Ancestral Gods Research Articles

Karel van der Toorn. Becoming Diaspora Jews: Behind the Story of Elephantine

Karel van der Toorn. <i>Becoming Diaspora Jews: Behind the Story of Elephantine</i>

The Catechism of the Gods: Kōyasan’s Medieval Buddhist Doctrinal Debates, Dōhan, and Kami Worship

A survey of the history of medieval Kōyasan, an important mountain-based headquarters for esoteric Shingon Buddhism since the early ninth century, cannot omit significant developments in the worship of kami (tutelary and ancestral gods) from the end of the Heian period (794–1185) to the Muromachi period (1333–1573). A fundamental aspect of kami worship at Kōyasan was the regular offering to the kami (shinbōraku 神法楽) of mondō-kō 問答講 (catechism/dialogue form, or ‘question and answer’ ‘lectures’) and rongi (debate examinations in the form of mondō). The relationship between Buddhist scholarship and kami worship has not been fully elucidated and such will enrich understanding of both subjects. The identities and meanings of the two oldest kami enshrined at Kōyasan, Niu Myōjin 丹生明神 (also called Niutsuhime) and Kariba Myōjin 狩場明神 (also called Kōya Myōjin), were delineated in texts produced by scholar monks (gakuryo 学侶) during a period when the debates were re-systematized after a period of sporadicity and decline, so the precise functions of this cinnabar goddess and hunter god in the related ritual offerings deserve attention. In this paper I examine ideas about the Kōyasan kami that can be found, specifically, in the institution and development of these mondō and rongi 論義. Placing them in this context yields new information, and offers new methods of understanding of not only related textual materials, but also of the icons used in the debates, and the related major ceremonies (hōe 法会) and individual ritual practices (gyōbō 行法) that were involved. Given that the candidates of a major ritual debate examination—to be discussed—that has been practiced from the Muromachi period up to the present day are said to ‘represent’ kami, and are even referred to by the names of kami, the history of the precise relationship between the kami and the debates invites more detailed explanation that has so far been largely lacking in the scholarship.

Jumalad sõjas: jumalik toetus ja sõdade teoloogiline õigustamine muistses Anatoolias ja Põhja-Süürias

Jumalad sõjas: jumalik toetus ja sõdade teoloogiline õigustamine muistses Anatoolias ja Põhja-Süürias

‘Ex-Pagan Pagans’? Paul, Philo, and Gentile Ethnic Reconfiguration

In Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle (2017), Paula Fredriksen reminds us that gods and their cults were intertwined with ancient ethnic groups so much so that, when Gentiles committed themselves exclusively to Israel’s God, some Jews considered this ‘tantamount to changing ethnicity’. Fredriksen claims, however, that Paul’s Gentile addressees – whom she terms ‘ex-pagan pagans’ – remain separate ethnically from Jews despite forsaking their ancestral gods for Israel’s. Given that gods and ethnicity were intertwined, this article examines if it is reasonable to conclude that Paul thinks Gentile Christ-followers remain strictly Gentiles after they have abandoned their ethnic gods and entered into a relationship with Israel and its God. I argue that, similar to Philo’s proselyte inclusion strategy, Paul incorporates Gentiles-in-Christ into ethnic Israel. As Abraham’s ‘offspring’, Paul suggests that his addressees not only gain membership in Israel’s covenant on account of Israel’s messiah, but that they also acquire a new ethnic identity despite that their prior identities as ‘the Gentiles’ are not erased. This study, then, seeks to destabilize the binary that Fredriksen posits between ethnic Israel and Paul’s Gentiles-in-Christ as ethnic ‘other’. In the end, I demonstrate that Paul’s ethnic reconfiguration of Gentile identities resembles Philo’s proselyte discourse and is more disruptive ethnically than Fredriksen’s phrase ‘ex-pagan pagans’ would suggest.

Female-Led agrarian households and the question of sustainable land and food security in an emerging economy: Evidence from Tula Baule

PurposeThis study examines the nexus between land tenure security (LTS) and food security (FS) in female-led households of Tula Baule agrarian settlements. Design/Methodology/ApproachThe study used a qualitative research design based on the constructivist paradigm. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with female household heads cutting across the three “yaati” (villages) of Tula Baule. Analysis of data collected from the interviews was done employing transcriptions, creating semantic networks and utilising thematic content analysis. FindingsThe study revealed that all but a few respondents believed that they had LTS based on “Feloh's” (ancestral gods') supremacy without recourse to documentary evidence of ownership. Similarly, all but a few participants do not have access to three square meals per day throughout the study period. The study also found a strong relationship between LTS and FS in the study area. Participants indicated a lack of motivation to invest in farms that lack LTS, consequently affecting their agricultural productivity and FS. Practical implicationIt provides an empirical base to equip policymakers with valuable information for policies relating to females' access to land and food in agrarian settlements. Originality/valueThis study is the first to empirically analyse land and food security in female-led agrarian households of Tula Baule in an eclectic context.

THE POSITION OF MULIH DAHA WOMEN IN INSTRUCTION AFTER DIVORCE IN PENARUNGAN VILLAGE, BADUNG, BALI

The Balinese customary law community recognizes kepurusa system; the status of boys is steady, while the status of girls changes, because women after marriage follow their husbands. On that basis, daughters in kepurusa system are never traced or taken into account in inheritance. The purpose of this study is to examine the legal status and the legal position of mulih daha woman in Penarungan Village, Mengwi, Badung, Bali. The method used in this study is an empirical method. Furthermore, this study was carried out by means of field studies, namely by conducting field observations and interviews with respondents and informants. Based on the analysis, the results of this study showed that the legal status of mulih daha woman is received through a procedure with acceptance by the family on a scale and a niskala ceremony is carried out, namely arranging piuning or notification to the ancestral gods that with a divorce from her husband, her daughter has returned to her parents and ask to be accepted back as a damuh or part of her parents' ancestral family so that she can be held accountable again one day when the woman experiences something related to banjar. The legal position of mulih daha women in inheritance is related to the kinship system adopted by the Hindu community in Bali, namely the patrilineal system (fatherhood) where only boys have the right to inherit while girls have no right to inherit but girls can only enjoy the property.&#x0D;

The Burden of the Ancients: Maya Ceremonies of World Renewal from the Pre-Columbian Period to the Present

Much has been written about Mayan beliefs but little with the historical depth and ethnographic detail that Allen J. Christenson brings to The Burden of the Ancients. He ambitiously traces Maya world renewal ceremonies from the Pre-Columbian past to the present-day town of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.Using clear, utilitarian prose, Christenson has essentially written a two-part book. The first part reviews the Pre-Columbian evidence, including materials culled from archeological studies and Spanish and Maya documents produced before and during the colonial period. Here, Christenson synthesizes the materials about Mayas’ world renewal, providing a comprehensive explanation of their meanings in the Yucatán and the Guatemalan highlands. He illustrates the resiliency of Maya beliefs and the ways in which the Maya interpreted Christianity to fit into their existing cosmology.The second part focuses on ethnographic descriptions of Holy Monday through Good Friday. Monday is for ritual cleaning. Tuesday revolves around the preparation of adornments and offerings that will be made. On Wednesday, offerings and Rilaj Mam (the original ancestor) are carried to the mayor’s house and then to the church in a lively procession, while on Thursday the people adorn the town along the processional route. Good Friday marks the climax of the week’s events with elaborate alfombras covering the streets and processions with Jesus Christ and Rilaj Mam.Christenson fills the book with personal ethnographic anecdotes that add richness to both the historical chapters and the contemporary descriptions of the Tz’utujil Mayas of Santiago Atitlán. He provides a powerful explanation of how religious syncretism functions and how Spanish colonial practices that aimed to destroy Maya belief systems actually helped them survive. He explains, “The Maya do not generally reject innovations and foreign influences outright but structure them in such a way that they resonate with older indigenous patterns” (166).There are not unadulterated continuities from the Maya past but lasting influences. It is about accumulation rather than replacement of beliefs. The Maya World Tree melds with the Christian cross. Like the B’akab’, who hold up the sky, Rilaj Mam oversees the death of the old world and the birth of the new. The Monumento adornment and fruit offering in the church replaces the Tzompantli, or skull rack. The Catholic Church symbolizes a sacred mountain with its inside a cave to the underworld. Jesus Christ, as Hun Hunahpu, the founding ancestral god from the Popol Wuj, is the regenerator of life from death. He must die for the world to be reborn and the cycle of life to continue.Thus the Wayeb’ is incorporated into Easter. The five-day period of the Wayeb’ marks the end of one world and the rebirth of the next world, where the B’akab’ reign, compellingly arguing that this annual period of chaos, indeterminacy, and destruction gives rise to order, rebirth, and renewal that can be seen as Tz’utujil people perform Holy Week.This is an impressive work of scholarship with a few omissions, one of which Christenson points out himself: “After the initial evangelization efforts in the colonial period, Santiago Atitlán had no resident priests between 1821 and 1964” (142). This illustrates a hole in his narrative about what happened during the tumultuous period following independence from Spain. Christenson makes no mention of the tourists, foreign or domestic, who flood the town during its festivals and provide significant income to fund the events he describes. Although his tone is romantic in many places (“I could swear that I smelled the faint scent of copal on its pages” [226], he writes when visiting the Popol Wuj in Chicago), the book reflects his deep passion for the subject and, especially, the Tz’utujil people.

≪殷虛文字丙編≫012∼023譯註

In this thesis, by witnessing and examining real objects, 012-023 of Fascicle Three of Inscriptions from the Yin Ruins(≪殷虛文字丙編≫), with the Binzubuci (賓組卜辭) of YH127 in Yin Ruins, are arranged as completely as possible for the use of scholars to study and review. It is recorded that the king made a point on whether to unite with Wangcheng(望乘) or not to form a coalition with Xiawei(下危), and that he predicted a coalition with Zhige(沚□). And the fact that he pointed out which ancestral god was responsible for the disease in the king’s teeth suggests that he also made a point to choose a priest. Also, five times in total, five times the same content, shows that the problem of war and union was very important. Bingbian(≪丙編≫)022-023 also appears to be equivalent to Chengtaobuci(成套卜辭), while no other links have been found. Based on Bingbian(≪丙編≫)012-021 and Ganzhi(干支) (乙卯, 丁巳, 庚申, 辛酉), the issue of chastising Bafang(巴方) in Bingbian(≪丙編≫)022-023, the building of Bin(賓), and imperial inspection tour of area Chu(出) is different in that closely related and specific issues.

Mariya Lesiv. The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation

Mariya Lesiv. The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION AND YOUTH IN NGUGIS WEEP NOT, CHILD

Human rights are essentially the rights of people. They are the rights that an individual can avail and enjoy, by virtue of being born as a human being. it means the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of an individual guaranteed by the National Constitution or embodied in the international convents and they are enforceable by the judiciary. Ngugiin Weep Not, Child has tried to express the grave reality of his nation as he covers the time duration from colonialism to post colonialism and Neocolonialism. In the works of Ngugi the subordinate masses try to resist the dominant group. The novel is set before and during the emergency in Kenya. It presents the picture of a village community that disintegrates as a colonial settlement resulting in the alienation of people from their ancestral god given land. Land is the visible symbol for Kenyans as well as the means of establishing contact with the ancestral spirits. Ngotho is the legitimate owner of the land. His aboriginal title is based on gen. Jacobo is the native aid of Mr. Howlands. He forces the natives to work on his master’s farm. He takes precaution that no other native farmer can become rich like him. He plays a role of middleman in case of supplying workers to work on low wages.

Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus and the Conversion of Neocaesarea

Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus concludes with a scene describing how the people of Neocaesarea, while crowding together at a festival in the city’s theatre, bring a plague upon themselves by praying to their ancestral god. The prayer uttered by the citizens is itself a text from Isaiah in the Septuagint, and moreover a verse which Gregory of Nyssa expounds in one of his homilies. Gregory’s exegesis of that verse in the homily reveals the significance of the same verse’s appearance in the Life’s conversion narrative. In the Life, Gregory Thaumaturgus stops the plague, and his behavior evokes a subsequent verse from Isaiah with a soteriological meaning of its own. The account of the conversion of Neocaesarea, a scene which has otherwise puzzled commentators, is thus structured so that its people and Gregory Thaumaturgus together dramatize Isaiah’s prophecy of universal salvation as it was understood in Christian exegesis.

Review: The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation by Mariya Lesiv

Review: The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation by Mariya Lesiv

Mariya Lesiv. The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation.

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mariya Lesiv. &lt;em&gt;The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013. xvi, 221 pp. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. $65.00, cloth.&lt;/p&gt;

대순진리회 상제관 연구 서설 (Ⅱ): 15신위와 양위상제를 중심으로

This article as an attempt to analyze Jin-beop-joo(眞法呪, incantation of true law) and the view of Yang-wui Sangje(兩位上帝, Sangje in two Godship) corresponds to the second preliminary work prior to the research on the view of Sangje in Daesoonjinrihoe. The points of this article are as follows: First, Jin-beop-joo and 15 Godship(神位) based hereupon are one of the most essential elements comprising the view of Sangje in Daesoonjinrihoe. Since the other Jeungsan line religious orders except Daesoonjinrihoe does not use 15 Godship in explaining and understanding Jeungsan, this fact should be regarded as an important characteristic of Daesoonjinrihoe. Second, 15 Godship is the important installation to assemble Sangje and the other gods in the same place. In Buddhism temples and China-Taoism temples, the gods each are placed in a separate palace. Whereas Sangje and the gods are concentrated in the same place, Yound-Dae(靈臺) which is the shrine of Daesoonjinrihoe. This fact shows Sangje takes the reins to the gods visually. 15 Godship facilitates that system. Third, the number 15 of 15 Godship symbolizes the natural laws of the cosmos. Thus the shrine of Daesoonjinrihoe implies the law of universe emblematically. Forth, 15 Godship shows that the Highest God in Daesoonjinrihoe are located in the middle of the functional gods ruling over nature like mountain, sea, season, the Great Dipper, and Taoistic or Buddhistic gods like Ok-hwang Sangje(玉皇上帝, The Great Jade Emperor), Seoga-Yeorae(釋迦如來, Tathāgata Buddha), Kwan-seong-Jegoon(關聖帝君, Holy god Guan Yu), along with various envoys and ancestral gods. Besides, considering the fact that the majority of 15 Godship consists of the Eastern deities, it verifies the view of Sangje in Daesoonjinrihoe is built in the Eastern religions. Fifth, whereas the other Jeungsan line religious orders have a tendency of understanding Jeungsan as Ok-hwang Sangje, Daesoonjinrihoe worships Jeungsan as Gu-cheon Sangje(九天上帝), not as Ok-hwang Sangje. This accords with the following fact; Jeungsan is the highest ruling entity in Gu-cheon, whereas in Jinbeonju, which was handed down from Jeungsan, the highest ruling entitiy in Gu-cheon is expressed as a different being from Ok-hwang Sangje. Sixth, Daesoonjinrihoe understands Sangje as the form of two Godship, Yang-wui Sangje, which are Gu-cheon Sangje and Ok-hwang Sangje. Judging from the form of salutation, the status of these two Sangjes are the same. Yet, the object of belief is Gu-cheon Sangje as the highest God, while Ok-hwang Sangje is stipulated as the one who has wielded a true law succeeding to the Gu-cheon Sangje

The return of ancestral gods: modern Ukrainian paganism as an alternative vision for a nation

As Ukraine struggles to find its national identity, modern Ukrainian Pagans offer an alternative vision of the Ukrainian nation. Drawing inspiration from the spiritual life of past millennia, they strive to return to the pre-Christian roots of their ancestors. Since Christianity dominates the spiritual discourse in Ukraine, Pagans are marginalized, and their ideas are perceived as radical. In The Return of Ancestral Gods, Mariya Lesiv explores Pagan beliefs and practices in Ukraine and amongst the North American Ukrainian diaspora. Drawing on intensive fieldwork, archival documents, and published sources not available in English, she allows the voices of Pagans to be heard. Paganism in Slavic countries is heavily charged with ethno-nationalist politics, and previous scholarship has mainly focused on this aspect. Lesiv finds it important to consider not only how Paganism is preached but also the way that it is understood on a private level. She shows that many Ukrainians embrace Paganism because of its aesthetic aspects rather than its associated politics and discusses the role that aesthetics may play in the further development of Ukrainian Paganism. Paganism in Eastern Europe remains underrepresented within Pagan studies, and this work helps to fill that gap. Extensive comparative references to various forms of Western Paganism allows English-speaking readers to better understand the world of Ukrainian Pagans.

11. Politics

This song comes from Antigone's final moments on stage, ahead of being buried alive. Forcefully rejecting the chorus-leader's qualification of her attempt to compare her fate with Niobe's, she calls upon the chorus as the wealthy citizens of Thebes; ‘then, convinced that they have no word of comfort for her, she calls upon inanimate things’ – the streams and grove of the Theban landscape. The invocation of the city emphasizes her sense of rejection at its hands; her enemy is not simply Creon, but society as a whole, which has acquiesced in her punishment. Before calling on the city she appeals to her ancestral gods, which hints at a division fundamental to the play – between Antigone's birth family, for which she dies, and the city and its ordinances, which she defies.

The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation. By Mariya Lesiv

The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation. By Mariya Lesiv

The Origin of the Seven-day Week in Scandinavia: Part 1: The Theophoric Day-names

Some scholars have contended that the seven-day week in Scandinavia predates the introduction of Christianity. This argument has had its basis in the fact that four of the seven vernacular day-names include the names of ancestral gods and goddesses, respectively Týr, Óðinn, Þórr, and Frigg. In the present article the argument is taken up for reconsideration. The use of theophoric day-names by the Church in England and Germany at the time of the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia (c. 950-1100) is surveyed in detail. On this basis, it is proposed that Church institutions would not have resisted the introduction of such names in the newly Christianized Scandinavia.

The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation. By Mariya Lesiv. Studies in the History of Religion Series 65. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013. xv, 221 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Photographs. Figures. $65.00, hard bound.

The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation. By Mariya Lesiv. Studies in the History of Religion Series 65. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013. xv, 221 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Photographs. Figures. $65.00, hard bound. - Volume 73 Issue 4

Kulpuja: A Ritual and Behavior of Magar

Human beings take themselves superior for having the capacity of development of culture to their environment for survival. From the beginning of civilization, people prepared, accumulated the knowledge and preserved it as a form of culture. Culture is the body of thought and knowledge both theoretical and practical, which only man can possess. It is the sum total of achievements which develops traits by traits. Among them kulpuja ritual is one of the central traits. In this paper, I explore why rituals like kulpuja are celebrated and what relation they have with the behavior of the indigenous people—the Magars of Langaun of Baglung district, western Nepal. The research was carried out by using descriptive and explanatory research design. Participant observation, group discussion and key informant interview were carried out to collect the primary data. The Magars are rich in their ritual activities; among them kulpuja is the most important one. Like other castes and many ethnic groups of the world, the Magars of Langaun also sacrifice and offer chicken and black pig’s heart for their ancestral god. They believe on supreme power which is able for the termination of the evil eyes as well as other obstacles and illness by the happiness of their ancestral god. The offering of a live heart is a unique feature which is carried out emotionally. The rate of generation gap is clearly seen between the members of Magars. The elders are worried about the increasing rate of dependency in their offspring and feel how the children are able to survive within their environment. The importance of this ritual bind among the members of the community is deteriorating continuously in the name of modernization in younger members of the community.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6366 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 235-46