Australian Aborigines
In Aboriginal culture, what were symbols of the ancestors’ presence?
What was the purpose of the Yoruba religion?
The purpose was to maintain the balance between the humans (earth) and gods and ancestors (heaven; to guard against evil deeds of sorcerers and witches.
What were the two basic rituals of the North American Plains Indians?
The two basic rituals were the vision quest and the Sun Dance.
What did the Mesoamerican religion place an emphasis on?
The Mesoamerican religion placed an emphasis on interrelationships between myth and ritual and influenced catholicism.
With whom did indigenous religious traditions originate from?
non-literate people
Why is each Aborigine symbolized by a totem?
It is the natural form that the ancestor appeared in the dreaming.
Who were the ancestors to the Yoruba?
The ancestors were deceased humans that have natural status- they contained sacred power that could harm or help and were worshipped through rituals at special shrines.
Why was the Sun Dance composed of 28 poles?
The 28 poles symbolized the 28 days of the lunar month and involved circling a tree.
How did people view the Toltec God?
The Toltec God was seen as the feathered serpent who created the order of the World.
What was oral material?
Oral material consisted of myths or stories passed down from one another.
What was taboo?
Taboo was the foundation for a structured society- orders that the certain things and activities, as a result of their sacred nature, are only accessible to specific members and forbidden to others.
How was the Earth described in cosmology?
The Earth was a world of human experience, the visible home to humans, and was populated by deviant forms of human beings, such as witches or sorcerers.
What happens in a vision in the Vision Quest?
The vision quest took place near the end of the stay and was in the form of an object, animal, or force of nature. The message that accompanied the vision was interpreted by a medicine man or woman at camp and influenced a person’s life. It brought spiritual guardian acquisition in the form of an animal, object, or ghost and protected the person during difficult times.
What were characteristics of the Spatial World?
The Spatial world featured four quadrants, which extended outward from the center of the universe and connected the earthly realm to heavenly realm above and underworld below.
What do indigenous religious traditions NOT depend on?
scriptures or written teaching
What was the religious life like for the Aborigines?
The religious life included the process of recreating the Dreaming to tap the sacred power. It was achieved through ritual and reenactment of myth and maintained the social structures as established by the Ancestors. The recreation of the dream required performing rituals, which had myths illustrating the Ancestor's actions during the dreaming.
How would a member of the Yoruba religion describe the Supreme God, Olorun?
Olorun was the original source of power, portrayed as distant and remote, uninvolved in human affairs, did not worship except in prayer, and did not involve shrines, rituals, or sacrifices.
What were the characteristics of Inktomi?
Inktomi, the spider, was seen as a trickster figure, mediated between the supernatural and human world, taught human ways and customs, and their stories of mistakes and errors in judgement were moral lessons for children.
Why was mastery of language important?
Mastery of Language conveyed religious power, and specialists, or "knowers of things," communicated with the gods, made offerings through the language, and offered alternatives to sacrifice.
Which two religions were exceptions to the indigenous religious traditions?
Yoruba and Aztecs
What were the impacts the ancestors had on the aborigines?
They gave it a shape, organized humans into their tribe and defined their territory, language, social rules, and customs; made their spiritual essence alive in each individual, and nourished the natural world, which was activated via performance of proper rituals.
Name all the characteristics of practicing divination
Practicing divination involved learning about one's future and the role passing from parent to child; knowing about your future was important so that you knew how to proceed in life, and your future is told when the diviner decides which wisdom story is applicable to that individual.
What took place during the Sun Dance?
The Sun Dance was long periods of dancing facing the Sun, for this gave them life giving powers. As people danced to music and drum beats, some people attached their flesh to leather thongs on the trees and allowed their flesh to tear as they continued to dance around the tree- they believed that mutilation is the only suitable sacrifice to give to the supreme being.
What was the human role in sustaining the cosmos?
Humans were the link between human condition and cosmology- they were nurtured by two divine forces (head and heart) and were regarded as a sort of axis mundi that connected earthly realm to the divine and allowed their human body to nurture the sun and cosmos.
What were characteristics of the Orishas?
The Orishas were mediators between Olorun and humans, sources of sacred power, and helped humans depending on how designed rituals meant to appease them were carried out.