Home Prayers and spells Primitive man worshiped powers. The most ancient religions are primitive and oldest in the world. Worship of stones and hills

Prayers and spells

Primitive man worshiped powers. The most ancient religions are primitive and oldest in the world. Worship of stones and hills

The art of primitive man. Elena Orlova.

ART OF PRIMITIVE MAN

“In search of a better life, humanity will more than once remember the free man of antiquity: he was close to nature, lived with it soul to soul, knew its beauty. He knew something that we have not known for a long time.
The movements of the ancient are integral, his thoughts are strictly expedient, his sense of proportion and desire for decoration are acute. To understand the Stone Age as wild lack of culture would be a mistake of ignorance. In the pages of the time of stone that have reached us there is no bestial primitiveness. We feel in them a special culture that is too far from us.”
N.K. Roerich Stone Age.

It is commonly mistakenly believed that our distant primitive ancestors were ignorant savages, completely devoid of modern sophistication, grace, taste and sense of beauty. But this is far from true. And evidence of this is the art of primitive man, free and proud, inextricably linked into a single whole with Mother Nature, subtly and sensitively feeling her true beauty and striving to display it, to decorate his life in all available ways.
We still have a lot to learn from the so-called “savages” of antiquity. And, above all, the ability to subtly sense the beauty in the world around us and timid attempts to convey this beauty in our first works of art. What is art if not a passionate desire to decorate, improve what we see around us, to bring Beauty into the space around us, to create something with our own hands as beautiful and better as possible? Art can just as easily decorate our everyday life as the galleries of luxurious palaces and museums. In the same way, primitive man strove for beauty, convenience and order in his daily life; that’s why he was a man, not a beast, to live at random. It is art and the bright ability to create that distinguishes man from the beast and elevates him to God. For man’s destiny is Creativity, which ultimately leads him to Cosmic Creativity.

The art of primitive man abounds in a variety of graphic designs and silhouettes, bright pictorial images made with mineral paints, miniature sculptures carved from stone or skillfully sculpted from clay; as well as decorative stone and bone carvings; reliefs and bas-reliefs, fancy ornaments.
If such art existed at that time, then we can confidently assert the fairly high level of culture of Stone Age man and refute speculation about his supposedly primitive “savagery.”

Primitive man first masters such materials as bone, stone and clay, then metal, he takes his first timid steps, trying at first to process them clumsily and slightly roughly. He tries his hand and every time his work becomes more beautiful and perfect. What an indescribable joy in these first attempts to embellish your life, clothes, appearance, how much sincere, genuine enthusiasm is hidden in these first creations of primitive art! Let's imagine how these small masterpieces were created: rock paintings, figurines of ancient goddesses, amber beads and pendants, how much painstaking work, patience and love for their creation was put into them.

How much charm lies in the ancient Stone Age. How many more mysteries and secrets do we have to solve, how many more to speculate... What did they think about, how did primitive people live, what did they worship? The main deity of ancient man was the sacred Fire, Agni. They worshiped fire, prayed, and made sacrifices. He was deified. Without fire there would be no life. The fire warmed, food was cooked on it. He was considered the life-giver and preserver of life. Ancient people also worshiped the feminine principle. The woman was revered as a goddess and guardian of the hearth.*

Paleolithic art reflects the rich inner world of primitive man. Cave painting, bone engraving, and primitive sculpture were closely related to the life activity and magical beliefs of people.
Primitive artists most often used mineral and vegetable paints, chalk, charcoal, and ocher in their work. The drawing process itself was considered magical and was accompanied by special spells and rituals. Sculptural images of animals and people abounded in decorative patterns, which also contained a magical meaning, since magic played a huge role in people’s lives.

The painting of primitive man is unusually expressive. Depicting the animal, the primitive artist tried to convey in an extremely realistic way the remarkable strength of the beast, its greatness and formidable power. What inspiration can be seen in these seemingly unrelated numerous paintings depicting animal grace in motion, hunting scenes, etc.
How masterly are the ornate outlines in the Altamira cave. They are made with special grace, care and airy lightness. Soft smooth lines of the design are woven into a complex pattern. The heavy, clumsy Venus figurines** embody the ideal of femininity of ancient man. He knew how to see and appreciate female beauty in his own way. His vision of beauty was purposeful. This vision included the veneration of the female deity and the feminine essence, as the ancestor of the clan, guardian, and protector. A woman, with her appearance and presence, brings peace and harmony, harmony and order to the family, therefore she is worshiped as a goddess.
The appearance of ceramics introduces a new, fresh, clean stream into primitive art. Chaotic matter in the hands of a reasonable person, before his eyes, turns into a pliable material, and then into a harmonious harmonious creation. This is a new victory over the blind forces of material nature. The harmony of creation triumphs over chaos, just as reason triumphs over the flesh. A new conquest brings new opportunities and polishes new facets of human skill.
This skill was reflected in the intricate decoration of the vessels, the more complex design of the ornament, its geometric harmony and proportionality. There is more and more space for the artist’s creative inspiration and imagination. Clay is a softer and more pliable material than stone, and the primitive potter can more easily realize his designs. Painting acquires more decorative and harmonious features. The images are dynamic, graceful, despite the lack of perspective and sketchiness, they seem to float in the air and this makes them seem even more airy, light and graceful. The stylized fantastic images of Tassili-Adjer are a whole symphony and a riot of colors... Intricate petroglyphs on the shores of Lake Onega, mysterious rock signs are evidence of long-forgotten magical cults. The main idea is clearly visible in these drawings - to assert man’s power over Nature, to become its king and to triumph over the world around him. How majestic is this attempt to subjugate the forces of Nature. Let it be with the help of magic and rituals, but to curb the unruly chaos, make the surrounding world a harmonious, organized whole and master it. This idea, reflected in primitive art, contains the greatest daring of man to become not a slave, but the master of the surrounding world, to conquer it instead of blindly submitting to it.

Literature
L. Lyubimov Art of the Ancient World
Russia and the world Reader for primary school, book 1. ASPU Publishing House, 1997.
Childhood of Humanity Teaching. History manual. Comp. E. Shnaidshtein, Astrakhan-1993.

* With the advent of settled life, while continuing to use rock overhangs, grottoes and caves for living, people began to establish long-term settlements - sites consisting of several dwellings. The so-called “big house” of the tribal community from the settlement of Kostenki I, near Voronezh, was of considerable size (35x16 m) and apparently had a roof made of poles.It was in this kind of dwellings, in a number of settlements of mammoth and wild horse hunters dating back to the Aurignacian-Solutrean period, that small-sized (5-10 cm) sculptural figurines depicting women were found carved from bone, horn or soft stone. Most of the figurines found depict a naked, standing female figure; they clearly show the desire of the primitive artist to convey the features of a woman-mother (the breasts, huge belly, wide hips are emphasized).
Good examples of such figurines were found in Western Europe (figurines from Willendorf in Austria, from Menton and Lespug in southern France, etc.), and in the Soviet Union - in the Paleolithic sites of the V villages of Kostenki and Gagarino on the Don, Avdeevo near Kursk, etc. The figurines of eastern Siberia from the sites of Malta and Buret, dating back to the transitional Solutrean-Magdalenian time, are more schematically executed.

** The earliest primitive sculpture is the so-called. "Paleolithic Venus" from Willendorf (about 30 thousand years BC). It is difficult to judge to what extent this first sculpture is related to reality. It’s hard to believe that this creature with a huge, hypertrophied lower part and sagging breasts from constant feeding was the standard of beauty for the people of that time. Perhaps there is some exaggeration of volume here, conveying the idea of motherhood, fertility, femininity. The face on this small figurine is not shown: it is covered with a cap of curly hair. Most of the Venuses of that time can be called faceless.

It is curious that sculptures of Paleolithic Venuses are common in the periglacial region and do not go far to the south. It was not by chance that they “chose” a cool climate. Two seasons of the year are clearly distinguished here: summer - hunting, “male”, and winter - sedentary, “female”. And the more stable the settlement, the higher the role of a woman in the life of the community, the stronger the cohesion of the clan around her.

Publications by Elena Orlova"

So, we can only make more or less reasonable assumptions about the existence of beliefs among the closest ancestors of modern man - the Neanderthals. One can speak more definitely about ancient beliefs in relation to Cro-Magnons - people of modern physical appearance.

In 1886, during the construction of a railway in the valley of the Vezere River (France), several skeletons of ancient people were found in a cave near the village of Cro-Magnon, who in their physical appearance were very close to modern people. One of the skeletons found belonged to an elderly man (“the old man from Cro-Magnon”). What did this Cro-Magnon representative look like? According to reconstructions, he was a tall man, about 180 cm tall, with very strong muscles. The Cro-Magnon skull was long and capacious (brain volume about 1560 cm 3). The forehead was straight, the face was relatively low, wide, especially in the cheekbones, the nose was narrow and long, the lower jaw had a pronounced chin.

Reconstructions of other Cro-Magnons found also allow us to imagine them as people whose faces no longer have anything animalistic, their jaws do not protrude forward, their chin is well developed and protruding, and their facial features are thin. The figure is completely straight, the position of the torso is the same as that of a modern person, the long bones of the limbs have the same dimensions.

The people of this era were skilled hunters. Compared to the Neanderthals, they already possessed more advanced tools - spears, darts with sharp stone and bone tips. The Cro-Magnons already used bolas in the form of stones and cannonballs, carved from mammoth bone and attached to the end of a long belt. They also used stone throwing discs for hunting. They had sharp daggers that were made from the bones of killed animals.

Their hunting ingenuity went much further than that of the Neanderthals. Cro-Magnons set various traps for animals. Thus, one of the simplest traps was a fence with one entrance, which could be easily closed if it was possible to drive the animal into it. Another hunting trick was to wear animal skins. The hunters, camouflaged in this way, crawled almost close to the grazing animals. They moved against the wind and, approaching a short distance, jumped up from the ground and, before the surprised animals could sense the danger and run away, struck them with spears and javelins. We learn about all these hunting tricks of the Cro-Magnons from their rock paintings. Cro-Magnons appeared approximately 30-40 thousand years ago.

We can judge more thoroughly the beliefs of the ancient people of this era. Many burials dating back to this time have been found. Cro-Magnon burial methods were very diverse. Sometimes the dead were buried where people lived, after which the Cro-Magnons left this place. In other cases, the corpses were burned at the stake. The dead were also buried in specially dug graves, and sometimes they covered their heads and feet with stones. In some places stones were piled on the head, chest and legs of the dead man, as if they were afraid that he would get up.

Apparently, for the same reason, the dead were sometimes tied up and buried in a strongly crouched position. The dead were also left in the cave, and the exit to it was blocked with large stones. Often the corpse or head was sprinkled with red paint; when excavating graves, this is noticeable by the color of the ground and bones. Many different things were put into the grave with the dead: jewelry, stone tools, food.

Among the burials of this era, the burial of “mammoth hunters” in Předmosti, near Přerov (Czechoslovakia), discovered in 1894 by K. E. Maška, became widely known. In this burial, 20 skeletons were found, which were laid in crouched positions and with their heads turned to the north: five skeletons of adult men, three of adult women, two of young women, seven of children and three of infants. The grave was oval in shape, 4 m long and 2.5 m wide. One side of the burial was lined with mammoth shoulder blades, the other with their jaws. The top of the grave was covered with a layer of stones 30-50 cm thick to protect it from destruction by predators. Archaeologists suggest that some group of ancient people used this grave for a long period, from time to time placing new deceased members of the clan group into it.

Other archaeological excavations provide a more complete picture of the beliefs of the people of this era. Some images painted by ancient people on the walls of caves are interpreted by scientists as figures of sorcerers. Drawings were found with people disguised as animals, as well as images of half-humans, half-animals, which allows us to conclude that there are elements of hunting magic and belief in werewolves. Among the figurines dating back to this era, there are many images of women. These figurines were called "Venus" in archeology. The faces, arms and legs of these figurines are not particularly pronounced, but, as a rule, the chest, belly, and hips are highlighted, i.e., the physical signs that characterize a woman. Scientists suggest that these female figures serve as a monument to some ancient cult associated with fertility. Many researchers do not doubt the religious nature of these beliefs.

So, according to archeology, only 30-40 thousand years ago ancient people began to have beliefs similar to the beliefs common among some modern peoples.

Science has accumulated a huge amount of material that allows us to identify the most characteristic beliefs of primitive society.

Let us first characterize them in general terms, that is, we will describe the main forms of primitive beliefs.

If we bring together the numerous data that archeology, anthropology, linguistics, folklore, ethnography and other sciences that study the early stages of the development of human society tell us, then we can identify the following main forms of beliefs of ancient people.

Fetishistic beliefs, or fetishism, - worship of individual objects and natural phenomena. This form of belief was called fetishism, and the objects that were worshiped were called fetishes, from the Portuguese word “fetiko” - “made”, “made”, this is how Portuguese sailors called the objects of worship of a number of African peoples.

Magical beliefs, or magic, - belief in the possibility, with the help of certain techniques, conspiracies, rituals, to influence objects and natural phenomena, the course of social life, and later the world of supernatural forces.

Totemistic beliefs, or totemism, - the belief that certain types of animals, plants, some material objects, as well as natural phenomena are the ancestors, ancestors, patrons of specific tribal groups. Such beliefs were called totemism in science, from the words “totem”, “ottotem” - “his kind”, taken from the language of one of the North American Indian tribes.

Animist beliefs, or animism, - belief in the existence of the soul and spirits (from the Latin word "anima" - "soul"). According to animist beliefs, the entire world around humans is inhabited by spirits, and every person, animal or plant has its own soul, a disembodied double.

Shamanistic beliefs, or shamanism, - beliefs according to which it is believed that certain people, shamans (the name of a sorcerer-witch doctor among many northern peoples) can, having brought themselves to a state of ecstasy, frenzy, directly communicate with spirits and use them to heal people from diseases, to ensure good hunting , catch, for making rain, etc.

Cult of nature- beliefs in which the main objects of worship are the spirits of various animals and plants, natural phenomena, celestial bodies: the sun, earth, moon.

Animatist beliefs, or animatism(from the Latin “animato” - “with soul”, “animated”) - beliefs in a special impersonal supernatural force that is diffused throughout the surrounding world and which can be concentrated in individual people (for example, in leaders), animals, objects.

Cult of patron ancestors- beliefs in which the main object of worship is the ancestors and their spirits, whose help can supposedly be enlisted by resorting to various rites and ceremonies.

Cult of tribal leaders- beliefs according to which community leaders, tribal leaders and leaders of tribal unions are endowed with supernatural properties. The main rituals and ceremonies in this cult are aimed at strengthening the power of the leaders, which supposedly should have a beneficial effect on the entire tribe.

Agricultural and pastoral cults, which develop with the separation of agriculture and cattle breeding into independent branches, are beliefs according to which the main objects of worship are spirits and supernatural beings - the patrons of livestock and agriculture, the givers of fertility.

As we see, the beliefs of the era of the primitive communal system were quite diverse and manifested themselves in various combinations. But they all have one common feature, according to which we classify them as beliefs that are close in nature to religion or are religious. In all these beliefs there is a moment of reverence for something supernatural, standing above the surrounding real world, dominating this world.

Ancient people worshiped material objects because they endowed them with supernatural properties. They revered animals because they felt they had a supernatural connection with these animals. Unable to really influence the elemental forces of nature, ancient man tried to influence them through witchcraft. Primitive people later endowed human consciousness and the human psyche with supernatural properties, representing it in the form of a soul independent of the body and controlling the body. The creation, with the help of fantasy, of a supernatural world placed above the real, natural world, was the result of the powerlessness and weakness of primitive man, suppressed by the elemental forces of nature.

In order to more clearly imagine the dependence of primitive people on nature, their powerlessness, it is best to turn to the life of modern peoples who are lagging behind in their development. Here is what, for example, the great Russian explorer of the Far North F. Wrangel wrote: “It is difficult to imagine to what extent hunger reaches among the local peoples, whose existence depends solely on chance. Often, from half the summer, people already feed on tree bark and skins, before which served as beds and clothing for them. A deer caught or hunted by chance is divided equally among members of the whole clan and eaten, in the full sense of the word, with bones and skin. Everything, even the entrails and crushed antlers and bones, is used for food, because something is needed. fill your hungry stomach."

Further, the scientist writes that during all the days of this wild hunger strike, people live only with the thought of a successful deer hunt, and finally this happy moment comes. The scouts bring good news: a herd of deer has been discovered on the other side of the river. “Joyful anticipation enlivened all the faces, and everything predicted an abundant harvest,” F. Wrangel continues his description. “But, to the horror of everyone, suddenly the sad, fatal news was heard: “The deer has staggered!” Indeed, we saw that the entire herd was probably frightened by the multitude of hunters, he moved away from the shore and disappeared into the mountains. Despair took the place of joyful hopes. The heart was breaking at the sight of the people suddenly deprived of all means to support their miserable existence. The picture of general despondency and despair was terrible. Women and children moaned loudly, wringing their hands. others threw themselves on the ground and with screams blew up the snow and earth, as if they were preparing a grave for themselves. The elders and fathers of the family stood silently, fixing lifeless gazes on those heights beyond which their hope had disappeared."

* (F. Wrangel. Travel along the northern shores of Siberia and the Arctic Sea, part II. St. Petersburg, 1841, pp. 105-106.)

This is a vivid picture of hopeless despair, fear of the future, painted by F. Wrangel, but here we are talking about modern people. Primitive man, with his pitiful tools of labor, was even weaker and more helpless in the face of nature.

Primitive man was an excellent hunter; he knew well the habits and habits of the animals he hunted. From a barely noticeable trail, he could easily determine which animal had passed here, in which direction and how long ago. Armed with a wooden club and a stone, he boldly entered into single combat with predators and set cunning traps for them.

And yet, the ancient man was hourly convinced that success in the hunt depended not only on his cunning and courage. Days of good fortune, and therefore relative prosperity, were followed by long hunger strikes. Suddenly, all the animals disappeared from the places in which he had recently hunted so successfully. Or, despite all his tricks, the animals bypassed his perfectly camouflaged traps, and fish disappeared for a long time in reservoirs. Gathering was also an unreliable support for life. At a time of year when the unbearable heat burned out all the vegetation, man did not find a single edible root or tuber in the petrified earth.

And suddenly the days of hunger strike also unexpectedly gave way to success in the hunt. The trees generously gave man ripe fruits, and he found many edible roots in the ground.

Primitive man could not yet understand the reasons for such changes in his existence. It begins to seem to him that there are some unknown, supernatural forces that influence both nature and his life. Thus, on the living tree of knowledge, as V.I. Lenin said, a barren flower arises - religious ideas.

Not counting on his own strength, not trusting his primitive tools, ancient man more and more often pinned his hopes on these mysterious forces, linking both his failures and his victories with them.

Of course, all of the listed forms of belief: the worship of objects, the veneration of animals and plants, witchcraft, and belief in the soul and spirits - are the product of long historical development. Science makes it possible to determine the earliest layers in the beliefs of primitive man.

As we have already said, at the earliest stages of development there was a lot of truth in man’s ideas about nature. Primitive man was a good hunter and well versed in the habits of animals. He knew which plant fruits were good for him. By making tools, he learned the properties and qualities of various materials. However, the low level of social practice, the primitiveness of the tools of labor, and the comparative poverty of experience determined that there was much that was incorrect and distorted in the ideas of ancient man about the world around him.

Not being able to understand some properties of objects or the essence of phenomena, not seeing the necessary real connections between them, ancient man often attributed false properties to them, establishing purely random, superficial connections between them in his mind. This was a delusion, but there was still no belief in the supernatural. We can say that such a distorted reflection of reality was a step towards religion, towards belief in the supernatural world, one of the origins of religion.

To clarify our thought, let us take the following example: primitive man, in his work and everyday life, was constantly faced with the fact of the transformation of some objects and phenomena into others. He has seen more than once how plants grow from seeds, chicks emerge from eggs, butterflies emerge from larvae, and fish emerge from eggs. From things that seemed at first glance inanimate, living organisms arose. Repeatedly, ancient man was faced with the facts of the transformation of water into ice or steam; he noted in his mind the movement of clouds, snow avalanches, falling stones from mountains, the flow of rivers, etc. It turned out that the inanimate world, like humans and animals, has the ability to movement. The line between a person and the objects of the surrounding world thus turned out to be fuzzy and vague.

Changing and transforming the objects of the surrounding world in accordance with his goals and needs, primitive man gradually began to endow them with other properties, to “remake” them in his consciousness and imagination. He began to endow natural phenomena and objects with the properties of living things; It seemed to him, for example, that not only a person or an animal could walk, but also rain, snow, that a tree “sees” a hunter sneaking through the forest, a rock lurking menacingly like an animal, etc.

One of man's early misconceptions about the world around him was the personification of nature, attributing to the inanimate world the properties of the living, often the properties of man himself.

Thousands of years separate us from this time. We know quite accurately, based on archaeological data, about the tools of labor of the ancient people of this era, about their way of life. But it is difficult for us to judge their consciousness with the same degree of accuracy. To some extent, ethnographic literature helps us imagine the spiritual world of ancient people.

The wonderful book of the great Soviet traveler and talented writer Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev “In the wilds of the Ussuri region” is widely known. Let us remind the reader about one of the heroes of this book - the brave hunter, brave guide of V.K. Arsenyev Dersu Uzala. He was a real son of nature, a subtle connoisseur of all the secrets of the Ussuri taiga, who perfectly understood its every rustle. But in this case, we are not interested in these qualities of Dersu Uzal, but in his views on the world, on nature, the life of which he felt so subtly.

V.K. Arsenyev writes that he was extremely struck by Dersu Uzal’s naive but firm conviction that all nature is something living. Once at a halt, says V.K. Arsenyev, “Dersu and I, as usual, were sitting and talking. A kettle forgotten on the fire persistently reminded us of its hissing. Dersu put it aside a little, but the kettle continued to hum. Dersu put it even further away Then the kettle began to sing in a thin voice.

Shout him! - said Dersu. - Thin people! - He jumped up and poured hot water on the ground.

How are "people"? - I asked him in bewilderment.

“Water,” he answered simply. - I can scream, I can cry, I can also play.

This primitive man spoke to me for a long time about his worldview. He saw the living force in the water, saw its quiet flow and heard its roar during floods.

Look,” said Dersu, pointing to the fire, “they are also people anyway.” *

* (VC. Arsenyev. In the wilds of the Ussuri region. M., 1949, p. 47.)

According to the descriptions of V.K. Arsenyev, in the ideas of Dersu Uzal, all the objects of the world around him were alive, or, as he called them in his language, they were “people”. Trees are “people”, hills are “people”, rocks are “people”, the thunderstorm of the Ussuri taiga - the tiger (in the Dersu language “amba”) is also “people”. But personifying nature, Dersu Uzala was not afraid of it. If necessary, he and his old single-barreled Berdan gun boldly entered into a duel with a tiger and emerged victorious.

It is impossible, of course, to completely identify these views of Dersu Uzal with the views of ancient man on the world, but apparently there is a lot in common between them. As has already been said, an incorrect explanation of reality is not yet a religion. At the stage of personification of nature, a person attributes properties that are not inherent to them to ordinary objects and phenomena. But, endowing natural objects with properties that are unnatural for them, imagining inanimate objects as living, a person does not yet worship them. Here, not only is there no worship of any supernatural forces hiding behind the world of real things, but there is also no idea of the existence of supernatural forces.

F. Engels, who dealt a lot with the problem of the origin of religion, pointed out in his works such origins of religion as the most ignorant, dark, primitive ideas of ancient people about their own and the external nature surrounding them (see cit., vol. 21, p. 313), identified the main stages in the formation of people’s views on the path to religion, and noted the personification of the forces of nature as one of these stages. The preparatory works for Anti-Dühring contain the following important thought of F. Engels: “The forces of nature appear to primitive man as something alien, mysterious, overwhelming. At a certain stage, through which all cultural peoples pass, he becomes familiar with them through personification.” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 20, p. 639.)

The personification of the forces of nature is undoubtedly one of the origins of religion. But here we should immediately make a reservation that not every personification is religious. Religious personification necessarily includes the idea of a supernatural world, supernatural forces that control the world around us. When the ancient Babylonian, personifying nature, subordinated it to the patron god of vegetation, Tammuz, this was already a religious personification. In the same way, when the ancient Greeks, personifying nature, attributed the entire plant cycle with its spring blossoming and autumn withering to the moods of the fertility goddess Demeter, who rejoiced at the return of her daughter Persephone from the dark kingdom of Hades and was sad when she left her, this was a religious personification.

The ancient people, at the early stages of personifying the forces of nature, most likely had no idea of the supernatural. Primitive man personified the world around him because his knowledge of nature was insignificant. The standards with which he approached the assessment of his surroundings were limited, and the comparisons were erroneous. Knowing himself best and observing those around him, he naturally transferred human properties not only to animals, but also to plants and even inanimate objects. And then the forest became alive, the babbling stream spoke, the animals began to be cunning. Such personification was incorrect, a distorted reflection of reality, but it was not yet religious. In the incorrect, distorted reflection of the surrounding world there was already hidden the possibility of the emergence of religion, or more precisely, of some of its elements. However, it was still a long time before this opportunity was realized.

When does this personification of nature acquire the features of religious ideas?

The matter apparently began with the fact that gradually ancient man began to endow real objects not only with qualities that were not inherent in them, but also with supernatural properties. In every object or natural phenomenon, he began to see fantastic forces on which, it seemed to him, his life, success or failure in hunting, etc. depended.

The first ideas about the supernatural were figurative, visual, almost tangible. The supernatural at this stage of development of human beliefs was not represented as an independent incorporeal being (spirit, god), things themselves were endowed with supernatural properties. In nature itself, its real objects and phenomena, ancient man saw something supernatural that had enormous, incomprehensible power over him.

The idea of the supernatural is a figment of the imagination of a person who is aware of his powerlessness before the forces of nature. However, it cannot be said that this fantasy has nothing to do with the real world. It distorts the actual connections of real objects, but the material for fantastic images is drawn by a person from the world around him. However, in these fantastic images, real objects and natural phenomena already lose their actual outlines. People say that “fear has big eyes.” The imagination of the ancient man was in the grip of fear, it worked under the influence of his powerlessness before the formidable, powerful nature, the laws of which he did not know, many of the most important properties of which he did not understand.

Ethnographic data also speaks of fear of the formidable forces of nature as one of the sources of primitive beliefs. One of the researchers of Eskimo beliefs, Knut Rasmussen, recorded interesting statements of one Eskimo: “And you cannot give reasons when we ask you: why is life the way it is? This is how it is, and this is how it should be. And all our customs lead we begin from life and enter into life; we don’t explain anything, we don’t think anything, but what I showed you contains all our answers: we are afraid!

We are afraid of the weather, which we must fight, tearing food from the earth and from the sea. We are afraid of want and hunger in cold snowy huts. We are afraid of the diseases that we see around us every day. We are not afraid of death, but of suffering. We are afraid of dead people...

That is why our ancestors armed themselves with all the old everyday rules, developed by the experience and wisdom of generations.

We don’t know, we don’t guess why, but we follow these rules so that we can live in peace. And we are so ignorant, despite all our spellcasters, that we are afraid of everything we do not know. We are afraid of what we see around us, and we are afraid of what legends and legends talk about. Therefore, we adhere to our customs and observe our taboos" * (prohibitions - V.Ch.).

* (K. Rasmussen. The Great Sleigh Road. M., 1958, pp. 82-83.)

Chained in the grip of fear, the consciousness of ancient man began to endow real objects with supernatural properties that for some reason caused fear. Researchers believe that, for example, poisonous plants were endowed with such supernatural properties. The similarity of the found stones, roots or branches with animals also made the imagination of the ancient man work. Noticing the similarity of the stone with the animal that was the main object of the hunt, a person could take this strange, unusual stone with him on the hunt. The coincidence of a successful hunt and this discovery could have led primitive man to the conclusion that this strange stone, similar to an animal, was the main reason for his luck. Success in a hunt was associated with a randomly found stone, which no longer became a simple object, but a miraculous object, a fetish, an object of worship.

Let's remember again about Neanderthal burials and warehouses of cave bear bones. As already mentioned, some scientists believe that Neanderthal burials indicate the emergence of people's belief in the soul and the afterlife. However, the emergence of ideas about the other world, an immortal soul separated from the body, requires a developed imagination, the ability to think abstractly, abstractly. Such beliefs, as we will see later, arise in later stages of the development of human society. Neanderthals' beliefs were much simpler. In this case, we are most likely dealing with the fact of endowing a corpse with some supernatural properties. We observe similar beliefs among some backward peoples. For example, among Australians, funeral customs were generated by a superstitious attitude towards the corpse, the belief that the deceased himself could cause harm. Apparently, the attitude towards the bones of cave bears was similar: they were considered fetishes that had the supernatural properties of being reborn into new bears, and “ensure” a successful hunt in the future.

The veneration of material objects is often found among modern peoples. For example, the power of sorcerers among the indigenous people of Australia is directly associated with the presence of shiny, sparkling stones in the sorcerer’s possession: the more of them, the stronger the sorcerer. Among many African peoples, hunters did not start hunting until they found a suitable object (fetish), which, in their opinion, alone could make the hunt successful. Not a single big trip was complete without preparing or searching for a fetish. Often, much more attention was paid to the search for such items than to preparing supplies for the road.

The main features of fetishism, its specificity, focus on satisfying sensual desires, the desire to endow an ordinary thing with supernatural properties were noted by K. Marx. In one of his articles, he wrote: “Fetishism is very far from elevating a person above his sensual lusts - on the contrary, it is "religion of sensual desires". A fantasy inflamed by lust creates in the fetishist the illusion that an “insensible thing” can change its natural properties just to satisfy his whim. Rough lust of a fetishist breaks therefore, his fetish when he ceases to be his most loyal servant." * This vivid and accurate description of K. Marx allows us to draw a conclusion about the social harm that belief in the supernatural carries. After all, at this stage of human development, the supernatural has not yet separated from consciousness from natural objects, but how much effort is already wasted, how dearly his illusions cost a person!

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 1, p. 98.)

In the last century, an entire “museum” of fetishes was discovered in one African sorcerer. There were more than 20 thousand “exhibits.” According to the sorcerer, each of these items at one time brought one benefit or another to either him or his ancestors.

What were these objects? Among the numerous “exhibits” of this strange “museum” was a pot of red clay, into which a rooster’s feather was stuck; wooden stakes wrapped in wool; parrot feathers, human hair. There was also a tiny chair in the “museum”, with an equally small mattress next to it. In this “museum”, collected through the efforts of many generations, the old sorcerer came to “look after” the fetishes, he cleaned them, washed them, at the same time begging for various favors from them. Researchers noticed that not all objects in this museum enjoyed the same worship - some were revered almost like real deities, others were given more modest honors.

This is an interesting detail. A fetish, a revered object, is like a deity for a moment. It is useful only for a certain purpose, only for certain purposes. The fetish is specific, it does not have absolute power, valid in any conditions.

While initially honoring material objects, primitive man did not divide them into main and non-main. But gradually, from a number of fetishes, the main ones, that is, the most “powerful” ones, begin to stand out.

In those distant times we are talking about here, a person’s life and his food supply largely depended on the success or failure of a hunt, on whether he would find enough fruits, tubers, and roots. This constant dependence on the animal and plant world gave rise to false, fantastic ideas and aroused the imagination of ancient man. Not knowing any other social relationships other than blood relations, ancient man transferred them to nature. He represented various species of animals and plants as peculiar clans and tribes, related to the tribes of people; often animals were considered by ancient people to be the ancestors of their tribe. In other words, each clan group believed in some kind of kinship with its ancestor, the totem.

As studies have shown, in the first place among totems were plants and animals useful to humans. Thus, in Australia, among the tribes living on the coast, more than 60 percent of all totems were fish or sea animals. Among the tribes living inland, such “water” totems were less than 8 percent.

Totems for Australians, as ethnographic data show, are not deities, but related and close creatures. When talking about them, Australians usually use the following expressions: “This is my father”, “This is my older brother”, “This is my friend”, “This is my flesh”. The feeling of kinship with the totem most often manifested itself in the prohibition of killing it and eating it.

The main ceremonies associated with totemistic beliefs among Australians were the rites of “reproduction” of totems. Usually once a year, at a certain time, a totem animal was killed. The community leader cut off pieces of meat and, giving them to community members, said to everyone: “This year you will eat a lot of meat.” Eating the meat of a totem animal was considered an introduction to the body of the ancestor of the progenitor; its properties were, as it were, transferred to its relatives.

Totemistic beliefs are clearly associated with a certain type of practice, work activity and social relations. Among the Australians, whose main occupation was hunting and gathering, and the main type of social relations were tribal ones, totemistic beliefs dominated. Among their neighboring Melanesians and Polynesians, who already knew agriculture and had livestock (i.e., to a certain extent, they dominated animals and plants) and were at various stages of decomposition of the primitive communal system, totemistic beliefs were preserved only as weak remnants. Man does not worship those objects and natural phenomena that he has known, mastered, and “conquered.”

Scientists have long been confused by the fact that among the ancestral totems there are not only animals and plants, but also inanimate objects, in particular minerals. Apparently, this is a trace of more ancient, fetishistic beliefs.

Thus, we see that the worship of animals and plants fantastically reflected the dependence of ancient man on the blind forces of nature and a certain type of social relations. With the further development of mankind, when gathering was replaced by agriculture, and hunting by the domestication of animals, the strength of the primitive collective increased, it moved further along the path of conquering nature, totemism began to occupy a secondary place in ancient beliefs.

Primitive man did not simply passively venerate fetishes and totems. He tried to force them to serve himself, to satisfy the needs and desires of people. Due to the extremely low level of material production and man's knowledge of the world around him and himself, helplessness before the blind, elemental forces of nature pushed him to compensate for this real powerlessness with the imaginary power of witchcraft, magical activity.

The veneration of material objects by ancient people was accompanied by various actions (fetishes were “looked after,” cleaned, fed, watered, etc.), as well as verbal requests and appeals to these objects. Gradually, on this basis, a whole system of witchcraft actions arises.

A significant part of witchcraft rituals was based on the belief of primitive man that the desired phenomenon could be caused by actions that imitate this phenomenon. For example, during a period of drought, wanting to cause rain, the sorcerer climbed onto the roof of his hut and poured water from a vessel onto the ground. It was believed that the rain would follow his example and irrigate the fields dying from drought. Some Australian tribes, before going to hunt a kangaroo, drew its image in the sand and pierced it with spears: they believed that this would ensure good luck during the hunt. Archaeological scientists have found on the walls of caves in which ancient people lived, images of animals - bears, bison, rhinoceroses, etc., struck by spears and darts. This is how ancient people “secured” their luck in the hunt. Belief in the supernatural power of witchcraft forced ancient people to spend a lot of energy and time performing meaningless magical rituals.

It is precisely this feature of magic that K. Marx’s vivid description refers to: “Weakness has always been saved by faith in miracles; it considered the enemy defeated if it managed to defeat him in its imagination...” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 8, p. 123.)

The magical belief in miracles, which originated in ancient times, entered as an important component of all religions. And modern clergy call on believers to hope for a miracle and perform magical rituals. For example, one of the main rites of Christianity - baptism - is permeated with magic. In the Orthodox Church, during this ritual, four prayers are read, which are called “incantatory” prayers; they serve, according to the assurances of Orthodox clergy, “to drive away the devil being baptized.” Other magical actions are also performed during baptism: the person being baptized and his successors (godfather and godmother) at a certain moment turn to the west (because the west is “the country where darkness appears, and Satan is the prince of darkness”), renounce Satan three times, confirming this renunciation by "breathing and spitting on the evil spirit." The custom of spitting on Satan is a relic of the beliefs of ancient people, who attributed witchcraft powers to saliva. During the sacrament of baptism, the baby's hair is cut and thrown into the font. There are also traces of the beliefs of an ancient man who believed that by donating his hair to the spirits, he entered into a closer connection with the world of supernatural forces. All of these are examples of witchcraft in a “God-given” religion, which in words vehemently opposes magic as a sign of “lower” “pagan” beliefs compared to Christianity.

Scientists had to put a lot of effort and energy in order to make clear the bizarre world of witchcraft beliefs of ancient man. Apparently, at a certain historical stage, manipulations over revered objects begin to be carried out in a strictly defined, “canonized” order. In this way there arises action magic. Verbal requests and appeals to objects endowed with supernatural properties turn into witchcraft conspiracies, spells - the magic of words. Researchers of magical beliefs identify several types of magic: harmful, military, love, healing, protective, fishing, meteorological.

At the early stages of the development of primitive beliefs, as already mentioned, man endowed real objects with supernatural properties. He did not separate the supernatural from nature. But gradually a person developed ideas about a certain second supernatural nature of things, complementing their actual natural nature. It seemed to him that in every object there was some kind of mysterious double of this object, that a mysterious force lived in it. Over time, this double is separated in the imagination of an ancient person from an object or phenomenon and becomes an independent force.

Ideas arise that behind every bush, mountain, stream, any object or phenomenon, invisible spirits are hidden, that a certain spiritual force - the soul - lurks in humans and animals. Apparently, the initial ideas about this double were very vague. This can be illustrated by examples of the responses of the natives of Nicaragua when asked questions relating to their beliefs. When asked what happens when people die, the natives answered: “When people die, something like a person comes out of their mouth. This creature goes to the place where the men and women are. It looks like a person, but does not die. Body remains in the ground."

Question. Do those who go there retain the same body, the same face, the same members as here on earth?

Answer. No, only the heart goes there.

Question. But when a person's heart is cut out during captive sacrifices, what happens?

Answer. It is not the heart itself that goes away, but what in the body gives people life, and this leaves the body when a person dies.

Gradually, these ideas about the mysterious double became more and more clear, and a belief in spirits and the soul arose. In order to more concretely imagine the process of formation of animistic beliefs among primitive people, let’s look at how some existing peoples imagine the soul and spirits. According to the testimony of the major polar explorer F. Nansen, the Eskimos believe that the soul is connected with breathing. Therefore, while treating a person, shamans breathed on the patient, trying to either heal his soul or breathe a new one into him. At the same time, despite the fact that the soul in the ideas of the Eskimos is endowed with the properties of materiality, physicality, it is thought of as an independent being, independent of the body, therefore it is believed that the soul can be lost, like a thing, and that sometimes shamans steal it. When a person goes on a long journey, the Eskimos believe, his soul remains at home, and this explains the homesickness.

Many peoples believe that in a dream a person’s soul leaves, and his body sleeps. Dreams are the nightly adventures of the soul, the double, but the human body does not participate in these adventures and continues to lie.

Among a number of peoples (Tasmanians, Algonquins, Zulus, Basuts), the word “soul” also means shadow. This suggests that at the early stages of its formation, the concept of “soul” among these peoples coincided with the concept of “shadow”. Other peoples (Koren, Papuans, Arabs, ancient Jews) had a different specific idea of the soul; it was associated with blood. In the languages of these peoples, the concepts of “soul” and “blood” were denoted by one word.

Perhaps the Greenlandic Eskimos had a particularly clear idea of the soul. They believed that fat people have fat souls, and skinny people have skinny souls. Thus, we see that through the ideas of many peoples about the soul, the most ancient understanding of it shines through as some completely material carrier of the vital forces of animals and plants, which was associated with blood, heart, breath, shadow, etc. Gradually, bodily, material properties in ideas about the soul disappeared and the soul became more and more subtle, ethereal, spiritual and finally turned into a completely ethereal spiritual being, independent and independent of the real, bodily world.

However, with the advent of ideas about an incorporeal soul, independent of the real world, separating from the flesh, the ancient man was faced with the question: if the soul can be separated from the flesh, can leave it, leave the bodily shell, then where does it go when a person dies, when does his body become a corpse?

With the emergence of beliefs in the soul, ideas about the afterlife began to form, which was usually depicted in the image of the earthly one.

Primitive people, who did not know class stratification, property inequality, exploitation and exploiters, imagined the other world to be the same for everyone. Initially, the idea of rewarding sinners for their sins and rewarding the righteous for their virtues was not associated with the afterlife. In the afterlife of ancient people there was no hell and heaven.

Subsequently, as animistic ideas developed, every somewhat significant natural phenomenon in the consciousness of primitive man received its own spirit. In order to appease the spirits and win them over to their side, people began to make sacrifices to them, often human ones. Thus, in ancient Peru, several boys and girls of ten years of age were sacrificed annually to the spirits of nature.

We examined the main forms of beliefs of people who lived in the era of the primitive communal system. Contrary to theological theories about the primordial belief in a single omnipotent God, contrary to the concept of primitive monotheism, it turns out that initially people revered crude material objects, animals, plants. The fantasy of ancient man, inflamed by fear of everything unknown, endowed natural objects and phenomena with supernatural properties. Then there appeared an equally blind faith in the soul, which can leave the body, ideas about spirits that hide behind any object, behind every natural phenomenon.

However, at this stage we do not yet see faith in the gods, and the supernatural world itself in the minds of ancient man has not yet separated from the real world. The natural and supernatural in these beliefs are very closely intertwined; the supernatural world is not presented as something independent, standing above nature and society. F. Engels gave a very accurate description of the content of the beliefs of ancient man of this period: “It was a cult of nature and the elements, which was on the path of development towards polytheism” *.

* (K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 21, p. 93.)

What place did these beliefs occupy in the life of primitive man? In those cases when a person could confidently rely on himself, on his own strength and knowledge, he did not turn to supernatural forces for help. But as soon as people in their life practice encountered something incomprehensible, on which their well-being and even life largely depended, they began to resort to witchcraft, spells, trying to enlist the support of supernatural forces.

It would therefore be completely wrong to assert that primitive man could not take a step without witchcraft, magic, shamans, etc. Quite the contrary, if ancient people relied on supernatural forces in everything, they would not have taken a step along the path of social progress. Work and the mind developing in work led man forward, helping him to understand nature and himself. Belief in the supernatural only prevented him from doing this.

The simplest forms of religious beliefs date back more than 40 thousand years, and it was in those distant times that the modern type of man appeared, who differed significantly from his predecessors, in other words, from his supposed predecessors, primarily in his physical structure, psychological and physiological characteristics.

But the most important difference between that man was that he was intelligent and capable of abstract thinking.

Primitive religions - totemism, magic, fetishism, animism, shamanism

The existence of an ancient and primitive religion has been known for a long time, as well as about a variety of religious movements and beliefs of that distant period of human history. This is evidenced at least by the burial practice of primitive people.

Archaeologists around the world have found evidence that people were buried in those distant times in specially prepared places. Let us even note that at the same time, the existing rituals and procedures for preparing the deceased for the afterlife were previously carried out.

The bodies of these people were covered with a certain layer, usually ocher, and weapons, household items, mainly household items, precious jewelry, etc. were placed next to them.

It is obvious that already in those distant times, the religious idea began to gradually take shape that the deceased continues to live after his death, that in parallel with the real and living world there is another world where the dead live.

At the early stage of the emergence of humanity, the belief in some forces, perhaps in religion, of people who once lived in primitive times, was perfectly reflected by their creativity - in the works of cave and rock paintings.

They were found in large numbers in Europe, in France and Italy. Most of these rock art are images of people and animals, hunting scenes and so on.

Analysis of rock and cave paintings gave scientists the opportunity to conclude that primitive man firmly believed in a special connection between himself and animals, as well as in the ability to control the behavior of animals using certain magical spells.

Finally, it is worth noting the fact that scientists have established that among people living in the primitive age, the veneration of a variety of objects and things was widespread, which, according to their conviction, should bring them good luck and protect them from danger.

Ancient religions of the world - Worship of nature

Religious beliefs and cults of primitive people developed gradually. The primary form of religion was the worship of nature.

The primitive peoples did not know the concept of “nature”; the object of their worship was the impersonal natural force, designated by the concept of “mana”.

Primitive religions of the world - Totemism

Totemism should be considered an early form of religious views.

Totemism is the belief in a fantastic, supernatural relationship between a tribe or clan and a totem (plant, animal, object).

Totemism is the belief in the existence of a family connection between a group of people (tribe, clan) and a certain species of animals or plants. Totemism was the first form of awareness of the unity of the human collective and its connection with the outside world.

The life of the clan was closely connected with certain types of animals that its members hunted.

Subsequently, within the framework of totemism, a whole system of prohibitions arose, which were called taboos. They represented an important mechanism for regulating social relations. Thus, the gender and age taboo excluded sexual relations between close relatives.

Food taboos strictly regulated the nature of the food that was supposed to go to the leader, warriors, women, old people and children. A number of other taboos were intended to guarantee the inviolability of the home or hearth, regulate the rules of burial, and fix positions in the group, the rights and responsibilities of members of the primitive collective.

One of the most ancient religions - Magic

Magic is one of the earliest forms of religion.

Magic is the belief that a person has supernatural power, which is manifested in magical rituals.

Magic is a belief that arose among primitive people in the ability to influence any natural phenomena through certain symbolic actions (incantations, spells, etc.).

Having appeared in ancient times, magic was preserved and successfully continued to develop for several thousand years. If initially magical ideas and rituals had a general direction, but later their transformation gradually took place.

Modern historians and specialists on this issue classify ancient magic according to the methods, focus and purposes of influence.

Types of magic in ancient religion

Types of magic by methods of influence:

Contact magic (direct interaction of the bearer of magical power with an object or subject to which the magical action is directed)

Initial magic (a magical act aimed at a distant object that is out of reach of the subject of magical activity);

Partial magic (indirect influence through cut hair, legs, leftover food, which in one way or another reaches the owner of magical power);

Imitation magic (impact on any semblance of a specific subject).

The types of ancient magic, according to their social orientation, methods and purposes of influence, are divided into:

Harmful magic (causing damage - causing damage to a person);

Military magic (a system of rituals designed to assist in ensuring victory over the enemy);

Love magic (aimed at increasing or decreasing sexual desire: lapel, love spell);

Healing magic (designed to heal a person or pet);;

Trade (industrial) magic (designed to ensure good luck in hunting or fishing);

Meteorological (weather) magic (helps change weather conditions);

Magic is sometimes called primitive science or ur-science, because it contained initial knowledge about the surrounding world and natural phenomena.

Among primitive people, an important role was played by the veneration of a variety of objects and things that were supposed to bring them good luck and protect them from troubles. This form of religious belief is called "fetishism".

The most ancient religions of the world - Fetishism

Fetishism is the belief that a certain object has supernatural powers.

Any object that captured a person’s imagination could become a fetish: a stone of an unusual shape, a piece of wood, an animal skull, a metal or clay product. This object was attributed properties that were not inherent to it (the ability to heal, protect from danger, help in hunting, etc.).

Most often, the object that became a fetish was chosen by trial and error. If after this choice a person managed to achieve success in practical activities, he believed that the fetish helped him in this, and kept it for himself.

If a person suffered any misfortune, then the fetish was thrown out, destroyed or replaced by another. This treatment of fetishes suggests that primitive people did not always treat the object they chose with due respect.

The most ancient primitive religions - Animism

When talking about early forms of religion, one cannot fail to mention animism.

Animism is the belief in the existence of souls and spirits.

Being at the initial stage of human development, primitive people at that time sought to provide themselves with protection from all sorts of misfortunes, some diseases, and the influence of natural phenomena. In those days, they endowed nature and the things and objects around them with something magical, on which a lot depended, for example, their existence.

They worshiped supernatural forces, personifying them as nothing other than the spirits of these things and subjects.

It was believed that all natural phenomena, objects and people have a soul. Souls could be evil and benevolent. Sacrifice was practiced in favor of these spirits. Belief in spirits, as well as in the existence of the soul, persists in the modern world, in all world religions.

Animistic beliefs are a very significant part of almost all religions of the world. Belief in spirits or evil spirits, as well as in the immortal soul - all these are modifications of the animistic ideas of the primitive life of mankind.

The same can be said of other early forms of religious belief. Some of them were assimilated by the religions that replaced them, others were pushed into the sphere of everyday superstitions and prejudices.

Ancient world religions - Shamanism

Shamanism is the belief that an individual (shaman) has supernatural powers.

Shamanism as an ancient religion appeared at a later stage of human development, when people already appeared who at that time had a special social status. Shamans were called upon to sacredly preserve the information they received, which had special significance for the clan or tribe where they lived.

The shaman knew how to perform an ancient ritual called ritual (a ritual with dances and songs, during which the shaman communicated with spirits). During the ritual, the shaman allegedly received instructions from the spirits about ways to solve a problem or treat the sick.

Elements of shamanism are present in modern religions. For example, priests are credited with a special power that allows them to turn to God.

In the early stages of human development, primitive forms of religious beliefs did not take place in their pure form. They intertwined with each other in the most bizarre forms.

It is for this reason that to raise the question of which of the forms of the most ancient religion of primitive man arose first, before some other, and which later, we will probably never know; it is simply, simply not possible, it is not realistic to establish accurately.

The considered forms of religious beliefs can be found among all peoples at the primitive stage of development. As social life becomes more complex, forms of cult become more diverse and require closer study.

Knowledge of nature developed the observation skills of ancient man. This allowed him to make many wonderful discoveries. People gradually learned to understand the plant world around them. They learned to distinguish beneficial plants from those that could cause harm. They began to eat many plants and learned the medicinal properties of some of them. Infusions, ointments, and decoctions were made from medicinal plants. Poisons were used to put fish to sleep, but they were mainly used to coat arrowheads.
Already in such a distant past, people were able to identify certain diseases and apply appropriate treatment methods. If necessary, they stopped the bleeding and even performed surgical operations, such as opening an abscess or removing a diseased tooth. In exceptional cases, diseased limbs could be amputated.
Hunting allowed me to learn a lot about the life of wild animals. People were well versed in the habits of animals; by their tracks they could determine their routes of movement. While hunting or gathering, people navigated the terrain. He learned this by observing the position of the Sun and stars in the sky.
The man knew how to measure distances. Long distances were measured in days of travel. In this case, a day was considered the period from sunrise to sunset. Smaller distances were measured by the flight of an arrow or spear. Very small - using various parts of the human body: foot, elbow, finger, nail.
Ideas about the world around us
Ancient man felt himself to be a part of nature. He was convinced of the existence of his connection with the animal and plant world. Therefore, the worship of certain species of animals and plants arose. The animal, which was considered the patron of the clan, was forbidden to kill and eat, and it could not be harmed in any way. The image of the patron of the clan was applied to weapons, household items, and the home was decorated with it.
Thunderstorms, the change of day and night, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and other natural phenomena were considered by primitive people as the activity of spirits. In their minds, spirits often had a humanoid appearance.
f Remember folk tales in which things, tools, plants are endowed with human qualities.

Primitive man believed that there were evil and good spirits in the world. The patronage of good spirits helps to cope with a serious illness and promotes successful hunting. Evil spirits can cause terrible disasters - fire, death and other misfortunes. You can call for the help of good spirits and avoid evil ones with the help of a gift, that is, making a sacrifice in their honor. The victim could be a killed animal, and sometimes even a person.

Buffalo. Bone carving. 13th millennium Stonehenge. England BC e. La Madeleine. France
Ancient people had their own explanation for death. In the Cro-Magnon burials found by archaeologists, the dead were laid in the position of a sleeping person. Their heads rested on a stone “pillow” or a bed of grass. Nearby were clothes, food, and jewelry. If the deceased was a hunter during his lifetime, hunting tools were located nearby. Excavations of burials indicate that the Cro-Magnons believed in an afterlife.
Primitive people believed in the powerful power of magic. It was believed that certain actions and words had magical powers, and the magical effect could be enhanced with the help of an amulet. An amulet, or amulet, is an object that protects a person from harm. For the hunt to be successful, a magical ritual was performed. At the same time, in their spells they turned to good spirits for help.
Only the shamans or sorcerers of the tribe knew mysterious, magical techniques. These were, as a rule, elderly people. They had more life experience than their relatives. They knew how to observe nature, knew signs, and used the medicinal properties of plants. Sorcerers, performing magical acts, gave practical advice to hunters and could provide assistance in case of illness. In the clan community and tribe, sorcerers were treated with great respect. Kindred thought that sorcerers were endowed with a special gift that allowed them to communicate with and influence spirits. Shamans were trusted to educate young people.
Primitive people did not have writing, so their understanding of the surrounding nature was passed on from generation to generation in the form of oral stories. This is how myths appeared - tales about heroes, gods, natural phenomena. For example, one of them said that the sun is a person who has two houses: on earth and in heaven. He makes a daily journey from one house to another.
Another myth spoke of a huge bird with giant wings. When it flies across the sky, terrible thunder is heard from the flapping of its wings, and when it blinks, lightning flashes. Through fantastic explanations of natural phenomena, primitive man sought to comprehend the world around him and understand his place in it.

How did the belief in the “soul” appear?

Primitive man did not understand what sleep was. In a dream, he saw people who were far from the place where he lived. He also saw those people who had not been alive for a long time. People explained dreams by saying that a “soul”—a “spirit”—lives in the body of every person. During sleep, she seems to leave her body, flies on the ground, and meets the “souls” of other people. With her return, the sleeper wakes up.

Death seemed to primitive man like a dream. It seemed to come because the “soul” was leaving the body. But people thought that the “soul” of the deceased remained close to the places where he lived before.

People believed that the “soul” of the deceased elder continued to take care of the clan, as he himself cared during life, and asked her for protection and help.

How people created gods

Primitive people thought that animals, plants, the sky, and the earth had a “soul” - a “spirit”. "Spirits" can be evil and good. They help or hinder hunting and cause illness in people and animals. The main “spirits” - the gods - control the forces of nature: they cause thunderstorms and wind, and it depends on them whether the sun will rise and whether spring will come.

Primitive man imagined the gods in the form of people or in the form of animals. Just as a hunter throws a spear, so the god of the sky throws a fiery lightning spear. But a spear thrown by a man flies several dozen steps, and lightning crosses the entire sky. The god of the wind blows, just like a man, but with such force that he breaks centuries-old trees, raises a storm and sinks boats. Therefore, it seemed to people that although the gods were similar to man, they were much stronger and more powerful than him.

Belief in gods and “spirits” is called religion. It arose several tens of thousands of years ago.

Prayers and sacrifices

Hunters asked the gods to send them luck in the hunt, fishermen asked for calm weather and a plentiful catch. Farmers asked God to grow a good harvest.

The ancient people carved a crude image of a person or animal from wood or stone and believed that God inhabited it. Such images of gods are called idols.

To earn the mercy of the gods, people prayed to idols, bowed humbly to the ground and brought gifts - sacrifices. Domestic animals, and sometimes even humans, were slaughtered in front of the idol. The lips of the idol were smeared with blood as a sign that the god accepted the sacrifice.

Religion brought great harm to primitive people. She explained everything that happened in people’s lives and in nature by the will of the gods and spirits. By this she prevented people from looking for the correct explanation of natural phenomena. In addition, people killed many animals and even people, sacrificing them to the gods.