While all of the animals featured in the cave art are significant to the everyday lives of these civilizations, the main purpose of these cave arts wasn't to show these animals. The main purpose of the art was the actual process it would take the painters to create the art. The artists would engage in rituals of which the end result would be these paintings on various rock formations. The painters would create this paintings by engaging in rituals that would take both time and dedication. It is clear that the primary element of their religion was the rituals that practiced.
This article also made me think about how these ideas of rituals relate to religions today. It is clear to me that the significance of rituals in these religions are not just important in pre-historic civilizations. All of the common religions in our society today include rituals that shape the specific religions. For example, people practicing the Islam faith pray at least five times a day. In addition, Christian rituals would include communion. It is clear that religion in both pre-historic times and today, include rituals which create the most important element of religion.
While i agree with most of what you say, one thing that i did feel was necessary to point out was Chuang Tzu and what he said on the last page of his collect fictions. He says that you can forget the trap once you have caught the hare. Once you have the final result, the journey no longer matters. Rituals have a very strong importance but the significance of the outcome should not always be downplayed.
ReplyDeleteI liked your article; I agree with a lot of what you say. I'm not entirely convinced that the rituals make up the most important part of religion. To be sure, rituals act as the framework to religion, giving it structure and letting people know what to expect. I agree that rituals are a huge aspect of the Paleolithic religions, but not necessarily modern religions such as Christianity or Judaism. In modern religions, rituals serve to unite people and highlight the core values of the religion.
ReplyDeleteRitual can only be the methods in which that religion can function. Although ritual is important to providing structure to an impractical devotion, the primary element of religion must be the meaning behind continuing to follow a ritual and why a specific ritual is followed. Once a purpose is formed, then can a ritual be formed to satisfy those goals. Mayans and Aztecs had a darn good social reason for sacrifysing young women, not for the sake of ritual, but for the rewards that were earned ... good harvest, victory in battle, etc!
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