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An Introduction to the Worship Nature | Frazer, James George | ISBN: 9781425311308 | Kostenloser Versand für alle Bücher mit Versand und Verkauf duch Amazon.
- Taschenbuch
- Overview
- Nature as a sacred totality
nature worship, system of religion based on the veneration of natural phenomena—for example, celestial objects such as the sun and moon and terrestrial objects such as water and fire.
In the history of religions and cultures, nature worship as a definite and complex system of belief or as a predominant form of religion has not been well documented. Among the indigenous peoples of many countries, the concept of nature as a totality is unknown; only individual natural phenomena—e.g., stars, rain, and animals—are comprehended as natural objects or forces that influence them and are thus in some way worthy of being venerated or placated. Nature as an entity in itself, in contrast with human society and culture or even with God, is a philosophical or poetic conception that has been developed among advanced civilizations. This concept of nature worship, therefore, is limited primarily to scholars involved in or influenced by the modern (especially Western) study of religion.
To students of religion, the closest example of what may be termed nature worship is perhaps most apparent in ancient cultures in which there is a high god as the lord in heaven who has withdrawn from the immediate details of the governing of the world. This kind of high god—the deus otiosus, Latin for “hidden, or idle, god”—is one who has delegated all work on earth to what are called “nature spirits,” which are the forces or personifications of the forces of nature. High gods exist, for example, in such indigenous religions on Africa’s west coast as that of the Dyola of Guinea. In such religions the human spiritual environment is functionally structured by means of personified natural powers, or nature spirits.
Pantheism (a belief system in which God is equated with the forces of the universe) or Deism (a belief system based on a nonintervening creator of the universe), as was advocated in the rationalistic philosophy of religion of western Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, is not appropriate in studies of nature worship in preliterate cultures. Worship of nature as an omnipotent entity, in the pantheistic sense, has not as yet been documented anywhere.
The power or force within nature that has most often been venerated, worshiped, or held in holy awe is mana. Often designated as “impersonal power” or “supernatural power,” the term mana used by Polynesians and Melanesians was appropriated by 19th-century Western anthropologists and applied to that which affected the common processes of nature. Mana was conceptually linked to North American Indian terms that conveyed the same or similar notions—e.g., orenda of the Iroquois, wakan of the Dakotas, and manitou of the Algonquin. Neither “impersonal power” nor “supernatural power” implies the true meaning of mana, however, because mana usually issues from persons or is used by them, and the concept of a supernatural sphere as distinct or separate from a natural sphere is seldom recognized by the peoples who use the term.
Thus, a better designation for mana is “super force” or “extraordinary efficiency.” A person who has mana is successful, fortunate, and demonstrates extraordinary skill—e.g., as an artisan, warrior, or chief. Mana can also be obtained from the atuas (gods), provided that they themselves possess it. Derived from a root term that has aristocratic connotations, mana corresponds to Polynesian social classifications. The ariki, or alii, the nobility of Polynesia, have more mana than commoners, and both their land and the insignia associated with them have mana. Besides areas and symbolic elements that are associated with the ariki, many objects and animals having special relationships with chiefs, warriors, or priests have mana.
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
4. Okt. 2023 · Nature Worship and Nature-Based Spirituality are two distinct belief systems that revolve around humanity’s relationship with the natural world. While they share a connection to nature, they differ significantly in their core principles and practices.
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- Paperback
- James George Frazer
Nature worship also called naturism or physiolatry is any of a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature.
9. März 2022 · The worship of nature, Volume I by Frazer, James George, 1854-1941. Publication date 1926 Topics Nature worship Publisher New York : Macmillan Collection Princeton; americana Contributor Princeton Theological Seminary Library Language En ...
As Lawrence Sullivan concluded in a broad comparative review of nature-related religiosity in "Worship of Nature" in this encyclopedia, there are diverse examples of the worship of nature in the history of religion.
