Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IVToy, Crawford Howell
HistoryHistory
Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV
Toy, Crawford Howell
Mythology; Religion -- History; Religions -- History; Rites and ceremonies
By reason of paucity of data it is difficult to determine the precise
characters of various Celtic, Slavic, and Germanic deities whose names
appear in the records. They are gods of clans and of departments of
nature; none of them can properly be reckoned among the great
gods.[1162]
+683+. _Division into good and bad Powers._ Among many savage and
half-civilized peoples we find that a distinction is recognized between
good and bad ghosts and spirits--a distinction at first vague, based on
passing experiences in which all the fortunes of men, favorable and
unfavorable, are referred to these beings. Their morals are those of the
human communities with which they are connected: they may be amiable or
malignant, beneficent or revengeful, but the ethical element in their
characters and deeds is not distinctly recognized and is not made the
basis of the distinction between the two classes. The world is seen to
be full of Powers that make for weal or for woe--a conception that
contains the germ of all the later development but is at first nebulous.
+684+. In a somewhat higher form of culture these two classes of Powers
may be unified respectively into, or replaced by, two gods, one helpful,
the other harmful. Such appears to be the scheme of the Masai, who have
their black god and red god.[1163] A Californian cosmogonic myth
describes a nonmoral conflict of work between the good "Creator" and the
malicious Coyote.[1164] A real unification appears, however, to be
rare; it supposes in fact a degree of reflection and organization that
we should not expect to find among lower peoples. The story, for
example, that has been told of a well-developed dualistic system of the
Iroquois is based on a misconception.[1165] Dualism proper is not
recognizable among the savages of America, Polynesia, Asia, or
Africa.[1166] In the Old Testament prior to the sixth century B.C. the
spirits, good and bad, which are not essentially different from those we
find among the lower tribes, are massed under the control of Yahweh, and
do his bidding without moral reflection; when he sends a lying spirit
into the mouth of Ahab's prophets[1167] this spirit goes without malice
merely to perform the will of the supreme god. This massing of all
spirit Powers under the control of one god is a step toward unity and
clearness in the conception of the government of the world.
+685+. At a later stage of social growth there appears the conception of
a cosmic struggle, the conflict between the natural forces that tend to
disorder and those that tend to order. Philosophical reflection led to
the supposition of an original chaos, a medley of natural forces not
combined or organized in such a way as to minister to the needs of human
life; and a similar conception of conflict may have arisen from
observation of the warring elements at certain seasons of the year.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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