Understanding Indigenous Religions

Indigenous religions can be traced back to the beginning of the earth. These religions are very different as they come from small groups of people that were secluded from others. They took place all over the world and was passed on by word of mouth. The Mayans and the Aztecs were the only ones to have a writing system to write their religion down. Like I stated as most people were isolated from others each Indigenous religions were very different. Environmentalist David Suzuki states that to understand these religions we must learn from the natives and get insight by observing the way humans interact with nature. Suzuki was also worried about the world becoming eco crisis. Eco crisis means that the environment is changing so much that it evolves …show more content…
Second the framing of scared time and space. Third is respect for origin, gods, and ancestors. These groups are very dependent on nature. Some see nature as alive and others see spirits that represent things in nature. This reminds me of the movie of Pocahontas were she would listen to the spirits and she taught John Smith about them. She showed how in their culture you respected the earth. To say nature is full of spirit can be a way of affirming the presences both universal and essential. Particular objects can have great spirits like a rock, tree, or river. Yoruba of Africa believe that great storms are controlled by Shango, a king with great heavenly powers. This reminds me of Greek’s and their religion and how the worship gods with powers of controlling lightning (Zeus). Where the Lgbo have an earth moving deity. They would pray to her. Men would pray for better crops and women for healthy children. Then there was the Ashanti who worshiped Tayoo a god of metal. Most all indigenous religions believed you must be kind to the earth or it would retaliate. This to me seems a little far-fetched. For the earth is not alive and it does not have feelings to retaliate against …show more content…
The fact that they were so genuine with the earth and they didn’t take advantages of the earth. They made the most of what they had. They didn’t over eat or over hunt or waste anything. Things they couldn’t eat they would turn into clothes, knick-knacks, or jewelry. Indigenous religions believe in a cyclical sacred time. They had sacred places for power and holiness and they would go here to renew strength. These places were volcano, mountain, valley, lake. They have origins like this earth came from other earths. These were often told by word or dance. The usually have one high god who is wise, ancient and benevolent. They all have ansesters as well. They would love and pray to their ansetors to keep them happy because unhappy anseters wont give them children. The also belived in reincarnation or being reborn in other bodies over and over again. This idea I can not agree with fully. I believe our bodies were formed from the ground and there is a spirit placed in us. When we die we put our body back in the ground and our spirits travel back to our creator for judgement. There were four things indigenous religions were devoted to in their human lives. The life-cycle ceremonies (birth, marriage, death,