understanding the essence of what was happening, but trying to use the properties of immaterial entities for his own needs, "blindly", he often made mistakes and remembered a lot of "superfluous", not connected with each other in reality (a tree fell before someone fell ill - they began to consider this bad omen). We still observe this phenomenon in primitive tribes in different manifestations. Sometimes in the form of a huge stock of fetishes, sometimes in the form of "wild" customs or rituals, etc.
In general, the topic of magic deserves a separate, more careful study. I will not touch on it in this article.
Fear
The study of the psychology of fear is endless. Fears can be classified in different ways, divided into true and imaginary, rational and irrational, you can learn to deal with them and overcome them.
In the future, I will use this conditional classification of fears:
- Short-term. Met a leopard, got scared.
- Periodic. I can't swim - I get into the water, I'm afraid. Or, for fear of the dark or the dead. Passing through the cemetery at night, such a person can “see”, “hear” or “feel” a lot.
- Permanent. In a war or other extreme situation. In such conditions, it is not uncommon for talismans or certain rituals to appear, and communication with spirits.
Even this very generalized approach can be analyzed and made some conclusions. But first, a few words about the "classic" view of fear.
Fear gives a powerful emotional outburst. Emotions, on the other hand, greatly change our understanding of reality. It happens that after an emergency, people observe hallucinations or hear voices, smells that are not there. It is difficult to dissuade them from their erroneous feelings.
The more emotional a person is and the more unstable his psyche, the more preconditions for the appearance in his brain of some otherworldly images.
Knowledge is the best weapon against fear. Not being in control of the situation reinforces our fears.
In a critical situation, out of despair, a person is ready to seek help from inanimate objects, other people or images (to make promises or ask for protection).
If the danger passes by, an impressionable person can associate this with his oath or request, with some way that “helps” him or the talisman that “saved” him.
Imagine the situation - the fishermen were carried away on an ice floe. All hope is that the ice floe will reach the island and will not collapse during this time. And then one of them has something like hysterics, and he begins to scold the ice floe, on which the light is, offend it with obscene words, threaten it, etc. Will comrades laugh at a weak person in this situation? Hardly. Surely, to put it mildly, they will not support him and will be asked to shut up. And many will be frightened by superstitious fear.
It would seem that there is nothing to take from our poor "savage" who is constantly exposed to dangers, but he has no knowledge. His eyes must be very large just from fear! Moreover, primitive religions exist all over the planet, and this is an indisputable fact.
The essence of the problem
However, I want to draw your attention to one interesting point. Best of all, I will express my thought with a quote from the creationist philosopher Georgy Khlebnikov from his work "The Origin of Religion."
and further:
But the right words! There is no overwhelming feeling of fear. There is only a situational fear, short-term or periodic (arising only in a certain environment - for example, in water), associated with unexpected experiences.
But then why do religions based on fear still exist and flourish? Where do they come from?
Supporters of mythological consciousness in this case get some trump cards in their hands, but still their theory is too contradictory to accept it in the form in which it is. It turns out that, on the one hand, a person achieved a lot, but on the other hand, he was hammered and depressed, invented spirits and gods (scientists often identify them), and his whole life, like a blotter, is “saturated” through and through with religious prejudices. With them he went to bed, with them he got up and lived. At first he hunted for a long time, and then half, or even all that he got, he voluntarily burned in front of the idol, out of fear of nature …
I will cite several illustrative excerpts from the work "The intellectual power of primitive man: archaic thinking and modern science." Author P. P. Fedorov, Doctor of Chemical Sciences.
I will leave aside the “aspen stakes” clearly “sticking out” of these quotations for historians, which testify in favor of the theory of contact of our ancestors with a certain highly developed civilization. If we assume that the transfer of knowledge has taken place, then there is nothing to “turn inside out” with “mythological” consciousness. And if there was no paleocontact, then the "mythological theory" generally has a pale appearance! In fact, its supporters are already just trying to "take by numbers, not skills." The more "solid" articles, books and terms will be used, the more deeply the ancient consciousness is described (on anything real, at the same time, without relying on), the more "venerable scientists" are involved in this and the louder their brainchild is replicated, the more chances that the theory will remain "afloat".
If we return to the problem voiced at the end of the previous chapter and take into account that the consciousness of our ancestors is in many ways similar to the consciousness of a modern child, then there are no riddles in the origins of primitive religion due to fear. Children out of fear constantly invent "monsters" for themselves. Their imagination and fears intensify if they communicate in a group (remember the "horror stories" at night in pioneer camps or Turgenev's "Bezhin Meadow"), their images are stable and are further developed. The underdeveloped (up to our level) consciousness of our ancestors and their imaginations - these are the origins of primitive religions! And not at all a generalized fear of nature. Short-term fear "sets an impulse", and consciousness "picks up and develops" it according to a certain scenario. Other emotional experiences are also a source of this "impulse". It can be unbridled joy from a happy event or the contrasting joy of getting rid of danger and a strong negative experience. For example, when a “lost” very valuable thing was unexpectedly found. Or there was an unexpected "miraculous" salvation from death. The world seems beautiful, I want to thank someone.
When a person is haunted by a series of misfortunes and failures, or vice versa - sheer luck, good fortune and joyful events, it seems that someone with an invisible hand controls everything that happens. Someone helps or, on the contrary, intrigues and harms. Even our contemporaries sometimes find “patterns” in such chains of events, connecting them with certain objects, which then begin to play the role of talismans, with people or other events.
What can we say about primitive people …
In the above examples and reasoning, the reason for the emergence of superstitious ideas is not only (and not even so much) fear, but a strong emotional outburst. Remove emotions from a person, and he will calmly endure both moments of danger and moments of joyful events, luck or good luck. A humanoid robot will not develop religiosity. It is fear, as the most powerful, frequent and significant emotion, that many researchers put at the foundation of the emergence of religiosity in people.
However, although fear (short-term, not permanent!) Belongs to the lion's share of emotional experiences in the issue of the emergence of religiosity, other emotions also contribute. The influence of these emotions on the emergence of religiosity has been poorly studied, so for a more simplified presentation of the material, I decided to take the generally accepted version as a basis, making only a few comments that reflect my point of view.
I would also like to clarify that the constantly present fear cannot be discounted (the theme of war, for example). Although situations where it prevails are not typical for most human communities. Rather, these are periods of crises or a long, forced stay in very difficult living conditions. But here it is more appropriate to talk not only about fear as such, but rather about how to survive in a difficult situation, how to develop rules that will avoid problems. And an example of this is the next point …
Safety engineering
The rules and norms of behavior developed in society are rooted in such a historical depth that it is not so easy to establish the cause of their appearance. Sometimes they show the deepest age-old wisdom, and sometimes - ridiculous prejudices and complete nonsense.
Their purpose is to create potentially safe living conditions for society or a specific person. And here the analogy with modern society is generally visible to the naked eye. In ordinary, “worldly” life, these are laws and instructions (often ridiculous), but in “spiritual” life these can be:
Household signs. “Don't come back - there will be no way”, “Don't whistle - there will be no money”, “First you need to let the cat into the new house”, etc.
Student "rules" for attracting good luck in exams. For example - put a penny under the heel or rub the nose of a bronze dog at the Moscow metro station "Ploschad Revolyutsii". There are also personal signs and rules.
I will leave no comments at all for the signs, rituals and talismans of athletes, pilots, drivers, military men - this is a kind of "classic", one way or another familiar to everyone.
Some sellers in the bazaar wave the first bills they receive over the goods and whisper something.
Wedding omens. Well, everything is serious here! Citizens are very sensitive about this kind of observation. I remember myself - at a wedding, a friend, putting on a ring, dropped it. You should have seen how the bride's face changed at the same time … (They have been living “in perfect harmony” for more than 15 years).
These "rules" in everyday life, some people do not take seriously, but if something happens, "just in case" they observe. For some people, signs are included in everyday life as a norm.
Primitive people in this business also pretty well succeeded. Lack of real knowledge, underdeveloped consciousness and inability to understand the laws of nature generally exaggerate the situation - their rules, taboos, rituals and some norms of behavior are sometimes simply shocking!
So, the parallels between primitive and modern society are obvious, so I'll move on to the next point …
Simplified explanation of phenomena
Here, as a rule, we are dealing with animism, "modified" in a modern way. We tend to "animate" the forces and phenomena of nature and attribute to them the properties of the living world, and this often manifests itself in literature:
Since the 19th century, little has changed - even in spoken language, we use images of "animated" phenomena of the surrounding world. We are not looking for the root cause of why so much snow fell during the night, we simply state: "the blizzard covered the whole earth with a blanket" or "winter has come into its own" and this is enough for us.
Moreover, almost any phenomenon of nature in the 21st century has, among other things, an animistic explanation, which we use, and which is quite enough for us! We can say “storms”, or we can say “the sea is playing out” and these will be equivalent phrases. We can say “I was pushing through the thickets”, or we can: “the trees clung to their branches, holding me back”. And no one will even be surprised at this construction of the phrase.
The very generalized concept of "nature" is also used by us in an animistic sense. Did our ancestors consider everything alive, and considered themselves a part of this living system? But what is ecology? Isn't she studying the same thing ?! Not only in the context of “practical use”, but also in the context of scientific knowledge. That's the whole difference. Are we surprised that nature “responds with good for good” or, on the contrary, “does not forgive” us a barbaric consumer attitude towards her? Not. This is the norm for us.
Then why a primitive man, who, unlike us, lives in the very bosom of nature (and even according to the laws established by it), who depends on nature more strongly than we do, who knows more about nature than we do, we dare " reproach”for creating animistic images and spirits? Just because he worships them? But if we were a little more "primitive", we would not have a lot of problems with the environment and health! So whose model of the world is wilder, eh?
Primitive people also worship the spirits of their ancestors or the spirits of their area. But we also honor the memory of our ancestors (we arrange a commemoration, when we come to the cemetery, we talk with the deceased), national heroes (laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier) or we keep the memory of the place where we live (we organize local history museums). And here there are very significant elements of animism.
By “spiritualizing” someone or something, like our ancestors, we create simple and visual “animistic models” and use them in everyday life. And we can say with confidence that this is one of the inevitable and natural manifestations of human consciousness.
Source of mental strength
Here, too, one does not have to look far for examples. Many people have talismans, items "for luck", "luck" or "for memory". A person believes that they bring him good luck or help in difficult times.
The source of spiritual strength is often the image of another person - a parent, child, teacher, film actor, rock star … Thinking about "his" image, a person finds the strength to overcome the difficulties that have arisen in life.
Sometimes this image is fictional, for example, the hero of a film or book. The (often far from reality) image of a real person can also serve as a fictional image.
To some extent, a person involuntarily (and sometimes purposefully) “deifies” such an image, not only remembers it, but also addresses it, talks to it. Well, why not modern animism ?!
A song and a literary work can serve as a source of spiritual strength (I re-read my favorite book, it became calm, easy, my thoughts were ordered, self-confidence, purpose, etc. appeared) and a picture, and the victory of my favorite team. In short, whatever you like! Therefore, there is nothing strange that we sometimes involuntarily thank or scold someone who does not exist, mentally ask him for something or repent of something.
Does it seem to us that totemism is savagery? Are we not trying to isolate modern social groups and somehow "stand out"? Sports teams, educational institutions (classes), Internet communities, nations, countries, commercial firms, military personnel of the same type of troops (paratrooper day), rock bands, people of certain professions, political parties - these are just a few of the examples when people strive " clump together. They have their own modern totem (name, coat of arms, emblem or logo, anthem, clothing style, habits or rules of conduct, lifestyle, etc.). Sometimes this is done as a joke:
Squad name: Dandelion.
The squad's motto: Stay together, so as not to be blown away!
But more often the name and symbolism are taken very seriously, and a large and deep (according to the authors) meaning is put into them. Just like in the totems of primitive society.
To make it more interesting
In a relatively prosperous, cultured society, less dependent on the vagaries of nature, age-old prohibitions and fears are weakened. It can allow itself free fantasies, including those on the topic of spiritually immaterial entities. This applies to both society as a whole and its individual groups or people. So, a quick overview - what do we have now, at the beginning of the 21st century?
Probably the most famous figures of folklore are Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. It is not important where they came from and how their image and "functionality" has changed over time, it is important that they are, and we are looking forward to them every December!
Shrovetide or Winter, a scarecrow of which is burned with the arrival of spring in many cities is also a "favorite of the public." "Love", of course, is peculiar, but it just so happened …
This probably includes fantasies about fairy tales for children. The images of the "Gray Wolf", "Bunny", "Little Fox Sisters", etc. have little to do with real animals. As well as the images of "Babai", "Kolobok" or "Baba Yaga".
These are the most famous images and most of them are borrowed, brought to us from our ancestors or neighbors. However, from these borrowings "one step" to the creation of "your" character in a separate family or social group, which happens in real life. I think everyone will easily remember something from their childhood or from what they invented on their own.
Go down to any cave and an amateur tour guide or speleologist who will accompany you will definitely show you the figure of an underground “guardian” (“master”, “gnome”, etc.), guarding this system or cave.
In the International Children's Center “Artek” there is a legend about an old man named “Absolute”. He lives on the Ayu-Dag mountain, in the hollow of an old tree (the tree is an obligatory part of the excursion when climbing the mountain). It is believed that if you behave quietly during the "quiet hour", you can hear him singing. Quiet hour in Artek, by the way, is officially called “Absolute”.
Modern treasure hunters have their own patron - "Earth grandfather". He should be appeased in every possible way and in no case should anger him (otherwise there will be no finds). When alcohol is ingested, the first glass should be thrown out to the grandfather. After an interesting find (option - after the first find), the grandfather should be thanked. It is imperative to dig holes behind you, otherwise grandfather will be very angry and will not give anything else.
And despite the fact that the Christian church has long "appointed" the patron of treasure hunters Simon Zelote, few people in this subculture have ever heard of him, but "Earth grandfather" is known to everyone! Moreover, some very serious people in adulthood before the "cop" bury a few coins, sweets in the ground or leave milk in a saucer overnight. For grandfather.
It is difficult to say whether such a practice exists in primitive societies - this issue requires a separate study. We, in our civilized society, love to have a lot of fun - an inevitable consequence of satiety and prosperity. Religious themes are also no exception.
Conclusion
Primitive people are not fundamentally different from us. Their thinking is similar to ours, but it seems to be inhibited in development at a certain level, therefore, as a result, there are sharp differences in the way of life of a “savage” from a “civilized” person. But these differences are only "tinsel", meaning nothing in essence "shell". Aren't there among us absolutely normal and useful people or social groups who shock the average citizen with their way of life? For example, fans of role-playing games, "walruses", fans of skydiving from high-rise buildings, extravagant fashionistas, bikers, etc. But we are not saying that they have any special thinking …
In matters of the emergence of religious views (without the influence of "outside" or "above"), modern processes are similar to those that occur among primitive society. Analogies are clearly visible, everything is explainable from the point of view of practicality, efficiency or convenience.
And no "mythological" or "primitive" thinking is required at all to explain the religiosity of our ancestors, just as it is not required to invent "industrial" or "nanotechnological" thinking to explain our fantasies and quirks.
Author: OLEG KOTOV