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E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F
RELIGION
S E C O N D E D I T I O N

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E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F
RELIGION
S E C O N D E D I T I O N
9
MARY
LINDSAY JONES
•
EDITOR IN CHIEF
NDEMBU
RELIGION
eorel_fm 3/2/05 8:36 AM Page iv
Encyclopedia of Religion, Second Edition
Lindsay Jones, Editor in Chief
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Encyclopedia of religion / Lindsay Jones, editor in chief.— 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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(v. 14) — ISBN 0-02-865984-8 (v. 15)
1. RELIGION—ENCYCLOPEDIAS. I. JONES, LINDSAY,
1954-
BL31.E46 2005
200’.3—dc22
2004017052
This title is also available as an e-book.
ISBN 0-02-865997-X
Contact your Thomson Gale representative for ordering information.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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E D I T O R S A N D C O N S U L T A N T S
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Program in Religious Studies,
SIGMA ANKRAVA
LINDSAY JONES
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Professor, Department of Literary and
Associate Professor, Department of
C
Cultural Studies, Faculty of Modern
HARLES H. LONG
Comparative Studies, Ohio State
Professor of History of Religions,
Languages, University of Latvia
University
Baltic Religion and Slavic Religion
Emeritus, and Former Director of
Research Center for Black Studies,
DIANE APOSTOLOS-CAPPADONA
BOARD MEMBERS
University of California, Santa Barbara
Center for Muslim–Christian
DAVÍD CARRASCO
Understanding and Liberal Studies
MARY N. MACDONALD
Neil Rudenstine Professor of Study of
Program, Georgetown University
Professor, History of Religions, Le
Latin America, Divinity School and
Art and Religion
Moyne College (Syracuse, New York)
Department of Anthropology, Harvard
DIANE BELL
DALE B. MARTIN
University
Professor of Anthropology and Women’s
Professor of Religious Studies, and
Studies, George Washington University
GIOVANNI CASADIO
Chair, Department of Religious
Australian Indigenous Religions
Professor of History of Religions,
Studies, Yale University
Dipartimento di Scienze
KEES W. BOLLE
AZIM NANJI
Professor Emeritus of History,
dell’Antichità, Università degli Studi
Professor and Director, The Institute
University of California, Los Angeles,
di Salerno
of Ismaili Studies, London
and Fellow, Netherlands Institute for
WENDY DONIGER
JACOB OLUPONA
Advanced Studies in the Humanities
Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service
Professor, African American and
and Social Sciences
Professor of the History of Religions,
African Studies Program, University
History of Religions
University of Chicago
of California, Davis
MARK CSIKSZENTMIHALYI
GARY L. EBERSOLE
MICHAEL SWARTZ
Associate Professor in the Department
Professor of History and Religious
Professor of Hebrew and Religious
of East Asian Languages and
Studies, and Director, UMKC Center
Studies, Ohio State University
Literature and the Program in
for Religious Studies, University of
Religious Studies, University of
INÉS TALAMANTEZ
Missouri—Kansas City
Wisconsin—Madison
Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Chinese Religions
JANET GYATSO
Department, University of California,
RICHARD A. GARDNER
Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies,
Santa Barbara
Faculty of Comparative Culture,
The Divinity School, Harvard
Sophia University
University
CONSULTANTS
Humor and Religion
GREGORY D. ALLES
CHARLES HALLISEY
Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
JOHN A. GRIM
Associate Professor, Department of
McDaniel College
Professor of Religion, Bucknell
Languages and Cultures of Asia and
Study of Religion
University and Co-Coordinator,
v
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vi
EDITORS AND CONSULTANTS
Harvard Forum on Religion and
TED PETERS
Religion, University of Chicago
Ecology
Professor of Systematic Theology,
Law and Religion
Ecology and Religion
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
TOD SWANSON
JOSEPH HARRIS
and the Center for Theology and the
Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
Francis Lee Higginson Professor of
Natural Sciences at the Graduate
and Director, Center for Latin
English Literature and Professor of
Theological Union, Berkeley,
American Studies, Arizona State
Folklore, Harvard University
California
University
Germanic Religions
Science and Religion
South American Religions
URSULA KING
FRANK E. REYNOLDS
MARY EVELYN TUCKER
Professor Emerita, Senior Research
Professor of the History of Religions
Professor of Religion, Bucknell
Fellow and Associate Member of the
and Buddhist Studies in the Divinity
University, Founder and Coordinator,
Institute for Advanced Studies,
School and the Department of South
University of Bristol, England, and
Asian Languages and Civilizations,
Harvard Forum on Religion and
Professorial Research Associate, Centre
Emeritus, University of Chicago
Ecology, Research Fellow, Harvard
for Gender and Religions Research,
History of Religions
Yenching Institute, Research Associate,
School of Oriental and African
GONZALO RUBIO
Harvard Reischauer Institute of
Studies, University of London
Assistant Professor, Department of
Japanese Studies
Gender and Religion
Classics and Ancient Mediterranean
Ecology and Religion
DAVID MORGAN
Studies and Department of History
HUGH B. URBAN
Duesenberg Professor of Christianity
and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania
Associate Professor, Department of
and the Arts, and
State University
Comparative Studies, Ohio State
Professor of Humanities and Art
Ancient Near Eastern Religions
University
History, Valparaiso University
SUSAN SERED
Politics and Religion
Color Inserts and Essays
Director of Research, Religion, Health
CATHERINE WESSINGER
JOSEPH F. NAGY
and Healing Initiative, Center for the
Professor of the History of Religions
Professor, Department of English,
Study of World Religions, Harvard
and Women’s Studies, Loyola
University of California, Los Angeles
University, and Senior Research
University New Orleans
Celtic Religion
Associate, Center for Women’s Health
New Religious Movements
M
and Human Rights, Suffolk University
ATTHEW OJO
Healing, Medicine, and Religion
R
Obafemi Awolowo University
OBERT A. YELLE
African Religions
LAWRENCE E. SULLIVAN
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, University
of Toronto
J
Professor, Department of Theology,
UHA PENTIKÄINEN
Law and Religion
Professor of Comparative Religion, The
University of Notre Dame
History of Religions
University of Helsinki, Member of
ERIC ZIOLKOWSKI
Academia Scientiarum Fennica,
WINNIFRED FALLERS SULLIVAN
Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious
Finland
Dean of Students and Senior Lecturer
Studies, Lafayette College
Arctic Religions and Uralic Religions
in the Anthropology and Sociology of
Literature and Religion
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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A B B R E V I A T I O N S A N D S Y M B O L S
U S E D I N T H I S W O R K
abbr. abbreviated; abbreviation
3 Bar. 3 Baruch
2 Chr. 2 Chronicles
abr. abridged; abridgment
4 Bar. 4 Baruch
Ch. Slav. Church Slavic
AD anno Domini, in the year of the
B.B. BavaD batraD
cm centimeters
(our) Lord
BBC British Broadcasting
col. column (pl., cols.)
Afrik. Afrikaans
Corporation
Col. Colossians
AH anno Hegirae, in the year of the
BC before Christ
Colo. Colorado
Hijrah
BCE before the common era
comp. compiler (pl., comps.)
Akk. Akkadian
B.D. Bachelor of Divinity
Conn. Connecticut
Ala. Alabama
Beits. Beitsah
cont. continued
Alb. Albanian
Bekh. Bekhorot
Copt. Coptic
Am. Amos
Beng. Bengali
1 Cor. 1 Corinthians
AM ante meridiem, before noon
Ber. Berakhot
2 Cor. 2 Corinthians
amend. amended; amendment
Berb. Berber
corr. corrected
annot. annotated; annotation
Bik. Bikkurim
C.S.P. Congregatio Sancti Pauli,
Ap. Apocalypse
bk. book (pl., bks.)
Congregation of Saint Paul
Apn. Apocryphon
B.M. BavaD metsiEaD
(Paulists)
app. appendix
BP before the present
d. died
Arab. Arabic
B.Q. BavaD qammaD
D Deuteronomic (source of the
EArakh. EArakhin
Bra¯h. Bra¯hman.a
Pentateuch)
Aram. Aramaic
Bret. Breton
Dan. Danish
Ariz. Arizona
B.T. Babylonian Talmud
D.B. Divinitatis Baccalaureus,
Ark. Arkansas
Bulg. Bulgarian
Bachelor of Divinity
Arm. Armenian
Burm. Burmese
D.C. District of Columbia
art. article (pl., arts.)
c. circa, about, approximately
D.D. Divinitatis Doctor, Doctor of
AS Anglo-Saxon
Calif. California
Divinity
Asm. Mos. Assumption of Moses
Can. Canaanite
Del. Delaware
Assyr. Assyrian
Catal. Catalan
Dem. DemaDi
A.S.S.R. Autonomous Soviet Socialist
CE of the common era
dim. diminutive
Republic
Celt. Celtic
diss. dissertation
Av. Avestan
cf. confer, compare
Dn. Daniel
EA.Z. EAvodah zarah
Chald. Chaldean
D.Phil. Doctor of Philosophy
b. born
chap. chapter (pl., chaps.)
Dt. Deuteronomy
Bab. Babylonian
Chin. Chinese
Du. Dutch
Ban. Bantu
C.H.M. Community of the Holy
E Elohist (source of the Pentateuch)
1 Bar. 1 Baruch
Myrrhbearers
Eccl. Ecclesiastes
2 Bar. 2 Baruch
1 Chr. 1 Chronicles
ed. editor (pl., eds.); edition; edited by
vii
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viii
ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
EEduy. EEduyyot
Hung. Hungarian
Lith. Lithuanian
e.g. exempli gratia, for example
ibid. ibidem, in the same place (as the
Lk. Luke
Egyp. Egyptian
one immediately preceding)
LL Late Latin
1 En. 1 Enoch
Icel. Icelandic
LL.D. Legum Doctor, Doctor of Laws
2 En. 2 Enoch
i.e. id est, that is
Lv. Leviticus
3 En. 3 Enoch
IE Indo-European
m meters
Eng. English
Ill. Illinois
m. masculine
enl. enlarged
Ind. Indiana
M.A. Master of Arts
Eph. Ephesians
intro. introduction
Ma Eas. MaEaserot
EEruv. EEruvin
Ir. Gael. Irish Gaelic
Ma Eas. Sh. MaE aser sheni
1 Esd. 1 Esdras
Iran. Iranian
Mak. Makkot
2 Esd. 2 Esdras
Is. Isaiah
Makh. Makhshirin
3 Esd. 3 Esdras
Ital. Italian
Mal. Malachi
4 Esd. 4 Esdras
J Yahvist (source of the Pentateuch)
Mar. Marathi
esp. especially
Jas. James
Mass. Massachusetts
Est. Estonian
Jav. Javanese
1 Mc. 1 Maccabees
Est. Esther
Jb. Job
2 Mc. 2 Maccabees
et al. et alii, and others
Jdt. Judith
3 Mc. 3 Maccabees
etc. et cetera, and so forth
Jer. Jeremiah
4 Mc. 4 Maccabees
Eth. Ethiopic
Jgs. Judges
Md. Maryland
EV English version
Jl. Joel
M.D. Medicinae Doctor, Doctor of
Ex. Exodus
Jn. John
Medicine
exp. expanded
1 Jn. 1 John
ME Middle English
Ez. Ezekiel
2 Jn. 2 John
Meg. Megillah
Ezr. Ezra
3 Jn. 3 John
Me Eil. MeEilah
2 Ezr. 2 Ezra
Jon. Jonah
Men. Menah.ot
4 Ezr. 4 Ezra
Jos. Joshua
MHG Middle High German
f. feminine; and following (pl., ff.)
Jpn. Japanese
mi. miles
fasc. fascicle (pl., fascs.)
JPS Jewish Publication Society trans-
Mi. Micah
fig. figure (pl., figs.)
lation (1985) of the Hebrew Bible
Mich. Michigan
Finn. Finnish
J.T. Jerusalem Talmud
Mid. Middot
fl. floruit, flourished
Jub. Jubilees
Minn. Minnesota
Fla. Florida
Kans. Kansas
Miq. MiqvaDot
Fr. French
Kel. Kelim
MIran. Middle Iranian
frag. fragment
Ker. Keritot
Miss. Mississippi
ft. feet
Ket. Ketubbot
Mk. Mark
Ga. Georgia
1 Kgs. 1 Kings
Mo. Missouri
Gal. Galatians
2 Kgs. 2 Kings
MoEed Q. MoEed qat.an
Gaul. Gaulish
Khois. Khoisan
Mont. Montana
Ger. German
Kil. Kil Dayim
MPers. Middle Persian
Git.. Git.t.in
km kilometers
MS. manuscriptum, manuscript (pl.,
Gn. Genesis
Kor. Korean
MSS)
Gr. Greek
Ky. Kentucky
Mt. Matthew
H
. ag. H
. agigah
l. line (pl., ll.)
MT Masoretic text
H
. al. H
. allah
La. Louisiana
n. note
Hau. Hausa
Lam. Lamentations
Na. Nahum
Hb. Habakkuk
Lat. Latin
Nah. Nahuatl
Heb. Hebrew
Latv. Latvian
Naz. Nazir
Heb. Hebrews
L. en Th. Licencié en Théologie,
N.B. nota bene, take careful note
Hg. Haggai
Licentiate in Theology
N.C. North Carolina
Hitt. Hittite
L. ès L. Licencié ès Lettres, Licentiate
n.d. no date
Hor. Horayot
in Literature
N.Dak. North Dakota
Hos. Hosea
Let. Jer. Letter of Jeremiah
NEB New English Bible
H
. ul. H
. ullin
lit. literally
Nebr. Nebraska
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ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
ix
Ned. Nedarim
pop. population
sp. species (pl., spp.)
Neg. Nega Eim
Port. Portuguese
Span. Spanish
Neh. Nehemiah
Prv. Proverbs
sq. square
Nev. Nevada
Ps. Psalms
S.S.R. Soviet Socialist Republic
N.H. New Hampshire
Ps. 151 Psalm 151
st. stanza (pl., ss.)
Nid. Niddah
Ps. Sol. Psalms of Solomon
S.T.M. Sacrae Theologiae Magister,
N.J. New Jersey
pt. part (pl., pts.)
Master of Sacred Theology
Nm. Numbers
1Pt. 1 Peter
Suk. Sukkah
N.Mex. New Mexico
2 Pt. 2 Peter
Sum. Sumerian
no. number (pl., nos.)
Pth. Parthian
supp. supplement; supplementary
Nor. Norwegian
Q hypothetical source of the synoptic
Sus. Susanna
n.p. no place
Gospels
s.v. sub verbo, under the word (pl.,
n.s. new series
Qid. Qiddushin
s.v.v.)
N.Y. New York
Qin. Qinnim
Swed. Swedish
Ob. Obadiah
r. reigned; ruled
Syr. Syriac
O.Cist. Ordo Cisterciencium, Order
Rab. Rabbah
Syr. Men. Syriac Menander
of Cîteaux (Cistercians)
rev. revised
TaE an. TaEanit
OCS Old Church Slavonic
R. ha-Sh. RoDsh ha-shanah
Tam. Tamil
OE Old English
R.I. Rhode Island
Tam. Tamid
O.F.M. Ordo Fratrum Minorum,
Rom. Romanian
Tb. Tobit
Order of Friars Minor
Rom. Romans
T.D. Taisho¯ shinshu¯ daizo¯kyo¯, edited
(Franciscans)
R.S.C.J. Societas Sacratissimi Cordis
by Takakusu Junjiro¯ et al.
OFr. Old French
Jesu, Religious of the Sacred Heart
(Tokyo,1922–1934)
Ohal. Ohalot
RSV Revised Standard Version of the
Tem. Temurah
OHG Old High German
Bible
Tenn. Tennessee
OIr. Old Irish
Ru. Ruth
Ter. Terumot
OIran. Old Iranian
Rus. Russian
T
. ev. Y. T
. evul yom
Okla. Oklahoma
Rv. Revelation
Tex. Texas
ON Old Norse
Rv. Ezr. Revelation of Ezra
Th.D. Theologicae Doctor, Doctor of
O.P. Ordo Praedicatorum, Order of
San. Sanhedrin
Theology
Preachers (Dominicans)
S.C. South Carolina
1 Thes. 1 Thessalonians
OPers. Old Persian
Scot. Gael. Scottish Gaelic
2 Thes. 2 Thessalonians
op. cit. opere citato, in the work cited
S.Dak. South Dakota
Thrac. Thracian
OPrus. Old Prussian
sec. section (pl., secs.)
Ti. Titus
Oreg. Oregon
Sem. Semitic
Tib. Tibetan
EOrl. EOrlah
ser. series
1 Tm. 1 Timothy
O.S.B. Ordo Sancti Benedicti, Order
sg. singular
2 Tm. 2 Timothy
of Saint Benedict (Benedictines)
Sg. Song of Songs
T. of 12 Testaments of the Twelve
p. page (pl., pp.)
Sg. of 3 Prayer of Azariah and the
Patriarchs
P Priestly (source of the Pentateuch)
Song of the Three Young Men
T
. oh. t.ohorot
Pa. Pennsylvania
Shab. Shabbat
Tong. Tongan
Pahl. Pahlavi
Shav. ShavuEot
trans. translator, translators; translated
Par. Parah
Sheq. Sheqalim
by; translation
para. paragraph (pl., paras.)
Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles
Turk. Turkish
Pers. Persian
Sind. Sindhi
Ukr. Ukrainian
Pes. Pesahim
Sinh. Sinhala
Upan. Upanis.ad
Ph.D. Philosophiae Doctor, Doctor
Sir. Ben Sira
U.S. United States
of Philosophy
S.J. Societas Jesu, Society of Jesus
U.S.S.R. Union of Soviet Socialist
Phil. Philippians
(Jesuits)
Republics
Phlm. Philemon
Skt. Sanskrit
Uqts. Uqtsin
Phoen. Phoenician
1 Sm. 1 Samuel
v. verse (pl., vv.)
pl. plural; plate (pl., pls.)
2 Sm. 2 Samuel
Va. Virginia
PM post meridiem, after noon
Sogd. Sogdian
var. variant; variation
Pol. Polish
Sot.. Sot.ah
Viet. Vietnamese
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ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
viz. videlicet, namely
Yad. Yadayim
* hypothetical
vol. volume (pl., vols.)
Yev. Yevamot
? uncertain; possibly; perhaps
Vt. Vermont
Yi. Yiddish
° degrees
Wash. Washington
Yor. Yoruba
+ plus
Wel. Welsh
Zav. Zavim
– minus
Wis. Wisconsin
Zec. Zechariah
= equals; is equivalent to
Wis. Wisdom of Solomon
Zep. Zephaniah
× by; multiplied by
W.Va. West Virginia
Zev. Zevah.im
→ yields
Wyo. Wyoming
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N


v o l u m e n i n e
f f i c a c i oEuFF sIC ACIOUS IMAGES
eimages
As odd or superstitious as it may appear to a scientific, secu-
lar view of nature, many religious images and objects are
capable of great efficacy and able to protect against evil or misfortune, promote
prosperity, heal illness, prompt fecundity, communicate favorably with the dead,
or secure divine blessing. In fact, it may even be that such purposes constitute the
greatest occasion for images in religious life. The reasons for attributing this kind
of power to images or sculptures are as diverse as the psychological and sociologi-
cal models for explaining their appeal. To those engaged
in the visual practices of efficacious images, the reason
is probably straightforward: properly crafted and con-
secrated, images are connected by virtue of tradition,
ritual, and likeness to the realities to which they refer.
They direct devotion, petition, and desire toward their
intended end. And when that end is not achieved, it is not
due to the failure of the image as a metaphysical device,
but to the inappropriate ritual preparation of the image
or the petitioner, or to the intervention of another will,
human or divine. Even failure affirms the cultural system
of efficacy—in the same way that a failed bridge does not
move people in an industrial society to scrap bridge-mak-
ing, but to reapply the principles of engineering and the
methods of construction to create a more reliable bridge.
The horrific appearance of the Hindu goddess Kālī
in the sculptural relief shown here (a) does not generate
fear or revulsion toward the goddess among the faithful
who bring their petitions and children before the image.
Her fearsome countenance and brutal disemboweling
of a figure actually suggest her vicious treatment of the
evil afflicting those brought to her for healing, who will
(a) A family views a sculpture of Kālī, a Hindu goddess, Kaalo
Bhairab, Kathmandu, Nepal. [©Macduff Everton/Corbis]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
receive from her the strength she expends against the
violated figure of evil upon which she stands. Likewise,
the angry intensity of a wooden figure placed on the
gable of a home in New Zealand (b) was not meant
to deter family or friends from entering the home, but
malicious spirits. Images charged with such tasks do so
by communicating their intention and function to their
human users in a routine of efficacy in which intention
performs an important role. The medium of their effi-
cacy is thought and feeling. Their very presence affirms
the cultural logic of an entire way of life as the objects
are viewed daily by their users and their neighbors.

Images are used for a great variety of purposes.
Neolithic peoples in northern Europe probably used
hand-held fertility figures like the so-called Venus of
Willendorf (c) to enhance fecundity or secure safe child-
(b) LEFT. Gable figure used to thwart malicious spirits and
protect inhabitants of the house, c. eighteenth century, carved
wood, shell, human teeth, traces of red pigment, New Zealand.
[Masco Collection; photograph by Dirk Baker] (c) BELOW. Venus of
Willendorf, a hand-held female fertility figure, c. 28,000–25,000
bce, carved limestone. Willendorf, Austria. [©Archivo Iconografico,
S.A./Corbis]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
birth. Ancient Egyptians had themselves buried with
small ceramic or wooden figures called shawabtis (d),
which in the afterlife provided necessary service with
food production and preparation. They were incised
with magical formulae and hieroglyphics that identified
their purpose and ownership. Some Jews and Muslims
use the emblematic figure of a hand—called hamsa in
Hebrew (e) and Arabic for “five,” often with scriptural
texts inscribed on them—to shield them from the perni-
cious gaze of the evil eye. The origin of the hamsa pre-
(d) RIGHT. Ushebti statue of Tshahorpata, chief of the
conjurors of the goddess Sekhmet, faience, c. fourth century bce.
[©Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.] (e) BELOW. Jewish hamsa amu-
lets, used as shields against evil, nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, silver, enamel, silver on
brass. [©The Jewish Museum, N.Y./Art Resource, N.Y.]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
dates both Judaism and Islam. In Hawai’i, figures were
erected in male lodges for the purpose of protection (f ).

Other images operate primarily as the means of
directing petitions to divine forces or ancestors. For
example, throughout India and among Hindus around
the world, Gan.eśa (g) is a favorite resource for overcoming
obstacles associated with any aspect of life. In a like man-
ner, practitioners of Santería create altars to the orishas, or
deities whom they worship, such as the one shown here
(h). Roman Catholics direct their petitions to Saint Jude.
Buddhists in Thailand and elsewhere apply gold leaf to
sculptures of the Buddha (i) as acts of personal devotion
and prayer that can solicit a portion of the Buddha’s merit.
Thai Buddhists hope that such a favorable karmic act will
generate a beneficial consequence in this life or higher
(f ) LEFT. Carved aumakua image, a Hawaiian deity of per-
sonal protection, found in 1917, wood, Maui. [Masco Collection;
photograph by Dirk Baker] (g) BELOW. Dancing Gan.eśa, Hindu
remover of obstacles, tenth century, carved stone. [©Philadelphia
Museum of Art/Corbis]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
(h) ABOVE. Santería altar in Havana, Cuba. [©Robert van der
Hilst/Corbis] (i) LEFT. Buddhists apply gold leaf to statues of the
Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand. [©Nik Wheeler/Corbis]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
rebirth in the next. Tibetan Buddhists make use of prayer
wheels (j), which generate prayers at a multiplied rate as
they are spun by the faithful. In addition to these uses,
images serve as devices for directing influence (malicious
or benevolent) toward another. A Congolese charm or
spirit container (k), for example, is a receptacle invested
with items belonging to a petitioner or those of a targeted
party and charged with the task of exerting influence.

Images are often made and used to assist with burial,
memorial, and grief. Nineteenth-century American par-
ents often had postmortem photographs made of their
children. One of these is paired here with a photograph
(j) ABOVE. Buddhist pilgrims in Lhasa, Tibet, spin prayer
wheels, which generate prayers at a multiplied rate. [©Galen
Rowell/Corbis] (k) LEFT. A nineteenth-century African Bakongo
sculpture of a male figure, made from wood, glass, fiber, nails,
and bone. The figure includes a spirit container (nkisí) used to
instruct or admonish spirits. [©Burstein Collection/Corbis]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
of the child taken during life (l). The image on the left is
the deceased, whose horizontal position in death has been
changed to appear vertical, as if the child has not died, but
poses peacefully asleep. Such imagery may have denied
the death for grieving parents, or may have mitigated it
to a peaceful slumber. If such images bring to mind the
carefully prepared image of the corpse and in some vitally
therapeutic manner replace the dead body and lost person
with a memory image, traditional inhabitants of the Mela-
nesian island of New Ireland used elaborate mortuary
masks (m) to remove the spiritual traces of the deceased
from his or her household. Dancers wearing such masks
(l) ABOVE. Paired photographs of a young girl who lived in the
United States during the nineteenth century. The photograph
on the left was taken shortly after her death. [Courtesy of Jay Ruby,
Center for Visual Communication] (m) RIGHT. A Murua mask
from New Ireland in Papua New Guinea, made from carved
wood, sea sponge, and snail opercula. Such mortuary masks
were used to remove traces of deceased relatives from the home.
[Masco Collection; photograph by Dirk Baker]
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EFFICACIOUS IMAGES
appeared at the home of the deceased in order to cleanse
it of taboos by attracting any aspect of the dead away from
the home to the site where the body had been cremated.

Perhaps the most common use of imagery is among
rites of passage, when members of a society undergo
crucial transpositions from one status or age to another.
Images often serve to commemorate the event or to assist
in the metaphysics of change. In the case of Papuan
peoples, ancestors must be engaged to bless and guide the
passage, to confer the new status, and to legitimate the
change by bringing the initiate into the presence of
the extended clan, represented by the totemic figures often
included with such figures as the one reproduced here (n).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cox, J. Halley, with William H. Davenport. Hawaiian Sculpture.
Rev. ed. Honolulu, 1988.
Fazzini, Richard A., James F. Romano, and Madeleine E. Cody.
Art For Eternity: Masterworks from Ancient Egypt. Brooklyn,
N.Y., 1999.
Huyler, Stephen P. Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion. New
Haven, 1999.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and
Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. Baltimore, Md.,
2001.
Wardwell, Allen. Island Ancestors: Oceanic Art from the Masco Col-
lection. Seattle and Detroit, 1994.
David Morgan ()
(n) A carved wood figurehead, used in initiation ceremonies
by the Avelam people from East Sepik province in Papua New
Guinea. [Masco Collection; photograph by Dirk Baker]
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M
C O N T I N U E D
MARY
This entry consists of the following articles:
AN OVERVIEW
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES
MARY: AN OVERVIEW
The New Testament description of Maria, or Mariam, includes Mary’s virginal concep-
tion of Jesus. Preeminent among the saints, the Virgin Mary later became the object of
piety and cult and, especially in the Roman Catholic church, of dogmas such as the im-
maculate conception and the assumption. Protestant treatment of her as a biblical saint
varies. She is honored in the QurDa¯n (su¯rahs 3 and 19), Sh¯ıEah speculation, and S:u¯f¯ı mys-
tical traditions (see Tavard 32–45, Pelikan 67–79). There is some Jewish interest in Mary
as a Jewish mother and link to the people of Israel (Flusser).
Traditionally, Mary has been presented by combining all the references to her in the
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles and viewing them in the light of the infancy narratives
(Mt. 1–2, Lk. 1–2), which have been taken as her memoirs revealed years later to an evan-
gelist. These accounts have then been psychologized and interpreted in light of later Mari-
an thought. Further, Revelation 12, which speaks about “a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars,” who gives birth
to a male child who in turn is caught up to God after escaping a dragon on earth, has
been regarded as a reference to Mary. Similarly, passages in the Hebrew scriptures have
been said to refer to Mary; in Genesis 3:15 she (as the Vulgate reads) “shall bruise” the
serpent’s head; in Isaiah 7:14 (Mt. 1:23) a young girl (Septuagint, “virgin”) shall give birth
to a son; in Proverbs 8 and other passages about Wisdom (personified as a woman); and
in the female figure of the daughter of Zion (e.g., Zep. 3:14–20). On Old Testament
typologies in patristic sources, see Pelikan 23–36, 41–45.
C LOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT CORNER. Mayan vase with relief depicting the head of the sun, c. seventh
to tenth century. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. [©Giraudon/Art Resource, N.Y.];
Greek vase depicting Circe mixing a magical potion to transform the companions of
Odysseus into animals. [Photograph ©2004 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]; Late-nineteenth-
century Alaskan Eskimo mask representing the spirit of the moon as a face encompassed by
the air (board), the cosmos (hoops), and the stars (feathers). Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka,
Alaska. [©Werner Forman/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
[©Christine Osborne/Corbis]; The Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, France. [©Archivo Iconografico,
S.A./Corbis] .
5751
5752
MARY: AN OVERVIEW
Modern scholarship finds differing pictures of Mary in
The most positive synoptic portrayal of Mary comes in
each gospel. Earlier accounts can be ascertained from sources
the Gospel of Luke plus Acts (perhaps after 90 CE). In Acts
used by the gospel writers, and a “historical Mary” can be
1:14, Mary is a member of the Jerusalem church. In Luke
sought behind such sources. The concatenation of biblical
1–2, Mary is described as Joseph’s “betrothed” (Luke 2:1–20,
images, together with evolving Marian piety and influences
where, however, a virgin birth is not mentioned). More strik-
from other religions, led to post–New Testament develop-
ing are (1) the scene where the angel Gabriel tells Mary that
ments that were initially connected with Christology, then
she will bear “the Son of the Most High” and “The Holy
with ecclesiology, but by the Middle Ages and certainly since
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High
the seventeenth century, Roman Catholic dogmatics were
will overshadow you” (God’s creative activity, Acts 1:8; Gen.
treated separately as Mariology. Pelikan treats her many titles
1), and Mary responds, “Let it be with me according to your
like “the second Eve” and “black Madonna.”
word” (Lk. 1:26–38, Mary’s faith); (2) the story of Mary’s
visit to Elizabeth (Lk. 1:39–56) and Mary’s song, the Mag-
MARY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. The Gospel of Mark (writ-
nificat (1:46–55, Mary as prophetess), in particular, the
ten about 70 CE) describes Jesus’ mother and brothers on the
words about her blessedness (esp. 1:42 and 1:48); (3) the ac-
edge of a crowd listening to him teach (Mk. 3:31–35). “His
count of Mary in the Jerusalem Temple where she comes for
own” (3:20), likely “his family” (NRSV), have come to take
purification after childbirth and where Jesus is presented to
him away because Jesus was, they thought, “out of his mind”;
the Lord (Lk. 2:21–40); and (4) the story of Jesus in the
they are like the hostile scribes who claim that he is “pos-
Temple as a twelve-year-old (Lk. 2:41–52). These accounts
sessed by Beelzebub” (3:22). In Mark 3:34–35, Jesus desig-
show Mary’s faith in God (Lk. 1:38, 1:45); tell of the virginal
nates as “my mother and my brothers” those who do the will
conception (Lk. 1:31–34, cf. 3:23) and of Mary’s status as
of God, thus contrasting his natural family, including Mary,
a “favored one” (Lk. 1:28; Vulgate, gratia plena), employing
with his “eschatological family” of disciples. The passage in
the term hail (ave); and relate Simeon’s prophecy to Mary:
Mark 6:1–6a, about the rejection of Jesus in his home syna-
“A sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35; Mary,
gogue, shows Mary and Jesus’ brothers sharing the unbelief
also, must transcend the natural bonds of family and come
of those of the surrounding countryside; 6:3, “son of Mary,”
to faith in Jesus). This she does, for Jesus declares blessed not
does not indicate either virgin birth or illegitimacy (contrast
the womb that bore him but those who hear and keep God’s
Schaberg). References to another Mary, in addition to Mary
word (Lk. 11:27–28). The rejection scene at Nazareth (Lk.
Magdalene, in 15:40, 15:47, and 16:1 do not denote Jesus’
4:16–30) is presented very differently, and the saying about
mother. Hence the overall picture of Mary in Mark is a nega-
Jesus’ eschatological family (Lk. 8:19–21) lacks any contrast
tive one. (For details, see Brown et al., 1978, pp. 51–72,
with his natural family. In Luke 2:19 and 2:51, Mary
286–287.)
ponders over Jesus’ birth and thus grows in faith and dis-
cipleship.
In the Gospel of Matthew (perhaps before 90 CE), a more
positive view of Mary results, especially from the first two
The Gospel of John (c. 90) contains no reference to the
chapters about the birth and infancy of Jesus, the fruit of
virgin birth, in part because the preexistence and incarnation
meditation upon the Hebrew scriptures within the Matthean
of the Word are emphasized (Jn. 1:1–18). The scenes involv-
community. The genealogy (Mt. 1:1–17), from Abraham
ing “the mother of Jesus” (never “Mary”) during Jesus’ min-
through David to “Jesus who is called the Messiah,” men-
istry are totally different from those in the Synoptic Gospels.
tions five women, including “Mary, of whom [fem.] Jesus
In the story about a wedding feast at Cana (Jn. 2:1–11), his
was born” (1:16). This genealogy was probably designed to
mother does not yet seem to have grasped that his “hour”
emphasize how God carried out his plan to save his people
does not parallel the wishes of his natural family. Although
through Jesus the Messiah (1:21) in spite of “marital irregu-
she accompanied Jesus to Capernaum (Jn. 2:12), perhaps
larities” in each of the cases of the five women. With Mary,
this was because she was seeking to bring him home (cf. Mk.
the irregularity is that Joseph learns she is with child “from
3:20–35). The mother of Jesus appears in one other Johan-
the Holy Spirit.” But this is in accord with God’s plan (Mt.
nine scene (Jn. 19:25–27), standing at the foot of the cross
1:21–22). That the women were “threats” but “vulnerable”
with the Beloved Disciple. This stabat mater reference occurs
is stressed by Gaventa 32–46. The evangelist cites Isaiah 7:14
only in John, among all the Gospels.
(Septuagint) to verify that a virgin has conceived and that the
child will be “God with us” (Mt. 1:23).
Earlier New Testament writings, like Paul’s letters (c.
50–60, Gal. 4:4, antidocetist), make no reference to Mary,
Matthew’s portrait of Mary during the ministry of Jesus
nor does the Q source, a reconstructed collection of Jesus’
is also ameliorated by other details. In the scene of Jesus’ es-
sayings, presumed to have been used by Matthew and Luke.
chatological family (Mt. 12:46–50) no reference is made to
A pre-gospel tradition could be behind John 2:1–11, or a
Jesus’ natural family coming to take custody of him. In the
common source could be the basis of the Matthean-Lukan
synagogue scene at Nazareth (Mt. 13:53–58), Matthew
stories of Mary’s conceiving and the genealogy. More likely
drops out the Marcan reference to “his own kin” in what
these are deductions of post-Easter Christology, theologou-
Jesus says (13:57; cf. Mk. 6:4).
mena, dramatizing the divine origins of Jesus.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MARY: AN OVERVIEW
5753
Regardless of the backgrounds and symbolism of the
Marian festivals generally developed in the East and
scene in Revelation 12 that are suggested by scholarship in
then spread elsewhere. They multiplied in number. Some
the history of religions, the passage is intended to assert
had biblical roots, for example, the Annunciation on March
God’s triumph in Christ over Satan’s attacks. The woman
25 (Lk. 1:26–38) and the Purification on February 2 (Lk.
who gives birth to the Messiah is Israel and the church,
2:21–39, cf. Lv. 12). Others, like the Nativity of the Blessed
Christ’s suffering people. Marian applications to the passage
Virgin Mary (September 8) and her Presentation in the
developed only in the fourth century.
Temple (November 21), have their roots in the Protevangeli-
um of James. The fifteenth of August became the date for the
MARIAN PIETY AND MARIOLOGY. In the second century, ref-
Dormition, or “falling asleep” of the Virgin. Later there arose
erences to Mary are rare, found chiefly in the letters of Igna-
accounts of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven, parallel-
tius of Antioch about the “mystery” of Jesus’ birth (e.g.,
ing Jesus’ exaltation. Mary was regarded as now reigning
Ephesians 19.1) and in Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho
with her Son, and thus she could be intercessor, or mediatrix,
100). Justin typologically compares Eve and Mary, a theme
with Christ and God. A legend about Theophilus, who made
developed by Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.21.10). The New
a pact with the devil but obtained forgiveness through Mary,
Testament Apocrypha and gnostic documents from Nag
was an indication of her power to intervene. The Feast of the
Hammadi expand references to Mary (see Tavard 17–31).
Immaculate Conception of Mary (December 8 or 9) arose
The Protevangelium of James (an infancy gospel and life of
around the theme of her sinlessness from the time of her
Mary, written mid-second century), with its hagiographic
birth (cf. Protevangelium of James 4). However, in the West
details, was to have great influence. It said that Mary re-
there was a long debate over Mary’s sinlessness in light of the
mained a virgin while delivering her son (in partu) as well
Augustinian doctrine of original sin; the Franciscans promot-
as after Jesus’ birth (virginitas post partum). Growing Chris-
ed the feast, while the Dominicans (including Thomas Aqui-
tian emphasis on asceticism, with Mary as virgin model, and
nas) opposed it.
contacts with “mother goddesses” in other religions, especial-
ly in Asia Minor, encouraged Marian themes. But even in
Celebration of Mary had now moved from the realm of
the third century there is no trace of belief in Mary’s assump-
Christology to that of ecclesiology. Mary was Mater Ecclesiae
tion into heaven (Brown et al., 1978, pp. 241–282).
(“mother of the church”), for she had brought forth Christ,
the head of the church. One principle at work was “potuit,
Popular piety concerning Mary usually developed first
decuit, fecit”: God could do a thing, it was fitting that God
in the East, often involving icons (see Tavard 67–73) and in
should, and therefore God did it—for example, God saw to
a liturgical context, sometimes involving groups deemed he-
it that Mary was born or exalted much like her Son. Other
retical. The West was often more sober in its piety (see Ta-
principles were exhibited by Bernard of Clairvaux’s dictum
vard 65–100). The prayer in the Byzantine liturgy Sub tuum
“Everything through Mary” and the widespread medieval be-
praesidium confugimus (“Under your mercy we take refuge,
lief that one can never say too much about Mary. Reflections
O Theotokos . . .”) has been traced back to the fourth cen-
of this cascading piety can be seen in the Akathistos, a Greek
tury or earlier (for details, see O’Carroll, 1983). In the Refu-
hymn of the fifth or sixth century that has elaborate epithets
tation of All Heresies 78–79 (c. 375), Epiphanius, bishop of
for Mary, or in Western antiphons like Alma redemptoris
Cyprus, refers both to “opponents of Mary” who denied that
mater (Sweet Mother of the Redeemer), or in the Ave Maria
she was perpetually a virgin (Gr., aeiparthenos; Lat., semper
prayer (“Hail, Mary,” Luke 1:28 and 1:48, with the later ad-
virgo), and to the Collyridians, women who offered cakes
dition of “Pray for us sinners . . .”). Poetry, often outside
(kollyrides) to the Virgin as a goddess (cf. Jer. 7:18, 44:15–
the churches, e.g., by the English Romantics and pre-
28). At the Second Council of Nicaea (787) clear distinctions
Raphaelites, and literature sometimes hailed Mary (see Ta-
were made: latr(e)ia (“worship”) is for God alone; d(o)ul(e)ia
vard 153–167; Pelikan 165–175).
(“reverence”), for the saints; and huperdouleia (“more than
reverence”), for Mary.
Some of the Protestant reformers (see Pelikan 153–
163), including Ulrich Zwingli (see Tavard 104–109), grew
In the Christological controversies of the fifth century,
up under the high Mariology of the late Middle Ages and
Mary took on more and more of the status of her Son. While
its piety. Luther seems at times to have affirmed Mary’s im-
Nestorius (d. 451) was willing to call Mary christotokos (“the
maculate conception and even her bodily assumption and re-
one who bore Christ”), he boggled at the term theotokos,
tained some Marian festivals, but with a Christological em-
“God-bearer.” This term became the rallying cry of Cyril of
phasis. More revealing is Luther’s 1521 exposition of the
Alexandria (d. 444) and was proclaimed as a title for Mary
Magnificat (Works, Saint Louis, 1956, vol. 21,
at the councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451). The
pp. 297–358), where Mary is “the foremost example” of
intent was to assert that he whom Mary bore was, while
God’s grace and of proper humility. The Lutheran confes-
“truly man,” also “truly God.” Use of the term theotokos also
sions simply assume the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and even
led to emphasis on Mary not simply as Dei genitrix (“she who
use stock phrases like semper virgo. But Calvin, who praised
gives birth to God”) but also as mater Dei, the “mother of
Mary as “holy virgin,” expressed misgivings about calling her
God” (see Tavard 49–64; Pelikan 55–65).
“mother of God.” Protestant reaction to the post-Tridentine
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5754
MARY: AN OVERVIEW
emphases in Roman Catholicism gave Mary less and less
proclaimed Mary as Mater Ecclesiae, and his apostolic exhor-
place (see Tavard 117–130; Dawe). Anglicanism often shares
tation in 1974, Marialis cultus, sought for renewal in devo-
in (Roman) Catholic tradition about Mary, though not in
tion to Mary and called her “our sister.” John Paul II has spo-
the papal magisterium seen in the dogmas of 1854 and 1950
ken frequently in traditional Marian terms, often
(see below; Tavard 134–152).
devotionally (Redemptoris mater, 1987, announcing a Marian
jubilee for 1987–1988, leading toward the bimillennium in
Eastern Orthodox regard for Mary has continued as liv-
2000 of Jesus’ birth). The net effect since Vatican II has gen-
ing piety, but without the emphasis on dogmatic articulation
erally been a greater restraint and balance in Roman Catholic
found in Roman Catholicism (see Nikos Nissiotis, in Con-
Mariology and in Catholic devotional life. Some statements
cilium 168, 1983, pp. 25–39, with bibliography).
have suggested that Mary provides “the model of all real fem-
“Sophiology,” Mary as created Wisdom (Sophia), developed
inine freedom” (U.S. Catholic Bishops, Behold Your Mother,
especially in nineteenth-century Russian Orthodoxy (see Ta-
1974). But for many feminists, Mariology, certainly in the
vard 78–79; O’Carroll, Theotokos 332 and 90–92 on Sergius
church writers of the early centuries, has been all too andro-
Bulgakov, 1817–1944). For Roman Catholic theology, the
centric (cf. Borrensen, Halkes, and Moltmann-Wendel, in
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries brought new develop-
Concilium, 168, 1983; contrast at points Tavard 49–57,
ments in spirituality having to do with Mary (for example,
221–266). In ecumenical dialogues the fullest treatment has
the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary promoted by
come in the United States “Lutherans and Catholics in Dia-
Jean Eudes, 1601–1680). In Italy, Alfonso Liguori (1696–
logue VIII,” The One Mediator, the Saints, and Mary, ed.
1787) gathered stories about the Virgin in his book The Glo-
H. George Anderson, J. Francis Stafford, and Joseph A. Bur-
ries of Mary. Emphasis on Mary was encouraged by reported
gess (Minneapolis, 1992); “saints” and prayers for and to de-
visions and appearances (Pelikan 178–187), for example, at
ceased saints proved more divisive than did Mary.
Lourdes in 1858, with the announcement, “I am the Immac-
ulate Conception,” at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, and Medju-
SEE ALSO Councils, article on Christian Councils; Cult of
gore in Bosnia-Herzegovina, beginning in 1981 (appearances
Saints; Goddess Worship; Jesus; Virgin Goddess.
have been claimed more frequently in the twentieth century
than any previous time, so Tavard 186); also by international
Marian congresses; by Marian years proclaimed by the pope;
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and by pilgrimages (for example to Czestochowa in Poland,
Walter Delius, Geschichte der Marienverehrung (Munich, 1963),
Guadalupe, Mexico).
and his Texte zur Geschichte der Marienverehrung und Ma-
rienverkündigung in der alten Kirche, rev. Hans-Udo Rosen-
Reflective of such popular piety was Pius IX’s 1854 defi-
baum (New York/Berlin, 1973) are updated in Die Religion
nition of the immaculate conception as dogma for Roman
in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 4th ed., vol. 5 (Tübingen,
Catholics in Ineffabilis Deus: “The most blessed Virgin Mary
2002): 800–824, by Heinrich Petri, Reinhard Thöle, and
. . . was preserved free from all stain of original sin.” In
Birgit Merz. More popular in tone are Hilda Graef’s Mary:
1950, Pius XII defined the assumption of the Blessed Virgin
A History of Doctrine and Devotion, 2 vols. (New York, 1963–
Mary as a dogma in the apostolic constitution Munificentissi-
1965); Marina Warner’s Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and
mus Deus: “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin
Cult of the Virgin Mary (New York, 1976); Christa Mulack’s
Maria: Die geheime Göttin im Christentum (Stuttgart, 1985);
Mary . . . was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”
David Flusser, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Justin Lang, Mary: Im-
Protestant reaction was negative. The Orthodox reacted
ages of the Mother of Jesus in Jewish and Christian Perspective
against the 1854 dogma because of their belief that everyone,
(Philadelphia, 1986); George H. Tavard, The Thousand Faces
Mary included, is afflicted with sin in the sense of human
of the Virgin Mary (Collegeville, Minn., 1996); and Jaroslav
infirmity, but in 1950 they reacted only against papal claims
Pelikan, Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History
of authority inherent in the proclamation (see Pelikan 189–
of Culture (New Haven, 1996). Sympathetic articles on per-
213). Some Catholics have called for ecumenical rewriting
sons, terms, and themes, with bibliography, will be found in
of these dogmas (see Tavard 200).
Michael O’Carroll’s Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, rev. ed. with supplement (Wilming-
Although some Catholic “maximalists” on Mary hoped
ton, Del., 1983). For biblical materials, treated with histori-
that the Second Vatican Council would declare her coredem-
cal-critical methodology and ecumenically, see Mary in the
ptrix with Christ, the council did not make such a statement.
New Testament: A Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and
In fact, it voted in 1963 to include the material on Mary as
Roman Catholic Scholars, edited by Raymond E. Brown, Karl
chapter 8 of the Constitution on the Church, Lumen genti-
P. Donfried, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and John Reumann (Phila-
um, rather than to treat it as a separate schema. The dogmatic
delphia, 1978); Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messi-
ah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and
constitution treats her role in the economy of salvation, as
Luke (Garden City, N.Y., 1977); Jane Schaberg, The Illegiti-
Mother of God and of the Redeemer, as a model for the
macy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the In-
church, and as a sign of hope and solace for God’s people
fancy Narratives (San Francisco, 1987); Mary Margaret Paz-
in pilgrimage. There are also paragraphs on devotion to the
den, “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary
Blessed Virgin, warning against exaggeration. However, the
(New York, 1992), vol. 4: 584–586; Ingrid Rosa Kitzberger,
speech by Paul VI in 1964, promulgating Lumen gentium,
“Maria, Mutter Jesu,” Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegen-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MARY: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES
5755
wart, 4th ed., vol. 5 (Tübingen, 2002): 798–799; Beverly
of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The question
Roberts Gaventa, Mary, Glimpses of the Mother of Jesus (Co-
of Mary’s place in the church generated some of the most
lumbia, S.C., 1995), including literary approaches and
heated debates in Vatican II (at which no women were pres-
“story.” Mary in the Churches, edited by Hans Küng and Jür-
ent), and the council’s teachings on Mary eventually were in-
gen Moltmann, Concilium 168 (New York, 1983), surveys
corporated into Chapter 8 of the document on the church,
biblical origins and confessional attitudes today as well as
Lumen Gentium. Although Lumen Gentium emphasizes the
trends in feminist and liberation theology and depth psy-
unique dignity and privilege of Mary in her role as Mother
chology and literature. Mary’s Place in Christian Dialogue,
edited by Alberic Stacpoole (Wilton, Conn., 1982), reflects
of God, it also portrays her as the model of Christian disci-
work by the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
pleship and prayer.
which also published Donald G. Dawe, From Dysfunction to
After Vatican II, Catholic interest in Mary declined dra-
Disbelief: The Virigin Mary in Reformed Theology (Washing-
matically, and thus it is not surprising that she attracted rela-
ton, D.C., 1977). Stephen Benko’s Protestants, Catholics, and
tively little attention from early feminist theologians. Those
Mary (Valley Forge, Pa., 1978) deals also with Josephology.
Periodicals: Marian Studies; Dialog 31 (Fall 1992): 245–271.
who did write about Mary tended to follow the trend of Vati-
can II, emphasizing her biblical persona as the poor woman
JOHN REUMANN (1987 AND 2005)
of Nazareth and an exemplary disciple rather than her tran-
scendent mystical significance as the Mother of God or her
cultic role in popular devotions and feasts (Ruether, 1993).
MARY: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES
Feminist liberationist theologians saw Mary as a source of in-
spiration for the struggles of the poor and the oppressed,
The Virgin Mary has been a central figure in Catholic and
identifying her with the words of the Magnificat attributed
Orthodox Christianity since the time of the early church. Al-
to her in Luke’s gospel (1:46–55). The Brazilian theologians
though Marian devotion often has been aligned with papal
Ivone Gebara and María Clara Bingemer (1989) proposed
power and Catholic imperialism, Mary also has been a focal
a feminist liberationist understanding of Mary that seeks to
point for popular devotional practices, legends, and folklore
reconcile her human significance as Mary of Nazareth and
in Catholic culture, including those which express women’s
her transcendent universality as the Mother of God.
concerns with childbirth, motherhood, marriage, and reli-
gious life. Mary is a complex topic for feminist analysis, since
Alongside these liberal and liberationist perspectives,
the priorities and perspectives of a Western-educated femi-
some feminist thinkers have attempted to reclaim Mary’s sig-
nist are likely to be different from those of a poor, illiterate
nificance as the unacknowledged goddess of the Christian
Catholic woman, for whom the Virgin Mary nevertheless
tradition (Baring and Cashford, 1993). From this perspec-
may be a potent source of inspiration and consolation.
tive, the early church only partially defeated the goddess reli-
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES. The most common feminist cri-
gions of the ancient world. Those religions were subsumed
tique of the Marian tradition focuses on the association be-
and incorporated into Christianity in the status and devotion
tween Mary and Eve, which is perceived as a destructive form
accorded to the Virgin Mary while being divested of their po-
of dualism that informs Christian concepts of womanhood.
tent matriarchal significance in the context of a patriarchal
As the new Eve, Mary has been represented as the faithful,
religious culture.
obedient virgin who brought life to the human race through
This is one of the ideas explored by Marina Warner
her motherhood of Christ, whereas Eve has signified the dis-
(2000) in her feminist analysis of the development of Marian
obedient virgin, the sexual temptress who brought death to
devotion and doctrine. Warner presents the Marian tradition
the human race by eating the forbidden fruit and enticing
as historically significant but anachronistic in terms of the
Adam to eat it.
aspirations, values, and questions of contemporary secular
In parallel with the denigration of female sexuality in
society, although in more recent editions of her work she has
Eve’s association with temptation, sin, and death, Mary’s vir-
modified this stance by acknowledging the enduring capacity
ginal motherhood is seen by feminist critics as representing
of Mary to meet the religious need for a mother goddess fig-
an impossible ideal for women. The Christian understanding
ure. Others, such as Charlene Spretnak (2004), offer a more
of female virtue has been constructed to a large extent around
positive affirmation of the need to recognize Mary’s potential
the contrast between Mary’s virginal obedience, passivity,
in terms of a maternal feminine divine presence in the Cath-
and modesty before God and Eve’s disobedience, sexual in-
olic tradition. Spretnak criticizes the Second Vatican Coun-
continence, and susceptibility to temptation. This contrast
cil for divesting the Marian tradition of much of its power
has been exacerbated in the Roman Catholic tradition by the
and argues for the rediscovery of Marian devotion as an im-
valuing of celibacy over marriage; as a result women have
portant aspect of feminist spirituality.
been identified with Eve as posing the ultimate threat to the
Mary is also a significant figure in the writings of the
spiritual and moral well-being of the celibate male.
psycholinguistic theorists Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva.
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS ON MARY. Although there is a
For Irigaray she represents the missing feminine dimension
long tradition of women’s writings on Mary, contemporary
of the Incarnation. Irigaray (1991) argues that the fertile,
feminist interpretations must be understood in the context
corporeal, and maternal aspects of the Christian story have
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5756
MARY MAGDALENE
been neglected in favor of a life-denying religion based on
zilian theologians draw on the insights of feminist and libera-
the patriarchal and sacrificial relationship between a Father
tionist theologies to offer a Mariology that encompasses both
God and his crucified Son. Kristeva (1987), drawing on the
the human dimension of Mary as a woman in history and
insights of psychoanalysis, sees the cult of the Virgin Mary
the transcendent significance of Mary as a universal symbol
as contributing to the sublimation rather than the repression
of liberation and redemption.
of the maternal relationship in Catholic Christianity, includ-
Irigaray, Luce. Marine Lover of Friedrich Nietzsche. New York,
ing its associations with the body, desire, and death.
1991. The last chapter of this book, “Epistle to the Last
Christians,” offers the author’s most sustained engagement
These theoretical insights have informed feminist Mari-
with the Marian tradition, although references to the Virgin
ology, particularly in the work of Tina Beattie (2002). A dif-
Mary are scattered widely throughout her work.
ferent critical perspective is offered by Sarah Jane Boss
Johnston, Elizabeth A. Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the
(2000). Drawing on the critical theory of the Frankfurt
Communion of Saints. London and New York, 2003. The au-
school in her reading of the Marian tradition, Boss argues
thor rejects the iconic status of Mary in order to emphasize
that the increasing trend toward the domination of nature
her humanity as a woman who struggles in solidarity with
and the female body is reflected in changing attitudes toward
other women.
the Virgin Mary in Western culture.
Kristeva, Julia. “Stabat Mater.” In Tales of Love. New York, 1987
As a visible and ubiquitous symbol of maternal feminin-
(first published in 1983). This lyrical essay, written as two
ity in the Christian tradition the Virgin Mary is a vast cultur-
sides of a dialogue, explores the relationship between the ma-
al presence and historical influence whose significance has
ternal body and Marian doctrine and devotion.
not been recognized fully by many secular feminists. The tra-
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Sexism and God-Talk. London: 1992
ditions, theories, and practices that surround her are too di-
(first published in 1983). Chapter 6, “Mariology as Symbolic
verse and enigmatic to lend themselves to a straightforward
Ecclesiology: Repression or Liberation?” proposes a feminist
feminist analysis or theory. However, it is hard to see how
liberationist Mariology based on the identification of Mary
any feminist approach to questions of religion, history, and
with the church.
ethics in Western culture can ignore the extent to which the
Spretnak, Charlene. Missing Mary: The Queen of Heaven and Her
Marian tradition has shaped attitudes toward women in ways
Re-Emergence in the Modern Church. Basingstoke, U.K.,
that extend beyond the doctrinal beliefs and devotional prac-
2004. The author criticizes the Second Vatican Council for
tices of Catholic Christianity.
its minimalist approach to Mary and advocates a rediscovery
of Marian devotion and mysticism as a potent expression of
SEE ALSO Asceticism; Celibacy; Eve; Feminine Sacrality;
feminist spirituality.
Feminism, article on French Feminists on Religion; Femi-
Warner, Marina. Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the
nist Theology, article on Christian Feminist Theology;
Virgin Mary. London, 2000 (first published in 1976). This
Goddess Worship, overview article; Liberation Theology;
scholarly and wide-ranging evaluation of the Marian tradi-
Spirituality; Virgin Goddess; Virginity.
tion remains one of the most influential feminist critiques.
B
TINA BEATTIE (2005)
IBLIOGRAPHY
Baring, Anne, and Jules Cashford. The Myth of the Goddess: Evolu-
tion of an Image. London and New York, 1993. In this exten-
sive study of goddess religions the authors argue that Eve and
MARY MAGDALENE. Mentioned by name in only
Mary are the repressed goddess figures of the Jewish and
Christian traditions.
fourteen verses in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene is
nevertheless one of the most important and influential fig-
Beattie, Tina. God’s Mother, Eve’s Advocate: A Marian Narrative
ures in the history of Christianity. Mary came from a pros-
of Women’s Salvation. London and New York, 2002. Beattie
engages with French psycholinguistic theory in her reading
perous town on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, which in the
of the Marian tradition. By comparing the symbolic signifi-
canonical gospels is called by its Aramaic name, Magdala. In
cance of Eve and Mary in patristic theology with their repre-
Greek it is known as Tarichaeae. In antiquity the town had
sentation in recent Catholic writings, she argues for the
a reputation for exporting quality salt fish and fish oil. It is
transformation of Marian symbolism through a feminist en-
possible Mary herself was engaged in some business related
gagement with the beliefs of the early Church.
to the fishing industry. This occupation is well attested for
Boss, Sarah Jane. Empress and Handmaid: Nature and Gender in
women in early Roman Palestine, and the Herodian court
the Cult of the Virgin Mary. London and New York, 2000.
at nearby Tiberias regularly purchased goods from female
This analysis of the development of the Marian tradition
suppliers. When Mary is introduced in Luke 8:2, she is in
draws on both theology and sociology. In light of the critical
the company of Joanna, the wife of a Herodian official, sug-
theory of the Frankfurt school and its critique of domina-
gesting Mary had contact with the court.
tion, the author argues that changing attitudes toward nature
and the female body in Western culture are reflected in Mari-
Luke presents Mary Magdalene as one who followed
an doctrine and devotion.
Jesus during his ministry in the Galilee. According to the
Gebara, Ivone, and María Clara Bingemer. Mary: Mother of God,
third gospel, Jesus healed Mary of an unspecified disorder,
Mother of the Poor. Tunbridge Wells, U.K., 1989. These Bra-
which singles her out as the only close companion whom he
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MARY MAGDALENE
5757
cures. Luke also records that Mary “ministered” (the Greek
though some twentieth-century commentators have inter-
verb means “to care for” or “to provide”) to Jesus and his fol-
preted it that way.
lowers “out of [her] resources.” The verse may recall Mary’s
Peter appears in the Gnostic texts consistently opposing
patronage as a well-to-do businesswoman.
Mary’s authority. As a result, some scholars suggest that the
Whenever a group of women followers is listed in the
Gnostic writings reveal a struggle within the early church be-
canonical gospels, Mary is mentioned first, an indication of
tween a faction that recognizes in Mary a model for women’s
her preeminence. The gospels also relate that Mary is present
authority and leadership, and a Petrine group that opposes
at the crucifixion in Jerusalem. Finally, she is the only person
women’s authority. Other scholars interpret Peter as repre-
to be named in all four gospels as a witness to the resurrec-
senting the emerging orthodox position, while Mary stands
tion, subsequently qualifying her to receive the accolade of
for the Gnostic view.
apostle.
“APOSTLE TO THE APOSTLES.” Writing in Galatians 1:11–
17, Paul intimates that an apostle is one who receives an ap-
MARY IN NON-CANONICAL LITERATURE. In the late nine-
pearance of the risen Lord and one who is commissioned to
teenth century fragments of an extra-canonical gospel writ-
proclaim his message. In the canonical gospels Mary is re-
ten in the name of Mary Magdalene were found. The discov-
corded as fulfilling both of these conditions. Hippolytus, a
ery of an incomplete Coptic manuscript was followed in the
third-century bishop, is generally thought to be the first per-
early twentieth century by the recovery of additional portions
son to name her as an “apostle to the apostles.” Augustine
of the text in Greek. Scholars generally date its composition
of Hippo in the fourth century and John Chrysostom in the
to the second century. The gospel portrays Mary as the recip-
fifth also accord Mary this title. Some scholars argue that the
ient of a vision of Christ in which she is praised for her fideli-
appellation of apostle is honorific in Mary’s case. However,
ty. Peter appears as an adversary, attacking Mary when she
as she meets the criteria, there seems no need to assume the
explains her vision. Peter asks incredulously whether Jesus
title was anything less than recognition of her apostleship.
really did “speak with a woman without our knowledge [and]
The persistence and survival of the epithet confirm Mary’s
not openly.”
importance among early Christians.
The Gospel of Thomas, also a second-century text, de-
In the sixth century Pope Gregory I (the Great) declared
picts Peter’s attempt to discredit any authority Mary possess-
that Mary Magdalene was beloved of the savior and was the
es among the disciples, attributing to him the declaration,
leader of a group of apostles. He also proclaimed that the
“Let Mary leave us, because women are not worthy of life.”
Galilean Mary Magdalene, the Judean Mary of Bethany, and
The risen Jesus refutes Peter’s dismissal, replying, “Look, I
the other Mary were one and the same person, conflating
myself shall lead her so that I will make her male in order
three distinct women. In the West, pious myths arose based
that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males.
on the conflation. According to an eleventh-century tradi-
For every woman who makes herself male will enter the king-
tion, Mary, now identified as the sister of Martha and Laza-
dom of heaven.”
rus, introduced Christianity to France. In eastern Christiani-
A large corpus of Gnostic literature found at Nag Ham-
ty the confusion did not arise, for the distinctions among the
madi, Egypt, in 1945 was published in the 1970s. The texts
women were maintained.
include a number of extra-canonical manuscripts concerning
MARY THE PENITENT. Mary’s reputation as an apostle,
Mary Magdalene, notably the third-century Pistis Sophia, the
preacher, and leader declined as male authority increased in
Gospel of Philip, and the Dialogue of the Savior. The Sophia
orthodox Christianity. Gregory I not only conflated three
of Jesus Christ was dated to the early fourth century, although
Marys, he also made Mary Magdalene into a prostitute, de-
some scholars argue that it exhibits features suggesting an
claring her a redeemed whore in a sermon in 591. Mary was
earlier date of composition. These writings aroused new in-
stigmatized as a prostitute through an association with the
terest in Mary’s relationship with Jesus and in her authority
unnamed sinner mentioned in Luke 7:36–50, an erroneous
among early Christians. They also indicate a wide diversity
identification that endured for fourteen hundred years. In
of teaching during the formative years of the new religious
church teaching and Christian art, Mary was portrayed as a
movement.
model of repentance and was used as a propaganda tool. Her
misrepresentation served the purposes of a church promoting
Mary is depicted in the Gnostic works as having a par-
asceticism, by making her into a moral paradigm: the un-
ticularly intimate relationship with Jesus. She is praised as
faithful harlot forgiven and restored.
worthy of having received private teaching from him and she
is presented as a leader within the Christian community. Of
Scholarly consensus since the 1980s has returned Mary
particular interest, the Gospel of Philip portrays Mary as the
Magdalene to her position of authority and leadership in
one whom Jesus loved more than the other disciples and as
early Christianity. The identification of her as a prostitute
one whom he kissed frequently. The act of kissing as a greet-
has been exposed as mistaken and rejected for lack of evi-
ing and sign of affection is well attested as a common practice
dence. Study of the noncanonical literature has revealed that
among early Christians, as Paul’s epistles witness. Jesus’ kiss,
Mary’s influence endured for at least six centuries prior to
therefore, does not necessarily imply a sexual relationship,
her conflation with Mary of Bethany and the so-called other
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5758
MASCULINE SACRALITY
Mary. At the same time, the Gnostic literature has raised
of Mary Magdalene found in Gnostic literature. It concludes
questions about early Christian teachings regarding the salva-
that she is presented as a prominent, even intimate, disciple
tion of women. Mary’s canonical role as a close associate of
of Jesus, who is a role model for women in early Christian
Jesus, a faithful disciple, and a witness to the resurrection,
communities. Marjanen observes a tension, however. Al-
coupled with the noncanonical accounts of her as a preacher
though Mary Magdalene is commended, the language sub-
and missionary, have revised her memory as a role model for
versively reflects a patriarchal culture that connects the male
with the spiritual, perfect, and transcendent and the female
Christian women.
with the sensual, incomplete, and mundane.
SEE ALSO Gender and Religion, article on Gender and
Robinson, James M., ed. The Nag Hammadi Library in English.
Christianity; Gnosticism; Nag Hammadi.
Translated by members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Proj-
ect of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. San Fran-
cisco, 1977.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Boer, Esther de. Mary Magdalene: Beyond the Myth. Translated by
Schaberg, Jane. Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: The Legends,
John Bowden. Harrisburg, Pa., 1997. De Boer revisits the
Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament. New York, 2002.
tradition of Mary Magdalene as a redeemed prostitute. She
Drawing on canonical and extra-biblical literature, this femi-
examines both the canonical literature and the Gospel of
nist study approaches its subject through an analysis of leg-
Mary, placing the accounts in their historical, social, cultural,
end, archaeology, and Gnostic traditions, employing Virgin-
and theological contexts within formative Christianity. De
ia Woolf’s insights into structures of domination and
Boer’s work concludes that Mary was not a penitent whore,
communality.
but a courageous and persistent disciple.
DIANE TREACY-COLE (2005)
Brock, Ann Graham. Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: The Strug-
gle for Authority. Cambridge, Mass., 2003. This revised doc-
toral dissertation argues that the Magdalene fulfills the
criteria of an apostle. Brock carefully and persuasively reex-
MASCULINE SACRALITY is the designation of
amines the canonical gospel portraits, particularly those of
some domain of the supernatural universe as masculine. It
Luke and John, before turning to the Gnostic literature. Her
is a feature of numerous religious systems in human societies
treatment of a frequently hypothesized rivalry between pro-
around the world. A comparison of such systems reveals
ponents of the Magdalene and a Petrine group is especially
three levels of expression for the masculine valuation of the
instructive. Brock provides a comprehensive bibliography of
sacred.
the literature in French, German, Italian, and English.
At one level, certain natural symbols recur in religious
Haskins, Susan. Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor. London,
systems in the form of hierophanies or sacred manifestations
1993. Haskins explores how the story of the Magdalene has
of masculine higher being. These natural symbols include
been transmitted through Christian history not only by
sky, peaks and mountains, thunder, rain, and certain horned
means of biblical and early Christian texts, but also through
visual representations from the mid-third century through
beasts, as well as such creatures of flight as eagles. At a second
the last decade of the twentieth century. Haskins’s analysis
level of expression, religious systems often attribute certain
of the texts seems rudimentary compared to subsequent
cosmic functions to masculine metaphysical entities and/or
studies, but as one of the first scholarly works on Mary Mag-
specifically male supernatural beings. Thus gods as opposed
dalene, her book remains an important contribution. It is
to goddesses tend to be credited with such cosmic functions
particularly valuable for its medieval representations.
as creation of the mundane universe, establishment of the
Jansen, Katherine Ludwig. “Maria Magdalena: Apostolorum Apos-
moral code, invention of the elements of mortal subsistence,
tola.” In Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millen-
and the like. Finally, in many religious systems there is a be-
nia of Christianity, edited by Beverly Mayne Kienzle and
lief in the masculine orientation of certain sacred values.
Pamela J. Walker, pp. 57–96. Berkeley, Calif., 1998. Jansen
These commonly include order, stability, permanence, and
notes that between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries me-
essentiality. This level of religious expression may be basic
dieval preaching circulated the story of the Magdalene as
to the social ethic and organization of a community, and may
apostola. She looks at examples that draw upon pious tradi-
furnish it with a model and sanction for the pursuit of dis-
tions presenting Mary as a model missionary.
tinctive life patterns on the part of men and women.
King, Karen. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First
A masculine being or entity of a particular system may
Woman Apostle. Santa Rosa, Calif., 2003. A scholar of Gnos-
ticism, King argues the Gospel of Mary privileges inner spiri-
have reality at more than one of these levels of expression and
tual knowledge over externally acquired knowledge. She ex-
possibly at all three simultaneously. A brief illustration may
amines the Gospel’s teaching on various topics such as the
be furnished by Indra, one of the highest gods in the Vedic
body, women’s authority, and visionary experiences, point-
religion of ancient India. An atmospheric divinity, he is cred-
ing out that the writing rejects Jesus’ suffering and death as
ited with the unleashing of rain and storms, expressive of the
a path to eternal life.
masculine fecundating force. In general, Indra personifies
Marjanen, Antti. The Woman Jesus Loved: Mary Magdalene in the
cosmic vitality: he fertilizes the earth and makes rivers, sap,
Nag Hammadi Library and Related Documents. Leiden, 1996.
and blood alike to circulate; his retinue is the winds. He is
This study, a revised dissertation, evaluates the descriptions
also sagacious and deceptive, given to fooling his adversaries
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MASCULINE SACRALITY
5759
by changing his form. Finally, the power of Indra is sover-
being, the former tends to provide precedent for the latter:
eign: he is the chief of the heavenly council of gods, and in
Eve emerges out of the body of Adam, not Adam out of Eve.
iconography he usually wears a crown.
HEIGHT. Religious systems widely associate with masculine
As a figure of the Vedic religious universe, Indra exem-
sacrality the attribute of height, as well as the corollaries of
plifies a particular set of conceptions about the masculine na-
ascendancy and transcendence. Mircea Eliade points out in
ture of the sacred. These are realized at the three levels of ex-
Patterns in Comparative Religion (1958) that belief in the
pression discussed above. At the level of natural symbols
celestiality of the divine being is nearly universal in religious
Indra is represented by lightning, his cosmic projectiles, and
systems. To this it may be no less validly appended that
by the rainbow, whereby he dispatches those projectiles. At
the highest entities and beings of religion and mythology
the level of cosmic functions, Indra is associated with fecun-
overwhelmingly tend to be masculine. Moreover, the sky is
dation and life-giving force. Finally, at the level of religious
the most fundamental of all natural symbols of masculine sa-
values, Indra has the meaning of sovereignty: he is the proto-
crality.
type of the ruler. He exemplifies the values pertaining to the
In cosmology, sky beings are preponderantly male as op-
proper relationship of ruler and ruled, for he is lauded and
posed to female. Io, meaning “raised up” or “on high,” is the
invoked more than any other deity in the oldest of Indian
supreme god of the Maori, while the Yoruba of Africa call
sacred texts, the R:gveda. As a secondary value, Indra repre-
upon a god named O:lo:run, “owner of the sky.” In mytholo-
sents a force of mystery and delusion, since he is a cosmic
gy, masculine first beings not infrequently represent sky di-
magician, able to generate new aspects and shapes at will.
vinities: Amotken, the previously mentioned first being of
From Indra’s example it should be apparent that the le-
the Flathead, is also a celestial god, living in the crown of the
vels at which masculine sacrality is expressed in religious sys-
cosmic tree.
tems frequently interrelate. It is difficult to discuss natural
In some mythologies, high gods originate elsewhere
symbols, cosmic functions, and religious values of the mascu-
than in heaven, but journey there before the onset of profane
line in isolation from one another. Nevertheless, these levels
time. This theme is particularly well attested in Australia.
of expression should be borne in mind in the following dis-
Bunjil, the god of the Wotjobaluk, for instance, lived on
cussion of the basic attributes of masculine sacred being.
earth as a Great Man but later went to the sky. Among the
PRIMORDIALITY. In religious systems, a form of higher be-
Aranda, some earthborn first beings fell slumbering to the
ing anterior to and/or prerequisite to other varieties of being
ground and reemerged into it, while others climbed sacred
tends to be masculine. Thus if differentiated forms of being
passages to the sky. The former are identified with totemic
are said to arise from some primordial undifferentiated enti-
ancestors, the latter with high divinity—the sun, moon, and
ty, the latter is frequently masculine. The Arapaho of North
stars.
America, for instance, believe in a supreme god out of whom
Because the nearly universal attribute of masculine sa-
the entire manifest world originated. Their name for him is
crality is height—often expressed symbolically in terms of
Spider, presumably because the spider weaves his web out of
celestiality—the idea of access to godhood tends to be ex-
himself.
pressed through the imagery of ascent or, occasionally, of de-
Alternatively, the being that first dwells in or emerges
scent. In the Tantric tradition of southern Asia (India,
from the undifferentiated cosmic mass tends to be masculine.
Nepal, Tibet), the sublime is taken to be masculine; integra-
In world mythologies, masculine first beings are abundant.
tion with it demands a technique of focusing and directing
The supreme god of the Flathead of North America is Amot-
upward the feminine energies of the physiological microcos-
ken (“the old one”). Similarly, the supreme god of the Yah-
mos. In popular Hinduism, on the other hand, humans are
gan of Tierra del Fuego is Watauniewa (“the old, eternal, un-
said to approach the sublime at the god’s instance, by his
changeable one”). Among the Hawaiians, the supreme male
willful descent to the mundane world on a series of occasions
divinity is the god who dwells primordially, at the dawn of
called avata¯ra. Thus a popular myth cycle portrays the high
sacred time, in Po¯, the world of obscurity or darkness. Again,
god Vis:n:u mercifully descending upon earth to be born in
for the inhabitants of the Gilbert Islands, the earliest being
a series of mortal forms: as a fish, as a boar, as King Ra¯ma,
in the primordial void is a male divinity, Na Areau the Elder.
as the rambunctious cowherd Kr:s:n:a, and so on. By contrast,
In Australian religions, during the primordial time called the
while a mother goddess occurs in popular Hinduism and at
Dreaming, over the earth roamed the first beings called Great
times manifests herself on earth, she is not specifically credit-
Men, who are fathers to the creatures of the present world.
ed with the capacity of avata¯ra, or divine descent.
In mythology, feminine being tends to be secondary to
As an attribute of masculine sacrality, height is funda-
masculine being. Thus, in the Navajo creation myth, First
mentally but not exclusively symbolized by sky and atmo-
Man is paired with First Woman; both of them emerged
sphere. Height may also find expression in the symbolism of
from the union of primordial mists, but the emergence of
entities associated with loftiness. Sacred mountains are often
First Woman follows that of First Man. In general, where
the dwelling places of gods: the mythical Mount Meru of
there occur masculine and feminine forms of primordial
India and the Greek Olympus are well-known examples, as
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5760
MASCULINE SACRALITY
are certain peaks in Japan and other parts of the world. In
times of extraordinary crisis. Many mythologies speak of the
some religious systems, height as an attribute of masculine
sky god as having once been actively engaged in cosmic busi-
sacrality finds expression in the natural symbolism of sky-
ness, but as having withdrawn from direct intervention in the
dwelling creatures. Fabulous birds, especially eagles, tend to
universe for all time.
be associated with godhood. The Bella Coola of the north-
western coast of America, for instance, believe in an axis
As deus otiosus, or retired divinity, the sky god neverthe-
mundi, or sacred pole connecting heaven and earth, that was
less often remains in touch with mundane affairs and mani-
erected by the highest god; it is topped by a seated eagle.
fests his presence indirectly. A particularly widely held belief
Elsewhere in the religions of North America, and in parts of
is that thunder is a manifestation of such a god. For instance,
Siberia as well, an important position is held by a mythical
people of the Andaman Islands believe that thunder is the
creature of eaglelike appearance, the Thunderbird. The
voice of their supreme god Puluga, and the Kansa Indians
Thunderbird’s association with the awesome and fecundat-
similarly maintain that thunder is the voice of their high god
ing masculine force of the sky is underscored by the fact that
Wakantanka, whom they have never seen. Conceived of as
he is said to cause wind and thunder by flapping his wings,
a masculine epiphany, the growling sound of thunder may
and lightning by opening and closing his eyes.
be imitated in ritual to invoke the presence of the sublime.
In Australian ritual one of the most sacred objects is the bull-
EFFULGENCE. Along with loftiness and sublimity, effulgence
roarer, a piece of wood with a string tied through a hole in
is a common attribute of masculine sacrality suggested by the
one end. When swung around, this object makes a growling
natural symbolism of the sky. Various religious systems char-
sound suggestive of a bull’s bellowing or of thunder; it is par-
acterize the supreme god as white or shining. The Khanty
ticularly used in boys’ initiation rites. Similarly, in religious
and the Mansi of the Asian Arctic, for instance, describe their
rituals, particularly male initiation ceremonies, of the North
supreme god Num-Tu¯rem as luminous, golden, and white.
American Southwest, an instrument called a bull-roarer or
One of the most powerful gods of Hinduism—dwelling, in-
whiner is used to invoke and evoke the presence of the high
cidentally, on mountains—is S´iva, the “shining one.” Devo-
god.
tional literature sometimes refers to him as “the lord white
as jasmine.” In Hawaiian mythology, at the dawn of sacred
As a variant on the treatment of thunder as a masculine
time the first light in the universe was that of the original
epiphany, the growling force of volcanoes is occasionally re-
being and high god. Navajo mythology has it that First Man
garded as a sign of the immanence of sacred masculine being.
and First Woman arose in unparalleled radiance from the
In South America, for instance, the Puruhá tribesmen of La
primordial mists of the sky, the former in the place of sunrise
Montaña occasionally sacrificed humans to a volcanic moun-
and the latter in the place of sunset. While each burned a fire
tain inhabited by a god who made his presence felt from time
to light the firmament, the light of First Man’s fire was
to time.
stronger.
Another way in which the high god, as deus otiosus,
In cultic practices, sacred objects associated with mascu-
maintains an immanent presence in the affairs of the universe
line divinities tend to be chosen for whiteness or luminosity.
is by delegating authority to lesser supernaturals. The high
This is true, for instance, of the crystal stones used in some
god is often credited with initiating creation, but not always
Australian rituals. (The supreme god Baiame of certain
with completing it. In many mythologies the completion of
southeastern Australian tribes sits on a crystal throne.) Simi-
the work is delegated to other figures of the high god’s desig-
larly, the First Man of Navajo legend burned crystal for his
nation. For instance, the supreme god Gicelamu’kaong of
fire and was accompanied at his birth by white corn.
the Delaware delegates creation to the sun, the moon, the
Fire, of course, is a common accompaniment to reli-
thunder gods, the four winds, the earth mother, and the mas-
gious ritual. In Vedic India, not only was fire itself a god,
ter of animals. It is common in mythology for the deus otiosus
but it served as the purifier and sacred conveyance of sacrifi-
to withdraw, leaving his own son behind to carry on his cos-
cial oblations to the high gods in heaven.
mic activities. One of the many instances of this is found in
PERVASIVENESS. The attribute of being immanent in the uni-
the creation myth of the Gilbert Islands, where the divine
verse is widely associated with masculine sacred being. It is
protagonist Na Areau the Younger inherits the task of cre-
not without significance that the name of the Hindu god as-
ation from his progenitor, Na Areau the Elder, the primordi-
sociated with avata¯ra or divine descent, Vis:n:u, means “per-
al being.
vader.” However, in relation to the concept of supreme god-
As son and successor to the high god, a secondary celes-
hood, the attribute of pervasiveness should be carefully
tial may acquire considerable preeminence over the original
qualified because sky gods, those quintessential exemplifica-
high divinity. This preeminence is graphically symbolized in
tions of masculine sacrality, are typically characterized as dis-
some belief systems by treating the high god’s offspring and
tant, remote, and inactive.
successor as a solar deity. Thus among the Tiv of Africa, the
Accordingly, in many religious systems no special cult
sun is the male child of the supreme being Awondo. Similar-
centers on the high being of the heavens. He may be left out
ly, among the Wiradjuri and the Kamilaroi of southeastern
of ritual and worship altogether, or be called upon only in
Australia, the sun is the creator god’s son.
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MASCULINE SACRALITY
5761
In many mythologies, a type of supernatural who medi-
Finally, regarding pervasiveness, it should be mentioned
ates between a withdrawn cosmic father figure and the mun-
that the natural symbolism of the sky overlaying and embrac-
dane sphere is called the culture hero. A culture hero is usual-
ing the supine earth powerfully suggests the immanence of
ly portrayed as being with the high god in primordial times,
the masculine sacred principle. A sexual dichotomy is com-
and his sacred activities are sometimes performed at the high
monly featured in religious systems, the sky being associated
god’s instance. As a stand-in for higher divinity, the culture
with the masculine and the earth with the feminine. Earth
hero may play a role in mythology that is more important
goddesses are not infrequently paired with sky gods. More-
than that of the high god. Culture heroes are sometimes rep-
over, earth and sky together constitute the prototype of the
resented anthropomorphically, but just as frequently the cul-
cosmic pair. A common theme in world mythologies is that
ture hero has a theriomorphic representation: as a coyote
of the primordial separation of the mutually embracing sky
among some southwestern North American peoples, and as
and earth. The creatures responsible for forcing sky and earth
a great hare on the eastern North American coast; as a wolf
apart are variously represented as culture heroes, ancestors of
or a raven in eastern Siberia; as a bat among the Paresí of Bo-
the present earth dwellers, and/or the divine offspring of sky
livia; and as a tapir in the Amazon Basin. Whatever his repre-
and earth themselves.
sentation, the culture hero invariably serves to keep terrestrial
Contact between the separated celestial and terrestrial
society in touch with godhood, and almost without excep-
realms is frequently achieved in sacred time (and, by that pre-
tion is portrayed as a male.
cedent, is renewable in present, profane time) by means of
certain sacred paraphernalia or entities of a fairly obvious sex-
The activities of the culture hero are varied. In some
ual symbolism. Apertures in rocks or clouds are commonly
mythologies he assists in the work of creation. This holds of
portrayed as sacred means of passage, as are fabulous pillars,
the earth diver, a culture hero widely revered in North Amer-
trees, ladders, mountains, and the like. In other words, Sky
ica who, at the instance of the high god, brings up the first
the father and Earth the mother are mediated by sacred holes
land from the primal waters. Another typical task of the cul-
and poles. These devices, moreover, contrast somewhat in
ture hero is to provide the elements of culture and/or the
their orientation: the sacred holes tend to be earth-directed,
basic tools of subsistence to the ancestors of modern men.
and the sacred poles sky-directed. Thus in the creation myth
Among the Northwest Coast people and in eastern Siberia,
of the Gilbert Islanders the culture hero Na Areau the Youn-
for instance, the culture hero Raven brings light and various
ger walks in sacred time upon the rocklike upper surface of
elements of culture to the mundane world in primordial
the sky, then pokes a hole down through it to apprehend the
time.
earth. From the bowels of the earth Na Areau then enlists
Acting as he does as a kind of rival to the ethically sub-
an eel that braces himself against the earth with his tail in
lime high god, the culture hero is often portrayed as a schem-
order to lift the sky upward by his snout. Thus the once di-
er or trickster. He may assist men at the expense of higher
rect contact between earth and sky comes to be mediated by
being, as, for example, by stealing water, sun, or subsistence
the phallic force of that cosmic uplifter, the divine eel.
materials from the other world or by releasing game enclosed
The performance of rituals for reestablishing primordial
in a cave or other place inaccessible to humans. This aspect
contact between the mundane world and the sublime is fairly
of the culture hero’s character is exemplified by the fire-giver
common in religious systems. Such rituals tend to embody
Prometheus of Greek mythology.
the symbolism of ascent, and the implements used in them
are often of a phallic appearance. Thus to symbolize the axis
Culture heroes are also frequently portrayed as sacred
mundi—the sacred connector of heaven and earth—a pole,
ancestors of human descent groups. In the case of theriomor-
ladder, or tree is often used; it may be ascended by a ritual
phic culture heroes, such beliefs may find expression through
specialist, who thereby symbolically journeys to heaven on
totemistic cults like those common in Australia and North
behalf of his community. Such ascent rituals are typically
America. More generally, religious systems commonly em-
performed in Siberia and other areas of the world by sha-
body a belief that sacred substance, as an immanent compo-
mans, ritual specialists in techniques of healing and ecstasy.
nent and inheritance of human individuals, is masculine—
F
that is, it is derived from a high god, is transmitted by super-
ECUNDITY. Masculine sacred being is widely associated with
generative and fecundating powers. This association seems
natural males acting in sacred time as ancestors of men, and
to be based on the natural functioning of the sky, which fe-
is passed along in profane time through the male descent
cundates the receptive earth by precipitation. One ritual of
line. Thus, according to Hindu social theory and law, men
ancient India gives explicit expression to the association: the
alone pass the sacred substance of their lineage to their de-
Br:hada¯ran:yaka Upanis:ad enjoins the husband to unite with
scendants, whereas the sacred substance inherited by a
the wife after uttering the formula, “I am the heavens, thou,
woman is not immutable, being transformed to correspond
the earth.”
to that of her husband at the time of marriage. According
to Hindu doctrine, then, women transmit to their offspring
High gods and important male supernaturals tend to be
no sacred substance of their own but only that of their hus-
credited with extraordinary potency and sexual capacity.
bands.
These capabilities may be seen as independent of and addi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5762
MASCULINE SACRALITY
tional to any role played by a given divinity in the creation
Thus in the Yoga and Sa¯m:khya religious philosophies
of the cosmos. In popular Hinduism, for instance, the high
of India, the universe is said to be based on a polarity of two
god S´iva shakes the cosmos by the force of his copulation.
metaphysical principles. The masculine principle, purus:a
A symbol of S´iva is the lingam, a stylized phallus usually
(which itself means “male” or “man”), is that of immanent
given concrete realization in black stone.
and essential being, whose nature is immutable. By contrast,
the feminine principle is associated with ´sakti, the energy
In natural symbology, the masculine attribute of fecun-
that activates the ever-changing material universe. In the
dity is often expressed by animals of high fertility. Bulls are
philosophical writings of the tradition, the masculine de-
a particularly common symbol. S´iva’s cosmic vehicle is a fab-
prived of its ´sakti is compared to a lifeless god, while the fem-
ulous bull, and the bull is also the form assumed by Zeus in
inine principle out of balance with the masculine is said to
the early Greek myth of Europa’s ravishment.
be rampant, capricious, and dangerous.
As a symbol of the masculine, the bull tends to be cross-
Navajo religion likewise associates dichotomies of cos-
linked with the symbolism of thunderbolts. The latter are
mic function and religious value with the sacred masculine
sometimes represented in the shape of stylized horns. Also,
and feminine. In mythology the primordial being, First
the bull’s bellowing, like thunder, is an epiphany of god-
Man, creates a son and a daughter who are respectively
hood. Thus in the ancient Near East, the god Min had the
Thought and Speech. The latter is called the outer form of
epithet Great Bull, lightning was one of his attributes, and
Thought, and the former, the inner form of Speech; both are
he was responsible for rain and for giving life. In Papua New
necessary for the creation of the inner forms of the present
Guinea, the culture hero Sosom is aurally evoked by the bull-
universe. As first boy and first girl, these entities are also said
roarer, which is his voice; his body is of stone, and he has
to have produced a daughter, a feminine deity identified with
an exaggerated penis, suggesting his sexual and fertile powers.
the earth. Her name, not insignificantly, is Changing
Indeed, Sosom is credited with fertilizing man as well as soil.
Woman.
ACCULTURATION. Man’s conception of order as a sacred
Gender dichotomies expressed in Navajo mythology are
force plausibly derives from observation of the events and en-
reflected with great consistency in the cultural and social pat-
tities of the heavens. Within the sky, which is itself unchang-
terns of the community. In Language and Art in the Navajo
ing and stable, celestial bodies move about according to a
Universe (Ann Arbor, 1977), Gary Witherspoon points out
placid and unvarying rhythm. Because the sky is associated
that the Navajo associate the ritual and ceremonial domain
with the masculine, masculine sacrality comes to be seen
with thought and the masculine. Thus most ceremonial
more or less universally as the principle of permanence and
practitioners are men. The ceremonies they conduct, more-
order.
over, are rigidly structured and must be performed without
Thus, in mythology, the establishment of things that
mistakes or modifications. Usually, Navajo ceremonies are
give permanence and stability to existence—rule, law, and
concerned with restoring prior states of being. The fact that
the structured bases of things and institutions—tends to be
such ceremonies are the domain of men bespeaks a religious
treated as a masculine function. High gods and culture he-
view that masculinity has to do with the origins of things and
roes delineate the features of the primordial landscape. They
their culmination.
separate land from water and establish landmarks in the cos-
On the other hand, Navajo women are active in produc-
mos: sacred mountains, boulders, trees, rivers, and the like.
tive and domestic matters. They head most domestic groups
Moreover, male supernaturals furnish society with the per-
and control land and sheep on behalf of those groups. This
manent institutions of culture, including law, moral code,
life pattern is consistent with the religious view of the femi-
and the forms of religious practice itself. At the same time,
nine as the domain of growth, process, and change. For the
high culture tends to be perceived in religious communities
Navajo, social and economic life concerns the generation of
as a domain proper to men. This is particularly true in regard
new conditions and new beings; it is characterized by move-
to religion. Virtually without exception, human societies ex-
ment, change, activity, and productivity. Here, then, it is ap-
clude women from the most sacred religious rites, as well as
propriate that women dominate.
from manipulation of the most sacred objects of cult.
SUMMARY. Belief in a masculine domain of the sacred uni-
Where sacred values are associated with a dichotomy of
verse is common in religious systems and tends to be associ-
gender, the usual tendency is for the masculine to be associat-
ated with recurrent natural symbols, cosmic functions, and
ed with stability and essentiality, and the feminine with
religious values. Based on the patterns discussed above, the
change and materiality. The masculine may be identified
following can be enumerated as more or less universal ten-
with being’s inner form—thought or structure—while the
dencies. (1) Primordial first beings of cult and/or mythology
feminine is identified with being’s outer forms—word or
are most often male or masculine. (2) Cosmic functions per-
substance. The masculine may be associated with the poten-
taining to creation and fecundation are usually associated
tial, inactive form of being; the feminine, with kinetic, active
with masculine—as opposed to feminine—entities, princi-
being. The masculine is one and/or integrated; the feminine
ples, and beings. (3) Elements of culture tend to be associat-
is plural and/or diffuse.
ed with or attributed to masculine—as opposed to femi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MASHTOTSE, MESROP
5763
nine—principles and/or supernaturals. (4) In community
tives by Susan S. Wadley and Doranne Jacobson (Columbia,
life, important differences in life patterns between the sexes
Mo., 1977) contains in Wadley’s essay one of the best con-
have sanction and justification in beliefs about gender sa-
cise treatments available of ´sakti and its relationship to the
crality. In particular, manipulation of sacred objects and cer-
Indian conception of the masculine and feminine sacred
emonies tends to be seen as the appropriate domain of men.
worlds.
(5) The most exalted beings and entities of the masculine sa-
Lastly, for a general anthropological perspective on the relation-
cred universe are almost always associated with the natural
ship of gender sacrality to social ethic and male/female life
symbolism of the sky and derive their attributes accordingly.
patterns, consult Sherry Ortner’s “Is Female to Male as Na-
ture Is to Culture?” in the collection Woman, Culture, and
S
Society, edited by Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere
EE ALSO Ascension; Axis Mundi; Bull-Roarers; Culture
Heroes; Feminine Sacrality; Fire; Hieros Gamos; Kingship;
(Stanford, Calif., 1974).
Light and Darkness; Phallus and Vagina; Shamanism; Sky;
New Sources
Supreme Beings; Tjurungas; Transcendence and Imma-
Bodies, Lives, Voices: Gender in Theology. Kathleen O’Grady, Ann
nence; War and Warriors.
L. Gilroy and Janette Gray, editors. Sheffield, 1998.
Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender. Jose Ignacio Cabezón, editor.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ithaca, N.Y., 1992.
There is no single reference work devoted to the topic of mascu-
Gender and Religion: On the Complexity of Symbols. Caroline
line sacrality, though many pertinent sources are available.
Walker Bynum, Stevan Harrel and Paula Richman. Boston,
Concerning male supernaturals, a worthwhile and concise,
1986.
if dated, treatment is Wilhelm Schmidt’s “The Nature, Attri-
Invented Identities: The Interplay of Gender, Religion, and Politics
butes and Worship of the Primitive High God.” It appears
in India. Julia Leslie and Mary McGee, editors. New Delhi
in a volume edited by William Lessa and Evon Vogt, Reader
and New York, 2000.
in Comparative Religion, 4th ed. (New York, 1979). The
standard reference work on comparative religions by Mircea
Shillony, Ben-Ami. Divinity and Gender: The Riddle of the Japa-
Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion (London, 1958),
nese Emperors. Oxford, 1999.
contains much useful material on masculine sacrality.
Spellberg, D. A. Politics, Gender and the Islamic Past: The Legacy
Also worth citing are a number of studies on religious systems in
of Aisha bint Abi Bakr. New York, 1996.
particular world areas. For material on Australian systems,
Suchocki, Marjorie. “The Unmale God: Reconsidering the Trini-
see Eliade’s Australian Religions (Ithaca, N.Y., 1973). Some
ty.” Quarterly Review 3 (1983): 34–49.
pertinent material on Papua New Guinea is found in Roy
Wickremeratne, Ananda. “Shifting Metaphors of Sacrality: The
Wagner’s Habu (Chicago, 1972). For a wealth of material on
Mythic Dimensions of Anurädhapura.” Journal of Developing
religious systems of the Western Hemisphere (and some ref-
Societies 2/2 (1986): 193–207.
erences to northeastern Asia), see the valuable survey by A˚ke
Hultkrantz, The Religions of the American Indians (Los Ange-
M. H. KLAIMAN (1987)
les, 1979). For Hawaiian and related Polynesian religions a
Revised Bibliography
standard source is Martha Warren Beckwith’s Hawaiian My-
thology (1940; Honolulu, 1970). A legend of the Gilbert Is-
landers that speaks for itself in the richness of its gender sym-
bolism is reproduced by Arthur Grimble in “A Gilbertese
MASHTOTSE, MESROP (c. 345–440), inventor of
Creation Myth,” included in the Lessa and Vogt collection
the Armenian alphabet and saint of the Armenian church.
mentioned above.
The major source for his biography is the Life of Mashtots E
On religious traditions of India and southern Asia there is a profu-
written by his pupil and associate, Koriwn. The name Mes-
sion of material related to masculine sacrality, among which
rop, the etymology of which is still unknown, does not ap-
several studies may be particularly recommended. Heinrich
pear in the works of Armenian writers until after the fifth
Zimmer provides a very accessible treatment on Indian sa-
century.
crality in general, including much information on masculine
sacrality, in Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization,
MashtotsE was born to a peasant named Vardan in the
edited by Joseph Campbell (1946; Princeton, 1972). Zim-
village of HatsEekatsE, in the district of Taro¯n (present-day
mer’s Philosophies of India, also edited by Campbell (1951;
Mu¸s, Turkey). He was educated in Greek letters as a youth.
Princeton, 1969), offers in its chapter “Sa¯n˙khya and Yoga”
As a young man he entered military service, becoming a clerk
a penetrating discussion of the relationship of gender sacrali-
in the royal army stationed at Vagarshapat (present-day Ech-
ty to the philosophical traditions of India. As a detailed ac-
miadzin). Led to solitary life by his interest in the scriptures,
count of sexual technique and symbolism in relation to meta-
MashtotsE became an anchorite. He evidently headed a kel-
physics and philosophy within a single religious tradition, no
lion (a small group of anchorites) in the 390s. While prosely-
study supersedes Mircea Eliade’s classic Yoga: Immortality
and Freedom, 2d ed. (Princeton, 1969). A stimulating treat-
tizing the people of the district of GoghtEn (Nakhichevan,
ment of masculinity and the sacred in Nepalese and Tibetan
Azerbaijan), he conceived the idea of inventing an alphabet
religious traditions is furnished by Robert A. Paul in The Ti-
for the Armenian language and making the scriptures avail-
betan Symbolic World: Psychoanalytic Explorations (Chicago,
able to the common people. After deliberating with Bishop
1982). The joint monograph Women in India: Two Perspec-
Sahak of Armenia and King Vr:am-shapuh of Persarmenia,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5764
MASKS
he learned that a certain Syriac bishop by the name of Daniel
MASKS. This article will not attempt to establish a com-
had in his possession an alphabet for Armenian, which was
prehensive inventory of masks and their various ritual uses
immediately solicited. Finding Daniel’s alphabet unsuited to
because even larger works have only been able to do this im-
the phonetic structure of Armenian, MashtotsE and his pupils
perfectly. Rather, as a general introduction to this field, it
set out for Edessa to do research, and there in 404 MashtotsE
will concentrate on some of the general concepts and theories
himself invented an alphabet consisting of thirty-six letters.
that have arisen from the study of masks. Its geographical
Returning to Armenia, MashtotsE founded schools and
focus will be Africa, Melanesia, and the Americas because
continued the task of translating the scriptures that he had
these regions provided the data on which the theories dis-
begun in Edessa. He devoted the rest of his life to literary,
cussed were based.
educational, and missionary works. At first his activities were
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW. Although the importance of de-
concentrated in the southeastern and eastern parts of histori-
scriptions by travelers, missionaries, and topographers from
cal Armenia (i.e., Armenia Magna). He preached in GoghtEn
at least as early as the sixteenth century should not be over-
and then in SiwnikE, where he founded schools and estab-
looked, it can be argued that effective study of ritual masks
lished an episcopal see. Subsequently, he went to Georgia,
began only in the nineteenth century. At this time the first
where he invented a script for Georgian and preached the
interpretations and general theories about European folk tra-
teachings of the Christian church. His concern for the Arme-
ditions emerged, following (among others) the work of the
nians on the Byzantine side of the border led him in the 420s
Grimm brothers, Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm
to Constantinople, where he met the emperor Theodosius
Grimm (1786–1859), for whom folktales revealed traces of
and the patriarch Atticus. Having received from them the
beliefs and myths connected with ancient pagan gods. Later,
necessary permission for carrying out cultural work, he re-
Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831–1880) took an interest in the
turned to Byzantine Armenia, where he established schools
folk religion of his time, in particular that of the rural com-
and introduced the new script. During his stay there he per-
munities. Collecting vast amounts of data, Mannhardt un-
secuted an obscure sect known as the Barbarianos and in-
derscored the predominance of beliefs in fertility spirits and
vented a script for Albanian.
in the existence of a connection between vegetal and human
After his return to Persarmenia, MashtotsE went to
life. Under his influence, a number of mask rituals came to
preach in Caucasian Albania (corresponding to parts of pres-
be understood as incorporating ancient beliefs dealing with
ent-day Azerbaijan and Dagestan). He then visited those dis-
fertility, and masks were interpreted as representing demons
tricts of historical Armenia that had been annexed to Georgia
of the vegetal world.
and Albania in 363. An important contribution of MashtotsE
was to unify the Armenians of these districts through linguis-
At the same time, E. B. Tylor (1832–1917) began to es-
tic bonds.
tablish anthropology as a science of human beings and their
culture. He described the evolution of civilization from the
MashtotsE spent the final two decades of his life in Ar-
first humans, who in his eyes were in large part represented
menia devoting himself to writing homilies and letters, none
by contemporary “primitive” peoples, up to the civilized
of which has survived. Some scholars identify MashtotsE with
human of his day. To this end he used a comparative method
the chorepiscopus Mastoubios of Armenia. MashtotsE died
to organize an impressive number of facts and documents in
on February 17, 440 and was buried in the village of Osha-
support of his evolutionary perspective. He also analyzed the
kan. A martyrium was built over his grave and he was vener-
process whereby elements belonging to an older stage of evo-
ated as a saint. The Armenian people consider him the father
lution survive into later stages in which they do not function
of the Armenian literary tradition and the creator of the Ar-
adequately.
menian national identity. His grave is still a major site of pil-
grimage.
Therefore, the various elements that formed the core of
the study of masks by folklorists as well as anthropologists
BIBLIOGRAPHY
up to World War II were present as early as the last quarter
Akinian, Nerses. Der hl. Maschtotz Wardapet: Sein Leben und sein
of the nineteenth century. These elements are: (1) the evolu-
Wirken, nebst einer Biographie des hl. Sahak, mit einer deutsc-
tionist perspective, following which the history of Western
hen Zusammenfassung. Vienna, 1949.
society can be reconstructed by classifying all known societies
Koriwn. Vark E Mashtots Ei. Yerevan, 1941. Translated into English
according to the degree of civilization they have reached;
by Bedros Norehad as Koriun: The Life of Mashtots (New
from this point of view, the peoples studied by ethnology en-
York, 1964).
abled modern humans to relive, as it were, stages experienced
Marquart, Josef. Über den Ursprung des armenischen Alphabets, in
by the Western world thousands of years ago; (2) the notion
Verbindung mit der Biographie des heil. Maˇst Eoc E. Vienna,
of “survival,” used to describe those remnants of ancient cus-
1917.
toms that resisted evolution and survived beyond the period
Peeters, Paulus. “Pour l’histoire des origines de l’alphabet armé-
in which they were truly meaningful; and (3) intensive use
nien.” In Recherches d’histoire et de philologie orientales, vol.
of the comparative method—on the basis of what ethnology
1, pp. 171–207. Brussels, 1951.
reported on traditional communities of Africa, Oceania, or
KRIKOR H. MAKSOUDIAN (1987)
the Americas, it was thought possible to reconstruct the earli-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MASKS
5765
er stages in the evolution of a society and to recover the origi-
ered as a mere relic: it survived because it still had a role to
nal meaning of a particular custom.
play in the society in which it was observed. From then on
studies increasingly tended to consider each custom as part
By the end of the nineteenth century, scholars were in
of a contemporary system, analysis of which would illumi-
possession of an ever-increasing amount of comparative data
nate the function of each of its components. Similarly, com-
on masks. In 1883 Adolf Bastian wrote a general study on
parison was no longer applied to isolated elements; rather,
the role of masks. In 1886 Richard Andree published an
scholars compared systems of relationships. Finally, the
overview and summary of far-ranging documents from vari-
problem of the continuity of culture and cultural traits was
ous periods. He thus made a large database on masks avail-
tackled on a new basis: the historic dimension was reintro-
able to other scholars while organizing it into categories that
duced into the analysis and replaced the notion of survival,
have been constantly taken up ever since. Finally, in 1898
which focused interest on the question of origins and, in ef-
Leo Frobenius linked masks, seen as representing spirits of
fect, canceled out history.
the dead, to secret societies. From his perspective this rela-
tionship originated as a male reaction to matriarchy and pro-
For instance, earlier authors had interpreted Carnival as
vided an explanation for the exclusion of women from prac-
either an old agrarian rite of purification and fertility aiming
tically all mask rituals. These early theories of ritual masks
at driving out the bad spirits of winter or as a survival of the
marked the anthropological and folkloric study of masks for
Roman Saturnalia. However, as Suzanne Chappaz-Wirthner
several decades.
(1995) points out, integrating history into the study of Car-
In a well-known article published in 1933, Karl Meuli
nival reveals that the imagery linked to secular and religious
formulated a general theory of “primitive” masks that he
power, as manifest in court festivals and liturgical celebra-
then applied to European traditions. According to him, there
tions, played a decisive role in the development of a reper-
is a close connection between masks and so-called matriar-
toire of carnivalesque images unique to the Christian West;
chal societies. Furthermore, the majority of primitive masks
individuals as well as social groups resort to it to play out
represent spirits, primarily spirits of the dead. Indeed, the
their conflicts and express their aspirations. Carnival there-
strange appearance of masked figures indicates that they do
fore can be considered a language with cosmic resonance en-
not belong to the human realm. Their behavior reinforces
abling a dramatization of social dynamics.
this interpretation: the masks beg while threatening, they
The traditional populations studied by ethnology were
reprimand, and they punish, after which they distribute gifts
again placed in the historical framework that general theories
and grant wishes of prosperity and then disappear. Meuli ex-
considering them as “primitive” had somewhat obscured.
plains this behavior as the result of a primitive belief that no
Thus, anthropologists and art historians as well as folklorists
death is natural, every death being the result of the malevo-
came to carry on their research within concrete historical
lence of a living person. At particular times during the transi-
frameworks. They now deal with notions of identity, creativ-
tion from an end to a beginning (the passage from one year
ity, change, exchange, power, and politics among other ele-
to the next, for example), the underworld opens up, allowing
ments that shape a particular mask ritual at a particular time.
the dead to return among the living. The masked figures rep-
PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION. Although everybody seems cer-
resent these dead, who first seek revenge. By letting them pil-
tain of what a mask is, the definition of the term poses im-
fer and chastise as they please, one gives them the opportuni-
portant problems. In the narrow and usual sense of the word,
ty to calm down, after which they again bestow benevolence.
a mask is a false face behind which one hides one’s own face
This interpretation, applicable equally to the masks de-
for purposes of disguise. In ethnology, mask also refers to
scribed by ethnology and to European folk masks, is a syn-
headpieces that do not cover the face, as well as elements of
thesis of the theories founded on evolutionism, the notion
costumes that are worn over the face (such as veils, fringes)
of survival, and the comparative method, to which it adds
and other full or partial adornments of the body or face. The
psychoanalysis. Influential both within and outside scholarly
term mask is also used to refer to any representation of a face,
circles, Meuli’s theory played an important role in the history
whether or not it is worn on the face of a dancer. Conse-
of the study of masks. It appeared, however, at a time when
quently this includes mannequins; effigies; faces painted,
anthropology itself was gradually turning away from the am-
molded, or carved on buildings and boats; and pendant
bitious theories developed at the beginning of the century to
masks as well as finger or pocket masks. Finally, the defini-
focus instead on elaborate and detailed localized research,
tion is sometimes widened to include face or body paintings
employing a more demanding method. A similar trend
and tattoos. Since scholars do not agree on the denotation
emerged somewhat later, after World War II, in the study
of the term, confusion permeates the literature on the sub-
of folk traditions.
ject. As M. C. Jedrej (1980) puts it, the word “mask” identi-
fies no coherent class of institutions of any use to social an-
Up until then, because of the survival theory, a given
thropologists.
culture was not studied as a coherent contemporary phenom-
enon but rather as a patchwork of various elements that
It is important to keep in mind this problem of defini-
could be analyzed somewhat independently of each other.
tion when trying to understand some of the ideas frequently
Critics noted, however, that a custom should not be consid-
advanced on the subject of masks; for example, the claim for
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5766
MASKS
universality of the mask: it is only when makeup, paintings,
sive use of masks is most frequent in the western heights of
and tattoos are included in the definition of mask that one
both North and South America. Finally, in Oceania the
can say that masks can be found in virtually all cultures. But
mask is practically absent from Polynesia. It is extremely
is such a broad definition justified? No one can say, for this
widespread in Melanesia, although it is not used among most
question has not yet been systematically investigated.
of the highland peoples of New Guinea, in the main part of
Irian Jaya and in eastern Papua New Guinea, in parts of the
It is important to note that the focus on the face that
Bismark Archipelago, in the central and Southeast Solomons
museums, art galleries, and books on masks often maintain
and the Santa Cruz group, and in the Fiji group.
gives a distorted view of the ritual mask. This interest in the
face has encouraged a tendency to relegate to the background
Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the
the many masks that, lacking a face, are simple hoods or
gaps in the distribution of masks. According to one, peoples
fringes of fibers or beads falling in front of the face of the
without masks simply lack the wish to express themselves
wearer. Fascination with the face has also tended to minimize
plastically and use other means to formulate and express their
interest in the costume of the mask, which has often been
beliefs. Besides being an example of circular reasoning, this
hastily dismissed either as fundamentally designed to conceal
explanation runs against a number of exceptions that it can-
the wearer or as merely accompanying the mask. The mask
not explain, particularly among peoples that have a statuary
must, however, be considered from a larger perspective so as
but no masks. The absence of masks in certain regions of Af-
to include the costume, the headdress, and the possible acces-
rica has also been attributed to the influence of Islam. How-
sories, as well as immaterial factors such as the behavior, the
ever, anthropologists have demonstrated that the Islamiciza-
dance steps, and the songs or texts pertaining to the mask.
tion of a given region did not necessarily lead to the
As Eberhard Fischer (1980) points out, among the Dan of
elimination of the art of masks. On the contrary, as René
Liberia and the Ivory Coast it is the headdress, and not the
Bravmann (1977) showed, some African societies created
face, that immediately signals a mask’s type. Consequently,
new masks after the advent of Islam in order to represent the
the first step in the transformation of a mask from one cate-
jinn. Masks have also been said to be more characteristic of
gory to another is the alteration of the headdress. The Dan
agricultural peoples. This hypothesis, however, accounts
also have “night masks,” which comprise no tangible face but
only imperfectly for the presence of masks among hunters
may include feathered headdresses. In ancient Egypt the
in Asia and the Americas. The most successful general theory
priests’ masks were adorned only with animal heads. The
has been that of the historical cultural school, which ex-
priests playing the roles of anthropomorphic deities did not
plained the distribution of masks by arguing for their rela-
require masks: the headdresses and the specific emblems of
tionship with so-called matriarchal societies. An examination
the gods were enough to identify them.
of the available data has, however, discredited this hypothesis
as well. To date no global model is available to explain the
The face, therefore, is not necessarily the place where
geographic distribution of masks.
the meaning of the mask is concentrated. It follows that,
As a matter of fact, since being forced to abandon the
when faced with an ensemble that includes all the elements
broad theories of the nineteenth century and beginning of
of a mask (costume, headdress, dance), it is rather difficult
the twentieth century, scholars have no longer shown much
to decide that there is no mask simply because the face of
interest for the study of questions of this amplitude. Most
the dancer is painted rather than covered with a hood or false
have focused instead on the in-depth analysis of a particular
face. In any case, some scholars see a continuity between face
society, avoiding any far-reaching comparative evaluation
paintings and masks because of the similarities between the
they consider responsible in part for those past mistakes.
two phenomena: both are temporary adornments, both ap-
Nevertheless, some interesting localized studies have at-
pear on special occasions (initiation, marriage, death, or the
tempted to specify the status of masks within certain popula-
lifting of a prohibition), and both seem to have comparable
tions. Some try to elucidate the relationship that may exist
functions. On the other hand, the inclusion of tattoos in the
in particular societies between the mask and other religious
definition of masks creates more problems than it resolves,
and sociopolitical structures. Others look for the provenance
for it is difficult to see how masks and paintings, which are
of the masks of particular groups or even attempt to recon-
temporary, could simply be classified with tattoos, which are
struct its history. For instance, Jean Guiart (1966) showed
permanent.
that, in certain parts of New Caledonia, the development of
THE GEOGRAPHY OF RITUAL MASKS. A narrower definition
the art of masks seems to have been linked to the develop-
of masks—one that takes as a fundamental criterion the exis-
ment of chieftainships in the same region. And according to
tence of one element of costume (false face, hood) worn in
William Siegmann (1980), the use or nonuse of masks to
front of the face—forces the realization that even in regions
manifest spiritual forces in West Africa seems directly related
that are traditionally considered the privileged domains of
to the dominant features of social organization in particular
masks there exist extensive zones in which masks are not
areas, and especially to the role of lineages and political struc-
used. In Africa, for instance, masks are found mostly along
tures. But still lacking is a general model that explains the
a strip that cuts across the center of the continent from west
distribution of ritual masks, an extremely important element
to east and curves toward the south. In the Americas, inten-
of this institution.
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MASKS
5767
THE DATING OF MASKS. How far back can one trace the ap-
recalls the original state of the world as it is described in
pearance of the ritual mask? Many scholars do not hesitate
mythological narratives. Among the Dan the mask of the
to go as far back as the Early Stone Age, but this raises a num-
toucan recalls the events that led God to create the earth. Al-
ber of problems. The documents on which they base their
though knowledge of Melanesian myths is only fragmentary,
conclusions are far from clear and admit of various interpre-
many masks of that part of the world seem to strive to recall
tations. A workable example is that of the well-known “Sor-
paradigmatic events. For instance, the performance of the
cerer” of Les Trois Frères cave (Ariège, France, middle Mag-
Mai masks of the middle Sepik of New Guinea is accompa-
dalenian Age; c. 12,000 BCE). It is often presented as the
nied by the recital of totemic names and mythical texts
oldest representation of a masked human, whereas paleontol-
through a bamboo megaphone. Another mask represents a
ogists now prefer to see in it the portrayal of a mythical
feminine spirit, who, along with a masculine being often rep-
mixed being (half man and half beast). Such a figure may or
resented in the form of a crocodile, is the protagonist of
may not be linked to the existence of masks; it may or may
events that accompanied the creation of the present world.
not constitute the inception or consequence of mask use. In
On the northwest coast of North America, Bill Holm
any case, one cannot be categorical about it. This is true as
(1972) has noted that the great majority of Kwakiutl masks
well for an important number of the documents that have
are worn in representations, in stylized dance form, of inci-
been interpreted as representing masked beings because they
dents from hereditary family myths. In some cases the dance
showed anthropomorphic figures with stylized or animal
dramatizes the mythical adventure of the ancestor, whereas
heads.
in others it re-creates a dance given to the ancestor by a
Ofer Bar-Yosef (1985) reports that, in a cave at Nahal
mythical being with whom he came in contact. And accord-
Hemar in the Judean Desert, archaeologists have discovered
ing to Frank G. Speck (1949), among the Iroquois, at the
fragments of several stone masks dating back to the pre-
beginning of each reunion of the False Faces, the chief recalls
pottery Neolithic B period (seventh millennium BCE). It
the confrontation between the original False Face and the
seems unlikely that these stone masks were affixed to the face
Great Spirit, in memory of which the False Faces wear masks
of a wearer during ceremonies. They might be funerary
with crooked noses. Before entering the home of sick people
masks or the facial part of effigies, or even masks that were
to minister to them, the False Faces produce weird noises.
hung from poles. Nothing allows a decision in favor of one
These nasal sounds are said to be in imitation of the utter-
or the other of these hypotheses. Nevertheless, these stone
ances the original False Face made during one episode of his
artifacts are the oldest reliable dated documents testifying to
challenge of the Great Spirit.
the existence of masks in the seventh millennium BCE. One
In the southwest United States the masked dances of the
cannot conclude from this find that there existed at the same
Zuni represent various episodes of their mythology. In the
time masks worn by living human beings during ceremonies.
Shalako ceremony, for instance, some dances consist of a mi-
The oldest document from this point of view seems to be-
metic representation of the actions of the kachinas when they
long to Egypt, where the representation of a masked figure
want to send rain to the Zuni.
appears on a fragment of a wall of the funerary temple of
King Sahoure (fifth dynasty, c. 2500
In South America the mask rituals and their symbolisms
BCE). From a general
point of view, however, it may be assumed that the plausibili-
often have an elementary character. However, careful analy-
ty of the existence of ritual masks increases with the advent
sis of the ceremonies reveals that many commemorate the
of the Late Stone Age, particularly in parts of the Middle
principal episodes of the tribal mythology. The Carajá, who
East, Africa, and Europe.
live along the middle course of the Araguaia River, have
masks that portray a pair of supernatural parrots whose de-
WHAT DOES THE RITUAL MASK REPRESENT? Throughout
scent to humankind is related in myth. The Aruana, a dance
the principal regions in which ritual masks are found—
performed in the same region, bears the name of a fish whose
Africa, Melanesia, and the Americas—the majority of the fig-
form the Carajá bore before they became human beings.
ures depicted in masks are primordial beings, mythical ances-
tors, culture heroes, and gods. In fact, in most cases the mask
The use of masks may reflect the will to enact certain
is not limited to representing a particular figure: it evokes the
events as much as the desire to portray certain figures. At
events in which said figure played a role. These events are
times, masks represent no particular character at all but only
not necessarily enacted as on a theatrical stage; they can be
events. For instance, Carl Laufer (1970) reports that, among
recalled by a dance, by a song or chant, by a piece of costume,
the Mali-Baining of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain,
or by the recital of a text that accompanies the performance
the main purpose of the Mandas festival is to represent the
of the mask. They can even be implicit: the mask intervenes
events that took place in the primordial mythic time. While
in certain circumstances, because the figure it represents was
a choir of women chants the story of creation, eighty masks
implicated in similar circumstances at the time of origins—a
enact its various phases: the birth of the sea, the appearance
fact known to the initiates at least.
of the earth, the primordial forest, the flora, the winds, the
animals and birds, and, when the stage has thus been set, the
Among the Senufo of Ivory Coast, for instance, the
appearance of the first human couple and their sons. In this
kponiougo (head or face) of the Poro, the men’s secret society,
festival the ngoaremchi masks portray whirlpools and explain
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5768
MASKS
thereby the birth of the sea, which swirled forth in all direc-
the bias of Western interpreters. First, Western interest in the
tions, and the ngavoucha masks show how the earth was sepa-
mask as an artifact highlights the finished product and un-
rated from the waters.
derestimates the ritual value involved in its making. Further,
the Western tendency is to consider the masked ceremonies
The Dogon of Mali have a mask called sirige, a term that
as theatrical performances and to think that all the prepara-
can be translated literally as “two-storied house.” This mask
tions that precede them find their meaning only in the per-
consists of a rectangular face surmounted by a high sculpted
formance itself. This is a distorted view of those ritual cycles;
mast sometimes over five meters high. Marcel Griaule (1938)
often the making of the mask is in itself a ritual that repro-
was told that the sirige was recent and profane, a mere sculp-
duces the various phases of the creation of the archetypal
ture inspired by the view of a two-storied house, and that the
mask. Therefore it is vitally important that the following
wide movements traced by its mast served only to allow the
cycle start anew at the beginning; that is, with the making
wearer to show off the power of his jaw and neck. Later,
of the mask. This is probably the reason why masks can be
French anthropologists were given a more complex idea of
destroyed or left to rot without regret at the end of a cycle.
Dogon cosmology, and it appeared that both the mask and
the house recalled the same series of mythical events.
THE MASK AND ITS WEARER. The notion of a “primitive
mentality” was prevalent among writers at the beginning of
When the masks are shown in the main square of a
the twentieth century. One of the principal characteristics of
Dogon village, the rich ensemble of things, animals, and
this mentality was the supposed inability to truly differenti-
human figures is a reproduction of the world, a catalog of
ate between the being and its appearance, the thing and its
both the live and extinct fauna of the cliffs and the plains.
image, the signifier and the signified. Influenced by this
This display recalls all of the public functions, the trades, the
view, most of the books on ritual masks spread a theory ac-
ages; it presents a host of strangers, friends, or enemies; it
cording to which the wearer of the mask not only represented
mimics a wide variety of essential activities, all in a specified
a certain figure (ancestor, culture hero, god) but actually be-
order, at least theoretically. It is truly a cosmos. When the
came this figure. For these authors, therefore, to put a mask
mask society gets under way in the public square, it dances
on was akin to undergoing a real transformation. Some
the march of the world; it dances the system of the world.
scholars took this theory even further and claimed that it
provided an explanation for the phenomenon of masking it-
In some cases the system within which a population
self. According to them, masks stemmed from the possibility
lives may be represented not by the ensemble of masks but
they gave people to liberate themselves, to repudiate their
by one particular mask that summarizes the entire system.
current personalities, to undergo metamorphosis.
Among the northern Igbo of eastern Nigeria, the mask ijele
is a lofty tableau of figures with trappings hanging from its
The conditions of ethnographic fieldwork do not always
bottom edge to conceal the performer, who carries the whole
lend themselves to an evaluation of the precise level of reality
structure on his head. According to John S. Boston (1960),
on which the presence of a mythical being is located in a
the theme of the tableau that occupies the upper section of
given ritual. But in light of available knowledge, the range
the ijele is the life of a typical Igbo community. Marie-
in which the various hypotheses mentioned above may apply
Claude Dupré (1968) also tells that, among the Bantsaya
is becoming narrower and narrower. The best studies show
group of the western Téké, the mask of the Kidumu dancer
that cultures that utilize masks are perfectly capable of distin-
is a true summary of the culture of the group.
guishing between the thing and its image.
Masks are thus closely linked to the founding events of
For instance, in 1938 Griaule wrote that the Dogon did
a society and its institutions, as well as to its values. It is
not fit the prevalent assumption about the attitude of Afri-
therefore easy to understand why among many peoples the
cans toward the images they create. Far from being fooled
mask is linked to conservative forces and plays an important
by the appearances or the material effects of the ritual, they
role in social control, assuming even a quasi-police function.
were definitely aware of the difference between the thing rep-
The few examples given above also show that the primary
resented and its image. They even had a word, bibile, to ex-
function of masks is to represent rather than to conceal.
press the concept of reproduction, image, resemblance, or
double. A photograph was the bibile of the person it repre-
Sometimes the masks lose their ritual value at the end
sented. The shadow of a living being was considered a bibile
of the ceremonies of which they have been a part. This wide-
because it reproduced the silhouette, the posture, and the
spread phenomenon has often surprised observers. For in-
movements of that person. A masked dancer was called
stance, Francis E. Williams (1940) wondered why the hevehe
imina bibile, meaning appearance or reproduction of the
masks of the Elema of New Guinea had to be killed and de-
mask. Similar findings have been made among numerous
stroyed at the end of the ritual cycle, only to be re-created
other societies of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
in the next cycle, when they might pass from one cycle into
the other as if living throughout. He was puzzled to see the
Other factors also seem to reduce the applicability of the
products of years of industry and art so readily consigned to
metamorphosis thesis. For example, masks are rarely associ-
the flames. This surprise in the face of the abandonment or
ated with possession of the wearer, although that would be
destruction of the masks once they have been used reveals
in the logic of the hypothesis. Also, the initiates in those
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MASKS
5769
communities in which masks are found constantly stress the
ports this same technique is used also to cover the wooden
fact that only the uninitiated believe they are actually in the
supports of masks. In Mesoamerica the Aztec often com-
presence of a spirit or a god. These statements are difficult
bined the techniques of remodeling and decorating the skulls
to reconcile with the metamorphosis thesis. They have from
(e.g., with turquoise).
the very first forced the proponents of that thesis to embark
However, as noted by Hans Damm (1969), the Melane-
on often complicated explanations in order to bring their
sian masks have given rise to the most speculation. In Mela-
theory into harmony with the ethnographic data.
nesia the skull is partially or entirely remodeled or molded
Similarly attempts to explain the ritual mask phenome-
over with a kind of wax; it is then painted and often adorned
non by a desire, a need, even an instinct of the wearer were
with human hair. These techniques are not, however, limited
probably influenced by theories geared to explain the persis-
to the making of masks. They are also used in the making
tence of Carnival masks in the Western world. In one exam-
of funerary effigies (for example the rambaramp of Malekula)
ple of what Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1965) called the
and in the remodeling of heads that are preserved in cult
“if I were a horse” type of guesswork, the feeling of liberation
houses and in dwellings. The same techniques are also used
experienced by Western mask wearers was projected onto Af-
to mold human heads on wooden supports.
rican, American, or Melanesian mask wearers. Even if such
a feeling may exist among some of these people, it cannot
Because of the radical changes these traditions have un-
be used as a general explanation of the masked-ritual phe-
dergone, many of the assumptions made and questions raised
nomenon.
about them may never be checked or resolved. However, an
examination of some other Melanesian masks portraying de-
Moreover, wearing a mask often carries social responsi-
ceased historical persons (as opposed to those that portray
bilities that make it a service rather than a liberation. This
the dead as a class) help define a general context in which
service is often compulsory: reprobation, a fine, or worse
the skull mask can most probably be placed.
await those who try to sidestep it. Either one particular per-
son or a category of people is compelled to perform this ser-
In the Jipae ceremony of the Asmat, for example,
vice: one or several members of the family of the deceased,
masked men represent the dangerous dead, especially chil-
all members of a brotherhood, all circumcised males, and so
dren, great warriors, and the victims of headhunters. Begin-
forth. Although wearing a mask can bring honor and pres-
ning at dusk the masqueraders dance, imitating the waddle
tige, it also burdens the wearer with various duties, such as
of the cassowary bird. At sunrise the dancers move toward
the payment of a tax to purchase the right to wear a particular
the men’s house followed by the women. Suddenly the men
mask or several months of preparation during which the
of the village attack the masks with sticks, forcing them to
mask wearers learn the dance steps, intensively rehearse com-
enter the men’s house and thus ending the ritual. In the Jipae
bined movements, and may have to memorize complicated
the mask represents a specific dead person, but several solar
texts, sometimes in a secret language.
characteristics are also ascribed to it. This ritual begins at
nightfall, when, according to the Asmat, the sun puts on its
Among the Asmat of Irian Jaya, for example, it takes
mask to descend into the land of the dead. The dancers imi-
four to five months to prepare the masks for the ritual called
tate the cassowary, which the Asmat associate with the sun.
Jipae. H. C. van Renselaar reports that, during all of that
Finally, the ritual ends at sunrise; that is, when the sun leaves
time, the mask wearers have to support the mask makers (van
the land of the dead and removes its mask.
Renselaar and Mellema, 1956). The relatives of the deceased
for whom the Jipae is celebrated must in turn give daily sup-
To understand the meaning of a ceremony of this type
plies of food to the mask wearers. Furthermore, the mask
one must keep in mind that for a large number of societies,
wearers must act as the surrogate for the dead and adopt and
in Melanesia as well as in other parts of the world, it is not
provide for the children of the deceased.
death itself but ritual that opens the way toward the next life.
This ritual fulfills several functions linked together: it pre-
THE MASK AND THE DEAD. One mask has been constantly
vents the spirit of the dead from wandering among the living;
associated with the representation of the dead: the skull
it allows deceased persons to enjoy the status due to their
mask. Some experts, such as Hans Nevermann, have consid-
rank in the hereafter; it removes the risk that—in despair
ered it the most primitive form of masking (Nevermann,
about their unresolved fate—the deceased might act against
Worms, and Petri, 1968). Those partial or complete skulls,
the living to force them to celebrate the appropriate ritual.
worn on the top of the head or in front of the face, decorated,
This ritual may also mark the end of mourning, it may be
remodeled, or covered with tight skin, have provoked a num-
the occasion of the redistribution of the land, or it may serve
ber of speculations. Frobenius considered them part of a logi-
as a framework or a background for initiations. It is mostly
cal continuum of mask making that began with the use of
during this kind of ritual that masks representing deceased
a complete skull and moved to the use of a skull mask, con-
individuals intervene.
cluding with the mask carved out of wood. Skull masks are
found in the three main mask regions. In Africa such masks
Early-twentieth-century scholars were so preoccupied
are sometimes tightly covered with skin in a manner peculiar
with the idea that the mask wearer was adopting a new per-
to the Cross River region, where Keith Nicklin (1974) re-
sonality that they overlooked one of the mask’s main pur-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5770
MASKS
poses—which may have been to identify the dead with his
the use of masks representing spirits; (3) for masks to repre-
or her paradigm (the first dead human, a culture hero) and
sent spirits the wearer must not be recognizable; and (4) it
not just to associate the mask wearer with the spirit of the
follows that originally masks must have disguised the wear-
dead. This is nevertheless one of the important elements of
er’s entire body.
such rituals as the Malanggan of New Ireland, the Ne-leng
This theory was immensely popular, for it offered a logi-
of Malekula, the Horiomu of the Kiwai, the Jipae of the
cal and unique framework for an array of puzzling facts.
Asmat, and the Mbii-kawane of Mimika (New Guinea).
However, along the road taken by anthropology since the
This identification can take various forms that fall be-
1930s, every one of its elements was disputed and aban-
tween two extreme poles. In some cases nothing is done to
doned. Regarding secret societies, the apparent simplicity of
bring the appearance of the masked figure, as it is defined
the theory stemmed from the fact that its authors had amal-
by tradition, closer to that of the deceased. In those cases it
gamated extremely diverse institutions under the term secret
is mainly the attitude of kin that expresses this identification;
society (e.g., brotherhoods of men, age-group organizations,
they act toward the masked figure as they would toward the
initiation societies, societies based on social rank, and more
departed they are mourning. The ceremony called Mbii-
or less restricted cultic societies). Furthermore, later studies
kawane described by Jan Pouwer (1956) is close to this type.
showed that masks could very well exist independently of se-
In other cases a considerable effort is made to ensure that the
cret societies and that many secret societies had no masks,
masked person will resemble the deceased as closely as possi-
while others had only recently adopted them. Therefore the
ble. In this case the identification with the paradigmatic fig-
concept of a primary and original link between masks and
ure is made through the text, which is sung or recited, and
secret societies could no longer be taken uncritically.
through the dance steps. This seems to be the case with the
As for secrecy, it is true that, in many societies with
Horiomu of the Kiwai as reported by Gunnar Landtman
masks, the uninitiated must not speak of matters concerning
(1927).
masks, or they must only speak of them in a certain manner,
The above remarks also pertain to a number of funerary
or they are supposed to remain ignorant of certain things.
masks. This term has been used to categorize various types
However, the best-documented reports from Africa, Melane-
of masks found on mortal remains, on mummies, on funer-
sia, and the Americas acknowledge that women in particular
ary urns, or among the funerary furnishings found in certain
know the true nature of masks and that a large gap often sep-
tombs. Some of these masks are realistic and seem like por-
arates that which they are supposed to know from that which
traits, and they have on occasion been molded directly onto
they actually know. Secrecy, or the pretense of it, is but one
the dead person’s face. Others, sometimes called “idealistic,”
element that helps delineate and maintain the identity of
reveal traits that obviously did not belong to the deceased.
the various groups in a given society, but it cannot be taken
In between those two categories, variations such as idealized
literally.
or stylized portraits are found. Others, finally, do not have
The theory contended that masks were meant to terror-
a real face. In some cases the mask could have been worn by
ize women. However, because in many cases women were
somebody during a burial ritual, whereas in other cases there
aware of the true nature of the masks, they could not be
is no evidence to support that interpretation.
fooled by a ritual, the purpose of which would be to deceive
Given the extensive variations that may be found from
them. Yet they display emotions, sometimes violent ones,
one tradition to the next, funerary masks seem to have two
during the performance of certain masks. If they are not
basic purposes: (1) to prevent the spirits of the dead from
fooled by appearances, then how can those feelings be ex-
wandering among the living (by offering them a new sup-
plained?
port, by luring or forcing them away from the living); and
When women express fear when confronted with the
(2) to insure that the deceased will safely reach his or her rest-
masks or when they recognize in them the deceased of their
ing place in the hereafter. The identification with a paradigm
own families and implore them with cries and tears, one is
should not be overlooked as a means to achieve this goal.
forced to wonder if such a display of emotions is not an es-
MASKS, WOMEN, AND SECRET SOCIETIES. According to the
sential part of the ritual itself. There is no doubt that women
Viennese school of the “culture circles,” in a former era
are frightened in many societies. But they are afraid of the
women played a leading role in society, and in order to resist
consequences that would follow if they did not behave as tra-
their economic, social, and religious supremacy, men created
dition requires or if they breached the prohibitions sur-
secret societies. The theory postulated a quasi-organic link
rounding the masks. Depending on the situation and the so-
between secret societies and masks, the latter being the means
ciety, a fine would be levied; a sacrifice would have to be
used by men to seize power from women and secure their
made; the woman would become sick, sterile, or even die;
own domination. This link was even noted by authors who
the men might kill her; the mask wearer would die; or the
did not necessarily accept the hypothesis of matriarchy.
entire community would disappear. But this does not mean
Here, summarized in four points, is how Felix Speiser (1923)
that women act merely out of fright and that their emotions
expressed it: (1) the goal of secret societies is to terrorize the
(for instance, their grief) are not genuine. Indeed this does
uninitiated, in particular women; (2) this is achieved through
not rule out sincerity in any way, but a sincerity that is ad-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MASKS
5771
dressed to what is represented in the ritual and a sincerity
Bastin, Marie-Louise. Introduction aux arts d’Afrique noire. Arnou-
that cannot be understood unless one first accepts that all the
ville-lès-Gonesse, France, 1984.
participants may experience the ritual at the level of what is
Bédouin, Jean Louis. Les masques. Paris, 1967.
being represented while remaining perfectly aware of the
Biebuyck, Daniel P. Lega: Ethics and Beauty in the Heart of Africa.
means used to create the performance. The deeper meaning
Brussels, 2002.
of masked rituals can only be perceived if one acknowledges
Boston, John S. “Some Northern Ibo Masquerades.” Journal of the
that the behavior of everyone concerned is meaningful, the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 90
women’s as well as the men’s, both contributions being at
(1960): 54–65.
once necessary to the ritual and constitutive of it.
Bravmann, René A. “Gyinna-Gyinna: Making the Djinn Mani-
The elegant “culture circles” hypothesis presented the
fest.” African Arts 10, no. 3 (April 1977): 46–52, 87.
relationship between masks and women as one of incompati-
Chappaz-Wirthner, Suzanne. Le turc, le fol, et le dragon: Figures
bility, ignorance, and credulity. A detailed examination
du carnaval haut-valaisan. Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1995.
shows that the situation is more complex and differentiated.
Cole, Herbert M., ed. I Am Not Myself: The Art of African Mas-
Indeed the prohibitions to which women are subject some-
querade. Los Angeles, 1985.
times only cover a particular part of the mask or a special cir-
Craig, Barry, Bernie Kernot, and Christopher Anderson, eds. Art
cumstance. It is also impossible to ignore the particular posi-
and Performance in Oceania. Honolulu, 1999.
tion that certain women occupy within the masking society
Crumrine, N. Ross, and Marjorie Halpin, eds. The Power of Sym-
(among the Dogon, the Kono, or the Mende, for instance).
bols: Masks and Masquerade in the Americas. Vancouver,
In certain cases women contribute to the preparation of
1983.
masks or dancers or are entrusted with the care and preserva-
Damm, Hans. “Bemerkungen zu den Schädelmasken aus Neubri-
tion of the masks and other ritual objects otherwise prohibit-
tannien (Südsee).” Jahrbuch des Museums für Völkerkunde zu
ed to women. In addition, the wives of chiefs and the wives
Leipzig 26 (1969): 85–116.
of the heads of initiation societies are sometimes initiated
Dupré, Marie-Claude. “A propos d’un masque des Téké de l’ouest
into the secrets of masks, and, from a more general point of
(Congo-Brazzaville).” Objets et Mondes 8, no. 4 (1968): 295–
view, numerous elderly women are exceptions to the “rule”
310.
that all women be excluded from masking rites. Last but not
Eban, Dan, Erik Cohen, and Brenda Danet, eds. Art as a Means
least, there are of course cases—attested in Africa, Melanesia,
of Communication in Pre-Literate Societies. Jerusalem, 1990.
and the Americas—when masks are worn by women, often
Ebeling, Ingelore. Masken und Maskierung: Kult, Kunst, and
during women’s initiations. Due to the anthropocentrism of
Kosmeti: Von den Naturvölkern bis zur Gegenwart. Cologne,
early scholarship, little information was available on these
Germany, 1984.
ceremonies when the theory was proposed. Fortunately,
Emigh, John. Masked Performance: The Play of Self and Other in
since the 1970s this situation has been changing rapidly (for
Ritual and Theatre. Philadelphia, 1996.
instance, see Sidney L. Kasfir and Pamela R. Franco [1998]).
Evans-Pritchard, Edward Evan. Theories of Primitive Religion. Ox-
ford, 1965.
However, even taking into consideration the numerous
Fischer, Eberhard. “Masks in a Non-Poro Area: The Dan.” Eth-
cases mentioned above, a simple statistical study will show
nologische Zeitschrift Zürich 1 (1980): 81–88.
that in most instances masks are worn by men, even though
Frobenius, Leo. Die Masken und Geheimbünde Afrikas. Halle,
women are said to have discovered and owned them to begin
Germany, 1898.
with. Thus, if the masked ritual must be viewed in the con-
Griaule, Marcel. Masques Dogons. Paris, 1938.
text of a symbolism shared by men and women, the dialectic
between the two sexes that the ritual reveals must not be ne-
Guiart, Jean. The Arts of the South Pacific. New York, 1963.
glected. It comes back to the sacredness peculiar to each sex
Guiart, Jean. Mythologie du masque en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Paris,
and to the ambivalent attitude of men toward the extraordi-
1966.
nary power of women: particularly with regard to women’s
Hartmann, Günther. Masken südamerikanischer Naturvölker. Ber-
ability to conceive and to self-regulate their uncleanness
lin, 1967.
through their menstrual cycles.
Holm, Bill. Crooked Beak of Heaven: Masks and Other Ceremonial
Art of the Northwest Coast. Seattle, 1972.
SEE ALSO Ancestors, article on Mythic Ancestors; Bodily
Inhaber, Herbert. Masks from Antiquity to the Modern Era: An An-
Marks; Carnival; Culture Heroes; Dogon Religion; Griaule,
notated Bibliography. Lanham, Md., 1997. Inhaber reviews
Marcel; Kulturkreiselehre; Paleolithic Religion.
about twelve hundred books, articles, dissertations, videos,
and other media that primarily discuss masks.The entries are
BIBLIOGRAPHY
filed geographically and according to criteria such as histori-
Andree, Richard. “Die Masken in der Völkerkunde.” Archiv für
cal aspects, dramatic aspects, and philosophical and psycho-
Anthropologie 16 (1886): 477–506.
logical aspects. An index completes this extremely useful bib-
Bar-Yosef, Ofer. A Cave in the Desert: Nahal Hemar. Jerusalem,
liography.
1985.
Jedrej, M. C. “A Comparison of Some Masks from North Ameri-
Bastian, Adolf. “Masken und Maskereien.” Zeitschrift für Völkerp-
ca, Africa, and Melanesia.” Journal of Anthropological Re-
sychologie 14 (1883): 335–358.
search 36 (1980): 220–230.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5772
MAS:LAH:AH
Kaeppler, Adrienne L., Christian Kaufmann, and Douglas New-
Speck, Frank G. Midwinter Rites of the Cayuga Long House. Phila-
ton. Oceanic Art. Translated by Nora Scott and Sabine
delphia, 1949.
Bouladon. New York, 1997.
Speiser, Felix. Ethnographische Materialien aus den Neuen Hebri-
Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield, and Pamela R. Franco, guest eds.
den und den Banks-Inseln. Berlin, 1923.
“Women’s Masquerades in Africa and the Diaspora.” African
Strother, Zoë S. Inventing Masks: Agency and History in the Art of
Arts 31, no. 2 (1998): Special issue.
the Central Pende. Chicago, 1998.
Landtman, Gunnar. The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A
Sturtevant, William C., gen. ed. Handbook of North American In-
Nature-Born Instance of Rousseau’s Ideal Community. Lon-
dians. 17 vols. Washington, D.C., 1978–2001 (13 of 17
don, 1927.
vols. published as of 2001).
Laufer, Carl. “Die Mandas-Maskenfeier der Mali-Baining.” Jahr-
Van Renselaar, H. C., and R. L. Mellema. Asmat Art from South-
buch des Museums für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig 27 (1970):
west New Guinea. Amsterdam, 1956.
160–184.
Lawal, Babatunde. The Gèlèdé Spectacle: Art, Gender, and Social
Washburn, Dorothy K., ed. Hopi Kachina: Spirit of Life. Seattle,
Harmony in an African Culture. Seattle, 1996.
1980.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Way of the Masks. Translated by Sylvia
Wherry, Joseph H. Indian Masks and Myths of the West. New
Modelski. Seattle, 1982.
York, 1974.
Lommel, Andreas. Masks: Their Meaning and Function. Translat-
Williams, Francis Edgar. Drama of Orokolo: The Social and Cere-
ed by Nadia Fowler. New York, 1981.
monial Life of the Elema. Oxford, 1940.
Lupu, François, ed. Océanie: Le masque au long cours. Rennes,
Wyatt, Gary. Spirit Faces: Contemporary Native American Masks
France, 1983.
from the Northwest. San Francisco, 1995.
Mack, John, ed. Masks and the Art of Expression. New York, 1994.
HENRY PERNET (2005)
Malin, Edward. A World of Faces: Masks of the Northwest Coast In-
dians. Portland, Ore., 1978.
Mauldin, Barbara. Masks of Mexico: Tigers, Devils, and the Dance
of Life. Santa Fe, N.Mex., 1999.
MAS:LAH:AH is the Arabic term for the Islamic concept
of public interest or general welfare of the community of
Mead, Sidney M., ed. Exploring the Visual Art of Oceania: Austra-
Muslims. Consideration for the public interest (istis:la¯h:) is
lia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Honolulu, 1979.
held by Muslim legal scholars to be ancillary to the four ca-
Meuli, Karl. “Maske, Maskereien.” Handwörterbuch des Deutschen
nonical sources of Islamic law, namely the QurDa¯n; the sun-
Aberglaubens. Vol. 5, pp. 1744–1852. Berlin, 1933. Reprint-
ed in Karl Meuli. Gesammelte Schriften. Pp. 69–162. Basel,
nah, or normative behavior of the Prophet; ijma¯ E, or the his-
Switzerland, 1975.
torical consensus of the community; and qiya¯s, analogical
extension of accepted law or judgment. Although these
Nevermann, Hans, Ernest A. Worms, and Helmut Petri. Die Re-
ligionen der Südsee und Australiens. Stuttgart, 1968.
sources are meant to provide guidelines for all eventualities,
there have always been instances that seem to require aban-
Nicklin, Keith. “Nigerian Skin-Covered Masks.” African Arts 7,
doning either the specific ordinances of the QurDa¯n and sun-
no. 3 (1974): 8–15, 67–68, 92.
nah or the results of analogical reasoning, because of the
Norris, Karen, and Ralph Norris. Northwest Carving Traditions.
overriding nature of the public interest.
Atglen, Pa., 1999.
Nunley, John W., and Cara McCarty. Masks: Faces of Culture.
In positive or applied law, considerations of mas:lah:ah
New York, 1999.
in social and economic matters have usually led to the inclu-
Pernet, Henry. Ritual Masks: Deceptions and Revelations. Translat-
sion of pre-Islamic or non-Islamic local laws and customs in
ed by Laura Grillo. Columbia, S.C., 1992. This “problem-
regional local practice. Historically, the concept of mas:lah:ah
oriented” and thematic book deals in greater depth with the
has been associated more often with Ma¯lik¯ı school than with
questions raised in this article. It also provides abundant ref-
the other Sunn¯ı schools of law. This is largely due to the at-
erences, a twenty-seven-page bibliography, and an index.
tention the Ma¯lik¯ı scholars of Morocco have given it in their
Phillips, Ruth B. Representing Woman: Sande Masquerades of the
recognition of the validity of local practice ( Eamal), even
Mende of Sierra Leone. Los Angeles, 1995.
though they thereby allow institutions that strict Ma¯lik¯ı the-
Pouwer, Jan. “A Masquerade in Mimika.” Antiquity and Survival
ory would reject. But the association of mas:lah:ah with the
5 (1956): 373–386.
Ma¯lik¯ıyah should not be overemphasized; all Sunn¯ı schools
Ray, Dorothy Jean. Eskimo Masks: Art and Ceremony. Seattle,
of law have contributed to its development and utilization.
1967.
The early and medieval Muslim scholars who wrote on
Reed, Daniel B. Dan Ge Performance: Masks and Music in Contem-
mas:lah:ah defined it in various ways. Some approached it
porary Côte d’Ivoire. Bloomington, Ind., 2003.
purely from a practical point of view; others considered it a
Siegmann, William C. “Spirit Manifestation and the Poro Soci-
problem of the philosophy of law and discussed its moral and
ety.” Ethnologische Zeitschrift Zürich 1 (1980): 89–95.
ethical aspects. They all indicated, however, that the investi-
Smidt, Dirk A. M., ed. Asmat Art: Woodcarvings of Southwest New
gation of mas:lah:ah involved concern for the spirit rather than
Guinea. New York, 1993.
the letter of the law. Focusing on this feature of mas:lah:ah,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MASPERO, HENRI
5773
a few twentieth-century Muslim reformers have put forward
Marcel Granet’s epoch-making work (1919) on the Book of
the idea of redefining mas:lah:ah in terms of the needs of con-
Odes.
temporary society and then using istis:la¯h as a vehicle for
In 1920 Maspero was recalled to Paris and appointed
modernizing and revitalizing Islamic law. Thus far, at least,
the successor of Édouard Chavannes at the Collège de
their efforts have not been successful.
France. The only book he published in his lifetime, La Chine
antique (1927), is a history of China from the beginnings to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the third century BCE. The remaining years of his life were
Aghnides, Nicolas P. Muhammadan Theories of Finance. New
devoted to a thorough preparation of a second volume deal-
York, 1916. Very useful and detailed introduction to the
sources of Islamic law.
ing with Chinese history up to the Tang dynasty.
Kerr, Malcolm H. Islamic Reform: The Political and Legal Theories
The summaries of Maspero’s courses at the Collège de
of Muhammed Abduh and Rashid Rida. Berkeley, 1966. Dis-
France (1921–1944) show that, among many other aspects
cusses the history of mas:lah:ah and some modern attempts to
of Sinology that he treated in numerous articles, he was most
utilize it for Islamic reform.
interested during this period in the emergence of the Daoist
Schacht, Joseph. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Oxford, 1964.
religion. This was virgin territory, uncharted not only by
The authoritative general introduction, with a very valuable
Western scholars but also by Chinese scholars, who tradi-
bibliography.
tionally had despised everything Daoist except the philoso-
SUSAN A. SPECTORSKY (1987)
phers Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. In 1926 the sole remaining
complete set of the Daoist canon was published in 1,120
Chinese-style volumes. Maspero was the first to start extract-
MASORAH
ing from this huge store of documents (dating from the
SEE BIBLICAL LITERATURE, ARTICLE
fourth century BCE, in the case of the early Daoist mystical
ON HEBREW SCRIPTURES
writings, to the sixteenth century CE) a chronology of texts
and a coherent history of the origins and the first five centu-
ries of the Daoist religion. He discovered that this religion,
MASPERO, HENRI (1883–1945), French Sinologist
far from being the popular hodgepodge of superstitions de-
and pioneer of Daoist studies. Son of the Egyptologist Gas-
scribed by missionaries, or the illiterate and seditious demon-
ton Maspero, Henri Maspero did his first research in 1904
worship denounced by the Chinese scholarly elite, was in fact
in Cairo on the financial system of ancient Egypt. In 1907
the native high religion of all classes of Chinese society, with
he obtained his licence en droit and his diploma in Chinese.
a literate tradition going back to the second century CE. Real-
From 1908 to 1920, he was a member of the École Française
izing the importance in Daoism of physiological longevity
d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) and was stationed in Hanoi,
techniques and of mystical techniques for gaining union with
whence he traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia
the Dao (and participating in its immortality), Maspero de-
and China. He was in Beijing during the winter of 1908–
voted a detailed study to them.
1909, at the time of the death of Emperor Tezong and the
On July 27, 1944, Maspero was expected in vain at a
Dowager Empress Cixi, and he witnessed some of the ensu-
session of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belle-Lettres, of
ing revolutionary agitation. His research and publications
which he was president at the time. He had been arrested by
covered an amazing range of subjects: the administrative ge-
the German occupation forces because of his son’s activities
ography of ancient Indochina, the beginnings of Buddhism
in the French Resistance. On August 15, 1944, he was
in China, Chinese epigraphy, history of law, architecture,
aboard the last prisoner transport to Germany before the lib-
art, and astronomy, as well as linguistics. His articles on the
eration of Paris. He succumbed to disease amid the horrors
Thai languages and on the phonetics of Annamese were the
of Buchenwald on March 17, 1945, less than one month be-
first serious studies of Southeast Asian languages. The Chi-
fore the liberation of this concentration camp by American
nese elements in Annamese led him, before Bernhard Karl-
troops.
gren, to the study of ancient Chinese phonology.
In 1914, on a study mission to China, Maspero began
SEE ALSO Granet, Marcel.
an investigation of contemporary Chinese religious life,
which he continued among Chinese expatriates in France
BIBLIOGRAPHY
during World War I. This fieldwork enabled him later to de-
Maspero’s La Chine antique (Paris, 1924) has been translated as
scribe the modern Chinese folk religion in a remarkably live-
China in Antiquity (Amherst, Mass., 1979), and the majority
ly fashion.
of Maspero’s studies on Daoism have been collected in Le
daoïsme et les religions chinoises (Paris, 1971), translated as
Maspero initiated and supervised, until 1920, the vast
Daoism and Chinese Religion (Amherst, Mass., 1981). Among
EFEO collection of Indochinese documents, a unique repos-
Maspero’s writing on Buddhism are “Le songe et l’ambassade
itory of the history of this region. Some of this material
de l’empereur Ming” and “Communautés et moines boud-
served him for comparative studies on modern Thai and an-
dhistes chinois au deuxième et troisième siècles,” both of
cient Chinese religion, studies that confirmed the results of
which appear in the Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5774
MASS
Orient (Hanoi) 10 (1910): 95–130 and 222–232, respective-
tion that Massignon’s priesthood, which turned out to be an
ly, and “Les origines de la comunauté bouddhiste de Lo-
essential element in his spiritual life and vocation, should re-
yang,” Journal Asiatique 225 (1934): 88–107. On mythology
main secret. Even after his retirement in 1954 Massignon
and popular religion, see “Légendes mythologiques dans le
continued to take an active part in defending victims of vio-
Chou king,” Journal asiatique 204 (1924): 1–100; “The My-
lence (e.g., Palestinians and Algerians) until his death on Oc-
thology of Modern China,” in Asiatic Mythology, edited by
tober 31, 1962, in Paris.
Joseph Hackin and others (New York, 1932); and “Les
ivoires chinois et l’iconographie populaire,” in Les ivoires reli-
Massignon’s work is the accomplishment and creation
gieux et médicaux chinois d’après la collection Lucien Lion, ed-
of a mind of remarkable stature, illuminated by flashes of ge-
ited by Maspero, René Grousset, and Lucien Lion (Paris,
nius but capable of being carried away, to the verge of aberra-
1939).
tion, by ideas. A reader is confronted with the difficult task
An obituary by Paul Demiéville, including a useful bibliography,
of recognizing the particular perspectives in which Mas-
appears in Journal Asiatique 234 (1943–1945): 245–280,
signon interpreted his subject matter and correcting them ac-
and Demiéville’s summary of Maspero’s contribution to
cording to the scholarly criteria of factual interpretation and
Chinese studies, “Henri Maspero et l’avenir des études chin-
validity. If Massignon’s unique spiritual commitments made
oises,” can be found in T’oung pao 38 (1947): 16–42.
his oeuvre one of the richest in the whole field of Islamic
ANNA SEIDEL (1987)
studies, one must recognize that it drew its strength from an
existential position unrelated to scholarship. While its origi-
nality deserves respect and admiration, the lack of scholarly
MASS SEE EUCHARIST
standards must also be recognized.
Massignon’s monumental study of al-H:alla¯j will proba-
bly remain his lasting contribution to the study of Islam and
MASSIGNON, LOUIS
religion generally. It is more than a careful historical recon-
(1883–1962), French Islami-
struction of facts and bygone spiritual worlds. It is the record
cist. Louis-Fernand-Jules Massignon grew up in Paris, where
of a spiritual encounter in which a scholar fascinated by a re-
he enrolled at the university and pursued various disciplines,
ligious truth meets a mystic of the past in whom this truth
including Arabic. He spent most of the period 1906–1910
is recognized. Were it not for Massignon, such spiritual di-
studying in Cairo and carrying out research in Iraq and Istan-
mensions might not have been revealed in al-H:alla¯j, but to
bul, and in 1912–1913 he was visiting professor at the Egyp-
what extent the spiritual al-H:alla¯j discovered by Massignon
tian (later Cairo) University. In 1922 he submitted his two
is the result of valid hermeneutics of the texts and not a spiri-
requisite doctoral theses on al-H:alla¯j and early Islamic mysti-
tual creation born of the religious needs and passions of Mas-
cism to the University of Paris; published in two volumes as
signon as a person is a question that haunts the reader. Mas-
La passion d’al-Hosayn-ibn-Mansour al’Hallâj, martyr mys-
signon’s inner experiences of May and June 1908, as a result
tique de l’Islam exécuté à Bagdad le 26 mars 922 (1922), his
of which he received a “new life” of adoration and witness-
thèse principale has since become a classic. A second, greatly
ing, welded together for him the figures of al-H:alla¯j and
enlarged edition appeared posthumously (1975). In 1926
Christ, the existence of God and the experience of divine
Massignon was elected professor of sociology and sociogra-
grace. Thereafter, al-H:alla¯j, Christ, and their witness Louis
phy of Islam at the Collège de France in Paris, and in 1933
Massignon could no longer be separated either by Massignon
he was appointed director of studies for Islam at the École
himself or by those studying his reconstruction of the Halla-
Pratique des Hautes Études, also in Paris, in the section of
jian drama.
sciences religeuses. In the same year he was elected a member
of the new Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, where
Massignon’s second contribution is his precise technical
he spent several weeks working each winter.
investigation of the religious, particularly the mystical, vo-
cabulary in Islam. Apart from his claim that the spiritual real-
Born and raised a Roman Catholic, Massignon under-
ities to which these words allude can be rediscovered through
went a particular inner experience in 1908, which he spoke
the study of the words themselves—and that the researcher
of as his “conversion.” As a result he became once more a
at a certain moment finds himself confronted precisely with
loyal member of the Roman Catholic church, increasingly
that reality to which the mystic testifies—his technical
with a spiritual vocation with regard to Islam. In 1931 he
achievements were enormous and have inspired such scholars
became a third-order Franciscan, and in 1934 he founded
as Paul Nwyia to proceed with their researches on religious
the Badaliya sodality, the members of which were inspired
vocabulary along the same line.
by compassion and devoted themselves to “substitution” for
their Muslim brethren. (The idea of substitution involves
Massignon’s third major contribution is to have suc-
one person’s taking another’s suffering upon himself.) After
ceeded, in a period of ever-growing specialization, in retain-
joining the Greek Catholic (Uniate) church in 1949, Mas-
ing a global view of what may be called the world of Islam
signon was ordained a priest on January 28, 1950, in Cairo.
in its various material and spiritual dimensions. He could see
Even though ordination in this church is possible for a mar-
it all as forming a meaningful whole under the sign of Islam,
ried man, as Massignon was, the Vatican imposed the condi-
just as he could see Islam as meaningful in the perspective
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MATERIALISM
5775
of al-H:alla¯j. Thus his “minor works,” collected in Opera mi-
Harpigny, Guy. “Louis Massignon: L’Hospitalité et la visitation
nora (1963), include articles on widely varying subjects.
de l’étranger.” Recherches de Science Religieuse 75, no. 1
Throughout these articles we find a complex hermeneutics
(1987): 39–64.
of texts, personalities, and ideas directed to revealing not
Mason, Herbert. Memoir of a Friend: Louis Massignon. London,
only their literary, historical, and semantic meanings but also
1988.
their spiritual intentions. In his hermeneutical research, Mas-
JACQUES WAARDENBURG (1987)
signon showed both an immense erudition and an extraordi-
Revised Bibliography
nary sensitivity, particularly to religious and devotional reali-
ties. His sensitivity extended to those realities that exist partly
in the realm of dreams and partly in that of fact, realities to
which the religious mind and what was once commonly
MATERIALISM. As a philosophical doctrine, material-
called the “Oriental mind” are so attuned.
ism can be given a deceptively simple definition: the view
that matter is all there is. The simplicity is deceptive because,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of course, the term matter can itself be understood in so
Massignon’s principal work is his monumental study of al-H:alla¯j,
many different ways. It is more illuminating, perhaps, to de-
the second, greatly expanded version of which appeared post-
fine materialism in terms of what it denies. It excludes the
humously in four volumes (Paris, 1975), and has been trans-
existence of entities that are radically different in kind from,
lated by Herbert Mason as The Passion of al-H:alla¯j: Mystic
and Martyr of Islam, 4 vols. (Princeton, 1982). Another clas-
and in some sense superior to, the matter of our ordinary ex-
sic study is his Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la
perience. It rejects, therefore, a God or gods on whom the
mystique musulmane, 3d ed. (Paris, 1968), which deals with
universe would depend for its existence or mode of opera-
the development of mystical vocabulary during the first cen-
tion; it denies the existence of angels or spirits that can affect
turies of Islam. A number of mystical texts were edited by
the material order while ultimately escaping its limitations;
Massignon in his Recueil de textes inédits concernant l’histoire
it questions the notion of a soul, if taken to be an immaterial
de la mystique en pays d’Islam (Paris, 1929). A translation of
entity separable in principle from the human body it in-
al-H:alla¯j’s poems, the Dîwân (1955; reprint, Paris, 1981),
forms. Its two main targets are, therefore, theism and dualis-
was also published by Massignon. Of Massignon’s other
tic views of human nature.
books, mention should be made of Mission en Mésopotamie,
1907–1908, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1910–1912), and of the various
Materialism has, in the past, usually derived from one
editions of the important Annuaire du monde musulman that
or the other of two sources. The first is the conviction that
were compiled by Massignon (1st ed., Paris, 1922–1923; 2d
the world can be understood in terms of a single set of cate-
ed., Paris, 1926; 3d ed., Paris, 1929; 4th ed., Paris, 1954).
gories derived from our everyday physical experience, with-
(The last of these volumes was accomplished with the collab-
out having to introduce a second set of “immaterial” entities
oration of Vincent Monteil.) A collection, edited by
of an altogether different kind. The second is the criticism
Youakim Moubarac, of 205 of Massignon’s articles has been
of organized religion on the grounds of its superstitious or
published under the title Opera minora, 3 vols. (1963; re-
print, Paris, 1969); two more volumes have been announced.
politically oppressive character and a linking of religion with
belief in gods, angels, souls, miracles. The former allies mate-
Bibliographies of works by and about Massignon appear in
Youakim Moubarac’s L’œuvre de Louis Massignon (Beirut,
rialism with naturalism. The stress in both is on “natural”
1972), pp. 7–107; the book is, however, difficult both to
modes of explanation; “supernatural” forms of action are re-
find and to use, and is incomplete. A definitive bibliography
jected as unnecessary or even incoherent. Materialism also re-
with complete references has yet to be compiled. Most acces-
sembles reductionism, since both seek to reduce the diversity
sible at present is the succinct bibliography given in my
of the explanations offered for events in the world to a single
L’Islam dans le miroir de l’Occident, 3d ed. (The Hague,
category, or at least to a minimal number of categories. There
1970), pp. 351–358. These bibliographies may be supple-
are, for the same reasons, overtones in it of positivism, at least
mented by that contained in Guy Harpigny’s penetrating
to the extent that both lay stress on science as the only legiti-
study of Massignon’s work and spirituality, Islam et christian-
mate source of knowledge about the causalities of the world.
isme selon Louis Massignon (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1981),
Where classic materialism would differ from these other
pp. 295–301. To celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of
Massignon’s birth, UNESCO issued a useful brochure titled
philosophic emphases would be mainly in the specificity of
Centenaire de la naissance de Louis Massignon, 1883–1962
its objections to the category of “spirit” on which religious
(Paris, 1983).
belief is taken to rely.
New Sources
BEGINNINGS. It is to Aristotle (384–322 BCE) that we owe
Baldick, Julian. “Massignon: Man of Opposites.” Religious Studies
the first explicit articulation of a concept of “matter,” that
23, no. 1 (1987): 29–39.
is, an underlying substratum to which reference must be
Burrell, David E. “Mind and Heart at the Service of Muslim-
made in explaining physical change. Aristotle criticizes the
Christian Understanding: Louis Massignon as Trail Blazer.”
Ionian physicists, his predecessors of two centuries earlier,
Muslim World 88 (1998): 268–278.
because of their supposedly exclusive reliance on a common
Gude, Mary Louise. Louis Massignon: The Crucible of Compassion.
underlying “stuff” (water, air, fire) in explaining change in
Notre Dame, 1996.
nature. Such a stuff would retain its own identity throughout
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5776
MATERIALISM
all change; substantial change would, therefore, be excluded
material terms only. It was only when the “new science” of
and the apparently fundamental differences between differ-
mechanics made its appearance in the seventeenth century
ent kinds (different species of animal, for instance) would be
that the outlines of an argument became faintly visible. Gali-
reduced to mere differences in arrangement of the funda-
leo and Descartes took for granted that matter is composed
mental “stuff.” Aristotle rejected this “materialist” doctrine.
of a multitude of tiny corpuscles whose properties (“primary
But he did not believe the Ionians to be materialists. He
qualities”) are precisely those required to make them subject
notes that Thales thought all things to be “full of gods” and
to, and entirely predictable by, mechanical law. There was
to be in some sense “ensouled”; similar views are attributed
no real evidence for this, but it seemed plausible to extend
to the other major figures in the early Ionian tradition.
the realm of the new mathematicized mechanics to the very
Though these men made the first known attempt to explain
small and thus make all types of physical change explicable,
physical changes in a systematic way, they did not question
perhaps, in mechanical terms.
the traditional explanatory roles of the gods and of soul.
Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) could now revive the an-
A century later, the founders of atomism, Leucippus
cient Epicurean atomism and present it as the best available
and Democritus, came much closer to a clear-cut materialist
(though admittedly hypothetical) scientific explanation of
doctrine. Their view that all things consist of “atoms,” im-
the sensory qualities of things. However, he did not carry his
perceptibly small, indivisible, eternal, and unchanging enti-
Epicureanism all the way to materialism; though an oppo-
ties, derived from the metaphysical arguments of Parmenides
nent of the claims to demonstrative knowledge made by
regarding the One, not from an empirical starting-point in
scholastics and Cartesians alike, he was not disaffected with
observation. Change is nothing more than the movement
religion and saw no reason to extend atomism to the soul or
and redistribution of atoms in the void. The planets, the
to use it to deny the need for a creator God. His friend
stars, and even the earth itself have come to be by the aggre-
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) had no such scruples. A se-
gating of vortices of atoms. Since space is infinite, there will
vere critic of institutional religion, he argued that mechanical
be infinitely many worlds produced in this way. Sensation
modes of explanation must be extended not only to sensation
is to be understood in purely physical terms; the soul itself
but to thought, which is no more than the motion of materi-
consists of atoms, admittedly smaller and finer than even the
al particles in the brain. Nothing other than body can exist,
particles of fire, but still of the same general kind as other
so that God, if he exists (and Hobbes’s real views on this issue
atoms. All interaction is thus mechanical and explanation in
are very difficult to discover), must be corporeal.
terms of final causes is prohibited. Yet the atomists do not
REDUCTIVE MATERIALISM. If all material things are to be un-
appear to have excluded the gods. Though Democritus is
derstood by a single set of laws, the general laws of mechan-
critical of those who would base ethical behavior on religious
ics, it would follow that human action, too, can be reduced
sanctions, he does seem to allow that the gods may visit men.
to mechanical law. This is the conclusion Hobbes reached;
This may, of course, have been no more than a concession
Descartes avoided it only by placing within man an immate-
to the orthodoxy of the day. Yet it would seem more likely
rial mind. Reductive materialism or sharp dualism—these
that he had not yet reduced the gods, as he had done soul,
seemed to be the only options, if one decided to bring the
to matter.
entire domain of physical interaction under one science.
Most philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centu-
Epicurus (341–270 BCE) took this further step. The
ries found the alternatives unappealing, but it was not at all
gods are situated in the intervals between the innumerable
evident where a stable solution might be found. In France,
universes; they too must be composed of atoms, and they live
where reaction against royal as well as ecclesiastical authority
in a state of bliss undisturbed by the affairs of mortals. Lucre-
continued to mount, reductive materialism found favor with
tius (99–55 BCE) popularized the teachings of Epicurus in the
a number of writers, of whom the most original was Denis
Roman world through his great poem, De rerum natura,
Diderot (1713–1784), editor of the great Encyclopedia. Influ-
which was the most complete expression of materialist doc-
enced by George-Louis Buffon’s Natural History (1749), he
trine in ancient times. The gods here seem to be dismissed
speculated about the sort of developmental laws that might
entirely; insofar as there is a deity it is nature itself. Lucretius
have brought about the organic world we know from an ini-
views the state religion of Rome as a primarily political insti-
tial chaos of material particles. A number of medical writers,
tution and sees no reason for any exception to the atomist
of whom the most notable was Julien de La Mettrie (1709–
claim that all there is, is atoms and void.
1751), were at the same time developing a materialist physi-
THE RENAISSANCE. With the growth of Christianity, the at-
ology in which human action is reduced to simple mechani-
traction of Epicurean materialism diminished. During the
cal causes. Paul d’Holbach (1723–1789), on the other hand,
Middle Ages, atomism was sometimes discussed by philoso-
was much more metaphysical in his approach. His Système
phers, but the Aristotelian arguments against it seemed over-
de la nature (1770) was the most thoroughgoing materialist
whelming. There could be no serious defense of materialism
statement of the century; in it, the two sources of classic ma-
in an age when the influence of spirit, in all its forms, seemed
terialism are especially evident: a conviction that because
so palpable and when no plausible argument had been found
matter is one, only one sort of explanation is permissible, and
for the claim that all change can be explained in atomic or
a strong hostility to religion.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MATERIALISM
5777
But the weaknesses of this kind of material monism
The attempt on the part of Marx and Engels to “materi-
were still evident. The claims to explain in mechanical terms
alize Hegel” led to notable internal strain (many have argued,
the operations of the human body, to reduce sensation and
incoherence) within the materialism they proposed. On the
thought to mechanical action between molecules, and to de-
one hand, there is the stress on the primacy of sense-
rive the profusion of organic species from an original undif-
experience (which is said to “reflect” the world) and conse-
ferentiated matter were still almost entirely promissory. Ma-
quently of science. On the other, the dialectical element
terialism was still, at best, a program, not an achieved
(which is crucial to Marx’s political theory) is difficult to sus-
philosophy. To become something more, a genuine material-
tain by science alone, unless it be almost emptied of content.
ist science would have to be available to serve as support. And
This tension is even more evident in Lenin’s version of dia-
one of the fundamental premises of classic materialism, its
lectical materialism, which tries to mediate between positiv-
reductionist principle, might have to be abandoned.
ism and Hegelian idealism, utilizing a rather naive realist
epistemology.
Major philosophers of the day were struck by the crudi-
ty, as they saw it, of the materialist doctrine. Hegel, in partic-
CHRISTIANITY AND MATERIALISM. The progress of science
ular, attacked the mechanistic presuppositions of Newtonian
since the mid-nineteenth century has undercut the older re-
science, its assumption that all motion can be explained by
ductive materialism by showing that the categories of me-
the single science of mechanics. In its stead, he attempted to
chanics at any one time are never definitive and that there
construct a philosophy of nature and a theory of history in
are, besides, different levels of explanation that are probably
which spirit is the moving force. Motion involves contradic-
not reducible to one another, not in the sense in which re-
tion, since for it to occur, a body has to be “both here and
duction was supposed to be possible, at least. On the other
not here at the same time.” Thus, contradiction pervades
hand, the progress of science has also demonstrated the
both nature and society; it is out of the consequent struggle
strength of the naturalistic program of explanation. More
and opposition that advance comes.
and more, it seems possible to explain the entire order of na-
ture in a single interlinked set of categories that leave no gaps
DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM. The most influential form of
“of principle” into which a different order of causality has
nonreductive materialism is undoubtedly that of Marx and
to be interposed in order to render a coherent account of
Engels. Marx took over much of the structure of Hegel’s ac-
world process. It is hard not to be a “naturalist” in that sense.
count of society and of social change, retaining the disconti-
nuities of the Hegelian “dialectical” method, but inverting
Nonetheless, there are unsolved philosophical problems
the order of matter and mind. Mind originates from matter
about the relation of mind and body, about the reality of
(as the reductive materialists had held), but in a discontinu-
human freedom in a world scientifically fully explicable, that
ous way that makes it irreducible to the categories of matter
have led to the formulation of alternatives besides that of a
(which they had denied). Beliefs in God or in an immortal
sophisticated nonreductive materialism, alternatives that
soul are no more than the projections of those who would
would still maintain a broadly naturalist orientation. These
rationalize an unjust social order instead of trying to change
would differ from materialism in the degree of stress they
it. All knowledge of the world and of society must be based
would lay on causal categories that derive from the domain
on sense experience and ultimately on science.
of mind and freedom rather than from that of mechanical
action even if the term mechanical be construed as broadly
Marx’s “historical materialism” is restricted to human
as it could plausibly be.
history; by taking economic and industrial factors as the fun-
When naturalism/materialism is carried to the point of
damental agencies of change, Marx believed that he could
denying the possibility of a creator God or an afterlife for
give a thoroughly “materialist” (i.e., empirical, naturalistic,
man, a conflict with religious, and specifically with Chris-
scientific) account of history. Engels went on to a broader
tian, belief is unavoidable. Christian theologians, however,
focus on nature. His “dialectical materialism” (as Plekhanov
have gone to some lengths to try to show that the notions
later called it) is first and foremost a philosophy of nature
of the natural order as sufficient in its own right, or of resur-
in the Hegelian tradition. He rejects Ludwig Büchner’s claim
rection as independent of a strong dualism of soul and body,
that the sciences alone suffice; in Engels’s view (and this has
are perfectly compatible with—indeed entirely faithful to—
become a central tenet of Marxist-Leninist thought), positiv-
the Christian tradition. The grounds for the materialist ex-
ism is inadequate because the sciences have to be supple-
clusion in principle of God or of a personal afterlife are thus
mented by a unified and guiding philosophy. This philoso-
brought into question.
phy is “dialectical” because it recognizes the presence of
contradictions and of discontinuous change in nature and is
Some have gone further to argue the propriety of a
unified insofar as it proposes a scheme that can grasp things
“Christian materialism” that would draw on the positive in-
in their totality. Engels characterizes as “idealist” any philo-
sights of the materialist tradition, particularly in its Marxist
sophical view that would deny that mind and spirit must
form. Such a view would suggest that all that happens in na-
originate from matter. Thus, anyone who believes in a tran-
ture and in history is in principle explicable at its own level
scendent God or in the dualism of soul (mind) and body
without directly invoking the intervening agency of God.
would automatically qualify as “idealist” in this new sense.
“Christian materialism” would note and deplore the manner
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5778
MATERIALISTS, HINDU
in which Christianity, like other religions, has often allowed
Wallace, Alan. The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science
itself to become the ideological legitimation of structures of
of Consciousness. New York, 2000.
social domination. It would oppose the “idealism” that
ERNAN MCMULLIN (1987)
would make Christianity a set of doctrines to be believed
Revised Bibliography
rather than a doctrine of redemption that finds its reality first
in action and transformation.
The limits of such a view are set by the Christian doc-
MATERIALISTS, HINDU SEE CA¯RVA¯KA
trines of the dependence of nature and history on divine
grace and of the entrance of the Word of God, as man, into
the human story. There would be the reality to acknowledge
of a God whose action entirely transcends the categories of
MATHER FAMILY. Members of three successive gen-
nature. And that is something that materialism cannot do
erations of the Mather family were Puritan ministers in the
without ceasing (it would seem) to be materialism.
Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England: Richard (1596–
1669), Increase (1629–1723), and Cotton (1663–1728).
SEE ALSO Aristotle; Descartes, René; Earth; Empiricism;
Each achieved fame as a preacher and writer, and collectively
Hegel, G. W. F.; Idealism; Marx, Karl; Naturalism; New-
they exerted a formative influence on the religious life of co-
ton, Isaac; Positivism; Skeptics and Skepticism.
lonial America.
Richard Mather, who was born in Lowton, near Liver-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
pool, matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1618
The most detailed general history of materialism is still Friedrich
but studied there for only a few months. He was preaching
Lange’s Geschichte des Materialismus (Marburg, 1865), trans-
at Toxteth Park when, late in 1633, he was removed from
lated by E. C. Thomas as The History of Materialism (Lon-
the pulpit. His offenses are not known, although they were
don, 1925). Many helpful essays will be found in The Ency-
doubtless ecclesiastical; he did not conform to the practices
clopedia of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards (New York,
of the Church of England in all ways. He and his family then
1967); see, in particular, Keith Campbell’s “Materialism”;
H. B. Acton’s “Dialectical Materialism” and “Historical Ma-
immigrated to Massachusetts Bay, arriving in mid-August
terialism”; G. E. R. Lloyd’s “Leucippus and Democritus”; R.
1635. The people of Dorchester, Massachusetts, after failing
S. Peters’s “Hobbes, Thomas”; and Norman L. Torrey’s “Di-
to organize a church in April 1636, succeeded in August of
derot, Denis.” For a survey of the varied roles played by the
that year, and Mather was immediately called to the church
concept of matter in the history of philosophy and of science,
as its teacher.
see The Concept of Matter, edited by me (Notre Dame, Ind.,
In the pulpit in Dorchester, Mather served quietly and
1963), especially the essay by Nicholas Lobkowicz, “Materi-
alism and Matter in Marxism-Leninism,” pp. 430–464. For
faithfully. Although in most ways he probably resembled
further reading on Marxist versions of materialism, see
most Puritan ministers of his time in Massachusetts Bay Col-
Gustav A. Wetter’s Der dialecktische Materialismus (Vienna,
ony, in several notable accomplishments he differed. He
1952), translated by Peter Heath as Dialectical Materialism
published defenses of the “New England Way,” as the
(London, 1958). For a useful historical study of the strains
church polity of the Bay Colony was called; he helped to
within the Soviet development of materialism, see David
write the Cambridge Platform (1648) defining ecclesiastical
Joravsky’s Soviet Marxism and Natural Science, 1917–1932
polity; he contributed to the definition of Puritan baptismal
(London, 1961). In his A Matter of Hope: A Theologian’s Re-
practice in the so-called Halfway Covenant (1662); and he
flections on the Thought of Karl Marx (Notre Dame, Ind.,
served as an overseer of Harvard College.
1982), Nicholas Lash defends the view that “it is the ‘materi-
alist’ rather than the ‘idealist’ forms of Christianity which
Increase Mather, sixth son of Richard, was the outstand-
conform most closely to the demands of obedience to the
ing minister of his generation. Born in Dorchester, he en-
gospel” (p. 148).
tered Harvard College when he was twelve years of age; after
New Sources
graduation he went to Ireland, where he took an M.A. at
Carrier, James. Gifts and Commodities: Exchange and Western Cap-
Trinity College, Dublin. Preaching followed at Torrington
italism since 1700. New York, 1995.
in Devonshire, to the garrison on Guernsey, and in Glouces-
ter. However, his heterodox opinions made life in England
Gillet, Carl, and Barry Loewer, eds. Physicalism and Its Discontents.
dangerous for him after the Restoration, so in 1661 he re-
New York, 2001.
turned to New England. There he was soon asked by the Sec-
Lund, David. Perception, Mind, and Personal Identity: A Critique
ond Church in Boston (Boston North Church) to fill its
of Materialism. Lanham. Md., 1994.
pulpit.
Melnyk, Andrew. A Physicalist Manifesto: Thoroughly Modern Ma-
Increase Mather spent his life expounding the “New En-
terialism. New York, 2003.
gland Way.” He was not an innovator in religion; like his
Miller, Daniel, ed. Unwrapping Christmas. New York, 1993.
father he defended nonseparating Congregationalism. But
Vitzthum, Robert. Materialism: An Affirmative History and Defini-
Increase Mather was a much more imaginative man than his
tion. Amherst, N.Y., 1995.
father and a more passionate one. The Puritan vision of New
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MATRES
5779
England as a redemptive society was one of the passions of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
his life. He saw his American homeland as the one place on
The standard bibliographies of the works of the Mathers are those
earth where true church polity might be established and the
edited by Thomas J. Holmes: The Minor Mathers: A List of
Protestant Reformation completed. The defense of New En-
Their Works (Cambridge, Mass., 1940), for Richard Mather;
Increase Mather: A Bibliography of His Works, 2 vols. (Cleve-
gland carried him to England a second time shortly after the
land, 1931); and Cotton Mather: A Bibliography of His Works,
Glorious Revolution. He returned with a charter that pro-
3 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1940). Useful studies of the
tected much of the colony’s—and its Congregational
Mathers include Kenneth Murlock’s Increase Mather: The
churches’—autonomy. Increase Mather’s other achieve-
Foremost American Puritan (Cambridge, Mass., 1926), my
ments were varied: he acted as president of Harvard College;
own The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals,
he wrote about science, especially astronomy; he advised gov-
1596–1728 (New York, 1971), and Kenneth Silverman’s
ernors; he helped to halt the persecution of those accused in
The Life and Times of Cotton Mather (New York, 1984).
the Salem witchcraft episode; and he preached and published
ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF (1987)
on New England Christianity.
Cotton Mather was the first of Increase Mather’s nine
children. Although he never left New England, his visible
MATRES. The matres or matrae (“mothers”), Celtic femi-
achievements outnumbered those of his father. After a bril-
nine divinities, are attested throughout the ancient continen-
liant performance at Harvard College (A.B., 1678), Cotton
tal and insular Celtic domain (with the exception of non-
Mather was ordained a minister in his father’s church in
romanized Ireland) by abundant Romano-British and Gallo-
1685; the two served there together until Increase Mather’s
Roman epigraphic and iconographic testimony. The word
death almost forty years later. In 1689, while his father was
is Latin, but it can only be the translation or adaptation of
in England securing a new charter for the colony, Cotton
a Celtic word, as the Gaulish inscription at Nimes consecrat-
Mather played an important role in the expulsion of Sir Ed-
ed to the matrevo namausikavo (“Nimesian mothers”) wit-
mund Andros, governor of Massachusetts and head of the
nesses. On the evidence, the matres as a group are very di-
Dominion of New England. He also supported the witch-
verse, and it would be difficult to propose a single
craft trials in Salem in 1692, although he was uneasy and had
explanation for them. A matre may be conceived in terms of
reservations about the proceedings.
a particular locale, a certain function, or a principle and
Most of Cotton Mather’s life was not spent in public
sphere of sovereignty. Specific instances are frequently multi-
affairs. He was a scholar of great learning and power and an
ple: the Suleviae, solar goddesses who have been unduly
immensely successful preacher. His learning extended to al-
transformed into psychopomps; the Iunones, who are multi-
most all fields of knowledge, although theology was the sub-
ple forms of the Latin goddess Juno; the simple Triviae or
ject he knew most profoundly. Cotton Mather wrote histo-
Quadruviae, who watch over crossroads (but may not be
ries, the greatest being his Magnalia Christi Americana
truly Celtic).
(London, 1702), biographies (many first appearing in ser-
Thus the term matres has come to designate several types
mon form), scientific treatises, practical guides to medicine,
of feminine divinities who are in some instances anything
prophetical works, and guides to conduct for the young, for
but mother goddesses or protectors of fecundity. At first,
sailors, and for almost every other order of society; most of
prior to the identifications and multiplications, there was
his works, however, were sermons. He preached a “practical
certainly a single feminine divinity. Described briefly by
divinity,” filled with exhortation and advice on the Christian
Caesar under the name of Minerva in his account of Gaulish
life. Many of his sermons were intended to convert his listen-
religion, she is at once mother, spouse, sister, and daughter
ers; others provided solace and nourishment to believers.
of the gods.
Much of his work remains in manuscript, including “The
This unique goddess in multiple form may be identi-
Biblia Americana,” his massive commentary on the scrip-
fied, in the context of Irish myth, with a range of feminine
tures.
deities. There is Brighid, daughter of Daghdha, but also
Like his father, Cotton Mather was obsessed with the
mother of the gods and protector of leeches, poets, and
history and the future of New England. His great hope was
smiths. There is Boann, who is wife to Elcmhaire but bears
that the second coming of Christ would take place in his life-
a son to Daghdha. Also, and preeminently, there is Édaín,
time and that New England would in reality prove to be the
sovereign and ancestor of a long line of Irish kings. Further,
site of the New Jerusalem. He never surrendered his faith in
there is Morríghan (“the great queen”), goddess of war and
the Congregationalism of his country, but he did come to
wife of Daghdha, she who washes the bloody remains of he-
preach an ecumenism embodied in his conception of a
roes who have died in combat. There is Macha (“plain” or
Christian Union, a worldwide league of believers. Cotton
“level land”), eponym of Emhain Mhacha, capital of Ulster.
Mather earned a reputation in his day as a splendid preacher
There is the gentle Fann (“swallow”), wife of the god Manan-
and scholar, but he was also widely disliked for the excesses
nán, who loves and tempts Cú Chulainn, and there is Tailtiu
of his style and expression. Despite his pride in his family and
(“earth”), foster mother of Lugh. Finally, there are the alle-
his attainments, he died feeling unappreciated and, to some
gorical personifications of Ireland and queens of the Tuatha
extent, unfulfilled.
Dé Danann: Ériu, Banbha, and Fódla.
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5780
MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST
BIBLIOGRAPHY
who wrote that “Matthew collected the sayings of the Lord
Guyonvarc’h, Christian-J., and Françoise Le Roux. Textes
in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as
mythologiques irlandais, vol. 1. Rennes, 1980.
he was able” (Church History 3.39.16). Later church authori-
Mac Cana, Proinsias. Celtic Mythology. Rev. ed. Feltham, U.K.,
ties attribute a gospel to Matthew, agreeing that it was writ-
1983.
ten in Hebrew. Matthew is frequently said to have preached
among Hebrews. Interestingly, modern gospel criticism con-
FRANÇOISE LE ROUX (1987)
C
tinues to see a pervasive Jewish or Jewish-Christian dimen-
HRISTIAN-J. GUYONVARC’H (1987)
Translated from French by Erica Meltzer
sion in Matthew’s gospel, whether in its tradition or intend-
ed audience. The statement of Papias concerning Matthew’s
collection of Jesus’ sayings has sometimes been taken to refer
to an earlier source (which can be discerned in Matthew and
MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST, traditionally
Luke and is usually called Q by biblical scholars) rather than
the author of the first canonical gospel, which bears his
to the present gospel. This interpretation avoids the difficul-
name. His exact dates are unknown, but the gospel was prob-
ties of attributing the gospel to the apostle directly and helps
ably written in the last quarter of the first century, possibly
to explain why the name of a relatively obscure disciple be-
in Syrian Antioch.
came attached to the most prominent gospel, but it remains
The name Matthew appears in every list of the twelve
at best a plausible conjecture.
disciples of Jesus (Mt. 10:3, Mk. 3:18, Lk. 6:15, Acts 1:13).
Legends about Matthew grew in time. He is said to have
In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus calls him from his toll booth
worked among Gentiles in remote lands toward the end of
and his role as a despised tax collector to be a disciple (9:9–
his career. He came to be revered as a martyr (although tradi-
10), and in that gospel’s list of the Twelve he is called Mat-
tion is not unanimous on this point), and he is commemo-
thew the tax collector. Otherwise, Matthew does not appear
rated in the Western church on September 21. However, we
in the gospel narratives or in the rest of the New Testament.
know nothing for certain of his career or fate. Since the sec-
Mark 2:13–14 and Luke 5:27–28 relate the calling of
ond century Matthew has been represented in Christian
a tax collector whose name is Levi, rather than Matthew (in
symbolism as a winged man, said by Irenaeus to represent
Mark 2:14 he is called the son of Alphaeus; cf. “James the
the humanity of Christ.
son of Alphaeus” in all the lists of the Twelve). Otherwise,
the stories are quite similar, and in each case the call is fol-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
lowed by Jesus’ eating at table with tax collectors and sinners
Aside from the New Testament the most important primary
and saying that he has come to call not righteous people, but
source is Eusebius’s Church History, which brings together
sinners. (Tax collectors were regarded as egregious sinners,
earlier testimony of Christian writers on the origin and au-
because the government sold the right to collect taxes to pri-
thorship of the Gospels. The most convenient edition is the
vate entrepreneurs, who then realized as large a profit as pos-
two-volume “Loeb Classical Library” text and translation of
Kirsopp Lake, J. E. L. Oulton, and Hugh J. Lawlor (Cam-
sible at the expense of the public.)
bridge, Mass., 1926).
The tradition of Matthean authorship of the first gospel
The most important testimonies of patristic authors are collected
has been questioned by critical scholarship for significant rea-
in The Gospel According to St. Matthew, edited by A. H. Mc-
sons. Matthew the tax collector turned disciple would have
Neile (London, 1915), pp. xxx–xxxii. For a concise state-
been an eyewitness of the events he narrates. Yet the close
ment of the modern, critical view of Matthean authorship,
relationship between the narrative attributed to Matthew
see Werner G. Kümmel’s Introduction to the New Testament,
and that of Mark, which is generally accounted to be earlier,
rev. ed. (Nashville, 1975), pp. 119–121. Raymond E.
suggests that Mark was the principal narrative source. The
Brown, Introduction to the New Testament (New York,
fact that Mark was written in Greek (not Jesus and Mat-
1997), pp. 208–212, also rejects ascription of the Gospel of
thew’s native Aramaic) by someone who was not one of the
Matthew to the disciple of Jesus, although he does not dis-
miss Papias’s attribution of a sayings collection to Matthew.
Twelve makes it unlikely that the apostle Matthew would
The same is true of W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, Jr.,
have relied upon it. Moreover, the gospel attributed to Mat-
The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, vol. 1 (Edinburgh,
thew seems to have been written after the destruction of Jeru-
1985)., p. 17, who think there may be a connection between
salem in the Roman War (70 CE; cf. Mt. 22:7), rather late
the collection and Matthew’s Gospel.
for an apostolic writing. Quite possibly the name Matthew
has been substituted for Levi in the call story of the first gos-
D. MOODY SMITH (1987 AND 2005)
pel, in which he is also singled out as the tax collector in the
apostolic list.
Ancient church tradition, nevertheless, unanimously as-
MA¯TUR¯ID¯I, AL- (d. AH 333/944 CE), more fully Abu¯
cribes the gospel to the apostle Matthew. The fourth-century
Mans:u¯r Muh:ammad ibn Muh:ammad ibn Mah:mu¯d
church historian Eusebius cites Papias (bishop of Hierapolis
al-Samarqand¯ı al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı, was a Muslim theologian, jurist,
in Asia Minor during the first half of the second century)
and QurDa¯n commentator. The name Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ıyah is also
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MA¯TUR¯ID¯I, AL-
5781
the eponym of a school of theology that represented an inter-
Al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı, like al-AshEar¯ı, was firmly grounded in the
mediate position between the H:anbal¯ı traditionalists and the
QurDanic revelation, but he also developed a rational episte-
MuEtazilah, advocates of religious rationalism in Islamic the-
mology, giving a high place to human reasoning—a sign of
ology. Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı was born in Ma¯tur¯ıd, near the Central
his strong H:anafism. He was much concerned with proofs
Asian city of Samarkand. Under the Persian Samanid rulers
for the existence of God and with the doctrine of creation,
(874–999), al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı lived in a setting of intense cultural
questions that probably reflect the intellectual climate of
and intellectual activity. He was trained by scholars of the
Samarkand and the terms of his encounter with other cur-
H:anaf¯ı school of Islamic law. Not much is known of his life
rents of religious thought. Al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı accepted the reality
except that he wrote several books on theology, jurispru-
of human freedom, as against the determinism of al-AshEar¯ı,
dence, and heresiology, as well as a commentary on the
but he also opposed the MuEtazil¯ı view of human beings as
QurDa¯n entitled Kita¯b taDwila¯t al-QurDa¯n. He is said to have
creators of their own deeds. He maintained that every act of
led a simple and ascetic life. Some sources attribute to him
humankind is at the same time the result of human capacity
miracles (kara¯ma¯t)—an obvious reference to his devout reli-
and a divine creation. Using somewhat the same language as
gious life. He died in Samarkand. Subsequent generations re-
al-AshEar¯ı and as his opponents, the MuEtazilah, he neverthe-
member him by the honorific title Ima¯m al-Hudá (leader of
less described a balance between divine omnipotence and
the right guidance).
human freedom that was distinctive.
Despite his fame in the Sunn¯ı world today, no source
Even though Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı was opposed to the general
earlier than the fourteenth century mentions a school of the-
thrust of MuEtazilism, he agreed with some views of the
ology carrying Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s name. The manuals speak of the
MuEtazilites. Like the MuEtazilites, he believed in the human
Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ıyah together with the AshEar¯ıyah, or followers of
ability and, in fact, obligation to know God and worship him
al-AshEar¯ı (d. 935), as the theological spokesmen of the ahl
through unaided reason even in the absence of a specific pro-
al-sunnah wa-al-jama¯ Eah (people of the prophetic norms and
phetic revelation. While rejecting some interpretations of the
the community), the majority group in the Muslim world,
MuEtazilites, Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı accepted the necessity of interpreting
commonly known as Sunn¯ıs. Al-AshEar¯ı lived in Baghdad
anthropomorphic expressions in the QurDa¯n through meta-
and was a contemporary of al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı, but there is no indi-
phors and symbols rather than understanding them literally.
cation that they were aware of each other’s work. Many simi-
On the question of the attributes of God, he took a position
larities in their theological formulations have been noted.
opposite to the MuEtazilites and considered divine names and
Al-AshEar¯ı is much better known than his H:anaf¯ı counter-
qualities described in the QurDa¯n to be eternally subsisting
part, but recent studies have shown that the latter came
in God’s essence. Like al-AshEar¯ı, he affirmed the negative
nearer to providing a bridge between traditionalism and
formula that God’s names and qualities are neither identical
philosophical theology than did the Baghdad scholar. Sub-
with the divine essence nor distinct from it. He accepted the
stantial differences between the two are few, but they are suf-
possibility of beatific vision (ru Dyat Alla¯h), that is, the idea
ficient to have created some rivalry between their respective
that human beings will be able to see God in the hereafter,
schools.
but he rejected the specification “by the eyes,” endorsing in
The Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ıyah school spread in the tenth and elev-
some ways the famous H:anbal¯ı position of “without [asking/
enth centuries mostly due to the earnest efforts of Turks,
knowing] how” (bila¯ kayf). Against al-AshEar¯ı he held that
mainly the Salju¯qids, whose historic conversion to Islam had
faith, as the act that makes a person a member of the Muslim
occurred in the preceding century. This was combined with
community, is immutable, incapable of either decrease or in-
the ardent support of the newly converted Turks for
crease. This tenet was a part of the H:anaf¯ı doctrinal heritage.
H:anafism. The famous cursing of al-AshEar¯ı and his ideas in
Furthermore, he defined faith (al-ima¯n) as “consent by the
the Turkish-controlled Khorasan region on the order of the
heart” (tas:d¯ıq bi al-qalb) and “confession by the tongue”
Salju¯qid ruler Tughrul Beg points to a period of confronta-
(iqra¯r bi al-lisa¯n). Like the H:anaf¯ıs and the MurjiEas before
tion between the Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı and AshEarite schools of kala¯m
him, Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı held that works (a Dma¯l) are not part of the
in the eleventh century. As the Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı school was identi-
doctrinal confession of faith.
fied with H:anafism and AshEarism with the Sha¯fiE¯ı school of
law, this led to some factional tensions and clashes between
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the H:anafis and the Sha¯fiE¯ıs in some Salju¯qid-controlled
The most comprehensive work on Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı and his school is
areas. The Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı school gained prominence between the
Shams al-D¯ın Salaf¯ı Afgha¯ni’s al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ıyyah, 3 vols.
eleventh and fourteenth centuries. A number of attempts
(TaDif, Saudi Arabia, 1998), in which the author analyzes
were made to ease the tensions between the two schools dur-
Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s thought and its subsequent development. Musta-
fa Ceric provides a systematic analysis of Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s thought
ing the Mamlu¯k period. The AshEar¯ı Sha¯fiE¯ı jurist-theologian
in Roots of Synthetic Theology in Islam: A Study of the Theology
Ta¯j al-D¯ın al-Subk¯ı composed a poem in which he tried to
of Abu¯ Mans:u¯r al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı (Kuala Lumpur, 1995).
explain away the theological differences between the two as
Fath:allah Khulayf prepared a critical edition of Kita¯b
mostly terminological and rhetorical. This trend continued
al-tawh:¯ıd (Beirut, 1969), thus making available for the first
in later kala¯m history and reached a point where Ma¯tur¯ıdism
time the printed Arabic text of al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s most important
was redefined as a branch of AshEarism.
existing theological work. The editor has provided a 43-page
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5782
MA¯UI
introduction in English, describing in an incomplete and
itants of every island from Hawai‘i to New Zealand and from
somewhat unsystematic way the contents of Kita¯b al-tawh:¯ıd
Mangareva to Tonga and Samoa narrate versions of his ex-
W. Montgomery Watt furnishes a brief introduction to the
ploits in separate myths or unified myth cycles. In the tradi-
H:anaf¯ı theologian in The Formative Period of Islamic
tional culture, islanders recited his spells for success in their
Thought (Edinburgh, 1973), pp. 312–314; reprint, Oxford,
mundane lives; priests converted secular, humorous myths
1998. Michel Allard provides a more detailed summary and
about Ma¯ui to their own serious purposes.
discussion of the contents of Kita¯b al-tawh:¯ıd in Le problème
des attributes divins dans la doctrine d Dal-AsDari et de ses pre-
Ma¯ui is not only the earth-fisher but also the Polynesian
miers grands disciples (Beirut, 1965), pp. 419–427. A section
sun-snarer, sky-raiser, fire-stealer, monster-slayer, seeker of
of Daniel Gimaret’s Théories de l Dacte humain en théologie
immortality, and, in fact, the hero of so many mischievous
musulmaneé (Paris, 1980), pp. 175–190, deals in a perceptive
exploits that Tuamotuans nicknamed him Maui-of-a-
and detailed way with the discussion in Kita¯b al-tawh:¯ıd con-
Thousand-Tricks and Tupuatupua (“super-superman”). To
cerning the relationship between human acts and divine sov-
Hawai‘ians he was a¯ıwa¯ıwa (“wonderful”) because he was
ereignty. Hans Daiber provides a discussion of Kita¯b
marvelously skilled, yet weird, bad, and notorious. His best-
al-tawh:¯ıd in “Zur Erstausgabe von al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı, Kita¯b
known cognomen, Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga (or cognates),
al-Tawh:¯ıd,” Der Islam 52 (1975): 299–313.
originated, the New Zealand Maori claimed, when his moth-
Muh:ammad Ibra¯him Fayyu¯m¯ı’s Ta Dr¯ıkh al-firaq al-isla¯m¯ıyah
er, Taranga, wrapped him—her last born and a miscar-
al-siya¯s¯ı wa-al-d¯ın¯ı (Cairo, 2003) contains an extensive
riage—in a topknot (tikitiki) of hair and cast him with a
chapter on Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı and his school. Another monograph on
prayer into the ocean. Ocean and sky gods rescued and
Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s life and thought is Balqa¯sim Gha¯l¯ı’s Abu¯ Mans:u¯r
reared him until, as a boy, he rejoined his family. His tricks
al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı: h:aya¯tuhu wa a¯ra¯ Duhu al-Daqdiyah (Tunis, Tuni-
sia, 1989). Saim Yeprem’s ˙Irade Hürriyeti ve Ima¯m Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı
finally ended when he entered the womb of the sleeping god-
in Turkish (Istanbul, 1984) is a detailed survey of Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s
dess Hine-nui-te-po (“great Hine of the underworld”) in
concept of free will and determinism. Kemal I¸sık’s
order to gain immortality. He intended to depart through
Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı Dnin Kelam Sisteminde ˙Iman, Allah ve Peygamberlik
her mouth, but when his bird companion laughed at the
Anlayı¸sı (Ankara, Turkey, 1980), another monograph in
sight, the goddess awoke and crushed Ma¯ui to death.
Turkish, deals with the concepts of faith, God, and prophet-
Ma¯ui was a shape-shifting trickster and, usually unin-
hood in Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s system.
tentionally, a culture hero. He was also the quintessential
Even though somewhat outdated, A. K. M. Ayyub Ali’s chapter
demigod, neither wholly god nor wholly man, a misfit, who
on the life, thought, and influence of al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı in A Histo-
continually tested his magic and mana against the cosmo-
ry of Muslim Philosophy, vol. 1, edited by M. M. Sharif,
gonic gods and against his father and elder brothers in his
pp. 259–274 (Weisbaden, Germany, 1963), is based on an
attempts to usurp their privileges, to humiliate them, and to
examination of Kita¯b al-tawh¯ıd, existing only in manuscript
demonstrate his superiority. He was also a bridge in time be-
at the time, and Ta Dw¯ıla¯t al-qurDa¯n, al- Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı’s multivol-
tween the ending of the era of creation and the beginning
ume commentary on the QurDa¯n. The latter, existing in sev-
eral manuscript copies, was described for the first time by
of the era of human migrations.
Manfred Götz in an article, “Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı und sein Kitab
Polynesians believed that by using his incantations and
TaDw¯ıla¯t al-QurDa¯n,” Der Islam 41 (1965): 22–70. The most
referring to his deeds they would sanctify their work and, at
extensive study of the spread of Maturidism is Wilferd Ma-
its conclusion, lift taboos on the workers. New Zealand pro-
delung’s “The Spread of Maturidism and the Turks,” in
vides the clearest examples of this. A priest of bird-catching
Actas do IV Congresso de Estudos Arabes e Islamicos Coimbra-
rituals regarded the sun as a great bird and would chant
Lisboa 1968 (Leiden, 1971), pp. 109–168. See also his two
Ma¯ui’s sun-snaring spell to ensure a good catch. To kindle
entries “al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı” and “Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ıyyah,” in the Encyclope-
dia of Islam, 2d ed., vol. 4, edited by C. E. Bosworth et al.,
sacred new fire he would recite the incantation by which
pp. 846a–847a (CD-ROM edition, Leiden, 2003). Ulrich
Ma¯ui had overpowered the fire deity and learned to make
Rudolph’s Al-Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı und die sunnitische Theologie in Sam-
fire. A priestly expert on the ceremonies accompanying the
arkand (New York, 1996) places Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı and his thought
planting and harvesting of kumara (sweet potato) would
in a historical context. There is also a short commentary on
chant Ma¯ui’s “song of plenty” over a feather-ornamented,
Abu¯ H:an¯ıfa’s Fiqh al-akba¯r attributed to Ma¯tur¯ıd¯ı.
crescent-topped digging stick. The song recalled how Ma¯ui,
in the guise of a pigeon, had perched on his father’s stick after
R. MARSTON SPEIGHT (1987)
I
having sneaked after him to his underworld sweet potato gar-
BRAHIM KALIN (2005)
den. Using Ma¯ui’s charm, fishermen would weaken a large
fish’s reluctance to leave the ocean, and hostile invaders
would recite it to unnerve people and force them to leave
MA¯UI is the most versatile, popular, and widely known su-
their homes. High priests who had been influenced by West-
pernatural hero in South Pacific mythology. Islanders as far
ern religion rejected the common version of the earth-fishing
west as the Micronesian island of Yap narrate how Ma¯ui,
story and divulged its esoteric, “real” meaning. The high god
with his enchanted fishhook, pulled up a big “fish”: an island
Io, they explained, gave Ma¯ui, his brothers, and their descen-
complete with people, villages, and gardens of new food
dants—the Maori—possession of the earth (i.e., New Zea-
plants. Ma¯ui is, however, primarily a Polynesian hero; inhab-
land).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAURICE, FREDERICK DENISON
5783
Wherever Ma¯ui was known he was claimed as an ances-
with chapters on other heroes and on Polynesian narrative
tor. In the Hawai‘ian Islands the claim received royal recog-
art, puts him in a broad setting.
nition in the genealogical prayer chant, the Kumulipo
KATHARINE LUOMALA (1987)
(“source in deepest darkness”), which belonged to the family
of King Kalakaua (1836–1891) and his sister Queen
Lili’uokalani (1838–1917), and which described the family’s
descent from the time of primary gods to that of deified
MAURICE, FREDERICK DENISON (1805–
chiefs. Eighteen lines of the fifteenth of the sixteen chants
1872), Anglican theologian, founder of Christian Socialism.
comprising the Kumulipo cryptically list the principal events
John Frederick Denison Maurice was born near Lowestoft,
in Ma¯ui’s life. The sixteenth chant opens with the names of
Suffolk, England, the only son of a Unitarian minister, Mi-
Ma¯ui and his wife and ends with that of Lono-i-ka-makahiki.
chael Maurice, and Priscilla Hurry Maurice. Childhood
High chiefs once intoned this two-thousand-line prayer to
memories of bitter family religious dissension (his mother
consecrate an infant sacred chief; they gave him the revered
and three older sisters abandoned Unitarianism for a form
name of Lono-i-ka-makahiki and activated his mana by nam-
of Calvinism) left the young Frederick with a thirst for unity
ing his ancestors (who included spiritualized natural phe-
that was to motivate him all his life.
nomena, cosmogonic gods, demigods like Ma¯ui, and deified
chiefs). In 1778, high chiefs chanted the Kumulipo over Cap-
At Cambridge from 1823 to 1826, Maurice was influ-
tain James Cook, welcoming him as a returned god whose
enced by Coleridge. During his intense conversion experi-
name, like the sacred child’s, was Lono-i-ka-makahiki.
ence beginning in 1828, Maurice was deeply affected by the
Scottish theologians Edward Irving (1792–1834) and
Priests exploited Ma¯ui for several reasons. To Society Is-
Thomas Erskine (1788–1870). He decided to read for holy
lands priests, Ma¯ui was a submissive helper who raised the
orders as an undergraduate, this time at Oxford, and was re-
low-lying sky and regulated the time of the sun’s journey to
baptized and ordained in the Church of England in 1834.
enable his eldest brother, a priest, to build temples. In Raro-
tonga in the Cook Islands, high priests interpreted Ma¯ui as
At the core of this experience was Maurice’s desire to
a giant who, the first time he stood up, pushed up the sky
know God directly as an actual, living person, in contrast to
with his head; later Ma¯ui became the weary avenger of insults
the abstract God of the Unitarians. This was not merely a
made by other gods against Tangaroa, his foster father.
romantic reaction to Western rationalism, but the discovery
References to worship of Ma¯ui are obscure, rare, and
of a biblical, Christocentric, Pauline worldview, the great
based on unsupported hearsay. Tongans, it is said, formerly
paradox of Christian faith, in which the holy and invisible
had a shrine and priest of Ma¯ui. One Hawai‘ian priest de-
God was at the same time in the person of a man. For Mau-
clared that Hawai‘i had long ago had a Ma¯ui cult and priests;
rice, the fundamental, unchanging relationship at the heart
another informant stated that Kamehameha I had built a
of reality was that between God as revealer and man, the
temple to honor Ma¯ui. Most Polynesians usually respected
creature formed to know God. Man as the receiving image
Ma¯ui as an ancestor, despite his tricks, and they appreciated
possesses no nature or life of his own. Man’s sin is his asser-
the benefits derived from his craftiness. But rather than to
tion of independence, his striving hard not to be a receiver.
worship him, it seems that they preferred simply to enjoy the
Christ, the perfect image of the Father, is the image after
stories of how he humiliated many senior gods and earthly
which man was created. Christ is in every man, but the con-
elders.
demnation of every man is that he will not believe or act as
if this were true. Maurice found the objective structure of
B
this subjective faith in the articles, creeds, and liturgy of the
IBLIOGRAPHY
Lessa, William A. Tales from Ulithi Atoll: A Comparative Study in
English church. These formed a permanent witness to the
Oceanic Folklore. Berkeley, 1961. Included are previously un-
fact that God had established a spiritual and universal king-
recorded versions of the earth-fishing myth, a description of
dom on earth.
its distribution in the Pacific, and a detailed comparative
Maurice applied this worldview consistently to what he
analysis of the versions.
perceived as the basic need of his time: the rediscovery of rev-
Luomala, Katharine. Oceanic, American Indian, and African Myths
elation as the ground of faith. A divine-human struggle has
of Snaring the Sun. Honolulu, 1940. A detailed study of the
distribution and versions of sun-snaring myths in three parts
marked all human history through man’s distortion or denial
of the world.
of God’s revelation. Instead of receiving and living within the
given, divine order or constitution of the universe, man has
Luomala, Katharine. Ma¯ui-of-a-Thousand-Tricks: His Oceanic and
European Biographers. Honolulu, 1949. The most compre-
been busily creating theories, systems, and opinions of his
hensive general survey to date on Ma¯ui in Oceanic culture,
own as substitutes. These have resulted in the fragmentations
the major myth cycles that interpret his character and ex-
of religious and political sects, parties, and factions and in
ploits, and the many theories of European scholars about
philosophical attempts to bring heaven and earth within the
him.
terms of the intellect, Hegel being the latest offender. Mau-
Luomala, Katharine. Voices on the Wind: Polynesian Myths and
rice’s method was the reverse: to be a digger, uncovering the
Chants. Honolulu, 1955. Includes a chapter on Ma¯ui and,
original purpose and intent of all institutions, in order to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5784
MAURICE, FREDERICK DENISON
show they were meant to be signs to the world of something
Despite such controversies, increasing recognition and
invisible and permanent, the lineaments of an actual, existing
acceptance came to Maurice in his lifetime and he is viewed
kingdom of Christ.
today as one of the most original thinkers of the Church of
In his writings, Maurice deliberately took the offensive,
England. His permanent influence remains that of a prophet
impelled by an urgent sense that a serious crisis of faith was
whose writings formed a sustained, passionate critique of the
growing among the young and that what passed for religion
religious world of his time, comparable in depth to that of
was a perversion of the Judeo-Christian faith that could not
So⁄ren Kierkegaard in the nineteenth century and of Karl
win their allegiance. His experience with young men was
Barth in the twentieth.
considerable: with medical students as chaplain of Guy’s
Hospital, London (1836–1845); as professor of English liter-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ature and history and then of theology (1840–1853) at
Works by Frederick Denison Maurice
King’s College, London; with law students as chaplain of
The Life of Frederick Denison Maurice Chiefly Told in His Own Let-
Lincoln’s Inn, London (1846–1860). His luminous personal
ters, edited by his son, Frederick Maurice (London, 1884),
qualities and passionate devotion to truth attracted a growing
is a major source for understanding Maurice’s thought. For
circle of young men who were deeply influenced by him.
a selection of the letters, see Toward the Recovery of Unity, ed-
These close contacts increased his concern about their ques-
ited by John F. Porter and William J. Wolf (New York,
tionings and doubts. They were being dosed with religion
1964). Characteristic themes appear in his early work The
about God rather than with the living God himself: “Reli-
Kingdom of Christ, or, Hints on the Principles, Ordinances, and
gion against God: this is the heresy of our age.”
Constitution of the Catholic Church in Letters to a Member of
the Society of Friends (1838; revised, London, 1842). A new
The revolutions of 1848 and the potentially explosive
edition by Alec Vidler, based on the 1842 edition, has been
social situation in England found Maurice as spiritual leader
published in two volumes (London, 1958). The post-
of the short-lived but significant Christian Socialist move-
Reformation religious bodies—Protestant, Roman Catholic,
ment (1848–1854), together with John Malcolm Ludlow
and Anglican—have turned their true principles into sepa-
(1821–1911) and Charles Kingsley (1819–1875). Con-
rate systems and theories, thereby losing sight of that church
vinced that cooperation, not competition, was the true foun-
universal that existed before these systems and whose signs
dation of a Christian society, their practical focus became
are indicated in the book’s title. A variation of this theme is
that of cooperative associations for tailors and other trades.
applied to the history of philosophy in Moral and Metaphysi-
cal Philosophy: Philosophy of the First Six Centuries, 2 vols., 2d
For Maurice the kingdom of Christ was the actual constitu-
ed., rev. (1854; reprint, London, 1872), begun in 1835,
tion of the universe, the “great practical existing reality which
which contrasts man’s independent search for wisdom with
is to renew the earth.” Society was not to be made anew but
that Wisdom that first sought him. A lengthy controversy
regenerated through uncovering its true functions and pur-
over Henry L. Mansel’s Bampton Lectures of 1858 resulted
pose, a view opposed to Ludlow’s aim for reorganizing soci-
in an important statement of the actual revelation of God to
ety on a socialist base. Maurice’s interest in the education of
man presented in two works: What Is Revelation? A Series of
the young was extended through his experience with work-
Sermons on the Epiphany (Cambridge, 1859) and A Sequel to
ers, resulting in the founding in London of the Working
the Inquiry, What Is Revelation? (Cambridge, 1860). Some of
Men’s College (1854) to express his conviction that the true
the flavor of Maurice’s views on Christian Socialism may be
ground of human culture was not utilitarian but theological,
gleaned from Politics for the People, weekly papers from May
through August 1848 (London), and Tracts on Christian So-
the original purpose for which the ancient universities had
cialism (London, 1850).
been founded. His concern to set high standards for the edu-
cation of governesses led to the founding of Queen’s College,
Works on Frederick Denison Maurice
London, early in 1848.
Among the works by the many distinguished twentieth-century
Anglicans interested in Maurice, Alec Vidler’s pioneering
Negative reactions to Maurice’s theological and social
study Witness to the Light: F. D. Maurice’s Message for Today
views and to his growing influence reached a climax with the
(New York, 1948), his later F. D. Maurice and Company
publication of his Theological Essays in 1853. These essays
(London, 1966), and Arthur M. Ramsey’s F. D. Maurice and
were written with the doubts and questions of the young in
the Conflicts of Modern Theology (Cambridge, 1951) are out-
mind, as an alternative to the prevailing evangelical ortho-
standing. Frank M. McClain’s Maurice: Man and Moralist
doxy, which presented only theories and systems about God,
(London, 1972) is a perceptive account of how Maurice’s
Judgment Day, the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and ever-
personal relationships shaped his outlook on those givens of
lasting punishment. This last Maurice viewed as a cosmic
the Kingdom: the self, the family, the nation, and the church
struggle between two eternal opposites: eternal life, which
as universal society. My own Frederick Denison Maurice: Re-
bellious Conformist (Athens, Ohio, 1971) is a historical study
God presents to man, and eternal death, which man chooses
emphasizing the centrality of Maurice’s conversion from
for himself. But Christ’s gospel reveals an abyss of love below
Unitarianism to Anglicanism and assessing his stature as a
that of death. This view was interpreted by the religious press
major Victorian figure. The Danish scholar Torben Chris-
as a denial of everlasting punishment and led finally to Mau-
tensen’s The Divine Order: A Study of F. D. Maurice’s Theolo-
rice’s expulsion from King’s College in 1853 for unsettling
gy (Leiden, 1973) is a detailed analysis of Maurice’s thought
the minds of the young.
as a fusion of the message of the Bible and the Platonic idea
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAUSS, MARCEL
5785
of reality, in which Christianity is adjusted to Platonism. See
tween the individual and society, one of the problems faced
also his excellent critical work Origin and History of Christian
by sociology since its inception being its specific nature and
Socialism, 1848–1854 (Aarhus, 1962).
its relation to other disciplines, particularly psychology. This
O
debate not only pitted Durkheim against his opponents,
LIVE J. BROSE (1987)
such as Gabriel Tarde, it also divided his colleagues, as can
be seen from the initial volumes of L’Année sociologique.
Célestin Bouglé, who, like his friend Paul Lapie, was unde-
MAUSS, MARCEL (1872–1950), the father of French
cided regarding the theoretical framework proposed by
ethnography, has had a profound influence on human and
Durkheim, recognized the role of the individual and sought
social sciences and has left behind an incredibly rich intellec-
to go beyond the conflict between the individual and society,
tual legacy. He is automatically linked with his uncle and
talking of interaction, association between individuals, com-
teacher, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917). Some would say
munication of conscious awareness.
that he was “in the shadow of Durkheim” when describing
In the work of Mauss was the intention to soften the
his scholarly output, produced in direct cooperation with
dogmatic tone of Durkheim. In an essay titled “Sociologie”
him.
[Sociology] which he co-authored with Paul Fauconnet in
Born to a family of merchants and rabbis at Épinal in
1901 for La Grande Encyclopédie, he stressed the psychologi-
1872, Mauss studied philosophy at Bordeaux under
cal aspect of social life, beliefs and communal feelings. “The
Durkheim. After gaining his agrégation (teaching exam) in
very core of social life is a collection of representations,” he
philosophy in 1895, he gave up the standard career path of
wrote. “In this sense then, it could be said that sociology is
secondary teaching, turning his attention instead to sociolo-
a kind of psychology . . .” (Mauss, 1901). He clearly means
gy of religion. During his studies at the École Pratique des
a psychology different from that of the individual. Together
Hautes Études and a trip to Holland and England, he also
with Henri Hubert, in 1904 Mauss published in L’Année so-
gained a solid grounding in philology, the history of reli-
ciologique the important “Esquisse d’une théorie générale de
gions, and ethnology. From his university days Mauss was
la magie” [Outline of a general theory of magic], demonstrat-
also politically active, supporting Dreyfus and the socialists.
ing that here the laws of collective psychology transgress the
He worked with the Mouvement socialiste and he took part
laws of individual psychology. “It is belief that creates the
in founding the new Société de librairie et d’édition with Lu-
magician,” they wrote, “and the effects he unleashes”
cien Herr and Charles Andler. Once he became a professor,
(Mauss, 1904). The use of the concept of mana, as the source
Mauss was involved in the cooperative movement and the
idea of magic, stirred up a long-lasting controversy.
Socialist Party and published numerous articles in
After the First World War, a tragedy which resulted in
L’Humanité, of which he had been one of the founders.
the death of Durkheim, his son André and several contribu-
Marcel Mauss produced his first major work together
tors to L’Année sociologique, and during which Mauss had
with his friend and colleague Henri Hubert (1872–1927),
volunteered and served as an interpreter, the latter undertook
titled “Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice” (1899)
the difficult task of replacing his uncle and he attempted to
[Essay on the nature and function of sacrifice]. The essay ap-
relaunch L’Année sociologique, but only two volumes ap-
peared in L’Année sociologique, which Durkheim had just
peared, in 1925 and 1927. He also kept up intense political
founded in 1898. In charge of the section on religious sociol-
activity, undertaking the editing of an important work on the
ogy, Mauss was one of its leading contributors. At the École
State and, after publishing his “Observations sur la violence”
Pratique des Hautes Études, where he succeeded Léon Maril-
[Observations on violence] in Vie socialiste, he planned a
lier in 1901, Mauss was responsible for teaching the history
book on Bolshevism. Then, encouraged by the current exoti-
of the religion of primitive peoples. Frequently comparative
cism, which was attracting a new public to ethnology, Mauss
and backed up with detailed evidence, the research un-
worked together with Lucien Lévi-Bruhl and Paul Rivet, and
dertaken by Mauss was set out as part of a program that had
in 1925 he set up the Institut d’ethnologie de l’université de
as its subject the ritual expressions of religious life and as its
Paris. The Institute attracted many students and research-
purpose the development of a theory of the sacred. His work
ers—Jeanne Cuisinier, Alfred Métraux, Marcel Griaule
quickly went beyond the boundaries of the sociology of reli-
(1898–1956), Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), Denise Paul-
gion to deal with the theory of knowledge, as can be seen
me, Michel Leiris, Germaine Dieterlen, Louis Dumont,
from the essay written with Durkheim, titled “Quelques for-
André-Georges Haudricourt, Jacques Soustelle, Germaine
mes primitives de classification” (1903) [Some primitive
Tillion, and others—who led many field studies, particularly
forms of classification]. Concerning sociology, the support-
in Africa, and organized the first important ethnological ex-
ers of Durkheim were quick to point out that it was a collec-
peditions.
tive psychology with the purpose of studying collective repre-
A man of tremendous intellectual curiosity and excep-
sentation.
tional erudition, Mauss undertook research in a large num-
The main debate in Durkheim’s first books at the end
ber of areas: from magic, to body technique via the idea of
of the nineteenth century revolved around the conflict be-
the individual, he rectified the anti-psychological attitude of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5786
MA¯WARD¯I, AL-
his uncle. Mauss set new “Rapports réels et pratiques de psy-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
chologie et de la sociologie” [Real and practical relationships
Primary Writings
of psychology and sociology], in an article which he pub-
Mauss, Marcel. “Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice”
lished in 1924 in Journal de psychologie. The following year,
(“Essay on the nature and function of sacrifice”). L’Année so-
he published in the new series of L’Année sociologique, his
ciologique (1899).
“Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l’échange dans les socié-
Mauss, Marcel, and Paul Fauconnet. “Sociologie”(“Sociology”).
tés archaïques” [Essay on the gift. The form and reason of
In La Grande Encyclopédie. 1901.
exchange in archaic societies].
Mauss, Marcel. “Esquisse d’une théorie générale de la magie”
(“Outline of a general theory of magic”). L’Année sociologique
Durkheim’s nephew had never before been so interested
(1904).
in concerning himself with work undertaken by psycholo-
Mauss, Marcel. “Observations sur la violence” (“Observations on
gists, and he took part in the projects of the Société de psy-
violence”). Vie socialiste.
chologie, becoming its president in 1923. His friends includ-
Mauss, Marcel. “Rapports réels et pratiques de psychologie et de
ed Charles Blondel, Georges Dumas and above all Ignace
la sociologie” (“Real and practical relationships of psychology
Meyerson, the managing editor of the Journal de psychologie
and sociology”). Journal de psychologie (1924).
normale et pathologique. “Sociology, psychology, physiology,
Mauss, Marcel. “Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l’échange
everything should be combined,” wrote Mauss. The inten-
dans les sociétés archaïques” (“Essay on the gift. The form
tion is thus to take as a subject “the entire, actual human
and reason of exchange in archaic societies”). L’Année so-
ciologique (1925).
being” and to analyze “the phenomena as a whole.” In 1936
then, again in the Journal de psychologie, he published a study
Mauss, Marcel. “Les techniques du corps” (“Body techniques”).
Journal de psychologie (1935).
on the “Effet physique chez l’individu de l’idée de mort sug-
gérée par la collectivité” [“Physical effect upon the individual
Mauss, Marcel. “Une catégorie de l’esprit humain: la notion de
personne, celle de « moi », un plan de travail” (“A category
of the collectively suggested idea of death”]. Mental confu-
of the human spirit: the idea of the person, the idea of ‘self’
sion, inhibitions, delusions, and hallucinations were all phe-
a plan”). Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (1935).
nomena in which Mauss had a keen interest, but which, con-
Mauss, Marcel. “Effet physique chez l’individu de l’idée de mort
trary to the opinions of psychologists, he did not perceive as
suggérée par la collectivité” (“Physical effect upon the indi-
pathological symptoms.
vidual of the collectively suggested idea of death”). Journal
de psychologie (1936).
Marcel Mauss was elected to the Collège de France in
Mauss, Marcel. “Les techniques et la technologie” (“Techniques
1930 and he became head of sociology. The texts he pub-
and technology”), paper delivered to the Journée de psy-
lished at this period include “Les techniques du corps” [Body
chologie et d’histoire du travail et des techniques, 1941.
techniques] which appeared in 1935 in the Journal de psy-
Mauss, Marcel. Sociologie et anthropologie. Edited by Claude Lévi-
chologie, and “Une catégorie de l’esprit humain: la notion de
Strauss.Paris, 1950.
personne, celle de « moi », un plan de travail” [A category
Mauss, Marcel. Œuvres. Three volumes. Edited by Victor Karady.
of the human spirit: the idea of the person, the idea of ‘self’
Paris, 1969.
a plan], in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Mauss, Marcel. Écrits politiques. Edited by Marcel Fournier. Paris,
His last academic presentation was in 1941 and consisted of
1997.
the paper, “Les techniques et la technologie” [Techniques
Secondary Writings
and technology], delivered to the Journée de psychologie et
Allen, N. J. Categories and Classifications: Maussian Reflections on
d’histoire du travail et des techniques organized in Toulouse
the Social. New York, 2000.
in 1941 by Ignace Meyerson. Marcel Mauss died on Febru-
Cazeneuve, Jean. Sociologie de Marcel Mauss. Paris, 1968.
ary 11, 1950, aged sixty-seven.
Fimiani, Mariapaola. Marcel Mauss e il pensiero dell’origine. Na-
ples, 1984.
Mauss’s writings were first collected by Claude Lévi-
Karsenti, Bruno. L’Homme total: sociologie, anthropologie et philoso-
Strauss in 1950 in Sociologie et anthropologie, then in 1969,
phie chez Marcel Mauss. Paris, 1997.
by Victor Karady in three volumes, Œuvres. As for his exten-
Kirchmayr, Raoul. Il circolo interrotto: figure del dono in Mauss,
sive Écrits politiques—Mauss was a very active militant social-
Sartre e Lacan. Trieste, Italy, 2002.
ist—they were only collected by Marcel Fournier in 1997.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Introduction to the Work of Marcel Mauss.
The political work of Mauss consists of a large number of
Translated by Felicity Baker. London, 1987.
reflections and invaluable “reflections” where he combines
and expresses, as he recognizes himself, the fervor of the
MARCEL FOURNIER (2005)
scholar and the politician. He had no doubt at the end of
his “Essai sur le don” [Essay on the gift] concerning the
worth of ancient moral values, such as charity, and he put
MA¯WARD¯I, AL- (AH 364–450/974–1058 CE), more
forward a morality based upon solidarity and reciprocity.
fully Abu¯ al-H:asan EAl¯ı ibn Muh:ammad ibn H:ab¯ıb; Muslim
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAWDU
¯ D¯I, SAYYID ABU¯ AL-AELA¯
5787
jurist and political theorist. Al-Ma¯ward¯ı was born in Basra
land policy. Scholars are divided as to whether the book, ei-
but spent most of his life in Baghdad. He studied Islamic law
ther as a whole or in parts, reflects actual political conditions
in both cities with eminent legists of the Sha¯fiE¯ı school of ju-
prevailing in al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s time or constitutes a program for
risprudence. Because of his reputation as a scholar, he was
establishing an ideal state or for reasserting the power of the
appointed judge in several towns, including Ustuwa¯ in Iran
caliphate in the face of threats posed by secular, military rul-
and Baghdad in Iraq. In Baghdad the caliph al-Qa¯dir (991–
ers. The prevailing view is that al-Ma¯ward¯ı was a supporter
1031) chose him to write a resumé of Sha¯fiE¯ı jurisprudence;
of al-Qa¯Dim and al-Qa¯dir in their struggle against the Buyids
al-Qa¯dir’s successor, al-Qa¯Dim (1031–1074), used al-Ma¯-
and the Seljuks. His support, never explicitly expressed as
ward¯ı for diplomatic missions to the Buyid and Seljuk rulers
such, came in the form of arguments derived from the
of Iran.
QurDa¯n, tradition (h:ad¯ıth), and jurisprudence (fiqh) for the
necessity of maintaining the caliph as executor of Islamic law
Although al-Ma¯ward¯ı is remembered primarily as the
and for the duty of the Muslim community to obey him. Ad-
author of Kita¯b al-ah:ka¯m al-sult:a¯n¯ıyah (Book of governmen-
mittedly, this dual principle seems remote from the realities
tal ordinances), he wrote other books on jurisprudence and
of al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s day, when generals exercised political power
government, as well as treatises on such varied topics as
in Islamic states. But al-Ma¯ward¯ı tried to come to terms with
QurDanic exegesis, the prophethood of Muhammad, the con-
this reality and to accommodate it within the scope of Islam-
duct of judges, proverbs and traditions, and Islamic ethics.
ic law in his chapter on the emirate by usurpation. There he
The report that he did not permit circulation of his books
argued that rule by emirs based on force was to be sanctioned
until after his death is regarded as apocryphal. While his
as long as they acknowledged the authority of the caliphs and
book on ethics, entitled Kita¯b adab al-dunya¯ wa-al-d¯ın
implemented Islamic law. In effect, such an admission con-
(Book of manners in worldly and religious affairs), is still
stituted a first step toward concession to political expediency,
read by Muslims, it is seldom taken into account in discus-
which was characteristic of the subsequent development of
sions of al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s importance in the development of Is-
medieval Islamic political thought. Be that as it may,
lamic thought; surprisingly enough, the same holds true even
al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s formulation of the character of the Islamic
for his works closely related in subject matter to Al-ah:ka¯m.
state has been regarded as authoritative by many Muslim
Accordingly, in the absence of any comprehensive study of
thinkers and Western scholars alike.
al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s complete works, estimates of his significance
must be regarded as tentative despite the fact that the place
BIBLIOGRAPHY
assigned him in political thought by Western scholars is
The fullest published study of al-Ma¯ward¯ı is the long article by
firmly fixed and widely accepted.
Henri Laoust, “La penseé et l’action politiques
d’al-Ma¯ward¯ı,” Revue des études islamiques 36 (1968): 11–92.
The date of composition of Al-ah:ka¯m is not known, nor
I discuss problems that Laoust does not treat in my article
is the nature of the relationship of this book to a similar, in
“A New Look at al-ah:ka¯m al-Sult:a¯niyya,” Muslim World 64
many respects identical, book of the same title written by
(January 1974): 1–15. Al-ah:ka¯m al-sult:a¯n¯ıyah has been
al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s contemporary, the H:anbal¯ı jurist Abu¯ YaEla¯
translated into French by Edmond Fagnan as Les statuts gou-
ibn al-Farra¯D. However, scholars assume, without documen-
vernementaux (Algiers, 1915).
tation, that since al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s Al-ah:ka¯m seems to be a ma-
DONALD P. LITTLE (1987)
ture work, it must have been written toward the end of his
life; since, moreover, al-Ma¯ward¯ı was sixteen years older
than Ibn al-Farra¯D, it is believed that the latter must have bor-
MAWDU
¯ D¯I, SAYYID ABU¯ AL-AELA¯
rowed, without acknowledgment, from the former. Clearly
(1903–
these are problems that need to be solved before
1979), popularly known as Mawla¯na¯ Mawdu¯d¯ı; Indian
al-Ma¯ward¯ı’s originality and development as a thinker can
(later Pakistani), writer, religious thinker, political figure,
be understood. In the meantime, an indication of the con-
and founder and leader of an Islamic revivalist movement.
tent of Al-ah:ka¯m and its possible connection with the au-
Mawdu¯d¯ı was born into a religious family in Aurangabad,
thor’s milieu must suffice.
British India. With the exception of a short period in a Hy-
derabad madrasah, his education was gained at home or
According to al-Ma¯ward¯ı he wrote Al-ah:ka¯m at the be-
through his own efforts. His earliest occupation was journal-
hest of a ruler, perhaps a caliph, as a convenient compendi-
ism, and in 1920 he became editor of the highly influential
um of ordinances relating to government, culled from manu-
newspaper of the JamEiyat-i EUlama¯D (the organization of In-
als of jurisprudence. This work, and Abu¯ YaEla¯’s, are rightly
dian EulamaD), where he remained for seven years. As one of
regarded as the first books of jurisprudence to be devoted ex-
the Indian Muslim leaders outraged by Gandhi’s abandon-
clusively to the principles and practice of Islamic govern-
ment of the Swara¯j movement for independence, he began
ment. The parts of Al-ah:ka¯m that have attracted most atten-
to argue that Muslim interests could not be reconciled with
tion discuss the three highest offices of the medieval Islamic
those of Hindus. Although Mawdu¯d¯ı had participated in the
state: the caliphate, the vizierate, and the emirate by usurpa-
religio-political Khila¯fat movement, he and his brother criti-
tion, even though at least two-thirds of the work is devoted
cized the Khila¯fat leaders for the fiasco of the hijrah
to lesser administrative and judicial offices, taxation, and
(“emigration”) movement from India to Afghanistan.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5788
MAWLID
In the mid-1920s, in response to Hindu attacks on
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Islam resulting from the murder of a Hindu leader by a Mus-
A sympathetic discussion of the import of Mawdu¯d¯ı’s perspective
lim fanatic, Mawdu¯d¯ı wrote a series of articles in defense of
for many aspects of life is Islamic Perspectives: Studies in
Islamic beliefs, subsequently published as Al-jiha¯d f¯ıi
Honor of Mawlana Sayyid Abul A Ela¯ Mawdudi, edited by
al-Isla¯m (Religious War in Islam). He later said that this vol-
Khurshid Ahmad and Zafar Ishaq Ansari (Leicester, 1979).
Kalim Bahadur’s The Jama¯ Eat-i Isla¯m¯ı of Pakistan (New
ume, his first serious work on Islam, represented his true in-
Delhi, 1980) is informative as to the history of that organiza-
tellectual and spiritual conversion to the religion.
tion. Leonard Binder’s Religion and Politics in Pakistan
(Berkeley, 1963) gives the Pakistani background. Charles J.
Mawdu¯d¯ı left journalism in 1927 for literary and histor-
Adams’s “The Ideology of Mawlana Mawdudi,” in South
ical pursuits. In the following years he wrote a history of the
Asian Politics and Religion, edited by Donald Smith (Prince-
Seljuks and an unfinished history of the Asafi dynasty of Hy-
ton, 1966), pp. 371–397, is a balanced account; see also his
derabad. From 1932 he was associated with a Hyderabad re-
“Mawdudi and the Islamic State,” in Voices of Resurgent
ligious journal, Tarjuma¯n al-Qur Da¯n, which he edited from
Islam, edited by John Esposito (New York, 1983),
1933 until his death; this publication has been the principal
pp. 99–133.
instrument for the propagation of his views. Criticizing the
SHEILA MCDONOUGH (1987)
westernized class of Indian Muslims, Mawdu¯d¯ı began to call
for the mobilization of Muslims in the cause of Islam. In the
political debates of the late 1930s he rejected both the Indian
nationalism of the Congress and the Muslim nationalism of
MAWLID is an Arabic word that literally means the time
the Muslim League, calling instead for an Islamic order in
and place of a birth, but the word is used in particular for
India. His views from the period are collected in three vol-
the birth of the prophet Muh:ammad (mawlid al-nab¯ı). In
umes called Musalma¯n awr mawju¯dah siya¯s¯ı kashmakash
some Islamic countries it also refers to the festival days of
(The Muslim and the Present Political Struggle).
local saints (wal¯ıs). The actual birth date of the prophet
Muh:ammad is unknown, but the anniversary of his birth is
In 1941 Mawdu¯d¯ı founded the Jama¯Eat-i Isla¯m¯ı, an or-
celebrated on 12 Rab¯ıEah al-Awwal of the Islamic lunar cal-
ganization for the promotion of Islamic principles, and was
endar, a day prior to the anniversary of his death (in 632 CE).
elected its chief, or am¯ır, which he remained until 1972.
Muh:ammad is portrayed in the QurDa¯n as a messenger
From 1941 until the partition of Indian he devoted his time
of God who was an ordinary mortal in other respects. Only
to building the organization and to writing. In 1947, despite
in later centuries did many Muslims begin to assert a higher
his unhappiness with the Muslim League, Mawdu¯d¯ı moved
sanctity for his person. The first recorded celebrations of his
to Pakistan, where he and his group became the leading
birth occurred during the latter part of Fatimid rule in Egypt
spokesmen for an Islamic state. The Jama¯Eat-i Isla¯m¯ı sought
(909–1171). As Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslims who held descendants of the
political power, and its activities attracted the disapproval of
Prophet in particularly high esteem, the Fatimid elite similar-
government. Mawdu¯d¯ı and his principal followers were im-
ly observed the mawlids of Muh:ammad’s son-in-law EAl¯ı, his
prisoned on several occasions; he himself was condemned to
daughter Fa¯t:imah, and the reigning caliph. Palace dignitaries
death by a military court after the anti-Ah:mad¯ıyah distur-
and religious notables held daylight processions and deliv-
bances of 1953, but the sentence was never carried out. His
ered sermons, a practice briefly prohibited but later revived.
ideas and activities brought criticism from both modernist
The Sunn¯ı majority in Egypt took no part in these cere-
and conservative Muslims as well as from secularists.
monies.
Mawdu¯d¯ı’s teachings are set out in a large number of
The first popular mawlid occurred in 1207. Muz:affar
writings that include a six-volume commentary on the
al-D¯ın Kökbürü, brother-in-law of the famed S:ala¯h: al-D¯ın
QurDa¯n, Tafh¯ım al-QurDa¯n. These writings have been trans-
(Saladin), arranged for a festival in Arbala¯D, a town near
lated into numerous languages, and he is at present one of
Mosul in present-day northern Iraq. As described by the his-
the most widely read authors in the Islamic world. He be-
torian Ibn Khallika¯n (d. 1282), a native of the town, the
lieved Islam to be an ideology that offers complete guidance
mawlid became an elaborate annual event, attracting schol-
for human life, laid down by God in his holy book, the
ars, notables, preachers, and poets from throughout the re-
QurDa¯n, and through his prophet, Muh:ammad. The task of
gion. The deeds and person of Muh:ammad were celebrated
Muslims is to follow the eternal divine law by building an
in religious poetry and songs and culminated on the eve of
Islamic state, by creating an Islamic society as well as an indi-
the mawlid in a torchlight procession led by the prince. Fol-
vidual Islamic life. The paramount feature of his teaching is
lowers of S:u¯f¯ı orders were also prominent in the celebrations,
the demand for an Islamic state, which he intended to be re-
and gifts were lavishly distributed to participants.
alized in the form of the Jama¯Eat-i Isla¯m¯ı. His vision of soci-
Some aspects of early mawlids appear to have been influ-
ety was rigorous, puritanical, authoritarian, antisecular, and
enced by Middle Eastern Christian traditions of the period,
antidemocratic but was based upon a deeply held conviction
such as lavish entertainments and nighttime processions in
that people must live according to the law of God.
honor of saints. Even as mawlids also developed for saints
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAWLID
5789
and other holy persons, especially in Egypt, the Prophet’s
munity mosques. On the final night, recitations continue
mawlid continued to be the most elaborate. Mawlids quickly
until daybreak. Some families offer a feast and distribute
became highly popular occasions associated with mysticism,
food to the poor; women decorate their hands and feet with
during which S:u¯f¯ı orders congregated in public, reciting
henna and visit cemeteries. In Java, a feast is offered for the
rhythmical chants in praise of God and in some cases enter-
mawlid, which is one of the two most important calendrical
ing into trance. From Egypt, mawlids spread to many other
ceremonies in a region given over to elaborate festival cycles.
parts of the Islamic world.
A popular Javanese belief is that the giving of feasts for the
The popularity of mawlids met initial resistance from
Prophet’s birthday and the end of Ramad:a¯n distinguishes
some theologians. Ibn Taym¯ıyah (d. 1328) and others con-
Muslims from non-Muslims and humans from animals; this
demned the Prophet’s mawlid as a harmful innovation
view of the importance of the occasion is not necessarily
(bid Eah). After considerable discussion, most theologians, ex-
shared by those Javanese who have a more elaborate under-
cept those precursors of the later Wahha¯b¯ı movement, who
standing of Islamic doctrine and ritual.
espoused Islam in its most idealized and fundamental form,
The symbolism of the mawlid is especially highly devel-
tolerated the mawlid as a praiseworthy innovation (bid Eah
oped among Swahili-speaking East African Muslims. In the
h:asanah), since it inspired reverence for the Prophet. The
town and island of Lamu, located off the northern coast of
central activity of mawlids is the recital of long panegyrical
Kenya, most Muslims hold that the prophet Muh:ammad,
poems and legends commemorating Muh:ammad and his
created of dust, like all other persons, carried “light” to the
deeds, recitations so popular that they are repeated on festive
earth in this month. The discipline of fasting during the
occasions throughout the year.
month of Ramadan emphasizes the separation of nature and
The acceptance of popular practice by theologians
culture and the distance between actual human society and
shows the Islamic principle of consensus (ijma¯ E) at work. A
the Islamic ideal. Likewise, the month of Muh:ammad’s birth
key doctrinal tenet in Islam is that the community of believ-
is regarded as a joyous occasion that emphasizes life as lived
ers cannot agree upon error. The legal opinions of religious
here and now, combined with belief in the Prophet’s willing-
jurists appear to have had minimal influence in reducing the
ness to intervene on behalf of his people and to accept them
popularity of mawlids, so that most jurists were encouraged
in full recognition of their individual shortcomings. It is said
to accommodate theological doctrine to social realities.
that during this month the Prophet lives on the earth like
As with other Islamic celebrations and rites of passage,
a human being and loves and hates just as they do. The first
mawlids show considerable differences throughout the Is-
twelve days of the month are marked by processions, singing,
lamic world. In some contexts, the mawlid is minimally dis-
and the music of tambourines and flutes. Intense competi-
tinguished from other festive occasions; elsewhere, it is one
tions are held on successive evenings in the mosques and reli-
of the most important annual religious events. In nineteenth-
gious associations of the various quarters in Lamu. Each
century Cairo, mawlid celebrations started on the first day
quarter vies in enthusiasm to praise Muh:ammad’s life and
of Rab¯ıEah al-Awwal. Large tents were pitched in one of
deeds in song and prose and to show its love for the Prophet.
Cairo’s quarters and decorated with lamps and QurDanic in-
Shar¯ıfs, descendants of Muh:ammad, are especially honored
scriptions. Each night S:u¯f¯ı orders carried their banners in
in Lamu during this period.
procession to their tents, where they chanted the name of
Shar¯ıfs are invited to recite poems in praise of
God, recited poems in praise of Muh:ammad, and provided
Muh:ammad in most of the nineteen mosques of Lamu town.
refreshments to guests. In the daytime, dancers, clowns, and
In beautiful performances on successive evenings, assemblies
storytellers entertained the audience in a carnival atmo-
of young boys from mosque schools and musicians perform
sphere. Festivities climaxed on the eleventh and twelfth eve-
songs and poems that have been rehearsed for months.
nings of the month, with elaborate poems and songs in praise
Brightly colored tunics, donated by wealthy Muslims, are
of Muh:ammad that continued until morning. In recent
worn for the ceremonies. The freeborn and the ex-slaves,
times government restrictions against large public gatherings
members of two important local social categories, compete
sought to curtail these events. Nonetheless, the Prophet’s
with one another during these celebrations to express a will-
mawlid and to a lesser extent those for local saints continue
ingness to use earthly wealth—the offer of food and refresh-
to be large communal festivals attracting hundreds of thou-
ments to guests—and talent to show their love for the Proph-
sands of people in Egypt’s larger towns.
et. If not enough effort is put into the preparations for
Elsewhere in the Islamic world, religious orders play a
quarter festivities, the shar¯ıfs are said to participate with less
less central role in mawlid festivities. In Morocco, the month
enthusiasm and to attract fewer blessings for the quarter.
in which the Prophet’s birthday occurs is popularly known
Love of the Prophet is said to join together the world of na-
as mulu¯d, the local pronunciation of mawlid. Children born
ture and the world of culture. Ceremonies include the sacri-
during this month are considered especially fortunate and are
fice of cows, highly valued on the island, visits to cemeteries,
often named after it, and it is a good time to circumcise boys.
and the distribution of rose water by shar¯ıfs to symbolize
Celebrations last a week, culminating with recitations of pan-
Muh:ammad’s ability to cleanse his followers of their sins.
egyrics of Muh:ammad in decorated and illuminated com-
Until the 1970s distinctions between freeborn and ex-slave
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5790
MAWU-LISA
and shar¯ıf and commoner remained significant for many
The name Lisa among the Fon appears to be derived
East African Muslims, although in recent years such distinc-
from the nearby Yoruba people, who use the word oris:a (or
tions have been eroded under pressure from reformist
orisha) to refer to lesser deities. Lisa is an analogue for the
Muslims.
Yoruba oris:a O:batala and is variously described as the twin
brother, husband, or son of Mawu. This paired complemen-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tarity is not all that unusual in West Africa. Other pairs of
In his Muhammadan Festivals (New York, 1951) G. E. Von
spiritual beings include Nana-Buku of central Benin and
Grunebaum discusses the early history of the mawlid and in-
Togo, Dada-Sogbo of the Ewe, and Es:u-Legba of the Yoru-
cludes translations from original source materials. For the
ba. Their pairing need not refer to sexuality but merely to
mawlid in more recent times, see Edward W. Lane’s An Ac-
the unity of duality, however that may be defined.
count of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians,
3d ed. (1846; reprint, New York, 1973), which includes a
Mawu also creates human souls and rules their destinies.
description of the celebrations as he saw them in Cairo in
The soul is called mawuse (the Mawu within a person). At
1834. Michael Gilsenan’s Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt
first, Mawu made people out of clay, but after running short,
(Oxford, 1973) provides a brief commentary on contempo-
she began to make them out of reused bodies (hence we can
rary Egyptian practices. For Morocco, Edward A. Wester-
see resemblances in people). Mawu upholds moral law and
marck’s Ritual and Belief in Morocco, vol. 2 (1926; reprint,
also metes out rewards and punishments after death.
New Hyde Park, N. Y., 1968), remains the best-documented
ethnographic account, while Pessah Shinar’s “Traditional
The priests of Mawu wear white, and at Abomey there
and Reformist Mawlid Celebrations in the Maghrib,” in
is a rare statue of Mawu. The figure, painted red, has large
Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet, edited by Myriam Rosen-
breasts and holds a crescent moon. The cult of Mawu is not
Ayalon (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 371–413, provides a richly
limited to West Africa. There are scattered instances of
analytic account of how mawlid practices have changed over
time throughout North Africa. In The Religion of Java (Glen-
Mawu’s cult in the New World. For example, in Yoruba
coe, Ill., 1960) Clifford Geertz mentions the mawlid only
houses in Sa˜o Luiz, Brazil, there is said to be an encantado
briefly but fully situates it in a highly elaborate ritual context.
(spirit) of Mawu. There, as in West Africa, Mawu connotes
By far the most extensive discussion of the symbolism of oc-
a generalized notion of divinity.
casion as elaborated in one local context is Abdul Hamid M.
el-Zein’s The Sacred Meadows: A Structural Analysis of Reli-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
gious Symbolism in an East African Town (Evanston, Ill.,
Herskovits, Melville J. Dahomey: An Ancient West African King-
1974).
dom. 2 vols. New York, 1938. An excellent description by
DALE F. EICKELMAN (1987)
one of the great ethnographers of Africa.
Pelton, Robert D. The Trickster in West Africa. Berkeley, 1980. In-
cludes a good discussion of Mawu-Lisa and the role played
MAWU-LISA is a complex deity worshiped in coastal
by Legba, the Fon trickster figure.
West Africa by the Fon and most of the Ewe. Occasionally
JAMES S. THAYER (1987)
Mawu and Lisa are considered as separate deities; sometimes
they are seen together as a complementary sexual pair. The
issue is complicated because the Ewe peoples use the term
mawu both to refer to God in a general way or to a specific
MAXIMÓN is a trickster deity from Santiago Atitlán,
deity.
Guatemala. His origin as a Mesoamerican merchant and lin-
eage deity originates in the pre-classic Maya world (c. 500
As a specific deity, Mawu is seen as a creator, but she
BCE). His cult has spread throughout the highlands of Guate-
rarely has shrines, priests, or rituals dedicated to her. Among
mala alongside the proselytizing evangelical movement
peoples such as the Fon, Mawu is conceived of as a female
among the Maya of the highlands. His image, in various
deity associated with the moon, and it is in this manifestation
forms, can now be found throughout the republic, but this
that she is most often paired with Lisa. Among the Fon, the
essay concentrates on the deity found in Santiago Atitlán
cult of Mawu-Lisa was centered in Abomey, the capital of
while recognizing the many similarities between the various
the old kingdom of Dahomey. Mawu is depicted as an elder
Maximón cults found in different highland towns. Maximón
female figure in conjunction with Lisa, a younger male con-
is particularly important to all those people who want more
sort. Other complementary qualities are seen in them. For
out of life than simple sustenance; he specializes in giving ev-
example, whereas Mawu is associated with the moon (night)
erything that is “extra” in this world. His cult has thus grown
and is cool (gentle and forgiving), Lisa is associated with the
to satisfy the focus of material wealth that is now so impor-
sun (day) and is hot (fierce and punitive). Sometimes even
tant to the people who inhabit the towns and villages of the
their actions are complementary. In one mythic tradition,
Guatemalan highlands.
Mawu created the earth and then retired to the heavens.
When she saw that things were not going well with men, she
Maximón is a name derived from two different origins:
sent Lisa to make tools and clear the forests so that men
first, from the Catholic Simón Pedro (Ximón Pedro) the first
could farm and live a civilized life.
apostle of Christ who was given the keys to heaven and the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAXIMÓN
5791
power of “binding and loosing”; second, from the Tz’utujil
al practitioners carry the Year Bearer through rituals of sacri-
term meaning “Mr. Knotted,” derived from ma (mister) and
fice. The Year Bearer is a sacred being who occupies the four
ximon (to have knotted). Maximón is the trickster who waits
corners of the world in a quadripartite fashion. In Maya
at the portal of fate, where he either captures and binds his
timekeeping, each year had one of four styles, each of which
prey or loosens the knotted one from the trap of a predator.
had a Mam from one of the four world corners. As one year
Like Simon Peter, he is seen as the gatekeeper of all those
ended, the Year Bearer of that year was dismembered, puri-
souls who are out on the road, at the crossroads of life, or
fied, and then put back together as another Mam, another
in the marketplace where happenstance can change one’s
Year Bearer. In this way years are seen as human ancestors
luck. Maximón is the one who opens or closes the road to
that continuously replace one another throughout time.
opportunity, creates an accidental meeting at the crossroads,
Mam also signifies the five dangerous days of the
or finds the needed connection in the marketplace.
Uayeb’, a short, five-day month between two 360-day years,
Maximón is Lord of Merchants, similar to God L and
each of which is made up of eighteen months of twenty days.
God M of the ancient Maya. He is a tireless walker of roads
During this short five-day month of the Uayeb’, the Mam
without end; his wanderings lead him to wherever he is
was celebrated as one year ended and another began. Mam
called, as well as to all those places where he creates problems
is thus the Lord of Middle, where years end and begin, as
that he alone can solve. He is the shape-shifter who alters his
well as lord of endless generations of ancestors, or Mam, and
shape to the changing shape of the world in which he exists
their replacements, also known as Mam.
as trickster, and because of this his disguises are infinite.
Mam has many similarities with God N, or Pawahtuun,
He is versipellis, a being who changes its skin to imitate
of the classic Maya. Pawahtuun was depicted as an aged sky-
another being or an environment, a completely flexible being
bearing deity who went about dressed in a conch shell or tur-
whose way is “no way.” Maximón is ever-present in his many
tle carapace, linking him to waterways, lakes, and seas of
forms, but mostly he is known to take the form of one of
merchant people. He was an old man who loved a party,
the following: a young girl, the old man, the latina temptress,
where he would indulge himself in drunkenness as well as
the poor beggar, the wealthy plantation owner, the hum-
the affections of wild young women. As a quadripartite deity
mingbird, the blue jay, the skunk, the donkey, the wild
he was closely associated with the Chaks, or rain deities, and
mountain dahlia, the “divining tree,” a whirlwind, a night
may have been the rain deities’ earthly counterpart. Mam,
breeze, a earth tremor, a fly, a mosquito, a wafting scent of
like Chak, is a deity of the four corners; as a mountain god,
a cigar, or even a ripple across still water.
he personifies the stones or mountains that support the sky
at each of the four corners. Mam in his most beloved form
Like all tricksters he makes himself known to his follow-
is an elderly lord of the earth, thunder, and the ancestors.
ers through signs given on the road, where a heightened sense
of insecurity is always felt. All of his disguises or changes give
Tz’utujil tradition of Santiago Atitlán states that Mam
messages to those who follow his guidance to safe passage
was created by immortals known as Nawales, who were mer-
and profitable markets. He is lord of all those portals of op-
chants and in much need of a guardian who would watch
portunity where tax collectors let one pass unmolested,
over their women while they were on the road and in the
where obstacles are lifted, where government officials look
marketplaces of distant towns. As soon as Mam was brought
the other way, where traps are avoided, and where doors of
to life by the Nawales as a replication of their perfection, he
opportunity are flung wide open. He is lord of the crossroads
began doing what he had been ordered to. Pretty soon he was
where destinies accidentally come together for better or
making love to all the wives of those who had created him.
worse. He is lord of the marketplace where abundance is
Eventually, Mam was dismembered and put back together
turned into wealth and where finding a new product or per-
in such away that he could never misuse his human body
son brings about a life reversal. Maximón is guide to souls
again: his head was twisted around backwards, and his arms
in need, both in this lifetime and at death; it is he who is the
and legs were left short. This is the image that is found today
k’amal b’iey (pathfinder) who ushers us towards the direction
in the Cofradia of Santa Cruz in Santiago Atitlán. Like all
we must be taking. Sacred history tells that Maximón was
tricksters, Mam’s appetites cause his fall from prescriptive
made of the “Tz’ajtel tree” (erythrina corallodendron), a type
culture, and so teaches people how not to act in the world.
of “divining wood” used by shamans, diviners, matchmakers,
The present-day image of Maximón stands about four-
midwives, and oracles to see into the future or back into the
feet tall in a brand new pair of boots. He is adorned in many
past.
silk scarves, which once may have been feathers. On his
Maximón is also known as Mam or Rilaj Mam, Ances-
gourd skull is a wooden mask of an old man. On the backside
tor or Great Ancestor. Mam means both “grandfather” and
of his head is another mask, giving Mam a 360-degree view.
“grandchild,” making him a deity that replaces the ancestors
Upon this head of twin masks are two modern Stetson cow-
with future ancestors in such a way that the lineage never
boy hats, signifying the duplicity inherent in this capricious
dies. Mam is also known as “Year Bearer” in a Mayan world
being. (The Stetson hats are given as gifts to Maximón by
where the sun is carried on the back of humanity through
wealthy Indian merchants, who wear them themselves to
ritual sacrifice. The Year Bearer carries the year, and the ritu-
manifest their high status in the Indian world.) His body is
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5792
MAXIMOS THE CONFESSOR
made of pieces of divining wood that are tied together with
obliged to flee because of Persian expansionism. His path
sashes of traditional cloth and string. This ritually bundled
likely took him through Crete, and probably Cyprus, to
core is adorned in traditional clothing from Santiago Atitlán
North Africa (626). It is well known that he was in Carthage
and other towns from the lake region, creating a deity
on Pentecost of 632. At the Eucratas Monastery he became
that looks much like it must have when the Nawales first
acquainted with Sophronios, another refugee, who later be-
formed it.
came patriarch of Jerusalem (634–638). Maximos was great-
ly influenced by Sophronios and later called him his forerun-
Mam, or Maximón, is a boundary crosser and a liminal
ner, father, and teacher.
character that lives at the threshold of this world of humans
and the other world of the gods. He is the go-between and
The two monks journeyed to Alexandria in an effort to
messenger that relays communication between humanity
overturn an agreement of union with the monophysites but
and their deities. In this middle ground between humans and
were unable to persuade the former patriarch, Cyrus of Alex-
gods he takes his payment in the form of offerings, including
andria (d. 641), to their cause. Because such concessions to
only flowers, incense, candles, liquor, tobacco, sweet-
monophysitism were likely to terminate in the heresy of
smelling waters, song, and prayers. He takes part of all that
monoenergism, Sophronios had turned against the agree-
once was given only to the gods, and in this way he makes
ment; Maximos continued in the struggle against the union
a good living by existing between and betwixt two worlds.
but acted in a reserved way. After Heraclius published his Ec-
thesis (638), and a monothelite direction was given to the
SEE ALSO Mesoamerican Religions.
heresy, Maximos cut off relations with the patriarch Pyrrhus
and began his own antimonothelite activities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Important stages of Maximos’s struggle against mono-
Carlsen, Robert S. The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland
thelitism are his dialogue with the deposed Pyrrhus in Car-
Maya Town. Austin, Tex., 1997. Analysis of cultural conti-
nuity and change in Santiago Atitlán, including considerable
thage; the convocation in North Africa of three antimono-
discussion of the Maximón cult.
thelite synods, where he explained his position; and the
continuation of his endeavors in Rome (646), which had be-
Hyde, Lewis. Trickster Makes This World. New York, 1998. A pro-
come the new center of antimonothelitism. Maximos’s ef-
found and creative analysis of the religious archetype of the
forts were now carried out with unmitigated zeal. He com-
trickster and his power to create and recreate this world.
posed treatises and letters to the emperor, the pope, and the
Stanzione, Vincent J. Rituals of Sacrifice: Walking the Face of the
patriarch of Constantinople. His antiheretical struggle
Earth on the Sacred Path of the Sun. Albuquerque, N.Mex.,
prompted the convocation of a synod in Rome (649) where
2003. An in-depth study of religion and ceremony in Santia-
he condemned monothelitism.
go Atitlán, this creative and exciting study by a historian of
religion focuses on the cult of Maximón and his trickster re-
Maximos’s initiatives were regarded by the imperial au-
lationship with Jesus during the rituals of sacrifice at the time
thorities as hostile to its policy of union and reconciliation.
of Lent and Easter Week in Santiago Atitlán.
Therefore, Maximos and his companions, one of whom was
Tarn, Nathaniel. Scandals in the House of Birds: Shamans and
the papal legate, were taken to Constantinople for question-
Priests on Lake Atitlán. New York, 1998. A complicated yet
ing. (This was in 655, not, as is commonly reported, during
comprehensive anthropological study of religious symbolism
the reign of Pope Martin I.) Although the charge that he had
in Santiago Atitlán.
betrayed the interests of the empire was not proved, Maxi-
V
mos was exiled (along with his two disciples) to Byzia in
INCENT STANZIONE (2005)
Thrace for refusing to sign the new conciliatory declaration,
the Typus of Constans II, under Patriarch Peter (655–666).
Maximos was called back to Constantinople in 656 for an-
MAXIMOS THE CONFESSOR (c. 580–662), By-
other investigation, but after refusing once again to sign, he
zantine theologian, Eastern Orthodox saint, ascetic writer,
was exiled and imprisoned at Perbera. Although his oppo-
and opponent of monothelitism. What is known about Max-
nents were determined, Maximos’s intransigence in matters
imos’s life largely derives from an anonymous biography.
of faith prevented him from giving in to them. Six years later,
Maximos, Pope Martin, and Sophronios were anathemized.
Born in Constantinople, Maximos received a good edu-
There followed exchanges of messages, rumors of torture
cation, which was rare for his time. Indicative of his abilities
(some say Maximos was beaten, his tongue cut out, and his
was his appointment as first secretary to the emperor Heracli-
right hand lopped off), and further exiling. Maximos was fi-
us (r. 610–641), but Maximos soon recognized his ecclesias-
nally imprisoned in the fortress of Schimaris, where after two
tical calling. He entered the Monastery of Philipikos, in
months he died, on August 13, 662.
Chrysopolis (present-day Üsküdar, Turkey), probably in
614, where he eventually became abbot. Because of attacks
Maximos composed numerous works on the interpreta-
by the Persians, Maximos and the other monks were forced
tion of scripture and on the teachings of the fathers. His doc-
to flee to the Monastery of Saint George, at Cyzicus (present-
trinal writings consist largely of short treatises against mo-
day Kapidagi, Turkey). Two years later Maximos was again
nophysitism, a more important series against monothelitism,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAXIMOS THE CONFESSOR
5793
and numerous other ascetical writings. He wrote commen-
supposes the habit of nature, which is movement and energy,
taries on mystical theology and on the work of Dionysius the
not stasis. The will governs this nature within the functions
Areopagite (Pseudo-Dionysius). Also extant are many letters
of the person. For example, sight and speech are capacities
by Maximos, including the letters and disputation that he
inherent in nature, but “how” one sees is dependent upon
wrote to Pyrrhus. Some other writings exist only in manu-
the person. In this way, Maximos distinguishes between the
script.
natural origin of the will and its personal (that is, “gnomic”)
orientation. As such, will does not violate the order of nature
The teachings of Maximos developed in two directions:
but diverts its movement and, in this case, expresses the ethi-
on the one hand, in a theoretical direction, with strong meta-
cal responsibility of the person.
physical emphasis; and on the other, in an existential direc-
tion, which elaborated a spiritual way of life. In his theology
According to Maximos, Christ is recognized as God and
of the unity and trinity of God, Maximos follows the onto-
man from his divine and human qualities. Christ willed, or
logical method and the teachings of the Greek fathers. The
acted, as God and man. Maximos sees a “divine-human will”
interpretation by some Western theologians that Maximos
and a “divine-human energy” in Christ’s very nature. In dis-
agrees with the view that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
tinction from his opponents, Maximos argues that if will is
Father and the Son cannot be demonstrated definitively. For
identical with persons (and not nature), then the Trinity,
example, Maximos sees in the Trinity the relation of three
which is a trinity of persons, and not of natures, would have
persons who participate jointly in one essence and jointly ex-
to comprise three wills. Further, if the energy were to flow
press a common divine energy: the Father, “by grace”; the
from persons, there would be three energies in the Trinity,
Son, “by self-operation”; the Holy Spirit, “by synergy.”
and Christ would be cut off from the energy of the Father
and that of the Holy Spirit.
Maximos believed that the world was created by God
so that beings could participate in his goodness. Accordingly,
The human will of Christ is, by the logic of nature, the
man holds the dominant place in creation and is the natural
same as ours, but its manifestation in Christ is directed by
link between God and creation; further, all will is united to
the person of God the Word. Hence, Christ’s will experi-
God through man. The first man, Maximos thought, was
enced everything human except sin. The famous phrase “My
created with an orientation toward God and was meant to
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; neverthe-
bridge the distance between “image” and “likeness.” For
less, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Mt. 26:39) expresses the
Maximos, disobedience to the divine will constitutes deliber-
will of the human nature in Christ, that is, his resistance to
ate sin, in which man’s will is distorted and his nature cor-
death as well as his acceptance of it. This is an indication that
rupted; thus, man loses the grace of apatheia. Also, corrupt-
salvation is completed by the human will. Thus Maximos’s
ibility in human nature is inherited; therefore, there is no
intention is to defend the human will of Christ, which also
human possibility of self-regeneration or of exemption from
constitutes a defense of the freedom of man in relation to
death. However, what man has done out of negligence, the
God. Under such presuppositions, Christ healed and divi-
man Christ has corrected.
nized corruptible human nature. Christ also formulated a
new way of existence for man, free from sin and death. Fur-
Maximos’s Christology is devoted to his struggle against
thermore, it is through the work of the church, Maximos be-
monophysitism and monothelitism. For Maximos, in Christ,
lieved, that familiarization with these gifts of Christ can
human nature, which had no previous existence as such, be-
occur. Likewise, in his dogmatic teaching, Maximos de-
came substantial and received existence in the preexisting
scribes the spiritual life as a pedagogical way to salvation and
substance of God the Word (the Logos). As one being, Christ
divinization.
has the same humanity as man but he also has divinity. How-
ever, as in the Trinity, in Christ’s being one essence is con-
The three factors, according to Maximos, that mold
fessed without confusing the two natures.
man are God, human nature, and the world. It is man’s will
that moves him in relation to these factors. Being refers to
The resolution of the question of whether there are one
the essence of man, well-being to the call of God to pass from
or two energies (or one or two wills) in Christ lies in the de-
the “image” to the “likeness” of God; eternal being is granted
termination of their origin, that is, whether in the nature or
to those worthy of the grace of God. The development of
in the person of Christ. For the monoenergists, Christ has
the inner life cultivates the gift of baptism, through which
only one energy because he has only one active element. For
human nature is renewed by Christ’s existence. The discov-
the monothelites, he has only one will because nature, ac-
ery of freedom and the acquisition of virtues, especially of
cording to doctrines of natural philosophy, is governed by
love, promote the social life of the person and union with
the rule of necessity.
God. Spiritual formation, which is carried out through natu-
In order to oppose monophysitism, Maximos attempts
ral and theological vision, follows. In the principles of cre-
to define the operational autonomy of the person on the
ation and in the principles of human nature, God is discov-
basis of the dynamism of nature. He argues that nature,
ered. In the divine Word we possess the unity of the Creator
which is both noetic and created, “has no necessity”
and creation, as the revelation of his person and work to the
(Patrologia Graeca 91.293). Will, as a reasonable desire, pre-
world.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MA¯YA¯
5794
Spiritual formation is fulfilled in the work of the Holy
Volker, Walther. Maximus Confessor als Meister des geistlichen Le-
Spirit, which enlightens man, enabling him to understand
bens. Wiesbaden, 1965.
beings, the meaning of the scriptures, and the mysteries of
NICHOLAS KARAZAFIRIS (1987)
worship. At the very center of their existence Christians par-
ticipate in the divine energy and receive awareness of the
spiritual presence of God. Such a process—internal, moral,
and spiritual—makes the person capable of theo¯sis (deifica-
MA¯YA¯. is one of the key terms in Indian religious tradi-
tion), that is, exemption from the corruption of creation and
tion. Its original meaning may be “creation” or “construc-
acquisition of union with God. Finally, full communion and
tion” (from the Sanskrit ma¯, “measure” or “mete out”), but
union in the second coming of Christ is awaited as a consum-
the term can be used in several connotations, implying a
mation of our own personal lives, just as resurrection was the
power, a process, and the result of that process.
consummation of Christ’s life.
Development of the concept. In the history of Indian
Maximos’s contribution to the intellectual support of
thought the term ma¯ya¯ is used with remarkable consistency,
orthodox views, his ecclesiastical conduct, and his witness as
to express, define, and explain the enigma of life and the ma-
a confessor were recognized by the Third Council of Con-
terial world. The viewpoint expressed by S´an˙kara, admittedly
stantinople (680–681). The basic themes of his teaching,
pivotal, is often stressed too much, at the cost of other opin-
such as the distinction between nature and divine energy, the
ions conceived by intelligent minds from the time of the
principles of nature and human will, the communion and
Vedas to the modern period. For the Vedic authors, ma¯ya¯
synergy of God and man as persons, the participation of man
denoted the faculty that transforms an original concept of
in God, and theo¯sis—all of these influenced the spirituality
creative mind into concrete form, a faculty of immense profi-
and later direction of orthodox theology. For example, Maxi-
ciency and shrewdness such as is suggested by the English
mos’s authority was invoked during the hesychast dispute of
word craft.
the fourteenth century. The successful application of Aristo-
telian dialectic in theology was inaugurated by Maximos, and
In the Vedas, performances of ma¯ya¯ are mainly ascribed
his teaching has provoked interest in modern theological
to divine beings, devas (“gods”) or asuras (“countergods”).
circles.
Each god works ma¯ya¯ in his own way and for his own ends.
Thus, through ma¯ya¯ Varun:a metes out the earth and creates
BIBLIOGRAPHY
order in nature (R:gveda 5.85.5 et al.), and Indra employs it
Works by Maximos
to defeat the demon Vrtra or to transform himself into an-
Maximos’s collected works are available in Patrologia Graeca, ed-
other shape (R:gveda 6.47.18: “By his powers of ma¯ya¯, Indra
ited by J.-P. Migne, vol. 4 (Paris, 1857) and vols. 90–91
goes around in many forms,” an oft-quoted phrase). The re-
(Paris, 1860). Questions to Thalassius is available in Corpus
ality of all these mayic creations, however incomprehensible
Christianorum, Series Graeca, vol. 7 (Turnhout, 1980). The
to common man, is never questioned. The Upanis:ads devel-
Ascetic Life has been translated by Polycarp Sherwood in
op a metaphysical notion of ma¯ya¯ as the emanation of the
“Ancient Christian Writers,” edited by Johannes Quasten et
al., vol. 21 (Westminster, Md., 1955).
phenomenal world by brahman, the cosmic Self. In post-
Vedic Hinduism, the term can be used to convey a meta-
Works on Maximos
physical, epistemological, mythological, or magical sense, de-
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Kosmische Liturgie: Das Weltbild Maxi-
mus’, des Bekenners. 2d ed. Einsiedeln, 1961.
pending on the immediate context.
Garrigues, Juan Miguel. Maxime le confesseur: La charité, avenir de
METAPHYSICAL ASPECT. In Indian thought, ma¯ya¯ is the
l’homme. Paris, 1976. Includes a complete bibliography.
metaphysical principle that must be assumed in order to ac-
Karazafiris, Nicholas. H¯e peri proso¯pou didascalia Maximou tou
count for the transformation of the eternal and indivisible
Homolog¯etou. Thessaloniki, 1985.
into the temporal and differentiated. Beginning with the
Léthel, François-Marie. Théologie de l’agonie du Christ. Paris,
Upanis:ads (Cha¯ndogya Upanis:ad 6.1.4–6), empirical reality
1979.
is most often conceived as a polymorphous modification or
Matsouka, Nikos. Kosmos, anthro¯pos, koino¯nia kata ton Maximon
transformation of the Absolute, and thus maintains a “de-
ton homolog¯et¯en. Athens, 1980.
rived reality.” Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism, however, developed a
Piret, Pierre. Le Christ et la Trinité selon Maxime le confesseur.
concept of the world as a “substitution” or “delusion” con-
Paris, 1983.
jured up by ma¯ya¯ as by an act of illusionism. The world pro-
Radosavljevic, A. To musterion tes soterias kata ton hagion Maximon
cess and our experience of it are devices to hide the inexpress-
ton homologeten. Athens, 1975.
ible total void (Na¯ga¯rjuna, second century CE?), or cosmic
Riou, Alain. Le monde et l’église selon Maxime le confesseur. Paris,
consciousness. Even the Buddha’s teaching is said to belong
1973.
to this sphere of secondary reality. An attitude of nihilism
Sherwood, Polycarp. An Annotated Date-List of the Works of Maxi-
is avoided by the concept of two levels of reality developed
mus the Confessor. Rome, 1952.
by Na¯ga¯rjuna: pa¯rama¯rthika (“ultimate”) and vya¯vaha¯rika
Thunberg, Lars. Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthro-
(“practical”). It is therefore not correct to state that for these
pology of Maximus the Confessor. Lund, 1965.
thinkers the world of ma¯ya¯ is a mere illusion.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAYA RELIGION
5795
In Hindu philosophy (especially the Veda¯nta school),
important in later Hinduism. In religious poetry, ma¯ya¯ is
the concept of ma¯ya¯ follows the Vedic tradition of a mysteri-
sometimes embodied as a tempting or fear-inspiring woman;
ous power of self-transformation. The Buddhist doctrine of
she can be the consort of the male supreme being (S´r¯ı for
an ultimate void is emphatically denied: the nonexistent can-
Vis:n:u, Ra¯dha¯ for Kr:s:n:a, Dev¯ı for S´iva) or, in S´a¯ktism, a
not be the source of creation, just as a barren woman can
manifestation of the Cosmic Mother in her own right as
never have a son, says Gaud:apa¯da (sixth century CE?). After
Ma¯ya¯dev¯ı or Bhuvane´svar¯ı (Goddess of the World).
him, S´an˙kara (c. eighth century CE) and later scions of the
Advaita (“Nondualist”) school also deny ultimate reality to
SEE ALSO Avidya¯; Veda¯nta.
the phenomenal world. But creation is not totally unreal ei-
ther, since it cannot be separated from the truth that is brah-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
man (what else could be its cause?), and also because it retains
Discussions of ma¯ya¯ and its place in Indian religious and philo-
a pragmatic validity for the individual as long as the liberat-
sophical thought are dealt with in several books of more gen-
eral scope. A very scholarly, thoughtful, and dependable sur-
ing experience of all-oneness has not been reached. “Illusion”
vey by a classical Indologist can be found in Jan Gonda’s
thus implies the mysteriously different, not the nihil.
Change and Continuity in Indian Religion (The Hague,
Other Veda¯nta theorists tend to emphasize the reality
1965), pp. 164–197. Gonda’s discussion of ma¯ya¯ in this
work is a summary and restatement of two of his earlier
of the mayic transformation. According to Ra¯ma¯nuja (elev-
studies. Also very readable as an introduction is Paul D. De-
enth century CE), the world is a mode of existence of brah-
vanandan’s The Concept of Ma¯ya¯: An Essay in Historical Sur-
man, related to it as the body is to the soul. The S´aiva and
vey of the Hindu Theory of the World, with Special Reference
S´a¯kta schools of thought also held a realistic view of ma¯ya¯.
to the Veda¯nta (London, 1950; Calcutta, 1954). The author’s
In the recent period, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and others
Christian viewpoint is not stressed. Anil K. Ray Chaudhuri’s
have endeavored to restate the doctrine of ma¯ya¯ in reaction
The Doctrine of Ma¯ya¯, 2d rev. & enl. ed. (Calcutta, 1950),
to objections by other philosophical systems without deviat-
is a philosophical study with special emphasis on the episte-
ing in essentials from the tradition.
mological doctrine of nescience in the Veda¯nta. A concise
book that focuses mainly on ma¯ya¯ in twentieth-century
EPISTEMOLOGICAL ASPECT. Ma¯ya¯ deludes cosmic conscious-
Hindu philosophy is Ruth Reyna’s The Concept of Ma¯ya¯ from
ness into associating itself with individuality, sense percep-
the Vedas to the Twentieth Century (London and Bombay,
tion, and the sensory objects of phenomenal reality.
1962). My own book, Ma¯ya¯ Divine and Human (Delhi,
Gaud:apa¯da interprets this process as a misconception (vikal-
1978), is a study of Indian and Balinese sources in Sanskrit
pa) of the pure and undivided self-consciousness of the
concentrating on the magical side of the ma¯ya¯ concept. Pre-
a¯tman, just as in darkness a rope is mistakenly perceived as
dating all of these works is Heinrich Zimmer’s Maya, der in-
a snake. To dispel false perception is to attain true insight
dische Mythos (Stuttgart, 1936), which contains a wealth of
legends and personal interpretations.
into the undivided Absolute. S´an˙kara prefers the term avidya¯
(“nescience”) or ajña¯na (“ignorance”). This is not just the ab-
TEUN GOUDRIAAN (1987)
sence of insight but a positive entity, the cause of superimpo-
sition of external experience on the undefiled self-
consciousness. Besides, there is a metaphysical avidya¯ as-
MAYA RELIGION, like many aspects of Maya civiliza-
sumed by S´an˙kara as a necessary cause for cosmic evolution
tion, is part of a widespread and long-lasting tradition of be-
in order to vindicate the doctrine of the static unity of brah-
lief and culture shared by numerous ethnic groups in Me-
man. S´an˙kara rejects the equation of ordinary waking experi-
soamerica. Neighboring cultures with whom the Maya
ence with dream experience held by the Maha¯ya¯na theorists
interacted throughout their history, including the Mixe, Za-
and Gaud:apa¯da. In modern Hindu philosophy, the episte-
potec, and Mexica-Aztec, shared numerous aspects of this
mological aspect of ma¯ya¯ is emphasized: ma¯ya¯ does not imply
tradition, and indeed Maya religion, particularly in its pres-
the denial of the reality of the world, but refers only to the
ent-day forms among traditional communities in southern
relative validity of our experience.
Mexico and Guatemala, is difficult to distinguish as a sepa-
OTHER ASPECTS. The speculative concept described above
rate tradition within the greater framework of Mesoamerican
has often been clothed in religious myth and popular legend.
theology. These cultures shared a distinctive pantheistic
In the popular mind, the power of ma¯ya¯ often amounted to
model of belief and a specific calendar system defined by im-
feats of magic or illusionism (indraja¯la). In the epic
portant numerological and ritual cycles. Maya religion is dis-
Maha¯bha¯rata (and elsewhere), this power is said to be wield-
tinct, however, in that archaeological and textual data extend
ed by God to beguile and delude mankind. “The Lord plays
the direct evidence of its history and practice back some two
with his subjects as a child with its toys” (Maha¯bha¯rata
thousand years, thus providing a time-depth unlike that
3.31.19f.). In other contexts, the phenomenal world is lik-
available for any other Native American religious tradition.
ened to a bubble on the water, a drop trickling from a lotus
The vast majority of such ancient sources date from the so-
leaf, evanescent autumnal clouds, a colorful patch, or a circle
called Classic period (250–850 CE), when particularly ex-
of fire created by a torch. Several legends express the same
pressive religious monuments and inscriptions were wide-
view in allegorical form. Such religious imagery remains very
spread. In the post-Conquest world, Maya religion has
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5796
MAYA RELIGION
adapted and transformed, adopting elements of Christian
Agriculture and the cyclical growth of human suste-
ideology while at the same time adhering to many ancient
nance, based largely on maize, have left indelible marks on
concepts and ceremonies. Today, political empowerment
cosmological beliefs and Maya religion in general. The four
and activism by Maya in Guatemala, in particular, has led
colors associated with the cardinal directions in Maya cos-
to the revitalization of native cultural identity; religious ex-
mology (red, white, black, and yellow) find replication in the
pression, often based on appropriated ancient symbols and
four principal varieties of maize. Maize, being the basic staple
idea, occupies an important place in this modern movement.
of the Maya diet throughout history, was also equated with
the human body and its substance. Robert Carlsen and Mar-
COSMOLOGY AND DEEP TIME. Numerous spatial categories
tin Prechtel note in “Flowering of the Dead” (1991) that cy-
defined the basic elements of Maya cosmology: prominent
cles of growth and harvest were and are seen as a general met-
among these are the earth’s surface (kab), the sky (chan), the
aphor for human and universal patterns of change and
sun (k’in) and moon (uh) and their recurring paths, caves
regeneration, or what the modern Tzutujil Maya call jaloj-
(ch’een), and mountains (witz). These and a few other terms
k’exoj, perhaps best translated as “change and renewal.”
were the vocabulary of space and the cyclical processes that
inhabited them. In the Classic period, the word that most
The ancient Maya made ample use of a complex calen-
closely translates as “world” or “universe” was chan ch’een,
dar system that was shared to some degree among all Me-
“sky-and-cave,” which comprised the two vertical extremes
soamerican cultures. The solar year, computed as 365 whole
of existence, above and below the earthly realm of everyday
days, was subdivided into a set of eighteen twenty-day
human experience, where various gods dwelled.
“months,” plus a remaining five-day liminal period (the
xmak’abak’inob or “days without name” among the Yukatek
Mountains, caves, and springs are of special importance
Maya) associated with renewal. The months bore names sug-
in defining Maya sacred landscapes. Among many traditional
gesting that they were originally tied to important agricultur-
communities, mountains are seen as animate beings, some-
al periods, but they also served as a basic framework for the
times as manifestations of the earth lord. Other individual
scheduling of ritual festivals throughout the solar year. Run-
mountains are seen to be localized gods or “containers” for
ning concurrently with this was a separate reckoning of days
important ancestral figures. Communication with ancestors
based on a 260-day cycle, wherein a given day was expressed
and earth lords took place through caves, which have from
as one of a set of twenty named days accompanied by a nu-
the earliest times been important settings for Maya ritual.
meral coefficient of 1–13. Today this same calendar remains
in use among conservative “day-keepers” in the highlands of
The earth and sky share a fundamental quadripartite or-
Guatemala, where it is used in rites of divination.
ganization corresponding more or less to the modern notion
of the four cardinal directions. According to some conceptu-
A separate calendar system widely known as the Long
alizations, the four points of the sun’s emergence and en-
Count operated concurrently with the 260-day and 365-day
trance on the horizon at summer and winter solstice marked
rounds described above. The Long Count was different in
the division of space into four quarters: east (elk’in), north
its structure, presenting a more linear reckoning of days by
(xaman), west (ochk’in), and south (nohol). Each direction
means of a place-notation arrangement that expressed an ac-
was associated with its own color (red, white, black, and yel-
cumulation of elapsed days from a set starting point in the
low, respectively), which corresponded to the basic color
distant past. The temporal scope of the Long Count was
variations of maize grown in Mesoamerica. Several deities
therefore much greater than the 260-day and 365-day com-
had directional aspects or manifestations and were colored
ponents of the Calendar Round. The three systems—the
accordingly, including the storm gods called chaak. Many
Long Count, the 260-day round, and the approximate solar-
temples and ceremonial plazas were built to evoke this four-
year cycle—together constituted a triumvirate of calendars
part structure of the world, and such layouts of built spaces
used throughout Maya history.
have persisted to this day. Sacred mountains were considered
to be distributed in the natural landscape according to this
The standard Long Count has five units, each standing
four-part directional model.
for a set period of time. These are, in increasing order, the
K’in (the single day), the Winal (each equaling twenty K’ins),
Maya communities both ancient and modern are spa-
the Tun (eighteen Winals, or 360 days), the K’atun (twenty
tially arranged to evoke and reproduce certain aspects of cos-
Tuns, or 7,200 days), and the Bak’tun (twenty K’atuns, or
mic organization. In pre-Columbian times the most promi-
144,000 days). In writing Long Count dates in hieroglyphic
nent architectural form was the terraced pyramid, which
form, the periods assume the opposite order, beginning with
clearly often served as an artificial ritual mountain. Buildings
the Bak’tun and descending to the K’in. It can be seen that
and architectural groups are often oriented toward important
the system reflects the basic vigesimal (base-twenty) structure
astronomical phenomena (such as the winter solstice sunrise,
of Maya numeration, with larger periods composed of twen-
for example), and roadways entering towns were sometimes
ty units of the next lower period. The exception to this viges-
radiated out toward the four cardinal directions. Town cen-
imal pattern is the Tun, which is made up of eighteen Winals
ters were nodes of ritual activity due to their importance as
(360 days), seemingly so as to approximate the solar year of
cosmological centers.
365 days. In the notation system, a numerical coefficient was
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MAYA RELIGION
5797
assigned to each of these units to convey a certain amount
reestablishment of a new cosmic order, with the Triad occu-
of elapsed time from a specific starting date. A comparison
pying a central role, at least at Palenque. Significantly, no
to an automobile’s odometer is perhaps apt, for the Long
other Maya kingdoms cite the Palenque Triad as a significant
Count represented a perpetual accumulation of days.
assembly of gods, suggesting the many communities had dif-
fering narratives of creation and the supernatural beings that
In most circumstances, the standard Long Count of five
participated in it.
periods provided an adequate mechanism for the tracking of
time, yet it was structurally limited for recording and com-
Of all the primary written sources now extant, the most
puting very large numbers of days. In certain ritual or mythi-
important is the Popol Vuh, or “Community Book,” written
cal texts, however, scribes felt the need to compute greater
by a Kiche’ scribe probably during the mid-sixteenth century
time amounts—sometimes much greater—and in these re-
from an earlier pre-Columbian pictorial document. The
cords and calculations they employed time periods above the
manuscript was discovered in the early eighteenth century by
Bak’tun. The standard five-part Long Count is, in fact, a
Friar Francisco Ximénez at his parish in San Tomas Chichi-
truncated version of a larger system composed of at least
castenango, Guatemala. His meticulous copy of the lost orig-
twenty-five periods that can be called the Grand Long
inal is preserved today and is the source for several published
Count. The standard Long Count represents the last five po-
versions and translations. Other accounts of world creation
sitions in this much larger cyclical arrangement. Textual evi-
exist from other regions in the Maya area, but these are rela-
dence now points to the existence of twenty-one periods in
tively short fragments for the most part; the Popol Vuh is
the complete Grand Long Count, the highest period being
truly epic in its scope and narrative.
equivalent to 2022 Tuns (that is, 2022 times 360 days). The
Portions of the Popol Vuh clearly tell old and elemental
conception of linear and cyclical time encompassed within
stories of Maya mythology. It opens with an account of the
this system is truly vast, and of course dwarfs the age of the
“sowing and the dawning” of the world and its inhabitants,
universe as presently understood by Western science.
partly by two creator beings named Tz’aqol and B’itol, best
Ritual texts describe gods performing rituals millions of
translated as “Builder” and “Shaper,” respectively. They act
years in the past, but they also consistently refer to a
in concert with one another and with another more promi-
“change” in the cosmic order on the day 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ajaw
nent creator being named Uk’u’xkaj, “Heart of the Sky,” and
8 Kumk’u, corresponding to August 13, 3114 BCE. This day,
together they create earth and the animals that roam it. The
cited in numerous texts all over the Maya area, can rightly
gods demand veneration from “the deer and the birds,” but
be called the traditional creation date in the ancient sources.
the animals cannot speak their names and worship them
CREATIONS AND THE POPOL VUH. According to two related
properly. In a series of trials and failures, Builder, Shaper,
ancient sources, the creation of the present era on 13.0.0.0.0
and Heart of the Sky therefore attempt to create humans,
saw the “placing in order” of various gods in the dark under-
first with mud, then with wood. Before “proper” worshipful
world. Another text on Stele C from Quirigua relates that
people are made, however, the story of creation shifts focus
a group of gods placed a set of three stones in the sky, repro-
to the so-called Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque.
ducing the form of a domestic hearth. In many texts this par-
These brothers defeat a series of malevolent figures, includ-
ticular location is described as being at “the sky’s edge, the
ing the proud primordial sun, Seven Macaw, and ultimately
new hearth place.” The establishment of the new cosmic
through cunning, trickery, and athleticism they defeat the
order thus replicated the placement and dedication of a
lords of Xibalba, the realm of death. The twins are then res-
house, an idea that is no doubt based on the widely shared
urrected as the sun and moon. Once this celestial and moral
belief among Mesoamerican peoples that the sky is the roof
order is established, Builder and Shaper once more attempt
of a vast cosmic house, with support posts corresponding to
the creation of humanity.
the four cardinal points.
The ancient sources repeat certain elements of this story
The most detailed ancient sources for creation mytholo-
involving the Hero Twins—they are depicted in many exam-
gy are the extensive inscriptions from Palenque, Mexico. In-
ples of Maya art from a very early date—but creation narra-
scribed wall tablets in numerous temples record primordial
tives from Classic times suggest that several different ac-
myths from the time of the creation, the most important
counts coexisted among various kingdoms. Palenque’s
being the birth of three sibling gods known to Mayanists as
complex mythological narrative, for example, is not found
the Palenque Triad, who later play important roles as super-
elsewhere, and it may well be that different ancient commu-
natural patrons of the royal dynasty of Palenque. Chief
nities had different stories of sacred origin and creation.
among these gods was the first brother, known today as GI,
GODS, SOULS, AND CONCEPTS OF THE SACRED. There is
who seems to have associations with the rising sun and per-
good reason to believe that the Maya religion saw the “sa-
haps also to Venus as the morning star. According to one im-
cred” as a pervasive and unifying feature of their natural and
portant inscription, GI was a king in the pre-13.0.0.0.0 era
domestic world; the universe possessed this concept of deity
who oversaw the ritual sacrifice of a cosmological crocodile,
(k’uh), but it was manifested most clearly and powerfully in
perhaps a symbol of the earth. This act of sacrifice set the
specific places, objects, and individuals. This notion reflects
stage for the creation of a new era that saw the rebirth and
a wider pantheistic organization of religious ideas within Me-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5798
MAYA RELIGION
soamerican philosophy. It is difficult to distinguish this
Among the major gods are several animated natural
widespread notion of “divinity” from the related notion that
forces, most prominent among them being K’inich Ajaw, the
the natural and cultural worlds possess a pervasive vital es-
sun god, who occupied a celestial throne and may have had
sence that lends Maya religion a certain “animistic” quality.
the feminine moon as his wife. Another was the maize god,
who embodied the principal staple of the human diet in Me-
The souls of humans are also expressions of this vital
soamerica and thus served as the focus of numerous cosmo-
force. Recent ethnographic work has shown that complex
logical and agricultural rituals. Chaak, the rain or storm god,
concepts surrounding the human soul operate to orient
had four aspects, each associated with one of the cardinal
human experiences and life events in a cosmological frame-
points. A more complex figure was K’awil, who is described
work. Terms for the soul vary considerably from community
as a god of agricultural fertility and sustenance at the time
to community, but there is a basic consistency to many of
of European contact, but who in the more ancient sources
the ideas, which are also reflected to some degree in ancient
from the Classic period seems to have also served as the em-
religious texts and artworks. The well-studied soul concepts
bodiment of dynastic power and royal ancestry.
among the Tzotzil Maya of Zinacantan, Chiapas, Mexico,
offer a good illustration of these ideas and how they help to
The god Itzamnah was the most prominent of deities
explain a Maya conception of the sacred. In Zinacantan, hu-
at the time of the Conquest, and is described as the patron
mans possess two basic types of souls called ch’ulel and
of learning, esoteric knowledge, and the arts. Classic period
chanul. The ch’ulel is the animating life spirit of the individu-
sources suggest that he was also a ruler of the celestial sphere,
al that inhabits the heart and blood of the person, and it con-
and he may well have been an aspect of the sun god who ex-
sists of thirteen parts. A ch’ulel soul can also inhabit nonhu-
isted in the primordial time before creation. One of his prin-
man things and materials, such as musical instruments,
cipal aspects or manifestations was the Principal Bird Deity,
a large bejeweled avian creature that perched atop the cosmic
crosses, and even salt, perhaps because these create important
tree and served as an important symbol of rulership in the
sensations (sound, emotion, and taste). The chanul is a per-
pre-Classic and early Classic periods. This bird is probably
son’s animal alter ego, sometimes perceived through dreams.
a distant ancestor of the solar deity named Seven Macaw,
In Zinacantan, the animal souls of the community are closely
who plays an important role in the Popol Vuh.
guarded by ancestors called “mothers-fathers,” who corral
them within one of the important sacred mountains near the
Human ancestors often are active and important mem-
town. Both ch’ulel and chanul souls are key to understanding
bers of Maya communities, and in ancient times certain illus-
complex social relationships within the community.
trious figures became the focal points of important ancestral
Through the chanul the ancestors exert powerful social and
“cults” heavily invested with political and cosmological sym-
moral controls. As Evon Vogt states, “the most important in-
bolism. Perhaps the best known royal ancestor from the
teraction in the universe is not between person, nor between
Classic period is the venerated king K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’
persons and objects, as we would perceive them; it is, instead,
(“Great Sun Green Quetzal Macaw”), who was the dynastic
between the ch’ulel souls possessed by these persons and ob-
founder at Copan, a major Maya kingdom in present-day
jects” (1976, p. 141). In ancient times, Maya kings derived
Honduras. He reigned at Copan in the early fifth century,
much of their authority through their possession of an espe-
when he celebrated the turn of the Bak’tun cycle (9.0.0.0.0)
cially powerful ch’ulel soul, through which they expressed
in 435 CE. Over the next four centuries, later Copan kings
their divine role in the community and the cosmos.
declared themselves successors of the illustrious founder, and
temples to him were continually refurbished and rebuilt over
The word ch’ulel derives from the word for god (k’uh,
his resting place in the main acropolis. Excavations of this
or its variant form ch’uh), and the term was applied to many
sacred axis mundi at Copan have revealed a series of superim-
sacred entities or objects. Ancient sources contains images
posed buildings, ornately modeled and painted with iconog-
and references to a great variety of deities that ranged from
raphy evoking the deified ancestor and his origin in distant
animate natural forces to localized patron figures and deified
time. All kings became divine ancestors upon death, and
ancestors. Indeed, in the Classic inscriptions the collective
those who were more historically significant, such as “found-
term for the multitude of supernatural figures was hun-
ers,” came to be especially venerated.
pikk’uh, literally, “the eight thousand gods.”
In the ideology of Classic Maya kingship, the category
For the Classic Maya, demons and fantastic beasts called
of historical ancestors easily melded with gods and mytho-
way were considered personifications of disease and illness,
logical characters of the very distant past. At Palenque, for
images of which often decorated ritual ceramic vessels. These
example, late Classic rulers traced their political and religious
curious entities remain poorly understood, but they seem to
authority not only to dynastic founders but also to semi-
have been important in complex ideas of witchcraft and its
mythical beings that were said to live thousands if not mil-
association with royal power. Individual dynasties and king-
lions of years in the past. For example, the king K’inich Janab
doms appear to have had their own “patron beasts” that were
Pakal (603–683 CE) linked his accession in 615 to a deity
important to the expression of supernatural prowess within
who had assumed the status of rulership more than twenty-
and among communities.
five million years in the past. Such like-in-kind juxtaposi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAYA RELIGION
5799
tions of primordial time and human history were consistent-
ally erected in the open plazas before pyramids and plat-
ly featured in Classic Maya political ideology.
forms, and served to mark important stations in the Long
R
Count calendar or significant events of political history.
ITUAL AND RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS. The traditional keep-
ers of religious and divinatory knowledge were named ajk’in,
Maya cities of the pre-Classic and Classic periods were
“he/she of the day(s)” or “day-keeper.” This was sometimes
dominated by large ritual structures, often in the form of im-
simply translated as “priest” in colonial era sources, but the
posing pyramids. The remains of the largest pyramids are
term was probably more specifically reserved for ritual spe-
also the earliest, found at ruins such as Nakbe and El Mira-
cialists who possessed esoteric knowledge of the days and
dor in present-day northern Guatemala, and dating from
their varied meanings and prognostications. Today among
about 200 BCE to 200 CE. These manmade mountains are
the Kiche’ Maya of highland Guatemala, for example, ajq’ij
in fact some of the largest structures ever built in pre-
refers to priest-shamans who oversee rites of curing, mar-
Columbian America. Their terraces were typically decorated
riage, death, and burial, as well as more mundane divination
with massive plaster sculptures of deities and cosmological
ceremonies. Given the complex social hierarchies of Maya
symbolism, clearly marking them as microcosmic spaces.
communities throughout history, there were no doubt differ-
Later Maya pyramids at centers such as Uaxactun and Tikal
ent categories of priests and religious officials at various times
were likewise conceived as replicas of cosmological struc-
and places.
tures, though at smaller but still impressive scales. Structures
were often dedicated to particular deities or to venerated an-
In the Classic period the ruler, or k’uhul ajaw (literally,
cestors who were buried in their centers. The temples atop
“holy lord”), occupied the most prominent and public posi-
pyramids were often adorned with interior paintings, sculpt-
tion in the religious hierarchy. Ancient Maya kings oversaw
ed stone panels, or plaster decorations. Some contained inner
the passage of important stations in the long count calendar,
shrines that held effigy figures of clay or stone, and the burn-
and were even symbolically equated with the time periods
ing of copal incense was pervasive in such sacred spaces.
themselves (all period endings in the Long Count calendar
fall on the day named Ajaw, which also means “lord” or
REVIVALISM AND MODERN CHANGE. The process of con-
“king”). On these and other occasions rulers were said to
quest and conversion by Europeans began in the early six-
“conjure” (tzak) the spirits of ancestors and fertility, known
teenth century, and today, after several centuries, most Maya
generically as k’awil. This process, evidently achieved
would consider themselves devout Christians. Yet elements
through bloodletting, was among the principal royal duties,
of pre-Columbian belief and religion have persisted, often in-
and was made possible through the kings’ special ability to
terwoven and tightly integrated with old traditions of “folk
wield a force known as “creation and darkness” (ch’ab ak’ab).
Catholicism.” Today a core of basic beliefs still exerts a
This enigmatic term probably relates to the widespread no-
strong presence in Maya spirituality, and these vary widely
tion that birth and creation derive from “darkness,” which
among the communities of Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico.
then came to be embodied through the procreative powers
In recent years, indigenous political movements, in Guate-
of rulers in a cosmological setting.
mala in particular, have led to more open expressions of non-
Christian ideas long hidden from view, as well as the appro-
Other rituals recorded in ancient inscriptions seem to
priation of ancient ideas and symbols. Maya religion is in-
have been anchored to political events like accession to
creasingly being portrayed as a unified and unifying
power and anniversaries. Important rites included ceremoni-
cosmovision and ideology, different in some ways from its
al bloodletting, incense burning, and dance, and in many
Classic period expression, but with roots nonetheless in the
ways these activities overlapped and occurred in combination
deep pre-Columbian past.
with one another. Formulaic prayers and orations are today
key aspects of ritual performance, as they were no doubt in
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ancient times as well. The ancient texts are also replete with
Carlsen, Robert, and Martin Prechtel. “Flowering of the Dead: An
records of dedication rites for temples and other important
Interpretation of Highland Maya Culture.” Man 26 (1991):
religious monuments or spaces. The ritual activation of a
23–42.
temple or house was called och k’ahk,’ or “fire-entering,” and
Friedel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three
presumably involved the placement of censers and other ritu-
Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path. New York, 1993.
al fires within shrines and on interior temple floors. Such
Girard, Rafael. Los Maya Eternos. Mexico City, 1962.
rites seem to be an obvious antecedent to house dedication
Gossen, Gary H. Chamulas in the World of the Sun: Time and
ceremonies found among many Maya communities in mod-
Space in a Maya Oral Tradition. Cambridge, Mass., 1974.
ern times.
Guiteras-Holmes, Calixta. The Perils of the Soul: The Worldview
RELIGIOUS ART AND ARCHITECTURE. Arguably all public art
of a Tzotzil Indian. Glencoe, Ill., 1961.
produced by the ancient Maya can be considered religious
Houston, Stephen, and David Stuart. “Of Gods, Glyphs, and
or ritual art in some sense. The ubiquitous type of sculpture
Kings: Divinity and Rulership among the Classic Maya.” An-
from Classic period was the stele, an upright stone slab or
tiquity 70 (1996): 289–312.
column that typically bore hieroglyphic inscriptions and a
Lounsbury, Floyd G. “Maya Numeration, Computation, and Ca-
portrait of a ruler engaged in ritual activities. Stelae were usu-
lendrical Astronomy.” In Dictionary of Scientific Biography,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5800
MAZDAKISM
edited by Charles C. Gillespie, vol. 15, pp. 759–818. New
clergy, transmitted orally until it was committed to writing
York, 1978.
in the sixth century. Its translation into Arabic by Ibn al-
Stuart, David. “Kings of Stone: A Consideration of Stelae in Clas-
Muqaffa (died c. 757) now lost, served as the chief source
sic Maya Ritual and Representation.” Res: Anthropology and
for subsequent Islamic histories of Persia. These focus on the
Aesthetics 29/30 (1996): 148–171.
events of the reigns of Kava¯d and Khusrau I, including the
Taube, Karl A. The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Washington,
Mazdakite revolt. They emphasize the communistic features
D.C., 1992.
of the doctrine, lingering in particular—as do the Middle
Persian passages—on sharing of women as common property
Tedlock, Barbara. Time and the Highland Maya. Albuquerque,
and its evil consequences.
1982.
Among the most important is the report by the heresio-
Tedlock, Dennis, trans. and ed. The Popol Vuh: The Definitive
grapher Sha¯hrasta¯n¯ı (died 1153) which provides us with a
Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories
glimpse of Mazdakite religious beliefs and theology. His
of Gods and Kings. New York, 1985.
source, Abu Isâ Ha¯ru¯n al-Warra¯q (died 861), a Manichaean
Vogt, Evon Z. Tortillas for the Gods: A Symbolic Analysis of Zina-
or Zoroastrian convert to Islam, seems to have had access to
canteco Ritual. Cambridge, Mass., 1976; reprint, Norman,
some genuine Mazdakite source.
Okla., 1993.
MAZDAKITE DOCTRINE. According to Sha¯hrasta¯n¯ı’s ac-
Watanabe, John. Maya Saints and Souls in a Changing World. Aus-
count, the Mazdakites believed in two primordial principles,
tin, Tex., 1992.
Light and Darkness. Light is endowed with knowledge and
DAVID STUART (2005)
feeling and acts by design and free will, whereas Darkness is
ignorant and blind and acts randomly and without direction.
The admixture of the two is the result of pure accident, as
will be their separation. From their mingling, two beings
MAZDAKISM is a socioreligious movement that flared
arose, the Manager of Good and the Manager of Evil. The
up in the reign of the Sasanian king Kava¯d (488–531 CE)
Supreme Being is seated on his throne in the world above,
under the leadership of Mazdak, son of Ba¯mda¯d. Its genesis,
as the [Sasanian] king of kings is seated in the world below;
however, seems to go back to an earlier period, possibly the
four Powers stand before him: Discernment, Understanding,
fourth century, when Zara¯dusht, a Zoroastrian priest, at-
Preservation, and Joy. There are four high-ranking officials
tempted through new interpretations of the Zoroastrian
before the king of kings, including the Chief Priest and Judge
scriptures, to purify the faith.
(Mo¯bada¯n Mo¯bad), the Chief H¯erbad (religious doctor), the
A populist and egalitarian movement, Mazdakism so-
Commander of the Army (Spa¯hbad), and the Entertainment
cially preached in its acute form what modern scholars have
Master (Ra¯mishgar). The four Powers direct the world with
called a communistic agenda, advocating an equitable distri-
the help of seven viziers (cf. the seven planets) who act within
bution of property and breaking of the barriers which placed
a circle of twelve spiritual forces (cf. the zodiac). When the
the concentration of wealth and women into the hands of
four Powers and the Seven and Twelve come together in a
the privileged classes. In terms of religious doctrine it exhibit-
human being, he becomes godly (rabba¯n¯ı) and no longer
ed some Gnostic features and apparently entertained a qab-
subject to religious observances (implying antinomianism).
balistic notion of the significance of numbers and the letters
The Supreme Being reigns by the power of the letters, of
of the alphabet. The followers of the sect called themselves
which the total sum constitutes the Supreme Name (al-Ism
Derest-de¯na¯n (of the right faith). Kava¯d favored the move-
al-a’zam). Men who come to understand something of these
ment for a while, but it was brutally suppressed by his son
letters have found the key to the Great Secret (al-sirr al-
and successor, Khusrau I (531–579 CE). It went under-
akbar). Those who are deprived will remain in blindness, ig-
ground as a result and reappeared in various sectarian forms
norance, neglect and dullness (opposites of the four Powers).
after the advent of Islam and the fall of the Sasanian Empire
From this brief but precious account the character and
in the mid–seventh century.
basic tenet of Mazdakite theology may be adduced and sum-
THE SOURCES. No work of the Mazdakites has survived.
marized as belief in:
Nearly all the information on Mazdakism derives from hos-
1. A fundamental dualism, not far from that of Zoroastri-
tile sources. These can be divided in two categories: contem-
anism or Manichaeism;
porary and post-Sasanian. The first consists of Syriac and
2. Three elements, compared to Zoroastrian four and
Greek (Byzantine) works. Chief among them are Procopius’
Manichaean five;
Persian Wars and Agathias’s Histories, both in Greek; Pseu-
3. The remoteness of the supreme deity, as evinced by the
do-Joshua the Stylite’s Chronicle and Malalas of Antioch’s,
postulation of the two demiurgical “managers”;
Chronographia in Syriac. The second comprises Middle Per-
sian, Arabic, and New Persian sources. The latter two are be-
4. A spiritual macrocosm, reflected in the mesocosm of our
lieved to have generally derived their information from
world and mirrored in the microcosm of humans;
Khwaday-na¯mag, a compendium of Iranian history, myths,
5. The symbolic power of letters, words, and numbers as
and legends, reflecting the views of the Sasanian nobles and
keys to the redemptive knowledge; and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MAZDAKISM
5801
6. Irrelevance of religious obligations and, therefore, the
cial requirement of marriage, such as the dowry (and mar-
outward meaning of religious prescriptions, once a reve-
riage portion for the wife [ka¯bin]); and breaking of the har-
latory knowledge of the essence of the “secret” of reli-
ems and allowing intermarriage among social estates. Hostile
gion is gained.
sources have cast such prescriptions in the mold of a standard
accusation against all heretics as a juicy and scandalizing
Such beliefs, which are typical of Gnostic religions, bring
weapon against the Mazdakites. There is no evidence of pro-
Mazdakism unmistakably within the orbit of the syncretistic
miscuity among the offshoots of the Mazdakism that sprang
faiths which developed in the early Christian centuries with
up in Islamic times and from which one learns more about
an admixture of Iranian, Syro-Babylonian, and Hellenic
the Mazdakites.
thought. However, Sha¯hrasta¯n¯ı’s report probably reflects a
late phase of Mazdakism, particularly since the terms used
for the twelve spiritual forces are mostly New Persian rather
BIBLIOGRAPHY
than Middle Persian of Sasanian period. (Sha¯hrasta¯n¯ı’s ac-
Selected Primary Sources
count, however, leaves us in the dark on many essential mat-
Agathias. Histories. Translated by Joseph D. Frendo. Berlin and
ters such as Mazdakite eschatology, or the nature of revela-
New York. 1975.
tion and prophethood, and the origin of the Evil principle.)
B¯ıru¯n¯ı, Abu Raiha¯n. al-Atha¯r al-ba¯qiya. Translated by Eduard
One of the fullest accounts of the social aspects of Maz-
Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London, 1879.
dakite doctrine in Islamic sources appears in Ghurar akhbâr
Firdaus¯ı, Abulqa¯sim. Sha¯hna¯ma. 9 vols. Moscow, 1963–1971.
mulûk al-Furs:
Ibn al-Nad¯ım. al-Fihrist. Edited by Riza¯ Tajaddod. Tehran, 1971.
Translated by Bayard Dodge. 2 vols. New York, 1970.
Mazdak declared that God placed the means of subsis-
tence (arza¯q) on earth so that people divide them
Malalas of Antioch. Chronographia, in Jacques Paul Migne, ed.,
among themselves equally, in a manner that no one of
Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca XCVII. Paris,
them could have more than his share; but people
1860.
wronged one another and sought domination over one
Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite. Chronicle. Edited and translated by
another; the strong defeated the weak and took exclu-
WilliamWright. Cambridge, 1882.
sive possession of livelihood and property. It is absolute-
Shahrasta¯n¯ı, Muhammad. al-Milal wa’l-nihal. Edited by William
ly necessary that one take from the rich for giving to the
Cureton. Leiden, 1846.
poor, so that all become equal in wealth. Whoever pos-
sesses an excess of property, women or goods, he has no
al-Tabari, Muhammad b. Jar¯ır. Ta’r¯ıkh al-rusul wa’l-mulu¯k.
more right to it than another. (p. 600)
Translated as The History of al-Tabari by a number of schol-
ars; vol. 5. by C. E. Bosworth and Clifford Edmunds. New
The noted Muslim historian al-Tabari (d. 923) adds in The
York, 1999.
History of al-Tabari that Mazdak believed that such deeds
Tha’a¯lib¯ı, Abu¯ Mansu¯r. Ghurar akhba¯r mulu¯k al-Furs. Edited and
were “an act of piety that pleased God and was rewarded by
translated into French by Hermann Zotenberg. Paris, 1900.
Him with the best of rewards” (vol. 1, p. 893).
(For fuller listing of the primary sources see Yarshater and Crone,
In his verse rendering of Khwada¯y-na¯mag, Firdawsi
below.)
(d. c. 1026) provides some further detail on the moral philos-
Studies
ophy of the sect (vol. VIII, p. 46): men are turned from righ-
The first scholar to bring Greek, Syriac, and Islamic sources sys-
teousness by five demons (envy, wrath, vengeance, need [a¯
tematically together was Th. Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser
niya¯z], and greed) to prevail against these and to tread the
und Araber (Leipzig, 1879), pp. 284–291. A. Christensen de-
path of the good religion, wealth and women must be made
voted a monograph, Le règne du roi Kawa¯dh I et le commun-
common. The sources do not specify any rules or regulations
isme mazdakite (Copenhagen, 1925) to a full discussion of
that Mazdak may have prescribed for a just distribution of
the Mazdakite revolt, believing mistakenly, however, that
women and wealth; they mostly concentrate on the alleged
Mazdakism was an offshoot of Manichaeism. Gholam
community of women, the resulting promiscuity, and its
Hossein Sadighi’s Les mouvemets religieux iraniens au IIe et
confusing effect on the line of descent.
au IIIe siècle de l’hégire (Paris, 1938) is particularly useful for
its close examination of the Khorramis and some other Is-
Many modern scholars, including Mansour Shaki
lamic sectarians with Mazdakite roots. Nina Viktorovna
(1978) and Patricia Crone (1991), have taken the sharing of
Pigulevskaya, in her Les villes de l’état iranien aux époques par-
women at its face value, ignoring the impracticability of such
the et sassanide (Paris, 1963), pp. 195–230, reflects the Marx-
a provision in a large, tradition-based society as was Sasanian
ist point of view and considers the movement born of the
Iran, and where virtue depended as much on race and lineage
peasant protests against Kava¯d’s and Khusrau I’s land survey
and tax reforms. In 1957, Otakar Klima, the Czech scholar,
(gowhar, nasab) as on personal accomplishments (honar,
published in Prague his monograph Mazdak, a comprehen-
hasab). It would have gone against the grain of all the Zoroas-
sive study of the movement (in the context of Sasanian histo-
trian faithful and would have destroyed the social fabric of
ry and Middle Eastern religions), conceiving Mazdakism as
the country. What appears to be true is that Mazdak advocat-
a social movement in religious garb brought about by social
ed a number of measures, such as prohibiting accumulation
and economic conditions in Sasanian Iran. He followed later
of women or having more than one wife; reducing the finan-
with another monograph on Mazdakism, Beiträge zur Gesch-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5802
MAZE
ichte des Mazdakismus (Prague, 1977), where he considered
Mbona’s is a territorial cult, which may be defined as
the absence of the Mazdak’s name in contemporary sources
a cult whose constituency is a territorial group identified by
as the result of a deliberate attempt on the part of Khusrau
common occupation of a land area, so that membership, in
I to delete his name from all records and force oblivion of
the final instance, is a consequence of residence and not kin-
his memory. In 1978 Mansour Shaki published “The Social
ship or ethnic designation. The cult is supervised by local
Doctrine of Mazdak,” based on Middle Persian passages in
chiefs and headmen under the chairmanship of a high priest
the Zoroastrian encyclopedic work D¯enkard, written in the
and a chief administrator. In addition to these officials, there
ninth or tenth century but based on Sasanian materials; he
provided a new translation of these difficult and corrupted
is also a spirit medium, a man or woman who on occasion
passages, attempted earlier by Marijan Molé in 1961, empha-
claims to be possessed by Mbona and who comments on a
sizing the communistic aspects of Mazdakism and the shar-
variety of urgent political issues while possessed. Formerly,
ing of women and property by all.
the cult also maintained a spirit wife, a woman consecrated
In 1982 Heinz Gaube, pointing to the absence of Mazdak’s name
for life to Mbona’s service, who was supposed to receive reve-
in the contemporary sources and also a number of contradic-
lations from the deity in her dreams and was regularly con-
tions in the Islamic reports, doubted even the very existence
sulted by chiefs and other important people. There no longer
of Mazdak and thought it likely that the revolt had to do
is a permanent spirit wife, but on ceremonial occasions her
with the tax reforms initiated by Kava¯d and followed up by
place is taken temporarily by a local woman. Although the
Khusrau I, who later manipulated the reports and placed the
oldest known written documents on the cult date only from
blame for the upheavals on Mazdak, possibly an invention
the middle of the nineteenth century, it is much older, pre-
of him, in order to save the reputation of his father—a view
dating even the Portuguese penetration of the southeast Afri-
which has not found favorable reception (see Crone,
pp. 22–23).
can interior in the first half of the sixteenth century.
Ehsan Yarshater’s chapter on Mazdakism in the Cambridge History
According to oral tradition, Mbona was a celebrated
of Iran III/2 (Cambridge, 1983), pp. 991–1024, provides a
rainmaker who, on account of his great popularity, came into
comprehensive presentation of Mazdakite doctrine and anal-
conflict with the secular and religious authorities of the day,
ysis of the sources and discusses the Islamic sects, mostly of
who in the end had him killed. Following his death, the local
an esoteric nature, that derived from Mazdakism in the first
populace is said to have erected a shrine to his name and thus
centuries of Islam.
to have initiated the cult. The story of Mbona’s life and death
In a second article, “The Cosmogonical and Cosmological Teach-
is known in many versions, but all follow a common struc-
ings of Mazdak” (Acta Iranica XI, 1985, pp. 527–543), Shaki
ture and can be reduced to three streams or clusters depend-
tried to make sense of a number of terms reported in the
ing on whether the events of the narrative take place in a
work of Shahrasta¯n¯ı.
stateless setting, an emergent state, or a highly centralized
In 1988, Werner Sundermann, who had written an article in 1977
kingdom. The mightier the state, the more Mbona is por-
about Mazdakite uprising, “Mazdak und die mazdakititisc-
trayed as a marginal person. Mbona’s diminishing status
hen Volksaufstände,” Das Altertum 23, pp. 245–249, offered
a German translation of the very obscure and laconic passage
therefore seems to symbolize the increasing subjection of the
of Book VII of the D¯enkard, which differs somewhat from
commonalty to the aristocracy at successive stages of state
that of Shaki but still remains far from clear in all its details.
formation.
In 1991, Patricia Crone, in “Kava¯d’s Heresy and Mazdak’s Re-
As stated before, there are no known written documents
volt” (Iran 29: pp. 21–42), presented a thorough analysis of
on the cult prior to the middle of the nineteenth century;
the sources with a view of finding a solution to the existing
nevertheless, certain names and events referred to in the
contradictions in the reports about Mazdak and the historical
Mbona legends are also found in Portuguese documents per-
events related to him. She, too, considered the revolt as a re-
taining to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From a
sult of Khusrau I’s cadastral reform and the hardship it
caused the peasantry.
comparison between the legends and the historical texts it
can be inferred, among other things, that the cult underwent
EHSAN YARSHATER (2005)
major organizational and theological changes about 1600
and that, probably under Portuguese missionary influence,
Mbona was attributed certain Christ-like traits. After this
MAZE SEE LABYRINTH
radical transformation, the cult gained its widest geographi-
cal acceptance and became one of the most influential reli-
gious organizations on the north bank of the Zambezi. In the
MBONA (sometimes also spelled MDBona or MDbona) is
twentieth century, however, its importance diminished to
the name of the patronal deity of a famous shrine near the
the extent that as of 1985 the cult had little more than local
township of Nsanje in the Republic of Malawi (southeastern
significance.
Africa). Although he is usually referred to as a rain god,
Mbona is also invoked on the occasion of locust plagues,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
floods, epidemic diseases, and other acute threats to the pro-
Discussions of various aspects of the Mbona cult can be found in
ductive and reproductive capacities of the land and its popu-
essays I have contributed to several special collections.
lation.
Among them are “The History and Political Role of the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEAD, MARGARET
5803
MDBona Cult among the MangDanja,” in The Historical Study
wrote several autobiographical books, published numerous
of African Religion, edited by T. O. Ranger and Isaria N. Ki-
pamphlets and articles, edited two periodicals, and com-
mambo (Berkeley, Calif., 1972); “The Interaction of the
posed some eighty hymns and five sacred operas. In her
MDBona Cult and Christianity, 1859–1963,” in Themes in
preaching she avoided condemnation and appeals to fear,
the Christian History of Central Africa, edited by T. O. Rang-
emphasizing instead the love and joy that religion provides.
er and John Weller (Berkeley, Calif., 1975); “Cult Idioms
and the Dialectics of a Region,” in Regional Cults, edited by
McPherson was unique in her evangelistic style. Her
R. P. Werbner (New York, 1977); “The Chisumphi and
mastery at promoting herself and her work through the
Mbona Cults in Malawi: A Comparative History,” in Guard-
media made “Sister Aimee,” or simply “Aimee,” a household
ians of the Land, edited by J. Matthew Schoffeleers (Gwelo,
name. She was a pioneer in religious broadcasting, establish-
1978); and “Oral History and the Retrieval of the Distant
ing the first church-owned radio station (KFSG) in the Unit-
Past: On the Use of Legendary Chronicles as Sources of His-
ed States in 1924. She adapted the techniques of vaudeville
torical Information,” in Theoretical Explorations in African
and the theater to evangelism, using costumes, lighting, sce-
Religion, edited by Wim van Binsbergen and J. Matthew
nery and props, orchestras and brass bands, huge choirs, and
Schoffeleers (London, 1984).
dramatizations to achieve an unforgettable emotional impact
New Sources
on her audiences. Endowed with enormous energy and opti-
Schoffeleers, J. Matthew. River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr
mism, a powerful, melodious voice, rare acting ability, and
Cult in Southern Malawi c. A.D. 1600. Madison, Wis.,1992.
a physical attractiveness heightened by an aura of sexuality,
Schoffeleers, J. Matthew. Religion and the Dramatisation of Life:
she was acclaimed a spellbinding platform personality by the
Spirit Beliefs and Rituals in Southern and Central Malawi.
millions to whom she preached.
Blantyre, Malawi, 1997.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. MATTHEW SCHOFFELEERS (1987)
Bahr, Robert. Least of All Saints: The Story of Aimee Semple Mc-
Revised Bibliography
Pherson. Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1979. A popular, fictional-
ized account that captures much of the whirlwind spirit of
McPherson’s career and temperament.
MCPHERSON, AIMEE SEMPLE (1890–1944),
McLoughlin, William G. “Aimee Semple McPherson: Your Sister
American Pentecostal evangelist and divine healer. McPher-
in the King’s Glad Service.” Journal of Popular Culture 1
(Winter 1968): 193–217. An analysis and evaluation that
son was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on a farm near In-
places McPherson’s life and career in their cultural context,
gersoll, Ontario, Canada. Raised in the Salvation Army, she
by an eminent historian of American religion.
was converted to Pentecostalism through the preaching of
McPherson, Aimee Semple. This Is That: Personal Experiences, Ser-
Robert James Semple, whom she married in 1908 and ac-
mons, and Writings. Los Angeles, 1923. A reconstruction of
companied to China, where they served as missionaries until
McPherson’s early years as she wanted others to see them,
Semple’s death in 1910. Two subsequent marriages ended
and a collection of sermons and tracts that reveal her public
in divorce.
message.
In 1917, McPherson embarked upon an evangelistic
McWilliams, Carey. “Aimee Semple McPherson: ‘Sunlight in My
and divine healing career in the United States that quickly
Soul.’” In The Aspirin Age, 1919–1941, edited by Isabel
brought her national and international fame. In 1923, she
Leighton, pp. 50–80. Los Angeles, 1949. A sympathetic in-
terpretation of McPherson’s life that reveals the tragic ele-
settled in Los Angeles and built the five-thousand-seat Ange-
ment behind the radiant facade.
lus Temple, a center of welfare services, and in 1927, she in-
corporated her large network of churches as the International
ROBERT MAPES ANDERSON (1987)
Church of the Foursquare Gospel. She also founded a minis-
terial institute, later named the Lighthouse of International
Foursquare Evangelism (LIFE) Bible College.
MEAD, MARGARET (1901–1978) was America’s
best-known anthropologist of the twentieth century. She
McPherson’s turbulent personal life, involving her al-
grew up in Pennsylvania, briefly attended DePauw Universi-
leged kidnapping, rumors of romantic liaisons, dozens of
ty in Greencastle, Indiana, and moved to New York City
lawsuits, conflicts with her mother and daughter, and di-
where she received her B.A. in psychology from Barnard Col-
vorce from her third husband, brought her much notoriety.
lege. Mead completed her education with an M.A. in psy-
Nevertheless, she retained the unswerving loyalty of her fol-
chology and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia Uni-
lowers. Her denomination grew to four hundred congrega-
versity. In the mid-1920s she became a curator of
tions in the United States, two hundred mission stations
anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History
abroad, and a worldwide total of twenty-two thousand mem-
in New York, where she spent her entire professional life. In
bers at the time of her death.
a career that lasted over fifty years, Mead was an energetic
McPherson’s Foursquare Gospel was a restatement of
researcher, prolific author, sought-after public speaker, influ-
standard Pentecostal doctrine focusing on Jesus Christ as sav-
ential public thinker, and tireless champion for the young
ior, baptizer in the Holy Spirit, healer, and coming king. She
discipline of anthropology.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5804
MECCA
Mead’s research on several cultures in the South Pacific
and in the world at large. Although her parents were atheists,
during the 1920s and 1930s, including Samoans, Manus,
at age eleven Mead asked to be baptized. Her first husband,
Balinese, and the Arapesh, Mundugumor, Tchambuli, and
Luther Cressman, was an Episcopalian minister, and early in
Iatmul of New Guinea, led to a number of popular books
their courtship Mead planned to be a minister’s wife. As she
and professional monographs. Her research focused primari-
became a professional anthropologist, her goals changed. Yet
ly on childhood, youth, and adolescence, as well as kinship
Mead continued to be a religious person, unlike most of her
and social organization. She is also known as the founder of
colleagues in anthropology. Unknown to many of her
the culture-and-personality school of cultural anthropology.
friends, she secretly maintained her Christian faith.
Although Mead is not well known for her contributions to
In the 1960s, she saw a new role for Christianity in the
the study of religion, she nevertheless wrote about religion
world community, involving issues like civil rights and
for both professional and popular audiences.
ecumenism. She was asked to be a representative for the Epis-
Mead’s research on religion in her professional work is
copal Church to the World Council of Churches, which she
reflected in her detailed monograph on Arapesh supernatu-
attended for several years. Mead was deeply involved in this
ralism (1940). It is her most comprehensive description of
project and authored Twentieth Century Faith: Hope and Sur-
an indigenous religious system, containing extensive data on
vival (1972) about religion in the age of technology. Mead
this New Guinea tribal culture’s cosmology, myths, ritual be-
also wrote a number of opinion pieces on religion for the lay
liefs, and practices. In this work, she gave special attention
public in religious magazines and for her long-running col-
to rites of passage. Mead also published articles on taboo,
umn in Redbook magazine. She discussed the spiritual di-
magic, and men’s houses in New Guinea. Based on her ex-
mensions of birth control, the right to die, women as priests,
tensive fieldwork on the island of Manus, off the coast of
the contemporary fascination with the occult, and other is-
New Guinea, she wrote about the belief in animism among
sues of the day. Mead saw no conflict between religion and
adults and children, as well as long-term religious change in
science, and she envisioned a world where the faiths of other
New Lives for Old (1956). She also described a revitalization
cultures would not be considered inferior. In her role as a
movement on Manus (1964).
public intellectual, she wrote more extensively on religion for
In Balinese Character (1942), Mead and Gregory Bate-
a popular audience than she had for her peers in anthro-
son used photographic analysis to comprehend Balinese
pology.
trance. Their documentary, Trance and Dance in Bali
(1952), is considered a classic in ethnographic film. In most
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of Mead’s work on indigenous cultures, though, religion was
Freeman, Derek. Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Un-
making of an Anthropological Myth. Cambridge, Mass., 1983.
tangential to other topics. For example, in Coming of Age in
Samoa (1928), she briefly discussed the role of Christianity
Gordan, Joan. Margaret Mead: The Complete Bibliography, 1925–
in the lives of adolescent girls. Mead viewed Christianity as
1975. The Hague, 1975.
playing a relatively benign role in adolescent socialization
Howard, Jane. “Bishops May Not, but Anthropologists Do.” In
and was subsequently criticized by anthropologist Derek
Margaret Mead: A Life, pp. 339–354. New York, 1984.
Freeman for not fully addressing what he viewed as the harsh
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study
and puritanical Christian morality of the time (Freeman,
of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation. New York, 1928.
1983). Mead also wrote a chapter on the child and the super-
Mead, Margaret. The Mountain Arapesh; Vol. 2: Supernaturalism.
natural in Growing Up in New Guinea (1930) and one on
The Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of
religious institutions in The Changing Culture of an Indian
Natural History, vol. 37, pt. 3, pp. 317–541. New York,
Tribe (1932).
1940.
Although she wrote about religion based on her field-
Mead, Margaret. New Lives for Old: Cultural Transformation—
work, Mead’s detailed ethnographic work on religion did not
Manus, 1928–1953. New York, 1956.
provide major contributions to theories of religion. She fa-
Mead, Margaret. “The Paliau Movement in the Admiralties.” In
vored a more scientific, psychological, and developmental
Continuities in Cultural Evolution, pp. 192–234. New
approach to religion that was superseded by more humanis-
Haven, Conn., 1964.
tic, symbolic approaches in anthropology. Mead’s pioneering
Mead, Margaret. Blackberry Winter: My Earlier Years. New York,
descriptions published in the 1930s and 1940s yielded to the
1972.
interpretive ideas of Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, and
Mead, Margaret. Twentieth Century Faith: Hope and Survival.
Mary Douglas in the 1960s and thereafter. And, while Mead
New York, 1972.
was a forerunner of feminist approaches to the study of cul-
ture in general, she did not offer a feminist approach to the
PAUL SHANKMAN (2005)
study of religion.
Mead wrote a good deal about religion in her role as a
public intellectual, especially in her later life. She was very
MECCA SEE PILGRIMAGE, ARTICLE ON MUSLIM
interested in religion in her own life, in the United States,
PILGRIMAGE
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEDIA AND RELIGION
5805
MEDIA AND RELIGION. The media have come to
three aspects of mediatization interact in interesting ways in
play an ever more prominent role in social and cultural life
the formation of the religious-media landscape. A phenome-
since the emergence of the so-called “mass media” in the late
nology of media and religion in the twenty-first century
nineteenth century. Before that time, even though the media
would see media and religion in a number of different rela-
through which social and cultural knowledge were shared
tionships.
(oral transmission, ritual performance, writing, visual repre-
RELIGION USING MEDIA. There is of course a long and deep
sentation, and printing) were vital, they were more tacit and
history of mediation of religion. Various religions have been
transparent to the processes they enabled. Today, in a range
typified by means of their relationship to various media. It
of social and cultural contexts, the media are foregrounded,
is commonplace to think of the development of the religions
even determinative.
of the modern West as having been affected in major ways
The mass media emerged as the result of interacting
by moveable-type printing. In the twentieth century, a num-
technological and social developments. Mechanized print-
ber of religions developed specific and particular relation-
ing, which developed with the industrial revolution and
ships to the mass media. In most cases, these relationships
found its way into mass-market communication in Britain
were defined by the assumption of a kind of dualism, separat-
in the 1870s, brought about major changes in production,
ing the “sacred” sphere of authentic religious history, claims,
in reception, and in the political economy of media. Mass
faith, and practice, from a “profane” sphere represented by
production allowed media to be financially supported by ad-
the media. Islam, for example, is widely thought to eschew
vertising instead of direct sales of newspapers or magazines.
mass mediation, and particularly mediated visual depiction.
The resultant economic logic saw readers as audiences and
The asceticism of Buddhism is also thought to separate it
sought to maximize their numbers. This coincided with the
from a media sphere dominated by materiality and material
increasing concentration of populations in urban settings, re-
concerns. Jewish scholarship has stressed the importance of
moved from the social and cultural supports of the village
“the book,” but has tended to think that other modes of
and town. These audiences began to be thought of as “mass”
communication and representation were less worthy.
audiences, and the content of media began to reflect more
generalized class tastes.
At the same time that Christian thought has assumed
the sacred-profane dualism, Christianity in the modern and
A debate has raged ever since over how the resulting re-
late-modern West has come to exhibit a range of responses
lationship between the mass audience and the mass media
and relationships to mass media, and the Christian relation-
is to be seen. To some observers, the media ideologically
ship has come to be in some ways definitive, due to the fact
dominate the audience. To others, the media act as a kind
that the media of the Christian West have come to dominate
of cultural canvas on which is inscribed the more or less com-
the media worldwide (a situation that has begun to change
mon themes, ideas, and discourses of the culture. To still
in small ways). Christian groups were among the earliest
others, the media are important as palliatives, replacing the
publishers in both Europe and North America. The evangeli-
lost connectedness of pre-industrial village life. For most, the
cal impulse in Christianity seems, over time, to have given
class and taste orientation of mass media necessarily has
it a particular cultural interest in publication. All Christian
meant that they are at least not the preferred communica-
groups (and most non-Christian groups and other religious
tional context for the authentic business of the culture.
movements in Europe and North America) have historically
These structural realities and social assumptions have
produced printed materials such as tracts, pamphlets, news-
come to condition the way the media function in relation to
letters, magazines, Sunday school materials, and books. Mis-
culture, and therefore, religion. The media are connected
sions programs, including Bible societies, have also been pro-
with generalized “mass” tastes. They are industrial and tech-
lific publishers.
nical and thus are seen as artificial and their abilities to au-
The nonprint media have been a less comfortable con-
thentically articulate cultural and social artifacts, symbols,
text for most religions, however. In the twentieth century,
and values are suspect. They are commercial, and thus neces-
as the establishment religions of Europe and North America
sarily traffic in commodified culture and cultural experience.
confronted the emergence of the mass media, these groups
At the same time, though, they are intrinsically articulated
began a struggle for definition and cultural ascendancy that
into the fabric of modernity in ever-deepening ways. Thus,
continues unabated. The dualist assumption brings with it
while social and cultural structures and institutions might
a suspicion of the media of the “profane” sphere. While the
wish to exist outside the boundaries of media culture, it is
medium of print has long been understood by religions to
increasingly difficult for them to do so. These realities define
be an appropriate context for the conveyance of religious
the role that media play in the evolution of modern and late-
ideas and values, the succeeding waves of non-print “new”
modern religious institutions and practices.
media have been seen differently. Probably as a result of their
The role of the media is not only social-structural, it is
association with secular entertainment and thus secular val-
also geographic and semiotic/aesthetic. And, as the scholarly
ues, film, broadcasting, television, and digital media has, in
study of the interaction between religion and media has de-
its turn, met with suspicion on the part of religion and reli-
veloped in recent years, it has become obvious that these
gious authorities.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MEDIA AND RELIGION
The most significant exception to this has been the case
increasing coverage of religion per se among European and
of Evangelical Protestantism. Beginning with the earliest
North American journalism.
days of radio, Fundamentalist and later Evangelical individu-
RELIGION AND MEDIA CONVERGE. The entertainment
als and groups have seen great promise in these new technol-
media have had an independent relationship to religion and
ogies. It can even be argued that through the careful use of
religious content. There has been a tendency for these media
film, radio, and television, that what now is known as “neo-
to see the relationship in dualistic terms, evidenced by such
Evangelicalism” found its place in the religious landscape.
things as the separate best-seller lists maintained for religious
Billy Graham, for example, who became one of the most sig-
and non-religious book titles. The religious “market” for
nificant Evangelical leaders of the twentieth century, was an
commercialized religious films, magazines, and books is now
active producer of media of all kinds, and is widely regarded
a multi-million-dollar industry worldwide, but is still
as having risen to prominence in part as a “media figure.”
thought of as a separate field from the dominant, and larger,
This further suggests a central role for mass media in reli-
“secular” market.
gious evolution, as the mediation of Graham and the Evan-
gelical movement generally played a large part in establishing
In that secular market, there are important examples in
their legitimacy. The phenomenon of televangelism, which
most major media and across most of the century. Early in
emerged in the 1970s in North America and then spread, as
the century, the so-called “Biblical Epics” such as The Ten
a form, to much of the world, further contributed to the defi-
Commandments and The Robe became major breakthrough
nition of religious and political landscapes. Such use of
films, attracting large numbers of conservative Christians
media by religion is not without its dangers, however. As a
and Jews to theaters for the first time. Later in the century,
number of scholars have noted, religion has had to make
an explosion of book and magazine publishing devoted to
compromises in order to fit into the structural and other con-
spirituality, therapy, and self-help became one of the major
ditions and limitations of the media form.
trends in that industry.
MEDIA USING RELIGION. Traditionally, the media have
In entertainment television, a range of new programs
been most involved in the presentation of religion through
and series began to appear in the 1990s, featuring both ex-
journalism. The mass media era began with the development
plicitly and implicitly religious themes. Globally syndicated
of a mass press, and in addition to the development of new
U.S. programs such as Touched by an Angel, The X-Files,
audiences and new economies, it also developed new con-
Buffy: Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons, and Northern Exposure
tent. Before the mass press, most press in Europe and North
integrated a wide range of religious sensibilities, from tradi-
America were partisan in one way or another, beholden to
tional, to spiritual, to New Age, to Pagan and Wiccan. The
political, clerical, even corporate authority. The new econo-
situation became even more diverse in the digital media of
my of mass publication meant that the press could be freed
the internet.
from patronage, and that new readers and audiences would
These trends resulted from changes in both religion and
be coming to the press for a wider range of material than in
the media. For the media, rapid change in the structure and
the past. The result was the notion of newspapers and maga-
regulation of the electronic and digital media led to an expo-
zines as public records, presumably speaking from positions
nential increase in the ubiquity and number of such channels
outside the narrow perspectives of special interests. This kind
fed into homes worldwide. A simultaneous increase in the
of journalism needed to find its voice, and new models of
differentiation of printed media into smaller and smaller
journalism and new roles for journalism in public and politi-
“niche” markets meant that the media were both motivated
cal life emerged.
to seek out new content and audiences, and to become in-
In the case of North America, religion has not necessari-
creasingly able to provide material suiting specialized tastes.
At the same time, religion was also undergoing great change,
ly been part of that mix. For most of the twentieth century,
described in the case of North America as a “restructuring”
religion was seen by journalism to be a story of religious insti-
that de-emphasized the traditional religious institutions. At
tutions and their practices and prerogatives. At the same
the same time, religion increasingly became focused in the
time, these institutions were treated with deference, when
religious practices and meaning quests of individuals.
treated at all. There was much evidence that religious institu-
tions, at least, were of fading importance as the century prog-
This new, more autonomous religious individualism,
ressed, and journalism generally assumed that secularization
called “seeking” or “questing” by sociologists, naturally artic-
was moving ahead apace. It was not until late in the century
ulates with a mediated culture that can and does increasingly
that religion came to be seen as “hard” news, largely as the
provide resources related to that project. Thus, a market for
result of news events such as the Islamic Revolution in Iran
commodified religious symbols, rituals, and other resources
in 1979, the rise of traditionalist religious movements world-
arises, made possible by emerging attitudes oriented to reli-
wide, and the emergence of Evangelicalism as a political force
gious and spiritual issues, and by a media system that can
in North America. The terrorist attacks of September 11,
provide for increasingly specialized and focused tastes. The
2001, on New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania,
result is the gradual erosion of whatever bright line might
put religion much more squarely on the “news agenda,” with
have once existed between the “sacred” world of legitimate
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEDIA AND RELIGION
5807
religious media and a “profane” world of secular media. At
the widespread impression of distance and misunderstanding
the beginning of the twenty-first century, that division is less
that was invoked. The media should be the primary means
and less obvious. It has become, for all practical purposes,
by which the developed West knows the Islamic East and
one media culture.
vice versa. That the Islamic East was self-defined in large
measure by religious identity places the media at the center
There are important antecedents to this convergence of
of whatever misunderstanding may have led to or exacerbat-
religion and media. In the case of North America, which
ed the attacks. Further, a measure of the Islamic critique of
largely led these developments, Protestantism has long toler-
Western culture is rooted in a moral reaction to the profanity
ated, even encouraged, the development of religious com-
and licentiousness found in the largely American popular
modities, religious markets, and religious spectacles. Ameri-
culture that floods the developing world. Thus the media are
can Christianity has thus long had a nascent culture of
taken to represent religious culture whether they intend to
mediated religious commodities and has cultivated in suc-
or not. Finally, the media were and are the primary context
ceeding generations tastes and interests in such approaches
for the national and global rituals of commemoration and
to faith and spirituality.
mourning around the event, thus assuming a role not unlike
RELIGION AND MEDIA INTERACT. The evolving relationship
a “civil religion” in this regard.
between media and religion, then, is best seen as an interac-
IDENTITY, REFLEXIVITY, AND GLOBALIZATION. Beyond the
tion between them rather than an effect or influence one may
evolution in media and religion already discussed, the con-
have on the other. Increasingly, scholars of religion and
vergence and interaction between religion and media in late
media are describing this interaction in its reception and the
modernity are responsive to a number of social and cultural
experiences of individuals and groups as they encounter
trends. Three stand out. First, the convergence and interac-
media culture and work to inhabit religious lives in relation
tion are most clearly felt in the project of the self and reli-
to it. This can be seen on both radically local and radically
gious identity. As theorists of late modern social life have
global levels. On the local level, in a wide range of contexts,
suggested, the project of the self is perhaps the dominant
the interaction between media culture and religious culture
concern of the age. As social life has become more and more
comes alive in the ways individuals and groups use the vari-
complex and rationalized, the means of support available in
ous cultural resources available to them to make meaning in
the social sphere have withdrawn, leaving individuals increas-
their lives. This is seen most readily in the field context,
ingly to their own devices. This has driven individuals in-
where observers encounter evidence of negotiated relations
ward, to a quest for the self. This quest turns outward, how-
between the lived local and the mediated non-local. As an-
ever, to seek and appropriate resources relevant to its task,
thropologist Lila Abu-Lughod reflects in her essay, “The In-
and the commodities of the media sphere are among the
terpretation of Cultures after Television”:
most obvious and available such resources. To the extent that
In Writing Women’s Worlds, I suggested that we could
the project of the self is a religious project, this becomes an
write critical ethnographies that went “against the
important role for media in the formation and shaping of re-
grain” of global inequalities, even as we had to remain
ligious identity.
modest in our claims to radicalism and realistic about
the impacts of these ethnographies. Television, I be-
The second of these trends is reflexivity. Prominent the-
lieve, is particularly useful for writing against the grain
orists of late modernity recognize the role of mediation in
because it forces us to represent people in distant vil-
the encouragement of a reflexive mode of consciousness. Re-
lages as part of the same cultural worlds we inhabit—
flexivity results from the access to sources and contexts of
worlds of mass media, consumption, and dispersed
knowledge that offer individuals a self-consciousness of place
communities of the imagination. To write about televi-
that is historically unprecedented. With this reflexive knowl-
sion in Egypt, or Indonesia, or Brazil is to write about
edge comes a sense of autonomy in spheres of normative ac-
the articulation of the transnational, the national, the
tion, including self and identity. In late modernity, media-
local, and the personal. Television is not the only way
to do this, of course . . . [b]ut television makes it espe-
tion plays a major role in our knowledge of place and
cially difficult to write as if culture and cultures . . .
location, and thus is implicated in important ways in the re-
were the most powerful ways to make sense of the
flexivity that today defines much of the religious quest for
world. (Lila Abu-Lughod, 1999, pp. 110–135)
self and identity.
On the global level, media and religion interact in events
Finally, globalization and what is coming to be called
such as the national and international experience of the Sep-
“glocalization,” the blending of a global concept to a local
tember 11 attacks and their aftermath. The direct experience
application, are definitive trends. The media are major global
of the attacks was mediated, and the fact that the attacks in
and globalizing industries, of course, but their implications
New York took place in the world’s leading media center
extend well beyond their structural and economic relations.
made the images available and accessible, live and in real
To the extent that globalization is a fact, it results in large
time. Whatever national and international processes of exis-
measure from the capabilities of the media to provide global
tential reflection and ritual mourning ensued, those processes
interconnectivity, socially, culturally, and religiously. The
were largely mediated as well. Media were also implicated in
media are, after all, “consciousness industries,” and among
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5808
MEDIA AND RELIGION
their capabilities is the conveyance of cultural symbols,
ence is becoming increasingly commodified, and the media
forms, and texts related to the deepest human desires for con-
sphere plays a major role in this trend. Religion is not im-
nection and belonging. They can transcend space and time,
mune to commodification, and indeed, there is a long and
and frequently do provide, for a variety of “imagined com-
deep history of it in some traditions. In the mass media age,
munities,” a connectivity across space and time that is un-
it makes sense to think of culture as a marketplace of symbols
precedented in its depth and speed.
and ideas. Cultural commodities of all kinds, including reli-
gious ones, are valued and exchanged in that marketplace.
Increasingly, the media can be seen to be active in the
negotiative frameworks that underlie glocalization as well.
The third effect of media on religion is in the consump-
The media are no longer thought of as determinative or
tion and reception of religious symbols and discourses. The
dominant, as noted. Instead, they provide, to reflexive indi-
secular media define the terms of access for religious and spir-
viduals and communities, senses of the structured relations
itual material as it enters the public sphere. In the field of
of local, national, and global life, and symbolic and other re-
contemporary Christian music, for example, the ability of re-
sources relevant to making sense of that life. This involves
ligiously motivated musicians to “cross over” into the main-
the constructive negotiation of that consciousness, those
stream, a desire by some, is constrained by a set of expecta-
contexts and those resources. What results is an imbrication
tions established by the conditions under which the public,
of the global and the local, a reflexive consciousness of place
secular, mass media operate. The primary one is the expecta-
within those frameworks, and senses of self and group identi-
tion that to be public, such material must appeal to general
ty relevant to this awareness. Religion is a fundamental quest,
as opposed to narrower, sectarian tastes. In both popular
as well as an important dimension of these relations. Thus
music and book publishing, separate “lists” continue to be
religion and mediation interact in fundamental ways in the
maintained.
ongoing development of global and glocal consciousness.
The fourth effect, then, is that in this and many other
But the globalized world is not only a place of harmony,
ways, religions can no longer control their own stories if they
it is also a place of conflict and struggle. Among the social
wish to be present in the public sphere and in public dis-
and cultural relations increasingly accessible today are those
course. The terms of reference, the language, the visual and
between conflicting worldviews. In the case of religion, the
linguistic symbols, and the conditions under which religion
media can and do offer much information about the religious
becomes public are all matters determined by media practice.
“other,” but that does not necessarily lead to increased un-
It is possible for religious groups and individuals to remain
derstanding. The Anglican Church, for example, learned
separate from this process, but they then surrender opportu-
during their struggles over gay ordination in the early part
nities to be part of the public culture. Even groups that aspire
of the twenty-first century, that a global media context made
to separation, such as the Amish, find it increasingly difficult
those deliberations accessible worldwide, increasing the
to do so.
intra-communal tension as African Anglicans could have
This relates to a fifth effect, that it is no longer possible
real-time access to the debates taking place among North-
for religions to retain zones of privacy around themselves. In-
American Anglicans. As globalization and glocalization move
creasingly, and as a result of the reflexivity of late-modern
ahead, international media will continue to place before reli-
consciousness, individuals today expect a level of openness
gion challenges to self-understanding and inter-religious un-
from public institutions. As religious groups and movements
derstanding.
interact with the commercial and governmental spheres, they
MEDIA EFFECTS ON RELIGION. Given this discussion, there
begin taking on the attributes of publicness and are thus seen
remain a number of ways that the media affect religious insti-
to be subject to media scrutiny, journalistic and otherwise.
tutions and practices. First, the media increasingly set the
Both the Roman Catholic Church, in its struggles over scan-
context for religion and spirituality, and help define their
dals and vocations crises, and the Anglican Communion
terms in contemporary life. The 2004 film The Passion of the
(and other Protestant bodies) as they face the question of gay
Christ, for example, both invoked a public debate about con-
rights, have found that the conversation is not and cannot
temporary religious faith and presented a new set of images
be a private one any more.
and symbols through which that aspect of the Christians’
A sixth effect is that, as was noted earlier, the media
story will be understood for years to come. The performer
bring individuals the religious and spiritual “other.” In the
Madonna, through songs and music videos, presented influ-
context of globalization/glocalization, this is felt in the in-
ential interpretations and juxtapositions of important Catho-
creasing cross-national and cross-cultural exchange of infor-
lic symbols and artifacts. Because of their position in the cul-
mation, symbols, images, and ideas, circulated through jour-
ture, the media are now the context within which the most
nalism, through popular culture, and through the personal
widely-held discourses in national and global culture take
media of the digital age. In the context of the increasing in-
place, and religion and religious discourses must find their
ternational flow of persons, both through travel and through
way within that larger context.
immigration, the media have become active in providing in-
A second effect of media on religion is in the area of
formation about the “others” who are now arriving next door
commodification. Contemporary social and cultural experi-
or in the next town. The media are now becoming the au-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEDIA AND RELIGION
5809
thoritative context for interreligious contact and dialog. At
Clark, Lynn Schofield. From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media,
the same time, they can and do provide information about
and the Supernatural. New York, 2003. A fieldwork-based
some traditions that other traditions find to be scandalous.
cultural analysis of emerging religious sensibilities in youth
culture articulated by and through the media culture.
A seventh effect of media has been discussed in some de-
tail already. That is that the media are today a major source
De Vries, Hent, and Samuel Weber, eds. Religion and Media.
of religious and spiritual resources to the “seeking” and
Stanford, Calif., 2001. An influential compendium of essays
and field reports focusing on the intervention of media into
“questing” sensibilities that increasingly define religion in the
religious memory, history, and practice.
developed West. This is related to an eighth effect, that it
has been suggested that the media have the potential to sup-
Eisentstein, Elizabeth. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change.
port the development of “new” or “alternative” religions.
New York, 1974. The definitive study of printing and its re-
lationship to clerical and state authority. Contains important
This has been thought by some to be a particular potential
insights into how printing became publishing and thus the
of the new digital media. The Internet provides opportuni-
foundation of the modern mass media.
ties for interactive relations among focused networks of like-
minded people. Thus they might well be a context where
Ginsburg, Faye, Brian Larkin, and Lila Abu-Lughod, eds. Media
Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain. Berkeley, Calif., 2002.
those networks could develop into religious movements of
A significant and influential collection that has helped define
their own. This of course remains to be seen.
the development of a scholarly discourse on media within an-
Finally, an effect of media on religion is the central role
thropology. Many of the contributions deal with religion in
that the media play in national and global rituals around
specific contexts.
major public events. Beginning with the Kennedy assassina-
Habermas, Jürgen. The Structural Transformation of the Public
tion and continuing through royal weddings and funerals,
Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cam-
crises such as the Challenger, Columbia, and Columbine trag-
bridge, Mass., 1991. An influential social history of the
edies, the death of the Diana, Princess of Wales, and of
emergence of public discourse and its integration into social,
course the September 11 attacks, the media have come to ac-
political, and communicational contexts.
cept a central role in a new civil religion of commemoration
Hendershot, Heather. Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Con-
and mourning.
servative Evangelical Culture. Chicago, 2004. A comprehen-
The relationship between media and religion is a pro-
sive study of Evangelical relations to the media and popular
found, complex, and subtle one. While the media have
culture. Contains important insights into Evangelical self-
understanding and understanding of the possibilities in
grown in cultural importance over the past century, and reli-
media technologies.
gious institutions and movements have contemplated how
to respond and experimented with ways of accommodating
Hoover, Stewart M. Mass Media Religion: The Social Sources of the
to this new reality, a relationship has developed that now de-
Electronic Church. London, 1988. The first field study of reli-
gious television audiences, it established the extent to which
termines, in important ways, the prospects and prerogatives
these programs had important symbolic value in representing
of religion into the twenty-first century.
the ascendancy of Evangelicalism in the culture more
S
generally.
EE ALSO Religious Broadcasting.
Hoover, Stewart M., and Knut Lundby, eds. Rethinking Media,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Religion, and Culture. Newbury Park, Calif., 1998. An edited
Abu-Lughod, Lila. “The Interpretation of Culture(s) after Televi-
collection focused on the emerging scholarly field of media
sion.” In The Fate of “Culture,” edited by Sherry B. Ortner,
and religion studies. Largely social-scientific in orientation,
pp. 110–135. Berkeley, Calif., 1999. A provocative scholarly
the contributions look at media and religion in a variety of
reflection by an anthropologist on the extent to which televi-
contexts worldwide.
sion is now integrated into cultural and religious life, as a
Hoover, Stewart M., and Lynn Schofield Clark, eds. Practicing Re-
local and worldwide phenomenon.
ligion in the Age of the Media: Studies in Media, Religion, and
Appadurai, Arjun. “Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a
Culture. New York, 2002. A collection concentrating on hu-
Transnational Anthropology.” In Recapturing Anthropology:
manistic, historical, and critical analysis of the practice of re-
Working in the Present, edited by Richard G. Fox,
ligion in the media age.
pp. 191–210. Santa Fe, 1991. An influential survey that re-
veals and assesses the phenomenon of emerging global cul-
Mahan, Jeffrey, and Bruce Forbes, eds. Religion and Popular Cul-
tures.
ture in America. Berkeley, Calif., 2000. An edited volume
containing significant scholarship from the field of religious
Brasher, Brenda. Give Me That Online Religion. San Francisco,
studies focused on media culture and popular culture.
2001. A pioneering study of internet religion, which consid-
ers the possibility of the digital media coming to a central
McDannell, Colleen. Material Christianity, Religion, and Popular
place in emerging religious practice.
Culture in America. New Haven, Conn., 1998. A field-based
Bunt, Gary R. Islam in the Digital Age: E-Jihad, Online Fatwas,
study of major contexts of popular religious culture. Provides
and Cyber Islamic Movements. London, 2003. The first com-
an excellent introduction to the commodities and artifacts
prehensive account of Islam in the internet age. Provides evi-
that have historically defined American religion.
dence of a growing accommodation between Islam, in both
Morgan, David. Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Reli-
traditional and non-traditional forms, and the digital media.
gious Images. Berkeley, Calif., 1999. The definitive account
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5810
MEDIATORS
of the role of material culture in American Protestant piety,
technological, and social developments. There is not a single
with special attention to visual artifacts. It includes both his-
systematic theory of medical ethics. Rather, medical ethics
torical and contemporary reception analysis.
has matured into a discipline that is enriched by a plurality
Roof, Wade Clark. Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the
of voices from clinical medicine, religious traditions, philoso-
Remaking of American Religion. Princeton, N.J., 1999. The
phy, literature, politics, and the social sciences.
definitive account of the individualistic “seeker” phenome-
non among baby-boom and post-boom generations in the
One of the earliest articulations of ethical guidance for
West and in the United States more specifically. Gives par-
physicians is the oath of Hippocrates, which dates from as
ticular attention to the role that cultural commodities, in-
early as the fourth century BCE. Two statements in the Hip-
cluding media commodities, play in religion and spirituality
pocratic oath—“into whatsoever house you shall enter, it
among these generations.
shall be for the good of the sick to the utmost of your power”
Schultze, Quentin J. Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtu-
and “you will exercise my art solely for the cure of pa-
ously in the Information Age. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1992. A
tients”—are the basis for the well-known principle of “above
thoughtful reflection on the implications of the digital age
all do no harm” when caring for patients (Dorman, 1995;
for religious community and religious practice. Contrasts the
Carey, 1928).
mediated digital context with religious community in tradi-
tional terms.
In contrast to the personal expression of ideal conduct
Underwood, Doug. From Yahweh to Yahoo!: The Religious Roots
embodied in the Hippocratic oath, in 1803 Thomas Percival
of the Secular Press. Urbana, Ill., 2002. An award-winning
published Medical Ethics or a Code of Institutes and Precepts
history of media and religion that looks at the institutional
(Percival, 2000). This code became the basis of the American
relations and integration of religious and non-religious
Medical Association’s first Code of Ethics adopted in 1847
media.
(Baker, 2000). The development of a code of ethics marked
Winston, Diane. Red-Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the
a radical transition from a personal ethic that focused primar-
Salvation Army. Cambridge, Mass., 2000. An in-depth his-
ily on elucidating the proper demeanor for physicians (Jon-
torical look at the central case of religion encountering publi-
sen, 2000) to a collective professional ethic that renewed
cation and commodification in the nineteenth and twentieth
concern for the place of values in the practice of medicine.
centuries. The Salvation Army proves to be an excellent case-
study of the costs and benefits of the interaction between reli-
By the middle of the twentieth century advances in
gion and media.
medical science radically changed the ability of physicians to
Wuthnow, Robert. After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the
diagnose and treat illness. These developments created a
1950s. Berkeley, Calif., 2000. An influential account of the
moral crisis that cried out for a rethinking of the moral obli-
relationship between individualistic religion and the contexts
gations of physicians. Notably, the condemnation of research
of faith.
without patient consent, codified as the Nuremberg Code in
1947, transformed the interaction of physician-investigators
STEWART M. HOOVER (2005)
and patients in research. In 1950 an era of organ transplanta-
tion began, eventually forcing society to reassess the defini-
tion and criteria for death (Defining Death, 1981). In 1953
MEDIATORS SEE ANGELS; ATONEMENT,
the structure of DNA was discovered and set the ground-
ARTICLE ON CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS; DEMONS;
work for the genetic revolution in the early twenty-first cen-
LOGOS; PRIESTHOOD; PROPHECY; SHAMANISM;
tury. In 1961 hemodialysis became a reality, raising ques-
SPIRITUAL GUIDE
tions about the allocation of scarce resources and the
appropriateness of using technology to prolong life. In 1973
the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision affirmed the
right of a woman to obtain an abortion during the first tri-
MEDICAL ETHICS. Religious beliefs are central to
mester of pregnancy. The 1970s also ushered in vigorous de-
the process of deliberation in medical ethics. An awareness
bates about who should live and who should be allowed to
of the rich diversity of perspectives both within and among
forgo lifesaving treatment. These questions were stimulated
different religious traditions is critical to the development of
by the seminal cases of Karen Quinlan (Quinlan 70 NJ,
respectful dialogue. This entry will focus on the religious tra-
335A2d, 1976) and Donald “Dax” Cowart (Kliever, 1989)
ditions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Readers interest-
and continued into the 1990s with questions about the ethics
ed in Hinduism are referred to S. Cromwell Crawford’s
of euthanasia and assisted suicide (Deciding to Forgo Life-
Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century (2003) and
Sustaining Treatment, 1982; Washington et al. v. Glucksberg
those interested in Buddhism are referred to Damien
et al., 1997; and Vacco, Attorney General of New York, et al.
Keown’s Buddhism and Bioethics (1995).
v. Quill et al., 1997). More recently, greater emphasis has
OVERVIEW OF MEDICAL ETHICS. Medical ethics is the appli-
been placed on the quality of end-of-life care and how to im-
cation of principles and rules of morality to healthcare
prove it. The advent of managed care has invigorated debates
(Clouser, 1974). It is a multidisciplinary field grappling with
on resource allocation and the role of physicians as managers.
perplexing questions created by rapidly evolving scientific,
The twenty-first century heralded in an era of genetics with
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MEDICAL ETHICS
5811
the mapping of the human genome and questions about the
Protestant medical ethics. Protestant medical ethics is
acceptability of stem cell research and cloning (Shapiro,
rooted in the teachings of Martin Luther and such Reforma-
1999; Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2000). These ques-
tion themes as “the freedom of a Christian,” as well as bibli-
tions are part of a gradual shift in the discipline from internal
cal principles, such as love (Johnson, 1978). There are many
professional concerns to matters of public debate.
strains of Protestant theology, and so there are diverse ap-
proaches to Protestant medical ethics. It is therefore difficult
RELIGIOUS APPROACHES TO MEDICAL ETHICS. Theologians
to define a uniquely Protestant approach to medical ethics,
were among the first to contribute to the modern dialogue
and most Protestants would view secular medical ethics as
of medical ethics, and they were instrumental in shaping the
compatible with their personal religious beliefs (Pauls and
emergence of the discipline (Callahan, 1990). Religious ap-
Hutchinson, 2002). Paul Ramsey and James Gustafson are
proaches to medical ethics share a common grounding of
two prominent Protestant thinkers who have developed a
ethical positions in religiously based claims (Lammers, 1998;
Protestant approach to medical ethics. Ramsey develops an
Williams, 1997). A brief discussion of the theological princi-
ethic that is rooted in the biblical concept of a covenantal
ples that guide each religion’s vision of healthcare follows.
relationship and the biblical conception of righteousness. His
Catholic medical ethics. There is a long tradition of
ethical positions are directed at meeting the needs of others
Catholic medical ethics dating from Augustine’s writings on
(Ramsey, 1950). It is therefore not surprising that he focuses
suicide and Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of natural law to
on the obligations of physicians to patients and those of re-
modern-day directives on euthanasia and reproductive tech-
searchers to human subjects. He leaves no room for consider-
nologies (O’Rourke, 1999). The church’s ethical and reli-
ation of the common good that might diminish the priority
gious directives govern Catholic medical ethics (Ethical and
of care for individual patients. The individual’s welfare is al-
Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 2001).
ways first and foremost (Ramsey, 1970b). Ramsey also devel-
The directives are grounded in the natural law approach of
oped a phenomenological conception of Protestant natural
Catholic moral theology from which the church has derived
law and argues that natural laws are discovered “in the course
its understanding of the nature of the human person, of
of active reflection upon man in the context of moral, social,
human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity.
and legal decisions” (Ramsey, 1962, p. 216). This is consis-
tent with the historical Protestant emphasis on personal free-
Fundamental to Catholic bioethics is a belief in the
dom and has contributed to the establishment of patient au-
sanctity of life. Life is understood as a gift from God, and
tonomy as a central concept within the moral framework of
human beings are its steward (Wildes, 1997). The Catholic
medical decision-making.
belief in the resurrection of Christ and an afterlife, however,
James Gustafson has emphasized the web of human re-
influences the attitude toward life. Catholicism believes that
lationships in which individuals are situated (Gustafson,
human life and personhood begin at conception. Thus, a
1965). The starting place for his ethical reflection is ordinary
human fetus at any stage of development is a person who has
human existence rather than church doctrines or scriptural
a right to life. Central to Catholicism is a belief in a meta-
passages; nevertheless, Gustafson developed a theocentric
physical conception of human beings as both body and soul.
ethic. Although he argued that Christian ethics should begin
The presence of a living body, even if it has diminished or
with human experience, human action should be judged pri-
absent intellectual capabilities, is the defining characteristic
marily by the will of God and not by the welfare of human
of personhood. This belief has implications for ethical ques-
beings.
tions at the beginning and end of life.
Jewish medical ethics. Jewish medical ethics is rooted
As in most religions, there is a diversity of opinion with-
in the application of the scriptural texts of the Five Books
in Catholicism. Richard McCormick has articulated a teleo-
of Moses, the Talmud, codes of Jewish law, and the responsa
logical ethic in which good is judged in relation to the com-
literature to contemporary ethical questions in medicine.
mon good. He argues for a proportionalist perspective in
The Talmud is the primary sourcebook of Jewish law; it en-
which an action viewed as evil might be justifiable if it brings
tails expositions and debates by rabbis about how to apply
about a good that is proportionate to or greater than the asso-
principles to different circumstances. The responsa literature
ciated evil (McCormick, 1981b). This position is in opposi-
is a compilation of written decisions and rulings by rabbis
tion to Catholic beliefs in the absolute ontic nature of moral
in response to questions posed about Jewish law. The ques-
acts. McCormick has a dynamic understanding of Catholic
tions are usually practical, and often concern new situations
theology that emphasizes an individualized and context-
for which no provision had been made in prior codes of law.
sensitive approach to moral problems (May, 1987 and
Responsa begin to appear in the sixth century CE, and all de-
1994). According to McCormick actions should be judged
nominations within Judaism continue to formulate responsa.
based on what values they advance or denigrate within the
In recent years they have addressed many contemporary
context of an objective hierarchy of values (Rae, 1999). Mc-
questions relating to medical ethics.
Cormick connects moral values to moral rights and duties.
Thus the right to self-determination is linked to the moral
The presence of a well-defined corpus of religious legal
value of human freedom.
texts does not mean, however, that there is one authoritative
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MEDICAL ETHICS
Jewish position on questions of medical ethics. Within Or-
of the whole of mankind” (QurDa¯n 5:35; and Mishnah San-
thodox Judaism (Freedman, 1999; Waldenberg, 1963) and
hedrin 4:5). Death is considered to occur when the soul
among Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstruc-
leaves the body, but since this cannot be determined with
tionist Judaism there is a diversity of opinions on how to
certainty, physical signs are used to diagnose death. The con-
apply traditional sources to contemporary ethical problems.
cept of brain death was accepted by a majority of Islamic
For some, Jewish medical ethics is constrained by the scrip-
scholars in 1986 (Al Bar, 1995).
tural rules and precedents accumulated over thousands of
REPRODUCTION. Many religious traditions share the as-
years (Tendler, 1998; Jakobovits, 1975; Rosner, 1979). This
sumption that human life is sacred. This understanding of
approach is in tension with those who look more broadly at
life has implications for the permissibility of abortion. Ca-
the values behind Jewish law and apply them to modern-day
tholicism’s official opposition to abortion has been based on
situations (Newman, 1995; Zohar, 1997; Gordis, 1989).
two fundamental beliefs (Pope John Paul II, 1995). One is
What sources are selected and what methodological ap-
the belief that a human fetus is a person from the moment
proach is used in the interpretation of traditional Jewish texts
of conception, and thus aborting a fetus is tantamount to
will influence the ethical decision that is reached. Jewish ethi-
murder. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) con-
cists dispute fundamental questions about how concrete ex-
demned abortion unconditionally as an “unspeakable crime”
amples discussed in the Talmud can be extrapolated to mod-
(Pope Paul VI, 1965). The second belief that underlies the
ern-day questions in medical ethics.
Catholic position on abortion, contraception, and assisted
In an effort to grapple with contemporary questions
reproduction is that sex is permitted only when it is integrat-
from a Jewish perspective, Elliott Dorff (1998) has articulat-
ed into marriage and has procreative intent. In opposition
ed several fundamental beliefs underlying Jewish medical
to the antiabortion stance of the church, some Catholic theo-
ethics. He argues that the following beliefs should inform the
logians have tried to revive a more liberal position that claims
Jewish response to modern-day questions in medical ethics:
that the male fetus acquires a soul forty days after concep-
a belief that human bodies belong to God, human worth
tion, while the female fetus only acquires a soul eighty days
flows from being created in the image of God, the human
after conception (Dombrowski, 2000). This position is based
being is an integrated whole where body and soul are judged
on the teachings of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), and it
as one, the body is morally neutral and potentially good,
is strikingly similar to Jewish understandings of the fetus, but
there is an obligation to heal, and Jews have an obligation
it was never held as a universal truth by everyone in the
to engage in action that sanctifies God’s name. Dorff thus
church.
puts forth a methodology of Jewish medical ethics that goes
Protestant views on abortion are diverse. Conservative
beyond strict legalism. He interprets Judaism’s general rules
groups believe that life begins at conception; however, some
not as inviolable principles, but as guiding policies that need
liberal denominations are pro-choice, believing that freedom
to be applied with sensitivity to the contexts of specific medi-
of choice is an important principle. Exceptions to the duty
cal cases.
to preserve life include medical indications, pregnancy result-
Islamic medical ethics. Islamic medical ethics is based
ing from rape, or social and emotional conditions that would
not be beneficial to the mother or future child (Gustafson,
on shar¯ı Eah, Islamic law, which is founded on the QurDa¯n
1970).
and the sunnah. The QurDa¯n is the holy book of all Muslims,
and the sunnah contains aspects of Islamic law based on the
In Jewish law an embryo is considered to be mere water
prophet Muh:ammad’s teachings. As in Judaism, Muslim
until the fortieth day (Epstein, 1935–1952). This leads some
scholars of religious law are called upon to determine reli-
to argue that abortion is permissible during the first forty
gious practice and resolve questions in medical ethics. The
days of pregnancy (Responsa Seridei Esh, 1966). A fetus has
application and interpretation of Islamic law is dynamic and
the status of a potential human life, and thus Judaism per-
flexible within the confines of a sacred set of values and texts
mits abortion under certain circumstances. Where the moth-
(Van Bommel, 1999). In 1982 Abdul Rahman C. Amine,
er’s life is in jeopardy, abortion is mandatory. The Talmud
M.D., and Ahmed Elkadi, M.D., proposed an Islamic code
speaks directly to this question where it says: “if the fetus
of medical ethics that addresses many fundamental questions
threatens the life of the mother, you cut it up within her
in contemporary medical ethics (Rahman, 1982). In Islam,
body and remove it limb by limb if necessary, because its life
life is sacred and every moment has value even where the
is not as valuable as hers. But once the greater part of the
quality of life is diminished. Full human life begins after the
body has emerged, you cannot take its life to save the moth-
ensoulment of the fetus, and most Muslim scholars agree
er’s, because you cannot choose between one human life and
that this occurs at about 120 days after conception (Al Bar,
another” (Mishnah Ohalot 7:6). Thus a fetus becomes a per-
1986). A minority of scholars believes that ensoulment oc-
son when the head emerges from the womb. As with most
curs at forty days after conception (Al Bar, 1995). Saving a
questions in Judaism, there is a diversity of opinion on when
life is considered a duty informed by the guiding principle
abortion is permitted (Feldman, 1980; Lubarsky, 1984;
mentioned in both the QurDa¯n and in the Talmud, “If any-
Bleich, 1968). Some authorities permit abortion in the case
one has saved a life, it would be as if he has saved the life
of rape, and some will permit abortion in the first trimester
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEDICAL ETHICS
5813
if the fetus would be born with an abnormality that would
Jewish perspectives on end-of-life care are also informed
cause it to suffer. One Orthodox authority has argued that
by a belief that human life is sacred, and thus the preserva-
abortion is permissible until the end of the second trimester
tion of life surpasses almost all other commandments. Most
if the fetus has a genetic mutation that would be lethal and
would argue, however, that this belief does not translate into
would cause great suffering (Waldenberg, 1980).
a mandate to preserve all human life under all circumstances
and at all costs (Herring, 1984). Although hastening death
Islam discourages abortion, but permits it under certain
is prohibited, if something is an impediment to the natural
circumstances. Abortion has been allowed after implantation
process of death, it is permitted to withdraw that impedi-
and before ensoulment in cases where there are adequate rea-
ment. For example, if a person is certain to die, and is only
sons. However, many Sh¯ıEah and some Sunnis have prohibit-
being kept alive by a ventilator, it is permissible to withdraw
ed abortion after implantation unless the mother’s life is in
the ventilator, which is impeding the natural process of
danger (Ebrahim, 1989).
death. Judaism attempts to balance the thrust to prolong life
and the recognition that life may become unbearably diffi-
END-OF-LIFE CARE. Advances in medical technology have
cult and painful (Rosner, 1979).
made it possible to prolong life through the use of ventila-
tors, artificial organs, intravenous feeding, and ventricular as-
Islam considers the intentional hastening of death to be
sist devices. The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Chris-
the equivalent of murder and thus denounces suicide and as-
tianity, and Islam uphold a duty to protect life that is on
sisted suicide (Ebrahim, 2000). Islam does not condone the
temporary hold from God. These faiths have uniformly re-
secular concept of a right to die. Like Judaism, however,
jected suicide. Within the Catholic tradition the failure to
Islam acknowledges that when treatment becomes futile, it
use ordinary measures to preserve life is morally equivalent
ceases to be mandatory. A patient may refuse treatment when
to suicide. This does not imply, however, that there is a duty
it will not improve his condition or quality of life. Although
to prolong life in all circumstances, regardless of the patient’s
continued medical care, including the use of a ventilator may
condition. Catholic theologians have distinguished ordinary
not be required, hydration, nutrition, and pain control
and extraordinary life support, arguing that a person is obli-
should not be withheld (Khomeini, 1998).
gated to use ordinary measures but that there is room for
GENETICS. The completion of the finished sequence of the
choice with regard to the use of extraordinary measures (Cro-
Human Genome Project in 2003 marks the beginning of a
nin, 1958). The directives outline compassionate care for the
new era of genetic manipulation. The potential for disease
dying, which includes pain management but also respects in-
prevention, early detection, and improved treatment of dis-
formed and competent refusal of life-sustaining treatment.
eases for which there is an identified genetic basis, however,
McCormick argues that Catholic moral theory connects self-
is accompanied by concern about the ethical, social, legal,
determination with the duty to preserve life, but it places
and psychological implications of genetic information (An-
limits on this duty. “Life is indeed a basic and precious good,
drews et al., 1994). One of the most promising and contro-
but a good to be preserved precisely at the condition of other
versial areas of genetics is stem cell research. Stem cells are
values” (McCormick, 1981a, p. 345). He affirms the right
unique in their ability to differentiate into any cell of the
of competent patients to reject life-sustaining treatment, ar-
human body. They have been isolated from adults, aborted
guing that individual patients will be in the best position to
fetuses, and embryos shortly after conception, and many be-
determine which treatments have a reasonable benefit and
lieve stem cells are the key to developing treatments and
which treatments are accompanied by an unreasonable bur-
cures for some diseases. Others, however, argue that using
den. McCormick urges patients to make a proportionate,
these cells is the equivalent of taking a human life, and even
reasoned decision in considering the rejection of life-
if their use leads to saving lives, it is not morally permissible
sustaining treatment. This would include a consideration of
to destroy embryonic stem cells.
the value of preserving life, human freedom, and lack of pain
Embedded within religious perspectives on the use of
(McCormick, 1981a, p. 399).
stem cells and cloning are varying theological assumptions
Gustafson argues that life is not an absolute value, and
that each religion has about a human embryo, the religious
yet he is also quick to say that life is the “indispensable condi-
duty to procreate, and the relationship between human be-
ings and technology. These assumptions lead to varied con-
tion for human values and valuing” (1971, p. 140). Thus we
clusions about the permissibility of stem cell research and
should neither worship life nor should we be quick to end
cloning.
life. Gustafson puts forth four religious qualifications to con-
sider about life and death: (1) Life is a gift since human be-
The Catholic Church has been unequivocal in its de-
ings are dependent creatures; (2) Only God is absolute, and
nunciation of the use of embryonic stem cells. This position
human life is of relative worth; (3) Human beings are ac-
is based on the belief that human life begins at conception
countable to God and responsible for how they treat life; (4)
and thus embryos must be respected (Donum Vitae, 1987).
Human beings are participants in life who must respond to
Because Protestant theology is pluralistic, there is not a uni-
the developments and purposes that are made possible by
fied position on the use of embryonic stem cells. The general
God (Gustafson, 1968).
synods of the United Church of Christ have regarded human
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5814
MEDICAL ETHICS
embryos as due great respect, but they have not regarded em-
Al Bar, M. A., ed. “Organ Transplantation: An Islamic Perspec-
bryos as the equivalent of a person (Cole-Turner, 1997).
tive.” In Contemporary Topics in Islamic Medicine. Jeddah,
Other Protestant views consider the dangers of not respect-
Saudi Arabia, 1995.
ing the weakest human being, namely the embryo, to be
Al Bar, M. A., ed. “When Is the Soul Inspired?” In Contemporary
greater than any medical benefit that might be achieved
Topics in Islamic Medicine, pp. 131–136. Jeddah, Saudi Ara-
through stem cell research.
bia, 1995.
Andrews L. B., Jane E. Fullarton, Neil A. Holtzman, and Arno
Since Judaism does not consider an embryo to have sig-
G. Motulsky, eds. Social, Legal, and Ethical Implications of
nificant moral status prior to forty days of gestation, the ma-
Genetic Testing: Assessing Genetic Risks. Washington, D.C.,
jority of Jewish authorities believe that embryos may be used
1994. See pages 247–289.
for research (National Bioethics Advisory Commission,
Baker, Robert, et al., eds. The American Medical Ethics Revolution:
1999; Breitowitz, 1996).
How the AMA’s Code of Ethics Has Transformed Physicians’
Relationships to Patients, Professionals, and Society. Baltimore,
The successful cloning in 1996 of Dolly the sheep
2000.
through the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique has raised
Beh:oref Hayamim: In the Winter of Life: A Values-Based Jewish
the possibility of cloning humans. Some Catholic and Prot-
Guide for Decision Making at the End of Life. Philadelphia,
estant thinkers have reiterated past opposition to cloning
2002. A Reconstructionist perspective on medical ethics.
(Cahill, 1997; Verhey, 1994; Ramsey, 1966 and 1970a). The
Bleich, J. David. “Abortion in Halakhic Literature.” Tradition 6
foundations of these claims are an opposition to “playing
(1968): 73.
God,” the view that cloning represents a violation of the uni-
Breitowitz, Yitzchok. “Halakhic Approaches to the Resolution of
tive aspect of marriage, and a belief that cloning is a violation
Disputes Concerning the Disposition of PreEmbryos.” Tra-
of human dignity (Haas, 1997; Moraczewski, 1997).
dition 31, no. 1 (1996): 64–92.
However, some Protestant thinkers have expressed qual-
Cahill, Lisa S. “Cloning: Religion-Based Perspectives.” Testimony
ified support for cloning research and for creating children
before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, March
using somatic cell nuclear transfer techniques. This view is
13, 1997.
based on an understanding of the meaning of human part-
Callahan, Daniel. “Religion and the Secularization of Bioethics.”
nership with ongoing divine creative activity. Ted Peters ar-
Special supplement to the Hastings Center Report. Theology,
Religious Traditions, and Bioethics 20, no. 4 (1990).
gues that human begins are called to “play human” and as-
sume the role of co-creator through the acquisition of
Carey, E. J. “The Formal Use of the Hippocratic Oath for Medi-
cal Students at Commencement Exercises.” Bulletin of the As-
knowledge aimed at improving humanity (Peters, 1996). Ac-
sociation of American Medical Colleges 3 (1928): 159–166.
cording to this view there are no theological principles that
the cloning of humans necessarily violates.
Clouser, K. D. “What Is Medical Ethics?” Annals of Internal Medi-
cine 80, no. 4 (1974): 657–660.
Jewish perspectives on cloning are guided by the biblical
Cole-Turner, Ronald, ed. “Statement on Cloning by the United
injunction to procreate and “master the world” (Gn. 1:28).
Church of Christ Committee on Genetics.” In Human Clon-
The fulfillment of this biblical mandate is understood as per-
ing: Religious Responses, pp 147–151. Louisville, Ky., 1997.
mitting people to modify nature to make the world a better
Committee on Doctrine of the National Conference of Catholic
place (Dorff, 1997). Cloning is one example of mastery over
Bishops. Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health
the world, and it is not theologically problematic in the Jew-
Care Services. 4th ed. Washington, D.C., 2001.
ish tradition (Tendler, 1997; Luria, 1971).
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical As-
sembly. Responsa 1991–2000. New York, 2002.
The model of a partnership with God in the creative
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Gift of Life
process also appears in Islamic thought (Sachedina, 1997).
(Donum Vitae): Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its
Understood in this light, cloning may in some circumstances
Origin and the Dignity of Procreation: Replies to Certain Ques-
be an example of using human creative potential for good.
tions of the Day. Washington, D.C., 1987. Available at:
Islamic scholars have argued that scientific discovery is ulti-
www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/tdocs/donumvitae.htm.
mately a revelation of the divinely ordained creation. Scien-
Crawford, S. Cromwell. Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Cen-
tific knowledge is therefore understood as a symbol of God’s
tury. Albany, N.Y., 2003.
creation and an opportunity given by God to human beings
Cronin, D. A. The Moral Law in Regard to the Ordinary and Ex-
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SEE ALSO Bioethics; Buddhist Ethics; Christian Ethics; Ge-
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Catholic Defense of Abortion. Urbana, Ill., 2000.
Dorff, Elliot N. “Human Cloning: A Jewish Perspective.” Testi-
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Confusion sometimes arises when the words meditation
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and contemplation are used interchangeably. However, a
of classical Jewish texts.
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pp. 253–265. New York, 1979.
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sory Commission.” March 14, 1997.
trated dwelling in thought. Contemplation is derived from
Tendler, Moshe, ed. and trans. Responsa of Rav Moshe Feinstein,
the Latin cum (“with”) and templum (“a consecrated place”).
vol. 1: Care of the Critically Ill. Hoboken, N.J., 1998.
Frequently, contemplation is itself a spiritual state and serves
as the end of an ascetic quest. Particularly in the monotheis-
Van Bommel, A. “Medical Ethics from the Muslim Perspective.”
Acta Neurochir 74, supplement (1999): 17–27.
tic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this state
is sometimes considered tantamount to the beatific vision be-
Verhey, A. “Cloning: Revisiting an Old Debate.” Kennedy Insti-
stowed upon the individual through the grace of God. This
tute of Ethics Journal 4, no. 3: (1994): 227–234.
distinction between meditation and contemplation will serve
Waldenberg, Eliezar. Tzitz Eli’ezer (Jerusalem) 7 (1963): 190.
for an examination of the following materials, but the reader
Waldenberg, Eliezar. Tzitz Eli’ezer (Jerusalem) 8 (1965):
should bear in mind the difficulty of translating these con-
218–219.
cepts from one language and culture to another.
Waldenberg, Eliezar. Tzitz Eli’ezer (Jerusalem) 9 (1967):
As for the morphology of the theories and practices in-
225–240.
dicated by the terms meditation and contemplation, it may be
Waldenberg, Eliezar. Tzitz Eli’ezer (Jerusalem) 15 (1980): 43.
useful to mention some categories of spiritual discipline.
Walter, Jacob. The Fetus and Fertility: Essays and Responsa. Pitts-
Meditation leading to contemplation can be apophatic. In-
burgh, Penn., 1998.
volved here is an emptying procedure, in which the individu-
Walter, Jacob, and Mose Zemer, eds. Death and Euthanasia in
al systematically removes from consciousness any content
Jewish Law: Essays and Responsa. Pittsburgh, Pa., 1995.
that is not the object of the quest. In Christian mysticism,
Wildes, Kevin, and Alan C. Mitchell, eds. Choosing Life: A Dia-
this type of path is referred to as the via negativa; it is also
logue on Evangelium Vitae. Washington, D.C., 1997.
an important technique in Buddhism.
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Other forms of meditation and contemplation may be
individual from bondage to the sensible forms and images
termed cataphatic. In this type of practice, a specific image,
that one must deal with in everyday life and that delimit the
idea, role, or deity is held in the mind’s eye. The object of
soul. Meditation is an avenue through which the soul can
the individual is to assimilate, or to participate in some way
come to apprehend more than the forms of nature. Abulafia
with, the chosen object. Apophatic forms of meditation tend
looks for a means to deautomatize the human faculties from
to be more speculative, cognitive, and intellectual, at least in
the normal preoccupation with daily events. He seizes upon
their early stages. They tend to be centered in the mind.
a system of meditation based on the Hebrew alphabet. The
Cataphatic forms of meditation and contemplation, on the
letters of the alphabet are sufficiently abstract so as not to
other hand, tend to be more emotional and devotional. They
preoccupy the mind with any specific meaning, but concrete
tend to be centered in the heart. In what follows, meditation
enough to supply an object of intense focus and concentra-
and contemplation represent a continuum, with different
tion. The letters of the alphabet are regarded by the medita-
systems and traditions illustrating shifting perspectives with-
tor as constituents of the holy name of God. The meditator
in a descriptive framework that opposes the apophatic and
is instructed to combine and recombine the letters of the al-
speculative to the cataphatic and affective.
phabet without any attempt to form words, thereby con-
WESTERN TRADITIONS. The practice of prayer has always
structing a kind of nonrepresentational mystical logic. Such
held a central place in the Western traditions of Judaism,
exercise produces interior freedom and detachment from
Christianity, and Islam. Although prayer may devolve into
natural objects and prepares the adept for the final achieve-
meditation and even into contemplation, these are more di-
ment: the pure contemplation of the divine name.
rectly the concerns of the mystical and, in many instances,
Christianity. Meditation and contemplation, particu-
the monastic dimensions of these traditions.
larly within monastic circles, reached a high degree of differ-
Judaism. Meditation and contemplation in the Jewish
entiation and sophistication in the Christian tradition. The
tradition acknowledge the centrality and authority of the
practices of the early church took form in an atmosphere in-
Hebrew scriptures. Reading and interpreting the Torah re-
fluenced by Hermetic literature and the philosophy of Neo-
quire concentration and discursive meditation. This medita-
platonism. Syncretic in nature, the Hermetic books present
tion led to the development of commentary, such as the
the theme of a mystical ascent to the knowledge of God. This
Mishnah and the Talmud, and schools came into being that
important image (found also in Jewish mysticism) becomes
fostered an experiential approach. Heavily influenced by
central to the mysticism of Christianity. The idea of an as-
gnosticism and Hellenism, this movement is referred to as
cent from the many to the One is taken over from the
heikhalot mysticism. Ascetical practices culminated in a con-
thought of the Neoplatonist Plotinus. Plotinus describes four
templative ascent of the soul through seven heavens to reach
movements in the ascent to divine knowledge: (1) purgation
its final home in a state of beatitude. The final state is viewed
in the practice of virtue; (2) the development of thought be-
as one in which the mystic stands before the throne of God
yond sense perception; (3) the transcendence of thought in
and sees and hears directly. There is no experience of mysti-
the achievement of union; and (4) the final absorption in the
cal union, and God remains “wholly other.” This tradition
One. In the Christian circles of third-century Alexandria,
remained essentially cataphatic and nonaffective, although
these non-Christian ideas came to be absorbed into the tradi-
the symbolism of the ascent and the attainment of ecstatic
tion and to exert an important influence. Two important fig-
consciousness is characteristic of Jewish contemplation.
ures of this development were Clement and Origen.
A more immanentist approach to the contemplation of
For Clement, meditation led to the apprehension of the
God developed within the Hasidic tradition. One can trace
intelligible realities and then, through gnosis as a gift of
here the influence of Philo Judaeus, a Jewish philosopher of
Christ, to hidden spiritual realities. Reflective reading of, and
the first century
meditation on, the scriptures in order to discern this hidden
CE who later was to have an important influ-
ence on Christianity. In Hasidic contemplation, the tran-
meaning was important. Within this metaphorical frame-
scendent majesty of God is preserved by making the object
work, Origen introduces the symbol of a contemplative mar-
of contemplation the shekhinah, or the spirit of the living
riage between the soul and the Logos (Christ).
God. God can be contemplated directly only at the end of
Anchoritism, or withdrawal into the desert, was a form
the world, or the Day of Yahveh. The Jewish contemplative
of spirituality in the early church that gave full rein to ascetic
almost always retains a sense of the distance between himself
and meditative practices. Disengagement from the concerns
and God. The quest ends not with mystical union but with
of ordinary life provided a favorable atmosphere for the
a sense of adhesion (or being joined) to God, which is short
awakening of the spirit to the word of God. The austere life
of an actual union.
of the desert could produce a deep, inner quiet and was con-
ducive to a life of continual meditation on the scriptures in
The qabbalistic school from the thirteenth century on-
an attempt to hear the word of God and to ascend the ladder
ward produced some major developments in the Jewish med-
of perfection through grace.
itative and contemplative tradition. A major exponent of this
school was the Spaniard Avraham ben ShemuDel Abulafia.
Within this context, as early as the third century, a life
He developed a meditative technique designed to release the
of constant prayer developed as an ideal for the anchorite.
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MEDITATION
The beginnings of the prayer of the heart, or the Jesus Prayer,
dition of a vision of God that includes the perception of
are found here. The Jesus Prayer is an apothegm translated
darkness.
as “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” The
A major figure of the French church involved in codify-
first reference to this prayer comes from the seventh century.
ing meditation was Francis of Sales (1567–1622). In his In-
The practice of the Jesus Prayer became important in Eastern
troduction to the Devout Life, he teaches a five-step medita-
Orthodox spirituality and in the development of the move-
tion. The preparatory stage of meditation involves three
ment known as hesychasm. Meditation came to be seen, in
steps: (1) placing one’s self in the presence of God, (2) pray-
a movement away from Neoplatonism, as more properly
ing for divine assistance, and (3) imagining a scene from the
centered in the heart rather than in the mind. Control of
life of Jesus. The second step builds on the first through iden-
breathing and the fixation of the gaze were important ancil-
tification with those images that most affect the practitioner.
laries to the constant repetition of the apothegm. This tradi-
In the third step feelings generated in the second are convert-
tion has survived down to the present day in its major center
ed into acts of understanding and will. The fourth step in-
on Mount Athos, in Greece.
volves thanksgiving and offering up the results of the medita-
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Roman
tion as a sacrifice, and petition for the putting into practice
Catholic church were a period of rationalization and the sys-
of the insights gained. The fifth step is the development of
tematization of meditative and contemplative processes. This
the “spiritual nosegay” or the preparation of some content
movement looked back to a medieval interest in the method-
of the meditation to sustain one in daily affairs.
ology of meditation developed among the Franciscans. A
Islam. The prophet Muh:ammad (b. 570) considered
major figure in this movement was Bonaventure (1217–
his prophecy to be a continuation and reaffirmation of the
1274). In his De triplici via, he gives an exemplary statement
Judeo-Christian tradition. The word isla¯m means “submis-
for Western Christianity on the three processes of medita-
sion” in Arabic; thus a Muslim is one who submits. Islamic
tion: purgation, illumination, and union.
theology emphasizes the transcendent majesty and unity of
Ignatius Loyola (1495–1556), the founder of the Jesu-
God. Humanity is considered to exist face to face with this
its, wrote a treatise entitled Spiritual Exercises, in which he
transcendent majesty without intercessors. Humans are not
outlines a progression in meditative practice. His notions of
expected to try to share the secrets of God.
meditation may not be so exalted as others, but his methods
In the more orthodox forms of Islam, daily prayer (s:ala¯t)
are of interest insofar as they involve cataphatic visualization
is one of the obligatory observances. Usually this prayer is
techniques that bear some resemblance to Hindu and Bud-
conducted communally. Although it is also recommended
dhist practices. For example, Ignatius’s fourth method re-
that a Muslim perform dhikr, or remembrance of God, these
quires that the practitioner choose a specific image, such as
practices are external formalities and not necessarily related
the passion or the resurrection of Jesus, and apply each of
to contemplation and meditation in the present sense.
the five senses to that image. Thus, through seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting, and touching, the image is vivified in the
By the eighth century, strict Muslim orthodoxy began
consciousness of the meditator.
to be challenged by Sufism, the generic term for Islamic mys-
ticism. The S:u¯f¯ı movement favored an interiorization and
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) was a member of the Car-
esotericization of the basic institutions of Islam. The ortho-
melite order. In her Autobiography, she narrates her medita-
dox religious attitudes of fear and obedience before the tran-
tive experiences and describes a period of spiritual desicca-
scendence of God changed in Sufism to an attitude of ecstat-
tion followed by a series of ecstatic experiences. Teresa
ic love of God and hope of union with him through a
describes the latter in sexual images and draws upon the sym-
transcendence of the phenomenal self. Meditative and con-
bolism of the bride and the bridegroom, a symbolism that
templative practices became an important part of this quest,
dates back at least to the time of Origen. In the Autobiogra-
and dhikr became a constant practice of the presence of God.
phy she catalogs degrees of meditation, using the symbolism
of the husbandry of plants. She compares discursive medita-
Ecstasy is the goal of the S:u¯f¯ı path, and dhikr, in an ex-
tion to watering the garden, bucket by bucket; recollection
panded and intensified form, becomes a means to the goal.
is analogous to the use of a water wheel, and quiet, to springs
Techniques familiar in other traditions such as control of the
of water. Union is compared to a drenching rain.
breath, visualization of sacred words, and repetition of sacred
phrases were adopted as important means to this end. The
Teresa’s contemporary and fellow Carmelite, John of
goal is termed fana¯ D, or annihilation of the lower self, which
the Cross (1542–1591), modified the three ways of medita-
enables God through his grace to bestow on the mystic the
tion developed by Bonaventure. Purgation is retained but il-
rapture of union with him.
lumination is replaced, using the bridal imagery, with be-
trothal, and union with spiritual marriage. Both Teresa of
The S:u¯f¯ıs developed sacred dance as a technique for the
Ávila and John of the Cross describe a stage in contemplation
induction of ecstasy. The turning and whirling movements
referred to as the “dark night of the soul,” an experience of
of the dance accompanied by hypnotic music and chanting
alienation and isolation preparatory to illumination through
of poetry bypassed the intellectual faculties and created a
the grace of God. This theme continues a long-standing tra-
trancelike state of centeredness and concentration. The Mev-
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MEDITATION
5819
levi order of S:u¯f¯ıs founded by Jala¯l al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı institution-
As concentration deepens, the next limb of Yoga,
alized this practice as the foundation of its worship.
pratya¯ha¯ra (withdrawal of the senses from their objects), con-
EASTERN TRADITIONS. Sophisticated psychologies and tech-
tributes to a further interiority. The next step is dharan:a, or
niques of contemplation and meditation were developed
the concentration of the mind on a single object. This is fol-
within the spiritual traditions of India and China. These tra-
lowed by dhya¯na, or the achievement of an uninterrupted
ditions, which antedate the beginning of the common era,
nonverbal current of consciousness focused on the medita-
developed independently until the introduction of Bud-
tive object. The eighth and last limb of this meditative pro-
dhism into China in the first century CE. Thereafter, India’s
gram is sama¯dhi, in which the goal of complete cessation of
techniques of meditation strongly influenced Chinese reli-
the modifications of the mind is achieved, and a transcen-
gious thought.
dent awareness of one’s ultimate identity as purus:a, or un-
conditional spirit, is attained. In this state of ecstasy, the nor-
India. A concern for meditative asceticism, which runs
mal ego sense and the experience of a dichotomy between
through Indian religious history, can be traced as far back as
subject and object is overcome. Yoga discipline in a variety
the Indus Valley civilization of the third millennium BCE. Ar-
of forms becomes an important ingredient in several Indian
tifacts recovered from this civilization can be interpreted as
spiritual traditions and religions, including Jainism, various
representing individuals or deities in meditative attitudes.
forms of Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Yoga. An early systematization of meditative technique
Hinduism. Hinduism is a generic term used to refer to
is found in the Yoga Su¯tra of Patañjali, dating from the third
a variety of religious manifestations within the Indian sub-
century BCE. Patañjali defines yoga as “the cessation of the
continent and other areas subject to Indian influence. In the
modifications of the mind.” This statement forms the basis
early history of Hinduism, a stage referred to as Brahmanism,
of much of pan-Indian spirituality. The Yoga system is one
there was a movement away from the practice of exoteric rit-
of the classical dar´sanas, or “viewpoints,” of Indian philoso-
ual and toward meditative interiority and realization. As the
phy. The object of meditation and other ascetic practices is
tradition developed, Hindus came to be divided into three
to still the mind and the emotions with which the individual
main sects: the Vais:n:ava, the S´aiva, and the S´a¯kta.
usually identifies. When this is accomplished, consciousness
can reflect the pure absolute spirit (or purus:a), which is the
Vais:n:avism. The Vais:n:avas, worshipers of the god Vis:n:u
principle of consciousness itself. Realization of the purus:a as
and his many incarnations, developed a form of active, affec-
one’s true and ultimate identity brings with it release (moks:a)
tive, and cataphatic meditation in which chanting, singing,
from the tendency to identify with temporal experience.
and dancing were used to induce transic absorption into the
deity. Perhaps the most popular incarnation of Vis:n:u is the
The mind (citta) in Yoga philosophy is considered to be
deity Kr:s:n:a, whose worship is bhakti (“devotion”). In addi-
the repository of sam:ska¯ra (the root impressions of past
tion to performances of chanting and dance, a devotee was
deeds). These impressions are stored from present and past
expected to remain ever mindful of his object of devotion.
lives in unconscious layers of the psyche and, in turn, pro-
In turn, the deity extends his grace and love to the devotee.
duce binding proclivities, good and bad habits, and all forms
In both Vais:n:ava and S´aiva forms of theistic meditation, the
of limited vision and false identification, which modify and
emotions are given a much freer rein than in the more ab-
determine a person’s life in the unenlightened state. The un-
stract classical Yoga system. Transmutation of the emotions
enlightened mind is modified by its past ignorant experience
through devotion to Vis:n:u, S´iva, and their avata¯ras became
and in turn perpetuates such modifications into the indefi-
popular and had a far-reaching effect on Indian art and liter-
nite future. (This is the pan-Indian doctrine of karman,
ature.
which becomes axiomatic for much of Indian spirituality.)
Hence the importance of causing the modifications of the
Devotional theism borrowed some of its elements from
mind to cease so that the pure unconditioned spirit may be-
Sanskrit poetics. The term bha¯va, which refers to an intense
come manifest in meditation.
personal emotion in poetic theory, was adapted by the
Vais:n:avas to refer to the meditative attitude that a devotee
A primary object of Yoga discipline is to bring the mind
assumes toward Kr:s:n:a. There are four types of contemplative
into a state of one-pointedness or intense concentration.
mood, determined by the form of relationship with the deity.
Moral and ethical abstinences and observances form the first
These range from a relationship to Kr:s:n:a as supreme deity,
two limbs of an eightfold prescription for attaining this state.
as friend, as brother, and, perhaps most importantly, as lover.
A comfortable posture (a¯sana) is recommended, especially
A devotee’s chosen bha¯va was to be cultivated through medi-
one that enables the practitioner to keep the spine correctly
tation, chanting, and dance until he experienced himself as
aligned and one that can be comfortably held for protracted
the friend or lover of Kr:s:n:a. Continual absorption into these
periods of time as the mind becomes abstracted from the
various roles enabled the adherent to experience the love and
body. Breath control (pra¯n:a¯ya¯ma) is then recommended,
the personality of the deity.
since states of breathing and states of consciousness corre-
spond closely to each other. A calming and quieting of the
S´aivism and S´aktism. The devotees of S´iva developed
breath produces a corresponding calming and quieting of the
their own forms of contemplative worship. One is the
mind.
growth of a cult dedicated to S´akti, the female consort of
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MEDITATION
S´iva. S´akti is the active female energy of the universe in con-
sati). This practice is basic to both ´samatha (Pali, samatha)
tradistinction to the passive contemplative energy of S´iva
and vipa´syana¯ (Pali, vipassana¯) and can be used for both
himself. S´aktism became an important part of the Tantric
calming and higher vision. The practice of mindfulness, or
manifestations of Hinduism. Tantric Hinduism developed
total awareness, takes place in four main areas: the body it-
several techniques of meditation, including the use of the
self, the sensations, thought, and mental objects. Mindful-
yantra. A yantra is a geometric diagram that represents an ab-
ness of the body begins with the observation of breathing.
stract form or manifestation of a deity. Deities are essentially
Strict attention is paid to inhalation and exhalation, note
formless in their own nature but are thought to manifest
being taken of the duration of each as the practitioner be-
themselves in a movement from the subtle to the gross, in
comes aware of this usually unconscious activity. Such con-
the forms of sound, the geometric forms of the yantra, and
centration involves narrowing of the mind’s focus. The ef-
the mu¯rti (or sculpted) image. A yantra is a series of triangles,
fects of mindfulness of breathing include a refined awareness
squares, and circles emanating from a central point, which
of the entire body and a sense of tranquillity.
serves to focus the mind of the meditating yogin.
Mindfulness of the body is next applied to a monk’s
Visualization of a sculpted or painted form of the deity
postures and movements. Every bodily action is performed
became important in Tantric meditation. The object was to
with complete awareness and consciousness. This discipline
achieve a high degree of absorption in the outward form so
brings into awareness bodily activity, which normally goes
that it could be reproduced in complex detail within the
on beyond the conscious level. As activities are performed,
mind of the meditator. When this stage was reached the out-
mindfulness tranquilizes, calms, and controls the body;
ward form could be dispensed with. The general goal of Tan-
mindfulness can then proceed with an examination of the
tric meditation is the complete unification of the body,
constituent parts of the body, external and internal, and a
speech, and mind of the Tantric yogin with the body, speech,
breakdown of the body into its primary physical elements.
and mind of his chosen divinity. Mantras, symbolic sounds
These practices break up any tendency to identify with the
or phrases for the sound form of the divinity, were used in
body.
this practice. Mudra¯s were used in meditation also as symbol-
Mindfulness is then applied to the sensations that are
ic gestures of the hands and body representing various stages
discerned as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In a continuing
of the unification process.
progression, from the gross to the more subtle, mindfulness
In kun:d:alin¯ıyoga, the macrocosmic Sakti is further iden-
is then applied to the mind, or thought itself, and its objects.
tified, within the microcosm of the human body, as
Attention is paid to each thought as it occurs, whether it is
kun:d:alin¯ı. Kun:d:alin¯ı literally means “coiled” and refers to
with or without such factors as passion, hatred, delusion, or
the visualization of Sakti as an energy within the body in the
freedom. The objective is detachment and a loosening of the
form of a sleeping serpent. This energy is associated with a
tendency to identify with any factors of experience. With the
meditative physiology of the subtle body of the human. The
achievement of detachment, the monk has an increased abili-
meditator visualizes six vital centers called cakras placed
ty to respond actively to the actual circumstances of life.
along the spine from its base to the crown of the head. The
Through concentrative attention, a monk sees the mo-
cakras are connected to each other by a central vein with two
mentary quality of life, and sees that a moment of experience
lesser veins, or channels, on either side. The object of the
arises based on temporary causes and conditions. The monk
meditation and physical exercises of this form of Tantric
thus can see the real nature of experience, which had previ-
yoga is to wake the latent energy of S´akti coiled at the base
ously been obscured by incorrect mental fabrications and the
of the spine and to cause it to enter the central vein. As
false projection of permanent identity on a transient stream
kun:d:alin¯ı ascends and is drawn upward through meditation,
of moments.
it energizes the six cakras until it reaches the topmost cakra,
where it is reunited with S´iva. At this point the body of the
The Buddhist ´samatha practices are associated with
yogin and the body of the cosmos are resolved into the pri-
dhya¯na, or the achievement of meditative absorption.
mal unity.
Dhya¯na practice continues the work of mindfulness into an
even greater experience of detachment, one in which contact
Buddhism. Buddhism is a tradition that seeks to pene-
with the normal content of worldly experience is gradually
trate the veil of appearances and social conditioning and,
attenuated and almost altogether eliminated. The dhya¯nas
through meditative insight, to achieve a vision of the truth
(absorptions) are as follows: four absorptions with form, four
of reality. This vision leads to liberation from the round of
absorptions without form, and finally the cessation of con-
karmic cycles and the achievement of ultimate freedom in
ception and feeling. These stages represent a gradual elimina-
nirva¯n:a. Nirva¯n:a is the goal of Buddhist ascesis subsumed
tion of the verbal, discursive, and affective contents of the
under the term bha¯vana, or meditation. Bha¯vana has two
mind. They lead a monk gradually out of the world of sense-
secondary objectives: the first is the achievement of ´samatha,
based experience to a new, detached interior dimension.
or calm; the second is vipa´syana¯, insight or higher vision.
These stages are increasingly independent of the external
As a foundation for other Buddhist meditation prac-
world and signify a developing autonomy on the part of the
tices, a monk starts with the practice of mindfulness (Pali,
monk. The monk is no longer bound by the accidental and
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MEDITATION
5821
chaotic sensory stimuli of the world of ordinary experience
of looking directly into himself. Real education for the Dao-
or by intellectual concerns, and begins to acquire the power
ist, in the phrase of Zhuangzu, is “sitting and forgetting.”
of turning away from the “given world” and toward the abili-
Buddhism. From the time when Buddhism entered
ty to “create” an interior world of attenuated, simplified, and
China from India and Central Asia around the first century
peaceful content. This is the meaning of ´samatha, the calm-
BCE, the Chinese were exposed to a bewildering variety of
ing of the contents of consciousness, and the attainment of
Buddhist teachings. The major Indian schools were repre-
release from subjection to external circumstances.
sented, including the Madhyamika (Sanlun) and the Yoga-
Calming, transic absorption and insight are important
cara (Faxiang). Another school that developed in China, the
features of Buddhist ascesis; they continue to be fundamental
Tiantai, promulgated an elaborate meditative regime based
in both H¯ınaya¯na and Maha¯ya¯na schools. The Vajraya¯na, or
on a variety of scriptural sources. The Huayan school devel-
Tantric form of Buddhism, also developed elaborate visual-
oped a teaching and meditative discipline that led to a vision
ization meditations in which carefully delineated images of
of the harmony of totality and the mutual interpenetration
deities, or man:d:alas, were reproduced with great exactitude
of all things.
within the mind of the meditator. The Tantric form of Bud-
Two schools of Chinese Buddhism, the Chan and the
dhist meditation became firmly established in Tibet.
Jingtu (Pure Land school), developed different understand-
China. Contemplation and meditation have held a po-
ings of meditation practice, a difference often referred to as
sition of high importance in Chinese religious traditions.
that between “self-power” and “other-power.” “Other-
This is particularly true of the indigenous Daoist tradition
power” refers to a reliance on the grace of a deity for the
and the various schools of Buddhism imported from India.
achievement of salvation, an idea characteristic of the Pure
Daoism. Daoism in its early literary form (here referred
Land school. The idea behind this emphasis is that human
to as “classical Daoism”) and its later offshoot, which is usu-
beings are not strong enough to bring themselves to nirva¯n:a
ally termed “Neo-Daoism,” are usually thought of as the pri-
through their own meditative practices. Paradoxically, an ad-
mary province of contemplation in the Chinese indigenous
herent of this school is advised to call on the name of the sav-
tradition.
ing deity (Amitabha; Chin., Omituo Fo; Jpn., Amida) with
an undivided mind, thus constituting a mantralike form of
Laozi (seventh century BCE?) and Zhuangzu (365–290
apophthegmatic practice. Meditation in the “other-power”
BCE?) are the two main figures of classical Daoism. Since
schools tends toward the affective and cataphatic.
their existence as historical figures is questioned, here they
shall be referred to only by their works, now known as the
“Self-power” schools, like Chan (Jpn., Zen) Buddhism,
Laozu (or Dao de jing) and the Zhuangzi. These two books
are more austere and apophatic. The word chan is a translit-
contain the early formulation of the Daoist worldview and
eration of the Sanskrit term dhya¯na, which means “medita-
ethos. In Daoism there is a contrast between the superficiali-
tion” or “contemplation.” The Chan school emphasized
ties of conventional reality and the insight achieved by the
“self-power” and sitting in formless meditation. Because of
Daoist sage. The task of Daoist contemplation is to move
its exclusive emphasis on meditation, Chan developed an
from a partial and self-centered view of things to a holistic
iconoclastic attitude toward other forms of religious obser-
view of the cosmos and its spontaneously functioning dyna-
vance. In Chan, personal enlightenment through intense
mism.
meditation was the goal, and nothing was allowed to stand
in the way of this pursuit, not even the religious and doctri-
The Dao is the primary object of contemplation and
nal trappings of Buddhism itself.
meditation in the Daoist tradition. It is the ultimate princi-
ple beyond phenomenal manifestations and yet within which
In Chan monasteries, meditation occupied a major part
all phenomenal manifestations are brought forth and under-
of the daily routine. Formal meditation usually took place
go change. The first chapter of the Dao de jing emphasizes
in a separate building erected for the purpose and was super-
the ineffability of the true Dao:
vised by a senior monk. Attention was paid to details of tech-
nique, including posture in the lotus position, with an erect
The Dao (Way) that can be told of is not the Eternal
spine, and the achievement of comfort and relaxation there-
Dao;
in. Chan meditation focuses on the process of breathing,
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
leading to a gradual withdrawal from external stimuli. A
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
monk is instructed simply to observe the thoughts, feelings,
The Named is the mother of all things. (Zhan, 1963,
and visions that may come into consciousness, and let them
p. 139)
pass away of their own accord. When a monk is successful
The Dao is the substratum that remains when all verbal and
in detaching from both external and internal stimuli, the re-
physical phenomena are discarded. Awareness of the Dao can
sult is an experience of stillness and emptiness. This breaks
be reached through apophatic contemplation and medita-
up the tendency to identify with the body and mind and pro-
tion, that is, only through direct meditative experience. In
vides a new perspective on ordinary experience, marked by
order to attain inner illumination, the Daoist sage has to fol-
detachment, equanimity, and freedom from a sense of the
low a way of unknowing, of abandoning learning in favor
ego as a reference point for experience. This is a realization
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5822
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
beyond doctrine and beyond words themselves. The semileg-
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: PREHISTORIC
endary founder of Chan in China, Bodhidharma, is said to
EVIDENCE
have described Chan as “a special transmission outside the
In Neolithic western Europe, large stones, or megaliths (from
scriptures; no dependence on words and letters; direct point-
the Greek megas, “great,” and lithos, “stone”), were used for
ing at the mind of man; seeing into one’s own nature and
construction of tombs, temples, rings, alignments, and stelae.
the attainment of Buddhahood.”
The largest number of some fifty thousand megalithic monu-
ments are in Spain and Portugal, France, Britain, southern
SEE ALSO Alphabets; Attention; Breath and Breathing;
Sweden, and northern Germany. The terms megalithic cul-
Dhikr; Eremitism; Mantra; Mudra¯; Mystical Union in Juda-
ture and megalithic religion have been applied to the massive
ism, Christianity, and Islam; Mysticism; Nianfo; Postures
stone monuments. However, neither a separate megalithic
and Gestures; Samadhi; Via Negativa; Yantra; Yoga.
culture nor isolated megalithic religion existed. The culture
that produced megalithic monuments was a part of the west-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ern European Neolithic and Aeneolithic (a transitional peri-
Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. and ed. Instructions for Practical Living,
od between the Neolithic and Bronze ages). It consisted of
and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Wangming. New
a number of regional culture groups whose religion can be
York, 1963.
understood in the context of the gynecocentric Old Europe-
Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. and comp. A Source Book in Chinese Phi-
an (i. e., pre-Indo-European) religion inherited from Upper
losophy. Princeton, 1963.
Paleolithic times. Huge stones were used wherever they were
Chang Zhongyuan, trans. and ed. Original Teachings of Chan
readily available. Monumental architecture, motivated by re-
Buddhism. New York, 1969.
ligious ideas, emerged synchronically with the rise of a seden-
tary way of life.
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Meditation. London, 1956.
Carbon-14 dating has established that western Europe-
de Bary, Wm. Theodore, Wing-tsit Chan, and Burton Watson,
an megaliths were built over a span of at least three thousand
comps. Sources of Chinese Tradition. New York, 1960.
years, from the fifth to the second millennium BCE. They
Ernest, John, J. E. L. Oulton, and Henry Chadwick, eds. Alexan-
were constructed earlier than the Egyptian pyramids and do
drian Christianity: Selected Translations of Clement and Ori-
not descend from forms in the Near East; the majority of ar-
gen. London, 1954.
chaeologists now believe that their development was indige-
Francis of Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life. Rev. ed. Translat-
nous. If there was any diffusion of ideas, it occurred along
ed and edited by John K. Ryan. New York, 1972.
the seaboard and from the Atlantic coast toward the interior.
Kadloubovsky, Eugènie, and G. E. H. Palmer, trans. Writings from
Megalithic structures fall into four main categories. The
the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart. London, 1951.
first is the temple, found in the Mediterranean islands of
Naranjo, Claudio, and Robert E. Ornstein. On the Psychology of
Malta and Gozo. Maltese temples have solid walls of very
Meditation. New York, 1971.
large stone slabs, and their floor plan has apses that recall the
Needleman, Jacob. Los Christianity. New York, 1980.
shape of a seated or standing goddess. The second and largest
category of megalithic structures is the burial chamber,
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, and Charles A. Moore, eds. A Source
which is subdivided into dolmens (monuments of two or
Book in Indian Philosophy. Princeton, 1957.
more upright stones supporting a horizontal slab), passage
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill,
graves, court tombs, and gallery graves. Some passage graves
N. C., 1975.
are monumental buildings whose chambers have corbeled
Scholem, Gershom. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941).
vaults; for example, Newgrange in the Boyne River valley,
New York, 1961.
Ireland, which dates from 3200 to 3000 BCE, rises twenty
feet above the ground. The third category is the single up-
Suzuki, D. T. Zen and Japanese Culture. 2d ed., rev. & enl. Prince-
ton, 1959.
right stone, or menhir (the word comes from the Welsh
maen, “a stone,” and hir, “long”). Some of the menhirs found
Tart, Charles T. States of Consciousness. New York, 1975.
in Brittany are as high as six meters. A special kind of menhir,
Tsunoda, Ryusaku, Wm. Theodore de Bary, and Donald Keene,
called a statue menhir, is sculpted to represent a divinity. The
comps. Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2 vols. New York,
fourth category consists of grouped standing stones, placed
1958.
either in rows or in elliptical rings.
FREDERIC B. UNDERWOOD (1987)
Archaeologists once assumed that these megalithic mon-
uments had evolved from simple to more complex forms, but
the new chronology shows that some very elaborate buildings
predate the simple gallery graves.
MEGALITHIC RELIGION
This entry consists of the following articles:
Temples and tombs were built in the likeness of the
PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
Mother of the Dead or Mother Earth’s pregnant belly or
HISTORICAL CULTURES
womb; this is the key to understanding megalithic structures
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
5823
and their floor plans. The idea that caves and caverns are nat-
Silbury, Wiltshire, in southwestern England (Dames, 1976).
ural manifestations of the primordial womb of the goddess
Later excavations revealed that there were once wooden
is not Neolithic in origin; it goes back to the Paleolithic,
structures on top and beside the megalithic monuments that
when a cave’s narrow passages, oval-shaped areas, clefts, and
were just as important as the monuments. Postholes (indicat-
small cavities were marked or painted entirely in red, a color
ing the presence of structures) have been observed in low bar-
that must have symbolized the color of the mother’s genera-
rows in Brittany, Britain, and Denmark. Traces of a timber
tive organs. The rock-cut tombs and hypogea of Malta, Sici-
facade, a porch at the front end of the barrow, and palisade
ly, and Sardinia are usually uterine, egg-shaped, or roughly
enclosures have also been discovered (Madsen, 1979). The
anthropomorphic. Red soil is found under each temple of
exquisite decoration in bas-relief on stones at entrances (as
Malta.
at Newgrange) implies that ceremonies took place in front
of the cairns. Settlement debris in Irish court cairns has led
In western Europe, the body of the goddess is magnifi-
some scholars to believe that chambered tombs and long bar-
cently realized as the megalithic tomb. The so-called cruci-
rows should be considered not burial places but shrines.
form and double-oval tombs, as well as Maltese temples, are
However, excavations of megalithic chambers over the past
unmistakably human in shape. Some monuments replicate
two centuries have revealed skeletons, suggesting that the
the ample contours of figurines of the pregnant goddess.
monuments served as repositories and were used collectively
The earliest form of the grandiose chamber tombs is the
by the community. Some tombs have yielded as many as 350
passage grave, which consists of a corridor and principal
disarticulated skeletons; others contain only 5 to 20 skele-
chamber. The natural cave, with its connotations of the god-
tons, discovered in compartments where they were placed
dess’s womb (vagina and uterus), was probably the inspira-
after the flesh had decayed. In a few instances, skulls were
tion for the aboveground monumental structures that were
found stacked carefully in corners.
erected later. The basic form of the passage grave—a shorter
Long cairns in Britain have yielded so-called mortuary
or longer passage and a round, corbel-roofed chamber—
houses, which were constructed of timber or stone and had
dates from the fifth millennium BCE in Portugal, Spain, and
plank floors. The rectangular mortuary houses found at
Brittany.
Lochhill and Slewcairn contained three pits; the central one
The interior structures of many Neolithic court tombs
had two posts while the end pits held large split tree trunks
found in Ireland are outlined in a clearly anthropomorphic
(Masters, in Renfrew, 1981, p. 103). Mortuary houses are
form. In addition to a large abdomen and head, some struc-
also known from Denmark (Becker, in Daniel and Kjaerum,
tures have legs and even eyes. The term court cairns or court
1973, pp. 75–80; Madsen, 1979). These mortuary buildings
tombs comes from the semicircular entrance, built with large
yielded deposits of charcoal, dark soil, cremated bone, an oc-
stones, that characterize these structures. In many instances,
casional child’s skull, and flint tools, indicative of rituals in-
the court and one or more chambers attached to the middle
cluding sacrifices. It seems that megalithic structures and
of the edifice are all that remain of the cairn (De Valera,
long barrows, not unlike Christian cathedrals and churches,
1960, pls. ii-xxx). However, better-preserved examples show
served as shrines and ossuaries. No doubt the large monu-
that the court marks the inner contour of the anthropomor-
ments, exquisitely built and engraved with symbols on curb-
phic figure’s open legs; the chambers or a corridorlike struc-
stones and on inner walls, such as those at Knowth and New-
ture next to it, which leads into the very center of the mound,
grange (O’Kelly, 1983), Ireland, and Gavrinis, Brittany,
represents the vagina and uterus. The same symbolism is
were sacred places where funeral, calendrical, and initiation
manifested in different areas and periods. The Sardinian
rites took place. These monuments should be called not
tombe di giganti of the third and second millennia BCE, con-
“tombs” but rather “tomb-shrines.” The egg-shaped mound
sisting of a long chamber entered through the center of a
that covers the tomb-shrine of Newgrange is sprinkled with
semicircular facade, do not differ in symbolism from the
white quartz and looks like a huge egg-shaped dome. Proba-
Irish court tombs.
bly it was meant to represent a gigantic cosmic egg, the
womb of the world.
The other type of grave is a long barrow whose shape
resembles that of a bone, a symbol of death. Like the court
It is very likely that not all rituals were connected with
tombs, this type of grave has an entrance at the front that
death of humans and of all nature; some may have been initi-
leads into an anthropomorphic or uterus-shaped chamber.
ation rites. Typically, the entrances to the tombs are narrow,
resembling vulvas. One enters the mortuary house by either
Megalithic monuments were built to be seen. Careful
crawling or crouching along a narrow passage of stone. A wall
excavations and reconstructions have shown that much at-
of large curbstones, forming a forecourt, supports the mouth
tention was paid to their outer walls and facades. For exam-
of the passage entrance on both sides. The structure may be
ple, a reconstruction of a monument at Barnenez, Brittany,
a replica of the narrow and difficult entry into the mother
dating from the fifth millennium BCE (Giot, 1980), revealed
goddess’s womb.
a concentric series of walls with the upper parts of the inter-
nal walls visible. Another great structure, dating from the
In megalithic gallery graves of France, Switzerland, and
first half of the third millennium BCE, was reconstructed at
the Funnel-necked Beaker culture in Germany, partition
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5824
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
walls sometimes have round holes. Their meaning is appar-
as a metaphor for the goddess’s pregnant belly (Dames,
ent if the still-extant veneration of stones with holes is con-
1976). The entire structure forms an image of the goddess:
sidered; belief in the miraculous power of holed stones is still
the hill is her belly, the ditch forms the rest of her body in
found in Ireland, Scotland, England, France, and in many
a seated or squatting position. The circular summit of Sil-
other European countries. Trees with holes play a related
bury Hill is the goddess’s navel, or omphalos, in which her
role. By crawling through the aperture of a stone or tree, a
life-producing power is concentrated. Veneration of sacred
person is symbolically crawling into Mother Earth’s womb
hills was found in Europe until the twentieth century. Wor-
and giving oneself to her. Strengthened by the goddess’s
ship of the earth mother was celebrated on mountain sum-
powers, he or she is reborn. The crawling constitutes an initi-
mits crowned with large stones.
ation rite and is similar to sleeping in a cave, that is, “sleeping
The second deity associated with the symbolism of the
with the mother,” which means to die and to be resurrected.
megalithic monuments is the goddess of death and regenera-
Well-known sculptures of sleeping women from the Hal Saf-
tion in the guise of a bird of prey, usually an owl. Her image
lieni hypogeum in Malta, dating from approximately 3000
is engraved or modeled on statue menhirs, slabs of passage
BCE, most likely represent such an initiation rite.
and gallery graves, and on walls of subterranean tombs. She
The pregnant mother’s (or earth mother’s) generative
herself, her eyes, or her signs appear also on schist plaques,
potential is emphasized by the symbol of a mound and om-
phalanges (bones of toes or fingers), and stone cylinders laid
phalos (navel), which is found engraved or in bas-relief on
in graves.
stone slabs. For example, relief engravings completely cover
The characteristic features of the owl—round eyes and
the surface of twenty-three erect slabs within the passage
hooked beak—can be seen on the statue menhirs of southern
grave of Gavrinis, rendering an overall impression of symbol-
France and Iberia, as well as in reliefs and charcoal drawings
ic unity. This sanctuary, one of the richest megalithic monu-
in the hypogea of the Paris Basin. The face is frequently sche-
ments in Brittany, is situated on a small island in the Gulf
matized as a T shape or depicted with only eyes and brows
of Morbihan. The extensive use of wavy and concentric arc
or with a square head, surrounded by chevrons, in the center
motifs is in harmony with the monument’s aqueous environ-
of the forehead. On the slabs of gallery graves of Brittany,
ment. The dominant symbol found in this sanctuary is the
only breasts and necklaces are shown in relief as pars pro toto
concentric semicircle, interconnected with or surrounded by
of the owl goddess. The images of the owl goddess on schist
multiple wavy lines and serpentine forms. Several slabs are
plaques in the passage graves of Portugal have a prominent
decorated with concentric arcs, piled one on top of the other
nose or beak, schematized arms, three horizontal lines or
in vertical columns. The arcs in the center are larger than the
bands across the cheeks, occasional indications of a vulva,
rest and have an omphalos-like protrusion. In my opinion,
and a chevron design on the back. The goddess’s owl face
this image is a glyph of the goddess’s rising generative force.
appears on a very fine sculpture discovered at Knowth West,
Emphasis is on the anthropomorphic vulva or cervix sign in
Ireland. Her visage is immersed in a labyrinthine design
the center. (For other illustrations, see Twohig, 1981,
probably symbolic of the life source or life-giving waters; a
pp. 172–175.)
vulva is in the center. Images of the owl goddess on vases
Symbolically related to the passage grave of Gavrinis is
from Almería in Spain are at times associated with a honey-
the roughly triangular backstone of a passage grave from La
comb design—a maze of Vs, triangles, and lozenges.
Table des Marchands in Brittany. It has a vulva at its center,
The symbols associated with the owl goddess—wavy
flanked by energy signs—four rows of hooks—meant to
lines, hatched or zigzag band, net, labyrinth, meander, hon-
stimulate the life source. This symbolism is similar to that
eycomb, tri-line, hook, ax—all seem to be life-source, ener-
found on ancient Greek vases, in which the young goddess
gy, or life-stimulating signs. Their association with the owl
(Semele, Gaia) is depicted within an artificial mound sur-
goddess emphasizes regeneration as an essential component
rounded by satyrs, goatmen, and Dionysos, who stimulate
of her personality. The agony of death is nowhere perceptible
her generative powers. On other passage-grave slabs, the
in this symbolism.
symbol of an artificial mound surmounted by a knob is sur-
rounded by axes, another energy symbol, or in association
The round eyes of the owl goddess stare from bone pha-
with serpentine lines or snakes and footprints. Still other en-
langes and stone cylinders deposited in megalithic tombs in
gravings of the same image (called a “buckler” in the archaeo-
Spain and Portugal. The eyes and brows are incised in the
logical literature, where it has been seriously misunderstood)
upper part of the bone or stone cylinder and are surrounded
show wavy lines emanating from the upper part, which may
by chevrons, triangles, zigzags, and nets. Again, the symbols
signify the resurgence of plant life. The beehive-shaped
of death (bones, light-colored stone) are combined with
chamber, topped with a flat stone, found in passage graves
aquatic, life-source symbolism.
appears to be a pregnant belly and an omphalos. The so-
called buckler sign replicates the same idea in an engraving.
The goddess’s impressive, divine eyes gave rise to one
of her names, which came into use after the publication of
In his analysis of the Silbury Hill monument, Michael
The Eye Goddess by O. G. S. Crawford in 1957. The goddess
Dames shows that in Neolithic Britain the hill functioned
of the title was said to have originated in the Near East, her
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
5825
cult then diffusing across the Mediterranean to western Eu-
twelve—suggest a preoccupation with the cycles of time. The
rope. Indeed, the resemblance of figurines from the temple
involvement of the goddess in configurations of cycles of na-
of Tell Brak, eastern Syria (c. 3500 BCE), with their staring
ture and human life is certain. She must have been the over-
eyes and brows joined over the beak, to the stone idols of
seer and controller of life and moon cycles.
Spain and Portugal with their oculi motif is astonishing. The
similarity, however, most probably resulted from a universal-
Many western European tomb-shrines have been con-
ly held symbolic concept of divine eyes, from which western
structed so that the entrances align with the winter solstice.
variants developed. The western European eye goddess dates
The alignment of tomb entrances according to the moon’s
from the fifth and fourth millennia BCE (in Crawford’s day
position at the winter solstice suggests the importance of
considered to be the third and second millennia BCE). She
lunar influences on burial customs and suggests the associa-
has close parallels in southeastern Europe and certainly can-
tion with the lunar goddess, who was a cosmic regenerator.
not be an imported goddess.
These monuments were not built to serve as lunar or solar
observatories, as claimed by A. Thom (1979) and other sci-
Small stone hourglass figurines, sometimes with trian-
entists writing on the importance of megalithic astronomy.
gular heads, are frequently found in Iberian megalithic
Rather, their orientation according to lunar and solar phases
tombs of the Los Millares type, dating from the end of the
served essentially for the regeneration of life. Rebirth was in
fourth or early third millennium BCE. Hourglass figures also
the power of the goddess. In megalithic symbolic art we see
are painted on Neolithic cave walls in Spain and are engraved
the link between the time-measuring symbols and the sym-
on stones of Irish passage graves. The shape may have origi-
bols of her regenerative power, between sundials and divine
nated as a doubling of the pubic triangle (vulva) sign, con-
eyes, and between the gnomon and the cupmark, symbols
nected at the tip. In Sardinian hypogea, vulva and hourglass
of the life source and rebirth. Other associated symbols are
signs are interchanged. Engraved triangles and hourglass
expressions of regenerative aquatic or plant forces.
shapes also appear to be associated on Irish megaliths. Not
infrequently, hourglass symbols are engraved in triunes or
Ceremonial ships are engraved on inner tomb walls in
next to three encircled round holes, as on Curbstone 52 from
megalithic tombs in Brittany and Ireland. All depictions of
Newgrange. The number three may reflect the triple nature
ships are highly abstracted; some are just a row of vertical
of the goddess. In vase painting, the hourglass sign appears
lines connected by a bar at the bottom. However, frequently
in association with nets, serpentiforms, and snake meanders,
there is a zoomorphic or spiral head, probably that of a ser-
which link this symbol with the life source and water of life
pent, on the keel. Sometimes an abstracted image of the god-
symbolism. Bird feet or claws that appear attached to some
dess is shown being pulled by what may be a snake or ship.
hourglass figures on vases of the Cucuteni culture (northeast-
If the ship and serpent are interchangeable symbols (as they
ern Romania and western Ukraine) and of the Sardinian
are on Egyptian artifacts and on Scandinavian rocks from the
Ozieri culture speak for the association with the bird-of-prey
Bronze Age), then many winding serpents engraved on tomb
goddess. The hourglass shape itself may symbolize an incipi-
walls are life-renewal symbols. Perhaps it is not accidental
ent form of life in which the goddess of death and regenera-
that some of the winding snakes a and zigzags in Knowth and
tion emerges from graves or caves. This sign is related to the
Newgrange are joined to a triangle or lozenge (two triangles
butterfly, a horizontal hourglass and symbol of new life. The
joined at their bases), the special signs of the goddess of death
origins of the goddess’s image as a bird of prey are rooted
and regeneration, just as the feet of the birds of prey are at-
in the Paleolithic, as is documented by portrayals of owls in
tached to the prow of the ship on Cycladic platters dating
Upper Paleolithic caves and by the large birds and wing
from the middle of the third millennium BCE.
bones of large fowl found in Paleolithic graves.
Folk stories associate megalithic tombs with fearsome
Disarticulated skeletons and skulls in megalithic tombs
goddesses, such as the goddess Gráinne, the Old Hag of Celt-
are proof that excarnation was practiced. Corpses were of-
ic myths (Burl, 1981, p. 66). The original meaning of Gráin-
fered to the goddess, who was embodied in birds of prey.
ne is “ugliness.” Some cairns are said to be composed of
This practice is illustrated in frescoes of vulture shrines of
stones dropped from the apron of the Old Hag. At least forty
Çatal Hüyük, central Anatolia. Large birds were also buried
chambered tombs in Ireland are nicknamed “Diarmaid and
in megalithic tombs, probably as sacrifices to the goddess.
Gráinne’s Bed.” The passage grave at Knockmany, County
Excavations have uncovered a large deposit in a chambered
Tyrone, is called “Annia’s Cave,” a reference to the home of
tomb at Isbister in Orkney, Scotland. The greatest number
the hag Anu, guardian of the dead. Breast-shaped hills in
of bones came from the white-tailed eagle. Others were from
County Kerry, Ireland, are still called the “Paps of Anu.” Anu
short-eared owls, great black-backed gulls, rooks or crows,
is related to the Breton goddess Ankou (“death”) and to
and ravens (Hedges, 1983). All these birds feed on carrion.
other death goddesses with similar names (such as the Slavic
Geometric engravings on Irish megaliths—crescents,
Yaga, from *Enga; the Proto-Samoyed *Nga; the Near East-
circles, and concentric circles; serpentiforms or zigzags with
ern Anat, etc.). Thus the lunar goddess represented in
thirteen to seventeen turnings (the number of the moon’s
figurines as the White Lady, or Death, is still alive in folk
waxing days); subdivisions into four, six, or eight and
memories.
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5826
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: HISTORICAL CULTURES
In sum, the art of the megalithic monuments reveals the
L’Helgouac’h, Jean. Les sépultures mégalithiques en Armorique:
association with the two aspects of the prehistoric Great
Dolmens à couloir et allées couvertes. Alençon, 1965.
Goddess, the chthonic and the lunar. The underlying idea
MacKie, Evan. The Megalith Builders. Oxford, 1977.
of the ground plan and shape of the monuments was the be-
Madsen, Torsten. “Earthen Long Barrows and Timber Structures:
lief in the self-creating Mother Earth who was also the Moth-
Aspects of the Early Neolithic Mortuary Practice in Den-
er of the Dead. The sculptures (figurines and stelae), bas-
mark.” Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 45 (December
reliefs, and engravings represent the lunar goddess in an
1979): 301–320.
anthropomorphic shape as White Lady (Old Hag) and in the
Masters, Lionel J. “The Lochhill Long Cairn.” Antiquity 47
guise of a bird of prey, usually the owl. This second aspect
(1973): 96–100.
is the other side (the side associated with necrosis, night, and
Müller-Karpe, Hermann. Handbuch der Vorgeschichte, vol. 3, Kup-
winter) of the life giver in anthropomorphic or water-bird
ferzeit. Munich, 1974.
shape.
O’Kelly, Michael J. Newgrange: Archaeology, Art and Legend. Lon-
SEE ALSO Feminine Sacrality; Goddess Worship; Prehistoric
don, 1983.
Religions, article on Old Europe; Stones.
Renfrew, Colin, ed. The Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe.
London, 1981. A collection of essays, including “The Mega-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
lithic Tombs of Iberia” by Robert W. Chapman, “The
Almagro Basch, Martín, and Antonio Arribas. El poblado y la ne-
Megaliths of France” by P. R. Giot, “Megaliths of the Funnel
crópolis megalíticos de Los Millares. Madrid, 1963.
Beaker Culture in Germany and Scandinavia” by Lili Kaelas,
d’Anna, A. Les statues-menhirs et stèles anthropomorphes du midi
“Chambered Tombs and Non-Megalithic Barrows in Brit-
méditerranéen. Paris, 1977.
ain” by Lionel J. Masters, “The Megalithic Tombs of Ire-
land” by Michael J. O’Kelly, and “Megalithic Architecture
Arnal, Jean. Les statues-menhirs: Hommes et dieux. Paris, 1976.
in Malta” by David Trump.
Brennan, Martin. The Stars and the Stones: Ancient Art and Astron-
Thom, A. Megalithic Remains in Britain and Brittany. Oxford,
omy in Ireland. London, 1983.
1979.
Burl, Aubrey. Rites of the Gods. London, 1981.
Twohig, Elizabeth Shee. The Megalithic Art of Western Europe.
Crawford, O. G. S. The Eye Goddess. London, 1957.
Oxford, 1981.
Dames, Michael. The Silbury Treasure: The Great Goddess Redis-
MARIJA GIMBUTAS (1987)
covered. London, 1976.
Dames, Michael. The Avebury Cycle. London, 1977.
Daniel, Glyn E. The Megalith Builders of Western Europe. London,
1958.
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: HISTORICAL
Daniel, Glyn E. The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of France. Lon-
CULTURES
don, 1960.
Megaliths are simply monuments built of large stones. In
Daniel, Glyn E., and Poul Kjaerum, eds. Megalithic Graves and
Southeast Asia and Oceania, a variety of megaliths are found,
Ritual. Copenhagen, 1973. A collection of essays, including
some thousands of years old, others brand new. Early studies
“Problems of the Megalithic ‘Mortuary Houses’ in Den-
of these structures viewed them primarily in the context of
mark” by C. J. Becker and “The Relations between Kujavian
theories suggesting prehistoric migrations of megalith build-
Barrows in Poland and Megalithic Tombs in Northern Ger-
ers. In 1928 the eminent Austrian archaeologist Robert
many, Denmark and Western European Countries” by Kon-
Heine-Geldern wrote the first of a series of influential arti-
rad Jazdzewski.
cles, in which he argued that megaliths were created during
De Valera, Ruaidhrí. “The Court Cairns of Ireland.” Proceedings
two great waves of prehistoric migrations into Southeast
of the Royal Irish Academy 60, sec. C, 2 (1960): 9–140.
Asia. The first group, the “Older Megalithic Culture,” was
De Valera, Ruaidhrí, and Seán Ó Nualláin. Survey of the Megalith-
thought to have ushered in the Neolithic age, while the sec-
ic Tombs of Ireland, vol. 3, Counties. Dublin, 1972.
ond, the “Younger Megalithic Culture,” was credited with
Eogan, George. Excavations at Knowth. Dublin, 1984.
the introduction of metal.
Giot, P. R. Barnenez, Carn, Guennoc. Rennes, 1980.
Heine-Geldern’s view of megaliths as stepping-stones by
Giot, P. R., Jean L’Helgouac’h, and Jean-Laurent Monnier. Pré-
which archaeologists could trace prehistoric migrations dom-
histoire de la Bretagne. Rennes, 1979.
inated Southeast Asian archaeology for many years, giving
Hedges, John W. Isbister: A Chambered Tomb in Orkney. Oxford,
rise to extensive debates on the “problem of megaliths.” In
1983.
the past few decades, however, fresh waves of archaeologists,
Henshall, Audrey S. The Chambered Tombs of Scotland. 2 vols.
equipped with superior tool kits for prehistoric research,
Edinburgh, 1963–1972.
have passed over the territory first explored by Heine-
Herity, Michael. Irish Passage Graves: Neolithic Tomb-Builders in
Geldern. As the picture of prehistoric Southeast Asia became
Ireland and Britain, 2500 BC. New York, 1974.
clearer, Heine-Geldern’s theory of migratory megalith build-
Leisner, Georg, and Vera Leisner. Die Megalithgräber der iberisc-
ers had to be abandoned. Several prominent archaeologists
hen Halbinsel: Der Süden. Berlin, 1943.
subsequently issued a joint statement, for the benefit of those
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: HISTORICAL CULTURES
5827
who might not have kept up with the current state of archae-
important political events, with roots in the fundamental
ological research, that “the label ‘megalithic culture’ cannot
structure of Niasian chiefdoms. Niasian society was divided
reasonably be applied to any of the phases or levels of social
into patrilineal descent groups, and rank order within each
integration recognizable in the recent or prehistoric past of
lineage was determined by a cycle of feasts. Every adult male
South East Asia” (Smith and Watson, 1979, p. 253). In the
had to give the first six feasts in the cycle. But the “heads”
wake of the reaction against comprehensive theories linking
(ulu) of lineage branches had to give up to six additional
megaliths to prehistoric migrations, little effort has been
feasts, each more elaborate than the last. Each man would
made to sort out the historical relationships among the vari-
invite to his feasts his personal öri (“circle”)—a circle of kins-
ous builders of megaliths in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
men, friends, and allies linked by marriage ties or reciprocal
But, as we shall see, megaliths play an important role among
feasting. The supreme feast, given only by lineage heads,
many societies in the region, particularly those which share
drew together an öri of several lineages and villages, and es-
a common Austronesian cultural heritage. As Peter Bell-
tablished the boundaries of a chiefdom: a chiefdom was
wood, a leading authority on Pacific prehistory, observed re-
nothing more than the öri of a chief. This supreme feast was
cently, “The wide occurrence of megalithic monuments and
called the batu nitaru’o ba wa’ulu (“chief’s feast of the ni-
statues in Oceania suggests that their origins may go very
taru’o stone”). The larger the stone, the more people belong-
deep into the Austronesian past, possibly at least into the first
ing to the chief’s öri who participated, the greater the chief.
millennium B.C.” (Bellwood, 1978, p. 226).
Political authority was not vested automatically in a man
born as a lineage head; it had to be demonstrated through
Many types of megaliths are found in the Indo-Pacific
the feast cycle. The öri of the chief whose funeral Schröder
region, including menhirs (erect stones), dolmens (flat stones
photographed included sixteen villages.
resting on two stone pillars), stone seats, stepped stone pyra-
mids, and various types of stone tombs and sarcophagi. Ac-
In addition to the chief’s monuments, Niasians also
tive megalithic traditions exist today on several Indonesian
erected smaller megaliths for a variety of purposes related to
islands, possibly related to megalithic customs still found
their belief that stones provided temporary shrines for vari-
among hill tribes of Northeast India such as the Nagas. In
ous spirits. Each village had its batu banuwa (village stone)
Southeast Asia, the most elaborate and well-documented
celebrating the origin of the village. Childless women, espe-
megalithic traditions are found on the island of Nias, which
cially those of high rank, were considered likely to become
lies about seventy miles off the northwest coast of Sumatra.
dangerous ghosts. So they were often provided after their
In Nias, stones were put to many uses, foremost among them
deaths with small darodaro in case they should visit the vil-
being the large menhirs and dolmens erected as monuments
lage. Schröder, who spent several years exploring the island
to chiefs.
in the first decade of this century, recorded a wide variety of
megaliths in different villages. In one village, stones had been
In 1907 a Dutch colonial administrator, E. E. W. G.
placed near a bathing place “for the spirits to dry their
Schröder, photographed the erection of a dolmen as a monu-
clothes.” In another, he found stone seats with footprints
ment for a chieftain who had died the previous year. A rec-
below for childless women, because “she who dies without
tangular stone forty centimeters thick, three and one-half
children leaves no footprints on the earth.”
meters long, and two meters wide was dragged by means of
logrollers from a quarry to the summit of a hilltop village,
The advent of Christianity brought an end to most of
a distance of about two kilometers. There it was set on two
the megalithic customs of Nias in the past few decades, but
stone pillars outside the former chief’s house as a monument
on the island of Sumba three thousand kilometers to the
to his glory and as a home for his spirit, whenever the chief
southeast, megaliths even larger than those of Nias continue
might choose to visit the village. The project was organized
to be erected in honor of important chiefs. On Sumba, there
by his son and successor, who mobilized 525 kinsmen and
is no parallel to the Niasian batu nitaru’o (the stones erected
allies to transport the stone. Schröder’s dramatic photo-
by living chiefs), but the death of a chief calls for the erection
graphs show the chief’s son atop the stone as it is being
of a stone sarcophagus reminiscent of the darodaro. Like the
dragged uphill; he is wearing a warrior’s costume and waving
Niasians, the Sumbanese usually build their villages on hill-
his sword.
tops, and the center of the village is dominated by an array
of these megaliths, which may weigh as much as thirty tons.
Such megaliths, called darodaro, were personal monu-
Stones (ondi) are cut from native limestone, and placed atop
ments erected about a year after the death of a chief by his
a wooden platform (tena) which the Sumbanese liken to a
kinsmen and allies. Often the chief’s skull was placed in a
ship, complete with a figurehead in the shape of a horse’s
niche in the darodaro, along with his sword and other regalia.
head. Dragging the stone to the village may take weeks and
The larger the darodaro, and the more people who participat-
call for the efforts of several hundred men. As in Nias, a chief
ed in dragging the stone and celebrating the funeral feast, the
(rato) stands on the stone and gives directions. Stone drag-
greater the chief. The same logic also applied to a second type
ging is dangerous, and responsibility for managing things so
of megalith erected in honor of chiefs, the batu nitaru’o,
that the stone does not slip and kill or injure someone rests
which was an upright stone or menhir placed in front of a
with the chief. Every day, numbers of water buffalo and pigs
living chief’s house. The erection of such monuments were
must be slaughtered to feed the whole party.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5828
MEGALITHIC RELIGION: HISTORICAL CULTURES
As in Nias, Sumbanese social organization is based on
The largest Polynesian marae were stepped stone pyra-
alliances between clans, and the strength of an alliance is
mids, of which the greatest was the marae of Mahaiatea in
demonstrated by the number of allies who arrive to partici-
Tahiti (now destroyed). Mahaiatea was a rectangular pyra-
pate in the megalithic funeral, bringing gifts of water buffalo
mid of eleven steps, with a base measuring eighty-one meters
and pigs. As many as a hundred buffalo and pigs may be
by twenty-two meters. Similar structures were once common
slaughtered for a major funeral, their horns and jawbones
in Bali, such as the village temple (Pura Desa) of the village
later tied to the chief’s house as mementos of the feast. The
of Sembiran, although in Bali such pyramids may be inter-
more such trophies, and the larger the stone slab, the greater
preted in a Hindu idiom as prasada (“cosmic mountain”).
the chief. At the conclusion of the funeral, the chief’s body
We have noted several common uses for megaliths in
is placed in the tomb and his favorite horse is killed so that
the Indo-Pacific region—as tombs and monuments to the
the horse’s spirit may lead him to the spirit world.
power of chiefs, and as temporary shrines or resting-places
A different sort of megalithic tradition is found on the
for ancestral spirits and gods. In Polynesia, we encounter also
island of Bali, a tradition nicely exemplified by a chance dis-
a different type of megalith, the importance of which is only
covery made in 1935 by the first archaeologist to work in
beginning to be recognized—navigational “sighting stones.”
Bali, William F. Stutterheim. Near a spring sacred to the
These stones, which are found on several islands, appear to
early Hindu kings of Bali, he found a stone with a weather-
have served three related purposes: as markers to align bea-
worn inscription.
cons (watch fires?) for ships sailing to neighboring islands;
None of the Balinese could decipher the old engraved
as the centers of navigational schools where students could
letters, nor were the contents of the inscription known
learn the movements of useful stars by watching star after star
to anyone. The stone stood there, as every villager of
appear at a particular point on the horizon marked by a
Manukaya knew it from childhood, wrapped in a white
stone, according to the seasons; and as timekeeping devices,
cloth and provided with regular offerings. I was told,
predicting the position of sunrise and sunset at the solstices.
however, that on the fourth moon of every year, at full
For example, on the island of Arorae, in the Kiribati (Gilbert
moon, this stone (which is also said to have fallen from
Islands), nine stones at the northernmost tip of the island
the sky) is carried to the holy waters of Tirta Mpul and
point accurately toward three neighboring islands. Each
bathed therein—much to the detriment of the stone, by
stone points about five degrees out, perhaps to allow for the
the way, which is a big slab of soft grey tufa covered as
drift caused by the equatorial current in different seasons. Al-
usual with a thin layer of cement. Deciphering the in-
though no longer in active use, these megalithic “sighting
scription, I found that it was none other than the char-
ter of Tirta Mpul’s foundation, made in the fourth
stones” may have played an important role in prehistoric Pa-
month, at full-moon day, in the year 962
cific voyaging. Much remains to be learned about the func-
A.D. Thus the
people have kept alive the connection between the stone
tions of these stones and the other megaliths of the Indo-
and the watering place for a thousand years, and have
Pacific.
always celebrated its anniversary on the correct day, but
of the true meaning of this connection every recollec-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion was lost. (Stutterheim, 1935, p. 7)
There are two useful references for locating sources on particular
Bali is now famous as the last surviving Hindu-Buddhist civi-
megalithic customs. For Southeast Asia, see H. H. E. Loofs’s
lization of Indonesia. But the stone of Manukaya draws our
Elements of the Megalithic Complex in Southeast Asia: An An-
attention to deeper, pre-Hindu roots of Balinese religion. Al-
notated Bibliography (Canberra, 1967), which reflects, how-
though the Balinese worship Hindu gods, they do so in tem-
ever, an outdated theoretical perspective. For Oceania, the
ples that resemble ancient Polynesian marae much more than
literature on megaliths is surveyed in Peter Bellwood’s com-
prehensive Man’s Conquest of the Pacific (Oxford, 1978).
traditional Indian temples. Balinese temples, like Polynesian
More recent information on megaliths in Southeast Asia is
marae, are basically rectangular walled courtyards open to the
contained in R. B. Smith and William Watson’s Early South
sky, with a row of menhirlike shrines at one end. While the
East Asia (Oxford, 1979), in which Glover, Bronson, and Ba-
Balinese shrines may be much more elaborate than those typ-
yard comment on Christie’s presentation of the “Megalithic
ical of Polynesia, occasionally replacing stone with wood, the
Problem.” The megalithic traditions of Nias are described
two types of shrines perform the same function of providing
and illustrated in exemplary detail in E. E. W. G. Schröder’s
a temporary resting-place for visiting spirits of gods or ances-
Nias: Ethnographische, Geographische, en Historische Aan-
tors. Both Balinese and Polynesians believe that the gods are
tekeningen (Leiden, 1917). A brief summary in English based
not continuously present, but temporary, invisible visitors
on Schröder may be found in Edwin M. Loeb’s Sumatra: Its
who like to alight in menhirs or similar objects for brief visits.
History and People (1935; Oxford, 1972), which also con-
tains an appendix by Robert Heine-Geldern on “The Ar-
Even the details of worship are often quite similar—both Ba-
chaeology and Art of Sumatra,” summarizing his views on
linese and ancient Polynesians wrapped cloths around the
megaliths. On navigational stones in the Pacific, see Brett
stones for important festivals. Unlike the Balinese, but very
Hilder’s article in Polynesian Navigation, edited by Jack Gol-
much in the spirit of the Niasians and Sumbanese, the an-
son (Wellington, 1963), and Thomas Gladwin’s East Is a Big
cient Polynesians buried important chiefs within their tem-
Bird: Navigation and Logic on Puluwat Atoll (Cambridge,
ples, and sometimes consecrated them with human sacrifices.
Mass., 1970). Sumbanese megalithic customs are outlined in
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEHER BABA
5829
Christiaan Nooteboom’s Oost-Soemba, Een Volkenkundige
modestly in the West, especially in the United States, Eu-
Studie, Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological and Lin-
rope, and Australia, judging by the number of people attend-
guistic Institute, no. 3 (The Hague, 1940), and in Janet Ali-
ing gatherings devoted to Meher Baba in those countries.
son Hoskins’s “So My Name Shall Live: Stone-Dragging and
More rapid growth has taken place in India. It is difficult to
Grave-Building in Kodi, West Sumba,” Bijdragen tot de
calculate the precise number of followers around the world
Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 145 (1986): 1–16. William F.
because there is no formal membership or central authority.
Stutterheim’s Indian Influences in Old-Balinese Art (London,
Many Meher Baba devotees remain active participants in the
1935) sketches the major monuments of ancient Bali.
world’s major religious traditions. Nevertheless, a variety of
New Sources
organizations have been founded in his name in the West
Rao, S. K. “Megalithic Religion among Savara of Srikakulam Dis-
and East to spread his message of divine love and the oneness
trict, South India.” Eastern Anthropology 42, no. 3 (1989):
of all life.
289–293.
Meher Baba’s followers (often called “Baba lovers”) at-
Van Tilburg, Jo Anne, and James L. Amos. “Moving the Moai:
tempt to heed his wish to found no new religion or sect by
Transporting the Megaliths of Easter Island: How Did They
Do It?” Archaeology 48, no. 1 (January–February 1995):
resisting efforts to impose any one creed or interpretation of
34–43.
his writings. They feel themselves to be in an individual
lover-beloved relationship with Meher Baba, believing that
J. STEPHEN LANSING (1987)
he inwardly guides them in their spiritual journey to elimi-
Revised Bibliography
nate the ego (false self) and to realize God as the “true Self.”
Many of his followers gather informally in groups to share
experiences of his love and guidance and to discuss his life
MEHER BABA (1894–1969), born Merwan Sheriar
and work.
Irani, was a spiritual master who declared himself the avatar
Among Meher Baba’s close circle of companions, Meh-
(descent of God into human form) of this age. Beginning in
era J. Irani was his chief woman disciple, a role Meher Baba
1925 he observed silence for the rest of his life, communicat-
compared to that of S¯ıta¯ for Ra¯ma and Ra¯dha¯ for Kr:s:n:a.
ing at first by pointing at letters on an alphabet board and
During Meher Baba’s lifetime, Mehera was strictly cloistered
later through hand gestures. Meher Baba (Compassionate
from the outside world. After his death, Mehera played a
Father) stated that his silence and the breaking of his silence
more public role, greeting pilgrims and sharing stories of her
would bring about a universal transformation of conscious-
life with Meher Baba. Mehera passed away on May 20, 1989,
ness through a release of divine love in the world.
and is buried next to Meher Baba at Meherabad, near Ah-
Meher Baba was born on February 25, 1894, in Pune,
mednagar, India.
India, into a Zoroastrian family of Persian descent. In 1913,
Two sites associated with Meher Baba’s life have be-
while attending Deccan College, he met the first of five “per-
come places of pilgrimage for his followers. The most impor-
fect masters” (fully enlightened or God-realized individuals),
tant is his tomb shrine at Meherabad, where tens of thou-
who made him aware of his identity as avatar. Stating that
sands of devotees gather every January 31 to commemorate
he had come “not to teach but to awaken,” Meher Baba dem-
the day Meher Baba left his physical body. Meherabad is also
onstrated the essential oneness of all life through acts of love
the site of a free school, medical clinic, hospital, and other
and service. Throughout his life he served the poor, the phys-
institutions established at Meher Baba’s directive to serve
ically and mentally ill, the “God-intoxicated” aspirants
those in need. The other place of pilgrimage is Meher Spiri-
whom he called masts, and others in need. He indicated that
tual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Meher
his outer activities were symbolic of the inner awakening that
Baba stayed during his three visits to the United States in the
constituted his real work. Giving no importance to the divi-
1950s. This center is now a place of spiritual renewal and re-
sions of caste or creed, he drew followers from many faiths
treat for thousands of people each year.
and social classes.
SEE ALSO Indian Philosophies; New Religious Movements,
In the early days of his mission, Meher Baba forewarned
articles on New Religious Movements in Europe, New Reli-
his disciples that his “universal work” would require of him
gious Movements in the United States.
great suffering, including the shedding of his blood on Amer-
ican and Indian soil. Outwardly, the suffering took the form
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of two automobile accidents, the first in the United States
Works by Meher Baba
(1952) and the second in India (1956). In one the entire left
The most comprehensive book containing Meher Baba’s guidance
side on his body was injured, and in the other the entire right
concerning spiritual life is Discourses (Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
side was severely damaged. In spite of his suffering, Meher
1987). For a detailed explanation of his cosmology, see God
Baba gave darshan (personal blessing) to thousands of people
Speaks: The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose, 2d ed. (New
during the 1950s and early 1960s.
York, 1973). Both of these books were dictated by Meher
Baba on an alphabet board. Many later discourses given
Since his death (the “dropping of his body”) on January
through hand gestures are collected in The Everything and the
31, 1969, Meher Baba’s worldwide following has grown
Nothing (Myrtle Beach, S.C., 1989).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5830
MEDIR
Works about Meher Baba
ous observance: “Rabbi MeDir used to say, ‘There is no man
The most reliable biography is C. B. Purdom’s The God-Man
in Israel who does not perform one hundred commandments
(Myrtle Beach, S.C., 1971), which also contains an interpre-
each day [and recite over them one hundred blessings]. . . .
tation of Meher Baba’s life and message. For an extensive ac-
And there is no man in Israel who is not surrounded by [re-
count of Meher Baba’s work with the God-intoxicated, ad-
minders of the] commandments: [Every person wears] phy-
vanced aspirants, sa¯dhus, and poor, consult William
lacteries on his head, phylacteries on his arm, has a mezuzah
Donkin’s The Wayfarers (San Francisco, 1969). An intimate
on his doorpost and four fringes on his garment around
look at life with Meher Baba is in Kitty L. Davy’s Love Alone
Prevails: A Story of Life with Meher Baba (Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
him’” (Tosefta, Ber. 6.24–25). Many Midrashic teachings
1981).
and several fables are also attributed to MeDir.
CHARLES C. HAYNES (1987 AND 2005)
SEE ALSO Tannaim.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MEDIR (second century
No systematic critical analysis has been made of the rich and ex-
CE), Palestinian tanna. According
to legend, MeDir was descended from a family of proselytes
tensive corpus of traditions associated with MeDir. Two bio-
graphical treatments of MeDir are Adolf Blumenthal’s Rabbi
that traced its line back to the Roman emperor Nero. He al-
Meir: Leben und Wirken eines jüdischen Weisen (Frankfurt,
legedly studied with both EAqivaD ben Yosef and YishmaEeDl.
1888), which is a classical treatment of rabbinic biography,
MeDir was one of the five rabbis secretly ordained by Yehudah
and Naomi G. Cohen’s “Rabbi Meir: A Descendant of Ana-
ben BavaD during the Hadrianic persecutions that followed
tolian Proselytes,” Journal of Jewish Studies 23 (Spring 1972):
the collapse of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (c. 132–135 CE), and
51-59, which critically examines the sources pertaining to
he was one of the seven disciples of EAqivaD who issued a fa-
MeDir’s lineage. Jacob N. Epstein in his Prolegomena ad Lit-
mous edict concerning the intercalation of the year that was
teras Tannaiticus (Jerusalem, 1957) discusses, in Hebrew, the
crucial to the maintenance of the Jewish festivals.
role of MeDir’s materials in the formation of the Mishnah.
Robert Goldenberg’s analysis in The Sabbath-Law of Rabbi
MeDir is associated with ElishaE ben Avuyah, a heretic
Meir (Missoula, Mont., 1978) is confined to the examination
also known as Ah:er, “the Other.” Some rabbinic sources de-
of MeDir’s contribution to the laws of a single tractate. Rabbi
pict MeDir as a sometime student of ElishaE (B.T., H:ag. 15a).
Meir: Collected Sayings (Jerusalem, 1967) is a compendium,
in Hebrew, of all the references to MeDir in rabbinic litera-
The tomb of the legendary MeDir BaEal ha-Nes in Tiberi-
ture, edited by Israel Konovitz. Avigdor Shinan in his “The
as, a famous place of pilgrimage, is identified in some ac-
Brother of Rabbi Meir,” Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Litera-
counts as the burial place of MeDir. Other Talmudic tradi-
ture 2 (1983): 7–20, analyzes a Midrashic story about MeDir.
tions suggest that MeDir died in self-imposed exile in Asia
Minor, where, at his request, he was buried beside the sea
New Sources
so that he could be near the waters that wash up on the shores
Kushelevsky, Rella. “The Image of Woman in Transition from
East to West: The Tale of R. Meir and His Friend’s Wife in
of the Land of Israel (J.T., Kil. 9.4, 32c).
the ‘Book of Comfort’ and in Manuscript Parma 2295 de
MeDir is prominently linked to the major rabbinic legis-
Rossi 563.” Aschkenas 11 (2001): 9–38.
lative and political activities of his generation. He served as
TZVEE ZAHAVY (1987)
the h:akham (“sage”) of the revived Sanhedrin that met at
Revised Bibliography
Usha in the Galilee. His ability to defend both sides of op-
posing legal viewpoints was greatly extolled. Ultimately, his
opposition to the authority of the nasi D ShimEon ben Gam-
liDel was the basis for his exile from Israel.
MEDIR BEN BARUKH OF ROTHENBURG
(c. 1220–1293), known by the acronym MaHaRaM
Legal rulings ascribed to MeDir make up an important
(Morenu ha-Rav MeDir [“our teacher, Rabbi MeDir”]); Ger-
part of the earliest rabbinic compilations, the Mishnah and
man Talmudist, authority on rabbinic law, and communal
the Tosefta. The Talmud states that all anonymous rulings
leader. MeDir’s early years were spent studying under Yitsh:aq
in the Mishnah are to be attributed to MeDir. Epstein (1957)
ben Mosheh of Vienna and Yeh:iDel of Paris; he witnessed the
believes that the corpus of his teachings was one of the pri-
famous Paris disputation of 1240 and saw the Talmud
mary documents used in the redaction of the Mishnah. Since
burned publicly in 1242. Eventually he settled in Rothen-
the laws in the Mishnah form the basis for much of Talmud-
burg and with the passing years was universally recognized
ic and later rabbinic thought and practice, it is fair to say that
by contemporaries as the greatest of Ashkenazic rabbis. With
MeDir is one of the most influential classical rabbinic figures.
the increasingly precarious situation of German Jewry in the
MeDir’s dicta deal with most of the central values of rab-
latter decades of the thirteenth century, culminating in Ru-
binic Judaism; he placed extreme emphasis on the study of
dolph I’s imposition of the status of servi camerae (“servants
Torah and strongly castigated the unlettered. One tradition
of the chamber”) on all Jews and, in 1286, his confiscation
attributed to him indicates his understanding of rabbinic rit-
of the properties of Jews who left his domain, many fled.
ual as a coherent system of practice that demanded punctili-
MeDir himself was apprehended in Lombardy in an attempt
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANCHTHON, PHILIPP
5831
to flee Germany and was imprisoned—possibly because of
History of the Jews, vol. 9, 2d ed. (New York, 1965),
his role as a leader of the mass exodus. He remained in prison
pp. 135–193, gives historical background.
for the rest of his life, mostly in Ensisheim Castle in Alsace.
GERALD J. BLIDSTEIN (1987)
Communal efforts to ransom the master never succeeded
and, indeed, it was not until 1307 that his body was released
for burial in exchange for a huge sum. In the sixteenth centu-
ry Shelomoh Luria cited a tradition that MeDir himself for-
MEISTER ECKHART SEE ECKHART,
bade payment of the exorbitant price, and Irving Agus has
JOHANNES
further claimed that the crux of the matter was its nature—
was it to be ransom or tax? In these interpretations, MeDir
becomes a martyr for Jewish law and the integrity of the
community. Sources contemporary with events more soberly
MELANCHTHON, PHILIPP (1497–1560), born
indicate that MeDir died in the course of protracted negotia-
Philipp Schwartzerd; German theologian and major six-
tions for his release.
teenth-century reformer, writer of Protestantism’s first sys-
tematic theology, organizer of the Protestant public school
MeDir’s preeminence is indicated by the express state-
system, and author of two statements of Lutheran belief: the
ments of his contemporaries, the scope and quantity of his
Augsburg Confession and its apology. Although he was a
responsa, and his impact on subsequent halakhic history.
close friend of Martin Luther for twenty-eight years, his hu-
Though it is unlikely that MeDir was ever officially appointed
manism and stance on nonessentials brought charges of cor-
chief rabbi of Germany, he undoubtedly fulfilled that func-
rupting Lutheranism.
tion. Close to one thousand of his responsa have been pre-
served, a number far exceeding the combined mass of all
Born in Bretten, Germany, and orphaned at ten, Me-
other tosafist responsa. On the whole, MeDir avoids prolix dis-
lanchthon received tutoring from his grandfather John Reu-
cussions, combining care and decisiveness in his writing. Ac-
ter and the linguist John Unger. He attended the Pforzheim
knowledging fully the authority of the Talmud, he maintains
Latin School where his granduncle John Reuchlin, the He-
an independent stance in relation to his contemporaries,
braic scholar and humanist, supervised him for two years.
even when their rabbinical posture is allied with communal
For achievement in Latin and Greek, Reuchlin named his
and economic power. About one hundred of his responsa deal
nephew Melanchthon—Greek for Schwartzerd, meaning
with community governance and organization. These texts
“black earth.” He entered Heidelberg University in 1509, at
are of great significance; they provide invaluable data on the
the age of twelve, and was awarded the B.A. in 1511 but was
social history of the period and offer substantial insight into
rejected as too young to pursue the M.A. At Tübingen Uni-
MeDir’s political ideology. In general, MeDir walks a thin line
versity he received the M.A. in 1514, edited for Thomas An-
between the protection of individual rights and the need to
shelm’s press, and published translations of Plutarch, Pythag-
give the community the legal weapons necessary for its sur-
oras, and Lycidas, comedies of Terence in verse, and his
vival and well-being.
popular Rudiments of the Greek Language (1518). Called in
1518 to teach Greek at Wittenberg University, Melanchthon
In addition to his responsa, MeDir wrote and edited tosa-
became Luther’s lifelong colleague. While teaching, he stud-
fot (“additions”) to many tractates of the Talmud; during his
ied theology and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1519, his only
latter years in prison he was allowed access to some books
theological degree. Thenceforth, Melanchthon taught clas-
and could be visited by students. His habits were noted and
sics and theology. In 1530 he married Katherine Krapp, who
recorded by his students, who became the rabbinic leaders
bore him four children.
of the next generation. MeDir’s magisterial figure is promi-
In 1521 Melanchthon’s Loci communes rerum theologi-
nent in subsequent Ashkenazic rabbinic development, and
carum appeared, Protestantism’s first systematic theology,
many of the decisions and customs recorded in Mosheh
which was highly lauded by Luther. It dealt with basic Refor-
Isserles’s glosses to the Shulh:an Earukh, authoritative for Ash-
mation tenets on sin, law, and grace, and went through many
kenazic Jews, derive from his work.
enlarged editions. Besides maintaining an extensive corre-
spondence, Melanchthon produced classical treatises, trans-
SEE ALSO Judaism, article on Judaism in Northern and
lations, commentaries, theological works, and numerous
Eastern Europe to 1500; Tosafot.
textbooks. He was called Germany’s preceptor for reorganiz-
ing numerous schools and universities. The Augsburg Con-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
fession (1530), Lutheranism’s basic statement of faith, was
conciliatory toward Roman Catholicism without sacrificing
Irving A. Agus’s stimulating Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, 2 vols.
(Philadelphia, 1947), is the most detailed analysis of MeDir’s
evangelical views; the Apology for the Augsburg Confession
life and achievement; Agus also provides translations of a
(1531) was boldly assertive. Melanchthon encountered criti-
large number of MeDir’s responsa. A more sober treatment is
cism when in the Variata of 1540 he changed the Augsburg
E. E. Urbach’s Ba Ealei ha-tosafot, vol. 2, 4th ed. (Jerusalem,
Confession to allow a Calvinistic interpretation of the Eu-
1980), pp. 521–570. Salo W. Baron’s A Social and Religious
charist. His ecumenical efforts brought temporary unity be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5832
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
tween Martin Bucer and Luther in 1536 on the real eucharis-
only the islands east of New Guinea, though without arguing
tic presence of Christ. However, his irenic agreement with
that New Guinea is culturally distinct. Others have suggested
Cardinal Contarini on justification was rejected by Luther
that Fiji, because of its links with Tonga, should be consid-
and the papacy. Fearful of antinomianism, Melanchthon,
ered part of Polynesia. Here, following the most common
with Luther’s support, insisted that good works follow faith,
usage, Melanesia will be understood to extend from New
but this view seemed too Roman Catholic for some critics.
Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, encompassing the is-
Melanchthon’s contention that the Word, the Holy Spirit,
lands of the Torres Straits, the Bismarck archipelago, the Sol-
and the consenting human will have a part in conversion
omons, Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), New Caledo-
evoked charges of synergism—cooperation between God and
nia, and many smaller islands.
man. Melanchthon was accused by many of being too hu-
manistic, though not by Luther.
Within the northeastern part of this region, a few is-
lands are inhabited by people whose languages and cultures
Following Luther’s death in 1546 and the Lutheran mil-
are classified as Polynesian, such as the inhabitants of
itary defeat at Mühlenberg in 1547, Melanchthon accepted
Tikopia and Bellona. Although these peoples’ homes now
some Catholic views as nonessentials, or adiaphora, in the
belong to the same political units as the Melanesian islands,
Augsburg-Leipzig Interim of 1548–1549, in order to avoid
scholars consider them part of Polynesia. Nevertheless, it is
civil war and the destruction of Wittenberg. Although Me-
difficult to draw a line between the cultures of Melanesia and
lanchthon boldly rejected the Augsburg Interim as too con-
of Polynesia to the east, Indonesia to the west, and Microne-
trary to Protestant views, he later reluctantly accepted the
sia to the north, and many continuities exist with these
Leipzig Interim after securing justification by faith, clerical
neighboring regions. Furthermore, given its small total land
marriage, and confession without enumeration of all sins,
area, Melanesia contains a much larger number of distinct
though scriptural authority was left vague. Other provi-
languages and cultures than any other part of the world. This
sions—episcopal rule, baptism as in ancient times, confirma-
diversity greatly hampers generalization about Melanesia; it
tion, extreme unction, repentance, pictures, clerical dress,
is only possible to mention features that recur with some reg-
and numerous Catholic ceremonies—he agreed to as nones-
ularity, while acknowledging that a single culture might fail
sentials. Strict Lutherans strongly objected. The Formula of
to exhibit any of them.
Concord later asserted that nothing during persecution
should be deemed nonessential. Melanchthon died in Wit-
As has happened elsewhere, an additional complication
tenberg on April 19, 1560.
was introduced by foreign missionaries bringing their own
religions and seeking to replace the indigenous ones. The
B
westernmost portion of the island of New Guinea was some-
IBLIOGRAPHY
Manschreck, Clyde L. Melanchthon: The Quiet Reformer. New
what influenced by Islam, coming via Indonesia, but in the
York, 1958. Good, full, biographical study of Melanchthon.
rest of Melanesia various Christian denominations have
Manschreck, Clyde L., trans. and ed. Melanchthon on Christian
greatly altered most traditional religious practices and beliefs.
Doctrine (1965). Grand Rapids, Mich., 1982. Translation of
These were further affected by encounters with other for-
Melanchthon’s late Loci communes (1555).
eigners, whose very existence and whose technology changed
Maxcey, Carl E. Bona Opera: A Study in the Development of the
traditional worldviews; colonial governments also forbade a
Doctrine in Philip Melanchthon. Neieuwkoop, Netherlands,
range of practices, such as ways of dealing with corpses, that
1980. Good study of Melanchthon’s controversial views on
often were closely tied to religion. Both missionaries and
good works.
government officers arrived in some parts of coastal Melane-
Pauck, Wilhelm, ed. Melanchthon and Bucer. Philadelphia, 1969.
sia in the nineteenth century, but did not enter the High-
Library of Christian Classics, vol. 19. Translation of Loci
lands (mountainous interior) of New Guinea until the
communes (1521).
1930s. Fifty years later there are still a few parts of this island
Rogness, Michael. Philip Melanchthon: Reformer without Honor.
not yet exposed to missionary influence. Inevitably, our ideas
Minneapolis, 1969. Short, good appraisal of Melanchthon’s
about Melanesian religion derive mainly from a small sample
views.
of societies that were either contacted late or that, unlike
most, resisted conversion to Christianity. Most of these are
CLYDE L. MANSCHRECK (1987)
found in the interior of New Guinea and of some large is-
lands in the Solomons and Vanuatu, but the group includes
a few small islands, such as Manus (Great Admiralty Island)
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS
This entry consists of the following articles:
and Wogeo, both north of New Guinea, whose societies were
described by anthropologists before the missionaries arrived.
AN OVERVIEW
MYTHIC THEMES
As regards the rest of Melanesia, because conversion has
often been recent and not so thorough as to eradicate all tra-
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
ditional beliefs, it is still possible in most cases to learn much
Anthropologists have disagreed about the exact geographical
about certain aspects of indigenous religion. Theories about
boundaries of Melanesia, some using the term to designate
the magical causes of disease, sexual attraction, and bad
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
5833
weather often persist long after orthodox Christian ideas
the dead, especially if the correct funeral rites have not been
about the destiny of the soul have been accepted. Rarely,
performed, very rarely is there any idea of punishment after
however, is any religious belief or practice of Melanesians liv-
death for those who have misbehaved in life. The land of the
ing in the twenty-first century precisely like that of their an-
dead is usually much like that of the living, though perhaps
cestors. The accelerated spread of ideas from other societies
somewhat more pleasant; in most societies all of the dead
as the result of pacification and wage labor, the introduction
share the same sort of afterlife, gardening, marrying, and be-
of modern technology, new conditions such as foreign dis-
having much like the living. Ghosts of the newly deceased
eases, and an altered worldview produce changes even in such
are thought most likely to stay around their old villages for
practices as garden magic and birth ritual. In the vast majori-
some time before really severing ties with their kin, but often
ty of cases, contemporary Melanesian religions are highly
people have contradictory ideas about the behavior of ghosts,
syncretic, and only in a handful of scattered societies is it pos-
simultaneously believing that they proceed immediately to
sible to appreciate the full complexity and emotional impact
the land of the dead and that they continue to haunt the vil-
of the original systems. Given the persistence of many ideas,
lage and its environs. In Manus the skull of a particular dead
however, it is still possible to use the present tense to describe
kinsman, in which his ghost resided, would be kept to serve
selected aspects of the religions, as will be done here.
as guardian for each adult man but was banished into a sort
THE SPIRIT WORLD. One of the few valid generalizations
of limbo when it failed to confer benefits or when its “ward”
about Melanesian religions is that they all include a belief in
died. In many other societies men summon the ghosts of
a variety of spirits, some of human origin and some not, who
dead kin to help with specific enterprises such as hunting or
interact with living human beings.
weather control; they may be aided in this endeavor by keep-
ing some relic of the corpse such as fingernails, but the
Souls. All people are assumed to have a spiritual compo-
Manus practice of harboring ghosts within the dwelling
nent or soul (and sometimes more than one). Depending on
house seems to be shared only with the people of Sarera Bay
the culture, it may derive from the descent group of one par-
in Irian Jaya. Much more often ghosts are thought to reside
ent, in which case the child is usually born with it, or it may
either in bones or in special paraphernalia kept in men’s
be inserted into the child by another supernatural being,
houses or cult houses, far from the women and children. In
often well after birth. Belief in reincarnation is found only
sporadically. In line with a widespread Melanesian tendency
a few societies, however, ghosts are summoned to join the
not to speculate about origins, many societies have no theory
living on special occasions, as at the famous harvest festival
about the source of the human soul. It is usually thought to
of the Trobriand Islands.
be only lightly attached to the body, and to wander in
Spirits of the dead always have abilities both to aid and
dreams; often it is considered dangerous to awaken a sleeper
to harm that transcend those of living human beings; but
suddenly, lest he suffer soul loss that can lead to madness or
they may be thought to take little interest in those left be-
death. The souls of babies are particularly vulnerable to at-
hind, who in turn are primarily concerned to avoid meeting
tack or capture by other spirits, whereas the souls of adults
ghosts. As those who remember them die, the names of spe-
are more likely to be captured by human sorcerers perform-
cific ghosts are forgotten, and conceptually they may be as-
ing magic over personal leavings, such as food crumbs, that
similated to spirits of the bush or sea that were never human.
are thought to contain part of the victim’s soul-stuff. Special-
In some societies, however, the long deceased are more im-
ist curers may undertake soul rescue in dreams, or sometimes
portant and influential than the recently dead, especially if
a suspected sorcerer can be persuaded to perform counter-
they were the founding ancestors of large descent groups
magic that releases the soul-stuff.
such as clans. Judging from myths, such founding ancestors
Ghosts. At death the human soul is transformed into
may have had supernatural attributes even when alive, but
a ghost that usually retains its identity but not necessarily its
in other cases they have been raised near to the status of dei-
antemortem personality. In some societies ghosts are expect-
ties by the period of time that separates them from the living
ed to be malevolent, resentful of the living, and likely to at-
or by the ceremonies carried out on their behalf. Where an-
tack or kill them; in others, they are thought generally to be
cestors are accorded great powers and are regularly appealed
benevolent, especially toward their close kin; and in others
to, it is possible to talk of ancestor cults or ancestor worship.
it is assumed that their new condition makes them capricious
The beliefs that ancestors are greatly concerned with the
or unpredictable. Sometimes the ghosts of those who die in
health, fertility, and morality of their descendants and that
particular ways, as in battle or childbirth, are feared even
they can be induced by ritual means such as sacrifice (usually
when other ghosts are considered benevolent; so may be the
of domestic or wild animals) to grant benefits to the living
ghosts of former sorcerers.
are found much less often in Melanesia than in surrounding
areas, but these beliefs form a prominent part of the religion
There is usually a traditional abode of the dead, or a se-
in many parts of eastern Melanesia and also in the Highlands
ries of abodes, often a different one for each clan. Occasion-
of New Guinea.
ally these are underground or in the sky, but usually they are
on the earth and physically close to human habitations. Al-
Masalai. Spirits that have never been human play some
though it may be difficult for the ghost to reach the land of
part in all Melanesian religions, but their nature and impor-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5834
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
tance vary greatly from one society to another. In western
plain that they must do everything just as they were told to
Melanesia, including New Guinea and the nearby islands,
in the remote past lest disaster befall them.
one of the most important is a type known in Pidgin English
Interestingly, several Melanesian societies in which the
as masalai. Masalai live in wild places and, although they
status of women is low have male cults devoted to the wor-
may assume human form, are typically animals of abnormal
ship of female goddesses who promote male interests alone.
appearance—gigantic, brightly colored, sometimes wearing
Much more common are deities who are concerned with
human ornaments such as earrings. Often they are associated
only one activity or one aspect of life, such as fishing for bo-
with descent groups whose members they aid in distress—if,
nito, or warfare. Less powerful spirits may be invoked to aid
for instance, they are lost in the bush or drowning—but they
with other activities such as gardening.
do so only if the person has observed relevant rules concern-
ing marriage and food taboos. Offenders may be punished
Whether or not deities remain near, or accessible to,
by the masalai, who also attack outsiders who stray into their
human settlements after performing initial acts of creation,
territory. Monstrous births may be attributed to the child’s
they may be mentioned in magical spells as a sign that the
having been conceived in a masalai place (and possibly actu-
magic too derives from them. In a number of societies along
ally being its child); getting lost in the bush can result from
the north coast of New Guinea, it is reported that meticulous
being led astray by them; and sudden illness after eating wild
maintenance and performance of ritual secrets imparted by
animals or plants may be ascribed to either having ingested
these deities and culture heroes ensures success in a wide
the masalai itself, in one of its transformations, or having
range of activities. Other societies are not so conservative,
and their members try out any new rituals that seem promis-
“stolen” a food that actually belonged to the masalai. (The
ing. To the extent that deviations from morality are punished
spirit may later visit the victim in a dream to explain its ac-
in these, the actual penalties are usually carried out by men
tion.) Melanesia has few dangerous wild animals, but the un-
wearing masks and manipulating ritual noisemakers such as
inhabited bush and the deep sea teem with dangerous spirits,
flutes and bull-roarers to represent the voice of the spirits.
and many people are uneasy about moving far outside the
The men may not believe that the spirits are present, but
area of human settlement and cultivation. In some societies,
women and children are said to be deluded.
men—as hunters, fishermen, traders, and warriors—think of
the bush as peculiarly their own, free of the threat of sexual
In a few areas there exist religious cults that are dedicat-
contamination by women, while in others women are ban-
ed to a particular deity or other powerful being, or to the
ished from the village when they are in a dangerous condi-
semideified collection of ancestors. In historical times such
tion (e.g., menstruation and childbirth). Usually the village
cults, typically involving secret rituals held in special struc-
is regarded as uniquely safe from supernatural threat, at least
tures, have spread widely in the New Guinea Highlands,
during the day; after dark, spirits more easily invade the
honoring beings who promote health, strength, and fertility.
human domain. Belief in menacing beings that assume a
Elsewhere, cults center on dispelling disease and other ills,
harmless form at daybreak is widespread in Melanesia.
so that cult performances tend to be triggered by disasters.
Whatever their nature, cults, like most major religious activi-
Deities and culture heroes. Many spirit beings appear
ties in Melanesia, tend to involve only mature males.
only in mythology and play no part in contemporary society
RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS. Officiants who intervene between
apart from being remembered when origins and migrations
deities and ancestors and the ordinary people have often been
are discussed. Some societies even lack such mythological fig-
called priests, even though they are never full-time specialists.
ures. In a relatively small number of Melanesian cultures,
Throughout Melanesia the most esteemed religious expert is
however, people believe in uniquely powerful spirits who
a man of mature age who possesses detailed knowledge of rit-
maintain an interest in the whole society rather than in spe-
ual, either through training by another expert or by attaining
cific descent groups. They are sometimes referred to in the
the higher grades of a secret society. Where he is expected
scholarly literature as “deities,” especially if they seem well
to communicate with the ancestors, he is ideally their senior
disposed toward humankind; otherwise they may be called
male descendant, but ability to learn and perform rituals may
“demons” by outside observers. The large majority of Mela-
outweigh pure seniority. By contrast with some other parts
nesian religions cannot be described as ethical; spiritual be-
of the world, ritual specialists are rarely set apart psychologi-
ings and forces rarely support the rules of society except in
cally or sexually, although they may report many direct en-
very limited spheres. Exceptions exist, especially in the east
counters with spirits in dreams or, while purportedly fully
(where influence from Polynesia may be involved in some
conscious, in waking life. They are taught what they know
cases) but also in the New Guinea Highlands. In these socie-
rather than being inspired. In a number of Melanesian socie-
ties, deities may punish misbehavior with crop failure,
ties mediums are possessed by spirits, like the Manus women
human infertility, sickness in the pig herds, or volcanic erup-
who communicate with ghosts through their own deceased
tion. If procedures exist for ascertaining the will of the deity,
young sons, and the curing shamans of the Baktaman of New
it may be possible to placate him or her, usually with offer-
Guinea, who must be possessed by a particular spirit before
ings. Otherwise people simply try to avoid or prevent behav-
assuming their roles. Such people are rarely the most es-
ior likely to evoke the wrath of the gods, and sometimes ex-
teemed experts; the mediums of the Kaluli of New Guinea
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
5835
described by Edward L. Schieffelin (1976) are exceptional in
attacks are condemned, but in many other societies a sorcerer
this respect.
is admired so long as he does not attack members of his own
group. Usually all men know a little magic—for gardening,
That for most of Melanesia religious experts have been
hunting, fishing, and sexual attraction—but only a few spe-
described as magicians rather than as priests or shamans re-
cialists know the major types such as those dealing with
flects the most widely reported attitude toward the supernat-
weather control, warfare, sorcery, and the curing of serious
ural. Power lies in the hands of human adepts rather than
diseases. In most Melanesian societies all deaths except those
with gods or other spirits. Given sufficient knowledge, men
of the very young and the very old tend to be attributed to
can control rain, sun, and wind; they can bring success to
supernatural causes—sorcery, spirits, or the breach of a
themselves and their kin and misfortune to others—making
taboo—and so do all major accidents and serious illnesses.
gardens flourish or blighting them, luring a pig into a trap
Diviners and curers seek to ascertain the cause of sickness or
or a rival’s garden, sending a snake or crocodile to kill an
death, to help cure the sickness (possibly by identifying the
enemy or causing him to fall from a tree, or enticing a
person responsible), and to direct vengeance in the case of
woman from her husband. In some societies they accomplish
death. Magicians are often paid fees when they perform out-
their ends by manipulation of spirit beings, while in others
side their kinship group, unless their work benefits them-
the results follow automatically if ritual is performed correct-
selves along with others, as is the case with garden magicians.
ly. Particularly as regards eastern Melanesia, much has been
Usually each community contains a number of different spe-
written about the concept of an invisible supernatural power,
cialist magicians, but political leaders are likely to control
called mana (or some cognate term), which can be manipu-
more than one major form of ritual, either through their own
lated by the magician. As originally described by R. H. Co-
drington in The Melanesians (1891), mana was thought to
knowledge or by being wealthy enough to hire others. Politi-
be a power derived from “spiritual beings,” but the term
cal leadership is reinforced by religious knowledge, but only
came to be understood by some other anthropologists as des-
in a few coastal societies are there official magicians at the
ignating power that is impersonal and independent of spirits.
service of the leaders.
Certainly the term exists in both eastern Melanesia and Poly-
TABOOS AND TOTEMS. The English word taboo is derived
nesia, but there have been many debates about its exact sig-
from a Polynesian word (Tongan, tabu), and its cognates ap-
nificance, as Roger M. Keesing points out in Kwaio Religion
pear in many of those Melanesian languages that are related
(1982).
to Polynesian languages. Similar concepts, called by different
terms, are found among speakers of unrelated languages.
It is generally agreed that even when terms like mana
There is debate about the range of meaning of these terms,
are used, the speakers tend to have no clearly defined and ex-
but they normally include the concept of “forbidden,” and
pressed concept of just what this supernatural power is and
often “sacred” as well. The words meaning “taboo” may be
how it operates. What interests them are results that can be
nouns, adjectives, or active verbs. The source of taboos varies
duplicated. If an act seems to be effective, it does not matter
from one society to another, and so does the kind of thing
just how the effect is produced. Typically, Melanesian magic
encompassed by them. Sometimes they can be traced to
involves the recitation of spells that must be carefully memo-
edicts by deities in mythological times, as is usually the case
rized; the use of substances thought to be potent in them-
with incest taboos. So too can special attitudes toward totem-
selves, such as ginger; ritual acts that may involve imitation
ic animals or plants. These are species associated with partic-
of the results desired; and maintenance of a state of potency
ular descent groups, perhaps because people are thought to
by the observation of taboos, as on washing and sexual inter-
be descended from similar but supernatural beings; perhaps
course. Failure to achieve the desired results is usually attri-
because they emerged from the underworld together with
buted to countermagic performed by someone else, but it
may also be blamed on failure to learn or perform correctly.
these species, as is believed in the Trobriand Islands; or per-
All magic is not this complicated; sometimes only the spell
haps because of aid given by a member of the species to a
or the act is needed. With the simpler forms, it may be diffi-
human ancestor. Whatever the reason for the connection,
cult to distinguish magic from technology, and often distinc-
members of the descent group are usually forbidden to kill
tions are made by an outsider that would seem artificial to
or eat members of their totemic species; if they break the
the local people. Trying to make a woman conceive by sim-
taboo, they may sicken or die. Those who punish such
ply putting spider eggs into her food is an example of such
breaches of taboo may be the creatures themselves, their
a borderline case.
ghosts (which may be possessed by animals and plants as well
as people), the ghostly founders of the descent groups, or
In Melanesia, intent is always involved in magic; there
some impersonal force that acts automatically. All associa-
is no equivalent of the African witch or European possessor
tions between people and natural species are not totemic;
of the evil eye who harms others involuntarily. In most cases,
sometimes members of a particular descent group simply
too, evaluation of the act depends on the relation between
claim to have first discovered a food plant, or to have particu-
the performer and those affected. In a few societies, such as
lar success in hunting certain animals. Where totems do
that of the Tangu on the northern coast of New Guinea,
occur, however, they are a significant part of the religion, but
there exists a belief in wholly malicious sorcerers all of whose
in a different category from spirits.
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5836
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
Many other taboos are tied in with aspects of the local
erything pertaining to men, including ancestral shrines, is
worldview. For example, if the soul is called by the same term
uphill from the area assigned to women.
as the reflection and shadow, as is often the case, it may be
The situation is not always so simple as it seems at first
taboo to stare at one’s own reflection or to step on someone’s
glance. In some societies, such as Wogeo, women too are
shadow, for fear of soul loss. Traditional systems of belief
thought to be endangered by the sexual secretions of men,
typically involve the observation of many taboos, some of
and menstrual blood may also be considered polluting to a
which result from revelation by spirits and some from simple
woman (who then has to take great care while eating or
deduction. An unexpected event such as an earthquake may
chewing betel nut during menstruation) as well as to a man.
be ascribed to the breach of a previously unknown taboo, the
Furthermore, it has been argued that women actually enjoy
nature of which may be revealed by a supernatural being in
and profit from the periods of seclusion associated with men-
a dream. Equally often, however, it is simply decided that
struation and childbirth, rather than feeling that they are suf-
any action out of the ordinary that immediately preceded the
fering because they are unclean. Certainly women’s labors
event actually caused it, especially if the action took place in
may be lightened if it is thought that crops planted by them
the wild. To avoid further trouble, it may be decided and an-
will not grow well and that men will sicken if they eat food
nounced, for instance, that never again should anyone put
cooked by women. Furthermore, the possibility that an
a stick down a rat hole. Since taboos acquired in this way
angry wife might put menstrual blood into the food of a hus-
rarely form a coherent system, they can seem arbitrary and
band who beats her, and so “poison” him, gives her some
almost meaningless once their origin has been forgotten, but
control over his behavior. If, however, women are thought
it may be strongly believed that the maintenance of society
to be innately malevolent, or to become malevolent because
and of human life depends on meticulous observation of
they are subject to discrimination in such matters as diet,
them.
their ability to harm men may count against them in that
WOMEN AND RELIGION. Melanesia is famous in the anthro-
they are likely to be accused of causing deaths, and to be
pological literature for what has been called sexual antago-
killed in revenge.
nism, most often expressed in male fears of contact, which
In most of Melanesia, however, the low status accorded
can be dangerous and weakening, with women. At their
women also keeps them from being considered powerful ma-
mildest, such fears and avoidance are no greater than those
gicians. An exception is the so-called Massim region off the
found in many societies outside Melanesia. Men’s reluctance
eastern tip of New Guinea (including the Trobriand Islands),
to sleep with menstruating women, and their belief that sexu-
where female status is relatively high, and where cannibalistic
al intercourse saps the strength of a warrior and is antithetical
female witches who fly abroad seeking victims are blamed for
to the practice of religion, can be found almost everywhere.
many deaths. In most other parts of Melanesia, those deaths
More characteristically Melanesian is the frequently encoun-
not attributed to spirits are more likely to be blamed on male
tered belief that fertile women in themselves are polluting to
sorcerers. If women know magic at all, it typically deals with
men, particularly, but not exclusively, when menstruating
female fertility and childbirth, and with the growth and
and during and immediately after childbirth. While men-
health of small children. Nevertheless, women may play a
struating, they may be forbidden to cook for men or to enter
role in religious life insofar as their dreams may be taken as
gardens, and in many societies have to retire to menstrual
seriously as those of men, so that they too may have mean-
huts in the bush. If menstrual blood is feared, so too is the
ingful encounters with spirits and can act as soul rescuers,
blood shed in childbirth. Not only does a man avoid the
as well as sources of information about the world of spirits.
scene of childbirth, which also may be relegated to the bush,
The most respected female adepts are likely to be women
but he may consider both mother and baby to be polluted
past menopause, who are exempt from many of the restric-
for months after the birth. It may be considered dangerous
tions of their juniors, and who may even be identified with
for a man to touch a young baby, surrounded as it is by the
men.
dangerous aura acquired from its mother. Later little boys
may need to be ritually cleansed of female influences before
Where women are considered unfit for the most es-
they will be able to become mature men or to participate in
teemed activities, the reason may simply be that they are
male ceremonies. Where fears of female pollution are high,
thought to be physically and mentally weaker than men.
men usually spend much of their time in men’s houses sepa-
Often, however, it is held that femininity in itself, or because
rate from the family dwellings. Such structures may be taboo
of its association with female blood and milk, is repulsive to
to women and even to little boys, who will have to undergo
spirits and to wild animals, who flee hunting and fishing
special rituals before they can begin to sleep there. In a num-
equipment if women touch it. Sometimes it is the odor of
ber of Melanesian societies, fertile women are thought to pol-
sexual intercourse rather than of women specifically that is
lute anything that they step over, such as food, firewood, or
thought to repel other beings; nevertheless, even in those so-
human beings. Men must take care never to be physically
cieties that do not practice the sorts of discrimination just
below women, nor to drink downstream from where women
described, women are usually forbidden to touch certain
bathe. In extreme cases, as among the Kwaio of Malaita in
male tools and weapons, and warriors must avoid too much
the Solomons, the whole village is built on ridges so that ev-
contact with women or risk death in battle. Usually these ef-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
5837
fects are automatic. If women are really feared and avoided
In a very few societies, such as the Orokaiva of New
in other contexts, boys are likely to need formal rites of sepa-
Guinea, boys and girls go through puberty ceremonies to-
ration from their mothers before they can join the men in
gether. But much more often boys are separated from all fe-
their exclusive domain.
males. In many parts of New Guinea they are subjected to
RITES OF PASSAGE. Whether changes of status during life are
rituals involving vomiting and bloodletting designed to rid
marked ritually depends on the society and on the individu-
their bodies of the pernicious effects of their former contact
al’s position within it. If there is a class system, as in many
with women. In some societies, such as the Wogeo, male
coastal areas, members of the upper class receive much more
bloodletting is equated with female menstruation: designed
ceremonial attention than do ordinary people. Elsewhere rit-
to rid the body of “bad” blood, it is practiced throughout life.
ual may be focused on the firstborn child, regardless of sex,
By contrast, in a group of societies in south central New
in the belief that some benefits will extend to younger sib-
Guinea, it is held that boys will mature only if they are “fed”
lings. Often ceremonies mark the first time that the child en-
with semen, and highly secret ceremonies involving ritual
gages in any new activity, such as going to the gardens or hav-
homosexuality form the center of the puberty rites. Where
ing his first haircut. Although rites of passage always mark
much secret knowledge is imparted at this time, puberty rites
a change of status, they need not contain a religious element.
are indistinguishable from initiation into men’s societies or
Ceremonies revolving around children or grandchildren are
cults; but usually the religious content of the rites is limited
often sponsored by older men to enhance their own prestige,
to the use of spells and practices to promote health, growth,
and the complexity and amount of display has little to do
and beauty. Various taboos are connected not only with sep-
with the significance of the event except as a marker of
aration from women but with the healing of any operations
wealth and social status. Of all the rites of passage commonly
on the penis, nose, ears, or skin that also signal the change
held in Melanesia, weddings are least likely to be religious
of status. At the end of the rituals, the boys emerge fully dec-
ceremonies, whereas funerals almost invariably are.
orated in a new social persona, but may still avoid marriage
Birth. A first pregnancy, and the birth of a first child,
for some years.
may be celebrated for the mother as marking her final shift
Men’s societies forbidden to women extend from New
of responsibility from her parents to her new status as a par-
Guinea to Vanuatu; only in this last island group are women
ent herself. Unless she experiences difficulties in childbirth,
reported to have similar societies of their own. Often the
religious rituals are not usually involved except for the obser-
male societies are basically political rather than religious, a
vation of many taboos on acts that might affect her or her
way for older men to dominate women and boys; but in
child. The husband may need to observe these as well. After
some areas much secret knowledge of rituals essential to the
birth, however, the baby is vulnerable to many inimical
maintenance of society is in the hands of the few individuals
forces, and is normally kept in seclusion until his survival
who have passed through various grades of initiation, typical-
seems likely, when his skin has darkened and the umbilical
ly with severe associated ordeals. Passing through all the
cord has dropped off. He may then be given a name and for-
grades may take a lifetime, and, in parts of Vanuatu, a for-
mally introduced to the community. Both parents continue
tune. Sometimes the actual secrets are minor, apart from the
to observe taboos on behavior that might affect him, staying
frequent revelation that purported spirits are simply human
away from spirit places and wild foods that might be associat-
impersonations; the initiates may only learn how masks are
ed with spirits. Spells are recited to promote his health and
made or how the “voices” of the spirits are produced. In these
growth, and rituals may be performed in connection with
cases it could be argued that belief in the existence and non-
such events as the appearance of teeth. Among the Siuai of
human nature of these beings is part of the religion of the
Bougainville, the young child is the object of an elaborate rit-
uninitiated but not of the initiates. A measure of deception
ual that summons spirits to help him, after which he is a full
need not, however, indicate the absence of other levels of be-
member of society; usually, though, the most complex rites
lief among the initiates. Several recent studies of rites still
are reserved for puberty.
being carried on in the interior of New Guinea reveal that
Puberty and initiation. In many parts of Melanesia it
often the older adepts really believe that they alone are able
is taken for granted that once the perils of early childhood
to keep society functioning; their activities are serious behind
are past, a child will mature naturally; supernatural aid is in-
the facade of deception and frequent revelations of trivia.
voked only for illness. In others, boys especially are thought
Overall, however, there is no necessary connection between
to need the aid of both society and the supernatural if they
the elaborateness of the ceremonies, the degree of hazing in-
are to reach healthy adulthood. Puberty rites for boys are
volved, and the care with which the secrets are guarded from
likely to be communal events occupying long periods of
noninitiates, and the actual religious content. Perhaps be-
time. A girl very often undergoes a ceremony at menarche
cause of the way they spread from one society to another,
that may involve a period of seclusion, both because of atti-
rites that look very similar on the surface may differ greatly
tudes about menstrual blood and because her emergence af-
in function.
terward is likely to mark her transition to the new status of
marriageability. Sometimes elaborate rituals surround the
Mortuary rites. Death triggers the ceremonies most
whole period of isolation.
characteristic of Melanesia, particularly of the coastal and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5838
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
lowland regions. Beginning with the funeral, these may cul-
ordinate to that of the sponsor. Throughout Melanesia lead-
minate years later in great festivals involving dances and
ers attain or ratify their positions by sponsoring ceremonies
masked performances and the dispersing of vast amounts of
in which they try to outdo each other in display and generos-
pork and other food to the participants. In most societies for-
ity. Some of the food dispensed at mortuary ceremonies may
mal funerals are held for everyone, though they may be ab-
derive from that left by the deceased, and so be taboo to some
breviated when the corpse is that of a baby or an old woman
of those who attend. Furthermore, the specific parts played
who lacks close kin. At the wake that enables mourners to
by those attending may reflect their relation to the dead as
view the body, diviners often attempt to ascertain the cause
well as to the sponsor, and if relics are displayed, those hold-
of death from the ghost, which then may be ritually dis-
ing them are likely to be close kin, who weep as they remem-
patched to the land of the dead. Although cremation is prac-
ber the dead. Unless the ghost is thought to attend, however,
ticed in a few places, in many others initial disposal of the
the religious content of such ceremonies may be confined to
body is temporary. It may be exposed on a platform or buried
magic designed to produce a successful occasion, as by pre-
for a few months until decay is complete, but thereafter some
venting rain and ensuring that the food supply is adequate.
or all of the bones may be subject to special treatment. This
The deceased may be present only in memory. It is, however,
varies according to local ideas about the relations between
common for a few final mortuary taboos to be lifted on these
body and soul, and about the symbolic significance of bones
occasions, such as those prohibiting use of the fruit trees and
and of specific parts of the body such as the head.
the house site of the deceased.
The period following initial disposal of the body is typi-
In some societies apparently similar ceremonies have the
cally one of intense mourning for the surviving kin, who ab-
deepest religious significance. Ghosts of the dead, sometimes
stain from work, keep a restricted diet, make themselves as
including those of distant ancestors, may be summoned to
physically unattractive as possible, sometimes lop off a finger
attend, and rites are directed at them in an attempt to win
joint, and often go into complete seclusion. The heaviest re-
their favor and avert their wrath. When pigs are killed, their
strictions fall on the widow, whose willingness to submit to
blood soaking into the ground or burnt portions of their bo-
them may be taken as evidence that she did not help to kill
dies are specifically intended as offerings to the ghosts. The
her husband by magical means. Only in Dobu, a matrilineal
fate of the bones of the dead varies with the sorts of continu-
society in the D’Entrecasteaux Islands, east of New Guinea,
ing relations desired between their former owners and the liv-
is mourning for the widower more arduous than for the
ing, but often they are deposited in sanctuaries such as caves,
widow. In a number of lowland societies extending as far as
or in structures that serve as temples in which the bones will
Fiji, the wife or wives of prominent men or chiefs were for-
be a focus for future rituals. If bones are reburied or deposit-
merly killed to join them in the afterlife, and in southwest
ed in village or garden sites, their presence may create contin-
New Britain all widows were killed and buried with their
uing prosperity, fertility, and safety for the descendants who
husbands, whose ghosts would linger around the settlements
use the land.
until their wives joined them. A widow cannot resume nor-
ART AND RELIGION. The spectacular art of most of lowland
mal life in other parts of Melanesia until she has been formal-
Melanesia is usually, but not invariably, connected with reli-
ly released from mourning, in ceremonies that mark her rein-
gion. In some societies, such as those of the area around Lake
tegration into the community.
Sentani in Irian Jaya and of the Massim Islands east of New
Personal possessions of the dead may be broken, trees
Guinea, almost all utilitarian objects are decorated, and in
cut down, and pigs killed either as signs of grief or so that
most cases the decorations have no religious significance.
their spiritual essence can be released to accompany the de-
The most dramatic Melanesian sculptures, paintings, and
ceased into the afterlife. It may also be considered supernatu-
constructions are, however, produced either specifically for
rally dangerous for survivors to remain in close contact with
religious ceremonies or to honor and commemorate particu-
the personal possessions, which are imbued with soul-stuff.
lar spirits. Some of the most colorful constructions, made of
Much of the remaining property, especially pigs and garden
painted barkcloth or woven fiber decorated with colored
crops, is likely to be used in feasts celebrating the lifting of
leaves and feathers, may be quite ephemeral; perhaps inhabit-
taboos from the mourners. When this is done, relics of the
ed by spirits during a ceremony, they are destroyed or dis-
dead, such as the house in which the person died, may be
mantled with the departure of the spirits for their own realm.
destroyed. But if further ceremonies are planned, some relic
The sculptures and painting that represent spirits may also
will be preserved for use in these.
be kept permanently hidden inside men’s houses or ceremo-
nial structures forbidden to noninitiates; viewing of these
Major mortuary ceremonies are not held for everyone.
pieces, and explanation of their meaning, often forms a
Men of high status are usually honored in this way by their
major part of initiation ceremonies. Women may never see
kin; but equally often, a leader or a man who aspires to that
them. The manufacture of ceremonial art, including even the
status sponsors such a ceremony primarily for the personal
gathering of leaves to conceal the bodies of maskers, is usual-
glory that he will gain. The dead person may be any type of
ly carried out in great secrecy, with women and children
kin, such as a young child or a mother-in-law; their impor-
threatened with death if they approach the area or voice any
tance as individuals in life or after death may be wholly sub-
suspicion that the supposed spirits are actually human cre-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
5839
ations. Spirits may indeed be summoned into the art objects
In some societies, however, the local experts are willing
after they are complete, and sometimes the actual process of
and able to discuss art objects and their relation to religious
manufacture introduces the spirit, as when eyes are painted
concepts. As with other aspects of religion, many details re-
on the masks of the Tolai of New Britain. In many societies,
main inexplicable, simply a traditional way of doing things
however, simple impersonation is involved, but magic is usu-
that is not questioned. It may also, of course, be improper
ally employed to ensure that the impersonations are success-
to discuss esoteric matters with noninitiates; but outsiders
ful, and sorcery is used to punish those who speak disrespect-
have often been admitted to discussions that are closed to fe-
fully of the ceremonies.
male or junior members of the society itself.
When carvings are made for rituals—such as those con-
SACRED AND PROFANE. In describing Melanesian societies,
nected with puberty and death—that honor specific individ-
many observers have hesitated both to use the word sacred
uals, they often include motifs associated with that person’s
and to contrast it with the profane. The reasons are several.
descent group, such as totems and masalai. True portrait
First, the discovery that often masked men impersonate su-
sculpture is rare but is found in a few areas, as in memorial
pernatural beings without feeling any religious awe empha-
carvings in parts of the Solomons and most notably in the
sizes the secular character of many ceremonies. Second, the
modeling of features over the dead person’s skull in parts of
widespread tendency to rely on magic in which impersonal
Vanuatu, New Britain, and the Sepik River region of New
forces are manipulated by individuals, and the rarity of com-
Guinea. Often memorials are destroyed when the mortuary
munal rites dealing with supernatural beings, makes it diffi-
ceremonies end, and anthropomorphic sculptures that re-
cult to apply labels derived from other religious systems.
main permanently in place usually represent more distant an-
Third, the frequent observation that Melanesian religions
cestors or deities. Such sculptures are prominently displayed
tend to be highly pragmatic, concerned with securing bene-
in many regions, forming the doorjambs and finials of houses
fits in this life rather than rewards in another world, and not
in New Caledonia, and standing outside men’s houses and
concerned with problems of good and evil, has led some to
clubhouses in parts of the Solomons, Vanuatu, and Sepik
deny that they are really religions at all. The fact that super-
River region.
natural beings are rarely all-powerful, awesome in appear-
The ritual art of other areas focuses not on ancestors but
ance, wholly incorporeal in nature, or far removed from
on supernatural beings who are only partly human in form,
human habitations, and in fact that ordinary people so often
like the shark god of parts of the Solomons or the culture
encounter them in the bush or in their dreams, makes them
hero with the body of a snake of western New Britain. Still
seem part of everyday life rather than being set apart, natural
other beings, such as those painted on the facades of Sepik
rather than supernatural.
ceremonial houses or constructed elsewhere for ceremonies
to bring fertility or drive away sickness, have little or no trace
The rituals of some societies do, however, strike some
of humanity in their appearance. Particularly in the New
observers as embodying concepts that can be labeled sacred.
Guinea Highlands, divine power may reside in objects such
Communion with ancestral spirits by priests and other spe-
as stones or boards that are painted with abstract designs of
cialists in Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomons, and Highlands New
uncertain meaning.
Guinea; first-fruits rites in New Caledonia; the invocation
of powerful nonhuman spirits along the Sepik: all these seem
Art objects collected for museums have often been arbi-
on emotional and cognitive grounds to indicate that the term
trarily identified as representing gods, ancestors, or totems,
is applicable. Sacred has also been applied to the state of reli-
without any real evidence that they were so regarded by their
gious practitioners while carrying out ritual, and of those
creators. Detailed studies of Melanesian art in its context are
who are temporarily removed from normal society during
few, and have demonstrated in some cases that people may
rites of passage. In these instances it is suggested that women,
be uncertain about the precise significance of designs that
children, and noninitiates belong to the realm of the profane,
may still be thought to form an essential part of a ritual.
and doubly so as regards women if they are regarded as in-
Some anthropologists argue that art and ritual express and
trinsically polluting to men and antithetical to religious en-
communicate messages that cannot be conveyed verbally, so
terprises. Several investigators have, however, argued that
that it is useless to expect native exegesis. The field is then
such labels and dichotomies are misleading. If men are taboo
open for the outsider to proffer his own explanations, and
when sacrificing to the ancestors and women are taboo when
many have taken advantage of the opportunity. Some ex-
menstruating, they are seen as similar rather than separate
perts, especially those trained in a German tradition of re-
(see Keesing, 1982, p. 66). Furthermore, the fact that women
constructing culture history in terms of postulated waves of
usually do interact with the spirit world and control some
migration, tend to see evidence in art of the previous exis-
magical techniques of their own invalidates the assumption
tence of earlier religious attitudes such as sun worship. An-
that they are excluded from the realm of the sacred.
thropologists have more often relied upon psychoanalytic
theory or a structuralism modeled on that of Claude Lévi-
When sacred is used today, it tends to be in two con-
Strauss to explain what is being represented at a subconscious
texts. Places consecrated to spirits, such as burial caves, ances-
level. The same types of interpretation have been applied to
tral shrines and groves, and cult houses, may be permanently
myth and ritual.
sacred, as are places inhabited by important supernatural be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5840
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
ings such as masalai. By contrast, people may be only tempo-
notes after the author’s death, but the most accessible ac-
rarily sacred during a religious performance; eventually they
count of the elaborate New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) graded
return to their normal state and to the everyday world. In
societies, with much information on religions.
this, the usual processes of life continue to involve them in
Fortune, Reo F. Sorcerers of Dobu (1932). Rev. ed. New York,
contact with supernatural beings and forces, so frequently
1963. Includes a general account of ritual in small islands
that it seems meaningless to characterize what is not sacred
east of New Guinea, with particular attention to the impor-
as profane.
tance of sorcery beliefs and practices.
Fortune, Reo F. Manus Religion: An Ethnological Study of the
SEE ALSO Christianity, article on Christianity in the Pacific
Manus Natives of the Admiralty Islands (1935). Reprint, Lin-
Islands; Homosexuality; Solomon Islands Religions; Taboo;
coln, Neb., 1965. A famous account of a religious system un-
Totemism.
common in Melanesia for its ethical content and for the role
of ancestral ghosts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gell, Alfred. Metamorphosis of the Cassowaries: Umeda Society,
Most of the earlier descriptions of Melanesian societies written by
Language, and Ritual. London, 1975. An innovative attempt
anthropologists and missionaries contain lengthy and rela-
to interpret a fertility ritual in a New Guinea society by ana-
tively straightforward accounts of religious beliefs and activi-
lyzing the associated language and symbols. The arguments
ties. On the theoretical side they may devote much time to
are complex.
out-of-date controversies about such matters as the nature of
totemism or the possible connections between Melanesian
Herdt, Gilbert H., ed. Rituals of Manhood: Male Initiation in
religions and those of other parts of the world. Only a few
Papua New Guinea. Berkeley, 1982. A collection noteworthy
of the better-known examples are mentioned here, but many
for the attention paid to psychological as well as social and
others exist. Later investigators more often begin with vary-
religious aspects of initiation. Contains several detailed de-
ing theories about the nature of religion and ways to study
scriptions of ceremonies in their wider context.
it, producing works that differ greatly from each other, in
Hogbin, Ian. The Island of Menstruating Men: Religion in Wogeo,
which the author’s role as interpreter is usually made explicit,
New Guinea. Scranton, Pa., 1970. Based on fieldwork car-
and in which the study tends to focus on a particular prob-
ried out in 1934, this general account, written for the non-
lem rather than attempt to cover the entire field. Many re-
specialist, pays particular attention to concepts of pollution
cent books are consequently both narrower and deeper than
and taboo, and contains some discussion of theories about
earlier ones. The earlier works are particularly useful for an
magical ritual.
overview and for descriptions of long-vanished ceremonies,
Keesing, Roger M. Kwaio Religion: The Living and the Dead in a
while the later works may be considerably more difficult to
Solomon Island Society. New York, 1982. Includes not only
read but may expose the student to a wide range of theoreti-
description of belief and rites among pagans on Malaita, but
cal problems and current controversies in the field of religion
discussion of many theoretical issues concerning concepts of
both in Melanesia and in other parts of the world where
pollution, mana and taboo, symbolism and meaning, and the
small-scale societies still exist.
social consequences of religious beliefs and practices. Ad-
Allen, Michael. Male Cults and Secret Initiations in Melanesia.
dressed to a general audience.
Melbourne, 1967. An out-of-date but useful survey of the
Lawrence, Peter, and M. J. Meggitt, eds. Gods Ghosts and Men in
nature and distribution of these institutions, which also ex-
Melanesia. Melbourne, 1965. A series of descriptive essays,
amines various theories attempting to account for them and
all but one dealing with the religions of Australian New
settles for one in which social structure is the important
Guinea (now Papua New Guinea), with an introduction in
variable.
which the authors attempt to generalize about Melanesian re-
Barth, Fredrik. Ritual and Knowledge among the Baktaman of New
ligions as a whole. A very useful survey, though authors of
Guinea. New Haven, 1975. An interesting attempt to use the
the essays have not all dealt with the same topics. But it has
author’s investigation of an elaborate initiation system as a
been rendered somewhat out of date by more recent studies.
basis for generalizing about the nature of ritual and the com-
Lewis, Gilbert. Day of Shining Red. Cambridge, 1980. An interest-
munication of knowledge in other societies.
ing and readable critical examination of the usefulness of var-
Bateson, Gregory. Naven (1938). 2d ed. Stanford, Calif., 1958.
ious theories of ritual in helping to understand the nature
A classic attempt to analyze certain rituals of a Sepik River
and meaning of puberty rites in a New Guinea village.
society with approaches this writer later made famous in such
Malinowski, Bronislaw. Magic, Science and Religion. New York,
fields as communications theory.
1948. Contains three famous essays setting forth Malinow-
Codrington, R. H. The Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology
ski’s theories about the differences between magic and reli-
and Folklore (1891). Reprint, New Haven, 1957. Based
gion and the functions of these practices and of mythology,
mostly on interviews with Melanesian mission students, sup-
as well as a description of Trobriand beliefs and rituals con-
plemented by some visits to the islands of eastern Melanesia,
cerning the dead. Malinowski’s theories continue to influ-
this work is often incorrect in ethnographic detail but con-
ence a number of scholars, and are clearly explained here.
tains the classic discussions of mana and taboo, and useful
Rappaport, Roy A. Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of
descriptions of now-vanished rituals.
a New Guinea People (1968). Rev. ed. New Haven, 1984. A
Deacon, A. Bernard. Malekula. Edited by Camilla H. Wedgwood.
well-known and widely quoted attempt to explain ritual in
London, 1934. Incomplete, having been edited from field
adaptive terms. In the revised edition, the author answers his
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
5841
critics and presents the results of further thinking on such
making theoretical or comparative sense of the marked diver-
topics as the importance of sanctity (“sanctified understand-
sity and remarkable intricacy of the mythology of this area.
ings”) in human societies.
Most ethnographic studies contain some references to myth,
Schieffelin, Edward L. The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning
but in general, myth tends to be merely a secondary feature
of the Dancers. New York, 1976. A short and readable ac-
of the central analytic endeavor and is explored—if at all—
count and analysis of a set of ceremonies in a New Guinea
largely to enhance the primary interests of analysis. Only re-
society, with particular attention to their emotional content.
cently has Melanesian mythology begun to attract focal ana-
Tuzin, Donald. The Voice of the Tambaran: Truth and Illusion in
lytic attention on its own.
Ilahita Arapesh Religion. Berkeley, 1980. A complex and de-
STUDIES OF MELANESIAN MYTH. The legacy of earlier
tailed examination of the meaning of the numerous rituals
studies of Melanesian myth still burdens present endeavors
associated with male initiation, which are characterized by
to summarize and to synthesize what is archivally available.
spectacular religious art in a New Guinea society. Questions
of belief and psychological reactions to the rituals are dis-
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scholars
cussed as well.
working among the myriad indigenous peoples of the Dutch,
French, English, and German Melanesian colonies compiled
Williams, Francis E. Drama of Orokolo: The Social and Ceremonial
extensive collections of mythic narratives in many forms.
Life of the Elema. Oxford, 1940. A detailed description of one
of the most elaborate and spectacular ceremonial cycles ever
These often simplistic assemblages of myths, however, were
recorded for Melanesia, and the implications of its decline
ethnographically sterile and left ample room for varied aca-
and neglect in the colonial period.
demic fancies and fantasies to supplant Melanesian mythic
realities. The collections were sometimes linguistically sus-
New Sources
pect and often unidentified by genre of oral literature and
Finnegan, Ruth, and Margaret Orbell, eds. South Pacific Oral Tra-
ditions. Bloomington, Ind., 1995.
by sociocultural group. Thus, various kinds of myths, leg-
ends, folk tales, and other conventional classes of oral litera-
Knauflt, Bruce M. From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and
ture, sometimes from different regions, would often be
Anthropology. Ann Arbor, 1999.
merged in one collection regardless of local or analytic senses
Krieger, Michael H. Conversations with the Cannibals: The End of
of genre. Compilations tended to include an emphasis on or-
the Old South Pacific. Hopewell, N.J., 1994.
igin myths, mythic charters of institutional forms, and myths
Lambek, Michael, and Andrew Strathern, eds. Bodies and Persons:
and legends of culture heroes and migrations. These early
Comparative Perspectives from Africa and Melanesia. New
collections revealed little about other important aspects of
York, 1998.
Melanesian myth—of its role in or as a sacred performance
May, John D’Arcy. Transcendence and Violence: The Encounter of
and as an assertion of ideology or belief, a map of supernatu-
Buddhist, Christian and Primal Traditions. New York, 2003.
ral landscapes, a model of personhood, a mode of ethnohi-
Sillitoe, Paul. An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesian
storical discourse, a social or ritual charter, and a shared but
Culture and Tradition. New York, 1998.
also contestable collective representation (in the Durkheimi-
Strathern, Andrew. Body Thoughts. Ann Arbor, 1996.
an sense). They usually ignored the significance of myth as
Trompf, G. W. Melanesian Religion. New York, 1991.
a vital, flexible, and changing but also enduring aspect of a
lived, remembered, and imagined sociocultural reality
Trompf, G. W. Payback: The Logic of Retribution in Melanesian
among those islands of the southwest Pacific that constitute
Religions. New York, 1994.
Melanesia.
Whitehouse, Harvey. Arguments and Icons: Divergent Modes of Re-
ligiosity. New York, 2000.
The boundaries of mythology in Melanesia are some-
times obscure, for the analysis of myth as sacred narrative has
ANN CHOWNING (1987)
Revised Bibliography
been simplistic, uncritical, imprecise, and inconsistent and
has not encompassed the many diverse kinds of regional oral
traditions. Moreover, scant attention has been given to local
genres of narrative, such as the Daribi namu po or po page,
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
Kalauna neineya, Kamano kinihera, Keraki ninyi-ji, Kewa lidi
The myths of all known Melanesian peoples are subtly, intri-
or ramani, and Trobriand kukwanebu, libogwo, or liliu. In-
cately, and often tacitly bound to fundamental matters of
deed, there are few ethnographic portraits of the classificato-
worldview, ethos, and personhood in religious systems of
ry complexity exhibited in the seventeen genres of Bimin-
meaning. Yet the study of myth in Melanesia has a long,
Kuskusmin oral tradition, or analytic frameworks that could
largely unvaried tradition of being descriptively rich but ana-
accommodate such complexity. Nonetheless, the sacred
lytically impoverished. Indeed, this fascinating field of study
qualities of myth often do seem to be marked in a more or
remains a vast terra incognita in important respects and lags
less distinctive manner throughout Melanesia. Thus, myths
significantly behind the study of Melanesian ritual, in which
may be distinguished by certain modes of discourse or lan-
significant theoretical and comparative advances have been
guage (as among Bimin-Kuskusmin, Daribi, or Kwaio); em-
made. Relatively few ethnographies of Melanesian cultures
bedded formulas or linked songs or chants (as among Gende,
and societies have focused exclusively or even primarily on
Kamano, or Trobriand Islanders); tacit contextual associa-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5842
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
tions and symbolic allusions (as among Baktaman, Bimin-
ancestors, totemic figures, local spirits, demons or ogres, for-
Kuskusmin, Fore, Gende, Gimi, Gnau, Hua, Huli, Iatmül,
est spirits, and tricksters. The notion of a supreme deity or
Jate, Kai, Kamano, Keraki, Siane, Telefolmin, Umeda, or
creator is found rarely, or remains doubtful as an interpreta-
Usurufa); entitlements to know, to explicate, and to narrate
tion of local belief, in most areas of Melanesia, with the pos-
bound to a complex sociology of sacred knowledge and relat-
sible exceptions of the hierarchical societies of eastern Mela-
ed rules of secrecy, taboo, and revelation (as among Bakta-
nesia (notably Fiji) and the northwest and northeast coasts
man, Bimin-Kuskusmin, Elema, Kera-ki, or Marind-Anim);
of Papua New Guinea. Certain renowned and omnipotent
and intricate linkages with forms of art, magic, music, and
figures sometimes also appear in Melanesian myths, such as
ritual (as among Abelam, DAréEaré, Elema, Ilahita Arapesh,
Enda Semangko (Kyaka Enga); Honabe (Huli); Maru-
Kwaio, or Sambia). Most myths are cast in the form of narra-
nogere (Kiwai); Oma Rumufa (Siane); Ora Rove Marai
tives and are sometimes interconnected in complex cycles;
(Roro); Parambik (Ngaing); Sinatu, Mubu, and Obomwe
examples of these mythic cycles are the delicate mosaics of
(Garia); and Ye (Rossel). Although creative or regulative be-
origin myths among the Nalum of the Star Mountains of
ings are known in most of the area’s mythologies (except
Irian Jaya, the narratives of the founding ancestress Afek in
among the Tangu), such spirits rarely have the elaborate
the Mountain-Ok region of Papua New Guinea, the key
Polynesian features of the Kalou-Vu and other deities of the
Massim myths of canoe voyages and kula exchange transac-
Fijian pantheon. Indeed, in eastern Melanesia at the Polyne-
tions, and the mythic culture-hero cycles that pervade the
sian frontier cosmogonic myths and their portraits of the
whole of Melanesia. Other myths, however, may also be both
generative powers and acts of mythic creators are generally
danced and sung (Waropen), embedded in linked cycles of
more intricate and are interwoven with representations of so-
songs (Kiwai), or enacted in magical or ritual dramas (Elema,
cial hierarchy. In this subregion, myths tend to place greater
Marind-Anim) to enhance their performative efficacy or elo-
emphasis on ideas of duality; totemic concepts; complex cul-
cutionary force in creating a sacred cognitive-affective ex-
ture-hero or trickster cycles (at times almost as elaborate as
perience.
those of the Polynesian Maui myths); images of regeneration,
reproduction, or reincarnation (often in serpentine form and
Despite their occasional entertainment value, the casual
less bound to ideas of garden fertility than in western Mela-
way in which they are often told, and their abstract literary
nesia); regional integration; and autochthonous origins—all
qualities, the myths of Melanesia are profoundly anchored
in support of fundamental creation in and of the cosmos. In
to the local foundations of sociocultural existence. They are
other parts of Melanesia, however, mythic creators are usual-
portraits of various phenomena of sacred significance, “char-
ly assigned less than cosmogonic tasks.
ters” (in Bronislaw Malinowski’s sense) that both elucidate
and legitimate fundamental institutional forms and prac-
MYTHS OF COSMOGONY. Myths of origin, found in almost
tices, and narrated performances that are believed to affect
every cultural repertoire of Melanesian myth, generally as-
the course of events of concern to human communities. The
sume the preexistence of the fundamental characteristics of
performance aspects of myth in Melanesia are less well un-
the cosmos. When described at all, the primeval era is often
derstood than similar features of ritual, although there have
portrayed either as a mosaic of basic elements, structures, and
been numerous studies of the place of myth vis-à-vis male
processes—earth, water, sky, astronomical bodies, the under-
initiation ritual (as among Awa, Baktaman, Bimin-
world, and the forces of wind, rain, tide, and temperature
Kuskusmin, Chambri, Gnau, Ilahita Arapesh, Mianmin,
(Huli, Iatmül, Mae Enga, Marind-Anim, Mbowamb, Ros-
Ndumba, Sambia, or Telefolmin) and noteworthy analyses
sel)—or as a period of chaos, marked by cataclysms, storms,
of myth by Jan van Baal (1966) on Marind-Anim, Catherine
fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, eclipses, comets, and earth-
H. Berndt (1955) on the Kai-nantu area (Fore, Jate, Ka-
quakes, to be eventually put in order (Bimin-Kuskusmin,
mano, Usurufa), Kenelm O. L. Burridge (1969) on Tangu,
Orokaiva, Tangu, Trans-Fly, Waropen). Indeed, this pri-
S. Hylkema (1974) on Nalum, John LeRoy (1985) on Kewa,
mordial chaos is often paralleled by the mythical moral disor-
Roy Wagner (1978) on Daribi, and Michael W. Young
der attributed by many Melanesian peoples to the fringes of
(1983) on Kalauna. A linguistically and symbolically sophis-
their known world (Bimin-Kuskusmin, Marind-Anim,
ticated approach to the ethnography of mythological dis-
Trans-Fly).
course in Melanesia, however, is evident only in incipient
More often, however, such myths largely ignore cos-
and rudimentary form. Attention has been directed primarily
mogony, focusing instead on subsequent modifications or
toward more descriptive, functional, or structural character-
transformations of terrain or seascape, flora, fauna, human-
istics of portrayals of mythic personae, landscapes, origins,
kind, and culture or society brought about by important cre-
migrations, and other sacred phenomena. Analysis of these
ators, culture heroes, totemic figures, or ancestors. Some of
mythical portraits has focused on varied aspects of their sub-
these mythic characters are both creative and regulative. Re-
jects’ cultural, existential, psychological, social, or even theo-
sponsible for particular facets of cosmic order, they dwell in
logical significance in times of both stability and change.
or near human settlements and supplicants, taking an inter-
PERSONAE OF MELANESIAN MYTH. Characters in Melane-
est in human affairs and often intervening in them. Other
sian myth are variously and loosely identified as deities or
mythological beings are primarily or only regulative, possess-
primordial creator spirits, culture heroes, remote or recent
ing few if any creative powers but monitoring and interven-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
5843
ing in human affairs after the establishment of the essential
lated in myths focused on and perhaps embedded in fertility,
cosmic, moral, and social orders.
initiation, funerary, cannibalistic, and head-hunting rituals
(Bimin-Kuskusmin, Gimi, Hua, Keraki, Marind-Anim,
Culture heroes, on the other hand, are usually only cre-
Trobriand Islanders).
ative. Soon after completing their acts of creation, they aban-
don human society, taking no further interest in its continu-
CONTOURS OF THE COSMOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE. Myths of
ing affairs. But ancestral and totemic figures—through
origin in Melanesia are often concerned with the primordial
genealogical or ethnohistorical links with social groups
roles of sun, moon, stars, and other celestial phenomena and
founded on principles of descent or locality—tend to be sig-
with the fundamental separations of water and land, earth
nificantly associated with the ongoing sociocultural life of
and sky, valley and mountain, plain and river, night and day,
particular communities. They model, validate, and also regu-
and other key contours of a cosmological landscape (Bimin-
late aspects of the social, economic, moral, political, and ritu-
Kuskusmin, Kyaka Enga, Tolai). The distinctions of forest,
al orders.
garden, and hamlet, or of sea, shore, and inland village, how-
ever, are often relegated to a later time when the sense of do-
ORIGINS OF HUMANITY. In most Melanesian origin myths,
mesticated space and human community became apparent.
primordial transformations reveal little sense of an original
Separations of the realms of natural and supernatural or liv-
paradise and are attributed to various forms of hostility, to
ing and dead are more problematic in both conception and
breaches of morality, and to conflict—often incest (Bimin-
representation, for many mythic spirits are imagined to live
Kuskusmin, Huli, Marind-Anim, Waropen) but also adul-
near human settlements and to be involved with their affairs.
tery, desecration, homicide, rape, rebellion, sibling rivalry,
Indeed, these spiritual abodes are sometimes described as
suicide, treachery, and theft. The first humans are sometimes
mirror images of, or as significantly overlapping with, the so-
created through primeval acts of incest, although myths of
cial world of the living.
ancestral parthenogenesis or virgin birth are also known
(Bimin-Kuskusmin, Sambia, Trobriand Islanders). The orig-
The acquisition of fire commonly marks the inception
inal humans are depicted as emerging not only from the bo-
of humanity and community. According to many Melane-
dies of primordial humanoid forebears, but also from various
sian myths, the original fire, which is denied to beings other
sacred or mysterious cassowaries (Bimin-Kuskusmin), earth-
than the morally human, is usually brought by spirits, creat-
worms (Ndika), eggs (Rossel), stems (Kiwai), pigs (Tangu),
ed by sacred lightning, or hidden in the body of an ancestral
palms (Keraki), and ground holes (Trobriand Islanders).
being—perhaps an old woman or a totemic animal (Bimin-
Sometimes they emerge from other sources and sites—land,
Kuskusmin, Marind-Anim, Nalum, Trans-Fly). Sometimes
sea, sky, or perhaps some unknown, unmapped netherworld.
the advent of fire is linked to the origin of a major food or
Although they are occasionally completely formed, the first
of ritual plants and animals—especially taro, sweet potatoes,
humans most often are molded or hardened by hand or by
yams, sago, and valued wild flora, as well as cassowaries,
fire or sun into fully human form. They are then endowed
dogs, pigs, marsupials, pythons, fruit bats, crocodiles, du-
with sensory, sexual, reproductive, and judgmental capaci-
gongs, and sharks. Such foods and the taboos applied to
ties, as well as other attributes of personhood (Bimin-
them are mythically portrayed as key sociocultural markers
Kuskusmin, Ilahita Arapesh, Marind-Anim, Trans-Fly).
of self and person (Bimin-Kuskusmin, Hua, Manga, Ndum-
Once they are minimally human, these early beings are usu-
ba). The common mythic theme of interwoven animal,
ally further endowed not only with the essential cultural arti-
plant, and human fertility is often bound to ideas of the gen-
facts—of gardening, fishing, hunting, and other productive
erative powers of male and female substances, an-
activities—but also with such institutions as marriage, child-
thropophagic symbols, and images of human heads and acts
rearing, ritual, magic, exchange, warfare, sorcery or witch-
of headhunting (Bimin-Kuskusmin, Marind-Anim, Rossel,
craft, and other foundations of Melanesian ideas of ethics,
Trans-Fly).
morality, and social order.
ORIGINS OF SOCIETY AND CULTURE. Throughout Melane-
If the mythic bestowal of life, humanity, and sociality
sia, the beginnings of particular societies are attributed to
is complex and profound, the advent of death is usually asso-
both autochthonous origins and primordial migrations,
ciated with an apparently trivial incident that could well have
which are often revealed in different contexts and serve dis-
had a different outcome—often involving some kind of ac-
tinct functions in the domains of ritual and ethnohistory
quisition or display of improper knowledge, emotion, or be-
(Bimin-Kuskusmin, Kwermin, Lagaip Enga, Umeda). It is
havior and sometimes cast in the image of the shedding of
in the context of these migrations that the culture heroes of
skins and the apparent immortality of various lizards and
Melanesia are often found. These culture heroes—including
snakes (Bimin-Kuskusmin, Kiwai, Trobriand Islanders). Yet
figures known over wide regions, such as Qat (Banks), Sido
Melanesian ideas of immortality tend to be ambiguous, and
(Kiwai), Sosom (Marind-Anim), Souw (Daribi), Tagaro
mythic beings are often given corporeal forms and mortal
(Vanuatu), and Warohunuga (Solomons)—establish key as-
fragilities despite their recognized invisibility and supernatu-
pects of sociocultural order, test the limits of morality, insti-
ral powers. In turn, the complex symbolic relationships of
tute basic productive practices, introduce significant flora
birth, death, rebirth, and regeneration are commonly articu-
and fauna, and otherwise determine or shape the foundations
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5844
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
of community. Often coming from a nearby land, the cul-
picting gender relations tend to focus on substance, power,
ture hero journeys across the known world, explores new
purity, and pollution; on the sexual division of labor; and on
frontiers, discovers new horizons, encounters strangers, ene-
cultural images of virgins, wantons, witches, and female el-
mies, or unknown women, travels to the realm of the dead,
ders. These myths develop local ideas of primordial matriar-
and shapes the world of the living. His exploits transform
chy and their ritual and political consequences (Asaro, Awa,
him profoundly and lend significance to the present condi-
Benabena, Bimin-Kuskusmin, Fore, Gadsup, Gahuku-
tion of humankind. As he embarks on his odyssey of discov-
Gama, Gimi, Hua, Jate, Kamano, Sambia, Siane, Tairora,
ery, intrusion, indiscretion, insight, and creation, he is often
Usurufa, Yagaria).
cast as one member of an elder-younger sibling or cross-
NEW FIELDS OF STUDY. Although the themes noted above
cousin set, and he marks the cultural boundaries of both
have significantly shaped the described or analyzed character
cross-generational and male-female relationships. In explor-
of Melanesian myths as they have been portrayed in more
ing the moral boundaries of a community, the culture heroes
than a half century of anthropological study, several other
exhibit some affinity with various local spirits, demons,
foci are also worthy of special note. First, there is now a quite
ogres, fools, and tricksters, such as Gabruurian and Kamdaak
considerable tradition of concern with syncretic myths,
Waneng (Bimin-Kuskusmin), Kakamora (San Cristoval),
which are subtly linked to mission Christianity or to various
Masi (Ulawa), Muu-muu (Mala), Pakasa Uru and Tulagola
millenarian or messianic cargo cults. These analyses, which
(Lakalai), Tukis (Buka), and Yevale (Yéi-nan), but these fig-
introduce the critical element of sociocultural change into
ures never have the creative capacities of Melanesian culture
the study of Melanesian mythology, extend to all major areas
heroes.
of the cultural region. Second, studies conducted in the sec-
The myths of culture heroes introduce the sociological
ond half of the twentieth century on Daribi and Kewa myths
themes that are the foci of so many Melanesian narratives.
stressed the flexibility, metaphoric character, and creative po-
Matters of egalitarian and hierarchical ethos and social order
tential of Melanesian myths, which are seen as complex
pervade the mythologies of western and eastern Melanesia,
forms of communication that play on ambiguity, trope, and
respectively. Ancestor spirits are genealogically and mythical-
innovation. Third, analyses of Kalauna and Tangu mytholo-
ly marked in the descent ideologies of patrilineal, matrilineal,
gy emphasize the ways in which mythic understandings be-
and cognatic Melanesian societies in different ways, but most
come variously embedded in both personal and public senses
of these societies—except in the patrilineal Highlands of
of self, person, experience, and symbol. In these studies, the
New Guinea and hierarchical eastern Melanesia—emphasize
analysis of Melanesian mythology has finally come to the
the recently dead and largely ignore more remote ancestors.
forefront of anthropological interest, field research, and theo-
retical concern and promises to enrich this field of inquiry
Although the myths of the classic New Guinea Highlands
beyond traditional measure.
are substantially lacking in totemic figures or emblems, many
fringe Highland and other Melanesian myths do associate to-
tems with clans or moieties (Abelam, Bimin-Kuskusmin,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dobuans, Iatmül, Lakalai, Mountain Arapesh, Ngaing,
The literature on Melanesian myths is immense and enormously
Orokaiva, South Pentecost). Such mythic totemic figures
varied, although it has remained primarily descriptive until
may have few ritual implications (Keraki, Kiwai, Yéi-nan) or
quite recently. In the earlier periods of scholarly interest in
be associated with elaborate ancestor cults (Bimin-
Melanesia, the journals Anthropos (Salzburg, 1906–), Baess-
ler-Archiv (Berlin, 1959–), Folk-Lore (London, 1890–), Jour-
Kuskusmin, Marind-Anim).
nal de la Société des Océanistes (Paris, 1945–), Journal of the
Although Melanesian myths concerning ancestors and
Polynesian Society (Wellington, New Zealand, 1892–), Jour-
totems serve significantly as a community’s corporate prop-
nal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland (London, 1871–), Man (London, 1901–), Oceania
erty, as charters of local or descent groups, and as the basis
(Sydney, 1930–), Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropolo-
of claims on various social resources, many myths subtly de-
gie (Leipzig, 1899–), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anthropologie,
pict a range of relations—between siblings, men and women,
Ethnologie und Urgeschichte (Braunschweig, Germany, 1870–
and generations—as a model extending from the family to
1920), and other publications printed myriad unannotated
the widest contours of social structure. Sibling relations are
texts of Melanesian myths. Despite the sterility of this early
significant in almost all Melanesian myths. Emphasis is
practice, the tradition of presenting such textual materials on
placed on either elder-younger (brother-brother, sister-sister)
mythology is being continued not only in some of the peri-
or male-female (brother-sister) configurations, with implica-
odical literature listed above, but also in the exemplary an-
tions for matters of either generation or gender in transfor-
thologies of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, the Société
mations of the mythic sibling model (Bimin-Kuskusmin, Il-
d’Études Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France, and
the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, as well as in the
ahita Arapesh, Mae Enga, Murik). Mythic portraits of
journals Bikmaus (Boroko, Papua New Guinea, 1980–) and
generational relations tend to explore themes of authority
Oral History (Boroko, Papua New Guinea, 1973–). The vital
and sexuality between parent and child and of amity in
importance of providing appropriate ethnographic context,
grandparent-grandchild relationships (Bimin-Kuskusmin,
however, is now recognized in these endeavors to establish
Mae Enga, Mountain Arapesh, Sambia). In turn, myths de-
an archive of Melanesian oral traditions.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELANESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
5845
There are many early but altogether excellent ethnographic studies
of insight into Canaque myth that provides inspiration from
of Melanesian cultures and societies based on the tradition
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl to Claude Lévi-Strauss in the unraveling
of field research that give detailed and significant—if not
of Melanesian mythologiques. Yet the contemporary study of
focal—attention to mythology. A fine, sensitive, but highly
New Caledonian mythology, as admirably exemplified in
descriptive presentation of numerous mythic and other texts
Alban Bensa and Jean-Claude Rivièrre’s Les chemins de
that provides a rich sense of their ethnographic contexts is
l’alliance (Paris, 1982), is far less philosophical in its theoreti-
to be found in Gunnar Landtmann’s The Folk-Tales of the
cal foundations and reflective in its methodological moorings
Kiwai Papuans (Helsinki, 1917). A somewhat similar study
and attempts to promote a more “scientific” emphasis on et-
is well represented in G. Camden Wheeler’s Mono-Alu Folk-
hnosemantic classificatory schemas and sociopolitical pat-
lore (Bougainville Strait, Western Solomon Islands) (London,
terns implicated in mythic narratives.
1926), which provides extensive annotations of many texts
The state of the art in the anthropological study of Melanesian
and thoughtful comparisons with diverse Melanesian myths,
mythology is well examined and summarized for the period
but which portrays a somewhat superficial sense of relevant
ending in the early 1960s in Gods, Ghosts and Men in Melane-
ethnographic context.
sia, edited by Peter Lawrence and M. J. Meggitt (Melbourne,
The problem-centered, theoretical analysis of Melanesian myth,
1965). This overview suggests how little progress had been
however, becomes more prominent in the era of functionalist
made in the study of the myths and religions of Melanesia
concerns, which emphasize the intricate embeddedness of
before the 1960s, which represented what might be called a
mythology in the cultural fabric of social institutions. Thus,
renaissance of academic interest in Melanesian religions.
the place of myth in a system of morality enforced and sanc-
Prior to this time, there is particularly little exploration of
tioned through oracles is splendidly illustrated in Reo F. For-
mythology in the New Guinea Highlands, with the notable
tune’s Manus Religion (Philadelphia, 1935). The intertwined
exception of the monumental study of Fore, Jate, Kamano,
cultural, social, and psychological characteristics of myth and
and Usurufa origin, kinihera, and other genres of myth in
its key functions as a charter of magical, ritual, and social in-
Catherine H. Berndt’s “Myth in Action” (Ph.D. diss., Lon-
stitutions is remarkably portrayed for Trobriand gardening
don School of Economics, 1955).
beliefs and practices in Bronislaw Malinowski’s Coral Gar-
dens and Their Magic, 2 vols. (London, 1935), and for the
The modern era in the study of Melanesian mythology exhibits
theoretical and comparative study of myth in Malinowski’s
two particularly significant trends: (1) a comparative exami-
Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays (New York,
nation of mythological and other aspects of millenarian, na-
1948), which draws heavily on a range of Trobriand myths.
tivistic, or cargo cult movements; and (2) a new emphasis on
A sensitivity to the psychocultural nuances of Melanesian
mythology as the focus of ethnographic interest and theoreti-
mythology, however, is not generally a hallmark of the func-
cal analysis. In the first instance, mythological portraits of the
tionalist tradition and, beyond Malinowski’s work, is per-
significance of sociocultural change, of altered conceptions
haps best carried forward in John Layard’s Stone Men of
of personhood, self, society, and cosmos, and of revitalized
Malekula (London, 1942), which marvelously explores the
traditional or newly syncretic images are compared through-
cultural, psychological, and ritual character and context of
out much of Melanesia in Peter Worsley’s The Trumpet Shall
myth on the islands of Malekula and Vao in the New Hebri-
Sound (London, 1957) and in Kenelm Burridge’s New Heav-
des (now Vanuatu).
en, New Earth (New York, 1969).
The analysis of Melanesian myth moves well beyond a simplistic
In the second instance, however, the study of Melanesian myth
concern with both function and charter in the seminal but
comes fully into the mainstream of the best academic explo-
little-recognized studies of the Keraki and other Trans-Fly
rations of myth. These new and exciting analytic undertak-
groups and of the Elema, documented in Francis Edgar Wil-
ings are perhaps best represented in a limited set of exempla-
liams’s Papuans of the Trans-Fly (Oxford, 1936) and Drama
ry articles and in the monographic work of five scholars. The
of Orokolo (Oxford, 1940). A master of ethnography and no
mythic exploration of moral ambiguities and dilemmas is in-
slavish adherent of functionalist dogma, Williams challenges
sightfully examined in a Kamano text in Catherine H.
the foundations of Malinowski’s faith in mythic charters and
Berndt’s “The Ghost Husband: Society and the Individual
opens new ground by raising significant questions about the
in New Guinea Myth,” Journal of American Folklore 79
cultural embeddedness, semiotic construction, and psycho-
(1966): 244–277. Subtleties of the conceptual images and
logical importance of myths in Melanesia and elsewhere. In
internal paradoxes of Kaliai culture and society as represent-
these several regards, Williams’s central concern is to address
ed in a single myth are unraveled in Dorothy Ayers Counts’s
the subtle relationships between mythic and ritual forms—
“Akro and Gagandewa: A Melanesian Myth,” Journal of the
an issue that is also richly explored in the magnificent studies
Polynesian Society 89 (1980): 33–64. These analyses show the
of the Marind-Anim portrayed in Paul Wirz’s Die Marind-
power of exploring the nuances of a single mythic narrative
Anim von Holländisch-Süd-Neu-Guinea, 2 vols. (Hamburg,
in elaborate sociocultural context. In contrast, a comparative
1922–1925), and in Jan van Baal’s Dema (The Hague,
examination of the dialectical relationship between sociocul-
1966).
tural experience, moral order, and mythic representation in
the Eastern Highlands region of Papua New Guinea is admi-
The classic study of the mythology of New Caledonia is beautiful-
rably constructed in John Finch’s “Structure and Meaning
ly represented in Maurice Leenhardt’s Do Kamo: Person and
in Papua New Guinea Highland Mythology,” Oceania 55
Myth in the Melanesian World (1947; reprint, Chicago,
(1985): 197–213.
1979). In his exploration of matters of experience, epistemol-
ogy, and personhood through myth and the nuances of the
Whether focusing within or beyond a particular sociocultural
anthropological study of myth, Leenhardt provokes a depth
community, the monographic endeavors variously attend to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5846
MELQART
problems of the comparative analysis of myth. The complex
MELQART, whose name means “king of the city” (milk
and subtle relations between mythology and matters of per-
qart), was the patron god of the Phoenician city of Tyre and
sonhood, self, morality, and experience in Tangu society are
one of the major gods of the Phoenician and Punic panthe-
elegantly dissected in Kenelm Burridge’s Tangu Traditions
ons. He was also known as Baal Sur (Lord of Tyre) and was
(Oxford, 1969), which delicately probes the intricate way in
identified with Herakles (Hercules) since at least the sixth
which myth is variously embedded in diverse ethnographic
century BCE. There is no longer any doubt about his link
contexts and which forcefully demonstrates how myths be-
with Tyre (the “city” of his name) since the publication in
come crystallizations of cultural themes and of both social
the 1990s and early 2000s by Pierre Bordreuil of explicit epi-
and personal experiences. Exploring a tension between the
disclosure of immoral realities and the revelation of existen-
graphical evidence, including a seal, tesserae, dedication,
tial truths, enigmatic and oracular Tangu myths unveil di-
weight, and sling balls.
lemmas of the local human condition. How such mythic
PHOENICIA AND SYRIA. The earliest epigraphical evidence on
crystallizations are constructed and manipulated creatively
Melqart appears on a statue found near Aleppo (Bredj),
and through complex understandings of cultural tropes is an-
Syria, dating from about 800 BCE. The royal Aramaic votive
alyzed admirably for Daribi mythology in Roy Wagner’s
inscription bears the name of Barhadad, who probably was
Habu (Chicago, 1972) and Lethal Speech (Ithaca, N.Y.,
1978), which also attend to broader comparative issues in as-
king of Arpad. This document is an important trace of com-
sessing the commonalities and peculiarities of Daribi myth
mercial and cultural contacts between Northern Syria and
in New Guinea and in Melanesia. The significance of varia-
Phoenicia, especially Tyre, which explains why an Aramaic
tions among versions of myths with respect to the cultural
king made such an offering to a Tyrian god. Melqart is repre-
discrimination of social differences and to the transforma-
sented on the stela, standing, striding from right to left, with
tional characteristics of a corpus of myths within a particular
a naked torso and bare feet, bearded, with a loincloth and
society is illustrated in exemplary fashion for Nalum mythol-
a dome-shaped hat, a fenestrated ax on the shoulder (a royal
ogy in S. Hylkema’s Mannen in het Draagnet (The Hague,
symbol) and carrying what may be an ankh or a lotus flower
1974). The subtle interplay between narrative compositions
in the right hand (a symbol of immortality). This is clearly
and pragmatic experiences, between intertextual resonances
a composite image, with Egyptian and Syro-Hittite affilia-
and textual references, between the surfaces and the depths
tions. The same iconography, with a standing or seated god
of constructed layers of meaning, and between the fanciful
(on a throne), is also attested in different Mediterranean con-
and the factual of cultural contradictions and social conflicts,
texts (Cyprus, Carthage, Ibiza, Sardinia), but it is not certain
is marvelously explored in the “fabricated worlds” of Kewa
that it always refers to Melqart.
lidi myths in John LeRoy’s Fabricated World (Vancouver,
1985), which is usefully complemented by a fine collection
Although the first reference to Melqart belongs to the
of the analyzed myths in Kewa Tales, edited by LeRoy (Van-
beginning of the first millennium BCE, different literary
couver, 1985). Finally, the problem of how myths—usually
sources link him with the founding of the city of Tyre, and
conceived as particular forms of collective representations (in
Herodotus (II, 44) reports that, according to the priestly tra-
the Durkheimian sense)—become articulated with personal
ditions, Melqart’s Tyrian sanctuary was as old as the city it-
symbols and subjective experience and embedded in autobio-
self. It is likely that Melqart’s cult was based on a longtime
graphical narratives is superbly examined in Michael W.
religious tradition, the cult of royal ancestors, which is well
Young’s Magicians of Manumanua (Berkeley, 1983). These
attested in Mesopotamia and Syria until the third millenni-
new studies reach well beyond the descriptive and analytic
limits of their predecessors and hold much promise for the
um BCE. However, Melqart became the poliadic god of Tyre,
future of academic understandings of the subtleties of
with this specific name, only at the beginning of the first mil-
mythological constructions in the Melanesian cultural re-
lennium BCE, when Tyre became a great commercial center
gion.
with a Mediterranean dimension. In fact, Josephus (A.J.,
VIII, 145–146; C.Ap. I, 117–119) records that Hiram I, the
New Sources
king of Tyre during the tenth century BCE, built new temples
Burridge, Kenelm. Mambu: A Melanesian Millennium (1960).
for Melqart (Herakles) and Astarte in the city and celebrated
Princeton, N.J., 1995.
for the first time the egersis, which was the resurrection ritual
Kahn, Miriam. “Stone-Faced Ancestors: The Spatial Anchoring of
of Melqart, in the month of Peritios (February–March).
Myth in Wamira, Papua NewGuinea.” Ethnology 29 (Janu-
During this annual ritual, the god “died” (perhaps in a fire)
ary 1990): 51–66.
and was awakened or resuscitated, perhaps through a sacred
marriage (hierosgamos) with the goddess Astarte. In this cele-
MacDonald, Mary N. Mararoko: A Study in Melanesian Religion.
bration, the Tyrian king probably played the role of the god,
New York, 1990.
and a priestess played the role of the goddess.
Pech, Rufus. Manub and Kilibob: Melanesian Models for Brother-
Later in Cyprus and in the Punic world, a ritual title ap-
hood Shaped by Myth, Dream and Drama. Papua New Guin-
plied to important citizens is attested, surely in connection
ea, 1991.
with Melqart’s egersis: “The one who makes the god(s) awak-
FITZ JOHN PORTER POOLE (1987)
en, bridegroom of Astarte(?).” In Greek inscriptions found
Revised Bibliography
in Amman, Ramleh, and Ashkelon, this function is translat-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MELQART
5847
ed as “egerseites of Herakles.” On a vase, presumably from
“I am a god, I sit on a divine throne, in the heart of the seas.”
Sidon, there is a probable iconographical representation of
The Tyrian betyls (standing stones) that symbolize the city’s
the main moments of Melqart’s egersis. In addition, in Gades
power (Ez. 26:11) are probably the two stelae that Herodotus
(Spain), Hercules/Melqart’s bones were kept (Pomponius
(II, 44) describes in Melqart’s shrine and that are represented
Mela III 46). These elements seem to fit well with the known
on the city’s coinage. They were a symbol of his dominion,
Frazerian pattern of the “dying and rising god,” but this pat-
as were, later, the columns of Herakles at the end of the
tern has been critically challenged because it is an artificial
Western world (Libya, then Gibraltar). These elements prove
construction that does not reflect the great diversity of the
that an aniconic tendency, maybe the older form of the cult,
historical and “theological” backgrounds of the so-called
was still present in the worship of Melqart, especially in Tyre
dying and rising gods, a category that includes Osiris, Du-
and Gades, though anthropomorphic figures are also known.
muzi, Attis, Adonis, and others. In Melqart’s case, it appears
On the Tyrian coinage, the Heraklean symbols occur fre-
clear that the annual ritual death and resurrection means that
quently in the Hellenistic and Roman period. In the fifth
every year the natural, cosmic, sociopolitical, and religious
century BCE a sea god riding a hippocampus is depicted,
order was renewed with and through the king. It is not sim-
which could be Melqart represented as the protector of com-
ply a “naturalistic” ritual, but a way to assure fertility, order,
mercial expansion, but this is not certain.
peace, and wealth for all the people, because, as the Semitic
When Alexander the Great reached Tyre in the fourth
royal inscriptions say, the king—mythical and historical—
century BCE and began the siege, because of his Heraklean
“makes his people live.” It is also interesting to notice that
genealogy he tried to manifest his devotion to the Tyrian
Astarte seems to be the mother and paredros (companion) of
Herakles (Melqart), making several offerings in his temple
the god. According to Cicero (N.D. III, 42) and Philo of By-
(Arrian, Anab. II, 16–24). But by that time the Hellenization
blos (Eusebius, P.E., I, 10, 27, 3), the Tyrian Herakles was
of the cult was already deep, and it is difficult to distinguish
the son of Zeus Demarous (from Dmrn, the “Warrior,” pos-
the local Semitic god and its Greek interpretation; one deals
sibly an epithet of Baal) and Asteria (Astarte); he was killed
with a syncretistic figure (Melqart/Herakles) in a syncretistic
by Typho in Libya and was brought back to life by the god-
context (the Hellenistic period). The Greek iconographical
dess, who made him smell roasted quails (Eudoxus of Cni-
language completely covers the original Phoenician image,
dos, fr. 284).
which is very poorly attested.
Direct evidence. After the Aleppo inscription, Melqart
Just as the Tyrian influence expanded through the Med-
appears in two vassal Assyrian treaties. First, Melqart is men-
iterranean by way of trade and colonization, so did the cult
tioned in the treaty of 754 BCE between Matiel, king of
of Melqart. The “Lord of Tyre” was also the “sailors’ god”
Arpad (Northern Syria) and Ashurnirari V, king of Assyria.
(Diodorus XX, 14), who traveled with the population. Mel-
Here Melqart is included in the group of gods who warrant
qart thus became one of the major figures of the ancestral
the treaty; together with Eshmun (the Baal of Sidon), Mel-
religious traditions for the western Phoenicians (Punic peo-
qart is also named in the treaty of 675–670 BCE between the
ple). For example, it is known that the Tyrian founders of
kings Esarhaddon of Assyria and Baal of Tyre. This treaty
Carthage and Gades brought on their ships, together with
regulated the shipping and overland trade routes, and Mel-
their families, relics of Melqart (Justin XVIII, 4, 15; XLIV,
qart is included in the group of Tyrian gods, together with
5, 2). In these colonial contexts, the foundation of a sanctu-
Astarte and Eshmun: “May Melqart and Eshmun deliver
ary for Melqart, often extra muros, was probably one of the
your land to destruction and your people to deportation;
first concerns of the new inhabitants because the sanctuary
may they [uproot] you from your land and take away the
was a neutral and sacral space that offered an adequate con-
food from your mouth, the clothes from your body, and the
text for the first commercial and social contacts with the local
oil for your anointing” (Parpola and Watanabe, 1988, vol.
populations. Melqart’s temples probably had an important
II, p. 27).
economic function, perhaps serving as “treasuries” of com-
mercial exchanges through a system of tithe, but this aspect
Various scholars hold that the cult of Baal that King
of his cult is still hypothetical because of the lack of docu-
Ahab and his wife Jezebel, a Tyrian princess, introduced into
mentation.
Israel in the ninth century BCE (1 Kgs. 16), and against which
the prophet Elijah fought on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs. 18:20–
Elsewhere in Phoenicia and Syria, Melqart is mainly at-
40), was in fact a cult of Melqart. The text that narrates the
tested in Amrith (together with Eshmun), Sarepta (if he is
challenge between Elijah and Baal’s prophets alludes to a god
the “holy god” of the inscriptions), Umm el-Awamid (under
who sleeps and travels, like Melqart, the god of the egersis and
the name of Milkashtart), Jamnia, and Ascalon.
the companion of the Tyrian expansion on the Mediterra-
BEYOND PHOENICIA AND SYRIA. From Phoenicia, Melqart’s
nean shores. But the god Baal Shamin (Lord of the Heaven)
devotion expanded in the eastern Mediterranean.
is another good possibility for the Carmel episode. In the
sixth century BCE, Ezekiel’s oracle against Tyre (Ez. 28:1–19)
Cyprus. The first step was Cyprus. There Melqart is
probably refers to the cultural background of the Tyrian
documented in several places: Kition, Amathus, Idalion, and
kingship when he places in the king’s mouth these words:
Larnaka, which were the major centers of Phoenician coloni-
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5848
MELQART
zation since the ninth century BCE. In Kition-Bamboula,
Sicily (XX, 14). In the famous treaty between Hannibal and
Melqart’s sanctuary was near Astarte’s, while in Kition-
the Macedonian king Philippus V in 215 BCE, Herakles
Batsalos there is epigraphical evidence of a common cult to
(with the Carthaginian daimôn and Iolaus), who must surely
Melqart-Eshmun. In many Cypriot cult sites, a Heraklean
be Melqart (Polybius VII, 9, 2–3), is mentioned among the
iconography, similar to that present on the Syrian coast
Punic gods.
(Amirth) since the sixth to fifth centuries BCE, is present. It
Elsewhere in Africa, Melqart is present in Leptis Magna
may allude to Melqart, but probably also alludes to other
(as Milkashtart, together with Shadrafa), Sabrata (as Hercu-
cults, including Reshef /Apollo and some anonym Cypriot
les), El Hofra, and Lixus, where the classical authors placed
god, as if the Heraklean shape were a standard male god ico-
the Hesperian garden.
nography. Cyprus was thus a crucial place for the icono-
graphical assimilation between Melqart, the royal god, per-
Spain. In Spain, where Phoenician people founded em-
haps associated with the lion (as in the Eastern iconography
poria as early as the eighth century BCE, the main center of
of the smiting king or god), and the Greek Herakles, who
Melqart’s cult was Gades. The evidence is entirely Greek and
became the god with the leonte, the bow and the club. The
Latin, and relatively late, so it is difficult to determine what
Idalion cup (eighth century BCE) is the best illustration of
belongs to the Phoenician god and what to his later classical
this assimilation process.
brothers. It is likely that Phoenician, Greek, and Roman
cults were practiced together in a clearly syncretistic context,
Greece. Although there is little specific evidence of Mel-
where each believer was able to recognize his own god.
qart in Greece, it is probable that Samos was an important
stage on the road that brought Melqart/Herakles from Phoe-
Milkashtart, who could be a god similar to Melqart and
nicia and Syria to Greece, through Cyprus and perhaps
who was also assimilated to Herakles/Hercules, appears in
Rhodi, where an “awakener of the god” is attested, surely in
Gades in the second century BCE. His name alludes to a royal
connection with Melqart’s cult. In Samos, where Hera looks
god (Milk) of Ashtarot, a Palestinian place name, and not
much like Astarte, there is a famous pectoral (625–600 BCE)
to Ashtart/Astarte. The cult of Melqart/Herakles/Hercules
with the first Heraklean image of the hero with the leonte.
propagated in several places in southern Spain, as demon-
Otherwise, Melqart’s name never appears on Greek soil.
strated by local coinage with Heraklean symbols or images,
including Herakles’ head, bowl, and club, but the chronolo-
Herodotos reports (II, 44) that Melqart was venerated
gy of such a phenomenon is not clear. It is probable that the
in Thasos as the archegetes of the city, just as the Thasian
brief Punic dominion on Spain in the third century BCE
Herakles was venerated in Tyre, but excavations have not
under the leadership of the Barcides, a family who had a spe-
provided any evidence of this. In Crete, the Phoenician pres-
cial devotion for Melqart, reinforced the god’s presence in
ence (at least in Kommos) is well documented, but Melqart
Spain. The Barcides imitated Alexander’s coinage with the
does not appear, although the Cretan Herakles Daktylos may
Heraklean head.
have some relationship to him and to the Egyptian Bes. An-
other important site in the religious map of the Greek world
The cult of Melqart is also known through epigraphical
is Delos, where different oriental communities settled for
and iconographical evidence to have been present in Ibiza.
commercial reasons. The Tyrian group considered Melqart
Scholars are not aware of any mythological cycle of Melqart’s
as their patron god and therefore took the name of Heracle-
adventures similar to those surrounding Herakles, neither in
istes. Their decree (ID 1519) records that on the Aegean is-
Ibiza, the far West, or the East. The Western episodes of
land they regularly practiced Melqart’s cult as their archegetes
Herakles’ myth are particularly important because they con-
during the second century
stitute the antecedent of his death and apotheosis. The West,
BCE.
the Sun’s house, was considered to be the end of the world,
Africa. Though the monarchy disappeared in Carthage,
a fabulous land where a person could communicate with the
Melqart, the royal god par excellence, remained popular as
netherworld. But nothing similar is known about Melqart,
a symbol of the Phoenician roots of Carthaginian people, like
and the old idea that the “city” contained in his name was
the goddess Astarte. The divine couple, Melqart and Astarte,
the city of the dead is not convincing.
already attested in Phoenicia, survived in the Punic context
Italy, Malta, and Great Britain. Melqart is found in
and was often translated in Greek and Roman sources
all Phoenician colonies, including Sardinia, Sicily, and
through the interpretatio graeca or latina: Herakles/Hercules
Malta. In Sardinia, there is little evidence of Melqart’s pres-
for Melqart, and Aphrodite/Venus or Hera/Juno, especially
ence in Tharros, the most important Phoenician colony on
but not exclusively, for Astarte. In Carthage, Melqart’s cult
the island, apart from a temple, known from an inscription.
provided one of the most important occasions to maintain
Astarte is much better documented, particularly on icono-
the relationships between Tyre and its major Punic colony.
graphical grounds, and these two gods probably formed a di-
Every year during Melqart’s feast a tithe was sent from Car-
vine couple, as they frequently did elsewhere. Melqart is also
thage to Tyre to demonstrate the people’s fidelity to the great
documented in the Sid/Sardus Pater’s sanctuary in Antas.
ancestral god and to Tyrian traditions. When the Carthagin-
ians interrupted this custom, they were badly punished by
In Sicily, the name of Melqart occurs as a theophorous
the god with war and epidemics, as reported by Diodorus of
element in the onomastics, but there is no cultural evidence.
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MEMORIZATION
5849
He was nevertheless probably venerated in different places,
security, victory, wealth, fertility, and stability. Melqart was
for example in Selinus, where the cult of Herakles is well doc-
thus the king’s prototype in historical times. His cyclical
umented, and in Mozia, where the famous statue of the
death, recorded in a special ritual that involved the king,
Young of Mozia (fifth century BCE) has been interpreted as
means that without the king’s mediation between the divine
Heraklean iconography. Melqart also appears in the place-
and the human sphere the world cannot function, fertility
name Roshmelqart (Cape of Melqart), which is documented
ceases, and fecundity disappears, as in the Ugaritic Kirta
in inscriptions and on the coinage but has not yet been defin-
myth. The annual death and resurrection (egersis) of Melqart
itively identified. In Sicily, the Heraklean presence is strong
must demonstrate what a society without a king (a cata-
and is reinforced through the interaction (often violent, in
strophic event) means and how it is important to reestablish
the form of a conquest and assimilation) with indigenous
and confirm the primary importance of the king in the bal-
cults.
ance between life and death, power and destruction, fertility
and desolation. This pattern surely includes the life of nature
In Malta, Melqart certainly had a temple, which is men-
and vegetation, but it goes far beyond.
tioned by Ptolemy as Herakles’ temple; the location was re-
visited in 2003 by Nicholas Vella. The twin stelae with dou-
SEE ALSO Dying and Rising Gods; Eshmun; Heracles.
ble bilingual inscriptions in Phoenician and Greek were
probably offered in this temple to Melqart, Baal of Tyre, and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
to Herakles, archegetes of the Tyrians, that is, the founder,
Bonnet, Corinne. Melqart: Cultes et mythes de l’Héraclès tyrien en
the “leader of the foundation” (Donner and Rˇsllig, 2002).
Méditerranée. Louvain, Belgium, 1988.
These texts enabled Jean-Jacques Barthèlemy to decipher the
Bonnet, Corinne. “Melqart est-il vraiment le Baal de Tyr?”
Phoenician scripture in 1758. Astarte’s cult is also well attest-
Ugarit-Forschungen 27 (1995): 695–701.
ed in Tas Silg in Malta.
Donner, Herbert, and Wolfgang Rˇsllig, eds. KanaanSˇische und
Pyrgi is the most important site in continental Italy,
aramSˇische Inschriften, 5th ed. Wiesbaden, 2002.
which has something to do with Melqart. The evidence is
Gibson, J. C. L. Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions. Oxford,
both epigraphical and iconographical. The bilingual Phoeni-
1973–1982.
cian and Etruscan inscription on the laminae includes a dedi-
Lipin´ski, Edward. Dieux et déesses de l’univers phénicien. Louvain,
cation to Astarte/Uni from the local king on a special occa-
Belgium, 1995. See pages 226–243.
sion: “the day of the burial of the god” (Donner and Rˇsllig,
Mettinger, Tryggve N. D. No Graven Image? Israelite Aniconism
2002). The name of this god is not explicitly mentioned, but
in its Ancient Near Eastern Context. Stockholm, 1995.
the iconographical evidence may indicate that he was Mel-
qart—in the decoration of Pyrgi’s temples (A and B), Herak-
Mettinger, Tryggve N. D. The Riddle of Resurrection: “Dying and
Rising Gods” in the Ancient Near East. Stockholm, 2001. See
lean motifs are common, probably in connection with the
pages 83–111 for a discussion on the dying-god typology.
cults practiced there. In the Forum Boarium on the Ara Max-
ima in Rome, the local Hercules had economic and commer-
Parpola, Simo, and Kazuko Watanabe, eds. Neo-Assyrian Treaties
and Loyalty Oaths. Helsinki, 1988.
cial functions. Because of the relationships between archaic
Rome and different oriental groups (Cypriots and Phoeni-
Ribichini, Sergio. “Melqart.” In Dictionary of Deities and Demons
cians, maybe through the Etruscans), the Forum Boarium’s
in the Bible, 2d ed., edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob
Hercules could have some oriental connotations, just like he
Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst, pp. 563–565. Leiden,
Netherlands, 1999.
also has deep Greek shapes, but he is surely not sic et simpli-
citer Melqart.
Xella, Paolo. “Da Baal di Ugarit agli déi fenici: Una questione di
vita o di morte.” In Quando un dio muore: Morti e assenze di-
Phoenician traders probably settled in Corstopitum in
vine nelle antiche tradizioni mediterranee, edited by Paolo
Great Britain, the cult site of both their ancestral gods, dur-
Xella, pp. 73–96. Verona, Italy, 2001.
ing the Imperial period. Melqart, translated as Herakles, and
Xella, Paolo. “Le soi-disant ‘dieu qui meurt’ en domaine phénico-
Astarte (Inscriptiones Graecae, XIV, 2253–2254) remain to-
punique.” Transeuphratène 22 (2001): 63–77.
gether, even in such a remote place.
CORINNE BONNET (2005)
From the rich evidence discussed above, from all the
Mediterranean shores, scholars conclude that Melqart was
one of the most important gods of the Phoenician and Punic
world. He was primarily a royal god who was linked with the
MEMORIZATION, as the act of storing information
Syro-Mesopotamian background of the cult of royal ances-
in the memory, is distinguished by the fact that it can be ei-
tors and who had some chthonic, salvific, and healing conno-
ther mechanical or deliberate. It is through practice and imi-
tations. Because of the commercial vocation of Tyre and its
tation, through the mechanical repetition of the traditional
expansion in the West, Melqart became a god of the sea, who
gestures and speech of his social group, that the individual,
took the Tyrian people to the colonial world. He was not
without actually realizing it, memorizes most of the informa-
simply a vegetation god, an example of the dying-god typolo-
tion necessary for proper social and religious behavior. Taken
gy, but rather a king who protects the population and assures
in this sense, memorization culminates in the acquisition of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MEMORIZATION
the innumerable actions, of behavior, thought, and sensibili-
lalambibi, with such enthusiasm that he was nicknamed after
ty, that define a social and cultural identity. From the classic
his hero! But others can tell six, ten, or twenty stories”
texts of Maurice Halbwachs on social memory and Marcel
(p. 159).
Mauss on bodily techniques to the more recent studies of
In certain societies, in particular among the Native Pop-
André Leroi-Gourhan on mechanical operatory chains and
ulations of North America, the knowledge and the posses-
Erwin Goffman on interaction rites, this type of memory ac-
sion of a myth or chant may be the privilege of an individual,
quisition has been the object of numerous investigations that
who alone may pronounce it. It is for this reason that a Nava-
need not be considered here. It is sufficient to emphasize
jo of New Mexico may give as a sign of his poverty the fact
that, in contrast to this kind of memorization, there exists
that he does not own a single chant. A chant thus becomes
another, deliberate form, the techniques of which become es-
a piece of “property” that concerns his own social and spiri-
pecially prominent when certain individuals are momentarily
tual identity.
separated from their usual social group in order to take part
in an initiatory ritual or to become part of an educational
Most often, however, it is because certain stories are of
institution. These extreme cases do not apply to all members
an important collective interest that they are entrusted to the
of a community, however, and those to whom they do apply
vigilant memory of one or more persons. The task of memo-
are never required to memorize everything, but only those
rization is then taken up by a specific institution, often reli-
gestures, techniques, and special narratives that are of partic-
gious. These institutions are generally controlled by an elite
ular importance, as for example certain ritual formulas, dec-
close to power. In Rwanda, the oral tradition of the Ubwiiru,
larations of faith, religious chants, prayers, and rules of reli-
in which the rites to be performed by the king were de-
gious behavior. Deliberate memorization thus appears to be
scribed, was divided into eighteen rituals that were kept
a specialization of the more natural process of acquiring
strictly secret. In an essay on this oral tradition Pierre Smith
knowledge and techniques, religious or otherwise, that un-
(1970) notes that “the individuals in charge of remembering
consciously determine a person’s membership in a particular
and repeating it word for word—errors could be punished
tradition.
with death—were the most important dignitaries in the
kingdom, and the most important three among them, the
To this initial distinction, between mechanical and de-
only ones who knew the text as a whole, partook of the sacred
liberate memorization, can be added another, which does not
character of royalty” (p. 1385). Such “memory specialists”
coincide with it, but applies to each term independently: the
can be found wherever a community expresses in narrative
techniques and practices of memorization, be they mechani-
its needs to preserve its identity. In Oceania, the experts in
cal or deliberate, vary according to whether they are associat-
oral tradition, the “holders of memory,” were assembled in
ed with orality or writing. Studies by Laura Bohannan,
colleges analogous to religious confraternities. The most fa-
E. A. Havelock, and Jack Goody have established that mem-
mous among them, portrayed by Victor Ségalen in Les im-
ory is organized differently when written records and models
mémoriaux, were the harepo of Tahiti, who were the keepers
are available; without writing, memory does not function as
of the genealogies, myths, and epics.
exact reproduction, but rather as generative recollection that
These orators were given true responsibility only after
ties repetition to variation. It would be wrong to think that
a serious examination, composed of difficult tests. The
this second distinction is historical. Oral memory and mem-
least mistake in memory was enough to eliminate a can-
ory determined by writing can easily coexist in the same cul-
didate, whose preparation was the responsibility of the
ture, as the Greek, Jewish, Celtic, and Hindu examples to
priests. It is said that the harepo practiced in complete
be mentioned below will show. This is also still the case in
isolation, during long nocturnal walks. The transmis-
contemporary cultures. In the exposition that follows, which
sion of ancestral knowledge rested with them. These
must be limited to only a few examples, will be traced a line
story tellers were surrounded by a whole set of religious
that leads from the oral to the written. At each stage it is nec-
rituals. (O’Reilly and Poirer, 1956, pp. 1469–1470)
essary to respect the double contribution of mechanical
On Easter Island, the rongorongo, from noble families often
memorization and deliberate memorization.
attached to the king, used to teach chants and oral traditions
In societies without writing, riddles, proverbs, myths,
in special huts. Alfred Métraux (1941) describes how this
fables, and stories depend upon a memory that is more or
oral tradition is learned: “The student’s memory was perfect-
less shared by the entire community. In this sense, one can
ly trained. During their first years of schooling, they had to
learn certain psalms by heart, which they recited while play-
speak of “social memory” or “shared knowledge.” However,
ing cat’s cradle: each figure . . . would correspond to a chant
memorization is often an activity left to the free choice of in-
to be recited” (p. 168).
dividuals, to their tastes, affinities, and personal gifts. Henri
Junod (1936) recalls a woman among the Tsonga who could
Among the Inca, the education of the nobility was the
tell riddle after riddle until late into the night. He met story-
responsibility of the amautas, who were of aristocratic de-
tellers of every age and of both sexes: “Such a narrator might
scent. Their instruction lasted four years. The first year was
know only one story, and repeat it on every occasion, as did
devoted to the learning of the Quechua language; the second
Jim Tandane, who told the story of an ogre, Nwatlakou-
year to learning the religious traditions; and the third and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEMORIZATION
5851
fourth years to the handling of the famous knotted strings,
human thought itself, in some of its least known as-
the quipu.
pects. (Le savoir des anthropologues, Paris, 1982, p. 115)
Memorization, as it is practiced by such specialists, be-
As logical as these rules of transformation can be, and as apt
comes a technique that can be taught, and that has its appro-
be enlightening on the workings of the human mind, they
priate equipment. The Peruvian quipu, the kou-hau made by
are not incompatible with trivial motives. Take, for instance,
the rongorongo on Easter Island, the skeins of coconut fiber
what Edmund Leach (1954) reports of the Kachin of Burma:
adorned with knots made in the Marquesas Islands, the
Kachins recount their traditions on set occasions, to jus-
wooden tablets of the Cuna Indians in Panama, and the
tify a quarrel, to validate a social custom, to accompany
pieces of bark of the Ojibwa Indians of North America do
a religious performance. The story-telling therefore has
not, strictly speaking, constitute writing systems, but they do
a purpose; it serves to validate the status of the individu-
represent mnemotechnical means pertaining to oral memo-
al who tells the story, or rather of the individual who
ry. The same is true of certain systems of pictographic nota-
hires a bard to tell the story, for among Kachins the tell-
tion, such as the Aztec ideograms. Fernandon de Alva Ixtlilx-
ing of traditional tales is a professional occupation car-
óchitl recalls that the Aztec used to have writers for each type
ried out by priests and bards of various grades (jaiwa,
of history:
dumsa, laika). But if the status of one individual is vali-
dated, that almost always means that the status of some-
Some would work with the Annals [Xiuhamatl], putting
one else is denigrated. One might then infer almost
in order the things which took place each year, giving
from first principles that every traditional tale will occur
the day, the month, and the hour. Others were charged
in several different versions, each tending to uphold the
with the genealogies and ancestries of the kings and
claims of a different vested interest. (Leach, 1954,
lords and persons of lineage. . . . Others took care of
pp. 265–266)
the paintings of the boundaries, the limits, and the
This amounts to saying that the priestly bard adjusts his sto-
landmarks of the cities, provinces, and towns, and [re-
corded] to whom they belonged. (quoted in Léon-
ries to the requirements of the audience who hired him. The
Portilla, 1963, p. 157)
horizon of expectation, the “reception,” appears to be a con-
stitutive component of oral memory, a component that con-
These “writers” used pictographs to construct a mnemonic
ditions the very notions of fidelity and truth.
system that later historians could refer to, provided that they
also referred to the purely oral tradition of the chants (ibid.,
Oral memory does not like writing; there are numerous
p. 156), since as a system of notation it was not sufficient
examples of this. This is not simply because it knows that
in itself for the total preservation of information. It was nec-
writing can place it in contradiction with itself. It is primarily
essary in addition to have recourse to the memory that was
because the standard of truth is different for each. To under-
transmitted by word of mouth through the traditional
stand this phenomenon better, one may turn to cultures
chants. One finds a similar situation, mutatis mutandis, in
where the two types of memory coexist. First the Celts,
the early days of Islam, when to read the QurDa¯n it was neces-
where the specialists of the sacred, the druids, ran their own
sary that one already know it, since writing was still too rudi-
schools, in which the main subject was memorization. Ac-
mentary to be the sole means of transmission.
cording to an Irish judicial treatise, the ollam (the highest
ranking scholar) was considered the equal of a king; he could
In oral cultures, memorization remains closely tied to
recite 350 stories, 250 long ones, and 100 short ones. “As
the conditions of performance, despite the use of mnemonic
for the tenth-ranked oblaire, who makes do with leftovers at
techniques. Between listening and repeating, the absence of
a feast, and whose escort is small, only seven stories suffices.”
a fixed model does not allow for exact word-for-word repeti-
The druids, who were the only Celts who knew how to write,
tion. Variability is essential, even though the transformations
refused to use their skill for religious purposes. “They say,”
from one speaker to another often go unnoticed. There is no
wrote Caesar,
original version that others could reproduce, or from which
they could depart. Claude Lévi-Strauss suggests that there is
that they learn a great number of verses by heart: some
spend twenty years at their school. They believe that re-
nevertheless a logical model, which follows certain laws of
ligion forbids the use of writing for this purpose, unlike
transformation. Although reproduction is not determined by
any other purpose such as recording public or private
the ideal of fidelity to an original (a “text”), this does not
stories, for which they use the Greek alphabet. It seems
mean that it thereby becomes prey to arbitrariness. Its flexi-
to me that they established this usage for two reasons.
bility, its adaptability, respects certain formal conditions.
On the one hand, they did not want their doctrine to
“Understood in this way,” notes Dan Sperber,
spread among the people; on the other hand, they did
not want those who study to rely on writing and neglect
the facts presented by Lévi-Strauss, these peculiar cor-
their memory, since it often happens that the use of
respondances and regularities, represent the intellectual
texts has the effect of reducing efforts to memorize by
capital available for primitive thought, and more partic-
heart and weakens the memory. (Gallic Wars 6.13)
ularly . . . for storing and retrieving information in the
absence of the external memory which writing provides.
Georges Dumézil (1940) comments on this testimony as fol-
Thus the study of myths can clarify the nature of
lows: “knowledge is reincarnated in each generation, in each
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5852
MEMORIZATION
student; it is not received as a deposit; it assumes a form
thority over others. Nor was there a class of religious special-
which, even while retaining its meaning and its essential
ists, comparable to the pontifices, flamines, and other Roman
traits, rejuvenates it and in a certain measure actualizes it.”
colleges, or to the Celtic druids or Vedic brahmans. Essen-
It is this dynamic, flexible, and adaptable character of oral
tially pluralist and political, Greek religion was a religion
memory that is threatened by writing. This is apparent from
without dogmas. It obeyed customs, which varied from re-
recent testimonies as well, such as that of a native of New
gion to region, and from one sanctuary to the next. As a re-
Guinea (Humboldt Bay), who told an ethnologist, “in put-
sult, correct practice depended on diverse forms of informa-
ting down our myths and legislative rules in writing you
tion derived from a variety of sources: the family, the tribe,
just kill them.” According to Freerk C. Kamma (1975)
the town, and so on. Certain religious practices, such as those
“he meant to say: to fix or stabilize a progressing living
connected with the mysteries or with divination, were some-
reality means to cut it off from accompanying the living
times reserved for certain families or circles of initiates (for
community.”
example, the Eumolpides and the Ceryces, the Iamides, the
Trophoniades), but every Greek, regardless of social status,
In India, the brahmans who teach the Vedas are special-
was capable of addressing a prayer to the gods or performing
ists in the techniques of memory, even though the Vedas
the actions indispensable to a sacrifice. Deliberate memoriza-
have for a long time been fixed in writing. Louis Renou has
tion, and for that matter writing as well, appeared as religious
noted that
practices only in the context of such marginal devotions as
there is something fascinating in the process of memo-
Orphism and Pythagoreanism.
rizing the verses. The master stares at the student while
feeding him the verses, so to speak, with an implacable
In the Judaic tradition, memorization plays a different
regularity, while the student rocks back and forth in a
role in the study of the written Torah than it does in the
squatting position. After looking on for a few moments
study of the oral Torah. The written Torah is taught through
in such a recitation class, one better understands the
reading. The transmission of the text, teaching of the scrip-
hymn of the Rgveda (7.103) in which this monotonous
tures, and public readings, must all be done from a book.
delivery has been likened to the croaking of frogs.
Even if these activities eventually result in the memorization
(Renou, 1950, p. 36)
of the text, and in fact many rabbis do know the text by
A precise description of the techniques of memorization in
heart, it is specified that the written Torah must never be
the Vedic schools can be found in the fifteenth chapter of
copied from memory. On the other hand, the oral Torah is
the Rk Pratisakhya, an old phonetic and grammatical treatise.
taught through repetition from memory, even though writ-
ten notes may be used as a mnemotechnic device, and even
E. A. Havelock and Marcel Detienne have insisted on
though, at an early date, the Mishnah, and then the Talmud,
the coexistence of two types of memory in ancient Greece
was committed to writing. The masters of the oral Torah,
up until the time of Plato: (1) written memory and (2) social
the tannaim (“teachers”), were like living memories, capable
memory that is still dependent on oral tradition. Thus it is
of reproducing an impressive number of traditions. Their
noteworthy that, although archives were available from the
knowledge, often mechanical and lacking in reflection, was
end of the fifth century BCE, it never occured to Greek histo-
used as a reference source by the rabbis and colleges. A fa-
rians to refer to them as historical sources more reliable than
mous example is Natronai ben H:avivai (eighth century),
the tradition transmitted by the works of their predecessors
who wrote down the entire Talmud from memory after im-
(appraised according to their degree of verisimilitude) or
migrating to Spain.
transmitted by the experience of sight (autopsía) or hearing
(testimony). And yet, already from about 470 BCE, Pindar
In the Christian tradition, the role of memorization
and Aeschylus employ the metaphor that represents memory
seems to be much less important, although from the fourth
as an inscription, on the tablets of the soul, of what is fit to
century there are references to religious schools where the
be remembered. Shortly before, the poet Simonides is said
Psalms, the words of the apostles, prayers, and passages from
to have invented the art of memory, a technique built upon
the Old Testament, were learned by heart. In the Divine Of-
the metaphor of writing, which will undergo an important
fice, for instance, the use of a breviary, even though required
development, passing by way of Roman rhetoric (Quintilli-
to be recited aloud, served as a substitute for memorization.
an) to the Renaissance. At the beginning of the fourth centu-
Thus blindness could relieve a monk of the obligation of re-
ry BCE, Plato is obviously preoccupied with the negative ef-
citing the hours, save for what he knew from memory.
fects of the invention of writing on memory. And
In Islam, which is a religion of the word as much as a
Antisthenes of Athens recommends according more trust to
religion of the book, memorization was essential from the
personal memory than to the external memory of written an-
very beginning. The words of the Prophet, which repeated
notations.
the Archangel Gabriel’s reading of the archetypal book, were
Although Homer appears to have been a necessary refer-
transmitted orally by a group of the companions of the
ence point in ancient Greece, since his written text was
Prophet and by specialists in memorization before the
learned by heart in the schools and was recited by specialists
QurDa¯n was finally written down. From the time of the third
at religious festivals, there was no religious text that had au-
caliph, writing made possible the fixation of the tradition,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MENDELSSOHN, MOSES
5853
but it never did away with recourse to memory. In effect, to
The Inca
read the QurDa¯n in its primitive form, it was necessary to
M. L. Locke, The Ancient Quipu or Peruvian Knot-Record (New
know its contents. Later, writing and memorization contin-
York, 1923). Rafael Karsten, A Totalitarian State of the Past:
ued to be closely related practices. The QurDanic schools (ma-
The Civilization of Inca Empire in Ancient Peru (1949; re-
drasahs) were tied to a mosque. Children came to learn the
print, Port Washington, N. Y., 1969).
QurDa¯n by heart, even before they could read. These schools
The Aztec
also taught the h:adiths, the tradition that was guaranteed by
Miguel León-Portilla, Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the
a chain of authorities, or isnad. Before being written down
Ancient Nahuatl Mind, translated by Jack Emory (Norman,
Okla., 1963).
in such texts, such as that of al-Bukhari, this tradition was
transmitted orally. The information it gives about the acts
Burma
and words of the Prophet are used to regulate daily life down
Edmund Leach, Political Systems of Highland Burma: A Study of
Kachin Social Structure. (Cambridge, Mass., 1954).
to the smallest details, in profane as well as in religious mat-
ters. The tradition represents the Prophet himself, sitting in
New Guinea
the mosque and teaching the h:adiths. His words are repeated
Freerk C. Kamma, trans. and comp. Religious Texts of the Oral
Tradition from Western New-Guinea (Irian Jaya), pt. A (Lei-
three times by all present, until they are known by heart.
den, 1975).
SEE ALSO Anamnesis; Dhikr; Oral Tradition; Tila¯wah.
The Celts
Georges Dumézil, “La tradition druidique et l’écriture: Le Vivant
et le Mort,” Revue de l’histoire des religions 121 (March–June
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1940): 125–133. Françoise Le Roux and Christian-J.
General Works
Guyonvarc’h, Les druides, 3d ed. (Rennes, 1982).
For a general discussion of memorization and of method, see
India
Maurice Halbwachs’s Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire (Paris,
Louis Renou, Sanskrit et culture (Paris, 1950). Louis Renou, Les
1925) and La mémoire collective (Paris, 1950); Marcel
écoles védiques et la formation du Véda (Paris, 1957).
Mauss’s “Les techniques du corps,” Journal de psychologie 32
Ancient Greece
(March–April 1935): 271–293, reprinted in Mauss’s Sociolo-
E. A. Havelock, Preface to Plato (Cambridge, Mass., 1963). Marcel
gie et anthropologie (Paris, pp. 365–383); André Leroi-
Detienne, L’invention de la mythologie (Paris, 1981). M. Si-
Gourhan’s Le geste et la parole, vol. 2, La mémoire et les ryth-
mondon, La mémoire et l’oubli dans la pensée grecque jusqu’à
mes (Paris, 1965); Laura Bohannan’s “A Genealogical Char-
la fin du cinquième siècle avant J.-C.: Psychologie archaïque,
ter,” Africa 22 (October 1952): 301–315; Jack Goody’s The
mythes et doctrines (Paris, 1982). Marcel Detienne (ed.), Les
Domestication of the Savage Mind (Cambridge, 1977); Jan
savoirs de l’écriture en Grèce ancienne (Lilles, 1988).
Assmann, Das Kulturelle Gedächtnis. Schrift, Erinnerung und
politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen ( München, 1992);
Judaism
Jan Vansina’s Oral Tradition: A Study in Historical Methodol-
Birger Gerhardsson, Memory and Manuscript: Oral Tradition and
ogy, translated by H. M. Wright (Chicago, 1965); Ruth Fin-
Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Chris-
negan’s Oral Poetry: Its Nature, Significance and Social Con-
tianity, translated by Eric J. Sharpe (Uppsala, 1961).
text (Cambridge, 1977); W. Kelber, “Modalities of
Christianity
Communication, Cognition, and Physiology of Perception:
Theodor Klauser, “Auswendiglernen,” in Reallexikon für Antike
Orality, Rhetoric, Scribality,” Semeia 65 (1995): 193–216.
und Christentum, vol. 1 (Stuttgart, 1950).
Specific Cultures
Islam
The following works discuss the role and nature of memorization
Dale F. Eickelman, “The Art of Memory: Islamic Education and
in specific regions and religious traditions.
Its Social Reproduction,” Comparative Studies in Society and
History 20 (October 1978): pp. 485–516. Pierre Crapon de
Africa
Caprona, Le Coran: Aux sources de la parole oraculaire (Paris,
Henri A. Junod, Mœurs et coutumes des Bantous, vol. 2, Vie mentale
1981), pp. 147–162; Alfred-Louis de Prémare, Les fondations
(Paris, 1936). Pierre Smith, “La lance d’une jeune fille:
de l’Islam. Entre écriture et histoire, Paris, 2002.
Mythe et poésie au Rwanda,” in Échanges et communications:
Mélanges offerts à Claude Lévi-Strauss a l’occasion de son soix-
PHILLIPE BORGEAUD (1987 AND 2005)
antième anniversaire, edited by Pierre Maranda and Jean
Translated from French by Marie-Claude Hays-Merlaud
Pouillon, vol. 2 (The Hague, 1970), pp. 1381–1408.
North America
Marcelle Bouteiller, “Littérature indienne d’Amérique du Nord,”
MEMORY SEE ANAMNESIS; MEMORIZATION
in Histoire des littératures, edited by Raymond Queneau, vol.
1 (Paris, 1956), pp. 1513–1523. Robert H. Lowie, Primitive
Society (New York, 1961), pp. 224–232.
MENCIUS SEE MENGZI
Oceania
Patrick O’Reilly and Jean Poirer, “Littératures océaniennes,” in
Histoire des littératures, edited by Raymond Queneau, vol. 1
(Paris, 1956), pp. 1461–1492. Alfred Métraux, L’Ile de
MENDELSSOHN, MOSES (1729–1786), German-
Pâques (Paris, 1941), pp. 165–179.
Jewish philosopher and public figure of the Enlightenment
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5854
MENDELSSOHN, MOSES
period. Born in Dessau, the son of a poor Torah scribe, Men-
delssohn encouraged Christian Wilhelm von Dohm to write
delssohn received a traditional education that, rather excep-
his classic defense of the civic betterment of the Jews but de-
tionally, included the study of the philosophy of Moses Mai-
murred from Dohm’s support of limited judicial autonomy
monides. In 1743 Mendelssohn followed his teacher to
for Jews and the right of Jewry to excommunicate recalci-
Berlin to continue his Jewish studies. There he was able to
trant Jews.
acquire considerable knowledge of contemporary mathemat-
Mendelssohn’s translation of the Pentateuch into Ger-
ics, philosophy, poetry, and classical and modern languages.
man was published in 1780. It was accompanied by a com-
The German dramatist and critic G. E. Lessing encouraged
mentary (the Bi’ur) that draws on both traditional exegesis
Mendelssohn to publish his first German essays and used
and modern literary aesthetics. Often reprinted, the transla-
him as the model for the tolerant and modest Jew in his play
tion drew the ire of some traditionalist rabbis but served as
Nathan the Wise. In 1763 Mendelssohn received first prize
an important bridge to modern culture for many young Jews
from the Prussian Royal Academy of Sciences for a treatise
in the nineteenth century.
on evidence in metaphysics; in the same year he was granted
the status of “protected Jew” with rights of residence in Ber-
JERUSALEM, OR ON RELIGIOUS POWER AND JUDAISM. Men-
lin. Mendelssohn supported himself successively as family
delssohn’s principal contribution to Jewish thought was the
tutor, bookkeeper, manager, and partner of a Berlin Jewish
result of yet another challenge by a Christian, this time con-
silk manufacturer; his home became a gathering place for
cerning an alleged inconsistency in his supporting the aboli-
Berlin intellectuals. In the nineteenth century members of
tion of excommunication while remaining loyal to biblical
the Mendelssohn family (most of whom converted to Chris-
law, which condones coercion. Mendelssohn’s reply, Jerusa-
tianity after Moses’ death) achieved considerable financial,
lem, oder Über religiöse Macht und Judenthum (1783), was
academic, and artistic prominence.
one of the first works in German to plead for freedom of con-
science in religious matters, separation of church and state,
GENERAL METAPHYSICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS. Men-
and (indirectly) civil rights for the Jews. According to Men-
delssohn’s philosophical position was derived from the En-
delssohn both states and church have as their final goals the
glish philosophers John Locke (1632–1704) and Shaftesbury
promotion of human happiness. The state is permitted to en-
(1671–1713) and especially from the German rationalists
force specific actions, whereas the church’s task is to convince
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646–1716) and Christian
its followers of their religious and ethical duties through per-
Wolff (1679–1754). The publication of Mendelssohn’s Phä-
suasion alone. To the question of the continued authority of
don (1767), a work on the immortality of the soul and
Jewish law, which was adumbrated by Spinoza in the Tracta-
named after Plato’s dialogue, established his reputation
tus Theologico-Politicus, Mendelssohn replied that the cere-
among the enlightened public. Drawing on Leibnitz’s theory
monial law stemming from the Hebrew Bible is binding sole-
of monads, Mendelssohn argues that souls are primary, im-
ly on the Jewish people; Judaism is a religion of revealed
perishable elements that impose unity on the changing fea-
legislation, not of revealed beliefs. The existence and unity
tures of the body. Continued personal consciousness of the
of God, the reality of divine providence, and the immortality
soul after death is guaranteed by God, inasmuch as divine
of the soul are to be affirmed on the grounds of natural rea-
wisdom and goodness would not allow the soul to relapse
son, not miracles or supernatural revelation. Mendelssohn
into nothingness without fulfilling its natural impulse to self-
acknowledges the importance of Spinoza in the history of
perfection. Morgenstunden, oder Über das Dasein Gottes
philosophy but vigorously rejects Spinoza’s pantheism. Spi-
(Morning hours, or lectures on the existence of God, 1785),
noza’s primary concern was the noninterference by the state
the most methodical of Mendelssohn’s major works, moves
or religious authorities in the intellectual freedom of the phi-
from a discussion of epistemological issues to the impor-
losopher and scientist. Mendelssohn, while still affirming the
tance of a belief in God, providence, and immortality
continued authority of Jewish law, was concerned with free-
for man’s happiness, to a formal ontological proof of God’s
dom inside one religion as well as freedom of religion for mi-
existence.
nority communities.
JEWISH WRITINGS AND ACTIVITIES. In the mid-1750s Men-
delssohn collaborated in a short-lived Hebrew weekly and
Mendelssohn argued that the identification of church
published a commentary to Maimonides’ treatise on logic.
and state in biblical Israel ceased with the destruction of the
He was forced to speak out as a Jew, however, after 1769,
ancient commonwealth; laws remaining in force are personal
when he was publicly challenged to explain why he, an en-
religious duties that preserve the universal principles of Jew-
lightened man, did not convert to Christianity. In a reply to
ish faith against lapses into idolatry and polytheism. These
the Swiss pastor, Johann Kasper Lavater, Mendelssohn re-
laws will not lose their force until God arranges another in-
jected the implication that his loyalty to Judaism was incon-
dubitable supernatural revelation to the Jewish people to su-
sistent with his innermost enlightened religious convictions
persede that of Mount Sinai. Loyalty to the Jewish law, how-
and devotion to rational inquiry. In the 1770s Mendelssohn
ever, does not prevent Jews from assuming the legitimate
used his influence with liberal Christians to deflect threat-
duties of citizenship in an enlightened society.
ened anti-Jewish measures in Switzerland and Germany. In
THE PLACE OF MENDELSSOHN IN THE HISTORY OF JEWISH
connection with efforts to protect the Jews of Alsace, Men-
THOUGHT. Although Mendelssohn’s synthesis of philosoph-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MENDICANCY
5855
ical theism and traditional religious observance was viewed
its observance has varied in character from place to place, the
as outdated by the next generation of Jewish thinkers influ-
general impetus for the phenomenon seems to have derived
enced by Kant and Hegel, Mendelssohn could be seen as
from an idea that the discipline of living solely on alms is
forebear of the conflicting trends of nineteenth-century Ger-
conducive to the attainment of spiritual goals. Early in the
man Jewry: Reform, for his openness to change; and Neo-
Vedic period, brahman mendicants had precise rules for so-
Orthodoxy, for his insistence on the binding nature of Jewish
liciting alms, and among the ancient Greeks, mendicant
ceremonial law. Mendelssohn’s disciples among the writers
priests went from place to place in quest of alms on behalf
who collaborated with him in the Bi’ur were prominent in
of their favorite deities (e.g., Isis and Artemis Opis). Among
the Jewish Enlightenment (the Haskalah) that emerged in
the Romans, certain priests who were bound by vows of tem-
Prussia in the 1770s and later spread to eastern Europe.
perance received support from public almsgiving. (According
Mendelssohn was revered by the Enlighteners (maskilim) for
to some critics, these mendicants had occasionally to be re-
having moved from the ghetto to modern society without
minded to restrain their extravagant demands; see Cicero,
abandoning the Jewish tradition or the Jewish people. In the
On the Laws 50.) Although religious mendicancy is a phe-
1880s, however, at the end of the Haskalah period, Mendels-
nomenon that still finds acceptance in varying degrees in a
sohn was assailed for having paved the way to the loss of Jew-
number of cultures, it is chiefly within the Hindu, Buddhist,
ish distinctiveness and, therefore, to assimilation. In retro-
Christian, and Islamic traditions that it has won sanction as
spect, his thought and life can be seen to have posed some
a religious practice.
of the fundamental issues of Jewish religious survival in secu-
lar, liberal society.
In the Hindu tradition, pious men with sons to carry
on the family line have long had open to them a renunciant
ideal by which they may give away their possessions to brah-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
mans and go forth into homelessness, first as a hermit (vana-
The standard edition of Mendelssohn’s writings is Gesammelte
Schriften Jubiläumsausgabe, 7 vols., edited by Fritz Bamber-
prastha) and later as a mendicant (sam:nya¯sin) who begs from
ger and others and incompletely published between 1929
door to door. Individuals from different ranks of society have
and 1938; a completed edition in 20 volumes is being pre-
sometimes chosen to devote themselves to a life of poverty
pared under the editorship of Alexander Altmann (Stuttgart,
and meditation, dependent for support upon others. The
1971–). The most recent English translation of Jerusalem is
Hindu mystic’s quest for illumination, for union with ulti-
by Allan Arkush, with an introduction and commentary by
mate reality, generally promotes such an attitude of indiffer-
Alexander Altmann (Hanover, N.H., 1983). Useful is Moses
ence to worldly concerns, and, since liberation (moks:a) from
Mendelssohn: Selections from His Writings, edited and translat-
them is one of the recognized aims of a Hindu’s life, the as-
ed by Eva Jospe (New York, 1975). The magisterial biogra-
ceticism of the mendicant is perceived as a positive means
phy of Mendelssohn is Alexander Altmann’s Moses Mendels-
for achieving that goal.
sohn: A Biographical Study (University, Ala., 1973). On
Mendelssohn’s role in the intellectual history of Judaism, see
In Buddhism, the monastic enterprise instituted by
Michael A. Meyer’s The Origins of the Modern Jew: Jewish
Gautama Buddha was probably derived from even more an-
Identity and European Culture in Germany, 1749–1824 (De-
cient Vedic ascetic movements. For the Buddhist, renuncia-
troit, 1967), chap. 1; Julius Guttmann’s Philosophies of Juda-
tion of the world is considered meritorious in that it allows
ism, translated by David W. Silverman (New York, 1964),
pp. 291–303; and H. I. Bach’s The German Jew: A Synthesis
the devotee to dedicate his or her energies to the task of deliv-
of Judaism and Western Civilization, 1730–1930 (Oxford,
ering people from suffering. Both laypersons and monastics
1984), pp. 44–72).
subscribe to mendicancy as a practice leading to the lessening
of attachment and, hence, ultimately to nirva¯n:a. The daily
New Sources
life of the monastic mendicants usually includes regular
Arkush, Allan. Moses Mendelssohn and the Enlightenment. Albany,
1994.
rounds from house to house for the purpose of gathering
alms; whatever food is placed in their bowls is to be accepted
Berghahn, Cord-Friedrich. Moses Mendelssohns “Jerusalem:” ein
gratefully. Monks and nuns are exhorted to follow specific
Beitrag zur Geschichte der Menschenrechte und der pluralistisc-
hen Gesellschaft in der deutschen Aufklärung. Tübingen, 2001.
rules (e.g., not discriminating between houses when begging,
eating solely from an alms bowl, eating only one meal per
Sorkin, David Jan. Moses Mendelssohn and the Religious Enlighten-
day, etc.). They are instructed that no real value obtains in
ment. Berkeley, Calif., 1996.
external performances; only if alms-gathering is attended by
ROBERT M. SELTZER (1987)
the desire for nirva¯n:a can this discipline be meritorious. Al-
Revised Bibliography
though the practice of begging food and alms still prevails
in most countries where Buddhist monasticism exists, meals
are also often brought to the monasteries so that the laypeo-
ple may acquire extra merit.
MENDICANCY. As a religious term, mendicancy (from
the Latin mendicare, “to beg”) denotes renunciation of all
In early Christian history, pious mendicants (Lat., soli-
worldly possessions and the practice of begging alms from
tarii, gyrovagi) wandered through city and countryside,
door to door. The custom is of ancient origin and, although
preaching and begging alms, but they usually did not meet
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5856
MENDICANCY
with popular acceptance. Jerome, for example, complained
At times, the result was starvation and, gradually, S:u¯f¯ıs con-
that some of these solitarii were accustomed to wandering
cluded that trust in God and seeking a livelihood were not
from house to house, often leading people astray and living
mutually exclusive. The words faq¯ır and darw¯ısh (Arabic and
a life of luxury at the expense of other Christians. Monastic
Persian for “poor”) are terms for religious mendicants who
or semimonastic communities were in existence by the be-
ask for food or money in the name of God. They profess a
ginning of the fourth century and, although their inhabitants
life of poverty and withdrawal from worldly pursuits for the
may have had to resort to begging during hard times, they
purpose of deepening their spiritual insights and communing
generally sustained themselves by their own labors. It was not
more intimately with God. Some mendicants follow their ca-
until the time of Francis of Assisi and Dominic (twelfth and
reers independently, and others (like their Christian counter-
thirteenth centuries) that mendicant orders as such arose and
parts) live communally. The doctrines of these mendicants
eventually became sanctioned by the church hierarchy. The
and their orders are derived from S:u¯f¯ı principles and beliefs,
appearance of these mendicant orders ensued as a protest
particularly those that stress dependence upon God.
against the corruption within certain established monastic
Within these four religious traditions, mendicancy has
communities (a problem with which the mendicant orders
generally connoted withdrawal from worldly possessions and
themselves had to deal at a later time, when abuses crept into
worldly pursuits for the purpose of demonstrating and expe-
their own communities).
riencing a sense of dependency upon God and/or a supreme
Four mendicant orders were approved by the Council
life principle. Wherever mendicancy has become accepted as
of Lyons (1274): Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and
a religious practice, almsgiving also has been elevated to an
Augustinians. Francis insisted that his followers own nothing
act of merit whose efficacy is rarely surpassed by other vir-
whatever, for they were to be “pilgrims and strangers in this
tues. It, too, is considered in positive terms as a way of dis-
world,” living with confidence in God’s care and subsisting
tancing oneself from society in order to transcend the materi-
on alms received from those among whom they preached and
al world.
worked. After the deaths of Francis and Dominic, however,
church authorities mitigated the orders’ rules to allow for
SEE ALSO Almsgiving; Eremitism; Religious Communities,
possession of worldly goods. From time to time, members
article on Christian Religious Orders; Sam:nya¯sa.
of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches have,
in an attempt to return to the simplicity of the message of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Gospel, initiated reform movements that included men-
Although there are no specific monographs on mendicancy, the
dicancy. Their belief was that through ascetic practices such
following encyclopedias, dictionaries, and texts provide rele-
vant material on the topic.
as begging, Christians might rid themselves of the imperfec-
tions and sins that kept them from union with God—
Boyle, L. E. “Mendicant Orders.” In New Catholic Encyclopedia,
especially by placing one’s daily life in God’s hands (divina
vol. 9. New York, 1967.
providentia)—by complete reliance on God for subsistence
Brandon, S. G. F., ed. A Dictionary of Comparative Religion. Lon-
one might more quickly achieve that union with the divine.
don, 1970.
Toward the end of the Middle Ages, mendicancy as a reli-
Hastings, James, ed. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. 13
gious practice was prohibited by the Roman Catholic church
vols. Edinburgh, 1908–1926. See the index, s. v. Mendicant
because of various abuses that had crept into the system.
orders.
Hughes, Thomas P. A Dictionary of Islam. London, 1885.
Within Islamic tradition, there has generally been dis-
agreement as to the value of mendicancy. Some have argued
Macdonald, D. B. Religious Attitude and Life in Islam.
that, since the QurDa¯n contains injunctions against begging,
Parrinder, Geoffrey. Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions. Phila-
it is debatable whether dependence upon others for one’s sus-
delphia, 1971.
tenance is more virtuous than having independent means.
Spiro, Melford E. Buddhism and Society. New York, 1970.
Mendicancy on a broad scale came into vogue with the
Stutley, Margaret, and James Stutley. A Dictionary of Hinduism.
ninth-century S:u¯f¯ıs; these were Muslim ascetics who inter-
London, 1977.
preted zuhd (“renunciation”) in a strictly spiritual sense,
viewing it as the abandonment of all that diverts one from
New Sources
Bailey, Michael. “Religious Poverty, Mendicancy and Reform in
God.
the Late Middle Ages.” Church History 72 (September 2003):
Many of the early S:u¯f¯ıs carried the Islamic theory of
457–484.
tawakkul (“trust [in God]”) to an extreme, defining it as re-
Jotischley, Andrew. The Carmelites and Antiquity: Mendicants and
nunciation of all personal initiative and volition. Since every-
Their Pasts in the Middle Ages. New York, 2002.
thing is in God’s hands, S:u¯f¯ıs were neither to beg nor work
Lawrence, C. H. The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant
for pay but to depend on what God has sent as a gift, either
Movement on Western Society. New York, 1994.
directly or through the generous alms of others. This system
Lu, Hanchao. “Becoming Urban: Mendicancy and Vagrants in
often proved ineffective, and some S:u¯f¯ıs wandered from
Modern Shanghai.” Journal of Social History 33 (Fall 1999):
place to place, trusting in God to provide their livelihood.
7–37.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MENGZI
5857
Munzer, Stephen. “Heroism, Spiritual Development and Triadic
CENTRAL TEACHINGS. Mengzi is renowned for advocating
Bonds in Jain and Christian Almsgiving.” Numen: Interna-
the theory that “human nature is good” (xing shan; 6A2,
tional Review for the History of Religions 48 (2001): 47–80.
6A6). A central claim of this theory is that heaven has en-
ROSEMARY RADER (1987)
dowed human beings with nascent moral “sprouts” (duan),
Revised Bibliography
which are the defining features of human nature (2A6).
These innate moral tendencies are active and observable as-
pects of human nature, but they do not exhaustively describe
MENG-TZU SEE MENGZI
the nature of human beings. They are the beginnings of mo-
rality, but like all sprouts they require a period of growth,
care, and the right kind of environment in order to reach ma-
MENGZI. The name Mengzi, meaning literally “Master
turity (2A2, 6A7). The sprouts of morality are sensibilities
Meng,” is the honorific epithet of Meng Ke (391–308 BCE),
of the heart-and-mind (xin), which is also the seat of human
known in the West as “Mencius.” Mengzi defended and de-
cognition, emotion, and volition. For Mengzi, the task of
veloped Kongzi’s (Confucius’s) teachings in response to vari-
cultivating one’s nature begins with an awareness of the
ous challenges in the highly diverse and contentious intellec-
moral aspects of the heart-and-mind, and consists in mobiliz-
tual world of fourth-century BCE China. In the process, he
ing the various faculties of the xin to protect, nurture, and
expounded innovative views about heaven, human nature,
develop these nascent moral assets. Successfully cultivating
the mind, and self-cultivation that proved to be of profound
the moral sprouts, and thereby fulfilling one’s nature, is the
and enduring importance in the later Confucian tradition.
proper way to serve heaven, and in the course of this process
Mengzi was a native of Zou, a small state located at the
one comes to understand heaven’s decree (7A1).
base of the Shandong peninsula. Traditional accounts claim
Mengzi claims that four moral sprouts constitute the
that he studied under Zisi, Confucius’s grandson, but it is
core of human nature; these serve as the bases of his four car-
more likely that he was a student of one of Zisi’s disciples.
dinal virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wis-
Mengzi’s teachings bear some similarities to parts of the Li
dom (2A6). Throughout one’s life, these moral sprouts regu-
ji (Book of rites), which tradition ascribes to Zisi. One also
larly spring up—even though one often fails to notice or
finds common themes and ideas in recently excavated texts,
cultivate them. In certain contexts, in unguarded moments,
which show that Mengzi was participating in an ongoing de-
they break through accumulated bad habits and indifference
bate about the nature of the emerging Confucian tradition.
to manifest themselves in small, spontaneous moral acts.
The earliest information we have about Mengzi’s life
One of Mengzi’s main tasks as a moral teacher is to help peo-
comes from the text that bears his name. In its present form,
ple notice, appreciate, and focus attention on such “give-
the Mengzi consists of seven books, each of which is divided
away” actions.
into two parts, which are further subdivided into sections of
Giveaway actions are one of several types of evidence
varying length. The shortest sections consist of brief dicta,
Mengzi adduces for the existence of the moral sprouts. He
while the longest extend to over two thousand words. These
also supports his claim about innate moral tendencies by pos-
purportedly record the teachings of Mengzi and conversa-
ing hypothetical scenarios or thought experiments designed
tions he had with various disciples, friends, royal patrons,
to illustrate the universal presence of moral feelings in
and rivals. Some accounts claim that Mengzi himself com-
human beings. For example, he asks us to imagine what one
posed the text, others that it was compiled by his disciples
would feel if one were suddenly to see a child about to fall
with his approval and advice. In the second century CE, the
into a well (2A6, 3A5). Mengzi claims that every person fac-
Mengzi was edited and several “chapters” were discarded by
ing such a scene would feel alarm and concern for the child.
Zhao Qi, who also wrote the first extant commentary.
This spontaneous feeling of compassion shows that by nature
The Mengzi had a place, but not a distinguished posi-
we are creatures who care for one another.
tion, among Confucian writings until its remarkable ascent
Mengzi argues further that there is a heavenly endowed
toward the end of the Tang dynasty (618–907). In the fol-
structure and hierarchy to human nature (6A14–15). Each
lowing Song (960–1279), Yuan (1206–1368), and Ming
of our various parts has a natural station and function that
(1368–1644) dynasties it came to occupy a singularly impor-
determine its place within the hierarchy and its relative value.
tant place in the Confucian scriptural pantheon. The great
No one who is aware of the natural hierarchy and its different
Zhu Xi (1130–1200) wrote a highly influential commentary
functions would act against them, nor would such a person
on the Mengzi and included it, along with the Analects, Great
sacrifice a part of greater importance for one of lesser impor-
Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean, as one of the “Four
tance. The natural function of the xin is to reflect on and de-
Books”—a collection intended to serve as the gateway to
termine the relative merit of different courses of action be-
Confucian learning. In 1315 the Mongol court recognized
cause it alone has the capacity to consider, weigh, and judge
the Mengzi as a classic and secured its preeminent position
among the various alternatives we face.
within the tradition. Since that time the text has enjoyed re-
markable influence and prestige. It is one of the most highly
Mengzi never claimed that our innate moral tendencies
studied Confucian classics among contemporary scholars.
alone guarantee moral development. These are only the be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5858
MENGZI
ginnings of virtue; they need attention, effort, and the right
enables one to find the “Mind of the Way” (daoxin) within
kind of environment to attain their full forms. Without sus-
the “Human Mind” (renxin).
tained and concerted work, human beings will not become
moral. His central metaphors for self-cultivation are agricul-
Under the influence of this new paradigm, neo-
tural (not merely vegetative) and farming requires attention,
Confucians reappropriated Mengzi’s teachings about a heav-
persistence, and a great deal of hard work. According to
enly-conferred, morally good nature, along with its focus on
Mengzi, people are not born good; but rather are born for
the cultivation of the heart-and-mind. However, seen
goodness (6A6). Our moral sprouts must ripen, as grain
through this new lens, Mengzi’s original teachings took on
must ripen (6A19), before our true nature is revealed.
a dramatically different form. For example, while Mengzi
had advocated the sustained and gradual development of
NEO-CONFUCIAN REVIVAL. Toward the end of the Tang
moral sprouts, neo-Confucians sought to discover and bring
dynasty, Mengzi and his teachings became a rallying point
into play a fully-formed moral mind. This change generated
for a broad revival that modern scholars call neo-
a new and unprecedented belief in the inherent perfection
Confucianism. This important movement was propelled by
of all human beings and a corresponding concern with “en-
a series of political, military, economic, and social crises that
lightenment” as a religious goal. Mengzi did not employ the
together motivated many Chinese intellectuals to regard
stark contrast, common to most neo-Confucian thinkers, be-
their contemporary culture as corrupted, weak, and ineffec-
tween a pure, fundamental nature in opposition to a corrupt
tive and to seek a renewal in an older, indigenous Chinese
yet reformable physical nature. Nor did he ever envisage any-
culture. A number of influential late Tang thinkers pointedly
thing resembling the way neo-Confucians deployed these
criticized Buddhism and Daoism for eroding and undermin-
basic metaphysical notions to construct a scheme in which
ing Chinese culture. The former was especially castigated as
human nature was fundamentally united with the rest of the
a “foreign” and baleful influence on indigenous culture and
universe. Nevertheless, the major neo-Confucian thinkers all
was held responsible for a litany of social problems. Accom-
saw themselves as inheritors and defenders of Mengzi’s line
panying such criticisms were calls for a return to “traditional”
of the Confucian tradition.
Chinese culture, and the Mengzi proved to be one of the
most important texts singled out for renewed interest.
The neo-Confucian revival was a vast, complex, and ex-
ceedingly rich movement that continued for more than a
Modern scholars tend to describe this rediscovery of the
thousand years. However, many of its main themes were de-
Mengzi in strategic terms. That is to say, the Mengzi’s teach-
fined by the Lu-Wang and Cheng-Zhu schools. Both of
ings on human nature and the cultivation of the mind of-
these “schools” are loosely defined in terms of their respective
fered a version of the tradition that could effectively engage
emphases regarding the nature of the xin and the proper
the sophisticated philosophies found in Buddhist and Daoist
methods of self-cultivation. The former takes the thought of
rivals. While there is some truth in this, such an account ob-
Lu Xiangshan (1139–1193) and Wang Yangming (1472–
scures the degree to which these “rival” traditions trans-
1529) as its primary sources of inspiration, whereas the latter
formed the way all Chinese intellectuals thought about
looks to Cheng Yi (1033–1107), Cheng Hao (1032–1085),
themselves and their world. It is more accurate to say that
and Zhu Xi. Roughly speaking, members of the former
the Mengzi and other early texts favored by neo-Confucians,
school express a greater faith in the inherent purity and
such as the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning, were
power of the xin. As a result, they tend to emphasize an ex-
chosen because they fit what had become a new, general par-
treme form of particularism in which every ethical decision
adigm of thought, one that owed a great deal to the influence
and action is strongly dependent upon context, and moral
of Buddhism and Daoism.
progress is primarily a matter of personal reflection and
struggle. They distrust rules, precedents, and conventions
Among the features of this new paradigm was a belief
and advocate a radical independence on the part of individu-
in a hidden, pure, fundamental nature and a manifest, de-
als. Followers of the Cheng-Zhu school have an equally
filed, physical nature. The former defines what we and other
strong faith in the existence of a fundamental nature. How-
creatures really are while the latter corrupts our “original” na-
ever, they believe that human beings are guided to this nature
ture and gives rise to everything bad. Our fundamental na-
primarily through a course of careful and dedicated study,
ture is shared with all things in the universe and unites us
practice, and reflection. They view adherents of the Lu-
not only with all other human beings but with all creatures
Wang school as self-indulgent and undisciplined and see
and things as well. Those who fully appreciate the true char-
their teachings and practices as the road to spiraling selfish-
acter of their nature understand this, and such insight allows
ness and deepening delusion.
them to “form one body” with all things. However, the un-
derstanding of most people is beclouded by the errant aspects
Later Confucian thinkers such as Yan Yuan (1635–
of their physical nature, which give rise to and are reinforced
1704) and Dai Zhen (1723–1777) sharply criticized the fol-
by “selfish desires.” The task of cultivating one’s original
lowers of both the Lu-Wang and Cheng-Zhu schools for
heavenly nature consists primarily of eliminating the obscur-
abandoning Mengzi’s original legacy. Both of these Qing
ing influence of such errant aspects. As a practical matter,
dynasty (1644–1911) critics accused earlier neo-Confucians
this entails the elimination of selfish desires, a process that
of incorporating too much Buddhism and Daoism into their
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MENGZI
5859
philosophy. They rightly pointed out that much of the meta-
themselves to the task of self-cultivation. In thinkers like
physical speculation underlying both Lu-Wang and Cheng-
Wang Yangming, these aspects of Mengzi’s teachings find
Zhu thought was alien to Mengzi and his age. Moreover,
expression as a profound faith that each and every person has
these foreign elements worked to obscure some of the most
a pure and perfect divine guide within.
profound insights of Mengzi’s original vision. Prominent
These brief remarks only sketch Mengzi’s thought and
among these is his emphasis on certain shared human reac-
offer some suggestions about its value as a source for religious
tive attitudes as the basis of the moral life. Both Yan and Dai
ethical reflection. What is beyond dispute is that his religious
insisted that our physical, embodied life, with all its feelings
vision has inspired many of the best minds throughout East
and desires, is the site of both our best and worst aspects. We
and Southeast Asia for more than two thousand years, and
must not look to obscure metaphysical theories for moral
the Mengzi continues to challenge and inspire contemporary
guidance. Heaven has endowed each of us with the means,
thinkers throughout the world.
and the Confucian tradition provides all of us with the Way.
The challenge is to understand and practice the Way in order
SEE ALSO Cheng Yi; Dai Zhen; Li; Lu Xiangshan; Mozi;
to develop the best parts of our nature to their full potential.
Ren and Yi; Wang Yangming; Zhu Xi.
IMPLICATIONS OF MENGZI’S THOUGHT FOR RELIGIOUS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ETHICS. Traditionally, religious ethics has had a difficult
time bringing together a more anthropological, descriptive
Translations
Lau, D. C., trans. Mencius. Harmondsworth, U.K., 1970. A read-
account of what is good for human beings and the prescrip-
able and reliable translation with indispensable introduction
tions of revealed religion. An echo of this tension is seen as
and appendices.
the central problem of modern philosophical ethics as well:
Legge, James, trans. The Chinese Classics; Vol. 2: The Works of
how to reconcile one’s personal interests with the demands
Mencius (1861). Reprint, Hong Kong, 1970. A classic trans-
of morality. Mengzi’s thought appears to avoid many of the
lation with Chinese text, extensive notes, and supporting
problems associated with at least the religious version of this
material. This edition includes Arthur Waley’s notes on
type of challenge. For according to Mengzi, heaven has creat-
translation.
ed us in such a way that we live the best lives possible for
Nivison, David S. “On Translating Mencius.” Philosophy East and
creatures like us only when we fully realize our heavenly en-
West 30 (1980): 93–122. A remarkable and philosophically
dowed moral nature. Moreover, part of what heaven instills
revealing review of translations of the text into English and
in us is a natural tendency and taste for morality and a natu-
other languages.
ral aversion for what is morally bad. On such a view, there
Secondary Works
is no conflict between human flourishing and what heaven
Chan, Alan K. L., ed. Mencius: Contexts and Interpretations. Ho-
commands. In fact, a life in service to heaven is the only way
nolulu, 2002. A conference volume exploring Mengzi’s
to the most satisfying and pleasant life that human beings
thought from a variety of perspectives.
can have.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. Confucian Moral Self Cultivation. 2d ed. India-
napolis, 2000. An introduction to the Confucian tradition
Such a view might lead one to ask if heaven is just an
focused on the work of seven major figures, including Meng-
honorific term used to express approval for what human be-
zi and several others discussed in this entry.
ings naturally find most satisfying. Does heaven place restric-
Ivanhoe, Philip J. Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought
tions on what constitutes the human good? One possible re-
of Mengzi and Wang Yangming. 2d ed. Indianapolis, 2002.
sponse, which incorporates early Confucian concerns about
A study comparing Mengzi’s philosophy with that of the
the importance of natural harmony, is that heaven does con-
neo-Confucian Wang Yangming.
strain conceptions of the human good by serving as the
Liu, Xiusheng, and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds. Essays on the Moral Phi-
source of all things in the universe. Humans seek harmony
losophy of Mengzi. Indianapolis, 2002. An anthology of clas-
within the natural order but cannot fundamentally alter or
sic and contemporary works on Mengzi’s moral philosophy.
damage this order without violating heaven’s plan. While
Nivison, David S. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chi-
heaven is not a personal deity for Mengzi, it is an agent with
nese Philosophy. Edited by Bryan W. Van Norden. LaSalle,
a plan for the world, and that on occasion acts in the world
Ill., 1996. An anthology containing a number of seminal es-
to realize its will.
says on Mengzi’s thought and its later influence.
Shun, Kwong-loi. Mencius and Early Chinese Thought. Stanford,
Mengzi’s description of the religious life in terms of the
Calif., 1997. A thorough, meticulous, and carefully argued
dao and the degree to which knowledge of the Way is accessi-
study of various aspects of Mengzi’s moral philosophy with
ble to human beings are also issues of interest for religious
particular emphasis on how it has been read by traditional
ethics. Mengzi’s reverence for Confucian learning, with its
and contemporary interpreters.
legacy of sacred texts, rituals, and sagely teachers, seems to
Tu, Wei-ming. Humanity and Self-Cultivation: Essays in Confucian
privilege those within this tradition. On the other hand, he
Thought. Berkeley, 1979; reprint, Boston, 1998. A collection
insists that heaven has endowed all human beings with the
of essays on historical figures and contemporary issues from
nascent sprouts that are the basis of moral knowledge. This
the most influential spokesman for the contemporary Meng-
seems to open up the Way to all who are prepared to dedicate
zian religious vision.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5860
MENNONITES
Yearley, Lee H. Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Con-
Netherlands. Late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century devel-
ceptions of Courage. Albany, N.Y., 1990. An excellent and re-
opments resulted in another increase in membership.
vealing comparison of Mengzi and Thomas Aquinas as virtue
ethicists with a focus on courage as a virtue.
The early pattern of survival through withdrawal from
society led to numerous migrations. Records indicate that
PHILIP J. IVANHOE (2005)
emigration from the Netherlands eastward to Hamburg and
along the coast to Danzig (present-day Gdan´sk) began as
early as 1534. Eventually large settlements developed in the
MENNONITES. The Mennonites, a Christian denomi-
Vistula delta. In 1788, migrations began from there to the
nation, were first called Menists, or Mennonites, in 1541 by
Ukraine. By 1835 some 1,600 families had settled on Rus-
Countess Anna of Friesland after the group’s primary leader,
sian lands. By 1920 this population had grown to 120,000.
Menno Simons (1496–1561). She used this name in order
But migration began again, this time from Russia beginning
to distinguish the Mennonites, as peaceful settlers whom she
in the 1870s, primarily to North America.
welcomed in her lands, from other, revolutionary, groups.
A similar pattern prevailed among the Swiss and South
Historically and theologically, Mennonites are the direct de-
German Mennonites. Many escaped Swiss persecution by
scendants of sixteenth-century Anabaptists, a radical reform
migrating to the Palatinate or to central Germany. Others
group in Europe.
immigrated to the United States and Canada, beginning in
EARLY HISTORY AND DOCTRINE. One of the most signifi-
1663. The first permanent Mennonite settlement in the
cant influences upon Mennonite history and identity has
United States was established at Germantown, six miles
been the experience of decades of persecution during the six-
north of Philadelphia, in 1683. Yet the total number of west-
teenth and seventeenth centuries. Numerous martyrologies,
ern European Mennonites coming to North America did not
including the classic Martyrs’ Mirror (1660), testify to this
exceed 8,000, which, along with the approximately 55,000
experience. The Mennonites lived in an age that was not
immigrants from Prussian, Polish, and Russian lands, con-
ready for religious or social pluralism. In their insistence
tributed to a core immigration to North America of no more
upon a church constituted of believers only, and in their em-
than 70,000 up to the mid-1980s. There have also been mi-
bodiment of the principles of voluntary church membership
grations from North America, primarily from Canada to
and the separation of church and state, they represented a
Mexico, Paraguay, Bolivia, and other Latin American loca-
counterculture that society could not tolerate. In their read-
tions. Thus pilgrimage has been central to Mennonite
ing of the Bible, however, they found these principles to be
identity.
self-evident, particularly in the teaching and example of Jesus
Christ. In keeping with the vision of their Anabaptist fore-
While Mennonites are non-creedal and affirm the Bible
bears, the Mennonites also shared the vision of a New Testa-
as their final authority for faith and life, they have written
ment church restored both in essence and in form.
numerous confessions throughout their history. Chief
among these are the Brotherly Union (1527) and the Dor-
A church-world dualism was implicit in the Menno-
drecht Confession of Faith (1632). In these the nature of the
nites’ theology and social view. It had been given early ex-
church as a believing, covenanting, caring, and obedient fel-
pression in the “Brotherly Union” of 1527, sometimes called
lowship is central, as would be in keeping with the vision of
the Schleitheim Confession of Faith, article four of which
restoring the New Testament church. The importance of the
states:
new birth and the authority of the Bible are stressed. Peace,
Now there is nothing else in the world and all creation
including absolute pacifism, is considered an integral part of
than good or evil, believing and unbelieving, darkness
the gospel and, therefore, part of the discipleship of the be-
and light, the world and those who are [come] out of
liever. This discipleship is possible within the context of an
the world, God’s temple and idols, Christ and Belial,
Arminian theology, which acknowledges free will rather than
and none will have part with the other.
Augustinian determinism. The second Adam, Christ, has
Toleration came to the Mennonites first in the Netherlands
undone the damage of the first Adam, making possible a
in the 1570s and somewhat later in other parts of Europe,
gradual transformation of the disciple’s life into the image
except in Switzerland, where severe restrictions against them
of Christ himself. Ethics is a part of the Good News. Grace
remained until the eighteenth century. Increasing freedom
is necessary for discipleship rather than being antithetical to
in the north led to rapid growth in membership, until by
it. The believer who has experienced this grace is ready to
1700 the Dutch congregations included 160,000 members.
receive baptism as a covenanting member of the “Believers’
The sectarian virtues of frugality and hard work led to con-
Church,” a term commonly used since the 1950s to refer to
siderable affluence and to urbanization. Soon Mennonites
those who are baptized as adults.
became prominent patrons of the arts in the Netherlands.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS. Partly through migration and natu-
Numerous artists, poets, and writers from among their ranks
ral increase, but particularly through twentieth-century mis-
achieved lasting fame. But the Enlightenment spirit of ratio-
sionary activities, Mennonites were scattered across the globe
nalism and secularism was also a part of these developments,
by the late twentieth century. In the early 1990s their total
and by 1837 there were only 15,300 members left in the
membership worldwide was approximately 800,000. The
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION
5861
Mennonite World Conference, begun in 1925, meets every
led to organization of the Mennonite Central Committee
five or six years for fellowship and the sharing of ideas, as well
(MCC) in North America in 1920. A Dutch Mennonite re-
as for worship and celebration. It is not a delegate confer-
lief agency had been organized two hundred years earlier. In
ence, and no decisions binding upon world membership are
2003, the MCC had a cash and material aid budget in excess
made.
of $62 million, spent on projects both abroad and in North
America. In the same year, about 1400 long-term and over
The extent to which contemporary Mennonites hold to
800 short-term workers were involved in projects in over
the doctrines of early Anabaptism varies from nation to na-
sixty countries.
tion, from group to group, and even from congregation to
congregation. Mennonites do form regional and national
These activities are a direct extension of the Mennonite
conferences, but they are basically congregational in polity.
conviction that word and deed must be one and that love
The Amish, who split off from Swiss and Alsatian Menno-
must be visible. It may, however, also be that these and relat-
nites in 1693–1697, as well as the Hutterites and some con-
ed activities serve the less altruistic function of legitimizing
servative Mennonites, do not form conferences. Historically,
the social significance and usefulness of a traditionally paci-
Pietism, more than other socioreligious movements, has in-
fist and persecuted people. Nevertheless, most Mennonites
fluenced Mennonite theology; fundamentalism has also had
are deeply concerned about the futility of war and nuclear
an impact in North America. Both movements strengthen
weapons, as well as about global poverty and the need for
the inner, personal, and experiential aspect of faith but weak-
peaceful steps toward economic and social justice. These
en social concern, pacifism, and the inherent church-world
concerns are part of the total global mission to which Men-
dualism of the sixteenth century. An enthusiastic recovery of
nonites continue to feel committed.
the Anabaptist vision, led by Harold S. Bender (1897–1962),
has modified these influences since the 1940s.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anabaptists Four Centuries Later (Kauffman and Harder,
The standard reference work in English is The Mennonite Encyclo-
1975) provides a profile of late-twentieth-century North
pedia, 4 vols. plus index, edited by Harold S. Bender and C.
Henry Smith (Scottdale, Pa., 1955–1959). Nelson P.
American Mennonite religious attitudes and practices. In re-
Springer and A. J. Klassen have compiled a helpful bibliogra-
lation to two doctrinal orthodoxy scales established in the
phy, the Mennonite Bibliography, 1631–1961, 2 vols. (Scott-
study, 90 percent of the respondents chose the most ortho-
dale, Pa., 1977). A revised edition of An Introduction to Men-
dox response on a liberal-orthodox continuum. About 80
nonite History, edited by Cornelius J. Dyck (Scottdale, Pa.,
percent of the members could identify a specific conversion
1981), provides a basic account of the entire Anabaptist and
experience. The practice of daily personal prayer ranged from
Mennonite movement worldwide from the sixteenth century
a low of 73 percent in one conference to a high of 82 percent
to the present. J. Howard Kauffman and Leland Harder’s
in another. More than 80 percent reported regular Sunday
Anabaptists Four Centuries Later (Scottdale, Pa., 1975) is a
school participation, with teenagers having the highest rat-
statistically rich and well-interpreted study of Mennonite re-
ing. Fewer than 2 percent of the membership had experi-
ligious attitudes and practices at the time of its publication.
A particularly useful volume for a country-by-country study
enced divorce or separation. Some 85 percent considered sex-
of world Mennonitism is the Mennonite World Handbook,
ual intercourse before marriage as always wrong. The early
edited by Paul N. Kraybill (Lombard, Ill., 1978).
emphasis on church-world dualism, pacifism, not taking
oaths, and church discipline was affirmed by a range of from
New Sources
60 to 80 percent, depending upon the conference.
Driedger, Leo. Mennonites in the Global Village. Toronto, 2000.
Driedger, Leo, and Donald B. Kraybill. Mennonite Peacemaking:
This religious stance is nurtured through worship, at-
From Quietism to Activism. Scottdale, Pa., 1994.
tendance at denominational schools, devotional practices,
Jost, Lynn, and Connie Faber. Family Matters: Discovering the
small-group Bible study, and involvement in mission and
Mennonite Brethren. Hillsboro, Kans., 2002.
service projects. Church buildings are generally functional
and relatively austere. Worship services are usually sermon-
CORNELIUS J. DYCK (1987)
centered. Most congregations enjoy singing, often a cappella.
Revised Bibliography
The Lord’s Supper is celebrated two to four times annually.
Some congregations practice the rite of foot washing.
Numerous liberal arts colleges are maintained in North
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION is part of the un-
America; they were established originally to train workers for
folding concern within religion to address the effects of gen-
church vocations. Seminaries, Bible schools, secondary
der and sexuality upon religious faith and practice. As a new
schools, and other church institutions are maintained by
field of scholarly inquiry, it reflects upon and analyzes the
Mennonites around the world as political and economic con-
complex connections between men and religion, building
ditions permit. Retirement centers, community mental
upon gender studies, feminist theory and criticism, the men’s
health centers, and medical and disaster aid services are
movement, and the increasing number of subdisciplines in
maintained particularly in North America and Europe. The
the academic study of religion. Methodologically men’s
concern for united help for needy people around the world
studies in religion is an open field; its object of inquiry is
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5862
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION
“men” as gendered beings in relation to religion. But the pre-
ries of men’s studies, the relationship between religion and
cise delineations of this inquiry are not yet determined. Dis-
male experiences” must be examined (Boyd, 1990, pp. 8–9).
tinctions between the academic study of men in religion, on
Generally speaking, there is a difference between the
the one hand, and affirmation of socially accepted forms of
men’s movement (secular and religious) and the academic
male religiosity, on the other, are not always drawn with suf-
study of men in religion. Whereas the former tends to favor
ficient clarity.
biological, essentialist, and archetypal models, the latter
The compelling simplification that this new field is con-
tends to see men as culturally constructed, gendered, and
stituted by “men writing about religion” is misleading be-
performing contradictory roles due to constantly changing
cause it does not recognize that the sphere of the sacred has
ideologies of masculinity. Men’s studies in religion then ana-
been traditionally male-centered and male-dominated. In
lyzes and understands “the role of religion in supporting or
many religions, religious norms and male experiences are in-
resisting unstable masculine identities” (Boyd et al., 1996,
distinguishable, making men the beneficiaries of religiously
p. 286). The following trends within the field can be ob-
sanctioned hierarchies. The task of men’s studies in religion
served.
is to bring gender consciousness to the interpretation and
MEN RECLAIMING RELIGION AND FAITH. In the twentieth
analysis of men in relation to any aspect of religion. Simply
century the mythopoetic movement and various conservative
put, the writing of a religious man is not the same as the
men’s movements have attempted to reclaim spirituality and
scholarly study of a male author’s gendered text and context.
faith-based attitudes toward male identity and toward larger
social issues, such as family values. These movements can be
Studies in this new field are, on the one hand, critical
viewed as essentialist responses to a perceived threat of
of normative models of masculinities and, on the other, also
feminism.
supportive of men struggling to find their place in religion
and society. These studies may examine male religious au-
Mythopoetics is based on the archetypal theories of C.
thority, analyze societal attitudes toward men, or study reli-
G. Jung, James Hillman, and Joseph Campbell. It was made
gious practices that enforce gender norms. They may probe
popular outside Christian churches by Robert Moore and
theologies that justify patriarchal hierarchies or investigate
Douglas Gillette’s King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (1990)
men’s participation in religiously sanctified oppression. They
and remained relatively marginalized in Christian communi-
may also suggest alternative devotional and spiritual practices
ties until the writings by Robert Bly and John Gray. The
for men and reenvision men’s roles as caregivers in both the
mythopoetic movement generally assumes that biological
profane and sacred realms.
and genetic differences between men and women preordain
irreconcilable differences in gendered behavior and thought,
HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS. A trajectory can be identified
often presuming an essential masculinity that can be threat-
from secular feminism to the current concerns of men’s
ened when men become too much like women. In response
studies in religion. Feminists of the 1960s and 1970s drew
men need to be nurtured socially, religiously, and spiritually
attention to the devastating effects of patriarchy and hetero-
in ways that match their masculine nature, generally with a
sexism in Western culture. Their analyses deeply influenced
preference for male images of the divine.
women scholars of Christianity and Judaism so that by the
1980s feminist interpretations of Scripture and theology had
Evangelical Christian men’s movements arose in the
become part of the theological norm. Also in the 1980s men
nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the Western world out
outside religion began to respond to the feminist critique of
of the panic that women were moving into the sphere of the
patriarchy and to study the effects of hegemonic masculinity
sacred and were taking over religious institutions. The first
upon men themselves, drawing particularly on the fields of
such development in the first half of the nineteenth century
sociology, anthropology, and psychology.
was known as Muscular Christianity. It was followed by the
Freethought movement (1880–1920), which characterized
Within the field of religion, in response to secular femi-
Christian churches as feminized, numerically dominated by
nism, religious feminism, secular men’s studies, and the rise
women, and therefore weak, sentimental, and irrational. The
of the gay liberation movement, gay men’s issues in religion
third development, the Men and Religion Forward move-
began to be addressed in the 1980s. One of the early contro-
ment (from about World War I through to the 1950s),
versial academic works was John Boswell’s Christianity, So-
coined the slogan “More Men for Religion, More Religion
cial Tolerance, and Homosexuality (1980). By 1988 gay men’s
for Men.” The fourth movement was spearheaded by the
issues in religion became a recognized group within the large,
evangelist Billy Sunday, who uttered the famous statement
North American–based organization of the American Acade-
at a sermon in Chicago in 1916: “Lord save us from off-
my of Religion (AAR). Finally, in the 1990s men’s studies
handed, flabby-cheeked, brittle-boned, weak-kneed, thin-
in religion emerged as a field in its own right at the AAR.
skinned, pliable, plastic, spineless, effeminate, ossified three-
Stephen Boyd’s “Domination as Punishment: Men’s Studies
karat Christianity” (“Sunday, the Fighting Saint,” Trenton
and Religion,” published in Men’s Studies Review (1990), was
Evening Times, January 6, 1916). Finally, in the 1990s two
probably the first public articulation of the need for such an
prominent movements emerged in the United States that
inquiry, arguing that “in light of recent research in and theo-
strengthened the faith of their male constituencies: the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION
5863
Promise Keepers, intended to draw men back to Christiani-
THEOLOGICAL AND BIBLICAL INVESTIGATIONS. Men’s
ty, and the Million Man March, organized in 1995 by the
studies in religion investigates the scriptural traditions as well
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, that mobilized Afri-
as the Christian and Jewish theological heritages. Boyd
can American men to commit themselves to religiously based
(1995) identifies six cultural barriers that prevent white
values. Both argued for man’s rightful position as head of the
Christian men from enjoying true intimacy with the multi-
family.
plicity of God’s creation: classism, anti-Semitism, racism,
homophobia, sexism, and femiphobia. This list can be com-
SPIRITUAL AND CONFESSIONAL WRITINGS. The religious
pleted by adding men’s obsession with work as a source of
traditions have accumulated a wealth of spiritual journals
identity, disappointments with biological fathers (and by ex-
and autobiographies, mystical journeys, and confessional tes-
tension with monotheistic father gods), tolerance of violence,
timonies written by men. They constitute a vast source for
body unconsciousness, and emotional deadness. By accept-
examining individual as well as collective presentations of the
ing such restrictive constructions of masculinity, men inhibit
male self. Bringing a gender-conscious perspective to these
themselves from living into their potential of a creatively em-
texts yields critical insights into the male psyche and forms
bodied imago Dei.
of male embodiment, intimacy, and sexualities.
A number of writers interact critically with Christian
The literature reflecting on men’s spiritual and autobio-
thinkers such as Augustine, Martin Luther, Dietrich Bon-
graphical voices often blends scholarly analysis with a more
hoeffer, Matthew Fox, Alfred North Whitehead, Richard
personal and existential style. The borders between critical
Niebuhr, Malcolm X, Desmond Tutu, and Howard Thur-
analysis and an envisioned spiritual renewal are intentionally
man. Other writers focus more on the psychology of male
porous. Areas of concern in the Jewish and Christian tradi-
characters in the biblical Scriptures, highlighting the prob-
tions are issues of embodiment, sexual theologies, and the de-
lems of contemporary men struggling with relationship and
construction of traditional masculine roles. The male body
identity issues. Christian writers in this field generally focus
is reclaimed as a positive part of a male religious identity, so
on Jesus, Jewish writers on God and the rabbinic tradition
that the threats of impotence, disease, aging, mortality, and
when addressing such issues as boyhood and parenting,
homophobia are turned into valuable spiritual resources.
friendship and intimacy, community and accountability, and
Rather than denigrating men’s sexual nature, the sexual body
the experiential dimension of the male body, pain, and
is demystified and understood as an important source of the-
sacrifice.
ologies of intimacy and friendship with humans and the di-
vine. These writings usually shun the privileging of hege-
Another trend in men’s studies in religion is to examine
monic masculinity in order to engage otherness in the form
how Christianity and Judaism have framed the discourse on
of race, class, and sexual orientation. Particularly they count-
masculine ideologies, especially in their formative periods of
er the crippling effects of homophobia and abusive behavior
late antiquity. Following feminist scholars, who have recon-
toward women as well as culturally or sexually marginalized
structed the complexity of religious women’s lives, new
men. Instead, new forms of masculine spirituality are located
studies show that notions of masculinity were far from stable
in relationality, shared power, the aesthetics of the male and
in the culturally diverse Hellenistic world. During the wan-
female body, creativity, ritual, and the living out of social jus-
ing of the Roman Empire and the rise of new religions (Ca-
tice through quiet service.
tholicism in the West, Orthodoxy in the East, Rabbinic Ju-
daism in the exilic communities, and eventually Islam), male
Another aspect of men’s studies in religion is to reflect
identities had become fragile and contested, even among the
critically on confessional modes of male discourses on reli-
educated upper-class men who were still the beneficiaries of
gion. Still an underutilized approach, most of this work is
male privileges. As inconsistencies grew between ancient
located within the Christian tradition, largely due to the last-
ideals and new social realities, Jewish and Christian men
ing influence of Augustine’s (354–430 CE) Confessions and
began to redefine male sexuality and manly virtues. Chris-
the thought of the French philosopher Michel Foucault
tianity succeeded in replacing the Roman ideas of vigor and
(1926–1984). In his History of Sexuality (1978) and “The
military strength with the virtues of a spiritual strength and
Battle for Chastity” (1982), Foucault mapped out an influ-
sexual constraint.
ential theory about the Christian monastic roots of the mod-
ern concern over sexual practices, desires, and politics. The
While scholars of masculinity in early Christianity and
monastic orders, especially as envisioned by John Cassian
late antiquity have stressed the rapid rise of a subordinate ide-
(360s–430s CE), created intimate male-male spaces for the
ology of manliness to dominant status, Jewish scholarship
confession of sins that developed into “very complex tech-
has described rabbinic masculinity as subjected to and colo-
niques of self-analysis” (Foucault, 1982, p. 195). A Foucaul-
nized by first the Roman then Christian supremacy. Tal-
tian framework helps analyze religious men’s desire for inti-
mudic discussions of what it means to be or to become a man
mate self-revelations; at the same time it can be used to
differed greatly from the theologies of the Christian Church
investigate both subjugated and liberating knowledge of
Fathers, not at least due to their profoundly different assess-
male sexualities as revealed in confessional, spiritual, and au-
ments of male celibacy. But both Jewish and Christian dis-
tobiographical writings.
courses converged on the issue of the male desire to be close
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5864
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION
to God. Positioning themselves as symbolic “woman” in rela-
ation theology and right relation), and the autobiographical
tion to a (male) God, men excluded actual women from the
(Boisvert, 2000). This typology must be expanded to include
sacred sphere. To hide the homosocial and homoerotic na-
the growing repertoire of transgressive and queer theologies
ture of this relation to the divine, they inscribed heterosexual
and spiritualities. In general gay spirituality is earthed, em-
norms by effeminizing subordinate and disloyal men. In
bodied, daily mundane, and informed by feminist and Na-
Christianity the desire for male humility was a gesture of sub-
tive American spiritualities.
missiveness toward God, not women. In Rabbinic Judaism,
Just as there are no fixed demarcations between men’s
Jewish men saw themselves figuratively in the place of
and gay men’s studies in religion, gay studies overlap in mul-
woman in the presence of God. Torah study itself became
tiple ways with queer theory. Queer theory, which made its
a highly eroticized passion from which (actual) women were
public debut in 1990, is less concerned about the same-sex
excluded. Although the feminization of Jewish men is one
orientation of men but instead focuses on sexualities in their
of the enduring anti-Semitic stereotypes in Christianity, one
multitudes. Queer theory questions any theoretical or practi-
scholar has suggested embracing “the feminized Jewish male”
cal system that claims sexuality as natural or biological cate-
as an act of resistance to dominant Christian masculinities
gories, and it moves beyond the binary restrictions of men
(Boyarin, 1997, p. xiv).
and women, of hetero- and homosexuality. Queer theory re-
The debate about male-divine relations is echoed in a
fuses hetero-normativity because it “recognizes that human
number of writings about the theological conundrum that
desire . . . is queer, excessive, not teleological or natural”
both Christianity and Judaism posit a God who is un-
(Boyarin, 1997, p. 14). Scholarship on queer theory that en-
gendered and unsexed. How do men reconcile a craving for
gages issues of religion and masculinity includes biblical
a male God when hegemonic masculinity demands that de-
studies, Jewish studies on masculinity, and queer theology
sire be felt and expressed (or denied) only between men and
(the latter defined as a political theology that questions theo-
women? The monotheistic traditions offer no clear models
logical assumptions about sexuality).
for such homosocial desire. Judaism sees penile circumcision
OUTLOOK. Men’s studies in religion as an emerging field of
as a theological and covenantal act of mature obedience,
inquiry is still heavily located within the scholarly traditions
while Christianity offers a more metaphorical interpretation:
of the West, specifically Christianity and Judaism. It has not
the circumcision of the heart. Neither religion answers the
yet sufficiently engaged other religious traditions and been
question about whether circumcision is a part of the imago
tested seriously as a topic of interreligious dialogue within an
Dei or an act of male violence toward males.
increasingly globalized community. Men’s studies in religion
has the potential to offer a sustained, gender-conscious cri-
GAY AND QUEER STUDIES IN RELIGION. Gay men’s religious
tique of foundational religious texts and practices in order
studies have generally developed separately from men’s
to envision nonhegemonic models of masculinity and to
studies in religion despite some significant overlap. Gay
allow all men and women to participate in religious life fully
studies challenge hetero-normativity by focusing on diversi-
and equally.
ty, pride, and liberation. Some writers understand gay spiri-
tuality as a theology from the margins, defining itself by dif-
SEE ALSO Feminism, article on Feminism, Gender Studies,
ference, otherness, and intimacy. Sexuality is often conceived
and Religion; Gender and Religion, overview article, article
as an act of sacramental Eros and gay spirituality as an act
on History of Study; Gender Roles; Homosexuality; Human
of political protest. Gay men’s studies walk a fine line be-
Body, article on Human Bodies, Religion, and Gender;
tween mainstream integration and resistance to Christian
Patriachy and Matriarchy; Spirituality; Women’s Studies in
scriptural and theological heterosexism. They may focus on
Religion.
mapping out gay spirituality, developing theodicies on
AIDS, or criticizing the attitudes of religious institutions to-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ward homosexual clergy and faithful laity.
Boisvert, Donald L. Out on Holy Ground: Meditations on Gay
Men’s Spirituality. Cleveland, Ohio, 2000.
The work of the British clergyman and poet Edward
Carpenter (1844–1926), a gay theologian of the early mod-
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality.
ern period, was not really built upon until after three disas-
Chicago, 1980. A study by a Yale historian of the treatment
ters hit the international gay community: the trial of Oscar
of gays and lesbians throughout the history of the church.
Consulting theological, literary, legal, and cultural sources,
Wilde (1895), the Nazi extermination of gay men in the con-
it offers a witty and unrelenting argument for tolerance and
centration camps (1940–1944), and the Stonewall riots in
repentance.
New York City (1969). In the early 1980s the theologian
Boyarin, Daniel. Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and
James Nelson may have been the first nongay in the men’s
the Invention of the Jewish Man. Berkeley, Calif., 1997. A
movement to adamantly oppose double standards in sexual
Talmudic scholar interprets ancient and modern Jewish
ethics that separate straight and gay. Others have divided gay
sources with the aim of articulating an alternative rabbinic
men’s spirituality into four types: the apologetic (the rea-
model of masculinity. Rather than objecting to the image of
soned defense of homosexuality), the therapeutic (“coming-
the feminized Jewish male, the author employs queer theory
out” as a spiritual journey), the ecological (emphasizing liber-
in his intertextual readings to argue that such an image pro-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEN’S STUDIES IN RELIGION
5865
vides a new space for being male without submitting to the
Anthony Forster, pp. 188–197. New York, 1999. First pub-
Christian (and later European) hegemonic notions of mascu-
lished in France in 1982.
linity.
Goss, Robert E. Queering Christ: Beyond Jesus Acted Up. Cleve-
Boyd, Stephen. “Domination as Punishment: Men’s Studies and
land, Ohio, 2002.
Religion.” Men’s Studies Review (Spring 1990): pp. 1, 4–9.
Hall, Donald, ed. Muscular Christianity: Embodying the Victorian
Boyd, Stephen B. The Men We Long to Be: Beyond Domination to
Age. Cambridge, U.K., 1994. A professor of English traces
a New Christian Understanding of Manhood. San Francisco,
the development and long-term effects of the mid-
1995. A historian of Christianity consults a range of tradi-
nineteenth-century religious and social movement known as
tional and contemporary theologians about their assump-
Muscular Christianity. The study’s emphasis is on hyper-
tions about masculinity. Rather than arriving at conclusions
masculinity as a response to spiritual and class anxieties about
that defend traditional gender roles, he uses his critique of
faith, gender, and national identity.
Christian sources to envision a Christian masculinity which
Krondorfer, Björn. “Revealing the Non-Absent Male Body: Con-
is authentic, nurturing, caring, and challenging of cultural
fessions of an African Bishop and a Jewish Ghetto Police-
socialization.
man.” In Revealing Male Bodies, edited by Nancy Tuana,
Boyd, Stephen B., W. Merle Longwood, and Mark W. Muesse,
William Cowling, Maurice Hamington, Greg Johnson, and
eds. Redeeming Men: Religion and Masculinities. Louisville,
Terrance MacMullan, pp. 245–268. Bloomington, Ind.,
Ky., 1996. This collection of essays demonstrates some of the
2002.
diversity of the scholarly research on and methodological ap-
Krondorfer, Björn, ed. Men’s Bodies, Men’s Gods: Male Identities
proaches to issues of men and religion. The contributors in-
in a (Post-) Christian Culture. New York, 1996. Contributors
vestigate dominant religious and historical constructions of
to this volume reflect on the complex and often ambiguous
masculinity by taking seriously the challenges posed by the
religious forces that shape male bodies and identities in the
feminist critique.
Christian traditions and post-Christian cultures. Questions
Burrus, Virginia. Begotten Not Made: Conceiving Manhood in Late
of male spirituality are raised in view of men’s diverse cultur-
Antiquity. Stanford, Calif., 2000. This book is a study of
al and ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations. Visual
manhood in late antiquity presented by a feminist cultural
and textual representations of men in contemporary religion
historian of the early church. It is a close reading of texts of
and culture are also addressed.
the Christian Church Fathers Athanasius of Alexandria,
Kuefler, Mathew. Manly Eunuch: Masculinity, Gender Ambiguity,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Ambrose of Milan. All three were in-
and Christian Ideology in Late Antiquity. Chicago, 2001. This
strumental in further interpreting and disseminating the Ni-
historical study explores the manly ideal of emerging Chris-
cene Trinitarian doctrine.
tianity in late antiquity. It examines how Christianity was
Claussen, Dane S. The Promise Keepers: Essays on Masculinity and
able to reformulate the virtues of manliness and convince
Christianity. Jefferson, N.C., and London, 2000.
Roman men to transfer their allegiance from the one to the
Comstock, Gary David, and Susan E. Henking, eds. Que(e)rying
other. The book also addresses Christian and pagan notions
Religion: A Critical Anthology. New York, 1997.
of eunuchs, castration, holy transvestites, and gender
Culbertson, Philip. New Adam: The Future of Male Spirituality.
equality.
Minneapolis, 1992. The author employs his experience in
Lippy, Charles. “Miles to Go: Promise Keepers in Historical and
pastoral theology and biblical studies to re-examine the psy-
Cultural Context.” Soundings 80, nos. 2–3 (Summer/Fall
chology of five masculine role models in Scripture. Based on
1997): 289–304.
close textual readings, he explores a number of stumbling
Moore, Robert, and Douglas Gillette. King, Warrior, Magician,
blocks to the development of a healthy male spirituality and
Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine.
ends with a critique of Robert Bly’s mythopoetic approach.
San Francisco, 1990.
Culbertson, Philip. The Spirituality of Men: Sixteen Christians
Moore, Stephen D. God’s Beauty Parlor: And Other Queer Spaces
Write about Their Faith. Minneapolis, 2002. Scholars in
in and around the Bible. Stanford, Calif., 2001. Written from
men’s studies in religion explore in this collection of essays
the perspective of a New Testament scholar, this book brings
the gendered nature of their own journeys in Christian faith.
queer theory and masculinity studies into conversation with
Intended for both academics and Christian laity, the essays
biblical studies. It is critical commentary and cultural inter-
take a broad approach to the empirical nature of masculine
pretation of select biblical texts and theologies, addressing is-
thought and behavior among men committed to the church.
sues of sexuality, violence, homoeroticism, and ideologies of
Eilberg-Schwartz, Howard. God’s Phallus and Other Problems for
beauty and of masculinity.
Men and Monotheism. Boston, 1994. A Jewish studies scholar
Nelson, James B. Between Two Gardens: Reflections on Sexuality
explores how the concept of masculinity has been affected
and Religious Experience. New York, 1983. One of the earliest
negatively by the disappearance of God’s sexual body in the
books to examine the relationship between human sexuality
narrative corpus of ancient Judaism. Close readings of pas-
and Christian experience, the author asks what sexuality says
sages in the Hebrew Scriptures, Talmud, and Midrash are
about faith. He argues for the liberation of men from the
frequently informed by psychoanalytically informed styles of
gender assumptions of traditional Christianity and exposes
interpretation.
Christian hypocrisy in holding out conflicting standards for
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. New York, 1978.
heterosexual and homosexual men.
Foucault, Michel. “The Battle for Chastity.” In Religion and Cul-
Nelson, James B. The Intimate Connection: Male Sexuality, Mascu-
ture, selected and edited by Jeremy R. Carrette, translated by
line Spirituality. Philadelphia, 1988. Seeking to promote
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5866
MENSTRUATION
“whole men” as opposed to “real men,” Nelson discusses the
necessarily very general and may not pertain to all forms of
human need for intimacy and sensuousness. He asks why
a specific religion. Nonetheless, it is broadly the case that in
men have trouble establishing deep friendships and how
Brahmanical Hinduism, menstrual blood is considered pol-
God’s transforming love can work among men who take
luting and requires a woman to separate from her family for
risks. In particular this book is known for offering a healthy
the first three days of her period. During this time she cannot
spirituality of male genital desire.
perform religious acts of devotion and, secluded from her
BJÖRN KRONDORFER (2005)
family, cannot cook, look after children, brush her hair, or
PHILIP CULBERTSON (2005)
wear jewelry. She must perform a purificatory bathing rite
before normal relationships and activities can resume.
Similarly, in Buddhism, menstrual pollution prevents a
MENSTRUATION. It is questionable whether late-
woman from undertaking pilgrimage or entering a temple.
modern scientific, detraditionalized Western societies can
The prohibitions differ according to context: some temples
still be said to institute a menstrual taboo. Today in western-
in northern Thailand do not allow women to circumambu-
ized cultures, menstrual blood is more likely to be considered
late the stupas, fearing the pollution of relics held at their
a bodily waste product whose disposal is more a matter of
center. However, contemporary Buddhist apologetics fre-
hygiene and social etiquette than a threat to the cultic order.
quently disown the menstrual taboo as non-Buddhist and as
However, the contemporary world is only partially and un-
originating in the older purity codes of host countries such
evenly secularized, and the role and status of women in the
as India and Japan.
world’s religions cannot be fully understood without refer-
In the QurDanic view (2:223), menstruation is polluting
ence to the negative powers generally ascribed to menstrual
and requires the Muslim woman’s seclusion from her hus-
blood. And more than that, while menstrual taboos vary in
band. The h:ad¯ıth literature prohibits a menstruant from re-
practice and intensity in the world’s religious cultures, men-
citing prayers, fasting, entering a mosque, and touching the
struation remains central to the construction of female dif-
QurDa¯n until she has finished her menses and taken a full
ference.
bath (ghusl). This purification ritual allows her to resume sex-
Where early anthropologists and historians of religion
ual relations with her husband. There are, however, some no-
claimed that menstrual taboo was universal, more recently
table variations in practice: the Kha¯raj¯ıs, for example, believe
Thomas Buckley and Alma Gottlieb (1988) have argued that
that a menstruant should continue to fast and pray.
the Western repugnance for menstrual blood and Western
In Judaism, the menstrual taboo derives from the priest-
cultural alienation from female biological processes have
ly codes of the Hebrew Bible and from rabbinic law. After
been projected onto the interpretation of indigenous men-
Judaism’s post-biblical transformation from a religion of cul-
strual practices. The power of menstrual blood may not, in
tic sacrifice to one of law, the rabbis reinforced the injunc-
fact, be universally regarded as negative, but sometimes as
tions of Leviticus 12:1–5 and 15:19–32 by ruling that a men-
positive and, if handled with due care, life-giving. Indeed,
struant is impure for the five or so days of her menses and
menstruation, and especially menarche (the onset of men-
for at least seven days afterwards. After this time has elapsed,
struation) can for North American Indians, such as the
the menstruant (niddah) visits a ritual bath (miqveh) and,
Sioux, confer honor and power on a woman rather than stig-
after immersion, physical relations with her husband can be
matize her.
resumed. However, the power of menstrual blood to defile
Nonetheless, in both historical and contemporary prac-
Jewish sacred objects and spaces is limited: the touch of a
tice, the major world religions share an overwhelmingly neg-
menstruant cannot pollute the Torah scroll, and menstruat-
ative view of menstruation as a pollutant of sacred public and
ing women are not excluded by law, though sometimes his-
domestic space, which requires some form of separation of
torically by custom, from the synagogue. Only the ultra-
the menstruant from the family or community. Menstrual
Orthodox are punctilious in observing the laws of menstrua-
blood is a contact pollutant and excludes women from reli-
tion (customarily termed “the laws of family purity”), but the
gious acts either during their menstruation or simply because
contemporary apologetic emphasis is on the laws’ alleviation
they are persons who menstruate. These exclusions owe
of sexual boredom in marriage, rather than on a superstitious
much to the symbolic and material ambivalence of menstrual
or cultic repugnance for menstrual blood as such. Conserva-
blood. On the one hand, it is a defiling natural excretion
tive Judaism has modified the laws of menstrual purity, and
whose cyclic flow is not susceptible to (masculine) cultural
Reform Judaism has abolished them as irrelevant, archaic,
control. Menstrual blood actually and metaphorically repre-
and offensive to women.
sents the loss or abortion of a potential life, yet it causes a
The Christian tradition is historically and denomina-
woman no painful threat to her life. On the other hand,
tionally diverse in its view of menstruation. In the New Tes-
menstrual blood belongs to the mysterious, quasi-divine pro-
tament, Jesus is presented as having abolished the Jewish
cesses of creation: the gestation and birth of a new life.
menstrual taboo among other distinctions between the clean
MENSTRUATION IN THE WORLD RELIGIONS. Given the
and the unclean. Most significantly, in a story found in all
complexity of religious traditions, the following remarks are
three synoptic Gospels, Jesus heals the menstrual disorder of
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MENSTRUATION
5867
a woman whose touch he experiences not as a defilement but
flect with other women on their passage through time into
as a mark of her faith. Nonetheless, Christian feminists have
greater wisdom and independence. Rejecting, then, the de-
argued that, as the church developed, a legacy of Greek
mystifying secular feminist view of menstruation as what
philosophical misogyny, ancient Mediterranean menstrual
Germaine Greer once called the “liquidification of abjec-
superstition, Gnostic asceticism, the institution of a celibate
tion,” these spiritual feminists have together produced a new
priesthood, and the authority of the Old Testament com-
menstrual praxis that celebrates the connections of menstrual
bined to reinstate the view of menstrual blood as unclean.
flow to the phases of the moon and the tides. Spiritual femi-
To this day, the Christian menstrual taboo informs the dis-
nists have reclaimed the magic-natural charge of menstrua-
qualification of women from ordination because in most
tion and put it to regenerative ends, sometimes using men-
quarters of the church (notably the Orthodox and Catholic
strual blood in rituals, and they have ritualized political
Churches) it is believed, if not always stated, that a woman’s
direct action to protest the masculine wasting or spilling of
biological presence pollutes the sanctuary.
blood in war.
By contrast, the menstrual taboo would appear to have
SEE ALSO Blood; Human Body; Purification; Rites of
fallen into disuse in the contemporary Protestant denomina-
Passage.
tions. In the Anglican Church, for example, the practice of
churching (derived from Leviticus 12:2–8), where a woman
BIBLIOGRAPHY
undergoes a purification ritual forty days after she has given
Buckley, Thomas, and Alma Gottlieb, eds. Blood Magic: The An-
birth to mark her return to the community, is no longer ob-
thropology of Menstruation. London, 1988. A re-reading of
served. Whether Protestantism’s apparent indifference to
native cultures’ attitudes and practices regarding menstrua-
women’s menstruality is a function of its egalitarian, word-
tion that refuses to project Western associations of menstrua-
tion and evil onto the objects of its ethnographical research.
centered, and anti-priestly ecclesiology, or whether it is ig-
nored because it is considered socially unmentionable, re-
Grahn, Judy. Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created
the World. Boston, 1993. A spiritual feminist examination of
mains a matter of debate.
the role of menstruation in the creation of human culture.
FEMINIST SUBVERSIONS OF THE MENSTRUAL TABOO. From
Joseph, Alison, ed. Through the Devil’s Gateway: Women, Religion,
the mid-1970s to the 1990s, a number of influential feminist
and Taboo. London, 1990. A collection of essays in which
studies of menstruation were published in which Jewish,
women from a number of different faith traditions outline
Christian, and Goddess feminists critiqued, subverted, and
their perspectives on menstruation.
reclaimed the menstrual taboo, broadly construing its vari-
Knight, Chris. Blood Relations: Menstruation and the Origins of
ous forms as the fear, appropriation, and regulation of
Culture. London, 1991. An anthropological study of men-
women’s sacral power. Two central arguments were pro-
struation, theorizing prehistoric African women’s role in the
posed. First, it was observed that the gendering of blood un-
emergence of civilization.
derpins gendered inequalities of religio-political power. That
Laws, Sophie. Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London,
is, whereas the cultural, controlled flow of the blood of male
1990. A secular study, rejecting supernaturalist views of
menstruation. Laws construes menstrual taboos as political
animals spilled in the Israelite Temple cult in the covenantal
instruments for maintaining gender hierarchy.
circumcision of Jewish boys—and the sacrificial passion and
crucifixion of Jesus—reunited the world and God, the natu-
O’Grady, Kathleen. “Menstruation.” In Encyclopedia of Women
and World Religion, edited by Serinity Young, vol. 2,
ral cyclic flow of female blood has separated them, leaving
pp. 649–652. New York, 1999.
female time, space, and bodies unfit for direct contact with
Raphael, Melissa. Thealogy and Embodiment: The Post-Patriarchal
the divine presence or its revelation. Second, it has been
Reconstruction of Female Sacrality. Sheffield, U.K., 1996. A
noted that if menstrual blood is, as it were, repulsive of divine
study of post-Christian feminist conceptions of female sa-
presence, then that has left women historically vulnerable to
crality, attending to the cosmological and political implica-
unjust charges of unreason and maleficence.
tions of spiritual feminism’s subversion and reclamation of
the menstrual taboo.
While some religious feminists find menstrual taboos
distasteful and irrelevant, others have interpreted the appar-
Shuttle, Penelope, and Peter Redgrove. The Wise Wound: Men-
struation and Everywoman. London, 1978; rev. ed., 1986. A
ent reverence of some of the world’s pagan traditions for
Jungian interpretation of menstruation, urging women not
menstrual blood as suggestive of a more ecological and femi-
to suppress its healing, generative power.
nist approach to religion and spirituality. The anthropology
Steinberg, Jonah. “From a ‘Pot of Filth’ to a ‘Hedge of Roses’ (and
of indigenous ritual seclusion practices has been read selec-
Back): Changing Theorizations of Menstruation in Juda-
tively to suggest ways for menstruating women to gather to-
ism.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 13 (1997): 5–26.
gether in rest and friendship to celebrate the female transfor-
This article observes how Orthodox Judaism’s discourse on
mation mysteries. In these, as in some Jewish feminist circles,
menstruation has shifted from repugnance to an emphasis on
menstruation is experienced as a time of creative energy rath-
the marital benefits of separation during women’s “impure”
er than lassitude and depression; daughters’ menarches are
days.
celebrated as affirmatory rites of passage into womanhood,
Wansbrough, Paula, and Kathleen O’Grady. “Menstruation: A
and menopause is marked by rituals that allow women to re-
List of Sources.” Available from http://www.inform.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5868
MERCIER, DÉSIRÉ JOSEPH
umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/WomensStudies/Bibliographies/
versity. Mercier gave expression to his thought in a series of
menstruation. A useful annotated bibliography compiled and
textbooks (his Course in Philosophy) that dealt with logic, psy-
regularly updated by two experts in the field.
chology, metaphysics, and the criteria for truth and certitude
M
(1892–1899). In addition, he founded the influential Revue
ELISSA RAPHAEL (2005)
néo-scolastique de philosophie (1894), in which many of the
movement’s most important debates were carried out.
Appointed archbishop of Malines in 1906, Mercier was
MERCIER, DÉSIRÉ JOSEPH (1851–1926), a
created a cardinal by Pius X in 1907. Though never a leading
leading figure in Roman Catholic neoscholastic philosophy
figure in the controversy of modernism that rocked the
at the end of the nineteenth century and Cardinal Primate
Roman Catholic church at the beginning of the twentieth
of Belgium (1906–1926). Born November 21, 1851, in
century, he did issue a famous Lenten pastoral letter in 1908
Braine-l’Alleud, near Waterloo, Mercier studied philosophy
against the work of George Tyrrell (1861–1909), a promi-
and theology at Malines and earned a licentiate in theology
nent Irish modernist thinker; his letter prompted a vitriolic
at Louvain University (1877). Subsequently, he studied psy-
but brilliant rejoinder by Tyrrell in his Medievalism (1908).
chiatry in Paris.
As a pastorally concerned leader of his diocese, Mercier was
Ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1874, Mercier be-
deeply involved in the spiritual life and development of both
came a staunch supporter of Pope Leo XIII’s call for a revival
his clergy and the laity; indeed, he sought greater cooperation
of Thomistic thought in the encyclical Aeterni patris (1879).
between both groups as well as advances in social justice.
Initially a professor of philosophy at the Malines seminary
Though Mercier never became a strong political figure in
in 1877, Mercier then became the first holder of a new chair
Belgium—his attachment to French culture hindered his un-
for Thomist philosophy at Louvain University in 1882. He
derstanding of the Flemish and their problems—he did be-
soon sought papal approbation for a new institute at Lou-
come a figurehead for the Belgian people during the German
vain, and in 1889 Leo XIII approved the Institut Supérieur
occupation of World War I (1914–1918), strengthening
de Philosophie with Mercier at its head. Calling former stu-
their morale through sermons and pastoral letters. This
dents together from around the globe, he assembled an inter-
proved so effective that the Germans placed him under house
national group of disciples.
arrest, which earned him great prestige among the Belgian
people and much praise from the Allies after the war.
Working in opposition to Mill’s positivism, and above
Mercier’s final years after World War I were dedicated
all to neo-Kantian idealism, Mercier became a major figure
to more universal problems, particularly those of church re-
in the development of Roman Catholic neoscholastic
union. He founded the Institute of the Monks of Union at
thought, which sought to mediate between modern natural
Chevetogne in Belgium in order to further reunion and rec-
science and traditional Thomistic metaphysics. While
onciliation with the Eastern churches and made perhaps his
neoscholastic thought of the nineteenth century was con-
most influential and lasting effort in hosting and participat-
cerned mainly with questions of epistemology and the soul-
ing in the famous “Malines Conversations” (1921–1925).
body relationship and locked its responses to these problems
Suggested by Lord Halifax (Charles Lindley Wood, 1839–
into a rigid anti-Kantian tradition, Mercier strove to make
1934), these meetings were concerned with aiding the mutu-
Thomistic philosophy dependent upon the thought of his
al understanding and relations between the Roman Catholic
time: to see the “new” in the “old.” His main area of concen-
and Anglican churches. Mercier’s most famous moment
tration was psychology, and in 1892 he founded the first ex-
came in the fourth session when he presented his paper on
perimental laboratory at his institute in that discipline; later
“The English Church United Not Absorbed,” in which he
laboratories, emphasizing his regard for experimental meth-
proposed that the archbishopric of Canterbury be made a pa-
ods, followed in cosmology, chemistry, and physics.
triarchate, that the Roman code of canon law not be imposed
In contrast to most Roman Catholic thinkers of his
in England, that England be allowed its own liturgy, and that
time, Mercier saw philosophy as distinct from theology, and
all of the historical English sees be left in place while the
above all as an enterprise that should be free of all apologet-
newly erected Roman Catholic sees (1850) be suppressed.
ics. Without abandoning all tradition, he sought to imbue
These suggestions generated much controversy and opposi-
philosophy with the same ethic of investigation that marked
tion in Rome, and Mercier’s death on January 26, 1926, in
other university disciplines; philosophy must address the
Brussels effectively meant the end of the “Conversations.”
people, their times, and their problems. Even when dealing
with such questions as truth and certitude, Mercier appealed
BIBLIOGRAPHY
to human experience. This led to his system of “illationism,”
Works by Mercier
which admitted that truth and certitude came from intellec-
Mercier’s main work, the Cours de philosophie, 4 vols. (Louvain,
tual reflection, but that the content of such abstract thought
1894–1899): vol. 1, Logique (1894); vol. 2, Métaphysique
always had its origins in concrete experience. Though this di-
générale, ou Ontologie (1894); vol. 3, La psychologie (1899);
rection produced much controversy in neoscholastic circles,
and vol. 4, Critériologie générale, ou Théorie générale de la cer-
it was unable to sustain itself as a “school” at Louvain Uni-
titude (1899), represented his sequence of philosophy courses
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEREZHKOVSKII, DMITRII
5869
given at the Higher Institute for Philosophy at the University
later retitled Death of the Gods, a historical novel about Julian
of Louvain. Many of Mercier’s writings and public utter-
the Apostate. Attracted by pagan values of earthly happiness
ances were collected in the Œeuvres pastorales (Brussels and
and Christian ideals of personal immortality and love, and
Louvain, 1911–1929), in seven volumes. Finally, his famous
unable to choose between them, by 1896 Merezhkovskii had
exchange of letters with the commandant of the German oc-
concluded that Christianity and paganism were two halves
cupation forces during World War I appeared as La cor-
of a yet unknown higher truth.
respondance de S. E. cardinal Mercier avec le gouvernement
général allemand pendant l’occupation, 1914–1918, edited by
Around 1900, Merezhkovskii advanced a new interpre-
Fernand Mayence (Brussels, 1919); in English translation as
tation of Christianity, designed to synthesize the “truth of
Cardinal Mercier’s Own Story (New York, 1920). The most
heaven” and the “truth of the earth,” and based on the sec-
complete bibliography of Mercier’s published writings
ond coming of Christ and on a forthcoming third testament.
should be consulted in the commemorative volume Le cardi-
Proclaiming a new religious consciousness that stressed the
nal Mercier, 1851–1926 (Brussels, 1927), pp. 341–372.
human need for faith and religious quest, he dismissed his-
Works about Mercier
torical Christianity as obsolete and rejected the asceticism,
Of the several biographies of Mercier, one may profitably consult
altruism, and humility preached by Russian Orthodox Chris-
John A. Gade’s The Life of Cardinal Mercier (New York,
tianity. Major works of this period include Tolstoy as Man
1934). A full-scale and scholarly biography of Mercier, tak-
and Artist with an Essay on Dostoevskii (1901–1902), which
ing advantage of the many particular studies that have ap-
treats these writers as exemplars of the religious principles of
peared since his death, and which would place him more ac-
the flesh and the spirit respectively; Birth of the Gods: Leonar-
curately in the troubled and multifaceted context of his time,
do da Vinci (1901); and Antichrist: Peter and Alexis (1905).
still must be written. Among the most important of these in-
Together with Julian the Apostate, the last two comprise his
vestigations are Alois Simon’s major studies, particularly Le
historical trilogy, Christ and Antichrist.
cardinal Mercier (Brussels, 1960), which provide an assess-
ment of Mercier’s contributions both to renewed scholasti-
To disseminate their views (sometimes called “God-
cism and the general philosophical conversation at the turn
seeking views”), Merezhkovskii, his wife Zinaida Gippius,
of the century in Europe. For new information concerning
and Dmitrii Filosofov founded the Religious Philosophical
Mercier’s ecumenical activities, one should consult Roger
Society of Saint Petersburg (November 1901–April 1903).
Aubert’s “Les conversations de Malines: Le cardinal Mercier
The society, which featured debates between intellectuals
et le Saint-Siège,” Bulletin de l’Academie Royale de Belgique
and clergymen on burning issues of the day, became a focal
53 (1967): 87–159; and R. J. Lahey’s “The Origins and Ap-
point of the religious renaissance. The minutes of the meet-
proval of the Malines Conversations,” Church History 43
ings were published in the Merezhkovskiis’ review, Novyi
(September 1974): 366–384.
put D (New Path, 1902–1904), founded as a showcase for the
GARY LEASE (1987)
new trends in art and thought. Permitted to reopen in 1907,
after the Revolution of 1905, branches of the society were
later founded in Moscow and in Kiev. Through these public
activities and through his writings, Merezhkovskii’s ideas
MEREZHKOVSKII, DMITRII (1865–1941),
reached a wide audience, challenged traditional verities, in-
chief proselytizer of the religious renaissance in Russia in the
spired other reinterpretations of Christianity, and even stim-
early twentieth century. Scion of an eminent Saint Peters-
ulated the Bolshevik secular religion of “God-building,”
burg aristocratic family, Merezhkovskii was educated at the
which featured worship of the collective spirit of humanity
Third Classical Gymnasium and at the Historical-
instead of God.
Philological Faculty of the University of Saint Petersburg
The Revolution of 1905 led Merezhkovskii to consider
(1884–1888). Interested in metaphysical and existential is-
social and political questions. He interpreted it as the first
sues, he dissented from the positivism and materialism of his
stage of a great religious revolution that would usher in the
contemporaries and searched, all his life, for a new and all-
kingdom of God on earth. He denounced autocracy as a tool
encompassing higher ideal.
of the Antichrist, and advocated religious community,
In the 1890s, he championed mystical idealism as the
viewed as a kind of Christian anarchism, as the solution to
bridge between the atheistic intelligentsia and the believing
social conflict. Hostile to Marxist materialism and collectiv-
peasantry, campaigned against mandatory social didacticism
ism, he claimed that socialism stifles creativity and argued
in literature, introduced Russians to French symbolism and
that Jesus Christ is the supreme affirmation of the individual.
the philosophy of Nietzsche, and reintroduced them to clas-
Major works of this period are Dostoevskii: Prophet of the Rus-
sical antiquity and the Renaissance. Versatile and erudite, he
sian Revolution (1906), The Coming Ham (1906), and Not
expressed his ideas in poetry, literary criticism, essays, novels,
Peace but a Sword (1908). He opposed Russia’s entry into
and plays. Major works of this period are Symbols (1892), a
World War I, welcomed the February Revolution, but re-
book of poems; “On the Causes of the Decline of Russian
garded the Bolshevik regime as the reign of the Antichrist.
Literature and on the New Trends in Poetry” (1893), an in-
He cooperated with attempts to overthrow it, both before
fluential essay sometimes considered the manifesto of Rus-
and after his emigration in 1919, until his death in Paris, in
sian symbolism; New Verse (1896); and The Outcaste (1895),
1941.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5870
MERIT: AN OVERVIEW
BIBLIOGRAPHY
gards merit. Elsewhere, the relationships are much less clear,
Most of Merezhkovskii’s important works can be found in Polnoe
and comparative questions have to be suggested much more
sobranie sochinenii, 24 vols. (Saint Petersburg, 1911–1914).
loosely insofar as they are relevant at all. The following obser-
Works in English translation include Death of the Gods (Lon-
vations should be understood as indicating the general con-
don, 1901), The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci (London,
text in which specific teachings on merit have arisen in rab-
1902), Peter and Alexis (London, 1905), The Menace of the
binic Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity.
Mob (New York, 1921), and an abridged version of Tolstoi
as Man and Artist (Westminster, England, 1902). Useful sec-
INDIA AND CHINA. That religious action has practical effects
ondary literature includes my own D. S. Merezhkovsky and
in this existence and others has been widely assumed in the
the Silver Age (The Hague, 1975); Charles H. Bedford’s The
religious systems of Asia, though with many variations. In
Seeker: D. S. Merezhkovskiy (Lawrence, Kans., 1975); D. S.
the Indian context, the common assumption of post-Vedic
Merezhkovskii: Mysl D i slogo (D. S. Merezhkovskii, Thought
and word), edited by A V. Keldysh, I.V. Koretskaia, M. A.
religion is that of a series of existences, each conditioned by
Nikitina, and N. V. Koroleva (Moscow, 1999); and D. S.
the karman, or accrued causal momentum, of the previous
Mereshkovskii: pro et contra, edited by D. K. Burlak et al. (St.
existence. Since karman can be either bad or good, there is
Petersburg, 2001).
room for improvement through religious practice or moral
effort. Thus, loose analogies exist with other religious teach-
BERNICE GLATZER ROSENTHAL (1987 AND 2005)
ings on reward and punishment, religious works, and spiritu-
al development. The main characteristic of Indian assump-
tions on the subject, whether Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist, is
MERIT
that karmic cause and effect are in principle self-regulating,
This entry consists of the following articles:
not subject to divine decision, arbitration, or satisfaction.
AN OVERVIEW
BUDDHIST CONCEPTS
In Jainism, seven “fields of merit” (pun:yaksetra) are rec-
CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS
ognized as conducive to a pleasantly advanced rebirth. These
have been presented by Padmanabh S. Jaini in The Jaina
Path of Purification (Berkeley, 1979) as seven categories of
MERIT: AN OVERVIEW
meritorious activity: donating an image, donating a building
The terms merit and merit making are used in connection
to house an image, having the scriptures copied, giving alms
with religious practices that have the calculated aim of im-
to monks, giving alms to nuns, assisting laymen in their reli-
proving the future spiritual welfare of oneself or others.
gious or practical needs, assisting laywomen similarly. The
However, the number of contexts in which a specific termi-
concept of karman should not in itself, however, be regarded
nology such as merit (Lat., meritum) or its older analogue,
as amounting to a doctrine of merit. This would push the
the Buddhist pun:ya (Pali, puñña) has developed are surpris-
analogy beyond its limits.
ingly few. It is probably for this reason that most well-known
systematic or phenomenological studies of religion have little
In Chinese religion, two relevant strands are discernible.
or nothing to say on the subject. Elsewhere, the use of these
First, there is the tradition of self-discipline and cultivation,
terms in writing on religion is widespread but extremely spo-
in Confucian form oriented socially and pragmatically, in
radic, occurring mainly in discussions of generally related
Daoist form linked to the achievement of supernormal pow-
subjects such as judgment, reward and punishment, grace,
ers, longevity, and even immortality. The idea of achieving
and salvation.
supernormal physical and psychical powers through strenu-
In religion west of India, the earliest specific teaching
ous self-discipline is also present in Indian religions, includ-
on merit, or merits, is found in rabbinic Judaism, although
ing Buddhism, and hence in all cultural areas influenced by
merit was not the subject of formal definitions. From the
China and India. At the same time, this motivation for reli-
third century
gious practice and achievement is not directly related to any
CE, the concept played an increasingly signifi-
cant role in Western Christianity; it reached a high point in
concept analogous to merit.
the Middle Ages, only to be drawn into the vortex of Refor-
Second, Chinese religion also knows the theme of post-
mation debate on grace and the relation between works,
mortal judgment, presided over by Yen-lo (counterpart of
faith, and man’s justification in the sight of God.
the Indian god Yama) as god of death and ruler of the hells.
Recent years have seen a smooth and indeed justifiable
Aided by his assistants, Yen-lo brings out the inexorable law
transfer of the English term merit (as well as of European
of karman, and many illustrated works depict this as a warn-
equivalents such as the German Verdienst) to that area of
ing to the living. (See, for example, the illustrated volumes
Buddhist practice and interpretation covered by the Sanskrit
Religiöse Malerei aus Taiwan: Katalog and Die Höllentexte,
term pun:ya and its equivalents. The term merit making im-
publications 1 and 2 of the Religionskundliche Sammlung
plies an observational, analytic stance not usually found in
der Philipps-Universität Marburg, 1980, 1981.) Religious
studies of merit in Christianity, which have been more doc-
imagery of this kind, though clearly related, does not entail
trinal or theological in tone. Nevertheless, interesting paral-
a distinct doctrine of merit except insofar as it is influenced
lels can be drawn between Buddhism and Christianity as re-
by Buddhism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MERIT: AN OVERVIEW
5871
EGYPT AND ANCIENT NEAR EAST. In ancient Egypt, the dif-
in Jewish tradition. These are, first, that keeping the Mosaic
fusion of the cult of Osiris as lord of the underworld who
covenant with God (i.e., observing the Torah), will lead to
had died, been judged, and risen again, provided the first
blessing and welfare and, second, that the responsibility and
common focus for postmortal expectation and concern.
benefit of this covenant are essentially corporate and pass
Elaborate funerary rites were accompanied by preparations
from generation to generation. Stated negatively, disobedi-
for judgment before Osiris assisted by assessors. The candi-
ence leads to punishment in the form of social or political
date for new life asserted his innocence of numerous moral
suffering, but this punishment can be moderated by credit
transgressions and saw his own heart weighed on scales
accumulated by previous generations. Looking forward, the
against a feather representing truth in the sense of divine
idea of caring for one’s children spiritually as well as physical-
order (maat). Gradually, efforts were made to organise the
ly was a motivating force for assiduousness in religious duty
outcome of the judgment in advance by preparing in advance
and charitable works. The justifiableness of a man, his stand-
lists of good deeds and declarations of innocence. This pro-
ing before God in these respects, is summed up in the term
cess was ritualized and commercialized through the sale of
zakkut.
appropriate rolls of text to be filled in with names before
As Davies points out, this line of thought is not without
death, modern scholars have named these texts collectively
variations: some rabbis taught that the dividing of the waters
The Book of Going Forth by Day. On the other hand, these
at the exodus took place on account of the merits of Abra-
phenomena may be regarded as the earliest indication of at-
ham, or the combined merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
tempts to establish an individual’s worth—in effect to “make
while others stressed the meritorious faith of the Israelites at
merit” for him, in order to achieve a desired effect after
the time. The underlying spirit of the teaching is neatly ex-
death.
pressed in Arthur Marmorstein’s summary of the ideas of
The idea of merit apparently did not develop in Meso-
Rabbi Yanna’i: “A man who kindles light in daytime for his
potamia, where notions of existence after death remained
friend when it is light, what benefit has he derived? When
shadowy and pessimistic. Nor did Canaanite or early He-
does he obtain any advantage from light? In case he kindles
brew views of death include a postmortal goal toward which
it in the night-time, in darkness. The affection Israel has
the individual could work. The Hebrew concept of SheDol
shown in the wilderness was kept for them from that time,
as a silent, forgotten abode beneath the earth was related at
from the days of Moses” (Marmorstein, 1920, p. 17). From
least in type to the Babylonian.
regarding the keeping of the Torah as meritorious, and bene-
ficial for future generations, it was not far to the idea that
The clearly delineated cosmological dualism of Iranian
God gave the Torah so that merit could be achieved or even
religion gave prominence to the alternatives awaiting the in-
the idea that the whole of creation was designed to this end.
dividual after death. The spiritual position of the soul was
As to life beyond death, reference to this was by no
determined in accordance with its behavior before departure
means lacking, and it was considered possible that some indi-
from the body. In principle, the thinking is analogous to the
viduals, through lack of merit, might fail to be rewarded.
Egyptian conceptions mentioned above, for there is evidence
Nevertheless, the calculation of one’s credits and debits was
of attempts to influence the judgment. Eschatologically, Ira-
always regarded as ultimately in the hands of God, so that
nian ideas strongly influenced developing Judaism, so that
while relatively good men might tremble, even the wicked
SheDol became the place of postmortal punishment, while up
might hope. In practical terms, merit was typically consid-
to seven heavens were enumerated as abodes of pleasure and
ered to accrue through “faith, charity, hospitality, the cir-
bliss.
cumcision, Sabbath and festivals, the study of the Torah, re-
THEISTIC RELIGIONS. A theistic worldview in the Abrahamic
pentance, the Holy Land, the Tabernacle, Jerusalem, the
tradition does not necessarily entail a detailed doctrine of
tithe, and the observances in general” (ibid., p. 65).
merit, as may be seen in the cases of the Qumran communi-
With Islam, it was, and is, expected that realizable duties
ty, very early Christianity and, later, Islam. In both the teach-
will be fulfilled. However, God, and only God, knows what
ings of Qumran and of the New Testament, the concept of
is actually possible for each individual; moreover, he is pa-
calculable merit is entirely lacking. What is required is total,
tient of human weakness. Thus, insofar as it is possible, the
inward obedience to the law, or will, of God. The subsequent
pilgrimage to Mecca is required of Muslims. This may be re-
development of Christian teachings on merit has been vari-
garded as a negative doctrine of merit in that every Muslim
ously described and interpreted. Historical priority must be
has to assess whether or not he or she is able to make the pil-
ascribed to the rabbinic teachings on merit, or merits, which,
grimage. While Islam has always recognized that some acts
in a transposed form, underlay Paul’s interpretation of the
are not strictly required but are nevertheless praiseworthy,
death of Jesus. (This relationship has been skillfully delineat-
any assessment of human behavior for the purpose of achiev-
ed by W. D. Davies in Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, 2d ed.,
ing salvation was quickly ruled out by the strong emphasis
London, 1955, pp. 227–284.)
on the preeminent knowledge and grace of God, which
The rabbinic doctrine of merit, though articulated in
amounted to predestination. A broadly similar doctrinal
detail in the first four centuries of the common era, is based
structure was to appear, in the Christian world, in Reforma-
on two fundamental ideas which reach much further back
tion theology, and in Jansenism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5872
MERIT: BUDDHIST CONCEPTS
COMPARATIVE REFLECTIONS. A simple typology of religions
anese patriarchs Ho¯nen (1133–1212) and, above all, Shinran
with respect to concepts of merit and broadly related aspects
(1173–1263). The latter argued, for example, that there was
of religiosity may be delineated in four parts.
no value in reciting the Nembutsu (calling on the name of
Amida Buddha) on behalf of the deceased because as a
First, it should be noted that much religion simply has
human work it could not benefit them in any way. All that
not included the concept of merit, especially when notions
was possible was reliance on the grace of Amida Buddha to
of the future are shadowy, when a future existence is pre-
effect rebirth in the Pure Land in the western heavens. Thus,
pared for by elaborate funerals for royalty only, or when life
the soteriological focus was internalized and the idea of merit
after death is understood in any case to be the same for every-
was transformed from within. These subjectivizing trends
body. Thus, primal religions—even, for example, the highly
within the Buddhist and Christian traditions, though influ-
developed Japanese Shinto¯—presuppose neither a radical di-
ential, have not become dominant, and, broadly speaking,
viding of the ways based on merit nor any elaborate path of
the vocabulary of merit continues to play a distinctive role
cumulative spiritual development for the individual. Such re-
in both.
ligions naturally bear powerful religious values, such as a
sense of cosmological orientation and belonging. Transac-
SEE ALSO Judgment of the Dead.
tional religiosity, however, is directed in this context towards
proximate, this-worldly, goals such as social and economic
BIBLIOGRAPHY
well-being, the avoidance of disaster and sickness or, in a
Davies, W. D. Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, 2d ed. London, 1955.
modern differentiated economy, personal welfare and
Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification. Berkeley,
success.
1979.
Second, when clear-cut conceptions of future existence
Marmorstein, Arthur. The Doctrine of Merits in Old Rabbinical
have developed, we see an extension of transactional religiosi-
Literature. London, 1920.
ty into the future, as in Egyptian and Iranian religions, or,
Religiöse Malerei aus Taiwan: Katalog and Die Höllentexte, Publica-
in a very different way, in Indian religion. The same holds
tions 1 and 2 of the Religionskundliche Sammlung der
for Chinese religion, though not without influence from In-
Philipps-Universität Marburg, 1980, 1981.
dian Buddhism. Such transactionalism may or may not be
New Sources
morally differentiated. The key feature here is that an ele-
Brokaw, Cynthia J. The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social
ment of future-directed management and even calculation is
Change and Moral Order in Late Imperial China. Princeton,
introduced to cope with an assumed judgment to come or
1991.
with implications of the present for future existences. In
Kammerer, Cornelia Ann, and Nicola Tannenbaum, eds. Merit
principle, responsibility lies with the individual, although he
and Blessing in Mainland Southeast Asia in Comparative Per-
may seek the assistance of priests, or, in the interesting varia-
spective. New Haven, 1996.
tion of rabbinic Judaism, draw on the worthy performance
Lehtonen, Tommi. Punishment, Atonement and Merit in Modern
of previous generations. Islam also belongs to this type, al-
Philosophy of Religion. Helsinki, 1999.
though in this case there is little interest in calculation and
a great reliance on God’s compassionate appraisal of what
Schopen, Gregory. “Two Problems in the History of Indian Bud-
dhism: The Layman/Monk Distinction and the Doctrines of
could realistically be expected from each individual in the
the Transfer of Merit.” Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 10
circumstances of life.
(1985): 9–47.
The third type is represented above all by Buddhism
Wawrykow, Joseph P. God’s Grace and Human Action: ‘Merit’ in
and Christianity, although these emerged from quite differ-
the Theology of Thomas Aquinas. Notre Dame, 1995.
ent assumptions. Here we see that specific doctrines of merit
MICHAEL PYE (1987)
arose at the point of intersection between transactional religi-
Revised Bibliography
osity and soteriological concern. The natural, or primal,
community is left on one side, and the possibility of the
transfer of merit from transcendental or intermediate beings
is envisaged. Interestingly, this latter idea did not go unop-
MERIT: BUDDHIST CONCEPTS
posed in Therava¯da Buddhism, where it was criticized on
The notion of merit (Skt., pun:ya or ku´sala; Pali, puñña or
ethical grounds. At the same time, the recommendation of
kusala) is one of the central concepts of Buddhism, and the
merit-creating activities by the priesthood becomes normal.
practice of merit-making is one of the fundamental activities
Fourth, Buddhism and Christianity are similar not only
of Buddhists everywhere.
in having produced an individualized soteriology based, at
The idea of merit is intimately bound up with the theo-
times, on a doctrine of merit. They have also both seen
ry of karman, the Indian law of cause and effect. According
movements within the tradition which radically internalized
to this theory, every situation in which an individual finds
the reception of spiritual assistance or grace. For Christiani-
himself is the result of his own deeds in this or a previous
ty, this is connected with the Reformation; for Buddhism,
lifetime, and every intentional act he now performs will
such movements are associated with the teachings of the Jap-
eventually bear its own fruit—good or bad—in this or a fu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MERIT: BUDDHIST CONCEPTS
5873
ture lifetime. Thus present felicity, wealth, physical beauty,
er, s¯ıla may also involve the voluntary acceptance of three ad-
or social prestige may be explained as the karmic reward of
ditional precepts, sometimes counted as four, against eating
past deeds of merit, and present suffering, poverty, ugliness,
after noon, attending worldly amusements, using ornaments
or lack of prestige may be attributed to past acts of demerit.
or perfumes, and sleeping on a high bed. Monks, who by
In the same manner, present meritorious deeds may be ex-
their very status are thought to be more filled with merit than
pected to bring about rebirth in a happier station as a human
the laity, are expected to observe all the above precepts at all
being or as a deity in one of the heavens, and present demeri-
times; in addition, there is a tenth injunction for monks
torious deeds may result in more suffering and in rebirth as
against the handling of money.
an animal, a hungry ghost (Skt., preta), or a being in one of
the Buddhist hells. A mixture of meritorious and demeritor-
The most meritorious practice on this list, however, is
ious acts will bear mixed karmic results.
giving, or da¯na. In many ways, this is the Buddhist act of
merit par excellence. Monks engage in it by giving the Dhar-
This basic understanding of the workings of merit and
ma to laypersons in the form of sermons or advice, or by the
demerit can be traced back to the time of the Buddha, or the
example of their own lives. Laypersons practice it by giving
sixth to fifth centuries BCE. It received its fullest elaboration
to the monks support of a more material kind, especially
later, however, in the vast collections of ja¯takas (stories of the
food, robes, and shelter. The ideology of merit thus cements
Buddha’s previous lives), avada¯nas (legends), and a¯nisam:sas
a symbiotic relationship between the sam:gha and the laity
(tales of karmic reward), which were and continue to be very
that has long been one of the prominent features of
popular in both H¯ınaya¯na and Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism.
Buddhism.
MERIT-MAKING ACTIVITIES. There are, according to the
Buddhists themselves, many ways of making merit. One of
Not all lay acts of da¯na make equal amounts of merit.
the most comprehensive listings of these is the noncanonical
The specific karmic efficacy of any gift may depend on what
catalog of “ten meritorious deeds” (Pali, dasa-kusalakamma),
is given (quantity and quality can be significant), how it is
which has been widely influential in South Asia. It comprises
given (i.e., whether the gift is offered with proper respect,
the following practices:
faith, and intention), when it is given (food offerings, for ex-
ample, should be made before noon), and, especially, to
1. Giving (da¯na)
whom it is given. Although da¯na may sometimes be thought
2. Observing the moral precepts (s¯ıla)
to include gifts to the poor and the needy, offerings made
to the sam:gha are seen as karmically much more effective.
3. Meditation (bha¯vana¯)
Thus, making regular food offerings to the monks, giving
4. Showing respect to one’s superiors (apaca¯yana)
them new robes and supplies, funding special ceremonies
5. Attending to their needs (veyya¯vacca)
and festivals, building a new monastery, or having a son join
the sam:gha are all typical lay acts of da¯na. These activities
6. Transferring merit (pattida¯na)
share a common focus on the monks and are consistently
7. Rejoicing at the merit of others (patta¯numodana)
ranked as more highly meritorious than other types of social
service; they are even more highly valued than observation
8. Listening to the Dharma, that is, the Buddha’s teach-
of the moral precepts.
ings (dhammasavana)
9. Preaching the Dharma (dhammadesana¯)
Metaphorically, acts of merit are seen as seeds that bear
most fruit when they are planted in good fields of merit (Skt.,
10. Having right beliefs (dit:t:hijjukamma)
pun:yaks:etra), and the most fertile field of merit today is the
It is noteworthy that most of the deeds on this list (with the
sam:gha. This obviously has had tremendous sociological and
possible exception of the ninth, which is more traditionally
economic implications. In Buddhist societies, the sam:gha
a monastic function) can be and are practiced both by Bud-
often became the recipient of the excess (and sometimes not
dhist laypersons and by monks. It is clear, then, that merit
so excessive) wealth of the laity, and thus from its roots it
making in general is a preoccupation not only of the Bud-
quickly grew into a rather richly endowed institution.
dhist laity (as is sometimes claimed) but also of members of
Traditionally, however, the best “field of merit” was the
the monastic community, the sam:gha. In this regard, it is in-
Buddha himself. The model acts of da¯na that are recounted
teresting too that meditation—a practice that is sometimes
in Buddhist popular literature often depict gifts that are
said to be an enterprise not concerned with attaining a better
made to him. Today, in addition to donations to the monks,
rebirth but aimed solely at enlightenment—is also seen as a
offerings are made to images and other symbolic representa-
merit-making activity and is engaged in as such by both
tions of the Buddha and are still thought of as highly merito-
monks and laypersons.
rious. The roots of da¯na, therefore, lie not only in a desire
Another noteworthy item on this list is s¯ıla, the obser-
to do one’s duty to the sam:gha but also to express one’s devo-
vance of the moral precepts. For the laity, this consists of fol-
tion to the faith in the Buddha. This experiential cultic side
lowing the injunctions against killing, stealing, lying, sexual
of merit-making has often been overlooked, yet it is fre-
misconduct, and intoxication. On certain occasions, howev-
quently emphasized in popular Buddhist literature.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5874
MERIT: BUDDHIST CONCEPTS
AIMS OF THE MERIT MAKER. In addition to expressing indi-
as a deceased parent or teacher, the suffering spirits of the
vidual faith and devotion, the merit maker may be said to
dead, or, more generally, all sentient beings.
be interested in three things. First, an individual wants to ob-
Probably one of the motivations for such sharing of
tain karmic rewards for himself in this or the next lifetime.
merit was the desire to continue, in a Buddhist context, the
Thus, for example, he might wish, by virtue of his acts of
Brahmanical practice of ancestor worship. The transfer of
merit, to enjoy long life, good health, and enormous wealth,
merit by offerings to the sam:gha simply replaced the more
and never to fall into one of the lower realms of rebirth where
direct sacrifice of food to the spirits of the dead.
suffering runs rampant, but to be reborn as a well-to-do per-
son or a great god in heaven. Many such statements, in fact,
The literalness with which this transfer was sometimes
may be found in the inscriptions left by pious Buddhists
understood is well illustrated by the story of the ghosts of
throughout the centuries to record their meritorious deeds,
King Bimbisa¯ra’s dead relatives. They made horrible noises
and in anthropologists’ descriptions of present-day merit-
in his palace at night because they were hungry, for the king
making practices.
had neglected to dedicate to them the merit of a meal he had
served to the sam:gha. Therefore he had to make a new offer-
Second, the merit maker may also be interested in en-
ing of food to the monks and properly transfer the merit.
lightenment. It is sometimes claimed that this is not the case,
Once fed, the ghosts no longer complained.
that beyond receiving karmic rewards the merit maker has
It is worth noting in this story the crucial role played
no real ambition for nirva¯n:a. To be sure, in the oldest strata
by the field of merit—in this case the sam:gha—in successful-
of the Buddhist canon nirva¯n:a is not thought to be attainable
ly transmitting the benefits of meritorious deeds to beings
by merit-making alone, but Buddhist popular literature soon
in the other world: the monks act as effective intermediaries
tended to take a different view. In the Avada¯nas, for example,
between two worlds. They continued to enjoy this role in
even the most trivial acts of merit are accompanied by a vow
China and Japan, where their efficacy in transferring merit
(Skt., pran:idha¯na) made by the merit maker to obtain some
to the ancestors was much emphasized.
form of enlightenment in the future. This enlightenment
may be a long time in coming, but when it does it is por-
MERIT-MAKING AND THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL. Although
trayed as the fruit of the merit maker’s vow and act of merit,
the doctrine of the transfer of merit has its roots in the
and not as the result of any meditative endeavor.
H¯ınaya¯na, it was most fully developed in the Maha¯ya¯na.
There it became one of the basic practices of the bodhisattva
In present-day Therava¯da practice, these same vows take
(buddha-to-be), who was thought to be able freely to bestow
the form of ritual resolves to be reborn at the time of the fu-
upon others the merit accrued during a greatly extended spir-
ture Buddha Maitreya and to attain enlightenment at that
itual career.
time. Far from rejecting the possibility of nirva¯n:a, then, the
Actually, there are two stages to a bodhisattva’s meritori-
merit maker, by means of a pran:idha¯na, can link an act of
ous career. In the first, while seeking enlightenment, he
merit to that very soteriological goal.
amasses merit by good deeds toward others. In this, his ac-
THE TRANSFER OF MERIT. Third, the merit maker may also
tions are not much different from those described in the
wish to share his or her merit with others, especially with
Ja¯takas and attributed to the Buddha in his former lives. In
members of the family. By clearly indicating whom the merit
the second stage, the bodhisattva (or, in Pure Land Bud-
maker intends to benefit by a good deed, an individual can
dhism, the Buddha Amita¯bha), infinitely meritorious, dis-
transfer the merit accrued to that other person. This does not
penses merit to all beings.
mean that one thereby loses some of one’s own merit; on the
After initially awakening in himself the mind intent on
contrary, one makes even more, since the transfer of merit
enlightenment (Skt., bodhicitta), the bodhisattva begins his
is in itself a meritorious act.
career with the path of accumulation of merit
Such sharing of merit is sometimes thought to be in
(sam:bha¯rama¯rga), during which he performs great acts of
contradiction to one of the basic principles of karman, ac-
self-sacrifice over many lifetimes and begins the practice of
cording to which merit-making is an entirely individual pro-
the perfections of giving, morality, patience, energy, medita-
cess whereby one reaps only what one has sown oneself.
tion, and wisdom. In all of this, his actions are governed by
While this may be correct theoretically, and while it is true
his vow for enlightenment (pran:idha¯na). Unlike the vows of
that the transfer of merit is not mentioned explicitly in the
the Hinayanists, however, those of a bodhisattva can be quite
earliest canonical sources, the practice quickly became very
elaborate (especially in Pure Land Buddhism), and generally
common. It had always been the case, of course, that an indi-
involve his willingness to postpone individual attainment of
vidual could undertake an act of merit on behalf of a larger
final nirva¯n:a in order to be able to lead all sentient beings
social group. Thus, the housewife who gives food to a monk
to enlightenment.
on his begging round makes merit not only for herself but
As a result of such altruism, certain great bodhisattvas,
for her whole family. Buddhist inscriptions and popular liter-
such as Avalokite´svara, Mañju´sr¯ı, Ks:itigarbha, or Samantab-
ature, however, testify also to the wishes of donors to have
hadra, came to be seen as having stored up virtually inex-
their merit benefit somewhat more remote recipients, such
haustible supplies of merit, which they can now dispense to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MERIT: CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS
5875
sentient beings in order to allay their sufferings. The mecha-
226 (1978): 311–332. The latter is an especially suggestive
nism by which this is done is that of the transfer of merit,
article and has an English summary. For a social scientist’s
but this is now seen as a more total and compassionate act
view of the way in which merit-making combines with other
than in the H¯ınaya¯na. Not only does the bodhisattva confer
forces in defining social roles and hierarchies, see L. M.
on others the benefit of specific deeds, but he also seeks to
Hank’s “Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order,” Ameri-
share with them his entire store of merit, or, to use a different
can Anthropologist 64 (1962): 1247–1261. Finally, for a clear
discussion of the place of merit in the development of the bo-
simile, his own actual roots of merit (ku´salamu¯la). In this,
dhisattva ideal, see A. L. Basham’s “The Evolution of the
all desire for a better rebirth for himself has disappeared; the
Concept of the Bodhisattva,” in The Bodhisattva Doctrine in
only sentiment remaining is his great compassion
Buddhism (Waterloo, Ontario, 1981), edited by Leslie S.
(maha¯karun:a¯) for all sentient beings in their many states of
Kawamura.
suffering.
New Sources
Bechert, Heinz. “Buddha-field and Transfer of Merit in a Thera-
SEE ALSO Bodhisattva Path; Karman, article on Buddhist
vada Source.” Indo-Iranian Journal 35 (1992): 95–108.
Concepts.
Boucher, Daniel. “Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha.” In
Buddhism in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr.,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
pp. 59–68. Princeton, 1995.
Four kinds of sources are most useful in considering the practice
Cousins, Lance. “Good or Skilful? Kusala in Canon and Com-
of merit-making in Buddhism.
mentary.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 3 (1996): 136–64.
First, there are anthologies of popular Buddhist stories illustrating
Available from http://jbe.la.psu.edu.
the workings of merit and demerit. These are too vast and
Herrmann-Pfandt, A. “Verdienstübertragung im H¯ınaya¯na und
numerous to be described here, but they include the Ja¯takas
Maha¯ya¯na.” In Suhrllekha¯h:: Festgabe für Helmut Eimer, ed-
(tales of Buddha’s former lives), the Avada¯nas (legends about
ited by Michael Hahn, Jens-Uwe Hartmann and Roland St-
the lives of individual Buddhists), and innumerable stories
einer, pp. 79–98. Swisttal-Odendorf, 1996.
of karmic rewards either included in commentaries on ca-
Schopen, Gregory. “Two Problems in the History of Indian Bud-
nonical works or gathered in separate collections. For transla-
dhism: The Layman/Monk Distinction and the Doctrines of
tions of examples of each of these three types, see The Ja¯taka,
the Transfer of Merit.” Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 10
6 vols. (1895–1905; London, 1973), edited by E. B. Cowell;
(1985): 9–47.
Avada¯na-çataka:: Cent légendes bouddhiques, translated by
J
Léon Feer (Paris, 1891); and Elucidation of the Intrinsic
OHN S. STRONG (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Meaning: The Commentary on the Peta Stories, translated by
U Ba Kyaw, edited by Peter Masefield (London, 1980).
Second, there are the descriptions and discussions of merit-
MERIT: CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS
making practices in present-day Buddhist societies by an-
The term merit derives directly from the Latin meritum as
thropologists and other observers in the field. For a variety
of these works, which also present significant interpretations
used by theologians in Western Christianity beginning with
of merit making, see, for Sri Lanka, Richard F. Gombrich’s
Tertullian (160?–225?). Earlier Christian apologists had
Precept and Practice (Oxford, 1971), chapters 4–7; for Thai-
stressed the importance of postbaptismal works as a prepara-
land, Stanley J. Tambiah’s “The Ideology of Merit and the
tion for eternal life, and indeed this line of thought can be
Social Correlates of Buddhism in a Thai Village,” in Dialectic
traced back in a general way to various New Testament writ-
in Practical Religion (Cambridge, 1968), edited by Edmund
ings. The important question as to whether the third-century
Leach; and, for Burma, Melford E. Spiro’s Buddhism and So-
teaching on merit emerged naturally out of early Christianity
ciety (New York, 1970).
or whether it was a distortion, or at best a countertheme, is
Third, there are the inscriptions left by merit makers in India and
variously assessed by Catholic and Protestant theologians.
elsewhere to record their acts of merit. Various examples of
Thus, in an article on merit (1962), Günther Bornkamm
these invaluable and fascinating documents may be found in
emphasized the absence of any concept of merit in the New
Dines Chandra Sircar’s Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian
Testament, while his co-writer Erdmann Schott roundly de-
History and Civilization, vol. 1, From the Sixth Century B.C.
clared that “only the Roman Catholic church developed a
to the Sixth Century A.D., 2d ed. (Calcutta, 1965).
doctrine of merit.” However, both of these writers recognize
Finally, there are the more specialized scholarly studies of specific
the presence of those elements in early Christian writings, in-
aspects of merit-making. Only a few of these can be men-
cluding the New Testament, which writers with a Catholic
tioned here. For a fine discussion of the various connotations
viewpoint see as the basis for the development of the doc-
of the word for “merit,” see Jean Filliozat’s “Sur le domaine
trine. These elements are none other than judgment, reward,
sémantique de pun:ya,” in Indianisme et bouddhisme: Mé-
and punishment. Thus according to Anselm Forster (1965)
langes offerts à Mgr. Étienne Lamotte (Louvain, 1980). For
two very helpful studies of the transfer of merit in H¯ınaya¯na
references to such themes are so numerous that the apostolic
Buddhism, see G. P. Malalasekera’s “‘Transference of Merit’
fathers and the apologists simply brought the idea of merit
in Ceylonese Buddhism,” Philosophy East and West 17
into their proclamation of salvation as circumstances re-
(1967): 85–90, and Jean-Michel Agasse’s “Le transfert de
quired, without any need for systematic reflection at that
mérite dans le bouddhisme pa¯li classique,” Journal asiatique
time.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5876
MERIT: CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS
The New Testament writers certainly made much use
It may be noted in passing that the concept of merit was
of this complex of ideas, as seen for example in the vision of
never worked out in detail and did not become a matter of
judgment in Matthew 25. However, such ideas do not in
controversy in the Eastern (Orthodox) churches because the
themselves amount to or necessarily require the development
operation of divine grace and human free will were and are
of a doctrine of merit, as may be observed in parallel situa-
seen in terms of synergy. By this is meant a cooperation of
tions in the history of religions. Historically, there certainly
powers that are unequal but both essential. Although human
was no general belief in the New Testament writings that
response and action are necessary within the event of salva-
some sufficient degree of merit either should or even could
tion, the preeminent role of grace means that calculations are
be accumulated for any purpose. The main thrust of early
of no relevance. The perfect example of synergy is provided
Christian teaching was rather to overcome any calculating re-
by Mary, honored as the mother of God (theotokos).
ligiosity in favor of a trusting reliance on the promises of God
MEDIEVAL AND REFORMATION VIEWS OF MERIT. In medi-
and spontaneous, uncircumscribed works of love. This holds
eval Latin Christendom an increasingly carefully defined
good both for the teaching of Jesus himself, as far as this can
doctrine of merit was current. This doctrine was, with minor
be precisely ascertained, and also for the teaching of the
variations, consistent from Peter Abelard up until the Refor-
major theological exponents, John and Paul. A doctrine of
mation. Both obligatory and nonobligatory (supererogatory)
merit as such did not clearly arise until the third century.
works were regarded as meritorious in the sense that they
PATRISTIC VIEW OF MERIT. With Tertullian, well known for
contributed, within the overall economy of divine grace, to
his legal metaphors, the doctrine of merit came into semifor-
the ensuring of salvation. Grace itself can be understood at
mal existence. He distinguished between good works as a
various levels: all-important was gratia praeveniens, but Peter
source of merit and nonobligatory good works as a source
Lombard distinguished between the self-effective gratia ope-
of extra merit, thus introducing an element of calculation.
rans and the gratia cooperans that assists in the creation of
He also taught that human sinners are required to render sat-
merit. Widespread in the Middle Ages was the distinction
isfaction to God, a satisfaction that could be fulfilled by the
between acts that ensure divine recognition and acts that
offering of merits. Other church fathers accepted Tertullian’s
merely qualify for it at divine discretion. These two types of
teaching, above all with a view to the care of postbaptismal
merit are referred to as condign merit (meritum de condigno)
life within the church.
and congruent merit (meritum de congruo) respectively.
Thus Cyprian (c. 205–258), bishop of Carthage, taught
However, the sovereignty of God was maintained by the
that sins could be purged by charitable works and by faith.
teaching, for example of Thomas Aquinas, that while merit
This did not refer to those sins contracted before baptism,
arises equally from free will and from grace, the effective sta-
for they were purged by the blood and sanctification of
tus assigned to condign merit was itself still dependent ulti-
Christ. But, Cyprian says in On Works and Charity, “sic elee-
mately on grace. The underlying idea here, not usually made
mosyne extinguet peccatum” (“as water extinguishes fire, so
explicit, is that the church in its teaching function can reli-
charitable work extinguishes sin”) and “eleemosynis atque
ably assert the positive availability of grace in such circum-
operationibus iustis” (“as the fire of Gehenna is extinguished
stances. Some discussion centered on the possibility of re-
by the water of salvation, so the flame of transgressions is as-
gaining a state of grace through merit after committing
suaged by almsgiving and just works”). He goes on to say
deadly sin, which Bonaventure considered possible and
that God is satisfied by just works and that sins are purged
Thomas impossible. Another aspect arose with John Duns
by the merits of mercifulness (misericordiae meritis). Indeed,
Scotus, who emphasized the crucial role of the divine accep-
by charitable works our prayers are made effective, our lives
tance of merit over against the value inherent in the work
saved from danger, and our souls liberated from death.
itself. This permitted the assertion that God recognizes the
merits of supernaturally assisted works within the economy
Of importance for later understanding of the doctrine
of salvation rather than of those performed by man in his
was the debate between Pelagius, Augustine, and others in
natural state simply because he so wishes. (For more details
the first part of the fifth century. Pelagius, whose teaching
on these and other aspects of the medieval doctrine of merit,
was current in Rome and North Africa, stressed the power
see Schott, 1962.)
of man through free will to choose and practice the good,
and he viewed grace conveyed by the example and stimulus
The doctrinal subtlety of many medieval theologians
of Christ as a welcome but theoretically not absolutely essen-
was clearly directed toward safeguarding the principle of the
tial extra. Augustine considered Pelagius’s teaching to pres-
prior, determinative grace of God over against any idea that
ent a faulty doctrine of man and to render Christian salvation
salvation could be ensured by calculated acts on man’s part.
all but superfluous. For the present subject the debate is of
However, not all medieval Christians had the ability, or, in
importance in that it had the effect of subordinating teaching
their often short and hard lives, the leisure, to appreciate
on merit to the doctrine of grace. Since Pelagianism was con-
these points. Since theology had a place for individual acts
demned as heretical at the councils of Milevum and Carthage
that might be meritorious, that is, of assistance in securing
(in 416 and 418), Augustine’s treatment of the subject set
salvation rather than damnation, the common assumption
the framework for later Western definitions and ultimately
was that some of these acts had better be performed. It was
for the divergence that broke out at the Reformation.
plainly believed that bad things had to be compensated for
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MERIT: CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS
5877
by good things if lengthy or eternal punishment was to be
(e.g., on “the first nine Fridays”) or through special sets of
avoided, and this meant in daily religious life: penance, good
prayers (Our Fathers, Ave Marias, etc.), leading to a reduc-
works, and the sacraments. Thus salvation became for many
tion of the number of days required to be spent in purgatory
a transaction, albeit a mysterious one. The sale of indul-
(by 500, 1,000, etc.), has continued down to the present.
gences in respect of a plenary remission of sins may be re-
Moreover such remissions can, via the communion of saints
garded as an extreme example of this and was understandably
and the work of Christ himself, be applied to the suffering
criticized at the Reformation as an abuse. That the element
of souls already in purgatory, through prayer, fasting, alms,
of weighing, or paying, had become a standard feature of
and the saying of Mass. As one popular nineteenth-century
Western Catholic tradition, was evident also, however, in the
work put it: “She [the church] appears before the tribunal
large numbers of chantries endowed for masses to be said for
of the judge, not only as a suppliant, but also as the steward-
the patron’s benefit, via a transfer of merit, after his death.
ess of the treasure of the merits of Christ and his saints, and
The Reformation saw a massive reassertion of grace and
from it offers to him the ransom for the souls in purgatory,
a straightforward rejection of reliance on works of any kind.
with full confidence that he will accept her offer and release
With Martin Luther the language of justification was central
her children from the tortures of the debtor’s prison” (F. J.
but was used paradoxically, as in Pauline literature, to refer
Shadler, The Beauties of the Catholic Church, New York,
to God’s gracious justification of man through Christ, even
1881, p. 404). One could hardly hope to find a clearer state-
though man himself is not able to stand before God in judg-
ment both of the idea of the transfer of merit and of the
ment. With this fundamental shift of emphasis, which be-
transactional manner in which merit is, or can be, under-
came increasingly critical of current religious practice, the
stood. Other presentations content themselves with a loose
doctrine of merit related to works was swept away. Yet the
statement of the need for both grace and works, thereby al-
vocabulary of merit did not immediately disappear. Indeed
lowing elaboration at the pastoral level. Thus a modern cate-
the traditional terminology of condign and congruent merit
chism declares: “We can do no good work of ourselves to-
occurs in Luther’s Dictata super Psalterium (Lectures on the
ward our salvation; we need the help of God’s grace,” but
Psalms) and serves as the basis for a gradual transposition of
also: “Faith alone will not save us without good works; we
the concept of merited salvation into that of unmerited salva-
must also have hope and charity” (Catholic Truth Society,
tion (cf. Rupp, 1953, esp. pp. 138f.). Thus the idea of the
A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, London, 1971, pp. 22f.).
insufficiency of merit or of works provided Luther at one and
The consciousness of ordinary Catholic believers may be
the same time with a polemical differentiation from the exist-
summed up in the view that while one cannot ensure
ing tradition of Western Christianity and an invitation to
one’s own salvation one is certainly expected to make a con-
faith in the saving and transforming power of grace leading
tribution.
to good works as the fruit of Christian life. As far as these
In recent years theological controversy about merit in
matters were concerned, the position of other reformers, in-
the context of Christianity has lost much of its sharpness for
cluding John Calvin with his formula sola gratia (by grace
three reasons. First, the theme is subsumed, for Protestants,
alone), was essentially similar. As a result, wholesale changes
into the greater theme of faith and grace over against works.
occurred in the practical forms of religion. At the same time
From this point of view relying on merits or merit is simply
the transactional aspect was concentrated in the doctrine of
atonement through the merits of the death of Christ.
a variant form of relying on works and therefore hardly re-
quires separate consideration. Second, although the concept
MERIT IN CATHOLICISM. The positive significance of merit
of merit is retained by Catholics, it is usually made clear, at
in the context of the religious life was reaffirmed for Western
least in formal accounts, that the prior grace of God is an es-
Catholicism at the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the rele-
sential condition. Although, admittedly, this does not meet
vant definitions and thirty-three anathemas being contained
Protestant objections to all and every form of reliance on
in the sixteenth chapter of the text for the sixth session: “De
works, it does mean that from the Catholic side, too, atten-
fructu justificationis, hoc est, de merito bonorum operum,
tion is directed fundamentally toward man’s position in the
deque ipsius meriti ratione” (Denzinger, 1965). The argu-
overall economy of divine grace. Third, and this applies to
ment is tightly linked to the concept of justification, which
Protestant and Catholic theologians alike, interest is directed
is viewed as a process within the believer that leads to merito-
toward other issues such as the historical and social responsi-
rious good works. Since the merit of good works was consid-
bilities of Christianity, questions arising through the encoun-
ered to bring about specific results contributing to the in-
ter with non-Christian traditions, and philosophical reflec-
crease of grace in the present life, to eternal life itself, and
tions about the very nature of religious language. In such a
to the increase of glory, room was left for the continued pas-
perspective, while theological viewpoints regarding merit re-
toral management of religious life in terms of relative
main distinct, it is not currently considered to be a matter
achievement, within the overall context of divine grace. This
requiring intense or urgent debate.
has essentially been the basis of Catholic religiosity ever
since.
SEE ALSO Atonement, article on Christian Concepts; Free
Thus the marketing of indulgences was abandoned, but
Will and Predestination, article on Christian Concepts;
the attainment of an indulgence through devotional practice
Grace; Justification.
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5878
MERLIN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Myrddin. The majority of these are post hoc vaticinations
Bornkamm, Günther, Erdmann Schott, et al. “Verdienst.” In Die
and contemporary comments on political events attributed
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3d ed., vol. 6,
to the famed prophet, who had acquired this role by the
pp. 1261–1271. Tübingen, 1962.
tenth century, as the poem Armes Prydein (c. 935) shows, a
Cyprian. Quellen zur Geschichte des Papsttums und des römischen
role he was to retain throughout the Middle Ages. There may
Katholizismus. Edited by Carl Mirbt. Tübingen, 1911. In-
also be discerned, however, a substratum of story to which
cludes the Latin text of Cyprian’s On Works and Charity.
other pre-twelfth-century poems allude and which can be re-
Denzinger, Heinrich, ed. Enchiridion Symbolorum. Freiburg,
constituted from these and other sources. Myrddin, a mem-
1965. Includes definitions formulated by the Council of
ber of the court of King Gwenddoleu, became insane at the
Trent. See especially pages 376ff.
Battle of Arfderydd (fought in 573 in modern-day Cum-
Forster, Anselm. “Verdienst (Systematisch).” In Lexikon für
bria). He fled in terror from King Rhydderch of Strathclyde
Theologie und Kirche, vol. 10, cols. 677–680. Freiburg, 1965.
to the Caledonian Forest (in the Scottish Lowlands), and
lived there the life of a wild man (his Welsh epithet is Wyllt,
Jedin, Hubert. A History of the Council of Trent, vol. 2. Translated
by Ernest Graf. London, 1960.
“wild”). He was befriended by his sister, or lover, Gwenddy-
dd, to whom he prophesied events at court. These traditions
Raemers, W. Indulgenced Prayers to Help the Holy Souls. London,
were used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his poem Vita Mer-
1956.
lini, which is designed to correct the nontraditional elements
Rupp, E. G. The Righteousness of God: Luther Studies. London,
and to supplement the picture he had earlier given in his Hi-
1953.
storia. His two Merlins appeared to contemporaries as dis-
Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church. Harmondsworth, 1963.
tinct characters named Merlinus Ambrosius (in the Historia)
New Sources
and Merlinus Silvestris (in the Vita), but it is better to regard
Hallonsten, Gösta. Meritum bei Tertullian: Überprüffung einer
the distinction as being due to Geoffrey’s imprecise knowl-
Forschungstadition II. Malmö, 1985.
edge of the genuine tradition at the time of his writing of
the Historia.
Moule, Charles Francis Digby. Forgiveness and Reconciliation and
Other New Testament Themes. London, 1998.
The northern Myrddin is found under the name
Wawrykow, Joseph P. “God’s Grace and Human Action: ‘Merit.’”
Lailoken in the twelfth-century Vita Kentigerni of Joceline of
In Theology of Thomas Aquinas. Notre Dame, Ind., 1995.
Furness, and he has an analogue in the ninth-century Irish
character Suibhne Geilt. Lailoken’s tale was relocated in
MICHAEL PYE (1987)
Revised Bibliography
South Wales, and, according to the claims of A. O. H. Jar-
man, the madman was given a new name derived from Caer-
fyrddin. Rachel Bromwich, stressing Myrddin’s status as a
poet in Welsh bardic tradition, suggests that he was a sixth-
MERLIN. The origins of Merlin, the magician, prophet,
century historical poet, none of whose work is extant but
and guardian of the legendary British king Arthur and a cen-
who developed legendary features, as happened to Taliesin.
tral figure in medieval Arthurian romance in both French
There is little doubt that the sagas of two characters have in-
and English, are to be found in a number of early Welsh
fluenced one another, and they are linked in a pre-twelfth-
poems and related material in Latin. The name Merlin was
century dialogue poem which may have been known to
created by the twelfth-century pseudohistorian Geoffrey of
Geoffrey of Monmouth, who used the device of dialogue in
Monmouth, who described the conception of “a fatherless
the Vita. Although Welsh literature does not show the influ-
boy” by a nun who had been impregnated by an incubus in
ence of later Arthurian romance in the character of Myrddin,
the South Wales town of Caerfyrddin (modern-day Carmar-
late medieval Welsh poetry does contain allusions to his im-
then). The omniscient boy’s advice to King Vortigern sug-
prisonment and death and to erotic elements in the legend.
gests that Geoffrey modeled his Merlin on an earlier Welsh
story of the wonder-child Ambrosius. Although two later ex-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ploits, the removal of Stonehenge from Ireland to England
A good and concise account of the development of the theme of
and the disguising of Uter Pendragon as Gorlois so that he
Myrddin/Merlin is presented in The Legend of Merlin (Car-
might sleep with the latter’s wife (a ruse that results in the
diff, 1960) by A. O. H. Jarman. Consult, also, Jarman’s arti-
conception of Arthur), are not found in the earlier sources,
cle titled “A oedd Myrddin yn fardd hanesyddol,” Studia
Merlin’s major role as a political prophet in Geoffrey’s Hi-
Celtica 10/11 (1975–1976): 182–197. This article is written
storia regum Britanniae is traditional.
in response to Rachel Bromwich’s piece, “Y Cynfeirdd a’r
Traddodiad Cymraeg,” Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies
The prophet’s birth at Caerfyrddin is a sure sign that
22 (1966): 30–37. A thorough review of the important issues
he is in fact the Welsh Myrddin, whose name is variously
is found in Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads, 2d ed.
spelled Merddin, Merdin, and Myrtin, which Geoffrey
(Cardiff, 1978), which was edited and translated by Brom-
changed to Merlin to avoid unfortunate associations with the
wich. For views on Merlin’s historical origins see Nikolai
French merde. There are extant a large number of medieval
Tolstoy, The Quest for Merlin (London, 1985).
Welsh poems claimed to have been composed by a fictional
BRYNLEY F. ROBERTS (1987 AND 2005)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5879
MERTON, THOMAS (1915–1968), Roman Catholic
effects of technology. This protest caused him difficulty at
monk, author, and poet. Merton pursued a career that may
times with readers who favored a pietistic style of writing,
be divided into three distinct phases: secular, monastic, and
with church superiors, and with members of his monastic
public. The secular career encompasses the first twenty-six
community. He persevered in putting his views forward,
years of his life and culminates with his entrance into the
however, believing that mystics owed their contemporaries
abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, in 1941. The basic ele-
the value of their own unique witness.
ments that influenced his later life were set in place during
In the final years of his life, Merton was committed to
this period. Merton was born on 31 January 1915 in Prades,
Hindu and Buddhist spiritual wisdom without diminishing
France, the first child of artist Ruth Jenkins Merton of
his attachment to Catholic Christianity. Zen Buddhism,
Zanesville, Ohio, and artist Owen Merton of Christchurch,
most especially, appealed to Merton because of its emphasis
New Zealand. The family moved to New York City the next
on experience rather than doctrine. Merton searched for God
year to escape World War I. The loss of his mother while
through participation in the ancient spiritualities of Asia on
still a child, his father at age sixteen, and a younger brother
a long journey to the East that was his personal pilgrimage
in World War II, contributed to Merton’s sense of the tragic
and a metaphor of his life. He died of accidental electrocu-
contingency of human life and, possibly, to his decision to
tion in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 10, 1968.
enter monastic life. The influence from two parents who
were artists and instinctive pacifists bore fruit in their son’s
BIBLIOGRAPHY
pursuits as writer, poet, and prophet of nonviolence.
The authorized biography of Thomas Merton, Michael Mott’s
Merton attended school in the United States, Bermuda,
The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton (Boston, 1984), is
France, and England before commencing higher education.
an exhaustively researched and yet readable study. It may suf-
fer from lack of a central interpretive theme but sets a stan-
He entered Clare College of Cambridge University on schol-
dard for subsequent work on Merton. Merton: A Biography
arship and completed his undergraduate education at Co-
by Monica Furlong (New York, 1980) is a reliable account,
lumbia University in New York. His friendships with Profes-
although little attention is given to Merton’s monastic voca-
sor Mark Van Doren, the Pulitzer Prize poet, and fellow
tion or his involvement with Asian spirituality. Thomas Mer-
student Robert Lax, the future poet, helped to develop his
ton: Monk and Poet, by George Woodcock (New York,
already existing interests in mysticism, poetry, and monasti-
1978), is a perceptive analysis of the creative dynamics in
cism. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1938, com-
Merton’s literary work. The author, himself a poet and nov-
pleted an M.A. in literature from Columbia in 1939, and en-
elist, is sensitive to the religious dimension of Merton’s life.
tered the abbey of Gethsemani in 1941 while working on a
My own book, The Human Journey: Thomas Merton, Symbol
never-completed Ph.D. thesis on Gerard Manley Hopkins
of a Century (New York, 1982), draws out the correlations
and teaching English at Saint Bonaventure University in
between Merton’s personal life and the tensions and aspira-
tions of the twentieth century. It traces the appeal of Merton
New York State.
to his capacity to assimilate the problems and promise of his
The second phase of Merton’s career is his life as a monk
own time.
of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance. The rigor
ANTHONY PADOVANO (1987)
of this life is characterized by perpetual silence, a lifelong veg-
etarian diet, and many hours of daily prayer starting at 2:00
AM. The purpose of this regimen is the development of a con-
templative life. Many of those who knew Merton well believe
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS
he became a mystic during these years. The last three years
This entry consists of the following articles:
of his life were also lived as a hermit, removed from the com-
PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
munal life of the monastery.
FORMATIVE CULTURES
CLASSIC CULTURES
The third phase of Merton’s life, the public career, is
POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
somewhat coincident with the second and is marked by an
COLONIAL CULTURES
CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
intense involvement in writing, social protest, and Asian spir-
MYTHIC THEMES
ituality. The most famous of his sixty books is Seven Storey
HISTORY OF STUDY
Mountain, an autobiography about a personal search that
brings him from unfocused activism to contemplation and
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-
from a life of self-indulgence to self-discipline. The writings
COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
of Merton include eight volumes of poetry and some six hun-
Through several millennia and up to the present, complex
dred articles.
forms of indigenous belief and ritual have developed in Me-
If a career in writing was unconventional, Merton’s in-
soamerica, the area between North America proper and the
volvement in social protest was even less part of the monastic
southern portion of isthmic Central America. The term Me-
model. He objected vehemently to the United States’ in-
soamerica, whose connotation is at once geographical and
volvement in the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, viola-
cultural, is used to designate the area where these distinctive
tions of the rights of black Americans, and the dehumanizing
forms of high culture existed. There, through a long process
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5880
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
of cultural transformation, periods of rise, fall, and recovery
7. Recorded texts show the existence of a similar world-
occurred. On the eve of the Spanish invasion (1519), Me-
view, which included the sequence of several cosmic
soamerica embraced what are now the central and southern
ages and spatial symbols such as cosmic trees, birds, col-
parts of Mexico, as well as the nations of Guatemala, Belize,
ors, and deities.
El Salvador, and some portions of Honduras, Nicaragua, and
EARLIEST RELIGIOUS MANIFESTATIONS. Because of lack of
Costa Rica.
evidence, scholarship does not extend back to the religious
Distinctive forms of social organization began to devel-
concerns of the earliest inhabitants of Mesoamerica
op in this area from, at the latest, the end of the second mil-
(c. 25,000 BCE). Nevertheless, some archaeological findings
lennium BCE. Parallel to these social and economic struc-
show that the early hunter-gatherers had at least some meta-
tures, various forms of religion also flourished. Most
physical or religious preoccupations. Reference can be made
contemporary researchers agree that Mesoamerican religion,
to their rock art: paintings and petroglyphs, some of which
and the Mesoamerican high cultures in general, developed
date to about 10,000 BCE, several of which suggest religious
without any significant influence from the civilizations of
or magical forms of propitiation through hunting, fishing,
Asia, Europe, and Africa. But whereas it is generally accepted
and gathering.
that the various forms of high culture that appeared in Me-
Objects that are more obviously religious in function
soamerica shared the same indigenous origin, a divergence
date only from 2500 to 1500 BCE, when the earliest village-
of opinions exists regarding the question of how the various
type settlements appeared in Mesoamerica. By that time,
religious manifestations are ultimately interrelated.
after a slow process of plant domestication that probably
According to some scholars (e.g., Bernal, 1969; Caso,
began around 6000 BCE, new forms of society began to devel-
1971; Joralemon, 1971, 1976; Léon-Portilla, 1968; Nichol-
op. It had taken several millennia for the hunter-gatherers
son, 1972, 1976), there was only one religious substratum,
to become settled in the first small Mesoamerican villages.
which came to realize itself in what are the distinct varieties
In the evolution of Mesoamerican culture, what has come to
of beliefs and cults of peoples such as the Maya, the builders
be known as the Early Formative period had commenced.
of Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Toltec, the
Those living during this period employed an ensemble
Aztec, and others. A different opinion (maintained by,
of objects indicative of their beliefs about the afterlife, and
among others, George Kubler [1967, 1970]) postulates the
of their need to make offerings to their deities. At different
existence of various religious traditions in ancient Me-
sites throughout Mesoamerica (especially in the Central
soamerica. Those adhering to this view nonetheless admit to
Highlands, the Oaxaca area, and the Yucatán Peninsula),
reciprocal forms of influence and even to various kinds of in-
many female clay figurines have been found in what were the
digenous religious syncretism.
agricultural fields. Scholars hypothesize that these figurines
This essay on pre-Columbian religions postulates the
were placed in the fields to propitiate the gods and ensure
existence of what is essentially a single religious tradition in
the fertility of crops. Burials in places close to the villages (as
Mesoamerica, without, however, minimizing the regional
in Asia, Africa, and Europe) also appear, with a large propor-
differences or any changes that have altered the continuity
tion of the human remains belonging to children or young
of various elements of what can be labeled “Mesoamerican
people. These burial places are accompanied by offerings
religion” (Carrasco, 1990).
such as vestiges of food and pieces of ceramics.
The assertion about the existence of a single religious
OLMEC HIGH CULTURE. Villages of agriculturists and pot-
tradition rests on various kinds of evidence:
ters, who evidently were already concerned with the afterlife
1. All over Mesoamerica there were identical calendrical
and with “sacred” fertility, became gradually more numerous
systems which guided the functioning of religious rituals
in Mesoamerica, with the villages established in hospitable
in function of which religious rituals were performed.
environments experiencing significant population growth.
2. The Mesoamerican pantheon included a number of dei-
Among these, the communities in the area near the Gulf of
ties that were universally worshiped, including the su-
Mexico in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz
preme Dual God, Our Father our Mother; an Old God
and neighboring Tabasco underwent extraordinary changes
known also as God of Fire; a Rain god; a Young God
around 1200 BCE. Archaeological findings in the centers now
of Maize; Quetzalcoatl, Kukulcan, god and priest; a
called Tres Zapotes, La Venta, and San Lorenzo reveal that
Monster of the Earth; and others. The gods also had ca-
a high culture was already developing and, with it, a strong
lendrical names.
religious tradition.
3. Rituals performed included various kinds of offerings
Olman (land of rubber), the abode of the Olmec, with
such as animals, flowers, food and human sacrifices.
its large buildings mainly serving religious purposes, stands
out as the first high culture in Mesoamerica. The center of
4. Self-sacrifice also played an important role.
La Venta, with its mud-plastered pyramids, its semicylindri-
5. There was a complex priestly hierarchy.
cal and circular mounds, carved stone altars, tombs, stelae,
6. The temples were built in a basically similar architectur-
and many sculptures, anticipates the more complex ensem-
al pattern, truncated pyramids with sanctuaries on top.
bles of religious structures that proliferated centuries later in
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5881
Mesoamerica. The central part of La Venta, built on a small
of the central highlands and those of Oaxaca, can also be
island in a swampy area sixteen kilometers from the point
identified in the Olmec pantheon. Among these are the
where the Tonala River empties into the Gulf of Mexico, was
Maize God, the One Who Rules in the Heavens, the Old
no doubt sacred space to the Olmec. The agriculturist villag-
Lord (protector of the sacred domestic hearth), and the Ser-
ers who had settled in the vicinity of La Venta were already
pent, who has birdlike attributes and is a prototype of the
developing new economic, social, political, and religious in-
Feathered Serpent.
stitutions. Although many villagers continued their subsis-
Other researchers have recognized that, in additon to
tence activities—especially agriculture and fishing—others
emphasizing the appearance of the omnipresent Olmec god
specialized in various crafts and arts, commercial endeavors,
as a kind of a dragon with a jaguar’s face, it must also be iden-
the defense of the group, and—of particular significance—-
tified by its equally visible serpentine traits. Román Piña
the cult of the gods. Government at this point was most like-
Chan summarizes such an interpretation:
ly left to those who knew how to worship the gods.
Olmec religious iconography. Olmec religious repre-
We can say that during the period of maximum Olmec
development they gave birth to new religious concepts:
sentations have been described as “biologically impossible”
[. . .] rattle snake representations, or bird-serpents,
(Joralemon, 1976, p. 33). Human and animal features are
that began to symbolize the god of rain or celestial
combined in these representations in a great variety of forms.
water. (Piña Chan, 1982, p. 194)
Early researchers pointed out the omnipresence of a jaguar-
like god, who seemingly had the highest rank in the Olmec
Chan and others have recognized that the god with serpen-
pantheon. One early hypothesis stated that the main traits
tine traits is the antecedent of Tlaloc, the rain god of the cen-
of what later became the prominent Mesoamerican rain god
tral plateau, known also as Chac among the Maya, and as
derived from these jaguarlike representations.
Cocijo among the Zapotec of Oaxaca. It can be asserted that
iconographic studies support this view.
A more ample and precise approach to Olmec iconogra-
phy has led Peter D. Joralemon (1971, 1976) and Michael
The Olmec thought of their gods as endowed with in-
D. Coe (1972, 1973) to express the opinion that the variety
terchangeable traits and attributes. Thus, a kind of continu-
of presentations of the jaguarlike god portray distinct,
um existed in the sphere of the divine, as if the ensemble of
though closely associated, divine beings. A number of divine
all the godlike forms was essentially a mere manifestation of
identities integrate various animal and human attributes.
the same supreme reality. This distinctive character of the di-
The animal features most frequently used in combination
vine—represented through ensembles of symbols, often
with the basically human-shaped face are a jaguar’s nose,
shifting from one godlike countenance to another—
spots, and mighty forearms, as well as a bird’s wings, a ser-
perdured, as will be seen, in the religious tradition of Me-
pent’s body, and a caiman’s teeth. Thus, one finds beings
soamerica. That continuity, subject to variations of time and
that might be described as a human-jaguar, a jaguar-bird, a
space, did, however, undergo innovations and other kinds of
bird-jaguar-caiman, a bird-jaguar-serpent, a jaguar-caiman-
change. One important change derived from the relationship
fish, a human-bird-serpent, a bird-caiman-serpent, and a
that was to develop between the perception of the universe
bird-mammal-caiman (Joralemon, 1976, pp. 33–37).
of the divine and the art and science of measuring periods
of time (i.e., the development of calendrical computations).
Iconographic comparisons between representations of
these kinds and other religious Mesoamerican effigies from
Origins of the calendar. The earliest evidence of calen-
the Classic (c. 250–900 CE) and the Postclassic periods
drical computations—inscriptions discovered in places influ-
(c. 900–1519 CE) reveal that the nucleus of the Mesoameri-
enced by Olmec culture—also conveys other related infor-
can pantheon was already developing in the Olmec epoch.
mation. Of prime importance is the indication that the
One god is sometimes represented as a kind of dragon, fre-
political and social order was not only closely linked to the
quently featuring a jaguar’s face, a pug nose, a caiman’s teeth,
universe of the divine, but was also conceived in terms of
and a snarling, open, cavernous mouth with fangs projecting
the measurement of time—all of whose moments are bearers
from the upper jaw, a flaming eyebrow, various serpentine
of destiny. In the Stelae of the Dancers (a stele [pl. stelae]
attributes, and at times a hand/paw/wing linked to the occip-
is an engraved upright stone slab), at Monte Albán I (epoch
ital region. Other, more abstract, motifs include crossed-
I) in Oaxaca (c. 600 BCE), where Olmec influence is present,
band designs in the eyes, crossed bands and a dotted bracket,
the human figures, described “as an expression of political
four dots and a bar, and the symbols for raindrops and maize.
and ritual power” (Marcus, 1976, p. 127), are accompanied
by hieroglyphs denoting names of persons (probably both
This god, probably the supreme Olmec deity, was wor-
human and divine), place names, and dates.
shiped in his many guises, as the power related to fertility,
rain, lightning, earth, fire, and water. In him, various forms
The calendar was doubtless the result of assiduous astro-
of duality—an essential feature in the Classic and Postclassic
nomical observation. Its early diffusion throughout various
Mesoamerican universe in both its divine and human as-
parts of Mesoamerica implies an old origin (probably 1000–
pects—can be anticipated. Prototypes of other gods that
900 BCE) for this calendar that later came to determine all
were later worshiped among the Maya, as well as the peoples
divine and human activities. Humans are represented in sev-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5882
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
eral Olmec monuments, such as the Basalt Altar 4 in La
to the year 36 CE. Maya culture—one of the variants of Me-
Venta, as emerging from the mouth or cave of the supreme
soamerican civilization—was about to be born.
“dragon” deity, signifying humankind’s birth into a universe
Stele 5 of Izapa in Chiapas is particularly remarkable;
where time moves in sacred rhythms. The recurring Olmec
in it a vertical image of the world is represented. One sees
symbols—quadruple and quintuple patternings (indicative
in it the cosmic tree of the center, and at its sides, the figures
of the four corners and the center of the earth), stylized maize
of Our Father and Our Mother, as they appear on pages 75
plants, and other motifs—seem to reveal that a prototype of
to 76 of the Maya Codex Tro-Cortesiano. In the stele, two
what became the classic Mesoamerican image of sacred space
feathered serpents surround the scene, which at its bottom
had been developed as far back as Olmec times.
shows the terrestrial waters and at its top the celestial ones.
MAYA RELIGION. Olmec civilization acted as a ferment of
This stele, as well as others from the same center and from
many cultural transformations. Archaeological research has
nearby sites, provides a glimpse at the beginnings of what was
identified the traces of its ample diffusion. In addition to the
to become the vision of the world and of the supreme deity
numerous sites excavated in the Olmec heartland of Vera-
in Maya culture.
cruz-Tabasco, many villages of the Early Formative type in
Chronology and sources. A Classic period (c. 250–
the Central Plateau—in the western region along the Pacific
900 CE) and a Postclassic period (c. 900–1519 CE) have been
coast in Oaxaca—and in the land of the Maya, show evi-
distinguished in the cultural development of the Maya. The
dence of having undergone processes of rapid change. (The
most magnificent of their religious and urban centers flour-
Maya territories include the Yucatán Peninsula and parts of
ished during the Classic period: Tikal, Uaxactún, and Pie-
the present-day Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, as
dras Negras in Guatemala; Copán and Quiriquá in Hondu-
well as Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Sal-
ras; Nakum in Belize; Yaxchilán, Palenque, and Bonampak’
vador.)
in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas; and Dzibilil-
Antecedents of cultural grandeur. Some notable find-
chaltún, Cobá, Kabáh, Labná, Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Río
ings have highlighted the processes that culminated in the
Bec, and others in the Yucatán Peninsula. At these sites, so-
grandeur of Maya high culture. These findings reveal that a
phisticated forms of spiritual development emerged. Even
preoccupation with the sacred cycles of time resulted in ex-
Diego de Landa, the Spanish friar who in the sixteenth cen-
traordinary achievements as early as several decades
tury set fire to many of the written records of the Maya,
BCE. One
of the findings is Stele 2 of Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico, where
could not refrain from remarking on “the number, the gran-
a date corresponding to December 9, 36
deur, and the beauty of their buildings” (Landa, trans. Toz-
BCE is expressed in
what modern researchers describe as the calendar’s Long
zer, 1941, p. 170), especially those devoted to the cult of
Count (see below). Two other inscriptions, registered in the
their gods. Besides Maya architecture—which included
same Long Count, have been found in places closer to the
among its techniques the corbel vault—also deserving of spe-
ancient Olmec heartland, one on Stele C at Tres Zapotes,
cial mention is their sculpture, mural painting, and bas-relief
Veracruz (31
carving on stone stelae, stairways, lintels, panels, and plaques
BCE), and the other on the Tuxtla (Veracruz)
Statuette (162
of jade. On them, thousands of hieroglyphic inscriptions
CE). The deeply rooted Mesoamerican tradi-
tion of measuring the flow of time, a tradition whose oldest
have been found, some related to the universe of the gods
vestiges appear in Monte Albán I, Oaxaca (c. 600
and others having more mundane historical content. These
BCE), be-
came more sophisticated around 200 to 100
inscriptions at times accompany carved images of gods as
BCE with the
complexities and extreme precision of the Long Count. To
well as of rulers and other dignitaries.
understand its functioning and multiple religious connota-
To compensate for the obscurities that still surround the
tions, one needs to be familiar with two basic systems—the
spiritual achievements of the Classic period, one has to look
365-day solar calendar and the 260-day count—described
for whatever is indicative of a cultural continuity in the Post-
later in this article.
classic. From the latter period, three pre-Columbian
books—or codices—survive; and, even more significantly, a
Other vestiges that have been unearthed point to cultur-
considerable number of indigenous testimonies, in Yucatec-
al changes that were taking place during this period, called
Maya, Quiché-Maya, and other linguistic variants, have
the Late Formative. In the Pacific plains of the southernmost
come down to us in early transcriptions done by Maya priests
Mexican state of Chiapas and in adjacent parts of Guatemala,
or sages who survived the Spanish conquest and learned to
several centers boasted impressive religious buildings, tem-
use the Roman alphabet. Among these testimonies, the Popol
ples, altars, stelae with bas-reliefs, and a few calendrical in-
Vuh (The Book of counsel) of the Quiché-Maya, the several
scriptions. Archaeologists rightly consider these centers to be
Chilam Balam books of the Yucatec-Maya, and the Book of
the immediate antecedents of Maya culture. The centers of
Songs of Dzitbalche (from the Yucatán) stand out as conveyers
Izapa, Abaj Takalik, and El Baúl contain monuments that
of the religious wisdom of this remarkable people.
are outstanding. Stele 2 at Abaj Takalik contains a carved
image of a celestial god and an inscription of a date, which,
The Maya image of the world. To approach the core
though partly illegible, is expressed in the system of the Long
of the religious worldview of the Classic Maya, one has to
Count. In El Baúl, other calendrical instriptions correspond
analyze an ensemble of elements—some with antecedents in
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5883
the Olmec culture, yet enriched and often transformed. The
course, humans. As in the case of the Olmec nuclear deity,
most significant of these elements include the Mayan image
traits of caiman, bird, serpent, and jaguar can be perceived
of the earth and universe, their calendrical concerns and ideas
at times in the god’s iconography.
about time, and the ultimate meaning of the divine and of
The quadruple patterning expressed in certain Olmec
humans within their spatial and temporal universe.
monuments proliferated in Maya religious representations.
In several Classic monuments, as well as in Postclassic
The divine duality, “begetting and conceiving” children, de-
books and other representations, the surface of the earth is
velops a quadruple being—the various ensembles of gods
conceived as being the back of a huge caiman with saurian,
that have to do with the four quadrants of the universe. The
ophidian, and feline attributes that sometimes resemble
Red Itzamná appears in the East, the White in the North,
those of the so-called Olmec Dragon. The monstrous crea-
the Black in the West, and the Yellow in the South. Other
ture is surrounded by vast waters. In Palenque, in the Tablet
quadruple sets are the four Bacabs, supporters of the sky at
of the Cross and the Tablet of the Foliated Cross, cosmic
the four corners of the world; the four Chacs, gods of rain;
trees rise from the earth monster. In some representations,
the four Pahuatuns, deities of wind; the four Chicchans
one sees a double-headed serpent in the sky. The creature
(Owners of Thunder), godlike giant snakes; and the four
also appears with other attributes of the Olmec Dragon, such
Balams (Tigers), protectors of the cultivated fields.
as crossed bands and various celestial symbols. The double-
Divine reality also permeates the upperworld and un-
headed serpent covers and embraces the earth. It was this ce-
derworld levels. Itzamná is at once a celestial, a terrestrial,
lestial serpent that, dividing the terrestrial monster into two
and an underworld god. The Oxlahum-ti-ku (thirteen gods)
parts, activated this universe and introduced life on earth.
rule in the thirteen heavens, and the Bolom-ti-ku (nine gods)
Thus, a primeval duality presides over and gives rise to the
preside over the nine inferior levels.
universe.
Prominent in the Maya pantheon is Kin, the sun god,
The surface of the earth, as in the case of the Olmec pro-
who, wandering above, creates the day and the cycles of time.
totype, is distributed into four quadrants that converge at a
When he reaches his home in the West, he enters the fangs
central point: the navel of the world. One finds in Classic
of the earth monster and journeys through the obscure re-
inscriptions and Postclassic codices hieroglyphs for each of
gions of the underworld to reappear in the East, from the
the world quadrants and their associated colors. Cosmic trees
same monster’s fangs. Although the sun god himself cannot
and deities reside in the “red east,” “white north,” “black
be considered the supreme deity of the Maya, his frequent
west,” “yellow south,” and “green central point.” Above and
association with the worlds above and below, with the four
below the surface of the earth are thirteen heavens and nine
quadrants of the world, and with all the calendar’s periods
underworld levels, where thirteen celestial gods and nine
makes him a multifaceted god with innumerable religious
“lords of the night” have their respective abodes.
connotations. He is often related to Itzamná as a celestial
MAYA DEITIES. The comparative study of religious iconogra-
deity, and also to Yum Kimil (Lord of Death) who abides
phy, the contents of the three extant Pre-Columbian Maya
in the netherworld, the region visited at night by the sun god
codices, and the relatively numerous texts of diverse origin
disguised as a jaguar. The abode of Yum Kimil is also the
within this culture allow us to surmise that the idea of a di-
place to which most of the dead go. Only a few dead—
vine duality was deeply rooted in Mesoamerican thought
chosen by the Chacs, the gods of rain—attain a sort of para-
since at least the Classic period, if not since the Olmec. The
dise, a place of pleasure situated in one of the heavens. It is
Dual God resides in the uppermost of the celestial levels. In
not clear whether those who go to the abode of the lord of
the Popol Vuh of the Quiché-Maya, he-she is addressed both
death are to remain there forever, are eventually reduced to
as E Quahalom (Begetter of Children) and as E Alom (Con-
nothing, or if, after a period of purification, they are trans-
ceiver of Children). In the first of the Songs of Dzitbalche ap-
ferred to the celestial paradise.
pears the following reference to the father-mother god:
Other gods worshiped by the Maya include the moon
The little yellowbird, and also the cuckoo, and there is
goddess Ixchel (another title of the mother goddess, often de-
the mockingbird, they all delight the heart, the crea-
scribed as wife of the sun god). The “great star” (Venus),
tures of the Father, god, so likewise the Mother, such
whose heliacal risings and conjunctions were of great interest
as the little turtle dove. . . (Edmonson, 1982, p. 176)
to Maya skywatchers, received at times the calendrical name
Our Father Our Mother has other names as well. There is
1 Ahau (1 Lord), but it was also associated with five other
evidence to identify him-her with the Postclassic Itzamná
celestial gods, whose identification implies the assimilation
(Lizard House), the name probably referring to the primeval
of cultural elements in the Postclassic from the Central Pla-
celestial and terrestrial being of monstrous countenance,
teau of Mexico. There also appear to have been patron gods
whose house is the universe. This supreme creator-god is in-
of specific occupational groups, such as merchants, hunters,
voked at times with the feminine prefix Ix-, as in Ix Hun
fishermen, cacao growers, medicine men, ball players, poets,
Itzam Na. To him-her—that is, to the “begetter-conceiver
and musicians.
of children”—the Maya ultimately attributed the creation of
With regard to the “feathered serpent god,” a distinc-
the earth, heavens, sun, moon, plants, animals, and, of
tion has to be made. On the one hand, serpent representa-
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5884
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
tions—in association with bird’s elements such as plumage,
plants or plant and animal products (copal, flowers, cacao,
or with traits belonging to other animals such as the caiman
rubber, honey) were also frequent.
or jaguar—had been extremely frequent since the early Clas-
Human sacrifice was performed following various ritu-
sic period. As previously mentioned, these complex figures—
als. The most frequent form required opening the breast of
sometimes described as celestial dragons, earth monsters,
the victim to offer his or her heart to the god. Other kinds
cosmic lizards, and so forth—are representations of gods like
of human sacrifice included shooting arrows at a victim tied
the Chicchan serpents, deities of rain, or of the multifaceted
to a frame of wood, beheading, and throwing the victim—
Itzamná. On the other hand, the idea of a particular god and
usually a young girl or child—into a cenote (Maya, dz’onot,
culture hero, Kukulcan, corresponding to central Mexico’s
a natural deposit of water in places where the limestone sur-
Quetzalcoatl (Quetzal-Feathered Serpent), was borrowed
face has caved in) or into a lake, as in certain sites in Guate-
from that subarea in the Postclassic.
mala. Human sacrifices—never so numerous among the
Priests and forms of worship. The existence of a priest-
Maya as they became among the Aztec—were performed
hood, and of the many sacred sites and monuments reserved
during the sacred feasts to repay the gods with the most pre-
for the various kinds of cult, imposed a canon to be observed
cious offering: the life-giving blood.
in the communication with the universe of the divine. The
A considerable number of prayers in the Maya languages
chiefs, halach uinicoob (true men), could perform some reli-
have been preserved. Among them one can distinguish sacred
gious ceremonies; but for the most part, the cult of the gods
hymns (hymns of intercession, praise, or thanks) from those
was the duty of the priests. Above them was a class of high
accompanying a sacrifice and from those to be chanted in a
priests, who in Postclassic texts were named “rattlesnake-
domestic ceremony.
tobacco lords” and “rattlesnake-deer lords.” These priests
Religion and the calendar. The calendar provided the
were in custody of the ancient religious wisdom, the books
Maya with a frame of mathematical precision, a basis for un-
and the calendrical computations. They were considered
derstanding and predicting events in the universe. Thus, all
prophets and acted in the most important ceremonies. Of a
the sacred duties of the priests—the ceremonies, sacrifices,
lower rank were the ah kinoob, the priests whose title can be
and invocations—were not performed at random but fol-
translated as “those of the sun.” Their duty was to interpret
lowed established cycles. Observation of the celestial bodies
the calendrical signs, to direct the feast-day celebrations, and
and of whatever is born and grows on the earth demonstrated
to “read” the destinies of humans. To some of the ah kinoob
that beings undergo cyclical changes. The Maya believed that
fell the performance of offerings and sacrifices, including
if humans succeeded in discovering and measuring the cycli-
human sacrifices.
cal rhythms of the universe, they would adapt themselves to
Bearers of the rain god’s name were the chac priests, as-
favorable situations and escape adverse ones. The belief that
sistants in the sacrifices and other ceremonies. The lowest
the gods and their sacred forces are essentially related to the
rank was occupied by the ah men (performers, prayer mak-
cyclical appearances and intervals of the celestial bodies—
ers), who were concerned mostly with the local forms of cult.
which are their manifestations—led the sages to conclude
Women who lived close to the sacred buildings assisted the
that the realm of the divine was ruled by a complex variety
priests in their duties.
of cycles.
The Maya saw the manifestations or arrivals of the gods
Obviously, great differences existed between the cere-
in these cycles; all the deities were thought of as being en-
monies performed in the important religious centers and
dowed with calendrical presences, and so the gods were given
those that took place at a more modest level in a village or
their respective calendrical names. As for humans, the divine
at home. Most ceremonies were preceded by different forms
presences along the counts of time could not be meaningless:
of fasting and continence. Thus, the gods would be appeased
they brought fate, favorable or adverse, and all dates had
by their acceptance of what people were expected to offer as
therefore to be scrutinized to discover the destinies they car-
payment for what they had received from the gods. A recur-
ried. This probably explains why calendrical and religious
rent belief—not only among the Maya but also in other Me-
concerns became so inseparable for the Maya.
soamerican subareas—was that, in a primeval time, “when
there was still night,” the gods entered into an agreement
The calendar systems they employed were not a Maya
with humans: humans could not subsist without the cons-
invention (although they added new forms of precision to
tant support of the gods; but the gods themselves needed to
these systems). Two forms of count were at the base of the
be worshiped and to receive offerings.
complexities of all Mesoamerican calendars. One count is
that of the solar year, computed for practical purposes as hav-
The Maya practiced autosacrifice in various forms, as
ing 365 days and subject to various forms of adjustment or
can be observed in multiple representations of both Classic
correction. The other count, specifically Mesoamerican, is
and Postclassic monuments. Most often, blood was offered
the cycle of 260 days. In it a sequence of numbers from 1
by passing a cord or a blade of grass through the tongue, the
to 13 is employed. A series of 20 day names, each expressed
penis, or some other part of the body. Offerings of animals
by its respective hieroglyph, is the other essential element of
(quail, parrots, iguanas, opossums, turtles) and of all sorts of
the calendar.
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5885
The solar-year count and the 260-day count meshed to
Thus, if the day 13 Ahau (13 Lord) is repeated within
make it possible to give a date not only within a year, but
a 365-day solar count, one can distinguish two different
also within a 52-year cycle, as well as in the so-called Long
dates by noting the day to which it corresponds in the series
Count. To represent the calendar’s internal structures and
of the 18 months. For example, 13 Ahau, 18 Tzec (the day
forms of correlation is to represent the precise mechanism
13 Ahau is related to the 18th day of the month of Tzec) is
that provided the norm for the order of feasts, rites, and sac-
different from 13 Ahau, 18 Cumhu (the day 13 Ahau is relat-
rifices; astrological wisdom; economic, agricultural, and
ed to the 18th day of the month of Cumhu).
commercial enterprises; and social and political obligations.
This mechanism was also the key to understanding a universe
The number of possible different interlockings of the
in which divine forces—the gods themselves and the desti-
two counts comprises 18,980 expressions of the day name,
nies they wrought—became manifest cycle after cycle.
number, and position within the month. Such a number of
differently named days integrates a Calendar Round, a cycle
The 260-day count places the numbers 1 to 13 on a se-
of 52 years. Each of these 18,890 calendric combinations was
ries of 20 day names, whose meanings in the Maya languages
designated as the bearer of a distinct divine presence and des-
are related to various deities and other sacred realities. The
tiny, obviously not of that many different gods, but of a com-
20 days have the following names and associations: Imix (the
plex diversification of their influences—favorable or ad-
earth monster); Ik (“Wind” or “Life,” associated with the
verse—successively oriented towards one of the four
rain god); Akbal (“Darkness,” associated with the jaguar-
quadrants of the world.
faced nocturnal sun god); Kan (“Ripeness,” the sign of the
god of young maize); Chicchan (the celestial serpent); Cimi
The Long Count System. But the Maya, like some of
(“Death,” associated with the god of the underworld); Manik
their predecessors who were exposed to Olmec influence,
(“Hand,” the day name of the god of hunting); Lamat (day
could also compute any date in terms of the Long Count,
name of the lord of the “great star,” Venus); Muluc (symbol-
in which a fixed date, corresponding to a day in the year
ized by jade and water, evokes the Chacs, gods of rain); Oc
3133 BCE (probably representing the beginning of the pres-
(represented by a dog’s head, which guides the sun through
ent cosmic age), was taken as the point of departure. The end
the underworld); Chuen (the monkey god, the patron of
of the Long Count’s cycle will occur on a date equivalent to
knowledge and the arts); Eb (represented by a face with a
December 24, 2011. The Long Count was conceived to ex-
prominent jaw; related to the god who sends drizzles and
press dates in terms of elapsed time, or kin (a word that has
mists); Ben (“Descending,” the day name of the god who fos-
cognates throughout the Maya family of languages and that
ters the growth of the maize stalk); Ix (a variant of the jaguar-
means “sun, sun god, day, time, cosmic age”). Periods within
like sun god); Men (associated with the aged moon goddess);
the Long Count were reckoned in accordance with Me-
Cib (related to the four Bacabs, supporters of the sky); Caban
soamerican counting systems, which employed base 20.
(“Earthquake,” associated with the god/goddess of the earth);
These periods, each of which had its presiding deity, were
Etz’nab (“Obsidian Blade,” linked to human sacrifice);
registered in columns of hieroglyphs, beginning with the
Cauac (day name of the celestial dragon deities); and Ahau
largest cycle, as follows:
(“Lord,” the radiant presence of the sun god).
Baktun (7,200 days x 20 = 144,000 days) Katun (360
During the first 13-day “week” of the 260-day cycle, the
days x 20 = 7,200 days) Tun (20 days x 18 = 360 days)
numbers 1 through 13 are prefixed to the first 13 day names.
Uinal (20 days) Kin (1 day)
At this point, the series of numbers begins again at 1, so that,
for example, Ik, whose number is 2 during the first week, has
By means of their dot, bar, and shell— numerical signs for
the number 9 prefixed to it during the second week, 3 during
1, 5, and 0, respectively—the Maya indicated how many
the third week, and so on. The cycle begins to repeat itself
baktuns, katuns, tuns, uinals, and kins had, at a given mo-
after 260 (20 x 13) days. In this 260-day count, one also dis-
ment, elapsed since the beginning of the present cosmic age.
tinguishes 4 groups of 65 days, each of which is broken into
The date was finally correlated with the meshed system of
5 “weeks” of 13 days (each presided over by a particular god).
the 365-day solar calendar and the 260-day count, which
thus became adjusted to the astronomical year.
The solar count of the haab, or year, is divided into 18
groups—uinals, or “months”—of 20 days each (18 x 20 =
Besides these precise forms of calendar, the Maya devel-
360), to which 5 uayebs (ominous days) are added at the end
oped other systems devised to measure different celestial cy-
of the cycle. These 18 “months” of 20 days and the 5 final
cles, such as those of the “great star” and of the moon. The
days are the span of time along which the 260-day count de-
inscriptions on Maya stelae allow us to understand some of
velops. The intermeshing of the two counts implies that in
the main reasons for their astronomical and calendrical en-
each solar year there will be a repetition in the 260-day com-
deavors. To the Maya, dates conveyed not only the presence
bination of numbers and day names in 105 instances (365
of one god on any given day, but also the sum total of the
- 260 = 105). As the number and the day name together form
divine forces “becoming” and acting in the universe. The dei-
the basic element to express a date, the way to distinguish
ties of the numbers, of the day names, of the periods within
between such repetitions is by specifying the position of the
the 260-day count, of the uinals (or months of the year), and
days in the different 18 months of 20 days of the solar count.
of the divisions within a 52-year cycle—as well as of the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5886
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
many other cycles within the Long Count system—
Following Knorosov’s steps, a growing number of May-
converged at any given moment and exerted their influences,
ists, including American, Mexican, and European scholars,
intrinsically coloring and affecting human and earthly
have advanced in deciphering a writing that for centuries re-
realities.
mained a mystery. As a result, readings of many inscriptions
have been achieved that provide a better understanding of
Through color symbolism and indications like those of
the religion and history of the Maya. Whereas in the past it
the “directional hieroglyphs of the years,” one can identify
was thought that most of the inscriptions were of calendrical
the cosmic regions (quadrants of horizontal space and also
and astronomical nature, today it is recognized that they pro-
celestial and inferior levels) to which specific cycles and gods
vide first-hand information on the dynasties of the rulers and
address their influence. For the Maya, space separated from
their deeds, and on their relations with the gods and the
the cycles of time would have been meaningless. When the
realm of the beyond.
cycles are finally completed, the consequence will be the end
of life on earth, the death of the sun, the absence of the gods,
Linda Schele, Mary Ellen Miller, and David Freidel
and an ominous return to primeval darkness.
have made substantial contributions in this respect. Their
books, The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art
The priests known as ah kinoob (those of the sun and
(1986), and A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient
of the destinies) whose duty was to recognize and anticipate
Maya (1990), offer readings that have unveiled the dynastic
the divine presences, as well as their beneficial or dangerous
sequences of those who ruled in a good number of Maya cen-
influences, were consulted by rich and poor alike. Thanks to
ters. With respect to the religion, these authors have revealed
special rites and sacrifices, favorable destinies could be dis-
the various ways in which the Maya conceived of the rela-
covered that would neutralize the influence of adverse fates.
tionship of their Ahauob (lords or rulers), and the people in
In this way one escaped fatalism, and a door was opened to
general, with the universe of the gods and ultimate realities.
reflection and righteous behavior. The wisdom of the calen-
dar was indeed the key to penetrating the mysterious
The readings of hundreds of inscriptions and the icono-
rhythms of what exists and becomes. This probably explains
graphic approaches to the inscriptions’ accompanying imag-
why the priests were also interested in the computation of
ery carved into panels, lintels, stelae, and other monuments
dates in the distant past. On Stele F of Quirigua is inscribed
and objects—as well as the unveiling of the architectural
a date, 1 Ahau, 18 Yaxkin, that corresponds to a day
planning of the temples, palaces, and ballcourts situated close
91,683,930 years in the past!
to great plazas—has led to a better understand of how the
Maya maintained the relationship between the rulers and the
In the Postclassic period, the Long Count fell into obliv-
universe of the gods.
ion and the simplified system of the Count of the Katuns (13
Cerros, an important Maya center near the mouth of a
periods of 20 years) was introduced. The destinies of the ka-
river that empties into the Bay of Chetumal in the southern
tuns remained an object of concern and a source of prophetic
part of the Yucatán Peninsula, appears as one of the earlier
announcements. In spite of the Spanish Conquest, the burn-
sites where, kinship having been formally established, new
ing of the ancient books, and the efforts of Christian mis-
religious symbols and rites were introduced. Pyramids were
sionaries, elements of the ancient worldview and religion
erected on broad platforms; a stairway was built to reach the
have survived among the contemporary Maya, as has been
summit of the temple; and below, in the open space of the
documented by the ethnographer Alfonso Villa Rojas (León-
great plaza, the people would attend the rituals performed
Portilla, 1973, pp. 113–159).
on top of the pyramid. There, the ahau, or high ruler, would
Epigraphy and religion. For a long time, the reading
proceed towards the front door of the temple—he was about
of the Maya inscriptions in monuments, codices, and other
to leave earthly space to penetrate the realm of the divine.
objects was limited (for the most part) to the calendar’s regis-
A ritual represented in several monuments, that of self-
trations and the names of some gods and feasts. In the 1950s
bloodletting was practiced by the ahau. The imagery and in-
the Russian Yuri Knorosov made a basic contribution that
scriptions carved in dintel 25 from a temple of Yaxchilan in
opened the entrance into the realm of Maya inscriptions. In
Chiapas illustrate the performance and meaning of such ritu-
opposition to the opinion of well-known scholars such as
al. One sees there a kneeling noblewoman, Lady Xoc. She
Günter Zimermann and J. Eric S. Thompson, who insisted
holds in her hands obsidean lancets, a spine, and bloodied
upon the ideographic nature of Maya writing, Knorosov as-
paper. She is looking upwards, contemplating the vision of
serted its basically phonetic character.
a great serpent; she is having a revelation. Lady Xoc is re-
Knorosov’s Rosetta Stone was found in Friar Diego de
called in the lintel in commemoration of the accession to the
Landa’s Relación de Yucatán, where a supposed Maya alpha-
throne of Yaxchilan of the Lord Shield Jaguar.
bet was included. Knorosov carefully analyzed de Landa’s
Scenes like this one of self-bloodletting are not rare in
work and reached the conclusion that, far from dealing with
several Maya centers. These scenes represent the ritual by
an alphabet, he was confronted with a syllabary. Further re-
which nobles would pay the gods for their creation and acces-
search led him to identify a large number of syllables as well
sion to a throne from which they were destined to rule in
as glyphic markers of morphological relations (Coe, 1992).
permanent communion with the gods.
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5887
Among other forms of representation of the relation of
Zapotec writing (since its early beginnings in Monte
the ahauob with the gods, there is one in which a perdurable
Albán 1, c. 600 BCE) appears to be the source of the forms
life for the rulers is asserted and parallels are established be-
of script later developed by the Mixtec and transmitted to
tween the rulers and the deities. This is the case with a carved
the groups of central Mexico. The study of Zapotec writing
panel from temple 14 of Palenque. Its imagery includes the
reveals their calendrical concern.
effigy of Chan Bahlum dancing after his victory over the
Zapotec pottery urns, used mostly as containers of
Lords of Xibalbá (the underworld). His mother, Lady Ahpo-
water, were placed near the dead in the tombs. Most of the
Hell, welcomes him, lifting an image of the god Ah Bolon
urns include the molded representation of a god—often the
Tzacab, a primordial deity that has been described as the
rain god Cocijo. The headdress of the god conveys his em-
Maya equivalent to the Nahua god Tezcatlipoca.
blem, in which the combined traits of serpent, jaguar, and
The inscription on the left side of the panel registers the
bird are often visible.
date in which the tablet was erected: a day 9 Ik and the
It is known that the Zapotec of the Classic period be-
month 10 Mol, corresponding to November 6, 705 CE. Lord
lieved in a supreme dual god. They also worshiped several
Chan Bahlum had died three years before. On the right side,
deities revered in other Mesoamerican areas. The Zapotec
the inscription correlates the event represented with happen-
were so much concerned with death that they placed their
ings that took place in a previous cosmic age, more than nine
dignitaries’ remains in sumptuous tombs close to their tem-
hundred thousand years before. The mother of Chan
ples. The Zapotec also knew about time computations.
Bahlum, also represented in the tablet, “is likened to Moon
Mixtec religion. The Mixtec founded new towns, and
Goddess” (Schele and Miller, 1986, p. 272).
they conquered and rebuilt places (c. 1000 CE) in which the
Those who rule—the ahauob—are likened to the gods,
Zapotec had ruled. The Mixtec were great artists, excelling
and it is on them that the people depend. The ahauob are
in the production of metal objects, many of which bear reli-
in communion with the Otherworld, and this is why their
gious connotations. Several Mixtec books of religious and
memory shall be kept. Rulership and royal dynasties were
historical content have survived. These books constitute one
thus forever linked to the ritual and beliefs of the Maya.
of the most precious sources of the cultural history of a Me-
ZAPOTEC AND MIXTEC RELIGIOUS VARIANTS. Mountain
soamerican subarea.
ranges that encompass several valleys, as well as the slopes
In the Mixtec books known as Codex Selden and Codex
that lead to the Pacific plains in the Mexican state of Oaxaca,
Gómez de Orozco, an image of the Mixtec worldview is of-
have been the ancestral abode of the Zapotec, Mixtec, and
fered. It is a worldview that closely corresponds to that of the
other indigenous peoples. The Zapotec reached their cultural
Maya: the earth is represented by the monstrous animal with
zenith in the Classic period, whereas the Mixtec achieved he-
traits of caiman, serpent, and jaguar; below it is the under-
gemony during the Postclassic period. Although linguistical-
world; while above the earth nine levels of the upperworld
ly different, the Zapotec and the Mixtec were culturally akin.
(not thirteen as in the Maya worldview) are represented. The
Olmec culture had influenced the Zapotec since the Middle
sun and the moon and the stars are there. The dual god, with
Formative period.
the symbols of time and of his-her day names, resides on the
Zapotec religion. From 200 to 800 CE, the Zapotec de-
uppermost level.
veloped forms of urban life and built magnificent religious
According to other traditions, this dual god caused the
buildings in their towns (Monte Albán, Yagul, Zaachila).
earth to rise out of the waters. Later he-she built a beautiful
Their sacred spaces included large plazas around which the
place on the top of a large rock. The children he-she engen-
temple-pyramids, altars, ball courts, and other religious
dered and conceived are the gods of the various quadrants
monuments were raised.
of the world—the gods of rain and wind, gods of maize, and
Mainly through what has been discovered in subterra-
so on. According to Mixtec belief, the earth and the sun had
nean tombs near the temples, reliable information can be of-
been destroyed several times; the Mixtec believed the gods
fered about Zapotec gods and other beliefs. In paintings pre-
waged combat in a celestial ball court. (This is represented
served on the walls of the tombs, prominent members of the
in a gold pectoral found with other religious objects in Tomb
Zapotec pantheon appear, accompanied at times by inscrip-
7 within the sacred space of Monte Albán, the site that had
tions. Pottery—urns in particular—also tell about the attri-
been built by the Zapotec but that was later conquered by
butes of the Zapotec gods and their ideas of the afterlife.
the Mixtec).
As in the case of the Maya, a supreme dual god, Pitao
Another extraordinary Mixtec book, known as Codex
Cozaana-Pitao Cochaana, presided over all realities, divine
Vindobonensis, conveys the beliefs of this people about their
and human. Addressed as a single god, he-she was Pije-Tao
origins in the present cosmic age. They had come from a
(Lord of Time), principle of all that exists. Godly beings
place called Yuta Tnoho (River of the Lineages). There they
often appear with the symbolic attributes of the serpent, bird,
were born from a cosmic tree. The Mixtec calendar systems
caiman, and jaguar—motifs also familiar to the Olmec and
corresponded to the 260-day count and the 365-day solar
Maya. Cocijo, the rain god, also had a quadruple form of
year computed by the Zapotec and the Maya. (Caso, 1965,
presence in the world. Pitao Cozobi was the god of maize.
pp. 948–961).
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
TEOTIHUACAN. As in the Maya and Oaxaca areas, some
were also aspects of the divine duality; and Yacatecuhtli, the
Early Formative–type villages in the Central Plateau experi-
god of merchants (Caso, 1966; Séjourné, 1966).
enced important changes. Places like El Arbolillo, Zacatenco,
In addition to these gods, a large number of other sym-
Tlatilco, Cuicuilco, and others received the ferment of
bols and a few hieroglyphs identified in the mural paintings,
Olmec influence. Special areas began to be reserved for reli-
sculptures, and ceramics persisted in the corresponding Tol-
gious purposes; temple pyramids and round platforms were
tec and Aztec ensemble of religious expressions.
built. Clay images of the fire god Huehueteotl (Old God),
who much later was also worshiped by the Aztec, have been
Although some researchers have dismissed the validity
dated to the Late Formative period (c. 500 BCE).
of comparing iconographic symbols of one culture with
those of another culture from a subsequent epoch, the evi-
In Tlapacoya, not far from where Teotihuacan was to
dence supporting a common Mesoamerican religious tradi-
be established, another important Late Formative center
tion, and the fact that one is not dealing with isolated cases
flourished (c. 300–100 BCE). Here, temple pyramids, tombs,
of iconographic similarity but rather with ensembles of sym-
and mural paintings anticipate, in many respects, what was
bols, seem valid reasons for rejecting the skepticism of those
to be the grandeur of Teotihuacan.
who deny this cultural interrelation. Archaeological finds
have shown that Teotihuacan actually influenced Toltec and
Teotihuacan (“the place where one becomes deified”)
Aztec cultures, which the religious iconographic similarities
marks the Classic period’s climax in the Central Plateau. Ar-
are obvious.
chaeological research has revealed that it was here that what-
ever is implied by the idea of a city became a reality. It took
It is reasonable to assert that the arrangement of sacred
several centuries (100–500 CE) for generations of priests and
space at Teotihuacan, and the gods worshiped there, was
sages to conceive, realize, modify, enlarge, and enrich the
prototypical for the future religious development of central
city, which probably was planned to last forever. Beside the
Mexico. In part because of the relative abundance of the
two great pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, the Temple
Postclassic historical testimonies of Toltec and Aztec cul-
of the Feathered Serpent, and the Palace of the Quetzalpapa-
tures, scholars now have a better understanding of Teotihua-
lotl (quetzal butterflies), many other enclosures, palaces,
can symbols.
schools, markets, and other buildings have been unearthed.
Aztec consciousness of Teotihuacan as the ultimate
Large suburbs, where members of the Teotihuacan commu-
source of their own culture led Aztec to see the sacred space
nity had their homes, surrounded the religious and adminis-
of the Place Where One Becomes Deified as a kind of pri-
trative center. The pyramids and palaces were decorated with
mordial site, where, in illo tempore, the Fifth Sun (the present
murals. Gods in the forms of human beings, fantastic ser-
cosmic age) had its beginning. An Aztec text that describes
pents, birds, caimans, lizards, and jaguars, as well as flowers,
the four previous Suns, or cosmic ages, and their successive
plants, priests, and even complex scenes—such as a depiction
violent destructions says about the fifth and new age, “This
of Tlalocan, the paradise of the rain god—were represented
Sun, its day name is 4-Movement. This is our Sun, the one
in the paintings.
in which we now live. And here is its sign, how the Sun fell
Teotihuacan was the capital of a large state—perhaps an
into the fire, into the divine hearth, there at Teotihuacan”
empire—the vestiges of whose cultural influence have been
(from Annals of Cuauhtitlan, trans. Léon-Portilla, folio 77).
found in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the Guatemalan highlands.
The Aztec myth about the beginning of the Fifth Sun
According to annals preserved by the Aztec, “In Teotihuacan
at Teotihuacan tells how the gods met there to discuss the
orders were given, and the chiefdom was established. Those
remaking of the sun and moon, and of human beings and
who were the chiefs were the sages, the ones who knew secret
their sustenance. “When there was still night,” the text re-
things, who preserved old traditions” (from Codex Matriten-
lates, the gods gathered for four days around the divine
se, trans. Léon-Portilla, folio 192r).
hearth at Teotihuacan to determine which god would cast
himself into the fire and thus become transformed into the
The inhabitants of Teotihuacan worshiped several dei-
sun. There were two candidates, the arrogant Tecuciztecatl
ties whose iconography is similar to that of gods later revered
(Lord of the Conch Shells) and the modest Nanahuatzin
by other groups in central Mexico: the Toltec (900–1050
(The Pimply One). Tecuciztecatl made four attempts to
CE), the Acolhua, and the Aztec (1200–1519 CE). The Aztec
throw himself into the flames, but each time he backed away
called these gods by the following names: Tlaloc and Chal-
in fear. Then it was Nanahuatzin’s turn to try. Closing his
chiuhtlicue, god and goddess of the waters, who together
eyes, he courageously hurled himself into the fire, was con-
constitute one aspect of divine duality; Quetzalcoatl (Quet-
sumed, and finally appeared transformed as the sun. Tecuciz-
zal-Feathered Serpent); Xiuhtecuhtli, the fire god; Xochipilli
tecatl, fearful and too late, was only able to achieve transfor-
(The One of the Flowery Lineage); Xipe Totec (Our Lord
mation into the lesser celestial body, the moon.
the Flayed One); Itztlacoliuhqui (Stone Knife), whose traits
resemble those of the Toltec and Aztec god Tezcatlipoca
To the surprise of the other gods, the sun and moon did
(Smoking Mirror); Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the god of the
not move. The way to solve this problem was through sacri-
morning star, and Xolotl, the god of the evening star, who
fice. To give the sun energy, the gods sacrificed themselves,
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5889
offering their blood, a primeval act that had to be reenacted
symbolizing wisdom), and, at the same time, as the one who
by humans—for it is only through the bloody sacrifice that
gives stability to the earth. Thus the priest taught the Toltec
the sun and life exist; only through the sacrifice of human
how to draw near to Ometeotl-Quetzalcoatl, the god who
blood could existence be prolonged. With their own blood,
dwells in the uppermost heaven:
human beings had to repay the divine sacrifice that had pre-
The Toltec were solicitous of the things of God; they
vented the cataclysms that put an end to previous suns. Here
had but one God; they held him to be their only God;
was the seed that later flowered as the Aztec rituals of human
they invoked him; they made supplications to him; his
sacrifice.
name was Quetzalcoatl. The guardian of their God,
QUETZALCOATL AND TOLTEC RELIGION. It appears that Te-
their priest, his name was also Quetzalcoatl. And they
otihuacan came to a sudden, and still unexplained, end
were so respectful of the things of God that everything
around 650 CE. Its collapse, however, did not mean the death
that the priest Quetzalcoatl told them they did, and
of high culture in Mesoamerica. From among those cultures
they did not depart from it. He persuaded them; he
that inherited numerous cultural elements from the Classic
taught them: This one God, Quetzalcoatl is his name.
He demands nothing except serpents, except butterflies,
glory of Teotihuacan, the city of Tula stands out. Tula is
which you must offer to him, which you must sacrifice
about eighty kilometers north of Mexico City. Its name,
to him. (from Codex Matritense, trans. Léon-Portilla,
Tula, means “large town, metropolis,” which is what the
folio 179r.)
Toltec, following the advice of their high priest Quetzalcoatl,
actually built.
The Toltec understood the doctrine of Quetzalcoatl. Under
his guidance they were able to relate the idea of the dual god
Quetzalcoatl, a legendary figure, was believed to have
with the ancient image of the world and the destiny of man
been a king who derived his name from that of the “feathered
on earth. Codex Matritense is clear on this point:
serpent god,” in whose representations two of the pan-
Mesoamerican iconographic elements—the serpent and the
The Toltec knew that the heavens are many; they said
plumage of the quetzal—became integrated. It is said that
that there are thirteen divisions, one upon the other.
Quetzalcoatl, while still young, retired to Huapalcalco, a vil-
There abides, there lives the True God and his Consort.
lage not far from Teotihuacan, to devote himself to medita-
The Heavenly God is called the Lord of Duality, and
tion. He was taken there by the Toltec to serve as their ruler
his Consort is called Lady of Duality, Heavenly Lady.
Which means: He is king, he is lord over the thirteen
and high priest.
heavens. Thence we receive our life, we men. Thence
Native books attribute to him whatever is good and
falls our destiny when the child is conceived, when he
great. He induced his people to worship benevolent supreme
is placed in the womb. His fate comes to him there. It
dual god, Ometeotl. This same god was also invoked as the
is sent by the God of Duality. (From Codex Matritense,
Precious Feathered Serpent or Precious Feathered Twins.
trans. Léon-Portilla, folio 175v)
Both meanings are actually implied by the term Quetzalcoatl,
The golden age of the Toltec produced all sorts of achieve-
at once the name of the god and that of his priest. The origi-
ments: palaces and temples were built; many towns and peo-
nal Toltec text says,
ples accepted the rule of Quetzalcoatl. Only some enemies—
And it is told, it is said,
most likely religious adversaries—attempted to bring about
That Quetzalcoatl invoked, took as his God,
the downfall of that age. Some texts speak of the appearance
The One in the uppermost heaven:
of one named Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror, a god who
She of the starry skirt,
came to Tula to force Quetzalcoatl to abandon his city and
He whose radiance envelops things;
his followers. According to these accounts, the departure of
Lady of Our Flesh,
the wise priest precipitated the ruin of Tula. Other texts
Lord of Our Flesh;
speak of two different critical moments. The first was that
She who is clothed in black,
of the flight of Quetzalcoatl. Although tragic, it did not bring
He who is clothed in red;
about the complete downfall of Tula. The second crisis took
She who endows the earth with solidity,
place several decades later. Huemac was the king ruling at
He who covers it with cotton.
that time. His forced departure and death, around 1150,
And thus it was known
marked the total collapse of Tula. The ruin of the Toltec also
That toward the heavens was his plea directed,
meant a diffusion of their culture and religious ideas among
Toward the place of duality,
various peoples, some distant from Tula. The existence of the
Above the nine levels of Heaven. (from Annals of
Toltec is recorded in annals such as those of the Mixtec of
Cuauhtitlan, trans. Léon-Portilla, folio 4, 1995)
Oaxaca and the Maya of Yucatán and Guatemala.
The dual god Ometeotl—who in the night covers his-her
Henry B. Nicholson has written an excellent volume on
feminine aspect with a skirt of stars, but who during the day
Quetzalcoatl. Originally written as a Ph.D. dissertation and
reveals himself as the sun, the greatest of the light-giving
presented at Harvard University in 1957, this work has re-
stars—-appears also as the Lord and Lady of Our Flesh, as
tained its value as “the most thoroungh and insightful analy-
he-she who vests himself-herself in black and red (colors
sis of a large part of Mesoamerican ensemble of primary
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
sources ever done in a single volume” (Carrasco and Matos
dred years before the beginning of the common era. Other
Moctezuma, 2001, VI). It was revised by Nicholson and
beliefs and practices were probably derived from the cultures
published in 2001 as Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. The Once and
that had flourished along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico,
Future Lord of the Toltecs.
such as the veneration of Xipe Totec (“Our lord the flayed
one”), a god of fertility.
Nicholson analyzes a large number of primary sources
from Central Mexico (Nahuatl and non-Nahuatl); from Oa-
Some deities, such as Tlaloc, Chac, or Cocijo (different
xaca (Mixtec and Zapotec); and from Chiapas and Guatema-
names of the rain god, whose presence in Mesoamerica since
la, Tabasco-Campeche, as well as the Yucatán (Maya); and
the Classic period is amply manifested in the archaeological
he elaborates on interpretations of the data presented. One
evidence), also became members of the Aztec pantheon. So
can assert that his book, although by now several decades old,
did the two Toltec gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. Be-
remains a fresh and relevant approach to the complexities
sides individual gods and ensembles of gods, Aztec culture
surrounding the figure of Quetzalcoatl, a subject that in
incorporated the old Mesoamerican spatial image of the
many forms permeates Mesoamerican religion and ethnohi-
world, with its four quadrants, central point, and upperworld
story.
and underworld levels (as well as the symbolic meanings at-
While Quetzalcoatl is an extremely important figure in
tached to these divisions), and it integrated the solar calen-
the history of Mesoamerica, he has been the subject of several
dar, the 260-day count, and the Mesoamerican system of
divergent interpretations (see Nicholson 2000 and Carrasco
writing.
2003).
To this heritage, the Aztec’s own beliefs must be added.
On the one hand, attending to the meaning of his name,
Among these are the Aztec patron gods Huitzilopochtli
“Feathered Serpent,” it can be inferred that he was wor-
(Hummingbird of the South, or Hummingbird of the Left)
shipped in Teotihuacan since the Classic period. There, at
and Coatlicue (She of the Skirt of Serpents).
the so-called Temple of Quetzalcoatl, one can see heads of
Consciousness of divine destiny. Aztec accounts speak
serpents with quetzal feathers.
of the place in the north from which they had come, Aztlán
Quetzalcoatl was also the name of a prominent priest
Chicomoztoc (The Place of the Herons, or The Place of the
and sage, portentously conceived by his mother, who lived
Seven Caves). There they had been oppressed by a dominant
in Tula-Xicocotitlan in the ninth century. A legendary fig-
people. One day, the “portentous god,” Tezcatlipoca, spoke
ure, he had taken his name from that of the “feathered-
to the Aztec high priest, Huitzilopochtli. Tezcatlipoca of-
serpent god” and became the ruler and guide of the Toltec.
fered to liberate the Aztec from their rulers. He would lead
THE AZTEC RELIGIOUS VARIANT. By the end of the thir-
them to a place where they could enjoy freedom and from
teenth century CE, new chiefdoms existed in central Mexico.
which they would extend themselves as conquerors into the
Some were the result of a renaissance in towns of Toltec or
four quadrants of the world. This he would do if the Aztec
Teotihuacan origin. Others were new entities made up of the
promised to be his vassals and to have him as their tutelary
cultures of semibarbarian groups from the north (the so-
god. The Aztec then began their march to their promised
called Chichimecs) and the remnants of Toltec civilization.
land. On the way, Huitzilopochtli died, but the spirit and
power of Tezcatlipoca entered into Huitzilopochtli’s bones,
At the same time, other peoples made themselves pres-
and from that moment on the god and the priest were one
ent in the Central Plateau. Their language was Nahuatl, the
person. When the Aztec, in their search for their predestined
same that the Toltec had spoken. The various Nahuatlan
land, arrived at Coatepec (Mountain of the Serpent), they
groups—among them the Aztec, or Mexica—had been living
learned that the mother goddess Coatlicue was present there
in northern outposts, on the frontier of Mesoamerica. In the
and that their own god Huitzilopochtli was to be miracu-
Nahuatlan texts they repeat, “Now we are coming back from
lously reborn as Coatlicue’s son. Huitzilopochtli’s birth oc-
the north. . .” The Aztec return (or, as it is often described,
curred at the precise moment when another goddess,
their “pilgrimage”) was a difficult enterprise. They had to
Coyolxauhqui (She of the Face Painted with Rattles), was
overcome many hardships until finally they were settled
about to kill Coatlicue because of the offense Coatlicue had
(c. 1325 CE) on the island of Tenochtitlan (in the lake that
caused her and her four hundred brothers, the Warriors of
then covered a large part of the Valley of Mexico). It took
the South, when it became known that Coatlicue was inex-
the Aztec a century to initiate the period of their greatness
plicably pregnant. As Coyolxauhqui and her four hundred
in Mesoamerica.
brothers were climbing Coatepec, Huitzilopochtli was born
Cultural and religious heritages. The Aztec’s world-
to Coatlicue, and he immediately used his weapon, the Fire
view, beliefs, and cultural forms, which by the time of Aztec
Snake, to hurt Coyolxauqui and to cut off her head. He then
hegemony were already fully integrated as elements of their
pursued the Warriors of the South, driving them off the top
own culture, had diverse origins. The Aztec preserved an-
of the mountain and destroying them. Huitzilopochtli
cient traditions that were the common inheritance of many
stripped the four hundred brothers of their belongings and
peoples of Mesoamerica, such as the worship of the “Old
made them part of his own destiny. Later, when the Aztec
God,” Huehueteotl, who had been revered since several hun-
had established themselves on the island of México-
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5891
Tenochtitlan, they constructed their main temple (the so-
Divine duality. Paintings and ideograms in some of the
called Templo Mayor) to Huitzilopochtli in the form of the
native books corroborate what is proclaimed in the songs of
mountain Coatepec, and there they ritually reenacted Huitz-
the Aztec warriors. Again, binary forms of expression—
ilopochtli’s portentous birth. A representation of the goddess
captains’ headdresses in the forms of eagles and ocelots, the
Coatlicue stood near Huitzilopochtli’s shrine on top of this
hieroglyphs for fire and water coupled, and so on—appear
“pyramid mountain,” as did representations of the beheaded
consistently related to the universe of the gods, who are es-
goddess Coyolxauhqui, the Fire Snake, and the four hundred
sentially dual entities.
Warriors of the South. The gods’ primeval confrontation was
reenacted on the feast of Panquetzaliztli (When the Flags are
Below, in the abode of the dead, reign Mictlantecuhtli
Raised). Objects found during the excavations of the Templo
and Mictlancihuatl, the god and goddess of that region. On
Mayor (Great Temple), undertaken from 1979 through
the surface of the earth is Our Father-Our Mother, who is
1990, have corroborated the native texts: all of the symbols
at once the Old Lord, He-She of the Yellow Face, and Cre-
of the Mountain of the Serpent and the story of Huitz-
ator of Fire. And above, in the various celestial levels, other
ilopochtli’s birth have been recovered from the temple site.
dual divine manifestations exist: Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue
(god and goddess of rain and of the terrestrial waters); the
Tributary wars and the reenactment of the sacrifice
precious twins Quetzalcoatl and Cihuacoatl (the feathered
at Teotihuacan. The Aztec knew the story of the sacrifice
serpent and the female serpent); Tezcatlipoca and Tezca-
at Teotihuacan, where the gods gave their blood and lives to
tlanextia (the mirror that obscures things and the mirror that
strengthen the “Giver of Life” (the sun) whose movement
makes them brilliant); and, above all other deities, the dual
was enabled by the sacrifice. The Aztec, believing they had
god Ometeotl, a supreme being endowed with both male
to imitate the gods, took on the mission of continuing to
and female countenances.
provide the sun with vital energy. They deemed themselves
called to offer the sun that same precious liquid that the gods
In both Aztec and Maya religion, the Dual God, in an
had shed, and they obtained it from human sacrifice.
unfolding of his-her own being, gave birth to four sons, who
As if hypnotized by the mystery of blood, the Aztec pro-
are primordial divine forces. In Aztec thought these are
claimed themselves the chosen People of the Sun. Ceremoni-
known as the four Tezcatlipocas—White, Black, Red, and
al warfare—the principal manner of obtaining victims for the
Blue—who presided over the successive cosmic ages. Their
sacrifice—became the dominant activity in the Aztec’s social,
actions connoted confrontations between opposing forces as
religious, and national life. Thus, they developed what can
well as diverse kinds of alteration and becoming. Tezcatlipo-
be described as a mystical imperialism: they devoted them-
ca sometimes appears as the adversary of Tlaloc, at other
selves to conquest in their effort to maintain the life of the
times of Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca also often becomes iden-
sun and to keep the age of 4 Movement alive. The theme
tified with other deities—as in the story related above of
of war in Aztec visual art and in Aztec literature is everywhere
Huitzilopochtli’s transformation.
linked to that of national greatness. In the primeval myth of
An iconographic analysis of the Aztec gods confirms
Teotihuacan, mention is also made of the eagle and the oce-
that they shared the attribute of “divine becoming”—that is,
lot (or jaguar), who were present at the divine hearth into
of procession through a series of transformations. There are
which the gods had hurled themselves. Eagles and ocelots
representations in which this “divine becoming” is evident,
therefore became the symbols of warriors.
where, for example, Tlaloc, the rain god, is portrayed as if
Fire, which had blazed in the hearth at Teotihuacan,
he were Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the god of the morning star;
and water, without which nothing green grows on earth,
Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death; or Xochipilli, the god of
were strangely linked in the minds of the priests. Jointly, fire
dance and song. This “becoming” of the gods was linked to
and water conveyed the idea of the mystical warfare that
the Aztec canon of religious celebrations. Abundant informa-
makes the life of the universe possible. Atl/tlachinolli (water/
tion about the feasts along the 365-day calendar can be
fire), quauhtli/ocelotl (eagle/ocelot), mitl/chimalli (arrow/
found in several of the indigenous texts: the Borbonicus,
shield), yaoxochitl/xochiaoctli (flowery wars/flowery liquor),
Matritense, Florentine, Magliabecchianus, Tudela, Ixtlilx-
quauhtli/nochtli (eagle/prickly pear, or the sun/the red heart):
ochitl, Telleriano-Remensis, and Vaticanus A codices.
these are some of the binary forms of symbolic expression
that recur in Aztec hymns, chants, and discourses and echo
SACRIFICE AND OTHER RITES. Penance, abstinence, and the
the Aztec’s official worldview:
offering of a variety of animals and vegetables were frequent
in Aztec celebrations. Intonation of sacred hymns was ac-
From where the eagles rest, From where the ocelots are
companied by music and dances. More than any other Me-
exalted, The Sun is invoked. Like a shield that descends,
soamerican people, the Aztec practiced human sacrifice dur-
So does the Sun set. In Mexico night is falling, War
rages on all sides. O Giver of Life! War draws near,
ing their celebrations. A sort of perpetual drama developed
Proud of ifself Is the city of México-Tenochtitlan. Here
in which the primeval events were reenacted, with the vic-
no one fears to die in war. This is our glory. This your
tims playing the roles of the gods who in illo tempore offered
command, O Giver of Life! (Cantares Mexicanos, trans.
their blood to make life on earth possible. The forms of
by León-Portilla, fol. 19 v.)
human sacrifice were similar to those that had been practiced
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
by the Maya. The largest number of sacrifices took place at
It can be asserted that the Templo Mayor was conceived
the Templo Mayor at the center of México-Tenochtitlan.
as a plastic representation of the Coatepetl or “Mountain of
Afterlife. Some manners of dying promised glorious
the Serpent,” situated near Tula—the ancient Toltec me-
destinies: death in battle, death while trying to take captives,
tropolis—where the Aztec patron god Huitzilopochtli was
the death of a sacrificial victim, and the death of a woman
born. His shrine was built on top of the pyramid. Close to
in childbirth (while bearing a future warrior). To die in any
it, a sculpture of Huitzilopochtli’s mother, the goddess
of these ways meant that one would travel, after death, to the
Coatlicue, was placed. At the botton of the same pyramid
House of the Sun, to be his-her companion in the heavens.
the Aztec placed the effigy of Coyolxauhqui, the rebel sister
Persons chosen by the rain god for a special kind of death
of Huitzilopochtli. She appeared beheaded and dismem-
(by drowning, being struck by lightning, or through a serious
bered by her brother who, once born, resisted her attack and
disease such as dropsy) were destined to enjoy Tlalocan, the
killed her with his invincible weapon, the Xiuhcoatl (Fire
rain god’s paradise. Others of the dead were said to go to
Serpent). A stone sculpture of the Xiuhcoatl stood near the
Mictlan (the place of the dead), which was also known as Xi-
shrine of Huitzilopochtli. This complex of symbols, repeated
moayan (the place of the fleshless) and Tocempopolihuiyan
in each enlargement of the temple, corresponds to what is
(our common destination, where we lose ourselves).
proclaimed in a Nahuatl hymn that recalls the birth of
Huitzilopochtli.
Doubt and skepticism. In contrast to the officially ac-
cepted beliefs, there are some indigenous texts from the Aztec
The Aztec reenacted Huitzilopochtli’s portentous birth
epoch in which doubts are expressed. A conviction that the
on the feast of Panquetzaliztli (Raising of Banners). A young
mystery that surrounds human existence will never be com-
warrior representing Huitzilopochtli carried his image, and
pletely unveiled appears again and again in these composi-
he would have to fight in front of the temple against Coyolx-
tions. These beautiful poems, written by the sages (tlama-
auhqui and her allies. The young warrior’s victory symbol-
tinime, “those who know something”), at times convey
ized the triumph of the Sun against the forces of the night.
pessimism and even a sort of natural skepticism. Their core
A shrine dedicated to Tlaloc, the rain god, was placed
question seems to be whether or not it is possible to say true
on top of the twin pyramid close to that of Huitzilopochtli
words about the beyond, the universe of the gods, or one’s
(both pyramids were built on a common platform to symbol-
survival of death. The following example is eloquent:
ize divine dualism). Tlaloc, although called by various
Even if we offer the Giver of Life Jade and precious
names, was a universally worshiped god in Mesoamerica. By
ointments, If with offering of necklaces You are in-
placing his adoratory side by side with that of Huitz-
voked, With the strength of the eagle and the jaguar,
ilopochtli, the Aztec were proclaiming at once their venera-
With the force of the warriors, It may be that on earth
tion to their own tutelary god and also to the one omnipres-
No one speaks of truth. (from Cantares Mexicanos,
ent in Mesoamerica, known as Tlaloc in central Mexico.
trans. by Léon-Portilla, folio 13r)
The sources that describe the rituals performed in the
The contrast between the official religious militarism of the
temple along the eighteen groups, or “months,” of twenty
Aztec and the questionings of these sages seems to reflect the
days demonstrate that Aztec religious beliefs and practices
vitality of the spiritual world of Mesoamerica.
somehow centered upon two temporal axes. One was that
The Templo Mayor. Testimonies that encompass the
of Tonalco, “the time of the heat and the Sun”; the other was
history of a single monument are seldom found in the avail-
Xopan, “the time of verdor,” when water abounds. In both
able Mesoamerican sources. In the case of the Aztec Templo
periods, however, Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc were present,
Mayor, a good number of testimonies permit the interpreta-
intertwined with several gods and goddesses with which they
tion of the many symbols incorporated into it during its suc-
were associated. During Tonalco, the dry and hot season,
cessive enlargements. The testimonies include pictorial
Tlaloc and Chalchuihtlicue (the goddess of the terrestrial wa-
manuscripts of indigenous provenance, some of them pro-
ters), as well as their servants, the Tlaloques, and the gods
duced a few decades after the destruction of the temple as
related to maize, were asked to protect the people against
a consequence of the Spanish Conquest. There are, as well,
eventual famines. Sacrifices, including those of adults and
texts in Nahuatl derived from the native orality and put in
babies, were performed in the main temple.
written form by means of the Latin alphabet by Nahua
When the feast of Tlaxochimaco (“flowers are given”)
scribes. To this, one has to add descriptions in Spanish done
took place in the ninth “month,” people went to the fields
by several friars and others interested in the subject.
looking for flowers to celebrate the god Huitzilopochtli. Ban-
Among the testimonies thus produced are descriptions
quets, music, and dances were held in his honor. Tlaxochi-
of the Templo Mayor; of its various buildings; of the sacri-
maco marked the beginning of the second half the year. In
fices and ceremonies held therein; of the sacred hymns that
the following months—and already in the rainy season—
were entoned and the prayers that were recited; and, in sum,
once again Huitzilopochli, Tlaloc, and the gods of maize,
copious references about what the temple was and how it
salt, and fire, as well as Tonantzin (Our Mother), invoked
functioned as the most important precinct dedicated to the
under various names, entered the temporal and spatial scene
cult of the Aztec gods.
of the Templo Mayor. Then and there the Aztec asked for
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
5893
abundant harvests and would practice the sacrifices that
In this corpus of Mesoamerican sacred literature one
could propitiate them.
finds testimonies on the pre-Columbian religious beliefs and
practices (feasts, sacrifices, and offerings); on the relationship
The great temple of Mexico, Tenochtitlan had become
of the gods and rituals with the calendrical computations;
not only an extraordinary architectural monument and pre-
and on prophetic ennunciations, incantations, moral pre-
cinct, as its surviving vestiges indicate; it was also a living
cepts, prayers, hymns, and a variety of songs and poetry.
stage where a sort of perpetual drama was played out by the
Aztec. These were a people who thought of themselves as
AFTER THE CONQUEST. The Spanish Conquest, which, in
“chosen” by the primordial sacrifice of the gods and who,
the case of the Aztec, was completed in 1521, brought with
therefore, had to repay them in a similar form to foster the
it the burning of native libraries, the demolition of temples,
existence of their present cosmic era.
and the annihilation of whatever appeared to the conquista-
dors to be “idolatrous.” Nevertheless, neither the Conquest
InThe Aztec Templo Mayor, a Visualization (2001), An-
nor the zealous activity of some Christian missionaries who
tonio Serrato-Combe presents computer-generated, three-
followed in its wake succeeded in completely erasing all of
dimensional color imagery of Tenochititlan, conceived to ex-
the ancient traditions. It is extraordinary to discover that
plore the architectural configuration of the main temple and
contemporary Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec, Nahuatl, and other
its whole precinct. The author describes his method in the
groups keep remembrances of the old mythic traditions as
book as a “digital modeling process,” and the book adds in-
part of their lore.
teresting contributions to what is known about the largest
and most important sacred monument in Aztec Meso-
Studies of contemporary Mesoamericans’ worldviews
america.
and religious attitudes reveals that Christianity and indige-
nous Mesoamerican traditions have combined to form sever-
MESOAMERICAN SACRED LITERATURE. Mention has been
al kinds of syncretistic systems. Whereas in some cases a
made of the available archaelogical and documentary sources
Christianized paganism has developed, in others one can see
for the study of Mesoamerican religion. One must also take
that new forms of Christianity, embedded in an indigenous
into consideration the material that is properly labeled “Me-
Mesoamerican world of symbols, have been born.
soamerican sacred literature.” Notwithstanding the many de-
structions and consequences of the Conquest, indigenous
Syncretism is present among contemporary Indians and
texts do exist that can be considered part of a corpus of Me-
other peoples in Mexico who reinterpret the Christian
soamerican sacred literature.
dogma of the Holy Trinity partially through indigenous con-
ceptions. For instance, instead of speaking of the Trinity or
A clear distinction can be made pertaining to these texts
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, people refer to Our
that allow the corpus to be divided into two eras: (1) those
Father Jesus and Our Mother, the Virgin of Guadalupe, in
works of a pre-Spanish provenance; and (2) those texts pro-
an implicit reference to the dual supreme god, Our Father,
duced after the Conquest, either as transcriptions of older
Our Mother. Another example of syncretism in religious
testimonies or as surviving documentary manifestations of
practices is provided by contemporary acts of self-sacrifice
native religiosity.
that follow the admonition “to pay” for what the gods have
The works clearly of a pre-Spanish provenance include
done for us in the creation of various forms of life. Today
inscriptions in monuments excavated by archaeologists,
such practices of self-sacrifice or repayment to the gods are
mainly from the Maya area, and some of the fifteen extant
performed in pilgrimages to sanctuaries such as those of
codices or “books” (i.e., those of religious content, such as
Chalma, Talpa, Tepeyac and others, as well as in determined
codices from Central Mexico known as Borgia, Vaticanus B,
Christian feasts.
Cospi, Fejérváry-Máyer, and Laud; those from the Maya
known as Dresden, Tro-Cortesiano, Paris; and those from the
SEE ALSO Aztec Religion; Calendars, article on Mesoameri-
Mixtec of Oaxaca, such asVindobonensis.
can Calendars; Human Sacrifice, article on Aztec Rites;
Maya Religion; Olmec Religion; Quetzalcoatl.
Transcriptions from older documents or from the oral
tradition, produced after the conquest, include the Quiché
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Popol Vuh, or Book of Council; the Maya Books of the Chilam
Annals of Cuauhtitlan. In Codice Chimalpopoca, edited by Primo
Balamob; the Nahua Huehuehtlahtolli, or Testimonies of the
Feliciano Velázquez. Mexico City, 1995. Nahuatl text and
Ancient Word (the conveyors of the moral discourses, as well
Spanish translation. A basic source of Mesoamerican indige-
as the expression of the wisdom of the elders); and the collec-
nous tradition; includes important references to religious be-
tions of Mexican Songs, manuscripts preserved at the Nation-
liefs and practices.
al Library of Mexico and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin Ameri-
Bernal, Ignacio. The Olmec World. Berkeley, Calif., 1969. A read-
can Collection of the University of Texas at Austin. The
able account of the archaeological findings in the Olmec
surviving documentary manifestations of native religiosity
area.
encompass texts like those collected in the seventeenth cen-
Broda, Johanna, Davíd Carrasco, and Eduardo Matos Moctezu-
tury by Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón in what is today the State
ma. The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery
of Guerrero.
in the Aztec World. Berkeley, Calif., 1987.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5894
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: PRE-COLUMBIAN RELIGIONS
Cantares Mexicanos (Collection of Mexican Songs). A sixteenth-
Glass, John B. “A Survey of Native American Pictorial Manu-
century manuscript that includes a large number of composi-
scripts.” In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by
tions, in Nahuatl, of pre-Columbian origin. It is preserved
Robert Wauchope et al., vol. 14. Austin, Tex., 1975. A com-
at the Biblioteca Nacional de México in Mexico City. Trans-
prehensive guide to these primary sources for the study of
lations of some of these songs appear in Pre-Columbian Liter-
Mesoamerican cultures.
atures of Mexico, edited by Miguel Léon-Portilla. Norman,
Joralemon, Peter D. A Study of Olmec Iconography. Washington,
Okla., 1969.
D.C., 1971. A pioneer interpretation of the religious iconog-
Carrasco Davíd, Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Cere-
raphy of the Olmec.
monial Centers, San Francisco, Calif., 1990. A lucid discus-
Joralemon, Peter D. “The Olmec Dragon: A Study in Pre-
sion of the core aspects of religion in Mesoamerica.
Columbian Iconography.” In Origins of Religious Art and Ico-
Carrasco Davíd. Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and
nography in Preclassic Mesoamerica, edited by Henry B. Nich-
Proprecies in the Aztec Tradicion. Rev. ed. Norman, Okla.,
olson. Los Angeles, 1976.
2000.
Kubler, George. The Iconography of the Art of Teotihuacan. Wash-
Carrasco, Pedro. “Pagan Rituals and Beliefs among the Chontal
ington, D.C., 1967. Objects to the idea of a single Me-
Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico.” Anthropological Records 20
soamerican “cotradition.”
(1960): 87–117. Discusses Christian and pagan elements in
Kubler, George. “Period, Style, and Meaning in Ancient Ameri-
contemporary religious ceremonies of this indigenous group.
can Art.” New Literary History 1 (1970): 127–144. Adds ar-
Caso, Alfonso. “Zapotec Writing and Calendar.” In Handbook of
guments in support of the point of view expressed in the pre-
Middle American Indians, edited by Robert Wauchope et al.,
viously listed paper.
vol. 3. Austin, Tex., 1965. A concise, well-documented pre-
Landa, Diego de. Landa’s Relación de las Cosas de Yucatan. Trans.
sentation of religious inscriptions of the Zapotec.
and ed., with notes, by A. M. Tozzer. Cambridge, Mass.,
Caso, Alfonso. “Mixtec Writing and Calendar.” In Handbook of
1941. The best critical edition of this sixteenth-century clas-
Middle American Indians, edited by Robert Wauchope et al.,
sic study of Maya culture and religion.
vol. 3. Austin, Tex., 1965. A valuable complement to the
Léon-Portilla, Miguel. Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the
previously listed article.
Ancient Nahuatl Mind. Norman, Okla., 1963. A study of the
Caso, Alfonso. “Dioses y signos Teotihuacanos.” In Teotihuacan
Aztec worldview about ultimate reality; includes numerous
onceava mesa redonda, vol. 1. Mexico City, 1966. Well-
Nahuatl texts from the indigenous pre-Columbian tradition.
researched study on the gods worshiped at Teotihuacan.
Léon-Portilla, Miguel. “The Ethnohistorical Records for the Huey
Caso, Alfonso. “Religión o religiones mesoamericanos?” In Ver-
Teocalli of Tenochtitlan.” In The Aztec Templo Mayor, ed-
handlungen des XXXVIII Amerikanistenkongresses, vol. 3. Ex-
ited by Elizabeth Hill Boone, Washington, D.C., 1983. Reg-
cellent synthesis of the evidence that supports the existence
isters the main sources for the study of the symbolism em-
of one religious tradition common to the various Mesoameri-
bedded in the Templo Mayor.
can groups.
Léon-Portilla, Miguel. Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico. Nor-
Codex Maggliabecchianus, XIII: Manuscrit mexicain post-Colombien
man, Okla., 1969. An introduction to the extant texts of the
de la Bibilothèque Nationale de Florence (1904). Graz, Aus-
Aztec, Maya, Mixtec, Otomí, and other Mesoamerican
tria, 1970. Contains summaries in English and Spanish.
groups.
Codex Matritense. 3 vols. Madrid, Spain, 1905–1907. Na-
huatl texts of the Indian informants of Fray Bernardo de
Léon-Portilla, Miguel. Time and Reality in the Thought of the
Sahagún (sixteenth century). A classic collection of texts of
Maya. Boston, 1973. An ethnohistorical approach to Maya
the indigenous tradition, extremely rich in religious materi-
religion and worldview with an emphasis on the Mayan con-
als, including sacred hymns, speeches, and descriptions of
cern for time.
feasts and sacrifices.
Léon-Portilla, Miguel, ed. Native Mesoamerican Spirituality: An-
Coe, Michael D. America’s First Civilization. New York, 1968.
cient Myths, Discourses, Stories, Doctrines, Hymns, Poems from
Excellent introduction to the study of Olmec culture.
the Aztec, Yucatec Quiche-Maya, and Other Sacred Traditions.
Coe, Michael D. “The Iconology of Olmec Art.” In The Iconogra-
New York, 1980. An annotated anthology, with commen-
phy of Middle American Sculpture (an anthology of confer-
tary of texts from the pre-Columbian traditions.
ence papers, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). New
Nicholson, Henry B. “Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico.”
York, 1973. Summary and lucid discussion of the meaning
In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Robert
of Olmec religious art.
Wauchope et al., vol. 10. Austin, Tex., 1971. A classification
Coe, Michael D. Breaking the Maya Code. New York, 1992. The
of the principal cult themes and deity complexes.
story of the deciphering of Maya writing.
Nicholson, Henry B. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future
Edmonson, Munro S., ed. and trans. The Book of Counsel: The
Lord of the Toltecs. Boulder, Colo., 2001. Comprehensive de-
Popol Vuh of the Quiché Maya of Guatemala. New Orleans,
scriptions of the sources on Quetzalcoatl and an interpreta-
La., 1971. An excellent introduction and English version of
tion of them.
this classic of sacred Mesoamerican literature.
Norman, V. Garth Izapa Sculpture, part 2. Provo, Utah, 1976. In-
Edmonson, Munro S. “The Songs of Dzitbalché: A Literary Com-
cludes a careful description of Stele 5. Piña Chán, Román.
mentary.” In Tlalocan: A Journal of Source Materials on the
Los Olmecas antiguos. Mexico, 1982. A comprehensive ap-
Native Cultures of Mexico 9 (1982): 173–208. A new transla-
proach to Olmec culture by a distinguished archaeologist.
tion of, and commentary, on these sacred Maya com-
Sahagún, (Fray) Bernardino de. Historia de los cosas de la Nueva
positions.
España (compiled 1569–1582; first published 1820). Trans-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: FORMATIVE CULTURES
5895
lated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble as
tural fertility. Other figurines show two heads on one body
Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain,
or heads with three eyes and two noses, believed to perhaps
13 vols. Santa Fe, N. Mex., 1950–1982. Vivid descriptions
represent diviner-healers. In general the Tlatilco figurines,
of temples, rituals, paraphernalia, and mythology can be
which include both Olmec and local styles, are thought to
found in several of this work’s volumes, especially volumes
be merely grave offerings without explicit religious function.
2 and 3.
Olmec influence in the Basin was only marginal; its impact
Schele, Linda, and Mary Ellen Miller. Blood of Kings: Dynasty and
was stronger in the states of Morelos, Puebla, and Guerrero.
Ritual in Maya Art. New York, 1985. This and the following
book offer readings of a large number of inscriptions.
In the Middle Preclassic new hamlets appeared around
Schele, Linda, and Davin Freidel. A Forest of Kings: The Untold
the system of lakes in the Basin of Mexico (which have now
Story of the Ancient Maya. New York, 1990.
virtually disappeared). At Zacatenco and Ticomán, figurines
abound but are cruder. As they were no longer placed in
Serrato-Combe, Antonio, The Aztec Templo Mayor: A Vizualiza-
tion. Salt Lake, Utah, 2001.
graves but appeared in refuse middens, it is assumed that
they served as fetishes in household cults. There are no repre-
Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction.
sentations of gods or goddesses that can be recognized as
Norman, Okla., 1960. A basic work for the study of Maya
such with reference to the iconographic system prevalent in
symbols and inscriptions.
the Classic and Postclassic periods (250–1521 CE). Nor is
Thompson, J. Eric S. Maya History and Religion. Norman, Okla.,
there definite evidence of civic-ceremonial architecture. It
1970. An ethnohistorical approach in which a large number
has been argued that a society capable of supporting potters
of sources are analyzed by a great scholar who devoted his life
not engaged in full-time food production should also be able
to research on the Maya.
to maintain religious practitioners, such as shamans. Certain
Valliant, George C., ed. A Sacred Almanac of the Aztecs. New York,
figurines depicting masked dancers in peculiar costumes have
1940. Translation of Codex Borbonicus: Manuscrit mexicaine
been identified as magicians (shamans) and ballplayers but
de la bibilothèque du Palais Bourbon, edited by Jules Theo-
they are part of the Olmec component, as are the pottery
dore Ernest Hamy (Paris, 1899).
masks (Coe, 1965). Concrete evidence of shamanism, amply
MIGUEL LÉON-PORTILLA (1987 AND 2005)
demonstrated for North and South America, is lacking for
Preclassic Mesoamerica.
In the Late Preclassic, pyramidal mounds of modest
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: FORMATIVE
proportions occur at some sites in the southern part of the
CULTURES
Basin of Mexico and indicate the beginning of ceremonial
Religious practices during Mesoamerica’s Preclassic, or
activities outside the immediate household clusters. This pe-
Formative, period (1500 BCE–250 CE) can only be inferred
riod is notable for a veritable population explosion. Cuicuil-
from the archaeological remains. One of the most thorough-
co became the dominant political center, with five to ten
ly investigated regions is the lacustrine Basin of Mexico in
thousand inhabitants, while Ticomán remained only a minor
the central highlands, where remains of pottery and figurines
village. At Cuicuilco several small pyramids were located in
provide a yardstick for determining the cultural sequence
the residential zone and may have served the local populace.
within the Basin and adjacent regions. Throughout the Pre-
By 400 BCE a large, oval, truncated pyramid of adobe bricks
classic this region witnessed a steady population increase and
with rough stone facing was built in tiers or stages, each of
a locally diverse progression from small farming communi-
which contains an altarlike structure. Access was by a ramp
ties with developing social stratification to large towns with
facing east, toward the sunrise. The town and the lower parts
complex political hierarchies. The period is divided in four
of the pyramid were covered by a lava flow that, according
major phases. Different time spans for the major phases, as
to latest estimates, occurred around 400 CE, when Cuicuilco
well as local subphases, have been proposed by various re-
had long ceased to be a dominant center (Heizer and Benny-
searchers. These are consolidated in the following chronolo-
hoff, 1972). However, earlier eruptions from the nearby
gy: Early Preclassic, 1500–800 BCE; Middle Pre-classic, 800–
Xitle volcano, with spectacular displays of fire, smoke, and
500 BCE; Late Preclassic, 500–150 BCE; Terminal Preclassic,
molten lava, led to the creation of the first deity in Me-
150 BCE–250 CE. (Piña Chan, 1972; Sanders et al., 1979).
soamerica, the “old fire god.” He is portrayed in clay and
BASIN OF MEXICO. During the Early Preclassic, the Ixtapalu-
later exclusively in stone sculpture as an old, toothless male
ca subphase (1400–800 BCE) in the southern part of the
with a wrinkled face who bears on his head a large basin for
Basin of Mexico contains pottery strongly related to the
the burning of incense. Known by his Nahuatl (Aztec) name
Olmec style of San Lorenzo on the Gulf Coast. The Olmec
Huehueteotl (“old god”), he became one of the major deities
tradition is also evident in figurines of great refinement,
of the Teotihuacán pantheon and, after the Toltec interlude,
found in large numbers in the Tlatilco cemeteries, which
reappeared in the Aztec pantheon in different guise as Xiuh-
have since been engulfed by present-day Mexico City. Most
tecuhtli (“turquoise lord” or “lord of the year”). The burning
of these figurines are female. Some indicate advanced preg-
of incense as an offering for petitioning the gods became gen-
nancy, suggestive of a concern with human as well as agricul-
eral practice throughout Mesoamerica, both in household
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: FORMATIVE CULTURES
and in elaborate temple rituals. This is indicated by the great
expressive, approaching portraitlike countenances. They re-
variety and number of ceramic incense burners that have
flect the customs, dress, and ornaments of the ancient inhab-
been excavated.
itants (von Winning, 1974).
Between 150 and 1 BCE, Teotihuacán occupied an area
Funeral processions and mourning scenes modeled in
of about six square kilometers and was a highly stratified
clay depict rites preceding interment. They show the mourn-
agrarian community. It developed into an urban center of
ers in orderly arrangement following a catafalque being car-
twenty-five to thirty thousand people in the Tzacualli phase
ried to a house, or groups of mourners surrounding a corpse.
(1–150 CE), when the grid system of the town was laid out
Other kinds of grave offerings include complex scenes of vil-
with a main north-south axis, known as the Street of the
lagers and their huts, family gatherings, ball-court scenes,
Dead (so named by the Spanish, who thought the place a ne-
bloodletting and cheek-perforation rituals, and dancers with
cropolis). On either side of the axis were erected numerous
musicians, all consisting of small, crudely modeled figurines
complexes, each with three temple-pyramid and a central
attached to clay slabs. The variety of ceramic house models
courtyard. The monumental Pyramid of the Sun (sixty-three
of one or two stories, some of them multichambered, is inter-
meters high) and the substructure of the Pyramid of the
esting inasmuch as no masonry architecture existed in this
Moon were completed in this phase during a single fifty-year
area. They replicate constructions of wattle daubed with
construction episode. (Again, these names were given by the
mud, covered with a thatched roof. These were tomb offer-
Spanish.) The ceremonial precinct, over four kilometers in
ings intended as shelters in the afterlife.
length, served civic and religious functions and became a pil-
grimage center. Dependence on seasonal rainfall for agricul-
Among the smaller, solid figurines are those showing a
ture gave rise to a cult of a god of rain and lightning, Tlaloc,
female strapped to a slab. They appear to represent corpses
who became the supreme deity and continued to be one of
on biers laid out for funeral rites, ready to be lowered
the major gods in later cultures up to the Spanish conquest
through the shaft into the burial chamber. Similar ceramic
(1521). The establishment of a hierarchical priesthood can
“bed figures” occur in coeval contexts in Ecuador, and spo-
be inferred from the art and architecture of this period. In
radically in the Old World (von Winning and Hammer,
the Classic period (250–750
1972).
CE) the pantheon expanded,
and Teotihuacán became the largest city of the New World.
A variety of large, hollow animal effigies occur also in
WESTERN MEXICO. In Guanajuato, to the northwest of the
the shaft tombs. In Colima dog effigies abound, their well-
Basin of Mexico, elaborate pottery and finely modeled figu-
fed appearance indicates that they had been deliberately fat-
rines of the Chupícuaro tradition (500–1 BCE) were lavishly
tened to provide food for the departed. (In Aztec times fat-
used for tomb offerings, and ceramic flutes, whistles, and rat-
tened dogs were sold in the market for human consump-
tles were interred in children’s graves. Ceremonies included
tion.) Skeletons of carefully buried dogs have been found in
the practice of decapitation, related to warfare. This custom,
graves at Tlatilco and Chupícuaro, and it is generally be-
however, did not become widespread until the Middle and
lieved that the dogs were supposed to help the souls of the
Late Classic.
deceased on their paths through the perils of the underworld.
The Preclassic cultures of western Mexico (in the pres-
The generally held view that the ceramic sculptures of
ent-day states of Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit)
the Shaft Tomb Complex portray secular subjects indicative
remained outside the Mesoamerican cotradition until about
of everyday village life has been rejected by Peter T. Furst
350 CE when the Teotihuacán and Gulf Coast cultures began
(1975). Based on ethnographic comparisons—mainly with
to penetrate the area and introduced their culture and
the beliefs and shamanistic practices among the modern
ideology.
Huichol Indians whose remote ancestors occupied part of
the Shaft Tomb zone—he concludes that the art of western
Most noteworthy among these loosely united chiefdoms
Mexico was no less religious than that of the rest of Me-
was their concern for the dead, as evidenced by the Shaft
soamerica. However, none of the figures display attributes
Tomb Complex (c. 200 BCE–400/500 CE). Unparalleled in
that clearly identify them as deities or deity impersonators
other parts of Mesoamerica, it extends in a great arc from
in the manner of other Mesoamerican religion and iconogra-
south-central Nayarit through central Jalisco to Colima. The
phy. Tlaloc and Huehueteotl effigies occur only after the end
tombs consist of vertical entrance shafts 1.5 to 8 meters deep,
of the Shaft Tomb period. Lacking temple pyramids and rel-
with narrow, short tunnels at the end leading to one or more
evant documentary sources, the ceramic sculptures provide
vaults carved in the hard volcanic soil (tepetate). After inter-
the only evidence for a ceremonialism that emphasized a cult
ment the shafts were completely filled with rubble and hand-
of the dead.
packed dirt; stone slabs prevented the fill from entering the
burial chambers. Grave offerings comprise large, hollow ce-
GUERRERO AND THE PUEBLA-TLAXCALA AREA. Preclassic
ramic figures in varied local styles, representing men (some
ceremonialism was introduced into this area by Olmec in-
of them tomb guards with armor and weapons) and women
truders. For the period after the decline of Olmec influence
in different poses and attitudes. The human figures have styl-
(after 800 BCE), information on social, political, and religious
ized features and disproportionate bodies but they are very
aspects is lacking. The Mezcala region of Guerrero produced
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
5897
a remarkable number of highly stylized anthropomorphic
von Winning, Hasso. The Shaft Tomb Figures of West Mexico. Los
figures and masks, ranging from the Preclassic Olmecoid to
Angeles, 1974. A classification according to thematic signifi-
Teotihuacanoid types, but the stylistic sequence is not dat-
cance of the ceramic figures of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit.
able. Among the small stone sculptures are flat models of
von Winning, Hasso, and Olga Hammer. Anecdotal Sculpture of
temple facades with doorways in which a human figure occa-
Ancient West Mexico. Los Angeles, 1972. A copiously illus-
sionally stands on top of the stairway. However, masonry
trated and annotated exhibition catalog of ceramic house
temples of this type have not been reported from the Mezcala
models and figurine groups from Colima, Jalisco, and Naya-
region, and the date of these artifacts is unknown. These
rit, with two essays on related topics.
temple sculptures probably were made in the Classic period.
HASSO VON WINNING (1987)
In the Tehuacán Valley, developments from early village life
to urban communities paralleled those in other parts of Me-
soamerica. The archaeological remains give no indication of
religious activities.
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC
CULTURES
In sum, the Preclassic figurines that appear all over Mex-
The Classic period in the Valley of Mexico and its environs
ico north of the eighteenth parallel are similar insofar as their
(150 BCE–750 CE) was one of florescence and of great
features were incised and clay fillets added. Neither these nor
achievement and intellectual advancement in the fields of
the Shaft Tomb figures represent well-defined deities with
art, government, and ideology. These centuries saw urban-
determinative attributes such as occur in later periods. With
ism defined. Intense trade developed along established
the exception of the Olmec intrusive layer and the emergence
routes, diffusing ideas and material goods from one corner
of the old fire god at Cuicuilco, and the rain god Tlaloc in
of Mesoamerica to another and consolidating religious
Teotihuacán, in all other regions the gods, as Ignacio Bernal
thought and ceremonial.
once said, had not yet been born.
Data for Classic period religion is based on archaeology;
SEE ALSO Olmec Religion.
while no written documents from that period have come
down to us, we can rightly regard mural painting, architec-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ture, and other works of art as valid documents. Sixteenth-
Coe, Michael D. The Jaguar’s Children: Pre-Classic Central Mexico.
century chronicles describing Aztec religious belief and cus-
New York, 1965. An explicit exposition of the Olmec art
tom—about eight centuries after the decline of Teotihua-
style and its distribution. Numerous good illustrations of
can—nevertheless can help us interpret earlier cultures, if
pottery vessels, figurines, masks, and other artifacts from the
used with caution. Ethnographic evidence can also shed light
Mexican highlands.
on ancient cultures, since in many cases there seems to be
Furst, Peter T. “House of Darkness and House of Light: Sacred
a continuity of tradition. It is significant, too, that Me-
Functions of West Mexican Funeral Art.” In Death and the
soamerica constituted a unified culture area, unlike the Med-
Afterlife in Pre-Columbian America: A Conference at Dumbar-
iterranean civilization that had interaction with totally differ-
ton Oaks, October 27th, 1973, edited by Elizabeth P. Benson,
ent cultures from very early times on. In addition to the
pp. 33–68. Washington, D.C., 1975. Elaborating his earlier
published views that western Mexican funerary art objects
shared urbanism of its cultures, pre-Columbian Mesoameri-
have a religious rather than a secular or anecdotal signifi-
ca was in many ways unified by a common ideological sys-
cance, Furst considers the Nayarit house models as houses of
tem, with regional and temporal variation. This apparent un-
the dead, the locus mundi of the soul.
derlying tradition of many basic beliefs allows us to compare
Heizer, Robert F., and James A. Bennyhoff. “Archaeological Exca-
one culture with another, but only to a certain extent and
vations at Cuicuilco, Mexico, 1957.” In Research Reports,
allowing for changes over time.
1955–1960 Projects, National Geographic Society, edited by
During the Classic period the characteristics of Me-
Paul H. Oelsen, pp. 93–104. Washington, D.C., 1972. A re-
soamerican religion were formalized. Patterns in belief, ritu-
vision of the cultural sequence of the Late and Terminal Pre-
al, and iconography, some of them derived from earlier cul-
classic periods in the Valley of Mexico. A preliminary sum-
mary of the authors’ work appears in their article
tures, were set, and they formed the basis of later societies,
“Archaeological Investigation of Cuicuilco, Valley of Mexi-
especially those of the Toltec and the Aztec. The belief that
co, 1957,” Science 127 (January 1958): 232–233.
natural forces were animate, the measurement of time as co-
ordinated with sacred space, and the observation of heavenly
Piña Chan, Román. Historia, arqueología y arte prehispánico. Mex-
ico City, 1972. Includes the only comprehensive chronologi-
bodies were some of the main characteristics. There was an
cal chart of all the pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico pub-
intense ceremonialism supported by iconography and by oral
lished so far by a Mexican archaeologist.
mythic tradition. The gods were numerous, often human in
Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Robert S. Santley.
form and often conceived as animals that were the gods’ dou-
The Basin of Mexico: Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a
bles. Religion was integrated with social organization, poli-
Civilization. New York, 1979. An up-to-date synthesis of the
tics, economy, art, music, and poetry. There was a patron
sociocultural evolution based primarily on settlement pattern
deity for virtually every activity, and all objects received hom-
surveys.
age and offerings, from certain flowers reserved for sovereigns
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5898
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
to humble implements for planting and harvesting. The
huacanos called them.) The orientation of the Avenue of the
world was considered a sacred structure, an image of the
Dead is 15°25° east of north and the major structures were
cosmos.
aligned with this axis, slightly “skewed” from the cardinal di-
rections. From the Tzacualli phase on, an exuberance of con-
Sites and structures (and probably human activities such
struction filled Teotihuacan with splendid structures, all
as processions and ritual dancing) were oriented to the sun,
carefully planned on a grid pattern.
moon, stars, and to sacred geographical places. Architectural
splendor was manifested in pyramid platforms surmounted
Caves and cults. The most sacred place in the Teoti-
by temples; many were painted in symbolic colors, their exte-
huacan complex was the spot where the Sun pyramid stood,
riors and interiors covered with murals. The temple in each
underneath which lies a sacred cave. Caves were considered
city was the axis mundi, the center of the universe. Sculpture
sacred throughout Mesoamerica, and this one designated the
depicted religious themes, and much pottery was decorated
site for the construction of the great pyramid. Teotihuacan
with images of the gods. The worldview of Classic Me-
was a powerful religious magnet and attracted pilgrims from
soamerica was peopled with deities who intervened in every
all over. The influx of large groups of pilgrims undoubtedly
phase of life. Men who governed were deeply enmeshed in
created the need for more spectacular structures and proba-
ritual. Every ruler had his priestly duties, and the priests
bly provided the economic means and hands for the work.
themselves controlled the ritual calendar and thus the agri-
According to Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and the Profane
cultural cycle, which was a basic part of the economy.
(New York, 1959), sacred time is relived in a sacred space
by means of a pilgrimage, and divine space is repeated by
TEOTIHUACAN. During the Classic period, Teotihuacan,
building one holy place over another. In Teotihuacan this
which means “place where the gods are made,” became the
repetition took place when the great pyramid was erected
center of the Mesoamerican world. A vast settlement occupy-
over a primitive shrine, itself built over a subterranean cave.
ing more than eight square miles in the valley of the same
A cult of long standing existed in this cavern and was one
name, a subvalley of the Basin of Mexico, the city of Teoti-
reason that Teotihuacan became a religious center. The pres-
huacan was the leading Classic center and the most highly
ence of drainage channels through which water was brought
urbanized center in the New World. Although Teotihuacan
into the cave (Millon, 1981, p. 234) indicates the perfor-
at its height ruled the trade routes and set religious patterns
mance there of rituals associated with water, and the remains
for many other cultures, in its early period it barely set the
of ritual fires suggest a symbolic juxtaposition of fire and
stage for its later grandeur.
water, which juxtaposition was basic in Mesoamerican reli-
Founding and early history. Around the beginning of
gion. It is likely, René Millon suggests, that the guardians of
the common era, a small settlement was established in the
beliefs and cults in the sacred cave had awesome prestige and
northern part of what we now call the Teotihuacan Valley.
that this prestige and the importance of religion and ritual
After the eruption of the Xitle volcano in the southern part
in general played a major part in the shaping of Teotihua-
of the Basin of Mexico (c. 1000 BCE), some residents of
can’s hierarchical society and in the legitimation of the au-
Cuicuilco, which had been covered by lava in the eruption,
thority of the state.
probably moved to the east, into the Teotihuacan area. The
Orientation, symbolic planning, and architecture.
refugees would have brought their own deities, especially the
Urban planning, architecture, myth, and ritual were interre-
fire god. We see him in the Teotihuacan braziers of Huehu-
lated in ancient Mexico. The blending of religious-
eteotl (“old god”), who may have originated in Cuicuilco. At
cosmological conceptions with an acute awareness of nature
an early period Teotihuacan also was strongly influenced by
constituted much of the Classic worldview. The orientation
the Puebla-Tlaxcala peoples. During the Patlachique (150–1
of Teotihuacan’s major axis, the Avenue of the Dead, was
BCE) and the Tzacualli (1–150 CE) phases, Teotihuacan expe-
astronomically and calendrically determined. The star group
rienced explosive growth. People from the eastern and south-
Pleiades was also influential since some structures were ori-
ern parts of the Basin of Mexico concentrated around this
ented to its rising position. The main facades of most of the
center, raising the population of Teotihuacan to eighty thou-
pyramids, except the Pyramid of the Moon, faced west (that
sand or more (Sanders et al., 1979, pp. 184ff.; Millon, 1981,
is, in the direction of the setting sun), as did monuments in
p. 221). This population concentration was reflected in the
later Mesoamerican cultures. An astronomical symbol found
city’s direct control of agricultural production and of the ob-
in strategic positions all over the city was also one of the de-
sidian industry, as well as in its importance as a regional eco-
terminants of the orientation of streets and structures. This
nomic center, which at the same time stimulated religious
symbol is the “pecked cross,” actually a quartered circle con-
manifestation.
sisting of dots whose number probably referred to a calendri-
Toward the end of the Tzacualli phase the great Pyra-
cal-ritual count. It was carved on the floors of ceremonial
mid of the Sun was erected, standing more than 63 meters
buildings and also on rocks on the periphery of the city,
high and measuring 225 meters on each of its four sides.
which were aligned with the monuments (Aveni, 1980,
Shortly after this the Pyramid of the Moon was built with
p. 223).
the Avenue of the Dead leading up to it. (These structures
There are more than seventy-five temples in the city.
were named by the Aztec; we do not know what the Teoti-
Some, found on the Avenue of the Dead, are grouped into
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
5899
complexes of three, perhaps a symbolic number. More than
cause of the feathered serpents that decorate its facade—
two thousand residential compounds are located in Teoti-
although the temple was not necessarily dedicated to Quet-
huacan, and every residential compound had one or more
zalcoatl, who in the Postclassic period was a god of civiliza-
local temples within it. Even within smaller units a miniature
tion, creation, and the arts. Also on the facade are heads of
temple is often found in the center of a courtyard. That the
fire serpents that have been identified erroneously as repre-
natural environment and nearby topographical features were
sentations of the rain god Tlaloc. The spectacular Temple
part of the worldview of Teotihuacan and that they figured
of Quetzalcoatl was erected in the second construction peri-
in the planning of the city is evident from the relation of Te-
od of the Ciudadela (probably 150–200 CE), coeval in part
otihuacan to the mountains, caves, and bodies of water in
with the Sun and Moon pyramids, and was used (and at
its environs. On the mountaintops, rites to the rain gods
times rebuilt) up until the end of Teotihuacan, around 750
were held, for here the clouds gathered and formed the pre-
CE. But at one period in the city’s history (c. 300 CE), another
cious liquid. Chronicles referring to the Aztec, whose prac-
smaller pyramid, the Adosada (Span., “affixed”) was attached
tices can perhaps give us an insight into the earlier period,
to its facade, partly blocking the earlier building. The Adosa-
tell us that mountains were seen as female; water was thought
da seems to have enhanced rather than eclipsed the Temple
to be held inside them as if in the womb. The mountain
of Quetzalcoatl’s religious importance. Perhaps this was an
north of the Avenue of the Dead, whose form was mirrored
architectural rather than an ideological renovation. Accord-
by the Pyramid of the Moon, was called Tenan, “the moth-
ing to Cowgill (1983), the religious and political significance
er” (i.e., of people) by the Aztec. Hills and waterholes were
combined in the Ciudadela and the Quetzalcoatl pyramid
considered sacred, as were trees, for they protected people
cult was intimately associated with Teotihuacan’s rulership.
and provided sustenance in the form of leaves, fruit, and
He also suggests that increased activity associated with the
roots.
Quetzalcoatl temple may have necessitated the building of
this extra structure.
Teotihuacan, like most of Mesoamerica, was basically
an agricultural society. Observance of the seasons was con-
A pyramid platform in the southern part of the Ciuda-
trolled by a ritual calendar and the invocation of rain
dela is decorated with red X designs and with green circles,
through propitiation of the gods was an important ceremo-
symbols of water, “that which is precious.” The X is clearly
ny. Lake Tezcoco, the great body of water that covered a
an ollin, symbol of motion (or of the movement of the sun,
large part of the Basin of Mexico, came almost to the borders
according to later Aztec tradition). The joining of water and
of Teotihuacan and provided aquatic foods and a waterway
fire (in this case, the sun) are thus represented during this
for transportation. So for the Teotihuacanos, the gods of
early period. Although the combination symbolized war in
water were associated with “Our Mother” (as the lake was
the Postclassic period, here in Teotihuacan it may have had
called in Aztec times) as well as with rain and mountaintops.
astronomical significance.
This setting of natural abundance was enhanced in Teoti-
huacan by local deposits of obsidian, which was considered
Another enormous area of dwellings, pyramids, plat-
divine.
forms, temples, and courtyards occupying many hectares
along the major avenue, and known as the Avenue of the
The Avenue of the Dead extends almost two thousand
Dead Complex, has been tentatively identified as the center
meters from the Sun and Moon pyramids to the Ciudadela
of governmental functions. The talud (“sloping panel”) com-
(Span., “citadel”), Teotihuacan’s religious and political cen-
bined with the tablero (“vertical panel”) is the characteristic
ter during much of the metropolis’s existence. The vast quad-
Teotihuacan facade for religious structures and has long been
rangle (4.4 hectares) is surrounded on each of its four sides
recognized as the sign that a building faced in such a way is
by wide platforms topped by four low pyramids on three
a temple (Millon, 1981, p. 229). This convention was also
sides, and by three at the east or rear (Millon, 1981, p. 203).
applied to public buildings and residential compounds, thus
Entrance to the complex is only from the Avenue of the
consecrating the entire avenue, as well as giving a sacred char-
Dead on the west and from the north, suggesting that en-
acter to buildings in other zones that incorporate the talud-
trance to and exit from the area were strictly controlled. Liv-
tablero mode of facing. Juan Vidarte de Linares (cited in
ing quarters in the northeast and southeast of the Ciudadela
Cowgill, 1983) has interpreted the Avenue of the Dead,
could have housed about 250 persons, probably high cult of-
lined with temple platforms thus built, as a great open-air
ficials. George L. Cowgill states that while the head of state
cathedral.
must have resided in the Ciudadela, his presence here was
largely ceremonial and the real governing activity was carried
Art. The art of Teotihuacan is intensely religious. Mural
out elsewhere (Cowgill, 1983). A square platform with a
painting (one of the major art forms) on buildings, temples,
staircase on each of its four sides in the middle of the quad-
and shrines, leads Clara Millon (cited in Millon, 1981,
rangle suggests large-scale rites; theatrical performances of a
p. 213) to consider it the “official graphic medium for trans-
religious character evidently were held here.
mitting ideas and beliefs . . . ideologically acceptable and
desirable.” Murals were an ideal medium for communication
At the eastern end of the Ciudadela stands the majestic
because they were out in the open for all to see. In the interi-
pyramid known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, so called be-
or of palaces, where the paintings usually had a religious con-
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
text, their messages, perhaps understood only by priests,
that were symbolic offerings. Mica decorated some of the
must also have constituted a type of didactic “book” on the
large braziers and urns and has been found under floors. Its
walls. Sculpture in Teotihuacan was usually architectural:
meaning is obscure, but it is mirrorlike and mirrors were
roof merlons with year-sign motifs, serpentine balustrades on
used for divining.
stairways (later seen at Tenayuca, Chichén Itzá, and other
sites), zoomorphic stone heads on the facades of buildings
Deities. Names of Teotihuacan gods are unknown to
(on, for example, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and at one
us; therefore we refer to them by their characteristics or sym-
time on the Pyramid of the Sun), and stone figures perhaps
bols, sometimes comparing them to Aztec deities whose ico-
representing gods, such as the old fire god. A relief panel re-
nography and function are similar. Esther Pasztory (1973,
cently discovered in the West Plaza of the Avenue of the
p. 147) has noted that the structure of Teotihuacan iconog-
Dead Complex represents a personage with rain god charac-
raphy is in many ways similar to that of the Aztec, for which
teristics holding a rattle in either hand. According to Noel
we have written data, and image clusters have been identified
Morelos, the archaeologist who discovered it, the image is
in Teotihuacan that have elements similar to representations
somewhat similar to Tlaloc figures in the Tetitla and Tepan-
of Aztec deities. The presence of water-agricultural deities is
titla murals at Teotihuacan. Another rich source of informa-
indicated by aquatic symbols such as streams, water dripping
tion is pottery, painted or decorated with other techniques,
from shells, fish, frogs, and water lilies. The god associated
that depicts rituals and either deities or priests.
with rain and the earth is distinguished by traits found on
the Aztec deity Tlaloc—goggle eyes and fangs, for example—
The large braziers found at Teotihuacan are sometimes
but also by a water lily in his mouth, a lightning staff, a vessel
called “theaters” because the masks surrounded by symbolic
with water, a year-sign headdress, and crocodilian traits.
elements that are attached to them are reminiscent of the
Pasztory calls him “Tlaloc A.” “Tlaloc B” appeared later on
stage. Candeleros (Span., “candle-sticks”) must have been
the scene when there was a trend toward militarism in Teoti-
used for copal incense; the Teotihuacanos had no candles.
huacan. Some of Tlaloc B’s diagnostic traits are a bifurcated
The use of clay figurines can only be guessed at. Some may
tongue, a bigotera (Span., “mustache”), and jaguar features.
have been used on household altars or kept by pilgrims as
Both “Tlalocs” are associated with water, although the latter,
souvenirs from sacred places. “Portrait figurines,” sometimes
because his image is found in foreign centers and is related
called “dancers,” are small, nude, sexless people in animated
to persons who may be representatives of the Teotihuacan
positions. Other clay figures are “puppets,” with movable
state, seems to be connected with military and foreign rela-
arms and legs, nude bodies, and carefully made and adorned
tions as well. Pasztory (1978, p. 134) sees Tlaloc B, or the
heads. Lack of body adornment on the portrait figurines and
“Jaguar Tlaloc,” as possibly being the patron deity of Teoti-
puppets suggests that they were dressed in bark paper, a ritual
huacan, and claims that the “patron deity cult,” later prac-
material, for ceremonial use. Clay dogs may, as among the
ticed among the Toltec and Aztec (which was different from
Aztec, have represented the animal that accompanied the de-
a cult to deified ancestors) originated in Teotihuacan. She
ceased to the afterworld.
also notes that Teotihuacan was the first culture in Me-
A possible warrior cult, involving relations with other
soamerica to develop a state cult from the earlier agricultural
regions of Mesoamerica, is indicated by representations of
fertility cult. To this must be added the importance of aquat-
military figures in the murals, on decorated pottery, and in
ic sustenance from the nearby lake, to which many of the
figurines. Some of the figurines wear warrior vestments, in-
water symbols may refer.
cluding animal helmets. Painted representations of people
Evidence of other deities is scanty, but among those be-
holding excised hearts on knives, as in a mural in the Atetelco
lieved to have existed in Teotihuacan are Huehueteotl,
(another architectural complex, or palace), may indicate the
whose brazier, which was designed to be carried on the head,
existence of a warrior cult, although they might represent
suggests he is a fire god, and an earth mother figure who may
human sacrifice practiced for ritual reasons. Citing the work
have been associated with water and vegetation. She is repre-
of Hasso von Winning and George Kubler, Esther Pasztory
sented in the Tepantitla murals surrounded by fertility sym-
(1978, p. 133) notes that war-related iconographic themes
bols such as plants, drops of water, seeds, and birds. Formerly
in Teotihuacan include the sun god as a raptorial bird and
she was thought to be a male water god, and in Aztec times
as a feline, warriors in animal disguise, and an owl-and-
she had a number of names, including Xochiquetzal
weapon symbol.
(“precious flower”). A precursor of this goddess may be rep-
Burials. Funerary customs also shed light on the reli-
resented in some figurines whose headdresses bear flowers,
gion of Teotihuacan. Cremation was practiced and was pos-
usually the characteristic mark of Xochiquetzal. A majestic
sibly related to the later Aztec belief that a person’s posses-
stone statue discovered near the Pyramid of the Moon may
sions must be burned in order to travel to the afterworld,
have water association, due to the “meanders” (water sym-
where they would be turned over to the lord of the dead. In-
bols) on her garments. The agricultural fertility cult was asso-
terment was also practiced; burials were accompanied by
ciated with gods of earth, water, rain, crops, sun, and moon.
grave goods—vessels whose contents may have been food or
A large stone disk, with rays surrounding a skull head, seems
other necessities for the other world and miniature objects
to represent the sun. It was painted red, the color applied to
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
5901
bodies of the deceased; thus it may represent the setting sun
and possibly pilgrims. Processions would probably have
that dies in the west. Deformed figures represented on the
stopped at the small altar-platforms in the center of the ave-
walls of the Atetelco suggest Nanahuatzin, the sick god of
nues, where rites would have been performed. Fray Diego
the Aztec tradition who became the sun, although these may
Durán (1971, p. 296) writes about didactic yet amusing skits
not actually portray him. Another god portrayed is the feath-
involving deities that were performed during the later Aztec
ered serpent, but there is no way of knowing if he is the same
religious festivals, which may provide us with parallels of ear-
god the Aztec worshiped under the name Quetzalcoatl.
lier ritual celebrations. Colonial chronicles describe Aztec
There is also a “flayed god,” represented in clay figurines and
processions in which the costumes of the participants, the
on pottery vessels. One statue depicts a flayed god (or his sur-
materials of which they were made, and their colors were all
rogate) wearing a human skin. This deity may be related to
significant: yellow face paint symbolized maize; “popcorn”
the later Xipe Totec, Aztec god of vegetation, although this
garlands represented the dry season. People walked, danced,
large clay figure dates from the beginning of the Postclassic
and sang in the processions; the beat of the drum, the shrill
era.
sound of a native flute, and the rhythmic tone of chanted po-
There may also have been a “dual complex,” a male-
etry set the pace for their steps. Large braziers may have been
female creative force, such as existed later in Aztec cosmolo-
carried at the head of the procession, smoke from resin in-
gy. This could be inferred from the two major pyramids. In-
cense floating upward as a medium for communication with
numerable figurines with hollow interiors that in turn con-
the gods. A ritual liquid such as pulque may have been
tain one or more miniature figures fully dressed may
poured on the ground. Hands pouring precious symbols in
represent a creator deity. But the most convincing evidence
streams are depicted in Teotihuacan murals, representing
indicates that the pantheon was built around forces of water
this type of libation. Processions like these would have been
and fertility.
public rituals to celebrate seasonal, calendrical, religious, po-
litical, and agricultural events. The changing of the seasons
Creation of the sun in Teotihuacan. Animals por-
and their effect upon the crops, for example, called for cons-
trayed in a mural painting called the Mural of the Mytholog-
tant celebration and/or propitiation of the gods.
ical Animals may be an early version of the myth of the four
Suns, or eras, that form part of Aztec mythology (Millon,
Parallel with the public rituals would have been rites
1972, p. 7). Jaguars devouring fish, a type of cipactli (croco-
performed at small temples in residential compounds.
dilian) earth creature, and evidence of a cataclysm are seen
Household worship probably occurred at times when major
in the Teotihuacan mural. The creation of the Fifth Sun in
events took place but also in relation to the more private cy-
Teotihuacan (the Aztec mythical celestial plain), in which
cles of the household. People close to the soil practice innu-
the poor deformed god Nanahuatzin threw himself into the
merable ceremonies important to their well-being. In post-
fire to become the sun, constitutes one of the great Me-
classic times rites were performed annually (as they still are
soamerican myths. This myth may have been invented a
today) to honor agricultural implements; permission is still
posteriori by the Aztec in order to explain the creation of their
ritually requested of the earth to break the surface in order
own era, the Fifth Sun, associated with the “place where the
to plant; clay figurines are buried in the fields as offerings;
gods are made” (i.e., Teotihuacan) and with their sacred an-
terracotta frogs or water-deity figures are thrown into
cestors, the Teotihuacanos. The impact of Teotihuacan reli-
waterholes; food and clay images are placed in caves for the
gion and myth on the Aztec is evident from the orientation
“owners of maize” and plants. Evidence of some concern in
of the sacred precinct in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. This
Teotihuacan culture for human fertility is provided by figu-
was based on the fact that, in the myth of the Fifth Sun, the
rines of pregnant women, which were most likely used in
gods in Teotihuacan, after the birth of the sun, faced the four
rites of fecundity.
directions to see where it would rise. Four gateways facing
The end of Teotihuacan and its heritage. The eclipse
these directions were made in Tenochtitlan in memory of the
of Teotihuacan took place around 750 CE, when much of the
myth. The desire of the Aztec to view Teotihuacan as the sa-
city was burned, the destruction centering on religious and
cred ancestral place can be seen here and also in the fact that
public buildings. Statues of the gods were broken and their
the Aztec sovereign worshiped there every twenty days.
faces mutilated (Jarquin and Martínez, 1982, p. 36). (In the
Ritual. Ritual, as represented in many paintings, was
pictorial manuscripts from Postclassic Mexico the conquest
clearly an important aspect of Teotihuacan religion. One ex-
of a city is generally depicted by the burning of its temples.)
ample of such a representation is that of the priests, depicted
Burning occurred mainly in the heart of Teotihuacan—four
in profile, who face the great central figure in the Tepantitla
hundred instances of burning are evident in the Avenue of
mural, and who evidently are carrying out a ceremony in-
the Dead zone alone (Millon, 1981, pp. 236–237)—but to
volving this earth-god figure. Men (as gods’ surrogates) in
date there is no evidence of foreign invaders, such as non-
ritual attitudes are also depicted on decorated pottery. The
Teotihuacan weapons or the like. The burning of temples
very layout of the major avenues and structures of the city
and smashing of images implies ritual destruction, and René
brings to mind the probability of dramatic processions led
Millon points out that many religious structures in Me-
by religious leaders, involving a large part of the population
soamerica were ritually burned and then reconstructed. The
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
destruction of Teotihuacan’s temples was so complete, how-
dominates the central hill, producing a whole that can be
ever, that in spite of later building at the site, the city never
seen as the center and four corners of the universe. This cen-
again rose to even a portion of its former grandeur.
tral hill contains both religious and residential buildings: pyr-
amid platforms, a main plaza and smaller ones, a ball court,
Meanwhile, other peoples had filtered into the valley,
including the Toltec and the Chichimec. As Teotihuacan fell
the royal residence, and subterranean tombs whose entrances
other centers rose. Sites in Tlaxcala expanded. Cacaxtla
are protected by gods and whose interiors were filled with
adopted many Teotihuacan motifs and possibly its cultural
funerary urns in the form of gods. Richard Blanton (in Flan-
ideas as well. Xochicalco, a critical point on a trade route
nery and Marcus, 1983, p. 84) suggests that Monte Albán,
from the south, became powerful. El Tajín acquired more
constructed on a hilltop not easily accessible, yet near a rich
importance in the Gulf Coast region. Teotihuacan as a live
alluvial plain, was the principal center of the region. Its hill-
metropolis disappeared, but its fame and influence lived on.
top location probably was in part a defensive measure against
South to the Maya region, east to the Gulf, west to the Pacif-
possible incursions, although many other important centers
ic, and north to Alta-vista (near what would become the
in Oaxaca also were built on mountaintops: for example,
United States border), Teotihuacan religion, art, myth, and
Monte Negro, Quiotepec, and Guiengola. There could also
tradition spread and were adapted to other cultures. This
have been a religious motivation in this, in that the summits
great civilization and religious center took its place as the re-
of mountains were often held to be sacred in ancient Me-
vered ancestor of many later cultures.
soamerica and are dedicated to gods of rain.
CHOLULA. About two hundred kilometers to the southeast,
Although Monte Albán has traditionally been seen as in-
Cholula was a sister city to Teotihuacan during the Classic
debted to Teotihuacan for much of its religion, art, and
period; Quetzalcoatl was its principal god. According to ar-
ideas, Kent V. Flannery, Joyce Marcus, and John Paddock
chaeologist Eduardo Merlo, the earliest pyramid at Cholula
(Flannery and Marcus, 1983, p. 161) point out that the Za-
(c. 150 BCE), was constructed over a sacred spring, paralleling
potec autonomous tradition was thousands of years old when
the Teotihuacan tradition of building over a consecrated
Monte Albán was built (c. 100 BCE) and that hieroglyphic
spot. The Mural of the Bebedores (Span., “drinkers”; c. 200
writing was developed there before Teotihuacan was
CE) in Cholula, at the west side of the great pyramid, portrays
founded. Strong influence and exchange between the two
elaborate scenes of ritual drinking of pulque. This mural is
centers did exist, however. There was an enclave of Oaxaca
dedicated to agricultural fertility and to pulque gods. The
people in Teotihuacan, whose residents lived in their own
main Classic period deity here was the water goddess, and
zone, produced Oaxaca-style pottery, constructed a stone-
it is interesting that the patron saint of present-day Cholula,
lined Oaxaca tomb and stela, or tomb jamb, and who wor-
whose sanctuary is built on top of the great pyramid, is the
shiped their own gods, if one may judge from two funerary
Virgin of Los Remedios, whose special province is the con-
urns representing a god with serpent buccal mask found in
trol of the water supply (Olivera, 1970, pp. 212–213).
the tomb (Millon, 1973, I, pp. 141–142). Although no com-
Cantona, in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, was contempo-
parable Teotihuacano enclave has been found at Monte
rary with early Cholula and Teotihuacan but was evidently
Albán, Teotihuacan personages are represented on some of
eclipsed by the dramatic rise of the latter. Cantona must have
the city’s monuments. They carry copal incense bags (charac-
been an important religious pilgrimage center and was possi-
teristic of priests) and wear identifying deity, animal, or “tas-
bly a Gulf Coast link with the central highlands. More than
sel” Teotihuacan headdresses. A Teotihuacan-style temple is
sixteen square kilometers in area, this site dates from the Late
also depicted. Marcus (Flannery and Marcus, 1983, p. 179)
Preclassic into the Middle Classic and exhibits strong Vera-
interprets these scenes as visual proof that Teotihuacan and
cruz influence, as seen in the ball-game cult, represented by
Monte Albán had emissaries who consolidated agreements
sixteen courts. There are thousands of unexplored mounds,
through rituals, thus placing these treaties in a sacred con-
many dwellings, one excavated igloo-type sweat bath, and
text.
the unexplored remains of about twenty more of these struc-
Early history. Monte Albán has a long history, begin-
tures. According to archaeologist Diana Lopez, these were
ning about 500 BCE. Between 200 BCE and 100 CE (Monte
used for ritual bathing.
Albán I–II) this center of ten thousand inhabitants con-
MONTE ALBÁN AND OAXACA. The Valley of Oaxaca is an ar-
structed large defensive walls and masonry tombs. Three
chaeologically rich area in the central part of the present state
hundred carved stone monuments with calendrical and mili-
of Oaxaca in south-central Mexico. Ecological advantages,
tary themes have been found dating from this period, along
effectively exploited, contributed to the rise of urbanism here
with hieroglyphic writing and effigy vessels possibly repre-
centuries earlier than in other nearby regions north and west
senting gods (Marcus, in Flannery and Marcus, 1983,
of the valley (Paddock, 1966, p. 242). In this setting the
pp. 52–53, 95). The nude figures in distorted poses known
splendid Zapotec civilization of Monte Albán arose. This city
as danzantes (Span., “dancers”) were carved on stone slabs
was built on five artificially leveled hills just east of today’s
along with symbols of sacrifice. They represented captives
city of Oaxaca and covered a total area of six and a half square
and as such may refer to ritual death. They also may repre-
kilometers. Monte Albán’s main plaza, 150 by 300 meters,
sent a symbolic display of power. Fear-inspiring propaganda
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
5903
of this type was repeated—in ritual, not sculpture—many
them as deceased ancestors. Sixteenth-century chronicles as-
centuries later by the Aztec, who invited their enemies to wit-
sociate calendric names with personages but not with gods.
ness mass sacrifices of war captives. Toward the end of this
The Spanish at that time did not understand this reference
early period there were highly developed traits such as a com-
to ancestors because they were unfamiliar with the system of
plex pantheon of deities, ceremonial architecture, a stratified
naming forefathers with dates; therefore they often mistook
society, increased population, and political, economic, and
figures of dead rulers for deities, and this confusion has per-
military influence outside the Valley of Oaxaca (Paddock,
sisted. Because they had no knowledge of Zapotec, Europe-
1966, pp. 111–119). The plan of the Zapotec temple at this
ans often mistook titles of nobility or references to natural
time, with an inner chamber reserved for members of the
forces (such as cocijo, which means “lightning”) for names of
cult, points to the existence of full-time priests and an incipi-
deities.
ent state religion (Flannery, in Flannery and Marcus, 1983,
Caso and Bernal (1952), who believe them to be gods,
p. 82).
identify the figures depicted on the funerary urns as follows:
Florescence of Monte Albán. Classic Monte Albán
Cocijo, the rain god (who also has maize aspects, judging
(Monte Albán III) covers the period from 100 to 600 CE.
from the corn cobs in his headdress on some urns); Pitao Co-
This was a period of florescence during which the population
zobi, god of maize and grains; other maize-sustenance deities
reached its maximum size and both the main plaza and
such as 5 Flower Quiepelagayo and a god referred to as “with
neighboring hills became covered with monumental struc-
bow in the Headdress”; a Zapotec version of Quetzalcoatl;
tures. Restricted entrance to the main plaza suggests that its
a flayed god (Xipe?), represented carrying a disembodied
use may have been mainly for religious and civil leaders, yet
head; an old god associated with caves and the underworld;
its size would indicate that on some occasions rites were cele-
13 Serpent, an earth mother; and animal deities such as the
brated involving the general populace, which Blanton (in
parrot (associated with the sun), the jaguar (associated with
Flannery and Marcus, 1983, pp. 131–133) estimates at ap-
rain), and the bat and the tlacuache (opossum), both associat-
proximately thirty thousand. The temples had full-time
ed with maize.
priests plus a high priest (Flannery, in Flannery and Marcus,
Natural forces. Joyce Marcus (in Flannery and Marcus,
1983, pp. 132, 134). As in other Mesoamerican societies, the
1983, pp. 345–351) stresses the importance in Zapotec reli-
Zapotec ruler was given a year of religious training, and the
gion of animism—the animate character of things such as
priesthood was drawn from noble families. The ruler wor-
trees, stars, hills, but especially powerful natural and super-
shiped at a special shrine.
natural forces. A vital force was pèe (“wind, breath, spirit”)
Tombs, funerary urns, and Zapotec gods. Typical of
and this existed in man, animals, the 260-day ritual calendar,
Monte Albán is the subterranean cruciform tomb, probably
light, the sun, the moon, clouds, lightning, rain, fire, and
constructed during its future occupant’s life and over which
earthquakes. Pitào, the augmentative form of pèe, means
a temple or residential structure was built. Living quarters
“great breath” or “great spirit,” and refers to a sacred quality.
over these tombs indicate that the descendants of the de-
Lightning, (cocijo) was a highly revered element among the
ceased (probably usually rulers) practiced ancestor worship
Zapotec because it brought rain. According to Fray Juan de
(Flannery and Marcus, 1983, pp. 135, 345). Personages rep-
Córdova’s Arte del idioma zapoteca (1578), the thirteen-day
resented in the murals of Tomb 104 and Tomb 105, de-
period in the pre-Hispanic calendar (13 numbers x 20 day
scribed by Alfonso Caso as gods, evidently depict royal cou-
names = 260 days constituting the ritual-divinatory calendar)
ples dressed in the garb of deities. As in Asia, the dead ruler
was called cocijo or pitào. Thus the gods were identified with
or forefather had to be propitiated in order to protect the liv-
time periods and with phenomena associated with the
ing. The people portrayed in these tombs, then, are the royal,
calendar.
deified ancestors of those buried here. The four rooms of the
Clouds were held as sacred by the Zapotec. In fact, they
building over Tomb 105 are oriented to the four cardinal di-
considered themselves descended from clouds, just as the
rections, indicating a cosmic plan in the building of Monte
Mixtec regarded trees as their primordial ancestors. After
Albán. In a niche above the entrance to each tomb is a funer-
death, the Zapotec believed, they once again became clouds.
ary urn. Within the tomb more urns appear. Urns have been
The Zapotec not only had an organized priesthood, temples,
found, too, as offerings in temples and caches. Most of the
and elaborate ritual, but they also considered places such as
urns are anthropomorphic in form; many wear zoomorphic
caves, mountains, certain trees, springs, and other natural
masks and headdresses and they are adorned with numerals
sites to be sacred shrines.
and glyphs.
Other Oaxaca sites. Monte Albán was the major Za-
One type of urn, the acompañante (Span., “companion”
potec civil and religious center, yet it was not the only sacred
or “attendant”), has been found either with the deceased or
place in Oaxaca. Dainzú, a place distinguished by stone re-
with the major urns themselves. There are two schools of
liefs of masked ball players, was coeval with early Monte
thought regarding the funeral urns. Alfonso Caso and Igna-
Albán. The ball players, some in jaguar disguise, are evidently
cio Bernal (1952) define them as gods, while Joyce Marcus
engaged in a ritual game. A number of these carved slabs are
(in Flannery and Marcus, 1983, pp. 144–148) interprets
set into the lowest level of a pyramid-temple structure. They
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
are similar to Monte Albán’s danzantes. Stones of the same
importance, was between 600 and 900 CE, toward the end
type have turned up in many sites in the Oaxaca Valley,
of the Classic period. This great city has been partially exca-
among them Macuilxochitl and Tlacochauaya. Other sites in
vated by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Hi-
the valley, of which there are many (Yagul, Caballito Blanco,
storia. Its most spectacular building is the Pyramid of the
Mitla, Loma Larga, Lambityeco) were contemporary in part
Niches, dedicated to rain and wind gods, whose 365 niches
with Monte Albán and shared the same religious beliefs and
are thought to be related to the solar calendar. Originally the
practices. Many of these were not occupied until after the
pyramid’s facade was painted in various colors, mainly red,
Classic period and thus fall outside this discussion. But Oa-
the color of life and also of death. A xicalcoliuhqui, a fret in
xaca is rich in archeological zones, many dating from the
stone mosaic, decorates the balustrades on either side of the
Classic. In the Ñuiñe culture in the lower Mixtec region
pyramid’s stairway. The xicalcoliuhqui, popular in ancient
(northern Oaxaca and southern Puebla), the pantheon was
Mexican sites, especially Mitla, but probably of Maya origin,
similar to that of Monte Albán, containing gods of earth,
may be symbolic of serpents of rain and wind. Originally,
rain, wind, death, fire, jaguar, and perhaps vegetation repre-
grotesque wind-rain serpents framed the panels of ritual
sented by flayed figures (Moser, in Flannery and Marcus,
scenes at the top of the temple.
1983, p. 212). San José Mogote was largely a Preclassic set-
tlement, but in the Classic period (corresponding to Monte
The ball-game cult. Typical of the Gulf area is the
Alban II), there were numerous temples there and, as at
yugo-hacha-palma-candado (Span., “yoke-ax-palm-padlock”)
Monte Albán, a court for the ritual ball game.
complex, consisting of objects sculptured similar to these
forms. The elements of this complex seem to form part of
EL TAJÍN AND THE GULF COAST REGION. About three hun-
the ritual ball game. In the Maya zone, players are depicted
dred kilometers east of Teotihuacan lies the lush, humid
wearing padded waist protectors formed like yokes, and fig-
Gulf of Mexico region, home of numerous archaeological
ures are often seen wearing palmas in their belts. S. Jeffrey
sites. The most important of these is El Tajín, dating from
K. Wilkerson (1980, p. 219) states that at El Tajín the para-
around 100 BCE and continuing through the Classic period
phernalia of the ball game became cult objects when carved
and into the early Postclassic. El Tajín continued to be occu-
in stone, and that stone copies of the wooden waist protec-
pied, by the Totonac, on a small scale for a few centuries after
tors, or yokes, were symbols of the jaws of the earth, into
this. Although this rich region is called Totonacapan, the
which the wearer descended after death. In El Tajín and
Totonac, for whom it was named, were a late group; the
probably all over Mesoamerica the ball game was a ritual act
modern inhabitants are still Totonac. El Tajín was built by
and concluded with one of the players, usually impersonat-
the Maya-related Huastec people. It may be that the baroque
ing a god, being decapitated. Burials in the Veracruz region
flavor in El Tajín art derives from a Maya heritage, but prob-
were frequently accompanied by elaborately carved stone
ably this reflects the natural environment with its lush vege-
yokes and other ball-game symbols. The ball-game cult start-
tation. Tajín means “lightning,” “hurricane,” “thunder” and
ed in the Preclassic, probably among the Olmec. The Gulf
names these forces. Like the Zapotec, the Totonac believed
area was the home of rubber and the cult most likely origi-
that lightning brings rain, but near the Gulf of Mexico the
nated here and then spread out to other regions, diffused by
rain often comes in the form of hurricanes, for this is a region
traders who took cacao and rubber (as well as their ideology)
of violent winds and precipitation. Thus, Tajín and the god
from the lowlands to the highlands. Both the cacao tree and
Huracán are often seen as one, the god of tropical storms,
ballplayers are represented in murals at Teotihuacan. In the
who, like the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, can be both beneficial
Maya region, some Classic period ball-court markers were as-
and destructive.
sociated with symbols of the sun, water, and vegetation. The
Religion at El Tajín followed the typical Mesoamerican
purpose of the sacrifice of a player at the end of the game,
pattern of temple-pyramids, formal priesthood, a pantheon
as seen on El Tajín reliefs, was the rejuvenation of agricultur-
of gods, ritual calendar, pilgrimages to its center district, pe-
al and solar fertility, the cycle of death and rebirth in nature
riodic festivities, sacrifice and bloodletting, and other traits
(Pasztory, 1978, p. 139). The stone reliefs at El Tajín portray
already mentioned. But El Tajín and the Gulf Coast region
ballplayers, rites to the rain god and to a deity of pulque, au-
exemplify certain distinct characteristics not found else-
tosacrifice from genitals, decapitation of a ballplayer and his
where. For example, the main pyramid at El Tajín is lavishly
descent into the underworld, and sacrifice by extraction of
decorated with niches, which is typical of this site and of
the heart (Kampen, 1972).
nearby Yohualichan (“house of night”) in southern Puebla.
Smiling figures and divine women. Among the ritual
The ball court, although common in Mesoamerica, occupies
manifestations of the Classic period of the Gulf area are the
a primary importance in El Tajín, where there are ten
“smiling figures” from Remojadas and El Zapotal, murals
(Wilkerson, 1980, p. 219). Their wall panels are decorated
from Higueras, and lifesize terracotta sculptures of cihuateteo
with spectacular scenes of ritual and sacrifice.
(“divine women”). El Zapotal, located in southern Veracruz
El Tajín became the major religious and administrative
near the Olmec site of Cerro de las Mesas, had its florescent
center of the region in the first few centuries of the current
period from 500 to 800 CE. Unlike the Zapotec and Mixtec,
era. El Tajín’s peak, in size, population, wealth, and religious
who had a cult to the dead, this Totonac culture apparently
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CLASSIC CULTURES
5905
maintained a cult to death itself. In a major temple at El
Arellanos, Ramon, et al. “El proyecto de investigacion ‘Hi-
Zapotal there is an altar 1.6 meters high with a seated terra-
gueras’.” In Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologia XIII mesa re-
cotta figure of the death god. His skeletal form is surrounded
donda. Mexico City, 1975.
by skulls. Equally dramatic are the monumental clay figures
Aveni, Anthony F. Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico. Austin, Tex.,
called by the Postclassic term cihuateteo. Colonial chronicles
1980.
identify the cihuateteo as women who died in childbirth and
Caso, Alfonso, and Ignacio Bernal. Urnas de Oaxaca. Mexico City,
who then were deified, joining dead warriors in the task of
1952.
helping the sun cross the sky. They were considered warriors
Cowgill, George L. “Rulership and the Ciudadela: Political Infer-
because they lost their lives while taking a “prisoner,” that
ences from Teotihuacan Architecture.” In Civilization in the
is, the child. These striking figures wear skirts fastened by
Ancient Americas: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited
large serpent belts and carry trophy-head staffs in one hand.
by Richard M. Leventhal and Alan L. Kolata, pp. 313–344.
Each woman seems to be covered with a flayed skin, which
Cambridge, Mass., 1983.
might indicate a cult to a female vegetation deity (Gutiérrez
Durán, (Fray) Diego. Los dioses y ritos and El calendario (c. 1581).
Solana and Hamilton, 1977, p. 146). The presence of the
Translated as Book of the Gods and Rites and The Ancient Cal-
serpent around the waist may refer, however, to a Serpent
endar by Fernando Horcasitas and Doris Heyden. Norman,
Woman who was, in Postclassic times, a goddess (the Aztec
Okla., 1971.
goddess Cihuacoatl) associated with war, sacrifice, and politi-
Flannery, Kent V., and Joyce Marcus, eds. The Cloud People: Di-
cal power. Among the other deities represented in the monu-
vergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. New
mental El Zapotal sculptures are male gods of rain, an old
York, 1983.
fire god—whose presence shows Teotihuacan influence—
Gutiérrez Solana, Nelly, and Susan K. Hamilton. Las esculturas en
and a flayed god. Skeletal remains at this site, found in buri-
terracotta de El Zapotel, Veracruz. Mexico City, 1977.
als where offerings of terracotta sculptures were placed, reveal
Jarquín Pacheco, Ana María, and Enrique Martínez Vargas. “Ex-
decapitation and dismemberment on a vast scale, probably
ploración en el lado este de la Ciudadela.” In Memoria del
as a result of sacrifice. Next to one rich offering of sculpture
proyecto arqueologico Teotihuacan 80–82, edited by Rubén
was an ossarium containing eighty-two skulls, many of them
Cabrera Castro, Ignacio Rodríguez, and Noel Morelos,
women’s. The female skulls may indicate a death-fertility
pp. 19–47. Mexico City, 1982.
cult because, in a later period, sacrifice by decapitation repre-
Kampen, Michael Edwin. The Sculptures of El Tajín, Veracruz,
sented the harvesting of first fruits, especially the cutting of
Mexico. Gainesville, Fla., 1972.
an ear of corn. At El Zapotal, yokes, axes, and smiling figures
Millon, Clara. “The History of Mural Art at Teotihuacan.” In So-
have also been found, although the latter are more typical of
ciedad Mexicana de Antropologia XI mesa redonda: Teotihua-
Remojadas, a site north of El Zapotal noted for its splendid
can, pp. 1–16. Mexico City, 1972.
clay sculpture. The smiling figures are just that: their mouths
Millon, Clara. “Painting, Writing, and Polity in Teotihuacan,
are open in broad smiles, their legs are apart in an attitude
Mexico.” American Antiquity 38 (1973): 294–314.
of dancing, their arms flung wide. These have been interpret-
Millon, René, ed. Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, vol. 1,
ed as representations of a cognate of Xochipilli, the Aztec god
The Teotihuacan Map. Austin, Tex., 1973.
of song and dance, but it is possible that they portray surro-
Millon, René. “Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization.” In
gates of the gods, drugged as they go to their sacrifice. The
Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol.
colonial chronicler Durán described the pre-Hispanic cus-
1, Archaeology, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, pp. 198–243.
tom of giving these god-representatives drinks containing
Austin, Tex., 1981.
hallucinogens so they would laugh, dance, and fling out their
Olivera de Vazquez, Mercedes. “La importancia religiosa en Cho-
arms on the way to the sacrificial knife. If they were not
lula.” In Proyecto Cholula, edited by Ignacio Marquina,
“happy” this was considered a bad omen.
pp. 211–242. Mexico City, 1970.
Paddock, John. “Oaxaca in Ancient Mesoamerica.” In Ancient
Las Higueras is a late Classic Totonac site (600–800
Oaxaca, edited by John Paddock, pp. 83–242. Stanford,
CE), with outstanding mural paintings. Represented here are
Calif., 1966.
the ever-present Huracán, shown supine at the bottom of the
Pasztory, Esther. “The Gods of Teotihuacan: A Synthetic Ap-
sea, surrounded by sharks; water or “flood” gods, pouring
proach in Teotihuacan Iconography.” In Atti del XL Congres-
liquid over the land; a female moon; the sun; and a crocodil-
so Internazionale degli Americanisti, vol. 1, pp. 108–142.
ian earth god. Priests with incense bags, a temple, and ball
Genoa, 1973.
courts are also represented (Arellanos et al., 1975,
Pasztory, Esther. “Artistic Traditions of the Middle Classic Peri-
pp. 309–312).
od.” In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: A. D. 400–700, edited
by Esther Pasztory, pp. 108–142. New York, 1978.
SEE ALSO Caves; Maya Religion.
Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Robert S. Santley.
The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of a Civilization. New York, 1979.
Alcina French, José. “Los dioses del pantéon zapoteca.” Anales de
Séjourné, Laurette. Arquitectura y pintura en Teotihuacan. Mexico
Antropología (Mexico City) 9 (1972): 9–40.
City, 1966.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5906
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
Wilkerson, S. Jeffrey K. “Man’s Eighty Centuries in Veracruz.”
the omnipotent, capricious god of gods, Tezcatlipoca. Mov-
National Geographic 158 (1980): 203–231.
ing down to the Gulf Coast with a band of followers,
D
Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl died and was cremated, and his soul
ORIS HEYDEN (1987)
ascended into heaven and became the Morning Star. He was
considered to have been the founder of all “legitimate” politi-
cal power in central Mexico, and the rulers of Mexico Te-
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC
nochtitlán, the Aztec capital, claimed direct dynastic descent
CULTURES
from him—with the expectation that he would some day re-
This entry is devoted to a summary of the religious patterns
turn to reclaim his royal dignity.
of the leading peoples of that portion of the Mesoamerican
Other Toltec deities mentioned in the traditions include
area cotradition located west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
the androgynous creative deity with various names, among
in the Postclassic period (c. 900–1521 CE). Western Me-
them Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl; Xipe Totec, who expressed
soamerica was a complex mosaic of linguistic-ethnic groups
the concept of fertility in a macabre fashion as his devotees
organized into various polities, but certain ones stand out
ritually donned the skins of sacrificed human victims; Tla-
most prominently: the Aztec, Tarascan, Otomí, Huastec,
zolteotl-Ixcuina, a major earth and fertility goddess whose
Totonac, Mixtec, and Zapotec. Although those who spoke
cult was reputedly introduced from the Huastec; and Tlaloc,
the same language normally shared most cultural characteris-
the ancient, preeminent rain and fertility deity. Archaeologi-
tics, including religious-ritual patterns, rarely were they uni-
cal evidence confirms the importance of these supernaturals
fied politically. The more advanced groups were organized
in the Toltec pantheon and indicates the presence of various
into what can be called city-states. Occasionally an especially
others: the pulque (octli) gods, as well as Mayahuel, the fe-
powerful one of these, usually confederated with others, em-
male personification of the maguey plant, the source of the
barked on an imperialistic course, extending its military and
intoxicating beverage pulque; the Venus deity, Tlahuizcal-
political control over a wide area. The earliest well-
pantecuhtli, closely related to Quetzalcoatl; the hunting and
documented empire of this type, one that may have domi-
war deity, Mixcoatl; Itzpapalotl, another earth and fertility
nated much of central Mexico, was that of the Toltec, so
goddess allied to Mixcoatl; and, possibly, the old fire god,
named from their capital, Tollan (or Tula), north of the
Xiuhtecuhtli-Huehueteotl. The Toltec pantheon probably
Basin of Mexico. The flowering of the Toltec empire appears
included many other deities not mentioned in the traditions
to have been essentially coterminous with the Early Postclas-
or evidenced by archaeological remains, and it is likely that
sic period (c. 900–1200 CE). Coverage will begin with a con-
at the time of the Conquest most were still propitiated in
cise review of what is known concerning Toltec religion.
some form in central Mexico.
TOLTEC RELIGION. At the time of the Conquest, many tra-
ditions were extant concerning the Toltec, the prestigious
Toltec ceremonialism was probably similar to the over-
political and cultural predecessors of the Aztec. Whereas they
all system prevailing in the Late Postclassic, especially as re-
emphasized dynastic themes primarily, they occasionally in-
gards the calendrically regulated ritual. It is virtually certain
cluded some references to religious-ritual aspects. Together
that the two basic Mesoamerican calendric cycles, the 260-
with the archaeological evidence, they provide a picture,
day (13 x 20) divinatory cycle, called the tonalpohualli by the
however incomplete, of a rich religious tradition directly an-
Aztec, and the 365-day (18 x 20 + 5) vague solar year (xi-
cestral to that which prevailed in central Mexico at the time
huitl), were well established by Toltec times and possibly
of the Conquest.
much earlier. Most of the names employed for the twenty
day-signs and apparently at least ten of the eighteen twenty-
Many Aztec deities were anticipated in the Toltec pan-
day periods, the “months,” were the same as those used in
theon. The most prominent was Quetzalcoatl, symbolized by
the Aztec system. The major Toltec public ceremonies were
a rattlesnake covered with feathers. In Aztec religious ideolo-
undoubtedly geared to the eighteen months and followed the
gy this deity particularly expressed creativity and fertility,
same basic ritual patterns as those current at the time of the
with emphasis on the vivifying and fructifying role of the
invasion of Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés.
wind (or breath), Ehécatl, which Quetzalcoatl bore as an ad-
ditional appellation. The fusion of snake and bird in his icon
Archaeological evidence at Tula (ancient Tollan) and
can be interpreted as the creative coupling of earth and sky.
other Toltec-influenced sites, such as Chichén Itzá in Yuca-
The Toltec concept of Quetzalcoatl was probably similar,
tán, demonstrates that Toltec religious architecture was es-
but the situation is complicated by the merging of the super-
sentially similar to that of the Late Postclassic. Basic con-
natural personage with a Toltec ruler, Topiltzin, apparently
tinuities are manifest, especially in the forms of the temples
a particular devotee of the god, whose name he also carried
and other sacred structures such as skull-racks (Nah., tzom-
as a title. A rich corpus of traditional narratives surrounded
pantli) and small platform altars (Nah., momoztli). Certain
this remarkable figure, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, who was the
specific Toltec traits, exemplified by chacmools, the reclining
archetype of the Toltec and Aztec priesthood and credited
anthropomorphic images positioned in the vestibules of
with introducing autosacrificial rituals into the cult. Topiltz-
shrines, and reliefs of files of warriors decorating the faces of
in Quetzalcoatl was forced to abandon Tollan, persecuted by
stone benches (banquettes) along the walls of rooms in struc-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
5907
tures adjoining the temples, were closely replicated in Aztec
bled gods created the primeval human pair, for whom they
sacred architecture, most notably in the Templo Mayor pre-
also provided sustenance (above all, maize). A new sun and
cinct of the imperial capital, Mexico-Tenochtitlán.
moon were next created by the cremation in a great hearth
at Teotihuacán of two gods, one a diseased but courageous
After a series of disasters, the Toltec hegemony col-
pauper and the other wealthy but cowardly, who were there-
lapsed, probably in the late twelfth or during the thirteenth
by transformed into, respectively, the orbs of day and night.
century, and barbarous newcomers, collectively known as the
The gods then sacrificed themselves to provide food and
Chichimec, flowed in from the north. In the mid-fourteenth
drink (hearts and blood) for the rising sun. But the sun’s ter-
century a powerful new Basin of Mexico city-state, Azcapot-
rible sustenance had to be supplied constantly to satisfy his
zalco, arose. Under a remarkably vigorous ruler, Tezozomoc,
insatiable appetite and unquenchable thirst. War, for the
the Tepanec, as the people of Azcapotzalco were called, es-
purpose of obtaining victims for sacrifice, was therefore
tablished a central Mexican imperial system on the Toltec
instituted—and this perpetual obligation was laid on
model. However, it did not long survive the death of Tezozo-
humankind.
moc in 1426, and by 1434 the final pre-Hispanic political
order emerged in central Mexico. This was headed by two
The earth was conceived by the Aztec in a schematized
former tributaries of Azcapotzalco, Mexico-Tenochtitlan and
geographic fashion and mystically and metaphorically as
Tezcoco, joined, as a junior partner, by Tlacopan, an erst-
well. In the first conception the earth was visualized as a
while ally of, and of the same Tepanec affiliation as, Azcapot-
quadrilateral landmass surrounded by ocean. From its center
zalco. This so-called Triple Alliance generated great military
four quadrants extended out to the varicolored cardinal di-
power and by the time of the Conquest dominated much of
rections, which, with the center, played a very important cos-
western Mesoamerica. Most of the leading ethnic-linguistic
mological role as a basic principle of organization of numer-
groups within this area had fallen completely or partially
ous supernaturalistic concepts. At each direction stood a
under its sway. The Tarascan of Michoacán, however, suc-
sacred tree upon which perched a sacred bird. In the fashion
cessfully maintained their independence and ruled a sizable
of Atlanteans, four deities supported the lowest heaven at
empire of their own in western Mexico. Most of the Huastec-
each cardinal point. In the second terrestrial image, the earth
speaking communities, in the northeastern sector of Me-
was conceived both as a huge crocodilian monster, the cipac-
soamerica, also remained beyond Triple Alliance control.
tli, and as a gigantic, crouching, toadlike creature with snap-
AZTEC RELIGION. The following summary applies primarily
ping “mouths” at its elbows and knees and a gaping, teeth-
to the Nahuatl-speaking communities of the Basin of Mexico
studded mouth, called Tlaltecuhtli, which devoured the
and adjoining territory, whose culture is traditionally labeled
hearts and blood of sacrificed victims and the souls of the
“Aztec,” although fundamentally similar religious systems
dead in general. Both creatures were apparently conceived as
prevailed over a much more extensive area. Following this
floating on the all-encompassing universal sea.
overview of the Aztec religious-ritual system, what is known
There was also a comparable vertical organization of the
concerning the religions of the major non-Nahuatl-speaking
universe. The heavens were conceived as a series of super-
groups will be summarized, emphasizing aspects that appear
posed varicolored tiers to which various deities and certain
to have been especially distinctive to each particular group.
natural phenomena were assigned. The commonest scheme
Cosmogony and cosmology. Four great cosmic eras,
featured thirteen celestial layers and nine subterrestrial levels.
or “suns,” were believed to have preceded the present age.
Gods. A crowded pantheon of individualized, essential-
The inhabitants of each era were destroyed at that era’s
ly anthropomorphic deities was believed to control the vari-
end—with the exception of single pairs that survived to per-
ous spheres of the universe. Almost every major natural and
petuate the species—by different kinds of cataclysmic de-
human activity was embodied in at least one supernatural
structions: respectively, swarms of ferocious jaguars, hurri-
personality. This plethora of deities was organized around a
canes, rains of fire, and a devastating deluge. The first era was
few fundamental cult themes. Within each theme can be dis-
assigned to the earth, the second to the air or wind, the third
cerned “deity complexes,” clusters of deities expressing vari-
to fire, and the fourth to water. Different deities presided
ous aspects of what amount to subthemes. Three major
over each, and each age was also ascribed to one of the four
themes stand out: (1) celestial creativity and divine paternal-
cardinal directions and to its symbolic color. The last era, the
ism; (2) rain-moisture-agricultural fertility; (3) war, sacrifice,
Fifth Sun, was to be terminated, with the annihilation of hu-
and the sanguinary nourishment of the sun and earth. In-
manity, by shattering earthquakes.
cluded within the first theme were such important deities as
At the commencement of this final period, two major
Ometeotl (Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl or Tonacatecuhtli/
creative deities, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, dispersed the
Tonacacihuatl), the androgynous creative deity; Tezcatlipo-
waters of the great flood and raised the sky, thus creating a
ca, the omnipotent “supreme god”; and Xiuhtecuhtli Hue-
new earth. Fire was next produced, followed by a fresh
hueteotl, the old god of fire. Prominent within the second
human generation. Quetzalcoatl traveled to the underworld,
theme were Tlaloc, the paramount fertility deity and produc-
Mictlan, to obtain from its ruler, Mictlantecuhtli, the bones
er of rain; Ehécatl Quetzalcoatl, the wind god; Centeotl Chi-
and ashes of previous human beings. With them the assem-
comecoatl, the maize deity (with both male and female as-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5908
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
pects); the octli (pulque) deity, Ometochtli, who had many
racks, platform altars, courts for the ritual ball game, giant
individualized avatars, each with its own name; Teteoinnan
braziers for perpetual fires, gardens and artificial forests, arse-
Tlazolteotl, the earth mother, with many aspects; and Xipe
nals, and so on. The typical teocalli consisted of a solid,
Totec, the gruesome “flayed god.” The third theme featured
staged substructure with a balustraded stairway on one side.
Tonatiuh, the solar deity; Huitzilopochtli, the special patron
At the top was the shrine containing the image—of stone,
of Mexico Tenochtitlán, who had strong martial associa-
wood, or clay—of the deity to whom the temple was dedicat-
tions; Mixcoatl Camaxtli, the Chichimec hunting and war
ed. The space between the door of the shrine and the head
god; Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the god of the planet Venus; and
of the stairs was the usual position for the sacrificial stone.
Mictlantecuhtli, the death god. Many minor deities presided
As indicated, the calendric cycles were intimately inter-
over various crafts and occupations, the most important of
connected with the ritual system. The most basic cycle, the
which was Yacatecuhtli, the merchant deity. A major, prote-
tonalpohualli, a permutation cycle of twenty days and thir-
an god who defies neat categorization was Quetzalcoatl,
teen numbers (totaling 260 days), was employed largely for
whose creative function especially stands out and, as indicat-
divinatory purposes. Each day, which possessed an inherent
ed, with whom a semilegendary Toltec ruler was inextricably
favorable or unfavorable augury, was patronized by deities in
entwined.
two series, one of thirteen (“lords of the day”) and one of
Ritual. The ritual system was intricate, variegated, and
nine (“lords of the night”), plus the thirteen “sacred birds.”
often highly theatrical. Some of the Spanish missionary eth-
The days were also grouped into various divisions; the most
nographers, influenced by Christian ceremonialism, divided
common arrangement consisted of twenty periods of thir-
the public, calendrically regulated rituals into those that were
teen-day “weeks,” each of which was patronized, as a unit,
“fixed” (geared to the xi-huitl, the 365-day vague solar year)
by a deity or deity pair. These complex batteries of influ-
and those that were “movable” (geared to the tonalpohualli,
ences, for good or evil, were carefully taken into account by
the diviners (tonalpouhque), particularly when “casting the
the 260-day divinatory cycle). The eighteen “fixed” ceremo-
horoscope” of the newborn child on the basis of the day of
nies, which were normally celebrated at the end of each
his or her birth.
“month,” or twenty-day period, together constituted the
most important series of rituals in the whole system, closely
No sharp division existed between the religious-ritual
linked to the annual agricultural cycle. Many were primarily
system that served the community as a whole and that was
concerned with fertility promotion and involved the propiti-
administered by the formally organized, professional priest-
ation of deities that most explicitly expressed this theme. The
hood and the more private system dominated by procedures
“movable” tonalpohualli-geared ceremonies were generally
usually defined as magical and practiced by “magicians” and
more modest in scope, but some were quite impressive, espe-
diviners or, as anthropologists usually prefer to call them,
cially that which occurred on the day 4 Ollin dedicated to
shamans. Aztec shamanism was richly developed. Often ne-
the Sun, which featured a strict fast and ritual bloodletting
glected in general treatments of Aztec religion, its impor-
by the whole community. The sacrifice of war captives and
tance deserves special emphasis.
condemned slaves and ritual cannibalism often, but not in-
The most generic term for shaman was nahualli, also ap-
variably, accompanied these major ceremonies. There were
plied to his “disguise,” usually a kind of animal familiar into
numerous other significant ritual occasions: key events in the
which he could transform himself. The power of the nahualli
life cycle of the individual, dedications of new structures and
could be used for beneficial or harmful ends. The malevolent
monuments, before and after battles, triumphs, investitures
practitioner employed a variety of techniques to inflict harm
(especially royal coronations), and the like. There was also
on his victim, including the application of sympathetic
considerable daily domestic ritualism, centered on the hearth
magic to destroy the victim by burning his effigy. One of the
fire and the household oratory. Many ceremonies were also
most important activities of the benevolent shaman was divi-
conducted in the fields by the cultivators.
nation. Aside from calendric divination, mentioned above,
The profession of the full-time, specialized priest,
various techniques were employed: scattering maize kernels
teopixqui (“keeper of the god”), was highly important. Practi-
and beans, knotting and unknotting cords, scrying by peer-
tioners were numerous and well-organized, with formal, hi-
ing into a liquid or an obsidian mirror, and so on. Divining
erarchic ranking. Much sacerdotal duty also devolved on “ro-
by ingesting various hallucinogens was also practiced. Divi-
tational priests” who served successive shifts for particular
nation to ascertain the cause of disease was important in cur-
periods of time. Priests usually lived together, practicing sex-
ing, which usually involved magical procedures, although
ual abstinence, in a monastic establishment (calmecac) in the
many genuinely efficacious empirical therapeutic techniques
temple compound. They were obligated to perform a rigor-
were also employed. Both the intrusive-harmful-object and
ous daily round of offertory, sacrificial, and penitential exer-
soul-loss concepts of illness were recognized.
cises. Religious activities were focused on the temple (teocalli)
Various illusionistic tricks were performed on occasion,
and the sacred precinct, usually walled, within which it was
such as animating wood images, burning structures without
situated. These precincts also contained the priestly dormito-
actually damaging them, and the shaman’s dismembering
ries and schools, sacred pools for purificatory bathing, skull
himself, also without inflicting real harm. Interpreting
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
5909
omens, auguries, and dreams was another important func-
wood and stone (and often portable) represented the major
tion of the nanahualtin, who were frequently consulted at
deities.
times of crisis. A famous example occurred after the arrival
The ceremonial system featured fire rituals. In each tem-
of Cortés, when a bewildered Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin
ple was a perpetual fire, and even the ruler was obligated to
(Moctezuma II), the ruler of Mexico Tenochtitlan, turned
cut and collect wood for these sacred fires. The principal cer-
to the diviners in desperation in an unsuccessful attempt to
emonies, during which the most prominent deities were pro-
understand the implications of the sudden appearance of
pitiated, were geared to the standard Mesoamerican annual
these strange newcomers on the shore of his empire.
calendar (18 x 20 + 5 = 365). The basic ritual patterns appear
The Spanish missionaries were generally successful in
to have been quite similar to those of other Mesoamerican
eliminating the established native priesthoods, but the indi-
groups, featuring abundant offerings, human and animal sac-
vidualistic practitioners of magic managed to carry on their
rifices, and dancing.
activities with little interference. Their repertoire was actual-
OTOMÍ RELIGION. After the dominant Nahuatl-speakers,
ly enriched by their adoption of various congenial European
the Otomí constituted the most important group in central
magical practices. In the less-acculturated Mexican Indian
Mexico. Their center of gravity lay northwest of the Basin
communities of today, the basically indigenous shamanistic
of Mexico, but they were also numerous, interdigitated with
tradition still thrives.
the Nahuatl-speakers, in the Basin itself. While Otomí were
TARASCAN RELIGION. The Tarascan-speakers, the Pure-
much deprecated, and considered backward rustics by Na-
pecha, centered in the modern state of Michoacán in the area
huatl-speakers, there actually seems to have been no sharp
around Lake Pátzcuaro, were a numerous and vigorous peo-
cultural division between the two groups. Their religious-
ple who, contemporaneously with the rise of the Triple Alli-
ritual systems were quite similar, although that of the Otomí
ance empire in central Mexico, built up a smaller but still siz-
did exhibit some distinctive features. They clearly shared
able dominion in western Mexico that effectively blocked
most of the leading deities of the pantheons of their Nahuatl-
Aztec expansion in that direction. Pre-Hispanic western
speaking neighbors.
Mexico shared most fundamental Mesoamerican culture pat-
A particularly important Otomí cult revolved around a
terns but often expressed them in a distinctive fashion. The
fire-death god who bore various names—Otontecuhtli
Tarascan religious-ritual system, which is only incompletely
(“lord of the Otomí”), Xocotl, and Cuecuex—and who was
known, was typical in this respect. Compared to that of the
merged with Xiuhtecuhtli Huehueteotl, the standard fire god
Aztec, it appears to have been somewhat less elaborated, with
of the Nahuatl-speakers. He was especially important in the
a smaller pantheon and a simpler ceremonialism.
cult of the Tepanec, who from their capital at Azcapotzalco
The most important deity seems to have been Curic-
had dominated a large area of central Mexico before the rise
aueri, the special patron of the Tarascan royal house. Curic-
of the Triple Alliance. Indeed, Otontecuhtli was considered
aueri was connected with fire, the sun, and warfare, and he
to have been the divine ancestor of the Tepanec, among
was symbolized by the eagle and a flint sacrificial knife. The
whom the Otomian ethnic element was very strong. His par-
Tarascan ruler was apparently considered to be his incarna-
ticular annual ceremony featured various rituals surrounding
tion. Urendecuaucara, the god of the planet Venus, was also
the erection of a tall pine pole at the top of which was affixed
of some importance. Other significant members of the pan-
a special, mortuary version of the god’s image formed of am-
theon included a deity of pulque, a god related to the Aztec
aranth seed dough. Boys scrambled up this pole on ropes,
Xipe Totec, and a death god, in addition to numerous lesser
competing to be first in grabbing the image. Both the
deities, among them various local patrons. Two goddesses
Otomí- and Nahuatl-speakers called this ceremony the Great
stand out: Xaratanga, an important fertility deity linked with
Feast of the Dead. It was also designated Xocotlhuetzi
Curicaueri, and Cuerauaperi, the old earth-mother goddess,
(“Xocotl falls”) by the Nahuatl-speakers, who had widely
seemingly cognate with the Aztec Teteoinnan Tlazolteotl
adopted it. An integral part of this ceremony was the sacrifice
(flaying and skin-wearing rituals were common to both
of a victim who was first roasted on glowing coals, then dis-
cults).
patched by the usual heart extraction method.
The Tarascan priesthood was well organized, with a hi-
One source ascribes even greater importance among the
erarchy of various specialists headed by an influential high
Otomí to another deity named Yocippa. He can apparently
priest. Like Aztec priests, the Tarascan priests wore badges
be identified with Mixcoatl-Camaxtli of the Nahuatl-
of office and carried gourd vessels for tobacco pellets, but un-
speakers, who was especially associated with the more no-
like Aztec priests they were not celibate. Shamanism was also
madic, hunting lifestyle of the Chichimec, with whom some
well developed, and divination by scrying (peering into a liq-
of the less sedentary Otomí were connected. His special an-
uid surface or a mirror) was of special importance. Tarascan
nual feast probably can be equated with Quecholli, dedicated
temples (yacatas), consisting of straw-roofed shrines atop
by the Aztec to Mixcoatl Camaxtli, which involved camping
massive, partly circular, staged substructures, were some-
out in the fields and hunting and sacrificing deer and other
times large and elaborate (e.g., the five major temples at
game animals Chichimec-style. In the cult of the major
Tzintzuntzan, the imperial capital). Sacred images of both
Otomí center of Xaltocan in the northern Basin of Mexico,
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5910
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
during the fourteenth century a significant imperial capital
of drunkenness. Another Aztec deity, Mixcoatl, usually as-
in its own right before its conquest by Azcapotzalco, a lunar
cribed to the Chichimec, the barbaric hunting peoples of the
goddess was preeminent. Lunar deities also appear to have
north, was also frequently depicted with patently Huastec
been important in the northeast Otomí-speaking region.
features. Some version of this god, therefore, probably also
figured in the Huastec pantheon.
The overall Otomí ritual system was essentially similar
to that of the Nahuatl-speakers. It also featured human and
Archaeological remains from the Huasteca, including
animal sacrifice, autosacrifice, incensing with copal and rub-
engraved shell ornaments, stone images and reliefs, and wall
ber, vigils, fasts, dancing, processions, chanting, and so on.
paintings, evidence the presence of other deities, including
Their calendric systems, including both the 260- and 365-
a death god, whose identifications often remain obscure. Ar-
day cycles, were also basically the same.
chaeological evidence also indicates that Huastec temples
HUASTEC RELIGION. The Huastec occupied the northeast
were often circular in form, both the staged substructures
corner of Mesoamerica, mainly in northern Veracruz, south-
and the shrines on top of them. These have sometimes been
ern Tamaulipas, and eastern San Luis Potosí. They spoke a
connected with round temples dedicated to Ehécatl Quetzal-
language of the Mayan family, although their territory was
coatl, whose Huastec iconographic affiliations I have men-
separated from that of the other Mayan-speakers by a consid-
tioned above.
erable distance. The Huastec were regarded by the Aztec as
The Huastec ritual system is barely known, but human
possessing numerous exotic traits: head deformation, filed
sacrifice and autosacrifice are well attested both ethnohistori-
teeth, tattooing, exaggerated nasal septum perforation for in-
cally and archaeologically. The modern survival of the Vola-
sertion of ornaments, yellow and red hair dying, no loin-
dor, or Flying Pole ceremony, indicates its ancient impor-
cloths worn by males, tendency to drunkenness and general
tance. There is also archaeological evidence for the existence
lewdness, and a reputation as great sorcerers, especially illu-
of the 260-day divinatory cycle, while one colonial source
sionists. Nahuatl-speakers had encroached on their territory,
lists a few apparent Huastec names for the eighteen twenty-
and some of their southernmost communities had been sub-
day periods of the 365-day annual cycle. It seems likely,
jected to Triple Alliance imperial control. Most, however,
therefore, that, as elsewhere in Mesoamerica, the major
were still independent—and often in conflict with each
Huastec ceremonies were geared to these cycles, but no fur-
other—at the time of the Conquest.
ther data are available.
Huastec religion is not well documented, but it appears
TOTONAC RELIGION. The speakers of Totonac, a language
to have been as richly developed as most Mesoamerican sys-
unrelated to Nahuatl but perhaps remotely related to the
tems. The pantheon must be largely reconstructed from
Mixe-Zoquean and Mayan linguistic families centered far-
Aztec sources that refer to various deities associated with the
ther to the east, occupied the lowland tropical area of central
Huasteca and that were represented wearing Huastec cos-
Veracruz, extending into the high mountains edging the
tume and ornamentation. The clearest example is Tlazolteotl
Mesa Central to the west. At the time of the Conquest their
Ixcuina, a licentious earth-fertility goddess, who was regular-
principal community was Zempoala (Cempoallan) near the
ly portrayed with costume elements and insignia of Huastec
coast, the first large Mesoamerican urban center visited by
type. It has been suggested that her alternate name, Ixcuina,
the Europeans, a few days after Cortés’s landing farther south
may actually be a Huastec word meaning “lady of the cot-
near the present city of Veracruz. Zempoala and most of the
ton,” a substance with which Tlazolteotl was intimately asso-
other Totonac-speaking towns had been conquered by the
ciated and that flourished in the hot, humid lowlands of the
Triple Alliance some years earlier. Totonac culture patterns
Huasteca. Flaying rituals were important in her cult, and
were basically Mesoamerican, reflecting strong influence
these also seem to have been an element in the Huastec cere-
from their Nahuatl-speaking neighbors and conquerors, but
monial complex (possibly also reflecting the presence of a
the Totonac also exhibited various distinctive features, some
version of Xipe Totec).
of which they shared with their northern Gulf Coast neigh-
bors, the Huastec.
Another important deity with strong Huasteca connec-
tions, both iconographically and in tradition, was the wind
The rather thin amount of knowledge of pre-Hispanic
and fertility deity, Ehécatl Quetzalcoatl. The numerous pul-
Totonac religion derives from the incompletely known ar-
que deities, with the common calendric name Ome Tochtli
chaeology of the area and, especially, from a lost account, ap-
(2 Rabbit), were more connected in Aztec sources with the
parently written by the young page reportedly left at Zem-
area south of the Basin of Mexico, centered on Morelos. But
poala by Cortés in August 1519 to learn Totonac. Preserved
in the Codex Borgia group of ritual-divinatory pictorials,
in part in three later missionary chronicles, this source de-
which probably originated in southern Puebla, western Oa-
scribes a Totonac trinity of deities: the Sun, Chichini; his
xaca, or Veracruz, these deities typically display Huastec in-
wife, the great mother-fertility goddess; and their son, who
signia. The alcoholic tendency attributed to the Huastec
was expected to return at some future time as a kind of re-
would support this connection. It is further evidenced by the
deemer. The goddess might have been a version of Tlazolt-
survival in modern Huastec communities of the ancient deity
eotl-Ixcuina, known to have been important in the cults of
of earth and thunder, Mam, also considered to be the god
the Gulf Coast groups, perhaps merged with the maize god-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
5911
dess. The son might be identified with the youthful male
speakers to the north was very strong in late pre-Hispanic
maize deity called Centeotl by the Nahuatl-speakers. Some
times, and most of the Mixtec city-states were tributary to
Christian influence here seems obvious, but the basic nature
the Triple Alliance at the time of the Conquest.
of these deities might have been accurately reported with the
possible exception of the redeemer aspect of the son. From
No systematic account of pre-Hispanic Mixtec religion
archaeological evidence, principally at Zempoala, the cults
is available, but its basic outlines can be reconstructed from
of other deities are discernible, including those of Ehécatl
a variety of sources. Among these are an unusual wealth of
Quetzalcoatl and Xochipilli Macuilxochitl. The latter, the
pictorial histories that include much material relevant to the
Aztec young god of flowers, dancing, music, and sensuality
Mixtec pantheon, ritual system, cosmogony, and cosmology.
in general, also had solar associations and overlapped with
What is known of Mixtec versions of their beginnings indi-
Centeotl. Undoubtedly the Totonac pantheon was much
cates that cosmogonical concepts were intertwined with dy-
more extensive than this, but more specific information is
nastic origins and ritualized community foundations
lacking.
throughout the four quarters of the Mixteca. A “celestial pro-
logue” to Mixtec royal history involved the creation by a pri-
The early Spanish account mentioned provides some in-
mordial demiurge male-female pair (probably corresponding
teresting information on the Totonac priesthood. A hierar-
to the Aztec Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl) of a culture hero, ap-
chy of six major priests is described whose attire and func-
parently also conceived in twin form, who iconographically
tions were essentially similar to those of Aztec priests. Lesser
and functionally closely resembles Ehécatl Quetzalcoatl of
religious functionaries assisted them, particularly in tending
the Nahuatl-speakers. Descending from the celestial realm,
the sacred fires. The priests also instructed children between
he presided over dynastic and community initiations and
the ages of six and nine in the tenets of the religious-ritual
consecrations and was apparently considered to have been
system. The importance of two elderly penitent “monks,”
the divine ancestor of Mixtec royalty. Other dynastic ances-
dedicated to the cult of the “great goddess,” is stressed. Con-
tors were believed to have emerged from a cosmic tree near
sulted regularly by the other priests as oracles, they lived in
the northern Mixtec community of Yutatnoho/Apohuallan
a retreat on a mountaintop, spending most of their time
(Apoala).
painting ritual books.
These semidivine ancestral heroes, as in the Nahuatl-
The same source describes various aspects of Totonac
speaking world, interacted closely with various deities, and
ritual, including incensing, fasting, circumcision, human sac-
no sharp line can be drawn between gods and men at this
rifice, autosacrifice involving the passing of straws through
stage. Although it has been suggested that the central Mexi-
a perforation in the tongue, ritual cannibalism, confession of
can concept of deity, teotl, does not conform to its putative
sins to a priest, and child sacrifice followed by the ingestion,
Mixtec equivalent, ñuhu, the two concepts were probably
“like the sacrament of communion,” of a concoction of rub-
not dissimilar. In any case, the pictorial iconography of Mix-
ber and seeds mixed with the young victims’ blood. The To-
tec supernaturalism was quite close to that of central Mexico.
tonac calendar appears to have been typically Mesoamerican.
Costume elements and insignia of personages often bear
Although the key early account speaks of only three major
striking resemblance to those of recognized Aztec deities.
ceremonies annually, all of which featured human sacrifice
Each major Mixtec community appears to have had a special
on a limited scale and ritual cannibalism, there is evidence
patron deity or deities, and the names (mostly calendric) of
that the usual round of eighteen principal ceremonies was
many of these are known. More than in any other Me-
celebrated at twenty-day intervals. The importance of the
soamerican pantheonic system, the Mixtec supernaturals
Volador ceremony is known from modern survivals. Archae-
were designated, both in the texts and pictorially, by their
ological evidence, especially at the site of Zempoala, demon-
calendric names. Only in part do they agree with their central
strates that Totonac temples were basically similar to those
Mexican counterparts. A number of their verbal names are
of the Aztec. The sacred images they contained seem to have
also known, such as Dzahui, name of the basic rain and fertil-
usually been carved of wood. No specimens survive.
ity deity, cognate with the Aztec Tlaloc.
MIXTEC RELIGION. The speakers of Mixtec, a language re-
Mixtec ceremonialism was richly developed, particularly
motely related to Otomí and closely allied to Zapotec, occu-
that revolving around “sacred bundles.” Human sacrifice and
pied an extensive region centered in western Oaxaca. Gener-
autosacrifice were a regular part of propitiatory ritual. Here
ally characterized by a very broken topography, the Mixteca
too the Volador ceremony was important, as was the ceremo-
featured numerous small city-states, politically autonomous
nial ball game played in formal I-shaped courts. The wide-
but closely linked by an intricate network of dynastic marital
spread cult of Xipe Totec, featuring flaying rituals, was well
alliances, a basically common language, and a shared reli-
established in the Mixteca, including its attendant ceremony,
gious ideology. Although it has recently been claimed by
the “gladiatorial sacrifice,” wherein the victim perished in
some scholars that the Mixtec religious-ritual system might
ceremonial combat. As elsewhere, much of the ritual was
have been quite different from that which prevailed in cen-
calendrically regulated. Mixtec temples were often represent-
tral Mexico, it appears to have been similar in most funda-
ed in the pictorials and were very similar to those of central
mental features. The influence of the adjacent Nahuatl-
Mexico. The holiest shrine of all, the Mixteca—seat of a far-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5912
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
famed oracle—was located on a mountain top near Ñuude-
huatl-speakers, known, among other titles and appellations,
co/Achiotlan in the heart of the Mixteca Alta—with a sub-
as Tloque Nahuaque (“master of the near and the adjacent”),
sidiary shrine in a cave in the valley of Yodzocahi/Yanhuitlan
Ipalnemoani (“he through whom one lives”), and Ometeotl
to the north.
(“dual deity”).
The Mixtec priesthood was well organized and influen-
The fertility theme, as usual, received special emphasis
tial. Candidates were ordinarily recruited when quite young
and was expressed by various supernatural personalities.
from the ranks of the nobility and underwent a rigorous
Standing out was Cocijo (“lightning”), the fundamental
training for at least a full year as novices. All future rulers re-
male fertility and rain deity, cognate with the Aztec Tlaloc
ceived this same sacerdotal education, also being required to
and the Mixtec Dzahui, along with Pitao Cozobi, a deity of
serve their yearlong novitiate. Following their training, most
maize and foodstuffs in general, cognate with the Aztec Cen-
future priests apparently returned to secular life and married
teotl. Pitao Xicala (Pecala), “god of desire and dreams,”
until called to their term of office, during which they usually
would also seem to fit in this category; he has been equated
served a particular deity and were required to be strictly celi-
with the Aztec Xochipilli-Macuilxochitl.
bate. Maintained by the rulers and constantly consulted by
them, in control of all “higher education,” they exerted great
Apparently a widely venerated deity, sometimes even
power in their communities. Shamanism was also well devel-
stated to have been the principal Zapotec god, was Pitao Pe-
oped. Mixtec practitioners of magic and sorcery particularly
zelao, lord of death and the underworld. This deity was espe-
specialized in calendric divination but also employed many
cially connected with the greatest of the Zapotec oracular
other techniques, sometimes aided by ingestion of halluci-
shrines, Liobaa/Mictlan (Mitla), which provided a ritual
nogens.
focal point for the Zapotec communities in and adjacent to
ZAPOTEC RELIGION. The Zapotec-speakers occupied an area
the Valley of Oaxaca. This god was also closely connected
of considerable ecological diversity in the eastern portion of
with the veneration of royal ancestors, whose tombs were
Oaxaca. Like the Mixtec, who were close cultural and lin-
prominently featured at Liobaa. The macabre Aztec “flayed
guistic relatives, the Zapotec were not politically unified. In
god,” Xipe Totec, whose cult was virtually pan-
the Valley of Oaxaca, Zaachila/Teozapotlan dominated a
Mesoamerican but was especially connected with the Oaxa-
wide area, and its political offshoot, Daniguibedji/
ca-Guerrero area, clearly played a role of some importance
Tehuantepec controlled much of the southern Isthmus of
in Zapotec religion, although the local sources provide scant
Tehuantepec. At the time of the Conquest most of the major
information. Many more names of ostensible Zapotec deities
Zapotec communities were tributary to the Triple Alliance.
are extant, but their importance and precise functions are ob-
scure. As was common throughout Mesoamerica, each com-
The Zapotec heritage was an ancient one. Most students
believe that the great Classic period (c. 100–700
munity featured a special supernatural patron or patrons, in-
CE) civiliza-
tion of Monte Albán was mainly the creation of Zapotec-
cluding, at times, deified ancestors. These were sometimes
speakers. By the time of the Conquest, Zapotec supernatural-
important, widely venerated deities; in other cases their cults
ism was typically Mesoamerican in its richness and complexi-
were apparently only local. As in the Mixteca, they were
ty. As in the case of the Mixtec, it has recently been suggested
often designated by calendric names.
that the Zapotec lacked the concept of individualized an-
Zapotec ceremonialism seems to have displayed virtual-
thropomorphic deities. It seems likely, however, that Zapot-
ly all known major Mesoamerican ritual patterns, including
ec religious concepts were not that different from those of
human sacrifice and its attendant ritual cannibalism. Oracu-
other advanced Mesoamerican cultures. A large number of
lar sanctuaries, often in caves, were important. In addition
Zapotec names for what the Spaniards, at least, regarded as
to that at Liobaa, one famous cave was situated on an island
dioses (Span., “gods”) were recorded in various colonial textu-
called in colonial times Laguna de San Dionisio, east of
al sources. Some appear to have been appellations and gener-
Daniguibedji/Tehuantepec, the capital of the Isthmus Za-
al designations of godhead rather than proper names in the
potec. Here the deity venerated as “the soul and heart of the
usual sense.
kingdom” appears to have been an earth god, perhaps known
A typically Mesoamerican abstract, creative godhead
as Pitao Xoo, and related to Tepeyolotl of the Nahuatl-
was of considerable importance, known by various appella-
speakers. The professional priesthood played an influential
tions: Coquixee, or Coquixilla (“lord of the beginning”), Piy-
role in Zapotec society; it was headed by a high priest, uijatao
etao (“great spirit”), and others, described in 1578 by Fray
(“great seer”), assisted by lesser functionaries: copa pitao
Juan de Córdova as the “god without end and without begin-
(“guardians of the deities”), ueza eche (“sacrificers”), and pi-
ning, so they called him without knowing whom,” and “god
zana (or vigaña, “young or student priests”). Shamanistic di-
of whom they said that he was the creator of all things and
viners called colanij were also important, particularly in
was himself uncreated.” Overlapping this deity was Pitao
calendric divination. As elsewhere, much of Zapotec ritual
Cozaana (procreator) with an apparent female counterpart,
was calendrically regulated, particularly the vital pancom-
Pitao Huichana (procreatrix). This Zapotec creative power
munity fertility-promoting ceremonies geared to the annual
was obviously cognate with a similar concept among the Na-
agricultural cycle.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: POSTCLASSIC CULTURES
5913
CONCLUDING REMARKS. This capsule survey of the reli-
of the Otomí speakers of central Mexico that includes an ex-
gious-ritual systems of the major western Mesoamerican
cellent section on the religious-ritual system.
groups in the Postclassic period reveals that they all displayed
Caso, Alfonso. The Aztecs: People of the Sun. Norman, Okla.,
numerous fundamental ideological and ceremonial similari-
1958. A very useful, well-illustrated, popular summary of
ties in spite of expectable regional differences in gods’ names
Aztec religion.
and ritual emphasis. The importance throughout western
Caso, Alfonso. “Religión o religiones Mesoamericanas?” In Ver-
Mesoamerica of the two basic calendric mechanisms, the
handlungen des XXXVIII. Internationalen Amerikanistenkon-
260- and 365-day cycles, in ceremonial regulation and in
gresses, Stuttgart-München, 12. bis 18. August 1968, vol. 3,
divination, deserves special emphasis as a common ideologi-
pp. 189–200. Stuttgart, 1971. After a broad comparative
cal structure linking the various subregions. The question
survey of the religious-ritual systems of the major peoples of
pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, the author concludes that one
arises, therefore, as to whether one is dealing here with a sin-
fundamental religion (rather than various religions) prevailed
gle fundamental religious-ritual system with numerous re-
in this area cotradition.
gional variants or with various essentially independent sys-
Dahlgren de Jordán, Barbro. La Mixteca: Su cultura e historia pre-
tems that happened to share, due largely to historical
hispánicas. Mexico City, 1954. The most comprehensive
contacts, most basic features. One way of addressing this
treatment of late pre-Hispanic and Conquest period Mixtec
question is to ask whether Aztec, Tarascan, Otomí, Huastec,
culture, based on ethnohistorical sources, both textual and
Totonac, Mixtec, and Zapotec priests, if brought together
pictorial. It includes an extensive section on religion.
(assuming an effective method of linguistic communication)
Jansen, Maarten. Huisi Tacu: Estudio interpretativo de un libro
to compare notes could adequately understand each others’
Mixteco antiguo, Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus 1. 2 vols.
cultic systems. The evidence appears to indicate that the sim-
Amsterdam, 1982. A significant study of Mixtec cosmogony,
ilarities would have far outweighed the differences and that
cosmology, and ritual patterns, focusing on the obverse of
they might well have had no difficulty in basic comprehen-
one of the most important of the pre-Hispanic Mixtec picto-
sion. If this view is valid, the religions of these groups could
rial screenfold histories. It includes pertinent observations on
be likened to an essentially common language divided into
Mixtec religion in general.
a number of mutually intelligible dialects—all of which
Krickeberg, Walter. Los Totonaca: Contribución a la etnografía hi-
would underscore the fundamental cultural unity of the Me-
stórica de la América Central. Translated from German by
soamerican area co-tradition.
Porfirio Aguirre. Mexico City, 1933. A comprehensive ac-
count of the culture of the late pre-Hispanic and Conquest
period Totonac, derived largely from ethnohistorical sources.
SEE ALSO Aztec Religion; Human Sacrifice, article on Aztec
A major section of the book is devoted to the religious-ritual
Rites; Toltec Religion.
system.
Léon-Portilla, Miguel. Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancient Nahuatl Mind. Norman, Okla., 1963. A broad sur-
Alcalá, Jerónimo de. Relación de las ceremonias y rictos y boblación
vey of Aztec religious ideology, based on relevant primary
y gobernación de lost Indios de la provincia de Mechuacan, co-
textual and pictorial sources and stressing the more philo-
ordinated by Moises Franco Mendoza. Morelia, Mexico,
sophical aspects.
2000. The best edition of the prime sixteenth-century source
Marcus, Joyce. “Zapotec Religion.” In The Cloud People: Diver-
on Tarascan history and culture, with essays by leading eth-
gent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited
nohistorians and color photoreproductions of all of the illus-
by Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus, pp. 345–351. New
trations in the manuscript (Escorial, Madrid, c. IV.5). It con-
York, 1983. A concise summary of Zapotec religion. Marcus
tains virtually all that is known about pre-Hispanic Tarascan
suggests that individualized anthropomorphic deities were
religion.
lacking in the Zapotec pantheon.
Alcina Franch, José. “Los dioses del panteón Zapoteco.” Anales de
Mateos Higuera, Salvador. Enciclopedia gráfica del México antiguo,
antropología 9 (1972): 9–43. A useful summary and discus-
I: Los dioses supremos; II–III; Los dioses creadores; IV: Los dioses
sion of the principal deities of the Zapotec-speaking peoples
menores. Mexico City, 1992–1994. Encyclopedic overview of
of eastern Oaxaca derived from sixteenth- and seventeenth-
the religious pantheon of the peoples of Late Postclassic Cen-
century ethnohistorical sources.
tral Mexico. Profusely illlustrated in color with depictions of
Beyer, Hermann. “Shell Ornament Sets from the Huasteca, Mexi-
deities and ceremonies in the native tradition pre-Hispanic
co.” In Tulane University, Middle American Research Insti-
and early colonial periods, plus drawings of stone carvings of
tute, publication no. 5, pp. 155–216. New Orleans, 1934.
prominent gods and goddesses.
A scholarly study of a series of shell ornaments from the
Meade, Joaquín. La Huasteca: Época antigua. Mexico City, 1942.
Huasteca that feature what appear to be representations of
The most comprehensive available treatment of the archaeol-
deities, which are perceptively discussed in relation to their
ogy and ethnohistory of the Huastec. It includes considerable
iconography in the ritual-divinatory pictorial manuscripts of
material on the religious aspect.
central Mexico and in the Codex Borgia group.
Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient
Carrasco Pizana, Pedro. Los Otomíes: Cultura e historia prehispáni-
Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoameri-
ca de los pueblos mesoamericanos de habla otomiana (1950).
can Religion. London, 1993. Scholarly, well-illustrated cata-
Reprint, Mexico City, 1979. A thorough, well-documented
log of the major deities, rituals, and religious concepts of the
survey of the late pre-Hispanic and Conquest period culture
Mesoamerican peoples.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5914
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
Nicholson, H. B. “Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico.” In
pp. 582–602. Austin, 1971. A well-documented account of
Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, edited by
what is known concerning Conquest period Huastec culture,
Robert Wauchope, Gordon F. Ekholm, and Ignacio Bernal,
including a brief but informative treatment of the religious-
pp. 395–441. Austin, 1971. A concise overview of the Con-
ritual system.
quest period Aztec and Otomí religious-ritual systems, based
on primary textual and pictorial sources. It includes a pro-
H. B. NICHOLSON (1987 AND 2005)
posed typology of the complex Aztec pantheon.
Nicholson, H. B. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The One and Future Lord
of the Toltecs. Boulder, Colo., 2001. Detailed summary and
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL
analysis of the numerious primary accounts of the rise and
CULTURES
fall of the most prominent ruler of legend-thronged Tollan,
The colonial period in Mesoamerica began with the found-
who was merged with the major wind/creator deity, Ehecatl
Quetzalcoatl, and was expected to return to reclaim his royal
ing of Spanish colonies in the 1520s to the 1540s and ended
dignity.
with the emergence of independent states during the 1820s.
The Spanish Conquest and the imposition of colonial rule
Olivier, Guilhem. Moqueries et metamorphoses d’un dieu aztéque:
was often violent, disruptive, and accompanied by epidemic
Tezcatlipoca, le “Siegner au miroir fumant.” Paris, 1997.
Wide-ranging analysis and interpretation of the protean, par-
disease. In the long run, however, most Mesoamerican com-
amount deity of the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of Cental
munities enjoyed local self-rule and flourished under the rel-
Mexico at the time of the Conquest.
ative stability of the pax colonial. The native subjects of what
the colonists called New Spain were exploited economically,
Pohl, John. “The Lintel Paintings of Mitla and the Function of
the Mitla Palaces.” In Mesoamerican Architecture as a Cultur-
but many aspects of native culture persisted under Spanish
al Symbol, edited by Jeff Karl Kowalski, pp. 176–197. New
rule, influenced only gradually by contact with non-
York, 1999. Comprehensive interpretation—building on the
Mesoamerican cultures. However, the one dimension of Me-
pioneer effort of Eduard Seler—of the fragmentary wall
soamerican culture that Spaniards were implacably dedicated
paintings, in a variant of the Mixteca-Puebla style, decorat-
to destroying was its religion.
ing the stone buildings of this paramount Zapotec oracular
shrine. Views them as a blend of the cosmographical biogra-
Arguably, therefore, the colonial institution that most
phy of the dynastically interrelated polities of the “easter
profoundly affected indigenous life in Mesoamerica was the
Nahua” (Puebla-Tlaxcala, La Mixteca, and Zapotecapan).
Catholic Church. Its impact was initiated by the earliest ar-
rival of Spaniards in Mesoamerica; by the time Hernando
Sahagún, Bernardino de. Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva
España (compiled 1558–1569; first published 1830). Paleog-
Cortés and his men arrived in Tenochtitlan on November
raphy and English translation by Arthur J. O. Anderson and
8, 1519, for example, they had destroyed native temples,
Charles E. Dibble as Florentine Codex: General History of the
erected wooden crosses, and criticized indigenous religious
Things of New Spain, Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, “Mono-
practices, often against the advice of the Spanish priests in
graphs of the School of American Research,” no. 14, parts
their company. Cortés’s efforts were allegedly showcased
1–13, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 1950–1982, plus revised editions
during one of his first conversations with Moctezuma, the
of parts 2 (1970), 3 (1981), 4 (1978), and 13 1975).
Mexica (or Aztec) emperor. According to Bernal Díaz, a
Seler, Eduard. “The Wall Paintings of Mitla.” Smithsonian Institu-
Spaniard who accompanied Cortés, the Spanish conquista-
tion, Washington, D.C., Bureau of American Ethnology Bulle-
dor sought out Moctezuma in his palace. There he promoted
tin 28 (1904): 242–324. The first adequate reproduction
the worship of Christ, grieved about the Mexica worship of
and interpretation of the wall paintings of the great Zapotec
devils, and begged Moctezuma and his party to become
sanctuary in the valley of Oaxaca. It includes the pioneer
Christian. Moctezuma’s often-quoted reply was:
scholarly account of Zapotec deities and religious concep-
tions.
I understand what you have said to my ambassadors
about the three gods and the cross, and what you
Seler, Eduard. Eduard Seler, Collected Works in Mesoamerican
preached in the various towns through which you
Lingusitics and Archaeology. English Translations of German
passed. We have given you no answer, since we have
Papers from Gessamelte Abhandlunger zur Amerikanischen
worshipped our own gods here from the beginning and
Sprach und Alterthumskunde, translated by Theodore Gut-
know them to be good. No doubt yours are good also,
man; edited by Frank Comparato. Culver City and Lancas-
but do not trouble to tell us any more about them at
ter, Calif., 1900–1998. Vol. IV, pp. 3–66.
present. (Díaz, 1963, pp. 222–223)
Spores, Ronald. “Mixtec Religion.” In The Cloud People: Diver-
gent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations, edited
Moctezuma’s response speaks to the Mesoamerican tendency
by Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus, pp. 342–345. New
to incorporate new religions into their own belief system
York, 1983. A concise summary of Conquest period Mixtec
rather than replace them. This incident foreshadowed indig-
religion by a leading Mesoamerican ethnohistorian-
enous responses to subsequent, more systematic evangeliza-
archaeologist specializing in this area.
tion efforts in Mesoamerica. As influential as the church re-
Stresser-Péan, Guy. “Ancient Sources on the Huasteca.” In Hand-
mained throughout the colonial period, indigenous
book of Middle American Indians, vol. 11, edited by Robert
individuals and communities played an equally significant
Wauchope, Gordon F. Ekholm, and Ignacio Bernal,
role in the development of Mesoamerican Catholicism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
5915
THE SPIRITUAL CONQUEST. Coming in the wake of (or pre-
with which Cortés and the other conquistadors received
ceding) military invasions, campaigns of evangelization have
these men.
often been viewed as manifestations of the Conquest. The
Mesoamericans witnessed the appearance of numerous
best-known example of such a view is Robert Ricard’s use
mendicants in the early post-Conquest period. Another reli-
of a term coined by colonial-era Franciscans, “spiritual con-
gious order, the Dominicans, sent a group of twelve friars to
quest,” in his seminal work on Christian evangelization ef-
New Spain in 1526, led by Fray Tomás Ortiz. Because the
forts in Mexico, La conquête spirituelle du Mexique (1933).
Franciscans had already begun extensive evangelizing in
Since then, spiritual conquest has come to denote the me-
the central plateau, the Dominican presence was confined to
thodical proselytization of indigenous Mesoamericans led by
the valley of Mexico and the Zapotec and Mixtec lands,
the mendicant orders—primarily the Franciscans, Domini-
obliging them to base their evangelization efforts in Oaxaca.
cans, and Augustinians, but also the secular clergy and later
By the time a group of seven Augustinians, the third major
the Jesuits. Although Ricard argues for the success of Chris-
mendicant order, reached New Spain in 1532, they found
tianization efforts in Mexico, scholars have challenged tradi-
themselves relegated to the lands unoccupied by the other
tional assumptions about the evangelization of Mesoameri-
two orders. In these early years, the religious were among the
cans, specifically the notion that native peoples were
only Spaniards living in the Mesoamerican countryside.
“spiritually conquered,” since the 1970s. This work began
When Spaniards eventually founded a permanent colony in
with the study of the Nahuas of central Mexico. In 1974, for
Yucatan in the 1540s, it was likewise the Franciscans who
example, Miguel León-Portilla published the first study ex-
led evangelization efforts and claimed the most lucrative par-
amining Nahua reactions to evangelization. Building upon
ishes.
this research, in 1982 J. Jorge Klor de Alva outlined a typolo-
gy of diverse and complex Nahua responses to Christianity,
IBERIAN CHRISTIANITY. Understanding the Castilian Ca-
and in The Slippery Earth: Nahua-Christian Moral Dialogue
tholicism that the Spanish conquistadors and mendicants
brought with them to Mesoamerica is essential to under-
in Sixteenth-Century Mexico (1989), the anthropologist Lou-
standing the progression of the “spiritual conquest.” This
ise Burkhart analyzed native-language catechetical texts, ar-
form of Roman Catholicism developed in the Iberian Penin-
guing for a reciprocal model of evangelization, essentially a
sula in part due to the Reconquista, the eight-century-long
Nahuatilization of Christianity (see also Dibble, 1974).
struggle to expel the Moors, who had invaded the Visigoth
Other scholars, working with texts in Spanish and Nahuatl,
kingdom in Iberia as new converts to Islam in 711. In 1492
have reinterpreted indigenous responses to Christianity
the last Moors were driven from Granada, their remaining
through the lens of resistance, subversion, and dissent, par-
Iberian kingdom. Led by the expansionist central kingdom
ticularly in examining sacramental confession (e.g., Gruzin-
of Castile, the Reconquista represented a reinterpretation of
ski, 1989; Klor de Alva, 1999). Not surprisingly, the devel-
the Iberian past and the promotion of the present as a Chris-
opment and treatment of native agency during the “spiritual
tian crusade, one that aggressively persecuted Jews and Mus-
conquest” parallels the progress of scholarship regarding na-
lims. Fresh from the unifying experience of fighting for
tive agency in other areas of the Conquest and colonialism.
Christian restoration in their homeland, sixteenth-century
Although priests accompanied the conquistadors in
conquistadors and mendicants simply transferred their exclu-
their earliest expeditions to the mainland (most significantly
sionary mentality from Islamic ritual to Mesoamerican reli-
the Mercedarian Fray Bartolomé de Olmedo in Cortés’s
gious practices. Oftentimes they also possessed a militaristic
party), the effective Christianization of Mesoamerica did not
approach to evangelization that was not adverse to the use
begin until the arrival of the Franciscans in Mexico City,
of force for religious purposes. This attitude was reinforced
which rose on the ruins of Tenochtitlan as the capital of the
by the doctrine that salvation resided in the Catholic Church
viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1523, Fray Pedro de Gante
alone as the true church founded by Christ. Not yet affected
(Peter of Ghent), a Flemish lay Franciscan, and his two priest
by the religious upheaval resulting from the secession of Mar-
companions were the first to arrive in New Spain. It was the
tin Luther (in 1517), sixteenth-century Iberians nevertheless
1524 appearance of twelve Franciscans in Mexico City, how-
struggled with the presence of crypto-Jews who publicly pro-
fessed Catholicism yet privately participated in Jewish ritu-
ever, that initiated the systematic evangelization of Me-
als. It was from this crusading atmosphere that the conquis-
soamerica. Led by Fray Martín de Valencia, “The Twelve”
tadors and mendicants arrived in Mesoamerica, intent on the
landed at Veracruz and walked the entire distance to Mexico
complete conversion of the peoples they encountered.
City. One of them, Fray Toribio de Benavente, changed his
surname to Motolinía when he noticed natives pointing to
Within the Franciscan order during the colonial period
his tattered garments and realized it was their word for “poor
another form of spiritual urgency existed. Certain members
person.” Motolinía’s response exemplifies the Franciscan
of the order, often called Spiritual Franciscans (as opposed
preoccupation with native language and culture that charac-
to Conventional Franciscans), embraced millenarianism, the
terized Franciscan activity in the early colonial period and
belief in the imminent second coming of Christ, which they
continued to some extent to its end. For their part, the
saw as dependant upon mass conversion of the newly discov-
Nahuas of Tenochtitlan were impressed by the reverence
ered peoples in Mesoamerica. As John Leddy Phelan explains
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5916
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
in The Millennial Kingdom of the Franciscans in the New
the friars hoped to channel Mesoamerican religious loyalty
World (1956), Fray Gerónimo de Mendieta was the most no-
towards Christianity and its manifestation by erecting new
table colonial Franciscan advocate of this mystical interpreta-
structures on traditionally sacred land. For the mendicants
tion of the Conquest. He based his ideology on the parable
then, new church buildings served as powerful symbols of the
of the banquet in Luke 14:16–24. In addition to the host
spiritual superiority of Christianity and the permanence of
(whom Mendieta identified as Christ), the parable names
its establishment. Not surprisingly, Mesoamericans often
three groups of people: the guests initially invited to the ban-
used their own religious language to identify these new struc-
quet who refuse to come; those from the streets who are in-
tures; the Nahuas referred to the church as teocalli (sacred
vited in their stead; and those compelled to attend to fill the
house) and the Mayas used the word kuna (god-house). They
hall. According to Mendieta, these groups represented the
also imbued new churches with local cultural and political
Jews, the Christians, and the Gentiles in Mesoamerica re-
meaning, painting and decorating them elaborately (in Mex-
spectively, with the understanding that once the last group
ico) or adding impressive towers (in Yucatan and in the Mix-
had entered the hall (i.e., become Christian), God’s plan for
teca) with an enthusiasm that friars interpreted as spiritual
the world would be fulfilled and it would come to an end.
zeal, rather than as a continuation of the competitive com-
The influence of this belief among the Franciscans persisted
munity pride that had given rise to pyramids and other mon-
until late in the colonial period, evidenced by Fray Junipero
umental pre-Conquest structures.
Serra’s founding of his California missions in the northern
During the colonial period, native parishes were called
frontier of New Spain in the eighteenth century. Not all
doctrinas (doctrines) rather than parroquias (parishes) to em-
Franciscans advocated millenarianism, but for those who
phasize indigenous status as neophytes engaged in the pro-
did, evangelizing the natives in Mesoamerica was seen as an
cess of conversion. This also differentiated native religious
extraordinary opportunity to become active participants in
communities from local Spanish churches. Because of the
the unfolding of God’s eternal plan.
limited numbers of Spanish clergy in Mesoamerica, only the
ESTABLISHING CHURCHES IN MESOAMERICA. Rather than
larger urban native communities had resident priests; smaller
implement a completely new system of church buildings and
towns would receive only occasional visits from a priest living
dioceses in Mesoamerica, the friars turned existing native
nearby, at which time he would celebrate Mass, baptize those
communities into parishes and deliberately constructed
born since his last visit, hear confessions, and preside at wed-
churches upon the ruins of Nahua, Mixtec, and Maya tem-
dings. Certain Mesoamerican communities criticized negli-
ples. Mexico City’s cathedral, for example, was erected adja-
gent or incompetent clergy whose visits were infrequent or
cent to the foundation of Tenochtitlan’s central temple. In
whose lackadaisical attitude resulted in mediocre spiritual at-
many instances, the temple’s ruins provided the construction
tention. Accusations of physical abuse or sexual molestation
materials as well as the site for the new Christian church. In
by priests, as well as complaints that clergy charged exorbi-
important native towns such as Cholula (central Mexico)
tant fees to administer the sacraments, surfaced with some
and Izamal (Yucatan), churches were built on top of the pre-
regularity. Those priests who were dedicated, particularly if
served pyramidal platforms of former temples using the same
they were fluent in the native languages of these communi-
stones. Not only did the mendicants raze Mesoamerican
ties, remained in high demand throughout the colonial peri-
temples and rebuild Christian churches, but they also de-
od. In 1567, for example, Maya parishioners petitioned the
stroyed images associated with native religious practice and
king to send them Franciscans who “speak well to us, truly
dismantled the native priesthood—inadvertently driving its
and clearly preaching to us, [and] wish to learn our language
remnants underground. Afraid of what might be contained
here,” but not secular clergy, who spoke no Maya and “really
in “pagan” religious documents, the friars confiscated and
ask and ask for a great deal of money” (quoted in Restall,
burned numerous native codices. This method ensured a
1998, pp. 160–165). Native community cabildos (town
rapid transition to Christianity—at least outwardly—that al-
councils) made skillful and often successful use of their access
lowed the more pressing matter of evangelization to begin;
to the colonial legal system to petition for the removal of
its unintentional side effect was to stimulate complex and
abusive, negligent, or unpopular priests.
largely clandestine native attempts to reconcile aspects of the
NATIVE LANGUAGES AND CHRISTIANITY. From its earliest
new religion to old beliefs and practices. These efforts were
interactions with native Mesoamericans, the church evange-
viewed as heretically recidivist by the Spanish priests who
lized them in their own languages, a policy that was formally
discovered them; they also believed that hieroglyphic and
accepted at the First Mexican Provincial Council in 1555.
painted books aided such spiritual resistance.
Members of the religious orders developed extensive linguis-
The friars’ motivation for establishing churches in this
tic and cultural training programs both in the New World
manner was both pragmatic and symbolic; they desired to
and in Spain. Beyond the immediate goals of communicat-
extirpate any native attachment to paganism and idolatry
ing with the natives under their care, preaching to them in
(which were more or less the same in Mesoamerica, due to
the open patios of their churches, and hearing their confes-
the devil’s influence, according to the Jesuit Fray José de Ac-
sions, the friars ultimately sought to understand native cul-
osta), and to eliminate any reverence for previous Me-
ture and religious practice in order to identify and eradicate
soamerican holy sites. On a spiritual and psychological level
it. Knowledge of local custom and language also enabled
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
5917
them to compose new sacred texts such as catechisms and in-
ers generally considered natives capable of Christianization
struction manuals for confessors that replaced the burned na-
and education, as well as full cultural Hispanization. In par-
tive codices. The mendicants developed native-language dic-
ticular, the Franciscans believed that “Indians” were raw ma-
tionaries and grammars by establishing schools where they
terial waiting to be formed in the Christian faith, and that
trained male nobles and their sons to write their languages
God had given the Franciscan Order a unique opportunity
in the Roman alphabet. In the sixteenth century alone, nu-
to bring souls to Christ to counterbalance the numbers who
merous native-language dictionaries, confession manuals,
were leaving the church to follow Luther. Given this attitude,
grammars, catechisms, and dramas were published.
it is not surprising that the 1532 Junta Apostólica, a quasi-
official gathering of clergy who met to draw up guidelines
The Franciscans dominated linguistic and ethnohistori-
for New Spain’s young church, made a statement in favor
cal studies in the colonial period (native complaints that
of the native capacity to accept Christianity. More impor-
priests did not speak the local language tended to be leveled
tantly, this Junta took the preliminary steps toward approv-
against secular clergy). Some of the most important native-
ing natives for priestly ordination by declaring that educated
language work was done by the Franciscan Bernardino de
natives and mestizos could be admitted into the minor or-
Sahagún, who arrived in Mexico in 1529 and remained until
ders, a preparatory step toward the priesthood. Despite these
his death in 1590. Sahagún devoted his life to a methodical
favorable beginnings, the Junta Apostólica of 1544 declared
study of native history, customs, and language, using a cadre
that native peoples could never be fully civilized and Chris-
of native assistants to produce a monumental, twelve-volume
tianized. Furthermore, the First Mexican Provincial Council
work, the Historia universal de las cosas de Nueva España.
of 1555 not only forbade the ordination of natives to the sac-
Usually referred to as the Florentine Codex, these volumes re-
ramental priesthood, but also prohibited them from touch-
main an invaluable resource for numerous aspects of fif-
ing the sacred vessels. The official church position regarding
teenth- and sixteenth-century Nahua (especially Mexica) cul-
native clergy in New Spain reflected the attitudes present
ture and history; their study has become a veritable subfield
throughout Mesoamerica, so that with very few exceptions—
of scholarship, complete with a debate on whether Sahagún’s
in some Jesuit missions or frontier regions—native men were
project was essentially medieval (e.g., Browne, 2000) or
not allowed to become priests (see Poole, 1989).
modern (e.g., Klor de Alva et al., 1988).
Among the secondary schools founded in Mesoamerica,
The challenge of indigenous language acquisition re-
the Franciscan College of Santiago Tlatelolco played the
mained more complex than simply translating Spanish texts
most significant role in the native clergy debate. Established
into native languages. The translation of Christian doctrine
in a Mexico City neighborhood in January 1536, the school
and such concepts as the Trinity and the Eucharist required
trained the sons of Nahua nobles in reading, writing, music,
careful attention to the nuances of individual native lan-
Latin, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, and indigenous medicine.
guages. Spanish clergy often resorted to incorporating words
Given the Franciscan position in the debate, the student
such as Dios (God), Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit) or obispo
body, the daily educational structure, and the subjects of-
(bishop) into their sermons or sacred texts, hoping—often
fered, this school appears to have been intended as a semi-
in vain—that by introducing a foreign word the concept
nary. Although its numbers grew in the first year, by the
would remain purely Christian. When the friars did use na-
1570s the project was abandoned; not one of its students re-
tive words, however, the result was often ambiguous. For ex-
ceived holy orders. The persistent opposition of the Domini-
ample, the Nahuatl word that was used to convey the Chris-
cans, the secular clergy, and the general Spanish population
tian idea of “sin,” tlahtlacolli, meant “destruction, error, or
to the college’s goals may have contributed to its demise.
crime,” while the word used for “devil,” tlacatecolotl, meant
Within its brief existence, however, the Franciscans’ most be-
“owl-person,” a Mesoamerican malevolent night creature
loved student was a Nahua named Antonio Valeriano, a bril-
who could make people sick, sometimes fatally. Similarly,
liant Latinist who became one of Sahagún’s collaborators. In
the terms Dominican friars used to convey Christian con-
sharp contrast to Valeriano was a former Tlatelolco student
cepts in Ñudzahui, the Mixtec language, illustrate the lin-
named don Carlos of Texcoco, a native leader accused of her-
guistic and conceptual difficulties that priests experienced in
esy and executed in 1539 by Fray Juan de Zumárraga, an in-
replacing pre-Conquest religious ideas with Christian ones:
quisitor and the first bishop of Mexico City.
“idolater” was tay yoquidzahuico, “person who makes feasts”;
THE ROLE OF THE INQUISITION IN MAINTAINING CHRIS-
and “the devil” was tiñomi ñaha, “owl-person,” or ñuhu
TIANITY IN MESOAMERICA. From the 1530s to the 1560s, In-
cuina, “deity who robs or tricks.” Understandably, Mixtecs
quisition-like proceedings, usually led by Spanish bishops,
accused of sins or crimes in the sixteenth century sometimes
often resulted in the torture and execution of Mesoamericans
claimed that “the devils deceived me” (quoted by Terraciano,
accused of heresy or idolatry. One of the most extensive—
2001, p. 304).
and, eventually, infamous—of these proceedings was the
THE NATIVE CLERGY DEBATE. In the early post-Conquest
campaign to extirpate idolatry in Yucatan led by the Francis-
years, from about 1521 to 1542, the majority of churchmen,
can Fray Diego de Landa in 1562, during which some four
both religious and secular, looked favorably upon the pros-
thousand Mayas were interrogated under torture (hundreds
pect of ordaining native clergy. Spanish priests and lay broth-
died). The much-publicized execution of don Carlos, of
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5918
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
which most crown and church officials disapproved, instigat-
inter-association of religious and political offices, friars also
ed a debate that was settled in the wake of Landa’s auto-
reinforced the status of local elite families at a time when so-
da-fé; Spanish policy finally recognized the inappropriateness
cioeconomic differences among natives were lessened by co-
of subjecting a people in the process of learning Christianity
lonial exploitation.
to inquisitorial persecution as heretics. Importantly, the
Each parish hierarchy consisted of several specialized
church defined a heretic as a baptized person who obstinately
positions. The fiscal was the most important religious offi-
denied some aspect of Catholic doctrine, a condition that did
cial; he acted as the priest’s assistant or deputy. His duties
not apply to most indigenous neophytes. Removing natives
included overseeing local matters such as teaching catechism
from persecution also reflected a common paternalistic atti-
to the parish children, monitoring the village Mass atten-
tude towards Mesoamericans that persisted among clergy
dance, and updating the parish birth, marriage, and death
throughout the colonial period. Nevertheless, in remote re-
records. The parish records that have survived are now some
gions native priests continued to practice traditional rituals
of the most valuable sources of information for historians
quite openly, although many were prosecuted. For example,
studying family structures, naming patterns, and demogra-
a Mixtec priest named Caxaa, arrested in 1544, testified that
phy. Other religious officials included the sacristanes (sacris-
he and two colleagues had continued to perform rites such
tans), who supervised the upkeep of the church buildings
as human sacrifice since before the Conquest.
and who, with the maestros de capilla (chapel choirmasters),
Consequently, when the Holy Office of the Inquisition
translated prayers and hymns into native languages for use
was formally established in Mexico City in 1571 to uncover
during Mass.
and penalize crimes against Catholicism, native people were
Music was an integral part of daily church life, particu-
exempt from prosecution. Although Mesoamericans did not
larly during Mass and other services, so that the native posi-
fall under Holy Office jurisdiction, the bishop-controlled
tion of maestro de capilla, or alternately the maestro de coro
Provisorato de Indios (also known as the ordinario) monitored
(choirmaster), brought considerable status. For his services
religious adherence in native communities. The church’s
the choirmaster occasionally enjoyed such privileges as trib-
policy toward indigenous Christians remained in effect until
ute exemption and might receive a small salary. Often, the
the Inquisition was dissolved in the nineteenth century.
other native members of the parish choir (i.e., the singers and
OFFICIAL INDIGENOUS PARTICIPATION IN COLONIAL
musicians) shared these benefits. Despite this honor, native
CHURCH LIFE. Although native men could not enter the
salaries did not compare to the wages received by choir mem-
priesthood, and the early decades of evangelization were
bers in the Spanish parishes. In addition to these important
often accompanied by violent campaigns of extirpation, Me-
religious officials, several minor religious positions existed
soamericans exercised considerable control over their reli-
that often varied by parish. In Nahua (and even in some non-
gious lives during the colonial period. Not only were church-
Nahua) parishes, the Nahuatl term teopan tlaca (church peo-
es built on pre-Conquest holy sites, but friars preserved
ple) labeled those responsible for such tasks as preparing bo-
aspects of Mesoamerican religious social and political struc-
dies for burial, digging graves, cleaning the church, and deco-
ture. Again, this decision was motivated by practical con-
rating the altar with fresh flowers and other seasonal
cerns, since there were so few priests available to administer
adornments.
to the thousands of native parishes scattered throughout Me-
Over time, the elite members of these religious hierar-
soamerica.
chies—as native representatives of the church—became a
Within each parish the mendicants appointed a hierar-
link between the local communities and the regional Spanish
chy of native officials to hold positions of importance. This
representatives of the church. They also interacted on the
hierarchy was usually drawn from the community’s male
community’s behalf with crown representatives of the Inqui-
elite; both before and after the Conquest, elite men repre-
sition and Provisorato responsible for monitoring the purity
sented local noble families, enjoyed privileged access to polit-
of the faith. Influential in their communities and benefiting
ical office, and were responsible for organizing activities
from their position as representatives of the crown, native
around the temple and palace complex (pre-Conquest) or
elites became instrumental in shaping church doctrine and
parish church (post-Conquest). They became lay catechists
developing devotional practices according to local custom.
who were trained by the friars in the basic tenets of Chris-
COFRADÍAS. Because parish hierarchy was limited to the na-
tianity, instructed in the Spanish language, and expected to
tive male nobility, the most important institution in native
assist in the recitation of the daily office. When Spanish
religious life was the cofradía (confraternity, religious broth-
priests were not present these native officials handled most
erhood, or sodality). Everyone was welcome to participate in
of the day-to-day affairs in their church, organized the com-
cofradías, including women and children. Importantly for
munity religious festivals, and otherwise supervised matters
women, they could assume informal leadership roles in a
of faith in the parishes. With this system the mendicants
manner unavailable to them within the parish hierarchical
found yet another method of easing the transition between
structure, thereby gaining community status while actively
Mesoamerican religious ritual and the introduction of Chris-
participating in local religious life. Already widespread in Eu-
tianity. By reinforcing the pre-Conquest Mesoamerican
rope, the cofradía gained popularity rapidly in Mesoamerica,
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
5919
even as it adapted to local custom. These voluntary organiza-
accept Christianity. In 1588, for example, a Jesuit criticized
tions of local residents devoted themselves to some aspect of
his native parishioners for worshiping Christ only at the urg-
Catholic belief, devotion, or to a particular saint. A cofradía
ings of priests or judges; he disapproved of their apparently
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, for example, could focus on
superficial veneration and doubted they believed the faith
the assumption, the rosary, the immaculate conception, or
wholeheartedly. Clerical responses to the problem of native
any of her numerous forms. If a cofradía chose Christ as its
conversion ranged from a paternalistic pardoning of their ac-
patron, it might be devoted to the child Jesus, the passion
tions as childlike confusion and innocent misunderstanding
of Christ, or the Eucharist. Small villages usually had only
to fiery allegations of inherent indigenous laziness, incompe-
one or two confraternities; larger towns could support a
tence, malicious intent, or even possession by the devil. The
dozen confraternities; and cities might have several confrater-
aspirations of the mendicants who arrived in the sixteenth
nities associated with each local church.
century intending to convert Mesoamericans within a gener-
ation or two were never realized. In fact, localized versions
Since each confraternity was responsible for sponsoring
of Christianity influenced by native practices continue to
a public religious celebration associated with its devotion, the
evolve in Mexico and Guatemala today.
name of the confraternity became important in dictating the
schedule of community festivals. If a cofradía was dedicated
The numerous similarities and possibilities for identifi-
to the assumption of the Virgin Mary, for instance, the Vir-
cation between native religions and Christianity complicated
gin’s image would be carried in an elaborate procession
attempts to determine the sincerity of native conversion. For
through the streets on August 15. The members of the co-
example, in addition to the successful introduction of the co-
fradía might even sponsor and reenact the event by configur-
fradía, the Christian cult of saints gained popularity
ing a platform with pulleys to raise an actress posing as the
throughout Mesoamerica. The patron saint of the local
Virgin heavenward while onlookers sang a Marian hymn.
church became the symbolic head of the community, replac-
The souls in purgatory, another popular devotion among
ing or even merging with the area’s pre-Conquest deity. Me-
confraternities, would celebrate its feast day on November
soamericans at times organized religious feasts for these
2, All Souls’ Day. In addition to the standard procession, this
saints, who were listed on the new Catholic calendar, on days
celebration might include a visit to the local cemetery with
devoted to deities in their own religious calendars. Similarly,
offerings of food and flowers or a donation to the priest to
during the colonial period the identity of Christ was often
offer Masses for the souls of departed relations.
associated with one of the manifestations of the ancient sun
god. Despite the outward appearance of Christianity and the
These elaborate religious celebrations were financed by
efforts of the Spanish priests, pre-Conquest beliefs remained
the confraternity’s treasury, to which each member contrib-
in wide circulation.
uted yearly dues. These funds were often invested in cofradía
properties or other enterprises, such as cattle ranches. The
Even if Mesoamericans wanted to accept the Christian
treasury was also used to cover the cost of members’ funerals,
belief system, misunderstanding or reinterpreting Catholic
to sponsor Masses for the souls of the dead, and to purchase
concepts in terms of their own cultural and ideological prin-
flowers, candles, costumes, and other accessories necessary
ciples was inevitable. Significantly, many fundamental
for religious celebrations. Additional duties included caring
Christian principles had no Mesoamerican equivalent—
for images in local churches and manufacturing priestly vest-
concepts such as heaven, hell, and the devil. With respect to
ments and processional platforms to be used when religious
the latter, for example, Fernando Cervantes has shown that
images were carried outside the church. Along with their
the pre-Conquest Mesoamerican belief that notions of the
spiritual duties, members attended to the physical needs of
demonic and the divine were “inextricably intertwined” con-
other members, particularly orphans and widows. Cofradías
tributed to early colonial diabolism (Cervantes, 1994,
were by no means exclusively native organizations, however,
p. 40). When priests confronted Mesoamericans caught in
since each group was formally instituted and overseen by the
apparent anti-Christian activities, the native defense was
Catholic Church. Nevertheless, at a local level they allowed
often to claim deception by the devil; in the 1530s, for exam-
communities to unite and organize their own religious festi-
ple, Andrés Mixcoatl made such a claim when arrested for
vals, and they offered a counterbalance to the spiritual leader-
casting spells and claiming to be a god, as did Tacaetl for
ship of the local foreign priest. As economic and political
making rain sacrifices to the devil, and Culoa Tlaspicue, who
organizations, as well as social and religious ones, Mes-
claimed to be a prophet responsible for “the care of the dev-
oamerican cofradías were connected to all aspects of native
ils” (Cervantes, 1994, p. 46). These men were not simply re-
life.
sisting Christianity, but attempting to reconcile the new reli-
gion with old practices and beliefs—to preserve sacrifice,
THE QUESTION OF NATIVE CONVERSION. The existence and
which was so important to Mesoamerican religions but
popularity of cofradías implied a homogeneity within native
which the friars insisted was the work of the devil.
communities that did not always exist. Although most na-
tives were baptized within decades of Spanish rule, through-
Thus the cultural divide that existed between Spanish
out the colonial period priests complained that Mesoameri-
priests and their native parishioners prevented either side
cans resorted to their prior beliefs even after appearing to
from engaging in dialogue on an equal plane. For the priests,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5920
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
conversion was an act of exclusionism, but for Mesoameri-
this day. Indigenous curers, midwives, and conjurers main-
cans, accepting Christianity did not signify a rejection of
tained their practices after the introduction of Christianity,
prior beliefs, since incorporating the gods of their conquerors
often with the inclusion of Catholic prayers, rituals, or ob-
into their own systems of belief was an orthodox religious
jects. Kevin Terraciano’s observation that “conventional Eu-
practice. For this reason, even as Catholicism outwardly re-
ropean distinctions between priests and sorcerers, religion
placed indigenous religion, ancient practices often combined
and magic, did not apply in the Mixteca” was true to some
with Christian forms to develop into highly individualized
extent throughout Mesoamerica (Terraciano, 2001, p. 271).
local traditions. The paucity of priests in Mesoamerica
The confusion created by Christianization further blurred
throughout the colonial period contributed to the inconsis-
the line between native medicinal practices and the persis-
tent native response to Christianity, so that the Christianiza-
tence of Mesoamerican religion at the folk level—as well as
tion process in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was
that between medicinal practitioners or healers and the un-
often a confused and reactive one; natives in rural communi-
derground post-Conquest native priesthood. The abovemen-
ties responded in unorthodox ways to inadequately explained
tioned Andrés Mixcoatl, for example, confessed to the Inqui-
and alien concepts, then absentee priests responded in turn
sition that he had preached that “the [Franciscan] brothers’
when these unorthodoxies created local tensions.
sermons were good for nothing, that I was a god, that the
The religious syncretism that often emerged from native
Indians should sacrifice to me.” (quoted in Gruzinski, 1989,
responses to evangelization had larger cultural implications.
p. 36), but he also behaved much like the shamans who
Priests sought to regulate not just belief and ritual, but also
could be found in many regions of Mesoamerica throughout
family life, gender relations, and sexual identity; in these
the colonial period and beyond—practicing divination with
areas too, native ideas and practices persisted while being
grains of corn (a Maya h-men might have used cacao beans),
gradually influenced and altered by Catholic culture. Schol-
healing the sick, and using hallucinogens such as mush-
ars examining native conversion continue to uncover indica-
rooms.
tions of personal decisions and forms of devotion by colonial
Mixcoatl was but one of hundreds of non-Spaniards in-
Mesoamericans. These are illustrated by the explanation
vestigated by Inquisition or Provisorato priests for crossing
made to the Dominican fray Diego Durán by an “idolatrous”
over, in speech and deed, the religious lines drawn by the
Nahua that natives were “still nepantla . . . which means,
church in New Spain in its Sisyphean efforts to forge Catho-
to be in the middle” (quoted in Burkhart, 1989, p. 188; Cer-
lic orthodoxy. The patterns contained in these cases are still
vantes, 1994, p. 57). Scholars have interpreted nepantlism
being studied by scholars, but the following simplification
variously as a form of syncretism, as representing a middle
may be made: in the sixteenth century, Spanish priests were
ground between faiths, as reflecting the lack of a middle
more likely to associate native shamanism with idolatry; in
ground between mutually exclusive alternatives, or as a pana-
the seventeenth century they were more likely to condemn
cea for myriad personal accommodations. Personal responses
shamanism as witchcraft or as superstition. This gradual shift
are also revealed in baptism patterns (which cannot solely be
reflected the ongoing syncretism of Mesoamerican religion
explained by priestly activity, since natives often requested
and Christianity with unorthodox native practices less readi-
the sacrament for religious, social, or political reasons), in the
ly identified by Spaniards as idolatrous; it also reflected the
religious formulas that open the testaments dictated and re-
impact of African folk religious and healing practices as the
corded in Mesoamerican languages (formulas based on Span-
quarter of a million black slaves imported into New Spain
ish models but exhibiting local and even individual variations
before 1650 and their Afro-Mexican descendents began to
that hint at personal piety), and in the keeping and bequeath-
mix culturally and biologically with Mesoamericans.
ing of saint images.
THE TZELTAL REVOLT. Although most Mesoamericans ac-
Indeed, the prevalence of personal syncretic devotions
cepted Christianity at least outwardly, the colonial period
remains most evident within the private rather than the pub-
witnessed numerous resistance movements among native
lic sphere. At the household level, a family altar became the
peoples. Many forms of dissent remained personal, such as
center of religious devotions. Called santocalli (saint’s house)
refusal to accept baptism, persistence in polygamous rela-
in Nahuatl, Christian images such as saints, rosaries, and cru-
tionships even after promising Spanish clergy to become mo-
cifixes were displayed alongside figurines associated with in-
nogamous, or refusal to attend religious services. Yet even
digenous deities without concern for religious inconsistency.
when resistance became communal, Mesoamericans usually
Families gathered before these altars to recite Christian
sought to form their own Christian cults that incorporated
prayers in their native languages, to make offerings of flowers
native beliefs rather than completely reject Catholicism. Lo-
or food, and to clean and sweep around it. These altars even
calized native resistance may be read as an assertion of the
became the focus of native wills that specified the types of
right to govern local religious development rather than rely
offerings and reverence the inheritor was to perform.
on a foreign (i.e., nonlocal) clergy. Rebellions typically began
THE PERSISTENCE OF FOLK RELIGIOUS CULTURES. Me-
as a reaction against negligent or abusive priests, and general-
soamerican altars were only one aspect of native folk religion
ly centered on an individual who appropriated the identity
that developed in the colonial period and that continues to
of the Virgin Mary, Christ, or another saint.
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
5921
One of the most well-known religious rebellions took
the ruins of a pre-Conquest temple on Tetoltepec hill. Then,
place in Chiapas in 1712 among the Tzeltal Maya. Often
in the 1570s, the Mexico City council appropriated this cult,
called the Tzeltal Revolt, this event remains unusual, for al-
founded a new church and cofradía for her, and made her
though small local riots and revolts were commonplace, large
the patron saint of the city. Over the following half-century,
regional revolts such as this, amounting to a localized revolu-
despite competing stories relating to the appearance of the
tion in ideological terms, were not. The revolt began when
Virgin and numerous lawsuits over the shrine, the image of
the Virgin Mary appeared to a thirteen-year-old Tzeltal
a benevolent Mary associated with local Nahua followers
Maya girl named María López (later known as María de la
gradually replaced the earlier Conquest-related Virgin of
Candelaría) as she walked along the outskirts of Cancuc.
Remedies. In other words, “the symbolism of Remedies was
María’s father, Augustín López, a sacristan in his communi-
altered to correspond to changing colonial reality” (Curcio-
ty’s parish, was instrumental in advertising the miracle and
Nagy, 1996, p. 374). By 1700, the statue of the Virgin had
gaining local support to build a small chapel on the site at
been carried into Mexico City nineteen times; she made the
the Virgin’s request. Fray Simón de Lara, the Dominican
journey another thirty-two times between then and 1810,
priest assigned to Cancuc, investigated the event, denounced
while a second image of her, known as the Peregrina, made
it as instigated by the devil, and flogged María and Augustín.
regular visits to native communities in and around Mexico
He did, however, allow the chapel to remain.
City, many of which also claimed her as their patroness. The
Events escalated quickly; later that month several citi-
Virgin of Remedies was eventually replaced, at both an offi-
zens from Cancuc were imprisoned after they traveled to
cial and popular level, by Guadalupe, but her festival—
Chiapas to ask the bishop’s permission to maintain the chap-
featuring native dance performances—still takes place on top
el. Religious authorities also imprisoned Cancuc’s civic lead-
of Tetoltepec hill.
ers, but their prompt escape only served to strengthen the
From its earliest days in the sixteenth century, when a
cult. Its members removed the Christian images from their
small shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe was dedicated at
local church, placed them in their own chapel, and pro-
Tepeyacac hill outside Mexico City, the devotion to Guada-
ceeded to participate in a ceremony imitating Mass during
lupe divided the Spanish clergy, disrupted communities who
which native priests were ceremoniously ordained. A letter
embraced it, became the topic of passionate sermons and po-
signed by “the Most Holy Virgin Mary of the Cross” circu-
lemical colonial writings, as well as the subject of hundreds
lated among the townspeople encouraging them to revolt
of colonial paintings. The reason for the Guadalupe debate
against Spanish rule since there was neither God nor king.
was and continues to be the lack of contemporary historical
The people of Cancuc were joined in the Tzeltal Revolt
evidence to support the tradition’s origins. In fact, the first
by twenty neighboring native villages. These rebels not only
extant source that references the Guadalupe story is Imagen
raided Spanish towns, killing clergy and militiamen and forc-
de la Virgen Maria, Madre de Dios de Guadalupe (Image of
ing women to marry Maya men, but they also attacked indig-
the Virgin Mary, Mother of God of Guadalupe), a Spanish
enous towns that remained loyal to the colonial regime.
account written in 1648 by a Spanish Mexican priest named
Their movement was eventually repressed by a Spanish and
Miguel Sánchez. The following year, a priest named Luis
native army and its leaders flogged or executed; Cancuc was
Laso de la Vega published a similar account in Nahuatl,
razed and its residents forcibly resettled. By February 1713,
known as Huei tlamahuiçoltica (and whose full title translates
nine months after the apparition outside Cancuc, the last of
as “By a great miracle the heavenly queen, Saint Mary, our
the rebel leaders abandoned the cause, and the Spaniards ini-
precious mother of Guadalupe, appeared here near the great
tiated strict laws regarding apparition stories or claims of mi-
Altepetl of Mexico in a place called Tepeyacac”), which was
raculous occurrences.
destined to replace Sánchez’s version as the standard appari-
THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE. Significantly, the two most
tion account.
successful religious devotions to emerge from the colonial pe-
According to Catholic tradition, popular Mexican be-
riod in Mesoamerica, the cults of the Virgin of Remedies (La
lief, and these accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared to a wid-
Virgen de los Remedios) and the Virgin of Guadalupe, were
owed 57-year-old Nahua peasant and recent convert named
not born in revolt. Both have been, at various times, highly
Juan Diego as he walked to Tlatelolco for Saturday morning
controversial, but nonviolent debate seems to have encour-
Mass. After departing from his village of Cuauhtitlan on De-
aged rather than diminished the popularity of, and a wide-
cember 9, 1531, Juan Diego suddenly heard the singing of
spread devotion to, these Virgins—especially Guadalupe—
many birds as he passed Tepeyacac hill near Mexico City.
that has persisted to this day.
The singing ceased as suddenly as it began, replaced by a vi-
The Virgin of Remedies has enjoyed several phases of
sion of a beautiful brown-skinned lady standing amidst the
devotion in central Mexico. She first appeared during the
rocks and shrubs. Summoning him tenderly, she identified
Conquest, allegedly assisting the Spaniards against the Mexi-
herself as the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and requested
ca during the war of 1519 to 1521. Twenty years later she
that he approach the bishop so that he might build a chapel
appeared to a Nahua nobleman, Juan de Tovar, who main-
at that site to signify her love for Mexico’s indigenous people.
tained a shrine to her, at first in his home but later among
After several meetings with Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the first
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5922
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: COLONIAL CULTURES
bishop of Mexico City, and subsequent meetings with the
from the 1940s to 1980s. The position adopted by the influ-
Virgin, to whom Juan Diego reported his failure, the bishop
ential Angel María Garibay (a Nahuatl scholar and basilica
asked him for a sign from the lady to prove that she was in-
canon) in the 1950s was ambiguously neutral on the issue
deed the Mother of God.
of historicity, prompting criticism from Edmundo
O’Gorman, who argued in the 1980s that Antonio Valeriano
On December 12 the Virgin asked Juan Diego to walk
was the original author of the Nahuatl account (the official
to the top of Tepeyacac hill and gather the roses he would
position today of the Mexican Catholic Church). Even so,
find growing there, which she arranged in his cloak (tilmatli,
O’Gorman did not believe that this supported the historicity
now known as tilma) with her own hands. When Juan Diego
of the apparition story. Since Poole published his 1995 book,
unfolded his tilma before the bishop, the roses fell to the
there has been no shortage of Mexican scholars, José Luis
ground to reveal a miraculous imprint of the Virgin. Fray
Guerrero prominent among them, to respond to him and his
Zumárraga fell to his knees, realized his error in not believing
colleagues.
the humble Nahua, and took the image to his private chapel
Despite the persistent controversy over the historicity of
until construction of the Virgin’s chapel was completed on
the apparition, the Catholic Church approved the Guada-
December 26, 1531.
lupe tradition in official declarations beginning in the eigh-
The story of Guadalupe remains one of the most trea-
teenth century. In 1723, Our Lady of Guadalupe was pro-
sured accounts in Mexican popular culture from the colonial
claimed the “Patroness of Mexico City” and in 1737 she was
period, inspiring writers over the centuries to debate the case
named the “Patroness of New Spain” from California to El
for it as truth or legend. Stafford Poole’s Our Lady of Guada-
Salvador. Pope Benedict XIV approved these declarations for
lupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol,
universal devotion by proclaiming Guadalupe the “Patroness
1531–1797 (1995) points out several internal inconsisten-
of Mexico” in 1754. Official recognition gained further mo-
cies within the Nahuatl document in de la Vega’s Huei tla-
mentum in the late twentieth century. Pope John Paul II be-
mahuiçoltica. For example, he notes that although the text
atified Juan Diego on May 6, 1990, at the Basilica of Our
refers to the Franciscan presence in Tlatelolco, sources indi-
Lady of Guadalupe, declaring December 9 as his feast day.
cate that these friars had not yet established missions there
On July 31, 2002, he canonized Juan Diego before a crowd
by 1531, but had, in fact, resided in Juan Diego’s hometown
of millions at the Basilica, making him the first indigenous
of Cuauhtitlan as early as 1525. In addition, native common-
American saint of the Catholic Church.
ers in 1531 did not usually take double Christian names.
Because the worlds of academic discourse and personal
Most important is the name of the devotion itself, taken
faith do not often intersect, the debate over Guadalupe will
from the Spanish Virgin of Extremadura, but whose pronun-
remain controversial both within its colonial context and in
ciation would have been difficult for Nahuatl speakers, since
its modern form. Considered alternately as being of indige-
there is no d or g in their language. Poole also challenges
nous origin, an invention of the sixteenth-century Spanish
scholarship that accepts Tepeyacac hill as the site of pre-
clergy to argue for their successful evangelization efforts, a
Conquest Nahua worship of the mother goddess, Tonantzin,
seventeenth-century development to promote unity among
pointing out that native sources never mention this. He
clergy born in the New World, or as an authentic apparition
notes that Fray Bernardino de Sahagún first made this identi-
story, the Virgin of Guadalupe has become the national sym-
fication and remains the principal source of this error perpet-
bol of Mexico and an important aspect of Latin American
uated by subsequent chroniclers. All of these complications
life today. Despite the roles of the colonial Spanish clergy
lead Poole to conclude that the chapel at Tepeyacac hill dedi-
and of modern Mexican politics in the development and per-
cated to the Virgin of Guadalupe predated the apparition ac-
petuation of the Guadalupe cult, the Virgin also represents
count. Many historians agree with this conclusion, including
the importance of the native influence on the evolution of
Nahuatl scholars Lisa Sousa and James Lockhart, who to-
Mesoamerican Catholicism. Christianity was not just im-
gether with Poole published a new English translation and
posed on Mesoamerica; it was in numerous ways appropriat-
transcription of the Huei tlamahuiçoltica in 1998. Neverthe-
ed by indigenous peoples and made Mesoamerican—that is,
less, considerable scholarship exists to support the historicity
made meaningful in local, native terms.
of Juan Diego and his sixteenth-century vision, especially in
SEE ALSO Afterlife, article on Mesoamerican Concepts; Co-
Mexico, beginning with priest and professor Luis Becerra
lonialism and Postcolonialism; Temple, article on Me-
Tanco’s two books of 1666 and 1675 in defense of the tradi-
soamerican Temples.
tion, and the polymath Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora’s de-
votion to Guadalupe later that century. By the late nine-
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printed in Handbook of Latin American Studies, vol. 38.
acterized the post-Conquest history of many regional towns.
Gainesville, Fla., 1976.
A widespread belief that a given town’s leaders are uniquely
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
capable of performing the rituals needed to maintain cosmic
CUSTOMARY RELIGIOUS EXPRESSIONS. Before the arrival of
order has functioned in a centripetal manner to strengthen
the first Europeans to Mesoamerica, the region’s indigenous
the community at its political center. This in turn might but-
inhabitants conceived of the cosmos as square. At its center
tress the capacity of a town to negotiate with outside reli-
was an axis mundi, typically in the form of a mountain, a
gious, political, and economic interests.
tree, or a maize plant. There was a general consensus that the
cosmos was layered and populated by multiple deities.
These dynamics help explain a common characteristic
Whereas the specifics of the configuration varied regionally,
of post-Conquest Mesoamerican religion: its distinctly local
the subterranean realm(s) included an association with death
orientation. In various places, such as Zincantan, Mexico,
and similarly with ancestors and the past. Although this
and Momostenango, Guatemala, the town has been under-
realm seems to have evoked frightful emotions—to the
stood by its inhabitants to be the literal center of the cosmos.
K’iche’ it was even called Fright Road—it was also under-
Whereas this sense of sacred center manifest on a local level
stood by many of the region’s inhabitants to be a source for
has identifiably pre-Conquest origins, with the arrival of Eu-
the regeneration of the living present. Whether pertaining to
ropeans it came to include key elements of Catholicism, such
humans, plants, or the vital life-nurturing rain, life was
as the saints, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. In marked contrast
thought to come from death. Another widespread character-
to this syncretistic blending of indigenous and European reli-
istic was a belief that religious ritual, typically performed by
gious expressions are other Mesoamerican locales that have
specialists, was needed to insure the recycling of death into
been fully integrated into the European cultural sphere. The
life and ultimately back into death. These beliefs contributed
capacity of a given town or region to avoid this type of inte-
to a ritual focus that was circular and repetitive in nature and
gration—and similarly to maintain its customary local orien-
all the while aimed backward to the ancestral past. This death
tation—has often been a function of geographic or economic
to life cycle was sometimes expressed using vegetation meta-
isolation.
phors, underscoring the centrality of agriculture in daily life.
In the early twenty-first century the dynamics of global-
In 1519 Hernan Cortés and the first large contingent
ization are fully engaged in undermining that isolation. Di-
of Spaniards arrived in Mesoamerica. While primarily moti-
verse global forces, such as the North American Free Trade
vated by the desire for wealth, these conquistadores also
Agreement (NAFTA), loss of land to agribusiness, massive
sought to convert the region’s indigenous population to Ca-
internationally based missionization, and cable television
tholicism. Although within a few decades newly built
mean that in the struggle between tradition and change, the
churches—often constructed on the sites of pre-Conquest
defining currents are steeply slanted toward change. The ca-
temples—were to be encountered in all but the most isolated
pacity of local communities to maintain any sort of viable
areas of Mesoamerica, the Europeans soon discovered that
autonomy is being overwhelmed. As a result modern Me-
the “spiritual conquest” of the region was far more difficult
soamerica has witnessed changes in the religious landscape
than its military subjugation. A general dearth of Spaniards
not seen since the Conquest nearly five hundred years ago.
and a preference for the company of their own countrymen,
As the traditional religious-based political hierarchies have
compounded by their attraction to areas rich in readily ex-
lost their capacity to successfully negotiate with outside in-
ploitable economic resources, insured a high degree of indig-
terests, the local citizenry has turned away from both those
enous self-administration, particularly in peripheral rural
hierarchies and traditional religious beliefs as well. In some
areas. In his book Catholic Colonialism, Adriaan van Oss ob-
cases secular national political parties have replaced the cus-
serves that “by approaching the conversion of Indian com-
tomary indigenous hierarchies. In other cases new religious-
munities through their traditional leaders, missionaries in-
based political movements have ascended to power. Notable
sured that the persons who played an active role in the
in this regard has been the politics of Guatemalan Efraín
establishment of the new cult, for example as sacristans, aco-
Ríos Montt. Founding his politics on an overt platform of
lytes, catechists, etc., would in many cases be exactly the
evangelical Protestantism, Ríos Montt reigned over an ex-
same individuals who before the conversion had occupied
ceedingly violent military junta in the early 1980s. He re-
comparable positions in the spiritual life of the community,
mains perhaps the most influential politician in the country
with obvious implications for the kind of Christian obser-
in the early twenty-first century.
vance which took root” (van Oss, 1986, p. 21). The effects
Despite the success of recently introduced religions in
of that situation are evident in the religious lives of many
contemporary Mesoamerica, especially Protestantism, as-
Mesoamericans even in the twenty-first century.
pects of the older religious forms are still evident. In fact the
COSTUMBRE. Central to the “Christianity” that took root in
religious landscape of Mesoamerica is highly diverse. The
post-Conquest Mesoamerica is a shadowy construct known
range of religious identifications and behaviors exceeds just
simply as costumbre. Costumbre, which can be defined as “old
indigenous expressions with deep historical roots and recent-
inherited ways of knowing and doing,” is often employed in
ly introduced religions with unmistakable foreign character-
verb form, as in to “do costumbre.” For most of the past five
istics but also includes such expressions as revitalization
hundred years life in many Mesoamerica communities has
movements representing a backlash against outside intru-
been molded by it. To be a member of the community was
sions.
to be a Costumbrista, a practitioner of costumbre. Costumbre
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
5925
can be performed in myriad forms, from praying to the gods
Although this type of belief can be traced to the pre-
to planting maize. This vastly important component of post-
Conquest past, it would be incorrect to conclude that it rep-
Conquest culture tends to be shrouded in secrecy. In Corn
resents some pristine form of ancient culture. Instead, even
Is Our Blood the anthropologist Alan Sandstrom observes
when having significant links to the past, the indigenous cul-
that the Nahua of Amatlán, Mexico, passively avoid reveal-
tural expressions of post-Conquest Mesoamerica have been
ing anything about costumbre to outsiders by simply never
“reconstituted” in entirely new ethnic and class contexts.
revealing where or when a ritual is held. He writes that “so
Clearly when the Spanish arrived and began their attempts
effective is their method of concealment that I had spent al-
to subdue and to control the indigenous inhabitants—to
most five months in Amatlán before I was aware that there
conquer them—that population’s embrace of the ancestral
was any ritual activity in the village. I was beginning to won-
past took on significant new political implications. While in
der whether perhaps I had discovered the first human group
the words of one scholar the foreigners sought to “put an end
without rituals or religion” (Sandstrom, 1991, p. 231). The
to everything indigenous, especially in the realm of ideas,
stealth aspect of costumbre hints of a certain anti-Spanish un-
even so far as to leave no sign of them,” many Mesoamericans
derpinning to the construct.
simply refused to cooperate (K. Garibay in Anderson, 1960,
p. 33). By aiding and abetting the refusal of their own spiri-
THE FIESTA SYSTEM. A primary venue for the performance
tual conquest, the embrace of the ancestral past assumed sub-
of costumbre, and certainly a key element in the understand-
versive ethnic dimensions that had not previously existed.
ing of the evolution of post-Conquest indigenous society, has
COFRADÍA BARTER AND BARRIER. The Catholic fiesta system
been the fiesta system. Variously referred to in the literature
was introduced into Mesoamerica within a decade of the
as the “cargo system,” “cofradía system,” and “mayordomía
Conquest with the importation of the first cofradías. Co-
system,” the fiesta system is the institutionalized celebration
fradías had long existed in Spain and Portugal as voluntary
of regularly occurring fiestas. Whereas there is strong evi-
lay organizations whose primary purposes were the venera-
dence for pre-Hispanic antecedents, in its strict sense the fies-
tion of a particular saint and providing funerals and taking
ta system is Catholic. Most of the fiestas are celebrated in ac-
care of members’ widows. The initial Mesoamerican cofradía
cordance with Catholic saints’ days. In its modern form the
prototype matched closely its European counterpart, includ-
fiesta system typically includes some form of “cargoes,” non-
ing the provision of social services. However, the Spaniards’
paying periodically rotated positions. This usage of the term
reasons for the institution’s introduction had little to do with
cargo comes from Spanish and means position, duty, and re-
such altruism. Rather, it was intended that cofradías (1) pro-
sponsibility. Attached to the cargo positions is a characteris-
vide for the collection of revenues and (2) further the indige-
tic hierarchical structure. At some point the religious hierar-
nous population’s integration into the church. Catholic
chies in many Mesoamerican communities assumed political
priests, who were often poor, itinerant, and living in distant
leadership duties as well. The resulting “civil-religious hierar-
towns, came to be reliant on the funds paid by cofradías for
chies” eventually shaped the subsequent cultural develop-
the saying of mass on saints’ days. Because they had neither
ment of the communities over which they presided. The cul-
direct control over the cofradía funds nor over the amount
tural forms, which emerged often, resembled pre-Hispanic
of the stipend, it is of little surprise that they were forced to
forms, hence undermining the desires of the church and state
concede to certain indigenous demands. Bluntly, in various
alike.
parts of Mesoamerica the local population utilized cofradía
One defining aspect of the emergent culture that echoes
revenues to buy off otherwise intrusive outsiders, particularly
the pre-Hispanic era is the fiesta system’s ritual focus on the
priests, and in that way to subsidize a degree of cultural au-
ancestral past. In many locales, such as Tlayacapan, a town
tonomy. Although outsiders did manage to successfully ex-
in Morelos, Mexico, the connection with the past is vestigial
ploit cofradías for personal economic gain, that success came
and faint. The focus on the ancestral past is more evident in
at a significant cultural and theological price.
the Day of the Dead ceremonies celebrated in many Me-
This “barter” aspect has allowed many communities to
soamerican communities, though in some regions, such as
subvert the second Spanish motivation for the introduction
in the Purepecha area of Michoacán, Mexico, it is performed
of cofradías: the facilitation of the local population’s integra-
in a heavily Catholic infused milieu. In other cases the pre-
tion into the church. Evading the scrutiny of their pious
Hispanic connection is far stronger. For instance, in the
overlords living in distant towns, many communities have
Tz’utujil town of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, the fiesta sys-
used the cofradía system to transfer aspects of pre-Conquest
tem (cofradía system) is directly associated with the ancestral
religious ritual, refabricating the institution in the process.
World Tree, the axis mundi thought to exist at the center
Given that the cofradía system was ostensibly Catholic, as
of a four-cornered world. For Costumbristas in that town,
long as what the church looked upon as patently “idolatrous
the ancestors are said to lie at the root of the Tree, and the
gear” was kept from sight, the system was on the whole at
people of the town are its leaves and flowers. The leader of
least minimally acceptable. (This is certainly not to say that
the system is believed to be the trunk (he is literally called
“idolatry” disappeared. To the contrary: in some locales it
Trunk), and his ritual input is thought to be vital for the
has flourished, and in important ways the cofradía system has
world’s orderly functioning.
provided the platform for that survival.) Whereas enough of
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
the accoutrements of Catholicism are generally present in the
of Christianity—in other communities he is venerated as a
cofradías to deflect direct intervention, at the same time the
saint. These wide differences in interpretation notwithstand-
system can constitute a “barrier,” the occult side of which of-
ing, in various instances interpretations of Judas find com-
fers a venue for the celebrations of characteristically indige-
mon ground in their reflections of indigenous Mesoameri-
nous religious expressions.
cans’ conflicts with the competing dominant national ethnic
T
sector. In a classic study of Mayan passion plays, June Nash
HE SAINTS. A particularly salient component of post-
Conquest Mesoamerican religious expression is the cult of
writes that in the Chiapas town of Amatenango del Valle,
the Catholic saints. Whereas the role of the saints in the reli-
Judas is associated with the devil and the leader of the Jews.
gious life of the region’s inhabitants has changed considera-
She adds that this disdained entity also prevents corn—the
bly over time, in many cases they continue to resonate with
indigenous staff of life—from growing. Particularly signifi-
what Nancy Farriss in Maya Society under Colonial Rule iden-
cant is that in Amatenango “the Indians, with all the subtlety
tifies as the “chameleon nature” of the pre-Hispanic gods.
and intensity of the dominated, have transmogrified the de-
Writing about the Yucatecan Maya, she observes that the
spised villain of the anti-Semitic Christian passion into an
saints lining the walls and altars of the cofradías and parishes
icon of their own oppressor, the Christian Ladino” (Nash,
in many cases merely came to represent aspects of far more
1968, p. 323). The fact is that in Amatenango Judas is un-
inclusive local deities. According to Farriss, “the addition of
equivocally equated with Ladinos (non-Indians).
one more guise to the multiple permutations each deity al-
Starkly contrasting with Amatenango, in Santiago Ati-
ready possessed would hardly have fazed the Maya theolo-
tlán, Guatemala, the local Judas figure is revered. Exemplify-
gians” (Farriss, 1984, p. 313). In some cases in the early
ing the diversity of Mesoamerican Judas figures, in Atitlán
twenty-first century the relation of pre-Hispanic deities with
Judas does not represent Ladinos but instead is said to have
Catholic saints is only vaguely discernible. For instance, in
been created by local rain gods (nawals) and is typically con-
Tlayacapan, Mexico, there is a faint relation of the central
sidered to be Mayan. Moreover the deity embodies various
Mexican rain deity Tlaloc with John the Baptist. In other
definitively ancient Mayan aspects, including calendric asso-
cases the conflation of ancient gods with Catholic saints is
ciations. Connections with the ancient Mayas notwithstand-
evident. In Santiago Atitlán, Saint Peter (called don Pedro)
ing, the deity clearly embodies an anti-Catholic dimension.
has a strong association with the ancient Mayan god Mam.
By elevating the enemy of orthodox Catholicism to a deified
In the town the “saint” is typically called Mam. Moreover
status, the local Mayas reaffirm their separation from the
both Mam and Saint Peter have associations with the uayeb,
dominant ethnic sector. These ethnic underpinnings of the
the five “delicate” days of the Mayan solar calendar.
Judas figure indicate that the local adoption and subsequent
Evident in these examples is the difference of interpreta-
reworking of foreign cultural elements has been integral in
tion in the significance of the saints encountered from com-
mediating the external hegemonic threat, of which the
munity to community. This variation is further underscored
adopted elements originally were a part.
in local understandings of the saints’ origins. In many com-
MAXIMÓN. Judas veneration in Guatemala is generally
munities the saints are believed to have come from foreign
linked to the worship of a rum-chugging, cigar-puffing deity
lands, though they may now be thought to inhabit nearby
commonly called Maximón. In fact Judas is but one facet of
mountains. Other accounts of the origins of the saints may
Maximón, a complex deity who is worshipped in various cult
be more ambivalent, with some interpretations citing a local
centers around the country. The most important centers are
indigenous pedigree and others (at times coming from the
located in Zunil, San Andrés Itzapa, and Santiago Atitlán.
same informant) describing a foreign origin. The regional
The god is addressed by a multitude of names, including San
variation in the significance of the saints is also evident in
Judas, San Simón, don Pedro, Lord Skunk, and Lord Tobac-
the specific roles and importance attached to them. For in-
co. Unlike virtually all other aspects of traditional indigenous
stance, in one town (Santiago Atitlán) Saint John might be
religion in Guatemala, the Maximón cult may actually be
associated with wild animals, whereas in another town (Ama-
growing. There is no central organization to the cult, ex-
tlán) he might be linked to water.
plaining in part why the appearance and significance of the
Mesoamerican saints commonly behave in humanlike
deity varies from town to town.
fashion, which is to say that they do not always display
In customary usage the name Maximón is specific to the
“saintly” behavior. Karl Wipf observes that the saints “may
cult as it exists in the Tz’utujil town Santiago Atitlán. Only
lie, lose their composure, take revenge, have love affairs, and
in the late twentieth century was the name adopted else-
so on” (Wipf, 1987, p. 430).
where. (Previously the other shrines generally employed the
JUDAS. A tendency for Mesoamericans to interpret the
name San Simón.) Indicative of the deity’s complexity, the
“saints” in ways that differ from orthodox Catholicism is evi-
name Maximón has multiple meanings. It is a conflation of
dent in understandings of Judas, again underscoring the
Mam, an ancient Mayan god and one of Maximón’s primary
church’s limited success in regulating the ideological and so-
names, with the biblical Simon. Additionally in Tz’utujil the
cial contexts of Mesoamerican religious expression. Although
name means Mr. Knotted, this in reference to the deity’s
in many communities Judas is reviled—just as he is in most
manner of construction. While the exact nature of Maxi-
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
5927
món’s construction is a secret, it is widely known that the
also in those that are highly acculturated, such as Tlayacapan.
figure is made of tied tz’ajtel wood sticks. Its mask is carved
No doubt one reason for the salience of this association is
from the same wood, accounting for another of its names,
that in Catholic iconography the Virgin of Guadalupe is gen-
Lord Tz’ajtel. The god, who stands about four feet tall, wears
erally depicted standing on a crescent moon. Not all towns
two Stetson hats, one atop the other, and is draped in scarves,
that recognize a moon goddess pair her with Mary. In Santia-
hence the name Lord Scarves. Varying from the other cen-
go Atitlán, the moon, who is revered as “Grandmother,” is
ters, where the deity is depicted as a seated Ladino (non-
not linked with Mary. In that town, the moon goddess’ asso-
Mayan) wearing European-style clothing and dark glasses, in
ciation with childbirth and weaving points to an origin in
Atitlán it stands, wears the local style of handwoven dress,
the ancient Mayan deity Ix Chel, who was also a moon god-
is Mayan, and never wears dark glasses.
dess and associated with birth and weaving. For the Nahua
of Amatlán, the moon is related to the revered goddess To-
Devotees in Atitlán recognize Maximón as the Lord of
nantsij, Our Honored Mother, but is also associated with the
Looking Good. This is related to the deity’s fancy garb but
feared Tlahuelilo, “Wrathful One.” This ambivalent under-
also pertains to sexual aspects. According to some scholars,
standing reflects both the moon’s relationship to birth and
this dimension may have its roots in an antecedent deity: the
fertility but also to the feared underworld and hence death.
cigar smoking, lecherous ancient Mayan god L. Sexuality cer-
tainly underscores Maximón’s creation. According to myth,
This ambivalence about fertility and life on the one
Maximón was created in the primordial past by rain dei-
hand and death on the other stems from a Mesoamerican un-
ties—nawals—to watch over their unfaithful wives. Contrary
derstanding of the earth in general. Writing about Amatlán,
to plan, Maximón displayed unbridled hypersexuality, forc-
Sandstrom notes that “people are considered to sprout from
ing the nawals to break the deity’s neck to curb its behavior
the earth like the corn plant, and they are placed back in the
and power. Maximón nonetheless retained a capacity to
earth when they die. The earth is the womb and tomb, the
transform into unworldly beautiful women or men. Howev-
provider of nourishment and all wealth, home to the ances-
er, should one succumb to Maximón’s sexual temptations,
tors, and the daily sustainer of human life” (Sandstrom,
the price is insanity and death.
1991, p. 241). The idea of the earth as “womb and tomb”
is also widespread in highland Guatemala, as is the associa-
The ambivalent gender of Maximón reflects one of the
tion of the human body with corn. So important is the earth
god’s more esoteric dimensions. Mayan cosmology has long
in this regard that it is deified. In several Mayan languages
emphasized binary opposition, including the world’s never-
the word for earth is ruchiliew, “face of the land,” which to
ending transformations of male into female aspects, of dry
Costumbristas refers to an understanding that the surface of
into wet, and of life into death. As Lord of the Center, Maxi-
the earth is the literal face of the deity. The Mixe of Oaxaca
món occupies the space between opposites and is the power
believe that the earth deity is female and call her Na·swi·ñ,
that attracts one to the other. This underscores Maximón’s
or “earth surface.” In some parts of Mesoamerica the earth
Judas aspect, which devotees understand to be requisite to
deity is called simply Dios Mundo, World God.
Christ’s resurrection, hence the world’s transformation of
death into life and similarly of the dry into the rainy season.
LOCAL GODS. The local orientation of traditional Me-
soamerican culture and religion translates into a certain local
SUN, MOON, AND EARTH. Whereas Maximón is recognized
orientation for all the gods, even those such as the sun and
and worshipped in numerous Guatemalan towns, other dei-
moon that have wide regional recognition. This orientation
ties of unquestioned pre-Hispanic origin have even wider
is even more pronounced in a diverse set of gods explicit to
representation in Mesoamerica. Central among those deities
individual Mesoamerican towns and subregions. For in-
are the sun, the moon, and the earth. Like the Maximón cult,
stance, many Mesoamericans believe deities inhabit local
specific interpretations of these deities tend to vary from re-
mountains. In Zinacantan these important deities are called
gion to region. In fact in the primary Maximón cult center,
Father-Mothers and are linked with ancestors. For the
Santiago Atitlán, Maximón includes the sun among his attri-
Tz’utujil of Santiago Atitlán, the primary surrounding
butes. In that town the annual solar cycle is equated with
mountains are thought to be the abodes of rain deities identi-
waxing and waning of sexual “heat” and the evolution of
fied by a variety of names, including nawales and achijab
Maximón (Mam) from his young to old forms. Local resi-
(warriors). In Atitlán these deities, who are often conflated
dents often refer to the sun as father. The sun is also called
with the New Testament apostles, are believed to have wives,
father by the Nahuas of Amatlán, Mexico, where it is consid-
variously called the Marias and ixok ajauwa (lady lords). Sev-
ered to be the most powerful of the spirits. In marked con-
eral of the Marias are believed to be deified parts of the back-
trast to Santiago Atitlán, where the sun is associated with
strap loom. Mountain gods and goddesses in the Q’eqchi’
Maximón-Judas, in Amatlán it is associated with Jesus. A
region of Guatemala are generically called tzuultaq’a, from
pairing of Jesus and the sun is also found in the Tzotzil town
the word tzuul (mountain) and taq’a (valley). The tzuultaq’a,
of Chamula and elsewhere.
who may be equated with saints and are thought to have a
In numerous Mesoamerican towns the moon is equated
human form, live deep inside the mountain in a “house” (a
with Mary. This association is found in communities that are
cave). At the same time, a given mountain is thought to be
generally thought of as traditional, such as Chamula, and
the physical body of the god. Citing a Q’eqchi’ informant,
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
Richard Wilson writes that “a tzuultaq’a feels pain when we
the saints—or the fiesta system—is that defining aspects of
clear the brush with machetes and jab the planting sticks into
the post-Conquest cultures commonly have a European
the earth” (Wilson, 1995, p. 54). Wilson adds that a given
outer form but retain an identifiably indigenous meaning. In
mountain is believed to have a face, a head, a body, and a
fact the Mesoamerican cultural landscape presents a textbook
cave that is either its mouth or womb. In various Mesoameri-
example of syncretism, the blending of two formerly discrete
can towns the local mountain gods are said to be the “own-
cultural traditions leading to the formation of new one. A
ers” of a particular mountain or volcano.
simple observation of syncretism, however, leaves an impor-
“SHAMANISM.” Numerous published studies of contempo-
tant question unanswered. To what extent did Mesoameri-
rary Mesoamerican towns cite the presence of “shamans,”
cans purposefully hold on to their pre-European traditions
sometimes including the indigenous term for the specific
and in that way attempt to subvert the agendas of their
type of practitioner and sometimes not. A careful reading of
would-be overlords?
this literature shows that the activities of the different practi-
Syncretism can be the natural outcome of subconscious
tioners vary significantly. This wide range of practices is at
thought processes and need not indicate purposeful intent.
the basis of fierce scholarly debate about the use of the term
All people tend to interpret novelty according to preexisting
shaman for ritual practitioners in Mesoamerica and else-
understandings. In that light it is not surprising that Me-
where. One camp in this debate argues vehemently that sha-
soamericans understandings of the saints, for instance, came
manism is a viable concept that refers to an identifiable
to closely resemble those of their traditional gods. Whereas
human activity. Others counter that it is really just a “made-
this sort of subconscious dynamic helps to explain Me-
up, modern, Western category.” Critics contend that the lit-
soamerican religious beliefs, it cannot account fully for the
erature stereotypes a vast array of religious specialists and be-
situation in towns where purposeful attempts to retain pre-
haviors from widely differing cultural, historical, and class
European beliefs have occurred. In places like Amatlan, Mo-
backgrounds when it presents those specialists under the tidy
mostenango, and Santiago Atitlán, traditionalists are aware
rubric “shaman.”
that their costumbres differ from church teachings. An ele-
Whereas it may be useful and accurate to have a single
ment of antichurch sentiment may also be apparent, as is evi-
term shaman, there is no doubt that in reference to Me-
dent in the Maximón cult or in the phenomenon of cofradía
soamerica the category combines a wide range of differing
barter. These types of situations are explained by transcul-
ritual specialists. Among the different types of Mesoamerican
turation, the process in which marginal groups select and in-
specialists often labeled as shamans are herbalists, indigenous
vent from materials transmitted to them by a dominant or
calendar specialists, bonesetters, midwives, snake and spider
metropolitan culture. In Imperial Eyes, a book about trans-
bite healers, and spirit mediums. Further underscoring these
culturation, Mary Louise Pratt points out that “while subju-
differences is that shamans in communities such as Amatlán
gated peoples cannot readily control what emanates from the
and Momostenango are generally respected, whereas in other
dominant culture, they do determine to varying extents what
communities, such as Santiago Atitlán and San Antonio Il-
they absorb into their own and what they use it for” (Pratt,
otenango, they are not. A primary reason for the negative as-
1992, p. 6). Mesoamericans may have had to watch as the
sociation, where it exists, is suspicion of witchcraft.
Spaniards brought in the saints. Yet far from converting the
SYNCRETISM AND TRANSCULTURATION. Over most of the
Mesoamericans to Catholicism, Mesoamericans converted
past five centuries a defining characteristic of Mesoamerica
the saints to their own identifiably Native American religion.
has been what one scholar describes as “radically asymmetri-
EMERGING RELIGIOUS EXPRESSIONS. On March 15, 1873,
cal relations of power” (Pratt, 1992, p. 7). Since the Con-
Guatemalan president Justo Rufino Barrios signed the Free-
quest the region’s indigenous inhabitants have been subordi-
dom of Worship Act, eliminating Catholicism as the state
nate to Spaniards and later to Ladinos. In this environment
religion and opening the country to Protestant missioniza-
temples were sacked and churches built in their places. The
tion. A few years later the president went to New York,
indigenous inhabitants had to watch as the Spaniards
where he successfully petitioned the Board of Foreign Mis-
brought in the cult of the saints and cofradías, as they intro-
sions of the Presbyterian Church to commence a presence
duced new artistic styles, even new forms of clothing. Over
in Guatemala. Barrios’s petition had little to do with his per-
time few aspects of indigenous cultural expression were left
sonal religious conviction. Instead, Barrios, a Catholic,
untouched by European contact. In the wake of this contact
sought to attract foreign entrepreneurs otherwise ill-disposed
many indigenous societies were completely integrated into
toward Catholic countries. Although the early decades of the
the European cultural sphere.
twentieth century did see a significant increase in the number
Yet a survey of Mesoamerican religious practices and be-
of foreign entrepreneurs, it is not possible to determine how
haviors demonstrates that the region’s inhabitants have not
much of that was due to Barrios’s strategy on religion. What
been passive witnesses to their own history. Reflecting cul-
is clear is that the strategy had little impact on conversion
tural resilience and transformative capacity, in many general-
to Protestantism. Fully a half century later, in 1940, less than
ly rural areas significant cultural aspects could be traced to
2 percent of Guatemalans identified themselves as Protes-
the pre-European past. Evident in the Mesoamerican cult of
tant. Guatemala remained solidly Catholic, though often
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
5929
with a substantial infusion of the costumbres. That situation
spread network of local churches staffed by local ministers.
has now changed.
This is in contrast to a severe shortage of Catholic priests.
PROTESTANTISM. Contemporary Mesoamerica is experienc-
ECONOMIC UNDERPINNINGS OF CONVERSION. Various Me-
ing a surge in Protestant growth. In Mesoamerica, as else-
soamerican scholars have written about a correlation between
where in Latin America, the category Protestant, evangélico
social and economic marginalization and religious conver-
in Spanish, lumps a diverse group of religious identities, in-
sion. Sandstrom’s observation in Amatlán is typical in this
cluding Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Pentecostal, and main-
regard. Sandstrom notes that early converts were from the
line denominations (predominantly Baptist, Presbyterian,
most impoverished households in the village and included
and Lutheran). Since the 1970s Guatemala has witnessed
three alcoholics, one suspected thief, and another who was
particularly impressive Protestant growth, mostly among
a “deadbeat” that refused to pay his debts. All were villagers
Pentecostal denominations. As many as one in three Guate-
who had lost hope that they could succeed in the prevailing
malans now identify themselves as Protestant. In fact three
socioeconomic environment. Similar dynamics are also evi-
of the past seven heads of state have been Protestant. While
dent in the Kaqchikel town San Antonio Aguascalientes,
the number is far lower in neighboring Mexico—around 5
Guatemala. Sheldon Annis writes in God and Production in
percent of the country’s roughly 100 million people—that
a Guatemalan Town that “to those who are economically
country is now also witnessing significant Protestant growth,
marginalized by an abject poverty or socially marginalized by
especially among the indigenous population. This growth is
increased entrepreneurial activity, Protestantism says: Come
in part explained by conversions from Catholicism. Yet a
to me” (Annis, 1987, p. 141). The attraction of Protestant-
Catholic migration explanation may be oversimplified, par-
ism to the poor may be enhanced by “prosperity gospel,” a
ticularly when Costumbristas are lumped with orthodox
message conveyed by some missionaries that conversion will
Catholics. A different picture emerges when these groups
bring concrete material gain. Sandstrom writes about state-
with scant mutual resemblance are treated separately. In San-
ments by missionaries in Amatlán that local residents are
tiago Atitlán, the town for which the best data are available,
poor because the costumbre religion is of the devil and con-
growth in orthodox Catholicism has actually outpaced the
versely that all people of the United States are Protestants
otherwise impressive Protestant growth. In both cases the
and “it is because of their religion that God has rewarded
growth has come at the expense of the Costumbristas, whose
them with such great wealth” (Sandstrom, 1991, p. 352).
numbers declined precipitously in the late twentieth century.
Whereas it might seem logical to simply dismiss any
There are multiple reasons for the surge in new religious
economic validity to prosperity gospel, there is evidence of
identities and similarly for the abandonment of the costum-
a relation between Protestant conversion and economic ad-
bres. Where Protestant converts typically point to the Holy
vantage. Arguments for such advantage—what mission theo-
Spirit as the cause, scholars tend to look to an interplay of
rists sometimes call “redemption and lift”––usually point out
local, national, and international socioeconomic variables.
that the cargoes attached to the traditional fiesta system are
The complexity of the situation, even on just the local level,
expensive and entail a trade of significant personal wealth for
is evident in consideration of population dynamics. Studies
political power and prestige. Although this sort of economic
in Guatemala indicate that explosive local population growth
redistribution and leveling may be socially stabilizing in a
has contributed to land scarcity, with catastrophic implica-
functioning subsistence-based agricultural society, it is
tions for religious systems founded on agriculture. In con-
anathema to entrepreneurship and the market economy. In
trast, an analysis of the abandonment of the costumbres in the
his study on San Antonio Aguascalientes, Annis argues that
area in and around Tenango de Doria in Hidalgo, Mexico,
ecological crisis, made worse by inequitable distribution of
by anthropologist James Dow, shows that an actual decline
land, has pushed local residents toward Protestantism and its
in the number of males, and hence of potential candidates
largely pro-entrepreneurial ethic. He observes that Protes-
to assume positions in the cargo system, has been a factor.
tants dominate a successful capitalist stratum in the town.
In her book Protestantism in Guatemala, Virginia Garrard-
Burnett observes that new religious identities held little ap-
CONVERSION AS SOCIAL BACKLASH. One key factor benefit-
peal as long the so-called “traditional community” remained
ing Protestant entrepreneurs in San Antonio Aguascalientes
in tact. “But when the center began to give, through the ero-
has been convenient access to markets in the bustling nearby
sive processes of ‘development,’ migration, and war, many
city Antigua. Much of rural Mesoamerica does not have that
beliefs, practices, and institutions that shaped identity gave
sort of economic advantage. One town that does not is San
way with it. It is, at least in part, the attempt to re-create
Antonio Ilotenango, Guatemala, as described by Ricardo
some sense of order, identity, and belonging that has caused
Falla in his book Quiché Rebelde. Although Falla, who is both
so many to turn to Protestantism in recent years” (Garrard-
a Jesuit priest and an anthropologist, notes that some early
Burnett, 1998, p. xiii). Other factors, which may add to the
converts in the 1970s did experience upward economic mo-
local appeal of Protestantism, can be its opposition to the
bility, he points out that not all did. Hence Falla’s study un-
sometimes excessive alcohol consumption associated with
derscores both the possibilities and the limitations of reli-
the costumbres. Additionally the relative quickness and effi-
gious conversion in effecting economic change. His study is
ciency of the Protestant seminary track has allowed a wide-
also notable because the converts he describes are primarily
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5930
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
orthodox Catholics. Large-scale religious conversions often
throughout the countryside. Newly formed lay groups were
represent a backlash against existing power structures. In San
instructed in Catholic orthodoxy and in the sins of nonsanc-
Antonio Ilotenango, as in much of Mesoamerica, that power
tioned religious ritual. In this way the Guatemalan architects
structure has not been orthodox Catholic so much as the cos-
of Catholic Action intended that it serve both as a defense
tumbre-based indigenous religion and its civil-religious hier-
against Protestantism and communism and that it target the
archies. It should be recalled that in Mesoamerica the cus-
cofradías and shamans.
tomary religion has often included a steadfast embrace of the
ancestral past. That embrace elevated traditionality—and
Although by the time of the introduction of Catholic
thus an emphasis on nonchange—to the level of religious
Action into the countryside the efficacy of the traditional
dogma. Yet the undermining of traditional cultural forms,
civil-religious hierarchies was already eroded, that introduc-
including subsistence based agricultural economies, now de-
tion did cause considerable social turmoil and backlash in
mands change. In what one scholar has called a “revolt
communities such as San Andrés Semetebaj and San Antonio
against the dead,” as the traditional forms have eroded, many
Ilotenango. Perhaps most notable in that regard was Santiago
Mesoamericans have converted to new religious beliefs and
Atitlán, where in 1950 leading members of Catholic Action
identities (Brintnall, 1979).
were involved in the stealing of the head of Maximón and
the temporary outlawing of the god’s cult. Ironically it was
EMERGENT CATHOLIC IDENTITIES. As the word catholic im-
the intercession of town Protestants on the side of the Cos-
plies, the Catholic Church has always included a wide range
tumbristas and against the Catholics that restored the legal
of religious behaviors and identities. In the aftermath of the
status of the cult. The occasional Costumbrista triumph such
reign of the costumbres in rural Mesoamerica, several primary
as this notwithstanding, Catholic Action has become a domi-
identities have emerged as dominant. One particularly sa-
nant social and religious force in rural Mesoamerica.
lient expression, charismatic renewal, is the subject of consid-
erable ambiguity in Catholic ranks. Mesoamerican carismáti-
LIBERATION THEOLOGY. Augmenting the strategic intro-
cos de-emphasize the saints and sometimes the central role
duction of Catholic Action in the fight against secularism,
of the Virgin Mary as well. Similarly they de-emphasize
communism, and Protestantism, the Catholic Church began
priestly liturgical participation, at times even refusing to con-
to aggressively place new priests in the indigenous country-
duct their religious services in the church building. Like their
side. Of particular note in Guatemala was the introduction
charismatic counterparts in other regions and countries, Me-
in the late 1940s and 1950s of number of Maryknolls, based
soamerican carismáticos emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit
in the United States, and Belgian Sacred Heart brothers, who
and the reception of divine gifts, charisma. Given the similar-
arrived a year after the church-supported overthrow of the
ities to Protestantism, particularly Pentecostal, some critics
leftist government in 1954. In Mexico the appointment in
suggest that charismatic renewal represents a “Trojan horse”
1949 of Samuel Ruiz to be bishop of the heavily Mayan dio-
to the church, that it is a grave danger to legitimate Catholic
cese of Chiapas proved significant. On his arrival to San Cris-
belief and ritual. Others contend that carismáticos are really
tobal de las Casas, where the diocese is centered, Ruiz was
just Protestants-in-becoming. Whereas it is certain that some
shocked to find that the indigenous peoples were prohibited
carismáticos may gravitate to Protestant Churches, for those
even from walking on the sidewalks. The Maryknolls and Sa-
that do not it may provide a bulwark to Protestant expan-
cred Heart brothers were equally shocked by the poverty and
sion. Charismatic worship may also help to “recapture” for-
squalor in the indigenous communities to which they were
mer Catholics.
sent and the inhumane treatment of the population by some
in the dominant Ladino sector.
An emphasis on the reception of divine gifts helps to ex-
plain charismatic renewal’s near total disregard of social and
Because of the crisis state of the local economies in both
political issues. That disregard contrasts with another emer-
Guatemala and Chiapas, including an increasingly critical
gent Catholic group in Mesoamerica, Catholic Action. Al-
shortage of available agricultural land, many residents were
though originally established by Pope Pius XI (r. 1922–
forced into seasonal plantation work. In that highly exploit-
1939) to be a nonpolitical lay organization, Catholic Action
ative environment, people from all over intermingled and
has generally worn the mantle of politics. This has been par-
talked. Gradually they became aware of national social and
ticularly evident in Guatemala, where, following on the heals
political issues. Some even learned that the plantation land
of the organization’s role of attempting to stem the tide of
now owned by international agribusiness was former Indian
communism and secularism in Franco’s Spain, it was em-
land that had earlier been expropriated. Many of these mi-
ployed in 1935. Largely confined to Guatemala City in its
grant workers were catechists, members of Catholic Action.
early years, the scope of the movement increased significantly
Garrard-Burnett notes that, in stark contrast to the local ori-
in 1944, when a revolutionary regime with secular leftist ten-
entation of the Costumbrista civil-religious hierarchies, “cat-
dencies assumed the Guatemalan presidency. Additionally
echists were outwardly focused leaders informed by contem-
that year the church took particular notice of its deteriorating
porary ideas of development and, more recently, by concepts
state, as evidenced by the fact that a mere 120 priests at-
of social justice as defined by liberationist Catholicism as in-
tempted to serve the entire country. Under the direction of
troduced by the foreign priests” (Garrard-Burnett, 1998,
Bishop Rossel y Arellano, Catholic Action was introduced
p. 129).
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
5931
Beginning in the 1960s and gaining full momentum
ness of mankind,” which he said had a name “communism,
with the 1971 publication of A Theology of Liberation by the
or the Antichrist, and all means must be used to exterminate
Peruvian Catholic priest Gustavo Gutierrez, many Latin
it” (Garrard-Burnett, 1998, p. 148). Although Ríos Montt
American priests embraced liberation theology. In Mexico,
was only in power for seventeen months before being top-
Bishop Ruiz became probably the leading figure in the move-
pled in another military coup, the number of people killed
ment. At the forefront of that trend in Guatemala were the
during his regime far eclipsed any other head of state in Gua-
Maryknoll and Sacred Heart orders. Ironically, though it had
temala’s thirty-year civil war.
originally been intended that those orders be a firewall
T
against communism, liberation theology is founded on a
HE ZAPATISTA UPRISING. On New Year’s Day 1994 the
world awoke to the surprising news of a massive revolt in
Marxist substrate. In particular liberation theology fully em-
Chiapas, Mexico. As stunning as the “Zapatista” uprising it-
braced the notion of dependency theory and its argument
self was its coincidence, to the day, with the implementation
that the economic development of the core developed coun-
of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In
tries entailed the subsequent underdevelopment of the Third
hindsight the uprising perhaps should have come as no sur-
World. The radical clergy aggressively sought to break the
prise. Amid incessant heralding of the widespread benefits
ties of that dependency. Finding a particularly receptive base
that free trade must inevitably bring, even proponents of
within their newly activist parishioners, the liberationist
NAFTA confessed that its implementation would entail cer-
priests embarked on program of conscientización (conscious-
tain “adjustments” for some of those involved. Simply put,
ness raising) and economic development. Central to the lib-
those that took to arms in the mountains and jungles of Chi-
erationist strategy was the establishment of base ecclesial
apas believed that they themselves were in danger of being
communities (CEBs), which were groups of twenty to thirty
adjusted. Of particular concern was NAFTA’s dismantling
lay members who regularly met with a nun or priest to dis-
of Article 27 of the Mexican constitution. That article, which
cuss issues of philosophy and religion and to initiate strate-
grew out of the Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) rally cry
gies for liberation.
of Emiliano Zapata’s followers in the Mexican Civil War, is
THE NEW JERUSALEM. On March 23, 1982, a military coup
a constitutional guarantee of land for all Mexican citizens.
established General Efraín Ríos Montt as the head of state
in a Guatemala embroiled in a lengthy civil war. That night
For some years prior to the uprising, displaced peasants
on national television the born-again Protestant proclaimed,
from highland Chiapas and elsewhere in Mexico began form-
“I am trusting my Lord and King, that He shall guide me.”
ing communities in the sparsely populated jungle areas of
A week later Ríos Montt appeared on The 700 Club, where
eastern Chiapas. Included in the population were thousands
the host Pat Robertson appealed to viewers to pray around
of Protestant Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya who had been ex-
the clock for the general and pledged $1 billion for Guatema-
pelled from their towns because of their religious beliefs. One
la’s reconstruction. With Guatemala now firmly established
town, Chamula, has expelled more than thirty-two thousand
in the holy war against godless communism, Ríos Montt
mostly Presbyterian evangelicals in the previous twenty years.
oversaw what one scholar has called “total war at the grass-
The 1990 census showed that Protestants numbered between
roots” (Jonas, 1991, p. 148). In sanctioning this campaign
20 and 51 percent of the population in the municipios
the “born-again” general time and again noted Guatemala’s
(towns) of eastern Chiapas. Included in the population is a
central role in divine providence. “We are the chosen people
mix of Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pen-
of the New Testament,” Ríos Montt said. “We are the new
tecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons. In part to
Israelites of Central America” (Annis, 1987, p. 4). Deflecting
counter the growth of Protestantism, the Catholic Church
charges that his policies, which ultimately led to the total de-
ramped up its community building efforts in the region,
struction of more than four hundred Maya communities,
concentrating much of their efforts in a group of settle-
amounted to a “scorched earth” campaign, the dictator re-
ments lying in the Lacandón rain forest near the border with
plied that it was in fact a “scorched communist” campaign.
Guatemala.
The great majority of those “scorched” were Maya living
The anthropologist George Collier, perhaps the leading
in the countryside. Particularly hard-hit was the Department
authority on the Zapatista rebellion, argues that the social
of El Quiché, the primary area served by the Maryknoll and
mix of eastern Chiapas provided fertile ground for the rise
the Sacred Heart orders. Suspected as being communist, the
of the EZLN, the Zapatista National Liberation Army. Be-
nuns and priests and their parishioners in the base ecclesial
cause most of the residents were recent immigrants, there
communities were common targets for state-sponsored vio-
were few established power structures to limit the emergence
lence, though many Protestant Maya were also killed or dis-
of participatory democratic communities. Moreover the
placed. Garrard-Burnett notes that for Ríos Montt, “com-
newly arrived religious groups established functioning net-
munism represented the ultimate rejection of morality and
works for building those communities. Another key factor
God-given authority; it had to be countermanded by his di-
in the incipient peasant movement was the input of libera-
vinely sanctioned ‘final battle against subversion,’ which he
tionist dialogue, mostly coming from Bishop Ruiz and his
conceptualized in nearly apocalyptic terms” (Garrard-
colleagues. Of particular significance was the church-
Burnett, 1998, p. 145). The dictator talked of the “rotten-
sponsored 1974 Chiapas Indigenous Congress. Collier ob-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5932
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
serves that the demands issued at the conference on issues of
leadership. Given the original anti-costumbre agenda of Cath-
land, food, education, and health were almost identical (sus-
olic Action, it might seem curious that many Pan-Mayanists
piciously so) to those the EZLN issued twenty years later.
embrace a “decolonized” form of the costumbres. In a classic
display of revitalization, they have attempted to remove all
The catechist delegates took the lessons of the Indige-
traces of Christianity. Yet revitalization movements never
nous Congress with them when they returned to their com-
fully succeed in purifying themselves, and they typically in-
munities in eastern Chiapas. Ultimately they were stymied
clude new beliefs and behaviors. This is evident in the use
in getting their message out by the region’s religious plural-
of laptop computers to calculate Maya calendar dates by the
ism. Collier observes that only truly secular movement ap-
movement’s “Maya priests” or in their embrace of New Age
pealing to pluralism and democracy could unite the peasant
concepts. Ironically, in the attempt to recreate the original
communities across the chasm of religious diversity. Ulti-
form of Mesoamerican religion, Pan-Mayanism may actually
mately the EZLN filled that role. Although the level of direct
have created its newest form. In any case apparent is the
involvement of Bishop Ruiz and his catechist colleagues in
agency, creativity, tragedy, and sense of hope that has always
the formation of the EZLN remains unclear, some level of
characterized religion in Mesoamerica.
involvement is certain. Critics have charged the bishop with
being a primary architect of the movement. Others claim
SEE ALSO Gender and Religion, article on Gender and Me-
that his lessons were merely an inspiration. For its part the
soamerican Religions; Roman Catholicism; Shamanism, arti-
EZLN declares that “we have no links to Catholic religious
cle on South American Shamanism; Syncretism; Transcul-
authorities, nor with those of any other creed . . . . Among
turation and Religion, overview article.
the ranks, the majority are Catholic, but there are also other
creeds and religions” (Collier, 1999, p. 65).
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC
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pernatural beings—of gods and cultural heroes.
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Comparative Studies in Society and History 10 (1968): 318–
scholars count on ethnographic material collected by anthro-
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pologists in the twentieth century.
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Pratt, Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transcul-
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sources that describe the aboriginal cultures were written
mostly in Spanish—and primarily about Central Mexico—
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in a Contemporary Aztec Indian Village. Norman, Okla.,
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; some were written
1991. Cultural analysis of Amatlán, Mexico, a traditional
in Nahuatl by the conquerors themselves, by friars who
Nahua community.
began to evangelize, or by converted indigenous peoples.
Stanzione, Vincent. Rituals of Sacrifice: Walking the Face of the
Whereas a few complete texts remain—such as the creation
Earth on the Sacred Path of the Sun. Albuquerque, 2003.
of the sun and moon in Teotihuacan and the story of Quet-
Comprehensive study of the Maximón cult in Santiago Ati-
zalcoatl—most of these texts contain only fragments of the
tlán, with a focus on the Holy Week pilgrimage.
myths. There is the long, well-structured Mayan cosmogonic
Stoll, David. Is Latin America Turning Protestant? The Politics of
myth of the Popol Vuh, written around 1551. This myth was
Evangelical Growth. Berkeley, Calif., 1990. A definitive study
written in Roman characters, in Quiché, with the intention
on religious change in contemporary Latin American, with
to be read in their secret ceremonies (a tradition that is still
considerable attention given to Ríos Montt.
alive among the present indigenous peoples).
Tarn, Nathaniel. Scandals in the House of Birds: Shamans and
The ethnographic data cover wider areas, but share
Priests on Lake Atitlán. New York, 1998. A comprehensive
some mythic themes with each other, as well as with pre-
source on Maximón.
Hispanic myths. Much Christian syncretism also exists, be-
Tedlock, Barbara. Time and the Highland Maya. Albuquerque,
cause many saints and virgins become merged with old
N.M., 1982. In-depth study of the continued use of the tra-
ditional Maya calendar in Momostenango, Guatemala.
deities.
Van Oss, Adriaan C. Catholic Colonialism: A Parish History of
Many symbols of the pre-Hispanic myths that have not
Guatemala, 1524-1821. Cambridge, Mass., 1986. Detailed
reached us are shown iconographically in the archaeological
historical survey of Catholicism in Guatemala.
remains, like the cosmic tree, the earth monster, or the
Vogt, Evon. Z. Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands
jaguar.
of Chiapas. Cambridge, Mass., 1969. Classic analysis of tradi-
Mesoamerican thought is dominated by a concept of
tional culture and religion in Zinacantan, Mexico.
duality. The Nahua Supreme God is known as Ometeotl
Warren, Kay B. The Symbolism of Subordination: Indian Identity
(“Lord Two”) who represents a unity of contraries. He-she
in a Guatemalan Town. 2d ed., Austin, Tex., 1989. Theoreti-
lives in Omeyocan (“Place Two”), which has been identified
cally rich study of ethnic and religious identity in San Andrés
Semetebaj, Guatemala.
with Tamoanchan (“the house where they came down”) and
Warren, Kay B. Indigenous Movements and Their Critics: Pan-
Xochitlicacan (“the place where the flowers raise”) and is lo-
Maya Activism in Guatemala. Princeton, N.J., 1998. A com-
cated above the thirteen heavens. When Ometeotl unfolds,
prehensive analysis of Pan-Mayanism.
he-she becomes Omecihuatl (“Lady Two”) and Ometecuhtli
Watanabe, John M. Maya Saints and Souls in a Changing World.
(“Lord Two”) who together create four gods—the creators
Austin, Tex., 1992. Sensitive treatment of the cult of the
of the rest of the gods and of the world: fire, the calendar,
saints in Santiago Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
the lord of the land of the dead, a great sea, aquatic gods,
Wilson, Richard. Maya Resurgence in Guatemala: Q’eqchi’ Experi-
the earth monster, and twelve more heavens. Omecihuatl
ences. Norman, Okla., 1995. Political violence and religion
and Ometecuhtli then made a man and a woman, the first
among the Q’eqchi’ of eastern Guatemala.
sorcerers and the parents of humankind.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5934
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
In the middle of Tamoanchan, the heavenly paradise,
According to Mayan myth, in the first creation the gods
rises a marvelous flowering tree. According to one version of
made the animals but these animals did not praise the gods;
the myth, the beautiful goddess Xochiquetzal lived there in
they only cried, croaked, or screeched. The gods then made
happiness and plenty, but she was seduced by Tezcatlipoca.
some men out of mud, but they were destroyed by water, so
In another version of the myth, the gods tear the branches
they in turn made man out of wood and woman out of reeds.
off the tree, cutting off its flowers in the process. For this
These creations also could not serve the gods and were de-
deed they are punished by the supreme gods Tonacatecuhtli
stroyed by the rebellion of their domestic animals, their
and Tonacacihuatl and thrown out to earth and to the un-
household objects, and by a flood. The remaining humans
derworld.
became monkeys. At last the gods created four men who
were so intelligent and with eyesight that was so perfect that
Alfredo López Austin (1994), has written about Ta-
they could see all that exists. The gods realized, however, that
moanchan and the actions that took place there, working
they had once again failed; if humans were perfect they
from the fragments of myth and from Nahuatl poems. López
would then equal the gods and would not propagate. So
Austin concludes that through the actions of the gods for
“Heart of Heaven” threw his breath on the eyes of these four
which they were punished, they originated sex, created other
men and blurred their sight, preventing them from seeing
space, other beings and other time. The gods had been con-
only that which was nearest to them. Thus, their wisdom
taminated with death, but they could now reproduce.
was destroyed. This myth can still be found among the
Michel Graulich writes that the main theme in the ori-
Lacandon.
gins of Mesoamerican myths is the passage from one era to
In another Maya version, thirteen men and twelve
another, by the way of a rupture between the sky and the
women were created by Hurakan and the other gods by their
earth as a consequence of a transgression (1997). When the
mixing maize dough with the blood of a snake and a tapir.
gods are banished from Tamoancham, Tollan, Tlalocan, and
Aztlan—places mentioned as paradises or ideal lands which
Many modern Mayan groups still believe in the differ-
represent the union of opposites—a state of unity and har-
ent cosmic ages, with the various beings inhabiting them. In
mony is achieved where the primordial couple and their chil-
the modern era, however, these beliefs have expanded to also
dren lived in perfect tranquility. When the creators punish
include Adam, Eve, Jesus, and Mary. These groups have also
the gods, they are sent to darkness. However, they return to
lost the idea that humans were made to worship and sustain
light following a sacrifice
the gods.
COSMOGONIC MYTHS. The concept of cyclic time and the
THE DELUGE AND THE CREATION OF MEN. The last cre-
cosmogonic ages (or “suns”) is based on the idea that the
ation was destroyed by water. The version of the deluge and
gods created the universe to be inhabited by humans so that
the creation of the new humanity is told in pre-Hispanic ver-
they would serve, worship, and feed the gods. This concept
sions, but it is also widely known among many modern eth-
emerged through a cyclic process of creation and destruction
nic groups. In the pre-Hispanic version of the myth, Tez-
through which the beings (humans) that the gods wanted to
catlipoca chose a couple, Tata and Nene, to be saved from
serve them evolved progressively.
the deluge. He asked them to make a canoe out of a hollow
tree and save themselves. When the water receded they
In central highland Mexico there were held to have
broiled a fish, but the smoke reached heaven and the gods
been four previous Suns or eras, each of which ended
became angry. So, Tezcatlipoca came down and converted
in a cataclysm, then a fifth which is the present world.
Tata and Nene into dogs.
The fist age was called 4 Ocelotl (4 Jaguar) and Tez-
catlipoca became it’s Sun. Giants lived during this time
The more widely spread ethnographic version of this
but were devoured by jaguars when the Sun ended. The
myth says that a man was saved from the deluge on the ad-
second era was 4 Ehecatl (4 Wind), when Quetzalcoatl
vice of a supernatural being. The man took with him on his
Ehecatl was the sun. This epoch was destroyed by great
boat maize and a bitch. When the waters receded, he went
winds, the survivors turned into monkeys. The third
to the field to work. Every time he returned home he found
creation was 4 Quiauitl (4 Rain), the Sun of the rain
that food had been prepared. One time the man hid and
god Tlaloc. This world ended in a rain of fire and the
found that the bitch was in fact a woman who had taken off
few survivors became butterflies, birds and dogs. In the
fourth age, 4 Atl (4 water), Chalchiuhtlicue, the water
her bitch skin; it was she that was doing the cooking. The
goddess, was the Sun. The world disappeared in a great
man burned the skin and took the woman as a wife, and
deluge and any survivors became into fish. The force of
from the descendants of that couple the earth was inhabited
the flood caused the sky to fall down, so Tezcatlipoca
again.
and Quetzalcoatl became into great trees and raised it
back into place. The name of the Fifth Sun 4 Ollin (4
In some pre-Hispanic myths humans are also created
movement), refers to the movement of the solar phe-
from the bones of people of other ages. This creation myth
nomena; This era was presided by the earth god Tlalt-
has been explained by López Austin (1994) as the generic
ecuhtli and was to be destroyed by an earthquake.
creation of human beings against the differentiated birth of
(Heyden, 1987).
human groups from Chicomoztoc (Seven caves). When the
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
5935
world had been restored, the gods got together and asked
guey spines, and paper. After four nights of penance, both
themselves: who is going to inhabit the world? They decided
gods were led to a sacred fire. Tecuciztecatl was terrified by
to send Quetzalcoatl to the underworld to get the bones to
the strength of the fire and withdrew, whereupon
create the new humankind. (Another version of this myth
Nanahuatzin threw himself into the flames, which purified
claims that it was Xolotl who was sent to the underworld.)
him and turned him into the sun. Inspired by this metamor-
Quetzalcoatl went to the underworld and asked for the bones
phosis Tecuciztecatl also leaped into the fire. But it had died
of the Lord of the dead. Quetzalcoatl was given the bones,
down and no longer burned brightly, so he turned into a less-
but at the last minute the Lord changed his mind. After per-
er light. He became the moon (Heyden, 1987). When the
sisting, Quetzalcoatl at last retrieved the bones and brought
moon came out, one of the gods hit its face with a rabbit,
them to Tamoanchan, where the goddess Cihuacoatl Quilaz-
the mark of which can still be seen. After this, the sun
tli ground them and mixed the powder with the blood from
stopped in the sky and refused to move unless all of the gods
Quetzalcoatl’s penis. With this material the new humanity
were sacrificed. (A version of this myth was recorded in 1949
was created.
by R. Barlow in Tepoztlan, Morelos, and another version is
O
still told among the Huichol people.)
THER CREATIONS OF MAN. The first four gods created by
the primeval couple made a man and a woman, Oxomoco
The Maya version of the sun creation myth is included
and Cipactonal, who were ordered to till the soil and to spin
in the Popol Vuh and it relates the adventures of the twins
and weave. Then they were given maize kernels for divina-
called Hun Hunahpu (“1 hunter”) and Vucub Hunahpu (“7
tion. Oxomoco’s and Cipactonal’s children formed early
hunter”). One hunter had two sons who were both wise men,
mankind. The Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas
painters, and diviners. The twins were fond of playing ball
(1964) relates that when the sky fell and Quetzalcoatl and
and the noise they made bothered the Lords of Xibalba (the
Tezcatlipoca raised it again, they had to create four men to
underworld). These lords incarnated different diseases. They
help.
called the twins to their realm and had them pass through
In yet another myth, when the first four gods made a
a series of trials until they ended up sacrificed and buried.
sun to light the world and this was fed hearts and blood to
The head of Hun Hunahpu was placed in a gourd tree. Ix-
help it move, war was invented; humans were created in
quic, the daughter of one of the Lords of Xibalba, ap-
order to wage that war. In the Tlaxcala tradition, Camaxtli,
proached the tree and the head of One hunter spat on her
the hunting and war god, hit a great rock with his staff and
hand and made her pregnant. Ixquic was condemned to be
four hundred Chichimecs came out to settle the land. The
sacrificed because of this, but escaped with the help of her
Chichimec, who later changed their name to Otomí, regard-
would-be executioners, who were two owls. Ixquic went to
ed both Camaxtli and the rock as their mythical ancestors.
the surface of the earth and gave birth to another pair of
According to accounts from Tetzcoco, related in Historia de
twins, Hunahpu (“Hunter”) and Xbalanque (“Deer jaguar”)
México (1964), an arrow shot from the sky landed near Tetz-
who are taken care of by their grandmother. After some ad-
coco and formed a great hole in which appeared a man and
ventures—which include converting their half brothers into
a woman. But they were in the form of busts, with half bo-
monkeys—they also start playing the ball game; again they
dies. This man and woman copulated with their tongues and
are called to Xibalba, but this time they pass the trials, deceiv-
had children who settled Tetzcoco. Another account states
ing the lords of the underworld. At last, however, Hunter
that Citlalicue (“skirt of stars,” i.e., the Milky Way) sent six-
and Deer jaguar decide to burn themselves, thus becoming
teen hundred sons and daughters to Teotihuacán, but all per-
the sun and the moon.
ished there. According to Mendieta (1945), Citlalicue gave
The creation of Venus is also the result of the sacrifice
birth to a flint knife. This frightened her other children, and
of Quetzalcoatl, ruler of Tollan, who after having been de-
they threw the knife out of the sky and it landed in Chico-
ceived by his rival gods, Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli,
moztoc (“seven caves”) near Acolman in the vicinity of Teo-
leaves his city and goes to a land called Tlillan Tlapallan, the
tihuacan.
land of red and black. It is here that he burns himself and
However, the sixteen hundred sons and daughters sent
becomes the morning star.
by Citlalicue (or who miraculously came from the flint knife)
SACRIFICE. Sacrifice as a means of creation, transformation,
were more divine than human; they demanded that their
sustenance of the world is an important mythic theme, as has
mother provide people to serve them (Heyden, 1987).
been seen in the cosmogonic myths in which not only the
sun, moon, and Venus have to incinerate themselves to be-
SUN, MOON, AND STARS. The myth of the Fifth Sun (the
come stars, but so too do the rest of the gods have to sacrifice
present era) is one of the best known in Mesoamerica: when
themselves so that the sun agrees to move on in the sky.
all was in darkness, the gods gathered at Teotihuacan (identi-
fied in historical tradition with the historical city of Teoti-
Sacrifice is also mentioned in the story of how the Sun
huacan) to create a new sun. Two gods offered to sacrifice
made four hundred men, the Mimixcoa, wage war and give
themselves: the rich Tecuciztecatl, who performed penance
to him the blood and hearts of their captives to eat. The
with costly objects; and Nananhuatzin, who was poor and
Mimixcoa, however, occupied their time hunting and having
diseased and whose offerings were only reeds, grass balls, ma-
fun and failed to do their duty; therefore, the sun decided
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5936
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
to create four other men and a woman, ordering them to kill
went to heaven to look for a maiden goddess called Mayah-
the first four hundred and to feed the sun and the earth. The
uel. He found her among other maidens who were being
division of the primeval androgynous monster to create heav-
taken care of by their grandmother, a tzitzimitl (a monster).
en and earth is a form of sacrifice, as the earth would not give
Quetzalcoatl woke Mayahuel up; he told her that he was tak-
her fruits if she was not given to eat men’s hearts and was
ing her to earth, which he did, transforming them both into
not irrigated by their blood.
a tree with two branches. One branch was Quetzalcoatl, the
other Mayahuel. When the tzitzimitl discovered that Mayah-
Sacrifice is also demanded by the Tlaloque—the gods
uel was missing she went after her, found the tree, and broke
of water—as a requirement for the ability to grow edible
Mayahuel’s branch and, along with other tzitzimitl, ate her
plants. In the last days of the Toltecs, there was a period of
up. Quetzalcoatl gathered Mayahuel’s bones and planted
storms and destruction of crops; to stop this, the tlaloque
them, and from these bones the first maguey was born.
asked for the sacrifice of the Mexica Tozcacuex’s daughter;
he did did this, and received as his prize good crops of maize.
MYTHOLOGIZED CULTURAL HEROES. The hero acts as a
THE ORIGIN OF MAIZE AND OTHER EDIBLE PLANTS. Be-
point of intersection between different times that may be
cause maize was the staple food of Mexico, much of the ritual
both mythic and historic; he gets close to beings who travel
life was guided towards its production. In pre-Hispanic as
through the three cosmic levels: heaven, earth, and under-
well as in modern times, plenty of myths relate to it; most
world, and are capable of supernatural feats. Many heros
of them are ethnographic.
must pass through initiation trials. They also have miracu-
lous births. Heroes may act as tricksters, they are deified, and
According to the pre-Hispanic version, Quetzalcoatl
they are expected to return.
saw a red ant carrying a maize kernel and asked the ant many
times from where she had obtained it. Eventually the ant told
The first example of a hero is Quetzalcoatl, born mirac-
him that she received it from the Tonacatepetl (“hill of our
ulously—according to different versions—from Chimalma,
sustenance”). So, Quetzalcoatl transformed himself into a
who swallowed a green stone or was made pregnant by Mix-
black ant and got the kernels, which he took to Tamoan-
coatl. Quetzalcoatl’s jealous uncles or brothers try to kill
chan; there the gods chewed them and put the kernels into
him, but they fail and instead kill his father. He takes revenge
the mouths of humans to make them strong. They then sent
and kills the uncles or brothers, then begins searching for his
Nanahuatl to break Tonacatepetl, and the tlaloque collected
father’s bones. Quetzalcoatl becomes the wise ascetic king of
the maize of four colors and other edible seeds to make them
the city of Tollan, which becomes very prosperous under
available to humans.
him. He spends his time praying; he bans human sacrifice.
In another version, maize and all edible plants came
However, Quetzalcoatl’s eternal enemy, Tezcatlipoca—
from the body of the god Cinteotl (“god of maize”) who “en-
along with other gods—deceive him by making him drunk
ters” the earth. In some ethnographic versions, one can still
and then introducing into his chambers a woman: his sister
find the stories of the ants hiding the maize kernels.
or a prostitute.
Ethnographic versions of a maize child are very widely
When Quetzalcoatl recovers from his drunkenness he
spread all over Mexico. His name may be Oxchuk, Dipak,
feels so ashamed that he decides to leave Tollan and goes to
Piltontli, or many others. This myth was discovered by
the west until he reaches the coast of the sea. In a land called
George Foster (1945). In it, the child who has golden hair
Tlillan Tlapallan he burns himself, thus becoming the Morn-
is found inside an egg by two old people. The child has mar-
ing Star. Before he becomes the star, however, he first prom-
velous powers, as well as good and bad relations with ani-
ises that he will return. Quetzalcoatl is also said to have gone
mals. Afer a while, the elderly couple tries to kill and eat him,
to the Maya area, where he is known and worshipped as
but he discovers their intentions and kills them first. The
Kukulkan.
child then has more adventures, in one of which he has an
Quetzalcoatl, along with Tezcatlipoca, is one of the gods
encounter with Hurakan, a god of the sea and/or of thunder,
in charge of creation. These two gods divided the primeval
whom he defeats.
monster and created heaven and earth, keeping heaven and
In the Totonac version (Ichon 1973), the father’s child
earth separate. Both gods had been suns in the past ages.
is killed because he likes to play the violin. Shortly after the
Quetzalcoatl went to the Land of the Dead to get the bones
child is born, he dies and is buried by the mother, and from
to create man. He also brought maize from the Tonacatepetl
his tomb a plant of maize grows. She cuts some kernels and
and helped with the creation of maguey.
throws some grains to the water; there, a turtle keeps one on
Much has been written about the mythic hero Quetzal-
her shell, and from that grain the maize child is born again.
coatl, by Alfredo Lopez Austin, Blas Castellón, David Car-
The child then has many adventures, including creating
rasco, and H. B. Nicholson. According to Nicholson,
thunder and the clouds of rain.
Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl “was conceivably a genuine historical
Maguey was a very important plant in Central Mexico,
figure prominently involved with an early stage of Toltec his-
from which, among other things, the intoxicating drink octli
tory. . . if so he later seems to have become blended and,
or pulque was (and is) made. The story says that Quetzalcoatl
occasionally, to some extent confused with certain supernat-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
5937
ural personalities, particularly an ancient fertility/rain/wind
coatl and makes him leave his kingdom. He also does many
creator deity, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl.” After several other ap-
evil things against the Toltecs, thus causing their destruction;
preciations he concludes that “the evidence for a widespread
at the same time, however, he is also a creator.
belief in his eventual return to reclaim his power, which
But the typical trickster is the Huichol cultural hero
might have influenced Motecuhzoma II of Mexico Tenoch-
Kauymali, or Kauyumaric, who appears through all the
titlan—who apparently was considered to be the direct dy-
mythical time of the Huichol. He is the son of the Sun. He
nastic successor of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl—during his initial
is called “Big Brother”; he is the inventor of many useful
dealings with Cortés, is quite strong” (1992, p. 291).
things for his people; and he is a great teacher who provides
Huitzilopochtli, the patron god of the Mexica’s story,
the Huichol with most of their knowledge. Kauymali guides
is connected with the Mexica pilgrimage and with their suc-
the way of the shaman to their pilgrimage to Wirikuta, the
cess as conquerors of almost all of Mesoamerica. He seems
sacred place where the peyote is collected. He disguises him-
to have been a shaman priest who was in communication
self as a deer and as several other animals, and he is inclined
with the god Tetzauhteotl, who may have been a form of
to sexual excesses. He also has a voluble character, is mischie-
Tezcatlipoca. Huitzilopochtli was the one who took the
vous, and at times even evil. In one of his adventures he
Mexica out from Aztlan and guided them during their pil-
fights against the women of vagina dentata.
grimage. He dies on the way and on his bones incarnates the
The Mayan Hunahpu and Xbalanque, as do many of
god Tetzauhteotl and then continues guiding them. Accord-
the ethnographic heroes that have been mentioned have also
ing to the best known story, Hutzilopochtli is born from
many trickster traits.
Coatlicue (“Skirt of snakes”) who was made pregnant by a
TWINS. Twins appear in many of the myths, not only those
ball of feathers that fell from the sky while she was sweeping
of Mexico, but in all of the Americas. In pre-Hispanic Mexi-
the temple and which she put under her dress. Her other
co, Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl are supposed to be twins. Xolotl
children, the four hundred Huitznahua, led by the sister
sometimes transforms himself into a double maize kernel, or
Coyolxauhqui, felt ashamed of their mother and tried to kill
into a double maguey cactus. In the ethnographic material,
her. But Huitzilopochtli, born in full warrior’s regalia, fights
many twins are cultural heroes and tricksters, born in a mi-
and defeats them. He cuts off Coyolxauhqui’s head and dis-
raculous way, most found by an elderly couple who try to
members her, then annihilates the rest of the brothers.
kill and eat them. The twins, however, after several successful
Huitzilopochtli then leads the Mexica to their final destina-
attempts at subterfuge, eventually save themselves and end
tion, giving them orders and advice and setting the rules for
up killing the elderly couple.
the privileges given to warriors who distinguish themselves
in battle by offering more prisoners for sacrifice.
A version of the killing of the elderly couple appears in
many stories of cultural heroes—not necessarily twins—who
Hunahpu and Xbalanque are examples of mythic he-
are raised by the grandmother who has a husband-lover who
roes, as well. Among the ethnographic mythic heroes, one
is a deer. When the twins discover this, they kill the deer,
can also include the maize child, in addition to Kondoy,
stuff his skin with wasps and bees, and when the old woman
Fane Kantsini, and Tepozteco from the Mixe, Chontales
goes to meet him, the insects come out of the skin and kill
from Oaxaca, and the Nahua from Morelos.
her.
Kondoy and Fane Kantsini were born from an egg and
Sometimes the twins have to kill a serpent and get hold
raised by adoptive parents. Both developed rapidly and be-
of the eyes, one of which becomes the sun and the other the
came great hunters, fighting against the Zapotecs. Both Kon-
moon.
doy and Fane Kantsini disappeared but promised to return
PILGRIMAGE. Another mythic theme is the pilgrimage, on
to help their people.
which one seeks a final destiny from an original home of the
The other cultural hero is Tepozteco, whose mother be-
different ethnic groups. Typically these groups come from
came pregnant by a bird that flew around her for a time.
caves located in a hill called Chicomoztoc (seven caves).
Tepozteco was not liked by the grandparents. When he grew
From each cave a different group emerges that is guided by
up, he did a marvelous deed, however, by placing the bells
a powerful person who carries a “sacred bundle,” within
on the towers of Mexico City’s cathedral in a very strong
which are contained the relics of the person’s patron god,
wind. Tepozteco then returns to his town and builds a house
with whom he or she is in communication. The guide later
on the top of the hill of the Tepozteco, where he remains to
becomes deified. The promised land is marked by a sign.
this day. He is the one who causes the winds to blow; he is
Even though most Mesoamerican ethnic groups have a
worshipped by the inhabitants of Tepoztlan.
story of their pilgrimage, the best known story is the Mexi-
T
ca’s, who are guided by Huitzilopochtli till they reach the
RICKSTERS. Tezcatlipoca has many traits which can identify
him as a pre-Hispanic trickster. One of his names is yaotl
promised land, which is marked by the sign of the eagle
(“the enemy”), he who introduces all disagreement in the
standing in the prickly pear cactus.
world. Yaotl seduces Xochiquetzal in Tamoanchan, and
Graulich finds the same structure of the banishment of
therefore is one of the main transgressors. He cheats Quetzal-
the gods from Tamoanchan in the expulsion of the land of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5938
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
origin, and, after wandering in darkness, they arrive in the
The people who lived in the second cosmic era were
light at the promised land.
transformed into monkeys. And Hunahpu and Xbalanque
The pilgrimage of the Huichol to Wirikuta, the sacred
transformed their half brothers into monkeys.
land of the peyote, was performed for the first time by the
S
ancestors, who formed the first group of “peyoteros” who
EE ALSO Human Body, article on Myths and Symbolism;
Myth, overview article; Sacrifice; Tricksters, overview
reached the desert of “Real de Catorce.” Here, by trying the
article and article on Mesoamerican and South American
psychotropic cactus for the first time, they could become
Tricksters.
gods and could be transformed in all the elements of nature
that their descendants, the human beings, needed in order
B
to live. The route and the adventures that take place in this
IBLIOGRAPHY
This article is based on Doris Heyden’s article on “Mythic
pilgrimage are sung to the Huichol children by the shamans
Themes” in the 1987 edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion.
in a special ceremony. This allows them to travel with their
Included in this entry for the second edition are new ap-
imaginations (Anguiano and Fürst, 1976).
proaches by Alfredo López Austin and Michel Graulich
ANIMALS. Animals play an important part in several myths.
about Tamoanchan and themes related to—as well as themes
In many ethnographic groups it was believed that animals
about—sacrifice, cultural heroes, pilgrimage, twins, trick-
and human beings participated in original life together. The
sters, and animals.
Huichol called their mythical predecessors hewi, who were
The principal sixteenth- and seventeenth-century books from
animal and person at the same time. In many parts of Mexi-
which most of the Pre-Hispanic myths are taken are:
co, every person has an animal companion that may live in
Bierhorst, John, trans. History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The
a mountain near the village; when the animal companion
Codex Chimalpopoca. Tucson, Ariz., 1998.
suffers an injury, or is killed, the person suffers the same fate.
Dennis, Tedlock, trans. Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn
This is a very widespread belief, and since pre-Hispanic times
of Life. Rev. ed. New York, 1996.
powerful people have believed that they can transform them-
Durán, Fray Diego. The History of the Indies of New Spain. Trans-
selves into animals called nahual.
lated, annotated, and with an introduction by Doris Heyden.
In many myths, especially those of the Mayans, it is fre-
Norman, Okla., 1994.
quently seen that some animals had previously been human.
Garibay, Angel María, ed. Teogonía e historia de los Mexicanos; tres
or that they—the animals—inherited their characteristics
opúsculos del siglo xvi. Mexico City, 1964. This book includes
from people who lived in other ages (like the tepezcuintle, ar-
three important short manuscripts written in the sixteenth
madillo, squirrels, coatis, racoons and monkeys).
century: Historia de los mexicanos por sus pinturas, Historia de
There are also “lords of the animals” who take care that
México, and Breve Relación de los Dioses y Ritos de la Gentili-
the animals and are not killed in exaggeration by hunters;
dad.
sometimes the lords of the animals will punish the hunters.
Mendieta, Fray Gerónimo de, ed. Historia Eclesiástica Indiana.
The earth monster is apparently a crocodile in Central
Porrua, Mexico, 1971.
Mexico, as well as among the Maya. The very Supreme Cre-
Muñoz Camargo, Diego. Historia de Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala, Mexico,
ator of the Maya Itzamna is an iguana. Some of the creator
1998.
gods of the Maya have animal names: tlacuache, coyote, great
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de, ed. Historia General de las Cosas de
white coati, great boar, and guacamaya.
la Nueva España. Porrúa, Mexico, 1956.
Although there are lots of iconographic representations
Books by Modern Authors on Mesoamerican Myths
of the snake, no myths exist about the serpent. The name of
Blas Roman Castellón. Analisis estructural del mito de Quetzalcoatl.
the Quetzalcoatl, “Feathered serpent,” seems to be also the
Una aproximación a la lógica en el mito del México antiguo.
name of an old fertility god that blended with the mythical
Mexico City, 1997.
cultural hero. Also among the Maya, the cultural hero and
González Torres, Yolotl. Diccionario de mitología y religión me-
demiurge is called Gukumatz (“feathered serpent”). Among
soamericana. Mexico City, 1999.
the Huicholes and Coras, a serpent of the West is the person-
Graulich, Michel. Myths of Ancient Mexico. Translated by Bernard
ification of nocturnal sky without stars that is conceived as
R. Ortiz de Montellano and Thelma Ortiz de Montellano.
water, and which is pierced by an arrow every morning. Also
Norman, Okla., 1999.
among the Huichol, water in the form of a snake, associated
López Austin, Alfredo. Tamoanchan, Tlalocan: Places of Mist.
with thunder, is conceived of as an aquatic goddess who lives
Translated by Bernard Ortiz de Montellano and Thelma
in the center of rain clouds.
Ortiz de Montellano. Boulder, Colo., 1997.
The dog carries the soul of the dead over the river of the
López Austin, Alfredo. The Myths of the Oopossum: Pathways of
underworld, and a bitch is the ancestor of the human race.
Mesoamerican Mythology. Translated by Bernard Ortiz de
The god Xolotl is depicted as a dog.
Montellano and Thelma Ortiz de Montellano. Albuquerque,
The opossum steals the fire from the gods, is killed, then
1993.
made into pieces; it revives; however, and takes the fire to
Monjaraz Ruiz, Jesus, comp. Mitos cosmogónicos del México Indí-
men. López Austin identifies her with Quetzalcoatl.
gena. Mexico City, 1987. This useful book includes in five
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5939
chapters a résumé of myths from different areas of Mexico
other esoteric paintings that deal with Mesoamerican astro-
written by different authors: Mayan myths, pre-Hispanic
nomical conceptions. Some of these books have not been
and modern, by Mercedes de la Garza; Oaxacan myths by
completely deciphered or interpreted.
Doris Heyden; Nahua pre-Hispanic myths and modern
nahua myths by Blas Román Castellón; as well as Myths
The most important tonalamatls are six of the Borgia
from West of Mesoamerica and Northwest Mexico by María
group (originally from the Mixteca-Puebla region), the Dres-
Eugenia Olavarría.xico.
den Codex (from the Maya area), and the Codex Borbonicus
Nicholson, H.B. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future Lord
from the Mexican Plateau. Besides these pre-Hispanic manu-
of the Toltecs. Boulder, Colo., 1992.
scripts are others that the Spanish priests and rulers commis-
sioned for their own purposes; these were usually executed
Ethnographic Bibliography
in a Spanish pictorial style. Among these commissioned
There is an enormous amount of ethnographic material which
works, the Codex Magliabecchiano and the Florentine
cannot be mentioned in this bibliography. Mentioned here
Codex, both of which contain important religious data, de-
are only a few from where data has been taken for this article.
Many of these books are not recent; however, the informa-
serve special mention.
tion contained within them is still valid and is always consid-
During the century following the Conquest a number
ered in the new ethnographies.
of manuscripts were written by priests whose special interest
Baez, Jorge, Félix. Dioses héroes y demonios. Xalapa, Veracruz,
in the religious beliefs and practices of the Indians was dictat-
Mexico, 1997. Two articles of this book are of interest here:
ed by their desire to suppress the indigenous religious sys-
“Homshuk y el simbolismo de la ovogenesis en Mesoameri-
tems. Toribio Motolinía was one of the first twelve Francis-
ca,” and “Kauymali las vaginas dentadas.”
can friars to travel, in 1524, to the recently conquered “New
Barabas, Alicia and Miguel Bartolomé. “Héroes culturales e iden-
Spain” to evangelize the Indians. His work is one of the earli-
tidades étnicas; la tradición mesiánica de mixes y chontales
est testimonies on native Mesoamerican culture; unfortu-
in El héroe entre el mito y la historia.” In UnAM (2000):
nately, only a portion of his writing survives. A reconstruc-
219–234.
tion by Edmundo O’Gorman of the original work has been
Foster, G. H. “Sierra Popoloca Folklore and Beliefs.” In American
published under the title Memoriales, o Libro de las cosas de
Archaeology and Ethnology 42, no. 2 (1945): 117–250.
la Nueva España y de los naturales de ella (1971).
Fürst, Peter and Marina Anguiano. “‘To Fly as Birds’: Myth and
Without any doubt, the most important work about the
Ritual as Agents of Enculturation among the Huichol Indi-
customs of the ancient Mexicans is that compiled by Fray
ans of Mexico.” In Enculturation in Latin America: An An-
Bernardino de Sahagún. His informants were native elders
thology, edited by Johannes Wilbert. pp. 95–181. Los Ange-
les, 1976.
who dictated in Nahuatl to young Indians who had been
trained by Sahagún. They produced several manuscripts that
Ichon, Alain. La religión de los totonacas de la Sierra de Puebla.
have been named after the places where they are now kept:
Mexico City, 1973.
the Florentine Codex and the Matritense Codex. The former
DORIS HEYDEN (1987)
is the more celebrated; it is also known under the title given
YOLOTL GONZÁLEZ TORRES (2005)
it by Sahagún, Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España.
DAVÍD CARRASCO (2005)
Produced in twelve volumes between 1569 and 1582, it was
first published in 1820. It has been translated into English
by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble and pub-
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF
lished as Florentine Codex (13 vols., 1950–1982). The first
STUDY
five books of Sahagún’s work, which deal with the gods,
A number of diverse primary sources exist for the study of
myths, calendar, temples, and priests of the Aztec capital, Te-
the religious systems of ancient Mesoamerica, foremost
nochtitlan, constitute the most important source for the
among them being archaeological remains. The investigation
study of the religion of the ancient Mexicans.
of these remains provides the only means of obtaining infor-
Fray Diego Durán, a Dominican, arrived in New Spain
mation about Mesoamerican cultures from the Preclassic pe-
as a child and learned Nahuatl and some of the old traditions
riod (beginning c. 1500 BCE) to the period shortly before the
from the native people of the Valley of Mexico. He also had
early sixteenth century CE, when the Aztec empire was de-
access to old manuscripts. He devoted the second volume of
stroyed by the Spanish. Most of the archaeological remains
his Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Islas de Tierra
are structures that were devoted to religious purposes.
Firme (concluded 1581) to descriptions of the gods, rites,
EARLY TEXTS. Eighteen pre-Hispanic pictorial documents
and calendar of ancient Mexico. Fray Diego de Landa, who
were saved from the religious zeal of the Spanish conquerors.
was responsible for the burning of massive numbers of pre-
A number of these are tonalamatls, or “books of destiny,”
cious ancient Maya manuscripts in the city of Mani in 1562,
which deal with the ritual divinatory calendar of 260 days.
was also the author of the most important early book about
They are of special importance for the study of pre-Hispanic
Maya culture and religion, Relación de las cosas de Yucatan
religion because they contain in their screenfold pages illus-
(first published in 1864). Fray Juan de Torquemada, a Fran-
trations of the religious aspects of the calendar, as well as
ciscan, was the first person to write a “comparative” history
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5940
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
of the peoples of New Spain. He was deeply interested in his-
(2d ed., 1911), which contains source material and scholarly
toriography, and many of the long digressions in his book
interpretation about ancient Mexican religion in general.
Monarquia indiana (1615), which utilize biblical and classi-
Chavero wrote several works on ancient Mexican religion,
cal references, were designed to show that the aboriginal In-
including Historia antigua y de la conquista (1888), the first
dian cultures followed universal laws of history. Four chap-
volume of an ambitious publication project directed by
ters of his book contrast native religion with the “true”
D. V. Riva Palacio and titled México a través de los siglos
religion, Christianity. Also of interest to the study of religion
(Mexico through the Ages). In this volume, Chavero es-
are the Códice Chimalpopoca, Anales de Cuauhtitlan, and
pouses the belief that religious ideas provide a means of mea-
Leyenda de los soles, three manuscripts written in the second
suring the degree of advancement of the Mexican people and
half of the sixteen century, two anonymous in Nahuatl and
of determining their social tendencies. He maintains the the-
one in Spanish by Pedro Ponce and the Historia de Tlaxcala,
sis that native Mexican religion was materialistic inasmuch
written in the sixteenth century in Spanish by the mestizo
as it did not include a belief in a spirit or a soul. Later scholars
Diego Muñoz Camargo.
have dismissed Chavero’s interpretations as sheer fantasy.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. The Jesuit priest Francisco Ja-
The commencement of the publication of the periodical
vier Clavigero was fluent in Nahuatl and had some knowl-
Anales del Museo Nacional de México in 1877 marked the
edge of other Indian languages. He was the first to write a
transformation of research from a private endeavor into an
work devoted solely to the history of Mexico, his Storia anti-
academic pursuit in Mexico. During the second half of the
ca del Messico (1780–1781), written and published in Italy
during his exile there. The work contains an excellent chap-
nineteenth century, the Mexican contribution to the recon-
ter on religion. Although in his writings Clavigero tends, as
struction of the Indian past was greater than that of any other
might be expected given the time during which he wrote, to
national group.
use Christian scripture and theology as norms of judgment,
OTHER NATIONAL SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT. The German
this tendency hardly colors his description of native religion.
traveler, naturalist, and man of letters Alexander von Hum-
Indeed, it surfaces only in one passage within which he char-
boldt visited New Spain in 1803–1804 and brought back to
acterizes the ancestral religion of the Indians as a jumble of
Europe a vision of the New World that had up until then
mistaken, cruel, and childish practices—the knowledge of
eluded the attention of European scholars. Humboldt was
which might help the ancient Indians’ descendants to see the
so impressed by the vestiges he saw of the ancient pre-
great advantages of Christianity. Clavigero shared the belief,
Columbian cultures that he proclaimed these civilizations
widespread among his contemporaries, that the ancient Mex-
comparable to that of ancient Egypt. He published his most
icans displayed knowledge of biblically recorded events, and
important books on the Americas in French. In one of them,
he reiterates the belief, then common, that Quetzalcoatl was
Vue des Cordillères, et monuments des peuples indigènes de
none other than Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, who had trav-
l’Amérique (1810), which contains paintings and images that
eled to America to evangelize its inhabitants. Clavigero’s
captured interest, he deals extensively with the pre-Hispanic
book was widely read, and it helped to further a growing in-
calendars, myths, and rituals. By the second half of the nine-
terest in the history and culture of ancient Mexico. It also
teenth century, waves of European travelers were visiting
fostered the spirit of nationalism among New Spain’s mesti-
Mexico. They made drawings and took photographs of the
zo population.
pre-Hispanic ruins and carried off ancient manuscripts and
MEXICO AFTER INDEPENDENCE. Shortly after Mexican inde-
objects, thus broadening interest in the ancient Mesoameri-
pendence in 1821, the Museo Nacional was established to
can cultures.
house pre-Conquest antiquities. In conjunction with the
museum’s founding, a number of studies of Mexico’s ancient
France. In 1858, a group in France founded the Société
culture were carried out. Influenced by current liberal, posi-
des Américainistes de France and started a specialized jour-
tivistic ideas, a group of Mexican scholars began to study the
nal. As an outgrowth of this, the first Americanist congress
ancient Mexican civilizations. Manuel Orozco y Berra, Fran-
was held in Nancy in 1874. Some of the first French scholars
cisco del Paso y Troncoso, Cecilio A. Robelo, and Alfredo
to write about Mesoamerican religion were Albert Réville
Chavero were the first to investigate Mesoamerican religions
(Les religions du Mexique de l’Amérique Centrale et du Pérou,
in this new manner. The first volume of Orozco y Berra’s
1855), Hyacinthe de Charency (Le mythe du Votan, 1871),
Historia antigua y de la conquista de México (4 vols., 1880–
and Léon de Rosny (L’interprétation des anciens textes Mayas,
1881), is devoted to a study of native myths and thought,
1875, among dozens of other works). Much later, the ethnol-
which he compares to Pythagorean and Hindu philosophies,
ogist Jacques Soustelle, of the French sociological school,
doubtless with the purpose of demonstrating the universal
worked in the field of Mesoamerican religion. In his book
value of Nahuatl ideas. Among other works of scholarship
La pensée cosmologique des anciens Mexicaines (1940), Soustel-
produced were Paso y Troncoso’s erudite and well-
le claimed that the Mexican image of the universe reflected
documented commentary, Codex Borbonicus: Descripción hi-
the people who created it, and he asserted that the gods
storia y exposición del códice pictórico de los antiguos náuas
Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl corresponded to the ideals
(1898). Robelo compiled a Diccionario de mitología nahuatl
of a distinct faction of the dominant class of Aztec society.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5941
Germany. From von Humboldt’s time up to the pres-
gion. Besides his books on the Americas (e.g., The Mytholo-
ent, German scholars have been producing studies on the
gies of Ancient Mexico and Peru, 1907; The Civilization of
subject of Mesoamerican religion, either as parts of works
Ancient Mexico, 1912; The Myths of Mexico and Peru, 1913;
about religion in general (e.g., Friedrich Majer’s Mythologis-
The Gods of Mexico, 1923; and The Magic and Mysteries of
che Taschebuch oder Darstellung und Schilderung der Mythen:
Mexico, 1930), he wrote about the legendary continents of
Religiösen Ideen und Gebrauche aller Völker, 2 vols., 1811–
Atlantis and Lemuria and about the mysteries of ancient
1813) or in the form of monographs specifically focusing on
Britain and Spain and those of Egypt, Rome, Babylonia, and
Mesoamerica (e.g., J. G. Müller’s Geschichte der amerikanisc-
Assyria. Spence is noted for introducing some ideas that re-
hen Urreligionen, 2d ed., 1867; and Konrad Haebler’s Die
tain importance for contemporary scholars. For instance, he
Religionen mittleren Amerika, 1899). From the analysis of the
claims that Quetzalcoatl’s cult was a “wisdom”-type religion
Mayan Codex Paul Schellhas extracted the first classification
that taught a highly developed form of mysticism and that
of the Mayan gods (Die Götter festallen der Maya Handschrif-
was similar to the mystery religions that flourished in ancient
ten. Ein Mythologisches Kulturbild aus dem Alten Amerika
times in Britain, Greece, and Egypt. The differences between
1897).
Old and New World systems were superficial, he said, and
they arose from a variance in magical practices. The Me-
Perhaps the most eminent scholar of Mesoamerican reli-
soamerican mystery religion was basically a complex rain cult
gion that Germany produced was Eduard Seler. He was in-
upon which the solar cult and, later, the Quetzalcoatl rain
fluenced in his interpretations of the origin of myths by his
cult had been superimposed.
contemporary F. Max Müller (1823–1900), and even more
by Ernst Siecke’s ideas concerning lunar mythology. Seler’s
United States. Another important researcher in the
most important work was his commentary on Codex Borgia:
field of Mesoamerican mythology was Daniel Garrison Brin-
Eine altamerikanische Bilderschrift der Bibliothek der Congre-
ton. His most important works were The Myths of the New
gatio de Propaganda Fide (3 vols., 1904–1909). The first part
World: A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red
of volume 4 of Seler’s collected works (Gessamelte Ab-
Race of America (1868) and Nagualism: A Study in Native
handlung zur amerikanischen Sprach- und Altertumskunde, 5
American Folklore and History (1894). Brinton claimed to be
vols., 1902–1915) is devoted to the mythology and religion
using modern methods of scholarship and, in contrast to pre-
of the ancient Mexicans. Hermann Beyer, one of Seler’s fol-
vailing scholarly consensus, maintained that the gods of the
lowers, published more than forty articles (1908–1924) re-
American tribes had their origins in the observation of natu-
lating to pre-Hispanic religion and symbolism which were
ral phenomena rather than in historical chiefs or heroes. He
published in 1965 in vol. X of El Mexico antiguo. Beyer tried
tried to prove that the gods of Mesoamerica were human and
to prove that the Aztec’s vision of the cosmos was monistic
benign, that they were loved rather than feared, and that
and pantheistic.
their worship carried within it the seeds of benevolent emo-
Another of Seler’s disciples, Konrad T. Preuss, was the
tion and sound ethical principles.
first to use pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican religion as the basis
One of the great scholars of Maya ritual and religion was
for ethnographic studies. His most important work was Die
Alfred Tozzer who did important archaeological work in
Nayarit-Expedition, volume 1, Die Religion der Cora-Indianer
Tikal and Chichén Itzá and who developed a meticulous
(1912). Walter Krickeberg in 1928 published a compilation
method for organizing his field work. Tozzer looked for con-
of American myths, Märchen der Azteken und Inkaperuaner,
temporary survivals of the prehispanic Maya ritual. In his
Maya und Muisca; in 1956 he brought out Altmexikanische
1907 Comparative studies of the Maya and the Lacandon he
Kulturen, in which he emphasized the strong connection be-
dedicated more than half the book to the description of rites
tween religion and art in Mexican thought.
and ceremonies, which the author had the opportunity to
England. The interest in American antiquities was stim-
witness.
ulated in England by E. K. Kingsborough’s project, Antiqui-
The Norwegian scholar Carl Lumholz led a Mexican ex-
ties of Mexico, which eventually produced nine huge volumes
pedition that was sponsored by American Institutions during
(1830–1848). For the most part, British scholars specialized
the last decade of the nineteenth century, which uncovered
in Maya archaeology. Among them was J. Eric S. Thompson,
vivid examples of religiosity and daily life among tribes of the
who from 1927 to 1972 published a number of books and
western Sierra Madre. He was allowed to photograph places
articles and contributed to the deciphering of Maya hiero-
and ritual practices as well as interview and collect oral tradi-
glyphic writing. In Maya History and Religion (1970),
tions and myths. His Symbolism of the Huichol Indians
Thompson summarized all his research. In his last years, he
(1900) and El México desconocido (1904) provide important
expressed doubts about the possibility that Maya religion will
data about the world view and ritual life of the Huichol and
ever be thoroughly understood, especially given the kind of
the Tarahumara peoples.
data that are available to scholars.
CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES. During the 1930s and
Lewis T. Spence, the British historian and mythologist,
1940s there was some pioneer ethnographic and historical re-
took quite a different approach; he was one of the few stu-
search done, like Alfonso Villa Rojas’s Dioses y espíritus pa-
dents of Mesoamerica who were primarily specialists in reli-
ganos de los mayas de Quintana Roo (1941), George Foster’s
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5942
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
Nagualism in Mexico and Guatemala (1944), and Robert M.
pared to some of the world’s great religions. For Sejourne,
Zingg’s The Huichol, Primitive Artists (1938). In 1949 the
the chief difference from other great religions was to be
Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología started organizing their
found in the distinctive symbolic language of the Quetzal-
Round Tables in which important Mesoamerican themes
coatl tradition, which reveals that the human soul passes
were discussed.
thorough different stages and ordeals until it reaches a liber-
ated consciousness.
During the 1950s several important books on the sub-
ject of Prehispanic Mesoamerican religions appeared. One of
From the 1950s and especially in the 1960s there was
these, El pueblo del Sol (1953), by the Mexican archaeologist
an increase in the ethnographic research with an emphasis
Alfonso Caso, was the first book written on a popular level
in indigenous cosmologies and religious practices, including
to give a general overview of Aztec religion. Caso distin-
beliefs related to medicine, Indian and Spanish syncretic reli-
guished three levels of religiosity in Aztec culture: the popu-
gion. Most of these studies were made under research proj-
lar and polytheistic, the priestly, and the philosophical,
ects of the University of Chicago and Harvard University.
which, according to Caso, almost attained monotheism. He
Many themes are still relevant, including: fertility associated
stressed that the Aztec’s actions and, indeed, their very sense
with death; the importance of agricultural myths—especially
of life were derived from the belief that they were a people
the ones associated with the rain cycle; the concepts of cold
with a mission. The Aztec conceived of themselves as a peo-
and hot, of the soul, of tona and nagual; diseases related to
ple favored by the Sun, allied to the forces of goodness and
the spiritual sphere; and the ritual specialists who had as their
engaged in a moral struggle against the forces of evil.
main task curing people. While much of this research was
synthetized in articles published in the Handbook of Middle
One of the most articulate voices on Mesoamerican phi-
American Indians, one article in particular constitutes a wa-
losophy and religion is Miguel Léon-Portilla, whose many
tershed in the study of Mesoamerican religions, H. B. Nich-
books and articles have set a standard for writing about wor-
olson’s classic study “Religion in Prehispanic Central Mexi-
ldview, metaphor and poetry. His first book, La filosofía ná-
co” which appeared in Vol. X (1971) provides us with a
huatl (1956; Aztec Thought and Culture, in English, 1956),
thorough account of prehispanic Central Mexican religion.
attempted to demonstrate that among the ancient Mexicans
This essay gives special atttention to cosmogony, cosmology,
there was a group of genuine philosophers distinct from the
major cult themes, deities, and ritualism based on the archae-
class of priests. He argued that there existed among the an-
ological, documentary and pictorial sources, and on the au-
cient Mesoamericans two opposite points of view regarding
thors who had dealt with the themes up to his publication.
life and the universe. One was mystic-militaristic, oriented
toward war and bloody sacrifice (the main purpose of which
In volumes VII and VIII devoted to Ethnology, special-
was to preserve the life of the sun, which was menaced by
ists wrote about the different ethnic groups, each with a sec-
the threat of final cataclysm). The other worldview, repre-
tion on religion. Volume VI on Social Anthropology (1967)
sented by the Nahuatl symbol for knowledge, Quetzalcoatl,
included several articles related to religion: William Mad-
was philosophical and attempted to find the meaning of life
sens’ “Religious syncretism,” Frank Canciani’s “Religious
through intellectual means. Léon-Portilla, in his Tiempo y re-
and Political organization,” and Michael E. Mendelson’s
alidad en el pensamiento Maya (1968; Time and Reality in the
“Ritual and Cosmology,” based on his own investigations
Thought of the Maya, in English, 1973), provides us with a
and the ethnographic studies published so far by several au-
useful overview of how time and the passage of time was un-
thors. He directs his attention to Indian and Spanish accul-
derstood to permeate every level of daily life and reality
turation, giving priority to the Mayan people, to the distribu-
among the Maya. He later wrote other books, including La
tion of ritual personnel, and to the general study of the forms
religión de los nicaraos (1972) and Mexico Tenochtitlan, su es-
of ritual and the contents of myth.
pacio y tiempo sagrados (1978). Appended to Tiempo y reali-
Other important books written during these years were
dad was included Villa Roja’s important essay “Los concep-
Guiteras Holmes’s Perils of the soul (1961); Holland’s, Medi-
tos de espacio y tiempo entre los grupos mayences
cina maya en los Altos de Chiapas (1963); Aguirre Beltrán’s
contemporaneos.”
Medicina y magia, el proceso de aculturación en la estructura
Corona Núñez wrote two books on the Tarascan: La re-
colonial (1963); and Alain Ichon’s La religion des totonaques
ligión de los tarascos (1957) and Mitología tarasca (1962).
(1969).
Pedro Carrasco (1950) wrote an ethnohistorical study on the
In 1972 the twelfth “round table” of the Sociedad Mex-
Otomí, and Barbro Dahlgren (1954) on La Mixteca with
icana de Antropología was held in Cholula, Mexico. During
very important sections on the religion of these ethnic
the conference, which was titled “Religion in Mesoamerica,”
groups.
ninety-six scholars presented papers, most of which were
French archaeologist Laurette Séjourné’s Burning
later published in a volume (1972) and were the seeds of new
Water: Thought and Religion in Ancient Mexico, (1957) syn-
full investigations. Discussion at the conference centered on
thesizes her interpretations of Mexican religion. According
a perennial question in Mesoamerican studies: is “Me-
to her, the myth of Quetzalcoatl constitutes the paradigmatic
soamerican religion” one religious system or many? On one
revelation at the heart of Aztec tradition, and can be com-
side of the argument were Alfonso Caso and Jiménez More-
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5943
no, who posited the unity of the Mesoamerican religions. On
nificance, the foundation of Mesoamerican mythology from
the other side was George Kubler, who argued for a Me-
prehispanic times to the present, and proposes an archetype
soamerican co-tradition following Bennet’s 1948 proposal
of vegetable type with concepts concerning vegetation and
for Peruvian co-tradition. The problem of methodology was
the life and death cycle, which emphasizes the preeminent
raised again during the conference by Kubler’s critical voice
role of maize.
against the validity of using modern ethnological analogies
López Austin also develops cosmological conceptions of
explaining prehispanic religion. In fact, Kubler was against
the duality of the mythic Tamoanchan and Tlalocan. For
using even sixteenth century colonial analogies to interpret
him Tamoanchan is the great cosmic tree situated in the cen-
prehispanic religion explaining older Mesoamerican cultures.
ter of the universe, which sinks its roots into the underworld
He proposed instead Panowsky’s principle of disjunction.
and extends its foliage into heaven. Through its two inter-
Modern Mesoamerican ethnographic studies have prov-
twisted trunks, in a helicoidal form, run the streams of oppo-
en a unity of Mesoamerican culture, including cosmovision
site forces which, in their struggle, produce time.
and religion. In 1973 the first Round table of Palenque orga-
nized by Merle Green took place and has continued to the
A number of scholars, including Michael Graulich,
present publishing the proceedings, which are the results of
Doris Heyden, Johanna Broda and Yolotl González, have ex-
important studies.
plored the diversity and complexity of Mesoamerican my-
thologies. Graulich believes that a fundamental pattern in
From the late 1970s, new discoveries in the fields of Me-
mythology follows the transgressions of the gods and their
soamerican ethnography, archaeology and Maya epigraphy
expulsion from paradise, resulting in human strategies of sac-
have led to an increasing amount of research dealing with the
rifice in order to return, in some symbolic or actual way, to
religious systems of Mesoamerica. It includes new types of
a glorious world. Doris Heyden’s work has shown how
theoretical trends, such as Marxist, structuralist, cognitive
plants, caves, and stones were understood to be imbued with
anthropology, symbolic anthropology, phenomenology, her-
mythic powers and thereby became substances that enabled
meneutics, and the scientific study of religion. The increase
commoners and elites alike to participate in the worlds of the
in publication is so vast that it is impossible to mention all
gods. González Torres shows us how myths of sacrifice not
the names involved, therefore only the most significant will
only served as models for ritual sacrifice but also functioned
be noted.
to weave political authority and hegemony together with reli-
Eva Hunt, in her book The Transformation of the Hum-
gious power and prestige. Broda has given special importance
mingbird: Cultural Roots of a Zinacantecan Mythical Poem
to rituals, above all to agricultural rituals and to hills as mod-
(1977), claims to employ the social-scientific theories of
els of the universe and as axis mundi—the center of the
Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917),
world. She sees in all these a reflection of the observation of
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Vic-
nature and the cosmos.
tor Turner—among others—as tools of interpretation. She
interprets a modern Maya-Zinacantecan poem in light of its
Among the many authors who have written about the
antecedents in Mesoamerican mythology. She concludes that
religion of the Mayans is Mercedes de la Garza, whose meth-
Mesoamerican religion is of a type characteristic of agrarian
odological approach is the science of religion. She considers
states, and that it is based upon an agrarian paradigm of space
Maya religion as a cultural phenomenon by itself, leaving be-
and time.
hind interpretations of archeology and other disciplines. Her
books include: El universo sagrado de la serpiente en el mundo
Other authors who wrote important books on mayense
maya (1984) and Sueño y alucinación en el mundo nahuatl y
groups include Gary Gossen, Los chamulas en el mundo del
maya (1999).
sol (1979), and Evon Z. Vogt, Ofrenda para los dioses (1983).
Alfredo López Austin has contributed many new ideas
Other authors who have written about Maya religion,
to the field of Mesoamerican religions. His book Cuerpo hu-
are Karl A. Taube, The Major Gods of Yucatan (1992), Linda
mano e ideología (1980) examines Nahuatl concepts concern-
Schele and Mary Ellen Miller, The Blood of Kings (1989), and
ing the human body (of which the soul was considered a
David Freidel, Linda Schelle, and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos:
part) from within a frame constructed through an under-
Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path (1993). The au-
standing of the society from which these concepts arose.
thors of these books analyze through iconography and epig-
López Austin’s interpretations of what he calls “soul entities”
raphy sacrificial practices and the development of Maya reli-
represent a new kind of reading of ancient Mesoamerican re-
gion and cosmology. Since the 1990s, epigraphic discoveries
ligious thought. He has also put forward the hypothesis of
of David Stuart and Stephen Houston on supernatural do-
a “hard nucleus” of Mesoamerican culture, a complex of
mains and spiritual essences have added to the religious
ideas quite resistant to change, but with a dynamic cultural
knowledge of the Classic Maya.
unity which admitted cultural variations, and is followed by
TYPES OF STUDY. The study of Mesoamerican religions has
almost all Mexican Mesoamericanists.
been the domain of archaeologists, ethnologists, art histori-
In his publications Los mitos del tlacuache (1990) and
ans, historians of religion, and sociologists. Most of the liter-
Tamoanchan (1993), he studies cosmic typology and its sig-
ature has been published in anthropological journals, such
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5944
MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
as American Anthropologist (Washington, D.C., 1899–), An-
Alcina Frank has written “Dioses zapotecas,” 1972, and
thropos (Salzburg, 1906–1979), Zeitschrift für Ethnologie
El temazcal (Mesoamerican steam bath), 1999. Rivera Dora-
(Berlin, 1869–), Anales del Museo Nacional (Mexico City,
do wrote Religión maya (1986).
1877–1945), Estudios de cultura náhuatl (1959–), Estudios de
The study of Mesoamerican religions received a major
cultura maya (1962–), Tlalocan (1943–) and many other
stimulus from the stunning discoveries made in downtown
magazines. A newer one is Arqueología (1993–), which has
Mexico City by Proyecto Templo Mayor between 1979 and
articles on Mexican anthropology and history superbly illus-
1985. Led by Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, this truly mul-
trated, with religion occupying an important place. There
tidisciplinary excavation uncovered the primary religio-
have been other articles on “Mexican gods,” “sacrifice,” “rit-
political shrine of the Aztec Empire. The dig uncovered
uals” and so on, written by specialists on the particular sub-
seven complete rebuildings of the Great Temple. Most amaz-
jects.
ing were the excavations of over 115 ritual caches buried by
Several museums in Mexico, the United States, Europe,
the Aztecs at key religious cermonies between the fourteenth
and Asia have held exhibitions of prehispanic objects, most
and sixteenth centuries. Among the many important works
of which are religious, having been found in burial sites and
written about these discoveries is Leonardo López Luján’s ex-
ceremonial centers. These exhibitions have added to the
cellent synthesis “Offerings of the Templo Mayor of
knowledge and the diffusion of prehispanic culture and reli-
Tenochtittlan.” This is one part of Templo Mayor studies
gion. The most relevant have been: “The Blood of Kings,”
developed in a twenty-year collaboration between Eduardo
Forth Worth, Tex. (1986); “Aztec, the World of Moctezu-
Matos and Davíd Carrasco, who set up the Mesoamerican
ma,” Denver, Colo. (1992); “Teotihuacan. Art from the City
Archive at the University of Colorado in 1984. Together
of Gods,” San Francisco (1993); “Gods of Ancient Mexico,”
they have organized important investigations of archeologi-
Mexico City (1995–1996); “The Mayans,” Venice and Mex-
cal, ethnohistorical and ideological analysis of sacred space,
ico City (1999); “A Trip Through the Land of the Gods,”
urban plans and ceremonial practices in ancient Mesoameri-
Amsterdam (2000); and “Aztecs,” London (2002) Berlin
ca. At Harvard University’s Peabody Museum, the archive,
(2003) and Washington (2004).
in collaboration with the University Press of Colorado,
launched a series “Mesoamerican Worlds” which has pub-
Some exhibitions’ catalogues reprint material already
lished results in books, including To Change Place: Aztec Cer-
discussed in other publications, while others offer new re-
emonial Landscapes (1991). Carrasco is the author of Reli-
search and become texts in their own right.
gions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremonial Centeres
There are articles written by different scholars about
and was the editor-in-chief of the three-volume Oxford Ency-
Mesoamerican religion in encyclopedias of world mytholo-
clopedia of Mesoamerican Culture (1999).
gies or religion (Larousse World Mythology, 1988, Man and
Mesoamerican religion is a topic—and sometimes main
His Gods, 1971) or general histories of religion, like Francis-
theme—of numerous meetings of institutions and associa-
co Diez de Velasco’s Introducción a la Historia de las Reli-
tions, including: Americanists Congress, American Anthro-
giones (2002). Dictionaries of Mesoamerican religion have
pological Association, Dumbarton Oaks Foundation, and re-
also been published, including: Yolotl González’s 1991 Dic-
cently, the International Congress of the History of Religion.
cionario de Mitología y Religión mesoamericana and Mary
Ellen Miller and Karl Taube’s 1993 The Gods and Symbols
The Instituto de Investigaciones antropológicas de la
of Ancient Mexico.
UNAM and the Sociedad mexicana de Estudios de la Reli-
gión A.C. organized three coloquia under the name of Hi-
Many research and educational institutions, especially
storia de la Religión en Mesoamérica y áreas afines. Its pro-
in Mexico, are doing research on Mesoamerican religion, in-
ceedings were published by Barbro Dahlgren in 1987, 1990,
cluding: the National Institute of Anthropology and History
and 1993.
(INAH) with its different museums and regional centers;
several research institutes of the National Autonomous Uni-
Recent years have seen an explosion of ethnohistorical
versity (UNAM); and many other universities and educa-
and interpretive publications. Significant work has been per-
tional centers. The French Center for Latin American
formed by art historians who have developed a new grasp on
Studies (CEMCA), the Italian Mission Italiana and the Pol-
the iconographic traditions relating religiosity to politics and
ish Center for Latin American Studies have produced books
art styles. Especially important are the works by Doris Hey-
like J Gallinier’s La mitad del mundo en la cosmovisión otomí
den, George Kubler, H. B. Nicholson, Esther Pasztory, Rich-
(1990); Guillaume Olivier’s 1997 Moquerie et metamorphosis
ard Townsend, Elizabeth Boone and Carmen Aguilera. The
d’un dieu azteque. Tezcatlipoca (Mockeries and Metamorphoses
growing community of Mesoamerican scholars who have de-
of an Aztec God: Tezcatlipoca, in English); Anne-Marie Vié-
veloped intensive dialogues among themselves has resulted
Wohrer’s 1999 Xipe Totec, Notre Seigneur l’Ecorché; Italo Si-
in a loss of interest in cross-cultural analysis between Me-
gnorini and Alessandro Lupo’s Los ejes de la vida, alma, cuer-
soamerica and other parts of the world. This is due in part
po y enfermedad entre los nahuas serranos (1989); Lupo’s La
to the recent discrediting of the diffusionist approach of ear-
Tierra nos escucha (1995); and Andrez Wiercinski’s Tlillan
lier scholars. It may be that in time, new comparative studies
Tlapallan. Estudio de la religión mesoamericana (1998).
will result in useful tools for developing broader views for the
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MESOAMERICAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5945
rise and complexity of state societies. While historical inter-
the unity and continuity of Mesoamerican cosmovision, in
pretations of myths continue to dominate the scholarship,
spite of the superimposition of Catholicism, which has led
a small but potent series of publications drawing on the
to the syncretic religion that has been called “popular reli-
structuralist approach continue to contribute to our under-
gion” and has become a wide field of study. One of the most
standing of religion an ideology.
prolific writers on this field is Félix Baez Jorge, the author
of Los oficios de las diosas (1988), Las voces del agua (1992),
The problem of myth and history has continued to en-
La parentela de María (1994), and Nahuales and Santos
gage scholars such as López Austin, González Torres, En-
(1998). Also important is James Dow, author of Santos y Su-
rique Florescano, Davíd Carrasco and H. B. Nicholson, par-
pervivenicas (1974), Giménez Gilberto (1978), Cultura Popu-
ticularly in regard to the Toltec tradition. Carrasco
lar y religión en Anahuac, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán (1986),
(Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire) and Florescano (Quet-
and Zongolica: encuentro de Dioses y Santos Patronos.
zalcoatl y los mitos fundadores de Mesoamérica) argue, in dif-
ferent ways, that Teotihuacan either stimulated the idea of
Isabel Kelly (1961), Isabel Lagarriga (1975) and Silvia
Tollan in the minds of Mesoamerican people, or was the
Ortiz Echaniz (1991) have studied the “espiritualismo trini-
original Tollan. In a recent celebrated publication, H. B.
tario mariano,” a widespread popular religion which gives
Nicholson (Topiltzin quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future Lord
great importance to spiritual healing.
of the Toltecs) outlines the possibility of some degree of histo-
The role of religion and identity consciousness has also
ricity in the Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan tale. Others,
become an important aspect of study, linked to nativism and
including López Austin and López Luján, emphasize that
revival religions. One area in particular has received scholarly
Quetzalcoatl and Tollan were understood primarily as myth-
attention, resulting in three powerful publications: The con-
ic sites and figures.
temporary religious practice in communities near Lake Ati-
Due in part to the leadership of Anthony Aveni, Franz
tlan in Guatemala have been effectively studied by Robert
Tichy, Johanna Broda, S. Milbrath and Y. González, Me-
Carlsen (War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya
soamericanists have placed an increasing emphasis on astro-
Town), Vincent Stanzione (Rituals of Sacrifice: Walking the
nomical alignments, appearances and patterns in their inter-
Face of the Earth on the Sacred Path of the Sun, a Journey
pretations of Mesoamerican religions and societies. New
Through the Tz’Utujil Maya World of Santiago Atitlan) and
fields of study, including archaeoastronomy and eth-
Nathaniel Tarn and Martin Prechtel, (Scandals in the House
noastronomy, have emerged as a result of their publications,
of Birds: Shamans and Priests on Lake Atitlan).
and a series of productive conferences in Mexico, the United
Indian symbolic reelaboration of Christian stories and
States and Europe have taken place.
calendric festivals like the celebration of the Holy Cross in
Other studies explore the relationships between energy,
May and the day of the death in November, as well as the
man, and the cosmos in ancient and modern Mesoamerican
carnival and Holy Week, sanctuaries, pilgrimages, religious
thought. These concepts have been associated with the con-
dances and the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, so strongly
cept of mana. Several authors have linked these concepts
linked to Mexican identity, have produced a number of in-
with hot (positive) and cold (negative) energy which circu-
vestigations (De la Maza 1981, Nebel 1992, Noguez 1993).
lates between the underworld, earth and the supraworld
Since the 1980s there has been a rapid spread of Protestant-
through cosmic trees, and also with the acute consciousness
ism in Mesoamerican communities, especially among the
of entropy—which, according to Christian Duverger in his
mayense groups of Mexico and Guatemala. This, and the in-
La fleur létale: Économie du sacrifice aztèque (1979), charac-
fluence of the Catholic Liberation movement, has greatly
terized the thought of the Aztec.
changed the cosmovision of the different ethnic groups and
has led to much religious conflict.
Concepts about the relation of man to nature and the
Also appearing are revival and nativist movements,
cosmos present in beliefs, symbols, and rituals permeate al-
formed mostly by non-Indians, influenced by New Age ideas
most all Mesoamerican research. Important also has been the
and pan Indian movements. They try to revive an idealized
research about religious specialists: rezanderos (shamans and
Aztec religion, denying the practice of human sacrifice. They
healers) and graniceros (diviners and witches).
have adopted as one of their main rituals the “concheros” or
For a long time, the main task for all scholars studying
Aztec dance and claim that the main archaeological sites are
Mesoamerican traditions has been to gather all available eth-
their places of worship, charged with the sacredness of “their
nohistorical and ethnographic material and to attempt, on
ancestors,” especially in the equinoxes and the solstices.
the basis of this evidence, to reconstruct the different aspects
Some groups have adopted the North American Lakota
of Mesoamerican cultures, including their religious systems.
dance of the sun as their most important ritual. These reviv-
This reconstruction continues, as new archaeological and
alist religious movements are spreading rapidly throughout
ethnographic discoveries are constantly providing new data.
Mexico, among the Mexican Americans, and even in Europe.
New ethnological studies have shown that it is possible to use
There is also a group of priests, who after the Second Vatican
knowledge of modern Indian religions to help interpret data
Council (1962–1965), where it was decided that the people
concerning pre-Conquest religion, and vice-versa. It shows
had cultural and religious rights, have followed what they call
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5946
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
the Indian theology. They argue that the Indians have had
Wauchofe, Robert, ed. Handbook of Middle American Indians.
their own theology since prehispanic times and that now
Vols. VI, VII, VIII and X. Austin, Tex., 1967, 1969, 1971.
there should be a dialogue between the Christian theology
YOLOTL GONZÁLEZ TORRES (1987 AND 2005)
and the religiosity of the Indian populations.
SEE ALSO Calendars, article on Mesoamerican Calendars.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
This entry consists of the following articles:
Beyer, Herman. Mito y simbología en el México antiguo. Mexico,
AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
1965.
AN OVERVIEW [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
HISTORY OF STUDY
Carrasco, Davíd. Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and
Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition. Chicago, 1982.
Carrasco, Davíd, ed. To Change Place: Aztec Ceremonial Land-
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
scape. Niwot, Colo., 1992.
[FIRST EDITION]
Carrasco, Davíd, ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican
Ancient Mesopotamia is the country now called Iraq. Its
Cultures, 3 vols. New York, 2001.
northern part, down to an imaginary line running east-west
Dahlgren, Barbro, ed. Historia de la Religión en Mesoamérica y
slightly north of modern Baghdad, constituted ancient As-
areas afines: Coloquios. Mexico, 1987, 1990, 1993.
syria, with the cities of Ashur (modern QalDat Shergat),
which was the old capital; Calah (Nimrud); and Nineveh
Florescano, Enrique. Quetzalcoatl y los mitos fundadores de Me-
soamérica. Mexico, 1994
(Kouyundjik), which took its place later, at the time of the
Assyrian empire in the first millennium BCE. The country
González Torres, Yolotl. “La religión y la cosmovisión mesoameri-
consists of rolling plains resting on a bed of rocks. Rainfall
canas.” In Historia General de la Antropología en México,
pp. 599–617. Mexico, 1988.
over most of the area is sufficient to sustain a cereal crop. The
main river is the Tigris, which traverses the country from
González Torres, Yolotl. “The Revival of Mexican Religions: The
northwest to southeast. The language spoken in historical
Impact of Nativism.” In Numen, vol. 43, pp. 1–31. Leiden,
1993.
times was Assyrian, a dialect of Akkadian, a Semitic language
related to Hebrew and Arabic.
González Torres, Yolotl. “Nativisim in México.” In Religion and
Society: Procedings of the Seventeenth Quinquennial Congress
The southern part of Mesopotamia, south of the imagi-
of the International Association of the History of Religions, Méx-
nary line mentioned, was ancient Babylonia, with Babylon
ico 1995, edited by Michael Pye and Yolotl González Torres,
(Babil) as its capital. The country here is flat, alluvial plain,
pp. 29–47. Cambridge, U.K., 2003.
and the average rainfall is too scant to allow a cereal crop.
González Torres, Yolotl. “The history of religion and the history
The country thus depends on artificial irrigation for its agri-
of religion in Mexico” In Perspectives on Method and Theory
culture. It was in antiquity crisscrossed by a formidable net
of the Study of Religions. Adjunct Proceedings of the XVIIth
of rivers and canals. Such rains as fall are, though, sufficient
Congress of the History of Religion, edited by Geerz, A., and
to bring up pasture of grasses and herbs in the desert for a
Russell McCutcheon, pp. 38–48. Boston, 2000.
short grazing season in the spring. The language spoken was
Gossen, H. Gary, and Miguel Leon Portilla. South and Mesoameri-
the Babylonian dialect of Akkadian.
can Native Spirituality: From the Cult of the Feathered Serpent
to the Theology of Liberation. New York, 1993.
The designations Assyria and Babylonia are appropriate
Hvidtfeldt, Arid. Teotl and Ixiptlatli: Some Central Conceptions in
only for the second and first millennia BCE, or, more exactly,
Ancient Mexican Religion. Copenhagen, Denmark, 1958.
from about 1700 BCE on, when Ashur and Babylon rose to
political prominence. Before that time the later Assyria was
Litvak, Jaime, Neomí King, and Tejero Castillo, eds. Religión en
Mesoamérica. XII Mesa Redonda. México, 1972.
known as Subartu, while what was to become Babylonia con-
sisted of two main parts. Dwellers of the region north of an
Maza, Francisco de la. El guadalupanismo mexicano. Mexico,
imaginary line running east-west slightly above Nippur
1981.
(Nuffar) in historical times spoke Akkadian, while those of
Medina, Andrés. “La cosmovisión mesoamericana. Una mirada
the region south of it spoke Sumerian, a language unrelated
desde la etnografía.” In Cosmovisión, ritual e identidad de los
to any other known language or language family. The north-
pueblos indígenas, edited by Johanna Broda and Félix Baez-
Jorge, pp. 67–158. Mexico, 2001.
ern region was known as Akkad in Akkadian and as Uri in
Sumerian, while the southern one was called Sumer or, more
Nebel, Richard Santa Maria Tonantzin. Virgen de Guadalupe: Re-
correctly, Shumer in Akkadian, Kiengir in Sumerian.
ligiose kontinuität und transformation in Méxiko. Immensee,
1992.
The capital of Akkad was in early times the city of Kish
Nicholson, Henry B. Topiltzin Quetalcoatl: The Once and Future
(Uheimir); later on, the city Akkad (not yet located) took its
Lord of the Toltecs. Boulder, Colo., 2001.
place. The country was traversed by two rivers, the Tigris
Noguez, Xavier. Documentos guadalupanos: Un estudio sobre las fu-
flowing along the eastern border areas and the Euphrates far-
entes de informatión tempranas en tomo a las mariofanías en
ther to the west. The course of the Euphrates was, however,
el Tepeyac. Mexico, 1993.
not the same then as it is today. Its main branch flowed by
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
5947
Nippur and east to Shuruppak (Fara), then south to Uruk
characterized by magnificent sculpture, monumental archi-
(Warka), and on to Ararma (in Akkadian, Larsa; now
tecture, and—most important of all—the invention and de-
Senkereh) and Ur (Muqayyir). Above Nippur an arching
velopment of writing.
branch, the Arah-tu, took off in a westerly direction, flowing
by Babylon before rejoining the main course; another branch
As to political forms then in vogue, the occurrence of
flowed south to Isin (Ishan Bahriya¯t). In an easterly direction
the term for general assembly (unkin) in the early inscrip-
a major arching branch, the Iturungal, took off, flowing by
tions is of interest. It belongs in a political pattern called
Adab (Bisma¯ya) to Zabalam (Bzeikh), Umma (Joha), and
“primitive democracy.” Supreme power was vested in a gen-
Patibira (Medina) before rejoining the main course at Arar-
eral assembly, which served as a court, as a legislative assem-
ma. At Zabalam the Iturungal sent a branch east, then south,
bly, and as the authority for electing officers, such as the re-
to serve Girsu (Tello), Lagash (Tel al Hiba), and Nina (Zur-
ligio-economic manager, the en, and in times of crisis, a war
ghul). The main course of the Euphrates south of Uruk sent
leader, the lugal, who served for the time of the emergency
a branch south to Eridu (Abu Shahrein).
only. This pattern made its imprint on early myths and sur-
vived as a feature of local government down into the second
Economically, as mentioned, both Akkad and Sumer
millennium. In the following Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynas-
depended mainly on irrigation agriculture. There were, how-
tic periods there are suggestions that the pattern of primitive
ever, also other important economies. The region around
democracy was extended from a local to a national scale with
Uruk and south along the Euphrates was, then as now, fa-
the formation of a league of the city-states along the Euphra-
mous for its date groves; herding of sheep and oxen provided
tes, which met for assembly in Nippur. What specific cir-
wool and dairy products as well as meat; fishing and hunting
cumstances could have induced these city-states to forget
were important along the rivers and in the southern marsh-
their local rivalries and join in a common effort is not known
lands.
for certain, but a plausible guess would be that pressure from
invading Akkadian-speaking nomads from the west, which
Capital cities in Sumer were Uruk and Ur; later on, Isin
should date to about this time, would have constituted a dan-
and Ararma. Of central religious and political importance
ger clear and present enough to impose unity, at least for a
was Nippur, seat of the god Enlil.
while.
HISTORY. The earliest settlement of Mesopotamia of which
Whatever unity may have been imposed by the com-
we have evidence took place in the north, in the plains of the
mon need to stem the Akkadian advance can have been of
later Assyria. Here small agricultural villages, dependent es-
short duration only. The Early Dynastic period quickly be-
sentially on rain agriculture and herding, occurred as early
came one of wars between city-states, which vied with one
as the seventh millennium BCE. In the south, the later Baby-
another for hegemony over the country. The first city to
lonia, settlement began in the sixth millennium only, with
achieve such status was Kish in the north, and its rulers main-
what is known as the Ubaid period. The people who settled
tained that status long enough to make the title “king of
were most likely the forebears of the later Sumerian-speaking
Kish” a term for overlordship over all of Sumer and Akkad.
people of the region. Their settlement form seems originally
After Kish, various other cities, prominent among them
to have been one of campsites and seminomadic small vil-
Uruk and Ur, held the hegemony for shorter periods, always
lages located along natural watercourses. They depended
precariously and open to successful challenge.
partly on irrigation hoe agriculture, partly on herding and
fishing. Each tribe had a fixed center, a “treasury” in which
The warlike conditions of life made their mark on the
it kept stores and religious objects that would have been in-
kind of political leadership that had evolved, that of the en
convenient to take along on wanderings. Such tribal centers
and the lugal. The en was basically a person who produced
appear to have formed the nuclei of many of the later cities
abundance. He or she participated as spouse of the city deity
and central sanctuaries, to judge from their names.
in the yearly fertility drama of the Sacred Marriage, and gen-
erally, through personal charisma, managed city affairs pro-
The period of the earliest occupation, the Ubaid period,
ductively. One might speak of a “priest-king” or “priest-
was a long one, and it saw, toward its end, the rise of the first
queen.” The lugal was quite different. The term means “great
cities. They lined the edge of the southern marshes and may
householder,” not “great man,” as it is generally translated,
well have owed their existence to a combination of the varied
and the lugal was originally the son of a major landowner,
economies of the region: irrigation farming, herding, fishing
chosen in the assembly for his military prowess and for the
and hunting; the key requirement for the rise of a city is the
house servants of his paternal house, who would form the
availability of economies able to sustain a massing of popula-
core of the army and its high command. As times grew more
tion on a small space.
warlike—and evidence for war appears already with the late
Among these first cities were Eridu, Ur, and Uruk, and
Uruk period—the en, if he wished to retain his leadership,
with the Uruk period, which followed in the late fifth millen-
was forced to turn his abilities to military leadership also,
nium, the cities and the lifestyle they fostered had grown to
while the lugal, who originally had been chosen for the term
a point where, as the period was coming to an end around
of an emergency, tended to become permanent as the threat
3500 BCE, we can speak for the first time of true civilization,
of war became so. This imposed on him responsibility also
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
for the religious, administrative, and economic tasks that be-
BCE. When the Hittites had withdrawn, invaders from the
longed originally to the en, so that the functions of the two
mountains, the Kassites, took control and ruled Babylonia
offices tended to merge. The old title of en was continued
for a substantial length of time. One of these Kassite kings,
in Uruk. Almost everywhere else that of lugal was preferred.
Ulamburiash, conquered the Sea Land and thus unified Bab-
A new title of rather more restricted claim, which made its
ylonia once more. The major rivals of the Kassite kings were
appearance in the Early Dynastic period, was that of ensi,
the rulers of Assyria, which since the time of Hammurabi
“productive manager of the arable lands.” It designated the
had grown in power and influence.
official in charge of plowing, and thus of the city’s draft ani-
The Kassite dynasty fell before an attack by Shutruk-
mals, which in war would serve the chariotry of its army. The
Nahunte of Elam, who controlled the country for a while.
ensi, therefore, tended to become the political head of the
Then a move to regain independence developed in Isin, and
community, its ruler.
the energetic ruler Nebuchadrezzar I (1124–1103) complete-
At the very end of the Early Dynastic period a ruler of
ly liberated the country, defeated Elam, and brought back
the city of Umma succeeded in extending his domain to in-
the statue of Marduk, the city god of Babylon, which the
clude all of Sumer and Akkad. After an unsuccessful cam-
Elamites had earlier taken as booty. From this time on begins
paign in the north he was defeated and his realm taken over
the rise of that god to a position of supreme power in, and
by Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334–2279). Sargon’s successors
creator of, the cosmos. Before then the traditional view with
kept a precarious hold on the south until, at the accession
Enlil as supreme god had held sway as the officially accepted
of Naram-Sin (c. 2254–2218), that region made itself inde-
one.
pendent. Akkad continued to flourish, however, deriving its
The following centuries saw a steady rivalry between
wealth from its position on the major overland route from
Babylonia and Assyria, with the latter eventually victorious.
the Mediterranean to Iran and India, a route the Akkad rul-
After a gradual extension of their authority over Syria by the
ers carefully policed. The city’s wealth may have been the
Assyrians, Tiglath-pileser III (745–727) conquered Babylo-
cause of an attack on it by a coalition of neighboring coun-
nia, and under his successors, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Es-
tries. Naram-Sin met their armies one by one and defeated
arhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, it remained an Assyrian depen-
them, thus regaining control of all of Mesopotamia. This feat
dency even though at times it had its own Assyrian-
so awed his fellow citizens that they deified him and chose
appointed king and a semblance of independence.
him city god of Akkad. Under Naram-Sin’s successors Akkad
Throughout this time, however, Babylonia remained a thorn
went into decline, and the Gutians, invaders from the eastern
in the side of its Assyrian overlords. It even drove Sennacher-
mountains, for a while took control. They were defeated, and
ib to the extreme of obliterating the city, only to have it re-
the country liberated, by Utuhegal of Uruk, who in turn was
stored by his son Esarhaddon.
succeeded by the famous third dynasty of Ur. Under that
Assyria fell in 609
dynasty a well-integrated administrative system was devel-
BCE, after the capital, Nineveh, had
been captured in 612 in a combined attack by the Medes and
oped. The formerly independent city rulers now became gov-
the army of Babylonia. Here an Aramean, Nabopolassar, had
ernors appointed by, and responsible to, the king and his
achieved freedom from the Assyrian yoke and founded a
corps of central officials.
dynasty. After participating with the Medes in the destruc-
The third dynasty of Ur ended in disaster. A break-
tion of Nineveh and Assyria, he turned to the conquest of
through of Mardu tribes, nomads of the western desert, dis-
Syria, which was accomplished by the crown prince Nebu-
rupted communications and isolated the former city-states
chadrezzar, who followed his father to the throne in 605.
from the capital, Ur, which lost control of all but the imme-
In 539 BCE Babylon opened its gates to the Persian king
diately adjacent territory. Eventually the city fell to an invad-
Cyrus. The last indigenous ruler, Nabonidus, had incurred
ing force from Elam and was mercilessly looted. Its fall
the hatred of the Marduk priesthood through his champion-
spelled the end of Sumerian civilization even though the lan-
ship of the moon god Sin of Harran and his attempts at reli-
guage, as the vehicle of culture and learning, continued to
gious reform. For part of his reign he left rule in Babylon to
be taught in the schools.
his son Belshazzar and withdrew himself to the Tema Oasis
The third dynasty of Ur was followed by two long-lived
in Arabia. With him ended Babylonian independence.
dynasties, one of Isin and one of Larsa, which divided the
DIVINE FORMS: THE NUMINOUS. Basic to all religion, and
country between them. They in turn gave way to the short-
so also to ancient Mesopotamian religion, is, I believe, a
lived rule of all of Babylonia by Hammurabi of Babylon (fl.
unique experience of confrontation with power not of this
1792–1750), famous for his law code, and his son Sam-
world. The German theologian and philosopher Rudolf
suiluna. Late in the latter’s reign the south and middle of
Otto called it the numinous experience and characterized it
Babylonia again made itself independent, now under the
as experience of a mysterium tremendum et fascinans, a con-
name of the Sea Land. It covered much the same territory
frontation with a “wholly other” outside of normal experi-
as had Sumer, and its kings consciously stressed their role as
ence and indescribable in its terms. It is the human response
heirs to Sumer’s ancient language and culture. The dynasty
to it in thought (myth and theology) and action (cult and
of Babylon fell to a raid by the faraway Hittites around 1600
worship) that constitutes religion.
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
5949
Since what is met with in the numinous experience is
(“wild goat fashioner”) and Enuru (“lord reed-bundle”), sig-
not of this world, it cannot be described, for all descriptive
nifying power in the marsh vegetation and in the reed bun-
terms necessarily reflect this-worldly experience and so fall
dles with which reed huts were constructed. Farther east, in
short. At most, therefore, it will be possible to seek to recall
Nina, resided Enki’s daughter Nanshe, goddess of fish, the
and suggest the human response to the numinous experience
numinous force producing the teeming schools of fish that
as closely as possible by way of analogy and evocative meta-
gave the fisherman his livelihood. South of Nina, in Kinir-
phor. Every religion, accordingly, has evolved standardized
sha, was the home of Dumuzi-Abzu (“producer of healthy
versions of such metaphors. They form the link from first-
young ones of the marsh”), the mysterious numinous will
hand to secondhand experience, become the vehicle of reli-
and power for the young of marsh fauna to be born healthy
gious instruction, and form the body of collective belief.
and unimpaired. Through the marshlands along the Euphra-
They will differ, naturally, with the different civilizations in
tes runs also the country of the ox herdsman and the orchard-
which they are grounded and from which their imagery is
man. To the ox herdsman’s pantheon belonged the bull god
taken. Study of any given religion must thus begin with the
Ningublaga and his consort Nineiagara (“lady of the cream-
study of its favorite and central metaphors, taking due care
ery”). In Ur resided Nanna, the moon god envisaged by the
not to forget that they are but metaphors and so are no end
herdsman as a frisky young bull with gleaming horns—the
in themselves but are meant to point beyond.
new moon—grazing in the pasture of heaven. In Ararma, far-
Physiomorphism. Turning, then, to the world of an-
ther up river, resided the sun god Utu, whose round face was
cient Mesopotamian religion, its most striking characteristic
seen as the round face of a bison. At Uruk, finally, was the
seems to be an innate bend toward immanence. The numi-
cow goddess Ninsuna (“mistress of the wild cows”), who was
nous was here experienced as the inwardness of some striking
herself visualized as cow-shaped, and her bull-god husband,
feature or phenomenon of the situation in which it was en-
Lugalbanda. The ox herdsmen grazed their herds on the
countered, as a will and power for that phenomenon to be
young shoots of reed and rushes in the marshes along the Eu-
in its particular form and manner and to thrive. It was there-
phrates. Closer to the river itself was the country of the or-
fore natural that it should be considered to have the form and
chardmen, who depended on the river for the irrigation of
name of the phenomenon whose inwardness it constituted.
their plantations. To them belonged Ninazu of Enegir, seem-
It was also natural that the early settlers should have been
ingly a god of waters, and his son Ningishzida (“master of
drawn particularly to those numinous forces that informed
the good tree”) of Gishbanda, a deity of tree roots and ser-
phenomena vital to their survival, the early economies, and
pents. His wife was Ninazimua (“mistress of the well-grown
that they should have wished to hold onto them and main-
branch”). Damu, city god of Girsu on the Euphrates, was a
tain them through cult and worship.
vegetation god, especially, it would seem, the power for the
sap to rise in plants and trees in the spring. Farther up still,
The original identity of numinous powers with the phe-
at Uruk—in antiquity as today a center of date culture—
nomena they were thought to inform is indicated by divine
there was Amaushumgalana, the power for animal growth
names such as An (“heaven”) for the god of heaven, Hursag
and new life of the date palm, and his consort Inanna, earlier
(“foothills”) for the goddess of the near ranges, Nanna
Ninana (“mistress of the date clusters”), a personification of
(“moon”) for the moon god, Utu (“sun”) for the sun god,
the date storehouse.
Ezen (“grain”) for the grain goddess, and so forth. Occasion-
ally an honorific epithet, such as en (“productive manager,
At Uruk the country of the orchardmen and the oxherds
lord”) or nin (“mistress”), was added, as in Enlil (“lord
joins that of the shepherds; called the edin, it is a wide, grassy
wind”) and Nintur (“mistress birth-hut”). In some cases the
steppe in the heart of Sumer, ringed around by the Euphrates
mythopoeic imagination elaborated on a phenomenon to
and the Iturungal. Here on the western edge is Uruk with
bring out its character more vividly, as when the numinous
Inanna of the shepherds, goddess of the rains that call up ver-
thundercloud Imdugud (“rain cloud”) takes form as an enor-
dure and grazing in the desert, and her young husband, Du-
mous bird floating on outstretched wings and emitting its
muzi (“producer of healthy young ones”). This pair was also
thunderous roar through a lion’s head, or when Gishzida
worshiped in Patibira on the southern edge, and in Umma
(“wellgrown tree”) is given form as the stock of a tree entan-
and Zabalam on the eastern edge. On the southern edge lies
gled in roots having the form of snakes, thus visualizing the
also Ararma with the sun god Utu and his son Shakan, god
belief of the ancients that tree roots could come alive as
of all four-legged beasts of the desert, and to the north is the
snakes.
domain of Ishkur, god of the thundershowers that turn the
desert green like a garden in the spring.
The early selectivity of powers experienced in phenome-
na of vital economic importance to the settlers shows in the
North and east of the edin, finally, lay the plowlands
distribution of city gods, who must be considered coeval
with cities dedicated to cereal and chthonic deities, or deities
with their cities, over the various regional economies of the
of the chief agricultural implements, the hoe and plow. Shu-
country. The extreme south is marshland with characteristic
ruppak on the Euphrates was the home of Ansud, goddess
economies such as fishing, fowling, and hunting. Here was
of the ear of grain and daughter of Ninshebargunu (“mistress
Eridu, the city of Enki, whose other names were Daradim
mottled barley”). Farther up the river was Nippur with
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
Ansud’s divine husband, Enlil; and since Enlil’s winds were
stems also a vase dedicated to Ningishzida that shows the god
the moist winds of spring that made the soil workable, he
in his cella with the door open and flanked by two gatekeep-
also was god of the oldest and most versatile agricultural im-
ers in dragon form. The god appears in his original form of
plement, the hoe. Nippur—the city rather than its sacred
the stock of a tree entwined by serpent-shaped roots. To this
quarter around Enlil’s temple, Ekur—was also the home of
same period belongs a relief that shows Ningishzida intro-
Enlil’s son Ninurta (“master plow”), god of the younger im-
ducing Gudea to Ningirsu. Here he is in completely human
plement, the plow, and charged in Nippur with the office
form except for two heads of serpents peeping out from his
of plowman (ensi) on his father’s estate. Identified by the an-
body at the shoulders. In much similar fashion, vegetation
cients with Ninurta were the gods Pabilsag (“first new
deities on seals are shown with branches and greens protrud-
shoot”), who in Isin was husband of the city goddess Ninin-
ing from their bodies as if—in the words of the archaeologist
sina (“mistress of Isin”); and Ningirsu (“master of [the city]
Henri Frankfort—their inner being was seeking to burst
Girsu”), who in Girsu, southeast of the edin, was essentially
asunder the imposed human form.
a god of the thundershowers and the floods of spring. Farther
north, in Cutha, resided the netherworld gods Meslamtaea
Composite forms such as the above still recognize the
(“the one issuing from the luxuriant mesu tree”)—
relevance of the nonhuman forms and preserve their essential
presumably originally a tree deity—and Nergal. In Kish re-
characteristics even if the human form clearly dominates; but
sided Sabbaba (“ever spreading the wings”), a god of war and
more radical trends away from the physiomorphic represen-
originally, perhaps, of the thundercloud. In Babylon Mero-
tation deliberately separated the deity from the phenomenon
dakh, or Marduk (“calf of the storm”), was the city god. He
which he or she informed. The deity became a power in
was a god of the thunderstorm envisaged as a roaring young
human shape; the phenomenon subsided into a mere thing
bull.
owned or managed by the deity, and the form derived from
it into a mere emblem.
Anthropomorphism. It seems reasonable to consider
the physiomorphic forms the original and oldest forms under
Thus, for instance, the goddess Hursag (“foothills”)
which the gods were envisaged, yet one should probably not
ceased being the deified foothills themselves and became in-
altogether exclude the possibility that the human form may
stead Ninhursaga (“mistress of the foothills”). Similarly, the
be almost equally early. The two forms were not mutually
deified wild cow became Ninsuna (“mistress of wild cows”).
exclusive, and a deity might well choose to appear now under
Gishzida (“good tree”) turned into Ningishzida (“master of
one, now under another. Seal impressions from the late Uruk
the good tree”). Ningirsu’s form of thunderbird was referred
period show the ritual scene of the sacred marriage with the
to by Gudea as his emblem, and it adorns—and perhaps pro-
goddess Inanna in her physiomorphic form of storehouse
tects—Ninurta’s war chariot on the famous Stela of the Vul-
gateposts on some, in her human form on others. A later ex-
tures. Inanna, as goddess of the morning and evening star,
ample is a statement about Gudea, ruler of Lagash (fl. c.
had the physiomorphic form of the small, round disk which
2144–c. 2124 BCE), who lived shortly before the third dynas-
that star looks like in the Near East. That too became an em-
ty of Ur and whose goddess mother was the cow goddess
blem carried as a standard by the contingent from her clan
Ninsuna. He is said to have been “born of a good cow in its
when Gudea called it up for work on the temple he was
woman aspect.” As late as the early first millennium, a hymn
building.
to the moon god revels in attributing to the god physiomor-
As so often with religious beliefs, so also here: no change
phic and anthropomorphic forms alike: he is a prince, a
is ever a clean break. Although demoted to emblems, the old
young bull, a fruit selfgrown, a womb giving birth to all, and
forms did not altogether lose their potency. It is in these
a merciful, forgiving father.
forms, as standards, that the gods followed the army in war
Although human and nonhuman forms thus could co-
and gave victory, and it is in these forms that the gods sanc-
exist peacefully, there are indications that they were not al-
tioned oaths. Oaths were taken by touching them.
ways equally favored. The human form was clearly seen as
more dignified and appropriate than the nonhuman one and
At times the aversion felt for the older, nonhuman
tended to eclipse it.
forms must have been intense enough to engender open en-
mity. This seems to have been the case with the thunderbird,
One outcome of this attitude was representations in
which from being Ningirsu’s early shape became first a mere
which the two different kinds of form were blended but with
emblem of his and then was listed by editors of the myth
the human features dominant. In Girsu, for instance, at the
about him, called Angim, among the god’s captured enemies
end of the Third Early Dynastic period a mace head dedicat-
pulling his triumphal chariot. In still later time the bird—
ed to Ningirsu, god of thundershowers and floods, shows the
often shown as a winged lion rather than as a lion-headed
donor in a pose of adoration before the god in his old form
bird—even became the god’s chief antagonist. Thus in the
of a thunderbird. Somewhat later, when Gudea saw the god
Akkadian myth of Anzu (the Akkadian name of the bird) the
in his dream, Ningirsu was essentially human in form al-
god victoriously routs and subdues his own former self. A
though he retained the thunderbird wings and merged the
pictorial representation of the battle graced his temple in
lower part of his body with a flood. From the time of Gudea
Nimrud. In these later materials Ningirsu is called by the
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
5951
name of Ninurta, the god of Nippur with whom he was early
of the gods, which met in Nippur in a corner of the forecourt
identified.
of Enlil’s temple, Ekur, called Ubshuukkinna. An and Enlil
presided; the gods took an oath to abide by the decision of
Sociomorphism. Man is a social being: he exists in a
the assembly, and voted by saying “Heam” (“May it be!”).
context of family and society generally, so in attributing to
The assembly served as a court—it once even banned Enlil
the gods human form the ancients almost unavoidably attri-
himself—and it elected cities and their rulers to hold sway
buted to them also social role and status. One such basic con-
over all of Sumer and Akkad. The election was for a term
text implied in the human form was that of family and
only, and when the assembly decided a term was ended, it
household. In the case of major deities the household could
voted to overthrow the reigning city and transfer its kingship
be sizable, resembling that of a manorial lord.
to another city and ruler.
The factors that determined the grouping of deities into
a given divine family are not always obvious and may have
Besides the office of king, the divine state knew also
been of various kinds—similarity of nature, complementari-
more permanent offices. For the most part these offices,
ty, spatial proximity, and so forth. Similar character probably
which were called me (“office, function”), were reinterpreta-
dictated the grouping of seven minor cloud goddesses as
tions of functions already innate in the gods in question, the
daughters of the god of thundershowers, Ningirsu. The na-
phenomena and processes of which they were the indwelling
ture of their mother, Ningirsu’s wife, Baba, is less clear; she
will and power; they were now envisaged as the official duties
may have been a goddess of pasture. Ningirsu’s son Igalima
of members of a divine bureaucracy. A comprehensive state-
(“door leaf of the honored one”) appears to be a deification
ment of this view of the cosmos is found in the myth Enki
of the door to Ningirsu’s court of justice. Since clouds were
and the World Order, which tells how Enki, acting on behalf
seen to rise as mist from the marshes, the positing of the rain-
of Enlil, institutes the proper course of natural phenomena
cloud god Asalluhe as son of the god of the marshes, Enki,
and the manner of engaging in human industries, appointing
seems understandable. So too does the marriage of
in each case a divine official to be responsible for them. The
Amaushumgalana, the power producing the date harvest, to
regime of the Tigris and the Euphrates thus comes under the
Inanna, the goddess of the storehouse. A logical connection
administration of the “inspector of canals,” the god Enbilulu.
seems observable also between the aspect of Enlil in which
Other officials are appointed for the marshes and the sea; the
he is god of the older agricultural implement, the hoe, and
storm god Ishkur is made the official in charge of the yearly
that of his son Ninurta, god of the younger implement, the
rains. For agriculture the farmer god Enkimdu and the grain
plow; but only too often no explanation readily suggests
goddess Ezinu are appointed; for the wildlife, the god of
itself.
beasts, Shakan; for the flocks, Dumuzi, the shepherd; for just
boundaries, the god of justice, Utu; for weaving, the spider
Our most complete picture of a major divine household
goddess, Uttu; and so forth.
is given by Gudea in the hymn known as Cylinder B. It lists
the minor gods who served as functionaries in Ningirsu’s
THE PANTHEON. A pantheon seeking to interrelate and to
house, that is, his temple, lending divine guidance to the
rank the innumerable deities the ancient Mesopotamians
human staff. Thus Ningirsu’s oldest son Shulshagana served
worshiped, or merely recognized, in cities and villages
as majordomo, the traditional role of the eldest son. His
throughout the land evolved gradually through the diligent
brother Igalima functioned as chief gendarme responsible for
work of scribes, who produced lists of divine names as part
the maintenance of law and order on the estate. Ningirsu’s
of their general lexical endeavors. The resulting scheme as it
septuplet daughters served as his handmaidens and also pres-
is known to us from old Babylonian copies was based primar-
ented petitions to him. He had two harpists—one for
ily on the prominence in the cosmos of the cosmic feature
hymns, one for elegies—and a chambermaid, who bathed
with which the deity in question was associated, secondarily
him at night and saw to it that his bed was provided with
on his or her family and household ties. It is thus anthropo-
fresh straw. For the task of administering his estate and sit-
morphic and sociomorphic in character. First came the dei-
ting in judgment in disputes that might arise, the god had
ties of heaven, the winds, the eastern foothills, and the un-
a divine counselor and a secretary (sukal). There were two
derground fresh waters, each with his or her family and
generals, and an assherd to look after the draft animals. Goats
household. Then followed deities of smaller entities such as
and deer on the estate were cared for by a divine herder of
the moon, the sun, and the morning and evening star. A fol-
deer; a divine farmer looked after the extensive agricultural
lowing section dealing with deities of the Lagash region was
holdings; a tax gatherer supervised the fisheries; and a ranger
probably not part of the original list, since that region was
protected the wildlife of the estate against poachers. A high
considered enemy territory down to the time of the third
constable and a night watchman kept the estate safe.
dynasty of Ur. Last came the deities of the netherworld. In
its main lines, and necessarily highly selectively, the pan-
In addition to their local functions of looking after their
theon may be presented as follows (Akkadian names, when
estates, most of the major deities had also wider, national re-
different from the Sumerian ones, are given in parentheses).
sponsibilities as officers of the divine polity into which the
sociomorphic view was gradually transforming the cosmos.
An. An (Anum) was god of the sky and father of the
Highest authority in this divine state was a general assembly
gods. The main center of An’s cult seems to have been in
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Uruk. An was given form mythopoeically as a mighty bull
This later aspect of Enlil is prominent in laments, where
whose bellowing was heard in the thunder. The rain was seen
more and more the will of the assembly becomes subsumed
as his semen impregnating the earth (ki) and producing vege-
in his will, and it is for him alone to relent and to restore
tation. As the cloudy skies vanished with the spring, An as
what he had destroyed. In the first millennium, as Marduk
Gugalanna (“great bull of heaven”) was thought to have been
of Babylon rose to preeminence, Enlil, as representative of
killed and gone to the netherworld. A different tradition saw
the often-rebellious south, even came to be treated as enemy
An (Anum) as the sky in its male aspect married to An
and evil in northern Babylonia, as is clear from his role in
(Antum), the sky in its female aspect. She, like her husband,
ritual texts; or he was totally ignored, as in the late creation
was given bovine form and seen as a cow, whose udders, the
epic Enuma elish, which celebrates Marduk as the creator and
clouds, produced the rain. An important aspect of An was
ruler of the cosmos.
his relation to the calendar, the months having their charac-
Besides the tradition which had Ninlil or Ansud as con-
teristic constellations that announced them. To this aspect
sort of Enlil, there existed a variant one in which he was
belonged monthly and yearly festival rites dedicated to An.
paired with the goddess Ninhursaga, the older Hursag
Enlil. God of wind and storms, Enlil was the most
(“foothills”). Here probably also belongs an aspect of Enlil
prominent member of the divine assembly and executor of
in which he was seen as a mountain deity, his name in that
its decrees. The city of Enlil was Nippur (Nuffar), with his
capacity being Kurgal (“great mountain”) and that of his
temple, Ekur. He was married to the goddess Ninlil (“lady
main temple, Ekur (“mountain house”). The connection be-
wind”), who was also known as Ansud (“long ear of grain”).
tween this mountain aspect and his aspect as god of the wind
Her mother was Ninshebargunu, the barley goddess, and her
appears to correlate with the fact that the ancients believed
father, Haya, was keeper of the seal with which the doors of
the home of the winds to be in the mountains. Enlil would
Enlil’s granaries were secured. Originally in keeping with the
thus originally have been specifically the east wind, imkura
agricultural ambience of his wife, Enlil would seem to have
(“wind of the mountains”).
been the power in and for the moist winds of spring that soft-
On Ninhursaga, Enlil begat the seasons of the year,
en the hard crust on the soil and make it tillable. Thus he
Winter and Summer, and he also fathered the god of the
was also god of the oldest tool of tillage, the hoe. With the
yearly flood of the Tigris, Ningirsu. In the form the myth
hoe, after he had invented it, he broke—according to one
of the latter takes in Gudea’s references to it, Ningirsu is the
myth—the hard crust on the earth at Uzumua (“flesh-
semen of Enlil reddened in the deflowering. This may be
grower”), in Nippur, so that mankind could shoot up like
taken to refer to the waters of the melting snow in the high
plants from the earth.
mountains in Iran (Enlil as Kurgal) in the spring. The waters
Two quite different myths deal with the wooing of Nin-
make their way through the foothills (hursag), where the clay
lil or Ansud by Enlil. In one he follows successfully estab-
they absorb gives them a reddish hue, to pour into the Tigris,
lished procedures for winning her. In the other, more primi-
swelling it to flood, Ningirsu.
tive one, Ninlil, disregarding her mother’s instructions,
Ninurta. In Nippur, the town itself—as distinct from
deliberately tempts Enlil to take her by force by bathing in
the sacred area around Ekur—had as city god a son of Enlil
the canal of the town. Enlil is then banished from the city
called Ninurta, whose wife was the goddess Nin-Nibru
by the assembly of gods for his misdeed and leaves for the
(“queen of Nippur”). Ninurta’s name may be interpreted as
netherworld. Ninlil, pregnant with the moon god Suen
containing a cultural loanword, urta (“plow”), thus identify-
(Sin), follows him. On the road Enlil, posing successively as
ing him as god of that implement, much as his father, Enlil,
gatekeeper of Nippur, man of the river of the netherworld,
in one aspect was god of the older agricultural tool, the hoe.
and ferryman, persuades her to lie with him that she may
Ninurta held in Nippur the office of plowman (ensi) for
conceive a further child, who may take Suen’s place in the
Ekur, and at his yearly festival the king opened the plowing
netherworld. Thus Suen’s netherworld brothers, Mes-
season behind a ceremonial plow. Ninurta was early identi-
lamtaea, Ninazu, and Ennugi, are engendered. The myth
fied with Ningirsu of Girsu, and myths pertaining to the lat-
ends—oddly to a modern reader—with a paean to Enlil as
ter were freely attributed to him, so that it often is difficult
a source of fertility: “A lord of great consequence, a lord of
to determine which traits are original to whom.
the storehouse are you! A lord making the barley grow up,
lord making the vines grow up are you! Lord of heaven, lord
A clear case is that of the myth Lugale, which can be
of abundance, lord of earth are you!”
shown to belong originally to Ningirsu. It depicts the god
as a young warrior king who learns that a rival has arisen in
The aspect of Enlil in which he was the benevolent pro-
the mountains and plots to kill him. He sets out with his
vider of abundance is clearly an old one, and it was never lost
army for a preemptive strike, attacks impetuously, and faces
sight of. With time, however, his character took on also more
disaster, but is saved by advice from his father to send out
grim features. As leader of the divine assembly and executor
a heavy rain, which lays the dust that his adversary, one Azag,
of its decrees, he became the power for destruction of temples
had raised against him, nearly suffocating him. He then suc-
and cities, the all-obliterating storm with which the assembly
ceeds in killing Azag and goes on to organize the regime of
overthrew dynasties and their capitals as it shaped history.
the Tigris, bringing its waters down for irrigation. Before
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5953
that they had flowed into the mountains, where they froze.
Enlil, in Nippur. Enki’s mother was the goddess Namma,
To hold the waters on their new course, Ningirsu constructs
whom the scribes listed as Enlil’s housekeeper. Other evi-
a barrier of stone, the foothills (hursag), and when his mother
dence suggests that she was the deified riverbed that gave
comes to visit he presents it to her as a gift, renaming her
birth to the god of the river, Enki. Her name seems to mean
Ninhursaga (“mistress of the foothills”). Last he sits in judg-
“mistress vulva,” and it may be that the mythopoeic imagina-
ment over Azag’s warriors, various kinds of stones that he
tion of the ancients saw the chasm of the empty riverbed as
had captured, and imposes rewards or punishment according
the vulva of the earth. Enki’s spouse was called Damgalnun-
to their conduct in the war. His judgments determine the
na (“great spouse of the prince”), a name that tells us little
nature and the distinguishing traits of the stones in question
about her. Enki’s vizier was a Janus-faced god, Sha (Usmu).
for all time. He finally returns victoriously home.
The name Enki means “productive manager [lord] of
To Ningirsu probably also belongs the myth Angim
the soil,” which must seem highly appropriate for the god
(mentioned above), which describes the god’s victorious re-
of river waters in a society dependent on irrigation agricul-
turn from war and how he has to tone down his boisterous
ture. In a hymn he describes himself in this aspect, saying:
behavior lest he upset his father, Enlil. The basis for the tale
“When I draw near unto heaven, the rains of abundance rain
would seem to be a spell for averting thunderstorms—
down; when I draw near unto the earth, the early flood at
Ningirsu was god of the thunderstorm—from Nippur. Con-
its height comes into being; when I draw near unto the yel-
ceivably a hymn praising Ninurta in his relation to various
lowing fields, grain piles are heaped at my command.” Water
stones could be in origin Ningirsu material.
not only slakes the thirst of men, animals, and plants, it also
serves to cleanse. In that aspect, as power to cleanse, Enki ap-
So perhaps also is a myth telling how the thunderbird
pears in rituals of purification from all that defiles, including
stole the tablets of destiny from Enki in Eridu, how Ninurta
evil spirits attacking man, causing disease and uncleanness.
set out to recover them, intending to keep them for himself,
One such elaborate ritual, meant to purify the king of possi-
and how, when his weapon stunned the bird, it let go its hold
ble evil caused by an eclipse, has the form of a trial before
of the tablets, and they of themselves returned to Enki. Frus-
the sun god in which Enki sends a messenger, the exorcist,
trated in his ambition, Ninurta then raised a flood against
to speak for the claimant, the polluted king, and undertakes
Eridu, but Enki craftily had a turtle dig a pit, and he lured
to enforce the verdict. This he does by washing all evil away
Ninurta into it. Underlying the myth is apparently a concept
with his water. The ritual is called Bitrimki (“bathhouse”).
of the rain cloud rising as mist from the swamps, Enki’s un-
In other rituals Enki provided the effective incantation and
derground waters (apsu), and, moving in over the mountains,
prescribed the needed cleaning and healing acts, and it is not
the flight of the thunderbird. The return of the waters in the
too much to say that he occupied a central position in all
flood is seen as the god’s jealous attack on Enki, and his im-
white magic for combating demons of illness.
prisonment in the turtle’s pit must stand for the eventual
dwindling of the flood to a trickle between towering banks,
Since Enki always knew what to do to drive away de-
the pit.
mons, he generally rated as the most resourceful and inge-
nious of the gods. He was skilled in every craft, and under
Nusku. To Enlil’s household belonged Nusku, in origin
different names he served as patron deity for most of them.
a god of lamps. He served as Enlil’s trusted vizier and confi-
His practical ingenuity also made him a born organizer. He
dant.
was the one who organized the cosmos for Enlil in the myth
Ninhursaga. Ninhursaga (“mistress of the foothills”),
Enki and the World Order, discussed above. Enki in the
earlier simply Hursag (“foothills”), was the power in the fer-
myths told about him never uses force; instead he gains his
tile near slopes of the eastern mountains, the favorite grazing
point by cunning deftly exercised. An example is the story
grounds in the spring. Her cities were Kesh, not yet identi-
of Adapa, the steward of Enki, or rather of Ea, for the text
fied, and Adab, the modern mound Bismaya. In addition to
uses his Akkadian name. When Adapa once was summoned
the name Ninhursaga, the goddess was also known as Nin-
to appear before Anu in heaven for having broken the wing
mah (“august mistress”), Dingirmah (“august deity”), and
of the south wind, Ea told him how to gain the goodwill of
Nintur (“mistress birth-hut”), her name as goddess of birth.
the two gods who guarded the gate so that they would inter-
Her Akkadian name was Beletili (“mistress of the gods”).
cede for him. Ea also warned him not to eat and not to drink,
She, An, and Enlil formed in the third millennium the ruling
for he would be offered the bread of death and the water of
triad of cosmic powers.
death. All went as planned, and Anu was appeased by the in-
tercession of the doormen. When Adapa refused food and
Enki. Enki (Ea) was god of the underground fresh wa-
drink, however, Anu was surprised and asked why. Adapa
ters that come to the surface in rivers, pools, and marshes.
told him, and Anu burst into laughter. The food and drink
The Sumerians imagined them as a vast subterranean fresh-
would actually have made Adapa immortal, which Ea knew
water sea, which they called Abzu or Engur. Enki’s city was
and did not want to happen.
Eridu (Abu Shahrein), where he resided in the temple called
Eengura (“house of the deep”). A myth tells how he built it
A rather more momentous occasion on which Enki
and celebrated its completion with a feast for his father,
showed his cunning was when he saved the human race from
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destruction at the hand of Enlil. We are told about it in the
mining whether they will be good or bad. (That makes little
Sumerian story of the flood, which forms part of the myth
sense if she was, as here, a mere midwife. Apparently, in the
called the Eridu Genesis. Mankind, having been created and
original myth underlying this part of the composition she
provided with leadership—in the form of kings—by the
was, as in the Atrahasis story, the one who gave shape to the
gods, prospered and proliferated, to the extent that the noise
embryo of man and bore it as an infant.) Enki accepts her
they made became so irksome to Enlil that he persuaded the
challenge, waging that he can counter anything she can think
assembly of the gods to wipe out man with a universal flood.
up. She then creates a series of misshapen or otherwise defec-
Enki, who was present, was able to warn the pious King Ziu-
tive human beings, but for each one Enki is able to think of
sudra to build an ark. Ziusudra followed the advice and was
a place in society where it can function and support itself.
eventually accepted among the gods and granted eternal life
When Ninmah finally gives up, Enki proposes that he try his
as reward for saving all living things.
hand and that she find a place for his creature. He then fash-
ions an embryo and has it given premature birth by a woman
A far more detailed—and conceivably more original—
provided by Ninmah. There is nothing Ninmah can do for
version of this story is found in the Akkadian tale of Atrahasis
it, and she breaks out in lament. Enki, however, calms her
(“the surpassingly wise”), who here takes the place of Ziusu-
with a conciliatory speech, pointing out that it is precisely
dra. The story falls into two halves, each clearly originally a
her contribution, the maturing of the embryo in the womb,
separate tale. The first half tells how in the beginning the
that it lacked. The man’s contribution to the engendering
gods themselves had to work for their food, digging the need-
of a child is not enough by itself; the woman’s is needed too.
ed irrigation canals. They eventually rebelled, and Ea
And so he praises her powers.
thought of the solution, creating man to do the hard work.
To that end a god was killed and his blood mixed into the
The question thus raised, of the respective share of the
clay from which man was to take form. The mother goddess
male and the female partner in procreation, seems to have
gave birth to him, and there was general rejoicing. The sec-
been variously answered at different times. The first part of
ond half tells how mankind proliferated on earth and with
Enki and Ninmah gives the woman all the credit. Man was
their noise kept Enlil from going to sleep. Enlil therefore
engendered from clay, formed, and given birth—as it specifi-
tried to cut down on man’s numbers by a succession of dis-
cally states—without a male being involved. Somewhat simi-
eases and famines, but each time Ea found ways of stopping
larly, the tale of Atrahasis has man created from clay and di-
the evils before it was too late, and soon man again proliferat-
vine blood and formed and given birth by Nintur, that is,
ed as before. Finally Enlil decided on a desperate means: wip-
by Ninmah. Enki’s contribution in both cases was chiefly the
ing out mankind with a flood. Again Ea frustrated the plan,
idea of making man. In the second part of Enki and Ninmah,
by having Atrahasis build an ark in which he survived with
however, this changes. Enki’s power to create an embryo, al-
his family and the animals. As he emerged from the ark he
though not to mature it and give it birth, is stressed; and fi-
offered a sacrifice, and the gods were delighted, for all
nally, in the account of the creation of man in Enuma elish
through the flood, with no humans to offer sacrifice, they
at the turn of the first millennium, the birth goddess has van-
had suffered severely from hunger. Only Enlil was wroth, but
ished, and Enki does the creation all by himself.
him Ea appeased by instituting plans for population control:
barrenness, child disease, and so forth. Thus harmony in the
One final odd composition with Enki as its hero re-
universe was reestablished. As given in the tale of Atrahasis,
mains to be mentioned, Enki and Ninhursaga. It begins with
the story of the flood is the most detailed we have. A shorter
praise of the island of Dilmun (modern Bah-rain) and its
version—shorn of any motivation for the flood—was added
pristine purity at the beginning of time. It then tells how
to the Epic of Gilgamesh by the later editor Sinliqiunnini. In
Enki provided it with fresh water and made it a port and an
the story of Adapa, Enki used his ingenuity against Anu; in
emporium. Next we hear how Enki attempts to seduce Nin-
the flood story, against Enlil.
hursaga but is rejected until he proposes marriage, making
her his wife. She gives birth to a daughter, whom Enki se-
A third myth, Enki and Ninmah, pits Enki against the
duces as soon as she becomes nubile, fathering a second
third in the triad of highest deities, Ninhursaga, whom the
daughter, whom in turn he seduces and makes pregnant. Her
myth calls Ninmah. Like the Atrahasis story, this composi-
daughter, Enki’s granddaughter, is Uttu, the spider goddess,
tion consists of two separate myths only very loosely connect-
and Ninhursaga warns her against Enki. Uttu therefore re-
ed. The first of these is a Sumerian counterpart to the first
fuses to let him into the house unless he brings wedding gifts
part of the Atrahasis story, where the refusal of the gods to
of fruits. He does so, and when Uttu lets him in, he takes
work had Enki propose the creation of man. Here he is fa-
her by force. Uttu’s screams bring Ninhursaga, who removes
thered by “the engendering clay of Abzu,” which once also
Enki’s semen and sows it. From it eight plants grow up.
fathered Enki, and he is given form and is borne by Enki’s
Later, passing by, Enki notes the plants, and as his vizier gives
mother, Namma. The second myth begins with a party given
them names, Enki eats them. Ninhursaga, discovering what
by Enki to celebrate the birth of man. As he and Ninmah,
has happened, vows never to look upon him with her life-
who had assisted Namma as birth helper, drink deeply, Nin-
giving eye. The plants, Enki’s semen, which he swallowed,
mah begins to boast that she controls men’s fortunes, deter-
then begin to develop as embryos in his body. Being male,
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5955
he is unable to give birth to them, and so falls critically ill.
Apsu’s body. There Ea engendered his son Marduk. Anu, in-
The gods are greatly distressed, but the Fox offers to bring
ordinately fond of his grandchild, fashioned the four winds
Ninhursaga. It does so; she is released from her vow, places
for little Marduk to play with. The winds disturbed the still
Enki in her vulva, and successfully gives birth to eight deities,
surface of the sea, creating billows. This greatly vexed the
who are named and given status, their names serving as gro-
older gods, and they were able to rouse Tiamat to action. An
tesque puns on the words for the part of Enki’s body from
army was assembled to destroy the younger gods and was
which they come. The last is the goddess of Dilmun.
placed under the command of Tiamat’s paramour Kingu.
The stress on Dilmun, and on Enki’s amorous success
The threat to the gods was serious and caused consternation
with his daughter, granddaughter, and, in one version, great-
among them. Both Ea and Anu, who were sent to cope with
granddaughter, the “comely spider goddess Uttu,” is hardly
the crisis one after the other, failed and turned back. Finally,
meant to be taken seriously. Presumably, the earthy humor
since the gods were in deepest despair, Ea suggested to the
of the composition was intended to amuse visiting sailors
leader of the gods, Anshar, that Marduk be summoned to
from Dilmun when they were entertained at the court of Ur.
champion the gods. Marduk came and was willing to under-
take the task, but he demanded full authority. The gods
Asalluhe. Asalluhe (“man-drenching Asar”), city god of
agreed, gave him the power for his word to come true, and
Kuar, near Eridu, and god of rain clouds, was Enki’s son. He
made sure by a test that his word now had that effect.
appears predominantly in incantations against all kinds of
Marduk then rode to battle on his storm chariot. The sight
evil doings. Floating as a cloud above the earth, he was in
of him overwhelmed the enemy; only Tiamat dared face him,
a position to observe what was going on below and duly re-
but after an angry exchange of words, as she opened her maw
ported it to his father, Enki, who was not in a similar, favor-
to swallow him, he drove in the winds and then killed her
able position to observe. On hearing Asalluhe’s account,
with an arrow. Her army he took captive, enclosing it in a
however, out of his profound knowledge he was able in each
net held by the four winds. Out of the carcass of Tiamat
case to tell how the evil was to be countered. Identified with
Marduk then created the extant universe. He split her in two,
Asalluhe in later times was Marduk.
and made out of one part heaven; out of the other, earth. To
Marduk. Marduk, or preferably Merodakh, city god of
prevent her waters from escaping he provided bolts and
Babylon, was an old Sumerian deity who, like Ninazu in Es-
guards. In heaven, directly opposite Ea’s Apsu, he built his
hnunna (discussed below) and Meslamtaea in Cutha, was
own house, Esharra, which the text says was the sky. He then
taken over by the Akkadian invaders. His name, abbreviated
fashioned the constellations, organized the calendar, fixed
from (A)marudak (“calf of the storm”), characterizes him as
the polestar, and gave the moon and sun orders about their
a god of thunderstorms visualized as a bellowing young bull.
motion.
The thundershowers of spring mark the appearance of ver-
dure in the desert and of plowing and sowing; thus Marduk’s
When Marduk returned home, he was hailed by the
chief festival, the Akiti (Akitu), or “time of the earth reviv-
gods, who reaffirmed their allegiance to him. His first de-
ing,” was further described as “of the seed plowing.” His city
mand of them, then, was that they build him a city, to be
was Kadingira (“gate of the god”), translated into Akkadian
called Babylon. He then pardoned the captive gods, who
as Babilim. The name indicates a settlement grown up at the
gratefully hailed him as king and savior and promised to
entrance to a sanctuary, presumably Marduk’s temple Esagila
build his city for him. Their willingness moved Marduk to
(“house with head held high”). Throughout the third and
think of a means of lightening their labors, and he decided
second millennia, it would seem, Marduk’s status was little
to create man. An assembly was called. Kingu was denounced
more than that of a local city god. With the advent of the
as the instigator of the rebellion and was slain, and out of
first millennium, however, began his rise to supreme god of
his body Ea fashioned man. Marduk then divided the gods
the universe and his rivalry for that honor with Ashur of As-
into two groups, one celestial and one terrestrial. The gods
syria.
for the last time took spade in hand and built the city
Marduk wanted, Babylon. At a great housewarming party to
Marduk’s claim to supremacy was celebrated in the cre-
celebrate the completion of Babylon, Marduk was appointed
ation epic Enuma elish, in which he is presented as savior of
permanent king of the gods. The myth ends with the gods
the gods and creator and organizer of the cosmos. The myth
naming Marduk’s fifty names, each of which expressed a
begins by tracing world origins from a watery chaos of fresh
power that he held. Marduk’s consort was the goddess Sar-
waters, Apsu, and salt waters, Tiamat, the sea. From them
panitum; his son, the god of Borsippa near Babylon, was
stemmed various generations of gods: Lahmu and Lahamu;
Nabu, god of the scribal art.
Anshar and Kishar, the horizon; Anu, heaven; and Nudim-
mud or Ea. The younger gods, getting together to dance,
Nanna. Nanna (also Suen or Sin) was the god of the
proved disturbing to the older generations, who prized peace
moon. His city was Ur (Muqayyir); his temple there, Egish-
and quiet. Tiamat, as a long-suffering mother, bore with it,
nugal. His wife was Ningal. His own name, Nanna, would
but Apsu decided to get rid of the troublemakers. However,
seem to designate him as the full moon, while Suen would
before he could carry out his evil design he was overcome and
be the name of the sickle moon. He was regularly envisioned
slain by Ea, who then built for himself a house on top of
in a bull shape, an image that the hornlike shape of the sickle
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moon may have encouraged. He was also visualized as a her-
ing king not only took the role of, but actually became,
der driving his herd—the stars—across the pastures of heav-
Amaushumgalana, while the goddess would have been
en, or as riding in the heavens in a boat, the sickle moon.
incarnate in the queen, Ninegala (“mistress of the pal-
A late myth—actually an incantation to ward off the evils of
ace”). In the literature relating to Inanna’s wedding she
an eclipse of the moon—tells how he was attacked by storm
is therefore often called by that epithet, and in love
demons after they had lured the storm god, Ishkur, and In-
songs written for that occasion it is often difficult to tell
anna, who aspired to queenship of heaven, to their side. The
whether they celebrate Inanna’s love for Amaushumga-
attack was noted, however, by Enlil, who alerted Enki and
lana or perhaps rather that of the human queen for her
had him send Marduk to the rescue.
husband. The cult of Inanna in her aspect of goddess
of the date storehouse was a happy one. There was no
Utu. The god of the sun and of justice and fair dealings
sense of loss, no “death” of the god. The dates, eminent-
was Utu (Shamash). His cities were Ararma (Larsa) in the
ly storable, were always with the community, and so was
south and Sippar in the north. His temple in both cities was
the power they represented.
called Ebabbar; his wife was Ninkurra (Aya). As judge, Utu
presided each day in various temples at specific places called
2. Rather different was another aspect, also at home in
“the place of Utu.” He was greeted in the morning as he rose
Uruk, but in the Uruk of sheepfolds rather than of date
on the horizon, heard cases all day, and was sped on his way
groves. In this aspect Inanna was the power of the thun-
in the evening, at sundown. During the night he sat in judg-
dershowers of spring, on which the shepherds depended
ment in the netherworld. The cases he heard, whether by day
for pasturage in the desert. In this aspect she was paired
or by night, were apparently normally such as were brought
with Dumuzi, the shepherd. Her early form was appar-
by the living against ghosts and demons that plagued them.
ently that of the lion-headed thunderbird, which re-
mained with her as an attribute. Besides it, and more
Ishkur. Ishkur (Adad) was the god of rains and thun-
or less replacing it, was also the form of the lion alone.
derstorms. A text, basically a spell to avert a threatening
thunderstorm from Nippur, tells him to go away so as not
3. Closely related to Inanna’s aspect as goddess of the
to disturb his father, Enlil, with his clamor. His original form
thunderstorm was her aspect as goddess of war. The
seems to have been that of a bull. In many ways he resembles
thunderous rumble of the primitive war chariot made
Ningirsu, but he seems to be more specifically a herder’s god,
it easy to see and hear thunder as the chariot’s counter-
the power in the spring rains that bring up pasture in the
part in the sky. The ferocious nature of other forms such
desert.
as lions and bulls fitted easily into the image. As goddess
of war, Inanna led the Dance of Inanna, the moving of
Inanna. Inanna (Ishtar) was earlier called Ninana,
the battle lines toward each other as if they were lines
which can be understood as either “mistress of the date clus-
of dancers. In the myths about her she subdues the in-
ters” or “mistress of heaven.” The center of her worship was,
submissive Ebeh mountain range in southern Assyria.
in the south, at Uruk, in the temple called Eana, and in the
north at Hursagkalamma, near Kish. Characteristic of her is
4. An astral aspect of both Inanna and the Akkadian Ishtar
her great complexity and many-sidedness. It is apparent that
is that of goddess of the morning and evening star, with
a variety of originally different deities were syncretized in her
which she forms a triad with her father, the moon god,
and also that the ancients had been able to blend these differ-
and her brother, the sun god. Her precise function in
ences into a fascinating, many-faceted, and convincing char-
this role is not clear except insofar as her appearance
acter. Normally she was envisioned as a rather willful, high-
marked the beginning and the end of the working day.
handed, young aristocratic girl of marriageable age or else as
As goddess of the morning and evening star her name
a young bride. Her lover or husband is a form of the god Du-
was understood to mean “mistress of heaven,” and her
muzi (Tammuz). In the complex image the goddess presents
celestial affinities conceivably also encouraged an inter-
it seems possible to distinguish the following aspects, pre-
pretation of the name of her temple, Eana, as “house of
sumably once independent figures.
heaven” and a belief that it had originally descended
from heaven. There is even evidence that in later times
1. As goddess of the storehouse of dates, Inanna was at
she managed to supplant the goddess of heaven, An
home in Uruk, situated in a famous date-growing re-
(Antum), as spouse of the god of heaven, An (Anum),
gion. Her name Ninana here stands for “mistress of the
and became queen of heaven. In the Eclipse Myth she
date clusters”; the name of her temple, Eana, for “house
unsuccessfully conspires with the storm demons to ob-
of the date clusters.” Here, at the gate of the storeroom
tain that position, but in a later myth, the Elevation of
(egida), she received her bridegroom, Amaushumgalana
Inanna, the august assembly of the gods itself petitions
(“the one great source of the date clusters”), that is, the
An to marry her, and she is invested with supreme pow-
one great bud that the date palm sprouts anually. He
ers among the gods.
was the power that made the date palm produce; their
wedding and his entering Inanna’s house constitute a
5. Finally, as protector of harlots, Inanna was herself envis-
mythopoeic view of the bringing in of the date harvest.
aged as a harlot. Her original form in this aspect was
As the rite of this marriage was performed later, the rul-
that of the owl, which, like the harlot, comes out at
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5957
dusk. Correspondingly her name as harlot was Ninnina
asks Utu to change him into a gazelle—in another version
(“mistress owl”). In Akkadian her name was Kilili.
into a snake—so that he can escape his captors. Utu does so,
and Dumuzi escapes, only to be again caught; again he es-
In the myths dealing with Inanna a frequently occurring
capes, until finally he is caught for good in his sheepfold. The
motif is her insatiable desire for power. In the Eclipse Myth,
story ends with Dumuzi’s sister Geshtinanna, the goddess of
as noted, it leads her to conspire with the evil storm demons;
the grapevine, seeking him. Eventually, advised by the Fly,
in Enki and the World Order she complains bitterly that all
she finds him and joins him in the netherworld. In distress
other goddesses have offices and only she has none, so Enki
at the undeserved misfortune of both Dumuzi and his sister,
tries to assuage her. In the myth Inanna and the Parse, that
Inanna decrees that they may share the obligation to serve
is, Inanna and the divine offices called in Sumerian me, we
in the netherworld as her substitute: Dumuzi will serve half
are told how she visited Enki in Eridu, how he drank deeply
a year below; then he will return to the world above while
at the party welcoming her, and how in an expansive mood
his sister takes over. She in turn will return after half a year
he conferred upon her one office after another. Wisely, she
as he goes below.
decided to leave immediately for home with her newly won
offices, so that when Enki woke up sober and wanted the of-
This ends the tale, and a closer look at it will suggest
fices back it was too late. The myth lists the offices one by
that tale rather than myth is the proper designation, for it is
one; they constitute a formidable list. Owing, probably, in
most easily understood as a composite of dead myths put to-
large part to the syncretistic background of the image of In-
gether for dramatic effect by the storyteller and haphazardly
anna, the offices attributed to her show little unity or coher-
embellished. The myth of Inanna’s death and transformation
ent pattern; rather, they form a motley collection of vario-
into a cut of spoiled meat is best understood as an original
rums. That did not trouble the ancients though; instead,
myth in which she represents the underground storehouse
they gloried in Inanna’s versatility, and a major hymn to her
for meat; she becomes like a grave when the meat rots in
even makes a point of praising her as goddess of opposites,
summer, but she is revived—as the storehouse is restocked
of insult and veneration, downheartedness and good cheer,
with fresh meat from the flocks fed on the grass and water
and so on.
of life, the pastures of spring. The myth has nothing to do
with Inanna’s aspect as the morning star, in which the story-
Inanna’s lust for power is also an important motif in the
teller has her present herself when she seeks entry into the
best known of the myths about her, Inanna’s Descent to the
netherworld. The second part of the tale was originally a sep-
Netherworld. It prompts her to descend to the realm of death
arate myth dealing with Dumuzi rather than with Inanna,
to wrest queenship over it from its rightful queen, Ereshkigal.
and it has also come down, in slightly variant forms, as a sep-
The attempt fails, and Inanna is killed and turned into a cut
arate, self-contained myth.
of meat gone bad and hung on a peg. When she fails to re-
turn, her loyal handmaiden Ninshubura seeks help, first
Dumuzi. Like Inanna, and perhaps even more so, does
from Enlil in Nippur, then from Nanna in Ur, and finally
her lover and bridegroom, Dumuzi (Tammuz), present a
from Enki in Eridu. Only Enki can think of a means to help.
highly complex, syncretized image, one in which it is not al-
He creates two creatures from the dirt under his fingernails
ways easy to sort out cleanly the various strands woven into
and sends them to the netherworld with instructions to con-
it. Some fairly distinct aspects do, however, stand out and
dole with Ereshkigal, who, as is her custom, laments children
may reasonably be assumed to represent originally separate,
who have died before their time. Then, when moved by the
independent deities. They are the following.
creatures’ concern she grants them a wish, they are to ask for
1. Dumuzi as Amaushumgalana, the power for productivi-
the tainted meat hanging on a peg and to throw on it the
ty in the date palm. His marriage to Inanna as numen
grass and water of life which Enki has given them. They fol-
of the storehouse celebrates the bringing in of the date
low the instructions, and Inanna rises alive. As she is about
harvest. His cult was based in Uruk.
to leave the netherworld, however, its ruling gods stop her
and decree that she must provide a substitute to take her
2. Dumuzi the shepherd, the power causing ewes to pro-
place. So she is accompanied by a detachment of netherworld
duce normal, well-shaped lambs. His bride was Inanna
police to ensure that she will designate a substitute to go back
as goddess of the spring rain showers that call up verdure
with them.
for pasture in the desert. The vanishing of the power he
represented when the lambing season came to an end
On the journey back to Uruk she is met by one loyal
was seen as the death of the god, to be observed with
servant after another, all clad in mourning for her, and she
wailing and lament.
refuses to hand any of them over to the demons. When they
3. Dumuzi of the beer. No separate distinctive name sets
reach Uruk, however, they come upon her young husband,
apart this aspect of the god. The texts dealing with it
Dumuzi, sitting in fine clothes and enjoying himself listen-
sometimes use the name Dumuzi, sometimes Damu.
ing to the music of reed pipes. This flagrant lack of concern
They involve the search for him after his death by his
infuriates Inanna, and in a flash of jealous rage she hands him
sister and mother.
over to the demons, who carry him off. In his distress he calls
upon his brother-in-law, Utu, god of justice and fairness, and
4. Damu the child, the power for the sap to rise in plants
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and trees in the spring. Considered lost during the dry
to his house and wants first to take her to his personal god
summer, he was sought by his mother and found com-
that he may bless the marriage. But Inanna is thoroughly
ing down the river, presumably with the beginning of
frightened, so Dumuzi tries to hearten her by telling her what
the early flood in spring. His cult was based in Uruk.
an honored position she will occupy in the household and
how no domestic work whatever will be demanded of her.
5. Damu the conscript, an aspect of the god under which
he was seen as a young boy liable for military service.
The other group of myths, centering on the death of the
He has been taken forcibly from his mother by brutal
young god, is perhaps best represented by the myth called
recruiters, and she seeks him, gradually realizing that he
the Dream of Dumuzi. In it, Dumuzi has an ominous dream
is dead. What precise power he represented is not clear;
that Geshtinanna interprets as boding death for them both.
most likely it was one connected with the welfare of cat-
Dumuzi sends her up on a mound as lookout, and she re-
tle herds. His cult was based in Girsu (Tello) on the Eu-
ports the arrival of a boat with evil recruiters. Dumuzi de-
phrates.
cides to hide in the desert, but first he tells his sister and col-
league where he will be. When the recruiters land and offer
The myths about these various aspects of Dumuzi naturally
bribes for information, Geshtinanna is steadfast; however,
fall into two groups, those dealing with wooing and wedding
the colleague betrays his friend. Dumuzi is captured but ap-
and those dealing with his death and the search for him. To
peals to Utu to help him escape by turning him into a gazelle.
the first group belongs a dialogue between Inanna and Du-
Utu does so, and Dumuzi does escape, only to be again
muzi in which he has found a house for them near her par-
caught. This repeats itself until he flees to his fold. The pur-
ents. She does not know that they have chosen him as her
suers break in, wrecking everything on their way, and Du-
future husband, and he teases her, stating that his family is
muzi is killed. A similar myth, the Most Bitter Cry, also de-
like her family, as it were. Eventually he enlightens her, and
scribes the attack on the fold and the rude awakening of
she is well pleased. The Inanna of this tale seems very young.
Dumuzi, naked and a prisoner. He manages to escape and
Slightly older, she appears in a tale in which Dumuzi’s sister
flees toward Uruk. As he tries to cross the Euphrates, howev-
Geshtinanna tells him that Inanna invited her in and told
er, he is swept off by the flood and drowns before the eyes
her how she, Inanna, suffered from love for her brother. Du-
of his horrified mother, Duttur, and wife, Inanna.
muzi is quick to ask leave to go, and is off to ease the damsel’s
Lugalbanda and Ninsuna. Lugalbanda (“fierce king”)
suffering. At about the same age, Inanna appears in a differ-
and Ninsuna (“mistress of the wild cows”) were apparently
ent story, awaiting Dumuzi toward evening. They had met
city god and goddess of Kullab, a city that was early absorbed
and fallen in love the day before, and when Dumuzi appears
into Uruk. Both were deities of cattle, but with the absorp-
he impetuously propositions her. She promptly turns him
tion of his city Lugalbanda seems to have lost definition, and
down and apparently—the text is broken here—makes him
even his divine status. He appears in historical times predom-
propose properly. When the text resumes they are on their
inantly as an ancient king of the first dynasty of Ur, and his
way to her mother’s house to announce the engagement.
achievement in the extant epic about him, that of a supernat-
Another story tells how Inanna’s brother Utu has ar-
urally gifted messenger, was probably tacked on precisely be-
ranged a marriage for her but is unsure about how she will
cause nothing else was known about him. Ninsuna for her
receive the news. He therefore speaks obliquely, proposing
part managed to keep her divine status. She was the tutelary
to bring her fresh flax for a linen sheet. He does not say that
goddess of Gudea of Lagash and, curiously enough, in that
it is to be her bridal sheet, but she immediately understands.
role was the consort of Ningishzida, not of Lugalbanda.
Afraid to hear her brother’s choice in case it turns out to be
Ningirsu. Ningirsu (“master of Girsu”) was the city god
a wrong one, she postpones the crucial question, pretending
of Girsu, with the temple Eninnu. His wife was the goddess
that she has nobody to ret the flax, spin it, double the thread,
Baba. Ningirsu was god of the thunderstorms in spring and
weave it, dye it, and bleach it, but each time Utu offers to
of the spring flood of the Tigris. His early form was that of
bring the flax already prepared. So at last she has to come
the thunderbird, an enormous eagle or vulture with a lion’s
to the point: who is to lie down with her on it? When Utu
head out of which thunder roared. Ningirsu was early identi-
tells her it is Amaushumgalana, she is overjoyed. The wed-
fied with Ninurta of Nippur, and a great deal of his mytholo-
ding itself is recounted in a tale which begins with Inanna
gy was therefore transferred to the latter (it has been dis-
sending for her bridegroom and attendants, specifying what
cussed above). Ninurta was also the name under which the
gifts they are to bring. They appear before the house, but In-
god was borrowed by the Assyrians when he became promi-
anna is in no hurry. She bathes and dresses in all her finery
nent as god of war.
and listens to instructions from her mother about the obedi-
ence due to her parents-in-law. Eventually she opens the
Gatumdug. Gatumdug was goddess of the city of La-
door to Dumuzi—the formal act that concludes a Sumerian
gash (Al Hiba), south of Girsu. The meaning of her name
marriage—and presumably (the text is broken here) leads
is not clear, but other evidence suggests that she was also a
him to the bridal chamber for the consummation of the mar-
goddess of birth giving.
riage. A wedding feast probably follows the next morning.
Nanshe. The goddess of fowl and fish was Nanshe. She
When the text resumes, Dumuzi is leading his young bride
was city goddess of Nina (Zurghul), with the temple Siratr.
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She was, according to Gudea, the interpreter of dreams for
Ningishzida. Ningishzida (“master of the well-grown
the gods.
tree”) was the god of trees, especially the powers in the root
Ninmar. City goddess of Guabba and seemingly a god-
that nourish and sustain the tree. As god of tree roots he was
dess of birds was Ninmar.
naturally seen as an underground, netherworld power. His
office there was that of throne bearer, an old title for the head
Dumuzi-Abzu. Dumuzi-Abzu was city goddess of
of the constabulary. Ningishzida’s wife was Azimua (“well-
Kinirsha, and the power for fertility and healthy new life in
grown branch”). His city was Gishbanda on the lower Eu-
the marshes.
phrates. The ancients thought that there was a common
Nininsina. Nininsina (“mistress of Isin”) was city god-
identity between tree roots and snakes, the latter being roots
dess of Isin (Ishan Bahriyat), south of Nippur, which served
moving freely. Accordingly, Ningishzida was also the god of
as capital of Sumer for most of the time after the third dynas-
serpents, and his older form, as noted above, was that of the
ty of Ur until the advent of the Old Babylonian period. She
stock of a tree around which serpent roots wind, the whole
seems to have been envisaged in the shape of a dog and was
resembling the Greek caduceus.
presumably the goddess of dogs. Her special powers were
Nergal. The other names of Nergal (“lord great city”),
those of the physician. Her daughter Damu—different from
originally probably designating different gods, were Mes-
the boy of Girsu on the Euphrates—followed in her mother’s
lamtaea (“the one issuing from the luxuriant mesu tree”) and
footsteps as goddess of healing.
Irra. Meslam or Emeslam (“house Meslam”) was the name of
Ereshkigal. The name of the goddess Ereshkigal (Alla-
Nergal’s temple at Cutha, in Akkad.
tum) meant “queen [of the] greater earth.” The ancients be-
lieved that there was a “larger heaven” above the visible sky
A myth preserved in a copy found at Tell al-EAmarna
that connected with a “larger earth” below the observable
in Egypt and dating from the thirteenth century BCE tells
earth. In the larger earth was the realm of the dead, of which
how Nergal came to be king of the netherworld. Once when
Ereshkigal was queen, although a variant—and conflicting—
the gods were feasting they sent a message down to Ereshki-
belief located the realm of the dead in the eastern mountains.
gal inviting her to send up her vizier, Namtar, to fetch her
The ancients imagined it as a walled city. As with cities on
a portion of the delicacies. She did so, and when he arrived
earth, the wall served not only to keep out enemies but also
all the gods rose respectfully except one, Nergal, who rudely
to keep in people—as, for instance, the slaves—who were not
remained seated. When Namtar reported this, Ereshkigal fu-
free to leave the city. It had its own police and a court where
riously demanded that the offending god be delivered up to
the sun god presided during the night. Existence there was
her so that she could kill him. But when Namtar came for
dreary. If one had no son to make funerary offerings, one
Nergal, Ea had changed his appearance so that Namtar did
lived like a begger, but with many sons one could enjoy a
not recognize him. Later, however, Ea told Nergal to take
degree of comfort. Reasonably well off were also young men
a throne down to Ereshkigal to placate her. Nergal was un-
killed in battle—they had their parents take care of them—
derstandably reluctant, but Ea insisted and gave him demons
and small children, who played with golden toys. In the sec-
to hold open the gates of the netherworld so that he could
ond and first millennia ideas about existence below seem to
get out fast if needed. However, he met with no resistance,
have become even darker: dust was said to cover all; the dead
pulled Ereshkigal down from her throne by the hair, and
were clad in feathers like birds; and when an Assyrian prince
threatened to kill her. When she pleaded for her life, offering
visited the netherworld in a vision, he found it full of horrify-
marriage and rule over the netherworld, Nergal accepted,
ing monsters. Ereshkigal herself was cast in the image of a
kissed her, and wiped away her tears, saying wonderingly, “It
mourning woman, pulling her hair and raking her body with
was but love you wanted of me from months long ago to
her nails for grief as she lamented the children dead before
now.” A later version greatly enlarges on the tale. It has Ner-
their time. In the late myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal she
gal visit the netherworld twice, the first time to bed Ereshki-
plaintively tells of her joyless life: even when young she never
gal against Ea’s advice and to escape, the second time to stay
played as other young girls did. Ereshkigal’s husband seems
after Ereshkigal has passionately pleaded with the gods for
to have been originally Gugalanna (“great bull of heaven”).
his return.
A variant, perhaps later, tradition has Ninazu as her spouse,
Another myth, the Irra Epic, celebrates Nergal under
and finally Nergal became king of the netherworld with
the name Irra (an Akkadian name meaning “scorched
Ereshkigal as his queen.
earth”), which most likely originally designated a separate
Ninazu. The meaning of the name Ninazu is not clear,
god. The epic tells how Irra was roused to action by his weap-
but it apparently has to do with water. Most likely, since he
on, Sibittu (the name means “heptad”), and how he persuad-
was a netherworld god, his name refers to the waters under-
ed Marduk to leave him in charge of the world while Marduk
ground. His wife was Ningirda (“mistress [well-]rope”), a
went to have his jewels cleaned. Irra’s first act was to foment
daughter of Enki. In the north, in Eshnunna (Tel Asmar) in
rebellion in Babylon and have it ruthlessly put down by the
the Diyala region, where his Akkadian name was Tishpak
commandant of the Assyrian garrison in that city. Next Irra
(“outpouring”), he was a god of rain storms. His city in the
had riots, rebellions, and wars spread all over the country,
south was Enegir on the lower Euphrates.
and might have destroyed it completely had not his vizier,
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Ishum, reasoned with him and persuaded him to leave a rem-
nastic times to surround them with a protective oval wall,
nant. The epic ends with self-praise by Irra, who nowise re-
called an ibgal. The pattern for this may conceivably have
grets his deeds of violence—rather, he suggests that he may
been the long curved pile of camel-thorn gathered for fuel
cut loose again at any time.
with which bedouins—then as now—ringed their camps in
the desert. It served the double purpose of protection and a
Ashur. Ashur was city god of Ashur (QalDat Shergat)
handy fuel supply. Inside the oval, along its sides, were the
and chief god of Assyria. No recognizable features character-
various storerooms, kitchens, and workshops for the temple
ize him other than those that belong to his role as embodi-
personnel, while the house on top of the terraced tower con-
ment of the political aspirations of his city and nation. Even
stituted the god’s living quarters: bedroom, bath, and so on.
his wife and the name of his temple are not truly his own;
Often a few side rooms were added to the central structure.
they were borrowed from Enlil as part of Ashur’s aspiration
to the universal dominion for which Enlil stood. Basically,
In time—as can be seen by comparisons of temple plans
thus, he may in origin simply have been a numen loci—a spir-
from Khafaje with those for the later one at Ishchali—a ten-
it inhabiting a place and imbuing it with its character—
dency toward squaring off the oval and greatly enlarging the
named from the place where his presence was sensed.
plan of the temple on the high terrace led to a new concept
T
of the older design. The central room was enlarged so that
HE TEMPLE. The earliest Mesopotamian temples may have
been in origin storehouses in which nomadic or seminomad-
its lower parts with the door became the size of a court. At
ic tribes kept their sacred objects and provisions, which were
its end the hanging or hangings were replaced with walls hav-
too cumbersome to carry along on their wanderings. Very
ing doors in the middle, thus creating a rectangular cella with
soon, though, these structures would have been considered,
the niche and dais at the middle of the far side-wall, a so-
as always later, dwellings of the gods to whom they belonged.
called broad-room cella, which became standard for Sumero-
The earliest recognizable form was that of a dwelling house
Akkadian and Babylonian temples from the third dynasty of
with a large, rectangular middle room from which two smal-
Ur on. The remainder of the original central room developed
ler rooms projected at the end, creating a T-shaped effect.
into a court with surrounding rooms. A gate and covered
With time the projecting rooms disappeared and left a rec-
landing midway up the stairs leading to the temple above
tangular room that was entered from a door in one of the
often served as court of justice in which the god sat in judg-
side-walls near its end. At the short end-wall farthest from
ment. In Assyria the development from the bent-axis ap-
the door was a dais that kept the seat of the owner, in this
proach took a different course. There the door was relocated
case the god, out of the floor-level draft. In later times a niche
around the corner nearest to it to the middle of the end-wall
in this end-wall steadied a baldachin, or tentlike aedicula,
facing the wall with the niche and dais, thus creating the
further protecting the god. Before the dais a curtain shielded
long-room type of temple.
him from profane eyes. On low benches along the side-walls
The temple, rising over the houses of the community,
stood statues of worshipers to remind the god of the people
was visible and tangible proof of the god’s presence and,
they represented and their needs. The god himself was, to
more, that he was himself a member of the community and
judge by depictions dating from as early as the late Uruk pe-
had a stake in it, with his house, his servants, his oxen and
riod, represented by a statue in physiomorphic or anthropo-
sheep, and his fields in grain. To have the temple was a privi-
morphic form. Facing it—conceivably inside the hanging—
lege. To build it or rebuild it needed divine approval, which
stood a large vase with greenery of various kinds, sometimes
was not always granted. The story of the Cursing of Akkad
placed over a drain, into which petitioners received in audi-
told of the dire consequences of King Naram-sin’s willful de-
ence by the god would pour libations before presenting their
cision to rebuild Ekur in Nippur without Enlil’s permission.
petitions.
Even rebuilding after enemy attack and demolition needed
Temples were by preference built on existing high
divine cooperation. The god had to be roused from his state
ground; in addition, frequent rebuildings, during which
of shock after the catastrophe to make him able to act, so la-
stumps of the old walls were left while their upper parts were
ments to soothe him and to recall past happiness were part
dumped in the space between them as fill to make a new
of the ritual. Originally these laments had clear reference to
building site, tended to create a small mound under the new
a specific historical situation; later they were generalized for
rebuilding. In fact, this development, by which a temple
wider use. In later times they became obligatory for any re-
came to stand on the walls of earlier ones, became in later
building, since that implied demolition of the existing struc-
time so much a part of the concept of a temple that builders
ture, and some even became part of the daily program of
created underground artificially filled-in walls for the actual
temple music and were used to awaken the temple personnel
walls to rest on. Such a filling was known as a temple terrace
in the morning. Older than the laments for the destruction
(temen). At the time of the third dynasty of Ur, possibly al-
of a temple are, it would seem, hymns to temples. They cele-
ready in the time of the dynasty of Akkad, these mounds
brate the specific powers inherent in the temple to uphold
were built high, with stairs leading up to the temple on top,
the welfare of the country. The Cursing of Akkad tells how
and were squared off to form a stage tower, the so-called zig-
the peace of the country, its harvest of grain, and so on vanish
gurat. With larger temples it became customary in early dy-
when corresponding parts of Ekur are demolished. In fact,
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
5961
the temples shared in inordinate measure in the particular
myth of Inanna and the offices she obtained from a not-too-
kind of holiness that characterizes the gods inhabiting them,
sober Enki preserves memories of a rite in which Inanna’s
and it is often difficult to distinguish between god and tem-
various offices were authenticated from Eridu. A rather full
ple. The temple shares name and function with its god as if
statement of a ritual journey is given in a text describing how
it were his embodiment.
Nanna of Ur travels up by boat to visit his father, Enlil, in
THE CULT. The communal cult of the gods was of two
Nippur, bringing first fruits from the products of the south.
kinds, celebrating the appropriate festivals of the various
He is warmly received and leaves to go back to Ur with
gods at appropriate times and providing daily services such
matching gifts from the agricultural lands around Nippur.
as would be required by any high human dignitary. The ear-
The Plowing Drama of Ninurta’s festival that opened the
lier of these are undoubtedly the festivals, most of which are
plowing season in Nippur is thus far unique. The king him-
best understood as communal magic rites for prosperity de-
self guided the plow, and a report was made to Enlil.
veloped into cult dramas performed by community represen-
Last there is the Battle Drama. It seems to be at home
tatives. There is evidence for various types of such dramas:
with gods of the thunderstorms of spring, Ninurta and
the Sacred Marriage, the Death Drama, the Journey Drama,
and the Plowing Drama. Others may have existed.
Marduk, and it is conceivable that it was once performed to
activate these powers, to rouse the thunderstorms that were
The Sacred Marriage is attested in Uruk as early as the
seen—as in the relevant myths—as the divine warrior attack-
late Uruk period. The ruler (en) “became” the god of the date
ing the mountains. There is, however, no evidence so far to
palm, Amaushumgalana, and brought the harvest as wedding
indicate performance in such terms. The name of Marduk’s
gift to the date storeroom of the temple. His wife—one pre-
main festival, Akitu (“time of the earth reviving”), does, as
sumes—similarly “became” the goddess of the storehouse,
mentioned earlier, refer to an early aspect of him as the
Inanna, and opened the door for him, thereby concluding
power causing natural abundance, but there is no indication
the marriage and lasting union of the powers for producing
of any battle drama. Such ritual evidence as we have for this
and storing the dates. Their meeting at the gate is depicted
type of drama all shows a later, completely politicized form
on the famous Uruk Vase and on contemporary cylinder
behind which little if any trace of earlier implications sur-
seals. In this early form the source of abundance clearly was
vives. The materials for the Battle Drama are contained
the god. In later times—as shown by materials from Isin and
largely in cultic commentaries from Ashur, which, however,
Larsa—emphasis oddly changed, and the goddess came to be
are clearly Babylonian in origin and reflect the bitter political
seen as the conveyor of bounty. The high point was now a
rivalry between Babylon and the Sea Land to the south. Bra-
blessing by the goddess of the marital couch after the king
ziers and torches are lighted to signify the burning of Kingu,
had proved his prowess as bridegroom. By Isin-Larsa times,
Anu, and Enlil. A chariot arriving with great show of martial
too, focus was no longer narrowly on dates but on prosperity
prowess is Nabu, who was sent against Enlil and now returns
generally. A special form of the rite—perhaps at home
victorious. A loaf of bread is bounded by the king and a bish-
among herders—saw it still quite directly as sympathetic
op, who represent Marduk and Nabu. The loaf is the heart
magic for fertility. Here the rising of the king’s member in
of Anu, whom Marduk bound and whose heart he tore out.
the sexual congress of the rite immediately made plants and
greenery shoot up.
The Babylonian epic of creation, Enuma elish, which
tells how Marduk “vanquished Tiamat and assumed king-
The Death Drama had the function of performing for
ship,” reflects the same political conflict, with Marduk repre-
the dying god of fertility—characteristically Dumuzi—the
senting Babylon and Tiamat representing the sea and the Sea
rites of lament due to the dead. Such data as we have suggest
Land. It is generally—and perhaps rightly—assumed to be
that processions of mourners went into the desert in early
a cult myth corresponding to a dramatic ritual reenactment
summer lamenting the god of dirges sung by representatives
of this primordial battle each new year. However, our knowl-
of his mother, sister, and young widow. The rite was a magic
edge about the actual ritual of the Akitu festival in later times
strengthening of the emotional bonds with the god, a seeking
is scant in the extreme. We know that Enuma elish was read
to have him back.
on one occasion and that Sennacherib, when he tried to
In the Journey Drama, the god, perhaps represented by
transfer the festival to Assyria with Ashur as its hero, decorat-
his image or an emblem, traveled to visit a god in some other
ed the gates to his Akitu house with a relief showing the bat-
city. There are references to a yearly visit to Eridu by Ningir-
tle with Tiamat, but that is all. Otherwise such information
su traveling from the Lagash region, and similarly there are
as we have indicates that on the tenth of the month of Nisan,
texts connected with such a journey by Ninurta of Nippur.
Marduk traveled by boat to the Akitu house, where a feast
Whether in so traveling these gods conferred a boon on Enki
was celebrated on the eleventh, and that he then returned to
and Eridu, or conversely were themselves the beneficiaries,
Babylon. That is all. Not usable, unfortunately, for recon-
is not always clear. In a myth about Enmerkar, founder of
structing the festival is a lengthy commentary called—not
Uruk, a ritual journey he made to Eridu is mentioned in
too happily—Death and Resurrection of Marduk. It has been
terms suggesting that he was reconfirmed or enhanced in his
shown to be an Assyrian, anti-Babylonian propaganda pam-
office of lord (en), that is, of provider. Most likely also the
phlet, and it does not mention any death of Marduk.
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FIRST EDITION]
The trend toward sociomorphism imposed on the gods
alized in the image of a father and mother. As such they also
the patterns of the human family and household, and this
took on the protective roles of parents, chief among which
in turn implied service such as was rendered to a human
was to defend their wards against demons of disease and in-
magnate in providing for his bodily comfort and assisting in
spire successful thought and action. They had their altars and
the running of his estate. All of this became the daily temple
received daily offerings in the house of their wards, and
cult, as described earlier. A further implication of anthropo-
prayers and petitions were addressed to them there.
morphism and sociomorphism was that since the god had
The close connection between the personal god and suc-
become ruler of the community, it was essential to know
cess could not but raise problems, for experience showed that
what he wanted done. Thus a variety of methods of commu-
virtue was not always rewarded; rather, a virtuous man might
nication was developed. Some of these left the initiative to
fall ill or suffer other miseries such as should have happened
the god: he might show signs in the stars or on earth that
to evildoers only. The obvious solution, that the virtuous
the initiated could interpret. Others were available when
man needed to know the divine will. The earliest of these
man unwittingly must have offended his god, was accepted
methods of communication of which we have evidence are
in a measure, and prayers often asked for enlightenment as
dreams sought by incubation in the temple, and inspection
to how a sufferer had sinned, so that he could do penance
of the liver of a sacrificed kid for propitious or nonpropitious
and mend his ways; but as a general explanation it did not
shape. This latter method was used by Gudea as a check on
carry full conviction, and the vexing problem of the righ-
the message obtained when he was dreaming. An extensive
teous sufferer arose. It is dealt with in two major composi-
and highly detailed literature serving as textbook for these
tions datable to Middle Babylonian times. One is called
and many other manners of prognostication developed dur-
Ludlul (“let me praise”), after its beginning, “Let me praise
ing the second and first millennia. Originally meant as guides
the possessor of wisdom.” It tells of a pious and just man who
for rulers and war leaders, this literature soon broadened its
suffers one misfortune after the other but does not lose his
scope to take in the fortunes of ordinary citizens.
trust in Marduk. Eventually Marduk takes pity on him and
restores him to health and prosperity. No real answer to the
For conveying human wishes and needs to the gods and
problem of why he had to suffer is attempted; the text merely
asking for help, a ritual of seeking audience to present peti-
holds out the conviction that the gods can have a change of
tion and prayers was developed. The petitioner was led in be-
heart and take pity. The other composition is known as the
fore the deity with his greeting gift, usually a lamb or a kid.
Theodicy. It is in the form of a dialogue between two friends
Here he libated water or wine in a huge vase with greenery
about the fact that evil men appear to prosper, whereas good
that stood before the deity, and he spoke a formal greeting
men fall on evil days. Here, too, there is no real answer,
prayer. He then presented his petition. As the ritual for seek-
only a conviction that eventually retribution will come to
ing an audience with the god was an occasional one, depen-
evildoers.
dent on special circumstances, so the cult comprised other
rituals for use in exceptional situations. I have mentioned the
The question of the innate justice—or, rather, injus-
elaborate one called Bitrimki (“bathhouse”), which aimed at
tice—of existence is also dealt with in a famous work known
lustration of the king when he was threatened by the defiling
as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It tells how Gilgamesh, an ancient
evil of an eclipse of the moon; others were available for the
ruler of the city of Uruk endowed with exceptional vigor,
rebuilding of a temple or for making or replacing a cult stat-
drives his people too hard. They complain to the gods, who
ue. In this last ritual great pains were taken to nullify by pow-
create Enkidu, a wild man who becomes a friend and brother
erful incantations the fact that the statue was a work of
of Gilgamesh. Together they set out to kill a famous warrior,
human hands, and to make of it instead a god born in
Huwawa, who lives far away in the cedar mountains. They
heaven.
succeed. After their return to Uruk, Gilgamesh scornfully
turns down a marriage proposal from the city goddess Ishtar.
The cult so far described was the communal, public cult.
In her anger at being rejected she borrows the bull of heaven
There was, however, a private cult as well. City life and its
in order to kill Gilgamesh, but he and Enkidu overcome it.
ever-greater differentiation between the fortunes of families
Then, however, things catch up with the two friends: the
and individuals and those of other families and individuals
gods decide that Enkidu must die for having killed Huwawa.
encouraged feelings that special success was due to a god’s
Gilgamesh is inconsolable at the loss of his friend and at the
personal interest in a man and his family, while, conversely,
thought that he, too, must die. He therefore sets out on an
misfortune would seem to be due to the god’s abandonment
arduous journey to an ancestor of his, Utanapishtim, who
of his ward for some reason or other. Thus the term for hav-
had gained eternal life. Eventually Gilgamesh reaches him,
ing luck became “to acquire a god.” Since no achievement
but Utanapishtim has no solace to offer. He invites Gil-
could be had without divine help, that of engendering a child
gamesh to try fighting Sleep—Death’s younger brother, so
necessarily implied such intervention. A god and goddess en-
to speak—but Gilgamesh fails miserably to keep awake. So
tered the body of the human father and mother and made
Utanapishtim gives him clean clothes and sets him on his
the mother conceive. Thus the god and goddess who were
way home. There is no escape from death, however unjust
assumed to have helped became family deities and were visu-
it seems that man may not live forever.
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
5963
It seems likely that the original epic ended here. At a
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
later date, probably in the Middle Babylonian period, a cer-
[FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
tain Sinliqiunnini reworked the epic from a radically differ-
The Sumerians, who built human civilization over their
ent point of view. Where the outlook of the earlier epic was
thousand-year history, from 3000 BCE to 2000 BCE approxi-
tragic—a tale of a quest for eternal life that failed—the re-
mately, were not the only players on the Mesopotamian so-
working saw Gilgamesh as a heroic traveler to romantic for-
cial and political stage. As we turn the pages of their history,
eign parts who recovered hidden knowledge of the ancient
we find that there is another ethnic group, of Semitic origin,
times. A long story about the flood was added, as well as a
living in the same territory at almost the same time, a people
further tale about a plant with the power to rejuvenate,
conventionally known as the Akkadians, who came to power
which Gilgamesh obtained only to lose it again by careless-
and took control of the entire region in 2350 BCE under their
ness. An introduction and conclusion stressed Gilgamesh’s
king Sargon the Great, founder of a dynasty of the same
achievements, including lasting fame as builder of the city
name.
walls of Uruk. Finally, part of a Sumerian tale in which En-
kidu describes conditions in the netherworld was tacked on,
At least until the 1950s and 1960s, there was a lively de-
perhaps by some copyist. Passionate protest against existen-
bate amongst Assyriologists—on the one hand, those who
tial evil thus became pleasure in romantic quest for hidden
believed that there was an ethnic link between the Sumerians
knowledge in faraway lands.
and the Akkadians, almost a direct symbiosis, and on the
other, those who, while not overemphasizing that they were
S
different racial groups, stressed that their ways of life were
EE ALSO Adad; Akitu; An; Anthropomorphism; Ashur;
Atrahasis; Divination; Drama, article on Ancient Near East-
basically different, in their model of political thought, in
ern Ritual Drama; Dumuzi; Dying and Rising Gods; Enki;
their cultural traditions, even in the different languages that
Enlil; Enuma Elish; Gilgamesh; Hierodouleia; Hieros
they spoke. The Sumerians spoke an agglutinative language
Gamos; Iconography, article on Mesopotamian Iconogra-
(“Sumerian”), whereas the Akkadians spoke an inflected Se-
phy; Inanna; Kingship, article on Kingship in the Ancient
mitic language (“Akkadian”).
Mediterranean World; Marduk; Nabu; Nanna; Nergal; Nin-
In 1970 F. A. Kraus, holding that the use of a different
hursaga; Ninurta; Pyramids, overview article; Temple, article
language did not necessarily relate to different ethnic origins,
on Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean Temples; Utu.
concluded that “the Sumerian and Akkadian texts are evi-
dence of the same culture, namely Babylonian” (pp. 1ff.) In
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the following year Giovanni Pettinato published Das alto-
Bottéro, Jean. La religion babylonienne. Paris, 1952.
rientalische Menschenbild und die sumerischen und akkadisc-
hen Schöpfungsmythen, in which he maintained exactly the
Dhorme, Édouard. Les religions de Babylonie et d’Assyrie. Paris,
1945.
opposite position—that, at the very least, language is an im-
portant piece of evidence in the investigation of the cultures
Dijk, V. van. “Sumerische Religion.” In Handbuch der Religions-
of these two peoples. Simply on the basis of mythological
geschichte, vol. 1, edited by Jes Peter Asmussen, Jo⁄rgen
texts concerning the creation and conception of the human
Laesso⁄e, and Carsten Colpe, pp. 431–496. Göttingen, 1971.
race, Pettinato reached the conclusion that, contrary to what
Frankfort, Henri, et al. Before Philosophy. Harmondsworth, 1949.
is published in books on Mesopotamian history and civiliza-
First published as The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man
tion, the Sumerians and the Akkadians, the two main peo-
(Chicago, 1946).
ples that inhabited Mesopotamia, had very different ap-
proaches to such matters, and this is central to our
Hooke, S. H. Babylonian and Assyrian Religion. New York, 1953.
understanding of their thinking. The Sumerians and the Ak-
Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Meso-
kadians were exponents of two quite distinct cultures, with
potamian Religion. New Haven, 1975.
mutually incompatible principles and ideals. Thus the opin-
ion put forward by Assyriologists concerning this symbiosis
Laesso⁄e, Jo⁄rgen. “Babylonische und assyrische Religion.” In Hand-
seemed to be completely incorrect and not borne out by the
buch der Religionsgeschichte, vol. 1, edited by Jes Peter As-
surviving documentary evidence, which has been even more
mussen, Jo⁄rgen Laesso⁄e, and Carsten Colpe, pp. 497–525.
firmly established and developed in recent years.
Göttingen, 1971.
In 1992 W. G. Lambert proposed a comparison be-
Meissner, Bruno. Babylonien und Assyrien, vol. 2. Heidelberg,
1925.
tween Sumerian and Akkadian tales of the creation of the
human race and stated that the two traditions had certain
Pritchard, J. B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old
fundamental motifs in common, concluding: “for the mo-
Testament. 3d ed. Princeton, 1969.
ment it is most sensible to consider the two mythological
Ringgren, Helmer. Religions of the Ancient Near East. Translated
corpora as expressions of a single culture” (Lambert, 1992,
by John Sturdy. Philadelphia, 1973.
p. 130). He comes to the same conclusion when he compares
the Sumerian narratives of the Descent of Inanna with the
THORKILD JACOBSEN (1987)
Akkadian versions concerning Ishtar. The studies of Stein-
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5964
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
keller (1992) and Durand (1993), which demonstrated the
of Ur, cities of major historical importance from 3000 BCE
existence of a Semitic mythology that was completely differ-
onwards.
ent and alien to the Sumerian, were of no avail, because all
From the mythological literary compositions dealing
this left Heimpel completely unmoved; for him, Kraus’s the-
with the creation of the human race, which the traditions of
ory remained unchanged and unchangeable. In fact, Falken-
Nippur and Eridu attribute respectively to the gods Enlil and
stein was probably right when he stated that the Sumerians
Enki, we learn that the main gods had various spheres of in-
and the Semites (= Akkadians) maintained and propagated
fluence, as follows: An, the sky; Enlil, the earth; and Enki,
two very different traditions. Subsequent studies have con-
the waters of the deep. Thus Enlil is the ruler of the earth
firmed the views of Pettinato (1971), and the discoveries at
and everything that happens there is in a certain sense con-
Ebla, in ancient Syria, have provided us with evidence of a
trolled and determined by him.
level of civilized development and a cultural heritage to
match the richest and most abundant in the Sumerian world.
Humanity’s attachment to the divine world is expressed
For these reasons, it is both useful and necessary to examine
in terms of a deliberate, and perhaps even joyful, obedience.
the two cultures, the Sumerian and the Akkadian, separately,
The human race, as the Sumerians considered it, had been
because only in this way will we be able to join the dots to-
created to carry on with the gods’ work of putting the world
gether and thus understand the interchange between differ-
in order. Well aware of the onerous nature of the work they
ent cultures, something which is now a primary duty of our
had been created to carry out, the Sumerians accepted this
research.
burden willingly, confident of leaving a permanent impres-
sion, just as the gods had done when they had created the
SUMERIAN BELIEFS. To understand the essentials of Babylo-
world. What the texts emphasize, from different angles, is the
nian religion we should refer to the beliefs of the first inhabi-
presence within human beings of a divine element, bestowed
tants of Mesopotamia, the Sumerians. Only a few key aspects
by either Enki or Enlil, according to the two different tradi-
of Sumerian religious literature were of interest to the Baby-
tions, which allows them to survive the finality of death;
lonians; for example, there was no information concerning
there is firm belief in an afterlife. There were some attempts
the origin of the cosmos, which interested the Babylonians
to overcome death, as in the effort of Gilgamesh, but the firm
keenly. What was of far greater significance to the Sumerians
laws established by the gods from the time of creation were
was the organization of their own world, in which the divine
accepted without argument by the Sumerians.
intervened regularly. The Sumerians had two leading gods
in their divine pantheon: Enlil, the poliad god of Nippur,
Although the creation texts, because of their concise na-
and Enki, the poliad god of Eridu. The first is the undisputed
ture, do not indicate the evolution of the human race, both
head of the Sumerian pantheon, the second is the god of wis-
Sumerian documents referring to the Nippur tradition and
dom par excellence. Besides these two main divinities, anoth-
the Chaldean Berosus, dealing with the Enki variant, stress
er god, the father of both, plays a prominent role in the Su-
in no uncertain terms that man became a city dweller by
going through various stages of development. In the Nippur
merian religious outlook—An, the god of the sky. These
tradition, after human beings had been created they were liv-
three gods formed the supreme triad of the Sumerian pan-
ing like wild animals and behaved as such. It was only after
theon around which all the other gods revolved. Their role
Enlil instilled in them the vital spiritual spark, that is, the di-
in the world was well defined and constantly overseen by the
vine element, that the human race was ready to undertake
assembly of the gods. It is no coincidence that Babylonian
the task of organizing the world. The story told by Berosus
astronomy was based upon these three Sumerian divinities,
of the early stages of human development is even more signif-
nor indeed that the astrological series Enuma Anu Enlil be-
icant: in this tradition too, human beings were ignorant of
gins with these words: “When the gods Anu, Enlil, and Ea
the benefits of civilization, so Enki, the god of wisdom, had
prepared the outline of heaven and earth. . . .” (Ea is the
amphibian creatures that were half-fish, half-human emerge
Semitic name of the god Enki, and Anu is the Semitic form
from the ocean depths and live with human beings, teaching
of the Sumerian An.)
them how to behave in a civilized way, and instructing them
There were naturally other important gods, such as the
in all the arts. These are the renowned apkallu, known from
seven mother goddesses led by Ninhursag, the mother of all
cuneiform literature, who after this first stage of human de-
creatures, and the three astral gods of the sun, moon, and
velopment served the king of the earth as his advisers when
Venus, respectively called Utu, Nanna, and Inanna. The sun
the gods sent down the kingship from heaven. Gilgamesh,
god, whose watchful eye never falters, guarantees justice; the
the mythical king of Uruk, was the first to have a purely
moon god lights up the earth by night and lets travelers find
human adviser, signifying in its way a break in the history
their way in the dark; Inanna (Venus) is the goddess of love
of humanity as decisive as the first real break, which was
and war, a very important figure in the pantheon, who along
caused by the direct intervention of the gods—the Universal
with her two brothers Nanna and Utu controls the smooth
Flood.
progress of events, but in particular guarantees the kingship.
EARLY BABYLONIAN BELIEFS. The Sumerians transmitted
It is no less important to note that Inanna was the poliad
their religious ideas in myths, hymns, and wisdom texts,
goddess of Uruk, as Utu was the god of Sippar and Nanna
which the Babylonians, once they arrived in Mesopotamia,
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5965
began to copy and translate so that the knowledge of the Su-
Igigi.” Yet, this description shows that we are still a long way
merian world would not be lost. In the schools of Babylon
from the moment when Marduk, following his actions in the
and in other centers of learning, knowledge of the previous
Enuma elish, became the new head of the Babylonian pan-
peoples was preserved and began to be developed, and it was
theon.
adapted to later people’s own beliefs. It should not be forgot-
In the myth of Atrahasis, too, the pantheon is divided
ten either that the Assyrians, although mainly preoccupied
in two, the Anunna and the Igigi; the triad Anu, Enlil, and
with war, did not scorn the culture of the Sumerian and Bab-
Ea belongs to a group of seven, the greater gods, whereas the
ylonian schools, as shown in that miraculous monument to
Igigi, the lesser gods, are obliged to put up with the burden
human history, the library at Nineveh, from which the vast
of hard work. The roles that they are given are the same as
majority of the literary texts written by the inhabitants of the
those assigned by the Sumerians, so the change has not yet
“land between the two rivers” now come. Although it had
taken place. (It is interesting that the god Marduk is not
the highest regard for the previous tradition, which she wel-
mentioned once in the myth of Atrahasis.) The Sumerian re-
comed in toto, Babylon nonetheless was faced with a prob-
ligion was still very much alive in the period that followed,
lem of enormous proportions—how to introduce the princi-
and any radical change of a religious nature would have had
pal Babylonian god, Marduk, into the established Sumerian
enormous difficulty in being accepted.
pantheon.
ENUMA ELISH. The situation is completely different in
The Mesopotamian kingship was regarded by the in-
Enuma elish (end of the second millennium BCE), the greatest
habitants of the region as a gift from the gods; it had de-
religious poem of Babylonian literature. The scribes had
scended from heaven, in fact. For the Sumerians, the protec-
grasped that there were two possible ways to elevate their
tor of the kingship was the god Enlil, who was both the city
poliad god to a central position in the pantheon: either to
god of Nippur and the ruler of the earth. For the Babylo-
link Marduk to the god of Nippur or—certainly more sub-
nians, on the other hand, the guardian of the kingship was
tle—to relate him to the god Enki. It may be surprising that
Marduk, a god who had no role in the religious tradition of
they chose to establish a father-son relationship between
Mesopotamia. Even in the Old Babylon period, around
Enki and Marduk, since the latter had never historically
1800 BCE, during the reign of Hammurabi, Marduk was not
guaranteed the kingship, but the choice of the scribes shows
only seen as the poliad god of the city, but also the controller
a quite remarkable intelligence: they wanted to overturn his-
of the kingship of the Babylonian sovereigns. There was
torical reality and turn it to something of universal signifi-
nothing new in terms of the religious and political situation
cance.
in Mesopotamia; just as in the past, local rulers received their
sovereign powers from their own city god. The problem oc-
All of the Sumerian traditions assigned the position of
curred when one city tried to predominate over the others;
principal god in their pantheon to Enlil, but at the same time
only then was it necessary to resort to the god of the earth,
they emphasized that the first seat of the kingship before the
Enlil, the god of Nippur, to be invested with sovereignty.
Flood was the city of Eridu, the home of the god Enki, who
was therefore regarded as the first holder of royal power on
Later too, in the Middle Babylonian period, around
earth. Hence the decision of the scribes to make Marduk the
1100 BCE, it is still Marduk who conferred the kingship on
son of Enki. Their syllogistic reasoning is clear: if Enki the
the Babylonian sovereigns. In the New Babylonian period (c.
king is Marduk’s father, then Marduk becomes the king.
sixth century BCE) the position changed: Babylon wanted to
And that is not all:if Eridu is the home of Enki and at the
become the political center of the whole of Mesopotamia,
same time the location of his kingship, then Babylon, the
and Marduk was sufficient in stature to secure such an expec-
home of Marduk, is automatically the one true location of
tation. Yet, the rulers of Babylon called Marduk “ruler of all
the kingship. So when we read the words of Berosus, that the
the gods,” “source of the kingship.” What happened in the
first royal capital on earth was Babylon, we begin to under-
preceding centuries? Did a religious revolution occur, so that
stand how convincing the syllogism devised by the scribes of
no one could accuse the kings of Babylon of blasphemy? In
Babylon had become for later generations.
fact, Babylonian scholars devised a new myth, reintegrating
the theology that underpinned Babylonian hegemony in the
To make such a revolutionary idea acceptable, those re-
religious and political environment of ancient Meso-
sponsible for creating the poem Enuma elish were obliged to
potamia.
confront subjects never dealt with by mythological texts of
the preceding period. The seven tablets on which the poem
The prologue to the Code of Hammurabi provides in-
is set down refer back to the primordial world, to the begin-
formation on the Babylonian pantheon: the gods were subdi-
ning of everything, which preceded the present cosmos.
vided into two categories, the Anunnaki and the Igigi, who
Thus they began the tale in the time before the birth of the
were respectively the greater and lesser gods. Anu, Enlil, and
sky god An, the future head of the Sumerian pantheon. The
Enki, the supreme triad, clearly belonged to the Anunnaki,
description of the situation that preceded the birth of the god
together with the classical divinities of the Sumerian world,
of the sky was completely new, even if it may have been indi-
and Marduk was part of the second group, the Igigi; in the
rectly reconstructed from known sources. First of all, there
prologue he is called “firstborn of Enki” and “leader of the
existed only the primordial waters, the sweet and salt waters,
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5966
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
Apsu and Tiamat. These two beings joined in marriage and
ty which puts forward Marduk as the true savior of every
produced pairs of completely shadowy beings, until the cou-
human being. Similarly, individual prayers rediscovered in
ple Anshar and Kishar brought forth the god of the sky, An.
the libraries of Babylon, as well as all the theophoric onomas-
The text then goes on to describe the generation of the god
ticons (names made up of divine constituent parts), provide
Enki and his son Marduk, thus ensuring that Marduk is
irrefutable evidence that the cultural mission undertaken by
given a definite place in the Mesopotamian pantheon.
the theological schools had been spread amongst the popu-
lace, and had become a fundamental idea within Babylonian
Yet the priestly scribes went still further. They were anx-
culture.
ious to install the Babylonian god in a leading position, and
they accomplished their task in a most admirable way.
If we turn our attention to the plan devised by the Baby-
Marduk could only become the ruler of the gods if he per-
lonians to attain supremacy, which they would not be able
formed some quite exceptional act. The facts are quickly set
to gain through political means, we see a genuine religious
out: the young gods were disturbing the rest of the primordi-
and intellectual revolution brought about by some excep-
al gods with their noise, so Apsu became angry and intended
tional minds. Precisely because Babylon was a city that had
to punish them. Tiamat, their mother, did not want the
been recently founded, the learned priests of Marduk, the su-
young gods to die—they were still her children, after all—
preme god of Babylon, needed to find some means of incor-
but Apsu was unyielding. The younger generation, led by An
porating their city and their god in his proper position in the
and Enki, refused to accept the decision of Apsu, and Enki
primordial world from which their civilization had devel-
killed his grandfather by trickery. At this, Tiamat declared
oped, and from which the kingship had originated. In the
all-out war on the entire set of young gods and there ensued
religious and historical texts of the Sumerians, the first in-
a cosmic battle setting the old generation against the new.
habitants of Mesopotamia, we find a quite precise list of the
The forces of the primordial gods were led by Tiamat herself,
order in which the first cities were founded and power was
and on Enki’s advice, the task of commanding the young
given to mankind by the gods. Even the divine world is duly
gods’ army was given to Marduk. After various ups and
ordered, with the principal gods, Anu, Enki, Enlil, and Inan-
downs, Marduk was victorious over Tiamat, thus doing away
na, allotted their specific roles and tasks, so that the world
with the power of the primordial gods; only then did the
is organized and unchanging. At that time, Babylon did not
gods unanimously agree to make Marduk their leader. The
yet exist, so later Babylonian priests needed to find a way for
tale goes on to detail all of Marduk’s actions, including the
their city and their god to re-enter the Sumerian schema, or
creation of the present cosmos with the constellations and
Babylon would share the same fate as many other cities, such
planets (especially the sun and the moon), the setting up the
as Ashur and Nineveh—powerful politically, but completely
calendar, and the foundation of Babylon, the new capital of
irrelevant in the intellectual and religious spheres. Of course,
the world.
the priests of Marduk had one weapon on their side, and that
was the actual ancestry of the god himself. Marduk was in-
The revolutionary idea underlying this poem should not
deed the son of Enki, the Sumerian god of wisdom and one
be underestimated: all religious thinking had to be revised,
of the four main Sumerian gods, and thus it was in principle
and yet the Babylonian scribes did not actually omit any-
possible to link him with the existing Sumerian traditions,
thing from the religious situation. Among the Sumerian lit-
so that he could enter fully into a cultural framework from
erary texts copied in the schools of Babylon, a prominent
which newcomers had been excluded.
place was given to lists of Mesopotamian gods handed down
from the Sumerians, but here an innovation occurred in the
In Marduk, the Heir of Enki, there is clearly a subtle
drafting of the texts: the divinities were subject to a great
change in the Sumerian tradition which the Babylonian
theological reworking that organized all the gods into a well-
priests referenced: Enki is the creator of the human race and
defined family structure—that is, into a pyramid with
organizes the world, but he is also the father of Marduk. This
Marduk at its head, as a result of his victory over Tiamat.
is highly significant, because it is not only Marduk, but also
Not one of the great Sumerian gods was ousted—not An,
Babylon that is elevated to the status of legitimate heir to Su-
nor Enlil, nor Enki—and they are the ones who elevate the
merian civilization, the first civilization in Mesopotamia.
young god and choose him as their undisputed new leader.
Marduk, as creator of the human race, is also the guardian
of the kingship, of the exercise of power, which he grants to
OTHER BABYLONIAN RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. We would be
whomsoever he chooses, but in his chosen city, and thus
mistaken, however, if we thought that the Babylonians
Babylon becomes the legitimate home of the kingship. In the
stopped at what we might term institutions. The ancient
festival of the New Year the god Marduk solemnly renews
scribes believed, as we do, that ideas are truly revolutionary
his choice of the Babylonian sovereign and once again grants
when they are popularly accepted. The mythological texts
his trust to the shepherd of his people.
were accompanied by wisdom texts in which the scribes dealt
with the problem of humanity, its suffering, its pain, and its
In the Babylonian schools a plan was set in motion to
eventual death. Although they recognized various solutions,
rework all previous knowledge, both religious and secular.
the scribes directed their response towards the god Marduk.
Thus Babylon became the repository of Mesopotamian
The poem Ludlul bËl nËmeqi is a document of unusual beau-
learning, once again invoking the divine world. Marduk has
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5967
a son, the god Nabu, heir to the knowledge and wisdom of
In conclusion, then, it can be stated that Akkadian my-
his grandfather Enki; Nabu oversees all intellectual endeavor
thology was certainly not in any sense inferior to Sumerian,
and is the patron of the prestigious class of scribes.
and indeed was at least its equal, if not somewhat superior
on account of its underlying distinctive, dynamic, and vigor-
AKKADIAN LITERATURE. The mythological texts of Assyro-
ous nature.
Babylonian literature are in fact a product of the Semitic peo-
ple who replaced the Sumerians around 2000 BCE, and cor-
SEE ALSO An; Atrahasis; Enlil; Enuma Elish; Marduk; Utu.
rectly identified with the large-scale migration there of the
Amorites, who were able to create new dynasties and a new
BIBLIOGRAPHY
series of capitals, such as Babylon in the south and Ashur in
Bottéro, Jean. La religion babylonienne. Paris, 1952.
the north. As early as the start of the Old Babylonian period
Durand, Jean-Marie. “Le Mithologème du combat entre le dieu
there was sudden, intense literary activitywhich was faithful
de l’orage et la mèr in Mésopotamie.” MARI 7 (1993):
to tradition, in particular regarding the role of the principal
41–61.
triad An, Enlil, and Enki/Ea, but which also included a num-
Falkenstein, Adam. “La Cité-Temple sumérienne.” CHM I 4
ber of properties and personalities with characteristics that
(1954): 784–812.
appear to be the product of exclusively Semitic thinking. For
Heimpel, Wolfgang. “Mythologie (mythology). I. In Mesopota-
the typical nature of Sumerian civilization, which adapted to
mien.” Reallexikon fur Assyriologie 8 (1997): 537–564.
the dictates of the divine world without a murmur, there was
Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Meso-
substituted a much more typically Semitic character that was
potamian Religion. New Haven, Conn., 1975.
rebellious and in a certain sense inimical to the preordained
Kraus, Franz R. Sumerer und Akkader. Amsterdam, 1970.
plan of the divine world. There is sympathy for the view that
the Semitic scribes expressed a way of thinking that was dif-
Laessoe, Jorgen. “Babylonische und assyrische Religion.” In
ferent and perhaps also at variance with the norm, in certain
Handbuch der Religionsgeschichte, vol. 1, edited by Jes Peter
Asmussen, Jorgen Laessoe, and Carsten Colpe,
verses giving their assessment of cosmic and human reality.
pp. 497–525. Göttingen, Germany, 1971.
Some historians of Akkadian literature stress that the
Lambert, Wilfred G. “Studies in Marduk.” Bulletin of the School
Assyro-Babylonians needed several hundred years to produce
of Oriental and African Studies 47 (1984): 1–9.
literary and mythological compositions, which reached the
Lambert, Wilfred G. “The Relationship of Sumerian and Babylo-
height of the works created by the Sumerians. This conclu-
nian Myth as Seen in Account of Creation,” CRRAI 38
sion is probably incorrect, as shown by the myth of Atrahasis,
(1991): 129–135.
already in existence in the Old Babylonian period, at the be-
Pettinato, Giovanni. Das altorientalische Menschenbild und die
ginning of settlement in Mesopotamia by the Semitic Amo-
sumerischen und akkadischen Schöpfungsmythen. Heidelberg,
rites. Of course, until 1966, the Old Babylonian version of
Germany, 1970.
this myth was not known, because it was buried in the vaults
Pettinato, Giovanni. Mitologia Sumerica. Turin, Italy, 2001.
of the British Museum. However, there were already suffi-
Ringgren, Helmer. Religions of the Ancient Near East. Translated
cient other literary texts providing evidence of the literary
by J. Sturdy. Philadelphia, 1973.
maturity of the Babylonian scribes to prevent this kind of
Steinkeller, Piotr. “Early Semitic Literature and Third Millenni-
mistake.
um Seals with Mythological Motifs,” QdS 18 (1993):
243–275.
In addition to the myth of Atrahasis, which had a long
tradition and reworking that lasted until the New Babylo-
van Dijk, Jan J. A. “Sumerische Religion” In Handbuch der Reli-
nian period, we should recall the following as definitely at-
gionsgeschichte, vol. 1, edited by Jes Peter Asmussen, Jorgen
Laessoe, and Carsten Colpe, pp. 431–496. Göttingen, Ger-
tributable to the same period of Hammurabi: the myth of
many, 1971.
Etana, the myth of Ninurta and Anzu, the myth of Adad and
the dragon, Belet-ili and Lillu, and the first draft of the Epic
GIOVANNI PETTINATO (2005)
of Gilgamesh. Naturally, successive periods saw the reworking
Translated from Italian by Paul Ellis
of these myths, along with the editing and composition of
new myths, such as, for example, the Descent of Ishtar to the
Underworld and Nergal and Ereshkigal, and in the Neo-
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF
Assyrian period there were the wonderful compositions of
STUDY
Enuma elish and the myth of Erra, which reached new and
The study of ancient Mesopotamian religions, like the study
unequalled literary heights. Other texts that are considered
of ancient Mesopotamia in general, was severely hampered
mythological include the series of incantations that have in-
in its early phases by an imperfect understanding of Sumeri-
troductory passages which refer to cosmological or human
an and Akkadian, the languages of its source materials, and
events (as well as serving as introductions to the actual spells
by the relatively limited and fragmentary nature of the mate-
themselves). There are also various hymns to divinities that
rials then available. To some extent, similar difficulties still
allude to events which are, in the true sense of the word,
exist, and new finds as well as new insights may challenge
mythological.
even seemingly assured results.
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5968
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
GENERAL PRESENTATIONS. The earliest attempt at a compre-
Much more comprehensive than any previous treatment
hensive presentation of ancient Mesopotamian religions is
was Morris Jastrow’s The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria
François Lenormant’s La magie chez les Chaldéens et les ori-
(1898). Jastrow discusses the land and peoples of Babylon
gines accadiennes (1874). Lenormant posited an early Sumeri-
and Syria, the general traits of the Old Babylonian pantheon,
an (then called Akkadian) animistic stage of belief in spirits
the gods and their consorts prior to the days of Hammurabi,
that were controlled by magicians. Contrasting with this was
the pantheon of Hammurabi, Gudea’s pantheon, and the
the religion of the Semitic inhabitants (now called Akkadi-
minor gods in the period of Hammurabi. The book also
ans), a debased form of monotheism in which hypostases of
deals with the gods appearing in temple lists and in legal and
the supreme god, called Ilu, had become separate powers in
commercial documents of the area. Other topics that Jastrow
natural phenomena, especially astral phenomena. These two
investigates rather extensively are the animism that survived
competing kinds of beliefs were eventually unified into a sin-
in Babylonian religions, the Assyrian pantheon, the triad and
gle system under Sargon of Akkad, whom Lenormant dated
the combined invocation of the deities, the Neo-Babylonian
at about 2000 BCE. Part of this systematization included the
period, and the Babylonian cosmology. Jastrow’s work also
ordering of local deities into the later pantheon.
examines the religious literature—magical texts, prayers and
The next major contribution to the study of Mesopota-
hymns, penitential psalms, oracles, omens, the Epic of Gil-
mian religions, and one of a wider scope, was A. H. Sayce’s
gamesh, and other myths and legends. There is also a discus-
Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religions as Illustrated
sion of the Babylonian view of life after death, and of the
by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians (1887). Sayce’s
temple and cult in Babylonia and Syria.
book deals with various Babylonian deities, such as Bel-
Because Jastrow avoided theorizing as much as possible,
Merodakh (Marduk), Tammuz, and Istar (Ishtar), among
his treatment is sober and descriptive. He also deliberately
others. He also discusses what he called “the sacred books of
avoided distinguishing Sumerian from Akkadian contribu-
Chaldea,” as well as cosmogonies and astro-theology. Sayce
tions. Jastrow argued that animism was still basic to the reli-
saw evidence of totemism in the animal forms that many of
gion of Babylonia and Assyria, and he observed that the gods
the gods could assume. Because Prometheus brought fire to
had evolved from their role as spirits of the settlement plots.
man, Sayce saw him as a parallel to the deity Lugalbanda
As these settlements grew into cities, the spirits grew corre-
(“fierce king”). In his overall view of religious development,
spondingly in stature and importance. The detailed bibliog-
Sayce essentially followed Lenormant.
raphy of the field up to 1898 that Jastrow included in his
The Sumerian beliefs in spirits that were controlled by
book is particularly valuable. A later work by Jastrow, Die
a body of medicine men was termed by Sayce “organized ani-
Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens (1905–1912), although
mism.” The Sumerian word for spirit was thought to be zi,
never completed, is essentially a lengthy study of divination
and “the zi was simply that which manifested life, and the
texts.
test of the manifestation of life was movement” (p. 327). The
spirits in those major cosmic elements that were considered
To the third edition of Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
good gradually developed into gods. The level of power of
Testament (1903), which was edited by Eberhard Schrader,
motion possessed by an object, or in a force of nature, was
the German Assyriologist Heinrich Zimmern contributed
the test of its supernaturalism (that is, of the existence of a
his study Religion und Sprache, discussing the religious sys-
spirit within it). Sayce writes:
tem of the Babylonians; the formation of the pantheon; local
cults; the Semitic and Sumerian elements still evident in
The spirit of the moon, for example, developed into a
Babylonian religion; the Babylonians’ reliance on the heav-
god, but the god was abstracted from the visible moon
ens in the formation of beliefs, practices, and myths; and the
itself, and identified with the creative force of the lunar
Babylonian view of life. Zimmern’s presentation was strong-
orb which manifested itself in motion. The new god
might in turn be abstracted from the creative force,
ly influenced by the school of Astralmythologie that flourished
more especially if he was assimilated to the sacred steer;
in Germany at the time, so an overabundance of gods were
in this case the creative force would become his spirit,
seen as solar in character. For example, Marduk was said to
in no way differing, it will be seen, from the spirit that
represent the sun of morning and spring; Ninurta (whose
was believed to reside in man. (p. 334)
name was then read as Ninib) represented the eastern or
Sayce attributed to the Semitic-speaking Akkadians a change
western sun; the destructive glowing south, noon, and sum-
from the gods as creators to the gods as fathers, a change en-
mer sun were represented by Nergal; and so on. The purview
couraged by anthropomorphism and the creation of a family-
of the book called for comparisons with biblical materials
based pantheon.
(twenty-one pages were devoted to a comparison of Marduk
and Christ), but the methods used have since been dis-
In his later Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia
counted.
(1902), Sayce modified his position and rejected the idea
that the gods might have developed out of older spirits. He
In 1910 Édouard Dhorme’s La religion assyro-
assumed instead that the idea was brought in by immigrants
babylonienne was published; the materials are organized with
from the south, who founded a tradition centered on the god
such clarity and relevance that the book remains one of the
Ea of the ancient city of Eridu.
most notable early treatments of Mesopotamian religions.
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5969
Dhorme’s work focused on the sources of the Assyrian and
in a society living in a state of endemic war. The book also
Babylonian religions and their conception of the divine, in-
includes important insight into personal religion, the epic of
cluding the gods, gods of the cities and of kings, gods and
Gilgamesh, and the apotheosis of Marduk.
men, moral laws, prayers, sacrifice, and the priesthood. A
General presentations that appeared after Jacobsen’s
new, enlarged edition was published in 1945 under the title
work include Helmut Freydank’s “Religion Mesopotamiens”
Les religions de Babylonie et d’Assyrie. Although it achieved a
in Kulturgeschichte des alten Vorderasien, edited by Horst
far greater coverage of detail, it lost the enlightening clarity
Klengel (1989); Joachín Sanmartin’s “Mitología y Religíon”
that characterizes the earlier work.
in Mitología y Religíon del Oriente Antiguo, edited by Gre-
A most useful, purely factual, and well-documented pre-
gorio del Olmo Lete (1993); and Jean Bottéro’s Plus vieille
sentation was given by Bruno Meissner in the second volume
religion en Mésopotamie (1998), translated into English by
of his Babylonien und Assyrien (1925). For ready access to the
Teresa L. Fagan as Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia (2001).
main data of pantheons, cults, divination, and magic, it re-
SPECIAL STUDIES. As important as the general presentations
mains unrivaled.
on ancient Mesopotamian religions are, a wealth of special
Jean Bottéro, in his La religion babylonienne (1952),
studies are in many cases even more essential for understand-
sought to present the development of Babylonian religion
ing these religions’ major aspects. Unfortunately, consider-
among the Semitic-speaking inhabitants of Mesopotamia
ations of space do not allow any comprehensive and system-
during the last two millennia before the Common Era. The
atic treatment; it is only possible to comment on a somewhat
work is marked by a great sensitivity and respect for the an-
random and necessarily subjective selection.
cient achievement. A few of the subjects Bottéro discusses are
The nature of the concept of divinity in Mesopotamia
deserving of special mention: religious sentiment, the theolo-
is treated in Johannes Hehn’s Die biblische und die babylonis-
gy of the divine, and cults of adoration and sacrament. His
che Gottesidee (1913) and in Elena Cassin’s La splendeur di-
method of treatment is reminiscent of what is known as the
vine: Introduction à l’étude de la mentalité mesopotamienne
phenomenology of religion.
(1968). Rich in materials is Knut Tallquist’s Akkadische Göt-
A different approach, one that belongs to the Myth and
terepitheta (1938). For discussion of the pantheon, Anton
Ritual school, is represented by S. H. Hooke’s Babylonian
Deimel’s Pantheon Babylonicum (1914) and part one of his
and Assyrian Religion (1953), a well-written and very readable
Sumerisches Lexikon, volume 4, Pantheon Babylonicum
account of the essentials of its subject that is free of any ex-
(1950), are still standard references.
treme positions. Other general presentations include L. W.
The origins and development of the pantheon were
King’s Babylonian Religion and Mythology (1899), Giuseppe
dealt with by Tharsicius Paffrath in his book Zur Götterlehre
Furlani’s La religione babilonese e assira (1928–1929),
in den altbabylonischen Königsinschriften (1913) and by W.
Charles F. Jean’s La religion sumérienne (1931), Hans Hir-
G. Lambert in his article “The Historical Development of
sch’s Untersuchungen zur altassyrischen Religion (1961), and
the Mesopotamian Pantheon: A Study in Sophisticated Poly-
W. H. P. Römer’s article “Religion of Ancient Mesopota-
theism” in Unity and Diversity, edited by Hans Goedicke and
mia” in Historia Religionum, volume 1, Religions of the Past,
J. J. M. Roberts (1975).
edited by C. Jouco Bleeker and Geo Widengren (1969). Also
important are J. van Dijk’s “Sumerische Religion” and
A representative collection of myths and epics in transla-
Jo
tion may be found in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to
⁄ rgen Laesso⁄e’s “Babylonische und assyrische Religion,” in
volume 1 of Handbuch der Religionsgeschichte, edited by Jes
the Old Testament (3d ed., 1969), edited by J. B. Pritchard.
P. Asmussen, Jo
Thorkild Jacobsen’s The Harps That Once—Sumerian Poetry
⁄ rgen Laesso⁄e, and Carsten Colpe (1976). In
this, as well as in other works, van Dijk refers to Eliade’s phe-
in Translation (1987) translates a selection of significant reli-
nomenological approach.
gious poems from the Sumerian, and Stephanie Dalley’s
Myths from Mesopotamia (1989) does the same for Akkadian.
Thorkild Jacobsen’s The Treasures of Darkness: A History
Jean Bottéro and Samual Noah Kramer’s Lorsque les dieux
of Mesopotamian Religion (1976) is a pivotal study of Meso-
faisaient l’homme (1989) includes translations of almost all
potamian religion. Jacobsen based this work on Rudolf
the Sumerian and Akkadian mythological poems.
Otto’s theory on numinous experience, but when he set that
theoretical approach in the history of Mesopotamia, he gave
Treatments of mythology include Samuel Noah
the book an evolutionist structure, a structure that is, howev-
Kramer’s Sumerian Mythology (1944; rev. ed., 1972); D. O.
er, absent in his entry “Mesopotamian Religion” in the first
Edzard’s article “Mesopotamien,” in the first volume of
edition of this encyclopedia. Jacobsen provides an overall re-
Wörterbuch der Mythologie, edited by H. W. Haussig (1965);
construction of the poems describing the love and death of
Giorgio R. Castellino’s Mitologia Sumerico-Accadica (1967);
Dumuzi and Inanna, and he discusses a pre-urban historical
and Alexander Heidel’s The Babylonian Genesis (1942; 2d
phase, a period when the village communities were strug-
ed., 1963) and The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Paral-
gling to survive and the gods were conceived as providers (as
lels (1949; 2d ed., 1963).
stated in the title of Chapter 2 in Treasures of Darkness.).
Aspects of the daily cult are the focus of Agnès Spycket’s
With the development of urban life, the gods became rulers
book Les statues de culte dans les textes mesopotamiens (1968).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
Other books of interest include Friedrich Blome’s Die Opfer-
rich material on this topic has been accomplished by Werner
materie in Babylonien und Israel (1934) and Yvonne Rosen-
Meier, Untersuchunen zur Formensprache der babylonischen
garten’s Le concept sumérien de consommation (1960). For the
“Gebetsbeschwörungen” (1976).
times of the annual festivals, there is Benno Landsberger’s
Divination is treated in Georges Conteneau’s La divina-
magisterial (and still standard) work, Der kultische Kalender
tion chez les Assyriens et les Babyloniens (1940) and C. J.
der Babylonier und Assyrer (1915). The raison d’être of the fes-
Gadd’s Ideas of Divine Rule in the Ancient Near East (1948).
tivals was first clarified by Svend Aage Pallis in his book The
Important studies include Ivan Starr’s The Rituals of the Di-
Babylonian Akitu Festival (1926). Of crucial importance be-
viner (1983), Ulla Jeyes’s Old Babylonian Extispicy (1989),
cause it dismissed once and for all some serious misunder-
and Barabara Böck’s Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie
standings of the Akitu is Wolfram von Soden’s article “Gibt
(2000). An overview of celestial divination can be found in
es ein Zeugnis dafür das die Babylonier an die Wiederaufer-
Ulla Koch-Westenholz’s exhaustive Mesopotamian Astrology:
stehung Marduks geglaubt haben?” (Is there any proof that
An Introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian Celestial Divina-
the Babylonians believed in the resurrection of Marduk?),
tion (1995).
which appeared in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 51 (1955). Beate
Pongratz-Leisten’s Ina Sˇulmi ¯Irub (1994) examines textual
On magic, L. W. King’s Babylonian Magic and Sorcery
material on the Akitu festival. Ritual and Sacrifice in the An-
(1896) and B. A. van Proosdij’s L. W. King’s Babylonian
cient Near East, edited by J. Quaegebeur (1993), offers addi-
Magic and Sorcery (1952) are joined by the pivotal study by
tional insights into this topic. Thorkild Jacobsen’s “Religious
Erica Reiner, Astral Magic in Babylonia (1995). Studies of ex-
Drama in Ancient Mesopotamia” in Unity and Diversity, ed-
orcistic traditions include Markham J. Geller’s “Freud and
ited by Hans Goedicke and J. J. M. Roberts (1975), gives
Mesopotamian Magic,” in Mesopotamian Magic, edited by
a general treatment of festival rites.
Tzvi Abusch and Karel van der Toorn (1999), and Tzvi
Abusch’s Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and
Rites of divine journeys are treated in Nanna-Suen’s
Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature
Journey to Nippur, edited by A. J. Ferrara (1973), and in
(2002). The subject of wisdom has been comprehensively
Daniel David Reisman’s Ph. D. dissertation, “Two Neo-
treated in W. G. Lambert’s Babylonian Wisdom Literature
Sumerian Royal Hymns” (University of Pennsylvania,
(1960).
1969). Royal inauguration rituals are discussed in Karl Frie-
drich Müller’s Texte zum assyrischen Königsritual (1937),
In Mesopotamian thought, the cosmos were conceived
which is the first volume of his Das assyrische Ritual. Ritual
of as a unity in which the gods, the impersonal powers, and
meals are treated in Rintje Frankena’s Takultu: De sacrale
all the realities of the tangible world were a part. Aspects of
maaltijd in het Assyrische ritueel (1954).
this cosmology are investigated in the seminal study by Jean
Bottéro, “Le noms de Marduk, l’écriture et la ‘logique’ en
The religious aspects of kingship are the subject of René
Mesopotamie ancienne,” in Ancient Near Eastern Studies in
Labat’s Le caractère religieux de la royauté assyro-babylonienne
Memory of J. J. Finkelstein, edited by Maria de Jong Ellis
(1939) and of Henri Frankfort’s Kingship and the Gods
(1977), and developed in his Mésopotamie: L’écriture, la rai-
(1948). An interesting strand in the fabric of kingship is
son, et les dieux (1987), translated into English by Zainab
treated in Ilse Siebert’s Hirt, Herde, König (1969). To this
Bahrani and Marc Van De Mieroop as Mesopotamia: Writ-
research must be added the important articles by A˚. Sjöberg,
ing, Reasoning, and the Gods (1992).
“Die göttliche Abstammung der sumerisch-babylonischen
Herrscher,” Orientalia Suecana 21 (1972); Piotr Micha-
Connections between writing and speculative thought
lowski, “History as Charter: Some Observations on the Su-
have been investigated by Alasdair Livingstone, Mystical and
merian King List,” Journal of the American Oriental Society
Mythological Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian
103 (1983); and Claus Wilcke, “Genealogical and Geo-
Scholars (1986); Antoine Cavigneaux, “Aux sources du Mid-
graphical Thought in the Sumerian King List,” in Studies in
rash: l’herméneutique babylonienne,” in Aula Orientalis 5
Honor of A˚. Sjöberg, edited by Erle Leichty (1989).
(1987); Paul-Alain Beaulieu, “New Light on Secret Knowl-
edge in Late Babylonian Culture,” in Zeitschrift für Assyriolo-
Communal laments are covered in Raphael Kutscher’s
gie 82 (1992), and “Theological and Philological Specula-
book Oh Angry Sea (a-ab-ba-hu-luh-ha): The History of a Su-
tions on the Names of the Goddess Antu,” in Orientalia 64
merian Congregational Lament (1975). Penitential psalms are
(1995); Morgen Trolle Larsen, “The Mesopotamian Luke-
the focus of Julian Morgenstern’s The Doctrine of Sin in the
warm Mind: Reflections on Science, Divination, and Litera-
Babylonian Religion (1905), Walter Schrank’s Babylonische
cy,” in Language, Literature, and History: Philological and
Sühnrites (1908), Walter G. Kunstmann’s Die babylonische
Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner, edited by France-
Gebetsbeschwörung (1932), and Geo Widengren’s The Acca-
sca Rochberg-Halton (1987); Dietrich Otto Edzard, “La vi-
dian and Hebrew Psalms of Lamentation as Religious Docu-
sion du passé et l’avenir en Mésopotamie,” in Histoire et con-
ments (1936) and Hymnes et prières aux dieux de Babylonie
sience historique dans les civilisations du Proche-Orient Ancien
et d’Assyrie (1976). Excellent translations may be found in
(1989); Piotr Michalowski, “Mental Maps and Ideology: Re-
Adam Falkenstein’s Die Haupptypen der Sumerischen Besch-
flections on Subartu,” in The Origin of Cities in Dry-Farming
wörung literarisch untersucht (1931). An updated study of the
Syria and Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium B.C., edited
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS: HISTORY OF STUDY
5971
by H. Weiss (1986); Bent Alster, “Dilmun, Bahrain, and the
Marten Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterra-
Alleged Paradise in Sumerian Myth and Literature,” in Dil-
nean Setting (2000); and Karel van der Toorn, Family Reli-
mun: New Studies in the Archaeology and Early History of Bah-
gion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel: Continuity and Change
rain, edited by Daniel I. Potts (1983); Jean-Jaques Glassner,
in the Forms of Religious Life (1996).
“La philosophie mésopotamienne,” in L’univers philo-
sophique I, edited by A. Jacob (1989), and his more detailed
On the topic of the so-called personal god, see Jacob
“V. Religion sumérienne,” in Supplément au dictionnaire de
Klein, “‘Personal God’ and Individual Prayer in Sumerian
la Bible, edited by H. Cazelles, J. Briend, and M. Quesnel
Religion,” in Archiv für Orientforschungen-Beiheft 19 (1982),
(2002); P. Michalowski, “Presence at the Creation,” in Lin-
and Brigitte Groneberg, “Eine Einführungsszenze in der alt-
gering over Words, edited by T. Abusch et al. (1990); Pietro
babylonischen Literatur: Bemerkungen zum persönlichen
Mander, “General Considerations on Main Concerns in the
Gott,” in Keilschriftlichen Literaturen, edited by K. Hecker
Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia,” Studi in Memoria di P.
and W. Sommerfeld (1985).
L. G. Cagni, vol. 2, edited by S. Graziani (2000).
For information on specific topics in Mesopotamian re-
The study by Simo Parpola, “The Assyrian Tree of Life:
ligion see the entries in Reallexicon der Assyriologie (1932–
Tracing the Origin of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philos-
1957) and Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd
ophy,” in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52 (1993) deserves
ed. (1999), edited by K. van den Toorn, B. Becking, and P.
attention despite its problematic methodology. Thorkild Ja-
W. van der Horst. The published volumes of the proceedings
cobsen’s last work, “The Historian and the Sumerian Gods,”
of the Melammu Symposia deserve a particular mention:
in Journal of the American Oriental Society 114 (1994), is de-
Mythology and Mithologies, edited by R. M. Whiting (2001)
voted to methodological approaches in which Jacobsen em-
and Ideologies as Intercultural Phenomena, edited by A.
ploys the concept of epoché, derived from Husserl’s phenom-
Panaino and G. Pettinato (2003). Jeremy Black, Anthony
enology.
Green, and Tessa Rickards’s Gods, Demons, and Symbols of
Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (1992) is
For attempts to reconstruct the historical development
both accessible and accurate.
of Mesopotamian religion, see Wilfred George Lambert,
UNCERTAINTIES. The script and languages of ancient Meso-
“Ninurta Mythology in the Babylonian Epic of Creation,”
potamia continue to present great difficulties to the modern
in Keilschriftliche Literaturen: Ausgewählte Vorträge der XXXII
student. These are so serious that almost no translations of
Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, edited by K. Hecker
Akkadian texts made prior to the twentieth century can safe-
and W. Sommerfeld (1986); Claus Wilcke, “Politik im Spie-
ly be taken at face value; they need to be checked by a compe-
gel der Literatur, Literatur als Mittel der Politik im älteren
tent Assyriologist. As for Sumerian, at present no consensus
Babylonien,” in Anfänge politischen Denkens in der Antike,
about basic features of writing and grammar exists, and
edited by K. Raaflaub et al. (1993); and William W. Hallo,
translations of one and the same text may differ radically. Ex-
“Sumerian Religion,” in Kinattûtu sha darâti, edited by
treme caution is thus indicated.
A. F. Rainey et al. (1994).
Studies dedicated to the interpretation of anthropo-
Since the late 1970s, however, in spite of the many diffi-
gonic mythology and concepts about the human condition
culties, many important religious texts in Sumerian and in
and the universe include W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard,
Akkadian have been published. While not aimed at the non-
Atra-hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood (1969); W. L.
specialist, this great mass of philological work does provide
Moran, “Some Considerations of Form and Interpretation
the essential basis for further knowledge.
in Atra-hasis,” in Language, Literature, and History: Philologi-
Last but not least, important work has been published
cal and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner, edited by
by scholars looking for patterns that show the influence on
F. Rochberg-Halton (1987); Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, “Spec-
the Greek religious world. Outstanding studies include
ulations on Umul, the First Baby,” in Sumerological Studies
Geoffrey S. Kirk’s Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in An-
in Honour of Samuel Noah Kramer, edited by B. L. Eichler
cient and Other Cultures (1970), and The Nature of Greek
(1976), and “The Symbolism of the Flies in the Mesopota-
Myths (1974), Martin L. West’s Early Greek Philosophy and
mian Flood Myth,” in Language, Literature, and History:
the Orient (1971), and The East Face of Helicon (1997), and
Philological and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner,
Walter Burkert’s Griechische Religion der archaischen und
edited by F. Rochberg-Halton (1987); W. G. Lambert, “The
klassischen Epoche (1977), and The Orientalizing Revolution:
Theology of Death,” in Death in Mesopotamia: Papers Read
Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in Early Archaic Age
at the XXVIe Rencontre assyriologique internationale, edited by
(1992).
B. Alster (1980); Isaac M. Kikawada, “The Double Creation
of Mankind in Enki and Ninmah, Atrahasis I 1–351, and
SEE ALSO An; Ashur; Dagan; Dumuzi; Enlil; Inanna;
Genesis 1–2,” in Iraq 45 (1983); W. G. Lambert, “The Pair
Marduk; Nabu; Nanna; Nergal; Utu.
Lahmu-Lahamu in Cosmology,” in Orientalia 54 (1985),
and “The Cosmology of Sumer and Babylon,” in Ancient
THORKILD JACOBSEN (1987)
Cosmologies, edited by C. Blacker and M. Loewe (1975);
PIETRO MANDER (2005)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5972
MESROB
MESROB SEE MASHTOTSE, MESROP
called 4 Ezra). It centers around the term son of man. This
term is used in the Old Testament to refer generally to a
human being (Psalms 8:5, 80:18 [English version 80:17] and
several times, addressing the prophet, in Ezekiel). In the vi-
MESSIANISM
sion recorded in Daniel 7, the term is used in verse 13 with
This entry consists of the following articles:
reference to a “man-like being,” which, in contrast to the
AN OVERVIEW
usual four animals representing the four great powers of
JEWISH MESSIANISM
MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM TRADITION
the ancient world, stands for Israel in its prominent role at
SOUTH AMERICAN MESSIANISM
the last judgment.
In the apocalyptic books mentioned, the son of man is
MESSIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
a transcendental figure, more or less divine, preexistent, and
The term messianism is derived from messiah, a transliteration
at present hidden in heaven. At the end of time he will ap-
of the Hebrew mashiah: (“anointed”), which originally denot-
pear to judge the world in connection with the resurrection
ed a king whose reign was consecrated by a rite of anoint-
of the dead. The pious will be freed from the dominion of
ment with oil. In the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament),
the wicked, and he will rule the world forever in peace and
mashiah: is always used in reference to the actual king of Isra-
righteousness. He is often referred to as “the chosen One”
el: Saul (1 Sm. 12:3–5, 24:7–11), David (2 Sm. 19:21–22),
but only occasionally as “the anointed One,” that is, the
Solomon (2 Chr. 6:42), or the king in general (Ps. 2:2, 18:50,
Messiah. Obviously, this interpretation of Daniel 7:13 takes
20:6, 28:8, 84:9, 89:38, 89:51, 132:17). In the intertesta-
“son of man” to refer to a person and not to an object of
mental period, however, the term was applied to the future
comparison. The problem is the extent to which these pas-
king, who was expected to restore the kingdom of Israel and
sages are pre-Christian. 2 Esdras was definitely written after
save the people from all evil.
the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and those parts of 1 Enoch in
At the same time, prophetic oracles referring to an ideal
which references to the son of man occur do not appear
future king, though not using the word messiah, were inter-
among the Aramaic fragments of the same work found at
preted as prophecies of this same eschatological figure. These
Qumran. On the other hand, the New Testament seems to
passages include Isaiah 9:1–6 and 11:1–9, Micah 5:2–6, and
presuppose this same interpretation of Daniel 7:13.
Zechariah 9:9, and certain of the “royal” psalms, such as
CHRISTIANITY. Early Christianity took many of the Jewish
Psalms 2, 72, and 110. Precedence for this later conception
ideas about the Messiah and applied them to Jesus. Messiah
lies in the royal ideologies of the ancient Near East, where
was translated into Greek as Christos, that is, Christ, thereby
the king played the role of the savior of his people: every new
identifying Jesus with Jewish messianic expectations. Mat-
king was expected to bring fertility, wealth, freedom, peace,
thew interpreted Isaiah 9:1 (EV 9:2), “The people who walk
and happiness to his land. Examples are found both in Egypt
in darkness shall see a great light,” as fulfilled in Jesus (Mt.
and in Mesopotamia. The French scholar Édouard Dhorme,
4:14–18). Micah 5:1 (EV 5:2) is quoted to prove that the
in his book La religion assyro-babylonienne (1910), quoted
Messiah should be born in Bethlehem (Mt. 2:6). Zechariah
some texts indicating such expectations under the heading
9:9 is read as a prediction of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (Mt.
“The Messiah King.”
21:5), and if the story related by Matthew is authentic, it
JUDAISM. In the Judaism of the intertestamental period, mes-
must mean that Jesus wanted to proclaim himself as the Mes-
sianic expectations developed in two directions. One was na-
siah. Psalms 2:7 (“You are my son”) is quoted or at least al-
tional and political and is most clearly set out in the pseud-
luded to in connection with the baptism of Jesus (Mt. 3:17,
epigraphic Psalms of Solomon (17 and 18). Here the national
Mk. 1:11, Lk. 3:22). (The Jewish Messiah, however, was not
Messiah is a descendant of David. He shall rule in wisdom
regarded as God’s son.) Psalms 110:1 is used to prove that
and righteousness; he shall defeat the great powers of the
the Messiah cannot be the son of David (Mt. 22:44); other
world, liberate his people from foreign rule, and establish a
parts of Psalm 110 are behind the exposition in Hebrews 5,
universal kingdom in which the people will live in peace and
6, and 7. However, the New Testament rejects the political
happiness. The same kingly ideal is expressed in the descrip-
messiahship described in the Psalms of Solomon. Jesus refused
tion of the rule of Simon in 1 Maccabees 14:4, which echoes
to be made king (Jn. 6:15); he proclaimed before Pilate: “My
the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
kingdom is not of this world” (Jn. 18:26). Despite this, he
Some apocryphal documents, especially the Testament
was accused of pretending to be “the king of the Jews”
of Levi, speak also of a priestly messiah, one who is to bring
(Jn. 19:19).
peace and knowledge of God to his people and to the world.
The New Testament, however, although maintaining
The Qumran community even expected two anointed ones,
that the Messiah is the Son of God, also uses the epithet “Son
a priest and a king, but very little is known about their
of man.” According to the Gospels, Jesus uses it of himself.
functions.
In a few cases it could possibly mean simply “a human being”
The other line of development is found above all in the
or “this man” (Mk. 2:10, Mt. 11:8, and parallels; Mt. 8:20
Ethiopic Apocalypse of Enoch (1 Enoch) and in 2 Esdras (also
and parallels). A number of passages refer to the coming of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESSIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
5973
the Son of man at the end of time (Mt. 24:27, 24:37; Lk.
emerged as the result of a clash between colonialist Christian-
18:18, 18:22, 18:69; Mt. 10:23; Mk. 13:26); these imply the
ity and native religions. Following Vittorio Lanternari
same interpretation of Daniel 7:13 as that implied by 1 Enoch
(1965), however, a distinction should be made between mes-
and 2 Esdras but add a new element in that it is Christ who
sianic and prophetic movements. “The ‘messiah,’” he says,
is to come a second time, returning as the judge of the world.
“is the awaited savior, the ‘prophet’ is he who announces the
A third group of “Son of man” references allude to the suffer-
arrival of one who is to come. The prophet himself can be
ing and death of Jesus, sometimes also mentioning his resur-
the ‘messiah’ after he has died and his return is expected as
rection (Mk. 8:31, 9:9, 9:31, 10:33, 14:21, 14:41; Lk. 22:48
a redeemer, or when the prophet himself, leaning upon an
and others). These introduce the idea of a suffering messiah,
earlier messianic myth, declares himself to be the prophet-
which is not entirely unknown in Jewish messianism but is
messiah” (p. 242n.).
never linked with the Son of man. (If the latter is sometimes
Examples of such movements are known from all parts
described in terms of the “servant of the Lord,” the chapter
of the aboriginal world. As early as the sixteenth century, suc-
on the suffering servant, Isaiah 53, is never applied to him.)
cessive waves of Tupi tribes in Brazil moved to the Bahia
In the Gospel of John the Son of man is almost always the glo-
coast, impelled by a messianic quest for the “land without
rified Lord as king and judge; he is also described as preexis-
evil.” Another such migration to find the “land of immortali-
tent in heaven (Jn. 1:51, 3:13, 8:28). Hebrews 2:6–8 applies
ty and perpetual rest” is reported to have inspired the Span-
Psalm 8, in which “son of man” was originally meant as
iards’ idea of El Dorado. Similar migrations took place in
“human being,” to Jesus, thus giving the expression an escha-
later centuries, led by a kind of prophet described as “Man-
tological meaning.
God” or “Demi-God,” that is, local shamans who came to
A new feature was introduced in New Testament messi-
the natives as religious leaders and reincarnations of the great
anism by the identification of Jesus with the suffering servant
mythical heroes of native tradition and announcing an era
of Isaiah 53. Mark 9:12 says that it “was written of the Son
of renewal.
of man that he should suffer many things and be treated with
The Ghost Dance movement in the western United
contempt” (cf. Is. 53:3). Acts of the Apostles 8:32 explicitly
States was initiated in 1869 by a certain Wodziwob, who had
quotes Isaiah 53:7–8 as fulfilled in Jesus, and 1 Peter 2:22–24
visions through which the Great Spirit announced that a
quotes or alludes to parts of Isaiah 53 as referring to him.
major cataclysm would soon shake the entire world and wipe
It would seem that this identification is an original creation
out the white man. The Indians would come back to life, and
of Jesus (or, possibly, of the early church).
the Great Spirit would dwell among them in the heavenly
era. Wodziwob’s son, Wovoka (John Wilson), established
Thus, New Testament Christology utilizes a great many
contacts with the Mormons in 1892 and was considered by
traits drawn from Jewish messianism. At the same time, it
them to be the Messiah of the Indians and the Son of God.
adds a new dimension: the idea that Jesus, though he has al-
ready in person fulfilled the messianic expectations, is to re-
In the Kongo region in Africa, Simon Kimbangu, who
turn in order to bring them to their final fulfillment.
had been raised in the British Baptist Mission, appeared in
1921 as a prophet to his people. His preaching was a combi-
ISLAMIC MESSIANISM. Ideas comparable to that of the sec-
nation of Christian and indigenous elements. He prophesied
ond coming of Christ are found in Islam, probably owing
the imminent ousting of the foreign rulers, a new way of life
to Christian influence. While the QurDa¯n envisages God as
for the Africans, and the coming of a golden age. Both he
the judge on the Day of Judgment, later Muslim tradition
and his successor, Andre Matswa, expected to return after
introduces certain preparatory events before that day.
death as the liberators of their people. Several movements of
Muh:ammad is reported to have said that the last day of the
a similar kind are known from other parts of Africa.
world will be prolonged in order that a ruler of the Prophet’s
family may defeat all enemies of Islam. This ruler is called
In the early twentieth century, Melanesia and New
the Mahdi, “the rightly guided one.” Other traditions say
Guinea saw the emergence of the so-called cargo cults. Com-
that he will fill the world with justice as it is now filled with
mon to them all is the belief that a Western ship (or even
wrong, an apparent echo of ancient kingship ideology. Some
airplane), manned by whites, will come to bring riches to the
identify the Mahdi with Jesus (Arab., EIsa¯), who is supposed
natives, while at the same time the dead will return to life
to appear before the end of the world to defeat al-Dajja¯l (“the
and an era of happiness will follow. Some prophets of these
deceiver”), the false messiah, or antichrist. Such traditions
cults were regarded as incarnations of spirits.
were utilized by founders of new dynasties and other political
It would seem that all these movements originated
or religious leaders, especially among the Sh¯ıEah. The last
among people under oppression and gave expression to their
such example was the rebel leader Muh:ammad Ah:mad of
longing for freedom and better conditions. Obviously, the
Sudan, who from 1883 temporarily held back the British in-
conditions under which Christianity arose are somewhat
fluence in this area.
comparable.
“NATIVISTIC” MOVEMENTS. With some justification the
SEE ALSO Cargo Cults; Kingship, article on Kingship in the
concept of messianism is used to describe a number of “na-
Ancient Mediterranean World; Millenarianism; Revival and
tivistic” cults in different parts of the world that have
Renewal.
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MESSIANISM: JEWISH MESSIANISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
wrought by God, would be presided over or realized by a de-
The standard work for early Jewish messianism is Sigmund
scendant of the royal house of David. He, the “son of
Mowinckel’s He That Cometh (Oxford, 1956). Briefer, but
David,” would be the Lord’s anointed par excellence. From
including the Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts referred to
its original Jewish context the word mashiah: then passed into
in the article, is my book The Messiah in the Old Testament
general use, denoting movements or expectations of a utopi-
(London, 1956). A good introduction to the Son of man
an character or otherwise concerned with the salvation of so-
question is Carsten Colpe’s article “Huios Tou Anthro¯pou,”
in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testment, edited by
ciety and the world. The messianic complex appears at times
Gerhard Kittel (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1972). See also Rollin
as restorative in character (the Paradise Lost-Paradise Re-
Kearns’s Vorfragen zur Christologie, 3 vols. (Tübingen, 1978–
gained syndrome), in the sense that it envisages the restora-
1982), and Maurice Casey’s Son of Man: The Interpretation
tion of the past and lost golden age. At other times it appears
and Influence of Daniel 7 (London, 1979). Islamic messia-
as more utopian, in the sense that it envisages a state of per-
nism has been dealt with most recently by Hava Lazarus-
fection the like of which has never existed before (“a new
Yafeh in her book Some Religious Aspects of Islam (Leiden,
heaven and a new earth”); the Messiah will not merely renew
1981), pp. 48–57, and by Jan-Olaf Blichfeldt in Early Mah-
the days of yore but will usher in a “new age.”
dism (Leiden, 1985). On Islam see also my article “Some Re-
ligious Aspects of the Caliphate,” in The Sacral Kingship (Lei-
The term mashiah: in this specific eschatological sense
den, 1959). Edgar Blochet provides some early observations
does not occur in the Hebrew scriptures. Isaiah 45:1 calls the
in Le messianisme dans l’hétérodoxie musulmane (Paris, 1903).
Persian king Cyrus II the Lord’s “anointed” because it was
A comprehensive survey of the millenarian movements is
evidently as the chosen instrument of God that he permitted
found in Vittorio Lanternari’s The Religions of the Oppressed
the Israelite exiles to return from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
(New York, 1965). Lanternari’s book includes a good bibli-
Using later terminology one may, perhaps, commit a techni-
ography.
cal anachronism and describe as “messianic” those scriptural
New Sources
passages that prophesy a future golden age, the ingathering
Baigent, Michael, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The Messi-
of the exiles, the restoration of the Davidic dynasty, the re-
anic Legacy. New York, 1986.
building of Jerusalem and the Temple, the era of peace when
Beuken, Wim, Seán Freyne, and Antonius Gerardus Weiler. Mes-
the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and so on.
sianism through History. London, 1993.
Charlesworth, James H. The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Ju-
Such is the nature of messianism that it develops and
daism and Christianity. Minneapolis, 1992.
flourishes in periods of suffering and frustration. When the
Katz, David S., and Richard Henry Popkin. Messianic Revolution:
present is satisfactory it need not be redeemed but should be
Radical Religious Politics to the End of the Second Millennium.
perpetuated or renewed (e.g., by periodic or cyclical renewal
New York, 1999.
rites). When the present is profoundly unsatisfactory, messia-
Szeminski, Jan. “Last Time the Inca Came Back: Messianism and
nism emerges as one of the possible answers: the certainty of
Nationalism in the Great Rebellion of 1780–1783.” In South
a satisfactory natural, social, and historical order (and this
and Meso-American Native Spirituality: From the Cult of the
certainty was particularly strong in Israel, based as it was on
Feathered Serpent to the Theology of Liberation. See pages
God’s promise enshrined in his eternal covenant) is projected
279–299. New York, 1993.
on the horizon of an ideal future. As the biblical account
HELMER RINGGREN (1987)
amply shows, already in biblical times the present was gener-
Revised Bibliography
ally perceived as far from satisfactory (wicked and sinful
kings, enemy incursions, defeats), and hence ideas concern-
ing an ideal order under an ideal Davidic king began to crys-
MESSIANISM: JEWISH MESSIANISM
tallize.
The term messianism denotes a movement, or a system of be-
The tendency to look toward future fulfillment was re-
liefs and ideas, centered on the expectation of the advent of
inforced by the destruction of the First Temple (587/6 BCE),
a messiah (derived from the Hebrew mashiah:, “the anointed
the Babylonian exile, and the subsequent return to Zion
one”). The Hebrew verb mashah: means to anoint objects or
under Cyrus, hailed by “Second Isaiah” as an event of a mes-
persons with oil for ordinary secular purposes as well as for
sianic order. But this “messianic” salvation proved a sad dis-
sacral purposes. In due course the nominative form came to
appointment. The severe persecution under the Syrian Seleu-
mean anyone with a specific mission from God (i.e., not only
cid ruler Antiochus IV (r. 175–163 BCE) similarly led to
kings or high priests), even if the anointing was purely meta-
messianic-eschatological hopes, as evidenced by the Book of
phorical (prophets, partiarchs), and ultimately it acquired the
Daniel, the composition of which is generally dated in that
connotation of a savior or redeemer who would appear at the
period. But the great salvation wrought by the victory of the
end of days and usher in the kingdom of God, the restoration
Maccabees similarly proved, in the long run, a sad disap-
of Israel, or whatever dispensation was considered to be the
pointment. The revolts against the oppressive “kingdom of
ideal state of the world.
wickedness,” Rome in 65–70 CE (which ended with the de-
This specific semantic development was due to the Jew-
struction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple) and again in
ish belief that the ultimate salvation of Israel, though
132–135 CE (the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which ended in the
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5975
practical destruction of Palestinian Jewry) no doubt had mes-
One tradition, probably influenced by Zechariah 3–4,
sianic elements. Thereafter messianism was a mixture of firm
appears to have held a doctrine of two messianic figures, the
and unshakable hope in ultimate redemption, on the one
one a high-priestly “anointed one” of the house of Aaron, the
hand, and, on the other hand, fear of the dangers and disas-
other a royal messiah of the house of David. This belief,
trous consequences of messianic explosions—“messianic ac-
which was held by the Qumran community (also known as
tivism,” as the historian would call it, or “premature messia-
the Dead Sea Sect), obviously implies that these complemen-
nism,” as the theologian would call it.
tary messianic figures are not so much saviors and redeemers
as symbolic types presiding over the redeemed and ideal so-
The messianic doctrines that developed during the sec-
cial order. Echoes of this doctrine seem to be present in the
ond half of the Second Temple period from approximately
(apparently polemical) insistence of the New Testament Let-
220 BCE to 70 CE (also called the “intertestamentary” period)
ter to the Hebrews that Jesus was both king and high priest.
were of diverse kinds, reflecting the mentality and spiritual
The doctrine seems to have survived into the Middle Ages
preoccupations of different circles. They ranged from this-
(by what channels is not quite clear), for it is found also
worldly, political expectations— the breaking of the yoke of
among the Karaites.
foreign rule, the restoration of the Davidic dynasty (the mes-
sianic king), and, after 70
Another version of the “double messiah” developed in
CE, also the ingathering of the ex-
iles and the rebuilding of the Temple—to more apocalyptic
the second century CE, possibly as a reaction to the cata-
conceptions, such as the spectacular and catastrophic end of
strophic failure of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The messiah of
“this age” (including a Day of Judgment), the ushering in
the house of Joseph (or Ephraim)—a possible echo of the
of a new age, the advent of the kingdom of heaven, the resur-
motif of the ten lost tribes—falls in battle against the forces
rection of the dead, a new heaven and a new earth. The main
of Gog and Magog (the Jewish counterpart to the Battle of
Armageddon). He is thus not a suffering messiah but a war-
protagonist might be a military leader, a kingly “son of
rior messiah who dies a hero’s death, to be followed by the
David,” a supernatural figure such as the somewhat mysteri-
victorious messiah of the house of David. This view of a dou-
ous “son of man” mentioned in some books of the Hebrew
ble messiah also expresses an essential duality in Jewish (but
scriptures as well as in apocryphal apocalyptic texts. Many
not only in Jewish) messianism: messianic fulfillment is pre-
scholars think that Jesus deliberately avoided the use of the
ceded by cosmic, natural, and social upheavals and catastro-
term messiah because of its political overtones (especially as
phes. (The Christian transformation of the Jewish motif is
he was announcing a kingdom that was not of this world)
the idea of the Antichrist let loose to rule the world before
and preferred the unpolitical term “son of man.” On the
being finally vanquished at the Second Coming.) Hence,
other hand, those responsible for the final redaction of the
whenever severe sufferings and tribulations were visited on
Gospel of Matthew thought it necessary to provide Jesus with
the Jewish people, these could be, and often were, interpret-
a lineage proving his descent from David in order to legiti-
ed as the predicted premessianic catastrophe (the “birth
mate his messianic status, since the mashiah: (Gr., christos)
pangs” of the messianic age, in the language of the Talmud)
had to be identified as the “son of David.”
heralding an imminent messianic consummation.
These examples, incidentally, also show that the origins
Messianism in the wider sense of an ideal future need
of Christianity have to be seen in the context of the messianic
not imply the belief in a particular, individual savior or re-
ferment of contemporaneous Jewish Palestine. Messianic
deemer figure. While Isaiah 11 and 2:2–4 envisage a peaceful
ideas developed not only by way of interpretation of biblical
and utopian world under a Davidic king, the parallel text
texts (e.g., the pesher of the Qumran community and the
Micah 4:4 has even fewer miraculous elements and speaks of
later midrash of rabbinic Judaism) but also by “revelations”
an earthly happiness, with every man dwelling under his vine
granted to apocalyptic visionaries. The latter tradition is well
and under his fig tree. For Jeremiah too, though his vision
illustrated by the last book of the New Testament, the Book
of the future also emphasizes the moral dimensions—
of Revelation.
compare Jeremiah 31:30ff. and 32:36–44 with Ezekiel’s
“new heart” and “heart of flesh” instead of the previous heart
But messianic ideas and expectations could also be based
of stone (Ez. 2:4, 11:19, 18:31, 32:9, 36:26)—the promised
on “rational” (i.e., nonvisionary) insights, especially when
boon is that “there shall enter into the gates of this city [Jeru-
the interpretation of scriptural prophecies took the form of
salem] kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David,
calculations and computations of the dates allegedly hinted
riding in chariots and on horses” (Jer. 17:25). Noteworthy
at in the obscure symbolism of the texts. Jewish messianic
in this text is not only its this-worldly ideal, with Jerusalem
enthusiasts would often base their calculations on the Book
as a bustling royal city, but also the reference to kings, in the
of Daniel (much as Christian millenarians would compute
plural. The idea of the one messianic savior-king had not yet
the end time from the “number of the beast” mentioned in
developed.
Revelation 13:18). Since the high-pitched hopes generated by
these calculations would often lead to disaster (or at best to
In later, especially modern and secularized, versions of
severe disappointment), the Talmudic rabbis had very harsh
messianism, the idea of a personal messiah increasingly gave
words about “those who compute the [messianic] end.”
way to the notion of a “messianic age” of peace, social justice,
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MESSIANISM: JEWISH MESSIANISM
and universal love—conceptions that could easily function
Nah:man, c. 1194–c. 1270), simply quoted Isaiah 2:4 and
as progressive, liberal, socialist, utopian, and even revolution-
observed that His Most Christian Majesty, in spite of his be-
ary transformations of traditional messianism. Thus the Phil-
lief that the Messiah had come, would probably find it diffi-
adelphia program of American Reform Judaism (1869) sub-
cult to disband his army and send home all his knights so
stituted for the belief in a personal messiah the optimistic
that they might beat their swords into plowshares and their
faith in the advent of a messianic era characterized by “the
spears into pruning hooks.
unity of all men as children of God in the confession of the
Throughout Jewish history there has existed a tension
One and Sole God,” and the Pittsburgh Platform (1885)
between two types of messianism, already briefly mentioned
spoke of the establishment “of the kingdom of truth, justice
before: the apocalyptic one, with its miraculous and super-
and peace.” Twentieth-century disillusionment with the idea
natural elements, and a more “rationalist” one. Throughout
of progress seems to have given a new lease on life to more
the Middle Ages old, and usually pseudepigraphic, apoca-
radical and utopian forms of messianism.
lypses and messianic midrashim were copied and new ones
In the intertestamentary period, messianic beliefs and
were produced by messianic enthusiasts and visionaries. The
doctrines developed, as we have seen, in a variety of forms.
rabbinic attitude, at least the official one, was more sober and
Messianism became increasingly eschatological, and escha-
prudent: too many messianic outbursts had ended in disas-
tology was decisively influenced by apocalypticism. At the
ter, namely, cruel suppression by the gentile rulers. A burned
same time, messianic expectations became increasingly fo-
child dreads the fire, and the rabbinic hesitations (probably
cused on the figure of an individual savior. In times of stress
a result of the traumatic experience of the Bar Kokhba Re-
and crisis messianic pretenders (or forerunners and heralds
volt) found eloquent expression in the homiletic interpreta-
announcing their advent) would appear, often as leaders of
tion of Song of Songs 2:7: “ ‘I charge you, you daughters of
revolts. Josephus Flavius as well as the author of Acts 5 men-
Jerusalem, that you stir not up nor awake my love till he
tions several such figures. Moreover, the Messiah no longer
please’—this verse contains six charges to Israel: not to rebel
symbolized the coming of the new age, but he was somehow
against the kingdoms of this world, not to force the end of
supposed to bring it about. The “Lord’s anointed” thus be-
the days . . . and not to use force to return to the Land of
came the “savior and redeemer” and the focus of more in-
Israel” (B. T., Ket. 111a). On a more theoretical level, already
tense expectations and doctrines, even of a “messianic theolo-
one Talmudic master had given the opinion that “there is no
gy.” Compare, for example, the implications of Paul’s
difference between this age and the messianic age but the op-
reading of Isaiah 52:20, “and the Redeemer [i.e., God] com-
pression of Israel by the heathen kingdoms [which will cease
eth to Zion,” as “the Redeemer [i.e., Christ] cometh from
after Israel regains its freedom under a messianic king].”
Zion” (Rom. 11:26).
The great medieval authority, the philosopher-
Since many Jews of the Diaspora lived under Christian
theologian Moses Maimonides (Mosheh ben Maimon,
domination, which meant also Christian persecution and
1135/8–1204), although he enumerated belief in the advent
missionary pressure, theological polemics inevitably centered
of the Messiah among the basic articles of faith, was careful
on christological—that is, messianic—themes. (Is Jesus the
to rule in his legal code as follows:
promised messiah? Why do the Jews refuse to acknowledge
Let no one think that the messianic king would have to
him? Because of carnal blindness or diabolic wickedness?)
perform signs or miracles . . . and let no one think that
Since both religions recognized the Hebrew Bible as holy
in the messianic era the normal course of things would
scripture, polemic often assumed an exegetical character (i.e.,
be changed or the order of nature altered. . . . What
it claimed a correct interpretation of the “messianic” prophe-
scripture says on the subject is very obscure, and our
cies in the Bible). As a rule, Jewish messianism never relin-
sages [too] have no clear and explicit traditions in these
quished its concrete, historical, national, and social expecta-
matters. Most [of the prophecies and traditions] are
tions and was little impressed by the “spiritual” character of
parables, the real meaning of which will become clear
only after the event. These details are therefore not arti-
Christian doctrine.
cles of religion, and one should not waste time on their
Christian polemics, from the early church fathers to the
interpretation or on the computation of the date of the
Middle Ages and later, accused the Jews of an inferior and
messianic advent, since these things are conducive nei-
crude materialism that made them read the scriptures kata
ther to the love of God nor to the fear of God. (Mishneh
Torah, Kings 11, 12)
sarka, with eyes of flesh rather than with eyes of the spirit.
Paradoxically, the Jews considered this reproach as a compli-
In Maimonides’ own lifetime, messianic movements oc-
ment, since for them the claim that the Messiah had come
curred in parts of the Diaspora, and as the acknowledged
was, in an unredeemed world plagued by wars, injustice, op-
leader of his generation he had to do his best, without of-
pression, sickness, sin, and violence, utterly meaningless. In
fending the messianic enthusiasm of the pious folk, to pre-
the famous disputation of Barcelona (1263), forced upon the
vent disasters and backlashes by carefully preaching his more
Jews by Dominican missionaries and held in the presence of
sober approach (e.g., in his Epistle to Yemen and Epistle on
King James I of Aragon, the Jewish spokesman, the great Tal-
the Resurrection of the Dead). Nevertheless, messianic longing
mudist and qabbalist Moses Nahmanides (Mosheh ben
and apocalyptic imagination, fired by persecutions and suf-
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MESSIANISM: JEWISH MESSIANISM
5977
fering, continued to flourish and to ignite messianic out-
ing the same religious culture and messianic hope, provides
bursts. There was no dearth of messianic pretenders
a general framework; nevertheless it is clearly inadequate as
(“pseudomessiahs”) or precursors announcing the advent of
an explanation of specific messianic movements. The perma-
the Redeemer, provided the people would prepare them-
nent presence of messianic dynamisms is also attested by the
selves by appropriate means (e.g., penitential austerities).
phenomenon of smaller or larger groups of Jews leaving their
countries of origin in the Diaspora in order to settle in the
But no matter whether messianic hopes and beliefs were
Holy Land. While less blatantly millenarian than the acute
apocalyptic or more sober, a matter of feverish agitation or
messianic outbursts, these movements often had messianic
of theological dogma, they had become an essential part of
motivations. Although the Messiah had not yet appeared or
the Jewish faith and of the Jewish experience of life and of
called the faithful to the Promised Land, the motivation was
history. The apocalyptic texts might be rejected by some as
often “preeschatological” in the sense that a life of prayer and
too fantastic, but the heritage of messianic prophecy was ac-
ascetic sanctification in the Holy Land was thought to pre-
cepted by all—not only in its biblical form but even more
pare or even hasten the advent of the Redeemer.
decisively in its subsequent rabbinic development. The most
influential factor was, perhaps, the constant emphasis of mes-
With the emergence of Qabbalah after the thirteenth
sianic beliefs (the ingathering of the exiles, the restoration of
century, and especially its development after the expulsion
the Davidic kingdom, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the
of Jews from Spain and Portugal, qabbalistic mysticism be-
Temple) in the daily liturgy, in the grace recited after every
came a major element and driving social force in Jewish mes-
meal, and especially in the prayers on Sabbath and holy days.
sianism. This process requires a brief elucidation. As a rule
This is not the only instance in the history of religions that
mystical systems have little or no relationship to time or to
illustrates how the prayer book and the liturgy can exert a
the process of time, history, and hence to messianism. After
more pervasive influence than theological tracts.
all, the mystic aspires to a supratemporal sphere, the antici-
pation of timeless eternity and the “everlasting now” rather
Messianic movements accompanied Jewish history
than to the crowning consummation of history. It is there-
throughout the Middle Ages, and there were probably many
fore not surprising to find messianic tension decreasing in in-
more than have come to our knowledge through chronicles,
verse proportion to the mystical tension. This principle
rabbinic responsa, and other incidental references. Most of
seems to hold true also regarding classical Spanish Qabbalah.
them were local phenomena of short duration. The move-
The new Qabbalah, Lurianic Qabbalah, that developed after
ment usually petered out after its suppression by the authori-
the Spanish expulsion in the great centers of the Ottoman
ties or the disappearance (or execution) of the leader. In this
empire, but especially in Safad in the Holy Land, was re-
respect the movement inspired by the seventeenth-century
markable for its high, one would almost say explosive, messi-
messianic pretender Shabbetai Tsevi is an exceptional case.
anic charge, especially in the form that it received at the hand
Messianic movements are attested in Persia from the eighth
of the most original, charismatic, and outstanding qabbalist
century (Abu¯ EIsa¯ al-Isfaha¯n¯ı and his disciple Yudghan) to
in that group, Isaac Luria (1534–1572).
David Alroy (Menah:em al-Du¯j¯ı) in the twelfth century. Abu¯
EIsa¯, who proclaimed himself the messiah of the house of Jo-
Lurianic Qabbalah interpreted the history of the world
seph, duly fell in battle against the Abbasid forces against
in general, and Israel’s exile, suffering, and redemption in
which he had marched with ten thousand followers, while
particular, in an idiom of a type that might be called gnostic,
David Alroy (known best from Disraeli’s fanciful novel)
that is, in terms of a cosmic, or rather divine, drama in which
staged a revolt against the sultan. Several messianic pretend-
God himself was involved. One might also describe the sys-
ers appeared in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in western
tem as a theosophical Heilsgeschichte. According to this
Europe, particularly in Spain. Later, under the influence of
strangely “gnostic” myth, a primordial catastrophe or “fall”
Qabbalah, messianic activism became more mystical and
occurred—long before Adam’s original sin—at the moment
even magical. Spiritual activism, when all realistic and practi-
when the divine light-essence externalized itself with a view
cal outlets are closed, easily becomes magical activism, and
to creating the world. The vessels that were to carry and
Jewish legend tells of masters who undertook to force the
transmit the divine light collapsed (the “breaking of the ves-
messianic advent by means of extreme mortifications, special
sels”) and the divine light-sparks fell into chaos and have
meditations, and qabbalistic incantations. These legends, the
since been imprisoned and “exiled” there, where—and this
most popular of which was that concerning Yosef della
is part of their tragedy—they sustain the life of the demonic
Reyna, usually end with the qabbalist adept falling prey to
realm.
the demonic powers that he had sought to vanquish.
Israel’s exile and suffering thus merely reflect on the his-
To understand the various messianic movements prop-
torical, material, and external level the more fundamental
erly, one would have to examine carefully, individually, and
mystery of the exile and suffering of the divine fallen sparks.
in detail the specific historical circumstances and external
Redemption thus means the liberation of the divine sparks
pressures as well as internal tensions that precipitated them.
from the defiling embrace of the demonic powers and their
The common fate of Jews everywhere as a despised and per-
return to their divine source, no less than the liberation of
secuted minority, existing in a hostile environment yet shar-
Israel from subjugation to the Gentiles and its return to the
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MESSIANISM: JEWISH MESSIANISM
Holy Land. Indeed, the latter process would follow as natural
before the law, universal peace, all-around ethical and human
consequence from the former, which it was Israel’s true and
progress, the national emancipation of the Jewish people
mystical vocation to bring about by a life of piety and holi-
within the family of nations, and so on. But all these aspira-
ness. This is spiritual activism at its most extreme, for here
tions were somehow surrounded with a messianic halo. Jews
God has become a salvator salvandus. To the harassed and
rarely asked the literalist questions so congenial to Christian
hounded Jew, exile became meaningful because it was seen
fundamentalism. They do not, as a rule, inquire whether a
as a reflection of, and participation in, the profounder exile
particular historical event is the “fulfillment” of a particular
of God, and God himself required Israel’s cooperation in the
biblical prophecy. But it is impossible, for most of them, to
redemption of himself, his people, and his creation. It is not
pass through apocalyptic events such as the Holocaust, or to
surprising that, at least at first, the personality of the Messiah
experience the end of exile and the reestablishment of Israel
played a relatively minor role in this system. He was not so
as a sovereign commonwealth, without the stirring of messi-
much a redeemer as a sign and symbol that the mystical mes-
anic chords in their souls.
sianic process had been consummated. In fact, the messianic
In fact, since the Yom Kippur War, a trend toward a
doctrine of Lurianism comes close, at least structurally, to an
“messianization” of politics has become noticeable in Israel,
evolutionist scheme.
especially among groups advocating settlements on the West
This qabbalistic system provided the background of one
Bank or Jewish rights on the Temple Mount. Some of this
of the most remarkable messianic episodes in the course of
messianized Zionism goes back to the teaching of Avraham
Jewish history—the movement centered on the person of
Yitsh:aq Kook, chief rabbi of Palestine from 1921 to 1935.
Shabbetai Tsevi. The ignominious debacle of Shabbatean-
In the Prayer for the State of Israel the chief rabbinate refers
ism, with its aftermath of heresy, antinomianism, and apos-
to the state—in an incredibly primitive dispensationalist
tasy, left a trail of spiritual confusion and disarray as a result
fashion—as “the beginning of the sprouting of our Redemp-
of which both Qabbalah and messianism declined, at least
tion.” Others, however, feel that messianism as an eschato-
in their public and social role. Apart from a few minor messi-
logical concept should be kept out of the pragmatics and am-
anic convulsions, “automessianism” (as Martin Buber called
biguities of current politics, since it tends to demoralize and
it) declined steadily. The messianic idea remained alive in Ju-
mythologize them instead of moralizing them (in the pro-
daism, influencing no doubt also non-Jewish ideologies of
phetic sense). It is still too early for a definitive historical and
utopia and hope (see the influential work of the Marxist
sociological evaluation of these conflicting tendencies, and
thinker Ernst Bloch, Das Prinzip Hoffnung), but no more
of the nature and role of messianism in contemporary
messianic pretenders appeared. Orthodox Judaism contin-
Judaism.
ued to believe in the traditional doctrine of a personal messi-
ah but de facto retreated into a shell of strict halakhic obser-
SEE ALSO Apocalypse, articles on Jewish Apocalypticism to
vance. The myth had lost its power to trigger messianic
the Rabbinic Period, Medieval Jewish Apocalyptic Litera-
movements.
ture; Eschatology; Polemics, article on Jewish-Christian Po-
lemics; Qabbalah; Shabbetai Tsevi; Zionism.
Hasidism, the great spiritual revival launched in eigh-
teenth-century eastern Europe by the Besht (YisraDel ben
BIBLIOGRAPHY
EliEezer, 1700–1760), certainly did not relinquish traditional
Cohen, Gerson D. “Messianic Postures of Ashkenazim and Se-
messianic beliefs, but its main emphasis was on closeness to
phardim.” In Studies of the Leo Baeck Institute, edited by Max
God through spiritual inwardness or (at times) ecstasy. Ger-
Kreutzberger, pp. 115–156. New York, 1967.
shom Scholem has described this process (though the subject
is still a matter of scholarly debate) as a “neutralization of the
Friedmann, H. G. “Pseudo-Messiahs.” In Jewish Encyclopaedia.
New York, 1925. A history of messianic pretenders through-
messianic element.” But while Hasidism attempted to pro-
out Jewish history.
vide an answer, in a traditional idiom, for the spiritual seek-
ers as well as for the pauperized masses in the ghettos of east-
Klausner, Joseph. The Messianic Idea in Israel, from Its Beginning
ern Europe, the Jewry of western and central Europe entered
to the Completion of the Mishnah. New York, 1955.
the modern age (civil emancipation, assimilation, Reform Ju-
Mowinckel, Sigmund. He That Cometh: The Messianic Concept in
daism).
the Old Testament and Later Judaism. Translated by G. W.
Anderson. Oxford, 1956.
The implications of these developments for Jewish mes-
sianism are still a matter for research. Many of the modern
Scholem, Gershom. The Messianic Idea in Judaism and Other Es-
ideologies undoubtedly preserved some of the traditional
says on Jewish Spirituality. New York, 1971.
messianic overtones. At times they made deliberate use of
Silver, A. H. A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel. Rev. ed.
messianic terminology. Of course the progressive liberals and
Boston, 1959.
later socialists, and needless to say the national revival known
Werblowsky, R. J. Zwi. “Messianism in Jewish History.” In Jewish
as Zionism, did not think in terms of Armageddon, or a
Society through the Ages, edited by H. H. Ben-Sasson and
heavenly Jerusalem descending from above, or the “son of
Samuel Ettinger, pp. 30–45. New York, 1971. A short sur-
David” riding on an ass, but rather of civil liberties, equality
vey and analysis.
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MESSIANISM: MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM TRADITION
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sent to deliver the Islamic message and scripture. This view
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is part of the broader Muslim belief that Christianity is a di-
Messianism in Early Modern European Culture: Jewish Messia-
vergence from the primordial Islam, which has existed since
nism in the Early Modern World. Boston, 2001.
the creation of the universe.
Idel, Moshe. Messianic Mystics. New Haven, Conn., 1998.
Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet in a chain of
Kavka, Martin J. Messianism and the History of Philosophy. New
thousands of Muslim prophets, beginning with Adam and
York, 2004.
ending with Muh:ammad, who were sent by God to preach
Liebes, Yehuda. Studies in Jewish Myth and Jewish Messianism.
Islam. According to this view, Jesus is considered to be en-
Translated by Batya Stein. Albany, 1992.
tirely human and does not share in any way in God’s divini-
Magid, Shaul. Hasidism on the Margin: Reconciliation, Antinomi-
ty. In fact, many of the QurDanic references to Jesus as the
anism, and Messianism in Izbica and Radzin Hasidism. Madi-
messiah specifically reject the Christian conception of the
son, Wis., 2003.
Trinity. For example, QurDa¯n 4:171 states:
Pomykala, Kenneth. The Davidic Dynasty Tradition in Early Juda-
O people of the Book [i.e., Jews, Christian, Zoroastri-
ism: Its History and Significance for Messianism. Atlanta,
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in your religion: nor say of God aught but the truth.
Ravitzky, Aviezer. Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radi-
Christ [mas¯ıh:] Jesus the son of Mary was (no more
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than) an apostle [i.e., a prophet who brought scripture]
Saperstein, Marc, ed. Essential Papers on Messianic Movements and
of God, and His Word, which he bestowed on Mary,
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and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in God
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better for you: for God is One God: glory be to Him:
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(Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong
all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is
God as a Disposer of affairs. (Abdullah Yusuf Ali trans-
lation)
MESSIANISM: MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM
TRADITION
While Muslims consider Jesus to be one of many prophets,
Islamic messianism has taken two main forms: one is the
he is still viewed as a somewhat unique prophet. Like
mas¯ıh:, or “messiah,” which is the title given to the prophet
Muh:ammad, Abraham, Moses, and David, Jesus is one of
E¯Isa¯ (Jesus) in the QurDa¯n; the other is the mahd¯ı, or the “di-
the few prophets who brought actual scripture, rather than
vinely guided one.” These two messianic figures are closely
merely being divinely inspired to preach God’s word. Unlike
associated with al-mas¯ıh: al-dajja¯l, or the “false messiah.” In
other prophets, Jesus is also believed to be returning at the
its most basic definition, Islamic messianism consists of the
end of time. However, since Muh:ammad is universally ac-
belief that at the end of time, when the world has degenerat-
cepted as the final prophet, Jesus’ mission is not understood
ed into moral corruption and depravity, a mahd¯ı will be sent
to be a prophetic mission in the strict sense of the term.
by God to revive Islam, restore faith in God, and bring jus-
Rather, Jesus is believed to be returning for a specific pur-
tice and prosperity to the world. The arrival of the mahd¯ı
pose, which is to bring justice to the world by reaffirming
will trigger the emergence of the dajja¯l, which will in turn
God’s religion on earth and by destroying the false messiah,
be followed by the return of the prophet E¯Isa¯. The dajja¯l will
either by himself or in cooperation with the mahd¯ı, thus pav-
then be defeated by the mahd¯ı, by E¯Isa¯, or by both. Finally,
ing the way for the end of the world and the coming of the
these events will bring about the end of the world and the
Day of Judgment. In some traditions the concepts of mas¯ıh:
advent of Judgment Day. For Muslims, this doctrine is one
and mahd¯ı have been conflated, but the majority of Muslims
of hope in the face of a world that at times may seem to have
make a clear distinction between the two. Jesus is viewed as
strayed very far from the path to God. While Islamic messia-
a prophet who is returning for a specific purpose. The
nism refers primarily to the return of the mahd¯ı, it is impor-
mahd¯ı, on the other hand, is not represented as a prophet
tant to begin with the Muslim understanding of the role of
at all. Rather, he is viewed as a divinely guided man with a
E¯Isa¯ al-Mas¯ıh: (Jesus the Messiah) and his perceived relation-
religious mission, but not a prophet. For example, it is not
ship to the false messiah, or al-mas¯ıh: al-dajja¯l.
believed that he will bring any new scripture.
E¯ISA¯ AL-MAS¯IH: (JESUS THE MESSIAH). In the QurDa¯n and
This conception of the return of Jesus is based primarily
h:ad¯ıth, the title mas¯ıh: (messiah) is given to E¯Isa¯ (Jesus the
upon h:ad¯ıth and popular religious beliefs. For example, in
son of Mary). In addition to countless h:ad¯ıth, there are nine
one h:ad¯ıth the prophet Muh:ammad is reported to have said
QurDanic verses referring to Jesus as the messiah (3:45, 4:157,
“[Jesus the] son of Mary will shortly descend among you peo-
4:171, 4:172, 5:17, 5:72, 5:75, 9:30, and 9:31). While these
ple (Muslims) as a just ruler” (Bukha¯r¯ı, 3.34.425). In anoth-
verses clearly refer to Jesus as the messiah, the Islamic scrip-
er h:ad¯ıth Muh:ammad explains:
ture conceives of a messiah somewhat differently from the
The dajja¯l will appear in my ummah [i.e., Muslims] and
Jewish and Christian traditions. In Islam, Jesus is viewed as
he will stay (in the world) for forty—I cannot say
a Muslim prophet who was miraculously conceived and was
whether he meant forty days, forty months, or forty
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MESSIANISM: MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM TRADITION
years. And Alla¯h will then send Jesus son of Mary who
It has been well known (and generally accepted) by all
will resemble EUrwah ibn MasEu¯d. He (Jesus) will seek
Muslims in every epoch, that at the end of time a man
him out and kill him. Then people will live for seven
from the family (of the Prophet) will without fail make
years in which there will be no conflict between any two
his appearance, one who will strengthen Islam and
people. (Muslim, 41.7023)
make justice triumph. Muslims will follow him, and he
AL-MAS¯IH: AL-DAJJA¯L (THE FALSE MESSIAH). The false mes-
will gain domination over the Muslim realm. He will
siah, or al-mas¯ıh: al-dajja¯l, is portrayed by Muslims as an evil
be called the mahd¯ı. Following him, the antichrist
but powerful human being, with a blind right eye that pro-
[al-mas¯ıh: al-dajja¯l] will appear, together with all the
subsequent signs of the hour (the Day of Judgment), as
trudes like a grape. He symbolically represents everything
established in (the sound tradition of) s:ah:¯ıh: [h:ad¯ıth; af-
that is evil in human nature, namely greed, atheism, arro-
terwards, the mahd¯ı] E¯Isa¯ (Jesus) will descend and kill
gance, malice, tyranny, and deception. For Muslims, his ap-
the antichrist. Or, Jesus will descend together with the
pearance serves as a test of faith in this world, because his
mahd¯ı, and help him kill (the antichrist), and have him
power and ability to seduce the hearts of humanity is sup-
as the leader in his prayers. Such statements have been
posed to separate pious believers from “those who are more
found in the traditions [h:ad¯ıth] that religious leaders
concerned with this world than with the next.” It is believed
have published. They have been (critically) discussed by
that he will come to oppress humanity and to spread disbelief
those who disapprove of (the matter) and have often
by trying to convince people to worship him as a god. In one
been refuted by means of certain (other) traditions. . .a
h:ad¯ıth the prophet Muh:ammad is quoted as saying:
number of leaders have published traditions [h:ad¯ıth]
concerning the mahd¯ı, among them at-Tirmidh¯ı, Abu¯
He (the dajja¯l) will be a young man with twisted, curly
Da¯Du¯d, al-Bazza¯r, Ibn Ma¯jah, al-H:ak¯ım, al-Tabara¯n¯ı,
hair, and a blind eye. . .he will appear somewhere be-
and Abu¯ YaDla¯ al-Mawsil¯ı. (Ibn Khaldu¯n, The Muqad-
tween Syria and Iraq and will spread mischief right and
dimah, 1958, pp. 156–157)
left. . .We said: “Alla¯h’s messenger, how long will he
stay? He said. . .For forty days, one day like a year, and
The concept of the mahd¯ı has evolved over the centuries, but
one day like a month and one day like a week and the
there are several basic characteristics of the doctrine that are
rest of the days would be like your days.” He went on
common to most definitions. Most Muslims believe that a
to explain how the dajja¯l will oppress humanity and try
descendant of the Prophet will return at the end of time,
to lead people away from faith. Then he said “. . .and
when the world has descended into moral depravity, to revive
it will be at this very time that Alla¯h will send the messi-
and restore both his community and the religion of God. It
ah, Jesus son of Mary, and he will descend at the white
is also believed that he will spread prosperity and goodwill.
minaret in the eastern side of Damascus wearing two
He is usually described as being a handsome young man with
garments lightly dyed with saffron, while placing his
hands on the wings of two Angels. . .He will then
long dark hair, a broad forehead, and a high and prominent
search for him (dajja¯l) until he will catch hold of him
nose. He is usually considered to be a descendant of the
at the gate of Ludd and will kill him.” (Muslim,
Prophet. It is often believed that in the process of uniting
41.7015)
Muslims and the whole world, he will defeat the Ru¯m (Ro-
THE MAHD¯I. Although Muslims consider Jesus to be the
mans, Greeks, etc.) and will conquer Jerusalem and Constan-
messiah, the focal point of messianism among Muslims is not
tinople. Some believe that he will make himself first appear
Jesus. Rather, it is the mahd¯ı (the guided one). The term
in the Levant, while others claim that he will come from
mahd¯ı in this context is also understood to mean that he will
Mecca or even Khorasan in northeastern Iran.
guide Muslims. Its grammatical function is therefore simul-
The role of the mahd¯ı is closely linked to two concepts
taneously active and passive. While mahd¯ı has always been
in Islam: is:la¯h: (to reform Islam through purification) and
a common Muslim name, when used in the context of reli-
tajd¯ıd (to renew or revive Islam). Both concepts encompass
gious doctrine it has a very specific meaning. The doctrine
the basic Muslim conception of reform, correction, or purifi-
of the mahd¯ı is based on h:ad¯ıth and popular consensus, rath-
cation of the faith. Is:la¯h: is mentioned in the QurDa¯n, whereas
er than the QurDa¯n. The following are two samples of such
tajd¯ıd is based on interpretations of h:ad¯ıth. The core princi-
h:ad¯ıth: “[Muh:ammad] said ‘There will be a caliph in the last
ples in these doctrines is that the Muslim community, which
(period) of my ummah who will freely give handfuls of
is always in danger of straying from the commandments of
wealth to the people without counting it’” (Muslim,
God and the examples set by the prophet Muh:ammad, must
41.6961). This h:ad¯ıth is understood by many to refer to the
continually be reformed and revived. The primary method
mahd¯ı. Another h:ad¯ıth states, “The Prophet (peace be upon
for realizing such reforms is to expunge heretical elements
him) said: ‘The mahd¯ı will be of my stock, and will have a
from the faith. Reform, therefore, equals purification. For
broad forehead, and a prominent nose. He will fill the earth
example, if cultural or regional customs enter into the faith
with equity and justice as it [previously] was filled with op-
(as they usually do), these are often criticized by Muslims as
pression and tyranny, and he will rule for seven years’” (Abu¯
“heretical innovations” (bid Eah). Likewise, when people con-
Da¯Du¯d, bk. 36, no. 4272).
vert from another religion to Islam, they sometimes carry
Ibn Khaldu¯n (d. 1406) gives an account of the doctrine
over their previous beliefs and practices. All these are labeled
during his time:
as bid Eah, and are condemned. It is not surprising that accu-
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MESSIANISM: MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM TRADITION
5981
sations of bid Eah have always been among the more common
the founder of the EAbba¯sid dynasty, al-Saffa¯h: (d. 754); and
tactics used by Muslims in sectarian, ideological, and politi-
other Abbasid caliphs. (For a detailed discussion of these
cal polemics. Sectarian views that are regarded as heresies are
early uses of the term mahd¯ı, see Madelung, 1986.)
often dealt with in the same way, by labeling their doctrines
as bid Eah, and calling for the need to purge Islam of these
One of the most significant divisions among Muslims
heretical innovations.
on the doctrine of the mahd¯ı is between Sh¯ıEah and Sunn¯ıs.
The primary difference between the Sunn¯ı definition of the
In its most general sense, tajd¯ıd and is:la¯h: are considered
mahd¯ı and the Sh¯ıE¯ı view is his identity, and by extension
to be the duty of every Muslim. However, in the more specif-
his sectarian affiliation. Generally, the Twelver Sh¯ıEah con-
ic doctrinal sense, it is believed that this sort of reform should
sider the mahd¯ı to be a vanished ima¯m who will return at
be carried out by a religious leader who is supposed to come
some future time. While Sunn¯ıs and Sh¯ıEah generally accept
at certain intervals (usually once per century) to revive and
that the mahd¯ı will reward the faithful and punish the wick-
purify Islam. As one would expect, different groups of Mus-
ed, for most Sh¯ıEah the mahd¯ı will also vindicate the Sh¯ıE¯ı
lims have normally disagreed on exactly who these leaders
cause by showing Sunn¯ıs and other non-Sh¯ıEah the errors of
are, based on sectarian, ideological, and political divisions.
their ways, thus reaffirming Shiism and the doctrine of the
For example, al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (d. 1111) and Ibn Taym¯ıyah
ima¯mat.
(d. 1328), whose views were often diametrically opposed to
one another, have both been referred to as mujaddids (tajd¯ıd
A typical h:ad¯ıth, attributed to the first ima¯m, EAl¯ı ibn
reformers). The mahd¯ı is often treated as a special type of
Ab¯ı T:a¯lib, sums up the Sh¯ıE¯ı doctrine:
mujaddid in that much greater success, power, and influence
Soon God shall bring forth a group whom He Loves
are attributed to him, and he is divinely guided in a supernat-
and they too are His lovers and the one who is like a
ural way. In fact, in some traditions, the mahd¯ı is considered
stranger amongst them shall take over the Government.
to be the last in a chain of mujaddids. The fact that he is sin-
Verily, he shall be the ‘MAHD¯I’; his face rosy and hair
gled out for mention by the Prophet gives him an added
golden in color. He will fill the earth with justice with-
symbolic significance. Most importantly, Muslims believe
out any difficulty. In his very childhood, he shall get
that he will help to bring about the changes that will set the
separated from his mother and father and from the
stage for the end of the world and bring about the Day of
viewpoint of training he shall be rare and matchless. He
Judgment. This gives him a much more specific and impor-
shall rule over the Muslim countries with utmost calm
tant eschatological function compared to other mujaddids.
and security and time shall be favorable and friendly to-
ward him. His words will be accepted; the young and
The title mahd¯ı has also been used by some Muslims
the old shall humbly obey him. He shall fill the earth
to refer to such early Muslim leaders as Abu¯ Bakr, EUmar ibn
with Justice just as it had previously been filled with op-
al-Khat:t:a¯b, EUthma¯n ibn EAffa¯n, and EAl¯ı ibn Ab¯ı T:a¯lib
pression. Then, at that moment his ima¯mat shall reach
(these four caliphs, who ruled from 632 to 661, were some-
its perfection and Viceregency will be established for
him. Moreover, Alla¯h will make the dead to rise from
times collectively referred to as al-Khulafa¯Dal-Ra¯shid¯ın
their graves and return them back to this world. Then,
al-Mahd¯ıyy¯ın). The title mahd¯ı has also been used to refer
like people who get up from their sleep, they shall see
to H:usayn ibn EAl¯ı (d. 680), the Umayyad caliph EUmar II
nothing but their own houses. The land will flourish
(d. 720), and EAl¯ı’s son by a H:anaf¯ı woman, Muh:ammad
and by blessing of his [i.e., mahd¯ı’s] existence, it shall
ibn al-H:anaf¯ıyah (d. 700). Several Umayyad, Abbasid, and
become fresh and fruitful. Seditions and disturbances
Fa¯t:imid caliphs were also referred to as mahd¯ı. In fact, the
shall vanish and blessings and welfare will increase man-
term mahd¯ı was used often during the Umayyad and Abbas-
ifold. (S:adr Is:faha¯n¯ı, 1994, pp. 39–40)
id periods as a polemical device to legitimize a wide variety
of religious leaders.
While Sh¯ıEah and Sunn¯ıs have historically disagreed on the
identity of the mahd¯ı, they have agreed on many of the basic
The most dynamic period of Muslim history with re-
details surrounding his return. For example, they generally
gard to the concept of the mahd¯ı is without a doubt the sev-
accept that the mahd¯ı will be a descendant of the Prophet
enth century (especially following the Battle of Karbala in
who returns at the end of time, when corruption and tyranny
680) through the twelfth century. The main reason for this
are widespread, in order to spread justice and renew Islam.
is the relative diversity of religious views during this period.
Sh¯ıEah have relied on both Sh¯ıE¯ı and Sunn¯ı h:ad¯ıth to articu-
The wide variety of heterodox views that proliferated during
late their definition of the mahd¯ı. For example, the promi-
these centuries, along with the ideological civil wars that were
nent Sh¯ıE¯ı scholar S:adrud¯ın S:adr Is:faha¯n¯ı, in his book
underway, provided an ideal environment in which political
Al-Mahd¯ı (1994), quotes Sunn¯ı h:ad¯ıth from Abu¯ Da¯Du¯d,
and religious leaders were considered to be the mahd¯ı. In
Tirmidh¯ı, Ah:mad ibn H:anbal, and Ibn Majah in which the
many cases these early mahd¯ıs were Sh¯ıE¯ı leaders of various
Prophet is quoted as saying: “If there remains not more than
sorts, like Muh:ammad ibn al-H:anaf¯ıyah, his son Abu¯
a day from the life of the earth, indeed God shall make a per-
Ha¯shim (d. 717), Mu¯sá Ka¯dhim (d. 799), and others. How-
son from my progeny to appear” (p. 33). He also quotes an-
ever, some of these early mahd¯ıs were associated with the
other h:ad¯ıth of Ah:mad ibn H:anbal: “Qiya¯mat shall not be
Sunn¯ı community, such as Umayyad caliph EUmar the II;
established until the earth is filled with cruelty and oppres-
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MESSIANISM: MESSIANISM IN THE MUSLIM TRADITION
sion. Then a person from my progeny shall appear and fill
formism, and revivalism, and some sort of military struggle,
it with equity and Justice” (p. 33).
either against non-Muslims or against Muslim leaders who
were deemed to be morally corrupt. One interesting histori-
However, since Sh¯ıE¯ı groups have different definitions
cal trend is that for Sh¯ıEah the mahd¯ı rebellions tended to
of the imamate, they also differ on the identity of the mahd¯ı.
be restricted to the early centuries of their movements, at a
For example, the most widespread Sh¯ıE¯ı group, called the
time when Sh¯ıE¯ı doctrines were more heterodox than ortho-
Ithna¯ Eashar¯ıs (Twelvers) or Ima¯m¯ıs, believe that the mahd¯ı
dox. There are some later exceptions to this general rule, such
will be the twelfth ima¯m Muh:ammad al-Mahd¯ı, who was be-
as Isma¯E¯ıl Safav¯ı’s (d. 1524) mahdist claims in the fifteenth
lieved to have gone into occultation in 874. For other Sh¯ıEah,
century. Isma¯E¯ıl was accepted as a messianic figure by his
the mahd¯ı is (or was) believed to be a different ima¯m, such
tribal followers, the Qizilba¯sh, who have been accused by
as EAl¯ı ibn Ab¯ı T:a¯lib, H:usayn ibn EAl¯ı, H:asan al-EAskar¯ı,
some of going so far as to deify him. While Isma¯E¯ıl and his
JaEfar al-S:a¯diq, Isma¯E¯ıl ibn JaEfar, Mu¯sá al-Ka¯z:im,
followers were technically Sh¯ıE¯ı, his movement was based
Muh:ammad ibn al-H:anaf¯ıyah, the ima¯ms of the Fa¯t:imid
more on a particular strain of rural S:u¯f¯ı beliefs that tended
dynasty, or other ima¯ms.
toward Shiism. His military successes helped to bolster his
The earliest historical record we have of a clearly Sh¯ıE¯ı
religious legitimacy. However, after the Safavid Empire was
conception of the mahd¯ı was shortly after the massacre at
established in 1501, the state shifted toward orthodox Sh¯ıE¯ı
Karbala of the Prophet’s grandson H:usayn along with his
doctrine, according to which he could not be considered a
family in 680. This traumatic event inspired many Muslims
messianic figure.
to call for an uprising of someone from the Prophet’s proge-
While for Sunn¯ıs, mahdist movements have not been
ny to take vengeance on the Umayyad regime. It was within
particularly widespread, they have occurred throughout Is-
this context that in 685 to 687 Mukhta¯r led an uprising in
lamic history. In fact, mahdist movements continued to
the name of H:usayn’s half brother, Muh:ammad ibn
emerge as late as the early modern period, after which there
al-Hanaf¯ıyah. He said: “Al-Mahd¯ı Muh:ammad ibn EAl¯ı
was a noticeable reduction in the frequency of their occur-
[i.e., ibn al-H:anaf¯ıyah], the son of the Wa¯s:¯ı, sent me to you
rence. Often these movements had roots in Sufism. The
as his trusted man, minister, and chosen supporter, and as
most famous mahdist movement in recent history occurred
his commander. He ordered me to fight against he blas-
in the Sudan in the 1880s. A local S:u¯f¯ı leader named
phemers and claim vengeance for the blood of the people of
Muh:ammad Ah:mad declared himself the mahd¯ı in 1881.
his House, the excellent ones” (Jafr¯ı, 1979, p. 262). Eventu-
His movement was centered on a rejection of the religious
ally, Mukhta¯r and his follows were killed, but once
legitimacy of the Egyptian Ottoman rulers, whom he ac-
Muh:ammad ibn al-H:anaf¯ıyah died he was considered by
cused of straying from Islam by tolerating (or even promot-
many to have gone into occultation. Following this prece-
ing) gambling, prostitution, music, dancing, and the drink-
dent, several Sh¯ıE¯ı claimants emerged, and others were given
ing of alcohol. His followers were called the Ans:a¯r, and they
the title with or without their own acknowledgement.
believed that his military successes were due to divine inter-
Another variation on the mahd¯ı doctrine is the S:u¯f¯ı
vention. The state he established in Khartoum lasted until
view, which stresses the mystical lineage of the mahd¯ı and
1899. This movement was in many ways typical of Sunn¯ı
his role as S:u¯f¯ı master. Overall, the S:u¯f¯ı view does not fun-
mahdist movements in that it was built around a charismatic
damentally differ from the views articulated by other Mus-
leader who took up a local political cause by pursuing armed
lims, except in one very important respect. Whereas the
struggle against the state. It was also similar to many mahdist
Sunn¯ıs expect the return of a pious Muslim reformer, and
movements in that it was at the political periphery of the em-
Sh¯ıEah expect the return of a vanished ima¯m, the S:u¯f¯ıs gener-
pire and was associated with rural Sufism and heterodox
ally expect the mahd¯ı to be the final link in a long change
Islam.
of masters and disciples in the S:u¯f¯ı tradition. In that sense,
In recent decades, the use of the mahd¯ı doctrine in po-
this continuous chain or lineage begins with Muh:ammad
litical discourse has been less common. One of the reasons
and ends with the mahd¯ı. The mahd¯ı is therefore viewed as
for this has been the relative displacement of traditional pop-
the final and most perfect S:u¯f¯ı master, who is able to guide
ular religious ideals by modernist religious orthodox senti-
Muslims to God. As the “divinely guided guide of humanity”
ments. Muslim political movements have tended toward or-
he will occupy a place between the believers and God. This
thodox legalism, which is usually hostile to Sufism, Shiism,
is not to say that the mahd¯ı will be divine in any way. Rather,
and popular Islam. A similar trend in orthodox Shiism can
it is to say that he will serve as the axis of human faith in God,
be seen, because anyone who claims to be the mahd¯ı would
or stated differently, he will serve as a doorway of sorts on
necessarily have to be the vanished ima¯m as well.
the path to God.
SEE ALSO Eschatology, article on Islamic Eschatology; Mod-
It is not surprising that throughout Muslim history
ernism, article on Islamic Modernism; Nubu¯wah.
there have been numerous political and religious leaders who
either claimed to be the mahd¯ı, or were considered by others
BIBLIOGRAPHY
to be the mahd¯ı. These mahdist movements usually have in-
Ali, Shaukat. Millenarian and Messianic Tendencies in Islamic His-
volved a combination of charismatic leadership, religious re-
tory. Lahore, Pakistan, 1993.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESSIANISM: SOUTH AMERICAN MESSIANISM
5983
Blichfeldt, Jan-Olaf. Early Mahdism: Politics and Religion in the
hundred years. In the Andes, the Quechua name for this cat-
Formative Period of Islam. Leiden, 1985.
astrophic event was pachacuti, which literally means “trans-
Daftary, Farhad. The Isma¯ E¯ılis: Their History and Doctrines. Cam-
formation of the earth.” The name for the thousand-year pe-
bridge, UK, 1990.
riod was capac huatan, or “great year.” Since the beginning
García-Arenal, Mercedes. Mahd¯ısme et millénarisme en Islam. Aix-
of time, four capac huatan were thought to have taken place,
en-Provence, France, 2001.
along with nine pachacuti, given that during every capac hua-
Hussain, Jassim M. The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam: A Histor-
tan, an internal pachacuti divided it into two periods of five
ical Background. London, 1982.
hundred years. Linked to this schema was the idea that the
Incas, when they were conquered by the Spanish, were seen
Jafr¯ı, S. H. Origins and Early Development of Shi Ea Islam. London,
as emerging after an elapse of 4,500 years, after which they
1979.
would eventually disappear at the close of the 5,000-year
Khaldu¯n, Ibn. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction, vol. 2. Trans-
period.
lated by Franz Rosenthal. New York, 1958.
Madelung, Wilferd. “Mahd¯ı.” In The Encyclopedia of Islam, New
In Mexico the means devised to avoid the interruption
Edition, edited by C. E. Bosworth, E. Van Donzel, B. Lewis,
of the circulation of the sun, which produced the end of the
and Ch. Pellat, vol. 5, pp. 1230–1238. Leiden, 1986.
ages, was the sacrifice of human beings. Among the Incas,
Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Sh¯ı E¯ı Islam: The History and
however, the king was believed to have a divine nature, rais-
Doctrines of Twelver Shi’ism. New Haven, 1985.
ing him to the level of the gods. Divine kingship was com-
Mu¯f¯ıd Shaykh al-. The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the
mon to both cultural areas, but as Henri Frankfort noticed
Twelve Imams (Kita¯b al-Irsha¯d). Translated by I. K. A. How-
when comparing the Egyptian pharaohs with the kings of
ard. Elmhurst, N.Y., 1981.
Mesopotamia and Israel, the position of the Inca king was
Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein. Islamic Messianism: The Idea
next to the celestial gods, whereas the kings of Mesoamerica
of the Mahd¯ı in Twelver Sh¯ı E¯ısm. Albany, N.Y., 1981.
were considered to be closer to mortal beings. As such, the
Inca king could command and punish the divinities, and he
S:adr Is:faha¯n¯ı, S:adr al-D¯ın. Al-Mahd¯ı (A.S.). Translated by Jalil
could even stop time. Consequently, some of the human sac-
Dorrani. Tehran, 1994.
rifices that took place in the Andes were intended to main-
Salih, Mohamed Osman. “Mahd¯ısm in Islam up to 260 A.H./874
tain the health of the Inca king, given that what really endan-
A.D. and Its Relation to Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian
gered the cosmic order was his death.
Messianism.” Ph.D. diss., University of Edinburgh, 1976.
K
A paradigm of the capacity to maintain and restore
AMRAN SCOT AGHAIE (2005)
order embodied in each Inca king can be found in one of the
Incas who are generally listed as members of a dynastical
order. His name is Pachacuti, and he occupies the ninth posi-
MESSIANISM: SOUTH AMERICAN MESSIANISM
tion within the dynastical list that is commonly found in old
Messianism is not a universal religious phenomenon. It ap-
chronicles. Pachacuti holds the same name as the cataclysm
pears in some, but not all, societies of the world, and in some
described above because as the restorer of order and the initi-
religious systems but not in others. South America is one of
ator of a new age he is also part of the interregnum that
those regions prone to the development of messianism, re-
marks the transition from chaos to order. Interestingly,
gardless of the nature of a society. This entry shall explore
Pachacuti’s ninth position corresponds to the most ordered
how expressions of messianism may be found among the
time cycle within the sequence of five ages—the last Inca
peasant inheritors of the high civilizations that developed in
dynasty that started in the 4,500th year.
the Andes, as well as among hunters and gatherers of the Am-
It is under this conceptual framework that postcolonial
azonian region. Although most evidence derives from the
Andean messianism tended to develop. It is manifested more
postconquest period, it is possible to identify certain struc-
clearly in a chronicle written during the sixteenth and early
tural concomitants and cultural motives associated with
seventeenth centuries by a Peruvian Indian named Felipe
South American messianism that are different from Chris-
Guamán Poma de Ayala (1526–1614). The title of this
tian and European forms of this religious phenomenon.
manuscript is El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno (First
Hence the kind of messianism that this entry will discuss is
new chronicle and good government), but given its messianic
a non-Western variety, although in some cases it may dis-
overtones, it could more properly be titled “Letter to the
guise itself in Christian trappings.
King.” A careful reading reveals that for the author the Span-
In contrast to Christian messianism, South America
ish conquest was not properly a historical event but a
messianism is generally accompanied by a cyclical or static
pachacuti that had been triggered by the intermingling of
conception of time, which is believed to be encapsulated in
Spaniards and Indians, who represented two separate princi-
fixed ages that are represented under a symbolic number,
ples within a dualistic conception of order that conceived the
generally five or three. For Mesoamericans, these ages were
principles as separate and in equilibrium. As a consequence
also conceived as having ended as a result of a cosmic cata-
of this cosmic event, the world was turned upside down. The
clysm that closed a period lasting either one thousand or five
social order had been altered by the introduction of circum-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5984
MESSIANISM: SOUTH AMERICAN MESSIANISM
stances that enabled the possibility of change, and the Indi-
grouped around two important religious centers—one asso-
ans lost their property and suffered innumerable injustices.
ciated with an upper moiety, and the other with a lower one.
The first site had as its central divinity the god Pachácamac
The best evidence that the conquest was seen as a
and was located towards the north in Chinchaysuyo; the sec-
pachacuti-type cataclysm is that throughout his chronicle
ond had the god Titicaca and was located in Collasuyo, to-
Guamán Poma speaks about the existence of five ages, with
wards the south. To attain final triumph, which would con-
the Incas being located in the fifth age. However, when he
sist of a reversal of time analogous to a pachacuti, the
is forced to incorporate the conquest and its aftermath, he
preachers directed the Indians to avoid Christian practices
expands his schema of ages to include a tenth age, naming
and resume those from before the Hispanic period.
the sixth Pachacuti. But even more important is the fact that
Guamán Poma estimates the duration of the world since its
Perhaps because the Inca rulers were still actively resist-
beginnings to be 6,613 years, a figure he obtains by adding
ing the Spanish in Vilcabamba, this messianic movement
the year in which he was writing his chronicle (1613) to a
does not recall the presence of an Inca image (as in later
mythical 5,000-year period corresponding to the closing pe-
movements), and instead addresses the guacas. However, the
riod of the five ages.
movement shares with Guamán Poma’s messianism the ex-
pectation of a cosmic reversal of the world associated with
Having conceived in these terms the sorrowful senti-
a cyclical view of time and an image of a unified Indian
ments awakened by colonial domination, the only solution
world, an image represented by the two most important reli-
sought by this Indian writer is that somebody proportional
gious centers located in opposite but complementary
to the cosmic nature of the crisis might overcome it. For him
moieties.
this person was the king of Spain, but the king of Spain con-
ceived as an Inca king—that is, as a kind of metaphysical
Evidence of the centrality of the Inca in Andean messia-
being capable of confronting a problem whose solution was
nism can be found in the movements headed by Juan Santos
beyond the power of common mortals. Guamán Poma thus
Atahuallpa (forest of central Peru) and José Gabriel Condor-
addresses his chronicle to the king of Spain, not as a humble
canqui (Cuzco) during the eighteenth century. Two repre-
Indian but as the descendant of the “Second Person” of the
sentative movements of the nineteenth century are those of
Inca (who, as king of Chinchaysuyo, was a leader next in hi-
Atusparia (Ancash) and Rumi Maqui (Puno). The twentieth
erarchy below the Inca king and the one who held the highest
century witnessed the vast expansion of the Inkarri myth and
position among the kings of the four quarters) and as the
the embodiment of this myth in such messianic leaders as
unified voice of the Indians of the four quarters. This per-
Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal, the founder of the Israelites of
haps explains why he chose to call himself Guaman (a bird
the New Universal Covenant. The Inkarri myth has many
associated with the upper realm) and Poma (a feline linked
versions, but those with more messianic connotations de-
to a lower moiety), since this image conveys a sense of unity
scribe a hero named Inkarri (a combination of inka and rey,
through complementary opposites.
or king), who is the offspring of the Sun and a herder
woman. After being beheaded by the Spaniards, Inkarri was
After Guamán Poma, the figure of the Inca king became
said to be in the process of magically reconstituting himself.
central to the numerous messianic expressions that devel-
Once this process was complete, order would be reintro-
oped in the Andes, even up to the present day. However the
duced to the Andean world.
first messianic movement recorded for this area does not
clearly show that this heroic figure would have been present.
This myth was prominent primarily in the highlands,
Instead, those who figure prominently are a type of Andean
although stories of a hero known as “Inca” (or “Inka”) spread
divinity known as guacas.
among the inhabitants of the Amazonian lowlands. This fig-
ure also carried messianic overtones, but they were unlike
The first messianic movement known to have emerged
those associated with the highland hero. Rather, this figure
in the Andean region was the Taqui Onqoy, a Quechua term
resembled other Amazonian heroes who suggest the Cargo
that literally means “dance illness.” One of the characteristics
cults of Melanesia. For the Ashaninka of the Peruvian central
of this movement was that followers entered a state of trance
Amazon, Inka was the ruler of their territory and a great sha-
provoked by dancing and oscillating their heads under the
man “who voyaged downriver on a raft at a time when a great
rhythm of a repetitive chant and the consumption of large
flood was produced by the Caucasians. This enabled the
amounts of coca leaf and brewed maize. This movement
Caucasians, whose territory is downriver, to capture Inka and
dates from around 1564; a priest named Cristóbal de Al-
force him to manufacture the superior artifacts which they
bornoz had an important role in its discovery and in its extir-
now possess. Inka remains a captive downriver to this day,
pation. Through him and other priests we learn that the
wishing to return to his people but restrained by the Cauca-
preachers of this movement explained to their followers that
sians. If he ever did return, the existing relationship between
the Spaniards dominated the Indians because their God had
the Campa and Caucasians would of course be reversed”
defeated the guacas. However, a change was taking place, and
(Weiss, 1969, p. 109).
the guacas were becoming stronger and were in the process
of defeating the Christian God. Under the framework of a
In other Ashaninka versions of this myth, the owner of
dual conception of the world, the followers of the movement
these attributes is Pachakamaite, the son of the Sun and his
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MESSIANISM: SOUTH AMERICAN MESSIANISM
5985
wife, Mamantziki. Pachakamaite has the power to manufac-
divinity to punish Christians and to transform the Indians
ture guns, ammunition, pots, salt, and other objects impor-
into civilized people. Because the divinity was associated with
tant to the wider society. Stéfano Varese’s informants told
rain, thunder was the main weapon with which he was to in-
him that in the past their ancestors, who were poor, could
flict his punishments, which were considered revenge for In-
obtain these objects by acceding to this divinity after a long
dians who had been killed and a means for the Indians to
journey during which they met a number of dangerous be-
avoid being dispossessed from their lands. Among the meth-
ings. But this is no longer possible because white people have
ods suggested for becoming civilized was the building of a
appropriated these goods to sell them to the Ashaninka. They
big house to store the merchandise that would arrive in a riv-
have thus interrupted the route to Pachakamaite’s realm by
erboat and the performance of both traditional and Western
raising fences to keep natives from obtaining what
dances on certain days of the week. In addition, the con-
Pachakamaite has promised them (Varese, 1973, p. 360).
sumption of specified foods, particularly meat, during cer-
tain days was prohibited in order to accelerate the Indians’
Mythical heroes with similar characteristics are also
transformation into civilized people.
found among other Peruvian Amazonian groups, including
the Amuesha and Machiguenga, and among natives of other
As reported by Roberto Da Matta (1967, 1970), Julio
South American countries. Among some Ge Indians of cen-
César Melatti (1972), and Lawrence Sullivan (1988), all of
tral Brazil, for example, heroes of this nature are reported
these movements were inspired by the image of Aukhé, a
with names associated with their particular dialects. Some of
hero who became widely known among several Ge groups.
these heroes became the focus of messianic movements. This
This personage was always associated with water and with
is the case with the Ramkókamekra-Canelas Indians of Ma-
the wealth of the whites, which the Indians believed was
ranhao, who in 1963 developed a messianic movement head-
rightfully destined to belong to them. The resemblance of
ed by a woman prophet called Kee-khwei. According to Wil-
this hero with the Amazonian Inka and Pachakamaite is well
liam Crocker, Kee-khwei predicted that civilized people
known. All these cases, however, can be contrasted with the
would be thrown into the forest to live as hunters, and the
messianism that developed in the Andes. Whereas that of the
Indians would go to the cities, where they would direct road
Amazon suggests an inclination to accede to Western civili-
construction and pilot planes. Kee-khwei obtained this pre-
zation, the messianism of the Andes suggests a wish to ex-
diction from a revelation granted to her by a mythical hero
press a rejection. In both cases, white people are evil, but in
known as Aukhé, who spoke to her through a daughter she
the Amazon it is because they have developed obstacles to
carried in her womb. The unborn daughter was thought to
the Indians’ access to wealth, whereas in the Andes it is be-
be the hero’s sister, and it was explained that she was coming
cause white people have altered the Indians’ normal condi-
to this world because her brother was tired of the ill treat-
tions of existence.
ment that white people imposed on Indians. Certain rituals
consisting mostly of dancing were conducted to ensure the
Another South American messianic expression that has
materialization of this prediction, which was to occur at the
attracted the attention of scholars is the search for the land
moment the child was born. The more intense the dance and
without evil by several native groups, in particular the Tupi-
the greater the offerings, the more plentiful the wealth that
Guaraníes. Curt Nimuendajú (1978) and Alfred Métraux
would be received in the new life. Not performing the rituals
(1973) suggest that this search began before the arrival of Eu-
or contributing money to the movement would result in se-
ropeans. Once more this expression incorporates an idea of
vere punishments from a group of youngsters who served
temporal cycles that end in cataclysms, the presence of a di-
Kee-khwei. In addition, followers were free to seize the cattle
vine figure, various beliefs about the afterlife, and the pres-
of any person because the cattle was said to belong to Aukhé.
ence of shamans as leaders. The most overt manifestation of
Followers did not fear repression because it was stated that
this kind of messianism is the mobilization of vast contin-
the mythical hero would divert bullets and that a great fire
gents of Indians throughout Brazilian, Peruvian, and Para-
would annihilate aggressors (Crocker, 1976, p. 516).
guayan territory. These were led by shamans who preached
the imminent destruction of the world, with the only possi-
Almost twelve years before this movement, around
ble salvation being to settle in a land without evil. In tradi-
1951, a similar messianic movement had developed among
tional mythology this place was the settlement of Nanderu-
the Krahó, an eastern Timbira group. Here again the expec-
vusú, the creator, and of his wife, Ñandesy. It was described
tations focused on appropriating material objects belonging
as a realm where plants grew without being cultivated and
to white people through the mediation of a divine hero. Al-
fruits ripened at the spot. It was commonly said to be located
though the characterization of this divinity as a bearded man
at the center of the earth, which was identified as existing in
with curly hair and holding a gun do not correspond to the
the east. Only the souls of the children could arrive there
mythical pantheon of this group, the linkage of this hero
after overcoming dangers. It was also said that if the creator
with rain makes him similar to Aukhé (Sullivan, 1988,
had the power to create the world, he could destroy it. By
p. 584). According to Julio César Melatti, the movement un-
ordering his son Ñanderikey to remove the east-west–
folded around a prophet named Rópkur Txortxó Kraté, also
oriented pole located at the center world, Nanderuvusú
known as José Nogueira, who incorporated the powers of the
could cause the world to collapse. However, there was a mag-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5986
METALS AND METALLURGY
ical solution for escaping this threat. The solution involved
The colonies, therefore, represent the materialization of
dancing and migrating in an easterly direction.
the Inca utopia, and as such they become the land without
evil, where all the Israelites should go to wait for the end of
Among the Quechua Indians of southern Peru, an
the world; it is from here that they will be transported to Ca-
equivalent to this land without evil is Paititi. A settlement
naan, once more located in the east, to attain complete salva-
with this name, located towards the east in the southern for-
tion. The Israelites of the New Covenant represent a synthe-
est, was known as early as the sixteenth century. Even the
sis of almost all the varieties of messianism that developed
eighteenth-century rebel Tupac Amarú II mentioned Paititi
in South America, although this group added a biblical di-
as part of his dominion as an Inca. Today, Paititi is described
mension that is a variation of Adventism.
as a kind of urban paradise, with golden buildings where
Incas from the past continue living. According to some ver-
B
sions, only Indians who speak an uncontaminated Quechua
IBLIOGRAPHY
Crocker, William. “O movimiento messianico dos canelas: Uma
language are permitted to enter Paititi. Ezequiel Ataucusi
introducao.” In Leituras de etnologia Brasileira, edited by
Gamonal, the prophet of the Israelites of the New Covenant,
Egon Schaden, pp. 515–527. Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil, 1976.
is sometimes included as one of its visitors.
Da Matta, Roberto. “Mito e autoridade doméstica: Uma tentative
Such is the permanence and expansion of this belief that
deanalise de um moto timbira en suas ralacoes com estrutura
not only did the Israelites of the New Covenant succumb to
social.” Revista do Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, U.F.R.J., IV,
it, but other syncretic movements did as well, including that
no. 1 (1967): 93–141.
developed in the Peruvian Amazon by José Francisco de la
Da Matta, Roberto. “Mito e anti-mito entre os timbira.” In Mito
Cruz, who began his movement in the 1960s in Brazil, Para-
e linguagem social. Rio de Janeiro, 1970.
guay, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. In Peru the
Frankfort, Henri. Kingship and the Gods: A Study of Ancient Near
name of the church he founded is Cruzada Católica Apos-
Eastern Religion as the Integration of Society and Nature. Chi-
tólica Evangélica del Perú (Catholic, Apostolic, Evangelical
cago, 1948.
Crusade of Peru). In Peru this church has about four thou-
Graciano, Frank. The Millennial New World. Oxford, 1999.
sand followers. In Brazil, where there are approximately
Melatti, Julio César. O messianismo krahó. Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil, 1972.
twenty thousand followers, the main center of the church is
located in the village of Vila Santa next to the Putumayo
Métraux, Alfred. Religions et magies indiennes d’Am’éroqie do sud.
river, an area regarded as a land without evil (Regan, 1993,
Paris, 1967. Tranlsated into Spanish as Religión y magias in-
p. 341). Like many syncretic messianic movements, this one
dígenas de américa del sur (Madrid, 1973).
departs from the idea of salvation in the face of an imminent
Nimuendajú, Curt. Los mitos de creación y de destrucción del mundo
end of the world. To overcome this threat, the symbol of the
como fundamentos de la religión de los apapokuva-guaraní.
cross and the search for the land without evil is assigned an
Lima, Peru, 1978.
important role, which has had great appeal among natives
Ossio, Juan M., comp. Ideología mesiánica del mundo andino.
of the Tupi Guarani family and acculturated Cocamas, Co-
Lima, Peru, 1973.
camillas, and Omahuas, who believe that those who search
Regan, Jaime. Hacia la tierra sin mal. Lima, Peru, 1993.
for the land without evil will have larger harvests (Regan,
Sullivan, Lawrence E. Icanchu’s Drum: An Orientation to Meaning
1993, p. 360).
in South American Religions. New York, 1988.
Another syncretic movement—this time of Andean ori-
Varese, Stéfano. “Pachhacamaite.” In Ideología mesiánica del
gin—that has incorporated belief in a land without evil is the
mundo andino, compiled by Juan M. Ossio, pp. 359–374.
Israelites of the New Universal Covenant. Followers of this
Lima, Peru, 1973.
movement hold that salvation in the face of the imminent
Weiss, Gerald. “The Cosmology of the Campa Indians of Eastern
end of the world will be possible only by becoming a member
Peru.” Ph.D. diss. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1969.
of this religious organization, whose leader, Ezequiel Ataucu-
JUAN M. OSSIO (2005)
si Gamonal, is seen as the new Christ and the incarnation
of the Holy Ghost, as well as a new Inca. They call them-
selves “Israelites” because they have incorporated into their
movement the ancient ritual practices of the Israelites of the
METALS AND METALLURGY. Archaic, nonliter-
Old Testament including wearing the kinds of garments the
ate peoples, as well as prehistoric populations, worked mete-
Hebrews used in the past during their celebrations. To this
oric iron long before they learned to use the ferrous ores oc-
form of nativism they also proclaim a restoration of Inca
curring on the earth’s surface. They treated certain ores like
practices, and it is according to these practices that they
stones, that is, they regarded them as raw material for the
model the colonies they have developed in the Amazonian
manufacture of lithic tools. A similar technique was applied
region. Moreover, this Inca “utopia” became the headquar-
until recently by certain peoples having no knowledge of
ters of the political party the group established to support the
metallurgy: they worked meteorites with silex (flint) ham-
candidacy of Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal to the presidency
mers and fashioned objects whose shapes resembled their
of the Republic of Peru.
stone models in all respects. This was how the Greenland
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
METALS AND METALLURGY
5987
Inuit (Eskimo) made their knives out of meteoric iron (An-
natural growth, and thus in the metamorphosis, of metals is
drée, 1984, pp. 121ff.). When Cortés asked the Aztec chief-
of very ancient origin in China and is also found in Vietnam-
tains where they had gotten their knives, they pointed to the
ese Annam, in India, and in the Malay archipelago. The
sky. Like the Maya of Yucatan and the Inca of Peru, the
peasants of Vietnamese Tonkin, for example, have a saying:
Aztec used only meteoric iron, which they valued more high-
“Black bronze is the mother of gold.” They believe that gold
ly than gold. In fact, excavations have revealed no trace of
is engendered naturally by bronze, but only if the bronze has
terrestrial iron in the prehistoric deposits of the New World
lain a sufficiently long period in the bosom of the earth.
(Forbes, 1950, pp. 401ff.).
“Thus the Annamites are convinced that the gold found in
the mines is formed slowly in situ over the centuries and that
Paleo-Oriental peoples presumably held similar ideas.
if one had probed the earth originally, one would have dis-
The Sumerian word an-bar, the earliest vocable designating
covered bronze in the places where gold is found today” (Pr-
iron, is written with the signs for “sky” and “fire.” Campbell
zyluski, 1914, p. 3). Similar beliefs survived even into eigh-
Thompson renders it “celestial lightning (or meteorite),” but
it is usually translated “celestial metal” or “star-metal”
teenth-century Europe (Eliade, 1978, pp. 46ff.).
(Eliade, 1978, p. 22; Bjorkman, 1973, pp. 114ff.). For a long
The Egyptians, who, according to Plutarch and Dio-
period the Egyptians too knew only meteoric iron, and the
dorus, hated iron—which they called “the bones of Seth”—
same is true of the Hittites: a text of the fourteenth century
considered that the flesh of gods was made of gold; in other
BCE states that the Hittite kings used “the black iron of the
words, that the gods were immortal. That is why, after the
sky” (Rickard, 1932, vol. 1, p. 149). Iron, therefore, was
model of the gods, Pharaoh was also assigned flesh of gold.
scarce, and its use was principally ritual.
Indeed, as repeatedly proclaimed in the Hindu Brahmanas,
THE DISCOVERY OF SMELTING. It required the discovery of
“Gold is immortality.” Consequently, in many cultures, to
the smelting of ores to inaugurate a new stage in the history
obtain the elixir that transmutes metals into alchemical gold
of mankind. Unlike the production of copper or bronze, the
is tantamount to obtaining immortality.
metallurgy of iron very soon became industrial. Once the se-
In Eastern as in Western alchemy, the transmutation of
cret of smelting magnetite and hematite was discovered,
metals into gold is equated with a miraculously rapid matu-
there was no longer any difficulty in obtaining large quanti-
ration. The elixir (or the philosopher’s stone) completes and
ties of iron, for deposits were very rich and easy to exploit.
consummates the work of nature. One of the characters in
But the handling of telluric ores differed from that of mete-
oric iron, as it did also from the smelting of copper and
Ben Jonson’s play The Alchemist (1610) asserts that “lead and
bronze. It was not until after the discovery of furnaces, and
other metals . . . would be gold if they had time,” and an-
particularly after perfecting the technique for “hardening”
other character adds, “And that our Art doth further.” That
metal brought to the point of white heat, that iron achieved
is to say, the alchemist prolongs the dream and the ideology
its preeminent position. It was the metallurgy of terrestrial
of miners and metalworkers: to perfect nature by accelerating
iron that made this metal fit for everyday use. The begin-
the temporal rhythm, with the difference that the aurum al-
nings of iron metallurgy on an industrial scale can be fixed
chemicum—the elixir—confers health, perennial youth, and
at a period between 1200 and 1000
even immortality. As is well known, by the end of the eigh-
BCE, in the mountains
of Armenia. From there the secret of smelting spread across
teenth century alchemy was supplanted by the new science
the Near East, the Mediterranean, and central Europe, al-
of chemistry. But the alchemist’s ideals survived, camou-
though, as I have noted, iron, whether of meteoric origin or
flaged and radically secularized, in nineteenth-century
from superficial deposits, was known in the third millenni-
ideology.
um in Mesopotamia, in Asia Minor, and probably also in
In many parts of the world miners practice rites involv-
Egypt (Forbes, 1950, p. 417; Eliade, 1978, pp. 23ff., 201ff.).
ing a state of purity, fasting, meditation, prayers, and cultic
MINES: THE WOMB OF MOTHER EARTH. The discovery of
acts. The rites are governed by the nature of the intended op-
furnaces had important religious consequences. Besides the
eration, for the performance of them is meant to introduce
celestial sacredness of the sky, immanent in meteorites, there
the worker into a sacred zone, supposedly inviolable: he en-
was now the telluric sacredness of the earth, in which mines
ters into contact with a sacrality that does not participate in
and ore share. Metals “grow” in the bosom of the earth.
the familiar religious universe, for it is a deeper and also a
Caves and mines are assimilated to the womb of Mother
more dangerous sacrality. The miner feels that he risks enter-
Earth. The ores extracted from mines are in some sense “em-
ing a domain that does not rightfully belong to man: the un-
bryos.” They grow slowly, as if obeying a temporal rhythm
derground world with its mysteries concerning the slow min-
different from that of vegetable and animal organisms; never-
eralogical gestation taking place in the womb of Mother
theless, they do grow, they “ripen” in the telluric darkness.
Earth. All the mythologies of mines and mountains, their
Hence, their extraction from Mother Earth is an operation
countless fairies, genii, elves, phantoms, and spirits, are the
performed prematurely. If they had been given the time to
multiple epiphanies of the sacred presence that the individual
develop (that is, if they were to come to term in geological
confronts when he penetrates the geological levels of life
time), ores would become ripe, “perfect” metals. Belief in the
(Eliade, 1978, pp. 53ff.).
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METALS AND METALLURGY
Thus, the Melanesians opened a new mine only after
and form separate clans. In the Kongo and surrounding re-
long rituals and ceremonials. The Malay pawang (medicine
gions, they have a close association with priests and chiefs
man) derived a very fair revenue from propitiating and scar-
(and sometimes are one and the same); elsewhere (e.g.,
ing those spirits who had to do with mines and mining
among the Chagga, Hamitic Bantu-speaking agricultural
(W. W. Skeat, quoted in Eliade, 1938, p. 92). Among many
workers) the smith is both feared and respected. By contrast,
African peoples, the chief, surrounded by a shaman and the
in pastoral Hamitic cultures and among steppe hunters,
workers, recites a special prayer to his ancestral spirits, who
smiths are despised and form a caste set apart (Eliade, 1978,
preside over the mine, and only then does he determine
pp. 90ff.; see also Dieterlen, 1965, pp. 10ff.). In Indonesia
where the digging shall be done (Cline, 1937, p. 119). In Eu-
and elsewhere in South Asia, the smith and the smelter are
rope, until the end of the Middle Ages, miners opened a
much respected for their secret powers (O’Connor, 1975,
mine only after the celebration of a religious ceremony (Sé-
pp. 177ff.).
billot, 1894, p. 421).
The tools of the African smith share this sacred quality.
FURNACES AND THE “GROWTH” OF THE ORE. Laden with
The hammer, the bellows, and the anvil are considered ani-
this dark sacrality, the ores are taken from the mine to the
mate and miraculous; they are regarded as capable of operat-
furnaces. Then begins the most difficult and riskiest opera-
ing by their own magico-religious force, unassisted by the
tion. The artisan takes the place of Mother Earth in order
smith. The art of creating tools is essentially superhuman—
to hasten and perfect the “growth” of the ores. The furnaces
either divine or demonic (for the smith also forges murder-
are in some sense a new, artificial womb in which the ore
ous weapons). Remnants of ancient mythologies belonging
completes its gestation. Hence the countless precautions, ta-
to the Stone Age have probably been added to, or woven
boos, and rituals that accompany smelting.
into, the mythology of metals. The stone tool and the hand
ax were charged with a mysterious power; they struck, inflict-
In Africa, camps are set up in the vicinity of the mines,
ed injury, caused explosions, and produced sparks, as did the
and there the workers live, in a state of purity, throughout
thunderbolt. The ambivalent magic of stone weapons, both
the mining season, which sometimes lasts for several months
lethal and beneficial, like the thunderbolt itself, was trans-
(Cline, 1937, p. 119). The Kitara believe that if the bellows-
mitted and magnified in the new instruments forged of
maker has had sexual relations during the course of his work,
metal. The hammer, successor to the ax of the Stone Age,
the bellows will constantly fill up with water and refuse to
becomes the emblem of the powerful storm gods. Indeed,
function (ibid., p. 121). The belief that the sexual act can
storm gods and the gods of agricultural fecundity are some-
in some way compromise the success of the work is general
times conceived as smith-gods (for examples, see Eliade,
throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This prohibition is even
1978, pp. 92ff.; Dieterlen, 1965, passim).
stated in the ritual songs sung during the work. Indeed,
smelting represents a sacred marriage—the mixture of
In many mythologies divine smiths forge the weapons
“male” and “female” ores—and consequently all the sexual
of the gods, thus insuring them victory over dragons or other
energies of the workmen must be kept in reserve, to ensure
monstrous beings. In the Canaanite myth, Koshar-wa-Hasis
the magical success of the union that is taking place in the
(literally, “adroit-and-clever”) forges for Baal two clubs with
furnaces. The nuptial symbolism is present in many metal-
which he will kill Yamm, lord of the seas and underground
lurgical ceremonies. The Kitara smith treats the anvil like a
waters. In the Egyptian version of the myth, Ptah (the potter
bride. When men bring it into the house they sing as though
god) forges the weapons that enable Horus to conquor Seth.
for a nuptial procession. In accepting it, the smith sprinkles
Similarly, in the Vedas, the divine smith Tvas:t:r: makes
it with water so that it “may bear many children” and tells
Indra’s weapons for his battle with Vr:tra; Hephaistos forges
his wife that he has brought a second wife home to help her
the thunderbolt that will enable Zeus to triumph over
(ibid., p. 118).
Typhon. But the cooperation between the divine smith and
the gods is not confined to his help in the final combat for
THE MAGICO-RELIGIOUS POWERS OF THE SMITH. The met-
sovereignty of the world.
allurgist, like the blacksmith and before him the potter, is a
“master of fire.” It is by means of fire that he brings about
The smith is also the architect and artisan of the gods,
the passage of a material from one state to another. Smelting
supervises the construction of Baal’s palace, and equips the
proves to be not only the means of “acting faster” but also
sanctuaries of the other divinities. In addition, this god-
of acting to make a different thing from what already existed
smith has connections with music and song, just as in a num-
in nature. This is why, in archaic societies, smelters and
ber of societies the smiths and braziers are also musicians,
smiths are held to be masters of fire, along with shamans,
poets, healers, and magicians. Thus, the mythic African
medicine men, and magicians. But the ambivalent character
smith is a culture hero. He has been enjoined by God to
of metal—laden with powers at once sacred and demonic—
complete creation, to organize the world, to educate men,
is transferred to metallurgists and smiths: they are highly es-
that is, to reveal to them the arts and the religious mysteries.
teemed but are also feared, segregated, or even scorned.
For this reason, in many African cultures, smiths play the
Thus, in West Africa, smiths play important roles in secret
central role in puberty initiations and in male secret societies.
societies, enjoy the prestige normally accorded magicians,
Similarly, in early Greece, certain groups of mythical person-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
METAPHYSICS
5989
ages—Telchines, Cabiri, Curetes, Dactyls—were both secret
O’Connor, Stanley J. “Iron Working as Spiritual Inquiry in the
guild associations performing initiations of young boys and
Indonesian Archipelago.” History of Religions 14 (1975):
corporations of metalworkers (Eliade, 1978, pp. 101ff.).
173–190.
Blacksmiths were equally important in the initiatory rituals
Przyluski, Jean. “L’or, son origine et ses pouvoirs magiques.” Bul-
of the ancient Germans and in the Japanese male societies.
letin de l’École Française d’Extreme Orient 14 (1914): 1–16.
In old Scandinavia there was a close connection between the
Rickard, T. A. Man and Metals: A History of Mining in Relation
profession of the smith and the art of the poet and musician.
to the Development of Civilizations. 2 vols. New York, 1932.
The same associations are to be found among the Turco-
Sébillot, Paul. Les travaux publics et les mines dans les traditions et
Tatars and Mongols, where the smith is linked with horses,
les superstitions de tous les pays. Paris, 1894. Old but still use-
singers, and poets. Tzigane nomads are, even today, a combi-
ful.
nation of smith, tinker, musician, healer, and fortune-teller
Singer, Charles, Eric J. Holmyard, and A. R. Hall. A History of
(ibid., pp. 98ff.). It seems, then, that on many different levels
Technology, vol. 1, From Early Times to the Fall of Ancient
of culture (an indication of great antiquity) there is an inti-
Empires. Oxford, 1954. Indispensable.
mate connection between the art of the smith, occult tech-
MIRCEA ELIADE (1987)
niques (shamanism, magic, healing, etc.), and the arts of
song, of the dance, and of poetry.
All these ideas and beliefs articulated around the trades
of miners, metallurgists, and smiths have markedly enriched
METAMORPHOSIS SEE SHAPE SHIFTING;
the mythology of homo faber inherited from the Stone Age.
TRANSMIGRATION
But the wish to collaborate in the perfecting of matter also
had other important consequences. In assuming the respon-
sibility for changing nature, man took the place of time; what
METAPHYSICS is generally understood as a philosoph-
would have required eons to ripen in the subterranean
ical inquiry into the fundamental nature of reality. The word
depths, as the artisan believed, he could obtain in a few
metaphysics derives from the Greek meta ta phusica (“after the
weeks, for the furnace replaced the telluric womb. Millennia
things of nature”), a classificatory rubric used by commenta-
later, the alchemist did not think differently.
tors on and editors of Aristotle’s corpus to refer to an untitled
S
group of texts concerned with “first philosophy.” Western
EE ALSO Alchemy, overview article; Blades; Elixir; Gold
and Silver.
medieval and modern philosophers often have construed
metaphysics as the most basic and most comprehensive of
philosophical inquiries, one that is primarily focused on the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ontological status of objects, the existence of entities that
Aitchison, Leslie. A History of Metals. 2 vols. London, 1960. A
classic work.
transcend nature, and the generic features exhibited in expe-
rience. African and Eastern philosophers usually have con-
Andrée, Richard. Die Metalle bei den Naturvölkern mit Berück-
ceived of metaphysics (in the sense implied by the word’s ety-
sichtigung prähistorischer Verhältnisse. Leipzig, 1884. Outdat-
mology) as more closely interwoven with the axiological (or
ed but still useful.
value-laden) character of the cosmos and the moral quality
Bjorkman, Judith Kingston. Meteors and Meteorites in the Ancient
of human community.
Near East. Center for Meteorite Studies, Publication no. 12.
Tempe, Ariz., 1973.
A distinctive feature of Western metaphysics is the at-
Cline, Walter. Mining and Metallurgy in Negro Africa. Menasha,
tempt to understand the universe by means of a logical inves-
Wis., 1937. Indispensable; should be completed and correct-
tigation of concepts rather than an empirical inquiry based
ed by the most recent publications of French Africanists.
on sensory evidence. Such metaphysical sentiments rest upon
Dieterlen, Germaine. “Contribution à l’étude des forgerons en Af-
a relative distrust of the variable, visible, and sensible world
rique occidentale.” In Annuaire, 1965–1966, École Pratique
and involve a quest for the invariable, invisible, and intelligi-
des Hautes Études, cinquième section, Sciences religieuses, vol.
ble world. They also assume a basic unity of thought and
73, pp. 3–28. Paris, 1966. An important study.
being, of logic and the world. Rationally coherent and logi-
Eliade, Mircea. “Metallurgy, Magic and Alchemy.” Zalmoxis:
cally consistent systems of thought are believed to reveal the
Revue des études religieuses 1 (1938): 197–203.
way the world really is.
Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible. 2d ed. Chicago, 1978.
The origins of Western metaphysics go back to Parmen-
Originally published under the title Forgerons et alchimistes
ides of Elea (c. 515–475 BCE). In the poem usually titled On
(Paris, 1956).
Nature, Parmenides provides the first exemplary philosophi-
Forbes, R. J. Metallurgy in Antiquity. Leiden, 1950. A valuable
cal argument of Western metaphysics. In the form of a jour-
synthesis with an excellent bibliography.
ney to the heavens to receive wisdom from “the goddess,”
Lechtman, Heather. “Andean Value Systems and the Develop-
Parmenides attacks the reality of the physical world, con-
ment of Prehistoric Metallurgy.” Technology and Culture 25
demns difference as illusory, and proposes that fundamental
(January 1984): 1–36. Important.
reality is invariable, invisible, and intelligible, as well as sin-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5990
METAPHYSICS
gle, indivisible, and homogeneous. This metaphysical view-
The last great metaphysical system of classical antiquity
point rests upon the deployment of the basic binary opposi-
was the Neoplatonism best represented by the Hellenized
tion of reality and appearance, in which the realm of the
Egyptian philosopher Plotinus (205–270 CE), his pupil Por-
former is qualitatively different from and superior to the
phyry (232–306?), the Syrian school of Iamblichus (250–
realm of the latter.
330?), the Athenian school of Proclus (c. 410–485), and the
Latin Christian school of Boethius (480–524). This system
Parmenides’ metaphysical conception of being, ground-
(and its various versions) is rooted in Plato’s devaluation of
ed in his logical reasoning and monistic conclusions, has
the sensible world and elevation of the intelligible world. Yet,
been a major influence in Western metaphysics. This Parme-
as in certain themes in Plato’s second and seventh letters,
nidean legacy can be seen in Plotinus’s One, Spinoza’s God,
Neoplatonism promotes a kind of mysticism and asceticism
and Hegel’s Absolute. The most immediate influence of Par-
that deeply influenced the Christian theology of the African
menides is found in Plato’s Phaedo, in which, despite subtle
thinker Augustine (354–430). This mysticism is based on an
gradations, the reality/appearance distinction is appropriated
intuition of the unity and wholeness of being, the One,
to undergird the existence of a separate order of Forms acces-
which differentiates itself downward into lesser degrees in
sible only to the mind and more real than the senses. In his
spirits, souls, and, lastly, physical objects. This process of em-
heroic efforts to refute the skepticism of the Sophists, Plato
anation from undifferentiated unity to modes of differentiat-
(427–347 BCE) extends the ontological binary opposition of
ed disunity results in a return (or epistrophe) to unity and
reality/appearance to epistemology, morality, and politics,
wholeness.
thus including distinctions such as knowledge/opinion, na-
ture/convention, and philosopher/sophist. In this way,
The Syrian philosopher Porphyry not only made Ploti-
Plato’s metaphysics, like that of some African and Eastern
nus’s lectures available but also wrote a short introduction
to Aristotle’s Categories, titled Isagoge, that directed attention
thinkers, is inseparable from ethics and political philosophy.
to the relation between the essential and accidental attributes
The religious significance of Plato’s metaphysics is his
of things and the status of universals. This influential text,
doctrine of recollection, which defends the immortality of
translated into Latin by Boethius, provided the framework
the soul. In Meno, Plato portrays Socrates interrogating a
and language for metaphysical reflection in the early Middle
slave boy, an interrogation that results in the boy arriving at
Ages by Christian theologians such as John Scottus Eriugena
a geometric truth. Socrates then argues that since this truth
(fl. 847–877), Anselm (c. 1033–1109), and Bonaventure (c.
was not told to the boy but rather elicited from him, the
1221–1274).
truth must reside in the boy at birth and in a previous exis-
The thirteenth-century translations of Aristotle and his
tence: his questions merely prompted the boy to remember
Arabian commentators into Greek and Latin by Robert
what he had forgotten from an earlier life. Similar argu-
Grosseteste and William of Moerbeke facilitated the crown-
ments, related to the existence of a separate order of Forms,
ing achievement of Western metaphysics in the late Middle
are found in the Phaedo, while a more speculative account
Ages: the magisterial system of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224–
of the transmigration of souls, life after death, and the soul
1274) and the critical nominalism of William of Ockham (c.
fleeing the bondage of the body is put forward in the tenth
1280/1285–1349?). Thomas creatively appropriated Aristo-
book of the Republic.
telian metaphysics into a Christian philosophy, whereas Wil-
liam paved the road for the new “modern way” (via moderna)
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) set forth the first Western
by separating metaphysics from Christian faith and thereby
metaphysical system, including a new vocabulary, an articu-
emphasizing religious faith and church tradition. William in-
lation of the central issues, and a thorough treatment of these
fluenced major figures of the Reformation.
issues. He conceives of metaphysics as a “first philosophy”
that investigates the fundamental principles presupposed by
The modern conception of metaphysics in the West be-
the other sciences. Aristotle’s metaphysics can be viewed as
gins with René Descartes (1596–1650), who tried to apply
a profound and persistent polemic against the notions of in-
the rigor and standards of mathematics and geometry to
determinacy and infinity. Its aim is to establish a fixed begin-
metaphysical claims. Descartes’s quest for indubitability
ning point, the limits of inquiry, the determinateness of con-
within the immediate awareness of a thinking self and his call
crete individual objects, and the termination of epistemic
for clarity and distinctness in truth-claims reflect an inge-
chains of justification. Aristotelian notions of causality (ma-
nious and influential philosophical response to the rise of
terial, formal, efficient, and final), substance, being, essence,
modern science, especially the wedding of quantitative mod-
form, and actuality set the terms for Western metaphysical
els with physics and chemistry. Barukh Spinoza (1632–
discourse through the twentieth century. The legacy of Aris-
1677) and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) fol-
totle’s metaphysics in religious thought is found most clearly
lowed the Cartesian project of scientific rigor and philosoph-
in the Christian systematic theology of Thomas Aquinas and
ical boldness by setting forth deductive metaphysical
the neo-Thomist tradition of the Catholic church exempli-
systems. Spinoza’s mechanical and deterministic view of the
fied in thinkers such as Étienne Gilson (1884–1978) and
universe, in which the only two known attributes of sub-
Jacques Maritain (1882–1973).
stance are thought and extension, yielded a pantheistic con-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
METAPHYSICS
5991
ception of God as identical with nature. This conception
Western metaphysics has been under severe attack since
would inspire later forms of German idealism. Leibniz’s ra-
Hegel. Apart from the ambitious project of Alfred North
tionalist commitments to a priori reasoning, the analysis of
Whitehead (1861–1947), the vitalistic program of Henri
concepts according to logical necessity and rational intelligi-
Bergson (1859–1941), the versions of logical atomism of
bility, produced refined versions of ontological arguments
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and the early Ludwig Witt-
for the existence of God that sharpened modal logical tools
genstein (1889–1951), and Paul Ricoeur’s (b. 1913) recent
for subsequent efforts by Christian theists.
metaphysics of narrativity, post-Hegelian philosophy has
been strongly antimetaphysical. The Christian existentialism
The crisis of modern Western metaphysics begins with
of So⁄ren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) and the transcendental
the major empiricists: John Locke (1632–1704), George
phenomenology of Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) inspired
Berkeley (1685–1753), and, especially, David Hume (1711–
the ontological hermeneutics of Martin Heidegger (1889–
1776). All three assumed the Cartesian starting point for
1976), which claims to have “destroyed” the Western meta-
philosophical reflection as within the arena of immediate
physical tradition. The logical positivism of the Vienna Cir-
awareness of a thinking self. But in contrast to Descartes,
cle (Otto Neurath, Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap, and oth-
Locke argues that sense impressions are the primary data for
ers) and ordinary-language philosophy served as stepping-
knowledge of the world, self, and God. This restriction re-
stones for the later Ludwig Wittgenstein’s linguistic
quires that we cannot have “clear and distinct ideas” of sub-
conventionalism, which claims to have “dodged” the be-
stance and essence, only empirical access to their properties
witching traps of Western metaphysics. The perspectivism
and powers. Therefore, the most privileged notions in tradi-
of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) and the structuralist vo-
tional Western metaphysics, such as substance and essence,
cabulary of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) provided re-
were rendered problematic. Berkeley further questioned the
sources for the present-day poststructuralist skepticism of
distinction between ideas of objects and properties of objects
Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), which claims to have “decon-
that cause ideas, thereby radically calling into question mate-
structed” the Western metaphysical tradition. Lastly, the
rial substance. Hume changed the course of Western meta-
pragmatism of William James (1842–1910) and John Dewey
physics by dissolving philosophical conceptions of the self,
(1859–1952) and the epistemological holism of W. V.
subject, and mind into mere bundles of sensations and per-
Quine (1908–2000) and Nelson Goodman (1906–1998) are
ceptions. By replacing philosophical notions of necessity and
employed by Richard Rorty (b. 1931) in his contemporary
causality with psychological accounts of imagination and so-
attempt to “demythologize” the Western metaphysical tradi-
ciological notions of habit and custom, Hume defended an
tion. Whether the influential attacks of Heidegger, Wittgen-
inescapable skepticism regarding the possibility of metaphys-
stein, Derrida, and Rorty on Western metaphysics are skepti-
ics. This position presented religious thinkers with the op-
cal moments in the history of Western philosophy (like those
tions of a rational agnosticism or a nonrational religious
of Pyrrho and Montaigne in times past) or proleptic precur-
faith.
sors of a new stage remains an open question. The religious
significance and implications of these attacks—within and
The significance of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) lies in
outside the West—remain relatively unexplored.
his rescue of Western metaphysics by specifying the limits
of human knowledge. This rescue took the form of rejecting
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the dogmatism of Cartesian metaphysical projects and cir-
Ayer, A. J. Philosophy in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1982.
cumscribing the skepticism of Hume’s empiricism. The re-
A noteworthy and well-written sequel to Bertrand Russell’s
sult was a critical idealist metaphysics that preserved the ob-
A History of Western Philosophy (1945) by a major figure ac-
jectivity of knowledge-claims yet prevented human access to
tive on the contemporary scene since the 1930s.
ultimate reality. The aim of Kant’s metaphysics was to dis-
Hancock, Roger. “Metaphysics, History of.” In The Encyclopedia
close the universal conceptual scheme that people employ in
of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards, vol. 5. New York,
1967. The best short and concise article-length treatment of
theoretically ordering the world and practically acting within
major historical developments in Western metaphysics. An
it. For Kant, religious faith became a mere appendage to eth-
extensive bibliography on central figures and periods is in-
ics, a practical postulate for moral behavior.
cluded.
The last great metaphysical system in the modern
Passmore, John. A Hundred Years of Philosophy. 2d ed. Middlesex,
U.K., 1970. The most comprehensive and detailed history
West—a response, in part, to Kant—was that of Georg Wil-
of academic Western philosophy dealing with post-Hegelian
helm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831). Like Plato, Aristotle,
developments. Reliable reportage and exposition, but lacks
and the Neoplatonists, Hegel attempted to penetrate to the
an overarching interpretive framework.
fundamental nature of reality by means of rational delibera-
Rorty, Richard. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton,
tion. Yet he conceived of this reality as a historical and dialec-
1979. A highly provocative, imaginative, and learned inter-
tical process intelligible only to the discerning and retrospec-
pretation of Western philosophy that puts forward devastat-
tive philosopher. Hegel’s metaphysics emphasized the radical
ing critiques of metaphysics.
dependence of God upon the world and promoted a divine
Russell, Bertrand. A History of Western Philosophy. New York,
immanent presence in human history.
1945. The most informative, stimulating, and engaging his-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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METEOROLOGICAL BEINGS
tory of Western philosophy available in one volume in En-
potential for destruction. The high winds and distant roll of
glish, by one of the most brilliant thinkers of the twentieth
thunder that in one instance may announce an imminent
century.
end to prolonged drought may in another have inspired an
New Sources
apocalyptic vision, or a collective memory preserved in myth,
Levinas, Emmanuel. Otherwise than Being: Or Beyond Essence.
of the world’s complete destruction by flood. The storm
Translated by Alphonso Lingis. Pittsburgh, Pa., 1998.
gods, for their part, often garner trust as senders of the mois-
Lewis, David. On the Plurality of Worlds. Oxford, U.K., 2000.
ture upon which living things depend, but just as often they
are feared as agents of divine punishment, retribution, or
McCumber, John. Metaphysics and Oppression: Heidegger’s Chal-
simply inexplicable malevolence. Symbols derived from the
lenge to Western Philosophy. Bloomington, Ind., 1999.
phenomena of storm thus express quite effectively human-
Miklowitz, Paul. Metaphysics to Metafictions: Hegel, Nietzsche, and
kind’s deeply rooted ambivalence toward the sacred. Or, put
the End of Philosophy. Albany, N.Y., 1998.
another way, they express the profound anxiety that men and
Silverman, Allan Jay. The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato’s
women have felt about the sacred powers that sustain the
Metaphysics. Princeton, 2002.
world, powers over which human beings have little if any
control.
CORNEL WEST (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Finally, and what is most important, storm symbols
function the way other religious symbols do in making it
possible for the human situation to be translated into cosmo-
logical terms and vice versa. They reveal a fundamental one-
METEOROLOGICAL BEINGS. Religious people
ness between human life and the structure of the world and
of very different times and cultures have tended to “human-
so have led people out of their isolation in subjectivity, be-
ize” meteorological phenomena by telling stories about the
yond the human condition as it were, toward a stance vis-à-
displays of celestial power and fruitfulness they witnessed,
vis their own experience of life that one could easily describe
converting those events into elements of a sacred narrative
as a kind of transcendence. That much, at least, accounts for
intended to explain how the world and humankind have
the essentially religious character of these symbols.
come to be the way they are. The experience of life in a prop-
erly religious world differs radically from our experience of
In this article I propose to continue the morphological
life today. For one thing, it makes no distinction between the
description of sky symbols begun elsewhere, concentrating
natural and human realms. Whereas for us a storm is invari-
now on the divine figures connected with dramatic meteoro-
ably an “it,” the storm has been much more a “thou” for the
logical events, chiefly thunder, lightning, and rain. No single
better part of human history. It is not the storm that religious
explanation can account for the uniformity and variety of the
people have worshiped but the sacred power, will, and quali-
storm gods in history. Some are also supreme beings, some
ties that are somehow revealed there, although it would be
appear in animal guise. All of them display in varying pro-
quite incorrect to speak of the “personification” of inanimate
portions what I have chosen to call “two kinds of sovereign-
nature or, for that matter, to invoke some sort of animistic
ty,” the one more “spiritual” and derived from the ideas and
theory to explain why meteorological phenomena play the
values associated with the sky and sky gods, the other more
important roles in religious life that they do. For religious
“physical” and connected with the earth and its fertility.
people, storms are everywhere manifestations of the sacred.
STORM DEITIES AND THEIR FORMS. If all the sky gods were
As such they engage the whole human person—meaning his
arranged on a line according to their dominant powers and
or her emotional, imaginative, and intellectual faculties taken
attributes, the result would be a broad array with, at one end,
together—in a vital relationship.
deities who display most fully the characteristics that make
them creators, sovereigns, lords of the universe, law givers,
Moreover, the various qualities of storm and rain have
and moral overseers. To the second half of the array would
suggested, both to our religious forebears and to our contem-
belong a collection of progressively more varied and colorful
poraries living in the so-called traditional societies, countless
deities whose chief traits describe a generative, vitalizing mis-
analogies that have enabled them to express—perhaps even
sion in the world. These latter are typically male deities, often
to discover—certain important truths about their experience
spouses of the Great Mother, and givers of rain, hence prone
of life and their religious aspirations. For example, by analo-
to develop into more specialized storm gods and fecundators.
gy with atmospheric lightning, Iglulik Inuit shamans refer to
All are epiphanies of force and violence, those necessary
a mystical experience called qaumaneq (“lightning” or “illu-
sources of energy on which biological life and civil order in
mination”) that confers clairvoyance. Indeed, lightning, or
the world depend; and, over a broad geographical expanse
dreams about it, typically figures in shamanic initiations or
throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia, many have a connec-
callings; and by the same token the rapidity or suddenness
tion with the bull. (The bull and the thunderbolt appear his-
of spiritual “illumination” has been compared to lightning
torically very early in connection with the storm gods. The
in many of the religions of history.
Kannada word ko, which means “ox, sky, or lightning, ray
Storms have both a benign, life-sustaining aspect, be-
of light, water, horn, mountain,” preserves intact the full se-
cause they bring rain, and a dark, chaotic one, owing to their
mantic range of this complex of symbols.)
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The so-called specialization of the sky gods either in the
displays that, for them, attest to his all-knowing presence,
direction of dei otiosi or into the gods of storm and rain de-
will, and power. The Andaman Islanders know such a deity
rives from the ambivalent structure of the sky symbols gener-
in Puluga, whose breath is the wind and whose voice is thun-
ally and has led scholars to speak of the “passive,” transcen-
der. Hurricanes signal his anger, and lightning bolts are the
dent nature of the sky gods and, conversely, of their tendency
punishment he executes against those who violate his laws.
to give way to more active, vital divine forms. Of course no-
The tribes of Southeast Australia report that Baiame cre-
where in history does one find either specialized type, the far-
ated all things out of nothing, but Baiame is creative in an-
off ruler whose celestial attributes predominate, or the storm
other sense, for in causing the rain to fall he makes the whole
god-fecundator, in isolation; invariably there are mixtures of
earth new and green. Natives can discern his voice in thun-
the two. Sometimes both functions belong to a single deity’s
der. On the east coast of Australia other tribes worship Dara-
sphere of activity; elsewhere a rather clear division of labor
mulun, who also speaks in thunder and sends them rain.
prevails, with the storm god usually subordinate to a celestial
Daramulun is said to have created the first ancestor during
ruler who is often the storm god’s father. In certain cases the
his stay on earth, giving him the laws and customs that have
storm deity represents the exercise of legitimate force on be-
passed from one generation to the next ever since. Most im-
half of some higher authority; in other cases his link with ag-
portantly, Daramulun left behind the initation ceremony,
riculture is more important.
which entails, among other things, a solemn display of the
Specialization usually brings with it a radical change of
bull-roarer, said to make a noise like thunder and to repre-
form: that is, the storm gods can be said to have abandoned
sent the supreme being’s continued presence among his peo-
absolute transcendence in favor of powers and attributes that
ple. Indeed, almost all the Australian sky gods communicate
did not belong to their original celestial make-up. For that
their presence in thunder, lightning, the wind and the rain-
reason they are apt to betray foreign influences too. For ex-
bow, which is to say that meteorological traits belong insepa-
ample, Parjanya, the Indian god of hurricanes and son of
rably to their supreme, celestial modes of being.
Dyaus, the ancient Indo-Aryan sky god, was said to rule the
THE AMBIVALENCE OF THE STORM DEITIES: CREATIVITY
waters and all living things. He made the whole universe
AND CHAOS. Stormy attributes help to express the dual na-
tremble with his storms. His specialization, though, rendered
ture of supreme beings, who on account of their power over
him no longer omniscient like his father (with whom the au-
life and death are apt to inspire both trust and fear in equal
thors of the R:gveda sometimes confused him) nor a sovereign
measure. For example, the Maasai of Kenya pray to a su-
like Varun:a. As a result, in Vedic times he yielded his place
preme being named Ngai (“sky” or “rain”) who lives high
to Indra, a warrior king, also god of rain and easily the chief
above our world where the winds circulate through his nos-
god of the R:gveda. Indra, for his part, is always compared to
trils. Lightning is the dreadful glance of his eye, thunder a
a bull or a ram, two animals associated with Rudra, a non-
cry of joy at something he has seen, and raindrops are the
Aryan divinity, many of whose attributes Indra would absorb
joyful tears he sheds at the sight of fat beehives during
over the course of time. In fact Indra’s connection with bulls,
the rainy season when cattle grow sleek. By analogy with the
soma, and the Maruts (to the degree they personified the
sky’s polychrome appearance, the Maasai refer to a black,
wandering souls of the dead) would suggest that he also ac-
red, gray, and white Ngai, but they ultimately reduce those
quired certain lunar prerogatives: that is, Indra qua symbol
four to the black and red Ngai alone, two opposed and com-
expanded in the direction of a larger integrated expression
plementary forms of deity. The black Ngai is good because,
of life’s power and sacrality, one that included even elements
like the black, cloudy sky, he brings rain; whereas the red
belonging to the symbolism of the moon.
Ngai, like the red, hot sky, withholds it. (In Babylonian my-
thology it is the gigantic bird Imdugud that rescued human
The point is that storm gods, no matter how early in
beings from drought. It covered the sky with the black storm
time they appear and no matter what type of culture they be-
clouds of its wings and consumed the Bull of Heaven, whose
long to, always show evidence of long and complicated histo-
hot breath had scorched the crops down below.)
ries. Thus, in using the term specialization here to account
for the forms the storm gods take, I do not mean to imply
The Inca of pre-Columbian times worshiped Illapa
that storm, rain, and fertility gods are necessarily late devel-
(whom the Aymara knew as Thunupa). Both dreaded as a
opments, for we have no reason to doubt the antiquity of
storm god and adored as a bringer of rain, Illapa was pictured
dramatic, stormy elements in the sky god’s make-up. There
as a man with club and sling who draws water from a heaven-
is a unity of structure to the sky symbolism that we can only
ly stream (the Milky Way) using pitchers that he leaves in
assume has been present from the very beginning, and that
the safekeeping of his sister until he breaks them with his
unified structure includes both distant supreme soverignty
thunder club.
and active, even violent, involvement with life processes in
By some early accounts the Aztec rain god Tlaloc has
the human world.
four pitchers, and according to the one he uses, the result will
METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA AS ATTRIBUTES OF A SU-
be a good maize crop or a harvest spoiled by vermin and
PREME BEING. Some religious people have seen none other
frost. No Aztec deity enjoyed a more active or widespread
than the supreme sky deity behind the stormy atmospheric
cult than he. Tlaloc, the giver of rain, but also the wrathful
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5994
METEOROLOGICAL BEINGS
deity of lightning, was conceived in multiple form as tlalo-
istered the waters, specifically, rivers, canals, irrigation, and
ques (lesser, sometimes dwarflike, storm deities) assigned to
the organization of all productive forces. Enki’s ministerial
the four directions, or as the leader of a group of tlaloques,
role derived from the sovereignty exercised by Anu and Enlil.
who were said to dwell on mountaintops in caves, where
Anu and, later, Marduk represent the magical or “spiritual”
storm clouds brew. Descriptions of Tlaloc’s heavenly para-
component of that sovereignty, whereas Enlil’s sovereignty
dise supply further clues about his ambiguous nature. It is
is of a more physical kind; and the latter’s stormy attributes,
a place of infinite abundance and perpetual verdure where
though in this case they have little to do directly with fertili-
those who had died by drowning or had been struck by light-
ty, have everything to do with the problem of legitimate
ning or were suffering from such afflictions as leprosy, vene-
force, especially the legitimate force that must have been an
real disease, skin ailments, gout, and dropsy enjoyed eternal
important concern—and a deep source of anxiety—for the
happiness. They were the only dead whom the Aztec did not
citizens of such a highly regulated cosmos.
bury; all others were cremated.
While it is true that in many cases the sky god withdrew
According to Juan Ignacio Molina and other writers of
in favor of storm gods and other divinities with more specific
the second half of the eighteenth century, the Mapuche knew
and concrete functions, in other instances the sky god as-
a supreme being with many forms of address. One of his epi-
sumed a new role. That is certainly what happened in the
thets, “two faces” (black and white), apparently referred to
Greek and Roman traditions, where Zeus and Jupiter stood
the rain and sunshine prayed for in public rites but also to
for both kinds of sovereignty, being at once divine guarantors
the deity’s ambivalent attitude—both indulgent and se-
of cosmic order, supreme rulers, moral arbiters, even personi-
vere—toward his worshipers. Older sources dating back to
fications of law, as well as gods of rain and fertility. Zeus pre-
the seventeenth century call this deity Pillán; he was said to
serves in his name the Sankrit root div (“shine” or “day”),
produce thunder and lightning and all manner of violent and
leaving no doubt as to his celestial nature and shared heritage
destructive weather phenomena such as volcanic eruptions,
with the ancient Indo-European sky god Dyaus. However,
river floods, tidal waves, and epidemics. On the other hand,
scholars in the past were so quick to seize upon the etymolo-
Pillán was considered a protector of the crops and hence a
gy of Zeus’s name as the key to his religious significance that
beneficent weather god as well.
they usually inquired no further into Zeus’s unique and com-
plicated mode of being, much of it vividly expressed in his
TWO KINDS OF SOVEREIGNTY. It is not uncommon for
meteorological attributes.
storm gods to display this dual character, especially in parts
of the world where sudden, unpredictable shows of meteoro-
The many epithets for Zeus in Homer explain why he
logical force dominate the landscape and must surely have
came to be equated with weather deities elsewhere in Asia
compelled people to theological reflection. For example, by
Minor: he is called at various times Ombrios and Hyetios
contrast with the reassuring periodicity of the Egyptian cos-
(“the rainy one”), Ourios (“he who sends favorable winds”),
mos, the environment in which Mesopotamian civilization
Astrapios (“sender of lightning”), and Bronton
grew and flourished could only have led men and women to
(“thunderer”). Other epithets tell of an affinity with crops
conclude that order was not a given but rather something to
and the dark earth: Georgos (“the farmer”), Chthonios
be achieved through the continual integration of many dif-
(“earth-dweller”), and even Zeus Katachthonios (“the under-
ferent competing wills, each one powerful and frightening.
ground Zeus”). Zeus’s theriomorphic aspect—he is some-
As a result, the Mesopotamians envisioned a huge cosmic
times a bull, as in the myth of Europa, or a wolf to whom
state that included human beings, animals, inanimate ob-
sacrifice was performed in time of drought or storm—is fur-
jects, natural phenomena, and even such abstractions as jus-
ther evidence of his link to agriculture and rain.
tice, righteousness, and the form of a circle. An assembly of
The transforming quality of lightning that accounts for
gods presided over this “state,” led by Anu (An), the god
its role in shamanic initiations may help to explain yet anoth-
of heaven, and next to him in rank, Enlil his son, the god
er of Zeus’s prerogatives, for whatever was used to purify
of storm. So far as the Mesopotamians were concerned, Enlil
from sin and much of what pertained to rites of initiation
had revealed himself both in nature and in history. The vio-
fell directly or indirectly under his control. Lightning
lence that fills a storm and is expressed there was Enlil.
marked his direct epiphany, and wherever it struck, a sanctu-
ary was raised to Zeus Descending.
But a meteorological analogy also made it possible to in-
terpret such catastrophic events as the destruction of Ur by
The whole complex of ideas, powers, and attributes be-
the Elamite hordes sweeping down from the eastern high-
longing to Zeus’s stormy aspect reappears on a different level
lands as Enlil’s handiwork too: that is, in some deeper, truer
of symbolic expression in the divine twins. The Dioscuri, or
sense those barbarians were also a storm, Enlil’s storm, in and
“Zeus’s sons,” like many other pairs of mythic twins, issued
through which the god himself had executed a verdict passed
from the union of a god and a human mother and thus repre-
on Ur and its people by the divine assembly. In keeping with
sented in a peculiar way the sacrality of the sky god on earth.
the Mesopotamian vision of a cosmic bureaucracy, Enlil’s
In the Indo-European tradition, the twins are usually sons
specialized juridical role was distinguished from that of an-
of the sky god, warriors, magic healers, saviors, and fertility
other diety, Enki, known as “lord of the earth,” who admin-
gods; as gods of light, they are often associated with the
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METEOROLOGICAL BEINGS
5995
dawn, the morning and evening stars, and the pair, thunder
and the two kinds of sovereignty implicit in this cosmic divi-
and lightning. The Dioscuri, for example, became popular
sion of labor. Óðinn belongs primarily to a category of divine
as rescuers from personal distress, especially from danger at
sovereigns that includes the Chinese Tian, the Indian
sea. Saint Elmo’s fire, the electric discharge from the ship’s
Varun:a, and Ahura Mazda¯ of Zoroastrian belief, although in
mast during a thunderstorm, was widely regarded as their
the course of his development, he took on certain attributes
corporeal epiphany. Also, like Herakles, they were said to
of agricultural and fertility gods as well, becoming in the pro-
have been initiated at Eleusis. The various pairs of divine
cess a chthonian master of the souls of dead heroes. Óðinn
twins in the Indo-European tradition—the Germanic Freyr
typifies what the great Indo-Europeanist Georges Dumézil
and Ñord, the Vedic Asvins, and the Dioscuri, to name
has called “the magical sovereign” because, like Varun:a, he
three—were invoked to witness the swearing of oaths. Like-
employs the power to bind and discerns the future. Þórr, on
wise, at Olympia a statue of Zeus Horkios (“Zeus of the
the other hand, god of tempests and combat, represents a sec-
oath”), before which competitors took their oaths, had in ei-
ond, more physical and less spiritual, kind of sovereignty,
ther hand thunderbolts with which to punish false swearers;
and his “physicality” takes in more than his martial qualities.
and according to the Homeric formulas of oaths, Zeus was
Modern Scandinavian folklore studies, the remnants of old
always the first deity called upon to guarantee an oath and
agrarian cults, and archaeological findings have all tended to
punish any violation that might occur.
prove that Þórr was originally much more than a warrior.
In ancient Rome when a building was struck by light-
Through rain, the happy side-effect of his atmospheric bat-
ning, fulgural ritual prescribed that an opening be made in
tles and the exploits of his hammer, he assisted the growth
the roof over the spot so that the god could always have free
of crops; and Swedish peasant names for him recall the Saami
access to the place he had chosen for his sanctuary. The most
(Lapp) cult dedicated to a fertility god who gives rain or sun
solemn oath was that sworn in the name of Iuppiter Lapis
according to the needs of the soil and sees to it that growing
(“Jupiter present in the thunderstone”). The sacred stone was
things mature and bear fruit.
used when the fetiales took an oath and made sacrifices upon
STORM ANIMALS. The world’s mythology and folklore de-
allying themselves with a foreign power. We know from Ver-
scribe a whole host of animals associated with thunder, light-
gil that such an alliance received its highest sanction from the
ning, and rain. The goat, the ram, or horses, for example,
storm god himself. The priest, pronouncing a curse on the
frequently accompany the storm god or pull his thundering
contractor who should first violate the sacred compact,
vehicle across the sky. But the most common and widespread
hurled the stone at the sacrificial swine saying, “Jupiter,
of the storm animals are probably the thunderbird or wood-
strike down the Romans as I now strike this pig, and strike
pecker, the dragon, and the bull.
them more heavily, for your power is greater than mine.”
North American Indians worship various supernatural
This action represented in ritual form the stroke of lighting,
beings in avian guise who produce thunder by the whir of
and it has survived in the practice of Masurian (East Prus-
their wings and lightning with flashes—a winking or twin-
sian) peasants who hurl a stone ax in a ritually designated
kling—of their eyes (Cree, Hare, Tlingit, and other tribes).
manner against the door to protect their homes from light-
The distribution of this thunderbird belief is very wide, but
ning. Comparable practices are documented for other tradi-
the kind of bird in question ranges from a crane (Pawnee),
tions.
jackpine partridge (Beaver), or humming bird (Lilloet) to a
Yahveh developed along lines that in some ways parallel
gigantic eagle (Sauk, Hare, and others). In eastern North
the development of Zeus and Jupiter. Throughout the histo-
America, the thunderbirds are typically four in number, one
ry of Israel, he shows himself a god of sky and storm, omnip-
for each of the cardinal directions; and over the same region,
otent creator, absolute sovereign, author of the norms and
they are considered to be locked in a cosmic struggle with
laws that make human life possible and good. By contrast
evil water spirits, panthers, or horned serpents. This antago-
Indra’s exaggeratedly “physical” sovereignty develops into a
nism on the level of myth finds cultic expression in the divi-
personification of cosmic and biological energy. Indra is not
sion into sacred moieties characteristic of the eastern tribes
a creator; instead the creative function is specialized in
who rely on agriculture for their subsistence. However, it
Indra’s case into a generative, vitalizing one. Of course the
may also reflect a dualism known elsewhere in world mythol-
R:gveda does feature a sky father called Dyaus Pitr:, a cognate
ogy that usually pits the thunder god against a reptilian water
form of Zeus Pater and Jupiter, but by Vedic times Indra had
monster (the way Indra opposes Vr:tra or the way Marduk
already assumed the role of celestial sovereign in India, and
battles Tiamat). The same sort of struggle recurs, for exam-
storms are the supreme manifestations of his creative force.
ple, in northern Siberia and among the Buriats around Lake
He wields the thunderbolt, frees the waters, absorbs fabulous
Baikal, this time between the ruler of birds (a great eagle) and
amounts of soma, fertilizes the fields and bestows fertility on
a many-headed water snake. The thunderbird motif also ap-
human women, displays fantastic sexual powers himself, and
pears in the Gran Chaco, in Ecuador, and among the Carib-
leads an army of lesser storm gods, the Maruts, to victory for
speaking peoples on the northern coast of South America.
the Indo-Aryan invaders.
In fact the thunderbird’s range would seem to indicate it was
The Germanic deities Óðinn (Odin) and Þórr (Thor)
a much more vital presence in the minds and hearts of reli-
offer a clear example of a storm god’s specialized function
gious people in earlier times than now.
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5996
METHODIST CHURCHES
Across Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in parts
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of Inner Asia, at least, the woodpecker was believed to have
I do not know of a monograph devoted to the storm gods or to
supernatural powers because of its association with thunder,
the symbolism of meteorological phenomena. One general
rain, and fertility. There is much evidence to suggest that the
source, however, is Mircea Eliade’s “The Sky and Sky Gods,”
chapter 2 of his Patterns in Comparative Religion (New York,
belief arose in Neolithic times with the spread of cultivation
1958), pp. 38–123. A bibliography devoted specifically to
by means of the hoe and, later, the plow. In many places the
storm gods in the Near East and their relation to the bull can
woodpecker also has a connection with divine twins and, like
be found on page 120. Other general sources are James G.
the storm gods, with war and agriculture. For example, ac-
Frazer’s The Worship of Nature, vol. 1 (New York, 1926),
cording to Roman legend Romulus and Remus were cared
Raffaele Pettazzoni’s The All Knowing God, translated by
for not only by the she-wolf but also by the woodpecker; and
H. J. Rose (London, 1956), and C. Blinkenberg’s The
Mars, god of war and at one time a god of agriculture, was
Thunderweapon in Religion and Folklore (1911; New York,
said to have fathered the two by the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia.
1977).
In other words the woodpecker has a dual nature corre-
Literature on the divine twins is quite extensive. Two old but still
sponding to the storm’s ambivalent values: destructive power
fascinating studies are Rendel Harris’s The Cult of the Heav-
and fertility.
enly Twins (Cambridge, 1906) and Boanerges (Cambridge,
U.K., 1913). For excellent bibliographies on the subject, see
Among the classes of dragons in China, there is first the
Donald J. Ward’s The Divine Twins: An Indo-European Myth
dragon (jiao), originally an evil, snakelike creature that lived
in Germanic Tradition (Berkeley, 1968) and Raymond Kun-
and always stayed in water. Then there is a river-god dragon,
tzmann’s Le symbolisme des jumeaux au Proche-Orient ancien:
Naissance, fonction, et évolution d’un symbole (Paris, 1983).
the long-wang, a form strongly influenced by the Indian
na¯ga, originally a snake and, in fact, a version of the jiao that
On the range of the thunderbird belief, see Trumen Michelson’s
spread to India along with other elements of coastal culture.
Contributions to Fox Ethnology II, United States Bureau
of American Ethnology (Washington, D.C., 1930),
Under Indian influence the jiao dragon became a long-wang,
pp. 51–56. For its religious meanings, a reliable source is A˚ke
or river god, with cults in many places along major water-
Hultkrantz’s Religions of the American Indians, translated by
ways in China.
Monica Setterwall (Berkeley, 1979).
The long dragon associated with storms is neither the
On the woodpecker as a thunderbird, see “The Thunderbird,”
dragon jiao nor the long-wang. It too lives in water but has
chapter 6 of Edward A. Armstrong’s The Folklore of Birds: An
Enquiry into the Origin and Distribution of Some Magico-
the unique ability to ascend to Heaven in the springtime and
Religious Traditions, 2d ed., rev. & enl. (New York, 1970),
to summer there as the rain dragon. The long can frequently
pp. 94–112. See also Rendel Harris’s Picus Who Is Also Zeus
be seen in the sky during thunderstorms and is basically a
(Cambridge, U.K., 1916).
benevolent animal that produces rain and ensures fertility.
The standard work on the dragon in China and Japan is still M.
In the Chinese classics it sometimes corresponds to Heaven
W. de Visser’s The Dragon in China and Japan (Amsterdam,
itself and therefore also to the emperor. (Later Chinese myths
1913). A more recent and probably more useful source is
describe a thunder god whose characteristics derive from the
Wolfram Eberhard’s The Local Cultures of South and East
wild boar, the promoter of wet-field agriculture.)
China, translated by Alide Eberhard (Leiden, 1968),
pp. 238–250.
The mythologies of India, Africa, Europe, and Asia reg-
New Sources
ularly associate a divine bull with the gods of the atmosphere
Deighton, Hilary J. The ‘Weather-God’ in Hittite Anatolia: An Ex-
and fertility, Indra and Rudra being two such examples. In
amination of the Archaeological and Textual Sources. Oxford,
pre-Aryan India the cults of Mohenjo-Daro and Baluchistan
U.K., 1982.
included important bull cults, and temples dedicated to S´iva
Dijkstra, Meindert. “The Weather-God on Two Mountains.”
are full of his bovine images. At Ur in the third millennium,
Ugarit-Forschungen 23 (1992): 127–140.
the god of the atmosphere was a bull; in ancient Assyria men
Reed, M. “Weather God of the Hittites.” Weatherwise 44, no. 2
swore by a god in the form of a bull; and the supremacy
(April 1991): 38–40.
achieved by such storm gods as Teshub, Hadad, and Baal in
Sayers, William. “Weather Gods, Syncretism, and the Eastern Bal-
the religions of the Near East is notable for their connections
tic.” Temenos 26 (1990): 105–114.
with bulls. What is venerated in these and other bull gods
of lightning who are married to the great earth goddess is
Schwemer, Daniel. Die Wettergottgestalten Mesopotamiens und
Nordsyriens im Zeitalter der Keilschriftkulturen: Materialien
both their transcendence, expressed in violent weather phe-
und Studien nach den schriftlichen Quellen. Wiesbaden, 2001.
nomena, and their physical potential as fecundators. In other
words the interdependence of the “celestial” and “generative”
PETER C. CHEMERY (1987)
functions in the figure of the bull seems abundantly clear.
Revised Bibliography
The same could be said of storm gods and of every storm
hierophany.
METHODIST CHURCHES. Methodism arose
SEE ALSO Hierophany; Rain; Sky.
from the search of John Wesley and his brother Charles for
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
METHODIST CHURCHES
5997
a deepened religious life within the ordered ways of the
taught and illustrated in Wesley’s first four volumes of Ser-
Church of England, which John described as “the best con-
mons (1744–1760) and his Explanatory Notes upon the
stituted national church in the world.” He sought no drastic
New Testament (1755), formed the basis of all Methodist
reform in doctrines but rather a greater emphasis upon a per-
preaching.
sonal experience of God’s saving and perfecting grace and
The early Conferences also consolidated the organiza-
more opportunity for a spiritual quest within Christian
tion of Methodism into a connexion, a network of societies
groups, undeterred by denominational barriers. He down-
served by lay preachers itinerating regularly on a circuit, or
played the divisive element of his movement, publishing in
round, covering a district such as a county in tours lasting
1742 an elaboration of Clement of Alexandria’s description
from four to six weeks, but also itinerating between circuits
of a perfect Christian as The Character of a Methodist and of-
periodically—at first every three months, then every six, and
fering this simple definition in his Complete English Dictio-
eventually every year. Each year Wesley’s own preaching and
nary (1753): “A Methodist, one that lives according to the
administrative journeys took him over most of England. In
method laid down in the Bible.”
1747 Ireland was added to his tour, and in 1751, Scotland.
John Wesley, both as the living leader and later as the
Wesley and his itinerant preachers developed a strong family
almost legendary “Mr. Wesley” of “the people called Meth-
identity among the societies.
odists,” so greatly influenced the developing thought of
This connectional unity became so strong that in 1749
Methodism that he demands a far greater proportion of at-
Wesley published two sets of extracts from the minutes of
tention than if he had been the mere titular founder of a new
his conferences, each with the same title—Minutes of Some
denomination.
Late Conversations between the Revd. Mr. Wesleys and Oth-
After his heart was “strangely warmed” on May 24,
ers—one summarizing Methodist teaching, the other Meth-
1738, Wesley began to preach salvation by faith with the
odist organization. In effect they constituted a declaration
conviction of personal experience, and he gathered around
that Methodism had become an established ecclesiastical
him an organized society in London, the first of many that
body. Inevitably this process of consolidation aroused much
spread throughout the British Isles. These societies were in-
criticism of Methodism: the preachers’ teaching, so unfamil-
tended to supplement, not supplant, the worship of the
iar to non-Methodists, was incorrectly described as unortho-
church. In his Rules (1743) he argued that a society was sim-
dox; their vigor, warmth, and ebullience were pejoratively la-
ply “a company of men ‘having the form, and seeking the
beled “enthusiasm”; and Wesley’s unconventional preaching
power of godliness,’ united in order to pray together, to re-
in the open air and in other parishes, and, worse still, his au-
ceive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another
thorizing laypeople to preach, were regarded by even sympa-
in love, that they may help each other to work out their salva-
thetic clergy as a grave breach of ecclesiastical order. Preach-
tion.” There was only one condition for membership, “a de-
ers and people were occasionally mobbed, but the somewhat
sire . . . to be saved from [their] sins.” To test and reinforce
quiescent church authorities took no concerted action.
his followers’ sincerity, however, the Rules insisted that mem-
The chief threat, indeed, came from within the move-
bers should avoid evil, do good, and seek holiness, for which
ment. The people’s desire to receive the sacraments from
illustrative examples were given in all three categories.
their preachers fed the preachers’ natural ambitions to im-
In order to proclaim his message and administer his so-
prove their status and to transform the society into a church.
cieties Wesley enrolled a steadily increasing number of lay
John Wesley was inclined to let things run their course, but
preachers to join the handful of sympathetic clergy who en-
the vehement opposition of his brother Charles led him to
gaged in an itinerant evangelical ministry under his supervi-
tighten the rein on his preachers, most of whom from 1752
sion. In 1744 he called these together in London to confer
onward signed agreements “never to leave the communion
about doctrine and organization. This was the first annual
of the Church of England without the consent of all whose
conference of Wesley’s Methodism, although the Welsh Cal-
names are subjoined.” Avowed separation from the church
vinistic wing of the movement, who looked to George
was narrowly averted at the Conference of 1755, when all
Whitefield as their chief inspirer, had been holding their “As-
agreed “that (whether it was lawful or not) it was no ways
sociations” for several years.
expedient.” This deferred any open separation for almost thir-
ty years.
The primary purpose of the Conferences of 1744–1747
was to formulate the major doctrinal emphases of Methodist
Meanwhile, British and Irish immigrants brought
preaching: salvation by grace through faith, confirmed and
Methodism to America, where it became so firmly rooted
exemplified by good works; the witness of the Holy Spirit
that Wesley responded to their plea for help by sending out
to a person’s salvation from the penalties of past sin and to
matched pairs of itinerant preachers in 1769, 1771, 1773,
his power over present temptations to sin; and the theoretical
and 1774, of whom by far the best known and most influen-
possibility of personal triumph over temptation, under the
tial was Francis Asbury, who remained throughout the Revo-
title of Christian perfection, which Wesley defined as perfect
lutionary War (1775–1783). With some difficulty Asbury
love to God and man, though consistent with human error
persuaded the American Methodists not to sever their ties
and with no guarantee of permanence. These doctrines, as
with Wesley in their eagerness for religious independence,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
5998
METHODIST CHURCHES
and thus Wesley himself was able to assist Americans in the
ing good use of their rich heritage of Charles Wesley’s hymns
birth of the first independent church within Methodism.
they observed those almost uniquely Methodist forms of
worship, the watch-night, the covenant service, and the love-
The year 1784 was “that grand climacteric year of
feast, as well as the close fellowship of the class-meeting and
Methodism.” Aided by Dr. Thomas Coke, Wesley prepared
the bands, with their cherished tickets of membership. They
a deed poll (in which one party binds himself or herself with-
constantly remembered their early rules, by “avoiding evil of
out reference to obligations undertaken by another) that le-
every kind—especially that which is most generally prac-
gally defined the term Conference, and made that body heir
tised,” and by “doing good of every possible sort, and as far
to British Methodism after Wesley’s death. Wesley also en-
as is possible to all men.”
trusted to Coke a major part in publishing a revision of The
Book of Common Prayer for the use of American Methodists,
It is true that the full appreciation of some of these fea-
and discussed with him a complementary plan for securing
tures fell off even during the nineteenth century, and a few
a threefold ministry in American Methodism. Already con-
were almost forgotten in the twentieth, such as Wesley’s
vinced that in any ecclesiastical emergency the power of ordi-
constant charge, “Press on to perfection.” Human frailty
nation resided in presbyters, Wesley ordained two of his
brought about fragmentation into many independent de-
preachers, first as deacons and then as elders. With their as-
nominations, a process furthered during the twentieth centu-
sistance he then commissioned Coke as “superintendent” of
ry by the hiving off of national churches from the parent
the American flock, with instructions to share his new au-
bodies.
thority with Asbury upon his arrival in America.
The first major division in England, the Methodist New
At the Christmas Conference in Baltimore (1784–
Connexion (1797), was a revolt against the autocracy of the
1785) with Wesley’s blessing, a new denomination was
leading Wesleyan preachers, but the Primitive Methodists
launched, the Methodist Episcopal Church. In England
(1811) and Bible Christians (1819), though also favoring
Methodism still remained a society, governed by a presbyter
more lay leadership, left because they wished to restore evan-
of the Church of England and at least theoretically within
gelism. The Wesleyan Methodist hierarchy came under in-
the fold of that church. After Wesley’s death in 1791, howev-
creasing attack from 1849 onward in a disruptive pamphlet
er, under the terms of his deed poll, the Conference of
warfare that led to eventual democratic reforms at the cost
preachers became the ruling body, with a modified presbyte-
of losing many thousands of members. Happily, some of
rian system of government rather than the modified episco-
these breaches were progressively healed through the forma-
palian polity that was being developed in America. Although
tion of the United Methodist Free Churches in 1857, the
some of Wesley’s Anglican friends had occasionally referred
United Methodist Church in 1907, and the Methodist
to “the Methodist church” during his lifetime, not until
Church in 1932.
1893 did the class tickets indicating membership in the Wes-
leyan Methodist Society carry the word church.
In America, where membership had almost drawn level
with that in the British Isles by Wesley’s death, Methodism
When in 1739 Wesley had written, “I look upon all the
expanded and divided far more rapidly than in Britain dur-
world as my parish, ” he was defending his disregard of eccle-
ing the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The controversy
siastical boundaries in Britain, but in fact he did also cherish
over the institution of slavery and other disruptive forces
a vision of a world renewed in the image of Christ, and was
similar to those in England were at work in America. Coke
convinced that his liberal, pragmatic approach to theology
and Asbury had unsuccessfully sought to eradicate slavery
and to churchmanship should make good missionaries of his
from the Methodist Episcopal Church, but even in the aboli-
people—as indeed it did. He heartily supported Coke’s mis-
tionist strongholds of New York and Philadelphia race re-
sionary plans, and a month before his death wrote to a native
mained an issue among Methodists. There, blacks forsook
American preacher, “Lose no opportunity of declaring to all
their second-class membership to form their own congrega-
men that the Methodists are one people in all the world.”
tions, which eventually became the African Methodist Epis-
Within a century after Wesley’s death immigrants and mis-
copal Church (1816) and the African Methodist Episcopal
sionaries from both sides of the Atlantic had planted Meth-
Zion Church (1820), with communities of 3.5 million and
odism on each continent and in almost every country.
1.2 million respectively, in the 1990s. In 1844 the whole
Methodist missionary expansion during the nineteenth
Methodist Episcopal Church split north and south over the
century varied little whether it came from the British or the
issue, though other factors were also at work, including vary-
American type of church polity, because polity was overshad-
ing views of the episcopacy. In 1870 the Methodist Episcopal
owed by ethos, and the ethos sprang from Wesley, Method-
Church South blessed the incorporation of their own black
ists everywhere remained within a tightly knit connexion gov-
members into the Colored (now “Christian”) Methodist
erned by a conference. They followed Wesley in assigning
Episcopal Church. Slavery was also a factor in the formation
major responsibilities to laypeople, and were progressive in
of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection (1843), which did
enrolling women as leaders, and even as preachers. They em-
not name itself a church until 1947, and which also sought
phasized evangelical preaching and continued to experiment
a return to earlier Wesleyan evangelism and the abolition of
with an adventurous and flexible organization. While mak-
the episcopacy. The Free Methodist Church (1860) arose
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MEYKAN:T:A¯R
5999
after lengthy preliminaries from a widespread desire to recov-
Methodism to the American scene, and by Frederick A. Nor-
er Wesley’s teaching upon Christian perfection. A similar
wood’s The Story of American Methodism (Nashville, 1974),
emphasis within American Methodism upon the need to re-
which traces later developments in the history of the United
cover scriptural holiness led to the piecemeal formation of
Methodists.
the Church of the Nazarene.
New Sources
Craske, Jane, and Clive March, eds. Methodism and the Future:
In American Methodism and its missions, as well as in
Facing the Challenge. New York, 2000.
the British Commonwealth, a measure of consolidation took
place during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, notably
Wigger, John H., and Nathan O. Hatch, eds. Methodism and the
Shaping of American Culture. Nashville, 2001.
in the union of the northern and southern churches with the
Protestant Methodists in 1939 to form the Methodist
FRANK BAKER (1987)
Church, which in 1968 united with the Evangelical United
Revised Bibliography
Brethren (itself a union of churches with a German-speaking
background) to form the United Methodist Church, with a
membership of eleven million out of a total world Methodist
METHODIUS S
community of around fifty million. At the beginning of the
EE CYRIL AND METHODIUS
twenty-first century the total world Methodist community
numbered around thirty-five million.
These and other unions were consummated largely be-
MEYKAN:T:A¯R (thirteenth century CE), Tamil S´aiva
cause of the coming together in Christian fellowship of rep-
Siddha¯nta author and theologian. Meykan:t:a¯r (“he who saw
resentatives from dozens of autonomous Methodist churches
the truth”) was the first of the four santa¯na a¯ca¯ryas
and missions from all over the world, first decennially from
(“hereditary teachers,” here referring to four successive theo-
1881 in the Ecumenical Methodist Conference, then quin-
logians) of the Tamil S´aiva Siddha¯nta school of philosophy-
quennially from 1951 in the World Methodist Council.
theology. Originally called Sve¯taranam, Meykan:t:a¯r, who
¯
Welcome guests at these gatherings are representatives from
lived in Tiruven:n:ainallu¯r, received the name by which pos-
churches where Methodism has subsumed its identity in an
terity recognizes him from his guru Parañco¯ti Munivar.
¯
interdenominational union, such as the United Church of
Meykan:t:a¯r’s prominence rests almost entirely on his compo-
Canada (1925), the Churches of North and South India, the
sition of a single work, the Civaña¯napo¯tam (Skt.,
¯
Uniting Church in Australia, or other such unions in Bel-
S´ivajña¯nabodha, The understanding of the knowledge of
gium, China, Ecuador, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and
S´iva). The Civaña¯napo¯tam, written in the early thirteen cen-
¯
Zambia. As an important element in the World Council of
tury, is held to be the mutanu¯l (“primary treatise”) of the
¯
Churches, Methodism remains true to the spirit of its found-
fourteen theological texts that have canonical status in Tamil
er, who gloried in the catholicity of his early societies, open
S´aivism. These fourteen texts are collectively called the
to persons of all creeds, and who firmly maintained, in spite
Meykan:t:a´sa¯stra, although Meykan:t:a¯r is the author of only
of attacks by his critics, that “orthodoxy, or right opinions,
one of the fourteen, but the fundamental one, the
is at best but a very slender part of religion.”
Civaña¯napo¯tam.
¯
The Civaña¯napo¯tam consists of twelve Tamil su¯tras
SEE ALSO Asbury, Francis; Coke, Thomas; Wesley Brothers;
¯
along with two sets of glosses, the cu¯ttirakkan:n:alivu (the
Whitefield, George.
¯
words of the su¯tra divided into sentences) and the cu¯rn:ikai
(a brief gloss on the sentences setting forth their meaning in
BIBLIOGRAPHY
simple prose), as well as a commentary composed of articles
A valuable summary of the history, doctrines, spread, activities,
(atikaran:am), each consisting of a thesis (m¯erko¯l:), reason
and leaders of Methodism in its many branches through
¯
(¯etu), and illustrative verses (uta¯ran:am). The twelve su¯tras of
more than two centuries can be found in The Encyclopedia
the Civaña¯napo¯tam are also found in the Raurava¯gama, one
of World Methodism, 2 vols., edited by Nolan B. Harmon
¯
of the Sanskrit A¯gamas also held sacred by Tamil S´aivas.
(Nashville, 1974). The unplanned development of Method-
ism from a movement into a denomination is described by
Whether Meykan:t:a¯r translated the su¯tras from Sanskrit into
Frank Baker in John Wesley and the Church of England (Nash-
Tamil or the author of the Raurava¯gama borrowed from the
ville, 1970). Fuller details of some British aspects of Method-
Civaña¯napo¯tam is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain
¯
ism, especially in their later stages, are given in A History of
and is a subject about which there is no scholarly consensus.
the Methodist Church in Great Britain, 3 vols., edited by Ru-
Suffice it to note here that possession of a Sanskrit Agamic
pert Davies and Gordon Rupp (London, 1965–1984), and
prototype for the authoritative text is hardly surprising when
the rise and development of the main stream in the United
one considers the concern of medieval Hindu sectarian
States is portrayed in The History of American Methodism, 3
schools to establish their legitimacy.
vols., edited by Emory Stevens Bucke (Nashville, 1964). The
latter work should be supplemented by Frank Baker’s From
The Civaña¯napo¯tam is a highly systematic and logical
¯
Wesley to Asbury: Studies in Early American Methodism (Dur-
presentation of basic S´aiva Siddha¯nta ideology. The first six
ham, N.C., 1976), which traces the transition of British
su¯tras establish the existence, attributes, and interrelations of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6000
MIAO RELIGION
the three fundamental components of S´aiva Siddha¯nta ontol-
MICAH (fl. eighth century BCE), or, in Hebrew, Mikhah;
ogy: pati (the Lord, i.e., God, S´iva), pacu (the soul), and
Hebrew prophet whose prophecy is recorded in the biblical
pa¯cam (the bondage that enslaves souls and separates them
Book of Micah. Although the Book of Micah employs a per-
from knowledge of God). Meykan:t:a¯r cites the fact that the
sonal approach in which the prophet occasionally speaks di-
world evidences intelligible processes of creation, mainte-
rectly in the first person to reveal his deep feelings (e.g., 1:8,
nance, and dissolution to establish God’s existence. God is
3:8 [citations herein follow the English version]), the proph-
claimed to be both immanent in souls and yet different from
et reveals neither his personal life nor his background, in con-
them. The soul’s knowledge of reality, however, is clouded
trast to many other prophets, including his contemporary,
by its being conjoined with an innate impurity (cakaja-
Isaiah. He does not even provide an account of his call. We
malam, i.e., a¯n:avamalam, the basic component of pa¯cam).
know only his general period of time as stated in the super-
But the soul can be illuminated by the Lord’s grace and over-
scription (1:1), which is derived from a later hand. There is
come its bondage. The soul is thus an entity that is defined
also a reference to Micah’s hometown, Moresheth (cf. More-
by its relations—either to “bondage” (pa¯cam), “impurity”
sheth-gath, 1:14), which is located southwest of Jerusalem.
(malam, i.e., the structure of finite, phenomenal existence),
Interestingly, this information is repeated later, in Jeremiah
or to the Lord (pati), who bestows divine knowledge and
26:18, demonstrating the strong impact of Micah’s
bliss. Specific aspects of the soul’s realization of its advaita
prophecy.
relation with pati are the subject of the final six su¯tras of the
According to the superscription, the period of Micah’s
Civaña¯napo¯tam. Here in germ are the basics of a S´aiva
¯
activity was during the time of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
Siddha¯nta path of spiritual realization: the necessity of a guru
kings of Judah in the second half of the eighth century
who is free of bondage and hence manifests the Lord, the use
BCE.
It was a politically stormy time dominated by the Syro-
of the five-syllabled mantra (“nama ´siva¯ya”), and above all
Ephraimite war and Assyrian military threats against Judah.
the centrality of devotional love (bhakti; Tam., anpu) for
¯
Yet these major military events, which underlie Isaiah’s
God, and the value of associating with other bhaktas (devo-
prophecy, are not specifically addressed in Micah’s speeches,
tees).
for he was mainly concerned with the internal situation—the
social and moral injustices of the rulers of Judah. Micah’s at-
SEE ALSO Ma¯n:ikkava¯cakar; Uma¯pati S´iva¯ca¯rya.
tack on the false prophets (3:5–12) is noteworthy in that he
was the first to devote an entire speech to the problem.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A large part of Micah concerns prophecies of salvation
The Civaña¯napo¯tam has been translated into English several
¯
and the “new age.” Many scholars consider the relationship
times. Of these, the most complete, accurate, and accessible
between oracles of doom and prophecies of salvation to be
is S´iva-ña¯na-bo¯dham: A Manual of S´aiva Religious Doctrine,
translated and interpreted by Gordon Matthews (Oxford,
mutually exclusive, and tend to distinguish between the ora-
1948). Closely following the Civaña¯napo¯tam in its summary
cles of doom, that is, the authentic Micah, and prophecies
¯
of the S´aiva Siddha¯nta is John H. Piet’s A Logical Presentation
of salvation, which they consider later additions. As a rule,
of the S´aiva Siddha¯nta Philosophy (Madras, 1952). A valuable
these scholars consider the major parts of chapters 1–3 (ex-
study of the entire canonical corpus of S´aiva Siddha¯nta theo-
cept, perhaps, 2:12–13) the core of Micah’s own prophecy,
logical texts, which also contains in appendices both the
with the remainder reflecting thinkers of later periods who
Tamil and Sanskrit su¯tras of the Civaña¯napo¯tam and the
were influenced by Micah (as in Jer. 26:18) and sought to
¯
Raurava¯gama along with English translations, is Mariasusai
update the outcome of the old prophecies.
Dhavamony’s Love of God according to S´aiva Siddha¯nta (Ox-
ford, 1971). A large volume on S´aiva Siddha¯nta thought, oc-
This distinction between Micah and his later editors is
casionally marred by a Protestant Christian bias but nonethe-
based upon a particular modern scholarly understanding of
less still useful for its thoroughness and occasional insight, is
the nature of the authentic prophecies. Stylistic and linguis-
H. W. Schomerus’s Der Çaiva-Siddhanta: Eine Mystik In-
tic criteria, however, are not the decisive factors in determin-
diens (Leipzig, 1912).
ing the original text as opposed to additions. This distinction
is based upon theme rather than stylistic literary analysis. We
New Sources
Muthupackiam, J. X. Mysticism and Metaphysics in Saiva Sidd-
should, however, take into consideration the possibility that
hanta: A Study of the Concept of Self in the Sivajnanabodham
prophecies of judgment may mingle with oracles of salvation,
of Meykantar Deva in Relation to the Mystical Experience of
that the prophet did not merely record his surroundings but
Appar. New Delhi, 2001.
also developed a specific perspective on the new age, which
he sought to share with his audience. Micah’s criticism of his
GLENN E. YOCUM (1987)
present world leads to his prophecy of the new age, the peri-
Revised Bibliography
od of peace and justice. A distinction between original
prophecies of doom and supplementary prophecies of salva-
tion would therefore be misleading.
MIAO RELIGION SEE SOUTHEAST ASIAN
Much has been written about the relationship between
RELIGIONS, ARTICLE ON MAINLAND CULTURES
the two contemporaries, Micah and Isaiah, because of the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
6001
similarity between the visions of the “new age” in Micah
Above all, the book lucidly states the meaning of Yahvistic
4:1–5 and Isaiah 2:1–4 (or 5). Since Micah’s vision is not
religion in terms of God’s demands upon the worshipers.
in chapters 1–3 of Micah, which contain oracles of doom
Micah stresses the elements of justice, love, and kindness as
(considered to be the words of Micah himself), scholars tend
God’s preference in worship (6:6–8).
to regard this vision as inauthentic. Isaiah’s vision is likewise
regarded as an addition, since it is a prophecy of salvation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
It has been stated above, however, that the distinction be-
Hillers, Delbert R. Micah. Philadelphia, 1984.
tween oracles of doom and prophecies of salvation may be
Mays, James Luther. Micah: A Commentary. Philadelphia, 1976.
an artificial one. Notice should be taken of Micah’s conclu-
Wolff, Hans Walter. Mit Micha Reden. Neukirchen, 1978.
sion: “For all the people walk each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever
Wolff, Hans Walter. Micah the Prophet. Philadelphia, 1981.
and ever” (4:5, RSV). Insofar as this differs from Isaiah’s em-
New Sources
phasis on the universality and centrality of the mountain of
Alfaro, Juan I. Justice and Loyalty: A Commentary on the Book of
God, the house of the God of Jacob, Micah’s national ap-
Micah. International Theological Commentary. Grand Rap-
proach here conveys a message that contrasts with Isaiah’s
ids, Mich., and Edinburgh, 1989.
universalism. Furthermore, Micah speaks specifically about
Jacobs, Mignon R. The Conceptual Coherence of the Book of Micah.
the total destruction of Jerusalem (3:2; cf. Jer. 26:18), while
Sheffield, U.K., 2001.
Isaiah avoids such a description of the holy city. In this con-
Luker, Lamontte M. “Beyond Form Criticism: The Relation of
text we may also question Micah’s criticism of the other
Doom and Hope Oracles in Micah 2-6.” Hebrew Annual Re-
prophets. For instance, when he condemns them for calling
view 11 (1987): 285–301.
for peace (3:5), is he referring to Isaiah’s call for peace during
McKane, William. The Book of Micah: Introduction and Commen-
the Syro-Ephraimite war (Is. 7:4–9)?
tary. Edinburgh, 1998.
There are no definite criteria for determining where
Wessels, Wilhelm (Willie) J. “Conflicting Powers: Reflections
Micah’s various speeches begin and end in the text. He starts
from the Book of Micah.” Old Testament Essays 10 (1997):
528–544.
with the subject of Judah’s military troubles, and then in
chapter 2 presents a sharp social criticism of those who op-
YEHOSHUA GITAY (1987)
press the poor and take their houses and property. In chapter
Revised Bibliography
3 this attack is addressed more directly to rulers who tyran-
nize their citizens. In 3:5–12, Micah admonishes the proph-
ets for misleading the people concerning the political situa-
MICHAEL CERULARIOUS SEE CERULARIOS,
tion. The style of discourse of chapters 1–3 maintains the
MICHAEL
characteristic prophetic conception of cause and effect: that
the political and military situation reflects social and moral
misbehavior. Wars and political disasters do not occur in a
MICHAEL PSELLUS SEE PSELLUS, MICHAEL
vacuum: political events are initiated by God as a punish-
ment; they are God’s response to the moral misconduct of
the rulers of Judah.
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS
Micah 4:1–5 describes the new age, the period of peace,
This entry consists of the following articles:
while 5:1–5 concentrates on the new ruler of Israel, a descen-
AN OVERVIEW
dant of the house of David, who will come from the town
MYTHIC THEMES
of Bethlehem. At 5:9 a prophecy begins concerning the de-
struction of the state’s symbols of power—the military
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
horses, chariots, and fortresses—as well as the destruction of
In 1838, the French explorer Dumont D’Urville divided up
foreign religious idols. It prophesies a conflict between God
the Pacific into Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. Schol-
and Israel in which God condemns Israel for its betrayal. The
ars since then have debated whether or not these three terms
speech ends with a moral-religious revelation (6:6–8). The
do justice to the diversity of cultures in these areas, especially
lament of 7:17 is followed by a prophetic liturgy (7:8–20),
in Micronesia, where the first settlers arrived at various times
which concludes with God’s praise and the assurance that
and brought with them different cultures and languages. The
God will continue to protect his people as he has done in
Micronesians’ exposure to Western influences also varied.
the past.
The people of the Marianas, for example, were Christianized
Despite numerous textual difficulties, Micah’s message
by the Spanish by 1700 CE. The Caroline island of Ifalik, on
is clear and precise, and he clarifies the role of the prophet:
the other hand, became Christian only after World War II.
But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit
When the missionary Luther Gulick arrived on the cen-
of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to
tral Pacific island of Pohnpei in 1852 he found the native
Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. (3:8)
priests dying out, and their shrines, like the megalithic Nan
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
Madol, were almost abandoned. Populations were decimated
seen as columns projecting up from the bottom of the sea,
by whaling ships that left behind diseases to which the local
and the bottom of the sea has a trapdoor that opens not into
people had no immunity; the Caroline island of Kosrae, one
an underworld but into an undersea world. This is where the
of the hardest hit, was left without a population large enough
people of some islands believe they do when they die.
to support elaborate priestly hierarchies and religious title
Early ethnographers recorded descriptions and even col-
holders. Western governments raced to the islands to claim
lected drawings depicting the cosmos, including a surviving
their shares of the new colonies in the Pacific, and so Micro-
sketch made by a native of Puluwat in 1910. The inverted
nesia became a patchwork of Spanish, German, British, Japa-
bowl is the most widespread image, but there are variations.
nese, and American trusteeships, protectorates, and colonies.
In Pohnpei the vault of the sky was like the roof of a ceremo-
In the twenty-first century all of the Micronesian islands ex-
nial meeting house. In the Marshalls there were four heaven-
cept Guam, a U.S. territory, are independent.
ly post-men who held up the heavens in each of the four car-
Few of the “little islands” that give Micronesia its name
dinal directions. But as the post-men fell asleep the heavens
were unified at the time of first contact. Kosrae was the only
at each corner collapsed, and then the vault of heaven be-
island with a centralized government under a single para-
came an inverted bowl. On the Kiribati atolls the cosmos are
mount leader, and the smaller islands sometimes had several
depicted as a gigantic clamshell that the god Naurea tried to
chiefs. The geology of the islands varies greatly. Some, like
pry open to let the light come in. He persuaded Riki to help
Pohnpei, one of what are called the high islands, are volcanic
him. Riki succeeded in opening the shell and was rewarded
with lush vegetation. Others are coral atolls of a few acres
by losing his legs and becoming the eel or snake in the sky:
only a few feet above sea level. The Marshall Islands, for ex-
the Milky Way.
ample, are made up of coral atolls and islands with a total
Curiously the sun, moon, and stars—all important to
dry land area of 74 square miles spread over 375,000 square
navigators—are not of widespread importance in most Mi-
miles of ocean. Kosrae, on the other hand, is a single high
cronesian religions, with Kiribati the notable exception. Kiri-
island of 42 square miles with its highest point, Mount
bati is influenced by Polynesian religions, where the sun and
Finkol, at 2,064 feet above sea level.
moon play prominent roles in myth and ritual. One also
In spite of the diversity within Micronesia, its cultures
finds occasional myths about the sun and moon on Palau,
and old religions demonstrate certain shared patterns. These
and the constellations Antares and the Pleiades play a role
patterns can be seen in three areas: the Micronesian concep-
in Marshallese mythology. In the Marshall Islands story, Lik-
tion of the cosmos, the spirit inhabitants of this cosmos, and
tanur, the mother of two brothers, asks the older brother
the patterns of interaction between spirits and humans.
Tumur (Antares) to take her along with him in a canoe race,
but he does not want the extra weight. Jebro (Pleiades), the
Why these common traits exist when the Micronesian
younger son, does take his mother, and as the race begins
islands were settled by different peoples who spoke different
Liktanur opens a parcel and sets up the first sail and rigging.
languages and were widely separated from each other isn’t
As Jebro begins to overtake his older brother, Tumur com-
entirely clear. Certainly the fact that the Micronesians were
mandeers the sailing boat. But clever Liktanur keeps some
and still are some of the Pacific’s finest boatbuilders and nav-
of the rigging, and Tumur is unable to change course. Lik-
igators is part of the explanation; they had the technology
tanur and Jebro finish the race first and hide in the bushes.
to make the Pacific Ocean not an obstacle but a means of
Tumur lands and proclaims himself winner and chief. Then
colonizing and trading over long distances. Evidence of traf-
Liktanur and Jebro emerge from hiding, and Liktanur pro-
fic in precontact Micronesia includes a highly organized
claims young Jebro the new chief.
trading and exchange system called the sawei (basket) that
joined the people of Yap and the central Caroline atolls, with
This is what is known as a charter myth and is typical
the Ulithi islands as the intermediary. Pottery exchanges
of Micronesian mythology. In this case it demonstrates the
show that this system began in the seventh century
unwritten law that the rank of chief (irooj, lerooj, or iroojla-
CE.
plap) is determined by the mother’s lineage. This myth has
THE MICRONESIAN COSMOS AND ITS SPIRITS. Their image
been reinterpreted by contemporary Christians on the re-
of the cosmos allowed the Micronesians to explain how
mote atoll of Ujelang, who see the rising of Jebro/Pleiades,
things work and why things happen (as is the case with the
which comes into view about the time of Christmas, as sym-
Polynesians and Melanesians). The cosmos defined the
bolic of Jesus’ birth.
spheres of activity between spirits and humans. Within the
The people of Pohnpei have the same myth, which also
cosmos are places for gods, ancestral spirits, and living hu-
has both political and religious meanings. A woman named
mans. There are places where people go after death, places
Likitanir creates the starts. None of her children wants to lis-
where the dead are put to various tests, and places where the
ten to her, with the exception of the smallest one, Margiregir,
living can interact with their deceased kin.
who obeys her and takes her in his canoe. She teaches him
Most Micronesian views of the cosmos are of a sky
sailing and proclaims him nahnmwarki (a paramount chief,
world as an inverted bowl, with several layers populated by
the equivalent of iroojlaplap in the Marshalls). Margiregir be-
different categories of deities. The islands of Micronesia are
comes Margigi on Yap and is a mythic foundation for both
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
6003
the political and religious centers of Yap. This story, like
an uncreated creator of all things who existed before the uni-
many others, transcended the boundaries of ocean and lan-
verse and before other gods. Naurea of the Kiribati opens a
guage to become one of the common features of Micronesian
cosmic clamshell to let light into the world, for example, but
mythology.
that world was already in existence. There is one known ex-
ception: ethnologist Wilhelm Müller recorded, and in 1917
The spirit population. The spirit population of the
published, a Yapese story about an uncreated deity who,
cosmos exemplifies the Micronesian characteristic of great
merely by thinking, brought into existence the other deities,
diversity with certain common features. Many of the islands
who in turn created islands, people, plants, and fish
use the same term to describe the myriad spirits in their cos-
(p. 505). However, Dobbin, writing in 1996, found that no
mos: énú, or some cognate of this Chuukic term, which is
contemporary Yapese knew of this god, who was called
applied to various kinds of spirits. Across Micronesia, these
Gavur li yel yel.
spirits fall into the following main categories:
The Micronesian pantheon also lacks a genuinely om-
• Sky gods, often called the great spirit. An example is the
nipotent deity and an incarnation of evil like Satan or the
Chuukic Enúúnap. Frequently the sky god’s son or
devil in Western cosmology, despite the ideas of early Chris-
brother, the spirit Luk or Nuuk (among other varia-
tian missionaries, who identified Enúúnap with the Judeo-
tions), works for the sky god.
Christian God and the trickster figures with Satan. Enúúnap,
• Patron deities. They may live in highest heaven but are
like Zeus or Jupiter in Greco-Roman mythology, is caught
still deeply involved in helping humans. They some-
up in the foibles of his children and nagged by his wife.
times bring culture and technology, like Liktanur of the
Whatever else he may be, he is not omnipotent. In the cate-
Marshalls, who taught humankind the all-important art
gory of evil spirits, none is totally evil like the Christian
of sailing.
Satan. The tricksters Letau, Nareau, Wonofáát, and Yalifath
are a glorious mixture of evil, stupidity, and cleverness, acting
• Ancestors of the family, the lineage, or the clan. These
at various times as gift givers, killers, and slapstick comics.
are the spirits who take possession of their living kin and
offer advice, help, and predictions. The Micronesian at-
Another kind of spirit found only in rare instances oc-
titude toward these spirits ranges from what we com-
curs when a dead human being returns to possess the body
monly refer to as ancestor worship to a veneration that
of a living person. William Lessa (1961) traced one of the
is more akin to filial piety.
few examples to an infant boy from Ulithi named Marespa,
born in the mid-nineteenth century. The infant’s father was
• Nature spirits (tolls, ogres, and wee people). These spir-
possessed by his deceased child, and the spirit of Marespa
its are geographically bound to certain locations, like the
quickly inspired a cult for healing and curing that spread to
reef spirits of the Chuuk Main Lagoon.
other islands, including Yap, Ngulu, and the atolls south of
• Trickster spirits. The trickster is a common mythic sym-
Palau.
bol throughout Polynesia and Micronesia. He is Olifat
Roles in the spirit world. While it is possible to draw
(Wonofáát) in the Chuukic islands, Letau in the Mar-
a genealogical chart of the spirits for most islands, who begat
shalls, Nareau in Kiribati, and Maui in Polynesian
whom is notoriously inconsistent. The spirits’ characteristics
Hawai’i. In some places he is pure trickster, the arche-
vary as well. Olifat (Wonofáát) is a trickster and sometimes
typal character who does everything wrong, breaks all
a cruel spirit in eastern Micronesia, but on Yap he is Yelafath
the rules, and hops into bed with his brother’s wife. In
the Elder (a god who creates the other gods) and Yelafath the
others he is cruel, and in many stories he kills one of his
Younger (the trickster). This pattern also occurs in Kiribati,
brothers. He can also be helpful: on some islands it is
where one manifestation of Nareau is a creator and the other
the trickster who brings fire to humankind. In general,
is the trickster. In Chuuk tradition, Luk and Lukenleng (or
he functions more as the central figure in a cycle of mo-
Nuuk and Nuukeyinen, literally “middle of heaven”) are one
rality stories illustrating how not to behave than as a su-
and the same god, a god who is something of an heir appar-
pernatural sanction against breaking cultural rules.
ent who does most of the work of Enúúnap. In Yap tradition,
A further assortment of divinities does not fit into the above
however, Lug (Luk) is the god of death who flies about snar-
categories. Most cultures have a local deity whose activities
ing humans in his net, and Lukenlang is a different god.
overshadow all the others in importance. On the central Car-
Patron deities were active in the everyday work of crafts-
olinian atoll of Ifalik this is Tilitur, who was sent by the high
people, healers, medicine makers, and navigators, and helped
sky god Enúúnap to take care of the people of this atoll. An-
assure a bountiful harvest or successful fishing trip. The
thropologists just after World War II recorded the reverence
blending of religion and daily life involved more than just
the people of Ifalik showed for Tilitur and his interactions
blessing a new canoe or house or praying for the safe return
with them. He frequently possessed his chosen vehicles.
of the fleet. The famed navigators of old learned their craft
Two types of spirits are either rare or completely missing
through training filled with religious ritual. They were initi-
in Micronesia: an omnipotent and uncreated deity and a
ated into the profession with an elaborate ceremony and per-
purely evil deity. The Micronesian pantheon generally lacks
formed complex rituals before setting sail. In medicine the
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
healing chants and formulas for making up medicines ulti-
residence of priests. On Pohnpei a variety of natural rock for-
mately came from the spirits through dreams, possession and
mations were considered to be sacred sites where the gods
trace, or from an elder who passed on these spirit-given gifts.
gave the island its physical shape and its culture.
The creator deities, the sky gods, had different ways of
Sacred places were created in other ways. On Kiribati
working with the cosmos and human beings. Some of the
collections of ancestral skulls became a kind of portable
great sky gods were aloof from the lives of humankind, hav-
shrine that the living talked to in their homes and took to
ing finished their creating work and retired to the bliss of one
dances in the giant meeting houses, the maneba. The cult of
of the high heavens. But in the Chuuk tradition the priest-
the skulls, as Sir Arthur Grimble called it, gave the character
chiefs (itang) invoked the sky gods Enúúnap and Luk as they
of a sacred spot to the place where the skulls were kept.
led their men into battle. The Marshallese creation myth re-
WHERE SPIRITS AND HUMANS MEET: RITUAL. Micronesians
sembles the first chapters of Genesis, where God says, “Let
also sought interaction with the spirit inhabitants of the cos-
there be . . .” and lo, there it is, only in this case the chief
mos by means of ritual.
Marshallese sky gods send a divinity to earth to teach canoe
building, sailing, and tattooing.
Household rituals. Probably the simplest and most
widespread ritual around Micronesia was conducted in the
Pohnpei mythology offers an interesting contrast. The
family dwelling or boathouse and dedicated to the remem-
Pohnpei universe is created by divinities and humans work-
brance of deceased kin. Rituals were conducted at household
ing together. A supernatural octopus directs the first human
shrines throughout Micronesia, even in places with gigantic
settlers to the place where the rocks will be deposited to be-
cult centers like Kosrae’s Lelu. On Nauru the household
come Pohn-pei, literally “upon a stone altar”). The god Dau
shrine was located at the center pole of the house, where gifts
Katau confers the first title of Soumenlang on the priest at
of food were placed for the ancestors (later replaced by
Salapwuk; this according to oral historian Bernart Luelen is
Roman Catholic converts with a picture of Jesus). The hang-
the beginning of religion and the title system on Pohnpei.
ing altar or shrine of the Chuukic-speaking islands, the faar,
After the Sau Deleu dynasty was destroyed, the god Luk ap-
was basically a household shrine for the lineage. Flowers,
peared in a canoe floating in the sky. The current priest-
wreaths, and food could be place in this hanging altar. In
chief, Soukisenlang, and the ruler of Ant Island are brought
some areas the ritual was even simpler. On Palau the ances-
to the canoe, and they talk with Luk. Together they deter-
tor’s betel nut bag (a purse holding the ingredients needed
mine the political structure of Pohnpei: autonomous states
to chew betel nuts) might be hung on the wall of the house
(wehi) each led by a paramount chief, the nahnmwarki.
and offered a tidbit of food. The Kiribati kept their ancestors’
The relative importance of each type of spirit varies
skulls in the house and treated them quite informally, talking
from island to island, again following the Micronesian pat-
with them, offering them cigarettes, and blowing cigarette
tern of diversity and similarity. In the Chuuk Main Lagoon
smoke into the skull.
and nearby atolls the spirits of the ancestors were of primary
Divination. Micronesians had a bevy of divination ritu-
importance. On nearby Pohnpei the high gods like Dau
als to call on to help them make decisions and forecast the
Katau or Luk were more important.
future. The simplest methods were perhaps not religious at
WHERE SPIRITS AND HUMANS MEET: PLACES. There is no
all, but, like tarot cards, horoscopes, and palm reading, sim-
doubt that Micronesians of old believed that the divine met
ply a way of probing into the unknown. Micronesian divina-
the human at certain physical sites, and the belief in the sa-
tion involved analyzing the number and sequence of knots
cred or taboo nature of some of these sites continues in the
made from fresh young palm fronds. Sometimes the palm
early twenty-first century.
knots were replaced by stones thrown on the ground. A Mi-
cronesian equivalent of tea-leaf reading analyzed the lines on
Household shrines were common through much of Mi-
the inside of a coconut shell. These were forms of do-it-
cronesia. In the eastern Chuuk-speaking islands hanging
yourself divination, although some people were known to be
shrines or altars, often in the shape of miniature double-
better at it than others.
hulled canoes, provided a place for the spirits of the ancestors
to be with their kin. Here offerings of flowers and food were
Professional diviners worked in a variety of ways. The
made, and it was at the household shrine that the ancestor
kerong of the Palauans might, for a price, offer to make pre-
spirits could possess a living family member, enabling the
dictions or answer questions in their own dwellings, from be-
possessed one, called the wáátawa, to answer questions in the
hind a screen, possessed by a spirit but apparently not in a
voice of the spirit, predict events and even deaths, and give
trance. In some cases they had special huts next to their hous-
advice to the living.
es reserved for divining. Or they might rapidly chew and spit
betel nut in order to stimulate a trance state, during which
Sacred places were often combined with living spaces.
they spoke as a possessing spirit. Sometimes another person
The Palauan kerong (a possessed and entranced diviner like
interpreted the words of the entranced diviner.
the wáátawa of Chuuk) often conducted their rituals in part
of their own house. The raised-rock platforms (taliuw) on
In some Palauan villages a god or goddess ruled the vil-
Yap were both the sacred dwelling sites of the gods and the
lage, and the leading kerong passed along its decisions. At
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
6005
times these diviners or oracles became threats to the political
would shout out potential reasons for the death, and if the
chiefs. One of the few nativist movements in Micronesia in-
sis bouquet shook, this indicated that the correct cause had
volved a revival of the diviners’ arts. In 1915 a kerong named
been found. Sometimes someone known to be good at this
Tamadad developed a syncretistic religion that combined el-
type of divining was invited to the ceremony. Early reports
ements of the old ecstatic rituals and healing and curing with
indicated that the woman holding the branches was believed
Christian elements. The religion, known as Modekngei, still
to be possessed by the deceased’s spirit, but the evidence is
exists.
vague. Palauan funerals may still feature trances without pos-
session, as they did in the past.
Ecstatic rituals. In Micronesia divination ritual leads
logically to ecstatic ritual, which involves trances or altered
Burial rituals also vary greatly from island to island. On
states of consciousness that are often interpreted as posses-
Yap the dead are considered a source of spiritual pollution,
sion. Trances or possession can be found in the past or pres-
and the immediate kin leave the deceased’s house as quickly
ent culture of almost every atoll or island of Micronesia. The
as possible. They may remain in seclusion and eat a restricted
priests at the great cult centers on Pohnpei and Kosrae used
diet for as long as a hundred days. In some areas upper-caste
trances in divining rituals. The ibonga of Kiribati, whom Sa-
people are buried by landless lower-class people who are be-
batier variously described as soothsayer, magician, divine,
holden to them (this tradition is still observed on Yap). In
doctor, prophet, miracle worker, and charlatan, used trance.
the past burial was often at sea among the Chuuk, while buri-
On the atoll of Ifalik, women who fell into trances were often
al on the family homestead was common on Kosrae. In some
the inspiration for new songs; the same was true of certain
places the interment of the body in the ground was tempo-
people on Yap.
rary, and the bones and skulls were exhumed and given
The best-recorded tradition of trance and possession is
places of honor, often in the home. In some of the matrilin-
on the Chuukic-speaking atolls and especially in the Chuuk
eal societies where Christian cemeteries have replaced older
Main Lagoon. Ancestor spirits were believed to descend onto
burial sites, some of the old ways continue.
the shoulders of a living relative and possess them. Those
The rituals of medicine. Traditional or local medicine
chosen as vessels by the ancestors were called the wáátawa
is still commonly used in Micronesia, as it is in many parts
or wáánaanú, literally “the canoe of the spirit.” This posses-
of the Pacific. How much of it is tied to spirit beliefs and
sion did not happen automatically, however, and there was
ritual is impossible to gauge. On islands that are overwhelm-
often speculation at the wake and burial about whether the
ingly Christian, nobody wants to be known as a pagan, so
deceased would be a helping spirit or a harmful one. The
the use of traditional healing rituals is often disguised. The
hope was that the spirit would descend from the hanging
physical ingredients of a medicine may be used without the
shrine (faar) and possess one of the living kin, who would
traditional chants or with the chants mumbled. Dobbin,
become the wáánaanú for the family or lineage and offer
however, describes how the mother in a devout Christian
valuable advice to the living. Some reports indicate that this
family was in the process of becoming a medicine expert and
tradition is still alive on certain atolls, but by the end of
received curing chants in a dream.
World War II the wáánaanú as an official status within the
community was rare.
The local medicine system may begin with an informal
diagnosis of an illness, but there is also a more formal system
What did continue in Chuuk communities is a more
in which a diagnostic specialist uses divination to determin
voluntary form of spirit possession and trance, especially
which spirit power is responsible for an illness. In some cases
among young girls. The signs of an altered state are clearly
another specialist will then be called in who has the means
present in the transformation of the individual’s persona.
to cure the illness. Sometimes these are one and the same per-
Dobbin has argued that the possession trance is a culturally
son. The curing ceremonies are generally public events that
sanctioned way for young females to protest problems, espe-
require the presence of family and friends. The location of
cially family problems that their cultural status prohibits
medicinal plants and details of the recipes, however, may be
them from otherwise confronting. If a girl is possessed by her
kept secret.
mother or grandmother, the matrilineal Chuuk social system
allows the senior woman to berate male family members.
Occasionally a medicine specialist in Chuuk will receive
Contemporary possession trance is reported in other Micro-
chants and recipes for medicines while in a trance state, but
nesian islands, but it is rare. The Chuuk case is a classic ex-
the more common source of local medicine, as it is called
ample of continuity and change in Micronesian ritual.
now, is through dreams sent by spirits. One can learn the
specifics from an elder or even buy the formula, but ultimate-
Funeral rituals. Funeral rituals vary throughout the is-
ly medicine, especially on Chuuk and Pohnpei, comes from
lands of Micronesia. The wake and burial rituals on Palau
the spirits.
focused on the transfer of the deceased’s title (if he or she was
a titleholder) and determination of why the person died. The
Fertility and increase rituals. This category includes
leading women of the group, which might be a clan, extend-
rituals designed to help mothers with pregnancy and child-
ed family, or village, gathered together, and one woman held
birth and to insure a good harvest and a bountiful catch from
a bouquet of sis branches (Cordyline fruticosa). The women
the land and sea. On Yap the tamarong (priest, magician,
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
conjuror, or diviner) visited the pregnant woman at distinct
leading political authorities and groups of hierarchically ran-
periods during pregnancy and offered ritual words or chants
ked priests, and also served as ceremonial centers.
(pig) to insure the healthy birth of a child. Chuuk had elabo-
Kosrae had a centralized chief or king, the tokosra, and
rate rituals to ensure the fertility of crops, probably some of
several priesthoods, each dedicated to a leading deity such as
the most elaborate among the smaller Micronesian commu-
Sinlanka. Some priests stayed in the ritual and political cen-
nities.
ter of Lelu at Kosrae. Others lived at shrines scattered across
Breadfruit was the staple starch of the Chuukic world,
the island, and on certain occasions these rural priests led
and the spirits of the breadfruit were believed to live in the
processions into Lelu. One of the most important rituals they
mystic south of the cosmos. A breadfruit caller would beckon
led celebrated the coronation of the king and his queen.
the spirits to come to the community’s breadfruit trees so
Nan Madol was the residence of the leading chief of the
that the flower would blossom and produce large breadfruits.
Sau Deleur dynasty with a section for the attending priest-
So important was the caller that his larynx or entire body
hoods. Next to the Sau Deleur residence and court was the
might be mummified when he died, lest he take the bread-
tiny islet of Idet, where a turtle was sacrificed to a sacred
fruit spirits with him when he went on to Ewúr, the mystic
moray eel. To what extent Nan Madol controlled all of Poh-
home of the breadfruit gods and goddesses.
npei is debatable, but other ritual centers with priest-chiefs
As a breadfruit season approached, the caller began his
continued to exist as independent entities.
rounds, blowing on a conch horn and calling the spirits or
The turtle–eel ceremony may have been the culmina-
souls of the trees to come and blossom. Some of these prayers
tion of a longer, more ancient ritual. Its symbolism is debat-
and petitions are still remembered on Puluwat, where the
ed. Rufino Mauricio, a Pohnpeian archaeologist and special-
caller was a ritual specialist of high honor. He petitioned, and
ist in oral histories, has suggested that the Nan Madol ritual
he begged, and he prayed. He assembled the leading men of
combines an older ritual focused on sacred sites with newer
the island in a procession. The caller led the way, chanting,
rituals worshipping living animals like the eel. Another inter-
and the followers responded as he waved a spear-like rod
pretation focuses on the meaning of wehi, the turtle, which
from side to side. They stopped at each complex of extended
is also the name for the main sections of Pohnpei, and says
family residences, where the caller plunged the rod into the
that three wehis sacrificed their independence and autonomy
ground and put some of the earth into a basket. He deposited
to the ravenous appetite of the Sau Deleur dynasty.
the earth in his own land, and repeated the ritual around the
atoll.
Neither interpretation is compelling, especially since the
ritual outlived the fall of the Sau Deleurs and then was
The incarnate breadfruit god, a conger eel called the He-
stopped by one of the paramount chiefs (nahnmwarki) of the
wanu, appeared on the shores of Puluwat every few years.
Nan Madol area after a priest killed the eels because he did
When one arrived, the breadfruit caller took the eel, wrapped
not get his share of the turtle meat. After about 1860 the
in mats, to a meeting house; only the caller (or priest, as the
priesthoods disappeared along with the animal sacrifices.
early reports call him) knew what the sacred eel was saying.
Nan Madol is now abandoned, a monument to the Pohnpei-
The eel’s presence sometimes meant that one of the select few
an fear of centralization.
who traditionally took care of the eel was going to die, and
the ritual became a dirge for the coming death. In other
The political structure after the fall of the Sau Deleurs
cases the eel was checking up on the Puluwatese, and in-
mirrors a shift in the evolution of Pohnpeian religion. One
quired of the breadfruit caller as to how hard they were work-
or two priestly centers of worship predate Nan Madol and
ing. The eel was put on a special platform bedecked by the
the Sau Deleur dynasty, with a high priest who also was the
women with sweet-smelling wreaths of flowers, and the men
political chief of the area. At least one of these the high priests
brought coconuts as offerings. At first all could come and pay
and chiefs, the soukisenleng (literally “the master of the part
their respects to the breadfruit god, later only men were al-
of heaven”), eventually joined the post-Sau Deleur structure
lowed, and finally only the select few who served the eel god
of autonomous, paramount chiefs (nahnmwarkis) and took
maintained the vigil. Eventually the eel was returned to the
or was given the highest title of nahnmwarki. His priests took
sea.
lesser noble titles. The ruler or nahnmwarki of the southern
wehi of Wene is still called the soukisenleng, and the other no-
The eel was an important symbol throughout Microne-
bles of Wene still have the old priestly titles. Mauricio judges
sia. The Kosraean breadfruit goddess, Sinlanka, was symbol-
this shift to be an early form of secularization. Of the priest-
ized by an eel, and the grand ritual at Pohnpei’s Nan Madol
hoods only the titles remain, although it is not known when
included the sacrifice of a turtle to a ravenous moray eel.
they lost their religious functions.
Myths abound on Pohnpei about the smaller freshwater eels
Some elements of the old priestly rituals are maintained
as well.
in the ceremonial houses (nahs) of the nahnmwarkis. Ritual
The grand rituals at Nan Madol and Lelu. Nan
offerings of sakau (kava, Piper methysticum) are made to the
Madol at Pohnpei and Lelu at Kosrae were elaborate stone-
god as they were in days of old. Sakau offering is part of a
work constructions that functioned as the residence of the
formal reconciliation ritual led by the chiefs; it is now incor-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
6007
porated into the Roman Catholic sacrament of forgiveness.
identified the énú as a spirit that originated as a human being
In modern times sakau, which is made into a slightly narcotic
(énúúyaramas in Chuukese).
drink, has been secularized, and can be enjoyed in sakau bars.
Widespread ambivalence among the living regarding re-
The dance as sacred ritual. On some islands the dance
cently deceased kin is common throughout Micronesia. On
tradition has all but disappeared. On Guam a so-called ritual
the one hand, people hope the deceased will be helpful to
fire dance is performed by Filipino entertainers for visiting
his or her relatives, and even take possession of one of the
tourists at the Guam Hilton hotel. Palau is struggling to re-
living who will function as the family or lineage medium. On
vive its dance traditions. But in two areas the dance needs
the other hand, they may burn the possessions of the de-
no revival: on Kiribati and on Yap. The extent to which Kiri-
ceased, hoping that the spirit will climb on the column of
bati dance is considered holdy or sacred is uncertain, al-
smoke away from the living and up to the heavens.
though the dancers of old were thought to be inspired by the
spirits. But on Yap the sacred dance still exists. Sometimes
Few Micronesian islands seem to have had a version of
the men or women of a village perform the dance for their
eschatological judgment, where one’s accumulated merit is
village, with no outsiders allowed to attend. Yap is now large-
rewarded or punished at death, although this is debated. Var-
ly Roman Catholic, and the sacred dance is regularly per-
ious reports, like Father Cantova’s interviews in the 1720s
formed as part of the liturgy. At the adoration of the cross
with Chuuk-speaking atoll dwellers who were stranded on
on Good Friday, the women perform the mourning dance
Guam or records from the Russian expedition of 1927 speak
and dirge; at the Easter vigil, the hymn of the resurrection,
of an afterlife involving reward and punishment. Spiro’s in-
the Exultat, is danced. At the ordination of a priest or dea-
vestigations on Ifalik found a highly developed morality, but
con, the dancing comes after the Roman Catholic ritual. As
the sanctions for enforcing the morality came from the
one Yapese remarked after the Catholic ceremony was fin-
chiefs, not the gods or the religious specialists. He saw no evi-
ished, “now the real liturgy begins.”
dence of an afterlife of reward and punishment.
In the late nineteenth century on the Mortlock islands
The destination of the dead is often determined by a test
of Chuuk, a strong outbreak of dancing occurred. Protestant
rather than the record of a good life. Pohnpeians at death
missionaries, fearing both its inspiration by the spirits and
came to a swinging bridge over water. If the deceased could
also what they saw as its obscene forms, thought this a return
not sing well, the swinging bridge dumped the poor singer
to the old pagan ways, although the German colonial author-
into the “place of no return.” Yapese could not ascend to the
ities encouraged it. Different denominations reacted differ-
sky layer unless their ears were pierced. On Ulithi a bad per-
ently to the old ways. On Kosrae and in the Marshalls, where
son might be destined for a sticky garbage pit. Many tradi-
Boston-based Congregationalism became the dominant
tions include a long journey to the place where the deceased
Christian denomination, the bare-breasted women were re-
would ultimately live, sometimes on the mystic island of Ma-
quired to wear the all-encompassing muumuus. In Yap, the
tang. It was also commonly believed that one went to a part
Catholic services are filled with bare-breasted women and
of the cosmos associated with one’s occupation, like the de-
men in scanty wraparounds that cover only the genitals.
ceased breadfruit callers who went to the south part of the
heavens where the spirits of the breadfruit came from.
WHAT HAPPENS AT DEATH. An almost universal Micronesian
belief is that the soul and/or the spirit leave the body three
THE PRACTITIONERS OR LEADERS OF THE OLD RELIGIONS.
or four days after death. On some islands, like the Marshalls,
Religious leaders in Micronesia generally performed a combi-
early writers could not find a clear notion of soul among the
nation of roles, including soothsayer, magician, divine, doc-
locals, probably because the Micronesians did not distin-
tor, prophet, and miracle worker. The biggest problem in de-
guish between soul and spirit, or perhaps because the spirit
scribing them is to find an appropriate word for, say, the
functioned like the soul of Western traditions. The people
Palauan kerong, the Chuuk breadfruit caller (sowuyótoomey),
of Yap and Chuuk believe in two spirits within a single indi-
or the Marshallese diviner and magician (drijikan). Three of
vidual: a good-spirit soul, ngúnúyééch, and an evil-spirit soul,
the high islands, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap, had distinct hier-
énúngngaw. The good spirit was a spiritual double of the liv-
archies of priests. The Kosraean and Pohnpeian priests disap-
ing person and hence could appear to the living. The Chu-
peared in the nineteenth century, and the last practicing Yap
ukese also had a separate word for soul, gnúnú.
priest (peq’taliuw) performed his final rituals, unattended by
anybody, after World War II. Saipan or Guam had no reli-
Another almost universal belief in Micronesia is that a
gious hierarchies, and the Palauan kerong generally worked
departed spirit can be helpful to its living kinfolk. This is the
alone. The religious status these leaders hold is given or in-
basis for what early writers called ancestor worship, but the
herited, not chosen or earned. The spirits have selected these
term is misleading. Although the deceased might be put in
people to receive their spiritual gifts.
the same general category as the sky deities, for example, in
other cases, such as on Chuuk, the good ngúnúyééch might
Many religious practitioners were part-time function-
become an énú, which is the global Micronesian term for
aries, as is still the case for the Chuuk healers, the sowusáfey,
gods and goddesses, patron deities, and harmful land or sea
and for the Yap masters of the weather, the tamarong. Cer-
spirits. Various islands also had a combination term that
tain practitioners were also craftspeople, experts, and posses-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6008
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
sors of exotic lore. Classic examples include navigators and
Rituals and religious organizations varied from region
the priest-chiefs (itang). The navigators had to have technical
to region. Patterns such as the prominent role of divination
skills as well as spirit-given knowledge and power to succeed.
and the widespread use of trance and possession cut across
The priest-chiefs had the technical knowledge to plan wars
the diversity in Micronesia, although they are carried out dif-
and also the power of the spirits to lead battles with success.
ferently in different regions. Certain types of gods are univer-
The itang were actual combatants poised ahead of their own
sal: sky and creator divinities, patron gods and goddesses, evil
battle lines. In a sea battle they stood in the lead canoe, blow-
spirits bound to certain locations on land and sea, and of
ing the conch horn, waving a spear, leading the men in battle
course ancestors. The main categories are the same, but the
chants and prayers to the war god. When the German colo-
emphasis given to various gods varies greatly. A test or trial
nial powers banned warfare, the itang became the respected
to determine who goes where in the cosmos after death is
repositories of traditions, old customs, and lineage histories.
widespread, and the general lack of eschatological judgment
Functionally speaking, the itang are now the equivalent of
to allot rewards or punishment in the afterlife is a common
the Pohnpeian oral historians, the soupoadoapoad. In the
feature across Micronesia.
twenty-first century about five or six itang are reportedly still
Because of the regional differences fostered by geo-
working in the Chuuk Lagoon. They seem to be confined
graphic distances as well as varying degrees of influence from
to the eastern Chuukic islands. The names of some of the
adjacent culture areas, an overall character cannot be as-
itang training schools are the same as the navigators’ schools
signed to Micronesian religion. It is a mélange of many ele-
in the central Chuuk atolls, where perhaps the navigators
ments: celestial and terrestrial deities, nature spirits, demons,
were also itang. The priest-chiefs found it valuable to know
and ancestral ghosts, with a strong infusion of magic, taboo,
both the skills of the itang and of the navigators.
and divination. No one trait dominates the system, but many
THE UNSOLVED DISTINCTIONS AND TERMS. Many of the
common patterns run through the overarching diversity.
neat terminological distinctions made by scholars about the
Pacific religions cannot be sustained in Micronesia, includ-
B
ing the distinction between magic and religion. When the
IBLIOGRAPHY
Ulithian masters of the weather gather near the ocean side
Aoyagi, M. “Gods of the Modekngei Religion in Belau.” In Cul-
tural Uniformity and Diversity in Micronesia, edited by Iwao
of the lagoon and make their pleas and petitions to the gods,
Ushijima and Ken-ichi Sudo. Osaka, 1987. Burrows, Edwin
is this magic or religion? Some of the chants certainly are pe-
G., and Melford E. Spiro. An Atoll Culture: Ethnography of
titions and not an attempt to manipulate the powers of the
Ifaluk in the Central Carolines. New Haven, Conn., 1953. A
cosmos. Some priests also worked as diviners, and some of
classic Freudian interpretation and good description of the
the breadfruit callers functioned like priests when they re-
workings of religion in the Chuuk-speaking atolls. Dobbin,
called the legends of the breadfruit spirits and petitioned the
J. D., and F. X. Hezel. “The Distribution of Spirit Possession
breadfruit spirits to come and bless the trees with a good
and Trance in Micronesia.” Pacific Studies 19 (1996): 105–
harvest.
148. Erdland, August. The Marshall Islanders: Life and Cus-
toms, Thought and Religion of a South Seas People. Translation
Every Micronesian culture has words for taboo (forbid-
in part by Richard Neuse. New Haven, Conn., 1961. In Die
den) and sacred (holy). On the islets of the Kwajalein atoll,
Marshall-Insulaner: Leben und Sitte, Sinn und Religion eines
the places where the chiefs were buried and medicine was
Südsee-Volkes. Münster, 1914. The best study of religion on
made were called sacred, but they could just as easily have
the Marshall Islands. Goodenough, Ward H. Under Heaven’s
been called taboo. And the taliuw—the platforms used by
Brow: Pre-Christian Religious Traditions in Chuuk. Philadel-
the Yap priests of old, which had a shrine for the site’s god
phia, 2002. Limited to the religion of the Main Chuuk La-
of goddess on top of the platform—were sacred because of
goon. Grimble, Arthur. Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the
the deity dwelling there, and access was prohibited to anyone
Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands. Honolulu, 1989. Grimble,
but the priests, making them both holy and taboo. Many En-
Arthur, and Grimble, Rosemary. Migrations, Myth, and
Magic from the Gilbert Islands: Early Writings of Sir Arthur
glish translations or glosses for Micronesian words and reli-
Grimble. London, 1972. Hanlon, David L. Upon a Stone
gious terms are less that perfect fits. Their meanings were fre-
Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890. Honolulu,
quently distorted by observers who did not understand the
1988. Rich data about the evolution of religion on Pohnpei.
theology or cosmology they were reporting.
Kubary, Jan S. “Die Religion de Palauer.” In Allerlei aus
WAS THERE A SINGLE MICRONESIAN RELIGION? The pre-
Volks- und Menschenkunde, edited by Adolf Bastian. Berlin,
Christian religions of Micronesia underwent a long period
1888. A 1969 translation is located at the University of Ha-
of evolution and change. Pohnpei is the best example of the
waii’s Pacific Collection. Kubary’s article on the religion of
shift in religion from the cult centers of the priest-chiefs to
the Palau is short by highly detailed. Lessa, William A. Tales
from Ulithi Atoll: A Comparative Study in Oceanic Folklore.
hierarchical priesthoods at various sites, followed by an at-
Berkley, 1961. Lessa, William A. Ulithi: A Micronesian De-
tempt at centralization under the Sau Deleurs and new ritu-
sign for Living. New York, 1966. The best analysis of the
als involving the sacrifice of living beings, and ultimately the
folklore of the Chuuk-speaking islands and atolls. Mahony,
secularization of priestly titles in the polity of the autono-
F. A Trukese Theory of Medicine. Ph.D. diss., Stanford Uni-
mous states (wehi) under paramount chiefs, the nahn-
versity, 1970. Lucid analysis of the role of medicine in the
mwarkis.
Chuuk-speaking isles. Mauricio, R.ufino. Ideological Bases for
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
6009
Power and Leadership on Pohnpei, Micronesia: Perspectives
According to the Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de Sanvi-
from Archaeology and Oral History. Ph.D. diss., University of
tores, who wrote between 1668 and 1672, the Chamorros
Oregon, 1993. Müller, Wilhelm. Yap. Hamburg, 1917–
of Guam believed that parentless Puntan and his unnamed
1918. Parmentier, Richard J. The Sacred Remains: Myth, His-
sister lived before the earth and sky existed. Concerned for
tory, and Polity in Belau. Chicago, 1987. Parmentier, Richard
the welfare of humankind, which was as yet uncreated, Pun-
J. “Transactional Symbolism in Belauan Mortuary Rites: A
tan at his death gave all his powers to his sister, enabling her
Diachronic Study.” Journal of the Polynesian Society 97, no.
to fashion the earth and sky from his breast and back, the
3 (1988): 281–312. Sabatier, Ernest. Sous L’Equateur du Pa-
cifique: Les Isles Gilbert et la Mission Catholique. Paris, 1939.
sun and moon from his eyes, and the rainbow from his
Reprinted as Astride the Equator: An Account of the Gilbert Is-
eyebrows.
lands, translated by Ursula Nixon. Melbourne, 1977. Sarfert,
On Chuuk, the Carolinian earth mother is replaced as
Ernst G. “Kosrae: Results of the South Sea Expedition.” In
the primal deity by Enuunap (or Anulap, great spirit). Enu-
Kusae, edited by Ernst Sarfert. Hamburg, 1919–1920. A
translation from the German by Elizabeth Murphy is located
unap either creates the world himself or has Nikowupwuupw
at the Pacific Collection of Hamilton Library, University of
(or Ligoupup, bearer or nurturer)—his wife, whom he made
Hawaii at Manoa, 1919. The only extensive ethnography of
from his blood—do it. Their children commit incest and,
the old religion. Tobin, Jack A. Stories from the Marshall Is-
along with a girl who is born from a boil that afflicts Enu-
lands. Honolulu, 2002.
unap, found the clans, for which Nikowupwuupw establishes
social rules and to whom she gives healing medicines.
WILLIAM A. LESSA (1987)
Faraulep Islanders state that Solal, a god who was half man
JAY DOBBIN (2005)
and half fish, planted his staff in the primeval sea; it grew
mightily, after which his brother Aluelap, who was also half
man and half fish, climbed it to sprinkle down earth and so
MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
make land. Aluelap now rules the sky while Solal rules the
sea and the district under it.
Micronesian myths (as distinguished from folktales) have
been primarily the domain of clan elders and sometimes of
In the Marshall Islands, parentless Lowa is said to have
trained specialists, who cite them in regard not only to com-
glanced down and murmured until a reef, islands, plants, and
munity land claims, rights, values, authority, and prestige
a white tern rose from the primeval sea. The tern then creat-
but also to functions of deities, sequences of rulers, and ori-
ed the sky by flying back and forth as if weaving a spiderweb.
gins of place-names. On Chuuk, in the Caroline Islands, the
Lowa’s commands produced deities, each with specific du-
specialists (itang) narrate myths according to the practice of
ties. A couple born from a blood tumor on his leg had two
the school that has trained them; they observe taboos, and
children who tattooed nearly every living being. Because the
they speak a secret jargon consisting of standard words with
sky rested on people’s heads, two maternal nephews of Irooj-
altered meanings, archaic expressions, and words spoken
rilik (god of the west and of reproduction), netted it and
backward. On Pohnpei, also in the Carolines, the sacred nar-
raised it by flying about in the same way as had the tern. His
ratives, called “establishing the foundation,” tend to be orga-
brother, Lomotal, created the seas, lagoons, fish, and seabirds
nized into a cultural and historical developmental sequence
in the same way with his voice.
about the origins of physical objects and of society and about
migrations, wars, and religion; the narratives also include
The myths of the Kiribati show much Polynesian influ-
songs that are based on myths. In the Marshall Islands, reb-
ence; they poetically and metaphorically elaborate the
webwenato (storytellers) are the repositories of oral narratives
themes of creation from a person’s body, of the planted staff,
that explain the origins of physical reality as well as the
of divine incest, and of sky raising. They may indeed have
human and spiritual worlds. The Kiribati and Banaba Island-
a broader base in ancient Austronesian culture. Their pri-
ers systematize their sacred narratives so that they begin with
mordial deity, Na Areau (Na Areao or Nareau), may be not
creation, continue with traditions about the migrations of
only the creator but also a world transformer, shape-shifter,
clan ancestors from Samoa and about their settlement and
and trickster, or there may be two Na Areaus, an elder who
experiences in the Kiribati, and usually end with the narrat-
creates the world and a younger who puts the world in order.
ing clan elder’s genealogy.
Although Na Areau’s name means “Sir Spider,” the Kiribati
rarely think of him as such. Na Areau brooded alone on the
CREATION AND COSMOGONIC DEITIES. Even within the
rock-hard carapace of the undifferentiated universe, called
same archipelago or on the same island, diversity and contra-
“the darkness and the cleaving together.” With his potent
diction characterize the myths about the origins of the world,
staff he penetrated its hollow interior, where, some say, the
the pantheon, the islands, living beings, and customs. In the
last child of Rock and Nothingness (who were the offspring
Carolines, for example, the functions of named gods often
of Sand and Water) was Na Areau the Younger. The elder
shift from island to island. However, a persistent Microne-
Na Areau then vanished to leave the work to the younger,
sian theme is that a preexistent god or goddess created and
who, after naming and activating the preexistent, recumbent
generated everything or delegated all or part of the work to
Fools and Deaf Mutes, had them free and raise the carapace
newly created subordinates.
of the universe, which became the sky.
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
In one version, Na Areau the Younger took the eyes of
HUMAN ANCESTORS. Except in those Micronesian mythic
the elder Na Areau to form the sun and the moon, his brains
traditions in which the primal deity and his or her spouse
to make the stars, and his spine for the Ancestral Tree on
have children, it is usually unclear how the first people origi-
Samoa, a land that Octopus and Wave had formed. Human-
nated. Rather, attention is paid to particular individual
like and nonhumanlike deities, male and female, grew happi-
mythic figures, male or female, and the role of the opposite
ly on and under the tree, each in his or her place, until Red-
sex is often denied. Husbandless females, human or animal,
tailed Tropic Bird, who lived at the crest of the tree, defecat-
bear human beings and animals and so establish clans. Chil-
ed on those below. Na Areau then burned the tree, forcing
dren also emerge from parts of the body or from maggots on
the ancestors to seek new homes in the Kiribati, which had
the body of a deity who is more often male than female. Even
been created by Na Areau’s commands (or other means).
trees bear people, as in the Kiribati, and in some traditions
Red-tailed Tropic Bird then settled in Makin, where it ate
a tree growing from a person’s head splits open to release
people until the ever-benevolent Titua-bine, whose pet it
children. In one story the earthly parentage of a clan’s female
was, ordered it killed. Red-skinned men grew on what had
ancestor is denied when she, a fingertip-size baby, falls from
been its pandanus perch, and women grew on the coconut
heaven.
tree that had been planted by the goddess on her pet’s grave.
A female animal ancestor often becomes her clan’s
These newcomers (both male and female) became chiefs in
totem. In one of several variations on the “swan maiden”
the local assembly house. Other Kiribati also have local an-
theme, a Yap man, by hiding the fins of a dolphin girl who
cestral trees that have sprung from an ancestor’s grave.
came ashore to dance, captures and marries her. Years later,
on finding her fins, she leaves her human family to return
Some Kiribati replace Na Areau in his role as the trans-
to the sea, and her daughters establish the Dolphin totemic
former with Auriaria, son of Tituabine and Tabakea (hawks-
clan. Occasionally a totem animal is helpful, as in the Pohn-
bill turtle), who are sister and brother born as a result of
pei story in which stingrays blanket the sea, tossing a disre-
Earth and Sky rubbing together. According to this alterna-
spectful minor chief from one to another until they finally
tive version, Na Areau sprang from Tabakea’s head. When
kill him for sending their totem descendant, the king, a
Auriaria, having directed the separation of Earth and Sky,
pregnant woman’s corpse instead of the bananas he had
struck Heaven with the staff given him by Tabakea, the is-
requested.
lands on top of Heaven tumbled upside down into the sea
with Tabakea under Ocean Island. Then Auriaria planted his
Many traditions include the tale of an animal mother’s
staff on Samoa, which he had raised from the sea, so that the
beautiful daughter who marries a king who has never seen
staff could grow into the Ancestral Tree. Later he married
his mother-in-law. For example, in one version Good Lizard
Na Areau’s daughter, whose descendants now live in the
makes channels on Pohnpei Island as she crawls to visit her
Kiribati.
daughter, who was married to the king, holder of the dynas-
tic title Sau Deleur (Lord of Deleur). When the husband
The high god who had been described in most detail,
brings his mother-in-law her food, she tells him not to look
Enuunap of the Chuuk area, lives in a mansion, one part for
at her. He disobeys, panics, and sets fire to the enormous
himself, the other for his ten siblings. Flounder, who has
guesthouse he had prepared for his wife’s mother. His wife
both eyes on the same side, guards Enuunap; while Sandpip-
runs into the flames; he, for love of her, follows, and the three
er, on the clashing rocks at Enuunap’s door, shrieks as souls
perish.
of the dead try to enter, allowing only the worthy to pass
There are numerous myths about marriages between sky
safely between the rocks. The now aged, white-haired, long-
gods and mortal women. Olofat, the Caroline Islands trick-
breasted, weak, and virtually inactive god has two men to
ster, is the son of Lugeilang and an earthly woman, from
raise his eyelids so that he can see; they also open his mouth
whose head he emerges. Like many culture heroes, he grows
and raise his upper lip so that he can eat. Like Puntan, Enu-
precociously. Later he flies to his sky father on a column of
unap does not receive worship. Nonetheless, he is omni-
smoke. A Kiribati semidivine clan ancestor, Bue (burn),
scient, the creator, the ruler of the pantheon, and with his
snares his father the Sun to demand knowledge and magic;
brother Semenkooror (Father of Determining), he is the god
Bue is not, like the Polynesian Maui who performed a similar
of wisdom, the greatest itang. Among the high gods there are
feat, trying to regulate the sun’s speed.
others of similar inactivity.
On both Pohnpei and Kosrae it is said that Isokelekel
The Ifaluk high god Aluelap’s only activity is to advise
(Ijokelekel, shining noble or wonderful king) is the son of
his son Lugeilang (middle of heaven), who raises Aluelap’s
the Pohnpei thunder god Nansapwe (Nan Djapue) and the
eyelids to get his attention. Yet there are also high gods who
latter’s aged clan sister from Katau (which may be Kosrae or
actively help people. Yalafath of Yap, a most helpful deity,
a spiritual place to the east). The tart lime given to her by
had Dessra, the thunder god, bring people fire; Yalafath also
Nansapwe makes her pregnant, and in her womb Isokelekel
sent his wife as a frigate bird to scout a flooded island’s needs,
learns that he is to take revenge on the irreverent Sau Deleur,
and once, after resuscitating a dead boy, he gave the boy and
the ruler who had once imprisoned Nansapwe for seducing
his mother sand to form islands and seedlings to plant.
his wife. When he is a young adult, Isokelekel sails against
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6011
this Sau Deleur with 333 warriors and their families. Isokele-
were cast on the sea, often by disgruntled women leaving
kel defeats his enemy, seizes power, and puts an end to a long
home. Dead bodies could also be the bases of islands. Belau
line of increasingly oppressive rulers who had set their sub-
developed from a giant’s corpse and the people of Belau from
jects impossible tasks. For instance, a certain Sau Deleur had
its maggots; Lelu developed from a whale-mother’s corpse.
demanded a rare shell; a boy, aided by fish, went under the
Except on Fais and Mile, island fishing is less important in
sea to get the shell, but on his return he and his family com-
the myths of Micronesia than in those of Polynesia. When
mitted suicide to escape having to perform any further such
Motikitik (a cognate of Mauitikitiki, or Maui) fishes up Fais,
tasks.
his dead mother’s signal confirms that he, not his brothers,
T
owns it and can divide it into its present three parts. Because
RICKSTERS AND DEATH. Cycles of myths tell of divine and
semidivine tricksters who are magicians, shape-shifters,
it acquired the magical hook, a Yap district dominates Fais
transformers, and gross adulterers. When the demigod Olo-
politically; were the hook lost, Fais would sink. Etao capsized
fat (Chuuk Wonofaat Stamper), who is known throughout
Mile to test some diviners’ skill in coconut-leaf divination;
the Carolines, was insulted by boys in the sky world, he gave
they located the island, fished it up, and made a drain hole
their pet sharks teeth and their stingrays barbs such as they
that is now a taro pit. Stories of building an island, usually
have now. Pretending ignorance of his relationship to him,
with rocks flying magically into place, are common. Aided
Olofat jealously kills his half brother. When Half-Beak kills
by an octopus, explorers found an exposed reef on which to
Olofat for stealing his wife, Lugeilang resuscitates him. Na
build Pohnpei and shelter it with mangroves and a barrier
Areau also enrages gods and men. When carpenters jam a
reef. Later Olsihpa and Olsohpa constructed eighty or ninety
house post down on him, Na Areau, like Olofat in a similar
artificial islets, Nan Madol, as sites for a ceremonial center,
story, has a side passage ready. With red earth and coconut
now in ruins. Olsohpa was perhaps the first to bear the royal
he simulates blood and flesh and deceives his enemies into
title Sau Deleur. According to some folk beliefs, bands of
thinking he is dead; then he appears and mocks them.
“little people,” also known in other islands, did the actual
work of construction. In most accounts the work is commu-
In the myths of the Marshall Islands, Etao and Jemaluut
nal, and the heaviest labor is accomplished by magic and a
are either the sons of Iroojrilik and Lijebake (Libage Lady
couple of large, strong people.
Turtle) or spring from the thunder god Wullep’s head. Etao
The principal cultivated plants or certain varieties of
constantly outwits his elder brother and others, and like Na
these came directly or indirectly from celestial beings, usually
Areau he plays the oven trick. Telling his host of an easy way
women. Even modern Micronesian gardeners think any new
to get food, he lies down in a hot earth oven, is covered over,
variety of plant has fallen from heaven. When three swamp
and later strolls up from the beach to uncover an oven full
taros (Cyrtosperma) fell into the sea from the Kiribati sky,
of fish and taro. His foolish host, imitating him, perishes,
they became porpoises, swam to Arorae, turned back into
and the trickster takes his wife. This is an Austronesian-wide
taros, and were planted by a man whom Tituabine instruct-
mythic theme found, for example, among the people of New
ed. Two sky men gave taro to Majro Atoll after Namu had
Hanover in Papua New Guinea.
rejected it. Milad taught the people of Belau to cultivate
In these Micronesian myths there is little interest in the
Colocasia taro; each island learned differently.
origin of permanent death. Olofat decrees that all must die
More than one mythical woman who bore both human
and stay dead, and his sister adds that Olofat too, but not
beings and food plants had a coconut son. Limkade, Irooj-
the gods, must die when the world ends. Forgetfulness leads
rilik’s sister, planted her coconut son Tobolaar after he told
to permanent death when children forget to dig up their
her of benefits that would grow from him and therefore
mother’s corpse as directed or when those who, having
prove his value to his hostile, older, human brother. Like
learned a man’s god-given secret of eternal life, forget a part
other Pacific Islanders, Micronesians tell of coconut trees
of the secret and fail to revive him. Stories of temporary
growing from the head or the grave of an eel or a person. Ni-
death and resuscitation are frequent. When the Belauan
kowupwuupw saw her first child’s eyes and mouth in the
semidivine Milad dies in a flood, the gods whom she had
nuts from the coconut tree growing on his grave. When a
once sheltered restore her to life and send Mud Hen, a per-
female eel, which Yalafath sent to Yap to populate the island
sonified mythic bird (progenitor of Rallus pectoralis), to fetch
with people, was killed generations later, a coconut tree grew
the “water of immortality” in a leaf. However, selfish Mud
from her buried head, a banana plant from her middle, and
Hen has a hibiscus bush pierce the leaf. While the spilled
a swamp taro from her tail.
“water” makes the hibiscus immune to harsh conditions,
Milad loses the chance of immortality. The angry gods, strik-
On Pohnpei, kava grew from a bit of the god Luhk’s
ing Mud Hen’s head, give it a red stripe to make it a symbol
flesh that he gave a kind woman to plant, and sugarcane grew
of wickedness and ugliness. All mud hens now have that
on the grave of a man he had ordered buried. Observing that
stripe.
rats stupefied themselves on kava and then chewed sugarcane
T
as a chaser, people imitated them, as did the sky dwellers.
HE LAND AND ITS FRUITS. According to the myths of the
area, numerous islands and islets developed not only from
According to the myths, easy ways to get food eventually
sand but also from taro, flowers, branches, and the like that
fail through envy or carelessness. Jealous neighbors who
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MICRONESIAN RELIGIONS: MYTHIC THEMES
chopped down Milad’s god-given tree, which produced
Because of the enormous hazards of seafaring, experts
breadfruit and fish, thereby caused a life-destroying flood;
in the practice, lore, and magic of canoe building and naviga-
carved wooden storyboards from Belau portray the scene.
tion are highly prized by the islanders. Experts from the Mar-
Travelers bring home new foods or carry them elsewhere.
shall Islands fear that they may at sea forget their mnemonic,
Yalafath, on sending his guest Galuai flying home on a chick-
informational, magical, and courage-inspiring chants; others
en-festooned pole, said that if he took proper care of the
fear watchful Jemeluut (Rainbow), who might punish them
chickens they would excrete yams. Soon Galuai became care-
for mistakes at sea. In Ulithi, when Palulop (great navigator),
less, and the hungry chickens, by eating the yams, lost their
a sky man residing on earth, teaches his sons navigation, the
magic (as in another tale did another man’s mistreated
as yet unborn Ialuluwe (Aluluei) listens. As elsewhere in the
money-excreting bird). Travelers, including gods, who eat
Caroline Islands, he subsequently became the supreme sea
from an inexhaustible taro plant, coconut tree, or fishpond
god. Like the Polynesian Tinirau, he has two faces, one look-
in an alien land or from a tree growing in midocean must
ing ahead and the other looking back at dangers people can-
watch out for supernatural hazards.
not see. Of his sons, Rongerik studies diligently under his
father, as a future navigator should, and later has to rescue
ORIGIN OF FIRE AND TECHNOLOGY. People ate only sun-
his brother Rongolap, who had thought only of women and
baked food until male spirits, usually from the sky and con-
had neglected his studies.
signed to earth against their will, rewarded helpful women
or boys with the knowledge of fire and cooking. Etao taught
Three women who transmitted navigational lore to peo-
a generous boy; a disoriented spirit (only a head) instructed
ple are the Yap goddess Legerem, who taught canoe building,
a Mortlock boy who escorted him home (and also restored
navigation, and star lore; the Kiribati ancestress Branch of
the life of the boy’s brother). When a Yap woman extricated
Buka, whose grandfather taught navigation and bonito fish-
the thunder god from a prickly pandanus, he put two sticks
ing to her rather than to her selfish brothers; and in the Caro-
under his arm to imbue them with fire and then demonstrat-
lines, Aluluei’s daughter, who, having given three navigation
ed how to make fire with them and cook; he also taught her
gods an inexhaustible drinking nut, received from them
pottery making. Fire from a god’s body is a recurrent motif
knowledge that was as yet unknown to her father.
in Austronesian mythology. On Chuuk, Rat, a personified
Certain mythical canoes made of rock, sand, taro tubers,
mythic being, taught a sympathetic woman to make fire and
or pandanus drupes obey verbal commands even if the owner
cook after Nuukeyinen (Lugeilang) had set Rat’s muzzle on
is not aboard. Others skim through the air, reflecting Micro-
fire and driven him from heaven for thievery. On Mortlock
nesian interest in flying by magic over their vast island area;
and Namoluk, Olofat, after escaping from being burned
in one myth a man’s hollow wooden bird carries him to his
alive for his tricks, became the god of fire and the condemned
abducted wife. More pragmatically two Pikinni (Bikini) men
and sent fire to earth in a starling’s beak.
are said to have invented the Tridacna adze and the paddling
In the myths of the Kiribati, fire came from the ocean.
canoe. Subsequently the Marshall Islanders learned about
Because the sunbeam that was caught by the boy Te-ika (the
Loktanur’s invention of masts and sails, with which she had
fish) set numerous fires in the ocean world, his father Bakoa
enabled Jebro, youngest of her five sons, to win a race to be-
(shark), Lord of the Ocean, exiled him. On earth, Tabakea,
come chief. Like other Pacific Islanders, a canoe maker may
Lord of the Land, beat Te-ika and his sunbeam to death with
find his or her felled tree restored by an offended spirit.
sticks that absorbed the fire. Subsequently he revived Te-ika
When this happened to Rongerik, Aluluei told him to first
with the same sticks because of Bakoa’s grief, but the fiery
greet a trilling bird named Seilangi, god of carpenters. This
boy died at the water’s edge. Like Maui in Polynesia, Na
done, happy Seilangi made Rongerik’s canoe in one night to
Areau in the Kiribati repeatedly demanded fire from its keep-
start him on his great career as a navigator.
er (here, Lightning); but unlike Maui, Na Areau did not
POLITICS AND POWER. Throughout Micronesia knowledge
want to learn the secret of making fire. He wished only to
is power. Those who possess the narratives hide things,
provoke the thunder god Tabuariki to a wrestling match and
change things, and selectively reveal things that will give a
to weaken him by breaking his arm.
certain shape to political and social reality. While myths
seem to speak of the past, certain themes, such as the resis-
Spirits keep secret their fishing techniques, gear, and
tance to hegemony found in trickster stories, address the
magic except from generous and deserving individuals. A
present and offers hope for the future. On Pohnpei, Isokele-
woman to whom a sea spirit has divulged family secrets in
kel’s victory over the increasingly despotic Sau Deleur be-
exchange for her new yellow skirt has to flee from the sea
comes a motif for resistance to the regionalizing tendencies
spirit’s angry father to another island where, however, she
of the Federated States of Micronesia. In the Marshall Is-
sells her secrets. In exchange for secretly borrowing his canoe,
lands, Etao does prevail against the more powerful gods and
spirits later show a Ulithi man how to make fish traps. Ac-
thus becomes a symbol of hope in the struggle of the people
cording to a complex myth, the people of Chuuk did not
of Pikinni, Anewetak, and Epja against the American mili-
know how to fish until the god Solal taught a neglected one-
tary weapons program.
legged boy, whose success then led villagers to make him
chief.
SEE ALSO Myth; Nature, article on Worship of Nature.
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
6013
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ponapean man, wrote and dictated between 1934 and 1946
The following publications are organized according to three eras
what he considered significant for his family to know about
of collection of mythological materials.
Pohnpei, including its myths, oral history, and song texts.
John L. Fischer, Saul H. Riesenberg, and Marjorie G. Whit-
First Era
ing, eds. and trans., Annotations to the Book of Luelen (Hono-
The Belief among the Micronesiana, the third volume of James G.
lulu, 1977), adds explanations, variants, and comparative
Frazer’s The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead
data.
(London, 1913–1924), gives English translations from the
Yale University’s Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) has pro-
first era of Spanish and German collections of myths, tales,
duced English translations of parts of the German ESSE and
and legends that, despite Frazer’s title, relate to more than
other works. An example is the complete translation into En-
simply death and immortality. These collections date up to
glish of the German work by Augustin Krämer and Hans
and include 1914. The volume also contains many examples
Nevermann, Ralik-Ratak (Marshall-Inseln) (ESSE II. B. XI;
from Wilhelm Müller’s Yap (Hamburg, 1917–1918), which
Hamburg, 1938), as HRAF no. 1003. Most Micronesian
is contained in Ergebnisse der Südsee-expedition, 1908–1910
school readers retell the traditions, but Pensile Lawrence et
(ESSE), edited by Georg Thilenius, a work that is conven-
al., eds., Pohnpei ni Mwehin Kawa: Old Po-nape (Saipan,
tionally identified as ESSE II. B. II.1–2. Frazer’s Myths of the
1973), uses Paul Hambruch’s Ponape (ESSE II. B. VII.3;
Origin of Fire (London, 1930) includes Micronesian exam-
Hamburg, 1936), quoting his Ponapean texts and translating
ples from English sources, such as Frederick William Chris-
into English Hambruch’s free German translations.
tian, The Caroline Islands (London, 1899; reprint, London,
1967), and English translations of Spanish and German
There have been significant attempts to collect, preserve, and use
sources, including examples from several ESSE volumes.
Micronesian myths. Students have become more aware of
their heritage, as evidenced in Gene Ashby, comp. and ed.,
As almost every ESSE volume includes myths (some are devoted
Never and Always: Micronesian Stories of the Origins of Islands,
entirely to narratives and chants), the series is an indispens-
Landmarks, and Customs, 2d ed. (Eugene, Oreg., 1983). Mu-
able primary source. Also during the first era, the series An-
seums and libraries have begun to collect local myths, for ex-
thropos Bibliothek published August Erdland, Die Marshall-
ample, the Alele Museum on Majro, the Belau National Mu-
Insulaner (Münster, Germany, 1914), and Laurentius Bollig,
seum, the libraries at Belau Community College and the
Die Bewohner der Truk-inseln (Münster, Germany, 1927),
Community College of Micronesia, and the Oceania and
both of which take into account the islanders’ own classifica-
Special Collections at Northern Marianas College. These
tion of genres. Paul Hambruch, Südseemärchen aus Austra-
and other sources contributed to Bo Flood, comp., Marianas
lien, Neu-Guinea, Fidji, Karolinen, Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii,
Island Legends: Myth and Magic (Honolulu, 2001), and Bo
Neu-Seeland (Jena, Germany, 1921), has valuable notes on
Flood, Beret E. Strong, and William Flood, comps., Micro-
the distribution of certain myths.
nesian Legends (Honolulu, 2002).
Second Era
Anthropologists continue to develop an understanding of Micro-
As the first era was that of Spanish, and then German, political
nesian myths. Glenn Petersen explores the meanings and po-
control of the Marianas, Carolines, and Marshalls (the Gil-
litical uses of narratives in Lost in the Weeds: Theme and Vari-
berts remained British), the second era of collection was that
ation in Pohnpei Political Mythology, Occasional Paper 35
of the Japanese between the two world wars. Lack of transla-
(Honolulu, 1990). Ward H. Goodenough analyzes the rela-
tion from the Japanese has made largely inaccessible such
tionship between myth and personhood in Under Heaven’s
publications as those by Masamichi Miyatake and Masaachi
Brow: Pre-Christian Religious Tradition in Chuuk (Philadel-
Noguchi for Palau (now Belau) and especially Hisataka Hi-
phia, 2002). A notable collection of myths is Jack A. Tobin’s
jakata for Palau and Satawal. Until Hijakata taught Palauans
Stories from the Marshall Islands: Bwebwenato jan Aelon Kein
to carve portable storyboards, they had carved mythic scenes
(Honolulu, 2002). Tobin provides texts collected over the
only on men’s clubhouses.
last forty years in both Marshallese original and English
translations.
Third Era
The third collecting era in the three archipelagoes began after
There have been some creative attempts to bring myths to bear
World War II with the Coordinated Investigation of Micro-
on present realities. Robert Barclay probes the neocolonial
nesian Anthropology (CIMA) and led many Americans to do
arrangement on Kwajalein through parallel story lines juxta-
fieldwork in the area. A work of special note is Edwin Grant
posing life in the expatriate American community, life in the
Burrows’s Flower in My Ear: Arts and Ethos of Ifaluk Atoll (Se-
Marshallese labor community, and life in the spiritual world
attle, Wash., 1963), which discusses myths and chants in
of Etao and Jemaluut in Melal: A Novel of the Pacific (Hono-
terms of style and social values. Roger E. Mitchell, Microne-
lulu, 2002).
sian Folktales (Nagoya, Japan, 1973), includes notes on dis-
KATHARINE LUOMALA (1987)
tribution. Seventeen pages of annotated listings of Microne-
MICHAEL A. RYNKIEWICH (2005)
sian, including Kiribati, mythology are in Margaret Orbell,
A Select Bibliography of the Oral Tradition of Oceania (Paris,
1974).
Collections by Micronesians themselves are increasing. Particular-
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDI-
ly remarkable is John L. Fischer, Saul H. Riesenberg, and
TION]. Regardless of what specifically the Hebrew word
Marjorie G. Whiting, eds. and trans., The Book of Luelen:
midrash stands for in its two occurrences in a postexilic book
Luelen Bernart (Honolulu, 1977). Luelen (1866–1946?), a
of the Hebrew scriptures (2 Chr. 13:22, 24:27), where the
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
reference is clearly to something written or written in (Heb.,
of the Ten Commandments interpretation was taking place
ketuvim; Gr., gegramménoi), by the last century BCE it stands
(Mekhilta D 2.267). But such statements have no historical
for oral interpretation, that is, interpretation of the Torah,
value and perhaps are not meant to be taken as history in the
the Law of Moses; and one who interprets the Law is referred
strict sense. They represent a tendency to project later insti-
to as doresh ha-torah. This we learn from the literature of the
tutions farther and farther back in time in order to suggest
Dead Sea sectarians (Damascus Covenant 6.7, 7.18f., 8.29;
high antiquity and that these are not recent unauthorized in-
Manual of Discipline 6.6, 8.15; see also Ecclesiastes 1:13). In-
ventions.
deed, it is possible that already at the beginning of the second
century
Whatever very ancient interpretation may have been
BCE there were in existence schools where Torah in-
terpretation was going on. In the Hebrew of Ben Sira (c.
like (reflected also in glosses, popular etymologies, and para-
200–180
bles within the Hebrew scriptures themselves; cf. I. L. Seelig-
BCE), the author, Simeon ben Joshua ben Sira, or
Sirach, by whose time “wisdom” is already equated with the
mann in Supplement to Vetus Testamentum, vol. 1, 1953,
Torah, speaks as follows: “Turn to me, you who are un-
pp. 150–181), it is unquestionable that from roughly 250
taught, and lodge in my school [beit midrash; literally,
BCE, when the Pentateuch was translated into Greek (as the
‘house, or place, of midrash’; en oiko¯ paideias].” Midrash is
Septuagint), and continuing for seven hundred years and be-
therefore a school activity. In the beit ha-midrash, the school,
yond, when major collections of midrashic literature contin-
learning is to be found, wisdom is to be acquired, there is
ued to be redacted, midrash flourished in the Jewish acade-
a master, and there are disciples; through interpretation, un-
mies of Palestine. From the end of approximately the second
derstanding of the Torah is attained: “The book of the cove-
century CE, midrash flourished to a lesser extent in the Baby-
nant of the Most High God, the Law (Torah) which Moses
lonian Jewish academies as well, though it was principally a
commanded us . . . fills men with wisdom, like the Pishon,
Palestinian creation.
and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits. It makes
Hellenistic-Roman influence on intellectual and cultur-
them full of understanding like the Euphrates, and like the
al life in Jewish Palestine affected midrashic activity, as can
Jordan at harvest time” (Sir. 24:23–26)—and there is more
be seen in the penetration of Greek (and other foreign)
to this effect.
terms, the terminology for some rules of interpretation, the
ORIGINS OF THE MIDRASH. A question that may never be
circulation of tales and epigrams, the parables drawn from
answered satisfactorily is that of when, precisely, the inter-
royal and imperial establishments, a few cultic details, and
pretation of the Torah began. For from the moment any text
the significance given to the numerical value of Hebrew
is adopted as a rule or guide of life, some interpretation—
words (gimat:riyyah). In short, while it would be inexcusably
added explanation, commentary—inevitably becomes neces-
uncritical to assume that wherever there is influence there is
sary. In scripture itself, though most commandments are lu-
simultaneously direct dependence and borrowing, the rich
cidly drawn up, there are four occasions when even Moses
and constant intellectual preoccupation with explanation of
was in need of further instruction regarding procedures for
the language and content of scripture by teachers to students
laws already established (Lv. 24:10–23; Nm. 9:4–14, 15:32–
in the schools, and to the public at large by means of sermons
36, 27:1–11). The Midrash also calls attention to Moses fac-
in the synagogues, is an echo of the stimulation provided
ing difficulty in understanding specifically what God has or-
wherever—not only in Palestine—the spirit of Greek learn-
dered (Mekhilta D, ed. Jacob Lauterbach, 1.15; cf. Sifrei Zut:aD,
ing and letters came to the attention of the learned classes.
ed. Saul Lieberman, 6.16; but see also Harry Fox in Tarbiz
Native traditions were not necessarily abandoned; indeed,
49, 1980, 278ff.). In scripture such cases are reported proba-
they might now be held onto more tightly, but they would
bly to underscore that no human legislator, not even Moses,
also be interpreted in ways comprehensible to those who
is the originator of biblical laws, that Moses only transmits
lived in an age when Greek models of thinking and expres-
what the Lord ordains; the Law of Moses is God’s law which
sion dominated the overall intellectual climate.
he communicates through Moses. But these cases at the same
AGGADIC MIDRASH. Midrash (i.e., interpretation, commen-
time illustrate that no written code can be operative without
tary, exegesis, amplification) was applied to all of scripture,
supplementary instruction. And supplementary instruction
and in tannaitic times (approximately the first two centuries
is what midrash provides.
CE), especially to four books of the Pentateuch, Exodus
There is therefore a measure of justice to the traditional
through Deuteronomy, because these contained the bulk of
view that the written Torah had to be accompanied from the
biblical halakhah, the regulations governing the conduct of
outset by expository teachings of some kind, transmitted and
society as well as individual practice. However, even in these
inherited orally (the oral Torah). But we are in no position
books there is considerable nonhalakhic material, what is
to fix the time when precisely such very ancient supplemen-
called aggadah, and the first book of the Pentateuch, Genesis,
tary teaching began. In legendary lore there are views that,
is almost entirely aggadah. Aggadic subject matter was there-
for example, statutory prayer services were first established
fore also commented on in the tannaitic midrashim, and
by the patriarchs (B.T., Ber. 26b); that benedictions of the
some of the leading masters of halakhah were also leading
grace after meals were added by Moses, Joshua, David, and
masters of aggadah. Thus we have aggadic midrashim not
Solomon (ibid., 48b); and that already at Sinai at the giving
only on Genesis but also in the midrashic compilations on
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
6015
the other Pentateuch books as well, and aggadic discussion
ment of God’s omnipotent and arbitrary power, EAqivaD
is thus included not only in the tannaitic midrashim but in
hushes him up by means of an alternative interpretation that
subsequent works devoted to all the books of the Hebrew
every decision of God is just, (Mekhilta D 1.248). Or when Is-
Bible.
rael is mocked because the Temple was destroyed (presum-
ably, a sign of God’s rejection of Israel), one sage declares
The word aggadah may be rendered as “narrative, recita-
that this was, on the contrary, a sign of God’s love for Israel,
tion, account based on scripture,” but the term, the concept,
in that he let out his wrath on the sticks and stones of the
implies and refers to very much more in the midrashic and
structure (his own habitation) rather than on the people
Talmudic corpora. By aggadah is meant that which strictly
themselves (Lam. Rab. on Lam. 4:11 ed. Buber, 74b). Com-
speaking is not classified as halakhah, as required, normative
ments like these were obviously made as a consolation after
practice. Aggadah includes narratives, historical composition,
profound tragedy. And they reveal too the ready resort to
poetry, speculation, genealogical records, fanciful interpreta-
paradox: even misfortune may be for the good (see also Gene-
tion, moral exhortation—in short, the exposition of the
sis 45:5–8; for paradox in halakhah, see Tanh:umaD on Num-
whole variety of scriptural contents beyond the codified, leg-
bers, ed. Buber, 52a–b).
islative, and juristic, prescribed courses of action which con-
stitute halakhah.
Along with polemics, midrash aggadah does not hesitate
to indulge in varieties of apologetics. Thus examples of ques-
There are instances where a sharp line between aggadic
tionable behavior of the patriarchs and Israel’s heroes (the
comment and halakhic cannot be drawn easily; see, for ex-
twelve sons of Jacob, David, and Solomon) are frequently ex-
ample, Keritot 6.3 (and cf. EliEezer in Keritot 6.1). On the
cused and presented in a positive light, while their enemies’
whole, however, a halakhic discussion is easily distinguished
characters are in almost all respects regarded as wicked—
from an aggadic one. In the former, legalistic concern is up-
typical folkloristic treatment. Events in scripture are identi-
permost, norms of practice are sought, there is close attach-
fied as foreshadowings of experiences later in the sages’ own
ment to what the sages regard as literal meaning, argument
times and of the age to come. By means of midrash the pro-
by authorities is erudite and acute, there is constant resort
tests and resentments of later generations find eloquent out-
to tradition, rules of interpretation are followed with due re-
let, and this in turn leads to attempts at theodicy. In the re-
gard for their function (those of Hillel in the first century,
telling of biblical narratives legendary lore is drawn upon in
those of EAqivaD and YishmaEeDl in the second century), and
order to emphasize particular values and ideals; so, too, to
casuistry is employed as in all legal and scholastic disciplines.
contrast the ways of the nations of the world with Israel’s
On the other hand, aggadah is unrestrained contemplation
ways. And in virtually all interpretation, especially where
and interpretation associated with the vocabulary and themes
more than immediate, literal meaning is sought, the aim of
of all parts of the Bible. There is free application of the sub-
aggadic midrash is moral and didactic. This is particularly
ject of one verse in scripture to another verse far removed
noteworthy in the stories told about famous sages: in these,
from it, so that, for example, in undertaking to comment on
fancy and fact are so closely intertwined it is rare that the one
Leviticus 1:1, the teacher or preacher introduces Psalms
can be separated from the other.
103:20 and by skillful adaptation can demonstrate that the
Psalms verse explains the intention of the Leviticus verse. Ag-
Aggadic midrash also preserves evidence of Gnostic
gadah is very often sermonic, interpretation for the benefit
speculation by certain rabbis on the theme of creation, on
of the folk in the synagogue, and therefore, though there are,
the chariot spoken of by Ezekiel, on the overpowering reality
so to speak, rules of interpretation for aggadah as well, they
of the godhead and his celestial retinue, on major historic ex-
do not really confine the aggadot within strictly drawn her-
periences of Israel (at the sea after the redemption from
meneutical perimeters.
Egyptian bondage and at the Sinai revelation), on the con-
trast between the fate of man after the Fall and before it and
Considerable liberty of interpretation was permitted to
what might have been otherwise.
and practiced by the authors of midrash aggadah, who em-
With such latitude available to aggadic midrash, all as-
ployed all the rhetorical devices common among textual
pects of life come under review—the relations of man to God
scholars of their time, used, for instance, in the interpretation
and of man to fellow man. Piety of conduct (in the light of
of Homer. Thus much is made of punning, of homophones,
the law and in action surpassing legal prescription) and piety
of methods of dream interpretation, of figures of speech, and
of thought are exemplified. Public virtue and private virtue
of acronyms. A frequent form of interpretation is the
are discussed in the light of moral expectation, related to bib-
parable of kings and their subjects. Verses receive not just
lical verses, which are quoted and given novel interpretation,
one but many interpretations, which indictes not the rejec-
and interrelated with the particular theme in the mind of the
tion of previous explanation but the simultaneous legitimacy
teacher or preacher.
of a number of meanings which the biblical, divinely revealed
text contains and hence, also, beneath-the-surface lessons.
For example, scripture (Ex. 19:1–2) reports that “On
Midrash aggadah is employed for polemic purposes, against
the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from
internal challengers as well as antagonists from the outside.
the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilder-
For example, when Pappos interprets Job 23:13 as a state-
ness of Sinai. Having journeyed from Rephidim, they en-
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
tered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped [here the verb
takes two things: (1) to explain opaque or ambiguous texts
is plural: va-yah:anu] in the wilderness. Israel encamped
and their difficult vocabulary and syntax thus supplying us
[here the verb is singular: va-yih:an] there in front of the
with what we would call literal or close-to-literal explanation
mountain.”
or, for lack of that, purely homiletical guess; (2) to contem-
porize, that is, so to describe or treat biblical personalities and
To draw the moral of these verses the homilist first in-
events as to make recognizable the immediate relevance of
vokes a verse from Proverbs in which the subject is the excel-
what might otherwise be regarded as only archaic. As we have
lence of wisdom, which for the homilist and his audience is
seen, a scene from the account of the revelation of the Ten
already understood as the Torah. Then Proverbs 3:17—“Its
Commandments becomes a homily on Torah and peace. Pa-
[wisdom’s] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths
triarchs will be described as mourning for the destruction of
are peace”—is made to shed light on the Exodus report. Thus
the Temple. Esau comes to represent the Roman empire.
the Holy One, blessed be he, actually wished to give the
Torah to Israel at the time they left Egypt, but the Israelites
The twelve sons of Jacob become extraordinary military he-
kept quarreling with each other, saying all the time, “Let us
roes. And so it goes for the rest of scripture: the past addresses
head back to Egypt” (Nm. 14:4). Note what is written (Ex.
the present, directly or indirectly, and drops hints of the fu-
13:20): “They set out from Succoth and encamped at
ture. There are midrashic interpretations that grow out of
Ethan”—both verbs are in the plural, for as the Israelites
both a lexical problem in the verse and the desire to apply
moved on (“set out”), they quarreled, and as they halted
the explanation to the thinking and need of the later age. For
(“encamped”), they quarreled; but when they reached Re-
example, for ve-anvehu (“and I will glorify him” [Ex. 15:2])
phidim, they all made peace and became a united assembly
AbbaD ShaDul says, “Take after him [ani ve-huD; lit., ‘I and
(a single band). (And when is the Almighty exalted? When
he’], even as he is gracious and compassionate, so should you
Israel forms a single band, as it is said [Am. 9:6], “His band
be gracious and compassionate”; thus a meaning of the prob-
he founded on the earth” [Lv. Rab. 30.12, 710]—possibly
lematic anvehu is provided and along with that the moral les-
an appeal not to break up into conflicting sects.) How do
son of imitatio dei (Mekhilta D 2.25).
we know that they all became a united assembly? For the
Although, as I have said earlier, the midrash takes into
verse (Ex. 19:2) says, “Israel encamped there in front of the
account whatever scripture refers to, there are at least three
mountain,” and this time the verb is in the singular:
themes to which much reflection and commentary are devot-
va-yih:an; it is not written, “they encamped,” with the verb
ed. The first is the absolute unity and incomparability of
in the plural, va-yah:anu. Said the Holy One, blessed be he,
God. The cue for this is of course in scripture (Dt. 6:4 and
the Torah, all of it, is peace (-loving); to whom shall I give
elsewhere), but the kind of emphasis given is essentially post-
it? To the nation that loves peace. Hence (Prv. 3:17), “and
biblical—that is, that no dualism or plurality of gods is to
all its paths are peace” (Mekhilta D 2.200; Lv. Rab. 9.9, 188;
be tolerated; no worship of God is to be modeled after pagan
Tanh:umaD on Ex., ed. Buber, 37b, 9).
worship; that regardless of what overtakes Israel, God’s jus-
A number of elements, typical of midrash as a whole, ap-
tice is not to be denied; that unlike frequent frivolous treat-
pear in this passage. To begin with, there is the association
ment of their gods by the pagan world, Israel must love God
of a verse “far removed” (in Proverbs) with the particular
absolutely, with no reservations, come what may. In the mid-
verse (in Exodus) to be interpreted—which is meant to dem-
rash God may be spoken of anthropomorphically; this does
onstrate that all parts of scripture endorse each other and that
not embarrass the sages; they know that such speech is meta-
it can be shown, when necessary, that they are not in conflict.
phorical and inevitable (therefore its presence in scripture it-
Second, there is meticulous attention to minutiae—the sig-
self); what they fear is blasphemy and anything that can lead
nificance even of shifts from plural to singular (by dropping
to the desecration of God’s name.
one consonant)—from which an important lesson can be de-
A second recurring theme is Israel—that is, Israel of the
rived. Third, verses are cited at every opportunity to serve as
biblical past, Israel of the present, and the ideal Israel of the
proof text; in many midrashim this feature is even more lav-
age to come. To the patriarchs of Israel there had already
ishly exhibited than in our passage, and there is no trace of
been the promise that God would maintain a unique rela-
their authors’ possessing concordances to help them in their
tionship with their descendants. And though God may grow
search for apt quotations. Finally, of course, there is the chief
angry at them and visit them with punishments and disasters,
theme with which the midrash may be concerned, in our
the bond between God and their people is a permanent one
case, the theme of peace (which may be a warning against
(see also Ezekiel 20:30–44). Israel is under obligation to carry
sectarianism or even an exhortation not to contemplate re-
out his commands, and in midrashic and Talmudic centuries
bellion against the ruling powers). That study of the Torah
this meant not merely the commands as formulated “briefly”
thrives on peace and leads to peace is what the midrashic and
in the scriptures but as interpreted at length by the sages: “‘If
Talmudic sages frequently tried to stress.
you do not hearken unto me’ (Lv. 26:14), that is, if you do
GOALS AND THEMES OF THE MIDRASH. There are very many
not hearken to the interpretation, the instruction [midrash]
midrashim even more complex in their structure and content,
of the sages” (Sifra D 111b; see also Sifrei, Dt. 49, ed. Finkel-
but basically it may be said that all midrashic teaching under-
stein, 114f.). Along with this fundamental view come all
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
6017
sorts of promises of ultimate reward for adherence to the
kind of overture to the principal interpretation; perhaps (as
terms of the covenantal relationship and all sorts of regula-
suggested by Joseph Heinemann in Scripta Hierosolymitana,
tions concerning how Israel is to remain distinct from the
1971) these served as brief sermons before the Torah reading.
nations of the world in whose midst Israel of the present
Tanh:umaD Yelammdenu midrashim tend to introduce the ag-
must live. The self-consciousness demanded by the original
gadic discourse by citation of a halakhic question and answer,
covenant and its subsequent reaffirmations is not merely
doubtless not only to convey a rule of practice but to under-
taken for granted or left implicit; it is repeatedly articulated.
score that halakhah and aggadah are one in aim. There are
midrashic texts drawn up for the round of special days in the
No less pervasive is the third theme, that of Torah,
year, feasts and fast days and other appointed occasions (e.g.,
which has two meanings, often simultaneous but often also
Pesiqta D de-Rav KahanaD). There are still other compilations,
distinct, and it is not always easy to decide which is intended.
but what is significant is that in all these texts, regardless of
The word torah can stand both for the study of the Torah
stylization, there is created an intellectual, didactic, hortatory
and for putting into practice the teachings of the Torah.
tone which all the midrashim share, and thus all the midrash-
While obedience to the commands of the Torah is already
im sound as though they all were in manner or approach
a frequent biblical injunction, what especially characterizes
alike. At a later time (from about the seventh century on),
the demands of the sages in the midrash is their tireless exhor-
midrashic views are combined to create a literary composi-
tation that all must study Torah, that neglect of study is not
tion—for example, on the sacrifice of Isaac or Abraham, on
just a sign of a poor education but a deficiency in one’s role
the rabbinic martyrs of the Hadrianic period, on Abraham’s
in life. The sages do not deny that one may merit a share in
discovery of and commitment to the one God, on the death
the life of the world to come even if he is not a scholar or
of Moses, and so forth.
student. But this hardly satisfies them, and ever and again
they return to the duty and privilege of Torah study. It is a
There seem occasionally to have existed books of agga-
person’s required curriculum from the time he begins scrip-
dah even in rabbinic times, but the rabbis disapproved of
ture study at the age of five—from the time he begins to
them. Like all other branches of study, except for scripture,
speak, he should be taught selected verses on the theme of
aggadic midrash was delivered and attended to as part of the
Torah—until the day of his death. Many hyperbolic sayings
oral law, that branch of the total tradition that was not to
occur in this connection, and these are indicative of the
be put in writing: midrash, Mishnah, targum, Talmud, the
lengths to which the sages were prepared to go in order to
halakhot and the aggadot—in other words, what the rabbis
impress on all classes in society, rich and poor, the supreme
taught.
obligation and value of Torah study. It is the emphasis on
The creators of the aggadic midrashim were the rabbis,
Torah study, indeed, that gradually transformed the original-
but this does not mean that they drew only on scholarly
ly prophetically oriented religion of Judaism into an intellec-
sources or had only scholarly exposition in mind. The rabbis
tually directed religious experience in which scholars are the
did draw on these, especially when biblical terms were diffi-
elite.
cult; but they also drew on folklore, on popular legends, on
THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION. The bulk of aggadic mid-
anecdotes, on deliberately imaginative identifications which
rash commentary which we possess very likely came into
would make the passage they were interpreting intelligible
being as homilies in connection with the Torah reading as
and also surprising to their audience. They might use current
part of synagogue worship. Unfortunately, it is still impossi-
Greek words and epigrams to add special vividness to their
ble to fix the time when public Torah reading was first insti-
interpretation. They might adopt allegorical methods of ex-
tutionalized. It was certainly in existence by the end of the
planation. Everyone, including women and children, attend-
last century BCE and the first century CE, for Philo Judaeus,
ed the synagogue to hear the preacher. Midrashic method be-
Josephus Flavius, and the New Testament all refer to the
came so popular that even nonscholarly men could express
study and exegesis of Torah (and prophetic selections) as a
themselves in the form, or so the midrash relates. For exam-
weekly Sabbath program. The weekly reading (in Palestine,
ple, a rabbi’s ass driver undertakes to refute a Samaritan
according to a three-and-a-half-year cycle) served as the prin-
when the rabbi himself is at a loss for a proper retort (Gn.
ciple of organization, the scheme of arrangement for the
Rab. 32.10, 296f.); an unlearned man offers an interpreta-
midrashic homilies.
tion of a verse the rabbi had not thought of, and the rabbi
promises the man that he will use that interpretation in a ser-
The different midrashic compilations display a certain
mon in the man’s name (ibid., 78.12, 932f.). When a homily
variety of composition—there are midrashim that comment
is admired, one might praise it as “a precious gem.”
on the biblical text verse by verse (exegetical midrashim; e.g.,
Genesis Rabbah) and those that comment only on the open-
Exposure and attention to aggadic midrash were certain-
ing verse or verses of the pericope and then move on to the
ly widespread, especially when the hearts of the people craved
next biblical unit (homiletical midrashim; e.g., Leviticus Rab-
comforting. But aggadic midrash, as I have mentioned, was
bah) In these exegetical and homiletic midrashim, before the
also part of the oral law and was also a subject of the beit ha-
principal midrashic interpretation there may be an introduc-
midrash, the academy. There is no lack of comments empha-
tory homily or homilies, petih:taD, petih:ataD, or proems, as a
sizing the value of this study, but the very repetitions in favor
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MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FIRST EDITION]
of aggadah create the impression that scholars had to be en-
were drawn up in different times: Genesis Rabbah (ed-
couraged again and again not to neglect it. Early allegorists
ited by Julius Theodor and Chanoch Albeck), from the
said, “If you wish to recognize him who spake and the world
late fourth to early fifth century, is the earliest, and just
came to be [i.e., if you wish to have correct thoughts about
a little later is Leviticus Rabbah (edited by Mordecai
the creator of the universe], study aggadah, for it is thus that
Margulies). For Deuteronomy Rabbah, see also the edi-
you will recognize him who spake and the world came to be
tion by Saul Lieberman. On this collection as a whole,
and cleave to his ways” (Sifrei Dt. 49, ed. Finkelstein,
see Zunz (1892).
p. 115). The superlative estimate of aggadah is here evident:
2. Tanh:umaD on the Pentateuch and Tanh:umaD, edited by
what leads one to a proper knowledge of God and to attach-
Solomon Buber.
ment to his ways is to be found not in pursuit of halakhic
studies (alone?) but in reflection on the acts of God as de-
3. Pesiqta D de-Rav KahanaD (edited by Bernard Mandel-
scribed in many places of the aggadah. But the feeling is ines-
baum).
capable that such sentiments imply a criticism of those schol-
4. Midrash Tehillim (Midrash of the Psalms), edited by
ars who, because they are chiefly masters of the law, experts
Buber.
in the complex disciplines of dialectic and halakhic subtle-
ties, tend to regard aggadah condescendingly. The very free-
5. The Yemenite Midrash ha-gadol on the Pentateuch, by
dom of speculation it permits and its very lack of fixed rules
David ben Amram Adani (thirteenth century), which
of mandatory conduct probably make the sages uncomfort-
draws on earlier midrashic compilations (some no lon-
able. Moreover, the exacting analytic exercises demanded by
ger extant) and even Maimonides to form a collection
halakhah may have made single-minded halakhists feel supe-
of its own: Genesis and Exodus (edited by Margulies); Le-
rior to that which appealed to popular taste. On the other
viticus (edited by Nahum Rabinowitz and Adin Steins-
hand, for the folk as a whole the aggadah was a perennial re-
alz); Numbers (edited by Solomon Fisch; a second edi-
freshment of spirit and of the courage to endure. This the
tion was edited by Tsevi Rabinowitz); Deuteronomy
scholars did not deny, and that experience of refreshment re-
(edited by Fisch).
mained true for centuries to come.
6. Yalqut: Shim Eoni, also of the thirteenth century, by a
PRINCIPAL COMPILATIONS. The following is a list of the
rabbi ShimEon, which gathers its material from many
principal midrashic compilations and treatises; critical edi-
earlier midrashim and covers the whole of Hebrew scrip-
tions are listed briefly within parentheses. Particular but non-
tures.
critical editions are listed without parentheses.
SEE ALSO Biblical Exegesis, article on Jewish Views; Torah.
First are the tannaitic midrashim; these are essentially
halakhic, but they contain a good deal of aggadic material
BIBLIOGRAPHY
as well:
On all this literature see the classic presentation by Leopold Zunz,
1. Exodus: Mekhilta D de-Rabbi Yishma EeDl (edited by Jacob
Die gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden (1832; 2d ed., Hil-
Lauterbach; a second edition was edited by Hayyim
desheim, 1966) but even better the Hebrew translation
Horovitz and Israel Rabin) and Mekhilta D de Rabbi
thereof, Ha-derashot be-Yisra Eel (Jerusalem, 1947), which is
Shim Eon bar Yoh: Dai (edited by Jacob Epstein and Ezra
brought up to date and corrected by Chanoch Albeck in the
light of later research. Other midrashic collections not listed
Melamed).
here, albeit of considerable importance, are also described
2. Leviticus: Sifra D, edited by I. H. Weiss. There is also an
and discussed in this work.
edition by Meir Ish Shalom [Friedmann] that is critical
The best presentation of the sages as aggadic teachers is Wilhelm
but only a beginning; Louis Finkelstein has published
Bacher’s Die Agada der Tannaiten, 2 vols. (1884–1890; re-
Vatican Manuscript Codex Assemani LXVI of the trea-
print, Berlin, 1965–1966); Die Agada der palästinischen
tise with a long and instructive introduction. Finkel-
Amoräer, 3 vols. (Strasbourg, 1892–1899); and Die Agada
stein’s critical edition of Sifra D has begun to appear.
der babylonischen Amoräer (Strasbourg, 1878). Bacher intro-
duces each of the principal teachers separately, organizes the
3. Numbers: Sifrei de-vei Rav, and Sifrei zut:aD (both edited
teachings around major categories as embodied in many scat-
by Horovitz).
tered sayings, and comments on them. This work is also
available in Hebrew translation by A. Z. Rabinowitz). See
4. Deuteronomy: Sifrei (edited by Finkelstein) and Midrash
also E. E. Epstein-Halevi’s Ha-aggadah ha-historit biyyogerafit
Tanna Dim, edited by David Hoffmann.
le-or meqorot Yevaniyim ve-Lat:iniyim (Jerusalem, 1973).
The following are aggadic midrashim from the amoraic peri-
The nature of Judaism as a religion as it emerges from aggadic
od (c. third through fifth or sixth century) to the thirteenth
midrash especially (but not exclusively) is best represented by
century:
Solomon Schechter’s Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology (Lon-
don, 1909), reprinted as Aspects of Rabbinic Theology (New
1. The collection known as Midrash Rabbah on the Penta-
York, 1961); George Foot Moore’s Judaism in the First Three
teuch and the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamen-
Centuries of the Christian Era, the Age of Tannaim, 3 vols.
tations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther). The individual works
(1927–1940; reprint, Cambridge, Mass., 1970); Joseph Bon-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FURTHER CONSIDERATONS]
6019
sir-ven’s Palestinian Judaism in the Time of Jesus Christ, trans-
ORIGINS OF MIDRASH. Goldin’s assumptions regarding the
lated by William Wolf (New York, 1964); and E. E. Ur-
biblical origins of midrash have been buttressed in a number
bach’s The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs, 2 vols.,
of works. This insistence on biblical antecedents has been ex-
translated from the second Hebrew edition by Israel Abra-
haustively demonstrated by Michael Fishbane (1985) and
hams (Jerusalem, 1975). For additional reading one may
also linked to the scribal and wisdom circles of the late Sec-
consult the selected titles listed below.
ond Temple era by James Kugel (1986, 2001). It should be
Albeck, Chanoch. “Introduction.” In Genesis Rabbah. Edited by
noted that this tracing of the lineage of the midrash to its
Chanoch Albeck and Julius Theodor. Berlin, 1931. Reprint-
biblical roots is somewhat apologetic in nature in that it de-
ed under the title Midrash: Rabbath Genesis. Jerusalem, 1965.
picts rabbinic activity as preexistent within the canon and as
Bickerman, Elias J. “La chaïne de la tradition pharisienne.” Revue
the natural outgrowth from it. Nevertheless, the prerabbinic
biblique 59 (1952): 44–54.
origins of midrash and aggadah are now considered well es-
Fischel, Henry A. Rabbinic Literature and Greco-Roman Philoso-
tablished.
phy: A Study of Epicurea and Rhetorica in Early Midrashic
Writings. Leiden, 1973.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER LITERATURES. The work of
comparison of rabbinic literature and its exegetical activity
Ginzberg, Louis. Legends of the Jews. 7 vols. Translated by Henri-
etta Szold et al. 1909–1938. Reprint, Philadelphia, 1946–
with that of Hellenistic authors continues apace. Henry Fis-
1955.
chel (1977) edited an anthology of essays on the issue, and
he appended a thoroughly annotated bibliography. It is now
Goldin, Judah. The Song at the Sea. New Haven, 1971.
a given in scholarly circles that midrashic literature sits quite
Halperin, David J. The Merkabah in Rabbinic Literature, Ameri-
comfortably within a Hellenistic milieu, as demonstrated in
can Oriental Series, no. 62. New Haven, 1980.
the Stroum Lectures by Lee Levine.
Heinemann, Isaak. Darkhei ha-agadah. Jerusalem, 1970.
At the same time, scholarly attention has turned to com-
Heinemann, Joseph, ed. Derashot ba-tsibbur bi-tequfat ha-
Talmud. Jerusalem, 1970.
parison of the midrashic works of the rabbis with those of
the Church Fathers. Here, the commonalities of their exeget-
Heinemann, Joseph. “The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A
ical techniques are explored, and areas of rabbinic polemic
Form-Critical Study.” In Studies in Aggadah and Folk Litera-
ture. Edited by Joseph Heinemann and Dov Noy,
against the church are also considered. The work of Burton
pp. 100–122. Scripta Hierosolymitana, vol. 22. Jerusalem,
L. Visotzky (1995) includes a consideration of methodology
1971.
in these areas as well as a survey of recent scholarship on the
Kasher, M. M. Torah sheleimah. 37 vols. New York, 1927–1982.
topic. This comparison of rabbis and Church Fathers builds
on the earlier comparative work done with Hellenistic litera-
Lieberman, Saul. Hellenism in Jewish Palestine. New York, 1962.
ture and recognizes the common intellectual patrimony that
Marrou, Henri I. A History of Education in Antiquity. Translated
both rabbis and Church Fathers owe to their Hellenistic for-
by George Lamb. New York, 1956.
bears.
Scholem, Gershom G. Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism,
and Talmudic Tradition. 2d ed. New York, 1965.
TEXTUAL CRITICISM AND TRANSLATION. The production of
critical editions of rabbinic works of midrash and aggadah
Spiegel, Shalom. “Introduction.” In Legends of the Bible by Louis
also continues. New editions, such as those of Exodus Rab-
Ginzberg. New York, 1956.
bah—Part I (Shinan, 1984), Midrash Mishle (Visotzky,
Spiegel, Shalom. The Last Trial. Translated by Judah Goldin.
1990), and Pesiqta Rabbati (Ulmer, 1997), now share a place
New York, 1964.
on scholarly bookshelves. Other scholars, including
Stern, David M. “Rhetoric and Midrash: The Case of the Ma-
Menahem Kahana (1999) and Menahem Kister (1998),
shal.” Prooftexts 1 (1981): 261–291.
published preliminary studies to critical editions. Although
Strack, Hermann L. Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash. 5th
a debate continues between scholars such as Peter Schäfer
ed., rev. Philadelphia, 1931.
(1986) and Chaim Milikowsky (1988, 1996) regarding the
JUDAH GOLDIN (1987)
proper form such a critical edition should take, there is a
growing interest in the use of electronic media in the produc-
tion of online virtual editions and CD-ROM texts with
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FURTHER
search capabilities. This trend promises to enhance further
CONSIDERATONS].
scholarly activity in the study of midrash and aggadah and
Scholarship on midrash and
potentially obviate the debate regarding printed text editions.
aggadah grew exponentially during the last two decades of
the twentieth century. As a result, many of the areas covered
A broad variety of translations into English were pub-
by Judah Goldin in the first edition of this Encyclopedia have
lished in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Four
been subjected to further academic scrutiny and changed
principal publishing programs have enhanced this scholarly
consensus. New avenues of inquiry have opened and are dis-
translation movement. Jacob Neusner and his students trans-
cussed here. This essay primarily covers the ideas and works
lated much of the library of rabbinic literature, including
of authors who have been active since the 1980s. The updat-
works on midrash and aggadah. The Yale Judaica Series and
ed bibliography briefly annotates the works cited here.
the Jewish Publication Society also have continued to pro-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6020
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FURTHER CONSIDERATONS]
duce high quality, annotated English translations of classic
nial Torah lection in the synagogues of the Land of Israel—
rabbinic works. Finally, the Soncino Press continues to re-
although they are careful to refer to the form as a “literary
print their earlier, yet still reliable translations. All in all,
homily.” Other scholars, including Sarason (1982) and Vi-
most major works of midrash and aggadah now are available
sotzky (2003), imagine the petihah as a primarily literary or
in English translation.
editorial construct, devised as a means of ordering and an-
FROM HISTORY TO LITERATURE. During the two-decade pe-
thologizing earlier textual and oral traditions. The current
riod that closed out the twentieth century, under the influ-
trend toward treating midrash and aggadah first and fore-
ence of the work of Morton Smith and his students (e.g.,
most as literature is readily apparent, even when scholars
Jacob Neusner, Lee Levine, Shaye J. D. Cohen, and Seth
continue to use the historical-critical tools of analysis associ-
Schwartz), there has been a decisive move away from treating
ated with the old school of Wissenschaft des Judentums, such
works of midrash and aggadah as evidence for the history of
as philology and traditions-history. Günter Stemberger’s
the rabbinic period. This group of historians, writing primar-
(1992) update of Hermann Strack’s classic Introduction to the
ily in North America, determined that rabbinic literature is
Talmud and Midrash remains the best summary of the now-
largely undependable for historic documentation. The rea-
waning historical-critical avenue of research.
sons for this vary, but include the lack of reliable attributions
ORALITY AND FOLKLORE. Scholars are also currently consid-
of traditions to given named rabbis, the insecure dating of
ering a newly nuanced view of the oral nature of the midrash
traditions within rabbinic documents, and the didactic liter-
and aggadah. Obviously, all of the midrashic works extant
ary forms of the legends themselves.
are literary, in that they are preserved in a written text form.
In the past, however, the debate regarding the origins of these
In place of this negativist assessment and concomitant
traditions was framed as either there are oral or written mate-
with the growth of postmodern literary studies in the greater
rials, with no middle ground. Today, the scholarship of Mar-
academy, the study of midrash and aggadah has turned more
tin Jaffee (1998, 2001) advocates a blurring of the relation-
and more to literary critical techniques for its methodology,
ship between the possible oral origins of midrash and
as exemplified in the works of Jonah Fränkel (1981) and
aggadah and their written record. Jaffee suggests that each
James Kugel (1990). Treating midrash and aggadah as litera-
sermon may have been an oral performance of traditional
ture values these texts in their own right and also yields dif-
materials and that texts as they now exist may thus be librettos
fering results regarding the role of the literature. The recent
or snapshots of given performances of these traditions. Jaf-
attention to deconstruction and other postmodernist trends
fee’s theory helps explain the existence of variant textual tra-
in the broader literary world has also affected the study of
ditions, allows for the literary development and editorial re-
midrash and aggadah. The work of Susan Handelman
daction of these rabbinic works, and potentially maintains
(1982) sought to compare midrash and deconstruction (deci-
a grip on the theory of oral origins in the “performance” of
sively criticized by David Stern, 1984). A broader anthology
the synagogue sermon. This area of scholarship offers great
of essays linking the postmodernist literary critical move-
promise for future research on understanding the origins and
ment with midrash was edited by Geoffrey Hartman and
transmission of midrash and aggadah.
Sanford Budick (1986). The thoughtful work of David Stern
(1996) is an excellent example of the move to literary theory
Another direction of research related to oral perfor-
on midrash and aggadah. In the late twentieth and early
mance is the treatment of some parts of the corpus of mid-
twenty-first century there has been a much broader interest
rash and aggadah as folk literature. Particularly in Israel, folk-
in and study of midrash and aggadah as literature than at any
lorists such as Dov Noy and Galit Hasan-Rokem treat
time in modern history.
elements of aggadah as folklore, subjecting it to the types of
analyses common in that cross-cultural field of study. Anoth-
Richard Sarason (1981) led the way in treating midrash
er field of study, still operating under the assumption of an
as literature rather than as historic documentation. His work
original synagogue setting for midrash and aggadah, displays
caused scholars to cease looking for synagogue settings for
a growing interest in the nexus of midrash and aggadah with
what had been presumed to be the collected sermons and
the Aramaic translations of the Torah called Targum, notably
homilies of the rabbis. Instead, the works currently are treat-
in the scholarly writings of Avigdor Shinan (1992). Yosef
ed as intertextual exegetical exercises by Daniel Boyarin
Yahalom explores the relationship of both of these genres of
(1990), as miscellanies of various literary and homiletic ma-
rabbinic literature with synagogue liturgical poetry, Piyyut.
terials by Burton Visotzky (2003), and artfully edited anthol-
OTHER SUBCATEGORIES OF MIDRASH. There is growing in-
ogies by scholars as diverse as Jacob Neusner (1985) and
terest in the subcategories of midrashic literature, as evi-
Norman Cohen (1981).
denced by the studies in the petihah and the genres of Tar-
A form of midrash called the petihah, or its Aramaic
gum and Piyyut. The parable (mashal) in the midrash
form, petihta, best exemplifies the debate regarding the ques-
garnered the interest of David Stern (1981, 1991) and Dan-
tion of synagogue setting versus literary compilation. Some
iel Boyarin (1985), who debated the role of the mashal in the
scholars, including Joseph Heinemann, hold the opinion
pages of a journal of Jewish literary history. The mashal con-
that this form, which is sometimes translated as a “proem,”
tinues to be of interest to those who would compare it to the
is a redacted sermon or an introduction to the weekly trien-
New Testament parable and forms of Hellensitic allegoresis.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FURTHER CONSIDERATONS]
6021
The religious ideas expressed in midrash and aggadah
studies offer feminist perspectives on biblical narratives, and
also remain of great interest to students and scholars alike.
these, too, contribute to what is being called modern mid-
The theological ideas of the literature and their relation to
rash. Norma Rosen’s Biblical Women Unbound (1996) is a
Christian or Hellenistic philosophical thought of the Late
representative work of this latter genre of current fiction.
Antique period of Roman history are discussed by a broad
OTHER FORMS OF MODERN MIDRASH. In addition to femi-
range of both Jewish and Christian scholars. Rabbinic theol-
nist studies, other types of modern midrash are burgeoning
ogy is decidedly unsystematic and is expressed, instead,
in creative areas as diverse as fiction, poetry, television and
through mashal, various exegeses, and narratives. Michael
film. In fiction, older works such as that of Thomas Mann’s
Fishbane (2003) has considered the varying modes of rabbin-
Joseph and His Brothers (1948) have been supplemented by
ic mythopoesis, the ways in which the rabbis reshape and ex-
writings such as Israeli author Shulamit Hareven’s The Mira-
pand earlier biblical and ancient Near Eastern myth. The be-
cle Hater (1988). The nexus of midrash and aggadah with
ginning of a broad intellectual history of rabbinic thought
poetry is ancient, going back to classical piyyut. In the mod-
has also been ably explored by David Kraemer (1990).
ern era, Israeli writers in particular offer poetry that contem-
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH. This discussion of the ideas of
plates biblical themes, such as the works of Dan Pagis and
midrash and aggadah leads to a consideration of rabbinic lit-
Yehuda Amichai. Again in Israel, a great deal of television
erature as composed of two interrelated, yet distinct modes
programming has been devoted to midrashic explorations of
of narrative. In the first, midrash, the rabbis perform exegesis
the Bible. In the United States, in addition to the regular fare
of Scripture, playfully yet seriously unpacking the Sacred
of costume-dramas, public television has taken up “Genesis:
Writ. However, rabbinic exegesis of Scripture, which might
A Living Conversation,” in a ten-hour series hosted by Bill
be construed as narrowly focused explication of biblical
Moyers. Finally, even Hollywood produced modern mid-
words and phrases, can and often does yield narrative, as
rash, most notably the animated feature Prince of Egypt.
demonstrated by Israeli scholars Ofra Meir (1987) and
In summary, the study of midrash and aggadah contin-
Fränkel.
ues to expand in both academic and popular settings. The
In the second mode of narrative, aggadah, the rabbis
annotated bibliography that follows offers sources for more
employ a style less directly tethered to Scripture, often in the
in-depth study.
form of Sage Tales about one another. These Sage Tales, al-
B
though emphatically not biography, are a form of religious
IBLIOGRAPHY
Baskin, Judith. Midrashic Women. Hanover, N.H., 2002. Scholar-
didactic fiction, a Jewish version of the legends or Lives of
ly studies of the women mentioned in rabbinic literature.
the Saints. This latter aggadah is the subject of intensive study
Boyarin, Daniel. “An Exchange on the Mashal, Rhetoric and In-
relying on literary techniques such as New Criticism in the
terpretation.” Prooftexts 5 (1985): 269–280. Boyarin debates
works of Fränkel and his American student Jeffrey Ruben-
David Stern.
stein (1999). Further consideration of this type of rabbinic
Boyarin, Daniel. Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash.
narrative has been done under the rubric of new historicism
Bloomington, Ind., 1990. Applies postmodern critical theo-
by Daniel Boyarin (1993). The results of these various
ry to his study of early rabbinic exegetical traditions.
studies yield a corpus of rabbinic short stories, as it were,
Boyarin, Daniel. Carnal Israel. Berkeley, Calif., 1993. An attempt
which express the religious and social ideas of the rabbis
at feminist criticism of rabbinic literature.
through tales and legends about the characters who are the
Cohen, Norman. “Leviticus Rabbah, Parashah 3.” Jewish Quarter-
very authors of the literature itself.
ly Review 72 (1981): 18–31. Considers the thematic unity of
IMPACT OF FEMINISM. Feminist theory is one of the other
composition of a chapter of this literary work.
manifestations of postmodern literary criticism that has had
Diamant, Anita. The Red Tent. New York, 1997.
a profound impact on the study of midrash and aggadah. In
Fischel, Henry. Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Liter-
this arena, there is still a great deal of criticism needed, and
ature. New York, 1977. An anthology of scholarly writings
such studies as those of Judith Baskin (2002) help lay the
on the relationship of Hellenism and rabbinic Judaism, with
groundwork by explicating texts about women in rabbinic
an annotated bibliography.
literature. The work of Miriam Peskowitz (1997) offers a
Fishbane, Michael. Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel. Ox-
gendered reading on all aspects of rabbinic literature and
ford, 1985. An exhaustive cataloging of inner-biblical
bears a great deal of fruit as a sophisticated methodology with
midrash.
roots in feminist studies.
Fishbane, Michael. Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking. Ox-
ford, 2003. Traces rabbinic mythopoesis from the Bible
Feminism and this new approach to midrash also gave
through the Zohar.
birth to an outpouring of creative writing about women in
Fraade, Steven. From Tradition to Commentary. Albany, N.Y.,
biblical narratives. In some instances, a Bible story is retold
1991. A study book for the Sifre to Deuteronomy, tracing the
from the perspective of a woman character. In further in-
early history of rabbinic exegesis.
stances, voice is given to female characters who otherwise are
Fränkel, Jonah. EIyyunim BeOlamo HaRuhani Shel Sippur HaAg-
silent. Works such as Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent (1997)
gadah. Tel Aviv, 1981. Basic literary criticism on a number
achieved enormous commercial popularity. Many other
of well-known aggadot.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6022
MIDRASH AND AGGADAH [FURTHER CONSIDERATONS]
Goldin, Judah. Studies in Midrash and Related Literature. Philadel-
Neusner, Jacob. The Integrity of Leviticus Rabbah. Chico, Calif.,
phia, 1988. A collection of historical and literary-critical es-
1985. A consideration of the literary-philosophical qualities
says by the master.
of the rabbinic midrash on Leviticus.
Handelman, Susan. The Slayers of Moses: The Re-emergence of Rab-
Noy, Dov. Motif Index of Talmudic-Midrashic Literature. Bloom-
binic Interpretation in Modern Literary Theory. Albany, N.Y.,
ington, Ind., 1954. A landmark listing of rabbinic motifs as
1982. Seeks to find a historical antecedent for literary decon-
part of world folklore.
struction in midrash.
Peskowitz, Miriam. Spinning Fantasies. Berkeley, Calif., 1997. A
Hareven, Shulamit. The Miracle Hater. San Francisco, 1988.
profoundly fruitful study of rabbinic rhetoric from a gender
Hartman, Geoffrey, and Sanford Budick, eds. Midrash and Litera-
perspective.
ture. New Haven, Conn., 1986.
Rosen, Norma. Biblical Women Unbound. Philadelphia, 1996.
Hasan-Rokem, Galit. Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbin-
ic Literature. Stanford, Calif., 2000. An exploration of vari-
Rubenstein, Jeffrey. Talmudic Stories. Baltimore, 1999. “New crit-
ous folktales found in rabbinic midrash and aggadah.
icism, plus” as a literary approach to Talmudic narratives.
Heinemann, Joseph. “The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim.”
Sarason, Richard. “Towards a New Agendum for the Study of
Scripta Hierosolymitana 22 (1971): 100–122. A form-critical
Rabbinic Midrashic Literature.” In Studies in Aggadah, Tar-
study that places the proem in a hypothetical synagogue
gum and Jewish Liturgy in Memory of Joseph Heinemann, ed-
setting.
ited by Ezra Fleischer and Jacob Petuchowski, pp. 55–73. Je-
Jaffee, Martin. “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yeru-
rusalem, 1981. Sarason takes seriously the scholarly challenge
shalmi.” In The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman Cul-
of considering rabbinic texts as literature.
ture I, edited by Peter Schäfer, pp. 27–61. Tübingen, Ger-
Sarason, Richard. “The Petihtot in Leviticus Rabba: ‘Oral Homi-
many, 1998. A first statement of Jaffee’s oral libretto theory.
lies’ or Redactional Constructions?” Journal of Jewish Studies
Jaffee, Martin. Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition
33 (1982): 557–567. The aptly titled article reconsiders
in Palestinian Judaism 200 BCE–400 CE. Oxford, 2001. A
Heinemann’s location of the petihta in a synagogue setting.
full-length study of the rhetoric of oral Torah and its impli-
Schäfer, Peter. “Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to
cations for modern study.
Define the Status Quaestionis.” Journal of Jewish Studies 37
Kahana, Menahem. HaMekhiltot LeFarashat Amalek. Jerusalem,
(1986): 139–152. Focuses on critical editions of texts; debat-
1999. A prolegomenon to a new critical edition of the
ed by Milikowsky.
Mekhilta to Exodus.
Schwartz, Seth. Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 BCE to 640 CE..
Kister, Menahem. EIyyunim BaAvot DeRabbi Nathan. Jerusalem,
Princeton, N.J., 2001. How, if at all, one may use rabbinic
1998. A prolegomenon to a new critical edition of Avot de-
literature in reconstructing Jewish history of the period.
Rabbi Nathan.
Shinan, Avigdor. Midrash Shemot Rabbah. Tel Aviv, 1984. A criti-
Kraemer, David. The Mind of the Talmud. Oxford, 1990. Aptly
cal edition of the first half of the work.
subtitled “An Intellectual History of the Bavli.”
Shinan, Avigdor. Targum VaAggadah Bo. Jerusalem, 1992. On the
Kugel, James. In Potiphar’s House. San Francisco, 1990. Tradi-
relationship of midrash and aggadah to Targum.
tions-history of the midrash and aggadah on the Joseph
stories.
Stemberger, Gunther. Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash.
Kugel, James. “Ancient Biblical Interpretation and the Biblical
Minneapolis, 1992. The standard handbook on the litera-
Sage.” In Studies in Ancient Midrash, edited by James Kugel.
ture.
Cambridge, U.K., 2001. An attempt to trace midrash to the
Stern, David. “Method, Rhetoric and Midrash: The Case of the
late Second Temple scribal schools.
‘Mashal.’” Prooftexts 1 (1981): 261–291. Debates Boyarin.
Kugel, James, and Rowan Greer. Early Biblical Interpretation.
Stern, David. “Moses-cide, Midrash and Contemporary Literary
Philadelphia, 1986. Back-to-back attempts to prove that rab-
Criticism.” Prooftexts 4 (1984): 193–204. An incisive reply
binic midrash and patristic exegesis each flow organically
to Handelman.
from the Hebrew Bible.
Stern, David. Parables in Midrash. Cambridge, U.K., 1991. A
Levine, Lee. Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity. Seattle, 1998. A
thorough study of the role of the mashal in Midrash.
consideration of the relation between Judaism and Helle-
Stern, David. Midrash and Theory. Evanston, Ill., 1996. On the
nism.
relation between midrash and postmodern theory and its im-
Mann, Thomas. Joseph and His Brothers. New York, 1948.
plications.
Meir, Ofra. HaSippur HaDarshani. Tel Aviv, 1987. On the nexus
Ulmer, Rivka. Pesiqta Rabbati. Atlanta, 1997. A synoptic edition
of biblical exegesis and rabbinic narrative.
of the text.
Milikowsky, Chaim. “The Status Quaestionis of Research into
Rabbinic Literature.” Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988):
Visotzky, Burton. Midrash Mishle. New York, 1990. A critical edi-
201–211. More debate on critical editions.
tion of the work.
Milikowsky, Chaim. “On Editing Rabbinic Texts.” Jewish Quar-
Visotzky, Burton. Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Pa-
terly Review 86 (1996): 409–417. Debates Peter Schäfer on
tristic Literatures. Tübingen, Germany, 1995. On the interre-
what makes a proper critical edition.
lations of rabbinic and patristic exegeses and polemics.
Neusner, Jacob. Development of a Legend. Leiden, 1970. Neusner’s
Visotzky, Burton. Golden Bells and Pomegranates. Tübingen, Ger-
watershed work in which he begins to back away from posi-
many, 2003. Studies of the form and contents of Leviticus
tivist historical rabbinic biography.
Rabbah.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIGRATION AND RELIGION
6023
Yahalom, Yosef. Piyyut UMetziyut BeShilhei HaZeman He EAtiq.
conflict with the ideal of uniform and punctilious obedience
Tel Aviv, 1999. On the historic setting of ancient liturgical
to God’s will as authoritatively defined by religious experts
poetry.
and administrators.
BURTON L. VISOTZKY (2005)
Second only to crusade and counter-crusade, religiously
inspired collective migrations offer the most dramatic mani-
festations of how human motility and religiosity interact.
MIGRATION AND RELIGION.
The migrants’ goal, of course, is to find a place where the
Migration al-
will of God can be more perfectly obeyed. Undoubtedly,
most always affects religion. This is so because when people
most sectarian enterprises of this sort do not last very long.
migrate to a new place they alter routines of daily life, and
The mass suicide of Jim Jones’s followers in the jungles of
new experience inevitably acts upon even the most tenacious-
Guyana in 1978 was a reminder of how such ventures may
ly held religious tradition. Conversely, religion often inspires
collapse in grisly failure. At the other extreme, the Puritans
migration.
of Massachusetts and the Mormons of Utah dominated their
RELIGIOUS MOTIVES. Organized religious groups may de-
chosen localities for generations and still influence the main-
cide to move to a place where their pursuit of holiness will
stream of American life. In Russia, communities of Old Be-
face fewer obstacles. Some successful colonies of this kind
lievers played almost as prominent a part, for they, too,
played important historic roles by defining patterns of con-
throve on the frontiers and influenced the wider community
duct for larger, less religiously incandescent communities
around them by pioneering privately managed trade and in-
that succeeded them.
dustry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Among Christians and Muslims, though rarely for other
In the deeper past, monastic communities offered the
religions, armed migration also played an important part in
most important examples of collective migration undertaken
spreading and defending the faith. Crusade and jiha¯d, be-
for religious reasons. Buddhist, Daoist, Shinto¯, and Chris-
tween them, defined the frontier between Da¯r al-Isla¯m and
tian monasteries were often set up in remote rural localities
Christendom for more than a millennium, from the first
where the monks’ devotion and learning propagated and sus-
Muslim conquests of the seventh century until the secular-
tained the faith among surrounding populations while also
ized statecraft of the eighteenth pushed religious antipathy
providing a focus for economic exchange and (at least some-
to the margins of military enterprise. The Muslim conquest
times) for political activity as well. Such monastic centers
of India (eleventh to seventeenth century) was likewise sus-
were especially important in times and places where towns
tained by a flow of fighting men who came to Hindustan in
were absent or poorly developed, and tended to become mar-
order to combat infidelity, and, perchance, to acquire fame
ginal in proportion to the rise of secular urban centers.
and wealth in the process.
The initial establishment of such monasteries was
Personal and private pursuit of holiness has also inspired
achieved by deliberate, collective migration of bodies of
innumerable pilgrims to visit shrines that are usually located
monks or nuns. Subsequent recruitment came from far and
where their religion originated or had its earliest efflores-
wide, since the inhabitants did not reproduce themselves.
cence. A contrary flow of holy men beyond the frontiers of
Monastic establishments thus depended on and could only
the society of their birth has often led to the conversion of
thrive by retaining connection with the currents of personal
strangers, even across linguistic and cultural barriers. Overall
migration in search of holiness that flowed within (and
and in general we may therefore say that religiously inspired
sometimes between) each of the Eurasian civilizations.
migration, whether peaceable or warlike, had a great deal to
do with the definition of civilizational and cultural frontiers
Private, personal migration for religious reasons is diffi-
in historic times.
cult to document since itinerant holy men, living on alms,
seldom recorded their experience in writing. The forest re-
Pilgrimage affirmed and helped to homogenize religious
treats of ancient India where the Upanis:ads were generated
and secular culture within each civilization. It became espe-
constitute the oldest attested examples of personal, private
cially important for Islam. Long after the caliphate collapsed,
migration away from the toils of ordinary society in order to
the thousands of pilgrims who traveled to Mecca each year
pursue religious enlightenment and truth. They were, per-
from all over the Muslim world maintained a loose but effec-
haps, archetypical. At any rate, India’s warm climate was pro-
tive unity among the community of the faithful. Holy war
pitious since it allowed seekers after holiness to survive on
and peaceable conversion on the other hand, enhanced heter-
little food and with little clothing. The ascetic way of life,
ogeneity by bringing new populations within the circle of
in turn, encouraged and sustained mystic visions of transcen-
one or another religion from time to time. Diversity did not
dental reality—visions that validated the holy way of life and
bother Hindus and Buddhists very much, but new frictions
confirmed the aspiration of escaping from the ills of this
arose among Jews, Christians, and Muslims with every mis-
world by entering into contact with suprasensory reality.
sionary success, since converts inevitably retained some rem-
nants of older “pagan” outlooks and habits. For these faiths,
Transient and personal master-disciple relationships
therefore, local and sectarian diversity remained in perpetual
among Indian holy men took a new and enduring form
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6024
MIGRATION AND RELIGION
among the followers of Gautama, the Buddha. For, on the
converting Christians to Islam along that frontier, but the
occasion of his death (484 BCE), the Buddha’s followers de-
dervishes never escaped the taint of heterodoxy.
fined a holy way of life that combined itinerant mendicancy
There is profound irony in the upshot of all these vari-
with periods of rest and recuperation in specially constructed
ous religiously motivated patterns of migration. Puritans of
monasteries. Following this regimen, Buddhist monks soon
New England as much as Old Believers in Russia, along with
penetrated far beyond the borders of India, traveling along
all the variegated company of monks and holy men who
the caravan routes of Asia to the Far East and boarding mer-
propagated Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and other
chant vessels bound for Southeast Asia as well. In ensuing
faiths along remote frontiers, all sought to escape from the
centuries, holy men of other faiths (Manichaeans and Nesto-
corruptions of civilized society as exemplified in their initial
rian Christians especially) adopted similar modes of life.
homelands. Yet the net effect of their efforts at withdrawal
Later still, Daoists and adherents of Shinto¯ established mo-
and pursuit of a more perfect obedience to the precepts of
nastic communities modeled more or less closely on the Bud-
their religion was to spread civilized skills and knowledge
dhist prototype.
among previously simpler societies. Institutional success in
Wandering holy men, whether of the Buddhist or some
the form of flourishing monastic or civil communities, dedi-
other persuasion, had much in common with the merchant-
cated to holiness though they might be, perversely propagat-
peddlers who frequented the same trade routes. Indeed, these
ed the very corruptions of civilization which the founders
itinerant holy men were a kind of merchant whose stock-in-
had so earnestly wished to escape from. Of course, discrepan-
trade consisted of esoteric knowledge and personal experi-
cy between intentions and accomplishments is normal in
ence of the transcendental world. They lived, in effect, by ex-
human affairs, but the gap is seldom so patent as in these in-
changing their special access to the supernatural for the alms
stances.
that sustained their bodily wants.
SECULAR MOTIVES. Migration undertaken for other than re-
Mainstream Christianity and Islam went in opposite di-
ligious reasons also had the overall effect of spreading civi-
rections in developing the Buddhist pattern of religiously
lized complexity. Its immediate impact on religion was usu-
motivated migration. Early in the history of Christian asceti-
ally to provoke some sort of blending of old and new
cism, monastic rules inhibited the private pursuit of holiness
traditions as immigrants encountered new peoples and new
by itinerant almstakers. Yet this did not prevent the system-
conditions of life along with alien faiths and religious prac-
atic establishment of new monasteries at distant frontier loca-
tices. But religious interactions exhibited many variations,
tions. Rather, monasteries played a leading role in spreading
depending on conditions of the encounters and on choices
Christian civilization beyond the borders of the Roman Em-
individual leaders and teachers made in coping with unprece-
pire, both in the west among Germanic peoples and in the
dented novelties.
east among the Slavs. Then, after the voyages of discovery
If one seeks to make sense of such diversity it is useful
by Europeans during the sixteenth century, missionary or-
to distinguish between migrations that carry a particular
ders met with enormous success in converting Amerindians
population up a cultural gradient and migrations that carry
to Roman Catholicism, but failed to win many Asians or Af-
people in an opposite direction toward frontiers where civi-
ricans to their faith. Protestant missions flourished mainly in
lized institutions weaken or disappear.
the nineteenth century, and probably converted more Asians
and Africans to the secular aspects of Western civilization
A people that moves up a cultural gradient may do so
than to their various versions of Christianity.
as conqueror or captive. Peaceable infiltration of individuals
or small family groups is also theoretically possible but re-
Within the realm of Islam, on the other hand, the initial
mained statistically unimportant until the nineteenth centu-
effort to make the entire community perfectly obedient to
ry, when the advent of superior public peace, efficient com-
God left no room for monks or any other kind of specially
munications, and mechanically powered transport made that
holy personages. The QurDa¯n accordingly forbade monastic
kind of migration feasible on a mass scale for the first time.
vows. As a result, when the first burst of conquest came to
It follows that the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan on the one
a halt, pious Muslim merchants took over the missionary role
hand and the African slave trade on the other are the appro-
that had been exercised for other faiths by monks and other
priate models for most historical migration, unlike the sort
religious specialists. Thus with the advent of Islam the con-
of individual and family migration that did so much to pop-
vergence between missionary and merchant, already appar-
ulate the United States between the 1840s and 1920s.
ent in Buddhist practice, became complete.
In matters of religion, conquerors and captives alike
To be sure, from the twelfth century onward, dervish
have three options when arriving in lands whose skills are su-
communities, somewhat analogous to the monastic orders of
perior to their own. The newcomers may accept the estab-
other religions, arose within Islam. They flourished most in
lished religion of the land to which they have come, retaining
the frontier lands where the expanding Turkish power en-
only a few telltale traces of their own older practices. The Ak-
countered the Christian populations of Asia Minor and the
kadian invaders of ancient Sumer seem to have accepted this
Balkans. Dervish forms of piety had an important role in
option at the very beginning of civilized history; Turks com-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIGRATION AND RELIGION
6025
ing into the realm of Islam either as slaves or as conquerors
mattered were assimilation to civilized forms of religion on
did the same. So did the African slaves imported to North
the one hand and inventive rejection on the other that has
America to work on plantations.
been so central in the history of Judaism, of Shinto¯, and,
Slaves had little choice as a rule. Forcibly separated from
since the mid-nineteenth century, to the evolution of Hindu-
the social context that had nurtured them, they could not,
ism and Islam as well.
as more or less isolated individuals, carry very much of their
Migrations undertaken for economic or political reasons
native religion with them. Conquerors, however, were in a
that carry a people to lands less developed than those they
position to choose. Nevertheless, simple maintenance of ac-
leave behind ordinarily have less impact on traditional reli-
customed rites and ideas was seldom possible. New experi-
gious practices. The Chinese migration from north to south
ences, ideas, and circumstances crowded in on successful
that created the imposing mass of contemporary China, for
conquerors. To resist their subjects’ religions took a special
example, had no very obvious effect on Chinese religion. The
effort, all the more difficult in view of the fact that the estab-
same may be said of Japanese expansion northward through
lished rituals of the land were already adapted to the circum-
their islands and of the German Drang nach Osten.
stances of civilized and agricultural life.
Only in modern times did it become possible for family
The Bible record shows how hard it was for the Israelites
groups and isolated individuals to migrate safely toward an
to maintain their desert faith in the land of Canaan after set-
open frontier. In such circumstances, of course, pioneers left
tling down to an agricultural existence. Energetic, violent
organized religion behind. This prepared the ground for itin-
means were needed to repress Baal worship. This was the
erant revivalists. Emotionally vibrant forms of established re-
work of kings and prophets, who in reaffirming the old reli-
ligion fared best in such circumstances, with conspicuous in-
gion in fact transformed it. That transformation is what
dividual conversion the goal.
made Judaism so enormously influential in the world at
large, but its influence also attests the exceptional character
Proletarian migrants into cities faced circumstances sim-
of the prophetic response to the conditions of agricultural
ilar in some important respects to the deculturation and indi-
civilization.
vidual isolation of the rural frontier. It is not really surprising
therefore that the Methodists who first addressed themselves
Other invaders who rejected the religion of the land
to unchurched urban populations of Great Britain were also
they had conquered were nonetheless affected by contact
among the most successful on the American frontier.
with people of a different faith. This happened even when
the subjected population accepted the faith of their conquer-
Other varieties of religious revivalism are currently
ors en masse. The contamination of Turkish Islam with
flourishing among urban immigrants, both in the United
Christian elements was a pronounced feature of Ottoman
States and beyond its borders. Islamic revivalism is the most
life, for example, while the Mughals in India alternated be-
politically prominent of such movements, but sectarian
tween a policy of permitting and resisting the parallel con-
forms of Christianity also have a vigorous life in American
tamination of their faith with Hindu practices and ideas. A
cities and in many developing nations, while offshoots of
similar situation prevailed in the crusading states of the Le-
Buddhism can also be observed making headway in urban
vant, and when the Mongol Empire was at its height, Khu-
contexts, both Eastern and Western. Marxism, too, is no
bilai Khan’s policy of patronizing all available religions, so
more than a secular heresy competing in this environment
as not to foreclose any avenue of access to the supernatural,
for human commitment to its materialist doctrines.
shocked and puzzled Christians and Muslims alike.
CONCLUDING REMARK. In the world at large, as populations
A third policy that attracted many “barbarian” conquer-
increase and migratory flows swell to unexampled propor-
ors was to try for the best of both worlds by espousing a he-
tions, religious interminglings and interactions—both hos-
retical form of civilized religion. This marked the conquerors
tile and pacific—are sure to intensify. The future history of
off from their subjects and helped to maintain a collective
humankind will in all likelihood be written around the clash
esprit de corps among the invaders, while also allowing the
of religions and cultures that is taking place around us, for
new rulers to benefit from advantages of civilized religion—
secular thought and abstract reasoning are weak reeds by
for example, literacy, an authoritative scripture, and a hierar-
comparison with the tidal flows of faith and feeling that gov-
chical priesthood. The German tribesmen who adhered to
ern human conduct today as much as at any time in the past.
Arian Christianity when invading the Roman Empire in the
fourth and fifth centuries followed such a policy. The Ui-
SEE ALSO Crusades; Jiha¯d; Mendicancy; Missions; Monasti-
ghurs, who became Manichaeans, and the Khazars, who be-
cism; Pilgrimage; Zionism.
came Jews, illustrate a variation on the same theme, for the
religions of their choice served to mark them off from neigh-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
bors and subjects while at the same time offering rulers the
Curtin, Philip D. Cross-Cultural Trade in World History. Cam-
support of a fully civilized faith.
bridge and New York, 1984. An in-depth discussion of trade
between people of different cultures and of the complex cul-
Nevertheless, such barbarian polities were transitory and
tural exchanges between diverse human societies that were
so were the heresies they found attractive. The reactions that
brought about by trade.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6026
MI LA RAS PA (MILAREPA)
Diesner, Hans-Joachim. The Great Migration: The Movement of
Yeivin, Samuel. The Israelite Conquest of Canaan. Istanbul, 1971.
Peoples across Europe, AD 300–700. London, 1978. A splen-
An exemplary investigation, based on literary and archaeo-
didly illustrated, thoroughly researched study on the main
logical evidence, of the Israelite invasion.
groups of migratory (barbarian) peoples that crisscrossed Eu-
New Sources
rope during the Middle Ages and on the emergence of new
Eickelman, Dale F., and James Piscatori. Muslim Travelers: Pil-
societies and civilizations as a result of this diaspora.
grimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination. London,
Folz, Robert, et al. De l’antiquité au monde médiéval. Paris, 1972.
1990.
A minute and erudite discussion of the period of the most
spectacular migrations, invasions, and conquests in both
Fisk, William L. The Scottish High Church Tradition in America:
western European and Islamic worlds.
An Essay in Scotch Irish Ethnoreligious History. Lanham, Md.,
French, Allen. Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval. London, 1955.
1995.
A background of the Puritan exodus, the “Great Migration.”
Geaves, Ron. “Religion and Ethnicity: Community Formation in
Goblet d’Alviella, Eugène. The Migration of Symbols. London,
the British Alevi Community.” Numen: International Review
1894. Groundbreaking work on the circulation of religious
for the History of Religions 50 (2003): 52–71.
symbols as a result of movements of peoples.
Gregg, Robert. Sparks from the Anvil of Oppression: Philadelphia’s
Kirsten, Ernst, et al., eds. Raum und Bevölkerung in der Weltge-
African Methodists and the Southern Migrants, 1880–1940.
schichte: Bevölkerungs-Ploetz. 3d ed. 4 vols. Würzburg, 1965–
Philadelphia, 1993.
1966. A collection of demographical data from the begin-
Landman, Christina. “Telling Sacred Stories: Eersterust and the
nings of recorded history until late 1950s, from every part
Forced Removals of the 1860s.” Religion and Theology, 6
of the inhabited world.
(1990): 415–428.
Knowles, David. Christian Monasticism. New York, 1969. A
learned and concise history of monasticism. Monks’ religious
Péres y Mena, Andrés Isidora. Speaking with the Dead: Develop-
fervor, mobility, and political influence made them ideal for
ment of Afro-Latin Religion among Puerto Ricans in the United
the spread of religion in the remotest corners of the world.
States: A Study into the Interpenetration of Civilizations in the
New World. New York, 1991.
Mayer, Hans Eberhard. The Crusades. Oxford, 1972. Succinct
work on the history of the Crusades and on all the territorial
Sennet, Milton C. Bound for the Promised Land: African American
and population changes connected with these holy wars.
Religion and the Great Migration. Durham, N.C., 1997.
McNeill, William H., and Ruth S. Adams, eds. Human Migration:
WILLIAM H. MCNEILL (1987)
Patterns and Policies. Bloomington, Ind., 1978. A collection
Revised Bibliography
of essays by scholars in the field that stands as a standard ref-
erence source for the complex topic of population move-
ments.
Noth, Albrecht. Heiliger Krieg und Heiliger Kampf im Islam und
MI LA RAS PA (MILAREPA) (1028/40–1111/23)
Christentum. Bonn, 1966. A comparative study on the ideol-
was a highly revered Tibetan yogin, famous both for his aus-
ogy and practice of holy war in Islam and Christianity, re-
tere hermetic lifestyle and for the Tantric instructions he im-
viewing aspects of population displacements and territorial
parted through songs of realization. Mi la ras pa is considered
changes in the western Mediteranean region.
an early founder of the Bka’ brgyud (Kagyu) sect of Tibetan
Parry, J. H. The Age of Reconnaissance. London, 1963. Probably
Buddhism, and therefore an heir to the Tantric tradition of
the best study on the history of European colonization be-
the Indian siddhas, or spiritual adepts, Tilopa (fl. tenth cen-
tween the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.
tury), Na¯ropa (c. 1016–1100), and Maitr¯ıpa (1007–1085).
Price, A. Grenfell. The Western Invasions of the Pacific and Its Con-
He is also esteemed throughout the Himalayan Buddhist
tinents: A Study of Moving Frontiers and Changing Landscapes,
world as an exemplar of religious dedication, perseverance
1513–1958. Oxford, 1963. An investigation into the physi-
through hardship, and meditative accomplishment. Themes
cal and cultural changes suffered by the Pacific territories as
a result of the white peoples’ invasions.
principally associated with his life story—purification of past
Rawley, James A. The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History. New
misdeeds, faith and devotion to the guru, ardor in meditation
York, 1981. A comprehensive analysis of the African diaspo-
and yogic practice, and the possibility of attaining liberation
ra as a result of the slave trade during European and Ameri-
in a single lifetime—have shaped the development of Bud-
can colonial history.
dhist teaching and practice in Tibet. Mi la ras pa’s biographi-
Simon, Marcel, et al., eds. Les pèlerinages de l’antiquité biblique et
cal tradition also inspired works of significant literary
classique à l’occident médiéval. Paris, 1973. This volume fo-
achievement in which readers found not only the portrait of
cuses on the pilgrimage traditions of the Jews, Christians,
an exemplary life but an exhortation to lead such a life them-
and Muslims of the Mediteranean basin and of ancient
selves.
Greece. It also provides an important theoretical treatment
of the notion of pilgrimage.
As a child, the yogin was called Thos pa dga’ (Delightful
Strobel, August. Der spätbronzezeitliche Seevölkerstum: Ein For-
to Hear) and was later given the Tantric initiation name
schungsüberblick mit Folgerungen zur biblischen Exodusthema-
Bzhad pa’i rdo rje (Laughing Vajra). But the master is ubiq-
tic. Berlin, 1976. A remarkable contribution to the contro-
uitously known as Mi la ras pa. Mi la was his clan name; ras
versial study of the “sea people” and the great migration that
pa is derived from the single cotton robe (ras) worn by Tibet-
turned around the history of the ancient Near East.
an anchorites—an attire Mi la ras pa retained for most of his
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MI LA RAS PA (MILAREPA)
6027
life. The name is therefore an appellation, perhaps translated
ducing Mi la ras pa and his family to lives of poverty and
as “The Cotton-Clad Mi la.” He is universally addressed
privation. At the behest of his mother, Mi la ras pa sought
with the title rje btsun, a word difficult to translate (it is often
out instruction in black magic and hail making in order to
rendered as “Venerable Lord”) but which carries the meaning
exact revenge upon their manipulative relatives.
of both skillful guide and unsullied master.
In central Tibet, Mi la ras pa found several skilled teach-
Mi la ras pa’s life story has been the subject of a vast ha-
ers, fervently applied himself to their instruction, and quickly
giographic tradition in Tibet. Perhaps the earliest record of
showed signs of success. Traditional sources describe how,
the yogin’s life and teachings is found in an extensive work
through the power of a particularly effective magical rite, he
known as the Bu chen bcu gnyis (The twelve great disciples
murdered thirty-five people gathered one evening for the
version), purportedly written toward the end of Mi la ras pa’s
wedding reception of his uncle’s family, sparing his aunt and
life by a group of his close disciples. Accounts of the biogra-
uncle only so that they could bear witness to his revenge. In
phy soon proliferated, and Tibetan authors writing several
retaliation, the surviving relatives conspired to kill Mi la ras
centuries later mention the existence of more than one hun-
pa’s mother. To defend her, Mi la ras pa once again applied
dred versions of the life story.
himself to the practice of magic, this time destroying the
In the late fifteenth century, the iconoclastic author Gt-
crops of his village under a great hailstorm. Eventually,
sang smyon Heruka (1452–1507), the so-called Madman of
through the ensuing tumult, Mi la ras pa came to realize the
Central Tibet, completed what would become Mi la ras pa’s
magnitude of his misdeeds. Feeling deep contrition for his
definitive portrait. Beginning in 1488 he published two
past actions, he sought to redeem himself from their karmic
major works concerning the yogin: a sacred biography, often
effects through the practice of Buddhism. He secured the
known simply as the Mi la ras pa’i rnam thar (The life of Mi
support of his former magic instructor, promised to devote
la ras pa), and a collection of versified teachings organized
himself to the dharma, and set out in search of a Buddhist
within short framing tales, the Mi la ras pa’i mgur ’bum
master.
(Hundred thousand songs of Mi la ras pa). Cast as a first per-
Mi la ras pa briefly studied Rdzogs chen (dzogchen,
son narrative, the Life draws upon traditional models of Bud-
Great Completion) practice under one lama before meeting
dhist hagiography (including the historical Buddha’s pursuit
his principal guru, the great translator of Indian texts Mar
of enlightenment), poignantly describing Mi la ras pa’s child-
pa Chos kyi blo gros (Marpa Chokyi Lodro, 1002/1012–
hood, his search for a Buddhist master, and his rigorous prac-
1097). The relationship that developed between Mar pa and
tice of solitary meditation. The latter collection presents Mi
Mi la ras pa would become a celebrated example of the link
la ras pa’s teaching career, his assembling of disciples, subju-
forged between guru and disciple in Vajraya¯na Buddhism,
gation of harmful spirits, and forging of a sacred landscape
emphasizing the central role of faith and devotion in the reli-
across the Himalayan region. As its name suggests, the work
ance upon a spiritual guide. It is said that the mere mention
also preserves Mi la ras pa’s primary legacy: his songs of prac-
of Mar pa’s name caused Mi la ras pa’s body to shake with
tical instruction and inner realization. The number “one
devotion. Mar pa, however, was famous for his quick-
hundred thousand” in the title is a conventional reckoning
tempered and demanding personality, and he did not imme-
used to signify a great quantity. Compilations called one
diately teach his new disciple. He instead subjected Mi la ras
hundred thousand songs (mgur ’bum) became a popular
pa to repeated abuse, segregating him from other students
genre of Tibetan writing, of which Mi la ras pa’s was argu-
and forcing him to undergo various ordeals, such as the fa-
ably the most famous example.
mous trial of constructing immense stone towers. Pushed to
While clearly based on earlier accounts, these two works
the brink of despair, Mi la ras pa contemplated escape, and
became classics in Tibet. As literary masterpieces of the high-
later suicide. Mar pa finally assuaged his disciple, revealing
est order, they quickly eclipsed all previous accounts of Mi
that the trials were actually a means of purifying previous
la ras pa’s life. They were also promoted, and promptly ac-
negative karma. He explained that Mi la ras pa was, from the
cepted, as presenting the authorized version of the saint’s life,
beginning, a disciple prophesied by Mar pa’s own guru, the
which came to be known by generations of readers around
Indian siddha Na¯ropa. Mi la ras pa received numerous Tan-
the world. Innumerable Tibetan authors refer to Gtsang
tric initiations and instructions—especially those of
smyon Heruka’s editions; modern scholars continue to hail
maha¯mudra¯ and the practice of gtum mo (tumo), or yogic
Mi la ras pa as “Tibet’s most celebrated saint,” largely based
“inner heat”—together with the command that he should
on the popularity of these two works.
persevere against all hardship, meditating in solitary caves
and mountain retreats.
Although his dates are debated, biographies agree that
Mi la ras pa was born to a prosperous family in the Gung
Mi la ras pa spent the rest of his life practicing medita-
thang region of southwest Tibet. At an early age, after the
tion in seclusion and teaching small groups of disciples,
death of his father, he lived with his mother and sister under
mainly through spontaneous poetry and songs of realization.
the care of a paternal uncle, with the family estate stipulated
He had little interest in philosophical discourse and no toler-
to return to the boy upon his reaching majority. The rapa-
ance for intellectual pretension. His songs are composed in
cious uncle instead appropriated the estate for himself, re-
vernacular idioms, abandoning the highly ornamental formal
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6028
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
structures of classical poetry in favor of a simple, direct, and
lation by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa (New
often playful style. Employing metaphors from everyday Ti-
York, 1977), has now largely superseded this pioneering ef-
betan life, they illuminate the nature of mind, emphasize
fort. The standard collection of Mi la ras pa’s songs appears
meditation over study, and reflect a love for solitude in
in Garma C. C. Chang, trans., The Hundred Thousand Songs
nature.
of Milarepa: The Life-Story and Teaching of the Greatest Poet-
Saint Ever to Appear in the History of Buddhism (New Hyde
Mi la ras pa traveled widely across the Himalayan region
Park, N.Y., 1962). Two further volumes of Mi la ras pa’s sto-
where he attracted a devout following among ascetics and
ries and songs have been translated by Lama Kunga and
householders alike. Dozens of locations associated with the
Brian Cutillo in Drinking the Mountain Stream (Novato,
yogin have become important pilgrimage sites and retreat
Calif., 1978) and Miraculous Journey (Novato, Calif., 1986).
centers. He spent much of his life in southern Tibet, at caves
These works are of particular interest since they include ma-
terial left out of Gtsang smyon Heruka’s versions and may
sites such as Brag dkar rta so (Drakar Taso, White Rock
therefore offer, in the translators’ words, “pieces from the
Horse Tooth), La phyi (Lapchi), and Chu dbar (Chu-
cutting-room floor.”
bar),and he visited Nepal on several occasions. According to
tradition, he secured Mount Kaila˚sa (Kailash) as a Buddhist
ANDREW QUINTMAN (2005)
pilgrimage site after defeating a priest of the Bon religion in
a contest of magic. One account records his stay at the ac-
claimed Stag tshang (Taktsang) hermitage in Bhutan, first
MILLENARIANISM
This entry consists of the following articles:
consecrated by the eighth-century Indian adept Padmasamb-
AN OVERVIEW
hava. Mi la ras pa’s disciples, including the illustrious Sgam
CHINESE MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS
po pa Bsod nams rin chen (Gampopa Sonam Rinchen,
1079–1153) and Ras chung pa Rdo rje grags (Rechungpa
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
Dorje Drak, 1084–1161), established a lineage of Bka’ br-
Millenarianism, known also as millennialism, is the belief
gyud masters that continues to play an important role in the
that the end of this world is at hand and that in its wake will
dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism.
appear a New World, inexhaustibly fertile, harmonious,
The figure of Mi la ras pa has likewise remained deeply
sanctified, and just. The more exclusive the concern with the
embedded within the Tibetan religious world. Buddhist
End itself, the more such belief shades off toward the cata-
practitioners of all sectarian affiliations throughout the Hi-
strophic; the more exclusive the concern with the New
malayan region still memorize his songs; elaborate temple
World, the nearer it approaches the utopian.
murals and scroll paintings record episodes from his life story
MILLENARIAN THOUGHT. Complexity in millenarian
in great detail; monastic dances reenact his meetings with
thought derives from questions of sign, sequence, duration,
important disciples; Tantric rituals and guruyoga sa¯dhanas in-
and human agency. What are the marks of the End? At what
voke his presence as an enlightened being; and new genera-
stage are we now? Exactly how much time do we have? What
tions of Buddhist yogins embark on solitary meditation re-
should we do? Although warranted by cosmology, prophecy,
treats, often in caves that he is said to have inhabited, with
or ancestral myth, the End usually stands in sudden proximi-
him as a chief inspiration. Mi la ras pa’s biographical tradi-
ty to the immediate era. The trail of events may at last have
tion also played a central role in the study of Tibet by early
been tracked to the cliff’s edge, or recent insight may have
European and American scholars. Beginning in the late nine-
cleared the brier from some ancient oracle.
teenth century, the Life and Hundred Thousand Songs were
The root term, millennium, refers to a first-century east-
among the first Tibetan texts to receive widespread attention.
ern Mediterranean text, the Apocalypse of John or Book of Rev-
Compilers of the earliest Tibetan-English dictionaries made
elation, itself a rich source of disputes about the End. John
frequent use of passage from these works as models of Tibet-
of Patmos here describes in highly figured language a penul-
an literary usage and style. The figure of Mi la ras pa, the
timate battle between forces of good and evil, succeeded by
tales of his life, and the penetrating wisdom of his songs per-
a thousand-year reign of saintly martyrs with Jesus, and then
sist as part of a living tradition within Tibetan Buddhist
the defeat of Satan, the Last Judgment, a new heaven, and
communities, and now serve as potent symbols of Tibet to
a new earth. This interim, earthly reign is literally the millen-
the rest of the world.
nium (from Lat. mille, “thousand”; Gr., chil, whence “chili-
S
asm,” sometimes applied pejoratively to belief in an indul-
EE ALSO Buddhism, article on Buddhism in Tibet; Bud-
dhism, Schools of, article on Tibetan and Mongolian Bud-
gent, carnal millennium, or “chiliad”). Not all millenarians
dhism; Maha¯siddhas; Mar pa.
expect an interim paradise before an ultimate heavenly as-
sumption; not all anticipate precisely one thousand years of
peace; not all stipulate a messianic presence or a saintly elite.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Like John, however, they have constant recourse to images,
The first complete English translation of Mi la ras pa’s life story
for millenarians are essentially metaphorical thinkers.
was edited by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (in collaboration with the
Sikkimese translator Kazi Dawa Samdup), published as
In theory, as a speculative poetic enterprise, millenarian-
Tibet’s Great Yog¯ı Milarepa (Oxford, 1928). A modern trans-
ism is properly an adjunct of eschatology, the study of last
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
6029
things. In practice, millenarianism is distinguished by close
each other—when mathematicians allude to secret knowl-
scrutiny of the present, from which arise urgent issues of
edge or contemplatives allude to laws of physics (as in fifth-
human agency. Once the fateful coincidence between history
century southern China, seventeenth-century Western Eu-
and prophecy has been confirmed, must good people sit
rope, twentieth-century North America)—millenarianism
tight, or must they gather together, withdraw to a refuge?
waxes strong. Alchemy and astrology, nuclear physics and
Should they enter the wilderness to construct a holy city, or
molecular genetics share with qabbalistic magic and Tantric
should they directly engage the chaos of the End, confront
yoga an appreciation for techniques of prediction and muta-
the regiments of evil? Millenarians answer with many voices,
tion. Popularly set in sharp contrast to millenarian “fanatics,”
rephrasing their positions as they come to terms with an End
scientists and mystics have in fact been crucial to the cultural
less imminent or less cataclysmic. Where their image of the
continuity of millenarian thought; they have preserved an in-
New World is that of a golden age, they begin with a restor-
tense concern with processes of transformation and the puls-
ative ethos, seeking a return to a lost purity. Where their
ing of time.
image is that of the land of the happy dead or a distant galaxy
Among the world religions we can locate two constella-
of glory, their ethos is initially retributive, seeking to balance
tions of millenarian thought about an epochal pulsing of
an unfortunate past against a fortunate future. Few millenari-
time, one Zoroastrian-Jewish-Greek-Christian, the other
ans remain entirely passive, quietly awaiting a supernatural
Hindu-Buddhist-Daoist-Confucian. In the Mediterranean
transformation of the world; those who go about their lives
littoral, an epochal aesthetic was elaborated by scribal elites
without allusion to the looming End customarily escape no-
who were resistant first to Greek rule (thus producing the
tice. Most millenarians conflate the restorative and retribu-
Jewish Book of Daniel and the lost sources for the Mazdean
tive. They act in some way to assure themselves that the New
Apocalypse of Hystaspe), then to Roman rule (producing the
World will not be unfamiliar. Images of a fortunate future
Egyptian Potter’s Prophecy and Judeo-Christian apocalypses
are primed with nostalgia.
such as Enoch and the Epistle of Barnabas), and finally to
A millenarian’s sense of time, consequently, is neither
Muslim rule (producing the Syrian-Christian Revelations of
strictly cyclical nor linear. However much the millennium
Pseudo-Methodius). Feasting upon a cosmopolitan diet of
is to be the capstone to time, as in Christian and Islamic tra-
Zoroastrian cosmology, Jewish notions of Sabbath, and
ditions, it is also in character and affect the return of that
Greco-Roman ideas of historical recurrence, these literati
carefree era posited for the start of things. However much
stamped the disturbing flux of empires with the template of
the millennium is to be an impost between two of the infinite
the divine creative week, which they saw being played out
arches of time, as in Aztec and Maha¯ya¯na Buddhist tradi-
again at length in human history through a reassuringly pre-
tions, it is for all mortal purposes a release from pain and
dictable series of world kingdoms over a period of six or
chaos for many generations.
seven thousand years. At the end lay a millennial sabbath,
transposed from a time of perpetual rest to a time of truce
To the uninitiated, the millenarian mathematics of time
and earthly reward prior to the final onslaughts of the drag-
may seem mysteriously scaled: how can one account for that
on, tyrant, or false messiah.
arbitrary algebra that assigns the value 3,500 years to the lo-
cution “a time, and times, and half a time” (Rv. 12:14)? Mil-
This demonic figure of imperium acquired a righteous
lenarian thought is figurative in both senses of that word—
cousin, the Last World Emperor, whose inexplicable abdica-
metaphorical and numerological. Intricate play with num-
tion would open the way to his black kin. The dialectic be-
bers of years is founded upon a faith in the impending
tween devious shape-changing evil and prematurely vanish-
aesthetic wholeness of the world-historical process. Millenar-
ing good, played out against a Christian backdrop that
ian searches for laws of historical correspondence between
placed a redemptive event close to the center of Roman his-
the individually human and the universally human bear a
tory, gradually reversed epochal theory, which had begun
formal similarity to one another, whether the searchers are
with a fourfold schema of decadence from golden antiquity.
nineteenth-century social visionaries (the Saint-Simonian
The upshot by the fourteenth century was a progressive tri-
Gustave d’Eichthal, the young Hegelian August von Ciesz-
partite schema bounded on one side by fall and flood, on the
kowski, the Confucian reformer Kang Yuwei), seventeenth-
other by fire and judgment, and aesthetically framed: here
century theologians (the Puritan chronologist Joseph Mede,
a primordial earthly paradise spoiled by a fork-tongued beast;
the natural philosopher Isaac Newton, the Sh¯ıE¯ı Neoplato-
there a climactic earthly paradise spiked by a horned beast,
nist Muh:ammad Sadr al-D¯ın), or twelfth-century monastics
the antichrist. Between these ran three broad historical ages,
(the abbess Hildegard of Bingen, the abbot Joachim of Fiore,
each with its bright dawn and horrid nightfall. These ages
the White Lotus monk Mao Ziyuan). Each discerns a pattern
were identified with other trinities (Father-Law-Justice, Son-
of historical ages that promises both completion and recapit-
Faith-Grace, Spirit-Love-Freedom). Over the next centuries,
ulation.
the millennium itself was annexed to the third age and en-
shrined in historical rhetoric (classical, medieval, renaissance;
World religions have known two deep reservoirs of mil-
feudal, capitalist, socialist). Nineteenth-century exponents of
lenarian thought, one noumenal and Gnostic, the other phe-
infinite progress had only to remove the limiting aesthetic
nomenal and nomothetic. When the reservoirs empty into
frame.
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MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
Across East Asia, a millenarian aesthetic developed with-
founded in 1849 by the Vietnamese Buddha Master of West-
in contexts far less adversarial, and we find no figure antipho-
ern Peace, Doan Minh Huyen, the O
¯ motokyo¯, founded in
nal to the universal perfect ruler (the Hindu cakravartin, the
1892, by the Japanese farmer Deguchi Nao, and the Saya
Buddhist Rudra Cakin, the Javanese hybrid Ratu Adil) or to
San rebellion in Burma from 1930 to 1932.
the future incarnate savior (the Hindu Kalkin, the Maitreya
Buddha, a reborn Laozi). Furthermore, the epochal scheme
Stretched between the Mediterranean and East Asian
was overwhelmingly degenerative: it fixed all recorded histo-
constellations, Manichaeism and Islam transected both.
ry within the last of the four increasingly chaotic eras (yugas)
Mani’s lithe dualism darkened the antichrist and highlighted
of the aeon (kalpa). The problem here was not to expand the
the Amita¯bha (Pure Land) Buddha and the Ming Prince of
prophetic horizon but to foreshorten the 4.3 million-year In-
Radiance. Islam shared with the Mediterranean a demonic
dian kalpa cycle so that hundreds of thousands of distressing
end-time imposter, al-Dajja¯l, and with East Asia a degenera-
years of the fourth era, the kaliyuga, did not still lie ahead.
tive epochal theory, but more important was its caravan of
redeemers. By 1300, Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslims had at least four candi-
Each kalpa was to end in a cosmic disaster that would,
dates for the job of world-renewer: the twelfth spiritual
after some blank time, initiate a new cycle whose first yuga
guide, or ima¯m, who had disappeared in the ninth century
was always a golden age. Strategic foreshortening brought
and was in hiding or occultation; a twelfth caliph, under
present catastrophe stern to snout with a renewed world. The
whose reign would appear the restorer of the faith, the
foreshortening began in northern India with early Maha¯ya¯na
Mahdi, to usher in a short golden age before the End; and
Buddhist images of bodhisattvas, compassionate enlightened
E¯Isa¯ (Jesus) who would do military honors at the End.
beings who chose to work in this world for the benefit of oth-
Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı and S:u¯f¯ı emphasis on the hiddenness of the ima¯m
ers rather than withdraw into final nirva¯n:a. Almost simulta-
may have colored later Christian visions of a Last World Em-
neously, Chinese commentators during the Later Han period
peror dying (or vanishing) prematurely, and Sh¯ıE¯ı Mahdism
(25–220 CE) alloyed the Confucian golden age of antiquity,
certainly splashed across North India and Indonesia. Eventu-
the Datong, to the Daiping golden age, which according to
ally, ima¯m, caliph, and Mahdi merged; in Africa even E¯Isa¯
Daoist sexagenary cycles could be both ancient and immi-
had joined ranks by the mid-1800s. Two epochal motifs also
nent, as the Yellow Turban rebels in 184 sincerely hoped. By
merged then, a punctual one, according to which a renewer
the sixth century, the colossal four-cycle Indian cosmology
of the faith would appear at the end of each Islamic century,
had collapsed under the weight of Daoist alchemy, pietist
and a symmetrical one, according to which the twelfth ima¯m
Pure Land Buddhism, and popular Chinese worship of the
would reappear in the thirteenth century AH (1785/6 to
Eternal Mother (Wusheng Laomu) and the bodhisattva
1881/2 CE), which was a century of worldwide Mahdist
Prince Moonlight (Yueguang Tongzi).
movements—northern Nigeria (1804), India (1810, 1828,
and 1880), Java (1825), Iran (1844), Algeria (1849, 1860,
There were then three accessible ages, associated cosmo-
and 1879), Senegal (1854), and the Sudan (1881).
logically with the Daoist Former, Middle, and Latter Heav-
ens, typologically with the three Buddhas (Lamplighter,
Common to millenarian aesthetics in all the world reli-
S´a¯kyamuni, and Maitreya), and synecdochically with the
gions is this epochal scenario: a calm inaugural and a riotous
Buddhas’ lotus thrones of azure, red, and white. Each age be-
finale to each act; the circling of two protagonists near the
gins with a new buddha and then declines, again in triplets:
End, one imperial, the other sacramental; and a time at the
True Doctrine, or Dharma; Counterfeit Doctrine; and Last
End that is at once encore, intermezzo, and the throwing
Days of Doctrine. Since the days of the historical Buddha,
open of the doors.
S´a¯kyamuni (and, traditionally, of Confucius and Laozi), we
have squatted uncomfortably in the dissolute Last Days,
Millenarianism stands therefore in contrast to the mod-
awaiting Maitreya or his predecessor, Prince Moonlight, who
ern pessimism that paints miniatures of global devastation
is due to sweep in at the height of catastrophes one thousand
yet mounts no panorama of a future marvelous world.
years after S´a¯kyamuni’s parinirva¯n:a. Profitably vague as it
Though flood, plague, famine, or war may summon visions
was, such a schedule made it clear that Venerable Mother,
of collective death, millenarians promise more than an accu-
responsible for sending each of the buddhas, intended our
rate prediction of catastrophe. They promise an earth lifted
imminent return to the Pure Land, the Western Paradise.
beyond safety to grace. Even at their most catastrophic, mil-
lenarians insist that a classical tragedy must be fought
The upshot of this foreshortening was an epochal aes-
through only to reach a genuinely good time. From this con-
thetic which, by the fourteenth century, called for rounded
viction of drama derive those socially uncompromising ritu-
contours to a humanly proportioned history, and a millenari-
als of breaking—obscenity, nudity, fasting, celibacy, rebel-
an White Lotus rebellion, which in 1351 drew the curtain
lion—so coincident with millenarian movements. At their
on the Yuan dynasty and set the stage for the Ming (from
most utopian, millenarians tone down the nightmare of the
Ming Wang, the Chinese name for the Manichaean “perfect
final act: the earth will be transformed by sheer unanimity.
ruler,” the Prince of Radiance). This aesthetic survived to in-
Through evangelism, prophecy, and technologies of transla-
form the White Lotus uprisings of the eighteenth century,
tion (speaking in tongues, polyglot scriptures, computer
the Taiping Rebellion of 1851 to 1864, the Dao Lanh sect
mailing), people will, in the face of local despair, embrace the
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MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
6031
same faith. A single faith, warmly bespoken, must entail a
Spain, had such millenarian resonance that neither Puritans
universal community whose very existence will effect the har-
nor Franciscans were able to acknowledge the historical in-
mony, sanctity, and security long sought. A time of crisis
tegrity of the so-called Indians. We know also that for many
thus becomes a time of redemption.
societies, visitors of a different complexion already had a mil-
lenarian role in myths of migration and ancestry (the pink-
Characteristically, millenarians are least specific con-
skinned Europeans for the Fuyughe of the New Guinea
cerning the millennium itself, a time of instant and perfect
highlands, the white-skinned Europeans for the MuKongo
communication whose seamlessness makes anatomical detail
of the region of the Kongo, the dark-skinned Mongols, or
unnecessary. Millenarians are, rather, diagnosticians of bo-
“Tartars,” for western Europeans). For victor as for van-
dies in metastasis. It is hardly coincidental that millenarian-
quished, millenarian vertigo has conditioned initial contacts,
ism in such diverse contexts as central Africa, western Eu-
later misunderstandings, violence, and oppression.
rope, and northeastern Brazil has been chartered by
homeopathic healers, who best appreciate the dramatic
If millenarianism is the religion of the oppressed, it is
working-through of crisis. Not all healers become prophets,
no less the religion of the oppressor. What prompts the op-
but most millenarian prophets claim therapeutic powers that
pressed to envision a new moral order is likely to be the same
extend from the ailing human body to the ailing body poli-
as what, some decades earlier, prompted the oppressor to
tic. Themselves usually colporteurs of regional symbolic sys-
move on or over or through. So millenarianism may be both
tems, the prophet-healers take millenarianism from diagnosis
cause and result of migration. This is seen most vividly in
to prescription, from philosophy to jubilee.
the conjunction of Sudanese Mahdism with long-term mi-
gration south from an expanding Saharan desert, accelerated
MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS. If millenarian thought is curled
pilgrimage across the Sudan to Mecca during the thirteenth
inside calendar scrolls, millenarian movements are engraved
century AH, and Egyptian disruption of slave trade from
on maps. Their rhetoric has to do less with time than with
1850 to 1880.
place. Just as millenarian thought focuses upon golden ages,
so millenarian movements have golden places: Heaven on
There is, to many millenarian movements, a primary
Earth, the Pure Land, the Blessed Isle, the Land without Evil,
ecology dependent upon this experience of migration,
California (this last from a sixteenth-century Spanish ro-
whether lived or fantasized. Millenarians commonly foresee
mance read by Hernán Cortés). And since in most iconogra-
an End in which the elements of the world are used up, con-
phies what is closest to perfect is closest to the eye of the
sumed by fire, lava, or flood. As the faithful migrate, the
storm, millenarians are sure that any migration they make
world does too, its elements recombining. How else could
is no retreat but a step toward the New World. Millenarian
that ultimate harmony between the human and the natural
crying of doom and recruitment of the elect must be under-
be established? Although the elemental reshuffling may be
stood as the epochal duty of taking into the calm center the
divinely operated, millenarians have typically excited notice
kernel of humanity.
by their own human, mimetic acts of violence, their putative
disregard for the wealth of the world and the bonds of social
Prime metaphor of millenarian movements, migration
life. Cattle killing or pig killing, bonfires of earthly posses-
can also become the prime experience, palpable or vicarious.
sions, neglect of crops—these are more than public commit-
Millenarians encourage those sensations of the migrant that
ments to prophets or prophecies; they are attempts to act in
observers may mistake for motives: exile and wandering, put
concert with what seems to be a driving rhythm of history—
in scriptural tandem with the peripatetic Buddha, the Wan-
humanity and nature cracking apart in war and earthquake
dering Jew, the itinerant Jesus, and Muh:ammad’s Hijrah;
or crumbling more silently through immorality and faith-
nostalgia for lost lands; contrary moods of excited expecta-
lessness.
tion and deep remorse; inflation of the spiritual benefits of
transit, sustained by epics of a terrifying, miraculous cross-
The New World implied by most millenarian move-
ing; ambivalence toward the New World as both brave and
ments presumes not only a new natural physiognomy but
strange.
also a new human physiognomy, one that is messianic in im-
port. We can make no easy distinctions between messianic
Whether a millenarian group solicits new gods or extorts
and millenarian movements. Few messianic leaders appear
aid from the old, it will confuse old home with new. Imagery
without heralding an instantaneous New World. Obversely,
of migration brings into view earlier mythical dislocations
where there are no focal messianic leaders, as in the Chinese
(deluge, expulsion) even as it makes evident the need to ac-
Eight Trigrams Rebellion in 1813, millenarians usually take
commodate to a new land. The more intransigent the notion
upon themselves a collective messianic mantle, with cloth
of home, the more people must provide themselves with
enough to redress themselves and the world.
apologies for imagined or actual movements away from it,
For those who follow prophets toward a New World al-
and the more they will tend toward migration as a com-
ready marked out—Jan Beuckelzoon’s Münster (Germany,
manding metaphor.
1534), Jemima Wilkinson’s Jerusalem (New York,
We know that the English Puritan settlement of “New”
1788–1794), Antonio Conselheiro’s Canudos (Brazil, 1893–
England, like the Spanish Franciscan conquest of “New”
1897), Julian Baltasar’s Cabaruan (the Philippines, 1897–
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6032
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
1901), Rua Kenana’s Maungapohatu (New Guinea, 1907–
reread the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation as if these
1916)—the millennium begins in miniature as a sacred pro-
books could at last be compassed. Such courage led John
logue. For civic millenarians—the Japanese of Nichiren’s
Nelson Darby (1800–1882) to lower from the flies a star-
Tokaido region in the 1250s, the Italians of Girolamo Savo-
tlingly theatrical machine that inspired many subsequent
narola’s Florence in the 1490s, the Americans of the 1860s
premillennial scenarios: the “secret rapture,” an unan-
in Emanuel Leutze’s mural Westward the Course of Empire
nounced ascension of the living elect while Jesus returns to
Takes Its Way in the Capitol, Washington, D.C.,—the bur-
do battle on the earth below (cf. 1 Thes. 4:17). Certified by
den of pointing the way toward the millennium lies not upon
the widely distributed Cyrus Scofield Bible commentary
any prophetic enclave or diasporal elite but upon the entire
(1909; amended 1919), this machine resembles Hellenistic
population. The city, the city-state, the state itself becomes
blueprints of the Gnostic sage’s ascent to the lower heavens
the vehicle for world renovation.
during world conflagration. Both tend to cloud the suppos-
edly radical thrust of premillennialism.
So millenarianism may beat at the heart of aggressive na-
tionalism, as in the French revolutionary anthem “La Mar-
In larger perspective, it is less useful to distinguish be-
seillaise” (1792) or at independence day extravaganzas every-
tween conservatives and radical millenarians than to note
where. It has underlain beliefs in a Russian mission to
that millenarian movements go through phases: an expansive
redeem civilization, as promoted by the novelist Johann
phase during which believers move out to a ripening world
Heinrich Jung-Stilling, the occultist Baroness Barbara Jul-
and an astringent phase during which they pull in toward a
iane von Krüdener, and Tsar Alexander I before his Holy Al-
holy refuge. These phases are equally political. In the stub-
liance of 1815; a Hungarian mission, as in The Entry of the
bornest withdrawal to the most undesirable, inaccessible
Magyars, (1892–1894), a cyclorama celebrating Hungary’s
places (like Jim Jones’s village in the Guyanese jungle from
“millennial constitution”; a German mission—the Nazi
1972 to 1978), millenarians become prima facie political
Third Reich; and a Greek mission—the Zoeist Fraternity of
threats, whether or not they speak of loyalty to earthly re-
the 1950s. Ancient westerly migrations from the Asian
gents. Total withdrawal so often suggests cabal that the more
steppes by Huns, Magyars, Aryans, and Dorians have thus
a millenarian group seeks full disengagement, the more the
been rousted out of annals, written into history, and gilded
ruling elite may suspect conspiracy and subversion. Similar-
to serve as a national mandate. Talk of a “Third World” as
ly, in their expansive phase, millenarians may be the mission-
the last hope for a failing planet is a contemporary extension
ary outriders of empire (Christopher Columbus, for exam-
of the same civic millenarian ideal.
ple, his monogram qabbalistic, his “Christ-bearing” mission
self-consciously prophetic) or the counterforce to empire
“First World” scholars tend to link civic millenarianism
(the Plains Indian Ghost Dance of the 1880s, the Contesta-
with modern Christian postmillennial theology, which holds
do of Brazil in the 1910s, the New Mexican La Raza move-
that Jesus’ second coming will postdate the start of the mil-
ment in the 1960s); they may be the impetus for nationalism
lennium, and that no great tumult will intervene between
(the Tana Bhagat of India, 1915) or the barrier against it (the
this world and the New World. Millenarians of this type may
Watchtower and Kitawala movements in south-central Afri-
be told only by their rhythms from the gentler rocking of re-
ca since 1909, Alice Lenshina’s Lumpa Church in Zambia
formers. In contrast, premillennialists, paradoxically consid-
in the 1960s); they may be universalists (the International
ered both more primitive and more revolutionary, actively
Workers of the World and their general strikes of 1905 to
prepare for the advent. The New World, inaugurated by
1920) or ethnic separatists (Juan Santos presenting himself
Jesus, ruptures the historical chain and affirms the supernal
in 1742 as Apu-Inca, descendant of the last Inca, Atahuallpa,
nature of deity. (“Amillennialists,” such as Augustine of
or the Altai Turks in 1904 awaiting the Oirot Khan’s return
Hippo, run the millennium concurrently with the life of the
and freedom from the Russians). Expansive or astringent,
church, so that there can be no separate future earthly
millenarian movements are inherently political but not in-
kingdom.)
herently reactionary or revolutionary.
Millenarian movements do not settle conveniently into
Typologies of millenarian movements. Altogether, as
a pre- or postmillennial stance; even within Latin Christiani-
a system of thought and social movement, millenarianism
ty, these categories had little bearing before the nineteenth
spins on two axes: golden age or new era; primitive paradise
century. From the time of Lucius Lactantius (c. 240–320)
or promised land. This oscillation leads perplexed observers
until the Reformation, the issue for millenarians was whether
to depict millenarian movements as volatile, metamorphic,
the millennium would occur before or after the advent of the
undirected, and ephemeral. Journalistic or academic, admin-
antichrist. When early Protestants convinced themselves that
istrative or missiological, works on the subject abound with
the Roman papacy was the antichrist, their heirs had to re-
images that have shaped policy. Millenarianism is described
phrase the advent debate in terms of the reappearance of
in five iconic sets:
Jesus. In the seventeenth century, another generation built
1. a contagion to be quarantined (as with Mormonism in
up historical arguments in favor of Protestantism by adduc-
Utah in the later 1800s);
ing a theory of dispensations through which God progres-
sively revealed divine law. Their heirs mustered courage to
2. a quicksand to be fenced off (as in the legal actions
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MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
6033
against the American Shakers in the early 1800s and the
J. van Binsbergen (1981), are quadrivalent, balancing social
present-day anticult campaigns against the Unification
pressures against social structures. Douglas uses two vari-
Church);
ables, social cohesion and shared symbolic systems. Fernan-
3. a simmering stew to be watched, on the premise that a
dez takes acculturation as his ordinate, instrumentality as his
watched pot never boils (as in police surveillance of the
abscissa. Van Binsbergen considers both the source of dis-
group surrounding Catherine Théot in Paris in 1793
equilibrium (infrastructural, superstructural) and the nature
and 1794);
of the threat (“peasantization,” “proletarianization”). Such
typologies, more appreciative of the complexity of millenari-
4. a boil to be lanced (as in the English kidnapping of the
an movements, still hesitate before the phase shifts through
prophet Birsa from Munda country in northeastern
which most movements go.
India in 1895 or the Belgian imprisonment of Simon
Kimbangu and his first disciples from 1921 to 1957);
Motives for the fabrication of typologies may themselves
5. an explosion to be contained (the German war against
be classified as prophylactic or exploitative. Most typologies
the Maji Maji of German East Africa [modern-day Tan-
mean to be prophylactic. Political scientists, for example,
zania] in 1905 and 1906 or the Jamaican government’s
may hope to forestall the rise of charismatic tyranny; anthro-
preemption of Rastafarian music and rhetoric).
pologists in colonial settings may want to persuade authori-
Millenarianism appears here as an epiphenomenon, a symp-
ties to handle millenarian movements more reasonably and
tom of or a pretext for something more sinister. These im-
with less show of force; missionaries may wish to avoid
ages (and policies) have an august history. Church councils
spawning highly independent churches or syncretic cults.
in Latin, Byzantine, and Protestant Christianity, legal schol-
Other typologies are exploitative. Marxist and capitalist alike
ars of Sunn¯ı Islam and rabbinic Judaism, the presiding
place millenarians on a sociohistorical ladder so as to direct
monks of Buddhist sam:ghas—all have long regarded mille-
their obvious energies upward, toward national liberation
narianism as a disguised attack on codes of behavior that are
and socialism or toward modern industrialism and oligopoly.
meant to govern faith and cult. Rulers and their bureaucra-
Occultists and irenic church people place millenarians on
cies—Confucian, Islamic, Hindu—have regarded millenari-
one rung of the ladder of spiritual evolution so as to draw
anism as a ritual mask worn by crafty rebels.
them toward higher consciousness, the Aquarian age, or one
broad faith.
Present-day typologists are somewhat more sympathet-
ic. For them, millenarianism is emblematic, a ceremonial flag
Explanations for millenarian movements. Despite the
waved furiously over swamps of injustice. Such an interpreta-
many typologies, there are but two current scholarly explana-
tion was codified by the French and German Enlighten-
tions for the birth of millenarian movements. The first asserts
ments, then refurbished by liberals in the nineteenth century
that millenarianism arises from feelings of relative depriva-
until positivist denials of a religious instinct made religion
tion in matters of status, wealth, security, or self-esteem. Mil-
itself seem epiphenomenal. Latter-day social scientists have
lenarian movements appear in periods of crisis, when such
made millenarianism doubly emblematic, for they describe
feelings become most painful. The crisis may be as blatant
it as the sign of transition from a religious to a secular society.
and acute as the sack of a city or as subtle and prolonged as
Current typologies work along three scales: temporal
the passage from isolated agrarian community to industrial
focus, soteriology, and sociopolitical engagement. On the
megalopolis. Whichever it is, the crisis engenders personal
first scale, typologists range those movements oriented to-
fantasies of invulnerability and escape, which are trans-
ward (1) the reconstitution of an earlier social structure
formed by charismatic individuals who are often members
(called nativist, traditionalist, conservationist, restorative),
of displaced elites. These prophets shape public expressions
(2) the imaginative making of peace with change (called ac-
of protest at a time when more straightforward political ac-
culturative, adjustive, perpetuative, revitalist, reformative),
tion seems useless. In the necessarily unsuccessful aftermath,
and (3) the creation of an ideal future society (called messian-
millenarians master the cognitive dissonance between expec-
ic or utopian). The second scale runs from those movements
tation and failure by perpetuating millenarian beliefs within
concerned exclusively with individual salvation (called re-
a revised chronology and a new missionary plan. The under-
demptive, revivalist, thaumaturgic) to those that demand an
lying causes for feelings of deprivation will not have been re-
overhaul of economy and etiquette (called transformative or
solved, so a millenarian tradition, halfway between social
revolutionary). The third scale starts at total isolation and
banditry and the politics of party, burns on.
finishes with collective assault on the state. This scale espe-
The second, complementary explanation says that mil-
cially has been plodded and plowed by rhetoric (re-actionary/
lenarian movements spring from contact between two cul-
progressive, passive/active, prepolitical/political, mythologi-
tures when one is technologically far superior to the other.
cal/ideological). Like mule teams, these binary terms are
Millenarianism spreads within the settled, inferior culture,
hardworking but perpetually sterile, since millenarians de-
whose polity is critically threatened. The newcomers, usually
light in the yoking of opposites.
white and literate, disrupt traditional systems of kinship,
Dynamic typologies, plotted by such scholars as Mary
healing, and land rights. Most wrenching are the factorial
Douglas (1970), James W. Fernandez, (1964), and Wim M.
economics introduced by the newcomers, whose quantitative
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6034
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
uses of time and money rasp across the qualitative webs of
of Milan and her women disciples in the late thirteenth cen-
social reciprocity. The indigenes must redefine their notions
tury; Dona Béatrice’s Antonine movement in the Lower
of power, status, and law, or they must stave off the well-
Congo from 1703 to 1706; Joanna Southcott with perhaps
armed traders, their navies, and their missionaries. Acknowl-
twenty thousand followers in England before her death in
edging the superiority of the newcomers’ technology but not
1814; Ellen Gould White, chief oracle of the Seventh-day
that of their ethic of possessive individualism, the indigenes
Adventists in the United States, in the late nineteenth centu-
begin to speculate about the true origin of the goods and
ry; Jacobina Maurer of the Brazilian Muckers movement
gods of the stingy, secretive newcomers. The result is the
from 1872 to 1898; the visionary Gaidaliu in Assam from
contact cult (also called a “crisis cult” or “cargo cult”) devot-
1929 to 1930 and 1961 to 1965; Mai Chaza’s Guta ra Je-
ed to frenzied preparation for the receipt of shiploads of
hova (City of Jehovah) in Rhodesia from 1954 to 1960; Kita-
goods (cargo) that will dock unaccompanied by whites or in
mura Sayo¯’s Dancing Religion (Tensho¯ Ko¯tai Jingukyo¯)
the company of fair-skinned but unselfish ancestors. Already
founded in Japan in 1945.
under intense pressure, the people ceremonially destroy sa-
Deprivation theories maintain that women, an injured
cred objects and standing crops. They believe that this world
group, use religion as a means to power otherwise denied
is ending and a new one must begin, best with the newcom-
them by patriarchies. This makes religion a negative (com-
ers gone and themselves masters of the secret of wealth.
pensatory) vehicle for women and a positive (creative) vehicle
Contact is the sociology for which deprivation is the
for men, and it fails to explain the power that women gain
psychology. Contact leads to millenarianism when one group
over men through millenarian movements. There is as yet
feels unalterably deprived vis-à-vis a new other. The two ex-
no sufficient discussion of female charisma. Indeed, where
planations, compatible with stock images of eruption and
prophetic leadership is male, analysis customarily proceeds
contagion, rely on the premise of a closed system. At the mil-
from the instrumental, socioeconomic background to doc-
lenarian core lies frustration; out of frustration squirms fan-
trine and political tactics; where female, it proceeds from af-
tasy, and fantasy breeds violence. Early Freudian analyses of
fective, sexual background to ritual and spirit possession. Ac-
hysteria, psychosis, and schizophrenia have been employed
tive men, reactive women: a contact theory of the sexes.
here to wire the circuit between individual fireworks and col-
Contact theories are tricky. Amazed by discoveries of
lective explosion.
previously unknown tribes in the Amazon region and in the
Deprivation theories prevail despite decades of criticism
Philippines, industrial societies exaggerate the isolation of
for their being slackly predictive. Scholars have noted that
nonindustrial people. Nonetheless, contact is always a matter
relative deprivation does not account specifically for mille-
of degree: from armies with bulldozers abruptly grading run-
narianism; it may as easily induce fracas, sabotage, or person-
ways in Melanesia to pandemics of smallpox hundreds of
al depression. Conversely, millenarian movements have not
miles from (European) vectors. Contact is never so much a
“burst out” where relative deprivation has been most appar-
shock that some prophecy or other has not already accumu-
ent: eighteenth-century Ireland, nineteenth-century Ethio-
lated around a piece of strangeness that years before drifted
pia, the southeastern coast of modern India. Indeed, as critics
in on a storm tide or fell from the clouds.
may add, where across this imperfect world has relative de-
In addition, we have sparse evidence that a number of
privation ever been absent or a crisis lacking?
peoples—the Guaraní of South America, the Karen of
At this point, theorists invoke a homo ex machina, the
Burma, the Lakalai of the island of New Britain, and perhaps
charismatic prophet who processes the raw stuff of frustra-
the Pacific Northwest Indians—had myths, rituals, and cults
tion. As a person whose life portends or echoes social crises,
whose motifs were millenarian and whose origins were prior
the prophet articulates the myth-dream of the people and so
to contact with an in-pressing “superior” (Eurasian) culture.
becomes invested with the power to direct its expression.
Furthermore, not every uneven contact lights a mille-
Wherever gambols a weak social theory about religious
narian “fuse.” While the same material imbalance between
movements, sure to follow is the fleece of charisma. For face-
Europeans and natives faced both Polynesians and Melane-
to-face groups, as W. R. Bion showed in his Experiences in
sians, millenarian movements have been infrequent among
Groups (New York, 1961), prophetic leaders may embody
the politically stratified societies of Polynesia. More loosely
group fantasies of rebirth. For larger groups—like most mil-
bunched and socially fluid, Melanesians had inadequate eti-
lenarian movements—charisma becomes narcotic, a con-
quette by which to carry out diplomacy between distinctly
trolled substance rather than a theory of social relations.
separate orders. The customary structure of discourse, not
Theorists have given particularly short shrift to the re-
contact itself, seems to have been a key variable in the general
markable prominence of women as millenarian prophets. In
absence of cargo cults in Polynesia and their flowering in
all but Islam and Judaism, women have stridden at the head
Melanesia, where consistently powerful Europeans could not
of millenarian movements, with men as their scribes, publi-
be dealt with as easily as could another and analogous order.
cists, and ideologues. The list is long; a few examples must
At best, deprivation predisposes, contact precipitates.
do: Priscilla and Maximilla of the New Prophecy (the Mon-
There are six other factors whose presence predisposes to mil-
tanists) in Asia Minor in the late second century; Guglielma
lenarian movements:
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MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
6035
1. permeable monastic communities and lay sodalities that
quires the reordering of native patterns of marriage,
extend loyalties beyond the family;
family, diet, and calendar;
2. itinerant homeopathic healers who carry ritual and
2. displacement by refugees or invaders, or as a result of
rumor across regional borders;
persecution, economic decline, or natural calamity;
3. a mythopoetic tradition in popular drama and folktale,
3. confusion about landholdings due to shifting settle-
which makes history prophetic and the people the bear-
ment, the superposition of a new legal grid, or the ad-
ers of prophecy;
vent of new technologies, as foreshadowed most particu-
4. numerology and astrology, which encourage people ha-
larly by census taking, geological surveys, rail laying, and
bitually to search out relationships between number,
road building;
event, and time;
4. generational distortion, where the traditional transfer of
5. rituals of inversion, such as carnival or exhaustive
loyalties and moral authority is profoundly disturbed by
mourning, in which endings and beginnings are willful-
war deaths, schooling, long-distance migrations, or ur-
ly confused;
banization.
6. migration myths that call for the return to an ancestral
These are, of course, related. Threaded throughout are anxi-
land or for the return of the dead to a renewed land.
eties about inheritance, boundaries, and language (its intelli-
There are negatively prejudicial factors as well. Millenarian
gibility, its capacity for truth-telling). Set within a matrix of
movements are least likely at the extremes of the economic
predisposing factors, granted some rumors and good weath-
spectrum—that is, among those who have complete freedom
er, these anxieties should specifically engage the wheels of
of mobility and among those absolutely constrained. No mil-
millenarianism, with its special freight of ages, places, and
lenarian movements occur within groups whose positions are
figures of speech. Expansive millenarianism occurs when be-
secure, comfortable, and protected by mechanisms of caste
lievers are imperiled or impressed by forces within their soci-
(classical North Indian, Japanese, and Roman aristocracies).
ety; astringent millenarianism occurs when the forces seem
Nor do millenarian movements occur within groups whose
foreign.
mobility has been severely restricted by political oppression
Patterns of millenarian movements in world history.
(prisoners, inmates of concentration camps), economic op-
The world’s great religions share a larger historical pattern
pression (slaves), physical illness (hospital patients, the starv-
of millenarian activity (although Veda¯nta Hinduism may be
ing), or mental illness (asylum inmates, the autistic).
a partial exception). Founded on the fringes of empire or at
This verges on tautology: millenarian movements hap-
the fracture line between competing kingdoms, these reli-
pen where physical movement is possible. But the near tau-
gions find themselves several centuries later at the center of
tology is suggestive. Where cultural ideals of physical move-
an empire. Millenarian thought then appears in canonical
ment differ, so, correspondingly, may the nature of social
form, drawing its impetus from those forces of imperial ex-
movements. For example, to be harshly schematic, Western
pansion that compel the recalculation of calendars, histories,
Europeans have stressed vertical, direct, outbound motion in
distances, and sacred geography. The new arithmetic signals
their sports, their dancing, their tools, and their manners; the
a shift in scales of measurement, mediated as much by mys-
head and shoulders lead, with the mass of the body in tow.
tics as by scientists. When an empire seems to have reached
Sub-Saharan Africans such as the Dogon have a kinesthetic
its limits, millenarian movements flourish, usually several
of orchestral, highly oppositional, polyrhythmic motion in
generations before the dynastic collapse.
which the body twists at the hips. The northern Chinese
When the millennium does not arrive, or when mille-
have in their martial arts, their medicine and calligraphy a
narian movements are co-opted by a new dynasty, as in Ming
kinesthetic of sustained circular motion, an integrated body
China or Safavid Iran, millenarianism does not fade away.
linked to the flow of universal energy. These differences may
End-of-the-world images linger in the dreams and speech of
be expressed in the European proclivity for a tight echelon
the people, and end-time ideas are filtered through monaste-
of prophets leading an undifferentiated millenarian body, the
ries, lay brotherhoods, and scientific communities. As these
African tendency toward coextensive and fissiparous leader-
are gradually attracted to the nodes of political power, mille-
ship, the Chinese history of generational continuity from one
narian movements reappear either as adjuncts of conquest or
guiding millenarian family to the next. Kinesthetic differ-
as resistance to it. Millenarian activity peaks again when the
ences may also determine the relative importance of the pre-
limits of territorial coherence are felt within the empire and
cipitants of millenarianism: where a society looks for whole-
along its colonial periphery.
body motion, the triggering instances must affect the entire
society; where a society looks for articulated or isolated mo-
This sequence may obtain for other than the great world
tions, the triggering instances may be more local.
religions (e.g., for the Aztec, Iroquois, and Ba-kongo), but
materials are lacking that would sustain such an argument
The following four factors recur cross-culturally as
for the many preliterate cultures. It is tempting, in the same
major precipitants of millenarian movements:
way that millenarianism itself is tempting, to offer a global
1. the evangelism of foreign missionaries whose success re-
explanation—such as climatic cycles—for its rhythms. The
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6036
MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
quest for global explanations, however, like the quest for a
Jews’ return to Zion. So we see in the ecumene a telephone
fountain of youth, tells more about the explorers than it does
hot line for news of the latest scriptural prophecies fulfilled,
about the territory.
an international conference on end-of-world prophecies (in
CONTEMPORARY FASCINATION WITH THE END. Why does
Jerusalem in 1971), and a new perfume called Millennium:
millenarianism presently seem in such need of some kind of
“In the life of every woman’s skin there comes a turning
covering law? The answers to this question have to do with
point, a time when her face begins to look older. Now there
the characteristics of the North Atlantic ecumene, which is
is an alternative.”
responsible for most of the law making.
Outside the ecumene, detached from Christian dates,
A first answer is that millenarians tend not to fall within
Hindu and Buddhist revivalists (Hare Krishna, Divine Light
the bell of the ecumene’s emotional curve. Although sternly
Mission, So¯ka Gakkai) preach the last era, the kaliyuga or
depressed about current affairs, millenarians are at the same
mappo¯. Sh¯ıE¯ıs awaiting the Mahdi at century’s end (AH1399/
time exultant about the prospects for a New World. Europe-
1979–1980 CE) experienced instead the Iranian revolution.
an and North American psychologists interpret ambivalence
Mexican intellectuals of the Movement of the Reappearance
as a symptom of inner discord; the greater the ambivalence,
of Anauak, following the Aztec calendar, find this a time of
the more serious the illness. But “sensible” middle-class citi-
cataclysm. Marxists, flipping through an economic almanac,
zens join UFO cults, buy fifteen million copies of Hal Lind-
tear off the leaves of late capitalism.
sey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Mich.,
The fifth answer, then, is that from within and without
1970), and order bulk goods from End Time Foods, Inc.,
the ecumene, notions of change have taken on a prepotently
in Virginia. Why?
millenarian cast.
A second answer is that millenarians threaten the stabili-
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MILLENARIANISM. Claims for the sig-
ty of the ecumene, upsetting the development of outlying
nificance of millenarianism, either as a system of thought or
colonies. Millenarians seem haphazardly amused by industri-
as a tradition of social movements, range from the thought-
al investment and international tariffs. Why do they keep
fully deprecatory (that it is one more index to the predica-
popping up to make a hash of foreign policy, and why do
ment of capitalism) to the modestly dismissive (that it is an
they prefer the “magical” to the “practical”?
expression of a universally human fantasy of returning to the
womb and resuming unhindered power in a practically time-
A third answer is that the wars of the twentieth century
less world) to the complimentary (that it is a rich mode of
burned the mark of the beast on North Atlantic arts, philoso-
dissent where other modes are either unavailable or unavail-
phy, and history. The beast roared through the no-man’s-
ing) to the genuinely laudatory (that in the form of the myth
lands of World War I and the gas chambers and radioactive
of the eternal return and its rituals of cosmic renewal, it is
cinders of World War II. Apocalypse has lost its reference
the taproot of religion and revolution). The truth, as usual,
to millennium; it has become simply a synonym for disaster.
lies athwart.
We can also trace the growth of a catastrophic mood in
SEE ALSO Eschatology; Exile; Golden Age; Utopia.
North Atlantic science over a century of work in astronomy,
cosmology, ecology, climatology, and, recently, morphoge-
netics and mathematics (the last two united by catastrophe
BIBLIOGRAPHY
theory, which accounts topologically for instant changes of
Millenarian scholarship, chiefly a phenomenon of the North At-
lantic ecumene, has followed the same patterns of historical
state). The mood has prevailed in popular science from
change.
Henry Adams’s 1909 essay on the second law of thermody-
namics (“The Rule of Phase Applied to History”) to the syzy-
During the sixteenth century, while European merchants rede-
gy scare of the so-called Jupiter effect (1974–1982).
fined time as fortune, millenarians appeared in Roman Cath-
olic histories of heresy and Protestant martyrologies. For
A fourth, more upbeat answer is that archaeology, theol-
Catholics and for the Magisterial Reformers, millenarianism
ogy, politics, and the Gregorian calendar have conspired to
was occasioned by lust (impatience, appetite without love);
regenerate the utopian side of millenarianism. Although no
for radical Protestants, millenarianism came of a desperately
millenarian movements and exceedingly few prophecies were
loving desire to return to the apostolic model. Then, as
geared to the year 1000 (few then used such a calendar), the
today, the bell cows of any overview were the communalistic
Taborites in fifteenth-century Bohemia, Thomas Müntzer’s
historical myth persisted because it seemed to many that
rebels in the German Peasants’ Revolt of 1524–1525, and
the year 2000 would be truly millennial. The discovery of
the antinomian Anabaptist kingdom at Münster in 1534. In
the Dead Sea Scrolls since 1947 has underscored the conten-
these three episodes the consequences of the millenarian pro-
tion, popularized by Albert Schweitzer in 1906, that eschato-
gram were so played out that most subsequent commentaries
logical hope was vital at the time of apostolic Christianity
used them to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate
and should therefore be part of all true Christian belief. Isra-
visions of religious and social renewal.
el’s statehood in 1948 and its 1967 reunification of Jerusa-
Early seventeenth-century histories, written in a confusing era of
lem have convinced fundamentalist Christians of the near-
religious warfare, tended to describe millenarianism as the
ness of the Second Coming, for which a principal sign is the
confused or gangrenous extension of piety, for which in En-
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MILLENARIANISM: AN OVERVIEW
6037
glish was coined the word enthusiasm, an outlier of the syn-
psychology. The capstone was a conference in 1960 spon-
drome of melancholia. Melancholics seemed to resemble the
sored by Comparative Studies in Society and History (The
age itself, mixing categories and muddling the practical, the
Hague, 1958–), the journal that is still the most active in mil-
extravagant, and the fantastic.
lenarian studies. The event set the agenda for at least a decade
After the near revolutions of midcentury—the French Fronde
of research, prompting scholars to fashion typologies and to
with its illuminés, the English Civil War with its Levellers
formulate distinctions between varieties of millenarian activi-
and Fifth Monarchists—millenarianism was implicated in
ty. The conference results were published in book form in
political plotting and secret communication. So the medical
Millennial Dreams in Action: Essays in Comparative Study, ed-
figure of contagion, used earlier against witchcraft, was resur-
ited by Sylvia L. Thrupp (The Hague, 1962).
rected in works about millenarians, who might be possessed
Although the works discussed above remain the most consistently
or mad or deluded but were likely first to have been infected
cited sources in millenarian studies, their popularity is largely
by conniving knaves. Every one of these explanations was of-
a measure of the comfort they have afforded a North Atlantic
fered for the mass appeal of the great Jewish false messiah,
ecumene that is increasingly upset by liberation movements
Shabbetai Tsevi, who in 1666, at the height of his career,
and cold war apocalypse diplomacy. Millenarianism, they as-
converted to Islam under penalty of death.
sure us, has a history, a tradition, a phenomenology, a philos-
Eighteenth-century accounts, although sometimes pietist and
ophy, and a psychology.
sympathetic to millenarians, moved toward a vaguely biolog-
Henri Desroche’s Dieux d’hommes: Dictionnaire des messianismes
ical description: millenarianism was seen as corpuscular, ner-
et millénarismes de l’ère chrétienne (Paris, 1969), although in-
vous, iatromechanical. In an era of newly accurate clocks and
complete and outdated, codified much earlier scholarship.
mortality statistics, historical source-criticism and the propa-
That year also saw a general turn away from theories of social
ganda of Newtonian science, millenarians seemed to have
pathology and mental illness to explain millenarian move-
lost their sense of time and power of memory.
ments. Sophisticated analysis has turned toward the creative
Most modern assumptions about millenarianism were in place
and polysemous nature of millenarianism. The following are
soon after the French Revolution. Encyclopedias of religion
some of the most thoughtful and evocative works published
and dictionaries of sects sank the stakes: millenarianism was
in English since 1969.
a personal reaction to internal chemical imbalance or to feel-
The oxymorons of millenarian thought have been deftly handled
ings of envy or lust; it was a social ploy or a disguise for poli-
by Marjorie E. Reeves in The Influence of Prophecy in the
ticking, money making, or ambition. Later in the century,
Later Middle Ages: A Study of Joachimism (Oxford, 1969) and
under the impact of revivalism and labor agitation, millenari-
Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future (London, 1976),
anism became part of the sociology of crowds; as a personal
which should be supplemented by a series of articles by Rob-
disorder it was associated homologically with dementia prae-
ert E. Lerner, including “Medieval Prophecy and Religious
cox (soon to be called schizophrenia). Anthropologists
Dissent,” Past and Present 72 (1976): 3–24; J. G. A. Pocock’s
worked with Europocentric genetic metaphors: if millenarian
Politics, Language and Time (New York, 1971), especially his
movements occurred within Western civilization, they were
essay “Time, History and Eschatology in the Thought of
classified as throwbacks to the spiritual childhood of religion;
Thomas Hobbes,” pp. 148–201; and Sacvan Bercovitch’s
if outside, they were seen as infantile tantrums of primitive
The Puritan Origins of the American Self (London, 1975),
societies.
which is excellently extended in his article “The Typology of
At least three thousand studies of millenarianism have been print-
America’s Mission,” American Quarterly 30 (Summer 1978):
ed in this century, more and more often with a sympathetic
135–155. Theodore Olson’s Millennialism, Utopianism, and
preamble. Even so, because millenarians seem destined to in-
Progress (Toronto, 1981) moves heroically from the Greeks
evitable disappointment, people of all political persuasions
to the present, slipping and sliding along the way but always
have resented the millenarian label, none more so than revo-
serious and sometimes passionate. Joseph Needham’s pur-
lutionaries who want to make it clear that their programs for
view is even broader; Needham masterfully draws out the
a New World are neither illusory nor doomed. Since Ernst
similarities as well as the differences between European and
Bloch’s Thomas Müntzer als Theologe der Revolution (Mu-
Chinese approaches to time, in “Time and Eastern Man” in
nich, 1921), millenarian scholarship has been especially
his The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West
sharpened by political as well as religious polemic.
(Buffalo, N.Y., 1969), pp. 218–298. Like Needham, Charles
Webster underlines the philosophical but also the social rela-
At midcentury, out tumbled a spate of works insisting on the cen-
tions between science and millenarianism in his The Great
trality and continuity of millenarianism: for European cul-
Instauration: Science, Medicine and Reform, 1626–1660
ture, Normal R. C. Cohn’s The Pursuit of the Millennium
(New York, 1976).
(1957), 3 ed. (New York, 1970); for peasant culture, Eric J.
Hobsbawm’s Primitive Rebels (New York, 1959); for world
Social anthropologists have been at the forefront of theory about
culture, La table ronde’s full issue on “Apocalypse et idée de
millenarian movements. Alluded to in the text were Mary
fin des temps” (no. 110, February 1957); and the human
Douglas’s Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology (New
condition, Mircea Eliade’s Cosmos and History: The Myth of
York, 1970); James W. Fernandez’s “African Religious
the Eternal Return (New York, 1954). Simultaneously, in
Movements,” Annual Review of Anthropology 7 (1978): 195–
When Prophecy Fails (1956; reprint, New York, 1964), Leon
234, and “African Religious Movements: Types and Dynam-
Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter devel-
ics,” Journal of Modern African Studies 2 (1964): 531–549;
oped a theory of cognitive dissonance to explain the endur-
and Wim M. J. van Binsbergen’s Religious Change in Zambia
ance of millenarian beliefs from the point of view of social
(Boston, 1981). Highly influential for his sophistication and
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6038
MILLENARIANISM: CHINESE MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS
for his theory of differential access to redemptive media is
MILLENARIANISM: CHINESE MILLENARIAN
Kenelm Burridge’s New Heaven, New Earth (New York,
MOVEMENTS
1969). An interesting and thoroughgoing Marxist approach
The yearning for a utopia where one is free from want and
is presented by Berta I. Sharevskaya in The Religious Tradi-
tions of Tropical Africa in Contemporary Focus (Budapest,
where peace and prosperity reign supreme has been very
1973); more accessible may be her article “Toward a Typolo-
much an integral part of Chinese religion since pre-Qin
gy of Anticolonial Religious-Political Movements in Tropi-
times (before 221 BCE). Confucius (551–479 BCE) main-
cal Africa,” Soviet Anthropology and Archaeology 15 (1976):
tained the notion of a golden age when Sage-Kings such as
84–102. Less anthropological but nicely eclectic is Stephen
Yao and Shun reigned effortlessly in perfect harmony. Laozi
Sharot’s Messianism, Mysticism, and Magic: A Sociological
also espoused the idea of small agricultural communities
Analysis of Jewish Religious Movements (Chapel Hill, N.C.,
where life was simple and government was noninterfering.
1982).
The Moist concept of undifferentiated and nondiscriminat-
For particularly well done case studies of millenarian movements,
ing love was expressed in the form of datong (“grand unity”
see Mangol Bayat’s Mysticism and Dissent: Socioreligious
or “great equality”), which had been incorporated into the
Thought in Qajar Iran (Syracuse, N.Y. 1982); Pierre
Confucian text Liji (The classic of rites). However, all these
Clastres’s Society against the State, translated by Robert Har-
utopian states were understood to have existed in the distant
ley and Abe Stein (New York, 1977), concerning the Gua-
past. As time progressed, the conceptualization of utopia be-
raní of South America; Hue-Tam Ho Tai’s Millenarianism
came more concrete and contemporary. During the Qin-
and Peasant Politics in Vietnam (Cambridge, Mass., and Lon-
Han period (221 BCE–220 CE), mysterious lands in the ex-
don, 1983); Susan Naquin’s Millenarian Rebellion in China:
treme east and west of China were regarded either as para-
The Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813 (New Haven and Lon-
dises inhabited by immortals, or as idealized countries where
don, 1976) and Shantung Rebellion: The Wang Lun Uprising
justice and honesty prevailed. The realm of Xiwangmu or
of 1774 (New Haven, 1981); my own The French Prophets:
The History of a Millenarian Group in Eighteenth-Century En-
Queen Mother of the West, on Mount Kunlun in the west
gland (Berkeley, 1980); and Anthony F. C. Wallace’s The
and the three fairy islands of Penglai (“proliferating weeds”),
Death and Rebirth of the Seneca (New York, 1972).
Fangzhang (“square fathom”), and Yingzhou (“ocean conti-
nent”) in the eastern seas belonged to the first category, while
Further bibliographies may be found in my “The End of the Be-
the land of “Great Qin” (Da Qin), an idealized version of
ginning: Millenarian Studies, 1969–1975,” Religious Studies
the Roman Empire, belonged to the second.
Review 2 (July 1976): 1–15; Harold W. Turner’s Bibliogra-
phy of New Religious Movements in Primal Societies, 4 vols.
In contrast to pre-Qin utopias, all these ideal realms
(Boston, 1977–); and Bryan R. Wilson’s Magic and the Mil-
were understood to be contemporaneous with those who vis-
lennium (New York, 1973), pp. 505–531.
ited or reported on them. However, they were accessible to
New Sources
only a few privileged members of society. The Queen Moth-
Bowie, Fiona, and Christopher Deacy, eds. Christian Millenarian-
er of the West, for example, entertained only emperors and
ism: From the Early Church to Waco. London, 2001.
regaled them by her turquoise pond with her peaches and
wine of immortality. The three fairy islands were similarly
Emmerson, Richard, and Bernard McGinn, eds. Apocalypse in the
inaccessible to ordinary mortals; they either sank into the
Middle Ages. Ithaca, N.Y., 1992.
ocean when approached, or caused big storms to drive people
Greenspoon, Leonard J., and Ronald A. Simkins, eds. Millenial-
off course.
ism from the Hebrew Bible to the Present. Lincoln, Neb.,
2003.
EARLY MOVEMENTS. Two major soteriological movements
developed in China in the second century of the common
Landes, Richard A., ed. Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Milleni-
era. Both had appeal to the masses. The first, centered in
al Movements. New York, 2000.
western China (present-day Sichuan and Shaanxi), was head-
McGinn, Bernard, John J. Collins, and Stephen J. Stein, eds. Con-
ed by Zhang Lu, who created a theocratic state between 186
tinuum History of Apocalypticism. New York, 2003.
and 216 CE. Tracing his teaching to his grandfather Zhang
Daoling (34?–156? CE), Zhang Lu taught that illness was a
Robbins, Thomas, and Susan J. Palmer, eds. Millenium, Messiahs,
sign of sin and could be healed by confession. Furthermore,
and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements. New
he advocated the establishment of communal facilities to ex-
York, 1997.
pedite the realization of his utopia on earth. These facilities
Rowland, Christopher, and John Barton, eds. Apocalyptic in Histo-
provided free food for the needy and undertook all kinds of
ry and Tradition. London and New York, 2002.
public works for the good of the commonweal. Zhang’s
movement, known as the Five Pecks of Rice (Wudoumi) or
Trompf, G. W., ed. Cargo Cults and Millenarian Movements:
Way of Celestial Masters (Tianshi dao), survived the Han-
Transoceanic Comparisons of New Religious Movements. Berlin
Wei dynastic transition because of his accommodation with
and New York, 1990.
political authorities. It became the recognized orthodox Dao-
HILLEL SCHWARTZ (1987)
ist tradition in China, and Zhang Daoling was revered as the
Revised Bibliography
first Daoist patriarch.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MILLENARIANISM: CHINESE MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS
6039
There was another religious movement in eastern China
1. There is an impending crisis of cosmic proportions
that, under the leadership of Zhang Jue (d. 184 CE), existed
caused by the accumulation of evil. The time of reckon-
contemporaneously with Zhang Lu’s and in many ways re-
ing will be the year renchen (which occurs once every
sembled the latter in both belief and organization. It was
sixty years in the Chinese calendar, but was generally
called the Way of Highest Peace (Taiping dao) because of
understood to specify the year 392 CE), when floods
its alleged subscription to the text Taiping jing (Classic of
surging upwards of several thousand feet and epidemics
highest peace). However, it differed from Zhang Lu’s move-
of every imaginable kind will afflict the world.
ment in that it rebelled in 184 and was ruthlessly crushed
2. The savior Li Hong will appear to deliver his believers
by the Han imperial forces. This rebellion, known as the Yel-
from this cataclysmic disaster and to eradicate all nonbe-
low Turban Rebellion because of the color of the headgear
lievers, who will be discarded as chaff. This apocalyptic
worn by the rebels, represented the first large-scale religiously
battle will result in the total triumph of Li Hong and
inspired rebellious movement in Chinese history.
his chosen ones.
Some scholars argue that the impetus for the militancy
3. An era of unutterable joy and peace will ensue. The rav-
of the Yellow Turbans came from the Taiping jing which, de-
ages of war will be eliminated. The cosmos will be re-
spite its Confucian and perhaps even Buddhist borrowings,
constituted. The entire earth will be covered with seven
was obviously a Daoist text concerned with eschatology and
treasures. One sowing will yield nine crops and human
changing the course of history. Compiled in the form of a
lifespan will be extended to three thousand years, after
continuing dialogue between the Celestial Master, an emis-
which it will be renewed again. All men and women will
sary of Dao, and his disciples, the Taiping jing offers descrip-
be sages and evil people will no longer exist.
tion of an ideal society and provides expectation of a renewal
This Daoist millenarianism was paralleled by a Buddhist ver-
of the world through heavenly agents. The significance of the
sion of the same period. Centered around the messianic fig-
text’s eschatology lies in the fact that it relativizes the validity
ure of “Prince Moonlight” (Yueguang tongzi), a minor char-
of the existing society. It sees drastic change in the course of
acter in the legendary biography of the Buddha, this
history as imminent and desirable, for the demarcation be-
Buddhist millenarianism has essentially all the features of its
tween this world and the beyond will be broken down, and
Daoist counterpart, with the same expectation of apocalyptic
the dawning of a mystical new order will be at hand.
happenings designated to take place in a specific year. In fact,
Thus, from the original view of an ideal world existing
the similarity between the two versions of millenarianism is
in the remote past, through the transitional view of the uto-
so striking that one is compelled to assume that Daoism and
pia existing in distant lands contemporaneously, Chinese re-
Buddhism must have overlapped or merged together at the
ligion finally came to the view of the perfect realm existing
popular level during their parallel development at this time.
in the future, the arrival of which would signal the end of
Prince Moonlight was later superseded by a much more
the present age.
powerful and famous Buddhist savior—the Buddha
THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. The several centuries after the col-
Maitreya. In Buddhist mythology, Maitreya was the Buddha
lapse of the Han dynasty were a time of burning religious
who “has yet to come.” He was believed to dwell in the Tu-
zeal, caused in part by the people’s desire to seek solace from
sita heaven, waiting to descend to earth to save all believers.
a rapidly disintegrating society brought about by “barbarian”
There is the further understanding that when he arrives the
invasions and incessant warfare. With Confucianism in
world will be experiencing the last days of the Buddhist dhar-
eclipse, both Daoism and the newly introduced Buddhism
ma (an age known as the mofa), and that with one bold
made great inroads into the hearts and minds of the Chinese.
stroke he will rid the world of all evil elements and usher in
Especially attractive to the suffering masses was the promise
a new golden age. The Maitreya Buddha was thus perceived
of messianic deliverance offered by both Daoist and Bud-
as a savior, as his coming would signal the end of existing
dhist sectarian groups. It was during this time, specifically
misery and injustice. Unlike Amita¯bha Buddha, who prom-
from the fourth century on, that a Chinese-style millenarian-
ised salvation in the form of rebirth in his Pure Land and
ism developed, complete with the identification of an escha-
made no attempt to improve this world, the Maitreya Bud-
tological crisis, the appearance of a messianic figure, the
dha served as a world redeemer who would radically and dra-
apocalyptic battle, the guaranteed survival of the elect, and
matically change the status quo and transform the world into
the portrayal of the “New Jerusalem.”
a realm of bliss and abundance. What made Maitreya wor-
In sectarian Daoism, millenarianism was expressed in
ship even more subversive was the belief, pervasive since the
the cult of Laozi, which now assumed the name of Li Hong
fifth century, that his coming was imminent (rather than in
the Perfect Lord. Between the fourth and the fifth centuries
the distant future as originally believed). This immediately
numerous rebel leaders, claiming to be incarnations of Li
turned him into a symbol for numerous antidynastic move-
Hong, staged uprisings. As described in the Dongyuan shen-
ments, all of which aimed at the speedy toppling of the exist-
zhou jing (Classic of divine spells from the deep cavern), a
ing order.
Daoist text compiled in the early fifth century, the millenari-
In addition to Daoist Li Hong and Buddhist Maitreya,
anism of the Li Hong cult contains the following themes:
there was yet another millenarian tradition in medieval
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6040
MILLENARIANISM: CHINESE MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS
China—Manichaeism. Originally introduced from Persia
these late imperial Chinese sectarians. It served as a profes-
during the early Tang dynasty (618–907), Manichaeism sub-
sion of faith and a powerful bond that drew all the sect mem-
scribed to a dualistic view of the world wherein the forces
bers together into one big religious family. This concept also
of Light, under the leadership of Mani, would engage in a
enabled them to relativize their attachment to their earthly
fierce struggle with the forces of Darkness. Followers of this
parents and their native communities, and allowed them to
tradition held the belief that cosmic history progressed in
see that this world was not the best of all possible worlds, that
three stages: the first stage characterized by a clear division
a “new beginning” would arrive in time to replace the exist-
between the realms of Light and Darkness, the second by a
ing order, and that this new beginning would sit in judgment
blurring of this division that resulted in the struggle between
over the entire past.
the two, and the third by the ultimate triumph of Light over
Darkness and the creation of a realm of everlasting peace. Be-
Like the Manichaeans before them, the Ming-Qing sec-
lieving themselves to be living near the end of the second
tarian believers maintained that time progressed in three
stage, followers of Mani led a pure and puritanical life in
major epochs: the age of the Lamplighting Buddha of the
order to guarantee victory over the forces of Darkness and
past, the age of the S´a¯kyamuni Buddha of the present, and
evil. They practiced strict vegetarianism, refused to worship
the age of the Maitreya Buddha of the future. Crucial to this
spirits, ghosts, and even ancestors, and buried their dead
time scheme was the expectation that the third or future age
naked. Indeed their vegetarian diet had become such a distin-
was imminent, to be ushered in by an apocalyptic conflagra-
guishing feature that they were pejoratively referred to as
tion that would scourge the world to remove all evil ele-
“vegetable eaters and devil (Mani) worshipers” (chicai shimo).
ments. (Some sects used the epithets Blue Sun, Red Sun, and
Their antinomian values, demonstrated by such practices as
White Sun to represent the respective ages.) This cataclysmic
naked burial and nonobservance of ancestral rites, earned
turning point was known as the kalpic transition (jie), char-
them further suspicion from the authorities.
acterized by floods, epidemics, earthquakes, and all kinds of
unspeakable disasters during which the whole cosmic order
THE LATE IMPERIAL PERIOD. All the above-mentioned mil-
would be torn asunder and the elect and the doomed would
lenarian traditions interacted with one another as they
be separated. When the Maitreya Buddha finally appeared
evolved. By the fourteenth century, such a substantial merger
as the messenger of the Eternal Mother to deliver the surviv-
had taken place among them that they were collectively
ing faithful, the world would be reconstructed and the re-
known as the White Lotus, a catchall label used by the gov-
union between the Mother and her lost children would take
ernment to encompass most of the proscribed millenarian
place. The saved would enjoy the new order, which, accord-
groups, all of which had their own respective names. In fact,
ing to the description of the baojuan (“precious scrolls”)—a
White Lotus had a very distinguished beginning. It was alleg-
special genre of religious tracts compiled by the sectarians in
edly the name of a lay Buddhist group organized in 402 by
profusion during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—
the eminent monk Huiyuan to worship the Buddha
would be peaceful, immortal, and egalitarian.
Amita¯bha. Later, the Pure Land master Mao Ziyuan (1086–
1166) also used this name to designate his pious vegetarian
Because of this millenarian and antinomian orientation
group. In any event, White Lotus had obviously metamor-
of the sectarians, they were feared and ruthlessly persecuted
phosed into a millenarian sectarian movement under the
by successive dynasties. Their very expectation of the advent
leadership of Han Shantong (d. 1355) toward the end of the
of the third age was a negation of the present age, thus under-
Yuan dynasty (1206–1368). Combining Maitreyan with
mining the authority as well as the legitimacy of the existing
Manichaean elements, Han boldly declared the “incarnation
regime. As it turned out, this obsession with salvation in the
of Maitreya Buddha and the birth of the Manichaean Prince
future age did occasionally inspire ambitious individuals
of Light.” Although he was captured and executed, Han was
within the sects to proclaim the descent of the Maitreya Bud-
the symbol of the religious movement that eventually
dha and to raise the banner of rebellion in an attempt to
brought an end to the Yuan regime.
usher in the third age. To be sure, the correlation between
millenarianism and rebellion was never a direct one, yet the
During the ensuing Ming dynasty (1368–1644) (some
government was always suspicious of millenarians, who, it
scholars even argue that the very name Ming, which means
had reason to fear, were not averse to using violence in order
“light,” is indicative of the Manichaean influence on the
to hasten the end of the present age. There was only a fine
founder of the dynasty), the folk sectarian tradition generally
line separating the anticipation of the kalpa from the expedi-
labeled by the government as White Lotus became even more
tion of its arrival. Given the fact that the leaders of these
systematized. Central to this mature sectarian belief was the
sectarian groups were often uprooted, restless, and disgrun-
notion of Wusheng laomu, or the Eternal Mother, who, as
tled elements in society, this official apprehension is under-
progenitor of the human race, had vowed to save all her re-
standable.
pentant children from certain demise. She would deliver
them to the zhenkong jiaxiang (“native land of true empti-
Suspicion was further reinforced by the vicarious sibling
ness”) where they would enjoy peace and affluence forever.
relationship of the sect members, which undermined the
This dual concept of the Eternal Mother and her Native
Confucian emphasis on blood ties, as well as the relative
Land of True Emptiness became the identifying creed of
equality of the sexes within the sectarian group, flouting the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MILLENARIANISM: CHINESE MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS
6041
orthodox insistence on strict sexual distinctions. Sectarian
military reforms and growing Western hostility toward the
organization itself, though lacking centralization, was never-
Taipings, finally resulted in their crushing defeat in 1864.
theless capable of forming large-scale regional networks in a
Chinese millenarianism can thus be seen having a histo-
short time because of shared beliefs among the majority of
ry that goes back to the early medieval period. It can still be
the sects. Quite often, different groups in different geograph-
detected among certain religious groups on the mainland, in
ic areas would subscribe to the same precious scrolls, thus es-
Taiwan, and in Southeast Asia. It has exerted its greatest ap-
pousing the same doctrines. Many of these tracts had been
peal among marginal or peripheral members of society who,
handed down through generations of sect leaders, allowing
though not necessarily economically deprived, were denied
the creation of a hereditary folk religious elite. Notable
access to power and prestige in the orthodox world. Through
groups such as the Dacheng sect of Wang Sen (d. 1619)
mutual aid and group solidarity these people were able to
maintained an uninterrupted hereditary transmission for at
gain self-respect and a sense of worth from their affiliation
least two centuries. This resilience of the sects was a great
with sectarian organizations. The charismatic and talented
source of worry for the government.
among them might even achieve positions of power and in-
THE TAIPING REBELLION. The most famous and spectacular
fluence within the sect. This was particularly true of women,
millenarian movement in traditional China was, of course,
who were otherwise totally barred from meaningful contacts
the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) led by Hong Xiuquan
outside of their families. Ethically relativistic because of their
(1813–1864). Hong was a frustrated examination candidate
orientation toward the future millennium, members of these
who had received Christian literature from a Chinese con-
movements often invited the wrath and oppression of the au-
vert. With that minimal exposure, he wove together a reli-
thorities. They interpreted times of economic distress, social
gion that was a mixture of traditional Chinese eschatology
turmoil, and natural disasters as signals of the advent of the
and Christian salvationism. He also organized the God-
third age, an age when they would emerge triumphant in
Worshipers Society, which, reacting to ethnic tensions and
their combat against exploitation and injustice, as well as
prompted by Hong’s own sense of mission, rebelled in 1850.
against death itself. They therefore became agitated and ex-
pectant, if not openly rebellious, and always potentially sub-
Hong Xiuquan’s religion is best understood through the
versive. Their antinomian values and behavior posed a direct
designation he chose for his movement after 1850. He
challenge to the orthodox tradition, while their millennial
named it Taiping tianguo (“heavenly kingdom of highest
yearning to build a better world often implied their rejection
peace”). Taiping, it should be recalled, was the ideal of the
of the present one. In a certain sense, twentieth-century Chi-
Yellow Turbans who rebelled in 184, and had inspired vari-
nese revolutionaries, including the Communists, operated
ous millenarian groups throughout Chinese history. Tianguo
much in the same mode as the earlier millenarian sectarians
was derived from the Judeo-Christian notion of God’s king-
in their attempt to change the world.
dom. Together, the two compound terms indicate Hong’s
unshakable faith that God’s kingdom, in the form of Highest
SEE ALSO Huiyuan; Maitreya; Manichaeism, overview arti-
Peace, could be realized on earth, and that he himself would
cle; Zhang Daoling; Zhang Jue; Zhang Lu.
be the instrument through which this momentous task
would be accomplished. Declaring himself to be the second
BIBLIOGRAPHY
son of God and the younger brother of Jesus, Hong saw him-
Bauer, Wolfgang. China und die Hoffnung auf Glück. Munich,
self as the redeemer of China, if not of the world as well. At
1971. Translated by Michael Shaw as China and the Search
once anti-Confucian and anti-Manchu, his brand of messi-
for Happiness: Recurring Themes in Four Thousand Years of
anic salvationism was by far the most radical China ever
Chinese Cultural History. New York, 1976. A delightful work
witnessed.
that details the history of utopian thought in China. Full of
insights and lengthy quotes.
Hong’s Heavenly Kingdom was characterized by the
Groot, J. J. M. de. Sectarianism and Religious Persecution in China
proclaimed equality of all men and the liberation of all
(1903–1904). Reprint in 2 volumes, Taipei, 1963. First pub-
women. To be sure, there was the inevitable discrepancy be-
lished around the turn of the twentieth century, this work
tween theory and practice. Yet this Taiping ideal was un-
examines the beliefs and rituals of the Chinese sects through
equivocally enunciated and applied to concrete situations in
official records and decrees.
the form of policy promulgations such as the land tenure sys-
Liu, Kwang-ching, and Richard Shek, eds. Heterodoxy in Late Im-
tem. This system provided equitable land redistribution,
perial China. Honolulu, 2004. A symposium volume that
going so far as to observe no distinction between the sexes
contains numerous chapters dealing with chiliastic and mille-
in land allotment.
narian movements in medieval and late imperial China.
Naquin, Susan. Millenarian Rebellion in China: The Eight Tri-
When the Taiping army captured the city of Nanjing
grams Uprising of 1813. New Haven, 1976. An interesting
in 1853, Hong made it his Heavenly Capital. Nanjing, scene
work that traces the unfolding of a millenarian rebellion
of the signing of the treaty that concluded the Opium War
through the analysis of the confessions of the rebels.
between China and Great Britain only eleven years earlier,
Naquin, Susan. Shantung Rebellion: The Wang Lun Uprising of
was seen by Hong as the “New Jerusalem” promised in the
1774. New Haven, 1981. Another work by Naquin using
Book of Revelation. But internal strife, coupled with Manchu
the same valuable rebel confessions for another rebellion.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
M¯IMA¯M
: SA¯
6042
Overmyer, Daniel L. Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in
textual problems found in the Vedic scriptures. The
Late Traditional China. Cambridge, Mass., 1976. A trail-
M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school in this way developed the science of exege-
blazing work on Chinese sectarianism, particularly the White
sis. A M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ Su¯tra was compiled as early as the first cen-
Lotus movement. It contains insightful comparisons with
tury BCE, and it was ascribed to an ancient sage, Jaimini. It
European religious movements.
is regarded as the key text of the school.
Overmyer, Daniel L. Precious Volumes: An Introduction to Chinese
Sectarian Scriptures from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centu-
Regarding dharma, M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ maintains a form of fun-
ries. Cambridge, Mass., 1999. The most thorough study in
damentalism. It claims that the scriptures are the only means
English of the teachings of late imperial Chinese sectarian
of knowing what is dharma and what is not. Only by follow-
writings.
ing the injunctions of the scriptures can we attain dharma,
Seidel, Anna. “The Image of the Perfect Ruler in Early Daoist
or the “good,” that cannot be attained by any other means.
Messianism: Lao-tzu and Li Hung.” History of Religions 9
Other means of knowledge (perception, inference, reason-
(November 1969–February 1970): 216–247. A celebrated
ing, etc.) are of no help in the realm of dharma, for concerns
work on Daoist messianism in the early medieval period. The
of dharma are with transcendental matters, the impercepti-
Li Hong cult is analyzed.
bles and the unverifiables, such as the afterlife, heaven, and
Spence, Jonathan D. God’s Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly
the moral order. Hence the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school defines the es-
Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. New York, 1996. The most re-
sence of the Vedas (vedata¯) as that which informs us about
cent study of Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping movement,
such a transcendental realm. And the authority of the Vedas
with an emphasis on Hong’s religious beliefs.
in such matters is self-evident. The truth of the scriptural
Ter Haar, B. J. The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious His-
statements is self-validating. The Vedas are to be regarded
tory. Leiden, 1992. A revisionist study of the White Lotus
as eternal and uncreated. The scriptures are revealed texts,
tradition that corrects some of the misconceptions regarding
there being no author of them. In short, the truths of the
the movement.
Vedas are transempirical, hence no empirical evidence can
Zürcher, Erik. “‘Prince Moonlight’: Messianism and Eschatology
conceivably bear on them.
in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” Toung bao 68
The problem of interpretation has led the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯
(1982): 1–75. A seminal work on Buddhist millenarianism
in the fourth and fifth centuries. Contains full translation of
school to the study and discussion of topics which are of
the pertinent Buddhist text.
great philosophical interest. The M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ developed itself
into a kind of philosophical discipline, incorporating into it
RICHARD SHEK (1987 AND 2005)
a theory of knowledge, epistemology, logic, a theory of
meaning and language, and a realistic metaphysic. With its
emphasis on the philosophy of language and linguistics, the
M¯IMA¯M:SA¯.
M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ has sometimes been called the va¯kya-´sa˜stra
The word m¯ıma¯m:sa¯ means “investigation”
(“theory of speech”). It also formulated various rules of inter-
in ordinary Sanskrit. Since the term is applied to an impor-
pretation in order to resolve and eliminate the apparent in-
tant South Asian philosophical school, it must originally
consistencies of the scriptural texts.
have meant “the investigation of the proper interpretation of
the Vedic texts.” The M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school is thus better known
Later on, the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school was divided into two
as the Purva-m¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school, which is sometimes called the
subschools (c. 600–700 CE), following the two important ex-
Dharma-m¯ıma¯m:sa¯ (inquiry into the nature of dharma as laid
ponents of the school, Kuma¯rila Bhat:t:a and Pra¯bha¯kara.
down by the Vedas, the supreme authority). Uttara-
They are called the Bha¯t:t:a school and the Pra¯bha¯kara school.
m¯ıma¯m:sa¯ is the descriptive name for the Veda¯nta school,
Of the many minor differences between the two subschools,
which deals with the nature of brahman as laid down in the
only a few of the more notable ones have been noted here.
latter part (uttara) of the Vedas, and in the Upanis:ads, hence
Kuma¯rila speaks of six prama¯n:as (“legitimate ways of
also called Brahma-m¯ıma¯m:sa¯ (inquiry into the nature of
knowing”)—perception (pratyaks:a), inference (anuma¯na),
brahman). The word dharma is of prime importance in this
verbal testimony (´sabda or apta¯vacana), comparison
context. It stands here for one’s “duty” (codana¯) enjoined by
(upama¯na), presumption (artha¯patti), and nonapprehension
the Vedas, which includes both the religious or sacred duties
(anupalabdhi). Prabha¯kara accepts the first five only. Since
or actions and the moral duties as well. Dharma also denotes
he rejects “absence” (abha¯va) as a separate reality, as a “know-
the “virtue” attainable by performing such duties or follow-
able” entity (prameya), he does not need “nonapprehension”
ing such courses of actions. Thus dharma is the main topic
to establish such entities. For the Bha¯t:t:as, a cognition is not
for discussion in the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school.
a perceptible property, but it is inferred from the “cognized-
The Vedic scriptures were seriously attacked by the
ness” (jña¯tata¯) of the object cognized: since this pot is cog-
S´raman:as (mendicant Brahmanic philosophers) about 500
nized by me, a cognition of it must have occurred in me. For
BCE, and as a result its authority was apparently being devas-
the Pra¯bha¯karas, a cognition is self-cognized—it perceives it-
tated by criticisms. Hence the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school originated
self. But both regard knowledge to be self-validating.
among the Vedic priests who wanted to reestablish this au-
Kuma¯rila admits both Vedic and non-Vedic ´sabda (sen-
thority by resolving the apparent contradictions and other
tences, speech) to be prama¯n:a. Prabha¯kara holds that real
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MINERVA
6043
´sabda-prama¯n:a is the Vedic ´sabda. Both try to establish the
in connection with a priesthood. Her first occurrence is with
Vedic authority not on God but on such transcendental real-
Jupiter and Juno as a member of the divine triad that was
ity as dharma and moks:a. The Bha¯t:t:as explicitly hold the
worshiped on the Capitoline Hill in Etruscan-ruled Rome
jña¯na-karma-samuccaya-va¯da, that both knowledge and ac-
at the end of the sixth century BCE. Archaeological findings
tion lead to liberation. The Pra¯bha¯kara view does not seem
in Santa Marinella and Veii-Portonaccio bear witness to a
to be very different.
contemporaneous cult of Minerva in southern Etruria.
The two subschools differ in their views about the cor-
Images of the goddess show many features of the Greek
rect incentive for man’s action (which includes both moral
Athena: helmet, shield, spear, and aegis stamped with the
and religious acts). The Pra¯bha¯karas say that it is only the
likeness of a Gorgon. Recent discoveries in Pratica di Mare
sense of duty while the Bha¯t:t:as argue that both sense of duty
(the ancient Lavinium) show that the influence of Greek art
and the desire for benefit constitute the correct incentive for
did not exert itself exclusively through the Etruscan medium.
action. On another rather technical matter, the two disagree.
The mythological episodes that were selected in Italy repre-
The Bha¯t:t:as believe that the sentences get their meanings
sent the goddess as a patroness of warlike heroes and gods
from their atomistic constituents, the individual word-
(especially Herakles and Mars) and as a palladium (a token
meanings, while the Pra¯bha¯karas believe that the words di-
of invincibility).
rectly constitute the sentence-meaning as a whole only inso-
far as they are syntactically connected (anvita) with other
Minerva was worshiped throughout Italy and on several
words in the sentence.
Roman hills: with Jupiter and Juno on the Capitoline and
the Quirinal and alone on the Aventine. There were also
SEE ALSO Veda¯nta.
sanctuaries of the “captive Minerva” (brought from Falerii
in 241 BCE) on the Caelius and of Minerva as patroness of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
physicians on the Esquiline. The emperor Domitian (81–96
Jha, Ganganath. Pra¯bha¯kara School of Pu¯rva-m¯ıma¯m:sa¯. Allah-
CE), a prominent votary of the goddess, increased the num-
abad, 1911.
ber of her cult places.
Ra¯ma¯nuja¯ca¯rya. Tantra-rahasya (1923). 2d ed. Edited by Rudra-
patha Shamasastry and K. S. Ramaswami Sastri. Gaekwad’s
Minerva was the special patroness of craftsmen, and at
Oriental Series, no. 24. Baroda, 1956. Contains an introduc-
least from the time of Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE) craftsmen
tion by the editors.
attended the festival of the Quinquatrus (March 19–23).
Shastri, Pashupatinath. Introduction to Pu¯rva M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ (1923).
The festival was publicly solemnized by gladiatorial exhibi-
2d ed. Edited and revised by Gaurinath Sastri. Varanasi,
tions and included a tubilustrium (a ritual purification of war
1980.
trumpets), further evidence of a link with Mars and war.
New Sources
Flute players celebrated a festival of their own (“little Quin-
Bhatta, V. P. Epistemology, Logic, and Grammer in the Analysis of
quatrus”) on June 13.
Sentence-Meaning. Delhi, 1992.
Sarma, Rajendra Nath. Mimamsa Theory of Meaning: Based on the
The cult of Minerva, supported by the municipal insti-
Vakyarthamatrika. Delhi, 1988.
tution of capitols (imitations of the Roman temple of the
Studies in Mimamsa: Dr. Mandan Mishra Felicitation Volume. Ed-
Capitoline triad) and the devotion of craftsmen and soldiers,
ited by R.C. Dwivedi. Delhi, 1994.
diffused widely throughout the Roman Empire until the be-
B
ginning of the common era.
IMAL KRISHNA MATILAL (1987)
Revised Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Articles in three classical encyclopedias provide detailed and cau-
MIND SEE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE;
tiously interpretative views of the subject: Franz Altheim’s
CONSCIOUSNESS, STATES OF; EPISTEMOLOGY;
“Minerva,” in Real-Encyclopädie der klassischen Altertum-
NEUROSCIENCE AND RELIGION, ARTICLE ON
swissenschaft (Stuttgart, 1932); Filippo Coarelli’s “Minerva,”
NEUROEPISTEMOLOGY
in Enciclopedia dell’arte antica (Rome, 1963); and Konrat
Ziegler’s “Minerva,” in Der kleine Pauly: Lexicon der Antike
(Stuttgart, 1969). The most recent discoveries are comment-
MINERVA,
ed on by Ambros J. Pfiffig in Ein Opfergelübde an die etruskis-
a Roman goddess, was the protector of intel-
che Minerva (Vienna, 1968), for Santa Marinella, and by F.
lectual and manual skills. The oldest form of her name,
Castagnoli in Il culto di Minerva a Lavinium, “Problemi attu-
Menerva, may derive from the Indo-European root *men-,
ali di scienza e di cultura,” no. 246 (Rome, 1979), for Pratica
which is expressive of mental processes. Various Etruscan
di Mare.
transcriptions of the name, though earlier attested than any
Italic form, probably should be regarded as borrowed from
New Sources
Cunliffe, Barry. “The Sanctuary of Sulis Minerva at Bath: A Brief
the Latin.
Review.” In Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire, ed-
Minerva appears neither in the so-called Numan calen-
ited by Martin Henig and Anthony King, pp. 1–14. Oxford,
dar, which registers the oldest public festivals in Rome, nor
1986.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6044
MINISTRY
Girard, Jean-Louis. “Domitien et Minerve: une prédilection im-
tains that the orders of ministry are fixed by tradition and
périale.” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Ber-
that their authority is transmitted by historical succession
lin and New York, 1981. See pages 233–245.
from the apostles through bishops or the pope as the vicar
Girard, Jean-Louis. “La place de Minerve dans la religion romaine
of Christ (apostolic succession). The latter view regards min-
au temps du principat.” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der
isterial orders as essentially functional and focused on faithful
Römischen Welt. Berlin and New York, 1981. See pages
transmission of the apostolic testimony.
203–232.
There is, however, agreement that all ministry traces its
Graf, Fritz. “Athena and Minerva: Two Faces of One Goddess?”
authority to Jesus Christ and to the apostles who testified to
In Athena in the Classical World., edited by Susan Deacy and
his saving work and resurrection (Mt. 16:13–24, 18:18,
Alexandra Willing, pp. 127–139. Leiden, 2001.
28:18–20; Jn. 20:23). Although the apostle Paul could not
Köves-Zulauf, Thomas. “Minerva Capta.” In Religio Graeco-
claim personal connection with the Galilean ministry, he did
Romana: Festschrift für Walter Pötscher, edited by Joachim
claim commission from Jesus Christ as the heart of his own
Dalfen, Gerhard Petersmann, and Franz Ferdinand Sch-
call to apostleship (Gal. 1:1, 1:11–24, 2:1–21). Churches
warz., pp. 159–176. Horn, 1993.
also generally agree that officers in the church’s ministry (i.e.,
Martin, Luther H. “Why Cecropian Minerva? Hellenistic Reli-
the clergy) have particular responsibility for preaching, for
gious Syncretism as System.” Numen 30 (1983): 131–145.
administration of the sacraments (or ordinances), and for the
Massa-Pairault, Françoise-Hélène. “De Preneste à Volsinii:
oversight and nurture of their congregations.
Minerve, le ‘fatum’ et la constitution de la société.” Parola
By the beginning of the second century, three principal
del Passato 42 (1987): 200–233.
orders of ministry—bishop or pastor (episcopos, “overseer”),
Sauer, Eberhard. “An Inscription from Northern Italy, the Roman
presbyter or priest (presbuteros, “elder”), and deacon
Temple Complex in Bath, and Minerva as a Healing God-
(diakonos, “servant”)—had become widely accepted, and al-
dess in Gallo-Roman Religion.” Oxford Journal of Archaeolo-
though various confessional groups may not agree how far
gy 15, no.1 (1996): 63–93.
or when these orders became dependent on the Roman pon-
JEAN-LOUIS GIRARD (1987)
tiff, the primacy of the pope seems to have been widely ac-
Revised Bibliography
knowledged by the time of Leo I (d. 461) and continued in
the West until the Reformation. In the Eastern church the
break with Rome, the Great Schism, is often given the date
MINISTRY. The term ministry traditionally refers to of-
1054, but scholars recognize that this was the end of a pro-
fices of leadership in the Christian church, but there has been
cess of estrangement over centuries. However, the threefold
a growing recognition that it also describes the way the mis-
ministry remained unchanged in both halves of Christen-
sion of the whole church is conducted. Both in terms of spe-
dom through a millennium of Christian history.
cific offices (ministers) and in terms of the work of the
Catholic branches of the church claim unbroken succes-
church in general, ministry has biblical roots. In Hebrew, sh-
sion with this earlier history and believe that these offices are
eret (“to serve”) applies to temple officers and was normally
prescribed (i.e., iure divino) and guaranteed by apostolic suc-
translated leitourgein in the Septuagint. This use was carried
cession. Ordination is a sacrament whereby the Holy Spirit
over into the New Testament, where the various linguistic
is transmitted through the bishop’s imposition of hands,
forms of leitourgein are used not only for general acts of ser-
which imparts special grace to administer the sacraments and
vice to others (Rom. 15:27, 2 Cor. 9:12, Phil. 2:30) but also
to exercise authority in the church. In the Roman Catholic
for worship (Acts 13:3) and particularly for priestly and Le-
Church these powers derive ultimately from the pope, while
vitical functions under the Old Covenant (Lk. 1:23; Heb.
among the Orthodox it is exercised by the bishop within the
8:2, 8:6, 9:21, 10:11). But the New Testament introduced
corporate authority of the Orthodox community. Old Cath-
the words diakonia (“service”) and diakonein (“to serve”), re-
olics and Anglo-Catholics hold a position on apostolic suc-
ferring to the menial work done by a diakonos (“servant”) or
cession close to that of Rome but do not acknowledge the
doulos (“slave”) to indicate the quality of ministry in the
infallible authority of the papacy.
church. These words represent not status but the serving re-
The sixteenth-century Reformation challenged the ab-
lationship of the minister to the one served: following the ex-
solute authority of ecclesiastical tradition and its priesthood.
ample of Christ (and, subsequently, the example of the apos-
Protestants turned from papal authority to the authority of
tle Paul) is at the heart of the Christian understanding of
the Bible, which led to revisions in their understanding of
ministry (Jn. 13:1–20; 1 Cor. 4:16, 11:1; Phil. 3:17).
the church and its ministry. In the main, they claimed to re-
Scholars dispute how far the New Testament reflects a
store the New Testament pattern, and in reaction to ecclesi-
uniform and obligatory pattern of ministerial orders. Roman
astical legalism they tended to appeal to the Bible as a divine
Catholic scholars generally hold that it does, but most Prot-
law book. New Testament “restorationism” appears in the
estant scholars believe that the New Testament offers several
early Luther, based on a primary appeal to scripture and on
patterns of ministry (Eph. 4:11–12; 1 Cor. 12:27–31; 1 Tm.
scripture exegeted by “the priesthood of all believers.” Luther
3:1–13, 4:11–16, 5:3–10, 5:17–22). The former view main-
may be described as advocating a form of “evangelical prag-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MINISTRY
6045
matism,” since he accepted any pattern consistent with scrip-
copacy are reflected in the so-called high church (Anglo-
ture that served the effective preaching of the word and the
Catholic), broad church (Latitudinarian), and low church
proper administration of the sacraments. Lutheranism has
(Evangelical) traditions within Anglicanism.
therefore adopted episcopal, consistorial, and congregational
In the eighteenth century, John Wesley, founder of
forms of churchmanship.
Methodism, refused to separate from the Church of En-
Attempts to restore a more biblical pattern of church
gland. He finally became convinced that priests and bishops
and ministry are to be found in almost every form of Refor-
were of the same order in the New Testament and that he
mation church, and not least the Reformed church. Differ-
had the right to ordain ministers for America, but he refused
ences between Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) and the Anabap-
to designate bishops and instead appointed superintendents.
tists (Swiss Brethren) were not over the primacy of scripture
The decision to employ the term bishop in American Meth-
but over its interpretation. John Calvin (1509–1564) sys-
odism probably arose from the determination to assert inde-
tematized the Reformed position, claiming that church and
pendence from Anglicanism. But although Wesley believed
ministry are of divine institution (Institutes 4.1, 4.3). Like
that the threefold order of ministry is scriptural, he offered
many in his day, he regarded apostles, prophets, and evange-
an essentially pragmatic interpretation of these offices. His
lists as peculiar to the apostolic age, although he recognized
position was fundamentally the evangelical pragmatism seen
that they might be revived “as the need of the times de-
in Luther.
mands.” Pastors and teachers, he argued, were indispensable.
By the mid-1980s there was no acceptance of the ordi-
Pastors exercised general oversight discipline and preached
nation of women in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox
and administered the sacraments; teachers were responsible
branches of the church, but a growing acceptance of women
for doctrine. Calvin also recognized the New Testament of-
into the ordained ministry of Protestant denominations and
fice of deacon in care of the poor (within which he included
in some provinces of Anglicanism was evident. Protestant
the office of the “widow”). He insisted on both the inward
and Anglican practices stem from the theological belief that
call of a minister and the recognition by the church of that
the call to ministry is open to all God’s people. The ecumeni-
call. In matters of discipline the pastor was to share power
cal movement has also prompted many churches to reexam-
with a consistory of elders so that power would not be exclu-
ine earlier claims and to recognize that they have much to
sively in the hands of a single person.
learn from each other. Statements on ministry prepared for
Calvin’s fourfold ordering of ministry was taken over by
the Consultation on Church Union (1984), which reflected
the Reformed church and the Puritans in the British Isles and
the views of ten American Protestant denominations, and by
colonial America in the Presbyterian and Congregational
the World Council of Churches (1982) indicate a significant
churches. Similar forms of ministry arose out of English Sep-
and growing consensus. This consensus reveals an emphasis
aratism (e.g., Baptist churches) and the Christian Church
on the servanthood of ministry as evidenced in the ministry
(Disciples of Christ) movement of the American frontier.
of Jesus; an awareness that the whole church is the proper
Differences between the classic Reformation positions and
context in which the ordained ministry should be consid-
later restoration movements turned not so much on the ap-
ered; an awareness that the doctrines of church and ministry
peal to the Bible as on other matters affecting scriptural inter-
cannot be separated; and a recognition that the traditional
pretation: the relationship of the church to civil authorities,
threefold ordering of ministry should not be lightly discard-
insistence on the church’s purity, ministerial training, and
ed. This growing consensus shows that many Christian
how far literal appeal to scripture may be modified by the
churches seek to manifest their essential unity and to arrive
Holy Spirit revealed in scripture. Extreme restorationists re-
at a point where their ministries may be mutually recognized.
ject any deviation from the New Testament pattern; at the
SEE ALSO Anglicanism; Apostles; Church; Discipleship; Ecu-
other extreme, the Society of Friends (Quakers) claims that
menical Movement; Leadership; Methodist Churches; Ordi-
the spirit of the scriptures requires no specially ordained
nation; Papacy; Priesthood, article on Christian Priesthood;
ministers.
Reformation.
A different modification of the church’s ministry is seen
in the Anglican settlement. In the sixteenth century, Henry
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VIII sought to separate from Rome without changing the
The tendency today is to consider the doctrines of church and
shape of the national church, and his daughter, Elizabeth I,
ministry holistically, and in any reading list on ministry,
followed his lead. She wooed English Catholics by maintain-
books about the doctrine of the church should find a place.
ing traditional vestments, liturgy, and forms of church gov-
Among the older books considering ministry, The Apostolic
Ministry, edited by Kenneth E. Kirk (London, 1946), and
ernment (episcopal). From the first the Church of England
T. W. Manson’s The Church’s Ministry (Philadelphia, 1948)
tried to reconcile appeal to scripture and to church tradition.
must be mentioned because they illustrate a classic debate on
Originally the settlement was based on the authority of the
apostolic succession in relation to episcopacy. For a general
crown (the divine right of kings), but at the turn of the seven-
account of where the churches stand on the issues, The Na-
teenth century appeals to the divine right of the episcopacy
ture of the Unity We Seek, edited by Paul Minear (Saint Louis,
began to appear. Differences concerning the role of the epis-
1958), may be consulted, and also the relevant documents
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6046
MINOAN RELIGION
in The Documents of Vatican II, edited by Walter M. Abbott
that immersion in water is required to remove ritual unclean-
(New York, 1966), for the Roman Catholic position.
ness in some instances. However, biblical legislation does not
One of the most thorough historical studies to be conducted in
specify the nature of the pool or the source or amount of the
the United States is The Ministry in Historical Perspectives,
water in which ritual immersion is to take place, nor does
edited by H. Richard Niebuhr and Daniel D. Williams (New
the word miqveh appear in the Hebrew Bible in this context.
York, 1956), and H. Richard Niebuhr’s theological interpre-
It seems likely that immersion in the biblical period was gen-
tation of that evidence, The Purpose of the Church and Its
erally restricted to priests who were required to be ritually
Ministry (New York, 1956), underscores the recognition that
pure before partaking of the freewill offerings (terumah)
church and ministry cannot be separated. The Pioneer Minis-
given by the people.
try, by Anthony Tyrrell Hanson (London, 1961), an impor-
tant biblical study of ministerial leadership in the Pauline
SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD. The earliest archaeological re-
churches, responds to assumptions made earlier in Kirk’s
mains of ritual bath installations date from the Hasmonaean
book, while my own book Ministry (Grand Rapids, Mich.,
period (second century BCE), when concern for ritual immer-
1965) places this Anglo-Saxon debate within its ecumenical
sion appears to have become a public matter, possibly under
context. Ronald E. Osborn’s In Christ’s Place: Christian Min-
influence from Hellenism, with its strongly developed bath-
istry in Today’s World (Saint Louis, 1967) arrives at similar
conclusions on the basis of New Testament evidence.
house culture. More than three hundred miqva Dot dating
from Hasmonaean times through the Roman period have
The most important recent documents on ministry are those com-
been discovered in Judea and Galilee, half in the Jerusalem
ing out of bilateral conversations, such as The Ministry in the
area; many were built beside agricultural installations (wine
Church (Geneva, 1982), published by the Roman Catholic/
Lutheran Joint Commission; the documents produced by
and olive presses) in both cities and villages, and others were
the Consultation on Church Union, such as the Digest of the
constructed in the private dwellings of wealthy, often priest-
Plenary Meetings (Princeton, 1979–) and The COCU Consen-
ly, families. Hasmonaean ritual baths have been discovered
sus: In Quest of a Church of Christ Uniting (Princeton, 1985);
in Jericho, Qumran, and Gezer, and it seems likely that some
and the documents published by the World Council of
of the Roman period ritual baths were also in earlier use.
Churches, particularly the “Lima Document,” in Baptism,
Eucharist and Ministry, “Faith and Order Paper no. 111”
The most common use of such miqva Dot in the Second
(Geneva, 1982).
Temple period was purification prior to entering the area of
the Temple. Many miqva Dot were located on the Temple
New Sources
Barrett, C. K. Church, Ministry, and Sacraments in the New Testa-
Mount (over forty have been excavated south of the Double
ment. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1985.
and Triple Gates), and the Temple itself contained pools for
priests. A large number of valid miqva Dot were also available
Best, Thomas F., and Dagmar C. Heller. Eucharistic Worship in
to festival pilgrims in towns and villages around Jerusalem.
Ecumenical Contexts: The Lima Liturgy–and Beyond. Geneva,
1998.
Rabbinic sources indicate that the Jewish court (bet din) su-
pervised the construction, the validity, the measurements,
Fahey, Michael A., ed. Catholic Perspectives on Baptism, Eucharist
and the cleanliness of the miqva Dot that served these crowds
and Ministry. Lanham, Md., 1986.
of visitors to the Temple. Because stored rainwater was al-
Limouris, Gennadios, and N. M. Vaporis, eds. Orthodox Perspec-
ways a scarce commodity, water from caves, springs, and riv-
tives on Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry. Brookline, Mass.,
ers was utilized whenever possible in building miqva Dot.
1985.
Oden, Thomas C. Ministry through Word and Sacrament. New
RABBINIC PERIOD. Miqva Dot, the sixth tractate in the order
York, 1989.
Tohorot (purities) of the Mishnah (edited in the Land of Isra-
Wood, Susan K. Sacramental Orders. Collegeville, Minn., 2000.
el in the third century CE), discusses the characteristics of a
valid miqveh, various ways of constructing a miqveh, and the
ROBERT S. PAUL (1987)
nature and sources of the water necessary for a valid miqveh;
Revised Bibliography
it also delineates what constitutes valid immersion. Accord-
ing to this tractate, a miqveh must be hewn out of rock or
built into the ground; it must also be made watertight, usual-
MINOAN RELIGION SEE AEGEAN RELIGIONS
ly with plaster, because any leakage invalidates it. A miqveh
must contain a minimum of forty se Dah (approximately one
hundred gallons) of free-flowing clean water, sufficient for
full immersion either vertically or horizontally. Rain- or
MIQVEH. In Jewish tradition, a miqveh (plural miqvaDot)
springwater is valid, as is water diverted from a river, lake,
is a pool of water, either natural or constructed, used for ritu-
or ocean. Once a miqveh contains the minimum of at least
al purification of persons and objects.
forty se Dah of valid water, drawn water of any amount may
BIBLICAL PERIOD. Biblical texts concerning contraction of
be added. Similarly if an upper miqveh contains forty se Dah
ritual impurity, such as Leviticus 15 (impurity from bodily
of valid water and drawn water is then added to it and at least
emissions), Numbers 19 (impurity from contact with a
forty se Dah flows into the lower pool, that lower pool is also
corpse), and Numbers 31:22–23 (impure objects), ordain
a valid miqveh. Because water must not flow through metal
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIQVEH
6047
vessels or other materials that are susceptible to ritual un-
with separating a part of the dough used to make Sabbath
cleanness, all pipes and other accessories are attached to the
loaves and kindling Sabbath lights). Jewish girls were tradi-
ground. The miqveh may not be emptied through a drain in
tionally taught to comply strictly and promptly with the reg-
the bottom; such a drain could allow leakage, and any drain
ulations connected with the niddah (the menstruating
plug would be regarded as an unacceptable vessel. A variety
woman). The process of immersion, which includes the reci-
of construction methods based on these principles have de-
tation of a benediction, takes place only after the body has
veloped over time.
been thoroughly cleansed and must be complete; whereas
one total immersion is sufficient according to the halakhah,
MEDIEVAL PERIOD. Miqva Dot have been essential features of
three have become customary. Postmenstrual and postpar-
Jewish communities over the centuries. A recently discovered
tum women have usually visited the miqveh at night, often
miqveh complex in the old Jewish quarter of Siracusa in Sicily
accompanied by other women.
probably dates from the sixth century CE and may be the old-
est surviving ritual bathing area in Europe. Medieval
CONTEMPORARY MIQVEH USE. In the first half of the twen-
miqva Dot have been discovered at a number of other Europe-
tieth century female miqveh observance appears to have de-
an sites, including Cologne (c. 1170), Speyer (c. 1200), Lon-
clined significantly in North America, even among nominal-
don (c. 1200), and Friedberg (c. 1260). The miqveh in
ly traditional families, despite Orthodox exhortation in
Worms (c. 1190), a subterranean building with Romanesque
sermons and written tracts on the spiritual and medical bene-
architectural elements, is typical: from an aboveground
fits of taharat hamishpahah (family purity regulations), as
structure, nineteen steps descend to an entrance hall, and
these laws came to be called. Factors militating against miq-
then another eleven steps descend to the miqveh. A similar
veh use included disaffection of Americanized children of im-
medieval underground miqveh also exists in Cairo. In many
migrants with their parents’ Old World ways, the success of
instances the miqva Dot of the Middle Ages also served as bath-
liberal forms of organized Judaism (the Reform, Conserva-
houses because of orders from Christian rulers forbidding
tive, and Reconstructionist movements) that did not advo-
Jews to wash in rivers.
cate miqveh use, and the deterrent effect of ill-maintained
and unhygienic miqva Dot. Many Jewish feminist writers of
MIQVEH USE HISTORICALLY. Most biblical laws of ritual im-
the late twentieth century also condemned taharat hamish-
purity lapsed with the destruction of the Second Temple in
pahah regulations as archaic expressions of male anxiety
70 CE, and since the rabbinic era the miqveh has been used
about the biological processes of the female body that rein-
most frequently by women who immerse prior to marriage,
forced the predominant construction in rabbinic Judaism of
at a specified time in each menstrual cycle, and following the
women as other and lesser than men.
birth of children. Miqveh immersion is also obligatory ac-
cording to halakhah (rabbinic legislation) as part of the cere-
However, the 1980s and 1990s saw a resurgence in the
mony of conversion to Judaism. Some Jewish groups have
numbers of Orthodox Jews and a new sympathy for various
encouraged miqveh immersion for men on the eve of the Sab-
previously discarded practices of traditional Judaism in Re-
bath and festivals. The miqveh has also been used, in accor-
form, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Judaism. In this
dance with Numbers 31:22–23, to immerse new metal and
period positive new interpretations of miqveh immersion de-
glass vessels and vessels purchased from non-Jews.
veloped, accompanied by construction of attractive modern
miqva Dot in many Jewish communities. Contemporary Or-
The requirements of miqveh immersion for women are
thodox advocates of taharat hamishpahah regulations praised
detailed in rabbinic halakhah, particularly in the Talmudic
the ways in which they enhanced the sanctity of marriage and
tractate Niddah, which discusses the practical consequences
human sexuality, maintaining that traditional Judaism rec-
of women’s menstrual and nonmenstrual discharges. In this
ognizes and values the fluctuating rhythms of human rela-
rabbinic legislation biblical ordinances are expanded into a
tionships by mandating a monthly separation between hus-
complicated system of rules for avoiding not only sexual in-
band and wife when spousal communication and empathy
tercourse but any physical contact between husband and wife
must be enhanced in nonphysical ways. Supporters com-
during the wife’s menses and for an additional seven days fol-
mended the elevating value of fulfilling a demanding divinely
lowing the cessation of flow. On the eighth “white day” the
ordained mandate. They also praised the consciousness of
wife must immerse in the miqveh before marital relations
the body and its functions that these rules impose on women
may resume (interestingly, immersion following menstrua-
and the feeling of personal renewal and rebirth following
tion is not a biblical commandment). The rabbinic halakhah
each immersion.
is concerned with preserving men from the ritual pollution
that would follow from any contact with their ritually im-
At the beginning of the twenty-first century miqveh im-
pure wives. However, procedures for calculating the interval
mersion has became a symbolic expression of a new spiritual
of time when spousal contact is forbidden relies heavily on
beginning for both women and men in all branches of Jewish
a woman’s knowledge of the stages of her cycle. Fidelity to
practice beyond the domain of taharat hamishpahah. In addi-
the rules of self-examination and expedient immersion as
tion to conversion to Judaism, rituals have developed that in-
soon as legally possible comprise one of the three areas of rit-
corporate miqveh immersion as part of bar mitzvah and bat
ual obligations specifically incumbent on women (together
mitzvah (coming of age); before Jewish holidays; prior to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6048
MIRABAI
marriage; in cases of miscarriage, infertility, and illness; and
sthan, in western India, probably around the beginning of
following divorce, sexual assault, or other life-altering events.
the sixteenth century. Devoted to Kr:s:n:a from childhood, she
An indication of the probable long-term impact of this trend
was married into the royal family of the neighboring king-
is the increased construction of miqva Dot by non-Orthodox
dom of Mewar, but she refused to honor her new husband
Jewish communities.
or his family, seeing Kr:s:n:a as her true husband and Lord.
Her in-laws found her behavior as a woman intolerable, par-
SEE ALSO Conversion; Purification, article on Purification
ticularly her public dancing and singing in temples and her
in Judaism.
conversing openly with holy men. Attempts were made first
to stop her and then to kill her, the method of choice being
BIBLIOGRAPHY
poison. Who tried to kill her varies by account. Some say she
Adler, Rachel. “‘In Your Blood, Live’: Re-Visions of a Theology
of Purity.” In Lifecycles, vol. 2: Jewish Women on Biblical
was a devoted wife and it was only after her husband’s death
Themes in Contemporary Life, edited by Debra Orenstein and
that an evil brother-in-law began to persecute her, but many
Jane Rachel Litman, pp. 197–206. Woodstock, Vt., 1997.
more name her husband as her would-be killer.
Revisionist feminist response to Orthodox apologetics.
The Mughal emperor Akbar is said to have come in dis-
Baskin, Judith R. “Women and Ritual Immersion in Medieval As-
guise to see this renowned devotee of God, her appeal ex-
hkenaz: The Sexual Politics of Piety.” In Judaism in Practice:
tending across religious boundaries. But eventually she grew
From the Middle Ages through the Early Modern Period, edited
by Lawrence Fine, pp. 131–142. Princeton, N.J., 2001. Me-
weary of persecution and left her marital home to become
dieval primary texts and feminist analysis.
a wandering saint, going first to Kr:s:n:a’s holy city of Vrin-
davan. There Jiv Goswami, disciple of Caitanya (1486–
Ginsberg, Johanna R. “Dipping into Tradition: The Mikveh
Makes a Comeback.” Jewish Theological Seminary Magazine
1533), initially refused to meet her, having vowed not to
10, no. 3 (2001): 12–13, 19–21. Discussion of resurgence
speak to women, but he then welcomed her after she remind-
of miqveh use in contemporary American Conservative
ed him that all souls are feminine in the presence of the de-
Judaism.
cidedly male Lord Kr:s:n:a. She settled in Dvaraka until a dele-
Levine, Lee. “The Age of Hellenism: Alexander the Great and the
gation of Brahmin priests arrived from her marital family to
Rise and Fall of the Hasmonean Kingdom.” In Ancient Israel:
escort her back, threatening to fast to death if she refused.
From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple, edited
Entering the temple to take leave of Kr:s:n:a, she disappeared,
by Hershel Shanks, rev. ed., pp. 231–264. Upper Saddle
merging with his image.
River, N.J., 1999. Includes archaeological perspectives on
miqva Dot in the Second Temple period.
Other stories also speak of Mirabai taking the untouch-
Levitt, Laura, and Sue Ann Wasserman. “Mikvah Ceremony for
able leatherworker Raidas as her guru, an act which places
Laura.” In Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality: A
her under male authority but also adds defiance of caste to
Sourcebook, edited by Ellen M. Umansky and Dianne Ash-
her transgressions. The story of Mirabai’s life has inspired
ton, pp. 321–325. Boston, 1992. A contemporary miqveh
not only devotees of God, but also oppressed low-caste peo-
ritual in the aftermath of sexual assault.
ple; women whose suffering, longing, and independence par-
Slonim, Rivkah, ed. Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology. North-
allel hers; Indian nationalists seeking heroic Indian women
vale, N.J., 1996. Contemporary reflections on miqveh use
to inspire their struggle against the British; and such figures
from Orthodox points of view.
as Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), for whom she was an
Wasserfall, Rahel R., ed. Women and Water: Menstruation in Jew-
ideal practitioner of non-violent resistance. Upper-caste male
ish Life and Law. Hanover, N.H., 1999. Scholarly essays on
historians have also sought to write the definitive historical
women and miqveh immersion with a strong ethnographical
biography of Mirabai, but historical sources record little
slant.
about her, and Parita Mukta has even argued that Mirabai’s
JUDITH R. BASKIN (2005)
marital family sought to actively suppress her memory. The
resulting biographies, like the stories told by others, are—
and indeed must be—shaped significantly by the values and
MIRABAI (b. circa 1500
assumptions of the tellers. The dates they give for events in
CE) is the most famous medieval
woman saint of bhakti, or devotional Hinduism. Known for
her life and the assignment of Bhoj Raj, son of Sanga, as her
her unwavering devotion to God in the form of Kr:s:n:a (the
husband must be treated as speculative.
amorous incarnation of Vis:n:u) and for her suffering and per-
Like other bhakti saints, Mirabai expressed her devotion
severance in the face of extreme opposition to that love,
in songs which have been primarily preserved and dissemi-
Mirabai’s lifestory and songs are performed throughout India
nated through oral traditions. No early extensive written col-
and beyond. Like other bhakti saints, her sainthood was not
lections of her songs exist, though such collections are avail-
conferred by any institutional authority but rather by count-
able for male saints like Kab¯ır (c. 1450–1525) and Surdas.
less subsequent devotees who have found in her an exemplar
Unlike them, Mirabai was never formally adopted by any in-
of the ideal devotee and a spiritual guide.
stitutionalized branch of devotional Hinduism—she re-
According to hagiographic and legendary accounts,
mained well loved but outside such structures, in all likeli-
Mirabai was born to a minor royal family in Merta, Raja-
hood because of her independent behavior as a woman.
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MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
6049
Among the songs attributed to her, those actually composed
traordinary, and supernatural that the normal level of human
by the sixteenth-century woman cannot be distinguished
consciousness finds them hard to accept rationally. These
from those composed by others in her name and style.
miracles are usually taken as manifestations of the supernatu-
These songs speak in the first person of deep love and
ral power of the divine being fulfilling his purpose in history,
longing for God and of Mirabai’s persecution and rejection
but they are also caused to occur “naturally” by charismatic
of the royal world of her husband. They traverse the range
figures who have succeeded in controlling their conscious-
of emotions connected with love—longing, anticipation, the
ness through visions, dreams, or the practices of meditation.
ecstatic joy of union, adoration, jealousy, and anger—but
Although miracles have assumed diverse forms, healing mira-
also speak of a merger with the One who transcends all dis-
cles and exorcisms have often attracted most attention.
tinctions and forms. Throughout her stories and songs, the
However diverse the forms may be, miracles are preemi-
overriding theme is absolute love of God, with complete dis-
nently sociological phenomena. It is, of course, true that no
regard for the consequences.
miracles exist without miracle workers who often claim reli-
The variations in the telling of Mirabai’s story show a
gious authority of one kind or another based on their perfor-
deep appreciation for her devotion coupled with a recogni-
mance of miracles; but as the etymological meaning of the
tion of the depth of opposition she faced and consequent suf-
word miracle (Lat., miraculum) may suggest, one of the con-
fering she endured. However, they also reflect the ambiva-
ditions indispensable for the creation of miracles is the pres-
lence that continues to surround a woman’s defiance of social
ence of those people, spectators, who take the performance
norms even out of devotion to God. Mirabai remains im-
of miracle workers to be wonderful, extraordinary, and wor-
mensely popular as a saint but also both powerful and con-
thy of admiration. These people are often the followers of
troversial as an exemplary woman.
miracle workers, witnesses of miracles, or professional priests
or laymen of the cults at whose shrines, temples, or caves
SEE ALSO Bhakti; Hindi Religious Traditions; Poetry, article
miracles have occurred, and it is they who are often responsi-
on Indian Religious Poetry; Vaisnavism, article on
ble for the creation and propagation of miracle stories in
Bha¯gavatas.
which the saving power of the divine beings and the extraor-
dinary personality of miracle workers are extolled.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MIRACLES IN THE “PRIMITIVE” TRADITION. In primitive so-
For a comprehensive study of the saint, see Nancy M. Martin’s
cieties religious specialists, such as magicians, medicine men,
Mirabai (New York, 2005). Shorter introductions to the
sorcerers, and shamans, are known for their performance of
saint with translations of selected songs can be found in John
miracles as well as for their exercise of magico-religious pow-
Stratton Hawley and Mark Juergensmeyer’s Songs of the
Saints of India (New York, 1988) and in Madhu Kishwar and
ers. They have acquired such miracle-working powers
Ruth Vanita’s “Poison to Nectar: The Life and Work of
through the practices of meditation, vision quest, or a series
Mirabai,” Manushi 50–52 (January–June 1989): 74–93.
of initiatory sicknesses and dreams.
More extensive English translations are available in A. J. Als-
In some parts of Asia, Australia, and North America, it
ton’s Devotional Poems of Mira Bai (New Delhi, 1980). De-
tailed studies of low caste traditions surrounding Mirabai,
is believed that illness is caused by the intrusion of a magical
the search for the historical Mirabai, and Mirabai’s role as a
object into the patient’s body, or through his possession by
model for Indian women can be found in Parita Mukti’s Up-
evil spirits. Healing is effected by magicians, sorcerers, or
holding the Common Life: The Community of Mirabai (New
medicine men through the extraction of the harmful object
Delhi, 1994); Nancy M. Martin’s “Mirabai in the Academy
or the expulsion of demons. Among the Aranda in central
and the Politics of Identity,” in Faces of the Feminine from
Australia, for example, a man is initiated into the profession
Ancient, Medieval and Modern India, edited by Mandakranta
of medicine man through a series of hardships and rituals:
Bose (New York, 2000); and Nancy M. Martin’s “Mirabai:
one of the older medicine men pierces the index finger of the
Inscribed in Text, Embodied in Life,” in Vaisnavi: Women
novice with a pointed magical wand. By this operation the
and the Worship of Krishna, edited by Steven Rosen (Delhi,
novice acquires the ability to drive out the objects causing
1996).
illness in his future patients. The old medicine man also
NANCY M. MARTIN (2005)
seizes the tongue of the novice and cuts a hole in it with a
sharp stone knife. This is done to enable him to suck out the
evil magical forces to be found in the bodies of his patients.
MIRACLES
The vision quest among the Indians of North America
This entry consists of the following articles:
is a means of acquiring supernatural power through personal
AN OVERVIEW
contact with the divine. In California, the vision is sought
MODERN PERSPECTIVES
by shamans wishing to effect a cure. The shaman occupies
a unique place among religious specialists due to his ability,
MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
in a trance state, to make the ecstatic journey to the beyond.
The history of religions has preserved the record of miracles,
He is engaged in the spiritual journey most often when he
that is, events, actions, and states taken to be so unusual, ex-
has to cure the sick; when he finds that the illness of a sick
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6050
MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
person has been caused by the loss of his soul, the shaman
as though a film were being removed from his eyes which
searches for the lost soul in heaven, in distant space, and
prevented him from seeing clearly. The light is always pres-
most frequently in the underworld.
ent with him. It guides him, and enables him to see into the
future and back into the past” (The Eskimo of Baffin Land
The shaman acquires the power of healing as well as
and Hudson Bay, New York, 1901, p. 133).
other magico-religious powers through his unique psychic
experience. In Siberia, as a rule, the future shaman is sick for
Shamans must demonstrate to spectators the new, su-
an indefinite period of time; he stays in his tent or wanders
perhuman condition that they have acquired: they gash
in the wilderness, behaving in such eccentric ways that he
themselves with knives, touch red-hot iron, and swallow
could be mistaken for a madman: he becomes suddenly fren-
burning coals. Shamans are masters over fire. They also in-
zied, loses consciousness, feeds on tree bark, or flings himself
carnate the spirit of fire to the point where, during séances,
into water and fire. These pathological symptoms can prop-
they emit flames from their mouths, noses, and whole bo-
erly be interpreted in terms of initiatory trials, which the fu-
dies. The practice of fire walking is imposed on shamans and
ture shaman is destined to undergo in order to be miracu-
medicine men in, for instance, Australia, Indonesia, China,
lously transformed into a “new being.”
and among the Manchu. Sometimes a shaman must prove
his miraculous powers by resisting the most severe cold or
Significantly, in the state of sickness, dreams, and vi-
by drying a wet sheet on his naked body. Among the Man-
sions, the future shaman has the experience of being dismem-
chu, for example, nine holes are made in the ice during win-
bered, reduced to bones, and then given entirely new internal
ter; the candidate has to dive into the first hole, come out
organs. For example, a Tunguz shaman (Ivan Cholko) states
through the second, and so on to the ninth hole. A young
that before a man becomes shaman he is sick for a long time,
Labrador Inuit obtained the title of angakkoq (shaman) after
his head being in a state of confusion. The spirits of the dead
remaining five days and nights in the icy sea and proving that
shaman-ancestors come, cut his flesh in pieces, and drink his
he was not even wet. A shaman sometimes shows his miracu-
blood. They also cut off his head and throw it into a caldron.
lous powers to the public by climbing a ladder of knives.
According to a Buriat shaman (Mikhail Stepanov), before a
Among the Lolo in southern China, a double ladder made
man becomes shaman he is sick for a long time. Then the
of thirty-six knives is built, and the barefoot shaman climbs
spirits of dead shamans come and teach him; he becomes ab-
it to the top, then comes down on the other side. Similar
sentminded, speaking with the dead shamans as if he were
feats are also attested in other parts of China and among the
with living persons. He alone is able to “see” the spirits. They
Chingpaw of Upper Burma.
torture him, strike him, and cut his flesh in pieces with
knives. During this surgical operation the future shaman be-
MIRACLES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. In archaic
comes half dead; the beating of his heart is scarcely heard,
Greece, Abaris, Aristeas, and Epimenides were known for
his breathing is weak, and his face and hands are dark blue.
their wonders and miracles. Abaris was a shamanic figure;
A Yakut shaman (Petr Ivanov) gives further details concern-
carrying the golden arrow in his hand, he passed through
ing the initiatory ordeal of dismemberment, followed by the
many lands, dispelling sickness and pestilence, and giving
renewal of the body: his limbs are removed and disjointed
warning of earthquakes and other disasters. He was also
with an iron hook by the spirits of ancestral shamans; the
known to fly through the air on his arrow, a symbol of magic
bones are cleaned, the flesh scraped, the body fluids thrown
flight. Aristeas of Proconnesus could appear at the same time
away, and the eyes torn out of their sockets. After this opera-
in two places far apart, sometimes assuming the form of a
tion all the bones are gathered up, joined together with iron,
crow. Epimenides was a master of the techniques of ecstasy,
and new eyes are put in place. He is thus transformed into
well known for his miraculous powers; he journeyed through
a new being, a shaman.
many lands, bringing his health-giving arts with him, proph-
esying the future, interpreting the hidden meaning of past
The experiences described above by no means exhaust
occurrences, and expelling the demonic evils that arose from
the shaman’s transforming initiatory trials. The Inuit (Eski-
misdeeds of the past.
mo) shaman, for example, acquires the qaumaneq (mystical
light). “The first time a young shaman experiences this
Especially noteworthy is Pythagoras, whose image in the
light,” Knud Rasmussen states, “it is as if the house in which
Hellenistic Mediterranean world was quite complex in na-
he is suddenly rises; he sees far ahead of him, through moun-
ture. According to his biographies by Porphyry and Iam-
tains, exactly as if the earth were one great plain, and his eyes
blichus dating from the third and fourth centuries CE, Py-
could reach to the end of the earth” (Intellectual Culture of
thagoras was a “divine man” (theios an¯er), combining the
the Igtulik Eskimos, Copenhagen, 1930, p. 113). According
figure of the popular miracle worker, the portrait of the phi-
to Franz Boas: “When a person becomes shaman, a light cov-
losopher, and the idealized image of the practical statesman.
ers his body. He can see supernatural things. The stronger
His image as miracle worker was enhanced by several recur-
the light is within him, the deeper and further away he can
ring motifs: (1) Pythagoras was seen in two cities at the same
see, and the greater is his supernatural power. The light
time; (2) he could recall his previous existences; (3) he was
makes his whole body feel well. When the intensity of this
endowed with the ability to stop an eagle in flight; and
light increases, he feels a strong pressure, and it seems to him
(4) he could predict events in the future. It is highly probable
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MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
6051
that, as Neo-Pythagoreanism gained popularity among ordi-
great excitement of the bystanders,” states Tacitus, Vespasian
nary people, the image of Pythagoras the thaumaturge was
“did as the men desired him. Immediately the hand recov-
promoted by a circle of followers quite distinct from those
ered its functions and daylight shone once more in the blind
who wished to cultivate his reputation as a philosopher and
man’s eyes” (Histories 4.81; see also Dio Cassius, Roman His-
scientist.
tory 65.8, and Suetonius, Vespasian 7.2–3).
Apollonius of Tyana, a wandering Pythagorean philoso-
Throughout late antiquity, Epidaurus was a holy site es-
pher of the first century CE, also worked miracles. It is gener-
pecially celebrated for the epiphany of Asklepios, the divine
ally accepted that early traditions about his activity as a mira-
healer. According to Strabo, Asklepios was believed to “cure
cle worker were incorporated into subsequent accounts of his
diseases of every kind.” His temple was always full of the sick
life, which were apologetically intended to present him as a
as well as containing the votive tablets on which treatments
philosopher. Apollonius described exorcisms and instances
were recorded (Geography 8.6.15). Asklepios would appear
of healing the blind, the lame, and the paralytic in India (see
to the sick sleeping in his temple—more precisely, in the in-
Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana 3.38–39); more
nermost chamber (to abaton) of the sanctuary; he would ap-
important than that, he performed similar miracles himself.
proach the sick in dreams and visions, or, as Aelius Aristides
Apollonius reportedly performed even the miracle of raising
put it, in a “state of mind intermediate between sleep and
the dead while he was in Rome (4.45): a girl had died just
waking.” This practice of temple sleep, incubation (incuba-
before her marriage, and the bridegroom was following her
tio), was of vital importance to the sick; it was in the state
bier lamenting; the whole of Rome lamented with him, for
of such dreams and visions that one was healed or given in-
she belonged to a consular family. Apollonius, meeting the
structions by Asklepios. The healing god would touch his pa-
funeral procession, said, “Put down the bier, for I will put
tient’s body with his hands, apply drugs, or undertake surgi-
a stop to your tears for the girl.” Then he asked her name.
cal operations. Consequently, the eyesight of the blind would
The crowd thought he was going to deliver a funeral oration,
be restored, the lame would walk, the mute would speak, and
but he merely touched her and said something in secret over
the man whose fingers had been paralyzed would stretch each
her, and thus he awoke her from her seeming death. In the
of them one by one. Some examples of Asklepios’s miracles
magical papyri, his name is attached to a spell, a fact indicat-
follow.
ing his considerable popularity as a magician. According to
Dio Cassius, the Roman emperor Caracalla (r. 211–217)
Ambrosia of Athens, blind in one eye, came to Epidau-
built a temple in honor of Apollonius, who was a “perfect
rus to seek help from Asklepios. But as she walked around
example of the magician.”
the temple, she mocked at the many records of divine heal-
ings: “It is unbelievable and impossible that the lame and the
The figure of Moses was one of the most important pro-
blind can be cured by merely dreaming.” In her sleep she had
paganda instruments that Jews of the Hellenistic period used
a dream: Asklepios approached and promised to heal her;
in their competition with non-Jewish schools and cults. In
only in return she must present a gift offering in the tem-
Deuteronomy 34:10–12, Moses is described as the greatest
ple—a silver pig, in memory of her stupidity. After saying
prophet in Israel, known for his signs and wonders as well
this, Asklepios cut open her defective eye and poured in a
as for his mighty powers and great and terrible deeds. This
drug. Her sight was soon restored. The following miracle
Moses was presented to the Hellenistic world as a miracle-
story about a man with an abscess inside his abdomen re-
working philosopher, as is exemplified in Philo Judaeus’s On
minds us of the initiatory dreaming of Siberian shamans.
the Life of Moses.
While asleep in the temple, the man saw a dream: Asklepios
There are many stories in late Judaism narrating how
ordered the servants who accompanied him to hold him
rabbis worked miracles of healing. The best known, perhaps,
tightly so that he could cut open his abdomen. The man
is the healing of the son of Yoh:anan ben ZakkDai by H:aninaD
tried to escape but could not. Then Asklepios cut his belly
ben DosaD. Both rabbis lived in Palestine around 70 CE.
open, removed the abscess, and stitched him up. Sometimes,
H:aninaD ben DosaD went to study the Torah with Yoh:anan
the healing power of Asklepios reached the patient far away
ben ZakkDai, whose son was seriously ill. Yoh:anan requested:
from his temple. Arata, a woman of Lacedaemon, was dropsi-
“H:aninaD, my son, pray for mercy for him that he may live.”
cal. While she remained in Lacedaemon, her mother slept in
H:aninaD ben DosaD laid his head between his knees and
the temple on her behalf and saw a dream: Asklepios cut off
prayed, and then the boy was cured (B.T., Ber. 34).
her daughter’s head and hung up her body in such a way that
her throat was turned downward. Out of it came a huge
Miracles of healing were performed also by kings, for
quantity of fluid matter. Then he took down the body and
example, the Roman emperor Vespasian (r. 70–79). While
put the head back onto the neck. After the mother had seen
the emperor was in Alexandria, a blind man approached him,
this dream, she went home and found her daughter in good
acting on the advice of the god Sarapis; he fell at Vespasian’s
health; the daughter had seen the same dream.
feet, demanding with sobs a cure for his blindness and im-
ploring the emperor to moisten his eyes with the spittle from
The Mediterranean world knew Egypt as the home of
his mouth. Another man with a maimed hand, also inspired
thaumaturgy, theosophy, and esoteric wisdom. There, the
by Sarapis, asked Vespasian to touch it with his heel. “To the
goddess Isis was praised for her miraculous healings; she was
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6052
MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
credited with bringing the arts of healing to men and, once
that is the cause of perception of the body” (Eliade, 1958,
she had attained immortality, taking pleasure in miraculous-
p. 87).
ly healing those who incubated themselves in her temple
In India, the yogin has always been considered a
(Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History 1.25.2–5). At her
maha¯siddha, a possessor of miraculous powers, a magician.
hands the maimed were healed and the blind received their
However, a yogin is still far from attaining his final goal of
eyesight. According to the inscriptions found on the island
absolute freedom so long as his miraculous powers serve him
of Delos dating from about the first century BCE, Isis worship
as his “possession.” As soon as he consents to use the magical
was attended by a functionary specifically called an aretalogos,
forces gained through his ascetic discipline, the possibility of
an interpreter of dreams, who may have functioned as a pro-
his realizing absolute freedom diminishes; only a new renun-
claimer of miraculous events. The temple of the god Sarapis
ciation, a determination not to use the miraculous powers,
at Canopus, not far from Alexandria, was also famous for its
would lead the ascetic to a higher spiritual horizon.
divine healing; Sarapis would visit those who slept in his
temple, giving them advice in dreams.
Daoists in ancient China are convinced that man can
become an “immortal” (xianren, shenxian, or shengren), that
YOGINS, DAOIST CONTEMPLATIVES, AND YAMABUSHI. Indi-
man is able to transcend his human condition by various
an ascetics practicing Yoga are well known for their miracu-
means, including the practice of meditation. The Zhuangzi
lous powers. The yogin sits cross-legged and firm on a flat
tells of one such extraordinary man living on a remote moun-
space with his eyes fixed on a certain object beyond him. He
tain: “He does not eat the five grains, but sucks the wind,
has to master, at the same time, the breathing techniques
drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a fly-
(pra¯n:a¯ya¯ma); at first, the breath is kept for one minute and
ing dragon, and watches beyond the four seas” (chap. 1).
then exhaled. This practice goes on for days, weeks, and
Moreover, “by concentrating his spirit, he can protect crea-
months until the period of retention of the inhaled breath
tures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plenti-
is gradually increased.
ful” (ibid.). Abstention from cereals belongs to a basic re-
According to the Indo-Tibetan Tantric tradition, the as-
quirement in Daoism for nourishing life, as is illustrated by
cetic is able to produce “inner heat” on the basis of rhythmi-
Ge Hong’s Baopuzi dating from the early fourth century CE.
cal breathing and various “visualizations.” During a winter-
“Sucking the wind” and “drinking the dew” are technical
night snowstorm, the degree of his progress is tested by his
terms in Daoism for breathing exercises. It is certain that the
ability to dry a large number of soaked sheets draped directly
story speaks about a Daoist contemplative on his ecstatic
over his naked body. “Sheets are dipped in the icy water,”
journey, transcending the universe. Especially interesting in
reports Alexandra David-Neel. “Each man wraps himself in
the story is the fact that he is able to “concentrate his spirit,”
one of them and must dry it on his body. As soon as the sheet
that is, to solidify his spiritual potency. The ability to solidify
has become dry, it is again dipped in the water and placed
the spiritual potency or light belongs to the privilege of such
on the novice’s body to be dried as before. The operation
religious specialists as shamans, yogins, and Daoist saints.
goes on until daybreak. Then he who has dried the largest
According to Max Kaltenmark, the solidification of the spiri-
number of sheets is acknowledged the winner of the compe-
tual potency points to an essential feature of the Daoist tech-
tition” (With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet, London, 1931,
nique of meditation, which consists in freezing the faculties
pp. 227–228).
of the soul, concentrating them in a single point.
The practice of meditation essential for attaining im-
The yogin acquires the “miraculous powers” (siddhis)
mortality leads inevitably to the possession of miraculous
when he has reached a particular stage of his meditational
powers. According to the Baopuzi, the Daoist immortal Ge
discipline called sam:yama, referring, more specifically, to the
Xuan, one of Ge Hong’s paternal uncles, would stay at the
last stages of yogic technique, that is, concentration
bottom of a deep pond for almost a whole day in hot summer
(dha¯ran:a), meditation (dhya¯na), and sama¯dhi. For example,
weather. This “miracle” was possible because of his mastery
by practicing sam:yama in regard to the subconscious residues
of “embryonic respiration”: he was able to accumulate his
(sam:ska¯ras), the yogin knows his previous existences; through
breaths and to breathe like a fetus in its mother’s womb. Ge
the practice of Yoga, he arrives successfully at the state of
Xuan was a disciple of the famous Daoist immortal Zuo Ci,
mind in which he is one with the things meditated, namely,
of whom it is said that, despite abstinence from eating cereals
his subconscious residues. This enables him to ideally relive
for almost a whole month, his complexion remained un-
his former existences. Through sam:yama exercised in respect
changed and his vitality stayed normal (Baopuzi, chap. 2).
to notions (pratyaya), the yogin also knows the mental states
of other men; he sees, as on a screen, all the states of con-
Mountain ascetics in Japan known as yamabushi ac-
sciousness that notions are able to arouse in their minds.
quired magico-religious powers through a series of disci-
Some of the yogin’s “miraculous powers” are even more ex-
plines. The yamabushi was the master of heat and fire; he
traordinary: he can make himself invisible by practicing
walked barefoot on red hot charcoals without injury; he
sam:yama concerning the form of the body. “When the yogin
proved his extraordinary power when, with only a white robe
practices sam:yama on the form of the body,” Va¯caspatimi´sra
on his naked body, he entered a bath of boiling water and
comments, “he destroys the perceptibility of the color (ru¯pa)
came out entirely unscathed; and he surprised his spectators
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6053
by climbing a ladder of swords, the sharp edge facing up-
and limbs fall to the ground, and then joined them together
ward. Like a shaman, he was a spiritual being. In his inner
again before the amazed eyes of the spectators. Among the
consciousness he was a bird in control of cosmic space; at the
eminent disciples of the Buddha, Moggalla¯na (Skt.,
culminating moment of a ceremony, the yamabushi in a
Maudgalya¯yana) was well known as the “chief of those en-
trance would spread his arms and fly in the sky in imitation
dowed with miraculous powers.”
of a bird. In view of the extraordinary powers at his disposal,
As Buddhism was transplanted to China, its missiona-
it is not surprising that he cured the sick, exorcised demons,
ries often resorted to the display of miraculous powers. Espe-
and fought triumphant battles against evil spirits.
cially in northern China, Buddhist saints performed magical
MIRACLES IN FOUNDED RELIGIONS. The founders of three
feats for evangelical purposes; Fotudeng, who came to China
major religions of the world—Buddhism, Christianity, and
at the beginning of the fourth century CE, worked the mira-
Islam—have each taken a different attitude toward miracle;
cles of producing rain, creating a lotus out of a bowl of water,
Jesus Christ was utterly positive in working miracles, whereas
and drawing water from dried-up wells. The fame of the
Muh:ammad, as represented in the QurDa¯n, categorically re-
monk Dharmaksema was based not only on his scholarly
jected them. Significantly, the Buddha took the middle
contributions but also on his supernatural powers to produce
course, so to speak. Despite this remarkable divergence
rain and foretell the outcome of political events or military
among these founders, the subsequent history of these reli-
campaigns. One may not be prepared to accept all of these
gions demonstrates unmistakably that miracles and miracle
miracle stories told by pious biographers, but they were un-
stories have been an integral part of man’s religious life.
doubtedly created with the good intention of glorifying the
Buddhism. The Buddha was well aware that the prac-
Buddha, who was able to endow his ardent followers with
tice of meditation essential for attaining enlightenment leads
such miraculous powers.
eventually to the possession of “miraculous power” (Skt., sid-
Christianity. Jesus Christ performed the miracles of
dhi; Pali, iddhi). But he did not encourage his disciples to
healing and exorcism. In the miracle stories that, together
seek siddhis. “O bhikkus,” the Buddha said, “you must not
with his sayings and passion narratives, occupy an important
show the superhuman power of iddhi before the laity. Who-
place in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth is presented
ever does so shall be guilty of an evil deed” (Vinaya Texts,
as the supreme thaumaturge, the great miracle worker, the
trans. T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg, vol. 3,
magician. In fact, there was a charge that Jesus was in league
Delhi, [1885] 1965, p. 81). The true task was not to acquire
with Beelzebul (Mk. 3:22, Mt. 12:24, 12:27) and, according
miraculous powers but to transcend the world of pain and
to a rabbinic tradition (see B.T., San. 43a), Jesus was execut-
suffering and to attain the state of enlightenment (see D¯ıgha
ed for his practice of sorcery, misguiding the people of Israel.
Nika¯ya 24.3). Moreover, the possession of one miraculous
power or another in no way promoted, in the Buddha’s
Typically, the miracle stories of healing and exorcism in
mind, the propagation of the central message of Buddhism;
the Synoptic Gospels all emphasize three motifs: (1) the his-
yogins, ecstatics, and other ascetics could perform the same
tory of the illness, (2) the actual process or techniques of the
miracles.
healing, and (3) a demonstration of the cure to the satisfac-
tion of spectators. There is no doubt that the miracle stories
“Miraculous powers” are one of the five classes of “su-
were utilized internally for the strengthening of Christian
perknowledge” (Skt., abhijña¯; Pali, abhiñña¯), which are (1)
faith and externally for propaganda purposes in a world in
siddhi, (2) divine eye, (3) divine hearing, (4) knowledge of
which such stories were commonly told of heroes of faith.
another’s thought, and (5) recollection of previous exis-
Particularly interesting are the techniques that Jesus em-
tences. By virtue of deepening meditation, the Buddhist saint
ployed for healing and exorcism. There is no question that
is able to acquire the siddhi in its various forms: he becomes
he considered prayer to be essential for working miracles
invisible at his own will; he goes, without feeling any obsta-
(Mk. 9:29). But, as a thaumaturge, he had to work up his
cle, to the far side of a wall or rampart or hill, as if through
emotions; in healing a leper Jesus was moved with “anger”
air; he penetrates up and down through solid ground, as if
(orgistheis), stretched out his hand, and touched him (Mk.
through water; he walks on water without breaking through,
1:40–45). Jesus displayed the emotional frenzy of the thau-
as if on solid ground; and he travels cross-legged in the sky,
maturge (see also Lk. 4:39). In the story of the deaf and mute
like the birds on the wing (D¯ıgha Nika¯ya 2.87, 11.4).
man (Mk. 7:32–37), Jesus puts his fingers into his ears, spits
According to biographical sources, the Buddha himself
and touches his tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighs and
was sometimes led to work miracles; for example, when he
says to him, “Ephphatha” (“Be opened”). In Mk. 8:22–26
returned to his native city, Kapilavastu, for the first time after
Jesus heals a blind man by spitting on his eyes and laying his
attaining enlightenment, he rose in the air, emitted flames
hands on them. Groaning sighs and spittle were often used
of fire and streams of water from his body, and walked in
by the thaumaturges. As to the use of Semitic words for heal-
the sky (see Maha¯vastu 3.115). According to A´svaghos:a’s
ing purposes, the account in the Gospel of Mark (5:41) of
Buddhacarita (19.12–13), in order to convince his relatives
Jesus restoring a girl to life by saying, “Talitha˙ Koum”
of his spiritual capacities and prepare them for conversion,
(“Little girl, stand up”), retains the original Aramaic words
the Buddha rose in the air, cut his body to pieces, let his head
even in otherwise translated versions. According to the Ger-
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6054
MIRACLES: AN OVERVIEW
man theologian Martin Dibelius, the preservation of such
nally, the succession of great Christian saints of ascetic ori-
foreign words and phrases may show that the stories were uti-
gin, from Anthony onward.
lized as a kind of handbook to Christian miracles and magic.
Islam. Muh:ammad, the “seal of the prophets,” rejected
The image of Jesus as the thaumaturge can still be identified
every request to pose as a miracle worker; in contrast to
in the Gospel of John (see 9:6, 11:33, 11:35, 11:38, 11:43).
Moses and other Hebrew prophets, as well as Jesus, who all
Especially interesting is a cycle of miracle stories in the
worked miracles (mu Ejiza¯t), Muh:ammad made no attempt
Gospel of Mark (4:35–5:43) that includes the stories of the
to advance his religious authority by performing miracles, al-
Gerasene demoniac, the woman with an issue of blood, and
though people demanded them, saying, “Why does he not
the daughter of Jairus. Each of these has all the characteristics
bring us a sign from his Lord?” (su¯rah 20:133). To those peo-
of the popular miracle story, and each contributes to the im-
ple who wondered why signs, that is, miracles, had not been
pression that Jesus is a “divine man,” tempting New Testa-
sent down on him from God, Muh:ammad responded: “The
ment scholars to talk about the development of “divine man
signs are only with God, and I am only a plain warner”
Christology” in the Gospel of Mark; the miraculous power of
(29:49; see also 13:27–30, 17:92ff.).
Jesus is such that the Gerasenes beg him to leave their dis-
According to Muh:ammad, as presented in the QurDa¯n,
trict, the touch of his clothes effects a cure, and he raises the
all the existing things in the universe are the signs (a¯ya¯t; sg.,
dead by strange-sounding words. Moreover, Jesus is pres-
a¯yah) pointing to the reality of God in action. Natural phe-
ented as performing the miracles of stilling the storm (4:35–
nomena, such as rain, wind, the structure of heaven and
41), feeding the five thousand people (6:34–44; see also
earth, the rhythmical alternation of day and night, and so
8:1–9), and walking on water (6:45–52).
forth, are not simply “natural” occurrences; they should be
Jesus Christ was followed by his apostles in working
understood as “signs” or “symbols” manifesting God’s mercy
miracles (Acts 2:43, 5:12), and it seems that they worked the
and compassion for man’s well-being on earth. God declares,
miracles of healing and exorcism “in the name of Jesus
“We shall show them our signs in the horizons and in them-
Christ” (Acts 3:6, 16:18; see also 19:13–17). Stephen and
selves” (41:53; see also 51:20–21). The universe is thus mi-
Philip demonstrated great wonders and signs among the peo-
raculously transformed into a forest of symbols; human be-
ple (Acts 6:8, 8:5–7), while Peter healed the lame and the par-
ings dwell within the forest of divine symbols, and these
alytic, restoring the dead to life (Acts 3:1ff., 9:32ff., 9:36ff.).
symbols can be deciphered by anyone if he is spiritually pre-
Even his “shadow” was believed to have healing power (Acts
pared to interpret them as symbols. There should be no mir-
5:15). Paul is also presented in Acts as a great miracle worker:
acles except for these “signs.”
he healed a cripple at Lystra (14:8ff.), performed an exorcism
However, the majority of the Islamic community has
in the name of Jesus Christ (16:18), and cured Publius’s fa-
never ceased to expect miracles. Muh:ammad is presented in
ther, who was sick with fever and dysentery, by putting his
the traditions (h:ad¯ıths) as having worked miracles in public
hands on him (28:8). Even handkerchiefs and aprons that
on many occasions. It was especially S:u¯f¯ı saints who per-
had touched Paul’s body were believed to be effective for cur-
formed miracles (kara¯ma¯t). Often called the “friends of God”
ing sickness and exorcism (19:11–12). In Acts 13:4–12, Paul
(awliya¯ D, sg. wal¯ı), they worked miracles by divine grace. On
evokes belief in the proconsul Sergius Paulus by showing his
the one hand, it is often said by the S:u¯f¯ıs that saints must
superior thaumaturgy over the Jewish magician Bar-Jesus
not seek after the gift of miracle working, which might be-
and another magician, Elymas.
come a serious obstacle in the path to the union with God.
As we can see from the portrayal of these apostles in Acts,
On the other hand, the biographies of leading S:u¯f¯ıs abound
the Christian community in the Hellenistic Mediterranean
in miracle stories that certainly have been utilized for evan-
world had a tendency to view its heroes as “divine men”;
gelical purposes: saints traveled a long distance in a short
Paul’s opponents in Corinth, especially those he argued
time; walked on water and in the air; talked with such inani-
against in 2 Corinthians, understood a Christian apostle as
mate objects as stones, as well as with animals; miraculously
one who exhibited the aura and power of a “divine man,”
produced food, clothing, and other necessities of life; and
and they claimed it of themselves and wanted Paul to dem-
made predictions of future events. Even after their death,
onstrate it of himself. Accordingly, Paul had to write to the
saints are believed to work miracles at their own graves on
Corinthians that he had shown the signs of a true apostle
behalf of the faithful, and their intercession is piously
among them, “with signs and wonders and mighty works”
invoked.
(2 Cor. 12:12; see also Rom. 15:18–19a; 1 Cor. 12:9–10;
Gal. 3:5).
SEE ALSO Asklepios; Dreams; Healing and Medicine;
Magic; Shamanism; Spittle and Spitting; Supernatural, The;
Jesus Christ and his apostles in the first century set the
Yoga.
examples to be followed by the faithful. In the subsequent
history of Christianity, charisma or divine gift of “power”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
was represented on earth by a limited number of exceptional
There is no comprehensive book dealing with the topic of miracles
charismatic figures, such as the martyrs of the second and
in the general history of religions. On the problem of inter-
third centuries, the bishops of the late third century, and, fi-
pretation concerning miracles and magico-religious powers
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MIRACLES: MODERN PERSPECTIVES
6055
in “primitive” societies, see Ernesto de Martino’s Il mondo
Man in the Koran: Semantics of the Koranic Weltanschauung
magico (Turin, 1948), translated by Paul S. White as The
(Tokyo, 1964), pp. 133ff. Reynold A. Nicholson has written
World of Magic (New York, 1972). On the miracles and mi-
on Muslim saints and their miracles in his The Mystics of
raculous powers of shamans, there is an admirable account
Islam: An Introduction to Sufism (1914; reprint, London,
in Mircea Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy,
1963), pp. 120–147. See also a fascinating account by Anne-
rev. & enl. ed. (New York, 1964). This book contains an ex-
marie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill,
cellent bibliography.
N.C., 1975), pp. 204ff.
Richard Reitzenstein’s Hellenistische Wundererzählungen (1906;
New Sources
reprint, Darmstadt, 1963) still remains a classic for the study
Cavadini, John, ed. Miracles in Jewish and Christian Antiquity:
of the miracle stories in the Hellenistic Mediterranean world.
Imagining Truth. Notre Dame, Ind., 1999.
Otto Weinreich has offered a detailed analysis of some of the
Davis, Richard, ed. Images, Miracles and Authority in Asian Reli-
major motifs appearing in the Greco-Roman stories of heal-
gious Traditions. Boulder, Co., 1998.
ing miracles. See his Antike Heilungswunder: Untersuchungen
zum Wunderglauben der Griechen und Römer (Giessen,
Earman, John. Hume’s Abject Failure: The Argument against Mira-
1909). Valuable information on the miracle stories pertain-
cles. New York, 2000.
ing to the cult of Asklepios is presented in Emma J. Edelstein
Harline, Craig. Miracles at the Jesus Oak: Histories of the Supernat-
and Ludwig Edelstein’s Asclepius: A Collection and Interpreta-
ural in Reformation Europe. New York, 2003.
tion of the Testimonies, 2 vols. (Baltimore, 1945). See also
Kahl, Werner. New Testament Stories in Their Religious-Historical
Károly Kerényi’s important study Die göttliche Arzt: Studien
Setting: A Religionsgeschichtliche Comparison from a Structural
über Asklepios und seine Kultstätten, rev. ed. (Darmstadt,
Perspective. Göttingen, 1994.
1956), translated by Ralph Manheim as Asklepios: Archetypal
Image of the Physician’s Existence (New York, 1959). Miracle
Korte, Anne-Marie. Women in Miracle Stories: A Multidisciplinary
stories in rabbinic Judaism have been collected by Paul Fie-
Exploration. Boston, 2001.
big in his Jüdische Wundergeschichten des neutestamentlichen
Mullin, Robert Bruce. Miracles and the Modern Religious Imagina-
Zeitalters (Tübingen, 1911).
tion. New Haven, 1996.
On the miraculous powers of yogins, there is a brilliant account
Woodward, Kenneth. The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the
in Mircea Eliade’s Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, 2d ed.
Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism,
(Princeton, 1969), still the standard work on the theory and
Islam. New York, 2000.
practice of Yoga. On Daoist immortals and their miraculous
powers, there is a brief but excellent account in Max Kalten-
MANABU WAIDA (1987)
Revised Bibliography
mark’s Lao Tseu et le daoïsme (Paris, 1965), translated by
Roger Greaves as Lao Tzu and Taoism (Stanford, Calif.,
1969).
On miracles in the life of the Buddha, see a valuable account in
MIRACLES: MODERN PERSPECTIVES
Edward J. Thomas’s The Life of Buddha as Legend and Histo-
The attitude toward miracles in the Western world is a
ry, 3d rev. ed. (London, 1949).
strange combination of belief and disbelief. Most of the
The modern study of the miracle stories in the Synoptic Gospels
Mediterranean cultures that laid the groundwork for West-
was initiated shortly after the end of World War I by such
ern thinking believed that human beings have two modes of
brilliant form critics as Martin Dibelius and Rudolf Bult-
coping with animate and inanimate reality. One is the ordi-
mann. See a fascinating study by Dibelius, Die Formgesch-
nary way, the other the religious or miraculous way. (Most
ichte des Evangeliums, 2d rev. ed. (Tübingen, 1933), translat-
nineteenth-century Western anthropologists called the sec-
ed by Bertram Lee Woolf as From Tradition to Gospel (New
York, 1935). See also Bultmann’s admirable analysis of the
ond way magical.) Humans act in the ordinary way when
miracle stories in his Die Geschichte der synoptischen Tradi-
they use habit, conventional thinking processes, or acquired
tion, 3d ed. (Göttingen, 1958), translated by John Marsh as
skills. When these methods fail, when humans cannot ade-
The History of the Synoptic Tradition (New York, 1963).
quately deal with the physical world, or when other human
More recently, Gerd Theissen has studied the miracle stories
beings are hostile or unchanged by threats, war, contracts,
from the perspective of the sociology of literature. See his Ur-
or persuasion, another option is available: they can seek the
christliche Wundergeschichten: Ein Beitrag zur formgeschich-
help and intervention of a spiritual or nonphysical dimen-
tlichen Erforschung der synoptischen Evangelien (Gutersloh,
sion of reality, which exists alongside and interpenetrates the
1974), translated by Francis McDonagh and edited by John
ordinary physical dimension. This supplication can be quite
Riches as The Miracle Stories of the Early Christian Tradition
conscious or it can be performed unconsciously through ac-
(Philadelphia, 1983). David L. Tiede, in his very useful study
tions that imply control over these powers. Help can be in-
The Charismatic Figure as Miracle Worker (Missoula, Mont.,
1972), distinguishes between the aretalogy of the sage-
voked through concentration, meditation, ritual, spell, or ec-
philosopher and the aretalogy of the miracle worker. On
static trance. Aid can be sought for knowledge, protection,
Christian saints and their miracles, there is an excellent study
or deliverance. The spiritual powers called upon can be either
by Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function
beneficent, malignant, or neutral. When a result appears in
in Latin Christianity (Chicago, 1981).
response to such an action, a miracle is said to occur. The
On Muh:ammad’s reinterpretation of the concept a¯yah (“sign”),
miracle may occur within an individual or in the external
there is an admirable account by Toshihiko Izutsu, God and
world.
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MIRACLES: MODERN PERSPECTIVES
Four different attitudes toward miracles are to be found
include Jesus walking on the water (Mk. 6:48), the still-
in Western cultures at the present time. (1) Christianity’s
ing of the storm (Mk. 4:38), physical disappearance (Lk.
view, which has remained quite consistent from the teach-
4:30), and the feeding of the multitudes (Mk. 6:35).
ings and practice of Jesus to the present time, holds that mir-
5. In another category of miracles Jesus shows telepathic,
acles are natural manifestations of God. (2) Rational materi-
clairvoyant, and precognitive power (Mk. 2:6, Jn. 1:47,
alism maintains that material reality accounts for all data of
Mk. 11:1). Sometimes his statements are prophetic, as
experience and infers therefrom that spiritual reality is an il-
when he foretells his own death and resurrection, relates
lusion and that miracles do not exist. This view has encour-
the destruction of Jerusalem, and speaks of the coming
aged liberal Christianity to doubt the reality of the miracles
of the Kingdom.
found in the New Testament and to rule out the possibility
of their happening at present. This view has influenced con-
6. In the final category of miracles are the resurrection ap-
servative Christianity as well, for conservatives believe that
pearances of Jesus, which combine both the physical
miracles did occur within the dispensation of God at the
and the spiritual in a religious experience that is dynam-
time of Jesus but that they do not occur now. (3) A resur-
ic and transforming.
gence of interest in and study of phenomena not accounted
for within the framework of materialism constitutes yet an-
Similar miracles are reported among the apostles after the as-
other approach to miracles, which has recently engaged the
cension of Jesus in Acts of the Apostles and in other books of
scientific community. (4) A fourth attitude toward miracles
the New Testament. This tradition of miracles continued
prevails in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Western Christian
without interruption in both Roman Catholicism and Or-
Science. In this view, material reality is seen as illusion. A
thodox Christianity; services for healing and exorcism are
miracle occurs once an individual realizes this truth. This ap-
found in the official service books of both. Writing during
proach is increasingly popular in the West, for it provides an
the fifth century, Sozomenos reports that miracles began to
alternative to rational materialism.
occur again at the end of the Arian controversy, when
churches held by Arians were returned to Orthodox pastors
CHRISTIANITY AND MIRACLE. Christianity is both a histori-
(Ecclesiastical History 7.5). Throughout Christian history
cal religion and a living one. The historic Christian faith is
miracles have been reported to occur around saintly people.
one of the few in which miracles are seen as constituent of
To this day several attested miracles are required by the
the orthodox faith. It continues the Old Testament tradition
Roman Catholic church before a saint is canonized.
of God acting powerfully in the physical world. As C. S.
Lewis (1947) points out, historical Christianity sees the in-
During the Reformation, both Luther and Calvin wrote
carnation of God in the world as the greatest miracle that
that the age of miracles was over and that their occurrence
culminates in the crucifixion and resurrection. Through this
should not be expected. At the same time Protestantism was
invasion of God the powers of evil are defeated and the king-
overwhelmed by the rationalism and materialism of the En-
dom of heaven begins to manifest itself on earth. Reginald
lightenment, and discussion of the miraculous nearly disap-
H. Fuller (1963) sees the New Testament miracles as signs
peared. The Roman Catholic church upheld its practice
of the breakthrough of the kingdom into the ordinary world,
without trying to defend it intellectually, and shrines like
though he questions the historicity of most miracles.
Lourdes drew great crowds. The academic Protestant com-
I have shown in detail in The Christian and the Supernat-
munity came to believe that the practice of Christianity was
ural (1976) that the miraculous in the ministry of Jesus and
largely a matter of morality and that neither God nor the
the apostles described in the New Testament falls into six
spiritual world contacted or influenced practical human life
categories:
to any great extent. Rudolf Bultmann presented this thesis
consistently and thoroughly.
1. The most common miracles are physical and mental
healings, from curing ailments like a fever (Mk. 1:30)
PHILOSOPHICAL MATERIALISM. Materialism as an adequate
to raising the dead.
explanation for all things originated in the thinking of several
2. Another class of miracles involves exorcism, or healing
classical Greek thinkers, was developed by Aristotle, and
through the expulsion of a spiritual force causing mental
came to fruition in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
or physical illness. Most mental and physical sickness
My book Encounter with God (1972) traces this development
was perceived not as the action of God but as the infil-
from its first beginnings to its full-blown denial of any aspect
tration of negative spiritual powers at war with God, an
of reality not perceived by the five senses and not objectively
infiltration that morally caused sin, physically caused
verifiable. This view, diametrically opposed to the view of
disease, and mentally caused madness or possession.
Hinduism and Buddhism, dominated the intellectual and
academic life of the West in the nineteenth and early twenti-
3. The third category comprises communication with the
eth centuries and influenced nearly all disciplines from psy-
spiritual world and with God through dreams, visions,
chology and anthropology to comparative religion and
revelations, or prayer. Such communication is a basic
Christian theology. In several books B. F. Skinner dismisses
principle of the teachings and practice of Jesus.
human consciousness as the ghost in the box. Melvin Konner
4. Nature miracles comprise a fourth category. Examples
in The Tangled Wing (New York, 1982) writes that there is
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6057
only the blind action of natural selection, sifting material
C. Precognition/Retrocognition: perception of events in
genes. A person is only a gene’s way of making another gene.
future time or past time
This skeptical materialism has arisen many times in human
D. Animal ESP
history—in China, Greece, and Rome—but only recently
has it effectively taken over nearly a whole culture.
II. PSYCHOKINESIS (PK): THE AFFECT OF MIND OR PSYCHE
OR SPIRIT ON A MATERIAL ENVIRONMENT
This worldview considers all miracles and all contact
with any dimension of reality other than the concrete physi-
A. Physical Systems
cal one absurd, the result of ignorance, superstition, or the
1. deliberate, actually effected by conscious intent
refusal to search long enough for the purely physical causes.
Supposedly intelligent people will classify miracle with magic
2. spontaneous, as in poltergeist phenomena
and ignore any experience purporting to be miraculous.
B. Biological Systems
SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE. Since the
1. psychic healing
mid-twentieth century, when man succeeded in splitting the
atom and the implications of Heisenberg’s principle of inde-
2. plant PK
terminacy and Einstein’s theory of relativity were fully real-
III. SURVIVAL: EXPERIENCES OF THE DECEASED
ized, theoretical physics has become much less certain that
A. Reincarnation: evidence of a former life of the indi-
it can provide final answers. In Physics and Philosophy (New
vidual
York, 1962) Werner Heisenberg suggests that we live in an
open universe and that the conventional words describing
B. Apparitions: experience of the person deceased or spiri-
God and spirit may have greater correspondence with reality
tual reality
than the highly developed words of physics. The mathemati-
C. Mediumship: using others to make contact with this
cal thinking of Kurt Gödel, the analysis of scientific theory
nonphysical domain
presented by Thomas S. Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific
IV. OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES (OOBE): THE EXPERIENCE
Revolutions (Chicago, 1962), the findings of psychosomatic
OF HAVING EXISTENCE AS A PSYCHE, BUT NO LONGER TIED TO
medicine, the work of modern anthropologists, the data in
THE PHYSICAL BODY. Once it is acknowledged that human
Andrew Greeley’s The Sociology of the Paranormal: A Recon-
beings can receive verifiable information through means
naissance (1975), the scientific study of parapsychological
other than the five senses and that this reception breaks the
phenomena, and the theory underlying the depth psychology
rules of space and time, the serious scientific study of miracle
of C. G. Jung all cast doubt on Western materialist deter-
becomes possible. It becomes possible to examine critically
minism.
data that are not easily verifiable, such as communication
In the heyday of materialism in London a group of seri-
from the deceased and the transformative power of religious
ous scientists organized the Society for Psychical Research in
experience. A strict materialistic framework considers com-
1882. An American society was organized three years later
munication through nonphysical means as absurd as a mira-
in which William James was active. Sigmund Freud was a
cle, because it assumes that some physical signal has to enter
member of the original society and contributed to its publi-
the closed system and move the cogs so that the message can
cations. Jung too studied and published on the subject of
get through. An alternate theory of perception is required to
paranormal experience; he discussed synchronicity, medium-
avoid such an impasse.
ship, and telepathy and provided models for understanding
these events. Joseph Banks Rhine at Duke University did
Since the first decade of the twentieth century the medi-
many scientific studies of events that did not fit into the ma-
cal profession has come to realize that a materialist point of
terialistic paradigm.
view cannot explain or heal all human disease. Both James
and Jung point out that the experience of meaninglessness
Finally, the professional organization calling itself the
is a disease causing both emotional and physical sickness. In
Parapsychological Association was accepted as an affiliate by
The Broken Heart (1977) James J. Lynch describes the medi-
the American Association for the Advancement of Science in
cal consequences of loneliness and calls organized religion to
1969. One of the most comprehensive surveys of scientific
task for not providing ways to meet this human need, which
parapsychology to date is that of Robert F. Jahn (1982). Jahn
is largely ignored in a mechanistic, materialistic society.
describes four categories of psychic phenomena; three of
O. Carl and Stephanie Simonton have described a meditative
these are divided further. These categories are similar to the
treatment for cancer in Getting Well Again (1978). Herbert
Christian ones. In the following outline, I have added expla-
Benson describes what he calls the faith factor in Beyond the
nations of the terms.
Relaxation Response (1983).
I. EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION (ESP)
In The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (1960), Jung
A. Telepathy: information passing from mind to mind
presents a theory of synchronicity developed in conjunction
without physical means
with the Nobel Prize-winning atomic physicist Wolfgang
B. Clairvoyance: perception of events or happenings at a
Pauli. He offers a hypothesis as to how events can be influ-
distance in space
enced both by physical causality operating within the materi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6058
MIERA¯J
al world and by other forces as well. Jung never denied physi-
ministry of Jesus and in the history of the Christian Church,
cal causality, but he concluded that it could not explain all
together with a consideration of their psychological, medical,
happenings, a conclusion also reached by other scientists.
and philosophical base.
Those events not explainable in purely causal terms Jung
Kelsey, Morton. The Christian and the Supernatural. Minneapolis,
called acausal or synchronous. In his theory each instant of
1976. An analysis of miraculous elements in the New
time contains meaning; there is a coherence in each period
Testament.
of duration, and these coherences have their source in the
Kelsey, Morton. Companions on the Inner Way: The Art of Spiritual
nonphysical, psychoid, or, in Christian terminology, the
Guidance. New York, 1983. Contains both a philosophical
spiritual aspect of reality. The Chinese call this the Dao, and
base for religious experience and miracles and an analysis of
the Chinese book of oracles, I ching, is based upon this prin-
the nature of religious experience.
ciple. Miracles exemplify synchronous events. In oracular
Lewis, C. S. Miracles (1947). Rev. ed. New York, 1968. An excel-
information, dream interpretation, religious experience,
lent analysis of the subject from a Christian viewpoint.
healing, and nature miracles the synchronous appears auton-
Lynch, James J. The Broken Heart: The Medical Consequences of
omously or through mediation.
Loneliness. New York, 1977. A serious medical study of the
The most recent studies seem to suggest that the issue
effect of human and religious values on health.
of miracle or paranormal experience remains an open ques-
Simonton, O. Carl, Stephanie Simonton, et al. Getting Well
tion in the Western world.
Again. Los Angeles, 1978. The theory and practice of using
meditation for the treatment of cancer.
SEE ALSO Otherworld; Philosophy, articles on Philosophy
New Sources
and Religion, Philosophy of Religion.
Cavadini, John C., ed. Miracles in Jewish and Christian Antiquity:
Imagining Truth. Notre Dame, 1999.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Benson, Herbert, and William Proctor. Beyond the Relaxation Re-
Geisler, Norman L. Miracles and the Modern Mind: A Defense of
sponse. New York, 1984.
Biblical Miracles. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1992.
Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Rev. &
Grosso, Michael. “Miracles: Illusions, Natural events, or Divine
enl. ed. New York, 1964. The authoritative study of the sha-
Interventions?” Journal of Religion & Psychical Research 20,
man and the technique of esctasy by which the otherworld
no. 4 (October 1997): 182–198.
is mediated to the physical world.
Mullin, Robert Bruce. Miracles and the Modern Religious Imagina-
Frank, Jerome D. Persuasion and Healing. Baltimore, 1961. A
tion. New Haven, 1996.
comparative study of the various schools of modern psycho-
Rao, Ursula. “How to Prove Divinities? Experiencing and De-
therapy, healing in primitive society, religious revivalism,
fending Divine Agency in a Modern Indian Space.” Religion
and Communist thought reform.
32, no. 1 (January 2002): 3–12.
Fuller, Reginald H. Interpreting the Miracles. London, 1963. An
Saunders, Nicholas. Divine Action and Modern Science. Cam-
attempt to study New Testament miracles using the frame-
bridge, U.K. and New York, 2002.
work of Rudolf Bultmann.
ter Haar, Gerrie. “A Wondrous God: Miracles In Contemporary
Greeley, Andrew M. The Sociology of the Paranormal: A Reconnais-
Africa.” African Affairs 102, no. 408 (July 2003): 409–429.
sance. Beverly Hills, Calif., 1975. Hard sociological data on
the incidence of religious experience and its effect on human
MORTON KELSEY (1987)
beings.
Revised Bibliography
Jahn, Robert F. “The Persistent Paradox of Psychic Phenomena:
An Engineering Perspective.” Proceedings of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers 70 (February 1982):
MIERA¯J. The belief that Muh:ammad ascended to heaven
136-170. The finest and most up-to-date summary of parap-
in the course of his life and beheld the secrets of the other-
sychological research.
world as no other person had ever beheld them is shared by
Jung, C. G. The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. Translated
all factions of Islam. In Muslim religious literature, the idea
by R. F. C. Hull. New York, 1960. Gives Jung’s theory of
of the MiEra¯j, Muh:ammad’s ascension to heaven, is closely
personality and synchronicity.
associated with that of the Isra¯D, his nocturnal journey. Nei-
Kelsey, Morton. Dreams: The Dark Speech of the Spirit. Garden
ther term appears as such in the QurDa¯n, yet both developed
City, N.Y., 1968. An analytical and historical study of
in close connection with crucial, though ambiguous,
dreams as conveyors of information from the space-time
QurDanic passages.
world. Republished without appendix as God, Dreams and
Revelation (Minneapolis, 1974).
QURDANIC ASSOCIATIONS. The term isra¯D is taken from surah
Kelsey, Morton. Encounter with God. Minneapolis, 1972. Pro-
17:1, “Glory be to him who carried his servant by night from
vides a study of the development of Western philosophical
the Holy Mosque to the Further Mosque, the precincts of
materialism and the evidence that points beyond its world-
which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our
view.
signs.” It is reasonably certain that “his servant” refers to
Kelsey, Morton. Healing and Christianity. New York, 1973. A
Muh:ammad, “the Holy Mosque” to Mecca (su¯rahs 2:144,
study of the miracles of healing and exorcism found in the
2:149, 2:150, 2:191, 2:196, 2:217, 5:2, 8:34, 9:7, 9:19,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIERA¯J
6059
9:28, 22:25, 48:25, 48:27), and “by night” to a journey
up to it (34:2, 57:4). The notion of heavenly ascent appears
begun by night (44:23), without reference to the journey’s
to be implied when Pharaoh gives orders to build a tower so
miraculous nature. Far less certain, however, is the intended
that he may reach the cords of heaven and climb up to the
meaning of “the Further Mosque” (al-masjid al-aqs:a¯). Since
god of Moses (40:36–37), or when Muh:ammad is chal-
the earliest prophetic traditions (h:ad¯ıth), this term has been
lenged by his opponents to go up into heaven (17:93). To
explained either as a sanctuary on earth (“terrestrial” Jerusa-
this he replies, “Let them ascend the cords” (38:10) and
lem, the temple precinct) or in heaven (“celestial” Jerusalem,
“Stretch up a rope to heaven” (22:15), for even if God
the environs of the divine throne). There is no apparent con-
opened to them “a gate in heaven” (15:14), or if they had
nection between the isra¯ D verse and a dream (ruDya¯) shown
“a ladder” into heaven (sullam, 52:38, 6:35) and were climb-
to Muh:ammad by God and mentioned in the same su¯rah
ing to it (6:125), they would not believe.
(17:60), although the h:ad¯ıth would interpret this dream as
Three QurDanic passages not explicitly referring to heav-
a vision of Jerusalem that Muh:ammad communicated to the
enly ascent appear nevertheless to be linked with
unbelieving Meccans.
Muh:ammad’s visionary experiences of heaven. Su¯rahs
The association of “the Further Mosque” with the ter-
81:19–25 and 53:1–12 give a parallel account of a vision in
restrial Jerusalem, which became the most widely accepted
which Muh:ammad saw a divine messenger on the horizon,
explanation, seems to be supported by the QurDanic phrase
and su¯rah 53:13–18 gives an account of a vision in which
“the precincts of which we have blessed,” referring to the
he beheld the greatest signs of God near the lote tree on the
Holy Land (21:71, 21:81, 7:137, 34:18), although Palestine
edge of Paradise. In both cases the heavenly messenger
in general is referred to as the “nearer part of the land”
approaches the Prophet from a distance but does not carry
(30:3). This explanation was favored under the Umayyads,
him off.
who were intent on glorifying Jerusalem as a holy territory
rivaling Mecca, then ruled by their opponent EAbd Alla¯h ibn
On the basis of the QurDanic evidence it appears certain
Zubayr. The interpretation of “the Further Mosque” as
that mi Era¯j and isra¯D refer to experiences Muh:ammad had
al-JiEra¯nah, a place on the fringes of the holy precinct of
prior to his emigration from Mecca to Medina in 622, since
Mecca from which Muh:ammad set out on his pilgrimage
the relevant QurDanic passages can be traced back to that pe-
( Eumrah) of Dhu¯ al-QaEdah 630, has been rejected on deci-
riod. It cannot be ascertained, however, whether or not these
sive evidence (Maurice Plessner, “Muh:ammad’s Clandestine
experiences occurred toward the beginning of Muh:ammad’s
EUmra in the Du¯Dl-QaEda 8 H. and Su¯ra 17,1,” Revista degli
prophetic activity in Mecca, although they seem to have their
¯
studi orientali 32 [1957]: 525–530; Rudi Paret, “Die ‘ferne
natural setting in that time.
Gebetsstatte’ in Sure 17,1,” Der Islam 34 [1959]: 150–152).
NARRATIVE LORE. The QurDanic references became associat-
ed with legends that proliferated rapidly during the first two
The association with the celestial Jerusalem was favored
centuries of Islam through the activity of the qus:s:a¯s:, pious
in the classical sources of h:ad¯ıth and QurDa¯n commentary,
and popular storytellers. Their stories in turn were taken up
which tended to use isra¯ D for the ascension to heaven and
and recast in the h:ad¯ıth methodology of the Prophet’s biog-
thus linked Muh:ammad’s night journey with his ascension.
raphy (s¯ırah) with the aim of establishing a scholarly consen-
This explanation, which also included the purification of
sus (ijma¯ E) concerning this legendary and mainly oral tradi-
Muh:ammad’s heart as a preparatory stage, tended to inter-
tion. This consensus, reflected in the S¯ırat Muh:ammad by
pret the story as Muh:ammad’s divine initiation to his pro-
Ibn Ish:a¯q (d. 767), revised by Ibn Hisha¯m (d. 834), admitted
phetic career.
both interpretations of “the Further Mosque” and harmo-
As a term for ascension, the word mi Era¯j, literally “lad-
nized the two by assigning isra¯ D the particular meaning of the
der,” appears to conceal a vaguely understood reference to
nocturnal journey to Jerusalem. This harmonization implied
Jacob’s ladder (Gn. 28:12). The term was probably borrowed
the elimination of an earlier tradition that made Mecca the
from the Ethiopic ma Ea¯reg (Ethiopic Book of Jubilees 21:37)
starting point of the ascension and the substitution of Jerusa-
as a translation of the Hebrew sulla¯m. The background for
lem, the starting point of Christ’s ascension, where, perhaps
the cryptic references in the QurDa¯n may be provided by vari-
since EAbd al-Malik’s caliphate (685–705), the Prophet’s
ous motifs: the apocalyptic images of a heavenly ladder that
footprint was shown to Muslim pilgrims.
recur in Jewish heikhalot literature; symbolic notions of a
S¯ırat Muh:ammad. Ibn Ish:a¯q’s account of the miracu-
seven-runged ladder on which the soul ascends through the
lous events occurring during a single night combines all fea-
gates of heaven, found in the liturgy of Mithras; and gnostic
tures in a continuous narrative, yet inverts the events. One
ideas of the ladder as a means of ascending to heaven, as in
night Muh:ammad is asleep near the KaEbah at Mecca (or in
the Mandaean sumbilta and the Manichaean pillar of glory.
the house of Umm Ha¯niD) when he is awakened by the angel
In fragmentary QurDanic references, God is called “the
Gabriel, who leads him to a winged animal called Bura¯q. Ga-
Lord of the Stairways” (dhu¯ al-ma Ea¯rij, 70:3; see also 43:33,
briel places the Prophet on the back of this steed, and they
40:15), to whom the angels, the spirit, and the divine com-
journey together to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem they meet several
mand “mount up” (ta Eruju, ya Eruju) in a day (70:4, 32:5).
prophets, notably Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. By leading a
God knows what comes down from heaven and what goes
public prayer service (s:ala¯t), Muh:ammad takes precedence
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6060
MIERA¯J
over all the other prophets assembled there. When the
and poetry. Beautiful miniatures of Muh:ammad’s mi Era¯j can
Prophet finishes all that has to be done in Jerusalem, so the
be found, for example, in the fifteenth-century Mi Era¯j-
narrative continues, the beautiful ladder (mi Era¯j) on which
na¯mah translated into Eastern Turkish by M¯ır H:aydar and
the dying fix their eyes, and which the human souls ascend
calligraphed in Uighur script by Ma¯lik Bakhsh¯ı of Herat (see
to heaven, is brought. Gabriel makes Muh:ammad ascend it
Marie-Rose Séguy, The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet, New
and brings him to the gates of the seven heavens, one after
York, 1977).
the other. At each gate Gabriel is asked to identify
The meeting of the Prophet with Abraham, Moses, and
Muh:ammad and testify that revelation has already been
Jesus at Jerusalem may be modeled on accounts of the trans-
made to him. Then follows a long description of
figuration of Jesus on Mount Tabor (Mt. 17:1, Mk. 9:1, Lk.
Muh:ammad’s experiences in the heavens, in each of which
9:28). Muh:ammad encounters Adam as judge over the souls
he meets one of the prophets. Finally, Muh:ammad beholds
of the dead in the first heaven, Joseph in the third, and
the garden of Paradise (as, from the first heaven, he has wit-
Enoch/Idr¯ıs in the fourth. Jesus and John the Baptist appear
nessed the tortures of Hell) and appears before God’s throne
together in the second heaven, whereas Aaron and Moses ap-
to converse with him. God then reduces the number of
pear separately in the fifth and sixth. Moses weeps, realizing
obligatory daily prayers incumbent on the Muslim commu-
that Muh:ammad is higher than himself in God’s esteem and
nity from the original fifty to five. Muh:ammad returns to
that his followers will be more numerous than his own.
Mecca and the next morning informs the Meccans that dur-
Muh:ammad refuses his advice to ask God to reduce the
ing the night he has gone to Syria and come back again.
obligatory daily prayers to fewer than five. Finally, in the sev-
The public, including his close companion Abu¯ Bakr, is nat-
enth heaven, that of Abraham, Muh:ammad finds himself in
urally skeptical at first, and many of the Prophet’s followers
the presence of God’s throne, reaches the lote-tree marking
apostatize.
the limit of knowledge that creatures possess, and beholds
H:ad¯ıth. Influenced in part by the Jewish and Christian
the rivers of Paradise, where he is offered vessels of water,
apocalyptic traditions, h:ad¯ıth literature embellished the basic
wine, milk, and honey but partakes of the milk alone.
narrative of the Prophet’s ascent to heaven with a great vari-
ADAPTATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS. The theme of the
ety of detail that focused on the preparation for the ascent,
Prophet’s ascension found its place in the literature of Islamic
the riding animal, and the experiences in heaven. It was also
theology, philosophy, and Sufism. Muslim theologians were
at this point that the story of the purification of
preoccupied with the question, already discussed since early
Muh:ammad’s heart was prefixed to the ascension narrative.
times, of whether the night journey and ascension took place
As Muh:ammad is sleeping in the neighborhood of the
in a literal or a spiritual sense. Al-T:abar¯ı (d. 923) strongly
KaEbah, angels appear, lay him on his back, open his body,
favored the belief, shared by the majority of Muslims, that
and, with water from the well of Zamzam, wash his heart and
the Prophet was transported literally, with his body and
bowels, cleansing them of doubt, idolatry, ignorance, and
while awake. Others, in particular the MuEtazilah, held that
error. They then bring a golden vessel filled with wisdom and
he was carried in spirit to Jerusalem and heaven while his
belief and fill his body with faith and wisdom. Purified in
body remained at Mecca; this view was supported by a state-
his heart and dedicated to be a prophet, Muh:ammad is taken
ment attributed to Muh:ammad’s favorite wife, EA¯Dishah.
up to the lowest heaven.
Al-Tafta¯za¯n¯ı (d. 1389) states that the event happened in
body and spirit but does not rule out its possible occurrence
The animal that carries Muh:ammad to Jerusalem,
in sleep or in spirit alone. The question of whether or not
Bura¯q (etymologically probably Arabic, “little lightning
Muh:ammad saw God face to face on the occasion of the as-
flash”), is depicted as a miraculous beast of exceptional fleet-
cension constituted another debate within Islamic theology,
ness. It is described as a brilliant steed of either gender, sad-
in particular against the background of the controversy con-
dled and bridled, in size between a donkey and a mule, with
cerning the beatific vision of the believer.
a long back, shaking ears, and “a cheek like that of a man.”
Wings on its shanks propelled legs that moved in one stride
The Neoplatonic philosophers of Islam gave an allegori-
as far as its eyes could reach. It was the riding beast of proph-
cal meaning to the Prophet’s ascension. The Epistles of the
ets in the past, Abraham in particular, and more recently
Ikhwa¯n al-S:afa¯D (Brethren of Purity), completed in 969,
Jesus. Upon the arrival in Jerusalem, according to some tra-
adopted the pattern of cosmological descent and eschatologi-
ditions, Gabriel tied it to a rock or ring, while, according to
cal ascent and interpreted the latter as the ascent (mi Era¯j) of
others, Bura¯q served as a flying steed for Muh:ammad’s as-
the human soul that abandons its bodily existence and re-
cension, taking over the function of the ladder. In its pictori-
turns to its angelic state of pure spirituality. Abu¯ al-EAla¯D
al representations Bura¯q received a human face, a woman’s
al-MaEarr¯ı (d. 1057) wrote a parody, Risa¯lat al-ghufra¯n (The
head, and a peacock’s tail. From the earliest extant image in
epistle of forgiveness), on the traditional accounts of the
a 1314 manuscript of Rash¯ıd al-D¯ın’s Jam¯ıE al-tawa¯r¯ıkh
mi Era¯j. Two treatises of al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (d. 1111) are focused on
(Universal history) to the most splendid Persian and Turk-
the theme of ascension: his Mi Era¯j al-sa¯lik¯ın (The ladder of
ish miniatures of later centuries, the steed, its rider, and its
those who follow the path) elucidates the theme from seven
guide became a highly cherished motif of Islamic painting
different topical angles, while his Mishka¯t al-anwa¯r (The
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIERA¯J
6061
niche for lights) offers a Neoplatonic interpretation in purely
between discursive reason and mystical union. Gabriel, the
psychological terms. Ibn al-S¯ıd al-Bat:alyaws¯ı (d. 1127), in
symbol of reason and the guide of the heavenly journey, re-
his Kita¯b al-h:ada¯Diq (Book of gardens), describes the ascent
mains outside the divine presence while the Prophet, the
of the purified spirits to the supernal world on “the ladder
symbol of the true lover of God, enjoys “a time with God”
of ascensions” (sullam al-ma Ea¯rij) that follows a straight line
in the chamber of union and mystery. The Ja¯v¯ıd-na¯mah of
connecting the terrestrial and celestial spheres.
Iqbal describes a contemporary version of the spiritual jour-
ney made by the poet from earth through and beyond the
For the S:u¯f¯ıs, the night journey and ascension of the
spheres to the presence of God.
Prophet became the prototype of the soul’s itinerary to God
as it rises from the bonds of sensuality to the height of mysti-
Later popular accounts of the Prophet’s ascension col-
cal knowledge. It is doubtful whether, as is frequently assert-
lect and systematize the material scattered in the older
ed, Abu¯ Yaz¯ıd al-Bist:a¯m¯ı (d. 875) claimed to have experi-
sources, largely augmenting the matter without increasing its
enced mi Era¯j himself, leading to mystical union with God.
depth. Al-Suyu¯t:¯ı (d. 1505) presents a fine disquisition on the
Al-H:alla¯j (d. 922) meditated on the theme in his Kita¯b
traditions of isra¯ D and mi Era¯j, discussing their nature, time,
al-t:awa¯s¯ın. Al-Qushayr¯ı (d. 1074) collected accounts current
place, and details in Al-a¯yah al-kubra¯ f¯ı sharh: qis:s:at al-isra¯D.
among moderate S:u¯f¯ıs in his Kita¯b al-mi Era¯j and included
Al-NuEma¯n¯ı, a disciple of Ibn H:ajar al-EAsqala¯n¯ı (d. 1449),
in it a discussion of the ascension attributed to Enoch/Idr¯ıs,
collects a medley of traditions, theological views, and mysti-
Abraham, Elijah, Moses, and Jesus. He reserved ascension in
cal statements concerning the Prophet’s night journey and
body and spirit for the prophets and conceded to the S:u¯f¯ıs
ascension in Al-sira¯j al-wahha¯j (The glowing lamp). The
only the dream experience of ascent to heaven. Al-Hujw¯ır¯ı
most popular mi Era¯j book down to modern times is the Kita¯b
(d. 1077) makes a clear distinction in his Kashf al-mah:ju¯b
al-isra¯ D wa-al-mi Era¯j of al-Ghayth¯ı (d. 1573), on which
(Elucidation of the secrets) between the ascension of proph-
Dard¯ır (d. 1786) wrote a gloss. Al-Barzanj¯ı’s (d. 1766) Qis:s:at
ets, which occurs outwardly and in the body, and that of the
al-mi Era¯j appears to be modeled on al-Ghayth¯ı’s work. The
saints, which takes place inwardly and in the spirit only. Ibn
Uighur Mi Era¯j-na¯mah, composed in 1436/7, documents the
al-EArab¯ı (d. 1240) expounded the Prophet’s night journey
spread of the legend in Central Asian languages.
and ascension as a symbol of the soul’s itinerary toward mys-
The Christians of the Middle Ages possessed a certain
tical union in his Kita¯b al-isra¯ D and also devoted two lengthy
knowledge about the Muslim legends surrounding
sections of his Futu¯h:a¯t (Revelations) to the subject. In one
Muh:ammad’s miraculous journey to heaven. This is evi-
section he has a mystic and a philosopher make the journey
denced by the famous Latin version of the legend, apparently
together; the philosopher has to stop short at the seventh
prepared by Ibra¯h¯ım al-H:ak¯ım, a Jewish physician active at
heaven, while no secrets remain hidden from the mystic. In
the court of Alfonso X of Castile (1264–1277). This Latin
the other section applies the Prophet’s ascension to the mys-
version (Liber scalae) and a French translation from Latin
tical experience of S:u¯f¯ı ecstasy, recording his own mystical
(Eschiele Mahomet) became the focal point of the discussion
ascent and his conversations with the prophets about mystic
surrounding the question of Dante’s Muslim sources in his
themes.
Commedia (raised by the Spanish Jesuit Juan Andrès about
The MiEra¯j provided an ideal type for the symbolic nar-
1780, again advanced by Ozanam in 1838 and Labitte in
ratives created by S:u¯f¯ı philosophers and poets intent on ex-
1842, and clearly formulated by Blochet in Les sources orien-
plaining the spiritual heights of mystical union. In the fine
tales de la divine comédie, Paris, 1901).
Persian Mi Era¯j-na¯mah, attributed to Ibn S¯ına¯ (d. 1037) or
Yah:ya¯ Suhraward¯ı (d. 1191), yet probably written by an
SEE ALSO Muh:ammad.
anonymous eleventh-century author, the theme of the post-
mortem ascent of the soul to heaven under conduct of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
angel is overshadowed by the ecstatic ascent of the mystic to
Historians of religions have long realized the significance of
the divine throne in imitation of the ascension of the Proph-
Muh:ammad’s ascension as a theme in comparative religion.
et, the archetypal mystic. This symbolic narrative may be un-
D. W. Bousset’s groundbreaking study “Die Himmelsreise
derstood, topically although not historically, as bridging the
der Seele,” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 4 (1901): 136–
169, 229–273, set the stage for an inquiry into the soul’s as-
gulf between Ibn S¯ına¯’s Arabic allegory, H:ayy ibn Yaqz:a¯n,
cent to heaven in world religions. Following Bousset’s line
and EAt:t:a¯r’s (d. 1220) grandiose mystical Persian epic,
of research and Edgar Blochet’s study of the theme in
Mant:iq al-t:ayr (Conversation of the birds), both of which,
“L’ascension au ciel du prophète Mohammed,” Revue de
in their respective ways and not unlike the Persian
l’histoire des religions 40 (1899): 1–25, 203–236, Geo Wi-
Mi Era¯j-na¯mah, move from the level of the symbolic interpre-
dengren has traced the Iranian motifs of Muh:ammad’s
tation of the narrative to the plane of the existential exegesis
MiEra¯j in two works, The Ascension of the Apostle and the
of mystic ascent experienced in the human soul.
Heavenly Book (Uppsala, 1950) and Muh:ammad, the Apostle
of God, and His Ascension (Uppsala, 1955), which attempt to
The theme of mi Era¯j appears in many aspects in Persian
establish an “ideal” ritual of the Prophet’s ascension. Marie-
S:u¯f¯ı poetry from Ru¯m¯ı (d. 1273) to Iqbal (d. 1938). For
Thérèse d’Alverny documents the theme of the soul’s ascent
Ru¯m¯ı the MiEra¯j became the symbol of the radical difference
in Latin sources of medieval philosophy in “Les pérégrina-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6062
MIRIAM
tions de l’âme dans l’autre monde d’après un anonyme de la
2:2–7), the unnamed older sister who guards him is assumed
fin du douzième siècle,” Archives d’histoire doctrinale et lit-
by Jewish and Christian tradition to have been Miriam. If
téraire du Moyen-Âge 15–17 (1940–1942): 239–299, while
her name were of Egyptian origin, as some have explained,
Alexander Altmann demonstrates the impact of Muslim
that would reinforce the conclusion that she was of the
sources on the theme of the ascension in Jewish religious phi-
priestly tribe of Levi, as several prominent Levites bore Egyp-
losophy in “The Ladder of Ascension,” Studies in Mysticism
tian names.
and Religion Presented to Gershom G. Scholem, edited by
E. E. Urbach, R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, and Chaim Wirszubski
Miriam figures primarily in one episode in the Penta-
(Jerusalem, 1967), pp. 1–32. The problems of typological
teuch, Numbers 12:1–16, in which she and Aaron reproach
similarity between Muh:ammad’s MiEra¯j and shamanic expe-
Moses for having taken a Cushite wife—who may or may
riences of ascension are outlined by Mircea Eliade in Sha-
not be identified with his Midianite wife, Zipporah—and in
manism (New York, 1964) and taken up by J. R. Porter
which they challenge the superiority of Moses’ prophetic
in “Muh:ammad’s Journey to Heaven,” Numen 21 (1974):
stature to their own. YHVH responds to their challenge by
64–80.
asserting the unique and intimate nature of his revelations
The question of Muslim sources in Dante’s Commedia has been
to Moses and responds to their reproach by afflicting Miriam
treated systematically by Miguel Asín Palacios in his impor-
with leprosy. Moses intercedes on Miriam’s behalf at Aaron’s
tant work La escatologia musulmana en la Divina comedia
request—thereby demonstrating his intimacy with God—
(Madrid, 1919), translated and abridged by Harold Sunder-
and after a seven-day quarantine, Miriam’s health is restored.
land as Islam and the Divine Comedy (New York, 1926). The
The legendary quality of the episode is suggested by the fact
controversy Asín Palacios’s book stirred up is recorded in the
second Spanish edition (Madrid and Granada, 1943). The
that Miriam’s leprosy became an admonition to any who
basis of the discussion was significantly broadened with the
would fail to heed the priests (Dt. 24:8–9). Miriam prede-
independent publication of the French and Latin versions of
ceased Aaron and Moses (Nm. 20:1) and, so far is known,
the legend: Il “Libro della scala” e la questione delle fonti
never married.
arabo-spagnole della Divina commedia, edited by Enrico
The references to Miriam’s leadership in Micah 6:4, to
Cerulli (Vatican City, 1949), and La escala de Mahoma, ed-
her prophetic status in Exodus 15:20, and to her importance
ited by José Muñoz Sendino (Madrid, 1949). The trends of
more recent discussion on the point can be traced in Peter
to the Israelites in Numbers 12:15, create the impression that
Wunderli’s survey “Zur Auseinandersetzung über die musel-
Miriam was an even more significant figure than the present
manischen Quellen der Divina Commedia,” Romanistisches
form of the Pentateuch suggests. According to rabbinic leg-
Jahrbuch 15 (1964): 19–50, and Enrico Cerulli’s Nuove ricer-
end, Miriam was on par with Moses and Aaron. The Israel-
che sul Libro della scala e la conoscenza dell’Islam in Occidente
ites were sustained by water drawn from Miriam’s well,
(Vatican City, 1972).
which traveled with the Israelites on their journey in the wil-
derness.
GERHARD BÖWERING (1987)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
On the difficulty of establishing Miriam’s historical position, see
MIRIAM, or, in Hebrew, Miryam; Israelite prophetess
Martin Noth’s A History of Pentateuchal Traditions, translat-
who flourished, according to tradition, in the thirteenth cen-
ed with an introduction by Bernhard W. Anderson (Chico,
tury
Calif., 1981), pp. 180–183. Miriam is most extensively dis-
BCE. Biblical tradition recalls Miriam as the sister of
Moses and Aaron who helped Moses lead the Hebrew slaves
cussed in connection with the challenges to Moses, for analy-
sis of which see G. B. Gray’s A Critical and Exegetical Com-
out of Egypt (Mic. 6:4). Exodus 15:20–21 describes how she
mentary on Numbers (Edinburgh, 1903), pp. 120–128. The
led the women of Israel in a hymn of victory to YHVH, Lord
most exhaustive, but a very technical, analysis is Heinrich
of Israel, after he had split the Sea of Reeds, enabling the He-
Valentin’s Aaron: Eine Studie zur vor-priesterschriftlichen
brews to pass through and escape their Egyptian pursuers:
Aaron-Überlieferung (Göttingen, 1978), pp. 306–364;
Valentin also discusses (pp. 377–384) Exodus 15:20. Martin
Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the drum
Buber’s Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant (New York,
in her hand. All the women went out after her with
1958), pp. 167–169, attempts to connect the two challenges
drums and dances. Miriam declared to them: “Sing to
to Moses. On Miriam’s name, see Alan H. Gardiner’s “The
the Lord, for he has triumphed; horse and its rider he
Egyptian Origin of Some English Personal Names,” Journal
has hurled into the sea.”
of the American Oriental Society 56 (1936): 189–197, esp.
Modern scholars now tend to view the sibling relationships
pp. 194–197.
between Miriam, Aaron, and Moses as an embellishment on
On the apparently suppressed significance of Miriam, see Phyllis
earlier traditions. Miriam was originally identified as an asso-
Trible, “Bringing Miriam out of the Shadows,” Bible Review
ciate of Aaron, Israel’s first priest, and later as his sister.
5/1 (February 1989): 14–25, 34. Rabbinic lore on Miriam’s
When biblical tradition similarly developed a sibling rela-
well is gathered in Louis Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Jews,
tionship between Aaron and Moses, the great leader, proph-
vol. 3, translated by Paul Radin (Philadelphia, 1911),
et, and lawgiver of Israel, Miriam became known as the sister
pp. 50–54, 307–308.
of Moses too (Nm. 26:39). In the story of Moses’ birth (Ex.
EDWARD L. GREENSTEIN (1987 AND 2005)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MIRRORS
6063
MIRRORS. Object and symbol, instrument of knowl-
thus be obtained through analogy. According to Genesis,
edge and type of reflection or speculation (the Latin word
God created man in his image and likeness. The soul is a re-
for mirror is speculum), means of visual perception and hallu-
flection of the beauty of God, but because sin has made the
cination: there is scarcely a single culture that has not been
mirror darken, one must look in the mirror of the Bible, a
interested in the mirror, first in its primitive form—a bowl
book and a mirror without blemish, to restore the likeness
filled with water, a sparkling stone (jade, obsidian)—then in
that has been lost. The mirror is also a model of knowledge.
more elaborate guise—polished metal discs (bronze, silver,
According to Saint Paul (1Cor. 13:12), the knowledge that
or steel), a mirror of balloon-shaped mediaeval glass—and,
mankind has of God here on Earth is like an image “seen
finally, in the form of the plane mirror, clear as rock crystal.
through a glass darkly”: the mirror gives no more than an in-
Because it reflects an image of the self that the eye is unable
direct image of the Truth. At the end of time, however, hu-
to see directly, because it traps light, because the effect of the
mans will see the vision of God not through the intervening
reflection is to reveal an unseen “other,” and because it faith-
reflection, but clearly, face to face. In mystical experience, the
fully reproduces its subject while making it seem different—
mirror is the juncture point where the visible face sees its in-
that is, reversed—religions have made the mirror central to
visible face: “We shall be like God, because we shall see him
the mystical life and knowledge of self.
as he is,” says Saint John (1 John 3:2). Teresa of Ávila de-
scribes this union in the mirror: “My entire soul appeared
What is the nature of that which can be learned from
before me like a clear mirror, back, top and bottom, every-
a mirror? It can be used in divination, metaphor, analogy,
thing was lit up. In the center appeared Jesus Christ” (Auto-
or mimicry. In the West, meditation on the mirror image
biography, ch. 49). Faithful and flexible, the mirror no longer
originates with Plato. Before him, the reflected image was
indicates a different vision but the receptive nature of the
seen as a living animate form, the double that attracted Nar-
person who gazes into it.
cissus from beneath the surface of the water. One can see this
myth in its original form as expressing ancient beliefs in the
Islamic mysticism, inspired by Neoplatonism, has not
existence of a double or in the idea of the soul taking shape,
ignored the reflection, that likeness by which individual es-
concepts still found in primitive cultures up until the present
sence sees itself as part of the divine being. If the body is the
day. It was not until the philosophy of Classical Greece had
dark reflection in the mirror, writes the Persian poet Far¯ıd
reached a certain stage of development that the reflection
al-D¯ın EAt:t:a¯r, the soul is the “clear one.” According to a fa-
came to be seen as a flimsy illusion, a snare.
mous h:ad¯ıth, the more the reflective surface of the soul is pu-
rified by asceticism, the more it will be fit to reproduce the
COSMIC PROCESS AND MYSTIC EXPERIENCE. Is the reflec-
truth faithfully, so that the believer actually becomes a mirror
tion in the mirror merely a deceitful trick? According to
for another believer. As Louis Massignon and Louis Gardet
Plato, it has another function: by producing an immaterial
point out in Mardis de Dar-el-Salam (1951), the back-to-
form, it invites the mind to free itself from what is perceived
front image of the face reflected in the mirror is a symbolic
by the senses and to ascend to the world of ideas. Although
indication of one who has been straightened out, in accord
itself devoid of reality, a reflection provides access to the
with his essential reality. For S:u¯f¯ıs, the entire universe is an
thing it signifies. It is not an optical illusion but a revelation
array of mirrors in which the eternal essence may be gazed
of something hidden, an apparition rather than an appear-
upon in many forms, all emanations of the One Being.
ance. Pausanias says that a mirror adorned the entrance of
the temple of Lycosoura in Arcadia, and that anyone who
The Far East has developed a rich mythology concern-
looked in it before entering the sanctuary saw a reflection un-
ing the reflective power of mirrors. According to a Chinese
like any they had seen before. Thus they had to shed their
tradition going back to the third century BCE, the divine in-
appearance and assume a new identity.
telligence that is symbolically identified with the sun is re-
flected in a mirror that is circular in shape—but the mirror
According to the Neoplatonists, what is produced by
is also a lunar symbol, because the moon reflects the light of
the world of the senses comes about in the way that a mirror
the sun. Huge vats filled with water were used to attract sun-
“creates” reflections. Plotinus (Enneads 4.3) regards the
light, a method subsequently replaced by the use of bronze
world of the senses as a mirror image emanating from the
mirrors. The idea of a link between the mirror and the sun
world of eternal forms, and the body as a reflection that
became widespread in Japan around about the first century
the soul produces when it comes into contact with matter,
CE. A well-known Japanese myth describes how the goddess
in the same way as a human being produces a reflection when
Amaterasu, the Divine Light, retreated into a cave following
facing a polished surface: the spiritual exercise or mystical ex-
some wrongdoing by her brother, plunging the Earth into
perience consists of once again ascending from the light of
darkness. The gods arranged a ceremony, and when the god-
the body to the earlier light, without allowing oneself to be
dess was attracted by this and appeared at the entrance of the
mesmerized by an illusion (like Narcissus).
cave, she saw her image reflected in a mirror that had been
Christian thinking, derived from Judaism and infused
set up by another god. Surprised at the existence of another
with Neoplatonist thought, has developed the concept of the
similar goddess, she leaned out of the place where she had
symbolic double to explain the resemblance of the human
retreated far enough to be seized. The cave was sealed shut
being to God and the indirect knowledge of God that can
behind her and she lit up the world.
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6064
MIRRORS
Buddhism has made “mirror knowledge” one of the
same concern: the soul represented by its image may be im-
four stages of the path of Awakening, along with three other
prisoned by a stranger and subjected to evil spells.
kind of knowledge: of equality, of clear-sightedness, and of
Containing both the potential for harm and beneficent
the task to be completed. The mirror is used metaphorically
power, the mirror is regarded ambivalently in every culture.
in the Maha¯ya¯na literature to suggest that Reality contains
Small children are stopped from looking into the glass in case
everything in the same way that a mirror contains images.
the sight of their reflection brings them bad luck; pretty girls
The images in the mirror are clear and distinct; although not
who look at themselves see the devil suddenly appear; anyone
unreal, they are nonetheless not taken as real, because they
looking at themselves at night risks losing their reflection,
cannot be grasped. Having obtained knowledge of mirrors,
and anyone losing their reflection loses their creative force.
the consciousness of the bodhisattva no longer involves a divi-
In the Christian West, the mirror of God could become the
sion of subject and object, but becomes a clear omniscient
mirror of the devil—something produced by the fear of
consciousness, capable of reflecting images of everything in
death. Like all magicians, those who practiced magic with
the universe, while also being one with what it reflects. With
mirrors were persecuted by the Inquisition: in 1326 Pope
an understanding of universal equivalence based on the rec-
John XXII excommunicated “those who have made a pact
ognition of the emptiness of all things, and with the achieve-
with Hell, manufacturing a mirror to secure demons.” Dao-
ment of clear-sightedness concerning the nature most appro-
ists believe a mirror reveals evil influences and that one may
priate to each thing, the bodhisattva, having achieved
protect oneself by placing a mirror over the door of a house.
awareness of the mirror, the peak of the mystic life, reaches
In the Middle Ages, Christian pilgrims sewed small mirrors
Awakening. There is no more intention, no more projection;
into their hats in order to absorb grace from relics that were
consciousness merges with the mirror. Consciousness, ac-
exposed during processions. Because of what water and mir-
cording to Asan˙ga, is “a mirror, because in it there appear
rors have in common, the Bambara people use mirror frag-
reflected images, delights, buddha-ness and knowledge”
ments or cups of water to make rain fall. In China, a mirror
(Maha¯ya¯nasu¯tra¯lam:ka¯ra 9:69).
is a sign of harmony and fertility, but a broken mirror means
MAGIC MIRRORS AND DIVINATION MIRRORS. The shining
that a separation will occur, particularly in marriage. The
brilliance of the reflective surface gives rise to all kinds of hal-
mirror has an important place in marriage ceremonies: in
lucinations and lends itself to divination: like dreams, mir-
modern India, the couple, instead of looking at each other
rors can reveal what is not visible. Divination by mirror (or
directly, exchange looks in a mirror hung at the far end of
catoptromancy), which originated in Persia, is described in
the room and see their faces looking up, as they will be in
many texts. In the Oneirocritica (translated as The Interpreta-
eternal life.
tion of Dreams), for example, the Greek Artemidorus Daldi-
MIRROR AND SELF-KNOWLEDGE. From the start of the com-
anus (second century CE) devotes several paragraphs to the
mon era onward, mythological tradition concerning the mir-
art of reading the future in mirror images. The magical use
ror has given rise to philosophical commentaries, focused not
of mirrors to learn the future, namely, to know if one will
so much on revealing a universal process as on describing a
have a long life, is frequently mentioned in European folk-
moral and spiritual condition: the disorder in the minds of
lore. In central Asia, shamans practiced divination by mirror
those who allow themselves to be bewitched by their own re-
by pointing mirrors toward the sun or moon, which were
flections. The misfortune of Narcissus lies in his inability to
themselves considered as mirrors in which was reflected ev-
love someone else. A later myth, in a version by Olympio-
erything that took place on Earth. In the Congo, soothsayers
dorus, recounts that the child Dionysus, fascinated by his re-
sprinkled reflective surfaces with kaolin (a fine, usually white,
flection, let himself be cut into pieces by the Titans, who
clay) in order to question the spirits.
scattered the pieces all over the world. Commentators see in
this the fate of a mind so seduced by its own reflection that
The belief that reflections could reveal secrets rested in
it lets itself be torn to pieces by its passions. A number of
turn upon an ancient belief in the existence of a double. This
such collective motifs still remain current today, along with
mysterious spiritual double, as close as possible to the bodily
their accompanying taboos, and modern psychology suggests
self, was a representation of the idea of the soul and offered
new interpretations of them. The demon that appears in the
the possibility that one could deny death by splitting in two.
mirror is the projection of repressed images. The death of
Yet whereas the double guaranteed immortality and implied
Narcissus signifies the failure to transfer youthful libido to
fertility, it also continually reminded a human being of the
another person and fixation upon oneself in a process of au-
end; it was the specter of repressed death. In ancient Greece,
toerotic regression.
for example, looking at one’s reflection or seeing it in a
dream could lead to death or be a premonition of death. An
As for the double (shadow or reflection), nineteenth-
old European tradition requires that mirrors in the house of
century writers (Alfred de Musset, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Edgar
someone who has died be covered, to prevent them from ab-
Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant, Rainer Maria Rilke) spent
sorbing the soul and forcing the deceased to remain on
much effort exploring its deadly significance and the regions
Earth. The fear of having one’s portrait painted or photo-
of the unconscious mind: the image in the mirror is no lon-
graph taken, widespread all over the world, stems from the
ger seen as a visual effect, but as a real alter ego. Psychiatry
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MISHNAH AND TOSEFTA
6065
has described the defense mechanisms by which a pathologi-
Swallow, R. W. Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors. Beijing, 1937.
cally self-centered subject seeks to create a double by expel-
Wayman, Alex. “The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-
ling a part of himself that is associated with his shameful de-
Simile.” History of Religions 13 (1974): 251–269.
sires, so that the double, having become a rival, both assuages
Wayman, Alex. “Notes on Mirror Words and Entities in the Area
his anxiety and threatens him with a powerful feeling of
of India.” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 47 (1975): 204–206.
guilt.
Züchner, Wolfgang. Griechische Klappspiegel. Berlin, 1942.
The importance of the reflection in the mirror in the
S
inception of the ego has been stressed for more than a centu-
ABINE MELCHIOR-BONNET (2005)
Translated from French by Paul Ellis
ry in the work of a number of neuropsychiatrists and psycho-
analysts, including Henri Wallon, Geza Roheim, and Paul
Schilder. In 1938 Jacques Lacan made the “mirror stage” an
essential part of his theories on the psychological develop-
MISHNAH AND TOSEFTA. The Mishnah is a law
ment of the infant. The infant in front of the mirror moves
code and school book, containing the legal and theological
from awareness of his body in pieces to perceiving his reflec-
system of Judaism. It was brought to closure about 200 CE
tion as a single being, and thus acquires a new grasp of sym-
under the auspices of the head of the Jewish community of
bolic function at the same time that he or she comes to un-
the Holy Land at that time, Yehudah ha-NasiD, and has re-
derstand the difference between the body and its reflection.
mained the foundation stone of Judaism from that time to
The process of visual perception is the reverse of what befell
the present. The Tosefta is a collection of supplements to the
Dionysus, because by looking at themselves infants avoid dis-
Mishnah, with approximately three-fourths devoted merely
memberment. Françoise Dolto considered this emphasis on
to citation and amplification of the contents of the Mishnah.
visual perception misleading, and preferred the idea of the
The other fourth of the whole is constituted by laws essen-
“unconscious image of the body” created by all the senses.
tially autonomous of, but correlative to, the Mishnah’s laws.
Later, Lacan introduced into his outline the necessary pres-
The Tosefta has no independent standing, being organized
ence of a symbolic third party, the mother whose approval
around the Mishnah. Tosefta was formulated and gathered
and smile validate the task of recognition. The infant thus
together some time in the centuries following the closure of
returns to the adult: he tests the formative image that the re-
the Mishnah, with the fifth century being a safe guess for the
flection in the mirror has shown him, but he also tests, in
time of closure. These two documents together are extensive-
turning back to the other, everything which is absent there,
ly cited and analyzed in the two Talmuds, one produced in
the absence of desire. It is indeed this absence, this hidden
Babylonia about 500 CE, the other in the Land of Israel about
part, this “other” that the human being continues to seek by
400 CE.
questioning the mirror.
The Mishnah (with the Tosefta) is important in Juda-
ism because it is represented, from the time of its closure on-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ward, as part of “the one whole Torah of Moses, our rabbi,”
Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough, vol. 3, Taboo and the Perils
that is, as revealed to Moses at Sinai by God. The Mishnah
of the Soul. 3d ed., rev. and enl. London, 1911.
and all of the documents flowing from it later on, beginning
Grabbes, Herbert. Speculum, Mirror, und Looking Glass: Kon-
with the Tosefta and the two Talmuds, thus form an integral
tinuität und Originalität der Spiegelmetapher in den Buchtiteln
des Mittelalters und der englischen Literature des 13. bis 17.
part of the canon of Torah, that is, of Judaism. The Torah
Jahrhunderts. Tübingen, Germany, 1973. Translated by
myth distinguishes two Torahs of Sinai. One is in written
Gordon Collier as The Mutable Glass: Mirror-Imagery in Ti-
form, the other, oral. This oral Torah, encompassing the
tles and Texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Cambridge,
Mishnah and its continuators and successors, was revealed
U.K., 1982).
alongside the written Torah. But it was transmitted in a dif-
Hadot, Pierre. “Le mythe de Narcisse et son interprétation par
ferent way. While, as its name indicates, the one was written
Plotin.” Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse 13 (1976): 81–108.
down, the other was formulated for memorization, and it
Hartlaub, G. F. Zauber des Spiegels: Geschichte und Bedeutung des
was then transmitted in this easily memorized form.
Spiegels in der Kunst. Munich, 1951.
Viewed structurally, the two Torahs of Judaism may be
Litvinskii, B. A. Orudiia truda i utvar’ iz mogil’nikov Zapadnoi
compared to the conception of an old and a new testament
Fergany. Moscow, 1978.
in Christianity, thus:
Martinet, Marie-Madeleine. Le Miroir de l’esprit dans le théâtre éli-
sabéthain. Paris, 1981.
Old Testament = Written Torah (Hebrew scriptures)
New Testament = Oral Torah (Mishnah and its
Melchior-Bonnet, Sabine. The Mirror: A History. New York,
continuators)
2001.
Rank, Otto. Der Doppelgänger: Eine psychoanalytische Studie. Leip-
The top line on both sides speaks of the same holy book,
zig, Germany, 1925. Translated by Harry Tucker Jr. as The
but with the words particular to Christianity and Judaism,
Double: A Psychoanalytic Study (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1971).
respectively. That is to say, the biblical books that Christians
Schimmel, Annemarie. The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works
know as the “Old Testament,” Judaism knows as the “writ-
of Jalaloddin Rumi. London, 1978.
ten Torah.” The Mishnah is the first and principal expression
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6066
MISHNAH AND TOSEFTA
of this other Torah, the oral Torah revealed to Moses at
Temple, the locus of sanctification, is conducted in a wholly
Sinai. It thus is as important to Judaism as the New Testa-
routine and trustworthy, punctilious manner. The one thing
ment is to Christianity.
that may unsettle matters is the intention and will of the
CONTENTS. Six divisions, or orders, comprise the Mishnah’s
human actor. This actor, the priest, is subjected to carefully
system: ZeraEim (Seeds, or Agriculture), MoEed (Appointed
prescribed limitations and remedies.
Times), Nashim (Women), Neziqin (Damages, i.e., civil
The division of Holy Things generates its companion,
law), Qodashim (Holy Things, i.e., cultic law), and T:ohorot
the sixth division, Purities, the one on cultic cleanness. In the
(Purities, i.e., cultic taboos). Each division is divided into
sixth division, once we speak of the one place of the Temple,
tractates, and each tractate into chapters and paragraphs.
we address, too, the cleanness that pertains to every place.
There are, in all, 63 tractates, divided into some 531
A system of cleanness, taking into account what imparts un-
chapters.
cleanness and how this is done, what is subject to unclean-
The critical issue in economic life (i.e., in farming) is
ness, and how that state is overcome—that system is fully ex-
treated in the Mishnah’s first division, Agriculture, or Seeds.
pressed in response to the participation of the human will.
This is in two parts. First, Israel, as tenant on God’s holy
Without the wish and act of a human being, the system does
land, maintains the property in the ways God requires, keep-
not function. It is inert. Sources of uncleanness, which come
ing the rules that mark the land and its crops as holy. Next,
naturally and not by volition, and modes of purification,
the hour at which the sanctification of the land comes to
which work naturally, and not by human intervention, re-
form a critical mass, namely, in the ripened crops, is the mo-
main inert until human will has imparted susceptibility to
ment ponderous with danger and heightened holiness. Isra-
uncleanness, until, that is, human will introduces into the
el’s will so affects the crops as to mark a part of them as holy,
system some object of uncleanness—food and drink, bed,
the rest of them as available for common use. The human
pot, chair, or pan—that becomes subject to contamination.
will is determinative in the process of sanctification.
The movement from sanctification to uncleanness takes
place when human will and work initiate it.
In the second division, Appointed Times, what happens
in the Land of Israel at certain special times, especially in the
This now brings us back to the middle divisions, the
lunar year, marks off areas of the land as holy in yet another
third and fourth, Women and Damages, respectively. They
way. The center of the Land of Israel and the focus of its
take their place in the structure of the whole by showing the
sanctification is the Temple. There the produce of the land
congruence, within the larger framework of regularity and
is received and given back to God, the one who created and
order, of human concerns of family and farm, politics and
sanctified the Holy Land. At these unusual moments of sanc-
workaday transactions among ordinary people. For without
tification, the inhabitants of the Holy Land in their social
attending to these matters, the Mishnah’s system does not
being in villages enter a state of spatial sanctification. That
encompass what, at its foundations, it is meant to compre-
is to say, the village boundaries mark off holy space, within
hend and order: Israel’s whole life. So what is at issue is fully
which one must remain during the holy time. This is ex-
cogent with the rest.
pressed in two ways. First, the Temple itself observes and ex-
presses the special, recurring holy time. Second, the villages
In Women, the third division, attention focuses upon
of the Holy Land are brought into alignment with the Tem-
the point of disorder marked by the transfer of that disorder-
ple, forming a complement and completion to the Temple’s
ing anomaly, woman, from the regular status provided by
sacred being. The advent of the appointed times precipitates
one man to the equally trustworthy status provided by an-
a spatial reordering of the land, so that the boundaries of the
other. That is the point at which the Mishnah’s interests are
sacred are matched and mirrored in village and in Temple.
aroused: once more, predictably, the moment of disorder.
At the heightened holiness marked by these appointed times,
In Damages, the fourth division, are two important
therefore, the occasion for an affective sanctification is
concerns. First, there is the paramount interest in preventing
worked out. Like the harvest, the advent of an appointed
the disorderly rise of one person and fall of another, in sus-
time, a pilgrim festival, also a sacred season, is made to ex-
taining the status quo of the economy, of the house and
press that regular, orderly, and predictable sort of sanctifica-
household, of Israel, the holy society in eternal stasis. Second,
tion for Israel that the system as a whole seeks.
there is the necessary concomitant in the provision of a sys-
If for the moment we now leap over the next two divi-
tem of political institutions to carry out the laws that preserve
sions, the third and fourth, we come to the counterpart of
the balance and steady state of persons.
the divisions of Agriculture and Appointed Times. These are
The third and fourth divisions take up topics of con-
the fifth and sixth divisions, Holy Things and Purities. They
crete and material concern, the formation and dissolution of
deal with the everyday and the ordinary, as against the special
families and the transfer of property in that connection, the
moments of harvest, on the one side, and special time or sea-
transactions, both through torts and through commerce, that
son, on the other.
lead to exchanges of property and the potential dislocation
The fifth division, Holy Things, is about the Temple
of the state of families in society. They deal with the concrete
on ordinary days (i.e., not during appointed times). The
locations in which people make their lives, household and
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6067
street and field, the sexual and commercial exchanges of a
ping of the waves on the beach. These are laws on plowing,
given village.
planting, harvesting; birth, marriage, procreation, death;
home, family, household; work, rest; sunrise, sunset—
So the six components of the Mishnah’s system insist
private lives, not the stuff of history. The laws speak of the
upon two things: first, stability, second, order. They define
here and now, not of state or of tradition, past or future.
as a problem something out of line, therefore dangerous.
Since, in the time in which the ideas of the Mishnah took
Laws for a woman must be made, in particular, when she
shape, most other Jews expressed a keen interest in history,
changes hands, moving from father to husband, or, in di-
the contrast cannot be missed. The Mishnah imagines a
vorce, from husband to father. Laws for the governance of
world of regularity and order in the aftermath of the end of
civil transactions must make certain that all transactions pro-
ancient certainties and patterns. It designs laws after the old
duce equal and opposite results. No one emerges larger than
rules all were broken. It speaks of an eternal present—
when he entered; none is diminished. Equal value must be
generally using the continuous present tense and describing
exchanged, or a transaction is null. The advent of sacred
how things are—to people beyond all touch with their own
time, as we shall see, not only imposes the opposite of the
past, its life and institutions.
Temple’s rules upon the village. The holy day also has the
effect of linking the Israelite to one place, a particular place,
Since, as we know, in the aftermath of the war against
his or her village. So for a moment sacred time establishes
Rome in 132–135, the Temple was declared permanently
a tableau and creates a diorama, a still place of perfection in
prohibited to Jews, and Jerusalem was closed off to them as
a silent and perfected moment.
well, the Mishnah’s laws in part speak of nowhere and not
CONTEXT. The Mishnah came into being during the first
now. Why not? There was no cult, no Temple, no holy city,
and second centuries of the common era. The document
to which at this time the description of the Mishnaic laws
contains ideas likely to have circulated even before the de-
applied. Much of the Mishnah deals with matters to which
struction of the Temple in 70 CE, among people whose tradi-
the sages had no material access. They had no practical
tions were carried forward and ultimately written down in
knowledge at the time of their work on cultic law. They
the Mishnah itself. But the structure of the system presented
themselves were not members of the priestly caste. Yet we
by the Mishnah is well attested only after the Bar Kokhba
have seen that the Mishnah contains a division on the con-
War (c. 132–135). It is attributed principally to authorities
duct of the cult, namely, the fifth, as well as one on the con-
who flourished in the middle of the second century. Accord-
duct of matters so as to preserve the cultic purity of the sacri-
ingly, using antecedent ideas and laws, the document came
ficial system along the lines laid out in the Book of Leviticus,
into being at the end of two wars—the first war against
the sixth division.
Rome (66–73), culminating in the destruction of the Tem-
There is a further point of unreality. Many of the trac-
ple, and the second, Bar Kokhba’s. Since the Mishnah
tates of the first division, on agriculture, deal with the rations
emerges after a time of wars, the one thing we should expect
provided for the priests by the Israelite farmers out of the
to find is a message about the meaning of history, an account
produce of the holy land. The interests of the division overall
of events and their meaning. Central to the Mishnah’s sys-
flow from the Levitical taboos on land use and disposition
tem might well be a picture of the course of Israel’s destiny,
of crops; the whole is an exercise of most acute interest to
in the tradition of the biblical histories—Samuel, Kings, or
the priests.
Chronicles, for instance—and in the tradition of the prophets
of ancient Israel, the several Isaiahs, Jeremiah, and the rest.
Furthermore, a fair part of the second division, on ap-
pointed times, takes up the conduct of the cult on special
The Mishnah’s principal point of insistence is the oppo-
days, the sacrifices offered on Yom Kippur, Passover, and the
site. It speaks of what is permanent and enduring: the flow
like. Indeed, what the Mishnah wants to know about ap-
of time through the solar seasons, marked by lunar festivals
pointed seasons concerns the cult far more than it does the
and Sabbaths; the procedures of the cult through the regular
synagogue, which plays a subordinate and trivial role.
and enduring sacrifices; the conduct of the civil society
through norms of fairness to prevent unjust change; the pur-
The fourth division, on civil law, for its part, presents
suit of agricultural work in accord with the rules of holiness;
an elaborate account of a political structure and system of Is-
the enduring, unchanging, invisible phobias of cultic un-
raelite self-government based on Temple, priesthood, and
cleanness and cleannesss. The Mishnah has no division de-
monarchy, in tractates Sanhedrin and Makkot, not to men-
voted to the interpretation of history. There is no pretence
tion Shavu Eot and Horayot. This system speaks of king,
even at telling what had just happened. There is scarcely a
priest, Temple, and court. Not the Jews, kings, priests, and
line to address the issue of the meaning of the disasters of
judges but the Romans conducted the government of Israel
the day.
in the Land of Israel in the time in which the second-century
authorities did their work.
The Mishnah does not address one-time events of histo-
ry. Its laws express recurrent patterns, eternal patterns as en-
Well over half of the document—the first division, the
during as the movement of the moon and sun around the
second, part of the fourth, all of the fifth, and most of the
earth (as people then understood it) and as regular as the lap-
sixth—speaks of cult, Temple, government, priesthood. But
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
these things did not yet exist. They derived, moreover, from
made a complete translation and commentary on the second
other groups in Israelite society. The Mishnah takes up a
through the sixth divisions of the Mishnah and Tosefta in
profoundly priestly and Levitical conception of sanctification
A History of the Mishnaic Law (Leiden, 1974–); included in
as the principal statement on Israel’s condition. Sages had no
the latter work are Appointed Times, 5 vols. (1981ff.),
control of these matters. Furthermore, in the very time the
Women, 5 vols. (1980), Damages, 5 vols. (1983–1984), Holy
document was written, the Temple lay in ruins, the city of
Things, 6 vols. (1979–1980), and Purities, 22 vols. (1974–
1977). An account of how the Mishnah has been studied in
Jerusalem was prohibited to all Israelites, and the Jewish gov-
classical and modern times is given in my edition of The
ernment and administration, which had centered on the
Modern Study of the Mishnah (Leiden, 1973), and the reli-
Temple and based its authority on the holy life lived there,
gious world view of the Mishnah is described and interpreted
were in ruins. So the Mishnah’s sages could not report any
in my book Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah (Chicago,
facts they had observed on their own. Much of the Mishnah
1981). A brief introduction, presenting a quite different ap-
speaks of matters not current at the time it was created be-
proach, is E. E. Urbach’s “Mishnah,” in Encyclopaedia Judai-
cause the Mishnah’s sages wished to make a statement on
ca, vol. 12 (Jerusalem, 1971).
what really matters: the holiness of Israel as they defined it.
New Sources
LATER DEVELOPMENTS. From what has been said, we should
Cohen, Shaye J. D., ed. The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Litera-
never be able to account for the persistence of the Mishnah
ture. Providence, R.I., 2000.
as half of the whole “Torah” of Judaism. The bulk of the doc-
Hauptman, Judith. “Does the Tosefta Precede the Mishnah:
ument was irrelevant to its own time, all the more so to the
Halakhal, Aggada, and Narrative Coherence.” Judaism, 50
ages that would follow. The two Talmuds, indeed, pick and
(Spring 2001): 224–241.
choose what they want from the Mishnah, and, in so doing,
Houtman, Alberdina. Mishnah and Tosefta: A Synoptic Comparison
revise the system of the whole. The Talmud of the Land of
of the Tractates Berakhot and Shebiit. Tübingen, 1996.
Israel, for example, provides elaboration and commentary for
Neusner, Jacob. How the Talmud Shaped Rabbinic Discourse. At-
only thirty-nine of the Mishnah’s sixty-two tractates, omit-
lanta, 1991.
ting reference to the fifth and nearly the whole of the sixth
Neusner, Jacob. The Place of the Tosefta in the Halakhah of Formal
division. The Babylonian Talmud, for its part, treats the fifth
Judaism: What Alberdina Houtman Didn’t Notice. Atlanta,
division but ignores nearly all of the first. What both Tal-
1998.
muds do in common is ignore the system and structure of
Perkins, Carl M. “The Evening Shema: A Study in Rabbinic Con-
the whole and divide the Mishnah into tiny bits and pieces.
solation.” Judaism 43 (Winter 1994): 27–37.
These were then subjected to close and thorough analysis.
The upshot is that the two Talmuds took up the whole. By
JACOB NEUSNER (1987)
Revised Bibliography
continuing what Yehudah ha-NasiD had treated as concluded,
they carried forward the unending process of revelation and
canon. That is to say, the heirs of the Mishnah revered the
document but also took responsibility for interpreting it. In
MISSIONS
the very process of their quite accurate and careful reading,
This entry consists of the following articles:
they in fact accomplished a considerable reformation of the
MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
Mishnah itself.
BUDDHIST MISSIONS
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
SEE ALSO Talmud; Tannaim.
MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Many records and some suggestive studies of the founda-
Tosefta
tions, motivations, dynamics, techniques, and sociocultural
The best edition is Saul Lieberman’s Tosefta, 3 vols. (New York,
effects of missionary activity in specific locales exist. Most of
1955–1967), including Zera Eim (1955), MoEed (1962), and
them are written from the perspective of the missionaries or
Nashim (1967), together with a monumental commentary
are based on the study of records, letters, or fund-raising re-
by the same scholar. For the other three divisions, M. S.
ports they have left. Certain encounters between the major
Zuckermandel’s Tosefta D (1881) is available. I have made an
religious orientations in various parts of the world have also
English translation of the second through the sixth divisions
been documented, but few systematic, cross-cultural, and
in The Tosefta, Translated from the Hebrew, vols. 2–6 (New
comparative studies of missions and missionary activities
York, 1977–1981). A brief scholarly account is Moshe David
have been produced.
Heer’s “Tosefta,” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 15 (Jerusa-
lem, 1971).
There is no lack of material dealing with the dissemina-
tion of and conversion to a specific religion from the stand-
Mishnah
The best available edition, including a commentary, is Chanoch
point of that religion’s advocates, nor of the theological war-
Albeck’s Shishah Sidrei Mishnah (Tel Aviv, 1952ff.). No crit-
rants or mandates given by a particular faith for its
ical edition exists. Herbert Danby has made a one-volume
propagation. Cultural historians and social scientists have
translation in The Mishnah (London, 1933), and I have
also studied the effects of religious change in specific periods,
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
6069
and psychologists have attempted to identify the psychody-
The first point is that they all seem to be impelled by a
namics of conversion. Still, systematic overviews of organized
unique revelation or a great discovery about the nature of
proselytism and the basic ideational, social, and institutional
being and existence, the discovery of which prompts a mo-
foundations on which it rests remain sparse.
mentous personal transformation and a revitalization of so-
cial and cultural purpose given by an awareness of transcen-
In the nineteenth century, to be sure, certain evolution-
dence that brings spiritual and moral renewal. This generates
ary theories of the development of “high” cultures offered
a salvific metaphysical-moral vision that is not only of in-
rather triumphalist accounts of the spread of “ethical reli-
tense personal meaning but also thought to be of universal
gions” over territories where “animistic” or “polytheistic”
import for humanity. This vision induces a passion that in-
faiths previously claimed the loyalties of the people. And in
tellectually, morally, and emotionally is felt by those grasped
the early twentieth century certain theories of religio-cultural
by it from magical practices of local deities and cults, from
“diffusion” attempted to comprehend world historical devel-
opment in ways that would also account for the spread of
familial, clan, caste, or ethnic loyalties, from feeble or dys-
religions by analogy with the spread of artifacts such as the
functional political-economic conditions, and from “mean-
plow or the clock. Theories of political-economic and cultur-
ingless” or ineffective rites and rituals. The missionary im-
al imperialism have gained considerable prominence as a
pulse that grows from this source becomes “homeless,” for
framework for interpreting missionary activity, a fact that
it finds its true home in a realm that relativizes all that is un-
will require comment here. None of these efforts, however,
derstood to be natural or conventional, which it then tries
has resulted in a compelling account of the nature, character,
either to escape or to transform. It further evokes a desire to
and dynamics of missionary activities that bear cross-cultural
bring about the universal acceptance and application of the
scrutiny.
vision, which it holds to be universally true in principle, even
if it is not universally accepted.
Near the end of the twentieth century, after the end of
the cold war that occupied much of the world’s attention,
Every missionizing religion thus is by definition trans-
many became aware that governments, policies, and eco-
cultural; where it is not entirely transmundane, it is cosmo-
nomic systems pass away, but that religions endure and seem
politan. It endows its advocates with a transcendental, ecu-
to be able to renew themselves, even in areas where they were
menical, cross-cultural, and global perspective, and it
thought to be surpassed. The idea that modernization meant
understands humanity to be trapped in chaotic states of
“progress” and inevitable secularization seems to have died
mental, spiritual, social, or physical oppression from which
a thousand deaths. In fact, the religions have undergone a
humanity must be delivered by accepting a new foundation
substantial resurgence and have amazed and troubled no
of meaning and a new discipline. It thereby promises to liber-
small number of social theorists, historians, and liberal reli-
ate humanity from evil and falsehood and bind humans to
gious scholars. The troubling part of this resurgence for
the good and true—although the precise definitions of the
many is that the world religions have reasserted themselves
causes of the evil and the nature of the good, the marks of
in conservative and fundamentalist forms. Some religions are
falsehood and the indicators of the true, and the means that
local, tribal, or ethnic in character, and they often seek to re-
are able to move humanity from one to the other are what
cover eroding identity in the face of globalizing develop-
divide these religions from each other.
ments. More amazing is the fact that an enormous range of
A missionary is one who seizes or is seized by a univers-
peoples have converted to Christianity and, to a somewhat
alistic vision and who feels a mandate, a commission, or a
lesser degree, to the other great world religions in the age that
vocation to bring the vision and its benefits to “all.” Thus
was assumed to be, according to enlightened orthodoxy, an
missionary activity, both domestic and foreign, is the most
age in which the religious illusions of the past were demysti-
intense in those moments when the metaphysical-moral vi-
fied by scientific fact. It turns out that the facts suggest that
sion of a religion is engendered or revitalized and held to be
the religions in their conservative forms are engaging in vig-
particularly pertinent in changing conditions. “Home” mis-
orous missionary activity and converting the world. Why this
sions often take the form of new programs for youth, “purifi-
is so is not altogether clear to observers and critics. Yet the
cation” of religious and cultural practice, proselytism of mar-
evidence is rather clear. Evangelical, Pentecostal, fundamen-
ginal groups, protest against lax practices among the social
talist, and heterodox (e.g., “Mormonism”) forms of Chris-
elite (including the established clergy), and often moral or
tianity have been growing around the world at a record pace,
spiritual attempts to put domestic social, political, and eco-
as have the more militant forms of Islam, Hinduism, and
nomic policies on a new foundation. “Foreign” missions at-
Buddhism. Tribal religions, reemerging as ethnic identity re-
tempt to take the vision beyond the land of origin and there-
ligions, have erupted into fits of violence and “ethnic cleans-
by to lay the foundations for a new spiritual world order by
ing.” The study of these dynamics continues, with many dy-
transforming the souls and minds of individuals and the so-
namics being obvious, though the are causes not.
cial habits of society. Missionary activity always alienates its
FOUNDATIONS AND MOTIVATIONS. Nonetheless it is possi-
converts from previous belief and practice to some degree,
ble to venture some generalizations about missionary activity
for it introduces a different way of organizing faith and life.
that seem relevant for all the great missionizing religions.
Both domestic and foreign missionary activity is marked by
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
intense intellectual activity, for the whole of reality has to be
missionaries from such religions. Many see this movement
reconsidered from the new perspective. It also is the breeding
as a threat not only to other faiths but to the democracy, so-
ground of freedom, for in conversion a person finds that he
cialism, and human rights guaranteed by the Indian constitu-
or she can make an ultimate choice about, or be drawn by
tion, principles that, since Gandhi, have been held by many
grace into, a new relationship to the truly divine. Such a per-
as almost sacred.
son no longer has an identity determined by age, gender,
Most initial efforts to spread the faith focus rather strict-
class, custom, status, ethnicity, or the dictate of any lesser au-
ly on the message of salvation, presented in its simplist forms.
thority—parental or political, cultural or economic. Having
This is partly a matter of conviction. It is often also a matter
been drawn into freedom, all other areas of life are subject
of necessity—in authoritarian cultures, it is dangerous to
to reevaluation and reconstruction.
begin pointing out all the social implications that a conver-
One or another universalistic vision has provided the
sion might eventually entail. This is not to say that when
foundations and motivations for Buddhism, Christianity,
missionizing religions expand they cease to have cultural, po-
Islam, and that fading secular “civil religion,” Communism,
litical, ethnic, or economic content and become purely tran-
to name but four of the most obvious missionizing faiths.
scendental, for that is seldom the case. Rather, missionaries
Certain strands and periods of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and
often believe that they have a message based on a salvific
“syncretistic” religions, such as BahaDi, Sikhism, and the Uni-
metaphysical-moral vision, which is in fundamental respects
fication Church (Moonies) have a similar dynamic. A univer-
separable from accidental sociohistorical trappings and thus
salistic metaphysical-moral vision is less pronounced, howev-
able to be transplanted into new cultural settings. This is true
er, in the beliefs of the primal religions, Daoism and
even if the bearers of the message believe that at its core are
Shinto¯ism, and is less overt in Confucianism and most
implications for ethical changes in society that ought also to
strands of Judaism and Zoroastrianism. However great their
be spread for the well-being of humanity. Those living reli-
spiritual, moral, and intellectual achievements, these latter
gions that claim the most universalistic visions and evidence
religions are constitutively tied to specific sociopolitical con-
the most extensive missionary zeal beyond the place of ori-
texts and often to ethnic particularities. These religions may
gin—Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and indeed Commu-
also claim to possess a universalistic message—they may wel-
nism—have never been able to extricate themselves fully
come converts, and aspects of their metaphysical-moral vi-
from the social contexts in which they were developed nor
sions may be honored or adopted by other religions, but they
from the unintended consequences that follow from the
spread more by the migrations of peoples or by the gradual
transplanting of the faith.
incorporation of immediate neighbors than by organized
KEY DYNAMICS OF MISSIONARY ACTIVITY. As a population
missionary activities. They are, as some say, the “staying” re-
is missionized, new patterns of educational, familial, cultural,
ligions, in contrast to the “going” religions.
political, and economic life are introduced, and the indige-
Hinduism represents a special and exceedingly complex
nous “tradition” is reshaped on new foundations. The ten-
case, for while it is similar to nonmissionizing traditions in
dency to identify the universalistic message with the newly
many respects, and while it seems to have spread essentially
established patterns of life within the converted group is
widespread. The vision “for all” once again becomes a vision
by a process called sanskritization (the gradual adoption of
“for us,” until such time as a new burst of piety and learning
Vedic practices and Brahmanic authority by non-Aryan peo-
renews the awareness of the universalistic vision and revital-
ples on the Indian subcontinent), it has had periods of vigor-
izes missionary efforts, demanding a purging of false tenden-
ous missionary activity. Indeed, active missions have not only
cies to syncretism and closed localistic identity. Missionary
been carried out by “evangelical” forms of Hinduism, such
religions are continually or episodically engaged in religious
as the Ramakrishna Mission, the International Society for
renewal and reformation from within. The great missioniz-
Krishna Coinsciousness (ISKCON), and the organizations
ing religions are in part to be contrasted with the occasionally
supporting the teachings and charitable works of Sai Baba,
proselytizing, primal, and localistic religions precisely by the
but are being actively pursued in another way by the Hindut-
enduring and recurring vitality of their universalizing, in
va movement. Represented in its political mode by a Hindu
contrast to the particularizing and syncretizing tendencies of
nationalist party that presently heads the Indian government,
the localistic religions. It is not surprising that missionary re-
a series of related “safron” groups (made up of priests and
ligions are those with authoritative scriptures and “orthodox”
“holy men”) and lay militant activists are seeking to “con-
doctrines that serve as the standards for periodic renewal.
vert” Dalit and tribal groups into their “original” status as
part of the religious and cultural fabric of the “Indic” peoples
The great universalistic teachings of the missionizing re-
and to “deconvert” former Hindus who have become Mus-
ligions are, however, always treasures borne in “earthen ves-
lim, Christian, or neo-Buddhist. Their methods often in-
sels,” to paraphrase Paul, the model of all Christian missiona-
clude persuasion, aid in building local temples, and promised
ries. And the line between the treasure and the vessel is
access to educational and medical opportunity, but they also
frequently extremely fine. Early Buddhist missionaries, to
sometimes use violence against mosques, churches, and
cite another example, were sent out presumably armed with
stu¯pas; against minorities who resist their efforts; or against
nothing but the pure and unadulterated message of Gauta-
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
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ma’s great discovery of the secret of true enlightenment. Wit-
had their vicious corollaries in many lands wherever a partic-
tingly or not, however, they carried with them both the
ular social group, political hegemony, or economic advan-
philosophical presuppositions of Indian religious thought,
tage is confused with a universalistic religious message and
which were the terms in which and through which the Bud-
spread by coercive means to colonize peoples in the name of
dha found his truth, and the political, social, and cultural
religion.
patterns of Indian society. Therava¯da Buddhism, as it mis-
sionized in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, brought with
Second, missionary activity is rooted in the fundamental
it metaphysical-moral assumptions and sociopolitical princi-
assumptions that, once people are exposed to “the truth” that
ples that derived from Hindu traditions and which, in part,
has been proclaimed, they will choose this truth and that
the Buddha had sought to overcome and transcend. In
they ought to be free to encounter and choose even “foreign”
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism as well, careful scholars can speak of
truth. Missions presuppose that a truly universalistic vision
the “Indianization of China.”
is convincing to the mind, compelling to the will, and attrac-
tive to the heart. Missions thus require, or provoke, a situa-
Later, when this stream of Buddhism became wedded
tion in which freedom of thought, choice, and affection can
to motifs from Confucian and Daoist sources, its movement
create new communities of conviction to celebrate and exer-
into Korea and Japan carried powerful elements from Chi-
cise what the will, mind, and heart have come to hold dear.
nese traditions, elements that also became wedded to Korean
However much missionary activity has been carried out hand
shamanism and Japanese Shinto¯ism. And it is well known
in hand with cultural arrogance, military power, and eco-
that both Christianity and Islam carried Greco-Roman pat-
nomic opportunism, there has been and remains in principle
terns of thought, medicine, and political theory—as well as
a sharp tension between missionary efforts and imperialistic
Hebraic understandings of ethical monotheism—with them
imposition of religion by force or “mind control,” a fact in-
as they expanded in the medieval periods. Islam has also al-
creasingly documented by missiologists examining the rela-
ways borne a certain Arabic cultural stamp wherever it goes,
tive validity of the charge that missions are but the ideologi-
and Communism bears everywhere the marks of Germanic
cal instrument of colonial practice. Those incapable of
philosophy, French revolutionary zeal, and British economic
imagining a fundamental transformation of thought, dispo-
dynamics from the days of the industrial revolution. Along
sition, and loyalty by conversion to a new religious insight,
with the gospel, modern Christian missions transmit West-
however, always attribute the change to nefarious interests.
ern definitions of human rights, democracy, and scientific
methods in the fields of education, medicine, management,
It is certainly true that every missionizing religion has
agriculture, and corporate organization. These cursory exam-
had periods during which something like the classic Islamic
ples serve to illustrate the point that, while missionary activi-
pattern could be documented. H. A. R. Gibb wrote of Islam
ty must always be understood first of all in terms of the uni-
that, “while the faith itself was not spread by the sword, it
versal metaphysical-moral vision that calls it into being and
was under the wing of Muslim dominance that its missiona-
gives it its transcultural raison d’être, it is always laden with
ries found most favorable conditions for their activities of
particular philosophical, social, and cultural elements.
conversion. This view of Islam . . . was universally held by
its adherents; the theologians found justification for it in the
MISSIONS AND CULTURAL IMPERIALISM. The inevitable
Koran, the jurists made it the basis of their expositions of
presence of intellectual and social assumptions and implica-
Muslim law, and the mass of the people accepted it as a self-
tions, even in the “purest” of faiths, has made missionary ac-
evident fact” (Gibb, 1932/1973, p. 56). Comparable pat-
tivity subject to the charge of cultural imperialism. But two
terns could be cited regarding periods of Buddhist expansion
factors differentiate missionary expansion from it. First, the
at the hands of pious war lords, Christian missions in Latin
truly religious missionary recognizes a distinction between
America, or Communist movements in eastern Europe. Nev-
the message and the accoutrements, the universalistic kernel
ertheless, the QurDa¯n and the authoritative teachings of every
and the incidental husk. However difficult it is to distinguish
other missionizing religion agree that forced conversion is
the two, the primary concern is with the former. Transfor-
false and that truly universal religion must depend on the
mation of the latter is allowed in terms of and for the sake
freely convinced mind, will, and heart of the convert (al-
of the former. The imperialist understands the message only
though Communists held that changing the social condi-
in terms of its sociocultural trappings in highly particularist
tions themselves would bring about the fading of religion
ways. Imperialism obtains when, for example, Buddhism in
and the turning to the true ideology of humanity). Thus,
Myanmar becomes identical with and a tool of the Burman
wherever missions go and do not immediately preclude other
peoples as opposed to those of the Chin, Kachin, or other
missionary efforts by force, they open up new vistas for
Burmese peoples; when Christianity becomes “Aryanized” in
mind, will, and heart, and thus for new social practices to
the Nazi period or sanctifies apartheid as in South Africa;
which people are invited to turn.
when Islam in, for instance, Malaysia, Iran, or Saudi Arabia
is understood to be coterminous with the fate of the coun-
REACTIONS OF MISSIONIZED PEOPLE. Every missionary reli-
tries themselves; or when Communism is thought to be iden-
gion must be received as well as propagated. Where it is not
tical with “socialism in one country” and celebrated with a
received, missionary activity dies, and doubt about the uni-
personality cult. These forms of cultural imperialism have
versality of the originating vision sets in. Where it is received
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6072
MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
under coercion, and not in the mind, will, heart or the trans-
shown in regard to the Pacific Islands and Frederick S.
formed customs of the people, the indigenous religion goes
Downs (1983) has demonstrated concerning the Christian-
underground, eventually resurfacing as a revitalized rallying
ization of tribal peoples of Assam in the twentieth century.
point to overthrow “foreign gods” or as a heterodox or hereti-
More ancient examples are the historic reception in the sixth
cal religion in contention with the one brought by missions.
and seventh centuries of Chinese Buddhism (and Confucian-
Where the missionary religion is received in the heart, will,
ism) into Japan at the hands of the imperial court; the recep-
and mind, newly converted people soon send out their own
tion in the ninth to eleventh centuries of Eastern Orthodox
missionaries. But it is almost never received as given. It is fil-
Christianity into Russia, bringing with it Byzantine art, liter-
tered through the philosophical, sociopolitical, and historical
ature, and political theory; and the reception in the twelfth
perspectives of the recipients. The old traditions are almost
to fifteenth centuries of Islam (as mediated through India)
never entirely abandoned. They are inevitably active in inter-
in the Malay archipelago that was accompanied by aspects
preting and modifying the new message, helping to at least
of mysticism and caste-related social patterns.
partially purge it of missionary-borne incidental elements
that can be seen as merely cultural biases or sociopolitical in-
In almost no instance, however, is a new religion re-
terests.
ceived without some resistance. This resistance is sometimes
easily overcome. When the indigenous faith is a highly liter-
One of the most fascinating studies of the reception of
ate and complex religion, however, the resistance is usually
a religion is that by Kenneth Ch’en (1973) of the way in
prolonged and powerful. One of the dramatic examples of
which Buddhism was modified, acculturated, and indige-
this resistance is that, while Buddhism originated in India
nized in China. A message, such as that exported by Indian
and at one time had nearly swept the subcontinent, in the
Buddhism, that called for the breaking of family ties and de-
twenty-first century can be found there only in forms of neo-
manded that kings give honor to monks simply did not make
Buddhism newly reintroduced by Bhimo Rao Ambedkar and
sense in a culture where filial piety and homage to the emper-
the Dalai Lama. This is because Hinduism reasserted itself
or were absolutely central to both belief and social order.
by a ten-century-long process involving the adoption of some
Ch’en demonstrates that, if one speaks of the “Indianization
aspects of Buddhism (especially the revitalization of devo-
of China” with the spread of Buddhism, one must also speak
tional practice in bhakti), the bloody slaughter of Buddhist
of the “sinicization of Buddhism.” In China, key Buddhist
monks, extensive philosophical argumentation, and an effort
texts were given fresh interpretation; apologetic literature,
that was more organized than that of Buddhism. But the
new poems, and new regulations for the community of
neo-Buddhism being introduced is taken as protests against
monks were promulgated that modified or transformed as-
the Hindu caste system, recently celebrated by some Dalit
pects of the Buddhist message so that it could fit into, and
(outcaste) Christians. Similarly, Confucianism reasserted it-
in some ways revitalize, both the indigenous folk religions
self in China during the “neo-Confucian” period of renewal
and of the Confucianism and Daoism of that land. Compa-
in the ninth century by a similar process—one that relegated
rable stories can be told of every missionizing religion: the
the Buddhists and Daoists to an inferior status while borrow-
Christianity of the Copts in Northeast Africa is not the same
ing some motifs from them. Islam encountered intellectual
as that of the Kimbanguists of West Africa; the Islam of Mo-
and military resistance when it threatened expansion into
rocco differs from that of Mindanao in significant ways;
Europe from the time of Charlemagne through the Cru-
Communism in North Korea is distinct from that of Cuba.
sades. The Christianity that expanded into central Asia has
This is so in spite of the fact that each of these great traditions
been essentially stamped out, and what remains in western
tends to press the local society and culture in a distinctive
Asia is now weak and scattered because of Islamic resistance.
direction.
Most Western Jews and Christians resist the Hindu, Islamic,
and Buddhist missions as well as the host of hybrid or syncre-
In this connection it must be noted that some religions
tistic cults rooted in these, or in some heterodox Christian
engage in missionary activity precisely as a result of being in-
faith, found in most of the major cities of the West. Mean-
vited, sought, or adopted with great eagerness. In several
while, indigenized forms of Christianity from Africa, Latin
places where traditional systems have been displaced by ex-
America, and Asia are challenging the kinds of Christianity
ploitative cultural contact, war, crop failure, or the failure of
that have developed in the West.
a social system to survive its own internal strains, missionary
groups bearing universalistic messages are readily embraced,
One notable feature of the phenomenon of “mission”
for they offer new symbolic and cognitive models by which
and “resistance” is that missions that do not succeed among
life and its perplexities may be interpreted. Often the appro-
the intellectual and political-economic elites of a new coun-
priation of a new religion is accompanied by a quest for new
try but that do succeed among the people become fatefully
technological, educational, and sociopolitical frameworks for
drawn into perennial tensions between the rulers and the
organizing the common life. Missionaries often agree that
ruled. If conversion is successful among the masses but not
such a quest is implied by the core of their metaphysical-
among leadership, intense resistance results. If conversion oc-
moral vision. Certainly a comparable phenomenon has oc-
curs only among marginal groups, ethnic conflict is frequent,
curred in quite different locales, as John Garrett (1982) has
and minorities are suspected of being agents of foreign pow-
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
6073
ers. If missions are successful among some sections of the
Professional missionaries. New religions are seldom,
leadership and among wide segments of the people, the stage
if ever, however, fully developed in a new location by the
is set for revolutionary change.
sometimes quite unholy alliance of missionaries, merchants,
and soldiers, or by general processes of cultural diffusion that
TYPES OF MISSIONARIES. In surveying mission and mission-
accompany them. The introduction of a religion through
ary activity, however, one must not only note the primacy
commercial channels (the character and quality of which in-
of the metaphysical-moral vision—its relationship to social
fluence reception or resistance) has everywhere been suc-
and cultural patterns, its patterns of reception, and resis-
ceeded by the arrival of professional missionaries. For most
tances to it—one must also consider certain similarities of in-
religions throughout most of history, the professional mis-
stitutional form that are characteristic of missionary activity.
sionary has been monastic, that is, organized into ascetic,
What groups or classes of people undertake missionary activ-
trained, and disciplined religious orders intentionally “home-
ity, and how do they organize to do so?
less” for the sake of the metaphysical-moral vision held to be
universally true.
On missionaries, merchants, and mercenaries. The
earliest missionaries are, more often than not, traders or trav-
Missionary monks and nuns attempt to spread their reli-
elers with them. One does not have to accept the Marxist in-
gious convictions by public proclamation and commentary
terpretation of the relationship between commercial exploi-
on sacred texts at both popular and learned levels; by teach-
tation and religion to observe that the spreading of a new
ing hymns, chants, and prayers; by establishing new centers
religious insight repeatedly follows commercial traffic
of worship where the truth they know can be celebrated; and
lanes—and that this insight is frequently borne by mer-
by service—that is, by medical, educational, pastoral care, so-
chants. Further, it must be noted that both commercial and
cial relief, and advocacy. Needless to say all missionary reli-
missionary activities can only be conducted in conditions of
gions have relied on “wondrous,” magical, or technological
relative peace and stability. When that is disrupted, soldiers
demonstrations of “spiritual” power from time to time. The
are frequently brought in to establish it, and they are accom-
stories well known in the West about saintly missionary
panied by new waves of chaplains, who become missionaries.
monks, such as Patrick (387–493), Columba (c. 521–597),
Since traders and soldiers vary widely in their behavior, from
Boniface (d. 755), Ramón Lull (1232–1316), and Francis
the relatively congenial to the simply marauding, missionary
Xavier (1506–1552), are paralleled in the lore of Buddhism,
activity has often been conducted within networks of shifting
in the formation of the mathas as a Hindu reaction to the
alliances, both economic and military, on the far end of trade
challenge posed by Buddhism, and in the roles played by the
routes. It is not possible to make any single generalization
“schools” of jurists and even more by the S:u¯f¯ı orders of
about these relationships, however, for missionaries have re-
Islam.
sisted exploitative trade as often as they have benefited from
To carry out their tasks, missionaries have four require-
it, and they have fought imperial “pacification” as often as
ments. First, they must have a dedication, a commitment—a
they have been protected by it.
piety, if you will—linked to learning. Missionaries must be
The cross-cultural frequency of missionary activity by
able to articulate the faith and to interpret it in intellectual
merchants, however, invites speculation as to why this gener-
and cultural terms that are foreign to them. They must be
al class has played so significant a role in missionizing. Per-
able to understand and put into perspective whatever they
haps it is because merchants are people who seek increased
encounter in the course of their work. It is no accident that
several sciences, including modern comparative linguistics
opportunity by taking the risk of leaving the settled and ac-
and anthropology, to a large extent have their roots in mis-
cepted patterns of life at home. The very act of engaging in
sionary activity. Everywhere professional missionaries are
trade on a cross-cultural basis, however crass the individual
given to literary activity—they have published apologetics,
motivation might be, requires a somewhat more cosmopoli-
tracts, propaganda, and commentaries, and they are respon-
tan perspective on the world than is frequently present in
sible for the composition and dissemination of poetry, song,
those societies where religion and morality run in channels
and history.
circumscribed by fixed economic roles and duties for people
of each specific ethnic, gender, age, and class status. In addi-
Second, missionary professionals require a reliable insti-
tion those societies that send merchants farthest and equip
tutional foundation, a polity, to sustain them. Missionary or-
caravans or ships the most extensively for trade are usually
ders and societies are surely among the world’s first transna-
the more highly developed economically, politically, militari-
tional, nonprofit corporations. These polities, however, are
ly, and socially. It would not be strange for them to hold the
ever subject to incorporation into the existing polities of the
view that their “superiority” in this respect is due, in substan-
host countries. Thus the Buddhist sam:gha, spread under the
tial part at least, to the “superior” religious, spiritual, and eth-
protectorate of kings, is ever tempted to become simply an
ical foundations of their faith. In an influential study, Ed-
instrument of state. Some converted Christian communities
ward Said (1995) has argued that this accounts for the
in India are always in peril of becoming more a subcaste than
various condescending projections on Eastern cultures by
a church, and the t:ar¯ıqahs of Islam tend to become simply
Western merchants, soldiers, and missionaries.
trade guilds or sanctified tribal brotherhoods.
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
Third, missions require funding. Economic support
policies. While the established churches in Europe had been
may derive from state funds, charitable bequests, the estab-
sending out monastic missionaries for centuries and the Mo-
lishment of plantations, handicraft manufacturing centers,
ravians anticipated later developments, the formation of the
agricultural communes, and religious taxes. The economic
London Missionary Society in 1795 inaugurated a new form
ties of a missionary enterprise with its country of origin or
of paraecclesial organization that continues in the twenty-
with the elites of the host country are the source of enormous
first century and is emulated by non-Christian missionaries.
distrust of missionary activity.
Missionary societies, of which there are hundreds, raise funds
by freewill contributions and form nonmonastic “voluntary
And fourth, missionaries must have a clear policy, one
associations” staffed by a combination of nonparochial cler-
that coordinates strategies and tactics and prevents divergent
gy, lay professionals, and volunteers not only to save souls
teachings from confusing potential converts. These policies
from “paganism” but to sweep away superstition and oppres-
must cover such matters as how much of the indigenous cul-
ture to allow and what to disallow, how to deal with marriage
sion; to offer agricultural, technical, medical, and education-
practices, “pagan” festivals, various “fraternities” that are
al assistance; and to engender a desire for democratic institu-
marginally stamped with traditional religious practices, and
tions, human dignity, self-sufficiency, and social liberation.
the like.
Some modern theorists indeed suggest that these efforts at
social service and social change are the very core of missioniz-
Indigenous missionaries. While most professional
ing and theological renewal.
missionaries are sent to a foreign land, they can measure their
success by whether or not they are replaced by indigenous
A notable example of the side effects of this pattern can
lay or clerical missiological leaders. The mark of successful
be illustrated by reference to the Young Men’s Christian As-
reception is that the newly converted themselves become mo-
sociation (YMCA). The association was formed in England
tivated to spread the message to which they have been con-
in 1844 as a part of a “home mission” voluntary association
verted, both to others in their own land and to other lands,
for youth flocking to the cities to get jobs in factories, and
and to develop institutional and financial support systems for
it attempted to provide a wholesome place where young men
their own missionaries. It was largely Chinese Buddhists who
could find physical, mental, social, and spiritual benefit on
missionized not only many parts of China but Korea and
a biblical foundation. The movement spread to North Amer-
Japan after Indian and Tibetan Buddhists established
ica and to most of the countries around the world where mis-
monasteries in China and trained Chinese novices. It was
sions were active. It was often the agent of evangelization and
Malay Muslims who missionized Indonesia and Mindanao
the womb of efforts at social change by young men who came
after Arabic traders and missionaries brought the faith to the
under its influence. Other religions responded by forming
region. And it is Chinese, Indian, and Korean Christians
counterorganizations on a comparable basis. One can find
who are spreading the faith in South and East Asia after most
not only the YMCA but the Young Women’s Christian As-
Western missionaries only come as short-term visitors or to
sociation (YWCA), the Young Men’s Buddhist Association,
provide support for specific projects. And in Africa and Latin
the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, and the Young Men’s
America, local leadership has become the spearhead of mas-
Muslim Association, as well as youth hostels for Hindus scat-
sive growth. The direct knowledge of the language, culture,
tered throughout much of Asia and in many parts of Africa
common worldviews, lifestyles, felt needs, and life’s difficul-
and South America. Comparable developments could be
ties allows the message to become more directly pertinent
documented regarding schools, colleges, presses, hospitals,
and more thoroughly embedded in the life of the people. It
orphanages, institutions for the handicapped, human rights
also alters the contours of the faith and renders fresh theolog-
advocacy groups, organizations for battered women, or sub-
ical perspectives, as seen in Christian history by the names
stance abuse centers, all organized outside of traditional po-
of major branches of the Christian faith: Greek Orthodoxy,
litical, familial, and clerical control. Examples of such inde-
Roman Catholicism, German Lutheranism, Dutch Calvin-
pendent organizations exist in all the world religions. This
ism, the Anglican Church, and American Evangelicalism.
not only introduces new principles of organization in more
Sometimes the organizations that once sent missionaries
closed societies, it suggests the possibilities of converting tra-
abroad find that the work is better done by believers who live
ditions without converting whole populations. The prolifera-
there and that they must attend to the fact that the faith at
tion of communities of a faith-based, voluntary-associational
home has become cool, routine, and so deeply enculturated
type is one of the most remarkable and explosive social effects
that it needs renewal. They turn to the reevangelization of
of missionary activity in the twentieth century, one not fully
their home cultures or to fresh views of the global mission.
documented on a comparative basis.
MODERN PRACTICES. Modern missionary efforts have been
Increasingly, the great missionizing religions are con-
pursued not so much by monastic orders (although these or-
fronting not only the primal or folk religions, where mission-
ders continue to missionize around the world) as by non-
ary activity has been most pronounced, and not only the so-
monastic missionary “societies.” This situation is prompted
cial needs in various contexts, where missionary activity has
primarily by the rather unique developments of “free-
been remarkable, but one another. Thus far missionary ef-
church” Protestant polities, economic support systems, and
forts with regard to the other great missionary religions have
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MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
6075
been only marginally successful. This is in part because of
the nineteenth-century assumption, repeated often, that sec-
severe restrictions on missionary activities in especially Islam-
ularization inevitably accompanies modernization.
ic and Marxist lands and in parts of India, where induced
Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology
conversion has been criminalized, but also because the world
of Mission. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1991. The widely acclaimed
religions that have shaped complex civilization rarely had to
“new classic” that traces the changing theories of missiology
confront one another directly and tend to do so only in inter-
and proposes a postcolonial, post-Christendom understand-
civilizational clashes. In a globalizing age, however, when
ing of the missio dei.
economic, political, educational, scientific, medical, techno-
Bulliet, Richard W. Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period.
logical, and cultural traditions shaped by these religions are
Cambridge, Mass., 1979. A major study of the expansion of
Islam by conquest and by persuasion in the centuries of its
interacting with great intensity and frequency, encounter is
most rapid growth, widest reach, and highest cultural devel-
unavoidable. Although some theorists have argued that these
opment.
religions are moving toward a great synthesis of world faiths
Ch’en, Kenneth K. S. The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism.
(an essentially Hindu argument), others have attempted to
Princeton, N.J., 1973. A landmark study of the reception of
find analogous meanings in shared symbolic patterns present
a foreign religion by China and the alterations the adoptive
in all religions as manifestations of the development of the
cultural and religious tradition brought about on the classical
species (an evolutionary argument), and still others have
tradition.
sought the common ethical teachings that can prevent mutu-
Christensen, Torben, and William R. Hutchison, eds. Missionary
al assassination (a natural-law argument). Still the way these
Ideologies in the Imperialist Era, 1880–1920. A˚rhus, Den-
religions will continue to deal with one another is not at all
mark, 1983. The interaction of missiological theories, cultur-
certain. None of the great faiths can be satisfied with a com-
al expansion, “civilizing” intentions, and imperial designs in
plete relativism, but some can recognize diversity. It is con-
the colonialization of the world by, especially, European
trary to a deep faith and to missionary activity to hold that
powers.
what is ultimately true about the divine and the realities of
Clarke, Sathianathan. Dalits and Christianity. Delhi, India, 1998.
this world is only true for some in specific cultures, times,
Ways the Dalit (outcaste) communities of South Asia that
or places, even if all agree that people perceive the true state
have converted to Christianity have used themes from this
faith to find dignity and preserve their culture.
of affairs in somewhat different ways due to the influece of
context, time, and space. Few think the world will soon, or
Downs, Frederick S. Christianity in North East India. Delhi, India,
1983. An authoritative documentation of the adoption of
ever, be converted to one faith only.
evangelical (mostly Baptist) Christianity by the tribal peoples
In the face of this development, a new set of writings
of that “Assamese” corner of India.
about “theologies of religions” has begun to emerge. It is, in
Dunn, Edmond J. Missionary Theology: Foundations in Develop-
brief, an attempt to identify what the religions hold in com-
ment. Lanham, Md., 1980. The development of reformist
mon, where they differ, and in some measure how they have,
Roman Catholic missional theory at the hands of radical
can, or could mutually enrich and correct one another with-
priests and nuns in the context of, especially, Latin American
out loosing integrity. It is the likely case that dedicated evan-
anticolonial movements.
gelists for one or another faith will confront the questions
Foreman, C. W. “A History of Foreign Mission Theory in Ameri-
sooner or later, and it is surely the case that these questions
ca.” In American Missions in Bicentennial Perspective, edited
are the most lively ones to be faced intellectually.
by R. Pierce Beaver, pp. 69–140. South Pasadena, Calif.,
1977. An overview of American theologies and programs of
SEE ALSO Religious Communities.
missions by major church bodies and the most important
“independent” missionary organizations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Garrett, John. To Live among the Stars. Suva, Fiji, 1982. The sto-
An-NaDim, Abdullahi Ahmed. Toward an Islamic Reformation.
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peoples responded to various efforts according to the “fit” of
legal and political dimensions and a call for its revision, in
their tradition with the polity of the missionaries.
accord with neglected themes, toward human rights and de-
Gibb, H. A. R. Whither Islam (1932). New York, 1973. A pre-
mocracy.
scient analysis of the tendencies and directions of Islamic de-
Athyal, J. M. Relevant Patterns of Witness: People as Agents of Mis-
velopment in the twentieth century by one of the major mis-
sion. Teruvalla, India, 2000. A documentation of popular
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and grassroots Christian concerns and mission movements
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among minority, tribal, and Dalit (formerly “untouchable”)
1998. A fresh attempt to identify the missionary mandate of
peoples of India.
the churches in a postcolonial era in which Christians are
Barrett, David B., George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson.
often more respectful of other traditions than in times past.
World Christian Encyclopedia. 2d ed. Oxford, 2001. An ex-
Harvard Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences. Indepen-
haustive and authoritative statistical documentation of the
dence, Convergence, and Borrowing in Institutions, Thought,
modern spread of Christianity in comparison and contrast to
and Art. Cambridge, Mass., 1937. An older, still-valuable
other religions.
study of how cultures and religions maintain their distinctive
Berger, Peter L., ed. The Desecularization of the World. Grand
qualities while adopting from other traditions and finding
Rapids, Mich., 1999. Key sociological essays that challenge
ways to reduce conflict.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6076
MISSIONS: MISSIONARY ACTIVITY
Hefner, Robert W., ed. Conversion to Christianity: Historical and
Neville, Robert Cummings, ed. Ultimate Realities. New York,
Anthropological Perspectives on a Great Transformation.
2001. These three Neville works constitute a process philo-
Berkeley, Calif., 1993. A substantive descriptive analysis of
sophical analysis of the common features of the great reli-
peoples who have been evangelized into the Christian
gious traditions and spiritual perspectives that seeks to iden-
faith and who often are grateful and want the missions to
tify convergences and areas for dialogue.
continue.
Pachuau, Lalsangkima, ed. Ecumenical Missiology. Bangalore,
Heim, S. Mark. Salvations. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1995. A ground-
India, 2002. A fresh summary of the developments in ecu-
breaking interpretation of the world religions that sees them
menical thought as it bears on prospects for a revitalized pro-
as sharing much but having distinctive views of what human-
gram for missions, with special reference to ethnic conflicts.
ity needs to be saved from and for.
Queen, Christopher S., and Sallie B. King. Engaged Buddhism:
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remak-
Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. Albany, N.Y., 1996.
ing of World Order. New York, 1996. The much-debated
A study of “activist” Buddhism as it adopts missionizing and
thesis that civilizations are founded on religious “tectonic
“social witness” techniques from other traditions and adapts
cultural plates” that may include a number of societies but
them to Asian settings.
tend to violence when they clash.
Rambo, L. R. “Current Research on Religious Conversion.” Reli-
Jeganathan, W. S. M. Mission Paradigms in the New Millennium.
gious Studies Review 8, no. 2 (1982): 146–158. A key sum-
Delhi, India, 2000. An attempt to critically analyze the
mary and evaluation of research conducted in the third quar-
major alternative approaches to missions for the twenty-first
ter of the twentieth century.
century, with particular attention to their social effectiveness.
Reed, James. The Missionary Mind and American East Asia Policy,
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global
1911–1915. Cambridge, Mass., 1983. An argument that
Christianity. New York, 2002. A treatment of new “conserva-
American policy toward East Asia has been shaped by the ex-
tive” movements, Protestant and Catholic, that are rapidly
perience of missionaries (and their children) in the region,
developing in Africa and South America and may displace
giving policy a moralistic flavor.
Euro-American traditions.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York, 1994. A sharp critique
Kim, Yon-tDaek. Protestant Church Growth in Korea. Toronto,
of the views Westerners have projected on the East due to
Canada, 1998. An analysis of the growth of Korean Chris-
the interlock of colonial, imperial, and missiological interests
tianity, among the most rapidly growing missionary move-
that have justified oppressive policies.
ments in the world, with many social effects in South Korea
Sanneh, Lamin O. West African Christianity. Maryknoll, N.Y.,
and abroad.
1983. A study of the ways Christianity came to Africa,
Kopf, David. British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance.
learned from its new environment, exploited the people, and
Berkeley, Calif., 1969. A classic study of the relationship of
simultaneously offered the resources for cultural renewal.
the British raj and the missionary movement, with careful at-
Song, C.-S. The Compassionate God. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1982. One
tention to the effects they had on changing the character of
of several key examples of how indigenization and cultural
Hinduism.
synthesis enters into the process of theological construction
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of the Expansion of Christian-
as religions move into new contexts.
ity. 7 vols. New York, 1937–1945. An extensive historical
Srinivas, M. N. Caste in Modern India. Bombay, India, 1962. A
treatment of the growth of Christianity and its encounter
classic study of how a “nonmissiological” religion expands by
with other religions and cultures.
the incorporation of primal communities and redefines their
Macy, Joanna. Dharma and Development. West Hartford, Conn.,
social rights, duties, and statuses.
1983. A study of the social development and community or-
Stackhouse, Max L. Creeds, Societies, and Human Rights. Grand
ganization efforts undertaken by Therava¯da Buddhist monks
Rapids, Mich., 1984. A comparative analysis of how differ-
and their devotees in Sri Lanka.
ing worldviews and religious orientations support or inhibit
Martin, David. Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Oxford,
the development of human rights, pluralistic society, and
U.K., 2002. A summary of Pentecostal expansion around the
democratic polity.
world, with attention to vibrant movements in Latin Ameri-
Stackhouse, Max L., with Peter J. Paris, eds. God and Globaliza-
ca, Africa, and Asia and the rebound effect in the West.
tion. 4 vols. Harrisburg, Pa., 2000–2005. A compendium of
Marty, Martin E., and R. Scott Appleby, eds. The Fundamentalism
essays by an international team of scholars on how religions
Project. 7 vols. Chicago, 1991–1995. An extensive study of
and ethics have shaped the dynamics and structures of glo-
the resurgence of fundamentalist movements in most of the
balization and are being shaped by them.
world religions, with attention to the motives and probable
Trimingham, J. Spencer. The Sufi Orders in Islam. London, 1973.
consequences.
An analysis of the ways this heterodox movement in Islam
Mattam, J., and P. Arockiadoss. Hindutva: An Indian Christian
has been among the major forces spreading the Muslim faith,
Response. Bangalore, India, 2002. A study of the militantly
especially among “brotherhoods” of traders.
“evangelizing” form of Hindu nationalism that has grown
Walls, Andrew F. The Missionary Movement in Christian History.
since independence and taken control of the government in
Edinburgh, U.K., 1996. A study of the process by which
India.
converts to a tradition seldom leave their older traditions be-
Neville, Robert Cummings, ed. The Human Condition. New
hind entirely but bring them into the new faith and generate
York, 2001.
new syntheses.
Neville, Robert Cummings, ed. Religious Truth. New York, 2001.
MAX L. STACKHOUSE (1987 AND 2005)
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MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
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MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
monastic discipline. But removed from such literary con-
The term Buddhist mission was invented in the 1830s to ex-
texts, constructed grammatically to make the wandering de-
plain the religion’s diffusion throughout Asia, and “mission-
pendent upon the preaching rather than the other way
ary spirit” has been treated as an essential dimension of Bud-
around (which is possible, though against the grain of the
dhist spirituality in virtually all English-language works
commentarial tradition), and translated into biblical English,
about Buddhism composed since. By the 1870s “Buddhist
this passage was easily read as a much-remarked parallel to
mission” had been theorized further by early historians of re-
Jesus’ great (or apostolic) commission (Mt. 28:18–20).
ligions as a key plank in the subsequently ubiquitous disci-
All versions of the legend of King A´soka agree that some
plinary distinction between “missionary” or “world” reli-
favored patriarch of his, directly connected through pupillary
gions (Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity) and “national” or
succession to the Buddha himself, convened a great council
“indigenous” religions (all the rest) which did not expand far
at the conclusion of which monks were sent to “establish the
beyond traditional geographical borders. Two proof-texts
Buddha’s dispensation” (Skt., ´sa¯sana; Pali, sa¯sana) in various
were singled out for citation in Western writings on Bud-
regions. The patriarch himself (or some special disciple) is
dhist mission, namely, the Buddha’s so-called great commis-
said to have taken it to a region that the Buddha or the patri-
sion, and stories about the transmission of his religion associ-
arch had foreseen would be a future Buddhist center. These
ated with the age of King A´soka (third century BCE).
legends, which emerged in oral traditions shortly after A´soka
The “great commission” is an ancient passage found al-
and were composed in their surviving written forms begin-
ready reworked in three canonical Buddha biographies, the
ning around the first century CE, include colorful stories
Maha¯vagga of the Vinaya, the Ma¯rasam:yutta of the Samyutta
about these monks’ encounters in various regions, emphasiz-
Nika¯ya and the Maha¯pada¯nasutta of the D¯ıgha-
ing their supernormal attainments. Though the oft-repeated
nika¯ya. According to these accounts, after attaining enlight-
claim that A´soka himself sponsored this event is unground-
enment and gathering together his first followers (later reck-
ed—in the texts the patriarch, not the king, always provides
oned to be sixty in number), the Buddha, realizing that all
the impetus to hold the council and send the dispensation
of them were already saints (arhats) who required no further
to some far-off region(s)—the portrayal of these texts as
guidance, gave them leave to depart, saying:
“missionary” is understandable, for the basic themes also
constituted important dimensions of nineteenth-century
Wander about on wanderings, monks. For the good of
Christian missionary discourse.
many folk, for the happiness of many folk, out of com-
passion for the world, for the good and happiness of
But the wide divergence among various versions of this
gods and men, don’t two of you go by one [road].
narrative—especially as regards the identity of the patriarch,
Preach the dharma, monks, which is lovely at the begin-
his lineage, his sectarian affiliation, and the future Buddhist
ning, lovely in the middle, lovely at the end, in meaning
center—suggests that they are better viewed as specific, even
and sound. Demonstrate the purified celibate life which
polemical, claims about their own times than as windows
is fully complete. There are beings with little dust in
into actual A´sokan history (there is no mention of Buddhist
their eyes; they are falling away from the dharma for not
councils, nor of the dispensation-transmission, in the known
hearing it. There will be people who understand,
A´sokan epigraphs; scholars now agree that the legendary
monks.
“missions” cannot be read into the diplomatic embassies
According to later reckonings this occurred just after the con-
A´soka does mention). As elaborated below, these stories en-
cluding ceremony (Pali, pava¯ran:a) of the first-ever Buddhist
joyed wide significance among later Buddhists, but in pre-
rains retreat (Pali, vassa), which for subsequent monastic and
colonial times these did not include the claim of nineteenth-
lay Buddhists became an annual time of renewal and recom-
and twentieth-century writers that A´soka, the patriarch, or
mitment.
the “missionaries” (often said to be trying to fulfill the Bud-
dha’s great commission) were manifesting “missionary spir-
The Buddha’s actions in this moment were important
it,” nor is there warrant for assuming that these legends were
to later Buddhists as a watershed in the history of the monas-
read as paradigms and guides for missionary service in the
tic community (sam:gha), especially in the emergence of mo-
same way that the apostolic missions were significant to
nastic discipline (Vinaya). At that time none of the monastic
Christian missionaries.
rules had yet been promulgated—as perfected saints, the first
sixty monks did not require rules. According to the
Little else is cited in writings about “Buddhist mission,”
Maha¯vagga account, however, permitting them to preach to
not only because these problematic examples were consid-
others while wandering about ultimately required the Bud-
ered sufficient proof, but also because apart from them pre-
dha to promulgate the rules one after another because the
modern Buddhists demonstrated no concern with “mission”
people who heard them preach, and sometimes then joined
in its nineteenth-century trappings. Aspects of what Chris-
the order, were not yet themselves enlightened. The passage
tians consider “mission”—preaching, modeling, and advo-
in question was not portrayed as a commission to all Bud-
cating proper behavior; reproducing and disseminating texts;
dhists; the point was that only the first sixty (and presumably
confronting religious others; traveling—certainly did con-
subsequent) saints were free to wander forth unguided by the
cern Buddhists from ancient times, but the premodern tradi-
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MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
tion lacked specialized vocabulary for discussing them as
THE SPREAD OF THE DISPENSATION. Scholars agree on the
“mission” (nor were there words for conversion, missionary
basic chronology of this spread of the dispensation because
spirit, or mission field), and the premodern tradition never
its formal establishment regularly resulted in Buddhist con-
produced missiological literature as such. “Mission” never
struction projects that survive as archaeological evidence, the
figured in the systematic lists of practices, virtues, or spiritual
creation of monastic lineages and schools, and textual ac-
attainments so carefully articulated by Buddhists around the
counts of the event(s), preserved and embellished in the dif-
world.
ferent regions. Even during the Buddha’s lifetime his com-
munity certainly had grown into a sizeable institution spread
Indeed, until the late nineteenth century it was notori-
throughout the kingdoms of northeastern India; traditional
ously the case for Christian missionaries serving in Buddhist
accounts claim that thousands of people ordained or partici-
countries that then-contemporary Buddhists lacked any
pated in the early community as laypeople. The Buddhist
glimmer of “missionary spirit.” During the early nineteenth
presence there and beyond was bolstered by A´sokan stupa
century, Buddhist monks allowed Christian missionaries to
building and other Buddhist projects that he and his succes-
use their temples for rallies and politely refused challenges
sors undertook from the third century BCE to the third centu-
and taunts that they debate comparative doctrine or salva-
ry CE. The earliest archaeological evidence of Buddhist prac-
tion; missionaries regularly complained that Buddhists
tice in the northwest (Kashmir) and far south (Tamil Nadu
would listen to sermons and even enact approbation without
and Sri Lanka) dates from about A´soka’s time, while Bud-
undergoing the existential “conversion” that was a hallmark
dhist texts agree in narrating the establishment of the dispen-
of Christian missionary discourse and expectations. Rather
sation in these secondary centers (Kashmir and Sri Lanka)
than catalyze revision of the (Western, Christian) presuppo-
as part of the A´soka legend itself. The texts chronicle the
sitions that made “mission” an essential dimension of Bud-
northern transmission from Kashmir to modern Iran and
dhist religiosity, however, this actual lack of it was treated
Central Asia from the first century CE onwards in various
as a failure of Buddhists to live up to their own essence.
kingdoms (the last was Tibet, during the seventh to eighth
centuries) and China (first century), and from the latter to
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century writings on Bud-
Korea (fifth century) and thence to Japan (sixth century);
dhist (and Muslim) mission made available for study an
and the southern transmission from northeast and central
“other” mission to juxtapose with Christian mission. This
India to Sri Lanka, and from there (or India directly) to king-
comparative framework originally contributed to Christian
doms in modern Burma (fifth century), the Maldives (sev-
missionary self-confidence, portraying their approach as a
enth century), the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian archipel-
middle-ground between overly forceful (Muslim) mission
ago (fifth century), Thailand (seventh century), Cambodia
and overly tolerant (Buddhist) mission. Beginning in the
(fifth century), southern Vietnam (fifth century), and Laos
1870s, however, a growing number of Western Buddhist
(twelfth century). Later Buddhists as far afield as China and
sympathizers turned this discourse upside-down, using the
southeast Asia sometimes directly extended the A´soka leg-
“tolerance” of Buddhist mission to chastise Christian evange-
end—or even the Buddha’s own preaching career—to in-
lism, a comparison that, eventually internalized by missiona-
clude their own kingdoms.
ries themselves, played an important role in the general aban-
donment of evangelical missions by mainstream Protestant
Like any schematization, however convenient, this one
churches since World War II. At the same time, as men-
is deceptively neat. Archaeological and textual evidence sug-
tioned above, Buddhist mission was central to the classifica-
gests that Buddhists were present in various regions prior to
tion of religions into “world” and “national” types, a classifi-
the formal establishment of the dispensation there, and the
cation whose persistence (sometimes in modified language)
sources leave no doubt that transregional transmissions con-
belies its foundation in fact, despite the problematically
tinued to occur long after. Such efforts included numerous
“missionary” framework through which the global reach
organized Chinese endeavors to bring additional texts and
strongly characteristic only of Buddhism, Christianity, and
practices from India and Sri Lanka (especially from the
Islam has been theorized.
fourth to seventh centuries) and corresponding Indian, Cen-
tral Asian, and Sri Lankan embassies to China (during the
But “Buddhist mission” was an inadequate tool for un-
first to ninth centuries); imperial exchanges of texts and
derstanding pre-nineteenth-century Buddhist history, some-
dharma-masters through which Chinese Buddhist schools
times misconstruing the spread of the dispensation and the
were transplanted in Korea, Japan, and northern Vietnam
functioning of the pan-Buddhist world on the basis of Chris-
(especially during the seventh to the ninth and twelfth centu-
tian presuppositions about how religions expand. Increasing-
ries); formal diplomatic embassies to reestablish monastic
ly employing the context-appropriate language of traditional
higher ordination (upasampada) and transmit texts that trad-
Buddhist historians—who discussed the “spreading out” or
ed the dispensation back and forth among the Therava¯da
“establishment” of (some particular sectarian version of) the
Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambo-
dispensation—recent scholars have been able to better un-
dia, and Laos (from the tenth to twenty-first centuries); and
derstand the various important phenomena hitherto lumped
discussion and comparison of pan-Buddhist philosophies
together as “Buddhist mission.”
and practices at multicultural Buddhist universities (such as
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MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
6079
Na¯landa¯ in modern Bihar, which flourished in the last centu-
texts to dismiss the first sixty saints. The underlying virtue
ries of the first millennium CE) and pilgrimage sites (most
that motivates the Buddha to assent to preach is compassion
importantly Bodh Gaya¯, also in modern Bihar, which con-
(karun:a¯), one of the four “godly states” (brahmaviha¯ra) that
tinued to function as a transregional Buddhist center from
constitutes buddhahood. Compassion is also singled out in
the time of A´soka until about the thirteenth century, and has
the “great commission” passage as the reason monks should
regained that significance from the nineteenth century to the
bother to preach while wandering about, and in the A´soka
present). Chinese translation of Sanskrit and Pali texts ob-
legends compassion motivates the patriarch and his associates
tained in India and Sri Lanka (which was often compared
who established the dispensation abroad. Unlike missionary
with the voluminous output of Christian mission presses)
spirit or the desire to convert others, such compassion for
lasted at least until the eighth century, while Tibetan transla-
others’ suffering figures prominently in lists of virtues and
tions of Indian and Chinese texts only began in the eighth
accomplishments across the Buddhist tradition. In texts
century and Mongolia only received the dispensation, from
about the establishment of the dispensation, the correspond-
Tibet, in the sixteenth century. Many vernacular translation
ing emotion, on the part of the recipient, is pleasure (pasa¯da);
projects around the globe are still on-going. In addition to
in Buddhist hagiography such feelings of pleasure in Bud-
these formal transmissions, groups of Buddhists periodically,
dhist contexts prove ultimately salvific, whether in this or fu-
from the Buddha’s time to the present, have moved into new
ture lives. One of the few technical terms developed by early
regions, establishing at the grass roots their own versions of
Buddhists that could correspond to missionary was pasa¯daka,
the dispensation, at least through their presence, and often
or “pleaser,” signaling the importance of generating this
with much more lasting effect.
emotion on the part of those who would transmit the
dharma.
Further complicating the picture, these transmissions
did not occur according to modern geographical and sectari-
The exercise of such compassion was facilitated by the
an boundaries. Thus there were Buddhists in the Burmese
fact that—unlike contemporary Jains and A¯j¯ıvikas—
kingdoms of Thaton, Pyu, and Arakan by the fifth century,
Buddhists suffered virtually no restrictions on travel; un-
but the (Therava¯da) dispensation was formally established in
like contemporary Brahmans they did not have to adhere
Bagan in the eleventh century, while the continuing presence
to inhibiting dietary or purificatory regimens. Coupled
of northern Buddhist cults and texts in this subsequently of-
with the consistent attraction to Buddhist teachings and
ficially Therava¯da Buddhist region make certain that trans-
practices—perhaps in part for these reasons—evinced by an
missions there were more multiple still. Moreover, in all re-
urban middle class that from the time of A´soka onward was
gions the fortunes of a variety of different Buddhist schools
increasingly involved in transregional trade, these factors
(with different transmission histories) waxed and waned vis-
simply allowed Buddhists to be more mobile than their
à-vis each other as well as non-Buddhist religious orders. And
would-be competitors. Because there were also few restric-
throughout the Buddhist world, especially after it was dislo-
tions on public preaching and no secret doctrines to be
cated by the rise of Asian Islam and virulent “national” reli-
guarded, explications of the dharma must have occurred
gions such as Hinduism in India and Confucianism in China
quite often and naturally wherever Buddhists went. The
(tenth to twelfth centuries) there occurred a process of popu-
public, and no doubt publicized, support that A´soka and
larizing Buddhist teachings and practices through vernacular
subsequent Indian emperors gave the Buddhists would have
literatures and preaching, which effectively involved trans-
increased their presence and prestige in various extra-Indic
missions to people who ostensibly had already been Buddhist
courts and cities.
for centuries. These medieval popularizers—ranging from
the authors of Sinhala devotional writings to charismatic Jap-
In the process, what we might think of as Buddhist tech-
anese figures like Ippen, Shinran, and Nichiren—expressed
nologies quickly circulated across the northern (land-based)
motivations to increase universal access to the dharma, which
and southern (sea-based) Silk Routes. These technologies in-
represents the closest Buddhist approximation of missionary
cluded magical and medical practices and texts (which over-
spirit (mostly confined to what Christians called home mis-
whelmingly dominate the manuscript finds at archaeological
sion). Clearly, the dispensation did not become established
sites along the northern Silk Route); meditative strategies; so-
fully formed in a single moment anywhere in the Buddhist
ciopolitical principles and organizational forms; banking and
world.
even the minting of coins; funerary rites; stone architecture
and sculpture; literature and manuscript preparation; and a
No single reason accounts for all these transmissions;
vernacular (prakrit) language that with minor modifications
scholars have suggested various factors that contributed to
served as a lingua franca throughout South, Southeast, and
the spread of the dispensation. One was certainly a willing-
Central Asia and through systematic translation intersected
ness to share the dharma, which has characterized the whole
the east Asian lingua franca (Chinese). Such technologies
tradition. In the earliest Buddha biographies the Brahmani-
could be adopted or participated in without any further
cal God implores a Buddha who is not inclined to preach
claim upon the participant because there was no formal
that he nevertheless do so “for the good of many folk,” echo-
“conversion” requiring the renunciation of previous religious
ing the precise language the Buddha uses later in these same
ideas and practices. The line between Buddhist and non-
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6080
MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
Buddhist was left gray, it being unproblematic (as far as Bud-
yond the polemics and politics they also effected feelings of
dhists were concerned) to continue practicing previous reli-
gratitude for the efforts made by the “pleasers” who brought
gions, save perhaps in terms of their unproductiveness in the
the dispensation to their kingdoms, renewed commitment
Buddhist context. Those whose interest became more serious
to practice and, at least in the case of Upagupta, hope for
were always free to adopt the five, eight, or ten precepts of
worldly and spiritual assistance, and would have helped culti-
a layperson, or even to take robes. Another beneficial absence
vate that compassion for others that lies at the heart of the
among Buddhists was exclusion based on wealth, class, caste,
tradition.
gender, age, or educational/professional background. These
MODERN BUDDHIST MISSIONS. If the term Buddhist mission
higher levels of participation involved increasingly strict
shows up the danger in cross-cultural application of catego-
disciplinary codes but still nothing approximating the nine-
ries derived from particular religions, it also exemplifies the
teenth-century idea of “conversion.”
powerful impact that scholarly discourses can have upon the
As the Buddhist presence in various kingdoms grew,
actual practice of the religions they analyze. Reared on ac-
and sectarian identities crystallized, Buddhist historians—
counts that read mission into their sacred texts and history,
like their nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western coun-
beleaguered by criticisms that nonmissionary Buddhism is
terparts—tidied up this messy history by composing the re-
moribund, provoked to respond to Christian missionaries,
gional accounts of the establishment of the dispensation
and befriended by Westerners (including Christian and Jew-
(usually attached to A´soka legends) mentioned above. These
ish converts to Buddhism, among the first Buddhist mis-
narratives hierarchically ordered various regional Buddhists
sionaries proper) who though sympathizers with the Bud-
within a single sectarian framework by making the entire re-
dhists remained deeply immersed in missionary thinking,
gional dispensation derivative of (or preparatory for) a single
Buddhists throughout the twentieth century (especially in Sri
original transmission portrayed in the sectarian garb of the
Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Japan) created actual Buddhist
monks and nuns who composed any particular account.
missionary societies in the very image of what Western writ-
These accounts always involve the approbation of a paradig-
ers said they ought to possess.
matic regional king (and archaeological evidence leaves no
Beginning with the founding of the Maha Bodhi Soci-
doubt that the support of royal families and other wealthy
ety in Sri Lanka in 1891, these organizations—now number-
elites did contribute to the religion’s success wherever it
ing in the thousands and spread throughout the world—
went), thereby entailing sectarian appeals to royal power and
incorporated “missionary spirit” as such into their explica-
patronage as well. On the other hand, these narratives locat-
tions of Buddhist religiosity (often based on the “great
ed such regional Buddhist kingdoms and sectarian groups
commission” passage) and declared (first at the World Parlia-
within the larger pan-Buddhist imperial situation and the
ment of Religions in Chicago in 1893) a world Buddhist
larger universal sam:gha of a given period. These larger orga-
mission that has witnessed considerable success in the last
nizational structures involved their own hierarchical order-
century, especially in the West. Simultaneously, they adopt-
ings based on highly contested interpretations of the Bud-
ed and transformed into particularly Buddhist enterprises
dha’s teachings and practices and early Buddhist history; the
numerous Christian missionary strategies, such as scripture
different accounts of the establishment of the dispensation
and tract publication and distribution; “Sunday school” and
were therefore consequential in terms of transregional politi-
other youth movements like the Young Men’s Buddhist As-
cal and religious diplomacy, alliance and enmity, and pres-
sociation (YMBA); revival rallies, temperance, and other so-
tige. As late as the fifteenth century, Burmese ambassador-
cial-reform movements; transregional ecumenical organiza-
monks greeted Sri Lankan hosts by invoking their shared ver-
tion (most notably the World Fellowship of Buddhists,
sion of the A´sokan transmission legend, and even in the
founded in 1956); study of foreign religions (and other
nineteenth-century Burmese chronicle Sa¯sanavam:sa, new
schools of Buddhism) and interfaith dialogue; and the spon-
claims associating this transmission with the kingdoms of
sorship of foreign Buddhist missions (ranging from Sri Lan-
peninsular southeast Asia were advanced.
kan missionaries in India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam,
and Singapore to Japanese missionaries in Hawai’i and
This simultaneously local and transregional significance
California).
helps explain the widespread literary and sometimes liturgi-
cal veneration of the different enlightened monks and nuns
Branch offices and full-fledged temple-monastery com-
who established any particular instance of the dispensation,
plexes representing a variety of Buddhist traditions have been
like Mahinda and Sanghamitta¯ in Sri Lanka, Sona and Ut-
established to serve immigrant Buddhist communities in
tara in Burma, Madhyantika in Kashmir, Padmasambhava
major cities throughout the world, while simultaneously
in Tibet, Bodhidharma in China, and Upagupta throughout
reaching out to non-Buddhists there. The twentieth century
the northern Buddhist world. It also helps explain why the
produced a vast discourse in English (and many other Euro-
details are so contested across the different versions. But be-
pean and Asian languages) that is properly missiological: bi-
cause they were deeply connected with Buddhist identity and
ographies of famous Buddhist missionaries and eulogistic
portrayals of exemplary saints, these stories certainly also had
histories of various Buddhist missions, treatises on Buddhist
more specifically religious significance through the ages. Be-
missionary strategies and calls for expansion of Buddhism
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MISSIONS: BUDDHIST MISSIONS
6081
based on global conversion statistics, discourse about com-
to and including the present; in this sense the bibliography
petitor religions, missionary annuals and keepsake volumes,
on Buddhist mission nearly overlaps with the entire bibliog-
and missionary newspapers and websites. In addition, ver-
raphy on Buddhism or, for that matter, “world religions.”
nacular vocabularies have been developed; the term for Bud-
For an important theoretical statement of the idea of Buddhist
dhist missionary used in southern Buddhist countries,
mission and the configuration of the history of religions ac-
dharmadu¯ta (Skt., “emissary of the teachings,” sometimes
cording to the distinction of “missionary” and “non-
wrongly conflated with the dham:mamaha¯ma¯tas or “righteous
missionary” religions, see F. Max Müller, On Missions: A Lec-
ministers” of the A´sokan inscriptions) was first coined as a
ture Delivered in Westminster Abbey, on December 3, 1873
Sinhala translation of the English word in a Christian mis-
(New York, 1874). Walters’s dissertation (cited above) ex-
plores the sociohistorical context in which “Buddhist mis-
sionary dictionary, published the same year the world Bud-
sion” was invented, reviews the whole genre of nineteenth-
dhist mission was declared. And in the late twentieth centu-
and twentieth-century writings on the topic, and contains
ry, Buddhist missionaries in the West even developed formal
extended emic analyses of the “great commission” and leg-
conversion ceremonies to match the expectations of converts
ends of the A´sokan establishment of the dispensation. The
there.
role of Buddhist mission in the big picture of nineteenth-
This transformation of the religion (especially in elite,
and twentieth-century Buddhology, and alternatives to it, are
explored further in Walters’s Finding Buddhists in Global
Westernized Buddhist circles) as appropriate to the nine-
History (Washington, D.C., 1998).
teenth- and twentieth-century missionary-dominated global
context for understanding and participating in human multi-
The most comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the global
religiosity reflects its unique adaptability to changing local
spread of the religion as a whole, which treats it in a specifi-
cally “missionary” framework, remains Erik Zürcher, Bud-
circumstances (what has been called its “missionary toler-
dhism: Its Origin and Spread in Words, Maps, and Pictures
ance”), perhaps the most important factor underlying all
(New York, 1962); on China in particular see Zürcher’s The
these instances of dharma-transmission. The creation of
Buddhist Conquest of China (Leiden, 1959; reprint, 1972).
modern Buddhist missions was continuous with a long histo-
There have been many similar accounts of the rise and spread
ry of taking up and “Buddhicizing” non-Buddhist religious
of Buddhism in India and abroad, more or less consciously
forms, ideas, and practices that truly does stretch back to the
reproducing this framework; a classic, much-read, and still
time of the Buddha himself; it has been nurtured in this case
readable example of the larger genre is James Bissett Pratt,
by an ability to find new meanings in the ancient Buddhist
The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage (New
texts about preaching and hagiographies of the various
York, 1928). For a reliable scholarly review of the rise and
“pleasers” of significance to different traditions, and by relax-
spread of the early tradition within India, also explained as
Buddhist mission, the standard source remains Étienne La-
ing monastic discipline in contexts where specific minor
motte, History of Indian Buddhism, from the Origins to the
rules prove unfeasible. Its results represent a modern trans-
S´aka Era, translated by Sara Webb-Boin (Louvain-la-Neuve,
mission of the dispensation broader in scope even than the
Belgium, 1988). Egil Lothe, “Mission in Theravada Bud-
legendary accounts of the time of A´soka.
dhism,” Ph.D. diss. (University of Oslo, 1986), is an innova-
tive attempt to read Pali scriptures about preaching for mis-
SEE ALSO A´soka; Sam:gha.
siological insight. For more recent scholarship on the spread
of the dispensation to the different Buddhist regions and
B
their mutual exchanges (in much of which this “missionary”
IBLIOGRAPHY
For all its ubiquity in Buddhological scholarship, “Buddhist mis-
explanation has been abandoned or at least displaced), see the
sion” has actually received little direct scholarly attention.
separate entries on those regional traditions and their bibli-
Though the details of the spread of the dispensation and later
ographies. Readers seeking a general introduction to the rise
exchanges of it, in specific situations, have become increas-
and extent of the pan-Buddhist world would also do well to
ingly well known, the idea itself has remained virtually unex-
consult Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich, eds., The
amined since the 1830s. Probably the earliest use of the En-
World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and
glish term Buddhist mission was in George Turnour’s
Culture (New York, 1984), a richly illustrated collection of
“Examination of the Pali Buddhistical Annals,” Journal of
essays on the different regions composed by eminent
Asiatic Society of Bengal 7, no. 2 (1838): 687, 716–717,
scholars.
1050. Prior to Jonathan S. Walters’s “Rethinking Buddhist
For translations of early texts containing the great commission
Missions,” Ph.D. diss. (University of Chicago, 1992), only
passage in its original literary frames, see C. A. F. Rhys Da-
in one instance (C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Outlines of Buddhism:
vids, trans., The Book of Kindred Sayings (Sam:yutta-nika¯ya),
A Historical Sketch [London, 1938], pp. 90–96) was the con-
vol. 1, pp. 128–159 (London, 1917) (S i.103–27=
struct “Buddhist mission” even questioned (Rhys Davids
Ma¯rasam:yutta); T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids, trans., Dia-
pointed out its inapplicability to the texts about A´soka and
logues of the Buddha (D¯ıgha-nika¯ya), vol. 2, pp. 1–41 (Lon-
its inconsistency with the utter lack of missiological literature
don, 1959) (Maha¯pada¯nasutta=D. ii. 1–54); and I. B.
in the premodern tradition, though she did not totally aban-
Horner, trans., The Book of the Discipline (Vinaya-pit:aka),
don the concept). But it was subsequently mentioned—and
vol. 4: Maha¯vagga, pp. 28–29 (Oxford, 1993). For texts of
often made the underlying historical force—in virtually every
the legends of A´soka and Chinese pilgrims’ accounts see the
English-language work on Buddhism, world religions, and
separate entry on A´soka and its bibliography. An engaging
especially Buddhist history published from Turnour’s day up
primary source for memories of Indian and central Asian
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6082
MISSIONS: CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
dharma-transmitters in China is Kathryn Ann Tsai, trans.,
lem. The second was the adventurous spirit of certain Greek-
Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from
speaking Jews who crossed over a well-marked boundary and
the Fourth to Sixth Centuries (Honolulu, 1994). For the origi-
in Antioch began to proclaim the gospel to non-Jews, appar-
nal text of a legend of a famous monk revered tradition-wide
ently with considerable success. This new Christian perspec-
for success (and adventure) preaching to others, see Joel Ta-
tive was rationalized by Saul of Tarsus, also called Paul, who,
telman, trans., The Glorious Deeds of Pu¯rn:a: A Translation
believing that he had received a commission as apostle of the
and Study of the Pu¯rn:a¯vada¯na (Surrey, U.K., 2000).
Gentiles, worked out a master plan for establishing Christian
An enormous amount of primary ephemera related to modern
groups in all the main centers of the Greco-Roman world.
Buddhist missions exists, but there is not yet a comprehen-
He looked to Rome, and beyond that even to Spain, the
sive scholarly account of them. The fieldwork presented in
western limit of the Mediterranean world.
Lothe’s dissertation (cited above) provides a useful entry
point. A valuable collection of essays by Sri Lankan
So great a project was far beyond the strength of one
Anaga¯rika Dharmapa¯la (1864–1933), the world’s first Bud-
man, but the impulse given by Paul never died. The Chris-
dhist missionary proper, is Ananda Guruge, ed., Return to
tian proclamation was carried out almost entirely anony-
Righteousness: A Collection of Speeches, Essays, and Letters of the
mously; indeed, the names of the founders of the great
Anagarika Dharmapala (Colombo, Ceylon, 1965). The best
churches of the Roman empire remain for the most part un-
documented modern Buddhist mission is to the United
States; for important accounts of the establishment of the
recorded. Yet this early work had surprisingly rapid success.
dispensation there (and in the West more generally), see Rick
Within a century of the death of the founder, churches came
Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History
into existence in many parts of Asia Minor, in Greece, in
of Buddhism in America (Boulder, Colo., 1981); Thomas A.
Italy, in Egypt, almost certainly in France and Spain, and
Tweed, The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–
perhaps even as far away as India. To this day, the Thomas
1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent (Blooming-
Christians in Kerala claim that their church was founded by
ton, Ind., 1992); Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening of the
the apostle Thomas in person.
West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture
(Berkeley, 1994); Richard Hughes Seager, Buddhism in
Whence this rapid success? By around AD 100, many
America (New York, 2000); and Charles S. Prebish and Mar-
more Jews lived outside Palestine than within its borders.
tin Baumann, Westward Dharma: Buddhism beyond Asia
The strict monotheism of the Jewish faith, and the high
(Berkeley, 2002). Paul David Numrich’s Old Wisdom in the
moral standards inculcated by their law, had attracted many
New World: Americanization in Two Immigrant Theravada
to at least a partial acceptance of the Jewish faith, and this
Buddhist Temples (Knoxville, Tenn., 1996) analyzes fascinat-
served for some as a preparation for the Christian gospel. In
ing field data on the sociology of Buddhist mission in Los
that hard and often cruel world, a fellowship of people who
Angeles and Chicago.
really loved one another and cared for one another’s needs
JONATHAN S. WALTERS (2005)
clearly had attractive power. The fervent expectations of the
Christians, both for the world and for the individual, must
have come as a message of hope to those who had none. Jesus
became known as the Savior of the world.
MISSIONS: CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
Mission, the extension of the church beyond its existing
PERSECUTION AND STABILIZATION. The persecutions to
frontiers, has been characteristic of the Christian fellowship
which the early Christians were periodically exposed seem to
from its earliest beginnings. In its claim to universal rele-
have done little to hinder the advance of their faith. Not all
vance, the Christian church resembles the other great mis-
Christians were being persecuted all the time, and the num-
sionary religions, Buddhism and Islam, which are also alike
ber of martyrs was greatly exaggerated in tradition. To be
in looking back to a single historic founder. “Go forth, there-
sure, there were signs of hysteria among the faithful, and
fore, and make all nations my disciples” (Mt. 28:19). It is
some failed to stand fast. But persecution often undermined
perhaps doubtful whether Jesus of Nazareth expressed him-
its own purpose because the courage, dignity, and charity
self in precisely these terms; but there is no reason to suppose
shown by martyrs often won the allegiance and admiration
that his followers gravely misunderstood his intentions. His
of some who might otherwise have remained indifferent.
personal ministry was directed to Jews; but when he found
This has been a recurring phenomenon through the centu-
among non-Jews what he recognized as adequate faith, he
ries up to the great persecution in Buganda in the 1880s, and
showed no inclination to exclude them from his fellowship.
in more recent events in Germany and Russia.
THE EARLY FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. The earliest followers of
The great change in the Christian situation came in 313
Jesus seem to have understood the universal dimension of
when Constantine made Christianity the religion of the em-
their faith as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Isa-
pire at a time when its followers cannot have numbered more
iah, Zechariah), according to which all nations would come
than about 10 percent of the population. From that time on,
up to Jerusalem to receive the law of the Lord in the form
the resemblance between Christianity and the other mission-
of the new covenant in Jesus. Two new factors reversed this
ary religions has been startlingly close. From the time of
original Christian understanding. The first was persecution,
Asoka in India (third century BCE) to Sri Lanka and Thailand
which led to many Christians being dispersed from Jerusa-
in 1983, Buddhism has always maintained close relations
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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6083
with the ruling powers. In all Muslim countries, and in all
iello (1383), king of the Lithuanians, conversion seems to
those which have come under Marxist domination, the iden-
have reached its natural term.
tification of the state with religion or ideology has been un-
Monks and nuns played a creative part in the building
disguised and taken for granted. But since Christians claim
of churches. In the remote places where they settled they in-
to be followers of the Prince of Peace, close connections be-
troduced better methods of agriculture and new crops. They
tween interests of state and interests of religion have proved
laid the foundations of literature in the languages of Europe.
a burden and an embarrassment rather than a help. Justinian,
They gave to isolated peoples a sense of belonging to one
who reigned from 527 to 565, seems to have been the first
great unity: the Catholic Church. Out of these beginnings
Roman emperor to accept coercion as a legitimate instru-
grew the splendid cultures of medieval Europe.
ment of conversion to Christianity.
Missionary activity sometimes took on the form of con-
By the year 600, the Mediterranean world was almost
flict between the old and the new. Such actions as Boniface’s
entirely Christian, with outliers among the Goths, in the ap-
felling the oak of Thor at Geismar must not be misinterpret-
proaches to Inner Asia, in Ethiopia, and in what is now
ed as mere missionary vandalism. The people of that time
Sudan. At the end of the century, Gregory the Great (540–
believed that the powerful spirit who inhabited the oak
604) saw the importance of the world which lay north of the
would be able to take condign vengeance on any intruder,
Alps and which was yet to be converted. Hence the pope’s
thus they expected Boniface to fall dead upon the spot.
mission to the Angles in Kent. This was the first mission of
When he survived, they concluded that the god whom he
the church to be officially organized; it paved the way for the
preached was more powerful than their own.
central control over the missions which Rome exercised for
many centuries.
The Eastern church, with its base in Constantinople,
beginning with the conversion in 988 of Vladimir, grand
A LONG PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTY. In the year 600, it might
duke of Kiev, created the great Slavonic cultures, the Chris-
have seemed that the gospel was destined to carry all before
tian origins of which are not disputed even by Marxist oppo-
it. Then suddenly everything went into reverse. In 610 an
nents of religion. These cultures survived the fall of Constan-
obscure prophet named Muhammad began to preach a new
tinople. During the fifteenth century, the faith was received
faith to the tribes of Arabia. By the time of his death he had
by more remote peoples to the east and north, a process that
given to these tribes unity, a simple demanding creed, and
continued until by the end of the nineteenth century it had
a sense of destiny. Only a century later, the Muslim armies
reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
were at Tours, in the very heart of France, and were repelled
only by the vigor and military skill of Charles Martel (685–
With the great Franciscan and Dominican movements
741). By that time the Christian churches had almost disap-
of the thirteenth century, the missionary enterprise of the
peared in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, and were gravely
Western church looked beyond the limits of Europe; the “fri-
threatened in Persia, North Africa, and large parts of Asia
ars travelling abroad in the service of Christ” reached strange
Minor. In 1453, the Turks succeeded in capturing Constan-
lands far afield. One of their most remarkable achievements
tinople and destroying the Eastern Empire, which for a thou-
was the creation of an archbishopric in Beijing; the first arch-
sand years had been the bulwark of the Christian world.
bishop to fill the post, John of Monte Corvino, lived there
Many causes have been adduced for the disappearance of so
from 1294 to 1328, greatly respected by all. But the church’s
many churches. Military weakness was no doubt one, but
hope of converting the Inner Asian peoples was frustrated by
there were others as well: dissensions among Christians, the
the Muslims’ success in winning them to the Islamic faith.
rise of national feeling in Egypt and elsewhere, and the super-
The lines of communication with Inner Asia were too tenu-
ficiality of conversion in such areas as North Africa, where
ous, however, and in the fifteenth century the mission to
the church had failed to express Christian truth in the lan-
China faded away. For the moment Christian expansion
guages of the local people.
seemed to be at an end.
THE COLONIAL PERIOD. The last decade of the fifteenth
In this period, the wisdom of Gregory was vindicated.
century saw the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492
During the centuries between 632 and 1232, the Christian
and the opening up of the sea route to India by Vasco da
faith spread west, north, and east until the conversion of Eu-
Gama in 1498. These two events changed the relationships
rope was complete. There was a dark side to this advance.
between the nations of the world and in time gravely affected
When at the end of the eighth century Charlemagne suc-
the presentation of the Christian gospel to the non-Christian
ceeded in conquering the long-refractory Saxons, he agreed
world.
to spare their lives on the condition that they accept baptism.
It was only one of many regions in which cross and sword
Roman Catholic monopoly. For two centuries the
went together. In Scandinavia, conversion proceeded more
greater part of the missionary enterprise of the Western
easily. In many areas the ruler was the first to accept the faith,
church was in the hands of the Portuguese, who, following
and this brought about a quiet revolution. Iceland seems to
the precedent of Muslim evangelism in Europe, expected
have been unique in accepting the faith (around 1000) by
their converts to accept Portuguese names, manners, and
genuinely democratic methods. With the conversion of Jag-
customs. There was, however, never total adoption of this
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MISSIONS: CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
principle. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese
A new factor emerged when the Japanese government
had on their hands three considerable blocks of Indian Chris-
showed itself as the great colonial power in the East. Ameri-
tianity. In those possessions which they directly controlled,
can missionaries in Korea sympathized deeply with Korean
the process of Europeanization was almost complete. The
national aspirations and were opposed, though quietly and
Thomas Christians in Kerala and the Parava converts on the
discreetly, to Japanese colonial enterprise.
coast of Coromandel, on the other hand, declared and main-
tained their intention to be and to remain Indian Christians,
Varieties of missionary enterprise. Over two centuries
a stance from which they have not departed in four centuries.
there has been significant diversification of missionary enter-
prise, including the activities of women missionaries, which
Moreover, in these years two notable attempts were
indeed have been far more numerous and diverse than those
made to adapt Christian thought to the ideas and ways of
of men. Almost every conceivable means of communication
Asia. The Italian Matteo Ricci in 1601 succeeded in reaching
has been employed. Education, on the basis of the Christian
Beijing. He and his Jesuit colleagues, by mastering the Chi-
conviction that all truth and all knowledge are from God,
nese language, winning the favor of the emperor and other
has been emphasized. Together with this priority has gone
leaders by their skill in astronomy and other sciences, and
the widespread distribution of Christian literature in count-
by adapting Christian faith to Chinese ideas, were able to
less languages. Medical and social services were conceived
maintain their mission, albeit with varying fortunes, through
and have been rendered by Christians, not as propaganda but
nearly three centuries. In southern India another Italian, Ro-
as manifestations of the universal love of Christ, and they
berto de Nobili, learned Tamil and Sanskrit, and in order
were perceived as such by many who were served. Public lec-
to win over the brahmans turned himself into a brahman,
tures to interested non-Christians have in many areas left
and not without success. Unfortunately, in 1744 Rome con-
deep impressions on the minds of the hearers, though de-
demned all such efforts at adaptation, thereby sterilizing the
bates between the adherents of different religious systems
Roman mission for the next two hundred years.
have tended more to exacerbation than to conviction.
Preaching in the open air in villages and public places has
Internationalization of missions. The Lutherans sent
made many hearers aware of the existence of alternative sys-
their first missionaries to India in 1706. In 1794 the English
tems of belief. Quiet study groups, under the guidance of
Baptists, represented by their great pioneer William Carey
sympathetic Christians, have helped to clarify questions
and his colleagues, set up their work in Bengal. Thus the
about Christian belief. Where no open propaganda has been
enormous resources of the English-speaking world, followed
permitted, the mere presence of loving Christians as neigh-
by those of the Dutch, the Swiss, and Scandinavians, were
bors has proved remarkably effective as witness to the faith.
let loose throughout the world.
The nature of conversion. No full and scientific study
From this time on, relations between the Western gov-
of the process of conversion in the non-Christian world has
ernments and Christian missionary forces became unimagin-
as yet been written. Undoubtedly in a number of cases the
ably complicated. On the whole, the British maintained an
desire for social advancement and a better manner of life has
attitude of lofty neutrality toward missionary activity, modi-
played a powerful part. But is this a blameworthy motive in
fied by the personal interest of a number of Christian govern-
the case of those who have been subjected for centuries to
ment officials. But as government financial aid became avail-
ruthless oppression reinforced by religious sanction? For
able for educational and medical programs and for other
many, the gospel comes with promise of deliverance from the
forms of service, the Christian missionaries in the forefront
power of evil forces which are believed at all times to threaten
of such enterprises profited greatly, perhaps excessively, from
and beleaguer the well-being of humans. For some, the gos-
the provision of such aid. On the other hand, in British India
pel represents an immense simplification of religion. It has
the Indian rulers prohibited all Christian propaganda in their
been stated that in India more people have been converted
areas; religious freedom in India was proclaimed not by the
to Christianity by reading the first three chapters of Genesis
British but by the government of independent India after
1947. In northern Nigeria, the British clearly favored Islam
than in any other way, for the majestic simplicity of these
at the expense of Christianity.
chapters appeals deeply to those perplexed by the complexity
of Hindu mythology. Other converts, oppressed by the bur-
In German, Dutch, and Belgian colonies, the associa-
den of sin, are drawn by the promise of forgiveness in Christ,
tion of governments with missions was undesirably close. In
so different from the inexorable law of karman in Hinduism.
China, because of Napoleon III’s decision that all missiona-
Others, conscious of moral infirmity, have come to believe
ries, of whatever nationality, must be in possession of French
that Christ can offer the inner rehabilitation which they feel
passports, Roman Catholic missions were inevitably stigma-
they need. Yet others have been impressed by the intensity
tized as dangerous and foreign. By contrast, Hudson Taylor,
of mutual love manifest in the society of Christian believers.
the director of the largest Protestant mission, instructed his
Varied as the process may be, in all there is a central unity.
missionaries that in case of trouble they were to turn not to
Christ himself stands at the center of everything. Only when
consular authorities but to the local representatives of the
the risen Christ is seen as friend, example, savior, and lord
Chinese governments.
can genuine Christian conversion be expected to take place.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MISSIONS: CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
6085
Conversion to Christ is not necessarily identical with accep-
and conscience of peoples outside the West, that the Chris-
tance of the church; but in the vast majority of cases this fol-
tian churches in these areas are fragile and exotic blooms that
lows, though this second acceptance may prove to be more
came with the colonial powers, have been dependent exclu-
difficult than the first.
sively on foreign aid and support, and that with the disap-
pearance of the colonial powers these churches will also dis-
Missionary motives. For more than four centuries the
appear. The twentieth century has shown that there is no
Western powers have exercised a dominating influence on
ground at all for these expectations. After the communist
the destinies of the rest of the world. Since so many people,
takeover in China (1949), it was held even by a number of
especially in Muslim countries, have identified the West with
Christians that “missionary Christianity” in China had no
the Christian West, there has been a natural tendency to re-
roots and that there was little if any chance of its survival.
gard Christian missionary enterprise as no more than an ex-
When relaxation of government control occurred in 1980,
pression of Western aggression and imperialism. How far is
however, it was revealed that several million Chinese had re-
there any adequate basis for this equation?
mained faithful to the Christian church. Chinese Christians
Many careful studies of missionary motivation have
have made known their determination to be fully indepen-
been made. Clearly no human motives are entirely pure. But
dent of every kind of foreign control and to work out for
only in a minority of cases can it be shown that national and
themselves a form of Christian faith which will be genuinely
imperialistic motives have played a strong part in missionary
Chinese. Elsewhere, if all foreign support has been compul-
devotion. More frequently the glory of Christ has been the
sorily withdrawn, as in Burma, the churches have simply de-
central and dominant motive. Some missionaries have gone
clared their maturity and have planned for a future of self-
so far in identifying with those they have come to serve as
support and radical independence. Where this has taken
to renounce their own nation and to accept naturalization
place, accessions to the Christian faith have been more nu-
in the countries they have made their own. All have accepted
merous than they were in the flourishing colonial days.
some measure of acculturation in new surroundings. All who
Changing world order. As a world phenomenon, the
have served long years in alien lands have accepted with
Christian church has not remained unaffected by the violent
equanimity the destiny of becoming strangers in their own
changes that have taken place in the troubled modern world.
homes. The number of missionary martyrs is legion, their
During the nineteenth century the dominant nations and the
sacrifice equaled only by the devotion of their friends in
churches which were dependent on them assumed that they
many nations around the world who have also given their
could plant Christian missions wherever they pleased, some-
lives in the service of Christ.
times imposing their will by force on unwilling peoples. In
T
the twentieth century all this has changed. A number of na-
HE TWENTIETH CENTURY. When in 1910 the first World
Missionary Conference was held at Edinburgh, twelve hun-
tions (e.g., Burma, Guinea, Saudi Arabia) prohibit all reli-
dred delegates from all over the world (including, however,
gious activity by foreigners which is directed at native citi-
no Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christians) could look
zens. A number of others make it very difficult for
back on a century of almost unimpeded progress. Converts
missionaries to obtain visas or residence permits. Yet others
had been won from every form of religion. In almost every
(e.g., Nepal) admit missionaries with few restrictions, but
country—a notable exception being Tibet—churches had
only on condition that they engage in what the government
come into existence, and the process by which the foreign
regards as nation-building activities (such as educational or
mission was being transformed into the independent self-
medical services). Where all access is made impossible,
governing church was well advanced.
churches in neighboring areas fall back upon the help that
can be rendered by prayer alone.
The years which followed were marked by a number of
The churches have gladly accepted the claim of these na-
major setbacks to Christian missionization, such as the Rus-
tions to independence and national dignity. No case is on
sian revolution and the fading of religion in many Western
record of a missionary leaving his or her assignment through
communities. Yet the World Christian Encyclopedia, edited
unwillingness to accept the changed conditions of service.
by David B. Barrett (1982) makes it plain that the achieve-
Christian witnesses have desired to stay on and to become
ments of the prior seventy years had been greater than those
in fact what they always wanted to be—servants of those to
of the preceding century. For the first time in history the pos-
whom they came to minister. Even in China missionaries
sibility of a universal religion appeared a reality. Roughly
stayed on until it became clear that there was no longer any
one-third of the inhabitants of the world had come to call
useful service that they could render. From Burma and other
themselves Christians. The progress of Christian missions
areas, foreigners withdrew because they felt that their work
continues in almost every area of the world. In India, Chris-
was done, since the local churches could carry on without
tians, already the third largest religious community after
their aid, and that their continued presence might embar-
Hindus and Muslims, are also the most rapidly increasing in
rass—and possibly endanger—their Christian friends. Some
number.
have been deported, at very short notice, for political reasons.
Hostile critics of the Christian enterprise have main-
Anti-Western sentiments and resentments have been
tained that the gospel has failed to touch deeply the mind
strong in many countries of the world since the end of the
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MISSIONS: CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
nineteenth century. Since 1947, decolonization has taken
in the remarkable resuscitation in the twentieth century of
place with quite unexpected rapidity. Yet wounds remain.
the ancient non-Christian faiths. Rediscovering the treasures
Some nations have desired to emancipate themselves from
of their own past, non-Christians feel able to approach
Western influences, but this has proved impossible. The
Christians with renewed confidence and a sense of security.
more far-sighted leaders have seen it as their task to retain
The Buddhist knows himself to be in contact with the great
all that is valuable in the Western inheritance and at the same
mystery of nothingness, the Hindu to be in contact with the
time to assert or to rediscover the integrity of their own na-
unchangeable mystery of infinite being, the Muslim with the
tional traditions.
mystery of the infinite exaltation of God. There need be no
Christian doubt about the greatness of these religions. Chris-
From foreign mission to independent church. The
tian and non-Christian alike have much to teach one another
major change in the twentieth century was the process of
in a manner different from that of the past.
transfer of power from foreign mission to independent local
church, a process almost complete by the end of the century
The basis of this approach is a conventional rationale of
in almost every country in the world. The churches in some
mutual respect. Through centuries millions of men and
emerging nations think that the process has not gone fast
women have lived by the teachings that they have received
enough or far enough; that it is on the way cannot be doubt-
in these various religions, and, therefore, these may not be
ed by any observer of the process of change. Where churches
treated as though they did not matter, even though some of
are still wrestling with the problems and the prejudices of the
their teachings may be displeasing to the adherents of other
past, they may be unwilling to accept the help of foreigners.
religions. So one who engages in dialogue with those of faiths
Where they have reached maturity, as in India and Korea,
other than his own must come to it in the spirit Chaucer de-
and are becoming aware of the immense tasks still before
scribed in the words “gladly would he learn and gladly
them, they are in many cases glad to accept the help of for-
teach.” Confident in the value of what he has experienced
eigners, provided that these are prepared to keep their proper
through his own faith, the Christian is able to delight in ev-
place and to accept only such responsibilities for service or
erything that he learns from others of what is true and good
leadership as the local church may lay upon them. Nor need
and beautiful, and at the same time maintain his hope that
it be supposed that all missionaries will be from the Western
those who have seen in their own faith what he must judge
world; missionary interchange among developing nations is
to be partial may come to find the full-orbed reality of the
one of the most interesting features of the contemporary situ-
true, the good, and the beautiful as he himself has seen it in
ation.
Jesus Christ. If mission is understood in this sense, some of
the asperities of the missionary approach in the past may be
The independence of churches outside Europe and
mitigated.
North America is increasingly shown in a number of remark-
able ways. One that has attracted considerable attention is
A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF MISSION. Almost all Christians
the rise of African independent churches, all of which have
who are members of churches outside Europe and North
grown out of the mission-controlled churches of the past.
America are conscious of belonging to a single great world-
Some of these are unorthodox. But the great majority desire
wide fellowship, regardless of the denominational label they
to remain part of the main lines of the Christian tradition
may bear. Several, though not all, are ardent supporters of
and have yet to create for themselves a place in which to feel
contemporary ecumenical movements for the unity and re-
at home, to think out the gospel for themselves, and to de-
newal of the church. But they too are almost at one in hold-
cide for themselves which of the ancient traditions of Africa
ing that reconsideration of the meaning of the term mission
can be retained within the Christian structure. Many Chris-
is long overdue. Those who have traveled in the lands of
tians, even in the mainstream churches outside the West, are
older Christian traditions and sensed the decay in Christian
rethinking their own past in the light of divine providence,
allegiance of many in these countries are inclined to think
expecting to find signs of the working of God no less in their
that mission should be labeled as a product intended for uni-
own pre-Christian history than in the special history of
versal and international export. In the past, the gospel trav-
which the Old and New Testaments are the record. Some
eled across continents and oceans almost exclusively in one
in India, for example, have suggested that the Upanisads are
direction. Has not the time come to establish two-way traffic,
the real “old testament” of the Indian Christian and should
to have the gospel travel across continents and oceans in
take rank at least on the same level as the Hebrew scriptures.
many directions? If this is true, the word mission may be in
The nature of this quest is neatly summed up in the title of
need of new and contemporary definition.
a book by Raimundo Panikkar, The Unknown Christ of Hin-
SEE ALSO Christianity; Constantinianism; Ecumenical
duism (New York, 1981). Genuinely indigenous theology is
Movement; Persecution, article on Christian Experience.
still in its beginnings, and it has to be confessed that the reap-
ings in this field are still rather scanty; but what there is gives
promise of a richer harvest in days to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Church-
One reason for the Christian quest to discover Christ
es and Religions in the Modern World, A. D. 1900–2000, ed-
beyond the historical bounds of Christendom is to be found
ited by David B. Barrett (Oxford, 1982), is an astonishing
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MITHRA
6087
repertory of information about the Christian faith and all
MITHRA. After Ahura Mazda¯ and together with Ana¯hita¯,
other faiths in all the countries of the world. The Concise Dic-
Mithra is one of the major deities of ancient Iran, one that
tionary of the Christian World Mission, edited by Stephen C.
later crossed the borders of the Iranian world to become the
Neill, Gerald H. Anderson, and John Goodwin (Nashville,
supreme god of a mystery religion popular throughout the
1971), gives in much more condensed form information on
Roman Empire. In the Avesta and the later Zoroastrian liter-
almost every aspect of the Christian mission. By far the most
extensive survey of the whole field is K. S. Latourette’s A His-
ature Mithra turns up frequently; indeed, an entire Avestan
tory of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 vols. (New York,
hymn is dedicated to him (Yashts 10). He was also the subject
1937–1945), to be supplemented by the same writer’s Chris-
of the Mithraka¯na, a great festival that took place annually
tianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the
in the seventh month of the Zoroastrian calendar, which was
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 5 vols. (New York,
itself dedicated to him. He is known to us from many other
1958–1963). My own Christian Missions (Baltimore, 1964)
sources: in the inscriptions of the Achaemenids, beginning
has gathered together information from many parts of the
with Artaxerxes II (404–359 BCE), he is mentioned and in-
world.
voked together with Ahura Mazda¯ and Ana¯hita¯; on the coins
No satisfactory history of Roman Catholic missions exists; the best
of the Kushan empire he is named as Mioro and is depicted
so far is Histoire universelle des missions catholiques, 4 vols., ed-
as a solar deity; in Parthian and Sogdian Manichaeism he is
ited by Simon Delacroix (Paris, 1956–1958). No English
the tertius legatus; in Persian Manichaeism, he appears as the
work on Eastern Orthodox missions can be recommended.
spiritus vivens; and so forth.
Two works in German by Josef Glazik, Die russisch-orthodoxe
Mithra is essentially a deity of light: he draws the sun
Heidenmission seit Peter dem Grossen (Münster, 1954) and
with rapid horses; he is the first to reach the summit of
Die Islammission der russisch-orthodoxe Kirche (Münster,
1959), are classic.
Mount Hara¯, at the center of the earth, and from there
watches over the entire abode of the Aryans; he shines with
Special studies of many areas are available. For China, K. S. Latou-
his own light and in the morning makes the many forms of
rette’s A History of Christian Missions in China (New York,
the world visible. If his name is synonymous with the word
1929), is authoritative up to the date of publication. A reli-
mithra, meaning “contract, covenant,” as Antoine Meillet
able survey of what has been happening in China since 1948
(1907) suggests, his functions are not restricted to merely
remains to be written. My History of Christianity in India, 2
personifying that notion. In the Iranian world, besides being
vols. (Cambridge, 1984–1985), provides substantial cover-
age. For Africa, C. P. Groves’s The Planting of Christianity
a deity of light with strong solar characteristics (which ex-
in Africa, 4 vols. (1948–1958; reprint London, 1964), is a
plains his identification with the Mesopotamian Shamash),
work of patient research but is overweighted on the Protes-
Mithra has a clear significance as a warrior god. Thus, in rela-
tant side.
tion to the gods of the Indo-Iranian pantheon, he is closer
to Indra than to the Vedic Mitra. He also, however, has the
Countless lives of Christians, Western, Eastern, and African, have
traits of a divinity who ensures rain and prosperity and who
been written, but almost all the older works need to be re-
protects cattle by providing it ample pasturage.
written in the light of modern knowledge. As a notable ex-
ample of a biography of a twentieth-century saint, mention
The cult of Mithra, together with that of Ana¯hita¯, con-
may be made of Hugh Tinker’s The Ordeal of Love: C. F. An-
stitutes the principal innovation of Zoroastrianism as it
drews and India (New York, 1979). Georg Schurhammer’s
evolved after Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) and represents its
Francis Xavier: His Life, His Times, 4 vols. (Rome, 1973–
major compromise with ancient polytheism. It was probably
1982) is a superb example of what can be achieved by intense
Mithra’s role as defender and guardian of asha, truth and
industry continued over almost sixty years.
order—the fundamental principle of earlier Indo-Iranian re-
Peter Beyerhaus’s The Responsible Church and the Foreign Mission
ligion, as well as of Zoroastrianism—that redeemed him
(London, 1964) is a pioneer work on the transformation of
from Zarathushtra’s original general condemnation of poly-
a foreign mission into an independent local church. The
theism.
works of Roland Allen, especially Missionary Methods: St.
Paul’s or Ours?, 6th ed. (London, 1968), let loose question-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ings and discussions which have continued to the present
Bivar, A. D. H. The Personalities of Mithra in Archaeology and Lit-
day.
erature. New York, 1998.
On the Christian confrontation with the non-Christian religions,
Boyce, Mary. “On Mithra’s Part in Zoroastrianism.” Bulletin of
the World Council of Churches in Geneva has published a
the School of Oriental and African Studies 32 (1969): 10–34.
whole series of valuable books, under the editorship of Stan-
Boyce, Mary, and Frantz Grenet. A History of Zoroastrianism, vol.
ley J. Samartha. On contemporary trends in mission think-
3. Leiden, 1991.
ing and theology, the interconfessional and international se-
de Jong, Albert. Traditions of the Magi. Zoroastrianism in Greek
ries “Mission Trends,” edited by Gerald Anderson and
and Latin Literature. Leiden, 1997.
Thomas Stransky (Ramsey, N. J., 1974–), will be found full
of up-to-date and relevant information on almost all matters
Dumézil, Georges. Les dieux souverains des Indo-Européens. Paris,
related to the Christian mission.
1977.
Gershevitch, Ilya, trans. and ed. The Avestan Hymn to Mithra.
STEPHEN C. NEILL (1987)
Cambridge, 1959.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6088
MITHRAISM
Gershevitch, Ilya. “Die Sonne das Beste.” In Mithraic Studies, ed-
as was made consisted in the description of new statues and
ited by John R. Hinnells, vol. 1, pp. 68–89. Manchester,
reliefs, but much Mithraic imagery remained unintelligible,
1975.
and thus prey to speculative evocation.
Gnoli, Gherardo. “Sol Persice Mithra.” In Mysteria Mithrae, ed-
Given the essentially enigmatic character of the icono-
ited by Ugo Bianchi, pp. 725–740. Leiden, 1979.
graphical evidence, the device of allegorical interpretation
Lentz, Wolfgang. “The ‘Social Functions’ of the Old Iranian
could only be challenged by an appeal to history. Although
Mithra.” In W. B. Henning Memorial Volume, edited by
Georg Zoega (1755–1809) had stressed the possible role of
Mary Boyce and Ilya Gershevitch, pp. 245–255. London,
the Persian magi and the Cilician pirates mentioned by Plu-
1970.
tarch, Pompeius 24, 631c, in transmitting the cult of Mithra
Meillet, Antoine. “Le dieu indo-iranien Mitra.” Journal asiatique
from the East, a substantial effort at historicization was only
10 (1907): 143–159.
possible once James Darmesteter (1849–1894) published his
Schmidt, Hanns-Peter. “Indo-Iranian Mitra Studies: The State of
translation of the Iranian sacred books, the Zend-Avesta
the Central Problem.” In Études mithriaques, edited by
(1892–1893).
Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, pp. 345–393. Tehran and
Liège, 1978.
In 1889, inspired by the model of the Egyptian cult of
Thieme, Paul. Mitra and Aryaman. New Haven, 1957.
Isis, the Belgian scholar Franz Cumont (1868–1947) ad-
vanced a view of the cult of Mithras as a syncretistic borrow-
Windischmann, Friedrich. Mithra: Ein Beitrag zur Mythengesch-
ing from Zoroastrian dualism, through the medium of
ichte des Orients. Abhandlungen für die Kunde Morgen-
Greek-speaking Iranian priests (magousaioi) who, he
landes, vol. 1.1. Leipzig, 1857.
claimed, remained active in Anatolia after Alexander’s con-
GHERARDO GNOLI (1987)
quest of the Persian Empire (336–330 BCE). Although no
Translated from Italian by Roger DeGaris
Iranian antecedent could be found for Mithras killing a bull
(rather than Ahriman, the principle of evil; or the Saoshyant,
at the end of the world), much of the iconography could, he
MITHRAISM. The name Mithraism, with its equiva-
thought, be referred to Zoroastrian precedent and thus ex-
lents in other languages, is a modern term for a cult known,
plained. Cumont’s main work (1896–1899), supported by
at least to Christian writers and in later antiquity, as “the
a full archaeological inventory, provoked what would now
mysteries of Mithras,” but for which the most neutral term
be called a paradigm shift and continued to be the dominant
is “the Roman cult of Mithras.” Its usual organization was
account until the early 1970s. Its decline was provoked by
based on small, exclusively male groups that gathered for sac-
two independent developments. First, the ever more hypo-
rificial meals in honor of the originally Indo-Iranian god
thetical claims made by certain Iranists, for example Geo Wi-
Mitra/Mithra/Mithras. Owing to the virtually total loss of
dengren’s (1907–1996) theories about ancient, non-
ancient discursive accounts, almost all important aspects of
Zoroastrian, Iranian religion, including the role of Aryan
the cult are more contentious. Much of what passes as re-
warrior-societies (Männerbünde) and supposed analogies
ceived knowledge about Mithraism has little or no evidential
with a Mazdakite revivalist sect, the al-Babakiyah, or Leroy
basis.
A. Campbell’s obsessively precise translation (1968) of every
particular of Roman Mithraic imagery into Zoroastrian
HISTORY OF RESEARCH. The mythological compilations of
terms, tended to discredit the very idea of direct transmis-
the High Renaissance, particularly L. G. Giraldi’s De deis
sion. Second, it came to be realized that the Roman cult was
gentium (1548), assembled virtually all the classical texts re-
much more independent of its presumed Iranian origins than
lating to the god Mithras, then identified with Helios-
Cumont allowed—by contrast with the cases of Cybele, Isis,
Apollo, but these provided no coherent account either of the
and Iuppiter Dolichenus, for example, which were certainly
god or of the Roman cult. However, a handful of inscribed
maintained in the western Empire at least in part by actual
reliefs from Rome and elsewhere showing Mithras stabbing
Anatolian and Egyptian priests, there were traces in the West
a bull to death enabled antiquarians such as Martin de Smet/
neither of the magi (magousaioi), nor of a fire-cult, nor of
Smetius (c. 1525–1578) and Steven Pigge/Pighius (1520–
Mithra as god of the contract. As a result, with one or two
1604) to correctly identify them. Throughout the early mod-
exceptions, Iranists have now abandoned Mithraism to clas-
ern period to 1700, the key text was Statius Thebais 1.719f.:
sical archaeologists and historians of Greco-Roman religion.
Persaei sub rupibus antri—indignata sequi torquentem cornua
Mithram, “[Apollo addressed as the god] who, beneath the
Since the 1970s, research has moved in three directions,
rocks of a Persian cave, twists the resistful horns—Mithras.”
all of which emphasize in different ways the Greco-Roman
The god’s act in stabbing the bull to death was understood
character of the cult. The first, picking up a suggestion by
as an allegory of the Sun’s role in furthering agricultural fer-
the Swedish scholar Martin P. Nilsson that Mithraism was
tility; indeed the god himself was often interpreted as the
the invention of an unknown religious genius, starts from the
Good Husbandman. This assumption that Mithras was sim-
assumption that it was founded in Rome or Italy in the first
ply another name for the Sun-god underpinned all impor-
century CE and stresses its integration into the hierarchical
tant studies over the following two centuries; such progress
social system of the Empire (Merkelbach, 1984; Clauss,
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MITHRAISM
6089
2000). Another approach has concentrated on the enigma of
Heddernheim/Frankfurt (Germania) and Carnuntum (Pan-
the bull-killing scene, and, in a reversion to Renaissance
nonia); sometimes in connection with the organized collec-
techniques of allegory, read it as a star-map, evoking either
tion of tolls, such as at Novae (Moesia Inferior) and Pons
a particular season or an identification between Mithras and
Aeni (Raetia); and elsewhere again in relation to private har-
a constellation (Orion, Perseus, Auriga . . .) (e.g., Ulansey,
bour activities (Caesarea Maritima, Judaea). The earliest dat-
1991). A third approach has emphasized the cult’s local di-
able evidence from Rome, of the same period, is a statue,
versity in the Roman world, employing the techniques of the
dedicated by a trusted, evidently rich slave of the Praetorian
“new” archaeology to establish new facts—for example, the
Prefect, of Mithras killing the bull. Such a pattern provides
contrast between the “Italian” sacrificial diet of at least some
no clear support either to any strong Iranian thesis yet pro-
Mithraists in the northwest Empire (chickens, piglets) and
posed nor to the more recent idea that the cult was founded
the “Gallo-German” diet of local soldiers (mainly beef), or
in Italy; nor does the idea of a transition between a Lycian
the probable date of particular celebrations (Martens and de
mountain-top cult and a private dining cult celebrated in
Boe, 2004). Such facts have little to do with belief as tradi-
pseudo-caves seem especially compelling.
tionally understood, but emphasize instead the cult’s lived
ritual practice. At the same time, the archaeological evidence
Three weak Iranian scenarios have been offered, two of
has greatly increased both in quantity and in quality: well
them emphasizing the cult’s interest in astral-astrological
over sixty Mithraic temples (modern term: mithraeum) were
phenomena. One of these is that a group of Stoicizing philos-
excavated between 1934 and 2004.
ophers in Tarsus (Cilicia) seized upon the phenomenon of
O
the “precession of the equinoxes” (the very gradual move-
RIGINS. Generally speaking, Iranists have wanted to find,
like Cumont, a strong Iranian kernel, an actual pre-existing
ment of the fixed stars around the pole of the ecliptic) sup-
Iranian cult or myth. The main obstacle here has always been
posedly discovered by Hipparchus in the late second century
the energetic filtering of nonorthodox traditions from the
BCE. This group interpreted it as a “movement of the great
Pahlavi sacred books of Zoroastrianism. Moreover it is diffi-
cosmic axis,” and made this into the central secret of a preex-
cult to isolate a meaningful group of distinctively Iranian fea-
isting local cult of Mithras, now identified as the constella-
tures of the Roman cult. Indeed, one can list only the god’s
tion Perseus (Ulansey, 1991). Each one of these claims has
name itself, the god Areimanius, and two apparently Old
been hotly disputed; the thesis rests undeniably upon misun-
Persian words, nama (“Hail!”) and nabarze(s), the latter of
derstandings both of Hipparchus and of his ancient recep-
which is not recorded as such in Iranian sources but is found
tion. The second scenario is that the cult emanated from the
in the aristocratic personal name Nabarzanes. Moreover, if
court of Commagene, which had both the requisite Irano-
the cult had entered the Greco-Roman world from the east-
Hellenic culture and familiarity with astrological lore, and
ern part of Anatolia (Cappadocia, Armenia Minor, Comma-
which was dispersed early in the Flavian period (72 CE)
gene), or from Parthia, one would have expected, as with
(Beck, 1998). By contrast, the third, quasi-Cumontian sce-
Cybele, Isis, Iuppiter Dolichenus, and early Christianity, a
nario focuses on the Mithraic magical gems and sees the ori-
clear pattern of evidence documenting its progress from east
gins of the Roman cult in the lore of Hellenized magi offer-
to west.
ing magical healing at centers of existing mystery-cults, such
as Samothrake (Mastrocinque, 1998).
It is because it appears to provide such a bridge that Plu-
tarch’s statement that the Cilician “pirates” worshiped
Whatever the merits of these suggestions, it seems intu-
Mithra by means of special rites (teletai) on Mount Olympus
itively more plausible to suppose that the Roman cult devel-
in Lycia-Pamphylia during the late Republic (c. 67 BCE), and
oped, or was created, in the late Hellenistic or early imperial
still did so in his own day, has to many seemed so decisively
period out of the debris of ancient Iranian cult in Anatolia
important. However to single out this cult (which is not Cili-
rather than that it was a genuine esoteric development
cian but Lycian) is to overvalue one among several attested
among certain pre-Sassanian Zoroastrians somehow mediat-
local cults of Mithra) in Hellenistic Anatolia simply because
ed across the culture gap between the Parthian and Roman
it happens to be found in a written text and to take for grant-
Empires. Theophoric names, such as Mithres, Mithradates,
ed what needs to be demonstrated, namely that Plutarch
and Mithratochmes, are widespread in Anatolia; by contrast
mentions it because he already knew about “our” Mithraism.
with the case of Ana¯h¯ıta, no major temple of Mithra survived
While that is not absolutely impossible in the period 110 to
the conquest, and such worship of him as continued must
120 CE, it is much more likely that Plutarch was interested
have been mainly private and local. Yet hints of the sporadic
in Mithra(s) for the same reason that he was interested in Isis
existence of public cult have turned up in western Anatolia,
and Osiris, namely because, as a Platonist, he welcomed the
including Mithras-Helios at Oenoanda (Lycia) and a tanta-
late Stoic view that foreign mythologies contained traces of
lizing but hopelessly fragmentary link between Mithras and
the truth revealed in primitive religion. However that may
the magi in relation to a temple in northwest Phrygia. One
be, archaeologically speaking the cult is documented only
possibility is that the Mithrakana, the Iranian Fall festival,
170 to 190 years later, in the mid-Flavian/early Trajanic pe-
which continued to be celebrated in some places, was appar-
riod, more or less simultaneously in a number of widely scat-
ently restricted to men, and involved bull-sacrifice, provided
tered sites, sometimes in military contexts, such as at
the stimulus for the invention of a private Hellenistic cult
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MITHRAISM
of moral self-affirmation, of the kind known from Philadel-
a relatively homogeneous social stratum. The evidence, such
phia (Lydia), whose rules were allegedly revealed to a certain
as it is, however, indicates instead a continuous expansion of
Dionysios by Zeus Eumenes around 100 BCE (Barton and
social and geographical range well into the fourth century,
Horsley, 1981).
and a gradual acceptance as a Roman cult. A list of ninety-
However it is to be explained, the reappearance within
eight members accruing to a mithraeum in Virunum (Nori-
the Roman cult of four themes already linked with Mithra
cum) over a period of some eighteen years (183–201 CE)
in the Avestan Mithra-Yaˇst cannot be accidental: association
confirms that the typical urban adherent either occupied
with light, mighty strength, the bestowal of life and fortune,
some function within imperial or local administration, as at
and knowledge of human actions. It is certainly important
Poetovio (Pannonia Superior), or belonged, as at Ostia, to
to remember that there is no archaeological trace of Chris-
the more prosperous urban craft-population descended from
tianity’s westward progress in the first and second centuries
freedmen: the great majority of cognomina are Latin, imply-
CE, but, unlike Christianity, worshipers’ relation to Mithras
ing that their holders were at least second-generation citizens;
was to a significant degree based on vows and votive offer-
there are twenty-three Greek cognomina, two Celtic names,
ings, which required fixed places of worship where they
and only one (private) slave. Moreover, not a single woman
could be set up. This point suggests a rapid, almost explosive,
is listed: the repeated attempts to show that women might
expansion in the Flavian period of one among several local
belong to the cult are wishful thinking (Piccottini, 1994).
Anatolian cults of Mithras, a cult which must already have
Recent discoveries in the northwest provinces suggest that
been a bricolage of Iranian, Anatolian, and Hellenic themes.
the belief that the cult was mainly attractive to soldiers is an
The scheme of the tauroctony itself is evidently borrowed
error based on the accident of excavation: in this area, practi-
from that of Nike (Victory) sacrificing, a type which experi-
cally every vicus, even some villas (large farms), now appear
enced a marked revival in the Flavian, then in the Trajanic,
to have had a mithraeum. Nevertheless, the discovery of a late
period. Whether this successful cult was first practiced in
second- to early third-century mithraeum inside the house of
Commagene, further north (Cappadocia, reduced to provin-
the military tribunes of senatorial rank (tribuni laticlavii) in
cial status by Vespasian), or further west (Phrygia, Lycia) is
the permanent camp of Legio II Adiutrix at Aquincum (Pan-
unknown; the handful of Anatolian mithraea so far discov-
nonia Inferior) both attests to the continuation of the early
ered are later and may be due to Roman influence.
association between Mithraism and the military and suggests
THE ROMAN CULT. Two main difficulties, both exemplified
one likely means whereby the cult eventually came to the no-
in the work of Cumont (and many others), have stood in the
tice of the social elite.
way of an adequately historical account of Mithraism. One
The early archaeological evidence in the West confirms
is the unitarian belief that evidence widely scattered in space
that three fundamental features of the cult were already es-
and time could legitimately be fitted together to produce an
tablished on its appearance in the Roman world: Mithras’s
account of a single, essentially unchanging, religion; the
cult title as (Deus) Sol Invictus Mithras, “Mithras, the divine
other is its classification as an oriental mystery-cult. The first
never-vanquished Sun”; the interpretation of Mithras’s act
legitimated the reading of monuments from different periods
of killing the bull in both a cosmological and an anthropo-
as evidence for the same unchanging reality; perhaps even
logical sense; and a highly original conception of the
more seriously, texts were treated as atemporal sources,
mithraeum as sacred space, ambiguous between natural cave
blithely disregarding the argumentative contexts within
and human construct, between temple-cella and sacrificial
which the supposed information occurred. The second
dining room, and between a meeting place and a coded rep-
meant that Mithraism was absorbed into a larger discourse
resentation of the cosmos as a whole. Although the earliest
about the originality and status of pagan religious thought,
evidence for a narrative that framed and commented on the
whose real subject was the priority or otherwise of the truth-
central bull-killing act is late-Antonine, parts of it must have
claims of Christianity: the category mystery-religion was an
existed long before: the earliest evidence (140–160 CE) for
invention of German Protestant historiography of the 1880s.
an initiation ritual is the representation on a krater from
Although the construction of typologies, for example, that
Mainz (Germania Superior) of a seated member of the high-
of Ugo Bianchi (1979), may help to highlight major similari-
est grade, Pater (Father), aiming an armed bow at a cowering
ties and distinctions, they necessarily depend on received
naked initiand, in a clear reference to Mithras’s mythical act
views and cannot respond to the implications of new discov-
in shooting an arrow to produce a stream that gushes from
eries, which may be considerable in the case of cults for
a rock (Beck, 2000). This in turn suggests that one motive
which, as with Mithraism, the evidence is almost entirely ar-
for representing scenes of the sacred narrative was to establish
chaeological. Moreover, it seems advisable on principle to
mythic charters or analogies for initiatory and other ritual
disregard all evidence attested solely by Christian sources and
events. On the other face of the Mainz vessel is the earliest
wherever possible to rely on internal Mithraic evidence, such
surviving representation of at least three of the grades: Miles
as the verse-lines from the Santa Prisca Mithraeum in Rome,
(Soldier), Pater, and Heliodromus (Messenger of the Sun),
circa 210 to 230 CE (Vermaseren and Van Essen, 1965).
who form a procession moving to the left. The rear is taken
A Weberian model would suggest a wide initial appeal
up by a smaller, fourth figure with a raised staff, perhaps a
crossing social boundaries, followed by consolidation within
Corax (Raven). This procession has been interpreted as a rit-
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6091
ual reenactment within the mithraeum of the sun’s course
which established the terms of the asymmetrical relationship
along the ecliptic (Beck, 2000).
between gods and men. It also offered a distinctive myth of
the origin of cosmic order and civilized life (fire, agriculture).
All this suggests that what was initially attractive about
Ethically, the cult seems to have imposed strict self-discipline
the cult of Mithras was its integration of a distinctive (albeit
(Porphyry, De antro 15); soteriologically, it offered the
generically familiar) cosmogony and cosmology with an
promise of a gradual, differentiated, self-identification with
image of a physically and morally steadfast hero, submissive
Mithras. For example, the bull-killing scene has rightly been
to the will of the gods, a sort of Persian Herakles. One of
seen as representing an epiphanic moment (Zwirn, 1989);
the few genuinely internal statements we possess, from the
the grade Leo (Lion) evidently had a mystic link with that
Santa Prisca Mithraeum in Rome, runs: Atque perlata
animal, which exists simultaneously on earth and in heaven
humeris tuli[t] m[a]xima divum, “And he has borne on his
shoulders the gods’ behests, to the very end” (Vermaseren
(the constellation) and appears in numerous, albeit to us un-
and Van Essen, 1965: 204–205, line 9). Mithras offered a
intelligible, contexts in the iconography; the Pater in the pro-
model, directed exclusively at men, of personal submission.
cession scene at S. Prisca is represented as the god receiving
This model was enforced, in evidently dramatic ways, by the
the initiates. The principal ritual means of this self-
humiliation, pain, and fear to which initiates were exposed,
identification was the shared sacrificial meal, which alluded
as on the Mainz vessel, and still more clearly in the podium
to that eaten by Mithras and Helios/Sol (the Sun-god) im-
paintings at S. Maria Capua Vetere (c. 220–240
mediately after the butchery of the bull, on a couch (kline)
CE) (Ver-
maseren, 1971).
covered by its skinned hide, during the course of which the
gods ate the grilled splangkna (heart, liver) and drank pure,
At the same time, the death of the bull was interpreted
unmixed wine. The krater containing this wine appears to-
as salvific: another (damaged) line at S. Prisca reads: Et nos
gether with a snake and a lion on many German reliefs, and
servasti . . . sanguine fuso, “And you have saved us . . . by
usable reproductions of it have been found widely in
shedding (the) blood” (Vermaseren and Van Essen, 1965:
mithraea, such as at Tienen (Belgica), where the vessel was
217–221, line 14). This salvation could be understood in
constructed in such a manner that the heated wine and water
different ways. In the early second century it was probably
could be poured (or sucked) through the snake’s mouth. The
evoked primarily in the usual sense of divine protection and
vine itself could be given a Mithraic meaning: on a probably
guidance. Salvation no doubt continued in some contexts
Syrian relief now in the Israel Museum, Mithras, who, being
and geographical areas always to be understood in those tra-
born from a rock, had no mother whose milk he could drink,
ditional terms. However, a generation later than the Mainz
is depicted as a baby drinking the juice extruded from bunch-
vessel, the Middle Platonist philosopher Celsus alludes (Ori-
es of grapes—the wine of the feast is the civilized version of
gen, Contra Celsum 6.22) to an elaborate Mithraic scheme
that primitive, natural juice.
of a ladder representing the soul’s ascent to the fixed stars
(c. 175–180 CE). In the mid-third century the Neo-Platonist
Mithraism thus constituted an elaborate, self-conscious,
philosopher Porphyry cites a certain Euboulus for the claim
meritocratic form of the cult community widespread in the
that the Persian prophet Zoroaster was the first to dedicate
western Roman Empire, whose most striking feature was
a cave to Mithras, “creator and father of all,” a cave which
that, despite being supra-regional (indeed, in the northwest
was artfully marked out with the symbols of the cosmos
and northeast provinces, virtually universal), it tenaciously
whose demiurge was Mithras (De antro 6); and the related
retained its private character, and (except in military con-
claim that North and South (of the mithraeum) were associ-
texts) resisted absorption by the religio-political rhetoric of
ated with the entry and departure of souls into and out of
public religious institutions. Its self-consciousness as a cult
the world (De antro 24). Turcan has argued that such claims
is epitomized by the fact that, despite the marked regional
represent a systematic distortion of Mithraic belief by Plato-
variation, individuals could and did pass from one end of the
nists for their own purposes (Turcan, 1975). Beck, on the
Empire to the other and find a cult of Mithras recognizably
other hand, has urged that Porphyry’s data are to be taken
the same as that which they already knew: there are several
at face value: the Mithraists designed and constructed their
examples of miniature reliefs suitable for packing in one’s
mithraeum as an image of the cosmos so as to be able to reen-
luggage and several examples of reliefs fabricated in the Dan-
act a ritual of the descent and return of souls (Beck, 2000).
ube area but found in Germany, Italy, and Israel.
The image of Mithras killing the bull is, inter alia, a represen-
Another source of self-consciousness was the sense of
tation of Mithras “seated at the equinoxes” (De antro 24).
being a foreign cult: relatively unhampered by implication
It is also a kind of explanatory commentary on the two cen-
in local (politico-social) meanings, Mithraism was able con-
tral, albeit enigmatic, claims of Mithraism, that Mithras both
stantly to reinvent itself, not least among those with intellec-
is and is not identical with the Sun (Deus Sol Invictus
tual pretensions. An important recourse here was astronomy-
Mithras), and that the universe is sustained by the “harmony
astrology; another was the Greco-Roman reception of Persia.
of tension in opposition” (Beck and Gordon, 2005).
Statius, writing in the decade 80 to 90 CE, knew already that
If Mithras’s heroic feat of subduing and killing the bull
the bull was sacrificed inside a Persian cave, and we have no
began as a hunt, it ended as a sacrifice, the primal sacrifice,
reason to doubt Euboulus’s statement (mid-third century)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6092
MITHRAISM
that the cult claimed to have been founded by the Persian
Beck, Roger L. “The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of
sage Zoroaster. The systematic association that Celsus attests
Their Genesis.” Journal of Roman Studies 88 (1998):
between planets and metals looks typical of the occultic pre-
115–128.
occupation with (fanciful) list-making, whereas both Eu-
Beck, Roger L. “Myth, Ritual, Doctrine, and Initiation in the
boulus and a certain Pallas, cited by Porphyry, De abstin.
Mysteries of Mithras: New Evidence from a Cult-Vessel.”
4.16, evidently tried to explain Mithraism by invoking me-
Journal of Roman Studies 90 (2000): 145–180.
tempsychosis and soul-journeys, beliefs which they knew to
Beck, Roger L., and Richard L. Gordon. Mysteries of the Uncon-
be “Persian” probably because they, or their sources, found
quered Sun: The Cult of Mithras in the Roman Empire. Ox-
them in pseudonymous texts purportedly by Zoroaster (the
ford, 2005.
so-called Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha). At the same time
Betz, Hans-Dieter. The “Mithras-Liturgy”: Text, Translation, and
Commentary. Tübingen, Germany, 2003.
there is evidence that some mobeds (Zoroastrian priests) in
the Sassanian period did indeed believe in metempsychosis.
Bianchi, Ugo. “Prolegomena: The Religio-Historical Question of
the Mysteries of Mithra.” In Mysteria Mithrae, edited by Ugo
The “Mithras Liturgy” in the Great Paris magical codex,
Bianchi pp. 3–47. Études préliminaires 80. Rome, 1979.
which gives every appearance of including a mystic vision of
Clauss, Manfred. Cultores Mithrae: Die Anhängerschaft des
the god, may also have been influenced by such ideas (Betz,
Mithras-Kultes. Stuttgart, 1992.
2003).
Clauss, Manfred. The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His
Mithraists themselves certainly drew upon analogous
Mysteries. Edinburgh, 2000. English translation with revi-
texts: the existence of a Mithraic god Areimanius, known
sions of Mithras: Kult und Mysterien. (1990). The most bal-
from Rome and Aquincum, is best explained as a back-
anced introduction, with ample illustrations and an updated
formation within Roman Mithraism owed to familiarity
bibliography of English-language publications.
with descriptions of Persian religion by historians such as
Cumont, Franz. Textes et monuments relatifs aux Mystères de
Theopompus and philosophers such as Eudemus of Rhodes
Mithra. Brussels, 1896–1899. The “Conclusions” alone
translated by T. J. McCormack as The Mysteries of Mithra
and Hermippus “the Callimachean.” These accounts com-
(New York, 1913 and continually reprinted). Monumental,
monly represented Ahriman as Hades, god of the Under-
but now of only historical importance.
world (de Jong, 1997). The Persian magi are cited in the
De Jong, Albert. Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek
mithraeum at Dura-Europos (Syria) as authority for the idea
and Latin Literature. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World
of “fiery breath,” possibly in relation to the end of the world,
133. Leiden, 1997.
but more probably in relation to punishment for sin. The
Martens, Marleen, and Guy de Boe, ed. Roman Mithraism: The
most striking example of a reference to Iranian ideas, howev-
Evidence of the Small Finds. Archeologie in Vlanderen,
er, is a fresco (c. 370–380 CE) in the mithraeum of Hawarti/
Monogr. 5. Brussels, 2004.
Huarte near Apamea (Syria), where a group of ghastly decap-
Mastrocinque, Attilio. Studi sul Mitraismo (Il Mitraismo e la
itated human and demonic heads is depicted strung along
magia). Rome, 1998.
a city-wall, each pierced, like representations of the evil eye,
Merkelbach, Reinhold. Mithras. Königstein, Germany, 1984.
by a spear. The simplest explanation is that they evoke the
Well-illustrated, but very speculative.
descriptions of Mithras’s savage destruction of the enemies
Nock, Arthur Darby. “The Genius of Mithraism.” Journal of
of religion, human and demonic, in the Mithra-Yaˇst, and
Roman Studies 27 (1937): 108–113, reprinted in Essays on
that this is an example of late Mithraic borrowing—self rein-
Religion and the Ancient World, edited by Z. Stewart,
vention—from authentic Sassanian Zoroastrianism. Such
pp. 452–458. Oxford, 1972. Still well worth reading.
knowledge was probably passed through frontier cities such
Piccottini, Gernot. Mithrastempel in Virunum. Aus Forschung
as Nisibis, which was ceded to the Sassanians in 363 CE, but
und Kunst, 28. Klagenfurt, Austria, 1994.
continued even thereafter to be an important commercial
Turcan, Robert. Mithra et le mithriacisme. Paris, 2000 [1981]. A
and cultural bridgehead.
concise, reliable survey, with good bibliography and excellent
appendices, but under-illustrated.
SEE ALSO Hellenistic Religions; Iranian Religions; Roman
Ulansey, David. The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology
Religion.
and Salvation in the Ancient World. New York and Oxford,
1991 [1989]. A tendentious popular revelation of “the truth”
about the cult of Mithras.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barton, S. C., and G. H. R. Horsley. “A Hellenistic Cult-Group
Vermaseren, Maarten J. Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum
and the New Testament Churches.” Jahrbuch für Antike und
Religionis Mithriacae, 2 vols. The Hague, 1956–1960. The
Christentum 24 (1981): 7–41.
fundamental catalogue of the archaeological remains, now
however rather seriously out of date.
Beck, Roger L. “Mithraism since Franz Cumont.” In Aufstieg und
Vermaseren, Maarten J., and C.C. Van Essen. The Excavations in
Niedergang der römischen Welt, edited by Hildegard Tem-
the Mithraeum of the Church of S. Prisca in Rome. Leiden,
porini and Wolfgang Haase, II 17.4, 2002–2115. Berlin,
1965.
1984.
Vermaseren, Maarten J. Mithriaca I: The Mithraeum at S. Maria
Beck, Roger L. Planetary Gods and Planetary Orders in the Myster-
Capua Vetere. Études préliminaires, 16.1. Leiden, Nether-
ies of Mithras. Études préliminaires, 109. Leiden, 1988.
lands, 1971.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOABITE RELIGION
6093
Widengren, Geo. “Reflections on the Origins of the Mithraic
DEITIES. Kemosh (or Chemosh) was presumably the chief
Mysteries.” In Perennitas: Studi in onore di A. Brelich,
deity of the Moabites, although they doubtless worshipped
pp. 645–668. Rome, 1980.
other gods as well. Kemosh is known from earlier times in
Zwirn, Stephen. “The Intention of Biographical Narration on
Syria-Palestine, with the consonants kmˇs or kmt variously vo-
Mithraic Cult-Images.” Word and Image 5 (1989): 2–18.
calized, having the phonological forms kam(m)it or
RICHARD GORDON (2005)
kam(m)ut. For instance, at Ebla in the third millennium the
deity was known as Kamish (dGa-mi-iˇs or dGa-me-iˇs), and
he played a significant role; he received sacrifices, possessed
MOABITE RELIGION. In ancient times the land of
a sanctuary, and even had a month named after him. The
Moab comprised the narrow strip of cultivable land on the
deity may even have been the chief god of the city of
Transjordanian Plateau east of the Dead Sea, between the es-
Carchemish/Ka¯r-Kamiˇs in northern Syria, since the very
carpment and the Arabian Desert. This was an area about
name signifies “quay or port of Kamiˇs.” In Akkadian texts
twenty-five kilometers wide and, during its periods of great-
from the second millennium onward, the divine name ap-
est strength, about ninety kilometers long, stretching the
pears as Kam(m)ush (dKa-am-muˇs or dKa-mu-uˇs). Alphabet-
length of the Dead Sea. The main Moabite plateau extended
ic texts from fourteenth-century Ugarit preserve kmt in com-
from the Wa¯d¯ı al-H:esa¯ (the biblical river Zered) at the south
bination with another divine name z:z: (z:z:.w kmt), and the
end of the Dead Sea to the Wa¯d¯ı el-Mu¯jib (the biblical river
resulting compound (perhaps pronounced Z:iz:z:u-wa-
Arnon) at the midpoint. The northern portion of Moab
Kama¯tu), may or may not be related to the later Moabite
from the Wa¯d¯ı el-Mu¯jib up to around Tell H:esba¯n (biblical
deity. In Moabite texts (also written without vowels), the
Heshbon), however, was historically not as secure and seems
name is given as kmˇs and was possibly pronounced
to have been open to incursion, a fact that is illustrated by
Kam(m)ash or Kam(m)ush (note the two Moabite royal
the Moabite Inscription (MI), the largest preserved Moabite
names that appear in Akkadian as mKa-ma-aˇs-hal-ta-a and
text. Not many details are known about Moabite history, but
˘
mKam-mu-su-na-ad-bi). Finally, in the Bible, the name is
Moab as an independent kingdom probably arose in the last
written once as K˘emîˇs (Jer. 48:7) but otherwise as K˘emôˇs,
centuries of the second millennium BCE and disintegrated in
which has become the conventional way of pronouncing this
the mid–first millennium BCE (that is, c. 1300–600 BCE),
deity’s name ever since.
falling first to the Assyrians and then to subsequent con-
querors.
The meaning of the name Kemosh in its nonbiblical
forms may be “conqueror, subduer,” from variously an adjec-
The Moabite religion seems to have shared several fea-
tive (qat:t:il-pattern), a causative verbal adjective (qat:t:ul), or
tures with that of other Iron Age kingdoms in the region,
a nomen agentis (qat:t:a¯l), from the same root as Akkadian
such as Israel, Edom, and Ammon, and all of them probably
kama¯ˇsu or kama¯su, which means “to bow or kneel.” The
inherited much from their Bronze Age “Canaanite” pre-
Masoretic pronunciation Kemosh (K˘emôˇs) as it appears most
decessors. However, while it used to be commonplace to
often in the Bible is difficult to explain. The Greek Septua-
claim that all four kingdoms had their own national god (Ke-
gint and Latin Vulgate versions of the Bible have instead
mosh for Moab, Yahweh for Israel, Qaws for Edom, and
Khamós/Chamos, hinting that the correct vocalization of the
Milkom for Ammon), it is perhaps better to be more cau-
Hebrew Kemosh should have been ka¯môˇs from an original
tious in view of the meager evidence outside the Bible. At
kam(m)âˇs. One suggestion for the Masoretic twist in pro-
any rate, the MI shows that King Mesha of the Moabites
nunciation is that it was given the same vowels as b˘e Dôˇs,
worshipped a patron deity (Kemosh), in whose name Mesha
“stench.” A similar treatment was given to other divine
conducted warfare, made sacrifices, and consecrated sanctu-
names in the Bible; for example, BaEal, which is sometimes
aries and even the peoples he had defeated (compare the bib-
rendered as bo¯ˇset, “shame,” or the pronunciation EAˇsto¯ret
lical h:erem, or “sacred ban”). The Moabite religion probably
(EAshtoreth, for the goddess Astarte), whose two final vowels
slowly disappeared as new religions such as that of the
also reflect those of bo¯ˇset.
Nabateans entered the region at the end of the first millen-
nium BCE.
Personal names containing the element Kemosh attest
SOURCES. The most important of the scarce textual sources
to the god’s popularity. The father of Mesha was possibly
concerning Moab and the Moabites are the Mesha Inscrip-
kmˇsyt (Kamash-yat, “Kemosh has given [a son]”). In seals,
tion (Donner and Röllig, 1966–1969) and the Hebrew Bible
one finds among others the names kmˇsyh:y (may Kemosh
(Old Testament). Other relevant written evidence is pre-
live), kmˇsm Dˇs (Kemosh is [my] gift), kmˇs Em (Kemosh is kin),
served in a few other fragmentary Moabite inscriptions, sev-
kmˇs Dl (Kemosh is god), kmˇss:dq (Kemosh is righteous or Ke-
eral Moabite seals with inscribed personal names, and a
mosh has done justly), kmˇsdn (Kemosh has judged), and
handful of references to Moabite place or personal names in
kmˇsntn (Kemosh has given). In Assyrian texts recording trib-
Assyrian and Egyptian texts. Archaeological remains have
utes from Moab, one also finds royal names with kmˇs: Ka-
been uncovered as well; in addition to various regional sur-
mush-nadbi (mKam-mu-su-na-ad-bi, “Kemosh is my abun-
veys of the Transjordan, there are excavated sites such as
dance”), Kamash-halta (mKa-ma-as-hal-ta-a, “Kemosh is
Dh¯ıba¯n and Tell H:esba¯n to analyze.
˘
˘
strength”).
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MOABITE RELIGION
CHARACTERISTICS OF KEMOSH. In the MI, Kemosh is por-
(b El) as a theophoric element in personal names (e.g., b Elntn,
trayed as a god of war who delivers his people, the Moabites,
“Ba Eal has given”) and in place names (Ba Eal-pe Eor,
up to their enemies when he is angry and then “delivers”
Bamoth-ba Eal, Ba Eal-me Eon) might mean one of two things:
them and “returns” their land. Scholars as far back as Eusebi-
either they indicate that the deity Ba Eal was worshipped by
us (c. 260–330 CE) have equated Kemosh with the Greek
Moabites or else the word ba Eal was used to mean merely
god of war, Ares, based especially on the fact that there was
“lord” and could have referred to Kemosh himself. There are
a town named Areopolis in the center of the Moabite region
also combinations with DEl in Moabite personal names, as in
(although this may be a folk etymology). The so-called
mˇspt:Dl or Mishpat:Del, “El (or the god) is justice.” However,
Sh¯ıh:a¯n Warrior Stele, with its javelin-wielding figure, has
in these cases as well one does not know if the Canaanite
also been interpreted as depicting a warrior deity, perhaps
deity DEl is meant or simply the generic definition “god.” The
Kemosh.
Moabite place name Nebo in the MI (nbh) and the Bible
may indicate that the Mesopotamian god Nabu was wor-
Also in the MI, Kemosh accepts the consecration of the
shipped. The name Shalamanu (Sa-la-ma-nu) for a Moabite
massacred populace under the name “ EAshtar-Kemosh”
king in a Tiglat-Pileser tribute list may attest to worship of
( Eˇstr.kmˇs, MI, line 17). The “ EAshtar” element is most likely
the god Shalman, and other Moabite personal names in pub-
the name of a well-known West Semitic astral deity
E
lished seals may perhaps attest to the knowledge of further
Ashtar/ EAthtar, combined with Kemosh in a compound
deities in Moab. The name of the god H:oron may appear
name, as is not uncommon with West Semitic divine names
in the place name H:awronen (h:wrnn) in the Mesha Inscrip-
(see above z:z:.w kmt at Ugarit). Another less likely option is
tion (line 32, compare the biblical H:o¯ro¯nayim, Jer. 48:34).
that the name is that of Kemosh’s consort, a goddess—for
H:oron was known as a deity of magic and exorcism in espe-
example, the goddess Ishtar or Astarte. However, in West Se-
cially Ugaritic and Egyptian texts. Finally, the Ba¯lu¯Ea stele
mitic the goddess’s name should have a final -t, and the com-
bears iconographic witness to what is probably a god and
pound should thus have more likely been spelled Eˇstrt.kmˇs.
goddess in front of a worshipper. The stele, which has Egyp-
At any rate, the basis for the association of Kemosh with
E
tianizing artistic elements, may or may not reflect Kemosh
Ashtar is unknown, as the compound only appears in this
and a female consort.
single inscription.
SANCTUARIES OR TEMPLES. According to the MI, King
In the Bible, the name Kemosh appears eight times
Mesha built a “high place” (bmt, compare the Hebrew
(Nm. 21:29; Jgs. 11:24; 1 Kgs. 11:7, 33; 2 Kgs. 23:13; and
ba¯ma¯h) for Kemosh at Qarh:oh (perhaps a name for the
Jer. 48:7, 13, 46), and Kemosh is said to be the god of the
acropolis or royal quarter of the city of Dibon, modern
Moabites or, as in Judges 11:24, the god of the Ammonites.
Dh¯ıbân). In another inscription also found at Dh¯ıbân, a
Since Kemosh was worshipped throughout Syria-
sanctuary is mentioned that may have been devoted to Ke-
Palestine, one may also look to non-Moabite sources for rele-
mosh too (only the k of the god’s name is preserved). Excava-
vant information. For instance, Kemosh may well have had
tions at Dh¯ıbân in 1955 suggested that the Iron Age II struc-
a chthonic nature. In a Middle Assyrian copy of a Mesopota-
ture in Section L was the palace complex of Mesha, on the
mian god list (Cuneiform texts from Babylonian tablets in the
east side of which there may have been a sanctuary. In this
British Museum 24, 36:66), the Akkadian name dKa-am-muˇs
vicinity a terra-cotta incense stand was found along with two
is equated with Nergal (god of war, death, and the nether-
female figurines. The fact that there was a Nabataean-Roman
world). In a Mesopotamian lexical list, Kamush (dKa-mu-uˇs
temple built much later on that site may indicate a continu-
or dKa-muˇs) appears as one of several possible readings of the
ous sacred tradition. There may also have been a sanctuary
Sumerogram GUD, which sometimes stands for Akkadian
of Kemosh in Kir-hareseth (modern Kerak), and the Bible
et:emmu, “ghost, spirit” (Ea IV 142 = Materials for the Sumeri-
retains a tradition that Solomon made a high place to Ke-
an Lexicon, vol. 14, p. 361). In three Ugaritic invocations of
mosh at Jerusalem (1 Kgs. 11:7–8; 2 Kgs. 23:13).
gods (KTU 1.100:36; 1.107:41’; and 1.123:5 —the last two
CULTIC PRACTICES. Information about sacrifices and rituals
are incantations against serpent bites), there is a deity with
is scarce. In the Bible, however, Moabites are said to make
a double divine name that may refer to Kemosh: z:z:.w kmt
sacrifices (presumably to Ba Eal) in Numbers 22:40–23:30
(Z:iz:z:u-wa-Kama¯tu). The z:z: element perhaps means “mud,
and to make sacrifices and burn incense in Jeremiah 48:35.
clay” (compare Akkadian t:ît:u, Hebrew t:ît:), a substance that
Numbers 25:1–5 mentions sacrifices again as well as orgiastic
in ancient Near Eastern texts is often said to be abundant in
practices carried out by Israelites with Moabite women in
the netherworld. The location of the main cult place of z:z:.w
honor of Ba Eal of Pe Eor. Most shockingly of all, in 2 Kings
kmt is said to be h:ryt(h) (see KTU 1.100:36), perhaps one
3:4–27 the Moabite king Mesha is said to offer a human sac-
of the two or three towns known by the name Hurriya in
rifice. On this occasion, a campaign of King Jehoram of Isra-
Syria and northern Mesopotamia.
el (son of Ahaziah, son of Ahab) against Mesha ends with a
OTHER MOABITE DEITIES. On the basis of Moabite place
siege at Kir-hareseth, the city in which Mesha had taken ref-
and personal names, it is possible to perhaps identify other
uge. The Israelites are said to have withdrawn after Mesha
deities in addition to Kemosh that were known or wor-
sacrificed his oldest son on the city wall. Although one may
shipped by the Moabites. The several occurrences of Ba Eal
doubt whether or not this story reflects merely a pejorative
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
6095
tradition about the practices of Israelite enemies, there are
pp. 646–650 (Gütersloh, Germany, 1985); U. Worschech,
other clues that suggest at least the possibility that the Trans-
“Der Gott Kemosch: Versuch einer Characterisierung,”
jordanian peoples were acquainted with human or child sac-
Ugarit Forschung 24 (1992): 393–401; U. Worschech,
rifice. One notes that the Deir EAlla¯ inscriptions from the
“Pferd, Göttin, und Stier: Funde zur moabistischen Religion
mid-eighth century
aus el-Ba¯lu¯ E (Jordanien),” Ugarit Forschung 24 (1992): 385–
BCE, which relate to a certain prophet
Balaam (compare the biblical non-Israelite prophet of the
391; Jo Ann Hackett, “Religious Traditions in Israelite
Transjordan,” in Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of
same name in Nm. 22–24), have several key words that
Frank Moore Cross, ed. Patrick D. Miller et al., pp. 125–136
might indicate child sacrifice was practiced in the region
(Philadelphia, 1987); W. Lambert, “Kammuˇs,” Reallexikon
(e.g., nqr “sprout” or “scion” for a human sacrificial victim,
der Assyriologie, vol. 5 (Berlin, 1976–1980), p. 335. For the
mlk as the word for a kind of offering). In fact, child sacrifice
Ugaritic texts (KTU), see now Manfried Dietrich, Oswald
constitutes a highly debated topic in modern scholarship
Loretz, and Joaquín Sanmartín, The Cuneiform Alphabetic
concerning the Phoenician and Punic world.
Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani, and Other Places (KTU)
P
(Münster, Germany, 1995), 2d ed. of Die keilalphabetischen
RIESTS AND PROPHETS. Jeremiah 48:7 refers to priests of
Kemosh, but evidence for other cultic practitioners is un-
Texte aus Ugarit (Neunkirchen, Austria, 1976).
known. It has been suggested that line 32 in the MI, “Ke-
Archaeological studies include Nelson Glueck, The Other Side of
mosh said to me, ‘Go down, fight against H:awronen,’” indi-
the Jordan, rev. ed. (Winona Lake, Ind., 1970); Rudolph
cates divination of some sort, requiring a prophet or the like
Henry Dornemann, The Archaeology of the Transjordan in the
Bronze and Iron Ages (Milwaukee, Wis., 1983); A. D. Tush-
to obtain an oracle or vision from the deity. The hiring of
ingham, Excavations at Dhiban in Moab (Cambridge, Mass.,
Balaam by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites in
1972); and Piotr Bienkowski, ed., Early Edom and Moab:
Numbers 22–24 perhaps also indicates that the Moabites
The Beginning of the Iron Age in Southern Jordan (Sheffield,
used seers and diviners.
U.K., 1992). For additional translation sources, see the Cu-
SACRED WARFARE AND DIVINE INTERVENTION. In the MI,
neiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum
King Mesha says he dedicated to Kemosh the Israelite inhab-
24 (1896–): 36–66, and Benno Landsberger’s Materials for
itants of the cities EAt:aroth and Nebo. The idea of sacred
the Sumerian Lexicon 14 (1937–1985): 361.
battles and a consecrated massacre of peoples (including
TAWNY L. HOLM (2005)
men, women, and children) is shared with the Hebrew
Bible’s theological accounts of the Israelite conquest of Ca-
naan, in which Yahweh is said to demand such a destruction
(with use of the root h:rm in, for example, Dt. 7:2, 20:16–17;
MODERNISM
Jos. 6:17–19, 21; 1 Sm. 15:3; compare line 17 of the MI).
This entry consists of the following articles:
In fact, the MI can actually be seen as a religious document
ISLAMIC MODERNISM
CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
that has the same theological tone and envisions the same di-
vine involvement in human affairs as the Hebrew Bible.
A
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
FTERLIFE. There is no textual evidence for Moabite beliefs
in an afterlife. However, the Iron Age II rock-cut tombs at
As is the case with a number of other Islamic discourses, it
Dh¯ıbân from around the time of Mesha contain mortuary
can be hard to locate the precise boundary of Islamic mod-
goods such as pottery, jewelry, and at least one anthropoid
ernism. Few Muslims explicitly self-identify as “Muslim
clay coffin, suggesting a Moabite concern for proper burial
modernists,” instead referring to themselves simply as Mus-
with an eye to needs in the afterlife. There has also been some
lims, Muslims involved in the process of reform and renewal,
speculation that since Kemosh was perhaps associated with
Muslims committed to democracy, or even Muslims intent
the gods of the netherworld, Moabites might have believed
on reviving the original spirit of Islam. In this essay, Islamic
in some form of continued existence after death.
modernism is defined as those discourses of Islamic thought
and practice in the last two centuries in which modernity it-
self is seen as a viable category to be engaged and drawn
BIBLIOGRAPHY
upon, not merely dismissed or used as a foil to define oneself
An important modern body of studies on the MI and Moab is An-
drew Dearman, ed., Studies in the Mesha Inscription and
against. In other words, advocates of Islamic modernism are
Moab (Atlanta, 1989); see especially Gerald L. Mattingly’s
not simply modern Muslims but those Muslims who see
“Moabite Religion,” pp. 211–238. Other studies include A.
something (if not all) of modernity as a constitutive element
H. van Zyl, The Moabites (Leiden, Netherlands, 1960); Her-
of their worldview and practice.
bert Donner and Wolfgang Röllig, Kanaanäische und ara-
As is the case with other intellectual and religious tradi-
mäische Inschriften, I-III, 2d ed., no. 181 (Wiesbaden, Ger-
tions, Islamic engagements with modernity have been nei-
many, 1966–1969); H. P. Müller, “Chemosh,” in Dictionary
of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2d ed., edited by Karel
ther static nor uniform. Traditions ranging from the revival-
van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst,
ism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the
pp. 186–189 (Leiden, Netherlands, 1999); H. P. Müller,
rationalizing and Salaf¯ı tendencies of the early twentieth cen-
“Die Inschrift des Königs Mesa von Moab,”in Texte aus der
tury, as well as liberal movements of the twentieth century
Umwelt des Alten Testaments I/6, edited by O. Kaiser,
onto the progressive Muslim movement of the twenty-first
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6096
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
century, can all be discussed under the broad parameter of
The above debate is also related to when one begins the
Islamic modernism. At times, it has been difficult to locate
history of Islamic modernism. The older paradigm that
the boundary between Islamic modernists and some nine-
viewed Islamic thought as being hopelessly stagnated before
teenth- and early twentieth-century Salaf¯ı thinkers. While
being jolted into a renaissance by its interaction with Euro-
both advocated fresh interpretations of the QurDa¯n, the mod-
pean colonialism is now critiqued by many scholars. With-
ernists tended to engage modernity explicitly, while many
out diminishing the profound experience of responding to
Salaf¯ıs couched their language in terms of the “righteous
the shock, inspiration, and violation of the colonial experi-
forefathers” (al-salaf al-salih), the generation of Muslims liv-
ence, it is also important to realize that some of Islamic mod-
ing with and immediately after the Prophet Muh:ammad in
ernism also taps into important reform traditions such as
the seventh century. As the Salaf¯ı movement has become
Sha¯h Wal¯ı Alla¯h of Delhi (d. 1762) and many others that
more intertwined with Wahhabism in the later half of the
predate the full-blown experience of colonialism.
twentieth century, the overlap between modernists and
Many Muslim modernists have readily acknowledged
Salaf¯ıs has greatly been reduced.
their interactions with Western models, institutions, and fig-
The discourse of modernity itself has not stayed static,
ures. At the same time they have been careful to cast their
as it has come under severe critique and contestation from
movement in decidedly Islamic terms. Perhaps the most
feminists, environmentalists, Marxists, subalterns, and oth-
common strategy for presenting modernism as an indige-
ers. As the discourse of modernity continues to change, so
nously and authentically Islamic movement is through the
do the Muslims’ engagement with modernity.
framework of ijtiha¯d. Ijtiha¯d initially had a narrower mean-
ing, referring to the process whereby Muslim jurists would
There has also been a long-running tendency among
arrive at rulings for unprecedented cases. Modernists have
Western journalists and even some scholars to look at the
gradually expanded the definition of ijtiha¯d to mean critical,
more conservative articulations of Islam (such as those of
independent reasoning in all domains of thought. In other
some traditional religious scholars) and even Muslim extrem-
words, the proper domain of ijtiha¯d was taken to be not just
ists as somehow representing “real” Islam. Subsequently,
Islamic law but rather all aspects of thought. In an egalitarian
these same sources have not adequately engaged Muslim
move, modernists often hold that it is not just jurists but all
modernists, who are unfairly dismissed as lacking a constitu-
Muslims who have the responsibility to carry on ijtiha¯d. The
ency or influence. Even more problematic is the view that
majority of Islamic modernist writers emphasize the need for
any explicit reimagination of Islam is no longer proper Islam.
ijtiha¯d, often juxtaposing it polemically against taql¯ıd. As
Lord Cromer, the British high commissioner in colonized
with ijtiha¯d, modernists often came to reinterpret taql¯ıd.
Egypt, once said: “Islam reformed is Islam no longer.” That
Taql¯ıd had originally meant simply following a school of Is-
attitude misses out on the vigorous and dynamic debates that
lamic law, or a designated authority (marja E) in the case of
are going on within not only modernist circles but also much
Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslims. For modernists, who wished to highlight in-
wider segments of Muslim societies.
dependent critical reasoning, taql¯ıd came to mean blind im-
itationism, becoming a symbol of everything they held to be
WESTERNIZATION AND ISLAMIC PARADIGMS. Part of the dif-
wrong with Islamic thought.
ficulty in establishing the proper boundaries of Islamic mod-
ernism has to do with the way that the legacy of Islamic
Like many other Muslims, modernists have also cast
thought in the modern era is conceived. Many Western
their own struggles as perpetuating the spirit of the QurDa¯n
and the teachings of the Prophet Muh:ammad. Modernists
scholars (such as Bernard Lewis and others) have seen moder-
often insist that the egalitarian spirit of the QurDa¯n in areas
nity as the exclusive offspring of the West. As a result, they
ranging from women’s rights to religious pluralism should
approach any other civilization that engages modernity
take precedence over more conservative later rulings. The
through the lens of “westernization.” There is no doubt that
distinction between essence and manifestation (universals
the encounter with Western institutions and thought has had
and particulars, or other similar dichotomies) is a common
a profound impact on Islamic modernism both positively
motif in the history of modern religious thought. Many
(emphasis on human rights, constitutional forms of govern-
modernists also argue for a situated and contextualized read-
ment, adoption of science, etc.) and negatively (colonialism,
ing of the QurDanic revelations.
support for autocratic regimes). At the same time, many of
the issues that Islamic modernism engages today, such as
Modernists find QurDanic precedence for their own cri-
human rights, democracy, gender equality, and the like, are
tique of tradition-embedded injustice by pointing to
truly seen as universal struggles. Furthermore, most Muslims
QurDanic voices (such as Abraham and Muh:ammad) who
who engage these issues frame their own discourse not as a
challenged their own community, which had insisted on
borrowing or “influence” from Western discourses but rather
continuing “the ways of the forefathers.” In appealing to pro-
as a part of indigenous Islamic interpretations. Positioning
phetic legitimization, many modernists have recorded the
the Muslims’ struggles in these universal arenas as perpetual-
conversation between Prophet Muh:ammad and a compan-
ly derivative vis-à-vis Western paradigms robs them of their
ion named MuEa¯dh ibn Jabal (d. 627). MuEa¯dh stated that
own legitimacy and dynamism.
if he found no explicit guidance in the QurDa¯n or the pro-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
6097
phetic sunnah, he would rely upon his own independent rea-
rameters, many community members view the same scholars
soning. While the systematic nature of this anecdote may
with some skepticism because modernists are not usually
well belie a later juridical desire to legitimize their own meth-
products of the madrasah system. This skepticism of the
odology, it has served as a powerful tool for modernists to
community members reveals a great deal about the presup-
sanctify their own appeal to ijtiha¯d.
positions of many contemporary Muslims regarding the “pu-
rity” of Islamic knowledge and how it may be “contaminat-
Modernists also tapped into other traditions of Islamic
ed” by Western training. Ironically, this compartmentalized
legitimacy that predated the encounter with Europe. One of
view of knowledge contradicts both medieval philosophical
their most powerful means of legitimizing themselves was by
notions and certain contemporary rigorous interpretations of
adopting the title of “renewer” (mujaddid), which recalled a
Islam. As early as the ninth century, the philosopher al-Kind¯ı
statement attributed to the Prophet Muh:ammad: “God
had stated: “We should not be ashamed to acknowledge
sends to this nation at the beginning of every century some-
truth and to assimilate it from whatever source it comes to
one who renews its religion.” In doing so, modernists could
us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and for-
lay claim to carrying the mantle of Islamic renewal, following
eign peoples.” This epistemological pluralism is also echoed
established masters such as Abu¯ H:a¯mid al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (1058–
in the works of the Iranian modernist intellectual EAbd al-
1111) whose Ih:ya¯D E ulu¯m al-d¯ın (Revivification of Religious
Karim Soroush, who states: “I believe that truths everywhere
Sciences) had explicitly evoked the theme of rejuvenation and
are compatible; no truth clashes with any other truth. . . .
renewal after death and stagnation.
Thus, in my search for the truth, I became oblivious to
RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY. The crisis of contemporary Islam is
whether an idea originated in the East, or West, or whether
inseparable from the struggle over defining Islam and the
it had ancient or modern origins.”
concomitant question of who gets to define Islam, using
The vision of Islam espoused by many modernists is a
what sources and which methodologies. The question of au-
more liberal, inclusive, humanistic, and even secular inter-
thority in Islam is today—and has always been—a contested
pretation of Islam that is greatly distrustful of Islamist politi-
one. It has often been noted that there is no formal church
cal discourses. By “secular” what is intended is a model of
structure in Islam, thus making the base of religious authori-
social relations in which the boundaries between religious
ty more fluid. However, the lack of a formal structure of au-
discourse and political legitimacy are not collapsed, not one
thority does not mean that there is no religious authority in
in which one would seek an exile of the religious from all of
Islam. Competing groups of Muslims claim authority for
the public domain. The modernists’ suspicion of models of
themselves by appealing to religious language and symbols.
government that base themselves on Islamic discourses often
Foremost among them have been the religious scholars
provides their critics with ammunition to accuse them of lax-
(Eulama¯D) and the mystics (S:u¯f¯ıs) of Islam. However, Sufism
ness of religious practice. Whether it is warranted or not,
is a contested category today, and many in the Muslim com-
modernists have often been perceived as being less observant
munity who gravitate towards Salafism view S:u¯f¯ıs with skep-
than their conservative coreligionists.
ticism. For example, the mainstream Muslim organizations
in the United States, such as the Islamic Society of North
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. One of the characteristics of the
America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America
modernist movement in the twentieth century was its trans-
(ICNA), avoid almost all mention of Sufism (and also Shi-
regional, translinguistic, and transnational character. While
ism). Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıs, particularly those under the leadership of the
figures such as EAbduh and Rida worked in Egypt, others
Aga Khan, are arguably the most cosmopolitan and moderni-
such as Sayy¯ıd Ah:mad Kha¯n, Muh:ammad Iqbal, and Fazlur
ty accommodating of Muslims, yet they too are seen by some
Rahman hailed from South Asia. Figures such as Jama¯l
conservative Sunn¯ı Muslims as suspect.
al-D¯ın al-Afgha¯n¯ı moved with seeming ease from Iran and
Afghanistan to the Ottoman Empire. One could mention
The majority of Muslims turn to the Eulama¯D, religious
other well-known figures such as the Malaysian Chandra
scholars, for religious guidance. However, many Eulama¯D
Muzaffar, Indonesians Ah:mad H:assan and Nurcholish Mad-
today are ill equipped to handle the more sophisticated as-
jid, the Algerian/French Mohamed Arkoun, and American
pects of modernity. Traditional madrasah institutions in
Amina Wadud to give a sense of its global reach.
many Muslim-majority countries no longer offer the highest
Still, moving toward and into the twentieth century, a
level of critical thought. Whereas these institutions histori-
few Islamic modernists stood out above the rest. Almost all
cally attracted the brightest minds in the community, today
later modernists engaged the following figures explicitly or
they are often a haven for those who have been unable to gain
implicitly.
admittance to more lucrative medicine, engineering, and
computer science programs. By and large, there are very few
Jama¯l al-D¯ın al-Afgha¯n¯ı (1838–1897). Along with
madrasahs for the training of Eulama¯D in a curriculum that
his disciple EAbduh, al-Afgha¯n¯ı is seen as the most important
takes modernity in the sense of engagements with modern
of the nineteenth-century Muslim modernists. When in the
philosophy, sciences, politics, economics, and the like seri-
Sunn¯ı Arab world, he adopted the name Afgha¯n¯ı to distance
ously. Ironically, while it is precisely modernist Muslims who
himself from his Iranian Sh¯ıE¯ı heritage. He was instrumental
are often best suited to handle those decidedly modern pa-
in arguing for a vision of Islam that adopted modern sci-
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6098
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
ences. He is a good example of the ambiguity many modern-
plus an emphasis on concrete social action and transforma-
ists have vis-à-vis realpolitik, now supporting the British im-
tion, is the defining characteristic of progressive Islam today.
perial forces, now opposing them.
Unlike their liberal Muslim forefathers (who usually
Muhammad EAbduh (1849–1905). Along with
were forefathers), progressive Muslims represent a broad co-
al-Afgha¯n¯ı, he published the highly influential al- EUrwa al-
alition of female and male Muslim activists and intellectuals.
wuthqa (The Firmest Handle), a title that harkens back to
One of the distinguishing features of the progressive Muslim
QurDa¯n 2:256. Initially exiled from Egypt, EAbduh eventually
movement as the vanguard of Islamic (post)modernism has
returned to head al-Azhar. Generally considered the most in-
been the high level of female participation and leadership.
fluential of the nineteenth-century Muslim modernists in
This is particularly the case in Western countries, where a
terms of his impact on later thinkers, EAbduh was responsible
majority of Muslims who self-identify as progressive are fe-
for many reforms in the educational system.
male. The majority of progressive Muslims also highlight
women’s rights as part of a broader engagement with human
Rashid Rida (1865–1935). Rida was a link between
rights.
EAbduh and twentieth-century modernists. His al-Manar
was one of the most important means for disseminating
Progressives measure their success not in developing
modernist ideas. He too talked explicitly about the need for
new and beatific theologies but rather by the amount of
renewal (tajd¯ıd) and renewing (tajaddud), connecting it back
change for good on the ground level that they can produce
to the aforementioned h:ad¯ıth that God sends a renewer (mu-
in Muslim and non-Muslim societies. As Safi and a number
jaddid) at the beginning of every century.
of other prominent authors noted in the volume Progressive
Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism (2003), this
Muh:ammad Iqba¯l (1877–1938). Iqbal is widely cred-
movement is noted by a number of themes: striving to realize
ited for having been the philosophical inspiration behind the
a just and pluralistic society through critically engaging
creation of the state of Pakistan. One of the few Islamic mod-
Islam, a relentless pursuit of social justice, an emphasis on
ernists with serious interest in poetry and mysticism, he is
gender equality as a foundation of human rights, a vision of
remembered for having argued for the importance of dyna-
religious and ethnic pluralism, and a methodology of nonvi-
mism in Islamic thought. His widely influential The Recon-
olent resistance.
struction of Religious Thought in Islam simultaneously harkens
Muslim libera(c)tion. Progressive Muslims perceive of
back to Abu¯ H:a¯mid al-Ghaza¯l¯ı as it pushes the discourse into
themselves as the advocates of human beings all over this
the twentieth century.
world who through no fault of their own live in situations
Fazlur Rahman (1919–1988). A British-trained schol-
of perpetual poverty, pollution, oppression, and marginaliza-
ar of Islam, he highlighted the importance of educational sys-
tion. A prominent concern of progressive Muslims is the suf-
tems in the reinvigoration of Islam. For the last twenty years
fering and poverty, as well as the full humanity, of these mar-
of his life he taught at the University of Chicago, beginning
ginalized and oppressed human beings of all backgrounds
a long legacy of exiled Muslim intellectuals who took up
who are called mustad Eafu¯n in the QurDanic context. The task
teaching posts in Europe and North America. A fierce critic
of progressives in this context is to give voice to the voiceless,
of fundamentalism, Rahman is usually acknowledged as the
power to the powerless, and confront the “powers that be”
doyen of Islamic modernism in the latter half of twentieth
who disregard the God-given human dignity of the
century. Unlike many modernists, Rahman was profoundly
mustad Eafu¯n all over this earth. Muslim progressives draw on
steeped in the tradition of Islamic philosophy, especially that
the strong tradition of social justice from within Islam from
of Mulla¯ S:adra¯ (d. 1632).
sources as diverse as QurDa¯n and h:ad¯ıth (statements of the
Prophet Muh:ammad) to more recent spokespersons such as
PROGRESSIVE ISLAM. The most significant development in
EAl¯ı Shar¯ıEat¯ı. The QurDa¯n itself specifically links fighting in
modernist Islamic thought in the last generation has been the
the cause of God (Sab¯ıl Alla¯h) to the cause of mustad Eafu¯n.
various understandings of Islam that go under the rubric of
“progressive Islam.” Fully immersed in postmodern critiques
The methodological fluidity of progressive Muslims is
of modernity, progressive Islam both continues and radically
apparent in their pluralistic epistemology, which freely and
departs from the 150-year-old tradition of liberal Islam.
openly draws from sources outside of Islamic tradition, so
Many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century modernists
long as they serve as useful tools in a global pursuit of justice.
generally displayed an uncritical, almost devotional, identifi-
These external sources include the liberation theology of
cation with modernity and often (though not always) by-
Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Gutiérrez, and Rebecca Chopp, as
passed discussion of colonialism and imperialism. Progres-
well as the secular humanism of Edward Said, Noam Chom-
sive understandings of Islam, on the other hand, are almost
sky, and others. Progressive Muslims are likely to combine
uniformly critical of colonialism, both in its nineteenth-
a QurDanic call for serving as “witnesses for God in justice”
century manifestation and in its current variety. Progressive
(QurDa¯n 42:15) with the task of a social critic to “speak truth
Muslims develop a critical and nonapologetic “multiple cri-
to the powers.”
tique” with respect to both Islam and modernity. That dou-
As is the case with many feminists and African-
ble engagement with the varieties of Islam and modernity,
American scholar-activists, progressives do not accept the di-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
6099
chotomy between intellectual pursuit and activism. Whereas
of the Islamic tradition, even if progressives themselves de-
many (though not all) of the previous generations of mod-
bate what those sources should be and how they ought to be
ernist Muslims were at times defined by a purely academic
interpreted. Progressives generally hold that it is imperative
approach that reflected their elite status, progressive Muslims
to work through inherited traditions of thought and practice:
realize that the social injustices around them are reflected in,
Sunn¯ı, Sh¯ıE¯ı, S:u¯f¯ı, juridical, philosophical, theological, mys-
connected to, and justified in terms of intellectual discourses.
tical, poetical, “folk Islam,” oral traditions, and others all
They are, in this respect, fully indebted to the majestic criti-
must be engaged. In particular cases they might conclude
cism of Edward Said. A progressive commitment implies by
that certain preexisting interpretations fail to offer Muslims
necessity the willingness to remain engaged with the issues
sufficient guidance today. However, they can only faithfully
of social justice as they unfold on the ground level, in the
claim that position after—and not before—a serious engage-
lived realities of Muslim and non-Muslim communities.
ment with the tradition.
Progressive Muslims follow squarely in the footsteps of
Social justice, gender equality, and pluralism. Justice
liberation theologians such as Leonardo Boff, who in his In-
lies at the heart of Islamic social ethics. Time and again the
troducing Liberation Theology deemed a purely conceptual
QurDa¯n talks about providing for the marginalized members
criticism of theology devoid of real commitment of the op-
of society: the poor, the orphan, the downtrodden, the way-
pressed as “radically irrelevant.” Boff recognized that
farer, the hungry, and so forth. Progressive Muslims believe
liberaça˜o (liberation) links together the concepts of liber
that it is imperative to translate the social ideals in the
(“free”) and aça˜o (“action”): there is no liberation without
QurDa¯n and Islamic teachings in a way that those committed
action. The aforementioned Progressive Muslims (Safi, 2003)
to social justice today can relate to and understand. For all
volume states: “Vision and activism are both necessary. Ac-
Muslims there is a vibrant memory of the Prophet repeatedly
tivism without vision is doomed from the start. Vision with-
talking about a real believer as one whose neighbor does not
out activism quickly becomes irrelevant” (pp. 6–7).
go to bed hungry. Progressives hold that in today’s global vil-
lage, it is time to think of all of humanity as one’s neighbor.
This informed social activism is visible in the many pro-
gressive Muslims organizations and movements, ranging
Progressive Muslims begin with a simple yet radical
from the work of Chandra Muzaffar with the International
stance: the Muslim community as a whole cannot achieve
Movement for a Just World in Malaysia, the efforts of Farid
justice unless justice is guaranteed for Muslim women. In
Esack with HIV-positive Muslims in South Africa, and the
short, there can be no progressive interpretation of Islam
work of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi,
without gender justice. Gender justice is crucial, indispens-
with groups such as the Iranian Children’s Rights Society.
able, and essential. In the long run, any progressive Muslim
Progressive Muslims are involved in an astonishing array of
interpretation will be judged by the amount of change in
peace and social justice movements, grassroots organizations,
gender equality it is able to produce in small and large com-
human rights efforts, and the like.
munities. Gender equality is a measuring stick of the broader
concerns for social justice and pluralism. As Shirin Ebadi, the
Toward an Islamic humanism. At the heart of a pro-
2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, stated, “Women’s rights are
gressive Muslim interpretation is a simple yet radical idea:
human rights.”
every human life, female and male, Muslim and non-
Muslim, rich or poor, “northern” or “southern,” has exactly
Progressive Muslims strive for pluralism both inside and
the same intrinsic worth. The essential value of human life
outside of the ummah. They seek to open up a wider spec-
is God given and is in no way connected to culture, geogra-
trum of interpretations and practices marked as Muslim and
phy, or privilege. A progressive Muslim agenda is concerned
epistemologically follow a pluralistic approach to pursuit of
with the ramifications of the premise that all members of hu-
knowledge and truth. In their interactions with other reli-
manity have this same intrinsic worth because each member
gious and ethnic communities, they seek to transcend the ar-
of humanity has the breath of God breathed into them: “And
cane notion of “tolerance” and instead strive for profound
I breathed into humanity of my own spirit” (wa nafakhtu f¯ıhi
engagement through both commonalities and differences.
min ru¯h¯ı) (QurDa¯n 15:29 and 38:72). This identification
Progressives and jiha¯d. The pervasive discourse of
with the full humanity of all human beings amounts to noth-
jiha¯d has become thoroughly associated with Islam, to the
ing short of an Islamic humanism. In this global humanistic
point that one may legitimately ask whether the term can be
framework, progressives conceive of a way of being Muslim
redeemed. Both Muslim extremist groups such as al-Qa¯Eidah
that engages and affirms the full humanity of all human be-
and Western Islamophobes in fact do use the term to mean
ings, that actively holds all responsible for a fair and just dis-
a holy war. On the Muslim side, one can point to the public
tribution of God-given natural resources, and that seeks to
statement of Usa¯mah bin La¯din: “In compliance with God’s
live in harmony with the natural world.
order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The rul-
Engaging tradition. Progressive Muslims insist on a se-
ing to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and mili-
rious engagement with the full spectrum of Islamic thought
tary—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it
and practices. There can be no progressive Muslim move-
in any country. . . .” Scholars of Islamic law have been
ment that does not engage the textual and material sources
quick to point out that the very parameters of this alleged
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“fatwa” violate both the letter and the spirit of Islamic law.
However, the term reformation carries considerably
At the same time, one has to acknowledge that bin La¯din
more baggage than that. In speaking of the “Islamic reforma-
supports his own recourse to violence through the discourse
tion,” many people have in mind the Protestant Reforma-
of jiha¯d. This same sentiment is reflected on the Western Is-
tion. It is this understanding that leaves many Muslims un-
lamophobic side, where many Christian evangelicals are re-
easy. Theirs is not a project of developing a “Protestant”
casting centuries old polemic against Islam in a new guise.
Islam distinct from a “Catholic” Islam. Most insist that they
are not looking to create a further split within the Muslim
Progressive Muslims counter both the Muslim extrem-
community so much as to heal it and to urge it along. For
ists’ and the Western Islamophobes’ definition of jiha¯d. In-
this reason, iconic figures such as Shirin Ebadi eschew the
stead, they hold firmly to the notion that jiha¯d is key, not
language of “reform” and “reformation,” instead calling for
in the sense of holy war and violence but rather in its root
a return to a real, just Islam.
meaning of resistance and struggle. In this regard, progres-
sives in the Muslim community emphasize the responsibility
A global phenomenon or a Western Islam? It would
to engage the wider social order by confronting injustice and
be a clear mistake to somehow reduce the emergence of pro-
inequality, while always remembering that one must do so
gressive Islam to a new “American/Western Islam.” Progres-
in a nonviolent way. In doing so, they are the heirs of both
sive Muslims are found everywhere in the global Muslim
Muslim visionaries such as the mystic Ru¯m¯ı (“Washing away
ummah. When it comes to actually implementing a progres-
blood with blood is impossible, even absurd!”) as well as ex-
sive understanding of Islam in Muslim communities, partic-
emplars of nonviolence such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King
ular communities in Iran, Malaysia, and South Africa lead,
Jr., and the Dalai Lama. This new understanding of jiha¯d,
not follow, the United States. Many American Muslim com-
which seeks to uphold resistance to well-entrenched systems
munities—and much of the leadership represented in groups
such as Islamic Circle of North America, the Islamic Society
of inequality and injustice through nonviolent means, is one
of North America, and the Council on American-Islamic Re-
of the key contributions of progressive Muslims. Building on
lations—are far too uncritical of Salaf¯ı (if not outright
the comments of religious figures such as the Dalai Lama (in
Wahha¯b¯ı) tendencies that progressives oppose.
his Nobel acceptance speech), they recognize that even terms
like “peace” are insufficient when peace is not connected to
Wahhabism is by now a well-known, puritanical read-
justice and the well-being of humanity. The goal is not sim-
ing of Islam that originated in eighteenth-century Saudi Ara-
ply peace in the sense of absence of war but rather a peace
bia. It was not until the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia that
that is rooted in justice.
Wahhabism had the financial resources necessary to import
its evangelical mission all over the world, including to the
Also revealing their indebtedness to American voices of
United States. In spite of their exclusivist ideology,
social justice, many progressive Muslims are also inspired by
Wahha¯b¯ıs have had a great working relationship first with
Martin Luther King Jr. For these Muslims, King embodies
the British and since the 1930s with the U.S. administration.
speaking out for justice from the depth of a religious com-
Lesser known is the Salaf¯ı movement, which represents an
mitment, from the very midst of a faith community to that
important school of Islamic revivalism. Salaf¯ıs espouse a “re-
community and beyond. Thus, he is a great source of inspira-
turn” to the ways of the first few generations of Muslims, the
tion for many progressive Muslims to be voices of conscience
“righteous forefathers.” Central to their methodology has
speaking not in the wilderness but in the very midst of soci-
been a recentering of QurDa¯n and sunnah of Prophet
ety. Progressives thus seek to be voices for global justice
Muh:ammad. It would be a mistake to view American Mus-
speaking firmly and powerfully to the powers that be while
lim organizations such as ISNA and ICNA as Wahha¯b¯ı. On
perpetually affirming the dignity of all human beings.
the other hand, interpretations of Islam such as Shiism and
Sufism are largely absent from these organizations, and the
AN ISLAMIC REFORMATION? Modernist Muslims are often
representation of important and contested issues such as gen-
asked whether their project constitutes an “Islamic reforma-
der constructions tends to reflect a conservative, Salaf¯ı orien-
tion.” They answer the question in both the affirmative and
tation as well. It is in opposition to both Wahhabism and
the negative. It is undeniably true that there are serious eco-
Salafism that many Muslim progressives define themselves.
nomic, social, and political issues in the Muslim world that
need urgent remedying. Much of the Muslim world is bound
One also has to acknowledge that the European and
to a deeply disturbing economic structure in which it pro-
more importantly the North American context has provided
vides natural resources such as oil for the global market while
a fertile ground for the blossoming of progressive Islam.
at the same time remaining dependent on Western labor,
Many participants in this young movement have found a
technological know-how, and staple goods. This economic
more hospitable and open environment in the North Ameri-
situation is exacerbated in many parts of the modern Muslim
can milieu than in Muslim-majority areas. Even the contest-
world by atrocious human rights situations, crumbling edu-
ed public world of post-9/11 America still offers great possi-
cational systems, and worn-out economies. Most modernist
bilities for conducting public conversations about difficult
Muslims would readily support the reform of all those insti-
matters of religion and politics. It would be hard to imagine
tutions.
those critical conversations taking place freely and openly in
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MODERNISM: ISLAMIC MODERNISM
6101
many Muslim countries. Also one has to acknowledge the
ernists, there is no substitute for actually reading the primary
significance of North American educational establishments,
sources.
as well as many fruitful cross-pollinations with liberal reli-
The finest place to begin a study of Islam in the contemporary
gious institutions, human rights groups, and the like.
world is Carl Ernst, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam
Challenges to Islamic modernism. Muslim modern-
in the Contemporary World (Chapel Hill, N.C., 2003). For
an encyclopedic reference, the four-volume The Oxford Ency-
ists face a whole host of challenges. Many modernists have
clopedia of the Modern Islamic World (New York, 1995), ed-
profound internal disagreements about issues ranging from
ited by John L. Esposito, is a useful resource. The often ne-
hermeneutical approaches to QurDa¯n and h:ad¯ıth, women’s
glected eighteenth-century context can be studied through
rights, and others. More problematic is the ongoing question
N. Levtzion and J. Voll’s Eighteenth Century Renewal and Re-
of modernity versus the hegemony of the West. Many mod-
form in Islam (Syracuse, N.Y., 1987). For nineteenth-century
ernists have wrestled with the question of how to incorporate
and early twentieth-century figures, the classic study remains
political institutions, science, and the like from the same
Albert Hourani’s masterpiece, Arabic Thought in a Liberal
Western civilizations that have continued to colonize and ex-
Age: 1798–1939 (1962; reprint, Oxford, 1983). It can be
ploit much of the Third World, including many Muslim-
supplemented with as Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’s Intellectual
majority countries.
Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World (Alba-
ny, N.Y., 1996).
Some initial phases of Islamic modernism became en-
For anthologies of primary sources with useful introductions,
tangled in apologetic presentations of Islam in which Islam
there is no better source than the two volumes edited by
was idealized and imagined as an initially perfect system that
Charles Kurzman. Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook. (New York,
had only been sullied through the misogyny and stagnation
1998) deals more or less with twentieth-century figures, and
of later Muslim generations. That presupposition does not
Modernist Islam 1840–1940: A Sourcebook (New York, 2002)
enable one to deal constructively with problematic questions
with slightly earlier intellectuals. Both are worth going
in the QurDa¯n or the lifetime of the Prophet and the early
through in detail.
companions, even as it dismisses useful resources in later de-
For an overview of Muh:ammad EAbduh, see his The Theology of
velopments.
Unity (London, 1955). A good secondary study is Malcolm
Other challenges are external. Muslim modernists do
H. Kerr’s Islamic Reform: The Political and Legal Theories of
not have a natural institutional home other than academia
Muhammad EAbduh and Rashid Rida (Berkeley, Calif.,
1966). Muhammad Iqbal’s widely influential The Reconstruc-
and some media outlets. They have continuously struggled
tion of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore, Pakistan, 1951),
to find a home in the madrasah systems, although in some
reprinted numerous times, is a ubiquitous study of modernist
places they have achieved a measure of success because of the
Islam. Another master of Islamic modernism, Fazlur Rah-
efforts of Muh:ammad EAbduh and others. In other cases,
man, can best be approached through two of his works, Islam
they live in exile (Fazlur Rahman and Nas:r Abu¯ Zayd, for
and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition
example) for having been persecuted in their homeland. Po-
(Chicago, 1984) and Revival and Reform in Islam: A Study
litically they have often come under attack from a number
of Islamic Fundamentalism, edited by Ebrahim Moosa (Ox-
of directions: state authorities who find the modernists’ po-
ford, 2000).
litical critiques disturbing; secularists who are puzzled by the
Important feminist reevaluations of Islamic history and the rise of
modernists’ continued involvement with Islam; traditional
the women’s movement include Leila Ahmed’s Women and
religious authorities whose own understanding of Islam is
Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New
undermined by the modernists. In spite of all the above,
Haven, Conn., 1992). A more positive reading of the possi-
some modernists such as Fazlur Rahman and Iqbal have the
bility of incorporating feminism into QurDanic hermeneutics
strange designation of being the target of persecution as well
is Amina Wadud’s Qur Da¯n and Woman (Oxford, 1989; re-
print 1999). For modernist revaluation of Islamic law, par-
as large-scale admiration.
ticularly in the area of gender, the classic study is Khaled
In conclusion, it is clear that Muslims are entering yet
Abou El Fadl’s Speaking in God’s Name: Islamic Law, Author-
another age of critical self-reflection. Given the level of po-
ity and Women (Oxford, 2001).
lemics and apologetics, it is extraordinarily difficult to sustain
A critical evaluation of Wahhabism is Hamid Algar’s Wahhabism
a critical level of subtle discourse. Yet these Muslims today
(Oneonta, N.Y., 2002). A less polemical study is Ahmad
are not merely initiating social transformation, they are re-
Dallal’s “The Origins and Objectives of Islamic Revivalist
flecting much wider processes at the same time. They are well
Thought, 1750–1850,” Journal of the American Oriental So-
situated to provide the most balanced and critical synthesis
ciety 113, no. 3 (1993): 341–359. Also worth consulting is
of Islam and modernity.
Michael Cook’s “On the Origins of Wahhabism,” Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society 2 (1992): 191–202.
SEE ALSO Jama¯Eat-i Isla¯m¯ı; Muslim Brotherhood; Wah-
A brilliant anthology of how Neoconservatives, Western Trium-
ha¯b¯ıyah.
phalists, and Christian Evangelicals define Islam as the latest
“other” against which the “West” is defined is The New Cru-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
sades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy, edited by Emran
There are some classical studies for each phase of Islamic modern-
Qureshi and Michael A. Sells, (New York, 2003). The classic
ism, but to get a sense of the flavor and methodology of mod-
study that deconstructs the meta-discourse of “Islam and vio-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6102
MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
lence” is Bruce Lawrence, Shattering the Myth: Islam beyond
critical of received dogma or traditional interpretations of
Violence (Princeton, N.J., 2000). A prominent intellectual
scripture. Employment of the word liberalist came instead to
who argues for the necessity of incorporating a Western iden-
be a mark of approval, in opposition to attitudes referred to
tity into Islamic consciousness is Tariq Ramadan, author of
pejoratively as traditionalist, dogmatist, or even obscurantist.
Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (New York, 2003).
Moreover, liberalism was taken to signify a readiness not
A useful study of pluralistic readings of the QurDa¯n is Ab-
only to modify or actually negate certain doctrines or beliefs
dulaziz Sachedina’s The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism
usually associated with received religious teaching but also
(New York, 2001) and Suha Taji-Farouki, ed. Modern Mus-
lim Intellectuals and the Quran (Oxford, 2004).
to propagate views of a more positive nature, such as the ne-
cessity for freedom of inquiry and research and the convic-
Lastly, Omid Safi’s edited volume, Progressive Muslims: On Justice,
Gender, and Pluralism (Oxford, 2003), features the writings
tion that new knowledge, when soundly based, will not
of fifteen prominent Muslim intellectuals and activists in
prove subversive of fundamental religious truth but rather be
areas ranging from social justice to religious pluralism and
a light by which to clarify and enhance such truth. Hence
gender equality. The study marks the full turning point from
to be identified as “liberal” was regarded as a compliment by
uncritical engagements with modernity in Islamic liberalism
an increasing number of Protestant thinkers and scholars in
and modernism to a progressive understanding that adopts
the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
a critical stance vis-à-vis both Islam and modernity.
At about the same time the term modernism gained cur-
OMID SAFI (2005)
rency, especially in Anglican circles, as an alternative, and
preferable, designation for such theological liberalism. How-
ever, modernism has long been accepted in a stricter sense as
MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
indicating a type of “progressive” theological opinion to be
The related terms liberalism and modernism, when occurring
found in the Roman Catholic Church during the pontifi-
in a religious or theological context, are usually no less impre-
cates of Leo XIII and Pius X, and many would now consider
cise than when used with other references. As T. S. Eliot put
usage of the word best limited to this latter sense. “Liberal
it: “Liberalism is something which tends to release energy
Catholicism” also designates certain tendencies in nine-
rather than accumulate it, to relax, rather than to fortify. It
teenth-century Roman Catholicism, notably in France. Its
is a movement not so much defined by its end, as by its start-
concern, however, was more political and social than theo-
ing point; away from, rather than towards, something defi-
logical.
nite.” Accordingly the content of a set of doctrines or princi-
ples described as liberal depends upon that of the
Attitudes that could in some sense be characterized as
“orthodoxy” from which such liberalism diverges, or which
liberal or modernist have been recurrent throughout the his-
it relaxes or qualifies. Much the same applies to modernism,
tory of Christian thought, but the movements or tendencies
which refers not simply to what exists today but to some-
that usually carry one of these epithets are of nineteenth- or
thing deemed to be distinctive of today or of the more recent
twentieth-century occurrence, and in the interest of clarity
past, and so to be commended as such, in contrast to what
the present entry will observe this restriction.
represents a settled tradition or a historic inheritance. Defin-
The immediate intellectual background of theological
ing both terms therefore presents difficulties, and an under-
liberalism was the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century,
standing of what either signifies is best reached by observing
with its striving for political, social, and cultural liberty. The
how in fact the word has been used, and in particular by re-
criterion of “enlightened” judgment was the use of reason,
cording agreement as to what it at least denotes.
in which the mysteries of religious faith were prone to seem
The word liberalism was employed early in the nine-
mere relics of the ignorance and superstition of the past.
teenth century to designate “the holding of liberal opinions
Deism became the widely prevalent expression of this largely
in politics or theology.” Theologically the word did not at
negative standpoint. A new era opened with the later philos-
first have a favorable connotation. Thus Edward Irving stat-
ophy of the century’s greatest thinker, Immanuel Kant, who
ed in 1826 that whereas “religion is the very name of obliga-
sought by an analysis of the nature of knowledge itself to
tion . . . liberalism is the very name of want of obligation.”
offer a rational justification for faith. But the answer he pro-
John Henry Newman went further and spoke in 1841 of
duced in the Critique of Pure Reason (1781) was such as to
“the most serious thinkers among us” as regarding “the spirit
destroy the long-established “natural” theology that most
of liberalism as characteristic of the destined Antichrist.” Lib-
Deist as well as orthodox thinkers regarded as fundamental.
eralism itself he stigmatized in 1864 as “false liberty of
In its place he put the witness of the moral consciousness:
thought, or the exercize of thought upon matters in which,
belief in God was to be seen, philosophically, as a postulate
from the constitution of the human mind, thought cannot
of “practical,” or moral, reason. The scientific understanding
be brought to any successful issue, and therefore is out of
could not prove the existence of God, but the will, as the fac-
place.” More succinctly, Newman condemned it as “the anti-
ulty of the moral life, required it. Kant’s own philosophy of
dogmatic principle.”
religion—or, more correctly, his philosophy of the Christian
Gradually, however, this view point changed with the
religion—was embodied in his suitably entitled Religion
broader adoption by theologians of opinions more or less
within the Limits of Reason Alone, one of the main sources
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MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
6103
from which modern theological liberalism derives. Indeed,
of all shades of opinion occupy in contrast to traditionalist,
Paul Tillich is right in claiming Kant’s teaching as “decisive
let alone “fundamentalist,” views. Differences are less of kind
for the theology of the nineteenth century” (Perspectives on
than of degree, and they are inevitably marked by national
Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Protestant Theology, Lon-
and denominational characteristics. Thus all liberals desire,
don, 1967, p. 64).
first, a broad interpretation of dogmatic formularies, where
these exist and retain some authority. Second, they are cool
The perspective within which Kant views religion ap-
toward theological speculation that appears to have no par-
pears, on the face of it, narrow. Religion, he maintains, is
ticular ethical relevance. And third, they are especially sensi-
morality; or at all events morality is of its very substance, al-
tive to the impact on traditional belief of new knowledge in
beit construed in terms of divine command. In other words,
the sciences, both natural and historical. Indeed, in the more
the religious problem is not a speculative one in which the
recent phases of liberal religious thought, a determining fac-
religious object is validated primarily at the metaphysical
level; it is a practical problem, pertaining wholly to man’s
tor has been the historical criticism of the Bible and the effect
ethical nature. “The illusion of being able to accomplish any-
that this criticism is bound to have upon the understanding
thing in the way of justifying ourselves before God through
and use of scripture—always for Protestants the ultimate
religious acts of worship is superstition” (Religion within the
source of Christian doctrine. Hence the varieties of liberal-
Limits of Reason Alone, New York, 1960, p. 162). The reduc-
ism arise in the main from differing responses on the part
tionism that this implies therefore necessitates a critique of
of individual religious thinkers to each of these leading con-
traditional beliefs and institutions in anticipation of a more
siderations.
positive statement of what a genuinely rational Christianity
The starting point for a study of liberal Protestantism
must involve. Such insistence on the need for distinguishing
is the work of Schleiermacher (1768–1834), “the father of
between the essential and the nonessential—reason and con-
modern theology,” as he has fitly been called. Kant, for all
science providing the criteria—was to become the guiding
his anticipation of subsequent trends of thought, was very
principle of all forms of liberal Christianity, and especially
much an eighteenth-century figure, in whom the individual-
of German nineteenth-century Protestantism.
ist note of ethical rationalism was all-pervasive. Schleierma-
LIBERAL PROTESTANTISM. Nevertheless, if liberalism is to at-
cher, on the other hand, brought to religious reflection a dif-
tain any sort of useful definition, some discrimination has
ferent spirit. For him religion was primarily a condition of
to be made. “Liberal Protestantism,” that is to say, is not sim-
the heart; its essence is feeling (Gefühl). Without a deep emo-
ply to be equated with “Protestant liberalism.” “A moderate-
tional impulse it cannot be sustained in its true character and
ly orthodox believer,” said the French liberal theologian Jean
becomes either dogmatism or moralism. Authentic religion
Réville, “may practise liberalism; he will not thereby become
is, rather, a “submission to be moved by the Whole that
a liberal Protestant” (Liberal Christianity, London, 1903,
stands over against man,” a “sense and taste for the Infinite.”
p. 17). Protestant liberalism is in fact no more than the con-
In his great work on systematic theology, The Christian Faith
ception of Christianity of those who combine a liberal turn
(1821–1822; 2d ed., 1830), Schleiermacher called religion
of mind with a broadly Protestant type of religious convic-
a “feeling of absolute dependence” or, for the Christian spe-
tion. Such a position is subject, obviously, to many different
cifically, a feeling of absolute dependence upon “God in
sources of influence and offers a wide variety of opinion. Lib-
Christ.” Thus in Schleiermacher’s religious philosophy a
eral Protestantism, on the other hand, is a designation best
fundamental principle of liberalism is already evident, name-
applied to the kind of theological thinking that, against a
ly, the appeal to inward experience, and therewith an ele-
generally Lutheran background, developed in Germany dur-
ment of subjectivism from which the liberal standpoint can
ing the nineteenth century under the stimulus first of Frie-
never be dissociated. In this, indeed, Schleiermacher had
drich Schleiermacher and then of Albrecht Ritschl. Not that
been anticipated by Kant; but whereas for Kant the subjec-
it remained confined to Germany: in France, Auguste Saba-
tive determinant was moral, for Schleiermacher it could best
tier (1839–1901) and Jean Réville (1854–1908) himself, for
be described as aesthetic. In the subsequent development of
example, may fairly be classed as liberal Protestants, as are
liberal Protestantism, the moral factor was consistently the
such men as the Presbyterian William Adams Brown in the
more potent.
United States and the Congregationalists T. R. Glover and
This is especially so in the teaching of Ritschl (1822–
C. J. Cadoux in Great Britain. Again, Kantian reverberations
1889), the most influential German theologian of his era,
are as a rule clearly audible in liberal Protestantism, whereas
who for the greater part of his career held the chair of theolo-
in Protestant liberalism (at all events, in an English and An-
gy at the University of Göttingen. His main literary work was
glican setting) the prevailing spirit is more that of the seven-
The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation
teenth-century Cambridge Platonists or the latitudinarian-
(1870–1874). Ritschl disliked Schleiermacher’s emphasis on
ism associated with archbishop John Tillotson (1630–1694)
feeling, and although his own concern was strongly ethical,
than that of Kant or, still less, of Schleiermacher.
he believed also that faith must have an objective basis. Such
Yet to press such distinctions too far would be to ob-
objectivity, however, he found not in metaphysics, Hellenic
scure the very large amount of common ground that liberals
or Hegelian (for which, as far as theology was concerned,
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MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
Ritschl had no use), but in history, or rather in the unique
pel is an ethical ideal, and confessions of theological belief
historical events of the New Testament. In his younger days
are altogether secondary. The object of a Christian’s faith is
he had come under the influence of the eminent Tübingen
Jesus as he lived. The more radical side of Ritschlianism is
historian of early Christianity, Ferdinand Christian Baur
represented by Harnack, for many years professor of church
(1792–1860), whose skeptical conclusions in this field had
history at the University of Berlin. Here again the bedrock
to a large extent been dictated by his Hegelian presupposi-
of faith is the historical Jesus. In his well-known What Is
tions. But by 1856 Ritschl had repudiated the Tübingen po-
Christianity? (1900), Harnack sets aside the entire Catholic
sition, although he welcomed historical criticism as such
tradition of dogma, hierarchy, and cult; indeed, under the
since he believed that recourse to the original salvific events
guiding light of modern criticism, he goes far beyond Refor-
would bypass the metaphysical Christology of Catholic
mation Protestantism in negating the past. To discover the
dogma, which to the genuinely religious mind had become
Wesen, the essence, of the Christian religion, the theologian
an impediment. In short, he saw Christianity as essentially
of today must return not merely to the New Testament—
a life devoted to action, both Godward and manward, in
theological distortion had already begun with Paul—but to
which the ethical imperative is supreme. The corollary of this
the teaching of Jesus as preserved in the Synoptic Gospels,
was that religious doctrines are not assertions of fact, in the
the heart of which is the principle of the fatherhood of God
ordinary meaning of the word, but “value judgments” (Wer-
and the brotherhood of man. The “kingdom” that Jesus
turteile) expressive of humanity’s attitude to the world about
preached, shorn of its apocalyptic trappings, must therefore
it and relating to its moral and spiritual ends. For the human
be understood in a purely ethical sense. “The individual is
claim to moral freedom and the responsibility that this en-
called upon to listen to the glad message of mercy and of
tails is, in Ritschl’s mind, the necessary counterbalance to the
God’s Fatherhood, and to make up his mind whether he will
determinism of nature as described by modern science, and
be on God’s side as the Eternal’s, or on the side of the world
the primary role of religion is to uphold this claim. To quote
and time.”
Ritschl: “In every religion what is sought, with the help of
the supernatural power reverenced by man, is a solution of
The final phase of liberal Protestantism is really post-
the contradiction in which humanity finds itself, as both a
Ritschlian and centers upon the religionsgeschichtliche Schule
part of the world of nature and a spiritual personality claim-
(history of religions school), typified in the work of Ernst Tr-
ing to dominate nature” (Justification and Reconciliation,
oeltsch (1865–1923) and Wilhelm Bousset (1865–1920).
Edinburgh, 1874–1900, p. 199).
Troeltsch, at first professor of theology at the University of
Heidelberg and afterward professor of the history of philoso-
For Ritschl, the distinctiveness of Christianity lay in the
phy at the University of Berlin, was much influenced by the
unique clue to an understanding of the divine nature and
sociologists Wilhelm Dilthey and Max Weber. The fact, as
purposes offered by Jesus, who for the Christian is the sole
Troeltsch saw it, that Christianity, like any other cultural
medium of salvation. And Jesus as the Christ is to be known
phenomenon, must be understood primarily in relation to
not through any abstruse theology of his person, but by his
its attendant historical conditions inevitably posed the prob-
work—that is, by his own consciousness of God communi-
lem of the absoluteness of its claims in respect not only to
cated in turn to us, whereby one experiences forgiveness of
the world’s other religions but to cultural change generally.
sin and restoration of the desire and power to do the will of
The proper approach to Christianity appeared to be by way
God. The church, to which Ritschl attached high impor-
of the history and philosophy of religion; dogmatic theology
tance, is the only sphere in which justification and reconcilia-
acquired relevance only within this broader scholarly frame-
tion are experienced. As such, it is the community of the re-
work. Not surprisingly, it was an opinion that to the more
deemed.
traditionally minded placed divine revelation at the disposal
of a relativistic historicism. This, along with the persistent
Ritschlianism, however, includes more than the person-
anthropocentrism of liberal theology, was to lead, by the end
al teaching of Ritschl himself and comprises the thinking of
of World War I in 1918, to the antiliberalist reaction of Karl
a number of theologians prominent in German Protestant-
Barth, whose Epistle to the Romans appeared in the following
ism down to at least the outbreak of World War I. It also
year, and to the so-called neoorthodox movement generally.
was not without its representatives in the Anglo-Saxon
world. Of the German Ritschlians, the most distinguished
But despite the powerful Barthian influence that lasted
were Wilhelm Herrmann (1846–1922), Julius Kaftan
for at least four decades into the twentieth century, the liber-
(1848–1926), and Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930). In-
al aim of communicating the Christian message to modern
deed, Herrmann’s The Communion of the Christian with God
humanity in terms of its own modernity was not revoked.
(1886) is perhaps the most typical as well as the most sympa-
This aim is evident enough in the work of two of Barth’s
thetic expression of the Ritschlian viewpoint one could cite.
most outstanding Protestant contemporaries, Paul Tillich
Its author, who was professor of theology at the University
and Rudolf Bultmann, albeit that the associated philosophy
of Marburg, was if anything even more anxious than Ritschl
here is existentialism rather than post-Hegelian idealism.
to sunder Christian doctrine from all traffic with metaphysi-
Moreover, the distinctively humanist tone that since about
cal philosophy. For him, as for Ritschl, the heart of the gos-
1960 has come more or less to pervade virtually all Western
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MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
6105
theological thinking is clearly continuous with the older li-
A liberalism more akin to continental liberal Protestant-
beralizing attitudes.
ism was to be found among the English Nonconformists, or
“Free Churchmen,” rather than among Anglicans. In the
In the English-speaking world, liberal Protestantism did
main, however, the Free Church theologians, of whom the
not form so clearly defined a force as it did in Germany. At
most distinguished representatives included P. T. Forsyth
any rate it is more difficult to distinguish between liberal
and A. E. Garvie (the latter a close student of Ritschlianism),
Protestants, in Réville’s meaning of the term, and theological
were less inclined to doctrinal novelty than were some of
liberals in a broader sense. But in this broader sense liberal-
their Anglican contemporaries. The Congregationalist R. J.
ism is multifarious, depending on varying denominational
Campbell (1867–1956), author of The New Theology (1907),
allegiances, although also to a large extent on individual in-
was an exception. So too was T. R. Glover (1869–1943), a
terests and idiosyncrasies. Classification therefore demands
Cambridge classical scholar and author of the popular Jesus
much tact.
of History (1917), the thesis of which is much the same as
The antecedents of English liberalism, particularly with-
that of Harnack’s What Is Christianity? Another exception
in the Anglican context, are to be located in eighteenth-
was C. J. Cadoux (1883–1947), whose Catholicism and
century latitudinarianism, in the “noetic” school at Oxford
Christianity (1928) propounded a radical critique of Catholic
University in the early nineteenth century—whose chief ex-
orthodoxy from a liberal angle. The Unitarian tradition,
ponents are Richard Whately (1787–1863), Renn Dickson
maintained with high repute throughout the nineteenth
Hampden (1793–1868), and Thomas Arnold (1795–
century by James Martineau (1805–1900)—perhaps the
1842)—and in the midcentury “broad church” as represent-
greatest Protestant liberal of his era in England—was also
ed by H. H. Milman (1791–1868), A. P. Stanley (1815–
represented, if somewhat journalistically, by L. P. Jacks
1881), and Benjamin Jowett (1817–1893), as indeed by all
(1860–1955).
the authors of Essays and Reviews (1860), including Jowett.
In America the liberal movement in religious thought
Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), in some ways the
may be said to have begun with William Ellery Channing
most fertile theological mind of his time in England, es-
(1780–1842). Brought up in the strict ways of New England
chewed the name “broad church,” but his teaching, permeat-
Calvinism, Channing came to be considered a Unitarian.
ed as it was with the influence of Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
But critical though he was of traditional doctrines, he be-
had a broadening effect within the Church of England and
lieved Christ to have been the perfect revelation of God and
undoubtedly contributed substantially to the shaping of
the living ideal of humanity. Against Calvinism he set a con-
modern Anglicanism. Maurice himself seems scarcely to have
fident faith in an individual’s freedom and inherent capacity
appreciated the unsettling effect on orthodox thinking of the
for good as a child of God. The leader of the New England
historical criticism of the Bible.
Transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803–1882), whom Matthew Arnold, addressing an Ameri-
A more self-consciously innovative type of liberalism,
can audience, described as “your Newman, your man of soul
however, made its appearance toward the end of the century.
and genius,” remains the best-known American religious
It was associated with the names of Percy Gardner (1846–
thinker of the nineteenth century. His religious views are ex-
1937), professor of classicial archaeology at Oxford Universi-
pounded in Nature (1836) and the two volumes of Essays
ty; Hastings Rashdall (1858–1924), dean of Carlisle; W. R.
(1841–1843). The basis of his position was belief in the es-
Inge (1860–1954), dean of Saint Paul’s, London; H. D. A.
sential divinity of man; redemption was to be sought in the
Major (1871–1961), principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford; and
individual’s possession of his or her own soul by original
E. W. Barnes (1874–1953), bishop of Birmingham. All of
thought and effort. Jesus, he held, was best honored by fol-
them were connected with the Modern Churchmen’s
lowing his example. A liberal of more orthodox persuasion
Union, founded in 1898, and with its organ the Modern
was Horace Bushnell (1802–1876), who for much of his ca-
Churchman. But their “modernism”—to use their own pre-
reer was pastor of the North Church at Hartford, Connecti-
ferred designation—had little theological coherence. Such
cut. His Discourse on Christian Nurture (1847) took a medi-
unity as it possessed stemmed chiefly from a marked opposi-
ating line between the old orthodoxy, with its preoccupation
tion to the doctrine and practices of the Anglo-Catholic
with Original Sin and human depravity, and Enlightenment
party within the established church. The Union achieved its
theories of human perfectibility. In God in Christ (1849) he
highest public notice with its Cambridge conference of 1921
applied the moral criterion to dogma, and he insisted that
on the general theme of “Christ and the Creeds.” Rashdall’s
even in scripture the “soul” must be distinguished from the
paper “Christ as the Logos and Son of God” aroused sharp
“body.”
controversy with such statements as the following: “It is im-
possible to maintain that God is fully incarnate in Christ,
Nearer the close of the century European influences—
and not incarnate at all in any one else.” But by the end of
and not least Ritschlianism—are discernible in American
the 1930s Anglican modernism was in decline and is now
theology, notably in the writings of H. C. King (1858–
but the merest wraith of its former self. Indeed, the very
1934), president of Oberlin College, Ohio, and William
name has been virtually abandoned.
Adams Brown (1865–1943) of Union Theological Semi-
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6106
MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
nary, New York, whose work The Essence of Christianity ap-
Anglo-Irish Jesuit George Tyrrell (1861–1909), notably in
peared in 1902. Among historical scholars of a liberal bent
his posthumous work Christianity at the Cross Roads (1910).
was A. C. McGiffert (1861–1933), also of Union Theologi-
cal Seminary, who believed religious certitude to be, in the
The peculiar difficulty facing the Modernists lay in seek-
last resort, independent of historical events. Other promi-
ing to validate a form of Christianity that appeared fatally
nent liberals of the early twentieth century include the well-
vulnerable to historical criticism. Indeed, they felt that the
known New York preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick; Shailer
main pressure upon faith came from precisely this quarter,
Mathews, whose book The Faith of Modernism (1925) is as
and the familiar type of Catholic apologetic, tied as it was
forthright a statement of liberal ideals as could be wished;
to biblical fundamentalism, was incapable of meeting it.
and H. N. Wieman, author of The Wrestle of Religion with
Moreover, the question of dogma also raised other issues, of
Truth (1927).
a philosophical order. Catholic philosophy, by official direc-
tion, meant Thomism, although more often than not Tho-
ROMAN CATHOLIC MODERNISM. The use of the word Mod-
mism conceived in a narrow, unhistorical, and scholastic
ernism in restricted reference (hence the capitalization of its
form. A more dynamic religious philosophy was wanted, ac-
initial letter) to a movement of a theologically “modernizing”
cording to Modernists like the French Oratorian Lucien La-
or liberalizing character in the Roman Catholic Church at
berthonnière (1860–1932), a disciple of Maurice Blondel
the turn of the twentieth century has already been alluded
(1861–1949), as well as to the Bergsonian Édouard Le Roy
to. But it should at once be said that to describe Roman
(1870–1954) and to Ernesto Buonaiuti (1881–1946), pro-
Catholic Modernism as a movement at all is somewhat mis-
tagonist of the Italians and author of The Program of Modern-
leading, as it had little cohesion, and those to whom the des-
ism (1907). For a more dynamic philosophy they looked not
ignation “Modernist” has usually been applied do not in any
to Kant, as Pius’s Pascendi had alleged, but rather to the vol-
sense constitute a school. As the most famous of them, Alfred
untarist tradition of much nineteenth-century French
Loisy (1857–1940), expressly stated, they were only “a quite
thought and even to American pragmatism. Tyrrell and La-
limited number of persons” who individually shared “the de-
berthonnière both stressed the role of the will in belief and
sire to adapt the Catholic religion to the intellectual, moral
were disposed to understand doctrine in terms of an ethical
and social needs of the present time.” But the exact determi-
symbolism. Le Roy’s account of dogma (Dogme et critique,
nation of their overall aim differed from one writer to anoth-
1907), in particular, represented it primarily as une règle de
er, according to his particular interest. Thus the only satisfac-
conduite pratique (“a rule for practical conduct”), without in-
tory way of studying Modernism is not to attempt to impose
trinsic speculative content. Thus the doctrine of the divine
upon it a schematization like that of Pius X, by whose encyc-
personality means in effect “Conduct yourself in your rela-
lical Pascendi dominici gregis it was condemned in 1907, but
tions with God as you would in your relations with a human
to examine and assess each author’s contribution to the cause
person.” The vindication of dogma, therefore, will rest on
as a whole. The countries where Modernist tendencies were
its capacity to induce the experience in which it is itself
most in evidence were France, Italy, and England. Germany,
grounded.
rather surprisingly, was less affected, and in the United States
it had no real following at all.
However, the Modernist apologetic, whether historical
or philosophical, won no approval at Rome, and the move-
The task that, in one way or another, the Modernists
ment was summarily suppressed. In 1910 a specifically anti-
undertook was that of presenting the world of their day with
Modernist oath was imposed on the clergy, or at least those
a defense of Catholicism, in both its doctrinal and institu-
engaged in teaching. The result of the Vatican’s action was
tional aspects, which could be accepted as intellectually plau-
to retard Catholic biblical scholarship, as well as practically
sible. In other words, what Protestant liberals had done for
all non-Thomist theological thinking, for many years to
the Reformation tradition they would attempt for the post-
come.
Tridentine, and their procedure was often no less radical.
Thus Loisy, in The Gospel and the Church (1902), ap-
ASSESSMENT OF LIBERALISM. The strength of liberalism lay
proached the whole problem of historical Catholicism—its
in its conviction that the Christian gospel can be offered to
dogmas, its hierarchy, its cult—along evolutionary lines as
modern individuals without affront to their intelligence. It
a natural growth responsive to spiritual and social needs and
recognized frankly that Christian belief arose, developed, and
determined by the continuously changing cultural environ-
was formulated in an era and a culture vastly different from
ment. A direct reply to Harnack’s What Is Christianity?,
that of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western society,
Loisy’s book denied that the essence of Christianity could be
and that both its intellectual presuppositions and the lan-
located at any one stage or identified with any single element
guage in which it came to be articulated are inevitably alien
within its historical life. The entire historical life of Chris-
and even in large measure unintelligible to this age. Unless
tianity, he maintained, alone provided the data for a true—
therefore one tries to seal oneself off from all contemporary
because empirically grounded—estimate of what the Chris-
influences, one is bound to reassess the basics of faith in the
tian religion is. In this context, Catholicism will be seen to
light of the radically altered ways of thinking that the post-
be justified—so Loisy argued—by the sheer fullness and di-
Reformation era has brought about. Especially must Chris-
versity of its content. Similar arguments were used by the
tianity be seen in the perspective of scientific history, even
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MODERNISM: CHRISTIAN MODERNISM
6107
though this may no longer support forms of belief that have
decades, and only in the years immediately preceding Barth’s
persisted over centuries. Indeed, it is difficult to see how on
death in 1968 did its end become manifest. The neoortho-
this score the liberal case can be refuted; the facts speak for
dox reaction, although it has not ceased to exert its pull on
themselves, and any modernized version of the Christian reli-
some minds—conservative evangelicalism unquestionably
gion has to take account of them from the outset.
gained heart from it—now appears to have been less a recov-
ery of the old certainties than a temporary arrêt in a process
Nevertheless, liberalism has had its critics from at least
that is actually part of modernity itself. In other words, the
the beginning of this century, and not merely among the par-
theological difficulties that liberalism had sought to resolve
tisans of a crass traditionalism. To many, its immanentist
remain, inasmuch as orthodoxy, if it is to uphold its claim
theology greatly overemphasized the continuity between the
to intellectual respectability, cannot avoid the challenge of
world and God and between humanity and God, at the ex-
criticism, whether philosophical or historical. A serious fault
pense of the received belief, on which the whole scheme of
in Barth himself was his evasiveness on the historical authen-
redemption turned, that as between finite and infinite,
ticity of Christianity. These unresolved difficulties have no
human and divine, there is a qualitative and not merely a
doubt influenced theologians’ disposition to reconsider the
quantitative disparity. (The liberal Christology is usually cir-
achievements of liberalism in a more sympathetic light.
cumscribed by the humanity of Jesus.) In keeping with this,
liberalism seemed to its critics if not altogether to minimize
SEE ALSO Evangelical and Fundamental Christianity; Neo-
sin and evil, yet to interpret these too easily in terms of igno-
orthodoxy; Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity; Petre,
rance, immaturity, and simple maladjustment, while over-
Maude Dominica; Vatican Councils, article on Vatican I.
looking the sheer heinousness of sin. In fact, liberalism’s view
of humankind exhibited an optimism stemming from a com-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
bination of Enlightenment notions of human perfectibility
For an understanding of liberalism and modernism, Protestant
and the nineteenth-century ideal of progress. Such optimism
and Catholic, all the primary works cited in the foregoing ar-
is encouraged neither by the traditional Christian doctrine
ticle should be studied. Of secondary works, Karl Barth’s
of the “natural” human condition as corrupted by the fall nor
Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century (1952; translat-
by the cumulative evidence of sin to that humankind’s his-
ed by Brian Cozens and John Bowden, Valley Forge, Pa.,
torical life bears sorry witness. It is also possible to consider
1973) offers an account of nineteenth-century German theo-
as in principle subjective the liberal conception of the church
logical thinking in general that is of magisterial weight, al-
itself: a fellowship of those who share the same or a similar
though its whole approach to liberalism is critical. H. R.
experience, in recognition of which they meet together in
Mackintosh’s Types of Modern Theology (1937; 2d ed., New
York, 1958), Barthian also in its viewpoint, is still useful, as
worship, hence expressing the social character of religion.
is John Macquarrie’s Twentieth Century Religious Thought
Tolerance is applauded because opinions in religious matters
(New York, 1963), which covers much ground but makes
inevitably differ. In sum, the values of liberalism, so its critics
only summary presentations of individual thinkers.
complain, are essentially those of a bourgeois ethicism having
Claude Welch’s Protestant Thought in the Nineteenth Century
little or nothing of that sense of the eschatological kairos
(New Haven, 1972) fills in a good deal of the background
(“time”) and impending judgment that characterizes the
of the liberal movement, though as yet only the first volume,
New Testament and persists as a motif in all traditional doc-
covering 1790–1870, has appeared. One of my own books,
trine.
Liberal Protestantism (Stanford, Calif., 1968), provides an ex-
tended introduction dealing with most aspects of the move-
It was the serious inadequacies of liberalism—as he felt
ment and a selection of texts. Ritschl: A Reappraisal (London,
them to be—that led the young Swiss theologian Karl Barth
1978), by James Richmond, offers a fairly full study of a writ-
(1886–1968), who had been deeply influenced by Kierke-
er whom English-speaking readers have always been apt to
gaard, to protest against the anthropocentrism of liberal the-
find difficult, and Ernst Troeltsch and the Future of Theology
ologies in the name of the uncompromising theocentrism of
(Cambridge, 1976), edited by John Powell Clayton, treats at
the biblical revelation. The starting point of theology, he
length the last great representative of liberal Protestantism.
urged, must not be subjective “religiousness” but rather
Sidney E. Ahlstrom’s Theology in America: The Major Protestant
God’s own self-disclosure through his Word: “God is known
Voices from Puritanism to Neo-Orthodoxy (Indianapolis,
by God alone” (Church Dogmatics 2.1). Thus neither “reli-
1967) surveys the American scene. H. D. A. Major’s English
gious experience” nor speculative natural theology provides
Modernism: Its Origin, Methods, Aims (Cambridge, Mass.,
any necessary prolegomena to faith. Instead of the Thomist
1927), more a manifesto than a history, confines itself princi-
analogia entis (“analogy of being”), Barth offered the analogia
pally to Anglicanism. Oliver Chase Quick’s Liberalism, Mod-
fidei (“analogy of faith”), that is, the insights of faith based
ernism and Tradition (London, 1922) discusses the liberal
on revelation.
Protestant and Catholic modernist doctrines of Christ in re-
lation to orthodoxy.
The upshot of the Barthian theological revolution was
The most authoritative of more recent works on Roman Catholic
that all forms of liberalism fell more or less into discredit.
modernism is Émile Poulat’s Histoire, dogme et critique dans
This “Barthian captivity,” as Reinhold Niebuhr called it, of
la crise moderniste (Paris, 1962), although Jean Rivière’s Le
twentieth-century religious thought persisted for some four
modernisme dans l’église (Paris, 1929), the work of a relatively
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6108
MODERNITY
“liberal” Roman Catholic, still provides the most compre-
in specialized journals and technical exchanges. The ubiquity
hensive survey. In Roman Catholic Modernism (London,
of these terms is due in part to the shifting sets of meaning
1970), I have again supplied a longish introduction and a se-
they carry. To clarify the current discussion, I propose cer-
lection of texts, including excerpts from the Vatican docu-
tain distinctions between these terms.
ments condemning modernism. Thomas M. Loome’s Liber-
al Catholicism, Reform Catholicism, Modernism: A
First, modern is a correlative term; it implies what is new
Contribution to a New Orientation in Modernist Research
as opposed to what is ancient, what is innovative as opposed
(Mainz, 1979) is especially valuable for its bibliographical
to what is traditional or handed down. However, what is
material. Also deserving of mention is Gabriel Daly’s Tran-
judged modern at a particular time and place in a culture will
scendence and Immanence: A Study of Catholic Modernism and
not necessarily be defined as such either in the future or in
Integralism (Oxford and New York, 1980).
some other context. Students of religion, especially, who by
BERNARD M. G. REARDON (1987 AND 2005)
definition are interested in cultural patterns viewed in a long-
term framework, must not fail to put in perspective changing
perceptions of what is “new” and what is “old.” Since a judg-
MODERNITY.
ment about what is modern is a matter of the perspective of
Many factors working together have
the observer, phenomena that appear similar may in fact vary
generated interest in modernity and religion. Among these
considerably depending on their context. Thus, “modern ar-
are an increasing consciousness of the many human societies
chitecture” of the mid-twentieth century now has a distinctly
that now exist, an awareness of previous societies recorded
dated look. Similarly, nineteenth-century symphonic music
in history, and a recognition of the overwhelming variety of
must have seemed “modern” to those brought up on the ba-
cultures associated with them. The constellation of cultural
roque, but outmoded to those brought up on Stravinsky and
characteristics associated with the modern period is very dif-
Hindemith.
ferent from that normally associated with an isolated tribal
culture, a medieval peasant society, or a transitional society
Second, the terms modernism and modernization repre-
of the early modern period. To talk of religion is to identify
sent, respectively, cultural and social attitudes or programs
a particular set of cultural attitudes and activities that point
dedicated to supporting what is perceived as modern. Mod-
to the deep sources of power in a culture, how humans relate
ernism entails a kind of explicit and self-conscious commit-
to that power, and the corresponding, codified beliefs and
ment to the modern in intellectual and cultural spheres. It
behaviors surrounding it. Each concept is highly complex;
involves a commitment to support the tenets of the “new”
to discuss the relationship between them compounds the
in the face of critics, opponents, and detractors. In this it par-
challenge.
allels the commitment to modernization, a programmatic re-
For some time it has been a sophisticated convention
making of the political and economic aspects of society in
to assume that the progressive extension of scientific knowl-
support of the “new.” This distinction implies that it is more
edge sparked the emergence of dynamic Western societies
appropriate to speak of modernism in nineteenth-century
and the extension of their influence. The subsequent tri-
French Roman Catholicism, or in twentieth-century Ameri-
umph of reason and rational behavior over ways of thought
can Protestantism, or even among those who espouse con-
and patterns of action associated with traditional cultures
temporary versions of ancient Indian traditions, than it is to
was more or less taken for granted. Thus it seemed logical
refer to the “modernization” of a religious tradition. Con-
to expect that religious beliefs and behaviors would be forced
versely, it is appropriate to refer to the modernization of a
to the periphery of societies that were becoming modern. By
factory plant or its organization of production, or of a tax
extension it seemed conceivable that religion would disap-
structure. Modernism would normally not be a useful desig-
pear altogether. Yet in fact, evidence has suggested that reli-
nation with respect to such matters—unless we speak about
gion, far from disappearing or losing influence, has a promi-
factory architecture in the one case or art objects as shelters
nent place in modern societies. Indeed, religions play many
under the tax code in the other.
different roles in modern societies, and these societies in turn
Thus it is inappropriate to refer to the “modernization”
play back upon religion a wide variety of effects. The term
of a religion unless we mean as part of a self-conscious, per-
modernity refers to the cultural conditions that set the terms
haps largely social and political, program. On the other
for all thought and action in a particular culture. Religious
hand, modernism in this context implies a commitment (and
beliefs and behavior cannot be unaffected, even when those
usually a cultural program in addition) to render religion
who espouse some religion consider themselves untouched
compatible with more general commitments in other areas.
by their cultural location. Just as religion remains a cultural
But is modernism divisible? Attitudes toward art, music,
reality in modernity, so there can be no escape from moder-
drama, religion, and so forth usually hang together and form
nity, even through a wholehearted appropriation of a com-
a powerful set of interactive commitments. Indeed, such a
prehensive religious tradition.
set of cultural ideals may be related to economic and political
DEFINING MODERNITY. Modern, modernism, modernization,
change as designated by modernization. The conviction that
modernity, and related terms, taken alone, qualified, or com-
cultural modernism is often associated with programs for so-
pounded, are used every day in the popular media as well as
cial modernization frequently evolves into a more general be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MODERNITY
6109
lief that secularization is relentlessly supplanting the old with
to identify characteristic religious responses to periods of in-
the new. In its extreme form this argument concludes that
tensive cultural change. One is the development of the di-
a process of secularization makes claims upon those involved
chotomous view of the world upon which we have already
with it that exhibit a religious character, or that seem like re-
remarked—“civilized” versus “barbarian,” “believers” versus
ligion in that they are ultimate, unqualified, and beyond re-
“heretics,” and so forth. Another response has been the en-
view.
hancement of orthodoxy, orthopraxy, or tradition in both
ancient and recent examples of interaction between cultures
Only at this point does the term modernity enter our dis-
as well as within a single culture. A third is the frequently
cussion. It explicitly identifies an openness and a commit-
recurring millenarian or apocalyptic response to cultural
ment to the new as opposed to the old. Our move to the term
change. Here change is experienced as so threatening and in-
modernity brings us to the consciousness of cultural change.
tense that it is believed a “big change” will necessarily occur.
Yet a further move attributes a congruence to the many as-
pects of a modern culture that makes them appear to be the
Cast in this framework, modernity, too, is a special cate-
expression of an entity powerful and coherent in its own
gory of social and cultural change. It is, to be precise, social
right. This third step effectively serves to reify the term mo-
and cultural change embraced self-consciously in the con-
dernity. To take this step will generally promote confusion
temporary world. Some characteristic attitudes toward reli-
in our thinking. It is not helpful to use the term modernity
gion mark modernity, but they tend to be special cases of the
as if it referred to a spiritual medium in contemporary life
more general attitudes toward change and not exclusively re-
that necessarily rivals religious traditions. It is much more
lated to religion. For example, modernity includes a system-
helpful to use it in a prereified or nonreified way as a means
atic commitment to rationality, that is, a conviction that log-
of recognizing that cultural change and awareness of that
ically consistent and universalizable principles ought to be
change are pervasive in contemporary societies. What de-
the basis for change. Again, modernity tends to undervalue
pends upon this distinction between reified and nonreified
the role of symbols and the subconscious. A third and related
uses of modernity?
attitude is that human life is highly malleable. This set, and
the preceding enumeration, is certainly not a full set and is
One unfortunate consequence of reifying the term mo-
surely a special case of attitudes to social and cultural change.
dernity is that it settles by definition an issue that ought to
But it is also a special case, because it is self-conscious, of con-
remain under discussion. To conceive of modernity as a spir-
ceivable responses to that larger and more universal phenom-
itual medium that envelops and interconnects all particular
enon of social change. Hostility on the part of religious tradi-
instances of commitment to the modern, whether through
tions to the modern, especially when cast as a rejection of
modernism or modernization, is to posit an implicitly reli-
modernity, is itself as much a characteristic response to social
gious phenomenon, for it assumes that modernity plays the
change as its opposite, the enthusiastic acceptance of change
cultural role or roles characteristic of religion. As a conse-
by a confirmed modernist. An explicit and positive attitude
quence, modernity is seen as a rival to traditional or “authen-
toward social change is no more directly related to the experi-
tic” religion. An important implication of this view is that
ence of change than is a negative response. Both are typical
religion in a modern society is regarded dichotomously. Ei-
attitudes of individuals and groups throughout history who
ther an individual or group is thought to be “for” modernity
have been religiously sensitive to social and cultural change.
(and thus against traditional religious commitments) or “for”
traditional religion (and thus antipathetic toward modernity
If modernity is not reified as a spiritual entity, and if
in any and all forms). In its most intense version, this dichot-
modernism is recognized as a special and self-conscious case
omy is characteristic of every period of cultural change
of positive response to social and cultural changes, our prop-
known to us and especially of the period we know as the
er subject is how religion appears to respond and vary under
modern one. Under conditions of social and cultural change,
the conditions of self-conscious social and cultural change in
and of modernity in particular, one of many responses will
the contemporary world. If we distinguish the fact of cultural
be an attempt to reaffirm traditional cultural forms, albeit
change from a postulated, spiritualized, and thus reified mo-
in highly selective and often strident versions.
dernity as the controlling commitment, we are then in a posi-
tion to review what seems to happen to religion under the
CULTURAL CHANGE AND MODERNITY. It is important to ex-
conditions of prolonged change—or at least what has hap-
plore, at least briefly, the distinction between cultural change
pened in social contexts that have been so characterized. Spe-
and modernism. Stated exactly, the latter is a special case of
cifically, in an era that is conscious of the new, are there char-
the former. Cultural change has been a given in human socie-
acteristic changes in religion, especially in relationship to the
ties throughout every period of which we have knowledge.
modern?
There have been some periods of more, and others of less,
intensive social and cultural change; but certainly no society
THE IMPACT OF MODERNITY ON RELIGION. If we take mo-
we know anything about has been altogether free of cultural
dernity in this descriptive sense, the decisive commitment to
change. Records of ancient societies and cultures do not per-
modernization socially and to modernism culturally is first
mit refined distinctions, but access to more recent historic
to be observed as a coherent process in the United States. It
examples allows some generalizations. Certainly it is possible
may be thought that revolutionary France in the last decades
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6110
MODERNITY
of the eighteenth century or Japan in the late twentieth cen-
with the high degree of rationality required to function in
tury represent more thoroughgoing examples of commit-
societies of the scale and complexity characteristic of the con-
ment to the “modern.” Certainly, for brief periods other so-
temporary world. One example of this concerns the ordering
cieties may well have manifested an intense and
of time. In the past, traditional religions imposed, or at least
thoroughgoing commitment to change. But over time, at
sanctioned, a structuring of time to include myriad festivals
least to date, American society has set about more thoroughly
and feasts. In our society such patterns are in tension with
than other societies to overcome traditional ways and self-
broad social (and especially economic) objectives, so they no
consciously to replace them with new ones. It is here that the
longer carry much weight. Thus we can observe certain new
best exhibits are available, and exhibits over time, of the
constraints or limitations on traditional religion as it im-
kinds of cultural changes attendant upon the systematic
pinges on the modern public world. Correspondingly, how-
modernization of society. Further, the actual changes we can
ever, the relevance and influence of religious traditions in the
observe in religion seem to be remarkably heterogeneous,
realm of private time and space receive greater emphasis.
that is, the changes by no means run in one direction only.
These are examples of what we might term the “color-
How can we best summarize what happens to religion under
ation” through which “new” or modern societies influence
conditions of modernity?
all kinds of religious behaviors and beliefs in very basic ways.
One useful distinction at this point is between responses
This “coloration” is thoroughly comparable to the codifica-
to modernity that are explicitly keyed to the whole scope of
tion of religions in the idioms and through the symbols of
a religious tradition, and those effects that represent the tak-
particular periods and societies, whether nomadic, pastoral,
ing on of a coloration from modern society or that are evi-
or urban. The degree of penetration by context is different
dence for generalized, nonspecific influence of modernity. It
in the contemporary world in some respects, but it is not a
is preferable to consider the latter kind first, since these ef-
different kind of penetration. Thus religion is generally af-
fects are ubiquitous; this will enable us in turn to review
fected in the modern era but not solely in terms of conscious
without confusion explicit religious responses to modern life.
response to social and cultural change as represented in mo-
dernity.
Bureaucratization and rationalization. Some of the
changes to be observed in religion relating to the modern
Religious responses to modernity. There is, however,
world clearly derive from the permeation of religious institu-
a contrast between this coloration or permeation of religious
tions by techniques and procedures developed in other sec-
traditions and much more explicit religious responses to so-
tors of the society. For example, European-derived (and cer-
cial change as represented in modern society. Especially as
tainly American-begun) church traditions have adopted
exhibited in American society, these responses may be seen
much from the business world. These techniques or proce-
to fall into five categories.
dures are inevitably centralizing. This is apparent, for exam-
1. One kind of response is the advocacy of new religious
ple, in communications: telephone calls have taken the place
ideas or the claim to new insights into ancient religious
of pastoral letters, written reports preempt personal visits, re-
traditions. This frequently entails embracing the “new”
vivals and healing services are often televised rather than held
in the name of correctly understanding the old. One
locally. Other consequential changes have to do with the li-
dramatic example of this response in North America is
quidity of wealth; even as successful a promoter as the evan-
the Oneida Community of the nineteenth century. Its
gelical John Wesley could not have imagined the means
founder, John Humphrey Noyes, believed that the spiri-
available to the contemporary Methodist (or Roman Catho-
tual sources for the new modern common life of his
lic) church to generate financial resources and shift their allo-
community flowed from early Christianity, whose te-
cations throughout a worldwide, well-organized structure.
nets the community claimed to fulfill. Another interest-
Adoption of these kinds of management technique po-
ing case is that of Christian Science. Its founder, Mary
tentially strengthens the hands of central religious leaders.
Baker Eddy, believed that she had correctly interpreted
But the same modern society also extends to laity the knowl-
Jesus’ teaching, indeed the essential message of early
edge and ability to challenge such a transfer of power to cen-
Christianity, which she thought to yield “modern” in-
tral authorities. Countervailing trends, then, are at work,
sights into healing. Many contemporary religiously in-
leading both to enhanced localism in the parishes and to the
novative groups find their sources not so much in West-
creation of extraecclesial religious organizations. Like cen-
ern traditions as in Eastern lore and ritual. (In these
tralized religious organizations, the latter make use of tech-
cases, too, the connection with healing is often pro-
niques widely used in the modern world (media appeals, di-
nounced.)
rect mail campaigns) to raise and dispense funds and to
2. Another response is self-conscious accommodation of
exercise influence. These techniques often are used indepen-
religious traditions to modern society, often in very ex-
dently of, if not against, more established ecclesiastical au-
plicit terms. Indeed, here the term modernist is frequent-
thorities whose power is thus countered.
ly used pejoratively with respect to religion. Into this
Other kinds of changes characteristic of the modern
category fall such well-known adaptations as Protestant
world also permeate religious behavior. Many have to do
liberalism (with European as well as New World ver-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MODERNITY
6111
sions), the Jewish Reform tradition (which of course
explicit religious responses range from a strong and strident
had its origins in accommodation to modern European
reassertion of traditions, frequently on a reduced basis, to
culture at the time of the Emancipation), and Roman
outright and uncritical celebration of cultural change. In this
Catholic Americanism in the late nineteenth century (a
the term modernity most usefully refers to the kind of intense
largely indigenous movement).
social, and hence cultural, change that especially character-
3. A third pattern of response is the determined attempt
izes Europe and America, of the nineteenth and twentieth
to preserve the continuing tradition, albeit self-
centuries, but that has extended to other cultural areas a well.
consciously within limits posed by the new framework.
This period is not unique, however, for in earlier periods
In many respects this strategy undergirds various
something like the same pattern of a range of religious re-
churchly responses of the nineteenth and twentieth cen-
sponses to social change has been evident. Religious life with-
turies to modern societies, ranging from the prolifera-
in the Roman Empire may be a useful parallel. With respect
tion of mainstream Protestant denominations to the
to the second kind of response—the implicit level of color-
careful and restrained Roman Catholic updating of tra-
ation provided by purely technological aspects of contempo-
dition that became highly visible as a result of the Sec-
rary society—it does seem helpful to identify a peculiar cul-
ond Vatican Council and to the self-conscious but lim-
tural configuration exclusively with “modernity.” But this
ited case of the isolated Mercersburg Movement of
coloration extends as much to the activities of critics of the
antebellum nineteenth-century America.
modern as it does to its partisans. Finally, a significant point
is that the modern is not to be seen as itself a spiritual medi-
4. A still different pattern, infrequently recognized as
um, that is to say, a unique religious stance.
equally a response to modernity, is the strident reasser-
tion of a presumed tradition in a condensed, purified,
When taken together, the concepts of modernity and re-
or even reductionist form. The strands of “fundamental-
ligion identify the broad range of religious responses to in-
ism” in most of the major religious traditions of the
tense and self-conscious social change in the contemporary
globe are to be interpreted in this light. In this perspec-
world. What is uniquely modern is not the particular reli-
tive, fundamentalisms, as the simultaneous reduction
gious responses to change per se but their variety, intensity,
and enhancement of particular traditions, are no less
and duration in the contemporary world. Crucial is the in-
than modernisms determined by the modern culture
sight that religion is not so much threatened by modernity
that they so stridently reject. Here also American society
as challenged by it. And the challenge involves an inevitable
provides the most fully developed instances of funda-
and implicit coloration of virtually all religious behavior as
mentalism, specifically within denominations with a
well as a forcing of responses of many kinds, some direct,
self-consciously British heritage and especially among
some indirect, all to some degree explicit, in the realm of reli-
Presbyterians and Baptists.
gious belief. In these terms, the concepts of modernity and
religion encompass a subject as fascinating as it is complex.
5. A final pattern in the religious response to social change
in the modern world is the generation of wholly new
BIBLIOGRAPHY
traditions. This entails celebration of the modern in
The subject of modernity has been most fully explored in the so-
often bizarre and idiosyncratic ways, although it may
cial sciences because it has offered a rubric under which
also take the form of recovering pagan traditions or ex-
scholars can analyze the relentless social change characteristic
ploiting exotic or esoteric beliefs. These new religions
of the contemporary world. This field looks back to the work
are explicit attempts to reject old traditions rather than
of Max Weber, who first gave substantial attention to the re-
to accommodate them. But in the larger sense they are
lationships between religion and the emergence of modern
also a response to the intense social and cultural changes
societies. His Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,
experienced by people living in the modern era.
translated by Talcott Parsons (London, 1930), has continued
to provoke strongly positive and negative scholarly responses.
This fivefold pattern is, to be sure, an arbitrary division, for
The following general discussions of modernity may be par-
the lines between these five types are always shifting. But it
ticularly useful in the current context: David E. Apter’s The
serves to point out that the explicit relationships between
Politics of Modernization (Chicago, 1965); Cyril E. Black’s
modern cultures and religions are not single or of one kind
The Dynamics of Modernization (New York, 1966); and
only. They vary greatly. Indeed, the relationships are so plu-
Shmuel N. Eisenstadt’s Tradition, Change and Modernity
ral that respective religious movements responding to per-
(New York, 1973). For a different treatment of the question,
ceptions of modernity in different ways may in fact be direct-
see Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing
Countries (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), by Alex Inkeles and
ly opposed to each other. The classical confrontation
David H. Smith. An interpretation of American history
between liberalism (or modernism) and fundamentalism in
under the same rubric is available as Modernization: The
American culture is a prime exhibit of this antagonism be-
Transformation of American Life, 1600–1865 (New York,
tween essentially related, though very different, responses to
1976) by Richard D. Brown.
a common cultural experience.
Recent discussions of religion depend heavily on anthropological
CONCLUSIONS. Modernity has proven to affect religion in
and sociological perspectives, each of which introduces its
heterogeneous ways, both explicit and implicit. The various
own implicitly comparative framework. See the essays (espe-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6112
MOGGALIPUTTATISSA
cially that by Clifford Geertz) in Anthropological Approaches
Smith, David. Hinduism and Modernity. Oxford, U.K., 2003.
to the Study of Religion, edited by Michael Banton (London,
1966). Anthony F. C. Wallace’s Religion: An Anthropological
JOHN F. WILSON (1987)
Revised Bibliography
View (New York, 1966) is also useful.
Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann collaborated on an influen-
tial study, The Social Construction of Reality (Garden City,
N.Y., 1966), but subsequently have explored somewhat dif-
MOGGALIPUTTATISSA, Buddhist elder and ara-
ferent sociological perspectives on religion in the modern
world. Berger’s The Sacred Canopy (Garden City, N.Y.,
hant leader of the monastic order (sam:gha) in India during
1967) and Luckmann’s The Invisible Religion (New York,
the reign of A´soka (274–232 BCE). According to the chroni-
1967) give different estimates of the status of religion in con-
cles of the Therava¯da tradition (Maha¯vam:sa and
temporary society. Berger also collaborated with Brigitte Ber-
D¯ıpavam:sa), he was the chief Buddhist adviser to A´soka.
ger and Hansfried Kellner in The Homeless Mind (New York,
After A´soka became a generous supporter of Buddhism, he
1973), an explicit consideration of how religion is affected
asked Moggaliputtatissa whether anyone had ever been a
by modernization.
greater kinsman of the Buddha’s religion. Moggaliputtatissa
Among studies of particular episodes of religious change in mod-
responded that a true kinsman of the Buddha must let his
ern societies, William R. Hutchison’s The Modernist Impulse
son or daughter enter the sam:gha. As a result, A´soka encour-
in American Protestantism (Cambridge, Mass., 1976) is a fine
aged one of his sons, Mahinda, to become a monk and one
study of liberalism in American culture of the nineteenth and
of his daughters, Sam:ghamitta, to become a nun. Mog-
twentieth centuries. On this topic also see Kenneth Cau-
galiputtatissa subsequently became Mahinda’s teacher in the
then’s The Impact of American Religious Liberalism (New
York, 1962). Ernest R. Sandeen’s The Roots of Fundamental-
sam:gha.
ism: British and American Millenarianism, 1800–1930 (Chi-
The primary work of Moggaliputtatissa is reported to
cago, 1970), sharply focuses on the question of sources.
have been the purification of the sam:gha and the organiza-
George M. Marsden’s Fundamentalism and American Culture
tion of the Third Buddhist Council. Because A´soka sup-
(New York, 1980) is a superb study that suggests the broader
sources of this movement and its implications.
ported the sam:gha with lavish patronage, the sam:gha became
corrupt and filled with undisciplined monks. When A´soka’s
Whitney R. Cross’s The Burned-Over District (Ithaca, N.Y.,
1950), an older case study of religious responses to the ex-
ministers, sent to ascertain what was wrong within the
treme social change of upper New York State in the early
sam:gha, rashly executed some of the monks, A´soka feared
nineteenth century, suggests how religious movements as di-
that the blame for the sin would accrue to him. Moggaliput-
verse as revivalism, Mormonism, and the Oneida Communi-
tatissa, however, reassured A´soka that he was not to blame
ty could originate under the same social conditions. See also
for the act. Then, seated beside A´soka, Moggaliputtatissa
Paul E. Johnson’s A Shopkeeper’s Millennium (New York,
questioned all the monks and purged the sam:gha of those
1978), a case study of the Rochester Revivals, for one model
who did not subscribe to the Vibbhajjava¯da interpretation
that explicitly relates religion to rapid social change. Religious
of the teachings. The chronicles relate that he then chose a
Movements in Contemporary America, edited by Irving I. Za-
thousand arahants and held the Third Council, at which the
retsky and Mark P. Leone (Princeton, 1974), is a compendi-
Tipit:aka was recited and committed to memory in its com-
um of essays on new religious movements.
plete and final form. Moggaliputtatissa himself recited the
On the expectation of “big changes” induced in a society whose
Katha¯vatthuppakaran:a at this council.
culture is threatened, see Kenelm Burridge’s New Heaven,
New Earth (New York, 1969). Millennial Dreams in Action,
Moggaliputtatissa also arranged for Buddhist monks to
edited by Sylvia L. Thrupp (New York, 1970), a broader dis-
be sent as missionaries to other countries. The most notable
cussion of millenarianism, suggests additional perspectives
of these missionaries was Mahinda, who is credited with the
on this phenomenon.
introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
New Sources
Ali, Tariq. The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads, and
SEE ALSO A´soka.
Modernity. London, 2002.
Ardis, Ann, and Leslie Lewis, eds. Women’s Experience of Moderni-
B
ty, 1875–1945. Stanford, Calif., 2003.
IBLIOGRAPHY
The primary source for Moggaliputtatissa is The Maha¯vam:sa, or,
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, and Mo-
The Great Chronicle of Ceylon, translated and edited by Wil-
dernity. Stanford, Calif., 2003.
helm Geiger (1912; reprint, Colombo, 1950). An important
Fawaz, Leila, and C. A. Bailey, eds. Modernity and Culture: From
secondary source is Walpola Rahula’s History of Buddhism in
the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. New York, 2002.
Ceylon: The Anuradhapura Period (Colombo, 1956).
Hess, Jonathan. Germans, Jews, and the Claims of Modernity. New
Haven, 2002.
New Sources
Latour, Bruno. We Have Never Been Modern. Translated by Cath-
Bullis, Douglas. The Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Sri
erine Porter. New York, 1993.
Lanka. Fremont, Calif., 1999.
Seligman, Adam. Modernity’s Wager: Authority, the Self, and Tran-
GEORGE D. BOND (1987)
scendence. Princeton, 2000.
Revised Bibliography
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MÖHLER, JOHANN ADAM
6113
MOGHILA, PETR SEE PETR MOGHILA
New Sources
Hovav, Yamimah. Ha-Rav Shemu Del Mohiliver. Jerusalem, 1999.
MOHENJO-DARO
DAVID BIALE (1987)
SEE INDUS VALLEY
Revised Bibliography
RELIGION
MOHILEVER, SHEMUDEL (1824–1898), a leader
MÖHLER, JOHANN ADAM (1796–1838), Ger-
of the proto-Zionist movement H:ibbat Tsiyyon. Born in
man Roman Catholic theologian. Möhler was born on May
Lithuania, Mohilever served as rabbi in various communities
6 in Igersheim, Germany, near Mergetheim, about fifty miles
in Lithuania and Poland. In the 1860s and 1870s, he wrote
from Stuttgart. Having determined to become a priest, he
articles in the religious periodical Ha-Levanon, in which he
entered the seminary at Ellwangen, which seminary was in-
advocated cooperation between the Orthodox and the
corporated by the government of Württemberg into the Uni-
maskilim, the followers of the Jewish Enlightenment. Rela-
versity of Tübingen in 1817. Möhler was ordained in 1819,
tions between these two groups were extremely bitter, and
and after a year in parish work he returned to Tübingen, to
Mohilever’s attempt to create a bridge between them re-
continue his studies in classical philology. Because the semi-
mained ahead of its time.
nary authorities experienced continuing difficulty finding a
Like some of the maskilim, Mohilever was attracted to
suitable instructor in church history, Möhler found himself
the idea of settlement of Jews in the Land of Israel even be-
appointed privatdocent in church history in 1822 and in-
fore the pogroms of 1881. Following the pogroms and the
structed to prepare himself as best he could. He was given
beginnings of mass emigration, he joined with others in cre-
leave in 1822–1823 to travel to various German universities,
ating the H:ibbat Tsiyyon movement to divert the emigrants
the high point of his trip being brief contacts with Johann
to Palestine. Mohilever was the honorary president of the
August Wilhelm Neander, Philipp Marheineke, and Frie-
Kattowitz conference of 1884, and his closing speech became
drich Schleiermacher in Berlin. In the summer of 1823,
a classic Zionist sermon. H:ibbat Tsiyyon was torn from the
Möhler began to teach church history, patristics, and canon
outset by tensions between its religious and secular members,
law at Tübingen. He also contributed articles and reviews to
and these ultimately led to a withdrawal of support by many
the Tübinger theologische Quartalschrift, founded in 1819 by
Orthodox Jews who had initially favored the movement.
his principal mentor, Johann Sebastian Drey.
True to his belief in working with the maskilim, Mohilever
Möhler’s first major work appeared in 1825: Einheit in
remained in H:ibbat Tsiyyon. However, in order to further
der Kirche, oder Das Prinzip des Katholizismus, dar-gestellt im
religious interests in the movement, Mohilever suggested es-
Geiste der Kirchenväter der drei ersten Jahrhunderte (Unity in
tablishment of a “spiritual center” (merkaz ruh:ani) which,
the Church, or the principle of Catholicism, as presented in
following his death in 1898, became the foundation for
the spirit of the fathers of the first three centuries). Following
Mizrah:i, the religious Zionist faction within Theodor
the path of Drey’s interest in, but by no means full accep-
Herzl’s Zionist movement.
tance of, the views of Schleiermacher and Schelling, Möhler
Mohilever worked intensively on developing Jewish col-
in effect locates the Romantic concern for the organic unity
onies in Palestine and influenced Baron Edmond de Roth-
of man with man and man with God in the writers of the
schild to contribute money toward this end. He also headed
first Christian centuries. This unity is traceable to the work-
a tour of agricultural colonies in 1890. These settlement ac-
ing of the inner spirit of the church, although, like Drey,
tivities, although small and often failures, laid the ground-
Möhler retains a clear distinction between the divine and the
work for the later Zionist settlement.
human. (It should be noted that throughout his theological
career Möhler tended to a somewhat Jansenistic view of the
Mohilever joined Herzl’s World Zionist Organization
anticipatory, or initiating, role of divine grace.) Möhler dif-
when it was founded in 1897, but because of his infirm con-
fered with what later in the century would be standard
dition, he played no role in its activities. Nonetheless, he
Roman Catholic teaching in his conception of the church:
made an important contribution to the later Zionist move-
the outward forms of Christianity are simply produced, as
ment with his insistence on an alliance between religious and
needed, by the spirit, with no assurance that the forms thus
secular Jewish nationalism.
produced will always be the same. He wrote, for example,
S
that “the Church is the body belonging to the spirit of the
EE ALSO Zionism.
faithful, a spirit that forms itself from inward out.” This and
similar expressions earned Möhler the mistrust of those Ger-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Appraisals of Mohilever’s life and work can be found in David
man Catholics who lived under Prussian rule, frustrating his
Vital’s The Origins of Zionism (Oxford, 1975), chapter 6. Ad-
attempt to move to one of the Prussian universities. Later
ditional biographical information on Mohilever appears in
some Catholic commentators, such as Edmond Vermeil, saw
The Zionist Idea, edited by Arthur Hertzberg (Philadelphia,
in Möhler a progenitor of modernism. In 1827 Möhler’s
1959), pp. 398–405.
Athanasius der Grosse und die Kirche seiner Zeit (Athanasius
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6114
MÖHLER, JOHANN ADAM
the Great and the church of his time) appeared, in which he
loss of human freedom leads to the affirmation of universal
criticizes Schleiermacher’s Sabellianism and his tendency to
divine necessitation. Viewed systematically, Protestantism
blur the God-man distinction. In the following year Möhler
displays the fatal flaw of the disappearance of the merely fi-
was made professor ordinarius and doctor of theology.
nite human. By 1832 Möhler had sufficiently mastered
church history to recognize and accept fundamental theses
With Marheineke’s Institutiones symbolicae as his appar-
of the Council of Trent: synergism in justification and good
ent model, and answering to the renewed German interest
works, and the positive, outward role of Jesus Christ in the
in the doctrinal differences arising from the Reformation,
institution of the church and the seven sacraments.
Möhler published in 1832 the first of five editions of Sym-
In its immediate effect Möhler’s work was a noteworthy
bolik, oder Darstellung der dogmatischen Gegensätze der Katho-
contribution to increased self-respect and intellectual re-
liken und Protestanten (Symbolics, or presentation of the
spectability among mid-nineteenth-century German Catho-
dogmatic differences of Catholics and Protestants). The title
lics. The long-term effect of Möhler’s work arose less from
refers not to religious symbols but to the Latin symbolum,
his polemical thrusts than from his essentially Romantic vi-
that is, creedal statement. His characterization of Protestant
sion of the place of Christ in the church. If the whole life
churches drew a number of sharp replies from that quarter,
of Jesus Christ is “one mighty action,” then “the Church is
the most significant being the work of his university col-
the living figure of Christ manifesting himself and working
league (on the Protestant theological faculty) Ferdinand
through all ages. . . . He is eternally living in his Church,
Christian Baur, Der Gegensatz des Katholicismus und Prote-
and in the sacrament of the altar he has manifested this in
stantismus . . . mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Herrn Dr.
a sensible manner to creatures endowed with sense.” Mö-
Möhlers Symbolik. Besides these two works in their various
hler’s interest in the organic nature of reality and in the dig-
editions, Möhler and Baur each addressed an additional
nity of the human as a finite symbol of the divine can be
book-length reply to the other, Möhler’s Neue Untersuchun-
traced, for example, in M. J. Scheeben’s The Mysteries of
gen and Baur’s Erwiederung auf . . . Möhlers neueste Polemik.
Christianity (1865) and Henri de Lubac’s ecclesiological
It would appear that the controversy upset both the peace
studies—and ultimately in papal and conciliar documents,
of the university and Möhler’s health, with the result that
namely, Pius XII’s Mediator Dei and Mystici corporis and the
Möhler moved to Munich, where he began teaching in the
Constitution on the Liturgy of Vatican II.
university in 1835 and where he died on April 12, 1838. His
lectures on church history, patristics, and Paul’s Letter to the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Romans were published posthumously.
Works by Möhler
Möhler’s Symbolik is divided into two books. After an
Die Einheit in der Kirche, oder Das Prinzip des Katholizismus. Ed-
introduction, book 1 compares Roman Catholic with Lu-
ited by Josef Rupert Geiselmann. Cologne, 1957. Contains
extensive commentary by the editor.
theran and Reformed teaching in the areas of original sin,
justification, the sacraments and the church, and eschatolo-
Gesammelte Aktenstücke und Briefe. Edited by Stephan Lösch. Mu-
nich, 1928.
gy. Book 2 takes up “the smaller Protestant sects,” namely,
those of the radical Reformers, Quakers, Pietists, Methodists,
Symbolik. 2 vols. Edited by Josef Rupert Geiselmann. Cologne,
1960–1961. Translated by James Burton Robertson as Sym-
Swedenborgians, Socinians, and Arminians. Möhler’s con-
bolism (London, 1843). Contains Geiselmann’s extensive
ception of comparative dogmatics goes far beyond merely re-
commentary.
cording divergent views. It is necessary, he writes, “to decom-
Most of Möhler’s other writings have been published in photo-
pose a dogma into the elements out of which it has been
graphic reprint (Frankfurt, 1968).
formed and to reduce it to the ultimate principles whereby
its author had been determined.” On the other hand, it is
Works about Möhler
Baur, Ferdinand Christian. Der Gegensatz des Katholicismus und
also necessary that all “parts of the system be viewed in their
Protestantismus nach den Principien und Hauptdogmen der
relation to the whole, . . . to the fundamental and all-
beiden Lehrbegriffe mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Herrn Dr.
pervading idea.” Whereas the spirit of the church led Cathol-
Möhlers Symbolik. 2d ed. Tübingen, 1836.
icism, as a collectivity, to produce Catholic dogma, the
Chaillet, Pierre, ed. L’église est une: Hommage à Möhler. Paris,
teachings of the reformers were their individual productions.
1939.
In Luther’s mind and teaching, remarks Möhler, there was
Dupuy, B. D. “Schisme et primauté chez J. A. Möhler.” Revue des
only “the inordinate pretension of an individuality which
sciences philosophiques et théologiques 34 (1960): 197–231.
wished to constitute itself the arbitrary centre round which
Fitzer, Joseph. Moehler and Baur in Controversy, 1832–38: Roman-
all should gather.” In this apotheosis of the human, Schleier-
tic-Idealist Assessment of the Reformation and Counter-
macher is “the only genuine disciple of the Reformers.” (In-
Reformation. American Academy of Religion Studies in Reli-
terestingly, Baur basically accepted Möhler’s assessment of
gion, no. 7. Tallahassee, 1974.
Protestantism. What he objected to was Möhler’s denial of
Geiselmann, Josef Rupert. Die katholische Tübinger Schule. Frei-
Protestantism’s right to doctrinal development.) Paradoxi-
burg, 1964.
cally, the germ of Luther’s error lay in his theological anthro-
Goyau, Georges. L’Allemagne religieuse: Le catholicisme. 2 vols.
pology, in his understanding of original sin, wherein the total
Paris, 1910.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOKS:A
6115
Vermeil, Edmond. Jean-Adam Möhler et l’école catholique de Tub-
Tokarev, S. A. Religioznye verovaniia vostochnoslavianskikh naro-
ingue, 1815–1840. Paris, 1913.
dov. Moscow, 1957.
JOSEPH FITZER (1987)
New Sources
Kapica, F. S. Slavyanskije tradicionnije verovanija, prazdniki i ritu-
ali [Slavic traditional beliefs, festivities and rituals]. Moscow,
2001.
MOKOSH is the life-giving goddess in ancient Slavic my-
Shaparova, N. S. Kratkaya enciklopedija slavyanskoj mifologii [A
thology, inherited from the pre-Indo-European pantheon
short dictionary of Slavic mythology]. Moscow, 2001.
and debased during the early Christian era. She is the only
Tokarev, S. A. “Moskva Mifi narodov mira (World myths).” Bol-
female deity mentioned in the Kievan pantheon established
shaya Rossijskaya Enciklopedija, vols.1–2, 1998.
by Vladimir I in 980 CE. In northern Russia, she has survived
MARIJA GIMBUTAS (1987)
as a house spirit, Mokysha or Mokusha; a tall woman with
Revised Bibliography
a large head and long arms, she shears sheep at night and
spins flax and wool. Her name is connected with spinning
and plaiting (Lithuanian meksti, makstyti, “to plait,” and
MOKS:A. The term moks:a, a Sanskrit masculine substan-
ma¯kas, “shirt”; Russian meshok, “sack, bag,” moshna,
tive, and its feminine synonym mukti, are derived from the
“pouch”) and with moisture (*mok- or *mokr-, “wet, moist”).
linguistic etymon muc, meaning “release.” Both terms have
These associations suggest her ties with the life-giving and
always been employed in an exclusively religious sense, de-
life-taking goddess of Old Europe—that is, with Fate, the
noting release from the tedious and painful cycle of transmi-
spinner of the thread of life and the dispenser of the water
gration (sam:sa¯ra). Such a notion first appears in Indian
of life. Menhirs (kamennye baby), venerated in some Slavic
thought with the oldest Upanis:ad, as well as in early Bud-
areas into the twentieth century (and some now called
dhism.
Maria), seem to be connected with this ancient goddess, who
possessed healing powers. Paralytics, the blind, and the deaf
The notion of moks:a is found neither in old Vedic litera-
offered flax, wool, and sheep to these stones.
ture, nor in the Sam:hita¯s (“collections”), nor in the
Bra¯hman:as, the commentaries referring to sacrificial rites.
In the Christian era, Mokosh was superseded by
Indeed, the oldest known Vedic texts are concerned with en-
Paraskeva-Piatnitsa (“Friday, fifth day”) or Lianitsa (“linen
joyment (bhukti) of the earthly world, not with release from
washer”). In the Russian Orthodox tradition she is identified
it. The metaphysical, moral, and soteriological associations
as Saint Paraskeviia (from the Greek paraskevi, “Friday”).
of the concept of moks:a are based on a religious sensibility
Friday was a day sacred to the goddess and was characterized
that places absolute priority on the experience of being liber-
by taboos on women’s work. In Carnival processions, the
ated from those very structures and patterns.
saint’s image was that of a woman adorned with flax, her hair
hanging loose and her hands extended. Legends speak of the
It was not until the sixth century BCE that texts began
miraculous powers of healing springs or river sources associ-
to give evidence of what would come to be the main concern
ated with Paraskeva-Piatnitsa. In the Russian ritual called
of Indian religious thought, that is, release from the cycle of
mokrida (from mokr-, “wet”), a sacrifice to her consisted of
rebirth or sam:sa¯ra, which is generated by the weight of ac-
flax, wool, thread, or woven articles such as towels and shirts.
tions (karman) fulfilled during the present life or during pre-
Her most important holiday fell on October 28, a day within
vious ones. Such a preoccupation arose at the same time in
the annual period of flax preparation. Women may not work
Brahmanism and Buddhism, and eventually extended
on this day. Disregard of this rule may bring on blindness
throughout the Indian subcontinent. It lies at the very base
or some other malady, or may even result in death. Piatnitsa
not only of the Upanis:ads but of the teachings of the Buddha
may transform intransigent women into frogs. Posts and
and of his contemporary, the other great religious reformer,
shrines in her honor were built at crossroads, and wooden
Maha¯v¯ıra.
images of her were erected as late as the twentieth century.
The concept of moks:a becomes more elaborately devel-
oped in both the Maha¯bha¯rata and the Laws of Manu. The
In northern Russia, old icons testify to the continuing
idea also appears in the early Upanis:ads, but is expressed with
importance of this pre-Indo-European goddess in Christian
the synonymous term mukti. When moks:a appears, it is
guise. In them, Saint Paraskeviia, who replaced Mokosh, is
under its compound vimoks:a, but with the same meaning.
shown as one of a saintly triad, along with Saint Elijah (Il’ia),
Early Buddhism employes the Pali form mokkha.
who replaced the Indo-European deity Perun, and Saint Bla-
sius (Vlasii), who replaced the Indo-European deity Veles-
The Bhagavadg¯ıta¯, which very likely constitutes one of
Volos.
the earlier parts of the Maha¯bha¯rata, does not yet employ the
word moks:a, but the etymon muc provides substitutes to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
specify those who have a mind to gain release (4.4); the one
Filatov, V. V. “Riazanskaia ikon ‘Paraskeva Piatnitsa.’” Sovetskaia
who is released is referred to with the adjective form mukta
arkheologiia 1 (1971): 173–190.
(5.28) and, as in the Cha¯ndogya Upanis:ad, which predates
Matorin, N. M. Zhenskoe bozhestvo v pravoslavnom kul’te. Mos-
the G¯ıta¯ by three centuries, the substantive form appears
cow, 1931.
only as vimoks:a (16.5) or nirvimoks:a, with the same meaning.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6116
MOKS:A
Often, where moks:a might be expected, other words are
mind the all-important rule not to expect a reward in this
substituted for it. A word derived from Vedism, amr:ta, is
world or later on. Only acts with no self-concern may open
used to introduce the notion of immortality; in that case,
the kingdom of the brahman.
however, it takes on a particular significance, putting the
The main characteristic of jña¯nayoga is the cognition
stress on the fact that moks:a results in a privileged position,
that a¯tman and brahman are identical. It is cognition or in-
the major effect of which is to avoid rebirth. The essential
sight that grants man real freedom, for the individual soul
point is that moks:a is liberation from the ties of action (kar-
is considered free but fails to recognize it.
man) and from sam:sa¯ra, the endless chain with no beginning.
The Bhagavadg¯ıta¯, together with all of the theistic sys-
By using a different vocabulary, the later systems de-
tems, also espouses a third way to reach emancipation, that
rived from Brahmanic thought give a different coloration to
is, through bhakti, or devotion. Originating in Vais:n:avism,
their conception of release. For instance, the Yoga system
bhakti spread forth into other religious traditions of India,
proposes apavarga, which emphasizes escape from the cycle
and became particularly important in Tantric S´aivism.
of rebirths; the Sa¯m:khya chooses the word kaivalya, that
state of being in which one regains primitive unity. However,
With regard to cognition or meditation as a path to
in spite of a different wording, the aim remains the same,
moks:a, both the Upanis:ads and S´an˙kara hold that there is a
that is, the liberation of the j¯ıva, or the individual soul.
procedure of mind bound to an intuitive recognition be-
tween the a¯tman and the brahman, that is, the identity of the
In the Veda¯nta texts of the Middle Ages, composed by
self within the Self, or the Primary Energy from whom all
the commentators on the Brahma Su¯tra, it is the substantive
energies proceed. Through mere concentration of mind one
term moks:a that is preferred. The most influential of these
should seize that identification content as the intuitive recog-
commentators are S´an˙kara (eighth century CE), Ra¯ma¯nuja (c.
nition of the famous tat tvam asi: “that thou art.”
eleventh to twelfth century), Nimba¯rka (thirteenth century),
Madhva (fourteenth century), and Vallabha (fifteenth centu-
In the theistic systems, the meditation process, rather
ry). Following them, modern Indian philosophers of the
than relying upon abstractions, rests on a personification of
nineteenth century as well as contemporary thinkers adhered
the Ultimate. Meditation is achieved by concentrating on the
to the same term.
god’s performances such as they are reported in the sacred
texts. The gods are invoked through prayer formulations
Moks:a is a perennial word in the Indian religious vocab-
known as mantras, which are expected to be impregnated by
ulary; the notion it conveys in every case is the assurance that
the very energy of the One invoked. The foundations of a
the practitioner is never to come back to this world again.
relationship with the Lord are built on love and confidence.
Various ascetic traditions throughout Indian history have
In return, the Lord, through his benevolence, grants his wor-
taught that the release from the world can actually take place
shiper the deliverance others achieve only through the course
before one’s physical death. Such traditions speak then of the
of multiple lifetimes. Sometimes, moks:a appears as a favor
j¯ıvanmukta, that person who is “released while still alive.”
granted by the god, owing nothing at all to human effort.
Writings colored by Tantric influences, particularly
The notion of delivery is conceived of quite differently by
those connected to the Vais:n:ava Pa¯ñcara¯tra, mention three
theistic and nontheistic systems. If such a quest is evident in
ways to liberation. The first is based on a full differentiation
the Indian current of thought, it is out of a theistic concep-
between the god and his worshiper. The second is based on
tion that it acquires its full religious significance.
a theory of union between the two of them: Self and self
Indian writings with a political tendency often mention
make one; God and soul are one. The third way to liberation
the three traditionally recognized objects (vargas) of earthly
consists of an attempt to reintegrate the Supreme Self
life: dharma (moral duty or law), ka¯ma (enjoyment), and
through complete identification with it. In Tantric
artha (material wealth). In a combined philosophical and re-
Vais:n:avism, that expectation is named inmost union, or
ligious context, a fourth object, moks:a, is added. Philosophi-
sayujya.
cally, it is recognized as the most important, for it expresses
the human being’s supreme object, his return to the primary
The Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ delineates three paths of self-
cause, the Ultimate.
discipline leading to freedom: through action (karmayoga),
through knowledge (jña¯nayoga), and through devotion
In the Upanis:adic context, moks:a is the cause of little
(bhaktiyoga). In the first, one is deemed bound by each good
mythological elaboration. It is from traditions where moks:a
or evil deed yet can win appropriate reincarnation through
is won by worshiping a personified god that the myth takes
actions or deeds. On the face of it, it seems impossible to
strength in literature as well as in iconography. From the epic
place karman and moks:a together; good deeds may only be
poems (i.e., the Maha¯bha¯rata and the Ra¯ma¯yan:a) onward,
valued as preliminary steps to liberation. But we must con-
the notion of liberation is given a mythological context. One
sider here the particular context of karman in its primitive
of the most striking examples is provided by Kr:s:n:aism. In
significance as a ritual act, an act specially consecrated. The
the separate forms of a child, a warrior, and a lover, the hero
word karman is, of course, basically related to action. How-
Kr:s:n:ais a permanent actor in the quest for salvation of his
ever, one will not be tied up by one’s actions if one bears in
worshipers.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONASTERY
6117
The Veda¯nta circles that issued from Ra¯ma¯nuja and
drew to the deserts and mountains to meditate and fast in
Nimba¯rka, and later from Vallabha, emphasized the com-
solitude. Soon these hermits (Lat., eremites) formed groups
bined worship of Kr:s:n:a and of his favorite shepherdess,
of cells adjacent to a small oratory or church (laura). Pa-
Ra¯dha¯, for the predominance of love over any other feeling
chomius (c. 292–346) was the first to organize hermits into
may in itself lead to emancipation. Because every iconic
a cenobitic community (coenobium), where each monk lived
image keeps a fragment of divinity after ritual ceremonies
alone in a room or a cell but joined with the other monks
have been practiced, worshiping images is a definite step in
for prayer and meals. Nothing is known about the physical
adoration; more potent than the rite itself are the images,
appearance of these monasteries except that the informally
charged with a salvific power. The S´aiva tradition also recog-
disposed buildings were surrounded by a wall, and the
nizes the efficacy of worshiping the images of the god (S´iva)
monks grouped according to skills or crafts. In Asia Minor,
and the goddess (Dev¯ı or Ka¯l¯ı or the Great Goddess).
Basil the Great (c. 329–379) added charitable works such as
When people beg for material valuables, the one “who
establishing orphanages, hospitals, and workshops to the
knows,” as it is said in the Upanis:ads, is aware that only
monks’ activities. Some monastic communities included
through the benevolence of God may he reach the Ultimate,
buildings for travelers and pilgrims.
which is the way out of the cycle of rebirths.
By the fifth century, the cenobitic system had spread
throughout the Mediterranean world and north through Eu-
SEE ALSO Bhagavadg¯ıta¯; Bhakti; J¯ıvanmukti; Jña¯na; Kar-
rope. The organization of the buildings varied from monas-
man, article on Hindu and Jain Concepts; Madhva; Mu¯rti;
tery to monastery, according to what activities were per-
Nimba¯rka; Ra¯ma¯nuja; Sa¯m:khya; Sam:sa¯ra; S´an˙kara; Vallab-
formed and at what times of the day and night. A coherent
ha.
and logical architectural scheme was worked out only after
the monks’ day was strictly regulated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
An excellent introduction to the subject can be found in Karma
In 529, Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–547) established a
and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, edited by Wendy
community at Monte Cassino, in Italy, where he composed
Doniger O’Flaherty (Berkeley, 1980). See also the
a rule to govern its life. The rule demanded a blend of liturgy,
“Moks:adharmaparvan” (Chapter on the Rules of Emancipa-
study, meditation, and manual labor under the close direc-
tion) in book 12 of the Maha¯bha¯rata, translated by Pratap
tion of an abbot (abbas). While not prescribing the physical
Chandra Roy and K. M. Ganguli (1884–1896; Calcutta,
features of the monastery, the rule profoundly influenced its
1963).
design by touching on all aspects of monastic activity, in-
New Sources
cluding the monastery’s services to society.
Fort, Andrew O. Jivanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Libera-
tion in Advaita and Neo-Vedanta. Albany, N.Y., 1998.
THE BENEDICTINE SCHEMA. By the late eighth century,
Benedict’s rule was the accepted code for western European
Living Liberation in Hindu Thought. Edited by Andrew O. Fort
monasteries. The first monastic plan is known as the Plan
and Patricia Y. Mumme. Albany, N.Y., 1996.
of Saint Gall—it is extant and now resides in Saint Gall,
Singh, Darham. Sikh Theology of Liberation. New Delhi, 1991.
Switzerland. This plan is a copy from about 820 of a lost
A. M. ESNOUL (1987)
scheme for an ideal monastic complex formulated during the
Revised Bibliography
reform synods of Aachen in the years 816 and 817. The plan
did not designate a specific monastery and was never built
as such; rather, it was a statement of policy showing what
buildings should make up an ideal monastery and the rela-
MONASTERY. [This entry discusses the architecture of
tionship of these buildings to one another. The Plan of Saint
Christian monasteries. For discussion of monasteries in Asian re-
Gall provided a model for later monasteries where the rule
ligions, see Temple, articles on Buddhist Temple Compounds,
of Saint Benedict could be lived in the most rational manner.
Daoist Temple Compounds, and Confucian Temple Com-
pounds. For further discussion of the monastic way of life, see
Designed to accommodate 110 monks and 150 to 170
Religious Communities.]
serfs and workmen, the Saint Gall plan clearly defines the
different activities of the monastic community within sepa-
A monastery is a building or group of buildings ar-
rate buildings. Broadly described, these buildings comprise
ranged for the members of a religious order to live as a com-
the church; the cloister and its buildings for the monks; the
munity apart from the world in work, study, and prayer ded-
buildings for the sick, the elderly, and the novices; the build-
icated to God. The term monastery will be broadly used here
ings for the monastery’s secular responsibilities; and the do-
to mean not only the houses of monks but also the houses
mestic buildings serving the community. Each building on
of nuns (convents) and friars (friaries); the term monk will
the plan is labeled, and these labels are sometimes comple-
be used to mean both male and female residents of mon-
mented by a reference to the spiritual significance of the
asteries.
building. The order and logic of the plan both served and
The practice of Christian monasticism has its origins in
reflected the order of the monks’ lives as prescribed by Bene-
Egypt where, beginning in the late third century, men with-
dict’s rule—a perfect life required a perfect monastery.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6118
MONASTERY
COMPONENTS. The monastery, a self-contained and self-
ing was located near the refectory, often in the south walk
sustaining community within the larger community of em-
of the cloister. From the twelfth century, the fountain was
pire, kingdom, or nation, was enclosed by a high wall with
commonly an independent structure projecting into the
only one means of access. Its physical and spiritual heart was
cloister opposite the refectory. The kitchen was located near
the church. Whereas in the eastern Mediterranean, the cen-
the refectory but usually outside the cloister.
tralized, or cross, plan was more popular, in the West, as the
On the west side, for easy access to the outer world, was
Saint Gall plan shows, the basilical plan was preferred. East
the cellar, located on the ground floor, with a larder above.
or West, the church was always the most resplendent build-
Between the cellar and the church, the sole formal exit from
ing in the monastery, invariably constructed of stone or brick
the cloistral area was through the monks’ parlor, where
and richly ornamented. The church served the local parish,
monks, when permitted, met guests. Except for the time they
pilgrims, and guests as well as the monastic community. The
spent working, the monks spent their entire lives in the clois-
lay community and visitors were restricted to the western end
tral complex. This complex, an architecturally conceived
of the church, located closest to the monastery’s entrance.
whole, provided a self-contained world for the monks within
The monks, housed in their own group of buildings,
an already separate world.
were isolated from serfs and workmen and from the secular
activities of the monastery. Located alongside the eastern half
From the eleventh century, one other building or room
of the church, the monks’ quarters consisted of three ranges
not included on the Saint Gall plan became a standard fea-
of large, often double-storied buildings tightly locked around
ture of the cloistral area: the chapter house. Used for business
a square or rectangular courtyard that was the cloister. This
matters of the monastery and as a burial place for the abbots,
cloistral complex was usually sited on the south side of the
the chapter house was located either next to the church or
church in cooler northern climates and on the north side
under the dormitory. In England, it was sometimes a sepa-
in southern climates; site constraints also influenced its
rate circular or polygonal building.
location.
The other buildings that made up a typical medieval
A continuous covered arcade surrounded the open court
monastery, as shown on the Saint Gall plan, were sited and
and so gave direct access to all the buildings. The walk closest
grouped according to their function and their relationship
to the church often was used for reading or study and from
with the secular world. Attached to the north side of the
the fifteenth century contained recesses or carrels to hold the
church were rooms for the porter and visiting monks. Flank-
monks’ desks. The origin of the cloister as an architectural
ing the apse was the scriptorium, where selected monks cop-
unit is still unclear, but the square-shaped cloister surround-
ied and illuminated manuscripts, with the library above it.
ed by the monks’ quarters was an invention of the Carolin-
By the twelfth century, the library frequently was located
gian age; its development was dependent on the adoption
under the dormitory, alongside the chapter house. Also on
of the highly controlled and ordered life prescribed by
the north side of the church, but freestanding, were the
Benedict.
buildings that served the monastery’s obligations of hospital-
ity and education. These included the house and kitchen for
On the eastern side of the cloister, the dormitory was
visitors of rank; a school for children of the local nobility;
placed at right angles to the church and, joined to it at the
and a house and kitchen for the abbot, whose social responsi-
transept, provided direct access for the monks during night
bilities included such secular activities as entertaining guests.
services. Monks slept communally in the early Benedictine
The inscription on the Saint Gall plan notes that the ideal
monasteries, although the dormitory often was divided into
abbot’s house is constructed of stone; in many monasteries,
separate cubicles by wooden partitions. After Pope Martin
except for the church, the abbot’s house was the most splen-
V conceded single cells to the Benedictines in 1419, the com-
did building.
mon dormitory became rare. Taking up a greater area than
a dormitory, single cells probably led to the two-story cloister
Isolated to the northeast of the church was the infirma-
composed of cells on all three sides of the upper floor. On
ry. This infirmary, also used as a nursing home for aged
the Saint Gall plan, the dormitory was raised above the
monks, often was designed as a monastery in miniature, with
monks’ warming, or day, room. Located near the dormitory
its own refectory, dormitory, bath house, and chapel ar-
was the reredorter, or latrine, which was linked by a covered
ranged around a cloister. Completing this unit was the doc-
passage to protect the monks in inclement weather.
tor’s house, the house for bloodletting, and a medicinal herb
garden. Nearby was the cemetery, which in the Saint Gall
The refectory was placed at right angles to the dormito-
plan doubled as an orchard. The novitiate, also planned as
ry, parallel to the church, with the vestiary, or wardrobe,
a monastery in miniature, was to the south of the infirmary.
above. While most refectories were at ground level, some
were raised on undercrofts, which were used for food storage.
The L-shaped tract of land on the south and west was
Like the dormitory, the refectory had to be large enough to
occupied by the service buildings. These included chicken
accommodate all the monks at one time. Monks ate at long
and goose houses, a granary, a mortar and mill, workshops,
tables while listening to scriptural readings given from a pul-
houses for livestock and their keepers, and facilities for visit-
pit. A fountain or basin for the monks to wash in before eat-
ing pilgrims, paupers, and servants of distinguished guests.
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MONASTERY
6119
Careful attention was paid to sanitation. In the Saint
of a long nave and a rectangular apse in imitation of the
Gall plan, most of the latrines were placed on the perimeter.
church at Clairvaux. The Abbey of Maulbronn, Germany,
Whenever possible, monasteries were located near flowing
founded in 1139, exemplifies Cistercian planning as a whole
water, which was channeled both to provide fresh water and
as well as the early design of the church. Located in secluded
to carry away waste. The importance of the water supply and
valleys, Cistercian monasteries possessed small guest quarters
drainage in medieval monasteries is attested to by a plan,
and no outer school. The lay brothers, in the western range
drawn up around 1160, for the installation of a new water
of the cloister, were physically separated from the cloister by
system at the Canterbury Cathedral monastery.
a walk known as the lane. The monks’ refectory was usually
at right angles rather than parallel to the church, probably
There is a coherent and logical organizing principle un-
to provide space for the kitchen between the refectory and
derlying the plan of Saint Gall. The hierarchical division and
the quarters of the lay brothers. Extensive and often distant
separation of buildings by function that is integral to the plan
land exploitation required granges consisting of living quar-
is clearly realized in all later monasteries. The plan provided
ters, a chapel, and barns.
a highly generalized statement adaptable to highly particular-
ized site conditions, needs, and size. The clarity and unity
Over the centuries, Benedictine monasteries increasing-
of the plan served the monastery at a symbolic as well as a
ly were adorned with figural sculpture and painting intended
practical level, reflecting the order of the Benedictine rule
to instruct the faithful in Christian doctrine. For Bernard,
and, by extension, the divine order and rule. For many cen-
this architectural ornament achieved an aesthetic and emo-
turies, the scheme of Saint Gall remained the guiding princi-
tional power inappropriate for monks. Cistercian architec-
ple for the layout of a monastery, easily adapted to meet the
ture was without figural sculpture and was minimally embel-
requirements of orders other than the Benedictine.
lished, but the unplastered stone buildings achieved an
austere monumentality reflective of Cistercian ideals. Cister-
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS. The monasteries of the Carthusian
cian monasteries were structurally innovative and influential
order are a variation on the carefully conceived scheme of
in the dissemination of the pointed arch and vault through-
Saint Gall. In 1084, Bruno of Cologne (c. 1030–1101) fused
out Europe.
the eremetic life with the cenobitic in one complex at Char-
treuse, France, soon called La Grande Chartreuse. It was de-
The Franciscans (founded by Francis of Assisi, c. 1181–
signed to house twelve monks and a prior, with each living
1226), the Dominicans (founded by Dominic of Osma, c.
alone in a cell and working alone in the private garden at-
1170–1221), and the Augustinians (late eleventh century)
tached to his cell. The only communal activities in these Car-
adapted the Benedictine schema to serve their synthesis of
thusian monasteries were mass, matins, vespers, and occa-
the contemplative life and active ministry. Located in cities
sional meals. To ensure the monks’ solitude, the cells and
and towns, their churches were large and spacious to serve
gardens were arranged around a large cloister and separated
better the new emphasis on preaching. From the 1520s, these
from the ancillary activities of the monastery by the church,
three orders played a crucial role in the colonization and con-
refectory, chapter house, library, and prior’s cell, all of which
version of the Americas. In Mexico alone, nearly sixty
were organized around a second and smaller cloister. The
monasteries were built in the sixteenth century. The early
quarters for the lay brothers (conversi), who ministered to the
monasteries consisted of a church, often of single nave, and
needs of the monks, and for the guests were arranged around
accommodations for the friars grouped around a cloister. For
a separate cloister. Because their tasks required more frequent
the enormous number of converts, the friars built a large
contact with the outside world, lay brothers inhabited either
walled courtyard that was attached to a side or corner of the
the western range of the cloister or a duplicate cloistral com-
church; this served as a temporary outdoor nave for the huge
plex to the west. The Certosa di Pavia, the charter house in
congregations. A typical courtyard consisted of a vaulted
Pavia, Italy, founded in 1396, is typical of the layout and,
structure with a triple-arched façade to house the Sacrament
like many Carthusian monasteries, housed twice the ideal
on the side opposite the entrance and small square structures
number of twelve monks. Despite the adoption of single cells
known as posas (Span., posar) at the corners. Pauses were
and private gardens, there was no substantive alteration in
made at the posas during liturgical processions around the
the ideal monastic scheme since there was no fundamental
courtyard, and they were used by the friars when teaching
change in the monk’s world of prayer, study, and work.
separate groups in the corners. The Dominican Monastery
of Tepotzlan, Mexico, built in the sixteenth century, shows
The Cistercians, founded in 1098 by Stephen Harding,
this ensemble. Both the open court and the posas appear to
dedicated themselves to restoring the original concept of
be an original architectural solution, probably invented by
Benedict’s rule—self-sustaining communities based on a life
the Franciscans, for the particular spatial needs of the early
of hard manual labor and prayer. They built their first mon-
Mexican monasteries. By the mid-sixteenth century, it was
astery at Cïteaux, France, but it was later, under the leader-
normal for these nontraditional open courtyards to be
ship of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), that the order
roofed, using traditional European techniques.
grew rapidly. Uniformity of activities and liturgy within the
order resulted in uniformity in plan and design. For example,
As early as the seventh century, and as formalized in the
all the early churches followed the so-called Bernardine plan
Saint Gall plan, many monasteries served the dual needs of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6120
MONASTERY
both the monks and the larger community. In England, for
tal and educational work, including higher education. Some
example, in ten of the seventeen dioceses, the bishop’s resi-
monasteries extended the concept of hospitality to serve as
dence was in a monastery, and the monastery church also
temporary retreats for the laity. As before, the church acted
served as the cathedral church. Built within cities, the monks’
as the spiritual unifier and the physical separator; the cloistral
buildings were set apart by a high wall. The church formed
area was located on the side farthest from the visitor’s area,
a physical and spiritual link between the conventual build-
and the school and other buildings were on the other.
ings and the bishop’s palace, court, and administrative build-
Even before the Second Vatican Council of 1965, mo-
ings outside.
nastic churches were designed to emphasize the unity of
The alliance of secular power with the monastery was
monks and laity. The Benedictine Abbey of Saint John in
demonstrated most influentially in the Escorial palace-
Collegeville, Minnesota, founded in 1856 and redesigned by
monastery in Madrid, built between 1563 and 1584. It was
Marcel Breuer in 1953, preserves traditional plan organiza-
conceived and endowed by Philip II as a retreat for himself
tion while epitomizing the new trends. The entire complex
and as a mausoleum for his father, Charles V; the monks,
of conventual buildings, a seminary, a university, and a high
in this case of the Hieronymite order, performed daily rituals
school, center on and revolve around the church. Scholastic
of commemoration for dead and living royalty. The Escorial
zones are grouped to the north and west, and the conven-
was built on a plan of axial symmetry, with the church and
tional buildings are to the south. But the bell-shaped church
crypt at the center and the monastic community housed
has a centrally located altar, which allows the monks’ choir
around five cloisters on the south side of the church and its
to be visible to the laity, and new materials and structural
forecourt. To the north were the palace, a college and semi-
forms directly express contemporary technology and ideas.
nary, and lodgings for guests. A radical innovation was the
The monastery provides a physical environment to serve
king’s apartment wrapped around the sanctuary of the
the contemplative and active dimensions of the monk’s life
church; its location simultaneously stated the power of
and has, therefore, a continuity in overall planning con-
the monarchy and affirmed monarchal piety. The absolute
cepts and building type irrespective of the circumstances of
order of the design of the Escorial, where even the cruciform
time and place. At the same time, within the type, monastic
church echoes the overall grid, reiterates this union of church
architecture shows the persistent experimentation and varia-
and monarchy.
tion necessary for the particular requirements of the different
The union of religion and state achieved its greatest ar-
orders.
chitectural grandeur in the eighteenth-century Baroque
monasteries, especially in central Europe. Adopting a sym-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
metrical and axial plan in emulation of the Escorial, both
Bazin, Germain. Les palais de la foi. 2 vols. Fribourg, 1980–1981.
monastic and secular precincts also were built around their
A comprehensive and well-illustrated study of Baroque
monasteries in Europe, Russia, and Latin America.
own cloisters. Imperial apartments usually possessed a monu-
mental, ceremonial staircase leading to the imperial hall, a
Braunfels, Wolfgang. Monasteries of Western Europe: The Architec-
large library to assert the monastery’s role as a center of learn-
ture of the Orders. London, 1972. The basic analysis of West-
ing, and often a theater. These colossal and ostentatious
ern monastic architecture from its beginnings to the present.
monastery-palaces had magnificent façades and, sometimes,
Horn, Walter, and Ernest Born. The Plan of St. Gall: A Study of
vast forecourts.
the Architecture and Economy of, and Life in a Paradigmatic
Carolingian Monastery. 3 vols. Berkeley and London, 1979.
From the beginning, Byzantine and Russian monaste-
The definitive interpretation of the first monastic plan and
ries showed less uniformity of plan than did those in the
a comprehensive study of all aspects of medieval Benedictine
West. Although the church was normally in the center of the
monastic architecture and life. Beautifully illustrated, fully
complex, the support buildings were variously arranged. But
documented, and very readable.
in the Baroque period, many newly founded monasteries fol-
Le Bras, Gabriel. Les ordres religieux: La vie et l’art. 2 vols. Paris,
lowed the symmetrically planned and sumptuously appoint-
1979–1980. A survey of all the monastic orders throughout
ed models of central Europe.
the world. Particularly useful for its hundreds of illustrations,
many in color.
MODERN TIMES. Following the Protestant Reformation of
the sixteenth century and the French Revolution of 1789,
New Sources
many monasteries were dissolved or suppressed, and the
Abdel Sayed, Gawdat Gabra, and Tim Vivian. Coptic Monasteries:
buildings were destroyed. A monastic revival in mid-
Egypt’s Monastic Art and Architecture. Cairo, 2002.
nineteenth-century Europe, coupled with colonization and
Cassidy-Welch, Megan. Monastic Spaces and Their Meanings:
increased missionary activity, saw the establishment of
Thirteenth-Century English Cistercian Monasteries. Turnhout,
monasteries in Africa, the United States, and, by the end of
Belgium, 2001.
the century, Japan. In the twentieth century, and especially
Gerson, Paula Lieber. Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: A Symposium.
after World War II, many monastic communities launched
New York, 1986.
extensive building programs, often selecting internationally
Hanawalt, Barbara, and Michal Kobialka, eds. Medieval Practices
renowned architects. Emphasis was on mission and on hospi-
of Space. Minneapolis, 2000.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
6121
Keevill, G., Michael Aston, and Teresa Anne Hall, eds. Monastic
With all these examples in mind, in the following para-
Archaeology: Papers on the Study of Medieval Monasteries. Ox-
graphs I shall attempt to develop a comprehensive analysis
ford, 2001.
of the monastic phenomenon. In order to avoid the gender
Kinder, Terryl Nancy, ed. Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Con-
specificity of monk and nun, persons who exhibit and repre-
templation. Grand Rapids, Mich., 2002.
sent the monastic phenomenon will be called “monastics.”
King, James Cecil, and Werner Vogler, eds. The Culture of the
Abbey of St. Gall: An Overview. Stuttgart and Zürich, 1991.
DEFINING FEATURES. First and most prominent of the essen-
tial features of monasticism is the monastic’s distinctive so-
Stalley, R. A. Early Medieval Architecture. Oxford, 1999.
cial status and pattern of social relationships. The monastic
Verdon, Timothy, and John Dally, eds. Monasticism and the Arts.
person is identified as one whose self-perception and public
Syracuse, N.Y., 1984.
role include membership in a special religious category of
KAREN KINGSLEY (1987)
persons, a status which is deliberate and extraordinary. In
Revised Bibliography
some cases the monastic lives with other monastics, but in
other cases participation in a communal life may only be spo-
radic. Most monastics are at least theoretically members of
MONASTICISM
a group, but they may not live with that group for most of
This entry consists of the following articles:
their monastic existence. The monastic status can involve ei-
AN OVERVIEW
ther a new home or homelessness.
BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
The second defining feature of the monastic situation
is a specific program or discipline of life. The most obvious
MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
examples of formal regulations for the monastic life are the
The Greek word monos, from which monasticism and all its
Vinaya of Buddhism and the Benedictine rule, but even less
cognates derive, means “one, alone.” According to this ety-
clearly defined categories set up expectations concerning ap-
mology, therefore, the basic monastic person may be a her-
propriate behavior and activities for monastics. Monastic life,
mit, a wandering ascetic, or simply someone who is not mar-
in contrast to the rest of human life, is entirely oriented to-
ried or a member of a household. However, the term
ward a personal religious goal. Hence, the monastic adopts
monastic normally refers to people living in community and
special patterns of living in order to achieve that goal.
thus embraces the cenobitic as well as the eremitic and peri-
patetic lifestyles. In Western societies, the definition of mo-
Monastic status is differentiated from other religious
nasticism has often been restricted to its classic manifesta-
roles, offices, and functions in that it is not primarily based
tions, especially the Benedictine tradition. By this definition
on performing some service to others in the religious tradi-
clergy who adopt some aspects of monastic life and rule (can-
tion or to the larger society but on the more private cultiva-
ons regular or regular clerks), mendicant orders (Franciscan,
tion of a path of transformation. A minister, priest, shaman,
Dominican, and like associations), and other religious orders
or similar expert in sacred procedures exhibits a kind of reli-
are not properly called “monastic.” Furthermore, within the
gious leadership dependent on a community to which sacred
classic definition one might be able to include some kinds
values are transmitted. Certainly these roles can be merged:
of non-Christian monasticism—that is, those with goals and
some religious professionals also live like monastics. Likewise
life patterns fairly similar to the Benedictines—but not
the monastic person or community can take on many and
others.
varied tasks of service, only some of which may be obviously
connected to the pursuit of the personal religious goal. Nev-
Nevertheless, many religious traditions feature (with va-
ertheless, the essential element in any monastic situation is
rying degrees of formal institutionalization) a recognizable
the longterm focus of the monastic life: separation from nor-
type of social structure for which monasticism is an appropri-
mal human existence in the pursuit of individual aspirations.
ate name. The Buddhist sam:gha, the Christian religious and
monastic orders, Jain monasticism, and Hindu sa¯dhus or
Third, monastic status is celebrated and publicized in
sam:nya¯sins provide the most obvious examples. Daoist asso-
various ways. A process of initiation marked by ceremony is
ciations and Muslim S:u¯f¯ı orders share many of the essential
very important to public perception as well as to monastic
features of monasticism, although they also have some atypi-
self-consciousness. Monastic status is also often indicated by
cal aspects. Among primitive peoples something like monas-
distinctive clothing, modifications of the body (such as ton-
ticism exists in the phenomenon of secret societies. Other
sure), and symbolic accoutrements (for example, the Bud-
traditions, for example, Judaism and Protestant Christianity,
dhist staff and begging bowl). In many traditions the monas-
have little expression of this religious possibility. Even within
tic leaves the arena of family, clan, or similar “natural”
these religions, however, there have been associations much
grouping and lives in a deserted place. The difference be-
like monastic communities: among the Essenes, for example,
tween monastics and others can be expressed through such
and various sixteenth-century Lutheran groups, through the
factors as a different daily schedule: many monastic rules call
deaconess movement, to a current interest, most notably in
for interrupted sleep or early rising. A specific diet may be
the community at Taize, France.
prescribed. In all cases the monastic status represents a new
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6122
MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
or added identity expressed by specific behaviors, signs, and
a possibility. In Thailand many young men enter the prelim-
patterns of relationship to others.
inary stages of monastic life with no intention of persevering.
A few months of monastic existence is better than none from
Finally, it is important to note the presence of a larger
their point of view. The Hindu phenomenon of the ashram
religious tradition and set of institutions within which the
is also deliberately temporary yet has many of the characteris-
monastic phenomenon takes place. We do not call those in-
tics of a monastic community. The ashram may be thought
stitutions “monastic” when the religious community in ques-
of as the stage of life through which a pious Hindu man pro-
tion is the whole legitimate religious tradition. The Shakers,
ceeds on his way from being a householder with a family to
for example, had many of the patterns of monastic life but
becoming a sam:nya¯sin, a wandering, homeless, holy man.
constituted a whole church in and of themselves. This is the
The ashram may also be thought of purely in terms of a forest
phenomenon that is more often termed a “sect” or “cult.”
dwelling place of such a man and the community that may
Monasticism, by contrast, exists as an option within a wider
gather around him.
grouping or identity; it is a special possibility that not every-
one in that religious group adopts or is expected to adopt.
Christian religious orders often have some arrangement
whereby laypeople can become affiliated with the order with-
The optional monastic identity may be central or pe-
out becoming full members. The third order of the Francis-
ripheral to the larger tradition. Christianity can exist without
can tradition and the Benedictine oblates are two such or-
monasticism because, in the “secular” priesthood and episco-
ders. In some instances a residential oblate may live just like
pal office, it has a social structure and forms of leadership in-
the other members of the community or order. Certain S:u¯f¯ıs
dependent of monastic patterns. Such patterns are even less
live a kind of monastic existence in addition to being mar-
central in Islam, where much of the tradition disowns mo-
ried, and several contemporary Christian religious communi-
nasticism completely. By contrast, monasticism is central to
ties are experimenting with such an arrangement.
Buddhism and Jainism; indeed, the monastic is sometimes
thought to be the only true representative of these traditions
Another frequent feature of monastic life and a major
and the lay community no more than a subordinate support
dynamic in its communal form is the phenomenon of disci-
group. Jainism and Buddhism began with monasticism,
pleship and obedience. Monastic aspirants gather around a
whereas Christianity manifested this pattern clearly only
spiritual master, guru, or initiator who becomes their model
after a few centuries of existence.
and guide. The starets in the Russian Orthodox Christian
tradition, the shaykh or murshid in Sufism, and the Zen Bud-
The basic, common features of monasticism, therefore,
dhist master are prominent examples. The relationship of
can be reduced to these four: special status; dedication of mo-
master and disciple also can be found in nonmonastic situa-
nastics to the practice of personal religious disciplines; ritual
tions. In all examples this type of association is much more
entry and ongoing identification marked by special appear-
intense and personal than that normally experienced between
ance; the role of monasticism as an option for some persons
teacher and pupil. The master embodies the lesson and medi-
within a larger tradition and community. In addition to
ates transcendent power; radical obedience is an important
these features, however, there are many other frequent char-
discipline in the attainment of the monastic goal. Monastics
acteristics of the monastic situation that are not found in all
sometimes validate their doctrine and practice by reference
examples.
to their masters and their masters’ masters, forming lineages
FREQUENT CHARACTERISTICS. Even though the most careful
back to the founders of their traditions.
definition of monasticism could not include communal life
Another important aspect of much monasticism, yet
as a necessary factor, there can be no doubt that monastic
one not essential to it, is poverty or simplicity of lifestyle.
existence is rarely completely solitary. Even wandering or
The constitutive factors of distinction from normal or pre-
hermit monks assemble periodically. These assemblies and
vailing forms of life and the adoption of a specific rule and
the buildings constructed for longterm residence constitute
discipline are often expressed in the rejection of comforts or
the most visible aspects of monasticism and therefore might
luxuries enjoyed by the rest of society. It is ironic that, de-
assume a larger place in one’s perception of the phenomenon
spite the attempt to be ascetic or plain, monasteries often be-
than they should. Much that is important to monastic life
come quite wealthy. In order to participate in the holiness
is personal, private, mental, or otherwise difficult for outsid-
of the monastic community, the surrounding community
ers to gain access to. It is often only in public ceremonies or
characteristically bestows its valuables on the monastery,
visible features such as the monastery itself that the outsider
hoping to exchange them for the treasures of merit, wisdom,
observes the monastic phenomenon. However, any adequate
and piety cultivated by the monastics. Also the industry and
comprehension of monasticism requires a knowledge of the
discipline of monastic work has occasionally produced signif-
lives, conversations, and writings of monastics.
icant wealth. Such accumulation of wealth, as well as other
Sometimes monastic status is lifelong; this would seem
factors that may lead to a change in the character of a monas-
to be the normal implication of the initiation into a higher
tic community’s life over a period of time, have produced
realm. In some situations, however, temporary affiliation
successive reforms within long monastic traditions. Benedic-
with a permanent community or temporary communities is
tine history is a story of reforms: the first notable one took
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MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
6123
place under the aegis of Benedict of Aniane about three hun-
MONASTIC ACTIVITY. The program, rule, or discipline that
dred years after Benedict of Nursia founded the order. This
is so important in monastic life varies widely between tradi-
was followed by the reform programs of Cluny, the Cister-
tions and monasteries. Some monastics spend their time in
cians, the Trappists, and so on.
liturgical activities, others in devotional or yogic exercises,
and many in work that does not seem to be religious at all.
Monastic clothing has had great significance in some
The monastic performs any task with its religious effects in
traditions. In many cases the origin of such clothing was
mind no matter what its other benefits. The basic monastic
merely an extension of the emphasis on simplicity—the gar-
purpose is to achieve a religious goal, even if the activities
ments of the poor were adopted. S:u¯f¯ıs are so called because
performed by monastics may seem somewhat incidental to
of their affirmation of simple wool (s:u¯f) in contrast to the
such a goal. Apparently irrelevant activity often looms large
silks of the rich. The ocher robe in India and the various col-
in specific situations and may provide much motivation for
ors of the Christian communities have been important
the monastic and support from the larger community. The
means of identification. There has also been a “romance of
list of monastic disciplines and activities contains none that
the cowl.” The monastic garment itself has had a fascination
are absolutely unique to monasticism but many that have
and religious significance, for example in the desire to be bur-
been especially prominent and perhaps easier to pursue with-
ied in a cowl through deathbed profession. In Jain monastic
in a monastic context.
practice we find the unusual phenomenon of nakedness as
monastic “clothing.” The Digamambara Jain monks are thus
Meditation and prayer, in their various forms, have been
“sky-clad” as a precaution against harming even a body louse
the most important activities in most monasteries: medita-
and as an ascetic discipline, and at the same time to signify
tion may be discursive, ecstatic, yogic; prayer can be sponta-
their monastic status by departing from the normal way of
neous, formal, communal, solitary. However, all kinds of re-
dressing.
ligious practice are cultivated in monastic situations. Formal
liturgical ceremonies (monastic profession or initiation, sac-
According to one interpretation, monasticism can be
rifices, and sacred dramas) are frequent and conspicuous as-
understood basically in terms of asceticism; self-denial and
pects of monastic life. Monasteries are known for their com-
the acceptance of pain are the basic reasons for the existence
munal chanting of sacred texts, as certain S:u¯f¯ı orders are
of the institution, from this point of view. Insofar as “asceti-
known for their dancing rites; other arts are also developed
cism” can refer to any kind of discipline, one cannot argue
by monastics in the interests of their religious application.
with this approach. “Asceticism,” however, is usually associ-
Some monastic traditions have been suspicious of particular
ated with painful and rigorous disciplines, and not all monas-
art forms, associating them with the luxuries of the world or
tic systems prescribe difficult or unusually painful practices.
seeing them as distractions; but even simplicity has artistic
The range is very broad between mild ascetic disciplines and
intention and power. The stark beauty of a Zen garden or
self-denial on a heroic scale, although it is rare that a monas-
a Cistercian church exemplifies a use of the arts in the service
tic is not self-conscious about avoiding and rejecting many
of monasticism as much as more ornate and elaborate artistic
human potentials and comforts. At the least sleep and eating
expressions.
are usually regulated and reduced. Silence is kept for extend-
ed periods. However, ascetic practice is also always a matter
A special kind of meditation or reflection is important
of perspective and degree: what seems like suffering to one
to the monastic endeavor in many places and ways. This is
person might not disturb the comfort of another. If a monas-
the attention given to every detail of life, both physical and
tic thinks that suffering must be cultivated in order to
mental. Not only are monastics intent on orienting every-
achieve a religious goal, many and various techniques may
thing in their lives toward the achievement of religious trans-
be used. In other situations what might seem like asceticism
formation; their heightened consciousness about the motions
to the outsider may be understood and experienced more as
and thoughts of everyday life becomes itself a transforming
simplicity and the reorganization of life.
mental discipline. They argue that too much human life is
lived unconsciously and thus without purpose or organiza-
Most monastics in the history of world monasticism
tion. By consciously acknowledging and reflecting on such
have been men; indeed, the founders of monastic orders, in-
commonplace activities as breathing, walking, or thinking,
cluding the Buddha, have allowed women to be monastics
the monastic gains a new perspective on the human phenom-
only reluctantly. This probably has been due more to sur-
enon. The smallest building blocks of life may be used to
rounding cultural factors than to anything intrinsic to mo-
evoke ever-deeper awareness and ultimately enlightenment.
nasticism. The avoidance of sexual activity and arousal, how-
ever, has been an important aspect of much monastic
The whole of cenobitic monastic life is choreographed
asceticism. Some monks apparently have thought of women
by the rules of the order. Times of sleeping, eating, praying,
primarily as temptresses, and their literature sounds misogy-
meditating, and working are all prescribed, and these actions
nist. The Orthodox Christian monastic center on Mount
are performed by the monastics in unison. The sounds of
Athos, in Greece, forbids entrance to women. By contrast,
bells and other signals punctuate the day and coordinate the
there is greater interest today in mixed communities and in
many lives of the monastics into a single harmonious pro-
lessening the isolation of monastics from the rest of society.
gram. This attempt to blend individual lives into a larger so-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
cial unity has been influential as a model for utopian theo-
the work that is beyond that of nonmonastic colleagues. For
rists and represents to many lay people an attractive aspect
the monastic such work is part of a discipline or rule, a means
of monastic existence. Religious symbols of unity, harmony,
toward a religious goal.
and peace are reinforced by the living of the monastic
The services of monasteries to society as schools, hospi-
pattern.
tals, and places of hospitality to travelers have been men-
It is not difficult to recognize prayer, meditation, and
tioned. Monastics have often provided priestly or pastoral
rituals, which are important in any religious situation, as
services for their larger communities. Monasteries have also
being important as well in the monastic pursuit of religious
served as orphanages, places of burial, research institutes, and
transformation. However, monastics also do other works
pilgrimage centers. They have provided places of reflection
that are not so obviously religious. Many monastic rules de-
and restoration for individual and communal visits and re-
mand that the monastic perform menial, common chores,
treats. It may also be important to people preoccupied with
not only because work of that sort must be done by someone
daily, practical concerns that monasteries simply exist; the
in any community of human beings but also because of the
knowledge that somewhere people are praying and meditat-
meaning that is attached to it within the monastic frame-
ing can in itself be beneficial.
work: menial labor may give a form to humility, its rhythms
A number of answers can be given to the question “Why
may be seen as an aid in meditation, its performance may
do people become monastics?” Some of these answers might
be an act of service and obedience to the master, and so on.
be given by the monastics themselves; others could be pro-
An emphasis on self-sufficiency and isolation has led monas-
vided by students of human behavior attempting to see be-
tics and monasteries to be pioneers in foreign and remote
neath and beyond the self-consciousness of participants in a
areas, performing a service in civilizing or proselytizing.
social phenomenon. Some of these responses might seem pe-
Monasteries have also functioned as hotels and hospitals in
jorative or critical of the monastic endeavor, while others
remote places.
would be admiring and adulatory. Some answers are psycho-
Some monastic work involves intellectual activity. Ben-
logical and personal, others more social or historical in focus,
edict’s rule emphasizes reading (lectio divina) as a major com-
and most are complex and ambiguous.
ponent of the monastic life along with prayer and work. The
Many people have associated the monastic with words
path to perfection or religious transformation is often an in-
like escape and retreat. This manner of speaking reflects a per-
tellectual path that requires a new understanding of the self
ception of the monastic world as a realm dominated by an
and the world. Reading and study in the monastic context
inability or unwillingness to cope with normal life or “the
is a means of salvation, a technique for the reconstruction
world.” This view might lead one to a conception of monas-
of one’s worldview. Also, because the rule, religious texts,
tic life as a refuge for the weak or the scrupulous. Insofar as
and other written guides to meditation, prayer, and disci-
one understands the world and “normal life” to be diabolical
pline must be available to monastics, much of their effort has
or illusory, however, the monastic retreat is the more coura-
been put to copying, studying, and teaching these materials.
geous and realistic option, calling for extraordinary strength
Their educational task starts with that monastic necessity,
and dedication. Monasticism has also been significant as a
easily comes to include other religious scholarship, and may
preserver of culture and civilization in eras when the political
extend to more “secular” knowledge as well. Wisdom and re-
structures of the world were weak. Certainly during the dis-
ligious insight may be cultivated for their role in religious
integration of the Roman Empire monasteries provided is-
transformation, but here, as elsewhere, there is the potential
lands of tranquillity and an opportunity for the pursuit of
for great benefit to the rest of society incidental to the main
intellectual activity that was unavailable in the surrounding
goal. The role of Christian monasteries in preserving classical
society.
Greek and Latin writings is a famous example of the intellec-
tual by-products of monasticism. Buddhist viha¯ras in India
The adoption of a markedly different way of living can-
and elsewhere have been important centers of learning.
not but imply some criticism of the alternatives. Thus some
observers have emphasized the role of monastic life as a pro-
In some situations charitable acts are held to be more
test against the prevailing patterns of the world or of the reli-
important for the monastic than more individual disciplines.
gious tradition. Even without a specific aim of reforming or
A distinction is made within Christian communities between
transforming their traditions, monastics have offered an al-
contemplative orders, where activities like those mentioned
ternative set of ideals to their coreligionists and in so doing
above predominate, and active orders, where emphasis is
have often, perhaps unwittingly, inspired change.
placed on work with beneficial effects for others. In the active
monastic styles the way to attain deeper or higher religious
The meaning of monastic life in specifically religious or
status is associated with the merit and value of meeting peo-
theological terms goes beyond the analysis presented above.
ple’s needs, in addition to or instead of the cultivation of pri-
By means of symbols and doctrines the visible rites and prac-
vate pieties. Thus a monastic belonging to an active order
tices of monastic life are understood to be much more signifi-
may be a teacher, nurse, priest, or support person in some
cant than is apparent to the outside observer. The theme of
beneficial institution, but with an interest or investment in
death, for example, is prominent in various ways. Through
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONASTICISM: AN OVERVIEW
6125
profession or initiation the monastic technically attains a sta-
aware of each other. Toward the end of his life the famous
tus comparable to that of the dead. Indeed, the death and
Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote and spoke of the
rebirth symbolism in these rites is often quite clear. Through
many similarities among the world’s monastic systems.
the transformation of joining the monastic community or
Roman Catholic monasteries in traditionally non-Christian
adopting monastic status, one enters the realm of being of
areas have been interested in this consanguinity and have
the angels, the ancestors, or those who have achieved enlight-
produced some writing on monasticism as an interreligious
enment. Furthermore, it has been noted that Christian mo-
phenomenon. Since 1960 an organization known as Aide
nasticism began when martyrdom ceased, indicating that it
Inter-Monastères has encouraged dialogue between monas-
took over as the arena of ultimate commitment, the new
tics of various religions. Some Christian monastics and
form in which one could die to the world for one’s faith.
monasteries now practice techniques borrowed from Hindu-
Buddhist monasticism is also a way of death in that the dhar-
ism and Buddhism.
ma provides a program for eliminating all attachment to the
In the United States many experimental as well as tradi-
world as well as any desire to be reborn.
tional new religious communities have been established. A
When ascetic activities are stressed in a monastic life
monastic impulse seems to have been a part of the “counter-
they may be understood as penance and sacrifice to atone for
culture” revolution of the sixties and seventies. Monasticism
sinfulness. Suffering can be thought beneficial to oneself or
apparently continues to be a persistent and beneficial social
to others, the latter leading to the possibility of merit and its
and religious structure. In the seriousness with which the
transfer in the thought of the monastics or their surrounding
monastic reexamines life and its goals, in the rigor with
community. Ascetic practice may be seen as a means of gain-
which a discipline of life is pursued, the monastic phenome-
ing power, not only over oneself but also over others, even
non offers an alternative way of life and view of the world
the gods, for example in the ideas associated with tapas in
to the rest of society.
Hinduism.
SEE ALSO Asceticism; Eremitism; Merit; Secret Societies;
Monastics as well as scholars have understood monastic
Spiritual Discipline.
life primarily as a pursuit of mystical experience. The t:ar¯ıqah
in S:u¯f¯ı monasteries can be seen both as a rule and as a meth-
B
od for attaining advanced spiritual life. Many monastics
IBLIOGRAPHY
praise and cultivate special states of mind and body, states
Studies of monasticism that take into consideration more than
one religious tradition are a fairly recent phenomenon. The
in which enlightenment, ecstasy, or union with the divine
best book of this kind is Blessed Simplicity: The Monk as Uni-
is said to be reached. No matter how advanced the person
versal Archetype by Raimundo Panikkar and others (New
or the community, however, such states are bound to be rare.
York, 1982). For an informal comparative survey of religious
Thus, much that is monastic is at best only oriented toward
communities, see Charles A. Fracchia’s Living Together
those rare moments, and perhaps quite irrelevant to them.
Alone: The New American Monasticism (San Francisco,
Furthermore, the broad definition and description of monas-
1979).
ticism developed in this article includes possibilities for the
A careful analysis of the theology and practice of Christian monas-
orientation of monastic existence in other directions. In
ticism is provided by Louis Bouyer in The Meaning of the
other words, many monastics may have a conception of the
Monastic Life (London, 1955). The standard teaching and re-
ideal spiritual state that does not center on mystical experi-
flection of Christian monks is presented by Claude J. Peifer
ences or realizations, but could instead be focused on charita-
in Monastic Spirituality (New York, 1966). Good books on
ble, liturgical, or scholarly work to the neglect or exclusion
Christian monasticism and religious orders abound; see espe-
of private mysticism.
cially David Knowles’s The Monastic Order in England, 2d
ed. (Cambridge, 1963), and The Religious Orders in England,
One of the criticisms of monasticism has been that it
3 vols. (Cambridge, 1948–1959). A critical view of medieval
is selfish, that it is in essence a private, individualistic religios-
monasticism is presented in George G. Coulton’s Five Cen-
ity. That assertion may be true in some instances, but there
turies of Religion, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1923–1950). The Ben-
is much to counter it. Monastic works of charity offer one
edictine rule, along with indexes and informative articles, is
kind of counterevidence. The social environment of the
available in RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in Latin and
monastery represents another. Few, if any, monastics have
English, with Notes, edited by Timothy Fry and others (Col-
ever been unknown to at least some other people in their en-
legeville, Minn., 1981).
vironment, and the very fact of their existence has been influ-
Hindu monasticism is covered by G. S. Ghurye in Indian Sadhus,
ential on others. Even if monasticism is centered on the self
2d ed. (Bombay, 1964). Sukumar Dutt’s Buddhist Monks
and its transformation, there has rarely been a monastic for
and Monasteries of India (London, 1962) is the best source
whom the Dominican motto has not been true: “Contem-
on Buddhist monasticism in India. For Chinese Buddhism,
plata aliis tradere” (“To give to others the fruits of contem-
see Holmes Welch’s The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–
1950 (Cambridge, Mass., 1967). The Buddhist monastic
plation”).
rule is treated in Charles S. Prebish’s Buddhist Monastic Dis-
CONTEMPORARY MONASTICISM. In recent decades monas-
cipline: The Sanskrit Pra¯timoks:a Su¯tras of the Maha¯sa¯m:ghikas
tics from various religious traditions have become more
and Mu¯lasarva¯stiva¯dins (University Park, Pa., 1975).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6126
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
On monasticism in Islam, see J. Spencer Trimingham’s The Sufi
ing” (´s¯ıtala) effect on the passions, anger, and delusions of
Orders in Islam (New York, 1971). An older standard refer-
monks and nuns. According to Buddhist doctrine, to be rid
ence is John K. Birge’s study of a S:u¯f¯ı order in Turkey, The
of the bonds of habitual thought and behavior is a happy and
Bektashi Order of Dervishes (1937; New York, 1982). An
pleasing thing; monastic life is not supposed to be oppressive
abridged translation of a S:u¯f¯ı rule is found in Menahem Mil-
or restrictive.
son’s A Sufi Rule for Novices (Cambridge, Mass., 1975).
On Protestant monasticism, see François Biot’s The Rise of Protes-
In the monastic literature, whenever the Buddha pro-
tant Monasticism (Baltimore, 1963). Peter F. Anson surveys
hibited an action and instituted a rule, he did so to please
Anglican communities in his The Call of the Cloister, 4th ed.,
his disciples. Buddhist monastic life is considered a liberation
rev. (London, 1964).
from mental and physical bondage and conducive to reli-
New Sources
gious development. In the monastic literary corpus there are
Dreyfus, Georges B. J. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Ed-
many examples of the advantages of monastic life. In one epi-
ucation of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk. Berkeley, 2003.
sode from the Pali Vinaya, translated by Isaline B. Horner
Kieschnick, John. The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval
in The Book of the Discipline, the parents of a young man
Chinese Hagiography. Honolulu, 1997.
named Upa¯li were confused about how to educate, care for,
King, Peter. Western Monasticism: A History of the Monastic Move-
and provide for the best interests of their beloved son:
ment in the Latin Church. Kalamazoo, 1999.
“By what means could Upa¯li, after our demise, live at
Lawrence, Clifford H. Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious
ease and not be in want?” Then it occurred to Upa¯li’s
Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. London, 2001.
parents: “If Upa¯li should learn writing . . . his fingers
McGregor, Richard. Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt: The
will become painful. If Upa¯li should learn calculation
Wafa D Sufi Order and the Legacy of Ibn ‘Arabi. Albany, 2004.
. . . his breast will become painful. If Upa¯li should
learn money-changing . . . his eyes will become pain-
Olivelle, Patrick. Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism:
ful. . . . Now if Upa¯li should go forth among the re-
Yatidharmasamuccaya of Ya¯dava Praka¯´sa. Albany, 1995.
cluses, the sons of the S´a¯kyans, so would Upa¯li, after
Schopen, Gregory. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected
our demise, live at ease and not be in want.” (Horner,
Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic
1938–1966, vol. 3, pp. 10–11)
Buddhism in India. Honolulu, 1997.
When Upa¯li heard of his parents’ plan, he was delighted and
Sterk, Andrea. Renouncing the World Yet Leading the Church: The
Monk-Bishop in Late Antiquity. Cambridge, 2004.
encouraged his friends to join him in the Buddhist order.
Entry into the monastic order was socially acceptable and ad-
GEORGE WECKMAN (1987)
vantageous, not a punishment or life-denying exile. Com-
Revised Bibliography
mitment to, or at least proximity to, religious mysteries
brought social and political status, and for this reason monks
and nuns gained prestige and power in their support com-
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
munities.
The myth of the historical Buddha’s life provides the basic
Fully developed Buddhist monasticism likely did not
model for Buddhist monasticism. Prince Siddha¯rtha Gauta-
originate during the historical Buddha’s lifetime. Still, Bud-
ma went, in Buddhist language, on the “Middle Way,” a life
dhist monks and nuns use the example of the Buddha’s life
of moderate asceticism, between lay life and extreme asceti-
story as a behavioral model. Through Buddhist history, in
cism. His practices were based on the belief in the existence
communities of celibate Buddhist men and women there
and attainability of a transcendent reality, enlightenment
were two ideal modes of behavior, reflecting the origins and
more profoundly real, powerful, and blissful than the world
historical developments preserved in the Buddha’s story. The
as experienced in a nonenlightened state. The exercise of
two are eremitic asceticism, likely taken from the earliest
meditation, learning, ethical conduct, and progress on the
years of the order, and cenobitic community life, in which
path to liberation were thought to be best managed in soli-
monks and nuns are engaged with monastic brethren and lay
tude, or at least in single-gender communities that did not
society. Some monks continued the practice of strictly re-
engage society in traditionally accepted, lay-oriented ways.
nunciative solitary retreats in sometimes remote areas, af-
Buddhists believe that the best way to follow the path
firming the ancient eremitic roots of Buddhism, while oth-
to enlightenment is to live a disciplined lifestyle, one condu-
ers, often from the same monastery, were concerned with
cive to generating awareness of one’s mental states and the
active monastery affairs, community academic studies, and
causally produced nature of all elements of existence. Sexual
ritual practices—a cenobitic lifestyle. Similarly, solitary or
relations, marriage, procreation, family life, career, and per-
group pilgrimage to sacred sites, for example, was an accept-
sonal concerns are distractions from religious concerns and
ed practice for Buddhist monks, as long as the monks stayed
thus rejected as preconditions for admission to the Buddhist
within the ethical and behavioral parameters. Both modes of
monastic communities. Buddhists monks and nuns who take
behavior were validated by the life story of the Buddha: the
vows are, in canonical terms, “pleased” (prasa¯dita) by their
renunciative mode by Siddha¯rtha leaving his home, family,
vows. Joining the monastic order has a tempering or “cool-
and birthright; and the active mode of behavior by his activi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
6127
ties after his enlightenment, when he returned to public life
munities were the Pos:adha (the twice-monthly rules
as a teacher and monastic community developer. This appar-
[pra¯timoks:a] recitation ceremony) and, eventually, regular
ent duality of active behavior and renunciative behavior,
collective meetings for group rituals, practice, and instruc-
even in the context of settled monastic life, is one of the char-
tion. The recitation meetings were not a Buddhist innova-
acteristics of Buddhist monastic behavior that continues
tion; other Indian religious groups kept the ancient Vedic
throughout the history of the institution in many if not all
tradition of meeting on the days of the full and new moon,
its manifestations.
a practice common to religions of that era, Buddhist and
non-Buddhist. It was nonetheless one of the significant steps
THE SPREAD OF BUDDHIST MONASTICISM. One of the im-
in the development of collective Buddhist monastic practice
portant factors in the spread and growth of Buddhist monas-
and a demonstration of the order’s adaptability to local con-
ticism was its adaptability. As long as monks and nuns pre-
ditions.
served the basic teachings and social behavior patterns,
Buddhism could be translated into any language or culture.
The corpus of Indian Buddhist ritual practices and phi-
That is, as long as monks obeyed the monastic laws and en-
losophies grew as the order spread and encountered different
gaged in the ritual and meditative practices, Buddhism could
environments, languages, and social structures. Buddhist
and did appear in manifold forms through history. This flex-
monasteries maintained the fundamental teachings and
ibility served the Buddhist “conquest” of Asia well and stim-
moderate ascetic lifestyle, but Buddhists soon elaborated on
ulated the growth of a massive religious institution with
the basic doctrines and accommodated new ritual practices
broad sociological diversity, extensive literature, philosophy,
current in its own and in new host cultures. Buddhist
ritual, and considerable political power. Indeed, in addition
monasteries became centers for the production of an exten-
to places for meditation and worship, monasteries were cen-
sive literary corpus that was often translated into new host
ters for the study and practice of medicine, for writing and
languages and subsequently expanded. Though restricted at
building library collections, for Buddhist arts, for adjudicat-
various times by adverse sociological, economic, and political
ing community disputes, and in general for serving the needs
conditions, Buddhist monasteries were centers for teaching
of host communities. Buddhism was and remains an interna-
and learning, for medical study and practice, and for elabora-
tional religion and was intended for transmission into differ-
tion of Buddhist doctrines and associated rituals.
ent languages and cultures.
With regional developments in India and gradually else-
The first example of Buddhism’s adaptability to its cul-
where, first in tropical S´r¯ı Lan˙ka¯ and Southeast Asia and later
tural environment is in India itself. Buddhism was a new in-
in high-altitude Northwest India, disputes over points of
novation that adapted as India grew and developed. The
doctrine and monastic discipline arose. These controversies
early Buddhist Vinaya collections record the growth and evo-
and resolutions were sometimes recorded in detail and some-
lution in an Indian cultural context. In the first years of Bud-
times not, with the result that there is a huge body of often
dhism, like their Upanis:ad-motivated brethren, Buddha’s
fragmented information about early Buddhist monasticism
followers were strictly eremitic, following an extreme ascetic
recorded and transmitted out of its original contexts. There
lifestyle. The Vinaya monastic literature records that early
are, nonetheless, some documented illustrations of doctrinal
monks and nuns wandered from place to place, even through
and disciplinary evolution of the order.
the rainy season. These Buddhist wandering mendicants
practiced firm renunciation of worldly concerns. With the
The process of institutional development can be seen in
success of Buddha’s system, however, problems developed
recorded events. After Buddha’s death in the fourth century
because of the sheer numbers of converts. Farmers began to
BCE, his disciples held a meeting at Ra¯jagr:ha, which is histori-
complain about crops destroyed by Buddhists wandering in
cally regarded as the First Council. It is plausible that the
the monsoon, poorly nourished and weak monks and nuns
faithful would hold a meeting after the death of Buddha to
began to develop illnesses, and the large numbers were diffi-
formalize the doctrines and the ethical rules and to eulogize
cult to manage. Buddha therefore instructed his communi-
the late Buddha. According to the tradition, after the death
ties to set up shelters and temporary residences (a¯ra¯ma) for
of the great teacher the disciples gathered to collect and pre-
the duration of the monsoon season. Two sections of the
serve his teachings. Other meetings followed the First Coun-
Vinaya deal with the realities of feeding, housing, and occu-
cil. The number of these councils is, however, uncertain, and
pying itinerant Buddhist monks and nuns during the four-
it is probable that there were many more such meetings than
month Indian monsoon season.
are recorded in the standard histories. The point is that there
were general meetings at which the doctrinal and disciplinary
The new residences soon increased in size, quantity, and
teachings were reviewed, codified, and sometimes modified
quality, thanks in part to continuing donations of buildings
to meet the exigencies of changing conditions. While there
and land by the lay populations and political authorities.
were obviously developments of major significance resulting
Buddhist authorities were soon faced with the problems of
in schisms in the community and the development of histori-
retreat conduct, and they needed an effective method to
cal sects, little of the data in the accounts of the early Bud-
propagate the teachings during the retreat time, when monks
dhist conventions and institutions can be confirmed. All of
and nuns did not wander. The earliest solutions for the com-
the specifics of the First, Second, and later Councils—the
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6128
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
dates, the places, the topics, the resolutions, the partici-
litical authority structures, relationships between monasteries
pants—are subject to questions. The interest in the councils
and governments were often symbiotic. Buddhist monaste-
lie in what philosophical, ethical, and social questions they
ries enjoyed the extensive support and protection of political
raised and how those were resolved to support the evolution
authorities, and in turn monasteries offered religious services,
of the doctrine and spread of the community.
education, and public legitimization. Monasteries were often
civic institutions and served the needs of local communities,
After the first meeting on the occasion of Buddha’s
generating considerable political influence. It was in a gov-
death, there were councils at Vai´sa¯l¯ı and later at Pa¯t:aliputra
ernment’s best interest to support and be validated by these
(Patna). There was eventually a division in the Buddhist mo-
institutions, and many of the most famous monasteries were
nastic order (between Maha¯sa¯m:ghika and Sthavira), but the
built during the major dynastic periods throughout Asia.
divisive issues are not well understood. These meetings were
either concerned with ten points of monastic discipline or
The monastic literature includes accounts of imperial
with five points of doctrine attributed to one Maha¯deva. The
support for Indian Buddhist monasteries even during the
list of ten points includes rather trivial matters, and it is prob-
Buddha’s lifetime. The story of Ana¯thapin:d:ika tells of sup-
able that these were in themselves indicators of larger issues.
port by wealthy merchants and kings, King Bimbisa¯ra in par-
ticular, who donated the Jeta Grove near Ra¯jagr:ha in
Indeed, a probable cause of the early schism in Bud-
Ma¯gadha to the Buddha and his community of followers. In
dhism was a controversy between the majority Maha¯sa¯m:-
her translation of the Vinaya, Horner reports that “[t]he
ghikas and the Sthaviras over expansion of the Vinaya. The
householder Ana¯thapin:d:ika had dwelling places made, he
Sthaviras evidently saw a need to expand the Vinaya to meet
had cells made, porches, attendance halls, fire halls, huts for
changing conditions. The Maha¯sa¯m:ghikas disagreed and
what is allowable, privies, places for pacing, wells, halls at the
were accused of laxity in discipline, which led to the sectarian
wells, bathing halls, lotus ponds, etc. . . . [P]eople were
dispute.
making repairs carefully, attending to the robes, almsfood,
The early schism in Buddhist monasticism is alterna-
lodgings and medicines for the sick” (Horner, 1938–1966,
tively attributed to five issues of doctrine called the “heresies
vol. 5, pp. 222–223). Such lavish support brought merit to
of Maha¯deva.” The five points, which may have been issues
the wealthy and royal classes. Royal support also brought the
of the Third Council, clearly involve points of doctrine, in-
kings legitimacy and provided lay and monastic communi-
cluding the status of an enlightened being (arhat), but their
ties education, medical and hospice care, and religious
importance and any significant outcomes are unclear. The
services.
sequence, chronology, specific philosophical positions, and
Royal and wealthy lay political support is evident
importance of the specific points are uncertain, but nonethe-
throughout Buddhist history. Monasteries spread with offi-
less the matters involved monastic life. Later sectarian dis-
cial support in Ma¯gadha, Bihar, S´r¯ı Lan˙ka¯, and Southeast
putes and divisions likewise were over matters of the inviola-
Asia in the early years after Buddha’s death. India was experi-
bility of received scriptures, doctrine, and discipline. The
encing new growth and had close contacts with Persia and
main point is that, as Buddhist monasticism developed, there
Bactria, Central Asia, and locales even further. In India mo-
were disruptive forces in the community. These, however,
nasticism survived and grew with local political support, es-
did not impede the growth of Buddhism; they instead signal
pecially under the Mauryan king A´soka (c. 269–236 BCE).
how Buddhism adapted to different conditions and ideolo-
According to the legend, this king was particularly aggressive
gies and grew larger as a result.
in his conquest of the Indian subcontinent and subsequently
The early councils and schisms were followed by modi-
converted to Buddhism. After his conversion he was an avid
fications in later times and other places. Maha¯ya¯na Bud-
supporter of religion, especially Buddhist monastic institu-
dhism developed soon after the early schisms, and new theo-
tions. Buddhism, and specifically the interests of Buddhist
ries, rituals, literature, and engagement with lay society were
monasteries, became factors in national policymaking. As a
accommodated by and institutionalized in Buddhist
result, monasteries grew in number and in strength in India,
monasteries. Monasticism flourished in Northwest India
in the far northwest as far as the Greek colonies, to the north
under the Ku¯s:a¯n:a kings, and as time went on Buddhist mo-
in the Himalayas, and in Southeast Asia.
nasticism spread along the central Asian trade routes into
After the fall of the Mauryas, Buddhism continued to
China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Tibet. Through all
develop with government support from central Asian king-
of its manifestations it adapted to local cultures and environ-
doms. There was a succession of kings, including the Bud-
ments and at the same time preserved its basic doctrinal mes-
dhist supporter King Milinda (r. 160–140
sage and its moderate ascetic lifestyle.
BCE). The short-
lived S´un˙ga (187–151 BCE) and Ka¯n:va (151–106 BCE)
BUDDHIST MONASTICISM AND POLITICS. A key factor in the
dynasties sponsored a great deal of construction of stupas,
historical success of the Buddhist monastic institution was
temples, and Buddhist institutions. The Ku¯s:a¯n:a dynasty was
its ability to function together with political authorities.
the next major dynasty to officially endorse and sponsor
Even though monks and monasteries were outside of tempo-
Buddhist institutions. The first of the major transmissions
ral society and did not recognize conventional social and po-
of Buddhist monasticism to China began during the Ku¯s:a¯n:a
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
6129
dynasty. Their kings sponsored Buddhist monasteries that
of cultures, preserving monasticism as the constant, the vehi-
stretched from Afghanistan into Samarkand and through
cle and foundation necessary to reestablish itself in a foreign
modern Pakistan. The kingdom included all of northern
environment. Its survival and prosperity often depended on
India and was influential in Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar, and
local political authorities, and it did indeed survive and
further east. Kan:iska, the best known of the Ku¯s:a¯n:a kings,
prosper.
supported Buddhist monasticism. In these times there was
B
extensive growth of Buddhist ritual, Maha¯ya¯na philosophy,
UDDHIST MONASTICISM AND ECONOMICS. The Buddhist
order was founded and based on metaphysical principles, but
su¯tra literature, and institutional expansion.
its functions were based on the truth of conventional opera-
During the Gupta dynasty (320–580 CE), Buddhist mo-
tions in the world. Accordingly, Buddhist monks and
nasticism was supported by the royal courts and by craft
monasteries accepted donations of cash, land, and material
guilds. Monasteries were well endowed and became centers
of all kinds, and they sometimes became rich and powerful.
of learning and religious practice, and often of community
In spite of the injunctions against individual monks owning
life. Some of the most famous monastic scholars lived in the
money, the monastic literature allows the collective owner-
Gupta period, and monasteries were built throughout India
ship of donated and community wealth. Some monks man-
on a grand scale with much political and social support. Reli-
aged their own finances, and in some places a special lay of-
gion and politics became so closely related in this period that
fice was established at monasteries to handle donations and
kings who sponsored building projects often took on nearly
finances for monks. Permanent endowments of land and tax
divine status. Monasteries also increased their wealth and po-
rights; endowments of properties with guaranteed long-term
litical power. Some of the most renowned Buddhist
agricultural, pastoral, or other income; rights to impose cor-
monasteries in history were built in the Gupta period.
vée; and constant donations from the lay communities made
Na¯landa¯ Monastery in Bihar, for example, was known
some monks and monasteries extremely wealthy.
throughout classical Asia and was a source of doctrine and
monasticism for important Southeast Asian communities.
Monasteries were given land, buildings, novice sponsor-
ship, and donations by political authorities and wealthy busi-
During the division of India into small kingdoms in the
nesspersons as a matter of routine. Wealthy persons often
Pa¯la era (650–1250), Buddhist monasteries consolidated
willed their properties to monasteries or individual monks
into larger monastic institutions because of a lack of pan-
further increasing monastic holdings. Local laypeople offered
Indian institutionalized support structures and because of
food and materials appropriate to their means. Monasteries
the destruction of major Gupta monastic centers by invading
and monks had other sources of income, depending on the
armies. Nonetheless, monasticism became the vehicle for the
wealth and circumstances of their support communities. In
transmission of Buddhism to Tibet, China, and Japan, and
addition to endowments and donations, monasteries and in-
to new monastic sites in Cambodia, Pagan, Burma, Java, and
dividual monks were sometimes given, often via intermedi-
elsewhere. Pa¯la era kings especially established and legiti-
aries, profit-making farms, farmlands, and livestock. In Tibet
mized their imperial rule by resorting to Buddhist religious
and elsewhere, for example, monasteries received regular pay-
models and extensive support of Buddhist monasteries. The
ments from profits and percentages of commodities pro-
practice of religiously legitimizing kingship continued in
duced or sold. Some monasteries lent money and land rights,
Tibet and Southeast Asia, notably in the Qing dynasty
receiving interest income and payment in kind. The under-
(1644–1911) during the reign of the Qianlong emperor in
standing or basic principal at work here was that monastic
the late eighteenth century. As a result, monastic institutions
income, donated and entrepreneurial, was to be used for reli-
increased, for example, in Tibet and Mongolia, where thou-
gious purposes, even if personal and institutional interests
sands of new Buddhist monasteries were built in the seven-
coincided. Scholarship has shown that the monastery and in-
teenth to nineteenth centuries.
dividual monks were involved in a broad range of economic
Because Buddhist monasteries enjoyed popular support
activities and that some monasteries and monks became
and often wielded political power, Buddhism was sometimes
wealthy.
criticized and even persecuted or regulated by lay authorities.
MONASTICISM AND LAW. In addition to religious authority
In Tang China (618–907); Buddhism was persecuted, pow-
and expertise, political influence, and wealth, many monaste-
erful Buddhist monasteries were secularized in Meiji Japan
ries served the legal needs of the monastic and lay communi-
(1868–1912); and monasteries were targeted in Tibet in the
ties. The Buddhist order had a fully developed internal legal
modern period under Chinese rule. Monasteries often accu-
system. The monastic law codes divide offenses according to
mulated so much influence that they threatened the integrity
severity and include detailed definitions and case examples
and credibility of lay governments and were thus a threat to
for what constitutes each kind of transgression. In addition
established lay political authority.
to internal monastic law codes, Buddhist canonical law was
Monasticism, and its special relationship with political
often a validating instrument for lay law. For example, Bur-
authority, was present in all of its support cultures. The Bud-
mese monastic leaders produced, implemented, and pre-
dhist community’s moderate asceticism and Middle Way
served a fully developed lay legal system based on Buddhist
doctrines were transmitted intact into an enormous variety
law. Monastic law codes were a source of law and legal au-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6130
MONASTICISM: BUDDHIST MONASTICISM
thority in Southeast Asian cultures and elsewhere, affirming
history. Educational standards and facilities were not as de-
the Buddhist monastic commitment to engagement in
veloped as in men’s monasteries, but women built and main-
worldly matters. Direct involvement in lay legal matters on
tained strong traditions of meditation, ritual, and communi-
all social levels shows further that monasteries and lay politi-
ty solidarity. Indeed, in twentieth-century Amdo, Northeast
cal, social, economic, and legal institutions interacted closely
Tibet (modern Gansu province), the greater Labrang Monas-
in symbiotic relationships.
tery community supported women’s monasteries even with-
out full ordination.
As time went on, Buddhist monasticism was fully inte-
grated into societies in Southeast Asia and in Tang and, espe-
SEE ALSO Priesthood, article on Buddhist Priesthood;
cially, Song China. Chinese monasteries interacted closely
Sam:gha, overview article.
with government and influenced legal guidelines in politics,
business, and lay life. In Tibet, monasteries were often seats
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of religious authorities adjudicating lay disputes over civil
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no. 1 (1995): 7–45.
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Wijayaratna, Mohan. Buddhist Monastic Life. Cambridge, U.K.,
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MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
6131
Yifa. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annoted
Athanasius’s Life of Antony, which portrayed Anthony of
Translation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. Honolulu,
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perfected his sanctity through solitary life in the desert, is
Zysk, Kenneth. Asceticism and Healing in Ancient India: Medicine
now understood as a discursive strategy with the purpose
in the Buddhist Monastery. Oxford, 1991.
(and result) of homogenizing different forms of monasticism
and consolidating them into a type that could be more easily
PAUL K. NIETUPSKI (2005)
demarcated from other forms that were, in the eyes of ecclesi-
astical authorities, less desirable. The common characteriza-
tion of this monastic era as the “Age of the Desert” is there-
MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
fore questionable at best.
Christian monasticism does not differ from monasticism in
The cenobitic form of monasticism can be traced back
other world religions in its most basic motivation: to allow
to Pachomius of Egypt (c. 290–346). It was based on the
those who consider themselves capable of practicing a form
consideration that the ascetics’ heroic virtue could be bol-
of religious life that is beyond the means of ordinary believers
stered and more easily sustained if they lived in a communal
to do so. The goal and purpose of such extraordinary
setting, allowing them to create a Christian community of
achievements in Christianity derive from the evangelical
love (koino¯nia, hence “cenobitic”). This community required
counsels of fasting, chastity, and the renunciation of proper-
both stability in a fixed abode (claustration) and governing
ty. With the renunciation of secular attachments, the nun or
principles and guidelines, or a rule, which became the hall-
monk begins a journey of continuous self-mortification with
marks of monasticism. Neither as removed from society nor
the goal of contemplative unity with God through prayer.
as regimented and strictly disciplined as it was once believed
Such renunciation has to be practiced and trained for, which
they were, Pachomian communities spread in the fourth cen-
requires both abstention and continuous exercise. Absten-
tury and were the precursors to later cenobitic forms of mo-
tion is core to the term monachos, which means a single, inde-
nasticism in the monastic age.
pendent, or solitary person. Continuous refinement of prac-
tice is core to the term askesis, which means training or
THE WESTERN MONASTIC ERA (C. 500–C. 1200). After the
exercise. Yet whereas singularity through ascetic abstention
turbulences of the fifth century associated with the onslaught
can highlight the status of religious virtuosi, it may also mar-
of the barbarian tribes, which ended the Age of the Desert,
ginalize them and signify a precarious, even heretical, exis-
monastic establishments in Western Christianity were given
tence. As such, the salience and permanency of ascetic reli-
a normative foundation by the sixth-century Rule of St. Ben-
gious-virtuoso status depends on the reactions of the
edict. Named after Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 547) and
community and ecclesiastical and political authorities.
likely based in part on the earlier Rule of the Master, the Rule
of St. Benedict emphasized stability, peacefulness, order, and
BEGINNINGS OF MONASTICISM AND THE “AGE OF THE DE-
collective self-sufficiency. Confronted with often unstable
SERT” (C. 200–C. 500 CE). Recent research has shown that
political conditions and a yet largely untamed natural envi-
at the beginning of monasticism, Christian monastic ascetics
ronment, monks and nuns achieved stability by living in a
were only a part of a larger ascetic landscape that was popu-
permanent setting that offered shelter from these conditions.
lated by a variety of holy men from different religious tradi-
Removed from an outside world of violence and warfare,
tions in the Roman Empire. It also has become increasingly
these “athletes of God” fought a more peaceful, spiritual bat-
clear that Christian monasticism does not a have a single be-
tle instead. This task necessitated order and a structured, me-
ginning, but originated in a variety of communities in differ-
thodical way of life.
ent areas. Structural heterogeneity spans the familiar forms
of anchorites, who live alone, and cenobites, who live in a
The prologue to the Rule calls on monks and nuns to
stable community, but also the Syrian wandering beggar-
“establish a school for the Lord’s service” (Fry, 1981,
ascetics and small communal groups within existing inhabit-
p. 165), which offered training in the virtues of obedience
ed zones in Egypt; moreover, domestic forms of early monas-
and discipline. Obedience meant subservience to the abbess
ticism existed that were particularly common among
or abbot, who had authority over monastic communities’
women, which shall be addressed further below. It appears,
secular and spiritual matters yet was an elected leader and
in fact, that the long-held model of the emergence of Chris-
governed by precise mandates of conduct. Discipline both
tian monasticism out of the prototypical Egyptian recluse
reflected and facilitated commitment to a principled, me-
must be abandoned. Egyptian Christian monasticism, in its
thodical way of life, which was, because “idleness is the
earliest ascetic forms, was located in urban spaces, and it did
enemy of the soul” (Fry, 1981, p. 249), precisely structured
not inspire, or was not an apparent model for, monastic de-
with daily routines. For the most part, these routines focused
velopments in the Christian world. Monasticism in Pales-
on collective prayer, lectio (the study of texts and private
tine, too, was not about eremitical withdrawal into remote
meditation), and work. Collective prayer was organized
desert regions but rather an integral part of Christian life
around a daily round of divine service, the Opus Dei. It was
there from early on. One of the main sources of the tradition-
complemented by lectio, which led to the emergence of Bene-
al view of the eremitical/desert beginnings of monasticism,
dictine monasteries as perhaps the foremost centers of learn-
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6132
MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
ing, scholarship, and literary production from about the
the Gregorian reform movement and canon law curtailed lay
eighth century until at least the eleventh century.
proprietorship of cloisters. In part, this was a utilitarian do
ut des transaction within an economy dominated by gift and
Work was also considered one of the constitutive ele-
barter, a transaction by which secular wealth and status were
ments of the monastic profession: “When they live by the
traded for spiritual assistance in this life and what was to fol-
labor of their hands, as our fathers and the apostles did, then
low thereafter; in part, however, gift transactions and trans-
they are really monks” (Fry, 1981, pp. 249, 251). The valori-
fers, as newer historical studies have shown, also served to es-
zation of work came out of a tradition that viewed labor both
tablish, affirm, and deepen lasting social commitments and
as a means of subsistence and charity and as a way to combat
moral bonds between donors, donees, mediating agents, and
the temptation of acedia, or sloth and lethargy brought on
their surrounding communities, thereby integrating these
by idleness. It enabled the members of a monastic communi-
parties into a network of relations and encompassing the
ty to aid the poor and sick, prevented them from falling into
realms of both the sacred and the profane.
idleness, and contributed to their material self-sufficiency.
A different, less feudalized and ceremonialized type of
The Rule stated that because for members of monastic
spirituality was embraced by the Cistercians. In reaction to
communities it was “not all good for their souls” to leave the
changes within the larger society, such as political consolida-
stable and disciplined environment of the monastery, “the
tion and the expansion of commercial markets, they devel-
monastery should, if possible, be so constructed that within
oped a spiritual program that strongly stressed simplicity,
it all necessities, such as water, mill and garden are contained,
poverty, manual labor, and charity. These goals were to be
and the various crafts are practiced” (Fry, 1981, p. 289). The
achieved by rejecting worldly entanglements and restoring a
combination of advancing education and craft skills with im-
strict, literal adherence of the Rule of St. Benedict. Within
proving technologies for cultivating land enabled the monas-
150 years the Cistercians expanded from the “new monas-
tic communities to achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency.
tery” formed by two dozen monks around Robert of
Monastic houses commonly followed a mixed rule, or
Molesme (c. 1027–1110) and guided by the charismatic
a combination of observations taken from different rules,
Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) to an organization with per-
until the Rule of St. Benedict ascended to dominance in the
haps over twenty thousand members by the mid-thirteenth
early eighth century. Local customs and conventions contin-
century.
ued to be accommodated through so-called customaries.
The Cistercians’ economic achievements are well
Cluniac and Cistercian monasticism. The term
known. They include opening up uncultivated frontiers,
Cluniac monasticism denotes a movement to revive and re-
converting rural hinterlands into flourishing farmlands, and
store Benedictine monastic life after the decline of the Caro-
enhancing the agricultural productivity of already developed
lingians and the plundering and pillaging of monasteries by
estates. Frugality and a distinct economic organization were
the Vikings and Saracens. The tenth-century reforms that
at the root of their success in transforming the rural econo-
emanated from Cluny and a large number of affiliated or
my. The Cistercians emphasized simplicity and austerity, re-
similar reform-minded monastic houses such as Gorze, Hir-
flected in a comparatively brief and modest liturgy, plain ar-
sau, and Bec led to a ceremonialization of the monastic life
chitecture, and the absence of ornaments in their churches.
and much closer affiliation with nobility. Whereas the Rule
Intrinsic to Cistercian austerity was an emphasis on manual
of St. Benedict prescribed about three and a half hours a day
work, to be performed with vehemence and regularity and
of prayer and recitation of psalms, Cluniac monastic com-
viewed as the principal means for supporting a monastic
munities engaged in such activities to a much greater extent.
community—an approach in stark contrast to the dominant
As the number of recited psalms increased from 15 to 170,
practices in Benedictine monasticism at the time. This reli-
most of the day was spent in the choir, and the celebration
gious attitude was complemented by the rationalized eco-
of private and commemorative masses further added to the
nomic organization of Cistercian granges—or estates com-
liturgical demands on the monks.
posed of contiguous fields and farms obtained through a
combination of gifts, leases, pawns, and purchases. Orga-
At the same time, Cluniac monasticism represented a
nized into a single unit for agricultural production, a grange
closer affinity with the upper, noble strata of society, in that
allowed a much more methodical estate management than
monks performed religious services for nobles in return for
did the previously fragmented patches of land. Granges were
material endowments and protection. The Cluniacs’ link to
exempt from ecclesiastical tithes and other agricultural taxes,
the nobility was further strengthened by the fact that many
and local markets in the countryside and urban settings (if
nuns and monks came from noble families and that the
available) provided a ready outlet for their agricultural and
higher ranks of the Cluniac organization were populated by
pastoral products.
men of aristocratic origins. For members of the nobility, the
endowment of a monastery in land was thought to secure the
Having few outlets for expenditure beyond charity and
donor’s temporal and eternal welfare, and noble patronage
subsistence, the Cistercians could re-invest their wealth in
of monasteries continued to provide privileges and means of
the acquisition of monastic estates, and thus further the basis
influence on the administration of monastic life even after
of their economic success. But in the second part of the thir-
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MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
6133
teenth century, Cistercian land acquisition came to a halt.
With this turn, monastic spirituality opened itself to the
The peasantry had fewer material incentives to join the
world. The mendicants rejected the legacy of world flight in
order, with serfdom disappearing, markets for agricultural
monasticism and recentered the meaning of asceticism on
products expanding, and cultivation methods improving by
notions of strict poverty and active ministry. The attraction
the late twelfth century. Burghers and knights, too, found
of the mendicants was extraordinary: in the first one hundred
other spiritual avenues, and the burghers of the cities were
years they grew from a few men around Francis of Assisi
differently served by the urban mendicant orders. By the
(1181/82–1226) and Domingo de Guzmán (c. 1170–1221),
thirteenth century the “new monastery, ” a highly aristocratic
the two founders of the major mendicant orders, to a total
order, in some ways looked like the monastery of old.
of about twenty-eight thousand Franciscans and about
THE MENDICANT ERA (C. 1200–C. 1500). During the
twelve thousand Dominicans.
twelfth century, monasticism was both revived and altered,
Rapid organizational growth, however, brought about
developments which occurred in the context of rapid social
significant changes in mendicant spirituality within the first
change. An expanding commercial economy, the revival of
fifty years, during which some of their early ideals were sig-
the cities, a newly found individualism, and increasing levels
of lay literacy altered established social traditions—and with
nificantly changed or even abandoned. In the case of the
them religious life.
Franciscans, the first friars who joined Francis of Assisi
shared his ideal of imitating the simple, austere life of the
In Italy and France an early response to this change
apostles. Much like other religious charismatics at the time,
came in the form of religious hermits. Drawing on traditions
Francis renounced the vanities of the world, which in his case
of eremitical poverty in early Christian monasticism, charis-
meant the comfortable lifestyle of a wealthy merchant’s son,
matic hermits such as Romuald of Ravenna (950–1027) or
for the transient existence of an itinerant preacher. Money
Norbert of Xanten (1080–1134) rejected the stability of the
was not even to be touched, and academic studies were not
monastery and lived their lives as wandering ascetics. Com-
encouraged. Yet whereas the early Franciscans were expected
mitted to austerity and noninvolvement with a commercial-
to support themselves by working and begging, within a span
izing, more individualist society, the hermits ushered in a
of less than forty years the Franciscans’ commitment to man-
new type of religious eremiticism by not seeking a life of soli-
ual labor changed, together with their views on the futility
tude but rather associating with loose groups of followers and
of learnedness and absolute avoidance of money. Manual
supporters. Many of these groups disbanded after the death
labor was abandoned, as growth in numbers and the inevita-
of their leader, while others assimilated into monastic groups
ble routinization of Franciscan charisma necessitated changes
where they continued their serene eremitical life.
in the order’s structure and some of its defining spiritual
A different response came in the form of lay religious
characteristics. The precarious existence of itinerant beggars
movements, which also embraced apostolic poverty but lived
and laborers was difficult to reconcile with the need for some
in small communities seeking to emulate the life of early
institutional and economic stability. It became necessary to
Christian communities. Groups such as the Italian Humiliati
impose organizational structures onto the order and to regu-
and the early French and Italian Waldensians rejected the
late the avenues of admission and advancement, as well as
monastic traditions of concentrating on spiritual labor and
to adopt a less unworldly stance toward money. Further-
withdrawing from the world. Combining preaching with
more, a great number of priests joined the order, and heresy
itinerancy and austerity, they formed the model for a revival
continued to be viewed as a primary threat. The rustic views
of Christian monasticism in the form of the mendicant
of Francis on learning and the unresolved relation of the fri-
orders.
ars-priests to the secular clergy were at odds with the view
shared by many clerics and more-learned members of the
The mendicants. The Franciscans and Dominicans re-
order that active ministry required a trained, professional
sponded to changing socioeconomic conditions by radically
apostolate and the definition of rights and duties vis-à-vis the
breaking with received monastic traditions. They did not
parish priests. By about the mid-thirteenth century, the Fri-
question the contemplative life as the ultimate form of Chris-
ars Minor were a highly clericalized and learned order,
tian perfection, or prayer as the pivotal means to achieve it.
steeped in university life. Earlier notions of absolute poverty
They dispensed, however, with the life in a stable, enclosed
gave way to the permission for corporate use, if not owner-
residence that had been the hallmark of traditional monasti-
ship, of property, and full control over it.
cism, and they were governed by ecclesiastical rules whose
explicit raison d’être was preaching to the populace. As popu-
The other major mendicant order, the Dominicans, did
lar preachers admonishing the laity to repent and to seek
not experience the same organizational dilemmas and shifts
inner conversion, they left the seclusion of the cloister for the
in spiritual orientation or emphasis. From the beginning it
busy streets of the city, voluntarily renouncing all forms of
was conceived to be a priestly order devoted to preaching.
property, be it personal, as their monastic predecessors had
The meaning and extent of poverty, while important, was
done, or corporate. Instead of collective stability and with-
not as contested as among the Franciscans, and intellectual
drawal from society, they chose individual mobility and par-
training was considered paramount for an active apostolate.
ticipation in secular affairs.
For the professional pastors and preachers who stood at the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
forefront of the defense of the church as inquisitors and who
of male monks, friars, and members of apostolic orders has
attended to the spiritual needs of the laity, a solid foundation
been estimated to have dropped to only 70,000, and only
in theology and the art of preaching was essential. Because
about forty of more than one thousand monasteries of the
the nature of the order was clerical and its orientation priest-
traditional monastic communities survived.
ly, there was no place for work. In the daily routine, manual
A reversal of such decline was made possible through the
toil and meditative reading—two of the pillars of the Rule
revival of traditional monasticism’s appeal in the nineteenth
of St. Benedict—gave way to a brief liturgy and the occupa-
century, which led to a revival of Benedictine and Cistercian
tions of preaching, studying, and teaching. In both orders,
communities. Numerically more significant, however, was
therefore, asceticism was channeled toward the methodical
the emergence of hundreds of new religious communities,
training of the intellect and endured in corporeal and social
particularly religious congregations that substituted an active
renunciations such as chastity and penury.
charitable agenda for the traditional contemplative orienta-
In the later Middle Ages the monasticization of the
tion. In practice, this often involved teaching, nursing, and
mendicants and persistent debates over the role of wealth
social services. These brothers and sisters in congregations
were indicative of significant challenges to religious life. Such
contributed tremendously to the renewal of Catholic reli-
challenges were also obvious in traditional religious orders,
gious orders up to the second part of the twentieth century.
where abuses and discipline problems as well as declining
THE CHALLENGES OF SECULARIZATION. In an attempt to
numbers reflected a crisis in monastic life.
bring about the aggiornamento modernization of Catholic
THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, AND THE ENLIGHT-
faith, the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) initiated
ENMENT. Laxity in spiritual discipline in religious life was
various changes in the Catholic Church. This occurred at a
one of the issues that prompted the Augustinian friar Martin
time when theologians presumed that modern societies un-
Luther (1483–1546) to question the foundations of monas-
derwent a process of secularization that required religious
tic life. Luther, as well as other reformers, ushered in a period
communities to evolve in order to better meet the demands
in which Protestant authorities disbanded existing houses
of modern life. Distinctions between laity and priesthood
and disallowed the establishment of new ones. Monastic
were reduced, and the leveling of status also affected the reli-
property was seized and distributed into secular channels.
gious vocation of a member of a monastic community. A
Ever since the Reformation, the notion of the priest-
steep decline in the number of Catholics entering religious
hood of the believer, which exalts each believer to the status
communities ensued. In the United States, by 1990 the an-
of religious virtuoso, has remained one of the pillars of Prot-
nual number of women who entered a religious order was
estantism. This notion mitigates against the establishment of
about one-seventh of what it had been three decades earlier,
religious orders whose members enjoy a fundamentally dif-
and the number of men in a religious order had been reduced
ferent religious status from that of other members of the
to less than half. Whereas Canada and western European
church.
countries experienced a similar decline (with concomitant fi-
nancial exigencies and geriatrification of membership), the
A second challenge to monastic life after the Reforma-
opposite is true for sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Cath-
tion came in the form of the Enlightenment. Enlightenment
olic religious communities in those areas have grown signifi-
thinkers tended to equate monastic rituals and traditions
cantly, to the extent that for some orders these countries pro-
with unenlightened superstition and tied them to the society
duce a very significant portion of novices. So far, no reversal
of old. In the wake of the French Revolution and Napoleon
of these trends is in sight for the twenty-first century.
Bonaparte’s rule, most monastic communities were disband-
ed or destroyed.
MONASTICISM AND GENDER. The role of women in Chris-
tian monasticism has undergone many changes. The pre-
THE APOSTOLIC ORDERS AND TEACHING CONGREGA-
dominance of teaching congregations over contemplative
TIONS. Reform in the Catholic Church took its own shape
communities since the second part of the nineteenth century
in its reformations of religious life in the sixteenth century.
is a reflection of one of the most fundamental changes in mo-
One of more than a dozen new apostolic orders that emerged
nasticism, the increasing involvement of women, as women
and prospered in that period, the Jesuits represented a new
have joined active congregations in much greater numbers
form of order that replaced the emphases in traditional mo-
than their male counterparts. When Catholic religious com-
nasticism on contemplation and in the mendicant orders on
munities reached their numerical peak in the United States
poverty with a stress on ministry, discipline, and commit-
in 1965, sisters outnumbered brothers by a ratio of about five
ment to furthering the church’s causes. Founded by Ignatius
to one. Worldwide, the vast majority of Catholic religious
Loyola (1491–1556), the order grew rapidly. Within a hun-
today are women.
dred years of their papal approval in 1540, they represented
an organization of over 15,000 members. A precipitous de-
Women, however, have not always been so strongly rep-
cline occurred in the late eighteenth century, however. This
resented in Christian monasticism, nor has the cloistered life
decline affected them as well as the traditional monastic
always been encouraged for female religious. In early monas-
groups and the friars. Within a period of fifty years after
ticism, female religious virtuosity was related to the celibacy
Pope Clement XIV disbanded the order in 1773, the number
of virgins and widows. For women, separation from the
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MONASTICISM: CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
6135
world often did not mean withdrawal from the community
In the apostolic era, apostolic orders for women flour-
and living a life of self-mortification in the desert or wilder-
ished. This was the case for both cloistered and uncloistered
ness (although for some women, it did), but rather a selective
communities, even though the latter often had difficulty
abstention from worldly life (sex, marriage, and food) within
with ecclesiastical authorities when insisting on performing
a family, house, and community. The structure of early fe-
charitable work for the poor. It was not until the decline of
male Christian asceticism was heterogeneous: some women
apostolic orders in the late eighteenth century and the revival
lived in informal ascetic groups, others lived an anchorite
of monastic communities in the teaching and nursing con-
life, while most remained in their families and communities
gregations that active worldly services would become a pre-
or joined a household with a clergyman. By the fifth century
dominant focus of women religious.
the claustration of women in cenobitic communities was
CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE.
under way and set the stage for the institutionalization of
With the exception of Max Weber, few scholars have at-
women under the Rule of St. Benedict.
tempted a comparative study of monasticism in different re-
Following a period of expansion and the flowering of
ligious traditions. Weber’s writings in the sociology of reli-
new monastic foundations for women in the seventh centu-
gion, which focused on the economic ethics of the world
ry, especially in the form of double monasteries, the propor-
religions, revealed that monastic groups generally attracted
tion of houses dedicated to women declined steadily until the
followers of religious traditions who were best suited for, and
end of the eleventh century. The first Cluniac cloister for
most committed to, stringent ascetic practices. The stringen-
women was not founded until about a century and a half
cy and direction of such ascetic practices varies, however.
after the foundation of Cluny itself. Similarly, while recent
Compared to its counterparts in Confucianism, Daoism,
scholarship no longer contends that there were no Cistercian
Hinduism, and Buddhism, Weber argued, Christian monas-
establishments for women, the early Cistercians did anything
ticism is comparatively unique in two aspects: (1) its relative-
but welcome women with open arms. Further, when women
ly modest ascetic requirements, and (2) its stronger inner-
joined they had to maintain strict lifelong enclosure. Never-
worldly focus. Even though Christian monasticism knew of
theless, half of the about 850 nunneries that were founded
extremely demanding ascetic practices, such as those dis-
for women in France and England between 410 and 1350
played by the stylites (fifth- and sixth-century Syrian ascetics
appear to have been founded in the period between the late
who solitarily dwelled on a pillar for up to several decades,
eleventh century and the late twelfth century, including
themselves influenced by Eastern precedents), its practices
women-centered monastic communities such as Fontevraud
never quite equaled those required of Hindu ascetics, who
and the Gilbertines.
may have produced some of the most extraordinary religious
forms of world renunciation and bodily abnegation known
The tradition of claustration continued among the
to humankind. In contrast, Western Christian monasticism,
Franciscans and the Dominicans in the later Middle Ages.
especially as it became guided by the Benedictine rule, aimed
In 1206, some nine years before the first male Dominican
for consistency, not supererogatory achievements possible
community was founded, Dominic established a cloister for
only for a very select few. The emphasis on consistency con-
women at Prouille—as an imitation of Cathar houses for
tributed to Western monasticism’s methodical character, and
women—with the purpose of winning over converts from
its less stringent ascetic demands coincided with a stronger
the Cathars. Unlike Francis, who remained reserved toward
inner-worldly focus. In other words, Christian monastics
the idea of women affiliating with his order, Dominic ap-
were not expected to leave the world behind in contempla-
pears to have been open to women’s wishes to join the reli-
tion nearly as much as Hindu or Buddhist monks were, but
gious life. The establishment of other monasteries for Do-
rather embraced manual labor as an ascetic practice.
minican nuns followed, and their numbers increased
significantly, even though a quota system was put in place
In practice, the tension between contemplative and as-
to regulate demand. Franciscan convents, inspired by the
cetic practices proved difficult to resolve. On the one hand,
saintly example of Clare of Assisi (1194–1253), proliferated
tedious practices of manual labor tended to be given over to
as well. Yet the nuns lived a religious life quite different from
monastic affiliates of lesser status to free the monks and nuns
that of the friars. Most importantly, they continued the mo-
proper to engage in contemplative practices, which lessened
nastic tradition of strict enclosure for women. Their claustra-
monasticism’s inner-worldly focus. For example, in Cluniac
tion prevented them from preaching and begging, and no
and Cistercian monasticism, most of the manual chores fell
provisions were made for organized study. It required con-
on the conversi, or lay brothers. On the other hand, reforma-
siderable pressure from the papacy to ensure that communi-
tions of monastic life periodically restored manual labor’s
ties of women were properly integrated into the mendicant
status and contributed to important technological advances,
orders, if only in thoroughly regulated and well-defined
such as the use of the watermill and the rationalization of ag-
terms. The restrictions on women’s access to the apostolic
riculture (particularly on Cistercian estates), or moved it
life and on the ways in which they were allowed to live it led
close to the center of monastic spirituality, as happened in
them to focus on contemplation. Medieval nuns contributed
the early Franciscan groups. While all forms of monasticism
greatly to the mystical and devotional literature of the later
in the world’s major religions were much more concerned
Middle Ages.
with transcending the secular spheres than with mastering or
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6136
MONEY
rationalizing them, the tension between the two directions
Study of Religious Communities in Western Europe, 1000–
appears to have been more pronounced in Christian monas-
1150 (New York, 1984). Lester K. Little discusses changes
ticism; attempts to resolve it brought about a variegated mo-
in social conditions and their effects on religious life in Reli-
nastic landscape over time.
gious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe (Ith-
aca, N.Y., 1978).
More recent scholarship has broadened this perspective
and led to significant revisions. For example, Mayeul de
For a history of the Franciscans and Dominicans, see John Moor-
Dreuille’s overview of the monastic traditions in Hinduism,
man’s The History of the Franciscan Order (Oxford, 1968)
Buddhism, Judaism, and Egyptian religions provides a
and William A. Hinnebusch’s The History of the Dominican
Order (Staten Island, N.Y., 1966–1973).
much-needed newer comparative perspective and reminds
the reader of the possible influences of these traditions on
A very readable, up-to-date account of changes and directions in
Western monasticism. Ilana Friedrich Silber’s comparative
Catholic religious orders since the Reformation is provided
study of Therava¯da Buddhism and medieval Catholicism
by Patricia Wittberg’s The Rise and Fall of Catholic Religious
points to patterns of lay support and interaction with laity
Orders: A Social Movement Perspective (Albany, N.Y., 1994).
Steve Bruce’s God Is Dead: Secularization in the West (Ox-
as well as to political patronage as factors shaping monasti-
ford, 2002) addresses causes and consequences of seculariza-
cism’s societal impact and the direction of its spirituality—
tion from a comparative perspective.
thus indicating a more dynamic relationship between monas-
ticism and society than is suggested by Weber. In spite of
The best study of women in monasticism is Jo Ann McNamara’s
Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns through Two Millennia (Cam-
these newer studies, research on comparative monasticism
bridge, Mass., 1996). Susanna Elms’s Virgins of God: The
and asceticism remains in its infancy.
Making of Asceticism in Late Antiquity (Oxford, 1993) ad-
SEE ALSO Monastery; Nuns, article on Christian Nuns; Re-
dresses early monasticism and women. Helen Rose Ebaugh’s
ligious Communities, article on Christian Religious Orders.
Women in the Vanishing Cloister: Organizational Decline in
Catholic Religious Orders in the United States (New Bruns-
B
wick, N.J., 1993) focuses on current transformations among
IBLIOGRAPHY
For a general overview of Western Christian monasticism, the best
American female religious.
studies are Peter King’s Western Monasticism: A History of the
Max Weber’s thoughts on monasticism in the world religions are
Monastic Movement in the Latin Church (Kalamazoo, Mich.,
scattered throughout his Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religions-
1999) and, with a focus on the Middle Ages, C. H. Law-
soziologie, vols. 1–3 (Tübingen, Germany, 1920–1921).
rence’s Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in West-
Newer scholarship on this topic includes Mayeul de Dreuille,
ern Europe in the Middle Ages (3d ed., New York, 2001).
OSB, From East to West: A History of Monasticism (New
Important new studies on early monasticism include James E.
York, 1999), and Ilana F. Silber, Virtuosity, Charisma, and
Goehring’s Ascetics, Society, and the Desert: Studies in Early
Social Order: A Comparative Sociological Study of Monasticism
Egyptian Monasticism (Harrisburg, Pa., 1999) and Daniel
in Theravada Buddhism and Medieval Catholicism (Cam-
Caner’s Wandering, Begging Monks: Spiritual Authority and
bridge, UK, 1995). The role of asceticism in different reli-
the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity (Berkeley,
gious traditions is discussed in Asceticism, edited by Vincent
Calif., 2002). The varieties of monasticism in Palestine are
L. Wimbush and Richard Valantasis (Oxford, 1995).
addressed in John Binns’s Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ:
Differing strains of asceticism in medieval monasticism are ad-
The Monasteries of Palestine, 314–631 (Oxford, 1995). On
dressed in Lutz Kaelber’s Schools of Asceticism: Ideology and
Athanasius and Pachomius and their ecclesiastical position
Organization in Medieval Religious Communities (University
and interpretation, see David Brakke’s Athanasius and the
Park, Pa., 1998), chapter 2, which contains an earlier version
Politics of Asceticism (Oxford, 1996) and Philip Rousseau’s
of sections of this article, as well as a more extensive discus-
Pachomius: The Making of a Community in Fourth-Century
sion of some issues raised here.
Egypt (Berkeley, Calif., 1985).
The Rule of St. Benedict is contained in R[egula] B[enedicti] 1980:
LUTZ KAELBER (2005)
The Rule of St. Benedict, edited by Timothy Fry, OSB (Col-
legeville, Minn., 1981). For monastic customaries, see Kassi-
us Hallinger’s “Consuetudo: Begriff, Formen, Forschungs-
geschichte, Inhalt,” in Untersuchungen zu Kloster und Stift,
MONEY. In examining the significance of money in the
edited by the Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte (Götting-
history of religions, one must begin by making a distinction
en, Germany, 1980), pp. 140–166. For Cluniac monasti-
between the commercial use of money in societies that have
cism, see Barbara H. Rosenwein’s Rhinoceros Bound: Cluny
developed a market economy and the uses of money in socie-
in the Tenth Century (Philadelphia, 1982); for the Cister-
ties with nonmarket economies. In the former, money is
cians, Louis J. Lekai’s The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality
used primarily as a medium of exchange and standard of
(Kent, Ohio, 1977). For the moral character of and extensive
social relationships entailed by noble donations in the case
value in the marketplace, and its value lies in its abstractness,
of Cluny, see Barbara H. Rosenwein’s To Be the Neighbor of
in its ability to mediate the exchange of goods between all
Saint Peter: The Social Meaning of Cluny’s Property, 909–
persons who desire to engage in exchange, regardless of their
1049 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1989).
social status and regardless of the nature of the goods in-
The new eremitical groups in the twelfth centuries are discussed
volved. In this context money plays a major role in the econ-
in Henrietta Leyser’s Hermits and the New Monasticism: A
omy, and the economic sphere is relatively independent of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONEY
6137
the social and religious spheres. When money is used in the
The use of shells as money goes far beyond the Trobri-
context of a nonmarket economy, on the other hand, its use
and Islands. The commonest form of shell money is the cow-
is more intimately connected with social and religious insti-
rie shell, which is found in China, India, the Near East, Afri-
tutions. Whereas in a market economy money is used pri-
ca, Europe, and the Americas. This small, attractive shell is
marily for the commercial exchange of essential goods, in
well suited to serve as money because of its portability, coun-
nonmarket economies such exchanges are often accom-
tability, and immunity to counterfeiting. However, the use
plished through nonmonetary means (such as barter or redis-
of the cowrie as money was originally motivated by more
tribution by a political authority), and money is reserved for
than its practicality. Mircea Eliade (1969) has pointed out
a more exclusive set of exchanges that are at once social and
the rich symbolism of shells in general, and the cowrie is no
religious in significance. This article will accordingly focus
exception. It has been used widely as a talisman and is com-
on the social and religious significance of money in commu-
monly viewed as a symbol of fertility, while among certain
nities with nonmarket economies.
Indian tribes of North America it was treated as a sacred ob-
ject. Like gold and jade, both rich in symbolism, cowries
Marcel Mauss (1914) was one of the first scholars to call
were also quite commonly buried with the dead. In China,
attention to the religious significance of money in so-called
cowries were placed in the mouth of the dead person, per-
primitive and archaic societies. In 1914 Mauss noted the use
haps as a kind of passage money, similar to the obol for Char-
of objects like shells and precious metals as means of ex-
on in ancient Greece. The association of cowries with gold
change and payment by peoples who were without a system
is evidenced by the fact that cowries actually made of gold
of coinage. Drawing on evidence from Africa, Oceania, and
have been found in Egypt and Cyprus. The popularity of the
North America, he insisted, against the anthropologist
cowrie as a form of money is thus also due to its intrinsic
Bronislaw Malinowski, that such objects are rightly de-
symbolic properties.
scribed as money, but he added that they are to be distin-
guished from modern money in being used only in specific
Another widespread form of money is the glass bead.
social contexts and in being endowed with numinous or sa-
These seem to have been particularly common in Africa,
cred value over and above their economic worth.
where they were believed to grow naturally in the ground and
thus to partake of the sacrality of the earth. Like the cowrie,
One of the most famous examples of such money is pro-
they provided a convenient form of currency that was also
vided by the kula ring of the Trobriand Islanders, studied by
endowed with numinous and magical properties. They were
Malinowski and discussed as well by Mauss. The kula ring
used not only as money but also in various rituals. Among
is a complex system of exchange by which armbands and
some African peoples they were ground up, mixed with
necklaces made of shells, collectively called vaygu’a, are trad-
water, and rubbed on children to aid their growth. Again like
ed around a large ring of islands just east of New Guinea.
the cowrie, they are often found in graves.
The armbands and necklaces, items of high value but of little
practical use (they are seldom used even as ornaments), are
Not only were many types of primitive or archaic
traded in opposite directions around the circle by various sets
money endowed with an intrinsic numinous quality; some
of trading partners who make periodic voyages between their
were also used as the specified means of payment for various
respective islands. The complex system of gifts and counter-
religious services. This is seen clearly in ancient India, where
gifts that develops is closely connected with the social order.
the S´atapatha Bra¯hman:a enjoins that the payment (daksina)
of the priests officiating at a sacrifice be made in gold, cattle,
The higher a person’s social status, the more trading partners
clothing, or horses. With the possible exception of clothing,
that person is liable to have, and the more generous he or
all these objects are laden with religious symbolic signifi-
she may be expected to be in gift giving. Not only is status
cance. Their value was at least partly intrinsic, and it was this
an important factor in the giver, but the vaygu’a themselves
intrinsic worth and not their raw economic value that made
develop a kind of status. The more a particular necklace or
them fit for the remuneration of priests. Their economic
armband is traded, the more valuable it becomes, receiving
value was located within a broader context of social and reli-
a name and personal history and taking on a certain numi-
gious value.
nous quality. This trade in vaygu’a forms the heart of a more
extensive trade between the islands that includes trade in or-
A particularly interesting case of an exclusively religious
dinary commodities as well as in the valuable shell orna-
use of money is the Chinese custom of making offerings of
ments. Furthermore, the vaygu’a themselves can be given a
paper money to gods, ghosts, and ancestors. Four centuries
definite price, in terms of baskets of yams, and in some spe-
before paper money began to be used for commercial ex-
cific circumstances can serve as a means of payment for ser-
change in China, it was already being used as a sacrificial of-
vices. Mauss argued that they could therefore be considered
fering. The money itself consisted of pieces of paper in vary-
as a form of money, although clearly not the impersonal me-
ing sizes and colors, decorated with designs, depictions of
dium of exchange normally intended by that word. The kula
gods, or Chinese characters. A small piece of tin foil was
ring thus provides a good example of money in a nonmarket
sometimes attached to the center of the paper in order to rep-
economy, where it is an integral part of the economic system
resent silver or, when dabbed with yellow tint, gold. Obvi-
and yet still has a definite social and magico-religious value.
ously this paper money had little real economic value, but
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6138
MONEY
this was in fact intentional, because it was believed that what
both as symbols of the issuing city-state and as symbols of
was a mere imitation in this world would become, when
the divine sanction behind a specific issuing body and hence
transformed by the sacrificial fire, a genuine treasure in heav-
behind the value of its coinage as well. This is not to deny
en. There it would be added to the Celestial Treasury for the
that religious representations have been favorite themes on
benefit of the person making the offering. This paper money
coins throughout history; but these representations are to be
is still in use in Taiwan, where four principal types are found:
understood as expressing the religious values of the issuing
“gold” paper money, offered to the gods; “silver” money, of-
body and not necessarily as implying an intrinsic value in the
fered to ghosts and ancestors; “treasure money” for repaying
material coin itself.
the “debt of life”; and “money for the resolving of crisis,”
With the introduction of coinage, therefore, a gradual
used primarily in rites of exorcism.
movement began away from the more archaic pattern of at-
It goes without saying that gold and silver have been fa-
tributing sacral value directly to the material objects used as
vorite forms of money from earliest times. Long before they
money and toward the highly abstract forms of money used
came to be used for commercial exchange, however, they
today, which are valued purely on the basis of their usefulness
were used for gift exchange and as a standard of value among
as indirect media of exchange in commercial markets.
various political, social, and religious elites. Exchanges of ar-
With the introduction of fully monetized market econo-
ticles made of these precious metals were a primary means
mies, one begins to encounter a reversal in religious attitudes
of asserting and maintaining one’s status. The cups, tripods,
toward money. Whereas the earliest forms of money had a
bowls, and arms exchanged among the ruling elite of Homer-
positive numinous quality for many archaic peoples, the dis-
ic society, for instance, were often made of precious metals
ruptive effects that moneys and markets can have on the so-
and were endowed with the numinous quality that is associ-
cial structure of previously nonmarket societies can lead to
ated with these metals more generally. A king’s treasury
negative evaluations of money as an evil. This can be seen
could express not only his political sovereignty and personal
clearly in the medieval West, where the introduction of mar-
wealth but also an intrinsic sacred power that could come to
kets and the increased use of money from the eleventh centu-
the aid of his kingdom in times of crisis.
ry onward led to a variety of religious protests. Money was
The close association of gold and silver with royalty, on
increasingly represented as demonic. Feelings of awe before
the one hand, and with religious values, on the other, did not
the numinous qualities of gold and silver were transformed
cease when these metals eventually began to be used in the
into feelings of disgust for gold and silver coins, which were
manufacture of coins. Although it has been customary in
increasingly compared to excrement. By the end of the thir-
textbooks on economics to attribute the introduction of
teenth century, depictions of apes defecating coins begin to
coinage or “real” money to a merchant class seeking to over-
appear in the margins of manuscripts. One also finds a pic-
come an awkward system of barter, this hypothetical recon-
ture of the head of a monster vomiting gold coins into a gol-
struction contains little historical truth. In fact, as illustrated
den bowl. In less extreme forms this religious suspicion of
above, the use of money cannot be equated with the use of
the role of money in a market economy has persisted into
currency in a market. Furthermore, the transition from a
the modern era.
nonmarket to a market economy is a gradual one that is not
identical with the introduction of coinage. According to
SEE ALSO Economics and Religion; Gold and Silver;
Wealth.
Édouard Will (1954), who builds upon the earlier work of
Bernhard Laum (1924), the introduction of coinage in an-
cient Greece must be understood in the context of the social
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and legal reforms of the time of Solon (c. 630–560
A good introduction to money considered in its social contexts is
BCE). Far
from being intended to facilitate trade (which was in fact not
provided in Walter C. Neale’s Monies in Societies (San Fran-
cisco, 1976). Numerous studies of money in nonmarket
a Greek but a Phoenician concern), coinage was introduced
economies, including two of Malinowski’s essays on the Tro-
by the state in order to provide a new standard for an older
briand Islanders, have been collected by George Dalton in
system of exchange that had become decadent and unjust,
Tribal and Peasant Economies: Readings in Economic Anthro-
and to provide a standard means for payments made to the
pology (Garden City, N.Y., 1967). Both Neale and Dalton
state such as taxes, fines, port fees, and the like. The intro-
are students of Karl Polanyi, some of whose more important
duction of coinage was thus the initiative of the same group
essays have been edited by Dalton in Primitive, Archaic, and
with which gold and silver were already associated, namely,
Modern Economics: Essays of Karl Polanyi (Garden City, N.Y.,
the royalty.
1968). The two standard studies of “primitive money” are
Paul Einzig’s Primitive Money, 2d rev. ed. (Oxford, 1966),
The religious significance of the earliest coins must be
and A. Hingston Quiggin’s A Survey of Primitive Money
seen in this larger political context. Although it was argued
(London, 1949). These two books are mines of information
in the nineteenth century, in particular by Thomas Burgon
but need to be supplemented by the more theoretical works
and Ernst Curtius, that early Greek coinage had a direct reli-
listed above.
gious origin, it seems more likely today that the numerous
The symbolism of shells has been studied in Mircea Eliade’s “Ob-
religious symbols found on these coins are to be understood
servations on the Symbolism of Shells,” chapter 4 of his Im-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONGKUT
6139
ages and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism (New York,
the Mons was the authentic tradition, the one remaining
1969), pp. 125–150. Chinese paper money has been studied
truly faithful to the teachings of the Buddha and to the testi-
recently in Hou Jinglang’s Monnaies d’offrande et la notion
mony of the Pali scriptures (the Tipit:aka). The obvious cor-
de trésorerie dans la religion chinoise (Paris, 1975). On the ori-
relary was that the Thai version of the Therava¯da tradition
gins of Greek coinage, see both Ernst Curtius’s “On the Reli-
was inauthentic, misguided, and in need of reform.
gious Character of Greek Coins,” Numismatic Chronicle 10
(1870): 91–111, and Édouard Will’s “De l’aspect éthique
Soon after his encounter with the Mon monk, Mongkut
des origines grecques de la monnaie,” Revue historique 212
returned to Wat Samorai, where he launched his reform
(July–September 1954): 209–231. The classic work on the
movement. Having initiated his own program of Pali studies
origins of Greek money remains Bernhard Laum’s Heiliges
at this forest monastery, he soon “discovered” that the
Geld: Eine historische Untersuchung über den sakralen Urs-
boundary stones that established and set off the sacred pre-
prung des Geldes (Tübingen, 1924). Marcel Mauss’s ground-
cincts (s¯ıma¯) were not in accord with the requirements set
breaking article, “Les origines de la notion de monnaie,” first
forth in the Vinaya (the portion of the Pali Tipit:aka that
published in 1914, has been reprinted in his Œuvres, vol. 2,
edited by Victor Karady (Paris, 1969), pp. 106–112. Also to
deals with the behavior of monks and the proper ordering
be consulted is his classic study The Gift: Forms and Functions
of monastic life). Thus, he concluded, the ordinations that
of Exchange in Archaic Societies (1954; New York, 1967).
had taken place at this monastery, which for many years had
been an ordination center for the Thai sangha as a whole,
DAVID CARPENTER (1987)
were invalid. In order to rectify the situation Mongkut ar-
ranged for the proper consecration of the sacred precincts at
the Wat, and for his own reordination by monks who had
MONGKUT (1804–1868), Thai Buddhist reformer and
been ordained in the Mon tradition. Through these formal
later king of Thailand. A son of the second king of the
ecclesiastical acts Mongkut made an irrevocable break with
Cakkr¯ı dynasty (1782–), Mongkut was heir apparent to the
the traditionally oriented community of Thai monks (the
throne. However, when his father (later known as Rama II)
Mahanikai; Pali, Maha¯nika¯ya) and established a new, re-
died before Mongkut had reached his twentieth birthday, his
formist Thai lineage that later came to be known as the
claims were passed over in favor of those of his uncle (Rama
Thammayut (Dhammayuttika) Nika¯ya.
III). Having entered the Buddhist monastic order for a tem-
During Mongkut’s remaining years in the order, he
porary stay only two weeks prior to his father’s death, he de-
gradually built the new lineage into a small but distinctive
cided to remain a monk. Mongkut’s monastic career did not
and distinguished community. This community came to in-
end until more than a quarter of a century later when, follow-
clude within its ranks a number of serious and intellectually
ing his uncle’s death in 1851, he was chosen to succeed to
creative young monks, most of them from high-ranking fam-
the throne. At that point he left the order, became king
ilies in the kingdom. It gained the support of many laymen
(Rama IV), and began a reign that continued until his death.
and laywomen, including prestigious and influential mem-
Mongkut began his monastic career at Wat Samorai, a
bers of the nobility. It also gained widespread popular recog-
forest monastery near Bangkok that was renowned for its em-
nition through an active program of teaching, not only in
phasis on ascetic practice and meditation. After a year of ap-
the capital city but also in the countryside.
prenticeship there he became increasingly dissatisfied be-
Like many reformers who have emerged in traditions
cause no adequate intellectual grounding or justification was
that have preserved sacred scriptures from the distant past,
being provided for the practices in which he was engaged.
Mongkut appealed to the authority of those scriptures in
For this reason he left to become associated with a monastery
order to purge supposed accretions that had, from his per-
in Bangkok, Wat Maha¯tha¯t, which emphasized the study of
spective, come to compromise the purity of the original tra-
the sacred texts written in the Pali language. There he quickly
dition. He also combined his emphasis on scripturalist re-
demonstrated his intellectual ability, becoming a leading ex-
form with an openness to the new modes of scientific
pert in Pali studies.
rationality (and the accompanying rejection of inherited “su-
perstitions”) that were then being introduced from the West.
Despite his increasing erudition, however, Mongkut re-
The effect of these reforms on religious practice was the ad-
mained skeptical about the authenticity of the tradition in
herence, by the monks, to more canonical forms of monastic
which he was participating. At a certain moment during his
discipline and ritual. Doctrinally, the reforms resulted in a
stay at Wat Maha¯tha¯t he reached a point of spiritual crisis
new modernist form of Buddhist teaching that emphasized
(so the story goes) and vowed that if his doubts were not re-
the humanity of the Buddha and highlighted the ethical and
solved within the week he would give up the struggle and
humanitarian aspects of his message.
leave the order. Before Mongkut’s self-imposed time limit
had expired, the answer that he was seeking came to him dur-
When, at the age of forty-seven, Mongkut left the order
ing an encounter with a Mon monk. (The Mon were an eth-
and became king, he assumed the traditional royal responsi-
nic group with a long and venerable history in both Thailand
bility for the support of the sangha as a whole. In this new
and Burma.) This teacher was able to convince Mongkut
role he provided patronage and protection for the older and
that the Therava¯da tradition as preserved and practiced by
much larger Mahanikai lineage, but he clearly favored the re-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6140
MONGOL RELIGIONS
form-minded Thammayut lineage that he himself had
of the Mongols have been influenced by the religions pro-
founded.
fessed by all ethnic groups who have lived in what later was
By the time of Mongkut’s death in 1868 the reform
to become Mongolian territory prior to the emergence of the
movement that he had originated was well established. Dur-
Mongols. The oldest of these religious forms was shamanism,
ing his long career as a monk he had provided the intellectual
which was the religion of the Liao empire of the Kitan (907–
and organizational leadership that had enabled the new
1125) and their usurping successors, the Jurchen (1115–
Thammayut lineage to become a coherent community with
1234). There have been accounts of Buddhist influences in
its own distinctive emphases and goals. Subsequently, during
the steppes since the Chinese Han period (206 BCE–220 CE),
his seventeen years as king, he fostered both the religious and
while Iranian influences are attested among the Turkic peo-
intellectual atmosphere and the institutional ecclesiastical ad-
ples of the region. Nestorian Christianity is reported as early
justments that enabled the new movement to consolidate its
as the twelfth century among the Turkic neighbors and later
position and extend its influence. In so doing, Mongkut has
compatriots of the Mongols, the Kereit, Naiman, and Öng-
contributed, more than any other individual of his era, to the
güt. This nourished contemporary Western beliefs that locat-
establishment of the gradual but pervasive process of mod-
ed the realm of the fabulous Prester John in their territory.
ernist reform that characterized the development of Thai
Later conversions of Mongols by Catholics even led to the
Buddhism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
foundation of a bishopric in Khanbaliq (Beijing), but this de-
centuries.
velopment was short-lived. Renewed Christian missionary
attempts in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have
SEE ALSO Buddhism, article on Buddhism in Southeast
again failed to leave recognizable traces in Mongol popular
Asia; Buddhism, Schools of, article on Therava¯da Bud-
religions.
dhism.
In addition to the influences of Nestorianism, Mani-
chaeism, with its dualistic ideas of light and darkness and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
good and evil, also played a role in the religious history of
The most accessible biographies of Mongkut are A. L. Moffat’s
the region. It had strong footholds in the oasis towns of the
Mongkut, the King of Siam (Ithaca, N.Y., 1961) and A. B.
Uighurs, which were incorporated into the Mongol Empire
Griswold’s King Mongkut of Siam (New York, 1961). These
under Chinggis Khan (1162–1227). The Zoroastrian deity
treatments may be supplemented by an indigenous perspec-
tive that can be found in the relevant sections of Chula
Ahura Mazda¯ was an Iranian import who in Mongol popular
Chakrabongse’s Lords of Life: The Paternal Monarchy of
religion became Khormusta Tengri, with a retinue of thirty-
Bangkok, 1782–1932 (New York, 1960). Those who seek a
three heavenly beings (tengri). All these professions have been
more critical approach with greater historical detail should
of temporary influence, however, while shamanism has re-
consult Craig J. Reynolds’s “The Buddhist Monkhood in
mained the perennial dominant religious practice of the
Nineteenth Century Thailand” (Ph.D. diss., Cornell Univer-
Mongols.
sity, 1973).
In contrast to the abundance of studies on the shaman-
New Sources
ism of the Siberian ethnic groups and of the Buriats, shaman-
Finestone, J. Somdet phrarup phraratcha orot phraratchathida læ
ism in Mongolia has not yet received the scientific treatment
phraratchanatta nai phrabat somdet phra chomklao chaoyuhua,
ratchakan thi si (A Royal Album: The Children and Grandchil-
needed to form a well-founded opinion of this religious man-
dren of King Mongkut, Rama IV, of Siam). Bangkok, 2000.
ifestation. Following the trends of research on Siberian sha-
manism, the emphasis of investigation has been placed on
Narathipphongpraphan, I. Vijavat. A Diplomatic History of Thai-
land. Bangkok, 1991.
such external paraphernalia as drums, ceremonial dresses,
and idols. But unlike the Yakut and Buriat shaman songs,
Pallegoix, J. B., and W. E. J. Tips. Description of the Thai Kingdom
both of which show important Mongolian components, only
or Siam: Thailand under King Mongkut. Bangkok, 2000.
a very small number of invocations from Mongolia proper
Phiphat, P., et al. Phapmumkwang khong Krung Thep Phra Maha
have been published; an even smaller number of these incan-
Nakhon nai samai Ratchakan thi 4: kankhonphop mai (Pan-
tations have been translated. Recently published materials,
orama of Bangkok in the Reign of King Rama IV: A New Dis-
however, show shamanism still in existence in the northwest-
covery). Krung Thep, 2001.
ern parts of the Mongolian People’s Republic and in eastern
Thipakonwongmahakosathibodi, et al. The Dynastic Chronicles.
Mongolia. A number of invocations gathered in 1982 in the
Bangkok Era, the Fourth Reign, B.E. 2394–2411 (A.D. 1851–
eastern part of Inner Mongolia and among the Daghurs of
1868). Tokyo, 1965.
northwestern Manchuria also testify to the continued exis-
FRANK E. REYNOLDS (1987)
tence of shamanism. Some studies on these forms of shaman-
Revised Bibliography
ism have been published.
Mongol shamanism developed into its current state in
various phases. In the original phase, fear of natural powers
MONGOL RELIGIONS. If stereotypical reports
that were thought to be caused by evil forces led to the wor-
from early times are taken into account, the religious forms
ship of the spirits of ancestors. One of the few remaining
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONGOL RELIGIONS
6141
chronicles about the origin of shamanism, a text from the
Mongol shamans explain the streamers on their vestments as
Chahar region, states that the living “made offerings of one
feathers enabling them to fly on the spiritual journey. Others
wooden bowl of tea, one wooden bowl of water, and one
call these streamers snakes. To transport themselves to the
bowl of milk brandy on the first, seventh, and ninth days of
spirit world, certain shamans from Inner Mongolian tribes
each new moon; saluted; and worshiped,” attempting there-
use wooden or iron staffs, each crowned with a horsehead
by to obtain the protection of the ancestral spirits. Through
and terminated with a carved hoof, and adorned with rattling
these actions one would combine forces with the masters of
iron rings and little stirrups. Beating the drum and shouting
places and the waters, thus becoming powerful enough to
and singing loudly with the assistance of helpers is part of
fight the detrimental forces. The shamans (male, böge; fe-
the shaman’s ritual; these actions are intended to frighten
male, idughan/udaghan), however, by their worship and in-
and scare away the evil spirits and demons. Such an aim is
cantations became the mediators and the means of commu-
already attested for the Kitan shamans of the tenth and elev-
nication with the forces to which all life was exposed. In
enth centuries. Once exorcised, the evil originators of the ill-
addition to the spirits of ancestors, the spirits of unfortunate
ness are banished into effigies that are burned or buried.
people who had not found a natural end, having been killed
by accident, murder, or suicide, were thought of as possess-
To become a shaman a person must have the calling.
ing particular powers. They were added to the group of help-
The mental instability, resulting in a long period of initiatory
ful powers that were manifest in the venerated idols called
illness, that is often reported for the Siberian and northern
ongons. Because personal ongons were transferred into a great-
Eurasian shamans is rarely mentioned in Mongolia. Such a
er unit through the merger of smaller ethnic groups or
nervous and feeble condition would not accord with the his-
through marriage, the number of ongons of the individual
torical fact that until the time of Chinggis Khan, the shaman
shaman increased. (A shaman who marries obtains the on-
(böge/bägi) often was the head of the clan and therefore was
gons of his wife’s clan.) The more ongons a shaman possesses,
not only its spiritual leader but also its political and military
the greater is his power. This explains the diversity of incan-
leader. Mongol shamans seem to be perfectly healthy indi-
tations and the varying names of the invoked spirits and on-
viduals. The prospective shaman is singled out by an old sha-
gons. The functions of shamanism, as explained by the sha-
man who becomes his teacher (bagˇsi). From the bagˇsi the
mans themselves, are to invoke the ongons, to shamanize with
student learns the names of all the ancestral spirits, which
their help, to intercede on behalf of ill persons, to exorcise
eventually are all bequeathed to him. The young shaman
evil and the powers creating calamities and illness, to expel
thus becomes a link in an age-old chain of religious and eth-
these into effigies that are then destroyed, and to pronounce
nic tradition. The continued existence and activity of the
charms and prognostications by scapulimancy and other di-
bagˇsi is still being reported. One famous bagˇsi died as recent-
vinatory methods.
ly as 1970 in the Bulghan district of northern Mongolia; in
1983 the incantations of a sixty-one-year-old bagˇsi and his
Shamanism thus appears to have developed out of the
pupil (ˇsabi böge) were recorded in eastern Mongolia. The
needs of a primitive economic society for the preservation
costumes of Mongol shamans furthermore lack any of the fe-
and protection of the means of subsistence (health, fire, food,
male symbols and emblems reportedly common among Sibe-
game, and livestock, as well as human labor, i.e., children),
rian and Central Asian shamans.
all of which were obtained through the help of the ancestors.
People seek shamanic assistance for immediate concerns;
In the thirteenth century Mongol shamanism was influ-
there is no belief in its efficacy for retaliation or reward in
enced by administrative measures when the first Mongol em-
another world or in a future life. Shamanism, lacking any
peror in China, Khubilai Khan (r. 1260–1294), established
moral incentive, is a matter of this world, using combina-
by imperial decree the office of the state shamans. These sha-
tions of natural means to achieve supernatural results. The
mans were responsible for offerings in memory of Chinggis
culmination of all shamanic practice is the ecstasy the sha-
Khan and his house as well as for the worship of fire. Accord-
man experiences when the protective spirit enters his body.
ing to the Yuanshi, the official Chinese history of the Yüan
The shaman then acts in the spirit’s power and speaks in its
dynasty, these shamans pronounced their prayers and invo-
voice. The ecstatic state is achieved in part by self-hypnosis,
cations in the Mongolian language. Judged by the evident
and in part by constant turning around in circles, inhaling
longevity of the Mongolian oral tradition and its extraordi-
burning juniper, and gulping large doses of alcohol; no other
nary reliability, it seems certain that some of the prayers still
use of drugs and stimulants is traceable among Mongol sha-
used today at the so-called Eight White Yurts, the center of
mans. In this state the shaman travels into another world,
worship of the deified Chinggis Khan in the Ordos territory,
searching for the soul of the ill person, fighting with evil
contain remnants of these early shamanic prayers and suppli-
powers for it, and trying to win back the victim’s health. The
cations. Tradition has outlived the destructive influences of
fate of the person in whose behalf the shaman acts is uttered
the fratricidal warfare of the Mongols in the fifteenth and six-
by the protective genius through the mouth of the shaman.
teenth centuries as well as more recent attempts at annihila-
tion. The faithful handing down of the clan-bound names
The shaman’s drum serves as the vehicle of this spiritual
of the ancestral spirits from one generation of shamans to the
journey, having the function of a horse or a boat. Some
next is proof of the age of the many different extant samples
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6142
MONGOL RELIGIONS
of shaman invocations and poetry. The Yuan government’s
the “eternal blue sky”; Khormusta and his thirty-three tengri;
early administrative measures regulating religious affairs may
and the lords of the places, mountains, and waters), a new
also account for a certain conformity of expression in the sha-
pantheon was worshiped.
manic supplications. The mention in invocations of Ching-
While shamanism calls itself a “faith without scrip-
gis Khan’s son, C
ˇ agadai, and Cˇangqulang, one of Cˇagadai’s
tures,” there exist a great number of written prayers and in-
spouses, testifies to the continued inclusion of historical per-
vocations for this other group of venerated numinous im-
sonages of the Mongol imperial line in the realm of the pow-
ages. Most of these are directed toward obtaining help,
erful ancestral spirits and ongons. The same holds true for the
blessings, and consecration through the instrument of in-
mention of members of the Mongol imperial family among
cense offerings (sang). The structure of the sang follows the
the persons lauded in the fire prayers for having brought the
pattern of Buddhist incense offerings, but, shrouded in some
flame to life by striking sparks from flint and steel.
Buddhist phrases and verses, contains ancient pre-Buddhist
The ephemeral contacts of Buddhism with the ruling
conceptions. This development was due to the necessity of
strata of the Mongol nobility during the twelfth and thir-
creating a prayer that would appear to be a genuine work of
teenth centuries and later did not lead to any decisive intru-
Buddhist liturgy, a practice engaged in by both famous Bud-
sion of Buddhist notions into the religious conceptions of the
dhist ritualists and stout shamanic believers. The former in-
bulk of the Mongol populations. Shamanism remained dom-
tended to use these new scriptures to expel shamanic ideas
inant. Only when Buddhist missionary work began among
completely, while the latter hoped to preserve essential parts
the Mongols in the sixteenth century did shamanism come
of the old belief under the veneer of the new Buddhist reli-
under heavy attacks. Biographies of Buddhist missionaries
gion. The Buriat scholar Dorzi Banzarov, the first to study
such as Neyicˇi Toyin (1557–1653), who converted the east-
the popular religion of the Mongols, described this practice:
ern Mongol tribes; the lamas who were active in the southern
“The Lamas collected prayers which survived on the lips of
part of Mongolia ruled by Altan Khan of the Tümet (1507–
the people, added to them new ones more in conformity with
1583); and the western Mongol Zaya Pan:d:ita (1599–1622),
the new religion, and again distributed them among the peo-
who spread Lamaism among the northwestern Mongol
ple” (Banzarov, 1891, p. 2). In the sixteenth century a pro-
groups, show clearly the methods of conversion. All of these
cess thus began that resulted in the creation of numerous
missionaries had recourse to the persecution of shamanism
prayers and hymns of semi-Buddhist character, which be-
and the shamans and to the sequestration and destruction of
came an inexhaustible mine of information concerning the
their idols, vestments, and paraphernalia, using ruthless
conceptions of old Mongol religion. The Hungarian scholar
force, persuasion, and bribes. The conversion aimed particu-
Alice Sárközi has aptly stated the importance of these texts
larly at prohibiting bloody offerings of animals and the wor-
for the history of religions: “Every new text, or even new vari-
ship of the ongot, the collective term for ongon figurines.
ants of already known texts can enlarge our knowledge of
Princes and overlords sustained the missionaries by donating
popular native beliefs and can shed a light on details which
horses and cows to converts while burning the confiscated
up to now have not been quite intelligible” (Sárközi, 1984).
shamanic idols in iconoclastic purges. Thousands of the idols
Analysis of such materials has yielded insights into the rather
were destroyed in this period, and the shamans had to re-
complex figure of a fire goddess who developed out of one
nounce their profession and faith. Many fled during the six-
of the oldest rituals into the worship of mountains and
teenth century into more remote regions, even as far as the
heights (obogha) and into the existence of a triad or pentad
territory inhabited by the Buriats.
of gods of fate, headed by Möngke Tengri and Atagha Ten-
gri, all considered to be “a late hypostasis of Eternal Heaven,”
Considered by both the Lamaist clergy and most princes
as Sergei Iu. Nekliudov phrased it (Nekliudov, 1982,
to be a meritorious deed that would further the spread of
p. 500).
Buddhism, such persecution has been repeated again and
again up to the beginning of the twentieth century. Cases of
These divine representations, as well as those of Ching-
rounding up, mistreating, and burning shamans were report-
gis Khan and Geser Khan, the hero of a widely known epic,
ed among the eastern Khalkha Mongols in the nineteenth
present an iconography related to the Tibetan “enemy gods”
century and in the remote northwest of Mongolia in 1904.
(gra lha), wearing the armor of Central Asian warriors of the
Yet shamanism and related forms of popular religious wor-
first millennium CE and mounted on horses of varying color.
ship have not been totally subdued. Forced during the peri-
All of these equestrian deities have protective functions. In
ods of worst suppression into some camouflaged forms, it
addition to Köke Möngke Tengri, C
ˇ aghan Ebügen (“white
found a new, more syncretic expression by adding and adapt-
old man”) is venerated as the personified creative power, the
ing objects and forms of Buddhist veneration. The old, true
lord of all earth and water, protector of animals and guaran-
forms of “black” and “white” shamanism were supplemented
tor of longevity. He is certainly one of the oldest deities of
by a third, “yellow” shamanism or semi-shamanism that in-
the Mongol pantheon. Prayers to him refer to a legendary
cluded praying to Buddhist and shamanic numinous repre-
meeting between the White Old Man and the Buddha in
sentations. In addition to the traditional objects of venera-
which the Buddha confirmed him in his functions, testifying
tion (the ongons; the sun and moon; Köke Möngke Tengri,
to this deity’s pre-Buddhist origins. All requests addressed to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONISM
6143
these numinous representations of the popular religion are
Zhukovskaia, Nataliia L. Lamaizm i rannie formy religii. Moscow,
requisite to the nomadic/seminomadic pastoral way of life
1977.
and its additional economics. The prayers ask for the same
New Sources
things as the shamanic invocations do: health; fertility and
Bold, Bat-Ochir. Mongolian Nomadic Society: A Reconstruction of
children; multiplication of livestock; protection against evil,
the “Medieval” History of Mongolia. Richmond, U.K., 2001.
dangers, war, and robbers; prevention of droughts, inunda-
Nassen-Bayer, and K. Stuart. “Mongol Creation Stories.” Asian
tions, and blizzards; and safe roads, journeys, and caravan
Fold Studies 51 (1992): 523–534.
travel. In regions of additional or expanding agriculture, re-
quests for augmentation and protection of crops are added,
Young, R. F. “Deus unus or dei plures sunt? The Function of In-
clusivism in the Buddhist Defense of Mongol Folk Religion
but the formulas of the prayer remain the same.
against William of Rubruck.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies
In more recent times the healing activities of the sha-
26 (1989): 100–137.
mans have been more and more predominant, the shaman
WALTHER HEISSIG (1987)
personnel being divided into real shamans (böge/udaghan)
Revised Bibliography
and non-shamanic healers and singers. The method of heal-
ing employed tends toward a kind of group therapeutic treat-
ment of psychic illness (andai), which consists of shamans,
helpers, and a crowd of laymen singing and arguing with the
MONISM is a term applied to a group of thinkers or to
patient as a means of restoring him to his normal psychic
philosophical systems that emphasize the oneness or unity of
state. In eastern Mongolia this singing therapy has been prac-
reality. Thinkers ordinarily regarded as monists do not them-
ticed since at least the mid-nineteenth century.
selves use this label, and do not refer to an agreed-upon mo-
nistic model. Unlike philosophical systems such as Platonism
SEE ALSO Buddhism, article on Buddhism in Mongolia;
or Daoism, however, examples of monism cannot be identi-
Chinggis Khan; Erlik; Gesar; Ongon; Shamanism; Tengri;
fied by means of an accepted source or criterion. Moreover,
Ülgen.
in contrast to philosophical schools of thought such as prag-
matism or existentialism, monism lacks an identifiable point
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of origin and a historical framework. In this respect, monism
Banzarov, Dorzi. “Chernaia vera, ili Shamanstvo u Mongolov” i
is a conceptual label, like idealism, realism, or determinism.
drugie stat’i. Edited by G. N. Potanin. Saint Petersburg,
It might be more appropriate to use only the adjectival form:
1891. Translated by Jan Nattier and J. R. Krueger as “The
thus, rather than regard a philosophical system as an example
Black Faith, or Shamanism among the Mongols,” Mongolian
Studies 7 (1981–1982): 51–91.
of monism, we should understand that, in a variety of ways,
philosophical and religious systems are more or less monistic.
Buyanbatu, G. Mongghol-un böge-yin ˇsasin-u uˇcir. Kökekhota,
In view of the arguable character of monism, perhaps the
1985.
most useful task of the present essay would be to establish
Dalai, C. “Mongolyn böögijn mörgölijn tovcˇ tüüh.” Studia Ethno-
one or more definite examples of a monistic system and to
graphica (Ulan Bator) 1 (1959).
abstract from such examples the specific features that render
Heissig, Walther. “Schamanen und Geisterbeschwörer im Küriye-
them monistic.
Banner.” Folklore Studies (Beijing) 3 (1944): 39–72.
Philosophies frequently regarded as monistic are found
Heissig, Walther. “A Mongolian Source to the Lamaist Suppres-
sion of Shamanism in the Seventeenth Century.” Anthropos
in both Asian and Western traditions and are rather evenly
48 (1953): 1–29, 493–536.
distributed among ancient, modern, and contemporary
sustems. Many philosophical systems ordinarily regarded as
Heissig, Walther. The Religions of Mongolia. Translated by Geof-
monistic are influenced by mystical experience. Even though
frey Samuel. Berkeley, 1980.
there are monistic systems that are not mystical, as well as
Hoppál, Mihály. “Shamanism: An Archaic and/or Recent System
mystical systems that are nonmonistic, there is a close affinity
of Beliefs.” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 57 (1985): 121–140.
between monistic and mystical systems of thought. Most of
Nekliudov, Sergei Iu. “Tengri.” In Mify narodov mira, edited by
the systems referred to in this article exhibit a mystical as
S. A. Tokarev, vol. 2. Moscow, 1982.
much as a monistic emphasis. The decided influence of mys-
Poppe, Nicholas N. “Zum Feuerkultus bei den Mongolen.” Asia
ticism on monistic systems, as well as the considerable fre-
Major 2 (1925): 130–145.
quency with which mystical experience is expressed in a mo-
Sárközi, Alice. “Symbolism in Exorcising the Evil Spirits.” Paper
nistic system, would seem to be due to the unitive quality
delivered at the meeting of the Permanent International Al-
of the mystical experience itself. The great mystics, especially
taistic Conference, 1984.
those of the Indian and Christian traditions, emphasize that
Sodnam, B. “Mongolyn kharyn böögijn duudlagyn tukhaj.”
their blissful experience of oneness with or in the divine ren-
Studia Mongolica (Ulan Bator) 4 (1962): 59–112.
ders all particulars insignificant, and in some cases, relatively
Tatár, Magdalena. “Tragic and Stranger Ongons among the Altaic
unreal and illusory. This tendency of monistic thinking to
Peoples.” In Altaistic Studies, edited by Gunnar Jarring and
favor unity and oneness at the expense of the particular has
Staffan Rosén, pp. 165–171. Stockholm, 1985.
confined monism per se to a minority position in philosophy
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6144
MONISM
and religion, both Asian and Western. Even in India, ordi-
Verily, this whole world is Brahman, from which he
narily regarded as uniformly monistic in philosophic and re-
comes forth, without which he will be dissolved and in
ligious outlook, the monistic system of S´an˙kara (traditional
which he breathes. (Cha¯ndogya Upanis:ad 14.1.1)
dates 788–820) is but one of several competing interpreta-
According to S´an˙kara, the concept of brahman in the
tions of the Hindu scriptures. Similarly, in the Western tra-
Upanis:ads teaches that all particulars of the spatial or tempo-
dition, philosophical thinkers such as Plotinus (204–270)
ral world—all objects, thoughts, spirits, and gods (since gods
and Spinoza (1632–1677), and others who espouse an un-
are temporal, they are less than brahman)—are real only with
abashed monism, have proven unable to gain a dominant po-
respect to, only by virtue of being one with, brahman. Partic-
sition in the tradition. Despite significant differences,
ulars that appear real to the observer independent of brah-
S´an˙kara, Plotinus, and Spinoza individually and collectively
man do so because of an all-pervasive ignorance (avidya¯). Al-
show the essential strength as well as the typical weaknesses
though the universal self and God (in whatever form, by
of monism as a philosophical position.
whatever name) is brahman, the ignorant perceiver, or believ-
er, habitually regards these and lesser entities, or appearances,
ASIAN TRADITIONS. Perhaps of all claimants to the label
as independent realities.
“monist,” the paradigmatic system is that of the ninth-
century mystic philosopher S´an˙kara, who stands in the Indi-
S´an˙kara follows the Upanis:ads in distinguishing two as-
an tradition as the foremost interpreter of the ancient scrip-
pects of brahman, namely, nirgun:a (indeterminate) and
tures and the creator of an original philosophy of brahman,
sagun:a (determinate), and identifies ¯I´svara (God) as the per-
the Absolute, “one without a second.” S´an˙kara’s advaita
sonification of sagun:a brahman. In itself, (nirgun:a) brahman
(nondual) system is one of several alternatives within
is beyond qualities—not only beyond description, but be-
Venda¯nta, the religious-philosophical tradition consisting in
yond any specificity, including the temporal nature of God.
systematic exposition and speculation based on the Vedas (c.
Sagun:a brahman, which includes everything that is not brah-
800–400 BCE) and the Upanis:ads (c. 800–400 BCE), mystical
man per se—from the most ephemeral entity or musing to
and quasi-philosophical texts in the Sanskrit of the r:s:is (seers)
the most perfect concept of God—issues from brahman, has
of ancient India.
its reality by virtue of brahman, and in the end is gathered
into brahman. Or rather, sagun:a brahman in all of its multi-
The dialectic between S´an˙kara and his competitors,
plicity is finally—or once again—realized as the one indivisi-
both Veda¯ntins and proponents of other Indian philosophi-
ble (nirgun:a) brahman, which it never ceased to be even
cal schools, has helped to establish S´an˙kara’s system as a
though it most assuredly appeared to be separate from
model of monistic thinking. Because his sources are evident,
(nirgun:a) brahman. That is, sagun:a brahman appeared real
because his arguments on behalf of an absolute oneness of
as sagun:a (having qualities, particularized, pluralized) even
reality are systematic, ingenious, and influential, and because
while its true identity as nirgun:a brahman (“one without a
his interpreters and opponents have shown his position to
second”) was hidden not only from human consciousness
be committed to an unambiguous epistemological and meta-
but, presumably, even from higher beings and perhaps from
physical monism, S´an˙kara serves, in Wittgenstein’s terminol-
God as well. Obviously, the terrible burden (or flaw) of a sys-
ogy, as a “home base” for the “family resemblances” that mo-
tem that is so strongly on the side of oneness is to establish
nistic systems would seem to share. Whatever else monistic
a degree of reality for particulars, which range from fleeting
systems have in common, they all seem committed to a con-
moments to God the creator of the universe.
ception of reality that resembles S´an˙kara’s idea of brahman
The most effective alternative interpretation to S´an˙kara
in its oneness and in its contrast to the unreal or less real par-
was provided by the South Indian philosopher-saint
ticulars of the spatial and temporal world, all of which are,
Ra¯ma¯nuja (c. 1017–1137), who argued that the level below
according to S´an˙kara, ordinarily and erroneously experi-
brahman must also be counted as real. Ra¯ma¯nuja’s position
enced as separate from brahman.
is within Veda¯nta, but it is closer to traditional theism as de-
Of the thirteen Upanis:ads that have survived and have
veloped in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.
been commented upon by sages such as S´an˙kara, Ra¯ma¯nuja,
Ra¯ma¯nuja’s criticism of S´an˙kara’s advaitist (nondual) con-
and Madhva, some tend toward theism, but most contain
ception of brahman, however, does not lead him to deny ei-
passages that have placed a definite monistic stamp on the
ther the nirgun:a brahman or S´an˙kara’s contention that the
Indian philosophical tradition. The Br:hada¯ran:yaka and
reality of sagun:a brahman is entirely dependent on nirgun:a
Cha¯ndogya Upanis:ads offer some of the strongest texts for the
brahman. In this respect, Ra¯ma¯nuja’s position is closer to
monistic position:
that of a theist who affirms, in addition to a God involved
in the world, a conception of God or godhead that is beyond
Brahman indeed was this in the beginning. It knew it-
and ultimately unaffected by the temporal experiences of
self only as “I am Brahman.” Therefore it became all.
God and humanity.
Whoever among the gods became awakened to this, he,
indeed, became that. . . . Whoever knows thus, “I am
The twentieth-century philosopher-statesman Sarvepal-
Brahman,” becomes this all. (Br:hada¯ran:yaka Upanis:ad
li Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) tried to combine the merits
1.4.10)
of S´an˙kara’s absolute nondualism and Ra¯ma¯nuja’s qualified
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONISM
6145
nondualism by attempting to reconcile, in a polar relation-
value of the world, he nevertheless admits, with the
ship, the two natures of brahman—absolutely one and be-
Upanis:ads and S´an˙kara, that the absolute oneness of
yond, on the one side, and pluralistic and particular on the
(nirgun:a) brahman is unaffected by God and creation:
other. It must be admitted that Radhakrishnan’s view is very
So far as the Absolute is concerned, the creation of the
close to that of S´an˙kara except that he forcefully affirms the
world makes no difference to it. It cannot add anything
reality of the world. As he notes in his semiautiobiographical
to or take anything from the Absolute. All the sources
essay The Religion of the Spirit and the World’s Need: Frag-
of its being are found within itself. The world of change
ments of a Confession (1952), his intent is to “save the world
does not disturb the perfection of the Absolute. (Rad-
and give it a real meaning”; it is brahman that gives the world
hakrishnan, in Muirhead, 1958, p. 502)
its true meaning, but only if brahman is understood in a posi-
It is possible to find in some of the Buddhist schools meta-
tive relation to the world.
physical and epistemological teachings that seem to be exam-
Radhakrishnan’s metaphysics shows the influence of
ples of monism, though if one keeps in mind the aim of all
both Plotinus’s description of the One/Intellect (nous)/Soul/
Buddhist teaching—to attain enlightenment, nirva¯n:a (eter-
World and Whitehead’s conception of the divine in process:
nal peace), or Buddhahood—such teachings will be seen to
be only incidentally and superficially monistic. The concept
[The Taittir¯ıya Upanis:ad] affirms that Brahman on
of ´su¯nya or ´su¯nyata¯ as developed by Na¯ga¯rjuna (second or
which all else depends, to which all existences aspire,
third century BCE) offers a vivid example of the way in which
Brahman which is sufficient to itself, aspiring to no
Buddhist teaching can be, though perhaps should not be, in-
other, without any need, is the source of all other be-
terpreted monistically. Zen Buddhism (or, in Chinese, Chan
ings, the intellectual principle, the perceiving mind, life
Buddhism) offers a second, equally ambiguous example of
and body. It is the principle which unifies the world of
apparent monism. In both cases, as in the Buddhist tradition
the physicist, the biologist, the psychologist, the logi-
cian, the moralist and the artist. (Radharkrishnan,
generally—to the extent that any generalization can be made
1953, p. 59)
accurately for the full variety of Buddhist teachings—the
monism affirmed is intended primarily as a mere philosophi-
We have (1) the Absolute, (2) God as a Creative power,
cal or conceptual stage on the way to an enlightenment expe-
(3) God immanent in this world. These are not to be
rience concerning which no statements can be stable or ade-
regarded as separate entities. They are arranged in this
quate. According to Na¯ga¯rjuna, absolute reality can be
order because there is a logical priority. The Absolute
positively experienced but only negatively expressed: “There
must be there with all its possibilities before the Divine
Creativity can choose one. The divine choice must be
is no death, no birth, no destruction, no persistence, no one-
there before there can be the Divine immanent in this
ness, no manyness, no coming, no departing” (Madhya-
world. This is a logical succession and not a temporal
makaka¯rika¯ 1).
one. The world-spirit must be there before there can be
D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966), the prolific interpreter of
the world. We thus get the four poises or statuses of re-
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism and exponent of Zen Buddhism in the
ality, (1) the Absolute, Brahman, (2) the Creative Spir-
West, offers a more explicit account of the paradoxical char-
it, ¯I´svara, (3) the World-Spirit, Hiranyagarbha, and (4)
acter of the extent to which Zen may—and may not—be re-
the World. This is the way in which the Hindu thinkers
garded as monistic:
interpret the integral nature of the Supreme Reality.
(ibid., p. 65)
We may say that Christianity is monotheistic, and the
Veda¯nta [the dominant school of Indian philosophy,
In his attempt to articulate the integral nature of the Su-
based on the Upanis:ads] pantheistic; but we cannot
preme Reality, Radhakrishnan argues that brahman includes
make a similar assertion about Zen. Zen is neither mo-
¯
I´svara, and ¯I´svara is the concrete manifestation of brahman:
notheistic nor pantheistic; Zen defies all such designa-
“There is nothing else than the Absolute which is the presup-
tions. Hence there is no object upon which to fix the
position of all else. The central mystery is that of Being itself.
thought. Zen is a wafting cloud in the sky. No screw
We should not think that emphasis on Being overlooks the
fastens it, no string holds it; it moves as it lists. No
fact of Becoming” (intro. The Brahma Sutra, New York,
amount of meditation will help Zen in one place. Medita-
1960, p. 119). This fact of becoming is none other than
tion is not Zen. Neither pantheism nor monotheism
sagun:a brahman or Isvra: “The Absolute is a living reality
provides Zen with its subjects of concentration. . . .
Zen wants to have one’s mind free and unobstructed;
with a creative urge. When this aspect is stressed, the Abso-
even the idea of oneness or allness is a stumbling block
lute becomes a Personal God, ¯I´svara” (ibid., p. 126). ¯I´svara
and a strangling snare which threatens the original free-
is not something other than or in addition to brahman;
dom of the spirit. (Suzuki, 1974, p. 40)
¯
I´svara is brahman itself: “The creative thought ‘let me be
The Ma¯dhyamika (Middle Way) of Na¯ga¯rjuna and Zen
many’ belongs to Brahman. It is not simply imagined in him.
Buddhism share with monistic philosophies a systematic and
The energy that manifests itself in Brahman is one with and
highly effective assault on the apparent self-sufficiency and
different from Brahman” (ibid., p. 142).
presumed reality of all particulars, but as expressions of Bud-
Despite Radhakrishnan’s determination to reconcile
dhist spiritual wisdom, they move beyond the monistic con-
S´an˙kara’s conception of the brahman with the reality and
sequence of this assault to the silence of enlightenment.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6146
MONISM
In the Chinese tradition, particularly in the writings of
cism known as S:u¯fism. As R. C. Zaehner notes: “The intro-
Laozi (traditionally, sixth century BCE?) and Zhuangzi (latter
duction of Neoplatonic ideas into S:u¯fism from philosophy
fourth to early third century BCE), the illusive but uniquely
was, of course, made much of by Ibn al EArab¯ı who system-
formative concept of the Dao performs a function similar to
atized them into something very like S´an˙kara’s version of the
the concept of ´su¯nyata¯ in Ma¯dhyamika Buddhism. Accord-
Veda¯nta” (Hindu and Muslim Mysticism, New York, 1969,
ing to the Dao de jing (The Way and Its Power), the poetic-
p. 174). Although Ibn EArab¯ı’s system is generally regarded
philosophical text attributed to Laozi but in actuality com-
as heretical by orthodox Muslims, his writings—perhaps be-
piled by his followers in approximately the early fourth cen-
cause of his vast erudition and manifest saintliness—were in-
tury BCE, the Dao is the unity and the creative principle
fluential on subsequent Muslim and Christian thinkers.
underlying all particulars. In contrast to an absolute monism
In the modern period the two most important monistic
such as defended by S´an˙kara, the Daoism of Laozi and Zh-
philosophers have been the seventeenth-century Sefardic Jew
uangzi does not threaten, and in fact celebrates, the reality
Barukh Spinoza, who defines reality as one substance, calling
and value of particulars. Space and time, persons and nature,
it either God or Nature, and the nineteenth-century German
life and death, and all shades of being and becoming arise
idealist G. W. F. Hegel, whose concept of the Absolute con-
in and return to the Dao. But the Dao is not a principle or
tinues to hold its place in the modern West as the dominant
concept to be thought; it is a mysterious, ineffable reality to
monistic philosophical system. Within the present century
be experienced—and to the extent experienced, expressed
there are at least four philosophers, all American or British,
only indirectly and inadequately. The Dao cannot be grasped
who have extended the Hegelian, or absolute idealist, variety
or defined, but it can be received and hinted at by artful,
of monistic philosophy: Josiah Royce and F. H. Bradley, who
seemingly effortless, action. The Dao is above concepts,
wrote at the turn of the century, and W. T. Stace and J. N.
above either being or nonbeing, and yet it runs through all
Findlay, both Hegel scholars and metaphysicians who wrote
realities named by concepts. It is the One behind the
at midcentury.
many—but not the One that can be named, thought, or de-
lineated. Like the butterfly, which ceases to be itself when
Virtually all of these philosophers, religious thinkers,
caught and mounted, human attempts to catch the Dao can
and mystics, as well as others who could be added to the list,
catch expressions of the Dao, but not the Dao itself.
can be understood as a variation or subset of one of the fol-
W
lowing five influential figures: Plotinus, Eriugena, Eckhart,
ESTERN TRADITION. There are perhaps a dozen thinkers
spread throughout the history of Western thought who
Spinoza, and Hegel.
would likely be included in any survey of monistic systems.
Plotinus (c. 205–270), the last great thinker of antiqui-
Among the ancient Greeks, probable candidates include Par-
ty, combined a profound knowledge of Plato, Aristotle, and
menides for his enigmatic but highly influential definition
the Stoics with an equally profound mystical experience of
of reality as One. If monism were to be regarded as a theory
absolute oneness. Although Plotinus thought that he was
of one kind of reality (as distinct from the more usual con-
faithfully interpreting the philosophy of Plato, he is rightly
ception of monism as defining reality as singular), Democri-
credited with founding a new school of philosophy, that is,
tus would be included for his definition of reality as consist-
Neoplatonism. Moreover, although Plotinus’s writings, and
ing in atoms. Plotinus, the Neoplatonic mystic of the third
therefore the tenets of Neoplatonism of which he was the
century, articulated a philosophy of the One that stands as
first and greatest exponent, were neither influenced by Chris-
an obvious model of monistic thinking in the history of
tian teachings nor read by medieval Christian theologians,
Western philosophy. The Christian period is steadfastly the-
nevertheless they exercised a significant influence on Chris-
istic—that is, maintaining a real separation between creator
tian thinking indirectly through Augustine (354–430) and
and creation—with the notable exceptions of the ninth-
Dionysius the Areopagite (fl. c. 500). By the time Plotinus’s
century Irish theologian John Scottus Eriugena and the four-
Enneads were rediscovered by Marsilio Ficino, the fifteenth-
teenth-century Rhineland mystic Meister Eckhart.
century head of the Platonic Academy of Florence, Meister
Eckhart (1260–1327?) had articulated a novel monistic sys-
In Judaic and Muslim thought, orthodox theism and its
tem, fashioned equally by Neoplatonism and by his spiritual
attendant resistance to monism proved effective except for
life and thought as a German Dominican monk. The Neo-
Ibn EArab¯ı, the thirteenth-century Spanish S:u¯f¯ı Muslim,
platonic—or Plotinian—cast of Eckhart’s mystical monism
who taught that God, or reality, is absolutely singular, and
accounts for its distinctiveness and for his difficulties with
that the human soul is indistinguishable from God. It is im-
defenders of orthodox Christian theism. A close look at Plo-
portant for anyone unfamiliar with Islamic thought to un-
tinus’s idea of the One will show both its affinities and its
derstand that the Muslim thinkers of the Middle Ages were
ultimate incompatibility with Christian doctrine; not sur-
using the same philosophical sources—primarily Plato and
prisingly, Eckhart’s use of Neoplatonic monism led his writ-
the Neoplatonists—as were medieval Jewish and Christian
ings to be censored as heretical.
thinkers. Obviously, thinkers in each of these three religious
and cultural traditions also drew from—and in turn influ-
Plotinus’s concept of the One is comparable to, and in
enced—their respective religious traditions. In the case of
part derived from, the absolute One of Parmenides, the
Ibn EArab¯ı, his Muslim experience took the form of mysti-
Good of Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s First Cause, and the im-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONISM
6147
manent God of the Stoics. In affirming the absoluteness and
and in this respect, although he was not a Christian, Plotinus
transcendence of the One, however, Plotinus is speaking
stands at the head of a line of Christian mystical philosopher-
from a compelling mystical experience of Unity. Throughout
theologians for whom the concept of God, or the Absolute,
the Enneads, which Plotinus’s student Porphyry arranged in
is equally the object of mystical experience and philosophical
six sets of nine treatises each (Gr., ennea, “nine”), all of his
reflection.
references to the One, particularly those in the final tractate
(6.9), “On the Good, or the One,” emphasize that the One
In his work On the Division of Nature, for example, the
cannot be described or characterized, but can only be point-
Irish theologian John Scottus Eriugena (810–877) affirmed
ed to as the ineffable source and goal of mystical experience.
and extended several Plotinian tenets: the absolute ineffabili-
In terms comparable to the Upanis:adic concept of brah-
ty of God—a concept expressed in Christian theological lan-
man—though with a greater affirmation of the value and
guage almost identical to descriptions of the One of Plotinus;
beauty of the individual soul and the physical world—
a dual process of emanation from, and return to, the One
Plotinus conceives of the One as the absolute unity and har-
of lower stages of reality—stages that also resemble those ar-
mony underlying all particularity and all polarities. The One
ticulated in the Enneads. At the same time, Eriugena also
is the source of the other two principles, or levels, of reality,
used Christian ideas as developed by Dionysius the Areopa-
both of which exist within the One and share completely in
gite and Gregory of Nyssa, both of whose works he translated
its divinity. But the One is not less absolute for their exis-
from Greek to Latin. For Eriugena as for Plotinus, God or
tence. Since the second and third principles, Mind or Intel-
the One is not only beyond human thought, but equally be-
lect (nous) and Soul, are also real (though not absolute in
yond his own thought: God is incomprehensible even to
their own right), it is not easy, as Plotinus admits, to state
himself because in his oneness he does not think at all. In
in what the One, or the Unity, consists. Unity can be experi-
fact, the reason for creation, which is accomplished through
enced, but not described. Plotinus tells us:
his ideas (nous in Plotinus’s system, the divine attributes in
Eriugena’s), is to manifest the otherwise absolute and eter-
We are in search of unity; we are to come to know the
nally hidden nature of God. Thus, the God of Eriugena is
principle of all, the Good and First; therefore we may
virtually identical to the One of Plotinus in that he (or it,
not stand away from the realm of Firsts and lie prostrate
in view of its absolute and transpersonal nature) is the source
among the lasts: we must strike for those Firsts, rising
of being and knowledge but absolutely transcends both.
form things of sense which are the lasts. Cleared of all
evil in our intention towards The Good, we must as-
Meister Eckhart (1260–1327?) drew from Eriugena,
cend to the Principle within ourselves; from many, we
and through him from Plotinus and early Neoplatonic
must become one; only so do we attain to knowledge
Christian thinkers. He developed a concept of the Absolute,
of that which is Principle and Unity. . . . The Unity,
or God, that he called godhead, from the two points of view
then, is not Intellectual-Principle but something higher
developed by Plotinus and Eriugena and comparable to the
still: Intellectual-Principle is still a being but that First
is no being but precedent to all Being: it cannot be a
unqualified (nirgun:a) and qualified (sagun:a) dual conception
being, for a being has what we may call the shape of its
of brahman in Advaita Veda¯nta. According to Eckhart, God
reality but The Unity is without shape, even shape In-
is Being per se, or all that is, but is also inexplicably above
tellectual. (Enneads 6.9.3)
and beyond Being, totally other and absolutely one. Exis-
tence or Being can be seen from two points of view, as the
In this tractate, Plotinus continues with a series of negative
mysterious source of being and as being (or creation) itself,
definitions: the One is not merely the Good, nor merely
but ultimately there is only one existence. This affirmation
Mind, nor Soul, but is the indivisible source and perfect goal
of absolute unity of being, on the one hand, and on the
of all of these limited realities. While all characterizations of
other, the idea that all beings, including the human soul, are
the One must be negative, experience of the One cannot but
none other than God or Being from the perspective of cre-
be overwhelmingly positive. This experience is more than an
ation, shows why Eckhart’s teaching was regarded as too
intuition or a vision; it is “a unity apprehended”:
monist not to be at odds with orthodox Christianity. Eck-
The man formed by this mingling with the Supreme
hart’s conception of the unity of God follows Eriugena’s neg-
must—if he only remember—carry its image impressed
ative characterization of God and resembles Na¯ga¯rjuna’s
upon him: he is become the Unity, nothing within him
conception of the ultimate as ´su¯nyata¯, emptiness or nonbe-
or without inducing any diversity; no movement now,
ing. Clearly, there is a point in the monist position at which
no passion, no outlooking desire, once this ascent is
the absolute fullness and the absolute emptiness of being ap-
achieved; reasoning is in abeyance and all Intellection
pear to be indistinguishable—they are equally true and
and even, to dare the word, the very self: caught away,
equally inadequate ways of expressing the absolute otherness
filled with God, he has in perfect stillness attained isola-
tion; all the being calmed, he turns neither to this side
of the One, the ultimate ineffable source of all particularity.
nor to that, not even inwards to himself; utterly resting
The same need to see the Absolute from two perspec-
he has become very rest. (ibid., 6.9.11)
tives—as it is in itself and as it is from the perspective of cre-
As this passage shows, it is difficult to separate the mystical
ation—recurs in the metaphysical system of Barukh Spinoza
from the philosophical assertions in Plotinus’s philosophy,
(1632–1677), according to which the Absolute is referred to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6148
MONISM
as Substance, God, or Nature. These three terms are declared
ence and a personal experiential depth that would appear to
to be perfectly synonymous, infinite, and absolutely neces-
be mystical even if not religious in the usual sense. While the
sary: “God, or substance, consisting of infinite attributes, of
overall force of Ethics would seem to represent an atheistic
which each expresses eternal and infinite essentiality, neces-
monism that allows no room for the God of Western reli-
sarily exists” (Proposition 11). God (or Substance or Nature)
gion, the profoundly mystical love of divine necessity, which
manifests itself through an infinity of attributes, two of
is the goal and perhaps the source of Spinoza’s entire system,
which, thought and extension (or ideas and bodies), are intel-
would seem to justify Novalis’s often-quoted reference to
ligible to man and constitutive of his experience. These two
him as “a God-intoxicated man.” W. T. Stace holds to both
attributes, which are capable of infinite combinations, are re-
of these interpretations and suggests that Spinoza “exhibited
lated to each other (in contradistinction to Descartes’s dual-
in himself the living paradox of being a God-intoxicated
ism of mind and body) through their common source in one
atheist” (Mysticism and Philosophy, p. 217).
divine Substance. Spinoza’s solution to the Cartesian dual-
In that his philosophy of the absolute Spirit is the result
ism, however, generates the same problem that attends all
of philosophical reflection rather than the product of his own
monistic systems—the difficulty in establishing the reality of
mystical experience, G. W. F. Hegel is closer to Spinoza than
particulars, which Spinoza refers to as modes, within the one
to Plotinus or Eckhart. Hegel would also seem to resemble
indivisible Substance. Although Spinoza may be thought to
Spinoza in that his philosophy of the Absolute is an expres-
have generated his metaphysics from a religious or mystical
sion, however partial and indirect, of the experience and un-
impulse, his conception of the divine as impersonal and ab-
derstanding of absolute Unity for which the great mystics,
solutely necessary was clearly not influenced (except perhaps
of both Asia and the West, are the primary source. In ex-
negatively) by either Jewish or Christian theological ortho-
plaining the relation between mysticism and philosophy in
doxy.
Hegel, Frederick Copleston wisely remarks that Hegel was
In conceiving of the world as God’s manifestation of
not a mystic and did not look to mysticism to solve the prob-
himself within his inviolable unity, Spinoza is in general
lems of philosophy, but rather “he saw in mysticism the intu-
agreement with other absolute monists like Advaita Veda¯nta
itive grasp of a truth which it was the business of philosophy
(of the Upanis:ads and S´an˙kara), Plotinus, Eriugena, and
to understand and exhibit in a systematic manner” (Religion
Eckhart, but he is unique in attributing absolute determin-
and the One, p. 135).
ism to the divine substance. On this point Spinoza is rigor-
While Hegel’s conception of the Absolute combines ele-
ously consistent even if his terminology gives the impression
ments of many predecessors, including Plotinus, Eriugena,
of inconsistency or paradox: he refers to the necessity of the
Eckhart, and Spinoza, in his original synthesis he introduces
divine Substance as both freedom and determinism because
novel conceptions so as to create a uniquely profound and
God is free to do what is required by his nature. God is free
modern monistic philosophy. In terms similar to the concep-
because of what he is—or because of the necessity which is
tion of God in Eriugena or Eckhart, Hegel conceives of the
the essential character of his existence. Since only God must
absolute Spirit as revealing itself through spatial and tempo-
be, and must be what He is, only God is free. Further, all
ral creation. For Hegel, however, the Absolute is neither
of God’s attributes and modes are what they are necessarily
empty nor so totally transcendent as to be characterized as
as part of God’s essence. Without violating its unity and ne-
nonbeing. Rather, the absolute Spirit of Hegel more closely
cessity, one can conceive of God, or Nature in polar terms,
resembles Spinoza’s conception of Substance in that it is in-
as the creator, or natura naturans (“Nature naturing”), and
telligible to human consciousness. In fact, it is through
as creation, natura naturata (“Nature natured”), which con-
human rationality that the Absolute has its being: the Abso-
sists in the infinite combinations of attributes and modes of
lute exists through its self-knowing, which is none other than
the one divine Substance, God, or Nature. Within this Sub-
its being known through speculative philosophy. In this re-
stance, all things that exist do so, and do so in the way that
spect, Hegel’s conception of absolute Spirit may be said to
they do, because they are not other than God, and God’s na-
exhibit a radical temporality characteristic of process philoso-
ture is absolutely necessary.
phy and other modern philosophical systems influenced by
the theory of evolution. Spirit itself evolves through human
In the conclusion of Ethics Spinoza asserts that this Sub-
consciousness, without which it cannot be said to be intelligi-
stance—which, it must be remembered, is the one and only
ble—or real, which comes to the same, according to Hegel’s
reality regardless of how plural and diverse it appears to a
identification of the rational and the real.
human perspective—can be known by the third or highest
form of knowledge, the intellectual love of God. This love,
Is Hegel’s system, then, monistic? In what does his prin-
which is knowledge of a particular in relation to its divine
ciple of unity, or oneness, consist? Since Hegel’s system pre-
cause (or divine nature), is in effect a direct knowledge of
cludes univocal summations, two responses may fittingly be
God, or Nature, in its infinity, eternality, and necessity. In
offered: in that the absolute Idea is single, rational, and the
this discussion of the intellectual love of God, which occurs
sole reality, Hegel’s system clearly resembles monistic sys-
in part 5 of Ethics, “Of Human Freedom,” Spinoza’s monis-
tems such as those of Plotinus, Eriugena, Eckhart, and Spi-
tic conception of Substance (God or Nature) reveals a rever-
noza; since, however, the absolute Idea cannot be thought
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONISM
6149
to exist in its own right as a full or finished reality separable
greater success historically, but most Asian thought sys-
from the process of human consciousness by which it knows
tems—for example, Confucianism in China, theism and
itself, there is a sense in which the One in question, the abso-
Yoga in India, and various forms of Buddhism throughout
lute Idea, is equally plural and temporal. Absolute Spirit is
Asia—have not been monistic. Further, the remarkable in-
there in the beginning, and without it, there would be no
fluence of Advaita Veda¯nta in India may be due as much to
beginning—but it is equally the case that it comes to be, or
its apparent mystical source and hermeneutical power as to
comes into being, by being thought—as all human reflection
its philosophical argumentation. The monist affirmation of
is advancing, or making real, the actual content of the divine
the One (in whatever terminology) may well be truer than
Idea. In Hegel’s view, his Phenomenology of Spirit was itself
the myriad religious and philosophical positions that hold to
a significant contribution toward the self-realization of abso-
the reality of the many, but while the vast majority of reli-
lute Spirit.
gious thinkers and philosophers fall short of mystical insight,
it seems probable that in the future of philosophy and reli-
Delineating the relationship between these two perspec-
gion monism will continue to be a strongly opposed minori-
tives—absolute Spirit as the one source of all and as the tem-
ty position.
poral-spatial process—required thousands of torturous pages
by Hegel and continues to produce countless volumes of in-
SEE ALSO Dualism; Images; Neoplatonism; Pantheism and
terpretation by his followers and critics. While it might be
Panentheism; Transcendence and Immanence.
possible to solve the problem of the one and the many in
contemporary terms without recourse to Hegel, most of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The most useful survey of monistic philosophies is Frederick Co-
important work on this problem in the present century is de-
pleston’s Gifford Lectures, 1980, published as Religion and
monstrably traceable to one or another interpretation of the
the One: Philosophies East and West (New York, 1982). Al-
Hegelian system. The most promising effort would seem to
though it is less focused on monism, Karl Jaspers’s brilliant
be that of J. N. Findlay, whose Gifford Lectures, The Disci-
interpretive study, The Great Philosophers, 2 vols. (New York,
pline of the Cave and The Transcendence of the Cave, given
1962–1966), treats virtually all of the philosophical contrib-
from 1964 to 1966, represent a reformulation, by phenome-
utors to the monist position. Volume 2 is especially recom-
nological and dialectical methods, of problems first set forth
mended for its chapters on Laozi and Na¯ga¯rjuna, Heraclitus
by Plotinus and Hegel.
and Parmenides, Plotinus, Nicholas of Cusa and Spinoza.
W. T. Stace’s Mysticism and Philosophy (Philadelphia, 1960)
CONCLUSION. A survey of monistic systems ranges from the
is a study of the implications of mysticism for philosophy,
uncompromising Advaita (“nondual”) Veda¯nta of S´an˙kara to
particularly monistic philosophies. Nine articles on the phi-
those thinkers, such as Radhakrishnan and Hegel, who have
losophy of mysticism are collected in The Monist 59 (Octo-
attempted to affirm the unity or oneness of reality without
ber 1976). Surveys on monism and pantheism are to be
jeopardizing the reality or value of the many. In this regard,
found in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (New York, 1967)
Radhakrishnan’s response to, and restatement of, S´an˙kara’s
and Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago, 1968).
conception of brahman “so as to save the world and give it
There are several virtually indistinguishable editions of the
a real meaning” would seem to be a telling critique of the
Upanis:ads, one of which is The Principal Upanis:ads, edited
absolute monist position: the stronger the affirmation of
and translated by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (New York,
1953). Radhakrishnan’s metaphysics is most fully articulated
oneness, the more difficult it is to affirm particulars in their
in An Idealist View of Life, 2d ed. (London, 1957); see also
own right. Within the context of absolute unity, all particu-
his “Spirit in Man,” in Contemporary Indian Philosophy, ed-
lars are relegated to a quasi reality. If all is brahman—or
ited by J. J. Muirhead (London, 1958). For a contemporary
Being, or the Absolute, or the One by any other name—then
exposition and defense of S´an˙kara’s nondualist system, see
sticks and stones, civilizations and planets, ideas and gods
Eliot Deutsch’s Advaita Veda¯nta: A Philosophical Reconstruc-
must all share, and perhaps lose, their distinctive reality with-
tion (Honolulu, 1969). For Na¯ga¯rjuna and early (or Indian)
in the all-inclusive (or all-consuming) reality of the One.
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism, see especially Emptiness: A Study in Re-
ligious Meaning (New York, 1967), by Frederick J. Streng,
Given the extent to which a monistic system jeopardizes
and Nagarjuna: A Translation of His Mu¯lamadhhya-
the reality of the ordinary world, it is perhaps not surprising
makaka¯rika¯ with an Introductory Essay, translated and edited
that it typically has drawn its inspiration from, and in turn
by Kenneth K. Inada (Tokyo, 1970). D. T. Suzuki’s Intro-
lends its formulations to, mystical experience. The three
duction to Zen Buddhism (New York, 1974) is one of the
most formidable monistic systems—those of S´an˙kara, Ploti-
many introductions and surveys he has written that are rele-
nus, and Spinoza—are all dependent on mystical awareness,
vant for the paradoxically monistic character of Zen Bud-
however rational may be their respective processes of articu-
dhism; Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings of D. T. Suzuki, ed-
ited by William Barrett (Garden City, N.Y., 1956), is
lation. In view of the monistic tendency to devalue the full
particularly useful. There are numerous translations of
range of particulars, it is understandable that throughout the
Laozi’s Dao de jing and of the writings of Zhuangzi, includ-
history of Western thought, monism has been countered not
ing Wing-tsit Chan’s The Way of Lao Tzu (Indianapolis,
only by orthodox theologies (of Judaism, Christianity, and
1963), Burton Watson’s Chuang-tzu: Basic Writings (New
Islam) but equally by dominant philosophies. In Asia, and
York, 1964), and Raymond M. Smullyan’s The Dao Is Silent
particularly in India, monism may appear to have enjoyed
(New York, 1977).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6150
MONKEYS
The best translation of Plotinus’s Enneads remains Stephan
Zoetmulder, P. J., and M. C. Ricklefs, eds. Pantheism and Monism
MacKenna’s The Enneads, 3d ed. (New York, 1957). Selec-
in Javanese Suluk Literature: Islamic and Indian Mysticism in
tions from John Scottus Eriugena’s De divisione naturae are
an Indonesian Setting. Franklin, Mich., 1995.
reprinted in Selections from Medieval Philosophers, edited by
Richard McKeon, vol. 1 (New York, 1930); in Medieval Phi-
ROBERT A. MCDERMOTT (1987)
losophy, edited by Herman Shapiro (New York, 1964); and
Revised Bibliography
in Medieval Philosophy, edited by John F. Wippel and Allan
B. Wolter (New York, 1969). There are several English-
language translations of Meister Eckhart: James M. Clark
and John V. Skinner’s Meister Eckhart: Selected Treatises and
MONKEYS. Monkeys have played a complex and ambig-
Sermons (London, 1958); Raymond B. Blakney’s Meister
uous role in the religion and folklore of diverse cultures. Al-
Eckhart: A Modern Translation (New York, 1941); Matthew
though deities in monkey form have occasionally been vener-
Fox’s Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart’s Creation Spirituality
ated as psychopomps, tricksters, or intercessors, simians have
(New York, 1980), with introduction and commentary; and
more commonly been viewed as comical or degenerate simu-
a brilliant philosophical interpretation, Reiner Schürmann’s
lacra of human beings. Both responses suggest a perception
Meister Eckhart, Mystic and Philosopher (Bloomington, Ind.,
of these animals as challenging boundaries and categories, a
1978). The most scholarly and substantial interpretation of
theme that in the modern world remains implicit in much
Ibn EArab¯ı is Henry Corbin’s Creative Imagination in the
visual representation and fictional and scientific narrative.
S:u¯fism of Ibn EArab¯ı (Princeton, 1969).
Despite a tendency among premodern authors and artists to
Spinoza’s metaphysics is fully articulated in one volume, Ethics,
be vague and generic about nonhuman primates (a confusion
volume 2 of The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza, translat-
that persists in nontechnical discourse conflating, for exam-
ed by R. H. M. Elwes (New York, 1951). For Hegel, the in-
ple, tailed “monkeys” and tailless “apes”), human responses
dispensable—and famously difficult—volume is The Phe-
to simians, especially in regions in which the latter abound,
nomenology of Mind. The translation by J. B. Baillie (1910;
have often been species-specific, reflecting characteristic fea-
rev. ed., New York, 1949) has been superseded by a far more
tures or behaviors of particular primate groups.
readable edition: Phenomenology of Spirit, translated by A. V.
Miller, with foreword and textual analysis by J. N. Findlay
Perhaps the most widely attested response to anthropoid
(Oxford, 1977). There are three important restatements of
primates has been the notion that they are degraded or fallen
the Hegelian Absolute: Josiah Royce’s The World and the In-
humans, whose bestial status reflects punishment for a trans-
dividual, 2 vols. (New York, 1901–1902), the Gifford Lec-
gression. Thus a Jewish legend holds that the men who con-
tures, 1900–1901; Francis H. Bradley’s Appearance and Real-
trived to place idols atop the tower of Babel were turned by
ity: A Metaphysical Essay (1893; 2d rev. ed., Oxford, 1930);
God into apes, and in a Greco-Roman tale a diminutive race
and J. N. Findlay’s Gifford Lectures, 1964–1966, published
of humans who attempted to deceive Hercules were pun-
in two volumes: The Discipline of the Cave (London, 1966)
ished by the gods by becoming “tailed ones” (cercopes). A
and The Transcendence of the Cave (London, 1967). Findlay’s
neo-Hegelianism, or (in his term) Neo-neo-Platonism, is fur-
Muslim story holds that apes originated when a group of
ther developed in his Ascent to the Absolute: Metaphysical Pa-
Jews were cursed for violating the Sabbath, and an Algerian
pers and Lectures (London, 1970) and is given a precise sum-
tradition traces them to a human group deprived of speech
mation in Douglas P. Lackey’s “An Examination of Findlay’s
by divine wrath. According to a medieval European legend,
Neoplatonism,” The Monist 59 (October 1976): 563–573.
when God visited Adam and Eve after the fall, Eve concealed
some of her numerous progeny out of shame over her sexual
New Sources
activity, and, as punishment, God transformed the hidden
Cooper, John W. Body, Soul and Life Everlasting. 1989; rpt. Grand
children into monkeys. Although such tales reflect the an-
Rapids, Mich., 2000.
thropocentric prejudices of monotheist religions, they are
Curd, Patricia. The Legacy of Parmenides: Eleatic Monism and Later
not confined to Europe and the Middle East. The motif of
Presocratic Thought. Princeton, 1997.
transgression and metamorphosis into a simian is preserved
in the Mayan Popol Vuh, and it also occurs in Southeast Asia,
Gasman, Daniel. “Haeckel’s Monism and the Birth of Fascist Ide-
in the tale of a wicked couple who are tricked by a god into
ology.” Studies in Modern European History, vol. 33. New
York, 1998.
squatting on red-hot bricks; when their backsides are burned
red, they flee in shame into the forest. Similar stories, often
Kirby, David K. Sun Rises in the Evening: Monism and Quietism
involving punishment for sexual license, are the commonest
in Western Culture. Metuchen, N.J., 1982.
explanations of simian origins among tribal groups in India,
Loy, David. Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy. 1988;
and cast doubt on the frequent assertion that Hinduism’s
rpt. Amherst, N.Y., 1999.
now-robust cult of Hanuma¯n derives from a hoary and in-
digenous tradition of “monkey worship.” Comparable tales
Satlow, Michael. “Jewish Knowing: Monism and Its Ramifica-
have been reported concerning the orangutans of Indonesia
tions.” Judaism 45 (Fall 1996): 483–490.
and the chimpanzees of the Ivory Coast. Japanese folktales
van Gelder, T. J. “Monism, Dualism, Pluralism.” Mind and Lan-
involve many instances of cross-species transformation, yet
guage 13 (1988): 76–97.
those involving monkeys nearly always feature the one-way
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONKEYS
6151
metamorphosis of a human who has incurred divine punish-
second century BCE poet Ennius: “The ape, that vile beast,
ment. Even in the case of Hanuma¯n, a sense of transgression
so similar to us” (Simia quam similis turpissuma bestia nobis).
of divine powers and of being “marked” as simian in punish-
Simian semblance took on ominous implications for re-
ment is found in the tale of his jaw (Sanskrit, hanu) being
ligions whose scriptures declared the human form to be the
disfigured by Indra’s thunderbolt. The abundance of such
“image of God.” The stump-tailed posterior of the Barbary
stories confirms Horst Janson’s assertion that, when faced
macaque was especially problematic, for God had declared
with the discomfort aroused by the similitude of simians, hu-
in Leviticus 22:23 that all animals were to have tails. A Jewish
mans in general have tended to become “Darwinists in re-
legend declared that Adam himself was created with a tail,
verse” (Janson, 1952, p. 13).
which God later removed as a sign of exaltation over bestial
Veneration of monkeys has been more sporadic. The
creation. The macaque was hence viewed as a duplicitous
earliest attested instance, in ancient Egypt, was directed to-
beast trying to “ape” human rank. A variant on the story
ward a single species of baboon known to Greco-Roman au-
claimed that God himself had cut off the ape’s tail as punish-
thors as cynocephalus or “dog-head” because of its canine fa-
ment for its presumption, leaving “scars” on its backside—
cial appearance. In contrast to other monkeys who appear in
the ischial callosities, or “sitting pads,” common to Old
Egyptian art as leashed pets or performing grotesques, this
World monkeys. The Patristic writings of early Christianity
animal was considered sacred and associated with both sun
are strident in their denunciation of “idolatrous” Egyptian
and moon. Images of seated male baboons, hands raised in
religion and often focus on “ape worship” as its most loath-
adoration of the rising sun, adorn the columns of several
some practice. In medieval sources, the devil was called
temples, and mummified animals were commonly interred
“God’s ape” (simia Dei) because he tried unsuccessfully to
in a seated posture. Sculpted baboon images often display
imitate God’s creative acts, and the monkey in turn was la-
erect penises—a mark of lasciviousness in the view of later
beled “likeness of the devil” (figura diaboli). Renaissance
observers—that probably indicated the connection of both
paintings of the “fall of man” sometimes feature an ape slyly
the sun and the animal with fertility. Yet the baboon was also
munching one of the forbidden apples; the gullible Eve
associated with the moon and sacred to the moon god
points to the beast in order to sway her consort’s resolve to
Thoth, a healer and magician, scribe of the gods, and guide
uphold God’s commandment—one instance of a common
of deceased souls. In some myths, the baboon taught hiero-
patriarchal tendency to associate women (as less-than-men)
glyphics to Thoth and wore his lunar orb on its head. Its
with monkeys.
image regularly appeared atop scales, signifying postmortem
In time, the Christian morphological preoccupation
judgment, over which Thoth presided. The god himself was
with monstrous similitudines and “hybrid races” that threat-
sometimes depicted in the form, or with the head, of a ba-
ened to erase the boundary between the human self and the
boon. The humanlike menstrual cycle of the female cynoce-
feral “other” would influence the response of Europeans to
phalus, which further linked the animal to cosmic rhythms,
newly discovered primates and people in other parts of the
was noted by some ancient writers, as were temples where
world, contributing both to the racism of the colonial era
troops of semidomesticated baboons were fed by priests.
and to the pseudoscience of eugenics that arose in the wake
Elements of Thoth worship were transposed onto the
of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859). The association
Greco-Roman mystery cult of Hermes Trismegistos—who
of simians with the “primitive” and “savage” as well as with
the infantile and feminine, and the caricaturing of subject
was likewise a magician, healer, and psychopomp—and gem-
peoples and human enemies as “monkeys,” has long persisted
stone rings carved with images of ithyphallic baboons en-
in Western discourse, as has the whimsical portrayal of simi-
joyed a vogue in the late Roman Empire, possibly as aphro-
ans as human surrogates in visual art. A recurrent theme in
disiac charms. But the more common response to the
popular culture (reflected in such works as the Danish Baron
Egyptian baboon-deity in classical Mediterranean cultures
Hollberg’s eighteenth-century novel Nicolai Climii iter sub-
was scorn and ridicule. A minor decorative motif in Greek
terraneum, and the twentieth-century American Planet of the
art, monkeys appear to have had no sacral significance; rath-
Apes films) has been the discovery of a realm in which simi-
er, they commonly represented ugliness, sycophancy, and
ans and humans trade places and confront the contingency
immorality. Aristotle’s brief observation that anthropoid pri-
of species roles. Late-twentieth-century scholarship has also
mates constitute a morphological category situated between
critiqued the burgeoning scientific literature of primatology
humans and quadruped animals would later definitively es-
as (in feminist Donna Haraway’s phrase) “simian oriental-
tablish the “link” occupied by these animals in the medieval
ism,” and asserted that its ostensibly “objective” discourse
“great chain of being.” The Romans sometimes kept mon-
contains numerous elements of disguised mythos (Haraway,
keys as pets, but held the sight of one in a dream to be an
1989, p. 10).
evil omen. Roman writings, including Galen’s accounts of
his dissections of Barbary apes (a nearly tailless macaque na-
The rich traditions of monkey gods and heroes found
tive to North Africa and Gibraltar, and the best-known mon-
in South, Southeast, and East Asia all appear indebted, to va-
key in the ancient West), reveal discomfort with their like-
rying degrees, to the ancient Indian epic Ra¯ma¯yan:a (c. fourth
ness to men, exemplified in the punning aphorism of the
century BCE), in which a race of magical, talking monkeys
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6152
MONKEYS
befriend the human hero Ra¯ma and assist him in recovering
a single Vedic hymn featuring a “virile monkey” have led to
his kidnapped wife, S¯ıta¯. This tale probably penetrated
speculation that an earthy folk deity (yaks:a) in simian form
much of Asia in the early centuries of the common era and
may have preceded Hanuma¯n’s literary debut in Va¯lm¯ıki’s
may have become interwoven with local monkey lore. In
Ra¯ma¯yan:a. Born of the union of the wind god Va¯yu with a
many Southeast Asian Buddhist versions of the story, Ra¯ma’s
celestial nymph who was cursed to assume monkey form, the
principal helper, Hanuma¯n, here identified as a magical
epic’s Hanuma¯n has a rambunctious childhood in which he
White Monkey, is portrayed as a resourceful but lascivious
nearly devours the sun and is wounded and then blessed by
trickster whose amorous and martial adventures sometimes
the gods. He matures into a sagacious and powerful ally of
eclipse those of his human master. The tale of his liaison with
Ra¯ma who leaps across the ocean carrying his master’s ring
the Fish Queen, resulting in a marvelous hybrid son, remains
and message to the captive S¯ıta¯, burns the demon city of
a favorite in the dance theater traditions of Thailand and
Lanka with his flaming tail, fetches a Himalayan summit
Cambodia and in the visual art of Malaysia.
covered with healing herbs to save Ra¯ma’s wounded brother
during the climactic battle, and ultimately receives the boon
In Japan’s indigenous Shinto¯ tradition, a “monkey
of physical immortality as well as Ra¯ma’s boundless grati-
deity” (saru gami) named Saruta Biko is attested in texts dat-
tude. His role expanded in later vernacular retellings of the
ing to the eighth century. He belongs to the category of gods
story, and his independent worship, well attested from
associated with liminal spaces such as village boundaries,
roughly the tenth century CE, has undergone dramatic
functions as a messenger between the heavenly and earthly
growth in modern times.
worlds, and serves as mediator between humans and the
kami, or spirits, particularly the powerful Mountain Deity.
Though understood as a devotee of Vis:n:u in the
He has a special connection with horses and is used in rites
Ra¯ma-incarnation, Hanuma¯n is also regarded as an avatar of
intended to protect them from disease. In later Japanese lore,
S´iva, especially in the latter’s awesome and destructive perso-
the monkey is primarily portrayed as a trickster and clown,
na as Rudra, and is sometimes paired with local mother god-
and is associated with human “outcastes” who, like him, me-
desses as a guardian or familiar. His propitiation by villagers
diate between people and gods, yet serve as bearers of pollu-
as a boundary protector, by S´aiva ascetics as an immortal
tion. Today, a highly adaptive local species of macaque is
yogi, by the mentally afflicted as a shamanlike exorcist, and
considered the “national monkey” of Japan and is said to be
by wrestlers as the patron of martial arts may reflect ancient
the only animal referred to with the honorific san, otherwise
practices only marginally associated with the Ra¯ma narrative.
reserved for humans. The work of twentieth-century Japa-
His shrines are ubiquitous in many regions of India and draw
nese primatologists has been cited for its more emotional and
huge crowds, especially on Tuesday and Saturday, when
sympathetic response to these animals, exemplified by the
worshipers seek his protection from malefic planetary influ-
monkey funerals sometimes held at research labs.
ences. Although Hanuma¯n’s visual representation spans the
gamut from fully simian to humanlike (though invariably
In China, the popular “monkey king” Sun Wukong of
tailed) icons, the deity’s celibacy and sagacity pointedly con-
Daoist and Buddhist legend, Ming-period fiction, and mod-
tradict the normal Indian perception of simians, and earthly
ern Beijing opera, probably combines elements of the
monkeys, especially the black-faced “hanuman langur” and
Ra¯ma¯yan:a and of Southeast Asian White Monkey tales with
(less commonly) the reddish rhesus macaque, receive only
indigenous lore concerning gibbons and macaques. As the
wary respect and occasional protection as his somewhat de-
most endearing character in the hundred-chapter novel Xiyou
based relatives. A god who is said to combine self-assertive
Ji (Record of the westward journey, 1592), Monkey aids a
´sakti (power) and self-effacing bhakti (devotion), Hanuma¯n
Buddhist monk in a perilous pilgrimage to India in quest of
may be read, especially in the discourse of Hindu national-
scriptures, displaying the supernatural powers he acquired by
ism, as a subaltern enforcer of traditional high-caste authori-
stealing peaches and pills of immortality from the Jade Em-
ty, yet he has more typically expressed the upwardly mobile
peror of the Daoist heaven. Plucky and exuberant, he repre-
aspirations of lower- and middle-status groups. At once
sents both the Buddhist concept of the restive “monkey
comic and cosmic, subhuman and supernatural, aggressive
mind” that must be tamed to achieve enlightenment and the
and contemplative, earthy and divine, Hanuma¯n exemplifies
pragmatism and resourcefulness of a homegrown Chinese
and theologically transfigures the boundary-challenging role
culture hero. Despite the centuries-long effort of the literati
that simians have so often played for human cultures.
to suppress non-elite lore and the postrevolutionary crack-
down on religious expression, a folk Daoist cult of Monkey
BIBLIOGRAPHY
survives on Taiwan and in Singapore, where he is revered as
Aryan, K. C., and Subhashini Aryan. Hanuma¯n in Art and My-
a trickster, esoteric preceptor, and healer (especially of chil-
thology. Delhi, 1975. A valuable reference for Hanuma¯n ico-
dren and horses), and as an exorcist sometimes invoked
nography.
through rites of possession.
Corbey, Raymond, and Bert Theunissen, eds. Ape, Man, Apeman:
Changing Views since 1600. Leiden, 1995. A wide-ranging
The origins of the immensely popular Hindu monkey-
anthology that critically examines the discourse of the emerg-
god Hanuma¯n, also known as Ma¯ruti and A¯ñjaneya, are ob-
ing sciences of primatology and paleoanthropology in mod-
scure. Ceramic monkey figurines from Indus Valley sites and
ern Europe and Japan.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONOPHYSITISM
6153
Haraway, Donna. Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the
The germ of Monophysitism may be found in the logos-
World of Modern Science. New York, 1989. A feminist histo-
sarx (Word-flesh) theology of the Alexandrian church. The
rian of science provocatively detects hidden agendas and sub-
question of how Christ’s personality should be acknowl-
merged mythologies in twentieth-century American primate
edged could not be avoided, however, once the Creed of Ni-
research.
caea (325) confessed that he was “of one substance with the
Janson, Horst W. Apes and Ape Lore in the Middle Ages and the
Father.” If this was so, how was Christ to be considered of
Renaissance. London, 1952. A signal study of premodern Eu-
one substance with man? Fifty years later, the answer was
ropean responses to anthropoid primates.
given uncompromisingly by Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea
Lutgendorf, Philip. “My Hanuma¯n Is Bigger Than Yours.” Histo-
in Syria, a friend of Athanasius and an Alexandrian-trained
ry of Religions 33, no. 3 (1994): 211–245.
theologian. Scripture, he maintained, emphasized that Christ
Lutgendorf, Philip. “Monkey in the Middle: The Status of
was “one.” In De fide et incarnatione he wrote, “There is no
Hanuma¯n in Popular Hinduism.” Religion 27, no. 4 (1997):
distinction in Holy Scripture between the Word and His
311–332.
flesh; He is one energy, one person, one hypostasis [individu-
Lutgendorf, Philip. “Five Heads and No Tale: Hanuma¯n and the
Popularization of Tantra.” International Journal of Hindu
ality], at once wholly God and wholly man.” This exactly
Studies 5, no. 3 (2001): 269–296.
summed up what was to become the Monophysite position:
Mair, Victor H. “Suen wu-kung = Hanumat? The Progress of a
Christ was “out of two natures,” one.
Scholarly Debate.” In Proceedings of the Second International
Apollinaris’s opinions aroused the opposition of the
Conference on Sinology, pp. 659–752. Taipei, 1989. A magis-
Cappadocian fathers and were condemned at the Council of
terial review of the controversy over the origins of the Chi-
Constantinople in 381, but his works circulated widely
nese Monkey King, this article reveals what is at stake in the
claims of indigenous origin and revealingly documents the
under the names of orthodox personalities, and as such they
historical spread of the Ra¯ma tale through Southeast and
influenced profoundly the theology of Cyril of Alexandria
East Asia.
(412–444). Cyril, however, was willing to admit at least the
McDermott, William Coffman. The Ape in Antiquity. Baltimore,
mystical reality of the two natures after the incarnation. His
1938. An unsurpassed study of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman
successor as patriarch of Alexandria, Dioscorus (444–451),
materials.
less subtle and more impetuously ambitious for his see, made
Narula, Joginder. Hanuma¯n, God, and Epic Hero. New Delhi,
an uncompromising one-nature Christology the basis of his
1991. The best short work on the subject in English by an
theology, and enunciated it in his vindication of the archi-
Indian scholar.
mandrite Eutyches at the Second Council of Ephesus in Au-
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. The Monkey as Mirror. Princeton, N.J.,
gust 449 (the “Robber Council”). The Council of Chalcedon
1987. A study by a noted anthropologist of human responses
reversed this situation, and Dioscorus himself was con-
to monkeys in Japan.
demned (though for indiscipline rather than for heresy) and
Yu, Anthony C., ed. and trans. The Journey to the West. 4 vols.
exiled. However, a large proportion of Eastern Christians, es-
Chicago, 1977–1983. A complete translation of Xiyou Ji, the
pecially in Egypt, showed that they supported the one-nature
Ming-period novel concerning the adventures of Monkey
Christology and rejected Chalcedon.
and his companions.
P
Dioscorus died in exile at Gangra in Paphlagonia in
HILIP LUTGENDORF (2005)
454. Three years later his supplanter, the former archpriest
Proterius, who had been consecrated by Egyptian bishops at
MONKS S
Chalcedon, was lynched. Another former presbyter of Cyril,
EE MONASTICISM; RELIGIOUS
COMMUNITIES
Timothy Ailuros (d. 477), was consecrated bishop by the
anti-Chalcedonians. Although Timothy was also exiled, until
482 the Church of Alexandria was divided between an anti-
MONOLATRY S
Chalcedon majority and a Chalcedonian minority.
EE HENOTHEISM;
MONOTHEISM
Schism, in the sense of establishing a rival church with
its own hierarchy, was far from the minds of Timothy and
his supporters. They were entirely loyal to the empire politi-
MONOPHYSITISM, meaning “one nature” and re-
cally, but they aimed at persuading the emperor and his ad-
ferring to the person of Jesus Christ, is the name given to the
visers to abandon the Tome of Leo and the Council of Chal-
rift that gradually developed in Eastern Christendom after
cedon in favor of their one-nature interpretation of the
the Council of Chalcedon in 451. While the definition
theology of Cyril. Timothy opposed Eutyches’ belief that
agreed upon at the council laid down that Christ should be
Christ’s human nature was not the same as that of ordinary
acknowledged “in two natures,” human and divine, the
man. In 475 the anti-Chalcedonians came near to success
properties of each nature retaining their identity, the Mo-
when the usurper Basiliscus, who had forced the legitimate
nophysites held that after the incarnation the two natures be-
emperor Zeno (474–491) into exile, issued an edict declaring
came one, so that all the thoughts and acts of the Savior were
his adherence to the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople
those of a single unitary being, God in Christ.
and both councils of Ephesus, and declaring as anathema the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6154
MONOPHYSITISM
Tome of Leo and “all that was said and done at Chalcedon
bishop of Hierapolis (Mabbug) in Mesopotamia, and some
in innovation of the holy symbol of Nicaea.”
fifty-five other bishops. Gradually it became clear that if the
Monophysite congregations were to survive, a hierarchy
In 476 Basiliscus fell, largely because of the support
would have to be created to administer sacraments to them.
given to Zeno by the patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius,
Severus, in exile in Alexandria, reluctantly assented to the or-
who was determined to protect the prerogatives of his see
dination of presbyters and deacons in 529/30. Great num-
against possible renewal of threats from Alexandria. On July
bers of volunteers came forward. The schism between the
28, 482, in an attempt to reunite the church in Egypt and
Monophysites and Byzantine orthodoxy may be said to date
reconcile it to communion with Constantinople, Zeno is-
from that moment.
sued a circular letter, known as the Henotikon, to the “bish-
ops, monks, and laity of Alexandria, Egypt, and Cyrenaica.”
During the reign of Justinian (527–565), the Monoph-
This letter, drafted on Acacius’s advice, reaffirmed the creed-
ysite movement assumed the form it was to retain through
al statements of Nicaea, Constantinople, and the first council
the centuries. In 532 the emperor tried to settle the contro-
at Ephesus (431), condemned Nestorius and Eutyches, ac-
versy through a conference aimed at agreeing upon a state-
cepted the Twelve Anathemas of Cyril (which tended toward
ment of doctrine based on the Theopaschite interpretation
one-nature Christology), and proclaimed that Jesus Christ,
of Christology, that is, that “one of the Trinity suffered in
consubstantial with both God and man, and “incarnate from
the flesh and was God.” Although this came near to the Mo-
the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and Theotokos is one
nophysite position, the emperor’s insistence on the canonical
and not two.” Anyone who thought differently was anathe-
status of Chalcedon wrecked the possibility of agreement.
ma. The Henotikon avoided denouncing Chalcedon as such,
Between that time and the death of Theodora in 548, howev-
which would have removed from Constantinople its legal su-
er, the Monophysites had a firm ally in the empress. At the
periority, grounded in Canon 28 of that council, over the
end of 534, Severus was invited to the capital by the emper-
other sees in the East; but the letter went just far enough to
or, and the following year Theodora secured the election of
secure the uneasy agreement of Alexandria, Antioch, and Je-
a new Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria, Theodosius
rusalem. The popes, however, refused to accept the Heno-
(535–566), and a pro-Monophysite patriarch of Constanti-
tikon and denounced the restoration of communion between
nople, Anthimus, bishop of Trebizend (535–536). This was
Acacius and Peter Mongus, patriarch of Alexandria (482–
too much for the emperor, the pope, and the Chalcedonians.
490), as “double-dealing.”
Anthimus was replaced, and Severus was condemned by a
powerful synod held at Constantinople on June 10, 536; the
The Acacian Schism lasted from 484 to 519. During
condemnation was confirmed by edict on August 6.
this time Monophysite opinions hardened in Egypt and
Syria, while the emperor Anastasius (491–518) personally fa-
Severus died at Alexandria in February 538. By that
vored them. The Monophysites found a spokesman in Seve-
time, Justinian, urged on by the papacy, had restored the
rus, a monk from a noble ecclesiastical family in Pisidia who
Chalcedonian line of patriarchs in Alexandria, a factor that
in November 512 was promoted to be patriarch of Antioch.
more than any other associated the Monophysite patriarch
During his six years of rule he evolved a theology based al-
with the Coptic Christians as a national representative of the
most entirely on Cyril’s teachings. Severus’s Christological
Egyptians. Though their patriarch, Theodosius, was ordered
beliefs, expressed repeatedly in tracts and a massive corre-
to Constantinople at the end of 537, the Monophysites,
spondence (of which four thousand letters and fragments
thanks to Theodora, were not without means of reply. A mis-
have survived), might be summed up as follows: “The Fa-
sion under the presbyter Julian was fitted out by the empress
thers have taught us that God, the Word, the Unique One
and arrived in the kingdom of Nobatia (Nubia) to convert
begotten by his Father without beginning, eternally, impass-
the royal court to Monophysite Christianity. Even more ef-
ably, and incorporeally, did in the last times for our salvation
fective was the series of missions carried out by Jacob Baradai
take flesh of the Holy Spirit and of the holy Theotokos and
(Burd’ana), who had been consecrated bishop of Edessa by
ever-virgin Mary, flesh consubstantial with us, animated by
Patriarch Theodosius. Between 542 and his death in 578 he
an intelligent and reasoning soul.” Christ was both God and
crossed and recrossed the whole area between the Bosporus
man, of one single nature; the ideas of Eutyches and Dios-
and the Persian frontier, establishing congregations and a
corus, and the Tome of Leo and the definition of Chalcedon,
Monophysite hierarchy to govern them. The eventual tally
were alike repudiated. In the last years of Anastasius’s reign,
of twenty-seven metropolitans and 100,000 clergy all over
the empire was moving rapidly toward Monophysitism.
the eastern part of the Roman Empire given by Baradai’s
Communion between the four Eastern patriarchates was
contemporary John of Ephesus (d. 585) may be exaggerated,
maintained, at the expense of communion with Rome.
but clearly Baradai’s missions established the Monophysite
church on a permanent footing. Not for nothing did the Syr-
The death of Anastasius in July and the succession of
ian Monophysites take the name Jacobites, which they have
the Latin-speaking and pro-Chalcedonian Justin I (518–
retained to this day.
527) brought about an immediate change. Communion be-
tween Rome and Constantinople was restored in 519. Seve-
On the emperor’s side, the Fifth General Council held
rus was exiled, along with his chief supporter, Philoxenus,
at Constantinople during 553 may be reckoned as another
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONOTHEISM
6155
effort to placate the Monophysites, through its condemna-
Dinkler, Erich, ed. Kunst und Geschichte Nubiens in christlicher
tion of the Three Chapters (treatises criticizing Cyril’s theol-
Zeit. Recklinghausen, 1970.
ogy by the Antiochene theologians Theodore of Mopsuestia
Draguet, René. Julien d’Halicarnasse et sa controverse avec Sévère
and Ibas of Edessa). In 573 Justin II (565–578) issued a sec-
d’Antioche sur l’incorruptibilité du corps de Christ. Louvain,
ond Henotikon, which again stressed the oneness of Christ,
1924.
without, however, repudiating Chalcedon. Under Heraclius
Duchesne, Louis. L’église au sixième siècle. Paris, 1925.
(610–641), what proved to be the final, though at first the
Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of the Monophysite Movement. Cam-
most promising, effort to find a settlement failed. Intrinsical-
bridge, 1979. Includes sources and bibliography.
ly the Monophysites could accept the formula proposed to
Grillmeier, Aloys, and Heinrich Bacht. Das Konzil von Chalkedon:
them by the emperor: that there was one will and one ener-
Geschichte und Gegenwart. 3 vols. Würzburg, 1951–1962.
gizing activity in Christ, even if two natures were confessed.
Contains essays indispensable for studying Monophysitism
For three years following the restoration of the True Cross
and its controversies with Chalcedonian orthodoxy.
in Jerusalem in 630, it looked as though this compromise
Halleaux, André de. Philoxène de Mabbog: Sa vie, ses écrits, sa
doctrine, known as monoenergism, was providing common
théologie. Louvain, 1963.
ground between Monophysites and Chalcedonians. But once
Honigmann, Ernest. “La hiérarchie monophysite au temps de
more, suspicion of any formulas that left a shred of authority
Jacques Baradée, 542–578.” In Évêques et Évêchés monophy-
to Chalcedon, Egyptian distrust of Cyrus “the Caucasian,”
sites d’Asie Antérieure au sixième siècle. Corpus Scriptorum
the emperor’s nominee as patriarch of Alexandria, and clev-
Christianorum Orientalium, no. 127. Louvain, 1951.
erly orchestrated opposition to monoenergism by Sophroni-
Jugie, Martin. “Monophysisme.” In Dictionnaire de théologie
us, patriarch of Jerusalem (634–638), brought the plan to
catholique, vol. 10. Paris, 1929.
nought. When, within a few years, Egypt, Palestine, and
Lebon, Joseph. Le monophysisme sévérien. Louvain, 1909.
Syria were lost to the Arabs, the Monophysites saw the hand
Meyendorff, John. Christ in Eastern Christian Thought. Crest-
of God in their success against the Byzantines.
wood, N. Y., 1975.
By this time, Monophysitism was a missionary faith that
Sarkissian, Karekin. The Council of Chalcedon and the Armenian
had assumed many forms. On the one hand, it rejected out-
Church. London, 1965.
right any idea that the flesh of Christ was liable to suffer-
Schwartz, Eduard. “Codex Vaticanus gr. 1431, eine antichalke-
ing—preached by the followers of Julian of Halicarnassus (fl.
donische Sammlung aus der Zeit Kaiser Zenos.” Abhandlun-
520–530)—that is, acceptance of the views of Eutyches; on
gen der bayerisch Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-
the other, it accepted the theology of Cyril of Alexandria
philologische und historische Klasse 32 (1927): 1–152.
combined with rejection of the Council of Chalcedon as in-
Sellers, R. V. The Council of Chalcedon: A Historical and Doctrinal
compatible with it—represented by the Armenian and Ethi-
Survey. London, 1953.
opian churches. The Coptic church and what is known of
Woodward, E. L. Christianity and Nationalism in the Later Roman
the Nubian church followed Severus of Antioch more closely
Empire. London, 1916.
and seemed to have been more hostile to Chalcedon and the
New Sources
two-nature Christology enunciated in the Tome of Leo. The
Harries, Jill. Sidonius Apollnaris and the Fall of Rome, A.D. 407–
Syrian church looked back to its great protagonist, Jacob
485. Oxford, 1994.
Baradai. Rejection of Chalcedon, on the one hand, and of
Harvey, Susan Ashbrook. Asceticism and Society in Crisis: John of
the two-nature Christology held in the West and by the Nes-
Ephesus and the Lives of the Eastern Saints. Berkeley, 1990.
torians, on the other, has formed the common ground be-
tween various national and regional churches known to other
Kaplan, Steven. The Monastic Holy Man and the Christianization
of Early Solomonic Ethiopia. Wiesbaden, 1984.
traditions as the Monophysite churches. Reluctantly, these
have remained separate from the Eastern Orthodox churches
Torrance, Iain R. Christology after Chalcedon: Severus of Antioch
and from the West to form one of the four main divisions
and Sergious the Monophysite. Norwich, U.K., 1988.
of Christianity that have survived to our day.
W. H. C. FREND (1987)
Revised Bibliography
SEE ALSO Councils, article on Christian Councils; Eastern
Christianity.
MONOTHEISM. Derived from the Greek mono
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(“single”) and theos (“God”), the term monotheism refers to
Atiya, A. S. A History of Eastern Christianity (1969). Reprint, Mill-
the religious experience and the philosophical perception
wood, N. Y., 1980.
that emphasize God as one, perfect, immutable, creator of
Charanis, Peter. Church and State in the Later Roman Empire: The
the world from nothing, distinct from the world, all-
Religious Policy of Anastasius I, 491–518. Madison, Wis.,
powerfully involved in the world, personal, and worthy of
1939.
being worshiped by all creatures. Some forms of monothe-
Devreesse, Robert. Le patriarchat d’Antioche depuis la Paix de
ism, however, differ about the notions of God as distinct
l’Église jusqu’à la conquête arabe. Paris, 1945.
from the world and as personal.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6156
MONOTHEISM
The term monotheism has generally been used theologi-
gods and spirits who play a much more active role in the lives
cally rather than for philosophical or cross-cultural descrip-
of the people.
tions of religion. Philosophers have used the term theism with
the same meaning as monotheism, and cross-cultural descrip-
The streams of the monotheistic vision run dimly
tions find categories like monotheism and polytheism to be in-
through the fertile valleys of archaic agricultural religions
appropriate in describing some religious traditions. The term
with their pluralistic experience of the forces of nature cen-
monotheism presupposes the idea of theos—a divine being
tered on Mother Earth. Here the high god tends to become
with mind and will, fully personal, conceivable in images
head of the divine pantheon; pushed into the background by
drawn from human life, and approachable through prayer.
earth gods of fecundity, the high god could hardly be the
In this respect monotheism differs from deism and from the
focus of a unifying perception of deity. But a few high gods
various forms of monism. It also presupposes the unity of the
developed with supreme sovereignty and autonomy, as
divine and raises one theos exclusively to absolute supremacy
sources of fecundating power and guarantors of the order
and power, producing and governing everything according
and norms of the world and of human society. For example,
to the divine will. In this respect monotheism differs from
Zeus and Jupiter were ruling high gods fashioned in accord
those views that accept a plurality of divine beings. In the
with the Greek and Roman notions of norm and law. In
strict sense, monotheism best describes the idea of God in Ju-
India, Varun:a was sovereign guardian of r:ta, cosmic order,
daism, Christianity, and Islam, and in the philosophical sys-
a role taken over later by the great gods Vis:n:u and S´iva. Yah-
tems based on these traditions. But one may extend the term
veh, the high god of the ancient Hebrews, was known as all-
to include conceptions of deity in certain other traditions
powerful creator, absolute sovereign, and author of all norms
such as Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and some forms of Hindu-
and laws by which the earth functions. Belief in these high
ism and Buddhism, even though these traditions include
gods did not necessarily exclude lesser divine forces, but it
somewhat different conceptions, such as the existence of evil
did provide the opportunity for reflections on the unity of
forces alongside God, the nonpersonal nature of God, God’s
divine reality, as will be seen in the following examples from
complete immanence in the world, or the fundamental unre-
ancient Greece, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
ality of the world. In this article, the basic requirement for
Greek religion. Among Greek thinkers, ideas of a uni-
a religious tradition to be considered monotheistic is that it
tary divine reality were expressed as a means of showing the
emphasize both theos and monos.
order and reasonableness of the world. Already in pre-
MONOTHEISM IN RELIGIOUS HISTORY. Whereas monothe-
Socratic times, it seems, philosophers like Xenophanes de-
ism is most often associated with the Jewish, Christian, and
picted the spiritual unity of the whole world in the notion
Islamic religions and philosophies, tendencies contributing
of the All-One, uncreated, unchangeable, and immanent in
toward a monotheistic outlook have long been present in
all things. Plato stressed the unity of the Good and identified
human religious history. Monotheism is like a river with
God with that: God must be perfectly good, changeless, and
many springs and many tributaries. The course of the river
the maker of the best possible world. Aristotle also made the
is difficult to map, for monotheistic beliefs are often put for-
idea of goodness central to his concept of God, the causal
ward in protest against other beliefs and practices.
principle of all. The unicity of the supreme First Mover fol-
lows from the unity of the physical world: God is one, eter-
Obscure as they are, springs of monotheism can be dis-
nal, and immutable. God is defined as pure mind (nous),
cerned at the very earliest levels of known human cultural
who always thinks one and the same subject, namely him-
life, in the primordial high god of the archaic hunters. The
self—and thus this view is not really theism. Later in the Hel-
theory of Urmonotheismus (“original monotheism”) as put
lenistic religions, the sense of God’s unicity was expressed by
forth by Wilhelm Schmidt and others held that a primordial
raising one god or goddess to supremacy, encompassing all
monotheism was the earliest form of human perception of
others. For example, Apuleius described Isis as the one Great
deity, and that the plurality of gods and spirits found in most
Mother of all, by whatever name she may be called in differ-
primal religions was a degeneration from this original per-
ent areas (Metamorphoses 11).
ception. While that theory cannot be substantiated in the
history of religions, research in recent years has made it clear
Hinduism. Hinduism is characterized by monistic (ad-
that a great many primal or archaic peoples have conceptions
vaita, or nondualistic) thought, which merges the divine re-
of a high god who is creator of the world, has supreme au-
ality with the world in a unity called brahman. Here the uni-
thority over other gods and spirits, and presides over human
fying principle is strong, but the theistic quality of the
morality. Some of the most archaic peoples, such as certain
unified divine reality is of lesser importance. There have al-
groups in Africa, Australian Aborigines, and the nomadic
ways been theistic tendencies in Hinduism, but these have
hunters of Tierra del Fuego, have definite conceptions of a
been associated with a variety of divine beings. Yet intense
supreme god associated with the sky who is changeless, invis-
concerns of bhakti (devotion to a god) have sometimes led
ible, and all-powerful and who gives morality. The supreme
Hindus to raise up one god as supreme ruler, or to see the
high god characteristically is a remote god (deus otiosus), too
various gods as manifestations of one God. “They call it
distant, all-powerful, good, and just to need worship or to
Indra, Mitra, Varun:a, and Agni . . .; but the real is one, al-
be intimately involved in ordinary existence; there are lesser
though the sages give different names” (R:gveda 1.169).
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Among Vais:n:avas, Vis:n:u tends to become all, and the same
one God who, to implement the divine will in the world, as-
is true of S´iva among S´aivas. Kr:s:n:a, avata¯ra of Vis:n:u, can
sociates with the six Amesha Spentas (“holy immortals”),
be put forth as the supreme God behind all names: “Many
spirits or angels that represent moral attitudes and principles.
are the paths people follow, but they all in the end come to
Ahura Mazda¯, the Wise Lord, is good, just, and moral, one
me” (Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ 4.11). One theistic strand in Hinduism
who creates only good things and gives only blessings to wor-
identifies ultimate reality with Dev¯ı, the Great Goddess, in
shipers. The one God is sovereign over history, working out
one of her many forms. Thus Hinduism does recognize the
the divine plan for the world. Humans are to assist God
oneness of the divine, and it includes theistic forms of wor-
through upright deeds, and there will be a final judgment in
ship, even worship of one God exclusively, without denying
which every soul will be judged to see if it is worthy of enter-
the reality of other gods.
ing Paradise. Conflict is accounted for as the hostility of two
Buddhism. Buddhism, like Hinduism, is based on mo-
primordial spirits: Spenta Mainyu, the good spirit, and
nistic or nondualistic thought and posits only an inferior role
Angra Mainyu (Pahl., Ahriman), the evil spirit. Ahura
for those born at the level of gods, trapped as they are like
Mazda¯ apparently fathered these two spirits; the struggle be-
all living beings in the cycles of rebirth. But in Maha¯ya¯na
tween them has been going on since the beginning of time,
Buddhism, the idea has arisen that beings who have realized
when they chose between good and evil. It appears, then,
their Buddhahood (that is, Buddhas and bodhisattvas) can
that Ahura Mazda¯ cannot be called omnipotent, for the
function similarly to gods in theistic religions. Generally
realm of evil is beyond his control; in that sense it may be
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism holds to the multiplicity of these pow-
said that this is not a complete monotheism. Yet there is no
erful beings, but in certain schools one such Buddha be-
doubt that Zoroastrianism considers the realm of Ahura
comes supreme and is worshiped exclusively. Such is the case
Mazda¯ to be ultimately victorious. Further, in this eschato-
with Amita¯bha (Jpn., Amida) Buddha in Pure Land Bud-
logical religion the conflict between good and evil is under-
dhism, a soteriological monolatry offering the one hope of
stood not so much metaphysically as ethically, involving the
salvation for this degenerate age. Esoteric (Vajraya¯na) Bud-
free choice of humans either for the rule of the Wise Lord
dhism has developed a unified cosmotheism, according to
or for that of Angra Mainyu. It is true that later Zoroastrian-
which the whole universe is the body of Maha¯vairocana, the
ism brought some of the other gods back into the picture
Great Sun Buddha, with all Buddhas and bodhisattvas—and
again. But in the teaching of Zarathushtra in the Ga¯tha¯s is
thus all reality—united in this supreme Buddha-reality.
found a unique type of monotheism with an ethico-dualistic
accent and an eschatological monotheistic fulfillment.
Egyptian religion. One of the earliest forms of exclu-
sive monotheism apparently developed in ancient Egypt.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The three religions
Within the elaborate and complicated polytheism of Egyp-
that generally are held to be the full expressions of monothe-
tian religion there had long been rationalistic tendencies to-
ism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, also arose against the
ward seeing various gods as different forms of one particular
background of the polytheism of the ancient Near East.
God, with an emphasis on the supremacy of the Sun God,
These three religions are closely related in that they grew
who tended to absorb other gods. Around 1375 BCE Pharoah
from the Semitic cultural background and the foundations
Amunhotep IV repudiated the authority of the old gods and
of the religion of ancient Israel.
their priests and devoted himself exclusively to Aton, the god
Although it was the fountainhead of this type of mono-
appearing as the sun disk. He proclaimed himself the son of
theism, the religion of ancient Israel was not actually mono-
Aton, taking the name Akhenaton (“devoted to Aton”), and
theistic in early times. Stories of the patriarch Abraham show
he imposed this worship on others. By royal decree Aton be-
that he worshiped the Canaanite high god DEl in a variety of
came the only God who exists, king not only of Egypt but
forms in addition to the god of the clan, and when the people
of the whole world, embodying in his character and essence
of Israel entered into a covenant with the high god Yahveh
all the attributes of the other gods. Akhenaton even had the
they did not exclude the existence of other gods. One might
names of the other gods effaced from inscriptions and re-
call early Israelite religion henotheistic or monolatrous in the
placed with the name of Aton. Akhenaton’s monotheism was
sense that exclusive loyalty was to be given to Yahveh, but
related to protest against abuses in the cults of the gods, but
Yahveh’s power was limited because other nations had their
it does not appear to have led to new ethical standards. With-
own gods. Some Israelites lived with a polytheistic vision,
in twenty-five years Akhenaton was gone, and his successors
giving loyalty to Yahveh as the god of the covenant but also
restored the old cults.
worshiping BaDal and the other gods of fecundity as they set-
Zoroastrianism. Growing from the ancient Indo-
tled in Canaan and became agriculturalists. But the covenant
Iranian polytheistic religion, Zoroastrianism unified all di-
relationship with Yahveh contained the seeds of monothe-
vine reality in the high god Ahura Mazda¯. Zarathushtra (Zo-
ism; the Israelites experienced Yahveh as personal, being re-
roaster), who probably lived sometime between 1700 and
vealed in historical events and demanding exclusive loyalty
1000 BCE, was a priest who turned against some of the tradi-
and ethical behavior according to the covenant law. Prophets
tional cultic rituals and proclaimed the overthrow of polythe-
arose who challenged the polytheistic notion that various
ism. In his teaching, Ahura Mazda¯ (Pahl., O
¯ hrmazd) is the
gods controlled the functions of nature. Elijah and Hosea,
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for example, held that it is only Yahveh who has power in
control specific spheres, and interact with one another to
all areas of existence, as the creator of all and the one God
make up a functioning organism. The functioning of nature
who sends corn at the harvest and wine at the vintage. Just
is seen as the operation of a plurality of divine wills, and this
as polytheistic ideas were overcome, the prophets also strug-
plurality and conflict are extended to human life and society.
gled to overcome the limitations of a henotheistic view of
Typically there is a head of the pantheon, but this high god
God. At one time it was accepted that one could not worship
is limited in power and authority and often is thought of as
Yahveh outside the land of Israel. But Amos insisted that the
old or impotent.
one God, Yahveh, had not only brought Israel out of Egypt,
Monotheism distinguishes itself from the various forms
but had also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the
of polytheism in that the whole realm of divine power is uni-
Arameans from Kir (Amos 9:7). And Second Isaiah, the
fied, with no conflicting wills or limitations. God has unlim-
prophet of the Babylonian exile, went so far as to describe
ited authority and power but still is theos, possessing personal
Cyrus II, the mighty king of the Medes and Persians, as “the
will and relationship to the world. The plural forces are seen
anointed one of Yahveh” whom Yahveh had taken by the
as qualities and attributes of God or as subservient beings of
hand (Is. 45:1). In the vision of these prophets, Yahveh is no
the created world. In the monotheistic view, God transcends
tribal god sharing power with other nations’ gods but is in
the world of nature and human society; the world is not the
fact the universal creator of all and the director of the history
locus of divine power, for God is the universal creator of ev-
of all peoples, according to Yahveh’s own design.
erything out of nothing (ex nihilo). Humans find value and
Jews, Christians, and Muslims drew on the fundamental
integration of meaning by realizing their common creature-
monotheistic vision of ancient Israel, each group filling out
hood and serving this one universal God. Revelation from
the picture of God with colorings and shapes drawn from its
God is the source of unified, universal meaning.
own particular culture. The dimensions of the Jewish, Chris-
tian, and Muslim type of monotheism will be discussed at
Related to polytheism is what F. Max Müller called
more length below.
henotheism and what others have called monolatry: worship-
ing one god at a time or raising up one most powerful God
Sikhism. One more expression of monotheism should
as the only one to be worshiped. The other gods, while real,
be mentioned in this religio-historical survey: Sikhism. Start-
are downgraded before this supreme God. Monolatry means
ing with Guru¯ Na¯nak (1469–1539 CE), an Indian type of
one God is worshiped as supreme, though the lesser gods of
monotheism developed that synthesizes the mystical mono-
other peoples are recognized. Henotheism (kathenotheism)
theistic tendency found in Hinduism and the ethical, person-
would be the view that different gods can be worshiped as
al monotheism brought into India by Islam. In Guru¯
the supreme God one at a time without implying that the
Na¯nak’s teaching, there is only one God, who is immortal,
other gods do not exist.
unborn, self-existent, creator of all the universe, omniscient,
formless, just, and loving. God is both transcendent as pure
In contrast to monolatry and henotheism, monotheism
potentiality and immanent as world-embodiment. Thus
universalizes the power and authority of the one God exclu-
God is contained in everything. God is personal but is be-
sively, for even sharing power with lesser gods would be a
yond complete knowledge, to be worshiped mainly in rituals
limitation that cannot apply. Monotheism is intrinsically
of repeating his name. Revelation comes through guru¯s who
universal, transcending tribal or nationalistic limitations; the
speak the divine word. Humans attain heaven or hell at the
one God has authority and power over all peoples, friends
end of a lifetime, although they are involved in many rounds
and enemies alike. And monotheism refuses the henotheistic
of births and deaths. Final salvation for humans is nirva¯n:a,
idea that one god can be worshiped as supreme at one time
absorption into God’s being like water blending with water.
and another at another time, although it does allow for the
experience of various aspects of the one God at different
Summing up this cross-cultural religio-historical survey,
times.
it is clear that monotheism has arisen in a number of ways.
In some areas it came through rationalization, seeing the
A form of thought close to monotheism but still related
logic of unified divine power. In other traditions, mystical
to polytheism and henotheism is theistic dualism. Typically,
experience of everything as one and unified with the divine
this experience of the divine reality separates out the hurtful
gave rise to monotheistic expressions. In still other traditions,
or evil elements and associates these with another divine
historical experiences of one powerful, personal God led to-
power, thus setting up a divine struggle with echoes in
ward formulations of monotheistic belief.
human life. One unified supreme God is posited as the good
divine force, and the source of evil can be thought of as many
MONOTHEISM IN CONTRAST TO NONMONOTHEISTIC
beings or as one evil being.
VIEWS. Monotheism often arises in opposition to other views
of divine reality. One of the most obvious contexts against
Strictly speaking, monotheism does not allow the one
which monotheism defines itself is a plurality of divine be-
God to be limited even by the causes of destruction and evil;
ings or forces, which is commonly called polytheism. Central
these causes cannot be divine forces outside the will of the
to polytheism is the notion of theoi, personal divine beings
one God. Ultimately the one God must be the source of all
within nature and society. These gods have personal wills,
reality and all events, including those that humans experi-
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ence as evil and destructive. Some forms of monotheistic
by a certain type, its particular coloration may be affected by
thought do allow for evil beings as creatures of God, permit-
hues drawn from other types. Further, monotheistic thought
ted to cause destruction and evil for various purposes within
focuses especially on the theoretical or verbal dimension of
the overall authority of the one God. But these demons, dev-
religious experience. In moving to the practical and the social
ils, and satans are only part of the panorama of human exis-
spheres one encounters a variety of phenomena that at times
tence, and they cannot limit or act against God’s power, au-
may not be distinctively monotheistic. Worship, law, cus-
thority, and will.
toms, and social forms may show striking parallels in differ-
ent religions without regard to the theoretical stance on mo-
Monism in the history of religions refers to a broad cate-
notheism, polytheism, or monism. For example, visual
gory of thought and experience that emphasizes the oneness
images of the divine reality are used in Christianity as well
or unity of all reality, so that no ontological separation exists
as in Hinduism, but not in Islam or Judaism—and also not
between the divine and the world itself. All reality, including
in polytheistic Shinto¯. Some Muslim mosques are as bare
humans, share in the divine nature. Hindus and Buddhists
and simple as Buddhist meditation centers, while some
have preferred the term nondualism, emphasizing that multi-
Christian churches gleam with golden brocade, candles, im-
plicity arises from a single basis, and that there is no ultimate
ages, and saints that rival Hindu or Daoist temples. Orders
duality between self and other. Monism and nondualism
of priests, monks, and nuns bring some Christian groups
tend to be nontheistic, for qualities of personal will and oth-
close to Buddhism, while the rabbi and imam of Jews and
erness from the world do not fit this perception of the divine.
Muslims resemble more the learned teacher of a Hindu ash-
The world is not what it appears to be in the multiplicity of
ram. The veneration of saints in some sectors of Islam and
one’s perceptions. Rather, either the world is in essence one
Christianity appears similar to the veneration of spiritual be-
divine reality, or it is fundamentally an illusion, or it consists
ings in traditional African religions, but other sectors of
of forms and expressions that emanate from the one divine
Islam and Christianity strongly reject these practices. Thus
source. Further, monism and nondualism tend to be nonhis-
care needs to be taken in setting up a monotheistic typology,
torical, in the sense that a cyclical rhythm of time expresses
so that religious traditions are not fitted in too tightly, doing
the experience of the one divine reality. The religious path
damage to the integrity and richness of the particular reli-
is one of mystical discipline and meditation, bringing pro-
gion.
gressively higher stages of knowledge and ultimate liberation
in union with the one divine reality. Of course, provision is
The following typology of dominant emphases in the
made for theistic practices at the lower levels of spiritual per-
monotheistic religions includes elements from some religious
fection.
traditions that may not be fully monotheistic, yet they all put
forth the two essential ingredients of monotheism: monos
Monotheism distinguishes itself from the various forms
and theos.
of monism and nondualism by positing a definite separation
between the one divine reality and the world that God
Monarchic monotheism. Monarchic monotheism, the
brought into existence. In this sense there is a dualistic em-
belief in one God who rules over many gods, is close to poly-
phasis in monotheism, for there are two distinct realms of
theism and grows out of a cosmic religious context. One high
reality, the divine and the created world. Only God is eternal
God rises to supreme authority and unlimited power, forcing
and transcendent, having created the world out of nothing
the other powers to total submission. Akhenaton’s monothe-
(ex nihilo). At the same time, most forms of monotheism
istic movement in ancient Egypt was of this type; and Yah-
hold God not only as transcendent but also as immanent in
vism in early Israel displays this form, with Yahveh pictured
the world: God’s presence, power, and operation are imme-
as “a great king above all the gods” (Ps. 95:3). The attitude
diately present in human experience. The world is a creature,
that subjugates other religions and imposes a monolithic sys-
real and good as part of God’s design. Revelation from God
tem on all may be a result of this type of monotheism.
is important as guidance; prophetic and devotional emphases
A subtype of monarchic monotheism would be dualistic
predominate over the mystical and meditative ones. God is
monotheism: one God opposed against evil forces. In this
a personal theos who confronts one in historical existence as
view there is one ruler God, all-good and all-just, who tends
an Other, to whom one relates through obedience and ser-
to become distant, watching over the struggle within exis-
vice. And God works in the history of the world, directing
tence in which evil divine forces play a part. The distinctive
events toward an eschaton in which there will be evaluation
quality of this type of monotheism is that it takes evil away
and judgment. History has a beginning and an end, and God
from the being of the one God, accounting for it through
transcends it all.
demons or devils. Zoroastrianism is a classic example of dual-
DIMENSIONS OF MONOTHEISTIC BELIEF AND PRACTICE. In
istic monotheism: although the one God, Ahura Mazda¯, is
setting up a typology of monotheism to show the ideal types
supreme, the evil spirit Angra Mainyu struggles throughout
toward which the various monotheistic religious traditions
the history of the world, to be overcome only at the end.
seem to point, it is important to realize that even within one
Popular forms of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have
tradition there will be different experiences and philosophies
sometimes approached this type of dualistic monotheism
of monotheism. Thus, while a tradition may be dominated
with ideas of Satan or the devil defying God’s will, although
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generally these religions see the evil one as a creature permit-
tion of God’s own being, a reflection of the divine, while
ted by the one God to perform evil within creation. The
maintaining a view of God as distinct from the world.
struggle between God and evil forces can be seen as a cosmic
Historical ethical monotheism. Historical ethical mo-
struggle, as in the Hindu Pura¯n:as, in which demonic powers
notheism, the belief in one God guiding the historical de-
arise anew in each new age and Vis:n:u is incarnated anew in
sign, characteristically describes God as personal, having a
an avata¯ra to do battle and realign the cosmic order. Some
will for the historical design of the world, guiding all events
traditions in Judaism and Christianity describe God’s strug-
as the creator, separate from the world yet immanently in-
gle with Satan or the Antichrist as taking place on a trans-
volved in human history as the God whose law governs all,
historical, cosmic plane. More commonly, however, dualistic
who gives value to all and holds all accountable at the end
monotheism has strong ties to the historical plane of human
of history, and who is revealed through pivotal prophets,
existence and provides an ethical dimension for human in-
events, and scriptures. Humans are expected to follow God’s
volvement in God’s struggle against evil.
design by establishing goodness and justice in human society.
Emanational mystical monotheism. Emanational
God makes total demands, controls political history, is intol-
mystical monotheism may be divided into two subtypes: the
erant of other gods or other ultimate commitments, and is
worship of one God through many gods, or the worship of
to be worshiped by all exclusively.
one God as the world soul. The first subtype, congenial espe-
Zoroastrianism contains most of these monotheistic fea-
cially to a monistic context, recognizes many gods but sees
tures, although it makes the dualism of good and evil central
them as emanations of the one divine source, which is con-
to the conception of the divine and thereby assigns some lim-
ceived of in theistic terms. Some ancient Greeks rationalized
its to the power of God. Sikhism also contains many of the
the plurality of the gods in relation to a particular supreme
features of ethical monotheism, but it gives central place to
high god in this way. Hindu theistic cults sometimes offer
a cyclical view of existence and the goal of mystical absorp-
this explanation of the relation of the many gods to the one
tion into God.
great god worshiped in that cult. Vis:n:u, for example, can also
The family of religions made up of Judaism, Christiani-
be worshiped in many avata¯ras and with many different
ty, and Islam most fully expresses this type of monotheism
names. Another example would be Esoteric (Vajraya¯na) Bud-
and places it at the center of religious thought and practice.
dhism, in which all Buddhas and bodhisattvas can be seen as
Each of these three traditions also adds its particular hue to
emanations of the Great Sun Buddha, Maha¯vairocana.
the universal monotheistic vision. Judaism places a strong
Another type of monotheism related to the monistic
emphasis on the personal character of God, encountered in
worldview is the mystical view of the one God as the world
an “I-Thou” relationship and providing an ethical design for
soul. This type of monotheism holds that there is one per-
life as spelled out in the Torah and Talmud. The universal
sonal theos who is not sharply separate from the world but
character of the one God is seen as turned toward human-
rather is the creative divine force in everything. Again, the
kind, especially in the very specific form of the covenant rela-
great theistic cults of Hinduism and Buddhism often show
tionship with the Jews as “chosen people.” The particular na-
this type. For example, Ra¯ma¯nuja’s “Qualified Nondualism”
ture of this covenant and its demands does not negate God’s
holds Vis:n:u to be the absolute, supreme God to whom the
universality, in the Jewish view. God’s design for the world
worshiper relates in bhakti as qualitatively different from the
is to be fulfilled especially through the covenant with the
worshiper himself; yet Vis:n:u and the worshiper are united
Jews and thus a great responsibility is placed on them. Fur-
as soul and body are united. In the theistic Kr:s:n:a cults, Kr:s:n:a
ther, all non-Jews who fulfill in their lives the basic human
as the supreme personality of God can be experienced as dif-
principles known as the “seven commandments of the chil-
ferent from the world, yet in the highest mystical experiences
dren of Noah” will have a share in the life of the world to
these differences fade away and Kr:s:n:a becomes all, as ex-
come. Thus the religion of Judaism expresses a universal mo-
pressed in Arjuna’s vision (Bhagavadg¯ıta¯, chap. 11). Sikhism
notheism that focuses on God’s particular relationship to hu-
is a monotheism that emphasizes God as absolute creator,
mans through the covenant with the Jews.
self-sufficient and unchanging; yet God is embodied in the
Christians have modulated historical ethical monothe-
world, and the believer who finally reaches nirva¯n:a becomes
ism into concrete, existential terms by emphasizing the per-
absorbed in God. Sikh monotheism, like Hindu monotheis-
sonal character of the one God revealed in human history.
tic forms, tends to be nonhistorical, looking on existence as
Resisting tendencies of tritheism, Christian tradition has
a countless series of cycles until finally the separation is over-
worked out a triunity that makes God concretely immanent
come and the worshiper achieves complete union with the
in this world as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Central to this
one God. Certain mystical movements within Judaism,
vision is the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ,
Christianity, and Islam have also approached this type of
a historical particularization of the universal God that pro-
monotheism without displaying the ahistorical feature. For
vides a pivot for all of human history and points to the fulfill-
example, the “panentheism” (“everything is in God”) of S:u¯f¯ı
ment of God’s whole design in the eschaton. Christians insist
mystics like Ibn al-EArab¯ı (1165–1240 CE) or of medieval
that their Christology is monotheistic; Christ is one sub-
Jewish mystics tended to see the whole universe as an emana-
stance (homoousios) with God the Father. Jews and Muslims,
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6161
of course, find this doctrine of the incarnation of God in
change, sensuality, nature, feeling, and femininity. Disillu-
Christ to be out of line with their understanding of mono-
sioned by the effects of secularism, thinkers such as Alain de
theism.
Benoist and Manuel de Diéguez blame monotheistic ideolo-
gy for suppressing human freedom and forcing people to
Muslims have made the unity (taw:h¯ıd) of God the cen-
adopt atheism as the only alternative. They seek a neopagan
tral statement of their confession of faith: “There is no god
resurgence as a new location of the sacred in the plurality and
but God.” Islam puts forth a very radical monotheism in in-
freedom of human life rather than in the monolithic totali-
sisting on the utter transcendence and sovereignty of God,
tarian rule of monotheism. David Miller likewise has sug-
all-powerful in every aspect of the universe, to be likened to
gested that monotheism can no longer sustain and provide
nothing. The greatest sin is shirk, associating anything else
creativity for modern culture, calling for a return to the cre-
with God. The universal God is particularized in Islam by
ative sources of polytheism.
making the Qur’a¯n the concrete revelation by which God re-
lates to all humans and gives them guidance. While the final
Without surveying all the recent reinterpretations of the
revelation came through the prophet Muh:ammad, it is in-
idea of monotheism among philosophers and theologians,
tended for all humans in all ages as their guide to the ethical
several lines of thought may be mentioned here. In general,
life and to the blessings that God intends for faithful crea-
theologians and other thinkers have attempted to be more
tures.
careful in the use of conventional dualisms like monotheism-
polytheism, personal-impersonal, and transcendent-
CURRENT REFLECTIONS ON MONOTHEISM. Monotheism is
immanent, recognizing that religious traditions, including
the long-established religious tradition in the cultures in-
those labeled monotheistic, are complex and embody ele-
formed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but still a con-
ments from both sides of these conceptual dualities. For ex-
siderable amount of searching and rethinking goes on. Phi-
ample, feeling that the traditional view of God as personal
losophers and theologians continue to draw out the
tends to make God another being in additional to those
implications of the monotheistic vision for thought and soci-
known in the world, John Macquarrie and Paul Tillich speak
ety. For example, an influential work by H. Richard Nie-
of the divine reality as “Being” or the “Ground of Being,”
buhr, Radical Monotheism and Western Culture (New York,
avoiding pantheism but holding God to be not one being but
1960), argues that modern society tends toward henotheism,
the source of all being.
making one particular society into the center of value and
the object of loyalty; in contrast, radical monotheism has as
The movement known as process philosophy or theolo-
its reference the One, beyond all the many, from whom all
gy has attempted to move to a via media between an untena-
reality receives its value. Contemporary Jewish and Muslim
ble unipolar theism in which God is immutable and com-
writers have also stressed radical monotheism as a critique of
pletely separate from the world, and an equally untenable
the polytheistic or henotheistic tendencies of modern society.
pantheism. Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hart-
shorne maintain that God includes and penetrates the world,
Modern thinkers have also been wrestling with some of
while still being distinct from the being of the world. This
the central characteristics of traditional monotheism that
bipolar view sees God as infinite personal existence and thus
seem to be problematic. Difficulties revolve around issues
independent of the actual world in abstract identity but in-
such as God’s personality, God’s immutability, God’s strict
cluding the actual world in concrete existence. God is the
separation from the world, the theocratic overtones of mono-
source of love and the cause of nature’s order and has an
theism, its patriarchal associations, its seeming suppression
overall design for the world. Since God is personal, change
of human freedom, and its supposed tendency toward exclu-
and growth take place in God as well as in the world.
sion and violence toward others. Recent critiques of tradi-
Many Christian theologians, like Jürgen Moltmann and
tional monotheism have come particularly from analyses of
Colin Gunton, recognizing the problems with a monarchi-
the type of ideology and society associated with monotheism.
cal, patriarchal monotheism, stress God’s liberating relation
In 1935 Erik Peterson, in an treatise called Der Monotheismus
to humans by reemphasizing the trinitarian conception—
als politisches Problem (Leipzig, 1935), described monothe-
though such emphasis widens the gulf between Christian
ism as a political ideology linked with the notion of divine
thought and that of Judaism and Islam. Feminist thinkers
kingship and leading to totalitarianism, and this line of criti-
have produced far-reaching reinterpretations of monothe-
cism has recently been renewed. For example, Regina M.
ism, making extensive use of feminine experiences and sym-
Schwartz in The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Mono-
bols. For example, Elizabeth Johnson re-envisions the patri-
theism provides a strong indictment of traditional monothe-
archal God and the attendant hierarchical world order by a
ism for the way it has supported various forms of oppression
theology “from below,” drawing on women’s life experiences
and violence. Feminist thinkers, especially in the Christian
and focusing on the biblical Sophia (Wisdom) tradition as
and Jewish traditions, have criticized monotheism as a model
a way of bringing out feminine aspects and qualities of God.
of the highest form of patriarchal power and authority; in
monotheism, God is imaged as male, omnipotent with uni-
Some scholars continue to defend the value of the tradi-
lateral power and authority over the world, separate and au-
tional monotheistic perspective. For example, Bernard-
tonomous, exclusive, and opposed to everything related to
Henri Lévy turns to the Jewish tradition to show that the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6162
MONOTHEISM
monotheistic ideal of eternal, universal law actually has a lib-
lical Israel: A Reexamination of the Origins of Monotheism (At-
erating function, safeguarding against totalitarianism and all
lanta, 2002); and Robert Karl Gnuse, No Other Gods: Emer-
the idols of nature, ideology, and the state. In contrast to the
gent Monotheism in Israel (Sheffield, 1997). The Jewish
criticism that monotheism represses human freedom and
rabbinic conception of the oneness of God is presented by
creativity, Lenn Goodman draws on Jewish and Islamic phi-
Louis Jacobs in A Jewish Theology (New York, 1973). A
losophy to bring out the interplay of human values and the
forceful exposition of monotheism in the Jewish view is
found in Abraham Heschel’s Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy
idea of monotheism, arguing that the monotheistic idea of
of Religion (New York, 1951). Paul Tillich presents a mono-
God illuminates one’s social, moral, cultural, and aesthetic
theistic theology related to his view of God as the “Ground
life and guides one toward a genuinely humanistic phi-
of Being” in his Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Chicago, 1951).
losophy.
Radical Monotheism and Western Civilization (New York,
This ongoing discussion makes it clear that monotheis-
1960) by H. Richard Niebuhr has been very influential in
tic thought, while often challenged by and in tension with
discussing the relevance of monotheism for Christian societal
ideals. The central importance of the unity of God in Islam
alternate and modified religious understandings, is still cen-
is presented by Muh:ammad EAbduh in The Theology of Unity
tral to most of the Western world and will continue to be
(London, 1966). The articles in Islamic Spirituality: Founda-
a dominant mode of experiencing and expressing the divine
tions, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (New York, 1987), look
reality.
at the oneness of God in relation to many other aspects of
Muslim spiritual experience. A rich sampling of philosophi-
SEE ALSO Deism; Dualism; Henotheism; Monism; Theism;
cal ideas about God, with a typology of theistic views, is
Transcendence and Immanence.
found in Charles Hartshorne and William L. Reese’s Philoso-
phers Speak of God (Chicago, 1953). H. P. Owen surveys the
B
various philosophical approaches to God as he defends tradi-
IBLIOGRAPHY
The classic study that marshaled much evidence for an Urmono-
tional theism in Concepts of Deity (New York, 1971).
theismus among archaic peoples is Wilhelm Schmidt’s Der
Among many critical views of traditional monotheism, Regina M.
Ursprung der Gottesidee: Eine historisch-kritische und positive
Schwartz, The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Monothe-
Studie, 12 vols. (Münster, 1912–1955); although Schmidt’s
ism (Chicago, 1997), presents a strong discussion of the rela-
theory is no longer accepted, much of the material is still use-
tionship of monotheism to various forms of violence and op-
ful. John S. Mbiti gathers and synthesizes concepts about the
pression. Material on feminist critiques of traditional theistic
unity of the high god from all over Africa in Concepts of God
concepts can be found in Rosemary R. Ruether’s Sexism and
in Africa (New York, 1970). Arvind Sharma, Classical Hindu
God Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology (Boston, 1983), and
Thought: An Introduction (New Delhi, 2000), discusses the
in Judith Plaskow, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a
tendencies toward monotheism alongside monism in Hindu
Feminist Perspective (New York, 1990). Thinkers as different
thought and practice; and Tracy Pintchman, The Rise of the
as Alain de Benoist, Comment peut-on être païen? (Paris,
Goddess in the Hindu Tradition (Albany, N. Y., 1994), shows
1981), and David L. Miller, The New Polytheism: Rebirth of
that various forms of the great Goddess often become a uni-
the Gods and Goddesses (New York, 1974, revised ed. 1981),
fying focus in the theistic traditions. Paul Williams,
suggest that monotheism fails to provide freedom and reli-
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (London,
gious creativity for the modern age and a return to polythe-
1989), describes tendencies in Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism to raise
ism is needed. Jan Assmann, in Moses the Egyptian: The Mem-
one or another form of the Buddha to supreme status. Ra-
ory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (Cambridge, 1997),
jinder Kaur Rohi, Semitic and Sikh Monotheism: A Compara-
shows how the idea of monotheism fostered the dichotomy
tive Study (Patiala, 1999), explores monotheism in the Sikh
of true religion and false religion in Western intellectual his-
tradition.
tory, while alternate forms of cultural memory more favor-
Erik Hornung, Akhenaten and the Religion of Light (translated by
able to ancient Egypt continued to persist. And Rodney
David Lorton; Ithaca, N. Y., 1999), examines Akhenaten’s
Stark, in his One True God: Historical Consequences of Mono-
brief monotheistic era in ancient Egypt. Tendencies toward
theism (Princeton, N. J., 2001), presents a far-ranging discus-
a monotheistic view in Greece, Rome, and the Near East are
sion of the historical and sociological repercussions, both
described in Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity, edited by
negative and positive, that monotheism has had in Western
Polymnia Athanassiadi and Maichael Frede (Oxford, 1999);
culture.
and John Peter Kenney, Mystical Monotheism: A Study in An-
Presenting monotheism in a positive view, Bernard-Henri Lévy in
cient Platonic Theology (Hanover, N. H. 1991). Peter Clark,
Le testament de Dieu (Paris, 1979) attempts to show that the
Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith (Brigh-
monotheistic ideal of a universal moral law can be a liberat-
ton, U. K., 1998), discusses the unique interplay of dualistic
ing safeguard against all forms of totalitarianism. Monothe-
and monotheistic ideas within Zoroastrianism.
ism, edited by Claude Geffré and Jean-Pierre Jossua (Edin-
William F. Albright’s From the Stone Age to Christianity: Monothe-
burgh, 1985), is devoted to the theological discussion of the
ism and the Historical Process, 2d ed. (Garden City, N. Y.,
criticisms of monotheism and the need to rethink and renew
1957), is a well-known study of the development of mono-
this theological concept. Jürgen Moltmann counters oppres-
theism in ancient Israel viewed against the background of an-
sive monarchical monotheism with a liberating trinitarian
cient Near Eastern cultures. Two studies emphasizing that
model of God in The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine
the development of monotheism in Israel was a long and
of God (London, 1981); and Colin E. Gunton, The One, the
complex process are Stanley Rosenbaum, Understanding Bib-
Three and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Moder-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONSTERS
6163
nity (Cambridge, 1993), argues that both trinitarian and mo-
monster is therefore retrojected into cosmogony and project-
notheistic perspectives are necessary for upholding human
ed into eschatology: Leviathan, Vr:tra, Azhi Dahaka, and
freedom. Elizabeth A. Johnson, in She Who Is: The Mystery
Fenrisúlfr of Norse mythology, for instance, are said to be
of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York, 1992),
imprisoned but not slain and will eventually burst their
is representative of many feminist scholars as she reinterprets
bonds and have to be subdued again.
the “one living God” with metaphors and images suggesting
relationship and communion. Drawing on extensive studies
In several myths, the monster personifies the swollen
in Jewish and Islamic philosophy, Lenn E. Goodman pres-
rivers or winter squalls that threaten to inundate the earth
ents philosophical investigations of monotheism with respect
unless properly channeled. In Chinese folklore, the subjuga-
to ethics and human values, notably in Monotheism: A Philo-
tion of raging streams is called “caging the dragon.” Con-
sophical Inquiry into the Foundations of Theology and Ethics
versely, however, the monster sometimes personifies a malev-
(Totowa, N. J., 1981); and also in God of Abraham (Oxford,
olent power who impounds the subterranean waters that
1996).
have to be released in order to prevent drought.
THEODORE M. LUDWIG (1987 AND 2005)
Adverse natural phenomena are also personified as mon-
sters, though it is sometimes difficult to determine whether
these represent the phenomena themselves or the demonic
MONSTERS. Strictly speaking, a monster is a mythical
powers that are believed to cause them. One such monster
being and may be human or animal or a combination of
is the gigantic North American deity called the Thunderbird,
both; it may be huge, misshapen, or grotesque, malevolent,
the flapping of whose wings is believed to cause storms. The
savage, or terrifying. Such creatures have been a feature of
ancient Sumerians spoke likewise of a gigantic bird named
popular lore and religious cult in all parts of the world from
Heavy Wind (Im Dugud) who caused storms; the Teutons
earliest times. The term is applied also to human “freaks,”
spoke of Hraesvelgr. Analogous figures appear in the folklore
or “monstrous births,” that is, persons with more or less than
of such diverse peoples as the Chinese, the Burmese, and sev-
the normal number of limbs or organs, Siamese twins, her-
eral American Indian tribes.
maphrodites, and even albinos.
Hurricanes are often attributed to the rampages of mon-
In popular legend, monsters are commonly portrayed as
sters. In the Mesopotamian creation epic Enuma elish, the
both stupid and gluttonous. What they have in brawn, they
rebellious Tiamat is accompanied into battle by a cohort of
lack in brain, and when they devour their victims, it is not
gruesome monsters that includes Stormwind, Cyclone, and
because they are innately hostile to the human race but be-
the like. The Seneca Indians saw in hurricanes the activity
cause they possess insatiable appetites. It is often their ob-
of a monstrous bear named Ya-o-gah. According to some
tuseness and greed that prove their undoing.
scholars, the English word for this phenomenon derives ulti-
mately from Hurucán, the name of a monstrous wind god
One kind of mythical monster is the dragon, the em-
of the Quiché Indians of Central America.
bodiment of primordial chaos, who is believed to have been
subdued in battle by a leading god before the world order
Equally widespread is the belief that eclipses are caused
could be established. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia spoke
by a monster’s swallowing and then disgorging the sun or
of such a combat between the monster Azag (“demon”) and
moon. The Hindus spoke of a dragon called Svarbhanu;
the god Ninurta; the Babylonians, of the defeat of the rebel-
analogous figures appear almost universally. In the language
lious Tiamat by their supreme god Marduk; the Hittites, of
of the Turkic-speaking Chuvash and of Estonian folklore, a
the defeat of a sea serpent named Illuyankas by the combined
verbal form translated into English as “eaten” is used to de-
efforts of the goddess Inaras and a mortal hero; the Hebrews,
scribe an eclipse. Drums and gongs are beaten, bells rung,
of Yahveh’s rout of Leviathan; the Hindus, of Indra’s subju-
and trumpets blown in many parts of the world to scare away
gation of Vr:tra; the Iranians, of the dispatch of the serpentine
the dire adversary. A variant of this notion asserts that the
Azhi Dahaka; and the Greeks, of the triumph of Zeus over
sun is pursued nightly by a voracious monster—in ancient
the contumacious Typhon.
Egypt by the serpent Apopis and in Norse mythology by the
wolf Skoll.
The primordial monster appears not only in myth but
Another natural phenomenon personified as a monster
also in ritual. It is a widespread custom to inaugurate a new
is the whirlpool, which is said by some scholars to be the
year or season by staging a mimetic combat between two an-
original referent of the word gargoyle (from the Latin gurges).
tagonists who represent respectively the old year and the
In Arabic a waterspout is popularly termed tinn¯ın
new, winter and summer, drought and rainfall, and the
(“dragon”); in the Old Testament the sea monster Leviathan
like—a combat that survives, albeit in distorted form, in the
is sometimes referred to by the term tannin. So, too, Ed-
English Mummers’ Play and similar seasonal performances
mund Spenser describes a whirlpool as a whale.
elsewhere. What thus inaugurates each separate year or sea-
son is thought to have inaugurated the entire procession of
Not only natural phenomena but also human situations
years and seasons in any given era and to be destined to hap-
and infirmities are personified as monsters or are attributed
pen again before a further era can begin. The defeat of the
to their activities. In Babylonian magical incantations, epi-
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6164
MONSTERS
lepsy and palsy are represented as a demonic monster with
languages. Under the hands of Christian redactors, symbolic
a bird’s head and human hands and feet, and impotence as
and allegorical meanings were given to the fabulous beasts,
one with a lion’s mouth, a dragon’s teeth, and an eagle’s tal-
and they were thus incorporated into heraldry (e.g., the lion
ons. In Jewish folklore, noontime sunstroke and dizziness are
and the unicorn of British heraldry). Prominent among such
attributed to an ogre who has the head of a calf with a revolv-
creatures are the unicorn, the phoenix, the griffin, and the
ing horn in the center, one eye in its breast, and a body cov-
manticore.
ered with scales, hair, and eyes.
The unicorn is first mentioned by the Greek writer Cte-
Sexual dreams are commonly represented in popular
sias (third century BCE) as native to India and akin to the rhi-
lore as due to the assaults of monsters who consort with
noceros. It was later portrayed in art and literature as a white
sleeping men and women. Those that assail men are known
horse with a single horn protruding from the middle of its
as succubi; however monstrous their activities, they are usu-
forehead. It is identified by some early translators of the Old
ally portrayed not as grotesque harridans but as voluptuous
Testament with the re’em, a beast mentioned in several pas-
sylphs or femmes fatales. Those that assail women are known
sages, and on the basis of this identification it became promi-
as incubi. Belief in such creatures was widespread especially
nent in Christian symbolism. The re’em, however, is said ex-
in the Middle Ages and was held even by such noted church-
plicitly to have more than one horn (Dt. 33:17, Ps. 22:21)
men as Augustine. They were thought to be the demon lov-
probably it is the now extinct aurochs. Legend asserted that
ers of witches, and intercourse with them was said to produce
the unicorn could be caught only if it leapt into the lap of
“monstrous births,” deformed persons, hermaphrodites, and
a virgin sent into the woods to entice it.
sometimes albinos. Indeed, according to many medieval
The phoenix, a red bird variously identified as an egret
commentators the “sons of God,” who are said in the Book
or flamingo, is said to be native to Arabia. It was believed
of Genesis (6:1–4) to have consorted with mortal women and
to live for five hundred years and then to burn itself in its
thus engendered a race of giants, were in fact incubi.
nest. Out of the ashes arose a new phoenix. Modern scholars
Fairly universal is the belief in a monstrous beldam who
believe that this is simply a Greek transmogrification of the
seizes and strangles newborn babes and kills their mothers
Egyptian mythical bennu bird, who represented the resurgent
or drains the mothers’ milk. In ancient Mesopotamia, she
sun and rose daily from a flaming tree at Heliopolis.
was known as Lamashtu and was portrayed with a lion’s
The griffin is a creature with a lion’s head and the wings
head, a woman’s body, and bird’s feet. She held serpents in
of an eagle who, in Greek mythology, guarded the gold in
both hands and suckled a black hound and a pig at her
the north. It is probably to be identified (even in name) with
breasts. The Hittites knew her as Wesurya (“strangler”);
the biblical cherub (Babylonian karu¯bu), who was not an
known among the Greeks as Gello, Lamia, or Strix, she could
angel, as is commonly supposed, but a monster who guarded
take the form of a screech owl or bat. The Arabs saw her as
the entrance of ancient Mesopotamian palaces and who is
a goggle-eyed hag whose one foot was that of an ass and the
also related to the legendary dragon who guards the pot of
other that of an ostrich. In German folklore, she is a sharp-
gold.
nosed, scrawny harridan. Superstitious Jews identify her with
Lilith, the legendary first wife of Adam, who was expelled
The manticore is a hybrid monster described in the bes-
childless from Eden for her rebellious behavior and who is
tiaries as possessing a lion’s face, a man’s body, and a tail with
therefore envious of all new mothers. In many parts of the
a serpent’s head and a scorpion’s sting. It has gleaming eyes
world plaques and amulets are hung up to ward her off.
and can leap prodigious lengths. It is said to be native to the
Far East but may in fact derive from the fabulous Indian
Not only diseases and human infirmities but also death
monster makara.
and the netherworld are portrayed as monsters. In several
passages of the Old Testament (Is. 5:14, Hb. 2:5, Prv. 1:12)
In general, harmful demons are often portrayed as mon-
hell is depicted as a being with jaws agape, a portrayal fre-
strous beasts. A representative example is the Russian Zmei
quent in medieval art, for example, in the east window of
Gorynych, a snake that typifies all evil and is prone to run
York Minster. Supay, the Peruvian deity of the nether re-
off with mortal girls.
gions, is similarly characterized.
One example of a beneficent animal monster is the Ira-
There are also animal monsters, creatures that combine
nian Senmurv, part dog, part bird, and sometimes part rep-
the parts of several different beasts or of beasts and human
tile, who gave mankind seeds scattered from a tree in which
beings. Not all of them are regarded as harmful; some, de-
it lived. Another is the Chinese Qilin, a spirit of good luck
spite their grotesque forms, represent beneficent spirits or de-
who has a deer’s body, a bushy tail, cloven hoofs, and horns.
ities. Many of these monsters acquired acceptance through
Besides these individual theriomorphic monsters there
descriptions of them in medieval and later bestiaries, which
are also classes of such beings, for example, centaurs, Gor-
in turn derive largely from a book about animals known as
gons, and harpies. Centaurs are most commonly described
the Physiologus, compiled (probably in Greek) between the
in Greek literature and portrayed in Greek art as half human
third and fifth centuries CE by an unidentified writer and
and half horse. It should be observed, however, that this is
subsequently translated into many European and Oriental
but one variety of them, for their human parts are said to be
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MONSTERS
6165
combined alternatively with those of asses and other beasts.
ing monster of this type is the Greek figure Mormo
It has therefore been suggested by some modern scholars that
(“bogey”), also called Mormolukeion (“bogeywolf”), who
centaurs are really the mythical counterpart of the bands of
survived in British nurseries as late as the nineteenth century.
wild men who are said to rampage in animal pelts and per-
Similar creatures are the beldam Bebau in central France and
form ritual dances at certain seasons in Balkan countries and
the windigo of the Ojibwa Indians of North America.
who find their congeners in the hobbyhorse performers of
English folk custom. The Gorgons are, in Greek mythology,
The conquest of a draconic monster who ravages a
three horrendous sisters whose glance petrifies the beholder.
country or holds a princess or other fair maiden captive is
Their hair consists of serpents, and they possess golden
a standard motif in heroic legend. One is the Chimera, a fire-
wings, brazen claws, and huge teeth. One of them, Medusa,
breathing monster, part lion, part dragon, and part goat, who
is mortal. Harpies (“snatchers”) are filthy winged monsters,
ravaged Lycia and the neighboring lands but was slain by the
part woman and part bird, who defile whatever they encoun-
hero Bellerophon mounted on the winged horse Pegasus.
ter and who, according to Hesiod, also carry off newborn ba-
Typhon, a hundred-headed, fiery being, challenged the sov-
bies. In the latter capacity, they have their counterpart in Ca-
ereignty of Zeus but was destroyed by a thunderbolt and bur-
naanite lore. Hesiod calls two of them by the names Aello
ied under Mount Etna. The Minotaur, half bull and half
(“stormwind”) and Ocypete (“swift flier”). These names are
man, was kept in a labyrinth by King Minos of Crete to de-
included to this day in the Jewish amuletic plaques men-
vour the youths and maidens demanded of Athens as period-
tioned above as a device for averting the child-stealing
ic tribute. He was eventually defeated by the hero Theseus
beldam.
with the aid of the princess Ariadne. (The exaction of period-
Human “monsters” or freaks are popularly attributed to
ic tribute by water spirits as the price of averting inundation
the union of mortal women (especially witches) with incubi,
is a not uncommon theme in world folklore.) The Hydra was
or demons. Included among them are misshapen children
a hundred-headed monster of the Peloponnese who was slain
and adults, androgynes, and persons with extra limbs and or-
by Herakles as one of his twelve labors. Whenever one head
gans. An outstanding example is the Pig-faced Lady, Tanakin
was severed two grew in its place, but the hero eventually
Skinner, who appeared in London in the early seventeenth
scorched the growth with a firebrand. Geryon was a monster
century. An otherwise gracious person, she was said to have
with three heads or three bodies whose herds near Gades
the head of a sow and to eat from a trough. Her grotesque
(Cadiz) Herakles carried off as his tenth labor, slaying their
form was attributed to divine vengeance on her mother, who
guardians, the giant Eurytion and the two-headed hound
had refused alms to a poor woman begging for the sustenance
Orthros, as well as the Geryon itself. Fenrisúlfr (Fenriswolf)
of her child. Another example is the Elephant Man, the sub-
was the monstrous offspring of Loki in Norse mythology.
ject of a well-known play by Bernard Pomerance. Albinos
The gods eventually bound him with a fetter made by dwarfs
too fall into this class, although the popular attitude toward
from the sound of a cat’s footfall, the breath of a fish, and
them is ambivalent. In Senegal, for instance, they are regard-
the spittle of a bird, and then imprisoned him in the depths
ed as ominous; in Gabon they are killed at birth, whereas in
of the earth. He will break forth, however, at the final twi-
New Guinea they are deemed holy.
light of the gods (Ragnarok) and slay Óðinn (Odin), only
E
to be himself slain by Óðinn’s son Víðarr. Battles against
Remote, “outlandish” peoples are often depicted as
monstrous dragons are familiar also from the legends of Per-
monsters in traveler’s yarns, medieval romances, and the
seus, Beowulf, Saint George, and many other heroes.
writings of various ancient authors. Herodotus (485?–425
BCE) and Pliny the Elder (23–79 BCE), for example, mention
From time to time—especially in the present century—
a legendary people of the far North named the Arimaspeans,
reports have circulated of gigantic prehistoric monsters sight-
who have no heads but have eyes in their stomachs. Japanese
ed in various parts of the world. These are commonly termed
legend tells of Jon-li, a remote island inhabited by people
“monsters,” but that designation is misleading, for a monster
whose bodies are half human and half dog. Marco Polo says
is essentially abnormal, whereas these creatures are supposed-
that the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands are dog-headed,
ly surviving specimens of mammoths, mastodons, and the
and other writers similarly describe the Karen of Burma. The
like. To this class belongs especially the celebrated Loch Ness
Jewish traveler Binyamin of Tudela (twelfth century) reports
monster of Scotland, said to have been seen sporadically
that men who live in the Turkish steppes have no noses, al-
throughout the ages, but a subject of public interest only
though this may refer to flat-nosed Mongolians. In the same
since 1933. It is reputed to have been seen since then by no
vein, Jean Struys (1650) asserts that tailed men are to be
fewer than four thousand witnesses, and several scientific ex-
found on the southern side of Formosa, and a similar state-
peditions have attempted to photograph and identify it. A
ment is made by later writers about an allegedly cannibal race
group of sonar and photographic images obtained in 1973
called the Nuam-ni’aros who lived between the Gulf of
by the Academy of Applied Science has, for some, lent cre-
Benin and Ethiopia. Jews during the Middle Ages were also
dence to its existence. It is usually described as being dark
commonly accused of cannibalism.
gray or brownish black in color, about fifteen to twenty feet
Some monsters are not objects of actual belief but are
long, with a thin neck, small head, long tail, four paddles or
deliberately invented to scare unruly children. The outstand-
fins, and several humps. Another such alleged prehistoric
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6166
MONTAGU, LILY
monster is the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, said to have
Lawson’s Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion
been sighted or to have left gigantic footprints in remote
(1910; New York, 1964), pp. 190–225. On the child-
areas of the Himalayas. He is described as resembling an ape,
stealing beldam, see my The Holy and the Profane (New York,
standing nearly six feet tall, shaggy in appearance, with huge
1980); on bogeys, see Elizabeth M. Wright’s Rustic Speech
teeth in a large mouth, and a head tapering to a point. How-
and Folklore (Oxford, 1913). Sabine Baring-Gould discusses
ever, native Sherpas declare that he is far smaller and has red
tailed men in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (1866; New
York, 1884), pp. 86–89, and Richard Andree treats albinos
or black tufts of hair and the face of a monkey. He has no
in Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche (Leipzig, 1881),
tail and apparently walks on two legs.
pp. 278–280. John Napier discusses Sasquatch in Bigfoot
Cousin to the Yeti is Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, a hypotheti-
(London, 1972) and the Yeti in The Abominable Snowman
cal species of primates said, since 1840, to have been sighted
(New York, 1973).
in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. This creature is
New Sources
reported to be between seven and nine feet in height and to
Daston, Lorraine, and Katharine Park. Wonders and the Order of
weigh from six hundred to nine hundred pounds. He is not
Nature, 1150–1750. New York, 1998.
ferocious. He looks like a furry ape, walks upright, and leaves
Davidson, Hilda Ellis, and Anna Chaudhri, eds. Supernatural Ene-
footprints sixteen inches long and six inches wide. Sasquatch
mies. Durham, N.C., 2001.
plays a role in the folklore of the Northwest Coast Indians
Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and
and in turn has a cousin in the Mono Grande of the Andes.
Thought. Medieval Studies. Syracuse, N.Y., 2000.
It has been suggested that the Abominable Snowman,
Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All
Sasquatch, and Mono Grande may be surviving specimens
Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia, 2003.
of a prehistoric ape-man known as Gigantopithecus, fossils of
Jones, Timothy S., and David A. Sprunger, eds. Marvels, Monsters,
which have been discovered in China and other parts of Asia.
and Miracles: Studies in the Medieval and Early Modern Imag-
inations. Kalamazoo, Mich, 2002.
Monsters and ogres survive also in popular lore in such
Platt, Peter G., ed. Wonders, Marvels, and Monsters in Early Mod-
figures as Frankenstein’s monster, King Kong, and the like—
ern Culture. Newark and London, 1999.
staples of horror movies, television, and comic strips. An in-
THEODOR H. GASTER (1987)
teresting development in this respect is the circulation of sto-
Revised Bibliography
ries about visitors from outer space allegedly seen emerging
from flying saucers. Significantly, many of these stories come
from rapporteurs of Irish descent, and the creatures are de-
MONTAGU, LILY (1873–1963), founder of the Liber-
scribed as having a form closely resembling that of the lepre-
al Jewish movement in England. Born in London on Decem-
chauns of Irish folklore.
ber 22, 1873, Lily H. Montagu was the sixth child of Ellen
Finally, it may be observed that monsters also appear as
Cohen Montagu and Samuel Montagu. Her father was a
figures of political propaganda. An outstanding instance is
wealthy banker and leading member of the Orthodox Anglo-
the protrayal of the Japanese in World War II as “mon-
Jewish community. Convinced that Orthodoxy offered her,
keys”—a tendentious revival of the old practice (mentioned
and other women, little room for religious self-expression,
above) of so characterizing remote, unfamiliar peoples. Simi-
she found in the works of Claude Montefiore a vision of Ju-
larly, barbaric historical personages are commonly designat-
daism that mirrored her own understanding of true religion
ed “monsters,” for example, Attila and, in our own day,
as personal in nature, universal in outlook, and best revealed
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Mengele. In such characterizations,
through daily conduct.
the essential nature of a monster is effectively expressed;
In the January 1899 issue of the Jewish Quarterly Re-
huge, savage, and hostile, he is the direct opposite of the di-
view, Montagu published “The Spiritual Possibilities of Ju-
minutive dwarf, elf, or gremlin, who, albeit mischievous, is
daism Today,” an essay in which she asked all religiously
essentially benevolent.
committed Jews to help her form an association aimed at
strengthening the religious life of the Anglo-Jewish commu-
SEE ALSO Dragons; Therianthropism.
nity through the propagation of Liberal Jewish teachings.
Membership would not necessarily demonstrate allegiance to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
what Montefiore identified as Liberal Judaism but simply
For general works on the theme of monsters, see Charles Gould’s
would demonstrate the recognition of its ability to awaken
Mythical Monsters (London, 1886) and C. J. S. Thompson’s
within many Jews a sense of spirituality and personal respon-
The Mystery and Lore of Monsters (London, 1930). On the
sibility to God. The Jewish Religious Union (JRU), estab-
cosmogonic dragon, see my Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and
lished by Lily Montagu in February 1902, instituted Sabbath
Drama in the Ancient Near East, 2d ed. (1961; New York,
1977), pp. 137–153. Animal monsters are the subject of
afternoon worship services conducted along Liberal Jewish
Peter Lum’s Fabulous Beasts (London, 1952) and T. H.
lines and propaganda meetings, led by Montagu, to clarify
White’s The Book of Beasts (London, 1956); more particular-
and spread its teachings. Though Montefiore agreed to serve
ly, see, on the unicorn, Odell Shepard’s The Lore of the Uni-
as the group’s official leader, Montagu assumed responsibili-
corn (New York, 1930) and, on centaurs, John Cuthbert
ty for its major activities and daily affairs.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MONTANISM
6167
By 1909, acknowledging the failure of its initial, all-
of Montanism from Jerome and Augustine has significantly
inclusive vision, the union declared itself to be a movement
less value as a source.
specifically committed to the advancement of Liberal Juda-
According to the sources, Montanism arose in Asia
ism. During the next few decades, Lily Montagu helped form
Minor in 156/7 CE and was centered there, at least in its first
Liberal Jewish synagogues throughout Great Britain, fre-
period. Its founder was Montanus, but he was evidently ac-
quently serving as their chairman or president, and became
companied from an early date by prophetesses, among whom
lay minister of the West Central Liberal Jewish Congregation
Priscilla (or Prisca) and especially Maximilla were particular-
in 1928, a position to which she was formally inducted in
ly important. After they had first attracted attention by
November, 1944. Following Montefiore’s death, in 1938,
speaking in tongues, Montanus and his associates made use
she assumed the presidency of the JRU, later renamed the
of intelligible oracles and prophecies to proclaim the final
Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues. Having con-
revelation and the will of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was call-
ceived of the idea for an international JRU as early as 1925,
ing for an intensified expectation of the end, since the Parou-
Montagu also helped found and eventually became president
sia (the second coming of Christ) was imminent. The thou-
of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
sand-year reign would descend to earth at Pepuza (and
Montagu was the author of eleven books, including
Tymion?) in Phrygia, and the faithful were to travel there in
Thoughts on Judaism, a theological treatise published in
order to share in it as soon as it appeared. They were to pre-
1902, and her autobiography, The Faith of a Jewish Woman,
pare themselves by intensified asceticism.
published in 1943.
Glossolalia and the claim of a communication of the
Spirit were at this time just as suspect to the official church
BIBLIOGRAPHY
in Asia Minor as was the expectation of an imminent end.
Little has been written either on the history of the Liberal Jewish
The bishops endeavored in vain through exorcisms to resist
movement in England or on Lily Montagu herself. The only
the “new prophecy,” as the apparently tightly organized
critical study of Montagu’s life and thought published to
movement was called, and they tried to coordinate their ac-
date is my book Lily Montagu and the Advancement of Liberal
tivity against the “Cataphrygians” (so called after their place
Judaism: From Vision to Vocation (Lewiston, N.Y., 1983). A
second volume, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters and
of origin) at the first provincial synods. Despite these efforts,
Prayers, edited and with introductions by me (Lewiston,
Montanism spread far beyond Asia Minor. Only with great
N.Y., 1985), includes a fully annotated selection of her un-
difficulty was its recognition by the bishop of Rome prevent-
published writings. Finally, for a more detailed account of
ed, and approximately in the year 207 in North Africa it
Montagu’s contribution to the development of Liberal Juda-
made a convert of Tertullian, who became a passionate
ism, see my essay “The Origins of Liberal Judaism in En-
proselytizer for Montanism.
gland: The Contribution of Lily H. Montagu,” Hebrew
Union College Annual 55 (1984): 309–322.
The fight against the movement was difficult because
early Montanism was orthodox in its doctrine and exemplary
New Sources
in its ethics. Its characteristic traits—a heightened expecta-
Jacobi, Margaret. “Lily Montagu—A Pioneer in Religious Leader-
tion of an imminent Parousia and a resultant intense asceti-
ship.” In Hear Our Voice: Women in the British Rabbinate,
edited by Sybil Sheridan, pp. 9–15. Columbia, S.C., 1998.
cism (to the point of seeking martyrdom)—were basic ele-
ments of early Christianity, as were speaking in tongues and
ELLEN M. UMANSKY (1987)
the claim to immediate revelation from the Holy Spirit.
Revised Bibliography
Montanus claimed that in him the Paraclete had made his
appearance. After all, the coming of the Spirit was expressly
announced in the Gospel of John. In addition, millenarianism
MONTANISM.
found justification in the Revelation to John and was especial-
Although there are various reports (e.g.,
ly widespread in Asia Minor, and this even in the subsequent
Hippolytus, Refutatio 8.19.1; Eusebius, Church History
period. The Revelation to John and the Gospel of John were
6.20.3) that the leaders of Montanism composed many writ-
evidently among the spiritual sources from which Montan-
ings, none of these has come down to us. As a result, special
ism was derived.
importance attaches to the approximately twenty-five surviv-
ing fragments of their prophecies and oracles (see new edi-
By the second half of the second century the official
tion in Kirchengeschichtliche Entwürfe, 1960) and a few in-
church and its theology had moved beyond the expectation
scriptions, as well as to the writings from Tertullian’s
of an imminent Parousia and had made room for the idea
Montanist period, although the latter reflect essentially the
of postponement of the end. The Second Letter of Peter and
later development of Montanism. Even the writings of the
the Shepherd of Hermas are clear proof of this. In the commu-
adversaries of Montanism have disappeared and are known
nity at large, however, the expectation of an imminent end
to us only from citations by the fathers of the church. Espe-
was still alive, at least in a latent form, and was given new
cially important are Eusebius’s account in his Church History
life by Montanism. It was this expectation that made it possi-
and the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, both of which
ble for the movement to spread so quickly and so widely. The
are based on numerous sources. By contrast, what we know
church’s opposition to Montanism began to be effective only
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6168
MONTANUS
when the predicted return of the Lord did not occur and the
(Paris, 1913) is still fundamental, even though the editions
prophetic energies of the movement fell off. Maximilla’s ora-
used are largely outdated.
cle, “After me there will be no further prophet but only the
KURT ALAND (1987)
end” (Epiphanius, Panarion 48.12.4), gave the church a
Translated from German by Matthew J. O’Connell
weapon that became all the more effective as time passed
after the death of Maximilla and neither the predicted end
nor even the disturbances and wars preceding the end came
to pass. During the second half of the second century, Mon-
MONTANUS, second-century Christian schismatic. For
tanism underwent the same kind of development that official
information on the life of Montanus we are dependent on
Christianity had experienced: there was a withering of the
statements made by the Christian controversialists of the
prophetic element, cessation of glossolalia, and a decline in
time, as transmitted by the fathers of the church. Only a few
ethical standards.
utterances of Montanus himself have come down to us: “I
am the Father and I am the Son and I am the Paraclete,” as
It was the ethical rigorism of Montanism that converted
in the Dialogue between a Montanist and an Orthodox Chris-
Tertullian. When he became a Montanist in about 207, he
tian (J. Ficker, 1905, pp. 447ff.) and according to Didymus
evidently had been in conflict with the official church, which
of Alexandria (De Trinitate 3.41) and Epiphanius (Panarion
in his opinion was too lax, for some time. The gift of prophe-
48.11.1). “The Paraclete” is sometimes replaced by “the
cy was still alive in Montanism at that time, as was eschato-
Spirit” or “the Holy Spirit” or some expanded form of this.
logical expectation, though this was no longer as intense as
Man is like a lyre, and Montanus is described as the plectrum
in the beginning. The gift of tongues had disappeared, and
that sweeps across the strings. Extraordinary promises are
the Lord’s thousand-year reign was expected to come no lon-
made to the faithful, but no concrete indications are given
ger in Asia Minor but in Jerusalem.
of Montanus’s teaching or ethical demands in any of the ex-
tant sources concerning him.
It is not possible to say for certain to what extent Mon-
Montanus reportedly first attracted notice in the time
tanism had spread in the West and how long it persisted
of the proconsulate of Gratus (Quadratus?), in Ardabau (on
there. Modern writers often rely too much on the lists of her-
the Phrygian border of Mysia), as promulgator of the “new
esies, in which Montanism soon acquired its fixed place, as
prophecy.” When combined with data provided by Eusebius
proof that the movement actually existed in a given area. Al-
and Epiphanius of Salamis, this information suggests the
though Augustine wrote of “Tertullianists” in Africa, it is un-
date 156/157 as the approximate beginning of this move-
certain to what extent they are to be identified with Montan-
ment. Montanus is also reported to have been a recent con-
ism. On the other hand, in the East the laws against heretics
vert to Christianity (in Eusebius’s Church History 5.16.17)
give the impression down to the beginning of the fifth centu-
and to have previously been a priest of Apollo (this designa-
ry that Montanism was still a living reality there.
tion appears in the Dialogue) or, more generally, a priest of
idols (in the Dialogue and in Didymus’s De Trinitate 3.41).
The attempt (by Wilhelm E. Schepelern and, later,
Jerome speaks of him (Letters 41, to Marcella) as abscisum et
B. W. Goree Jr., for example) to explain Montanism in terms
semivirum (castrated and half a man), that is, a priest of Cyb-
of the paganism of Asia Minor and especially the cult of Cyb-
ele. Montanus is reported to have hanged himself (Church
ele is not a promising one in view of the state of the sources.
History 5.16.13). Since the same story is told of Maximilla,
What these writers view as a tradition peculiar to Asia Minor
the prophetess and close associate of Montanus, the report
(e.g., emphasis on ecstasy, the special place of women, in-
is evidently a piece of antiheretical polemic, passed on by an
tense asceticism) was in fact the common possession of early
anonymous writer simply as a rumor (cited in Church History
Christianity.
5.16.15). We cannot say for certain whether the report is
true that Montanus was originally a pagan priest, but the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
contradictory claims suggest that early Christian polemics
My contributions to Kirchengeschichtliche Entwürfe (Gütersloh,
played a role in the report, especially since there is no refer-
1960) expand on themes treated above: “Bemerkungen zum
ence to this pagan background of Montanus among the writ-
Montanismus und zur frühchristlichen Eschatologie”
ings of the anti-Montanists of the second century.
(pp. 105–148) and “Augustin und der Montanismus”
Augustine (De haeresibus liber 26) reports that Mon-
(pp. 149–164). See also Heinrich Kraft’s “Die altkirchliche
tanus celebrated the Lord’s Supper with bread that had been
Prophetie und die Entstehung des Montanismus,” Theologis-
prepared using the blood of a one-year-old infant. The blood
che Zeitschrift 11 (1955): 249–271; Douglas Powell’s “Ter-
tullianists and Cataphrygians,” Vigiliae Christianae 29
had been extracted by means of countless tiny punctures.
(1975): 33–54; W. E. Schepelern’s Der Montanismus und die
The same story is told by numerous church fathers (Epi-
phrygischen Kulte: Eine religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung
phanius, Filastrius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome), but it repre-
(Tübingen, 1929); and B. W. Goree Jr.’s “The Cultural
sents nothing more than the acceptance into antiheretical
Bases of Montanism” (Ph. D. diss., Baylor University, 1980).
Christian polemics of the pagan legend of the orthodox
Pierre de Labriolle’s Les sources de l’histoire du montanisme
Christian Lord’s Supper as involving the ritualistic sacrifice
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOODY, DWIGHT L.
6169
of an infant. This story was told at the end of the second cen-
Moody parlayed his fame overseas into even greater
tury (cf. Minucius Felix, Octavius 9.5). Because they did not
public acclaim in the United States. Beginning in 1875 he
recognize this, some scholars saw the story as reflecting the
conducted a series of lengthy revivals, carefully planned and
influence of an orgiastic culture in Asia Minor and consid-
orchestrated, in most major American cities. True religious
ered it as justification for looking into the matter further.
sentiment and feeling were to be found in these revivals, even
Montanus’s contemporary adversaries knew nothing about
though Moody’s activism, efficient organization, and rough-
the story, or they gladly would have used it in arguments
hewn appearance seemed also to exemplify the emerging ma-
against him. Also, Eusebius, who summarizes virtually every-
terialism of industrial America.
thing of the anti-Montanist writings, would undoubtedly
By 1880 Moody had established a permanent residence
have passed the story on.
at his birthplace, Northfield, Massachusetts. This act, com-
There was nothing about Montanism that could not
bined with the evangelist’s continuing round of annual
have been found, at least in the form of tendencies, in the
urban revivals, exemplified the tension many late nineteenth-
early Christian church. Montanism was a movement of re-
century Americans felt in living between the two worlds of
newal that sought to revive, in the second half of the second
small-town origins and big city realities. Moody broadened
century, certain elements of worship, doctrine, and ethics
his concerns beyond mass revivalism in the 1880s. Shifting
that had gradually died out in the church at large during the
part of his energy and interest into education, he founded
first half of the century. Montanism itself eventually under-
Mount Hermon and Northfield academies in his hometown,
went the same kind of development that official Christianity
and the Moody Bible Institute, for training urban evange-
had experienced (cessation of glossolalia, withering of the
lists, in Chicago.
prophetic element, nonfulfillment of the expectation of the
second coming of Christ, decline in ethical standards), so
In the last years of Moody’s life, growing divisions be-
that in the third century Montanism’s internal energies were
tween liberals and conservatives in American Protestantism
gradually exhausted and nothing was left but a sect that,
somewhat undermined his leadership. His personal integrity
from the fourth century on, was exposed to ecclesiastical and
and his irenic temperament, however, made it possible for
civil persecution and was doomed to extinction.
him to bridge the gap between these divergent groups, and
only after his death in 1899 did tensions grow so great that
B
open conflict erupted.
IBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Timothy D. “The Chronology of Montanism.” Journal of
In numerous ways Moody epitomized popular Ameri-
Theological Studies, n.s. 20 (1970): 403–408.
can Protestantism in the second half of the nineteenth centu-
Ford, J. Massingberd. “Was Montanism a Jewish-Christian Here-
ry. His family life and personal values reflected evangelical
sy?” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 17 (1966): 145–158.
Protestant ideals of personal piety and morality. In the public
Gero, Stephen. “Montanus and Montanism according to a Medi-
realm, also, Moody embodied key characteristics of the evan-
eval Syriac Source.” Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. 28
gelical world. He had transformed that world by adapting
(1977): 520–524.
the revival tradition to the new urban, industrial context of
K
late nineteenth-century America. His public activities in his
URT ALAND (1987)
Translated from German by Matthew J. O’Connell
later years also offer fascinating glimpses of the breakup of
the cultural synthesis evangelism had provided in the nine-
teenth century. To the end of his life, Moody remained one
MOODY, DWIGHT L. (1837–1899), American re-
of the best representatives and reflectors of popular Protes-
vivalist preacher. Dwight Lyman Moody was born in North-
tant culture and practice in the United States.
field, Massachusetts. Like many Americans of his era, he left
home as a teenager for the city—first Boston, then Chicago.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In each city he quickly established a reputation as an aggres-
Findlay, James F. Dwight L. Moody, American Evangelist, 1837–
sive boot and shoe salesman, but in Chicago he soon turned
1899. Chicago, 1969.
his organizational talents to religious endeavors, especially
Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism in American Culture: The
those of the local YMCA. During the nearly two decades he
Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870–1925.
lived in Chicago, Moody moved from volunteer to full-time
New York, 1980.
religious work, developed his techniques as an urban evange-
McLoughlin, William G. Modern Revivalism: Charles Grandison
list, and began to establish a national reputation as a leader
Finney to Billy Graham. New York, 1959.
in church circles. After several tentative, exploratory trips
Sizer, Sandra S. Gospel Hymns and Social Religion: The Rhetoric of
overseas, Moody in 1873 launched a career in England as a
Nineteenth-Century Revivalism. Philadelphia, 1978.
full-time revivalist. Within two years he had established him-
self as a highly effective revivalist, able to stir religious feel-
Weisberger, Bernard A. They Gathered at the River: The Story of
ings in large numbers of people during lengthy revival “cam-
the Great Revivalists and Their Impact upon Religion in Ameri-
ca. Boston, 1958.
paigns” conducted in the principal cities of England and
Scotland.
JAMES F. FINDLAY (1987)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6170
MOON
MOON. To observers on earth, the moon appears to be
said to drip forth from the moon. As spider, spinner, and
the most changeable of celestial phenomena. In earlier times
weaver, the moon is likened to the three Fates, who spin and
the appearance of the new crescent was often greeted with
weave man’s destiny.
joy as a return of the moon from the dead; the full moon
The moon is often paired with the sun, as either father,
was considered an occasion for celebration, the waning a
son, wife, sister, or daughter. Sometimes the moon and sun
time of anxiety, and the eclipse a cause for dread. In religion
are twins, and the weaker one, usually the moon, is doomed
and mythology the moon plays a variety of roles. It is person-
to live in the underworld, while the other rides on high. Fre-
ified as a male or female divinity, or, like the sun, thought
quently both are thought of as boats riding through the ether
to be an object thrown up into the sky by some supernatural
as on the ocean. Often, the sun rides in a chariot pulled by
being. It may be thought of as kindly or malicious, male or
four white horses. The moon is pulled by two white horses,
female, pursued or pursuer, a god of destruction or of birth
or by a bull, a stag, or a cock.
and growth.
The moon’s animal is often the bull, because of the cres-
An early recognition of a connection with menstruation
cent shape formed by its horns, or the hare, because of its
gave rise to the conception of the moon as the guardian of
fertility or because the “man in the moon” is thought to re-
the female cycle and of birth or, alternatively, as a male god
semble a hare. The bear is also associated with the moon, be-
who monthly defiles women. In connection with dew, rain,
cause its hibernation and waking are like death and resurrec-
or tides, the moon may promote the growth of vegetation
tion; the snail, because it retreats and reappears; or the frog,
or bring disastrous floods.
because it is an aquatic creature.
The moon has been a measure of time from early times,
especially for hunting societies. In tropical climates, where
THE MOON AS A MEASURE OF TIME. Aside from night and
the sun is cruel, the moon is considered beneficent, especially
day, the moon is the most obvious natural measure of time.
by nomads and caravan drivers. As a male god the moon ap-
The Indo-European root is the same for the moon, month,
pears as the Strong Bull of Heaven who cares for his cows,
and measure. There exist what may be notations of the
the stars; or as the sacrificed god, the son or lover of the
moon’s phases in Paleolithic caves in Spain from 7000 BCE.
mother goddess.
Stonehenge in Great Britain (c. 3000 BCE) may have been
used to measure the movements of the moon as well as those
As a goddess, the moon brings cures and eases childbirth
of the sun. There are still primitive peoples who use only the
or, on the other hand, helps to rot corpses and receives the
moon to measure time. Before the arrival of Europeans,
dead. The waxing and waning of the moon led to the idea
American Indians counted the lunations as “war month,”
that it dies and is reborn, and thus the moon became a part
“month of flowers,” and so forth. The dark of the moon was
of funeral ceremonies and rites of resurrection. The discovery
the “naked time”; its first appearance, the “coming to life.”
that the moon is the closest celestial body to the earth led
to the idea that the moon was the “abode of souls,” a way
Agricultural people, however, needed to have their times
station to immortality.
of planting and reaping coincide with the seasons—that is,
with the sun. Thus began the long effort to correlate twelve
The phases of the moon seem to echo the life cycles of
lunations (too few) or thirteen lunations (too many) with the
women and therefore connect the moon with the Triple
solar year. Accounts from republican Rome show the prob-
Goddess who presided over birth, initiation, and death. The
lems associated with this effort. We are told that from earliest
Moon became part of a triad with Hekate, goddess of the un-
times a pontifex minor would watch for the new moon from
derworld, and with Artemis, the divine huntress, whose
the Capitoline Hill, and when it was sighted, call out to
hounds were the stars. Sometimes even the Egyptian goddess
Juno, the queen of the gods. The first of the month was
Isis joined the grouping. In this connection the qualities of
called the calends from the verb “to call out.” Juno is in this
the moon are fertility, moisture, change, darkness, and
way identified with the new moon, as her husband, Jupiter,
magic. In the ancient Chinese division of the universe into
is with the ides, or full moon. The priest then announced
yang (hot, dry, strong, male) and yin (cool, moist, weak, fe-
the series of festivals for the coming month and whether the
male) the moon is considered yin.
nones (the half-moon) would fall on the fifth or the seventh.
Usually the waxing moon is a fortunate omen and wan-
The festivals, sponsored by the state, were instituted as a
ing moon a dangerous one. In the Andaman Islands the wax-
means of keeping the agricultural, military, and civil activi-
ing moon is male and the waning moon female. The dark
ties in order. It was necessary for all farmers to come into the
of the moon is the time for gathering herbs to be used in
city to learn on what days they could not work but must keep
spells and curses. The new or full moon is the time for white
festival. On calendars that have come down to us, festival
magic. In some systems, however, the moon rushes to con-
days are marked nefas, meaning that no work could be done;
junction with the sun to be refreshed by his light.
109 out of the 355 days of the year were designated nefas.
In poetry, the dying god, who is related to the divine
The priesthoods, like the early magistracies, were in the
powers of the plant world, is often compared to the moon.
hands of the patricians. The inconvenience of not knowing
Intoxicating liquors used in many religious ceremonies are
the feast days was one of the problems that led to the “strug-
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gle of the orders.” Eventually the fasti (calendars) were pub-
festivals—two days for the new moon, one for the full
lished, in 304 BCE. The year began in March, and any time
moon—are considered important, even by Buddhists. The
that had to be intercalated to bring the months into line with
present names of the months are derived from the nakshatras
the seasons was added in February, after the Terminalia (a
(“lunar mansions”), twenty-seven or twenty-eight conspicu-
festival of boundaries and the year’s end, celebrated on Feb-
ous stars along the ecliptic through which the moon passes.
ruary 23).
The early Hebrews celebrated the new moon with a
Until the end of the republic the work of intercalation
feast, which was a family gathering at which animals were
was the duty of the pontifices, who were often inefficient or
sacrificed. The months were identified by the agricultural ac-
corrupt. For instance, the date of court cases could be shifted
tivity taking place at the time. The beginning of the month,
by altering the intercalations. By the end of the republic, the
after being attested to by observers, was announced to vari-
whole calendar was out of harmony with both the sun and
ous communities by fire signals at first, and later by messen-
the moon. Cicero, writing to his friend Atticus, says he is not
gers. Since messengers could not always reach the outlying
sure whether or not there will be an intercalation. There was
groups in a day, festivals often went on for two days. Since
a clause in contracts that read “si intercalat” (“in case of an
Passover, celebrated at the full moon, was originally a feast
intercalation”).
of the first fruits, it had to occur after the reaping of the
Julius Caesar, aided by his Egyptian astronomer, made
grain. Thus it became necessary to add another month after
a clean sweep of the quasi-lunar calendar, extended the year
Adar (approximately March). After the exile the calendar fol-
45
lowed the Babylonian system, using Babylonian names for
BCE from 355 to 445 days, and started anew on January
1, 45
the months, counting the days from the evening, and inter-
BCE, with a cycle of 365 days, adding another day on
the fourth year, after the Terminalia. This, with a few adjust-
calating an extra month on a regular basis. After the third
ments, is the solar calendar under which we live.
century there was increasing dependence on calculation of
the beginning of the month, though some sects from time
The ancient Greeks sent out criers to announce the
to time insisted on reverting to direct observation.
sighting of the new moon. At some unknown point in histo-
ry, the Greeks had limited the length of the year to twelve
The lunar year to which Muslims adhere was not estab-
lunations of “full” or “hollow” months (comprised of thirty
lished until 631 CE, when Muhammad made his last pilgrim-
and twenty-nine days respectively), with an intercalary
age to Mecca. There he proclaimed that the year should con-
month every two years. We learn from Geminus that “they
sist of twelve lunar months and that intercalation should be
sought for a period which should, as to years agree with the
forbidden. As Arabs before that time had probably had a
Sun, as to months, with the Moon.” The first period they
combination lunar and solar calendar, it is likely that Mu-
constructed was an eight-year cycle called the octaeteris.
hammad intended to discourage old pagan festivals. His sys-
tem won acceptance by the Arabs, who since ancient times
A nineteen-year cycle was suggested by the astronomer
held the moon in special reverence. The festivals now run
Meton in 432 BCE but was apparently not accepted by the
through the whole year and come back to the same solar sea-
cities, which went their own way, creating their own calen-
son in about thirty-three years. The new month begins when
dars and even inventing their own names for the months. In
two trustworthy Muslims notify the authorities that they
The Clouds of Aristophanes, the Moon complains, “You sub-
have observed the new moon from a mountaintop or from
vert the calendar and fail to observe her days. When the sa-
an open field. The crescent motif (the hilal) has been much
cred days are unobserved, the gods go hungry, and it is the
used throughout the centuries in Islamic art and in the last
Moon they threaten.” In this confusion, many citizens re-
two hundred years has appeared on the standard of Islam.
turned to direct personal observation of the rising moon. Be-
ginning in the second century
Early Christians attached importance to celebrating Eas-
BCE, two sets of dates were re-
corded, “according to the state and according to the deity
ter at the time of the Jewish Passover but agreed that Easter
[Selene].”
should fall on a Sunday. In the third century Christians
began to frame lunar calculations for themselves. The Easter
In Mesopotamia the month began with the sighting of
controversy raged in the early church and still exists between
the new moon. A letter to the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (r.
the Western and Eastern churches. The final conditions ar-
680–669 BCE) states, “On the thirtieth I saw the moon. It
rived at in the West are that Easter must be kept on the Sun-
was in a high position. The king should wait for the report
day after the paschal moon (the calendar moon whose four-
from the city of Assur and then may determine the first day
teenth day falls on or after the vernal equinox), reckoned
of the month.” There are indications that in some cities
from the day of the new moon inclusive.
months alternated between thirty and twenty-nine days in
THE MOON AS DEITY. Only once, so far as is known, did
a nineteen-year cycle with regular intercalations. By the time
the moon as divinity command political power and an influ-
of the Seleucids (third century BCE), it was possible to calcu-
ential priesthood, but it did so for about three thousand
late the appearance of the new moon and to predict eclipses.
years, through changes of race, language, and regime. The
In India, religious festivals are still regulated by the lunar
place was the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
calendar, as are such domestic events as marriages. The moon
known as Mesopotamia (“between the rivers”), and the cult
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MOON
spread or grew independently in Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and
days of the moon, called the “days of lying down,” the queen
Anatolia.
conducted the rituals.
In the southern part of the Land between the Rivers
The temple complex at Ur was destroyed and recon-
there appeared around 5000 BCE the first urban civiliza-
structed many times over the centuries, by Assyrians, Babylo-
tion—a group of cities in which trade, division of labor, met-
nians, even by alien Kassites, and finally by Cyrus, the Per-
alworking, organized religion, and writing were developed by
sian invader. The complex was rebuilt not to conciliate the
a people whom history knows as Sumerians. Each of the cit-
people but to preserve good relations with the god.
ies was under the protection of a high god and in the begin-
The Assyrians, who took over from the Sumerians the
ning was probably ruled by the priesthood of the god. By the
worship of the moon under the name of Sin, built another
time the first records appear, these gods are all related. An
moon city, Haran, on the Euphrates. The Assyrian kings
is the creator-sky god. His son, Enlil, the Air, carries on most
came to Haran to “take the hand” of Sin after they had been
of the business of controlling the other gods and resides in
confirmed by their own god, Ashur. In the sanctuary at
the holy city of Nippur. The first son of Enlil is Nanna, the
Haran was a dream oracle, where Esarhaddon (r. 680–669
Moon, patron of the important city of Ur. His wife is Nin-
BCE) was told to proceed to the conquest of Egypt, which he
gal, daughter of the Lady of the Reeds, a moisture goddess
did. Moon worship continued at Haran well into Islamic
from the marshes. The children of Enlil and Ningal are Utu,
times when it was the center for a planet-worshiping people
the Sun, and Inanna, warrior goddess of love and the Eve-
called the Sabaeans. The emperor Julian worshiped the
ning Star. The trio of Moon, Sun, and Evening Star are often
moon at the temple in Haran in 365 CE.
found together on royal stelae down through Babylonian
times.
In the early sixth century BCE, Babylon was the area’s
greatest city. Its founder, Nebuchadrezzar, set about rebuild-
The Semitic-speaking peoples who succeeded the Sume-
ing Ur. His successor, Nabonidus, was an antiquarian and
rians—Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians—took over
a devoted worshiper of the moon. His mother (or grand-
most of their inventions and adopted the Sumerian pan-
mother) had been governor of Haran, and he was perhaps
theon, giving the gods Semitic names. Nanna became Sin;
partly of West Semitic origin. In records of Ur, Nabonidus
Utu, Shamash; and Inanna, Ishtar.
found the inscription of Ur-Namma, founder of the third
C. Leonard Woolley, excavating at Ur in 1922–1934,
dynasty of Ur (2100 BCE), whom he called “a king before
found the famous royal tombs, containing the bodies of mass
me.” Upon the ancient foundation he rebuilt the ziggurat “as
suicides, royal ladies (who Woolley surmised might have
in old times.” He also rebuilt the temple at Haran and one
been priestesses of the Moon), and a harp with a bull’s head
in the Arabian city of Tema, where he remained for eleven
and a lapis lazuli beard, the Strong Bull of Nanna. He also
years. Many critics in Babylon claimed he was putting his
describes the ziggurat of Ur, dedicated to the Moon, the best
god Sin above Marduk.
preserved of its kind in the Near East. At the top of the ziggu-
The name of the moon in Canaan was Yarih. A Canaan-
rat, a high staged tower terraced with trees, was a shrine
ite text tells of his wedding to Nikkal (related to Ningal, wife
where the god rested, gave dream oracles, or took part in a
of the Sumerian moon god): “I shall make her field into vine-
sacred marriage. This last is suggested by a hymn in which
yards, the field of their love an orchard” (Samuel Noah
Ningal addresses Nanna, “In your house on high I will come
Kramer, Ugaritic Manual, 1955, no. 77). There is no doubt
to you, Nanna. In your perfumed cedar mountain, in your
that the golden calf worshiped in Genesis was a figure of the
mansion of Ur, I will come to live.”
moon and that Mount Sinai was his home.
At the base of the ziggurat was a large temple, the real
Throughout Anatolia there are depictions of and in-
home of the god, where he was fed and clothed daily. Proba-
scriptions to the Anatolian moon god, called Men, from the
bly the people saw the god only when he was paraded at each
Indo-European root for moon and measure. He was known
phase of the moon—on the first, seventh, and fifteenth days
as Menotyrannus (“lord of the moon”), Men Ouranios
of the month. The temple was a huge complex of store-
(“lord of the sky”), or Katachonios (“lord of the under-
houses, kitchens, and rooms for priests and slaves. It was a
world”), suggesting that he was a god of death and rebirth.
landowner and received rent in kind, which was used for sac-
We cannot be sure whether he arrived along the trade routes
rifices and for feeding the enormous staff. Slaves were em-
from the Near East or was an indigenous deity. Later Men
ployed in smelting, weaving, and preparing goods for
became confused with the “dying and rising god” Attis, the
sale. The high priestess of Nanna was traditionally a king’s
castrated follower, son, or lover of the Great Mother of
daughter.
Phrygia, Cybele, as well as with Dionysos and Sabazios of
A text describes how Nanna made a pilgrimage to visit
Thrace, two other dying and rising gods.
his father Enlil at the holy city of Nippur, taking agricultural
THE MOON IN MYTHOLOGY. In ancient India, Soma was the
products and receiving in return Enlil’s blessing. Enlil con-
deification of a sacred plant that, when pressed, strained, and
firmed his son in power as Nanna, the king of Ur. It is likely
mixed with milk and barley, became an intoxicating drink
that the king acted out the life of the god. During the dark
for men and gods. The whole ninth book of the R:gveda is
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6173
devoted to the praise of the yellow drink, which it identifies
the Moon, but he left her for the Morning Star. This so en-
with the yellow moon. There is a marriage hymn in which
raged the storm god, the most important Baltic god, that he
the god Soma is married to the Sun, Su¯rya, and has his head
beat the Moon with his sword, thus reducing the latter’s size.
in the laps of the Naks:atras (“lunar mansions”). Soma is ce-
The Sun and Moon have many children, the stars, but the
lestial and bright, dispelling darkness and dwelling in the wa-
Morning Star is a product of a union of the Sun with the
ters. In a later hymn, Soma is said to have married all twenty-
storm god himself. The Moon, in shame and anger, avoids
seven Naks:atras, daughters of the creator god, but he prefers
his wife, and they never appear together.
one, Rohin:¯ı (possibly identified with the evening star). The
In Japan, the Sun, the most important divinity, is femi-
other wives complain to their father, who afflicts the moon
nine; the Moon, her brother, plays only a minor role. Once
with a wasting sickness, causing his waning and disappear-
the Sun ordered the Moon to go down to earth to find out
ance. The Moon promises to reform and then grows back
what the goddess of food was doing. When the Moon arrived
again, but always he relapses. In this problem the Moon is
on earth, the goddess of food, meaning to please him, turned
aided by S´iva, like Soma an ancient god of change, fertility,
her face toward the land and from her mouth poured out
and destruction. S´iva wears the Moon’s crest on his head;
boiled rice; toward the sea, all kinds of fish; and toward the
Soma is known as the “crest of S´iva.” In a wheeled chariot
mountains, all kinds of game. The Moon, instead of being
drawn by a horse or an antelope, Soma leaves the sky to visit
pleased, was so enraged that she had offered him things from
the earth at the new moon to revitalize plants and animals.
her mouth that he killed her. Out of her corpse were born
Soma as an intoxicating drink has been compared to the wine
the horse, the cow, and the silkworm. Back in Heaven the
of the Greek Dionysos, which the playwright Euripides de-
Sun, angry with her brother for what he had done, said, “I’ll
scribed as “a drink that is poured out, a god for a god.”
see you no more,” and so they never meet.
In Iran there is also a ritual of the sacred drink, there
called haoma, which is not identified with the moon. In one
Another myth of plant discovery is told by the Machi-
hymn, the Moon is one of a triad of divinities, the lowest
ganga of Peru. It relates that the Moon gave mortals cultivat-
one being the sacred ox, who is sacrificed. The seed of the
ed plants, giving instructions about them to a mortal girl
ox enters the Moon, where it is purified and divides into all
whom he eventually married. He caused his wife to be fertil-
the species of plants and animals. Iranians dedicated the right
ized by a fish, and she produced four sons: the daytime Sun,
eye of every sacrificed animal to the Moon. They believed
the planet Venus, the Sun Under the Earth (i.e., the sun at
that when all things were put in motion by Angra Mainyu,
night), and the nocturnal Sun, invisible to all but shedding
or Evil, the Moon created time, which will run until Angra
its light on the stars. This fourth child was so hot that he
Mainyu is overthrown.
scorched his mother’s womb, and she died. The Moon’s
mother-in-law reproached him, saying that there was noth-
The ancient Greeks had only one myth concerning the
ing left for him to do but to eat the corpse. His wife, disgust-
moon, there called Selene, “the bright one.” It is the story
ed with life on earth, had left her body there and taken her
of how she fell in love with Endymion, a prince of Elis, while
soul to the underworld. The Moon was distressed but obeyed
he was sleeping on Mount Latmos in Asia Minor. She begged
his mother-in-law. Thus the Moon became an eater of
Zeus to give Endymion eternal sleep so that she could visit
corpses and decided to move far away from the earth.
him every night. In this way she managed to have fifty chil-
dren by him, the number of the lunations between Olympic
All types of creation myths explain the origin of the
games, or equal to one-half of the eight-year cycle. Though
moon, usually together with the sun. The cosmic egg motif
there are almost no rituals associated with the moon in
occurs in the Finnish epic Kalevala: the egg falls from heaven
Greece, there are traces of moon worship from earlier times
onto the knee of the creator goddess as she floats in the cos-
and in outlying regions. The Endymion myth connects Asia
mic waters, and from it emerge all the aspects of the universe.
Minor with western Greece. According to Plato, mothers
The sun was made out of the yellow of the egg and the moon
and nurses in ancient times taught children to bow down to
out of the white. In Greenland, the Sun and Moon are a
the new moon. Torchlight parades for Selene are mentioned.
mortal pair, sister and brother. In a house with no light they
A dream oracle in the Peloponnese, frequented by ephors
lay together. When the sister discovered that she had com-
from Sparta, was dedicated to Helios (the Sun) and to Pa-
mitted incest, she tore off her breasts and threw them at her
siphae (the name, meaning “shining on all,” is an epithet of
brother; the holes they left became sunspots. Then she flew
the Moon). There was a queen named Pasiphae in Crete,
away and he after her, both carrying torches. The sister’s
where there are many traces of bull worship. In the myth,
torch burned brighter so she became the sun, and her broth-
this Pasiphae fell in love with a white bull and from their
er, the moon.
union produced the Minotaur, who was half man and half
To the type of myth in which the world is created out
bull. Another bull brought Europa (whose name, meaning
of the body of a primal being belongs the Huron story of At-
“broad-faced,” is another epithet for the Moon) from Phoe-
aentsic. She was a creation mother goddess who was thrown
nicia to Crete.
down from heaven through the hole in the sky she had made
In Baltic mythology the sun is feminine and the moon
by tearing up the world tree. Landing on earth, she gave birth
masculine. The Balts say that the Sun was once married to
to twins, one good and one evil. The evil son killed her, but
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MOON
the good one made the sun from her face and the moon from
rituals by Siberian shamans, and in their out-of-body travels
her breasts.
they frequently reach the moon.
In the Aztec pantheon, Huitzilopochtli is a warrior god,
THE MOON AND DEATH. Because of its monthly disappear-
culture hero, and the sun. When Mother Earth became preg-
ance and return, the moon is often connected with the idea
nant with him (her last child), her other children, the stars,
of mortal death and rebirth. In the Caroline Islands it is be-
were angry and pursued her to kill her. But one, called Gol-
lieved that in the beginning men rose from the dead, as did
den Bells, ran ahead to warn her mother. The sun god sprang
the moon. Every month they fell into a deep sleep when the
fully armed from the womb and beheaded Golden Bells.
moon became dark and awoke when the moon returned. An
Learning that she had meant well, in compensation he put
evil spirit disapproved of this and arranged for men to stay
her head in the sky as the moon, but he chased the other stars
dead. In New Zealand, in a similar story, it is the culture hero
away, as the sun does at rising.
Maui who wished men to live forever, but the moon said,
“No, let them die and become like the soil.”
The Greek Hesiod (seventh century BCE) describes all
creation as the result of sexual union. From the original par-
In western Ceram, an island westward of New Guinea,
ents, Earth and Sky, were born twelve Titans, who paired off
a divine maiden was desired in marriage by the sun god.
and produced most of the natural objects as well as the gods.
When her parents, disapproving, put a dead pig in her mar-
One pair, Theia and Hyperion, become the parents of the
riage bed as a substitute for her (perhaps a vestige of a
Sun (Helios), the Moon (Selene), and the Dawn (Eos). An-
changeover from human to animal sacrifice), the Sun caused
other pair of Titans became the grandparents of Hekate,
her to sink into the ground. The girl called out to her par-
goddess of the underworld, and of Artemis, the huntress. He-
ents, “Slaughter a pig and make a feast. In three days, look
kate and Artemis later became identified with the moon. In
into the sky where I will be shining like a light.” Thus the
the Homeric Hymn to the Moon (sixth century
feast of the dead was instituted, and mortals for the first time
BCE), the
Moon has a daughter, Pandia, by Zeus. There was a festival
saw the moon rising.
at Athens called the Pandia where round moon cakes were
To the Siberian Inuit (Eskimo), death is conceived as
sold and eaten.
loss of one’s soul, which travels up to the moon and finally
In one of the emergence myths characteristic of the
to the sun. This upward flight of the soul through the planets
southwestern United States, the Pueblo tell how mortals
and stars is a widespread motif, found earliest among the Su-
came up in several stages to the surface of the earth. Finding
merians. It turns up again in Plato’s Republic and in Cicero’s
it in darkness, they tossed into the sky the moon and sun,
Somnium scipionis, where the younger Scipio Africanus
which they had brought with them. A variant of the emer-
dreams he visits his grandfather in the heavens and looks
gence myth is found in Oceania, in which mankind or the
down on all the celestial spheres. Below the moon, his grand-
gods are originally enclosed in a shell that they have to pry
father tells him, all is chaos, but up here all is pure and se-
open. In a Micronesian story, the creator god, Ancient Spi-
rene.
der, encased in such a shell, found two snails; after he opened
The fullest account of the moon as the “abode of souls”
the shell he used the smaller for the moon and the larger for
is found in the essay De facie lunae by Plutarch (second cen-
the sun.
tury CE). Pythagorean philosophers had already taught that
the Elysian Fields, the Greek isles of the dead, were situated
In Queensland, the Sun is a woman made by the Moon;
on the sun and moon. In his essay Plutarch describes mortals
although she has two legs, she has a number of arms, which
as consisting of three parts: body, soul, and reason. In death
can be seen as the sun’s rays. Among the Aranda (Arunta)
the body is dissolved by Demeter, who stands for Mother
of Australia, a man of the Opossum totem carried the Moon
Earth. The soul, together with reason, floats upward and, if
around with him in a shield, keeping it hidden in a cleft of
pure, reaches the moon. If corrupt, it must wander between
the rocks all day. One day a man of another totem saw the
the earth and the moon until it is purified. The moon is ruled
Moon shining and ran away with it. The Opossum man, un-
by Persephone, the Greek queen of the underworld, now
able to catch the thief, called out to the Moon to rise into
transferred to the upper spheres. The souls who remain on
the sky and shed light on everyone. This it did, and it has
the moon become beneficent spirits who return to earth to
remained in the sky ever since.
give oracles and help mortals in other ways. Gradually they
According to the Pima Indians of North America, the
are dissolved into pure reason and reach the sun.
Sun and Moon are parents of Coyote, the famous trickster
In one of the earliest Indian Upanisads we are told that
figure in mythology. In another story, it is Coyote who in-
there are two roads open to souls after death: the road of
vents the Sun and Moon. Some Altaic-speaking peoples of
flame and the road of smoke. The road of flame leads to the
Siberia believe that in the beginning there was no sun or
sun and the gods; the road of smoke to the moon, the ances-
moon, but people themselves flew around in the air and gave
tors, and reincarnation.
out light. A high god sent a spirit to help them. Stirring the
primeval waters, he found two mirrors, which he set up in
In the teaching of Mani, founder of the Manichaeans,
the sky as the sun and the moon. Mirrors are often used in
the souls of those who have learned the truth during their
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6175
lives are taken up to the wheel of the sun, where they are pu-
greater natural endowments, firmness and frankness; in its
rified and passed on to the moon, here described as the supe-
waning, towards dullness, less fixity of purpose and less re-
rior station. Both of the luminaries are pictured as boats sail-
nown” (Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, second century CE).
ing to and fro in the upper atmosphere. When the moon
In modern astrology, the moon “stands for the femi-
becomes full of souls, it ferries them toward the East to the
nine, indrawn, receptive, and imaginative side. It tends to-
“aeons of light,” who place them in the “pillar of glory,” their
ward carefulness, prudence, timidity, shyness, and the se-
final resting place. Then the moon, greatly reduced in size,
cluded life, though the lunar person is shrewd and practical
returns for another load of souls.
in business” (Charles E. Carter, Principles of Astrology, Lon-
THE MOON AND THE OCCULT. Witches’ meetings are held
don, 1969, p. 50).
at the full moon, but the dark of the moon is the time for
THE MOON IN FOLKLORE. Almost universal are cautions
black sorcery. A practice known as “drawing down the
and devices to take advantage of the beneficent (and to avoid
moon” is pictured on Greek vases. In the Voyage of the Argo
the unlucky) aspects of the moon, as well as theories to ex-
(Apollonius Rhodius, third century BCE), Medea, the priest-
plain the moon spots. It has seemed an obvious ritual to
ess of Hekate, is gathering herbs when the Moon addresses
farmers all over the world to plant during the waxing moon
her, saying “How often have you disorbed me, making the
and reap during the waning moon, and this is still done in
nights moonless so you might practice your incantations.”
many parts of the United States. In pre-revolutionary France
In this case the Moon would seem to be guiltless in the magic
the law required trees to be felled during the waxing moon
rites.
so that their wood would be drier. Hair, on the other hand,
The lucky rabbit’s foot must be taken in the dark of the
should be cut at the waning moon to make it thick. In En-
moon, perhaps because the hare is one of the Moon’s animals
gland, shingles laid during the waning moon tend to swell.
and she might protect it. According to Aelianos, a Greek
All over Europe, money, especially silver, the moon’s metal,
writer of the third century
is exposed to the waxing moon or turned over in the pocket
CE, the moon causes epilepsy,
which may be cured by a special kind of peony that, like the
to make it grow. In Uganda, potters wait for the waxing
mandrake root, cannot be seen by day but must be gathered
moon before firing their pots. Warts are everywhere believed
at night by tying to it a dog who pulls up the root and then
to grow as the moon waxes and to decrease at the wane.
dies (On Animals 24). This plant also cures afflictions of the
Some Muslims in India practice a ritual called “drinking
eyes “in which moisture congeals and robs the eyes of their
the moon.” They fill a silver basin with water, let it reflect
sight.” Spells to reunite lovers are especially effective when
the light of the full moon, and drink it at a gulp as a remedy
cast by moonlight. In Theocritus (third century BCE) a loves-
for palpitations and nervous disorders. Mothers in many
ick girl calls on the moon for help in her enchantment. The
places present their babies to the full moon so they will grow.
Roman poet Catullus (first century BCE), in his hymn to
In New Guinea, men on a hunting expedition leave their
Diana, calls her Trivia, Lady of the Crossroads (i.e., Hekate),
women at home to sing to the new moon for the success of
and the “moon with counterfeit light.” In the Middle Ages
the hunt. Natives of Greenland believe that women can be-
Diana was considered the ruler of witches, together with the
come pregnant from sleeping in the light of the full moon.
“horned god.” Pope John XII (tenth century) accused witch-
To prevent this, women wipe their abdomens with spittle.
es of “riding with Diana.”
Weddings are variously believed to be lucky if held at the full
In dream divination, according to Artemidorus (Inter-
moon or at the dark of the moon. The latter is explained by
pretation of Dreams, second century
Plutarch (De facie lunae), who claimed that the moon rushed
CE), “Intercourse with
the Moon is entirely auspicious for shipmasters, pilots, mer-
to conjunction with the sun so that she might be refreshed
chants, astronomers, vagabonds and people fond of travel-
by his light.
ling. But for others it means dropsy. . . . Selene the Moon
There are innumerable explanations for the spots that
represents both the wife and mother of the dreamer. She also
the West calls the “Man in the Moon.” Some South Ameri-
represents prosperity, business ventures and navigation.”
can Indians believe they are ashes or menstrual blood
smeared on the (male) Moon when he raped his sister the
Thoth, the Egyptian god of measure and writing, was
Sun. The Selk’nam of South America say they are the results
appointed by the sun god Re to take his place in the under-
of a beating the (female) Moon received when the Sun dis-
world as the moon. Thoth is also the god of magic and spells,
covered that she had disclosed her initiation rites. The same
like the Greek Hermes. In the Hellenistic period, the two
spots are often described as a hare, a frog, a snail, or some
were combined as authors of a series of magico-mystical writ-
other animal or as some mortal lured up to the moon. In
ings under the name of Hermes Trismegistos.
Scandinavian mythology they are a boy and girl carrying
In the astrology that took form in Alexandria around the
water, supposed to be the prototypes of Jack and Jill. The
second century BCEas a combination of Near Eastern star lore
Shawnee Indians see in the spots their creator goddess bend-
and Greek mathematics, the moon, “when at its northern or
ing over a cooking pot. Among the Malay, they are an old
southern limits helps in the direction of greater versatility,
man making a fishing line under a banyan tree. At the other
resourcefulness and capacity for change; in its rising, toward
end of the line is a rat, who is eating the line as fast as the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6176
MOORE, GEORGE FOOT
man can make it. When the old man is finished, he will use
New Sources
the line to catch everything on the earth and reel it up to the
Beaulieu, Paul-Alain. “The Babylonian Man in the Moon.” Jour-
moon.
nal of Cuneiform Studies 51 (1999): 91–99.
There is widespread belief that the light of the full moon
Keel, Othmar. Goddesses and Trees, New Moon and Yahweh: An-
cient Near Eastern Art and the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield, U.K.,
turns humans who are so disposed into werewolves and
1998.
causes lunacy if one sleeps in its beams. Very common in Eu-
rope and America is the idea that, during the night of the
Komaroff, Katherine. Sky Gods: The Sun and Moon in Art and
Myth. New York, 1974.
full moon, more crimes are committed, more children are
born, and more patients committed to mental hospitals than
López Austin, Alfredo. Rabbit on the Face of the Moon: Mythology
at other times.
in the Mesoamerican Tradition. Salt Lake City, 1996.
Neyrolles, Olivier. Lune (Moon). Paris, 1999.
SEE ALSO Feminine Sacrality.
Ornan, Tallay. “The Bull and Its Two Masters: Moon and Storm
B
Dieties in Relation to the Bull in Ancient Near Eastern Art.”
IBLIOGRAPHY
Israel Exploration Journal 51/1 (2001): 1–26.
Since there are few books devoted to the religious and mythologi-
cal aspects of the moon, most information on the subject
Sermonetti, Giuseppe. Fiabe di luna: simboli lunari nella favola,
must be extracted from religious writings and from histories
nel mito, nella scienza (Moon stories: moon symbols in fable,
of the religions of different areas. The most important source
myth and science). Milan, 1986.
for ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt is volume 1 of The An-
Theuer, Gabriele. Der Mondgott in den Religionen Syrien-
cient Near East, edited by James B. Pritchard (Princeton,
Palästinas. Freiburg, Switzerland, 2000.
1973). For the origin of the calendar, an excellent account
is Elias J. Bickerman’s Chronology in the Ancient World (Itha-
JEAN RHYS BRAM (1987)
ca, N.Y., 1968). By far the most complete book on the devel-
Revised Bibliography
opment of astrology is still Auguste Bouché-Leclerq’s
L’astrologie grecque (Paris, 1899). Franz Cumont’s Recherche
sur le symbolisme funeraire des Romains contains an unusual
MOORE, GEORGE FOOT.
amount of data on alien sects of the Hellenistic and Roman
George Foot Moore
periods. An essay by Mircea Eliade entitled “The Moon and
(1851–1931) was an American scholar of Hebrew scriptures,
Its Mystique,” in Patterns in Comparative Religion (New
Judaism, and the history of religions. Born of Scottish-Irish
York, 1958), provides many insights into the symbolism and
ancestry in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Moore received his
iconography of the moon. The same author’s Shamanism:
B.A. degree from Yale University (1872) and his B.D. degree
Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, rev. & enl. ed. (New York,
from Union Theological Seminary, New York (1877). Fol-
1964), gives a background for the religions of Siberia and the
lowing ordination as a Presbyterian clergyman (1878), he
American Indians. For folklore on the moon a good source
served a five-year pastorate in Zanesville, Ohio. Moore’s aca-
is the Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology
demic career began with his appointment as professor of He-
and Legend (New York, 1950). A˚ke Hultkrantz, in Religions
brew language and literature at Andover Theological Semi-
of the American Indians (Los Angeles, 1979), gives a concise
nary (1883). Moore became professor of theology at Harvard
but thorough summary of the beliefs of the Indians of North
and South America. The most recent and fullest account of
University (1902) and later professor of the history of reli-
the religions of the Near East is found in Thorkild Jacobsen’s
gions there (1904), a position in which he remained until his
The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion
retirement in 1928.
(New Haven, 1976). The best, most complete book on the
Moore’s reputation in biblical studies was established
subject of the moon is La lune: Mythes et rites, edited by De-
with the publication of A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
nise Berndt (Paris, 1962), with essays by separate authors on
on Judges (1895) and The Literature of the Old Testament
various areas of the world. Some new insights and original
research appear in Julius Lewy’s “The Late Assyro-
(1913). His Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era,
Babylonian Cult of the Moon and Its Culmination at the
the Age of Tannaim (1927–1930) is still the finest description
Time of Nabonidus,” Hebrew Union College Annual (1945–
of the religion of the rabbis of the Mishnah in existence.
1946): 405–489. An extremely useful collection of material
Moore’s work is in line with the then regnant paradigm
from all over the world is The Mythology of All Races, 13 vols.,
among Jewish scholars (e.g., Solomon Schechter, Louis Gin-
edited by Louis Herbert Gray and George Foot Moore (Bos-
zberg) for study of the Pharisees/rabbis. This approach fo-
ton, 1916–1932), under the auspices of the Archaeological
cused primarily upon the religion and literature of the Rab-
Institute of America. Martin P. Nilsson brings to his Gesch-
binic elite and its construction of Judaism. Judaism in the
ichte der griechischen Religion (Munich, 1955) a wealth of in-
First Centuries of the Christian Era has been criticized by
formation on archaeology and comparative religion. Still the
more recent scholars, principally Morton Smith and his
most complete collection of mythological material is Aus-
führliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie,
school, for treating the rabbis as representative of what Mor-
7 vols. in 10, edited by W. H. Roscher (1866–1893; Hildes-
ton Smith called “Normative Judaism,” without focusing on
heim, 1965). The series “Sacred Books of the East” (1879–
the mystical, magical, or apocalyptic in Judaism beyond the
1910), containing the sacred writings of India and Persia col-
rabbis. Morton Smith’s approach is well in line with Moore’s
lected by F. Max Müller, was reissued at Delhi in 1965.
general interest in religious elites.
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MORALITY AND RELIGION
6177
Moore’s two-volume History of Religions (1913–1919)
ful scholarship of the period and intended for the general
filled the need for a new handbook on the history of religions
reader.
with the unity and continuity that single authorship could
History of Religions. 2 vols. New York, 1913–1919. Volume one
provide. In this work, Moore limits his treatment to the reli-
discusses the religions of China, Japan, Egypt, Babylonia, As-
gions of the “civilized” peoples, omitting any discussion of
syria, India, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Persia, while
“primitive” (i.e., tribal) religions. Moore’s treatment of the
volume two discusses Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
various religions manifests an impressive capacity to master
Moore’s succinct survey of major religious traditions is in-
the best current scholarship. Two uncritical assumptions un-
formed by his mastery of the most competent scholarship in
derlie his work, neither of which was uncommon in his day:
each field and by his special competence in Christianity and
Judaism. The approach is characterized more by an interest
an evolutionary theory concerning the development of reli-
in the history and thought of each tradition than by a consid-
gion and a basic methodological distinction between the reli-
eration of their sociological and anthropological aspects. A
gions of “civilized peoples” and “other” (i.e., “primitive” or
remarkable accomplishment in its time, the work has endur-
tribal) religions.
ing value.
His contributions as a historian of religions were
The Birth and Growth of Religion. New York, 1923. This publica-
marked by two notable qualities. First, he demonstrated the
tion of the Morse Lectures of 1922 presents Moore’s theory
possibility of pursuing work in the history of religions in a
that religion is grounded in the universal impulse for self-
manner that was characterized by openness to the richness
preservation and is developed in an evolutionary fashion, ul-
timately manifesting an aspiration for self-realization.
of diverse religious traditions (among the “civilized” peoples)
on the one hand and by disciplined scholarship on the other.
“The Rise of Normative Judaism: To the Reorganization of Jam-
Second, it was singularly important to the study of religion
nia.” Harvard Theological Review 17 (October 1924):
in North America that, even though most work in compara-
307–373.
tive religion and the history of religions had tended to focus
“The Rise of Normative Judaism: To the Close of the Mishnah.”
attention on religious traditions other than Judaism and
Harvard Theological Review 18 (January 1925): 1–38.
Christianity, his History of Religions extended equivalence of
Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, the Age of Tan-
treatment and analytical criticism to these “higher” religions.
naim. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1927–1930. This introduc-
This approach was significant for the development of the
tion to the religion of the early rabbis has not been surpassed.
study of religion in America and in the communal realm for
F. STANLEY LUSBY (1987)
the ecumenical movement between Christians and Jews.
STEVEN FINE (2005)
Moore made frequent contributions to scholarly jour-
nals, writing almost forty articles for the Encyclopedia Biblica
(1899–1903) alone. He was instrumental in the establish-
MORALITY AND RELIGION. In the minds of
ment of the Harvard Theological Review, contributed to it
many people, the terms morality and religion signal two relat-
often, and twice was its editor (1908–1914 and 1921–1931).
ed but distinct ideas. Morality is thought to pertain to the
Moore held presidencies in such notable professional socie-
conduct of human affairs and relations between persons,
ties as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (of which
while religion primarily involves the relationship between
he was a fellow), the American Oriental Society, the Society
human beings and a transcendent reality. In fact, this distinc-
of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, and the Massachusetts
tion between religion and morality is a relatively modern
Historical Society.
one. Although tension between religion and morality is al-
ready evident in the writings of Plato and other Greek philos-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ophers, the popular modern conception that religion and
Bibliographical information concerning Moore can be found in
morality are separate phenomena is probably traceable to the
W. W. Fenn’s “George Foot Moore: A Memoir,” Proceedings
Enlightenment. At that time, a number of thinkers, reflect-
of the Massachusetts Historical Society 64 (February 1932).
ing Europe’s weariness with centuries of religious strife,
The most profound reader and interpreter of Moore was
sought to elaborate ethical theories based on reason or on
Morton Smith. See Smith’s discussion of this scholar in Har-
vard Library Bulletin, 15 (1967), 169–179.
widely shared human sentiments. In so doing they estab-
lished the assumption that the norms governing conduct,
Major Works by Moore
morality, and ethics (that is, the effort to reason about or jus-
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges. New York, 1895.
tify these norms) were separable from matters of religious be-
This important volume of the International Critical Com-
lief.
mentary is still useful and demonstrates Moore’s reputation
as a careful and diligent scholar of the Hebrew Bible.
This same cultural context also gave rise to a number
The Literature of the Old Testament. New York, 1913. This modest
of efforts to explain the relationship between morality and
volume in the Home University Library series presents in
religion. Since it was now possible to conceive ways of think-
lucid and concise form both a discourse on the sources, for-
ing and acting morally that were not dependent upon reli-
mation, and structure of the Pentateuch and a discussion of
gious revelation, it became natural to ask why these two phe-
every book of the Hebrew Bible, informed by the most care-
nomena have usually been so closely linked in human
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MORALITY AND RELIGION
history. Answers to this question were diverse, but they
were only problematically linked, thinkers more sympathetic
might be broadly divided between those that were friendly
to religion like Friedrich Schleiermacher or Rudolf Otto
to religion and those that were hostile. Kant’s thinking epito-
sought to develop an abiding place for religion independent
mized the views of those who believed that religion and mo-
of its moral significance. Schleiermacher found this in the
rality are mutually necessary: although he was willing to criti-
emotional state of “God-consciousness,” while Otto found
cize religious excesses and fanaticism, he was convinced that
it in an essentially nonmoral sense of awe before the mysteri-
belief in a God who rewards the righteous and punishes the
ous and transcendent. This reaction probably reached its ze-
wicked was necessary to ensure full moral commitment.
nith in the writings of So⁄ren Kierkegaard, particularly in Fear
and Trembling (1843). Although Kierkegaard was fully ap-
In the hands of thinkers less friendly to religion, this
preciative of the value of morality, he believed that religious
claim—that religion involves the assumption of a morally
faith ultimately transcended ordinary human moral consid-
governed world—became the simpler assertion that religion
erations. In the story of God’s command to Abraham to sac-
represents the effort to buttress morality by adding to its or-
rifice Isaac, Kierkegaard discerned a “teleological suspension
dinary social sanctions a concocted series of supernaturally
of the ethical,” according to which morality was essentially
mediated rewards and punishments. This was not a new idea.
subordinated to religious concerns. “Duty,” he concluded,
It had already been stated in antiquity by some Greek,
“is precisely the will of God.”
Roman, and Chinese philosophers. Although compatible
with a respect for religious belief, it generally laid the founda-
THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS OF WESTERN ETHICAL THEO-
tion for a series of stinging critiques of traditional religion.
RY To an outside observer, these debates among Western
Since morality could be understood in human or rational
philosophers and theologians concerning the relationship be-
terms, it seemed to follow that the use of religious sanctions
tween religion and morality may seem culture-bound. The
to support moral conduct was appropriate only where primi-
emergence of ethics as a separate field of inquiry, the effort
tive, gullible, or morally weak persons were involved. By this
to distinguish morality from religion, and the countervailing
reasoning, religion was at best useful during an early stage
effort to reassert a place for religion in human life all arise
of human cultural evolution where it provided the “matrix”
from a very particular cultural and social context. Neverthe-
for moral concepts; in time, it was bound to be replaced by
less, the fact that systematic thinking about ethics emerged
more rational modes of thought.
in the West, and that it generated a series of divergent explo-
rations of the relationship between religion and morality,
Some thinkers doubted the usefulness of religion in any
does not mean that this thinking or aspects of these views
context. A social critic like Marx, for example, viewed reli-
have no validity across cultural lines. The physical sciences,
gion as the effort to support the moral norms and codes of
too, have been most fully developed in the Western context,
privileged strata and ruling groups, while also masking
but the value of their findings, and even of their different hy-
worldly wrongs with the false allure of otherworldly rewards.
potheses, is not limited to this setting. In trying to under-
Marx did not usually justify this view and his opposition to
stand the relationship between religion and morality, there-
religion in moral terms. Indeed, he was equally critical of the
fore, it may be useful to employ concepts and approaches
moral systems and moral philosophies of his day, believing
developed over the past centuries by Western philosophers,
that they, too, were deeply involved with and compromised
theologians, and social scientists. If one keeps in mind that
by the social and material conditions of the era. Yet, in many
concepts or ideas developed in a Western context are at best
ways his attitude toward religion is similar to that of the criti-
tentative efforts to penetrate complex realities and that they
cal Enlightenment philosophers: religion is to be rejected be-
may not be wholly applicable to moral and religious tradi-
cause it is ultimately opposed to the development of full
tions elsewhere, this approach can provide an interpretive
human freedom and moral responsibility.
guide through diverse religious and moral traditions.
Decades later, Freud makes this point even more explic-
Definitions of Religion and Morality. Surveying the
itly in The Future of an Illusion (1927), arguing that religion
modern body of thinking about religion and morality, one
must be put aside because it undermines moral responsibility
can identify a number of distinctive ideas. Foremost among
and encourages fanaticism. Individuals or groups whose only
these is an idea already mentioned: that morality and reli-
reason for being moral is fear of supernatural punishments
gion, however intertwined, are at least conceptually distinct
cannot be counted upon to respect other persons once these
phenomena. Religion involves beliefs, attitudes, and prac-
fears lose their hold, as they inevitably must before the ad-
tices that relate human beings to supernatural agencies or sa-
vance of reason. Furthermore, religious promises of forgive-
cred realities. It addresses what has been called the problem
ness of sin and absolution are an encouragement to morally
of interpretability, which includes such persistent questions
irresponsible behavior. For a mature and morally healthy
as the ultimate nature and purpose of the natural world and
world to emerge, Freud concluded, men and women of good
the meaning of death and suffering. In contrast, morality has
will must meet together on the common ground of reason
usually been thought of as a way of regulating the conduct
and atheism.
of individuals in communities. It represents a response to the
Not surprisingly, criticisms of this sort engendered a re-
problem of cooperation among competing persons or groups
action. Often accepting the claim that religion and morality
and aims at settling disputes that may arise in social contexts.
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MORALITY AND RELIGION
6179
Force also represents a method of adjudicating conflict, but
mental principles are dissimilar. Different technical and so-
morality differs from force by appealing to principles or rules
cial situations can cause common basic principles to yield
of conduct that are regarded as legitimate, that is, as having
different results in specific circumstances. For example, a
a justification potentially acceptable to each member of the
general principle of respect for parents may produce a strin-
community. The complex interrelationship between religion
gent ban on parricide in a technically advanced civilization
and morality is illustrated by the fact that moral legitimation
but may lead to a custom of abandoning infirm or very elder-
may sometimes involve appeal to shared beliefs involving the
ly parents in hunter-gatherer cultures where there is no pro-
supernatural or the sacred. But this is not a necessary aspect
vision for sustaining the disabled and where dependency is
of moral justification, which can appeal to reason or to con-
regarded by all as shameful.
siderations of human welfare.
In contrast to the position of ethical relativism, most
The Superiority and Logical Independence of Moral
Western philosophers have subscribed to the essential uni-
Norms. Philosophical analysis has also led to a series of more
versality of moral principles. This understanding, in fact, has
specific ideas about morality and ethics. For example, moral
several important meanings. First, it implies the descriptive
norms are regarded as among the most authoritative guides
point just made: at their most basic level, very similar basic
to conduct. This means that the dictates of morality are supe-
moral rules and principles are understood and respected by
rior to and take precedence over self-oriented, or “pruden-
human beings everywhere. Second, it implies the normative
tial,” considerations. The fact that something is morally
claim that not only is this so but that it ought to be so. There
wrong is thus held to be a sufficient grounds for refraining
is a universal standard of morality to which all persons are
from doing it. Moral philosophers have disagreed over the
accountable. This standard is sensitive enough to the reality
questions of whether self-interest may play any role in moral
of specific circumstances to justify broad tolerance of differ-
decision and whether moral rules may ever be qualified or
ing social practices, but even so there are limits. Thus, where
suspended to protect oneself or those one personally cares
a strict ethical relativist might conclude that “right” and
for. They have also disagreed over the larger question of
“wrong” are definable only by the norms of a particular cul-
whether these rules are absolute or permit exceptions. But
ture, nonrelativists have pointed out that certain cultural
that the dictates of morality have considerable authoritative-
practices are so heinous that they cannot be judged morally
ness and superiority is widely acknowledged.
acceptable without violating human beings’ deepest moral
self-understanding. For example, the fact that some societies
A tradition of philosophical analysis, beginning with
have practiced genocide against minorities in their midst
Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro and culminating in the writings
cannot be thought of as making this conduct right. Some
of Kant, has also insisted on the logical independence of
things are wrong no matter how widely they are accepted in
moral norms and their conceptual priority over religious and
particular societies. Finally, morality has been regarded as
other requirements. According to this line of thinking,
universal in the sense that its rules and protection extend to
human reason and conscience must be the final arbiter of
all who are human. Precisely because it is a reasoned method
right and wrong. Even religious norms and divine com-
of settling social disputes and, hence, superior to force or co-
mands must be tested by the “autonomous” individual con-
ercion, moral discourse remains the preferred method of re-
science. Recent discussions by philosophers and theologians
lating to all who are capable of this method of social adjudi-
have softened the contours of this view. Early rationalist
cation. G. J. Warnock has expressed the logic behind this
claims that, to be acceptable, every religious command or re-
view:
quirement must conform to existing moral beliefs have been
replaced by a recognition that religious teachings, in a dia-
If conduct is to be seen as regulated only within groups,
logue with reasoned morality, can instruct and inform con-
we have still the possibility of unrestricted hostility and
science. But the point made by Plato centuries ago, that
conflict between groups—which is liable, indeed, to be
human reason is the final forum of judgment, is still widely
effectively ferocious and damaging in proportion as re-
accepted, since to subordinate reason to other considerations
lations between individuals within each group are effec-
is to renounce the very possibility of rational discourse and
tively ordered toward harmonious co-operative action.
Thus, just as one may think that a Hobbesian recipe for
justification.
‘peace’ could securely achieve its end only if all Hobbes-
THE UNIVERSALITY OF MORAL NORMS. The writings of
ian individuals were engrossed within a single irresist-
Western moral philosophers also reveal broad lines of agree-
ible Leviathan, there is reason to think that the princi-
ment about the nature and content of morality. By and large,
ples of morality must, if the object of morality is not to
be frustrated, give consideration to any human, of what-
for example, these thinkers have not been impressed by the
ever special group or none he may in fact be a member.
position known as “ethical relativism,” which holds that
(Warnock, 1971, p. 150)
basic moral principles or modes of reasoning differ substan-
tially from culture to culture. While ethicists do acknowledge
Warnock and other philosophers who share this view would
the truth of “cultural relativism,” the view that accepted or
of course concede that it has more often been honored in the
prohibited modes of conduct vary among cultures, they have
breach than in practice, but we shall soon see that the theo-
pointed out that this does not necessarily mean that funda-
retical assumption that morality embraces the entire human
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community has special importance for the understanding of
cieties to fully socialist and egalitarian systems. This is no
religious ethics.
place to settle a debate that continues to be one of the most
heated in contemporary moral literature. It is important to
The Moral Rules. Moral philosophers also display wide
note, however, that the very basic condition that moral prin-
agreement on the most fundamental rules of morality. These
ciples be potentially acceptable to all persons tends to sup-
include rules prohibiting persons from killing other persons,
port views acknowledging a significant degree of social re-
from inflicting injury on them, or from depriving them of
sponsibility toward those who, through no fault of their own,
freedom and opportunity. Other rules prohibit deception or
are seriously disadvantaged. Thus, even thinkers who mini-
the breaking of promises. All these rules presume that the re-
mize society’s responsibility for social justice tend to endorse
cipient of the action in question has not voluntarily consent-
efforts to ensure equal opportunity and hardship relief.
ed to it. Thus, a surgeon is not regarded as wronging a pa-
tient by cutting into his flesh, nor is a stage actor regarded
The “Moral Point of View.” Behind these specific
as practicing immoral deception. In addition, these rules are
rules, many philosophers have also discerned a way of reason-
clearly held to apply only where the persons affected by one’s
ing that is basic to moral judgment. This involves, first of
choice have not acted immorally in a way that necessitates
all, an element of imaginative empathy for the other persons
breaking a rule with respect to them. While killing others or
affected by one’s choices and a willingness to consider the
depriving them of their freedom is ordinarily viewed as
impact of one’s conduct on their welfare. In addition, it calls
wrong, for example, it may be justified when individuals
for a willingness to reason about moral choices in an impar-
threaten harm to others, as in criminal conduct or aggressive
tial way, as though the agent were only one interest among
war.
all of those affected by a choice. This perspective of impar-
tiality is sometimes called “the moral point of view.” Various
These rules for personal conduct constitute only the
moral theories have tried to integrate this way of thinking
minimum requirement for moral conduct. They are largely
into decision procedures for moral choice. Views that derive
negative in character, prohibiting certain forms of behavior
moral decisions from the presumed judgments of an ideal
but not requiring positive efforts on others’ behalf. In addi-
sympathetic spectator and those that see such choices as aris-
tion to this, however, ethicists recognize supererogatory ac-
ing from the decisions of self-interested but impartial con-
tions, performance of which is an occasion for moral praise
tractors are examples.
but omission of which does not ordinarily merit condemna-
tion or blame. These actions include forms of mutual aid,
Why Should One Be Moral? Delineation and justifica-
generosity, and self-sacrifice. Along with respect for the basic
tion of the moral rules have been the principal focuses of
rules, attention to these supererogatory requirements is ordi-
most moral theory. Yet, beyond specific normative issues, a
narily held to enter into the character ideals or standards of
series of persisting questions has stood at the far side of ethi-
virtue that form part of a full system of ethics. Such ideals
cal discussion and has been dealt with increasingly by ethi-
are separate from, but conceptually dependent upon, the un-
cists, as the nature and content of the moral reasoning pro-
derstanding of right acts, since virtuous individuals are those
cess have become better understood. One of the most
who can be counted upon habitually to do what is right.
important of these questions is why one should be moral. Be-
Kant’s famous statement that the only thing that can be
cause this question can easily be misunderstood, its full sig-
called “good without qualification” is the morally good will
nificance and the difficulty of answering it may not be appre-
is not meant to identify the norm of right or wrong conduct
ciated. If it is asked in the sense of why people in general
(for that, Kant believed, the test of the categorical imperative
should think and act morally, why morality itself should
is required); rather, it is directed to the assessment of individ-
exist, then, to answer the question, it is necessary only to
ual moral worth. In this connection, it is important to note
point to the general usefulness of morality as a method of
that the intention of the agent plays a major role in evaluat-
settling social disputes. In this sense morality is in everyone’s
ing conduct in terms of such character ideals. Since it is
interests. Again, if one who has adopted the moral viewpoint
pointless to hold individuals morally responsible for the un-
of impartiality and empathy for others asks why he or she
foreseeable or uncontrollable consequences of their actions,
should obey the moral rules, then it is necessary only to point
the moral worth of persons is usually assessed in terms of
out that impartial persons would certainly advocate obeying
what they intended to do, although morally acceptable inten-
the rules they would choose. But if this question is asked in
tions are ordinarily held to encompass reasonable prevision
its sharpest sense of why one should adopt the moral point
for consequences.
of view in the first place, it becomes exceedingly difficult to
answer. This is especially true whenever acting morally occa-
While moral theorists are widely agreed on at least the
sions serious loss for the individual agent.
basic principles governing individual conduct and defining
individual virtue, there is far less agreement on the norms or
Some philosophers have tried to answer this question in
principles that ought to guide the conduct of social and eco-
terms of the demonstrable longterm interest and welfare of
nomic institutions. At least for the context of industrialized
the moral agent: they have argued that it is, by and large, ad-
societies, various competing theories have been advanced to
vantageous to be a morally upright person and disadvanta-
justify everything from laissez-faire through welfare state so-
geous to be an immoral one. They point to the social and
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psychic costs that openly immoral conduct or covert and
MORAL THEORY AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS This body of
hypocritical behavior can entail. But others have rejected this
reasoned reflection on basic issues in morality and ethics pro-
approach either on the grounds that it is often not correct
vides a useful background for exploring the variety of con-
(immoral people sometimes do very well) or because it intro-
crete traditions of religious ethics. Regarded superficially,
duces essentially nonmoral motives into one’s reasons for
these traditions display a bewildering variety of teachings and
being moral. Some who argue this way have contended that
beliefs, making difficult any general conclusions about the
no self-interested reasons should be given for being moral:
relationship between religion and the moral life. But when
that one’s decisions to be moral must rest on a respect for
they are assessed against the framework of concepts just pres-
moral reasoning requiring no further justification. For these
ented, religious traditions display some common patterns.
thinkers the voice of duty, in the words of George Eliot, is
Moreover, identifying these common patterns also helps
“peremptory and absolute.” Still others, rejecting both the
highlight some of the important differences between tradi-
appeal to personal advantage and the claim that no further
tions. In approaching these concrete traditions with the
justification need be given, have stressed the importance of
framework of ethical assumptions as a guide, one should
various metaphysical or religious views in grounding, ex-
keep in mind one other important consideration: religious
plaining, and justifying commitment to the moral life. These
traditions are not static entities that display finished form at
thinkers have argued that without at least some metaphysical
any moment in time; rather, like most human creations, they
or religious basis moral striving makes no sense. This basis
develop in the course of history. In his book Beyond Belief
may range from the minimal belief that morality is not
(1970), the sociologist Robert Bellah has suggested that reli-
pointless or futile, that one’s efforts do make a difference, to
gious evolution, like the evolution of other complex systems,
the stronger belief that, however much it may appear true
often involves movement from simplicity to greater differen-
that good people suffer for their commitments, moral acts
tiation of structure (pp. 20–50). In terms of moral ideas, this
and dispositions are, in the ultimate scheme of things, ac-
suggests a development of greater sensitivity to the full gamut
knowledged and rewarded.
of specific issues and questions identified by systematic ethi-
It is noteworthy that discussion of the question “Why
cal theory. We shall see that questions or distinctions barely
should one be moral?” returns ethics to basic matters of reli-
occurring to thinkers or writers within a tradition during its
gious belief. Hence, the separation of ethical theory from
earliest phases emerge as important issues later in the tradi-
theology and philosophy of religion, which ethical theorists
tion’s life. In addition to looking at traditions synchronically
effected during the modern period, has to some extent been
in terms of their structure at any given moment, therefore,
reconsidered. It is interesting that this development was an-
we must also look at them diachronically over the course of
ticipated strongly in the work of Kant. To be sure, Kant is
their development.
well known for his emphasis on the rational accessibility of
The Superiority of Moral Norms and Independence
moral norms and for his insistence that moral commitment
of Moral Reasoning. As we look at the variety of religio-
must be autonomous, in the sense that it must be based on
ethical traditions, it is striking that a sense of the distinction
respect for the dictates of reason and conscience rather than
between religious, ethical, and even legal norms is often not
on norms imposed from without and enforced by external
present, and that when it is, it is often a late development.
rewards or punishments. Nevertheless, Kant’s later writings,
Furthermore, because the very distinctions are lacking, tradi-
especially the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and Religion
tions do not always assert the superiority of moral norms over
within the Limits of Reason Alone (1793), were focused largely
specifically ritual or religious requirements. This does not
on questions concerning the philosophy of religion. In these
mean that these ideas are not present; often they are implicit
writings, Kant developed the position that, to make sense,
and can be discerned only by a careful examination of how
moral striving requires belief in a morally intentioned gover-
conflicts between norms are handled.
nor of the universe (this was Kant’s “moral proof” of the exis-
tence of God), and he began to explore the relationship be-
As I have already observed, most historical traditions
tween ethics and themes in biblical theology. Foremost
tend to see the normative structures bearing on human life
among these were the issues of sin, repentance, and the possi-
as an integrated whole, wherein moral requirements are fused
bility of moral righteousness. Kant’s discussions here are
with religious, ritual, and legal norms. In this respect it is
dense, but it can be said that, in perceiving the need to
often strained to speak of Jewish, Hindu, or Islamic “ethics.”
ground moral commitment in voluntarily assumed religious
In Judaism, for example, the sacred norms for human life
beliefs, Kant also recognized the difficulty of providing any
constitute halakhah. Incompletely understood as “law,”
clear and incontestable rational justification for being moral.
halakhah is more properly thought of as sacred teaching or
Thus his work highlighted the difficulty of sustaining moral
guidance, although it is also “law” in the sense that many of
commitment and opened up, as never before, the prospect
its specific requirements were upheld by public sanctions and
of rational persons’ defecting from morality. Discussing this
punishments, when Jews were politically able to govern
problem under the rubric of the “radical evil” of the human
themselves. In all, halakhah discusses 613 specific command-
heart, Kant introduced themes that were later developed by
ments or normative prescriptions identified by commenta-
Christian theologians like Kierkegaard, Barth, and Niebuhr.
tors in scripture, including the Ten Commandments. While
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this body of norms does contain many requirements that are
the observation that the moral teachings of their tradition are
recognizably “moral,” these are not clearly distinguished
inseparable from its theological, metaphysical, or ritual di-
from what we would identify as ritual or religious norms. At
mensions.
a fairly late date in the development of the tradition, com-
Are we to conclude, then, that the separation of ethics
mentators would puzzle over why specific ritual command-
from these other aspects of religion is only a Western phe-
ments (for example, the requirement that only the ashes of
nomenon, and one largely traceable to the classical philoso-
a red heifer be used in a specific ritual of expiation) had been
phers of Greece and Rome? It is true that systematic, rational
placed on a par with obviously important moral norms. But
thinking about morality—ethics in the modern sense—does
the early tradition tends not to make distinctions of this sort,
emerge primarily in the Greco-Roman world, although one
and even later commentators who were rooted in this tradi-
might also speak of ancient Chinese ethics in this sense. In-
tion agreed that all the norms of halakhah were equally sa-
terestingly, in both these cases it was partly the breakdown
cred and equally incumbent upon the pious Jew. What is
of an older religious ideal that prompted rational reflection
true for Judaism in this case, however, may also be said for
on the human good (a theme we shall return to later). But
shar¯ı Eah in the Muslim tradition or dharma in the Hindu
while ethical theorizing per se may be culturally localized, a
and Buddhist traditions. In each case we have a legal-moral-
sense of the independence, special significance, and even su-
religious teaching containing the totality of enjoined actions
periority of moral norms with respect to other normative re-
in an undifferentiated unity.
quirements is present throughout many of these diverse tra-
Neither can it be said that many traditions display ethi-
ditions.
cal theorizing in the contemporary sense of an effort to work
Criticism of purely ritual efforts to please God, for ex-
out and to justify moral norms in rational terms. Commenta-
ample, is one of the hallmarks of the Hebrew prophetic tradi-
tors on early Christian ethics have noted the striking differ-
tion. Amos 5:21ff. gives classic expression to the theme: “I
ence between the tone of early Christian ethical writing and
hate, I despise your feasts, and take no delight in your solemn
that of the surrounding Greco-Roman world. Whereas
assemblies. . . . But let justice roll down like waters, and
Greek and Roman thinkers were concerned with such ques-
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” In less impas-
tions as what constitutes “the good” for man and what pat-
sioned but equally serious tones, Confucius would criticize
terns of conduct are most conducive to individual and com-
members of the Chinese elite who believed that Heaven was
munal well-being, Christian writers commonly established
satisfied with outward displays of piety and ritual in lieu of
rules for conduct by citing biblical commandments, or by
sincere efforts at righteousness and benevolence: “A man
holding up as models for behavior exemplary persons in
who is not good, what can he have to do with ritual? A man
scripture. Throughout, it is the hope for God’s approval (or
who is not good, what can he have to do with music?” (Ana-
the avoidance of his wrath) that is pointed to as the principal
lects 3.3). Neither the prophets nor Confucius, of course,
reason for living a Christian life. As is also true for Judaism
would eliminate ritual from the life they believed human be-
and Islam, not human reason but God’s will remains the
ings were called to live. For both traditions of thought, a ful-
source and sanction for moral conduct.
filled human existence was a moral and religious whole. But
It is true that in our era each of the biblically based tradi-
their opposition to efforts to reduce morality to one lesser
tions has developed bodies of systematic ethical reflection,
aspect of the religious life evidences their sensitivity to the
importance and relative priority of the moral norms.
and it is also possible today to find treatises on Buddhist,
Hindu, or Jain ethics. Yet the separation of moral reasoning
This point could be further illustrated within a number
from other dimensions of the religious life is largely alien to
of diverse traditions, but it becomes even clearer when we
all these traditions. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the
survey the historical development of religious thought. Not
appearance of ethical theorizing initially represents a re-
only do traditions tend to highlight moral requirements as
sponse to the authority of Greek and Roman philosophy.
they develop over time, but major religious controversies and
Thus, some of the earliest thinking about the relationship be-
schisms giving rise to new religious traditions usually effect
tween religious and rational norms in these traditions—as for
dramatic ethicization of aspects of the older traditions, thus
instance Sa’adyah Gaon’s Book of Beliefs and Opinions (933
indicating how important the issue is for diverse religious
CE) and Thomas Aquinas’s discussion of the forms of the law
communities. Many examples from the history of religions
in his Summa theologiae (2.1.90–97)—emerges during the
could be given: early Christianity’s prophetic denunciation
medieval period, when classical philosophy was rediscovered.
of Jewish religious observance and its replacement of the
Similarly, modern efforts to develop statements of Jewish,
many ritual requirements of Jewish law with a simplified set
Christian, or Islamic ethics are very much a response to ini-
of primarily moral norms; Protestantism’s revolt against
tiatives in philosophical ethical theory. The authority of
Catholic sacramentalism and against the idea that God’s
Western thought has had a corresponding effect in stimulat-
favor could be won by religious observance devoid of moral
ing thinkers in African and Asian religious traditions to de-
or religious sincerity; Buddhism’s deliberate rejection of the
velop systematic approaches to ethics. But in all these cases,
heavily ritualized Indian caste order, and its replacement of
writers are usually compelled to begin their discussions with
that order with an ethicized hierarchy based on moral and
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spiritual attainment; and Daoism’s repudiation of alleged
tures, unlike deities worshiped by idolators, does not demand
Confucian formalism in the name of a simplified religious
the slaughter of children. Indeed, this was precisely the lesson
and moral ideal of spontaneous selflessness.
drawn by most later Jewish, Christian, and Muslim com-
To be sure, each of these important moments of reli-
mentators. In this single text, therefore, we see both sides of
gious change involves more than moral reform (nor are the
the biblical tradition: its emphasis on obedience to God’s will
allegations of the “reformist” tradition always correct). But
and its essential faith that this will is trustworthy and righ-
it is noteworthy that in each of these cultural contexts the
teous. Taken together, these ideas do not suggest a religious
effort to highlight and assert the priority of the moral norms
attitude that would subordinate morality, but one that dis-
is of such urgency that it could well be an important contrib-
covers moral intentionality at the tradition’s highest level of
uting factor to major religious change. It is also noteworthy
authority.
that in these quite different contexts change is always unidi-
Universality and the Moral Rules. We have seen that
rectional; religions do not efface the distinction between reli-
the term universality has several distinct meanings when used
gious and moral norms as they develop, nor do they subordi-
in reference to moral rules. It signifies the fact that at least
nate moral requirements over time. On the contrary, just as
the basic rules of morality are the same across cultures. It also
a theoretical appreciation of the importance of moral norms
signifies that these rules are to be regarded as applying across
would suggest, traditions move toward greater clarity about
cultural lines presumably to every human being. All who are
the distinctiveness and relative superiority of moral require-
human are members of the moral community and bear the
ments.
rights and responsibilities of this status. A survey of different
One final matter deserves attention: the claim that the
historical traditions bears out the presence of these ideas, al-
basic derivation of norms in some traditions is religious, not
though historical development and other considerations
moral. The supreme guide to conduct in these traditions, it
sometimes render matters complex.
is said, is God’s command, and because this command is not
always moral, these traditions are fundamentally opposed to
Common moral principles. One of the most striking im-
any idea of the distinctiveness or superiority of moral norms.
pressions produced by comparative study of religious ethics
This viewpoint is associated with forms of divine command
is the similarity in basic moral codes and teachings. The Ten
ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Many believe it
Commandments of Hebrew faith, the teachings of Jesus in
finds its strongest biblical support in God’s command to
the Sermon on the Mount and of Paul in his epistles, the re-
Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gn. 22:1–19).
quirements of sa¯dha¯ran:a, or universal dharma, in Hinduism
(Laws of Manu, 10.63), Buddhism’s Five Precepts, and
In fact, the issue of divine command ethics is a compli-
Islam’s decalogue in the QurDa¯n (17:22–39) constitute a very
cated one. Theoretical defenses of this position (as voiced by
common set of normative requirements. These prohibit kill-
al-Ghazali in Islam and by William of Ockham, Duns Sco-
ing, injury, deception, or the violation of solemn oaths. C.
tus, and Kierkegaard in Christianity) usually arise in contexts
S. Lewis has called basic moral rules like these “the ultimate
where the very authority of the tradition is under attack by
platitudes of practical reason,” and their presence and given-
rationalist critics. These defenses may seek less to represent
ness in such diverse traditions supports his characterization.
the tradition in its integrity, therefore, than to place it be-
Also remarkably similar are norms bearing on social and in-
yond assault. Examined with less apologetic interests in
stitutional life, especially economic relations. While none of
mind, the traditions themselves do not necessarily support
these traditions condemns private property (though com-
the religiously authoritarian reading they are given. While
mon possession is sometimes viewed as appropriate for the
biblically based traditions trace their norms to God’s will,
religious elite, or is thought to have prevailed during a utopi-
this will is usually viewed in such ethicized terms as to render
an era at the beginning of time), all are solicitous of the needs
it unthinkable that God could ever require anything funda-
of the disadvantaged or powerless and, in different ways, all
mentally wicked or immoral.
encourage active assistance to the poor. Judaism and Islam
The Abraham-Isaac story in Genesis 22 is no exception
institutionalize this ethic through rules requiring tithing and
to this rule. Readings based on this passage alone (such as
charitable donation (indeed, zaka¯t, almsgiving, is one of
Kierkegaard’s) tend to omit the fact that, several chapters ear-
Islam’s Five Pillars of Faith). Christianity accomplishes the
lier, in Genesis 18:23–33, Abraham has questioned God con-
same end by encouraging extreme sensitivity to the plight of
cerning the possible destruction of innocent persons along
the weak or needy. Despite their other differences, Confu-
with the wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah, asking boldly,
cianism and Daoism share the Chinese conviction that the
“Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Abraham’s
mark of just rule is a prosperous and happy peasantry. Both
willingness to question God in moral terms and God’s will-
laud generosity by the rich and powerful, and both vigorous-
ingness to enter into dialogue with Abraham do not support
ly condemn economic oppression and rapaciousness. The
an understanding of the divine character as arbitrary or non-
caste system of Hinduism, though opposed to any notions
moral. In many ways, the episode in Genesis 22 reinforces
of social equality, aims at ensuring a livelihood and a share
this impression: though a supreme demand is made, the sac-
in the social product for all members of the community. This
rifice itself is not required. The God of the Hebrew scrip-
was accomplished by means of the jajmani patronage system,
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involving the exchange among castes of services and goods
tradition, with the concept of sexual chastity apparently not
at socially established and protected rates. Finally, while
ruling out polygamy in some cases (ancient Israelite religion,
charitable giving in Buddhism goes largely to the monastic
Islam, Confucianism) but requiring monogamy and even
community and is directed toward spiritual attainment and
recommending celibacy in others (monastic Christianity and
not toward economic need, this community itself often has
Buddhism). Wrongful killing, too, is variously defined. For
been a refuge for the poor and for orphans and widows. Fur-
Jews and Muslims, killing is permissible if done in self-
thermore, Buddhism espouses a vigorous ideal of shared
defense or to punish wrongdoers whose conduct is believed
prosperity in its conception of the duties of the righteous
to threaten the community. The New Testament, however,
monarch (cakravartin).
suggests a stance in which even self-defensive killing of other
human beings is prohibited. Buddhism and Jainism take this
Similar assessments of individual moral worth. Beyond
these common moral principles, interesting normative simi-
position one step further by discouraging the killing not only
larities may also be identified with respect to the role played
of human beings but of all sentient creatures.
by individual decision and intention in the evaluation of
Differences of this sort represent an important object of
moral worth. We have seen that while intention does not fig-
study. Why is it that traditions whose moral attitudes and
ure into the rightness or wrongness of a particular act, it is
teachings are in some ways similar tend to differ in other re-
a crucial consideration in estimating the merit or blame of
spects? But the significance of these differences for our basic
the moral agent. This aspect of moral reasoning, as well as
understanding of the relationship between religion and mo-
the centrality of the individual agent as moral subject, is ap-
rality should not be exaggerated. For one thing, these differ-
parently well appreciated by the major traditions under dis-
ences are manifested against a background of basic similari-
cussion, although again some historical perspective is need-
ties in moral teaching. It is sometimes assumed, because
ed. Very often during their earliest periods, traditions
religious traditions hold widely different religious beliefs,
evidence an objective assessment of moral culpability: indi-
that their ethics must correspondingly differ; what is remark-
viduals may suffer social or religious penalties for wrongs ac-
able, however, is that these great differences in beliefs appar-
cidentally committed. Similarly, the earliest strata of some
ently do not affect adherence to at least the fundamental
traditions at times display notions of collective guilt whereby
moral rules. Furthermore, where moral differences do occur,
all members of a community are regarded as meriting pun-
they do so within the permitted range of moral disagreement.
ishment for the wrongdoing of a few.
For example, even though Western religious moralists have
Characteristically, however, these less differentiated
vested sexual conduct with great importance (often intoler-
ideas give way over time to greater precision in the assess-
antly imposing their norms on other cultures), there are
ment or apportionment of blame. In the Hebrew faith, Eze-
many different ways in which societies can organize sexual
kiel’s rejection of collective punishment (Ez. 18:1ff.) repre-
conduct so as to fulfill the more basic moral objective of pro-
sents a watershed in the development of biblical ethics
tecting human beings from injury. In some circumstances
(similar changes in attitude can be discerned in Deuteronomy
the welfare of women and children might seem best accom-
24:16 and 2 Kings 14:6). This process of differentiation be-
plished by polygamous relations; in others, monogamy
comes particularly apparent during moments of radical reli-
might be desirable. Changing circumstances within a single
gious change. None of the “daughter traditions”—neither
tradition can even recommend a movement from one pat-
Buddhism, Christianity, nor Islam—defends the idea of cor-
tern to the next, as has been the case for Judaism and, to a
porate punishment, whereas all put much stress on intention
lesser extent, Islam. That traditions would differ over a diffi-
in assessing individuals’ deeds. Jesus’ criticism of religious
cult moral issue like this is almost predictable. What would
and moral hypocrisy may not be fair to the Jewish tradition
be surprising, and what would throw open to question any
from which he sprang, but it is fully consistent with the spirit
claim that religions are basically respectful of the moral rules,
of greater interiority in the assessment of worth that marks
would be teachings that permit rape or other violently abu-
the development of biblical faith. Much the same might be
sive sexual acts. But no major historical tradition tolerates
said of the Buddhist remolding of the doctrine of karman to
anything of the kind.
the effect that karmic consequences are seen to derive from
Some differences in these teachings are also traceable to
the willing of the agent rather than from the outward deed.
differing moral ideals or standards of supererogation. We
The importance of intention (niyah) in validating religious
have seen that, above and beyond the basic moral rules
and moral observance in Islam and of the kindred concept
(which are largely negative and prohibitory), there are a vari-
of kavvanah in rabbinic Judaism exemplifies this same pro-
ety of positive encouragements to generosity, sharing, and
cess of increasing precision in the assessment of individual
self-sacrifice. Since views of what is “above and beyond the
worth.
call of duty” normally differ even within cultures and be-
Differences between traditions. Despite all these re-
tween individuals, it is not surprising that differences among
markable similarities, there are also important differences
religious traditions should be marked. Indeed, some of the
among the codes and teachings of these traditions. Thus, the
disagreements with respect to sexual conduct and killing just
permitted range of sexual conduct differs from tradition to
mentioned are also differences of this sort. New Testament
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Christianity, for example, would interpret self-sacrifice to
are called upon to imitate God while trying to develop their
imply celibacy, disregard for material wealth, and abstention
own moral and religious lives. The various metaphors for
from physical self-defense. Buddhists and Jains adopt very
God that express the traits to which believers should aspire
similar norms (possibly less for reasons of self-sacrifice or al-
convey this moral point of view: God is the creator and king
truism than as part of a vision of spiritual self-cultivation),
of all the world, the righteous ruler in whom there is neither
whereas Judaism and Islam tend to associate self-sacrifice
partiality nor injustice. He is also a parent who loves his crea-
with unstinting obedience to every provision of their respec-
tures with tender mercy and concern. Modeling their behav-
tive religious laws. This may require extreme efforts at charity
ior on God’s, Jews, Christians, and Muslims are thus called
and the willingness to accept martyrdom in the name of the
to distance themselves from selfish interests and to adopt an
faith, though neither tradition advocates poverty, celibacy,
omnipartial point of view. Some Asian religions share this
or the renunciation of self-defense. As important as they may
teaching. Adherents of the bhakti (devotional) tradition of
be for the study of comparative religious ethics, however,
Hinduism find a model in the god (often embodied in the
these differences with respect to supererogatory ideals are
figure of Kr:s:n:a) whose love transcends social distinctions of
matters about which reasonable and morally well-
caste, wealth, or gender. In the ancient Chinese and Confu-
intentioned persons can disagree, and they do not affect the
cian traditions, Shangdi (“lord on high”) and Tian
traditions’ agreement about the basic moral rules.
(“heaven”) represent the standard of impartial justice. Know-
“Omnipartiality.” Probably nothing makes this agree-
ing no favorites, Heaven judges by merit alone and casts out
ment clearer than the ways in which diverse religious tradi-
the unworthy.
tions communicate to their adherents the perspective I have
Mystical traditions, which often place less emphasis on
called “the moral point of view.” We have seen that this re-
obedience to God and more on the adherent’s experience of
quires imaginative empathy for others, an ability to put one-
a transcendent reality, arrive at this standpoint in a different
self in their shoes, and the willingness to make moral deci-
way. Characteristically, once a person has joined with or is
sions from a standpoint of objectivity and impartiality. The
in contact with transcendent reality (whether as brahman,
element of reciprocity here is aptly expressed by the Golden
nirva¯n:a, or the Dao), the ego assumes reduced importance.
Rule of Christianity (Mt. 7:12). While Christians are justly
No longer clinging to the self, one participates sympatheti-
proud of the moral wisdom represented by this simple deci-
cally in all of reality. In Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism this experience
sion procedure, the Golden Rule is by no means limited to
eventuates in compassion (karun:a¯) for all sentient beings and
Christianity. Jesus’ teaching is initially drawn from Hebrew
the desire to help extricate them from suffering. The Daoist
scriptures (Lv. 19:18). Within rabbinic Judaism a negative
adept, in achieving mystical insight into the Way, partici-
form of the Golden Rule (“Do not do unto others. . . .”)
pates in its spontaneity, generosity, and support of all living
is presented by the sage Hillel as a virtual synopsis of the law.
creatures.
In the Analects (12.2), Confucius utters this same negative
form of the Golden Rule, and variants of both the negative
It may be objected that the picture of universal compas-
and positive forms are to be found in Buddhism’s Dhamma-
sion presented here is one-sided: that while the historical reli-
pada (10.129–130). Parallels like these led early missionaries
gions sometimes counsel universality of perspective, they
and scholars to speculate on the possibility of historical bor-
have also been seedbeds of intolerance, persecution, and cru-
rowing or even parallel divine revelation in the East and the
elty, and that under the guise of religious devotion, all sorts
West. But this similarity of moral perspective does not have
of nationalisms and even tribalisms have flourished. Certain-
to be attributed to anything more than the essential and uni-
ly these things are true. But once again, historical perspective
versal logic of the moral reasoning process.
is in order. One of the salient features of all traditional cul-
tures is their tendency to view themselves as human, while
While the Golden Rule is an impressive intuitive guide
outsiders, often all those beyond the narrowest boundaries
to responsible moral decision, its focus is too narrow. In
of a local community, are looked upon as enemies, barbar-
making moral choices, we must consider not only the imme-
ians, or less than fully human. Frequently this assessment has
diate neighbor but all other persons affected by our conduct
a real basis in self-perpetuating conditions of conflict and
or choice. Hence the requirements of universality, objectivi-
vendetta that render every outsider untrustworthy and dan-
ty, and impartiality in moral reasoning. In fact, the term im-
gerous. To some extent, we see this mentality in the early
partiality, though widely used in moral theory today, is inap-
strata of many of the literate traditions, although even there
propriate, because it suggests detachment and distance in
universalist elements are discernible. For example, Genesis
reasoning when what is really required is genuine empathetic
contains many passages in which Yahveh is depicted as little
concern for all those affected by our decisions. In this respect
more than a tribal deity who fights without quarter on behalf
either omnipartiality or omnicompassion would be a better
of his people, whereas other passages display remarkable uni-
term.
versality of perspective. Sometimes the two impulses are
When we examine the very highest reaches of religious
joined. A poignant example occurs in Genesis 21 when the
thought, we are struck by the ways in which adoption of this
working of the divine plan on behalf of Isaac’s lineage leads
perspective is encouraged. In the Western traditions believers
Abraham to expel Hagar and her son Ishmael into the desert.
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MORALITY AND RELIGION
In a moving passage, Yahveh personally intervenes to save the
Why Should One Be Moral? Religions are not just bo-
lives of the abandoned pair. Though his first loyalties may
dies of teaching about right and wrong; they are total ways
be to Israel, the chosen instrument of his purpose in history,
of life. As a result, it is not surprising that they provide an-
Yahveh reveals himself as a God whose compassion and con-
swers, whether explicit or implicit, to some of the more ur-
cern transcend national lines.
gent “transnormative” questions of morality, among them
the questions of why one should be a moral person and how
As traditions develop, one finds an almost invariant
one can attain a morally estimable character. In many ways,
movement from relative particularity to greater universalism.
these questions are central in religious teaching. While stan-
Examples include the lofty visions of prophetic faith, where
dards of right or wrong conduct are readily elaborated by tra-
Israel’s chosenness comes to be viewed in terms of a mission
ditions, efforts to secure full adherence to these standards are
of universal instruction and redemption; the emergence of
a major preoccupation.
bhakti, the devotional strain, in later Hinduism, with its per-
ception of the sanctity of all human beings; and the develop-
Retribution. Religious traditions commonly provide an-
ment of various forms of messianism in Maha¯ya¯na Bud-
swers to the question “Why should I be moral?” by affirming
dhism, placing salvation within the reach of all and rendering
the existence of an order in which moral retribution (reward
every person potentially an enlightened being, or bodhisattva.
and punishment) is assured. Those raised in the West are fa-
If such development can be found within the traditions, it
miliar with some of the standard forms of this belief: God
once again shows itself most dramatically at moments of de-
is consummately righteous; he is the omniscient judge of
cisive religious change. Christianity’s abandonment of Jew-
human acts and intentions; he upholds the moral law by
ish religious law, for example, opened its community, “the
punishing the wicked and rewarding the righteous; and, in
new Israel,” to a membership drawn from the entire ancient
some cases, he metes out reward and punishment directly in
world. Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ
the course of a person’s life. But since there is an apparent
discrepancy between moral conduct and one’s worldly fate—
“there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free . . . male
too often the good suffer and the wicked prosper—divine
nor female” fully expresses Christianity’s universalizing im-
retribution is usually consigned to an eschatological realm,
pulse. Similarly, Buddhism, by rejecting Hindu notions of
whether a personal afterlife, a period of judgment at the end
caste, severed the geographical ties to India that had charac-
of history (the kingdom of God), or some combination of
terized Hinduism and, as a result, Buddhism became a world
these two.
religion. By expanding the possibility of salvation beyond the
narrow community of mendicants, religious developments in
Although this retributive scheme prevails in Judaism,
later Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism merely accentuated a tendency
Christianity, and Islam, it is not the only one that religions
implicit in Buddhism from the outset.
(including these same Western traditions) have elaborated.
The idea of eschatological retribution is absent from many
But probably no tradition better illustrates this tendency
nonliterate traditions, and even in biblical faith it is a rela-
to universalism coupled with the possibility of intolerance
tively late development. More common is a perception of
than Islam. Over the centuries, Muslims’ willingness to use
death as departure to a state where the discarnate soul suffers
the sword in defense of their faith has earned Islam a reputa-
neither punishment nor reward. The principal expectation
tion, especially among Christians, as a paradigm of religious
for virtuous conduct, therefore, lies in the hope of worldly
intolerance and persecution. In fact, Islam’s record in this re-
prosperity, numerous progeny, good health, and long life, so
gard is much more complex than its foes admit. Not only
as to “come in sturdy old age to the grave,” as the Book of
is the idea of holy struggle (jiha¯d) a less bellicose and more
Job (5:26) says. It may be that more explicitly eschatological
defensive concept in the classic Muslim sources than it is
thinking arises, as it did in Hebrew faith, only after massive
often thought to be, but in many ways Islam’s record of reli-
and repeated frustration of these expectations and, even then,
gious toleration is enviable. And even if some Muslims have
only within a context of historical expectation and sustained
promoted their faith through violence, it must be remem-
reflection and writing about this experience.
bered that, in its essence, this faith has the most universalistic
aspirations. The object of Islam is precisely to bring all
Neither is the apportionment of reward and punish-
human beings, whatever their race or nationality, into sub-
ment always accomplished by a supreme, morally inten-
mission to God’s will. Islam would create one human com-
tioned deity. In some traditions the sincerity of oath takers
munity in which all share obedience to a high moral and reli-
is tested by requiring them to undergo a quasi-magical ordeal
gious standard and in which all merit the protection
such as ingesting a poison that is expected to prove fatal only
embodied by that standard. The fact that some Muslims
if they are guilty of deception. (An instance of such an ordeal
have at times been prone to excess in promoting this objec-
is found in Numbers 5:11ff., where an accused adulteress is
tive may be thought of as an unfortunate consequence of the
required to vindicate herself by consuming a draft of “bitter
breadth of their moral and religious vision. This vision is rep-
waters.”)
resentative of the tendency of other major world religions to
In many of the nonliterate traditions of Africa and in
fulfill the promise of universality implicit in the moral point
some Native American religions, lesser supernatural agents
of view.
such as witches and sorcerers also play a role—indeed, a com-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORALITY AND RELIGION
6187
plex one—in upholding the moral order. These agents are
take the different forms that they do. It is also important to
often “negative exemplars,” embodying attitudes of selfish-
understand why, in some cases, religious doctrines of retribu-
ness and resentment that are the opposite of the open and
tion lose their power or vanish altogether. To a large extent,
generous attitudes expected of a good member of the com-
but probably for different reasons, this occurred in ancient
munity. Since witches and sorcerers can themselves expect
Greece and China.
to be punished for their behavior, the lesson to all is clear:
In the case of Greek religion, confidence in a reliable re-
avoid becoming persons of this sort. But the presence of
ligious-moral order may have been eroded, in an increasingly
these malign agents also reinforces the moral conduct of oth-
complex society, by repeated frustration of moral expecta-
ers. Anyone who neglects hospitality obligations and treats
tions. Furthermore, the traditional religion was based on a
a stranger unkindly, or who deals unfairly with one of his sev-
panoply of deities whose moral integrity and power had been
eral wives, or who fails to be generous to others while himself
open to question from an early date. The result was a wither-
experiencing prosperity may easily fall prey to the destructive
ing of religious confidence and its replacement with an effort
powers of a witch. Indeed, since witches and sorcerers are
to ground moral obedience in an understanding of the rela-
masters of deception, combining outward benevolence with
tionship between virtue and personal welfare (eudaimonia).
inward wrath (and so, once again, are consummate examples
Thus the rational discipline of ethics, as found in the writings
of how not to be), it is possible that, if mistreated, one’s near-
of the great classical philosophers, arose amid the crisis of a
est kin or neighbors may become a threat.
religious-moral culture.
Among the traditions of India, moral reward and pun-
ishment are also the province of religious thought, but (at
In China an opposite series of events seems to have led
least in the post-Vedic period) they are accomplished by
to the same result. From an early date, Chinese religious
means very different from those in the West. In Indian
thinkers correctly linked human well-being, in the form of
thought the operative mode is the impersonal, natural-moral
a stable, secure, and prosperous society, to moral conduct on
law of karman: the certainty of moral punishment or reward
the part of rulers. Misrule, it was believed, would manifest
in combination with a belief in metempsychosis or the trans-
itself in popular unrest, rebellion, and susceptibility to inva-
migration of the individual soul. In the world of karman,
sion. “Heaven sees and hears as our people see and hear”
each act and each volition entails consequences for the wel-
(Book of Documents 3.74) was the teaching of the various
fare of the agent. In a sense, it is misleading to label these
Chinese traditions. It may be that, in time, this direct, de-
consequences rewards or punishments, since they do not re-
monstrable, innerworldly link between virtue and welfare
sult from the action of any judge but are part of the natural
largely obviated the need for an impassioned affirmation of
law of occurrences in the world. As such, these consequences
religious retribution (at least among the intellectuals who
may be experienced within the lifetime of an individual.
were shaping the tradition). In the Chinese experience, in a
More commonly they take many successive lifetimes to work
very direct and material way, virtue may have reasonably
their effect as one’s karman “ripens.” When morally caused
been thought to bring its reward. This was not always to re-
suffering does occur, it is often suited to the crime. One who
main true, of course, and at a later date Buddhist eschatology
habitually lies, for example, may become the victim of slan-
filled a void left by the earlier tradition.
der in some future life; one who drinks to excess may be re-
In these respects, the course of Greek and Chinese reli-
born insane. Just because it is an impersonal, natural law,
gious thought contrasts markedly with that of ancient Israel,
karman is inescapable. As the Dhammapada (9.127) says,
where an emphasis on religious retribution was magnified by
“Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if one enters
successive and intense experiences of both failure and vindi-
into the clefts of the mountains” can one be freed from the
cation of moral expectations. This leads one to conjecture
consequences of evil deeds.
that strong schemes of religious retribution are most likely
Belief in karman is so widely shared among the Indian
to flourish where confidence in moral retribution is neither
traditions—Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism—that it may
too secure nor too imperiled.
be called the principal dogma of Indian religious belief. For
The uncertain link between moral conduct and moral
these traditions, to reject karman is to put oneself outside the
reward has a further very important consequence for reli-
religious pale. Indeed, the one intellectual tradition of an-
gious thought: it contributes to the development of sustained
cient India that did just this, the Carvaka or materialist
reflection on the problem of human sin and wrongdoing.
school, lives on, like the Sophists of ancient Greece, only as
Earlier, I noted how difficult it is to provide answers to the
an object of ridicule by the other traditions. It is further testi-
question “Why should one be moral?” If moral or immoral
mony to the centrality of this belief in Indian religion that
conduct were always followed by its appropriate reward or
Buddhism, whose doctrine of anatta¯ (“nonself”) opens to
punishment, not only would this question be easy to answer
question who or what agent could be the inheritor of contin-
but individuals would have little temptation to pursue selfish
uing karmic forces, nevertheless continues strongly to affirm
goals. The fact, however, that this is not the case, and that
the reality and significance of this natural-moral law.
moral commitment may have to rest on uncertain religious
One of the future tasks of comparative religious ethics
beliefs or on metaphysical beliefs, leads to the recurrent pos-
is to better understand why retributive doctrines evolve and
sibility of moral weakness and moral failure.
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6188
MORALITY AND RELIGION
Redemption. It is important to note that strong affirma-
only to those who transcend attachment to sam:sa¯ra, the kar-
tion by religious traditions of the existence of a morally re-
mic realm of merit and demerit.
tributive order, while it relieves this problem in some ways
On the surface, all these teachings appear to undermine
(by reinforcing confidence in retribution), accentuates it in
the significance of morality and moral striving—indeed, of
others. It does so first of all because, in a world assumed to
the very retributive order these faiths have affirmed—and it
be governed by moral considerations, ordinary forms of suf-
is true that, at one time or another, teachings such as these
fering (sickness, famine, or premature death) are naturally at-
have been taken to antinomian conclusions. But religious
tributed to moral and religious failures on the part of the in-
thinkers or traditions advancing such “transmoral” ideas
dividual or community. Not surprisingly, therefore, we find
often seem to have the opposite intent: namely, to free con-
a concern with the expiation of sin present in many nonliter-
scientious and morally committed individuals from the last
ate traditions, and even the earliest documents of the literate
vestiges of self-regard in order to make possible a spontane-
traditions (such as the cultic ordinances in Leviticus, the
ous, joyful, and sincere moral life. Thus Paul, after stating
R:gveda, or the Chinese Book of Rites) emphasize these mat-
his doctrine of justification through grace in Romans 5 and
ters. But as traditions develop, a further problem emerges
posing the rhetorical question “Shall we continue in sin that
that often leads into the most subtle and paradoxical reaches
grace may abound?” (6:1), replies “By no means!” To draw
of religious thought. Earlier I noted that moral reasoning,
an antinomian or immoralist lesson from this teaching, in
though it may lead to a recognition of the need for some con-
Paul’s view, would miss the point that it both presupposes
fidence in moral retribution, is nevertheless opposed to bas-
and aims at devoted moral commitment.
ing moral commitment on crass considerations of personal
benefit or gain. Indeed, not only are individuals who calcu-
Hindus and Buddhists are equally vehement in rejecting
late their commitments in this way morally unreliable (since
the idea that, according to their teachings, the religiously lib-
expediential considerations can easily lead them to be im-
erated person acts immorally. Liberation may take one be-
moral), but they do not attain to the highest standard of
yond the moral order of dharma, but it is by no means the
moral virtue, in which a spontaneous and pure love of righ-
same thing as adharma, or lawlessness. On the contrary, at-
teousness is the principal motivating ground of conduct.
taining liberation requires a disciplined, righteous life as
preparation; for most Hindu and Buddhist thinkers, further-
But since religions inevitably hold out the promise of
more, it issues in the most consummately moral existence.
reward, how are they, at the same time, to lead their adher-
Precisely because the liberated person has put all vestiges of
ents into such an elevated level of moral attainment? Or, as
egoism behind, he has attained a state of mind where, with-
the outward behavior of adherents becomes more refined,
out regard for personal benefit, he acts out of a free compas-
how are religions to prevent egoism from corrupting the
sion for other beings. This is exactly the state achieved by Ar-
inner core of intention? To answer these questions fully
juna in the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯. Perplexed over the terrible
would require an extensive exploration of various traditions’
implications for himself and his kinsman if he performs his
conceptions of sin and redemption. We can, however, identi-
warrior’s duty, Arjuna is unable to act until, in a series of reli-
fy a very common direction taken by religious thought at this
gious encounters, he learns from Kr:s:n:a-Visnu that one’s true
point. Simply stated, in coming to terms with this problem,
self is not stained by moral good or evil. This instruction
traditions tend to qualify and soften their own insistence on
frees him to do his duty and thereby help sustain the cosmic-
moral retribution. The world may be a moral order, but ulti-
moral order. Far from being antinomian or immoral, there-
mate redemption does not necessarily rest on the moral per-
fore, this teaching of “detached action” (niskama karman),
formance or accomplishments of the individual agent. The
as Max Weber observed, is one of the loftiest achievements
effect of this teaching is twofold: it relieves the inevitable self-
of Indian moral and religious thought.
condemnation of the morally conscientious yet knowingly
frail person, but at the same time it eliminates any vestiges
CONCLUSION As far back as the historical record allows us
of cloying self-regard that might corrupt the moral life and
to see, religion and morality have been intertwined. This col-
make it an instrument of pride and self-assertion.
laboration has not always been fruitful. Such Western critics
as Marx and Freud regarded the link between religion and
Traditions affect this qualification of the retributive
morality as unfortunate. Among other things, they criticized
scheme differently. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam empha-
it for producing immoral teachings (whether in the econom-
size God’s grace and the recurrent possibility of repentance.
ic or sexual realms) and dubious or morally questionable es-
Pauline Christianity takes this teaching to the extreme con-
chatological schemes, for basing morality on fear of punish-
clusion that salvation comes not by works of the moral and
ment, and for using doctrines of forgiveness for manipulative
religious law, but through God’s free, unnecessitated love.
or immoral purposes. All these criticisms were valid, not just
Similar conceptions are found in the devotional (bhakti) tra-
for Western religion in this late period but for all traditions
dition of Hindu thought, but in the Indian-derived tradi-
at one moment or another in their history. Religions engage
tions the retributive order is more commonly qualified dif-
some of the most fundamental and most difficult questions
ferently: ultimate redemption requires one to attain the
of the moral life, and it is no wonder that their failure to deal
consciousness that full liberation (moks:a, nirva¯n:a) is open
adequately with these questions can have the most serious
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORAL THEOLOGY
6189
consequences. In the effort to transcend narrow tribalism, for
Much Western thinking about the relationship between religion
example, a religion can contribute to the reinsertion of tribal
and morality has focused on the question of whether morali-
attitudes at an ever higher and more dangerous level.
ty may be based on a divine command. Two recent collec-
tions gather together many of the classical and contemporary
Nevertheless, this critical word is not all that can be said.
discussions of this issue: Divine Command Morality, edited
Religions, whether nonliterate or literate, characteristically
by Janine Marie Idziak (Lewiston, N.Y., 1980), and Divine
emerge and develop in a process of intense dialogue with the
Commands and Morality, edited by Paul Helms (Oxford,
requirements of the moral life. They elaborate codes of con-
1981).
duct, procedures for reasoning morally, and standards of vir-
Unfortunately, while there are a number of good specific discus-
tue. To support commitment to the moral life, they help
sions of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist ethics, rela-
configure the world as a moral order. Finally, they are pre-
tively little work has been done on the comparative analysis
pared to qualify or refine this order so as to permit anyone
of religious traditions in a way comprising not just their spe-
to attain the highest level of moral excellence. In all these
cific normative teachings but also their doctrines of retribu-
tion and their fundamental ways of relating ethics to other
ways, religious traditions have contributed to human moral
features of the religious life. Two classic discussions in this
development and self-understanding. Religion is not reduc-
area are Edward A. Westermarck’s The Origin and Develop-
ible to morality, as some nineteenth-century thinkers argued,
ment of the Moral Ideas, 2 vols., 2d ed. (London, 1924), and
because religions address a variety of human interests and
his Christianity and Morals (1939; reprint, Freeport, N.Y.,
concerns. Aesthetic propensities, historical or scientific curi-
1969). These works provide a wealth of information about
osity, speculative and ritual tendencies—all find expression
the moral and religious beliefs of preliterate and literate cul-
in religious faith. But no one can deny that moral concerns
tures, though the moral perspective is colored by Wester-
in their fullest sense have been a central aspect of religious
marck’s moral relativism. Even more systematic comparative
life.
discussion of specific traditions can be found in Max Weber’s
pioneering studies of 1915–1919: Ancient Judaism (Glencoe,
S
Ill., 1952), The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism
EE ALSO Buddhist Ethics; Chinese Philosophy; Christian
Ethics; Confucianism; Dharma; Enlightenment, The; Evil;
and Buddhism (Glencoe, Ill., 1958), and The Religion of
Freud, Sigmund; Good, The; Halakhah; Islamic Law; Israel-
China: Confucianism and Daoism (Glencoe, Ill., 1951), all
translated and edited by Hans H. Gerth and Don Martin-
ite Law; Karman; Kierkegaard, So⁄ren; Law and Religion;
dale. More recent treatments of comparative ethics include
Marx, Karl; Neoorthodoxy; Nonviolence; Otto, Rudolf;
my own study Religious Reason (Oxford, 1978) and David
Relativism; Schleiermacher, Friedrich; Suffering.
Little and Sumner B. Twiss Jr.’s Comparative Religious Ethics:
A New Method (San Francisco, 1978).
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ca, N.Y., 1958), John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (Cam-
Warner, Martin, ed. Religion and Philosophy. Philosophy and Reli-
bridge, Mass., 1971), Bernard Gert’s The Moral Rules (New
gion series. New York, 1992.
York, 1970), and Alan Gewirth’s Reason and Morality (Chi-
RONALD M. GREEN (1987)
cago, 1978). For treatments of some key moral issues related
Revised Bibliography
to religious ethics, see the collections Ethical Relativism, ed-
ited by John Ladd (Belmont, Calif., 1973), and Supereroga-
tion: Its Status in Ethical Theory, by David Heyd (New York,
1982).
MORAL THEOLOGY SEE CHRISTIAN ETHICS
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6190
MORAVIANS
MORAVIANS. The Moravian church, as the Unitas
Jan z Rokycan also introduced Gregory to the writings of the
Fratrum (Unity of Brethren) is popularly known, is a Protes-
radical reformer Petr Chelcˇicky´ (c. 1380–c. 1460).
tant denomination with roots in the fifteenth-century Huss-
Within ten years of the founding of their society, the
ite reformation and the eighteenth-century German Pietist
Brethren felt the need to establish their own clerical orders
movement. By the late nineteenth century, these influences
to insure the efficaciousness of their ministry. They chose
had coalesced to give the denomination its contemporary
deacons, presbyters, and bishops from among their member-
form and character.
ship. One of the candidates was a former Roman Catholic
priest, and some Waldensians may have participated in the
The Unity of Brethren was founded in March 1457 in
establishment of the new orders. Modern historians see in
Kunwald, Bohemia, as the Jednota Bratrská (Society of
these events an attempt by the Brethren to reconstitute the
Brethren), but the issues behind this event stretch back more
style of ministry of the New Testament church. Any attempt
than a century. From the mid-fourteenth century there had
by the Brethren to claim apostolic succession as traditionally
been growing demands for reform within the Roman Catho-
understood must be laid to a faulty reading of Waldensian
lic Church of Bohemia and neighboring Moravia. The re-
history on their part. The orders established in 1467 have
form movement was centered in the capital city of Prague
been carried on into the contemporary Moravian church.
and the newly established Charles University (1348). Persis-
tent Waldensian influences as well as newer Wyclifite influ-
The first decades of the Brethren organization were
ences from England were evident in this movement.
marked by sectarian characteristics including pacifism, rejec-
tion of oaths, communal organization, use of the titles broth-
The calls for reform finally found their most eloquent
er and sister for all members, suspicion of advanced educa-
voice in Jan Hus, priest, university professor, and popular
tion, reluctance to admit members of the nobility to
preacher. Although attracted to the doctrines of Wyclif, Hus
membership, and a preference for rural living. This trend was
claimed to advocate independently a return to apostolic sim-
reversed under the leadership of Bishop Luke of Prague
plicity in the church, and he vigorously attacked the lax mo-
(c. 1460–1528), who succeeded in 1494 in having the works
rality of the clergy. As Hus’s popularity increased, so did con-
of Chelcˇicky´ and Gregory reduced to nondogmatic status.
troversy about his ideas and his difficulties with the
The group gave up much of their exclusiveness and moved
hierarchy. He was excommunicated by Pope John XXIII in
into the mainstream of society, though not without the de-
1411 but eventually appealed his case to the Council of Con-
fection of a conservative minority. The majority, although
stance then in session. After his trial, deemed irregular by
retaining a strict church discipline, grew rapidly. It has been
later historians, he was burned at the stake as a heretic on
estimated that by the 1520s there were from 150,000 to
July 6, 1415.
200,000 members located in 400 congregations in Bohemia
and Moravia.
Hus’s death served to arouse his followers in Bohemia.
His ideas soon became entwined with a developing Bohe-
Under the leadership of such bishops as Jan Augusta
mian nationalism, and Hus himself became something of a
(1500–1572) and Jan Blahoslav (1523–1571), the Brethren
folk hero. When civil war erupted, a series of unsuccessful
maintained generally friendly contacts with Luther (who
crusades were launched, with the blessings of the papacy, in
wrote favorably about them) and later with leaders of the Re-
an attempt to subdue the heretics. Among the most ardent
formed churches. Although ecumenical in spirit and experi-
Bohemians, highly respected for their military zeal, were a
encing strong influences from first Lutheran and later Re-
group of radical religious and political reformers head-
formed theology, the Brethren maintained their own course.
quartered in the town of Tabor. Although they were de-
They structured their church with dioceses headed by bish-
stroyed as a separate party by the late 1430s, many of their
ops, abandoned clerical celibacy, and eventually accepted a
religious ideas lingered on in the population. Bohemia’s po-
general Reformed understanding of the sacraments of bap-
litical situation would remain unstable for a century after
tism and the Eucharist.
Hus’s death until 1526, when the crown was acquired by the
In worship, while ritual was simplified, the church year
Habsburg Ferdinand I.
was retained and lay involvement encouraged through the
publication of hymnals and the Czech-language Kralitz Bible
Upheavals occurred also in the religious life of the Bohe-
(1579–1593) in six volumes with commentary. The church
mians and Moravians as several groups claiming the heritage
sponsored schools and encouraged the training of clergy in
of Hus emerged alongside the Roman Catholic Church. One
foreign universities.
such group, the Utraquists, represented a conservative at-
tempt at reformation, finally insisting only on the right of
Since their legal status was often in doubt, the Brethren
all believers to receive the bread and wine at Communion
endured periodic persecutions by the Utraquists and the
and continuing to hope for a reunion with a purified Roman
Roman Catholics. But they continued to maintain their vi-
Catholic Church. It was the Utraquist archbishop-elect Jan
tality and established congregations in Poland, which later
z Rokycan (c. 1390–1471) whose preaching inspired one of
merged with the Reformed church.
the founders of the Brethren, his nephew Gregory
The involvement in political affairs of members who
(d. 1474), to pursue more vigorously the goal of reformation.
were of the nobility helped to bring about disastrous conse-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORAVIANS
6191
quences for the Brethren in the opening phase of the Thirty
United States. These self-sufficient “settlement congrega-
Years’ War (1618–1648). With the defeat of the Protestant
tions” were to serve as the home base for two types of out-
forces at the Battle of the White Mountain (1620), suppres-
reach developed by the Brethren.
sion of Protestantism in Bohemia and Moravia began. The
events of this era are highlighted in the career of Bishop Jo-
Beginning in 1727 the Moravians sent forth members
hannes Amos Comenius (1592–1670), the renowned educa-
to serve in their “diaspora” through establishing Pietist re-
tional theorist. He spent much of his life in exile developing
newal societies within existing state churches. This practice
his reforms of education and despite several personal trage-
is supported by European Moravians today. In 1732, after
dies never lost his belief in the power of the educated mind
Zinzendorf’s presentation of the plight of the West Indian
to serve God’s purposes for humanity.
slaves to the community, the Brethren Leonard Dober
(1706–1766) and David Nitschmann (1696–1772) went to
The traditions of the Brethren survived in Bohemia and
Saint Thomas. By 1760 the Moravians had sent out 226 mis-
Moravia through secret meetings and the laxity of govern-
sionaries to the non-European world. This effort introduced
ment officials in enforcing conformity. Sporadic contacts
into Protestantism the idea that missionary outreach is the
with Lutherans in border areas also helped to sustain morale.
responsibility of the whole church, brought the Moravians
A group of these secret Brethren were led in 1722 to the
into significant ecumenical contacts, such as that with John
German estate of Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf (1700–1760)
Wesley (1703–1791) in Georgia and England, and helped
by the lay evangelist Christian David (1690–1751). There
shape the contemporary Moravian church.
they established the village of Herrnhut. A creative theolo-
By the mid-nineteenth century, the settlement congre-
gian and gifted leader, Zinzendorf became the driving force
gations were given up as no longer viable and the towns
behind the merger of the Brethren’s traditions with the em-
opened to all who wished to settle in them. German and
phases of the Pietist movement.
Scandinavian immigration to North America in the last cen-
After initial difficulties, the growing community experi-
tury brought new Moravian congregations into being in the
enced a series of unifying experiences in the summer of 1727,
eastern and midwestern United States and western Canada.
culminating in a service of Holy Communion on August 13.
The end of World War II found Herrnhut and the older set-
The fellowship now developed the unique characteristics that
tlements in East Germany and, through the movement of
would mark its second phase. The residents were organized
refugees, a stronger Moravian presence in western Europe.
into residential groups based on age, sex, and marital status
Immigration continues to affect the Moravian church
(“the choirs”). The intent was to foster spiritual experience
through the recent movements of Surinamese members to
appropriate to one’s stage in life and to utilize the resources
the Netherlands and Caribbean-area members to cities in
of a concentrated labor force. From Zinzendorf’s Christo-
England and North America.
centric emphasis flowed a rich liturgical life with stress upon
the Advent–Christmas and Holy Week–Easter cycles. The
The Moravians have also experienced constitutional
Moravian understanding of the joyous nature of the relation-
changes as they have moved beyond their European origins.
ship between the believer and the Savior enabled them to de-
The British and American areas of the church gained inde-
velop education and the arts in his praise, sponsoring schools
pendence from the German in the mid-nineteenth century,
and producing musicians and artists of note. The Brethren’s
but the foreign missions continued under control of an inter-
clerical orders were continued through new ordinations by
national board that met in Germany until the end of World
the two remaining bishops in exile. Since the church devel-
War I. Responsibility for the work was then divided among
oped a conferential form of government, however, the bish-
the European, British, and American areas of the church. A
ops became primarily spiritual leaders.
major constitutional change in 1957 resulted in the creation
of the present seventeen autonomous provinces located in
Worship was characterized by a simplified liturgical rit-
Europe, England, North America, Central America, and Af-
ual that observed the festivals of the Christian calendar with
rica, and the undertaking of educational work in India and
particular attention to the Advent–Christmas and Holy
Israel. The provinces constitute the Moravian Unity and
Week–Easter cycles. Unique features included the singing of
send delegates to periodic meetings of the Unity Synod. The
many hymns, with the minister clad in a surplice for the cele-
late twentieth century witnessed the rapid growth of the
bration of the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion.
church in Africa and Central America. In America, the Mo-
The Lovefeast, patterned after the agap¯e meals of the early
ravian church did not experience significant growth until
Christians, developed as a significant service. In it partici-
after the mid-nineteenth century. Earlier attempts at “dias-
pants were served a simple meal as an expression of their fel-
pora”-style outreach had proved unsuited to America, since
lowship with one another.
there was no religious establishment within which to work.
Under the leadership of Zinzendorf and his de facto suc-
Groups gathered by diaspora workers simply became congre-
cessor Bishop Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg (1703–1792),
gations of other denominations. The retention of the exclu-
Herrnhut became the model for some twenty similar com-
sive settlement congregations until the 1840s also retarded
munities established in Europe, England, and the eastern
outreach.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6192
MORDVIN RELIGIONS
The church has continued to honor many of its tradi-
and sects, the largest of which is the Church of Jesus Christ
tions of worship and practice. While eschewing a formal dog-
of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Salt Lake
matic theological tradition of its own, it affirms the historic
City, Utah, and had a worldwide membership of about
creeds of the Christian faith, continues to emphasize the be-
twelve million in 2003. The second largest organization is
liever’s relationship with Christ, and to encourage fellowship
the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorga-
among its members. Both men and women are ordained as
nized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) with
pastors. The church’s historical ecumenical stance is reflected
headquarters in Independence, Missouri, and a membership
in its participation as a founding member of the World
of about 250,000. Perhaps the smallest of numerous Mor-
Council of Churches and in the activities of the various prov-
mon splinter groups is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
inces in regional councils of churches. Total worldwide
Day Saints (Strangite) in Burlington, Wisconsin—composed
membership in the late 1990s was around 720,000.
of followers of James T. Strang (1813–1856)—with about
two hundred members. All of these churches trace their ori-
SEE ALSO Comenius, Johannes Amos; Hus, Jan; Pietism;
gins to founder Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844).
Zinzendorf, Nikolaus.
ORIGINS OF MORMONISM. Mormonism began in western
B
New York in the 1820s, a time when the fires of the Second
IBLIOGRAPHY
The most comprehensive bibliography for the early history of the
Great Awakening were sweeping across the “burned-over dis-
Moravians is Jarold K. Zeman’s The Hussite Movement and
trict,” and America’s most important nineteenth-century wa-
the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, 1350–
terway, the Erie Canal, was being completed there. Such a
1650: A Bibliographical Study Guide (Ann Arbor, Mich.,
mingling of spiritual and physical developments was a perfect
1977). Peter Brock discusses The Political and Social Doc-
expression of the symbiosis between evangelical religion and
trines of the Unity of Czech Brethren in the Fifteenth and Early
an emerging industrial order that radically transformed
Sixteenth Centuries (The Hague, Netherlands, 1957), while
American society, leaving many Americans bewildered and
the whole history of the early Moravians is dealt with in Ed-
confused. Among those passed by in the rush for progress
mund A. De Schweinitz’s old but comprehensive History of
the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum or the Unity of the
was the family of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, who had left
Brethren, 2d ed. (Bethlehem, Pa., 1901). The later history of
New England with their children in 1816 in search of better
the church is found in J. Taylor Hamilton and Kenneth G.
economic opportunities in western New York. They settled
Hamilton’s History of the Moravian Church: The Renewed
in the village of Palmyra, directly on the canal route. Though
Unitas Fratrum, 1722–1957 (Bethlehem, Pa., 1967). The
skeptical of the religious enthusiasms of the revivalists, the
best recent biographies of central figures in Moravian church
Smiths were persuaded of the need for religious affiliation.
history include two works by Matthew Spinka: John Hus: A
However, they found it difficult to make a choice among
Biography (Princeton, N.J., 1968) and John Amos Comenius:
competing denominations. Their third eldest son, Joseph
That Incomparable Moravian (Chicago, 1943). Zinzendorf is
Smith Jr., was particularly confused in his search for the one
the subject of John R. Weinlick’s Count Zinzendorf (Nash-
true church. According to a later official church account, in
ville, 1956) and Arthur J. Lewis’s Zinzendorf: The Ecumenical
Pioneer (Philadelphia, 1962).
the spring of 1820 the boy, aged fourteen, retired to a grove
on his father’s farm, where he prayed for divine guidance.
New Sources
In a vision he beheld two personages. One of these spoke to
Mason, J. C. S. The Moravian Church and the Missionary Awaken-
him, pointing to the other, saying “This is my beloved son,
ing in England, 1760–1800. Woodbridge, U.K., 2001.
hear him!” He was told to join none of the existing denomi-
Sommer, Elisabeth W. Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in
nations, for they were “all wrong.”
Germany and North Carolina, 1727–1801. Lexington, Ky.,
2000.
As young Joseph matured, he had a number of subse-
Vogt, P. A. “A Voice for Themselves: Women as Participants in
quent visions and revelations that convinced him that God
Congregational Discourse in the Eighteenth-Century Mora-
had chosen him as his instrument to restore the true church
vian Movement.” In Women Preachers and Prophets through
of Christ, which through the course of history had been cor-
Two Millennia of Christianity, edited by Beverly Mayne
rupted by fallible and evil people. In preparation for this res-
Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker, pp. 227–247. Berkeley,
toration, Smith was directed by an angel to unearth a set of
Calif., 1998.
golden records from a hill near his parents’ farm. He then
DAVID A. SCHATTSCHNEIDER (1987)
translated these records with divine aid and published them
Revised Bibliography
in 1830 as the Book of Mormon, a sacred history of three
groups of pre-Columbian migrants to America, including the
ancestors of some American Indian tribes. According to
MORDVIN RELIGIONS SEE MARI AND
the Book of Mormon, Christ had visited the inhabitants of the
MORDVIN RELIGION
Western Hemisphere after his crucifixion, taught the gospel,
and instituted a church “to the convincing of the Jew and
Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting
MORMONISM. The religious movement popularly
himself to all nations” (Book of Mormon, title page). Al-
known as Mormonism encompasses several denominations
though accepted as scripture by believing Mormons, and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORMONISM
6193
popularly called the Mormon Bible by nonbelievers, Smith
its fullest expression in Nauvoo. Founded in 1839 for refu-
regarded the Book of Mormon as a supplement rather than
gees from Missouri, Nauvoo became Illinois’s largest city in
a substitute for the Bible.
its day, with a population of about eleven thousand by 1844.
It was a city under the full religious, social, economic, and
Smith also believed that no scripture, ancient or mod-
political control of the Mormon kingdom. Much of this de-
ern, was sufficient for the restoration of the gospel. More
velopment was the result of the spectacular success of mis-
than anything else, mankind needed divine authority to act
sionaries in Great Britain who, beginning in 1837, sent a
in the name of God, an authority that had vanished after a
steady stream of converts to the American settlements.
great falling away in the early days of Christianity. This au-
thority was restored in the spring and summer of 1829, when
The success of Nauvoo may well have led Smith to over-
the powers of the priesthood of the early church—which in-
reach himself. He assumed the leadership of the Mormon
cluded the authority to baptize and the gift of the Holy
militia and announced his candidacy for the presidency of
Ghost—were conferred upon Smith and his associate Oliver
the United States. Smith ostensibly made this gesture to
Cowdery by John the Baptist and the apostles Peter, James,
avoid having to make an inexpedient choice between the
and John. Smith now felt authorized to restore the church
Whigs and the Democrats, who attracted the majority of vot-
of Christ, which he officially organized under the laws of the
ers, but he was also imbued with the millennial belief that,
state of New York on April 6, 1830, shortly after publication
if God wished him to become president and establish Mor-
of the Book of Mormon. In 1838 the name was changed from
mon dominion over the United States, who would hinder
Church of Jesus Christ to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
him? The temple in the center of Nauvoo was much more
day Saints.
Hebraic in design and ritual (with Masonic borrowings) than
Although the new religion initially met with skepticism
the one in Kirtland, which resembled a New England meet-
and persecution, it succeeded in attracting a substantial fol-
inghouse. Innovative doctrines and ordinances, such as bap-
lowing among restorationists, who saw in Mormonism the
tism for the dead and especially plural marriage for time and
fulfillment of the awaited return of the true church of Christ
eternity, with Smith and his closest associates secretly taking
led by a divinely ordained priesthood. Perhaps the most
numerous wives, offended the religious sensibilities of many
prominent and influential of these early converts was Sidney
Saints, who believed they had joined a more traditional,
Rigdon (1793–1876), erstwhile associate of Alexander
more Protestant kind of Mormonism. Similarly controversial
Campbell (1788–1866). Rigdon brought virtually his entire
doctrines, such as belief in the preexistence of humans, meta-
Ohio congregation over to the new religion, thus inducing
physical materialism with its attendant denial of the belief
Smith and most of his New York followers to establish a
in creation ex nihilo, eternal progression, a plurality of gods,
Mormon settlement in 1831 in Kirtland, Ohio. There Smith
and the capacity for humans to achieve divinity through obe-
greatly amplified and broadened his theological and organi-
dience to the principles of Mormonism, outraged not only
zational principles in a series of revelations first published in
nonbelievers but tested the faith of some of the more tradi-
1833 as A Book of Commandments and later enlarged into the
tionally oriented Latter-day Saints. A group of alarmed anti-
canonical Doctrine and Covenants. The Saints were enjoined
Mormons effectively capitalized on internal dissent and
to gather in communities as God’s chosen people under an
formed a mob that killed Smith and his brother Hyrum on
egalitarian economic order called the Law of Consecration
June 27, 1844.
and Stewardship and to build a temple that was, literally and
History has shown that the killers of the Mormon
symbolically, the sacred center of the community. Jesus,
prophet were wrong in thinking that they had delivered a
Moses, Elias, and Elijah then appeared to Smith and Cowd-
mortal blow to Mormonism. Although Smith’s energy and
ery in the temple in 1836. These revelations initiated a patri-
genius started the new religion and kept it going in the face
archal order that harkened back to Old Testament traditions
of nearly insurmountable external and internal opposition,
and established the nucleus of a kingdom of God in which
a number of able leaders had been attracted to the young reli-
the temporal and the sacred became indistinguishable.
gion. They helped ensure its survival after Smith’s death. As
These innovations—radical departures from traditional
early as 1834, Smith had organized some of his most loyal
Protestantism—while attracting many new converts,
lieutenants into a council of twelve apostles in restorationist
strained the loyalty of some early Saints and also began to
emulation of the primitive church. In 1840, Brigham Young
arouse the hostility of non-Mormons. When the Saints were
(1801–1877) became president of this powerful and presti-
forced to leave Kirtland in 1838, it was largely the result of
gious group. In this capacity Young was sustained as leader
internal conflict; however, as early as 1833 a Mormon settle-
by those Mormons who had unquestioningly accepted
ment in Jackson County, Missouri, had to be abandoned be-
Smith’s Nauvoo innovations. Most of those devotees fol-
cause of persecution. When the Mormons were completely
lowed Young to the Rocky Mountains, while most of the
driven out of Missouri in 1839, it was primarily because of
more traditional Saints, who rejected plural marriage and
opposition to their kingdom. Internal conflict also intensi-
kingdom building, remained in the Midwest. In 1860,
fied as Smith continued to move beyond his early restora-
Smith’s son Joseph Smith (1832–1914) became president of
tionist impulse in favor of a kingdom of God that achieved
the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6194
MORMONISM
which established its headquarters in Independence, Mis-
latter was represented perhaps most significantly by the sym-
souri.
biosis between evangelical religion, entrepreneurial capital-
ism, and political pluralism. Religion, like politics, had be-
SETTLEMENT IN UTAH. Young’s advance pioneering party
come a commodity in the free marketplace of ideas and
arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in July 1847 and
beliefs. Democrats and Whigs might disagree about means
immediately began to survey a site for a city with a temple
but not about ends. The same was true of Protestant religious
at the center. Aided by a steady stream of immigrants, Young
denominations, who agreed that ultimately they would all ar-
built an inland empire, including Utah and parts of present-
rive at the same truth, if by different routes. This was a world
day Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and California,
alien to Smith and most of those who became Mormons.
which boasted a population of over 100,000 by the time of
his death in 1877. A practical leader not given to visions and
Smith’s original quest, which had sent him to pray in his fa-
revelations, he insisted throughout his life that he was imple-
ther’s grove, was for the one true church. Because truth ulti-
menting the plans that Smith had been unable to realize fully
mately could not be divided, “correct principles” also applied
in Nauvoo. Plural marriage, practiced secretly in Nauvoo,
to economics, society, and government—principles that
was publicly announced to the world from Salt Lake City in
were incompatible with an emerging, competitive, capitalist
1852. Most of the church leaders took numerous wives to
American society. Here then was a fundamental source of
set an example for their somewhat reluctant followers, and
conflict between the Saints and their adversaries, in which
by the 1860s more than 30 percent of the Mormon popula-
the former were sustained by their millennial expectations of
tion lived in polygamous households. Temporal government
the near advent of their Savior and the eventual triumph of
was placed in the hands of ecclesiastical leaders under the
the kingdom of God over its enemies.
auspices of a political kingdom of God whose theocratic
When the Saints voted on October 6, 1890, to accept
model was ancient Israel. An ambitious attempt to establish
Woodruff’s manifesto, they may not have perceived the full
a Mormon State of Deseret failed, but home rule for the
significance of their decision. Yet this event was a watershed
Mormons was only partly thwarted, as the federal govern-
in Mormon history, as the Saints then had to jettison some
ment, under the Compromise of 1850, created the Utah
of their most distinctive institutions and beliefs: economic
Territory with Young as governor.
communitarianism, plural marriage, and the political king-
In 1857, however, President James Buchanan (1791–
dom. Mormons now followed their erstwhile evangelical ad-
1868) felt compelled to act on reports by territorial officials,
versaries into the pluralistic American cultural mainstream,
who had accused Young and his followers of disloyalty to the
joining what the historian Martin Marty has called “a nation
United States and of immoral polygamous liaisons. The pres-
of behavers.” In search of new boundaries and symbols of
ident sent an expeditionary force of the U.S. Army to Utah
identification, the Mormons, much like the evangelicals,
to prove to a reform-minded North that the Democrats were
placed greater emphasis on strict codes of behavior: absti-
at least against one of the “twin relics of barbarism” (meaning
nence from alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee; acceptance of
slavery and polygamy), whose elimination had been the rally-
regulated dress norms; and more intensive monitoring of sex-
ing cry of the Republican Party platform in 1856. “Buchan-
ual morality. These codes reflect the very values that had
an’s blunder,” however, did not gain him any political ad-
aided nineteenth-century evangelicals in their adaptation to
vantage and ended in a negotiated settlement. Although
an emerging capitalist industrial order requiring work disci-
Alfred Cumming, a non-Mormon, was officially installed as
pline that was effectively sustained by internalized behavioral
the new governor, the Mormons regarded Young as de facto
norms. Nevertheless, the question of how close modern
governor of Utah. Nevertheless, the handwriting was on the
Mormonism has moved to the Protestant mainstream re-
wall for Young’s Mormon kingdom; further government at-
mains controversial. In spite of Mormon protestations to the
tacks on polygamy and the political kingdom were delayed
contrary, major conservative evangelical groups continue to
only by the Civil War. Beginning in the 1870s, the U.S.
reject the Mormon claim to be Christian.
Congress exerted increasing pressure on the Mormons, who
In any case, Mormons found modern values congenial
in 1890 were forced to relinquish polygamy and the political
in their own adaptation to a competitive, individualistic so-
kingdom as the price of their religion’s survival. Mormon
cial and economic order. They prepared the rising generation
president Wilford Woodruff (1807–1898) issued a manifes-
to meet this change not only through the family but also
to disavowing any further sanctioning of plural marriages by
through a growing number of church auxiliaries: primary as-
the church, symbolizing the passing of an era and the begin-
sociations for the very young, young men’s and women’s or-
ning of the reconciliation of Mormonism with the world—a
ganizations, Sunday schools, priesthood quorums, and
transformation reinforced by a “second manifesto” issued by
women’s auxiliaries. Such institutions were all designed to
church president Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918), a grand-
keep Mormons active in their church from the cradle to the
nephew of the founding prophet, in 1904.
grave, while at the same time allowing them to become pro-
MODERN MORMONISM. Throughout most of the nineteenth
ductive members of the larger American society. Religion
century, Mormonism had been an antimodern, antipluralist
thus became a springboard for social and economic success
religious movement in a modernizing, pluralistic world. The
in the world (though not intentionally so), which was further
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORMONISM
6195
facilitated by the Mormons’ increasing commitment to edu-
of the need for major change. This is not to say, however,
cation. In the early years of the third millennium CE some
that tradition had suddenly lost its hold on a conservative hi-
fifty thousand Latter-day Saints (LDS) attended church-
erarchy. Rather, it could be said Mormonism is cautiously
sponsored institutions of higher learning, such as the flagship
backing into the future. A telling example of continuing con-
Brigham Young University as well as church colleges in
servatism is the persistent opposition to changes in the role
Idaho and Hawai’i. Many thousands more studied at secular
of women, who are admonished to remain at home to raise
universities throughout the United States and the Western
children while partaking of the priesthood only through the
world, receiving religious instruction at LDS institutes adja-
male heads of families. (By contrast, the Community of
cent to such campuses. Mormons serve in prominent posi-
Christ, which had never withheld the priesthood from
tions in the federal government, in the military, in major
blacks, announced that women were eligible for ordination
business corporations, and in major universities.
to the priesthood.) This emphasis on “family values” is also
reflected in continuing resistance to tolerance of homosexu-
Many of these Mormons are third- to fifth-generation
ality. At the same time, while not condoning abortion, Mor-
Latter-day Saints who have a strong cultural identification
mon leaders are less visible in their opposition than the Cath-
with their religion that is enhanced by closely-knit family
olic hierarchy. They have also refrained from getting
ties. The strong Mormon emphasis on family solidarity finds
involved in the public controversy over stem-cell research,
theological and institutional expression in the belief in the
having adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Thus, if their history
eternal nature of the family when family ties have been sol-
is a reliable guide to the future, the Mormon hierarchy in
emnized within the sacred precincts of the temple. Temple
Utah will not allow its conservatism to hinder the progress
ordinances, conducted not only for the living but also vicari-
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the
ously for the dead, are intended to bind families and ulti-
twenty-first century.
mately the entire human race through sacred covenants.
Only those Mormons who observe their religion’s strict rules
SEE ALSO Smith, Joseph; Young, Brigham.
of conduct are allowed to enter the temple and participate
in these ordinances and rituals. Temples, then, are not ordi-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
nary church buildings but are regarded as special edifices and
For more than a century, studies of Mormonism were highly po-
are found only in major population centers. There are more
lemical, divided by a simple dichotomy between believers
than a hundred of these in various parts of the world. Meet-
and nonbelievers. The first sophisticated modern study of
inghouses, on the other hand, are functional buildings where
Mormonism was by the Catholic sociologist Thomas F.
congregations of several hundred members hold simple wor-
O’Dea, The Mormons (Chicago, 1957). For factual detail, a
ship as well as social and athletic events—all open to non-
comprehensive and reliable scholarly account is James B.
Mormon visitors. Often two congregations share one
Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints
building.
(Salt Lake City, Utah, 1976). An interpretive synthesis from
a scholarly Mormon perspective is Leonard J. Arrington and
Modern Mormonism has succeeded in extending its ap-
Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-
peal to members of diverse racial, social, and cultural back-
day Saints (New York, 1979). An informative and evenhand-
grounds around the world. Missionaries who serve the
ed interpretation from a non-Mormon perspective is Richard
church at their own expense for two years (mostly young
N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The
men and women of college age) are increasingly successful
Power and the Promise (San Francisco, 1999). A scholarly his-
in attracting converts in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
tory of the Reorganized Church and the Community of
Many of these converts are attracted by a lay church that of-
Christ is Richard P. Howard, The Church through the Years;
vol. 1: RLDS Beginnings, to 1860; vol. 2: The Reorganization
fers active participation to all of its members and provides
Comes of Age, 1860–1992 (Independence, Mo., 1992–1993).
an instant, socially cohesive group whose authoritarian male
This should be supplemented by Alma R. Blair’s “Reorga-
leaders set boundaries while providing recognition for behav-
nized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Moderate
ior that conforms to group standards. Many converts are es-
Mormonism,” in The Restoration Movement: Essays in Mor-
pecially drawn to the Mormon family ideal.
mon History, edited by F. Mark McKiernan, Alma R. Blair,
and Paul M. Edwards (Lawrence, Kans., 1973),
This rapid expansion of Mormonism beyond its tradi-
pp. 207–230. For a perceptive discussion of the problems as-
tional culture region as it becomes a world religion brings
sociated with modernization, see Armand L. Mauss, The
with it some potential for conflict. Some multigenerational
Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
Mormons are apprehensive about the erosion of traditional
(Urbana, Ill., and Chicago, 1994). Klaus J. Hansen, Mor-
symbols, such as architecture, in favor of a generic utilitarian
monism and the American Experience (Chicago, 1981), at-
building style. Others see this as a necessary accommodation
tempts to place Mormonism in the broader context of Amer-
of their religion to the cultural needs of new converts. Proph-
ican culture. Jan Shipps’s Mormonism: The Story of a New
et President Spencer W. Kimball’s 1978 revelation extending
Religious Tradition (Urbana, Ill., 1985) is written from the
the lay priesthood to all Mormon males, irrespective of race
perspective of a sympathetic non-Mormon scholar; hers is a
successful attempt to transcend the polemical dichotomy.
or color (blacks had been denied the priesthood prior to that
date), can be seen as a clear message indicating recognition
KLAUS J. HANSEN (1987 AND 2005)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6196
MORRISON, ROBERT
MORRISON, ROBERT (1782–1834), first Protes-
Morrison’s wife died in China in 1822. He returned to
tant missionary to China. Morrison was born in Morpeth,
England in 1824 and became a well-received lecturer able to
Northumberland, England, on January 15, 1782, of humble
generate interest for Chinese missions. Shortly before return-
Scottish parentage. At an early age he became an apprentice
ing to China in 1826, Morrison married Eliza Armstrong.
to his father in making wooden boot trees. During these
Morrison witnessed his first Chinese baptism on July
years he joined the Church of Scotland (1798) and soon
16, 1814. After twenty-five years, his Society co-workers and
began studying Latin, Hebrew, and theology. In 1802 he en-
he had baptized only ten individuals. Yet, in spite of difficul-
tered the Congregational Theological College at Hoxton
ties that he encountered in his work, Morrison succeeded in
(now Highbury College). His Christian upbringing and
laying down a foundation for others who were to follow.
studies inclined him toward missionary service and in 1804
William Milne (1774–1822) came with his wife to assist
he offered himself to the London Missionary Society, which,
Morrison in 1813 and was instrumental in helping translate
though not yet ten years old, was beginning to prepare work-
and publish the Chinese Bible. Later, building upon Milne’s
ers for China. Morrison spent the next two years at the Mis-
school for Chinese established in Malacca (1816), Morrison
sionary College at Gosport. While there he began an inten-
founded the Anglo-Chinese College (1818). The purpose of
sive study of the Chinese language using a Chinese tutor and
this institution, besides providing a context for evangelism,
a Catholic translation of part of the New Testament into
was to establish reciprocal cultivation and respect of Chinese
Chinese kept in the British Museum.
and European culture, language, and literature.
Shortly after his ordination on January 8, 1807, Morri-
For his efforts, Robert Morrison was awarded an honor-
son began making final arrangements for his departure for
ary degree from the University of Glasgow (1817); he be-
China on January 31. Because the British East India Compa-
came a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824. After his death
ny (BEIC) was hesitant to promote Protestant missions to
in Canton on August 1, 1834, his eldest son, John Robert
China at that time, Morrison could only gain passage to New
Morrison (1814–1843), succeeded his father as Chinese sec-
York. After receiving a personal written recommendation
retary and interpreter for the British authorities in Canton.
from James Madison, the American secretary of state, to the
American consul in China, he set sail from New York and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
arrived in Canton on September 7, 1807.
The principal archival sources are those of the London Missionary
Society and the Morrison Library (and related collections) at
Upon arrival, Morrison found the English-Chinese po-
the University of Hong Kong.
litical situation tenuous. The propagation of Christianity was
A primary source for any study of Robert Morrison is the two-
prohibited by the reigning Ch’ing dynasty. The Missionary
volume Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison
Society knew this and had instructed Morrison not to preach
(London, 1839), compiled by his widow, Eliza, and pub-
openly but rather to concentrate on learning Chinese and to
lished five years after his death. It is the main published au-
make the necessary preparations for publishing religious lit-
thority for Morrison’s life and contains much firsthand ma-
erature that would be used for long-range evangelism. Morri-
terial. Also included are critical notices of his Chinese works
son stayed in various Western trade houses in Canton, where
as well as an appendix of original documents. Before the turn
he assumed Chinese dress and dietary customs while study-
of the century William Townsend published a biography,
ing the language with two Roman Catholic Chinese. Pres-
Robert Morrison, the Pioneer of Chinese Missions (London,
sure from the government, however, eventually forced him
1888). Later, more comprehensive works appeared such as
Marshall Broomhall’s Robert Morrison: A Master-Builder
to seek refuge in Portuguese Macao, where he stayed for one
(New York, 1924), which has a list of his publications, and
year with an English family, marrying their oldest daughter
more recently a study with a more limited focus, Lindsay
in 1809. During that same year he became employed by the
Ride’s Robert Morrison: The Scholar and the Man (Hong
BEIC as an interpreter. Having thus been able to acquire per-
Kong, 1957).
manent residency, Morrison began to turn his efforts to ways
K. S. Latourette, in A History of Christian Missions in China (New
in which to propagate the gospel. Realizing that under the
York, 1929), reviews Morrison’s work in the context of over-
current circumstances literature was virtually the only open
all Protestant missions, as does Suzanne W. Barnett’s article
avenue, he focused his attention on the printed word. The
“Silent Evangelism: Presbyterians and the Mission Press in
BEIC provided invaluable assistance at this point by allowing
China, 1807–1860,” Journal of Presbyterian History 49 (Win-
Morrison to use their press. His works were prolific and di-
ter 1971): 287–302.
verse: in 1810, his translation of Acts became the first portion
PAUL V. MARTINSON (1987)
of scripture translated into Chinese by a Protestant mission-
ary; Luke (1812); the New Testament (1814); a Chinese
grammar (1815); A View of China for Philological Purposes
(1817); the entire Bible (written in 1818, published by 1823,
MORTIFICATION. The term mortification derives
21 vols.); his magnum opus, a Chinese-English dictionary (3
from the church Latin mortificare (“to put to death”), a term
vols., 1815, 1822, 1823); and catechisms (1812) as well as
that appears several times in the Latin New Testament. In
portions of The Book of Common Prayer (1833).
the Letter to the Romans, Paul counseled the early Christians,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MORTIFICATION
6197
“if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the
tive Christianity they were the dress required of catechu-
Spirit you put to death [mortificetis] the deeds of the body
mens; from the fourth century on they were adopted by
you will live” (8:13). In the Letter to the Colossians the Chris-
monks as a means of mortification. In the sixteenth century
tian is exhorted: “Put to death [mortificate] what is earthly
the name hair shirt was given to what was really a scourge
in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covet-
worn as a belt against the naked flesh, the rope made more
ousness, which is idolatry” (3:5). This “mortification of the
painful by being knotted or by the addition of metal nails.
flesh” was intimately connected with the “mortification” of
This type of hair shirt was first used by certain mendicant
Jesus Christ, that is to say, with his crucifixion. According
orders and became a form of private mortification.
to Paul, Christians carry this death (mortificatio) of Jesus in
their bodies so that the life of Jesus might also be manifest
These and other less extreme forms of mortification,
in them (2 Cor. 4:10). All who belong to Christ have “cruci-
such as fasting, could be used as means of individual penance
fied” the flesh with its passions (Gal. 5:24). The Christian
for particular sins or as a more general form of asceticism as-
notion of mortification thus derives from this originally
sociated in particular with the monastic orders. In both cases
Pauline ideal of participation in the passion of Christ
mortification was ideally intended to have a transformative
through the putting to death of the inordinate desires of the
effect, aiding in the transition from a life devoted to the grati-
flesh. This ideal was exemplified by the early martyrs, and
fication of the desires of the body to a higher, sanctified life
when the persecutions eventually came to an end mortifica-
in the spirit.
tion began to function as a sort of self-imposed martyrdom.
The forms of mortification that one finds in various
Thus the adoption of practices of mortification made it pos-
Hindu religious traditions also aim at a radical transforma-
sible for future generations of Christians, living in more or
tion of the practitioner, but there is a marked difference in
less settled times, to recapture some of the self-sacrificing in-
the attitude taken to the suffering that this entails. Whereas
tensity of the early church.
in the Christian tradition, the suffering is connected with the
In the general history of religions the term mortification,
sufferings of Christ as an imitatio Christi, in Hinduism the
despite its specifically Christian origins, may be extended by
suffering lacks this positive aspect and is used negatively as
way of analogy to refer to a wide variety of practices that aim
an inducement to rise above the human condition. The prac-
at the religious transformation of the individual through spe-
tices of Yoga, for instance, aim primarily at the suppression
cific forms of bodily discipline, often entailing a degree of
of suffering or at the cultivation of an attitude of complete
actual physical pain or suffering. Mortification is to be dis-
indifference to it. In itself the suffering involved in mortifica-
tinct from asceticism in that it is one of the latter’s possible
tion has no positive religious significance. The ideal is to
components. The term asceticism usually refers to a general
reach a state of detachment that is in many respects similar
regimen or way of life that may or may not include specific
to the Stoic ideal of apatheia and is thus quite different from
forms of mortification. Indeed, if mortification is understood
the intense involvement implied in the notion of the imitatio
as involving the deliberate infliction of actual physical suffer-
Christi.
ing, then it may be altogether absent from some forms of as-
Buddhism is quite similar in this regard, although the
cetic life, such as that practiced in Buddhism.
Buddhist ideal of the Middle Way served to moderate some
For the sake of the following exposition I will distin-
of the more extreme forms of mortification found among the
guish two general types of mortification: the ascetic type,
ascetics of the Buddha’s day. The Buddha’s own engagement
which is more or less integrated into a general form of reli-
in mortification led him to death’s door before he renounced
gious life (and may include, for example, the wearing of
such extreme practices. To the extent that the idea of mortifi-
rough or inadequate clothing), and the initiatory type, which
cation implies immoderation it cannot be accepted as a Bud-
is occasioned by specific ritual initiations and is more likely
dhist ideal. Nevertheless, Buddhist ascetic practices may still
to involve the temporary infliction of pain.
be regarded as forms of mortification to the extent that they
aim at the cessation of sam:sa¯ra, the cycle of life.
ASCETIC MORTIFICATION. In Christianity, mortification
usually has been an element in a more general practice of the
INITIATORY MORTIFICATION. In a wide variety of archaic re-
ascetic life. Among its most extreme forms are self-
ligious traditions mortification occurs in the context of initi-
flagellation and the wearing of a hair shirt. Flagellation is in-
ation rituals. In some of these cases, practices of mortification
tended to reproduce the scourging of Christ, while the hair
seem intended symbolically to assimilate the initiate into a
shirt, an ancient penitential symbol, can function as a kind
deathlike condition that is to precede an initiatory rebirth.
of continuous flagellation. The semantic history of the hair
Such practices thus place the initiate temporarily outside of
shirt is informative. Originally it was simply a garment made
the normal human order. The practices include a number of
of very rough cloth. In the Book of Daniel (9:3) the wearing
temporary dietary restrictions, ranging from fasting to com-
of rough cloth garments is associated with fasting and with
plete abstinence, and various forms of imposed deprivations,
strewing ashes on one’s head in order to entreat God. In the
such as deprivation of water and of sleep. This may also be
Gospel of Matthew (11:23), such garments are associated with
the motivation behind several practices designed to test the
strewing ashes on the head as a sign of conversion. In primi-
initiate’s endurance of extremes of heat and cold.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6198
MORTIFICATION
The keeping of watches and vigils is widespread. Such
MORTIFICATION OF THE KING. There is a cosmic dimension
practices have been attested to among the Andaman Islanders
as well in the “mortification of the king,” a rite of periodic
and peoples of New Guinea (the Siana), Africa (the Venda),
cosmic renewal. In Babylonia, this annual ritual consisted
and South America (the Ocaina). Deprivation of sleep, food,
merely of stripping the king of his regal insignia, slapping his
and drink seem to be ways of symbolizing death: the dead
face, and pulling his ears. However, as James G. Frazer ar-
do not eat, drink, or sleep.
gued in The Golden Bough, this seemingly harmless “mortifi-
cation” may be merely a survival of an earlier practice in
Other forms of mortification associated with initiation
which the king was actually put to death.
rituals are more difficult to interpret. A number of practices
of a punitive character, such as flogging, for one reason or
The practice of the mortification of the king recalls the
another form an integral part of the initiation process. Some
passion of Christ, who was crucified with the title Rex Jude-
involve torture, such as the practice of biting the initiate’s
orum: Christ “mortified” as a worldly king so that he could
head through to the bone (Australia) or that of hanging the
rise again as the heavenly king. The death of Christ also
initiate from a rope that passes through a hole made between
marks the end of a cycle and the initiation of a new order.
the muscle and the shoulder bone (as among some Plains and
It is in this death that the Christian participates, both
Northwest Coast tribal groups of North America).
through the initiation of baptism and through the practice
of mortification. The initiatory type of mortification, though
Ritual forms of abuse are usually interpreted as endur-
not prominent, is nevertheless discernible in Christianity in
ance tests, an interpretation at times suggested by the re-
a somewhat attenuated form. This is but one indication that
quirement that the painful ordeal be undergone without
the types of ascetic and initiatory mortification that I have
complaint lest the rite be invalidated. But there are also cases
presented here need not be viewed as mutually exclusive.
in which the initiate is not forbidden to cry out, and even
As a final note, it is interesting that the expression “mor-
cases in which a cry of pain must be heard by those who are
tification of the king” (mortificatio regis) appears in the litera-
present. If, when faced with such cases, we refuse to charac-
ture of alchemy as one of the most frequent symbols of the
terize such ritual abuses as purposeful (for example, as tests
disintegration of matter. Interpreted spiritually, this mortifi-
of endurance), all that remains is to characterize them as ex-
cation regis is a part of what Renaissance alchemists called the
pressions of violence. Violence may serve to separate the ini-
“saving Christian mystery.” Meditation on the mortificatio
tiate from his earlier natural state (the infantile) and to intro-
regis, therefore, was comparable to meditation on the mistero
duce him to the social status of an adult. It is violence of this
doloroso of the passion of Christ in the Catholic practice of
sort that the smith, a common initiator among many African
the recitation of the rosary.
peoples, exerts upon the natural elements in order to trans-
form them into the tools of culture, through a kind of sym-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
bolic mortification. Violence may have a similar purpose in
No specific bibliography exists. The reader is referred to the bibli-
rituals of initiation. In the ritual hanging mentioned above,
ography of Asceticism for sources of more information about
for instance, the initiate is made to spin around as he hangs
mortification of the ascetic type and to the bibliographies of
until he faints. This loss of consciousness, which is precisely
the articles on Initiation for sources of more information
the attainment of a state similar to death, may well be the
about the initiatory type. Also, for the latter category, see es-
final goal of this rather grim form of mortification.
pecially Mircea Eliade’s Birth and Rebirth: The Religious
Meaning of Initiation in Human Culture (London, 1958),
In general, however, violence is of secondary impor-
which places initiatory mortification in the general dialectic
tance; it is not strictly required in order to act out an initiato-
between the precosmic and the cosmic. Following this same
ry death. In some cases symbolic death may be achieved
exegetical line, Eliade’s The Forge and the Crucible: The Ori-
merely by conducting funeral rites over the initiate or over
gins and Structures of Alchemy, 2d ed. (Chicago, 1978) dis-
something that represents him. The initiate may be
cusses the smith as “maïtre d’initiation” and offers an intro-
duction to the alchemist’s mystical theology of mortificatio.
mourned, spoken of as deceased, subjected to a fake inter-
For a historical overview of the “mortification of the king,”
ment, or in other ways treated like a corpse.
see my Il mito, il rito e la storia (Rome, 1978), pp. 329–477.
Initiatory forms of mortification that involve the cre-
New Sources
ation of a symbolic state of death may also be detected in
Camporesi, Piero. The Incorruptible Flesh: Bodily Mutation and
baptismal rites that call for the complete immersion of the
Mortification in Religion and Folklore. New York, 1988.
initiate. The passage from impurity to purity implies not
Diamond, Eliezer. Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Ascet-
only a rebirth but also a death of the old condition. Immer-
icism in Rabbinic Culture. New York, 2004.
sion in water may signify a mortification through a reimmer-
Gleason, Randall C. John Calvin and John Owen on Mortification:
sion in the primordial waters of chaos prior to rebirth. From
A Comparative Study in Reformed Spirituality. Studies in
this perspective, one can say with Mircea Eliade (1958) that
Church History 3. New York, 1995.
the same logic has produced both baptismal rites and myths
Oddie, Geoffrey A. Popular Religion, Elites, and Reforms: Hook-
of inundation, both involving initiatory forms of mortifica-
Swinging and Its Prohibition in Colonial India, 1800–1894.
tion endowed with cosmic significance.
New Delhi, 1995.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOSES
6199
Schlabach, Gerald. For the Joy Set before Us: Augustine and Self-
of war from many different peoples and social classes and
Defying Love. Notre Dame, Ind., 2001.
were dispersed throughout Egypt to serve in many different
D
capacities. Many Asiatics became free persons within Egyp-
ARIO SABBATUCCI (1987)
Translated from Italian by J. C. Binzen
tian society and were found at various levels of rank and sta-
Revised Bibliography
tus. The nineteenth dynasty in particular was one of great
assimilation of Asiatic religion and culture in Egypt. Further-
more, while bedouin were allowed certain grazing rights in
the eastern Delta, there is no suggestion that they were en-
MOSES (c. thirteenth century BCE, but date uncertain),
slaved or made to do menial labor. Nothing in the Egyptian
or, in Hebrew, Mosheh, was the leader of the Hebrews in
records suggests any acts of genocide or any distinct group
the Exodus from Egypt and giver of the Law at Sinai. Tradi-
of state slaves resident in the eastern Delta.
tion regards Moses as the founder of Israel’s religion—the
mediator of its covenant with God (Yahveh) and its cultic
None of the pharaohs in Exodus is named, but the refer-
institutions.
ence in Exodus 1:11 to the Israelites’ building the store cities
H
of Pithom and Ramses is enough evidence for many to date
ISTORICITY OF MOSES. Any discussion about the historici-
ty of Moses is entirely dependent upon an evaluation of the
the events to the nineteenth dynasty. Yet Pithom (Tell el-
biblical account of his life and activity. There are no extant
Maskhuta), in the Wadi Tumilat, was not built until the end
records from Egypt that make any reference to him or to the
of the seventh century BCE, and the reference to Ramses and
Exodus. Yet most scholars believe that a person named
the “land of Ramses” hardly suggests the royal residence. The
Moses existed and had a connection with the events of the
name Goshen, as the region where the Israelites were said to
Exodus and the wilderness journey as described in the four
reside, is known only from the latest geographic texts. The
biblical books from Exodus to Deuteronomy. But there is little
few specific names and details, therefore, do not point to a
agreement about how much can be known about Moses or
particular period of Egyptian history, and scholars differ on
what role he played in the events, because the biblical ac-
the dating and background of the Exodus precisely because
counts have been modified and embellished, and Moses’
so many details must be radically redrawn to make any con-
place in some of the traditions may be secondary.
nection possible. The quest for the historical Moses is a futile
exercise. He now belongs only to legend.
The one point that seems to argue for regarding Moses
as historical is his Egyptian name. An explanation of the
LITERARY TRADITION. The traditions about Moses are con-
name Moses that few would dispute is that it derives from the
tained in the Pentateuch from Exodus to Deuteronomy, and
Egyptian verb msy (“to give birth”), a very common element
all other biblical references to Moses are probably dependent
in Egyptian names. This verb is usually combined with the
upon these. The view of most critical scholars for the past
name of a god (e.g., Re, as in Remesses, i.e., Ramses), and the
century has been that the Pentateuch’s presentation of Moses
shortened form, Moses, is in the nature of a nickname. But
is not the result of a single author but the combination of
whether in the long or short form, the name is common in
at least four sources, known as the Yahvist (J), the Elohist
Egypt from the mid-second millennium onward. None of
(E), Deuteronomy (D), and the Priestly writer (P), and com-
the persons in Egyptian historical records bearing the name
posed in that order. The existence of E as a separate work
Moses can justifiably be identified with the biblical Moses,
from J has long been disputed; at best it is very fragmentary.
and to do so is quite arbitrary. The only argument for histo-
It is best to treat J and E as a single corpus, JE, as will be
ricity to be derived from Moses’ Egyptian name is its appro-
done below. The usual dating for these sources places them
priateness to the background of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt.
in a range from the tenth to the fifth century BCE, although
Other examples of Egyptian names occur among the Israel-
there is a strong tendency, which the author of this article
ites, particularly within the ranks of the priests and Levites.
supports, to view D (from the seventh century) as the earliest
Such names may have survived in Canaan at sanctuaries and
work, JE (from the sixth century) as exilic, and P (from the
urban centers from the time of Egyptian control of the region
fifth century) as postexilic. This would account for the fact
in the Late Bronze Age.
that so little is made of the Moses tradition outside of the
Pentateuch.
A name by itself, however appropriate to the time and
events described, does not make a historical personality. The
Whether one adopts the older scheme or the later date
various elements of the Exodus story do not correspond with
for the Pentateuchal sources, a long period of time separates
known Egyptian history, and historians have usually set
any historical figure from the written presentation of Moses
about reconstructing the events to make a better fit between
in the Bible. To bridge this gap one is faced with evaluating
the Bible and contemporary records. For instance, the pres-
the diversity of traditions within the Moses legend and with
ence of numerous Asiatic slaves in Egypt during the eigh-
tracing their history of transmission prior to their use by the
teenth and nineteenth dynasties (1550–1200 BCE) was not
later authors, as well as with considering the shape and color
the result of an enslavement, out of fear and hatred, of a spe-
the authors themselves gave to the Moses tradition as a reflec-
cific people already resident in Egypt, as pictured in Exodus.
tion of their own times and concerns. The history of the pre-
Slaves were brought into Egypt in large numbers as prisoners
literary tradition has occupied a lot of attention but with few
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MOSES
convincing results because it is so difficult to control any re-
prophet as a wonder-worker similar to Elijah and Elisha. Yet
construction of the various stages of oral tradition. One is
in the plagues tradition the wonders are all carefully circum-
therefore left with an examination of the traditions about
scribed by divine commands so that Moses and Aaron—
Moses in their present literary forms within the larger con-
aside from a slight gesture—are almost completely passive
text of the Hebrew scriptures.
and unconnected to them (see also Ps. 78:43–51, 105:26–
36). The notion of the man of God as miracle worker has
Moses as deliverer from Egypt. The general back-
been largely absorbed by the view of the prophet as messen-
ground for the deliverance of the people through Moses is
ger and spokesman. The P writer, however, introduces the
the theme of the oppression and enslavement in Egypt. This
notion of a contest between Aaron and the magicians of
theme of Israel’s oppression is often mentioned elsewhere in
Egypt (7:8–12). The plague stories as a whole are intended
the Hebrew scriptures as the condition of the people from
to emphasize the greatness and power of Yahveh and add
which God “redeemed” them, often without any reference
very little to the Moses tradition.
to Moses (note, e.g., Ez. 20). The Pentateuch continues to
stress God as deliverer but now makes Moses the human
The climax of Israel’s deliverance is at the Red Sea (Ex.
agent.
13:17–14:31), and here again Moses’ role is to announce
judgment on the Egyptians and salvation for Israel. In the
Within the tradition of enslavement the JE writer intro-
JE account Moses and Israel do nothing but witness the di-
duces a special theme of attempted genocide (Ex. 1:8–22),
vine rescue, while in the P version Moses, at God’s com-
which provides the context for the story of Moses’ birth and
mand, splits the sea with his rod to create a path for the Isra-
his rescue from the Nile by the Egyptian princess (Ex. 2:1–
elites and, again at divine command, makes the sea come
10). But once this story is told, the theme of genocide disap-
back upon their pursuers. The effect is that the people fear
pears, and the issue becomes again that of enslavement and
Yahveh and believe in him and in his servant Moses. It is re-
hard labor. The story of Moses as a threatened child rescued
markable that except for one late addition to Deuteronomy
from the basket of reeds and reared under the very nose of
(11:4) there are no references to the Red Sea event in this
Pharaoh to become the deliverer of his people corresponds
source even though the Exodus is mentioned many times.
to a very common folkloric motif of antiquity. Similar stories
This suggests that the Red Sea episode is really secondary to
were told about Sargon of Akkad and Cyrus the Persian.
the Exodus tradition. In its present form it constitutes a tran-
However, Moses’ initial attempt at deliverance (Ex. 2:11–
sition to the wilderness themes and to Moses’ direct leader-
15), whereby he kills an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew, is
ship of his people.
antiheroic because it ends in failure and leads only to his
flight to the land of Midian, where he becomes a shepherd
Moses as leader. Apart from an initial contact with Isra-
(Ex. 2:16–22, 3:1). This prepares the way for the author (JE)
el’s elders in Egypt, which did not turn out very well (Ex.
to present Moses as a most unheroic leader, totally depen-
5), Moses’ direct leadership of the people begins only when
dent on the divine word from Yahveh for each action he
they depart from Egypt. As their leader he is the one to
takes.
whom the people complain about their hardships in the wil-
derness. But it is always God who meets their needs, with
The story of Moses’ experience of the burning bush the-
manna from heaven, or quails, or water from a rock. In the
ophany at Sinai/Horeb, in the land of Midian (Ex. 3–4), has
case of the people’s complaints or rebellions, sometimes di-
all the marks of a new beginning. It resembles that of the pro-
rected at Moses (and Aaron), God answers with judgment,
phetic-call narratives in which the prophet experiences a the-
and Moses must act as intercessor to mitigate the severity of
ophany and then is given his commission (Is. 6, Ez. 1–3).
the punishment. In all of this Moses is primarily a spiritual
Moses’ protest is similar to that of Jeremiah in his call (Jer.
leader, a kind of prophetic mediator between the people and
1:6–10), but the author in Exodus develops it into an elabo-
God with no other form of authority or legitimation.
rate motif. At the same time Moses’ call bears some resem-
blance to the commissioning of a military leader whose task
Moses is also the supreme judge and head of the admin-
it is to deliver his people from oppression (Jgs. 6, 1 Sm. 9).
istrative functions of the wilderness community. In these ca-
But Moses is not given the task of being a military leader,
pacities the tradition tells of two occasions in which Moses
nor are the signs he receives meant to give him confidence
sets up civil institutions, one a system of courts for the pur-
of victory. The primary concern in the dialogue between
pose of sharing the judicial responsibility of the people (Ex.
Moses and Yahveh is in Moses’ role as a spokesman whom
18, Dt. 1:9–18) and the other a council of seventy elders for
the people will believe and who can speak on behalf of the
a sharing of the governance (Nm. 11:16–30). But these sto-
people to the foreign ruler. The author (JE) has drawn upon
ries merely represent etiologies of later Israelite institutions.
both the tradition of classical prophecy and the literary histo-
Moses’ authority is his endowment of the prophetic spirit
ry of Gideon and Saul to fashion his rather composite pre-
and the means by which God speaks and directs the people
sentation of Moses’ call and commission as Israel’s deliverer.
in every decision.
The plague stories (Ex. 7:14–11:10) carry out the image
On a few occasions the Israelites are involved in military
of Moses as deliverer through the prophetic word of judg-
encounters, but Moses’ role in these is very limited. In their
ment and salvation. But they also add the element of the
fight against the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8–16) Joshua is the mili-
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MOSES
6201
tary captain, while Moses raises his hands as if to receive di-
the basis of the covenant between the people and their God
vine aid. When Moses sends spies to survey the land of Ca-
(Ex. 24:3–8). Portions of the civil laws are generally regarded
naan, it is Joshua and Caleb who play the major role in
as quite old in origin and perhaps taken over from the earlier
support of a military campaign and against the negative re-
Canaanite society, but this corpus of laws in its present form
port of the other spies. When the people finally attempt a
derives from the exilic period. The Deuteronomic code (Dt.
southern assault, Moses does not go with them, and they are
12–26) is the body of instructions given to Moses after the
defeated. In the campaign against the Midianites (Nm. 31
Ten Commandments were proclaimed. The D code was de-
[P]) it is Phinehas the priest who takes charge of the army
livered to the people in written form in the land of Moab
while Moses remains in the camp. In the campaign against
as preparation for their entry into the promised land. In actu-
Sihon and Og (Nm. 21:21–35, Dt. 2:24–3:11) Moses ap-
al fact the code represents a cultic reform movement of puri-
pears to lead the forces in the D account, but in JE he recedes
fication and centralization of worship in the time of Josiah
into the background. Moses is not a military hero in these
(c. 625 BCE). The Priestly code is primarily concerned with
traditions.
setting out an elaborate program of cultic regulations to form
the basis for the cult of the Second Temple during the resto-
Moses as lawgiver. The theme of Moses as lawgiver is
ration. Its view of Judean society is strongly theocratic, with
more closely associated with the theophany at Sinai/Horeb
the high priest as the real head of state—hence the elevation
(Ex. 19–20, Dt. 4–5), and with the prolonged stay at the
of Aaron alongside of Moses. The P writer has much of this
mountain of God, during which the Law was given to Israel
code revealed to Moses at Sinai (Ex. 25–31, 35–40; Lv.; Nm.
through Moses. Many scholars have argued that the giving
1–10), but some instructions are given during the remaining
of the Law at Sinai originated as a separate tradition. In many
part of the wilderness journey. In P, Moses’ role as the reveal-
respects it represents a detour on the way from Egypt to Ca-
er and instructor in divine law is the most dominant.
naan and is parallel to another law-giving tradition, which
is reflected in Exodus 15:25–26. But the matter is hotly de-
For all the biblical writers the wilderness period was the
bated and still unresolved.
constitutional age, the time of Israel’s beginning. Whatever
Within the corpus of laws in the Pentateuch there is
was most fundamental to Israelite society was deemed to
great variation of type and function reflecting different social
have arisen in this period. And Moses as the leader, the
settings and historical perspectives. Some of these laws repre-
prophet, the founder, was regarded as the one through whom
sent the casuistic style of civil law used in the settled life of
all this came about. Modern historical criticism, however,
Israelite society in the land of Canaan. Others are apodictic
has made the Moses tradition problematic by identifying its
commands that express universal principles of ethics and reli-
anachronisms and by dating its materials to later ages. While
gion. There are also laws regarding cultic observances and
some scholars have tried to find some elements of the tradi-
regulations. Each category of law contains examples of paral-
tion, particularly within the Decalogue, that may go back to
lel versions among the various Pentateuchal sources, and the
Moses, there are others who dispute that any of the laws and
law codes of the various sources can be correlated with cer-
customs of the Pentateuch derive from Moses or the wilder-
tain periods of Israelite history. Thus the comparative study
ness period.
of the laws of the Pentateuch has become an important as-
MOSES AS THE FOUNDER OF ISRAELITE RELIGION. Many
pect of the study of Israel’s social and religious history far re-
scholars believe that Moses is the founder of Israel’s religion,
moved from the wilderness period, which is their present
at least in the form of a worship of Yahveh alone and, ulti-
narrative setting.
mately, in the form of monotheism. This position is based
Nevertheless Moses has often been viewed as the author
upon a number of arguments. First, the P source explicitly
of the Ten Commandments. But the two forms, in Deuter-
states (Ex. 6:2–3) that the name of Yahveh was not known
onomy 5 and Exodus 20, are in the sources D and P respec-
before the time of Moses and that the forefathers worshiped
tively, and their language is so characteristic of D that there
God as El Shaddai. In Genesis there are also frequent refer-
seems little reason to believe that they are any older than the
ences to forms of El worship among the patriarchs. Yet the
seventh century BCE. Even in these two sources the “ten
JE corpus clearly regards the patriarchs as worshipers of Yah-
words” are said to have been given to the people directly
veh and the El epithets as merely titles for Yahveh. It is the
without the mediation of Moses and only later written by the
P writer who has created a periodization of revelation out of
finger of God upon the two tables of stone. Furthermore, the
the El references. The use of El as a designation for Yahveh
JE corpus does not regard the Ten Commandments as a dis-
becomes particularly frequent in the exilic period (see Is. 40–
tinct series and has quite a different set of laws and instruc-
55) and says nothing about early Israelite forms of worship.
tions written on the two tables of stone (Ex. 34).
Second, in the call narrative of Exodus 3:13 Moses in-
The JE corpus of laws in Exodus 20:22–23:33, usually
quires about God’s name and is given an answer that seeks
designated as the Book of the Covenant (24:7), is a mixture
to explain the name Yahveh (actually YHVH in the unvocal-
of all types of law, religious and civil regulations, absolute
ized Hebrew text) in terms of its supposed etymology from
principles of religion and ethics, and paraenesis. These are
the verb hyh (“to be”). This could be interpreted as signifying
all given through Moses at one time on Sinai and constitute
that Moses introduced a new understanding of the name and
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MOSES
character of Yahveh and Yahveh’s relations with his people.
viewpoints. Yet a few common features are shared by most
Yet this piece of dialogue is unrelated to anything else that
of them and may be listed as follows. (1) The Law of Moses,
follows in the tradition and has the character of theological
the Torah, becomes understood as the whole of the Penta-
speculation and interests in the author’s own time. It tells
teuch and not just the laws within it. This means that God
nothing about Moses.
revealed to Moses past history as well as future events, in ad-
dition to law. (2) The legend of Moses, especially details
Third, the first and second commandments of the
about his birth and youth, was greatly expanded. (3) Moses
Decalogue emphasize the exclusive worship of Yahveh and
is consistently viewed as the greatest prophet of Israel, al-
an imageless cult. Those who attribute the Decalogue to
though the understanding of this “office” and the nature of
Moses also use it as a basis for their view that Moses was the
the revelation he received were not always the same. (4)
founder of monotheism. But it is unlikely that these laws
Moses is the great intercessor and defender on Israel’s behalf
predate the seventh century BCE. Archaeological evidence
and the one responsible for mitigating God’s punishment for
confirms the fact that as late as the eighth century BCE Yah-
the people’s sins. This article now considers some of the spe-
veh was regarded by some Israelites as having a divine con-
cial developments of the Moses tradition.
sort. At Kuntillat EAjrud, a Judean sanctuary in eastern Sinai,
two inscriptions were found containing blessings “by Yahveh
Moses in Hellenistic Judaism. One of the characteris-
and his Asherah” (a female deity). One of these inscriptions
tics of Hellenistic Judaism in the period from 200 BCE to 100
was accompanied by a drawing of a seated female deity
CE was its strong apologetic character. A number of pagan
alongside two male divinities(?). At Khirbet el Qôm in west-
writings represented Judaism and its history in a bad light
ern Judah a similar inscription referring to Yahveh and his
and included Moses in this vilification. In order to counter-
consort Asherah was also found. The first commandment of
act this, Jewish writers presented their history in a way that
the Decalogue may be understood as a direct protest against
would have special appeal for Gentile audiences and win sup-
such a consort being placed or named “beside” Yahveh.
port for their religion and way of life. Thus Moses was por-
trayed as a great culture hero and inventor of the arts of civili-
Fourth, there are those who would see in the Sinai cove-
zation, including writing, philosophy, statesmanship, and
nant Moses’ achievement in creating a unique politico-
religion. Moses’ early life was modeled after the Hellenistic
religious union centered upon commitment to Yahveh and
biography of the divine man, with prophecies about his birth
a new social order among his fellow Israelites. These scholars
and greatness, accounts of his beauty and royal upbringing,
point to the Hittite suzerainty treaty model of the Late
and his great military exploits on behalf of the pharoah. In
Bronze Age, which emphasizes absolute loyalty to the great
all these embellishments of the tradition the authors were re-
king based upon past favors and complete obedience to a se-
sponding to criticisms of Moses.
ries of stipulations regulating relations between king and vas-
sal as well as between vassal states. The force of the argument
Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian writing at the end
lies in the attempt to establish parallels between this model
of the first century CE, stands in this stream of Hellenistic
and the giving of the law and covenant ratification at Sinai
historiography. Moses is both the Hellenistic “divine man”
in Exodus 19–24, as well as in the fact that the time of Moses
and the Hebrew “man of God.” As lawgiver he is presented
and the time of the Hittite empire are relatively close. The
in Greek terms as legislator and founder of the ideal constitu-
theory, however, has come under criticism because the paral-
tion—a theocracy (Jewish Antiquities 2.6–24, 3.180, 4.13,
lels are too forced to be convincing, the treaty form is not
150, 156; Against Apion 2.75, 145, 154ff.). At the same time
so restricted in time, and the greatest correspondences to
Moses is the greatest of the prophets as the “apostle” of God
such a treaty-covenant form is to be found in Deuteronomy—
and interpreter of the words of God (Antiquities 4.165, 329;
very likely written shortly after Judah had experienced such
3.85–87).
vassalage to Assyria. In fact, it has been strongly argued that
the notion of such a Sinai/Horeb covenant between Yahveh
Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, who also lived in the first
and his people is no older than D and cannot be traced back
century CE, stands in the tradition of Judeo-Greek philoso-
to Moses.
phy and mystical religion. He identifies Moses as the ideal
king of Hellenistic ideology and combines in this role most
While the critical scholar may doubt that a historical fig-
of Moses’ task (Life of Moses 1). Moses, with his special quali-
ure, Moses, living in the thirteenth century BCE was the
ties as divine man, his royal upbringing, and his life as a shep-
founder of Israelite religion in anything like the form reflect-
herd, is prepared to become the king of Israel in the wilder-
ed in the Pentateuch, the tradition itself has clearly regarded
ness period. To his role as king is related his function as
him as such, and thus he remained in all the subsequent de-
legislator, because the king is the embodiment of law (2.8ff.).
velopments of that tradition in later times.
The priesthood is also part of the royal office, and Moses is
MOSES IN POSTBIBLICAL JUDAISM. The great diversity with-
priest, according to Philo, in his establishment of the cult
in Jewish piety and religion in the centuries that followed the
and in his role as intercessor (2.66ff.). Moses is also the
Hebrew scriptures does not allow for a simple statement
prophet for Philo but in the special sense of the ecstatic who
about the development of the Moses tradition in this period.
gains direct intuition of the truth through the mystical expe-
Nor is it possible to do justice to all the sources or varying
rience (2.187ff.). The theophany of Sinai was such an experi-
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6203
ence for Moses whereby he ascended to heaven itself and be-
The traditions about Moses as king and priest were viewed
came a divine king through divinization. In some of Philo’s
in a more limited fashion, for while he may have been king
writings he describes Moses as a hierophant, and the Torah
during the wilderness period and priest in the dedication of
is interpreted as a guide into the mysteries of God (On the
the Tabernacle rites, he was not able to pass on this succes-
Decalogue 18; Allegorical Interpretation 3.173).
sion to his heirs, and it remained for David as king and
Aaron as high priest to found these lines of succession.
The apocalyptic tradition. In two apocalyptic works,
the Assumption of Moses and Jubilees, Moses receives special
There is also a tradition within the aggadah about
and secret knowledge about both past and future as well as
Moses’ heavenly ascent at Sinai that elaborates on his vision
the unseen worlds of heaven and hell (Jub. 1.26; Asm. Mos.
of God and his struggles with the angels to acquire the Torah
1.16–18). The apocalyptic literature reveals this information
for Israel. These stories have much in common with the as-
with special emphasis on the events of the end of time. Great
cension materials called heikhalot, which Gershom Scholem
emphasis is also placed upon Moses as intercessor, but this
has seen as reflecting ecstatic mystical experiences. There was
is not restricted to the wilderness period. Because Moses’
a certain reticence expressed by some rabbis toward this form
death is understood as an assumption into heaven, his role
of piety and the rather speculative character of its traditions.
as defender of Israel continues throughout Israel’s history up
to the Last Judgment (Jub. 1.18–21; Asm. Mos. 11.17).
MOSES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. The New Testament ac-
cepts Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (Mt. 8:4, Mk.
The Essenes living at Qumran on the shores of the Dead
7:10, Jn. 1:17), but the real significance of the Pentateuch
Sea in the first centuries BCE and CE were a community dedi-
is as a prophecy that discloses the origins of Christianity (Lk.
cated to living by the Torah. They regarded themselves as
24:25–27). Yet the whole of the institutional and ritual
the true Israel, who withdrew to the desert “to prepare the
forms of Judaism as well as the Pharisaic-rabbinic tradition
way of the Lord” for the last days (1 Qumran Scrolls 8.14f.).
is associated with Moses, so that Moses reflects the ambiva-
The biblical wilderness period was a model for their own ex-
lent feelings of Christianity’s continuity and discontinuity
perience, and a study of the Law was intended to yield an
with Judaism.
eschatological revelation for their own times. Moses was the
great prophet whose words were the primary revelation for
In the Gospels, elements in the life of Jesus are parallel
this apocalyptic community (1 QS 1.3, 8.15; Code of Damas-
to those in the expanded legend of Moses. The infancy narra-
cus 5.21).
tive in Matthew (chap. 2), with its predictions and warnings
to king and father, its slaughter of the innocents, its recogni-
Rabbinic view of Moses. The rabbinic tradition repre-
tion of Jesus’ royalty, and the flight into exile until the king’s
sents a vast array of sources from the second century to the
death, is modeled on the Moses biographies. The scene on
Middle Ages, containing a wide spectrum of belief and opin-
the mount of transfiguration where Jesus appears with Moses
ion. At the same time it fell heir to many of those traditions
and Elijah has many allusions to the Sinai theophany (Mt.
and impulses in the Moses tradition that has already been
17:1–8, Mk. 9:2–8, Lk. 9:28–36); Jesus’ feeding of the five
noted above.
thousand (Mt. 14:13–21, Mk. 6:32–44, Lk. 9:10–17, Jn.
In the legal tradition (halakhah) Moses represents the
6:1–14) is directly associated in John’s gospel with Moses
great “teacher” by which Israel was instructed in the Torah.
giving the manna in the wilderness (6:25–34); and his forty
This includes not only the laws of the Pentateuch but all the
days of fasting in the wilderness parallel Moses’ fast at Sinai
subsequent oral Torah, which was handed down from Moses
(Mt. 4:1–2, Lk. 4:1–3; cf. Dt. 9:9). The story of Jesus’ ascen-
to Joshua and in succession to the rabbis. All students of the
sion in Luke and Acts has similarities to the traditions of
law were really disciples of Moses.
Moses’ assumption (Lk. 24:51, Acts 1:9–11).
The homiletic tradition (aggadah) brought to the fore
The ministry of Jesus is also compared with that of
those other aspects of the Moses tradition that were a part
Moses. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus’ teachings are given a set-
of Jewish piety. It continued to embellish the biography of
ting—that of the Sermon on the Mount—that is parallel to
Moses as the “man of God,” but more central is his role as
the receiving of the law at Sinai. In Luke, Jesus as prophet
the servant of God. As such he was God’s agent for bringing
is a second Moses who has come to redeem his people. In
about the rescue from Egypt, for mediating the covenant and
John, the comparison with Moses is especially pronounced:
the laws to Israel at Sinai, and for leading the Israelites to the
“The law came through Moses but grace and truth came
Promised Land. The role of servant emphasized Moses’ func-
through Jesus Christ” (1:17). John’s message to Jewish be-
tion as intercessor for his people and as one who suffered and
lievers is that Jesus is superior to Moses and supplants him
died on their behalf. Through his death in the wilderness in-
so that one must make a choice between Moses and Jesus.
stead of in Canaan Moses was identified with the sinful gen-
The apostle Paul, using the methods of Hellenistic Jew-
eration of the wilderness and thus ensured its salvation in the
ish exegesis, interprets the time of Moses typologically as a
resurrection.
reference to Christianity (1 Cor. 10:1–11). But for Paul gen-
Moses was the supreme prophet as revealer of the words
erally Moses represents a religion of the law, to which he
of God and the one to inaugurate the succession of prophets.
compares his religion of grace.
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MOSES BEN MAIMON
The Letter to the Hebrews draws parallels between Jesus
von Rad’s Moses (New York, 1960) and J. R. Porter’s Moses
and Moses in order to demonstrate that Jesus is superior.
and Monarchy: A Study in the Biblical Tradition of Moses (Ox-
Moses as the servant of God is inferior to Jesus, who is the
ford, 1963). A book that is especially helpful for the treat-
son of God. Moses instituted the earthly sanctuary, which
ment of Moses in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a col-
is only a copy and a shadow of the heavenly, and in this
lection of essays published under the title Moïse, l’homme de
earthly sanctuary the Levitical priesthood ministers accord-
l’alliance (Paris, 1955). On the aggadah, see especially Louis
Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Bible (New York, 1956),
ing to the law. But Jesus is the eternal high priest who minis-
pp. 277–506. This book is an abridgment of the earlier work
ters in the heavenly sanctuary by interceding for the faithful
The Legends of the Jews, 7 vols., translated by Henrietta Szold
(Heb. 8:1–6). In the same way Moses is the author of the old
et al. (1909–1938). On Moses in the New Testament and
covenant, but this was only a preparation for and a foreshad-
early Judaism, see also Wayne A. Meeks’s The Prophet-King:
owing of the new covenant through Jesus (Heb. 8:7–10:18).
Moses Traditions and the Johannine Christology (Leiden,
MOSES IN ISLAM. Moses is highly regarded in Islam as the
1967).
great prophet who foretold the coming of Muh:ammad, his
JOHN VAN SETERS (1987)
successor. Details about Moses’ life from the aggadah are to
be found in the QurDa¯n, but there are additional details with
parallels from folklore as well as borrowed from other biblical
stories and applied to Moses (see especially su¯rah 28:4–43;
MOSES BEN MAIMON SEE MAIMONIDES,
also 7:104–158, 20:10–98, 26:11–69). Apart from explicit
MOSES
references there is much in the life of Muh:ammad that is im-
plicitly reminiscent of the Moses tradition. This is particular-
ly true of the notions about a dictated revelation received
MOSES BEN NAHMAN SEE MAIMONIDES,
through angels and the experience of an ascent to heaven, in
MOSES
Muh:ammad’s case, from Jerusalem.
SEE ALSO Israelite Law.
MOSQUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
This entry consists of the following articles:
The vast literature on the figure of Moses makes any selection dif-
HISTORY AND TRADITION
ficult. The following list is an attempt to provide a fairly
ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
broad range of scholarly opinion on this subject. Some gener-
al treatments of the life and work of Moses, based upon a
MOSQUE: HISTORY AND TRADITION
critical appraisal of the biblical traditions, are Elias Auer-
The mosque is a built facility with certain unique characteris-
bach’s Moses (Amsterdam, 1953), translated from the Ger-
tics for Muslim prayer, as well as an institution dedicated to
man and edited by Robert A. Barclay and Israel O. Lehman
as Moses (Detroit, 1975); Fred V. Winnett’s The Mosaic Tra-
maintaining community life. As a building its primary and
dition (Toronto, 1949); Martin Buber’s Moses: The Revela-
minimal role is to accommodate a congregation that per-
tion and the Covenant (Oxford, 1946); and a more technical
forms its ritual prayers in formation while oriented toward
monograph by Herbert Schmid, Mose: Überlieferung und
KaEbah in Mecca. As an institution it marks the sociocultural
Geschichte, “Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche
existence of a Muslim community, acting both as its center
Wissenschaft,” no. 110 (Berlin, 1968). A classical and still
and its emblem.
very influential study of the biblical traditions is the one by
ETYMOLOGY. The original Arabic word for mosque is masjid
Hugo Gressmann, Mose und seine Zeit: Ein Kommentar zu
(plural, masa¯jid), meaning a place of suju¯d, the highly sym-
den Mose-sagen (Göttingen, 1913).
bolic act of prostration (before God) during s:ala¯t (ritual
The history of modern research on Moses is treated in Eva Ossw-
prayer), when the whole body reaches its lowest position and
ald’s Das Bild des Moses in der kritischen alttestamentlichen
the forehead is placed on the earth in a prescribed manner.
Wissenschaft seit Julius Wellhausen, “Theologische Arbeiten,”
Since s:ala¯t is universally performed in Arabic, its constituent
vol. 18 (Berlin, 1962); and R. J. Thompson’s Moses and the
Law in a Century of Criticism since Graf, “Supplements to
stages, including suju¯d, and its place, masjid, have main-
Vetus Testamentum,” vol. 19 (Leiden, 1970).
tained their Arabic form in Persian, Urdu, Turkish and other
dialects of the Muslim world. The anglicized word mosque
On the question of Moses’ place in history see Roland de Vaux’s
is widely used, and its transformation from masjid can be
Historie ancienne d’Israël (Paris, 1971), which has been trans-
lated by David Smith as The Early History of Israel (Philadel-
traced through the Egyptian masqid, Italian moscheta or mos-
phia, 1978); John Bright’s A History of Israel, 3d ed. (Phila-
chea, Spanish mezquita, and French mousquaie or mosquee.
delphia, 1981); and Siegfried Herrmann’s Israels Aufenhalt in
The etymological source for masjid can be traced back to the
Ägypten (Stuttgart, 1970), translated by Margaret Kohl as Is-
Aramaic verbal root s-g-d and the word msgd used for Naba-
rael in Egypt (London, 1973).
tean and Abyssinian sacred places.
Two works that deal with the way in which Moses is used as a par-
THE TWO SANCTUARIES OF SACRED HISTORY. The QurDa¯n
adigm for certain religious and political roles are Gerhard
presented itself as a continuation and completion of earlier
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MOSQUE: HISTORY AND TRADITION
6205
monotheistic revelations through Abrahamic messengers, in-
ward ahl al-kita¯b of Syria is demonstrated through the re-
cluding Moses and Jesus. The people holding on to those
building of the Temple Mount and accommodating policies
revelations were called ahl al-kita¯b (People of the Book), and
of Jewish and Christian prayer during the first century after
they asserted that they were in posession of revealed books
the conquest in 638 CE, especially when compared with the
that preceded the QurDa¯n. These messengers were introduced
pre-Islamic treatment by their Byzantine and Roman pre-
as followers of the path of submission (s-l-m, the root word
decessors.
for Islam) to the same One God to whom Muh:ammad was
THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE IN MEDINA. In Mecca,
inviting everyone (QurDa¯n 3:66). It is little wonder then that
Muh:ammad and his followers became progressively disen-
KaEbah in Mecca, whose construction is directly associated
franchised by the ones whose pagan and tribal traditions
with Abraham and his son Ishmael, is identified in verses in
were challenged by Islam. Muslims who called for return to
the QurDa¯n, as bayt (house), and the precinct around it as al-
the One God of Abraham could not pray without harass-
Masjid al-h:aram (the sanctified mosque). Beyond the histori-
ment in the Masjid al-h:aram around the sanctuary of KaEbah,
cal existence of the word masjid before Islam, these verses
whose very existence was credited to monotheism (QurDa¯n
suggest Muh:ammad’s mission to restore the sanctity of Mas-
2:214, 5:3, 8:34, 22:25). They prayed alone or in small num-
jid al-h:aram and reestablish the centrality of Abrahamic
bers in residences. The Prophet sometimes led a group prayer
KaEbah as bayt Alla¯h (the house of God) for all the People
at the houses of Muh:ammad’s wife Khad¯ıjah and his friend
of the Book, including Muslims (QurDa¯n 2:125–128, 3:96–
Abu¯ Bakr, but they never had what could justifiably be called
97, 5:97).
a mosque.
Masjid al-aksa (the remotest mosque) is mentioned in
Having failed to dissuade Muh:ammad from his mission
the QurDa¯n (7:1): “ Praise be to Him who made His servant
for over a decade, the Meccans planned his assassination. He
(Muh:ammad) journey in the night from al-Masjid al-h:aram
decided to migrate to a welcoming settlement called Yathrib
to al-Masjid al-aqsa which We have surrounded with bless-
(later Medina), some three hundred miles north. The year
ings to show him of our signs.” This verse was revealed dur-
was 620 CE, and the event is called hijrah (migration), which
ing the last year in Mecca before hijrah (migration) to Medi-
marks the beginning of the new Muslim lunar calendar.
na. There have been disagreements among historians and
There are different traditions about what has come to be
QurDanic scholars as to the exact identity and location of this
known as the first mosque in Medina, masjid al-Kuba. One
“remotest mosque.” It is possible to conclude, however, that
tradition suggests that it was used as a place of prayer by
the term masjid here has been used for a place that existed
those who anticipated Muh:ammad’s arrival and that he
at the time of this revelation but was not built by
stayed there for some days. Another tradition suggests that
Muh:ammad or his followers, as they were still in Mecca. If
the Prophet founded this mosque himself, and even after he
it refers to the destination of Mi Era¯j (ascension) as a heavenly
established the main mosque in Medina, he made a practice
precinct of the throne of God, then it can only be imagined
of praying there every Saturday. The QurDanic reference to
in a metaphoric sense and not as an earthly mosque. If it re-
this mosque as the one “whose foundation was laid from the
fers to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, then it could only
first day on piety (taqwa),” especially when it is presented in
be referring to the memory and continued sanctity of the site
contrast with masjid al-dhirar (mischief), later constructed to
associated with the devotions of the prophets Elijah, Abra-
create infidelity and division in the community, makes it a
ham, David, and Solomon and not the actual physical pres-
reference point in ethical intentions rather than the physical
ence of the Temple of the Lord (2 Chr. 3:1), which had been
fact of a mosque (QurDa¯n 9:107–110). Having arrived in
detroyed in 586 BCE and then again in 70 CE. The Masjid
Medina, Muh:ammad purchased, rather than accepted as a
al-aqsa verse revealed around 621 CE, and Muh:ammad’s
gift, a piece of land for the mosque from the two orphans
elaborations of his miraculous journey to the Temple Mount
who owned it. With the help of his companions he built a
and then ascension to heaven (Mi Era¯j), brought Jerusalem
modest four-sided enclosure of stone foundations and sun-
and its sanctuary (Hebrew, Har Hebayit; Arabic, Haram esh-
dried mud bricks. On the outside of the eastern boundary
Sharif) into Muslim consciousness as a remote though un-
he placed his private chambers (hujura¯t, QurDa¯n 49:4), whose
seen place of prostrations (masjid) of earlier prophets. Jerusa-
curtained doors opened into the mosque courtyard. On the
lem, the city of David and Solomon, thus became analogous
north toward Jerusalem, and later on the south side as the
to Mecca, the city honored as the “first house” of God built
qiblah shifted to Mecca, he built shaded porticos (riwa¯q) of
by Abraham and Ismael (QurDa¯n 3:96–97). The two h:arams
palm tree trunks and dried palm leaves and clay. There was
(sanctuaries) of Mecca and Jerusalem had thus defined for
no mih:ra¯b (niche) in the north or the south wall yet.
Muh:ammad and his followers the goal of an Abrahamic axis
Muh:ammad’s presence as leader of the community—and his
and a shared religious geography of the monotheism. In this
staff, which he leaned on while delivering sermons—
context the sequential adoption of Jerusalem and then Mecca
established the qiblah orientation. There was no minaret, as
for the qiblah (prayer orientations) from Medina makes more
the call to prayer was either from the courtyard or from a
sense than the oft-implied political strategy in Muh:ammad’s
nearby roof. There was no formal mimbar (stepped pulpit),
choice and then rejection of Jerusalem in favor of “his” an-
though he did use makeshift platforms to raise himself to be
cestral Mecca. In fact, early Islam’s ecumenical attitude to-
seen while speaking to large gatherings. In spite of an appar-
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MOSQUE: HISTORY AND TRADITION
ent lack of formality in religious practices, political protocol,
connection for the ruler-commander-caliph to enter the
communal gatherings, and architectural furnishings in this
mosque from his qiblah wall side, avoiding having to walk
austere compound, the h:ad¯ıth literature and the correspond-
through the congregation and risking assassination attempts.
ing verses of the QurDa¯n suggest much intensity in this
Maqsu¯ra, the secure enclosure, was introduced for the ruler
mosque as the formative principles of shar¯ı Eah, the structure
to speak from. While the symbolic unity of the place of com-
of Islamic life, were being formed. There Muh:ammad taught
munal prayer and the place of governance was maintained
the QurDa¯n as revealed to him, elaborated upon the com-
through sermons and edicts in the name of the ruler, the two
mandments, led the ritual prayers, received delegations, set-
started to develop clearer and harder boundaries and ulti-
tled disputes, planned campaigns, assigned tasks, and social-
mately started to become different buildings.
ized with his family and community. This place became the
crucible for genetic codes that are at the core of continuity
Impractical distances between the original center of the
in basic religious practices and institutions, especially the
city with its great mosque and the ruler’s palace (as in the
mosque, all across the Muslim world.
newly founded Abbasid city of Baghdad) and the expanded
periphery of Muslim settlements, as well as a dramatic in-
BEYOND THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE. The historical distance
crease in population, led to the evolution of a religious geog-
between Muh:ammad’s death (632 CE) and the formalization
raphy of primary and secondary centers. Primary were the
of both his h:ad¯ıth (sayings) and s¯ıra (life) literature, especial-
mosques in which the community formed the obligatory Fri-
ly considering the internal strifes and partisanships during
day congregation (QurDa¯n 62: 9–11) and took the name mas-
that period, can justifiably stir some doubts about the accura-
jid al-jama Eah (also masjid al-jum Eah or masjid al-jami E,
cy of some narrations about the happenings in the Masjid al-
“place of assembly”). Later they were called al-jam¯ı E or sim-
Nabi. It is noteworthy, however, that the patterns, if not the
ply jam¯ı E, meaning the place where the Friday khut:bah (ser-
exact details, associated with that mosque have become wide-
mon) is delivered. Secondary centers were small mosques
ly accepted as the reference for the purest forms of Islam as
(masa¯jid) where the immediate neighborhood could conve-
intended by God and lived out by his messenger. It is this
niently offer the daily prayers.
memory of Muh:ammad, constructed with direct reference
to his mosque and his city, that is fundamental to the codifi-
SEATS OF LEARNING AND ACADEMIES FOR TRAINING. Be-
cation of Islamic practices. And if the leader, the state, and
cause it was in the capital city, the central masjid often had
the city as Islamic polity is absent, the mosque becomes its
the patronage of the ruler or that of a high-ranking minister
primary home and essential ecology. It is little wonder then
of the court, and it usually expanded into a complex with col-
that any Muslim community idealizes its mosque as a place
leges, libraries, hostels, kitchens, and infirmaries. Among
where there is an ima¯m (leader) worthy of the QurDanic
many similiar cases, the example of Jamia al-Azhar, founded
knowledge, where h:ad¯ıth is rehearsed, where jama Eat (con-
in Cairo by the Fa¯t:imids (970 CE), illustrates such an inter-
gregation) is established, and where a communal life is mod-
pretation of the legacy of the Prophet’s mosque as a seat of
eled on Muh:ammad’s example and the legacy of his compan-
learning. It is instructive to note that Jamia in this sense im-
ions. The development of mosque in history can thus be
plies a gathering of faculties (kulliye), much like a modern
presented briefly as a mostly positive but sometimes negative
university. However, as various sects and schools of law har-
interpretation of one or more of the traditions of the Proph-
dened in their respective interpretations of Islam, the
et’s mosque.
mosques started to get identified as such. The character of
their associated institution transformed from a university-
DA¯R AL-IMA¯RA AND MASJID AL-JAM¯IE. During Muh:ammad’s
like environment to that of madrasah, where the aim was less
time the intimacy between the leader and his community was
to nurture an inquiring and critical scholar and more to train
maintained by his unique status and was facilitated by the
an evangelical protagonist of a particular madhab (sect) and
physical adjacency of his residence and the mosque. When
fiqh (jurisprudence). Many governments in Muslim history
the new settlements of al-Basra and al-Kufa in Iraq and al-
supported such mosque-madrasah institutions to prepare in-
Fustat in Egypt were established, the Muslim governors, who
dividuals trained in particular Muslim schools of thought.
represented the Khal¯ıfa in Medina, maintained the pattern
of the Prophet’s mosque as both the religious and adminis-
FOR REMEMBRANCE OF GOD. Perhaps the most enduring
trative center. However, factors like local histories of con-
legacy of the Prophet and his mosque is rooted in the Verses
quered lands, sheer increase of numbers, tribal tensions with-
of Light (QurDa¯n 24:36–37). The first verse, through a rich
in the army, ethnic diversity among new converts, and
yet imaginable parable, introduces the likeness of God’s light
increasing fear of assasinations led to the development of the
as an unearthly, dreamlike “lamp in a niche.” The second
more secure da¯r al-Ima¯ra (residence of the commander) with
verse states that this light resides in the “houses which God
a prison and d¯ıwa¯n (treasury) that formed one complex in
has permitted to be elevated to honored status; for the cele-
the heart of the new city. In Syria, where the existing struc-
bration in them of His name and His glorification in the
tures of Damascus were adapted as the capital of the dynastic
mornings and the evenings, again and again.” In the verses
caliphate of Umayyads, the existing Roman and Byzantine
that follow one can see the distinctions created between those
church was transformed into the Umayyad Mosque and the
who remember in these mosques and those who are distract-
adjacent palace converted to the da¯r al-Ima¯ra with a secure
ed or even deny the necessity of this rememberance. Beyond
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6207
having provided sustained inspiration for the ambience of in-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
terior mosque space from the qiblah wall to the mih:ra¯b, the
The classic study is Johannes Pedersen’s article “Masdjid,” in The
light in the mih:ra¯b, the lights in the prayer hall, the niches
Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden, 1913–1936). A basic study
for keeping the QurDa¯n, and the designs of the prayer rugs
of the monument is Jean Sauvaget’s La mosquée omeyyade de
(sijja¯dah), the Verse of Light is one of the most frequently
Médine (Paris, 1947); and a brief survey is Lucien Golvin’s
calligraphed in the mosques. This attitude toward the
La mosquée (Algiers, 1960). See also K. A. C. Creswell’s Early
Muslim Architecture, 2d ed., vol. 1 (Oxford, 1969); Oleg
mosque as a place where a totally noncorporeal omnipresent
Grabar’s “Islamic Religious Art: The Mosque,” in The For-
God could “reside” through individual and collective re-
mation of Islamic Art (New Haven, Conn., 1973), and “The
memberance of believing humans is corroborated by many
Architecture of the Middle Eastern City from Past to Pres-
other verses (QurDa¯n 2:114, 9:17–18, 72:18), which has led
ent: The Case of the Mosque,” in Middle Eastern Cities, ed-
to the pervasive belief among Muslims that every mosque is
ited by Ira M. Lapidus (Berkeley, Calif., 1979); Dog˘an
the “house of God.” The understandable desire to build a
Kuban’s Muslim Religious Architecture, pts. 1–2 (Leiden,
“house” for God, especially with the h:ad¯ıth promise that for
1974–1985); J. S. Thomine’s “La mosquée et la madrasa,”
anyone who builds a mosque on this earth God will build
Cahiers de civilisation médiévale 13 (1970): 97–115; James
an equivalent house in paradise, led to many mosques com-
Dickie’s “Allah and Eternity: Mosques, Madrasahs, and
memorating his blessings. Kings, conquerors, princes, and
Tombs,” in Architecture of the Islamic World, edited by
successful businesspeople commissioned such projects with
George Michell (London, 1978); Rashid Ahmad’s Mosque:
Its Importance in the Life of a Muslim (London, 1982); Robert
revenue-generating endowments (awqa¯f) to maintain the
Hillenbrand’s Islamic Architecture (New York, 1994); Martin
building and charitable services like kitchens and the staff
Frishman and Hasan-Uddin Khan, eds., The Mosque (Lon-
who kept such a complex alive. Often such projects encom-
don, 1994); and Renata Holod and Hasan-Uddin Khan, The
passed a mausoleum-graveyard of the patron’s family, with
Mosque and the Modern World (London, 1997).
the idea that the grace of the mosque and charity will help
deliverance of their souls on the Day of Judgment. It is im-
SYED GULZAR HAIDER (2005)
portant to note that whereas the state mosque continued the
Prophet’s legacy as the governing leader of the community,
the devotional mosque preserved those aspects of Islam’s
MOSQUE: ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
spiritual legacy that had started to become victims of political
The mosque (from the Arabic masjid, meaning “place of
contingencies. Thus the Prophet’s mosque, while maintain-
prostrations”) has been the place of congregational prayer for
ing some fundamental ritual and formal structure, had to
Muslims since the formation of Islam in 622 CE. It takes on
metamorphose into specialized categories.
numerous regional styles and varies greatly in size from that
MOSQUES, PROPHETS, AND SAINTS. There is a fine line be-
of the congregational Friday mosque, called in Arabic masjid
tween a location—especially the burial place of a prophet,
al-jam¯ı E, in Persian and Urdu (masjid al-jum Eah), or in
an ima¯m, a saint, or a martyr—remaining a place of com-
Turkish (ulu çami), to a simple oratory (masjid), to an out-
memoration or becoming a focus for worship parallel with
door space for large assemblies (musalla) for special times
the worship of God. Muslim history has walked a fine and
such as Eid festivals.
careful line between the veneration of sites that preserve the
sacred memories of a great religious personality or even a
Formal ritual prayer (s:ala¯t)—a sequence of standing,
qiblah-oriented congregation in a mosque with an unshared
kneeling, and prostration—is one of the “pillars” of Islam.
intention to pray to no one except God. With reference to
Muslims often pray alone, but the ummah, the community
the QurDanic story of the asha¯b al-kahf (companions of the
of believers, is basic to the mosque. Since Islam does not dis-
cave) (QurDa¯n 18:2–22), it is important to note that the pre-
tinguish between the spiritual and the secular, the mosque
vailing party of believers erected a masjid over the place to
is a center for both. It is the emblematic building of Islam.
memorialize them while making sure that it was the mosque
For a Muslim the building of a mosque is a pious act.
that was used for prayers to God, rather than the “cave,”
The prophet Muh:ammad said, “whoever builds for Alla¯h a
which could have become the object of idolatory. Likewise,
mosque, seeking by it Alla¯h’s grace, Alla¯h will build for him
while the Prophet’s mausoleum continues to assert his histor-
a house in paradise” (related by al-Bukha¯r¯ı and Muslim).
ical presence in his own mosque, the activities of the mosque
Most mosques are endowed through the creation of a pious
are totally aimed at the continuation of his mission to estab-
trust or waqf established by the mosque’s builder. In most
lish and maintain a God-conscious, God-directed communi-
Muslim countries the state has by now taken over many of
ty based on the Abrahamic monotheistic axis. It is also in this
the trusts, usually with a ministry of awqa¯f to manage the
sense that all mosques of the world, whatever particular na-
properties.
tional, cultural, or historical motivations they have been built
All mosques are places of worship, but they are not sa-
upon, maintain the continuity of Muh:ammad’s Abrahamic
cred or consecrated spaces. In the QurDa¯n the word masjid,
mission.
although used many times, is applied only to three specific
SEE ALSO H:aram and Hawtah; Madrasah; S:ala¯t; Worship
buildings (usually considered sacred), the most holy place
and Devotional Life, article on Muslim Worship.
being the KaEbah in Mecca and its surrounding mosque, al-
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MOSQUE: ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
Masjid al-h:aram. It is, according to the QurDa¯n, “the very
Inside the mosque adjacent to the mih:ra¯b is the mimbar,
first house of prayer established for humanity. . . . The
or pulpit, from which the sermon is delivered after the Friday
place where Abraham stood. . . .” (QurDa¯n III: 95–97).
prayers. It consists of a movable platform with steps, usually
The other places are the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem with
made of elaborately carved wood.
the Al-Aqsa Mosque (built originally in 715, in its present
form around 1350) and the Mosque of Quba in Medina
Islamic civilization has made significant contributions
built by the Prophet himself.
to architecture. One is the use of two- and three-dimensional
geometry at all scales, which not only organizes space but also
The mosque also often incorporates a variety of other
imparts symbolic meanings. The three-dimensional mu-
functions. Most common is a madrasah, or religious school,
qarnas, the so-called stalactite form, is unique to Islam. This
and small library, a soup kitchen to feed the poor, and a med-
device is usually used as a transitional element between two
ical facility. Often there may be a public drinking fountain
surfaces (for example, at a corner) and acts to “dematerialize”
or well. Sometimes there is a shrine to a saint or ruler, but
space. Calligraphy, the word of God expressed in written
the dead are usually buried elsewhere. Graveyards adjacent
form, is another important contribution. Such texts on
to mosques do occur, notably in Eastern Europe. In urban
buildings—epigraphy—signal the presence of Islam and add
areas shops often form the periphery of the mosque and sub-
beauty and complexity to surfaces. Gardens have always been
sidize the expenses of the facility.
important reminders to Muslims to be stewards of the earth.
ARCHITECTURAL AND LITURGICAL ELEMENTS. Architectural
They follow geometric principles of design and scientific and
elements of the mosque are not prescribed except for the re-
engineering principles dealing with sustainability and nature,
quirement that worshipers pray facing Mecca, the spiritual
for example, in the recycling of water. Water features are
center of the Islamic world, and that the surface they pray
present in almost all gardens, seen as places of pleasure and
on be clean. Worshipers pray in straight rows, generally mak-
individual contemplation, but gardens do not occur fre-
ing the prayer space wide and shallow. Islam has two main
quently in mosques.
sects, the Sunn¯ı (around 90 percent of Muslims worldwide)
and the Sh¯ıEah, but their mosques are generally architectural-
TYPOLOGY OF THE MOSQUE. Each region of the Islamic
ly indistinguishable. The most apparent differences lie in the
world combines these elements to express a local architecture
choice of QurDanic verses that are displayed in the building.
in which vernacular and historic traditions are distinguished.
Architecturally, the mosque may be divided into five main
The direction of Mecca in the prayer hall or space itself
types corresponding to historical and regional manifesta-
is denoted by a qiblah wall and niche (mih:ra¯b). The qiblah
tions.
may be simply marked by a line on the sand or can be part
of a building. The mih:ra¯b is usually outlined and embel-
The first type, the hypostyle mosque, originated in the
lished with calligraphy from QurDanic passages. The ima¯m,
Arabian Peninsula. It also occurs elsewhere, with varied form
who leads the prayers, stands by the mih:ra¯b in front of the
and construction materials. The mosque consists of a rectan-
congregation.
gular hypostyle, or many-columned covered hall, usually in
A pool, fountain, or simply running water for ritual
wood and earth block or brick, with a flat roof. It is perhaps
cleansing (ablutions) before praying is usually provided, as
the most ancient construction method. One enters first into
are prayer mats to maintain the cleanliness of the floor sur-
an enclosed courtyard with its ablutions facility, then into
face and define individual areas. Worshipers often bring their
the hall from the side opposite the qiblah wall. A single
own rugs to the mosque. Indeed, the prayer hall of the
square minaret with an internal staircase rises above the
mosque can be regarded as a modular space based on the di-
building. The hypostyle mosque was the most dominant
mensions of a prayer mat.
form from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries and has not
The minaret or minar (from minara, or lighthouse) is
significantly altered over the ages. Its model was the Mosque
usually a tower from which the muezzin (mu Dadhdha¯n), a
of the Prophet—the Masjid an-Nabi—which as far as we can
specially delegated person, gives the call to prayer (adha¯n).
tell started off as the Prophet’s house in Medina, a simple
Traditionally the human voice has carried the adha¯n, but in
courtyard with rooms on two sides. In 707 CE the caliph al-
contemporary times the voice is amplified by loudspeakers
Walid replaced it with a new building with minarets added
to rise above the general cacophony of the city. The minaret
as visual markers or to carry the adha¯n. Because of its sym-
also acts as a visual marker for the mosque.
bolic importance, it has expanded over the centuries to ac-
commodate the multitudes that pray in it, until today the
Other physical elements commonly used are the en-
early mosque is unrecognizable.
trance portal marking the transition into the mosque from
the outside world, the circular dome, an abstraction of the
The Umayyad Great Mosque (715) in Damascus en-
heavens, and the courtyard (sahn), also used as an overflow
compasses the former Church of St. John, itself built on the
prayer space. In a large mosque, there is often a dikka, or
site of a Roman temple. The Great Mosque of Córdoba,
raised platform, on which one person or a small group of
Spain (786–990), has elegant double-horseshoe arches, into
worshipers transmit the ima¯m’s postures to those unable to
which a cathedral was inserted in the sixteenth century.
see or hear the ima¯m himself.
Other prominent examples of hypostyle mosques include the
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MOSQUE: ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
6209
Mosque of Ibn Tulun (879) in Cairo, and the Kutubiyya
Pakistani subcontinent was mainly brick, and construction
(twelfth century) in Marrakech, Morocco.
techniques and decorative schemes combined the Persian
and Hindu traditions. Mosques varied in scale from the small
A different hypostyle earth building tradition is found
Moti (Pearl) Masjid of 1662 in the Delhi Red Fort to the
in Northern Africa, especially in Sudan, and was transmitted
magnificent large Badshahi Mosque (1674) in Lahore.
by Muslim Arab traders across the African continent to the
western sub-Saharan region. Commonly referred to as the
The Ottomans (1281–1922) in Anatolia developed in
Hausa-Fulani tradition, it combines the use of the hypostyle
the sixteenth century the fourth type, the central domed
hall with buttressed walls and towers to produce a vernacular
mosque, that has become the dominant model for contempo-
common to both monumental and rural buildings. Mosques
rary architecture. It is characterized by a large central domed
incorporate older African symbols, such as ancestor pillar fer-
space without columns. It places pencil-thin minarets at the
tility symbols and tops covered in ostrich eggs for strength.
building’s corners. The origins of this form lie in the Byzan-
Construction methods use reinforcing stick scaffolding that
tine centralized basilica plan of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
remains embedded in the structure. It is a living tradition,
(then Constantinople). It was taken to unprecedented
which makes these mosques difficult to date. The present
heights by the great architect Sinan in the Sulemaniye Com-
building of the Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali was built
plex (1557) in Edirne, and in the picturesque Sultan Ahmet
in 1909, although the mosque is much older. A recent earth
or Blue Mosque (early seventeenth century) of Istanbul, de-
mosque in Yaama (1962–1982), Niger, uses the same archi-
signed by his disciple Mehemet Agha. Both the courtyard
tectural language and appears to be timeless.
and prayer hall are square in plan, with the courtyard open
to the sky and surrounded by domed porches.
There are two interesting exceptions in Africa. In East
Africa, where Islam was brought from India and Oman and
The same typology occurs again in Indonesia and Ma-
rooted itself in the coastal area, there is Indian-inspired
laysia, where there is essentially a unified central space but
mosque architecture. The second is the Afro-Brazilian
in a very different style and in wood construction. Islam
mosque, so named for West African slaves in Brazil who
spread via the sea routes to Southeast Asia in the eighteenth
worked as church builders. In the late nineteenth century
century. The buildings in this region retained their own tra-
they returned to Niger and surrounding countries, where
ditional forms based on the Javanese pavilion with its central
they produced mosques that are clearly Portuguese Catholic
two- to five-tiered pyramidal roof. The structure of the main
baroque. Local people regard them as traditionally Islamic.
hall is supported by four columns (saka-guru), with the roof
covered with either wood shingles or clay tiles. The ablutions
The next type is the mosque with four iwans, which oc-
space is usually housed in a separate pavilion. The minaret,
curs mainly in Iran, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, devel-
when present, is a freestanding structure, made usually of
oped from the indigenous Iranian building used for houses,
brick. The complex is often surrounded by a compound wall.
madrasahs, and caravansaries. In Iran the traditional vault-
Mosques throughout the archipelago adhere to this model,
and-dome building was used to develop iwans, or vaulted
with variations such as elevation onto stilts. A good example
open porches, encompassed by a giant portal (pishtaq) ar-
is the Masjid Agung (1474) in Demak, Central Java, the old-
ranged around a central courtyard. Off one iwan is the prayer
est extant mosque in the region. Until the nineteenth century
hall. The local tile-making techniques transferred from
Javanese mosques were often not oriented toward Mecca but
China produced blue-and-white ceramics to cover the im-
retained the culturally auspicious east-west axis: this, howev-
portant entrance portals and the mih:ra¯b. Epigraphy attained
er, has changed. Minarets too, perhaps to be more norma-
artistic heights.
tive, are now commonplace. (However, some of the coastal
The iwan mosque coalesced during the Seljuk dynasty
towns reveal clearly their Indian antecedents.)
(1038–1194) and penetrated Egypt under the rule of Salah
The last type is the Chinese pavilion mosque, developed
ad-Din (Saladin) and his Ayyu¯bid dynasty (1171–1250).
using architecture associated with Chinese culture. (The ex-
Under the patronage of Mamlu¯k sultans (1250–1517) elabo-
ception is the western Xinjiang region, where wood and brick
rate mosque complexes marked the power and wealth of the
building traditions of Central Asia prevail.) The first Mus-
rulers. The Tilakari Mosque-Madrasah (1660) in Samar-
lims appeared in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907)
kand, Uzbekistan, is a fine example of this style, but the pin-
and soon began building with indigenous Chinese architec-
nacle of perfection is the Masjid-i Shah (1637) in Isfahan,
ture. The Chinese mosque employs the traditional pitched
Iran. This type remained in the architecture of the region
roof form with upturned ends, a timber structure, and a rec-
and was also transmitted to Central Asia and India, where
tangular columnar prayer hall. As in Southeast Asia, the
it was transformed.
complex consists of independent structures, each housing a
The third type is the Indian mosque, fully developed by
different function. Even the gateway and the minaret are sep-
the Imperial Moguls (1526–1828). It is characterized by a
arate structures. The minaret is a square to octagonal several-
wide rectangular prayer hall covered with triple domes, a
tiered pagoda. The mosque form is essentially indistinguish-
courtyard with a pool of water surrounded by colonnades,
able from other public buildings. The surrounding high wall
and a monumental entrance. Building material in the Indo-
encloses Chinese gardens, where the transition between one
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MOSQUE: ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
area and another is marked by traditional Chinese moon
the United States, women and children are increasingly fre-
gates. The most famous example of this type is the Great
quenting mosques, where the use of the complex is changing.
Mosque of Xian (eighth century, in present form from
This may affect the design of mosques, which have usually
1392). It has a minaret-pagoda, a series of pavilions and gar-
been centers for men.
dens, and a qiblah wall with a very ornate mih:ra¯b made of
Mosque design is undergoing a “globalizing” influence
wood. Another example is the Niu Jie (Ox Street) Mosque
in terms of using elements thought to be normative. Indeed,
(1362) in Beijing. Islam adapted the techniques and meaning
a dome on a mosque built in 2000 in Shanghai, China, is
of local architecture while bringing in new elements.
used only as a sign. It has no relationship whatsoever to the
SOME CONTEMPORARY ISSUES. The contemporary mosque
building’s structure or interior spaces—it merely sits atop the
often expresses the identity of its users—especially true where
flat roof. In Indonesia, ready-made tin domes sold along
Muslims are in the minority. There are three streams of de-
the sides of roads are replacing the indigenous pyramidal
sign—the vernacular, historic, and modern.
roof. It is the dome and the minaret that have become the
A fine mud-brick mosque was designed in the vernacu-
desirable symbols for the mosque, leading to the neglect of
lar mode by Hassan Fathy at New Gourna (1948) near Luxor
regional architectural traditions. Largely because of the cur-
in Egypt as an alternative to the pan-Islamic modern archi-
rent influence of the Arab Middle East, especially Saudi Ara-
tecture.
bia, such elements become the expression of an Islam that
tries to be universal.
Perhaps the greatest recent historicist mosque is the
Hassan II Mosque (1993) in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the
The architecture of the mosque is not just about design
largest contemporary mosque in the world, built on the edge
and place making. Its importance lies also in the collective
of the city on reclaimed land. The location was inspired by
meanings it transmits over time. To understand mosques is
the verse from the QurDa¯n that states: “the throne of God lies
to understand the architecture of the region and place, and
on the water” (QurDa¯n XI: 7). It uses forms of twelfth-
even more significantly, the culture to which it belongs. The
century Moroccan architecture, scaled up several times, in a
mosque reflects the pluralism of Islam while remaining un-
very ornate structure. Its 650-foot-tall minaret has a laser
changed in its ritualistic aspects. Modernity and internation-
beam projecting twenty miles in the direction of Mecca. The
alism with their own tenets have created new mosque styles,
prayer hall can accommodate 25,000 worshipers. The struc-
but in the main mosques today continue to emulate either
ture’s center acts as a courtyard when the roof slides open.
vernacular or historicist models in order to give them legiti-
There are some rather fantastic features, such as a swimming
macy and instant recognition in the eyes of a global ummah-
pool and the most elaborate ablutions facility anywhere. The
community.
craftsmanship of the whole complex reflects some extraordi-
nary features. It is a modern building in the guise of
SEE ALSO Calligraphy, article on Islamic Calligraphy; Ico-
tradition.
nography, article on Islamic Iconography; S:ala¯t; Worship
and Devotional Life, article on Muslim Worship.
Contemporary mosques that proclaim modernity to-
gether with Islam can be found worldwide. The Shah Faisal
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mosque (1970–1986) in Islamabad, Pakistan, was conceived
Brend, Barbara. Islamic Art. Cambridge, Mass., 1991. A good
as a national mosque to reflect the then progressive modern
overall introduction to the field.
state. The Sherefuddin Mosque (1980) in Visoko, Bosnia,
Davidson, Cynthia, ed. Architecture beyond Architecture. London,
is uncompromisingly modern, and the Manhattan Islamic
1995.
Center Mosque (1991) in New York skillfully abstracts the
Ottoman mosque.
Frishman, Martin, and Hasan-Uddin Khan, eds. The Mosque:
History, Architectural Development and Regional Diversity.
The way in which architecture reflects society is ob-
London and New York, 1994. An important collection of es-
served in the spaces designated for women’s prayer. Usually
says by prominent scholars arranged in part thematically and
10 to 15 percent of the prayer area is demarcated for women,
in part by coverage of mosques by region.
in a balcony or to the sides, separated from the men. One
Grabar, Oleg. The Formation of Islamic Art. New Haven, Conn.,
mosque that places women in a central location is in Kings-
1973. An analytical study by a prominent scholar and histo-
ton, Ontario, Canada. Perhaps this was due to the fact that
rian of art, with an essay on the mosque.
women were on the mosque building committee—itself a
Holod, Renata, and Hasan-Uddin Khan. The Contemporary
rare occurrence—and that the community is formed of a lib-
Mosque: Architects, Clients, and Designs Since the 1950s. New
eral university population. In their debate over the physical
York, 1997. Coverage of new mosques worldwide divided by
position for women, some one hundred letters were written
who commissioned the project.
to ima¯ms all over the world to get their opinions. There was
Michell, George, ed. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History
no consensus and the community had to make its own
and Social Meaning. London and New York, 1978. A collec-
decision.
tion of essays on various building types, with a useful appen-
Women in many countries attend mosque for prayer
dix cataloging key monuments.
but also for educational and social functions. In Europe and
HASAN-UDDIN KHAN (2005)
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MO-TZU
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MOTHER GODDESS SEE GODDESS WORSHIP
on the Kojikiden and its completion in 1798. During that
time he produced a number of other important works. These
include the most representative of his treatises on Shinto¯,
Naobi no mitama (The Spirit of Naobi; 1771); Hihon ta-
MOTOORI NORINAGA (1730–1801), regarded as
makushige (Special Edition of The Spirit Box; 1787), a discus-
the preeminent scholar of the Kokugaku (“national learn-
sion of Japanese politics presented to the Kii (one of three
ing”) school of premodern Japan. Born Ozu Yoshisada to a
collateral Tokugawa families); and Uiyamabumi (Introduc-
merchant-class family in Matsuzaka, Norinaga became inter-
tory Remarks for Scholastic Beginners; 1798), which marked
ested in literature as a young man. Following the death of
the end of his scholarly career. In that year he began to draw
his brother-in-law in 1751, Norinaga’s mother skillfully jug-
a pension from the daimyo of Kii in response to an earlier
gled the family finances in order to send her son to the capi-
request.
tal, Kyoto, to continue his education. In 1752 he became the
In the year preceding his death Norinaga wrote Shokki
student of Hori Keizan, a Confucian scholar, with whom he
rekicho¯ Sho¯shikai (Commentaries on Imperial Edicts in the
studied Chinese literature. That same year he also discovered
Shoku Nihongi) and his will, which described in detail the
a book on Japanese poetry written by the Shingon monk
procedures to be followed at his funeral. He also purchased
Keichu, the first Kokugaku scholar (kokugakusha). This ex-
land at the top of Mount Yamamuro to be used for his burial
perience moved Norinaga to undertake the study of the earli-
plot. Many have interpreted these actions as a rejection of
est Japanese documents, an occupation that he complement-
Buddhism and an affirmation of his conviction that his spirit
ed with the study of practical medicine. As a result of his
would remain on this earth forever.
reading, which inculcated in him a growing awareness of,
and sensitivity to, Japan’s long cultural and religious history,
In his many works Norinaga combined philological acu-
he abandoned the name Ozu in favor of his family’s ancestral
men with a keen sense of the primacy of the ancient texts
name, Motoori. Later, he took Norinaga as his personal
of Japan, providing a basis on which scholars of his genera-
name.
tion could forge a new appreciation of Shinto¯ myth. He re-
garded Shinto¯ as the way of the kami (which he defined as
Norinaga returned to Matsuzaka in 1757 and began to
anything possessing awe-inspiring or superior power) and
practice internal medicine, but his main interest continued
thus essentially the way of the emperor, the direct descendant
to center on “ancient learning” (kogaku), the literary and his-
of the deity Amaterasu. According to Norinaga, it is not our
torical heritage of the early Japanese state. His early works
fate after death that should be our concern but rather a spon-
include Ashiwake obune (A small boat on a reedy river),
taneous and natural appreciation of life itself. In this life-
which discusses the nature of waka poetry; Shibun yo¯ryo¯ (The
affirming ethic he advocated a joyous reliance on the will of
essence of Genji), an analysis of the Genji monogatari (Tale
the kami, and maintained that each person was possessed of
of Genji); and Isonokami sasamegoto (Whisperings of
an innate sense of moral rectitude that renders manmade eth-
Isonokami), in which he developed the celebrated concept
ical systems unnecessary. For Norinaga, these attitudes were
of mono no aware. This term, which literally means the senti-
the very essence of the received traditions of antiquity. He
ments or affections felt immediately after experiencing some-
himself eschewed the word kokugaku, holding that “learn-
thing, Norinaga considered to be the integrating concept of
ing” could not but refer to the study of the ancient texts and
the Genji monogatari. Using this notion, he attempted to free
traditions of Japan.
the analysis of literature from the moralism of contemporary
criticism. His emphasis on human experience for its own
SEE ALSO Kokugaku.
sake was fundamental to his existential outlook on life; it was
from this standpoint that he would later explore his own cul-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tural identity within the Shinto¯ tradition.
Motoori Norinaga’s complete works are contained in the twenty-
Norinaga’s major work, the Kojikiden (Commentary on
two-volume Motoori Norinaga zenshu¯ (Tokyo, 1977).
Studies of his life and thought include Kobayashi Hideo’s
the Kojiki), was begun in 1763, soon after Norinaga’s first
Motoori Norinaga (Tokyo, 1977) and Muraoka Tsunetsugu’s
and only meeting with Kamo no Mabuchi (1697–1769), a
work by the same name (Tokyo, 1928). See also Maruyama
disciple of Kada Azumamaro (1668–1736) and a major fig-
Masao’s Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan,
ure in the Kokugaku movement. Their meeting took place
translated by Mikiso Hane (Princeton, 1975).
as Mabuchi was passing through Matsuzaka on a pilgrimage
to the Grand Shrine at Ise. Prior to this, Norinaga had al-
New Sources
Nosco, Peter. Remembering Paradise: Nativism and Nostalgia in
ready begun to read the works of Mabuchi, intending to
Eighteenth-Century Japan. Cambridge, Mass, 1990.
study the Kojiki with him sometime in the future. After their
fortuitous meeting, Mabuchi accepted Norinaga as his stu-
UEDA KENJI (1987)
dent; through a lively correspondence that continued until
Revised Bibliography
Mabuchi’s death, Norinaga gradually laid claim to the intel-
lectual successorship of the Kokugaku movement. Some thir-
ty-five years elapsed between the time Norinaga began work
MO-TZU SEE MOZI
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6212
MOUNTAINS
MOUNTAINS have an important place in the symbolic
As the center of the world-circle, or man:d:ala, Mount
geography of religious traditions the world over, although
Meru is symbolically repeated in many Hindu temples that
the ways in which mountains are significant have differed.
take the mountain as an architectural prototype. The ´sikhara
Some have been seen as cosmic mountains, central to an en-
(spire or peak) of the temple rises high above the cavelike
tire worldview; others have been distinguished as places of
womb-chamber of the sanctum and is capped with the
revelation and vision, as divine dwelling places, or even as
cogged, ring-shaped a¯malaka, the sun itself, a symbol of the
geographical manifestations of the divine.
heavens. The mountain is also repeated in the architecture
of the Buddhist stupa, the reliquary dome with gateways in
Attitudes toward mountains in general have varied
the four directions and a multileveled mast at the top mark-
widely. Chinese poets such as Xie Lingyun (fourth to fifth
ing the bhu¯mis (“worlds”) that lead to heaven. The mountain
century CE) and Hanshan (eighth to ninth century CE) were
symbolism is most elaborately seen in the stupa of Boro-
attracted by mountains through a sense that these peaks piled
budur in Java, which is actually built over a small hill. There
one upon the other led not only to the clouds, but to heaven.
one sequentially circumambulates the nine bhu¯mis of the
And yet in the West, the image of jutting mountain peaks
cosmos to reach the top. In China and Japan, the vertical di-
touching the clouds has not always had a positive symbolic
mension of the stupa became attenuated in the structure of
valence. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, for ex-
the pagoda and came to predominate over the dome-shaped
ample, Luther and others held the view that mountains ap-
tumulus of the reliquary. Even so, the pagodas of the Far East
peared in an otherwise pleasingly symmetrical world only
preserve the basic mountain symbolism of the stupa. In
after the flood, which scarred the surface of the earth with
Southeast Asia, one of the many duplicates of Meru is Mount
“warts and pockmarks” and signaled the fall and decay of na-
Gunung Agung, the great volcanic mountain that is at the
ture. Mountains were, in the view of the sixteenth-century
center of the island of Bali. Throughout Bali, individual tem-
English writer Edward Burnet, the ruins of the postdiluvial
ples repeat the mountain symbolism and are called merus.
world, a sign of chaos and fractured creation. However, in
Their nine roof-layers again signify the vertical dimensions
the late seventeenth century with the “aesthetics of the infi-
of the cosmic mountain linking heaven and earth.
nite” came a new appreciation of the splendor and height of
mountains as stretching the imagination toward God. One
Like Meru, other mountains have been seen as cosmic
writer of the time described his response to the Alps as “a de-
centers. Mount Hara has a central place in the ancient cos-
mology of the Zoroastrian tradition. According to the Za-
lightful Horrour, a terrible Joy, and at the same time, that
myad Yasht, it was the earth’s first mountain, and its roots
I was infinitely pleas’d, I trembled” (quoted in Nicolson,
the source of the other mountains of Iran. Like other cosmic
1959, p. 277).
centers, it is the pivot around which the sun and the stars
THE COSMIC MOUNTAIN AS SACRED CENTER. As the center
revolve, and like many other sacred mountains, it is also con-
of the world, linking heaven and earth and anchoring the
sidered to be the source of heavenly waters. In Japan, the
cardinal directions, the mountain often functions as an axis
great volcanic peaks, among which Fuji is the most famous,
mundi—the centerpost of the world; it is a cosmic mountain,
have been thought to link earth and heaven. In Morocco, the
central to the order and stability of the cosmos. One of the
great Atlas range in the territory of the Berbers is sometimes
most important such mountains is Mount Meru, or Sumeru,
called the “pillar of heaven.” Mountains that center and
the mythical mountain that has “centered” the world of the
stand at the quarters of a fourfold cosmos are numerous, as
majority of Asians—Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain. According
can be seen in the quadrant mountains of China and in the
to Hindu cosmology, four lotus-petal continents spread out
“Encircled Mountain” of the Navajo, around which stand
from Mount Meru at the center and beyond them the seven
four peaks, each identified with a direction and a color.
ring-shaped seas and ring-shaped continents of the wider
Mountains not considered “centers” in any cosmology
universe. Mount Meru rises heavenward as the seed cup of
still share this image of stability and permanence, of both
the world lotus. As an axis mundi, this mountain, rooted
height and unshakable depth. The Book of Psalms speaks of
deep in the netherworld, rises high through the realms of
the “foundations” of the mountains and hills. Among the
heaven, where it spreads out to accommodate the cities of
Yoruba, myths stress the durability of the hills and, therefore,
all the gods. Interestingly, Meru does not form a peak, for
their ability to protect. The Yoruba say “Ota oki iku,” mean-
the geographical texts of the Pura¯n:as agree that Meru is wider
ing “The rock never dies.” In East Africa, one might receive
at top than at bottom, true to both its seed-cup prototype
the blessing “Endure, like Kibo.” Kibo is the peak of Mount
and the polytheistic consciousness that accommodates many
Kilimanjaro and marks, for the Chagga people, the direction
gods at the top. Meru has four sides of different colors
of all that is powerful and honorable.
(varn:as) and is flanked by four directional mountains. Above
Meru stands the polestar, and daily the sun drives his chariot
In a similar vein, there are many traditions of the moun-
around the mountain. The heavenly Ganges in its descent
tain that stood firm during a great flood. Mount Ararat in
to earth first touches the top of Meru and then divides into
Turkey is known as the mountain where Noah found land
four rivers that run in the four cardinal directions to water
and the ark came to rest. Among the Native American peo-
the earth.
ples of the Pacific Northwest, Mount Rainier was a pillar of
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MOUNTAINS
6213
stability during the flood. Peruvian myths from the Sierran
transformation, including spiritual insight, is part of the
highlands claim the same for several of the high peaks of the
mountain experience. For the pilgrim who is not an adept,
Andes.
a shaman, or an initiate, the mountaintop still affords ecstatic
vision. In the words of the great Chinese mountain poet
The mountain as nature’s great link between heaven and
Hanshan, “High, high from the summit of the peak, / What-
earth has also been widely symbolized architecturally, as in
ever way I look, no limit in sight” (Cold Mountain, trans.
the case of Meru. In ancient Mesopotamia, the seven-storied
Burton Watson, New York, 1970, p. 46).
ziggurat, with its high temple at the top and its low temple
at the bottom, allows for the descent of the divine. The pyra-
THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE DIVINE. For the Hebrews,
mids of Mesoamerican civilization, such as the ruins at Teo-
God’s “dwelling place” was surely not Sinai, the place of rev-
tihuacán, are clearly aligned to stand at the center of ceremo-
elation, but Mount Zion, the sturdy, rocky mount of Jerusa-
nial avenues. The Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán is
lem. Zion, neither lofty nor dramatic, was the firm founda-
further aligned with Mount Cerro Gordo, which it dupli-
tion of Jerusalem, the “City on a hill.” Here God was said
cates.
to dwell in the midst of the people. The awesome mountain-
top, where God appears in fire and lightning, is replaced with
MOUNTAINS OF REVELATION AND VISION. There are many
the security and protection of a fortress mountain.
mountains that may not have a central role in cosmology but
that are, nonetheless, places of powerful contact between the
The hills of Canaan were the high places of powerful
divine and the human. For example, on top of Adam’s Peak,
local baalim, and Mount Zaphon was the abode of the great
or S´r¯ı Pada (“auspicious foot”), in Sri Lanka is a large inden-
Baal Hadad. In the Ras Shamra Ugaritic texts, Baal describes
tation said to be a footprint. According to Buddhists, it is
his dwelling place “in the midst of my mountain, the godly
the footprint of the Buddha himself, matched by a similar
Zaphon, in the holy place, the mountain of my heritage, in
imprint at Phra Sat in Thailand. For Hindus, it is the im-
the chosen spot, the hill of victory” (Clifford, 1972, p. 138).
print of S´iva; for Muslims, that of Adam; for Christians, that
Many of Zaphon’s traditions have likely become attached to
of the apostle Thomas. In any case, the belief that the peak
Zion.
was once trod by one larger than life is held by the people
Perhaps the earliest evidence for mountaintop sanctu-
of all four traditions who climb to the top on pilgrimage.
aries is in the Middle Minoan period (2100–1900 BCE) on
In the Islamic tradition, it was on Mount Hira on the
Crete, where peak and cave sanctuaries such as those at
outskirts of Mecca that Muh:ammad heard the revealed word
Mount Juktas, Mount Dikte, and Mount Ida have been
of the QurDa¯n. At nearby Mount Arafat, the entire assembly
found, along with evidence of votive offerings to the goddess.
of pilgrims stands from noon to sunset on the ninth day of
In the Greek mythological tradition, Olympus is the dwell-
the h:a¯jj pilgrimage. This collective act of standing, before
ing place of the gods, especially of Zeus, whose cult was
God and around Arafat, is considered by many to be the
widely associated with mountaintops. Hermes, Apollo, Arte-
most powerful moment of the h:a¯jj.
mis, and Pan had mountain sanctuaries as well.
Mount Sinai, where Moses encountered Yahveh face to
The hilltop and mountain shrines of both local and
face, is one of the most striking examples of the mountain
widely known gods are also important in the sacred geogra-
of revelation. There Yahveh appeared to the Hebrews as a
phy of India. S´iva is called Giri´sa, the “lord of the moun-
storm, with fire and lightning, or as a cloud that covered the
tains.” He dwells upon Mount Kailash in the Himalayas and
peak. And there Yahveh also appeared directly, when Moses
has mountain shrines all over India, such as S´r¯ı S´aila in An-
and the elders ascended the mountain and “saw the God of
dhra Pradesh and Kedara in the Himalayas. S´iva’s consort,
Israel” (Ex. 24:10). In the Elohist and Deuteronomic tradi-
Pa¯rvat¯ı, is the daughter of the mountain (parvat), and she
tions, Yahveh appeared on Mount Horeb. There Moses en-
too dwells on mountaintops in countless local forms—as
ountered Yahveh in the burning bush. And there Elijah stood
Vindhyava¯sin¯ı in central North India or as Ambika¯ at Girna¯r
before the Lord, who, after the rock-breaking wind, the fire,
in Gujarat. Similarly, in South India, Skanda has hilltop
and the earthquake, spoke to him as “a still small voice” (1
shrines at Paln:i and Tirutan:i, Ayyappan dwells on Mount
Kgs. 19:11–12). And Jesus was transfigured upon a high
S´abari in Kerala, and S´ri Ven˙kate´svara dwells on the Seven
mountain, sometimes said to be Mount Hermon, and ap-
Hills of Tirupati.
peared to Peter, John, and James with a glowing counte-
In China, there are four mountains that came to be asso-
nance, in dazzling raiment, and flanked by Moses and Elijah
ciated with the four directions and four prominent bodhisatt-
(Mt. 17:1–8; Mk. 9:2–8; Lk. 9:28–36).
vas. Most famous among them is the northern peak, Wutai
The mountain top is a revelatory landscape, its height
Shan, associated with Mañjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.
offering both the vision of heaven and a broad perspective
When the Japanese monk Ennin visited Mount Wutai in the
on earth. Mountain ascent is associated with vision and the
ninth century CE, it was a bustling center of monastic learn-
acquisition of power, as is clear in the vision quest of many
ing and of lay pilgrimage. The others are Mount Jiuhua in
of the Native American traditions and in the ascents of the
the south, Mount Emei in the west, and the hilly island of
yamabushi, the mountain ascetics of Japan. In both cases,
Putuo Shan off the Zhejiang coast in the east. According to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6214
MOUNTAINS
popular tradition, the bodhisattvas associated with these
mountains, among which is Arun:a¯cala (Dawn Mountain) in
mountains were to be seen not merely in the temples but
the Tamil lands of South India. This holy hill is said to be
would take human form and appear as a beggar or an elderly
the incandescent hierophany of S´iva and is reverently cir-
monk to pilgrims along the way.
cumambulated as a temple would be.
In addition to this group of four Buddhist mountains
LIFE AND DEATH. As givers of life, mountains are the source
there are the five mountains of the Daoist tradition, again
of rivers and, thus, the source of fertility. This is made explic-
situated at the four compass points, with a center mountain
it in the relation of the mountain and rice-field kami in
shrine at Song Shan in Henan Province. Tai Shan in Shan-
Japan. On the south side of Mount Atlas in Morocco, fruits
dong Province is perhaps the most famous of the five, with
are said to grow spontaneously. And on the mythical Mount
seven thousand stone stairs leading to the top where, next to
Meru the divine trees are said to yield fruits as big as ele-
the Daoist temple, a stone monument stands uninscribed
phants, which burst into streams of nectar when they fall and
but for the word di (“god”). The poet who was supposed
water the earth with divine waters. As the prophet Amos said
to honor the mountain on this tablet was silenced by its
of the Land of Israel, “The mountains shall drip sweet wine,
splendor.
and all the hills will flow with it” (Am. 9:13).
Mountains are the source not only of nourishing waters
MOUNTAINS CHARGED WITH DIVINE POWER. Japanese tra-
but also of rains and lightning. Storm gods are often associat-
ditions recognize many mountain divinities—the yama no
ed with mountains: Zeus, Rudra/S´iva, Baal Hadad of Ugarit,
kami. In a sense, they dwell upon the mountain, but it might
Catiquilla of the Inca, and many more.
be more correct to say that the yama no kami are not really
distinct from the mountain itself. In the Shinto¯ traditions of
Mountains, the source of the waters of life, are also seen
Japan the separation of nature from spirit would be artificial.
as the abode of the dead or the path to heaven for the dead.
In the spring, the yama no kami descend from the mountains
Among the Shoshoni of the Wyoming, for instance, the
and become ta no kami, kami of the paddy fields, where they
Teton Mountains were seen primarily as the dangerous place
remain for the seasons of planting, growth, and harvest, re-
of the dead. The Comanche and Arapaho, who practiced hill
turning to the mountain in the autumn. Even as the kami
burial, held similar beliefs. The Japanese elegy literature
change locus, they remain part of the nature they inhabit.
makes many references to the mountain resting place of the
souls of the dead. A coffin is called a “mountain box,” choos-
In the Heian period, with increasing Shinto¯-Buddhist
ing a burial site is called “choosing the mountain,” and the
syncretism, the mountain kami came to be seen as forms of
funeral procession chants “We go to the mountain!”
Amida Buddha and the various bodhisattvas, and the
Throughout the Buddhist world, the stupa, which originally
Shugendo¯ tradition of mountain ascetism began. Among
is said to have housed the relics of the Buddha, has become
Japan’s important mountain sanctuaries are Mount Haguro,
on a miniature scale the symbolic form in which the ashes
Mount Gassan, Mount Yoshino, Mount Omine, and the
of the dead are housed.
Kumano mountains, identified with the Pure Land of Amida
Buddha. Religious associations called ko organize locally or
THE PERSISTENCE OF THE MOUNTAIN. Through the ages
regionally for the ascent of particular mountains, taking the
many sacred mountains have accumulated many-layered tra-
name of the mountain itself (Fujiko¯, Kumanoko¯, etc.).
ditions of myth and pilgrimage. Moriah, the mount of the
Temple in Jerusalem, is a good example. First, it was an early
Many Native American traditions share this sense of the
Canaanite high place, a threshing floor and sanctuary for
inseparability of mountain and spirit power. The peoples of
harvest offerings. According to tradition, it was there that
the Pacific Northwest, for instance, often begin their tales
Abraham came to sacrifice Isaac. And it was there that Solo-
with “Long ago, when the mountains were people. . . .”
mon built the great Temple, and Nehemiah rebuilt it after
The mountains, such as Tacoma, now known as Rainier, are
the Babylonian exile. And much later, according to Islamic
the mighty ancestors of the past. Farther south, the divine
tradition, it was there that Muh:ammad began his ascent
personification of mountains can be seen in Popocatépetl
from earth to heaven on his mystical “night journey” to the
and his spouse Iztaccíhuatl in Mexico or in Chimborazo and
throne of God.
his spouse Tungurahua in Ecuador. The Zinacantecos of
In Mexico, Tepeyac, the hill of the Aztec goddess To-
Chiapas still honor the tutelary ancestors, the Fathers and the
nantzin, became the very place of the apparition of Our Lady
Mothers, in shrines at both the foot and summit of their sa-
of Guadalupe when the Catholic tradition was layered upon
cred hills. Among the Inca, the localization of power is called
indigenous traditions. Similarly, the great mountain-shaped
huaca, and is often manifest in stones or on mountains, such
pyramid of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula became, in the age fol-
as the great Mount Huanacauri above Cuzco.
lowing the conquest, the site of Our Lady of Remedios. In
The mountain is the temple. Mount Cuchama in south-
Japan, Mount Koua and Mount Hiei, both charged with the
ern California, known as the Place of Creation, was one of
power of their particular kami, became in Buddhist times the
the four exalted high places of the native peoples. For wor-
respective centers of the Shingon and the Tendai traditions.
ship and initiation, it had no temple, for it was itself nature’s
In countless such cases, the mountain persists as a sacred cen-
own temple. India has many such striking examples of divine
ter, while myths and traditions change.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
6215
SEE ALSO Architecture; Center of the World; Cosmology,
Nature to the view that mountains are the grand natural ca-
articles on Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Cosmologies; Geogra-
thedrals of the divine.
phy; Iconography, article on Buddhist Iconography; Pyra-
DIANA L. ECK (1987)
mids; Stupa Worship; Temple, articles on Buddhist Temple
Compounds, Mesoamerican Temples.
MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF
Benson, Elizabeth P., ed. Mesoamerican Sites and World-Views.
GOD. On March 17, 2000, several hundred followers (es-
Washington, D.C., 1981. A collection of essays on the
timates vary, but there may well have been more than three
worldview of the ancient Aztec and Maya civilizations by
hundred, including seventy-eight children) of the Ugandan
Doris Heyden, Horst Hartung, Linda Schele, and others,
along with an essay on the sacred geography of highland Chi-
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments
apas by Evon Vogt.
of God (MRTCG) died in Kanungu, Uganda, when their
church was burned, in what was alternately called a mass sui-
Clifford, Richard J. The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Old
cide or a homicide perpetrated by the movement’s leaders.
Testament. Cambridge, Mass., 1972. A study of cosmic
The subsequent discovery, in various locations, of mass
mountain traditions of El and Baal in Canaan; the Genesis,
Sinai, and Zion traditions of the Old Testament; and the
graves containing the remains of people believed to be mur-
cosmic center in intertestamental literature. Background also
dered (most of them stabbed) raised the death toll to 780 and
provided on the cosmic center and mountain in the ancient
possibly more, the largest such incident in recent history at
Near Eastern traditions of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
that time.
Cohn, Robert L. The Shape of Sacred Space: Four Biblical Studies.
The MRTCG, a fringe Catholic group, had been estab-
Chico, Calif., 1981. Four essays on sacred space in the He-
lished among an epidemic of apparitions of the Virgin Mary
brew Bible: “Liminality in the Wilderness”; “Mountains in
and Jesus in Catholic circles in Africa, most of them not rec-
the Biblical Cosmos”; “The Sinai Symbol”; and “The Senses
ognized by the Roman Catholic Church. These apparitions
of a Center.”
occurred during and after a series of famous apparitions in
Eliade, Mircea. “The Symbolism of the Centre.” In Images and
Kibeho, Rwanda, from 1981 to 1989. There, seven “seers”
Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism (1952), translated
were encouraged and approved by the Catholic hierarchy.
from the French by Philip Mairet, New York, 1969. One of
The apparitions that led to the formation of the MRTCG
the several places where Eliade discusses the cosmic moun-
started in 1987, when a number of Catholics claimed to have
tain and its homologies in the symbolization of the world
had visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in southwestern
center.
Uganda after Specioza Mukantabana, a Rwandan girl who
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. Cuchama and Sacred Mountains. Edited by
claimed a connection with Kibeho (although she was not one
Frank Waters and Charles L. Adams. Chicago, 1981. An ex-
of the seven “approved” seers) moved in 1986 to the Ugan-
ploration of the significance of Mount Cuchuma in southern
dan diocese of Mbarara and later to the diocese of Masaka,
California, sacred to the Cochimi, Yuma, and other Native
starting a movement in Mbuye. Among the new Ugandan
American peoples. Included also is a long chapter titled
seers were Paul Kashaku (1890–1991) and his daughter Cre-
“Other Sacred Mountains throughout the World” that fo-
donia Mwerinde (1952–2000), a barmaid with a reputation
cuses primarily on the mountains of Japan, India, Central
for sexual promiscuity. Mwerinde later claimed to be a for-
Asia, and North America.
mer prostitute—probably a false claim and a conscious at-
Hori, Ichiro. “Mountains and Their Importance for the Idea of
tempt to replicate the role of Mary Magdalene. Kashaku had
the Other World.” In Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and
a past as a visionary and claimed to have seen, as early as
Change, edited by Joseph M. Kitagawa and Allan L. Miller.
1960, an apparition of his deceased daughter Evangelista.
Chicago, 1968. A general essay on the significance of moun-
tains in Japan, including their role in cosmology, their rites
Kashaku claimed to have had a particularly important
and pilgrimages, and their sacred waters.
vision in 1988, and he impressed, among others, Joseph Kib-
wetere (1931–2000), who claimed to have himself received
Mullikin, Mary Augusta, and Anna M. Hotchkis. The Nine Sacred
visions since 1984. Kibwetere was a solid member of the
Mountains of China. Hong Kong, 1973. An illustrated record
Catholic community in Uganda. He had been a politician
of the pilgrimages made by these two women in 1935 and
1936 to the five sacred mountains of the Daoists and the four
and a locally prominent member of the Catholic-based Dem-
sacred mountains of the Buddhists in China.
ocratic Party in the 1970s. Eventually, a community was es-
tablished in Kibwetere’s home in 1989. The newly formed
Nicholson, Marjorie Hope. Mountain Gloom and Mountain Glory:
group attempted to merge the movement with other “appari-
The Development of the Aesthetics of the Infinite. Ithaca, N.Y.,
tionist” groups, including the one established in Mbuye by
1959. The classic Western study of attitudes toward moun-
tains, including theological, philosophical, and emerging sci-
Mukantabana (a group that had been condemned by the
entific dimensions. The focus of the study is the change in
local Catholic bishop). These attempts failed however. A
the view of mountains in the literature of seventeenth- and
group of twelve apostles (six of them women) was appointed,
eighteenth-century England, from the view that mountains
and Kibwetere became their leader after Kashaku’s death in
are the “Warts, Wens, Blisters, Imposthumes” on the face of
1991.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6216
MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
The seers claimed to have seen Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
All of you living on the Planet, listen to what I’m going
in several different visions, which were heavily influenced by
to say: When the year 2000 is completed, the year that
recognized Catholic apparitions, such as those at La Salette
will follow will not be year 2001. The year that will fol-
and Fatima. The visions were also influenced by unofficial
low shall be called Year One in a generation that will
Catholic sources, including the messages of the Italian vi-
follow the present generation; the generation that will
follow will have few or many people depending on who
sionary priest Father Stefano Gobbi, several visionaries based
will repent. . . .The Lord told me that hurricanes of
in the United States, and William Kamm (“Little Pebble”),
fire would rain forth from heaven and spread over all
a marginal Catholic prophet who claimed that he would
those who would not have repented.
eventually become pope. The messages of the seer’s visions
addressed typical Ugandan themes, such as the AIDS epi-
It is worth noting that these MRTCG visions are very similar
demic and government corruption.
to those of the church-approved Kibeho visionaries, who saw
rivers of blood, great fires, and decapitated corpses. The Ki-
Eventually, the village of Kanungu was designated
beho seers warned, on the basis of what the Virgin Mary had
ishayuriro rya Maria (rescue place for the Virgin Mary), and
told them, that “there isn’t much time left in preparing for
the seers moved there in 1994. The group converted to their
the Last Judgment. We must change our lives, renounce sin.
prophetic visions a handful of Catholic priests and nuns, in-
Pray and prepare for our own deaths and for the end of the
cluding Father Dominic Kataribaabo (1967–2000), a Ugan-
world” (Maindron, 1985, p. 107). Of course in Kibeho,
dan Dominican priest who was educated in the United
church approval also meant church control, and the apoca-
States. The MRTCG developed an archconservative brand
lyptic elements were given approved and centuries-old meta-
of Catholicism, and some of its leaders and members were
phorical interpretations. But once the MRTCG left the
eventually excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church,
Catholic fold, the group acted out some of the Kibeho im-
although the priests were only suspended from their priestly
ages literally.
functions rather than excommunicated. The MRTCG broke
with the Ugandan Catholic Bishops on questions of reliabili-
The approximately five thousand members of the
ty of apparitions (including their own), clerical garb, and the
MRTCG (the movement had branches in several small
proper ways of taking communion. They regarded as licit
Ugandan towns) were said to avoid sex and to rarely talk for
only communion taken kneeling, and rejected the practice
fear of breaking the commandment about not bearing false
of the communicant taking the host in his or her hands. Un-
witness, and they were reported to have developed a sign lan-
like other Catholic traditionalist movements, however, the
guage (reports of their unusual behavior may have been exag-
MRTCG did accept ecumenism and the new ritual of the
gerated after the tragedy). Although most members were for-
Mass introduced after Vatican II. The MRTCG’s Masses
mer Catholics, the group also included some from the
were celebrated in vernacular rather than Latin. The move-
African Initiated Churches (AIC, formerly called African In-
ment’s publications strongly denied that the MRTCG was
dependent Churches) and from local spiritualist groups.
a new religious movement, and claimed that it was simply
a conservative Catholic group. The Ugandan Catholic Bish-
The MRTCG was considered to be among the less vio-
ops, however, concluded otherwise.
lent local apocalyptic movements in Uganda. However, the
group did predict the end of the world for December 31,
The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Com-
1999, later revising the date and claiming that on March 17,
mandments of God was legally incorporated with this name
2000, the Virgin Mary would appear and take members to
in 1994, and a boarding school was licensed until 1998,
heaven. The prophetic failure may have induced a number
when the license was revoked by the government on the
of members to doubt the leaders and ask for the return of
grounds that its teachings that were contrary to the Ugandan
money they had contributed. This development (similar to
constitution. The government also expressed concern over
what occurred in the Order of the Solar Temple prior to the
breaches of public health regulations and possible mistreat-
homicides and suicides of 1994) may have created a category
ment of children. In fact, the main message of the MRTCG
of “traitors” who were killed in various waves prior to March
was that the Ten Commandments had been distorted and
17 and whose bodies have been found in several mass graves.
needed to be restored in their full value. The third edition
On the other hand, the mass graves remain in many respects
of the handbook A Timely Message from Heaven: The End of
a mystery, and it is also possible that some “weak” members,
the Present Times (1996), mainly written by Kataribaabo,
regarded as not fully prepared to commit suicide, were killed
proclaimed: “Ours is not a religion but a movement that en-
without being regarded as “traitors.”
deavors to make the people aware of the fact that the Com-
mandments of God have been abandoned, and it gives what
Shortly before March 17, Kibwetere wrote to his wife
should be done for their observance.” Additional comments
Theresa (not a member of the MRTCG), urging her to carry
in the book about morality refer to themes common in tradi-
on the movement after his departure. A nun visited nearby
tionalist and other Catholic archconservative circles. For ex-
villages announcing the coming of the Virgin Mary for
ample, inappropriate dress is seen as a sign of immorality in
March 17. Apparently, while some members did know about
the statement: “girls prefer wearing men’s trousers to wearing
the suicide plan, others were simply told about an imminent
their own dresses.” The message was also apocalyptic:
supernatural event and did not expect to die. As in the case
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MOZI
6217
of the Solar Temple (and notwithstanding the obvious differ-
mass suicide are grossly inaccurate. These assumptions may
ences) there were three categories of victims: those who knew
in fact amplify tension and deviance, thus operating as self-
about the suicide and regarded it as a “rational” way to escape
fulfilling prophecies, helping to cause the very evils people
a doomed world (a minority); those who expected to go to
claim they want to prevent.
heaven but did not know how; and the “traitors” who doubt-
ed Kibwetere after the prophetic failure. The latter may have
SEE ALSO Cults and Sects; New Religious Movements, over-
been assassinated before the church fire. The presence of
view article, article on New Religious Movements and Mil-
three, rather than two, categories of victims creates a contin-
lennialism, article on New Religious Movements and Vio-
uum between homicide and suicide.
lence; Temple Solaire.
Among the leaders, Kataribaabo was originally identi-
fied among the dead, but later the Ugandan government is-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kabazzi-Kisirinya, S., R. K. Nkurunziza, and Banura Gerard De-
sued a warrant for his arrest, along with warrants for Kib-
usdedit, eds. The Kanungu Cult-Saga: Suicide, Murder, or
wetere and Mwerinde. Dental records for the three are
Salvation? Kisubi, Uganda, 2000. An interpretation by local
unavailable, and it has been impossible to determine whether
scholars.
they died in the fire (as their families believe) or escaped with
Maindron, Gabriel. Apparizioni a Kibeho: Annuncio di Maria nel
the movement’s money (as some witnesses suggest and the
cuore dell’Africa. Brescia, Italy, 1985. A primary source for
Ugandan government apparently believes). The idea that the
the apparitions in Kibeho.
leaders were con artists who escaped with the money was also
Mayer, Jean François. “Field Notes: The Movement for the Resto-
the explanation preferred by the media and some members
ration of the Ten Commandments of God.” Nova Religio 5
of the law enforcement community in the Solar Temple case,
(2001): 203–210. A scholarly account and interpretation.
before dental records proved this theory wrong. Most schol-
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of
ars believe that the leadership of the MRTCG died in the
God. A Timely Message from Heaven: The End of the Present
2000 fire, and the leaders’ behavior prior to these events sup-
Times. 3d ed. Karuhinda, Rukungiri; Rubiziri, Bushenyi,
ports this conclusion.
Uganda, 1996. The only book published by the movement.
Uganda is home to hundreds of religious movements,
MASSIMO INTROVIGNE (2005)
many of them apocalyptic and millenarian. This is not sur-
prising since Uganda experienced a virtual apocalypse during
the bloody regime of Idi Amin Dada (1925–2003) and given
the atrocities of the civil war. Followers of apocalyptic move-
MOZI. Very little is known about the life of the fifth-
ments in Uganda expect justice to come with the end of the
century BCE Chinese thinker Mozi (Master Mo), although
world, not through politics. Scholarship about Uganda’s
a number of clues suggest that he may have been trained as
apocalyptic movements warns against applying Western
an artisan. He was the first major thinker to challenge the
models to situations peculiar to that country. In fact, conflict
heritage of Confucius (551–479 BCE) and is best known as
between “cults” and the national army, as well as protest and
the founder of the Mohist school or lineage of thinkers that
violence (even suicide), are often manifestations of preexist-
flourished in the fourth and third centuries BCE, but he fell
ing ethnic, tribal, and political conflicts.
into obscurity soon after. Although the teachings attributed
In general, tragedies in Uganda also confirm that vio-
to Mozi, under the eponymous title Mozi (the core of which
lence connected to new religious movements erupts because
is held to represent Mozi’s own writings rather than elabora-
of a combination of factors internal and external to the
tions and accretions by later Mohists), were transmitted to
groups. In the MRTCG case, internal factors included the
posterity, they exercised little influence after the third centu-
personalities of the leaders, their literal interpretations of
ry BCE and were largely ignored until the nineteenth century.
prophecies about the end of the world (as exemplified by Ki-
Whereas in early Confucian writings it is the figures of
beho and Gobbi), and the crises within society and the
the ruler and the father that served as authority models, Mozi
Roman Catholic Church. Once dissociated from the
appealed to a higher authority: tian (heaven). For him, it was
church’s time-tested metaphorical interpretations, apocalyp-
the ideal model of what is constant, reliable, objective, mea-
tic revelations may be taken literally and acted upon. Exter-
surable, and equally accessible to all (Hansen, 1992, p. 100).
nal factors include the difficult situation prevailing in Ugan-
Many of Mozi’s arguments are backed by an appeal to tian
da, particularly in areas ravaged by disaster, famine, and
or (shang) (supreme ancestor). This is one of the reasons that
civil war.
Mohism has often been described as a religion. Mozi’s con-
After the tragedy of Kanungu, some African govern-
cept of tian is conventionally understood as a morally norma-
ments reacted strongly against “cults.” The risk is that they
tive force with authority above the ruler, which expressed its
will engage in witch-hunts, failing to acknowledge that most
wishes through a variety of mechanisms, including portents
apocalyptic movements throughout the world are law-
and the appearance of spirits.
abiding and nonviolent. In Africa, as elsewhere, claims that
There is, however, a real question as to whether Mozi
all millenarian and apocalyptic movements are heading for
did, in fact, believe in a normative tian. A more pragmatic
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6218
MOZI
interpretation would be that he actually believed that if peo-
proved by quoting ancient writings that record the teachings
ple act as if tian is a normative force, then they will be more
of the ancient sage kings. (2) The real existence of fate cannot
inclined to act in ways that conform with Mozi’s own philo-
be proven by any means. It cannot be proven empirically by
sophical principles. It is important to note that Mozi does
the senses of hearing and sight, for no one from the begin-
not talk of tian’s decrees (ming), but only of its intentions
ning of time to the present could testify that they had ever
or goals (zhi). From a moral point of view this affords people
seen or heard directly from such a thing as fate. Moreover
the responsibility to make their own moral choices. Further
it cannot be proven using moral arguments because moral
supporting the pragmatic interpretation is the fact that order
arguments require the nonexistence of fate. (3) Fatalism is
in the world is only achievable through strenuous effort on
the creation of tyrants, used by bandits and other wrongdo-
the part of both humans and tian. For Mozi there is no pre-
ers, and welcomed by lazy people. Although it has been
existent order of things: an ordered human society is pro-
claimed that these three standards are the earliest known ex-
duced and maintained by the purposeful cooperation of tian,
ample of an attempt to formulate principles of reasoned ar-
spirits, and humans, who work together in the face of the
gument in early China, it should be noted that the appeal
constant propensity of things to revert to a state of chaos
to ancient authorities still occupies first place (Graham,
(Schwartz, 1985, p. 141). The social upheavals of the times
1978, p. 11).
would certainly have reinforced this view.
Although Mozi’s writings have often been criticized for
The message is clear: if humans want order, they, like
being dull and repetitive, he did use consistent and rigorous
tian, must work at it, and the model they should follow is
arguments. Positive assessments of his legacy note his at-
the one that tian itself has shown them: favoring utility and
tempts to justify his philosophical ideas; his efforts to submit
benefit over harm. Moral conduct was defined as acting so
traditional morality to the test of social utility; his defense
as to benefit others, which ultimately will benefit oneself. For
of innovation; his support for the new kind of centralized
Mozi’s utilitarianism to work, it is crucial that people believe
state, with merit rather than birth as the grounds for prefer-
that their efforts can make it work. Utility/benefit provides
ment; and for introducing reasoned argument into classical
a measurable standard that anyone can use with accuracy.
Chinese thought (Graham, 1978, p. 4).
For Mozi, utility included such things as food and shelter,
peace, and the material conditions of life. The benefit-harm
BIBLIOGRAPHY
distinction also appeals as being a standard that is natural or
Fraser, Chris. “Mohism.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philoso-
phy, edited by Edward N. Zalta. Stanford, Calif., 2002.
pre-social rather than conventional. As such, it seems to offer
Available at: plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2002/entries/
a neutral basis for ranking alternative proposals about what
mohism. Authoritative and informative overall of the Mohist
is the best course of action. Confucian moral standards, by
school and its doctrines.
contrast, are derived from the teachings of so-called sages, or
Graham, A. C. “Introduction.” In Later Mohist Logic, Ethic and
culled from tradition. Another weakness with Confucian
Science, pp. 3–72. Hong Kong, 1978. Succinct and authori-
ethics is that moral concern is graded according to one’s rela-
tative introduction to the historical background of the Moh-
tionship with someone, and family members always come
ist school and its canon.
first. Mozi argues that morality must involve equal concern
Hansen, Chad. A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought: A Philosophi-
for all people. Indeed, Mozi’s most celebrated doctrine is the
cal Interpretation. New York, 1992. See chapter 4 for an im-
doctrine of ungraded concern for others (jian ai). He main-
passioned analysis that provides Mozi with his strongest
tained that the world’s disorders are the product of human
philosophical voice in English.
selfishness and a lack of mutual concern. Mozi’s panacea for
Mei, Y. P., trans. Ethical and Political Works of Motse. London,
these ills requires people to be as concerned about others as
1929; reprint, Westport, Conn., 1973. Translation of chap-
they are for themselves.
ters that are held to represent the thought of Mozi.
Mozi had four main criticisms of early Confucians:
Schwartz, Benjamin. The World of Thought in Early China. Cam-
bridge, Mass., 1985. Comprehensive introductory overview
(1) they did not believe in the existence of shangdi (supreme
of Mozi’s thought.
ancestor) or spirits, thus incurring the displeasure of these
anthropomorphic powers; (2) they insisted on elaborate fu-
Watson, Burton, trans. Mo Tzu: Basic Writings. New York, 1963.
Partial translation of chapters that are held to represent the
nerals and practiced three years of mourning when a parent
thought of Mozi.
died, resulting in a waste of resources and energy; (3) they
attached great importance to music, another extravagant
Wong, David B. “Universalism versus Love with Distinctions: An
Ancient Debate Revived.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 16
waste of resources; and (4) they believed in predetermined
(1989): 251–272. A philosophically insightful partial defense
fate, which leads to laziness and resignation.
of Mozi’s ungraded concern (jian ai) thesis.
Mozi applied three standards to gauge the value of any
Wong, David B. “Mohism: The Founder, Mozi (Mo Tzu).” In
doctrine: its basis, its verifiability, and its applicability. Take
Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy, edited by Antonio S. Cua,
the example of fatalism, which Mozi criticizes on the follow-
pp. 453–460. New York, 2003. A balanced and succinct
ing grounds: (1) Fatalism is not in accord with the intentions
overview of Mozi’s thought.
of tian or the teachings of the ancient sage kings. This is
JOHN MAKEHAM (2005)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUDRA¯
6219
MUDRA¯. Mudra¯ in Sanskrit means seal or stamp of au-
features of the deity of the mantra, or it may mime the ab-
thority. In ordinary Sanskrit this meaning has always been
stract idea expressed in the mantra; for example, the mantra
in use. For instance, a political play written by Vi´sa¯khadatta
“ah:,” which depicts the deity of the primal point of creation,
(c. 7 CE) is called Mudra¯-ra¯ks:asa (The signet [ring] of
must be uttered along with prescribed hand gestures. Mudra¯
Ra¯ks:asa). Ra¯ks:asa was the chief minister of the Imperial
also is seen as an agent that invests the mantra with the ener-
Nandas, the enemies of Candragupta Maurya, king of Ma-
gy of its associated deity, and thus invests the worshipper
gadha, and this ring was his seal of office.
with that deity’s power. During the ritual investment of di-
vine power, a process known as nya¯sa, the ritual hand ges-
However, in the medieval Brahmanic tradition, espe-
tures indicate the divesting of power from each part of the
cially in religious practice, another meaning of the term
deity’s body to the corresponding part of the worshipper’s
mudra¯ became prevalent. In this context mudra¯ is a symbolic
body. Finally, one may deduce from the Vis:n:udharmottara
representation of a concrete form, or an idea, presented
Pura¯n:a that mudra¯ not only refers to a type of hand gesture
through gestures (hastas) and, sometimes, facial expression.
but also symbolizes the seal of approval of the deity whose
It thus becomes closely associated with hand gestures used
mantra the mudra¯ accompanies. It seals the mantra’s efficacy
in dance and acting. Mudra¯ can also refer to hand gesture
with divine authority.
in an iconographical context, though this is a late innovation
(see Colas). For example, in the Buddhist Tantra the term
The formulation of mudra¯s in a ritual context has been
mudra¯ is sometimes used to describe hand postures found in
elaborately systematized. Indeed, all the major religious sys-
images of the Buddha and Bodhisattva. Some esoteric Bud-
tems of classical India record the correct formulation of these
dhist Tantras, such as the Guhyasiddhi written by Padmavaj-
hand gestures in their canonical texts and exegetical works.
ra during the seventh century, call the adept’s female partner
Mudra¯s are divided into three categories, each associated
mudra˚. According to the Siddha Tantras, supreme Sakti who
with different stages of a ritual. The first consists of mudra¯s
is nameless (anakhya) is designated as mudra˚. As the term
associated with ritual purification of the worshipper’s person,
means divine authority and as Sakti is indeed the manifest
of the place of worship, and of the ingredients of offerings.
divine authority, it is correct to call her mudra˚. Tantric’s
These are called purificatory gestures, and are used at the be-
partner is taken in rituals as a representative of the supreme
ginning and end of a ritual. The second category is made up
Sakti and thus the divine authority incarnate (White, 2003).
of those hand gestures known as sam:ska¯ra mudra¯. These are
associated with the part of a ritual in which the worshipper
In early Indian religious understanding, the term mudra¯
envisages a cosmogonic sequence through which the deity
refers exclusively to ritual hand gestures symbolizing a variety
gradually assumes a personal form and takes up residence in
of meanings and conferring legitimacy on a ritual act. The
the worshipper’s innermost core. This is the adept’s heart
Vis:n:udharmottara Pura¯n:a, a famous early work on iconogra-
conceived as a lotus, the seat of the deity, and is known as
phy, interestingly associates mudra¯ with esoteric rituals
the lotus-heart. The worshipper invites the deity to emerge
(rahasya-mudra¯). In book III (the book on dance), it de-
from his lotus-heart to sit upon the divine pedestal set up in
scribes techniques of dance, including hand gestures
front of the worshipper, so that offerings may be made. The
(nr:tta-hasta). Not until the middle of the book does it turn
third category of mudra¯s, pu¯ja¯-mudra¯, comes into play when
to a discussion of the mudra¯ hand gestures (mudra¯-hasta¯n
the worshipper makes offerings and imagines them being re-
vya¯khya¯sya¯ma), which are presented as being in a separate
ceived by the deity. The final offering is of the worshipper’s
category from the other hand gestures. Although the whole
own self. A ritual ends with the worshipper envisaging the
section on the performing arts in this Pura¯n:a concerns ritual
deity taking leave and being reabsorbed into the worshipper’s
worship, the mention of “esoteric” (rahasya) in relation to
heart.
the mudra¯-hastas clearly indicates that such mudra¯s were re-
served for esoteric worship and not intended for use in the
The Mudra¯s form a secret system of sign or symbolic
forms of public worship that incorporated dance along with
language known only to sectarian participants in various rit-
gestures and mimesis. This esoteric quality becomes obvious
uals. Buddhist, S´aiva, S´a¯kta, and Vais:n:ava tantric sects each
when one takes into account the sorts of things that are rep-
have some sets of mudra¯s that are different from those used
resented by mudra¯-hastas. Often these are abstract ideas like
by other sects. In fact, members of one tantric sect can com-
the mystic syllable “Om:” or the esoteric use of the vowels
municate with each other secretly by using mudra¯s unknown
(Beyer, 1973, pp. 101–102). The same Pura¯n:a introduces a
to an enemy sect.
type of mudra¯ known as ´sa¯stra-mudra¯ (3.33.15–16). These
In general, though, when the same type of object is
gestures depict deities in the special characteristic postures
being referred to, sectarian variation in mudra¯ use is not ex-
described in the mantras associated with them. S´a¯stra-mudra¯s
treme. Furthermore, some mudra¯s do not vary, at least signif-
also include a not particularly esoteric group of gestures used
icantly, from sect to sect. For example, the mudra¯ used to
to represent the vehicles of these deities.
welcome a deity (extrapolated from the everyday gesture used
It is clear that a gesture is called mudra¯ when it accom-
to welcome a revered guest) is almost the same in the S´aiva,
panies a mantra and has an explanatory mimetic connection
S´a¯kta, and Vais:n:ava sects. Likewise, all sects use an identical
with what the mantra expresses. It may mime some salient
mudra¯ called surabh¯ı when a jug of water or other drink that
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6220
MUH:AMMAD
is being offered to the deity is mentally identified with divine
original significance had been forgotten but which still yield-
nectar. (The name of this mudra¯ is derived from the celestial
ed a powerful religious experience. Because of the great sanc-
cow Surabh¯ı, whose milk is nectar.)
tity of the KaEbah, all violence was forbidden in Mecca and
Ritual hand gestures are acts of elaborate mimesis. An
its environs, and this made it possible for the Arabs to trade
act of warning toward any malevolent agent is played out ei-
peacefully there, away from the endemic tribal warfare that
ther by imitating a weapon, for instance an arrow, or by mak-
engulfed the Arabian steppes. During the sixth century, the
ing an explosive sound by snapping fingers or clapping
Quraysh had made Mecca a vital station in the spice trade,
hands. The ritual worshipper is an actor creating a totally su-
and they had become rich by trading in the surrounding
pernatural world of religious reality through focused medita-
countries.
tion, vivid imagination, and total understanding of his reli-
Little is known about Muh:ammad’s early years. After
gious ideology and aims. That is why his gestures carry an
his death, legends developed that indicated that he had been
authority invested by long religious tradition.
marked out from birth for future greatness, but until he was
about twenty-five there was little sign of this glorious future.
SEE ALSO Buddhism, Schools of; Hands; Mantra.
He grew up to be a very able young man and was known in
Mecca as al-Am¯ın, the reliable one. He was handsome, with
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a compact, solid body of average height. His hair and beard
Beyer, Stephen. The Cult of Ta¯ra¯: Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Lon-
were thick and curly, and he had a strikingly luminous ex-
don, 1973.
pression. Yet his orphaned status held him back. He could
Colas, Gérard. “Variation sur la pâmoison dévote: A propos d’un
get no position commensurate with his talents, but became
poème de Vedânta Deshika et du théâtre des araiyar.” In Im-
a merchant, whose job it was to lead the trading caravans to
ages du corps dans le monde hindou, edited by Véronique
Syria and Mesopotamia. But in about 595, his luck changed.
Bouillier and Gilles Tarabout, pp. 275-314. Paris, 2002.
Khad¯ıjah bint Khuwaylid, a wealthy businesswoman, hired
Ghosh, Manomohan, ed. and trans. Bharata’s Na¯t:ya-´sa¯stra. Cal-
Muh:ammad to take some merchandise into Syria, and she
cutta, 1967. See chapter 9.
was so impressed that she proposed marriage. Even though
Gupta, Sanjukta, Dirk Jan Hoens, and Teun Goudriaan. Hindu
she was considerably older than he, this was no mere mar-
Tantrism. Leiden, Netherlands, 1979.
riage of convenience. Muh:ammad sincerely loved Khad¯ıjah
Janaki, S. S., ed. and trans. Mudra¯laks:n:am, Cited in
and together the couple bore a son, who died in infancy, and
Nirmalaman:i’s Commentary on Aghora ´siva¯ca¯rya-paddhati.
four daughters who survived: Fa¯t:imah, Zaynab, Ruqayyah,
Madras, India, 1986.
and Umm Kulthu¯m.
White, David Gordon. Kiss of the Yogini: “Tantric Sex” in Its South
Asian Contexts. Chicago, 2003.
But by the time he was forty years old, Muh:ammad had
become deeply concerned about the malaise that was appar-
SANJUKTA GUPTA (2005)
ent in Mecca. The Quraysh had become rich beyond their
wildest dreams and had left the desperate nomadic life of the
steppes behind. But in the new stampede for wealth some
MUH:AMMAD ibn EAbdulla¯h (c. 570–632
of the old tribal values had been lost. In the desert, most
CE) is re-
vered by Muslims as the prophet to whom the QurDa¯n, the
Arabs lived on the brink of malnutrition, taking their herds
sacred scripture of Islam, was revealed. Apart from the
from one watering hole to another and competing desperate-
QurDa¯n and the h:ad¯ıth, the main sources for his life history
ly with the other tribes for food and sustenance. Throughout
are the biographies written by four early Muslim historians:
Arabia, one tribe fought another in a murderous cycle of ven-
Muh:ammad ibn Ish:a¯q (d. c. 767), Muh:ammad ibn S:aEd
detta and counter-vendetta. In this brutal existence, the unity
(d. c. 845), Abu¯ JaEfar al-T:abar¯ı (d. c. 923), and Muh:ammad
of the tribe was essential for its very survival, and a strict no-
ibn EUmar al-Waq¯ıd¯ı (d. c. 820).
madic code insisted upon the importance of protecting its
weaker and more vulnerable members. But the aggressive
EARLY LIFE (C. 570–610). Born in Mecca, in the Arabian
capitalism of Mecca had resulted in some of the Quraysh
H:ija¯z, in about 570, Muh:ammad was a member of the
making money at the expense of some of the tribe’s poorer
Quraysh, the ruling tribe of Mecca, but of the clan of
clans, including Muh:ammad’s own clan of Ha¯shim. The old
Ha¯shim, one of its less influential family groups. Orphaned
values were disappearing, nothing new had yet appeared to
early in life, he was brought up by his uncle Abu¯ T:a¯lib, and
take its place, and while the more successful members of the
although he was treated kindly, the experience of deprivation
Quraysh were naturally happy with these developments, the
made an indelible impression on Muh:ammad, who re-
weaker clans felt endangered and lost.
mained poor throughout his youth and a marginal figure in
the thriving city of Mecca. Mecca had long been the holiest
There was also spiritual restlessness in Mecca and
city in Arabia. The KaEbah, the cube-shaped shrine in the
throughout the peninsula. Arabs knew that Judaism and
heart of the town, was of great antiquity. It was a place of
Christianity, which were practiced in the neighboring Byzan-
pilgrimage. Each year, Arabs came from all over the peninsu-
tine and Persian empires, were more sophisticated than their
la to perform the arcane rites of the h:a¯jj pilgrimage, whose
own pagan traditions. Some had come to believe that the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUH:AMMAD
6221
high God of their pantheon, al-La¯h (whose name simply
would collapse (like other unjust societies in the past) be-
meant “the God”), was the deity worshiped by Jews and
cause they were violating the fundamental laws of existence.
Christians, but he had sent the Arabs no prophet and no
M
scripture in their own language. Indeed, the Jews and Chris-
UH:AMMAD AND THE QURDA¯N. This was the core teaching
of the new scripture, which became known as the qur Da¯n
tians often taunted the Arabs for being left out of the divine
(recitation) because it was an aural revelation, designed to be
plan. Intent on finding a solution, Muh:ammad used to retire
listened to for the music of its language, rather than perused
to a cave on the summit of Mount H:ira¯D, just outside Mecca,
page by page. Most of the believers, including Muh:ammad
during the month of Ramad:a¯n, where he prayed, fasted, and
himself, were not learned, and they absorbed its teachings by
gave alms to the poor. It was in this cave that on 17 Ramad:a¯n
listening to public recitation of its chapters (su¯rahs). The
610 Muh:ammad woke to find himself overwhelmed by a
QurDa¯n was revealed to Muh:ammad piecemeal, verse by
devastating presence, and heard the first words of a new Ara-
verse, su¯rah by su¯rah, during the next twenty-one years, often
bic scripture pouring from his lips.
in response to a crisis or a problem that had arisen in the little
THE MESSAGE OF MUH:AMMAD. For the first two years,
community of the faithful. These revelations were very pain-
Muh:ammad kept quiet about this revelation, confiding only
ful to Muh:ammad, who used to say: “Never once did I re-
in his wife Khad¯ıjah and her cousin, Waraqa ibn Nawfal,
ceive a revelation without thinking that my soul had been
who had converted to Christianity. Both encouraged him to
torn away from my body.” In the early days, the impact was
believe that this was a genuine revelation from God, who had
so frightening that his whole body was convulsed; he would
chosen him to bring the old religion of the Jews and the
sweat profusely, experience a peculiar heaviness, or hear
Christians to the Arabs. In 612, after another powerfully en-
strange sounds, such as the tolling of a bell. The great proph-
dorsing revelation, Muh:ammad began to preach in Mecca,
ets of Israel also felt the divine impact as a near lethal blow
and he gradually gained converts, including his young cousin
and found it almost impossibly painful and difficult to utter
EAl¯ı ibn Ab¯ı T:a¯lib, his friend Abu¯ Bakr, and the young mer-
the word of God.
chant EUthma¯n ibn EAffa¯n from the powerful Umayyad fam-
ily. Many of the converts, including a significant number of
Muh:ammad had perceived the great problems of his
women, were members of the poorer clans; others were un-
people at a deeper level than most of his contemporaries, and
happy about the new inequality in Mecca, which was alien
when he “listened” to events as they unfolded, he had to
to the Arab spirit.
delve deeply into his inner self to find a solution that was not
only politically viable but also spiritually sound. He was also
Muh:ammad’s message was simple. He taught the Arabs
communicating a new literary form and a masterpiece of
no new doctrines about God: like the Jews and Christians,
Arab poetry and prose. The extraordinary beauty of the
most of the Quraysh already believed that Alla¯h had created
QurDa¯n was in fact responsible for the conversion of many
the world and would judge humanity in the Last Days.
of Muh:ammad’s first disciples. One of the most dramatic of
Muh:ammad had no intention of founding a new religion,
these conversions was that of EUmar ibn al-Khat:t:a¯b, who was
but saw himself as the latest in a long line of prophets that
passionately devoted to the old paganism and initially op-
included Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (QurDa¯n
posed to Muh:ammad’s message. But he was also deeply
2:129–132). Muh:ammad was not attempting to contradict
versed in Arabic poetry, and the first time he heard the lan-
or supersede these prophets, and he never required Jews or
guage of the QurDa¯n, it broke down all his reservations.
Christians to convert to his new Arab faith, because they had
“When I heard the QurDa¯n, my heart was softened and I
received authentic revelations of their own. Constantly, the
wept, and Islam entered into me.”
revelations that he received from God insist that
Muh:ammad’s followers must respect the ahl al-kita¯b (People
THE MISSION IN MECCA (612–622). The new teaching
of the Book). God commands them to speak to the Jews and
would eventually be called isla¯m (surrender), and a muslim
Christians with courtesy: “Say to them: We believe what you
was a man or a woman who had made this existential submis-
believe; your God and our God is one” (QurDa¯n 29:46). God
sion of their entire selves to Alla¯h and his demand that
had sent one prophet after another to every people on the
human beings behave towards one another with justice and
face of the earth, each of which had expressed the divine mes-
compassion. It was an attitude expressed in the prostrations
sage in its own language and cultural idiom (QurDa¯n 35:22).
of the ritual prayer (s:ala¯t), which Muslims were required to
In principle, one cult, one tradition, one scripture was as
make three times a day, facing Jerusalem, the city of the Jews
good as another (QurDa¯n 6:160). What mattered was the
and Christians. Thus at first Muslims were turning their
quality of one’s surrender (isla¯m) to God, not to any mere
backs on the pagan religion, symbolized by the KaEbah, and
human expression of his will.
reaching out towards the monotheistic tradition that they
were now determined to follow. The posture of their prayer
The essence of Muh:ammad’s message was, therefore,
was thus designed to change their fundamental attitude and
not doctrinal but social and ethical. It was wrong to build
orientation. The old tribal ethic had been egalitarian. Arabs
up a private fortune, but good to share wealth and create a
did not approve of kingship, and it was abhorrent to them
society where the weak and vulnerable were treated with re-
to grovel on the ground like a slave. But the prostrations were
spect. If the Quraysh did not mend their ways, their society
designed to teach their bodies, at a level deeper than the ra-
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6222
MUH:AMMAD
tional, to counter the hard arrogance and self-sufficiency that
Muh:ammad gradually acquired a small following, and
was rife in mercantile Mecca, to lay aside their selfishness,
eventually about seventy families converted to Islam. At first
and to accept that before God they were as nothing. Muslims
the most powerful and successful men in Mecca ignored the
were also required to give a regular proportion of their in-
Muslims, but by 616 they had become extremely angry with
come to the poor in alms (zaka¯t) and to fast during the
Muh:ammad, who, they claimed, reviled the faith of their fa-
month of Ramad:a¯n, reminding themselves of the privations
thers and was obviously a charlatan who only pretended to
of those who were too impoverished to eat and drink when
be a prophet. They were especially irritated by the QurDa¯n’s
they wished.
description of the Last Judgment, which they dismissed as
primitive fairy stories. But their greatest fear was its condem-
Social justice was, therefore, the cardinal virtue of Islam.
nation of their ruthless capitalism. On the Last Day, Arabs
Muslims were commanded, as their first duty, to build a
were warned that their wealth would not help them, nor
community (ummah) in which wealth was fairly distributed.
would the power and influence of their family connections.
This was far more crucial than any doctrinal teaching about
Everybody would be tried on his or her own merits. Had
God. The political and social welfare of the ummah would
they looked after the poor? Why had they built up private
have sacred value for Muslims, and would become the chief
fortunes instead of sharing their money? The Quraysh, who
sign that Muslims were living according to God’s will. This
had become rich and prosperous as a result of the new econo-
habit of mind has persisted to the present day. Muslims
my, did not appreciate this kind of talk, and an opposition
would be profoundly affected by any misfortune or humilia-
party developed, led by Abu¯ al-H:akam, who is called Abu¯
tion suffered by the ummah. Its spiritual and political health
Jahl (Father of Lies) in the QurDa¯n. Muh:ammad’s old friend,
is as crucial to Muslims’ religious lives as theological doc-
Abu¯ Sufya¯n, an extremely able and intelligent man, and the
trines have been to Christians.
devout pagan Suhayl ibn EAmr also joined the opposition.
Muh:ammad found the Christian preoccupation with
All had relatives who had converted to Islam, and all feared
doctrine difficult to understand. The QurDa¯n tends to regard
that Muh:ammad was plotting to take over the leadership of
such speculation as self-indulgent guesswork (z:annah). It
Mecca. At this stage, the QurDa¯n insisted that Muh:ammad
seemed pointless to argue about abstruse dogmas that no-
should have no political function in the city; he was simply
body could prove one way or the other. He did have to take
a na¯dhir (a warner). But how long would it be before a man
up certain theological positions, of course. By the sixth cen-
who claimed to receive instructions directly from Alla¯h
tury, most of the Arabs were tending towards monotheism,
would feel inspired to seize supreme power for himself?
and even though the KaEbah was officially dedicated to
PERSECUTION IN MECCA. By 617 the Muslims’ relationship
Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and was surrounded by effigies of
with some of the Meccan establishment had deteriorated be-
some 360 gods, many Arabs believed that it had originally
yond repair. Abu¯ Jahl imposed a boycott on Muh:ammad’s
been dedicated to Alla¯h. Indeed, those Arabs who had con-
clan of Ha¯shim, forbidding the people of Mecca to marry or
verted to Christianity felt comfortable making the h:a¯jj pil-
trade with the Muslims. This meant that nobody could sell
grimage because they saw the KaEbah as the shrine of their
them food. This ban lasted for two years, and the food short-
own God, and Muh:ammad and the Muslims continued to
ages may have caused the death of Muh:ammad’s beloved
perform the old rites there. Some of the Quraysh, however,
wife Khad¯ıjah. The ban certainly ruined some of the Mus-
were still happy with the old paganism, and they were espe-
lims, such as Abu¯ Bakr, financially. Slaves who had converted
cially devoted to three Arabian goddesses: Mana¯t, Alla¯t, and
to Islam were particularly badly treated, tied up, and left to
al-EUzzah. Muh:ammad forbade his followers to take part in
burn in the blazing sun. Most seriously, in 619, after the ban
their cults, comparing the pagan deities to weak tribal chiefs
had been lifted, Abu¯ T:a¯lib, Muh:ammad’s uncle and protec-
who were a liability for their people because they could no
tor (wa¯l¯ı) died. This made Muh:ammad’s position untenable.
longer give them adequate protection. The QurDa¯n put for-
As an orphan, he was now entirely without powerful family
ward no philosophical arguments in favor of monotheism.
backing. According to the tribal laws of vendetta that still
Its approach was strictly practical, and appealed to the prag-
prevailed in Mecca, without a patron who could avenge his
matic Arabs. The old religion was simply not working
death, a man could be killed with impunity. It took
(QurDa¯n 25:3; 29:17; 44:47). This was evident in the spiritu-
Muh:ammad a long time to find a chieftain in the city who
al malaise, the chronic tribal warfare that was tearing the pen-
would become his wa¯l¯ı. Clearly he had to find a new solution
insula apart, and an injustice that violated the highest Arab
for himself and the community of Muslims.
traditions. The way forward was to be found in the worship
of a single God, the creation of a united ummah, and the pur-
Tradition has it that it was during this dark period that
suit of justice and equity that alone would bring peace to
Muh:ammad experienced his mystical flight (isra¯D) to the
Arabia. But the QurDa¯n insisted that it was teaching nothing
Temple mount in Jerusalem. There he was welcomed by all
new. Its message was simply a “reminder” of truths that ev-
the great prophets of the past, who invited him to preach to
erybody knew already (QurDa¯n 80:11). This was the primor-
them. This vision represents Muh:ammad’s longing to bring
dial faith that had been preached to the whole of humanity
the Arabs, who had apparently been left off the map of salva-
by all the prophets of the past.
tion, from far-off Arabia into the heart of the monotheistic
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MUH:AMMAD
6223
family. After his sermon, Muh:ammad made the mi Era¯j, as-
they would be known as the Ans:a¯r, the “helpers” of the
cending through the seven heavens to the throne of God.
Prophet, but the English translation gives rather a feeble im-
pression of what was involved. Nas:r meant that one had to
In Mecca, however, the Muslims’ position had become
be ready to back up one’s “help” with force, if necessary. The
so untenable that Muh:ammad was ready to listen to a delega-
pledge that the Ans:a¯r had made with the Muslims was there-
tion of chiefs from Yathrib, an agricultural settlement some
fore called the “Pledge of War.”
240 miles north of Mecca, who approached him in 620 with
a novel proposal. A number of different tribes had settled in
Muh:ammad had not expected to hold political office,
Yathrib, abandoning the nomadic lifestyle, but the habits of
and initially had no intention of founding a new polity. But
tribal warfare were so engrained that they found it impossible
the force of circumstances that he could not have foreseen
to live peacefully together. As a result, Yathrib was caught
meant that overnight he had become the head of a collection
up in one deadly feud after another. Some of these tribes had
of tribal groups that had no blood ties but were bound to-
either converted to Judaism or were of Jewish descent, and
gether by a shared ideology—an astonishing innovation in
so the people of Yathrib were used to monotheistic ideas,
Arabia. Nobody in Yathrib was forced to convert to the reli-
were not so wedded to the old paganism as some of the Mec-
gion of the QurDa¯n, which forbids any coercion in religious
can families, and were desperate to find a means of living to-
matters in the strongest terms (2:256). But on his arrival,
gether in a single community. They had heard of the prophet
Muh:ammad drew the people of Yathrib together in a cove-
in Mecca who claimed to be the messenger of the one God,
nant. The Muslims, Jewish tribes, and those who preferred
and thought that he might be what they were looking for.
to stay with the old paganism all belonged to a single ummah,
During the h:a¯jj of 620, delegates from Yathrib approached
could not attack one another, and vowed to give one another
Muh:ammad, converted to Islam, and made a pledge with the
protection. They were all to be “helpers” to each other. News
Muslims. Each side vowed that it would not fight the other,
of this extraordinary new “supertribe” spread, and though at
and they would defend each other from common enemies.
the outset nobody in Arabia believed that it would survive,
There were further negotiations and discussions. Finally
it proved to be the inspiration that would bring peace to Ara-
Muh:ammad reached a momentous decision. In 622, the
bia, just ten years after the hijrah.
Muslim families slipped quietly out of Mecca, one by one,
and made the migration (hijrah) to Yathrib. Muh:ammad,
Yathrib would become known as al-Mad¯ınah (the City)
whose new protector had recently died, narrowly escaped as-
because it became the archetype of the perfect Muslim soci-
sassination, and he and Abu¯ Bakr were the last of the Mus-
ety in Islamic thought. Throughout history, many Muslims
lims to escape.
have looked back on the Prophet’s sojourn in Medina as a
golden age, when the ideals of Islam were fully incarnated
THE HIJRAH (622). The hijrah marks the start of the Muslim
in society. They have idealized this period, much as Chris-
era, because it was at this point that Muh:ammad was able
tians have idealized the primitive church. In fact, however,
to implement the QurDanic ideal fully in a social setting. It
these were hard and difficult years, full of darkness and dan-
was a revolutionary step. The hijrah was no mere change of
ger for Muh:ammad. When he arrived in Medina, one of his
address. In Arabia, the tribe was the most sacred value of all.
first actions was to build a simple mosque (masjid; literally,
To abandon your own kin to join forces with another group,
a place of prostration). It was a rough building, which ex-
with whom you had no blood relationship, was not only ab-
pressed the austerity of the early Islamic ideal. The roof was
solutely unheard of, it violated a strong taboo and was essen-
supported by tree trunks, a stone marked the qiblah (the di-
tially treasonable. The Quraysh, shocked to the core by this
rection of prayer), and the Prophet stood on a tree trunk to
extraordinary defection, were outraged, and they had no
preach. Future mosques would be inspired by this model.
means of accommodating a development that had no prece-
There was also a courtyard where Muslims met to discuss all
dent in their world. They vowed to exterminate the ummah
the concerns of the ummah—social, political, and military,
in Yathrib, which had flouted the deepest and strongest sanc-
as well as religious. Muh:ammad and his wives lived in small
tities of Arabia.
huts around the edge of the courtyard. Unlike holy places
in other traditions, the mosque was not separated from secu-
The Muslims themselves found the migration a wrench-
lar activities and devoted only to worship. In the QurDanic
ing, painful experience. They were not going forward eagerly
vision, there is no dichotomy between the sacred and the
into a new life, like other emigrants, but were primarily
profane, the religious and the political, sexuality and ritual.
aware only of the trauma of severance. This is clear in the
The whole of life is potentially holy and must be brought
word they used to describe their radical departure from their
into the ambit of the divine. From the start, the aim was
tribe. The first stem of the Arabic root word HJR, hajarah-
tawh:¯ıd (making one), a holistic vision that would give Mus-
hu, can be translated: “he cut himself off from friendly or lov-
lims intimations of the unity that is God.
ing communion or intercourse. He ceased to associate with
them.” The people of Yathrib were also aware that they were
MUH:AMMAD’S WIVES. In Mecca, Muh:ammad had re-
engaged in a highly controversial and precarious experiment
mained monogamous, married only to Khad¯ıjah, even
in promising to give protection (awliyah) and help (nas:r) on
though polygamy was common in Arabia. In Medina, how-
a permanent basis to people who were not kin. Henceforth,
ever, Muh:ammad became a great sayyid (chief) and was ex-
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6224
MUH:AMMAD
pected to have multiple wives, but most of the marriages he
while Jews would be preparing for the Sabbath, and a fast
contracted were politically motivated. The tie of blood was
on Yom Kippur. He was therefore greatly disappointed when
still important, and as he formed his supertribe, Muh:ammad
the Jews of Medina refused to accept him as an authentic
bound some of his closest companions to him by marriage.
prophet. Some of the QurDanic accounts of such figures as
His favorite new wife was EA¯Dishah, the daughter of Abu¯
Noah or Moses were different from the biblical stories, and
Bakr. He also married H:afs:ah, the daughter of EUmar ibn
many of the Jews scoffed when these were recited in the
al-Khat:t:a¯b, and arranged the marriages of two of his own
mosque. Like many of the pagan Arabs of Medina, the three
daughters to EUthma¯n ibn EAffa¯n and EAl¯ı ibn Ab¯ı T:a¯lib, his
main Jewish tribes also resented Muh:ammad’s political as-
cousins. Many of his other wives were older women who
cendancy. They had formed a powerful bloc before his arriv-
were without protectors or were related to the chiefs of tribes
al, and now felt their position threatened.
that became the allies of the ummah. None of these wives
bore the Prophet any children.
But some Jews in the smaller clans were friendly and in-
creased Muh:ammad’s knowledge of their scriptures. He was
In the West, Muh:ammad’s wives have occasioned a
especially excited to hear that in the book of Genesis, Abra-
good deal of prurient interest, but they were sometimes more
ham had two sons, and that Ishmael, the child of his concu-
of a worry than a pleasure. On one occasion, when he found
bine Hagar, was said to be the father of the Arab nation (Gn.
them quarrelling about the division of booty after a raid, he
16; 18:18–20). Abraham had cast Ishmael and Hagar out
threatened to divorce them all unless they lived more strictly
into the wilderness at God’s command, and the Jews and
in accordance with Islamic values (QurDa¯n 33:28–29).
Christians of Arabia believed that they had settled in Mecca,
Muh:ammad was no chauvinist, but he genuinely enjoyed
that Abraham had visited them there, and that together
women’s company. EUmar and some of his other compan-
Abraham and Isma¯E¯ıl had built the KaEbah. Muh:ammad was
ions were shocked by the way he allowed his wives to stand
delighted to hear this, since it showed that Arabs had not
up to him and answer him back. Muh:ammad regularly
been left out of the divine plan after all, and that the KaEbah
helped with household chores, mended his own clothes, and
was not really a pagan shrine, but had been the first temple
took his wives’ advice very seriously. On one occasion Umm
of the true God in Arabia.
Sala¯mah, the most intelligent of his wives, helped him to pre-
vent a mutiny.
By 624 it was clear that most of Medina’s Jews would
never accept Muh:ammad, who was also shocked to learn that
The QurDa¯n gave women rights of inheritance and di-
Jews and Christians, whom he had assumed to belong to a
vorce centuries before women in other cultures, including
single faith, actually had serious theological disagreements.
the West, were accorded such legal status. The emancipation
It seemed disgraceful to split the unity of God’s religion into
of women was one of Muh:ammad’s objectives. In pre-
warring sects because of abstruse speculations that nobody
Islamic Arabia, elite women, like Khad¯ıjah, enjoyed a degree
could prove definitively. Such sectarianism was idolatrous in
of power and independence, but the vast majority of women
erecting a human theological system to the unity that was es-
had virtually no human rights and were treated little better
sential to the faith of Alla¯h. It made people quarrelsome and
than slaves or animals. The QurDa¯n prescribes some degree
unkind, and Muh:ammad wanted no part of this sectarian-
of segregation for the Prophet’s wives, as a matter of proto-
ism. So, in January 624, he made one of his most creative
col, but there is nothing in the QurDa¯n that commands the
innovations. During prayers, he told the congregation to
veiling and segregation of all women in a separate part of the
turn around so that they faced Mecca rather than Jerusalem.
house. These customs were adopted some three or four gen-
This change of qiblah was a declaration of independence. By
erations after Muh:ammad’s death, when Muslims imitated
turning towards the KaEbah, which had been built by Abra-
the customs of the Greek Orthodox Christians of Byzantium
ham, who had lived before the revelation of the Torah and
(also Iran), who had long veiled and segregated their women
the Gospels, Muslims were tacitly reverting to the original
in this way. The QurDa¯n is an egalitarian faith, and sees men
pure monotheism that had pertained before the divisions in
and women as partners before God, with identical duties and
God’s religion. Muslims were turning to God alone, not to
responsibilities (QurDa¯n 33:35). The women of Medina
one of the established faiths; they were abjuring divisive sec-
played an active role in public life, and some even fought
tarianism and would take their own direct route to God
alongside the men in battle. It was only later that Muslim
(QurDa¯n 6:159, 161–162).
men dragged the faith back to the old patriarchy (the same
JIHA¯D. A few weeks after the change of the qiblah,
process happened in Christianity).
Muh:ammad took yet another decisive step. The Emigrants
THE CHANGE OF THE QIBLAH FROM JERUSALEM TO MECCA.
who had made the hijrah had no means of earning a living
When he arrived in Medina, Muh:ammad eagerly anticipated
in Medina. There was no land left for them to farm, and
the prospect of working alongside the Jewish tribes, believing
most of them were merchants and businessmen, with no ex-
that they would welcome him as a prophet in their own tra-
perience of date cultivation. The Ans:a¯r, as the helpers in Me-
dition. Shortly before the hijrah, he had introduced some
dina were called, could not be expected to feed and support
practices that would make the connection with Judaism
this large community, because their own resources were
more explicit, such as communal prayer on Friday afternoon,
stretched to the limit, so Muh:ammad resorted to the tradi-
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MUH:AMMAD
6225
tion of the ghazw (colloquial, ghazu¯; “raid”). The ghazu¯ was
lent world, and Islam demands that Muslims make an effort
rather like a national sport and a crude means of redistribut-
on all fronts: physical, moral, political, social, spiritual, and
ing resources in a region where there were simply not enough
intellectual. Sometimes it may be necessary to fight, but far
of the necessities of life to go round. Raiding parties would
more important is the interior jiha¯d, the personal struggle to
attack the herds or trading caravans of a rival tribe and carry
eradicate greed, hatred, and egotism from one’s own heart.
off booty and livestock. The trick was to avoid taking human
Thus, after the Battle of Badr, Muh:ammad is said to have
life, because this would automatically trigger a vendetta, and
told his companions: “We are returning from the lesser jiha¯d
nobody wanted that. It was forbidden to conduct a ghazu¯
(the battle) to the greater jiha¯d,” the more crucial and de-
against a tribe that had become an ally or “client” (a weaker
manding effort to reform one’s own society and one’s own
tribal group that had sought protection from one of the
self.
stronger tribes).
But for five years after the Battle of Badr, the Muslims
In order to earn their keep in Medina, some of the Emi-
had to fight in order to survive. Abu Sufya¯n launched two
grants began to conduct raids, attacking the rich caravans
major offensives against the Muslims in Medina, vowing not
from Mecca. But this was a shocking departure from tradi-
merely to defeat the Muslims but also to exterminate the en-
tion, because it was unheard of to initiate a ghazu¯ against
tire community, as Arab tradition demanded. Muh:ammad
your own tribe. But the Emigrants saw themselves as the vic-
also had to contend with hostility within Medina, since some
tims of the Quraysh, who had persecuted them and forced
of the pagans in Medina resented the power of the Emigrants
them to leave their homes. The traumatic breach of the hij-
and were determined to expel them. In 625, Mecca inflicted
rah meant that they had been cast out of their tribe. The
a severe defeat on the ummah at the Battle of EUhud, but two
Ans:a¯r, who had no quarrel with the Quraysh, took no part
years later the Muslims overcame the numerically superior
in these first raids. At first the raiding parties enjoyed some
Meccan army at the Battle of the Trench, so called because
success, but in March 624 Muh:ammad led a large band of
Muh:ammad had protected the settlement by digging a ditch
Emigrants to the coast in order to intercept the largest Mec-
around it. This victory was a turning point because it con-
can caravan of the year. When the Quraysh heard of this
vinced most of the nomadic tribes that the supremacy of the
shocking project they dispatched an army to defend the cara-
Quraysh was over. The old religion seemed discredited be-
van, but even though they were heavily outnumbered, the
cause the gods were clearly unable or unwilling to come to
Muslims were able to inflict a defeat on the Meccans at the
the aid of Mecca. Many of the tribes allied themselves to
well of Badr. The Quraysh fought in the old Arab style, with
Muh:ammad, who began to build a powerful confederacy
careless bravado, and had no overall strategy, but the Mus-
whose members swore not to attack one another and to
lims fought under Muh:ammad’s unified command with
avenge attacks on one another. Some of the Meccans also
greater discipline. The victory made a great impression on
began to defect and made the hijrah to Medina. After five
the nomadic tribes, who were not displeased to see the
years of deadly danger, it seemed that the ummah would
haughty Quraysh humiliated in this way. They began to look
survive.
with interest at the prophet who seemed to be the coming
T
man in Arabia.
HE MASSACRE OF THE JEWISH TRIBE OF QURAYZ:AH.
Three of the most powerful Jewish tribes of
But the Quraysh were certain to retaliate, and
Medina—Qaynuqa¯E, Nad:¯ır, and Qurayz:ah—had joined the
Muh:ammad now found himself engaged in a full-scale war
disaffected pagans of the settlement and plotted the over-
with Mecca. During the five years of hostilities, the QurDa¯n
throw of Muh:ammad. To this end, the Jewish tribes had
gives instructions about proper conduct on the battlefield,
formed alliances with Mecca. They were a security threat,
and develops a theory of warfare that is similar to the Chris-
since the location of their territory meant that they could eas-
tian ideal of the just war. The QurDa¯n permits only a war of
ily join a besieging Meccan army and attack the ummah from
self-defense; Muslims must never initiate hostilities (2:191).
within. When the Qaynuqa¯E staged an unsuccessful coup
Warfare is always abhorrent (2:217), but sometimes it is nec-
against Muh:ammad in 625, they were expelled from Medi-
essary to fight in order to bring the kind of persecution the
na. Muh:ammad tried to reassure the Nad:¯ır and made a spe-
Muslims had endured in Mecca to an end or to preserve de-
cial alliance with them, but when they attempted to assassi-
cent values (2:217:22:40). As long as the fighting continues,
nate him, he sent them into exile too. The exiles joined the
Muslims must dedicate themselves to the war wholeheartedly
nearby Jewish settlement of Khaybar, and helped to build
in order to bring hostilities to a speedy conclusion, but the
support for Abu¯ Sufya¯n from the northern Arab tribes.
second the enemy makes a peaceful overture, all hostilities
When the remaining tribe of Qurayz:ah sided with Mecca
must cease (2:192). But it is always better to avoid warfare,
during the Battle of the Trench, Muh:ammad showed no
to forgive injuries, to talk rather than to fight, and to forgive
mercy. The seven hundred men of Qurayz:ah were killed and
(5:45).
their women and children sold as slaves.
The word jiha¯d does not mean “holy war,” as Western
This was an appalling incident, and Muh:ammad was
people often imagine. It means “struggle” or “effort.” It is
acting exactly like a traditional Arab chieftain, retaliating
difficult to put God’s will into practice in a flawed and vio-
mercilessly to ensure the survival of his own people. An Arab
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6226
MUH:AMMAD
sayyid was not expected to spare surviving enemies. Had
et evaded them and managed to reach the well of
Muh:ammad simply exiled the Qurayz:ah, they would have
H:udaybiyah, at the edge of the Meccan sanctuary, where all
swelled the Jewish opposition in Khaybar and brought an-
violence was forbidden. The Muslims then dismounted from
other war upon the ummah. The executions sent a grim mes-
their camels and sat down peacefully to await developments.
sage to Khaybar and helped to quell pagan opposition in Me-
Eventually the Quraysh were pressured to send a delegation
dina. Muh:ammad acted according to the old tribal ethic in
and to sign a treaty with Muh:ammad.
an attempt to bring hostilities to an end as soon as possible.
The treaty was extremely unpopular with the Muslims
This had been a fight to the death, and both sides had under-
because Muh:ammad appeared to throw away all the advan-
stood that the stakes were high.
tages that he had gained in the course of the long conflict.
The struggle did not indicate any hostility towards Jews
Even though Muh:ammad could easily have forced the issue,
in general, however, and showed no antipathy to Jewish reli-
he agreed to waive his right to complete the h:a¯jj, on the con-
gion. The Jews of Medina who had not sided with Mecca
dition that the Muslims could make the pilgrimage the fol-
continued to be a part of the ummah and to enjoy Muslim
lowing year. There would be a truce between Mecca and Me-
protection. The QurDa¯n continued to command Muslims to
dina. This meant that Muh:ammad had to abandon the
respect the People of the Book and to revere the Jewish
economic blockade that was beginning to strangle the Mec-
prophets. Later, Jews, like Christians, enjoyed full religious
can economy and that the Muslims could no longer engage
liberty in the Islamic empires. Hatred of Jews became
in lucrative raids on the Meccan caravans. Muh:ammad also
marked in the Muslim world only after the creation of the
promised to return any Meccan who converted to Islam and
State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent loss of Arab Pales-
made the hijrah to Medina. The treaty so enraged the Mus-
tine. As a result of this originally secular conflict, some Mus-
lims that there was danger of mutiny. But the QurDa¯n insists
lims now quote the passages in the QurDa¯n that refer to
that as soon as the enemy sues for peace, Muslims must bring
Muh:ammad’s struggle with the three rebellious Jewish tribes,
hostilities to an end and sign a treaty, no matter how disad-
thus distorting both the message of the QurDa¯n and the atti-
vantageous the terms. The QurDa¯n refers to the treaty of
tude of the Prophet himself, who felt no antagonism toward
H:udaybiyah as a “manifest victory”: it was the spirit of peace
the Jewish people.
that distinguished the true believer from the violence of pa-
ganism (48:1, 26–27)
A PEACE OFFENSIVE (628–630). The massacre of the
Qurayz:ah may have been a personal watershed for
H:udaybiyah was another turning point. More tribes
Muh:ammad himself. His struggle with Mecca had followed
came over to Muh:ammad’s confederacy, and conversion to
the old patterns of violence in Arabia. The persecution of
Islam became an irreversible trend. Arabs were pragmatic
Muslims in Mecca had led to the hijrah and subsequent
people: once the old religion had shown itself to be inade-
Muslim raids on the Meccan caravans. Ghazu¯ had led to full-
quate, they would not remain committed to it. Many of the
scale warfare. Attack had led to counterattack, injury to re-
new members of the confederacy, however, joined for politi-
prisal and retaliation. There had been atrocities on both
cal reasons and did not alter their religious conviction.
sides. This had long been the chronic problem of Arabia. As
Muh:ammad was well aware of this and did not press for con-
long as Muh:ammad continued to behave like a traditional
version in these cases.
Arab chieftain, he and his Muslims would be caught in an
Eventually, in 630, the Quraysh violated the treaty of
escalating spiral of violence, vendetta, and counter-vendetta.
H:udaybiyah by attacking one of Muh:ammad’s tribal allies.
After his victory at the Battle of the Trench in 627, therefore,
The Prophet was then free to march on Mecca with an army
Muh:ammad felt that it was time to break this vicious cycle.
of ten thousand men. Faced with this overwhelming evi-
In March 628, Muh:ammad initiated an audacious cam-
dence of the change in their fortunes, the Quraysh conceded
paign of nonviolence that eventually brought the conflict to
defeat, opened the city gates, and Muh:ammad took Mecca
an end. He announced that he was going to make the h:a¯jj
without bloodshed. He destroyed the idols around the
pilgrimage to Mecca and asked for volunteers to accompany
KaEbah, but nobody was forced to enter Islam against their
him. Since pilgrims were forbidden to bear arms during the
will, according to QurDanic principles. Muh:ammad’s victory,
h:a¯jj, the Muslims would be walking directly into the lions’
however, convinced some of his most dedicated opponents,
den and putting themselves at the mercy of the Quraysh.
such as Abu¯ Sufya¯n, that the old faith had failed, and they
Nevertheless about a thousand Muslims set out for Mecca
became Muslims.
with the Prophet, attired in the traditional white pilgrim
LAST DAYS (630–632). After his victory, Muh:ammad re-
robes and performing the rites of the h:a¯jj meticulously.
turned to Medina. He had promised the Ans:a¯r that he would
Muh:ammad was well aware that he was putting the Quraysh
never abandon them in order to return to his native city, and
in a difficult position. If they attacked unarmed Arab pil-
Medina remained the administrative capital of the Islamic
grims, they would violate the most sacred principles of Ara-
polity for another thirty years. His most significant act dur-
bia and would be reviled as unworthy guardians of the
ing these final years was the farewell pilgrimage to Mecca in
KaEbah. The Quraysh did dispatch their cavalry to attack the
632, during which he reinterpreted the old pagan rituals of
pilgrims, but with the help of friendly local tribes the Proph-
the h:a¯jj and gave them a Muslim significance by linking
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MUH:AMMAD
6227
them to episodes in the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishma-
present day, Muslim reformers have first withdrawn from
el. Therefore, when Muslims make the h:a¯jj, which is the
mainstream society in imitation of the Prophet’s hijrah, and
peak experience of their religious lives, they are not reminded
then engaged in a jiha¯d, a struggle that may or may not in-
of Muh:ammad but symbolically rehearse their relationship
clude military action, to bring their fellow Muslims back to
with the whole monotheistic family, returning to the roots
the Islamic ideal. The pattern of migration and struggle has
of this faith. Shortly after this last pilgrimage, Muh:ammad
become an archetypal form of engaging in political action.
died in EA¯Dishah’s arms on June 8, 632. He was buried in her
Most recently, the Egyptian activist Sayyid Qut:b (1906–
little hut in the courtyard of the mosque of Medina by mem-
1966) developed a fundamentalist ideology based entirely on
bers of his immediate family.
Muh:ammad’s life, and he followed this archetypal pattern
M
closely in his seminal book Milestones (1964). Qut:b’s vision
UH:AMMAD IN MUSLIM PIETY. The QurDa¯n warns Muslims
against the dangers of idolatry (shirk); they must not give to
has inspired almost every single fundamentalist movement
any mere creature the honor due to God alone. Constantly
in the Sunn¯ı world. Usa¯mah bin La¯din, the founder of the
Muh:ammad had warned the ummah against deifying him,
terrorist organization al-Qa¯Eidah, whose members attacked
as the Christians had deified Jesus. Muh:ammad was a mere
the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York on
mortal, like themselves. Nevertheless, devotion to the Proph-
September 11, 2001, is a disciple of Qut:b. Unfortunately,
et is crucial to Muslim spirituality. Muslims call him the
Qut:b’s ideology has distorted the Prophet’s life by reducing
“perfect man” because his life represents the ideal of isla¯m,
the meaning of jiha¯d to “holy war” and making this the cli-
a wholehearted surrender to God. Just as Christians attempt
max of Muh:ammad’s career, forgetting that the Prophet fi-
to imitate Christ, Muslims imitate Muh:ammad in their lives
nally abjured armed struggle and won victory by an inge-
in order to approximate as far as possible this perfection, and
nious policy of nonviolence.
to come as close as they can to God himself. The shar¯ı Eah,
The example of Muh:ammad also informs Sufism, the
the corpus of Islamic law, was developed on the basis of the
mystical dimension of Islam. From the eighth century, Mus-
QurDa¯n and the daily practice of the Prophet. During the
lims who were disturbed by the growing wealth and luxury
ninth century, scholars began a process of research and com-
of the Islamic empire withdrew from the mainstream and
piled the great collections of Muh:ammad’s maxims (h:ad¯ıth)
imitated the simple lifestyle of the Prophet. The S:u¯f¯ıs may
and accounts of his customary behavior, traveling through-
even derive their name from their practice of wearing the
out the Islamic empire to discover as much evidence as they
kind of coarse woolen cloth (tas:awwuf) preferred by
could.
Muh:ammad. In their spiritual exercises, S:u¯f¯ıs hope to put
The sunnah (i.e., the model conduct of the Prophet) and
themselves into the same receptive state of mind as the
shar¯ı Eah taught Muslims to imitate the way Muh:ammad
Prophet when he received the revelations of the QurDa¯n, and
spoke, ate, loved, washed, and worshiped, so that in the smal-
they see the story of the mi Era¯j as the archetype of the return
lest details of their external lives they reproduce his actions
that everybody must make to God, the source of their being.
in the hope of attaining his interior submission to God. This
The mi Era¯j is regarded as the supreme example of
means that throughout the Islamic world, Muslims have ac-
Muh:ammad’s surrender to the divine. But S:u¯f¯ıs do not
quired a clear identity, which draws them together. The way
withdraw from the world in the same way as Christian or
they pray or wash, as well as their table manners and personal
Buddhist monks. Their mystic call is often experienced as an
hygiene, follow a common distinctive pattern. Muslims from
inner rebellion against social or political injustices, and like
China, Indonesia, and the Middle East, for example, all per-
Muh:ammad they engage in a campaign of spiritual effort,
form the prostrations of s:ala¯t in the same way. This devotion
which they call the “greater jiha¯d.” To this day, an intense
also means that Muslims internalize the Prophet at a pro-
spirituality modulates easily into political activism in the
found level and identify with him deeply. As a result, if
Muslim world. S:u¯f¯ıs have often been at the forefront of
Muh:ammad is attacked or denigrated in any way, Muslims
many reform movements or in the vanguard of opposi-
may feel personally violated.
tion to anything that threatens the ummah, externally or in-
ternally.
The imitation of Muh:ammad has also influenced many
of the various political movements in Islam. Muh:ammad did
The prophet Muh:ammad is equally venerated in the
not retire to a cave or mountaintop, but was a man of the
Sh¯ıEah. Indeed, because of their devotion to the Prophet they
world, who worked incessantly to change his society. The so-
also venerate his descendants, whom they believe should be
ciety of Medina in Muh:ammad’s time has become the blue-
the political leaders of the Muslim community. According
print of the ideal Muslim society and has always been the
to the traditional ethos of Arabia, the special gifts of a chief-
starting point of political science in Islam. Because of the
tain was handed down to his sons and descendants, and after
QurDa¯n’s emphasis on the paramount importance of social
the Prophet’s death many of the Muslims believed that
justice, politics has an inescapably religious dimension in
Muh:ammad’s prophetic quality would have been inherited
Islam, and from a very early date Muslims have followed the
by his male descendants. Because he had no surviving sons,
example of Muh:ammad’s own life when they have sought
these Muslims believed that some of his prophetic charisma
to reform the ummah. From the early seventh century to the
had passed to EAl¯ı, Muh:ammad’s cousin and son-in-law, to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6228
MUH:AMMAD AH:MAD
his sons—H:asan and H:usayn—and, following H:usayn’s
MUH:AMMAD AH:MAD (AH 1260–1302/1844–
tragic murder by the Umayyad caliph, to the descendants of
1885 CE), Sudanese preacher and mystic who claimed to be
H:usayn, until the line finally died out in the ninth century.
the Mahdi of Islam. Muh:ammad Ah:mad ibn EAbd Alla¯h was
Each of these inspired ima¯ms were the spiritual “leaders” of
born at Labab Island on the Nile in Dongola province of a
their people; each had inherited a secret knowledge (ilm) of
Nubian family claiming descent from the Prophet and was
divine truth. Each, as it were, kept some of Muh:ammad’s
brought up at Karari, just north of Omdurman. He received
unique prophetic qualities alive, and in some mysterious
a traditional Islamic education and at age seventeen became
way, kept the Prophet alive in each generation.
apprenticed to Muh:ammad Shar¯ıf Nu¯r al-Da¯Dim, a shaykh
of the Samma¯n¯ıyah S:u¯f¯ı order. He spent seven years serving
SEE ALSO H:ad¯ıth; Islam, overview article; Islamic Law, arti-
and imbibing mystical wisdom from his master who then au-
cle on Shar¯ıEah; MiEra¯j; QurDa¯n, overview article; Shiism,
thorized him to teach the doctrines of the order and to initi-
overview article; Sunnah.
ate others.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In 1870 he took up residence on Aba Island on the
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a
White Nile just north of Kosti, along with his three brothers,
Modern Debate. New Haven and London, 1992.
who were engaged in the family trade of boat building. Once
Armstrong, Karen. Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. New
settled there his growing reputation as a S:u¯f¯ı teacher and as-
York and London, 1991.
cetic began to gain him a considerable following among the
Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. London and New York,
local peoples. His teacher, Muh:ammad Shar¯ıf, also estab-
2000.
lished himself nearby in 1288/1872, but before long the two
Crone, Patricia. Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton,
men fell out, perhaps because of the elder man’s jealousy at
1987.
this pupil’s acclaim. Muh:ammad Shar¯ıf announced
Esposito, John L. Islam: The Straight Path. 3d ed. Oxford and
Muh:ammad Ah:mad’s expulsion from the Samma¯n¯ıyah
New York, 1998.
order, whereupon the latter declared his allegiance to a rival
Gabrieli, Francesco. Muhammad and the Conquests of Islam.
shaykh of the order and denounced his former shaykh as a
Translated by Virginia Luling and Rosamund Linell. Lon-
man who flouted the shar¯ı Eah.
don, 1968.
In 1878 his new shaykh, al-Qurash¯ı wad al-Zayn, died,
Haykal, Muh:ammad H:usayn. The Life of Muhammad. Translated
and Muh:ammad Ah:mad was immediately recognized as his
from the 8th ed. by Isma¯E¯ıl Ra¯g¯ı A. al Fa¯ru¯q¯ı. 1976.
successor. Shortly afterward he received a visit from the man
Hodgson, Marshall G. S. “Muh:ammad’s Challenge.” In The Ven-
who was to be his political successor, the khal¯ıfah EAbd Alla¯h
ture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization,
(EAbdulla¯hi) ibn Muh:ammad A¯dam. EAbd Alla¯h’s attach-
3 vols. Chicago and London. 1974. See vol. 1, pages
146–187.
ment to Muh:ammad Ah:mad, however, was more than that
of a S:u¯f¯ı disciple to his master. He recognized him as the ex-
Ibn Ish:a¯q, Muh:ammad. The Life of Muh:ammad: A Translation of
Ish:a¯q’s S¯ırat Rasu¯l Alla¯h. Edited and translated by Alfred
pected Mahdi, the final regenerator of Islam who, it was be-
Guillaume. London, 1955.
lieved, would appear shortly before the end time to usher in
Lewis, Bernard. The Arabs in History. London, 1950; 6th ed.,
a period of justice and Samma¯n¯ıyah equity and unite the
1993.
whole world under the banner of Islam.
Lings, Martin. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources.
Up to this point there is no indication that Muh:ammad
London, 1983; rev. ed., 1991.
Ah:mad had considered the possibility that he might be the
Mernissi, Fatima. Women and Islam: An Historical and Theological
Mahdi, though he must have been aware of the widespread
Enquiry. Translated by Mary Jo Lakeland. Oxford, 1991.
belief in the Sudan and West Africa that the Mahdi would
Nasr, Sayyid Hossein. Muh:ammad: Man of Alla¯h. London, 1982.
appear in the thirteenth century of the Hijrah (1785–1882
Rodinson, Maxime. Mohammed. Translated by Anne Carter. Lon-
CE). Even now he hesitated, but following a series of visions
don, 1971.
he became convinced in 1881 that God had designated him
Schimmel, Annemarie. And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The
as the Mahdi. For three months his Mahdihood was a secret,
Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety. Chapel Hill, N.C.,
revealed at first only to trusted disciples and then, on a visit
1995.
to al-Ubayyid: (El Obeid) in Kordofan, to religious scholars
T:abar¯ı, al-. Ta Dr¯ıkh al-rusul wa-al-mulu¯k (The history of
and finally, to the common people. Finally, on June 29,
al-T:abar¯ı), vol. 7, The Foundation of the Community. Trans-
1881, his public manifestation (z:uhu¯r) as the expected
lated and edited by W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. Mc-
Mahdi took place on Aba Island, and he called upon his ad-
Donald. Albany, N.Y., 1987.
herents to rally to him.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad at Mecca. Oxford, 1953.
Events now moved rapidly. In keeping with the Proph-
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad at Medina. Oxford, 1956.
et’s practice to muster his followers and distinguish the true
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad’s Mecca: History in the
believers, he undertook an “emigration” (hijrah) from Aba
Quran. London, 1988.
Island to Jabal Qad¯ır in the Nuba Mountains of southern
KAREN ARMSTRONG (2005)
Kordofan, naming those who rallied to him the “helpers”
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUISCA RELIGION
6229
(al-ans:a¯r) after the Prophet’s allies in Medina. While en-
roots support for a national political party. The Ummah
camped at Jabal Qad¯ır, his supporters won two resounding
party, which he founded in 1945, played the dominant role
victories against forces sent by the Turco-Egyptian govern-
in Sudanese politics in both the first republic (1956–1958)
ment of the Sudan, gaining for the Mahdi enormous prestige
and the second (1964–1969). The Mahdi’s great-grandson,
and a considerable quantity of arms and other booty. The
Sayyid al-S:a¯diq, a Western-educated Islamic modernist, re-
Mahdi now turned his attention to central Kordofan, where
mains an influential thinker and a key political personality.
he had been warmly received before his manifestation and
where there was already a body of believers in his mission.
SEE ALSO Messianism, article on Messianism in the Muslim
An initial attack by Mahdist forces on al-Ubayyid: in Septem-
Tradition.
ber 1882 was repulsed by government troops with heavy loss-
es, but a siege resulted in the town’s fall to the Mahdi early
BIBLIOGRAPHY
in 1883.
No full-length critical biography of the Mahdi has yet been pub-
lished in any European language. Isma¯E¯ıl EAbd al-Qa¯dir’s
The universal implications of the Mahdi’s mission were
hagiographical life, Kita¯b sa Ea¯dat al-mustahd¯ı bi-s¯ırat
now made plain. A vision assured him that he would eventu-
al-Ima¯m al-Mahd¯ı, has now been partially translated in
ally offer prayer in Cairo, Mecca, Jerusalem, and Kufa. The
Haim Shaked’s The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi (New Bruns-
first step was to strike at the heart of the Turco-Egyptian ad-
wick, N. J., 1978). The best account of the period as a whole
ministration, Khartoum, and this city was duly occupied
is P. M. Holt’s The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881–1898,
after considerable bloodshed in January 1885.
2d ed. (Oxford, 1970). The autobiography of a Sudanese
participant in the Mahd¯ıyah (and later a pioneer of modern
Following this triumph the Mahdi established his head-
education in the Sudan) has been translated in Jousef Bedri
quarters in nearby Omdurman, but he was destined to sur-
and George Scott’s The Memoirs of Babikr Bedri (Oxford,
vive for only six months, dying, it is generally believed, from
1969), as have the memoirs of a European administrator in
typhus. The Islamic state he was in the process of establish-
the Turco-Egyptian government, The Sudanese Memoirs of
ing, however, lasted for a further fourteen years until the
Carl Christian Giegler Pasha, 1873–1883, edited by Richard
Hill (Oxford, 1984). No study has yet been made of the
forces of the Anglo-Egyptian “reconquest” mowed down the
Mahdi’s religious thought, but ample material exists in the
khal¯ıfah EAbd Alla¯h in 1899.
four volumes of his proclamations, rulings, and letters in M.
The mission of the Mahdi, however, had not been to
I. Abu Sal¯ım’s Manshu¯ra¯t al-Ima¯m al-Mahd¯ı (Khartoum,
establish a lasting political structure. His claim to Mahdi-
1963–1964).
hood implied that the apocalypse was at hand, and he con-
JOHN O. HUNWICK (1987)
stantly exhorted his followers to reject the world and its de-
ceits and to prepare for the life to come. As a divinely
appointed leader he claimed a status only a little short of that
MUH:AMMAD EAL¯I LA¯HOR¯I SEE LA¯HOR¯I,
of a prophet. While preaching strict adherence to the QurDa¯n
MUH:AMMAD EAL¯I
and the prophetic sunnah, he placed himself above the inter-
pretations of the madhhabs, the Islamic law schools, and is-
sued authoritative pronouncements on ritual, social, and
economic matters through a series of written proclamations
MUISCA RELIGION. Located high on the Colombi-
(manshu¯ra¯t) and oral rulings issued in public gatherings
an plateau, the territory of the Muisca people extended a
(maja¯lis; sg., majlis). Though a S:u¯f¯ı and shaykh of a sub-
scarce 300 kilometers long by 125 kilometers wide. To histo-
order, he ordained that belief in his mission overrode all
ry, the Muisca have become known as the Chibcha, a name
other loyalties and that his prayer manual, the Ra¯-tib, super-
derived from Chibchacum, one of their major deities (Von
seded the litanies of the orders. Mystical ideas, however, per-
Hagen, 1974, p. 78). Their state comprised two principal
vaded all his thinking. His mission was announced in visions
kingdoms that, for four generations of rulers preceding the
in which the Prophet invested him as Mahdi in the presence
Spanish conquest of this area in 1537, were ruled by two he-
of Khid:r, the legendary immortal “man of God,” and other
reditary monarchs, the Zipa from Bacata in the south and
“saints” (awliya¯ D). He was told by the Prophet that he had
the Zaque from Hunsa in the north. Independent allied ter-
been created from the light of the core of his heart, an allu-
ritories bordered the northern region. The city of Sugamuxi,
sion to the preexistent light before creation that God made
which was governed by an elected cacique (“leader”) was an
incarnate in Adam and other prophets and, finally, in
important religious center (Falchetti and Plazas de Nieto,
Muh:ammad and his descendants.
1973, pp. 39–45).
Although his claims to be the Mahdi must be judged
Unlike the theocratic empires of Mexico and Peru, the
to have been unsubstantiated, many Sudanese remained loyal
fledgling Muisca state had no stone pyramids, temples, or
to Muh:ammad Ah:mad’s memory. His posthumous son,
sculpture. In common with the religions of other American
Sayyid EAbd al-Rah:ma¯n, was won over by the British admin-
theocracies, however, that of the Muisca placed special em-
istration and was able to benefit from popular pro-Mahdist
phasis on the adoration of the sun. In Muisca cosmology, the
sentiment (especially among the Baqqa¯rah) to establish grass-
supreme deity, Chiminigagua, was equated with light. Myth
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6230
MUISCA RELIGION
recounts how, in the beginning, darkness and silence reigned
and copper) objects, known as tunjas, were anthropomor-
over a sterile world. Light existed only as the omniscient
phic or zoomorphic, in the form of snakes, lizards, birds,
Chiminigagua within an impenetrable shell of clay. On the
monkeys, or felines. Kneeling reverently in the temple with
occasion of the first dawn, the god broke the shell and illumi-
arms held high, the supplicant chanted hymns to the omnip-
nated with beauty all that had previously been chaos. He
otent spirit of the Sun (Camargo Pérez, 1937, pp. 53–59;
then dispatched two ravens to the ends of the earth. As the
Samper, in Camargo Pérez, 1937, p. 190).
birds flew, bright light emanated from their beaks, revealing
all the creations of the omnipotent god: the sun, the moon,
Birds were sacrificed in the temple in great numbers. Es-
the vivid birds that animate the sky, and the animals and
pecially valued were macaws and parrots that were taught to
plants of the earth (Pérez de Barradas, 1950–1951, vol. 2,
speak; after the sacrifice their heads were preserved. Human
p. 372; Samper, in Camargo Pérez, 1937, p. 186).
sacrifice took place prior to departure for war, and head tro-
phies were taken from the enemy to adorn the temples. Dur-
Complementing this dawn-creation myth is the legend
ing the construction of a temple, posts were driven into the
of Bachue, fecund mother and matrilineal deity. One spring
ground through the bodies of living slaves. In honor of the
morning, the sun’s rays, like a luminescent emerald, project-
Sun, young boys known as moxas were procured from alien
ed sparkling colors over the bleak moor. Warm breezes
territories and reared in the temples as priests. Believed capa-
cleared the early mists as brightly hued birds skimmed over
ble of conversing with the Sun in song, these youths were
Lake Iguaque. With the gentle murmur of waves, Bachue
considered sacred, and their movements were circumscribed
and her three-year-old son appeared from the waters. Bachue
by strict taboo. Sexually innocent, they were sacrificed in
raised her son to maturity, at which point they married.
early puberty. To the chanting of hymns, the heart and vis-
With each pregnancy the prolific Bachue gave birth to five
cera of a moxa were removed, his head severed, and his blood
or six children and peopled the entire Muisca realm. With
sprinkled on the temple posts. To placate the Sun in times
her consort, Bachue instructed the Muisca in the moral pre-
of drought, a youth would be sacrificed before sunrise on a
cepts of society. Finally, after many years, the couple re-
mountain peak, the east-facing rocks anointed with blood,
turned to Iguaque, where they changed into snakes and dis-
and the body exposed on the mountain to be devoured by
appeared into the depths of the lake. Thus Chiminigagua is
the Sun (Kroeber, 1946, p. 907).
the energizing power of the universe and Bachue is the pro-
genetor of the Muisca people (Arango Cano, 1970,
Another important ceremonial offering took place at the
pp. 29–40).
Lake of Guatavita in commemoration of a legendary prin-
Bochica, the envoy of Chiminigagua, was a protective
cess. Long ago, a ruler, upon discovering his wife’s adulterous
deity who saved the Muisca from a disastrous flood inflicted
liaison with a young warrior, tortured and impaled the man
by the irate god Chibchacum (Triana, 1970, p. 82). From
and forced his wife to eat the heart and genitals of her lover.
a rainbow Bochica hurled a golden staff that dispersed the
Grief stricken, the princess fled, seeking refuge with the
menacing storm clouds and shattered the mountain below,
guardian spirits of the sacred lake. Full of remorse, the ruler
allowing the flood waters to escape into the Tequendama
sent priests to reclaim his wife, but they found her in an en-
Falls. For the cruelty he inflicted on the Muisca, Chib-
chanted palace protected by a great snake. In memory of his
chacum was condemned for eternity to carry the earth on his
abused wife, the ruler promised to give bountiful gifts; thus,
shoulders; as he shifts the weight from one shoulder to an-
on nights of full moon, the princess appears above the waters
other, earth tremors are felt (Arango Cano, 1970,
of the lake to remind people of their obligation and to bring
pp. 65–72). The conflict between the two deities is thought
prosperity to the Muisca.
to symbolize the rivalry between the chiefs, whose patron was
At the investiture of a ruler, offerings were made to ob-
Bochica, and the merchant class, which was protected by
tain the benevolence of the lake’s tutelary spirits. Before sun-
Chibchacum (Pérez de Barradas, 1950–1951, vol. 2,
rise, to the sound of flutes and drums, the ruler, carried on
p. 401).
the shoulders of painted warriors, approached the Lake of
Muisca gods were worshiped at the streams, lakes, wa-
Guatavita. Boarding a raft, he shed his cloak and stood
terfalls, and mountains of the territory. Rocks bearing the
naked, his body anointed with fragrant resin and coated with
footprints of Bochica were venerated, and many cliff and
gold dust. Accompanied by nobles and priests, the raft pro-
rock surfaces were carved or painted with sacred designs
ceeded to the center of the lake, as worshipers along the
(Pérez de Barradas, 1950–1951, vol. 2, pp. 340–354). The
banks intoned sacred hymns. When the first rays broke
holiest shrine was the Temple of the Sun, a circular building
across the horizon, the gilded monarch, resplendent in the
with cane walls that were whitened with mud daub and
Sun’s divine light, emitted a joyful cry that was echoed by
floors covered with fine esparto mats. On platforms against
his reverent subjects. Placing in the waters offerings of gold
the walls lay the mummies of illustrious ancestors. In tribute
and emeralds, the ruler finally immersed himself in the lake
to their forefathers, the faithful brought to the temple offer-
to wash away the precious gold particles. And on his trium-
ings of emeralds and gold that were placed in hollow wood
phant return to shore he was received with acclaim and cele-
or ceramic sculptures. The gold or tumbaga (an alloy of gold
bration (Arango Cano, 1970, pp. 101–119).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MULLA¯ S:ADRA¯
6231
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a strong inner need to base his thought on a more solid foot-
Arango Cano, Jesús. Mitos, leyendas y dioses Chibchas. Manizales,
ing than the superficial method of debates and “verbal quib-
Colombia, 1970.
bles,” as he calls them. He settled in the village of Kahak in
Camargo Pérez, Gabriel. La roma de los Chibchas. Boyacá, Colom-
the mountains near Qom (an important center of religious
bia, 1937. This book also contains the article “El culto del
learning in Iran), where he led a solitary life, devoting himself
sol,” by G. Samper, pp. 184–192.
to deep contemplation of the basic problems of truth and
Falchetti, Ana María, and Clemencia Plazas de Nieto. El territorio
life, particularly of human destiny. This was accompanied by
de los Muiscas a la llegada de los Españoles. Bogotá, 1973.
strenuous religious exercises as a means of spiritual catharsis,
Kroeber, A. L. “The Chibcha.” In Handbook of South American
as he avers, and as preparation for the reception of truth. It
Indians, edited by Julian H. Steward, vol. 2, pp. 887–909.
is not certain how long he stayed in Kahak: reports vary from
Washington, D.C., 1946.
seven to fifteen years, but the latter figure appears to be more
Pérez de Barradas, José. Los Muiscas antes de la Conquista. 2 vols.
accurate within the periodization of his life suggested below.
Madrid, 1950–1951.
In any event, S:adra¯ informs us that during this stay, as he
resigned himself to God and passively submitted to truth, his
Triana, Miguel. La civilización Chibcha (1922). Bogotá, 1970.
mind was “flooded with invasions of intuitive truth.” This
Von Hagen, Victor W. The Golden Man: A Quest for El Dorado.
infused new life into him; he had gone into seclusion trou-
London, 1974.
bled and brokenhearted, but he came out of it with a new
New Sources
philosophical discovery, a discovery that was to serve him as
Llano Restrepo, María Clara. La Chicha, una Bebida Fermentata
the master principle for the solution of all philosophical
a Través de la Historia. Bogotá, 1994.
problems, from the theory of movement, through epistemol-
Rozo Gautá, José. Espacio y Tiempo entre los Muiscas. Bogotá,
ogy, to the nature of the self and God. This was the principle
1997.
of the reality of existence and the fictitiousness of essences.
Rozo Gautá, José. Mito y Rito entre los Muiscas. Santafé de Bogotá,
To expound this principle he wrote various works, including
1997.
his magnum opus, Al-asfa¯r al-arba Eah (The four journeys).
Rueda, Carl Henrik Langebaek. Regional Archaeology in the Muisca
After his stay in Kahak, S:adra¯ returned to his native
Territory: A Study of the Fúquene and Susa Valleys. Pittsburgh,
town, Shiraz, where it is said a mosque school was built for
Pa., 1995.
him by Alla¯hwird¯ı Khan under orders from Shah EAbba¯s II.
Urbina Rangel, Fernando, and Púa M. Giovanni. Vita Cotidiana
This was the “Khan School” mentioned by the seventeenth-
de Las Culturas Amerindias. Aztecas, Muiscas, Uitatos, Arau-
century traveler Thomas Herbert as the most prominent
canos. Bogotá, 2001.
school in Iran; it offered courses in philosophy, astrology
PITA KELEKNA (1987)
(that is, astronomy: astrology is prohibited in orthodox
Revised Bibliography
Islam), physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The building,
though badly in need of restoration, still stands today. Here
S:adra¯ wrote practically all of his works and trained scholars,
MULLA¯ S:ADRA¯
the most famous of whom were Mulla¯ Fayd: Ka¯sha¯n¯ı and
(AH 979/80–1050, 1571/2–1641 CE),
EAbd al-Razza¯q La¯h¯ıj¯ı. He is said to have died in Basra on
popular name of Muh:ammad ibn Ibra¯h¯ım al-Sh¯ıra¯z¯ı; Per-
a return from his seventh pilgrimage to Mecca; he was buried
sian philosopher, theologian, and mystic. As his name indi-
there. If reports are to be believed, he made several pilgrim-
cates, Muh:ammad, titled S:adr al-D¯ın (“breast-plate [defend-
ages to Mecca on foot. Such a journey is not uncommon
er] of the faith”) was born in Shiraz; his father, Ibra¯h¯ım ibn
among Muslims, but in the case of a busy intellectual leader
Yah:ya¯, is said to have been a governor of the province of Fa¯rs.
it would have been an almost incredible feat.
LIFE. Little is known of the details of Mulla¯ S:adra¯’s life. He
came at a young age to Isfahan, which was the Safavid capital
The life of S:adra¯ thus falls into three broad periods. The
and the center of a flourishing school of philosophy estab-
first covers his childhood and his period of study in Shiraz
lished by Muh:ammad Ba¯qir M¯ır Da¯ma¯d (d. 1631), Mulla¯
and Isfahan—up to his early or middle twenties; the second
S:adra¯’s mentor and a philosophic thinker of fairly high cali-
is the period of his self-imposed exile in the village of Kahak,
ber. S:adra¯ also studied theology with Baha¯D al-D¯ın al-EA¯mil¯ı
which, if it spanned fifteen years, would bring him to the age
(d. 1621), a theologian, mathematician, and architect whose
of almost forty, and the last period covers the last thirty lunar
treatises on mathematics and science were taught at al-Azhar
years of his life, which would give him a total of seventy lunar
University in Cairo. His third teacher, M¯ır Findirisk¯ı (who
or sixty-eight solar years.
died the same year as Mulla¯ S:adra¯), is believed to have taught
THOUGHT. Mulla¯ S:adra¯ tells us that in his early youth he
S:adra¯ the Peripatetic philosophy of Ibn S¯ına¯ (Avicenna).
held to the primary reality of essences and considered exis-
Sometime in his youth, most likely during his middle
tence to be a “secondary attribute” contributed by the mind
twenties, Mulla¯ S:adra¯ left Isfahan under persecution from
to external reality. This doctrine of “essentialism” arose with
certain traditionalist circles who, probably among other
Suhraward¯ı al-Maqtu¯l, “the Martyr” (d. 1191), who criti-
things, accused him of pantheism; he was also impelled by
cized the view of Ibn S¯ına¯ that existence is a “real” attribute
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of existents. Suhraward¯ı held that in reality there are only es-
good deal of effort to prove continuity, without which the
sences, and that existence is a most general attribute contrib-
whole idea of process would become impossible, and he
uted only by the mind and with no counterpart in the exter-
would end up denying the very motion that he wants to es-
nal world. This doctrine became very popular after
tablish. He therefore concludes by asserting that while the
Suhraward¯ı and gave rise to the doctrine of the “unity of
idea of a fixed and enduring substratum is real with regard
being” (wah:dat al-wuju¯d), according to which all beings
to accidental movements, it is fictional with regard to sub-
share existence equally but differ in their essences, a doctrine
stantive movement, which is itself a veritable unity wherein
often linked with pantheism since it asserts the unity of the
the potential and the actual or the “active” and the “passive”
existence of God with all beings. At some point during his
principles are one and the same. In a self-actualizing process,
period of seclusion, however, S:adra¯ abandoned this view in
any dualism between that which produces change and that
favor of the idea of the primary or sole reality of existence,
which is receptive of change vanishes.
which he then used as his master principle in all fields of
philosophic inquiry.
In the entire field of reality, it is only existence that is
characterized by substantive change. Existence alone is there-
The doctrine of the sole reality of existence implies (1)
fore “systematically ambiguous” (mutashakkik) because it is
that essences are not real but are produced only in the mind
“that which, by virtue of sameness, creates difference”; other
by the impact of outside reality upon it and (2) that existence
phenomena, like extrinsic motion and time, are so only be-
is in eternal progressive motion, which at each point assumes
cause they are contingent upon this substantive change. This
all previous grades of movement and transcends them. Let
substantive movement of the world process always proceeds
us now consider the fuller impact of each of these proposi-
from the general to the specific, from the genus to the differ-
tions. First, existence is “something whose nature it is to be
entia, from the abstract to the concrete, and every subsequent
in the external world,” while mind is the natural home of es-
development contains the prior developments and tran-
sences. The moment we conceptualize existence, therefore,
scends them. S:adra¯ also describes the process as movement
it becomes an essence and falsifies real existence; thus, exis-
from mutually exclusive to mutually inclusive parts of being,
tence cannot be known through conceptual reason but only
or from the “composite” to the “simple” being. He thus
through direct intuition, just as we know ourselves. As S:adra¯
enunciates the principle: “The truly simple is all reality.” A
puts it, “That which is directly experienced is existence, but
consequence of this principle is that what appears contradic-
that which is understood by the mind are essences.” Even so,
tory at a lower level of being appears as a synthetic unity at
however, the concept of existence differs from all other con-
a higher level, since mutually exclusive factors progressively
cepts or essences, in that it alone presupposes real existence.
become mutually inclusive.
Essences are dysfunctional to existence: the more something
has of existence, the less it has of essence. God, the most per-
Whereas God is absolute existence, the perpetually and
fect being, is therefore pure and absolute existence without
progressively moving grades of existence are the “modes” of
any essence, although this fact does not, in S:adra¯’s view, ne-
existence; these modes, in proportion to the measure of exis-
gate God’s attributes, because each of them, as an infinite
tence they realize, are organized according to the principle
and concrete entity, is identical with God’s existence and is
of “more or less,” or ad priorem et posteriorem, a principle that
only conceptually distinguishable from the others, while es-
S:adra¯ borrowed from Suhraward¯ı. But while for Suhraward¯ı
sences are closed and mutually exclusive. Existence alone is
the principle of “more or less” applies to essences, according
all-inclusive; from it, the mind somehow partitions and
to S:adra¯ it applies to existence alone, and that is, as we have
carves essences for certain practical purposes, but the contin-
seen, the “systematic ambiguity” (tashk¯ık) of existence. On
uum of reality is falsified in the process.
the basis of this tashk¯ık of existence, moreover, S:adra¯ asserts
that although in this life all humans partake of one species,
Second, this continuum of reality is the continuum of
thanks to the progressive motion from abstract to concrete
eternal progressive motion, which is unidirectional and irre-
in the evolutionary process, in future life every human will
versible. This movement, which S:adra¯ calls “substantive
become a species unto himself. Strictly speaking, on this
movement,” occurs in the very substance of everything and
principle, every form or mode of being has an irreducible re-
not just in its accidents or extrinsic attributes, such as color,
ality of its own, which cannot be dissolved without residue:
shape, locus, and so on. This latter kind of movement is re-
each being, S:adra¯ tirelessly repeats, exists in its own right as
versible in quality and quantity—hot can become cold or
a unique and unanalyzable particular (fard). Yet so strong is
vice versa—but such extrinsic motion is dependent upon an
the pull of the pantheistic-monistic worldview of his earlier
inner, intrinsic one that is irreversible. This intrinsic or sub-
days that S:adra¯ emphatically tells us that only God is real and
stantive motion is so imperceptible that we become aware of
truly existent; every other being is only a chimera, a pseudo-
it only after a great deal of cumulative change has occurred
being beside God. Here lies the most basic tension in S:adra¯’s
and a critical point is reached. In view of his doctrine of “sub-
thought, one which he never seems able to overcome; it is
stantive motion,” S:adra¯, of course, denies that real motion
the tension between his philosophical and his religious moti-
has any enduring substratum. But contrary to the theolo-
vations. Thus, while he tells us that the question “why does
gians (mutakallimu¯n), who believe in atomism, he spends a
the world move?” is a meaningless one, like the question,
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“why does fire burn?”—for the only answer is “because this
Metaphysics and Suhraward¯ı’s H:ikmat al-Ishra¯q are very im-
is its very nature”—in the same breath, he insists that it is
portant and certainly more influential even than most of
God who creates change at every moment in the world pro-
S:adra¯’s smaller original pieces. His most important and com-
cess, that nothing other than him has any reality whatever,
prehensive work is undoubtedly Al-asfa¯r al-arba Eah. The first
and that all contingent beings are not just things related to
part deals with ontology, discussing questions of existence,
him, but mere relations, a hardly intelligible proposition.
essence, and movement. The second, apparently addressing
the categories of substance and accidents, deals with his natu-
Nonetheless, S:adra¯ applies his fundamental theory of
ral philosophy. The third “journey” is devoted to a discus-
existence and its evolution to various traditional problems of
sion of God’s being and attributes, while the last deals with
philosophy with an amazing degree of consistency and suc-
humanity and its destiny, which is the final purpose of the
cess. Thus, in his theory of knowledge he argues strongly
entire work. Two other important late works are Al-mabda D
against the Peripatetic view that knowledge comes about by
wa-al-ma Ea¯d (The Origin and the Return, that is, of all being
way of gradual abstraction of the object of knowledge from
from and to God) and Al-shawa¯hid al-rubu¯b¯ıyah (Divine
matter and its relationships until pure intellective knowlege
Witnesses), held to be his last work; these are both in the na-
is attained. If this is the case, then our intellective knowledge
ture of summaries of the Asfa¯r.
of an animal, for example, since it is abstracted from the mat-
ter of the animal, must falsify the object of knowledge, be-
Despite his fame, S:adra¯ had little influence in his own
cause the real animal has matter, and “concepts in the mind
lifetime. As mentioned earlier, two of his pupils gained
would become like engravings on the wall.” Knowledge, in
prominence. It appears that since he had synthesized several
fact, since it is at a higher plane of being than material things,
schools of Islamic thought and also wrote commentaries on
is more concrete, simple, and inclusive, until, at the highest
some of their prominent texts, his works gradually became
level, the full knowledge-being equation is reached as in
a focal point of philosophic studies in Iran and subsequently
God.
in the Indian subcontinent, where S:adra¯’s commentary on
Ibn S¯ına¯’s Metaphysics was taught and where numerous
In his eschatology, S:adra¯ rejects the doctrine of the
manuscripts of his works still exist uncataloged.
transmigration of souls, giving as one reason, among others,
that when a soul has developed in a body it cannot regress
and start from scratch, which it would have to do if it joined
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a newborn body. Applying his doctrine of the systematic am-
The latest edition of the Asfa¯r (Tehran, 1960–) so far includes
biguity of existence to the problem of will, S:adra¯ asserts that
three “journeys” in nine volumes; the publication of the sec-
ond “journey,” which exists only in the 1865 Tehran litho-
will (like knowledge and other intrinsic attributes) is com-
graph edition, is still awaited. The first great commentator
mensurate with a particular form of existence. Fire, for exam-
on the Asfa¯r was EAl¯ı Nu¯r¯ı (d. 1831), followed by a series of
ple, has a certain tendency (like other natural objects) but no
other commentators, the most able and prominent of whom
will; humans have a will with choice between alternatives.
was Ha¯d¯ı Sabzawa¯r¯ı (d. 1871). A list of important commen-
They have to choose because they are a mixture of power and
taries (which have never been published independently of the
powerlessness, knowledge and ignorance; their “free will”
text) is given in the publisher’s introduction to the recent
means that they have choice, but also that this choice has de-
edition of the Asfa¯r mentioned above. S:adra¯ has had many
terminants. Philosophers who hanker after an “absolutely
“debunkers” as well, particularly Abu¯ al-H:asan Jalwah
free will” for humans are running after a mirage. God has
(d. 1894), who claimed that S:adra¯ “stole” practically all of
a free will without choice since, in his case, there is no ques-
his characteristic ideas without naming his sources, a claim
tion of alternatives to choose from; nevertheless, he does not
that of course cannot be taken seriously. For the past few dec-
ades, Iran has witnessed reinvigorated interest in S:adra¯. The
work under constraint. Thus, an individual can say, “If I will,
celebration of his four hundredth anniversary in 1961 occa-
I will write; otherwise not,” and God can say, “If I will, I will
sioned the publication of some valuable information about
create; otherwise not,” even if God must always create, given
him and his writings, along with editions of some of his pre-
his nature; but fire cannot say, “If I will, I will burn; other-
viously unpublished works.
wise not.” These differences are due to the nature of existence
in each case.
In the West, the first book on S:adra¯’s thought, Das philosophische
System von Schira¯zi (Strassburg, 1913), was published by
WORKS. The editor of Al-asfa¯r al-arba Eah (Tehran, 1958)
Max Horten. This was followed by Henry Corbin’s transla-
puts the number of S:adra¯’s works at thirty-two or thirty-
tion of Al-masha¯ Eir as Le livre des pénétrations métaphysique
three; S. H. Nasr, in his study Mulla¯ S:adra¯ and His Transcen-
(Tehran, 1964). I have published a detailed critical analysis
dent Philosophy, mentions forty-six, although he includes a
of S:adra¯’s philosophy based primarily on the Asfa¯r entitled
The Philosophy of Mulla¯ S:adra¯ (Albany, N. Y., 1975). Seyyed
number of items entitled “Answers to Questions.” Although
Hossein Nasr’s Mulla¯ S:adra¯ and His Transcendent Philosophy
S:adra¯ wrote works of religion as well as philosophy, the latter
(Tehran, 1978) contains useful information on the life and
are by far the more important, since the former are products
works of S:adra¯. James Winston Morris has published an an-
of the application of his philosophical hermeneutics to reli-
notated English translation of S:adra¯’s treatise Al-h:ikmah
gious tenets. His writings can also be divided into original
al- Earsh¯ıyah entitled The Wisdom of the Throne (Princeton,
works and commentaries; the commentaries on Ibn S¯ına¯’s
1981), with a lengthy introduction from an esoteric angle.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6234
MÜLLER, F. MAX
For general bibliography, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s work
lication of his first book, a German translation of ancient In-
cited above.
dian fables known as the Hitopadesa (1844; Eng. trans.,
New Sources
1866), it was in Paris where Müller received the research di-
Dakake, Maria Massi. “The Soul as Barzakh: Substantial Motion
rection he needed. At Burnouf’s urging, and with the diplo-
and Mulla Sadra’s Theory of Becoming.” Muslim World 94
matic support of Baron Christian von Bunsen, Müller was
(January 2004): 107–131.
commissioned by the East India Company and Oxford Uni-
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, “Mulla Sadra: His Teachings.” In Seyyed
versity Press to edit a critical edition of the Rg Veda, a project
Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, eds. History of Islamic Phi-
that would take him twenty-four years to complete and
losophy. New York, 1996, pp. 643–652.
would culminate in the six-volume Rig-Veda Samhitâ, with
Kalin, Ibrahim. “Mulla Sadra’s Religious Ontology of the Intelli-
Sa¯naya’s commentary (1849–1873). In 1846, Müller trav-
gibles and Theory of Knowledges.” Muslim World 94 (Janu-
eled to London, where a complete set of the Vedas was ar-
ary 2004): 81–107.
chived. Bunsen also helped Müller secure his first teaching
Ziai, Hossein. “Mulla Sadra: His Life and Works.” In Seyyed
and research positions at Oxford. Except for brief excursions
Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, eds. History of Islamic Phi-
to the Continent, Müller worked and resided at Oxford for
losophy. New York, 1996, pp. 635–642.
the remainder of his life.
FAZLUR RAHMAN (1987)
In 1856, Müller achieved broad public recognition
Revised Bibliography
when he published his book-length essay “Comparative My-
thology.” In this essay, Müller applied current linguistic
analysis to the study of mythology in order “to account in
MÜLLER, F. MAX (1823–1900), German-born phi-
a more intelligible manner for the creation of myths” (1909,
lologist and Vedic scholar, professor at Oxford University
p. 17). According to Müller, the sun in its various phenome-
and celebrated public lecturer in the comparative study of
nal modes was the chief source of ancient mythology. In
language, mythology, and religion, editor of the Rig-Veda
myths Müller saw not simply the personification of the sun,
Samhitâ (6 vols.), and editor of The Sacred Books of the East
the dawn, the twilight, and so on, but a metaphysical corre-
(50 vols.).
spondence that human thought and human language drew
between the perception of nature and the analogies that the
Friedrich Max Müller was born December 6, 1823, in
ancient Indo-Europeans had used when communicating
Dessau, in the small German Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau. His
what they perceived. The names that people gave to these
father, Wilhelm Müller (1794–1827), had been a distin-
phenomena, the nomina (sing. nomen), were later mistaken
guished young Romantic poet known to many as the “Byron
of Germany” for his Griechen Lieder, written in support of
for divine beings, or numina (sing. numen), and myths began
Greek nationalism. Before Wilhelm’s untimely death, Franz
to develop around these names to account for their existence.
Schubert had composed a pair of song cycles—Winterreise
Thus, for Müller, mythology represented an earlier “mytho-
and Die Schöne Müllerin—that immortalized two of Wil-
poeic” period or strata in the evolution of human thought
helm’s best sets of poems. Max Müller’s mother, Adelheide
and, as such, was viewed by him as a vestige of the past that
Müller (c.1799–1883), had been the eldest daughter of Lud-
still impressed itself on the thought and language of the pres-
wig von Basedow, a chief minister of Anhalt-Dessau. Max
ent. Though Müller appears to have borrowed this and other
Müller was educated in nearby Leipzig, at the Nicolai-Schule
ideas from Burnouf, including his assertion that mythology
where Leibniz also had been a student, and then at the Uni-
is a “disease” or weakness of language, the solar thesis that
versity of Leipzig, where his father’s memory opened doors
Müller had advanced as a young scholar came in time to
for Müller into the city’s artistic circles. Müller at first con-
overshadow much of his later, more original, thought. Begin-
sidered a career as a poet and musician before settling upon
ning in the 1870s, critics, such as Andrew Lang, savagely at-
the life of a scholar. Although he studied philosophy with
tacked Müller’s views on mythology. Indeed, it was Lang’s
Christian Weisse and M. W. Drobisch, Müller proved to be
relentless barrage against Müller that seemed to have had the
an especially gifted student of languages, mastering Greek
most deleterious effect on the respect and influence that
and Latin as well as Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit, the latter
Müller’s views on mythology had earlier enjoyed.
of which he had taken under Hermann Brockhaus.
In 1858 Müller was elected fellow of All Souls College,
After completing a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1843, Müller
which, along with his stipend as deputy Taylorian professor
continued his studies in Sanskrit and comparative philology
of modern European languages, provided a sufficient income
at Berlin under Franz Bopp, who had been famous for exam-
for him to marry and raise a family. In 1859, he published
ining the linguistic links among the so-called Aryan family
his most scholarly work to that point, A History of Ancient
of languages, and Friedrich Schelling, under whose influence
Sanskrit Literature. Although in 1860 Müller had lost a bitter
Müller himself began to see striking parallels between the
election bid to fill Oxford’s Boden Chair in Sanskrit, in 1861
history of language and the history of religion. In early 1845,
and again in 1863 he presented a series of celebrated lectures
Müller traveled to Paris to study Sanskrit under Eugène
on the study of language that were published in two volumes
Burnouf. Although Müller’s brief stay in Berlin saw the pub-
as Lectures on the Science of Language. By now Müller had be-
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MÜLLER, F. MAX
6235
come a leading voice in his field and, in recognition of his
thought and the earliest form of religion. As he had pro-
achievements, Oxford University created for him a chair in
claimed in his Autobiography (1901):
comparative philology, which he occupied from 1868 until
his retirement in 1875.
All knowledge, whether individual or possessed by
mankind at large, must have begun with what the senses
In his lifetime Max Müller achieved renown not only
can perceive, before it could rise to signify something
for his work in comparative philology and mythology, but
unperceived by the senses. Only after the blue aether
also as a champion for the comparative study of religion as
had been perceived and named, was it possible to con-
ceive and speak of the sky as active, as an agent, as a god.
a “science” apart from theology. But, despite his best efforts,
The step from the visible to the invisible, from the per-
Müller’s work would never gain the lasting success for which
ceived to the conceived, from nature to nature’s gods,
he had hoped. After his death in 1900, a Times of London
and from nature’s god to a more sublime unseen and
obituary mourned his loss, acclaiming him “one of the most
spiritual power. All this seemed to pass before our very
brilliant and prolific writers of our time; one whose voice has
eyes in the Veda, and then to be reflected in Homer and
charmed several generations of Englishmen; who was a great
Pindar (pp. 149, 150).
scholar . . . possessing . . . a power of breathing human in-
Over three decades earlier, in the preface to his multi-volume
terest into dry bones, a curiously sympathetic intelligence
collection of essays, Chips from a German Workshop (1867),
and a rare mixture of the talents of the poet and the savant”
Müller had already arrived at the interconnection among lan-
(quoted in Voigt, p. 81). But others were much less effusive,
guage, mythology, religion, and thought and the need for
such as Louis Henry Jordan, who called Müller’s work in
scholars to examine these connections historically and com-
comparative religion “incomplete and strangely defective.”
paratively. As he wrote: “There is to my mind no subject
Jordan believed that Müller had “attempted to be an investi-
more absorbing than tracing the origin and first growth of
gator in far too many departments” and thus “was able to
human thought—not theoretically, but historically” (p. ix).
devote only such fragmentary leisure as he could manage to
At times he likened his linguistic work to that of an archaeol-
command. It was for this reason that he never really found
ogist and at other times to a geologist, digging down through
time to apply himself, with resolute and persistent purpose,
the rock and shale to find the bottom layer of human con-
to the promotion of Comparative Religion” (pp. 153–154).
scious perception upon which the whole history of the evolu-
Although Müller could not resist the temptation to
tion of human thought, mythology, and religion had been
open every door that invited his curiosity, he had in fact out-
founded. “Language,” he continued, “still bears the impress
lined for himself a specific research program that focused on
of the earliest thoughts of man . . . buried under new
questions concerning the origins and development of reli-
thoughts, yet here and there still recoverable in their sharp
gion, mythology, and philosophy (or rather, cognitive
original outline. . . . [B]y continuing our researches back-
thought) through a “scientific,” that is, comparative and his-
ward from the most modern to the most ancient strata, the
torical, examination of language. It was near the end of his
very elements and roots of human speech have been reached,
life, in his Contributions to the Science of Mythology (1897),
and with them the elements and roots of human thought”
that Müller laid out for his readers the logic behind the four
(p. ix). As with the roots of language, so with the roots of
sciences to which he had devoted much of his fifty-year ca-
religion: “The elements and roots of religion were there as
reer at Oxford. Following the method of analyzing and clari-
far back as we can trace the history of man; and the history
fying concepts that he adopted from the German philoso-
of religion, like the history of language, shows us throughout
phers Johann Herbart and Friedrich Schelling, Müller’s aim
a succession of new combinations of the same radical [or
was to trace the Indo-European (or Aryan) languages back
root] elements” (p. x). For Müller, that foundation was the
to their common word roots, layer by layer, in order to un-
first conscious perception of the Infinite, this “One Moral
cover and comprehend “the whole sphere of activity of the
Power behind and above all nature” mentioned earlier. Mül-
human mind from the earliest period within the reach of our
ler was convinced that it was from this perception of the Infi-
knowledge to the present day” (p. v). As he explained further:
nite that the root elements of all religions emerged, which
included “a sense of human weakness and dependence, a be-
There is nothing more ancient in the world than lan-
lief in a Divine government of the world, a distinction be-
guage. The history of man begins, not with rude flints,
tween good and evil, and a hope of a better life” (p. x).
rock temples or pyramids, but with language. The sec-
ond stage is represented by myths as the first attempts
During his long career, Müller was engaged in nearly
at translating the phenomena of nature into thought.
every intellectual debate that stirred up controversy, the most
The third stage is that of religion or the recognition of
important of which was the debate over Darwin’s On the Or-
moral powers, and in the end of One Moral Power be-
igin of Species (1859). In his Lectures on the Science of Lan-
hind and above all nature. The fourth and last is philos-
guage, Müller argued forcefully that the distinction between
ophy, or a critique of the powers of reason in their legit-
human- and animal-kind was the possession of language by
imate working on the data of experience. (p. v)
the former. So strong was Müller’s position that when his
Müller believed that in the ancient Vedic scriptures, especial-
younger Oxonian colleague Edward Tylor defended Dar-
ly in its mythology, he had found the roots of human
win’s position, Müller took it as a breach of their otherwise
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6236
MÜLLER, F. MAX
friendly rivalry. Then, when Darwin’s book The Descent of
Though almost wholly ignored by most modern critics
Man appeared in 1871, Müller responded in 1873 with his
of Müller’s work, these four series of lectures encapsulate
Lectures on Mr. Darwin’s Philosophy of Language, aimed large-
Müller’s most complete and developed views, which had
ly to counter Darwin’s supporters. Müller reiterated his views
originated a half-century earlier. And though Müller believed
more systematically in The Science of Thought (1887), and
that in his Science of Religion he was moving beyond theolo-
once more in his Three Lectures on the Science of Language
gy to history, in the end his views were perhaps too heavily
(1889). It should be noted that in all these works, Müller’s
imbued with the language of theology—European as well as
main concern had been over the threat that Darwin’s ideas
non-European—to enable him to work out a truly compara-
posed, not to religion, but to natural science. Müller, for his
tive science of religion.
part, had already accepted the idea of an evolutionary devel-
opment of religion, rejecting special revelation or any reli-
SEE ALSO Indo-European Religions, article on History of
gious faculty or instinct in humankind as the source of reli-
Study; Lang, Andrew.
gion or religious ideas. As Müller saw it, unless apes could
speak and hence reason, Darwin was flatly wrong. For, as
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Byrne, Peter. Natural Religion and the Nature of Religion: The Leg-
Müller declared, “language forms an impassable barrier be-
acy of Deism. London and New York, 1989. A very helpful
tween man and beast” (1899, p. 5; see 1887, pp. 152–178).
secondary source that, among other things, examines the
Finally, in addition to his public stand against Darwin-
philosophical and anthropological context of the academic
ism, Müller also began to present to the English public his
study of religion in Europe; it features a splendid chapter on
Müller and Tylor.
ideas on the comparative study of religion. Although Müller
had been recognized chiefly for his work in comparative phi-
Chaudhuri, Nirad C. Scholar Extraordinary: The Life of Professor
the Rt Hon. Friedrich Max Müller. New York, 1974. A sym-
lology and mythology, it was his lectures in the “science” of
pathetic biography of Max Müller that quotes liberally from
religion that would prove to be his most provocative, earning
relevant primary sources, but without citations.
him praise in some circles, but denunciation in others as
Jordan, Louis Henry. Comparative Religion: Its Genesis and
being little more than an atheist in academic disguise. For
Growth. Edinburgh, 1905; reprint, Atlanta, 1986. A contem-
instance, one clergyman condemned Müller’s 1888 Gifford
porary overview and assessment of the main thinkers and
Lectures as “nothing less than a crusade against Divine reve-
schools of thought in the nascent field of comparative
lation, against Jesus Christ, and against Christianity.”
religion.
Müller’s first lecture series on religion, which he titled
Kitagawa, Joseph M., and John S. Strong. “Friedrich Max Müller
“Lectures on the Science of Religion,” were given in 1870
and the Comparative Study of Religion.” In Nineteenth Cen-
tury Religious Thought in the West, vol. 3, edited by Ninian
and published in 1872 with a later dedication to Ralph
Smart, John Clayton, Stephen Katz, and Patrick Sherry,
Waldo Emerson. His second series of lectures, published in
pp. 179–213. Cambridge, 1985. A detailed intellectual biog-
1878 as Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion, as Illus-
raphy of Max Müller that outlines Müller’s ideas and assesses
trated by the Religions of India, was presented at Westminster
his contribution to the academic study of religion.
Abbey as the inaugural Hibbert Lectures. During this same
Müller, F. Max. Chips from a German Workshop, vol. 1. London,
period, Müller began work as editor of the monumental se-
1867. A collection of Müller’s essays on mythology and reli-
ries The Sacred Books of the East, the highly acclaimed fifty-
gion published during his early period.
volume collection of sacred scriptures. For this collection,
Müller, F. Max. The Science of Thought. London, 1887. A useful
Müller offered several of his own translations, notably of the
summary of Müller’s thought on the philosophy of language,
Upanisads (2 vols., 1879–1884) and of the Dhammapada
with a critique of Darwin’s theory of human descent.
(1881), both of which remain in print.
Müller, F. Max. Contributions to the Science of Mythology. 2 vols.
During the last decade of his life, Müller returned once
London, 1897. A massive two-volume reprise of Müller’s lin-
guistic theory on the origin of myth; lengthy and technical,
more to his views on the natural, or evolutionary, develop-
but clearly written.
ment of religion in four sets of Gifford Lectures, presented
in Glasgow between 1888 and 1892. He published these lec-
Müller, F. Max. Three Lectures on the Science of Language, etc., with
a Supplement, My Predecessors. 3rd ed. Chicago, 1899. A se-
tures under the titles Natural Religion (1889), Physical Reli-
ries of public lectures attacking Darwin and his disciples
gion (1891), Anthropological Religion (1892), and Theosophy
from the perspective of Müller’s philosophy of language.
or Psychological Religion (1893). As Müller explained anew,
Müller, F. Max. My Autobiography: A Fragment. New York, 1901.
religion began with humanity’s first perception of the Infi-
A personal reflection by Müller on the cultural and intellec-
nite in and beyond nature and natural phenomena. The Infi-
tual climate of the Victorian era and his own place within
nite has always existed but remained unnoticed until human
that period.
consciousness rose above that of a brute animal. This aware-
Müller, F. Max. The Life and Letters of the Right Honorable Frie-
ness came, not by a divine revelation, but through human
drich Max Müller, edited by his wife. 2 vols. London: Long-
reflection upon the Infinite in nature, in humanity, and in
mans, Green, 1902. A valuable two-volume primary-source
the self. In essence, this is what Müller meant by natural, not
collection of Müller’s personal and professional correspon-
nature, religion.
dence, as edited by his wife, Georgina.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MÜLLER, KARL O.
6237
Müller, F. Max. Comparative Mythology: An Essay. New York,
explaining, for example, how a single deity (such as Demeter)
1909. Müller’s most celebrated essay.
was replaced by the Homeric pantheon, how earlier cults re-
Neufeldt, Ronald W. F. Max Müller and the Rg-Veda. Columbia,
mained visible in later and different forms, why the role of
Mo., 1980. A critical reassessment of the life and work of
local sanctuaries changed, and why mystery religions
Max Müller from the perspective of the role and influence
emerged.
of the Rg Veda in Müller’s thought.
Müller postulated that cult originates in symbol, which
Noiré, Ludwig. Max Müller and the Philosophy of Language. Lon-
is both a transcending and a material representation; myth
don, 1879. A contemporary and sympathetic assessment of
comes afterward, as an explanation of the cult. He treated
Müller’s philosophy of language that includes a chapter on
myth mainly as a historical document, a clue that the Greeks
the debate between Darwin and Müller as well as the au-
themselves gave to the meaning of existing customs, beliefs,
thor’s own views on the origin of language.
and important events. He took myth to be a most reliable
Stone, Jon R., ed. The Essential Max Müller: On Language, My-
guide, however, and he was convinced that the folk mind
thology, and Religion. New York, 2002. A collection of nine-
speaking in myth does not falsify or even invent. (Here he
teen essays, articles, and addresses that span nearly forty years
reflected the influence of his friends the famous German
of Müller’s scholarly career.
folklorists Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm.) The most exalted
Trompf, G. W. Friedrich Max Müller: As a Theorist of Comparative
role Müller allowed myth was that of giving an ideal repre-
Religion. Bombay, 1978. A sympathetic overview and assess-
sentation to otherwise realistic matters.
ment of Müller’s life and works that lays stress on the Kant-
ian influences in Müller’s thought.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Voigt, Johannes H. Max Mueller: The Man and His Ideas. Calcut-
Müller’s major works are Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen
ta, 1967. A sympathetic but balanced overview of Müller’s
Mythologie (1825), translated as Introduction to a Scientific
life and works.
System of Mythology (London, 1844); Geschichten hellenischer
Stämme und Städte, 3 vols. (Breslau, 1820–1824), translated
JON R. STONE (2005)
as The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, 2 vols. (Ox-
ford, 1830); and A History of the Literature of Ancient Greece,
2 vols. (London, 1840). First published in English, this last
work is a translation of Müller’s Geschichte der griechischen
MÜLLER, KARL O. (1797–1840), German classical
Literatur bis auf das Zeitalter Alexanders, 2 vols. (Breslau,
historian and mythologist. Karl Otfried Müller was educated
1841).
at Breslau and at Berlin under the classical philologist August
For a general discussion of Müller and other classical historians of
Böckh. In 1819 he was appointed adjunct professor of an-
his time, see G. P. Gooch’s History and Historians in the
cient art and literature at Göttingen and taught there until
Nineteenth Century (London, 1952), chap. 3. A sympathetic
1839, when he left Germany to study and travel. He died
view of Müller in the context of history of religions is given
of fever in Athens the next year.
by Henri Pinard de la Boullaye in his L’étude comparée des
religions, vol. 1 (Paris, 1922), pp. 268–276 and 389. A con-
Müller may be claimed as the most balanced and versa-
densed and learned account of Müller and his disciples and
tile classical historian of his time, especially in the area of
opponents is Otto Gruppe’s Geschichte der klassischen
Greek religion and myth. None before him had portrayed
Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte (Leipzig, 1921),
this ancient religion and mythology within such a broad and
pp. 157–165. Müller as a mythologist is discussed, with
unfolding historical context. Müller’s innovation, as Henri
translated selections, in The Rise of Modern Mythology, 1680–
Pinard de la Boullaye said, was “not a thesis but a method.”
1860, compiled by me and Robert Richardson (Blooming-
Müller related cult and myth, for example, to such complex
ton, Ind., 1972), pp. 416–425.
matters as the shift from agriculture to war and hunting, the
New Sources
founding of cities and colonization, the movement of tribes,
Calder, William M., and Renate Schlesier. Zwischen Rationalismus
and the way differences in locale and climate affect ritual and
und Romantik. K. O. Müller und die antike. (Hildesheim,
belief. His many-sided approach gave scholarly rigor to Jo-
1998).
hann von Herder’s emphasis, a generation earlier, on seeing
Calder, William M., R. Scott Smith, and John Vaio. Teaching the
national culture as an organic whole, developing from its
English Wissenschaft: The Letters of Sir George Cornewall to
own historical roots, language, customs, and geography.
Karl Otfried Müller (1828–1839). New York, 2002.
Müller thus opposed the Romantic view, common in his
Fittschen, Klaus. “Karl Otfried Müller zum 150. Todestag: Anspr-
time, of Greek religion as patently derived from India and
ache anlässlich der Gedenkfeier am 25. Oktober 1990.” Mit-
the East, usually by way of migrating priests. He treated
teilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische
Greek civilization in its own terms and applied any useful
Abteilung 106 (1991): 1–7.
method: philology, the history of religions, aesthetics, car-
Gercke, Hans-Joachim. “Karl Otfried Müller und das Land der
tography, archaeology. By this variety of means, he clarified
Griechen.” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Insti-
what might be called the historical topography of Greek cults
tuts. Athenische Abteilung 106 (1991): 9–35.
and myths as they arose, flourished, and spread. He traced
Momigliano, Arnald. “K. O. Müller’s Prolegomena zu einer
the way this changed over time, and he tried to assign causes,
wissenschaftlichen Mythologie and the meaning of Myth.”
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6238
MÜNTZER, THOMAS
Annali della Scuoloa Normale Superiore di Pisa 13 (1983):
dence to suggest that the end of the world was near. The city
673–689. Momigliano was also the editor of a monographic
council soon accused the Zwickau Prophets and their pastor,
issue of the same journal entirely devoted to this German
Müntzer, of fomenting rebellion. Müntzer tried to enlist the
scholar (Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa 14,
support of Luther who, however, did not respond.
1984).
In 1521, the Zwickau council dismissed Müntzer from
Nickau, Klaus. “Karl Otfried Müller, Professor der Klassischen
the pastorate of Saint Catharine’s Church. Müntzer went to
Philologie 1819–1840.” In Die klassischen Altertumswissen-
schaften an der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Eine
Prague, hoping for the support of the Hussites, who were
Ringvorlesung zu ihrer Geschichte, edited by Carl Joachim
well-known enemies of the Roman papacy. There he posted
Classen, pp. 27–50. Göttingen, 1989.
a handwritten declaration (later known as the Prague Mani-
festo) on the doors of various churches. Written in German,
Unte, Wolfhart, and Helmut Rohlfing. Quellën fur eine Biographie
Latin, and Czech, this manifesto attacked the status quo and
Karl Otfried Müller (1797–1840): Bibliographie und
Nachlass. New York, 1997.
announced the beginning of a final reformation leading to
a “renewed apostolic church” in which only the Holy Spirit
BURTON FELDMAN (1987)
would reign. Müntzer called on the people of Prague to sup-
Revised Bibliography
port him in communicating the new “living word” and to
oppose anyone defending the status quo. The Prague author-
ities first placed Müntzer under house arrest and then
MÜNTZER, THOMAS (1488?–1525), also known as
banned him from Prague.
Münzer; radical Protestant reformer involved in the German
Once again Müntzer took to the road, traveling through
Peasants’ War of 1524–1525. Little is known about Mün-
Saxony with brief stops in Erfurt, Halle, and Nordhausen;
tzer’s early life. His name first appears in the 1506 matricula-
by 1523 he was penniless and nearly starved. However, he
tion records of the University of Leipzig, which required en-
was convinced that his personal suffering was but a prelude
tering students to be at least seventeen years old. Attempts
to the final tribulations of the world. He met and married
to demonstrate that Müntzer was born earlier than 1488—
the apostate nun Ottilie of Gersen in 1523, the same year
perhaps as early as 1468—on the basis of records reporting
he received a call to the pastorate in Allstedt, a small town
his membership in a religious order have been successfully
in electoral Saxony. In 1524, the Müntzers became parents
refuted by Walter Elliger in his detailed biography, Thomas
of a son.
Müntzer (Göttingen, 1975, pp. 10–11). Born of a well-to-do
In Allstedt, Müntzer implemented his new vision of
family in the Saxon town of Stolberg, Müntzer attended the
church and world. First, he reformed congregational life by
universities of Leipzig (1506–1512) and Frankfurt an der
creating a German church order, a German Evangelical mass,
Oder (1512–1516), where he received the master of arts de-
and the German Order of Allstedt, this last to help “poor and
gree. He was ordained, perhaps in 1513.
collapsing Christendom.” He wrote Luther, his Stolberg
Increasingly curious about the relationship of faith to
friends, and Karlstadt that he had become the advocate of
history, Müntzer learned Hebrew and Greek. He studied Eu-
the Holy Spirit, who would radically change Germany and
sebius’s Church History, Augustine, Jerome, the apocalyptic
the world. In addition, Müntzer wrote several revolutionary
speculations of the Italian Cistercian abbot Joachim of Fiore,
tracts. Published in 1524, the tracts Concerning the Invented
the German mystics (especially Johannes Tauler), the records
Faith, Protestation, A Clear Disclosure of the False Faith of an
of the reform councils of Constance (1414–1418) and Basel
Unfaithful World, and A Highly Necessary Defense and Answer
(1431–1449), and canon law. Between 1516 and 1520,
against the Soft-Living Flesh of Wittenberg (all written in Ger-
Müntzer was an itinerant priest and scholar, for a brief peri-
man) declared that the “elect of God” must experience the
od taking the positions of provost and father confessor in the
“bitter Christ” in the “depth of the soul” in order to be puri-
convents of Frose and Beuditz. In 1518, he traveled to Wit-
fied for the final battle between good and evil, the final strug-
tenberg, where he may have met Luther, then north to Jüter-
gle between the status quo and new life in the Holy Spirit.
bog, where he became known as “emulator of Martin.” In
Müntzer now called himself the “new Daniel,” the leader of
1520, on Luther’s recommendation, he became pastor of
a “league of the elect” who would smash the opponents of
Zwickau, the “pearl of Saxony.”
the Holy Spirit. Those who refused to accept the Holy Spirit
in their souls, Müntzer proclaimed repeatedly, would have
Zwickau had become the center of the silver trade, with
to be forced to do so, if necessary by the sword. No “ungod-
a large influx of tradesmen hoping to make a fortune. There
ly” could be tolerated among the “elect.”
Müntzer began a reform program to eliminate socioeconom-
ic differences between the rich and the poor. He organized
When Müntzer led a small band of “elect” in destroying
meetings of small groups of common people, mostly weavers
a small Catholic chapel outside Allstedt, Saxon authorities
who had lost their jobs in the wake of the silver boom. Nich-
became alarmed. Having been warned by Luther against the
olas Storch, the leader of the unemployed weavers and a
“restless spirit of Allstedt,” representatives of the Saxon court
member of a radical Christian group known as the Zwickau
met with Müntzer in Allstedt, where he preached a radical
Prophets, persuaded Müntzer that there was sufficient evi-
sermon to them. They then summoned him to Weimar and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MU
¯ RTI
6239
ordered him to stop his agitations. When the authorities con-
(Philadelphia, 1969), pp. 157–353. There are also two
fiscated copies of his treatises, Müntzer was convinced that
American historical sketches depicting Müntzer as dissenter
the time had come to oppose the status quo with force. But,
and revolutionary: “Thomas Müntzer,” in Steven E. Oz-
in a letter of September 5, 1524, the Anabaptist reformer
ment’s Mysticism and Dissent (New Haven, 1973),
Conrad Grebel warned Müntzer against the use of violence.
pp. 61–97; and “Thomas Müntzer,” in Hans J. Hillerbrand’s
A Fellowship of Discontent (Philadelphia, 1967), pp. 1–30.
Müntzer never received the letter because he had left Al-
ERIC W. GRITSCH (1987)
lstedt vainly seeking support in Switzerland, especially in
Basel. He then joined bands of rebellious peasants in Mühl-
hausen. He and the radical priest Henry Pfaiffer tried once
MU
¯ RTI. According to many Hindu religious traditions,
again to create a model of reform, but the Mühlhausen au-
mu¯rti is a god’s form, its infinite metaphysical reality mani-
thorities banned both of them. By the spring of 1525, Mün-
fested visibly. Aside from a limited class of objects called
tzer had joined the rebelling peasants in Thuringia and had
svayambhu¯ (self-created or natural), mu¯rtis are mainly an-
become their chaplain. In May of 1525, the peasants were
thropomorphic figures or symbols. They are the ritually con-
cruelly defeated at Frankenhausen, and Müntzer, who had
secrated cult images at the center of pu¯ja¯ (worship), which
fled before the massacre, was captured, tortured, and behead-
is the dominant form of Hindu religious practice.
ed. Luther approved of Müntzer’s execution, calling it a “just
and terrible judgment of God.”
In Vedic sacrifice the deity is unseen, being represented
only by the chanted mantras of the priests as they move
Müntzer was the first Protestant theocrat who advocat-
among the abstract geometric forms of the altars that repre-
ed a Christian crusade to liberate the world from sin, death,
sent the cosmos. The deity’s form first emerges in the prac-
and evil. He was a spiritualist who could no longer endure
tice of the orthodox tradition with the later, theistic
the compromise between internal spiritual experience and
Upanis:ads, where a vision of the mu¯rti of the personalized
living in an imperfect external world; a truly apocalyptic
deity is summoned through meditation. In the epics, image
thinker, he tried to transform theological ideas into revolu-
worship is mentioned and accepted, but it is given only mar-
tionary action. Reformers like Luther and Calvin made him
ginal and fleeting notice, while major interest is centered
the symbol of villainy, and Anabaptists and other radical re-
upon the fire sacrifice. Only with the emergence of sectarian
formers refused to support him. Ironically, he would become
Agamic and Puranic literature, from the fourth century CE
a hero in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to Marxists
on, did the notion of mu¯rti and its use in pu¯ja¯ become sys-
and other communist groups who advocated revolution, al-
tematically formulated. There, for the first time, the claim
though of course without Müntzer’s theological foundation.
is made that worship of mu¯rti succeeds or even supplants the
sacrifice.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paralleling this textual record are inscriptions and frag-
A treatment of Müntzer’s life and thought and a translation of
mentary temple and image remains from as early as the sec-
some of his writings are offered in my book Reformer without
ond century BCE. Very few images of orthodox Puranic dei-
a Church (Philadelphia, 1967). The most detailed analysis of
ties have survived from before the third century CE, however,
Müntzer’s life and work is available only in German: Walter
and not until the fifth and sixth centuries were mu¯rtis and
Elliger’s Thomas Müntzer (Göttingen, 1975). Müntzer’s en-
the temples that house them committed to the permanence
tire literary production, including letters and notes, has been
of stone throughout the subcontinent. Nearly all earlier im-
collected and critically edited by Günther Franz with the col-
laboration of Paul Kirn in Thomas Müntzer: Kritische Gesam-
ages, and most later ones, were made of perishable materials,
tausgabe (Gütersloh, 1968).
and so lost.
An image is a mu¯rti, not by virtue of looking like the
Müntzer’s language is difficult, since he wrote in medieval Latin
and in sixteenth-century German, often using a particular di-
deity it represents, but because it conforms to prescribed
alect. Two of his works are available in English: “Sermon be-
measurements and symbolic conventions and is accorded or-
fore the Princes” (1524), in Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers,
thodox consecration (pratis:t:ha¯) and authentic devotion by
edited by George H. Williams, “Library of Christian Clas-
those whose activities create it, the initiated artist (sthapati),
sics,” vol. 25 (Philadelphia, 1957); and “Highly Necessary
priest (a¯ca¯rya), and devotee (bhakta). This process is ex-
Defense and Answer against the Soft-Living Flesh of Witten-
pounded in two sets of authoritative texts. Requirements as
berg” (1524), in Hans J. Hillerbrand’s “Thomas Müntzer’s
to materials, measurements, proportion, decoration, and
Last Tract against Luther,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 38
symbolism according to which the mu¯rti is shaped are pro-
(1964): 20–36. Some excerpts from these two works and a
vided in technical manuals known as the S´ilpa´sa¯stras. Expla-
portion of his “Confession and Recantation” (1525) have
nation of the metaphysical significance of each stage of man-
been translated by Lowell H. Zuck in a collection he has ed-
ited, Christianity and Revolution: Radical Christian Testimo-
ufacture and the prescription of specific mantras to sanctify
nies, 1520–1650 (Philadelphia, 1975), pp. 36–44, 46–47.
the process and lodge the power of the deity in the image
The British Reformation historian E. Gordon Rupp has
are found in the Agamas and Tantras, liturgical handbooks.
written a comprehensive essay on Müntzer, “Thomas Mün-
The process is modeled on the instructions found in the
tzer: The Reformer as Rebel,” in Patterns of Reformation
Bra¯hman:as for building fire altars.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6240
MURUKAN
¯
Mu¯rti worship also, partially patterned after the fire sac-
ture attest to Murukan’s worship in South India as a high
rifice, takes place in the complementary contexts of house-
¯
god and the son of S´iva.
hold and public altars. Images of is:t:adevata¯ and kuladevata¯,
Murukan was especially extolled by such medieval
family deities who are treated as honored guests, are found
¯
Tamil bhakti (devotional) poets as Arun:akirinatha of the fif-
in a discrete location in every household. The mu¯rtis of pub-
teenth century and Kacciyapaciva of the seventeenth. Late in
lic cults are established in palatial temples, where they are
the nineteenth century, worship of Murukan was given new
served by an attached priesthood and may be visited by their
¯
impetus by a Tamil renaissance, during and after which tem-
devotees. As material extensions of the mu¯rti and descen-
ples to Murukan were renovated, pilgrimages to these centers
dants of the sacrificial altar, such temples are created in ac-
¯
increased, and the god came to be viewed as the quintessen-
cordance with the same technical and liturgical prescriptions
tial Tamil deity.
as the mu¯rtis themselves.
The basic myth of Skanda-Murukan’s life and exploits
SEE ALSO Iconography, article on Hindu Iconography;
¯
is found in the Maha¯bha¯rata (3.223–232; 9.46–47; 13.130–
Temple, article on Hindu Temples.
133). It is repeated in the Rama¯ya¯n:a (1.36–37), and further
embellished in a wide range of Sanskrit and Tamil literature,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
especially in Ka¯lida¯sa’s (fourth century CE?) Kuma¯ra-
Along with a consideration of the full range of Hindu deities,
sambhava and the Skanda Pura¯n:a.
going back as far as the Vedas, Alain Daniélou’s Hindu Poly-
theism (New York, 1964) contains a section on the represen-
According to Ka¯lida¯sa’s version of the myth of Skanda’s
tation and worship of deities, in which the discussion of
birth, the deity is born of S´iva’s semen when the latter mar-
mu¯rti is set in its broader context. T. A. Gopinatha Rao’s
ries Pa¯rvat¯ı following an extensive period of meditation and
venerable Elements of Hindu Iconography, 2 vols. (1914; re-
austerities (tapas) on Mount Himavat. Later accounts, as in
print, New York, 1968), offers a compendium of Agamic
the Skanda Pura¯n:a, say Skanda is born of sparks emanating
and Puranic lore about deities compared with examples of
from S´iva’s brow. According to the Maha¯bha¯rata, Skanda is
mu¯rtis and illustrative images. Its general introduction offers
born of Agni’s love-play with Sva¯ha¯ while she is impersonat-
a wealth of information, including a discussion of various
ing the wives of six r:s:is. Once born, Skanda is suckled by the
systems of classifying mu¯rtis. Jitendra Nath Banerjea’s Devel-
six Kr:ttika¯ (Pleiades) maidens and engages in a variety of
opment of Hindu Iconography, 2d ed. (Calcutta, 1956), pro-
childhood exploits, including the defeat of Indra, the humili-
vides a detailed explanation of the origin of mu¯rti worship
in both the texts and in the material record. It also presents
ation of Brahma¯, and the instruction of S´iva as to the mean-
the historical development of mu¯rti largely based on material
ing of the sacred syllable om:. On the sixth day of his life, he
findings. To approach an authentic understanding of the
is made general of the divine army and conquers the asuras
richness of textual thought on mu¯rti more closely, one may
headed by Ta¯raka (or, in South Indian accounts, Surapad-
read a translation of one of the liturgical handbooks:
ma). After the battle, according to the epic myths, he is given
Ka¯´syapa’s Book of Wisdom (Ka¯´syapa-Jña¯naka¯n:d:ah:: A Ritual
in marriage to Devasena¯ (literally, “army of the gods”); in
Handbook of the Vaikha¯nasas), translated and annotated by
southern versions, Murukan woos Val:l:i, a hunter damsel
Teun Goudriaan (The Hague, 1965).
¯
who becomes the god’s second consort.
GARY MICHAEL TARTAKOV (1987)
Murukan is the most widely worshiped god among
¯
Tamil Hindus in the early twenty-first century, and three of
the six most popular pilgrimage centers in Tamil Nadu are
MURUKAN,
temples consecrated to him. One of these, Palani, is the sec-
the Tamil name for the Hindu deity also
¯
ond largest pilgrimage complex in South India. Six major fes-
known by such names as Skanda, Kuma¯ra, Subrahman:yam,
tivals celebrating events in the god’s life attract millions of
or Ka¯rttikeya. The name is sometimes transcribed as Muru-
worshipers, from the festivals of Skanda-S:as:t:i in October-
gan. While Murukan is the most popular god in present-day
¯
November to Vaika¯ci Vica¯kam in May-June. The cultus in-
Tamil India, he has been worshiped in a variety of forms
corporates a whole spectrum of rituals, from classical fire sac-
from at least the third or second century BCE. In his earliest
rifices and Tantric invocations as prescribed in the
South Indian form, Murukan was described in classical (or
¯
S´aivaga¯mas to folk forms of possession and dancing with the
Can˙kam) literature as a god of hill and hunt, who was wor-
ka¯vat:i, or peacock arch. In addition, the god is popularly per-
shiped by hill people, the kuriñcis, as a possessor of young
ceived to be the inspirational source of Tamil literature, van-
damsels and avenger of anan˙ku and cu¯r, malevolent spirits
quisher of cosmic and personal malaise, and the embodiment
of the hills.
of S´aiva thought and religion.
In North India, Skanda was depicted in epic mythology
as the son of Rudra-S´iva or Agni, and as a warrior deity pa-
SEE ALSO Tamil Religions.
tronized by such dynasties as the S´akas, Ik´svaku, and Guptas.
By the eighth century CE, and throughout the medieval peri-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
od, these earlier attributes of the god seem to have merged,
Clothey, Fred W. The Many Faces of Murukan: The History and
as subsequent literature, iconography, and temple architec-
¯
Meaning of a South Indian God. The Hague, 1978.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSAR MOVEMENT
6241
Clothey, Fred W. Rhythm and Intent: Ritual Studies from South
Haskalah, the movement for Jewish Enlightenment, one of
India. Madras, 1983.
whose major centers was in Vilna. Believing that existing in-
First International Conference on Skanda-Murukan. “Research
stitutions could not meet this danger, Salanter instead tried
Papers on the Cult of Skandra-Murukan.” Available from
to bolster the religious loyalties of the individual Jew. His
http://murugan.org/research/98papers.htm.
emphasis on ethical behavior indicates that Salanter shared
Zvelebil, Kamil. Tiru Murugan. Madras, 1982.
many of the Haskalah’s criticisms of the social and economic
F
ills of Jewish society, but unlike proponents of Haskalah he
RED W. CLOTHEY (1987 AND 2005)
did not prescribe a thorough educational and economic re-
form of Jewry as the proper solution for these problems. In
Salanter’s view, a revival of the standards for social and eco-
MUSAR MOVEMENT. The Musar movement for in-
nomic relations demanded by Jewish law would redress the
dividual self-examination and ethical renewal spread among
imbalances in Jewish society.
mid-nineteenth-century Lithuanian Jewry after its founding
by YisraDel Salanter (1810–1883). So called from the Hebrew
In 1849, rather than accept a teaching position offered
term musar (“ethics, instruction”), the Musar movement can
him in a government-sponsored rabbinical seminary in
be viewed as one of the first attempts in eastern Europe to
Vilna, YisraDel Salanter transferred his base of operations to
organize traditionalist circles within Jewish society in mod-
Kovno (modern-day Kaunas). He succeeded in establishing
ern forms, although its long-term legacy and influence re-
musar-sht:iblekh there and in several other towns. Yet the im-
mained limited to the Lithuanian yeshivot.
mense personal prestige that Salanter enjoyed in his lifetime
was not reflected in a corresponding success for his planned
The Musar ideology was formed during the young Yis-
mass movement. By the 1850s musar-sht:iblekh existed in
raDel Salanter’s fifteen-year sojourn in Salant during the
only five communities, with an estimated following in the
1820s and 1830s. There, in addition to achieving mastery
hundreds. More lasting achievements of the Kovno period
of Talmud in the standard manner, Salanter came under the
include the model of a Musar yeshivah, where self-
influence of the saintly reclusive figure Yosef Zundel of Sa-
examination and the study of ethical tracts formed regular
lant. Zundel devoted his attention to the ethical aspects of
parts of the curriculum, and where responsibility for the stu-
Jewish law, which in his view had been neglected. He be-
dents’ spiritual development was assigned to a mashgiah:
lieved that in order to overcome the temptations of evil, spe-
(“supervisor”), who functioned alongside the normal teach-
cial actions were necessary beyond a theoretical knowledge
ing staff. Salanter’s disciples from this period spread this
of one’s legal obligations. To this end Zundel developed a
model to most of the major Lithuanian yeshivot, among
system of regular self-analysis and study of ethical texts, and
whose students the movement found its greatest success. Sa-
he introduced such innovations as the repetition of Talmud-
lanter’s letters to his disciples, later collected and published,
ic statements on ethical issues as a way to induce the proper
laid down the basic ideological direction of the Musar phe-
mood for soul-searching. YisraDel Salanter built upon the sys-
nomenon.
tem of his master, but unlike Zundel he attempted to present
the Musar doctrine to the community at large within an or-
Despite Salanter’s unassailable personal moral and
ganizational framework.
scholarly credentials, his innovations aroused no little criti-
In Vilna in the mid-1840s, Salanter made his first ef-
cism in rabbinical circles. Some claimed that the stress on
forts to establish a mass Musar movement. Departing from
ethics undermined the centrality of Torah study, while oth-
the standard practice for heads of yeshivot, he presented a se-
ers worried that the elitist spirit of the Musar groups carried
ries of public talks addressed not only to scholars but also to
a potential for sectarianism. This polemic over the Musar
artisans and most particularly to affluent educated business-
movement continued into the twentieth century.
men. Salanter called for the inclusion of ethical works in the
After 1857, when YisraDel Salanter moved to Germany,
curriculum of Torah study that is incumbent upon every
although he maintained his personal influence over his stu-
Jew. Such study, besides making the individual aware of the
dents, the practical work of spreading the movement’s teach-
ethical responsibilities stipulated by Jewish law, would also
ings was carried on by the disciples. Through their efforts
help him recognize and struggle with his unconscious im-
Musar became the dominant mode in the Lithuanian yeshi-
pulses and bring them under control. For this purpose, Sa-
vot, despite occasional strong resistance on the part of more
lanter set up a musar-sht:ibl (Yi., “house of moral instruc-
traditional yeshivah leaders. Among the major successors of
tion”) where, through the combined practice of meditation
YisraDel Salanter were Simh:a Zisl Broyda of Kelem (1824–
and the somber repetition of moral texts, an appropriately
1898), who in the schools under his supervision tried to de-
ecstatic-fearful mood could be created for the encounter with
velop a systematic educational method based on Musar prin-
elemental passions and drives. During this Vilna period, Sa-
ciples; Yitsh:aq Blazer (1837–1907), former rabbi of Saint Pe-
lanter arranged for the reprinting of classic ethical texts and
tersburg and interpreter and publisher of Salanter’s
attracted the first of his key disciples.
teachings, who served as head of the Kovno kollel (an ad-
By all indications, Salanter intended the Musar move-
vanced yeshivah providing stipends for married students);
ment to answer the threat to traditional Jewry posed by the
EliEezer Gordon (1840–1910), rabbi of Telz and head of its
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6242
MUSES
noted yeshivah; Note Hirsh (Natan Tsevi) Finkel (1849–
re, Erato, Polyhymnia, Ourania, and Calliope, daughters of
1927), known as the Old Man of Slobodka, spiritual director
Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory)—were born to be, in Hesi-
of the central Musar yeshivah in Slobodka. Each of these fig-
od’s words, “the forgetting of misfortunes and respite from
ures put his personal stamp on the basic Musar doctrine and
sorrow” (Theogony 55). Like-minded virgins, free from grief,
thus helped to evolve variations of its teachings on the nature
their only concern is song. Always accompanied by the
of man, the nature of evil, and the ways to struggle with evil.
Graces and Desire, they dance in chorus on delicate feet on
All of the Musar yeshivot, however, featured daily Musar
the mountaintops, bathe in springs with violet glints, and
studies (often at twilight) and the role of the mashgiah:, whose
make their way to the radiant abodes of Zeus, which laugh
responsibilities included regular talks to the student body as
under the spell of their sweet voices (Theogony 1ff.).
well as individual guidance. Most extreme among the Musar
What the Muses sing is mn¯emosun¯e—memory of what
schools was that directed by Yosef Yosl Hurwitz, the Novara-
is, what was, and what will be. And for the Greeks, memory
dok (Nowogródek) school, where students were required to
is truth. The subject of their song is the kingdom of Zeus
pursue intense Musar study and to perform unusual (i. e.,
the father, he who subdued the Titans, who restored his
socially unacceptable) actions in public as a way of subduing
brothers’ power and imposed a harsh fate on their father
the lower instincts.
Kronos, and who bestowed honors on all the gods. The
The expansion of the Musar yeshivot continued in the
Muses sing the victory of the cosmos, of harmony over chaos,
period following World War I, but was cut off by the Nazi
and their sweet accents make Zeus’s enemies tremble in the
Holocaust. The Slobodka and Novaradok Musar approaches
depths of the earth (Theogony 68ff.; Pindar, Pythia 1.13).
live on, however, in yeshivot set up in Israel and the United
They also sing the miserable fate of mortals, who live in be-
States.
wilderment, unable to find a cure for death or a remedy for
old age (Homeric Hymn to Apollo 190ff.).
SEE ALSO Jewish Thought and Philosophy, article on Jewish
Ethical Literature; Salanter, YisraDel; Yeshivah.
With Apollo, the Muses select and inspire the men they
cherish. These are the lyre players and singers, and they, too,
B
are able to make sorrow and grief disappear from mortal
IBLIOGRAPHY
The best historical study of the early stages of the development of
hearts with the sweet strains that flow from their lips. Thus
the Musar movement is in Hebrew, Immanuel Etkes’s R.
when poets sing to Apollo and the Muses at the beginning
Yisra Del Salanter ve-reDshitah shel tenu Eat ha-Musar (Jerusa-
of their songs, they put themselves under divine protection
lem, 1982). The only full-length study of the movement is
and make an offering at the same time. Invoking the Muses
the hagiographic and apologetic Tenu Eat ha-Musar, 5th ed.,
is the price the poet pays in order for his song to be called
5 vols. (Jerusalem, 1974) by Dov Katz. Volume 1 of Katz’s
veracious and in order that he may breathe the imperishable
work has been translated by Leonard Oschry as The Musar
memory and knowledge that the Muses alone bestow. Those
Movement: Its History, Leading Personalities and Doctrines
who disdain this inspiration and pride themselves on being
(Tel Aviv, 1977). An interesting supplementary volume by
Katz entitled Pulmus ha-Musar (Jerusalem, 1972) reviews the
capable of creating and fashioning their songs without the
long-running public controversy over the Musar doctrine.
Muses are punished; they are made to sing untruths and soon
For a short but somewhat superficial survey of the move-
become mute, like the poet Thamyris (Iliad 2.594ff.).
ment, see Abraham Menes’s “Patterns of Jewish Scholarship
Each of the nine Muses presides over one of the arts. Ac-
in Eastern Europe,” in volume 2 of The Jews, 4th ed., edited
cording to one scheme, Clio is linked with history, Euterpe
by Louis Finkelstein (New York, 1973), pp. 177–227. On
with music, Thalia with comedy, Melpomene with tragedy,
the inner life of the Lithuanian yeshivot, see Gedalyahu
Terpsichore with dance, Erato with elegy, Polyhymnia with
Alon’s “The Lithuanian Yeshivah,” in The Jewish Expression,
lyric poetry, Ourania with astronomy, and Calliope with elo-
edited by Judah Goldin (New Haven, 1976), pp. 452–468,
and Shaul Stampfer’s The Lithuanian Yeshiva (Hebrew; Jeru-
quence. Only Calliope, first among the Muses, has a role in
salem, 1995). On the Novaredok school, see David Fish-
the courts of kings (Theogony 80ff.); it is she who gives them
man’s “Musar and Modernity: The Case of Novaredok,”
wisdom and mellow voices. If the political initiation resem-
Modern Judaism 8: 1 (1988), pp. 41–64. For a vivid but
bles poetic initiation, the music that Calliope teaches kings
jaundiced portrayal of the director of a Musar yeshivah, see
can in no case be confused with that of the poet. The Muse
Chaim Grade’s novel, The Yeshiva, 2 vols. (New York,
inspires kings with the knowledge of the kingdom of Zeus,
1977). For personal portraits of some of the figures associat-
so that the divine cosmos may be recreated among men.
ed with the movement, see the idiosyncratic and controver-
sial Making of a Godol: A Study of Episodes in the Lives of
The spirit that emanates from the Muses is the spring-
Great Torah Personalities (Jerusalem, 2002), by Noson
like freshness that allows mortals to derive some fortune from
Kamenetsky.
divine nature and to forget death. That may be why the
Muses warn poets that they know how to sing untruth just
GERSHON C. BACON (1987 AND 2005)
as well as truth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MUSES. Near the highest peak of snowy Olympus, the
Boyancé, Pierre. Le culte des Muses chez les philosophes grecs. Paris,
nine Muses—Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsicho-
1937.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSEUMS AND RELIGION
6243
Pearson, A. C. “Muses.” In Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,
itors were encouraged to consider the wonderful works of the
edited by James Hastings, vol. 9. Edinburgh, 1917.
Creator, as well as offered opportunities for self-
Svenbro, Jesper. La parole et le marbre: Aux origines de la poétique
improvement. The most radical efforts were an attempt to
grecque. Lund, 1976.
help the poor to “see,” in John Ruskin’s sense that “To see
New Sources
clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion” (Koven, 1994,
Bing, Peter. The Well-Read Muse: Present and Past in Callimachus
p. 25). We should note too the plethora of commercial at-
and the Hellenistic Poets. Göttingen, 1988.
tractions with a biblical theme (such as panoramas of the
Holy Land) Victorian London offered, whose “sacred inter-
Camilloni, Maria Teresa. Le Muse. Rome, 1998.
est . . . attracted thousands of visitors who were not profane
JEANNIE CARLIER (1987)
enough to enjoy ordinary sights” (quoted in Altick, 1978,
SILVIA MILANEZI (1987)
p. 182).
Translated from French by Alice Otis
Revised Bibliography
RELIGION AND SCIENCE. The British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science met in 1860 in the newly completed
University Museum at Oxford. At this meeting took place
the famous exchange between Bishop Samuel Wilberforce
MUSEUMS AND RELIGION. The last generations
and scientist T. H. Huxley, which ever since has been taken
of the twentieth century saw a huge increase in the number
(however unjustly) as a symbol of the clash between religion
of museums worldwide; one estimate suggests ten thousand
and the theory of evolution. The issue had been caricatured
in 1950 and ten times that number fifty years later. In the
as a question of whether human beings were descended from
more developed countries of the world they took on a dra-
apes, and the popular version has it that Wilberforce asked
matic new importance and public recognition. In many of
Huxley if he was descended from apes on his grandfather’s
the new museums the emphasis has been on attracting new
or grandmother’s side. Huxley is supposed to have replied
visitors and offering them both entertainment and education
that he would sooner be descended from an ape than from
rather than on scholarship and on their collections. So far,
a “divine who employed authority to stifle the truth.”
though, most have shown little interest in religion.
The first two great modern museums were perhaps the
It was appropriate that this famous exchange took place
British Museum in London and the Museé du Louvre in
in a museum, for museums in the urbanized West were in
Paris. The first was formed in 1759 from the collection of
the later nineteenth century the forums for public debate on
Sir Hans Sloane, who described it as “tending many ways to
fundamental questions in a way in which, perhaps, they have
the manifestation of the glory of God [and] the confutation
never been since. While for some Victorian curators “the
of atheism and its consequences” (quoted in Altick, 1978,
study of natural science was a kind of religious contempla-
p. 229). The second was formed in 1793 by France’s atheist
tion, and the scope of the museum’s displays was thus enor-
revolutionary government from artworks seized from the
mously important in communicating that religious purpose”
church, the king, and the aristocracy. These two traditions—
(Yanni, 1999, p. 65), a sizable proportion of visitors now
respect for, and hostility to, religion—continue in the mod-
probably saw specimens as emblems of evolution rather than
ern museum, but even stronger is the Enlightenment heri-
as evidence of God’s handiwork. This tension remains today;
tage of indifference to “traditional” faith. One observer com-
in the late twentieth century one half of all U.S. college stu-
mented that “the message of galleries and museums is that
dents were alleged to believe in creationism, that is, that God
religion is a thing of the past, but that if there is anything
created the earth and all that is in it pretty much as it is today,
sacred in society, it is art” (O’Neill, 1996, p. 191).
so the caution displayed by the Field Museum in Chicago
when they wanted to set up a new gallery devoted to evolu-
THE VICTORIAN MUSEUM: SCIENTIFIC COLLECTING AND
tion is understandable (Asma, 2001).
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT. As both urbanization and democra-
cy rapidly grew in Europe and North America in the nine-
AMBIGUITY AND RESOLUTION? In 1941 the New Yorker pub-
teenth century, the museum became an important expression
lished a cartoon by the famous comic artist Charles Addams
of emerging national and civic identities, aimed at assertion
(Paine, 2000, frontispiece). It depicted a dark-skinned man
to the world outside and production of loyal and educated
wearing a suit and tie but also a headband, standing quietly
citizens within. The later nineteenth-century museum was
in front of a huge and mysterious statue, holding a goat. One
not only part of what Habermas (1989) called the “bourgeois
museum guard says to another: “He wants to know if he may
public sphere,” but a “new apparatus for the production of
make a small sacrifice in front of it.” The joke is threefold:
knowledge” (Hooper-Greenhill, 1992); it took on the job of
firstly, the very idea that a “native person,” however respect-
informal public education, aimed sometimes at the proletari-
able, could still have any rights over an object in a museum;
at but more often at the middle and upper working classes.
secondly, the idea that a once-holy object could continue any
In this new seriousness of purpose, museums were frequently
longer to retain any of its holiness once it had been trans-
in alliance with the churches and often used the language of
ferred to a museum; thirdly, the notion of a goat being sacri-
faith, even of mission, to describe their efforts not only to
ficed in a neat and tidy museum. It demonstrates starkly the
improve the lot of the poor but to improve society itself. Vis-
ambiguity of the sacred object in the profane museum.
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MUSEUMS AND RELIGION
Half a century later, in 1990, the Dalai Lama personally
over, the patriarch of Moscow has been accorded curatorial
consecrated a Tibetan altar, designed and built by a Tibetan
status within the museum (Gaskell, 2003, p. 154).
trained at a monastery in Sikkim, in the Newark Museum
ART MUSEUMS. Art museums worldwide are full of religious
in New Jersey (Gaskell, 2003, p. 149). Those fifty years had
images, very many of them produced for formal liturgical
seen a radical change in the approach of museums to objects
use, as altarpieces or cult statues, or as the decoration of
in their care regarded as “sacred” by some. The key to this
places of worship or the paraphernalia of a cult; the museums
turnaround of consciousness was the political—and thence
of such countries as Italy and India, with a rich heritage of
cultural—demands being made by the indigenous peoples of
religious art, are famous for their extensive collections. Yet
“settler” countries, particularly in North America and Aus-
seldom is the original religious purpose of these objects given
tralia. In the United States these demands climaxed in the
much prominence in the museum’s presentation: labels will
1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
give date, artist, and a brief summary of the iconography but
Act, which required museums to list, and to return when
little if any explanation of a work’s liturgical function or reli-
asked, a wide range of significant cultural objects, as well as
gious significance.
human remains. Australia had in part led the way with the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection
The same approach is found even where the title of a
Act, 1984.
gallery, “Islamic Art,” for example, might lead the visitor to
expect some explanation of what it is about Islam that in-
At both a legal and ethical level, debate about the care
forms the works of art displayed and the role they played in
of sacred objects has been closely bound up with debate
Muslim praxis. In reality, religion here is being used simply
about the care of human remains, about the restitution of
as a label for a culture, and it is very seldom that an “Islamic
looted property, and—in some countries—about the treat-
Art” gallery gives much attention even to any liturgical use
ment of sacred sites. The International Council of Museums’
its exhibits may once have had.
Code of Ethics, adopted in 1986, demanded that material
Though many modern artists tackle religious themes or
of sacred significance be looked after “in a manner consistent
more or less consciously incorporate and express spiritual val-
with professional standards and the interests and beliefs of
ues in their work, it is seldom that these influence either the
members of the community, ethnic or religious groups from
design of the overall building in which they are displayed or
which the objects originated.”
the museums’ public programming. Two exceptional art
Museums have responded in four ways to the realization
museums are the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
that a museum object may also be a sacred object. Many mu-
in St. Louis and the Museum of Biblical Art in New York.
seums have decided that secular values must prevail; that the
Very special is the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, which
museum must continue to treat it as a specimen, historical
was opened in 1971 to house a series of fourteen great con-
document, material evidence in a framework of scientific in-
templative abstract paintings by the American artist Mark
quiry that discounts nonscientific or nonaesthetic expla-
Rothko, which were designed as a group to create a numi-
nations.
nous space. The chapel was intended from the start to be a
multifaith center and focus of religious debate.
The second way is to return the object to those who
would treat it as sacred. Glasgow Museum in Scotland re-
HUMAN HISTORY MUSEUMS. There is a constant debate
turned a Ghost Dance Shirt to the Lakota Sioux, with much
among curators of human history museums: should the ex-
support from local opinion in the city. In both North Ameri-
hibits concentrate on presenting the objects the museum
ca and Australia objects of religious and other cultural signifi-
holds, or should the objects be used to help tell a story? In
cance have been returned to local museums and “keeping
other words, which comes first, object or story? The majority
places” run by indigenous communities (Simpson, 1996).
of museums worldwide probably say “the object,” which is
one reason religion too seldom features largely in museums
The third way is to retain the object in the museum but
of local history. Even in museums that say “the story,” reli-
to house and treat it in ways that those who see it as sacred
gion appears as a very minor aspect of local history. With
would approve. Rotorua Museum in New Zealand offers a
some commendable exceptions (Paine, 2000, p. 157), muse-
bowl of water for purification to visitors to their display of
ums seldom try to analyze the role of religion in local society
Te Arawa treasures. The National Museum of the American
and in popular culture, in the way that the best of them ex-
Indian in Washington State provides in its Cultural Re-
amine the local economy or try to analyze the role of class
sources Center a ceremonial room with a fire pit where ob-
and gender.
jects can be “smudged” with burning sweetgrass.
It is particularly disappointing that social history muse-
The fourth way of responding is to allow the object to
ums, which aim to present the life of their communities, so
move regularly between the sacred and the secular. In Mos-
seldom include the popular religion that always accompanies
cow the Tretyakov Gallery displays the supremely important
and underlies official religion. Museums dedicated to the
and powerful Virgin of Vladimir icon in a church attached
ethnography of non-European societies are in a different sit-
to the museum, but on three great feast days a year it is re-
uation, not least because their curators are firmly grounded
moved from its showcase and displayed for veneration; more-
in the academic study of anthropology and because religious
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MUSEUMS AND RELIGION
6245
paraphernalia have attracted the attention of collectors. As
tors the religious significance and function of the object.
a result, ethnography museums have generally treated indige-
Even at the Antivouniotissa Museum in Corfu the labels
nous religions with great seriousness, though Museon in The
tend to explain the icons in this wonderful collection in
Hague is one of very few that address religion as a worldwide
terms of Byzantine art history rather than as spiritually pow-
phenomenon.
erful tools. A notable exception to this pattern is St. Catha-
rine’s Convent Museum at Utrecht in the Netherlands. Here
When a human history museum has collected promi-
the story of religion in the Netherlands is told through its
nent examples of the material culture of religion for other
artifacts, from an early ninth-century chalice to late nine-
reasons, it may find itself having to tackle the issue. Skansen,
teenth-century Catholic and Protestant labor union banners.
the hugely influential open-air museum established near
Stockholm, Sweden, in 1891, received its first church in
THE MUSEUM AS TEMPLE. The rhetoric that later nine-
1916. Today many open-air museums include places of wor-
teenth-century museums shared with churches has contin-
ship reconstructed or moved from elsewhere, and these are
ued to be used ever since. Throughout the later nineteenth
very commonly actually used for worship; one African exam-
century and much of the twentieth, art museums in particu-
ple is the Ghana National Cultural Centre in Kumasi,
lar were called “temples of art,” “cathedrals,” in which works
Ghana, which includes both a chapel and a traditional As-
of art were “enshrined” and some of which became “sacred
hante shrine (Duah, 1995, p. 110). By contrast with open-air
places of pilgrimage for museum-goers.” For some observers
museums where buildings from elsewhere are reconstructed,
museums do not merely share a rhetoric with religious
“ecomuseums” comprise an alliance of buildings, sites, and
shrines but actually share many of their functions. Art muse-
object collections still in their original places, and very often
ums, in particular, share with shrines a separateness from the
these include places of worship. The ecomuseum of Hirano-
mundane world, an expectation that visitors will adopt a par-
cho in Japan, founded by the Ryonin Kawaguchi, priest of
ticular receptive frame of mind and a particular pattern of
the Senkouji Buddhist Temple, comprises fifteen different
reverent behavior, that they will follow a ceremonial path.
attractions, including a number of active temples and shrines
Museums are the forums for a ritual associated with rational,
(Davis, 2004, p. 98).
scientific thought. (Duncan, 1990, p. 92; 1995, p. 12). The
T
visitor comes away—or is expected to come away—
HE TEMPLE AS MUSEUM. There is no hard-and-fast distinc-
tion between museums and historic monuments. Many of
transformed by communion with immortal spirits of the
these monuments, in countries around the world, are reli-
past, with a sense of being enlightened, spiritually uplifted.
gious, and increasingly they are being subject to the same
Sometimes museums and shrines converge more literal-
type of visitor-oriented—sometimes even commercial—
ly. Commemorative museums often take on the character of
management as conventional museums. Inevitably this gives
shrines; examples include many Holocaust museums; the
rise to special problems, especially where the site is still re-
Nikko Toshogu Shrine, burial place of Tokugawa Iegasu, the
garded as “sacred” by a local population. Indeed, one can see
first modern shogun of Japan; and the Tuol Sleng Museum
an increasing convergence between museums and sacred
(museum of genocide) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
spaces—from York Minster charging entrance fees to Druids
F
wanting to perform ceremonies at Stonehenge. These issues
AITH COMMUNITY MUSEUMS. Faith communities, espe-
cially minority communities, often create museums to ex-
are interestingly discussed by Shackley (2001).
plain their faith and its history to their own community and
Larger places of worship tend to amass treasures, some-
to others. Many Jain temples, in India and now also else-
times very rich treasures indeed. The huge Venkateswara
where, have attached “museums” that—through a series of
temple at Tirupati in eastern India, which sees over ten mil-
dioramas—show historical incidents in, and aspects of, their
lion pilgrims a year, for example, houses a massive number
faith. Jewish museums fall into two distinct categories: those
of valuable items. Many traditional treasuries have evolved
that exhibit the paraphernalia of synagogue or domestic wor-
into modern museums. Thus, the sacristy of the Cathedral
ship and balance art history and religious practice and belief,
of the Assumption of the Virgin at Dubrovnik, Croatia, was
and those that tell the story of the local Jewish communities.
designed in 1712 to display the relics of Saint Blaise and 138
The Jewish Museum in London has two sites: one for the
other reliquaries; the intention was both to display relics for
former, one for the latter.
veneration and also to display precious gold and silverwork
Some faith communities maintain museums dedicated
in honor of the saint. The display is very like an early
to their founder or leaders; an example is John Knox’s House
museum.
in Edinburgh, dedicated to the sixteenth-century Scottish
Throughout Catholic Europe there are diocesan muse-
Protestant leader. In the Buddhist tradition visitors to such
ums; in England many cathedrals have “treasuries” to display
museums can gain merit. Wat Tham Khlong Paen, a sacred
gold and silver plate from churches in the diocese. In most
site near Nong Bua Lamphu in Thailand, was the meditation
of these museums, though, the emphasis has now come to
ground of the late Luang Phu Khao, a highly revered monk.
be on the “decorative arts” aspects of the objects; statues of
A small museum there exhibits his few personal possessions
saints are arranged by period and artistic school, silverware
and a life-size wax figure, and “opens daily to public for
by makers. Seldom is there much attempt to explain to visi-
merit-making and homage-paying.”
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MUSEUMS AND RELIGION
WORLD RELIGION MUSEUMS. The German philosopher of
The impact of mass population movement from the
religion Rudolf Otto, professor of theology at Philipps-
later twentieth century has led many Western museums to
Universität in Marburg, Germany, set up the Religion-
celebrate diversity of local cultures, including religions, with
skundliche Sammlung in 1927, devoted to the academic
the aim of promoting a more tolerant society. The museums
study of religion as a worldwide phenomenon. Sadly, Otto
of cities like Bradford, Leicester, and Liverpool in the United
“felt obliged, like most curators, to present the objects in a
Kingdom have included Islam, Sikhism, and—to a lesser ex-
‘rational’ and ‘scientific’ manner, with no attempt to evoke
tent—Chinese religions in their local history exhibits and
the ‘feeling for the numinous’ which was at the heart of his
have promoted educational programs and temporary exhibi-
own great contribution to the study of religion” (O’Neill,
tions to celebrate and interpret immigrant faiths. This ap-
1996, p. 195). In the 1990s the Musée des Religions was
proach has its dangers, not least that the “host” majority
opened in Nicolet, Quebec, and the St. Mungo Museum of
community will feel alienated, and this may particularly be
Religious Art and Life, in Glasgow, Scotland; the motive for
true where “their” museums pay little attention to what
both was the encouragement of mutual respect and under-
many may still see as “their” faith (Hooper-Greenhill, 1997;
standing among mixed populations.
Paine, 2000).
Other museums that seek to address religion on a world-
MUSEUMS AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE. Museums have long
wide basis stem from faith backgrounds but ones that accept
had a role in religious change. Nineteenth-century European
that there are many paths to the truth and that an under-
missionaries frequently sent home items relating to the for-
mer religions of their converts; in their new homes these ob-
standing of their different routes will help everyone on the
jects took on a new life, often symbolizing the dark Other
journey. The earliest of these was surely Glencairn Museum
and feeding racism as much as commitment to mission.
at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, established by the Swedenbor-
Today many of these objects survive in European and North
gian bishop William Henry Benade in 1879. The Eternal
American ethnography museums, like the Royal Museum for
Heritage Museum is part of the Sai Baba Ashram at Putta-
Central Africa at Tervuren in Belgium (Wastiau, 2000), or,
parthy, Andhra Pradesh, India, while the Museum of World
less often, in museums set up by missionary societies them-
Religions in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 2001 by Bud-
selves, like the Norwegian Missionary Society’s Museum of
dhist Master Shih Hsin-tao. The Museum of the History of
Mission in Stavanger, Norway. Much more research is need-
Religion in St. Petersburg, Russia, is a museum whose de-
ed into the role these religious objects took on in their new
clared purpose has changed dramatically. In 1932 the Kazan
homes: to what extent was their “religious” function remem-
Cathedral was turned by the Soviet state into a Museum of
bered, or were they regarded simply as “works of art”?
Atheism; after the fall of the Soviet Union the cathedral was
returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the museum
What kind of new material culture was adopted by con-
has become the Museum of the History of Religion, housed
verts has been even less explored by museums until recently.
in a new building.
Fieldwork carried out by the British Museum in the New
Guinea Highlands in 1990, presented in a book and an exhi-
MUSEUMS AND THEIR PUBLICS. Museums today are making
bition, contrasted the incorporation of much traditional cul-
a bigger effort than at any time since the mid-nineteenth cen-
ture by Wahgi converts to Roman Catholicism, while evan-
tury to engage with their communities and to attract wider
gelical converts were urged to make a radical break
audiences. The fashionable terms are access, social inclusion,
(O’Hanlon, 1990, p. 35). Nor has much attention—at least
and outreach, and if museums seem reluctant to tackle reli-
in English-language literature—been given to change in the
gion in their permanent displays, the situation is improving
perspective of those studying religion. So far there has been
in their public programming. In Europe and North America,
little attention given to changes brought to the way religion
at least, there is a growing number of temporary exhibitions
is interpreted in museums by the collapse of Marxism in the
that treat aspects of religion. Some—notably the 2000 See-
countries of the former Soviet Union.
ing Salvation exhibition at London’s National Gallery—take
their theme to a new level of serious debate and public re-
During the Civil War in Bosnia many museums and
sponse. Education programs, too, regularly tackle religious
many mosques and churches were damaged and destroyed.
subjects, sometimes deliberately underpinning the school
Often the heritage of the enemy becomes a target for hatred
curriculum but often seeking to address cultural diversity
and destruction, and where intercommunal struggle is also
issues.
religious conflict, museums can seldom escape becoming in-
volved, even if they try hard to remain even-handed and
Museums have adopted a variety of methods of consult-
above the fray—although too often they enthusiastically take
ing with their publics and encouraging their participation.
sides. Museums, too, are often deeply involved in struggles
St. Mungo’s Museum in Glasgow uses a “feed-back board”
between religious and secular interests and can be created to
on which visitors are encouraged to pin their comments and
assert secular values over religious. The great Byzantine
remarks; these have been the subject of a fascinating analysis
church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was turned into a
by the French sociologist of religion Patrick Michel (Michel,
mosque in 1453, but in 1932 it was turned into a museum
1999).
as part of Atatürk’s secularization campaign (Tunbridge and
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSEUMS AND RELIGION
6247
Ashworth, 1996). The nearby sultan’s palace was also turned
of display and preservation accorded to each further requires
into a museum, so that the relics of the Prophet, brought
sensitivity and knowledge of religion not simply as a histori-
from Cairo in 1517, are now cared for by a secular museum.
cal entity but as a living reality. A working partnership be-
tween museum professionals and religion scholars will be
FURTHER PERSPECTIVES ON MUSEUMS AND RELIGION. Mu-
necessary to face the challenge of maintaining within the mu-
seums aspire to tell the story—stories—of humankind, to
seum environment the individual integrity of the two work-
celebrate human creativity, to inspire, to be a forum for pub-
ing principles of museums as caretakers of cultural and reli-
lic debate, to research every aspect of material culture, and
gious patrimony and of religion as a communicator of social,
to raise people’s awareness of their environment and history.
cultural, or moral values.
There is scarcely an aspect of human life and endeavor, or
of the natural world in which we live, that museums have
SEE ALSO Art and Religion; Iconoclasm; Iconography;
not at some time or other claimed to explore and reflect
Icons; Idolatry; Images; Popular Culture; Visual Culture
upon. Traditionally, museums have been about acquisitions,
and Religion.
preservation, and presentation of both the works in their per-
manent collections and special exhibitions. They have been
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the centers for explanations and explorations of the ways in
The growth in their numbers and repute has been reflected in a
which art, in its many forms and varieties, has influenced,
significant growth in academic interest in museums: their
shaped, or reflected human history and achievements. The
collections, what prompts people to collect and what is going
stories of diverse communities—social, ethnic, and reli-
on when they do, their political context, their social func-
gious—have been told in museums; individual artists and cu-
tion, their history, their educational role and how people
rators have presented traditional and controversial opinions
learn in museums. As Pearce (1999, p. 1) puts it, “It is . . .
about religion, politics, and gender through special exhibi-
incumbent upon the investigator to try to find ways in
tions or permanent displays. Globally, museums have be-
which, first, the social meanings of individual objects can be
come the storage sites for objects once created for religious
unraveled; second, the significance of the museum as a cul-
purposes but now rendered mundane.
tural institution can be understood; and third the process
through which objects become component parts of collec-
As the idea of taste has been transformed from the con-
tions, and collections themselves acquire collective signifi-
cept of selection and decision with moral valuing to that of
cance, can be appreciated.” A variety of approaches, derived
connoisseurship reflective of class and, thereby, economic
from other disciplines and philosophies, have informed the
growth of the modern discipline of museology, and recent
and social distinctions, there has been a parallel evolution in
scholarship has been increasingly concerned with ways in
the idea of the museum from its beginnings in the Enlighten-
which museums display culture, construct difference, and
ment into the twenty-first century. However, in recent years,
produce relations of power. But there has been disappoint-
the irony has become that as ethically charged issues confront
ingly little crossover between such scholarship and the equal-
museums each successive day—from the question of the re-
ly lively field of religious studies. O’Neill (1996), Paine
patriation of sacred objects to that of the censorship of dis-
(2000), Clavir (2002), and Gaskell (2003) comprise most of
plays or exhibitions in response to religiously motivated cri-
the literature in English on museums and religion, while the
tiques, as, for example, in the outcries surrounding the
wider topic of the material culture of religion is admirably
exhibitions of Edwina Sandys’s sculptures to Andres Serra-
introduced by Plate (2002).
no’s photography to Chris Offili’s paintings—museums face
Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief is the only
challenges related to or inspired by religion. As the twenty-
journal devoted to the material culture of religion. Published
first century unfolds, museums will continue to play signifi-
three times a year, it gives close attention to museum issues.
cant roles in the lives of individuals, communities, and na-
Three leading museum journals, which occasionally cover re-
tions; thereby cultural and religious values will continue to
ligious matters, are UNESCO’s quarterly Museum Interna-
impinge upon, to illuminate, and to question each other.
tional, the American Association of Museums’ bimonthly
Museum News, and the (U.K.) Museums Association’s
As the role and purpose of the arts, including perfor-
monthly Museums Journal.
mance and display, garners more attention from scholars of
Valuable websites on museums in general include the Canadian
religion, the museum both as an individual entity and as an
Heritage Information Network website at http://
institutional repository of religious and sacred art will be-
www.chin.gc.ca, the J. Paul Getty Trust website at http://
come a focus for research and a conversation partner. Critical
www.getty.edu, and the International Council of Museums
to both museum studies and religious studies, if not to the
website at http://www.icom.org. At http://www.icom.org/
day-to-day practicality of museums, is the relationship be-
vlmp is ICOM’s invaluable gateway to museum sites
tween publicly or privately funded institutions in their dis-
throughout the world; a new museum site is added every day.
plays, presentations, research, and programs for religious and
Altick, Richard D. The Shows of London. Cambridge, Mass, 1978.
sacred art. The curatorial responsibility in recognizing and
Arnold, Ken. “Birth and Breeding: Politics on Display at the
privileging the religious history and values of works of art
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.” In The Pol-
presents a profound responsibility. The questions of distin-
itics of Display: Museums, Science, Culture, edited by Sharon
guishing between religious art and sacred art and the modes
MacDonald. London, 1998.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6248
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
Asma, Stephen T. Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Culture
Tunbridge, J. E., and G. J. Ashworth. Dissonant Heritage: The
and Evolution of Natural History Museums. New York, 2001.
Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict. Chichester,
Clavir, Miriam. Preserving What Is Valued: Museums, Conservation
U.K., 1996.
and First Nations. Vancouver, 2002.
Wastiau, Boris. ExitCongoMuseum. Tervuren, Belgium, 2000.
Davis, Peter. “Ecomuseums and the Democratisation of Japanese
Williams, Jonathan. “Sacred History? The Difficult Subject of Re-
Museology.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 10, no.
ligion.” In Enlightenment: Discovering the World in the Eigh-
1 (March 2004): 93–110.
teenth Century, edited by Kim Sloan with Andrew Burnett.
Duah, Francis Boakye. “Community Initiative and National Sup-
London, 2003.
port at the Ahante Cultural Centre.” In Museums and the
Wittlin, Alma S. Museums: In Search of a Useable Future. Cam-
Community in West Africa, edited by Claude Daniel Ardouin
bridge, U.K., 1970.
and Emmanuel Arinze. Washington, D.C., 1995.
Yanni, Carla. Nature’s Museums: Victorian Science and the Architec-
Duncan, Carol. “Art Museums and the Ritual of Citizenship.” In
ture of Display. Baltimore, 1999.
The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display, edited by Ivan
Karp and Steven D. Lavine, pp. 88–103. Washington, D.C.,
CRISPIN PAINE (2005)
1990.
Duncan, Carol. Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums.
London, 1995.
MUSIC
Gaskell, Ivan. “Sacred to Profane and Back Again.” In Art and Its
This entry consists of the following articles:
Publics: Museum Studies at the Millennium, edited by Andrew
MUSIC AND RELIGION
McClellan. Malden, Mass., 2003.
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Habermas, Jurgen. The Structural Transformation of the Public
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cam-
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN OCEANIA
bridge, U.K., 1989.
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTH AMERICA
Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge.
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
London, 1992.
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean, ed. Cultural Diversity: Developing Mu-
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN CHINA, KOREA, AND TIBET
seum Audiences in Britain. London, 1997.
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN JAPAN
Koven, Seth. “The Whitechapel Picture Exhibitions and the Poli-
MUSIC AND RELIGION IN GREECE, ROME, AND
tics of Seeing.” In Museum Culture: Histories, Discourses,
BYZANTIUM
RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
Spectacles, edited by Daniel J. Sherman and Irit Rogoff,
pp. 22–48. Minneapolis, Minn., 1994.
Lorente, J. Pedro. Cathedrals of Urban Modernity: The First Muse-
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
ums of Contemporary Art, 1830–1930. Aldershot, U.K.,
Music and religion are closely linked in relationships as com-
1998.
plex, diverse, and difficult to define as either term in itself.
Michel, Patrick. La Religion au Musée: Croire dans l’Europe Con-
Religious believers have heard music as the voices of gods and
temporaine. Paris, 1999.
the cacophony of devils, praised it as the purest form of spiri-
O’Hanlon, Michael. Paradise: Portraying the New Guinea High-
tuality, and condemned it as the ultimate in sensual depravi-
lands. London, 1990.
ty; with equal enthusiasm they have promoted its use in wor-
O’Neill, Mark. “Making Histories of Religion.” In Making Histo-
ship and sought to eradicate it from both religious and
ries in Museums, edited by Gaynor Kavanagh. London, 1996.
secular life. Seldom a neutral phenomenon, music has a high
Paine, Crispin. “Religion in London’s Museums.” In Godly
positive or negative value that reflects its near-universal im-
Things: Museums, Objects and Religion, edited by Crispin
portance in the religious sphere. This importance—perhaps
Paine. London, 2000.
difficult to appreciate for post-industrial-revolution West-
Pearce, Susan M. Museums, Objects and Collections: A Cultural
erners accustomed to reducing music to the secondary realms
Study. Leicester, U.K., 1992.
of “art,” “entertainment,” and occasional “religious” music
Pearce, Susan M., ed. Interpreting Objects and Collections. London,
isolated behind sanctuary walls—has nonetheless been per-
1994.
vasive.
Plate, S. Brent, ed. Religion, Art and Visual Culture: A Cross-
Religious “texts” have been sung, not written, through-
Cultural Reader. New York, 2002.
out most of human history; and religious behavior has found
Shackley, Myra. Managing Sacred Sites: Service Provision and Visi-
musical articulation in almost every religious tradition. Nav-
tor Experience. London, 2001.
ajo priests are “singers”; the primary carriers of Sinhala tradi-
Simpson, Moira G. Making Representations: Museums in the Post-
tional religion are drummers and dancers; and the shamans
Colonial Era. London, 1996.
of northern Eurasia and Inner Asia use music as their princi-
Study, David, and Martin Henig. The Gentle Traveller: John Bar-
pal medium of contact with the spirit world. Through the
grave, Canon of Canterbury, and His Collection. Abingdon,
centuries, priests, monks, and other specialists have sung the
U.K., n.d.
Christian masses, Buddhist pu¯ja¯s, Islamic calls to prayer,
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6249
Hindu sacrifices, and other ceremonies that form the basis
widely held religious beliefs that music is not humanly, but
of organized religious observances in the world’s major
rather, divinely patterned. To members of traditions holding
religions.
that music or, at least, religious music originates with the
gods or with devils, the assertion of the human origin of
The values, uses, and forms of religious music are as di-
music must seem the ultimate in Western materialistic dog-
verse and culture-specific as the religious traditions in which
matism, however scientifically neutral it may seem to the
they are found. Christian liturgical music is generally as char-
outsider.
acteristically “European” as Hindu devotional music is “Indi-
an”; both use sounds, forms, and instruments from their re-
Even definitions as simple as the dictionary staple “art
spective cultures and have contributed greatly to the overall
of sounds” carry ethnocentric and sectarian implications. In
musical life of their own regions. Yet music, like religion, can
many religious contexts, music is less an expressive “art” than
transcend cultural limits; the religious musical systems of
a technology applied to produce practical results, from the
Ethiopia and Tibet, for example, differ almost as greatly from
storage and retrieval of information contained in religious
the secular musics of their own respective cultures as the mu-
narratives and teachings memorized in song to the attraction
sics of foreign countries.
of animals in hunting, increase of harvests, curing of diseases,
communication with the divine, supplication, and control of
Religious musical systems may also extend across cultur-
the various levels of psychocosmic experience. While aesthet-
al boundaries. Islam, for example, has forged musical links
ic beauty may or may not be integral to such technologies,
across vast regions of Asia and Africa; and North American
individual self-expression plays little part in them and may
traditions such as the Ghost Dance and the peyote cult have
be detrimental to their intended results.
created musical bridges between very diverse ethnic groups.
Other well-known intercultural religious musical traditions
The concept of music as an “art” carries overtones of a
include Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and West Afri-
late European ideology based on the sanctity of self-
can/Latin American possession music. Additional cases may
expression and individualism, ultimately rooted in Greek
include (1) the drumming and singing of Asian shamans,
and Judeo-Christian notions of ego, self, and soul. For some
perhaps constituting a related tradition stretching from Scan-
traditions, music is antithetical to the very notion of an indi-
dinavia to the Himalayas, and possibly even extending into
vidual self or soul. One group of Buddhist texts takes music
the Americas; (2) the epic songs, based on improvisatory re-
as the archetypal embodiment of impermanence and condi-
combinations of traditional song segments, of Central Asia
tioned causality, dependent on external sources and condi-
and eastern Europe; (3) the bronze gong ensembles, associat-
tions, in order to show that there can be no such thing as
ed with cosmological and calendrical symbolism and func-
an individual self. By contrast, modern Western scholars
tions, of Southeast Asia; (4) perhaps the ancient sacrificial
tend to view music, at least in its ideally purest forms, as fun-
chants, linked to modal systems built on tetrachords, of
damentally independent of external causes and conditions;
Indo-European peoples extending from India to Greece; and
they draw a sharp line between “extramusical” elements such
(5) conceivably an even wider connection between Chinese,
as symbolism, function, purpose, and so forth, and “the
Indian, and Greek conceptions of music as an embodiment
music itself,” which is supposed to consist of pure arrange-
of universal cosmological and mathematical laws.
ments of tones. This concept of music seems to reflect Euro-
Yet, second only to its universal occurrence, diversity is
pean post-Renaissance religious concepts of an autonomous
the most characteristic feature of religious music, even in the
and inviolable soul wholly contained in the body of the indi-
great intercultural religious traditions. Christian music, for
vidual. Perhaps it also reflects postfeudal economic concepts
example, includes not only Gregorian plainsong, Palestrina
of individual entrepreneurial freedom, just as the Buddhist
masses, Protestant hymns, and Bach oratorios but also the
concept of an impermanent music resulting from temporary
resonant basses of the Russian Orthodox choir, the ornate
combinations of causes and conditions reflects basic Bud-
melodies of Greek Orthodox chant, and the percussion-
dhist religious beliefs.
accompanied dances of Ethiopian Coptic worship; in the
Even sound may not play a decisive role in religious
postcolonial era, it encompasses West African rhythms, and
concepts of music, at least not in any technical sense. When
metallic sonorities of the Javanese gamelan orchestra, and the
fundamentalist Muslims ban recordings of Western popular
driving beat and electronic tones of the rock band as well.
music and fundamentalist Christians burn them, they are
Hindu music aimed at helping to achieve the meditative state
not necessarily reacting to the melodic or chordal structures
of sama¯dhi can employ the very non-Indian sounds of Indo-
that constitute the essence of music for the technically ori-
nesian bronze instruments. Musical diversity in its religious
ented outsider. The “music of the spheres” extolled by early
and cultural contexts will be treated in other articles; here,
Christian writers was not sound in the sense of physical
I shall discuss some panreligious and pancultural issues.
waves propagated in a gaseous medium; and, in Tibetan
DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS. Given the close links between
Buddhist thought, music consists of both the “actually pres-
musical and religious concepts, a nonsectarian definition of
ent music” produced by sound-making voices and instru-
music may be impossible. For example, one common defini-
ments and the “mentally produced music” perceived and
tion of music as “humanly patterned sound” conflicts with
imagined by each listener, with different results according to
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
individual differences in experience, skill, and imagination.
polyphonic art? The question, if not meaningless, is at least
Religious traditions have by and large no more conceived
inelegant.
music to consist of sounds and the “extramusical” than they
have considered persons to be made up of the physical body
Musics, like religions, are most meaningfully defined in
and the “extrapersonal.” Hence, even the most basic techni-
their own terms. Along with aspects of musical sounds and
cal definition of music will ignore or deny essential aspects
their structural relationships, religious definitions frequently
of music as conceived by many religions, while labels such
take into consideration such factors as cosmological and
as “symbolism” applied to nonacoustic aspects may appear
mathematical laws, divine origin or inspiration, psychologi-
misguided or even hostile from a believer’s perspective.
cal and emotional effects, social and ethical implications, re-
lations or contrasts between religious and secular musics, and
The very attempt to define music neutrally and open-
a wide range of other elements.
mindedly might be objectionable from some religious view-
points. For certain Christians, some kinds of secular music
Since the selection of factors varies widely from one reli-
and the musics of other religions are the works of the devil
gious tradition to another, as does the relative importance as-
and should not be mentioned without condemnation; on the
signed to any particular element, an approach that attempted
other hand, for the Maha¯ya¯na Buddhist author Sa Skya
to define all religious musics “in their own terms” would re-
Pan:d:ita, all music deserves praise because it relieves human
sult in a collection of mutually unintelligible approaches to
suffering. Some Muslims would object to a discussion of
what must on some level be a cosmically, divinely, or human-
QurDanic vocalizations and other songs under the same head-
ly universal topic. For want of a better solution, we must dis-
ing and would assign negative connotations to music in gen-
cuss music and religion in the terms most widely shared by
eral; but some S:u¯f¯ı writers discuss music only in terms of
the full range of musical and religious traditions; and these,
highest praise for its capacity to lead to spiritual fulfillment,
in the first place, require attention to the technical elements
and they would consider a neutral approach as evidence of
of music and of the paramusical phenomena found in reli-
a lack of real understanding or appreciation of music’s most
gious contexts.
important meanings and values.
TECHNICAL FEATURES. Music has its technical basis in
Many religions and cultures do not have a concept cor-
human voices and/or musical instruments that produce
responding to “music” or “religious music.” For Islam,
sounds with patterned acoustical characteristics. Religious
al-mu¯s¯ıq¯ı (“music”) is, in principle, what the West might
traditions often stress a distinction between vocal and instru-
consider secular music, controversial for its potential to mis-
mental music and frequently assign higher value to vocal
lead believers into sensual distractions; melodic vocalizations
music. This is usually because of its capacity to communicate
of the QurDa¯n and certain religious poetry are not “music,”
meanings through the words of song texts, because the
however musical they may seem on technical and aesthetic
human body seems more a part of divine creation than in-
grounds. To avoid violating the integrity of a tradition by
struments created by human artifice, or because of negative
imposing a dissonant external viewpoint, it might help to
associations of instruments and their music. In some tradi-
consider all such cases of performances that sound musical
tions, such as the Mennonite churches and Therava¯da Bud-
to the outsider, but are not music to the insider, as “para-
dhist monasteries, vocal music is performed a cappella, with-
musical.”
out instrumental accompaniment. No cases are known in
which vocal music is rejected entirely in favor of instrumen-
Cultures as diverse as those of Ethiopia (Shelemay,
tal music; but there are significant examples (such as the Si-
1982) and modern Tibet have distinct terms and concepts
berian shaman’s drum) where instruments and their music
for religious and secular music, with no common category
equal or overshadow vocal music in religious importance.
of “music” to unite them. The music of the Chinese chin (a
type of zither), on the other hand, is clearly conceived as
Patterned human vocalizations take two forms: speech,
music and has strong roots in Confucian and Daoist con-
emphasizing contrastive distinctions between units (pho-
cepts and practices; but it certainly is not “religious” in the
nemes, syllables, words) with distinct meanings, and singing,
same sense as the singing of monks in Buddhist or Daoist
emphasizing prolonged continuity of sounds with controlled
temples. And, although the point lends itself all too easily to
pitch (frequency of vibration). Singing without words pro-
distortion and romanticism, it is a well-known fact that in
duces a melody, a patterned sequence of tones; with words
many small-scale kinship-based societies of hunters, nomads,
sung to the melody, one has a song. A song may be sung on
and subsistence farmers, where formal role distinctions are
a single, steady pitch level (monotone); or its melody may
much less prominent than in bureaucratized state civiliza-
rise and fall to any number of higher and lower pitches, the
tions, it is often as difficult to draw a clear line between “sa-
total of which, arranged in ascending or descending order,
cred” and “secular” musics as it is between religion and every-
are its scale; or it may consist of continuous, gradually shift-
day life. Are Pygmy honey-gathering songs part of a
ing tone contours without distinctly separate high or low le-
traditional ritual, a comic entertainment, a social regulatory
vels. Sets of musical scales may be conceived as modes that
system designed to ensure and enhance egalitarian universal
incorporate standard melodic patterns, ethical and cosmo-
participation in community life, or an aesthetically exquisite
logical implications, and other non-acoustic features.
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6251
Religious traditions may place greater value and empha-
meter of poetic stanzas, with the same number of syllables
sis on either words or melody; and vocal styles may range
and beats recurring in successive lines. However, musical set-
from formally simple, with few up-and-down melodic move-
tings may also utilize different rhythmic patterns from the
ments to avoid distortion of the words of the texts, to more
texts set to them. Dance rhythms provide cues of accent and
elaborate, with complex melismatic movements to enhance
patterning to coincide with movements of the body; they
musical beauty. It was once widely believed that such differ-
range in style from syncopated (favoring sounds that fall be-
ences represented an evolutionary sequence from “primitive”
tween and overlap beats) and very fast styles associated with
chant to musical art; but, as Edith Gerson-Kiwi (1961) has
some African American possession religions to the asymmet-
convincingly argued, melodic simplicity may be a deliberate-
rical, extremely slow rhythms used in Tibetan Buddhist
ly developed stylistic alternative to elaborate secular styles in
dances.
complex cultures. Varying textual/musical emphasis may re-
Musical instruments are scientifically classed into four
flect varying mythic/ritual applications, stressing either the
groups according to the means used to produce sound: idio-
informational content of religious narratives or the aesthetic
phones (bells, gongs, etc.), which produce sound by means
beauty or power of a religious offering. Contrasting textual/
of a solid vibrating body; membranophones (drums, etc.),
musical emphases may also reflect differences in communi-
which utilize a stretched membrane; chordophones (lutes,
cating with human believers in an intelligible language, or
harps, etc.), which use strings; and aerophones (flutes, trum-
with spirits or gods, who may prefer the special mode of mu-
pets, etc.), in which vibrating air produces the sound. Instru-
sical communication.
ments of all these classes are widely used in religious music,
Melodies may be performed as a solo by a single singer
although one class or another is looked on with special favor
or instrument player, in unison by a chorus of singers, or ac-
or disfavor by various religious traditions. Instruments are
companied by other singers or instruments playing indepen-
often played in groups or ensembles. These are sometimes
dent, distinct musical parts. They may be arranged so as to
called “bands” or “orchestras,” with the latter term technical-
occur simultaneously with other melodies (polyphony), with
ly implying greater size and more variety of instrument types;
a steady-pitch monotone (drone), or with conventionally ar-
but the terms are often used simply to connote a lesser or
ranged sequences (harmony) of other pitches or simulta-
greater degree of respect on the writer’s part.
neous-pitch clusters (chords). The most musically complex
Some Western writings on religion and music, particu-
of these features may occur in the smallest local religions of
larly works by early scholars and missionaries, contain mis-
the sociopolitically and technologically simplest cultures.
nomers that convey false technical implications. Most com-
Generally, such traditions tend toward maximum religious
mon is the term primitive, which implies both “early” and
and musical participation by the whole group, while the
“simple”; in fact, historical evolutionary chronologies of mu-
“great” religions of urban civilizations tend toward complex
sical types are speculative and controversial, and the term has
patterns of religious and musical specialization. However,
been indiscriminately applied solely on racial grounds to mu-
the existence of religious and musical specialists such as the
sics comparable in complexity and sophistication to the
shaman in small cultures, of complex divisions of musical
music of any known civilization. Words such as noise, din,
function in the group performances of hunter-gatherers such
and cacophony often simply indicate lack of understanding
as the Pygmies and San, and of movements toward commu-
or sympathy.
nity religious and musical participation such as the growth
Instruments are frequently misnamed; for example, fla-
of the Lutheran chorale and Buddhist monastic chant in
geolet, the name of a flute, is widely applied to oboes and
urban civilizations in Europe and India, show that even the
trumpets; tambourine, a frame drum with jingles, is used for
most general rules may find exceptions in religious and musi-
every kind of drum; and guitar and harp, applied to almost
cal traditions.
any chordophone. A more ambiguous usage is chant, a term
Rhythms are the product of patterned accents and
that should carry technical implications of free rhythm, lim-
“long” and “short” durations of sounds. Their patterns may
ited pitch range, and a relatively simple melodic style. In fact,
be varying groups of irregular or equal-length beats (abstract
the term is widely used as a simple synonym for “religious
or actually played accent/time units) and pulses (shortest
vocalization” or “religious song,” even in cases of melodically
units actually played); or patterns may recur in cycles of the
and rhythmically very complex music; hence, it may impart
same number of beats played again and again. Rhythms and
the misleading impression that a music is of inferior aesthetic
cycles may be classified as appropriate to specific gods and
quality simply by virtue of its being religious.
ritual activities, and some traditions (such as Tantric Bud-
ORIGINS, MYTHS, AND SYMBOLISM. The close relationship
dhism) use mathematical beat groups extending into the
of music and religion may imply, as some myths and legends
hundreds to musically embody cosmological and other reli-
claim, a common or related origin. From the eighteenth to
gious concepts. Rhythms often form a link between music,
the early twentieth century, evolution-oriented scholars de-
words, and dance. In songs with prose texts, musical rhythms
bated theories of musical origins in the sounds of birds and
are often free, varying along with long-short syllable and sen-
animals, emotional cries of grief at funerals, language intona-
tence patterns; while songs with poetic texts often reflect the
tions, stylized recitations of religious texts, and animistic awe
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
of “voices” heard in natural objects such as shells and bam-
“Hallelujah” chorus—to say nothing of the religious experi-
boo tubes, and so forth. All such theories proving no less
ences the chorus continues to evoke for many of its perform-
speculative and resistant to objective investigation than the
ers—may indicate the viability of such concepts even in cul-
traditional myths they were meant to replace, the issue grad-
tures that favor ideas of human composition of music over
ually lost scientific interest, and it is now all but ignored in
divine creation and that tend to conceptualize musical “in-
musical research. But, as if in discouragement at having
spiration” in more secular terms.
failed to construct their own myth of musical origins, schol-
Specific beliefs in music coming to us from other realms
ars also made little effort to explore the origin question in
and beings may be a special case of a more general belief in
its traditional context of religious mythology; and today we
the otherness, the special or extraordinary nature, of music
still find ourselves in the “surprising” position of finding, as
in human experience. Such beliefs are seldom rooted in sim-
did Alan P. Merriam (1964, p. 74), “that there seem to be
ple perceptions of music as strange and alien but rather seem
almost no available accounts of beliefs concerning the ulti-
based on recognition of the beauty and power of music.
mate origin of music.”
Thus, even when some traditions condemn music, they are
Accessible information, while insufficient to allow for
condemning aspects of it that other traditions find worthy
generalization or systematic analysis, is abundant enough to
of praise: music exerts a strong appeal on humans, spirits, or
show that music is as diverse in myths of origin as in any
gods; it stimulates sensual, bodily, and mental involvement,
other of its aspects. Music may be thought to originate in a
and so on. Does the power of music come from physical sen-
primordial divine power, as in the na¯da-brahman “God-as-
sations of breath, motion, and vibration, from cognitions of
sound” of Hinduism, or in the efforts and discoveries of such
proportion and symmetry as unexpected and serendipitous
human originators as Jubal and his father Lamech, briefly
in the auditory realm as geometric arrays in nature, from so-
mentioned in Jewish and Islamic traditions (see Gn. 4:21),
cially and culturally conditioned associations? Is there one
or Fuxi and Huangdi, in Chinese legend the discoverers of
explanation, or are there separate causes for different kinds
music and its mathematical-cosmological basis. Music may
of musics and experiences? Whatever the answer, music en-
also play a cosmogonic role in the origin or maintenance of
hances, intensifies, and—in ways that may elude precise
the world, as in the drum-playing and cosmic dance of the
analysis and control but which are nevertheless apparent
Hindu god S´iva Nataraja or in widespread stories of gods
both to participants and observers—transforms almost any
who “sing” their creations and creatures into existence.
experience into something felt not only as different but also
as somehow better. In this transformative power, music re-
The creation of individual pieces of music and musical
sembles religion itself; and when the energies of music and
instruments may involve contact with the divine. In the vi-
religion are focused on the same object in an isofunctional
sion quest of the Plains Indians, individuals would go out
adaptation of both toward a common meaning and goal, in-
alone into the wilderness to fast and seek divine messages re-
tensification reaches a peak greater perhaps than either might
vealed in songs, which they would then bring back to en-
achieve by itself. Thus, the “otherness” of music and the
hance the religious and musical life of the community. The
“other” levels of reality and beings encountered in religion
Asian shaman’s quest for a drum may take him to the center
merge into a heightened synthesis of religious-musical
of the world and the beginning of time, just as the Australian
experience. The possibility of such a synthesis may help to
Aborigine’s dreaming of songs may provide a link to the pri-
explain the aspect of music in religion that we usually call
mordial Dreaming. Musical creation may even move in the
symbolism.
opposite direction, from the human world to the divine, as
in the case of the Tibetan composer Milaraspa (1040–1123),
Symbolism is a problematic concept for both religion
whose songs are said to have been “imported” to heaven by
and music. Like the gods and spirits who remain invisible to
the mkha’ ’gro ma goddesses who, like their counterparts in
an outside observer or to a camera, music’s religious mean-
many other religions, fill the Tibetan Buddhist heavens with
ings and functional effects that elude capture by micro-
their music.
phones and tape recorders may strike the uninitiated outsider
as pure symbolism and yet be at least as real as its physical
The idea that music originally belonged to “other”
sounds to the aware and sensitive insider. For the Aztec,
places, times, persons, or beings is found in many myths,
songs were flowers, birds, pictures, and the spirits of dead
sometimes with connotations of conflict and conquest, as in
warriors called back to earth (Bierhorst, 1985); we ourselves
the South American and Melanesian legends of male theft
would probably find it easier to agree that a song “is” a pic-
of sacred flutes from the women who originally possessed
ture than that a song is, rather than symbolizes, a spirit. And
them. However, the discovery or creation of music is more
if we adopt the kind of viewpoint that reduces the symbolic
often a joyful or ecstatic experience, as in the many vocal and
relationship between symbol and meaning to questions of
instrumental pieces and religious dances of Tantric Bud-
physical-intangible and real-unreal, thus disposing of the
dhism experienced in dreams and meditations as celestial
spirits, we still have not decided whether songs are the sym-
performances and then recomposed by the meditator for per-
bols of flowers or vice versa. One senses that either choice
formance in the human world. Handel’s often-quoted ac-
is equally arbitrary; but if both are admissible as the real basis
count of seeing God and the angels while composing the
of the symbol, then why not the spirits as well?
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6253
Even if we take musical symbolism as a comparative and
Contrary to a famous assertion by Lévi-Strauss, Wagner
technical question of meanings attributed to sounds and
was far from the first, even in the Judeo-Christian tradition,
forms, there are further questions of how so abstract and
to structurally “analyze” myths through music, for there are
nondiscursive a medium can symbolize effectively, other
European precedents for the musical structuring of mythic
than by purely arbitrary association, in the absence of explicit
narratives and themes going back to the Middle Ages, and
content that would lend itself to unambiguous communica-
far older examples from other parts of the world. These range
tion. Some hear the diabolical in sounds that others find sa-
in complexity from dramatizations as musically elaborate as
cred; cross-cultural searches for even the most general agree-
Bach’s or Wagner’s (for example, the many performance
ment on music’s cognitive or emotional significance have
genres of the Hindu epics Ra¯ma¯yan:a and Maha¯bha¯rata in
been unrewarding. There even seems to be a contradiction
South and Southeast Asia), to the almost universal forms of
in the attempt to encode or decipher symbolic meanings in
mythic vocalization that utilize a simple binary contrast of
music: its aesthetic power seems to rely on the manipulation
sung myth/unsung ordinary discourse, or melodic and rhyth-
of abstract forms, however defined by a given culture and
mic highlighting of important words and passages to create
style, to the extent that subjecting form to an externally im-
a musically enhanced structure for a mythic narrative. For
posed system of meanings and functions might imply con-
most religions throughout history, myths have been em-
flicts of purpose and musically inferior results.
bodied not in written literature but in musical performance;
and such performances provide one of the most characteristic
Yet, if a symbol is that which stands for and reveals
bridges between religious belief and action, between myth
something other than itself, then music throughout the
and ritual.
world has been accepted as successfully symbolizing the
“other” of religion. Part of its success must derive from its
TIME, SPACE, AND RITUAL. Music is widely used as a demar-
generally perceived qualities of otherness and extraordinari-
cator of ritual time and space. In traditional settings all over
ness, and perhaps even from the very abstractness that frees
the world, one may enter a community just before or during
it from associations too narrow to be associated with religious
a ritual performance and be drawn toward the center of reli-
goals and meanings. But symbolic effectiveness must also rely
gious activity by musical sounds that grow progressively
on more specific associations than arbitrary applications to
stronger as one moves toward the center. At the ceremonial
meanings or goals, which, even though they may be isofunc-
site, music may emanate from the exact center of action; or
tionally linked to the goals of religious practice, may still ap-
musicians may be placed at the borders of the ritual site, cre-
pear extrinsic to the music. If such associations do not arise
ating a boundary zone of maximum sensual stimulation
from explicit musical content, then they must result from
through which one passes to enter the ritual area itself. In
specific forms that accord with other meaningful forms in
either case, the ceremonial space is pervaded by musical
the religious sphere. Isoformalism of shared musical and reli-
sounds that, more than any other element, fill the entire sa-
gious forms, then, may combine with isofunctional applica-
cred area with a tangible energy and evidence that a special
situation has been created.
tions to produce music that effectively symbolizes a religious
object, and moreover without compromising the aesthetic
Sometimes architectural or geographic isolation is used
integrity or viability of music as a medium of structured
to confine the sound to the ritual space, and the music be-
forms. Taking religious inspiration as the primary element
comes an intimate or secret experience restricted to ritual
in the process, this synthesis would occur when the form of
participants and unheard by the general public. In other con-
a religious experience, action, image, or statement stimulated
texts, musical contrasts may mark the boundaries of sacred
the creation of a corresponding musical form appropriate to
spaces by reserving different styles or sounds for sacred cen-
and effective in the context of the musical system of its par-
ters and profane peripheries: for example, Christian churches
ticular culture or religious tradition.
with bells that ring on the outside and organ music on the
inside, or Therava¯da Buddhist monastic ordinations with
When religious and musical forms and purposes thus
royal processional instruments outside the temple and choral
coincide, we have the kind of congruence that allows reli-
chanting inside.
gious meaning to pervade every aspect of music from its as-
sumed origin to the forms of individual instruments, songs,
Unlike works of visual art, which exist in their entirety
and pieces, and at every level of meaning from the most cen-
and all their details at any given moment, music unfolds
tral to the most peripheral, from the most general to the most
through time. Thus, it creates a temporal framework that
specific. The synthesis may be so complete as to leave no cer-
may be synchronized with ritual time in various ways. At the
tainty whether either component, religion or music, takes
simplest level, the beginning and ending of a musical perfor-
precedence over the other; and it certainly allows for influ-
mance may coincide with the beginning and end of a ritual
ence in both directions. There are, for example, not only
performance. Music may begin before a ritual and end after
myths of music, but also musics of myths; and the influence
it, enclosing the performance in a temporal bracket or frame;
of music on mythology is almost certainly more pervasive
or music may be performed selectively at temporal high
and more important than the influence of mythology on
points in ritual activity, highlighting significant periods of re-
music.
ligious action.
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
But music also structures the experience of time in more
build to a peak of musical and religious interaction with the
complex ways. The tempo of the sounds that constitute the
audience. Both musical intensity of creative improvisation
“events” of a musical performance may be considerably faster
and religious experiences of spirit possession occur within
or slower than the pace of everyday experience, and they may
this focal period, and both gradually fade away to more ordi-
combine in unusual temporal patterns. Music uses formal
nary levels as the ritual draws to an end. In such modes of
devices such as cyclicity, repetition, contrast, variation, and
application, music ceases to be a simple boundary marker,
development of one pattern of organization into another.
enhancer, or accompaniment to ritual action and religious
Any or all of these devices may be used to create perceptual
experience: musical and ritual structure and content begin
impressions of the extension or compression of a moment of
to take on more vital and significant relationships.
experience to a longer or shorter time than normal, the re-
turn of a previous moment, or the building of intensity to-
The most basic and widespread musical and ritual time-
ward a climax and emergence of a new structural and experi-
structuring device is repetition, often carried to such lengths
ential framework.
as to perplex or bore the outside observer. It may be that rep-
etition and redundancy serve to impart sensations of conti-
For both time and space, the structuring effect of music
nuity, stability, and security, that they aid concentration and
and other performance media may thus function in quite dis-
provide safeguards against distraction, or that they simply
tinct ways. The most obvious way is by contrastive marking
allow continuation of a “state of music” to enhance a ritual
of boundaries between music-filled sacred space/time and
performance. Whatever the cause, the use of repetition is
profane space/time without music. The musical preludes and
surely wide enough to show the importance of this little-
postludes performed before and after Christian services, or
understood formal device. However, except in unusual cases
the conch-shell trumpet notes sounded before and after
such as South Asian mantra, Japanese Nembutsu chanting,
many South Asian rituals, often from a temple door or gate-
and some kinds of instrumental accompaniments to rituals,
way, exemplify the boundary-marking aspect of music used
which may involve very prolonged repetitions, musical repe-
to highlight ritual activity by creating a sonic frame around
tition is almost always found in conjunction with variation,
it in time and space.
and each depends on the other.
A different mode of organization is used when the spa-
For example, we might consider three possible musical
tial and temporal centers, rather than the boundaries, of ritu-
settings for the beginning of the Christian Mass, “Kyrie elei-
al activity are brought into concentrated focus by music.
son / Christe eleison / Kyrie eleison.” (1) The same melody,
This phenomenon occurs at a conceptual or “symbolic” level
musical form, and so forth, is repeated in all three phrases.
when music is perceived as a spatio-temporal axis mundi, a
This would appear to minimize the effect of the textual varia-
channel of communication with spiritual realms and primor-
tion “Kyrie . . . / Christe . . . / Kyrie” and create a musical
dial eras. For example, singing the “drum lineage” songs of
analogue of the textual continuity provided by the triple rep-
the Tibetan Bon religion evokes a link with the beginning
etition of “eleison,” reinforcing the conceptual unity of the
of time and the center of the world.
plea for mercy expressed in all three phrases. (2) Each phrase
More concretely, the central spatiotemporal foci of ritu-
is set to a different melody or form. Here, the formal ana-
al actions in the physical world may be highlighted by musi-
logue is with the variation of initial words, rather than conti-
cal intensification, while movement toward or away from the
nuity and repetition, and the cognitive effect might be a
center is marked by gradually changing intensity rather than
heightened awareness that each phrase represents a new act
a sharp boundary. For example, the religious and musical
of asking mercy, even though there is textual repetition in
focus of a Sinhala Kohomba¯ Kanka¯riya ritual is in the drum-
the first and third phrases. (3) The beginning and ending
ming, singing, and dancing of the priests themselves; their
“Kyrie . . .” phrases are set to the same or a similar melody
sound is heard with decreasing intensity as one moves out-
or form, with the intervening “Christe . . .” set to a different
ward through the concentric rows of the audience in the
one.
open-walled ritual enclosure, through the streets of the vil-
Here, the use of musical variation and repetition corre-
lage, and on out through the fields of the surrounding dis-
sponds exactly with the variation and repetition of “Kyrie
trict, which may be the ultimate space consecrated by their
. . . / Christe . . . / Kyrie”; continuity and conceptual unity
performance.
are given cyclic expression in the identity of the beginning
In such cases, the consecrated space is defined by its rela-
and ending phrases, while the middle phrase receives the spe-
tion to the ritual action at its center, rather than by a bounda-
cial treatment of being given its own individual musical set-
ry at its edge; and the gradually diminishing intensities of
ting. Both repetition and variation in this context acquire a
musical sounds emanating from the center serve well to em-
different significance than in (1), with its triple repetition,
body this central-focal mode of spatial demarcation. A simi-
or (2), with its ongoing changes. The individualized setting
lar mode of temporal demarcation seems to occur in, for ex-
in the second phrase is likely to be experienced by performers
ample, the Shona Bira ritual described by Berliner (1978,
and observers alike as a special or climactic moment between
chap. 8), in which the mbira musicians begin their perfor-
the pattern established in the first phrase and repeated at the
mance with unobtrusive, unelaborate playing and gradually
end; and a participant might experience it as a special en-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION
6255
hancement of asking mercy in the name of Christ, without
unrelated. Perhaps one solution would be, in studying a cul-
special attention to the role played by musical forms. But the
ture, to adopt a comparative perspective that takes musical
formal differences remain: (1) with its repetition and sense
time as one of the fundamental modes of human time per-
of continuity and prolongation of a moment and action al-
ception and organization, whether or not the culture calls it
ready begun, (2) with its emphasis on change and newness,
by a term that also applies to calendrical or experiential time,
and (3) with its variation-repetition structure and sense of
just as we continue to identify and study “music” and “reli-
return to a previous moment when the text and music of the
gion” in cultures that have no equivalent terms. Since each
first phrase are repeated at the end.
culture and religion has its own concept of time, some such
artificially neutral viewpoint may be necessary to think clear-
Similar cases can be found in many religious traditions;
ly about questions of musical and ritual durations and struc-
for example, in the various settings of the Buddhist Triple
tures, questions that transcend both cultural and religious
Refuge, with its three-phrase invocation of Buddha, Dharma
boundaries.
(teaching), and Sam:gha (religious community). The actual
use of musical structuring through repetition and variation
SEE ALSO Chanting; Drums; Percussion and Noise.
is frequently much more complex, and each tradition tends
to develop its own characteristic styles. For example, many
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Christian Mass settings use extensive repetitions of text
There is no integrated study of this subject on a worldwide scale.
phrases such as “Kyrie eleison” with increasingly different
Older studies tended either toward ethnographic-scrapbook
variations of the melody, developing it into new forms, and
approaches, indiscriminately assembling all kinds of travel-
building to climaxes of musical intensity. Buddhist settings
er’s remarks on music hastily encountered and little under-
of the Triple Refuge, on the other hand, tend to use melodic
stood, or to evolutionist approaches meant to “explain” the
variation in more restrained ways, and concentrate instead
superiority of European religion and music. The articles on
on text/music repetitions that build to mathematical or ex-
music in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by
ponential permutations such as triple repetitions of a three-
James Hastings, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1917), exemplify both
phrase structure, resulting in a 32 formal structure, and per-
approaches. More recent research has favored field studies of
haps a sense of transcending cyclic repetition to reach a more
single communities or ethnic groups. Although such studies
abstractly perfect state. However such structures may be felt
have resulted in intensive exposure and considerably more
extensive and accurate firsthand information, they have also
or interpreted in their own traditions, it is clear that they
produced works that frequently tend to one-sided emphasis
make equally sophisticated but formally quite different use
of either religious or musical factors with inadequate atten-
of such features as continuity, change, and development of
tion to their mutual relationships. Readers who want to learn
basic elements into more complex forms. And since each in
more about the religious music of a given tradition should
its own context is only a small part of a much longer ritual
consult not only the bibliographies of the articles on music
performance, opportunities for complex structuring of musi-
that follow but also the general articles on the same religious
cal time are obviously great.
traditions elsewhere in the encyclopedia.
Yet, however natural the concept “musical time” may
The most extensive collection of studies of religious music by indi-
appear to us, we must treat the issue with caution. Western-
vidual authors writing on different areas and religions is the
Encyclopédie des musiques sacrées, edited by Jacques Porte
ers may not be the only ones to conceive of music and its
(Paris, 1968), and, in English, articles listed under the names
structures in temporal terms. For example, the Javanese
of individual religions and countries in the New Grove Dic-
prince Mangkunegara VII (1957) and others see the wayang
tionary of Music and Musicians, 20 vols., edited by Stanley
kulit (shadow play) in such terms. For them, this all-night
Sadie (London, 1980). Other collections of recent studies are
performance, with its chronological ordering of musical
found in two special “Sacred Music” issues of the journal
modes and its complex alterations of repeating sections and
World of Music (Berlin; vol. 24, no. 3, 1982, and vol. 26,
new developments, encapsulates the experience of progress
no. 3, 1984), and in Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought
through a prolonged state of sama¯dhi meditation and
and Practice, edited by Joyce Irwin (Decatur, Ga., 1984).
through life from birth to spiritual fulfillment. And Judith
Standard works on the theory and method of research on
Becker (1979, 1981), in a series of provocative articles, sug-
world musics, including religious music, include Bruno
Nettl’s The Study of Ethnomusicology (Urbana, 1983), in
gests that Javanese music embodies local and Hindu-
which see especially chapters 11, 12, and 15, and Alan P.
Buddhist time concepts from cyclicity to the coincidence of
Merriam’s The Anthropology of Music (Evanston, Ill., 1964),
differently ordered calendars.
in which see chapters 4, 11, and 12. The most comprehen-
Alan P. Merriam (1981) has warned that we may be im-
sive cross-cultural theoretical approach to a single aspect of
religious music is Gilbert Rouget’s Music and Trance: A The-
posing our own prejudices on African music by discussing
ory of the Relations between Music and Possession (Chicago,
it in terms of a “musical time” for which African languages
1985). Less helpful applications of cross-cultural theory are
have no corresponding terms. Nevertheless, we find areas in
found in works such as Man, Magic and Musical Occasions
Africa with both musical coincidence of different-length beat
by Charles L. Boilès (Columbus, Ohio, 1978), which sub-
cycles and calendrical coincidence of different-length week
sumes all kinds of religious practices under “magic,” or Ar-
cycles, and the parallel seems too exact and complex to be
nold Perris’s Music as Propaganda (Westport, Conn., 1985),
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6256
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
which evaluates the musics of other religions by European
Marini, Stephen A. Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and
Christian standards.
Public Culture. Urbana, 2003.
A number of studies of religious music in specific traditions make
Moody, Ivan. Contemporary Music and Religion. Reading, U.K.,
effective use of anthropological approaches to religion, par-
1995.
ticularly those approaches that focus on language and sym-
Reed, Teresa L. The Holy Profane: Religion in Black Popular Music.
bolism. Classic anthropological studies include works by
Lexington, Ky., 2003.
David P. McAllester on the Navajo, Enemy Way Music
(Cambridge, Mass., 1954), and on the peyote cult, Peyote
Shelemy, Kay Kaufman. Music as Culture. New York, 1990.
Music (New York, 1949). A broadbased anthropological ap-
Sylvan, Robin. Traces of the Spirit: The Religious Dimensions of
proach is used in Horses, Musicians, and Gods: The Hausa
Popular Music. New York, 2002.
Cult of Spirit Possession by Fremont E. Besmer (South Had-
Wuthnow, Robert. All in Sync: How Music and Art Are Revitaliz-
ley, Mass., 1983), while a focus on symbolism marks Steven
ing American Religion. Berkeley, 2003.
Feld’s work on the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea, Sound and
Sentiment (Philadelphia, 1982). Works in the emerging cate-
TER ELLINGSON (1987)
gory of “performance studies” place less emphasis on techni-
Revised Bibliography
cal description and analysis of music but give it an important
place in a multidimensional exploration of the multimedia
world of cultural and religious performances; examples in-
clude Bruce Kapferer’s study of Sinhala lowland possession
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-
cults, A Celebration of Demons (Bloomington, Ind., 1983),
SAHARAN AFRICA
and Ellen B. Basso’s study on the Kalapalo Indians of Brazil,
The most compelling reason for music making in Africa de-
A Musical View of the Universe (Philadelphia, 1985). These
rives from religious experience, for it is generally believed
newer studies often show a sophisticated approach to the
that the spiritual world is responsive to music and deeply af-
sung and narrated “texts” of oral traditions that may eventu-
ally enable more meaningful comparisons with traditionally
fected by it. Acting through human mediums, the gods are
text-oriented studies of the literate religions of Asia and the
known to object to the singing of particular songs and to ex-
Mediterranean.
press dissatisfaction when performances are slipshod or lack-
ing in animation. Now and then they also bring new songs
Studies of musical and ritual time include Judith Becker’s “Time
or themes of songs to their worshipers. Hence worship al-
and Tune in Java,” in The Imagination of Reality, edited by
Aram A. Yengoyan and A. L. Becker (Norwood, N.J., 1979),
ways finds its most intense expression in music making,
pp. 197–210, and “Hindu-Buddhist Time in Javanese Gam-
which can go on for hours or days during major religious fes-
elan Music,” in The Study of Time, edited by J. T. Fraser et
tivals, for performing sacred music in this manner gives not
al., vol. 4 (New York, 1981); Alan P. Merriam’s “African
only aesthetic satisfaction but also the assurance of continu-
Musical Rhythm and Concepts of Time-Reckoning,” in
ous contact with the spiritual world. Accordingly, those who
Music East and West, edited by Thomas Noblitt (New York,
worship particular gods often describe themselves in songs
1981), pp. 123–141; and Lawrence E. Sullivan’s “Sacred
as the children of those gods and may distinguish themselves
Music and Sacred Time,” World of Music 26, no. 3 (1984):
from other members of the community, among other ways,
33–52. Other works cited in this article include Paul Berli-
by their repertoire of songs, instruments, and dances.
ner’s The Soul of Mbira (Berkeley, 1978); John Bierhorst’s
Cantares Mexicanos: Songs of the Aztecs (Stanford, Calif.,
Ancestral spirits, as well as gods, generate repertoires of
1985); Edith Gerson-Kiwi’s “Religious Chant: A Pan-Asiatic
songs and instrumental forms. The scale and intensity of ex-
Conception of Music,” Journal of the International Folk
pressions related to ancestral spirits, however, varies consid-
Music Council 13 (1961): 64–67, which has an overstated
erably in relation to the perspective from which they are
but important thesis; Prince Mangkunegara VII’s On the
viewed. While some societies emphasize the spiritual and be-
Wayang Kulit (Purwa) and Its Symbolic and Mystic Elements
havioral aspects of ancestors in the performance of rain rites,
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1957); and Kay Kaufman Shelemay’s “Ze¯ma¯:
A Concept of Sacred Music in Ethiopia,” World of Music 24,
curative rites, initiation and other rites of passage and special
no. 3 (1982): 52–67.
rites for the dead, others focus on the philosophical aspects
of the concept of the ancestor. Celebrations of life or the tri-
New Sources
umph of life over death indicated by the continuing presence
Brulé, Pierre, and Christophe Vendries. Chanter les dieux: musique
of the dead is given scope in special festivals involving dis-
et religion dans l’antiquité grecque et romaine: actes du colloque
plays of ancestral masks and dramatic enactments accompa-
des 16, 17 et 18 décembre 1999, Rennes et Lorient. Rennes,
nied by music and dance. Some centralized traditional states
2001.
employ music and ritual for political ends.
Collins, Mary, David Noel Power, and Mellonee V. Burnim.
ORGANIZATION OF SACRED MUSIC. Because the spiritual
Music and the Experience of God. Edinburgh, 1989.
world is believed to be sensitive to music, performances of
Danielson, Virginia, Scott Lloyd Marcus, and Dwight Fletcher
sacred music are usually controlled. Accordingly there are oc-
Reynolds. “The Middle East.” In Garland Encyclopedia of
casions during which (1) little or no music is performed
World Music, vol. 6. New York, 2002.
(such as personal ritual and worship); (2) music other than
Leonard, Neil. Jazz: Myth and Religion. New York, 1987.
the sacred music of the gods is performed (such as events
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
6257
during which social rather than religious values are empha-
instruments but also as instruments that can stand on their
sized); (3) both sacred and nonsacred music may be per-
own in ensembles. They may be assigned their own limited
formed (for example, the funeral of a priest or priest-medium
repertoire of pieces that are specific not only in their basic
or religious festivals that incorporate the singing of songs of
materials but also in style and tempo, so that they can be cor-
insult sanctioned by the gods for the release of tension in so-
related with various songs, movement, and dance. During
ciety); and (4) sacred music is performed (such as fixed days
performances it is the instrumental ensemble that provides
of worship, festivals, and other special occasions on which
the required energy levels for movement expression and more
dramatic enactments, including trance and spirit possession,
especially for trance and spirit possession.
take place). The repertoire of sacred music used on ritual oc-
Because of the different roles performed by vocal and
casions usually includes either songs and instrumental pieces
instrumental pieces and the dance, it is customary to com-
or sound events that function as codes or signals for indicat-
bine all three in a full performance. Where this is done, all
ing divine presence or for inviting undivided attention.
that a priest-medium who wants to perform a particular
As in many cultures of the world, African songs provide
dance while in trance needs to do is start a song in the set
avenues for making references to the sources of religious ex-
for the particular dance. The instrumentalists will switch au-
perience and to the values that hold a community of wor-
tomatically to the rhythms he needs. The singers will similar-
shipers together. Marion Kilson shows in her study of Ga
ly take up the song he started and continue with others in
songs and symbols that a homogeneous body of sacred songs
the same set.
may include references to the supreme being, individual less-
A number of conventions are used to distinguish the sa-
er gods and their interrelations, creatures and objects of na-
cred from the secular. For example, a simple ritual act of ded-
ture connected with the religious experience, the seasons, rit-
ication or the use of external symbols of sacralization, such
ual symbols, interpersonal relations, and events in the life of
as marks of white clay, special drapes, pendants, or symbolic
the community of worshipers. Africans sing about their gods
carvings, might distinguish sacred instruments from their
and their own social history in their sacred songs because
secular counterparts. There are a few instances where the dis-
their gods accompany them during their migrations as well
tinction is made in the form, structure, and tuning of instru-
as in their encounters with other societies.
ments. For example, among the Lobrifor of Ghana, there is
Sacred song repertoires usually include items that fulfill
a xylophone used in sacred rituals that has fourteen bars, like
special functions related to the details of worship or a ritual
other xylophones; however, only twelve bars are played, and
occasion. Some songs are sung for the opening and closing
a tetratonic tuning is used instead of the usual pentatonic.
of worship while others accompany, precede, or follow par-
Similarly the mbira dzavadzimu, a tuned idiophone (sansa,
ticular rites or provide the link between different phases of
or hand piano) of the Shona of Zimbabwe, used for playing
a ritual occasion. Getting in and out of trance or remaining
music connected with ancestral rituals, is distinguished from
in a state of trance can be aided by particular songs, while
those tuned idiophones played for entertainment, such as the
changes in the mood of worship can be effected not only
mbira dzavandau and the karimba. It has twenty-two keys
through the content of songs but also through variations in
that are generally wider and thicker than those of other in-
form and singing style, including the occasional use of spo-
struments and a keyboard with three manuals.
ken verse; changes from speechlike chants in free rhythm or
recitative style to songs in strict rhythm; and differentiations
The organization of sound events that function as sig-
between simple litany types of songs and songs that utilize
nals or codes follows similar conventions. Instead of the clap-
more complex forms or occasionally songs in strophic form.
perless bells used in musical ensembles, clapper bells may be
used in ritual contexts. Instead of a regular flute made of
Group singing is invariably led by cantors, who may not
bamboo, a flute made out of the tip of an animal horn may
necessarily be priests or priest-mediums. Special chants per-
be used. Instead of an instrument, voice masks and whistling
formed as solos that require mastery of particular vocal tech-
may be used to indicate the presence of particular gods or
niques and repertoire may be performed by specialists in the
spirits. Ankle buzzers and similar devices normally used in
religious community. In some societies the songs of public
the context of the dance may be worn by a novice, a ritual
worship are performed by a select group of singers well versed
expert, or a medium when he is in ritual contact with his god
in the tradition and not by the entire congregation.
so that anyone approaching him might take a different route.
Sacred songs may be sung unaccompanied (especially
Similar functions may be performed by instruments set
when they are in free rhythm) or they may be accompanied
aside for this purpose. Thus the bull-roarer (or thunder stick)
by handclapping, bells, rattles, friction sticks, or by more
is used in some societies to represent the voice of the ancestor
complex percussion on drums or tuned idiophones (mbira
(for example, among the Dogon of Mali) or the voice of a
and xylophones). Chordophones such as lutes, harp-lutes,
god (such as Oro of the Yoruba of Nigeria). The major god
and arched harps are also used in religious contexts in some
of the Poro initiation society of the Senufo is represented not
societies.
only by the sound of an eland’s horn incorporated into an
In general, instruments that can play complex melodic
aerophone ensemble but also by the bull-roarer. Here and
and rhythmic patterns are treated not only as accompanying
there one finds sacred drums that function in the same man-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6258
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
ner, drums such as the digoma of the Lovedu of the Trans-
because the gods of the new associations are regarded as
vaal, beaten twice a year in a ritual addressed to the ancestors;
hunter gods who specialize in the neutralization of evil forces
the drums of the Lozi of Zambia associated with chiefship;
such as witchcraft and sorcery.
and the bagyendanwa drum in the Ankole region of Uganda.
INTRODUCED RELIGIONS. Although indigenous religions
Coded sounds are not always played as independent
have continued to maintain the vigor and vitality of their be-
sound events. They can also be incorporated into regular
liefs and expressive forms, both Islam and Christianity are
pieces. For example, where the gods are worshiped collective-
also well established in many parts of Africa in spite of the
ly, the entrance and exit of each god can be indicated aurally
alien modes of worship they brought with them.
through changes in rhythm or instrumentation or by a song
functioning as a code.
Islam. Because Islamic religion does not view the sensu-
ous qualities of music with favor and therefore tends to dis-
IMPACT OF RELIGION ON MUSICAL LIFE. Because music
criminate between what is admissible in religious life and
makers, artists, and crafters are also carriers of the religious
what is not, the connection between music and Islamic reli-
beliefs of their societies, religious concepts and practices ex-
gious observances in Africa has been marginal, in contrast to
tend to artistic behavior in the public domain. A music club
traditional African religions in which music is integral to
or association that performs recreational music may begin
worship and ritual observance. Apart from the call to prayer
with libation, a song of invocation, or an instrumental pre-
and the QurDanic recitations that are at the core of Islamic
lude from the sacred repertoire in order to ensure that noth-
worship and that have been maintained in sub-Saharan Afri-
ing goes wrong in the course of the performance. Some socie-
ca, it is religious events in the life of Islamic communities
ties ban all musical performances for a few days after rites
that provide outlets for music. The type of music used in
performed at the beginning of the planting season or before
these contexts depends on the community, in particular
the annual harvest festival, while others prohibit the perfor-
whether it is an Arab or Afro-Arab community, an African
mance of certain musical types outside prescribed contexts.
community ruled by an Islamic aristocracy, or an African
The making of instruments such as xylophones and drums
community with Islamic leaders and a traditional aristocracy.
begins and ends with rituals irrespective of the contexts in
which they will be used. In some societies the rituals contin-
In all three types of communities the QurDa¯n is chanted
ue at various stages in the process of manufacture and on
in the original Arabic during worship and on other occasions,
each occasion on which the finished product is used. There
while nonliturgical music may be in the local language and
are also instances where musicians seek ritual protection not
idiom. Friday services are observed, while the Prophet’s
only for their instruments but also for themselves and their
birthday and his ascent to heaven or particular episodes in
art. Belief in ancestors also sometimes plays a role in the re-
his life are commemorated in the form of festivals at which
cruitment and training of musical specialists, such as the
music in the local idiom may be performed. The end of
royal musicians (ingombe) of the Bemba of Zambia and the
Ramad:a¯n, the period of daytime fasting, is marked by feasts
royal drummers and fiddlers of the Dagomba of Ghana.
and music, while the routine pilgrimage to Mecca also pro-
vides a pretext for music making for the pilgrims, both on
Because sacred music is held in high esteem, the borrow-
the occasion of their departure and on their return.
ing and adaptation of instruments or musical items of partic-
ular aesthetic or verbal interest occurs now and then in the
There is a general tendency in Islamic communities for
music performed in the public domain. While in the past this
a simple musical event that satisfies the Islamic ideal to grow
was done with discretion, social change now seems to have
into a more elaborate and sometimes inadmissible form, a
opened the door to conscious exploitation of the aesthetic
process that leads to its secularization as entertainment
potential of sacred music, both in traditional music practice
music. The Yoruba Islamic musical types apala, waka, fuji,
and in the new forms of African popular and art music. The
and sakara, for example, which started as modest forms of
reverse process, whereby traditional sacred music is influ-
pilgrimage music, have become part of the general entertain-
enced by secular music, does not seem to be common, al-
ment repertoire. Similarly among the Dagomba of Ghana
though a few notable examples can be cited. The emergence
damba music and dance performed at the damba festival,
of centralized states in Ghana in the pre-European period,
which celebrates the birth of the Prophet, is now performed
which developed royal court music of a complex order, seems
in other contexts by lunsi drummers. Sectarianism and syn-
to have encouraged the incorporation of the talking drum
cretic tendencies have similarly encouraged the use of African
(atumpan), an instrument of kingly command, and the royal
musical resources at dhikr gatherings as well as modifications
heavy drum (bommaa) into the ensemble of gods regarded
in liturgical practice that allow for the development of a cor-
as state gods.
pus of songs based on local models.
Similarly, the advent of new cults that worship in the
Christianity. A different picture presents itself when
traditional manner has led to the development of new reper-
one turns to Christianity in Africa, for it has been less com-
toires of traditional sacred music that utilize the recitative
promising than Islam as far as the use of local musical re-
song style of traditional hunters’ associations. These songs
sources is concerned. Like traditional African religion, Chris-
are used partly because of their affective character and partly
tianity regards music as an integral rather than a marginal
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
6259
aspect of worship. Accordingly they share a similar approach
fashionable in Roman Catholic churches. The All African
to the organization of the content of sacred songs.
Conference of Churches and local church music associations
are also giving encouragement to the creation and dissemina-
However, the values that guide the selection and use of
tion of new African hymns.
music and musical instruments in Christian worship as well
as performance organization and musical behavior are very
African Independent Churches have also grappled with
different from those of traditional African worship. Until re-
the problem. Beginning with hymns in translation and origi-
cently, African modes of expression and behavior seemed to
nal compositions in the same style, leaders of these churches
the leaders of the Christian church not only unsuitable for
give scope to songs in the style of traditional African music
Christian worship, but also not conducive to the restrained
as well as songs based on the style of marching songs and Af-
Christian life expected of converts. African drumming and
rican popular music. Both African drums and Western band
dancing and the exuberance of African celebrations such as
instruments not generally used in ecumenical churches are
festivals and rituals of the life cycle were not tolerated. The
utilized by independent churches, since physical movement
problem that Christianity in Africa has had to face, therefore,
and expressions of ecstasy are encouraged.
is how to integrate Christian worship with indigenous cul-
As might be expected, there is a close relationship be-
tures and preserve at the same time the basic Christian be-
tween trends in African church music and trends in contem-
liefs, values, and norms of behavior that characterize the reli-
porary African secular music, for many contemporary com-
gion. Although the Ethiopian church could have been used
posers of art music are also composers of church music and
as a model of integration, it was ignored for quite a long time
of music for educational institutions formerly run largely by
because it did not conform to the norms and values of the
churches. Church choirs and singing bands as well as school
Western church.
choral groups are the main performers of African choral
The most obvious practical step toward indigenization
music in the art music tradition, while the repertoires of the
of music widely adopted in the nineteenth century was the
few independent choral societies often include new African
translation of hymns in European languages into African lan-
church music. Because of the large number of independent
guages. It was not generally realized, however, that indigen-
churches that have sprung up, composers of African popular
ization, in a fuller sense, would have also meant setting the
music now include religious themes and tunes sung by such
translated texts of hymns to tunes that reflect African rhyth-
churches in their repertoire of dance music, a practice that
mic and melodic characteristics or that follow the intona-
enables their songs to be performed not only in independent
tional contour and rhythm of texts, since many African lan-
churches but also in ballrooms, cafes, night clubs, and on so-
guages are tone languages (that is, languages in which tones
cial occasions.
or pitches distinguish meaning or tend to be fixed for partic-
SEE ALSO African Religions, article on New Religious
ular words, phrases, and sentences). The retention of the
Movements; Bull-Roarers; Drama, article on African Reli-
Western tunes invariably led to the distortion of the words,
gious Drama; Drums; Percussion and Noise.
a situation that has not been fully remedied in many parts
of Africa.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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The Livingstonia Mission in Malawi, for example, encour-
aged local Ngoni people to adapt their traditional songs for
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
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Kivnick, Helen Q. Where Is the Way: Song and Struggle in South
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must be used with trepidation (Rose, 1992, p. 59). The
words spiritual and spirit are open to many interpretations.
From a Western perspective such terms have their roots in
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN
Greek and Christian thought and imply a split between the
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
secular material world and the realm of the spirit. This binary
In indigenous Australia music and religion are discussed with
view subtly suggests that enactment of spirituality means
reference to the concept of the dreaming. The term dreaming
leaving the everyday world of the body behind to enter into
is an English way of describing the era of creation in indige-
a separate and disembodied sacred or holy domain. For ex-
nous Australian belief when great ancestral beings walked the
ample, as we have discussed elsewhere (Bradley and Mackin-
earth, experiencing, interacting and creating landscape and
lay, 2000, 2003), in the Yanyuwa context the boundaries be-
life. A senior Yanyuwa man from the Aboriginal community
tween the sacred and the secular are necessarily blurred. For
at Borroloola in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria of the
Yanyuwa there is only one world, one environment, one
Northern Territory explains the dreaming in the following
country that is simultaneously material and spiritual. The
way:
spiritual is tied to everyday lived reality and immersed in
In our language, in Yanyuwa, we call the Dreaming
seemingly mundane pragmatic activities. Practices such as
Yijan. The Dreamings made our Law or narnu-Yuwa.
singing clearly establish an immutable relationship of what
This Law is the way we live, our rules. This Law is our
could be called the spirit of place to the spirit of people.
ceremonies, our songs, our stories; all of these things
Yanyuwa cosmology therefore allows the Western terms spir-
come from the Dreaming. . . . The Law was made by
it and spirituality to be used in many circumstances but al-
the Dreamings many, many years ago and given to our
ways tightly bound to the expression and performativity of
ancestors and they gave it to us. . . . The Dreamings
people’s relationship to kin and country.
were the first to dance our ceremonies and sing our
songs. Some of these songs are dangerous, they are se-
In many indigenous Australian cultures, a distinction is
cret and sacred, women and children are not allowed to
made between those phenomena, experiences, and knowl-
see them. Others are not secret, everyone can look at
edges that are considered restricted and unrestricted. These
them, but they are still sacred. . . . The Dreamings
terms delineate who can access the knowledge and informa-
named all of the country and the sea as they travelled,
they named everything that they saw. The Dreamings
tion contained within performance through participation.
gave us our songs. These songs are sacred and we call
The term “restricted” refers to performance that limits the
them kujika. These songs tell the story of the Dreaming
participants on the basis of gender, age, and/or kinship affili-
as they travelled over the country, everything the
ation. In contrast, the term “unrestricted” denotes perfor-
Dreaming did is in the songs. . . . These songs are like
mance that does not have any conditions attached on who
maps, they tell us about the country, they are maps
may participate. The Yanyuwa have two terms, kurdukurdu
which we carry in our heads. (Mussolini Harvey, in
and lhamarnda, that could be seen as synonymous with the
Bradley, 1988, p. xi)
above terms and by extension with the Western terms “sa-
His words clearly illustrate the integral relationship of song
cred” and “secular.” Yanyuwa people often explain
to Yijan, or the dreaming, of song to country and place, of
kurdukurdu as a correlate to the terms “secret” and “sacred”
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
6261
and therefore restricted, while lhamarnda is described as
sions that become the means by which groups of people and
“free,” or not secret and sacred.
individuals are in constant negotiation with each other, for
songs are not just free to anyone. All song and music in in-
In many ways the Yanyuwa terms kurdukurdu and lha-
digenous Australian performance traditions are bound by ne-
marnda resonate with discussions of “inside” and “outside”
gotiations. These negotiations include the legitimacy of
knowledge in Yolngu culture by both Keen (1994) and Mor-
claims to knowledge and connections to place and people,
phy (1991). While we do not want to suggest that Yanyuwa
to the past, to the present, and also to the future. Thus, even
and Yolngu systems of knowledge are the same, it is useful
in relation to songs life becomes much more than the prag-
to consider briefly the overlap between them and therefore
matics of singing and performing, or even the often alluded
contextualize Yanyuwa knowledge in relation to other indig-
to mystical/religious and historical conceptions; rather, it is
enous Australian cultures. Morphy (1991, p. 78) asserts that
about the union of all these things.
the concepts of inside and outside in Yolngu culture operate
as a continuum and are central to understanding the struc-
The songs of the dreaming ancestors are said by indige-
ture, rationale, and existence of levels of knowledge in Yol-
nous people to hold and carry the knowledge of the ancestral
ngu culture. He also describes “inside” sacred knowledge as
beings as they walked across the country, and each song verse
“restricted” and “outside” mundane knowledge as “unre-
becomes one footprint in the songline of that Spirit ancestor.
stricted” (1991, p. 79) and emphasizes that there is great flu-
In Aboriginal ceremony and ritual, performers aim to recre-
idity between them insofar as “the ancestral world extends
ate the actions of the ancestors by tapping into the power of
into the everyday world, the inside flows into the outside”
the dreaming through correct presentation of all the ele-
(1991, p. 80).
ments of the song cycle, including song text, melodic line,
Importantly, Morphy acknowledges that there is much
rhythmic pattern, and other ritual behavior such as the paint-
interaction and interconnection between inside and outside
ing of body designs, the use of ceremonial objects, the prepa-
realms and suggests that “outside forms are in a sense gener-
ration of and performance on ceremony ground, and the ac-
ated by inside forms and not separate from them.” This can
tions of performers. In Yanyuwa, song cycles are called by
generate, as Keen (1994, p. 226) contends, the performance
the generic term kujika, a word that has widespread use
and realization of inside concepts in outside spaces or “secre-
throughout the Gulf region and even into northeast Arnhem
cy in public.” In such performances, the restricted esoteric
Land (Avery, 1985; Merlan, 1987; Trigger, 1992; Keen,
“inside” knowledge has clear referents, but the subjects or
1994), and by its cognate form in the Victoria River region
their significance is not inferred discursively (1994, p. 227).
of the Northern Territory (Wild, 1987, Rose, 1992). When
people sing a song cycle, they are described as wandayarra
In most indigenous Australian cultures there is not one
(following) or yinbarraya (singing) the road.
singular translatable word for music, and categorization of
performance into styles and genres by people is determined
There is no one term for kujika verse in Yanyuwa; peo-
according to a complex set of interrelationships between the
ple use the Kriol term “leg,” a term also recorded by Merlan
origins of songs, the purposes they serve, and the people who
(1987). Singers or knowledgeable people reference the song
may participate in performance (Bradley and Mackinlay,
verses by what the actual song verse is about; in many in-
2000, p. 2). Conversations about categories of music often
stances each song verse has a key word by which that verse
begin with a distinction being made on the basis of whether
is known. In addition, song verses are also tied to the land-
the creative source of the music resides in ancestral or human
scape via named places. In Yanyuwa, kujika song texts are
beings. For example, in Yanyuwa culture songs from ances-
always described using the present participle form of the
tral beings are described as kujika, belong to kurdukurdu (re-
verb; thus, they are described as jiwini ki-awarala (constantly
stricted) forms of performance, and have their basis in the
being in country), wulumantharra (running), wingkayarra
actions of the Spirit ancestors who lived their lives by travel-
(moving, going), or even in some instances as wujbantharra
ing, marking, and singing the landscape into being during
(flowing); when the singers near a place name or a particular
the creative period, which the Yanyuwa call Yijan (generally
species, it is described as rdumatharra (getting). The songs
translated into English as “dreaming”). Songs made by
are also windirrinjarra (ascending) and lhankanbayarra (de-
human beings (when composed by men, these songs are
scending) and are always accompanied by a cardinal direc-
called walaba; by women, a-kurija) are lhamarnda (unre-
tion marker. When the song is nearing completion, it is then
stricted) and contrast directly with the big history of the an-
described as yibarrantharra (placing). There is a sense that
cestral beings in that they document little history or individ-
these songlines are ever present on the country like flowing
ual and community memory of events within living
conduits of meaning. If the code is known, they can be
recollection.
tapped into and followed, and then voice is given to that
which is always on or in the country and the sea.
Knowledge of song, both restricted and unrestricted, is
but one way people give order to their country and to their
Of importance to any understanding of music and reli-
history of human and nonhuman kin. Such songs are ulti-
gion in indigenous Australian cultures is the concept of
mately concerned with attachment to place and contain
“taste,” “skin,” or “essence.” In Yanyuwa the term for essence
many emotional dimensions. It is these emotional dimen-
is ngalki (Kirton and Timothy, 1977). Ngalki is best de-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA
scribed as that thing which marks the individual identity or
one fits in the family, the history of the family, and the coun-
essence of something. It can refer to the taste or smell of
try and sea that one’s family has moved across and also calls
food, one’s own particular body smell, or the positioning of
home. While kujika may speak of how one belongs to land
people, flora, fauna, and natural phenomena into the four
in terms of a cosmological understanding, there are the other
semi-moieties that exist in Yanyuwa society. Broadly speak-
more intimate, humanly composed songs that speak of the
ing, ngalki as a concept presents the Yanyuwa way of making
totally human dimension to experience. These songs are an
sense of the complex relationship between the people who
excellent example of what Fox (1997, pp. 6–7) terms “social
make music, the process of music making, and the sound
knowledge,” a kind of knowledge that allows people con-
that is music. In terms of musical structure, the ngalki of a
stantly to comprehend, interact, and interpret their place-
particular song is often described by Yanyuwa people as the
world. These songs are an important part of connectivity be-
melody or voice. It also includes the type of beating accom-
tween people and place, and in many respects these songs are
paniment used, the particular types of rhythmic patterns at-
the containers that hold memories that connect people and
tached to song text, the way these are fitted onto a specific
places. This genre of new or unrestricted songs in Yanyuwa
melodic shape, and the way all three components are com-
culture, and more generally across indigenous Australia, in-
bined during the act of musical performance. Thus, the cor-
cludes the diversity of contemporary rock and popular mu-
rect interlocking of all performance elements gives each
sics—these forms of performance too hold important indi-
Yanyuwa song style its unique identity, and it is through the
vidual, social, historical, emotional, and spiritual
act of performance that the embedded power within genres
relationships, memories, and meanings. For example, the ap-
is given meaning, accessed, and utilized by performers.
pearance of specific and nonspecific places, notions of place,
When used in relation to song, the term ngalki is often
and attachment to place (Dunbar-Hall, 1997, p. 62) within
prefixed by a descriptive marker that marks the perceived
the song texts of these new songs plays an important role in
quality of the performance or a person’s opinion of the tune
naming, knowing, and remembering country in this unre-
that is associated with a song. Thus yabi ngalki (literally,
stricted performance genre. This naming of places in unre-
“good essence”) can refer to both a good performance or a
stricted forms of Aboriginal performance resonates with the
song that is seen to have an enjoyable tune; wardi ngalki (lit-
texts of restricted songs “[w]here singing about sites and
erally, “bad essence”), to a song that is quite plainly not being
events of the past associated with them are a means of affirm-
well performed; jirda ngalki (literally, “bitter/bad-tasting es-
ing group and individual identity and of stating relationships
sence”), to a song that is not being performed properly be-
to places. In this way, Aboriginal sites become songs” (Dun-
cause the tune is incorrect or the singers are discordant; da-
bar-Hall, 1997, p. 62). By specifically naming place in unre-
burrdaburr ngalki (literally, “rough/troubled essence”), to the
stricted singing, the composer reveals the personal, emotion-
tune of a song that is considered hard to learn and requires
al, and spiritual significance implied in a particular locality.
a long time spent with older accomplished singers. This is
Today, many indigenous Australian peoples and com-
a term often used by men to describe a number of songs asso-
munities fight daily to survive against the contemporary real-
ciated with various ceremonies and ritual actions. The term
ities of colonial and historical legacy, social upheaval, and
has a special relevance to songs that are considered powerful
cultural dispossession. Many indigenous communities suffer
enough to affect other human beings or impact upon the
from high rates of family violence and alarmingly high alco-
order of the natural world and where the correct tune is con-
hol and substance abuse statistics. Age expectancy is low for
sidered to be the conveyer of the song’s inherent power or
both men and women, and suicide among young people is
wirrimalaru.
increasing. Combined with increasingly poor health (for ex-
Within a Yanyuwa understanding of good performance,
ample, diabetes, renal failure, heart conditions, disease relat-
especially of kujika, a person who is seen to be performing
ed to poor nutrition) and inadequate housing conditions, in-
song cycles at a high level of emotional engagement and tech-
digenous peoples are struggling to exist under the impact of
nical skill is often described as jarrilu-ngalkiwunjayarra, “he
dramatic social upheaval and change and Western systems
is drinking the essence of the road.” It is felt that he has em-
of domination and oppression. Beneath these daily experi-
bodied the song to such an extent that it is if the country that
ences of trauma, however, performance remains a powerful
is being sung is through him and sustaining him. It is inter-
way to sustain a strong cultural and spiritual identity for Ab-
esting that song knowledge is described in terms of “food,”
original people. Music is a religion in indigenous Australia
where the ability to learn and acquire song knowledge, espe-
in the sense that it is the central way to sing, know, and em-
cially that relating to the sacred knowledge of the land, is
body relationships to family, place, and spirituality. In the
something that ones needs, like food, in order to survive.
worldview of many indigenous Australian peoples, landscape
This survival can be seen at both the level of the singer and
and song are integrally related whereby knowledge and mem-
the country itself; perhaps the inverse of this is that if one
ories of landscape are named, encoded, and embodied in
does not sing and refuses to “drink the essence,” then both
music performance. Through performance of place and
the individual and country will not be truly seen to live.
country in restricted and unrestricted contexts, singers nego-
To know and to sing in Aboriginal culture is to also
tiate and evoke memory and emotion to continually create
know and acknowledge kin and country, to be aware where
and re-create the knowledge associated with landscape and
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN OCEANIA
6263
what it means to be an Aboriginal person in body, mind, and
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN OCEANIA
spirit—a unified, complete, and whole person. Understand-
The uttering of formulaic texts, the sounding of musical in-
ings of sacred and secular, inside and outside knowledge, and
struments, and the enactment of physical movements are all
restricted and unrestricted performance are integrally con-
integral to the expression of religious beliefs throughout Oce-
nected and the lines of distinction between them blurred.
ania. The supernatural beings that were contacted varied
Lived experience of song, kin, and country enacts a perfor-
widely in the extent of their powers and the nature of their
mative memory and knowledge of time, space, and location
physical embodiments, but much human activity was in-
that connect spirit of place to the spirit of indigenous Austra-
tended to open lines of contact with that other world. Music
lian peoples.
was not and is not a self-contained art, nor merely the vehicle
for communication with the other world, but in many in-
SEE ALSO Australian Indigenous Religions, overview article.
stances it is the means of opening such lines of communica-
tion, and it is intended both to express and to reveal. Singing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
at a predetermined location and appropriate time enables
Avery, J. “The Law People: History, Society and Initiation in the
contact with beings somehow residing outside space and
Borroloola Area of the Northern Territory. ” Ph.D. diss.,
time. For participants, religious rituals exist primarily to be
University of Sydney, 1985.
perpetuated. A personal understanding of the theological or
Bradley, J. Yanyuwa Country: The Yanyuwa People of Borroloola
mystical bases for rituals, or the meanings of song poetry, or
Tell the History of Their Land. Richmond, Va., 1988.
the symbolism of their myriad of sacra, is secondary. Essen-
tially, process takes precedence over product.
Bradley, J., and E. Mackinlay. Songs from a Plastic Water Rat: An
Introduction to the Musical Traditions of the Yanyuwa Com-
POLYNESIA. Accounts of the origins of the universe estab-
munity of the Southwest Gulf of Carpentaria. Ngulaig 17. St.
lished the first associations between humans and gods. Ritu-
Lucia, 2000.
als maintained such links through a body of sacred lore ad-
Bradley, J., and E. Mackinlay. “Many Songs, Many Voices, and
ministered through both individual and group expressions of
Many Dialogues: A Conversation about Yanyuwa Perfor-
worship, supplication, instruction, and appeasement. Poly-
mance Practice in a Remote Aboriginal Community.” Rural
nesian pantheons consist of named categories of supernatural
Society. 2003.
beings and named individuals within those categories. Major
Dunbar-Hall, P. “Site as Song—Song as Site: Constructions of
deities—Ta¯ne, Tu¯, Rongo, and Tangaroa in East Polynesia;
Meaning in an Aboriginal Rock Song.” Perfect Beat 3, no. 3
Tangaloa and Maui in West Polynesia —were associated
(1997): 58–76.
with land creation and elements of nature. References in oral
Fox, J. “Place and Landscape in Comparative Austronesian Per-
tradition to such beings tended to be confined to spoken ac-
spective.” In The Poetic Power of Place: Comparative Perspec-
counts or recited poetry. East Polynesia, particularly Tahiti
tives on Austronesian Ideas of Locality, edited by J. Fox. Can-
and Hawai‘i, saw the development of religious specialists in
berra, 1997.
the form of an established priesthood, and religious buildings
in the form of temples. The carvings on pre-European East
Keen, I. Knowledge and Secrecy in an Aboriginal Religion. Oxford,
Polynesian drums, particularly those beaten during temple-
1994.
based rituals, often included representations of major deities.
Kirton, J., and N. Timothy. “Yanyuwa Concepts Relating to
The priesthood also held responsibility for the many years
‘Skin.’” Oceania 47, no. 2 (1977): 320–322.
of teaching chants and dances to neophytes. In the many and
Merlan, F. “Catfish and Alligator: Totemic Songs of the Western
varied contexts of performance, the agent activating the
Roper River, Northern Territory.” In Songs of Aboriginal
human-superhuman link was the uttered word.
Australia, edited by M. Clunies-Ross, T. Donaldson, and S.
Wild, pp. 143–167. Oceania Monograph 32. Sydney, 1987.
Mythology credits the importation of the first pahu
temple drums and their associated sacred dances from Tahiti
Morphy, H. Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System
to Kauai Island, whence its use in heiau temples spread to
of Knowledge. Chicago, 1991.
Hawai‘i’s other islands. The primary use of this sharkskin-
Rose, D. B. Dingo Makes Us Human: Life and Land in an Aborigi-
covered wooden drum was to signal major events within the
nal Australian Culture. Cambridge, 1992.
temple, summoning gods to enter the precincts and to speak
Trigger, D. Whitefella Comin’: Aboriginal Responses to Colonialism
through its sound. It also accompanied sacred dances. On
in Northern Australia. Cambridge, 1992.
Tahiti itself, such a drum was used both for signaling and
for accompanying religious rituals. In both areas, the drums
Wild, S. A. “Recreating the Jukurrpa: Adaptation and Innovation
were given personal names.
of Songs and Ceremonies in Warlpiri Society.” In Songs of
Aboriginal Australia, edited by M. Clunies-Ross, T. Donald-
The areas of association and influence of minor deities
son, and S. Wild, pp. 97–120. Oceania Monograph 32. Syd-
included natural events, local topography, and specific do-
ney, 1987
mestic activities. Such beings were considered contactable
ELIZABETH MACKINLAY (2005)
during periods of heightened emotion, particularly at mo-
JOHN BRADLEY (2005)
ments of danger, such as illness and warfare. In Samoa, peo-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6264
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN OCEANIA
ple of two villages used a song to summon the deadly Nifoloa
various reconstructions of practices associated with indige-
to avenge any major insult to local residents. In another vil-
nous religion. In Hawai‘i, the construction and use of pahu
lage the locally based god Te’e was appeased through a song
drums, revived performances of chants and dances honoring
in its honor. To cure certain ailments, Samoan traditional
named gods, and the performance of chants at the opening
healers may still resort to exorcism, singing their command
of the state legislature and other major public events all testi-
to the malign spirit believed responsible to leave the patient’s
fy to the renaissance. Recitation of karakia incantations to
body.
national gods is a routine feature of major Maori activities,
such as the openings of new public buildings and museum
Throughout East Polynesia, minor gods were routinely
exhibitions.
contacted to ensure ongoing maintenance of the normally
benign social relationship with local communities. In this
In several parts of urban Polynesia, an ironic shift in at-
context, the gods were held to share human pleasure in the
titudes has recently occurred. In the nineteenth and twenti-
performing arts, most notably singing and dancing, together
eth centuries, Christian missionaries strove hard and success-
with the sight and fragrance of costumed and perfumed bo-
fully to ban many performances of dancing on the grounds
dies in action. The practice of performance as god appease-
that the activity was heathen. Now, however, among both
ment was most developed in Hawai‘i, where Pele and Laka
island homeland and expatriate communities of Polynesians,
were considered divine patrons of dancing. Much song poet-
Christian churches may include dance tuition among their
ry was dedicated to these beings—and still is, as part of the
cultural programs and even numerically dominate competi-
ongoing renaissance of Hawaiian culture. Whether invisible
tions of traditional dance at local and national levels.
or existing in emblematic form, the gods were believed to be
present during performances. The religious goal of hula per-
Although details of most Polynesian religions are now
formances was additionally based on a belief in sympathetic
recounted in the past tense following almost two hundred
magic. By presenting an act in the context of dance, one
years of intensive and successful Christian missionizing, a
gains power over it. One can thus govern the outcome of a
few Polynesian-populated outlier islands in Melanesia have
future act or cause a past act to happen again.
attempted to maintain their indigenous practices in a reac-
tion against what they consider the culturally damaging ac-
The elevated nature of such expressive arts was empha-
tivities of missionaries and Christian churches. Communities
sized by a corresponding expectation of performance perfec-
on the islands of Taku¯ (Mortlock Islands), Nukumanu (Tas-
tion. If such perfection was not achieved due to accidental
man Islands), and Mungiki (Bellona Island) have participat-
error, the result was held to be personal disaster. The acci-
ed in such a movement. Although some activities are now
dental omission of a word in an incantation performed at the
restricted to some extent by national legislation, others flour-
birth of the Maori mythological character Maui resulted ulti-
ish. On these small, fragile, and remote islands, ongoing su-
mately in his death and failure to win immortality for hu-
pernatural assistance is considered a survival necessity for
manity. Avoidance of breath breaks in the melodic flow was
which the formal performance of a variety of songs and
a feature of traditional Maori incantations and group chant
dances is offered as a gesture of gratitude. Men may call on
on the grounds that the consequences were death or disaster.
their dead ancestors while fishing, and, in the poetry of songs
A system in which the group leader, having snatched an early
composed to mark their subsequent success, duly name their
breath, continued singing wordlessly at the ends of poetic
ancestors and acknowledge their supernatural assistance. In
lines while the group took breath overcame such concern.
preparation for formal dances on the ritual arena, both men
and women may wear emblems of their clan’s founding an-
In some regions ancient song poetry addressing gods
cestor as protection against the malevolent spirits believed to
survived Christian missionizing through prompt transcrip-
be in attendance during the performance. Also on the ritual
tion, but it exists now more as an artifact of culture than an
arena in front of the assembled community, senior men take
instrument of religion. In Tokelau, a handful of songs refer-
turns to intone long invocations to clan spirits and ancestors
ring to the supreme god Tui Tokelau are now sung at festi-
in order both to ensure continuation of clement weather and
vals as affirmations of corporate ethnicity, and on Niue a
bountiful fish stocks, and also to avert crop diseases. The po-
song addressing the god of the ocean, Tagaroa, is routinely
etry of such invocations tends to be fixed by tradition and
featured in cultural displays and competitions. The revival
contains semantically dense language.
in the 1970s of oceangoing voyaging in reconstructions of
traditional East Polynesian canoes stimulated a return of in-
MICRONESIA. Preliminary findings from the few published
terest in associated rituals and performance styles. A conver-
studies of Micronesian religion indicate that religious activi-
gence of such canoes at the sacred Tahitian site of Taputapu-
ties incorporating singing (with or without dancing) tend to
atea in 1995 signaled the formal reconnection of ancestral
focus on village or matriclan efforts to ensure the mainte-
relationships among several Polynesian island groups. The
nance of personal health, food production, and travelers’
renewed interest in cultural activities, also began in the 1970s
safety. The Micronesian pantheon contains no recognized
in Hawai‘i, French Polynesia, and New Zealand—possibly
paramount individual. Typical group religious activities have
influenced by the newly established South Pacific Arts Festi-
a patron god possessing limited geographical authority. Sha-
val—has seen the incorporation into public performances of
mans sing to establish contact with such beings and to obtain
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN OCEANIA
6265
advice and admonition, using incantations to lay a mantle
PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Papua New Guinea represents a maze
of divine protection over hazardous occupations. At shrines,
of sociocultural groups and extreme linguistic complexity.
priests lead performances of humanly or divinely composed
Published information on cultural practices is marginal for
songs and dances to entertain a village or district god whose
many regions and may be nonexistent for others. The follow-
reaction in turn is conveyed by the priests.
ing generalized comments are therefore necessarily tentative.
ISLAND MELANESIA. Diversity features strongly among the
Much New Guinea music is associated with various
many religious practices of Island Melanesia, where speech
types of revelation in the context of religious ritual. Religious
rather than song tends to be the chief medium of communi-
experience and understanding are the intended results of en-
cation with the supernatural realm. Both here and in Papua
hanced sensation and heightened emotion, states that are fre-
New Guinea there is no sharp distinction between religion
quently instigated and sustained by periods of singing and
and magic. Human ancestors function not only as genealogi-
dancing. The sense of mystery may be additionally intensi-
cal markers of the historical past but also as points of sup-
fied by the use of lyrics that are ungrammatical, archaic, for-
portive contact for living descendants. Musical performances
eign, or even secret. Men’s formal activities tend to be held
are featured in ancestor worship rituals in the Solomon Is-
inside communal longhouses over a period of several days
lands, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. Dances and songs assist
and nights. In contrast with other regions of Oceania, one
families of the recent dead to ensure that the physical sever-
goal of religious activity here may be the invocation of be-
ance occurring at death is accompanied by the spirit’s endur-
nign spirits, who are invited to meet with the living and so
ing departure from the region, since a lingering presence can
strengthen them.
be mischievous. By contrast, in other regions the ability of
the recent dead to maintain useful and essentially benign
Sacred instrumental music tends to be valued more for
contact with the world of the living is ritually emphasized
its sonic qualities than its aesthetic content as such. Flutes
as elderly relatives sing in imitation of spirit voices while liv-
and bull roarers are widely used to produce sounds under-
ing descendants dance.
stood by the uninitiated to be spirit voices. Only after their
physical ordeal are the real sources revealed to male novices,
In contrast to Polynesia, specific sound quality itself
but even then under pain of secrecy. Slit drums and bull roar-
may assume religious significance in both Island Melanesia
ers are prominent in this respect in New Britain and New
and Papua New Guinea. Blasts from conch trumpets may be
Ireland. Slit drums and paired flutes predominate in the cen-
believed to expel unwanted spirits at a funeral or to represent
tral Highlands, Papua Gulf, and Huon Gulf areas. The ab-
actual spirit voices. It is a widespread belief that the ghost
sence of finger holes on these end-blown or side-blown flutes
of a local person influences local affairs, causing or curing
from the Sepik and Highlands, whose unequal size represents
sickness, prophesying, and controlling the weather and
male and female identities, allows only the fundamentals and
crops. In regions where male initiation still assumes cultural
selected harmonic pitches to be sounded. The so-called fan-
significance, the real origin of the sounds of conches and
fare melodies produced result from a sharing between the
flutes is initially kept secret from initiates (who are told that
two instruments of individual notes in the melodic line.
they are hearing spirit voices) and only later revealed as
Acoustic continuity is one goal of both the paired flutes and
sound-producing devices. Until the mid-twentieth century,
other sound-producing devices, fostering the illusion of a
secret societies flourished in Vanuatu, where men (and some-
nonhuman source of the sounds. For a similar purpose of
times women) achieved social elevation through competitive
subterfuge, men may modify their voices by singing into
grade-taking that culminated in large-scale performances of
empty containers such as gourds, bamboo, or conches. In
song and dance.
some regions the handles of the hourglass-shaped drums that
men carry to accompany their own dancing may be carved
Until it was sanitized by missionaries to become primar-
with ancestral figures or combine human and avian forms to
ily a social activity in New Caledonia, the round dance was
emphasize mythological connections. Bird symbolism is also
the means of contacting ancestors at the culmination of the
common for paired flutes and their repertoires, and is visual-
large-scale pilou-pilou ritual. Processing around a central pole
ly represented through men’s knee-bending dance move-
that symbolized the material connection between the living
ments. Much ritual dancing is more participatory than pre-
and the dead, Kanak men and women believed themselves
sentational, constituting statements of entitlement intended
to be the very bodies of their own ancestors as they danced.
for fellow participants rather than acts of entertainment in-
Other Kanak men’s dances are totemic, giving visual expres-
tended for an audience.
sion to an association with either a maternal or paternal clan.
The totemic ancestors’ world, characterized by black land,
Among the Kaluli of the Southern Highlands province,
a rancid smell, and ashes, can be entered only by persons pos-
bird calls are simultaneously avian identifiers and talk from
sessing those same features. Dancers therefore plaster them-
the dead, since birds are a frequent visible form of a spirit
selves with layers of earth and ashes as part of an effort to
reflection. In particular, gisalo dance songs, whose tonal orga-
acquire the ancestors’ restorative powers. The totemic bonds
nization is identical to that of musical representations of the
between paternal and maternal clans may similarly be given
call of a fruit dove, are composed with the intention of mov-
visual expression through dancing.
ing a male audience to tears. Women’s response to the men’s
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
weeping is to break into song, thus creating a culturally acti-
gods’ potentially benevolent powers were exploited and their
vated cycle based on the belief that the gisalo performer is
potentially malevolent attributes avoided. And one major
transformed into a bird during song and dance performance.
means by which peaceful and productive coexistence with
the gods was managed was—and in some regions still is—
Ancestor appeasement through singing is widely prac-
through the performance of song and dance.
ticed, using a limited repertoire of music that those ancestors
themselves either composed or transmitted. Easing the pas-
B
sage of the human spirit from the human world is also a part
IBLIOGRAPHY
Ammann, Raymond. Kanak Dance and Music. Nouméa, New
of religious ritual life in the Trobriand Islands. Songs sung
Caledonia, 1997. A survey of the music and dance output
in what is believed to be the language of the dead describe
of the culturally diverse nation of New Caledonia.
in glowing and erotic terms the quality of life in the after-
Feld, Steven. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and
world, thus facilitating the departure. These (and other relat-
Song in Kaluli Expression. 2d ed. Philadelphia, 1990.
ed) activities confirm the spirit’s retention after death of aes-
thetic preferences and values espoused during life.
Handy, E. S. Craighill. Polynesian Religion. Honolulu, Hawaii,
1927; reprint, New York, 1971. Includes a section on music
Mythology frequently attributes the invention or dis-
and dancing and a comprehensive regional bibliography.
covery of specific musical instruments to women, who later
Kaeppler, Adrienne L., and J. W. Love, eds. The Garland Encyclo-
yielded them to men. Men subsequently appropriated the in-
pedia of World Music, vol. 9, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
struments for themselves and continue to monopolize their
New York, 1998. Contains several articles on the links be-
use through stealth and deception in an apparent gesture of
tween religious belief and musical performance.
male self-enhancement. A prime focus of religious music in
McLean, Mervyn. Maori Music. Auckland, New Zealand, 1996.
New Guinea and islands to the immediate east is the wide-
The most comprehensive publication on Maori music, in-
spread practice of puberty rites, in which singing and danc-
cluding references to religious beliefs.
ing are integral to each stage of the rituals. In some regions
Rossen, Jane Mink. Songs of Bellona Island. 2 vols. Copenhagen,
the structure of male initiation rituals suggests the processes
1987.
of menstruation, impregnation, gestation, and parturition,
Tatar, Elizabeth. Hula Pahu: Hawaiian Drum Dances, vol. 2, The
as men further attempt to obtain for themselves through rit-
Pahu: Sounds of Power. Honolulu, Hawaii, 1993.
ual the female life-imparting capabilities denied to them in
reality. In other areas the initiation ritual, together with its
RICHARD M. MOYLE (2005)
complex of songs and dances, may reflect and validate sex-
role social structures.
SUMMARY. It is not possible to generalize in a temporal sense
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN
for all of Oceania, since continuation of religious beliefs and
MESOAMERICA
practices is no longer universal, largely as a result of Christian
In Mesoamerica, multifaceted music cultures were character-
missionizing. Whereas Polynesia and Micronesia have fa-
ized by an ancient substratum of shared function and mean-
vored the undisguised human voice in vocal contributions
ing. Common to all cultures is the ritualization of both vocal
to religious ritual, Island Melanesia and Papua New Guinea
and instrumental music, as well as dance practices. Many
seek to disguise it as being of nonhuman origin, furthering
studies have dealt with pre-Hispanic musical traditions,
the notion of deception by restricting knowledge of the real
starting with “Aztec Music” (1883) by Hilborne T. Cresson
source of instrumental sounds. In the one region, musical
and “Altmexikanische Knochenrasseln” (“Bone-rattles of an-
sound is an elevated and consciously refined form of the ut-
cient Mexico,” 1898), by Eduard Seler. However, only a few
tered word, and in the other it was and is a vocal means to
explicitly discuss the autochthonal understanding and under-
an essentially nonmusical end. In much of Oceania, careful
lying religious aspects of these traditions (Stanford, 1984;
contact with the spirit realm was considered expedient, if not
Stevenson, 1996).
essential, for the achievement of essentially positive social
METHODS. A rich volume of source material is available for
outcomes.
research in the ancient music cultures of Mesoamerica. There
Whether through family heads or specialists within the
are not only numerous preserved musical instruments, but
society, contact with a variety of supernatural beings was
also a large quantity of depictions in art showing ritual func-
couched in terms of individuals whose personal identity was
tions of music. Written documents from the early colonial
known and acknowledged in song poetry. Some activities
period (sixteenth century and early seventeenth century) also
were preemptive from a position of social balance and were
provide enlightening information. Moreover, it is possible to
intended to achieve ongoing physical and mental health,
make ethnomusicological comparisons on the basis of cultur-
continued sexual attractiveness, and the availability of ade-
al continuities.
quate food resources. By contrast, remedial activities such as
Archaeology. Archaeological information, such as the
healing and forceful victory over adversaries arose as a result
context of unearthed sound artifacts, is of great importance,
of perceived social imbalance. In all such spheres of activity,
since it provides insight into invaluable information on the
whether by invocation or entertainment or supplication, the
function and meaning of music in pre-Hispanic cultures in
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
6267
precise chronological order. Depositing musical instruments
human thighbones by the Aztecs. While the wooden rasps
into burials indicates a use in death cults, whereas using them
are played on a wooden resonator and on the head of the sick
as offerings in the fills of superimposed temple structures in-
person in a Tarahumara peyote ceremony (Deimel, 2000),
dicates a use by the cults practiced at these locations. Both
bone rasps were played on a skull resonator in the Aztec
cases reflect the concept of music in the spiritual realm. In
death cult to help the deceased on his or her difficult journey
this way the instruments, which possibly represented the per-
into the underworld (Seler, 1898). The rasp, called omichi-
sonal property of the deceased, were taken with him or her
cahuaztli (instrument for strengthening the bones) by the Az-
into the world of the dead. Offerings such as those at the
tecs, has maintained a magical function until the twenty-first
Aztec Templo Mayor in the Valley of Mexico (1325–1521
century, though its culture-specific meanings must be clearly
CE) represent cosmograms that reflect the notion of numi-
differentiated.
nous spheres filled with specific sounds.
THE HISTORY OF MUSIC IN MESOAMERICA. Some percus-
Music iconography. From an iconographic point of
sion instruments (idiophones and membranophones) and
view, of interest are both the preserved musical instruments
wind instruments (aerophones) used in Mesoamerica are
and other archaeological findings, such as figurines of musi-
unique in the world with regard to their shape and technical
cians and figurative votive representations of musical instru-
functions. A historical survey shows that the music cultures
ments, particularly the representation of musicians and danc-
of Mesoamerica reflected a more than three-thousand-year-
ers in stone relief, mural and vase painting, and picture
old history prior to the Spanish conquest (Castellanos, 1970;
manuscripts. On the basis of these sources, specific functions
Dultzin Dubín and Nava Gómez Tagle, 1984).
of the instrumentary and the context of musical practices can
Archaic period (prior to 2500
be meticulously reconstructed. Sound scrolls or volutes pro-
BCE). It can be assumed
that the knowledge of bone flutes was brought into the New
vide a pictographic clue about instrumental music and recita-
World when America was first populated, as these instru-
tive song, which attained the level of a complex, incomplete-
ments were already produced in the Old World during the
ly decrypted symbolism in Teotihuacán in the Mexican
Upper Palaeolithic Era (c. 40,000–10,000
Highlands (c. 150
BCE). Among the
BCE–750 CE) (LaGamma, 1991). In Me-
prehistoric musical instruments of Mesoamerica that were
soamerica, volutes also symbolized scents, smoke, and pre-
made by hunters and gatherers around 10,000
cious liquids, such as water or blood, and in the depiction
BCE are whis-
tles from the toe bones of ungulates as well as ribs with sim-
of offerings and sacrificial acts they stood for the connection
ple perforations that were possibly used to produce calls
with the spiritual world (Heyden, 1979; Houston and
(Schöndube, 1986, p. 91, photos 1–2). The ability to imitate
Taube, 2000).
specific sounds from the natural environment using the
Ethnohistory. The written sources from the early colo-
human breath with the aide of acoustical tools represented
nial period provide extensive insight into the musical tradi-
an effective medium of communication with the outside
tions of Mesoamerica. Because Spanish missionaries mainly
world with which the environment could be commanded
composed these sources, a critical interpretation is essential
and controlled—as with the imitation of animal calls for the
to avoid misinterpretations or disinformation. Valuable in-
hunt. Sound association must have played an increasingly
formation is contained within the descriptions of indigenous
larger role when making instruments that could produce
musical practices with regard to ceremonial dances, proces-
sounds not present in nature. Among the first instruments
sions, and temple rituals but also comes from traditional
in Mesoamerica that required sound association were percus-
myths, in which musical instruments play an integral role
sion instruments, such as conch tinkles, bone rasps made
(see section on Music in Aztec Myth, below). Dictionaries
from the shoulder blades of deer, and turtle shells that were
and bilingual chronicles also provide an important contribu-
struck with deer antlers, with which complex rhythms could
tion to the understanding of autochthonous musical tradi-
be created.
tions. In addition to Aztec terminology, Mixtec and other
terminologies point to a uniform concept of music in Me-
Preclassic period (c. 2500 BCE–150 CE). Archaeologi-
soamerica (Stanford, 1966).
cal finds confirm that pre-Hispanic instrumentary was exten-
sively expanded in the Preclassic period, during which the
Ethnomusicology. Despite multilayered syncretism,
first large ceremonial centers were erected. Simultaneous
certain musical practices of contemporary ethnic groups in
with the first use of ceramics, sophisticated whistles and
Mexico and Guatemala contain pre-Hispanic elements.
flutes were produced, which can hardly be differentiated
Thus, ethnomusicological studies can be highly informative.
from subsequent instruments (Martí, 1968). This suggests
On the other hand, it should be pointed out that the process
similar instruments made out of perishable materials, such
is increasingly more difficult the more distant the temporal,
as cane flutes, were already in existence centuries earlier. Shell
spatial, and cultural reference points are from one another.
trumpets are among the earliest burial findings of musical in-
The problem becomes clear when looking at the function of
struments in Tlatilco, Valley of Mexico, dated to around
wooden rasps among Mexican ethnic groups, such as the
1400–1200 BCE, revealing the existence of complex trade re-
Tarahumara (Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahua), in com-
lations (García Moll et al., 1991, p. 220). They possibly as-
parison to the function of similar instruments made from
sumed an important role as ceremonial signaling instruments
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
whose potent, vibrating sounds could be heard over long dis-
find of ceramic flutes in a burial in Tres Zapotes, Veracruz,
tances. In Tlatilco, spherical rattles made from ceramics that
suggest the use of panpipes in the Early Classic period
could have served as simple hand rattles were also unearthed
(Martí, 1968, pp. 95–106). The production of multi-tubular
(García Moll et al., 1991). As suggested by ceramic figurines,
duct flutes, which reached a climax in Teotihuacán, suggests
they were perhaps attached to the dancers’ ritual clothing as
the development of complex scale systems (Martí, 1968,
row rattles (Feuchtwanger, 1980, p. 140, Figures 28–29).
pp. 191–213). The use of slit-drums in the Early Classic pe-
Other figurines show gourd rattles, tripod drums, and flute
riod is suggested by findings of figurative votive representa-
players (Feuchtwanger, 1980, p. 141, Fig. 32–36). These
tions in West Mexico and at Monte Albán, Oaxaca (Furst,
finds attest to the complexity that musical and dance prac-
1998, p. 184, Fig. 23; Martí, 1970, p. 104, Fig. 88). The
tices had already attained in the Middle Preclassic period
instruments initially exhibit a box shape with four feet, as in-
(c. 1200–300 BCE). Among the remarkable instruments that
dicated also by stone sculptures from the Mayan region (Cas-
were produced in Tlatilco are whistling bottles, which func-
tellanos, 1970, pp. 47–48, Figs. 7.B–8.A).
tion on the principle of air pressure against a whistle that is
initiated by the movement of water within the axially shaken
Also proven to have been used in the Classic period are
vase (Martí, 1968, pp. 110–119). Because the instruments
ceramic trumpets and long tubular trumpets made out of
seem to sound of their own accord, they must have been re-
vegetative material that were used for various occasions, such
lated to a particular ritual function with unknown implica-
as battles, processions, and autosacrificial rites, according to
tions. The production of flutes and whistles in the shape of
the preserved depictions. In the mural paintings of Structure
birds and other animals, such as snakes, also suggests a specif-
1 in Bonampak, Chiapas (790 CE), there is a preserved mural
ic cult use, as animals were seen as manifestations of super-
of a Mayan court ceremony, in which musicians are depicted
natural beings and the instruments cannot always imitate the
with tubular trumpets, turtle shells, a tripod drum, and
animal represented.
gourd rattles. Shell trumpets were especially important, so
much so that sanctuaries were erected for them. An example
Mass findings of elaborately decorated shell trumpets in
of this is the Temple of the Plumed Conches in Teotihuacán,
West Mexican shaft tombs, dated to the Late Preclassic peri-
dated to 200 CE (Bernal, 1963, photos 15–16, Lám 7). In
od (300 BCE–150 CE), suggest that certain musical instru-
the Jaguar Compound in Teotihuacán (c. 450–700 CE),
ments became status symbols for high-ranked individuals
mural paintings of forward-walking cats of prey playing shell
(Furst, 1966; López Mestas Camberos and Ramos de la
trumpets were uncovered, which suggests a procession of jag-
Vega, 1998). On the basis of West Mexican figurines that
uar impersonators (Fuente, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 115–119).
show musicians riding on drums, Peter T. Furst made the
Other murals in Teotihuacán show shell trumpets playing of
interpretation that drums served as vehicles with which the
their own accord and calling certain divine beings associated
path into the spiritual world was taken (Furst, 1998,
with the fertility cult (Séjourné, 1966, Fig. 142; Kubler,
pp. 183–185). The high importance of rattles and wooden
1967, Fig. 5). In Teotihuacán the ceremonial instrument was
drums in shamanic practices, which continue in the twenty-
decorated with the iridescent tail plumes of the quetzal bird,
first century in the ceremonies of various Mexican ethnic
and mouthpieces were attached that possibly consisted of cir-
groups, can possibly be attributed to the creation of repetitive
cular ear spools. Also in the Mayan region, organological
rhythmic structures to put the musicians, dancers, and sing-
modifications were made to shell trumpets, with the perfora-
ers into a trance. The high tone frequency of many ceramic
tion of up to two finger holes. The instruments were possibly
wind instruments that lies in a sensitive hearing range and
deified both in Teotihuacán and in the Maya culture and
leads to interference effects when played simultaneously can
were closely related to the fertility cult, sacrificial practices,
also produce strong psychological effects (Both, 2002b).
and the underworld. Unusual instruments that were perhaps
Among other techniques for selectively evoking altered states
also associated with the underworld are huge bone rasps
of consciousness are hyperventilation and ritual intoxication
made from whale ribs, which were discovered in an offering
with highly psychoactive substances obtained from various
at Monte Albán (Caso et al., 1967, p. 103, Figs. 70–71).
plants associated with the deities of music (Wasson, 1980,
Even if the conceptual implications of the instruments can-
pp. 56–78; Heyden, 1985, pp. 21–39).
not be determined with absolute certainty, it can be assumed
that whale bones were considered to be the remains of gigan-
Classic period (c. 150–750/900 CE). In the Classic pe-
tic beings from bygone eras, such as the bones of mammoths
riod, in which many important cultures developed in Me-
and other prehistoric animals.
soamerica, the existing instrumentary was further expanded.
The large quantity of musical instruments found in ceremo-
Postclassic period (900–1521 CE). In Postclassic Me-
nial centers and preserved depictions in mural and relief art
soamerica the ancient concepts were further developed. The
show the important position attributed to ritual musical and
instrumentary was expanded with bells and metal discs that
dance practices. On the basis of the widely distributed pro-
could have served as gongs (Flores Dorantes, 1979). Bells
duction of various ceramic flutes and whistles, it can be seen
made out of copper alloys and gold were found in the Sacred
that even smaller regional centers were characterized by their
Cenote at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán (750/900–1200 CE) and in
own unmistakable music. Several findings, including a large
the tombs reused by Zapotecs and Mixtecs at Monte Albán
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
6269
(900–1400 CE). Fine metallic sounds became an expression
(Sahagún, 1997, p. 80). At midnight began the tozohualiztli
of stately power (Hosler, 1994).
ritual, the night watch of the drummers, which was connect-
ed with songs and astronomical observations from atop the
Aztec music culture finally developed in the Late Post-
temples (Sahagún, 1997, p. 80). The ritual human sacrifice
classic period (1325–1521 CE). Rattle sticks became impor-
was accompanied by shell trumpets and tripod drums
tant instruments and were attributed with a magical function
(Sahagún, 1950–1982, vol. 3, bk. 2, p. 28). In a temple des-
in cults dedicated to rain, water, and mountain gods (Neu-
ignated as “house of mist” (ayauhcalli), priests sounded shell
mann, 1976, pp. 247–248). The preserved slit-drums, which
trumpets and gongs during ritual cleansing (Sahagún, 1950–
either exhibited an elaborately decorated box shape or zoo-
1982, vol. 3, bk. 2, p. 77). Ritual music was also practiced
morphic and anthropomorphic shapes, suggest high crafts-
by women, who played slit-drums or rattle sticks as represen-
manship in the production of wooden drums (Castañeda and
tatives of female deities and appeared as temple singers and
Mendoza, 1933). On the famous tripod drum from Malinal-
dancers in various ceremonies.
co, the “four-movement” (nahui ollin) sign for the fifth
world era and a representation of the deity of music Xo-
While the priest-musicians lived in the temple precinct
chipilli (Flower Prince) in a bird costume are depicted. The
of Tenochtitlán, the professional musicians formed a group
drum is additionally ornamented with Aztec war imagery,
that resided at the court. They were responsible for providing
such as dancing jaguars and eagles as well as volutes in the
music in the ruler’s palace and for large ceremonial dances
form of the atl-tlachinolli sign, the metaphor for war (Seler,
in the temple precinct, in which cult activities such as ritual
1904). A stone representation of a slit-drum to scale, on the
human sacrifices were interwoven (Both, 2001). From the
other hand, shows Macuilxochitl (Five Flower), a deity of
depiction of circle dances in picture manuscripts, it can be
music closely related to Xochipilli. The imagery of his eyes
seen that dancers often carried gourd rattles decorated with
is noteworthy, into which the palms of two hands are incor-
feathers, whereas the drummers were positioned in the center
porated, as are the flowers surrounding the mouth, a meta-
of the dancers (Martí and Prokosch Kurath, 1964). In addi-
phor for music and sacrifice. In addition, jaguar pelts are rep-
tion, there are reports of music by trumpets, pipes, and por-
resented on the sides of the drum, thus indicating the
table drums during battles, which served as distraction noise
existence of a hybrid instrument consisting of a slit-drum
for surprise attacks and for giving signals (Moreno, 1961).
and a double-sided cylindrical drum, which could have been
It is unclear whether priests or court musicians were respon-
played by two priests simultaneously.
sible for the noise, or whether there was a third group of spe-
In the excavations of the previous Aztec temple precinct
cialized musicians among the eagle and jaguar warriors.
of Tenochtitlán in the center of Mexico City, many musical
MUSIC IN AZTEC MYTH. In the Aztec cosmogony some key
instruments were unearthed, such as metal bells, conch tin-
information shines light on the ritual function and meaning
kles, ceramic flutes, shell trumpets, fragments of shell trum-
of musical instruments in Mesoamerica. The Legend of the
pets, and incense ladles with rattles built into the handles
Suns tells of the origin of the shell trumpet while discussing
(López Luján, 1993). The context of the findings provides
the creation of humankind (Johansson, 1997). At the begin-
highly informative data about ritual music practiced in the
ning of the fifth world era the divine creator Quetzalcoatl
temple cult of the Aztecs and reflects the association of spe-
(Feathered Snake) travels down into the underworld into the
cific sounds with the aquatic underworld or the paradisiacal
kingdom of the ruler of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli. Quetzal-
spheres of the rain god Tlaloc.
coatl is supposed to procure the bones of the beings of fore-
In several shrines called the Red Temples, the Aztec dei-
gone eras, which is to be ground up and mingled with the
ties of music and musical instruments were honored in the
sacrificed blood of deities to create humankind. In order to
form of figurative votive representations (Olmedo Vera,
be allowed to take the bones, Quetzalcoatl is to blow on the
2002). In a court east of the Templo Mayor, the monumen-
shell of the ruler of the underworld four times and turn to
tal representation of a shell trumpet was found next to an
the four corners of the world when doing so. However,
altar, from which it possibly was knocked down (Luna Er-
Quetzalcoatl must first create the shell trumpet by removing
reguerena, 1982). The sculpture underscores the high posi-
the tip of the spire of the shell thus producing the embou-
tion of the trumpet, because no other instrument was sculpt-
chure. Quetzalcoatl accomplishes what seems impossible
ed in a comparable size.
through his magical powers with the aide of caterpillars and
black bees, which bore a channel into the shell. After Quet-
Written sources from the early colonial period suggest
zalcoatl performs the shell trumpet ritual, Mictlantecuhtli
that in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica a differentiation was
must let his opponent leave with the bones.
made between temple music practiced by specialized priests
and court and palace music practiced by professional musi-
Noteworthy about this myth is that the creation of hu-
cians (Both, 2001). It can be assumed that similar differenti-
mankind was announced in the underworld with the shell
ations were made in earlier cultures. The priests responsible
trumpet, and thus tremendous creative potential is attributed
for the temple music of Tenochtitlán introduced the nightly
to its sound. As a wind instrument with a spiral-shaped chan-
sacrificial practices with shell trumpets in the tlatlapitzaliztli
nel, the trumpet was closely related to the magical powers
ritual, the “frequent sounding of wind instruments”
of Quetzalcoatl (Corona Núñez, 1966). The myth addition-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN MESOAMERICA
ally provides an explanation for why musical instruments had
SEE ALSO Afterlife, article on Mesoamerican Concepts;
to be played four times facing the four corners of the world
Aztec Religion; Deification; Drama, article on Mesoameri-
to guarantee the effectiveness of a ritual. This musical prac-
can Dance and Drama; Funeral Rites, article on Me-
tice was paraphrased with a metaphor that can be translated
soamerican Funeral Rites; Human Sacrifice, article on Aztec
as “carry something [i.e., the musical instrument or the
Rites; Iconography, article on Mesoamerican Iconography;
sound] four times in all directions around the precious circu-
Maya Religion; Mesoamerican Religions, article on Classic
lar greenstone [i.e., the center of the world]” (nauhpa
Cultures; Shamanism, overview articles; Tezcatlipoca;
xictlayahualochti in chalchiuhteyahualco). It is important
Tlaloc; Underworld.
to ascertain that numerical symbolism and musical direction-
alism, even in conjunction with other instruments, such as
BIBLIOGRAPHY
in the flute ritual of the deity Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mir-
Bernal, Ignacio. Teotihuacan. Mexico City, 1963.
ror), played an important role (Both, 2002a).
Berrin, Kathleen, ed. Art of the Huichol Indians. New York, 1978.
Another myth that has been handed down in two ver-
Both, Arnd Adje. “Die Musikkultur der Azteken.” Mitteilungen
der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Ur-
sions explains the history of the origins of the tripod drum
geschichte 22 (2001): 43–48.
(huehuetl) and the slit-drum (teponaztli) (Ceballos Novelo,
Both, Arnd Adje. “Aztec Flower-Flutes: The Symbolic Organiza-
1956). At a time when music still did not exist on the earth,
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Both, Arnd Adje. “The Songs of Tlaloc: Interference of Ten Ce-
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Caso, Alfonso, Ignacio Bernal, and Jorge R. Acosta. La cerámica
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In this myth the drums are described as divine creatures
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with the spiritual world that helped the voices of the gods
Feuchtwanger, Franz. “Tlatilco-Terrakotten von Akrobaten, Ball-
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spielern, Musikanten, und Tanzenden.” Baessler-Archiv, n.s.,
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28 (1980): 131–153.
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Flores Dorantes, Felipe de Jesús. “Los instrumentos musicales de
back upon a three-thousand-year varied history at the time
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Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de. The Florentine Codex. Translated
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hipánico. Mexico City, 1985.
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South America is a remarkably musical and religious conti-
Martí, Samuel, and Gertrude Prokosch Kurath. Dances of Aná-
nent. All of its countries show vigorous popular and indige-
huac: The Choreography and Music of Precortesian Dances. Vi-
nous traditions, which have music and dance as its core. Ca-
king Fund Publications in Anthropology no. 38. Chicago,
tholicism is the predominant official religion in all of South
1964.
America, but the continental religious scenarios are diverse
Moreno, Salvador. “La música en la Historia Verdadera de la Con-
and constantly changing, especially with the recent growth
quista de la Nueva España.” Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos
of evangelic churches and with the development of many al-
134 (1961): 201–215.
ternative religions, most of them derived from local and syn-
Neumann, Frank J. “The Rattle-Stick of Xipe Totec: A Shamanic
cretic practices. One common trait in the majority of these
Element in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican Religion.” In Actas
South American religious practices is the role of music in reli-
del XII Congreso International de Americanistas 2 (1976):
giosity in communicating with spiritual beings.
243–251.
Ochoa Cabrera, José Antonio, Claudia Linda Cortés Hernández,
The centrality of music in South American sacred rituals
and Nancy Cortés Hernández. Los oficios de k’ayom: Música
has been indicated not only by ethnological and ethnohi-
Hach Winik (Lacandona). Mexico City, 1998.
storical research, but also by archeological evidences of pre-
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Columbian musical instruments. During the last decades,
work as slaves. The religious practices of these people and
the knowledge about South American pre-Columbian socie-
their Afro-American descendents are very musical, and this
ties has changed the vision of these groups as simple survivals
religious musicality influenced much of Brazilian contempo-
of Andean complex societies. According to recent archeologi-
rary music and culture. Much historical data about the Afro-
cal research, the settlements around the Amazon River were
Brazilian religious and musical practices was preserved. In
densely inhabited complex societies, organized in agricultural
contrast, in Peru, the music of African descendents was ig-
chieftains with intense ritual life. These findings will change
nored and emphasis was placed upon the Indigenous musical
the perceptions of Amazonian societies of the past and also
heritage. However, both cases show that the Colonial period
of their music. In Brazil, due to climatic conditions and to
was crucial in the construction of South American popular
the fact that most of the musical instruments were made of
religiosity. The colonial heritage is usually analysed through
perishable materials, few archeological evidences have been
the idea of syncretism in all South American popular celebra-
found until now. One exception is the deer bone flute found
tions, many of them part of the Catholic calendar, though
at the Northeastern Zona da Mata’s Madre do Brejo site, es-
there are notable regional differences.
timated to be two thousand years old. On the other hand,
Many popular contemporary Brazilian festivals have
from the Andes and the Pacific coast there are several archeo-
dance and music as their central axis. For example, there is
logical records of musical instruments such as pottery rattles,
the Festa do Divino Espírito Santo (Holy Spirit’s Feast),
metal cymbals, stone and pottery horns and flutes, and leath-
which occurs seven weeks after Easter, in which several musi-
er and wood membranophones.
cal genres are represented, such as congadas and catiras. Dur-
Rich ethnographical material comes from the writings
ing this ritual, a group of singers visits a villager’s house ask-
of the first voyagers who visited South America during the
ing for donations. Between Christmas and January 6,
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One example is Jean de
hundreds of cities in Brazil celebrate the Folia de Reis (Com-
Léry’s description of the religious musical rituals of the Tupi
panies of Kings), their songs recalling the Three Kings’ jour-
Indians of the Brazilian coast, considered to be the first eth-
ney to welcome the baby Jesus. Musicians playing viola (five-
nomusicological account. Voyagers who crossed the conti-
stringed guitar), pandeiro (tambourine) and cavaquinho
nent from the Brazilian coast to Peru through a pre-colonial
(four-stringed mandolin-like guitar) accompany the singers.
path named Peabiru provided descriptions of the Guarani
During the Festas Juninas (June Festivals), which celebrate
Indians’ large religious festivals. There are accounts of such
Saint Peter, Saint Anthony and Saint John, the musical genre
musical rituals in various South American lowlands societies,
played the most is forró, which originated in northeastern
and archeological research reinforces these descriptions with
Brazil and is usually played by a trio of accordionist-singers,
the discovery of enormous pottery vessels used in drinking
a triangle player, and a zabumba player (the zabumba is a sort
rituals.
of bass drum).
Since the beginning of the invasion of South America
If Brazilian popular religiosity expresses itself through
by European peoples, missionaries made a systematic and
musical practices, one may say the same happens in all of
strategic effort to convert indigenous societies to Christiani-
South America, considering its common cultural heritage
ty, trying to make them abandon their beliefs and native
from the indigenous peoples and the colonizers and immi-
cults. The procedures of the missionaries were sometimes vi-
grants from Europe. Other examples are the Señor de los
olent, involving even the destruction of musical instruments
temblores (Cuzco, Peru), the Señor de los Milagros (Lima,
and the demonization of certain music repertoires. European
Peru) and the Cuasimodo (Chile), this last example a religious
Church music was largely used for this goal, including trans-
procession that takes place on the Sunday after Easter. There
lation of Christian texts into native languages. Music was
is great variability concerning the musical instruments em-
largely used to attract indigenous peoples to the missions. A
ployed and their repertoires.
remarkable example of the dimension of these missions is the
so-called Sete Povos das Misso˜es (Missions’ seven peoples),
In Peru, Catholic and agricultural popular festivals are
a conglomerate of Jesuit missions founded in the region of
the center of community life in Andean villages like Conima,
southern Brazil and northern Argentina in the seventeenth
where they occur at least once a month. In the rituals of
century. In these reduço˜es (reductions, as those missions are
t’inka and ch’alla, Aymara Peruvians worship local deities
called), hundreds of Indians were taught to construct and
and also sacred places, such as certain rivers that are con-
play European early Baroque music. At the end of the seven-
ceived as animate and powerful. The maker of the musical
teenth century, Sepp, a Jesuit missionary especially dedicated
instruments is a community member who is considered to
to musical activities, wrote a letter in which he reported that
be the owner of esoteric knowledge. Recent investigations of
music was played daily by the Indian musicians at mass and
similar rites have identified symbols of Indian identity and
that if all those musicians were assembled, they would
subversion codified in music, choreography and mask styles.
amount to 3,000 people. This strategy was largely employed
Since the second half of the twentieth century, ethno-
in South America in general.
logical research has shown that shamanism constitutes not
During the Brazilian colonial period (1500–1822), large
only a curing system but a fundamentally religious practice,
populations of people were brought from western Africa to
facilitating the interaction between humans and supernatural
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTH AMERICA
6273
beings. South American lowlands indigenous societies’ wor-
All indigenous rituals show a central role of music, and
ldviews reveal simultaneously a deep religious sense and a
in fact they may be considered music rituals. At the same
musical hearing of the world. In all these peoples, there is
time, these ritual activities concern spiritual or supernatural
a central role of the shaman both as curer and mediator be-
beings, myths and mythic beliefs, or in other words, their
tween human and spiritual beings. The connection between
cosmology. Ethnologists have been studying Amerindian
mythic beliefs and everyday life makes it possible to think
cosmologies as essentially shamanic, arguing that the figure
of these cosmologies as native systems of thought about the
of the shaman centers all ritual and mythic thought, for he
universe, or, in other words, as religions.
is the subject who can perceive different perspectives to the
universe. Several ethnographies emphasize the shamanic
The indigenous peoples who live in central Brazil’s
practice as both healing and musical, such as the Shipibo-
Upper Xingu Park believe their cosmos is populated by spiri-
Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon, whose shamanic songs are
tual beings that severely interfere in human lives. They are
transformed into invisible drawings that are printed on the
monstrous invisible spirits, related to certain animals,, plants,
patient’s skin.
and other natural beings, and can only be seen by the shaman
through his tobacco-induced trance. For the Xinguanos, all
In the last few decades, South American indigenous so-
human sicknesses originate from these spirits’ actions on the
cieties have experienced the reinforcement of native identi-
body, into which they throw an invisible object in order to
ties and, at the same time, faced the increasing presence of
provoke sickness and death and steal the precious human
various protestant churches in their villages. In this scenario,
souls. The cure of a sick person is highly related to the aes-
in which native cosmologies reveal both adaptation and
thetic dimension in such a way that the restoration of health
appropriation of elements of these churches, the role of
may be equated with the restoration of the original condition
music remains strategic, as has been shown for the Wichi of
of beauty. A ritual must be performed in which the music
Argentina.
of the specific spirit causing the sickness is played. All native
In fact, since the 1990s there has been a noticeable
music belongs to these spirits, and it is played in curing ritu-
growth of evangelic churches—especially the Pentacostal
als in order to please the spirits and to transform them from
movement—throughout all South America. This growth
the sick person’s enemy to his life-enduring ally.
parallels the retraction of Catholicism, even in Brazil, which
The Guarani compose one of the largest indigenous so-
is considered the largest Catholic country in the world. A re-
cieties of South America, the total population amounting to
action of the Catholic Church has been its so-called Movi-
about 150,000 people living in Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Ar-
mento Carismático (Charismatic Movement), which largely
gentina and Uruguay. After more than five hundred years of
employs typically evangelic strategies directly related to
contact with European colonizers, of submission to forced
music. In this sense, there is a stimulation of musical prac-
labor by Portuguese and Spanish invaders and of threats to
tices and an opening to a variety of musical genres, particu-
eradicate their religious beliefs by Jesuit missionaries, the
larly those appreciated by the younger generations, such as
Guarani continue to speak their language and perform their
rock and rap music. This is a model imported from North
music in daily rituals. In daily shamanistic rituals, as the Sun,
American protestant churches, widely adopted in Brazil and
the creator hero, sets in the horizon, the Guarani sing, play
all South American countries. American black music, like
and dance, for music is the path to reach the divinities. The
gospel, has been a fundamental influence on this populariza-
tion of the evangelic music movement. The Catholic charis-
communication with the spiritual beings is a means for the
matic movement has been trying to adopt the use of popular
Guarani to express their orphaned state, for their ancestors
music genres, but the church’s conservative leadership does
were abandoned by the Gods as they left this earth. Guarani
not approve of this modification. For example, the Vatican
rituals serve to ward off sadness and exercise the body,, and
released a document ordering the return to the earlier mass
at the same time serve to care for the health of the entire
ceremony, condemning the use of popular music.
earth. The Kaiowa Guarani use maraca rattles and rhythmic
sticks, and the Mbyá Guarani use also guitar, fiddle and
In Brazilian culture, the official and the popular, as
drum. The Chiriguano Guarani from Bolivia, adorned with
much as the religious and the superstitious, intermingle in
leather or wooden masks, play the quena flute during the ex-
such a way that there is a generative process that is constantly
tended festival calendar. The Mbyá use of guitar and violin
re-elaborated. Brazilian religiosity is a composite of distinct
is an example of how musical instruments introduced by the
approaches to the sacred that is simultaneously inclusive and
European colonizers in the early years of contact were appro-
exclusive, moving towards syncretism. New religious centers
priated by the Indians into their native mythology. As early
develop alongside the official religions, creating an ever
as the seventeenth century, a dictionary of Guarani language,
changing and growing religious field, especially among the
elaborated by the Jesuits, presents a definition of mbaraka
poorest classes. A similar movement happens in Brazilian
that includes, beside the rattle, string instruments such as the
music in general, constantly and creatively transforming it-
guitar and fiddle. Currently the Guarani in southeastern Bra-
self and generating new musical genres, as if religion and
zil and Argentina use in their rituals a five-stringed guitar
music constitute a means of expressing both the protest for
that is tuned in a special way.
the social condition and the meaning of existence. Recent
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTH AMERICA
studies show that, instead of over-emphasizing the African
joining religious and ethnic symbols. Thus, many groups
components in South American black musical traditions,
that have suffered social prejudice throughout their history
one should envision all the rich dialectics of these practices.
recognize that their culture was preserved through the perfor-
mance of their religious rituals, as the case of Brazilian north-
A famous example of Brazilian syncretism is Candom-
eastern Indians, for whom these practices function today as
blé, an African American religion organized around the cult
an affirmation of their emerging ethnicity. This particular
of African mythic ancestors called orixás, but also with refer-
mixture of the ethnic and the religious is certainly a charac-
ence to indigenous figures (the so-called caboclas) and to
teristic of the relationship between music and religion in
Catholic saints. The music of its cults, understood as a fun-
South America.
damental element of Candomblé, is the only means of get-
ting in touch with these ancestor spirits through trance and
possession. Candomblé cults have been growing in Argentina
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exhibit different configurations according to the group. Dur-
Grünewald, Rodrigo (Org.). Toré: Regime encantado dos índios do
ing the drinking of jurema, the Xukurú Indians sing the toré
Nordeste (Toré: the enchanted regime of the Northeastern
songs accompanied by rattle and flutes made of plastic. In
Indians). Recife, Brazil, 2004.
the African-indigenous ritual called catimbó-jurema, the
Guss, David M. “‘Indianness’ and the Construction of Ethnicity
singers are accompanied by drums. Both of these jurema
in the Day of the Monkey.” Latin American Studies Series.
drinking rituals reveal striking Catholic elements.
No. 9 (1995).
All the musical performances mentioned here, and oth-
Langdon, E. J. and Baer, G., eds. Portals of Power: Shamanism in
ers like Carnaval, are expanding the connotations of the reli-
South America. Albuquerque, 1992.
gious field to other social and political domains. Though
Lucas, Glaura. Os Sons do Rosário: O Congado Mineiro dos Arturos
they may not be seen by its agents as instruments to make
e Jatobá (The sounds of Rosário: the Congado Mineiro of Ar-
politics, these rituals reinforce the bonds of social identity by
turos and Jatobá). Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2002.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
6275
Luna, Luis E. “Icaros: Magic Melodies.” In: Portals of Power: Sha-
lished musical theory. In Mesopotamia cuneiform texts, art-
manism in South America, edited by Jean Langdon and Ger-
works, reliefs, plaques, and seals provide a wealth of informa-
hard Baer. Albuquerque, 1992.
tion concerning the musical culture. In Egypt musical scenes
Menezes Bastos, Rafael José. “Apùap World Hearing: On the Ka-
frequently appear on the walls of tombs because the Egyp-
mayurá Phono-Auditory System and the Anthropological
tians believed that pictorial reproductions of domestic life se-
Concept of Culture.” The World of Music 41, no.1 (1999):
cured a pleasurable existence in the other life. Few musical
85–96.
instruments have been excavated in Mesopotamia, but a
Montardo, Deise Lucy. Através do “Mbaraka”: Música e Xamanis-
great many have been found in Egypt, where the aridity of
mo Guarani (Through the Mbaraka: Guarani music and sha-
the desert has preserved them from decomposition.
manism). Doctoral dissertation in anthropology. Sa˜o Paulo,
Brazil, 2002.
Despite the great variety of cultures in the region, the
general approach to sacred music, its nature, function, and
Novaes, Regina. “Errantes do Novo Milênio: salmos e versículos
meaning, was imbued with a spirit of unity. The music has
bíblicos noespaço público.” In: Religia˜o e Espaço Público, ed-
been characterized as normative and refined, and as giving
ited by Patrícia Birman. Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil, 2003.
primacy to such diverse performing styles as singing to a solo
Piedade, Acácio. O Canto do Kawoká: Música, Cosmologia e Filoso-
instrumental accompaniment, performing with an instru-
fia entre os Wauja do Alto Xingu (The chant of Kawoká:
mental group, dancing, and other ritual gestures. Perfor-
Music, cosmology and philosophy among the Wauja from
mances were confined to a distinct class of well-trained male
the Upper Xingu). Doctoral dissertation in anthropology.
Florianópolis, Brazil, 2004.
and female musicians and dancers.
Reily, Suzel Ana. Voices of the Magi: Enchanted Journeys in South-
It is tempting to conclude that this music lacked the
east Brazil. Chicago, 2002.
freshness, spontaneity, and devotional expression characteris-
Romero, Raúl R., ed. Musica, danzas y mascaras en los Andes. Lima,
tic of folk worship, yet despite its refinement and profession-
1993.
alism it remained linked in many ways to its magical anteced-
ents and the divine origins from which it drew its vitality.
Rondon, Víctor. “Música y ritualidad misional en el Chile colo-
Being essentially associated with worship, sacred music
nial: raíces de la religiosidad popular actual.” Série estudos 4.
Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2000.
served to honor the gods in the performance of the daily lit-
urgy in temples and to accompany the traditional funeral
Roosevelt, Anna. C., ed. Amazonian Indians from Prehistory to the
rites and the annual festivals. The link between past and pres-
Present: Anthropological Perspectives. Tucson, Ariz., 1994.
ent and between humanity and the cosmos is evident in this
Sánchez, Wálter. “La Plaza Tomada: Proceso histórico y etnogéne-
music in many respects. Thus the Babylonian New Year fes-
sis musical entre los Chiriguano de Bolivia.” Latin American
tival symbolized the reduction of the primordial epoch to a
Music Review 19 (1998): 2.
scale of annual duration. This annual celebration of plant life
Sepp, Antônio. Viagem às Misso˜es jesuíticas e trabalhos apostólicos
and fertility has been associated with a wedding of the gods
(Journey to Jesuit missions and apostolic work; 1698). Sa˜o
and with the epic of the creation of the world, recited on the
Paulo, 1980.
fourth day of the festival.
Turino, Thomas. Moving Away from Silence: Music of the Peruvian
Altiplano and the Experience of Urban Migration. Chicago,
Both in Mesopotamia and Egypt, sacred music has been
1993.
associated with divinities and celestial protectors. The head
of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of heaven, love, and sacred
Vianna, Hermano. The Mystery of Samba: Popular Music and Na-
music, was usually surmounted by the sistrum. This shaken
tional Identity in Brazil. Durham, N.C., 1999.
musical instrument, consisting of a handle and a frame with
Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo. “Cosmological Deixis and Amerin-
jingling crossbars, was used to accompany ritual ceremonies
dian Perspectivism.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological In-
associated particularly with the goddess. The bull, a symbol
stitute (September 1998).
of fertility and divine power, shown frequently in the gigan-
Wright, Robin M., ed. Transformando os Deuses: os múltiplos senti-
tic Assyrian reliefs surmounted by a human head as a guard-
dos da conversa˜o (Transforming the Gods: multiple senses of
ian against misfortune, was associated in the Ur period
conversion). Campinas, Brazil, 1999.
(2600–2350 BCE) with the lyre, whose sound box was mod-
ACÁCIO TADEU DE CAMARGO PIEDADE (2005)
eled after the body of a bull. The lyre had a yoke-shaped
DEISE LUCY OLIVEIRA MONTARDO (2005)
frame consisting of two arms and a variable number of
strings stretched over the frontal soundboard. In a later styl-
ized form, only the bull’s head remained as an embellish-
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN THE
ment. Three precious specimens of the instrument have been
MIDDLE EAST
excavated at the royal cemetery in Ur.
Highly developed musical cultures entirely devoted to reli-
Any attempt to figure out how this music sounded
gious worship flourished in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
would be fruitless. It is true that the earliest form of musical
Each was distinguished by a well-organized ritual, a rich
writing was the cuneiform system used from the middle of
hymnody, numerous musical instruments, and an estab-
the fourth millennium BCE by the Sumerians, Babylonians,
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
and Assyrians. However, the few written examples that have
The lyre arrived relatively late in Egypt, not earlier than the
been deciphered in recent years do not alter the basic fact
New Kingdom (c. 1569–1085 BCE).
that sacred music of the ancient civilizations was oral by na-
MUSIC IN THE BIBLE. The Bible is the chief and richest
ture and conception and regarded as a priestly secret not to
source of information about music and musical activity in
be divulged. Hence, like other musical traditions transmitted
ancient Israel. It seems that in the earliest nomadic period
orally, it did not lend itself to a fixed definite version. How-
and during desert travel music did not play a significant role
ever, regarding performance practices and particularly the
in worship. However, the biblical texts provide many refer-
numerous instruments and their functions researchers are on
ences to certain types of folk music used for various popular
firmer ground.
occasions of rejoicing, such as the celebration of the arrival
Vocal music, which predominated, emphasized the reli-
of the sacred ark in Jerusalem (2 Sm. 6:5), the singing of the
gious texts through varying modes of expression, from a sol-
canticle of the sea, which marked the victory over the Egyp-
emn recitation performed in a tense voice to a well-
tians (Ex. 15:20, 15:21), and the welcoming of a hero on his
constructed song with instrumental accompaniment. Hymns
return from the battlefield by dancing and drum-playing
were sung either by a solo performer or by a chorus in re-
women (Jgs. 11:34, 1 Sm. 18:6–7). A magical character is as-
sponsorial and alternating rendition. As with the superscrip-
sociated with the various uses of the ram’s horn, or shofar,
tions of the biblical psalms, Mesopotamian and Egyptian
the effects of which are depicted in relation to the theophany
texts frequently included musical instructions whose mean-
(Ex. 19:13–19, 20:18) and to the fall of Jericho (Jos. 6:6–20).
ings are still largely unknown. The most significant informa-
Two references reveal the important role music played in ec-
tion concerns musical instruments and their ample usage in
static prophecies (1 Sm. 10:5, 2 Kgs. 3:15). From the re-
worship. They range from the rudimentary to the highly so-
proachful sayings of the prophets Isaiah and Amos concern-
phisticated. Among the simpler instruments, used mainly for
ing banquets and music, the existence may be inferred of a
ritual or apotropaic purposes in both Mesopotamia and
secular art music (Is. 5:12, Am. 6:5).
Egypt, are various small clay or metal bells embellished with
The bulk of biblical references concern sacred music as-
symbols of gods; clay rattles in the form of animals; clappers
sociated with temple worship. This music was similar in
with animal heads or in the form of a human hand, found
many ways to the traditions mentioned above in its ceremo-
in Egypt; bronze cymbals of various sizes that can be struck
nial aspect, organization, and performance practices. It also
in a vertical or horizontal movement and were used at sacri-
was confined to a distinct class of highly trained professional
fices and funerals; and the sistrum.
musicians, the Levites. The Book of Psalms contains many in-
Drums in various shapes and sizes were also used in wor-
structions regarding musical performance, as well as the
ship, particularly in Babylonia where they attained great im-
names of the leaders who conducted the ensembles of singers
portance. A table of sacerdotal instructions from Erech, dat-
and instrumentalists playing lyres, cymbals, rattles, clappers,
ing from the Seleucid period, gives precise details for making
and other instruments. However, this music excluded dance
the sizable goblet-shaped drum lilissu, as well as a description
from worship and was exempted form all associations with
of its ritual. Made of metal in the shape of a perfectly formed
deities or celestial protectors. As to the ultimate origin of
bull, this drum was prepared by means of a long ceremonial
music, the Bible ascribes its invention, in antediluvian times,
process accompanied by sacrifices, libations, and prayers.
to a human hero, Jubal “the father of them that play upon
The instrument was used to raise lamentations of grief for
the harp and the organ” (Gn. 4:21). This statement occurs
the darkened moon and served as an object of worship in it-
in a passage also naming other inventions including the
self. The bronze trumpet made its first appearance in associa-
products of bronze and iron.
tion with cult during the reign of Ramses II (1304–1237
MUSIC UNDER JEWISH AND MUSLIM RELIGIOUS AUTHORI-
BCE). Two trumpets, richly decorated with bells, were found
TIES. After the destruction of the Second Temple by the Ro-
in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Pipes were rather common in
mans (70 CE) and the dispersion of the Jewish people, the
Egypt but rare in Mesopotamia where strings were preferred.
attitude toward music in worship underwent a significant
The same is true of side-blown flutes, which appeared in the
change. Individual and communal intimate prayer replaced
Old Kingdom (c. 3000–2200 BCE).
the Temple’s ceremonial worship, and theologians became
more and more involved in the revision of norms regarding
The richest and most highly developed category of in-
the place and nature of music in the synagogue service. The
struments was that of the various harps and lyres. Harps ap-
first consequence of this new attitude was the total banish-
peared in two main types, one in which the body of the in-
ment of musical instruments except for the shofar.
strument forms an arch and the other in which the neck and
body forms an angle. In both types the strings were either
The exclusion of instruments usually has been justified
vertical or horizontal to the soundboard and were plucked
as being an aspect of ongoing mourning over the Temple’s
either with or without a plectrum. The arched harp, the earli-
destruction. The reasoning involved in the long-lasting de-
er type, first appeared in the Sumerian period. The vertical
bate over the use of sophisticated musical forms in synagogal
arched harp was most common in Egypt, where it is found
singing was of a rather ideological nature. It is interesting to
in tombs of the Old Kingdom together with flutes and pipes.
note in this regard that the basic views expressed in the rab-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
6277
binical arguments, with reference to the scriptures, have
with a multitude of qabbalistic symbols that are correlated
much in common with those expounded by Muslim theolo-
with the whole of creation. Islamic mysticism, or Sufism,
gians very soon after the emergence of Islam (622 CE). In re-
which can be traced back to the eighth century, developed
lation to sama¯ E (Arabic for “hearing”; often also meaning the
complex congregational ritual and spiritual exercises in
thing heard, for example, music) there developed a large po-
which music and dance play a determinant role. A related
lemical literature dealing with the question of the lawfulness
system of symbolism has been elaborated in the appropriate
of music from a theological point of view. The term sama¯ E
literature.
has been contrasted with ghina¯ D, which means “singing,”
and, by extension, secular art music. This identification led
As to the question of music’s origin, both Jewish and
the authorities of both religions to assign the concept of
Muslim mystics advanced in different formulations the idea
music to secular entertainment music. The resulting frictions
that music is neither monogenetic nor monovalent, that is,
and conflicts with that flourishing urban music, echoed in
it oscillates between the divine and the satanic, the celestial
the literature, have determined to a large extent the intransi-
and the terrestrial. The impact of music on the listener de-
gence of those who oppose music.
pends on the individual’s virtue as well as the degree of mys-
tical cognition of God and his revelation. In its highest form
Another argument found in this polemical literature
the listening experience becomes entirely spiritual, according
concerns the respect for the holy texts and for their adequate
to the Spanish Muslim mystic Ibn al-EArab¯ı (1165–1240).
rendition. Beautifully composed melodies with instrumental
He claimed that this form of the listening experience consists
accompaniment and dancing were considered distractions
of hearing with a spiritual ear the singing of all things in cre-
that prevented the faithful from concentrating on the mes-
ation praising the glory of God, and in seizing and enjoying
sage in the text. Those having the most extreme form of this
the significance of this. The role assigned to music as leading
attitude considered music harmful, capable of affecting ad-
to knowledge and the constant repetition of music’s revela-
versely the behavior and judgment of the hearer. Some au-
tion through mystical intention indicates, according to the
thorities went so far as to attribute the origin of music to sa-
qabbalists, that music was God’s creation. He created it on
tanic forces and held that its direct influence on the listener’s
the third day, making angels out of his own breath to sing
soul was basically a temptation of the devil or a delusion.
his glory day and night. This highly spiritual function of
music led the founder of the Mawlaw¯ıyah order, the poet
A Jewish Midrashic exegesis of the biblical verse con-
Jala¯l al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı (1207–1273), to declare: “There are
cerning the invention of musical instruments singled out the
many ways leading to God; I have chosen that of music and
fact that the inventor, Jubal, belonged to the posterity of
dance.”
Cain. Cain’s descendants were plunged into amusements
that combined music, adultery, and drinking of intoxicating
The analogy between humankind and the universe and
liquors. This combination of music making and depravity
the sought-after resonance and harmony between them are
was said to have incurred God’s wrath and thereby contribut-
frequent themes in mystical speculation. The music created
ed to bringing about the flood. (See Louis Ginzberg, The
by human beings is considered a pale reflection of the most
Legends of the Jews, vol. 1, Philadelphia, 1956,
exalted and perfect harmony embodied in the heavenly
pp. 116–118.) Some Muslim theologians, referring to this
spheres. Therefore whoever sets out to learn to enjoy the
exegesis, actually included Satan among the inventors or pro-
pleasures of the celestial music will find that in order to do
moters of music.
so he must first shake himself free of the defilement of matter
An interesting Arabic version of the origin of music,
and release himself from the shackles of this world. On the
cited by several writers, attributes the invention of music to
level of individual experience, music helps the devotee untie
Jubal’s father, Lamech. It relates that Lamech, at an advanced
the knots that bind the soul to matter, allowing it to go be-
age, lost his only son. In his grief he refused to be separated
yond the barriers of its own personal existence. Indeed,
from the boy and hung his corpse in a tree so that he could
human spirits, whose origin is the superior world, recall their
be near him and see him. He later made a Eu¯d (lute) from
homeland when hearing music. The ascent of the soul from
a leg of the corpse and sang laments to its accompaniment.
its earthly existence to its divine home, which signifies re-
Lamech’s invention and the lament corresponding to the
demption, has been symbolized in the mystical imagery of
first biblical song (Gn. 4:19) may refer to ideas concerning
certain S:u¯f¯ı orders by dance and movement. It is said that
the making of a musical instrument out of human bones,
dance uproots the foot of the worshiper, transporting him
thus suggesting the incorruptibility of the corpse, the rebirth
to the summit of the world.
of the defunct spirit, and the identification of that spirit with
Qabbalah went further by introducing the idea that the
the sound of the instrument within which it continues to
power of human sacred music exerts an influence in the ce-
vibrate.
lestial realm. Thus humankind is a protagonist in the cosmic
MUSIC AND THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE. The Jewish and
drama. It is said in this regard that everything done by the
Muslim mystical movements concerned themselves with var-
individual or the community in the mundane sphere is magi-
ious complex views regarding music, its role, effects, and ori-
cally reflected in the upper region, that the impulse from
gin. In qabbalistic literature all musical topics are interwoven
below calls forth one from above. Hence the singing of
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6278
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
hymns on earth causes an immediate resonance in the upper
mech and Jubal, see my “The Eu¯d and the Origin of Music,”
spheres; by means of his mystical intention the devotee con-
in Studia Orientalia Memoriae D. H. Baneth Dedicata (Jeru-
tributes to the establishment of perfect tuning and harmony
salem, 1979). The most important sources dealing with the
between himself and the macrocosm. However, the ideal per-
lawfulness of sama¯ E are analyzed in my The Theory of Music
fection, the harmony that signifies salvation, is hard to ob-
in Arabic Writings (c. 900–1900) (Munich, 1979).
tain. This is because the way leading to it is constantly ob-
AMNON SHILOAH (1987)
structed by evil forces. Adam’s fall and the interference of
Satan have been the causes of the contamination of divine
music and the disturbance of the original harmony. To over-
come these obstacles and restore the original harmony, the
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
realm of darkness must first be defeated. Sacred music and
Music has historically given unity to Indian society and civi-
prayer directed by mystical intention are the most formidable
lization, often doing so in contrast to the discord among the
weapons in the combat for salvation.
dominant religions and multiple sects of South Asia. The
symbolic meanings of music provide common musical sub-
SEE ALSO Chanting; Sama¯E.
stance and practice, and they are shared across sacred bound-
aries of many kinds. The religious and philosophical unity
BIBLIOGRAPHY
embodied through musical practice, therefore, has deep his-
Curt Sach’s The History of Musical Instruments (New York, 1940)
torical roots, which has meant that music and religion share
is an authoritative work on the history and morphology of
many aspects of a common ontology. South Asian musical
instruments; it includes chapters on Mesopotamia, Egypt,
practices, moreover, have often mediated the conflicts be-
and ancient Israel. Different forms of instruments are dis-
tween religions, responding to new possibilities for shared di-
cussed in the following museum catalogs: R. D. Anderson’s
alogue and intensifying worship. It is, therefore, virtually im-
Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum, vol.
3, Musical Instruments (London, 1976); Joan Rimmer’s An-
possible to separate music from religion in India, for religious
cient Musical Instruments of Western Asia in the British Muse-
meaning, concrete and abstract, is present in South Asian
um (London, 1969); and Christiane Ziegler’s Catalogue des
music at every level.
instruments de musique égyptiens du Musée du Louvre (Paris,
Sound in its infinite varieties is of crucial importance to
1979).
Indian religious thought. The universe itself is constituted
Important contributions to the study of different aspects of Meso-
of and by sound, and the omnipresence of sound envelops
potamian music include Wilhelm Stauder’s “Die Musik der
daily life. Hearing and listening to sound, therefore, are re-
Sumerer, Babylonier und Assyrer,” in Orientalische Musik, in
quired of the individual to negotiate a path through life. Ac-
the series “Handbuch der Orientalistik,” edited by Hans
cordingly, the ontology of music depends on the physical
Hickman (Leiden, 1970), and the same author’s article
“Mesopotamia” in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and
perception of sound as a means of contemplation and wor-
Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie (London, 1980). Among
ship. In Hinduism the primacy of hearing and listening for
the various studies dealing with music theory and notation,
devotion is clearly evident in the term given to the founda-
I recommend Anne Draffkorn Kilmer’s “The Discovery of
tional sacred scriptures, ´sruti (literally, “something that is
an Ancient Mesopotamian Theory of Music,” Proceedings of
heard”), which also refers to the fine divisions of pitch in In-
the American Philosophical Society 115 (1971): 131–149, and
dian melodic modes, or ra¯gas. The aural perception of music
Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin’s “Sur la restitution de la mu-
also serves as the central ontology of music in Islam, in which
sique hourrite,” Revue de musicologie 66 (1980): 5–26.
the term sama E (both “hearing” and “listening”) refers to
For discussion of Egyptian music, see Hans Hickmann’s Qua-
music making and establishes the importance of aural per-
rante-cinq siècles de musique dans l’Égypte ancienne (Paris,
ceptions, rather than sound production.
1956). A good general survey on biblical music is Esther Ger-
son-Kiwi’s “Musique,” in Dictionnaire de la Bible, supp. vol.
Just as the universe of sound is omnipresent, it is also
5 (Paris, 1957), cols. 1411–1468. Recent specific studies are
dense, often even loud and cacophonous. The music of the
Bathja Bayer’s “The Biblical ‘Nebel,’” Yuval (Jerusalem) 1
Hindu temple, for example, is not limited to the sounds of
(1968): 89–131, and “The Titles of the Psalms,” Yuval 4
instruments performing discrete pieces in a ritual perfor-
(1982): 29–123. The institution of synagogal music and its
mance. The general commotion of worshipers usually joins
development are studied in depth in Eric Werner’s The Sa-
an instrumentarium consisting of percussion instruments of
cred Bridge, 2 vols. (New York, 1959–1984). On the rabbini-
all kinds, as well as horns and woodwind instruments, fash-
cal attitude toward music, see Israel Adler’s La pratique musi-
ioned to produce the loudest possible volume. The amplifi-
cale savante dans quelques communautés juives, 2 vols. (Paris,
cation of this sound universe is extreme throughout India,
1966), and the same author’s “Histoire de la musique reli-
with loudspeakers broadcasting Hindu temple music into the
gieuse juive,” in Encylopédie des musiques sacrées, edited by
Jaques Porte, vol. 1 (Paris, 1968). The question concerning
streets or the Muslim adha¯n, or call-to-prayer, across the
the ideological attitude of the Jewish religious authorities has
urban landscape. The density of sound is central to an episte-
been treated in my “Der Judaismus” in Religiöse Autoritäten
mology of sacred experience through music. Sustaining the
und Musik, edited by Dorothea Baumann and Kurt Fischer
universe of sound is possible because of the multitude of mu-
(Kassel, 1984), pp. 67–83. For discussion of the story of La-
sical experiences that channel devotion and join human be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
6279
ings together in communal worship. That epistemology of
patterns of music history in South Asia. Music does not
sacred experience through music crosses religious, linguistic,
change through radical innovation and growing complexity,
and socioeconomic boundaries, providing some measure of
but rather retains connections to musical principles that have
unity, both real and idealized, to the subcontinent of India.
constituted musical theory and thought since at least the
CORE CONCEPTS ABOUT THE RELATION OF MUSIC TO RE-
eighth century CE. New traditions and new pieces enter Indi-
LIGION. Organized and articulated as music, sacred sound
an music history, but they do so not by displacing the old,
has the power to represent the order of the universe and by
but rather by expanding repertoires and musical ideas that
extension symbolically to sustain human existence. The met-
already have a long historical presence. This is particularly
aphorical unity of music lies in the capacity to sustain a cen-
evident in the retention of many aspects of Hinduism in the
tral pitch, the o¯m of Hindu metaphysics, the drone of the
musical styles and practices of Muslim North India and Paki-
Indian music. Like the o¯m, a drone displays characteristics
stan. The Hindu narratives that provide a representational
of centrality and unbrokenness. Both characteristics are evi-
template for ra¯ga, for example, remain no less important in
dent in the most ancient musical practice of Brahmanic Hin-
Hindustani music in the Muslim North, even when used for
duism, the performance of passages from the R:gveda, in
devotional purposes in Islam. Similarly, musical influences
which chanters sing melodies that surround and return to the
from the Middle East, especially from Persia, came to serve
symbolically central pitch, which itself is intoned to the sylla-
Indian musical ends in Mughal India, for example, in the
ble, o¯m. Virtually every Indian musical practice has adapted
shaping of the Hindustani instrumentarium (e.g., with the
the symbolic use of sound to articulate the order of the uni-
integration of the plucked-lute [sita¯r] and pair of drums
verse, concentrating it in the drone pitch, which is not only
[tabla¯] associated by some with the fourteenth-century S:u¯f¯ı,
played without break by a drone-producing instrument (e.g.,
Am¯ır Khusraw). The epistemological relatedness of musical
the t:ambu¯ra in the classical traditions), but provides the
and religious thought in India historically underlies many of
pitch to which the percussion instruments are tuned. Around
the transformations described by the term Indianization.
the drone pitch there is a constellation of pitches in the me-
Just as music is inseparable from most rituals in Indian
lodic modes, or ra¯gas, which focus on the drone through
religions, so too is ritual meaning densely present in much
their melodic motion. Accordingly, the organization of the
musical activity. Music has the potential to recalibrate the
universe is symbolically present in virtually every manifesta-
temporal and social components of ritual, transposing them
tion of sound in Indian music, linking music and religion
from the everyday to the sacred world. In tribal societies,
through shared traits of a common metaphysics.
music making is highly ritualistic, accompanying virtually all
The temporal organization of Indian music also express-
seasonal and life-cycle events. Generally speaking, music is
es many fundamental aspects of South Asian religious and
most efficacious during ritual when it enhances participa-
philosophical thought. Meter in Indian music relies exten-
tion. Ritual music making, therefore, encourages congrega-
sively on cyclical patterns, and rhythm results from additive
tional devotion and often accompanies processions and
principles, rather than the division into smaller and smaller
dance. Because certain types of music making are suspect in
units found in Western musical theory. Meter, or ta¯la, un-
Muslim rituals, and because Brahmanic tradition suggests a
folds as a hierarchy of patterns, smaller ones embedded in
preference for silence in certain Hindu rituals, such as funer-
larger ones, which return again and again to the same point
als, the use of music in specific rituals can also dispel polem-
of beginning. Musical structure, therefore, does not result
ics against music itself. Musical performance, even in the
from a unidirectional teleology leading toward conclusion—
classical tradition, would be unthinkable without the expres-
that is, there is no forward movement, no development in
sive presence of ritual. The choice of ra¯ga, the order of
the Western classical sense. The cyclical character of musical
genres, and the interaction of musicians from different castes
time reflects the aspects of life and history that are funda-
and religions influence the performance itself and account
mental to Indian religions. The absence of a strict impulse
for the ways in which musical and religious connections re-
toward a telos of ending reflects many aspects of soteriology
main intact.
in religious thought; that is, it mirrors beliefs in the continu-
Religious difference in South Asia is represented by
ation of both human and musical life in an afterlife. Many
music and mediated, even ameliorated, through musical
musical forms, as well as individual pieces and performances,
practice. Musical historiographies, both Indian and Western,
can be extended through improvisation that reiterates and
divide Indian musical practices, including devotional music,
embellishes the basic cyclical units. In a more practical sense,
between North and South. That division has both musical
the epistemological extension of the life of a musical piece
and religious distinctions. In the South, Hinduism plays the
can enhance devotion and contemplation; for example, the
overwhelming role in determining sacred meaning and musi-
standard South Indian compositional form, kriti, revolves
cal structure. In the North, Islam is critical for the shaping
around texts which repeatedly enjoin the musician to reflect
of music. Despite the musical divisions between North and
on the name of a god (and at times on the life-giving acts
South, the distinction between Muslim and Hindu ontolo-
of the kriti’s composer).
gies can only be partial, for the musical borders between
Cyclical concepts of sacred time and the soteriological
North and South, as well as between the religions and sectari-
relation between birth and rebirth also influence the broader
an groups in all parts of India, have been very fluid.
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A more accurate distinction, particularly from a musical
playing the flute to the gop¯ıs, in the myths that associate nar-
perspective, might instead be based on the contrast between
ratives with specific ra¯gas, and in iconography used to depict
change that accommodates religious and social difference
divine love.
and that which more conservatively retains the hierarchical
The musical representation of Sarasvat¯ı specifies the dif-
structure of older religious traditions, Hindu and non-
ferent mythological and narrative roles she plays as a Hindu
Hindu. The tension between these two patterns of religio-
goddess. In Hindu writings Sarasvat¯ı represents an ontology
social difference does not obey a strict division between
of human understanding, vidya¯, that allows the human to
North and South, Muslim and Hindu. Religious accommo-
transcend the cycle of death and rebirth, and it is this ontolo-
dation in northern India—for example, Vais:n:ava move-
gy that she brings to the most fundamental of all Indian mu-
ments in the Bengali-speaking regions—has led to sweeping
sical instruments, the v¯ın:a¯. So basic is the meaning of the
changes in music, from the emergence of a new music culture
v¯ın:a¯ to Hinduism that its very physical shape, with a head
among the mendicant Bauls in Bengal to the crucial presence
and vocal cords that sing and a gourd body that resonates
of musical “houses,” or ghara¯na¯s, with origins in Bengal,
as the human body, is regarded as metaphysically human. To
such as the Benares ghara¯na¯ in which Ravi Shankar and Ali
enhance Sarasvat¯ı’s ability to effect vidya¯, she appears fre-
Akbar Khan are principal members.
quently in the iconography appearing on v¯ın:a¯s themselves.
Indian music and religion share a common distribution
The v¯ın:a¯ of Karn:a¯t:ak classical music is, in fact, often referred
of specialist roles across a hierarchy. This hierarchy is most
to as the sarasvat¯ı v¯ın:a¯.
apparent in Hinduism, in which the most respected musical
The sacred music of South Asia maps place and identity
specialists—those who chant the Vedic hymns or play the
in complex sacred geographies. Fundamental to the sacred
v¯ın:a¯, the classical instrument with the highest status in
geographies of all South Asian religions is the relation be-
Karn:a¯t:ak (South Indian) art music—have traditionally been
tween centers and peripheries. Sacred musical centers co-
restricted to the Bra¯hman: castes. In contrast, musicians with
alesce around Hindu temples, Muslim shrines, and Buddhist
the lowest status in Karn:a¯t:ak music, drummers who touch
monasteries. Musical activity at these centers is intensive and
the skins of animals, or paraiyars (Tamil for “drum maker”),
¯
usually highly ritualized. Though the musical activity at a
are literally low caste and figuratively outcasts. The sacred
temple or shrine may be in the hands of a religious priest-
priesthood is in many ways interchangeable with the musical
hood or musical specialists, it nonetheless depends on the
specialists of the classical instrumental tradition. In contrast,
participation of the devout who travel from elsewhere to
the nonspecialist sacred repertoires, such as bhajans, have the
worship at the center. Musical activity at the centers of the
potential to level hierarchical differences, and thus create a
sacred geography is also the densest, and music itself concen-
common repertoire.
trates sensory experiences to heighten the awareness of god
The distinction between musical specialization and ev-
and the efficacy of devotion.
eryday music making extends to the nature of the musical
The sacred journey from the periphery to the center
repertoires themselves and to their transmission. The reli-
usually involves pilgrimage, a form of ritual journey and
gious priesthood and musical specialists perform from writ-
community-formation common to all South Asian religions.
ten traditions, most often in a “high” sacred language, such
The music of pilgrims is communal and congregational,
as Sanskrit. Nonspecialized traditions, however, are entirely
practiced not by specialists but by the devout, who learn and
oral, and the texts of songs or hymns constituting ritual and
adapt new songs, usually from oral tradition, to their sacred
everyday repertoires are regional and vernacular. Though this
journeys. Folk and regional musical practices characterize pe-
tension between the classical and the quotidian subsided to
ripheries, serving local functions and producing local litur-
some degree in the twentieth century, it remains one of the
gies and repertoires. Music in particular connects the sacred
distinguishing characteristics of the ways in which music re-
journey to the shrine at which worship is concentrated, mul-
flects the structure of South Asian religions.
tiplying the ways in which diverse genres of music collective-
Religious narrative inscribes meaning directly and indi-
ly underlie religious experience. The sacred geographies of
rectly on the structures of Indian music and musical instru-
India, therefore, create possibilities for unity through the
ments. Gods and goddesses, real and apocryphal saints, as-
musical practices that reflect their dynamic quality and co-
sume many and varied forms throughout the great epic cycles
alesce through ritual and performance at temples and shrines.
of Hinduism and the genealogies of Muslim shrines. The
HINDUISM. Historically, Hinduism has provided the body
most frequently appearing musician-god in the Hindu epic
of religious thought that has most fundamentally shaped In-
Maha¯bha¯rata is Kr:s:n:a. Kr:s:n:a represents a constellation of di-
dian musical practices. Music, either possessing a discrete on-
vine attributes, among them divine love and beauty (prema
tology or embedded in other sacred and performative prac-
and rupa), but even more important for his symbolic role in
tices (e.g., devotion and dance), appears in the earliest sacred
musical narrative are the many episodes in his life during
texts, such as in the Upanis:ads and the Vedas. The evidence
which he is associated with gop¯ıs, female cowherds, in a
of Hindu influence on musical thought has remained clear,
grouping that allegorically symbolizes the relation of the soul
even profound, until the present day, even in those reper-
to god. That relation appears in countless images of Kr:s:n:a
toires and styles that now characterize other religions, includ-
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6281
ing Islam. The historiography of Indian musical thought, in
formance of Vedic hymns generates a temporal framework
certain fundamental ways, runs parallel to the history of Hin-
that is rendered musical through the repetition of stress pat-
duism, with its dynamic relation between central principles
terns. As foundational sacred texts, therefore, the Vedas gen-
and texts, and variant denominations and interpretations.
erate identifiable musical parameters, and many of these re-
Just as Hinduism itself has not always prescribed a single reli-
main central to the structure of music in South Asia until the
gious orthodoxy, musical practices that arise from Indian re-
present, especially: (1) The sustained presence and focus pro-
ligious thought do not always prescribe canonic classical tra-
vided by a fundamental tone or drone; (2) a hierarchy of
ditions of music.
pitches, in which some pitches have greater tonal significance
than others; and (3) the logogenic, or word-generated, nature
Surveying the diverse musics that embody and articulate
of musical rhythm and meter.
Hinduism requires an understanding of the ways in which
hierarchy and egalitarianism yield two contrasting domains
The Vedic hymns are inseparable from Brahmanic ritu-
of musical practice. Within the hierarchy there are those, no-
al, which they transformed into the enactment of everyday
tably Bra¯hman:s, endowed with particular power to practice
Hindu practice. Ideally, the performance of the Vedas is
religious and musical specialties. The resilience of a religious
ceaseless and seamless, the ultimate realization of everyday
hierarchy is evident in the long history of classical music in
devotion through music. The ritual of performing the Vedic
India, a tradition based on complex texts and highly devel-
hymns, moreover, gave rise to other texts, specifically the
oped performance skills. It is not by chance that the classical
Bra¯hman:as and the Upanis:ads. Of the two bodies of text, the
tradition is full of religious overtones. Until the modern era,
Upanis:ads are more speculative and philosophical, whereas
for example, some practices of classical music, such as playing
the Bra¯hman:as are more expository, developing principles set
the v¯ın:a¯ in the South and singing dhrupad in the North,
forth in the four Vedic canons. The Bra¯hman:as, thus, have
were the restricted domains of high-caste Hindus or high-
performative functions, realized through the articulation of
status Muslims. If the influence of Hinduism on Indian
ritual through prayer and song. A Bra¯hman: literally is “one
music seems to display a top-down trajectory, it also pro-
who prays.”
duces the tension that generates the need for musical egalitar-
ianism. It is for this reason that the most widespread practice
Already in the second millennium BCE, the Vedas and
of Hindu devotional music, the singing of bhajans, attracts
Brahmanic tradition succeeded in establishing and maintain-
the broadest participation from Indian society and spreads
ing fundamental musical concepts, and they historically rep-
across religious and sectarian boundaries. Any discussion of
resent a first instance of the ontological unity afforded to In-
music and Hinduism must therefore account for both highly
dian religion through music. Performance of the Vedas
specialized and broadly egalitarian musical practices.
established a direct relation between the religious text and
the manner of its performance. By extension, a logogenic re-
The mythological concepts concerning the creation of
lation between text and performance emerges. Music be-
the world and the human position in it that are recounted
comes a medium or vehicle for the more complete expression
in the foundational texts of Hindu thought and Brahmanic
of words. The music that serves as such a medium, further-
tradition, the Vedas, are profoundly musical. The Vedas are
more, is immanent in the words of a sacred text. The music
recognized as a body of revealed texts, compiled during the
embodies some aspect of meaning contained in the words,
millennium or so of Aryan invasion and ascendancy in South
and therefore music is never separable from words, even
Asia, from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. Although the four
when words are absent—such as in South Indian instrumen-
basic texts of the Veda—R:gveda, Yajurveda, Sa¯maveda,
tal music, in which the composed melody, the kriti, is always
Atharvaveda—differ in function and historical appearance,
based on a song with a specific text. The logogenic meaning
all Hindus recognize that they embody fundamental aspects
of music may be direct (e.g., when enforced by specific met-
of Hindu thought. The formal aspects of the Vedas are musi-
rical rules) or indirect (e.g., when reflecting the same sense
cal, and the texts are often referred to as “hymns,” compiled
of cosmological order with which the texts of the Vedic
into hymnals. Rc glosses most often as “hymn,” that is, as a
hymns concern themselves). Together, musical performance
body of songs, employing repetitive patterns, that to some
and religious ritual are wedded as music and text become in-
degree rely on collective, even congregational, performance.
separable.
Other English terms used to describe the Vedas range from
“incantation” to “chant,” all of them recognizing the perfor-
Early Hindu and Brahmanic tradition generated funda-
mative foundation in song.
mental ideas about music, such as concepts concerning com-
position and improvisation, and the identity of discrete
Unlike many religions, Hinduism employs musical con-
forms, genres, and pieces of music. Music in the Brahmanic
cepts in the discourse about and practice of its foundational
tradition conveys stories, indeed fundamental narratives
sacred texts. Performance of the Vedic hymns relies on spe-
from Hindu mythology and cosmology. Though a piece of
cific pitch structures, with specific pitch patterns and tonal
music, such as one of the kritis of South Indian classical
hierarchies, usually a group of two or three pitches surround-
music, may not be literally “about” a particular story, know-
ing a central pitch, the sustaining of which symbolizes the
ing the story in question is critical to understanding the
unbroken order of the universe. Similarly, the metrical per-
music. The Vedic hymns are the source of music’s formal
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structures, which are developed in performance through im-
The social context of bhajan-singing is communal, both
provisation within a system of pitches and patterns function-
when performed privately and when performed publicly.
ing in predetermined ways. As with the sacred texts, music
Homes, temples, and community centers (sometimes called
contains the o¯m, the fundamental pitch that focuses the
bhajan halls) serve as the gathering place for the intensive
Vedic text and sustains the order of the universe. The funda-
performances. Modern technologies, particularly the wide-
mental structure and symbolic meaning of music in sacred
spread and inexpensive dissemination of bhajans on audio
practice was present from the beginnings of Hindu practice.
cassette, continue to make devotional song one of the most
widely practiced of all musical genres in South Asia at the
Devotion in Hinduism intensifies unity and is itself in-
beginning of the twenty-first century.
tensified through congregational prayer and song. The unity
of devotion resides in the possibility of evoking rasa, a con-
BUDDHISM. Buddhist music is important in modern South
stellation of emotional moods, among them yearning and
Asia not so much because of extensive presence, but rather
compassion, but also wonder and fear, through performance.
because of the ways it contains fundamental historical-
The primary genres of Hindu vocal music enhance rasa
aesthetic concepts about the ontology of music and because
through their power to facilitate emotional unity and congre-
its practices provide bridges to the music of East and South-
gational participation. Hindu devotional music is both spe-
east Asia. Buddhism survives into the twenty-first century
cific to South Indian regions because of its frequent use of
primarily in the north and the northeast, especially Tibet,
vernacular languages and malleable enough in some genres,
and in the south, almost entirely in Sri Lanka. The musical
notably k¯ırtana and bhajans, to extend its egalitarian notion
practices of the two areas of South Asian Buddhism differ
considerably. Monasticism dominates Tibet, and musical
of devotion, or bhakti, to other religions and to regional prac-
practices there represent the ritual practices of monastic life,
tices in North India and Pakistan.
itself an epistemological realization of the cycles of birth and
Beginning roughly in the fourteenth century CE, poet-
rebirth. Therava¯da Buddhism provides the framework for
saints created repertoires of Hindu devotional songs that
ritual and musical practice in Sri Lanka, where the interac-
combined both musical and poetic properties of rasa. The
tion of monks and lay practitioners is much more extensive.
emergence of the devotional repertoires was significant for
Historically, Buddhism has provided a theological im-
the spread of vernacular musical practice across regional, lin-
petus for unity and egalitarianism in Indian religion. The rise
guistic, and sectarian borders. The great devotional singer-
of Buddhist thought in the centuries following the Buddha’s
composers of the early era of k¯ırtana singing came from Kan-
life (c. 485–405 BCE) provided a theological and philosophi-
nada (e.g., Narahari T¯ırtha, fourteenth century), Bengal
cal counterpoint to the domination of the Brahmanic tradi-
(e.g., Caitanya, 1486–1533), and Telugu-speaking regions
tion and the Upanis:ads. From the earliest centuries, Bud-
(e.g., Tallapakku Annama¯cha¯rya, b. 1424). Devotional rep-
dhism opened up new possibilities for the contemplation of
ertoires spread across India, moreover, because of the activi-
the external world primarily through mental and spiritual
ties of harida¯sa singers, devotees of Vais:n:ava Hinduism, who
processes. Contemplation, moreover, achieved its highest
visited shrines and festivals, and integrated k¯ırtana-singing
form through various practices that required discipline, in
with pilgrimages. K¯ırtana were quickly accessible to the di-
particular that which takes place in monastic settings. Ritual-
verse communal and linguistic groups who sang them be-
ized and inscribed in treatises, such as the S´vara´sa¯stra (Trea-
cause of their reliance on composed refrains, or pallavi, often
tise on melody) and the Va¯dya´sa¯stra (Treatise on instrumen-
with repeated meditations on the names of god, and then the
tal music), Buddhist concepts of music rely on the intensity
unfolding of a series of strophes, or caran:am, that worshipers
and the unity achieved through contemplation that can be
without previous knowledge could quickly learn.
both individual and communal. For Indian musical prac-
tices, the fundamental principles of Buddhism have been sig-
The most widespread form of Hindu devotional music
nificant for several reasons. Aesthetically, Buddhist thought
is bhajan-singing. The concept of bhajan relates both to a
opened epistemological possibilities for resolving the ten-
specific vocal genre and to the performance practices neces-
sions between elite and vernacular musical practices.
sary for communal singing. As genre and repertoire, the bha-
jan is remarkably accessible, consisting often of a very brief
In Buddhist devotion, contemplating sound itself is the
text, in which textual formulae, particularly forms of the
most efficacious form of meditation. The sound universe of
names of Hindu deities (e.g., Ra¯ma or S´iva), and even non-
Buddhist devotion is encountered through various forms of
Hindu deities (e.g., Allah), will serve as the basis of repeated
ritual and worship. Early Buddhist texts, for example, stress
reflection. The relatively simple texts also ensure mobility,
that the contemplation of sound allows the individual to
making it possible to move bhajan repertoires across linguis-
transcend the limitations of individual being through srotra
tic borders and to gather them in such ways that they could
vijña¯na, or “aural knowledge.” The bells and other percus-
become the primary song form accompanying Hindu pil-
sion instruments that accompany monastic ritual, moreover,
grims. Musically, too, formulae, such as antiphonal patterns
have direct religious significance, as they recall the ways in
in which a leader is followed by a chorus singing the same
which the Buddha entered the world into which he was re-
text and melody, invite rather than encumber participation.
born as Siddha¯rtha. The contemplation of sound requires
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both the listening to and the production of music. Chanting
The Indianization of music that has led to unity
is particularly important as a communal experience, in which
throughout India has an historical counterpoint in the Mus-
vocal performance requires an intense awareness of the rela-
lim areas of the North, namely Islamicization. Roughly
tion between individual melody lines and the overall texture
speaking, Islamicization results when a musical concept,
of the group’s chants; in other words, Buddhist chanting en-
form, theoretical system, or ensemble structure undergoes a
tails heterophonic singing, in which individuality and com-
transformation allowing it to express the cultural distinctive-
munality are at once distinct and merged.
ness of North India or Pakistan. One of the earliest forms
of Islamicization is evident in the cultivation of Mughal min-
Therava¯da Buddhists in Sri Lanka base their chanting
iature paintings from the sixteenth century onward. Import-
on oral interpretation of the Pali canon of sacred texts. Me-
ed with the Mughal settlement from Persia, miniature-
lodic ideas remain anchored in an understanding of the Bud-
painting frequently included musical subject matter reveal-
dha’s teachings, that is, in a practice known as sarabhanna,
ing the many ways in which music and musicians were
in which a sustained choral sound elongates text across slowly
crossing religion-based musical boundaries. Miniature-
moving pitches virtually devoid of ornaments. At the same
painting even influenced the visual representation of Hindu
time, Buddhist musical practice contains many of the struc-
myth in ra¯gma¯la¯-painting, which also depicted the ra¯ga clas-
tural features of Indian music. Critically important, for ex-
sification of North Indian classical music. Islamicization is
ample, is that sound be unbroken, which in turn means that
particularly prominent in the modern era—for example, in
chanters employ overlapping phrases. Weighted tones, more-
the modes of popular music that make room for devotional
over, anchor chanting, and because of the seeming absence
practice (e.g., qawwa¯l¯ı) and in pan-Islamic musico-poetic
of phrases, the sound of chanting produces a sense of deploy-
genres (e.g., ghazal). In this sense, Islamicization is far less
ment around a drone pitch.
a process of restricting musical activity than a means of ex-
Sustained choral chanting and the maintenance of an
panding the religious significance that South Asian musics
unbroken flow of sound characterize Tibetan Buddhist wor-
have worldwide.
ship. In Tibet, however, percussion instruments—bells,
The musical genres of Muslim South Asia fall into two
cymbals, and drums—produce a much more articulated feel-
general categories: (1) genres common to devotional prac-
ing of pulse and rhythm, in which the temporal qualities of
tices throughout the Islamic world; and (2) genres with mu-
music are not entirely anchored to sacred texts. Tibetan in-
sical, linguistic, and historical roots in South Asia itself. In
strumental ensembles may become quite large, and monastic
the case of both categories it is critical to understand just how
repertoires may become highly stylized and distinct from
music finds its place in Islam. Scriptural pronouncements
chanting. Though Buddhist religious and musical thinking
about musical practice in Islam are very much open to inter-
so emphatically provides a framework for music in South
pretation, both because of their ambivalence and because of
Asia, musical practice is by no means unchanging. Buddhist
their paucity. Orthodox interpretations found in the com-
repertoires are diverse, as are the ways Buddhists achieve
mentaries on the QurDa¯n, the ah:a¯d¯ıth, are conclusive only in-
unity and devotion through the contemplation of sound and
sofar as they show the Prophet to have found some musical
music.
practices acceptable and others suspect. South Asian practice,
especially in Pakistan, where Islam is also the state religion,
ISLAM. From the first settlements of Muslim peoples in
suggests a fairly orthodox and literal interpretation of the po-
South Asia in the eighth century CE until the sixteenth centu-
sition of music in Islamic society. On one hand, music in the
ry, when the Persian-speaking Mughal Empire established a
strictest sense, especially music including instruments, does
firm foothold in North India, Islam became an increasing
not have an official place in the institutions of public wor-
presence in South Asian culture and music. Despite its pro-
ship. Though the QurDa¯n employs melody and modes, recit-
scriptions against music in some contexts, Islam offered
ing is considered “reading” (qira¯ Dah) and never “singing.” On
South Asians an alternative approach to the cultivation and
the other hand, the aural experience of music, sama E, or “lis-
performance of music. As a whole, Muslim music making
tening,” is fully sanctioned, especially when the music in
was more egalitarian than that of Hinduism, and just as
question is used to accompany recitation of the QurDa¯n or
Islam attracted converts because of the openness of its reli-
takes the form of devotional song. Sacred musics in Muslim
gious doctrines, so too did it multiply the possibilities of
South Asia respond to these positions in various ways, and
music making, in both sacred and secular domains of society.
their reception throughout the world thus varies as well.
In many areas of cultural and musical life, Islam proved to
be flexible, encouraging regional diversity in the music of Af-
Devotional music in Muslim South India is very wide-
ghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, and Bengal, all of which can
spread, and it provides aesthetic and cultural continuity
claim classical music systems of their own in the twenty-first
across the borders of the three largest nations with Muslim
century. The Muslim regions also fostered extensive musical
populations, namely India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Many
exchange with the Middle East and Central Asia, which en-
sacred musical genres are common to the three countries,
riched the diversity of musical genres and introducing new
such as qawwa¯l¯ı. The shrines and saintly lineages around
instruments and instrumental ensembles.
which certain repertoires coalesce have local and internation-
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al aspects, which reveals the extent to which the borders of
a disciple of the S:u¯f¯ı saint and great spiritual founder of
the northern parts of South Asia have remained contested
Chisht¯ı S:u¯f¯ıs, Niza¯mudd¯ın Auliya¯. The tradition of devo-
through history. Whereas repertoires may be similar, individ-
tional song thus follows a specific path, made possible by the
ual practices may differ extensively. Differences are particu-
succession of sheikhs who supported shrines in Pakistan and
larly evident in the use of various languages in performances
North India.
of devotional song, not only due to the prevalence of regional
The compositional nature and musical structure of
languages and folk melodies in ka¯f¯ı, or “devotional song,”
qawwa¯l¯ı is no less specific, for it is possible to talk about indi-
but also on account of the mix and hybrid use of languages
vidual pieces transmitted with discrete identities through oral
and musical styles in qawwa¯l¯ı. Instrumental ensembles may
tradition. For example, one of the best-known qawwa¯l¯ı
also be at once local and global, as seen, for example, in
songs, “Man kunto Maula¯” (see the recorded examples on
qawwa¯l¯ı with its use of the hand-pumped organ, or harmo-
tracks 1 and 2 of the CD accompanying Qureshi, 1995),
nium, and in the use of variants of the bowed spiked fiddle,
contains the following constellation of musical and symbolic
or sa¯ran˙g¯ı, in Rajasthani and Pakistani devotional musics.
meanings and references:
Muslim devotional musics, therefore, are never static,
bounded repertoires, but rather are fluid musical practices
1. “Man kunto Maula¯” refers to the Chisht¯ı S:u¯f¯ı lineage,
that constantly respond to change and the shifting attitudes
and is performed at shrines dedicated to both Am¯ır
toward music within Islam.
Khusraw and Niza¯mudd¯ın Auliya¯.
Local practices of Muslim devotional music are largely
2. The text is in Persian, which connects the song to Islam
encompassed by the term ka¯f¯ı. Ka¯f¯ı is not one style or genre
in the Middle East.
of devotional music, but many, whose common characteris-
3. It contains an example of a subgenre known as basant,
tics reflect musical influences and change from below. The
which here serves to signify a specific aspect of a saint’s
texts of ka¯f¯ı appear to come from regional narratives, often
life, Am¯ır Khusraw’s reflections on Niza¯mudd¯ın
featuring heroes and heroines associated with historical
Auliya¯’s love for his deceased nephew.
events. In the songs themselves, however, the regional stories
and characters take on a larger, symbolic meaning, especially
4. The melody consists of two segments, one ascending
with regard to the ways in which the devout achieve spiritual
(astha¯y¯ı) and the other descending (anthara¯), which to-
union. Though the roots of ka¯f¯ı are to be found in the use
gether provide the structural framework for almost all
of folk instruments and strophic structures, they have moved
melodies in Hindustani music.
stylistically toward the classical traditions. The string instru-
5. The ra¯ga is a hybrid form, megh-ushshaq, which has
ment commonly employed with ka¯f¯ı, the sa¯ran˙g¯ı, has be-
both North Indian (megh) and Middle Eastern (ushshaq)
come a classical instrument only in the past century, but has
connotations.
definitively won its position in the classical instrumentarium
6. The structure of the ra¯ga, which features mixed
of North Indian, or Hindustani, classical music. Even the
tetrachords, reflects techniques associated with Am¯ır
term ka¯f¯ı has found its way into Hindustani classical music,
Khusraw.
where it has become the name of a ra¯ga.
Though technical, this brief analysis of a single qawwa¯l¯ı song
The most global Muslim devotional music of South
reveals the ways in which musical ends can provide a direct
Asia is qawwa¯l¯ı, which since its introduction to the West by
link to S:u¯f¯ı religious thought and comment on the genealogy
the Sabri Brothers in the mid-1970s and its popularization
of Muslim South Asia and its historical roots in the Middle
on an international scale in the 1980s and 1990s, principally
East. Symbolic power also moves from religious signification
by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, has become the world music of
to music in “Man kunto Maula.” Am¯ır Khusraw, for exam-
South Asian Sufism. Like other devotional genres in South
ple, in addition to being a spiritual leader in Chisht¯ı Sufism
Asia, qawwa¯l¯ı is not a single style, but rather embodies a con-
is recognized as the legendary inventor of the sita¯r and the
stellation of sacred practices and musical sounds that togeth-
tabla¯, canonic melodic and percussion instruments in Hin-
er give it identity. Qawwa¯l¯ı is, first of all, a poetic genre,
dustani classical music. Such associations further suggest an
lending itself to an expansive musical repertoire. It is played
interchange between music and religion, leading some to
by specialists, who are also often professionals, namely
claim that Hindustani music itself formed from S:u¯f¯ı prac-
qawwa¯ls (“fluent” or “eloquent” ones), a term that refers to
tices. If such a claim is in large part untenable, it nonetheless
the primacy of the text and is derived from the Arabic word
deserves attention for pointing out the religious dimension
qaul, “to speak or to say.”
of musical thought in North India and Pakistan, and for il-
Qawwa¯l¯ı also has a specific function and venue. Its per-
lustrating the ways in which Sufism and its most widely rec-
formances constitute the musical and spiritual life of a shrine
ognized tradition of devotional music, qawwa¯l¯ı, has histori-
dedicated to a specific S:u¯f¯ı saint. Through performance,
cally established an appropriate place for music in Islam.
therefore, qawwa¯l¯ı expresses a specific history and tradition.
OTHER SOUTH ASIAN RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS PRAC-
For Chisht¯ı S:u¯f¯ıs, the spiritual lineage extends back to Am¯ır
TICES. The religious diversity of South Asia is far greater than
Khusraw (1244–1325), a qawwa¯l and poet himself, who was
the usual concentration of musicological and theological sur-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
6285
veys on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam suggests. An un-
Christian communities can also claim long and complex
derstanding of religion in South Asia requires the survey of
histories in South India. Among the oldest Christian sects
tribal and regional religious practices, some of them religions
are those that descend from the Christian Orthodox tradi-
in their own right, others local variants of the larger religions.
tions of the Middle East, especially the Syrian Orthodox
The musical practices of such religions and sects also fall gen-
church. In some parts of India, especially in Kerala, the
erally into two categories. In the first of these, music takes
Christian population is comparable in size to other religious
place primarily as the expression of ritual, and its structure
groups, making it no longer possible to consider them as sim-
and style are linked to function and the efficacy of ritual-
ply a minority religious community. Christian musical tradi-
musical activity. Regarded in this way, the music of ritual is
tions have distinctive qualities, but they also reflect the unify-
secondary to the ritual itself, thus limiting the extent to
ing sound aesthetic of Indian music as a whole. Christian
which a musical system with its own structures and indepen-
worship is extensively liturgical, lending itself to the congre-
dent form can evolve.
gational performance of hymns. As a result, Indian Christian
churches are capable of adapting Christian hymn repertoires
In the second category, the music of tribal and regional
from Europe and North America, but are no less disposed
religions possesses the dominant systemic qualities of a larger
to draw upon bhajan repertoires.
Indian music cultures, for example ra¯ga and ta¯la, but the
variants of these are simpler than in the classical systems, and
South Asia has long attracted intensive missionary activ-
ity, some of it at the behest of colonial forces, and some
local inflection often determines the ways in which the music
under the auspices of Christian denominations in the West.
itself functions. Neither of these categories has historically
Anglican and evangelical Protestant traditions are therefore
explained the diversity of tribal music with sufficient thor-
present in the cities and regions of English domination,
oughness. The study of tribal, regional, and sectarian music,
whereas Catholicism is more common in areas of Portuguese
nonetheless, began attracting considerable ethnographic and
colonialism, particularly in Goa and some parts of Sri Lanka.
ethnomusicological attention in the 1980s and 1990s, so
Evangelical Protestantism also has an especially strong pres-
much so that scholarship in the first decade of the twenty-
ence in Sri Lanka.
first century holds the promise of reformulating the basic
study and understanding of Indian music.
The musical traces and transformations produced by the
presence of Christianity in South Asia are considerable. Dur-
The potentially unifying influence of music on Indian
ing the twentieth century, the publication of hymnals with
religious thought remains present even across the sacred
regional Indian languages supplanting European texts be-
landscapes of smaller religions. Religions that distinguish
came so extensive that it is possible to speak of an Indianiza-
themselves primarily from Hinduism frequently have em-
tion of Christian hymnody. The instrumentarium of South
braced hymns, even bhajans from the Hindu tradition, as a
Asian music, moreover, also reflects missionary and colonial
repertoire for congregational performance. The primary
influences, as can be seen in the widespread use of brass
body of songs in Jainism, for example, consists of hymns
bands, including for rituals of various kinds. Another exam-
whose texts and functions owe an historical debt to Hindu
ple of this influence is the Indianization of the harmonium,
devotional music. The S:u¯f¯ı musical tradition of Kashmir
a portable organ of European origin with hand-pumped bel-
(s:u¯fya¯na¯ mu¯s¯ıq¯ı) embodies both Middle Eastern and Indian
lows that has encroached into South Asian music—for exam-
classical traditions, producing a classical tradition of its own,
ple, into qawwa¯l¯ı, which would be unthinkable without the
which is suited to performance in mosques and temples alike,
harmonium.
as well as in the special shrines of Kashmiri S:u¯f¯ıs, the tekke.
Whatever the influences from Christianity and Western
Sikhism and Zoroastrianism, too, make extensive use of
religious incursions into India, it is still necessary to recog-
styles and repertoires borrowed from Hindustani classical
nize the resilience of Indian music itself. Rather than reject-
music, adapting them to their own ritual practices rather
ing hymn traditions and Western instruments as foreign, In-
than radically breaking from them. These specific cases of
dian musical traditions have transformed them and
sectarian religious tradition in South Asia make it clear that
integrated them so that they play unifying roles in the inter-
Indianization of religious musics requires the transformation
action between music and religion in India.
of similarities no less then differences.
POSTCOLONIAL AND GLOBAL SITES FOR MUSIC AND RELI-
Historically, musical influences have been introduced
GION. Religious musical practices in South Asia have em-
into South Asia by smaller religions and religious sectors that
braced rather than rejected modernization, with its changing
have arrived from elsewhere. Jewish communities established
technologies and diverse media. Even the most basic ontolo-
themselves in India as early as the first millennium CE, mak-
gies of sound and its density in the universe have benefited
ing communities such as the Cochin Jews some of the oldest
from technologies, not least among them electronic amplifi-
in the Jewish Diaspora. Jewish musical traditions remained
cation and recording. In the sound universe of the Indian
both relatively isolated and intact, but also sometimes inte-
city, the broadcasting of music from loudspeakers, radios,
grated with Indian music—for example, in the theater en-
and cassette recorders produces a texture comprised of com-
sembles in urban centers such as Mumbai.
peting voices and traditions. Extreme volume itself has be-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN INDIA
come a medium for enhancing the contemplation of devo-
Roche, David. “Music and Trance.” In The Garland Encyclopedia
tional music in the public sphere.
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edited by Alison Arnold. New York, 2000.
Modern technology and mediation have also proved
Rowell, Lewis. Music and Musical Thought in Early India. Chica-
particularly useful for the popularization of South Asian reli-
go, 1992.
gious music. In the vast industry of Indian film-making, for
Ritual and Tribal Practices
example, the reconciliation of religious difference has long
Babiracki, Carol. “Music and the History of Tribe-Caste Interac-
provided one of the most fundamental themes. Whether fo-
tion in Chotanagpur.” In Ethnomusicology and Modern Music
cusing on the virtually irreconcilable relationships between
History, edited by Stephen Blum, Philip V. Bohlman, and
the families of Hindu-Muslim lovers or on past and present
Daniel Neuman, pp. 207–228. Urbana, Ill., 1991.
moments of sectarian violence (e.g., Mani Ratnam’s Bombay,
Gaston, Anne-Marie. Krishna’s Musicians: Musicians and Music
which won international acclaim in 1995), Indian film-
Making in the Temples of Nathdvara Rajasthan. New Delhi,
makers and composers draw upon music to signify religious
1997.
unity, even to effect it symbolically on the screen. In the
Gold, Ann Grodzins. Fruitful Journeys: The Ways of Rajasthani Pil-
twenty-first century film is perhaps the preeminent site in
grims. Berkeley, Calif., 1988.
which religious themes are expressed through the unifying
Gurung, Kishor. Ghamtu: A Narrative Ritual Music Tradition as
power of Indian music.
Observed by the Gurungs of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal, 1996.
The religious musics of South Asia have also achieved
Roche, David. “Devi Amba’s Drum: Mina Miracle Chant and the
global distribution as world music. The globalization of reli-
Ritual Ostinato of Spirit-Possession Performance in South-
gious music began during the British colonial era, not least
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because of the successful establishment of a colonial record-
ley, 1996.
ing industry by British firms. Recordings broadened the au-
Wolf, Richard K. “Of God and Death—Music in Ritual and Ev-
dience base both in South Asia and abroad, creating process-
eryday Life: A Musical Ethnography of the Kotas of South
India.” Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-
es of exchange and hybridity. The first vocalists to achieve
Champaign, 1997.
global status were the dhrupad singers, Faiyazuddin Dagar
(1934–1989) and Zahiruddin Dagar (1932–1994) Few mu-
Wolf, Richard K. “Music in Seasonal and Life-Cycle Rituals.” In
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 5: South Asia:
sicians anywhere have achieved the global stardom of Nusrat
The Indian Subcontinent, edited by Alison Arnold. New
Fateh Ali Khan (1948–1997), whose performances of
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qawwa¯l¯ı wove traditional motifs of devotion into a world-
music mix.
Hinduism
Hopkins, Steven Paul. Singing the Body of God: The Hymns of
The globalization of religious music has further benefit-
Vedanta¯de´sika in Their South Indian Tradition. New York
ed from the South Asian Diaspora, with its extensive patterns
and Oxford, 2002.
of settlement and exchange with India itself. The musical
Howard, Wayne. Sa¯mavedic Chant. New Haven, Conn., 1977.
styles of the Diaspora integrate religious musics in complex
Jackson, William. “Religious and Devotional Music: Southern
ways, from the merging of folk and ritual musics in bhangra,
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to the bhajans and other devotional practices that provide the
South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent, edited by Alison Ar-
template for the styles known as chutney in Indo-Caribbean
nold. New York, 2000.
popular music. Throughout the history of India, sacred mu-
Morinis, E. Alan. Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition: A Case Study
sics have accommodated religious influences from outside
of West Bengal. Delhi, 1984.
the subcontinent, and they have themselves extended across
Staal, J. Frits. Nambudiri Veda Recitation. The Hague, 1961.
Asia with the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism, and with
Buddhism
the colonial dispersion of Indians to South Africa, the Pacif-
Ellingson, Ter. “The Mandala of Sound: Concepts and Sound
ic, Europe, and the Americas. At the beginning of the twen-
Structures in Tibetan Ritual Music.” Ph.D. diss., University
ty-first century, the religious musics of India thrive in the Di-
of Wisconsin, Madison, 1979.
aspora. Even as they respond to the pressures of
Trewin, Mark. “Rhythms of the Gods: The Musical Symbolics of
globalization, they retain their vigor and their significance in
Power and Authority in the Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh.”
South Asian society, providing unity to the Diaspora no less
Ph.D. diss., City University of London, 1996.
than during the millennia of religious diversity in India itself.
Greene, Paul D. “Sounding the Body in Buddhist Nepal: Neku
Horns, Himalayan Shamanism, and the Transmigration of
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Theological and Philosophical Issues
Blackburn, Stuart. Singing of Birth and Death: Texts in Perfor-
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Beck, Guy. “Religious and Devotional Music: Northern Area.” In
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The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 5, South Asia:
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Qureshi, Regula Burckhardt. Sufi Music of India and Pakistan:
nications and education throughout the region, however,
Sound, Context, and Meaning in Qawwali. Chicago, 1995.
have reduced or eliminated local adaptations. Reform move-
Sakata, Hiromi Lorraine. “Devotional Music.” In The Garland
ments and urbanization also have helped to standardize reli-
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gious and musical practices. For example, Muslims in south-
Subcontinent, edited by Alison Arnold. New York 2000.
ern Thailand or Vietnam now worship in much the same
Further Religious Traditions
way as do their counterparts in the southern Philippines and
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the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
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Despite the modernization that threatens the unique re-
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gional traditions, most Southeast Asian countries maintain
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Kelting, M. Whitney. Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Man:d:al:
in the courtyards of the royal mosques during the week-long
Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion. New York and
Muslim celebration called Mawlid that commemorates the
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birth of the prophet Muh:ammad, musicians still play the
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veloped in the 1600s to help spread Islam. Oddly enough,
Myers, Helen. Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Di-
these performances occur near the headquarters of a Muslim
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reformist organization Laskar Jihad, which pointedly rejects
Tingey, Carol. Auspicious Music in a Changing Society: The Dama¯i
such music, as it seeks to transform most of Southeast Asia
Musicians of Nepal. London, 1994.
into an Islamic super state. Such unique regional traditions
Weisethaunet, Hans. The Performance of Everyday Life: The Gaine
seemingly in contrast to modernist movements are often
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contested and may disappear or secularize to survive.
PHILIP V. BOHLMAN (2005)
Indigenous faiths—once widely practiced—are gradual-
ly decreasing as evangelism, modernization, and deforesta-
tion encroach on the rural environment. Most premodern
ethnic groups are converting, adapting, or moving to urban
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN
centers and giving up their rich ritual and musical traditions.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Several groups in remote areas of each country, however,
The ten nation-states of Southeast Asia, namely Brunei,
have maintained their ancestral beliefs. The Temiar people
Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philip-
of Malaysia, for instance, continue to practice their tradition-
pines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, contain many
al songs of healing, gender relationships, and trance
hundreds of ethnic groups. These regional groups speak
mediums.
thousands of different languages practice various religions,
and perform thousands of styles of music. Although many
Musical activity in Southeast Asia ranges from frequent
of the Southeast Asian countries are trying to build national
to rare. In Bali, Indonesia, creating art—dance, sculpture,
cultures, regionalism is usually accepted, sometimes celebrat-
and painting in addition to music—is a fundamental part of
ed, and occasionally suppressed. Major faiths practiced in
the Hindu religion. In some parts of Malaysia, by contrast,
Southeast Asia include Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and
Islamic leaders may prohibit music.
Hinduism.
NOTIONS OF POWER. Transformational ideas of spiritual
Vocal and instrumental music has been central to the
and political power have had a long history in numerous reli-
religious life of the region from antiquity to the present.
gious traditions. These notions are usually centered on a per-
Most of this music shares some common characteristics that
son, place, or object. Great leaders and artists, for example,
distinguishes it from compositions found in other areas of
are often perceived to have become more spiritually powerful
the world. Separating music strictly by country can be mis-
after a religious experience; in Muslim regions, for example,
leading. The mainland countries of Thailand, Laos, and
a musician may become purer after having visited the holy
Cambodia, for example, all celebrate certain ceremonial tra-
city of Mecca. Moreover, many famous composers and com-
ditions (such as the wai kruu ritual) that honor teachers, an-
positions often are considered to have been divinely inspired;
cestral spirits, and the Buddha, whereas Malaysia and Indo-
in Bali, this concept is described by a standard term: taksu.
nesia, most of whose residents are Muslim, share several
Ancient places thought to be invested with spiritual force,
contemporary Islamic musical styles. Vietnam’s religious
such as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Java’s Borobudur, also
music shares more similarities with the Chinese music of East
can be viewed as centers of power. Similarly, certain objects,
Asia than with ritual songs in other neighboring countries.
such as heirlooms and musical instruments, may be believed
to contain or emanate divine power.
Southeast Asians belong to all of the major world reli-
gions. In the past, the religious rituals practiced within any
Gong-chime musical ensembles have often been viewed
particular faith differed markedly by country. Mass commu-
as vessels of power and as vehicles for ennobling rulers or
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
framing ceremonial events. These ensembles usually feature
these notions appealing. Later, Muslim evangelists who trav-
hanging or horizontally-mounted knobbed gongs (as distin-
eled to the region appropriated these ideas as they sought to
guished from vertical East Asian flat gongs), sometimes ac-
gain converts in areas like the southern Philippines and Java.
companied by wind or stringed instruments or drums. The
They also developed new instrumental, vocal, and dramatic
craft of metallurgy, which has been practiced for thousands
musical forms in order to spread Islam; similarly, Christian
of years, was initially developed in Vietnam. Bronze musical
missionaries adapted Western hymns to the regional musical
instruments gradually assumed ritual prominence through-
genres to draw converts to their faith.
out the region; religious ceremonies incorporated bronze
drums, for instance, as early as 100
Poetry in song form—intended to communicate new
BCE. Later artisans con-
structed foundries in order to manufacture instruments; by
teachings, sacred stories, and prayers—has been central to
the second millennium
Southeast Asian religious life for generations. Sacred texts
CE, the smiths who crafted these in-
struments were being hailed as artists that could harness the
sung in many different sacred languages—Hinduism in San-
power of the earth.
skrit, Buddhism in Pali, Islam in Arabic, and Catholicism in
Latin—accompanied these new religions into Southeast
Examples of these ensembles include the various gam-
Asia. At first, these languages were used solely in the courts,
elans of Java, Bali, and Lombok, in Indonesia; the kulintang
in order to legitimize authority through sung poetry and
of the southern Philippines; the Thai piphat; the Burmese
chant. Stories from religious texts—such as the Ra¯ma¯yan:a,
hsaìñwaìñ; the Cambodian pinn peat; and various others
the Maha¯bha¯rata, the QurD a¯n, or the Bible—often became
found in Malaysia, Laos, and elsewhere. According to their
songs that were sung in either the local or the imported lan-
believers, these ensembles frequently mediate power. For ex-
guage; these songs, in turn, popularized the new beliefs.
ample, in some ensembles musical instruments or elements
Some songs that blended the old and the new had particular
that unite male and female (in counterpart pairs) or other
powers; in Java, for example, certain songs could be sung to
cosmological symbolism may be thought to invoke the di-
stop heavy rains, tame crocodiles, or to exorcise malevolent
vine or balance the world through performance. Similarly,
spirits. In Sumatra, a shaman trained in black-and-white
in Thailand, worshipers believe that elder piphat musicians
magic could use eleven different grades of song to entice and
can access power through a sacred repertoire and then mani-
capture renegade tigers that had trespassed onto human
fest the divine while they play.
lands.
Many Southeast Asians also believe that these gong-
One powerful musical ritual celebrated in several coun-
chime ensembles possess a residing spirit; faithful listeners
tries is the shadow puppet theater. In many cultures, it carries
will provide offerings on a regular basis. In Indonesia, older
cosmological significance, particularly in the Indonesian
ensembles are generally thought to be more sacred; the great-
areas of Java, Bali, and Lombok. There, puppeteers (dalang)
er the age of the instruments, the greater their interaction
are greatly respected for their power to re-create the universe,
with the ancestors, and therefore the greater reverence and
restore spiritual balance, achieve healing, and perform other
power the ensemble commands. In these gamelans, the gong
transformations. The accompanying music is also powerful;
is the spiritual center; it may receive a title or name during
in Java, the gamelan compositions played during the over-
a consecration ceremony on behalf of the ensemble. Some
ture symbolize the span of a human life, while in Lombok,
scholars have asserted that gamelans are symbolic depictions
the opening gamelan pieces invoke the elements of life (fire,
of macrocosm and microcosm, and that they represent a tri-
air, water) to help re-create the world. A dalang transmits the
partite universe or anthropomorphism of head, body, and
morals of a story and imparts spiritual and ethical values
foot; others note that some of the ensembles are considered
while entertaining and educating the audience. Moreover, a
to be living organisms. Reports in Java, of particularly “alive”
puppet theater performance might affect the environment.
gamelans playing on their own without human musicians,
In Cambodia, the Reamker shadow theater, a local appropri-
add to the ensembles’ identity and mystique.
ation of the Ra¯ma¯yan:a, is believed to attract rain.
Gong-chime compositions also are believed to be pow-
AUTHENTICITY AND ACCULTURATION. Musical ideas fre-
erful, able to influence nature, time, places, people and ob-
quently accompanied new religions into the region; these ei-
jects. For example, some Javanese believe that a composition
ther were retained fairly intact, such as the Buddhist chants
called Anglir Mendung (Like storm clouds) can cause rainfall
that were adopted in mainland Southeast Asia, or absorbed
if it is performed at the proper time. Many scholars have also
into local forms. Religious influences from India came to
suggested that the cyclic nature of the gong-punctuated
Southeast Asia unevenly and over many centuries; most of
music produced by gamelans in Java and Bali echoes the pas-
the regions modified a particular faith’s notions of hierarchy,
sage of time; they compare it to the region’s complex calen-
city-state, ruler, and texts to suit the local environment. Mu-
dar systems and interpret the music as a powerful metaphor
sical incorporations are much less obvious, though some
of the structure of life and the cosmos.
scholars have suggested that the cyclic metric cycles used in
Most of the ancient concepts of power and music were
the gong-chime ensembles may have originated with Indian
originally based on Hindu-Buddhist ideas; they were widely
tala systems, and some Sanskrit terms have become part of
adopted in the region partially because early monarchs found
the musical vocabulary.
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6289
The texts of Hinduism and Buddhism have been inspir-
The Christian Batak in north Sumatra faced a similar
ing and powerful influences, and the scriptures have stimu-
dilemma. Barred from using indigenous music in church,
lated dance dramas based on epics such as the Ra¯ma¯yan:a and
many of them switched to German-style brass bands in con-
the Maha¯bha¯rata, as well as poetry and song. The forms that
forming to so-called Christian notions of proper music.
developed were generally indigenous and based on preexist-
These ensembles, however, soon lost favor; coupled with a
ing frameworks. For example, artists in some mainland
change to local control and a revival movement, the “tradi-
Southeast Asian areas, such as Laos, constructed unique
tional” drum-gong ensemble, gondang sembilan, was then
courtship songs to transmit Buddhist Ja¯taka tales and
brought into the church for services. Much earlier, in fact,
Hindu-Buddhist cosmological stories. In the lowland Philip-
Catholics in Central Java had featured masses that were ac-
pines, the passion of the Christ (Pasyon) was recited or sung
companied by gamelans. Such blending of the local music
following performances of older, pre-Christian epics, and the
with the adopted religion is often contested, however, partic-
all-night singing that recounts the birth of Muh:ammad in
ularly within the Islamic communities.
the southern Philippines adopted the same framework.
Though the relationship between music and Islam has
Influences from China, too, have been widespread and
been complicated, many Southeast Asian Muslims regularly
particularly prominent in Vietnam, where many Buddhist
enjoy music. Several instruments have become associated
texts have been translated and maintained in classical Chi-
with pan-Islam in the region, including barrel drums, frame
nese. Chinese instruments have found favor in several areas,
and some Chinese narratives have spread as far away as Bali.
drums, plucked lutes, and oboes. The two musical-like be-
Chinese immigrants throughout Southeast Asia (the fewest
haviors directly associated with Islam—QurDanic recitation
of whom live in Laos, with the majority in Singapore) have
and call to prayer—are fairly uniform throughout the region.
maintained or adapted their religious and musical traditions
Earlier distinctions in practice seem to have largely disap-
to their particular context. Though India and China have
peared, with the development of telecommunications, Islam-
been religious “donor” countries to some extent, it is unwise
ic schools, recordings, and the visits of specialists from coun-
to suggest that Southeast Asia merely adopted their influ-
tries such as Egypt. Many Southeast Asian Muslims also
ences. Each ethnic group and country has changed over time;
travel to the Middle East to study these prayer forms, and
in addition to exporting socioreligious ideology, India and
participate in frequent national and international contests
China also have actively borrowed beliefs from Southeast
designed to standardize these activities. In some areas, such
Asia.
as Indonesia, chant is accepted as a form of “music”; a sepa-
rate genre (seni musik Islam, or Islamic musical art) can pro-
Southeast Asian countries have exploited each other for
mote music as an agent of dakwah (bringing people to
millennia. Victors in early Siam often carried off Cambodian
Islam); while in other areas (similar to Arabic countries),
music organizations following a conquest, and then institu-
chant is not considered to be music because it is based on
tionalized Cambodian music in Thai courts; Thai musicians,
the divine word of the QurD a¯n, and music in Islam is rarely
in turn, were often kidnapped and taken to Burma; Laotian
approved. One intriguing development in Malaysia and In-
court music is thought to have originated in Cambodia; and
donesia is participation of women and girls in QurDanic reci-
monks from these countries frequently visited Buddhist cen-
tation. They perform in public and on television, and, in
ters in other nations, thus spreading and sharing liturgical
modern Indonesia, even in the company of men. In these re-
and musical ideas. Javanese religio-cultural influence was im-
spects—allowing women to publicly perform recitation and
posed upon much of the archipelago during the reign of
generally accepting music—Islam in Southeast Asia appears
dynasties such as the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit and the
to be more moderate than in most of the Middle East and
early Islamic Mataram. Religious and cultural concepts and
South Asia.
musical instruments thus moved frequently throughout the
region, inspiring local artistic responses to Hinduism, Bud-
The spread of Islam to many areas has led to a marked
dhism, Christianity, and Islam. Reform movements, found
decrease or a secularization of non-Islamic musical forms.
primarily within Islamic societies, have fought against such
For example, the shadow puppet theater has disappeared in
heterogeneity and striven for purity in religious and musical
several parts of Malaysia (where it conveyed Hindu epics),
practices.
while that on the Indonesian island of Lombok has further
Islam in Southeast Asia is often termed moderate by
secularized and is frequently aimed at tourists. Other forms
scholars. In rural areas, Islamic events may still be celebrated
have had to become more Islamic to survive; for example,
with local music, though in coastal and urban areas, ortho-
many poetic forms in Sumatra are now prefaced by Arabic
dox or standardized forms of worship are the norm. The Is-
prayers. Modernization and globalization have also affected
lamic Minangkabau people in west Sumatra, who live in
these and hundreds of other genres. Forms that used to be
coastal and inland areas, are a case in point. While the coastal
“functional” (ritually transformative or educational) are now
Minangkabau have discontinued most of their indigenous
“aesthetic” (placed on a formal stage for appreciation) and
poetic forms, gong-chime ensembles, and matrilineal family
compete with television for an audience, or are repackaged
patterns to follow Islam, most of those that live inland have
for tourism. The Cambodian Reamker shadow theater, for
retained them.
example, once performed as a part of various complex rituals
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
over several nights, now is staged only as a one-hour presen-
Colonization by European powers profoundly affected
tation at universities. Younger generations of Southeast
every Southeast Asian country except Thailand, which has
Asians have not generally been interested in retaining ritual
never been subject to Western rule. Europeans introduced
music traditions different from orthodox or modernized
Christianity, established missions, and imported and modi-
forms.
fied hymns; the new religion found favor in the Philippines
and in parts of mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
ORTHODOXY, TRADITIONALISM, AND POPULAR MOVE-
Movements since the late twentieth century have aimed at
MENTS. Some tension exists between orthodox and local
developing “indigenous hymnody” (hymns based on scrip-
practices in most of Southeast Asia, not only in the Muslim
ture in local languages with local music elements) to main-
regions but also among Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus.
tain and multiply the faithful. Warfare and communism
For centuries, people throughout much of Southeast Asia be-
have exerted equal forces on the music of the region, despite
lieved that the landscape was populated by ancestral or natu-
the fact that many countries were not directly involved in ei-
ral spirits, who were the original owners of the land, water,
ther disruption. Buddhist and Christian music and services
and trees; these notions have been fundamental in creating
in the affected mainland countries (namely, Laos, Cambodia,
and systematizing rice culture and associated ritual practices
and Vietnam) were largely restricted, and sometimes allowed
featuring music. External religions have acculturated to the
to be performed only in service to the state. In Cambodia,
context and contributed new inspiration and meaning to the
court music quickly disappeared in the 1970s; after the disas-
arts. In some areas, indigenous and external beliefs were con-
trous Khmer Rouge leadership, many other musical forms
structed into a complementary duality of female and male;
also vanished, along with thousands of musicians. Due to
local faiths (female) functioned in fertility and healing and
poverty, isolation, and political conservatism, sponsored
often involved female officials, while imported ones operated
music activities in Laos are similarly lacking.
in royal houses and formal places of worship and were domi-
nated by men.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, Islam in
Southeast Asia, once tremendously varied, began to assume
Even today, many mainland Southeast Asians perceive
a recognizable shape. In Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, a
no contradiction in honoring Buddha [Siddha¯rtha Gautama
reformist movement took hold and began to enforce the pil-
(c. 563–c. 483 BCE)] in addition to a supreme being and a
lars of Islam, establishing schools taught by Arab specialists
pantheon of deities; similarly, some Catholics in Vietnam,
or returning H:a¯jji (pilgrims who had traveled to Mecca). A
Muslims in Java, and Hindus in Bali include altars for spirits
number of pan-Islamic musical forms soon developed, in-
or deities. In this model of acculturation, earlier music prac-
cluding hadrah (S:u¯f¯ı-related music/ritual events), burdah
tices are often incorporated into syncretic rites. For example,
(hymn singing), and zikir, dabus, or dhikr (S:u¯f¯ı ritual music
traditional gong ensembles have become part of animistic fu-
involving repetitive phrases), generally accompanied by
neral practices in upland Christianized Vietnam; the sacred
frame drums and often stimulating trance. Many of the early
gamelan Mawlid is performed during the ceremony of the
Muslim evangelists were S:u¯f¯ı and their legacies remain; per-
same name to honor Muh:ammad in north Lombok in Indo-
haps this fact has contributed to a more permissive attitude
nesia, while a different sacred gamelan, jerujeng, is used for
toward music in the region. As the language of the QurDa¯n,
Buddhist festivals in the western part of the island. A free-
Arabic has a special status in all Muslim areas of Southeast
reed mouth organ accompanies female spirit mediums who
Asia. Songs in Arabic, regardless their source or meaning, are
intervene in the curing rituals performed in the Buddhist
generally considered proper and spiritually meritorious.
areas of northeast Thailand and Laos; the hsaìñwaìñ ensem-
ble accompanies possession trances held at Burmese temples;
What Arabic has been for Islam, the language of Pali has
the kulintang ensemble accompanies Islamic rites in parts of
been for Buddhism. Chant assemblies, convoked by signals
Mindanau and the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines,
played on bells, gongs, drums, and other percussion instru-
while a gong marks the hours during Ramad:a¯n in Datu
ments, perform the Pali canon of liturgy. Music during ser-
Piang. In Indonesia, gamelans direct Muslim performers of
vices, however, varies by country. In Vietnam, monks often
hobbyhorse trance dancing in East Java, and Roman Catho-
perform on a lute, and lay musicians may be asked to accom-
lic Torajans in Sulawesi dance in large circles as part of elabo-
pany funeral ceremonies; in Burma, tempo is marked by a
rate funerals to send the spirit of the deceased to the next
bell and clappers, in Laos by bells and a drum; the Chinese
world. Among those who practice the pure forms of world
diaspora communities use a diversity of ritual instruments in
religions, indigenous music and ritual may be invited as a last
numerous Buddhist, neo-Confucian, or other ceremonies.
resort. Orthodox Muslims in Sumbawa, Indonesia, have in-
Buddhist reform movements are not known, though some
corporated female performers, gong ensembles, and pre-
Thai communities are concerned about a Hindu layer (found
Islamic ritual forms when Western medicines and Islamic
throughout much of mainland Buddhism) underlying many
prayers are not enough for their congregations. Similarly, In-
rites and music. Furthermore, isolated Buddhist groups
donesians say that, although most of them are practicing
today often wish to be part of a larger community, and they
Muslims, they all worship the volcano deities whenever a
may ultimately sacrifice local traditions for their identity and
nearby volcano threatens to erupt.
survival. The Boda of Lombok, for example, frequently in-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
6291
vite Javanese and occasionally Japanese Buddhist monks to
merology and cyclic time in gamelan music, calendar sys-
update their training, chants, and services as they coexist
tems, and Hindu-Buddhist Javanese cosmology.
with a strong society of Muslims.
Becker, Judith. Gamelan Stories: Tantrism, Islam, and Aesthetics in
Central Java. Tempe, Ariz., 1993. A work that explores the
Popular religious music is widespread in Malaysia and
diverse religious background and spiritual significance of
island Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, pop rohani is Christian
Javanese gamelan and dance dramas.
pop; qasidah moderen and some styles of dangdut (combining
Becker, J. and A. L. Becker. “A Musical Icon: Power and Meaning
national, Western, Arabic, and Hindi film music elements)
in Javanese Gamelan Music.” In The Sign in Music and Liter-
are Islamic. The performer Rhoma Irama pioneered dangdut
ature, edited by Wendy Steiner, pp. 203–215. Austin, Tex.,
in the 1970s. Commentators have credited or accused Irama
1981. A theoretical study combining linguistics and meaning
of proselytizing for Islam; most artists, however, do not pro-
in the articulation of power in Javanese gamelan perfor-
mote Islam. Singer and dancer Inul Daratista rose from pov-
mance, in which gamelan music is iconic of time and cos-
erty to become one of the most popular and controversial
mology.
dangdut artists in twenty-first-century Indonesia. She be-
Brinner, Benjamin. Knowing Music, Making Music: Javanese Gam-
came a superstar through music videos that showcased her
elan and the Theory of Musical Competence and Interaction.
erotic dance movements. She was soon censured by a conser-
Chicago, 1995. An ethnography of Javanese music compe-
vative Muslim organization, the Indonesian Ulemas Coun-
tence and its location in self-perceptions, mutual assess-
ments, ritual and context, and cognition.
cil. The public rose to her defense, however, and created a
backlash against the council, demonstrating the limited pop-
DeVale, Sue Carole, and I Wayan Dibia. “Sekar Anjar: An Explo-
ration of Meaning in Balinese Gamelan.” The World of Music
ularity of reformist Islam. In other areas, Balinese popular
33 (1) (1991): 5–51. A thorough and structural investigation
music frequently discusses issues of Hindu experience, and
into the cosmological design motives, symbolism, and archi-
in Singapore and Malaysia, videos and video CDs of Bud-
tecture of Balinese instruments and gamelan music.
dhist songs in a karaoke format are produced for national
Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. New York, 1960. A classic
and international markets.
study that categorizes differing practices and views of Islam
in Java; Indonesian scholars often refer to this book in their
BIBLIOGRAPHY
own studies.
For detailed surveys of music and related issues in Southeast Asia,
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York, 1973.
see Southeast Asia–Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol.
A collection of essays featuring penetrating analyses on per-
4, edited by Sean Williams and Terry Miller, New York and
son and time in Bali, the Balinese cockfight, Balinese social
London, 1998. For shorter surveys, see the New Grove Dic-
inversion, and Javanese ritual and social change, among other
tionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie, Lon-
topics.
don, 2001. A useful annotated bibliography on performing
Geertz, Clifford. Negara: The Balinese Theater State in the Nine-
arts and religion is The Music and Dance of the World’s Reli-
teenth Century. Princeton, N.J., 1980. An interpretive analy-
gions by E. Gardner Rust, Westport, Conn., 1996. Books
sis of theatric Hindu political imagery, symbolism, and the
that feature chapters on musical culture in Southeast Asia in-
state.
clude Essays on Southeast Asian Performing Arts: Local Mani-
Gold, Lisa Rachel. “The Gender Wayang Repertoire in Theater
festations and Cross-Cultural Implications, edited by Kathy
and Ritual: A Study of Balinese Musical Meaning.” Ph.D.
Foley, Berkeley, Calif., 1992; Balinese Music in Context: a
diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1998. A detailed
Sixty-Fifth Birthday Tribute to Hans Oesch, edited by Danker
look at the ritual significance of the Balinese shadow puppet
Schaareman, Winterthur, Switzerland, 1992; and Perfor-
theater and its music in the construction of spiritual meaning
mance in Java and Bali: Studies of Narrative, Theatre, Music,
and narrative.
and Dance, edited by Bernard Arps, London, 1993. A peri-
odical focusing on music in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
Harnish, David. “Religion and Music: Syncretism, Orthodox
is Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology, Vol. IX, edited by Amy
Islam, and Musical Change in Lombok.” Selected Reports in
Catlin, Los Angeles, 1992.
Ethnomusicology 7 (1988): 123–138. An overview of music
changes among Muslims in Lombok, Indonesia as a result of
Anderson, Benedict. “The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture.” In
increasing Islamification.
Culture and Politics in Indonesia, edited by Clare Holt et al.,
Harnish, David. “The Future Meets the Past in the Present: Music
pp. 1–69. Ithaca, N.Y., 1972. A look at Javanese sultans and
and Buddhism in Lombok.” Asian Music 25, nos. 1–2
the ways they construct and manipulate spiritual and politi-
(1994): 29–50. An analysis of a particular Buddhist festival
cal power through symbolic and ritual action.
in Lombok, its negotiations with indigenous beliefs and
Bakan, Michael B. Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences
music, and the Indonesian national drive for monotheism.
in the World of Balinese Gamelan Beleganjur. Chicago, 1999.
Harnish, David. “Music, Myth, and Liturgy at the Lingsar Tem-
A reflexive ethnography describing political uses, contests,
ple Festival in Lombok, Indonesia.” Yearbook for Traditional
and rituals of processional beleganjur ensembles.
Music 29 (1997): 80–106. A detailed structural and interpre-
Becker, Judith. “Hindu-Buddhist Time in Javanese Gamelan
tive overview of an annual religious festival in Lombok com-
Music.” In The Study of Time, Papers from the Fourth Confer-
bining migrant Hindu Balinese and local Sasak Muslims,
ence of the International Society for the Study of Time, Alpbach-
their debates on myth, and their music.
Austria, edited by J. T. Fraser, N. Lawrence, and D. Park,
Harnish, David. “Worlds of Wayang Sasak: Music, Performance,
pp. 162–172. New York, 1981. An article that explores nu-
and Negotiations of Religion and Modernity.” Asian Music
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN CHINA, KOREA, AND TIBET
34, no. 2 (2003): 91–120. A discussion on the history of the
Wong, Deborah. Sounding the Center: History and Aesthetics in
shadow puppet theater in Lombok, its relationship to chang-
Thai Buddhist Performance. Chicago, 2001. A sometimes re-
ing Islamic orientations, and adjustments made by puppe-
flexive ethnography on the Thai piphat ensemble, ritual au-
teers to religious and commercial forces.
thority and the wai kruu ceremony from a performance
Hatch, Martin. “Music and Religion in Southeast Asia.” In The
studies’ perspective.
Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea Eliade, vol. 10.
Wong, Deborah, and René T. A. Lysloff. “Threshold to the Sa-
New York, 1987. This article emphasizes Javanese traditions.
cred: The Overture in Thai and Javanese Ritual Perfor-
Heimarck, Brita Renée. Balinese Discourses on Music and Modern-
mance.” Ethnomusicology 35 (3) (1991): 315–348. An article
ization: Village Voices and Urban Views. New York and Lon-
that examines overtures in Javanese shadow puppet theater
don, 2003. An ethnography that traces the tensions between
and Thai Hindu-Buddhist ritual; both establish ritual time
village and urban views on music and ritual significance, in-
and space for the audience and invoke divine presence.
cluding an analysis of the transformation of music in con-
DAVID HARNISH (2005)
servatories.
Herbst, Edward. Voices in Bali: Energies and Perceptions in Vocal
Music and Dance Theater. London, 1997. An ethnography
of performance, highlighting the spiritual preparedness of
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN CHINA,
performers and their interactions with ritual context.
KOREA, AND TIBET
Ramseyer, Urs. The Art and Culture of Bali. Singapore, 1986. A
The three main streams of religion in East Asia—
comprehensive look at the role of religion in Balinese artistic
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism—all employ music
culture.
to express beliefs and ideas. Ancient shamanic practices as
Rasmussen, Anne K. “The QurD a¯n in Indonesian Daily Life: The
well as Christianity and Islam also play a part in the musical
Public Project of Musical Oratory.” Ethnomusicology 45 (1)
histories of China, Korea, and Tibet.
(2001): 30–57. A descriptive ethnography of the position of
CHINA. Popular religion in China has for centuries drawn
QurDanic recitation in contemporary Indonesia; the author
from Confucianist, Daoist, Buddhist, and animist elements.
offers many insightful reflections on her studies on recitation
Extremely diverse in their local practices, the various forms
with other women and her interaction with performers, as
of popular religion serve as vehicles for intense spiritual ex-
well as her own performances.
pression. Music is an integral part of this local structure. Fes-
Roseman, Marina. Healing Sounds from the Malaysia Rainforest:
tivals of popular religion almost always include processions
Temiar Music and Medicine. Berkeley, Calif., 1991. A deeply
accompanied by outdoor bands, and lion or dragon dances.
contextualized study on the religious culture and music of
Temiar, with emphases on trance, healing and gender.
Performances of music drama dedicated to the gods also
form a key part of these festivals.
Sarkissian, Margaret. D’Albuquerque’s Children: Performing Tradi-
tion in Malaysia’s Portuguese Settlements. Chicago, 2000. A
Aside from the three major groups, numerous minor re-
comprehensive music ethnography of the minority Portu-
ligious communities also exist in China, Taiwan, and Hong
guese descendents in Malaysia, their negotiations with histo-
Kong. Islam, for example, is practiced by about 3 percent of
ry and the contemporary state, and cultural/spiritual ele-
the population in China. No systematic report on Chinese
ments of performance.
Islamic practice is available to this author, but while con-
Sumarsam. Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Develop-
ducting research on Chinese theater in China during the
ment in Central Java. Chicago, 1995. An analysis of Hindu,
early 1980s, this author observed an evening service in a local
Islamic, European, Chinese, and Malay forces and their in-
mosque in Hangzhou celebrated by a small group of Chinese
fluence on the development of Javanese gamelan over the
Sunn¯ı Muslims. The service lasted about an hour and con-
centuries.
sisted of a cappella chanting of QurDanic texts in Arabic
Sutton, R. Anderson. Calling Back the Spirit: Music, Dance, and
by the congregation, lead by a mullah with appropriate
Cultural Politics in Lowland South Sulawesi. New York,
obeisances.
2002. An exploration of the way Makassarese performers
seek to empower local music and dance by reinvesting spiri-
Christianity also has a small following in China. Chi-
tual significance in response to broader Indonesian and inter-
nese Christian liturgies, whether of the Catholic or the Prot-
national cultural influences.
estant church, follow their Western models closely. Hymnals
Tenzer, Michael. Balinese Music. Berkeley, Calif. and Singapore,
used in the Chinese Protestant churches contain primarily
1998. An overview of Balinese music styles and their roles
hymn tunes from the West with Chinese texts, but “accultur-
in Balinese culture and religion.
ated” hymns by Chinese composers based on Western mod-
Walton, Susan. “Heavenly Nymphs and Earthly Delights: Java-
els are occasionally included in Chinese Protestant hymnals.
nese Female Singers, Their Music and Their Lives.” Ph.D.
Protestant hymn tunes became one of the important pre-
diss., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1996. An explora-
decessors of the modern Chinese song genre known as gem-
tion of the spiritual and sometimes erotic imagery of Javanese
ing geju (“revolutionary song”).
female gamelan singers and their negotiations and manipula-
tions of that position; the author, a fine gamelan singer her-
Imperial ancestral cult rites. Yayue (“elegant music”)
self, also illuminates the decisions that singers make during
was the music used in solemn state rites. The term may be
performances.
used broadly to denote music used in court rituals and enter-
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN CHINA, KOREA, AND TIBET
6293
tainments, as well as that performed in secular government
sacrificial killing and offering of oxens, sheep, and pigs; and
ceremonies. Since the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), how-
the xiaolao, or “lesser sacrifice,” involving the sacrificial kill-
ever, the term has come to be used more narrowly to denote
ing and offering of oxen and sheep only. Tailao represented
music used in solemn sacrificial rites with religious over-
the highest honor to be bestowed and was prescribed only
tones, such as the imperial ancestral cult rites, Confucian
for the rites for emperors and Confucius.
rites, and rites dedicated to Heaven and Earth. It is in the
Confucian rites. Shidian, a state sacrificial ritual held
latter, more restrictive, sense that the term yayue is used here.
in spring and autumn in honor of Confucius, was established
Even though the repertory and musical styles of yayue
by the first emperor of the Han dynasty, Gaozu (r. 206–193
changed from one dynasty to the next, it has always been per-
BCE), who made Confucianism the state ideology. Ceremoni-
formed by chorus and instrumental ensemble. The yayue
al features of Shidian rites conducted by the emperor were
chorus, called dengge, varied in size from one dynasty to the
similar to those of the imperial ancestral cult rites, and like
next. The yayue instrumental ensemble is sometimes called
them they underwent many changes over the centuries. Four
bayin (“eight sounds”) because its instruments represent
components remained basic: tailao, the Great Sacrifice; three
eight essential kinds of timbres: metal (bell), stone (chime),
rounds of offering of food and wine to Confucius, known
clay (ocarina), wood (pounded wooden box and wooden
as sanxian (“three offerings”); yayue performance; and
scraper), gourd (mouth organ whose base was made of
wenwu.
gourd), silk (zither), bamboo (flute), and leather (drum). A
Prior to the middle of the Qing dynasty, two ensembles
partial list of yayue instruments, according to modern classifi-
made up the yayue orchestra. One, called tangshangyue
cation, includes, among the idiophones: the zhong, suspend-
(“ensemble on the terrace”), sat on the terrace adjacent to the
ed clapperless bronze bells of varying sizes struck with a mal-
main shrine hall where the rite took place; the other, called
let; the xing, suspended stone chimes of varying sizes struck
tangxiayue (“ensemble on the ground”), was performed in
with a mallet; the zhu, a pounded wooden box; and the yu,
the courtyard below. After the mid-Qing period (around
a tiger-shaped wooden scraper scraped with a bamboo whisk;
1766), however, only the tangshangyue was used.
among the membranophones: the gu, suspended drums of
varying sizes and shapes; the bofu, a two-headed barrel drum
In Shidian rites conducted by the emperor, the wenwu
placed on a wooden stand, played with bare hands; among
was always performed by thirty-six dancers (i.e., liuyi), except
the aerophones: the xun, an ocarina; the zhi and the di, trans-
during the mid-Ming period, from about 1477 to 1531 CE,
verse bamboo flutes; the dongxiao, an end-blown notched
when the prescribed number of dancers increased first to
bamboo flute; the paixiao, a panpipe; and the sheng, a mouth
sixty-four (i.e., bayi), then to seventy-two. After 1531 the
organ whose sound box was first made of gourd, now of
number of prescribed dancers of Shidian was reduced once
wood; and among the chordophones: the qin, a bridgeless
again to thirty-six.
zither with seven strings; and the se, a twenty-five string zith-
Yayue compositions played at Shidian rites are referred
er with bridges. The number of individual instruments in-
to collectively as dachengyue (“music of completeness”), a
cluded in the yayue orchestra varied from period to period.
term derived from the name customarily given to Confucian
Qin with one, two, three, five, and nine strings at various
temples, dachengmiao (“temple of completeness”). The musi-
times have been included.
cal styles and repertoire of dachengyue, as well as its tunings
Dance was also an integral part of solemn state sacrificial
and modes, changed frequently over the centuries. The most
rites. Two kinds of dances were performed: the wenwu (civil
recent dachengyue was commissioned in 1742 by the emperor
dance), and the wuwu (military dance). The number of
Qian Long of the Qing dynasty (r. 1736–1796). The Qing
dancers prescribed was thirty-six in six lines of six persons
repertory consisted of six compositions and their transposi-
(liuyi, “six rows of six dancers”) or in eight lines of eight per-
tions. The original and the transposed versions were played
sons (bayi, “eight rows of eight dancers”). Liuyi was pre-
in the spring and autumn rites respectively. All six composi-
scribed for rites for emperors, and bayi for rites for lesser
tions are for chorus with accompaniment by yayue orchestra.
personages. Occasionally more than sixty-four dancers were
The chorus was made up of twelve male voices.
used, but such an occurrence was rare and was usually viewed
The texts of the six compositions are hymns of praise
as an aberration. All dancers were male. The wenwu dancers,
to Confucius uniformly composed in eight lines of four
dressed in civilian clothes, held long pheasant feathers in
words each. Individual words are set syllabically to pitches
their right hands and flutes in their left hands; the wuwu
of equal duration. Melodically, all the compositions are pen-
dancers, dressed in military clothes, bore swords in their right
tatonic with disjunct melodic movement; they were sung in
hands and shields in their left hands.
unison in a slow, stately manner.
In addition to the use of music and dance in solemn
The vocal melodies were accompanied in unison by bell
state rites, other important ceremonial features included ani-
and stone chime sets and by the entire body of chordophones
mal sacrifice and the offering of vegetarian food and wine to
and aerophones. All the drums and single bells and stone
the personage being honored. Two kinds of animal sacrifice
chimes, as well as the zhu and the yu, perform colotomic, that
were defined: the tailao, or “great sacrifice,” involving the
is, structure-marking, functions. Three strokes on the zhu
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signaled the beginning of a piece; three strokes on the yu sig-
tour; others, such as su¯tra, nianfo, and prayer, have a nar-
naled the end. The melodic phrase setting of each four-word
rower range and a somewhat static melodic contour. The
line was initiated by one stroke on the bozhong (“big bell”),
mantra tends to be monotonal. A dominant feature of fanbei
and concluded with three strokes on the jiangu (“big drum”)
music is the consistent use of repetitive motifs or pairs of mo-
and three more on the bofu; these three-stroke bofu patterns
tifs. Variation of motifs is also frequent.
consisted of a light first beat played by the left hand, an ac-
In regular services, each fanbei item is begun by the pre-
cented second beat played by the right hand, and a conclud-
centor (weina), who sings the first phrase and is then joined
ing beat by both hands. Preceding the singing of each word,
by the congregation of monks or laypeople. A vocal piece al-
the pitch was sounded on one bell of the bell set; afterward
ways begins slowly and gradually gets faster. Heterophony
the same pitch was struck on a stone chime of the chime set.
frequently results as some members of the congregation sing
The dances were accompanied by chorus and orchestra.
variants of the melody according to their different abilities.
Buddhist liturgical music. Traditional Buddhist ser-
Instruments are always used to accompany singing in regular
vices comprise four major categories: regular services; rites
services. Fanbei are frequently chanted or sung by a solo
for the dead; rites for special services; and services commem-
voice in special services, but responsorial and antiphonal
orating birthdays of Buddhist deities. Regular services are
singing may also be used. Instrumental accompaniment may
conducted in two types of Buddhist institutions: monasteries
be absent in solo chanting in special services.
and lay Buddhist organizations. In the monasteries, morning
and evening services are held daily; in the lay institutions,
Three melodic styles of fanbei are distinguished by mod-
regular services (modeled after those of the monasteries) are
ern writers: syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. Fanbei in syl-
held once or twice weekly.
labic style have one or two notes to each syllable of the text.
In all categories of Buddhist services, music, both vocal
To this type belong su¯tra, mantra, prayer, and some nianfo
and instrumental, plays an integral part. Vocal and instru-
chants. Fanbei in neumatic style feature three, four, or more
mental items follow one another without break in any given
notes to each syllable. Ga¯tha and some nianfo used specifical-
service. In general, Buddhist liturgical music can be charac-
ly to accompany the obligatory circumambulation in regular
terized as simple, serene, and solemn. Liturgical texts used
services belong to this type. Fanbei in melismatic style have
in Buddhist services are always chanted or sung, either solo
ten or more notes set to one syllable. To this type belongs
or in chorus. Fanbei is the generic term for all vocal liturgical
the hymn.
music. Fanbei is a distinctively Chinese style of liturgical
In traditional Buddhist services, nonpitched idiophones
song, though it may have been inspired by the Indian princi-
and membranophones are used to accompany fanbei singing.
ple of syllabic, monotonic recitation.
Instruments are also used to play the preludes, interludes,
Eight types of liturgical texts, some in verse format and
and postludes of services. In contemporary practice seven
some in prose, are used in Buddhist services:
types of instruments are used: the dagu, a suspended two-
(1) Su¯tra (jing)—Buddhist scripture in Chinese verse trans-
headed barrel drum played with a mallet; the dazhong, a sus-
lation with ten syllables to the line. This type contains
pended bell played with a stick; the daqing, a large inverted
discourses of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas.
metal bowl-shaped bell resting on a cushion and struck with
a mallet; the yinqing, a small inverted bell fastened to a wood-
(2) Mantra (zhou)—Central Asian, Pali, or Sanskrit devo-
en handle and struck with a stick; the muyu, a wooden slit
tional incantations in Chinese syllabic transliteration;
drum in the shape of a stylized fish head, struck with a wood-
mantra texts are meaningless to Chinese, though their
en stick; the danzi, a small framed gong fastened to a handle
general import may be known.
and struck with a stick; and the hazi, a pair of cymbals. These
(3) Hymn (zan)—eulogy in verse having irregular meter.
instruments are made in various sizes to suit the demands of
(4) Ga¯tha (ji)—verse exposition organized in eight-stanza
different ritual contexts. Those used in monasteries, for ex-
structure, each stanza having four lines of equal length
ample, are usually larger than those used in lay institutions.
and each line containing either five or four syllables.
Buddhist worship manuals provide instrumental nota-
(5) Nianfo—chanting the names of the Buddha or bodhi-
tion indicating the usage of musical instruments. Duration
sattvas. The length of a line is determined by the num-
of notes and dynamics are not indicated in such manuals but
ber of syllables that make up a name.
are transmitted orally. Vocal melodies are transmitted entire-
(6) Prayer (xuanshu or wen)—prayers in verse to Buddhist
ly by oral means.
deities.
The arrangement of percussion patterns in a given vocal
(7) Invocation (shangyin or zuofan)—verse text calling the
piece can be divided into three kinds: regular meter, in 4/4
congregation to worship.
or 3/4; composite meters, alternating between 4/4, 3/4, or
(8) Instruction (shisong)—priest’s address to a deity; in
1/4; and unmeasured pieces, having no fixed temporal units.
verse.
Some instruments use specific rhythmic patterns known by
Fanbei music is pentatonic. Some items, such as hymn and
particular names. For example, the muyu (slit drum) pattern,
ga¯tha, feature a wide melodic range and varying melodic con-
known as “Eighty-eight Buddhas,” is characterized by a series
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of accelerated strokes in diminishing volume. Another pat-
often precedes a vocal piece, and the insertion of vocable pas-
tern, “Nine Bells and Fifteen Drums” (referring to the num-
sages are by no means rare.
ber of strokes on each), is used for the bozhong and jiangu.
Instruments are used either singularly or in a group.
This pattern is made up of an initial slow section consisting
These include, among the nonpitched idiophones: the daq-
of alternating drum and bell strokes, a fast central section
ing, an inverted bowl-shaped bell struck with a mallet; the
consisting of simultaneous strokes on both instruments (with
muyu, a wooden slit drum struck by a stick; the hand bell;
the drum being played twice as fast as the bell), and an ac-
cymbals; and the gong; among the membranophones: the
cented drum stroke to conclude the pattern. During a regular
fagu, the ritual drum, which is a barrel drum played with two
service this pattern is played several times as an interlude and
sticks; among the chordophones: the sanxian, a three-
thereby performs a structural function for the entire service
stringed, unfretted, plucked lute; and the erhu, a two-
similar to that of the ritornello in Western compositions.
stringed, bowed fiddle; and among the aerophones: the
Music in Daoist rituals. The role of music in Daoist
suona, a shawm, and the buffalo horn.
ritual practices has not been studied systematically by musi-
Symbolically, the daqing represents heaven and the male
cologists. Hence any discussion of music in Daoist rituals
principle, yang, while the muyu represents earth and the fe-
will necessarily be highly tentative. The following remarks
male principle, yin. When the ritual drum plays a certain pat-
are based primarily on the examination of a limited number
tern, it signals the beginning of a significant phase of a given
of samples recorded in Taiwan, where monastic Daoism
ritual. Musically, all the idiophones beat time as well as mark
(such as it existed in China prior to the 1950s) does not exist.
off sections of music. Beats of the ritual drum also serve to
These examples are from rituals performed by different
regulate the tempo in passages where varying tempi occur.
groups of ordained or lay priests belonging to a variety of or-
In addition to serving a colotomic (structure-marking) func-
ders. In addition, some of the description provided here is
tion, the cymbals are also used as a solo instrument playing
based on my observations in Hong Kong.
various rhythmic patterns in a virtuosic manner as overtures,
interludes, or postludes. One of the special cymbal playing
In contemporary Taiwan and Hong Kong, the most fre-
techniques involves the manipulation of the dynamics of the
quently performed Daoist rituals are funeral rites, exorcist
sound after a clash by varying the degree of proximity be-
rites, and the community rite of purification (Jiao). These
tween the two cymbal plates, resulting in a voicelike quality
rites are normally performed by a chief Daoist priest, the
that can be quite eerie. This technique is used in funeral rites.
daoshi, with a small group of assistant priests and a few lay
instrumentalists. Performances of rituals usually take place
Instrumental melodies are played by the suona(s) and
in the local Daoist temple or in the local temple of a popular
erhu; when serving as accompaniment to the vocal melodies,
religion, such as the Temple of Mazu (a goddess protector
these instruments play a heterophonic version of the vocal
of seafarers) in Taiwan or the Temple of Tianhou (“heavenly
melodies. The sanxian is used mainly as a colotomic instru-
mother”) in Hong Kong. Funeral rites may be performed at
ment; it plays tremolo or chords to mark off vocal sections.
the home of the bereaved family. Some rites are performed
In ritual performances Daoist priests not only sing but
in full view of the public, while others (e.g., certain purifica-
also dance either alone or in groups. All dance gestures, as
tion rites) are performed behind closed doors to shut out the
well as choreographic formations, have symbolic meanings.
profane in order that the ritual purpose of purification may
be fulfilled.
To a believer, a Daoist priest is an indispensable inter-
mediary between the human world and the spirit world. His
Music and dance play a central role in Daoist rituals.
presence is therefore necessary at a funeral in order to per-
Both vocal and instrumental music are used. Vocal music,
form rites that ensure repose for the deceased. His presence
with or without instrumental accompaniment, includes pas-
is also required at exorcism or purification rites in order to
sages in heightened speech, monotonal incantation, chants,
perform rituals that will render evil ghosts harmless or to re-
and hymn tunes. Texts, in Chinese or Sino-Sanskrit prose
store health, tranquillity, and purity to a community.
or verse, are set syllabically or melismatically to pentatonic
or heptatonic melodies; both measured and unmeasured
One of the most important community purification
melodies are found. Structurally, most compositions are in
rites is the Jiao. Dividing into several phases, Jiao rituals may
strophic form, but some are through-composed. In chants
last three to five days or more, depending on the requests of
and hymn tunes, repetition of a motif or a phrase appears
the sponsors. The introductory part of Jiao is known as qings-
to be a prominent feature.
heng (“inviting the spirits”). It is initiated with a liturgical
item called buxu (“dancing in the void”), a generic term for
Vocal pieces are recited or sung mainly by a solo voice;
an opening ceremony in which dance and hymn singing
occasionally responsorial singing and ensemble singing in
serve as preparation for ritual meditation. Both dance and
unison are also employed. Singing is commonly done in a
hymns are accompanied by an instrumental ensemble of
relaxed manner; use of special vocal techniques such as
shawms, gong, drum, and muyu. The introductory part of
shouts, groans, microtonal vocal inflection or glides, and fal-
Jiao also includes a liturgical item called “Flower Offering,”
setto are not uncommon. A characteristic opening glissando
accompanied by voices alone. In the middle part of Jiao the
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key ritual feature is a liturgy for the souls in purgatory,
staffed by a handful of married priests. Some of these priests
known as Pudu (“salvation”); it is a sung liturgy accompa-
conduct classes for the laity in Buddhist chanting and in so
nied by an instrumental ensemble. The most colorful part
doing have become the sole perpetuators of the now fragile
of Jiao is an exorcist rite for the community called Dawang-
Buddhist ritual tradition in Korea. The survey given below
hang. To the accompaniment of shawms, gongs, and cym-
of Buddhist ritual music is based on field reports conducted
bals, the daoshi makes preparations to launch a paper boat,
by Korean musicologists among married Buddhist priests.
the vehicle that is to transport demons of infectious diseases
away from the human world. When preparations are com-
Sacrifice to Confucius. Music used in the rite of sacri-
plete, the sounding of a series of water buffalo horn calls, ac-
fice to Confucius is called a-ak. This term is the Korean pro-
companied by the ritual drum and gong strokes in accelerat-
nunciation of the Chinese term yayue (“elegant music”). In
ed speed, signals the actual launching of the paper boat.
contemporary usage the term a-ak denotes the whole reper-
When the music stops, the daoshi calls upon the demons by
tory of court music, but in the Yi dynasty (during which a-ak
name to board the boat and is answered by his assistant.
was first codified) the term denoted music performed in a
Once this roll call is completed the daoshi plays the water
number of sacrificial rites observed by the royal court and in
buffalo horn, a signal to launch the boat by burning it.
government ceremonies. It is in this latter, more restricted
sense that the term a-ak is used here.
The final phase of Jiao is a celebration of the restoration
of health and purity to the community through the marriage
The Korean a-ak tradition began in 1116, when the
of yin and yang. In heightened speech the daoshi offers in-
Chinese emperor Huizong (r. 1101–1125) of the Song
cense to heavenly spirits. He then states the purpose of the
dynasty sent a large number of yayue instruments to the Ko-
Jiao and names the sponsors; both statements are chanted.
rean emperor Yejong (r. 1105–1125) of the Koryo dynasty,
A prayer whose text is written on a piece of paper is chanted
as a political gesture. Subsequently, during the Yi dynasty,
next; it is a petition to the heavenly spirits on behalf of the
and particularly during the reign of Emperor Sejong (1455–
community. When the prayer is finished, the written text is
1468), a-ak was codified and expanded. Its codification was
burned. Thereupon the sounding of drum rolls indicates that
directed by the music theorist Pak Yon (1378–1458), who
the climax of the ritual is to be unfolded. The daoshi calls
undertook not only the theoretical clarification of a-ak based
out the name of Laozi three times, inviting him to visit the
on Chinese sources but proceeded also to construct a large
site of the altar; each call ends with an abrupt vocal leap en-
number of musical instruments based on Chinese models. In
compassing the interval of an eleventh, followed by a long
addition, Pak Yon reconstructed music for the a-ak ensemble
drum roll. Then eight drum beats are sounded three times.
based on a limited number of notated Chinese ritual melo-
The number three symbolizes heaven, earth, and water, the
dies, adding to these melodies his own interpretation of Chi-
three elements of the cosmos, and also the head, chest, and
nese musical concepts and tunings. The result was a body of
abdomen, the three essential parts of a person. These drum
music with a mixture of Chinese and Korean elements but
beats summon the spirit of the daoshi to offer tea and incense
essentially Confucian in spirit. A-ak has been performed con-
to Laozi. He first chants and then dances, using stylized and
tinuously from the fifteenth century till the present, with no
symbolic gestures simulating the acts of offering tea and in-
evidence of decline.
cense to Laozi.
Reflecting the Confucian doctrine of universal harmo-
KOREA. Shamanism, the oldest of Korean religions, consists
ny, the a-ak orchestra employs eight kinds of instruments
of a group of unorganized beliefs about the supernatural
representing the eight essential kinds of instrumental tim-
world. It still has some following today, particularly among
bres: metal (bells), stone (chimes), silk (zithers), wood
the rural population. In modern times, the two major social
(pounded wooden box and wooden scraper), bamboo
and religious forces existing in the Republic of Korea (South
(flutes), clay (ocarina), leather (drum), and gourd (mouth
Korea) are Confucianism and Christianity. Christianity was
organ). In the modern a-ak orchestra the gourd category is
introduced into Korea as early as the late sixteenth century,
missing, and wooden clappers (pak) have been added; this
but it was not until the late nineteenth century that mis-
latter instrument performs a very limited function.
sionaries from the West—both Protestant (mostly Methodist
and Presbyterian) and Roman Catholic—began full-fledged
According to present-day performance practices, a-ak
missionary work. Korean Christian liturgies follow their
played in the rite of sacrifice to Confucius is performed an-
Western models closely. Western hymn tunes with Korean
tiphonally by two orchestras, one placed on the terrace of the
texts are used in services. Occasionally, hymns composed by
main shrine building and the other placed in the courtyard
modern Korean composers are also included in the Korean
below the terrace. The terrace orchestra, called tu˘ngga, con-
hymnals. Some of these hymns are set in triple meter, a char-
sists of seventeen players; the courtyard orchestra, called
acteristic feature of indigenous Korean music.
ho¯n’ga, consists of fifteen players. During Emperor Sejong’s
reign the number of players in both orchestras was much
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism was introduced to Korea from
larger, and vocal items were included. But today a-ak is pure-
China during the late fourth century CE. Today Buddhist rit-
ly instrumental. Two ritual dances are performed in the sac-
uals, if performed at all, usually take place in a few temples
rifice to Confucius, the munmu (civil dance) and the mumu
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(military dance). Sixty-four dancers are prescribed for this
phrases. The instrumental part, played by an ensemble of
ritual.
reeds, drums, large gong, and a wooden slit drum called
mok’tak, consists of the repetition of a melody independent
The overall musical characteristics of a-ak are refine-
of the vocal one and played by the reeds, with isorhythmic
ment, serenity, and simplicity. The repertory consists of two
patterns played by drum and gong and the constant beats of
basic heptatonic compositions and their transpositions.
the mok’tak. There is a subtle relationship between the accen-
Structurally, each composition has eight phrases of equal
tuation of the vocal melody and the instrumental rhythm.
length, each phrase consisting of four notes of equal dura-
Chinese su¯tra chants are also performed by unison chorus,
tion. The tempo is exceedingly slow. Melody instruments in-
which sings repeated sets of texts having a limited compass.
cluding flutes, panpipes, ocarinas, and stone chimes play in
The constant beats of the mok’tak accompany the voices,
unison; the flute, however, ends each note with an upward
each beat coinciding with the utterance of a textual syllable.
slide of about a semitone from each pitch. The drums and
The repertoire of Chinese su¯tra is relatively large. While San-
bells perform purely a colotomic function by marking off
skrit su¯tra chants are employed mostly in special rites, Chi-
sections of each composition.
nese su¯tra chants are employed in both regular and special
Royal ancestral shrine music. The music repertory for
rites.
this ritual contains a limited number of compositions said
Hwach’o˘ng (lit., “humble request”) are chants for solo
to be chosen by Emperor Sejong. In terms of musical style
voice with texts in vernacular Korean. The singer traditional-
they reflect an acculturated mixture of Chinese and Korean
ly accompanies himself with strokes played on a small gong;
music; native Korean music (hyangak) current in the fif-
another accompanying instrument used is a suspended barrel
teenth century is also represented. These compositions are
drum (puk) played by someone other than the singer. The
vocal pieces in Chinese with orchestral accompaniment ar-
drum player strikes the bottom of the drum with one bare
ranged in suite form. Two orchestras are used to perform this
hand while at the same time striking the wooden frame of
ritual. These orchestras are also called tu˘ngga and ho¯n’ga, as
the right side of the drum with two sticks. Triple meter, a
in the a-ak orchestra, but their instrumentation is different.
common feature of Korean indigenous music, is usually
Buddhist rituals. Traditional Korean Buddhist rites
found in hwach’o˘ng. Hwach’o˘ng texts, expounding the bene-
consist of three components or performing genres: ritual
fits of Buddhist enlightenment, are set in verse form.
chant with or without instrumental accompaniment, out-
The third category of Buddhist chants, the po˘mp’ae, is
door band music and ritual dance with vocal and instrumen-
said to derive from the Chinese fanbei. Po˘mp’ae texts are in
tal accompaniment. Of the three, ritual chant is by far the
Chinese verse, but Chinese rhyming schemes and tonal pat-
most important.
terns are not observed in these texts. Po˘mp’ae music is made
Five categories of special Buddhist rites in which music
up of repetition, variation, and structural rearrangement of
plays a prominent role are distinguished: Kakpae-je, a rite in
a basic set of stereotyped motifs or phrases. As performed
praise of ten Buddhist deities whose rituals call for the largest
today, po˘mp’ae is always sung in free rhythm and in a low
repertory of chants and dances; Saengjo˘n yesu-je, a purifica-
register. The meaning of the texts is frequently difficult to
tion rite; Sangju kwo¯n’gong-je, a rite dedicated solely to
grasp because each syllable is set melismatically to notes of
Buddha; Surguk-che, a rite for the spirits of water and earth;
long duration. In addition, the practice of liberal insertion
and Yo˘ngsan-je, a tribute rite. In addition a number of small-
of passages of vocables further obscures the meaning of the
scale rituals associated with rites for the dead also employ
texts.
music and dance. Today large-scale special rites are held only
Two types of compositions are found in the po˘mp’ae
at the demand of sponsors. A rite may last from one to several
repertory: the hossori (short chant) and the chissori (long
days depending upon the request of the sponsors.
chant). Each type is characterized by a distinct melodic and
Three categories of ritual chants are differentiated: su¯tra
textual organization, as well as by the employment of differ-
(Buddhist invocation), hwach’o˘ng (chant based on folk style),
ent styles of performance. Hossori consists of solo, choral, and
and po˘mp’ae (a long solemn chant). Su¯tra chants, also called
responsorial chants, all of which are sung in a relaxed, open-
yo˘mbul (“invocation”), are of two kinds, each having differ-
throated manner to the accompaniment of a small hand bell.
ent texts and employing different instrumental accompani-
Structurally, hossori texts are organized in quatrain form with
ment. Texts of the first type are Chinese transliterations of
lines of equal length. These four lines are set to a pair of me-
Sanskrit and hence are unintelligible to laypeople. Texts of
lodic phrases in repetition; thus musically the structure of
the second type are Chinese translations from Sanskrit whose
hossori is in binary form: a b a b. Hossori are always sung slow-
general import may be understood by the laity. In the follow-
ly at first, then faster, and then slowly again to conclude. In
ing discussion the first type of chant will be called “Sanskrit
the fast sections the motifs within each phrase undergo a pro-
su¯tra” and the second type “Chinese su¯tra.”
cess of rhythmic reduction.
The repertory of Sanskrit su¯tra is small. The music is
For special rites hossori may be performed in conjunc-
for unison chorus with instrumental accompaniment. The
tion with a ritual dance, accompanied by an outdoor band
vocal part consists of the repetition of a few sets of syllabic
made up of one or two conical double-reed instruments
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(t’aep’yongson) and a large gong (ching). A barrel drum (puk),
music accelerate, and the volume also increases; great intensi-
a pair of cymbals (chegum), a long trumpet (nepal), and a
ty is generated as a result.
conch shell (nagak) may also be added to the band. The band
Buddhist liturgy. Tibetan Buddhists hold that music
plays repetitions of a long melodic cycle that has only a tenu-
prepares the mind for spiritual enlightenment. Accordingly,
ous correlation with the vocal melody.
music (vocal as well as instrumental) is employed in the mo-
The other type of po˘mp’ae, the chissori, is regarded as the
nastic routines that focus on five daily assemblies held in the
most important and sophisticated of all Korean Buddhist
monastery shrine hall between sunrise and sunset. The daily
chants. It is seldom performed today; when performed, chis-
services consist predominantly of choral chants, with or
sori is always used in conjunction with large-scale special
without instrumental accompaniment, and antiphony be-
rites. Music for the chissori is drawn from a pool of stereo-
tween choral chant and instrumental interludes. All music
typed melodic phrases, each in turn built on a series of mo-
is notated. Important liturgical items include the monks’ “in-
tifs. The way in which these motifs are organized into a piece
vitation” to the deities to visit the place of worship, the ritual
defines the individuality of a chissori composition. The entire
of offering, thanksgiving hymns, and hymns of praise to the
repertory of chissori contains seventy-two compositions.
Buddha and the bodhisattvas.
Like that of hossori, the performance of chissori begins
Monks participating in the daily services sit cross-legged
slowly and then speeds up; in the fast section the motifs un-
in paired rows facing one another. The music of the service
dergo a process of rhythmic reduction; it then concludes
proceeds under the direction of the dbumdza (chant leader).
slowly. Most chissori are performed primarily by an ensemble
The choral chant is normally sung in unison in a quiet and
of voices in unison. But a few compositions may have one
restrained manner; heterophony occasionally occurs. Texts
or two solo sections inserted either at the beginning, in the
for choral chants are drawn mostly from the sacred scripture
middle, or at the end. These solo interpolations (ho˘do˘lp’um)
known as the Bka’ ’gyur (Kanjur, doctrine attributed to Bud-
are optional groups of fixed melodies independent of those
dha) and from Bstan ’gyur (Tanjur, commentaries). Three
of the ensemble and made up of stereotyped motifs. Depend-
main chant styles are distinguished: solo parlando recitation,
ing on the time available, chissori may be sung either with
gdan˙ (hymn), and abyan˙s (sustained chant).
measured rhythm, or with unmeasured rhythm in which the
Solo parlando recitation, in measured or unmeasured
duration of each note is greatly prolonged. Consistent use of
rhythm, is usually employed in short introductory passages.
microtonal glides characterizes chissori performance. A spe-
The gdan˙ is chanted in a series of meters (duple, triple, or
cial feature is the application of a microtonal upward glide
asymmetrical meter such as 11/8), depending on the textual
prefixed to a given note; this note is then followed suddenly
structure. Melodically, sections of gdan˙ are made up of repe-
by a falling glide encompassing the interval of an octave.
titions of one or two pairs of phrases having a limited range
Chissori is sung in a tense-throated manner. For notes in the
in predominantly conjunct motion. The chant may also be
high register, falsetto technique is used.
monotonal. Words in gdan˙ are set either syllabically or melis-
T
matically. In performance a variety of ornaments, such as
IBET. The indigenous religion of Tibet is Bon, which
evolved from northern and Inner Asian shamanism. During
glissando and glides before and after a note, are used. Gdan˙
the periods of the first kings (seventh–tenth century
is accompanied by a cymbal and drum whose function is
CE),
North Indian Maha¯ya¯na Tantric Buddhism was introduced
simply to beat time.
to Tibet. Subsequently Bon and Tantric Buddhism merged
The abyan˙s is chanted in an extremely low register and
and resulted in a highly syncretic form of Tibetan Buddhism.
essentially in a monotone. Words are set syllabically to notes
of long duration prefixed or affixed by a variety of microtonal
Music in Bon ritual. Monastic forms of Bon have been
inflections or vocal glides. A special vocal technique has been
largely assimilated by Tantric Buddhism. Many ritual prac-
cultivated by two monasteries of the Dge-lugs-pa order in
tices of Bon have also been influenced by Buddhism. Bon
which each chanter simultaneously sings two pitches, a deep
ritual music employs chanting and instrumental music; the
fundamental and a clear harmonic (either the fifth or the
chief instruments are the indigenous phyedrn˙a (single-headed
sixth harmonic), resulting in a choral effect. The abyan˙s is
drum) and the gshan˙ (“flute bell”). Flutes and trumpets made
chanted in a quiet manner.
of animal bones are also used. In the instrumental part of the
ritual the drum occupies a central place. According to legend,
In contrast to the quiet vocal chanting of abyan˙s, instru-
when a Bon priest plays a drum he is thought of as mounting
mental interludes of abyan˙s are played loudly. The aero-
a flying steed to heaven to communicate with the gods. Bon
phones are always played in pairs. One of the two rgya glin˙s,
chants are organized in strophic form, and in performance
which are shawms, plays the main melody in an unadorned
a large variety of vocal techniques are used, such as gliding
manner while the other plays the main melody with orna-
before and after a given note, whistling, shouting, or masking
mentation. The other aerophones, the dun˙—a trumpet of va-
the voice. Some of these sounds are said to represent the
rying sizes with a low tone quality, the rkan˙ glin—a trumpet
voices of spirits heard through the singer as medium. As the
made of animal femur or of metal, and the dun˙ dkar—a
ritual progresses, the tempo of chanting and instrumental
conch, play long, sustained notes and repeat chords of two
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN JAPAN
6299
pitches, a two-note ostinato figure. The domaru, a rattle
Byong Won Lee. “Korean Court Music and Dance.” World of
drum, and the dril bu, a handbell, are played by one person
Music 23 (1981): 35–51.
whose strokes serve mainly as signals marking sections of the
Hahn, Man-young. “The Four Musical Types of Buddhist Chant
chants. The cymbals (gsil snyan and rol mo) and the two ruga
in Korea.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 15 (1983): 45–58.
drums, untuned double-headed drums each struck with a
Provine, Robert C., Jr. “The Treatise on Ceremonial Music
crooked stick, play a variety of rhythmic figures as well as
(1430) in the Annals of the Korean King Sejong.” Ethnomu-
beating time. The resultant instrumental texture is complex
sicology 18 (January 1974): 1–30.
and its timbre full of subtle nuances. In contrast to the rhyth-
Provine, Robert C., Jr. “‘Chinese’ Ritual Music in Korea: The Or-
mic complexity and subtlety of the percussion part, the
igins, Codification, and Cultural Role of Aak.” Korean Jour-
music for the shawms—the only melody instruments in the
nal 20 (February 1980): 16–25.
ensemble—is rather simple and straightforward; it is played
Provine, Robert C., Jr. “‘Chinese’ Ritual Music in Korea.” In Tra-
in a rhythmically fixed manner with penetrating volume.
ditional Korean Music, edited by the Korean National Com-
Circular breathing is employed in shawm playing so that a
mission of UNESCO. Arch Cape, Oreg., 1983.
continuous line is achieved.
Survey of Korean Arts: Traditional Music. 2 vols. Edited by The
Liturgical drama. The ’cham is a quasi-liturgical ritual
Korean National Academy of Arts. Seoul, 1971–1974.
drama performed to exorcise evil spirits. The ritual is per-
Tibet
formed outdoors and involves the use of music (both vocal
Crossley-Holland, Peter. “rGy-gling Hymns of the Kamu-Kagyu:
and instrumental), mime, and dance, as well as elaborate cos-
The Rhythmitonal Architecture of Some Tibetan Instru-
tumes and masks. The music ensemble consists of groups of
mental Airs.” Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 1 (1970):
chanters and an instrumental ensemble similar to that used
79–114.
in monastic liturgical services, with the addition of special
Crossley-Holland, Peter. “Tibet.” In New Grove Dictionary of
sound effects not found in those services.
Music and Musicians, vol. 18, pp. 799–811. London, 1980.
Ellingson, Ter. “’Don rta dbyangs gsum: Tibetan Chant and Me-
SEE ALSO Chanting; Drama, article on East Asian Dance
lodic Categories.” Asian Music 10 (1979): 112–156.
and Theater; Mantra; Nianfo; Su¯tra Literature.
Kaufmann, Walter. “The Notation of the Buddhist Chant
(Tibet).” In his Musical Notations of the Orient,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
pp. 355–417. Bloomington, Ind., 1967.
China
Lerner, Lin. “Two Tibetan Ritual Dances: A Comparative Study.”
Bian, Rulan Zhao. Song Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Inter-
Tibetan Journal 8 (Winter 1983): 50–57.
pretation. Cambridge, Mass., 1967.
Bian, Rulan Zhao, et al. “China.” In New Grove Dictionary of
DISCOGRAPHY
Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie, vol. 4,
pp. 245–283. London, 1980.
China
Levy, John. Chinese Buddhist Music. Introduction by Laurence
Granet, Marcel. Festivals and Songs of Ancient China (1919). New
Picken; notes by Laurence Picken and John Levy. Lyrichord
York, 1932.
LLST 7222.
Kishibe Shigeo. “La danse du Confucianisme,” “Rites du Taô,”
Levy, John. Chinese Daoist Music. Introduction and notes by Lau-
“Musique religieuse en Chine.” In Encyclopédie des musiques
rence Picken. Lyrichord LLST 7723.
sacrées, vol. 1, pp. 265–267, 268–271, 272–274. Paris, 1968.
Kuttner, Fritz A. “Musique des sacrifices confucéens.” In Ency-
Migot, A. Musique religieuse chinoise et tibétaine. La boïte à mu-
clopédie des musiques sacrées, vol. 1, pp. 250–264. Paris, 1968.
sique BAM LD 383.
Li, Chunren. “An Outline of the History of Chinese Buddhist
Korea
Music.” Journal of Buddhist Culture 1 (1972): 123–130.
Levy, John. Korean Court Music. Lyrichord LL 7206.
Liu, Zhunruo. “Five Major Chant Types of the Buddhist Service,
Levy, John. Musique bouddhique de Corée. Vogue LVLX 253.
Gongdian.” In Chinoperl Papers, no. 8, pp. 130–160. Ithaca,
Tibet
N. Y., 1978.
Crosseley-Holland, Peter. The Music of Tibetan Buddhism. Bären-
Prip-Mo⁄ller, Johannes. Chinese Buddhist Monasteries: Their Plan
reiter Musicaphon BM 2008-11
and Function as a Setting for Buddhist Monastic Life (1937).
Crossley-Holland, Peter. Tibetan Ritual Music. Lyrichord LL 181
Hong Kong, 1982.
and LLST 7181.
Van Aalst, J. A. Chinese Music (1884). Reprint, New York, 1964.
Musique de l’Asie traditionelle, vol. 4, Tibet: Rituel du soir. Playa
Wong, Isabel. “Geming Gequ: Songs for the Education of the
Sound PS 33504.
Masses.” In Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts
in the People’s Republic of China 1949–1979, edited by Bon-
ISABEL WONG (1987)
nie S. McDougall, pp. 114–143. Berkeley, Calif., 1984.
Yank Yinliu. Zhongguo gudai yinyue shigao, vol. 1. Beijing, 1980.
Korea
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN JAPAN
Byong Won Lee. “Korea.” In New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Traditionally, religious music in Japan consisted of songs and
Musicians, vol. 10, pp. 192–208. London, 1980.
dances that were performed as offerings to various gods.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6300
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN JAPAN
Songs and dances also served to work performers into trances
mane prefecture, a spiritualistic male medium works himself
in kamiasobi (singing songs and dancing for gods) in order
into a trance and reports the oracle of the god concerning
to call a god or gods into attendance. During the Tumulus
that year’s harvest.
period (third to seventh century CE), songs and dances were
Some shamanistic practices persist among shamans
performed by virgins consecrated to deities, continuing a tra-
called itako (Aomori prefecture) and yuta (Amami Island and
dition of shamanistic music from the Yayoi period (fourth
Okinawa). Here the spirit of the dead possesses a miko (fe-
century BCE to third century CE). Such performances were
male shaman) and speaks through her in simple chanting.
accompanied by koto (a long four- or eight-stringed zither)
and tsuzumi (a hand-beaten drum). These instruments ap-
The authentic music of Chinese Confucian ceremonies
pear in clay figures of consecrated virgins and the songs and
was never performed in Japan, but the spirit of Confucian-
dances are described in several ancient texts, including Kojiki
ism can be found in the music of the ch’in (a long seven-
(712 CE), Nihonshoki (720 CE), and Fudoki (first half of the
stringed zither), an instrument favored by the intelligentsia
eighth century). The songs incorporated into these works
interested in Chinese philosophy and literature during the
were probably sung for feasts, funerals, and similar occasions.
Edo period (1603–1867).
Kagura (music of the gods) refers to the music and dance
When Buddhism was introduced from Kudara on the
used in Shinto¯ ceremonies. Kagura, called kamiasobi in old
Korean peninsula by King Kinme¯ in the early sixth century,
times, originated in the song and dance of ancient religious
dances called gigaku, which originated in China, were per-
services. Kagura can be divided into the two forms: mikagura
formed in order to dedicate temples to the Buddha. The
and okagura (satokagura). Mikagura is performed at the im-
masked characters of gigaku performed to the accompani-
perial palace, whereas okagura is performed at local shrines.
ment of a yokobue (a bamboo transverse flute), a sho¯ban (a
Mikagura originated in kinkashinen (religious feasts), which
gong), and ten yo¯ko (hand drums hung at waists).
were held in Seishodo Palace during the reign of Emperor
Seiwa (r. 858–876) of the Heian era. Singers were accompa-
Kenzuishi and Kentoshi, Japanese envoys to Sui and
nied by a type of koto (probably a wagon, a long six-stringed
Tang dynasty China, introduced Buddhist chanting (sho¯myo¯)
zither). In the reign of the Emperor Ichijyo (r. 986–1011),
and gagaku (court music and dance) to Japan. In 752, to cele-
mikagura was performed in the Naishidokoro (Kashikodo-
brate the completion of a colossal bronze statue of Vairocana
koro) Palace to the accompaniment of kagurabue (a bamboo
Buddha at To¯daiji, the principal national temple in Nara, a
transverse flute), hichiriki (a double-reed pipe), and wagon.
magnificent Buddhist service was held. A thousand or more
monks sang shikaho¯yo¯, composed of four Buddhist chants
Mikagura performers sang several types of songs, includ-
(bonnon, shakujyo¯, bai, and sange), and performances of ga-
ing: (1) niwabiuta (songs of the garden bonfire), consisting
gaku, gigaku, and other types of music and dance were pres-
of chants of niwabi and ajimesaho¯; (2) torimonouta (songs of
ented. Eighteen types of instruments, gigaku masks, and a
holding hands for dance), consisting of sakaki, mitegura, tsue,
number of the costumes that were used in this service have
sasa, yumi, tachi, hoko, hisago, kazura, and karakami; (3) sai-
been preserved in the Sho¯so¯in (the treasure house of To¯daiji)
baraburi (songs of saibara), which are folk songs collected
in Nara. In 861, mushataie (another type of Buddhist service)
from various regions and which includes forms known as
was held in To¯daiji to celebrate the completion of repair
ajime, oosaibari, kosaibari, senzai, and hayauta; (4) hoshiuta
work on the head of the Vairocana Buddha, which had been
(songs of stars); and (5) zo¯ka (songs of various kinds), includ-
damaged during an earthquake. On a stage in front of the
ing akaboshi, tokuzeniko, yuuzukuru, hirume, yutate, kamiage
Daibutsuden (the large building housing the statue of Vairo-
and asakura, sonokoma, hetsuiasobi, and sakadono. The chant,
cana Buddha) gagaku and bonnbai (a form of sho¯myo¯) were
sung in slow tempo, is rich in melismatic style. Singers were
performed, and Buddhist chanting called narasho¯myo¯ or
divided into two groups called motokata, which faced the
nantosho¯myo¯ was conducted in several Nara temples.
shrine from the left, and suekata, which faced the shrine from
the right. Each one of the principal singers, called ondo¯, beat
When in the early years of the ninth century the Tendai
a shakubyo¯shi (a wooden clapper). The ninjyo¯ (a male dancer)
and Shingon sects were introduced by the monks Saicho¯,
performed in the evening at the small shrine in Kashikodo-
Ennin, and Ku¯kai from Tang dynasty China, sho¯myo¯ was
koro Palace with the emperor in attendance.
newly reformulated as the tendaisho¯myo¯ and shingonsho¯myo¯.
The goenembutsu—repeating the nembutsu (chanting of the
Okagura has been performed at shrines during folk cere-
name of Amida/Amitabha Buddha) in five kinds of voice—
monies since the modern period. There are several forms of
that Ennin brought to Japan from China was performed as
okagura: mikokagura (dance of a maiden in the service of a
inz¯enembutsu (drawing voice nembutsu) on Mount Hie, the
shrine); izumokagura (dances using mats, bells, sacred trees,
headquarters of the Tendai sect. The fudannembutsu (nem-
swords, and other objects with mythical significance);
butsu ceremony) was developed by the monk So¯o¯ in the
isekagura, which consists of yudateshinji (sprinkling hot water
Mudo¯ji temple and handed down by the monks Sengan and
of an iron pot) and dances illustrating various stories; and
Genshin, who also developed a form of chant praising the
shishikagura (dances with lion’s mask). In o¯motokagura (wor-
Buddha called wasan. In addition, Sho¯rinin, which the monk
ship of ancestors called O
¯ moto), which is performed in Shi-
Jakugen set up in O
¯ hara (Kyoto), and Raigoin, founded by
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN JAPAN
6301
the monk Ryo¯nin in O
¯ hara, served as sho¯myo¯ fundamental
sashi (chanting in rhythm as speech), sanjyu¯ (the opening
schools. Ryo¯nin contributed to the reunification of
style), yo¯kyoku (the chanting of No¯ dramas), and jyo¯ruri (a
tendaisho¯myo¯, which had split into branches after Ennin.
dramatic narrative chant). Jyo¯ruri was originally the recita-
Gyozan sho¯myo¯ rokkanjyo¯, a book expounding the theoretical
tion of the romance of Minamoto Yoshitsune (a military
and practical principles of the music, was edited by the monk
commander) and the princess Jyo¯rurihime, chanted to time
Kekan, a pupil of Ryo¯nin. Sho¯myo¯fyojinshu¯, a work edited by
kept by tapping a fan or by biwa (a four-stringed lute) ac-
the monk Tanchi, established the basis of modern sho¯myo¯ by
companiment. Jyo¯ruri was accompanied by the shamisen (a
applying the musical theory of gagaku. The monk Kancho¯
three-stringed plucked lute) after that instrument was intro-
established the basis for shingonsho¯myo¯, although this style
duced to Japan from the Ryukyu Islands in the sixteenth cen-
later developed into several schools, including ninna-
tury. This style was later adapted to the puppet theater.
jiso¯o¯inryu¯, nakanokawadaijyo¯sho¯ninryu¯, and daigoryu¯.
Another chant form called fushidansekkyo¯ was developed
Various Buddhist sects that were opened to membership
from sekkyo¯ (sermons or discourses). Such sermons were
from the wider public were formed during the Kamakura pe-
chanted in singsong tones in order to more easily educate the
riod (1185–1333). Ho¯nen, the founder of the Jo¯do sect, em-
people. Iterant chanters and performers also recited
phasized the importance of the nembutsu: “Namu Amida
sekkyo¯bushi (a parable or story of karmic destiny). These pop-
Butsu.” Ippen, founder of the Ji sect (a branch of Jo¯do),
ular performers used sasara (a scraper), kane (a small gong),
propagated nembutsu through the odori-nembutsu (dancing
and kakko (a small horizontally-held drum). During the Edo
nembutsu). The forms of chanting practiced by the Jo¯do,
period, itinerant troupes performed sekkyo¯bushi with
Jyo¯do-shin (founded by Shinran, a pupil of Ho¯nen), and the
puppets.
Ji sects were influenced by Tendai Buddhism. On the other
During the Heian period (794–1185), gagaku and
hand, the chants of the Rinzai and So¯to¯ Zen sects, newly
sho¯myo¯ were adapted to Japanese styles. In the court, saibara
transmitted from China by E¯sai and Do¯gen respectively,
(folk songs collected from various regions) were performed
were influenced by Chinese practices.
to the accompaniment of the instruments used in gagaku, in-
The general term for Buddhist chanting is sho¯myo¯, or
cluding ryu¯teki (a bamboo transverse flute), hichiriki (a dou-
bonbai. Sho¯myo¯ texts can be classified into three types based
ble-reed pipe), sho¯ (an wind instrument with seventeen bam-
on the language used: Sanskrit, Chinese, or Japanese. Bongo-
boo pipes), so¯ (a long thirteen-stringed zither), biwa, and
san are Sanskrit chants. Several types of chants are performed
shakubyo¯shi (wooden clappers). The court chant known as
using classical Chinese (kangosan). Chinese-language chants
ro¯ei (chanting a Chinese and Japanese poem) was accompa-
include bai and kada (verse chants praising a blessing of Bud-
nied by ryu¯teki, hichiriki, and sho¯ in a free rhythm.
dha); nyoraibai (a tathagata chant); gobai (a later chant);
During the Heian period, imayo¯ (modern chanting or
so¯r¯ekada (all-praising chant); eko¯kada (chant to hold a me-
songs of the present age) were performed by asobime. Asobime
morial service); sange (verse chant performed while scattering
or asobi were itinerant female singers and dancers, sometimes
flowers); bonnon (verse chant for a memorial service before
associated with prostitution. Kugutsume were similar per-
the principal image of Buddha); shakujyo¯ (verse chant involv-
formers who used puppets beginning in the middle of the
ing a priest’s staff); and sange (chant to repent sins). Japanese-
Heian era. The retired emperor Go Shirakawa (1127–1192)
language chants include wasan (verse chant praising a bless-
and his vassals were taught imayo¯ by asobime. This is remark-
ing of Buddha); saimon (prose chant repaying Buddha or the
able in that members of the highest elite apprenticed them-
founder of a sect); hyo¯byaku (prose chant explaining the pur-
selves to gypsy-like women. The asobime practice of singing
pose of a Buddhist service); kyo¯shaku (prose chant explaining
imayo¯ was held to be an efficacious means of achieving en-
the content of a su¯tra); ko¯shiki (prose chant praising the Bud-
lightenment. Go Shirakawa compiled Ryo¯jinhisho¯, an anthol-
dha), and rongi (prose chant summarizing content of a su¯tra).
ogy of zo¯g¯e (various chants) and oral instructions on imayo¯.
Bongosan texts are written in Chinese characters that
There were broadly several kinds of songs: imayo¯ in the nar-
yield phonetic approximations of the Sanskrit. Kangosan is
row sense; ho¯monka (songs influenced by Buddhist chant-
a system of chanting Chinese texts according to their kan
ing); kamiuta (songs of the kami), cho¯ka (long chants), and
reading (i.e., according to the Japanese equivalents of the
koyanagi (free-form chants). These were sometimes per-
sounds of the Chinese graphs). Wasan consists of Chinese
formed to the accompaniment of a fan beat or a hand drum.
texts translated into Japanese.
According to the Ryo¯jinhisho¯, Go Shirakawa received twelve
years of training in imayo¯ from Otomae, an asobime from Ao-
Sho¯myo¯ influenced various forms of chanting directly or
haka in Mino province. Imayo¯ chanted by monks to the ac-
indirectly. Ko¯shiki and Rongi, forms of narrative sho¯myo¯, mu-
companiment of so¯ (the zither used in gagaku) in temples
sically influenced Heikyoku (the recitation of the Tale of the
were called etenrakuimayo¯ or etenrakuutaimono.
Heike). Musical terms associated with sho¯myo¯ include shojyu¯
(the lower set of notes), sanjyu¯ (the upper set of notes), chu¯on
In the late Muromachi era (mid-sixteenth century), the
(the middle set of notes), sashigoe (the chanting of syllables
monk Kenjyun of Zendo¯ temple in northern Kyushu devel-
smoothly), shiragoe (chanting in conversational style), and
oped tsukushiso¯, a solo chant performed while accompanying
yo¯kyoku (the chanting of No¯ dramas). Sho¯myo¯ also includes
oneself on the so¯. Yatsuhashi Kengyo (a high-ranking blind
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6302
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN GREECE, ROME, AND BYZANTIUM
performer) reformed tsukushiso¯ into so¯kyoku (koto music). In
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Edo period, so¯kyoku consisted of kumiuta sung to the ac-
Giesen, Walter. Zur Geschichte des Buddhistisches Ritualgesangs in
companiment of so¯.
Japan. Kassel, Germany, 1977.
During the Kamakura period, the fukeshakuhachi (a ver-
Harich-schneider, Eta. A History of Japanese Music. Oxford, 1973.
tical bamboo flute) was played as part of the training of
Hirano Kenji, Kamisango Sukeyasu, and Gamo Satoaki, eds.
monks called komuso¯ of Fukeshu¯, one of the Chinese Zen
Nihon Ongaku Daijiten (Encyclopedia of Japanese Music).
sects. In the Edo period the Tokugawa shogunate authorized
Tokyo, 1989.
Fukeshu¯ and made use of komuso¯ as secret agents, who
Kikkawa Eishi. Kamigami no ongaku (Music of Shinto¯). Toshiba
toured the country during their training.
TW–8004–7. Tokyo, 1976. Sound recording in Japanese,
with English summary.
Heikyoku was a narrative form of vocal music performed
by biwaho¯shi, blind monks who performed with the biwa.
Kikkawa Eishi, Kindaichi Haruhiko, Koizumi Fumio, and Yo-
komichi Mario, eds. Nihon Koten Ongaku Taikei (An Out-
They chanted the military epic Heike monogatari, describing
line of Japanese Classical Music), vols. 1–8. Tokyo, 1982.
the famous history of the Heike (one of two great political
families of twelfth-century Japan). Another group of blind
Malm, William P. Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instru-
ments. New ed. Tokyo, 2000. Originally published in 1959.
biwa-playing monks were jijinmo¯so¯ in Kyushu. Jijinmo¯so¯ per-
formed mo¯so¯biwa (a genre of biwa music) as they visited indi-
KISHIBE SHIGEO (1987)
vidual houses to calm the violent doko¯jin (gods of the earth)
OGI MITSUO (2005)
and pray for bountiful harvests.
Most songs were sung in unison, with occasional use of
the intervals of the fourth or fifth separating two voice parts
MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN GREECE,
moving in parallel. The scale, consisting of twelve tones, var-
ROME, AND BYZANTIUM
ied according to the period and the genre. Generally, inter-
This survey of the interrelation of religion and music in
vallic skips of the fourth and fifth characterize the melodic
Western antiquity from the Homeric age to the age of Justin-
pattern. The singing could be either melismatic in free
ian (c. 1000 BCE–500 CE) will examine the religious dimen-
rhythm, or it could consist of one tone sung in metric
sions of the music of Greece and Rome, the music of the
rhythm. Noteworthy is the fact that the melodic structure
early church, and the liturgical music of Byzantium.
of sho¯myo¯ influenced other forms of Japanese music. For ex-
GREEK MUSIC. The word music (mousik¯e) originated in the
ample, both Heikyoku and the singing in No¯ drama were in-
Greek language. However, to the Greeks it meant more than
fluenced by chant forms.
the art of tones sung or played on instruments. It encom-
The notation of Buddhist chants falls into three catego-
passed education, science, and proper behavior, as well as
ries. The oldest is called ko hakase (old hakase; musical nota-
singing and the playing of instruments. To modern man this
tion), which indicates the melody with marks representing
ancient music—the very little that has come down to us—
the four Chinese tonal accents. The second system, called
sounds simple, unmelodious, and occasionally even dull, but
go-on hakase (five-tone hakase), is represented by short verti-
in the broader conception of mousik¯e we may recognize the
cal and horizontal bars, one for each letter of the text, show-
basis for the magical, ritual, and ethical dimensions that
ing five tones. The newest category of chant notation, meyasu
characterize Greek music and relate it to Greek religion. This
hakase (literally, “hakase for easy understanding”), presents
discussion of Greek music during the period from the Ho-
the melodic line in more detail by drawing curved lines in
meric epics (eighth century BCE) to the age of the Roman em-
addition to the marks for tone pitches. This system resembles
peror Augustus (first century BCE) will treat, together with
the neumic system of medieval Europe. Meyasu hakase is pre-
religious function, its theory, and main styles and forms.
served in a manuscript dated 1311 written by Ryo¯nin, the
Pre-Christian Greek religions. Greek religions were
founder of this chant notation.
polytheistic and based upon popular mythologies. Followers
A comparison between Buddhist music in Japan and
of Homeric religion adored and feared the Olympian gods,
other Asian countries reveals both similarities and differ-
who frequently behaved like humans, possessed of very
ences. A chanting style based on one tone and the use of per-
human virtues and vices. Their cult was sacrificial, and its
cussion instruments is common to all, but the use of the dou-
liturgy proceeded by sacrificial action. Sacrifice served in rit-
ble-reed pipe and trumpet is not found in Japan.
uals of atonement, imprecation, and thanksgiving, in cere-
Vocalization in deep voice is also common to many Asian
monies for the dead, and in the fearful adoration of the
Buddhist societies. The biggest difference is in regard to mel-
chthonic divinities of the netherworld. Its aims were gratifi-
ody. Chinese chants, more popular in character than Japa-
cation of the gods and apotropaic protection from adversary
nese chants, tended to adapt the melodies of folk and popular
gods or demonic forces. In the seventh and sixth centuries
music. By contrast, Japanese chant has preserved the older
BCE Orphism arose, a mystic movement taking as founder
style of Buddhist music.
the fabled musician Orpheus. Closely related to Orphism,
and also originating in Thrace, was the cult of Dionysos,
SEE ALSO Chanting.
which worshiped with wine and song in wild bacchanalia its
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6303
god Dionysos-Bacchus. Beginning with the fifth century BCE
Thebes. The historical figure Thaletas of Gortyn (seventh
and thereafter, a more philosophical, less ecstatic type of reli-
century BCE) tried to drive the plague from Sparta by singing.
gion emerged under the impact of Pythagorean, Platonic, Ar-
Ritual use of music. I have referred to the rituals of sac-
istotelian, and Stoic philosophies. Connection with ethical
rifice in Homeric religion. The first canto of the Iliad gives
principles characterized this conception of religion. We may
a good description of priestly thusia, or sacrifice, made by the
see it in the still polytheistic context of Sophocles’ Oedipus
priest Chryses to his god Apollo (1.447–473). After Chryses
trilogy in Antigone’s defense of “the infallible, unwritten
has burned pieces of meat and fat and tasted them, a libation
eternal laws of heaven, which no mortal can overrule.” Socra-
is spent accompanied by song. Only the chthonic deities
tes, who lived by this doctrine, like Sophocles’ heroine, paid
were adored in strict silence. Several ancient inscriptions, as
with his life. Yet Socrates’ teachings were carried on by Plato,
that from Dodona, speak of the ritual of praying, or more
whose systematization of Socratic thought wholly reshaped
properly “vowing,” and sacrificing; on such occasions music,
Greek religion.
at least a kind of hymnic chant, was obligatory. The dedica-
Musical principles. From earliest times the Greeks
tion of a new temple was always a festivity during which
took interest in the theory of music, and subsequent to Py-
vows and sacrifices were offered and hymns or other music
thagorean concern with the mathematico-philosophical as-
heard. At marriages thusia, prayers, and hymns inaugurated
pects of music they occupied themselves with it continuous-
a happy espousal, at least in the circles of the nobility, as we
ly. Their most important achievements were their acoustic
read in Apollonis of Rhodes (fl. 222–181 BCE).
discoveries, which were basic to the development of Western
The aforementioned tone-word relationship has special
music.
significance for the ritual use of music. Lamentations for the
From the infinity of tones, sounds, and rhythms with
dead Hector show clearly certain ritualistic traits (Iliad
which nature surrounds man, the Greeks selected a limited
24.720ff.). The choric odes of Pindar (518–438 BCE) served
number of tones, which they ordered, identified, and catego-
in official worship. Special reverence was paid the Delphic
rized according to harmoniai, or species of scales. In Greek
hymns; according to Plutarch (c. 46–after 120 CE), several
music theory the term harmony refers to the various divisions
were so celebrated that they were repeated every year.
of the octave into scales. The Greeks knew Dorian, Phrygian,
The musical e¯thos. To the Greeks, mousik¯e meant more
Lydian, Mixolydian, and other scales, each of which consist-
than mere music. Hence it was judged not only by its audible
ed of two conjunct or disjunct tetrachords. Tetrachords com-
beauty but also by its moral effect upon the listener. This
posing the scales were divided into three distinct genera: the
principle, which the Greeks shared with many great ancient
harmonic, the chromatic, and the enharmonic. (Greek tetra-
civilizations, constituted the doctrine of ¯ethos; in Greek
chords and scales progressed downward from a higher tonic
music theory this doctrine reached its highest expression.
rather than upward as in medieval and modern music.)
Scales were precise, mathematically constructed systems. The
There was extensive philosophical reflection upon musi-
scope of these harmoniai, however, was much greater than
cal ¯ethos, that is, the character, nature, or moral effect of a
that of simple scales. The Doric “harmony” was the yardstick
musical work. Every melody, in each of its aspects, was sub-
by which all melodies were judged. Its strict simplicity was
ject to the postulates of its ¯ethos; the ¯ethos was determined
understood as the ideal of moral straightforwardness, indeed,
by all components of its respective melody. Each scale,
of Spartan fortitude and austerity. Within their various
rhythm, and trope, when performed at the “right” spot and
scales, the Greeks also knew certain tropes (tropoi), which
at the “just” time, has a concrete, predictable influence on
characterized the mode of any given melody. The meaning
the listener’s emotions, behavior, and character.
of “mode” in Greek musical theory has been a matter of con-
Plato gave the doctrine of ¯ethos its most radical formula-
siderable scholarly debate; I take it to refer to complex me-
tion in his Republic. According to his thesis, certain scales
lodic types or structures of melodic motives on the order of
turn men into cowards and make women unable to bear
the Indian ra¯gas or Arabian maqamat.
healthy children; other scales inspire courage, fear, piety, no-
The theory of tone-word relationship is basic to an un-
bility, and so forth (376d, 398b ff.). In the Laws, it is really
derstanding of Greek music. Poetry and music were closely
in terms of the doctrine of ¯ethos that he criticizes the profes-
bound, with the words of the text defining rhythmic struc-
sional music of his day (700a ff.). The nomos, literally the
ture through the quantities of metrical pattern. The role of
“law” or “set,” had become the main form used by profes-
stress or accent in relation to meter and music, controversial
sional singer-composers in musical contests. Consisting of
in late antiquity, remains problematic.
several movements without strophic repetition, and charac-
terized by its harmonia and its specific rhythm as musical
Magic power of music. The Greeks ascribed to music
representation of meter, it might depict the exploits of some
magic and therapeutic powers. It could heal wounds
god, such as the famous Pythian nomos, which glorified
(Homer, Odyssey 19.437ff.), and it could move blocks of
Apollo’s battle with the Pythian dragon. Plato decried the
stone; the singing of Amphion, son of Zeus, was said to have
musical license that violated the laws (nomoi) dividing music
enchanted stones to build of their own accord the walls of
into several distinct kinds. The hymn, the lament, the paean,
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN GREECE, ROME, AND BYZANTIUM
the dithyramb, and the lyric song, each ought be true to its
were found in Delphi and one in Tralles, in Asia Minor).
form. Their admixture could only bring disorder to the soci-
Most of these pieces are only fragments. Their transcription
ety in which such confused and irregular music was heard.
into modern notation is, in certain details, controversial. An
The philosophy of musical ¯ethos did not remain undis-
example of one of those carved in stone is the skolion, or liba-
puted. Its sharpest opponents were Philodemus of Gadara
tion song, of Seikilos, originating in the first century BCE.
(first century BCE) and an anonymous rhetorician, a sophist
ROMAN MUSIC. No written musical document of the early
whose arguments have come down to us in the Papyrus Hib-
days of Roman history has come down to us; we must de-
beh. Even Plutarch, the historian of Greek music, and Aris-
pend upon archaeological evidence. Ancient Rome was built
toxenus (fourth century BCE), its main theorist, speak in rath-
upon three civilizations: Etruscan, Greek, and, finally, Near
er cautious terms about the doctrine of ¯ethos. Despite these
Eastern. In general Greek music came to Rome as a study
controversies, the ¯ethos doctrine was cultivated by the Neo-
to be learned and exercised. Eventually the powerful influ-
platonists and by the church fathers and was championed by
ence of Hellenistic music began to recede as the influence of
as influential a philosopher as Boethius.
Egyptian, Syrian, and Hebrew music increased.
Tragedy as musical drama. Attic tragedy originated in
Pre-Christian Roman religions. Roman cultic and
ritual, especially in that of Dionysos. The term tragedy de-
popular customs were invariably accompanied by chanted
rives from trago¯idia, or “song of the goat,” in celebration of
and played music. Thus, according to the first-century histo-
a totemistic element in the Dionysian cult. The link between
rian Livy, the sodalities of the Salian priesthood regularly
tragedy and ritual is clearly discernible in the tragedies of
used chants at their rites. Numa, the legendary second king
Aeschylus and Sophocles; it is less intimate in those of Eurip-
of Rome, provided the Salii, or “leapers,” with arms and de-
ides, the poet of the Greek enlightenment.
creed that they chant hymns and dance at the appointed fes-
The ritual origin of tragedy is well known. Less known
tivals of the martial god Mars. Their heavy-footed dance of
are the philosophical treatises devoted to its meaning, parts,
arms in triple time was sacred to the god of war. Vergil
and effects, and to the music that best represented the ¯ethos
(70–19 BCE) indicates that the songs of the Salii were execut-
of the drama and its protagonists. According to Aristotle’s
ed responsorially (Vergil, Aeneid 8.285). The precentor of
celebrated Poetics, an effective drama has six parts, among
the priests, the vates (“poet” or “seer”), was considered di-
which the melopoia, or musical composition, was not the
vinely inspired.
least important. In its heyday, the tragedy contained a num-
ber of musical forms: the entrance of the choir (parodos), the
Under the leadership of Livius Andronicus, Roman poet
standing song (stasimon), the song of the choir’s exit (exodos),
of the third century BCE, rites of atonement and consecration
a song with pantomime (huporch¯ema), a lament (kommos),
sacred to the goddess Juno were celebrated by choirs of vir-
and the chanted recitatives of the main actors. Certain har-
gins. Many of their hymns appear to have had apotropaic
moniai were preferred for the drama, for example, the Mixo-
functions: to banish death, illness, and danger, and to estab-
lydian, because of its sorrowful ¯ethos, and the Doric, because
lish peace between gods and mortals. The poet Horace (first
of its solemn character.
century BCE) refers to the function of the vates in such rites,
asking, “Where would innocent boys and girls learn their
Musical instruments. The musical instruments most
prayers, had not the Muse granted them a poet?” The cus-
significant for Greek religious practice may be named briefly.
tomarily noisy nenies, or lamentations, functioned according
The main instruments were the lyre and its variants, such as
to the principle “The greater the noise, the greater the loss”;
the kithara, barbitos, phorminx, trigo¯non, and psalt¯erion. They
they were disliked by Horace and later Roman poets, who
were all stringed instruments, to be plucked with or without
were inclined to prefer the refinement of Greek poetry.
a plectrum. The harp was probably imported from Egypt.
They served chiefly the highly regulated Apollonian rite or
Music and poetry. Statius, a poet of the first century
style, which eschewed all ecstatic or orgiastic expression.
CE, no less than the poet Catullus a generation before him,
Their music was strict, even severe; they were used by priests
took for granted the chanted performance of his poems. The
and the nobility. The hymns of Pindar, composed for ac-
poet Horace was probably the best-trained musician of his
companiment by lyre, were sacred to Apollo.
day, for he was commissioned by the emperor Augustus to
More appropriate to the unrestrained Dionysian style
create the words and music of the Carmen saeculare. It ap-
were such wind instruments as the aulos, a shrill-sounding
pears that Horace also taught its melody to the choir. In the
primitive clarinet that was usually played as a double instru-
first century BCE Greek dominance was as yet unchallenged,
ment with two mouthpieces. Sacred to Dionysos, it engen-
as evidenced by the existence of a Roman association, the So-
dered violent merriment, wild breast-beating, or hopeless
cietas Cantorum Graecorum, yet Horace took pride in “hav-
mourning. The distinction between Apollonian and Diony-
ing introduced Aeolian verses” to the culture of Rome.
sian thus marks contrasting currents both musical and
Musical instruments. Because it had an expansive and
religious.
militaristic culture, Rome used musical instruments more for
Relics of Greek music. Fifteen pieces of Greek music
its army than for its sanctuaries, although the ancient festi-
are known, of which three were carved in stone (two of these
vals, the Parilia and the Saturnalia, were certainly not cele-
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6305
brated without chants and popular music. The tibia, a primi-
Plutarch, a contemporary of Clement, described this
tive oboe comparable to the aulos; the tuba, a kind of
Doric-spondaic mode in his book on music and thus
trumpet; the Greek kithara and lyre; and, later, Asiatic in-
made possible its reconstruction. Years ago, I demon-
struments such as the Phrygian curva tibia, were heard on
strated that this mode occurs in some of the oldest
many cultic occasions. Wind instrument players were orga-
Christian chants (in Latin, Greek, and Syriac) and in
nized into the union of tibicines, stringed instrument players
ancient prayers of the Yemeni Jews (The Sacred Bridge,
into that of the fidicines. Noise-making rattles, cymbals, and
vol. 1, 1959).
so forth were played by corybants and priests at Bacchanalian
3. The tune of the Te Deum. This tune belongs to the very
revels and were also heard at funerals.
same family of melodies as the Tropos Spondeiakos and
Musical importations. Mystery cults imported from
is equally old.
Asia featured bloody rites of initiation accompanied by the
4. Oxyrhynchus hymnus. Written in the third century, this
wild sound of noisemaking instruments and the Phrygian
work is a praise of Christ that paraphrases a passage
tibia. From Persia, borne by the legionnaires, came the cult
from Psalm 93. It represents a perfect mixture of Greek
of Mithra, with its ceremony of blood-baptism. The rattling
syllabic chant and Hebrew melismatic elements. This
of sistrums and the tinkling of harps accompanied the more
interpenetration of Greek and Hebrew elements was
peaceful cult of Isis, imported from Egypt. This multitude
characteristic of most chants before the fourth century,
of foreign sounds was, like the nenies, condemned by Horace
when the Council of Laodicea set certain theological
and later writers.
standards, which determined the split between Eastern
EARLY CHRISTIAN MUSIC. Foreign musics and mythologies
and Roman Catholic liturgies.
were a horror and an abomination to the early Christians,
Early Christian music thus preserved Greek and Hebrew
or, rather, Judeo-Christians of the first two centuries, as were
sources of influence. Emphasis on the Greek elements in this
any pagan practices. The question of influence by Roman
music was made mainly by Boethius in his De institutione
popular songs upon the chants of the early church has been
musica. Peter Wagner, the great expert on Gregorian chant,
raised, but all too few facts in favor of such a hypothesis can
submitted a number of explanations for the role of Judeo-
be adduced. The first Latin Church Fathers were so strongly
Christians as transmitters of Hebrew musical tradition to
biased against anything that smacked of paganism that they
early Christian chants. The epitaphs of Deusdedit (Jonathan)
may well have suppressed any real evidence. Further, the Ro-
and Redemptus (Yigael), singers whom Pope Damasus
mans did not invent a musical notation of their own, nor
brought to Rome from Jerusalem, contain such remarks as
were they interested in musical theory, so that any question
“he sounded his ancient prophet [David] in sweet songs.”
of influence is difficult to judge.
BYZANTINE MUSIC. While the Byzantine Empire was a well-
The last part of Augustine’s philosophical work De mu-
defined entity both historically and geographically, its music
sica is now lost; it may have contained important views about
belongs to its specific liturgy and so must be more closely cir-
the music of his contemporaries. Nonetheless, we are in pos-
cumscribed. The music of Byzantium will be sketched here
session of many, often contradictory testimonies of Christian
as it developed in its first stage, from its origin in the fourth
chant in the Roman Empire, as it originated in Greece, Pales-
century during the reign of Constantine the Great until 565,
tine, Italy, and other parts of the empire. Among them is just
the year of the death of Justinian I, who disbanded the
one piece of notated music, the Oxyrhynchus hymnus, and a
Academy of Athens. The date is significant, for it marks the
veritable host of descriptions, speculations, and comparisons,
gradual separation of Byzantine culture from its Greek patri-
ancient and medieval. Possibly some oral traditions were pre-
mony.
served until the ninth century, during which time a musical
notation was developed in Europe. Some insights have re-
Music and Byzantine Christianity. We have no traces
sulted from this—rarely authentic—material, mainly in
of early Byzantine secular music aside from reports of the
modern studies. A few examples will illustrate the state of this
great festivities held in honor of the emperor and his court,
research:
and about these noisy occasions we know most details from
the tenth-century book of ceremonies by Constantine VII.
1. Hosanna filio David. This antiphon for Palm Sunday is
No Byzantine music antedating the ninth century has come
of ancient origin. Amédée Gastoué ascribes its intona-
down to us. The term Byzantine music is, moreover, limited
tion to the resemblance of the word hosanna with hoson
to liturgical chants. Although Syriac and Hebrew elements
z¯es, the beginning words of a libation song.
were probably integrated, definite evidence of these influ-
ences is not available, as the scholarship in this field is barely
2. Tropos Spondeiakos. Clement of Alexandria, second-
a hundred years old.
century Church Father, recommended in his work on
Christian education, the Pedagogue, that Christians
Musical notation. The Byzantine liturgy used two
should sing psalms before retiring, as the Jews of Alexan-
kinds of rhetorical notation. The first, the ancient ekphone-
dria did, and mentioned the Tropos Spondeiakos, or
tic notation, served the priests in reciting the sacred scrip-
mode of libation, as the most suitable one. Pseudo-
tures in a prescribed system of cantillation. Its connection
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MUSIC: MUSIC AND RELIGION IN GREECE, ROME, AND BYZANTIUM
with Syriac and Hebrew accents is quite obvious, as Egon
difficult subject, but it requires some philosophical back-
Wellesz and I have shown. This kind of symbolism did not
ground. Antiquity and the Middle Ages (New York, 1950),
represent real musical pitches or intervals; instead, it punctu-
volume 1 of Source Readings in Music History, edited by Oli-
ated the sentences and indicated pauses and the rise and fall
ver Strunk, gives several Greek sources in good translation
of the voice. The second kind of notation was not established
but is somewhat opinionated in its selection. My “The Ori-
before the ninth century and so stands outside the scope of
gin of the Eight Modes in Music (Octoechos),” Hebrew
Union College Annual 21 (1948): 211–255, presents most of
this description. This musical notation grew out of ekphone-
the ancient sources of the system of musical modes.
tic and rhetoric beginnings, and came to be applied to the
chanted parts of the liturgy, especially to the troparia, centos
For data on music in Rome, see “Rome, Ancient” by Günter
of psalm verses and new poetry; the heirmologia, containing
Heischhauer in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musi-
the models of traditional melodies; and the kanones, poetic
cians. J. E. Scott’s “Roman Music” in the New Oxford History
paraphrases of nine biblical canticles: two songs of Moses,
of Music presents a solid and scholarly evaluation.
the prayer of Hannah, the prayer of Habakkuk, the hymn
The first chapter in volume 1 of Karl Gustav Fellerer’s The History
of Isaiah, the hymn of Jonah, the prayer of the three youths
of Catholic Music (Baltimore, 1961) offers discussion of early
in the furnace, the apocryphal continuation of this prayer,
Christian music. See also my The Sacred Bridge, 2 vols. (New
and the Magnificat. The second ode was usually omitted in
York, 1959–1984), which examines the interdependence of
order to make a number equal to the eight modes, or ¯echoi
liturgy and music in the Jewish and Christian traditions dur-
(Octoechos). From each of the original biblical texts, only
ing the first millennium.
a number of verses were chanted, and these were interwoven
For a complete survey of Byzantine music in all its aspects, see
with poems by Byzantine authors.
“Byzantine Rite, Music of the,” by Kenneth Levy in the New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Egon Wellesz’s A
The Octoechos. The Octoechos is a system of eight
History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography, 2d ed. (Ox-
modes (originally not scales), whose names were erroneously
ford, 1961) is the standard work on the subject. For the more
borrowed from the classic Greek harmoniai. The concept of
advanced reader, Wellesz’s study “Word and Music in By-
the Octoechos is very ancient; its origin has been linked to
zantine Liturgy,” Musical Quarterly 23 (July 1937): 297–
the Babylonian-Akkadian calendar. As a musical term,
310, gives a fine presentation of the most problematic as-
Eal-ha-sheminit occurs in the superscriptions to two Hebrew
pects. For the reader familiar with classical literature, Carsten
psalms (sixth and twelfth) and, in the Greek literature, in Yo-
Ho⁄eg’s profound study “Les rapport de la musique chrétien-
hanan Rufos’s sixth-century Plerophoriai. Under the name
ne et de la musique de l’antiquité classique,” Byzantion
25–27 (1955–1957): 383–412, is highly recommended. For
“Octoechos” many hymns of the Byzantine and Syrian
discussion of ancient musical instruments, Curt Sachs’s The
churches were collected and ordered according to the eight
History of Musical Instruments (New York, 1940) is still the
modes and the seven-plus-one Sundays between Easter and
standard reference work.
Pentecost. Their texts were first published in about 540 by
Severus, patriarch of Antioch. This work became the exem-
New Sources
plar for many ritual books of the Byzantine Church. These
Anderson, Warren. Music and Musicians in Ancient Greece. Ithaca,
books became repositories of an enormous number of liturgi-
N.Y., 1994.
cal melodies, whose influence enriched many of the chants
Belis, Annie. Les Musiciens dans l’Antiquité. Paris, 1999.
of the Near East, even after the collapse of the empire in
1453.
Brulé, Pierre, and Christophe Vendriès, eds. Chanter les dieux: mu-
sique et religion dans l’antiquité grecque et romaine. Rennes,
Zool.
SEE ALSO Aristotle; Chanting; Dionysos; Orpheus; Plato;
Pythagoras; Socrates.
Comotti, Giovanni. Music in Greek and Roman Culture. Balti-
more, Md., 1989.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Landels, John G. Music in Ancient Greece and Rome. New York,
For a full, mostly reliable study of Greek music, see “Greece, An-
1999.
cient” by R. P. Winningham-Ingram and others in the New
McKinnon, James, ed. Antiquity and the Middle Ages: From An-
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley
cient Greece to the 15th Century. Music and Society Series,
Sadie (London, 1980). For the advanced reader, Isobel Hen-
vol. 1. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1991.
derson’s “Ancient Greek Music” in the New Oxford History
of Music (Oxford, 1957) is recommended, although it ne-
Mathiesen, Thomas J. Apollo’s Lyre: Greek Music and Music Theory
glects the Asiatic elements. Curt Sach’s writings, especially
in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Lincoln, 1999.
his Rise of Music in the Ancient World, East and West (New
York, 1943), contain the best available scholarship on an-
Scott, William C. Musical Design in Sophoclean Theater. Hanover,
cient music, easily readable by the layman. See also Edward
N.H., 1996.
A. Lippman’s Musical Thought in Ancient Greece (New York,
West, M. L. Ancient Greek Music. New York, 2001.
1964). Hermann J. Abert’s study of ¯ethos in Greek music,
Die Lehre vom Ethos in der Musik des griechischen Altertums,
ERIC WERNER (1987)
2d ed. (Tutzing, 1968) is still the best presentation of this
Revised Bibliography
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MUSIC: RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
have reappeared until around the fourth century CE In any
The religious music that is commonly considered Western
case, the synagogue service was essentially a service of the
had its beginnings in the Middle East and the Mediterra-
word, with prayers and readings from Scripture.
nean, as did Western religions themselves. As that music de-
Consistent with the principles of rabbinic Judaism,
veloped over the centuries, it shaped and was shaped by a va-
which were to remain normative until the eighteenth centu-
riety of musical cultures, most notably those of Europe and
ry, the musical simplicity of the synagogue apparently de-
North America. Primarily Jewish or Christian in character,
rived from three sources: rules (halakhah) for observing the
Western religious music has also been influenced at times by
Sabbath, which would be violated by the tuning and carrying
Islamic practices.
of instruments; mourning over the Temple’s destruction,
Different groups of Jews and Christians have been iden-
which meant a ban on instrumental music until the coming
tified in the West partly by the kinds of music they have cul-
of the messiah; and concern over the ostensibly sensual quali-
tivated or prohibited. Much music, however, has crossed de-
ties of women’s voices, with the result that only men were
nominational and religious lines. Furthermore secular and
permitted to sing.
sacred styles have been mutually influential, even if some-
None of this is to imply that synagogue worship in its
times controversially so. Since the late eighteenth century
formative stages was unmusical. By the latter part of the first
Western music of a religious or spiritual nature has often ap-
millennium if not before, the synagogue service employed
peared in a relatively secular guise.
three genres of chant: psalmody (responsorial or antiphonal),
FROM TEMPLE TO SYNAGOGUE AND CHURCH. Given the
cantillation of Scripture, and liturgical chant for prayers. The
importance of the Book of Psalms to both Jewish and Chris-
liturgy in that way was musical through and through.
tian worship and in view of references in Psalms to a variety
For their part, Christians during the apostolic age (first
of musical instruments, laments, and songs of praise, one
century CE) sang “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,” as
might suppose that in later times Jews and Christians alike
stated in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. While those
would have felt free to make music with virtually every
terms are vague, many scholars believe that the sung texts in-
means imaginable. But in the first few centuries of the com-
cluded the biblical psalms (though that has been disputed),
mon era dramatic changes in the context of worship for both
canticles such as those in Exodus 15 and Habakkuk 3, and
groups made that kind of musical license virtually un-
hymns written by poets and composers who have not been
thinkable.
identified. That the terms for the genres are left imprecise
In 70 CE the Roman army under Titus destroyed the
is not surprising; the New Testament spells out few details
Second Temple in Jerusalem; shortly thereafter Jews were de-
regarding either music or worship. One is told that Jesus and
prived of their homeland. Accordingly the center of Jewish
his disciples sang a hymn at the conclusion of the last supper,
worship shifted from the Temple (originally the primary
but scholars are left to speculate that the supper may have
locus of Psalms) to the synagogue and the home.
been a Passover seder and that the hymn may have been the
Hallel.
Having started out as a Jewish sect, Christians likewise
experienced in their first few centuries major, if less traumat-
It seems to have been a foregone conclusion among early
ic, shifts in the context and content of worship. With the
Christians that instruments had no place in public worship.
missionary efforts of Paul and others, an ever-increasing per-
For their service of the word, Christians were still accus-
centage of the followers of Jesus were Gentiles. In addition
tomed to the pattern of the synagogue, the music of which
Christians were often, albeit intermittently, targets of Roman
was strictly vocal. Whereas it is no longer assumed that there
persecution and were consequently constrained in their wor-
was an extended period of continuity with synagogue prac-
ship. Then in 313 CE the social situation of Christianity
tice, Christians must have continued intoning prayers and
changed dramatically with the conversion of Constantine.
chanting Scriptures. How and what Christians sang during
Christianity became a legal and then privileged religion of
the Eucharist (Communion) or at common meals is uncer-
the Roman Empire itself.
tain. The service of the Eucharist was probably indebted to
Jewish and pagan traditions surrounding domestic meals and
For both Jews and Christians there was considerable
ritual banquets. None of the music survives, however—nor
contrast between temple psalmody and their own liturgical
any other music from late antiquity.
practices. It is uncertain when synagogues originated; they
may have begun in some form as far back as the exilic period
Scholars formerly thought that Christians initially ap-
or earlier. In any case, when worship took place in the syna-
proached matters of music in a puritanical spirit that only
gogue, it never entailed sacrifice, as temple worship did. Nor
gradually relaxed over the next several centuries as Christians
did it make use of priests or a choir or any musical instru-
became more sophisticated. Closer inspection of texts and
ments except (later) the shofar, which had always had a limit-
dates has shown, however, that, whereas concerns over musi-
ed ritual role—mainly on RoDsh ha-Shanah. Some scholars
cal propriety and practice were a minor matter at first, they
believe that, until 70 CE, psalmody itself had no part at all
actually increased in the patristic period (roughly the second
in the synagogue and that psalm singing may not, in fact,
through the fifth centuries).
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It was in response to pagan ritual and entertainment
tians), Jews in Muslim lands were permitted to have relative
practices, which often combined song, drama, and dance,
autonomy.
that church fathers raised objections to licentious singing and
Singing, in the form of chant and cantillation, was vital
the use of instruments—the “senseless sounds” of drums and
to synagogue worship as it developed. Scripture, prayer, and
cymbals and the “clamor” of the trumpets. Clement of Alex-
words of praise were not merely read but variously intoned
andria summoned Christians to struggle against the “music
or chanted. In synagogues between approximately the sev-
of idols,” especially instrumental music. He admitted that
enth and ninth centuries
God permitted the Jews to use instruments in former times
CE, a system of signs (te Damim) was
created to aid proper accentuation, verse division, and appro-
but insisted that this indulgence was a temporary concession
priate melodic patterns in chanting the text of Scripture.
to their weakness. John Chrysostom and others interpreted
This process culminated in the Tiberias Massoretic system,
the instruments of the psalms allegorically, as symbolic of
the interpretation of which eventually resulted in the eight
how harmony is produced in the soul. Tertullian, Augustine,
regional traditions of cantillation that now exist.
and Chrysostom all said that Christian psalmody should
serve as an antidote to sensuous excitement and a positive
As time passed the need for a more or less professional
cure. When done moderately and with understanding, sing-
singer, or cantor (hazzan), became evident. Traveling from
ing was said to lay the passions to rest, to still the body, and
one community to another, cantors shaped melodic patterns
to calm and order the soul.
of prayer that later were regarded as sacred. Those chants
came to be known as nusach. Although a lay precentor, then
In making those claims about music, Christian pastoral
as now, would have presented the chant strictly as preserved
theologians during the patristic era set the tone for the
and transmitted, the professional cantor rendered the melod-
church for centuries to come. Yet doubtless aware of similar
ic prayer with a greater measure of improvisatory freedom.
criticisms within the educated pagan world itself, they were
Thenceforth the singing of the cantor was one of the glories
not only recalling the ancient example of the harpist David
of worship, although also periodically subject to criticisms of
playing for the fitful Saul. They were also mirroring and
excessive virtuosity.
aligning themselves with the views of music held by esteemed
pagan philosophers from Plato to Plotinus. According to
As synagogue services became more standardized from
such philosophy, whereas some instruments and modes of
the fifth through the ninth centuries CE, complex poetic ad-
music making feed the passions, earthly music of the right
ditions to, and substitutes for, fixed prayers became popular.
kind reflects a divinely beautiful order. The highest music is
Known as piyyutim, these liturgical poems included short re-
intellectual and spiritual: inaudible. Hence the ambivalence
frains for congregational singing as well as more intricate re-
of Augustine in a famous passage in Book 10 of the Confes-
frains that could be given to a choir. The best known piyyut
sions. There he admits having been moved to tears by psalms
of all comes from the sixteenth century: Lecha Dodi, “Come,
sung in church, and he acknowledges the “ardent piety” to
my Beloved, to meet the Bride; let us welcome the Sabbath,”
which the singing can give rise. But he repents having in for-
by Solomon Alkabetz (1505–c. 1572).
mer years been moved more by the singing, the “delights of
the ear,” than by the truth of what was sung. And he wavers
Two major branches of Judaism developed in Europe:
even as he consents to psalm singing in church.
Ashkenazi and Sefardi. Ashkenazic Jews moved outward
from Italy to German-speaking lands, Russia, France, and
When the church sang, the congregation as a whole par-
England. They made use of special tunes, thought to be an-
ticipated, often responsively, guided by some sort of leader
cient, which were sung on solemn occasions. Those tunes
or “cantor.” Clement of Alexandria emphasized the unity of
were called misinai, which means “from Sinai,” the most fa-
many voices, all singing in unison. Women participated—
mous being the Alenu and the Kol Nidre.
and not in separate choirs, as in pagan rituals. But following
Sefardic communities thrived in medieval Spain, where,
a phase in which Christian women were indeed formed into
after a golden age under Muslim rulers, they were forced by
choirs, a reaction set in. In the third and fourth centuries
Muslims and then Christians to retreat to parts of northern
women’s voices began to be silenced altogether in church—a
Europe or back to North Africa and Palestine. In the Sefardic
practice that, despite the objections of Ambrose in particular,
tradition, cantors paid greater attention to diction than to
became prevalent.
embellishment. In Spain, Arabic poetry, which was lyrical
MEDIEVAL DEVELOPMENTS. Already by the time of the de-
and characteristically even in meter, influenced both the sec-
struction of the Second Temple, more Jews were living in the
ular and sacred Hebrew poetry of Yehudah ha-Levi, among
Diaspora than in Palestine, with especially large communi-
others. Sefardic song borrowed Arabic modes and musical
ties to be found in Babylonia and in Alexandria, Egypt. Sub-
phrases, encouraging congregational singing. One form of
sequently the rapid conquests in the Middle East, North Af-
Andalusian suite called nuba became popular, typically em-
rica, and the Iberian Peninsula by the armies of Islam
ploying instruments except on the Sabbath. During the grad-
(seventh to eighth centuries CE) created the framework for
ual reconquest of Spain by Christians, leading up to the ex-
the basically uniform character of medieval Judaism. Regard-
pulsion of the Jews in 1492, Christian and Jewish styles
ed by Muslims as a “people of the Book” (as were the Chris-
blended, using Ladino dialect. Popular, rhythmic songs were
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6309
enjoyed at such informal Jewish functions as Sabbath meals.
twelfth century at Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, Lenonin
A number of cantica melodies were adapted to hymns such
and Perotin composed rhythmically complex, multilayered
as Adon Olam and Yigdal and even to the Qaddish doxology.
forms of organum, which led shortly to motets that em-
ployed different sets of words simultaneously. In the four-
Christian chants may have developed relatively inde-
teenth century there appears the first polyphonic setting of
pendently from Jewish practices, after a period of contact.
the entire Ordinary of the Mass by a single composer: the
Chant was particularly important to daily prayer in monastic
Messe de Notre Dame by the leading composer of the Ars nova
communities. Even before the fall of Rome in 476 CE, which
in France, Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377).
by convention marks the beginning of the early medieval pe-
riod, the Christian monastic movement provided an alterna-
If Gregorian chant by the High Middle Ages comprised
tive to the more worldly forms of Christianity newly ascen-
the most extensive body of religious music in the West (and
dant in the Roman world of the fourth century. The Divine
possibly anywhere on earth), polyphony was to become, over
Office made extensive use of chant for reciting psalms and
the next few centuries, one of the most intricately artistic
other sacred texts, in accordance with the rule established by
achievements in all of sacred art. In the hands of such com-
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 547). Musically the most im-
posers as John Dunstable (c.1390–1453), Guillaume Dufay
portant of the eight canonical hours were matins, lauds, and
(c. 1400–1474), Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420–1497), and
vespers, the last incorporating the Magnificat canticle from
Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521), polyphonic music provid-
Luke 1:46–55.
ed a vertically and horizontally ordered, well proportioned,
Sunday Eucharist in churches everywhere gave rise to a
and harmonious world of sound. Polyphony thus fulfilled
variety of regional “rites,” all of which involved plainchant
venerable ideas of how human music could mirror or imitate
settings both of the pertinent variable texts (the Proper) for
the divine order of the cosmos—ideas that were adumbrated
the Mass and invariable, fixed texts (the Ordinary): the
long before by Boethius (c. 480–524 CE) and still earlier by
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and
Augustine in his incomplete treatise De musica (c. 409 CE).
Ite, missa est (often omitted from musical settings). The re-
Although music as studied in the medieval universities was
sponsive psalmody and liturgy from Milan, which took the
essentially a theoretical branch of mathematics linked to as-
name Ambrosian, persisted after other local variations such
tronomy, the making of polyphonic music itself could be re-
as Gallican and Mozarabic had given way to Rome. By the
garded as both rational and theological.
eighth century CE Rome had a Schola cantorum for training
In the meantime in Byzantium—the eastern part of the
church musicians. Tradition has it that Pope Gregory I
former Roman Empire that flourished long after the western
(c. 540–604 CE) regulated and standardized the various litur-
part of the Empire fell—the plainchant of the liturgy had
gical chants, but that was more likely carried out over the
continued for centuries relatively unchanged. In Constanti-
next two centuries. The form of chant that eventually pre-
nople this music was characterized by ancient antiphonal
vailed, which came to be called Gregorian, was imported and
psalmody and by a strophic form of hymnody known as the
codified by Charlemagne (742–814 CE) in Frankish lands,
kontakion, a poetic elaboration on a biblical text. Yet in the
superceding a form of Roman chant known as Old Roman.
last phase of the Byzantine Empire a new style of music
Because plainchant evolved orally, it made considerable
emerged, the kalophonic, or “beautiful sounding.” Whereas
use of melodic formulas and simple structures. With quiet
monophonic in the manner of plainchant, it was unusually
beauty, it formed a kind of stream on which to float prayer
florid. With the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453,
and praise. It served the word but without dramatic gestures
the Middle Ages came to a spectacular close.
or conspicuous attempts to illustrate the meaning of the
RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE. By the dawn of the European
texts. Chants employed melodic formulas called psalm tones,
Renaissance (1453–1600), which was roughly concurrent in
one for each of eight church scales, called modes, plus a tonus
time with the Protestant Reformation, Jews had suffered
peregrinus, or “wandering tone.” The singing was often an-
massively from a wave of expulsions, forced conversions, and
tiphonal. Long melodies that were given hymn texts in cou-
persecutions, climaxing in their fateful expulsion from Spain
plets were known as sequences, two of the most famous being
in 1492. Although the primary features of rabbinic Judaism
the Dies irae (heard in the Requiem Mass), and Veni Sancte
remained relatively unchanged until the middle of the eigh-
Spiritus. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) composed nota-
teenth century, messianic hopes intensified, along with mys-
ble sequences in addition to antiphons and a musical morali-
tical impulses and practices.
ty play in plainchant, Ordo virtutum (The virtues).
Qabbalistic mysticism, which had its roots in the Mid-
Chant notation appeared for the first time in the ninth
dle Ages, entered a new phase under the inspiration of Isaac
century CE, at which point it indicated only the rise and fall
Luria (1534–1572). He taught that the sparks of the god-
of pitches; in the eleventh century the use of staff lines finally
head had fallen into captivity. Music was one of the spiritual
specified pitch exactly. Probably the invention of notation
means by which to liberate imprisoned elements of divinity
contributed to the rise of multilinear singing, or polyphony,
and to contribute to the anticipated reparation, or tikkun,
the earliest form of which was organum—initially a simple
whereby creation could be restored to its intended harmony.
parallel motion between two or more vocal parts. In the
An important aspect of tikkun was the practice of taking
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MUSIC: RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
non-Jewish and secular tunes and transforming them into sa-
practice of the early church but also as a corollary to the doc-
cred songs.
trine of the priesthood of all believers. Luther himself wrote
numerous metrical psalms and such hymns as the famous
In a related development over a century and a half later,
“Ein feste Burg” (“A Mighty Fortress”), for which he may
eastern European Hasidism, under the leadership of BaEal
also have composed the melody. Luther and his colleagues
Shem Tov (c.1700–1760), emphasized the importance of
translated traditional Latin hymns, supplied sacred words for
joyful worship. Drawing on qabbalistic ideas, Hasidic music
popular songs (as long as they had not been too intimately
theory promoted the concept that even a melody without
connected with brothels and inebriation), and took over
words, called a niggun, can contain divine sparks. The high-
popular vernacular hymns. Wanting to employ good and
est melodies, created by Hasidic saints, or tsaddiqim, were
memorable tunes, Luther also took art songs of the day as
said to be like pure souls, their forms conveying mystical
a model. One of the main achievements of Lutheran music
meaning and constituting an elevated form of prayer. The
was the strophic, congregational hymn, or chorale, which in
influence of Hasidic music was felt, eventually, in virtually
subsequent centuries became popular in four-part harmoni-
all forms of Judaism. Hasidic-style music, mostly nonliturgi-
zations. At the same time Luther had a great fondness for po-
cal, remains popular in the twenty-first century, as in the
lyphony—especially that of Josquin—and envisioned a place
central European style known as klezmer (from klezmorim,
for choral polyphony in the Mass, the liturgy of which he
or “music makers”).
retained in modified form, both in Latin and in German.
Polyphonic art music did not find a home in the syna-
Convinced that, next to theology, music deserves the “high-
gogue before around 1600. The polyphony introduced by
est honor,” Luther considered music a great gift of God to
Salomone Rossi (c. 1570–c. 1628) and published as The
be used as a vehicle of worship, as an aid to piety, and as a
Songs of Solomon in Mantua, Italy, was remarkable but atypi-
means of education.
cal. In Italian synagogues of the seventeenth century one
In contrast to Luther, the Swiss reformer Huldrych
could sometimes hear baroque cantatas on special occasions.
Zwingli (1484–1531), although an accomplished musician,
In Amsterdam and Prague certain synagogues likewise intro-
banished even congregational singing from the church, argu-
duced instrumental music, including the organ.
ing that the biblical principle of “making music in your
No such use of instruments was allowed to invade the
hearts” excluded using the voice itself. In Geneva, John Cal-
more traditional synagogues—nor the churches of Eastern
vin (1509–1564) oversaw the production of a complete met-
Orthodox Christianity. With the fall of Constantinople,
rical psalter, edited in large part by Louis Bourgeois. Highly
Russian Orthodoxy became the main inheritor of the Byzan-
influential, the Genevan Psalter set the pattern for unaccom-
tine tradition. The sung liturgy, while translated into Rus-
panied unison singing of metrical psalms in many different
sian, continued to be exclusively vocal and remains so. While
lands and was soon arranged in instrumental and polyphonic
a wide-ranging, melismatic way of chanting arose in the six-
versions for domestic use.
teenth century, along with polyphony in two or three voices,
In sixteenth-century England the book of metrical
the more decisive change came in the mid-1650s, when the
psalms compiled by Thomas Sternhold, and subsequently
patriarchy and the official Russian Church adopted polypho-
edited and supplemented by John Hopkins, provided the of-
ny on a broad scale. Although schismatic groups led by the
ficial basis for Anglican hymnody until the early nineteenth
Old Believers resisted that development as smacking of
century. In the seventeenth century it was supplemented by
Roman Catholicism, the exclusive use of monophonic chant
Anglican chant, which called for singing psalm tones in har-
faded into a small minority tradition by the eighteenth cen-
mony. In America the New England Puritans used the Scot-
tury. At that time Dimitry Bortnyansky (1751–1825) set the
tish Psalms of David in Meter (1650) and, to a lesser extent,
dominant tone by composing elegant sacred choral con-
the Bay Psalm Book (1640).
certos.
In the eighteenth century Dissenters in England estab-
Within western Europe the Protestant Reformers of the
lished an alternative hymnody that, besides making use of
sixteenth century differed considerably among themselves
paraphrases of Scripture, incorporated songs of “human
when it came to music. But for virtually all of them, music
composure.” Isaac Watts (1674–1748) showed the way with
was a matter of consequence. It was part of what they
hymns such as “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” fol-
thought they needed to reform. By their era the Ordinary of
lowed by the Charles Wesley (1707–1788), whose five thou-
the Catholic Mass had been left to the choir and clergy, con-
sand hymns, including “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,”
gregational response had been sharply curtailed, and morn-
not only were intended to be a musical practical theology but
ing and evening prayer had become choral as well. Because
also an emotional inspiration. Soon those hymns were a be-
the choir itself was made up of clergy (often minor orders)
loved feature not only of Methodist hymnody but of Protes-
and was exclusively male, there was little sense of the whole
tant and evangelical hymnody in general.
people’s involvement in the liturgy and its music.
Whereas hymn singing could claim roots in New Testa-
Martin Luther (1483–1546) emphasized vernacular,
ment practice (without anyone knowing exactly what that
congregational hymnody not only as a way of retrieving the
had sounded like), other forms of church music during the
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MUSIC: RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
6311
Renaissance and baroque eras were far removed from any-
the twelfth centuries small organs (portative and positive)
thing early Christians would have recognized. In England
had migrated into the church from secular settings, along
choral music within a Catholic orbit often employed a rich
with a few large and unwieldy ones. Organs during the Ref-
texture of five or six voices. Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585)
ormation period were used extensively to introduce hymns
went so far as to compose an elaborate motet with forty inde-
and to alternate with—and eventually to accompany—
pendent parts, Spem in alium. Various European Catholic
congregational song as well as to provide preludes and post-
composers of polyphony, such as Tomas Luis de Victoria (c.
ludes or Communion music. In the baroque era organs be-
1548–1611) and Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594), treated
came much more complex mechanically and far grander and
texts in a highly expressive, even passionate, manner.
more versatile, especially in German-speaking lands. By the
time of J. S. Bach (1685–1750) organ music included tocca-
Whether polyphonic textures could render sacred texts
tas and fantasies, lengthy preludes and fugues, and numerous
in a sufficiently intelligible fashion had long been an issue,
other forms that appear to have been designed primarily for
however, and became so again. Many centuries earlier church
concerts or instruction, although influencing sacred style as
leaders such as Pope John XXII (1316–1334) and John of
well.
Salisbury (1120–1180) had already complained not only
about ostentatious singing but also about the incomprehensi-
Musical settings of the Mass grew increasingly varied.
bility of texts when sung in multiple, overlapping lines of
In France especially the organ sometimes took for itself parts
music, “some taking high and others low parts, some singing
of the Mass that might otherwise have been sung, elaborating
in advance, some following in the rear, others with pauses
on the pertinent chant tunes. In the Venetian-Viennese tra-
and interludes,” all sounding like a “concert of sirens.” The
dition of the Mass, instrumental figurations and sectional
Protestants of the Reformation era definitely gave priority to
contrasts became a prominent feature, along with passages
the word, both spoken and sung. Thus King Edward VI of
for solo voice. Late in this same period the concerted Mass
England in 1548 prescribed music that, in setting a text,
in the so-called Neapolitan style unfolded on a larger scale
would provide a “playn and distincte note, for every sillable
than ever before, each of the parts of the Ordinary being sub-
one.” Partly in response to such Protestant attempts at direct-
divided into separate movements. Such Masses reflected a
ness and simplicity, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, pro-
strong influence from opera, both in their emotional charac-
moted by the Council of Trent, likewise criticized complicat-
ter and in their musical forms, such as duets and arias. At
ed polyphony for obscuring sacred texts, although the main
the same time Palestrina’s works were preserved and imitated
concern was to discourage everything “impure or lascivious.”
as classic models.
Legend has it that the Italian Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
(c. 1525–1594) saved the future of polyphonic church music
New forms of sacred music were born during the ba-
by composing his Missa Papae Marcelli in such a way as to
roque: the sacred concerto, which Heinrich Schütz (1585–
demonstrate that restrained polyphony could indeed support
1672) raised to a high level, and more importantly the orato-
the sacred word.
rio, the cantata, and the passion. Oratorio began in a Catho-
lic place of prayer—the Oratory of Philip Neri in late-
Nevertheless during the following era—commonly
sixteenth-century Rome. Soon it became a religious
known as the baroque (roughly 1600–1750)—church music
counterpart to opera, adopted widely by Catholics in Italy
could be quite theatrical and exuberant. That is immediately
and by Protestants in Germany, allowing them to present
apparent from the splendid variety of the Vespers of the Blessed
biblical stories in concert form, rather than being staged. Or-
Virgin (1610), composed by Claudio Monteverdi (1567–
atorio was particularly popular during Lent, when opera
1643), which opens with instrumental fanfares drawn from
houses were closed. George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
his opera L’Orfeo. Yet the baroque, which saw the beginnings
brought oratorio to England, where its combination of nar-
of opera, had its own ways of honoring the text. According
ratives (recitatives), solos, and choruses became immensely
to Monteverdi, music in the predominant modern style was
popular. In England, however, oratorio was usually kept out
meant, in fact, to serve the text. That modern style employed
of church, due to puritanical opposition to anything smack-
expressive dissonances, angular melodic lines, and rhythmic
ing of the theater. Thus Handel’s many oratorios, including
drive and freedom to dramatize the meaning of the words.
Samson, Jephtha, and the atypical but extraordinarily popular
It thus appealed directly to the “affections.” Indeed the ba-
Messiah, were presented mainly in theaters and concert halls.
roque anticipated the emphasis on the expressive function of
music that later pervaded romanticism in a more personal
Although many Protestant composers tried their hands
way. Music of the baroque also included new forms of coun-
at cantatas or passions, the spiritual depth, intellectual craft,
terpoint, anchored in dramatic and often fast-moving chord
and sheer artistry of the many settings by J. S. Bach were be-
progressions.
yond compare. Such cantatas, which were sometimes criti-
cized for sounding too secular, borrowed stylistic features
Church music of the baroque era made much use of
from Italian opera as they offered a musical commentary on
newly evolved instruments: strings, woodwinds, trumpets,
the Gospel lesson for a given Sunday. The passion music that
timpani, and certainly the organ. The organ up until then
Bach composed for Good Friday services was far more ex-
had mostly been employed modestly. Between the ninth and
tended in scale, lasting between two and three hours com-
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MUSIC: RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
pared with the typical twenty minutes of a cantata. The Saint
Russian Orthodox composers in the previous century
Matthew Passion together with Bach’s lengthy Mass in B
were similarly active in the secular music world. Some of
Minor—a kind of summa of the genre—can be counted
them, such as Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857), also wrote litur-
among the greatest classics of Western religious music.
gical music, but there they faced the added challenge that the
Russian Church repertoire remained exclusively vocal. Glin-
ENLIGHTENMENT ERA TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.
ka himself, for instance, turned to modal harmonies and sim-
For Jewish composers since the European Enlightenment pe-
ple chordal structures when writing for the liturgy. Pieter Ily-
riod of the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century
ich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) and Sergei Rachmaninov
(overlapping the artistic baroque), the most salient feature of
(1873–1943) made more distinctive contributions, the latter
modernity was the struggle for emancipation and the con-
with his choral Vespers (properly an “All Night Vigil”), which
comitant question of assimilation—first in German-
disturbed traditional church leaders at the time but is often
speaking countries of central Europe and then, a century
regarded as the apogee of modern Russian liturgical music.
later, in eastern Europe. In Westphalia, Berlin, and Ham-
burg in the early nineteenth century the aesthetic norms that
The center of musical life in the modern era clearly
guided Reform synagogue worship as it attempted to con-
moved from liturgical settings (of whatever sort) to secular
form to a predominantly Christian culture were derived from
venues. Accordingly much of the development in Roman
Protestant Christianity: the reading of the Bible, rather than
Catholic and Protestant music also became a story of interac-
chanting, and the use of organs and Gentile-style hymns. In
tion with, or reaction to, secular styles. The operatic influ-
Vienna the cantor Salomon Sulzer (1804–1890) took a less-
ence that had been audible even in the case of Bach’s cantatas
extreme approach. He purified the chant of the excess oper-
became unmistakable, for example, in the Masses of Franz
atic embellishments that had accrued, and he made use of
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and of Wolfgang Amadeus Mo-
a choir of a dozen voices of men and boys, to the acclaim
zart (1756–1791). Haydn’s oratorios The Creation and The
of visitors such as Franz Liszt and the critic Eduard Hanslick.
Seasons, while incorporating scriptural and religious themes,
Sulzer’s contemporary Louis Lewandowski (1823–1894)
had a largely genial and buoyant manner, wearing their reli-
composed and arranged simpler music for congregational
gious garb lightly. The high seriousness of Ludwig van Bee-
singing in smaller synagogues. Choirs were also introduced
thoven (1770–1827) in his Missa Solemnis could not be
in eastern Europe but only rarely included mixed voices at
doubted. But that long and involving work was liturgically
a time when men and women in the synagogue were still al-
impractical, and the music became a virtual Mass in itself.
most always seated separately. Organs remained controver-
The trend continued with the gigantic Requiem Masses
sial, yet many were installed in synagogues by midcentury,
of Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) and Giuseppe Verdi (1813–
sometimes with the stipulation that they could be played
1901), two composers who were by no means known as de-
only by Gentiles.
vout Catholics. The works themselves used theatrical means
In the United States, Reform synagogues made decisive
to convey powerful visions of eschatological hopes and fears.
changes in liturgy and music, minimizing the role of the can-
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) mined Christian myth in his
tor and of chant. The music of the Union Hymnal of 1897
opera Parsifal but without embracing Christian doctrine.
was more Protestant in style than identifiably Jewish—albeit
Similarly Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) in his Resurrection
intended for use by a professional choir and rabbi rather than
Symphony (Second Symphony) and Symphony of a Thousand
the congregation. The 1932 edition, by contrast, reflected a
(Eighth Symphony) evidently found it spiritually empower-
desire to recover a distinctly Jewish sound, as Reform Jews
ing not to be restricted, textually, to any one specific religion.
had become more comfortable with their Jewish identity in
The same could be said earlier of the more conservative Jo-
the American context. By 1950s the Reform, Conservative,
hannes Brahms (1833–1897), whose German Requiem was
and Orthodox movements had all established schools of sa-
essentially a concert work that avoided specifically Christian
cred music to train cantors. Yet the following decades, in
language while using biblical texts compiled by Brahms
which Sefardic Hebrew replaced Ashkenazic as the dominant
himself.
dialect in liturgy, also saw a more populist and eclectic ap-
Certain classical composers nonetheless worked for the
proach to liturgical music, tapping into the idioms of folk
renewal of church music as such and of music related directly
music and dance. Subsequently, within Reform Judaism it-
to the church. These included Franz Liszt (1811–1886),
self, there has been a call for greater attention to traditional
whose poetic oratorio Christus remains an unduly neglected
forms as well.
masterpiece, and Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), who re-
vived Bach’s music and gathered a popular following with
During the modern era numerous “classical” composers
his own oratorios Saint Paul and Elijah. Anton Bruckner
produced works of distinctly Jewish provenance whose pri-
(1824–1896) wrote Masses and motets in addition to his
mary context was intended to be the concert hall. These in-
monumental symphonies.
clude such figures as Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), Er-
nest Bloch (1880–1959), Samuel Adler (b. 1928), Alexander
It was also in the nineteenth century, in a movement
Goehr (b. 1932), Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), and
centered in Germany, that Catholic clergy and musicians
Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960).
promoted a new Cecilian Society, which was dedicated to re-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSIC: RELIGIOUS MUSIC IN THE WEST
6313
viving Gregorian chant and polyphony in the style of Pale-
contemporary gospel styles have absorbed elements of rock
strina. Other Catholics, led by the Benedictines at Solesmes,
and rap.
France, made efforts to restore the truer and more ancient
In the last decades of the twentieth century Christian
forms of Gregorian chant. In England the Oxford Move-
denominations produced an unprecedented number of new
ment (1833–1845), emphasizing the broadly Catholic ori-
hymnals, drawing on music in a wide array of styles and from
gins of the Church of England, recovered patristic hymnody
the worldwide Christian community. Some committees were
and revived the medium of chant, usually in the English
guided specifically by concerns for social justice and inclusive
language.
language. Other groups, exploring alternative worship pat-
Such endeavors anticipated the wider liturgical move-
terns, abandoned hymnals altogether in favor of projecting
ment of the next century, in which various Roman Catholics
onto a screen the words of praise and worship choruses and
and Protestants alike sought to renew worship by attending
contemporary Christian music. In the Catholic tradition the
to its early paradigms as well as by emphasizing greater lay
Saint Louis Jesuits led the way in the 1970s by providing
participation. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965)
scripturally based and accessible worship music. Ecumenical-
ratified many of those themes, with the result that much of
ly the music of the Taizé community in France, composed
the music for the Ordinary of the Mass was returned to the
by Jacques Berthier (1923–1994), spread abroad a more
congregation, Catholic hymnody came to life, and soon vir-
meditative spirituality.
tually everything was sung in the vernacular. The ensuing
In relation specifically to modern classical music,
outburst of liturgical music in a wide array of popular guises
churches utilized the works of a small number of recognized
brought both excitement and dismay. The music of the
composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958),
church became diverse and inclusive, yet the quality was un-
Randall Thompson (1899–1984), and John Rutter (b.
even. Meanwhile much of the vast treasury of historical sa-
1945). Unbeknownst to most churchgoers, many other
cred music was orphaned, at least for the time being.
modern composers—including Igor Stravinsky (1882–
Congregational song had already expanded considerably
1971), Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), Frank Martin (1890–
in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, even
1974), Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), and Olivier Mes-
as mixed choirs and paid quartets became popular. The
siaen (1908–1992)—continued to produce major religious
Church of England was enriched by two hymnals in particu-
works. Such music typically made exceptional demands on
lar, Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) and The English
both listener and performer, however. A large gap widened
Hymnal (1906), both of which have contemporary succes-
between modernist works, which often bristled with difficul-
sors. Protestants in nineteenth-century America not only
ties, and the sensibilities of most churchgoers. That gap only
produced indigenous hymnbooks, such as the Sacred Harp
increased as churches turned more and more to the idioms
and Southern Harmony, they later thrived on popular urban
of popular culture and began mixing styles in “blended wor-
gospel songs, such as the hymns of Fanny Crosby (1820–
ship.” With spiritually attuned listeners also being drawn to
1915), and on revival music that entered the evangelical
New Age and world music, the classical establishment often
mainstream.
seemed remote.
It is thus noteworthy from a religious perspective that,
African Americans at first adopted the hymns of the Eu-
in the present era, or postmodernity, the differences between
ropean-American churches. But by the middle of the nine-
Eastern and Western music and between “elite” and “popu-
teenth century, after emancipation, they produced their own
lar” have begun to erode, even in the concert hall. Some of
hymnals. Long before then they had created their own tradi-
the finest recordings of Bach cantatas have been originating
tion of shouts, spirituals, and “sorrow songs,” often employ-
in Japan. And among the latest classical styles are a spiritually
ing call-and-response patterns hearkening back to African id-
centered minimalism and a tonally based (and often mul-
ioms. Blending those traditions with many others, black
ticultural) eclecticism that have both shown considerable
gospel songs later in the century could be either jubilant or
“crossover” potential. Works by composers such as Arvo Pärt
prayerfully protracted—as in “Precious Lord, Take My
(b. 1935), John Tavener (b. 1944), James MacMillan (b.
Hand” by Thomas A. Dorsey (1899–1993). The music of
1959), John Adams (b. 1947), Tan Dun (b. 1957), and Os-
African American worshippers has since exhibited, by and
voldo Golijov (b. 1960) appear to hold out promise for new
large, great improvisatory freedom and rhythmic vitality. In-
kinds of artfully wrought religious music that might grow
spired in part by Pentecostal movements, many African
alongside, and interact with, the burgeoning indigenous and
American churches have welcomed a variety of instruments,
popular traditions.
including percussion, and have made special use of the ex-
pressive possibilities of the Hammond organ. Whereas Afri-
SEE ALSO Chanting; Christianity, overview article; Islam,
can American church music has often existed in tension with
overview article; Judaism, overview article.
the more “worldly” styles of jazz and blues, the interaction
between church and secular styles has been conspicuous.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Duke Ellington (1899–1974) and John Coltrane (1926–
There is as of 2004 no truly encompassing survey of Western reli-
1967) were able to infuse jazz with religious meaning. And
gious music. A comprehensive and virtually indispensable re-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6314
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
source is Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell, eds., New Grove Dic-
York, 1995) is unsurpassed. African American hymnody and
tionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., 29 vols. (New York,
religious music is treated in Eileen Southern, The Music of
2001), also available online. More succinct articles represent-
Black Americans: A History, 3d ed. (New York, 1997); Jon
ing the new socially and culturally informed musicology are
Michael Spencer, Protest and Praise: Sacred Music of Black Re-
in Alison Latham, ed., Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford,
ligion (Minneapolis, Minn., 1990); and Jon Michael Spen-
U.K., 2002). Useful at a general level are Paul Henry Lang,
cer, Black Hymnody: A Hymnological History of the African
Music in Western Civilization (New York, 1941); and the
American Church (Knoxville, Tenn., 1992). For religious
more up-to-date Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca,
music in the United States generally, see Stephen A. Marini,
A History of Western Music, 6th ed. (New York, 2000). The
Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture
eight volumes of the series Music and Society (Englewood
(Urbana, Ill., 2003). The articles in Edward Foley, ed., Wor-
Cliffs, N.J., 1986–1999), Stanley Sadie, general ed., are ex-
ship Music: A Concise Dictionary (Collegeville, Minn., 2000),
ceptionally good resources. Two anthologies of readings are
are brief but wide-ranging and reliable. Edward Foley’s Ritu-
pertinent: W. Oliver Strunk’s Source Readings in Music Histo-
al Music: Studies in Liturgical Musicology (Beltsville, Md.,
ry, rev. ed., edited by Leo Treitler (New York, 1998); and
1995) contains a detailed bibliographical essay on music and
Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, eds., Music in the Western
liturgy.
World: A History in Documents (New York, 1984).
FRANK BURCH BROWN (2005)
A volume that represents both Jewish and Christian perspectives
is Lawrence A. Hoffman and Janet R. Walton, eds., Sacred
Sound and Social Change: Liturgical Music in Jewish and
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD. Founded in 1928 by
Christian Experience (Notre Dame, Ind., 1992), which has
been an important resource for this entry. Eric Werner’s The
H:asan al-Banna¯D (1906–1949), the Society of Muslim
Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy and Music in
Brothers (al-Ikhwa¯n al-Muslimu¯n) was created to bring
Synagogue and Church during the First Millennium, 2 vols.
Egyptian Muslims back to an awareness of the objectives of
(New York, 1959), is a classic discussion of the liturgical and
religion within a society that had, in the view of al-Banna¯D,
musical relations between synagogue and church, though
been corrupted by alien ideologies and a materialist philoso-
often debatable in its conclusions. Uniquely valuable but also
phy imported from the West.
dated is Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, Jewish Music in Its Historical
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. The British occupation of
Development (New York, 1929). On the cantorial tradition,
Egypt in 1882 had fueled a nationalist movement seeking in-
two works stand out: Eric Werner, A Voice Still Heard: The
Sacred Songs of the Ashkenazic Jews (University Park, Pa.,
dependence from British rule; these aspirations culminated
1976); and Mark Slobin, Chosen Voices: The Story of the
in the revolt of 1919 under the leadership of the aging politi-
American Cantorate (Urbana, Ill., 1989). Jeffrey A. Summit
cian SaEd Zaghlu¯l and the newly formed Wafd (“delegation”)
provides a rich ethnographic study in The Lord’s Song in a
party. The decade of the 1920s offered the Egyptians consti-
Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish
tutional government and hopes of an impending settlement
Worship (New York, 2000).
between Britain and Egypt through a negotiated treaty.
For early Christian ideas and uses of music, see Johannes Quasten,
When Zaghlu¯l died in 1927, these hopes were eroded, and
Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, trans-
a number of movements appeared as alternatives to the liber-
lated by Boniface Ramsey (Washington, D.C., 1983); and
al notions of government that had not been successful, partly
James McKinnon, ed., Music in Early Christian Literature
through interference on the part of the king and the British
(Cambridge, U.K., 1987). A valuable resource for later view-
authorities in Egypt and partly through ineptness on the part
points on Catholic Christian music is Robert F. Hayburn,
of the parliamentarians. In addition to the fascists and the
ed., Papal Legislation on Sacred Music, 95 A.D. to 1977 A.D.
communists, these movements included the Society of Mus-
(Collegeville, Minn., 1979). Christian theologies of music
lim Brothers, who believed that the path of reforming the
are well presented in Quentin Faulkner, Wiser than Despair:
The Evolution of Ideas in the Relationship of Music and the
country’s social and political problems lay in the islamization
Christian Church (Westport, Conn., 1996); Joyce L. Irwin,
of institutions.
Neither Voice nor Heart Alone: German Lutheran Theology of
H:asan al-Banna¯D, a primary school teacher who was the
Music in the Age of the Baroque (New York, 1993); Albert L.
son of a small-town religious teacher, was early attracted to
Blackwell, The Sacred in Music (Louisville, Ky., 1999); and
Sufism, which, along with classical Islamic studies, formed
Jeremy Begbie, Theology, Music, and Time (Cambridge,
his major intellectual foundations and became the linchpins
U.K., 2000).
of his group. He described the Muslim Brotherhood as a
Karl Gustav Fellerer gives a good account of Catholic music in
“Salaf¯ıyah movement [espousing return to the early princi-
The History of Catholic Church Music, translated by Francis
ples of Islam], a Sunn¯ı [orthodox] way, a S:u¯f¯ı [mystical]
A. Brunner (Baltimore, Md., 1961). A detailed survey of
truth, a political organization, an athletic group, a cultural
Protestant music is Friedrich Blume, Protestant Church
and educational union, an economic company, and a social
Music: A History (New York, 1974). Paul Westermeyer’s Te
Deum: The Church and Music (Minneapolis, Minn., 1998)
idea.” The movement spread rapidly, representing every seg-
emphasizes vocal and specifically congregational music. On
ment of society from newly urbanized rural immigrants to
hymnody, a useful resource is David W. Music, ed., Hymnol-
high government officials. In its heyday in the 1940s, the
ogy: A Collection of Source Readings (Lanham, Md., 1996).
Muslim Brotherhood claimed to represent one million mem-
Richard Arnold’s The English Hymn: Studies in a Genre (New
bers; later estimates are difficult to establish.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
6315
The structure of the organization was spelled out in the
After the Muslim Brotherhood was proscribed, its prop-
Fundamental Law of the Organization of the Muslim Broth-
erty confiscated, and its members put on trial, many of its
ers, promulgated in 1945 and later amended. Leading the or-
remaining members fled to other Arab countries, where they
ganization was the general guide, who chaired the General
founded autonomous branches of the society. In 1951 a
Guidance Council (the policy-making body) and the Con-
Wafd government, seeking a buffer against rising leftist
sultative or General Assembly, both of which were elective
movements, allowed the society to reconvene. A judge with
bodies. A secretary general was in charge of a secretariat link-
palace connections, H:asan Isma¯Eil al-Hud:ayb¯ı, was chosen
ing the council and the rest of the organization. Two further
as new leader. That same year the Wafd government unilat-
subdivisions dealt with various committees (press, peasants,
erally abrogated the treaty of 1936 with England, and Egyp-
students, etc.) and with an administrative body supervising
tian youth, including the Muslim Brothers, were encouraged
branches outside the capital. A chain of command was thus
to harass British camps in the Canal Zone. In January 1952
established over the entire membership.
British forces attacked the Ismailia police station, and forty
Egyptian policemen were killed. On the following day Cairo
SPREAD OF THE MOVEMENT. Weekly lectures, preaching in
was set on fire in a monstrous riot that gutted the heart of
mosques, and periodic conferences allowed for popular par-
the city. The Muslim Brothers were suspected of planning
ticipation, and the establishment of a press soon spread the
the riot, which they had not, although some of them were
message of the Society of Muslim Brothers further. Uncon-
among the many participants. From then on the country was
cerned with doctrinal differences, the participants concen-
virtually without effective government until July 23, 1952,
trated on growth, action, and organization, and by 1939 they
when the Free Officers movement, which included future
were ready for political activity. The war years were to pro-
Egyptian presidents Jama¯l EAbd al-Na¯s:ir (Gamal Abdel Nas-
vide them with a forum.
ser) and Anwar al-Sa¯da¯t, seized power and three days later
sent the king into exile.
Nationalist agitation against the British continued with
labor strikes and student demonstrations until, in 1942, the
There had been strong links between the Muslim Broth-
British threatened King Fa¯ru¯q (Farouk) with deposition and
erhood and the Free Officers—Nasser and Sadat had both
forced him to appoint a Wafd government under Mus:t:afa¯
been members of the society. Once all political parties had
al-Nah:h:a¯s. This incident generated further support for the
been disbanded, the only focus for mass support lay with the
Muslim Brotherhood, by then the only other grouping with
society. Nasser knew that it represented the lone challenge
a mass base to rival the Wafd. Even among the Wafd leader-
to his authority and that its leaders expected to share power
ship there were many who approved of the society as a bul-
with the officers; a power struggle was inevitable. In 1954
wark against the spread of communism among the working
a member of the Muslim Brotherhood allegedly attempted
class. For the next few years the society established links with
to shoot Nasser during a public rally, and once again the so-
disaffected officers within the army (who were later to carry
ciety was proscribed and its members arrested.
out the revolution of 1952), and, unknown to even his clos-
The society remained underground throughout the
est colleagues, al-Banna¯D stockpiled weapons and created a
Nasser era. When Sadat came to power in 1970 all prisoners
secret apparatus trained in the use of armed violence for tacti-
were released, including the Muslim Brothers, and, to com-
cal operations.
bat the Nasserite current, Sadat allowed the society to rees-
With the end of the war, agitation for the evacuation
tablish itself under the leadership of an Ea¯lim (religious schol-
of British forces from Egypt started once again, with frequent
ar), Shaykh al-Tilimsa¯n¯ı, and to publish its own newspapers.
student demonstrations and acts of violence until the British
Meanwhile newer associations patterned after the society, the
garrison was finally withdrawn to the Canal Zone. The situa-
Islamic jama¯ Ea¯t (“groups”), had appeared. Some of these
tion in Palestine and the war against Israel in 1948 provided
were extensions of the Muslim Brotherhood; others regarded
the Muslim Brotherhood with an opportunity to collect
the society as retrograde and beholden to the government.
It was a member of one of the latter, more extremist groups
more arms as members volunteered during the war and re-
who assassinated Sadat in 1981.
mained in the forefront of the fighting until their organiza-
tion was dissolved in December 1948. The immediate cause
DOCTRINES AND IMPACT. According to the program of
for the government’s action against the society was the death
al-Banna¯D, the Society of Muslim Brothers was given a mis-
of the Egyptian chief of police, Sal¯ım Zak¯ı, who was killed
sion to restore the rule of the shar¯ı Eah (Islamic law) to Egypt,
by a bomb thrown at him during student demonstrations
and to all other Muslim countries where their missionary ac-
protesting the armistice with Israel. Mass arrests followed as
tivities had set up affiliates. Rule of the shar¯ı Eah rendered in-
the government, fearing the society’s growing influence,
admissible the separation of church and state, for the state,
sought to proscribe it. Three weeks later, the prime minister,
they believed, existed in order to serve religion and to facili-
Mah:u¯mud Fahm¯ı al-Nuqra¯sh¯ı, was assassinated by a Mus-
tate the fulfillment of Islamic religious duties. The Islamic
lim Brother. In February 1949 H:asan al-Banna¯D was himself
state had the QurDa¯n as its constitution; its government oper-
assassinated, probably with the complicity, if not the actual
ated through shu¯ra¯, or consultation, and the executive
participation, of the government of the day.
branch, guided by the will of the people, ruled through Is-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6316
MUSO
¯ SO¯SEKI
lamic principles. The ruler, chosen by the people, was re-
Harris, Christina Phelps. Nationalism and Revolution in Egypt.
sponsible to them and not above the law, with no special
The Hague, 1964. An early study of the Muslim Brother-
privileges. Should he fail in his duties he was to be ousted.
hood, written before much interesting material had been un-
Freedom of thought, of worship, and of expression were
covered but useful nonetheless.
vital, as was freedom of education. Finally, freedom of pos-
Husaini, Ishak Musa. The Moslem Brethren: The Greatest of Mod-
sessions was to be maintained within the limits set by Islamic
ern Islamic Movements. Translated by John F. Brown and
law, which frowns upon the excessive accumulation of wealth
John Racy. Beirut, 1956. The first account of the society,
and enjoins za¯ka¯t (“alms”) as a basic religious duty. Social
written by an uncritical admirer but containing many quotes
justice was to be the guiding principle of government.
from al-Banna¯D.
Ibrahim, Saad Eddin. The New Arab Social Order. Boulder, 1982.
The significance of the Society of Muslim Brothers and
A study of the effect of oil riches on Middle East society, with
of its modern offshoots, the jama¯ Ea¯t, is that they represent
an excellent discussion of militant movements.
a protest movement couched in a traditional Islamic idiom
Kotb, Sayed (Qut:b, Sayyid). Social Justice in Islam. Translated by
that expresses the ethos of a people. The society arose in pro-
John B. Hardie. Washington, D. C., 1953. A major work
test against a foreign occupation that threatened the identity
written by a leading Muslim intellectual.
of a people and the dissolution of its culture and religion. It
spoke to people in the language they understood and appre-
Mitchell, Richard P. The Society of the Muslim Brothers. Oxford,
1969. The definitive work on the society. The author died
ciated, that of Islam and its historical past, and it did not
before he could bring his work up to date, but it remains the
posit newfangled notions derived from a Western idiom, al-
only critical account of the movement.
though the society did use Western techniques of mass com-
munications and of assembly, even ideas of government,
Wendell, Charles, trans. and ed. Five Tracts of Hasan al-Banna
(1906–1949). Berkeley, 1978. Basic source documents with
which were garbed in Muslim idiom. As such it was compre-
annotations.
hensible to the masses who suffered political discrimination
and economic exploitation by a government that was largely
AFAF LUTFI AL-SAYYUD MARSOT (1987)
indifferent to their welfare, especially during periods of eco-
nomic recession. Those who were disillusioned with Western
ideologies and their ability to solve Egypt’s problems, or in-
MUSO
¯ SO¯SEKI (1275–1351), a monk of the Rinzai
deed the problems of any Muslim country, turned to the pre-
school of Zen Buddhism in medieval Japan. Born into an
cepts of the society, or to similar movements that they identi-
aristocratic family, he entered the religious life at an early age,
fied with their roots and cultural authenticity (as:a¯-lah), for
rose to become head of some of Japan’s most influential Zen
guidance and spiritual consolation. The same phenomenon
monasteries, and left his stamp on Rinzai Zen and medieval
was reproduced during the Sadat regime (1970–1981) when
culture.
the “Open Door” (infita¯h:) policy disrupted society and led
to rampant consumerism, which, exacerbated by the influx
Muso¯’s earliest Buddhist training was not in Zen, but
of oil money, raised fears of becoming engulfed by western-
in esoteric Tendai and Shingon Buddhism. He was drawn
ization.
to Zen at about the age of twenty and went to study under
the Chinese Zen master Yishan Yining at the monastery of
Organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood or the
Engakuji in Kamakura. Although an able pupil, Muso¯ was
jama¯ Ea¯t are regarded by some Muslim regimes as dangerous
unable to convince Yishan that he had attained a valid en-
foci of opposition and have thus met with violent repression.
lightenment experience. Finally, he left Engakuji to seek his
In 1982, under the regime of president H:a¯fiz: al-Asad, the
understanding of the buddha-nature in a life of solitary wan-
Syrian army shelled the city of Hama, a Muslim Brother-
dering and meditation, and to test his Zen with other mas-
hood stronghold; portions of the city were leveled and casu-
ters. He attained his enlightenment one night, deep in a for-
alties were variously estimated at ten thousand to twenty
est, watching the embers of his campfire. This enlightenment
thousand. Similar attacks were repeated in Aleppo, Homs,
experience was formally recognized (inka) by the Japanese
and Latakia. In Iraq the regime of S:ada¯m H:usayn waged a
Zen master Ko¯ho¯ Kennichi, with whom Muso¯ studied for
relentless campaign against the Sh¯ıE¯ı group al-DaEwah
several years.
al-Isla¯m¯ıyah. In Saudi Arabia Muslim militants seized the
Grand Mosque in Mecca for several days in 1979. In Sudan
After Ko¯ho¯’s death in 1314, Muso¯ returned to his soli-
the Muslim Brotherhood forced the regime of Muh:ammad
tary wanderings, deepening his insight through meditation
JaEfar al-Numayr¯ı (Numeiri) to adopt Islamic policies in
in mountain hermitages. His spiritual reputation eventually
1977. Comparable militant groups have spread to most
reached Kyoto and Kamakura. In 1325, at the age of fifty-
Muslim countries irrespective of their forms of government.
one, he was invited by the emperor Go-Daigo to head the
important Kyoto monastery of Nanzenji. Muso¯ also came to
B
the attention of the Ho¯jo¯ regents in Kamakura and the early
IBLIOGRAPHY
Enayat, Hamid. Modern Islamic Political Thought. Austin, 1982.
Ashikaga shoguns, all of whom were eager to patronize the
A thoughtful interpretation of political ideas from major
monk and study Zen under his guidance. After Nanzenji,
Muslim countries.
Muso¯ went on to head several other important Rinzai gozan
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MUETAZILAH
6317
monasteries. By the close of his life, he was regarded as the
MUETAZILAH. A religious movement in early Islam,
most eminent monk in Japan, had become the leader of a
the MuEtazilah turned into a theological school that become
rapidly growing band of disciples, and had seven times been
dominant in the third and fourth centuries AH (ninth to
the recipient of the prestigious title of kokushi, or National
tenth century CE) and persisted in certain areas until the
Master.
Mongol invasion at the beginning of the thirteenth century
Muso¯’s considerable contributions to medieval Zen and
CE. The history of the movement is comprised of three differ-
Japanese culture were made in several areas. As a Zen master,
ent phases: (1) an incubation period that lasted roughly
with a large following of monks and laymen, Muso¯ advocat-
through the eighth century; (2) a short period of less than
ed a kind of Zen practice that was readily accessible to the
half a century (c. 815–850) when the MuEtazil¯ı school, after
Japanese of his day. Although he studied under Chinese Zen
having defined its identity, developed an astonishing variety
masters, Muso¯ himself never visited China. His Zen incorpo-
of individual, sometimes contradictory ideas and permeated
rated the traditional Rinzai practices of seated meditation
the intellectual life at the Abbasid court; and finally (3) sever-
and ko¯an study, but its Chinese character was tempered by
al centuries of scholastic systematization channeled into two
his own early religious training, his continued devotion to
branches or schools that were named after the towns of Basra
Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, and his strong interest in Japa-
and Baghdad respectively.
nese poetry and culture. In his book Muchu mondo (Dia-
Each of these phases presents its own problems for the
logues in a dream), Muso¯ tried to explain Zen in straightfor-
researcher: the first is badly documented and can only be re-
ward, everyday language as he responded to the questions
constructed on the basis of later reports, which are frequently
raised by the warrior Ashikaga Tadayoshi.
distorted and tendentious; the second is better attested but
Muso¯ also played an important role as a monastic leader
needs detailed monographical treatment; and the third has
and regulator who shaped the character of Rinzai Zen mo-
only recently begun to attract scholarly attention. On the
nastic life in medieval Japan. Although his Zen was easily ac-
whole, knowledge of this movement is still rudimentary. De-
cessible to monks and laymen, he set high standards for his
tailed research is hampered by the lack of original texts. This
monks. He divided them into three categories: those few
is due to the fact that, after the middle of the ninth century,
who singlemindedly pursued enlightenment, those whose
the MuEtazil¯ı movement was gradually driven into the posi-
Zen practice was diluted by a taste for scholarship, and those
tion of a heresy; in the areas where it was considered “unor-
who merely read about Zen and never threw themselves into
thodox” its books were no longer copied. Therefore we have
a search for self-understanding. To help and discipline the
to rely, at least up to the third phase, mainly on heresio-
practice of all his followers, Muso¯ laid down strict rules for
graphical reports. For the later centuries we possess a few
his communities in codes such as the Rinsen kakun, a set of
texts, some of which reach the size of a summa theologica, but
regulations for Rinsenji. In this, Muso¯ was setting himself
they belong to a rather restricted period; outside of this limit,
in the tradition of such famous Chinese and Japanese monas-
many of the thinkers still remain mere names to us.
tic leaders as Baizhang and Do¯gen Kigen, both of whom had
H
devoted considerable attention to the proper practice of Zen
ISTORY. The MuEtazil¯ı movement is usually traced back to
community life.
the end of the Umayyad period, the years between 740 and
750. But during the first century of its existence the move-
Muso¯ was also an intellectual and a man of culture.
ment was far from the most important factor in the develop-
Schooled in Chinese, he wrote poetry in both Chinese and
ment of Islamic theology.
Japanese. He is also renowned as a garden designer. In addi-
tion, Muso¯ was a major political figure in his day. He served
Origins. The MuEtazilah began in Iraq, but there the
as confidant and go-between for the emperor Go-Daigo, the
Sh¯ıEah (in Kufa) and the Iba¯d:¯ıyah (in Basra and Kufa) ini-
Ho¯jo¯, and the Ashikaga, encouraged the sending of trading
tially had the better thinkers, while the school of Abu¯
missions to China and the building of new Zen monasteries,
Han¯ıfah, which combined juridical competence with an “ec-
and raised Rinzai Zen to a position of political prominence
umenical” outlook in theology, enjoyed greater missionary
in medieval Japanese society.
success. We are not even sure whether we can assume—as
all of our sources do—that a real continuity existed between
SEE ALSO Gozan Zen.
the first and second phases: there seems to be almost no
doubt that the great thinkers of the second phase did not
BIBLIOGRAPHY
have any precise knowledge about their spiritual ancestors.
Collcutt, Martin. Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Insti-
When they moved from the old intellectual centers, Basra
tution in Medieval Japan. Cambridge, Mass., 1981.
and Kufa, to the Abbasid court in Baghdad they felt the urge
Fontein, Jan, and Money L. Hickman, eds. Zen Painting and Cal-
to preserve the memory of their past, but they evidently
ligraphy. Boston, 1970.
could not rely on any established historical tradition of the
Kraft, Kenneth L., trans. “Muso¯ Kokushi’s Dialogues in a
“school.” The gap was widened by the fact that they dis-
Dream.” The Eastern Buddhist, n.s. 14 (Spring 1981):
agreed with certain opinions held in the preceding genera-
75–93.
tion and therefore tried to keep their immediate predecessors
MARTIN COLLCUTT (1987)
out of the picture. Under these circumstances we must reck-
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6318
MUETAZILAH
on with the possibility that they constructed a past which
have derived from a certain feeling of inferiority: all of the
never belonged to them or was only partially true. We should
participants were non-Arabs, that is, they did not enjoy the
also not forget that the historical reports that were transmit-
natural prestige of the aristocracy but came, as “clients,” from
ted at that time were not collected and written down until
Iranian or Aramaean families who had been converted to
some time later, from the middle of the second half of the
Islam one or two generations before. They possessed consid-
ninth century onward.
erable wealth and were, as a matter of fact, recognized in
their society, but they had to rely on Islam as the basis of
The lack of historical recollection is amply demonstrat-
their identity. They knew something about Islamic law, for
ed by the discovery that no MuEtazil¯ı author had any precise
Wa¯s:il advised them to win the favor of their audience by de-
information about the original meaning of the name
livering fatwa¯s (“legal opinions”) to demonstrate their juridi-
Mu Etazilah. Our sources offer a number of explanations, but
cal expertise. But they also deliberately distinguished them-
all of them are secondary guesses and beside the point; some
selves from normal, “worldly” people: they clipped their
are blatantly tendentious. Modern scholarship has contribut-
mustaches and wore turbans (which, at that time, were char-
ed a few more suggestions, but the question still remains
acteristic of certain nomadic tribes but not of the urban pop-
open. All that we can prove is that the movement bore this
ulation); they also wore special sandals and wide sleeves. This
name when it became involved in an insurrection against the
was the attire of ascetics; it gave them a certain “alternative”
caliph al-Mans:u¯r in 762. But the name does not seem to
touch.
have been invented at that time, for it does not fit the situa-
tion. It means “those who dissociate themselves” or “those
The organization was taken over by Wa¯s:il’s colleague
E
who keep themselves apart” and thus calls for political neu-
Amr ibn EUbayd (d. 761), a prominent disciple of H:asan
trality rather than revolutionary activism. The name already
al-Bas:r¯ı, the great figure of religious life in Basra during the
existed in the first century
preceding generation. EAmr had to cope with the new situa-
AH (seventh century CE), with this
connotation, as a term designating some renowned compan-
tion created by the Abbasid seizure of power. He seems to
ions of the Prophet who abstained from any participation in
have given up all relations with the cells outside Iraq and in
the first civil war (the Battle of the Camel in 656 and the
Basra, where he controlled a considerable number of adher-
Battle of S:iff¯ın in 657). It was then probably applied to the
ents (who possibly formed youth groups), he kept quiet. This
first MuEtazil¯ı thinkers since they, too, did not side with any
position became increasingly precarious at the end of his life
political party of their time.
as discontent with the Abbasid government mounted in Iraq.
After his death the activists among the MuEtazilah followed
This attitude was distinctive insofar as it was adopted
the call of the Sh¯ıE¯ı pretender Muh:ammad ibn EAbd Alla¯h
in a period when almost everybody had to make personal
al-Nafs al-Zak¯ıyah (or rather, that of his brother Ibra¯h¯ım)
alignments clear, namely during the last years of the Umay-
and took part in the revolt of 762. When the attempt failed,
yad caliphate, which saw the breakdown of the political order
the MuEtazilah were persecuted and went into hiding; those
in Iraq and elsewhere. The founder of the movement, a cloth
who had compromised themselves mostly fled to Morocco.
merchant from Basra by the name of Wa¯s:il ibn EAt:a¯D, intend-
This event seems to be a decisive turning point. We hear
ed to create a missionary organization working inside Islam;
that afterward the MuEtazilah still possessed a mosque of
he sent his disciples, as “propagandists,” to the most remote
their own in Basra, but we do not know of any leading per-
regions of the Islamic empire—the Arabian Peninsula, Ar-
sonality for at least thirty years. Above all, there is no hint
menia, Iran, India (the Punjab), and the Maghreb—so that
of any specific theological activity. Then, toward the end of
they could interpret the Muslim creed and win people over
the eighth century, two figures emerged: al-As:amm in Basra
to his own cause. Unfortunately, we do not know what this
and D:ira¯r ibn EAmr in Kufa. But neither of them was a typi-
“cause” really implied. We cannot exclude the possibility that
cal MuEtazil¯ı; as a matter of fact, the later school kept a cer-
it was originally political, for Wa¯s:il copied a model that clear-
tain distance from them. Al-As:amm was obviously an Iba¯d:¯ı,
ly had a political character, that is, the network of agents
whereas D:ira¯r, a judge by profession and one of the most
built up by the Iba¯d:¯ıyah, with whom he lived closely in
original thinkers of this period, differed from the communis
Basra. Most of our information, however, contradicts this
opinio of the following generation in his ideas concerning
hypothesis: Wa¯s:il wanted reform, not revolution. Islam, was,
free will and therefore fell victim to a damnatio memoriae.
after all, still the religion of a minority; outside the great cen-
The original concept of the MuEtazilah as a popular mission-
ters, the knowledge of what Islam really meant was rather
ary movement seems to have survived best in Baghdad
limited, and its definition differed from area to area. It any
where, during the same period, Bishr ibn al-MuEtamir, a
case, Wa¯s:il did not live to see the fruit of his efforts; he died
slave merchant by profession, exhorted the masses by ex-
in 749, one year before the triumph of the Abbasids.
pressing his theological ideas in simple poetry. That was ap-
Wa¯s:il’s “propagandists” were mostly merchants like
propriate for the social climate in the newly founded capital;
himself, and when they traveled, they combined business
the town had attracted many people who came to make their
with missionary zeal. This pattern explains how the move-
fortune and ended up by being uprooted.
ment financed itself but does not say much about its spiritual
The period of success. The MuEtazilah were propelled
impetus. The inner motivation of Wa¯s:il’s circle seems to
from provinciality to prime importance by the theological in-
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MUETAZILAH
6319
terest which emerged at the Abbasid court. The change came
deepened when those who still understood the MuEtazilah as
in two shifts, first through the influence of the Barmakids,
a popular movement and kept to the old ascetic tradition
the viziers of Ha¯ru¯n al-Rash¯ıd (r. 786–802), and then, after
started adopting S:u¯f¯ı tendencies: they dressed in wool and
a short setback caused by their downfall, thanks to the initia-
asserted that the Muslim community should abstain from
tive of the caliph al-MaDmu¯n (813–833). Both the Bar-
electing a caliph (a merely symbolic viewpoint, for the com-
makids and al-MaDmu¯n were not so much interested in the-
munity did not have any influence in this respect anyway).
ology itself as in listening to disputations: they liked to have
In their view, however, court life was a scandal and the entire
representatives of different religions and confessions argue
Muslim world corrupt, full of injustice and violence.
against each other. This predilection may have been stimu-
For the moment, the court party had the upper hand.
lated by a non-Iraqi environment: the Barmakids originally
But enjoying the favor of the caliph also meant supporting
came from Balkh, and al-MaDmu¯n first resided in Merv; in
his policies. When al-MaDmu¯n, in a decree sent throughout
Transoxiana, where both towns were situated, Islam co-
existed with Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and
the empire in 833, asked his governors to enforce the doc-
Judaism.
trine of the createdness of the QurDa¯n as a kind of state
dogma, the MuEtazilah were immediately identified with this
However, the main stimulus came from the intellectual
measure. This evaluation was only partly justified. The ca-
atmosphere of the capital itself. Islam was no longer the reli-
liph had certainly made the decision by himself, as a demon-
gion of a minority, as in the time of Wa¯s:il, but a creed which
stration of his spiritual leadership of the community, and his
had rapidly expanded at the expense of other religions. The
main adviser had been a theologian by the name of Bishr
conversions to Islam had been prompted mostly by social
al-Mar¯ıs¯ı, who, through his belief in determinism, stood
considerations, but theology had to furnish an a posteriori
apart from the MuEtazilah. But the MuEtazilah subsequently
justification: thus the outlook of the new theology was
had to lend their intellectual support to the measure. When
strongly apologetic and its style predominantly dialectical.
the policy of the caliphs led to a persecution (the so-called
The Muslims were not entirely unprepared; they had experi-
mih:nah, or “inquisition”) the chief judge was a MuEtazil¯ı:
enced enough internal strife between different “sects” in
Ibn Ab¯ı Duwa¯d. The mih:nah lasted for fifteen years, and the
order to know what methods to use in disputes. Therefore,
government succeeded in purging the ranks of the state offi-
the MuEtazilah were not the only ones to sharpen these weap-
cials of any opposition. Resistance remained strong, howev-
ons for the fight with their pagan adversaries. But besides
er, among the population of Baghdad who, with a clear anti-
being skillful dialecticians (mutakallimu¯n) they offered a
intellectual bias, rejected rational theology in favor of the
concept of Islam which, by its rationality, transcended the
prophetic tradition (h:ad¯ıth). Therefore the caliph al-
divisions among the old theologico-political factions (Sh¯ıEah,
Mutawakkil, the third successor of al-MaDmu¯n, decided to
MurjiEah, and others) and therefore had broad appeal, at least
steer another course. In 848 he ordered some traditionists to
among the intellectuals. The MuEtazilah thus became the
preach about (spurious) sayings in which the Prophet alleg-
first overall, “orthodox” school of theology.
edly condemned the MuEtazilah and similar groupings; a few
years later, any occupation with dialectical theology was pro-
Their path to success can still be traced. D:ira¯r ibn EAmr
hibited. The MuEtazilah were removed from the court.
took part in the sessions arranged by the Barmakids, but
there he was only one among many. In Merv, one generation
But the movement was still very strong. Measures taken
later, the situation was different; the MuEtazil¯ı Thuma¯mah
in Baghdad did not always have consequences outside the
ibn Ashras acted as a kind of counselor to al-MaDmu¯n, and
capital, and the MuEtazilah had established themselves in al-
Bishr ibn al-MuEtamir was among those who put their signa-
most all parts of the Islamic world: in Upper Mesopotamia
ture as witnesses to the document in which the caliph nomi-
and in the Syrian Desert (among the Kalb); in several sub-
nated the Sh¯ıE¯ı imam EAl¯ı al-Rid:a¯ as his successor. The real
urbs of Damascus and in Lebanon (for instance in Baalbek);
breakthrough came when, in 820, al-MaDmu¯n moved the
in Bahrein and even in the Maghreb (again among certain
court back to Baghdad. Two figures dominated the scene
tribes in what is today Morocco and Algeria); in Armenia;
there: the Basran theologian Abu¯ al-Hudhayl al-EAlla¯f, who
above all in western Iran, in the provinces of Kerman, Fa¯rs
was already about seventy (he died a centenarian in about
(for instance in Arradja¯n and in Sira¯f), and Khuzistan (for
840), and his nephew al-Naz:z:a¯m. The latter showed all the
instance in Shu¯shtar, Susa, EAskar Mukram, and
features of a courtier: he mocked at asceticism and excelled
Gunde¯-sha¯pu¯r, at that time the seat of a famous medical
in light and imaginative poems which celebrated wine and
academy directed by the Nestorians); and finally in India, in
the beauty of youths. He therefore acquired the reputation
the area along the shore of the Indian Ocean to the west of
of being a drunkard and a homosexual. He was not necessari-
the Indus Delta. In these centers the trend toward individu-
ly either, since poetry is not reality, but these characteriza-
alistic thinking and dialectical pyrotechnics had certainly not
tions demonstrate that, with their success, the MuEtazilah
been as predominant as in Baghdad. Many of the Iranian
also came under scrutiny. Al-Naz:z:a¯m’s open identification
towns mentioned are situated on the main trade routes: it
with the ideals of high society did not tally with Bishr ibn
seems that the common theological outlook created an atmo-
al-MuEtamir’s earlier attempt to convert the masses. The split
sphere of confidence essential for better business.
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6320
MUETAZILAH
This extended geographical base helped the MuEtazilah
with his Kita¯b al-mu Etamad (The Reliable Book), although
to survive. However, it also fostered misunderstandings and
this book is concerned with the criteria of jurisprudence, not
tensions which came about through separate regional devel-
those of theology.
opments. In Baghdad, the caliph al-Mutawakkil had not
For the school of Baghdad, on the contrary, we lack ex-
only acted against the MuEtazilah but also—and even more
tensive original documentation. But its ideas are relatively
violently—against the Sh¯ıEah. Consequently al-Ja¯h:iz:
clear to us thanks to a development that deeply influenced
(d. 869), a prominent MuEtazil¯ı author who had maintained
the later history of the MuEtazilah: the winning over of the
close relations with Ibn Ab¯ı Duwa¯d and other high state offi-
Sh¯ıEah. This process took place within two of the three main
cials, wrote a book in which he praised the MuEtazilah and
branches of Sh¯ıE¯ı theology; the Zayd¯ıyah and the Twelver
at the same time attacked the Sh¯ıEah. This opportunistic turn
Sh¯ıEah. Only the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıyah preferred to seek support in
irritated a colleague of his by the name of Ibn al-Ra¯wand¯ı
Neoplatonic philosophy instead. Among the Zayd¯ıyah the
(d. about 910), who had just come from the East, where he
door had already been opened to MuEtazil¯ı thought by the
had acquired a sound reputation within and outside of his
imam al-Qa¯sim ibn Ibra¯h¯ım (d. 860), though he did not in-
school. Iran was governed by the dynasty of the Tahirids,
tend to be a MuEtazil¯ı himself. The final decision was taken
who did not follow al-Mutawakkil’s anti-ShiEah policy. Ibn
somewhat later and in two different regions: first by his
al-Ra¯wand¯ı therefore joined the Sh¯ıEah in Baghdad and re-
grandson al-Ha¯d¯ı ila¯ al-H:aqq (d. 911), who founded a
futed al-Ja¯h:iz:’s book. But he did more than that: in a series
Zayd¯ı principality, an imamate, in Yemen; second, though
of treatises he showed that some of the axioms accepted by
with certain setbacks, by the Zayd¯ı pretenders in northern
the MuEtazilah, such as the createdness of the world or the
Iran, in the area near the Caspian Sea. Among the Twelvers,
justice of God, that is, theodicy, were not based on solid
MuEtazil¯ı theology was introduced by two members of the
premises and that the QurDa¯n was full of contradictions. His
Banu¯ Nawbakht, a famous family of state officials and schol-
enemies within the school called him a freethinker for those
ars: Abu¯ Sahl Isma¯E¯ıl al-Nawbakht¯ı (d. 924) and his nephew
views, but he apparently wanted only to point out that, with
H:asan ibn Mu¯sa¯ (d. between 912 and 922). The trend origi-
respect to certain positions, the dialectical method allowed
nally met strong resistance there, especially from the tradi-
for arguments pro and con which simply neutralized each
tionist theologian Ibn Ba¯bawayh¯ı (d. 991), but then it pre-
other. Thus the MuEtazilah, shortly after being deprived of
vailed because of the influence of Shaykh al-Muf¯ıd
political power, were also faced with the inadequacy of their
(d. 1022).
intellectual instruments.
The motives for these dogmatic shifts are not altogether
The scholastic phase. Ibn al-Ra¯wand¯ı’s pinpricks pro-
clear. The MuEtazilah still retained, among their theological
duced a shock. His books were refuted by several authors,
principles, the obligation to spread the right belief; this may
in Baghdad as well as in Basra. Although these two towns
explain their usefulness for the Zayd¯ı pretenders. The
were far from the only strongholds of MuEtazil¯ı theology,
Twelvers had lost their spiritual leader through the disap-
their names served as labels for the two different schools that
pearance (ghaybah) of the twelfth imam in 874 and may have
took up Ibn al-Ra¯wand¯ı’s challenge and, going beyond mere
clung to rational theology for new reliable guidance. In
refutation, began systematizing the material accumulated in
Baghdad, MuEtazil¯ı theologians had always had moderate
the past. At the beginning of the tenth century their main
Sh¯ıE¯ı leanings, although they did not normally side with the
representatives were Abu¯ al-Qa¯sim al-KaEb¯ı (d. 931), who
Rawa¯fid: (i.e., the Twelvers). At the end of the ninth century,
was identified with Baghdad although he only studied there
even a Basran like al-Jubba¯D¯ı recognized EAl¯ı’s son H:usayn
and then taught in his hometown of Balkh in eastern Iran,
as a righteous ruler. Abu¯ al-Qa¯sim al-KaEb¯ı was the secretary
and for Basra, al-Jubba¯D¯ı (d. 915) with his son Abu¯ Ha¯shim
of an early Zayd¯ı pretender in Iran. Later on, the crisis of
(d. 933). In their efforts to build up a coherent theological
the caliphate revived the hopes for political support. The
framework they had to care more than their predecessors
MuEtazilah in Baghdad entertained relations with Sayf al-
about epistemological and terminological problems; this ac-
Dawlah (r. 944–967), the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo, and
counts for their growing interest in precise definitions and
then with the Buyids; both dynasties had Sh¯ıE¯ı leanings. A
questions of logic.
Buyid vizier, al-S:a¯h:ib ibn EAbbaa¯d (d. 995), promoted the
qa¯d:¯ı EAbd al-Jabba¯r in Rayy.
The range of the Basran school, which, like the school
of Baghdad, gradually shifted to Iran, is well attested by the
The Baghdad school exerted its strongest influence
work of the qa¯d:¯ı EAbd al-Jabba¯r (d. 1024/5), chief judge at
among the Zayd¯ıyah, though only in its Yemeni wing. The
Rayy (near modern Tehran). His Mughn¯ı ([The Book] That
Caspian imams were under Basran influence, but their prin-
Makes [Other Books] Superfluous), a twenty-volume summa
cipality did not survive. However, theological works of the
theologiae, has recently been edited as far as it is preserved and
Iranian wing were taken over into the Yemen, for instance
also subjected to some research. Besides this valuable source,
the great QurDa¯n commentary written by al-H:a¯kim
further texts written by his pupils and other theologians who
al-Jusham¯ı (d. 1101). Among the Twelvers, al-Muf¯ıd fol-
followed his views are also available. For MuEtazil¯ı herme-
lowed the Baghdad school, but in the generation after him
neutics our best source is Abu¯ al-H:usayn al-Bas:r¯ı (d. 1044),
a pupil of the qa¯d:¯ı EAbd al-Jabba¯r, Shar¯ıf al-Murtad:a¯
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MUETAZILAH
6321
(d. 1044), turned to Basran ideas and determined the
rather late, by Abu¯ al-Hudhayl, who defined five principles
Twelver outlook for the centuries to come. On the whole,
that he considered indispensable to MuEtazil¯ı identity. These
the Zayd¯ıyah adopted MuEtazil¯ı doctrine more fully than the
have determined the structure of MuEtazil¯ı theological works
Twelvers.
for centuries, in spite of the fact that two or even three of
these principles did not retain much importance in later dis-
Outside of the Sh¯ıE¯ı areas, the MuEtazilah were in re-
cussion. One of them was already dated when Abu¯ al-
treat. But their impact persisted in at least two places. I have
mentioned the Berber tribes in the Maghreb; some of them
Hudhayl took it up: the princple of “enjoining what is good
remained MuEtazil¯ı even after the Fatimid invasion, at least
and forbidding what is evil” (al-amr bi-al-ma Eru¯f wa-al-nahy
E
up to the second half of the eleventh century. They called
an al-munkar), that is, active admonition to follow the right
themselves Wa¯s:il¯ıyah, with reference to Wa¯s:il ibn EAt:a¯D. In
path and resist impiety. This had been the device of the revo-
fact, they seem to have lost contact with the Iraqi MuEtazilah
lution against al-Mans:u¯r in 762 and was probably the justifi-
very early and did not participate in the move toward intel-
cation for Wa¯s:il’s missionary projects, but it was rather out
lectualism instigated by the Abbasid court. We find scarcely
of place at the Abassid court.
any traces of theological activity; the claim to be Wasiliyah
The second principle, concerned with the intermediate
merely constituted a symbol of identity, the implications of
state of the Muslim sinner, was still valid at that time, but
which we do not know. In addition, MuEtazil¯ı theology con-
derived its importance from an earlier debate that had its
tinued to exert a certain attraction in Baghdad and in Iran,
roots in the period before Wa¯s:il. It was a compromise be-
among jurists belonging to the school of Abu¯ Han¯ıfah. In
tween two attitudes that had arisen in the seventh century,
Baghdad, this combination became precarious after the
on the one hand the rigorist belief that every Muslim who
weakening of Buyid power. In 1017, the caliph al-Qad¯ır
commits a grave sin excludes himself or herself from the
forced the H:anaf¯ı judges and witnesses to make a public dis-
community, and on the other, an “ecumenical,” communi-
avowal; pressure from traditionist, especially Hanbali, circles
tarian position which understood the revelation of the keryg-
increased steadily. Eastern Iran, with its fragmented political
ma as the decisive event by which every Muslim, whether sin-
landscape, offered better conditions. MuEtazil¯ı thought
ner or not, was ultimately saved. Wa¯s:il was rigorist enough
flourished under the Khwa¯rizm-sha¯hs up to the beginning
to abhor any laxity or minimalism, but he lived late enough
of the thirteenth century. We even know about a MuEtazil¯ı
to realize that the exclusiveness practiced by the rigorists
in the environment of Timur Lenk (Tamerlane, d. 1405).
could not serve as the basis of the world religion that Islam
He, however, seems to have been an exception; generally
had meanwhile become. He wanted the grave sinner to re-
speaking, the end of MuEtazil¯ı influence on Sunn¯ı circles in
main a member of the Muslim community, with all the
Iran came earlier, with the Mongol invasion in the first half
rights that involved (safety of life and property, inheritance
of the thirteenth century.
from other Muslims, etc.), but he insisted that the sinner
In the contemporary Muslim world, MuEtazil¯ı ideas are
would be condemned to eternal punishment in Hell like the
evaluated in different ways. In Iran, they still permeate theo-
pagans if that person did not repent. Thus, the grave sinner
logical thinking, especially after the revival of Shiism. In
is to be treated neither as an unbeliever nor as a true believer.
Yemen, they belong to the Zayd¯ı heritage, but have lost all
This doctrinal position was apparently not far from that
reproductive vigor. In certain Sunn¯ı countries undergoing
taken by Wa¯s:il’s teacher, H:asan al-Bas:r¯ı, but it was Wa¯s:il
the impact of modernist movements, they have been thought
who brought it into focus and sharpened it by changing the
of as giving witness to the essentially rational character of
terminology. H:asan had called the Muslim sinner a muna¯fiq
Islam; this has led, especially in Egypt during the last two
(“hypocrite”), using a word taken from the QurDa¯n, where
generations, to a certain scholarly interest which was some-
it referred to enemies of Muh:ammad who had not openly
times hailed as a “renaissance.” Modern fundamentalism,
sided with the unbelievers. This led to exegetical problems;
however, has proved that view premature. MuEtazil¯ı ideas are
the QurDanic context was not always appropriate for the
again pushed back into the corner of heresy.
theological definition wanted. Therefore Wa¯s:il used the term
DOCTRINE. That MuEtazil¯ı doctrine changed over the centu-
fa¯siq (“transgressor”) instead. This term was equally QurDanic
ries should go without saying. What is perhaps more impor-
but had merely moral and no historical connotations.
tant is the fact that its function also changed. During the in-
The eternal punishment of the “transgressor” was Abu¯
cubation phase doctrine was less important than group
al-Hudhayl’s third principle. It turned out to be somewhat
solidarity; at the Abbasid court, MuEtazil¯ı theology repre-
flexible. The school sometimes tolerated members who only
sented the first attempt at a rational and universal description
believed in a kind of prolonged purgatory; the dogma was
of Sunn¯ı Islam; and in the later centuries certain basic posi-
also mitigated among the Twelvers. This tolerance derived
tions, especially the doctrine of free will, served as a label
from the fact that the discussion shifted to a related issue that
which indicated that a person belonged to the MuEtazil¯ı
had been Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s fourth (or, according to his own
“school.”
counting, second) principle: God’s justice. God does not do
The “five principles.” The decisive step toward creat-
wrong: he punishes the sinner and rewards the good. He has
ing a reliable “dogmatic” framework was apparently taken
the right to do so because he has put human beings under
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MUETAZILAH
an obligation; he has revealed the law, and men and women
ly took the form of predicates or “names,” in sentences like
have the choice to obey or to disobey. This choice presup-
“God is knowing,” “God is (all) mighty,” and so on. These
poses two things: freedom of decision and an instrument to
sentences then had to be reformulated as, for example, “God
grasp this possibility of decision, that is, reason. However,
has knowledge” and “God has power.” How could this be
the fact that man is an intelligent being then implies that the
done without reifying the attributes and transforming them
obligation already existed before revelation; the prophets are
into independent entities? And if knowledge really was God,
sent to confirm what reason knows, or should have known,
as Abu¯ al-Hudhayl seemed to say, how could it be differenti-
beforehand. To a certain extent, revelation is merely a sign
ated from his power and other attributes? Finally, the ques-
of God’s mercy or favoring help which makes insight easier
tion of whether there are attributes beyond revelation that
for man. It may, however, add new commandments; there
have to be deduced rationally must be asked; predicates like
are rational laws (e.g., the interdiction of lying) and revealed
“eternal” or “existent” were absent from the QurDa¯n.
laws (e.g., the prohibition of the eating of pork).
Since these questions referred to statements contained
Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s last principle was the unity of God.
in the holy text, they were answered by linguistic analysis.
This had always been an indispensable postulate for Islam,
The doctrine of attributes is based not on metaphysics but
as opposed to the Christian trinitarian beliefs and the dual-
on grammar. Our understanding must therefore proceed
ism of Iranian religions such as Zoroastrianism or Manichae-
from the Arabic language and medieval grammatical theory.
ism. But this unity had been understood in different ways.
The first differentiation can already be found in the transla-
Early anthropomorphists such as the QurDa¯n commentator
tion of Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s statement mentioned above: in-
Muqa¯til ibn Sulayma¯n (d. 767 or later) had found it suffi-
stead of “God has knowledge” we have to say “There is an
cient to assert that God is one and not two or three, which
act of knowing belonging to God”; Arabic linguistic feeling
did not exclude his having human shape. They merely held
and MuEtazil¯ı theology insisted that “knowledge” is “know-
that God’s body is compact, not hollow, for he neither eats
ing,” that is, an infinitive rather than a noun, and as such
nor drinks. He is thus one in number and consistence but
not necessarily permanent or independent. This was not,
he is not one in form, for he has limbs like man. The
however, a definitive solution. One could still, as did certain
MuEtazilah, on the contrary, understood unity as incorpore-
opponents of the MuEtazilah such as Ibn Kulla¯b (d. 855?),
ity, unity in essence: God is beyond time and place, he is un-
conclude that this formulation referred to a separate entity
changeable. They did not even agree when some Sh¯ıE¯ı an-
that subsists in God. Al-Jubba¯D¯ı therefore rephrased Abu¯ al-
thropomorphists in Kufa, Hisha¯m ibn al-H:akam among
Hudhayl’s doctrine in the following way: “The meaning of
others, refined their position so far as to conceive of God as
one’s describing God as knowing is (1) the assertion of
a body of light that radiates like an ingot of silver. For the
[God’s] reality, (2) that [God] is contrary to whatever cannot
MuEtazilah, God is not a body at all but only “something,”
know, (3) that he who says that [God] is ignorant states a
a being that cannot be perceived by the senses but is exclu-
false proposition, and (4) an indication that there are things
sively known to us through revelation or through reason, by
that [God] knows.” Here, the act of knowing is completely
the effect of his creative will in nature. God will therefore not
excluded: what is asserted is only God’s reality. This was
even be seen in Paradise: he is unlike all other beings.
enough to protect God against any plurality, but there was
Divine attributes. Unity then also means that the attri-
some reason for doubting whether it was enough to affirm
butes ascribed to God in the QurDa¯n are identical with him
his knowledge.
and not different entities or hypostases. This is true at least
Al-Jubba¯D¯ı’s son Abu¯ Ha¯shim then established a com-
for “essential attributes” such as knowledge, power, or life;
promise by going back to the original QurDanic statements
they are eternal and unchangeable like God himself and
and inserting a copula into them (which is normally absent
merely tell us something about certain aspects of his nature.
from nontemporal statements in Arabic): Allahu Ea¯limun
“When one states that the Creator is knowing,” said Abu¯ al-
thus became ka¯na Alla¯hu Ea¯liman, “God is knowing.” The
Hudhayl, “he has asserted the reality of an act of knowing
copula was then understood as a “complete verb,” that is, it
that is God and has denied ignorance in God and has indi-
gained existential meaning: “God is”; the assertion of God’s
cated [that there is] some object known [to God] that has
reality had been made explicit. The participle for “knowing,”
been or will be.” However, in addition to “essential attri-
however, now put into the accusative instead of the nomina-
butes” there are also “attributes of action” such as willing,
tive, was no longer interpreted as a predicate but as a h:a¯l, a
hearing, seeing, or speaking, which describe God’s temporal
“state” of the subject instead of an attribute. In the words
relationship with his creation; they are other than God and
of Abu¯ Ha¯shim himself: “Since it is true that [God] has a
subject to change, for they come into being when God acts
state in his being knowing, the knowledge that he is knowing
and cease when his action ceases. They do not subsist in him.
is a knowledge of the thing itself [that is, the subject as] in
This is why the caliph al-MaDmu¯n declared the QurDa¯n to be
this state rather than a knowledge of the act of knowing or
created: the QurDa¯n is God’s “speech” or “discourse” and
of the thing itself.” This theory allowed the above statements
came into being at a certain historical moment.
to be understood univocally of all knowers; a theological
This theory presented certain problems. The attributes
problem had been put into the general frame of grammatical
were inferred from QurDanic statements, where they normal-
analysis.
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MUETAZILAH
6323
However, since the purpose of this description was on-
cidents, by definition, are created by God. A body exists
tological we find the later authors unfolding a whole range
therefore only as long as God allows this accident of compo-
of different ways of predication and attribution. There are,
sition to endure. This is Greek atomism turned upside down.
for example, besides the “essential attributes” also “attributes
Democritus and Epicurus intended to explain nature by the
of the essence,” that is, attributes which not only make some
principle of chance (therefore the church fathers abhorred
statement about the essence but denote the essence itself and
their philosophy). For the MuEtazilah, on the contrary, atom-
thus are not shared by anything else (in the case of God, a
ism served as an accomplice of divine omnipotence. As mere
word like eternal). Then there are attributes grounded in the
conglomerates, things do not possess any essence of their
presence of an accident. They were subdivided by the qa¯d:¯ı
own; this demonstrates their dependence on God. However,
EAbd al-Jabba¯r into several categories: for example, those that
although objects are reduced to purely material composites,
specifically qualify the substrate (or object) and necessitate
this was not a materialistic theory. The Greek atomists were
a state in it as a whole, like motion or rest; and those which
searching for the monad: they wanted to explain nature. The
specifically qualify the substrate but do not necessitate a state
MuEtazil¯ı atomists were searching for the pivot of God’s will
of it as a whole, as, for example, colors (which may inhere
and power: they wanted to explain creation.
in a few single atoms of the substrate, but not the whole of
That is why, in contrast to the Greeks, the MuEtazilah
it). From them we may distinguish attributes determined by
extended atomism to the realm of human action. The free-
the agent who causes the existence of the thing, like “well or-
dom of choice that is necessary for human responsibility is
dered” or “skillfully wrought” (with respect to the creation,
based upon a capacity which the individual receives from
for instance); attributes directly derived from his action, like
God. This capacity is not a permanent quality, an inborn
“speaking,” “commanding,” and so on; and finally attributes
power of acting, but a momentary capability to do one spe-
that are grounded neither in the essence nor in an accident,
cific act. The MuEtazilah shared this basic assumption with
like “self-sufficient” said with respect to God (since this word
their determinist or predestinarian opponents. What made
which, in Arabic, originally means “rich” is positive only in
the difference was merely the fact that they did not think that
its form of expression whereas “its strict sense is the denial
this capacity was given simultaneously with the act, as the
of need on the part of one who is specifically characterized
determinists did, but one moment before, leaving an interval
by a state having which need and self-sufficiency are actually
of one time atom so that people have the chance to make
possible”).
their decisions, to choose whether to perform the action, to
The MuEtazil¯ı worldview. The way in which the theory
leave it, or to do something else. There were MuEtazilah, es-
of the divine attributes developed shows that the achieve-
pecially in the Baghdad school, who believed that the capaci-
ment of MuEtazil¯ı theology consisted not only in defining
ty for action was not merely momentary since it was identical
basic tenets by which it distinguished itself from other
with health and the intact functioning of the body, but even
schools but also in the conceptual and systematic framework
they understood this continuum as a mere accumulation of
through which these tenets were expressed. Another case in
single isolated moments.
point is the atomistic model by which the relationship be-
Continuity was a factor that never came first in this
tween God and his creation was explained. This model had
model. With respect to the physical world, consequences had
been conceived as early as the eighth century by D:ira¯r ibn
to be taken into account especially regarding the explanation
EAmr, but the theologian who gave it its final form was again
of movement, for in the context of atomism movement
apparently Abu¯ al-Hudhayl. He thought of atoms as mathe-
meant only that the atoms of a moving body were, at differ-
matical points that do not have any spatial extension until
ent moments, opposite to the subsequent atoms of the sur-
they touch each other. Atoms therefore are not three-
face on which this body was moving. Consequently, one had
dimensional; only bodies are. Normally it is only in spatial
to discuss the problem of when movement takes place at all,
existence, that is, in combination with each other, that atoms
whether during the first moment, when it begins, or during
take on accidents: color, for instance, and consequently visi-
the second, when it has already ceased to exist. Movement,
bility. Only a few accidents are connected with atoms when
it could be said, is only a convention of language; in reality,
they are still isolated, namely those that, in the form of an
bodies are always at rest, though at subsequently different
alternative, make combination possible: composition versus
places. Continuity is then only an illusion of our senses, as
separation and, as the medium through which composition
in a film.
and separation take place, motion versus rest. Motion then
means that the atoms join each other and receive extension,
With respect to human existence, this lack of continuity
or that they part and thus lose their corporeity again; rest
comes to the fore in the MuEtazil¯ı concept of person. For
means that they retain their status of being isolated and
Abu¯ al-Hudhayl the human being was first a mere complex
therefore cannot be perceived, or of being composite and
of atoms and “accidents.” It is true that he or she is alive
therefore remain spatial.
whereas other bodies are not, but life is again only an “acci-
dent,” a quality added to the conglomerate of atoms which
What is decisive, however, is that the atoms do not join
form the body. There is something like a soul, but it is con-
by themselves, for their composition is an “accident,” and ac-
ceived of merely as a kind of breath that permeates the body
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MUETAZILAH
as long as that body is alive. The soul may leave the body
selves, as do their basic accidents. Characteristically enough,
during sleep; this explains the phenomenon of dreaming. But
it was a Baghdadi like KaEb¯ı who relied on the concept of
the soul is not immortal: it guarantees life and it disappears
the coutume de Dieu; like al-Naz:z:a¯m, he believed in the exis-
together with it. What Abu¯ al-Hudhayl and his colleagues
tence of natural qualities that determine the functioning of
wanted to explain was not the continuity or uniqueness of
bodies and guarantee the preservation of the species. Howev-
the human person, but God’s power to create human beings
er, his natural philosophy was closer to Greek concepts than
anew in the hereafter. God adds the “accident” of life to the
was al-Naz:z:a¯m’s; he followed the classical doctrine of the ele-
atoms that form them when God creates them; God with-
ments. In most of these points he was attacked by the follow-
draws this accident when he makes them die; and adds it
ers of al-Jubba¯D¯ı, who stuck to the Basran system.
again when he resurrects them.
Epistemology. Arguments for the existence of God
This concept of a fundamentally disjointed world seems
were used within the circle of the MuEtazilah at least from
to exclude causality. But the MuEtazilah usually did not go
the time of Abu¯ al-Hudhayl. The cosmological proof was
so far as to deny causality completely. To begin with, they
known from Christian sources. But the MuEtazilah preferred
gave it a different name: “production,” which they defined
by far the argument e novitate mundi; deriving the existence
as the dependence of one act on another. The examples they
of God from the “accidental” character of creation corre-
adduced show, however, that they thought in terms of
sponded to their atomistic worldview. Originally, the notion
human actions alone. They did not want to formulate a law
of God had been considered as a priori, “necessary,” as one
of nature but to bind the human being to the consequences
said. Abu¯ al-Hudhayl even believed that the “proof” for
of his or her own behavior. They were mainly interested in
God’s existence, namely the createdness of the world, was
man and his responsibility; their approach was juridical rath-
also immediately evident. This insight then implied, as he
er than metaphysical, for they started from man’s obligation
thought, the obligation to speculate further about God’s na-
toward God. Later on, they recognized that they could not
ture and to look out for his commandments; it had juridical
neglect the universe completely and would have to give an
consequences. When later theologians, in an attempt to
explanation for the phenomenon of a world that functions
create an overall rational system, gave up the a priori charac-
in an orderly and foreseeable way in spite of its being depen-
ter of the notion of God, they were confronted, just because
dent on God’s will at each moment. Abu¯ al-Qa¯sim al-KaEb¯ı
of the juridical aspect mentioned, with a very typical prob-
spoke of God’s “habit” in this respect, the coutume de Dieu
lem: how can man be obliged to know God if he does not
that changes only in the case of a miracle.
already know him, that is, is it not that the obligation to rec-
Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s worldview that I have described so far
ognize God’s existence presupposes that man already possess-
mainly influenced the Basran school, through al-Jubba¯D¯ı. But
es a notion of God? Al-Jubba¯D¯ı then answered this question
during his lifetime he was already contradicted by his neph-
by assuming that man necessarily feel the obligation to know
ew al-Naz:z:a¯m, who did not believe in atomism but pro-
God because when he reaches intellectual maturity he be-
ceeded from the infinite divisibility of bodies. Al-Naz:z:a¯m
comes aware of being constantly exposed to the merciful as-
also reduced God’s immediate omnipotence. According to
sistance of an unknown reality and then realizes that in order
him, inanimate things now have a nature of their own that
to be grateful for this anonymous help he should know where
is independent in its activity, although ultimately created by
it comes from; otherwise his benefactor might become angry
God. They are still composites of different elements; howev-
at being unduly ignored. Man, as it were, awakens with an
er, these elements do not simply agglomerate like atoms but
existential feeling of fear that only ceases when he has recog-
mix and grow into organic units. Nor do they depend on
nized that there is a God who will be just and merciful if his
God’s will at each moment of their existence; they are rather
commandments are fulfilled. This cognition then grants that
created all at once and then behave according to their own
“tranquillity of the soul” that always results from knowing
character. The human being, too, is no longer merely unique
the truth.
because of outward form but possesses a soul which, though
Influence and originality. MuEtazil¯ı theology certainly
still material, persists beyond death; al-Naz:z:a¯m was the first
participated in the process of the hellenization of Arabo-
Islamic theologian to take over the Platonic proofs for the
Islamic thought that started in the eighth century. But we
immortality of the soul. This soul, a “subtle body,” perme-
should not forget that Abu¯ al-Hudhayl and even al-Naz:z:a¯m
ates all the limbs and keeps them alive. It can mix with other
developed their ideas when most Greek texts were not yet
“bodies” that come to it from outside, such as sounds; this
available in Arabic or were just being translated. Obviously
explains sense perception.
neither Aristotle nor the Neoplatonists exerted any impact
For some time, al-Naz:z:a¯m’s alternative approach had
on their thought. Al-Naz-zam’s system reminds us in some
enormous success. But there were certain excesses that dis-
places of the Stoics (especially their theory of kra¯sis di holo¯n,
credited it. Ultimately it did not supplant atomism. Never-
“total mixture”), but that influence was filtered through Ira-
theless, it was not without influence on the Baghdad school.
nian intermediaries and reached him not in the form of a
The Baghdadis continued to believe in atomism, but they
written translation but through his contacts with followers
held that the atoms have extension and endure by them-
of Bardesanes or Manichaeans who lived in Iraq.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYERHOFF, BARBARA G.
6325
It will not be possible to judge the overall situation ade-
delung’s Der Ima¯m al-Qa¯sim ibn Ibra¯h¯ım und die Glaubens-
quately until we have further studies of individual MuEtazil¯ı
lehre der Zaiditen (Berlin, 1965). The relationship with the
thinkers and the “dark period” between the great Hellenistic
Twelvers is analyzed in detail, at least as far as the beginnings
philosophers, up to the time of Proclus (410?–485 CE) and
are concerned, by Martin J. McDermott in The Theology of
Iamblichus, and the arrival of Islam. What cannot be doubt-
al-Shaikh al-Mufid (Beirut, 1978). Much information on in-
ed, however, is the originality of the MuEtazil¯ı approach:
dividual thinkers is hidden in the relevant articles in The En-
cyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (Leiden, 1960–), and in the En-
D:ira¯r’s and Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s atomistic theory is a case in
cyclopaedia Iranica (Leiden, 1982–), but it is not easy for the
point. They took Greek spolia but used them for an edifice
nonspecialist to find this.
that was entirely theirs, a theological system that was juridical
Studies of specific problems of MuEtazil¯ı theology tend to com-
in its outlook rather than metaphysical. They rarely quoted
pare the MuEtazilah with other “schools,” especially the
the QurDa¯n because they wanted to rely on reason, but never-
AshEar¯ıyah. On the doctrine of attributes we have Michel Al-
theless they always took the QurDa¯n as their guide. They of-
lard’s Le problème des attributs divins (Beirut, 1965), which
fered a coherent worldview that was different from that of
contains a chapter on al-Jubba¯D¯ı, and especially R. M.
the later Muslim philosophers. These therefore reacted with
Frank’s Beings and Their Attributes (Albany, N. Y., 1978),
reticence and, finally, contempt. Al-Kind¯ı still tried to adjust
which gives a subtle analysis of the teaching of the Basran
his thinking to MuEtazil¯ı axioms in certain points, but
school. The arguments for and against the doctrine of free
al-Fa¯ra¯bi treated the MuEtazil¯ı theologians as “dialecticians”
will are listed and treated in detail by Daniel Gimaret in Thé-
who used the wrong method. The MuEtazilah, on the other
ories de l’acte humain en théologie musulmane (Paris, 1980).
hand, never changed their approach. A few of them, like Abu¯
Gimaret’s interpretation of the MuEtazil¯ı model is modified
al-H:usayn al-Bas:r¯ı, became interested in Aristotelian philos-
by R. M. Frank in his article “The Autonomy of the Human
Agent in the Teaching of Abd-al-Djabbar,” Le Muséon 95
ophy, but ultimately they did not adopt Aristotle’s basic cate-
(1982): 323–355. The consequences for MuEtazil¯ı ethics are
gories in either logic or metaphysics.
described in George F. Hourani’s Islamic Rationalism (Ox-
ford, 1971). The corresponding physical ideas become clear
SEE ALSO Attributes of God, article on Islamic Concepts;
in Judith Katz Hecker’s “Reason and Responsibility: An Ex-
Free Will and Predestination, article on Islamic Concept;
planatory Translation of Kitab al-Tawlid from al-Mughni fi
God, article on God in Islam; Kala¯m; Occasionalism.
Abwab al-Tawhid wa-l-Adl by Qadi Abd-al-Jabba¯r al-
Hamadhani” (Ph. D. diss., University of California, Berke-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ley, 1975). For atomism, Salomon Pines’s Beiträge zur is-
There is no satisfactory work on the MuEtazilah as a whole. Albert
lamischen Atomenlehre (Berlin, 1936) still retains its value; it
Nasri Nader’s Le système philosophique des Mu Etazila (Beirut,
has now to be compared with Frank’s book on Abu¯ al-
1956) treats the development up to the beginning of the
Hudhayl. Carmela Baffioni’s Atomismo e antiatomismo nel
scholastic (third) phase, but this work is marred by philologi-
pensiero islamico (Naples, 1982) attempts a new comparison
cal misunderstandings and gives almost no biographical in-
with Greek atomism, but unfortunately ignores Frank’s
formation. W. Montgomery Watt’s The Formative Period of
study. On epistemology, see Marie Bernand’s Le problème de
Islamic Thought (Edinburgh, 1973) is an introduction to
la connaissance d’après le Mugni du cadi EAbd al-Gˇabba¯r (Al-
early Muslim theology where the MuEtazilah appear in the
giers, 1982). MuEtazil¯ı polemics against dualism have been
context of the other theological movements existing during
treated by Guy Monnot in Penseurs musulmans et religions
the first three centuries of Islam (until al-AshEar¯ı). Harry A.
iraniennes (Paris, 1974).
Wolfson’s The Philosophy of the Kalam (Cambridge, Mass.,
JOSEF VAN ESS (1987)
1976) follows the author’s earlier works on Philo and the
church fathers: it presents stimulating ideas but ignores some
recent editions and secondary literature. My article “Une lec-
ture à rebours de l’histoire du muEtazilisme,” in Revue des
MUTILATION SEE BODILY MARKS
études islamiques 46 (1978): 163–240 and 47 (1979): 19–69,
gives a biographical and systematic account of the period be-
tween Wa¯s:il and Ibn al-Ra¯wand¯ı.
MYCENAEAN RELIGION SEE AEGEAN
For the rest, one has to resort to monographs, of which there are
RELIGIONS
not many. Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s system has been analyzed in a
perceptive way by R. M. Frank in his study The Metaphysics
of Created Being according to abû l-Hudhayl al- EAllâf (Istan-
bul, 1966) and in an article in Le Muséon 82 (1969): 451–
MYERHOFF, BARBARA G. (1935–1985), Ameri-
506, “The Divine Attributes according to the Teaching of
can anthropologist and scholar of religion, myth, ritual, and
Abû l-Hudhayl al-EAllâf.” Hans Daiber’s Das theologisch-
symbolism. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised there and
philosophische System des MuEammar ibn EAbba¯d as-Sulam¯ı
(Beirut, 1975) treats another early thinker but also presents
in Los Angeles, Myerhoff received her bachelor’s degree in
much material about his contemporaries. The qa¯d:¯ı EAbd
sociology and her doctorate in anthropology from the Uni-
al-Jabba¯r has been dealt with most extensively in J. R. T. M.
versity of California at Los Angeles; her master’s degree in
Peters’s God’s Created Speech (Leiden, 1976). For the
human development was awarded by the University of Chi-
MuEtazil¯ı influence on the Zayd¯ıyah, see Wilferd Ma-
cago. Her entire professional career was spent as a member
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MYSTERY PLAYS
of the University of Southern California’s department of an-
(1977). Their second collaboration, In Her Own Time
thropology. Writing and conducting research since the six-
(1985), concerned her final fieldwork with Orthodox Jews
ties, Myerhoff studied a variety of types of social groups. She
in the Fairfax community of Los Angeles and focused on her
distinguished herself through her contributions to the devel-
relationship with the community during the last months of
opment and application of symbolic anthropology.
her life.
Myerhoff’s scholarly writings analyze those morphologi-
Myerhoff’s symbolic anthropology, while always cultur-
cal features of ritual that allow it to be effective in secular as
ally specific, paid an unusual amount of attention to univer-
well as sacred settings and in pre- and post-colonial societies,
sal problems of meaning in human life. She saw these prob-
as well as modern and post modern ones. She understood rit-
lems—including the need for self-reflection and the urge to
ual and its constituent symbols to be capable of formulating
create an orderly world—as the substance of religion across
experience for its participants and of allowing them to trans-
cultures, and along with anthropologist Victor Turner and
form their daily roles and statuses by encountering alternate
others, she formulated a dynamic view of religion as a sym-
social relations and versions of reality. She eventually as-
bolic process in society.
cribed the efficacy of ritual to its feature of repetitive action
and to its sensory components, which create certainty
BIBLIOGRAPHY
through performance. Rituals are the medium for enacting
Other publications by Myerhoff concerning her work among the
the system of meanings—primarily ideological—that consti-
Huichol Indians are “Return to Wirikuta: Ritual Reversal
tutes a religion. These ideas found their earliest expression
and Symbolic Continuity in the Peyote Hunt of the Huichol
in her doctoral research on the shamanic religion of the
Indians,” in The Reversible World: Symbolic Inversion in Art
and Society, edited by Barbara A. Babcock (Ithaca, N. Y.,
Huichol Indians of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental,
1978), pp. 225–239, and “The Huichol and the Quest for
whose results were published as The Peyote Hunt of the
Paradise,” Parabola 1 (Winter 1976): 22–29. Myerhoff’s
Huichol Indians (1975).
work on autobiography and related genres is represented by
Following this work, Myerhoff turned to the study of
an essay she wrote with Deena Metzger, “The Journal as Ac-
ritual in modern society. She explored the commonalities
tivity and Genre, or Listening to the Silent Laughter of Mo-
and differences between rituals in complex and primitive so-
zart,” Semiotica 30 (1980): 97–114, and by her introduction
to A Crack in the Mirror: Reflexive Studies, edited by Jay Ruby
cieties, indicating that ritual continues even in modern socie-
(Philadelphia, 1982), in which her essay “Life History
ties to provide messages of order and predictability as well
among the Elderly: Performance, Visibility, and Re-
as to set the stage on which cultures and individuals can
Membering” also appears (pp. 99–117). A number of
create and present themselves to themselves. These themes
Myerhoff’s essays were collected posthumously in a volume
are explored in Secular Ritual: Forms and Meanings (1977),
edited and with an introduction by Marc Kaminsky, Remem-
which Myerhoff coedited with Sally Falk Moore (see espe-
bered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling and Growing
cially their introduction, “Ritual Work and the Problem of
Older (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1992). In 2000 Myerhoff was
Meaning,” pp. 3–24).
named a Woman of Valor by the Jewish Women’s Archive.
The Woman of Valor website about her and her work can
Her subsequent ethnographic research on the place of
be found at www.jwa.org by following the link to exhibits.
religion in complex society led her to claim that, although
most men and women continue to require what religion had
RIV-ELLEN PRELL (1987 AND 2005)
traditionally provided them, this cultural system is now lack-
ing and hence they are on their own to seek out such experi-
ences where they may. Thus, she analyzed ritual-like expres-
MYSTERY PLAYS SEE DRAMA, ARTICLE ON
sive and reflexive genres in contemporary society: journal
EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
keeping, storytelling, and autobiography. All are areas in
which the religious function of self-presentation and the cre-
ation of meaning occur.
Myerhoff’s study of elderly California Jews, Number
MYSTERY RELIGIONS. Like many other terms that
Our Days (1979), focused on improvised or “nonce” (i. e.,
represent concepts in the history of religions, mysteries, or
nonrecurring) rituals that wed traditional and secular, and
mystery religions, serves as an umbrella term covering a wide
open and closed, features (see also her paper “We Don’t
variety of referents. Since the word had its own origin and
Wrap Herring in a Printed Page: Fusions, Fictions and Con-
history, its use needs to be analyzed carefully, especially in
tinuity,” in Secular Ritual, pp. 199–226). She demonstrated
the context of comparative studies.
that such rituals provide meaning for people by their evoca-
DEFINITION OF TERMS. The Greek word must¯eria refers ini-
tion of childhood and domesticity, creating an orderly sense
tially only to the “mysteries” of Eleusis and signifies a secret
of personal as well as cultural continuity in their lives.
celebration or secret worship that is accessible only to initi-
Myerhoff’s work on elderly Jews was the subject of an Acade-
ates (mustai), who have had themselves initiated (muein or
my Award-winning film by Lynn Littman (with whom
telein) into it. Other terms used for the celebration are telet¯e
Myerhoff collaborated), also called Number Our Days
and orgia; Latin writers either use the Greek word or translate
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
6327
it as initia. Originally, then, mysteries denotes a specific reli-
Certainly, Buddhism (especially Tibetan Maha¯ya¯na or
gious manifestation that is essentially different in character
Vajraya¯na Buddhism) has its “mysteries” in the sense of eso-
from other, official cultic functions; the mysteries are not
teric rituals, just as do most of the other great religions (espe-
open to everyone but require a special initiation. But in
cially Hinduism). But such instances occur during later his-
Greek, must¯eria is already applied to comparable rituals of
torical stages that presuppose a developed hierarchy and
initiation (see below) and thus acquires a general meaning.
represent a kind of ritualization of esoteric teachings that can
When taken over by philosophy (especially Neoplatonism
in turn be traced back in part to older foundations. It is pos-
and Neo-Pythagoreanism) and Christianity, the term in-
sible in the same way to give the name mysteries to various
creasingly loses its original concrete religious referent and ac-
disputed early Mesopotamian and early Egyptian rituals.
quires instead the sense of a revealed or mysterious divine
wisdom (“mysteriosophy”) that is only available to or attain-
We really have no choice but to understand the term
able by adepts.
mysteries as a historical category that registers a specific hi-
storico-religious content and that relates in particular to the
The term mysteries was familiar, of course, to classical
Greco-Roman age. The general, typological use of the word
philologists, who knew it from the ancient tradition, but it
must be measured against that standard. Mysteries, then, are
was not until the nineteenth century that it again became a
special initiation ceremonies that are esoteric in character
technical term in the history of religions for secret cults or
and often connected with the yearly agricultural cycle. Usu-
ceremonies of initiation (owing especially to James G. Fra-
ally they involve the destiny of the divine powers being ven-
zer). In particular it was much used by the history of religions
erated and the communication of religious wisdom that en-
school, most often by Richard Reitzenstein and Wilhelm
ables the initiates to conquer death. The mysteries are part
Bousset, in their attempt to render comprehensible the mul-
of the general religious life, but they are to a special degree
tiplicity that marked the history of religions in the Hellenis-
separated from the public cult that is accessible to all, and
tic period and late antiquity, as well as to demonstrate the
on this account they are also called “secret cults.”
connections between that world and early Christianity. In
T
the view of the history of religions school, the mysteries were
HE “PHENOMENOLOGY” OF THE MYSTERIES. Mysteries,
then, refers primarily to the content as found in the history
an expression of popular piety that drew sustenance especial-
of Greco-Roman and Near Eastern religions. At the cultic-
ly from the so-called Oriental mystery religions of the
ritual level, which is the dominant level, the discipline of the
Roman imperial age; in the long run, it was claimed, even
arcanum (the obligation of strict secrecy) means that we
the early church could not escape the influence of those reli-
know very little more about the mysteries than the ancient
gions. Discussion of the beginnings of Christianity was car-
sources—including ancient Roman literature—occasionally
ried on for a long time under the sign of the mysteries, which
pass on as supposedly reliable information. Our historical
were regarded as one of Christianity’s roots; this approach
knowledge is limited because Christian writers (such as
can still be found today.
Clement of Alexandria and Firmicus Maternus) who report-
There can be no objection to a general use of the term
ed on the mysteries allowed their own polemical or apologet-
mysteries provided that its original meaning continues to res-
ic interpretations to color their accounts.
onate even as its application is extended. The problem here
is the same as with gnosis or gnosticism. These technical terms
We are relatively well informed about the general struc-
have been given a broader meaning, but scholars have not
ture of the ceremonies (Eleusis, Samothrace, Isis, Mithras).
on that account ceased to use them in a restricted regional
Processions and public functions (sacrifices, dances, music)
sense: gno¯sis as a Greek word meaning “esoteric knowledge”
framed the actual celebration, which was held in closed
and referring to religious groups of late antiquity. My own
rooms (telest¯erion, spelunca, temple) and usually comprised
inclination is not to detach these terms from the historical
two or three acts: the dramatic action (dro¯menon) with the
context in which they exercised historical influence but to
“producing and showing” of certain symbols (deiknumena)
continue to use them primarily in their restricted sense, with-
and the interpretation (exegesis), through a communication
out, however, forgetting that the history of religions needs
of the myth (legomena) and its attendant formulas, of what
such umbrella terms—especially in comparative studies. The
had been experienced. The sacred action (dro¯menon) and the
danger otherwise is that the terminology will become blurred
sacred narrative (legomenon, muthos, logos) were closely con-
and cease to be of help in describing original religious phe-
nected. We are still rather ignorant regarding the central cer-
nomena and will serve only for a religious typology that lacks
emony, that is, the initiation proper. Any interpretation of
historical depth.
it can be hypothetical only, never certain. In my opinion, the
heart of the celebration was the linking of the initiate with
Thus, for example, Buddhism has been explained by
the destiny of the divinity or divinities, as expressed in per-
Paul Lévy (1957) as a “mystery religion,” simply because of
formance and word, and the resultant bestowal of hope for
certain ritual factors that play a part in the consecration of
some kind of survival after death. This interpretation is also
Buddhist monks and resemble to some extent ritual elements
suggested by burial gifts for the deceased (e.g., the “Orphic”
in the Greek and Oriental mysteries. This demonstration I
gold plate from southern Italy). The ancient human prob-
regard as an unsuccessful venture into dangerous territory.
lems of suffering, death, and guilt undoubtedly played an im-
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
portant part in the efficacy of the mysteries. The idea of re-
In view of this critique, the historical and phenomeno-
birth can be documented only in later Hellenism. In any
logical problem of the origin of the mysteries remains unre-
case, there is no evidence of a unitary theology of the myster-
solved. Repeated attempts have been made to move beyond
ies that was common to all the mysteries; the origins and his-
the now-outdated nature-myth theory. Ethnologists in par-
torical course of the several mysteries were too discrepant for
ticular have repeatedly focused on the mysteries and inter-
that. Even the later philosophical explanation of the logos of
preted them as survivals of ancient “rites of passage” (Arnold
the mysteries was not everywhere the same.
van Gennep); in our day this theory has been maintained es-
A word must be said here about the connection often
pecially by Mircea Eliade. There is much that is correct in
made between the mysteries and the idea of “dying and rising
it. The ethnological contributions that play a role in it come
divinities,” who are linked to the vegetation cycle. James G.
in part from the morphology of culture school (Frobenius),
Frazer, who accepted the ideas of Wilhelm Mannhardt on
in part from the history of culture school of Vienna. The lat-
nature myths and folk myths, was the leader and main influ-
ter, represented by Wilhelm Schmidt and Wilhelm Koppers,
ence in this area. In addition to an uninhibited use of termi-
sees the initiation of young men or boys and the whole orga-
nology (e.g., resurrection is usually understood in the biblical
nization of adult male society as one of the important roots
and Christian sense), the chief defect of this theory is its utter
of the mysteries. In cultural and historical terminology the
neglect of source criticism. Strictly speaking, the “vegetation
mysteries reflect the agrarian, matriarchal stage, in which for
theory” is a theory at two removes that, as Carsten Colpe has
the first time the male sector of society, as distinct from the
shown, simply takes a theory at one remove, namely, the an-
female sector, developed secret societies and initiation cere-
cient interpretatio Graeca, and prolongs it in the spirit of
monies (as a protest against matriarchal tyranny, according
nineteenth-century Romanticism. The nineteenth-century
to Koppers). That stage would be located chronologically in
scholars did not further analyze the ancient use of symbols
the Mesolithic period. The Greek mysteries are not directly
and metaphors in which the vegetative processes of withering
linked to that stage and its events, but they are pre-Indo-
and blooming (in the myth of Adonis) were already de-
Germanic and ultimately have their roots in it.
scribed (especially from the second century on) by such
The history of culture theory as developed by Wilhelm
terms as dying, declining, disappearing, and being renewed, re-
Schmidt has been largely abandoned today. It has left behind
appearing, rising. I say nothing of the fact that these same
only the idea—itself not new—that the origin of the myster-
scholars made no distinction between primary, cult-related
ies is to be sought in some stage of primitive agricultural de-
myth and secondary, literary mythology. A whole series of
velopment. Even this, however, does not apply to Osiris,
so-called vegetation divinities, such as Adonis, Attis, and
who from the beginning was associated with pastoral sym-
Osiris, or Tammuz, were interpreted according to the same
bols, thus reflecting a nomadic culture, and had close ties
pattern, namely, as dying and rising gods; their cults, with
with the Egyptian ideology of kingship; the later Corn Osiris
their “mystery” character, supposedly served to communicate
to the “initiates” the powers associated with the “fruitfulness”
has been assimilated to Adonis, and the Hellenistic mysteries
of nature.
of Osiris, which focus primarily on Isis, have in turn been
influenced by the Eleusinian mysteries of Demeter and Per-
As we know today, there is no evidence at all that any
sephone (Kore). The role played by female divinities need
of these gods was thought of as “rising” in any proper sense
not be linked to a hypothetical matriarchy; these goddesses
of the term. In actual fact, there were great differences in my-
are phenomena belonging to an agrarian culture (Mother
thology and ritual; only secondarily (often as early as late an-
Earth). Among modern philologists Walter Burkert is the
tiquity) were the divinities assimilated to one another (e.g.,
chief proponent of the view that the root of the mysteries is
Osiris to Adonis and Attis). The often only fragmentary my-
to be looked for in agrarian culture and specifically in secret
thology centering on these divinities told of the disappear-
society ceremonies (with their tests of courage and their sexu-
ance or stay of the god in the lower world, where he lived
al, orgiastic traits) and that they originated in the Neolithic
on (as lord of the lower world or, in the case of Osiris, as
age; the dawning Greek individualism of the seventh and
judge of the dead) or from which in one or another manner
sixth centuries BCE took over these ancient cults and turned
he returned to the light of day (on earth, in the air, or in
them into a deliberately adopted religion centered on the
heaven) and resumed his role as a god (which he had never
conquest of death.
abandoned). The connection with rituals was also quite di-
verse; there was by no means always a question of mysteries
Adolf E. Jensen has suggested a different ethnological
in the sense of secret cults (see below). We must also allow
approach. He sees behind the Greek mysteries (especially
for the possibility that some of the so-called Oriental myster-
those of Eleusis) a conception of the world proper to the cul-
ies acquired their mystery character only secondarily, under
ture of early food growers; this conception centered on the
the influence of Greek and especially the Eleusinian myster-
death or possibly the sacrifice of a female prototypical being
ies (this was certainly the case with Osiris in relation to Ado-
(or divinity) who was the source of the life-sustaining culti-
nis). The interpretation of the mysteries as being, without
vated vegetation, and thus it thematized for the first time the
distinction, ancient vegetation cults should therefore no lon-
mystery of death and life (“the slain god”). There has since
ger be used as a magic hermeneutical key.
been occasional criticism of the interpretation of the Melane-
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
6329
sian starting point (the myth of Hainuwele; see Jonathan Z.
the Eleusinian mysteries were combined with the mysteries
Smith’s “A Pearl of Great Price and a Cargo of Yams: A
of Agrai on the Ilissos (near Athens) in the seventh century
Study in Situational Incongruity” in History of Religions 16,
BCE. The Lesser Mysteries at Agrai took place annually in
1976, pp. 1–19, and his Imagining Religion, Chicago, 1982,
February (the month Anthesterion) and were regarded as a
pp. 90–101); nonetheless it is a legitimate question whether
preliminary stage leading to the Greater Mysteries held at
earlier food-cultivation stages are to be glimpsed behind the
Eleusis in September (16–20 Boe-dromion). Sacrifices, liba-
mysteries. The answer can be found only through coopera-
tions, baths, ablutions, fasts, processions (especially bringing
tive study by ethnologists, prehistorians, philologists, and
the “holy things,” the cult symbols, to Eleusis), and torches
historians of religion. In any case an answer is not directly
all played an important role in both feasts. The center of all
required for understanding our historical and philological
activity was the ceremony that was not open to the public.
material, which comes to us primarily from Greek sources.
It was held in the “place of consecration” known as the
All our ancient informants confirm the view that the myster-
telest¯erion, which is not to be confused with the temple of
ies in general took their character primarily from the Greek
Demeter at the same location.
mysteries and became widespread only as a result of helleni-
zation.
We know that at the ceremonies at Agrai the initiate
knelt down with a ram’s skin draped around him and held
THE HISTORICAL MULTIPLICITY OF MYSTERIES. Within the
an unlit torch in his hand. The priestess shook a winnowing
confines of this article it is necessary to start with the ancient
fan (liknon) over him, and he handled a serpent (sacred to
Greek mysteries and move on to related Oriental mysteries.
Demeter and Kore). Finally water was poured over him. In
The Greek mysteries. The Greek mysteries were from
the Eleusinian ceremony, of which we know less, the initia-
the outset cults of clan or tribe. They can in many cases be
tion took place at night. It included the handling of an ob-
traced back to the pre-Greek Mycenaean period and were
ject, not identified with certainty, which was taken from a
probably ancient rituals of initiation into a clan or an “associ-
“coffer” (perhaps the instrument—mortar and pestle—used
ation.” The most important were the mysteries of Eleusis,
in preparing the sacred potion; other interpretations see the
which in fact provided the pattern for the idea of mysteries.
coffer as an image of the womb). In addition, there was a
The independent town of Eleusis (there is evidence of a pre-
“viewing” (epopteia) of the (rescued?) Kore, probably in dra-
historic settlement there in the third millennium BCE) be-
matic form (dro¯menon). The cry that the hierophant uttered
came an Athenian dependency in the seventh century BCE
at this point suggests as much: “The Lady bore a holy boy-
and thereby acquired, especially from the sixth century on,
child: Brimo bore Brimos” (Hippolytus, Refutations 5.8.40).
a pan-Hellenic role that in the Roman imperial age attracted
The reference is probably to the birth of Ploutos, the personi-
the attention of Rome. Augustus, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius,
fication of wealth, from Demeter; yet it is questionable
Commodus, and Gallienus had themselves initiated into the
whether this was intended as a symbol of the new birth of
Eleusinian mysteries. An attempt under Claudius (r. 41–54)
the initiate and not as a symbol of the limited power of the
to move the celebration to Rome failed. The destruction of
lower world or death. The latter meaning seems to be sug-
the sanctuary came under Alaric’s Christian Goths in 395 CE.
gested by the concluding rite: the showing of an ear of grain
The mythological background for the Eleusinian mysteries
by the priest (Hippolytus, ibid.). This must have signified
was provided by the story of the goddesses Demeter and
that life is “Mother” Demeter’s gift to human beings. A frag-
Kore, preserved in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The pair
ment of Pindar (Bowra 121) says of the initiates: “Happy
were presented as mother and daughter. Their relationship
they who see it and then descend beneath the earth. They
developed in a gripping manner the theme of loss (death),
know life’s end but also a new beginning from the gods.” To
grief, search, and (re)discovery (life). The interpretation of
them alone is life given in the underworld; all others encoun-
the story as purely a nature myth and specifically a vegetation
ter evil (see Sophocles, frag. 837, Pearson).
myth is actually an old one and can appeal to ancient wit-
In addition to the mysteries of Eleusis, there was a series
nesses for support; nonetheless it is oversimplified precisely
of others about which there is unsatisfactory information. Al-
because it loses sight of the human and social content of the
most all of them were very ancient. They include the myster-
myth.
ies at Phenas in Arcadia (also mysteries of Demeter); those
The public ceremonies of the annual Eleusinian ritual
at Andania in Messenia, in which Demeter and Hermes were
are well known to us and confirmed from archaeological
venerated as great gods; those at Phyle, dedicated to “Earth,
findings. The director was the hierophant, who from time
the great mother”; and those on Paros and Thasos, which
immemorial had been a member of the Eumolpides, a noble
were again mysteries of Demeter. More important were the
family that had held the kingship of old. The Kerukes family
mysteries of the great gods, or Kabeiroi, on the island of
filled the other offices. All classes, including slaves, were ad-
Samo-thrace, where there was an ancient place of worship
mitted to the cult. According to degree of participation, a
until the fourth century CEthat attracted many, especially in
distinction was made between the must¯es (“initiate”) and the
the second century BCE. The gods in question were probably
epopt¯es (“viewer”); only the latter was regarded as fully initiat-
a pair of Phrygian divinities, father and son (kabeiros is a Se-
ed. But this distinction was not original and came in when
mitic word). The ceremonies had a pronounced orgiastic and
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
burlesque character and were probably connected with what
Orphism broke away from the religion of the polis, not only
had originally been associations of smiths (iron rings played
because it possessed holy books that contained its teachings,
a role). Later, however, the Kabeiroi were regarded as helpers
but also because the idea of the immortality of the soul made
in distress at sea. Practically nothing is known of these mys-
the official cult superfluous. Greek philosophy, beginning
teries; there are hints of links with Demeter and Orpheus.
with Socrates and Plato, gave a theoretical justification for
all this.
More important were the Dionysian mysteries, infor-
mation on which has come down to us from as early as the
The Oriental mysteries. Narrowly understood, the
fifth century
Oriental mysteries comprised only the mysteries of Isis and
BCE (see Euripides, The Bacchae). As is well
known, Dionysos was an unusual god who represented a side
of Mithras. But since the ancient Alexandrian reporters ap-
of Greek life long regarded as un-Greek—a view that has
plied the technical terms must¯eria and teletai in their proper
caused interpreters many difficulties. His thiasos
sense to any orgiastic cult or ritual, and especially to the nu-
(“company”) was probably originally an association of
merous and often quite exotic Oriental cults of the imperial
women that spread throughout Greece, especially the islands,
period, a whole series of these religions came to be classified
and carried on a real proselytizing activity by means of itiner-
as mysteries; this usage has prevailed down to our own time.
ant priestesses. There was no one central sanctuary, but there
Mysteries of Cybele are attested on the Greek mainland
were centers in southern Italy (Cumae), Asia Minor, and
and islands from the third century BCE. Oddly, no mention
Egypt. Ecstatic and orgiastic activity remained characteristic
is made of Attis. Pausanias, in the second century CE, is the
of this cult as late as the second century BCE and only then
first witness to the connection; the mythological relation is
assumed more strictly regulated, esoteric forms, as can be
attested by Catullus in his “Poem 63” (first century BCE). We
seen from the laws of the Iobacchant community at Athens,
know nothing about the structure and content of these mys-
where the cult of Dionysos (Bacchus) had become a kind of
teries; perhaps they were an imitation of the Eleusinian mys-
club. The myth of Dionysos had for its focus the divine
teries. In any case, the Roman cult of Cybele, who was wor-
forces hidden in nature and human beings; these forces were
shiped on the Palatine from 204 BCE on, was not a mystery
thematized and applied chiefly by women. The ecstatic noc-
religion. Beginning in the second century CE and down to
turnal celebrations showed traits of promiscuity (Maenads
the fifth century, the literature speaks of the mysteries of
and satyrs) and took place in the open air. It is uncertain to
Mater Magna (Me¯te¯r Megale¯) but tells us no more about
what extent the paintings in the Villa Item at Pompeii and
them. On the supposition that we are not dealing simply
in the Casa Omerica reproduce the later ritual of the Diony-
with a misleading terminology, these mysteries may have fo-
sian mysteries. These paintings are more likely a mysterio-
cused on the ritual castration of novices (Galli) and its deeper
sophic interpretation within the framework of a bridal mysti-
meaning. With regard to Attis, inscriptions in Asia Minor
cism in which the soul (the immortal element as part of the
dating from the first century CEspeak of the “initiates of
god Dionysos) presents the pattern of a cycle of purifications.
Attis” (Attabokaoi). Some formulas, preserved by Clement
The myth of Dionysos was at an early stage combined with
of Alexandria and Firmicus Maternus, show that the refer-
the Orphic mysteries. The hope of another world that was
ence is to a participation in the destiny of the divinity where-
promised and confirmed in the rites is well attested by burial
by the faithful are promised deliverance: “Be consoled, O ini-
gifts (gold plates) from Greece and southern Italy. Even after
tiates, for the god is delivered; therefore we too shall have
death, the initiate remained under the protection of the god.
deliverance from our troubles” (Firmicus Maternus, De er-
roribus profanarum religionum 22.1–3).
The Orphic mysteries are a difficult phenomenon to
deal with. Often they are not easily distinguished from the
The initiation involved an anointing; there is also refer-
Dionysian mysteries. Also, it is not certain whether they were
ence to a kind of sacred meal (eating from a tambourine,
actually mysteries and, if they were, where we should look
drinking from a cymbal). The meaning of an accompanying
for their origin. Testimonies do not go back beyond the sixth
formula is uncertain in the version given by Clement of Alex-
century
andria (Protrepticus 15): “I have entered the aduton [bridal
BCE and vary widely. It is certain that at an early date
Orpheus was turned into the founder of the Eleusinian, Dio-
chamber?].” Firmicus Maternus has a simpler version: “I
nysian, and Samo-thracian mysteries. Orphism therefore had
have become an initiate of Attis.” At the end of the fourth
no central sanctuary. It seems to have been more of a mis-
century CE, the cult of Cybele and Attis also included bap-
sionary religion that, unlike the official cults, devoted itself
tism in bull’s blood (taurobolium). This ceremony had devel-
to the theme of the immortal soul (psuch¯e) and its deliverance
oped out of an older sacrifice of a bull, attested from the mid-
from the present world. It had an ethical view of the relation
dle of the second century on. It was supposed to bring
between initiation and behavior. A way of life that was
renewal to the initiates; only a single inscription interprets
shaped by certain rules served to liberate the soul or the di-
the renewal as a “new birth.” The baptism was a onetime rite
vine in human beings. The anthropogonic and cosmogonic
and perhaps was intended to compete with Christian
myth that provided an explanation of the hybrid human con-
baptism.
dition also showed the way to redemption; cosmology and
The Hellenistic cult of Isis in late antiquity undoubtedly
soteriology were thus already closely connected. As a result,
involved secret initiatory celebrations. We learn something
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
6331
about them from Apuleius’s famous novel, Metamorphoses,
The cult of Mithras (Mithra) in the Roman imperial
or The Golden Ass (second century CE). Greek influence is es-
age, like that of Isis, was not originally Oriental but was a
pecially clear here: it was only through the identification of
creation of Hellenistic syncretism. It is true that the name
Isis with Demeter (attested in Herodotus, 2.59) and the hel-
of the god Mithras is Indo-Iranian in origin and originally
lenization of the cult of Isis that the latter came to include
meant “contract” (mithra, mitra) and that some Iranian-
mysteries (first attested c. 220 BCE on Delos). In this form
Zoroastrian elements are recognizable in the iconographic
it spread, despite occasional opposition, throughout the
and epigraphic sources; these facts, however, do not point to
whole civilized world of the time, reaching Rome in the first
a Persian origin of the cult. No testimonies to the existence
century BCE. It became one of the most widely disseminated
of Mithraea in Iran have as yet been discovered. On the other
Oriental religions of late antiquity, especially from the sec-
hand, the vast majority of these sanctuaries have been found
ond century BCE on. Isis became the great thousand-named,
in the Roman military provinces of central and eastern Eu-
universal goddess (panthea) who had conquered destiny and
rope, especially in Dalmatia and the Danube Valley. The
was invoked in numerous hymns and aretalogies that display
Mithraeum at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates is the most
a remarkable Greco-Egyptian atmosphere and tone.
eastern. It was built by Roman soldiers from Syria in 168 CE,
rebuilt in 209 CE, and expanded in 240 CE. It was thus not
This successful hellenization was probably due to the in-
the creation of a native community. The “Parthian” style is
troduction of the cult of Sarapis under Ptolemy I, son of
simply a matter of adaptation to local tradition and no proof
Lagus (305–283 BCE), when this novel Greco-Egyptian cult
of an Iranian origin of the mysteries. There is as yet no evi-
(Sarapis combines Osiris and Apis) was celebrated with both
dence of Mithraea in Babylonia (Mesopotamia); three
an Eleusinian priest (Timothy, a Eumolpid) and an Egyptian
Mithraea have been found in Asia Minor, one in Syria. The
priest (Manetho) participating. Isis, Thoth, and Anubis were
oldest Mithraea are from the middle of the second century
naturally linked with Sarapis (Osiris). The well-known story
CE; most are from the third and fourth centuries. Thus an
of Isis, Osiris, and Horus (Harpocrates) acquired its com-
Eastern origin for the Mithraic mysteries is most uncertain.
plete form only in Greek and in this version was probably
a product of Hellenism (Osiris being assimilated to Adonis).
According to Plutarch (Life of Pompey 24) they were in-
The ancient Egyptian cult of Osiris was originally connected
troduced into the West by Syrian pirates in the first century
with the monarchy and displayed the character of a mystery
BCE. This report may have a historical basis because the ven-
religion only to the extent that the dead pharaoh was looked
eration of Mithras in Syria, Pontus, and Commagene is well
upon as Osiris and brought to Abydos not simply to be bur-
attested, though no reference is made to any mysteries of
ied but also to be greeted by the people as one restored to
Mithras. It is likely that soldiers from this area, where Greeks
life in the form of a new statue in the temple. The hope of
and Orientals came in contact, brought the cult of Mithras
survival as or with or like Osiris was the predominant form
to the West in the first century CE. In the second century CE,
that the hope of another world took in ancient Egypt, and
however, the cult was transformed into mysteries in the
it continued uninterrupted in the Greco-Roman period; it
proper sense and widely disseminated as a soldiers’ religion,
provided a point of attachment for the mysteries of Isis.
until finally Mithras was elevated to the position of Sol Invic-
tus, the god of the empire, under Diocletian (r. 284–305).
The cult of Isis had its official place in the Roman festal
As in the case of the cult of Isis, the Hellenistic worshipers
calendar (beginning in the second century CE) and comprised
of Mithras transformed the foreign god and his cult along
two principal feasts: the Iseia, which was celebrated from Oc-
lines inspired by the awakening individualism of the time
tober 26 to November 3 and included the dromenon of the
with its rejection of the traditional official cult and its long-
myth, with the “finding” (heuresis, inventio) of Osiris as its
ing for liberation from death and fate—a longing especially
climax; and the sea-journey feast (Navigium Isidis, Ploiaphe-
understandable in soldiers. In addition, the exotic elements
sia) on March 5, the beginning of the season for seafaring,
(Egyptian, Persian) are to be attributed to the contemporary
of which Isis had become the patron deity. According to Ap-
tendency to emphasize and cultivate such traits as being espe-
uleius (Metamorphoses 11) the actual mysteries began with
cially efficacious.
preliminary rites such as baptism (sprinkling), a ten-day fast,
We are, once again, poorly informed about the myth
and being clothed in a linen robe. At sunset the initiates en-
and rites of the Mithraic mysteries. We have no account by
tered the aduton for further ceremonies to which only allu-
an Apuleius as we do for the mysteries of Isis. Instead we have
sions are made: a journey through the lower world and the
a large mass of archaeological documents that are not always
upper world (the twelve houses of the zodiac, which repre-
easy to interpret. The so-called Mithraic Liturgy is a magical
sented the power of destiny) and a vesting of the initiate as
text concerned only marginally with the mysteries of
the sun god (instar solis); the initiate was renatus (“reborn”)
Mithras. What Porphyry has to say about these mysteries in
and became sol (“the sun”), or in other words experienced
his Cave of the Nymph is philosophical exegesis in the Neo-
a deification (theomorpho¯sis). He thereby became a “servant”
platonic vein.
of Isis and “triumphed over his destiny [fortuna].” In addi-
tion to a consecration to Isis, there was evidently also a conse-
The Mithraic mysteries took place in small cavelike
cration to Osiris, but we know even less about this ceremony.
rooms that were usually decorated with the characteristic re-
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MYSTERY RELIGIONS
lief or cult statue of Mithras Tauroctonus (“bull-slayer” or
assuming that the circles responsible for the corpus had
“bull-sacrificer”). In form, this representation and its accom-
“mysteries” that were given ritual expression. The same holds
panying astrological symbols is Greco-Roman; its content
for some of the gnostic writings, which not only frequently
has some relation to cosmology and soteriology, that is, the
discuss the concept of musterion/mysterium but also adopt in
sacrifice of a bull is thought of as life-giving. Other icono-
their rituals various aspects of the mysteries and especially the
graphic evidence indicates that the god was a model for the
notion of a disciplina arcani (see below). Even Hellenistic Ju-
faithful and wanted them to share his destiny: birth from a
daism, especially in the person of Philo Judaeus (first century
rock, combats like those of Herakles, ascent to the sun, do-
CE), underwent the same influence. A work like Joseph and
minion over time and the cosmos. Acceptance into the com-
Aseneth is unintelligible without a knowledge of the myster-
munity of initiates (consecranei) or brothers (fratres) was
ies. Even the Greek translation (the Septuagint) of the He-
achieved through consecratory rites in which baptisms or ab-
brew Bible does not escape their influence, any more than
lutions, purifications (with honey), meals (bread, water,
the subsequent writings of the Christian community. The
wine, meat), crownings with garlands, costumes, tests of
language of Christ’s apostle Paul (especially in 1 Corinthians
valor, and blessings played a part. There were seven degrees
and 2 Corinthians) and of his disciples (in Ephesians and Co-
of initiation (Corax, Nymphus, Miles, Leo, Perses, Heliodro-
lossians) betrays this environment, as does, no doubt, the
mus, Pater), which were connected with the planetary deities
First Letter of Peter.
and certain symbols or insignia. Surviving inscriptions attest
The impact of the mysteries became more concrete be-
the profound seriousness of the mysteries. Mithras is ad-
ginning in the second century
dressed: “You have rescued us, too, by shedding the blood
CE, as the Christian church
found itself increasingly in competition with these forms of
that makes us immortal.” Since these groups accepted only
worship. The cultic area of the church’s life, especially bap-
men (mostly soldiers), they can be considered true religious
tism and eucharist, underwent a profound transformation as
associations of males. Also worth noting is the close link be-
the sacraments became “mysteries” to which not everyone
tween Mithras and Saturn (Kronos) as god of the universe
had immediate access. Preparation (initiation) was now re-
and of time (Aion, Saeculum, Aevum); Saturn is the father
quired in the form of fasts, instructions, purifications. The
of Mithras and the one who commissions him, while Mithras
unbaptized and those on the way to baptism (catechumens)
is in turn connected with the sun god (Sol, Apollo). (There
were not admitted to the sacred Christian cultic meal, which
is still a good deal of obscurity in this area.) Christian apolo-
was regarded as the “remedy bringing immortality” and ac-
gists (Justin, Tertullian, Jerome, Firmicus Maternus) regard-
quired its efficacy through the epiclesis (invocation) of the
ed the mysteries of Mithras as a serious rival of early Chris-
priest; in other words, the cultic meal was placed under a
tianity; several Christian churches were built over Mithraea.
kind of discipline of secrecy. As the church became hierarchi-
IMPACT OF THE MYSTERIES. Because the Greek mysteries, es-
cally organized (especially from the third century on) and as
pecially the Eleusinian and the Dionysian, exerted a growing
it became an established church under Constantine in the
attraction and influence, Hellenistic literature accepted and
fourth century, it not only won greater publicity to the detri-
developed in varying ways the ideas and representations
ment of the old established religion but at the same time ac-
proper to the mysteries. An effort has been made (Kerényi,
quired an aspect of mystery whereby it sought to give a
1927; Merkelbach, 1984) to extend our knowledge of the
Christian direction to a new phenomenon, the religiosity of
mysteries, and especially of the ritual concealed from us by
the masses. Mystery now became not only a cultic term but
the discipline of the secret (arcanum), by examining the nov-
also, following a path blazed by ancient philosophy, made
els of late antiquity. Such fictional themes as loss, search, and
its way into Christian theology, where mysticism came to
recovery, (apparent) death and return to life, the passing of
mean a kind of knowledge of God that is not available to
tests, transformations (metamorphoses), hints of “mysteries,”
everyone.
and so on may very well have been reflections of the myster-
“MYSTERIOSOPHY.” A typically Hellenic spiritualization of
ies. Ambiguity, allegory, and symbolism served as codes that
the language of the mysteries had been going on in Greek
could be broken only by initiates (and in our day by schol-
philosophy since Plato; in the ensuing period, as the myster-
ars). Reinhold Merkelbach speaks in this context of an “Isis
ies spread, mysterium and sophia became more and more
novel” (in Apuleius, Xenophon of Ephesus, Achilles Tatius,
closely associated, and in late antiquity the distinction be-
the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri, and parts of the pseudo-
tween religion and philosophy became ever more tenuous.
Clementine literature as reworked by Christian gnostics); a
The parallelism of the two was due to the fact that, according
“Mithras novel” (Syrian Iamblichus, Babylonica); a Dionysos
to Greek philosophy, knowledge of God was attainable only
novel (Longus, Daphne and Chloe); and, in the Aethiopiaca
by a path resembling the one followed in the mysteries at the
of Heliodorus, a “syncretistic Helios novel” that combines
ritual and religious level: that is, there was need of prepara-
the mysteries of Isis, Mithras, and Dionysos.
tions, instructions, and even a kind of authorization (kathar-
The philosophical and religious literature of the Helle-
sis). For Plato, knowledge of God is identical with the vision
nistic age was also affected by the mysteries. The Corpus Her-
of supreme and utterly pure being; the vision brings a partici-
meticum, for example, is filled with reminiscences of the ter-
pation in that being and even bestows immortality. For this
minology of the mysteries, and we are quite justified in
reason, terms taken from the mysteries were often used in
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYSTERY RELIGIONS
6333
philosophy: epopteia, telet¯e, must¯eria. Platonic and Stoic phi-
other things, Attis is here interpreted as the gnostic Primal
losophers began to impose their own meaning on the avail-
Man (Anthropos); his castration by Cybele becomes a deliv-
able myths connected with the mysteries; they began to “my-
erance from what is earthly. Osiris, Adonis, and Adam are
thologize” them, that is, to link muthos and logos. Preliminary
likewise variants of the perfect human being or of the immor-
steps in this direction, or at least parallel manifestations, were
tal soul. According to this gnostic sermon, the mysteries of
already to be found in Orphism, which posited a “hidden”
Isis are the root of all nongnostic cults, and Persephone-
(mystic) link between the cosmos and human beings and
Kore, in the form of Aphrodite, represents transient becom-
made use in addition of the doctrine of the soul (a divine ele-
ing. For this reason, all these mysteries are looked upon as
ment located in the body). This paraphilosophical explana-
the “lesser mysteries,” while the mysteries of gnosticism be-
tion has been called “mysteriosophy” (Bianchi, 1979); we
come the “greater mysteries” or the “heavenly mysteries.”
met it earlier in the traditions concerned with Eleusis, where
This synoptic view of all mysteries in the service of a
it already bore a strong Orphic impress.
mysteriosophic and gnostic interpretation was a path by
which the traditions embodied in the ancient mysteries made
Insofar as the philosophy of the Hellenistic age and late
their way into late antiquity. Thus transformed and pre-
antiquity was interested in the mysteries, it took the often
served, they became part of the heritage left by heathen and
bizarre mythical traditions associated with them and sought
Christian antiquity and, to that extent, remained alive even
to extract their rational (logical) nucleus by interpreting
after the cessation of the cultic practices that had once been
them as pieces of natural philosophy or as nature myths (this
their true reality.
was especially the case with the Stoics). Unfortunately, we
possess only fragmentary examples of such interpretations of
SEE ALSO Dionysos; Dying and Rising Gods; Eleusinian
the mysteries. Thus Cybele (Magna Mater) was interpreted
Mysteries; Isis; Mithra; Mithraism; Orpheus.
as Mother Earth (Lucretius, Varro) and as the origin of
being, and Attis as the instrument of creation (i.e., of becom-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ing) or as Logos and Savior (Emperor Julian). Isis, under-
General Works
stood as mother of the gods and universal goddess (panthea),
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was identified with Demeter (Plutarch). Mithras (the Sun)
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became principle (“Creator and Father”) of the universe
Rapids, Mich., 1967.
(Porphyry); his identification with Aion (“eternal time”)
Campbell, Joseph, ed. Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, vol. 2,
probably also goes back to a philosophical interpretation.
The Mysteries. Princeton, 1955.
The influence of this kind of philosophical interpreta-
Lévy, Paul. Buddhism: A “Mystery Religion”? London, 1957.
tion on the later theology of the mysteries cannot simply be
Metzger, Bruce. “Bibliography of Mystery Religions.” In Aufstieg
rejected out of hand. Traditions such as Hermetism, a
und Niedergang der römischen Welt, vol. 2.17.3,
Greco-Egyptian revelatory religion, show the path followed
pp. 1259–1423. Berlin and New York, 1984.
in this alignment of philosophy and religion, which the Neo-
Greek Mysteries
Phythagoreanism and late Platonism (Plotinus) led to philos-
Bianchi, Ugo. The Greek Mysteries. Leiden, 1976.
ophy being turned into religion, philosophical knowledge
Burkert, Walter. Griechische Religion der archaischen und klassisc-
into the vision of God, and the life of the philosopher into
hen Epoche. Stuttgart, 1977. Translated as Greek Religion
a religious bios (“life”). At work in this process was the con-
(Cambridge, Mass., 1985).
viction that behind both religion (the mysteries) and philoso-
Casadio, G. “Per un’indagine storico-religioso sui culti di Dio-
phy was the “ineffable,” the “mystery,” or “being,” as op-
niso in relazione alla fenomenologia dei misteri, I.” Studi
posed to everything transient or to “becoming,” and that this
storico-religiosi 6 (1982): 210–234 and 7 (1983): 123–149.
ultimate reality was to be approached not simply through
Foucart, Paul-François. Les mystères d’Eleusis (1914). New York,
thought (theo¯ria) but also through one’s way of life (praxis);
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only the two together could lead one to vision, enlighten-
Guthrie, W. K. C. Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of the Or-
ment, and immortality (see especially Iamblichus, De
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mysteriis).
Hemberg, Bengt. Die Kabiren. Uppsala, 1950.
This current of thought provided the matrix for gnosti-
Kern, Otto. Die griechischen Mysterien der klassischen Zeit. Berlin,
cism, a movement that not only continued to some extent
1927. Amended in Die Antike 6 (1930): 302–323.
the ritual practices of the mysteries, such as cultic meals, bap-
Nilsson, Martin P. The Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and
tisms, purifications, anointings, and dro¯mena and was orga-
Roman Age (1957). New York, 1975.
nized as a mystery-association (thiasos) but also borrowed
Nilsson, Martin P. Geschichte der griechischen Religion (1941–
from the mysteries at the level of ideology (mythology). The
1957). 2 vols. 3d rev. ed. Munich, 1967–1974.
so-called Naassene sermon “On Man” (Hippolytus, Refuta-
Otto, Walter F. Dionysos: Myth and Cult. Bloomington, Ind.,
tious 5.6, 4–10, 2) is an instructive example of this borrowing
1965.
and, at the same time, one of the few sources that preserve
Turchi, Nicola. Fontes historiae mysteriorum aevi hellenistici.
authentic citations from the Eleusinian mysteries. Among
Rome, 1923.
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MYSTICAL UNION IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM
Oriental Mysteries
Christianity and Gnosticism
Bianchi, Ugo, ed. Mysteria Mithrae. Leiden, 1979.
Burkert, Walter. Antichità classica e cristianesimo antico. Problemi
Bianchi, Ugo, and Maarten J. Vermaseren, eds. La soteriologia dei
di una scienza comprensiva delle religioni. Cosenza, Italy,
culti orientali nell’Impero Romano. Leiden, 1982.
1996.
Colpe, Carsten. “Zur mythologischen Struktur der Adonis-, Attis-
Smith, Jonathan Z. Drudgery Divine. On the Comparison of Early
und Osiris-Überlieferungen.” In Lisan mithurti: Festschrift
Christianity and the Religions of Late Antiquity. Chicago,
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pp. 23–44. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1969.
KURT RUDOLPH (1987)
Cumont, Franz. The Mysteries of Mithra (1903). New York, 1956.
Translated from German by Matthew J. O’Connell
Cumont, Franz. The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism
Revised Bibliography
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Hepding, Hugo. Attis: Seine Mythen und sein Kult (1903). Berlin,
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MYSTICAL UNION IN JUDAISM, CHRIS-
Hinnel, John R., ed. Mithraic Studies. 2 vols. Totowa, N. J., 1975.
TIANITY, AND ISLAM. To describe the nature of
Kerényi, Károly. Die griechisch-orientalische Romanliteratur in reli-
mystical union in the three monotheistic faiths is a task
gionsgeschichtlicher Beleuchtung. Tübingen, 1927.
fraught with difficulties and ambiguities both conceptual
Merkelbach, Reinhold. Mithras. Konigstein, 1984.
and real. First, the term unio mystica is primarily a modern
Reitzenstein, Richard. Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen nach
expression; though the phrase does occur in Christian mysti-
ihren Grundgedanken und Wirkungen. Berlin, 1927. Trans-
cism, its appearance is relatively rare. Various words for and
lated as The Hellenistic Mystery Religions (Pittsburgh, 1978).
descriptions of union or uniting with God, however, are im-
Vermaseren, Maarten J. Die orientalischen Religionen im Rö-
portant in the history of Christian mysticism, and accounts
merreich. Leiden, 1981.
of union with God are also prominent in Judaism and Islam.
Christianity and Gnosticism
Second, even the term mysticism itself, another modern cre-
Angus, S. The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. 2d ed. London,
ation, has come under attack. To what extent, for example,
1928. Reprinted as The Mystery-Religions: A Study in the Reli-
does the use of a term created in the modern Christian West
gious Background of Early Christianity (New York, 1975).
distort the meaning of key figures, movements, and texts
Frickel, J. Hellenistische Erlösung in christlicher Deutung. Leiden,
from the traditions of Judaism and Islam? The question is
1984.
a real one, but the position adopted here is that, if mysticism
Loisy, Alfred. Les mystères païens et le mystère chrètiens. 2d ed. Paris,
is understood broadly as the preparation for, the conscious-
1930.
ness of, and the effect engendered by what mystics describe
Wagner, Günter. Das religionsgeschichtliche Problem von Römer
as a direct and immediate transformative contact with the di-
6,1–11. Zurich, 1962.
vine presence, then it is useful to speak of a strong mystical
New Sources
element in each of the three faiths. Third, if one allows that
mysticism is a helpful term in the study of religion, is mysti-
General Works
Burkert, Walter. Ancient Mystery Cults. Cambridge, Mass., and
cal union to be conceived of as its essence? Though some in-
London, 1987.
vestigators have so claimed, the study of mystical traditions
Gordon, Richard. “Mysteries.” In The Oxford Classical Dictionary,
indicates that the language of union is only one of the lin-
pp. 1017–1018. Oxford, 1996.
guistic strategies used by mystics to try to describe, or at least
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. I misteri. Saggio di una teoria storico-religiosa
to point to, what they contend is the ultimately ineffable na-
(1924). 2d edition with a foreword by Dario Sabbatucci and
ture of their contact with God. Unitive mysticism is one of
bibliographical updates by Giovanni Casadio. Cosenza, Italy,
a group of interactive and nonexclusive semantic fields found
1997.
in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. There
Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia. Misteri e teologie. Per la storia dei culti
are mystics in each tradition who either explicitly avoid
mistici e misterici nel mondo antico. Cosenza, Italy, 2003.
union language (e.g., Augustine of Hippo) or else who tend
Turcan, Robert. “Initiation.” In Reallexikon für Antike und Chris-
to relegate such language to the margin in favor of other
tentum, vol. 18, pp. 87–159. Stuttgart, 1996.
modes of mystical expression, such as those related to the vi-
Zeller, Dieter. “Mysterien/Mysterienreligionen.” In Theologische
sion of God or to theurgical action in the divine realm.
Realenzyklopädie, vol. 23. Berlin and New York, 1994.
CHARACTERISTICS OF UNITIVE MYSTICISM. Treatments of
Greek Mysteries
mystical union have often employed the terms pantheism and
Cosmopoulos, Michael B., ed. Greek Mysteries. The Archaeology
monism to characterize unitive expressions, but pantheism
and Ritual of Ancient Greek Secret Cults. London and New
and monism are not adequate categories for discerning the
York, 2003.
import of unitive language. God is certainly all things in the
Oriental Mysteries
monotheistic faiths, in the sense that the world is a manifes-
Turcan, Robert. Les cultes orientaux dans le monde romain. Paris,
tation of God; but God is also transcendentally more than
1989. English translation The Cults of the Roman Empire.
the world, so the simple identification between God and
Cambridge, Mass., 1996.
world implied in pantheism is not an accurate term. Mo-
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MYSTICAL UNION IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM
6335
nism, understood as the belief that there is one basic princi-
tion; the language of the return to the pre-creational state;
ple underlying all reality, is true of most forms of mysticism
and reduplication discourses, often involving referential am-
of the monotheistic religions (though not of Qabbalah). But
biguity, especially in dealing with pronouns signifying God
monism tells little more than this and hence is an empty cate-
and the human.
gory for serious investigation of mysticism.
Intimately allied with the difference between mystical
Previous scholarship on mysticism often employed op-
uniting and mystical identity is the issue of annihilation.
positional terminology, such as impersonal versus personal
Many mystics have insisted that union-identity can only be
union, absorptive versus nonabsorptive union, habitual ver-
found through annihilation of the self, but the meaning of
sus ecstatic union, essential union versus intentional union,
annihilation is complex and open to a host of questions.
and the like. Such typologizing, however, should not be ap-
What self is being annihilated: the created self or also a deep-
plied in any crude way, as if mystics could easily be pigeon-
er, pre-creational self found in God? Is the ego annihilation
holed into one or the other category. The comparative di-
total and final or only in certain respects and for particular
mensions of mystical union emerge from attention to some
times and circumstances? Finally, is the annihilation in some
of the profound issues at work in unitive texts. The persis-
way a mutual one in which both God and human lose them-
tence across traditions of particular doctrinal and ethical is-
selves in some deeper reality? Annihilation is not a simple or
sues concerning union and the employment of certain dis-
univocal category but is, rather, analogical, dialogical, and
tinctive forms of language to describe unitive states points
paradoxical. Furthermore when annihilation language is used
to a fruitful realm of comparative dynamics.
in texts that stress mystical identity, it is often accompanied
by strategies of qualification that must be taken into account
Among these issues is the question of what kinds of lan-
to get the full measure of the meaning of annihilation. Some
guage are used to present union. Rather than being easily
of these strategies are dialectical in the sense that they insist
classifiable by opposed types, most mystical texts feature an
on the coexistence of indistinction and distinction in the re-
oscillation and interaction between two poles that need not
lation between God and human—from one perspective
be seen as expressing opposition. On the one hand, there is
union is total identity; from another, it coexists with an on-
what can be called mystical uniting, that is, an intentional
going real difference between the two. Other qualifications
union of God and human that emphasizes the ongoing dis-
are more perspectival, claiming that annihilation is essential-
tinction of the two; on the other hand, there is a deeper
ly a matter of the consciousness of the mystic and not the
union understood as mystical identity, expressing indistinc-
structures of reality themselves.
tion between God and human, at least at some level of reali-
ty. The pole of mystical uniting is more common and doctri-
In the monotheistic faiths the God of creation, revela-
nally more acceptable; the pole of mystical identity is daring
tion, and redemption is not a static and indifferent First
and debatable, yet many noted mystics in all three faiths have
Principle but a loving and all-knowing God, who creates hu-
insisted that indistinction is the ultimate goal of the journey
mans whose likeness to him consists precisely in their ability
to God. Whereas some mystics tend to use only one of these
to know and to love. The various ways of expressing mystical
forms of language, many use formulations that reflect subtle
union are intimately connected with the relation between
variations in the range of expressions between both ways of
knowing and loving, both in the path to union and in its re-
presenting the divine-human conjunction.
alization. Here too important comparative issues arise. Most
mystics claim that both knowing and loving are necessary in
Mystics make use of a variety of images and symbols,
the way to God, but many mystics stress the superiority of
as well as distinctive expressions and forms of technical dis-
love, often expressed in highly erotic ways, whereas others
course, in their attempts to suggest through language what
conceive of union as attaining mental identity with the Di-
lies beyond language. Images of erotic love—the kiss, the
vine Intellect. In unitive states some mystics contend that
embrace, the memory of encounter, even sexual inter-
one reaches a higher divine way of knowing (gno¯sis); other
course—are favored ways of expressing mystical union.
mystics see all loving and knowing, at least as most people
Three images for mixing substances that originated in an-
conceive them, as abrogated when union or identity is at-
cient philosophical writings are also popular among the mys-
tained. The variations found in Judaism, Christianity, and
tics: the drop of water in a vat of wine, the bar of iron in fire,
Islam on this essential problematic are too multiple to be eas-
and air illuminated by the sun. Some images lend themselves
ily characterized, but it is difficult to appreciate the dynamics
more aptly to symbolizing the absorption that leads to mysti-
of union unless one addresses the relation between unitive
cal identity, such as the ocean, the desert, the mirror, the
expressions and the roles of love and knowledge.
abyss, cloud and darkness, and the identical eye (Meister
Eckhart: “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with
Among the other persistent issues concerning the com-
which God sees me”). Another powerful image for absorp-
parative dimensions of mystical union is that of the ethical
tion is eating and being eaten. There are also distinctive lin-
implications of claims of having attained union-identity with
guistic expressions and strategies found across the three tradi-
God. If mystics think they have become in some sense one
tions: ecstatic identity pronouncements (especially in Islam);
with God, what does this mean for their behavior and their
forms of dialectical language expressing fusion and indistinc-
relation to the wider community of faith? Does this indicate,
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MYSTICAL UNION IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM
for instance, that the ordinary religious practices, and per-
books on mysticism of the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
haps even the moral code, no longer are binding on mystics?
ries (e.g., L. Blosius and M. Sandaeus).
In both Christianity and Islam mystics, especially those who
Mystical union in Christianity to 1200. If the term
claimed identity with God, have been suspected of holding
mystical union is rare, the reality of union with God is old
such views. These mystics were at times subject to persecu-
in Christianity. The earliest Christian mystical system, that
tion, imprisonment, and even death, as shown by the exam-
found in the Alexandrian exegete Origen (d. 254 CE), already
ples of al-H:alla¯j and EAyn al-Qud:a¯t al-Hamadha¯n¯ı in Islam
displays a rich teaching on the union between the loving soul
and Marguerite Porete, Meister Eckhart, and Miguel de
and the Incarnate Logos, especially as found in the spiritual
Molinos in Christianity. Do these incidents prove that there
reading of the Song of Songs. Commenting on Song of Songs
is always an inherent challenge to institutional and dogmatic
2:10–13, Origen says, “For the Word of God would not oth-
religion in the mystical impetus to become one with God?
erwise say that the soul was his neighbor, did he not join
Some have argued this case, but a careful study of even the
himself to her and become one spirit with her.” Here Origen
strongest claims for mystical identity with God across the
is referencing a text from Paul (1 Cor. 6:17: “Whoever is
three traditions demonstrates that few mystics have con-
joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him”), a passage
sciously adopted an antinomian stance or broken with the
that became the leitmotif for those forms of Christian mysti-
common religious practices and institutional claims of their
cism that emphasize mystical uniting. For Origen and others,
tradition, however much they may have come to see these
the soul burning with love for Christ is divinized by grace
as secondary. There seems to be no inherent conflict between
to enjoy a union of loving conformity with the Logos that
unitive claims and common religious and ethical practice as
introduces it to the delights of “mystical and ineffable con-
long as the mystic sees both faith and union as coming from
templation.”
the same divine source.
Origen’s younger contemporary, the pagan philosopher
In a brief essay it is not possible to pursue these issues
and creator of Neoplatonism Plotinus (d. 270 CE), had a
across the three monotheistic faiths. What follows is a sketch
powerful effect on later mysticism in all three traditions.
of some of the major unitive mystics in Christianity, Islam,
Many of the characteristic ways in which mystics sought to
and Judaism, designed to provide a road map for those who
present identity with God are already found in the passages
wish to investigate unitive mysticism further. Because the
where Plotinus talks about the soul attaining heno¯sis, first
language of mysticism and mystical union arose in Christian-
with the Supreme Intellect (nous), where some duality still
ity, this article looks at Christian expressions first. Strong
remains, and finally with the ultimate and unknowable One
forms of unitive mysticism appeared as early as the second
(to hen). Throughout his Enneads, but especially in Ennead
century of Islam (eighth century CE). Although Judaism was
6.9, Plotinus explores with unrivaled subtlety and deep per-
deeply influential on the origins of both Christianity and
sonal concern how the soul must lose or annihilate its present
Islam, because unitive language emerged in Jewish mysticism
identity to find a transcendent self in the One. “When it [the
relatively late, it will be treated last.
soul] is not anything else, it is nothing but itself. Yet, when
U
it is itself alone and not in a being, it is in That [the One]”
NION IN CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM. The Greek qualifier mus-
tikos is derived from the verb muein, meaning “to close the
(Ennead 6.9.11). Plotinus’s view of mystical union is funda-
mouth or eyes.” Ancient writers used the term in the sense
mentally dialectical. The One always is the soul in a tran-
scendental sense, but because the One is also always more
of something hidden, as in the case of the mystery cults, but
than the soul, the two can never be totally identified in an
from the second century CE Christians adopted mustikos to
absolute way. Plotinus’s apophatic treatment of the First
signify the inner realities of their beliefs and practices. The
Principle and his dialectical notion of union were developed
word was most often used to describe the hidden spiritual
by later Neoplatonists, such as Proclus (d. 485
meaning of the Bible, but it was also employed in speaking
CE), whose
philosophy also had an impact on Christian and Islamic mys-
of the Sacraments and of the vision of God (th¯eoria mustik¯e).
ticism.
Around the year 500 CE Pseudo-Dionysius coined the term
theologia mustik¯e to indicate the knowledge (or better, super-
Forms of language that explore the possibility of attain-
knowledge) by which mystics attain God. The earliest uses
ing identity with God, especially God conceived of as one
of the term mystical union (sunousia mustik¯e, koino¯nia
and three in the dynamic relationship of Father, Son, and
mustik¯e) are found in the Spiritual Homilies ascribed to the
Holy Spirit, begin to appear in Christianity in the late fourth
Egyptian monk Macarius but actually written in Messalian
century CE in the writings of Evagrius (d. 399 CE), a learned
circles in Syria in the late fourth century CE (see Hom. 10.2,
Origenist who became a desert monk. With Evagrius one
15.2, and 47.17). Pseudo-Dionysius was the first to use the
finds a variety of forms of language, images, and metaphors,
term heno¯sis mustik¯e (Divine Names 2.9). The Latin transla-
both for loving union with God and for merging into identi-
tors of the Dionysian corpus employed various terms for Di-
ty with the Trinity. Evagrius appears to be the first Christian
onysius’s heno¯sis, but use of unio mystica was rare, despite the
to use one of the favored metaphors for mystical identity,
many discussions of union found in the medieval and early
that of rivers returning to the sea. In speaking of how created
modern periods. The term did emerge in some of the text-
minds return to the Trinity to attain their pre-creational
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6337
state, he says: “When minds flow back to him like torrents
place of the soul that has perfectly annihilated itself: “Now
into the sea, he changes them all completely into his own na-
he possesses the will without a why in the same way that he
ture, color, and taste. They will no longer be many but one
possessed it before she [the soul] was made a lady by it. There
in his unending and inseparable unity, because they are unit-
is nothing except him. No one loves except him, for nothing
ed and joined with him” (Letter to Melania 6). About a cen-
is except him, and thus he alone completely loves, and sees
tury later the anagogic mysticism of Pseudo-Dionysius also
himself alone completely, and praises alone completely by his
uses diverse images and linguistic strategies to present a mys-
being itself” (Mirror, chap. 91).
ticism of identity that lies beyond all knowing and loving.
Whereas the women mystics continued to employ both
Describing the ascent of Moses, an archetypal mystic for
the language of mystical uniting and that of mystical identi-
Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Dionysius says: “Renouncing
ty, Meister Eckhart (d. 1327/8) was the foremost spokesper-
all that the mind may conceive, wrapped entirely in the in-
son for a pure mysticism of indistinct, or identical, union in
tangible and invisible, he belongs completely to Him who
the history of Christianity. Eckhart used the dialectical lan-
is beyond everything. Here, being neither oneself nor some-
guage of Neoplatonic philosophy to explore the distinct-
one else, one is united to the wholly Unknown by an inactiv-
indistinction of the ground of identity where “God’s ground
ity of all knowledge, for the best, knowing beyond the mind
is the soul’s ground and the soul’s ground is God’s ground”
in knowing nothing” (Mystical Theology 1.3).
(German Sermon 6). Some passages even suggest attaining in-
The twelfth century was the golden age of speculation
distinction with the God-beyond-God, as in German Sermon
on oneness of spirit (unitas spiritus), following the Pauline-
48, which says that the soul is not content with the Trinity
Origenist tradition. Intense discussion of the modalities of
of persons or the divine essence, “but it wants to know the
union and the role of love and knowledge in unitive states
source of this essence, it wants to go into the simple ground,
was carried on by Cistercian authors, such as William of
into the quiet desert where distinction never gazed, not the
Saint Thierry (d. 1148) and Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153),
Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit.” The teachings of
as well as the early scholastic systematizers of mysticism of
Porete and Eckhart were too daring for the institutional
the school of Saint Victor, such as Hugh (d. 1141) and Rich-
church of the time. Porete was executed for heresy in 1310,
ard (d. 1173). Bernard is unrivaled in his subtle expositions
and Eckhart was posthumously condemned in 1329.
of how the love between the soul and the Incarnate Word
Eckhart’s language of indistinction was always qualified
leads to a complete conformity of wills imaged in spousal
by his dialectical insistence on the continued distinction be-
union. Nevertheless Bernard insisted that oneness in loving
tween God and creature. His followers Henry Suso and John
(unus) is different from the oneness of essence (unum) en-
Tauler continued to use the dialectic of distinction-
joyed by the three persons of the Trinity (Sermons on the Song
indistinction, but they also introduced qualifications not
of Songs 71.6–9). Bernard’s friend William of Saint Thierry
found in Eckhart. Suso, for example, echoing what can be
did not abandon the Pauline language of union of spirit, but
found in many S:u¯f¯ı mystics, carefully distinguished between
his profound treatment of how the Holy Spirit, transcendent
the ongoing ontological difference between God and human
Love itself, becomes the love by which one loves God moves
and the perception of this difference. One can lose the latter
in the direction of mystical identity. William was also signifi-
in moments of mystical rapture but never the former, accord-
cant for the ways in which he explored the transformation
ing to Suso. A particularly intricate solution to the problem
of the love-knowledge relation in the path to union. Love is
of mystical union is found in the Dutch mystic Jan van Ru-
more powerful than knowing on the way to God, but the
usbroec (d. 1381). According to his Little Book of Enlighten-
height of love found in mystical union includes a trans-
ment, union with God exists on three interpenetrating levels:
formed knowledge, what William called the intelligentia
union with an intermediary achieved through grace and the
amoris.
ordinary means of salvation; union without an intermediary
achieved through the excess of love, the level of unitas spiri-
Mystical union in Christianity, 1200–1700. In the
tus; and finally, union without difference or distinction,
thirteenth century new forms of mysticism burst upon the
“where the three Persons [of the Trinity] give way to the es-
scene in Western Christendom. Attaining God in mystical
sential unity . . . . There all the elevated spirits in their su-
uniting continued to be widely discussed (e.g., Bonaven-
peressence are one enjoyment and one beatitude with God
ture), but what is striking about the new mysticism of the
without difference.” These levels always coexist, here and
later Middle Ages is the way in which many of its practition-
hereafter.
ers turned to the language of mystical identity to express their
oneness with God. The move is first evident in some of the
The debate over mystical union continued. In the fif-
women mystics of the thirteenth century, especially the be-
teenth century Jean Gerson attacked false views of mystical
guines Hadewijch, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Margue-
union, not only of the Eckhartian variety but also those
rite Porete. Porete’s Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls, one
found in the writings of Ruusbroec and even some of the for-
of the most striking presentations of mystical identity in the
mulations of Bernard of Clairvaux. In the sixteenth century
history of Christianity, employs an impressive range of forms
some of the radical reformers employed the language of mys-
of discourse to suggest how God, the “Farnear,” takes the
tical identity taken over from late medieval figures. The great
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Spanish mystics Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) and John of the
sisting, because when the human ceases to be, what remains
Cross (d. 1591) display a rich teaching on mystical union
is only the divine reality in which all things subsist. It is in
that cannot be explored here. Though each makes use of ex-
this state that some S:u¯f¯ı mystics made ecstatic statements
pressions that taken out of context might suggest some form
that belong properly to God, such as al-H:alla¯j’s “I am the
of mystical identity, viewed synoptically they insist that the
Truth” and al-Bist:a¯m¯ı’s “Glory be to Me.”
loving union that can be found in this life involves only con-
formity of the transformed self with God, not indistinction
Closely related to fana¯ D and baqa¯D are two other sets of
or identity. As John put it in his Spiritual Canticle 31.1:
terms. The Arabic root w-j-d gives rise to a series of words
“This thread of love binds the two . . . with such firmness
expressing various forms of ecstasy in the sense of being
and so unites and transforms them and makes them one in
found, or drawn out, by God (tawa¯jud, wajd, wuju¯d; Sells,
love, that, although they differ in substance, yet in glory and
1996, pp. 110–116). These can be described as states of in-
appearance the soul seems to be God and God the soul.” In
tensification of existence achieved through passing away into
the mysticism of the seventeenth century that led to the con-
pure divine existence. Another set of terms denotes different
demnations of quietism (1687 and 1699), it was not so much
ways of speaking of union, or oneness (jam D). According to
the doctrine of union itself, as the teaching on annihilation
Qushayr¯ı’s Treatise, both union in the sense of God’s action
and the supposed indifference to sin that resulted from this
in humans and separation, what the human does through
that was the focus of objections to mystical teaching.
acts of worship, are necessary. Beyond this duality lies what
he and other S:u¯f¯ıs call the “union of union” (jamD al-jamD),
MYSTICAL UNION IN ISLAM. What is striking about Islam is
which Qushayr¯ı says is “the utter perishing and passing away
the way in which strong forms of mystical identity emerged
of all perception of any other-than-God, Most Glorious and
quite early in the development of the S:u¯f¯ı tradition. In part
Sublime, through the onslaughts of reality” (Sells, 1996,
this reflects the impact of the noted union h:ad¯ıth (an extra-
p. 118). The S:u¯f¯ıs denied that such expressions of mystical
QurDanic divine statement): “I became the hearing with
identity were to be thought of as forms of unification
which he hears, the seeing with which he sees, the hand with
(ittih:a¯d), as if God and human were two things mixed to-
which he grasps, and the foot with which he walks.” The em-
gether. They also abjured h:ulu¯l, that is, indwelling or in-
phasis on identity coexists along with highly developed forms
carnationalism, by which God is conceived of as inside the
of erotic union language. Through the absorption and trans-
human spirit, coexisting with it. However, in Islam, as in
position of themes from pre-QurDanic Arabian love poetry,
Christianity, some community leaders, and even some mod-
the S:u¯f¯ı mystics, in both prose and verse, stand out among
erate S:u¯f¯ıs, accused other S:u¯f¯ıs of incarnationalism and im-
the most fervent proponents of the role of absolute, single-
proper expressions of union as well as of the antinomianism
minded love in the pursuit of God, as such figures as Ra¯biDah
(ibahah) some Christian mystics were said to have propound-
al-DAdaw¯ıyah (d. 810 CE), Jala¯l al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı (d. 1273), and
ed. Such S:u¯f¯ıs as al-Sarra¯j (d. 933 CE) and Ru¯zbiha¯n Baql¯ı
Fakhr al-D¯ın EIra¯q¯ı (d. 1289) demonstrate. The S:u¯f¯ıs also
(d. 1209) worked out detailed defenses of the ecstatic state-
explored the special characteristics of mystical knowing
ments of identity with God (shathiyat) made by mystics like
(ma Drifa) with subtlety equal to that found in any tradition.
al-H:alla¯j and al-Bist:a¯m¯ı (see Ernst, 1985). Significant to this
Tawh:¯ıd, “to declare that God is one,” is the central duty
defense was the distinction between pronouncements made
of all Muslims. The recognition that God alone is, that he
in the state of mystical intoxication (sukr) and what could
is the sole agent, and that he alone can truly say “I” empha-
be legitimately said in ordinary consciousness, or the state of
sizes that the absolute unity and simplicity of the transcen-
sobriety (s:ah:w).
dent creator also constitutes the immanent reality of all
Important S:u¯f¯ı mystics. Of the host of names of S:u¯f¯ı
things, as the union h:ad¯ıth indicates. The eleventh-century
mystics it is possible only to mention a few here. JaEfar
Iranian mystic Ibn Hawa¯zin al-Qushayr¯ı, whose Treatise on
as-S:a¯diq (d. 765 CE), the sixth imam of the Shiite tradition,
Sufism is among the most popular explanations of S:u¯f¯ı
is among the earliest commentators on the QurDa¯n. His treat-
terms, put it thus: “For the appearance of the real, Most
ment of the story of Moses (Mu¯sa¯) as told in Sura¯ 7 treats
Praised, is the disappearance of the creature” (Sells, 1996,
the patriarch’s experience of God on Sinai as an intimate
p. 132). Annihilation and identity are central to Islamic be-
conversation (muna¯ja¯t) that led to annihilation of the ego
lief and the mysticism based upon it.
and divine self-proclamation: “Mu¯sa¯ heard words coming
A variety of special terms with subtle connotations ex-
forth from his humanity and attributed the words to him
press various aspects of this identity mysticism. Among the
[the deity] and he spoke to him from the selfhood of Mu¯sa¯
most important are the twin terms fana¯ D and baqa¯D, con-
and his servanthood. Mu¯sa¯ was hidden from himself and
ceived of as two crucial stages (maqa¯mat) in the S:u¯f¯ı path.
passed away from his attributes” (Sells, 1996, p. 80). Another
Fana¯ D, or passing away, is the annihilation of the ego con-
early figure is the greatest female mystic of the Islamic tradi-
sciousness, absolute nullification in the presence of the di-
tion, Ra¯biEah. The stories and sayings attributed to her in
vine. (It has been compared to the Middle High German
Far¯ıd al-D¯ın EAt:t:a¯r’s Memorial of the Friends of God testify
verb entwerden, “unbecoming,” used by Eckhart [Schimmel,
not only to the power of her longing for God but also to her
1975, p. 142].) But fana¯ D is inseparable from baqa¯D, or sub-
desire to worship God without intermediary.
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The third and fourth centuries of Islam (ninth and tenth
JEWISH CONCEPTIONS OF MYSTICAL UNION. The signifi-
centuries CE) witnessed some of the strongest proponents of
cance of unitive language in Jewish mystical traditions has
mystical identity in the history of monotheistic religion. The
been the subject of contention. Scholarly study of Judaism,
most famous figure is doubtless Ibn Mans:u¯r al-H:alla¯j, whose
born in the Enlightenment, relegated mysticism to the mar-
martyrdom in 922 CE made him a paradigmatic figure in
gins, seeking to demonstrate that Judaism was a rational
Islam for debates over mysticism. But from the point of view
form of moral monotheism. Even Gershom Scholem (1941
of the comparative study of mystical union, no less impor-
and 1971), who resurrected mysticism as central to Jewish
tant are two somewhat older contemporaries of H:alla¯j. Abu¯
history, sought to distinguish Jewish mysticism from Chris-
Yaz¯ıd al-Bist:a¯m¯ı (Ba¯yaz¯ıd in the Persian tradition) expressed
tian and Islamic forms, because its strict sense of the gulf be-
identity with God in ways that were no less challenging than
tween God and human made claims for mystical union, and
those of H:alla¯j. His writings contain remarkable forms of re-
especially mystical identity, suspect and secondary. Since the
duplicated expressions of total annihilation, the “passing
1980s, however, new research by Moshe Idel (1988a,
away of passing away” (fana¯ D al-fana¯D). Like Muh:ammad,
1988b), Idel and Bernard McGinn (1996), and Rachel Elior
who was credited with a celestial journey (Mi Era¯j; see Sura¯
(1993) has shown that unitive language, even expressions of
17), al-Bist:a¯m¯ı dreamed he underwent an ascent through all
mystical identity, is not at all foreign to Jewish mysticism,
the heavenly spheres to attain a vision of God in which he
though it is late.
“melted away like lead” into indescribable union. Many of
The earliest stages of Jewish mysticism represented by
al-Bist:a¯m¯ı’s sayings express the broken forms of discourse
the Merkavah literature (c. second to tenth centuries CE) do
that often characterize mystical identity: “My I am is not I
not feature the language of union but concentrate on heaven-
am. Because I am he, and I am he is he” (Ernst, 1985,
ly ascensions to a vision of the throne of God. Unitive lan-
p. 26).
guage first appears in the mid-twelfth century in the early
No less daring, and perhaps more theoretically rich in
stages of Qabbalah. Though Jewish forms of unitive mysti-
his discussions of union, is the Baghdad S:u¯f¯ı, Abu¯ al-Qa¯sim
cism show important analogies to Christian and Muslim
al-Junayd (d. 910
forms, the distinctive practices and linguistic character of
CE). In his writings one finds not only a
mind of great originality but also a moving personal witness.
Jewish mysticism, both in the various types of Qabbalah and
In discussing tawh:¯ıd, for example, he says: “Fear grips me.
in the later Hasidic mysticism, have their own hermeneutics.
Hope unfolds me. Reality draws me together. The real sets
Deuteronomy 4:4 states, “You who cleave to the Lord
me apart. When he seizes me with fear, he annihilates me
God are all alive this day” (cf. Dt. 10:20 and 13:5). The no-
from myself through my existence, then preserves me from
tion of “cleaving” (devekut) provided a biblical warrant for
myself. . . . From the reality of my annihilation, he annihi-
later unitive forms of Jewish mysticism, not only those of
lated me from both my abiding and my annihilation” (Sells,
mystical uniting but also stronger connotations of mystical
1996, p. 254).
identity. Moshe Idel (Idel and McGinn, 1996) has suggested
In the twelfth century the most famous of Muslim
that unitive understandings of devekut and related terms,
teachers, Abu¯ H:a¯mid al-Ghaza¯l¯ı, a convert to the S:u¯f¯ı path,
such as hitahed (uniting) and yih:ud (union), express two
helped integrate the mystical impetus into the broad stream
models of mystical union: a universalizing type in which the
of tradition through such works as his treatise The Niche of
soul of the mystic becomes all-embracing by cleaving to the
Lights, which emphasized the distinction between mystical
Universal Object; and an annihilative-integrative model in
which the mystic’s ego is annihilated (as in S:u¯f¯ı fana¯D) in
speech and ordinary discourse. The limits were tested again
order to be perfectly integrated into the divine realm. The
in the thirteenth century with the writings of three classic
qabbalistic and Hasidic mystics who used strong forms of
mystics, Ibn al-Fa¯rid: (d. 1235), Ibn al-EArab¯ı (d. 1240), and
mystical identity, like their Christian and Muslim counter-
Ru¯m¯ı (d. 1273). Al-Fa¯rid: and Ru¯m¯ı, supreme mystical
parts, usually qualified their statements by insisting that
poets, were more easily incorporated into the tradition than
identity with God was not total; the ego remains or returns,
Ibn al-EArab¯ı. This Spanish S:u¯f¯ı was a philosopher, mystic,
at least in some way. Similarly even the most powerful pro-
and poet who not only synthesized earlier mystical traditions
ponents of identity language never broke with Jewish halakh-
but also raised them to a new level of profundity through his
ic practice or lapsed into an antinomian posture. The only
mystical philosophy of the unity of existence (wahdat
real heresy in the past eight centuries of Jewish history, that
al-wuju¯d) in such works as his Bezels of Wisdom and the vast
of Shabbetai Tsevi, was messianic in origin, not mystical.
Meccan Revelations. Although Ibn al-EArab¯ı was suspicious of
divine identity statements made in ecstasy, his use of dialecti-
Jewish unitive mystics. Among the earliest Jewish
cal language in which references to God and human are inex-
thinkers who spoke of mystical union was the mid-twelfth-
tricably fused was attacked both in his time and in later Is-
century philosopher Abraham ibn Ezra, who saw Moses’
lamic history. Each of these three figures, as well as a number
cleaving to God as a model for the soul’s return to its primor-
of their successors in the later history of Sufism, would de-
dial state of universality. This theme continued on in Qab-
serve extended treatment in a more ample account of the
balah, for example in DEzra of Gerona (c. 1250), who held
story of mystical union in Islam.
that the soul of a prophet ascends until it is united to the “su-
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pernal soul in a complete union” (Idel, 1988a, p. 42), a for-
ous for Him, so much so that He will swallow it into his
mulation that seems to be influenced by Neoplatonic views.
heart, . . . as the corporeal throat swallows. And this is the
The most impressive work of Spanish Qabbalah, the Zohar,
true cleaving, as he becomes one substance with God in
produced by mystical groups centered around Mosheh de
whom he was swallowed, without being separate [from God]
Léon in the late thirteenth century, did not use extensive lan-
to be considered as a distinct entity at all” (Idel and McGinn,
guage of union, though the appearance of some unitive ex-
1996, p. 43). Dov Ber of Lubavitch, ShneDur’s son, wrote
pressions (e.g., Zohar III.288a) became a proof text for later
Tract on Ecstasy, which carefully discriminated five levels of
mystics. Other theosophical qabbalists, however, did employ
ecstatic progression in which the fourth level, one of annihi-
considerable unitive language. For example, Isaac of Acre
lation, leads to the fifth form of ecstasy, “actual essential
(active c. 1300) understood cleaving as the means for attain-
yeh:idah,” which is “called ‘ecstasy of the whole essence,’ that
ing the gift of prophecy in the soul’s ascent to union with
is to say his whole being is so absorbed that nothing remains
the hidden godhead of Qabbalah, the Ein Sof. Commenting
and he has no self-consciousness whatsoever” (Jacobs, 1963,
on Leviticus 19:24, he says that the years of the maturation
pp. 136–139). Other Habad mystics, such as Aharon Halevi
of fruit trees mentioned in the text are to be understood as
Horowitz of Staroselye (d. 1828), were even more daring in
the advance of the soul through mystical stages until, “‘And
their claims for attaining mystical identity, but this is not the
in the fifth year,’ which refers to the DEiyn Sof which sur-
place to pursue mystical union in Habad, or among other
rounds everything, this soul will cleave to the DEiyn Sof and
Hasidic leaders, such as the famous Nah:man of Bratslav
will become total and universal, after she had been individu-
(d. 1810).
al, due to her palace, while she was yet imprisoned in it, and
CONCLUSION. Union, whether conceived of as the uniting
she will become universal, because of her source” (Idel,
of God and human or in a deeper way as some form of iden-
1988a, p. 48). This reference to attaining a pre-creational
tity with God, has been a key feature of the mystical tradi-
state echoes a theme found in contemporary Christianity and
tions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although direct
Islam.
links between the mysticisms of the three faiths have been
The most extreme formulations of identity mysticism
relatively rare, the common dynamics of monotheistic at-
in Qabbalah occur in the writing of Abraham Abulafia in the
tempts to express their consciousness of becoming one with
late thirteenth century. Abulafia’s ecstatic form of Qabbalah,
God display analogies that invite further investigation and
based upon practices of meditation and number manipula-
promise important contributions to ecumenical under-
tions, was fundamentally intellectualist. Like Plotinus, he en-
standing.
visaged an ascent to union with the Agent Intellect and final-
ly to the Hidden God. Abulafia expresses this last stage in
BIBLIOGRAPHY
reduplicating language of fused pronouns comparable to
Beierwaltes, Werner. Denken des Einen: Studien zur neuplatonisc-
hen Philosophie und ihrer Wirkungsgeschichte. Frankfurt, Ger-
some of the most extreme Muslim mystics: “For now he is
many, 1985. A major study of Neoplatonic mysticism with
no longer separated from his Master, and behold he is his
a fine chapter on heno¯sis in Plotinus.
Master and his Master is he; for he is so intimately united
with him, that he cannot by any means be separated from
Dupuy, Michel. “L’union à Dieu.” In Dictionnaire de spiritualité:
Ascétique et mystique, doctrine et histoire, edited by Marcel
him, for he is he” (Idel, 1988b, p. 10).
Viller et al., vol. 16, cols. 40–61. Paris, 1992. A survey of
The Safedian qabbalism of the sixteenth and seven-
Christian materials.
teenth centuries also employed unitive language, as the ex-
Elior, Rachel. The Paradoxical Ascent to God: The Kabbalistic The-
amples of Mosheh Cordovero and Eliyyahu de Vidas indi-
osophy of Habad Hasidism. Albany, N.Y., 1993. An introduc-
cate. Nevertheless it is fair to say that unitive mysticism was
tion to Habad Hasidism and its language of union.
at its strongest in some of the forms of Hasidic mysticism
Ernst, Carl W. Words of Ecstasy in Sufism. Albany, N.Y., 1985.
that began in eastern Europe in the eighteenth century and
Important study of the role of ecstatic utterances in Sufism.
that continue to flourish in the twenty-first century. The Ha-
Gardet, Louis. “Theólogie de la mystique.” Revue Thomiste 71
sidic mystics were deeply influenced by Qabbalah, but the
(1971): 571–588.
qabbalists were generally more concerned with repairing the
Haas, Alois M. “Unio mystica.” In Historisches Wörterbuch der
structures of the divine world, whereas the Hasidic masters
Philosophie, edited by Joachim Ritter, Karlfried Gründer,
stressed personal experiences of union.
and Gottfried Gabriel, vol. 11, cols. 176–179. Basel, Switzer-
Amid a wealth of unitive statements found in Hasidic
land, 2001. A detailed study of the term.
mysticism, the materials from the Habad movement,
Idel, Moshe. Kabbalah: New Perspectives. New Haven, Conn.,
founded by Dov Ber, the maggid of Mezhirich (d. 1772),
1988a. Fundamental to recent work on Qabbalah, with two
stand out. In a disciple of the maggid, ShneDur Zalman of
chapters on mystical union.
Liadi (d. 1813), one finds extreme statements of annihilation
Idel, Moshe. Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah. Albany, N.Y., 1988b.
and identity with the divine. In explaining the meaning of
See the first essay, “Abraham Abulafia and Unio Mystica.”
mystical interpenetration (hitkalelut), ShneDur says: “When
Idel, Moshe, and Bernard McGinn, eds. Mystical Union in Juda-
man cleaves to God, it is very delightful for Him, and savor-
ism, Christianity, and Islam: An Ecumenical Dialogue. 2d ed.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
6341
New York, 1996. See especially the essays by Idel, McGinn,
Nor does the early Christian term mustikos correspond
and Michael A. Sells on unitive language in Judaism, Chris-
to our present understanding, since it referred to the spiritual
tianity, and Islam.
meaning that Christians, in the light of revelation, detected
Jacobs, Louis, trans. and ed. Dobh Baer of Lubavitch: “Tract on Ec-
under the original, literal meaning of the scriptures. Eventu-
stasy.” London, 1963.
ally the idea of a meaning hidden underneath surface appear-
Jantzen, Grace. “Chang’anWhere Two Are to Become One’: Mys-
ances was extended to all spiritual reality (the sacraments, es-
ticism and Monism.” In The Philosophy in Christianity, ed-
pecially the Eucharist, even nature itself as expressive of
ited by Godfrey Vesey, pp. 147–166. Cambridge, U.K.,
God’s majesty). Yet the strictly private character that we so
1989.
readily associate with the term mystical was never part of it.
McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Chris-
tian Mysticism. New York, 1991–. Three volumes have ap-
Sometime between the fourth and the fifth centuries,
peared as of 2004. Unitive language is studied in all of them.
the Christian meaning began to absorb the Greek connota-
McGinn, Bernard. “Ocean and Desert as Symbols of Mystical Ab-
tions of silence and secrecy. For Dionysius the Areopagite,
sorption in the Christian Tradition.” Journal of Religion 74
the influential Syrian (?) theologian, mystical theory consist-
(1994): 155–181.
ed of the spiritual awareness of the ineffable Absolute beyond
Merkur, Dan. Mystical Moments and Unitive Thinking. Albany,
the theology of divine names. Still, even for him, mystical
N.Y., 1999. Argues for a new psychological approach to uni-
insight belonged essentially to the Christian community, not
tive thinking and contains a useful survey of modern theories
of unio mystica.
to private speculation or subjective experience. Contrary to
this objective, communal meaning, Western Christianity,
Pépin, Jean. “‘Stilla aquae modica multo infusa vino, ferrum igni-
tum, luce perfusus aere’: L’origine de trois comparisons fami-
mostly under Augustine’s impact, eventually came to under-
lières à la théologie mystique médiévale.” Divinitas 11
stand the mystical as related to a subjective state of mind.
(1967): 331–375. Classic article on history of three images
Thus Jean de Gerson, the fifteenth-century chancellor of the
for mystical union.
Sorbonne, described mystical theology as “experimental
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill,
knowledge of God through the embrace of unitive love.”
N.C., 1975. A classic work on Sufism with consideration of
Here we witness the formulation of the modern usage of a
unitive language.
state of consciousness that surpasses ordinary experience
Scholem, Gershom. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. New York,
through the union with a transcendent reality.
1941. Classic work, though Scholem’s view of the role of
union in Judaism is contested.
CHARACTERISTICS. With such a wide range of meanings, it
Scholem, Gershom. The Messianic Idea in Judaism and Other Es-
is not surprising that commentators disagree about the char-
says on Jewish Spirituality. New York, 1971. See the essay
acteristics of the mystical experience. Those mentioned in
“Devekut, or Communion with God.”
William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience rank
Sells, Michael A. Mystical Languages of Unsaying. Chicago, 1994.
among the most commonly accepted. Ineffability emphasizes
A challenging analysis of strong identity statements in Neo-
the private, or at least incommunicable, quality of the experi-
platonism, Christianity, and Islam.
ence. Mystics have, of course, written quite openly and often
Sells, Michael A., trans. and ed. Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi,
abundantly about their experience. But, by their own testi-
Qur Dan, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings. New York,
mony, words can never capture their full meaning. This
1996. A fine anthology of early Islamic mystical texts with
raises a delicate problem of interpretation to which we shall
insightful discussions of the role of mystical union.
return. Secondly, James mentions the noetic quality of the
BERNARD MCGINN (2005)
experience. To be sure, mystical insight hardly ever augments
theoretical knowledge. Nevertheless its insight suffuses a per-
son’s knowledge with a unique, all-encompassing sense of in-
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]. No definition
tegration that definitely belongs to the noetic order. This
could be both meaningful and sufficiently comprehensive to
point deserves emphasis against those who assert that mysti-
include all experiences that, at some point or other, have
cism is the same everywhere and that only the postmystical
been described as “mystical.” In 1899 Dean W. R. Inge listed
interpretation accounts for the difference. Distinctions begin
twenty-five definitions. Since then the study of world reli-
with the noetic qualities of the experiences themselves. The
gions has considerably expanded, and new, allegedly mystical
pasivity of the mystical experience may well be its most dis-
cults have sprung up everywhere. The etymological lineage
tinctive characteristic. Its gratuitous, undeserved nature
of the term provides little assistance in formulating an unam-
stands out, however much the privileged subject may have
biguous definition. In the Greek mystery cults, muein (“to
applied himself to ascetic exercises or meditative techniques.
remain silent”) probably referred to the secrecy of the initia-
Once the higher power takes possession, all voluntary prepa-
tion rites. But later, especially in Neoplatonic theory, the
ration appears to lose its efficacy. Transiency, a more contro-
“mystical” silence came to mean wordless contemplation.
versial characteristic, has, I think justifiably, been challenged,
Even this “contemplation” does not coincide with our own
for great mystics have remained for prolonged periods in en-
usage of that term, since theo¯ria denotes speculative knowl-
hanced states of consciousness. Intermittent intensive experi-
edge as well as what we call contemplation.
ences figured therein as moments of a more comprehensive
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6342
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
surpassing awareness. Perhaps we should speak of the rhyth-
awareness of nature. We also find traces of it in Turner and
mic, rather than the transient, quality of mystical life.
in the nineteenth-century painters of the Hudson River
school. The artist most remembered for his mystical descrip-
To James’s four characteristics we may add a fifth: inte-
tions of nature may well be Richard Jeffries. In his case the
gration. Expanded beyond its ordinary limits, the mystical
distinction between the religious and the nonreligious is par-
consciousness somehow succeeds in overcoming previously
ticularly hard to maintain. In other cases any religious equa-
existing opposition in its integration with a higher reality.
tion of cosmic-mystical experiences with what John of the
This, however, should not be interpreted to mean that all re-
Cross or the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ expressed would be clearly inap-
strictions cease to exist. Some of them clearly maintain a
propriate. Nevertheless, to deny any resemblance between
sense of transcendence within the union. This is precisely
the intense, unifying experience of nature and that of a tran-
what gives them their distinctly religious character.
scendent presence would be absurd.
IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE. That a “common factor” un-
At this point the problem of narcotically induced states
derlies the most diverse spiritual theologies has been asserted
presents itself. Must we dismiss them as not mystical or at
with great emphasis by such writers as René Guénon, Aldous
least as not religiously mystical because of their chemical ori-
Huxley, Frithjof Schuon, and Alan Watts. Some assumption
gin? Such a simplistic categorization would be a blatant in-
of identity also seems to direct the thought of several Indian
stance of the “genetic” fallacy. Instead of describing the phe-
philosophers. In the West at least, the theory rests on the
nomenon itself, we would then be satisfied to evaluate it
general principle that only subsequent interpretations distin-
according to its presumed origin. Of course, any mental state
guish one mysticism from another. Each mystic unquestion-
introduced without spiritual preparation is unlikely to foster
ably tends to interpret his experience in the light of the theo-
spiritual development, and, if habitual, the reliance on chem-
logical or philosophical universe to which be belongs.
ical means may permanently obstruct growth. But however
Moreover, the nature of his spiritual quest usually shapes the
beneficial or detrimental this eventual impact upon personal-
experience. But to conclude therefrom that the interpreta-
ity may be, there can be no doubt that in a religious context
tion remains extrinsic is to deny the experience a specific,
chemicals may induce states of undeniably religious-mystical
ideal content of its own and to reduce it to mere sensation.
character. Thus the ritual consumption of peyote cactus but-
Experience itself is distinctly cognitive and intentionally
tons, dating back to pre-Columbian times, has undoubtedly
unique. As Gershom Scholem once pointed out, there is no
played a significant role in the religious awareness of native
mysticism-in-general; there are only particular mystical sys-
Americans and has since the end of the nineteenth century
tems and individuals, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish,
been instrumental in remythologizing the cult.
Christian, and so forth.
Similarly, experiences resulting from pathological psy-
The specific quality of the experience in mystical indi-
chic conditions (e.g., manic depression, hysteria) should not
viduals or schools does not, of course, exclude a kind of fami-
per se be excluded from the mystical. Nor should these or
ly resemblance in this variety. A denial of similarity has in-
drug-induced states be considered separately from “nature”
duced traditional interpretations to study mystical schools
or religious mysticism. On the latter alone we shall concen-
exclusively from the perspective of their own theological
trate. The typology here presented considers only the mysti-
principles. Thus, for example, R. C. Zaehner’s controversial
cal aspect of various religions: it claims neither adequacy in
Mysticism (1957) ranks mystical schools according to their
the general area of religion nor completeness in the classifica-
proximity to orthodox Christian love mysticism. Alternative-
tion of mystical religion.
ly, the assumption of a genuine similarity of experiences en-
ables us to consider a variety of phenomena under some gen-
MYSTICISM OF THE SELF. Mysticism belongs to the core of
eral categories without reducing them to simple identity.
all religion. Those religions that had a historical founder all
Such a general discussion would include nonreligious as well
started with a powerful personal experience of immediate
as religious mysticism, even though basic differences separate
contact. But all religions, regardless of their origin, retain
them. The present essay focuses only on religious mysticism.
their vitality only as long as their members continue to be-
But a few words must be said about so-called nature mysti-
lieve in a transcendent reality with which they can in some
cism, a term unrelated to the distinction, current in Roman
way communicate by direct experience. The significance of
Catholic theology, between “natural” (or acquired) and “su-
such an experience, though present in all religion, varies in
pernatural” (or infused) mysticism. Nature mysticism refers
importance. Christianity, especially in its reformed churches,
to the kind of intense experience whereby the subject feels
attaches less significance to the element of experience than
himself merging with the cosmic totality. Now, a mystical
other faiths do. In Vedantic and Sa¯m:khya Hinduism, on the
experience of the cosmos may also be religious. But in the
contrary, religion itself coincides with the kind of insight that
religious experience a sense of transcendence persists
can come only from mystical experience. Their particular
throughout the experience of cosmic union either with re-
concept of redemption consists in a liberation from change
gard to nature as a whole or to its underlying principle. Some
and from the vicissitudes of birth and death. Their craving
descriptions of romantic writers (John F. Cooper, William
for a state of changeless permanence aims not at some sort
Wordsworth, Jean Paul) seem to express such a mystical
of unending protraction of the present life but rather at the
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MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
6343
extinction of all desire in this life. Hindu spirituality in all
reached but to be approached ever more closely. The three
its forms displays an uncommonly strong awareness of the
aspects of brahman (sat-cit-a¯nanda) that even extreme mon-
sorrowful quality of the human condition. Apart from this
ists distinguish include two that are clearly conscious. Even
common temper and an acceptance of the authority of the
if any distinction beyond the One were to be a mere illusion,
Vedas, Hinduism presents such a variety of religious doc-
as in the extreme interpretation of ma¯ya¯ (originally, the creat-
trines and practices that a single name hardly applies. Still,
ed world itself) given by S´an˙kara (eighth century CE), it still
a similar, inward-directed mystical tendency warrants discus-
remains an opposition to indiscriminate Unity. Metaphysical
sion under a single title.
speculation in classical Hinduism may occasionally have sur-
passed its mystical tendency. But that there was a religious
The original Vedic religion with its emphasis on sacri-
experience at the basis of this extreme monism cannot be
fice and rite appears rather remote from what we usually as-
doubted.
sociate with the term mysticism. Yet two elements in its devel-
opment strongly influenced the later, more obviously
The starting-point of S´an˙kara and the Sa¯m:khya-Yoga
mystical direction. First, forms of meditation became at
is the experience of the immortality of the soul; and im-
some point acceptable substitutes for the performance of the
mortality in this case does not mean the infinite prolon-
actual sacrifice and were held to yield equally desirable bene-
gation of human life in time: that is Samsa¯ra which the
fits. Though such forms of concentration had little in com-
Hindus regard rather as a living death; it is death-in-life,
mon with what we understand today by contemplation, they
not life-in-death. It means rather an unconditioned and
absolutely static condition which knows nothing of
nevertheless initiated an interiorization that Hinduism
time and space and upon which death has no hold; and
would pursue further than any other religion (Dasgupta,
because it is not only pure Being, but also pure con-
1972, p. 19). Second, the term brahman, which originally
sciousness and pure bliss, it must be analogous to life.
referred to the sacred power present in ritual and sacrifice,
(Zaehner, 1962, p. 74)
gradually came to mean a single, abstractly conceived Abso-
lute. The search for a primal unity is already obvious in some
Of course, not all the Upanis:ads were radically monist in
Vedic texts (e.g., the Creation Song, which speaks of “that
their expression (S´veta¯´svatara is clearly not), nor was the Ve-
one thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature”). The sub-
dantic theology the only mysticism of the self in India. The
ordinate status of the gods (“The gods are later than this
Sa¯m:khya-Yoga mentioned in the above passage advocates a
world’s production,” R:gveda 10.129) may have favored the
radical dualism. It recognizes two irreducible principles of re-
drive toward unity. Polytheism, though abundantly present,
ality: prakr:ti, the material principle and source of energy,
had remained spiritually so undeveloped that it did not ob-
cause of both the material world and psychic experience, and
struct the road toward spiritual unity.
purus:a, discrete units of pure consciousness similar to the
a¯tman of the Upanis:ads. In contrast to cosmic intellect
In the Upanis:ads (eighth to fifth century BCE) the unify-
(mahat), ego-consciousness (aham
˙ ka¯ra), and mind (manas)
ing and the spiritualizing tendencies eventually merged in
as the source of perception and action, the multiplicity of in-
the idea of an inner soul (a¯tman), the Absolute at the heart
dividual purus:as exists independently of the cosmic forces al-
of all reality to which only the mind has access.
together. Yet purus:a must be liberated from a confusion with
The inner Soul of all things, the One Controller, Who
prakrti by means of concentrated effort. Sa¯m:khya thought,
makes his one form manifold— The wise who perceive
although it has no place for deity and is specifically atheistic,
Him as standing in oneself, They, and no others, have
was assimilated into the age-old tradition of yoga, providing
eternal happiness! (Kat:ha Upanis:ad 5.12)
the practice with a soteriological and cosmological frame-
work. This mystical self-isolation recognizes no absolute One
This is not a metaphysical theory, but a mystical path to lib-
(brahman/a¯tman) beyond the individual spirit. Liberation
eration. It requires ascetical training and mental discipline
here means the opposite of merging with a transcendent Self.
to overcome the desires, oppositions, and limitations of indi-
In its pure form, Sa¯m:khya-Yoga, far from leaning toward
vidual selfhood. “As a man, when in the embrace of a beloved
pantheist monism (as Vedantic spirituality does), results in
wife, knows nothing within or without, so this person, when
the most extreme individualism. If the idea of God appears
in the embrace of the intelligent Soul, knows nothing within
at all, it is as that of one purus:a next to all others, their model
or without” (Br:hada¯ran:yaka 4,3.22). Here lies the origin of
insofar as God is entirely free of cosmic contamination. But
the advaita (nondualist monism that would become domi-
we must avoid tying the Yoga techniques to the later
nant in classical Hinduism). The Ma¯n:d:ukya Upanis:ad antici-
Sa¯m:khya theology: they were practiced also in non-dualist
pates the later, radical expressions in its description of the
or in the so-called qualified-dualistic (Vi´sista¯dvaita) systems.
highest state of consciousness as one beyond dreamless sleep.
Above all, it equated the deeper self (a¯tman) thus discovered
What are these qualified-dualistic systems that make up
with brahman itself. This deeper self tolerates no subject-
the third school of Hindu mysticism? It seems hazardous to
object opposition. If taken literally, this state would elimi-
ground them in theological theories. To be sure, each mysti-
nate consciousness itself and with it the very possibility of
cal system contains an interpretation as an essential part of
a “mystical” state. Yet such a total elimination of personal
the experience, but these interpretations cannot be simply
consciousness remains an asymptotic ideal never to be
transferred into the kind of logically coherent systems for
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MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
which we usually reserve the name theology. A mystical theol-
salvation, rooted in a profoundly pessimistic attitude about
ogy is less concerned about logical consistency and sharply
the changing world of everyday existence, and they aim at
defined concepts than about adequate translations of the ac-
a condition of changelessness that surpasses that existence.
tual experience. This is particularly the case in a tradition
Moreover, their adherents mostly hope to attain this salva-
wherein the mystical element constitutes most of the core of
tion through enlightenment prepared by moral discipline
the religion itself. Hence in describing such later writers as
and mental concentration. In the more radical schools the
Ra¯ma¯nuja (eleventh century CE) as “qualified dualists,” we
quest for a unified state of mind leads to some form of practi-
should be aware that we are referring more to a practical-
cal monism and, in Indian Mahayana Buddhism no less than
devotional than a speculative-metaphysical attitude.
in “classical” Hinduism, a theoretical monism. Any kind of
Ra¯ma¯nuja may never have abandoned the metaphysical as-
“grace”—which would introduce a new dualism—is thereby
sumptions of the monist tradition in which he grew up. But
excluded. Even those parts of the tradition that deviate from
finding absolute monism inadequate for the practice of spiri-
these rigorous principles appear to have some common fea-
tual life, he reaffirmed the traditional concept of a God en-
tures. Amida Buddhism advocates a faith in the “saving Bud-
dowed with personal attributes (sagun:a brahman), instead of
dha” that strongly resembles bhakti Hinduism.
the attributeless absolute substance (nirgun:a brahman). God
thereby is not merely a model but also a redeemer who assists
Meanwhile, the goal of enlightenment is conceived in
the soul on its path to liberation.
very different ways. The Buddhist description both of the ex-
perience and of the path that leads to it is characterized by
In thus qualifying the monist doctrine, Ra¯ma¯nuja was
a spare simplicity as well as by a persistent reluctance to use
inspired by what the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ (c. second century BCE)
any but negative predicates. For our purposes it is not neces-
had assumed throughout. This mystical poem, perhaps the
sary to enter into the basic tenets of the theory. Their devel-
finest spiritual work to come from the East, is hard to classify
opment varies from the H¯ınaya¯na to the Maha¯ya¯na doc-
by Western canons. The narrative assumes a clearly theistic
trines. But even in the Theravada tradition, the Eightfold
position: the god Vis:n:u incarnated in Kr:s:n:a exhorts the hero
Path of virtue concludes with “right concentration,” which,
Arjuna on the eve of battle with his stepbrother to take heart
in turn, must be obtained in eight successive forms of mental
and fight. But the message he delivers ranges from traditional
discipline (the dhya¯nas). Once again we are confronted with
piety and observance of the ancient rites to the monism of
a faith that from its origins is headed in a mystical direction.
the Veda¯nta, combined with the dualistic cosmology of
The three negative terms—nonattainment, nonassertion,
Sa¯m:khya-Yoga. The work is a synthesis in all respects. Not
nonreliance—define a state of utmost emptiness by which
only does it unite the monist and theistic strands, but it also
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s Ma¯dhyamika school (150 CE) described enlight-
presents a method of combining the active with the contem-
enment. Emptiness appears, of course, also in H¯ınaya¯na
plative life. It advises a mental discipline that enables a per-
schools, as the principal quality of nirva¯n:a, the supreme en-
son to act with total detachment from the fruits of his deed.
lightenment. But with the Maha¯ya¯na schools the emphasis
By itself, the active life (karman) weaves its own web of
on emptiness, even in the preparatory stages, becomes partic-
causes and effects, entailing an endless cycle of birth and
ularly strong. Nirva¯n:a itself thereby ceases to be an indepen-
death—the very essence of what a person seeks to be liberat-
dent realm of being: it becomes a particular vision of the phe-
ed from. Yet various kinds of yoga detach the mind from this
nomenal world. Nonattainment consists in emptying the self
natural determination, while still allowing a person to fulfill
of all personal qualities, desires, and thoughts, indeed of all
the obligations of his station in life. Through equanimity of
that might be considered to comprise a “self.” For ultimate
emotions, holy indifference, and purity of heart, even the ac-
reality is unconditioned and void of all defining distinctions.
tive person will come to detect the one presence of brahman
If this concept is understood ontologically, there is no sub-
in all things. The G¯ıta¯ is not a manual of yogic practice. It
stantial soul; if understood epistemologically, there is no way
is a mystical work that culminates in a vision of God. A most
of knowing reality as long as the notion of subject remains;
powerful theophany completes Kr:s:n:a’s description of God’s
if understood ethically, there is no expression of ultimate re-
presence in the world (chap. 11). Still the poem concludes
ality as long as one’s desires condition one’s existence. As the
with the sobering advice to seek God in the ordinary way of
late Maha¯ya¯na poet S´a¯ntideva wrote:
piety rather than through self-concentration. The advice was
taken up by the bhakti movement, which produced some of
The Stillness (Nirva¯n:a) lies in surrender of all things,
the finest flowers of Hindu spirituality and which continues
and my spirit longs for the Stillness; if I must surrender
to nourish much of Indian piety today.
all, it is best to give it for fellow-creatures. I yield myself
to all living creatures to deal with me as they choose;
THE MYSTICISM OF EMPTINESS: BUDDHISM. It seems diffi-
they may smite or revile me for ever, cover me with
cult to conceive of two religious doctrines more different
dust, play with my body, laugh and wanton; I have
from one another than Hinduism, especially Sa¯m:khya, and
given them my body, why shall I care. Let them make
Buddhism. In one, we find a quest for an absolute self
me do whatever works bring them pleasure; but may
(a¯tman, purus:a); in the other, the obliteration of the self (an-
mishap never befall any of them by reason of me. (quot-
atman/anatta—no soul). Yet upon closer inspection the two
ed in Ananda Coomaraswamy’s Buddha and the Gospel
appear to have a great deal in common. Both are systems of
of Buddhism, New York, 1964, p. 321)
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MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
6345
Beyond wisdom, then, the Buddhist ideal requires compas-
name Chan, or Zen, derived from dhya¯na (Pali jha¯na), indi-
sion, an attitude rooted in the deep awareness that all beings
cates the importance of mental concentration. But Zen also
are interconnected. It is this compassion that inspired the bo-
requires a systematic surpassing of reason. At an early stage
dhisattva vocation in Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism.
in his training the disciple is given a ko¯an, a paradoxical state-
As Na¯ga¯rjuna defined it, nonassertion became the logi-
ment that baffles reason and for which he must find a
cal counterpart of the emptiness doctrine. The Madhya-mika
“higher” sense. Once the mind has become cleared of the or-
paradoxes reveal an intense awareness of the ineffable quality
dinary apparatus of conscious thought, unconscious ele-
of ultimate truth. No expression is definitive, not even the
ments emerge from its subliminal depths. Zen masters refer
Four Noble Truths on which Buddhism is founded. The en-
to this stage of hallucinations as makyo¯—the demonic uni-
tire Dharma itself, the doctrine, is no more than a dream,
verse—and advise the student not to dwell on any extraordi-
a vague echo. To be sure, the conception of an ineffable abso-
nary experiences. Their advice agrees with the attitude rec-
lute is also present in H¯ınaya¯na Buddhism, as the following
ommended by Christian spiritual directors to mystics passing
Uda¯na statement clearly asserts: “There is, monks, an un-
through the so-called “illumination” stage with regard to vi-
born, not become, not made, uncompounded; and were it
sions and voices. All this prepares a state of unification in
not, monks, for this unborn, not become, not made, uncom-
which the mind gradually sheds the patterns of oppositional
pounded, no escape could be shown here for what is born,
consciousness present in desire, fear, prejudice, or even ob-
has become, is made, is compounded” (Buddhist Texts
jective conceptualization. C. G. Jung once suggestively de-
through the Ages, ed. Edward Conze, Oxford, 1954, p. 95).
scribed it as “a breakthrough by a consciousness limited to
the ego-form, into the non-ego-like self.” In the experience
Yet the Maha¯ya¯na schools drew more radical conclu-
of total unity the self becomes reduced to a state of pure per-
sions. For the Ma¯dhyamika nirva¯n:a consists mostly of sets
ceptiveness. This occurs in the final stage, satori, enlighten-
of contradictories, both of which are negated. To Na¯ga¯rjuna,
ment itself, often referred to as kensho¯, the ability to see the
nirva¯n:a is logical “nonsense” to which the principle of con-
essence of things. We might perhaps translate it as “suchness”
tradiction does not apply. One may read this as a program
or “ultimate reality” (the Sanskrit term tathata¯, used for the
of extreme skeptical philosophy. It is, in fact, a powerful as-
one reality that constitutes the entire universe, coincides in
sertion of transcendence in which all distinctions vanish. For
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism with nirva¯n:a itself).
the Ma¯dhyamika masters, nirva¯n:a lies beyond the total peace
experience: it has become the Absolute in itself, the undivid-
Most typical of that final state of emptiness as Zen Bud-
ed Oneness of the ultimate reality. No longer separated from
dhists conceive of it is that it results not in a withdrawal from
conditioned existence, the Maha¯ya¯na nirva¯n:a becomes indis-
the real but in an enhanced ability to see the real as it is and
tinguishable from the samsaric realm of phenomenal (and
to act in it unhampered by passion and attachment. Thus
therefore illusory) reality. The Buddhist negation, far more
emptiness creates a new worldliness. Can such a state be
radical than a mere declaration of absence, leaves no com-
called mystical? Not if one reserves the term for a direct con-
mon space wherein the Absolute could be compared with
tact with an Absolute that can be described by positive attri-
any positive qualities. It attempts the logically impossible,
butes. But such a restriction is not warranted. Any form of
namely, to overcome the very interconnectedness of all de-
religious mysticism claims a direct contact with the Absolute.
pendent being and, since all that exists is dependent, of exis-
How it defines this Absolute depends on its particular out-
tence itself. Nothing remains here but the road to total si-
look. Judaism and Christianity are religions of the word;
lence. Salvation comes through wisdom, but clearly the
Buddhism is a religion of silence that renounces all ways of
wisdom here is the opposite of cognitive—it consists in mys-
naming the Absolute. Even to demand the presence of grace
tical silence.
as a specific expression of a divine benevolence is to deny
The ways to emptiness vary. Mental training by the con-
Buddhism the right to conceive of the Absolute as lying be-
frontation of paradoxes has been mentioned. Other ways, es-
yond any form of expression. Meanwhile, the function of
pecially Yoga¯ca¯ra Buddhism, emphasize the attainment of
what Christians call “grace” does not remain unfulfilled, as
“pure thought.” This consists not in thinking about some-
appears in the attitude of thanksgiving that shapes the Bud-
thing but rather in the insight that thought is not in any ob-
dhist monk’s life as much as that of his Western counterpart.
ject but in a subject free of all objects. Yoga¯ca¯ra pursues the
In thanking the nameless source of all goodness, the Bud-
basic truth of emptiness in a practical rather than a logico-
dhist professes the presence of a benevolent Absolute.
metaphysical way.
Of course, here as in other cases the outsider is unable
Of particular importance here is Chan (Jpn., Zen) Bud-
to decide to what extent religion blossoms into actual mysti-
dhism, a doctrine imported into China by the Indian Bod-
cal experience. What counts is the possibility it presents of
hidharma that later spread to Japan. Most consistent of all
an intense, direct contact with the Absolute, and the me-
in its pursuit of emptiness, it rejected all dependence (non-
thodic way that a particular religion offers for realizing this
reliance), including the one based on the Buddha’s own
encounter. Not every form of Zen may be called mystical or
words. Indeed, the very desire for enlightenment must be
even religious, any more than the practice of yoga in Hindu
abandoned, according to the famous Zen master Do¯gen. The
culture or, for that matter, the study of Neoplatonic theory.
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6346
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
MYSTICISM OF THE IMAGE: EASTERN AND EARLY WESTERN
a mystical theology of the image before Plotinus. It might
CHRISTIANITY. Unlike some other religions, Christianity has
be more accurate, then, to look to the entire philosophically
never equated its ideal of holiness with the attainment of
Platonic, religiously syncretic, and generally Gnostic culture
mystical states. Nor did it encourage seeking such states for
of Alexandria at the end of the second century. In that cli-
their own sake. Nevertheless, a mystical impulse undeniably
mate Ammonius Saccas himself, Origen’s and Plotinus’s
propelled it in its origin and determined much of its later de-
common master, grew up and taught. But soon Plotinus’s
velopment. The synoptic Gospels present Jesus as dwelling
philosophy was to provide much of the ideological apparatus
in the continuous, intimate presence of God. His public life
for a Christian theology of the image. Though Plotinus’s
begins with a prayer and a vision: “While Jesus after his bap-
thought leaves no doubts about its Platonic origins, it was
tism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit de-
profoundly affected by such religious influences as the mys-
scended on him in bodily shape like a dove” (Lk. 3:21–22).
tery religions, Gnosticism, Philo’s Judaism, and that syncre-
It ends with a prayer of total abandonment: “Father, into
tism of Hellenistic currents and older Egyptian traditions
your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk. 23:46). Jesus initiates
that is usually referred to as Hermetism. Plotinus’s philoso-
all important public acts with a prayer. He often withdraws
phy as exposed in his nine treatises (the Enneads) is often
from the crowd for long periods of solitary prayer. He inter-
presented as an emanational process that originates in an un-
prets his entire existence through its reference to God, whom
determined Absolute (the One), becomes intelligible in a
he calls Father. To himself he applies Isaiah’s messianic
realm of mind (the nous), and arrives at its final hypostasis
words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” The same Spirit
in a world soul (the psuch¯e) shared by all individual souls.
he promises to those who pray in his name.
Such a presentation misses Plotinus’s central insight and the
source of its mystical fertility, namely, the immanence of the
The mystical quality of Jesus’ life is most clearly stated
in the Fourth Gospel. Some of the words attributed to him
One in all the lower hypostases. The mystical-intellectual
may have originated in theological reflection rather than in
process for him consists in a return to that ever-present One,
his own expression. But they thereby witness all the more
beyond the vision of the intelligible forms. A crucial role in
powerfully to the mystical impulse he was able to transmit
this process is played by the notion of image, so important
to his followers. Biblical speculations on the Word of God
in early Christian mysticism. For Plotinus each emanation
are reinterpreted as expressions of God’s personal revelation
reflects the previous one as an image. Even the world, though
in an incarnated divine Logos. The intimate union between
steeped in opaque matter that allows no further emanations,
the Father and the Word is, through the Holy Spirit, granted
reflects the soul and the mind. Clearly, in this context being
to all true believers. Indeed, the presence of the Spirit entitles
an image is more than being an external copy. It implies that
them to the same love with which God loves his Son. In
each sphere of reality refers in its very essence to a higher one.
John’s gospel the two principal currents of Christian mysti-
As such, the image presents, rather than represents. Man
cism have their source: the theology of the divine image that
alone is able to read his world and his own soul as an appeal
calls the Christian to conformity, and the theology that pres-
to turn inward to mind and, beyond mind, to the One. By
ents the intimacy with God as a relation of universal love.
a process of asceticism and contemplation, he may overcome
the dispersion of time and of all that separates him from the
The letters of Paul develop the idea of life in the Spirit.
total simplicity (the One) of his inner core. The Plotinian
“We all reflect as in a mirror the splendor of the Lord; thus
union with the One has been called ecstatic, but the term in-
we are transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to splen-
static might be more appropriate for describing a movement
dor: such is the influence of the Lord who is Spirit” (2 Cor.
of inwardization and simplification. Plotinus’s spiritual the-
3:18). The Spirit’s principal gift, in the understanding of
ology strikes us as decidedly cool: no sensuous feeling, no “vi-
Paul, consists in gno¯sis, that insight into the “mystery of
sions,” and no emotion. Yet more than any other master
Christ” that enables the believer to understand the scriptures
(outside the scriptures) did this last of the great pagan philos-
in a deeper, “revealed” sense. This insight into the hidden
ophers influence subsequent Christian mysticism.
meaning of the scriptures led to the Alexandrian interpreta-
The first attempt at a systematic theology of the mystical
tion of the term mystical discussed earlier. Yet the practice
life in Christ was written by Plotinus’s fellow Alexandrian
long preceded the term. The entire Letter to the Hebrews con-
and codisciple, Origen. In his Twenty-seventh Homily on
sists of an allegorical reading of the Yom Kippur sacrifice as
Numbers Origen compares spiritual life to the Jews’ exodus
foreshadowing Christ’s definitive sacrifice on the cross.
through the desert of Egypt. Having withdrawn from the
The tenor of early Christian mysticism was determined
pagan idols of vice, the soul crosses the Red Sea in a new bap-
by the New Testament and by trends in Hellenistic Judaism
tism of conversion. She passes next through the bitter waters
(especially Philo Judaeus’s scriptural theology and the late
of temptation and the distorted visions of utopia until, fully
Judaic meaning of gno¯sis). A third factor, usually referred to
purged and illuminated, she reaches Terah, the place of
as Neoplatonism, must be added. Yet that movement,
union with God. In his commentary on the Song of Songs,
though influential in the development of Christian spirituali-
Origen initiated a long tradition of mystical interpretations
ty, may be too restricted an account of its beginnings; Origen
that see in the erotic biblical poem just such a divine union.
(and, to some extent, even Clement) had already developed
His commentary also presents the first developed theology
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MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
6347
of the image: the soul is an image of God because she houses
tellect, will, and memory. They would amount to no more
the primal image of God that is the divine Word. Even as
than superficial analogies were it not that God’s presence in
that word is an image of the Father through its presence to
that same inner realm invites the soul to turn inward and
him, the soul is an image through the word’s presence in her,
convert the static resemblance into an ecstatic union. “Now
that is, through her (at least partial) identity with it. The en-
this Trinity of the mind is God’s image, not because the
tire mystical process thus comes to consist in a conversion
mind resembles, understands and loves itself [the superficial
to the image, that is, to ever greater identity with the indwell-
analogy], but because it has the power also to remember, un-
ing Word. The emphasis on the ontological character of the
derstand and love its Maker” (On the Trinity 14.12.15). In
image of God in man (as opposed to the external copy) per-
actualizing the divine potential of its external resemblance,
sists throughout the entire Christian tradition and holds the
in allowing it to be directed to its archetype, the soul is grad-
secret of its amazing mystical power.
ually united with God. While the Greeks assert the initial
identity, Augustine starts from a creator-creature analogy,
The privileged place of love distinguishes Origen’s the-
which the divine attraction and man’s following of it trans-
ology from Neoplatonic philosophy. This emphasis on love
form into an identity.
becomes even more pronounced in the writings of Gregory
of Nyssa, the fourth-century Cappadocian bishop. Under
Unfortunately, this rich theology of identity remained
Neoplatonic influence Gregory describes the mystical life as
largely unexplored by Augustine’s spiritual followers until,
a process of gno¯sis initiated by a divine eros, which results in
in the twelfth century, the Cistercians and the Benedictines
the fulfillment of the soul’s natural desire for union with the
of Saint Victor Abbey combined it with the mystical theolo-
God of whom she bears the image. Though akin to God
gy of the Greeks. This fertile synthesis of Augustinian psy-
from the beginning, the soul’s mystical ascent is a slow and
chology with Greek spiritual ontology culminated in the two
painful process that ends in a dark unknowing—the mystical
movements of Rhineland mysticism and Flemish spirituality.
night of love.
We shall here consider only their chief representatives: Eck-
hart and Ruusbroec.
This theology of darkness, or “negative theology,”
would be developed to its extreme limits by a mysterious,
Johannes Eckhart, possibly the most powerful mystical
Greek-writing Syrian of the sixth century who presented
theologian of the Christian Middle Ages, synthesized the
himself as the Dionysius whom Paul converted on the Are-
Greek and Augustinian theories of the image with a daring
opagus. His enormous (though in the West not immediate)
negative theology in one grandiose system. His mystical vi-
impact steered the theology of the image in a wholly new di-
sion became the basis of an entire theology and, indeed, of
rection. Neoplatonic as no Christian theologian had ever
a metaphysics of being. He was a subtle dialectician in his
dared to be, he identified God with the nameless One. Even
systematic Latin works and a paradoxical preacher in his ver-
the divine relations of the Trinity were ultimate only in the
nacular sermons, so that his spiritual identity remains even
order of manifestation. Beyond all names and even beyond
today a subject of controversy. Few have succeeded in har-
being itself lies the dark reality of a divine superessence. The
monizing the two parts of his prodigious output. Yet they
mystical ascent moves toward that nameless unity. Through-
do belong together. For Eckhart’s endeavor was precisely to
out this thoroughgoing negation, Dionysius preserves the
present the mystical union not as a privilege of the few but
core of the image theology, for precisely the primordial
as the very vocation and ultimate realization of humanity.
union of the soul with God serves as the moving principle
The mystical theory of the divine image holds the key to his
of the mystical ascent. Through constant negation the soul
theological ontology.
overcomes the created world, which prevents the mind from
reaching its ultimate destiny. Yet Dionysius’s Mystical Theol-
God is Being, and being in the strict sense is only God.
ogy is ecstatic rather than introspective in its concept: the soul
With this bold principle, Eckhart reinterprets a Thomist tra-
can achieve her vocation of union with God only by losing
dition that “analogously” attributed being to God and finite
herself in the recesses of the divine superessence. In this re-
existence. For Eckhart, the creature qua creature does not
spect it differs from the Western mysticism that it so deeply
exist. Whatever being it possesses is not its own, but remains
influenced.
God’s property. Both its limited essence (what determines it
as this being rather than that) and its contingent existence
Augustine (354–430), the towering figure who stands
(that it happens to be) are no more than the negative limits
at the beginning of all Western theology (also, and especially,
of its capacity to receive God’s own being. “Every creature,”
spiritual theology), described the divine image rather in psy-
Eckhart wrote, “radically and positively possesses Being, life
chological terms. God remains present to the soul as both
and wisdom from and in God, and not in itself.” Hence,
origin and supreme goal. She is attracted by him and bears
God is totally immanent in the creature as its very being,
his image. But, unlike its definition by the Greek Fathers,
while totally transcending it as the only being. By this pres-
that image remains for Augustine mostly the external effect
ence God is totally like the creature; yet, lacking any of its
of a divine cause. Augustine’s treatise On the Trinity abounds
determinations, he is totally unlike it. On these productive
with speculations on the soul’s similarity to the Trinity, such
antinomies Eckhart builds his densely rich concept of image.
as her constituting one mind out of the three faculties of in-
The entire content of the creaturely image of God consists
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6348
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
in the divine presence, while the fact that the creature’s limi-
tries. No one answered them with more balance and deeper
tation reduces this identity to a likeness (hence including dif-
insight than Jan van Ruusbroec (1293–1381), a Brussels par-
ference) accounts for the image’s total directedness toward
ish priest and later a hermit in the wooded solitude of Gr-
the divine exemplar: “Every image has two properties. One
oenendaal. Unlike Eckhart’s theology, Ruusbroec’s majestic
is that it takes its Being immediately from that of which it
summa of Christian life in the spirit did not conclude in a
is the image. . . . The second property of the image is to
darkness beyond distinction. For Ruusbroec also the soul
be observed in the image’s likeness. And here especially note
must move into God’s nameless unity. But this divine desert
two things; an image is, firstly, not of itself and (secondly)
is not a terminal resting ground. God’s own being, as the
not for itself” (Meister Eckhart, trans. Maurice O. Walshe,
mystery of the Trinity discloses, is dynamic, never at rest nor
London, 1979, vol. 1, pp. 124–125).
permanently withdrawn into its own darkness. Its silence is
pregnant with God’s revelatory Word. And so the contem-
Since the finite subject conveys nothing positive to the
plative, after having reached the divine silence, moves into
image but rather obscures it by its limitations, only God’s
God’s self-revelation in the image of the Son and, with the
unlimited self-expression in his eternal Word (the Son) is his
Son, out into the otherness of creation. For Ruusbroec also,
perfect image. The quality of the creature’s image depends
God dwells in darkness. But “in this darkness there shines
on the presence of that divine image in it, or, more correctly,
and is born an incomprehensible light, which is the Son of
on the degree of its own immanence in that archetype. The
God, in whom we behold eternal life; and in this light one
mind—specifically the spiritual mind—fully actualizes that
becomes seeing” (Spiritual Espousals 3.1). Ruusbroec postu-
immanence. Eckhart appears to join earlier (Greek) theolo-
lated no unity beyond the Trinity. The One is the Father—
gians who had defined the image through the presence of
that is, a fertile unity, a silence that must speak, a darkness
God’s Word in the soul. But he gives it a more radical turn
that yields light. Through its union with God the soul par-
by declaring that divine Word the soul’s very being. Rather
takes in the movements within God. Once arrived in the
than presence, Eckhart speaks of identity. Of course, as a
empty desert of the Godhead, she is carried by the divine dy-
creature the soul totally differs from the divine image. But
namism and moves with the Father into his divine image and
its created nature contains God’s own, uncreated being. In
into the multiplicity of creation. At that point the creatures
that being the soul coincides with God. “There is something
appear both in their divine foundation within the image and
in the soul that is so near akin to God that it is one and not
also in their divinely constituted otherness. Not only their
united [to him]. . . . If man were wholly thus, he would
divine core but also their limited creaturehood are to be re-
be wholly uncreated and uncreatable” (ibid., vol. 2, p. 85).
spected and cherished. Unlike Eckhart, Ruusbroec included
The soul’s being is generated in an eternal now with (in-
in his mysticism of the image a mysticism of creation. Fini-
deed, within) the divine Word: “The Father bears his Son
tude itself, however different, is never separate from the di-
in eternity like himself. ‘The Word was with God, and God
vine image. Thus his theory of contemplation culminates in
was the Word’ (Jn 1:1): the same in the same nature. I say
the ideal of the “common life,” a rhythmic balance between
more: He has borne him in my soul. Not only is she with
withdrawing into interior life and flowing out into charitable
him and he equally with her, but he is in her: the Father in
practice.
eternity, and no differently” (ibid., p. 135). The mystical
Toward the end of the Middle Ages the mysticism of
process then consists in a person’s becoming conscious of his
the image receded in favor of the more personal but also
divine being. But this is far more than a cognitive process.
more private mysticism of love. Yet the theology of the image
It demands that utmost poverty and total detachment where-
never died. It survived in the theological theories of uncreat-
by he gives up his entire created existence “as he was when
ed grace (e.g., Lessius, De la Taille, Rahner), in patristic
he was not [that is, before his birth]” (ibid., p. 271). Indeed,
studies (Petavius, de Regnon), and in Cistercian spirituality.
the spiritual soul no longer prepares a “place” for God, for
Today it enjoys a genuine revival, as the success of Thomas
“God is himself the place where He works.” Only through
Merton’s work witnesses.
that ultimate detachment, that waylessness in which there are
MYSTICISM OF LOVE: MODERN CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM AND
neither names nor methods, does the soul come to resemble
SUFISM. All Western religions have produced mystics of love.
the image that she was in God “and between which and God
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have known each its own
there was no distinction before God created.”
kind of spiritual eros. In singling out love as characteristic
Farther than Eckhart the mysticism of the image could
of some movements in particular, I restrict the term to those
not go. Yet the identity that he so powerfully affirmed ex-
in which personal love of God dominated—namely, Sufism
cluded any positive consideration of difference. Must the
and the spiritual movements that gradually came to prevail
creature’s difference remain without any spiritual signifi-
in Western Christendom since the late Middle Ages.
cance? Was this no more than the circle of nothingness
Chronologically, Sufism precedes Christian love mysticism.
drawn around God’s own being? Were even the trinitarian
Yet I shall discuss the latter first in order to maintain the con-
distinctions in God destined to be surpassed in a permanent
tinuity with the earlier type of Christian spirituality.
rest in nameless unity? These were the questions that con-
Christianity. Some time during the twelfth century,
fronted later mystics of the Rhineland and the Low Coun-
Christian piety underwent a basic change: its approach to
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God became more human and affective. Love had, of course,
cherishes its finite, imperfect being, which, resulting from a
always been an essential ingredient. But now it became the
divine act of creation, is endowed with a sacred quality of
whole thing. At first it appeared in conjunction with the
its own. The mystery of the divine incarnation here attains
newly recovered trinitarian mysticism. The same Cistercians
a more universal level of meaning, as if Christians suddenly
who reintroduced the Greek theology of the image to the
understood how much the creation must matter to a God
West also initiated love mysticism. Thus in William of Saint-
who himself has become flesh. The new awareness gave rise
Thierry’s influential works, the two currents of contempla-
to the powerful humanism that since the thirteenth century
tion and affection, of image-identity and love-likeness appear
has characterized Western Christendom. Francis of Assisi
simultaneously, occasionally in the same sentence. “When
taught his contemporaries to regard nature with a different
the object of thought is God and the will reaches the stage
eye and to love the deformed and the sick as much as the hale
at which it becomes love, the Holy Spirit at once infuses
and the sound. His attitude found a uniquely poetic expres-
Himself by way of love. . . . The understanding of the one
sion in the Canticle of Brother Sun and in Jacopone da Todi’s
thinking becomes the contemplation of one loving” (Golden
lyricism. But the discovery of God’s presence in creation was
Epistle 249–250). The duality persisted for centuries. Ruus-
capable of systematic treatment, as one of Francis’s followers,
broec brought both trends to a powerful synthesis in his Spir-
Bonaventure, demonstrated in The Journey of the Mind to
itual Marriage, a work that incorporates Greek trinitarian
God. By now the Christocentric orientation of the new spiri-
mysticism in the scheme of a treatise on spiritual love by sub-
tuality had moved to Christ’s humanity—the perfect crea-
ordinating the more extrinsic assimilation through love to
ture so intimately united to God that loving could never de-
the more intrinsic inhabitation of God in the soul.
tract the soul from loving God himself. Soon that humanity
came to fulfill an essential mediating function in spiritual
The emphasis on love is part of a more general tendency
life. Teresa of Ávila would accuse herself of having neglected
to involve the entire personality in the religious act. The new
this link with the divine in her early years.
spiritual humanism (partly influenced by the Spanish Islamic
culture) would revive interest in the psychological theory of
As the incarnational consciousness spread to all creation,
Augustine and pay an unprecedented spiritual attention to
divine transcendence ceased to imply a negation of the creat-
the created world. The first great name to emerge was Ber-
ed world. Thenceforth God’s presence has been found within
nard of Clairvaux. No Christian mystic has ever surpassed
rather than beyond creation. Precisely this immanentization
“the mellifluous doctor,” as he is called, in the eloquent
of the divine accounts for the earthly quality of Christian
praise of spiritual love. Still, in many ways he remained a
love mysticism and for its followers’ deep involvement with
transitional figure: his Christocentric love is directed at the
human cares and worldly concerns. Catherine of Siena, Igna-
divine person of the Word, rather than at the human nature
tius of Loyola, and Teresa of Ávila, among many others, led
of the Christ, focus of later medieval spirituality. But the tra-
extremely active lives and deeply influenced the culture of
dition he established clearly differs from that of image mysti-
their age. This orientation toward the creature created new
cism. In a famous sermon on the Song of Songs, he defines
spiritual problems. For it requires uncommon virtue not to
the unity of the spirit with God as resulting rather “from a
become attached to a creature one loves for its own sake. By
concurrence of wills than from a union of essences.” Here
no coincidence did most love mystics become “saints,” that
likeness firmly replaces image-identity. Does it mean that
is, persons who, by heroic virtue, learned to love without
Bernard accepts only an external union with God? Not
possessiveness. All mysticism demands mental purity. But for
really, for in his treatise On Loving God he describes the high-
those whose love of God passes through creation, the purify-
est degree of love as the condition of a drop of water disap-
ing process proves especially exacting. Besides renouncing
pearing in a quantity of wine. Experience itself becomes
the superfluous, an essential condition of spiritual growth,
transformed. “To love yourself as if you no longer existed,
mystics so deeply involved with creation have to move
to cease completely to experience yourself, to reduce yourself
against the grain of their natural inclination in order to estab-
to nothing, is not a human sentiment but a divine experi-
lish the precarious balance of love and detachment. What
ence” (10.27). Nevertheless, the transient quality of ecstatic
al-Ghaza¯l¯ı writes about S:u¯f¯ı mortification is a task for all
love, its submission to the psychic rhythm of the soul, its af-
love mystics: “The uprooting from the soul of all violent pas-
finity with human eros, all herald the advent of a different
sions, the extirpation from it of vicious desires and evil quali-
type of spirituality.
ties so that the heart may become detached from all that is
not God.” But when the mystical state proper begins, spiritu-
The humanization of man’s relation to God transforms
al men and women tend to stop or reduce this active mortifi-
man’s attitude toward a creation in which God now comes
cation.
to be more intimately present. An interpersonal, and hence
more creaturely, relation to God is ready to accept each crea-
Significantly, John of the Cross, one of the most articu-
ture on its own terms and for its own sake. In this respect
late mystics of love, describes the entire spiritual process as
its attitude differs essentially from the image mysticism that
an increasing purification, a “night” that starts with the
holds the creature worthy of spiritual love only in its divine
senses, spreads to the understanding, and concludes in the
core, where it remains rooted in God. The love mystic also
total darkness of union with God. Most mystics would, per-
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haps more appropriately, refer to the second and third stages
themselves that union” (ibid., 2.26)—and with the spiritual
as illumination and union. But they equally emphasize the
“feelings” that emerge “in the substance of the soul” (ibid.,
increased need for detachment. Followers of this tradition
2.32). In such states illumination has in fact turned into
tend to equate the beginning of the mystical life with a state
union.
of passive prayer that excludes the ability to meditate. John
It is in terms of union that Teresa of Ávila discusses the
of the Cross distinguishes the night of the senses, common
matter in her Interior Mansions (Fifth and Sixth Mansions).
to all who enter the mystical life, from the “horrible and
What characterizes this final stage of love mysticism—
awful” passive purgation of the spirit in the advanced. Not
whether defined in cognitive or in affective terms—is its per-
all agree with this description, but all stress the need for total
manence. Hence Teresa refers to it as a “marriage.” Here the
passivity with respect to the divine operation. An entire
distinction between the “likeness” of love mysticism and the
school has taken what Teresa of Ávila calls the prayer of
“identity” of image mysticism ceases to exist—even in the
“quiet” to be the goal of spiritual life itself. As practiced by
terminology. In the highest love union, intentional interme-
Miguel de Molinos (1628–1696) and Jeanne Guyon (1648–
diacy yields to substantial presence. The trend from likeness
1717), this controversial concept drew upon itself a number
to unity appears even more clearly in S:u¯f¯ı mysticism.
of official condemnations. The debate began with the ques-
tion whether the spiritual person should remain passive with
Sufism. With its stern emphasis on law and orthodoxy,
regard to temptations, especially carnal temptations. The
Islam hardly seems to present a fertile soil for intensive per-
quietist attitude, the adversaries claimed, led to gross immo-
sonal experience of the love of God. Yet Islam assumes the
rality—as in the case of Molinos. But the discussion then
entire social system, shar¯ı Eah (the way), into a privileged
moved toward the more central issue of whether quiet is ac-
communal relation with God. Moreover, the QurDa¯n states
quired or infused. The quietists failed to make adequate dis-
that, next to the ordinary believers who serve their creator
tinctions and thereby appeared to present mystical graces
according to the precepts of the law, there are some to whom
available to all, while allowing the pious to neglect the pur-
God communicates his essential mystery inwardly in peace
suit of common virtue and the practice of good works. Final-
of the soul and friendship with God (QurDa¯n 17:27). Here
ly, with the French bishop Fénelon, both pupil and director
the Prophet allows for the possibility of a realm of personal
of Jeanne Guyon, the dispute turned to the problem of “pure
religion. The possibility was soon actualized and eventually
love”: only the love that loves God exclusively because of
flowered into unparalleled mystical beauty. Even the unique
himself is worthy of a spiritual person. Once the mystic has
authority of the QurDa¯n has in an indirect way contributed
attained this state of pure love, he or she abandons the me-
to Islam’s mystical wealth, for precisely because it remains
thodic pursuit of virtue and, eventually, all control over the
the supreme norm of its interpretation, pious readers may
spiritual process. None of the charges against the quietists
find in it whatever meaning divinely inspired insight
was ever fully substantiated. Yet the entire controversy re-
(istinba¯t:) privately reveals to them. Only when personal in-
veals how sensitive the issue of active or passive quiet had be-
terpretation openly clashes with established doctrine (espe-
come. The question whether the “higher states of prayer” are
cially its rigorous monotheism) could religious authorities in-
available to all could hardly have been raised in an earlier,
terfere. Thus, paradoxically, Islam, the “religion of the
less psychological age.
book,” allows greater freedom of interpretation than reli-
gions that place less emphasis on the written word. Though
The “illumination” that normally follows the period of
early Muslim mysticism stayed in close connection with the
purgation should not be thought of as a succession of new
Islamic community, conflicts arose. Already at the time of
insights. John of the Cross refers to it as a darkness of the
H:asan al-Bas:r¯ı (d. 728), the patriarch of Islamic mysticism,
understanding caused by the excessive light of faith (Ascent
Sunn¯ı traditionalists objected to his attempt to go beyond
of Mount Carmel 3.3.1). Still, the light is often reflected in
the letter of law and doctrine. Thus began the opposition be-
unusual cognitive states—hallucinatory perceptions, inten-
tween “internal” and “external” religion that, from the tenth
sively imagined visions or voices, nonrepresentational intu-
century on, led to increasingly severe confrontations. Never-
itions—which in unpredictable ways testify to the profound
theless, a deep personal piety remained an essential element
transformation the mind undergoes in the higher stages of
of the Islam that substantially contributed to rendering it a
mysticism. They are often hard to interpret, and spiritual
world religion.
masters have traditionally adopted a cautious attitude toward
them. Yet we should not place them all on an equal footing.
Most Islamic mysticism could be characterized as love
John of the Cross distinguishes concrete visions (either sensa-
mysticism. Many texts show an amazing similarity in spirit
tional or imaginary) from so-called spiritual apprehensions.
and even expression with later Christian mysticism. Certain
While he dismisses the former as a breeding ground of moral
passages in the poetry of Ra¯biEah al-EAdaw¯ıyah (d. 801) ap-
illusions, among the latter he finds the most direct expres-
pear to throw a bridge across the centuries to Teresa of Ávila,
sions of God’s experienced presence. John equates such “in-
while John of the Cross’s Dark Night echoes some of Shaykh
tellectual” (nonrepresentational) visions (ibid., 2.24) with
al-Junayd’s poems. The similarity becomes somewhat intelli-
revelations of God’s being “in the naked understanding” of
gible through the established influence of Syrian monasti-
the soul that has attained the state of union—“for they are
cism (especially the hesychastic movement) upon the early
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S:u¯f¯ıs, and the strong Muslim impact upon Spanish culture
calling them to witness when still their eternal life was utterly
as a whole and upon its mystics in particular. The resem-
negated, a state in which they were from all pre-eternity”
blance has often tempted Western scholars to interpret S:u¯f¯ı
(Zaehner, 1957, pp. 165–166).
writings by means of Christian concepts. Yet the difference
By following this principle of emanation to its ultimate
is substantial and appears with increasing clarity in some later
consequences al-Junayd’s disciple, al-H:alla¯j, ended up with
S:u¯f¯ı developments toward monism. Here love no longer rep-
the allegedly monist theory for which he was executed in the
resents the highest union with God but is merely a way sta-
year 922. With al-H:alla¯j begins a wholly new phase in S:u¯f¯ı
tion on the road to a more total identity. Still, early S:u¯f¯ıs
mysticism that continued to use the language of love, but fre-
adopted models of asceticism that had closer ties with the
quently in a more symbolic sense than had the earlier S:u¯f¯ıs.
spirituality of the Desert Fathers than with the worldly luxu-
Meanwhile it remains very doubtful whether al-H:alla¯j, de-
ry of the expanding Muslim empire. Even the wool dress
spite his strong expressions, ever considered himself fully
(s:u¯f) from which they probably derived their name may well
have had a Christian symbolic meaning. At any rate, the pas-
identical with God. His claim of divinization refers to a pas-
sive asceticism of the early S:u¯f¯ıs stood in sharp contrast with
sive, transient state—not to a permanent self-deification.
the outgoing, active attitude of the Prophet’s early followers.
Such ecstatic exclamations as “I am the Truth,” by no means
Not until the eighth century, however, did the emphasis shift
unique to him, express a temporary, divinely granted aware-
from an asceticism inspired by a fear of judgment to a mysti-
ness of identity with God. He probably remained a love mys-
cism of love for which fasting and poverty served as means
tic always longing for a union that was only occasionally at-
to a higher end.
tained, as in the following oft-quoted verses: “Between me
and Thee lingers an ‘it is I’ that torments me. Ah, of Thy
The most attractive figure in this early love mysticism
grace, take this ‘I’ from between us.” Even the supreme ex-
is certainly the former slave Ra¯biEah. To her we owe some
pression of union still indicates a remnant of duality. “I am
of the purest mystical love poetry of all time, such as her fa-
He whom I love, and He whom I love is I. We are two Spirits
mous prayer at night: “Oh, my Lord, the stars are shining
dwelling in one body” (Nicholson, 1939, p. 218). Elsewhere
and the eyes of men are closed, and kings have shut their
al-H:alla¯j firmly upholds God’s transcendence with respect to
doors, and every lover is alone with his beloved, and here am
his creation, as in the words quoted by al-Qushayr¯ı: “He has
I alone with Thee” (Margaret Smith, Ra¯bi Ea the Mystic,
bound the whole to contingency, for transcendence is His
Cambridge, 1928, p. 22). Her “pure” love, even as the love
own. . . . He remains far from the states of his creation, in
of later mystics possessing that quality, refuses to act or pray
Him there is no mingling with His creation, His act permits
out of self-interest, “If I worship Thee from fear of hell, burn
of no amendment, He is withdrawn from them by His tran-
me in hell; and if I worship Thee in hope of paradise, exclude
scendence as they are withdrawn from Him in their contin-
me from paradise; but if I worship Thee for Thine own sake,
gency” (Louis Massignon, La passion d’al Hossayn-ibn-
then do not withhold from me Thine eternal loveliness.”
Mansoûr al Hallaj, Paris, 1922, p. 638).
Only repentance inspired by sorrow for having offended the
Beloved is worthy of the spiritual person. For all its erotic
After al-H:alla¯j, S:u¯f¯ı piety reached a temporary truce
exuberance, this and similar love mysticism remained doctri-
with orthodox learning in al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (d. 1111), the greatest
nally “sober.” It developed elaborate schemes of the stages
of the theologians. A learned teacher of law and doctrine, he
(maqa¯ma¯t) of the love of God. Eventually it used Neoplaton-
abandoned his chair to spend eleven years as a wandering
ic categories, which strengthened it theoretically but may
S:u¯f¯ı, and at the end of his life retired to a S:u¯f¯ı monastery.
have favored its later development toward monism.
Bypassing the antinomian trends that emerged after
al-H:alla¯j, he returned to a more traditional attempt to em-
In Shaykh al-Junayd (d. 910), S:u¯f¯ı mystical theology
phasize experience over the letter of the law. With Ibn
reached full maturity as well as a systematic unity. Though
al-EArab¯ı (d. 1240) the dependence on Neoplatonism (espe-
this religious leader went far in adopting Plotinus’s theory,
cially the so-called Theology of Aristotle) and, with it, the
his orthodoxy was never questioned. Louis Massignon, the
movement toward monism became more pronounced than
famous student of Islamic mysticism, describes al-Junayd as
ever. He provided the link between Western classical culture
“clever, prudent and timid, conscious of the danger of het-
and Eastern Islamic mysticism that culminated in Jala¯l
erodoxy which is peculiar to mysticism,” and as a wise spiri-
al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı. S:u¯f¯ı mysticism, however much inclined to-
tual director “who suspends his judgment and defers the
ward monism, never abandoned the language and imagery
question so long as experience does not seem to him decisive
of love. Ibn al-EArab¯ı, with al-Ghaza¯l¯ı the most philosophi-
and crucial” (Massignon, 1954, p. 275). Still, his theory of
cal of all Muslim mystics, never ceases to integrate his Neo-
emanation from a preexistence in God to a separate existence
platonic vision with the QurDa¯n’s dualistic doctrine of man’s
in time daringly reinterpreted the creation doctrine. In Kita¯b
relation to God. Still one may doubt whether he did more
al-Fana¯ D he writes, “He annihilated me [in my divine preexis-
than adapt the terminology of traditional S:u¯f¯ı love mysti-
tence] in creating me even as, in the beginning, He created
cism to his own kind of monism. The Absolute for him is
me [in my separate existence in time] when I was not,” and
an indistinct One that, overcome by the desire to be known,
“He was the source of their existence, encompassing them,
projects itself through creative imagination into apparent
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MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
otherness. In this projection the relation of the One to the
Beware! Say not, “He is All Beautiful, And we His lov-
created world, specifically to man, determines that of the Ab-
ers? Thou art but the glass, And He the face confronting
solute to the differentiated idea of God, the intellectual pole
it, which casts Its image on the mirror. He alone Is
as opposed to the cosmic pole of finite being. All that the
manifest, and thou in truth art hid, Pure Love, like
creature is, is divine, yet God always exceeds creation.
Beauty, coming but from Him, Reveals itself in thee.”
(E. G. Brown, A Year amongst the Persians, Cambridge,
Through man’s mediation the dependent, created world re-
1926, p. 138)
turns to its primordial unity. As the image of God, man im-
poses that image upon the cosmos and reflects it back to its
Yet most important for the later mystical life of Islam in Iran
original. In fulfilling this mediating task he approaches the
were the flourishing S:u¯f¯ı orders of dervishes (one of them
(Gnostic?) archetype of the Perfect Man, the ideal link that
founded by Ru¯m¯ı himself). As they spread, mystical life
restores the broken oneness. Only the Muslim saint realizes
reached all layers of the population, and the search for mysti-
the model in its fullness.
cal trance reached unprecedented proportions. After the fif-
teenth century, Persian mysticism produced no more great
All of this appears far removed from Islamic love mysti-
writers. Generally speaking, the trend of the past three centu-
cism and even from monotheism. But the same Ibn al-EArab¯ı
ries in Islam has been more toward communal piety and law
also wrote a collection of sensual love poetry to which he later
than toward personal devotion. Yet in our own day we wit-
added a mystical interpretation. Even his “monist” Bezels of
ness a revival of S:u¯f¯ı movements.
Wisdom concludes with a dithyramb on spiritualized sexual
E
love as providing access to the perfect love of God. It states
SCHATOLOGICAL MYSTICISM: JEWISH MYSTICS. The sec-
tion headings in this article do not capture the full meaning
that in woman, man most perfectly contemplates God. “The
of the content. At best they approximate a definition of a
greatest union is that between man and woman, correspond-
dominant trend in a particular, more or less unified mystical
ing as it does to the turning of God toward the one He has
school. In the case of Jewish mysticism the description may
created in His own image, to make him His vice regent, so
not even serve this minimal purpose: Judaism has produced
that He might behold Himself in him. . . . If he [man]
forms of mysticism so unlike any other and so variant among
knew the truth, he would know Whom it is he is enjoying
themselves that no common characteristic marks them all.
and Who it is Who is the enjoyer; then he would be perfect-
At most we can say that they “commune” with one another,
ed” (The Bezels of Wisdom, in The Classics of Western Spiritu-
not that they share an identical spirit. Gershom Scholem
ality, ed. John Farina, New York, 1980, pp. 275–276). How-
wisely embedded this irreducible diversity, reflective of a
ever thorough Ibn al-EArab¯ı doctrinal monism may have
spiritual Diaspora, in the very title of his authoritative work
been, it never prevented him from attributing to love a pri-
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941). The closest he
mary role in the practical process of reunification with God.
comes to a general characteristic is the point at which he
His readers, both inside and outside Islam, have always em-
draws attention to the persistent presence of eschatological
phasized this dualism of mystical praxis. This explains his
traits in Jewish mysticism: “This eschatological nature of
impact both on Spanish Catholic (Ramon Lull, John of the
mystical knowledge becomes of paramount importance in
Cross) and on Persian S:u¯f¯ı mystics.
the writings of many Jewish mystics, from the anonymous
In the refined mystical poetry that constitutes the glory
authors of the early He-khaloth tracts to Rabbi Naham of
of Persian Sufism, the same drift toward monism is frequent-
Brazlav” (p. 20). The eschatological element most clearly ap-
ly expressed in erotic language. Here the undisputed master
pears in the earliest trend: the often Gnostically influenced
is Jala¯l al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı (d. 1273). He himself was influenced
mythical speculation on Ezekiel’s vision of the throne-
by others (such as EAt:t:a¯r, and Ibn al-EArab¯ı’s disciple in
chariot, the merkavah. Mysticism around this theme began
Konya, al-Qunaw¯ı, and especially his strange mentor,
in the first centuries of the common era. It consisted of an
al-Tabr¯ız¯ı), yet sang, with a voice uniquely his own, of the
attempt to ascend to the divine throne beyond the various
longing for the Beloved.
intermediate spheres (the heikhalot). Except for its biblical
starting point (first developed in the Ethiopic Apocalypse of
I am not the kingdom of EIraquain, nor of the country
Enoch), the impact of Gnostic pl¯ero¯ma mythology dominates
of Khorasan, I am not of this world, nor of the next,
this spiritual “throne world.” But also the typically Hellenis-
nor of Paradise, nor of hell. My place is the Placeless,
tic connection of mysticism and magic appears to have been
my trace is the Traceless; ’Tis neither body nor soul, for
I belong to the soul of the Beloved. I have put duality
strong. Merkavah mysticism declined after the seventh cen-
away, I have seen that the two worlds are one: One I
tury, but enjoyed a steady revival in Italy in the ninth and
seek, One I know, One I see, One I call. He is the first,
tenth centuries, which, in turn, may have influenced medi-
He is the last, He is the outward, He is the inward.
eval German Hasidism.
(D¯ıva¯n¯ı Shamsi Tabr¯ız,trans. R. A. Nicholson, Cam-
Whereas merkavah mysticism had been esoteric, Hasi-
bridge, 1898, p. 125)
dism (from h:asid, “pious one”) began in the twelfth century
Persian poets after Ru¯m¯ı expressed a similar synthesis of
as a popular movement closely connected with the halakhah
monist reality and erotic longing, none with more force and
(law). The early development has been fixed in the Sefer
evocative power than EAbd al-Rah:ma¯n Ja¯m¯ı (d. 1492):
H:asidim (Book of the Pious), which contains the spiritual
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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6353
testaments of the prolific Yehudah the Pious and of two
Wholly different is the theophysical mysticism that re-
other early writers. The eschatological element, present from
sulted in that unsurpassed masterpiece of mystical specula-
the beginning, gradually became more pronounced. Yet vari-
tion, the Zohar (Book of Splendor). Its origin remains myste-
ous other elements appear as well, among them an almost
rious, because the anonymous author has carefully covered
monastic emphasis on the religious virtues of simplicity, hu-
his tracks (even to the point of writing in Aramaic rather
mility, and indifference. While merkavah mysticism attained
than Hebrew) and attributed his work to earlier authorities.
its goal by contemplation, Hasidism did so primarily by
Yet internal criticism suggests that it was written in Spain in
prayer and spiritual practice. To pure transcendence it op-
the last third of the thirteenth century, probably by one au-
poses the intensive awareness of an omnipresent creator ac-
thor. The writer, familiar with the philosophies of Maimoni-
cessible to the H:asid even in his daily activities. Finally, while
des and of Neoplatonism, has, above all, undergone the in-
merkavah mysticism displays Gnostic traits, Hasidic “theolo-
fluence of unknown Gnostic sources. Synthesizing all
gy” shows a resemblance to Neoplatonism even in its Greek
qabbalistic writings of the century, he attempts to stem the
Christian development. God’s glory (kavod) is distinct from
rationalist trend by giving traditional Judaism a hidden mys-
God’s being as a first manifestation of his presence
tical interpretation. Thus this highly esoteric work was, in
(shekhinah), which mediates between this hidden essence and
fact, written for the enlightened Jewish intelligentsia of late-
the fully manifest creation. The Hasidim indulged in elabo-
fourteenth-century Spain. Central in the Zohar doctrine is
rate speculation about the inner and outer glory of God, and
the theology of the sefirot, the ten “regions” into which the
about the kingdom of his created yet hidden presence.
divine emanation extends itself. Importantly, the divine
These daring speculations seldom developed into a co-
pl¯ero¯ma of these sefirot does not emanate from God: it re-
herent theology. In that respect they differed from the spiri-
mains within God as his manifest being, in contrast to the
tual movement that, from the fourteenth century on, would
“hidden God.” Gershom Scholem writes: “The point to keep
largely replace it—Qabbalah. It originated in thirteenth-
in mind is that the sefirot are not secondary or intermediary
century Spain as a highly esoteric doctrine, one that its fol-
spheres which interpose between God and the universe . . .
lowers were reluctant to divulge. After the expulsion of the
not steps of a ladder between God and the world, but various
Jews from Spain (1492), however, it developed into a theolo-
planes in the manifestation of the Divinity which proceed
gy of exile that spread to large segments of the Jewish world.
from and succeed each other” (Scholem, 1961,
More speculative than ecstatic (though methods for ecstasy
pp. 208–209). Here also language fulfills a crucial function:
were not absent), it was deeply influenced by Gnostic theolo-
the sefirot, the creative names God gives himself, anticipate
gies. Its masterwork, the Zohar, by its daring adoption of
the faculty of speech in man. The ultimate manifestation
Gnostic cosmogonies surpassed in this respect even merkavah
consists of God’s simple, immanent presence in the entire
mysticism. In addition, it absorbed the Neoplatonic currents
creation, the shekhinah. In becoming aware of this divine
that had swept through the Arabic and Jewish culture of
presence, man comes to understand his own deeper self.
twelfth- and thirteenth-century Spain. Considering the haz-
Creation takes place within God as a transition from the
ardous nature of its thought, its relation to normative tradi-
divine Nothing, the mathematical point frequently identified
tion and official authority remained, on the whole, remark-
with God’s Wisdom (the h:okhmah of Proverbs). Even evil
ably peaceful, if not always amiable. Indeed, the branch that
proceeds from a negative principle in God himself that has
produced the most daring speculation found its expression
become isolated from the rest of the divine organism. Man’s
mostly in traditional rabbinical commentaries on the sacred
reaction consists in restoring creation to its original union
text. Another trend of Qabbalah, culminating in Avraham
within God.
ben ShemuDel Abulafia (1240–after 1291), is more prophet-
ic. It combines in a highly original way philosophical theo-
The idea of an immanent creation was taken one step
ry—much of it derived from Maimonides (Mosheh ben
further by some sixteenth-century mystics of Safad in Pales-
Maimon, 1135/8–1204)—with mystical speculations on the
tine, exiled from Spain after the expulsion decree. The new
divine names. Abulafia left his native Saragossa early in life
Diaspora gave Qabbalah a distinctly messianic, eschatologi-
to travel all over the Near East and to settle down in Sicily,
cal aspect that had been less prominent in the Zohar. Thus
where he wrote most of his many works. They all aim at as-
the mystical return to the aboriginal creation now came to
sisting the soul to untie the “knots” that bind it to this world
be seen as anticipating the messianic era. According to Isaac
of multiplicity and to allow it to return to its original unity
Luria (1534–1572), the most important mystic of the
(surprisingly named after Aristotle’s Agent Intellect). This
school, creation originates through a process of self-emptying
union may be attained through contemplation of a suffi-
whereby God withdraws from a mystical space within him-
ciently abstract object, such as the letters of the Hebrew al-
self in order to establish the possibility for a reality other than
phabet. Any combination of letters results in word figures
his own omnipresent being. The concept of tsimtsum (with-
that in some way refer to the sacred tetragrammaton of the
drawal) allows Luria to distinguish the world of creation
divine name, YHVH. In meditating upon them—somewhat
from the emanations that occur within God’s own being
as the yogin uses a mantra—consciousness moves to a higher
and to prevent creation from collapsing into a pantheistic
state of unity that releases man’s prophetic faculty.
oneness.
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6354
MYSTICISM [FIRST EDITION]
The Gnostic idea of the primordial man, adam qadmon,
Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezhirich. They, like all their
which models God’s manifest being on the human organism,
major followers, distinguished themselves more by the strik-
provides a transition between the sphere of the sefirot and the
ing gesture, the memorable story, than by interpretation of
created world, while, at the same time, explaining the origin
the Torah. It is hard to evaluate the precise “mystical” signifi-
of evil. The light of the divine being is refracted through this
cance of so popular a movement. Yet the intensive religious
supreme emanation. The first six sefirot receive and reflect
experience of its greatest writers leaves no doubt. Here partic-
the divine light radiated by adam qadmon. But the lower six
ularly we should restrain ourselves from imposing too narrow
are not powerful enough to retain the light, and it “shatters
limits on the term mystical. Hasidism may be more practical
the vessels” (shevirat ha-kalim). Here evil begins to exist as
and certainly more social than earlier spiritual movements,
a separate entity. Through the breaking of the vessels, the
but its emphasis upon a joyful spirit and moral living derives
forces of evil that were mixed with the divine light become
from a mystical source.
segregated from the good. This purgative event, good in it-
Jewish mysticism shows an unparalleled variety of forms
self, would have allowed the total elimination of evil in the
ranging from deep speculation to purely emotional experi-
final reintegration of the last sefirah. But Adam’s fall, once
ence. It consistently appeals to scriptural authority, yet no
again, reintroduced chaos into the cosmos. The Diaspora
mystical movement ever strayed further from theological or-
symbolizes this general disarray in which the shekhinah itself
thodoxy than late messianic Qabbalah. And still for all the
is sent into exile.
variety of its forms and of the external influences to which
Luria’s mystical theory culminates in his idea of re-
it was exposed, Jewish mysticism unquestionably possesses
demption, a redemption, mystically conceived, that coin-
a powerful unity of its own. In it the word dominates, and
cides with the messianic era. Through prayer, spiritual man
the often tragic experience of the present lives in constant ex-
plays an active role in restoring the original order of the uni-
pectation of the future.
verse. Mystical piety will recall the shekhinah back to the spir-
SEE ALSO Aesthetics, article on Philosophical Aesthetics; At-
itual pl¯ero¯ma and prepare the world for the messianic com-
tention; Consciousness, States of; Esotericism; Psychedelic
ing. The powerful concept of tikkun (reintegration)
Drugs; Religious Experience.
conveyed meaning to the bitter experience of the exile. Yet,
combined with messianic expectations, it also created a tense
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and potentially explosive sense of anticipation. Luria’s mysti-
A popular edition of many Christian, Muslim, and Jewish mystics
cal theology therefore prepared the terrain for the pseu-
with generally good introductions is the series “Classics of
domessiahs and the antinomian movements of the seven-
Western Spirituality” under the editorship of Richard J.
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Thus the unstable Shabbetai
Payne (New York, 1978–).
Tsevi (1625–1676) was able (largely through the efforts of
The best works on mysticism in general remain William James’s
his “prophet,” Natan of Gaza) to render himself accepted as
The Varieties of Religious Experience (New York, 1902) and
the Messiah and even to retain many of his followers when
Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism (New York, 1911).
he himself apostasized to Islam. Was this not part of the Mes-
Mysticism: Sacred and Profane (Oxford, 1957) by R. C. Zaehner
siah’s vocation in a world that had exiled him to the realm
is a biased work, but the author knows the subject well, espe-
of darkness? Large groups of Shabbateans apostasized public-
cially Hindu mysticism. A collection of essays on the mystical
ly while secretly preserving their messianic faith—thus re-
experience is Studies in the Psychology of the Mystics, edited by
peating voluntarily what Marrano Jews had been compelled
Joseph Maréchal (Albany, N. Y., 1964). A sampling of essays
to do involuntarily. The exile among the infidels initiated the
on various aspects and schools of mysticism is found in Un-
condition for the final separation of good and evil of the mes-
derstanding Mysticism, edited by Richard Woods (Garden
sianic era. At the same time, antinomian behavior inaugurat-
City, N.Y., 1980).
ed a reign in which the restrictions of the Law would be abol-
Two important books on Hindu mysticism are R. C. Zaehner’s
ished and the primordial state of freedom restored.
Hinduism (London, 1962) and, older but still valuable, Sur-
endranath Dasgupta’s Hindu Mysticism (New York, 1927).
Qabbalah was not to end in this state of general disinte-
gration. A new Hasidism on the rise in eighteenth-century
A number of good studies on mysticism in Buddhism are avail-
Poland incorporated much of its mystical piety while reject-
able: Edward Conze’s Buddhism: Its Essence and Development
(Oxford, 1951) and D. T. Suzuki’s On Indian Maha¯ya¯na
ing its messianic excesses. It was neither esoteric nor elitist.
Buddhism, translated and edited by Edward Conze (New
More emotional than intellectual, it appears more as a reviv-
York, 1968), are two. Frederick J. Streng has published a
alist movement than as a theological school. Yet its nonsyste-
valuable study of Na¯ga¯rjuna in his book Emptiness: A Study
matic character has not prevented it from occasionally attain-
in Religious Meaning (New York, 1967).
ing speculative peaks. It honored the charismatic leader more
For discussions of Christian mysticism, the reader may consult the
than the learned rabbi, even though most of its leaders were
introductions to many volumes of the “Classics of Western
rabbis and all endeavored to remain within rabbinical ortho-
Spirituality” and the three-volume A History of Christian
doxy. The new Hasidism began with two inspired men: the
Spirituality (New York, 1963–1969) by Louis Bouyer, Jean
Besht (YisraDel ben EliEezer, 1700–1760) and his disciple,
Leclercq, François Vandenbroucke, and Louis Cognet. An
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYSTICISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
6355
older history is Pierre Pourrat’s Christian Spirituality (West-
no real counterpart in other traditions, it is not surprising
minster, Md., 1953–1955), a four-volume work. On French
that the suitability of mysticism as a neutral, global term has
spirituality of the modern age, Henri Brémond’s twelve-
been questioned by some scholars. Others, more radically,
volume Histoire litté-raire du sentiment religieux en France, 2d
have challenged the authenticity of the concept itself, view-
ed., edited by René Taveneaux (Paris, 1967–1968), remains
ing it as a product of post-Enlightenment universalism.
unsurpassed. On Protestant spirituality, see The Protestant
Mystics, edited by Anne Fremantle (London, 1964); in addi-
SCOPE AND DEFINITION OF THE TERM MYSTICISM. Louis
tion, volume 3 of the History of Christian Spirituality deals
Dupré, in his survey of mysticism in world religions in this
with Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican forms of mysti-
encyclopedia, acknowledges the difficulty of any overall defi-
cism. A further discussion of Orthodox mysticism is George
nition of mysticism, but some sort of definition must be pos-
P. Fedotov’s A Treasury of Russian Spirituality (1950; Bel-
sible if one is to accept the category of the mystical as coher-
mont, Mass., 1975).
ent and illuminating. By way of a broad definition, one can
For a study of Islamic mysticism, see Annemarie Schimmel’s Mys-
say that the term mysticism relates to traditions affirming di-
tical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1975); Louis
rect knowledge of or communion with the source or ground
Massignon’s Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la
of ultimate reality, as variously experienced in visionary, ec-
mystique musulmane, 3d ed. (Paris, 1968); Reynold A. Nich-
static, contemplative, or unitive states of consciousness and
olson’s Legacy of Islam (London, 1939); and Margaret
as diversely embodied in doctrines and practices expressing
Smith’s Way of the Mystics: The Early Christian Mystics and
a unitary and compassionate view of the cosmos and human
the Rise of the Sufis (London, 1976).
existence. The profound transcendental experiences that em-
The choice of general works on Jewish mysticism is limited, but
power mystics and inform their ideas and actions are typical-
the best is a classic by Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in
ly characterized by paradox: they are personal yet self-
Jewish Mysticism (1941; reprint, New York, 1961).
transcending, noetic while in some sense ineffable, striven
L
after but also recognized as independent of human effort.
OUIS DUPRÉ (1987)
To move from a general to a more specific definition
is either to defer to this or that doctrinal interpretation or
historical tradition or to engage creatively in some religiously
MYSTICISM [FURTHER CONSIDER-
or metaphysically inspired synthesis or syncretism. The for-
ATIONS]. The term mysticism, like the term religion it-
mer move tends to obscure cross-cultural insights in the in-
self, is a problematic but indispensable one. Identifying a
terests of protecting the coherence of a particular cultural or
broad spectrum of ideas, experiences, and practices across a
theological tradition; the latter tends to overlook the con-
diversity of cultures and traditions, it is a generic term rather
crete embodiment within a given culture characteristic of
than the name for any particular doctrine or mode of life.
even the most universalistic mysticism. Both moves, though
The application of appropriate epithets yields terminology
legitimate, lie beyond the agenda of a strictly scientific study
for specific categories of mysticism (theistic mysticism, na-
of religion. Alternatively, one might allow a definition to be-
ture mysticism, and eschatological mysticism) and for dis-
come so qualified or all-embracing that mysticism becomes
tinct cultural or doctrinal traditions (e.g., Hindu mysticism,
virtually synonymous with spirituality (a much vaguer term
bhakti mysticism, Jewish mysticism, merkavah mysticism).
than mysticism) or even with a selective history of religion
The term mysticism is also a modern one, serving the pur-
in general.
pose of comparative study and theoretical analysis, drawing
There is no advantage in conflating mysticism, even in
into a single arena ideas and practices otherwise isolated
its broadest definition, with other types of or currents within
within their own local names and histories.
religion, such as prophecy, theurgy, divination, mediumship,
Inevitably, however, the term remains colored if not
shamanism, spirit possession, occultism, spiritualism, or
hampered by the complexity of its own history: by its origi-
charismatic enthusiasm. It is possible to affirm mysticism as
nal Greek etymology (meaning “silence, secrecy, initiation,
a distinctive strand within religion while not denying its
ineffability”), by the early Christian use of the word mystical
multiple connections with other forms of practice and expe-
to describe the deeper significance of Scripture and liturgy,
rience. Nor does the distinctive nature of mystical states
by the later Christian definition of mystical theology as loving
mean that their investigation should be segregated from that
union with God by grace, and by popular uses of mysticism
of other traditions of extraordinary experience. In this con-
as a label for anything nebulous, esoteric, occult, or supernat-
nection the category of “altered states of consciousness” is a
ural. Although mysticism is now firmly entrenched within
useful one within which to locate mystical states, whether for
the vocabulary of the modern study of religions, its usage
the sake of making connections or for drawing contrasts. The
overlaps and to some extent competes with its employment
continuities of the mystical with such varied categories as the
in specifically theological contexts. Christian or at least theis-
aesthetic, the psychic, or the pathological are certainly closer
tic mysticism continues to be given prominence even in
than has been acknowledged in the past. Two areas where
studies treating the subject at a more generic or theoretical
mysticism has both illuminated and been illuminated by jux-
level (e.g., in much philosophy of religion). Given its persis-
taposition with other phenomena are shamanism and the
tently Christian associations and the fact that the term has
near-death experience.
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6356
MYSTICISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
Any modern treatment of mysticism must satisfy two
sciousness that while extraordinary are different only in de-
negative and two positive criteria. First, it must avoid reify-
gree from other states of consciousness. Then there is the
ing mysticism into some kind of uniform system or tradition
view that mystical states are not only extraordinary but also
standing outside the historical traditions of religion. Second,
completely different from any other kind of human experi-
it must avoid making the forms or truths of the mysticism
ence. In both views mystical experience lends itself to appro-
of any one tradition a touchstone for the evaluation of mysti-
priate scrutiny from the various scholarly disciplines, allow-
cism more generally. Third, it must take into account the
ing theologians and metaphysicians to focus on its doctrinal
global diversity of mysticism; it must embrace Nagarjuna as
implications, phenomenologists and philosophers on its
well as Teresa of Ávila, Isaac Luria as well as Shankara, Mira-
structure and cognitive significance, psychologists and soci-
bai as well as Plotinus. Finally, it must take into account
ologists on its emotional and behavioral features, scientists
what may be called the four “dimensions” of mysticism: the
on its physiological conditions and correlates, and so on.
experiential, the theoretical, the practical, and the social.
That is, the varieties of mystical experience are intimately
A third and more radical view to have emerged in recent
linked with a body of disciplines and techniques, which in
years is that it is fundamentally misconceived to think of the
turn are informed by a body of ideas expressed in doctrine
mystical life as based upon the cultivation and interpretation
and philosophy, symbolism and speculation, all of which
of special episodes or states of consciousness, whether or not
have social embodiment within particular historical commu-
different in kind from other types of experience. In this view
nities and traditions. To these a fifth dimension could be
mysticism is not about having extraordinary kinds of experi-
added—even where “bracketed out”—the ontological di-
ence that, having been reported by mystics, can be studied
mension, covering the transcendental causes or realities im-
at one remove by theologians and other scholars in order for
plicit in mystical experience. To acknowledge these dimen-
their real meaning to be understood. Rather, mysticism is
sions and the multiple connections between them enriches
about a transformed and transforming way of experiencing
but also complicates the study of mysticism, particularly in
the world as a whole through a life shaped by the intellectual,
the case of comparative studies. How can one consider Bud-
liturgical, and communal structures of a particular tradition.
dhist enlightenment without reference to Buddhist medita-
Mystical states of consciousness do not offer the mystic, let
tion, the language of Christian mysticism without knowl-
alone the observer, privileged shortcuts to ultimate truth in-
edge of the Bible or liturgy, or Hindu yoga without adverting
dependently of these structures.
to Vedic sacrifice and cosmology? Again, how is one to struc-
The view that one can learn something important about
ture a comparison between the stages of contemplative
mysticism through a detailed scrutiny of mystical states on
prayer in Spanish Carmelite mysticism and the stages of
the basis of their literary expression goes back to the persis-
transic concentration in Therava¯da Buddhism or between
tently influential work The Varieties of Religious Experience
the language of negation in Meister Eckhart and the lan-
by William James (1902). This view led directly to the work
guage of emptiness in Nagarjuna?
of R. C. Zaehner (Mysticism Sacred and Profane, 1957) and
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE. It is generally accepted that “mysti-
W. T. Stace (Mysticism and Philosophy, 1960), which fueled
cal experience” is a subcategory of the broader category of
debates about the variety or uniformity of mystical experi-
“religious experience.” But whereas all mystical experience
ence throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Where Zaehner in-
may be “religious,” it is not necessarily religious in the explic-
sisted on a hierarchy of substantially distinct types of mysti-
it sense of being closely associated with some established doc-
cal experience, Stace emphasized a phenomenological and
trine, practice, or tradition. Since Dupré’s survey limits itself
indeed ontological common core of experience underlying
to mysticism in religious traditions, it is important to ac-
what for him was a relatively superficial doctrinal and literary
knowledge the prevalence of what might be termed “natural”
diversity. With far more mystical texts now available and a
mysticism: the fact that mystical experience is often reported
wealth of contributions from a wide range of scholarly disci-
as supervening quite suddenly and unexpectedly in the lives
plines, the weaknesses both of the empirical basis and of the
of secular individuals not committed to any doctrine or disci-
methodology of this earlier debate are all too apparent. The
pline. These “unattached” mystics do not necessarily inter-
complexity of the distinction between the content of an ex-
pret their experiences in conventional religious terms or in-
perience and the forms of its interpretation is now ap-
deed possess the language for any systematic interpretation.
proached in a much more sophisticated way, and the diversi-
But the imperative to interpretation is strong, and some indi-
ty of mystical experience is no longer ignored even by those
viduals make their own experiences (or the experiences of
who argue for an underlying unity.
others) the starting point for some new system of belief or
Through the 1980s and 1990s, however, a new debate
practice.
emerged. In one camp are those who argue that the distinc-
Although it is generally agreed that central to mysticism
tions between different types of mysticism and mystical expe-
is some sort of profound religious experience, there are strik-
rience are largely if not wholly constructed through the ideas,
ing differences in how scholars characterize and evaluate such
symbols, and practices defining the traditions mystics inhab-
experience. There are broadly three positions here. To begin
it. This “constructivist” analysis of mysticism is associated
with there is the view that mysticism involves states of con-
above all with a series of highly influential collections of es-
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MYSTICISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
6357
says edited by Steven Katz. Milder versions of constructivism
and enlightenment experience of the Buddha himself. Or
allow for an unconstructed core of experience (not necessari-
again, one might think of the ecstatic and visionary experi-
ly Stace’s “universal core”) as a necessary basis around which
ences that play a key role within the mysticism of the Qab-
the cultural construction of those more accessible features of
balah.
mystical experience takes place; stronger versions hold, re-
MYSTICAL DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE. The contextualist em-
ductionistically, that mystical experience is a construction
phasis of modern scholarship focuses attention on the subtle
per se. In the other camp are those who insist that mysticism,
relationships between experience, doctrine, and text in the
beneath its cultural forms, is based on an unmediated experi-
life of mystical traditions and above all on language as the
ence, a “pure consciousness event” or “zero experience” im-
key to these relationships. Mystical texts are no longer seen
mune to cultural determination and representing an “innate
merely as vehicles for the expression of ideas but as integral
capacity.” This view, to some extent a development of Stace’s
parts of the experiential process—of its initiation, assimila-
position, could be called the “purist” view. Leading the way
tion, and exegesis. An important element in this renewed un-
here are the writings of Robert Forman. Where the construc-
derstanding of the instrumental and performative as distinct
tivist emphasis tends to see mystical experience as just anoth-
from purely descriptive function of mystical texts is a new
er form of human experience, albeit an intense and influen-
appreciation of the apophatic, or “unsaying,” function of
tial one, the purist view stretches the ordinary notion of
mystical language. Apophatic language is a cross-cultural fea-
human experience to the breaking point, raising the question
ture of mysticism. Similarities in the nature and use of mysti-
whether an experience of transcendence is not in effect a
cal language may well turn out to be at least as significant
transcendence of experience.
for the comparative study of mysticism as similarities in the
Constructivism as a theory of mysticism should not be
phenomenology of mystical states of consciousness.
confused with “contextualism,” which usefully names an ap-
Mystics, contrary to what is often assumed, have been
proach to mysticism (common to most contemporary schol-
nourished rather than restricted by the doctrines and disci-
ars) that takes full account of the intellectual, practical, and
plines of their traditions. This is not to say that some mystics
institutional contexts within which mystical experience
have not aroused suspicion or hostility as a result of their say-
arises. As a general approach, contextualism is compatible
ings, speculations, or activities. But many of the world’s
with either a constructivist or a purist reading of mystical tra-
greatest religious leaders, thinkers, and defenders of tradition
ditions. But it is also made the basis for a critique of the em-
have also been mystics. Mysticism has the potential to mani-
phasis on “mystical experience” that characterizes so much
fest either a conservative or a revolutionary character.
writing on mysticism—an emphasis commonly denigrated
as “experientialism.” The idea of a “private” or “inner” expe-
The varieties of mystical practice tend to receive less
rience that can somehow become the “object” of scholarly
scholarly attention than the varieties of experience or doc-
study is, according to antiexperientialist scholars, both con-
trine, partly through persistent stereotypes of mysticism as
ceptually confused and untrue to the mystical traditions
“otherworldly” and indifferent to the body and to the “exter-
themselves—though it is also conceded that some mystical
nals” of religion. Mystical practices cover anything pertain-
traditions have themselves become “experientialist.” The an-
ing to the training of body and mind, whether as elements
tiexperientialist critique (especially prominent among Chris-
of a mystic’s general way of life or as part of the more imme-
tian theologians) has been a useful corrective to an approach
diate conditions of the mystical experience; they include
to the study of mysticism long dominated by psychological
prayer and worship, solitude and wandering, chanting and
and phenomenological analysis—an approach that frequent-
reading, bodily postures and breathing techniques, diet and
ly relies upon trawling through world religions for insights
fasting, ritual dance or disciplined movement, and the use
and experiences thought to be too good to be left imprisoned
of intoxicants. But of particular interest because of their inti-
within alien rituals, doctrines, and institutions. Thus har-
mate connection with the cultivation (or at least superven-
vested, these insights and experiences are then served up as
tion) of mystical states are the specialized techniques often
the “essence” of mysticism.
lumped together as meditation but better differentiated as
meditation and contemplation. These terms, notwithstand-
Antiexperientialism also harmonizes with the warnings
ing their Greek and Christian associations, correspond to a
given in most mystical traditions that mystics should not
distinction found within many mystical traditions. Medita-
crave or become attached to experiences qua psychological
tive techniques are those that engage intellect, emotion, and
states and feelings. Even so, it is impossible to deny that great
imagination in the systematic exploration of a doctrinal
importance has been attached to the cultivation and interpre-
theme or devotional focus. Contemplative techniques,
tation of mystical states of consciousness in the world’s reli-
though often arising out of meditation, involve suspending
gious traditions, albeit within the protective and hermeneu-
or transcending all normal mental operations in the develop-
tic framework of the beliefs and disciplines of these
ment of one-pointed consciousness or intuitive absorption.
traditions. One only has to think of the Buddhist techniques
The term contemplation is appropriate even in its ambiguity,
of mindfulness, transic concentration, intuitive insight, and
connoting as it does both an activity and an experience. Ar-
visualization, all of which can be traced back to the practices
guably, the varieties of mystical technique offer a better point
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6358
MYSTICISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
of entry to the comparative study of mysticism than abstract
between world religions, and interdisciplinary approaches to
ontologies or phenomenologies (monistic, dualistic).
art, language, and human consciousness.
THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF MYSTICISM. The social dimen-
SEE ALSO Breath and Breathing; Consciousness, States of;
sion of mysticism covers both the institutional embodiment
Feminism, article on French Feminists on Religion; Medita-
of mysticism in groups and movements and the influence of
tion; Monasticism, overview article; Religious Experience;
mysticism upon the wider society and vice versa. Moreover,
Shamanism, overview article.
there are not just social but also political aspects to mysti-
cism. Mystics have played prominent roles in the doctrinal
BIBLIOGRAPHY
development of their traditions, in reform, in renewal and
The literature on mysticism is voluminous. The development of
protest, and sometimes in sectarian, messianic, and millenar-
the subject through the years is best tracked through periodi-
ian movements.
cal literature. This bibliography restricts itself to a selection
of general and comparative studies in book form published
Issues of gender have become prominent in the study
since 1978. It excludes studies of individual mystics and edi-
of mysticism since the 1980s. This is only partly a reflection
tions or anthologies of mystical texts.
of the attention to such issues within the study of religion
Austin, James H. Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of
as a whole. More significantly it is because, within many
Meditation and Consciousness. Cambridge, Mass., 1998.
mystical traditions, women are better represented and have
Barnard, G. William. Exploring Unseen Worlds: Williams James
made more distinctive contributions than in other religious
and the Philosophy of Mysticism. Albany, N.Y., 1997.
contexts. Leaving aside the unbidden nature of mystical ex-
Barnard, G. William, and Jeffrey John Kripal, eds. Crossing
perience, environments and ways of life associated with mys-
Boundaries: Essays on the Ethical Status of Mysticism. New
ticism (such as asceticism, monasticism, and writing) have
York, 2002.
also favored women, even in patriarchal societies, because
Bishop, Donald H., ed. Mysticism and the Mystical Experience: East
these contexts have been less subject to the restrictive cus-
and West. London and Toronto, 1995. A useful collection
toms of ordinary society. Acknowledging the presence and
of essays surveying mysticism in various traditions.
contributions of women mystics is only part of the story,
Brainard, F. Samuel. Reality and Mystical Experience. University
however. There are also specifically feminist critiques of how
Park, Pa., 2000.
the lives, writings, and influence of women mystics continue
to be evaluated in ways that fail to do justice to their distinc-
D’Aquili, Eugene, and Andrew B. Newberg. The Mystical Mind:
Probing the Biology of Religious Experience. Minneapolis,
tive contributions. A number of French women thinkers
Minn., 1999.
have taken particular interest in how some women mystics
have been able to work beyond the restricting oppositions
Ellwood, Robert S. Mysticism and Religion. 2d ed. New York and
Oxford, U.K., 1999. One of the few introductory surveys of
dogging so much of Western culture (male-female, body-
major issues and positions in the study of mysticism, stress-
soul, reason-emotion).
ing the inseparability of mysticism from the rest of religion.
MYSTICISM IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION. The study of mys-
Forman, Robert K. C., ed. The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mys-
ticism both benefits and suffers from the specialist nature of
ticism and Philosophy. New York and Oxford, U.K., 1990.
modern scholarship. The subject is well represented across
The first of three volumes by the leading proponent of the
the whole range of the humanities and social sciences and
nonconstructivist analysis of mysticism.
also in much scientific and medical literature. But academic
Forman, Robert K. C., ed. The Innate Capacity: Mysticism, Psy-
specialism, and the theoretical agenda inhabiting it, have en-
chology, Philosophy. New York, 1998.
couraged scholars to focus on one dimension of mysticism
Forman, Robert K. C. Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness. Albany,
to the neglect of other dimensions. Thus sociologists not
N.Y., 1999.
only emphasize the social aspects of mysticism but are also
Franks Davis, Caroline. The Evidential Force of Religious Experi-
liable to produce sociological explanations of mysticism, and
ence. Oxford, 1989.
likewise in the case of other disciplines, including those of
Gellman, Jerome. Mystical Experience of God: A Philosophical En-
theology or metaphysics, where theories of mysticism may
quiry. Aldershot, U.K., 2001. A critical survey of objections
underestimate social, psychological, and cultural aspects.
to the argument that mystical experience provides evidence
Yet because mysticism by its very nature looks toward
for theism.
what is universal or transcendental, it tends to elicit these ele-
Hollenback, Jess Byron. Mysticism: Experience, Response, and Em-
ments in those who engage with it. Scholars as well as practi-
powerment. University Park, Pa., 1996.
tioners have recognized mysticism not just as a constant
Hollywood, Amy. The Soul as Virgin Wife: Mechthild of Magde-
motif within religions but as a key to what is most important
burg, Marguerite Porete, and Meister Eckhart. Notre Dame,
in religion. It is at least as common for mysticism to be iden-
Ind., 1995.
tified as the heart of religion as for ethics or worship or ritual
Hollywood, Amy. Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference,
to be so regarded. As such, mysticism tends to figure promi-
and the Demands of History. Chicago, 2001.
nently in revisionist global theologies, metaphysical system
Hunt, Harry T. Lives in Spirit: Precursors and Dilemmas of a Secu-
building, New Age thought, debates about the relationship
lar Western Mysticism. Albany, N.Y., 2003.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
6359
Idel, Moshe. Kabbalah: New Perspectives. New Haven, Conn.,
Wiethaus, U., ed. Maps of Flesh and Light: The Religious Experience
1988.
of Medieval Women Mystics. Syracuse, N.Y., 1993.
Idel, Moshe, and Bernard McGinn, eds. Mystical Union in Juda-
Zaehner, R. C. Mysticism Sacred and Profane: An Inquiry into Some
ism, Christianity, and Islam: An Ecumenical Dialogue. New
Varieties of Praeternatural Experience. London, 1957.
York, 1996.
PETER MOORE (2005)
James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). New
York, 1929.
Jantzen, Grace. Power, Gender, and Christian Mysticism. Cam-
bridge, U.K., 1995.
MYTH
This entry consists of the following articles:
Jones, Richard H., ed. Mysticism Examined: Philosophical En-
AN OVERVIEW
quiries into Mysticism. Albany, N.Y., 1993.
MYTH AND HISTORY
Katz, Steven T., ed. Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis. New
York, 1978. The first of four volumes by the leading propo-
nent of constructivism.
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
The English word myth comes from the Greek muthos,
Katz, Steven T., ed. Mysticism and Religious Traditions. New York,
1983.
meaning “word” or “speech.” It owes its significance to its
contrast with logos, which can also be translated as “word,”
Katz, Steven T., ed. Mysticism and Language. New York, 1992.
but is used especially in the sense of a word that elicits discus-
Katz, Steven T., ed. Mysticism and Sacred Scripture. New York,
sion or an argument. The reference to Jesus Christ as the
2000.
Logos (Word) of God is well known from the Gospel of
McGinn, Bernard. The Presence of God: A History of Western Chris-
John; this is a necessary reminder that the lines separating
tian Mysticism. New York, 1994–. An ongoing project in sev-
logos and muthos are not rigid. Muthos in its meaning of
eral volumes, already established as the standard history of
“myth” describes a story about gods and superhuman beings.
Christian mysticism.
A myth is an expression of the sacred in words: it reports real-
McIntosh, Mark A. Mystical Theology: The Integrity of Spirituality
ities and events from the origin of the world that remain
and Theology. Cambridge, U.K., 1998.
valid as the basis and purpose of all there is. Consequently,
Merkur, Dan. Mystical Moments and Unitive Thinking. Albany,
a myth functions as a model for human activity, society, wis-
N.Y., 1999.
dom, and knowledge. The word mythology is used for the en-
Mommaers, Paul, and Jan van Bragt. Mysticism Buddhist and
tire body of myths found in a given tradition. It is also used
Christian: Encounters with Jan van Ruusbroec. New York,
as a term for the study of myths.
1995.
The definition given here contains elements on which
Newell, William Lloyd. Struggle and Submission: R. C. Zaehner on
not all specialists would agree or place the same emphasis.
Mysticism. Washington, D.C., 1981.
The use of the word sacred might impress some as defining
Nieto, José C. Religious Experience and Mysticism: Otherness as Ex-
the subject of myth with a word that lacks more clarity than
perience of Transcendence. Lanham, Md., and New York,
the term being defined. For the historian of religions, howev-
1997.
er, no confusion occurs. The distinction between the sacred
Petroff, Elizabeth Avilda. Body and Soul: Essays on Medieval
and the profane emphasized by the philosophically inclined
Women and Mysticism. New York, 1994.
French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) is based
Pike, Nelson. Mystic Union: An Essay in the Phenomenology of Mys-
on a sober observation: all human traditions and societies
ticism. Ithaca, N.Y., 1992.
heed the sacred and mark it in one way or another. Its ulti-
Roy, Louis. Transcendent Experiences: Phenomenology and Critique.
mate or metaphysical reality is not the issue.
Toronto, 2001.
The most general characteristic of the sacred is not that
Roy, Louis. Mystical Consciousness: Western Perspectives and Dia-
it is exalted, although in many instances that may be the case,
logue with Japanese Thinkers. New York, 2002.
but that it is distinct from ordinary, profane, everyday world-
Ruffing, Janet K., ed. Mysticism and Social Transformation. Syra-
ly things. In communicating the sacred, a myth makes avail-
cuse, N.Y., 2001.
able in words what is available by no other means, and its
Sells, Michael A. Mystical Languages of Unsaying. Chicago and
words are different from other words: the words of myth
London, 1994. A study of the apophatic approach in four
have an extraordinary authority and are in that perceivable
different mystical traditions.
manner distinct from common speech. The language of
Stace, W. T. Mysticism and Philosophy. Philadelphia, 1960.
myth does not induce discussion; it does not argue, but pres-
Stoeber, Michael. Theo-Monistic Mysticism: A Hindu-Christian
ents. The most familiar example in the West, the opening
Comparison. New York, 1994.
words of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens
Turner, Denys. The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mys-
and the earth,” is very different from the words in any theo-
ticism. Cambridge, U.K., 1995.
logical chapter on the doctrine of creation, precisely because
Wainwright, William J. Mysticism: A Study of Its Nature, Cognitive
the latter are meant to analyze, to systematize, or to discuss
Value, and Moral Implications. Madison, Wis., 1981.
God’s creative acts, not to present them. The words have to
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
make a case for their validity, while the myth is its validity.
A sociological, psychological, or other special scholarly
A myth, whether its subject is the acts of deities or other ex-
view may provide illumination, yet the coherency of a reli-
traordinary events, always takes us back to the beginnings of
gious tradition should not be allowed to fall between the
all things; hence cosmogony, the birth of the world, is a prin-
cracks. As in the case of the computer, where output depends
cipal theme. In each case, the age to which the myth trans-
structurally upon the questions asked, each of our sciences
ports us is very different from our own; it is in fact a time
and scholarly disciplines can only provide answers in accor-
beyond any human being’s ken, and hence the events and
dance with its own definition of problems. For instance, the
realities dealt with are literally altogether different from the
semantic problem facing historians of religions is not a mere
facts people are concerned with in their everyday human
extension of linguistics. Whatever the definition of religion
lives. The authority of myth is more than an analogy to au-
may be, it must have something to do with the totality of
thorities on earth.
human orientation, hence with the underlying certainties or
assumptions concerning each particular activity or creation.
Myth relies on one of the three forms of religious expres-
The history of religions deals with such totality not in the
sion: sacred speech, sacred acts, and sacred places. As such,
manner of philosophy, by reflecting on premises for coherent
it occurs side by side in most traditions with sacred places
and defensible thought and action, but by studying the evi-
or objects (symbols) and sacred acts (that is, cult, rituals, sac-
dence of religious documents in human tradition. The prin-
rifices, and ceremonial acts and performances). The chief
cipal question is not “What is true?” but “What have socie-
reason myths attract scholarly attention is their medium:
ties, civilizations, and communities found necessary to point
words. They can be expected to elucidate the entire religious
to and preserve as true?” Here the study of myths becomes
life of a community, shedding light especially on the ritual
the obvious source out of the entire store of religious docu-
acts and sacred objects that by themselves do not speak at
mentation.
all, or certainly not often, and not as clearly. For instance,
THE UNITY OF MYTH AND THE VARIABILITY OF CULTURE.
a central temple or a sacred pole may be of paramount signif-
The variety of cultures, of their languages, means of produc-
icance in the religious life of a community, yet it is the re-
tion, and evaluation of what is essential, is overwhelming.
corded myth that is most likely to explain its pivotal role in
This variety invites us to look for an explanation of myths
the community’s religious life.
in the specificity of each society, and certainly many an an-
swer to many a question can be obtained in this manner. Ig-
MYTH, SYMBOL, AND RITUAL. The fact that the mode of a
noring the specificity of a tradition would be the worst meth-
mythical expression is words may account, to quite an extent,
odological error. Given this, however, it is essential to
for the problems the subject has caused for intellectuals from
remember that by our definition myth emphasizes realities
antiquity to the present age. Myths have been looked upon
and events from the origin and foundation of the world. This
as conscious efforts to veil rational propositions, as allegories
presents a certain difficulty that lies hidden just below the
for historical events, as poetic imageries, as unconscious ver-
surface. “The world” suggests a oneness, but the myths from
balizations of inner desires, as mental classificatory schemes,
the world’s myriad cultures and ages are manifold. It would
and as social structures. Many scholarly attempts have been
be easy to conclude that the oneness of the world depicted
helpful in highlighting such relationships, yet each of these
by myths is in each case at most a collective fiction peculiar
attempts has failed to arrive at an overall explanation. Admit-
to an isolated tribe, and yet such a conclusion would be ques-
tedly, none may be possible.
tionable. For one thing, there is too much contact, exchange,
To understand myth, we must do more than accumu-
and mutual understanding between different tribes and na-
late the results of specialized approaches and fragmentary
tions to permit such a conclusion.
methodological views. Rather, a determined inquiry, and any
Resolving the issue of the origin of the world, and what
true science of mythology, should take into serious consider-
it is that remains fundamental to the world, does not call for
ation also the whole of religious expressiveness within which
one immutable formula. The question does not demand an
myths function. Of course, myths are language and speech
answer that prohibits variety but rather one that includes it.
and literature. Of course, myths may reveal something of the
Not only do myths vary from culture to culture; each one
society in which they were formulated. Of course, myths
is itself open to transformation. Staple foods, basic provi-
may manifest deeper human drives than those displayed in
sions, and tools are among the topics that occur in cosmo-
civilized life. Nevertheless, human religious expressiveness in
gonic myths, but these fundamental elements in human exis-
its threefold form of sacred speech, sacred acts, and sacred
tence vary from the hunting and gathering communities and
places remains essentially one, and the three forms we distin-
the early peasant and pastoral societies to the most complex
guish had best be considered as merely the aspects visible to
urban centers. How essential are these elements to the cos-
us; our differentiation of the three forms is external, concep-
mogonic myth? The answer is that they are at the same time
tual, formal. The three always occur together, in any culture.
essential and completely insufficient, because the issue goes
We can only observe that, as a rule, one of the three has a
far beyond nutrition and tool-making and all the other cul-
dominant role; some civilizations have a wealth of myths,
turally specific human concerns. Just the same, myths take
some of rituals, and some of sacred places.
account of these absolute necessities and can even assign
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MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
6361
them a direct role in the origin of the world. The multiplicity
of power are not sterile laboratory tubes filled with that ele-
of mythologies has immediate and important methodologi-
ment. Religion and hence mythological elements play a great
cal consequences from the outset of any inquiry: the multi-
part in the exertion of political control over others; and since
plicity is observed from the beginning and is not merely a
the nineteenth century there has been a steady growth of
methodologically inconsequential by-product of our final
ideological theories affiliated with as well as opposed to reli-
conclusions. It concerns the very nature of the primary docu-
gious factors. Religion and myth, like power, never occur in
ments of the object of our discipline. Hence, for instance,
pristine purity, but always in admixtures. The fact that peo-
the history of religions must take the variety in the very first
ple are religious (as well as political, philosophizing, and
items of nutrition in origin myths seriously; we cannot disre-
knowledge-gathering) beings is not necessarily a pleasant or
gard the choices made by the narrator.
attractive fact. To say that humans are Homo religiosus is not
a compliment. The unity of myth in various cultures and
A most important consequence of the multiplicity of
human inquiries is accordingly the statement of a problem,
mythologies is that by necessity, the investigator has a partic-
rather than of a supposed mysterious, pure, dialogic core of
ular position vis-à-vis a given mythological tradition; and in-
all human existence.
deed this orientation is necessary in order to gain any per-
spective on any myth. There is no such thing as objectivity
In recent times, serious scholars have turned to political
that amounts to neutrality; there is no understanding where
power as to some extent explanatory of myth (as well as sacri-
the subject has eliminated herself or himself. This absolutely
fice). Even if some of their reasoning may be open to criti-
necessary subjectivity is not a whimsical individual stance or
cism, it certainly cannot be denied that notions of justice—as
solipsism but the recognition of the only ground from which
well as revenge—not infrequently are rooted in myth. Until
a religious phenomenon can be traced.
this very day, Justice is depicted as a blindfolded goddess,
wielding scales. In texts, as in speech, justice and myth are
One may also state that the world of religions, spawning
frequently inseparable. The expulsion of the first humans
its myths, is not as remote from the natural sciences as has
from paradise and Cain’s punishment for the first murder as
been supposed in the humanities and the social studies that
depicted in the book of Genesis are well-known models.
developed in the wake of the German philosopher Wilhelm
True justice seems everywhere most concisely embedded in
Dilthey’s work; furthermore, the world of science may be af-
myth. In Hinduism, Dharma (“justice,” and in this context
fected by mythology in spite of the intentions of scientists.
in particular, “the right tradition”), is also a god, and
It is noteworthy for the historian of religions that the
Pa¯n:d:avas Yudhis:t:ira, who is entitled to the throne in the epic
ancient problem of the unity of nature is eliciting new inter-
Maha¯bha¯rata, is said to be Dharma’s son. When Buddhism
est among scientists. There is no reason to jump to conclu-
spread through Asia from India to Korea, it was accepted and
sions and equate that interest with the expression of age-old
propagated by the elite, who reformed the juridical system
myths, yet the revival by itself is fascinating and promises to
in accordance with the new Buddhist teachings. In ancient
overcome unnecessary barriers between the humanities and
Greece, Themis, a consort of Zeus, is called on as the goddess
the sciences. Students of subatomic particles theorize on a
of Justice.
possible “supersymmetry” in nature. These theoretical con-
Cosmogonic imagery. Another point should be noted:
siderations are hard to separate altogether from the ancient
each society, culture, or historical epoch has nothing but its
and universal mythological interest in the mystery of oneness
own vocabulary to tell even its most basic myths. This point
(whether of the world or God or the Ultimate). Still a reser-
is so obvious as to run the risk of being overlooked. A com-
vation is in order here. What distinguishes modern scientists
parison with modern science is illuminating. Twentieth- and
is that they search for mathematical formulation, a direction
twenty-first-century astronomers and physicists have dis-
that cannot be applied to the mythical narration and poetry
cussed a theory of the origin of the universe they have labeled
available to us. To scientists, a serious object of study is prin-
the big bang, as distinct from the steady state theory. Irre-
cipally an invitation to a precise, calculable demonstration
spective of mathematical calculations, the discussion could
of relationships.
not very well be carried on without labels taken from the
The topic of symmetry has received much attention in
common speech of our age: in the final analysis, these are po-
aesthetics, and has deeper roots there than in physics. Here
etic similes that have taken on a life of their own; they have
also ties to mythology are visible, even if difficult to define.
a pregnant metaphorical significance like the imageries in
For the church father Augustine, symmetry was a rational en-
traditional cosmogonic myths.
tity, because it does not occur in nature but does occurs in
One of the many accomplishments of Raffaele Pettaz-
human creations. It exists in human reason itself; through it
zoni, the great Italian historian of religions, is his huge collec-
God created humans in his own image. Whether one speaks
tion of myths and legends from all continents. Included are
about Augustine’s reasoning as philosophy, science, or my-
many cosmogonic myths. Mircea Eliade occupied himself
thology will depend on one’s intellectual frame of reference.
with the supreme significance of cosmogonic myths. That
Myth and politics. In the study of politics, power is a
significance is evident in most traditions. Whatever other
necessary concept. It is, of course, an abstraction. Wielders
myths are told—about the origin of animals, plants, institu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6362
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
tions, or anything else—they take for granted the basis pro-
THE FUNCTION OF MYTH IN THE TRADITION OF CITIES
vided in some myth of the creation of the universe. Even es-
AND CIVILIZATIONS. Many a modern city-dwellers makes the
chatological myths, seemingly positing the end of the world
mistake of thinking that myths belong only to a dim, unso-
as if in contrast to the beginnings of the world, do not aban-
phisticated past. Yet not only is there no religious tradition
don their relationship to the cosmogony. This abiding rela-
on earth today without its identifiable myths, but the history
tion is not paradoxical. All thoroughgoing eschatologies ex-
of cities and urban life itself, which began thousands of years
press themselves as renewals of the real, truly intended origin.
ago, is steeped in myths and rituals. Ancient temples every-
The reference to Jesus Christ as the new Adam is a well-
where are spoken of in terms of the mythical traditions with
known example. In the history of Christianity, the Protestant
which they are imbued. To understand this properly we have
movement saw itself as engaged in reestablishing the pure,
to divest ourselves of the modern habit of viewing religion
original form of the religion. In Marxism (and in the ideas
as something distinct, separate from the “ordinary” things of
of the young Marx himself) even the most typical eschatolog-
life. The duties of elected officials in ancient Athens always
ical myth of the classless society is expressly concerned with
involved functions they were expected to perform in rituals.
the restoration of the human race as it was originally—
Even earlier, in Mesopotamian civilization, temples served
without private property.
purposes we would immediately identify as religious, such as
sacrifice, and for administrative matters we would look upon
CHARACTER AND CONTENT OF MYTH. At first sight, myths
as by nature secular or bureaucratic.
may seem to have much in common with other forms of folk
literature. They deal with supernatural events, as fairy tales
Additional and abundant evidence comes from civiliza-
do; they deal with extraordinary figures comparable to those
tions in the New World: the Aztecs in Central America and
in legends and sagas. The authority of myths, however, dis-
the Incas in South America. The mythologies at the heart of
tinguishes them clearly from other sorts of narratives. Typi-
these civilizations generally support a pronounced class struc-
cally, the myth tells of a time altogether different from the
ture and a powerful central ruling elite. Adding to the com-
time of our experience (“in the beginning . . .” or “before
plexity and fascination of mythological development in Cen-
heaven and earth were created . . .”), whereas the typical
tral America and South America is the socio-mythological
complexity of the Spanish invaders, who themselves emerged
fairy tale, no matter how wonderful its events, begins “Once
from turbulent centuries of Christian, Muslim, and various
upon a time . . . ,” which is to say, a time like ours. The
ancient local traditions. An example of the new, fascinating
saga’s hero and the legend’s sacred protagonist are no doubt
mythological interweaving appears in the cult of Our Lady
superior to all normal human beings, yet their time resembles
of Guadalupe. The emphasis on the religious roots of author-
the historical time of our experience.
ity is most striking in the intertwined myths of the New
Epics present a special case, for they are often a prime
World, with their roots on both sides of the Atlantic. We
source for our knowledge of myths: the Iliad and Odyssey of
should add that in spite of great religious upheavals and re-
Homer are celebrated instances in the Western tradition.
forms, remnants of the ancient traditions still remain.
Nevertheless, epics as such do not have the authority of
The function of myth is particularly striking in periods
myths, no matter how they function as educational tools held
when large-scale religious change occurred. One such case
in the highest esteem by a society. The myths they narrate
has been studied in an exemplary manner. It occurred with
in the body of their texts and the mythological references
the new retelling of local tribal myths in Central Asia and
they make can be seen as part of an educational pattern: this
was instrumental in the area’s conversion to Islam. The re-
is how people should understand the basic, authoritative
telling by Muslim missionaries was so effective that Islam be-
models in the religious tradition. Moreover, in addition to
came fully accepted, indeed rooted in a large part of Central
instruction, epics provide entertainment for their audience.
Asia. History makes it clear that myths, whether or not they
One cannot say this of myths, even though there are good
are clearly cosmogonic, do not merely relate to explanations
reasons to speak of the narrative style of myths, which can
of the world’s beginnings. They reveal their force and func-
be truly arresting and spellbinding. Raffaele Pettazzoni went
tion when history shows their role in renewing life, in a city,
so far as to see in epics the first clear signs of a process of secu-
a society, a civilization. In each religious tradition such a
larization.
force of renewal is the most striking manifestation of a
myth’s function.
The themes of myths are innumerable. Often the char-
acters are gods and goddesses, sometimes animals, plants,
STRUCTURE AND STYLE. What characterizes mythical recita-
mountains, rivers. . . . In each case, the myth directly or by
tions, and what is their purpose? Contrary to the assumption
implication links its striking presentation of events to an al-
of much traditional scholarship, myths are not essentially eti-
together different time and thereby posits its authority. Nev-
ological (from Greek aitia, “cause”) in the sense of explaining
ertheless, the astounding variety of myths can best be dis-
origins or causes. It is true that the word etiology could be
cussed not in terms of their protagonists or the events they
used, with some caution, but only if one adheres to the sense
describe, but rather in terms of their various structures and
the Greeks themselves sometimes gave to the term aitia: a
their cultures of origin.
primeval condition. Hence the term could also refer to pri-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
6363
mary states or first principles. This meaning of the term,
the enthronement of a king or for the renewal of life and
however, was not usually in the minds of the scholars who
kingship together in the New Year festival. Elsewhere in-
thought of myth in terms of etiology. Until recently many
stances occur where the cosmogony functions to cure the sick
students saw in myths a prescientific endeavor to establish
or renew a poet’s inspiration. In all these examples the cre-
causes for the universe, natural phenomena, and everything
ation of the world is invoked for its fundamental and found-
else that preoccupies modern science, thereby overlooking
ing power.
the fact that this scientific preoccupation with causality is a
In simple terms, how does human speech succeed in ex-
very precisely determined feature of modern history, as much
pressing the underlying reality of existence; how can some-
as the attendant confidence in technological progress. For in-
thing so ungraspable be expressed at all? All myths can be
stance, it is certainly no coincidence that the very influential
seen as coming to terms in their own way, within their cul-
folklorist and classicist James G. Frazer launched his idea of
ture, within their necessities of life, with this question. The
fertility as the principal explanation for most of the world’s
special features of myth, in spite of great cultural diversity,
myths and rituals shortly after artificial fertilizer was market-
result from the unusual task it sets for speech itself to go be-
ed for the first time in the nineteenth century.
yond the ordinary limits of knowledge and perception.
The supposed prescientific nature of myths was incon-
An archaic language for myth is a feature found
gruous with another view sometimes held at the same time
throughout the world. The phenomenon occurs in very dif-
by the same theorists, namely that myths contained the texts
ferent civilizations and circumstances: the use of Latin in the
necessary to accompany rituals, after the manner of a libretto
liturgy of the Roman Catholic church; the importance of the
to an opera. Since the latter theory generally entailed the idea
Church Slavonic liturgical language in the history of the Or-
that rituals were only magical acts, all these theories, incon-
thodox church, the use and cultivation of Sanskrit in Hindu-
gruous or not, were really variations on the theoretical theme
ism, and the attention given to the study and use of Sumeri-
of a prelogical mentality, one of the most enduring products
an in ancient Babylon many centuries after that language had
of cultural evolutionism and best known through its articula-
ceased to be spoken. Although far from universal, such ec-
tion by the French philosopher Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (1857–
centricities of language are a feature of myth that indicate an
1939).
awareness of a tradition deserving special protection.
Yet myths are not attempts at causality foreshadowing
Another feature in many traditions is the special care
nineteenth-century scientific discussion. Their notion of an
taken that myths shall be recited only at specific times and
origin and basis of all things should be taken quite seriously.
places. This points out clearly that myths are not like other
If indeed the isolated and desiccated notion of first causes
stories. This awareness of the special nature of myths is illus-
was the central issue in myths—if the myth’s only concern
trated in a folk tale of the North American Wichita Indians
was epistemology—one could not very well imagine any
concerning a contest between Coyote and an opponent. The
need for ritual related to myth. Instead, an academic-style
two contestants tell stories, and the winner will be the one
presentation would suffice. Obviously, no myths in that style
who knows the most stories. Coyote wins because his store
exist. And that is precisely the issue. A myth does something
of stories is inexhaustible: he can make them up at will. His
else, and something more encompassing than presenting a
opponent restricts himself to stories that have not been made
reasonable (or even pre-reasonable) explanation of things.
up. He tells only true stories, and those are limited in num-
This is the reason Eliade has rightly emphasized cosmogony
ber. True stories, are, of course, what in our study are called
as the fundamental myth. In whatever cultural or religious
myths.
tradition a creation myth is recited, it is paradigmatic in a
special, one might even say pregnant manner, because of the
Humor in myth. One feature of myths that is indeed
many things to which its sheer force as a model is able to give
universal can best be indicated by the word humor. This does
birth.
not refer to jokes or quick-wittedness, and least of all is it a
spur to uproarious laughter. It is closer perhaps to what the
In many instances, creation myths are recited in a spe-
German Romantics, who were intrigued by the experience
cial, archaic language, different from the vernacular. One
of humor, seemed to think of as a smile that liberates us from
such case is a creation myth in the Ngaju-Dayak tradition
anxieties, and especially from the doldrums, of our existence.
(South Kalimantan, Borneo). Its unusual language is not
If successful, myths, setting out to do what ordinary speech
meant to keep it secret but rather serves to underline its sig-
cannot reach, have to break through a barrier that is set for
nificance, preserved by experts in the community. The narra-
our normal understanding, and hence liberation is an apt
tive itself establishes the land, orienting the villages and their
word for what is envisaged.
mirror-image counterparts in the heavenly realms; it creates
the social divisions and their functions, as well as the princi-
An alternative to seeing the humor of myths is to view
ples of the legal system. The myth is couched in lyrical poet-
myth as a primitive form of doctrinal system in the general
ry, as are many myths in Southeast Asia, including those ex-
evolution of the world of thought, as evidence that the primi-
pressed in the vernacular. Sometimes, a cosmogonic myth is
tive ancients could not think like modern people do, or in
recited on special occasions, as in the ancient Near East on
some other way to force myth into some scheme of logic that
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MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
satisfies our contemporary sense of what reason and empiri-
his wisdom, foreseeing human wickedness, hid that extraor-
cal reality are really all about. In all cases, these distortions
dinary light—and will not reveal it until the new world to
neglect the actuality and the immediate presentation of the
come.
myths themselves.
The German writer Jean Paul (pseudonym of Johann
A myth of the Brazilian Ge begins by stating that in for-
Paul Friedrich Richter, 1763–1825), known for his literary
mer times the Indians had neither corn nor fire. It describes
essays, was thoroughly aware that humor does not deal with
how one member of the tribe takes his wife to a distant place
trifling matters but, on the contrary, with matters of ultimate
in the forest, where they set up a plantation and plant corn
importance. The four forms of humor he defined do not
and other staple foods. The wife’s lover visits her secretly,
need much modification to be applied to mythical literature.
and later returns with another man from the village. The
All of them are characterized by their defiance of the wooden
husband turns into a man-eating snake, and devours the visi-
habits of human minds.
tor. Thereupon the villagers kill the snake and bring to their
village corn and the other cultivated plants, as well as fire.
The first, the Dimming of Opposites, is probably pres-
In the course of the story, the wife gives birth twice to a num-
ent in most myths. Imageries abound such as that of a time
ber of snakes, first in the forest, later in the village, and finally
before creation when heaven and earth were not yet separat-
goes back into the forest, where she orders her offspring to
ed, or of a beginning in which the two were so close that peo-
bite people forevermore.
ple could not stand up straight, or as in Genesis, when it was
necessary to separate the waters below from the waters above.
Whatever one may want to say about the origins of the
enmity between humans and snakes, or about hidden logical
The second variety of humor depicts an Inverse Effect.
systems, or about the frequently attested relation between the
Somehow, a disastrous event leads to infinite bliss that could
acquiring of a civilized life and violence, the myth conforms
not have been anticipated by the listener. Consider the
to other myths in that it contains events that strike the listen-
Hindu cosmogonic story of the churning of the ocean. Be-
er as strange or contradictory, beginning with the juxtaposi-
fore all ordinary time, in fact before the creation of the world,
tion of the people without corn or fire and the departure of
the gods and the demons exist in some apparent harmony.
one couple to a forest where they run a plantation and sud-
Then the gods raise the question of how they may attain im-
denly master fire. Not all etiology is discarded, not all logic
mortality. Together with the demons they begin their quest
made superfluous; no less attention should be paid to cultur-
for it by churning the ocean. Completely unexpectedly, in-
al patterns and conditioning. Nevertheless, something that
stead of immortality a most deadly poison turns up. All vari-
liberates, something that shakes listeners loose from their
ants of the myth state that the great god S´iva rescues the
customary habits of mind, is given form in myth.
world (which, curiously, has not been born yet) from the poi-
One need not look far to find other examples. In the
son by swallowing it. The Ra¯ma¯yan:a version has the interest-
familiar story in Genesis, God creates light on the first day
ing detail that it is the god Vis:n:u who suggests that S´iva
of creation, yet the sun, the moon, and the other heavenly
drink the poison on the grounds that the first offering is duly
bodies do not come into being until the fourth day. By the
his. The accounts and their interpretations vary, but S´iva
end of the chapter, on the sixth day, God gives to the wild
does drink the poison, and the world is established. The seri-
animals, to the birds of heaven, the reptiles, to every living
ousness of the humor involved is evident, as is also the case
creature, all of the green plants for food. Obviously, this is
with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the origin of Christian-
at odds with the knowledge possessed by every listener who
ity, followed—without anyone among the human actors and
is familiar with the eating habits of such animals as lions.
witnesses involved anticipating it—by the resurrection.
One may argue that the narrative is not really a creation story
A third category of humor, Subjective Reservedness,
but rather a paradise story. Whether we are convinced by this
may be the best formula to denote the awareness in mythic
argument or by the realization that, according to the story,
narration of the curious union of the human voice that nar-
the creator god is something other than a prime mover, we
rates and the sacred, more-than-human reality narrated. This
are more shocked than persuaded into that novel idea. The
awareness is expressed in many ways, sometimes elaborately,
accepted lines of thought are ruptured and replaced by new
sometimes matter-of-factly. The standard beginning of a
ones.
Buddhist sutra, which tells of the wonderful teachings and
Of course, adherents of a tradition develop their own
miracles of the Buddha that make freedom, or nirva¯n:a, ac-
explanations, and it is characteristic that for instance the rab-
cessible, is the following: “Thus have I heard. . . .” Many
binical commentaries embroider on puzzling texts not mere-
myths are interspersed with phrases such as “it is said that,”
ly by analyzing them logically, but by participating in the
or “they say.” Part of the tradition of many a Hindu is that
same mythical vein in which the texts tell their stories. Thus
he reveres his spiritual teacher, who in turn has his teacher,
the ancient rabbis tell us that the light created on the first
and so on, until the line finally reaches God. Tradition re-
day was not the ordinary light of the sun that we see. Instead,
quires that the entire list of names be recited regularly. Thus,
it was light by which one would have been able to see the
the mere individual quite consciously elaborates on his rela-
entire world in a glance from one end to the other. God, in
tionship to the absolute divine ruler.
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A fourth category of humor is Grotesque, a term not
ing not the physical involvement of the gods in the war that
generally associated with sacred tradition. Yet it describes the
the epic describes but instead the inner human struggle be-
most striking form of humor—in any tradition other than
tween good and evil.
one’s own. Some myths speak of worlds that were created be-
The allegorizing of myth has occurred all over the world
fore the present one, and that were failures. For instance, in
and in many periods, often when texts or customs that could
the tradition of the Hill Saora in India, the first world was
not be summarily dismissed are no longer understood or per-
a world made of a resinous substance; in that world some
haps have taken on an offensive quality in a new age. Many
brothers set up a still and made liquor. The liquor was not
of the well-known classical thinkers, beginning with Thea-
merely excellent, it was too excellent; when it flowed it burst
genes (seventh century BCE), Heracleitus (c. 540–480 BCE),
into flames, and as a result the entire world burned up and
Parmenides (born c. 515 BCE), Empedocles (c. 490–430
sank back into the primordial ocean. We may also recall the
BCE), and including Plato (c. 429–347 BCE), employed alle-
snakes of the Ge in Brazil and the Hindu story of the churn-
gorical explanations of myths. An interesting feature, not
ing of the ocean. Often, the grotesque is a matter of exagger-
only surviving since the classical period but expanded into
ated attention to detail or measurement. Grotesqueness helps
an elaborate system in nineteenth-century nature mythology,
to emphasize the complete otherness of that time at the be-
was the assumption that many myths could be read as alle-
ginning of the world or that time on which all liberation, sal-
gorical accounts for natural phenomena.
vation, or bliss hinges.
Rational explanations of various sorts also occur
Change and disappearance of mythical traditions?
throughout the classical texts. One of these which often
There is no doubt that myths change in the course of time.
strikes the modern reader as far ahead of its time is found
In addition, the spread of the great missionary religions,
in a famous fragment from Xenophanes (c. 560–478 BCE):
mainly Islam and Christianity, has no doubt contributed to
the neglect and disappearance of many a mythological heri-
Mortals suppose that the gods are born, and that they
tage. We are however far from a dependable assessment of
wear men’s clothing and have human voice and body, . . .
the entire globe’s mythological state at the present moment.
but if cattle or lions had hands, so as to paint with their
We do know that the role of myths has been important in
hands and produce works of art as men do, they would paint
many periods in which large-scale religious change occurred,
their gods and give them bodies in form like their own,
as it was in the conversion of Central Asia to Islam. The revi-
horses like horses, cattle like cattle.
sion of the old myths by Muslim missionaries was not de-
We should see this passage in a proper perspective. Xe-
structive but fruitful, and led to full acceptance of Islam.
nophanes, though we know him only from some fragments,
HISTORY OF STUDY. Questions about religion, including the
must have had in common with the majority of classical
subject of myth, are undoubtedly older than recorded histo-
thinkers the desire not merely to destroy prevalent assump-
ry, and hence a full history of the study of myths would have
tions by means of some rational analysis but to make room
to begin a very long time ago, in that undatable period hid-
for a philosophy worthy of the name; in the case of Xenopha-
den from us in which religion originated. Explicit intellectual
nes this philosophical concern was to create a proper under-
discussions on the subject are closer to us and have an impor-
standing of the idea of transcendence. There were some clas-
tant beginning with the ancient Greeks. Some of the stan-
sical thinkers, nevertheless, who spent great effort to
dard methods of explaining myths owe their first formula-
demonstrate the worthlessness of traditional myths. The
tion to the Greeks, so a rapid survey of mythology, in the
eclectic Latin writer Cicero (106–43 BCE) is quite critical in
sense of the study of myths, ought to commence with them.
this regard; and the Latin didactic poet Lucretius (c. 99–55
The concentrated intellectual discipline of a religio-historical
BCE) is very sharp in his rational criticism.
study is, however, much more recent, not coming into its
A manner of explaining myths called euhemerism is
own until the early nineteenth century.
named for the Greek writer Euhemerus (c. 340–260 BCE).
The classical world. Greek thinkers developed three
Euhemerus was not a philosopher or a scholar, but the au-
modes of accounting for myth, each of which can be distin-
thor of an imaginative story in which the narrator tells of a
guished clearly. Each continued in the scholarship of later
voyage to an island in the east whose kings bestowed gifts
centuries. Hence, in Western civilization the Greek ideas on
of lasting cultural value (such as the calendar, granted by Ou-
the subject of myth do not merely represent a start but form
ranos in the tale) and were elevated to the status of gods by
the roots that nourished systems devised by later scholars.
their grateful subjects. Hence euhemerism depicts divinities
as mortals who came to be venerated because of their contri-
In the first place, allegorical explanations served to ex-
butions to the human race. This interpretation was to have
tract the meaning of myths for many thinkers in classical civ-
a life which no one could have foreseen, in the classical world
ilization. The text of myths was explained not by what it said
and long thereafter.
literally but as depicting or concealing in poetic images a re-
ality behind the text, if the text could only be properly under-
The Christian world. With regard to mythology, the
stood. A good example may be found in the widely accepted
intellectual world of Christianity was in most respects an im-
interpretation in classical Greece of Homer’s Iliad as intend-
mediate continuation of the Greek. Allegorical and rational
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MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
explanations as well as euhemeristic reasoning abounded for
Besides an expanding knowledge of the world, an even
centuries. Nevertheless, especially in euhemerism, the apolo-
more significant factor marked the eighteenth century and
gists and church fathers introduced a change. Where the clas-
made it a watershed: the rationalism of the Enlightenment.
sical world told admiringly of men whose great exploits
This change within the history of philosophy made it possi-
caused them to be worshipped as deities, the Christian world
ble to narrow down the narrative euhemeristic expositions
speaks of the gods of classical myth as mere men remembered
into a principle of explanation. For the study of myths this
because of their excessively evil deeds and vices. This change
new intellectual direction was of course a mixed blessing.
came about as result of a larger shift in orientation—one that
The new mood demanded laws of causation rather than seek-
Plato, Aristotle, or any of the ancient thinkers could never
ing the coherencies present in myths. Although the greatest
have foreseen. The new Christian world makes much of the
legacy of the philosopher David Hume (1711–1776) is his
distinction between true and false religion. For Christian
critique of overconfidence in reason, his Dialogues Concern-
thinkers, true and false religion was not simply a topic for
ing Natural Religion (1779) contains many passages that typ-
discussion, as it had been for the ancients. The Christians be-
ify the eighteenth-century obsession with definitions. De
lieved that theirs was the true knowledge of God, and other
Brosses, who was certainly a man of the Enlightenment,
traditions were seen as false and pagan. Thus pagan gods
made extensive use of Hume’s ideas in his own work.
were not gods at all, but demonic beings.
The Romantics. The Romantic movement that swept
This twist in euhemerism filled an intellectual need and
Europe and America had its strongest exponents in Germa-
was generally accepted. Nevertheless, during the Middle
ny, and the movement’s influence on the study of myths, his-
Ages a narrative tradition of many streams, akin to the euhe-
torical linguistics, and other related comparative studies such
merism of the classics, also continued. Thus the Norse gods
as art, law, and culture, was profound. Indeed, many of these
could be categorized by tracing them through stories of kin-
disciplines were initiated under the Romantic influence.
ship from the heroes in the Iliad and ultimately linking them
While the Enlightenment had sharpened the tools of the in-
by the same procedure to the creation story in the book of
tellect in its resistance to the ancien régime politically and
Genesis.
to the church religiously, the Romantic movement, without
The eighteenth century. The eighteenth century is the
rejecting the Enlightenment’s accomplishments, created a
prelude to the modern study of myth. For the first time seri-
very different center of attention that can be captured by
ous efforts were made to assess the discoveries by voyagers
such words as emotion, vision, and genius. Emotion came to
of the Renaissance. One very important assemblage of myth
be seen as at least of equal importance to the rationalism of
was collected by Jesuit missionaries in North America. Ques-
the previous age.
tions of revelation and of falsehood and truth raised in the
Christian tradition were revived and given new, complex
The theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834),
forms. In the work of Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
who left his mark on all areas in the study of religion in the
(1657–1757), old and new ideas intermingle. Like other au-
nineteenth century and beyond, was of the opinion that the
thors of the period, he begins by assuming the factual reality
divine, in itself ungraspable, was represented mythically;
of God’s revelation in the Old Testament and speculating on
the mythical he explained as “a historical representation of
the intellectual inability of other nations to accept that origi-
the supra-historical.” As was typical in the Romantic out-
nal knowledge. The new age is visible in his effort to show
look, the emphasis fell on a vision of something eternal, not
the similarity between myths found among American Indi-
subject to the vicissitudes of history, yet expressed in history.
ans and those of the ancient Greeks and in his view that the
The age that saw the Faustian creativity of Beethoven, the
inability of those peoples to accept true religion reflected an
fully Romantic works of Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schubert,
intellectual childishness. The childishness of the ancient and
and Schumann, the writings of the young Goethe, Blake,
so-called savage races becomes a standard image in many of
and the German poets Friedrich Hölderlin and Novalis, as
the explanations that follow in the eighteenth and nineteenth
well as the paintings of Delacroix, Turner, and Théodore
centuries.
Géricault, saw also the philosophical creations of Georg Wil-
helm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831).
Fontenelle’s most original idea, next to his insistence on
comparing different pagans, is his inference that all peoples
Hegel’s thought was the first since late antiquity (most
have the same mental disposition and that, as a result, com-
especially, that of the non-Christian Roman thinker Ploti-
parable developments occur in different parts of the world.
nus, 205–270 CE) to develop a system free from the Christian
More clearly than Fontenelle, Charles de Brosses (1709–
philosophical opposition between true and false religion. An-
1777) makes a case for comparative studies and shows an in-
other idealistic, Romantic philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm
terest in questions of origins that would characterize much
Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854), wrote a philosophy of
of the scholarship of the next century. His studies led him
mythology centered on a totality of human vision. Johann
to the conclusion that elements of West African religion in
Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) was an important early
his time could explain Greek mythological conceptions.
Romantic, especially for his essays on poetry and mythology.
Hence, in his view, the study of later “savages” can reveal
During the Romantic period, many works of scholarly intent
much about earlier traditions.
were written on symbolism and mythology. A few of these
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6367
made a lasting mark, among them the writings of Karl Ot-
The earliest Romantics, in the 1770s, known in Ger-
fried Müller (1797–1840) and the brothers Jacob (1785–
man literary history by their association with Sturm und
1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859) Grimm.
Drang (storm and stress), can be understood in their opposi-
tion to the rationalism ushered in by the French philoso-
Nineteenth-century evolutionism. Without the Roman-
phers. Even the influential ideas of Johann Gottfried von
tic impulse, the astounding nineteenth-century scholarly
Herder concerning the origin of language and myths, com-
achievements in mythology and religion would be inconceiv-
posed in his ecstatic writings about nature, can be read for
able. In the nineteenth century much new data became avail-
their reaction against an intellectualist attitude which pre-
able, through ethnology, archaeology, and the study of an-
vailed in Herder’s day. The growing Romantic movement,
cient and distant civilizations and their languages.
however, was not engaged in combating the progress the En-
Compiling dictionaries, constructing grammars, and investi-
lightenment had brought about and so frequently invoked.
gating Indo-European linguistics all demanded an extraordi-
The new expressions we find among such Romantics as
nary effort, and this effort, whether among government ad-
Schleiermacher point more to a transformation than an op-
ministrators in the colonies acquired by Western powers, in
position, allowing subjects such as myth and history to be
the expansion of newly established missionary societies, in
approached in fruitful ways.
the laboratories of science, or in historians’ scrutiny and clas-
sification of documents, owed its principal inspiration to the
More extreme Romantic scholarly work, such as that by
Romantic thinkers. The idea of evolution—of development
Georg Friedrich Creuzer (1771–1858), elicited stern criti-
from low to high, simple to complex—that became so enor-
cism from Christian A. Lobeck (1781–1860) because of its
mously influential in nineteenth-century thought is insepara-
speculative features, its lack of evidence. In F. Max Müller’s
ble from the Romantic movement, predating the influence
work and, as we must infer, in his personal make-up, the ra-
of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Nat-
tional and the Romantic existed harmoniously.
ural Selection (1859) in the work of Hegel, and also the much
more positivistic works of the English social theorist Herbert
Since the late nineteenth century the non-Romantic
Spencer (1820–1903) and the French philosopher Auguste
side has predominated. Scholars such as the classicist Theo-
Comte (1798–1857).
dor Mommsen (1817–1903), Franz Cumont (1886–1949),
and Martin P. Nilsson (1874–1967), who have contributed
The cumbersome examination of facts and their compi-
greatly to our knowledge of mythology, are splendid exam-
lation united with a Romantic attitude is perhaps nowhere
ples of this type. Fewer in number, scholars with an avowed
as clearly to be seen as in the person of the Vedic scholar F.
Romantic outlook have included the German classicist Wal-
Max Müller (1823–1900). In his theories on the origin and
ter F. Otto (1874–1958) and the Dutch historian and phe-
development of language and myth, Müller posits as a begin-
nomenologist of religion Gerardus van der Leeuw (1890–
ning a pure awe in human experience before nature—
1950).
especially in viewing the dawn—which he thought he had
documented in the Vedic hymns. He marshaled all his
Sometimes the two attitudes are openly discussed, yet
knowledge of ancient Indo-European languages and litera-
more often they are not. Whatever names are given to the
tures as a basis for a theory that a “disease of language” ac-
two sides may not be accepted by one or the other party in-
counts for the formation of misunderstandings, which are
volved. Mircea Eliade preferred the term morphology of reli-
deposited in myths such as those of the Hindu Pura¯n:as. The
gion to phenomenology, which was employed by Van der
finishing touch is provided by the general idea of evolution,
Leeuw. Whichever term one likes, it is easy to see that in
according to which religions evolve to ever higher and purer
Eliade as well as Van der Leeuw the emphasis is on the sa-
forms.
cred, and the study of its manifestations. This interest goes
back to Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) and to Friedrich Schleier-
Modern studies. The nineteenth century saw greater
macher. The reaction to this keen interest in the sacred itself
and greater complexity in materials available for study and
is not difficult to detect, though it is multifarious. Many his-
the methods that could be employed. The achievements in
torians (such as Raffaele Pettazzoni) have been more con-
the area of mythology by anthropologists, folklorists, psy-
cerned with a proper understanding of the variety of myths
chologists, philologists, sociologists, and historians of reli-
than with what seemed speculation on a unity behind the va-
gions were innumerable. Nevertheless, for a general intellec-
riety; such scholars have been suspicious of theologically in-
tual orientation, it is possible and helpful to speak of
spired apologetic tendencies as well. Many an anthropolo-
variations on the theme which was set with the opposition
gist, especially in the school of Franz Boas (1858–1942), has
and complementarity of rationalism and romanticism. And
been too preoccupied with the puzzling coherencies of spe-
certainly in the study of myths the rationalists and the Ro-
cific cultures in all their creations to pay much attention to
mantics gave such a wide view of things that all later labors
an underlying ultimate significance of myths.
can sometimes seem like mere embellishments to their dis-
cussions. We can definitely speak about a constitutional or
A generalization that can be made, with caution, is that
structural contrast between scholarly concerns for the prob-
the beginning of the third millennium seems characterized
lems and scholarly concerns for unity in the study of myths.
by a longing for unspeculative, concrete results.
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MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
An increasing number of studies have come to focus on
in fact the science of the concrete. It seems likely that Lévi-
the social and political aspects of religion and storytelling
Strauss sees in the science of the concrete, built up through
rather than on ultimate meanings of myths. Together with
a tinkering process, something that is not all that far away
this focus goes a decreased interest in philosophical aspects
from the good French scientific, sober, rationalist tradition,
of religion. This tendency might make the study of myth in
not only of Descartes, but also with a taste of Auguste
days to come different from what characterized previous eras
Comte.
in mythology and the history of religions.
The absence of any notion of the sacred in Claude Lévi-
The occurrence of problems and disagreements in the
Strauss’s work cannot be ignored. In Tristes Tropiques Lévi-
study of myth and religion is of course nothing to be unduly
Strauss writes about his youthful experiences during World
worried about. What we have referred to as an opposition/
War I in the house of his grandfather, who was the rabbi in
complementarity is a natural feature in any discipline con-
Versailles. The corridor leading from the house to the syna-
cerned with people and their cultures and societies. Next to
gogue had to be negotiated in absolute silence. It seems obvi-
structural anthropology, historical anthropology makes its
ous that for him “the sacred” retained a tone he had difficulty
voice heard. Whereas the former, if not concerned with an
with. At the time, he says, “I was already an unbeliever.” An
ultimate unity, is at the very least concerned with coherencies
unbeliever at the age of nine or ten? He relates this to the
in myths and other human creations, the latter spends more
experience of amazement he would have later in Buddhist
time on the specificities and changes in any culture. An issue
temples where monks slept in the same room where services
that has received no profound discussion is the difference,
were held and did not mind caressing their pupils between
or rather, lack of contact, between the search for unity pur-
lessons in the alphabet. In the same work he refers disdainful-
sued by phenomenologists (or morphologists) and by struc-
ly to the philosophy as taught in France in his student years
turalist anthropologists. That both are searching for coheren-
as “mental gymnastics.”
cies in myths is clear, yet the nature of a unifying goal is
assumed in two very different manners. The choice of ratio-
Dutch anthropologist J. van Baal, who served as the
nalism and romanticism as labels may be helpful in this case,
last governor of Dutch New Guinea, learned much from
yet they are not telling us the whole story.
J. P. B. Josselin de Jong, who was one of his teachers, and
It is striking, however, that Eliade’s conception of the
was himself a splendid observer of various societies in South-
sacred is missing in the work of the field’s foremost anthro-
east Asia and their ceremonial interactions. As an administra-
pological structuralist, Claude Lévi-Strauss (born 1908); in-
tor, he was less given to theoretical expositions than Claude
stead, Lévi-Strauss shows an obvious interest in the very visi-
Lévi-Strauss. At the same time, like other structuralists, he
ble yet long overlooked, typically human, ceaseless drive to
was hesitant to attribute “reality” to religion, yet was not
reconcile empirical knowledge with the equally human drive
averse to dealing with great problems in society. In 1972 he
for control over the world. Translators like to leave the term
published a small, very interesting book, De boodschap der
bricolage untranslated; it is the term Lévi-Strauss uses to de-
drie illusies (The message of the three illusions). The illusions
scribe the widespread process at work all over the world in
are respectively religion, art, and the element of play in all
tribal traditions to build up knowledge; the closest equivalent
human culture. No human society exists without these three,
in English is tinkering. Lévi-Strauss is a gifted author and
van Baal suggests, yet they do not have the reality of a con-
wrote several books that present not only his theories, but
cept like physics.
the living context in which his theories developed. No doubt
MYTHS AND THE MODERN WORLD. Myths and myth-
his early philosophical interest accounts for the fact that his
making have certainly not disappeared from the modern
theories on structuralism are so well thought-out. A vora-
world. That notion, still rather popular, was fostered by
cious reader, he was also well aware of the use of the term
nineteenth-century evolutionists who posited a decline of re-
structuralism in other fields of study before he himself adopt-
ligion as part of some general world-wide progression. The
ed it. Its use was common in anthropology, and Lévi-Strauss
process of history does not give up its most basic constitu-
repeatedly makes reference to the work of the Dutch struc-
ents, including its mythological creativity, because prevailing
turalist anthropologist J. P. B. Josselin de Jong, and contrib-
ideas change. The fact that in common parlance the word
uted to a book in his honor. In his perhaps most autobio-
myth has a derogatory meaning has no bearing on the issue.
graphical and certainly most eminently readable book, Tristes
Antiquity was already familiar with that same use of the
Tropiques: An Anthropological Study of Primitive Societies in
term. The apostle Paul is among those on record as despisers
Brazil, he writes most directly about his impatience with the
of mere myths. Two religions of India, Buddhism and Jain-
disorder in the still rather recent study of anthropology. In
ism, have expressed strong misgivings about prevailing reli-
The Savage Mind he writes with fervor and with obvious de-
gious ideas, and these misgivings are another kind of depreci-
light about the knowledge fostered in “primitive” societies.
ation of myths. Myths have continued to flourish, however,
The knowledge that the then-traditional practice in an-
and the misgivings of any given religion, religious grouping,
thropology, with its emphasis on the supposedly primitive
or age do not change that fact today any more than in the
or even savage elements it perceived among the natives was
past.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
6369
In entering upon the study of myths, we should quickly
making in modern times and, at the same time, of the need
reject the illusion that we are entitled to speak of the mythol-
for the mature intellect to occupy itself with the issue of my-
ogy, in the sense of the entire body of myths, of any group,
thology.
whether they be ancient Mesopotamians or an African peo-
Endeavors to explain religion (or explain it away) have
ple or the citizens of the United States of America. In none
been a by-product of culture since antiquity, if not earlier.
of these cases are we ever looking objectively at a total belief
In the nineteenth century such endeavors were part of Marx-
system. We are never in a position to do so. All we have be-
ism, and they became part of the educational curriculum in
fore us are at best good selections by a scholar or a good sam-
the twentieth-century Soviet Union and People’s Republic
pling by a field worker. The availability of a collection in
of China. The trend in this direction is actually part of life
print between two covers does not make our position that
in all industrial nations. Claude Lévi-Strauss dismisses reli-
of an objective observer readying himself for complete un-
gion, and yet he also makes efforts to understand myths sci-
derstanding. We look only at a fragment in time and place.
entifically, that is to say, in a way that as objectively as possi-
The nature, structure, and style of myths points not merely
ble makes sense out of them. Several scholars have objected
to the existence of bodies of material, but to living traditions.
to the dismissal of religion, among them anthropologists
The humor in myths changes in time, together with every-
such as Adam Kuper and Clifford Geertz. Nevertheless, the
thing else in history, but it also indicates a universal human
modern aversion to scholars like Rudolf Otto, who empha-
propensity. The erroneous idea that our own world is largely
sized the religious experience as the key element in religion,
devoid of myths or is rapidly purified of such things rests
is much more general, and certainly affects notable historians
largely on the assumption that our world, in whatever way
of religions as well.
that term is defined, is real and does not depend on fiction.
An adequate assessment of the present-day situation in
Every age, however, and every civilization, rests on a founda-
the study of myths would require extraordinary talent. It is,
tion of mythic fictions. The philosopher Alphonse de Wael-
however, not easy to avoid one impression: the study of reli-
hens, in Castelli, Mythe et Foi, has rightly pointed out that
gion and religions has not been flourishing in recent times,
we are able to see quite clearly the outline of a myth only after
and—with notable exceptions—no longer has a strong basis
that myth has ceased to function unassailed and unques-
in linguistics and philology, the traditional basis of the histo-
tioned, that is to say, as an expression of supposed reality.
ry of religions.
In our own world, we lack the distance necessary for
SEE ALSO African Religions, article on Mythic Themes;
clear views of our own myths, and the question of which ones
Australian Indigenous Religions, article on Mythic Themes;
will stand out as central can be discussed seriously only by
Cargo Cults; Chinese Religion: Mythic Themes; Cosmogo-
later generations. These future scholars also will have to
ny; Euhemerus and Euhemerism; Humor and Religion; In-
make up their minds on the basis of fragmentary informa-
dian Religions, article on Mythic Themes; Intuition; Japa-
tion, just as our scholarship must always remain conscious
nese Religions, article on The Study of Myths; Logos;
of the inadequacy of our information about mythology in
Mesoamerican Religions, article on Mythic Themes; Mille-
ancient Mesopotamia or present-day Iran, or the nineteenth-
narianism, overview article; Myth and Ritual School; North
century myths of evolutionism, materialism, missionary op-
American Indian Religions, article on Mythic Themes;
timism, colonialism, or Marxism. Our own world with re-
South American Indian Religions, article on Mythic
spect to its mythology is completed by the manner in which
Themes; Structuralism.
we orient ourselves not only within our transcendencies, but
also vis-à-vis other people in our endeavors to define and in-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
terpret their myths. This, one might say, concludes our circle
Andrews, James T. Science for the Masses: The Bolshevik State, Pub-
of interpretation.
lic Science, and the Popular Imagination in Soviet Russia,
1917–1934. College Station, Tex., 2003.
The Danish thinker So⁄ren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
Asimov, Isaac, George Zebrowski, and Martin H. Greenberg, eds.
once conjured up the image of a man with his mouth so full
Creations: The Quest for Origins in Story and Science. New
of food that he could not swallow. Kierkegaard raised the
York, 1983. Useful reading for students of myth, reminding
question of whether one might better help that man by stuff-
us at the very least of the complexities in the exact sciences
ing more food into his mouth or by taking some out. Obvi-
in telling us of the origins of the universe.
ously, only the latter could be a solution. In the same way,
Baal, J. van. Dema: Description and Analysis of Marind-anim Cul-
Kierkegaard argued, a man can be so filled with information,
ture. The Hague, 1966.
which he mistakes for useful knowledge, that even in the face
Baumann, Hermann. “Mythos in ethnologischer Sicht.” Studium
of his own protests and his insistence on adding even more
Generale (1959): 1–17, 583–597.
to his store of learning, the only cure is to take some of that
Beemer, Margaret Anne. Godly Interchange: The Appropriation of
knowledge away. This is the task Kierkegaard assigned him-
Non-Christian Symbols in the Development of Christianity in
self in using the comical to make the overburdened man see
Spain and the Valley of Mexico. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1988.
the uselessness of what he knew. Kierkegaard’s parable is a
Bell, Catherine. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York, 1992.
perfect illustration of the unceasing propensity toward myth-
Bianchi, Ugo. The History of Religions. Leiden, 1975.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6370
MYTH: AN OVERVIEW
Blair, Sheila S., and Jonathan M. Bloom. The Art and Architecture
Ginzberg, Louis. Legends of the Bible. Philadelphia, 1956.
of Islam 1250–1800. New Haven, Conn., 1994.
Gray, Louis H., and George Foot Moore, eds. Mythology of All
Bolle, Kees W. “The Myth of Our Materialism.” In Religion and
Races. 13 vols. Boston, 1916–1932. Though dated in some
Politics in the Modern World, edited by Peter H. Merkl and
of its discussions, still one of the best collections of myths
Ninian Smart. New York, 1983. “Few things are as exclusive-
available in English.
ly ‘material’ as they seem” might sum up the essay.
Griaule, Marcel. Dieu d’eau. Entretiens avec Ogotemmêli. Paris,
Bolle, Kees W. “Myths and Other Religious Texts.” In Contempo-
1948. The religious world of the Dogon takes on clear, often
rary Approaches to the Study of Religion, vol. 1, edited by
unexpectedly philosophical form. Ralph Butler, Audrey I.
Frank Whaling. Berlin, 1984. Surveys the study of myths
Richards, and Beatrice Hooke created a very good translation
since World War II and includes an extensive bibliography.
entitled Conversations with Ogotemmêli: An Introduction to
Bolle, Kees W. The Freedom of Man in Myth. Nashville, 1993.
Dogon Religious Ideas. London, 1965.
Deals with myth and mysticism and tries to show the pres-
Gusdorf, Georges. Mythe et Métaphysique. Paris, 1953. This
ence and importance of humor in religion.
French philosopher deals explicitly with the relationship be-
Bolle, Kees W. The Enticement of Religion. Notre Dame, Ind.,
tween philosophy and myth.
2002. Concentrates on the basics of religion, and evidence
Haber, Howard E., and Gordon L. Kane. “Is Nature Supersym-
found in places or things, in acts (rituals, things done), and
metric?” Scientific American 254 (June 1986). A lucid de-
in words (myths). The author feels justified in extending this
scription of a problem of physics, this essay is also illuminat-
view to society and politics as well as poetry. In fact, he leaves
ing in its implications for the use of ordinary words,
little space for wholly non-religious things.
suggesting comparisons with mythological language. For an
equally suggestive example from developments in biochemis-
Bottéro, Jean. Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods.
try, see Marc Lappe’s Broken Code.
Chicago, 1992. Of special importance for its treatment of the
mythology of death.
Jaspers, Karl. Truth and Symbol. New York, 1959. Still one of the
most concise philosophical discussions of the symbolic na-
Bottéro, Jean. The Birth of God: The Bible and the Historian. Uni-
ture of language and inquiry.
versity Park, Pa., 2000.
Jensen, Adolf E., ed. Mythe, Mensch, und Umwelt. New York,
Bottéro, Jean, and Samuel Noah Kramer. Lorsque les dieux faisai-
1978. A reprint of a special volume of the journal Paideuma
ent l’homme: Mythologie mésopotamienne. Paris, 1989.
(vol. 4, 1950). Contains an important collection of essays by
Broda, Johanna, Davíd Carrasco, and Eduardo Matos Moctezu-
various specialists about myths and their environment in
ma. The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery
nonliterate and classical traditions. Among the important
in the Aztec World. Berkeley, Calif., 1987.
contributions are essays by the Africanist Hermann Bau-
Castelli, Enrico, ed. Mythe et Foi. Paris, 1966. See especially “Le
mann, the ethnologist Martin Gusinde, the classicists Walter
mythe de la démythification” by Alphonse de Waelhens.
F. Otto and Franz Altheim, and, among other students of
DeWeese, Devin. Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden
classical civilizations, the Indologist Hermann Lommel
Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and
and the Americanists Walter Krickeberg and Hermann
Epic Tradition. University Park, Pa., 1994.
Trimborn.
Jung, Carl G., and Karl Kerenyi. Essays on a Science of Mythology.
Dundes, Alan, ed. Sacred Narrative. Berkeley, Calif., 1984. An il-
Princeton, N.J., 1969. This work is important because of
luminating collection of studies on mythology.
Kerenyi’s interpretations of classical mythical themes; it pres-
Eliade, Mircea. Most of Mircea Eliade’s books are relevant to the
ents at the same time an introduction to Jung’s psychological
study of myth: Birth and Rebirth (Chicago, 1958) deals with
approach.
initiation ceremonies and their myths; From Primitives to Zen
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2d ed.
(New York, 1967) presents a wide selection of mythological
Chicago, 1970. Both this book and his The Essential Tension
materials; Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries (New York, 1961)
(Chicago, 1979), although without explicit reference to
discusses myth, psychoanalysis, and relations between myths
myths, provide insights into the change of science within its
and modern society; Myth and Reality (New York, 1963)
historical and social environs.
sums up the author’s main ideas on myths, their structure,
and their continuation in modern times; The Myth of the
Kuper, Adam. Anthropology and Anthropologists. London, 1993. A
Eternal Return (rev. ed., New York, 1965), also published
critical assessment of anthropological achievement in En-
under the title Cosmos and History (New York, 1959), deals
gland and elsewhere. Critical of Claude Lévi-Strauss.
with the problem of mythical time and history.
Langer, Suzanne K. Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Sym-
Feldman, Burton, and Robert D. Richardson, eds., The Rise of
bolism of Reason, Rite, and Art. 3rd ed. Cambridge, Mass.,
Modern Mythology, 1680–1860. Bloomington, Ind., 1972.
1957. One of the superb classics in the study of symbolism.
Excellent summaries of scholarly interpretations of myths to-
Lappe, Marc. Broken Code: The Exploitation of DNA. San Francis-
gether with representative excerpts.
co, 1984.
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays.
Leeuw, Gerardus van der. Religion in Essence and Manifestation:
New York, 1973. Geertz is a master of common sense. The
A Study in Phenomenology. New York, 1963. This is the best
Interpretation of Cultures reflects on the sense of various inter-
known work by the principal founder of the phenomenology
pretive systems dealing with cultures, including the ideas of
of religion. See also his “Primordial Time and Final Time,”
Claude Lévi-Strauss, as well as on his own findings in Indo-
in Man and Time, edited by Joseph Campbell. New York,
nesia.
1959.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
6371
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Structural Anthropology, translated by Claire
Plessner, Hellmuth. “Elemente menschlichen Verhaltens.”
Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf. New York, 1963;
Merkur 15 (1961): 603–614.
Introduction to a Science of Mythology, translated by John and
Schneider, Laurence. Biology and Revolution in Twentieth Century
Doreen Weightman. New York, 1969: vol. 1, The Raw and
China. Lanham, Md., 2003. This work seems almost a com-
the Cooked; vol. 2, From Honey to Ashes; vol. 3, The Origin
panion volume to the work by James T. Andrews mentioned
of Table Manners; vol. 4, The Naked Man; Claude Lévi-
above. Both in Soviet Russia and Communist China religion
Strauss. Tristes Tropiques: An Anthropological Study of Primi-
was imagined to disappear under the evidence and weight of
tive Societies in Brazil, translated by John Russell. New York,
modern science, but it did not happen. It is useful to point
1964.
out that neither work, in spite of its historical accuracy, tells
Lévi-Strauss, Claude, and Didier Eribon. Conversations with Cl-
us very much about the strength of specific religious tradi-
aude Lévi-Strauss, translated by Paula Wissing. Chicago,
tions in Russia or China.
1991.
Sebeok, Thomas A., ed. Myth: A Symposium. Bloomington, Ind.,
Lincoln, Bruce. Priests, Warriors, and Cattle: A Study in the Ecology
1955. Presents nine scholars’ divergent views on myths.
of Religions. Berkeley, Calif., 1981; Emerging from the Chrysa-
lis: Rituals of Women’s Initiation. New York, 1991; Death,
Smith, Jonathan Z. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of
War, and Sacrifice. Chicago, 1991; Theorizing Myth: Narra-
Religions. Chicago, 1978; Imagining Religion: From Babylon
tive, Ideology, and Scholarship. Chicago, 1999; Holy Terrors:
to Jonestown. Chicago, 1982; Drudgery Divine: On the Com-
Thinking About Religion After September 11. Chicago, 2003.
parison of Early Christianities and the Religions of Late Antiq-
Without any harmful intention in mind, I believe one could
uity. Chicago, 1990. Most of Smith’s books are collections
sum up the strength of Lincoln’s work not merely by the so-
of essays, but each has a special theme, and each one is a chal-
lidity of his dealings with sources, the evidence on which all
lenge to the reader, and as a rule sheds a new light on the
worthwhile study should rest, but also with a term such as
interpretation of a myth or a specific religious problem. And
fiery justice. Hence he does not deal only with matters of the
at the very least, each essay shows a new difficulty to the
past, but is attracted to great issues of the present. Even if one
reader.
is not always certain whether he takes religious data wholly
Thompson, Stith. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. 6 vols. Rev. ed.;
seriously, the sense of justice he brings to bear on all issues,
Helsinki, 1955–1958. In the tradition of folklore studies; it
especially political ones, is unmistakable.
does not make a sharp distinction between myths and other
Long, Charles H. Alpha: The Myths of Creation. New York, 1963.
forms of folk literature. For the complexity of differences be-
Long was one of the first doctoral students of Eliade. In this
tween genres, see also his The Folktale (Berkeley, 1977) and
work, more than elsewhere, he is also closest to his master.
his essay “Myth and Folktales” in The History of a Myth: Pa-
In Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpreta-
cariqtambo and the Origin of the Inkas, edited by Gary Urton
tion of Religion (Philadelphia, 1986), one sees a greater inter-
(Austin, Tex., 1990).
est in the role of myth and other forms of religious symbol-
Vries, Jan de. Perspectives in the History of Religions. Berkeley,
ism in their relation to historical and social problems than
1977. Concentrates on the study of myths in the history of
Eliade ever displayed.
Western thought since classical antiquity.
Maquet, Jacques. The Aesthetic Experience: An Anthropologist Looks
at the Visual Arts. New Haven, Conn., 1986. Illuminates the
Wach, Joachim. Religionswissenschaft. Leipzig, 1924. Of no direct
evidence of beauty as a universal feature in human existence.
interest to the study of myths, but of lasting importance for
its discussion of the problem of false objectivity in the study
Maranda, Pierre, ed. Mythology. Baltimore, 1972. An anthology
of religious phenomena.
of various schools in the study of myths, with special atten-
tion to structuralism.
KEES W. BOLLE (1987 AND 2005)
Merleau-Ponty, Jacques, and Bruno Morando. The Rebirth of Cos-
mology. New York, 1976. A discussion between a philoso-
pher and a scientist; of interest for a modern understanding
of the raison d’être of mythology.
MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
Nilsson, Martin P. Geschichte der griechischen Religion, 2 vols. 2d
At first glance, myth and history appear to be complete op-
ed.; Munich, 1955. Splendid, indeed classical work on an-
posites. To be sure, they are both narratives, that is to say,
cient Greek religion.
arrangements of events into unified stories, which can then
Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scrip-
be recounted. But myth is a narrative of origins, taking place
ture for Humane Kings in the Creation of Chinese Buddhism.
in a primordial time, a time other than that of everyday reali-
University Park, Pa., 1998. Of great significance in under-
ty; history is a narrative of recent events, extending progres-
standing the rarely discussed relationship between Buddhism
sively to include events that are further in the past but that
and politics.
are, nonetheless, situated in human time.
Pettazoni, Raffaele. Essays on the History of Religions. Leiden, the
This initial definition, however, calls for a series of qual-
Netherlands, 1954. Of special significance for its essays “The
Truth of Myth,” and “Myths of Beginnings and Creation
ifying remarks that reveal a network of more complex rela-
Myths.” See also his four-volume Miti e Leggende (Turin,
tions in the place of this stark opposition. Let us first consid-
1948–1959). Geographically organized, it is the most repre-
er the fact that our very model of myth has come down to
sentative collection of myths in nonliterate traditions from
us from the stories of the gods in ancient Greece. Further-
the entire world.
more, a transition from myth to history can be seen in the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6372
MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
Greek myths themselves, as they extend to include the histo-
three different levels. In a limited, narrow sense, myth and
ry of heroes and the histories of ancestors. These are more
history are two different kinds of narrative. Myth is a narra-
properly termed legendary narratives, unfolding in a time
tive concerning the origin of everything that can worry,
lying between the time of origins and that of recent events.
frighten, or surprise us. History, on the other hand, is a pre-
History will encroach on this legendary time, extending its
cise literary genre, namely the writing of history or historiog-
grasp to include an ever more distant past.
raphy. Taken in this strict sense, history can enter into a vari-
ety of relations with myth; history’s own origin from myth
An even more significant intersection between myth
is not the only such relation. The genetic point of view must
and history has been brought to light through the extension,
not blind us to other possible viewpoints. If, as we shall see,
familiar from contemporary anthropology, of the notion of
history does not necessarily take the place of myth but may
myth to types of narrative that are extremely widespread in
exist alongside it within the same culture, together with other
contemporary archaic societies. These narratives are charac-
types of narrative, then the question of the relation between
terized by being anonymous, and so without any determi-
myth and historiography must be approached from the per-
nant origin. They are received through tradition and accept-
spective of a classification of the various kinds of narratives
ed as credible by all the members of the group, with no
that are produced by a particular society at a particular mo-
guarantee of authenticity other than the belief of those who
ment. The genetic and taxonomical perspectives must each
transmit them. History will mark an “epistemological break”
be allowed both to complement and to limit the exclusive
with this mode of transmission and reception, but only after
claims of the other.
an evolution involving many intermediate stages, as we shall
see later.
As a backdrop to this well-defined problem a vaster one
arises, related to a second meaning of the term history. Histo-
A source of even more serious conflict between myth
ry is not only a literary product; it is also what men do or
and history, and therefore also an occasion for more complex
suffer. Many languages preserve these two meanings of their
forms of transition or compromise, has to do with the object
word for “history”: history (or story) as the narrative of the
of myth itself, which we temporarily designated as a narrative
events of the past, and history as the whole of these events
of origins. The concern with origins extends far beyond the
themselves, as human beings make them or are affected by
history of gods, heroes, and ancestors. The questions pertain-
them. Beyond the question of the writing of history is the
ing to the origins of things extend to all the entities of indi-
question of how a given culture interprets its historical mode
vidual and social life. Thus myths can reply to any of the fol-
of existence. A number of problems arise in this connection.
lowing types of question. How did a particular society come
How, for instance, is the stability or change affecting a cul-
to exist? What is the sense of this institution? Why does this
ture’s mores or institutions perceived? What value is attribut-
event or that rite exist? Why are certain things forbidden?
ed to it? Does change itself have meaning? That is to say, is
What legitimizes a particular authority? Why is the human
change at once meaningful and directed toward an end, or
condition so miserable; why do we suffer and die? Myth re-
is it incoherent, given to disorder, chance, and meaningless-
plies to these questions by recounting how these things
ness? And, if there is a sense to it, is it an improvement, a
began. It recounts the creation of the world and the appear-
form of progress, or a degeneration, a decadence?
ance of humans in their present physical, moral, and social
condition. With myth therefore we are dealing with a very
To move from the first sense of history to the second is
particular type of explanation, which will maintain a com-
not difficult. The writing of history as an essentially literary
plex relation to history. This type of explanation essentially
activity is after all one of the ways a society accounts for its
consists in myth’s foundational function: the myth recounts
own past. It inevitably leads to the more general question of
founding events. Its tie and subsequent conflict with history
the sense that that society ascribes to its own historical devel-
result from this function. On the one hand, myth exists only
opment. This interrelationship between history as literary ac-
when the founding event has no place in history but is situat-
tivity and history as lived experience gives a new meaning to
ed in a time before all history: in illo tempore, to borrow Mir-
the question of the relation between history and myth. Myth,
cea Eliade’s now classic expression. On the other hand, what
to the extent that it is defined by its foundational role, can
is at stake in any such foundation is to relate our own time
function to ascribe a positive or negative value to history in
to this other time, whether this be in the form of participa-
general, to the extent that the latter is understood as a mode
tion, imitation, decadence, or abandonment. It is precisely
of human existence.
this relation between our time and the time of the myth that
is the essential factor constituting the myth, rather than the
When dealing with myth and history at this level, we
types of things founded by it, whether the latter include the
must avoid the temptation to engage in simplistic opposi-
whole of reality—the world—or a fragment of reality—an
tions between types of civilizations or to employ genetic in-
ethical rule, a political institution, or even the existence of
terpretations that are overly linear. A single society may in
man in a particular condition, fallen or innocent.
fact have both myths of decadence and myths of progress,
whether in different epochs or in the same period. This com-
In the light of this brief phenomenology of myth, it ap-
petition of myths may express the uncertainty that a society
pears that the relation of myth to history can be situated on
experiences concerning the meaning of the changes that it
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6373
undergoes. Furthermore, in a given culture, historiography
ancient Near East and the Mediterranean, they alone—along
may be intended to provide only partial explanations that
with ancient Israel—produced a historiography worthy of
make no claim to be comprehensive, while the broader ques-
the name. In addition, the variety of the relations that this
tion of the meaning of history is left to legends and myths.
production maintained with myth (a Greek term if ever there
As a result, two cultures may differ as to their most funda-
was one!) permits us to verify the extreme complexity of the
mental myths and yet present striking similarities in both the
problem and the validity of the three-stage model that we
techniques and goals of their historiography. This was true
have just suggested.
of the Greeks and Hebrews, as will be shown below.
If we adhere to the definition of history as historiogra-
Finally, in the background of the question of the mean-
phy, then history’s relation to myth is determined in its es-
ing of history, we find the question of a society’s interpreta-
sential features by the birth of a type of knowledge and a type
tion of the time in which its history—and all history—
of discourse (prose narrative) that make a series of decisive
unfolds. This third question is implicit in the two preceding
breaks with the mythical mode of thought and with its privi-
ones. In the first place, historiography can be defined as the
leged mode of literary expression, versified poetry. The earli-
narrative of human actions in the past. Since this interest in
est witness that we have to history’s break with myth was
the past is inseparable from an interest in the present and
provided by Herodotos in the middle of the fifth century
from expectations about the future, historiography necessari-
BCE, whose work stands as a literary landmark. Its
ly includes in its definition a reference to time. It is knowl-
title—Histori¯e in the Ionian dialect—has ever since deter-
edge of societies and people in time.
mined not only the name of the discipline that he inaugurat-
ed but also the principal meaning of this term, namely inves-
This reference to time cannot help but affect the first
tigation. These “histories” are in fact investigations into the
and second senses of history: both the meaning that a class
causes of the wars fought between the Greeks and the Per-
of literati gives to the act of writing history and the meaning
sians. Unlike myths of origin and heroic tales situated in dis-
that a particular society gives to its history through narrative
tant times, the histories of Herodotos are concerned with re-
activity imply a specific perception of time. The evaluation
cent events. Herodotos was interested in the causal role of
of time may even become the object of reflection, or it may
antecedent events and in the role of responsible agents in the
remain implicit, in much the same way that change may be
events that he investigated. His writings are thus far more
evaluated positively or negatively. It is at this level that the
than mere descriptions. They are expressions of a mode of
so-called cyclical and linear conceptions of time oppose one
thinking that characterizes what has been called the Ionic
another.
Enlightenment and so take their place within a vaster ensem-
The question of the supposed opposition between cycli-
ble of investigations into cosmology, geography, and ethnog-
cal and linear conceptions of time is a thorny one. To begin
raphy. They find their speculative equivalent in philosophy
with, it is not certain that the notion of cyclical time has but
as such, where phusis, a term we translate as “nature,” consti-
one meaning. In addition to the paradigmatic case of the pe-
tutes at once the field of exploration and the key word. In
riodical regeneration of time by specific rites, there are many
Ionian philosophy the notion of arch¯e in the sense of “princi-
other ways of conceiving the periodical return of the same
ple” decisively splits off from arche in the sense of “begin-
situations and the same events; a number of periodicities are
ning.” This bifurcation of the notion of origin is of great im-
to be distinguished here. Nor is it certain that the notion of
portance for the understanding of the separation of history
linear time was clearly perceived as a global alternative to that
from myth.
of cyclical time before modern astronomy and cosmology or
the even more recent ideologies of progress. Last but not
The epistemological break with myth that marks the
least, a single culture can give rise to contrary myths concern-
emergence of history, geography, ethnology, cosmology, and
ing the cyclical or linear character of time. This is part of the
the philosophy of nature does not entitle us to represent the
uncertainty that a particular society may foster concerning
process as simply genetic and linear, however. This would be
its own historical condition and that of the human race as
to overlook the intermediate stages that exist in the transition
a whole. Then too, the culture that produces myths of cycli-
from myth to history, as well as the continued dependence
cal time or of linear time may also produce a historiography
of the new mode of thought on the earlier mythical mode.
that is deliberately developed outside of this framework, lim-
In addition, we would thereby overlook the simultaneous ex-
iting its scope to restricted temporal segments that can be in-
istence of several different types of narrative within the same
serted in either of those versions of time. For these reasons,
culture.
the problem of the apparent split between cyclical and linear
In contrast to a simplistic representation of the “Greek
time should not be tackled head-on. Instead, this debate
miracle,” we should be attentive instead to this phenomenon
should be carried on within the horizon of the two preceding
of transition, which preserves a sense of the different ele-
investigations.
ments that went to make up the “event” of the Ionic Enlight-
ANCIENT GREECE. To guide us in this problem, it will be
enment. Herodotos was in fact preceded by an entire series
helpful to take as our reference the relations between myth
of prose writers who paved the way for him. The most im-
and history in ancient Greece. In the cultural sphere of the
portant of these was certainly Hecataeus of Miletus, whom
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MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
we know only through a few surviving quotations. Already
of peoples, just as the Trojan War had done in heroic times.
in the second half of the sixth century, this prose writer was
This is the major crisis for which history now seeks a cause.
the author of a peri¯eg¯esis, a realistic account of a voyage
By attributing this cause to a responsible agent, the Histories
around the world that relates history to geography, cartogra-
give an ethical coloration to the entire course of events,
phy, and ethnology, and of the Genealogies, which construct-
which at the same time attests to a striking kinship between
ed the great family tree of the heroic age. The break between
history and tragedy. It was the hubris of Cresus that endan-
myth and history did not, therefore, take place all at once,
gered the harmony of a people, and even the victory of the
but only gradually. Herodotos’s Histories themselves did not
Greeks appears as a retribution (tisis) that reestablishes this
cut every tie with the stories of the heroic age, as can be seen
lost harmony. In this way, a certain divine justice is effected
from his attempts at a general chronology dating back to the
by the course of events. One cannot help thinking here of
Trojan War. And if Herodotos was concerned so specifically
a fragment from Anaximander: “for (existing things) pay
with the Persian Wars, this was because, in his opinion, they
penalty and retribution to each other for their injustice ac-
deserved to be reported as much as had the Trojan War. Fi-
cording to the assessment of Time.” This fragment displays
nally, the epic dimension of Herodotos’s work, which allows
a manner of thinking halfway between myth and what, with
him to preserve the chronological and analogical ties between
the Sophists, Socrates, and Plato, will be termed sophia
heroic and historical times, must be attributed to the influ-
(“wisdom”).
ence of the versified epic of Homer.
From this threefold analysis we can see that the passage
The twofold relation of break and filiation between
from myth to history cannot be reduced to the mere substitu-
myth and history on the level of narrative form becomes
tion of the latter for the former. In competition with this lin-
clearer when we consider the end or goal assigned to this new
ear evolution, we must make room for an accumulation of
kind of literature. Here we move from the first to the second
literary genres and the modes of thinking related to them:
senses of history. The end that Herodotos assigned to his in-
theogonic myths written in the style of scholarly and literary
vestigations can be found in the prologue of the Histories:
mythology, myths of the heroic age cast in the literary mode
“Here are set forth the researches (histori¯e) of Herodotos of
of the epic and of tragedy, and, finally, history. So little did
Halicarnassus, that men’s actions may not be forgotten, nor
history replace myth that Plato still wages war against myths
things great and wonderful, whether accomplished by Greeks
in his dialogues, though not without including here and
or barbarians, go without report, nor especially the causes
there some palaios logos received from the Orphic tradition
(a¯ıti¯e) of the wars between one and another.”
or from alleged Egyptian wisdom. What is more, he invents
certain myths himself, in the form of philosophical tales.
Three features of this prefatory remark deserve empha-
sis. The struggle against forgetfulness is cited first; later we
A third problem now remains. This is the problem of
shall discuss the conception of time that is implied here. It
the representation of time that underlies history, a problem
is then to the great deeds of the Greeks and the barbarians
that forms the backdrop to the debate between history and
that this exercise of memory is applied. The very notion of
myth. If Greek historiography holds some importance in this
great deeds marks a tie with the epic of the age of heroes,
area, it is less in relation to the so-called opposition between
even though it is being applied here to recent times. But, in
cyclical time and linear time than to the dividing line be-
particular, this cult of memory binds history to the self-
tween the time of the gods and the time of men.
understanding that a people acquires by giving an account
of its past. The memory that history cultivates is therefore
With respect to the debate concerning the Greeks’ sup-
that of a people taken as a single body. In this way, history
posed opposition of cyclical and linear conceptions of time,
takes its place within the body of traditions that together
opened by Thorleif Boman in Hebrew Thought Compared
constitute what could be called the narrative identity of a cul-
with Greek (1960), it is clear that historiography not only
ture. To be sure, it does this within a critical mode that is
does not provide any confirmation of the thesis that holds
entirely different from mythical traditions, since the latter
Hellenism to be massively in favor of a cyclical conception
draw their authority from the very act of transmitting the im-
of time but in fact refuses to take either side. As Arnaldo
memorial. But the opposition between the critical mode of
Momigliano stresses, to the extent that Herodotos concen-
historiography introduced here by Herodotos and the au-
trates his attention on a limited segment of history, he is en-
thoritative mode of the reception of myth in Homer occurs
tirely unaware of an historical cycle, much less an eternal re-
within the larger phenomenon of tradition: the poet and the
turn. Of course, he believes that there are forces operating
man of letters are united within the single great melting pot
in history, forces that are ordinarily tied to the intervention
of culture.
of the gods in human life, which become visible only at the
end of a long chain of events. Such was the hubris against
The third feature of Herodotos’s project points in the
which Solon warned. Nothing, however, indicates that these
same direction: the object of his research is to discover the
interventions attest to a cyclical time. Herodotos “attributed
cause of an essentially conflictual event, namely the Persian
to the Persian War a unique, non-cyclical significance, chief-
Wars. These wars not only served to oppose Greek and bar-
ly as a conflict between free men and slaves” (Momigliano,
barian but fundamentally threatened a whole configuration
1977, p. 187).
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6375
It is instead to the second problem, that of the split be-
take on consistency in the face of the time of the gods only
tween the time of the gods and the time of men, that the ear-
when the narrative is anchored to a sort of logic of action.
liest Greek historiography makes the most decisive contribu-
ANCIENT ISRAEL. Following the majority of exegetes and cul-
tion. The comparison with Homer, Hesiod, and the
tural historians, we have adopted the working hypothesis
tragedians is instructive here. In Homer, the little substance
that only the Greeks and the Hebrews developed a historiog-
that human time takes on is due still to the family tie that
raphy comparable to that of the moderns. It is therefore in
unites most of the heroes to the gods. In order to evoke these
reference to the birth of history in Greece that we shall dis-
heroic times ordinary memory is not enough: it is not a mere
cuss the similar phenomenon in ancient Israel. Obstacles to
literary convention when in book 2 of the Iliad (lines 484–
this sort of comparative undertaking are by no means lack-
487), the poet asks the Muses, the daughters of Memory
ing, however.
(Mnemosyne), to guide him through the confusion of
The first source of difficulty lies in a difference of liter-
human time and space. “And now, tell me, Muses, dwelling
ary genre. Literary genres such as epic, tragedy, lyric poetry,
on Olympus, for you are indeed goddesses: present every-
and history, which are represented in Greece by distinct
where, you know all things; we hear only noises, we ourselves
works and authors, are found grouped together and often in-
know nothing. Tell me who were the guides, the leaders of
terwoven in the Hebrew Bible, a book that is itself actually
the Danaans?” It is because time is utter confusion for the
a collection of books. Therefore, if we are to find in the He-
human observer that the poet calls upon a Muse to unite him
brew scriptures a collection of texts comparable to Herodo-
with the higher vision of the gods. In Hesiodic myth, the
tos’s Histories, we will have to ignore the important question
ages and the races that live in them are inserted between the
of context at the risk of serious distortions. This is the case,
time of the gods and human time, serving as much to sepa-
for instance, with the story of David’s rise (1 Sm. 16:14–2
rate them as to connect them. This is a history of decadence,
Sm. 5:25) and the succession story (2 Sm. 7, 9–20;
interrupted only by the fourth race, that of heroes. The fate
1 Kgs. 1–2).
of the race of the last age, the iron age, is to suffer fatigue
and hardships and hence to live painfully in time. The only
A second difficulty lies in the complexity of narrative as
remedy for this is the monotonous repetition of work in the
a genre. The narrative genre is represented by such a wide
fields. Nevertheless, the cycle of time is already that of a
variety of forms that we cannot restrict our classification
human time.
merely to an opposition between history and myth. It is nec-
essary to work out a typology of narrative forms, however ru-
In the works of the tragedians, man is defined as
dimentary and merely provisional, before we can inquire into
“ephemeral.” This is not because man’s life is short but be-
the possible filiations between one form and another.
cause his condition is tied to the accidents of time. The “sov-
ereign time” sung by the chorus can at the same time be the
There is still another difficulty. In addition to the vari-
“avenging time” that will reestablish justice. Historiography,
ety of literary genres surrounding the narrative core and the
on the other hand, by virtue of the task that it sets for itself,
diversity of narrative forms themselves, the Hebrew scrip-
introduces a certain consistency into the time of men, relat-
tures present a hierarchy of different texts. First-order units
ing it to the human time of the “first inventor” (protos
that represent the entire range of narrative forms are incorpo-
euret¯es). On the one hand, Herodotos recognizes these first
rated into larger ensembles such as the compositions of the
inventors in those who first gave offense to the Greeks and
Yahvist, which present narrative features that differ from
thereby brought on the Persian Wars. On the other hand,
those of the first-order units. In order to account for the dif-
the historian himself, by naming himself, by giving the rea-
ference of level and structure between these larger narratives
sons he has for recalling the past, and by seeking the sense
and their smaller, properly historiographic segments, it is ad-
of past events, establishes himself as a first inventor. It is in
visable to refer to the former as “history-like narratives.”
this double manner that he gives human time its consistency.
Finally, concerning the specific problem of myth and
Despite its linear framework, however, this human time still
history, we must be prepared to confront the paradoxical sit-
leaves room for analogies and correspondences that elevate
uation that, in contrast to the evolution that led from myth
the characters above and beyond time.
to history in Greece, in Israel the quasi myths or myth frag-
ments borrowed from neighboring cultures were incorporat-
It is only with Thucydides that a logical time will govern
ed into the great narrative ensembles mentioned above in the
the disorder of historical time that stems from the repetition
form of historicized myths, as is the case in Genesis 1–11.
of the same dissensions between cities, which make innumer-
This reinterpretation of myth on the basis of history appears
able and terrible evils “occur and recur unendingly.” The sec-
quite specific to the literary sphere of ancient Israel.
ond great Greek historian is then able to define his work as
a means of “seeing clearly into events of the past and those
We can navigate our investigation through the reefs of
yet to come by reason of the human character they possess,
these difficulties by proceeding along the lines of the three
offering similarities or analogies” (History of the Peloponne-
levels of inquiry outlined in the first paragraph: namely, a ty-
sian War 1.22). This is the sense of the famous expression
pology of narrative forms, an analysis of the historical mode
kt¯ema eis aei (“acquisition for all times”): human time will
of understanding of the community that produces these nar-
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MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
ratives, and, finally, a brief look at the conception of time
mand for explanation present in the etiological function of
that may be implicit either in the literary forms or in the self-
legends, on the formation of a prose literature, and especially
understanding revealed in ancient Israel.
on the organizing role played by a theological vision of histo-
ry. It is under the influence of this third and decisive factor
With respect to the typology of narrative forms, in
that the narrative organization prevails over the parataxic
which history and myth take their place at the two opposite
presentation of the heroic legends. By the same token, the
poles of the spectrum, it is important to note that genetic in-
relation of filiation between the legend and the myth appears
vestigations, stemming principally from the work of Her-
even weaker. And it is an enlightenment similar to that in
mann Gunkel and Hugo Gressmann, have employed struc-
Ionia that permits the passage from the novella, which itself
tural analysis to establish criteria for the identification of
is already relatively complex, to even larger ensembles, such
narrative forms and then gone on to work out their filiation.
as the stories of David and the Yahvist document, which are
Gunkel (1928) himself argued that the historiography illus-
thus placed on the same level as the historiographical core,
trated by the two narratives concerning David mentioned
at least as far as their organization is concerned.
above stemmed from legends (Sagen), rather than from the
myths of the ancient Middle East or from the lists, annals,
Armed with these sketchy typological criteria for distin-
and chronicles that were widespread among Israel’s neigh-
guishing between genres, Hebrew exegesis set out to examine
bors. In order to establish this thesis, Gunkel had to work
the question of their filiation, a question held to be funda-
out a brief typology that allowed him to distinguish legends
mental. It is within this framework that Gunkel’s continuist
from other types of stories. He first distinguished legends
hypothesis has been tested by his successors (Gerhard von
(Sagen), which refer to characters in the real world but living
Rad, Martin Noth, William F. Albright, Umberto Cassuto,
in times gone by, both from myths, which are origin narra-
Claus Westermann, and John van Seters). This hypothesis
tives, taking place in a time different from that of ordinary
can include a number of different emphases. Emphasis can
experience, and tales (Märchen), which are pure fictions in-
be placed on the political factor, on the enlightened spirit of
tended for amusement. Then, within the Sagen themselves,
the age assumed to be close to the reported events, or on the
he distinguished between father legends (Vatersagen) and
degree of organization in the legends themselves prior to
hero legends (Heldensagen). Father legends are tied to family
their literary phase. One can emphasize the possible existence
leaders who are representative of their social group. They are
of early Israelite epics influenced by Mesopotamian and Ca-
sometimes related in a series, like the stories of Joseph; Gun-
naanite epics, the constitution of court archives, lists, annals,
kel calls these “novellas” (Novellen). Hero legends (Heldensa-
and other documents similar to those found among Israel’s
gen), to the extent that they concern public figures like
neighbors, and finally and most especially the organizing
Moses, Joshua, Saul, and David, can contain a genuinely his-
power exerted by the theological motif. In fact, however,
torical element. According to Gunkel, it is within this sub-
these rival genetic hypotheses have shown themselves to be
group that we can follow the evolution from the pure heroic
practically unverifiable in the absence of Israelite sources dis-
legend, illustrated by the story of Gideon, to history in a
tinct from the canonical texts of the Hebrew scriptures. It
sense similar to that of Herodotus, as in the two narratives
is not even certain that the texts that appear closest to Greek
of David referred to above. Gressmann (1910) then carried
historiography were actually written at a period close to that
this approach further by calling attention to the prophetic
of the events reported, or even that there was an Israelite lit-
legends, whose purpose is devotional and edifying.
erature prior to the writing of Deuteronomy.
Gressmann’s major contribution, however, was his tri-
The responses of scholars to these doubts have taken
partite division of history. First there is the history that con-
three forms. Some have sought a renewal of genetic investiga-
cerns recent events (it is assumed that the narratives relating
tions on the basis of new hypotheses. Others have accorded
to David were written shortly after the events recounted).
a privilege to a more detailed structural analysis of narrative
Then come legends, concerning distant events, and, finally,
forms, and still others have undertaken a properly literary
myths, relating to primordial times. The advantage of this
study of the narrative art, which is found in all narrative
threefold division is that it brackets the question of the pre-
forms.
sumed degree of veracity, as measured by our modern notion
The first orientation is illustrated in particular by the
of documentary proof. Nevertheless, in Gunkel and Gress-
works of John Van Seters and Hans H. Schmid, who date
mann the concern for typology is immediately swallowed up
the first Israelite writings five or six centuries later than previ-
by the interest in genesis: their major interest is in determin-
ous scholarship did and thereby overthrow all the earlier hy-
ing how historiography as a scholarly genre arose out of
potheses concerning filiation.
legend.
The second orientation is illustrated by the taxonomical
The same question is considered by Gerhard von Rad
concern that presides over the works of George W. Coats on
(1962), but on the basis of different preoccupations. He too
Genesis. Coats divides the main narrative genres into the saga,
asks about the preconditions for the emergence of historiog-
the tale, the novella, legends, histories, reports, fables, etio-
raphy, but whereas Gunkel stresses the decisive role of the
logical narratives, and, finally, myths. The term saga (not to
emergence of a monarchic state, von Rad focuses on the de-
be confused with the German Sage, “legend”) here refers to
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6377
the Icelandic and Nordic sagas of the Middle Ages, which
through its literature is not exclusively, nor even principally,
are long, traditional narratives in prose, subdivided into fam-
expressed in historiographic writings. It may instead be ex-
ily sagas and heroic sagas. The tale is characterized by the fact
pressed through an entire range of narrative forms and even,
that it has few characters, a single setting, and a simple plot.
little by little, by all the other literary genres inasmuch as they
The novella, in turn, is a complex tale with a plot involving
are historicized or, better, “narrativized.” This expansion of
tension and its resolution. Legends are static narratives with
the historical mind beyond the narrative form characteristic
no plot in praise of the virtues of a hero. A history is intended
of historiography finds its expression in the internal hierar-
to report events that actually took place; a report describes
chy characteristic of the narrative literature of the Hebrew
an isolated event. Fables depict a fictional world, while etio-
scriptures, through which the narrative units distinguished
logical narratives purport to explain a situation, to name a
by the typology are subordinated to larger ensembles, of
place or a character. Finally, myths are reduced to the sphere
which the Yahvist document is a good model. Not only does
that remains, namely the imaginative domain relating to the
this vast composition reach back before the monarchy, be-
activity of the gods in the divine world (hence Genesis 6:1–4).
fore the settlement, before the patriarchs, to the very creation
A noteworthy example of the third orientation is given
of the world; it also encompasses units that represent the en-
by Robert Alter and Adele Berlin. These authors, unham-
tire range of narrative forms distinguished above, as well as
pered by typological concerns, have studied the art of narra-
vast nonnarrative texts, such as laws, sapiential segments,
tive composition, basing their studies on the poetic model
praises, curses, and blessings—in short, a wide variety of lit-
applied to the modern novel. So-called primitive and naive
erary forms and “language games.” As noted above, in order
narratives suddenly appear to be works of consummate re-
to preserve this internal variety and difference of level, it is
finement in the use of dialogue and in the handling of events
advisable to reserve the term history for those units that dis-
with reticence and understatement. At the same time, the lit-
play a structural and thematic kinship with early Greek histo-
erary analysis enhances the theological import of these texts
riography and to refer to other narratives as “history-like,”
and suggests that the conflict between the inevitability of the
following Hans W. Frei in his The Eclipse of Biblical Narra-
divine plan and human recalcitrance is in itself the source of
tive (1974).
narrative developments.
It is on the level of this vast history-like narrative, and
The development of structural analysis has tended to
on that of the different narratives superimposed on the great
obscure the problem of the relations between myth and his-
Yahvist narrative, that the theological design of narrative lit-
tory behind its more detailed typologies. Nevertheless, the
erature itself is revealed. In this regard, there has been notice-
problem reemerges at another level as the problem of the self-
able evolution in interpretation since Gunkel sought to save
understanding of a culture as this is expressed through its tra-
the ancient historiography that he considered to be contem-
ditions. This new line of questioning is called for by the ty-
porary with the epoch of Solomon from the regretted influ-
pology itself, to the extent that the aim of any narrative form
ence of the prophets. Von Rad considerably reworked the
is to contribute to self-understanding. Here, then, in the
problem by seeing in the great Yahvist construction the ex-
context of the Hebrew scriptures, we confront the second
pansion of the confessional recital that can be read in Deuter-
sense of history: history as it refers to the historical mind of
onomy 24:5–9 and Joshua 24:2–13. According to von Rad,
ancient Israel, its manner of conducting itself historically. In
this “historical credo,” with its own distinctive liturgical
this regard, most exegetes agree in characterizing the self-
roots, governed the history of the settlement, leading the
understanding of ancient Israel as globally historical, some-
people from Egypt to the Promised Land. It then incorporat-
thing that cannot be said of the Greeks. If the latter did in-
ed into itself the Sinai tradition, which, as a distinct cult-
deed produce a historiography that is more clearly set out on
legend with its revealed commandments and its theology of
the level of its works and more deliberately critical with re-
the covenant, had heretofore had a separate existence.
spect to received traditions, they nevertheless sought their
Around this core was clustered the history of the patriarchs,
identity—without perhaps ever actually finding it—more in
prefaced by the majestic history of the creation of the world
the political sphere of their existence. At the same time, their
and the origin of humanity. The Yahvist would then be the
philosophers developed a cosmological and nonhistorical
writer of genius who, due to the shifting of the myths from
philosophy of reality as a whole. Israel alone understood itself
their original matrix, used the theological motif inherent in
principally through the traditions of which it was at once the
the tradition of the settlement to give coherence to this col-
author and recipient. This is essentially what von Rad want-
lection of heterogeneous narratives. With the Yahvist, we are
ed to stress in his The Theology of Israel’s Historical Traditions
no longer dealing with a storyteller but with a theologian-
(1962), the first volume of his Old Testament Theology. With
narrator who expresses his vision of the relations between
Israel, the act of narrating had from the outset a theological
God and his people by means of a continuous history, in
value, and the theological intention was instilled in the col-
which the history of the chosen people is bound up with the
lection of traditions, which the theologian could not help but
universal history of humankind and with the history of the
retell.
world itself.
This second level of investigation must not be confused
Starting from the historiographic pole, von Rad’s suc-
with the first; the “historical” understanding of a people
cessors have asked how the historical recital of the settlement
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MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
relates to the narratives of the succession and to those of
mantics, or in the etymology of individual words. The mean-
David’s rise to power. What exchanges took place between
ing of words, Barr observes, results from their use in deter-
the sacred and political vision of God’s sovereignty over his-
mined contexts. Thus in our attempt to discover a Hebraic
tory and the idea of a divine guidance operating throughout
conception of time we are led back to the contexts provided
the migration and the settlement? Did the former serve as
by the narrative forms considered above and to the historical
a structural model for the latter, and the latter as a theological
mentality discussed earlier.
model for the former? It is in this connection that Robert
An initial question arises: is a specific conception of time
Alter’s suggestion takes on its full importance: he asks wheth-
implicit in the narrative forms used in the Hebrew Bible?
er the paradox of the inevitability of the divine plan and
The reply would seem to be negative. The various types of
human recalcitrance is not revealed in even the smallest nar-
narrative taken separately include very different temporal im-
rative units when these are examined in the light of the art
plications. No general view of time can be extracted from the
of biblical narrative. The most significant narratives turn out
historiography of Samuel and Kings; it concerns a given seg-
to be those in which the divine intention is realized, not
ment of time that permits no extrapolation. To be sure, we
through divine intervention, but through the very play of
can admit that the historiography of the Hebrew Bible, like
human passions, after the fashion of a nemesis inherent in
that of the Greeks, assumes a certain familiarity with tempo-
human conduct.
ral succession and chronology. But this relation to time is
We move from the historiographic pole back to the
purely pragmatic. In addition, and this is the most important
mythical by inquiring into the theology of history that is
point, other narrative forms, such as the saga and the legend,
evinced in the large narrative units, or even in the smaller
on the one hand, and the origin myth, on the other, take
ones. Actually, we should speak of theologies of history, for
place in qualitatively different times, which can be usefully
it is not certain that what has been called salvation history
described as “recent,” “distant,” or “primordial.” Thus the
“days” of creation are incommensurable with the years in
(Heilsgeschichte) covers all the intentions of the biblical writ-
which the monarchs reign; the same is true concerning the
ers. We must be careful not to project the biblical theology
patriarchs, who are situated, so to speak, “between” primor-
of today onto the Hebrew scriptures. The interweaving of a
dial times and historical time. It is therefore advisable to re-
number of different theological themes must be respected:
spect the specific temporal qualities belonging to the various
the covenant, the promise and its fulfillment, ethical instruc-
classes of narrative.
tion through the narrative, and so forth. Aside from this plu-
rality of the theologies of history, there is the question of the
If we now consider the great narrative compositions,
function of the theological plan as a whole. As a kind of
like that of the Yahvist, in which the historical mind of an-
counterpart to the historicizing of the origin myths, could
cient Israel is expressed, it cannot be denied that the various
it not itself function as a myth, in the sense of the transcen-
traditions with their heterogeneous durations are submitted
dent founding of present history on the basis of a more fun-
to a single temporal order that we should probably represent
damental history? More precisely, it seems that the theology
as a rectilinear and irreversible time underlying a universal
of traditions has been assimilated into an etiological myth of
history that stretches from creation to the end of the monar-
the settlement in a foreign land, hence of the gift of the soil.
chy and to the period of the return from the Babylonian
After the catastrophe of the exile, this myth was itself capable
exile. However, besides the fact that this representation is
of being transformed into an etiological myth of the loss of
never made explicit by the brilliant composer of the Yahvist
the land. This second etiological use of the myth results in
document, it would be sorely inadequate for the narrative
a new theology of history, centered around the theme of ret-
style of this quasi-historical narrative even if it had been
ribution—in short, a theodicy. In the Deuteronomic narra-
made explicit. This is so for several reasons.
tive, this new theodicy finds an expression that may be weak
First of all, the time unfolded by the great narrative re-
historiographically but is strong in its moral resources. Nev-
mains a creation of the narrative art itself. The time imma-
ertheless, we must admit that by calling salvation history it-
nent in the great narrative configuration by no means abol-
self a myth, we are stretching the notion of myth beyond its
ishes the differences between the heterogeneous time-spans
strict sense of a history of origins in illo tempore. Salvation
that it encompasses. Thus we cannot say that the election of
history unfolds in the time of men rather than in the time
Abraham occurs after the seven days of creation. The mere
of the gods. This fundamental difference must make us more
succession of narratives does not allow us to project along a
careful in using the term myth to characterize theological in-
single time scale the time of origins, that of the patriarchs,
terpretations like those of salvation history.
that of the settlement in Canaan, and that of the monarchical
We must reserve for a third level of analysis the contro-
period. The idea of a single narrative scale common to all the
versial question of whether the conception of time in ancient
time-spans is a modern idea foreign to the thinking of an-
Israel was explicit or merely implicit. James Barr, in Biblical
cient Israel and even to that of ancient Greece.
Words for Time (2d rev. ed., 1969), warns us of the tempta-
In addition, a series of correspondences and analogies
tion to seek information on the Hebrew conception of time
are added to the temporal succession in which one event fol-
at the level of the language itself, in its vocabulary and se-
lows another, as for instance between the various covenants
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTH: MYTH AND HISTORY
6379
and the various laws, and even the various theophanies. In
Frei, Hans W. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study in Eigh-
this regard one could speak of a cumulative aspect of time
teenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics. New Haven,
in the Hebrew Bible rather than of a purely successive one.
1974.
Finally, and what is most important, the relation be-
Fritz, Kurt von. “Herodotus and the Growth of Greek Historiog-
raphy.” Transactions of the American Philological Association
tween God’s faithfulness and man’s recalcitrance, which is
67 (1936): 315–340.
illustrated in so many different ways by the special narrative
Gressmann, Hugo, ed. Die älteste Geschichtsschreibung und Prophe-
art of the Hebrew storytellers, narrators, and historians, does
tie Israels. Göttingen, 1910.
not lend itself to interpretation in terms of the categories in-
Gunkel, Hermann. “Geschichtsschreibung im Alt Testament.” In
herited from Platonism and Neoplatonism, where divine im-
Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 2. Tübingen,
mutability is diametrically opposed to the mutability of all
1928.
things human. God’s faithfulness, which marks the history
Huizinga, Johan. “A Definition of the Concept of History.” In
of men, suggests the idea of an omnitemporality rather than
Philosophy and History: Essays Presented to E. Cassirer, edited
that of a supratemporality. This omnitemporality, moreover,
by Raymond Klibansky and Herbert J. Paton, pp. 1–10. Ox-
is in perfect agreement with the sort of cumulative history
ford, 1936.
we have just mentioned. In order to be able to speak of a bib-
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Mythologiques. 4 vols. Paris, 1964–1971.
lical time, we would have to take all of the literary genres into
Malinowski, Bronislaw. Myth in Primitive Psychology. New York,
account and not only the genre of narrative. There is an im-
1926.
memorial time of the laws, a proleptic time of prophecy, an
Momigliano, Arnaldo. “Time in Ancient Historiography.” In his
everyday time of wisdom, a “nowness” of hymnic complaint
Essays in Ancient and Modern Historiography, pp. 179–204.
and praise. Biblical time—if this expression has any mean-
Oxford, 1977.
ing—is made up of the interweaving of all the temporal val-
Noth, Martin. “Geschichtsschreibung im Alt Testament.” In Die
ues that are added onto the numerous temporal qualities pre-
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3d ed., vol. 2. Tü-
served by the variety of narrative forms. The representation
bingen, 1958.
of a linear and irreversible time is wholly inadequate for this
Pearson, Lionel. Early Ionian Historians. Oxford, 1939.
chorus of voices.
Rad, Gerhard von. Old Testament Theology, vol. 1, The Theology
Would we then be justified in speaking of a return to
of Israel’s Historical Traditions. New York, 1962.
mythical time by way of a history-like narrative, on the basis
Rad, Gerhard von. “The Beginnings of Historical Writing in An-
of the theologies presiding over the narrative composition it-
cient Israel.” In his The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other
self, as, for example, in the conception of history as salvation
Essays, pp. 166–204. London, 1966.
history? This could be done only by ascribing to the term
Romilly, Jacqueline de. Histoire et raison chez Thucydide. Paris,
myth the extremely broad sense of a founding narrative that
1956.
is related to everyday existence. In fact, it is just as important
Schmid, Hans H. “Das alttestamentliche Verständnis von Gesch-
to stress the historicization of myth as it is to emphasize the
ichte in seinem Verhältnis zum gemeinorientalischen De-
mythologization of history. The position of the origin myth
nken.” Wort und Dienst: Jahrbuch der Theologischen Schule
in Genesis 1–11 attests to this decisive subordination of myth
Bethel 13 (1975): 9–21.
to history. It is only as a broken myth that the archaic
Van Seters, John. In Search of History: Historiography in the An-
myth is reasserted within the gravitational space displayed by
cient World and the Origins of Biblical History. New Haven,
the historiography of the monarchic period and by the narra-
1983.
tive of the conquest and settlement.
Vernant, Jean-Pierre. “Mythical Aspects of Memory and Time.”
In his Myth and Thought among the Greeks. London, 1983.
Perhaps it is in this that the hidden kinship between
Vidal-Naquet, Pierre. “Temps des dieux et temps des hommes.”
Greek thought and Hebrew thought resides. Each of them
Revue de l’histoire des religions 157 (January–March 1960):
in its own way breaks with myth. Each, too, reinvents myth,
55–80.
one as a philosophical tale, as we saw in Plato, and the other
Westermann, Claus. “Zum Geschichtsverständnis des Alten Tes-
as a broken and historicized myth, as in the Yahvist account
taments.” In Probleme Biblischer Theologie, edited by Hans
of creation.
Walter Wolff, pp. 611–619. Munich, 1971.
SEE ALSO Cosmogony; Historiography; Sacred Time.
New Sources
Binder, Gerhard, and Bernd Effe. Mythos: erzählende Weltdeutung
BIBLIOGRAPHY
im Spannungsfeld von Ritual, Geschichte und Rationalität.
Albright, William F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical
Trier, 1990.
Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. Jordan Lectures in Com-
Campbell, Joseph, and Bill Moyers. Power of Myth. New York,
parative Religion, no. 7. London, 1968.
1988.
Boman, Thorleif. Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek. Phila-
Chandler, Tertius. “Can Greek Myths Be History?” Patristic and
delphia, 1960.
Byzantine Review 18–19 (2000–2001): 271–272.
Cassuto, Umberto. “The Beginning of Historiography among the
Israeli, Raphael. “Myth as Memory: Muslims in China between
Israelites.” In his Biblical and Oriental Studies, vol. 1,
Myth and History.” Muslim World 91, nos. 1–2 (2001):
pp. 7–16. Jerusalem, 1973.
185–208.
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MYTH AND RITUAL SCHOOL
McKenzie, Steven L., and Thomas Römer, eds. Rethinking the
and Culture, 2 vols., 1926–1940), proved influential in
Foundations: Historiography in the Ancient World and in the
Great Britain and in Scandinavia. And the studies of the
Bible. Berlin, 2000.
great Danish historian of religion and specialist in Germanic
Noegel, Scott B. “Adam in Myth and History: Ancient Israelite
religion Vilhelm Grönbech were a highly influential factor
Perspectives on the Primal Human.” Biblica 83/4 (2002):
in shaping the school’s appreciation of the dynamism and
583–586.
power of cultic life, with its many-faceted ritual acts. Also in-
Ruedas, Javier. “Social Context and Creation of Meaning in In-
fluential were the studies of the German scholar Wilhelm
digenous Amazonian Performances of Myth and Oral Histo-
Mannhardt on cultic practices related to agriculture and the
ry.” Journal of Ritual Studies 17, no. 2 (2003): 35–71.
agricultural year (see especially his Wald- und Feldkulte, 2
Van Seters, John. Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in
vols., 1874–1876, 2d ed., 1904–1905).
Genesis. Louisville, 1992.
BEGINNINGS. Both branches of the school originate in associ-
Von Hendy, Andrew. Modern Construction of Myth. Blooming-
ation with the work of the great Hermann Gunkel, founder
ton, Ind., 2002.
of the method of form criticism. An Old Testament specialist
PAUL RICOEUR (1987)
whose work firmly rooted the study of the Old Testament
Revised Bibliography
in the cultic practices of the ancient Near East, Gunkel also
saw the connection between ritual and myth, especially in
his studies of the myths and legends of Genesis (Genesis,
1901; 2d ed., 1922). But it was the Norwegian scholar Sig-
MYTH AND RITUAL SCHOOL. The term Myth
mund Mowinckel who first applied the insights and ap-
and Ritual school refers to two movements, one in Great Brit-
proach of Gunkel to the cultic materials of the Hebrew Psal-
ain in the second quarter of the twentieth century, connected
ter in a series of studies (Psalmen-Studien, 4 vols., 1921–
with the name of S. H. Hooke of the University of London,
1925).
and the other, less clearly identifiable, appearing at about the
same time in Scandinavia. The “school” or movement arose
For Mowinckel the early Israelite cult was a living reali-
in reaction against an evolutionary approach to the study of
ty, marked by the existence of wonder-workers and mischief
ancient religions, although it depended upon data collected
makers who had to be dealt with by means of ritual acts and
by scholars holding to the evolutionary outlook. It arose also
formulas. The New Year’s Day celebrations saw the Israelite
as a result of a growing recognition in many circles of the
God Yahveh enthroned afresh as lord of the universe, with
central importance of ritual acts for ancient peoples and of
whom the earthly king was cultically associated. Details of
the accompanying texts—the myths. The movement thus
this celebration would later be worked out by the Myth and
was rightly designated the “Myth and Ritual school,” for it
Ritual school, but Mowinckel gave the basic structure of the
sought to show how pervasive were the central ritual acts of
celebration in this early study of the Israelite cult. Mowinckel
ancient societies and how inseparable from these acts were
gave examples from the surrounding religious practices to
the accompanying words. The school gave great prominence
show that this cult of Yahveh in Israel had very close similari-
to the religions of the ancient Near East; the most weighty
ties with those of its neighbors. Many other scholars would
applications of the school’s findings were made to the study
join in the search for parallels and for further evidence of the
of the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament.
influence of ancient Near Eastern myth and ritual upon the
The pattern of religious activity identified by the school
religion and cult of early Israel.
was focused upon the celebration of New Year’s Day and
THE BRITISH SCHOOL. The Myth and Ritual school in
upon the place of the king in that celebration. The commu-
Great Britain was a remarkable instance of scholarly collabo-
nity was enabled to participate in the actual renewal of the
ration in an age in which individual scholars tended to work
cosmos as the various elements of the ritual were observed.
in relative independence of one another. The moving force
The Myth and Ritual school thus stressed the enormous cul-
within the school was S. H. Hooke, longtime professor of
tural significance of right observance of the ritual; ritual and
Old Testament studies in the University of London. He ed-
its accompanying words were, according to the Myth and
ited a series of studies during a twenty-five-year period in
Ritual theorists, at the heart of an ancient society’s self-
which he and his colleagues sought to identify the connec-
understanding.
tion between ritual acts and the words that accompanied
BACKGROUND. Many elements contributed to the appear-
them—that is, the myths, the “libretto” of the ritual score.
ance of the Myth and Ritual school. The gathering of data
The first study appeared in 1933 under the title Myth and
on religious practices by ethnologists and anthropologists
Ritual. The second, The Labyrinth, was published two years
such as was carried out, for example, by James G. Frazer and
later. These two works covered the rites of the peoples of an-
reported in his multivolume work, The Golden Bough, 12
cient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, and Canaan, and dealt
vols. (1911–1915), provided vast comparative materials for
at length with the myth and ritual of ancient Israel and of
the school’s use. Specialized studies of the social and psycho-
early Christianity. The third of the volumes came out in
logical aspects of the life of ancient Israel, in particular the
1958: Myth, Ritual, and Kingship. It included an essay by
work of the Danish scholar Johannes Pedersen (Israel, Its Life
H. H. Rowley, “Ritual and the Hebrew Prophets,” in which
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Rowley indicated reservations about aspects of the school. It
The work of the Swedish scholar H. S. Nyberg on the
also included an important critical assessment of the school
Book of Hosea also greatly influenced the Scandinavian
by S. G. F. Brandon, which called attention to certain critics
school. In Studien zum Hoseabuche (1935) Nyberg argued
of the school and included several points of sharp disagree-
that the text of Hosea was probably preserved orally until the
ment by Brandon himself. This chapter in the book is ad-
time of the Babylonian exile, but he also argued, on the basis
dressed by Hooke in his introductory essay. It was a salutary
of analogies from the ancient Near East, that oral tradition
thing that this open debate on the school’s view was fur-
is very reliable indeed. Thus Nyberg spoke for the value of
thered by publications in which the school’s central positions
the cultic community of ancient Israel in the preservation of
were espoused.
the words of its leaders and for their reuse in the cult, thereby
For the British school, the central undertaking seemed
(like Pedersen) expressing mistrust of the “bookish” ap-
to be to show how many of the cultic practices and the motifs
proach of western European and North American scholars.
of ancient Near Eastern myths and sagas had their counter-
In addition, the comparisons drawn by Nyberg to early Ara-
part in texts of the Hebrew scriptures. The reconstruction of
bic practices would prove useful in the later work of the
the annual festival in ancient Israel produced an amazing
Scandinavian Myth and Ritual school.
richness: recitation of the story of creation; humiliation and
Other studies followed. Alfred Haldar examined the re-
ritual murder of the king; descent of the king into the under-
lations of ancient prophets to the cult and came to the con-
world; resurrection from death and restoration to the throne;
clusion that although prophets were often critical of the cult,
the sacred marriage of the king and his consort, representing
they were themselves usually the product of the cult as well,
the divine pair; the reestablishment of the cosmos and the
historical order; and the recitation of the divine law. The pat-
functionaries who had their regular place in the ceremonies
tern was derived from the New Year ritual text preserved in
and rituals by means of which the society’s life was renewed.
the Akkadian language and dating to Seleucid times, aug-
Aage Bentzen of Denmark, in one of his very influential writ-
mented by many texts from other times and societies.
ings (King and Messiah, 1955), dealt with later eschatological
writings, showing that the kingship ritual of early times con-
Critics pointed out that these elements were actually
tinued to exercise influence in postexilic times, as Israelite
drawn from many places in the Hebrew scriptures, never ap-
messianism developed. Richard Reitzenstein (1978) did the
pearing together, if indeed some of the elements actually ap-
same for Hellenistic religious rites and practices, bringing to
peared at all. Critics also made the point that Israel’s earthly
the study and evaluation of the New Testament a wealth of
king is a latecomer in Israel to the historical scene and is often
history-of-religions materials reflecting cultic practices be-
under the most severe challenge and indictment by the
lieved to illuminate the world of the New Testament. A
prophets. But for about three decades the British Myth and
lengthy commentary on the First Letter of Peter by Frank Les-
Ritual school pressed its viewpoint, enlisted scholars of great
lie Cross (1954) presented this New Testament book as the
learning and influence into its ranks, and sought to refine its
text to accompany the celebration of the Christian “Pass-
position.
over,” Easter.
THE SCANDINAVIAN SCHOOL. Less formally associated with
one another than were those of the British group, the Scandi-
Ivan Engnell and Sigmund Mowinckel, in quite differ-
navian specialists dealing with myth and ritual also gained
ent ways, brought the work of the Myth and Ritual school
much of their initial perspective from the work of Hermann
in Scandinavia to a new level. Engnell was a vigorous expo-
Gunkel and from the early writings of Sigmund Mowinckel.
nent of the king’s central position in the cult. He probably
Other works of special importance for the Scandinavian
overstated the case for the accuracy of oral tradition and re-
school included a study of Exodus 1–15 by Johannes Peder-
lated too many biblical texts to the royal cult, thus producing
sen in which the author saw these chapters to be a text that
a reaction against the entire position of the school. An essay
accompanied the celebration of the Passover festival in early
by Martin Noth was considered by many scholars to have of-
Israel. The whole drama of the call of Moses, the move to
fered the definitive refutation of the Scandinavian approach
Egypt to effect deliverance, the plagues, the last dreadful
to the place of the king in the Israelite cult (“God, King, and
night as the Passover was observed, closing with the legend
Nation,” in The Laws in the Pentateuch and Other Essays,
of the crossing at the Red Sea, the defeat of Egypt’s forces,
1966). Noth pointed out how late kingship appears on the
and the triumph song of the Israelites, would have been recit-
scene. Israel’s very identity as a people is formed in the Israel-
ed as the libretto of the Exodus celebration. Early stages of
ite traditions long before there is a king. The kings are held
the text that accompanied the ritual could to some degree
under constant surveillance by the ancient prophets, accord-
be distinguished from the later stages of the tradition; but
ing to the biblical record. And the eschatological pictures of
the character of Exodus 1–15, said Pedersen, was better ex-
the king of the time of consummation offer such a picture
plained as the Passover ritual text than on the basis of sepa-
of this “last” king that further judgment is expressed against
rate literary sources or traditions. Pedersen recognized Pass-
all incumbents. Mowinckel, in his major work on Israelite
over to be a nature festival of pastoralists that, by means of
messianism and eschatology, He That Cometh (1955), pro-
the annual celebration with its accompanying legend, rooted
vided a seasoned and thoughtful critical assessment of the
the natural festivity in Israel’s historical consciousness.
work of the Myth and Ritual school in both its British and
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its Scandinavian forms. At the same time, Geo Widengren
gion today is unthinkable without such collaborative work.
continued his specialized studies dealing with the relation of
It is important to remember, however, that the Myth and
myth and ritual, refining the outlook of the Myth and Ritual
Ritual school did much to further this collaboration and to
school and making it evident that in most particulars the
display its fruitfulness.
school’s outlook had stood the test of time.
The second aspect is the comparison of texts in religious
CONTINUING INFLUENCE. Despite the weaknesses of the
studies. Not only does the comparison of texts help to clarify
school, as pointed out by Henri Frankfort (Kingship and the
the varied meanings of ritual acts; it also helps scholars to see
Gods, 1948), Martin Noth, and many others, the result of
the strength and meaning of the texts as literature. Here the
the work of these scholars has been on the whole very posi-
interest of the Myth and Ritual school was too narrow. The
tive. The Myth and Ritual school presented a forceful cri-
story of creation does belong in association with ritual acts,
tique of evolutionistic schemes employed in the study of reli-
but it also has a life outside its ritual use. The great prayers
gion. It kept critical scholarship continuingly alerted to the
and hymns of the ancient world and of Israel are cultic texts
need to take the actual practices of a religion at least as seri-
to be used as the community participates in the recreation
ously as it took that religion’s ideas and its literary heritage.
and reestablishment of its world and of the cosmos, but they
It underscored the significance of the king for the entire life
too have a life of their own. These cultic texts offer perspec-
of ancient societies. Moreover, the comparative approach of
tives, a worldview, an understanding of certain fundamental
the school has endured and become characteristic of the
realities upon which the social existence of the peoples de-
study of religion. Historical, comparative, structural, and sys-
pended. Nevertheless, the school’s insistence that these cultic
tematic studies of religion all have their place in the study
texts were to be seen as actual parts of the ritual life of the
of religion, and the Myth and Ritual school contributed
people was an invaluable recognition.
much to the enlargement of the vision of scholars engaged
in the study of religion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The school was able to bring together specialists from
Cross, Frank Leslie. I Peter: A Paschal Liturgy. London, 1954.
many backgrounds, linguistic interests, skills, and schools of
Doty, William G. Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals.
interpretation, forging a working team (as in Great Britain)
Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1986, 2000.
or furthering collaboration on several interlocking problems
Fontenrose, Joseph. The Ritual Theory of Myth. Berkeley, Calif.,
(as in Scandinavia), offering creative and comprehensive in-
and Los Angeles, 1966.
terpretations of central features of religion, especially the reli-
Gaster, T. H. “Myth, Mythology.” In Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
gions of the eastern Mediterranean area and Mesopotamia.
Bible, vol. III., ed. George W. Buttrick, pp. 481–487. New
The school claimed too much for the pervasiveness of
York and Nashville, 1962.
the pattern of ritual observance in the societies studied. It did
Grönbech, Vilhelm. The Culture of the Teutons (1909–1912). 3
not sufficiently allow for the differences in the understanding
vols. Translated by William Worster. London, 1931.
of kingship in the different lands. It seems also to have recon-
Hooke, S. H., ed. Myth and Ritual. Oxford, 1933.
structed patterns that turned out to be not nearly so wide-
Hooke, S. H., ed. The Labyrinth. New York, 1935.
spread as its members thought, such as ritual marriage and
Hooke, S. H., ed. Myth, Ritual and Kingship. Oxford, 1958.
the death and resurrection motif. But the school also brought
to prominence several features of religious understanding
James, E. O. Christian Myth and Ritual. London, 1933.
and cultic practice that are unmistakable as the study of reli-
Müller, Gerhard, ed. Theologische Realencyclopädie, vol. 23. Berlin
gion and religions continues.
& New York, 1994, pp. 597–665.
Oden, Jr., Robert A. “Myth and Mythology.” In The Anchor
Some of the critics of the Myth and Ritual school also
Bible Dictionary, vol. IV, ed. David Noel Freedman,
went too far in their contentions. The differences between
pp. 946–960. New York and London, 1992.
the historical consciousness of ancient Israel and that of Isra-
Patton, Laurie L., and Wendy Doniger, eds. Myth and Method.
el’s neighbors were exaggerated by Martin Noth and others.
Charlottesville, N. C., and London, 1996.
And if the chief festival in the life of ancient Israel was cen-
Porter, J. R. “Myth and Ritual School.” In Dictionary of Biblical
tered upon the covenant rite or upon Jerusalem, rather than
Interpretation, ed. John H. Hayes. Nashville, 1999.
upon the king as representative of the deity, even so the role
Reisenfeld, Harald. “Kultgeshichtliche Methode.” In Die Religion
of the king in the cult of ancient Israel was very prominent
in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3d ed., vol. 4. Tübingen, 1960.
indeed.
Reitzenstein, Richard. The Hellenistic Mystery Religions (1910).
Two aspects of scholarship characterize the study of
Translated by John E. Steely. Pittsburgh, 1978.
myth and ritual in the early twenty-first century. The first
Segal, Robert A., ed. The Myth ane Ritual Theory: An Anthology.
is the extent of collaborative work on myth and ritual by
Malden, Mass., and Oxford, 1998.
scholars in many fields: philologists, historians, anthropolo-
Sienkewicz, Thomas J. Theories of Myth: An Annotated Bibliogra-
gists, ethnologists, sociologists, philosophers, archaeologists,
phy. Magill Bibliographies. Lanham, Md. & London. Also
along with specialists in religion. Indeed, the study of reli-
Pasadena, Calif., and Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1997.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
MYTHIC ANCESTORS
6383
Westermann, Claus. “Kultgeschichtliche Schule.” In Die Religion
man, “Zum sakralen Königtum in der Forschung der letzten
in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3d ed., vol. 4. Tübingen, 1960.
hundert Jahre,” pp. 3-17.
Widengren, Geo. “Die religionswissenschaftliche Forschung in
WALTER HARRELSON (1987 AND 2005)
Skandinavien in den letzten zwanzig Jahre.” Zeitschrift für
Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 5 (1953): 193–222, 320–334.
Widengren, Geo, et al., eds. La Regalita Sacra/The Sacred Kingship.
MYTHIC ANCESTORS SEE ANCESTORS,
Leiden, 1959. See the historical chapter by Carl-Martin Eds-
ARTICLE ON MYTHIC ANCESTORS
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N


N
NABATEAN RELIGION. The scholarly consensus is that the Nabateans, whose
kingdom flourished from about 400 BCE to 106 CE and whose capital was Petra in Jordan,
were in part the descendants of the earlier inhabitants of southern Jordan, though appar-
ently ruled by a dynasty of north Arabian background. At its most extensive, the Nabatean
kingdom also incorporated other populations, including many of Aramean descent in
southern Syria. In discussing Nabatean religion, therefore, one needs to take account of
the fact that some peoples under Nabatean rule may only have adopted the traditions of
Petra superficially, while basically retaining their own traditional cults. A “new” deity
could be assimilated into or merged with a well-established local deity. Also, distinct Nab-
atean regions can be detected in which the deities worshiped vary along with other cultural
markers (such as language and personal names).
NABATEAN HISTORY. The history of the Nabatean kingdom can only be traced in part,
the sources being principally epigraphic, literary, and numismatic. Archaeology and ico-
nography provide some evidence in relation to religion but add little to Nabatean history.
The epigraphic corpus consists of thousands of inscriptions and a few papyri written
in the Nabatean version of the Aramaic language (widely used from the Achaemenid era)
and in a distinctive local variety of the Achaemenid Aramaic script. Although the number
of Nabatean inscriptions is large (over five thousand), many come from regions well out-
side the Nabatean heartland and were probably written by people who had only a tenuous
connection with the Nabatean state (and its religion). Also, many were written after the
fall of the Nabatean kingdom in 106 CE and thus provide only secondary evidence for
the period of the kingdom itself.
Although the prestigious literary language, Aramaic, was used for inscriptions, it is
generally agreed that the Petran élite, and probably large swathes of the populations of
the southern and eastern parts of the kingdom, used some early form of Arabic as a vernac-
ular. The evidence for this is provided by Arabic loanwords in Nabatean Aramaic and
by the fact that many of the peoples in eastern Jordan used a form of early Arabic (Safai-
tic).
C LOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT CORNER. Thai bronze Buddha in meditation under a na
¯ga. [©Michael
Freeman/Corbis]; A lion-headed Imdugud bird above two stags in a twenty-fifth-century BCE
Mesopotamian relief from the temple of Ninhursaga. British Museum, London. [©Erich
Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Detail of an Apache “Kan” god painted on a warrior’s cloak.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. [©Werner Forman/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Stonehenge.
Wiltshire County, England. [©Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis]; Double-headed Neolithic idol, 5000–
2000 BCE. Historical Museum, Targoviste, Romania. [©Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.] .
6385
6386
NABATEAN RELIGION
Literary evidence for Nabatean history is entirely non-
After the Khazneh, the space in which Petra itself is lo-
native and mostly in Greek. Still, little historical detail is re-
cated opens out and the city is dominated by two principal
corded, though Diodorus Siculus includes important anec-
features: monumental tombs (some probably royal) carved
dotes on the Nabatean contact with the Seleucids, and Jose-
out of the steep rock faces, and a main street that terminates
phus makes passing comment on Judaean dealings with the
at the gateway of a major temple, passing other religious and
Nabateans. Other authors, writing in Greek (Strabo) and
nonreligious monuments on its way. The only inscribed
Latin (Pliny), confine themselves largely to describing aspects
tomb in the central area, Qabr al-Turkma¯n, does not name
of Nabatean society (including religious aspects). These vari-
the person for whom it was carved. Some have seen the ab-
ous sources make it clear that the basis of Nabatean prosperi-
sence of inscribed tombs at Petra (by contrast with H:egra)
ty was control of the overland routes of the Arabian incense
as arising from a taboo against names on tombs at Petra. A
trade: the trade was heavily taxed.
more likely explanation is that some impermanent material
like wood was used for the inscriptions on Petran tombs (and
The Nabateans first appear in a historical context in 312
a tomb outside the S¯ıq does have a name).
BCE in conflict with the Seleucids (Diodorus). Thereafter
their independent kingdom is mentioned in the books of
The temple at the end of the main street is surrounded
Maccabees, mostly in conflict with, though sometimes in al-
by a temenos. The sanctuary itself, to the left of the axis of
liance with, the Judaeans. From c. 100 BCE we have a tolera-
the main street, is square and has an inner sanctum in which
bly clear king list, reconstructed in part on the basis of Naba-
the object of worship was placed on a podium against the
tean inscriptions and coins and in part on the basis of authors
rear wall. The front was open, and directly opposite the en-
like Josephus, who detailed ongoing relations with the Judae-
trance stood an altar surrounded by a large enclosure suitable
ans. On the wider stage, the involvement of the Nabatean
for the gathering of crowds.
Syllaeus (later pretender to the Nabatean throne) in Aelius
Gallus’s largely abortive campaign in 24
Only fragmentary inscriptions from the immediate area
BCE against southern
Arabia is recorded by Strabo (blaming Syllaeus). After a dis-
give any clue to the deity to whom the temple was dedicated.
pute over the throne, Aretas IV ruled from 9
There are two hypotheses. As the probable main temple of
BCE to 40 CE,
and it was under this king that Petra and Nabataea enjoyed
the city, it is often assumed to be dedicated to the main god,
a period of evident success, with most of the great buildings
Dushara (below), and in support of this we may note a frag-
of Petra being built at this time. Aretas appears to have had
mentary post-Nabatean inscription with a dedication to
a nationalistic policy, and he took the title “lover of his own
Zeus: Dushara came to be identified with Zeus. The other
people.” Rabel II (from 70
hypothesis notes that the traditional Arabic name of the tem-
CE) is the last of the kings. Naba-
tean control over the trade routes was in decline and there
ple, Qas:r al-Bint, “castle of the girl,” might be an echo of
was a (peaceful?) Roman takeover in 106
the temple of Aphrodite, which existed later at Petra (as we
CE, at which point
Nabataea was incorportated into the Province of Arabia with
know from one of the documents in the “Babatha” archive
its center at Bos:ra¯.
found to the west of the Dead Sea [papyrus Yadin 12]) and
suggests the temple was dedicated to a Nabatean goddess (on
NABATEAN SITES. The main Nabatean sites have yielded evi-
Alla¯t/al-EUzza¯, see below).
dence of religious architecture that throws some light on
practice. Petra and Mada¯’in S:a¯lih: in Saudi Arabia (ancient
Just outside the temenos gate, to the north, lies the Tem-
H:egra) are also notable for their visible monuments that did
ple of the Winged Lions (so named because of decorative fea-
not require excavation, being carved into rock faces. For rea-
tures discovered there). This is a complex structure at the
sons of space, the concentration here is on the main sites:
center of which is a cella of a very different type than that
there is a full gazetteer in Wenning (1987) and a survey in
of the Qas:r al-Bint, one that allowed movement around the
Healey (2001).
podium on which the cult object stood. Hammond suggest-
ed that this central podium was surrounded by curtains and
At Petra, even the rock defile, the so-called S¯ıq, which
elaborated this suggestion in terms of a “mystery” cult similar
is the most usual access point to the city, was at least in part
to that of Isis (as described in Apuleius’s Golden Ass). In sup-
religious, as is suggested by religious carvings in it, some with
port of the Isis link is a beautiful votive figure with Isiac ico-
inscriptions, and it may have been used for processions con-
nography. The inscription on the figure does not, however,
necting Petra itself with Gaya (later named al-J¯ı, Wa¯d¯ı
name the goddess, only the dedicator of the offering in-
Mu¯sa¯), which is known to have had at least one important
volved, and while we know that Isis was worshiped at Petra,
temple.
this cult seems to have been practiced in remote rock sanctu-
At the other end of the S¯ıq, the narrow defile opens out
aries around the city. In any case, all the goddesses of the
in front of the Khazneh, a monumental façade carved out of
Roman world and adjacent areas were susceptible to Isis in-
the rock. There has long been ambiguity about the original
fluences because of her extreme popularity. It seems most
purpose of the Khazneh, but it is most likely a tomb of a
likely, therefore, that the Temple of the Winged Lions was
king, though no inscription exists to confirm its function.
dedicated to Alla¯t/al-EUzza¯ in Isis mode. Unfortunately, the
The Khazneh’s baroque decoration is the result of Alexandri-
one extensive inscription from the temple deals with tithes
an influence.
for priests but throws no light on the identity of the goddess.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NABATEAN RELIGION
6387
F IGURE 1 . Nabatean Sites. Illustration courtesy of the author.
The third building to note here is the so-called “Great
wall. The other type has a pillared gallery around the podium
Temple” or “Large Temple” to the south. Again we have an
(Winged Lions, Dharih:, Ramm). The suggestion has been
elaborate building that may have been a temple, but the pres-
made that this latter arrangement would have allowed circu-
ence in its midst of a theater suggests it was used for some
mambulation, but there is no direct evidence of such a ritual,
other purpose.
and the space available would not allow for more that a few
R
cult officials.
ELIGIOUS INSTALLATIONS. Temples ascribed to the Naba-
teans are found at a number of neighboring sites, the most
Apart from built temples, the Nabateans were also fond
important of which are Dharih: and Tannu¯r to the north and
of open-air sanctuaries on the tops of mountains. The most
in Wa¯d¯ı Ramm to the south. It is not easy to be sure that
striking of these is the so-called High Place on the Madbah:
others, for example, in southern Syria, are Nabatean in de-
¯
outcrop at Petra. Here we find an elaborate installation in-
sign: the Nabatean colonization of southern Syria was cultur-
volving podia, steps, reservoirs, and drainage channels. Ara-
ally superficial. Of the Nabatean temples proper there are
bic madbah: means “altar” or “place of sacrifice,” and the in-
two types. One (Qas:r al-Bint) has a podium against the rear
¯
stallation, which overlooks the center of the city, is usually
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6388
NABATEAN RELIGION
F IGURE 2 . Plan of Petra. (from J. McKenzie, The Architecture of Petra).
interpreted in this light. Its religious significance is con-
That the Nabateans believed in an afterlife is suggested
firmed by the monumental stairway that leads to it and by
by hundreds of monumental tombs. In some cases these are
the religious niches, some with inscriptions and distinctive
provided with triclinia, ritual banqueting rooms, suggestive
religious iconography, that surround it. One niche carved
of a commemorative ceremony. Some triclinia are not related
nearby has crescent moons and was probably dedicated to a
to the dead but were the locus of special cults (mrzh:y’) ad-
moon deity, while another, farther away, has a remarkable
hered to by guilds or sodalities.
dual representation (probably) of Dushara both as a bearded
“classical” god and as a plain betyl or stone pillar.
THE DEITIES. Dushara appears to be the main Nabatean
god, his primacy being evident in the phrase “Dushara and
Cult niches are a common religious artifact of the Naba-
all the gods” in several inscriptions and in the fact that wher-
tean tradition. They were often podia for betyls (cult-stones).
ever gods are listed he appears first. His name (dwˇsr’) is in
The latter are usually plain and unmarked, but some have
origin an epithet meaning “the One of (Mount) Shara” (lo-
minimalist representations of a face. Some were movable,
cated in southern Jordan). The same analysis of the name ap-
while others were carved in situ out of the rock face, with up
pears in Islamic sources, which call him Du¯ al-Sˇ/ara¯(t). The
to three betyls of different sizes, apparently representing a
¯
name’s structure is paralleled in northern and southern Ara-
“divine family.”
bia. Dushara’s close link with the Petra area is clear from his
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NABATEAN RELIGION
6389
epithet “god of Gaya,” this being an old name of the village
at the entrance to Petra.
Of the few indications of specific characteristics of Du-
shara, we may note the title “the one who separates night
from day” in an inscription, which suggests an astral charac-
ter. Scholars have favored the planet Venus (male in southern
Arabia), Mercury (the Arabian god Rud:a¯) or the sun (Strabo
hints at such a cult in Nabataea, and a solstice aspect of Du-
shara is suggested later by Epiphanius). Roman identifica-
tions of Dushara, for example, with Zeus and Dionysos, are
secondary.
Names of other male deities occur, such as Baalshamin
(an import from Nabatean Syria), Qo¯s (Edomite and wor-
shiped at Tannu¯r) and Hubal (only in northern Arabia), but
there is such a concentration on Dushara that it can be ar-
gued that he was, in practice, the supreme Nabatean deity.
Certainly he was the dynastic deity of the royal house, “the
god of our lord (the king),” and because of this his cult
spread wherever Nabatean rule extended. In the different lo-
calities he was connected with established local gods, such
as Baalshamin in Syria.
On the female side, there is evidence of worship of a
number of goddesses: Alla¯t, al-EUzza¯, and Isis and Atargatis
(these last two being foreign). There are also some goddesses
who appear only in particular localities within the Nabatean
realm (for example, Mano¯tu only in H:egra; specific manifes-
tations of Alla¯t localized in Bos:ra¯, the H:awra¯n and Ramm).
F IGURE 3 . The Qasr al-Bint Temple, Petra. (from J. McKenzie,
The two principal female divine names that occur
The Architecture of Petra [after Gibson]).
(though never together) are Alla¯t and al-EUzza¯. The distribu-
tion of these in the inscriptions suggests that they were never
god EObodat, apparently the divinization of one of the kings
worshiped side by side. There is no explicit evidence of Alla¯t
of Petra, whose tomb was reportedly located at EAvdat in the
at Petra and little of al-EUzza¯ at Ramm and in southern Syria.
Negev (Uranius).
When account is taken, therefore, of the fact that al-EUzza¯
is in fact an epithet, not a personal name, meaning in Arabic
ANICONISM AND ARABIA. Reference has already been made
“the Mighty One,” it is possible to conclude tentatively that
to a Nabatean (and wider northern Arabian) tradition of rep-
al-EUzza¯ was for the Nabateans an epithet of Alla¯t. The latter
resenting deities not as human beings but as betyls. This is
enjoyed much wider popularity in Syria and Jordan, while
part of the Nabateans’ northern Arabian heritage, but it was
the title al-EUzza¯ is more restricted in use and of Arabian
not in itself a matter of rigid religious principle, as can be
background. The two were, however, distinguished in later
see from the fact that under Greek and Roman influence the
tradition in northern Arabia. A final resolution of this may
Nabateans soon got used to making statues. Reference has
be provided in the future by further epigraphic evidence
been made earlier to the combined representation of Du-
identifying or distinguishing the two.
shara both as a plain betyl and as a bearded male figure.
Little can be said of characteristics of Alla¯t and al-EUzza¯.
Aniconism (reluctance about or rejection of images)
The former is described in inscriptions as “mother of the
constitutes one of the cultural links between the Nabateans
gods” (reading uncertain) and “the great goddess.” Herodo-
and their contemporary Judaean neighbors on the one hand
tos identified her with Aphrodite, though in the H:awra¯n she
and the later Muslims on the other, though in the case of
was identified with Athena. al-EUzza¯ is the northern Arabian
Judaism and Islam, aniconism became a central part of reli-
goddess of the planet Venus and is identified with Aphrodite
gious ideology. There are other points of contact with Jewish
in a Nabatean inscription from the island of Cos.
practice (such as the probable use of secondary burial), but
Of the various other deities who have some degree of
the northern Arabian coloring of Nabatean religion is much
prominence, note may be made of: (1) al-Kutba¯, a deity in
stronger. Apart from the use of betyls, major deities such as
the Thoth/Nabu tradition, but apparently worshiped in both
Dushara and al-EUzza¯ /Alla¯t, as well as the minor deities such
male and female forms; (2) other deities with north Arabian
as Hubal and Mano¯tu (= Mana¯t), have a clear north Arabian
affiliations such as ShayEal-Qawm and Hubal; and (3) the
background and they re-emerge later as the pre-Islamic idols
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6390
NABU
destroyed by order of Muh:ammad. The most likely explana-
NABU was a god, possibly of West Semitic origin, who be-
tion of this phenomenon of Arabianism is that at least the
came a major divine figure in Babylonia and Assyria of the
higher strata of Nabatean society were of northern Arabian
first millennium BCE. He is first mentioned in official Baby-
origin: this would also explain the probable use of a form of
lonian documents of the time of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BCE)
Arabic as a vernacular and the predominance of Arabian-type
and may have been brought to Babylonia by the West Sem-
personal names.
ites, who migrated there in large numbers in 2000–1800
Because of the sparsity of the evidence, there are few as-
BCE. Nabu was closely aligned with Marduk, whose minister,
pects of Nabatean religiosity on a personal level that can be
scribe, and ultimately son he was considered to be. The cult
teased out in any detail. A certain fondness among a minority
of Nabu began to spread in the Old Babylonian period. He
for devotional cults associated with particular gods (Isis and
grew in importance, becoming the god of the Ezida temple
others) may reflect personal religion. The repeated use in
and the city of Borsippa by the beginning of the first millen-
graffiti of the religious formula “Remembered be . . .” en-
nium BCE. Nabu and Marduk are frequently mentioned to-
visages a pious passer-by bringing blessing on himself by
gether as the major pair of gods in Babylonia. Nabu appears
mentioning the name of the inscriber “before the god.”
in many personal names, including Nabu-Kudurri-usur (the
biblical Nebuchadrezzar), which means “Nabu protect our
Nabatean religious tradition was heavily influenced by
boundaries.” In Assyria, Nabu was revered as one of the most
northern Arabian religion, both in the particular gods vener-
important gods, and his popularity was still increasing at the
ated and in some of the forms that veneration took: the reluc-
end of the Assyrian empire.
tance to depict deities in human form is a good example.
Nabu appeared in several important cultic festivals of
Historically more important, perhaps, is the distinct
the first millennium BCE. The most important was the Akitu,
tendency to restrict attention and worship to the main dei-
the spring New Year festival, which began when Nabu came
ties, Dushara and Alla¯t/al-EUzza¯ (if the latter is a single deity,
in solemn procession from Borsippa to Babylon. The festival
as argued above). Other gods were worshiped by specialist
celebrated the reign of Marduk, but Nabu’s participation was
groups (special ethnically, geographically, socially), but Du-
important enough that the absence of the festival during a
shara and Alla¯t formed a divine pair par excellence, and the
period of political disturbance was referred to as “when Nabu
cult of these two appears to be the official cult of the state.
did not come from Borsippa.” He also appeared in the Baby-
This is a modified form of monotheism, though involving
lonian celebration of his marriage to Nana and the Assyrian
a pair of deities rather than just one. This type of “dyothe-
celebration of his marriage to Tashmetum.
ism” was not new—even the Old Testament Yahweh was re-
Nabu is best known as the god of writing. He was the
garded by many Israelites as having a spouse.
patron of scribes, displacing Nisaba, who played this role
until the Old Babylonian period (1800–1590 BCE). As
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marduk’s scribe, Nabu was the writer of the tablets of desti-
Hackl, Ursula, Hanna Jenni, and Christoph Schneider. Quellen
ny. He was associated with Marduk and Ea and consequently
zur Geschichte der Nabatäer: Textsammlung mit Übersetzung
was considered a god of wisdom. By the end of Assyrian his-
und Kommentar (Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 51).
tory Nabu was also assuming some of the characteristics of
Freiburg and Göttingen, 2003.
the hero figure Ninurta.
Healey, John. The Nabatean Tomb Inscriptions of Mada’in Salih
(Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 1). Oxford, 1993.
SEE ALSO Akitu; Marduk; Ninurta.
Healey, John. The Religion of the Nabateans: A Conspectus (Reli-
gions in the Graeco-Roman World, 136). Leiden, 2001.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Starcky, Jean. “Pétra et la Nabatène.” In Dictionnaire de la Bible:
For further information on Nabu, see Francesco Pomponio’s
Supplément, edited by Henri Cazelles et al., vol. 7, cols. 886-
Nabû: Il culto e la figura di un dio del pantheon babilonese ed
1017. Paris, 1966.
assiro (Rome, 1978).
Tholbecq, Laurent. “Les Sanctuaires des Nabatéens: état de la
New Sources
question à la lumière de recherches archéologiques récentes.”
Wiseman, D. J., and J. A. Black. Literary Texts from the Temple
Topoi 7, no. 2 (1997): 1069–1095.
of Nabû. London, 1996.
Wenning, Robert. Die Nabatäer—Denkmäler und Geschichte
TIKVA FRYMER-KENSKY (1987)
(Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 3). Freiburg/
Revised Bibliography
Göttingen, 1987.
Wenning, Robert. “Bemerkungen zur Gesellschaft und Religion
der Nabatäer.” In Religion und Gesellschaft: Studien zu ihrer
NA¯GA¯RJUNA, best known as the first Maha¯ya¯na phi-
Wechselbeziehung in den Kulturen des Antiken Vorderen Ori-
losopher in India, is a highly complex figure whose philo-
ents I (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 248), edited by
sophical works, iconic image, and esoteric meditations are
Rainer Albertz, pp. 177–201. Münster, 1997.
studied, honored, and practiced in many Maha¯ya¯na tradi-
JOHN F. HEALEY (2005)
tions to this day. He developed his systematic philosophy of
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NA¯GA¯RJUNA
6391
“emptiness” (´su¯nyata¯) some time during the second century
they cannot fully succeed; hence, all attempts to eliminate
CE. According to most hagiographic traditions, however, he
suffering end in frustration.
attained the alchemical ability to extend his life, and the eso-
To resolve this problem, one must eliminate ignorance,
teric texts that some traditions attribute to him were appar-
that is, the pervasive error about one’s personal identity that
ently composed several generations after his philosophical
distorts one’s experiences. In conceptual terms, this error is
works. In Tibet, where his philosophical texts were widely
the belief that, in some fashion or another, one has an essen-
studied, these esoteric writings also became revered and
tially real and immutable identity, a personal “self” or a¯tman.
widespread. Whatever the historical reality of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s
One way to eliminate that belief is to demonstrate convinc-
life and authorship may be, the great span of his life and the
ingly that its object, the alleged self, does not truly exist. And
great breadth of his alleged corpus stand as metaphors for his
to negate the self, early Buddhist thinkers used a type of re-
prominence within Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism.
ductive analysis: one exhaustively categorizes all of the con-
Many of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s hagiographies, all of which come
stituents of mind and body so as to leave no item unexam-
from China and Tibet, recount an episode that illustrates
ined, and one then carefully examines those constituents or
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s importance for the Maha¯ya¯na. Probably the ear-
“elements” (dharmas) in order to determine whether any—
liest texts of the Maha¯ya¯na were in a style that came to be
singly or in combination—could be the self. Using various
known as Perfection of Wisdom (prajña¯pa¯ramita¯). These
contemplative techniques, one’s thorough search demon-
texts teach a challenging theory: addressing much of what
strates that no such self is to be found anywhere in body and
early Buddhists held to be ultimately true and real, Perfec-
mind, and knowing that nothing other than the constituents
tion of Wisdom claims that such things actually are not ulti-
of mind and body could be a self, one is convinced that no
mately true or real at all. According to Maha¯ya¯na accounts,
such self exists. One proceeds to deepen this realization of
these texts were taught by the Buddha himself, but they were
“no-self” (ana¯tman) in meditation, and eventually, ignorance
so challenging that they were kept secret for several centuries
is completely overcome. One thus attains nirva¯n:a, utter free-
after the Buddha’s passing; otherwise, their radical doctrines
dom from suffering.
might have led some disciples astray. For their safekeeping,
Na¯ga¯rjuna accepts this model, and he is also familiar
the Perfection of Wisdom texts were conveyed to the land
with the early Buddhist style of reductive analysis. To put
of the na¯gas, usually depicted as serpent-spirits, who secretly
it simply, one analyzes an entity by attempting to break it
guarded the texts until the world was ready to receive the Per-
into its component parts, and if it cannot be broken down
fection of Wisdom. Eventually, Na¯ga¯rjuna’s fame became
further, the entity is ultimately real. The traditional example,
known to the na¯ga king, and he invited Na¯ga¯rjuna to come
a water-jug, is not ultimately real because it can be broken
teach his philosophy to his subjects. Having traveled magi-
down into more fundamental parts existing at discrete mo-
cally to the na¯ga kingdom, Na¯ga¯rjuna taught the king and
ments of time. Eventually, the analytical process reaches its
his subjects the philosophy of emptiness, and his hosts were
conclusion: one discovers the irreducible elements that are
so delighted that they conferred on him the long hidden
the stuff of the mental and physical universe. Only these ele-
texts. With Na¯ga¯rjuna on hand to explain the text’s meaning,
ments are ultimately or truly real.
it was clear that the world was ready to receive these difficult
teachings.
It is important to note that, while a reductive analysis
of this kind leads to the conclusion that entities such as
While Na¯ga¯rjuna’s journey to the na¯ga world may be
water-jugs are not ultimately real, it does not totally deny the
difficult to confirm, there is no doubt that he did indeed
reality of such entities. That is, in ultimate terms a water-jug
champion the Perfection of Wisdom by explaining and de-
is actually just irreducible bits of matter; only those irreduc-
fending the notion of emptiness (´su¯nyata¯), the central theme
ible elements are ultimately real (parama¯rthasat); the water-
of those texts. His philosophy of emptiness is one of
jug is not. Nevertheless, in practical and linguistic terms, one
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s main contributions to the Maha¯ya¯na, and to
can still use the term water-jug successfully. Hence, a water-
understand that philosophy, one must see how it is rooted
jug is conventionally real (sam:vr:tisat).
in the previous Buddhist theories that emptiness challenges.
This notion of the two realities—the ultimate and the
PHILOSOPHY OF EMPTINESS (S´U¯NYATA¯). From its earliest pe-
conventional—is crucial for Na¯ga¯rjuna’s thought, and he
riod, Buddhist thought rested on the notion that humans
readily accepts it as well. He is not satisfied, however, with
seek above all to eliminate suffering, and that the only way
simple reduction as a way to discover what is ultimately real.
to eliminate suffering is to eliminate its causes. According to
His main critique focuses on the notion of “essence”
the strand of Buddhist thought that most concerns
(svabha¯va) that the aforementioned reductive analysis as-
Na¯ga¯rjuna, suffering is caused by “ignorance” (avidya¯), a way
sumes. Essence is implicated in the reductive analysis be-
of seeing the world that distorts all of one’s cognitions. Cen-
cause, in order to truly know that there is no self in mind
tered on an erroneous view of one’s personal identity as fixed
and body, one must be able to say what mind and body truly
and absolute, ignorance is said to afflict all of the mental
are. Since mind and body are just a bundle of elements, this
states of all ordinary persons. And since one’s actions are
comes down to knowing what the elements truly are. And
therefore guided by erroneous and distorted mental states,
in order to know what each element truly is, one must know
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NA¯GA¯RJUNA
what kind of thing it is—that is, one must recognize its true
ments for emptiness examine many forms of relationality.
nature or essence (svabha¯va).
His best known text, for example, begins with an analysis of
causality which demonstrates that any entity produced by
Na¯ga¯rjuna responds to this emphasis on essence by re-
causes cannot be ultimately real because its existence depends
defining the notion of ultimate reality. He appears to draw
on its causes. These arguments, however, are not themselves
on an intuition about parts and wholes in the reductive ap-
sufficient to eliminate ignorance because, as a deeply in-
proach. In order for that analysis to succeed, one must call
grained cognitive state, ignorance requires more than just ar-
into question the relation between, for example, the water-
gumentation for its elimination. Instead, the conclusion of
jug as a whole and the irreducible particles of matter that are
the arguments—namely, that all entities are utterly empty of
its parts. The analysis concludes that such a whole-part rela-
any essence—must be cultivated in a contemplative experi-
tion cannot be rationally defended; hence, since wholes clear-
ence through which one becomes fully absorbed in that emp-
ly cannot exist without parts, they must be unreal. The intu-
tiness.
ition here is that, rather than directly critiquing the notion
of a whole such as a water-jug, the analysis attacks the reality
Na¯ga¯rjuna never clearly specifies the way in which one
of the relation that allegedly ties the whole to its parts.
must meditate on emptiness; this and other thorny details
Whether or not this intuition directly inspires Na¯ga¯rjuna, it
are left to later Maha¯ya¯na thinkers. One issue, however, is
is clear that he supplants the reductive approach with a rela-
clear: whether in meditation or in argument, emptiness itself
tional analysis that, moving beyond just the whole-part rela-
must not be essentialized, for in that case, one would fall into
tion, critiques all forms of relationality and ends in the denial
an incurable nihilism. In other words, emptiness is the con-
of all essences.
clusion to the question, “What is this entity really or truly?”
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s relational analysis begins by admitting that,
It is the discovery that there is no ultimately real or true iden-
if an entity were ultimately real, it would indeed need to have
tity to be discovered. But if that discovery (i.e., the emptiness
an essence or svabha¯va, but he argues that for an entity to
of essence) is itself thought to be ultimately or essentially real,
have an essence, it is not sufficient that it be irreducible. In-
then one will have interpreted it as a kind of absolute noth-
stead, when one says that an entity has an essence, one actual-
ingness at the core of all things. To do so would be to contra-
ly means that the entity’s identity is utterly devoid of any de-
dict Na¯ga¯rjuna; he specifies that no entity has any essence,
pendence on other entities. Thus, to have an essence, the
but if emptiness is interpreted as an absolute nothingness,
entity must have an utterly independent or nonrelational
then one has made emptiness into every entity’s essence, al-
identity. Since only an entity with such an essence can be ul-
beit in an utterly nihilistic way. Na¯ga¯rjuna sees the danger
timately real, to know whether an entity ultimately exists,
of such an interpretation, and he therefore speaks of empti-
one need only determine whether its identity is in any way
ness itself as not really being emptiness. In other words, just
dependent; in other words, can one know what this thing
as a person, being empty of any essence, is not really or ulti-
truly is without referring to something other than that thing?
mately a person, so too emptiness, lacking any essence, is not
If one can know that entity’s identity without referring to
truly or ultimately emptiness. In this way, Na¯ga¯rjuna avoids
other entities, then that entity is indeed utterly independent
the nihilism that would ensue from construing emptiness as
and, hence, ultimately real. But if the entity’s identity is inex-
an absolute nothingness that is the essence of all things.
tricably linked to other entities, then that entity is depen-
Using his relational analysis, Na¯ga¯rjuna argues that all
dent, and as such, the entity has no essence. Hence, that enti-
entities are empty of essence and, thus, that no entity (not
ty is not ultimately real; it can only be conventionally real,
even emptiness) is ultimately real. Following, however, the
at best.
paradigm of the two realities mentioned above, Na¯ga¯rjuna
Na¯ga¯rjuna applies this relational analysis especially to all
does accept that we can speak intelligibly of many things as
those allegedly elemental things that are the mental and
conventionally real. Thus, even though the stuff of the uni-
physical stuff of the universe according to most early Bud-
verse does not ultimately exist, it most certainly does exist
dhist thinkers. And he finds that all those things, even the
conventionally in terms of our practical actions and our use
most cherished elements of the Buddhist path, are utterly
of language. A key issue for Na¯ga¯rjuna is seeing that the way
lacking in essence because none exist independently. Even
in which entities exist conventionally is deeply linked to his
nirva¯n:a itself lacks any essential, nonrelational identity, for
notion of emptiness. In short, emptiness describes things’ ul-
it depends upon its opposition to sam:sa¯ra, the world of suf-
timate mode of existence: they are not ultimately real because
fering. And since nirva¯n:a, as with all things, lacks essence,
they are empty of any fixed, nonrelational identity. Things’
it is not ultimately true or real.
conventional mode of existence must be the inverse: they are
conventionally real because they are filled with fluid, rela-
For Na¯ga¯rjuna, the realization that all things lack es-
tional identities. Speaking of this fluid relationality that char-
sence is the cure for ignorance, which he construes as any
acterizes conventional reality, Na¯ga¯rjuna calls it “interdepen-
“grasping” (gra¯ha) to essential, fixed identities, whether of
dence” or prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da.
persons or things. The realization that counteracts ignorance
comes in the meditation on “emptiness,” the metaphor that
The relationship between emptiness and interdepen-
he uses to evoke this utter lack of essence. His detailed argu-
dence is central to Na¯ga¯rjuna’s thought, as is exemplified by
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NA¯GA¯RJUNA
6393
an exchange in Na¯ga¯rjuna’s best known text, the
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism. Although he never provides a precise
Mu¯lamadhyamaka-ka¯rika¯ (Fundamental wisdom of the
definition, later commentators specify that great compassion
Middle Way). Raising an objection to the philosophy of
is an overwhelming need to eliminate the suffering of all be-
emptiness, an opponent asks, if everything is empty of es-
ings. Na¯ga¯rjuna maintains that, for the Maha¯ya¯na path to
sence, then how is reality possible? That is, if no entity is ulti-
be effective, it must combine the philosophy of emptiness
mately real because every entity is empty of essence, then
with that type of powerful motivation, in part because with-
how can a seed produce a sprout? Or, more significantly,
out such an intense driving force, one could not attain the
how can the practice of the Buddhist path lead to nirva¯n:a?
final goal of the Maha¯ya¯na, namely, the state of buddhahood
According to Na¯ga¯rjuna, seeds are not truly real, but how
itself.
then could they produce anything? And if the Buddhist path
In stressing the cultivation of compassion, Na¯ga¯rjuna
is also not truly real, how could it lead one to spiritual
carefully links it with early Buddhist ethical practices, such
freedom?
as adherence to monastic discipline. In this way, Na¯ga¯rjuna’s
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s response is to turn the question on its head:
radical denial of the ultimate reality of Buddhist notions is
if everything were not empty of essence, then how could real-
accompanied by a consistent, even vigorous defense of Bud-
ity be possible? If a cause had an essence, then being ulti-
dhist ethical norms. If one were to examine only Na¯ga¯rjuna’s
mately real, it would have an utterly nonrelational identity:
best known philosophical texts, one might not get this im-
what it is in and of itself could in no way be dependent on
pression, and it is therefore important to recall that, even if
anything else. But an entity is a cause only in relation to an
one examines only the works of Na¯ga¯rjuna the philosopher
effect; if the effect were irrelevant to the cause’s identity, then
(and not the esoteric adept), one still encounters a wide range
clearly anything would be a cause for anything. In short,
of writings.
identities such as “seed” or “path” are clearly relational, and
as such, they cannot be ultimate. If they were ultimate, then
LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS AND ESOTERIC WRITINGS. Put-
they would be nonrelational, and a nonrelational world is an
ting aside the question of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s Tantric esoterica, the
utterly inert, unchanging world. Seeds would never produce
philosopher Na¯ga¯rjuna, who was active during the second
sprouts, and the path would never lead to nirva¯n:a.
century CE, wrote a large number of texts, some philosophi-
cal, some ethical and prescriptive, and others poetic. These
NIRVA¯N:A AND COMPASSION. Na¯ga¯rjuna’s philosophy of
texts are all composed in Sanskrit, and this itself is unusual.
emptiness correlates with a significant change in the concep-
Prior to Na¯ga¯rjuna, Buddhist thinkers wrote in languages
tion of nirva¯n:a as it becomes articulated in Maha¯ya¯na Bud-
such as Pa¯li that were most likely rooted in earlier, regional
dhism. In early Buddhism, nirva¯n:a stands in strict opposi-
dialects. Na¯ga¯rjuna may have been the first Buddhist thinker
tion to sam:sa¯ra, the world of suffering. As Maha¯ya¯na
to compose a philosophical text in Sanskrit, and all
develops, however, this duality is called into question, such
Maha¯ya¯na thinkers follow his example.
that Perfection of Wisdom texts include episodes in which
sam:sa¯ra itself is transformed into nirva¯n:a. Thus, as
Stylistically, Na¯ga¯rjuna’s works were also original, in
Na¯ga¯rjuna puts it, in ultimate terms there is no distinction
that he composed nearly all of his works in verse and chapter.
between sam:sa¯ra and nirva¯n:a.
Buddhists prior to Na¯ga¯rjuna certainly employed verse to
compose philosophical texts, but Na¯ga¯rjuna generally divid-
Two prerequisites for this shift in the alterity of nirva¯n:a
ed his texts into chapters, each of which generally contains
are found in Na¯ga¯rjuna’s work. The first is the combination
a sustained argument in verse. This style, which Na¯ga¯rjuna
of emptiness and interdependence discussed above. If
may have borrowed from non-Buddhist authors, also be-
sam:sa¯ra itself is to be the locus of nirva¯n:a, then sam:sa¯ra can-
comes the norm for later Maha¯ya¯na philosophers.
not be composed of irreducible elements that are immutable
in their fixed and ultimate essences. They must instead be
Although neither ornate nor metrically sophisticated,
capable of radical transformation, and this possibility is ex-
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s poems are also influential for later thinkers. Cast
pressed in philosophical terms through Na¯ga¯rjuna’s notions
as “praises” (stotra) to the Buddha, his poetical works convey
of emptiness and interdependence: being empty, things are
his philosophy in a manner that is not possible through sys-
not fixed in any particular essence, and being interdepen-
tematic argument. Using various tropes, such as antithesis
dent, they can assume new identities in accord with the new,
and paradox, Na¯ga¯rjuna’s praises become a model for
interdependent context in which they are located. The sec-
Maha¯ya¯na philosophers, many of whom follow his lead in
ond prerequisite is that there must be some means to achieve
writing both systematic philosophy and poetical praises.
that transformation, or to put it more accurately, there must
In later Indian Buddhism and especially in Tibet, the
be some principle that guides the transformative process such
image of Na¯ga¯rjuna as poet-philosopher expands to include
that it ends in nirva¯n:a. For Na¯ga¯rjuna, that principle is great
Na¯ga¯rjuna the Tantric adept. From an historical standpoint,
compassion (maha¯karun:a¯).
it is difficult to accept that the author of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s philo-
Na¯ga¯rjuna does not treat compassion as a philosophical
sophical texts is also the author of the much later Tantric
concept for which one must argue; instead, it is an indispens-
texts. Nevertheless, the Tibetan Buddhist traditions do see
able ethical principle that, on his view, distinguishes
the authors as identical, and as a result, Na¯ga¯rjuna becomes
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6394
NA¯GAS AND YAKS:AS
an awesome figure whose philosophical prowess is easily
Early Hindu and Buddhist texts state that na¯gas and
matched by his magical powers. The esoteric texts in ques-
yaks:as reside in caityas, ancient places of worship marked by
tion are especially important for the forms of Tibetan Tantra
a tree, stone altar, pool, or stream, and a railing to designate
that developed after the eleventh century CE. In detailed but
sacred territory. From these sacred sites, na¯gas and yaks:as are
highly abstruse language, Na¯ga¯rjuna the adept recounts the
believed to determine the fertility and wealth of a bounded
means to reproduce the death process so as to enter into the
territory as small as a paddy field or as large as a state. If prop-
subtlest state of mind, namely, the form of mind that trans-
erly worshiped, these deities can guarantee abundance and
fers from one life to the next. While in that subtle state, one
health to a region through their control over water and its
is to realize the emptiness of even this most basic form of
essences, such as semen and sap. They can also bestow gems
consciousness, thus greatly accelerating the process of elimi-
and the wealth of the underworld, which they are believed
nating ignorance. In this way, the image of Na¯ga¯rjuna com-
to protect. If, however, these territorial fertility deities are
bines for Tibetans the most advanced meditative practices
slighted, they can withdraw their gifts, bringing famine and
with the most sublime form of Buddhist thought.
spreading disease. This ambivalent power over life and death
is revealed in many sculptures in which a na¯ga or yaks:a in
SEE ALSO Ma¯dhyamika; Nirva¯n:a; Prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da;
human form wields in the right hand a sword to protect or
S´u¯nyam and S´u¯nyata.
chastise and in the left a jar of fertilizing liquids.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In myths and art, na¯gas are represented as living among
Burton, David F. Emptiness Appraised: A Critical Study of
the roots of trees or on anthills—entrances to the under-
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s Philosophy. Richmond, U.K., 1999. A useful cri-
world. They appear as cobras with one or many hoods or can
tique of Na¯ga¯rjuna.
metamorphose into humanlike creatures with dilated cobra
Dreyfus, Georges, and Sara L. McClintock, eds. The
hoods springing from the neck and spreading over the head.
Sva¯tantrika-Pra¯san˙gika Distinction: What Difference Does a
Yaks:as, who are said to live in tree trunks, can also take
Difference Make? Boston, 2002. Focuses on later interpreta-
human forms that may disguise a demonic side. The female
tions of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s thought.
yaksis are often portrayed as voluptuous maidens, with large
Galloway, Brian. “Some Logical Issues in Madhyamaka
breasts and hips, clinging to trees in full bloom—an impor-
Thought.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 17 (1989): 1–35. A
tant fertility motif in India.
difficult but very useful analysis of Na¯ga¯rjuna’s style of rea-
soning.
As guardians of a region’s abundance, na¯gas and yaks:as
Garfield, Jay L., trans. and commentator. The Fundamental Wis-
have come to be intimately associated with kingship in South
dom of the Middle Way: Na¯ga¯rjuna’s Mu¯lamad-
Asia. In ancient India the caitya altar was used as a place of
hyamakaka¯rika¯. Oxford, 1995. A complete translation of
coronation, a practice suggesting that the king’s authority
Na¯ga¯rjuna’s main text, along with a philosophical commen-
was guaranteed or enhanced by deities such as na¯gas and
tary.
yaks:as. This thesis is supported by Ja¯taka tales and many dy-
Hayes, Richard P. “Na¯ga¯rjuna’s Appeal.” Journal of Indian Philos-
nastic myths in which kings are granted rule over a region
ophy 22 (1994): 299–378. A somewhat hyperbolic but in-
sightful critique of modern scholarship on Na¯ga¯rjuna.
by forming an agreement with a na¯gara¯ja (na¯ga king) or a
liaison with a na¯g¯ı or yaks:¯ı. If the king fails in his duties,
Siderits, Mark. “Na¯ga¯rjuna as Anti-realist.” Journal of Indian Phi-
losophy 16 (1988): 311–325. Interprets Na¯ga¯rjuna’s thought
these deities withdraw their fertilizing powers and bring an
in relation to contemporary philosophy.
end to the king’s reign.
Williams, Paul, and Anthony Tribe. Buddhist Thought: A Com-
The portrayal of na¯gas and yaks:as in the Theravada
plete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. London, 2000. An
canon and in the Buddhist myths and rituals of Southeast
accessible presentation of Maha¯ya¯na thought that helps to lo-
Asia suggests the incorporation of the symbolism of kingship
cate Na¯ga¯rjuna within a wider context.
into the figure of the Buddha and the taming of the powers
JOHN D. DUNNE (2005)
of nature through the Buddha’s dharma. These themes reveal
an interesting relationship between the otherworldly thrust
of Buddhism and the importance of Buddhism for this-
NA¯GAS AND YAKS:AS and their female counterparts,
worldly existence. In widespread myths the Buddha con-
na¯g¯ıs and yaks:¯ıs, are pre-Aryan fertility deities of the Indian
fronts evil na¯gas and yaks:as who are ravishing a region, reveals
subcontinent whose fundamental relationship with agricul-
his greater command of the forces of nature in combat with
tural pursuits has led to their incorporation into the Hindu
these deities, converts the deities with the force of his virtues,
and Buddhist pantheons as low-level devas (gods), or as a
and leaves behind a relic as a symbol of the contract that
separate category of deities between devas and demons and
guarantees the good behavior of the deities. These myths,
ghosts. In addition, na¯gas and yaks:as, often likened to the
which parallel the Buddha’s confrontation with the yaksa-
guardian nats of Thailand and phi of Burma, are intimately
like Ma¯ra, seem to emphasize the chaotic powers of na¯gas
related with kingship symbolism and play a significant role
and yaks:as in order to reveal the Buddha’s virtues and assert
in the myths and rituals of the Buddhists of South and
his continuing rule over a region. It appears that very early
Southeast Asia.
in Buddhism worshipers honored the Buddha’s relics placed
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAG HAMMADI
6395
in stupas and then went to nearby shrines of na¯gas and yaks:as,
retical; and Coptic grammar, orthography, and codicology.
to remind these deities of their obligations. Such contracts
For the most part, however, these sources have not resulted
are recalled in Sri Lankan exorcism rituals in the early twen-
in settled opinions or certain knowledge, but in sharpened
ty-first century, to assure that yaks:as leave the person they are
debate and new avenues of investigation. Many questions
possessing. In this manner the Buddha, while withdrawn, re-
about the codices and their contents remain unanswered.
mains a lord or ruler of this existence through the power of
T
his dharma.
HE DISCOVERY AND PUBLICATION OF THE CODICES. A
group of Egyptian peasants discovered a jar containing the
The incorporation of kingship symbolism by the figure
codices in December 1945 at the base of the Jabal al-Tar¯ıf
of the Buddha can also be seen in his association with the
on the east bank of the Nile, across the river from the town
na¯gara¯ja Mucilinda. In myth and art, after the Buddha at-
of Nag Hammadi. One of the group, Muhammad EAl¯ı,
tains nirva¯n:a he is protected from the weather by the coils
broke the jar and found within it thirteen leather-bound co-
and hoods of Mucilinda. Such protection designates king-
dices, which he brought home. There his mother used some
ship in South Asia. These myths help to explain why na¯gas
of the leaves as fuel for an oven. The codices then passed into
and yaks:as become guardians of the Buddha’s relics. They are
the hands of different antiquities dealers. Most famously,
offering not only their protection but their powers over na-
Codex I ended up at the Jung Institute in Zurich; also known
ture to the Buddha and his followers.
as the Jung Codex, it was one of the first codices whose trac-
The relationship of the this-worldly powers of the na¯ga
tates were published. Eventually all the codices (except for
and the world-denying view of Buddhism is also revealed in
a fragment) were deposited in the Coptic Museum in Old
the fascinating figure of Upagupta and in the ordination cer-
Cairo, where they are now preserved. Although EAl¯ı reports
emony. In Burma and Thailand, the monk Upagupta is said
that he found thirteen codices in the jar, the present “Codex
to have been born of a na¯g¯ı maiden. This association allows
XIII” consists actually of leaves that had been removed from
the fertility powers of the na¯ga to be controlled by the rigor-
a codex in antiquity and placed into the cover of Codex VI.
ous meditative discipline of the monk, and Upagupta is
The fate of the thirteenth codex seen by EAl¯ı remains un-
called upon in rituals to tame the forces of nature. It also can
known.
be speculated that the reason a candidate for ordination into
Especially in comparison to the fate of the Dead Sea
the monkhood is called a na¯g is that he is about to tame his
Scrolls, the publication of the Nag Hammadi codices was ef-
physical desires for the good of society and for the higher goal
ficient and a model of international cooperation. The politi-
of Buddhism.
cal circumstances of Egypt in the 1950s delayed some early
S
publication efforts, but during the 1950s and 1960s some of
EE ALSO Nats.
the texts, especially from Codex I, were published, among
B
which was the Gospel of Thomas from Codex II. With the
IBLIOGRAPHY
The best single work on yaks:as is Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s
support of UNESCO, a complete facsimile edition was pub-
Yaks:as, 2 pts. (Washington, D.C., 1928–1931). Jean P.
lished over the course of the 1970s and completed with an
Vogel’s Indian Serpent-Lore, or the Na¯gas in Hindu Legend
introduction in 1984. James M. Robinson, the American
and Art (London, 1926) gives a wealth of information on the
New Testament scholar, organized an international team of
na¯ga. My article “The Buddha and the Na¯ga: A Study in
scholars to produce an English-language edition and transla-
Buddhist Folk Religiosity,” History of Religion 13 (August
tion. The first English translation appeared in 1977, and vol-
1973): 36–53, surveys the symbolism of the naga and yaks:a
umes of editions of the Coptic texts, with extensive introduc-
in Buddhist literature. My article, “The Taming of Ma¯ra:
tions and notes appeared gradually, until the so-called Coptic
Witnessing to the Buddha’s Virtues,” History of Religion 15
Gnostic Library was complete; the entire set was reissued in
(November 1978), speaks of the monk Upagupta and his re-
five large paperback volumes in 2000.
lationship with a na¯g¯ı, Ma¯ra, and the Buddha.
L
As they did their work, most of the editors generously
OWELL W. BLOSS (1987 AND 2005)
circulated photocopied transcriptions of the texts, so that in-
terested scholars could read them even before the official edi-
tion appeared. Meanwhile, two other publishing projects
NAG HAMMADI. Unearthed in 1945 by a group of
have contributed significantly to the study of the codices.
Egyptians digging for fertilizer, the so-called Nag Hammadi
The Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptische-gnostische Schriften,
codices were one of the most important manuscript discover-
founded and directed by the late Hans-Martin Schenke, has
ies of the twentieth century for the study of religion in the
produced a series of important translations, monographs,
late ancient Mediterranean world, particularly formative
and commentaries in German. The Bibliothèque copte de
Christianity and Judaism. The forty-six different tractates
Nag Hammadi, based at the University of Laval in Québec
that the codices contain have provided scholars with a wealth
and directed by Louis Painchaud, continues to issue high-
of new data for understanding the development of early
quality editions of the Coptic texts with translations and
Christian traditions about Jesus; Gnostic, Valentinian, and
commentary in French. Other scholars have published edi-
other streams of Christian thought later considered to be he-
tions and translations independently. Today many of the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6396
NAG HAMMADI
Nag Hammadi works can be studied in multiple critical edi-
ered Jewish or Christian in the sense that they draw on the
tions and modern translations. In 1971 David Scholer pub-
Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and other Jewish and
lished a comprehensive bibliography of scholarship on Nag
Christian literature, others, such as a fragment of Plato’s Re-
Hammadi and Gnosticism, which he updates annually in the
public, certainly did not derive from a Jewish or Christian
journal Novum Testamentum.
milieu. All of the texts were originally composed in Greek
and subsequently translated into Coptic; thus, they could
THE CODICES AND THEIR ORIGINS. Although the hoard of
have originated in locations throughout the eastern Mediter-
manuscripts is often referred to as a “library,” scholars have
ranean or among Greek-speaking communities in the West.
no definitive evidence for the context of the manuscripts’
Many of the tractates are apocalypses or revelations, in which
creation and collection. The scripts, writing materials, and
a divine figure (e.g., Jesus) or authoritative human being
dialects of the manuscripts are diverse. It has been estimated
(e.g., Adam) reveals future events, cosmological secrets, or
that the handwriting of as many as fourteen different scribes
theological doctrines to an elect person or group. In the
can be detected in the codices. Although all the texts are in
Apocryphon of James, for example, Jesus appears after his res-
Coptic, some are in the Sahidic dialect and others in Subakh-
urrection and teaches a small group of disciples, and in the
mimic, with great variation even within these two broad cat-
Apocalypse of Adam, Adam reveals to his son Seth the true
egories. It seems likely, therefore, that the manuscripts were
story of his origin and predicts future events. Other works
copied at different locations and subsequently collected by
are or include theological treatises (e.g., Tripartite Tractate),
a person or group. In addition to their importance for the
sermons (e.g., Gospel of Truth), prayers (Prayer of the Apostle
history of religions, the codices have contributed to a revival
Paul), hymns (e.g., The Three Tablets of Seth), wisdom books
in the study of Coptic philology and codicology. Several of
(e.g., Teachings of Silvanus), a philosophical epistle (Treatise
the leather covers contain cartonnage, scraps of discarded pa-
on Resurrection), and an anthology of excerpts from theologi-
pyrus glued together to make the cover firm: the latest of the
cal works (Gospel of Philip). Several tractates call themselves
scraps can be dated to 348 CE, and thus it is believed that
“gospels,” but none resemble the Gospels of the New Testa-
the codices were constructed around 350 CE and buried
ment, which present a narrative of Jesus’ ministry emphasiz-
sometime in the following decades.
ing his passion and death. The Gospel of Thomas, for exam-
Scholars continue to debate who might have ordered the
ple, presents a collection of Jesus’ sayings, in the manner of
copying of the manuscripts, collected them, and buried
the biblical book of Proverbs, without any narrative.
them. Most have suggested Christian monks. The discovery
Like other manuscripts from antiquity, the codices con-
was made near the site of ancient Pbou, the location of a
tain works that appealed to the collector(s), but that also rep-
major Pachomian monastery during the fourth century; the
resent diverse theologies and original social and religious
cartonnage of Codex VII contains scraps of letters written by
contexts. Scholars have only begun the task of categorizing
solitary (not Pachomian) monks; some of the manuscripts
the tractates and attempting to reconstruct their original mi-
contain scribal notes with Christian prayers or blessings; and
lieus, and certainty in these areas is probably impossible.
at least some of the tractates can be understood to support
Nonetheless, a scholarly consensus appears to have emerged
an ascetic lifestyle. Some scholars have suggested that the
that at least four corpora of literature can be identified. First,
order of the tractates in individual codices reflects interests
scholars call a set of approximately twelve Nag Hammadi
in liturgy, eschatology, and contemplative ascent that are
tractates “Sethian Gnostic.” Although the precise contents of
characteristic of Egyptian monks. On the other hand, monks
this grouping is debated, it usually includes The Apocryphon
were not the only religiously interested persons in fourth-
of John, The Hypostasis of the Archons, The Egyptian Gospel,
century Egypt with the wherewithal to finance the produc-
The Apocalypse of Adam, The Three Steles of Seth, Zostrianos,
tion and collection of such books: literate and well-off per-
Allogenes, Melchizedek, The Thought of Norea, Marsanes, Tri-
sons, Christians and not, clerical and lay, could be found in
morphic Protennoia, and sometimes Thunder—Perfect Intel-
many of the cities and towns along the Nile. Since carton-
lect. Although these treatises differ from one another in genre
nage could have been simply gathered from a local trash heap
and some mythic and theological details, they share an un-
by the makers of the covers, it provides no evidence for the
derlying myth of origins, in which Adam’s son Seth, four di-
identity of the person or persons who paid for their creation.
vine caregivers called luminaries, and the (according to the
It is not clear that the original owner(s), the collector(s), and
myth) ignorant and foolish God of Genesis (sometimes called
the burier(s) of the codices were identical. Some scholars
Ialdabaoth) play prominent roles. In his anti-heretical work
have speculated that the codices were buried in the wake of
Detection and Overthrow of Gnosis, Falsely So-Called (Haer.,
Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria’s declaration of an official
c. 180 CE), Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons attributes this same
canon of the Bible for the Egyptian church in a letter of 367
myth to “the gnostic school of thought” and to “the gnostics”
CE. Despite these theories, the social context of the codices
(Haer. 1.11, 29). For this reason, some scholars believe that
and the circumstances of their burial remain unknown.
these works originated in the only ancient religious group
T
that should be called “Gnostic.”
HE CONTENTS OF THE CODICES. The forty-six different
tractates contained in the Nag Hammadi codices vary widely
Related to the (Sethian) Gnostic text group is another
in their genres and theologies. Although most can be consid-
set of treatises that scholars assign to the Valentinian school
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAG HAMMADI
6397
of thought, an important Christian theological tradition of
Most of the remaining Nag Hammadi tractates are sim-
the second through fourth centuries. According to Irenaeus,
ply miscellaneous Christian literature, the precise doctrinal,
the Christian teacher Valentinus, who died around 175,
sectarian, or theological affiliations of which are unclear or
adapted the Gnostic myth in creating his own system of
debated. To be sure, some are not Christian in their origin
thought. In the decades following Valentinus’s death, Chris-
at all (e.g., the fragment of Plato’s Republic in Codex VI),
tian theologians teaching in his tradition formed study circles
and some scholars question the “Christian” character of oth-
of interested Christians alongside and sometimes in competi-
ers (e.g., Authoritative Teaching). But most are Christian
tion with Christian churches. Like its (Sethian) Gnostic
works of an astonishing variety, underlining the impressive
counterpart, the Valentinian myth was open to creative revi-
diversity of early Christianity in the centuries before Con-
sion and elaboration, but it generally took a less negative atti-
stantine.
tude toward the God of Genesis and emphasized themes of
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DISCOVERY. The Nag Hammadi
integration and recovery of original cosmic and psychic
discovery has made an enormous impact on several areas of
unity; Valentinian theologians devoted considerable atten-
the religious history of the ancient Mediterranean world,
tion to such traditional Christian topics as sin and salvation,
even if the results of the impact are not entirely clear. After
the resurrection of the dead, and the sacraments. Valentinian
decades of editing and translating the tractates, scholars are
works found at Nag Hammadi include Prayer of the Apostle
still engaged in sorting out the implications of the new data
Paul, The Gospel of Truth, Treatise on Resurrection, Tripartite
for such fields as Gnosticism, Jesus traditions and the New
Tractate, and The Gospel of Philip, among others. Some argue
Testament, early church history, and late ancient Platonism.
that Valentinus himself is the author of The Gospel of Truth.
Certainly the codices have contributed the most to the
Two tractates, The Gospel of Thomas and The Book of
study of Gnosticism. Before the discovery, except for a hand-
Thomas the Contender, grant special authority to the apostle
ful of other recently published texts in Coptic, scholars’
Didymus Judas Thomas, whom Christian tradition credits
knowledge of “Gnosticism” was limited to the statements
with bringing Christianity to Mesopotamia and India and
made by Christian heresiologists, such as Irenaeus. The par-
sometimes identifies as Jesus’ twin brother. Since these works
allel between The Apocryphon of John and Irenaeus’s descrip-
share literary connections and theological affinities with each
tion of the myth of “the gnostics” (Haer. 1.29) showed that
other and with The Acts of Thomas, a text that survives in
this work (which is found also in a previously known Coptic
Greek and Syriac and was not found in the Nag Hammadi
manuscript) and the texts closely related to it came from a
cache, some scholars consider them evidence for a “Thomas
circle that was known as Gnostic. At last scholars could read
Christianity,” similar to the Pauline Christianity and Johan-
(in Coptic translation) works composed by the presumed
nine Christianity associated with other sets of early Christian
Gnostics themselves, rather than depend solely on the reports
literature. Thomas Christianity is believed to have been cen-
of their “orthodox” opponents, and thus several clichéd
tered in Edessa, a city in northern Mesopotamia, and to have
charges against the Gnostics (e.g., their lack of interest in eth-
run from the first century down to the third and perhaps
ics) could be evaluated more fully. On the other hand, schol-
fourth. Thomas theology was highly ascetic, emphasizing the
ars have found few other correspondences between the Nag
divine origin of the soul, its fall into matter and the body,
Hammadi tractates and the myths and sects described by
and its return to its origin and reunion with its true self.
such anti-Gnostic authors as Irenaeus, Hippolytus of Rome,
Other scholars, however, doubt this reconstruction of an or-
and Epiphanius of Salamis, and so they have increasingly
ganized Thomas branch of Christianity. Although it is often
questioned the value of the heresiological reports, which still
referred to as the most prominent of the “Gnostic gospels,”
provide the only evidence for the social history of such
The Gospel of Thomas lacks evidence of the kind of elaborate
groups.
myth found in the (Sethian) Gnostic works, and thus schol-
ars are increasingly reluctant to refer to it as “Gnostic.”
The tractates have not resolved the protracted debate
over the definition of Gnostic and Gnosticism. Impressed by
In three tractates from Codex VI—The Discourse on the
the variety of the texts and their mismatch with the here-
Eighth and Ninth, The Prayer of Thanksgiving, and Asclepi-
siologists, some scholars argue that these terms should be
us—the divine revealer is “thrice great Hermes” or Hermes
abandoned altogether and the surviving texts analyzed indi-
Trismegistus, a composite of the native Egyptian god Thoth
vidually and on their own terms, apart from these categories.
and the Greek god Hermes. These tractates belong, there-
Others point to the correspondence between the myth found
fore, to a body of pseudepigraphic literature composed in
in The Apocryphon of John and that in Irenaeus’s account of
Greek centered around Hermes, now called the Corpus Her-
“the gnostics” (Haer. 1.29) and suggest that the term Gnostic
meticum, which may have originated in religious and philo-
be applied only to the group responsible for the texts belong-
sophical circles active in Greco-Roman and late ancient
ing to the “Sethian Gnostic” group; perhaps the Valentinians
Egypt. Both The Prayer of Thanksgiving and Asclepius were
can be called “Gnostic,” but only in a derivative sense, be-
known before the Nag Hammadi discovery, while The Dis-
cause they adapted the myth of the Gnostics. Still other
course on the Eighth and Ninth is a new addition to the
scholars believe that, despite their variety on several points,
corpus.
many (if not most) of the Nag Hammadi tractates exhibit
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
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NAG HAMMADI
a set of characteristics that are usefully gathered under the
The study of the Nag Hammadi codices is still an
category “Gnosticism.” In this case, the Nag Hammadi trac-
emerging and relatively new field in comparison to the study
tates have not led to a scholarly consensus, but the terms of
of most other sources for ancient Mediterranean religions.
the debate are perhaps clearer than they were before.
In the sixty years since their discovery, scholars have edited
Debate also surrounds the significance of Nag Ham-
and translated the texts, making them available to a wide
madi works that include sayings attributed to Jesus or that
range of interested readers. Although many questions remain
parallel writings of the New Testament. One question is
open, especially about the authors of the tractates and the
whether such works as The Gospel of Thomas, The Dialogue
collector(s) of the codices, the thirteen books found by Mu-
of the Savior, and The Apocryphon of James preserve oral or
hammad EAl¯ı and his friends have already creatively unsettled
written traditions of Jesus’ sayings that are independent of
traditional ways of understanding the religious history of the
the New Testament Gospels, and thus provide additional in-
first four centuries after Jesus Christ.
formation about the historical Jesus and the development of
SEE ALSO Gnosticism.
early Christian gospels. Of the relevant tractates, The Gospel
of Thomas has received the most attention and seems most
B
likely to contain traditions independent of the canonical
IBLIOGRAPHY
Hedrick, Charles W., and Robert Hodgson Jr., eds. Nag Ham-
Gospels, and perhaps even sayings that can be attributed to
madi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity. Peabody, Mass.,
the historical Jesus. Passages in Trimorphic Protennoia and
1986.
The Apocryphon of John parallel sections of the Gospel of John,
King, Karen L. What Is Gnosticism? Cambridge, Mass., 2003.
especially the prologue, and some scholars have suggested
that they can be used to reconstruct earlier written sources
Koester, Helmut. Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and De-
that were available to the author of the Fourth Gospel. The
velopment. Philadelphia, 1990.
Nag Hammadi texts also have provided new material for the
Layton, Bentley, ed. The Rediscovery of Gnosticism: Proceedings of
discussion of whether Gnosticism, however it is defined, ex-
the International Conference on Gnosticism at Yale, New
isted during the first century
Haven, Connecticut, March 28–31, 1978. 2 vols. Leiden,
CE and thus may stand behind
1980–1981.
the opponents criticized by New Testament authors like
Paul. Most scholars now reject the identification of Paul’s
Layton, Bentley. The Gnostic Scriptures. Garden City, N.Y., 1987.
opponents as Gnostics.
Layton, Bentley. “Prolegomena to the Study of Ancient Gnosti-
The codices have raised or affected numerous other is-
cism.” In The Social World of the First Christians: Essays in
Honor of Wayne A. Meeks, edited by L. Michael White and
sues in the study of early church history. These include the
O. Larry Yarbrough, pp. 334–50. Minneapolis, 1995.
development of a Christian canon of scripture. What status
did these writings have for the Christians who produced and
Lease, Gary. “Nag Hammadi: Archaeology.” In Anchor Bible Dic-
read them? Were they considered scriptural, equivalent in
tionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, vol. 4. New York,
1992.
authority to the texts that were emerging in some churches
as “the New Testament”? The tractates’ extensive use and re-
Painchaud, Louis, and Anne Pasquier, eds. Les textes de Nag Ham-
vision of the Hebrew Bible (in the form of its Greek transla-
madi et le problème de leur classification: Actes du colloque tenu
à Québec du 15 au 19 septembre 1993. Québec, 1995.
tion, the Septuagint) have provided new insights into con-
flicts among early Christians over the interpretation of the
Pearson, Birger. “Nag Hammadi Codices.” In Anchor Bible Dictio-
Bible and have suggested links between early Christian and
nary, edited by David Noel Freedman, Vol. 4. New York,
Jewish exegeses of the same biblical texts. Scholars have dis-
1992.
covered connections also between certain Nag Hammadi
Pearson, Birger, and James E. Goehring, eds. The Roots of Egyptian
works—especially some Valentinian writings and “wisdom
Christianity. Philadelphia, 1986.
texts” like The Teachings of Silvanus—and the literature of
Perkins, Pheme. Gnosticism and the New Testament. Minneapolis,
early Egyptian monasticism, particularly those letters attri-
1993.
buted to Antony the Great and Paul of Tamma.
Robinson, James M. “From Cliff to Cairo: The Story of the Dis-
It appears that Plotinus, the great Neoplatonist philoso-
coverers and Middlemen of the Nag Hammadi Codices.” In
pher (d. 269/270), knew Zostrianos and Allogenes or at least
Colloque international sur les textes de Nag Hammadi (Québec,
persons in the circles in which these works circulated. These
22–25 août 1978), edited by Dernard Barc, pp. 21–58. Qué-
bec, 1981.
two tractates, along with Marsanes and others, show contact
with the issues and terminology that characterized Platonist
Robinson, James M., ed. The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Ham-
philosophical discussions in the second and third centuries.
madi Codices. 15 vols. in 11. Leiden, 1972–1984.
Scholars have now been able to construct a fuller and more
Robinson, James M., ed. The Hag Hammadi Library in English.
detailed narrative of the development of Platonism in this pe-
3d rev. ed. San Francisco, 1988.
riod, one that more extensively documents the interchanges
Robinson, James M., ed. The Coptic Gnostic Library: A Complete
between “Christian” and “pagan” circles and the centrality
Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices. 5 vols. Leiden, 2000.
of “mystical” or “esoteric” themes that scholars once saw as
Scholer, David M. Nag Hammadi Bibliography 1948–69. Leiden,
marginal.
1971.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAHMANIDES, MOSES
6399
Scholer, David M. “Bibliographica Gnostica: Supplementum I.”
all, deeply concerned with the plain meaning of the text.
Novum Testamentum 13 (1971): 322–336. Updated annual-
This concern went beyond questions of philology and syn-
ly thereafter, except for 1976.
tax; Nahmanides was extraordinarily interested in the struc-
Turner, John D., and Anne McGuire, eds. The Nag Hammadi Li-
ture and order of biblical narrative, which he perceived, de-
brary after Fifty Years: Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Bibli-
spite an apparent rabbinic statement to the contrary, as
cal Literature Commemoration. Leiden, 1997.
carefully chronological. The commentary contains nuanced
Turner, John D., and Ruth Majercik, eds. Gnosticism and Later
and richly textured observations about the morality, motiva-
Platonism: Themes, Figures, and Texts. Atlanta, 2000.
tions, and personalities of biblical characters; Nahmanides
did not hesitate, for example, to question the moral legitima-
Williams, Michael A. Rethinking “Gnosticism”: An Argument for
Dismantling a Dubious Category. Princeton, 1996.
cy of Abraham’s apologia to Abimelech that Sarah was in-
deed his half sister (Gn. 20:12). Though he provided an on-
Wisse, Frederik. “The Nag Hammadi Library and the Heresiolog-
going critique of the commentary of Avraham ibn EEzra,D
ists.” Vigiliae Christianae 25 (1971): 205–223.
often accusing him of insufficient respect for rabbinic exege-
DAVID BRAKKE (2005)
sis, Nahmanides allowed himself considerable independence
in areas that do not touch upon legal norms, and his frequent
deviations from Rashi’s interpretations can involve a rejec-
tion of their rabbinic sources as well.
NAHMANIDES, MOSES (c. 1194–c. 1270), also
known by the acronym RaMBaN (Rabbi Mosheh ben
Nevertheless, for Nahmanides, the straightforward
Nah:man); Spanish name, Bonastrug da Porta; Talmudist,
meaning of the Bible, however complex, does not begin to
biblical exegete, mystic, and polemicist. Born in Gerona,
plumb its depths. He stressed the typological understanding
Catalonia, in a period of cultural transition and controversy,
of scripture, which, despite Midrashic precedent, was rather
Nahmanides confronted the traditions and attitudes of Span-
unusual among medieval Jews. Thus, the patriarchal settle-
ish, Provençal, and northern Ashkenazic Jewry in a wide
ment of the Land of Israel is taken to foreshadow the later
range of intellectual pursuits.
conquest and remains a source of assurance that Jewish rule
will be restored at the end of days.
His Talmudic education with Yehudah ben Yaqar in
Barcelona and with MeDir ben Yitsh:aq of Trinquetaille ex-
The profoundest level of meaning in scripture, however,
posed him to the dialectical methodology of the Tosafists of
is not typological but mystical. This layer of meaning is the
northern France, which had penetrated into Languedoc and
one that Nahmanides discusses at the very beginning of his
was revolutionizing the study of the Babylonian Talmud, the
commentary, where he asserts that the Torah consists entire-
central text in the Jewish curriculum. Nahmanides adopted
ly of esoteric names of God. Nevertheless, neither this ex-
this methodology, which he enriched with the Talmudic
treme esotericism nor his conviction that mystical doctrines
studies of Provençal scholars and the textual traditions of
could be known only through tradition prevented him from
Spanish Jewry, to produce novellae and legal monographs
finding these doctrines in the “plain” meaning of scripture
that would establish the dominant school of rabbinics in
as well, so that straightforward exegesis and what Nahma-
Spain until the expulsion of 1492. Aside from his novellae,
nides called “hidden wisdom” intersected in a fashion that
Talmudic commentaries that served as standard texts in me-
legitimated the teachings of the Gerona qabbalists by an ap-
dieval Spain, Nahmanides’ works in this field include
peal to the biblical text itself. Although Nahmanides’ allu-
Milh:amot ha-Shem, a defense of Yitsh:aq Alfasi’s code against
sions to esoteric lore remained brief, elusive, and inaccessible
the strictures of Zerah:iah ha-Levi, in which Nahmanides
to the uninitiated, these doctrines move toward center stage
presented what is essentially a complex commentary on se-
in his commentary to Job, where belief in transmigration of
lected portions of the Talmud; a critique of Maimonides’
souls emerges as the only satisfactory resolution of the prob-
Book of the Commandments which was also a defense of the
lem of evil. This problem and its qabbalistic solution are also
Geonic Halakhot gedolot; Torat ha-adam, a lengthy mono-
at the heart of the theological monograph Sha Ear ha-gemul,
graph on the laws of mourning; a series of studies on other
which Nahmanides appended to Torat ha-adam and which
aspects of Talmudic law such as vows, menstrual impurity,
treats theodicy both exoterically and esoterically.
and indirect causation of damages, some of which were mod-
In the final analysis, Nahmanides’ crucial role in the his-
eled after Alfasi’s code; and, of course, responsa.
tory of Qabbalah does not lie primarily in the content of
Although Nahmanides is a towering figure in the histo-
these passages and similar, sometimes more elaborate discus-
ry of Talmudic study, his greatest direct impact on the mass-
sions in his sermons (The Law of the Lord Is Perfect, Sermon
es of Jews probably came through his wide-ranging and enor-
for a Wedding, Sermon on Ecclesiastes, Sermon for Ro Dsh ha-
mously influential commentary on the Pentateuch, which
Shanah), nor is it to be sought in his partially preserved com-
was to become one of the first printed Hebrew books. Nah-
mentary on Sefer yetsirah (Book of creation). His key contri-
manides was persuaded that all knowledge could be found
bution was the legitimation of Qabbalah by the very fact that
in the Torah, and his efforts to explicate the text touched
he advocated it; the problems raised by this system for Jewish
upon all the areas of his intellectual interest. He was, first of
theology could not readily be pressed if the critic would
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NAHMANIDES, MOSES
thereby be raising questions about the orthodoxy of so unim-
sions. In 1232, he had played a major role in the dispute over
peachable a figure as Nahmanides. Consequently, the mere
the writings of Maimonides and the legitimacy of philosoph-
fact that Nahmanides was a mystic was a significant factor
ical inquiry. Some rabbis in northern France, responding to
in the triumphant progress of Qabbalah in late medieval and
complaints by Provençal antirationalists, had proclaimed a
Renaissance Jewish history.
ban against the study of Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed
and the first section of his code, while Maimonists had react-
Aside from his mystical, exegetical, and homiletical
ed by placing the Provençal anti-Maimonists under the ban.
writings, Nahmanides produced two other influential works
Nahmanides, who admired Maimonides but had deep reser-
on non-halakhic topics. Sefer ha-ge Dullah (Book of the re-
vations about the standard form of philosophical study, pro-
demption) was prompted by some signs of messianic skepti-
posed a compromise to the rabbis of northern France that
cism among Spanish Jews. Although Nahmanides did not
may well have persuaded them to withdraw from further in-
consider the redemption to be in the first rank of Jewish dog-
volvement in this dispute. The code, including its first sec-
mas—one could, after all, expect greater heavenly rewards for
tion, should be studied with enthusiasm; public study of the
observing the Torah under James I of Aragon than under the
Guide should be banned; private study of both the Guide and
much more benevolent messianic king—defense of the belief
philosophy in general should gently be discouraged.
in redemption was important theologically and crucial for
the collective psyche of medieval Jewry. Nahmanides insisted
Modern scholarly views of Nahmanides’ position in this
on the continuing relevance of eschatological passages in the
controversy as well as of his overall philosophical posture re-
Bible, which, he said, are both unfulfilled and unconditional.
flect considerable disagreement. Many scholars perceive him
Finally, he joined the ranks of messianic calculators, arguing
as a thoroughgoing antirationalist who despised philosophy
eloquently that a straightforward reading of the end of Dan-
and saw a world of omnipresent miracles in which no natural
iel points to the arrival of the ultimate redeemer in 1403, a
order existed; others, with greater justice, see a far more com-
date sufficiently close to buttress Jewish morale yet sufficient-
plex figure who absorbed much of the medieval philosophi-
ly removed to discourage messianic hysteria.
cal legacy, made his living as a physician, saw a naturalistic
world punctuated by miracles, and espoused disciplined
Any discussion of exile and redemption inevitably had
theological inquiry within carefully delineated limits.
polemical implications for Jews in Christian Europe, but
Nahmanides’ major polemical work was thrust upon him
The Land of Israel had always played a particularly sig-
late in life under extraordinary circumstances. A Jewish con-
nificant role in Nahmanides’ thought, and when he found
vert to Christianity began to engage in vigorous missionary
himself under pressure in the wake of the Barcelona disputa-
activity utilizing the relatively new argument that Talmudic
tion, he went there to spend his remaining years. This was
passages demonstrate the truth of Christianity. In 1263 in
no placid retirement. Nahmanides revived the Jewish com-
Barcelona, Nahmanides was forced to defend the Jewish po-
munity of Jerusalem, which had been decimated by the inva-
sition in a disputation witnessed by James I. Despite the res-
sion of the Khwarazan Turks in 1244. He became the head
ervations of some scholars, there is every reason to believe
of the Jewish community in Acre, and it was in Israel that
that Nahmanides, who received an award from the king after
he put the finishing touches on his magnum opus on the Pen-
the debate, acquitted himself with distinction; he later re-
tateuch.
corded his version of the proceedings in a work that lifted
Jewish spirits and influenced subsequent polemicists through
SEE ALSO Tosafot.
the medieval period and beyond.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
His boldest and most controversial argument, which
Works by Nahmanides
was probably sincere, maintained that rabbinic midrash was
The standard edition of Nahmanides’ novellae is H:iddushei ha-
not dogmatically binding; hence, the Jewish polemicist was
Ramban, 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1928). Charles B. Chavel has ed-
free to reject some uncongenial statements of the rabbis. The
ited Perushei ha-Torah le-Rabbenu Mosheh ben Nah:man
reaction of later Jews to this approach was profoundly ambiv-
(Ramban), 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1962), and Kitvei Rabbenu
alent, and they wondered both about Nahmanides’ sincerity
Mosheh ben Nahman, 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1963), and is the
and about the ultimate utility of an approach that undercut
editor and translator of Ramban (Nachmanides): Commentary
Christian arguments and respect for the rabbis at the same
on the Torah, 5 vols. (New York, 1971–1976), and Writings
time. Nahmanides’ own reverence for the rabbis even while
and Discourses, 2 vols. (New York, 1978). Despite draw-
differing from them is illustrated in his one other foray into
backs, Chavel’s are the standard editions of these novellae
Jewish-Christian polemic—a brief commentary on Isaiah 53
and also contain commentary by the editor.
in which he asserted his conviction that the suffering servant
Works about Nahmanides
is the Jewish people, but devoted the work to explaining how
The best of several short books on Nahmanides that contain both
the Talmud could have understood the figure messianically
biographical information and analysis of his thought is Hey-
without drawing Christian conclusions.
mann Chone’s German work, Nachmanides (Nuremberg,
1930), while Chavel’s Ramban: His Life and Teachings (New
The disputation at Barcelona was not Nahmanides’ first
York, 1960) is the only such work in English. The character-
encounter with controversy of significant historical dimen-
ization in Solomon Schechter’s Studies in Judaism, vol. 1
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAH:MAN OF BRATSLAV
6401
(1896; reprint, Cleveland, 1958), remains useful. The most
of Shpola and his own uncle, Baruch of Medzhibozh. He saw
elaborate volume on aspects of Nahmanides’ thought is
Hasidism as having grown self-satisfied, compromised by the
Chayim Henoch’s Ha-Ramban ke-h:oqer ve-khi-mequbbal (Je-
shallow assurances of blessing such self-proclaimed tsaddiqim
rusalem, 1978). For an important collection of new studies,
would offer in exchange for the rather considerable gifts they
see Rabbi Moses Nah:manides, edited by Isadore Twersky
were receiving. In Nah:man’s community poverty was the
(Cambridge, Mass., 1983).
ideal, miracles were disdained, and the master was not to be
New Sources
bothered with such small matters as material blessings. The
Chazan, Robert. Barcelona and Beyond: The Disputation of 1263
disciples were to devote themselves to an intense regimen of
and Its Aftermath. Berkeley, 1992.
private devotion and penitence. In the early years of his lead-
Henoch, Chayim. Ramban: Philosopher and Kabbalist on the Basis
ership, Nah:man insisted that each new disciple confess all of
of His Exegesis to the Mitzvoth. Northvale, N.J., 1998.
his sins to him. Sin was taken quite seriously in Bratslav,
Novak, David. The Theology of Nahmanides Systematically Pres-
where earlier Hasidic warnings against excessive guilt were
ented. Atlanta, 1992.
set aside.
Pedaya, Haviva. Ha-Ramban: hit Ealut zeman mahzori vetekst ka-
The essential practice that Nah:man demanded of his
dosh. Tel Aviv, Israel, 2003.
disciples was hitbodedut, which in Bratslav meant a daily
Stern, Josef. Problems and Parables of Law: Maimonides and Nah-
“conversation” that each Hasid was to have with God. Hit-
manides on Reasons for the Commandments (ta Eamei ha-
bodedut had to be practiced for an hour each day, spoken
mitzvot). Albany, N.Y., 1998.
aloud in one’s native tongue, and performed by each H:asid
DAVID BERGER (1987)
in private, preferably outdoors. During this hour the disciple
Revised Bibliography
was instructed to “break his heart” and confess before God
his most secret thoughts. While the Bratslav sect remained
fully within Jewish orthodoxy, including full observance of
NAH:MAN OF BRATSLAV
the law and recital of daily liturgy, it was this new practice
(1772–1810), Hasidic
of hitbodedut that was the true focus of its spiritual attention.
master and founder of the Bratslav sect, born in Medzhi-
bozh, Ukraine. A great-grandson of YisraDel ben EliEezer
Nah:man was filled with ambivalence about his role as
(1700–1760), the BeSHT, the first central figure of Hasi-
leader. Some of his statements exude an exaggerated sense of
dism, Nah:man proclaimed a path that stood in direct oppo-
self-importance, a claim that he is the only true tsaddiq of
sition to that of his esteemed forebear. Nah:man’s complex
his generation, and an air of megalomania. Others reflect just
and tortuous struggle for faith stood in sharp contrast to the
the opposite: an acute sense of unworthiness, a feeling of per-
BeSHT’s ideal of simplicity and wholeness: theologically,
sonal emptiness, and a regret at having allowed himself to
Hasidism’s earlier enthusiastic proclamation of the all-
accept a mantle of which he was unworthy. These alternating
pervasive presence of God is replaced in Bratslav Hasidism
attitudes fit in with Nah:man’s well-documented alternating
by a painful awareness of his absence. The relative “neutral-
states of elation and melancholy, a pattern that would today
ization” of messianic energies, characteristic especially of the
probably be diagnosed as manic-depression. It was in the
Mezhirich school, is also reversed in Bratslav, where
course of his recurrent bouts with depression and guilt
Nah:man, whom Bratslavers consider the only true tsaddiq
that Nah:man came to articulate his distinctive theological
(“righteous man”), is clearly depicted at least as a proto-
position.
messianic figure.
The absence of God from human life is a reality that
Given the family into which he was born, it was proba-
must be treated seriously. The religious person must come
bly expected of Nah:man that he lead a Hasidic following in
to terms with the fact that he lives in a world from which
a movement that was becoming firmly entrenched in a pat-
God has absented himself. Moments of doubt, inevitable in
tern of dynastic succession. In his early years he refused this
such a situation, must be treated as recording a valid aspect
role, feeling himself inadequate to it and perhaps disdaining
of human experience, and the notion of faith must be so ex-
Hasidism as it was popularly practiced in his surroundings.
panded as to dialectically encompass doubt and denial within
it. The seeker must struggle constantly with the eternal ques-
In 1798 Nah:man undertook a pilgrimage from the
tions; one who does so will ascend through a constant spiral
Ukraine to the Holy Land. Arriving in the Galilee right in
of doubt, denial, longing, faith, renewed challenge, doubt
the midst of Napoleon’s battle with the Turks, he suffered
and denial, a higher rung of faith, and so forth. The great
numerous hardships and was at times close to death. He saw
danger to such a quest is complacency; its highest ideal, that
this journey as a private rite of passage, and later in life often
of constant growth. The nature of faith becomes ever more
looked back on it as a source of inspiration. Only on his re-
complex as it seeks to contain within itself ever more serious
turn from the Land of Israel was he ready to assume the man-
questions and conflicts.
tle of leadership, and this he did in a highly selective manner.
Gathering around himself an elite cadre of disciples dedicat-
Faith, a term more prevalent in Bratslav than in any
ed to a revitalization of the Hasidic movement, Nah:man is-
other premodern Jewish ideology, is defined as a constant
sued an open challenge to such popular figures as Aryeh Leib
longing for God, an outcry of the broken heart aware of his
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6402
NAHUATL RELIGION
distance. Such faith can only be cultivated, Nah:man taught,
Verman, Mark. “Aliyah and Yeridah: The Journeys of the Besht
in a world where God’s absence is real and where no easy an-
and R. Nachman to Israel.” AJMT 3 (1988): 159–171.
swers are available to fill the painful void. Thus the absence
ARTHUR GREEN (1987)
of God is paradoxically God’s greatest gift, allowing people
Revised Bibliography
the psychological room in which to build up the reservoir of
faith that is the most important human asset. The awareness
that this self-absenting (tsimtsum, as the older qabbalistic
NAHUATL RELIGION. The speakers of Nahuatl di-
term is read in Bratslav) is itself a divine gift allows one to
alects compose the largest group of indigenous people in
suffer life in the void, but does not alter its reality.
Mexico. Numbering about 800,000, they live primarily in
The sharp inner tensions that drove Nah:man to seek a
the Federal District and the states of México, Morelos, Pueb-
path of redemption for himself, his disciples, and the Hasidic
la, Tlaxcala, Guerrero, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí. Smal-
movement as a whole culminated in a brief messianic at-
ler populations can be found in Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, and
tempt in the year 1806. Once that attempt had failed
Tabasco. The proportion of Nahuatl speakers in central
(Nah:man saw the death of his infant son as a sure sign from
Mexico is declining, but their absolute number is fairly stable
heaven), a new and more subtle way to deliver the message
and is augmented by millions of Spanish-speaking villagers
of redemption was sought. This led Nah:man to the telling
who preserve elements of Nahuatl heritage. Among both
of his tales, now collected, symbolic fantasies that give fresh
these groups, remnants of pre-Hispanic Nahuatl religion
and vital expression to the mythic themes of qabbalistic
persist in combination with a Catholicism that retains much
thought. Redemption is the central underlying motif in most
of the character of its sixteenth-century Hispanic origins.
of these tales, the purpose of which seems to have been the
preparing of his hearers’ minds for the great events to come.
Folk Catholicism in most Nahuatl villages is more than
Published in 1815, the tales take their place alongside
a superficial veneer on a pre-Hispanic substratum; it consti-
Nah:man’s collected teachings, Liqqut:ei Moharan (1809,
tutes the very meaning of village life. Social solidarity is ex-
1811), as unique classics in the Hasidic corpus.
pressed in terms of spiritual kinship, that is, as godparent-
hood and ritual commensality. Godparenthood is associated
Nah:man died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of
not only with the sacraments of baptism, first communion,
thirty-eight, leaving no male heir. His faithful disciple,
confirmation, and marriage but also with many nonsacra-
Natan of Nemirov, led the community after him but always
mental events ranging from the blessing of dwellings, stores,
acted as the master’s surrogate rather than his successor.
tractors, and trucks to curing ceremonies and graduation
Bratslav is unique in surviving as a Hasidic community that
from sixth grade. Baptism, the other sacraments, and bless-
has no living master; in later times, when they were much
ings sanctify persons and objects and so recruit them into the
persecuted within the Hasidic world, they were referred to
spiritual family (i.e., the village or neighborhood conceptual-
by others as the “dead H:asidim.” The small but hardy band
ized as a sacred community).
of Bratslavers treated this as a badge of honor, however, as
they remained true to the memory of the one master who
Life within the spiritual family is symbolized by the fies-
had been theirs and who, according to some Bratslav sources,
ta, which bears an obvious similarity to the Eucharist and the
was yet to come again.
agape (love feast) of early Christians. The fiesta, or ritual
meal, consists of three courses—rice, turkey in mole sauce,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and beans—accompanied by alcoholic beverages. Fiestas
Nah:man’s Tales exist in several English translations, the most use-
honor the patron saints of neighborhoods and villages and
ful that by Arnold J. Band (New York, 1978), which also
mark the sacramental rites of passage. The festivities occasion
contains introductions and notes to each tale. Arthur Green’s
momentary conviviality, and their preparation promotes en-
Tormented Master: A Life of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (Uni-
during amity by requiring villagers to give generously of their
versity, Ala., 1979) is the first full-length critical biography.
time and resources for the benefit of others. The familial
Hebrew readers will also want to consult Joseph G. Weiss’s
symbolism and sentiments associated with the fiesta system
Meh:qarim ba-H:asidut Bratslav (Jerusalem, 1974) and Men-
come into sharp focus during the Christmas-Candlemas sea-
del Piekarz’s H:asidut Bratslav (Jerusalem, 1972).
son, at which time festivities center on the Holy Family—the
New Sources
Christ Child, Mary, and Joseph.
Cohen, Laurent. Le maître des frontières incertaines: Rabbi Nahman
de Bratslav. Paris, 1994.
On or about the third of May, fiestas are held to honor
Danieli, Natascia. “La ‘restaurazione universale’ (‘tiqqun ha-
mountainside crosses that protect communities and neigh-
kelali’) nell’insegnamento de Nahman di Bratslav.” Henoch
borhoods during the rainy season. In a weather-working cult
23 (2001): 97–112.
in northern Morelos, crosses are associated with San Miguel
Magid, Shaul, ed. God’s Voice from the Void: Old and New Studies
Arcángel, four lightning-hurling saints, and groups of “rain
in Bratslav Hasidism. Albany, N.Y., 2002.
dwarfs” (awaque). The weather-working shamans hold their
Niborski, Itzhok (Isidoro). “Mysticisme et modernité dans la lit-
own ceremonies at mountainside shrines at the beginning of
térature Yiddish: Rabbi Nahman de Braslev et Aaron
May and again in early November, or roughly at the start and
Zeitlin.” Yod 31–32 (1992): 159–170.
the end of the rainy season.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAKAE TO
¯ JU
6403
In contrast to the saints and members of the Holy Fami-
Adam are deceived by the serpent and so denied immortality,
ly are many evil and Adamic beings who threaten the villag-
but they generate natural life; by contrast, Christ is killed by
ers. Some of these beings are satirized by dancers at carnivals
the agents of the devil, yet his death offers spiritual immortal-
and fairs, where the Devil may be represented by a figure in
ity. The appeal of these conceptual polarities for Nahuatl vil-
a red suit with horns. In apparitions, the Devil may appear
lagers may be grounded in the realities and contradictions of
as a Spanish gentleman, or hacendado, mounted on horse-
peasant existence. The villagers subscribe to spiritual values,
back. Other sinister beings include Death; goblins (the spir-
but the exigencies of daily life continually remind them of
its of unbaptized children) who offer women bribes for sexu-
the importance of nature and the ever-present problem of
al favors; were-animals called naguales, who molest
evil.
drunkards and women on unlit paths after nightfall; La
Llorona, also known as La Malinche, a sirenlike apparition
BIBLIOGRAPHY
who aborted or murdered her children after being aban-
For a classic ethnographic monograph on a Nahuatl community
doned by a lover who is sometimes identified as the Spanish
with information on religion, see William Madsen’s The Vir-
conqueror Cortés; witches who cause illness and poverty, and
gin’s Children (Austin, 1960). Hugo G. Nutini and Betty
who suck blood from children’s necks; Water Snake and Lit-
Bell provide a comprehensive description of godparenthood
tle Bull, two supernatural animals that bring forth crop-
in Ritual Kinship: The Structure and Historical Development
damaging winds and rain; and harmful spirits called ehecame
of the Compadrazgo System in Rural Tlaxcala (Princeton,
(“winds”) or los aires. Ehecame cause paralysis, tics and
1980). An authoritative treatment of ancient and contempo-
rary Nahuatl conceptions of the soul and related issues can
twitches, neuralgia, loss of sensation, skin disorders, and
be found in Alfredo López Austin’s Cuerpo humano e
other afflictions. Witches use a technique called aire echado
ideología: Las concepciones de los antiguos nahuas (Mexico
(“thrown air”) in which dirt from a grave containing a tonal-
City, 1980). Donald Cordry’s Mexican Masks (Austin, 1980)
li, or shadow-soul, is mixed with other ingredients and
illustrates and interprets ritual masks and costumes from var-
hurled against the victim’s house.
ious areas, including the Nahuatl region.
Ehecame can also cause susto (“fright”), an emotional re-
New Sources
action that affects the shadow-soul of a living person and re-
Alcina Frank, José. Mitos y literatura azteca (Aztec myths and litera-
sults in depression, insomnia, and loss of appetite. The parts
ture). Madrid, 1989.
of the shadow-soul are dispersed throughout the blood-
Burkhart, Louise M. “A Nahuatl Religious Drama of c. 1590.” In
stream, but in response to fright they retreat toward the heart
Latin American Indian Literatures Journal 7 (1991):
or leave the body. In some communities the shadow-soul
153–171.
fragments are likened to animals or are said to take animal
Burkhart, Louise M. “The Aesthetic of Paradise in Nahuatl Devo-
form when outside the body. Persons with weak natures are
tional Literature.” Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics (1992):
more vulnerable than others to fright-illness.
89–109.
Fright-illness and various other beliefs indicate that per-
History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca.
sons having strong—even tainted—natures enjoy more pro-
Translated by John Bierhorst. Tucson, 1992.
tection against evil than do persons with weak or sensitive
Neumann, Franke J. “Experience of Time in Nahuatl Religion,”
natures. Indeed, nature as well as spirit is seen as a necessary
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 44 (1976):
and inevitable part of a person’s total makeup. Thus Nahuatl
255–263.
rituals repeatedly express the place of evil and nature in the
JOHN M. INGHAM (1987)
overall scheme of things. Ritual impersonations of La Malin-
Revised Bibliography
che, Cortés, Huehuenches (“old ones”), Tenanchis (the
grandmothers of the Christ Child), and the figures of the
bull and the deer testify to the importance of the Adamic.
NAKAE TO
¯ JU
In mock bull slayings and deer hunts, the killer/hunter as-
(1608–1648), Japanese Neo-Confucian
sumes a role analogous to that of the serpent who tempts
thinker. To¯ju, often called the Sage of O
¯ mi, was born in
Adam and Eve. The Tenanchis appear during the Christmas-
Ogawa in O
¯ mi Province on Lake Biwa in central Japan.
Candlemas season as enticing, tempting figures suggestive of
With the exception of sixteen years spent in O
¯ zu on the is-
Eve. Huehuenches dance during Carnival, also evoking the
land of Shikoku, he passed his life in Omi engaged in study-
Adamic, but in more sinister fashion: as Herod’s agents they
ing, teaching, and writing. His grandfather, who had adopt-
are enemies of the Christ Child. In some communities the
ed him at the age of nine, took him to Shikoku and
struggle between the forces of good and evil is dramatized
encouraged his early education. After his grandfather’s death,
during local fairs by mock battles between “Christians” and
when To¯ju was fifteen, he attended lectures on the Analects
“Moors.”
by a visiting Zen priest. After this he began serious study of
the Four Books (Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the
The Nahuatl ritual complex thus includes various ves-
Mean, Mencius) and of Zhu Xi’s commentaries on them. In
tiges of the pre-Hispanic pantheon, but its basic armature is
1634, citing as motives his own ill health and his desire to
nonetheless recognizably Catholic: Eve and, through her,
be with his widowed mother, he returned to O
¯ mi. Although
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6404
NAKAYAMA MIKI
some sources indicate that another motive may have been the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
desire to escape political entanglements, most accounts mark
Works by Nakae To¯ju are collected in three sources: To¯ju sensei
this as the beginning of his focus on the virtue of filial piety.
zenshu¯, 5 vols. (Shiga-ken, 1928–1929), edited by the To¯ju
Jinga So¯ritsu Kyo¯sankai; Nakae To¯ju bunshu¯ (Tokyo, 1926),
In 1636 he set up a school called the To¯ju Shoin and
edited by Mukasa San and others; and Nakae To¯ju (Tokyo,
accepted pupils of all classes and backgrounds. The Four
1974), edited by Yamanoi Yu¯ as volume 29 of “Nihon shiso¯
Books and Zhu Xi’s commentaries were the core of the cur-
taikei.” To¯ju thought is the subject of a recent study by Ya-
riculum, but To¯ju wished to avoid the behavioral formalism
mamoto Makoto, Nakae To¯ju no jugaku (Tokyo, 1977).
sometimes associated with the transmission of Zhu Xi’s
New Sources
thought. Instead, he stressed the need to adapt Neo-
Soum, Jean-François. Nakae Tôju (1608–1648) et Kumazawa
Confucianism to time, place, and rank. It was during this pe-
Banzan (1619–1691): Deux Penseurs de l’Epoque d’Edo. Paris,
riod that he studied the Five Classics (History, Odes, Rites,
2002.
Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals). Inspired by them, he
MARY EVELYN TUCKER (1987)
wrote two works on moral cultivation, both in 1638: Jikei
Revised Bibliography
zusetsu (The diagram of holding fast to reverence, explained)
and Genjin (Inquiry into man). In the following year he
wrote Rongo kyoto¯ keimo¯ iden (Resolving obscurities concern-
ing the Hsiang-tang chapter of the Analects), in which he dis-
NAKAYAMA MIKI (1798–1887) was the founder of
cussed the reverential attitude displayed by Confucius in
Tenrikyo¯ (“The Teaching of Divine Wisdom”), which is one
daily activities and in religious rituals.
of Japan’s best known “new religions” (shin shu¯kyo¯), with
over two million members at the beginning of the twenty-
To¯ju had been moved by this aspect of Confucius’s
first century. Miki’s story is important not only for under-
character and wished to return to the religious spirit he saw
standing Tenrikyo¯, but also for understanding what is novel
in Confucius and in the Five Classics. He began to recite
about the many new religious movements that arose and
each morning the Hsiao ching (Classic of filial piety), and he
flourished in Japan since the end of the nineteenth century.
subsequently became increasingly convinced of its profound
implications. In 1641 he wrote Ko¯kyo¯ keimo¯ (The true mean-
The church’s sacred biographies present a sanctified
ing of the classic of filial piety). His other major work, writ-
image of Miki as a shrine of God who was also a divine
ten a year earlier and continually revised until his death, was
model for all who sought salvation. She was born into a
Okina mondo¯ (Dialogues with an old man). Here, in addi-
wealthy farming family in the small village of Sanmaiden in
tion to discussing filiality, To¯ju noted how Confucian moral-
what is now Nara prefecture on April 18, 1798. As a child
ity was essential for the samurai class.
she showed a remarkable generosity of spirit as well as unusu-
al devotion to the nembutsu faith of Pure Land (Jôdo) Bud-
To¯ju has been considered the founder of the Wang
dhism. Miki was a spiritual seeker whose quest for the truth
Yang-ming school in Japan, but it was not until three years
almost led her to become a Buddhist nun.
before his death that he acquired Wang’s complete works.
In 1810, however, her family forced her to marry Zen-
Although deeply affected by them, he had already been ex-
bei Nakayama (1788–1853), the eldest son of the prosperous
posed to the writings of late Ming thinkers such as Wangji,
village chief of Shoyashiki village, now known as Tenri City
who some scholars feel may have had an even stronger influ-
near Nara, Tenrikyo¯’s headquarters. According to Miki’s rev-
ence on him. It is clear that his doubts about Zhu Xi’s
elations, Shoyashiki was also the sacred center where human-
thought arose from his aversion to its formalistic interpreters.
ity was first created (jiba) by God. She was put in charge of
The appeal of the Ming Confucians was their emphasis on
Nakayama family affairs at the age of sixteen. She became
interiority, innate knowledge, universal sagehood, and a reli-
a paragon of virtue through obedience and hard work—the
gious sense of reverence.
“good wife and wise mother” according to the contemporary
To¯ju’s principal religious ideas can be summarized as a
Confucian feminine ideal.
profound reverence for the Supreme Being (jo¯ten), mani-
Nevertheless, Miki endured intense personal suffering.
fested in an optimistic doctrine of moral self-cultivation
Her mother-in-law constantly bullied her, while her husband
based on the innate knowledge of the good. To¯ju taught that
Zenbei led a dissolute life that almost led to her death when
the heart of self-cultivation was filiality, for it was the “root
his lover Okano, the family maid, tried to poison her. In
of the human” and an intricate part of the transformative
1828 yet another tragedy occurred when a neighbor’s child
processes of nature itself. As the dynamic reciprocity between
she was caring for became ill with smallpox. Miki vowed to
all created things, he saw filiality as the basis of social rela-
the gods that she would sacrifice her own life as well as her
tions and as a nurturing principle in the natural order. Thus
children’s to save him. Indeed, two of her own children died
To¯ju’s distinctive religiosity drew on various strains of Con-
after the neighbor’s child miraculously recovered.
fucian and Neo-Confucian thought, and combined a rever-
ent theism, interior cultivation, and filial devotion.
Miki’s turning point occurred on October 23, 1838,
when she was forty years old. Life was uncertain after one
SEE ALSO Confucianism in Japan.
of the worst famines to affect Japan in the nineteenth centu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAKAYAMA MIKI
6405
ry, followed by an unsuccessful political revolt by the samurai
in God the parent (oyagami), who has the power to sweep
O
¯ shio Heihachiro¯. Miki, who was physically and emotional-
away the evil dust. The laughter, songs, and Teodori dance
ly drained after the birth of her last child, Kokan, faced fur-
are concrete realizations of this joy in ritual form. Miki ar-
ther misery when her eldest son Shu¯ji (1821–1881) was af-
dently believed that the entire world could be renewed (yo
flicted with unbearable pain in his left leg. His condition
naoshi) by following her method of salvation. Although her
gradually worsened in spite of consultations with physicians.
son Shu¯ji won official recognition from the Shinto¯ authori-
As a last resort, a mountain ascetic (yamabushi) was called to
ties in 1867, government persecution of Tenrikyo¯ continued
perform an exorcism (yosekaji) on Shu¯ji. The normal proce-
throughout the Meiji period (1868–1912). The Meiji au-
dure for an exorcism required the ascetic to recite incanta-
thorities tried to stamp out “evil religions” in order to pro-
tions that forced the evil spirit to enter a female medium.
mote “enlightenment and progress” (bunmei kaika) through
There it would announce its identity and its reasons for af-
modern rational principles. They also saw Tenrikyo¯, which
flicting the child. In Shu¯ji’s case, however, something ex-
was popular among the peasantry, as a direct threat to Shinto¯
traordinary happened. Because the ascetic’s normal medium
and its nationalistic faith in the emperor. Miki was arrested
was not available, he asked Miki to serve in her stead. When
over eighteen times for her heretical beliefs until her death
Miki went into a trance, however, instead of an evil spirit,
in 1887 at the age of eighty-nine.
an august voice spoke through her, saying, “I am the general
Miki’s biography is significant to contemporary stu-
of heaven. I am the true and original God. . . . I have de-
dents of religion for three reasons. First, it shows the typical
scended from heaven to save all human beings, and I want
features associated with the rise of Japanese new religions.
Miki to be the shrine of God.” Despite initial opposition,
Tenrikyo¯ arose outside the priestly establishment in a time
Miki’s family acceded to the god’s demand, and Miki em-
of social unrest. It is also a syncretic mix of Shinto¯, Buddhist
barked on her career as a living kami (ikigami), or deity. In
and folk religious elements that reflects the religious dyna-
1841 her god, whom she addressed as Tenri-Ô-no-Mikoto,
mism of Japanese religions. Moreover, Miki’s belief system
commanded her to live a life of poverty as the first stage of
is typical in its claim to reveal a previously hidden truth from
her mission to relieve human suffering. She gave the family
a hitherto unknown god for the spiritual benefit of human-
treasures to those in need, even going so far as to tear down
kind and the renewal of the world (yo naoshi).
the Nakayama mansion. After Zenbei died in 1853, she
began to proclaim her new faith by reciting the simple prayer
Second, Tenrikyo¯, like many other new religions, was
Namu Tenri-O
¯ -no-Mikoto (“Honor to the Lord of Divine
founded by a charismatic woman who fit the ancient Japa-
Wisdom”) on the street corners of Osaka. She also began to
nese pattern of the female shamanic medium (miko). Shima-
attract many converts because of her miraculous healing
zono Susumu has noted, however, that Nakayama Miki and
powers, especially her ability to grant a painless passage
other charismatic founders like her displayed a new trait.
through childbirth (obiya yurushi). In 1863 she met Izo¯
Rather than simply filling the traditional role of a spirit me-
Iburi, a master carpenter who became her most devoted dis-
dium as an assistant to a Buddhist ascetic, Miki acted on her
ciple and built the first worship hall on the Nakayama estate.
own behalf throughout her life. After her death, she still con-
Following the roof raising, however, an incident at a local
tinued to serve as a mouthpiece for God through her male
shrine led to Miki’s disciples being arrested for disturbing the
assistant Izo¯. Moreover, the kami who possessed Miki was
peace. This episode began a long period of persecution by
not an ordinary malevolent fox or snake spirit but an all-
the Shinto¯ priests, Buddhist authorities, and local police who
powerful and benevolent parent god. Tenri-O
¯ -no-Mikoto
feared the new religion.
not only created the world and humanity but was also a car-
ing deity promising universal salvation. Miki also differed
From 1866 to 1882, Miki wrote down the two major
from the traditional spirit medium in another respect, ac-
scriptures of Tenrikyo¯ containing the revelations of God, the
cording to Shimazono. As a “shrine of God,” Miki was a ve-
Ofudesaki (The tip of the divine writing brush), and the
hicle for the divine in every aspect of her life, not only when
Mikagura Uta (The songs of the Tsutome service), followed
she was in a trance state. She thus became a model of human
by a third scripture known as Osashizu (Divine instructions).
fellowship with the divine for the faithful to emulate. Found-
Osashizu was written down by Izo¯ as Miki’s spiritual inter-
ers who were living kami like Miki played an important role
mediary after her death. Miki also taught a ritual dance called
in emerging nineteenth-century Japanese religious move-
Teodori, which is still performed as a regular part of Tenrikyo¯
ments.
services.
Third, several scholars have called attention to Miki’s
Miki’s revelations and her sacred dance were intended
special role as a savior of poor and oppressed women. Tradi-
to convey the central doctrines of Tenrikyo¯. Miki believed
tional Buddhist teachings denigrated women as polluted and
that voluntary poverty is necessary to achieve salvation, and
spiritually inferior beings. Tenri-O
¯ -no-Mikoto, however,
that true happiness is found only through consecrated labor
taught that men and women are spiritual equals. Indeed, the
when a devotee acts with no thought of reward. Unhappiness
god’s other names, “parent god” (oyagami) and Sun-Moon
is caused by dust settling on the heart from past evil karma.
(tsuki-hi), convey Miki’s revelation that the sacred is both
A joyful life (yo¯ki gurashi) can be attained by having true faith
male and female. Miki also taught women that childbirth is
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6406
NAMA¯Z
not polluting, but rather a joyful experience protected by
they both participate in the reality named and give definition
God’s power—a controversial teaching given the old restric-
and identity to that reality. That is, name and named exist
tive Japanese customs surrounding childbirth.
in a mutual relationship in which the power of the former
is shared with the being of the latter. Being without name
SEE ALSO Japanese Religions, article on Popular Religion;
has a very marginal status in the world of phenomena. For
New Religious Movements, article on New Religious Move-
example, traditional Christian teaching holds that unbap-
ments and Women; Tenrikyo¯.
tized children who die go to limbo. They have no clearly de-
fined status because they have been given no name by the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
proper ceremonial means. The act of christening during bap-
Ellwood, Robert S. Tenrikyo: A Pilgrimage Faith: The Structure
tism renders a new life human in the religio-cultural sense,
and Meanings of a Modern Japanese Religion. Nara, Japan,
which is more significant than mere biological humanness.
1982.
Similarly, among the Netsilik, in a traditional Inuit (Eskimo)
Gössmann, Elizabeth. Frauen und Neue Religionen: Die Religions-
context, once a female infant had received a name it was ab-
gründerinnen Nakayama Miki und Deguchi Nao. Vienna,
solutely forbidden to kill her, though female children were
1989.
often considered superfluous.
Kasahara Kazuo, ed. A History of Japanese Religion. Tokyo, 2001.
Persons have often been thought to persist after death
Morishita, Saburo Shawn. Teodori: Cosmological Building and So-
cial Consolidation in a Ritual Dance. Rome, 2001.
through the remembrance of their names. In ancient Egypt,
children had the solemn duty to preserve the names of their
Nakayama Miki. Ofudesaki: The Tip of the Writing Brush. 6th ed.
parents through ritual means. The Old Kingdom Pyramid
Tenri, Japan, 1993.
Text of Pharaoh Pepi I refers to his continued existence by
Nakayama Yoshikazu. My Oyasama. 2 vols. Nara, Japan, 1984–
means of the repetition of his name: “Thy name which is on
1986.
earth lives; thy name which is on earth lasts; thou wilt not
Reader, Ian. Religion in Contemporary Japan. Honolulu, 1991.
disappear; thou wilt not be destroyed in all eternity” (cited
Shimazono Susumu. “The Living Kami Idea in the New Religions
by Henri Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, Chicago, 1948,
of Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 6 (1979):
p. 113).
389–409.
Not only humans, whether of high or low degree, but
Shimazono Susumu. “Charisma and the Evolution of Religious
also gods exist and express their power, presence, and will by
Consciousness: The Rise of the Early New Religions of
Japan.” Annual Review of the Social Sciences of Religions 6
means of their names. In ancient Israel, God was believed to
(1982): 153–176.
dwell in his Temple through his name (shem), while he him-
self dwelt in heaven. That is, by his name, YHVH (probably
Van Straelen, Henry. The Religion of Divine Wisdom: Japan’s Most
then pronounced as Yahveh), God resided in revealed form
Powerful Religious Movement. Tokyo, 1954.
among his creatures. In this case, Yahveh’s inner being was
Yamashita Akiko. “Tenrin-O
¯ and Henjo¯-nansi: Two Women
not coterminous with his name; but his power, will, and
Founders of New Religions.” Japanese Religions 16 (1990):
presence were made manifest in his sanctuary through it. Is-
1–23.
lamic belief holds that Alla¯h likes to be called upon by his
MARK W. MACWILLIAMS (2005)
names, which provide vehicles for communication and even
union between Alla¯h and his human servants. In Hinduism,
the mention of a god’s name has soteriological value. One
NAMA¯Z
view even holds that the name of God is greater than its refer-
SEE S:ALA¯T
ent, because sound (sphot:a) is absolute. But not all traditions
have a name for God, nor is it always considered proper, be-
cause of their holiness, to utter those names that are associat-
NAMES AND NAMING activities are central to
ed with divinity.
human symbolic and communicative processes. To be
NAMES OF GODS AND OTHER SACRED ENTITIES. It is com-
human is to name, and be named, and thereby to possess full
mon to nearly all religious practices that in order to commu-
being and the ability to relate to the world in meaningful
nicate with a deity one must know its name. Knowledge of
ways. In the Bible, God is said to have brought all the newly
a divine name gives the knower both power and an avenue
created animals to the first human, “to see what he would
of communication with its source. This intimate relationship
call them” (Gn. 2:19). In all human communities there is
between knowing a name and participating in its power has
thought to be a close relationship between the name of a per-
both religious and magical aspects.
son or other phenomenon and its character, status, and very
Ancient Israel and Judaism. Moses asked the voice
being.
from the burning bush, identified as “the god of your fa-
Names often have a mysterious quality, whether they
thers,” what his name was, and was answered “I am” (ehyeh),
refer to sacred beings of a transcendent nature or to humans
which, in a different Hebrew grammatical form, is rendered
and other concrete entities. There is power in names, because
Yahveh (approximately, “He causes to be”; Ex. 3:13–14). In
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAMES AND NAMING
6407
keeping with this most mysterious and potent of God’s
Islam. In characteristic Abrahamic fashion, the religion
names in the Hebrew tradition is the conviction that God’s
of Muh:ammad and the QurDa¯n places heavy emphasis on the
names are, generally speaking, according to his acts. Causing
name of God. All utterances, written or spoken, should be
to be is the greatest of acts and thus the name Yahveh is the
prefaced by the phrase “In the name of Alla¯h, the merciful,
most sublime name. Yahveh, as name and as theological con-
the compassionate” (Arab., “Bismilla¯h al-rah:ma¯n al-rah:¯ım”).
cept, affirms both God’s eternal reality and his reliable pres-
The word Alla¯h is probably an archaic contraction of the Ar-
ence with his covenant people, Israel.
abic definite article al- and Eila¯h, “deity” (cf. Heb. el, eloh,
There are many names for God in the Hebrew scrip-
“god”). Alla¯h, “the god,” or God, was central in the pre-
tures; some of them appear to be very archaic, and some were
Islamic pantheon but as the highest and not the sole divinity.
shared by other Semitic peoples in antiquity. Other names
The ancient Arabs believed that Alla¯h had three daughters,
came into being during the long covenant history of Israel,
but this as well as other views of Alla¯h’s relatedness and con-
both through contact with neighboring peoples and through
tingency were swept away by the prophetic activity of
the deepening insights of Hebrew prophets and poets. Baal
Muh:ammad and the message of the QurDa¯n. The Islamic
(“lord”), a term common to Canaanite religion and Hebrew
scripture emphasizes Alla¯h’s incomparable uniqueness. It
faith, came to be associated with Yahveh for a time, only to
also provides many names and titles of Alla¯h, sometimes out-
be repudiated later. Adon, which also means “lord,” did not
right but often in the sense of derivations of divine attributes
earn the opprobrium of Baal and continues to the present
and activities (e.g., Knower, Provider, Relenting). Later Islam
to be an honorific substitution for Yahveh, the name that
developed out of the QurDa¯n a list of the “most beautiful
postexilic Jews considered too holy to utter. Adonai (“my
names of Alla¯h ” (al-asma D, al-h:usna¯), which are traditionally
lord”) came to be a potent religious term because of its refer-
believed to number ninety-nine. The names are recited by
ent, whose real name was different. Here sacred names can
Muslims, often with the aid of a string of beads called a
be seen operating on different levels, with one gracious name
subh:a. Each name has a particular power and should be recit-
serving as a protective shield for another, more sacred name.
ed according to the spiritual station of the seeker.
Certain other divine titles and names emerged from Israel’s
cumulative experiences and convictions: political ones mean-
In addition to Alla¯h, two other names figure prominent-
ing “king,” “judge,” “shepherd”; kinship terms meaning “fa-
ly in the QurDa¯n. The first is Rabb (“lord”), a term that occurs
ther,” “brother,” “kinsman”; and metaphors from nature
most frequently in passages containing material about Jews
with such meanings as “rock.”
and Christians. The message of Alla¯h’s uniqueness and sover-
Christianity. The New Testament community inherit-
eignty is often declared with the use of Rabb, beginning with
ed most of the Israelite names and convictions associated
what is commonly considered to be the first passage to have
with God but never developed the strong sense of taboo con-
been revealed: “Recite: In the name of thy Lord [rabbika],
nected with the holiest name, Yahveh. Jesus took the Hebrew
who created man of a blood clot” (surah 96:1–2). The sec-
name of God as “father” but rendered it in the familiar form
ond frequent QurDanic name besides Alla¯h is al-Rah:ma¯n
Abba (“daddy”), which astonished people because it is ordi-
(“the merciful”), which is the same as the old South Arabian
narily used only between an actual begotten child and its fa-
Jewish name for God. The QurDa¯n commands the believers
ther. Father has remained the most characteristic Christian
to “call upon Alla¯h, or call upon al-Rah:ma¯n; whichsoever
appellation for God, used especially when the speaker draws
you call upon, to him belong the names most beautiful”
near to him in prayer, worship, and praise. All other names
(17:110).
for God, whether inherited from the biblical tradition of the
Muslims have never observed a taboo respecting the
Jews or generated within the Christian movement, have been
name of God. Instead, they have preferred to utter their
tempered by the intimate personal dimension that Jesus em-
praises with as many divine names and attributes as possible,
phasized.
following the QurDanic command: “O believers, remember
The Christians accepted the older Hebraic custom of
God oft [by means of dhikr, ”mentioning“ his names], and
speaking or acting “in the name of” someone, whether God
give him glory at the dawn and in the evening” (33:41).
or a human, as a representative or witness. The New Testa-
ment sometimes uses the names of God and Jesus almost in-
Sikhism. The Indian combination of devotional Hindu
terchangeably as the ultimate divine authority, while never
and S:u¯f¯ı Islamic doctrines founded by Guru¯ Na¯nak
suggesting directly that Jesus is other than the mediator be-
(d. 1539) emphasizes the magnification of God by his name
tween God and humankind, and not to be worshiped him-
in a special form of devotion known as na¯m ma¯rga (“the path
self. The identification between Father and Son, however,
of the name”). A variety of names for God are recognized and
becomes almost total in later christological developments,
uttered by Sikhs, including both Muslim and Hindu ones,
when Christians came increasingly to conceive of God in
but the most common is Sat Na¯m (“the true name”). Al-
terms of Jesus’ incarnation. “At the name of Jesus, every knee
though Sikhs believe that it is beyond humankind’s capacity
should bow” (Phil. 2:10) is one way in which the New Testa-
to describe and define God, people can become purified and
ment expresses the exalted nature of Christ, whose name is
free of their egos by means of the veneration of his names,
holy.
with intelligent awareness and detachment from the world.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6408
NAMES AND NAMING
Hinduism. There is a persistent conviction within the
continuously, as many as seventy thousand times in one day.
rich and complex Hindu worldview that the mysterious, un-
Shinran (1173–1262), who followed his master Ho¯nen in
knowable ultimate reality, brahman (which literally means
nembutsu, considered a single recitation of the ritual invoca-
“expansion, swelling, growth”), transcends and undergirds
tion, “with faith,” as sufficient for salvation. In Japan, the
all. Brahman is the holiest of beings, the most real being, and
name is a key dimension, whereas in China and India, invok-
the source and goal of all being. Hindus have developed
ing the name of Amita¯bha Buddha has been associated with
highly abstract pantheistic and theistic philosophical doc-
the less central contemplation of the gigantic features of the
trines of brahman. At bottom, the name brahman means
Buddha’s cosmic body.
“prayer,” in the sense of sacred utterance, so that by speaking
The Lotus Su¯tra. Another ritual naming practice in
the word one participates in its reality as power and speech.
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism is the invocation of the Lotus Su¯tra, a
The believer is able to meditate on divine themes by means
major book in the Buddhist canon that became a central
of mantras, special patterns and techniques of oral utterance
scripture of Tendai Buddhism in China and Japan. Nichiren
that center on the name of a deity, or on a sacred syllable
(1232–1282), a Japanese seeker who studied Tendai, Zen,
or sound. A mantra is not limited to divine names as words
and Pure Land Buddhism, concluded his spiritual training
only but may be rooted in the whole realm of sound and
with the discovery that enlightenment could be achieved by
breath. Mantras are recited under the guidance of a guru, or
anyone who has sincere faith in the teaching of the Lotus
preceptor, who knows the correct pronunciation of the for-
Su¯tra. This faith was then to be expressed in the formula
mulas and other aspects of ritual performance, such as pos-
“Namu Myo¯ho¯rengekyo¯” (“Homage to the Su¯tra of the Lotus
ture and breath control.
of the Wonderful Law”). Implicit in this Japanese statement
It is of the utmost importance in Hinduism that the cor-
of affirmation is the sense of humble submission to the
rect name for a deity be used, depending on the purpose and
power of what is named, which is also somehow the name
status of the worshiper. The many named divinities of Hin-
itself. Nichiren chanted the name of the Lotus Su¯tra to the
duism, although never universally regarded as belonging to
accompaniment of a drum.
a single system, nevertheless can be identified as components
China. The Chinese have traditionally stressed the im-
of a comprehensive and balanced worldview, with prominent
portance of names, whether in the Confucian doctrine of the
social and cultural dimensions.
“rectification of names,” a philosophy of balance, propriety,
The invocation of names of gods is especially prominent
and equity in the universe, or at the practical level of naming
in devotional (bhakti) Hinduism. Singing and recitation of
gods, humans, and other beings. Confucianism has always
the divine names, especially that of Kr:s:n:a, is believed to
emphasized the veneration of ancestors, but the Way of
bring release (moks:a) from the round of rebirth (sam:sa¯ra).
Heaven (t Eien-dao) has traditionally been ultimate. T Eien
Some Hindus meet regularly to perform na¯ma vali, a “neck-
(“heaven”) is sometimes a name for the impersonal sky that
lace of names” in which an emotionally charged congrega-
overarches all things; at other times t Eien has taken on a
tion and its leader sing the name of a deity, beginning slowly,
somewhat more personal meaning, as the divine ruler of
and building up to a spirited climax. The Pura¯n:as contain
events on earth. A variant is shang-ti (“supreme ruler,” or
much on name praise, such as the following passage: “Hari’s
God). But t Eien, even when it means “deity,” is subordinate
Name, Hari’s Name, and Hari’s Name alone is my vocation.
to dao, the universally acknowledged ultimate reality in Chi-
In the Kali age there is no other, no other, indeed no other
nese religious thought. Dao cannot be named, nor can it be
course [for moks:a]” (cited in Singer, 1966, pp. 143–144).
translated. To characterize the term as the impersonal, cre-
ative, and regulating power of the universe is to approach its
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism. Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism places
essence, which in any case is mysterious and transcendent.
considerable emphasis upon the soteriological efficacy of in-
But, paradoxically, dao is also immanent and natural. Lao-
voking the Buddha’s name. The Pure Land schools of East
tzu’s classic treatise, Dao-te ching, opens: “The way [dao] that
Asia stress faith in Amita¯bha (called Amida in Japan), focus-
can be spoken of is not the constant way; the name that can
ing on the simple ritual of reciting the name of the Buddha
be named is not the constant name. The nameless was the
in order to be saved and enter paradise.
beginning of heaven and earth; the named was the mother
Nembutsu. The devout repetition of the phrase “Namu
of the myriad creatures” (trans. D. C. Lau, Baltimore, 1963).
Amida Butsu” (“Homage to Amida Buddha”) is believed to
Nonliterate and archaic traditions. The appellations
deliver one from sins and, if uttered on the threshold of
for divinity and humankind alike among nonliterate peoples
death, will effect one’s rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida.
are often extremely varied and complex. Names and naming
There are different schools of the ritual remembrance of the
are frequently surrounded by taboos and employed only with
Buddha’s name, called nembutsu in Japanese and nien-fo in
specified ritual procedures, including considerations of sta-
Chinese. The Japanese monk Ho¯nen (1133–1212) taught
tus, relationship, season, age, place, and power.
that one should repeat the name of Amida with faith, a prac-
tice open to practically anyone, not requiring long appren-
Australia. Among the Aborigines of southeastern Aus-
ticeship in meditation. Ho¯nen and some of his disciples in-
tralia, before Europeans arrived, there was a fully developed
sisted that the nembutsu formula should be repeated
belief in a “high god,” as scholars have named the category
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAMES AND NAMING
6409
of supreme being in archaic religion. In Australia, the high
Usener’s thesis that momentary and functional gods gave rise
god’s names, myths, activities, and associated rituals were
to more pervasive, overarching gods, and finally to God, has
closely guarded secrets, known only to the initiated males of
not fared well in recent times, although his researches still
high status. Baiame is one of the names for the Australian
provide a detailed review of the naming systems employed
high god, who is believed to have created the world, given
by the ancient Romans.
moral laws, and established the initiation rites by means of
HUMAN NAMES AND NAMING PROCESSES. Human names
which humans attain their full being and come into contact
and naming practices are often as important ritually and
with ultimate reality. The Australian high god is a sky divini-
symbolically as those connected with deities. For example,
ty who performed his greatest labors at the beginning of
in ancient Egypt, the name of a god, person, or object was
things, but who nevertheless continues to live and have influ-
equivalent to its inner being; without ren, “name,” there was
ence. Baiame, Daramulun, Nurunderi, Bunjil, and Biral are
no existence. In the case of humans, ren came to be equal
some of the names for the “sky-hero,” as A. P. Elkin (1954)
in importance to the ka, the individual’s “spirit” or “vital
calls the Australian high god. The secret name of this deity
force.” Likewise, in traditional China the name and its owner
was divulged during initiation rites, when his voice was heard
were identical. In Confucian ancestral rites, the deceased had
in the sound of the bull-roarer.
a “spirit tablet” or a gravestone engraved with his or her
Africa. Celestial supreme beings are also known in tradi-
name. If the name were omitted or effaced, then there was
tional African religions. Some are distant and uninvolved in
thought to be no spirit in the grave, and the person utterly
human affairs, as in Australia. But others are active and en-
ceased to exist. Similar ideas, with different specific rites and
gaged in the world, especially on the moral plane. The Yoru-
behavior patterns, can be found in other traditions (e.g., in
ba believe in a high god called O:lo:run (“lord of the sky”).
Africa, Oceania, and the Americas).
O:lo:run is not directly involved in historical existence, but
Judaism. Jews have traditionally employed biblical
rules through intermediaries. Among the Dinka, on the
names, which in turn were derived from many sources: kin-
other hand, Nhialac, whose name means “above,” is honored
ship (e.g., Yehoshu Ea ben Nun, “Joshua the son of Nun”), an-
as both creator and sustainer of the world. The Dinka tend
imals (e.g., Rah:el or Rachel, “ewe”), plants (e.g., Tamar,
to identify all other gods and sacred forces with Nhialac, who
“palm”), personal characteristics (e.g., Esav or Esau, “hairy”),
thus becomes a sort of only god, in the monotheistic sense,
circumstances of birth (e.g., Ya Eaqov or Jacob, “he who takes
as well as supreme being. The Nuer have no special name
by the heel”), and relationship to God (e.g., EOvadyah or
for God, but simply use the term kwoth (“spirit”), together
Obadiah, “servant of Yahveh”). In biblical times, the He-
with appropriate qualifying words or clauses.
brews practiced name changing because of status changes or
special circumstances and experiences. YaEaqov’s (Jacob’s)
Ancient Egypt. The celestial type of deity is clearly dis-
name was changed to Yisra Eel (Israel, “let God contend” or
cernible in ancient Egyptian religion, where the pharaoh was
“he who strives with God”) after his struggle with the angel
believed to be the divine embodiment of Horus, the falcon
(Gn. 32:29). Avram’s (Abram’s) name was changed to
god, and Re, the sun god. Celestial names and attributes are
Avraham (Abraham) and Sarai’s to Sarah when they were
always reserved for royalty in such traditions as that of Egypt,
commissioned with their auspicious roles as parents of multi-
in which the close relationship, even identification, of the di-
tudes (Gn. 17:5, 17:15). Jews have also adopted foreign
vine and human realms is bound up with rule and cosmic
names in certain periods. In medieval Europe, they adopted
order. Ancient Egyptian sources indicate a great concern for
both sacred and secular names, a practice that endures.
names and their power. The most powerful name for a god
was his or her unknown name, as is evident in the famous
Christianity. Christians have sometimes insisted on
story of how Isis tricked the supreme god Re into revealing
specifically Christian names for their children, but they have
his secret name, which resulted in the goddess’s appropria-
often also adopted names current in the countries where they
tion of his power. Name magic became highly developed in
have lived. Where Christians have constituted a minority, for
ancient Egypt, especially with respect to deities, who exer-
example in Islamic regions, “Christian” names (like Peter,
cised direct power over humans for good or ill.
George, Paul, Mark, and Thomas) have been important fac-
tors in preserving religious and social identity. Although it
Ancient Rome. The naming of deities in Roman times
has rarely been required that children take biblical names, it
was a highly complex and carefully regulated affair. The Ro-
has often been done. More common has been the practice
mans kept long lists of divinities, both known and unknown;
of giving a child the name of a saint. Persons entering holy
and they also preserved secret lists of divine names. Hermann
orders or elevated to high ecclesiastical office have also taken
Usener wrote a celebrated book called Götternamen (Names
saints’ names. During the Reformation, Protestants began
of Gods; 1896) in which he argued that the Romans distin-
using Old Testament names for their children, to distinguish
guished both “momentary” and “functional” deities, who re-
themselves from Roman Catholics. The Council of Trent de-
ceived names according to their times and kinds of activities.
creed that all baptized infants must be given a saint’s name.
Every time, place, thing, and event had its own deity, accord-
ing to this theory, and the myriad deities that inevitably re-
Islam. The conversion to Islam is accompanied by a
sulted from such a view were arranged hierarchically.
change of name. Muslim names are partly based on ancient
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6410
NAMES AND NAMING
Arabic or other (Persian, Turkish, or Indian) usages, partly
the birthday, mawlid, of the Prophet). If the child is the re-
upon the sayings of Muh:ammad reported in the body of tra-
sult of a special prayer he may be given the name Nabi-
ditions known as h:ad¯ıth. Muh:ammad taught that the best
Bakhsh (“gift of the Prophet”), Da¯d- EAl¯ı (“Ali’s gift”), or
names are EAbd Alla¯h (“God’s servant”) and EAbd ar-Rah:ma¯n
Ghauth-Bakhsh (“given by Ghauth,” i.e., EAbd al-Qa¯dir
(“servant of the merciful”). From this basis, the use of Eabd
J¯ıla¯na¯). Often, especially in India, the QurDa¯n is opened and
with any of the ninety-nine “most beautiful names” of God
the first meaningful word found is taken for a name. Family
became very common. The name Muh:ammad and its paral-
names were long unknown in some parts of the Muslim
lels are widely used for males, for according to tradition every
world, or have only recently been introduced, as in Turkey;
man with the name of Muh:ammad will go to paradise. The
in such cases the nisbah or the laqab may develop into a fami-
Muslims developed a list of ninety-nine names of the Proph-
ly name.
et (asma¯ D shar¯ıfah) to parallel the ninety-nine names of God.
Hinduism. Hindu names are extremely varied and nu-
Among them are Ah:mad (“most praised”), Ta¯ha¯ (the first
merous. They often include the names of deities, as in Deva-
word of surah 20), Mudaththir (“wrapped,” the opening
datta (“given by God”). A Hindu name should reflect the
word of surah 74), Mun¯ır (“radiant,” surah 33:45), and so
bearer’s place within the caste hierarchy. Sometimes a secret
forth. Also popular are the names of the Prophet’s family and
name is given to a boy and will remain as part of what sur-
his companions, although in Sh¯ıE¯ı circles one will never find
vives of him after his death. A close relationship exists be-
the names of the first three caliphs or of EA¯Dishah but will very
tween name and personality, and so one’s name must be
frequently find those of Fa¯t:imah and the imams, from EAl¯ı
guarded and respected. A traditional Hindu wife never calls
to Taq¯ı or Rid:a¯. Names of the QurDanic prophets are widely
out the name of her husband or utters it to others, nor will
used, including those of Mu¯sa¯ (Moses) and E¯Isa¯ (Jesus).
her husband use her name aloud. The more names a person
Traditionally, a Muslim name has several different
has, the more secure he or she is from evil and harm. A
parts, among them the ism, the nisbah, and the kun-yah. The
change of name occurs when status is altered, as when a per-
ism is the religious name, like those mentioned above. The
son becomes a ruler or is recognized as a great spiritual leader.
nisbah shows the relation to one’s birthplace, tribe, or line
The ritual of name giving is an important family event,
of thought; in Arabic, it ends in ¯ı, as in Makk¯ı (“from
requiring new clothes, an auspicious spatial orientation for
Mecca”), Thaqaf¯ı (“from the Thaq¯ıf tribe”), and H:anaf¯ı
the ceremony, the bestowing of a consecrated gold object on
(“belonging to the H:anaf¯ı school of law”). The kunyah indi-
the child, and anointing. The name is selected by a family
cates the relation of a parent to a child; either Abu¯ (“father
priest or astrologer. Careful attention is given to the number
of”) or Umm (“mother of”) is given to a firstborn child, as
of syllables in the selected name (an even number for boys,
in Abu¯ EAl¯ı, or is used in a more general sense, as in Abu¯
odd for girls), its source, and other similar matters.
al-Fawa¯ris (“father of the riders”). The kunyah is the name
of honor by which one ought to be addressed.
China. There is an intimate relationship in Chinese tra-
dition between a person’s name and his essential being. After
A Muslim name is often complemented by a laqab, a
a person’s death, if no spirit tablet is attached to the grave,
nickname pointing to some special quality, as in al-A Eraj
there is no continuing inhabitant of the grave in the sense
(“the lame one”). Often, composites with al-d¯ın (“of the reli-
of a distinct personality. The spirit tablet, or “soul silk,” is
gion”) are added to the ism, as in Jalal al-D¯ın (“majesty of
inscribed with the taboo name of the deceased and receives
religion”). To people in political positions compounds with
the prayers and veneration of his family. Although names are
al-dawlah (“of the state”) may be given as honorific titles, as
maintained for generations, the real name of the deceased is
in Sayf al-Dawlah (“sword of the state”). Rulers surrounded
never uttered aloud; rather, another name or title is used.
themselves with long chains of honorific names, the central
This applies also to living persons, who are commonly re-
one pointing to their relation with God, as in al-Mutawakkil
E
ferred to by inferior names, which are often apotropaic, con-
ala¯ Alla¯h (“who trusts in God”). Male children were some-
sidered capable of warding off evil because of their unattrac-
times given repellent names to avert the evil eye, but slaves
tive associations. A demon is unlikely to take an interest in
were often given such delightful names as Marja¯n (“coral”)
a child with a name meaning “stupid dog” or “sweet potato.”
and Ka¯fu¯r (“camphor”).
Inferior names are known in other cultures, too, such as
Non-Arab Muslims traditionally continued using their
those of Africa and of ancient Greece. Paired with the inferi-
inherited names, complemented by Muslim names; in coun-
or name is a “fate name” (ta ming), which bears an auspicious
tries under Persian cultural influence, such as Turkey and
meaning (prosperity, happiness, success). The fate name is
India, Persian names were often used among the upper class-
also never uttered. In traditional China, each name was
es. Indo-Pakistan has produced unusually colorful names,
thought to require an adequate portion of each of the five
which are often incompatible with Arabic grammar.
elements of the universe, which were symbolized by certain
Chinese characters. The precise determination of a new
Names are often given by an elder member of the family
name was made by consulting the horoscope.
or a venerated master. If a child is born on an auspicious day
or in a sacred month, he or she may be named accordingly:
The naming of persons, especially males, has been a
by Ramad:a¯n, for instance, or Mawlid¯ıyah (for a girl born on
complex matter in China. The “milk name,” given a month
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAMES AND NAMING
6411
after birth, remains with the person for life. It is used by rela-
fought his first enemy. The tribal name was based on the out-
tives and others close to the person. Additional names in-
come of that fateful experience and he bore it for life, wheth-
clude a “book name,” bestowed upon starting school; a
er it reflected honor or dishonor. If a person earned an un-
“great name,” received at marriage; a name to be used by
flattering name because of his first battle, he could possibly
friends outside the family circle; a “studio name,” for schol-
redeem himself through later exploits and then be awarded
ars; and a posthumous, or taboo, name, inscribed on the spir-
a meritorious name by the tribe. An individual might earn
it tablet. Females receive fewer names than males, but they,
as many as a dozen names during his lifetime, all of which
too, have a milk name, a surname, a marriage name, and
were his exclusive possessions, forbidden to others. It has also
nicknames.
been traditional among Native Americans not to divulge
their own names when asked. Someone else must utter the
Chinese emperors had many names, some connected
name, because it would be boastful as well as inauspicious
with their years of rule and any favorable factors connected
to speak one’s own name aloud. In many Native American
with them. A ruler’s personal name was taboo during his life-
cultures, names were drawn from the totemic and animal
time. At the domestic level, a child was forbidden to utter
worlds, as well as from incidents in life. Names of deities
the name of his father, and wives avoided using their hus-
were rarely used in connection with human names.
bands’ names, as in India.
Nonliterate traditions. The use of secret names has
SEE ALSO Attributes of God; Dhikr; God; Nianfo; Supreme
been widespread among otherwise very distinct and dis-
Beings.
persed cultures. In Aboriginal Australia, name taboos were
associated with secret rituals featuring the names of sacred
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and totemic beings. A person’s secret name was never uttered
The articles collected under the general title “Names” in the Ency-
beyond the ritual setting, when the tjurunga was being exam-
clopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings,
ined, and it was not known beyond the circle of initiated
vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1917), continue to be useful, although
males of his local totem group. Even when the secret name
not all of them provide much information on the religious
was spoken, it was whispered, lest an enemy learn it and work
and magical significance of names. A balanced and informa-
evil magic by it. The secret name among Aboriginals repre-
tive collection of interpretive articles on several traditions is
sented the real self, linked with the past, present, and future
Der Name Gottes, edited by Heinrich von Stietencron (Düs-
in the timeless Dreaming.
seldorf, 1975). There are a number of penetrating observa-
tions on the religious dimensions of names in volume 1 of
Among the Inuit (Eskimo) of North America, the Net-
Gerardus van der Leeuw’s Religion in Essence and Manifesta-
silik distinguished between a personal soul and a name soul.
tion (1938; Gloucester, Mass., 1967), pp. 148–149, 152,
The former was the source of health and energy but was vul-
155–170, 184, 198–199, 287, 422.
nerable to attacks by evil spirits and wicked shamans. A name
Names from Hebrew scriptures have received much attention in
soul was an actual name, with life and power of its own, and
modern scholarship. A suggestive historical and cultural sur-
it could protect the person who bore it. Therefore, people
vey is contained in Johannes Pedersen’s Israel: Its Life and
acquired as many names as possible, because they served as
Culture (1926–1947; Oxford, 1959), pp. 245–259. Philo-
guardians. Males and females bore names without regard to
logical and theological analyses are considered in Edmund
sex, and the names often came from nonhuman categories
Jacob’s Theology of the Old Testament (New York, 1958), in
such as animals, natural objects, and activities. Hunters liked
which see especially pages 43–63 and 82–85. The articles
to have additional names for greater strength, and women
“God, Names of,” by Bernhard W. Anderson, and “Name,”
by Raymond Abba, in the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible,
obtained them in order to have healthier children. When giv-
4 vols. (Nashville, 1962), are thorough, technical summaries
ing birth, a mother would often call out various names; if the
with good bibliographies. They treat both Old and New Tes-
birth was made easier after the mention of a particular name,
taments. A more specialized study is Vincent Taylor’s The
then it was believed that a name soul had already entered the
Names of Jesus (New York, 1953).
baby’s body, and that would be its name.
Arabic and Islamic names and titles are defined and explained in
In Native American cultures, names were thought to
the erudite but accessible article “Names (Arabic),” by David
shape and influence the personalities and characters of indi-
S. Margoliouth, in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,
viduals. Names might serve as an ideal or goal if they were
vol. 9. The “most beautiful names” of Alla¯h are listed and
auspicious or represented some virtue. Or names were given
discussed under their QurDanic Arabic title, “Al-asma¯D
that reflected failings and character flaws. It was common for
al-h:usna¯,” by Louis Gardet, in The Encyclopaedia of Islam,
a person to earn a series of names during his lifetime. Among
new ed. (Leiden, 1960–). Other relevant articles in the new
edition include “Ism,” “Kunya,” and “Lak:ab,” which contain
the Blackfeet, a man normally had at least three names: he
valuable material for further study of Islamic nomenclature
received the first at birth and used it until he went to war
and titulature, especially the comprehensive entry “Lakab.”
for the first time. The second was a nickname given to him
August Fischer’s “Vergöttlichung und Tabuisierung der
in boyhood by his playmates. It was often unflattering and
Namen Muh:ammads,” in Studien zur Arabistik, Semitistik
would sometimes remain attached to its bearer for life. The
und Islam-kunde, edited by Richard Hartmann and Helmuth
third was the tribal name, bestowed after the young man had
Scheel (Leipzig, 1943), provides a good survey of the use of
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6412
NA¯NAK
the name Muh:ammad and the changes introduced in its pro-
don, 1960), in which see especially chapter 28. Inuit naming
nunciation so that its purity would not be compromised by
is described in Asen Balikci’s The Netsilik Eskimo (New York,
too frequent use. See also Annemarie Schimmel’s And Mu-
1970), pp. 199–200. American Indian naming practices are
hammad Is His Messenger (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1985), chapter
discussed in original sources collected by Sam D. Gill in his
5, for the names of the Prophet and their application.
Native American Traditions: Sources and Interpretations (Bel-
The vast field of Hindu names has not been studied as much as
mont, Calif., 1983), pp. 82–90.
it deserves. A good brief survey is found under the entry
FREDERICK MATHEWSON DENNY (1987)
“Names” in Benjamin Walker’s The Hindu World: An Ency-
clopedic Survey of Hinduism, vol. 2 (New York, 1968),
pp. 116–121. See also the article “Na¯man,” in Margaret
Stutley and James Stutley’s A Dictionary of Hinduism (Lon-
NA¯NAK, Guru¯ (1469–1539), was the founder of the Sikh
don, 1977), pp. 201–203. There are highly significant data
religion and the first of a succession of ten guru¯s or spiritual
and discussions pertaining to name veneration in bhakti Hin-
prophets.
duism in the articles by Milton Singer and T. K. Ven-
LIFE. Born in 1469, in Talwandi, a small village in northern
kateswaran in Krishna: Myths, Rites, and Attitudes, edited by
India (now in Pakistan), Na¯nak grew up in a religiously di-
Milton Singer (Chicago, 1966), pp. 91, 143–144, 166, 169,
verse atmosphere. A plurality of Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist,
170. Most of the article “Names (Indo-European),” by Louis
H. Gray, in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 9,
and Jain philosophies and practices circulated in the Punjab
deals with Hindu sources and examples.
of his time. During Na¯nak’s lifetime Babur defeated the Lodi
dynasty in the Battle of Panipat (1526) and established the
For the significance of the Buddha’s name in Maha¯ya¯na Bud-
Mughal Empire. Na¯nak was born into a Bedi family of
dhism, see Hajime Nakamura’s Ways of Thinking of Eastern
Peoples (Honolulu, 1964), pp. 444, 461, 558–559, 566–567.
ks:atriya Hindus. His father, Kalyan Chand, worked as an ac-
Original texts in translation can be found in The Buddhist
countant for the local Muslim landlord. His mother, Tripta,
Tradition in India, China and Japan, edited by William The-
was a pious woman. The parents named him after their older
odore de Bary, Yoshito S. Hakeda, and Philip B. Yampolski
daughter Na¯naki. The love and understanding Na¯nak re-
(New York, 1969), pp. 345–348, and in The Buddhist Expe-
ceived from his sister during his formative years were vital
rience: Sources and Interpretations, translated and edited by
to his consciousness. Later he went to live with Na¯naki and
Stephan Beyer (Encino, Calif., 1974), p. 124.
her husband Jairam in Sultanpur and worked at the local
Chinese traditional naming is surveyed in the absorbing entry
grocery shop. He married Sulakhni, and they had two sons,
“Names,” in J. Dyer Ball’s Things Chinese, or Notes Connected
Sri Chand (b. 1494) and Lakhmi Das (b. 1497).
with China, 5th ed., revised by E. Chalmers Werner (1926;
In Sultanpur, Na¯nak had a revelation of the oneness of
Detroit, 1971), pp. 413–418. See also Ball’s article “Names
reality. With his proclamation, “There is no Hindu; there is
(Chinese),” in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol.
9. The religious and magical aspects of names are surveyed,
no Musalman,” Na¯nak began his religious mission. Thereaf-
with generous quotation from original sources, in the classic
ter for twenty-four years he traveled throughout India and
of J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, 6 vols.
beyond spreading his message of divine unity. During most
(1892–1910; Taipei, 1974), especially the chapters in vol-
of his travels, his Muslim companion Mardana played on the
ume 6, book 2, part 4, “The War against Spectres” and “Use
rebec, while Guru¯ Na¯nak sang songs of intense love address-
and Disuse of Names,” pp. 1109–1142. The role of the
ing the ultimate One in everyday Punjabi. The direct and
name in the veneration of ancestors is described in Laurence
simple style of Guru¯ Na¯nak’s teaching drew people from dif-
G. Thompson’s Chinese Religion: An Introduction, 3d ed.
ferent religious and social backgrounds. Those who accepted
(Belmont, Calif., 1979), pp. 48, 52.
him as their “guru¯” and followed his teachings came to be
A classification of types and uses of names was attempted by
known as Sikhs, a Punjabi word that means “disciple” or
George B. Foucart in his article “Names (Primitive),” in the
“seeker” (Sanskrit, ´sis:ya; Pali, sikha).
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 9. Much research on
names has appeared since in the anthropological literature.
At the end of his travels, Guru¯ Na¯nak settled in Kartar-
See, for example, Claude Lévi-Strauss’s stimulating analysis
pur, a village he founded by the river Ravi. A community of
of primitive naming in his The Savage Mind (London, 1966),
disciples grew around him here. Engaged in ordinary occupa-
pp. 172–216. See also the collection of papers titled Naming
tions of life, they denied monastic practices and affirmed a
Systems, 1980 Proceedings of the American Ethnological So-
new sense of family. Their pattern of seva¯ (voluntary service),
ciety, edited by Elisabeth Tooker (Washington, D.C., 1984).
langar (cooking and eating irrespective of caste, religion, or
Australian name taboos are described in A. P. Elkin’s book The
sex), and sangat (congregation) created the blueprint for Sikh
Australian Aborigines, 3d ed. (Sydney, 1954), pp. 129–130,
doctrine and practice. In his own lifetime Na¯nak appointed
and in Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen’s classic, The Native
his disciple Lahina as his successor, renaming him Angad
Tribes of Central Australia (1899; London, 1938), p. 139.
(my limb). Guru¯ Na¯nak died in Kartarpur in 1539.
Names and naming in selected African contexts are treated
in Benjamin C. Ray’s African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and
Though there is little historical documentation dating
Community (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1976). Ancient Egyp-
from Na¯nak’s lifetime, his own hymns in the Guru¯ Granth
tian texts in which names are featured have been translated
have survived. He is vividly remembered in the janamsa¯kh¯ıs
by E. A. Wallis Budge in The Book of the Dead, 2d ed. (Lon-
and the ballads of Bhai Gurdas.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NA¯NAK
6413
JANAMSA¯KH¯IS. These “birth stories” are short narratives de-
using any terms, Na¯nak designates the divine as the numeral
picting the birth and life of Guru¯ Na¯nak. Combining myth,
1. Oan is the primal syllable of Indian thought. Na¯nak’s
legend, and history, they portray the divine dispensation of
character for the word oan has an arc flying off, as though
Na¯nak, his concern for kindness and social cohesiveness, and
it were a geometric symbol for the infinity of the numeral
his stress on divine unity and the consequent unity of hu-
1. In a milieu seething with Hindu-Muslim conflict, the real-
manity. The janamsa¯kh¯ıs disclose the illustrious advent of
ization of the divine One was critical for Na¯nak. But his view
Na¯nak’s birth. In their central concern and luminous de-
differed from Hinduism in which the singular reality can be
scriptions, the accounts of Na¯nak’s birth have a great deal
incarnated in myriad ways. Na¯nak explicitly qualifies that the
in common with those of Christ, Buddha, and Kr:s:n:a. Just
One cannot be installed (thapia na jae), cannot be made (kita
as baby Jesus’ stable was lit up by the bright Star of Bethle-
na hoe). Na¯nak’s “Oneness” did not correspond with the Is-
hem, the humble mud hut in which Na¯nak was born was
lamic notion of one God either, because his vision of the One
flooded with light at the moment of his birth. But Mata
includes a plurality of approaches to the divine. In his Babur-
Tripta goes through a normal pregnancy, and her Muslim
vani hymns, Na¯nak specifically criticizes the narrow religious
midwife, Daultan, is struck by the extraordinary qualities of
worldview that was imposed by Babur’s Mughal regime on
the child she delivers.
the people of India.
The janamsa¯kh¯ıs continue to provide fabulous details of
Ethics. More than a theological belief, “Oneness” is an
Guru¯ Na¯nak’s entire life. They depict scenes in which dread-
active and dynamic awareness of the infinite within the
ful and dangerous elements of nature either protect him (like
human self. Such a consciousness gets rid of dualities (dubi-
the cobra offering his shade to a sleeping Na¯nak) or are con-
da) and petty selfishness (huamai). The One pervades each
trolled by him (with his outstretched palm Na¯nak stops a
being, says Na¯nak: “there is a light in all and that Light is
huge rock hurled at him). They depict Na¯nak’s divine con-
That One.” How then could there be hegemonies of caste,
figuration. At his death, the shroud is left without the body
race, religion, or gender? Na¯nak’s metaphysical insight aimed
and flowers are found in its place; both Hindus and Muslims
to reproduce an egalitarian ethical system. He rejected the
carry away the fragrant flowers to cremate or bury according
fourfold caste system in which a ´su¯dra was below the brah-
to their respective customs. The quick and vigorous style of
man. He rejected notions and practices that relegated women
the janamsa¯kh¯ıs lent itself easily to oral circulation, and they
below men. He spoke against beliefs concerning the pollu-
became popular. The janamsa¯kh¯ıs have also been painted
tion associated with menstruation and childbirth and against
and brightly illustrated. The janamsa¯kh¯ıs provide Sikhs with
the sexist practices of sati and purdah. Na¯nak’s fivefold spiri-
their first literary and visual introduction to their heritage,
tual journey (in the finale of his Japu) urges men and women
and the stories continue to nurture them for the rest of their
to:
lives.
1. live morally in this diverse and variegated planet earth—
BHAI GURDAS. The ballads of Bhai Gurdas celebrate Guru¯
dharam;
Na¯nak as the axial point between the human and the divine
2. expand their knowledge—gian;
and as the founder of a unique ethical and spiritual legacy.
Bhai Gurdas (1551–1636), born twelve years after the death
3. refine psychological and intellectual faculties—saram;
of Na¯nak, is the first theologian of the Sikh religion. His de-
4. work vigorously—karam;
piction of Na¯nak’s advent holds special significance in the
communal memory of the Sikhs. As Guru¯ Na¯nak made his
5. bring into their daily activities the truth (sach) that is
appearance, mist lifted, “light filling the world / Like the stars
present in all the continents and constellations alike.
vanish and darkness recedes as the sun rises.” Bhai Gurdas
Na¯nak boldly affirms life on earth and makes personal, eco-
powerfully portrays Na¯nak as the medium of divine revela-
nomic, social, and political concerns a part of his religious
tion whose inspired utterances (bani) radically changed the
worldview.
world. He focuses on the transcendent aspect of Na¯nak’s per-
sonality and his liberating message for his stratified society.
Aesthetics. Na¯nak provides no proofs, arguments, rules,
Na¯nak’s critique of asceticism, macho behavior, and super-
theories, or prescriptions. In order to bring about a real
stitious observances comes out effectively through Bhai Gur-
change in his divisive society, he wanted to reach into the
das’s wit and lively meters.
very consciousness of his people. Inspired poetry (bani or
shabad) was his means. Aesthetics was his approach. “Only
THE GURU¯ GRANTH. The Sikh scripture compiled in 1604
the relisher of fragrance can recognize the flower,” he claimed
contains 974 hymns by Na¯nak on a wide range of themes.
(Guru¯ Granth 725). His passionate utterances celebrate the
The opening hymn is Na¯nak’s Japu, which is the quintes-
singular creator and exult in wonder at the beauty and vast-
sence of Sikh philosophy. Na¯nak’s metaphysical vision of the
ness of the cosmos. Through his aesthetic discourse, Na¯nak
divine, his ethical stress on social equality, and his aesthetic
tried to awaken his followers and revitalize their senses, psy-
approach form the basis for the entire Sikh scripture.
che, imagination, and spirit.
Metaphysics. The Guru¯ Granth begins with Na¯nak’s
LEGACY. For the twenty million Sikhs living around the
formulation, “Ik Oan˙ka¯r” (literally, “1 Being Is”). Without
globe, Na¯nak is a continuing reality. Their day begins by re-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NANJO
¯ BUNYU¯
6414
citing his sublime poetry. Sikh homes, places of business, and
as the only guide to the Chinese version of the Buddhist
sacred spots display his images. Wearing an outfit combining
Tripit:aka for European and American scholars who do not
Hindu and Muslim styles, his eyes rapt in divine contempla-
read Asian languages. Nanjo¯ also rendered valuable service
tion, and his right palm imprinted with the symbol of the
to the study of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. His work here in-
singular reality, Guru¯ Na¯nak inspires his viewers to discover
cludes publication, with H. Kern, of the text of the
“That One” for themselves.
Saddharmapun:d:ar¯ıka Su¯tra (Saint Petersburg, 1908–1912),
the Lan˙ka¯vata¯ra Su¯tra (Kyoto, 1923), and the Suvarn:aprab-
SEE ALSO A¯di Granth; Sikhism.
ha¯sa Su¯tra (Kyoto, 1931), with Izumi Hokei.
In 1888 Nanjo¯ received the D.Litt. degree from the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
University of Tokyo; he was appointed a member of the Im-
For Guru¯ Na¯nak’s biography, see Hew McLeod, Guru¯ Na¯nak and
perial Academy of Japan in 1906. In 1914 he became presi-
the Sikh Religion (Oxford, 1968; reprint, 1996); and Harbans
Singh, Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith (Bombay,
dent of O
¯ tani University and in 1923 professor emeritus at
India, 1969). Mcleod analyzes janamsa¯kh¯ı literature in The
the same university. He devoted himself to research, educa-
B40 Janamsakhi (Amritsar, India, 1981). Translations of
tion, and administrative duties and the propagation of Jo¯do
Na¯nak’s poetry include Gopal Singh, Sri Guru Granth Sahib:
Shinshu¯ until he passed away at the age of seventy-eight on
English Version (Chandigarh, India, 1978); G. S. Talib, Sri
November 9, 1927.
Guru Granth Sahib: In English Translation (Patiala, India,
1987); and Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Name of My Be-
SEE ALSO Müller, F. Max.
loved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus (Delhi, 2001). C. Shackle ana-
lyzes Na¯nak’s language in A Guru¯ Na¯nak Glossary (London,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1981). Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Feminine Principle in
Miyamoto Sho¯son’s Meihi Bukkyo¯no schicho¯—Inoue Enryo¯no jiseki
the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (Cambridge, U.K., 1993),
(Tokyo, 1975), an interesting essay on the leading Buddhist
is a feminist interpretation of Na¯nak’s work.
thinkers of the Meiji era, contains a discussion of Nanjo¯ and
NIKKY-GUNINDER KAUR SINGH (2005)
his work on pages 100–123. Nanjo¯’s autobiography, written
at the age of seventy-five, has been published as Nanjo¯ Bunyu¯
jijoden (Kyoto, 1924).
MAYEDA SENGAKU (1987)
NANJO
¯ BUNYU¯ (1849–1927), also transliterated Nan-
jio Bunyiu; Japanese Buddhist scholar who first introduced
Sanskrit into Japan from Europe and laid the foundation for
Western-style Sanskrit and Buddhist studies in Japan. Nanjo¯
NANNA is the Sumerian name of the Mesopotamian
was born in Gifu prefecture on May 12, 1849, and was edu-
moon god; his Akkadian name is Sin. Depending on differ-
cated in a school run by the Higashi-Honganji. In 1876 he
ent theologies, he was considered either the son of An (Anu),
was selected by the abbot Gennyo to study Sanskrit and San-
the nominal head of the pantheon, or of Enlil, the pan-
skrit Buddhist texts in England. F. Max Müller, whom he
theon’s real head. In cuneiform, Nanna’s name was com-
visited at Oxford in 1879, advised him to study Sanskrit
monly represented by his sacred number, thirty, correspond-
there under A. A. Macdonell, one of Müller’s students.
ing to the number of days in the lunar month. The Sumerian
Nanjo¯ returned to Japan with an M.A. degree in 1884, and
myth Enlil and Ninlil explains how the moon god came to
the following year he began to teach Sanskrit at the Universi-
have his dwelling in the sky. Originally he was to be born
ty of Tokyo.
in the netherworld, but Enlil worked out an ingenious
During his stay in England Nanjo¯ helped Müller to
scheme whereby three other gods would be substituted in
publish Buddhist Sanskrit manuscripts that had been pre-
Nanna’s place. Hence he was free to inhabit the sky.
served in such Japanese temples as the Ho¯ryu¯ji and the
Nanna’s consort was Ningal (“great queen”), called
Ko¯kiji. Their collaboration resulted in the publication of
Nikkal in Aramaic and Phoenician. Their children were the
Buddhist Texts from Japan (Oxford, 1881), published under
two other great astral deities, Inanna (Ishtar) and the sun
Müller’s name, and the two other volumes published jointly
god, Utu (Shamash). In southern Babylonia Nanna’s princi-
by Müller and Nanjo¯: Sukhâvatï-vyûha, Description of
pal cultic place of worship was Ur, while in northwestern
Sukhâvatï, the Land of Bliss (Oxford, 1883) and The Ancient
Mesopotamia his center was Haran. It is curious that both
Palm-Leaves Containing the Pragña¯pâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra
these cities are associated with traditions about the patriarch
and the Ushnïsha-vigaya-dhâranï (Oxford, 1884). These were
Abraham before he entered Canaan (Gn. 11:27–32).
the first contributions Japanese scholars had made to the in-
Although the moon cult rose with the political fortunes
ternational field of Sanskrit studies.
of Ur, particularly during its third dynasty, founded by
Nanjo¯’s most significant contribution to Sanskrit and
Naram Sin (“beloved of Sin”) circa 2000 BCE, Nanna main-
Buddhist studies was A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation
tained his popularity throughout the entire history of Meso-
of the Buddhist Tripitaka, the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists
potamian civilization. The great diffusion of the moon reli-
in China and Japan (Oxford, 1883), which has long served
gion in Mesopotamia is attested by the frequent occurrence
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NA¯ RO PA
6415
of Nanna’s name in theophoric personal names in all periods
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and by the numerous hymns and prayers praising him as a
There is to date no full-length treatment of Nanna. A˚ke Sjöberg’s
friendly and beloved god. Notwithstanding Nanna’s popu-
Der Mondgott Nanna-Suen in der sumerischen Überliefe-rung
larity, the attempt of the last Neo-Babylonian king, Na-
(Stockholm, 1960) deals primarily with texts of Sumerian
prayers to the moon god up till the end of the Old Babylo-
bonidus, to place Nanna at the head of the pantheon in place
nian period. The best surveys are still those by Édouard
of Marduk did not gain acceptance and indeed met with
Dhorme, Les religions de Babylonie et d’Assyrie (Paris, 1945),
strong opposition.
pp. 54–60, 83–86; by D. O. Edzard, “Mondgott,” in Wörter-
Nanna’s cosmic function intimately concerned man-
buch der Mythologie, edited by Hans Wilhelm Haussig, vol.
1, Götter und Mythen im Vorderen Orient (Stuttgart, 1965),
kind. The moon god lit up the night and measured time.
pp. 101–103; and by Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of
Hence he was viewed as the controller of the night, the
Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion (New Haven,
month, and the entire lunar calendar. Similarly, observations
1976), pp. 121–127.
of the moon and, in particular, reports of the moon’s appear-
New Sources
ances and disappearances constituted the basis for many
Black, Jeremy, and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons and Symbols of
omens that directly affected the land, the king, and the peo-
Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin, Tex.,
ple. The enigmatic phenomenon of the constant rising and
1992.
setting of the moon found its echo in the Akkadian epithet
Bottéro, Jean. Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago, Ill.,
of the moon god as “a fruit that arises from itself and pro-
2001.
duces itself.”
Dalley, Stephanie, trans. and ed. Myths from Mesopotamia: Cre-
A cause for considerable anxiety was the occasional oc-
ation, The Flood, Gilgamesh and Others. New York, 1989.
currence of an eclipse, which was considered a bad prognosis
DAVID MARCUS (1987)
and spelled nothing but trouble. In the so-called eclipse
Revised Bibliography
myth, the phenomenon is explained as resulting from an at-
tack on the moon by seven evil demons. The moon’s capture
by these demons causes its light to become cloudy. Prayers
NAOMI SEE RUTH AND NAOMI
and sacrifices are therefore necessary to strengthen the moon
and keep it free from future attack (i.e., from another
eclipse).
NARCOTICS SEE PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS
In the hymns and prayers there is a tendency to ascribe
to Nanna nearly all the qualities attributed to the other celes-
tial deities. He is unfathomably wise, the organizer of life,
NA¯ RO PA (1016–1100), also known as Na¯d:apa¯da and
guardian and leader of mankind, judge of heaven and earth,
Na¯rot:apa; one of the eighty-four Indian Vajraya¯na maha¯-
master of destinies, helper of the destitute and the lonely, and
siddhas (“completely perfected ones”). Na¯ ro pa was the chief
so forth. He is also associated with royalty. Nanna has the
disciple of the siddha Ti lo pa (988–1069) and the second
ability to confer royalty on kings by means of a divine halo,
human member of the Vajraya¯na lineage. This lineage runs
the same luminous halo that was observed to surround the
from the celestial Buddha Vajradha¯ra to Ti lo pa, thence to
moon. Furthermore, kings often expressed the wish that the
Na¯ ro pa and his Tibetan disciple Mar pa (1012–1096), and
great gods would confer on them a life renewable every
then to the Tibetan Mi la ras pa (1040–1123), with whom
month like the moon.
the Bka’ brgyud pa, one of the four major schools of Tibetan
Buddhism, properly begins. Although the Bka’ brgyud pa
In the moon god’s honor a special month of the year,
lays special claim to Na¯ ro pa, he is highly regarded through-
Siwan (the summer solstice month), was dedicated to him.
out Tibet; in fact, most of the major Tibetan schools have
During the third dynasty of Ur, festivals called eshesh (“all-
over the course of time integrated his major transmissions
temple” or “general” festivals) were celebrated on the first,
and teachings into their own doctrinal formulations.
seventh, and fifteenth days of the month, corresponding to
The earliest and one of the most important biographies
the phases of the moon.
of Na¯ ro pa (approximately twelfth century) outlines the
The symbol of Nanna on cylinder seals and boundary
major movements of his life. This biography is a typical ex-
stones was the crescent moon. Because the crescent moon ap-
ample of Vajraya¯na hagiography in its intermingling of the
peared in Mesopotamia with its convexity at the bottom, the
ordinary and tangible with the cosmic, magical, and super-
idea arose that the crescent was a boat carrying the moon god
natural. Within the genre, however, this biography of Na¯ ro
across the skies. This idea was furthered by the fact that the
pa emphasizes the spiritual development of its subject, con-
crescent shape was similar to the shape of the long, graceful
centrating on the earlier phases of his career where he is pres-
boats which were—and are today—the chief means of trans-
ented as an ordinary, struggling human being seeking spiritu-
portation in the Mesopotamian (modern-day Iraqi) marshes
al awakening. Only toward the end of his biography do we
(Jacobsen, 1976). Not surprisingly, then, another of Nanna’s
find Na¯ ro pa emerging as a fully enlightened siddha, majestic
common epithets was “the shining boat of heaven.”
in demeanor and surrounded by miracles.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6416
NA¯ RO PA
According to his biography Na¯ ro pa was born in Bengal
self which summons him to find himself” (Guenther, 1963,
of the ks:atriya, or royal caste. At the age of eleven he went
p. iv). Na¯ ro pa committed himself unreservedly to serve Ti
to Kashmir for three years of formal study of Buddhism, a
lo pa, and attended him for twelve years, until the latter’s
study that continued with tutors upon his return to Bengal.
death in 1069. During this time Na¯ ro pa underwent a rigor-
His Buddhist education was cut short when, at the age of six-
ous training marked by much hardship and ordeal, and was
teen, he was forced by his father to marry a brahman girl
put through twelve major trials by his teacher. These trials,
named Ni gu ma. The marriage lasted eight years, and was
depicted as external, literal events, no doubt epitomize mo-
then dissolved by mutual agreement so that Na¯ ro pa could
ments in Na¯ ro pa’s inner spiritual journey: at Ti lo pa’s be-
further his religious training. Ni gu ma was also spiritually
hest, he hurls himself from the top of a three-story temple
inclined, took up Buddhist training herself, and in due
roof; he leaps into a blazing fire; he is beaten senseless on sev-
course became the founder of an important Vajraya¯na and
eral occasions by people he deliberately provokes at his mas-
Tibetan lineage.
ter’s command; he offers his body to leeches; and so on. Fi-
nally, he cuts off his own head and limbs and offers them
After the divorce, Na¯ ro pa returned to his Buddhist
as a fit offering to his master. At each offering Ti lo pa re-
training, taking ordination and continuing his study for nine
stores his disciple and instructs him in the next stage of his
more years, becoming accomplished in the various major
Tantric training.
areas of Buddhist learning. In 1049 Na¯ ro pa went to the fa-
mous Buddhist monastic university of Na¯landa¯ in northeast
By the time of Ti lo pa’s death, Na¯ ro pa had purified
India and successfully participated in a religio-philosophical
his being and achieved realization, possessing a rich array of
debate. As a result, he was elected to the powerful and presti-
Tantric teachings to pass to his disciples. These teachings in-
gious position of abbot or gate-keeper, thus fulfilling the
cluded the “six yogas of Na¯ ro pa” (Na¯ ro chos drug), practices
ideals of conventional monastic Buddhism and receiving his
particularly associated with the Bka’ brgyud pa lineage but
recognition within that world.
which subsequently became known and practiced among the
other Tibetan schools. Na¯ ro pa had seven chief disciples
Eight years later a shift occurred in Na¯ ro pa’s spiritual
among the many he trained, including Maitri pa, D:ombhi
development, from satisfaction with a predominantly intel-
pa, and Mar pa. His chief legacy is his consolidation of the
lectual understanding of Buddhism to the search for greater
teachings received from Ti lo pa, which he then passed on
depth of comprehension, and from the monastic life of con-
to his chief disciple, the Tibetan Mar pa, thus enabling their
ventional Buddhism to the nonmonastic form of the Tantric
flowering within Tibet in the Bka’ brgyud lineage and other
yogin. Such a shift is described in the lives of several other
Tibetan traditions. Nineteen works in the Tibetan Bstan
of the eighty-four siddhas and we may suppose that it was
’gyur (Tanjur) are attributed to Na¯ ro pa, including several
not entirely uncommon in those days. Na¯ ro pa’s biography
Tantric sa¯dhanas (liturgical meditations) on the Vajraya¯na
tells us that one day while studying a Buddhist philosophical
deities Vajrayogin¯ı, Hevajra, and others particularly impor-
text he suddenly had a vision of an ugly old hag. She made
tant to the Bka’ brgyud tradition, two collections of Tantric
it clear to him that while he understood the text he was read-
realization songs (vajrag¯ıti), and a number of commentaries
ing on a conceptual level, he had no inner understanding of
on Vajraya¯na topics.
it at all. She further revealed that if he wanted to attain genu-
ine understanding, Na¯ ro pa should seek one Ti lo pa, who
SEE ALSO Buddhism, article on Buddhism in Tibet; Bud-
alone could help him.
dhism, Schools of, article on Tibetan and Mongolian Bud-
Na¯ ro pa was devastated by the vision, and was unable
dhism; Maha¯siddhas; Mar-pa.
to discount the truth it revealed. His response to the hag’s
revelation was to give up his position at Na¯landa¯ and to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
abandon the monastic life, wandering forth in search of the
The Life and Teachings of Na¯ropa, translated by Herbert V. Guen-
siddha Ti lo pa. He experienced eleven further visions, which
ther (Oxford, 1963), provides a translation of an important
he dismissed as worthless because they contradicted his pre-
Tibetan biography of Na¯ ro pa written by Lha’i btsun pa Rin
conceptions about spirituality, but which in retrospect were
chen rnam rgyal of Brag dkar (twelfth century). Included is
revealed to him to have been manifestations of Ti lo pa him-
Guenther’s difficult but sometimes very helpful commen-
tary. Na¯ ro pa’s historical and religious context is discussed
self. In despair over his failure to find his teacher, Na¯ ro pa
in David Snellgrove and Hugh Richardson’s Cultural History
came to the brink of suicide; at just this moment, he met Ti
of Tibet (1968; reprint, Boulder, 1980), pp. 313ff., and his
lo pa.
well-known yogic legacy of the “six yogas” is discussed in Gi-
As depicted in Na¯ ro pa’s biography, Ti lo pa is a
useppe Tucci’s The Religions of Tibet, translated by Geoffrey
strange, enigmatic figure, anonymous in his context and un-
Samuel (Berkeley, 1980), pp. 98–101.
noticed by others, but recognized by Na¯ ro pa as a powerful
New Sources
and uncompromising teacher and, most important, as his au-
Trungpa, Chogyam. Illusion’s Game: The Life and Teaching of
thentic guru. However, as Guenther rightly comments, Ti lo
Naropa. Edited by Sherab Chödzin. Boston, 1994.
pa “is more than the individual who happened to become
REGINALD RAY (1987)
Na¯ ro pa’s Guru. In a certain sense, Tilopa is Na¯ ro pa’s total
Revised Bibliography
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATHAN
6417
NASID SEE PATRIARCHATE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The most recent general study is Alice Hunsberger’s Nasir Khus-
raw: Ruby of Badakhshan (London, 2000). Portions of his
D¯ıwa¯n have been translated in A. Schimmel’s Make a Shield
NA¯S:IR-I KHUSRAW is best known as a Persian poet,
from Wisdom (London, 1993). The Safar nama has been
philosopher, and traveler, as well as for his efforts in spread-
translated as Naser-e-Khosraw’s Book of Travels, by W. M.
ing the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı form of Islam in Central Asia. Born in 1004
Thackston, (Albany, N.Y., 1986). See also H. Corbin,
“Nasir-i-Khusran and Iranian Ismailism,” in the Cambridge
in Qubadiyan in present-day Tajikistan, he is buried in the
History of Iran, Vol. 4, (Cambridge, U.K., 1975),
Yumgan Valley of Afghan Badakhshan, where he spent the
pp. 520–542. An increasing number of studies have been un-
most creative period of his life in exile.
dertaken recently in Iran and Tajikistan, including newer
Educated in the major sciences of the day, Khusraw
editions of many of his works.
served as an official in the Ghaznawid Court. In his autobi-
NOZIR ARABZODA (2005)
ography he describes a life of indulgence and social rounds.
In 1045 he dramatically resigned from his post and set out
on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He describes his travels along the
Silk Road, the performance of his pilgrimage, and his jour-
NA¯TARA¯JI SEE ICONOGRAPHY, ARTICLE ON
ney to Cairo, the capital of the Fa¯t:imid Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı empire, after
HINDU ICONOGRAPHY; S´IVA
leaving Mecca. He writes admiringly of the civic, administra-
tive, and cultural achievements of Egypt, and during his stay
he became immersed in the study of Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı philosophy.
NATHAN (tenth century BCE), or, in Hebrew, Natan; a
Khusraw benefited from the presence of many of the
prophet in the court of King David. Nathan is presented in
scholars who studied and taught at the institutions of learn-
the Hebrew scriptures as a prophet and intimate of David’s
ing, such as Al-Azhar and Da¯r al Hikmah, and joined the
court, appearing in three different scenes. In the first scene
da’wa, the organization responsible for the spread and
(2 Sm. 7:1–17), Nathan is consulted by David about the
preaching of Islam among the Fa¯t:imids. After more travels,
king’s plans to build a temple for Yahveh. Nathan approves
including two pilgrimages, he was appointed to be in charge
of the plan, which will be carried out by David’s son, and
of the da’wa in Khura¯sa¯n. Successful in his mission, Khusraw
also promises David by divine oracle the establishment of a
nonetheless became the target of intense hostility and was
perpetual dynasty. This scene constitutes the climax of the
forced to find refuge in the Pamir mountains, where he spent
Deuteronomist’s account of David’s reign, in which Nathan
the rest of his life.
acts as the spokesman for the historian’s royal ideology.
Khusraw’s writings reflect the broad range of his intel-
In the second scene (2 Sm. 12:1–15), Nathan presents
lectual interests and abilities. His D¯ıwa¯n contains his best
to David the divine reprimand for his adultery with Bathshe-
poems, which draw on the imagery of the place and the en-
ba and his murder of Uriah. By means of a parable about an
compassing themes of quest, ethics, the foibles of daily life,
unjust rich man who robbed a poor man of his only lamb
and even the anguish of exile. The poems are coloured by
he is able to get David to condemn himself. He also predicts
a strong sense of devotion to the cause of the Prophet and
future troubles for David’s household.
his heirs, the Imams. There are other, more philosophical,
writings that reflect Khusraw’s primary interests: intellectual
In the third story (1 Kgs. 1), Nathan is part of a court
exposition of Islamic thought, esoteric hermeneutic of the
conspiracy in which he advises Bathsheba of a plan to per-
QurDa¯n, and the inner quest for spirituality and personal en-
suade the senile David to make Solomon king instead of his
lightenment. His Safer nama, an account of his travels, is a
older brother Adonijah. The plan is successful, and Nathan
classic of detailed and trenchant observations of places, per-
and Zadok anoint Solomon even before David’s death. Here
sons, and society.
divine guidance plays no part in the events, only human am-
bition.
Perhaps Khusraw’s most important contribution was
the commitment to developing and sustaining the use of the
These last two scenes are part of a literary work known
Persian language. He ranks among the foremost writers of
to modern scholars as the succession story, which some
his generation in preserving writing in Persian prose and po-
would date to the time of Solomon and thus have it reflect
etry, and his writings have had a significant impact on Per-
a historical memory of these events. But there are reasons to
sian-speaking peoples across the region.
believe that the succession story is a late fiction and tells
nothing about the nature of prophecy in the time of David.
Khusraw’s teaching and works have been preserved by
Also suspect is the Chronicler’s attribution to Nathan of his-
the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıs of the region who remember and commemorate
torical chronicles that he suggests are his sources for the
him in their literature, music, and practices as the founder
reigns of David and Solomon (1 Chr. 29:29, 2 Chr. 9:29).
of their community. More recently his works have become
widely available through new editions and translations.
SEE ALSO David.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6418
NATIONALISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
early African American communities. This early Islamic pres-
Treatments of the prophet Nathan are invariably included in the
ence serves as a cultural memory upon which more recent
broader studies of King David. A more detailed review of the
practices developed. For example, the Moorish Science Tem-
scholarly discussion on these texts may be found in my book
ple, developed roughly a decade before the Nation of Islam,
In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and
espoused doctrines that combined Islamic teachings with
the Origins of Biblical History (New Haven, 1983), chap. 8.
other theological orientations. Members of the Moorish Sci-
New Sources
ence Temple believe Noble Drew Ali (1886–1929), the orga-
Bodner, Keith. “Nathan: Prophet, Politician and Novelist?” Jour-
nization’s founder, is reincarnated in subsequent leaders.
nal for the Study of the Old Testament 95 (2001): 43–54.
Some suggest that Master Fard was Noble Drew Ali reincar-
JOHN VAN SETERS (1987)
nated, an argument rejected by the Nation of Islam. Master
Revised Bibliography
Fard maintained a degree of mystery by suggesting that he
was from the East, sent on a special mission, with more infor-
mation to be revealed in time.
NATIONALISM SEE CIVIL RELIGION
Some estimates suggest that Master Fard’s temple grew
to roughly eight thousand members, one of the most impor-
tant being Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole; 1897–
NATION OF ISLAM. The first several decades of the
1975). As part of the Great Migration, Poole came to Detroit
twentieth century marked a continuing challenge for African
from the South. But with a limited education, Poole found
Americans. Attempting to carve out a viable socioeconomic,
it difficult to secure employment that met the needs of his
political, and cultural space was difficult in light of disenfran-
growing family. This economic situation, combined with his
chisement, mob violence, and the scarcity of good jobs.
unfulfilled interest in church ministry, left him frustrated but
Hearing rumors of increased opportunities, many African
open to the inspiring teachings of Master Fard. Upon first
Americans participated in the “Great Migration” that
hearing Master Fard, there was a quick connection between
marked the movement of African Americans into northern
the two that culminated in Poole’s name change to Elijah
and southern cities in search of better life options. However,
Muhammad and his being called to minister in Fard’s move-
in places like Chicago and Detroit, African Americans quick-
ment. With the mysterious disappearance of Master Fard in
ly came to realize that racial discrimination could not be es-
1934, a power struggle emerged, centered on Elijah Muham-
caped through migration.
mad. Forced to leave Detroit for a period, he traveled to cities
M
such as Chicago, presenting the teachings of Master Fard.
ASTER FARD AND THE BEGINNING OF A MOVEMENT.
W. D. Fard (Master Fard Muhammad; 1891?–1934?) ap-
ELIJAH MUHAMMAD’S TEACHINGS. The conversion of new
peared in Detroit in 1930, selling scarves and other goods,
members did not involve an emotional response as happened
and engaging eager listeners in conversations that involved
in so many black churches. It entailed an intellectual and
a history lesson concerning their true status as Asiatics, origi-
psychologically deliberate acceptance of the teachings of the
nally from Mecca. His teachings perplexed and intrigued lis-
Honorable Elijah Muhammad. The completion of this
teners and, while his theories seemed fantastic, his audience
transformation, this acceptance of the black person’s true na-
grew as blacks in Detroit gained from his teachings a new
ture and destiny, was presented by the convert in a letter to
sense of self-worth and a way to critique oppression encoun-
Elijah Muhammad’s headquarters in Chicago. In this letter,
tered during the course of daily existence.
the person seeking membership indicated participation in
To secure the greatness blacks were meant to exhibit, it
several meetings and a firm belief in the doctrines. The letter
was necessary to reject the teachings, or “tricknology,” of
included a request for full participation in the life of the Na-
whites, and embrace Islam—the black community’s true reli-
tion and asked the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to provide
gion. Black Americans were lost within the wilderness of the
the writer with the person’s original name. Until a new name
United States, but Master Fard had been sent to restore them
was given, members made use of X, which represented the
to their former glory through his teachings and written mate-
unknown. The old name represented the white race and
rials—the Supreme Lessons—a blending of basic educational
the damaging effects of slavery (and a slave mentality) on the
skills and metaphysics.
identity of black Americans. The X involved a rejection of
the former self and the embrace of a new identity associated
This, of course, was not the first time an articulation of
with a new relationship with Allah and his messenger, Elijah
Islamic teachings was expressed within the context of African
Muhammad.
American communities. Scholars have recently recognized an
early Muslim presence in North America that might repre-
Self-sufficiency was one of the Nation of Islam’s man-
sent roughly 10 percent of the African population in North
tras, and it was expressed practically through the organiza-
America during slavery. Diary accounts, autobiographies,
tion’s various business ventures, which included restaurants,
and Works Progress Administration (WPA) documents all
bakeries, and a farm. This attention to economic self-
attest to such Islamic practices as prayer while facing east, di-
determination as a step toward complete knowledge of self
etary restrictions, and Islamic names given to children in
is in keeping with the organization’s push for separation
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATION OF ISLAM
6419
from whites through the development of an independent
economic classes. For example, each local temple contained
black nation comprised of several states with rich farming
a minister who spread the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s
land. In order to finance this new nation, the Honorable Eli-
teachings. To facilitate increased work and opportunities, the
jah Muhammad called for the U. S. government to provide
local minister was assisted by the captains of the Fruit of
enough funds to sustain the black nation for twenty to twen-
Islam (the collective of men who handed down discipline
ty-five years. From the Nation’s perspective this was neither
and provided security) and the Muslim Girl’s Training and
a loan nor a handout. It was overdue wages for centuries of
General Civilization Class, and so on. In addition, Elijah
uncompensated slave labor. According to the Nation of
Muhammad expanded his network of ministers to maximize
Islam, it was a small price to pay when one considered the
national exposure made available through television, includ-
institutions and accumulated wealth that resulted from cen-
ing documentaries such as The Hate That Hate Produced
turies of chattel slavery.
(broadcast in 1959), and also the Nation’s radio broadcasts
and newspaper.
In lectures Elijah Muhammad proclaimed that Fard was
God (Allah) incarnate and that he, Elijah Muhammad, was
Aggressively seeking out members of the black commu-
the messenger of God commissioned to teach black Ameri-
nity and the prison system, a process called “fishing,” provid-
cans about their true nature as the original people of the
ed the Nation with its greatest source of growth and visibili-
earth, godlike and destined to rule the universe. The most
ty. Through personal contact with black prisoners, the
troubling dimension of this teaching was the reference to
Nation gained one of its best-known leaders—Malcolm X
white people as devils who were made by a wise, yet mad,
(1925–1965)—whose charisma and media appeal benefited
scientist named Mr. Yakub as a predestined part of the
the Nation of Islam as both its national and international
25,000-year cycle of history in which we currently live. This
profile increased in importance and prominence within pop-
actual and historical devil race, the story goes, will rule blacks
ular imagination. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s per-
for a set number of years. Such a period of domination and
sonal moral failures, combined with the Nation of Islam’s
destruction, the Nation taught, serves as a pedagogical tool
lack of participation in the civil rights movement, resulted
by which blacks, who strayed from their original religion of
in Malcolm’s break with the Nation and his conversion to
Islam, are corrected and prepared for their future glory. The
Sunn¯ı Islam in 1964. Malcolm X embraced racial equality
Nation of Islam would ultimately soften the more harsh di-
as a basic element of Islam in light of his encounter with
mensions of its theology, arguing that the devil doctrine en-
Muslims from various ethnic and racial groups during his
tailed a metaphorical attack on white supremacy and dis-
pilgrimage to Mecca. This perspective would result in new
crimination as opposed to an attack on white Americans.
strategies for the obtainment of social justice as a dimension
While remaining controversial, this rethinking of the Nation
of human rights discourse. He established the Organization
of Islam’s more charged view is most notable as of the 1990s.
of Afro-American Unity and Muslim Mosque Incorporated
The Nation of Islam’s task entailed enlightenment, the
shortly before his death in 1965.
presentation of the true nature of blacks and whites, and the
THE NATION OF ISLAM TRANSFORMED. After the Honorable
tools necessary for blacks to transform themselves. Once
Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975, his son, Wallace Deen
blacks in America—the Lost/Found Nation—gained knowl-
Muhammad (Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, b. 1933),
edge of self and accepted the teachings of the Honorable Eli-
was named head of the Nation of Islam. Attempting to bring
jah Muhammad as the “Spiritual Head of the Muslims in the
the Nation into line with the larger, worldwide Islamic com-
West,” judgment would occur through which whites would
munity, he rethought the aesthetics of the temples. He re-
be punished and the earth purged by fire, and blacks would
moved the Christian church trappings, such as pews (or
then regain control over the universe. The faithful of God
chairs), and he replaced framed sayings by Elijah Muham-
(i.e., the Nation’s members) would construct a new civiliza-
mad with more Islamic ornamentation. Of more signifi-
tion guided by principles of truth, freedom, justice, and
cance, the organization’s practices were altered radically
equality.
through a quick effort to enforce the five pillars of Islamic
faith, the practices and attitudes embraced by all orthodox
Nation of Islam doctrine fluctuates between the com-
Muslims. In keeping with this shift, the presentation of Mas-
plete destruction of whites and a measure of hope for the re-
ter Fard as Allah and Elijah Muhammad as the final Messen-
demption of whites. The Nation’s concern with issues of jus-
ger was removed because of conflict with the orthodox un-
tice begs the question concerning an inherent contradiction:
derstanding of Allah and the role of the prophet Muh:ammad
Should a community be punished for fulfilling its destiny,
as the final prophet. In place of his more exalted role, Elijah
even when this involves the oppression of other groups? Is
Muhammad was presented as someone who, although mis-
it proper, as a matter of justice, to condemn a community
guided at points, sought to help black Americans achieve bet-
for its actions when it has no choice but to behave in a certain
ter life options. As a symbol of theological and aesthetic
way because it has no free will?
change, the name of the organization was changed to the
Inconsistencies in the Nation’s theology and rhetoric
World Community of Islam in the West, and changed again
did not prevent growth and the alteration of the organiza-
in 1982 to the American Muslim Mission. Imam Warith
tional framework to accommodate new members of various
Deen Muhammad ultimately established a council of reli-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6420
NATION OF ISLAM
gious leaders, known as imams, to assist with religious and
the unity and vitality of black America, and a commitment
organizational questions, and members were told to consider
to restoring themselves to their proper role as black men
themselves as simply members of the world community of
within the black community. While this event was success-
Islam.
ful, with participation estimated by some to have reached
well over one million, the Nation of Islam has not been able
The Nation of Islam had been prone to schism. Notable
to sustain positive attention. To some extent it remains a
among these various organizations is the Five Percent Nation
marginal religious tradition with a membership that is diffi-
(also known as the Nation of Gods and Earths), founded by
cult to state with accuracy. Membership estimates typically
Clarence 13X (1928–1969) in 1964 among young New
range between thirty thousand and seventy thousand. By
Yorkers and based on a radical interpretation of the Nation’s
contrast, there are roughly four million African American
theology that presented blacks as gods with special knowl-
Sunn¯ı Muslims in the United States.
edge based upon divine wisdom, often revealed through
mathematics. However, the most visible and perhaps impor-
SEE ALSO Elijah Muhammad; Islam, article on Islam in the
tant of these splinter groups developed in 1978, when Minis-
Americas; Malcolm X.
ter Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933) formed a new organization
named the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan affirmed the doc-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
trines presented by Elijah Muhammad, including the teach-
Ansari, Zafar Ishaq. “Aspects of Black Muslim Theology.” Studia
ing that Fard was Allah, and that the Honorable Elijah Mu-
Islamica 53 (1981): 137–176. Ansari provides a brief discus-
hammad was the messiah, with one significant addition.
sion of major theological themes within the teachings of the
Farrakhan argued, based on a vision, that he himself was the
Nation of Islam, based on a concern with understanding its
prophet carrying on the work until the return of the messiah
development within the context of the larger Islamic com-
munity.
and judgment.
Austin, Allan D. African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transat-
With time, the theology of the Nation of Islam under
lantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles. New York, 1997. Austin
Minister Farrakhan would again change to include the insti-
presents the early Islamic presence in North America
tution of fasting during the month of Ramad:a¯n, as opposed
through biographical portraits of African Muslims enslaved
to the more limited restriction instituted by the Honorable
between 1730 and 1860.
Elijah Muhammad. Furthermore, members of the Nation
Clegg, Claude Andrew. An Original Man: The Life and Times of
are currently encouraged to play a role in politics. Farrakhan
Elijah Muhammad. Boston, 1996. This book provides an
modeled this through his participation in the Reverend Jesse
analysis of the Nation of Islam’s development through a bio-
Jackson’s first run for the U.S. presidency in 1988, as well
graphical discussion of Elijah Muhammad, highlighting the
manner in which Nation of Islam doctrine grew out of his
as his encouragement of Nation of Islam members to run for
personal convictions and struggles.
political office. This is clearly a break with the Honorable
Essien-Udom, E. U. Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity
Elijah Muhammad’s rejections of political involvement in a
in America. Chicago, 1962. This is one of the early studies
society that is marked for destruction.
of the Nation of Islam. It provides analysis of nationalism
While relations with the Jewish community remain
within black communities through attention to the Nation
tense at best, Farrakhan has worked to improve connections
of Islam’s method of conversion, doctrine, and social
to the larger Islamic world. For example, his participation in
location.
the h:a¯jj (the pilgrimage to Mecca made by all financial and
Gardell, Mattias. In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farra-
able-bodied Muslims) in 1985, as well as the availability of
khan and the Nation of Islam. Durham, N.C., 1996. Using
social history as a framework, this text explores the Nation
membership in the Nation without regard to race and eth-
of Islam. It moves from Elijah Muhammad through the al-
nicity, speak to important shifts that make possible a reposi-
terations to the Nation’s doctrine and platform initiated by
tioning of the Nation of Islam within the religious and politi-
Louis Farrakhan.
cal landscape of the United States and the world. However,
Gomez, Michael A. “Muslims in Early America.” Journal of South-
this repositioning is not without significant tensions, as ex-
ern History 60, no. 4 (1994): 670–710. This article is a histo-
pressed, for example, through the Nation of Islam’s sympa-
ry of Muslim practices in the United States, beginning with
thetic relationship with Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi and the
the presence of African Muslims early in the slave trade. The
Libyan leader’s efforts to provide the Nation with financial
author discusses this history within the larger context of Afri-
assistance.
can American religious and cultural life.
Lee, Martha F. The Nation of Islam: An American Millenarian
Periods of tension and questionable allegiances have
Movement. Lewiston, Maine, 1988; reprint, Syracuse, N.Y.,
been mixed with more productive moments. Minister Far-
1996. This book explores the Nation of Islam’s development
rakhan and the Nation of Islam, for instance, have sought
in light of its rhetoric regarding the eventual destruction of
to maintain a high level of viability through efforts such as
whites and the coming greatness of blacks.
the Million Man March in 1995. This was a gathering in
Lincoln, C. Eric. Black Muslims in America. 3d ed. Grand Rapids,
Washington, D.C., of black men from various religious, so-
Mich., 1994. Using a sociological lens, Lincoln provides the
cial, and economic backgrounds. The purpose behind the
first detailed treatment of the Nation of Islam from its initial
gathering was repentance for misdeeds that have damaged
presence through the beginning of Farrakhan’s leadership.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIANITIES
6421
Mamiya, Lawrence H. “From Black Muslim to Bilalian: The Evo-
bears consideration not simply as a subset of missiology or
lution of a Movement.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Reli-
church history but as a Native American religious tradition
gion 4 (1982): 138–152. Mamiya outlines and discusses
among other Native American religions. The attempt here
shifts in African American Islamic identity from the Nation
will be to briefly remark on the circumstances of the missions
of Islam to the presence of African American Sunn¯ı Muslims
if only to underscore the ironic nature of the outcome: the
seeking connection to Muslims across the globe.
transformations and improvisations through which various
McCloud, Aminah Beverly. African American Islam. New York,
Native peoples have made the beliefs and practices of the tra-
1995. This book is a survey of various African American Is-
dition their own. A range of contemporary concerns facing
lamic communities. It also addresses such key issues as the
Native Christians will also be surveyed.
role of women within the Islamic community.
Nuruddin, Yusuf. “The Five Percenters: A Teenage Nation of
The variousness of Native Christianities is due, in part,
Gods and Earths.” In Muslim Communities in North America,
to the great diversity of aboriginal Native religions. The
edited by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane Idleman Smith,
United States has recognized within its borders more than
pp. 109–132. Albany, N.Y., 1994. This article provides a
five hundred distinct Native tribes, speaking more than two
concise history of the Five Percent Nation, highlighting its
hundred different first languages. Generalizations across the
connections to and impact on popular culture.
diversity of these traditions are often more facile than they
Pinn, Anthony B. “The Great Mahdi Has Come!” In Varieties of
are helpful, for each tribal religion has been tied to a variety
African American Religious Experience, pp. 104–153. Minne-
of traditional lifeways on a variety of landscapes and invokes
apolis, 1998. Pinn provides a theological history of the Na-
a variety of symbols of the sacred, each with a complexity and
tion of Islam, giving primary attention to its development in
sophistication of its own.
light of its depiction of and response to moral evil.
Tate, Sonsyrea. Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam. San
That said, one can be sure of one commonality: along
Francisco, 1997. Tate’s book is a personal reflection on the
with the shared experience of colonization and Christian
Nation of Islam’s doctrinal shifts as Warith Deen Muham-
missionization, each Native community has shared the con-
mad took over. Using the story of her family, Tate explores
sequent burden of balancing continuity of tradition with the
the impact of the Nation’s changing teachings.
cultural and religious changes necessary to adapt to those col-
Turner, Richard Brent. Islam in the African American Experience.
onizing realities. Whether such religious changes are best en-
Bloomington, Ind., 1997. Turner provides a history of the
capsulated as conversion, consolidated resistance, revitaliza-
Islamic presence in North America, beginning with West Af-
tion, or hybridity, they were all shaped by social, political,
rica and moving through the Nation of Islam and African
economic, and environmental realities even as they were
American involvement in Sunn¯ı Islam.
formed by internal factors, such as visions, beliefs, and a need
White, Vibert L., Jr. Inside the Nation of Islam: A Historical and
for meaning making.
Personal Testimony by a Black Muslim. Gainesville, Fla.,
2001. White uses his personal history with the Nation of
Even these colonial realities, however, are diverse in
Islam as a means of critique, pointing out the Nation’s flaws
themselves. Native communities in what became the United
and inconsistencies.
States have operated under nearly three hundred different
Wormer, Richard. American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in Ameri-
treaties and have been missionized by nearly every institu-
ca. New York, 1994. Wormer discusses Islam from the per-
tional branch of Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox
spective of young Muslims and the challenges they face
Christianity. The meeting of a diverse group of aboriginal
growing up in the United States.
religions with a diverse group of Christian missionaries pro-
A
duced a bewildering range of idiosyncratic Native Christiani-
NTHONY B. PINN (2005)
ties, but as Bonnie Sue Lewis has observed, this is not simply
due to the diverse missionary encounters that missions histo-
rians have long noted; it also results from what indigenous
NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIANITIES.
Americans variously did with the Christian beliefs and prac-
Heretofore scholars have not fully appreciated the rich vari-
tices exchanged in missionary encounters. And here one
ety and complex textures of Christian beliefs and practices
finds the key pattern that gives shape to the range of idiosyn-
among Native Americans. Specialists of indigenous religions
cratic Native Christianities. To varying degrees, depending
largely have left the study of Native Christianity to missions
on relative levels of autonomy, all Native Christians have
historians. Historians of missions, in turn, lacking the lin-
been active agents in their religious histories. In paying atten-
guistic and ethnographic training to otherwise interpret the
tion to how they made the Christian tradition their own, one
subtleties, have understood Native Christianity largely as the
finds that these communities often have drawn resourcefully
straightforward outcome of missionary intentions and ef-
on their indigenous traditions and idioms not so much to
forts. But a broader examination of the range of ways that
translate Christianity but to transpose the narratives and
different Native communities have variously engaged the
practices of the Christian tradition into distinctive idioms
missionaries’ message and a more focused examination of
and structures of Native religions, oftentimes in ironic rela-
how Native people have improvised locally on the missionary
tion to the intentions of European American missionaries.
tradition suggest that the Christian tradition thus engaged
For this reason, consideration of the fuller diversity and tex-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6422
NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIANITIES
ture of Native Christianities cannot content itself with the
duits to the Christian faith. After the expulsion of Jesuits
history of missions proper, though of course it must begin
from North America in 1763, however, these Native com-
there.
munities, like the Native peoples of New Spain, were largely
free of clerical control and enjoyed considerable autonomy
ROOTS IN MISSIONARY CONTACT. From the sixteenth cen-
in the shaping of their faith (Vecsey, 1997, pp. 23–26).
tury on, European economic, geopolitical, and colonial de-
signs on North America were often conjoined with mission-
In the Pacific fur-trading region claimed as New Russia,
ary designs. Missionaries were often in full complicity with
from the late eighteenth century on, Orthodox priests with
other colonizing interests; sometimes they were in consider-
even more pronounced liturgical proclivities promoted the
able tension. Similarly some missionaries were more invested
faith among Tlingit and other coastal peoples, less concerned
than others in yoking cultural revolution to adherence to
with fomenting a complete cultural revolution than with in-
Christian practices, beliefs, and communities. Still, as
corporating Native peoples into the sacramental community.
George Tinker has importantly observed, whatever their in-
In New England missionaries took a more Protestant
tentions, missionaries of all denominations were “partners”
view—and one more consistent with settler colonies—that
in cultural “genocide,” complicit in, if not directly responsi-
the process of becoming Christian necessitated a demonstra-
ble for, “the effective destruction of a people by systematical-
ble inner conversion that would be manifested not only in
ly or systemically (intentionally or unintentionally in order
professed Christian belief but also in demonstrable radical
to achieve other goals) destroying, eroding, or undermining
cultural conversion. To be sure, even Protestant missionaries
the integrity of the culture and system of values that defines
took a variety of positions on the precise relationship be-
a people and gives them life” (Tinker, 1993, pp. 4, 6). Sever-
tween Christianity and culture and did not uniformly preach
al examples, though by no means exhaustive, will perhaps be
the “gospel of soap.” Moravians, Mennonites, and Quakers
suggestive of the range of possibilities.
could point to considerable continuities between Native
In the high Valley of Mexico claimed as New Spain in
communal commitments and the Christian life. Still, with
the 1520s, while some Spaniards questioned to what degree
the Protestant insistence on a rigorous inner religious life, be-
Indians were human, Dominican friars with millennial ex-
coming Christian for some bespoke radical change away
pectations imagined the promise of ideal Christian commu-
from aboriginal custom.
nities among peoples they took to be innocent noble savages
NATIVE TRANSFORMATIONS OF BELIEF AND PRACTICE. If
as yet untainted by Europe’s vices. By the early seventeenth
the degree to which Native Christians could shape mission-
century, Franciscan friars associated with explorers in what
ary Christianity varied, depending on missionaries’ commit-
would become the American Southwest had established a
ments to other colonizing interests, to wedding the faith with
network of mission stations in and around Santa Fe on the
cultural change, and to developing a Native clergy, amid va-
upper Rio Grande and later along the California coast, bap-
rying circumstances of dispossession and disease, Native
tizing many and making often-divisive inroads in Native
Christianities as a whole developed at a considerable, often
communities, even as European disease and compulsory
ironic, distance from the missionaries’ intentions. Catholic,
labor were fragmenting them. In 1680 a movement known
Protestant, and Orthodox missionaries alike were left to scru-
as the Pueblo Revolt gathered people of various eastern Pueb-
tinize the sincerity of professed conversions; although prone
los under the direction of Popé, a visionary prophet, killed
to welcome any signs that their efforts were bearing fruit,
many of the missionaries and drove the Spaniards from the
they remained conspicuously uneasy with hybrid practices,
region for a time. Diminishing attention to the North by
which they often considered to be evidence of backsliding.
Spanish authorities and later those of Mexico, from the mid–
eighteenth century to its absorption into the United States
In any case, one ought to question, following Kenneth
in 1848, meant that Christians in the various Pueblos were
Morrison, the worth of “conversion” as an analytical term in
left relatively free of clerical control and thus could articulate
any discussion of Native Christianities. In the seventeenth
Christian practices and beliefs in their own idiom.
century, for example, Montagnais/Naskapi, Micmac, and
Huron/Wendat peoples were surely changed by their en-
In the fur-trading region claimed as New France, Cath-
counters with Jesuits in New France, and Native Americans
olic missionaries worked among communities speaking Al-
affiliated with the missions stood in no small tension with
gonkian and Iroquoian languages from the 1630s on. Jesuits
fellow tribes people. But the Sacraments, especially baptism
certainly carried European assumptions about savagery and
and extreme unction, that Jesuits proffered and the notion
civilization, but they also studied Native languages and cere-
of God that Jesuits preached were transformed in Native reli-
monial customs assiduously and accommodated many Na-
gious idioms that focused on the cosmological centrality of
tive practices in their effort to extend the Sacraments. In im-
sacred power, where the workings of power mattered more
portant respects, celibate priests identified themselves, and
than the orthodoxies of abstract theology. Here “religious
were so identified, with the healers and shamanic ritual spe-
change” rather than conversion better describes the way the
cialists in Native communities with whom they consciously
power accessed through Christianity was embraced by those
competed in ceremonial displays. With time, Jesuits came to
left with “religious uncertainty” in light of disease and con-
view such aboriginal traditions more as obstacles than as con-
comitant social chaos (Morrison, 2002, pp. 131, 145).
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NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIANITIES
6423
Having developed largely outside the discipline of Euro-
of men and women respectively, led by elders, in deathbed
American clergy, Catholicism in the upper Rio Grande
scenes or in all-night funeral wakes. By the late twentieth
Pueblos has brought traditional seasonal corn dances and
century, on certain Minnesota reservations, such ritualized
ceremonials into hybrid forms intermingled with devotion
hymn singing by groups of elders was considered by many—
to Christian saints. In Cochiti Pueblo, for example, on the
even many non-Christian Ojibwas—as a “traditional” rite of
feast day of its patron saint, deer heads and conifer boughs
mourning, fully Christian but also fully Ojibwa (McNally).
adorn an arbor at one end of the Pueblo’s plaza housing an
The Tlingit communities of Southeast Alaska also sing
image of the saint along with the Franciscan brother and vil-
Native-language hymns associated with Presbyterian mis-
lage elders, as the brother and the elders preside over drum-
sionaries of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth
mers, dancers, Kiva society members, and “sacred clowns”
century. But before the Presbyterians came, most Tlingits
performing ancient indigenous dances of thanksgiving for
had become incorporated into the Christian faith by Russian
corn.
Orthodox priests whose liturgical tradition, especially after
Among Native people missionized by Protestants, such
the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia, paid far less atten-
transformations are typically subtler, sprouting between the
tion to repressing any continuities of Tlingit culture within
cracks of missionary discipline concerning the congruence of
Tlingit Christian practice, particularly elements of the elabo-
the Christian gospel and Euro-American culture. Still, they
rate funerary ritual complex known commonly as the pot-
are significant for their indication that even here Native
latch. Indeed as Sergei Kan finds in Memory Eternal, the Or-
Christians could assert some degree of agency in the creation
thodox emphasis on the ongoing relations between the living
of their own traditions. Given the intentions of Baptist and
and the dead and the elaborate ritualizing around death and
Methodist missionaries among the Mississippi Choctaw, the
mourning allowed Tlingits to assign “their own meanings to
historian Clara Sue Kidwell finds it ironic that mission
Orthodox symbols” and to make Orthodoxy “meaningful to
churches and schools became havens for the sustained public
them without deviating in any major way . . . [from] Or-
practice of distinctive Choctaw traditions and core values.
thodox ritual practice” (Kan, 1999, p. 419). By the late twen-
“Choctaws took advantage of mission churches,” she writes,
tieth century, even non-Orthodox Tlingits would categorize
“as places where they could congregate and be themselves,
the elaborate Orthodox ceremonies of the forty-day funerary
where they could speak their own language and visit and play
feast as “traditional” Tlingit activities.
stickball, with its attendant gambling and drinking” (Ki-
One should also note a wide range of important reli-
dwell, 2001, p. 183).
gious transformations that drew on and improvised on
Among the Ojibwas (known to some scholars as Ojib-
Christian practices and beliefs (especially those concerning
we), missionaries of various Protestant persuasions in the
heaven and hell) in light of indigenous traditions but distinc-
western Great Lakes began in the 1830s to vigorously pro-
tively through the authority of visionary prophets—such as
mote the singing of hymns translated into the Native tongue.
Handsome Lake (1735–1815) among the Seneca or Smohal-
The Ojibwas, they learned, were more interested in the sing-
la (c. 1815–1895) among the peoples of the Plateau in
ing of songs than in the reading of translated Scripture or lis-
Washington Territory, whose Indian Shaker religion contin-
tening to unwieldy sermons through a translator. But peda-
ues to the early twenty-first century—and the peyotist tradi-
gogical theory of the era understood hymnody to be a
tions of the Native American Church. These movements
particularly useful tool in the moral education of children,
ought to be classified as new religious movements rather than
and missionaries, having construed their Ojibwa charges to
as Native Christianity, given that their center of gravity lay
be like children, promoted and disciplined Native hymnody
not in Christian narratives and institutions but in the charis-
as a tool for eradicating Ojibwa culture and planting the
matic authority of prophets or in the transformative power
seeds of Christian civilization. For their part, Ojibwas who
of ritual as in the Native American Church.
affiliated with the Episcopalian mission—or more precisely
Surely one can find many examples of more straightfor-
with the Native clergy and lay sodalities (religious associa-
ward conversions among Native people that represent an
tions) nurtured in part by the mission itself—sang hymns in
utter discontinuity between traditional and Christian beliefs
ways that betokened an indigenized Christianity shaped but
and practices, but the previous examples suggest that a con-
not determined by the mission.
sideration of Native Christianity cannot content itself with
While there are occasional references in the missionary
the history of missionaries and their intentions.
record to hymnody in worship, the ritualized singing of
ISSUES OF INTERPRETATION. Scholarly reappraisals of Native
which missionaries frequently wrote belonged far from the
Christianity in the late twentieth century and early twenty-
mission church in the semiautonomous spaces of Ojibwa
first century have focused on what Native peoples did with
homes, in all-night prayer meetings and funeral wakes. Mis-
the beliefs and practices that missionaries introduced. But
sionaries hastened to applaud this development, but they also
they interpret the nature of those transformations in a variety
noted that the ritualized nature of this singing placed it,
of ways. Perhaps the idiosyncrasies of various Native Chris-
along with other funerary practices, quite outside their disci-
tianities themselves account for the range of interpretive
pline. Hymn singing was ritualized, the province of sodalities
frameworks. But by 2004 older models based on the concept
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6424
NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIANITIES
of acculturation, through which Native culture systems, stat-
“some may reaffirm their faith” and “others may decide to
ic and unified prior to contact, were seen to collide with
abandon churches in order to maintain their national cere-
Euro-American Christian ones and gradually to erode and
monial traditions in lieu of participation even in Indian
acculturate, had yielded to more fluid models based on
Christianity” (Kidwell, Noley, and Tinker, 2001, pp. 3–4).
processual notions of culture. Interpretations based on the
Implicit here is an observation that many Native Chris-
notion of acculturation could effectively account for the fre-
tians have not squared their Christianity with their tradition-
quent violence and dispossession associated with culture
al “Native” identities. To be sure, some Christian denomina-
change generally and Christianization in particular. But they
tions, perhaps especially Evangelical and Pentecostal
could not account for the puzzling ways traditional practices
traditions growing quickly among Natives as among Ameri-
and beliefs became woven tightly into the fabric of Native
cans as a whole, do not emphasize continuity between indig-
Christianity. At best these were seen as evidence of “syncre-
enous traditions and the Christian faith. Other denomina-
tism,” cultural aggregates pressed together by external cir-
tions with missionary legacies, and notably the Roman
cumstances but lacking stability or a logic of their own. Or
Catholic Church since the theological and liturgical sea
alternatively they were seen as only nominally Christian, evi-
changes of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, have
dence really of disingenuous Native uses of Christian forms
emphasized the “inculturation” of the gospel into the theo-
to promote an indigenous agenda.
logical and ceremonial vernaculars of various Native tradi-
By 2000 the literature had come to appreciate cultural
tions, have staged interreligious dialogues with non-
change as something other than an oxymoron and had begun
Christian spiritual leaders, and have promoted indigenous
to attend seriously to the hybridity of Native Christianities.
leadership (see Vecsey; Peelman; Treat). Still, since the broad
More importantly, this literature also may have begun to ap-
rekindling of traditional Native American religions from the
preciate how at least some Native Christians remarkably have
1970s on, many Native people, even the baptized, have
made their own a tradition whose missionary legacy had
imagined the terms Native and Christian to be mutually ex-
meant “continued bondage to a culture that is both alien and
clusive and have decidedly chosen not to affiliate with the
alienating, and even genocidal” (Tinker, 1993, p. 5). Build-
beliefs, practices, and institutions of Native Christianity.
ing on Victor Turner’s notion of the multivocality of reli-
Thus just as it was in the missionary heyday of the nineteenth
gious symbols (see Kan) or Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the
century but even more fully as a result of Native peoples’ im-
logic of practice as distinct from the logic of discursive
provisation on and transformation of the missionary tradi-
thought (see McNally), some observers have noted that the
tion, a wide range of Native Christianities obtains in the
indigenization of Christianity happens less through the more
early twenty-first century.
conventional discursive media of theology and creed and
more in and through ritual practices that can more deftly ad-
SEE ALSO Black Elk; Wovoka.
dress the potential contradictions of embracing a tradition
associated with a colonizing history. For affirming an identi-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ty at once “Native” and “Christian” has posed considerable
Axtell, James. The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Co-
problems, social and existential, to Native Christians (see
lonial North America. New York, 1985.
Treat).
Bowden, Henry Warner. American Indians and Christian Missions:
C
Studies in Cultural Conflict. Chicago, 1981.
ONTEMPORARY NATIVE CHRISTIANITIES. Even if, as the
Cherokee theologian William Baldridge has put it, “doing
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. The Real People and the Children of Thun-
theology, thinking theologically, is a decidedly non-Indian
der: The Yup’ik Eskimo Encounter with Moravian Missiona-
thing to do,” Native thinkers have begun in earnest to devel-
ries. Norman, Okla., 1991.
op a Christian theology that incorporates distinctively Native
Kan, Sergei. Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Ortho-
religious idioms, just as indigenized Christian liturgical prac-
dox Christianity through Two Centuries. Seattle, Wash., 1999.
tices have incorporated traditional Native religious elements
Kidwell, Clara Sue. Choctaws and Missionaries in Mississippi,
(Treat, 1996, p. 12). But these efforts often did not resemble
1818–1918. Norman, Okla., 1995.
formal theology; they were often local, collaborative endeav-
Kidwell, Clara Sue, Homer Noley, and George Tinker. A Native
ors, found in dialogues between Christian and “traditional”
American Theology. Maryknoll, N.Y., 2001.
spiritual leaders or rooted in indigenous theological institu-
tions (Vecsey, 1999). In 2001, however, Clara Sue Kidwell,
Lewis, Bonnie Sue. Creating Christian Indians: Native Clergy in the
Presbyterian Church. Norman, Okla., 2003.
Homer Noley, and George Tinker published A Native Amer-
ican Theology, revisiting the themes of systematic theology,
McLoughlin, William G. The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794–
such as creation, Christology, sin, and eschatology, and pro-
1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence. Ath-
posing new ones, like “land” and “trickster,” in order to
ens, Ga., 1994.
“create a dialogue in which Indian people can speak as equals
McNally, Michael D. Ojibwa Singers: Hymns, Grief, and a Native
to Christians,” encouraging them to “recognize the unique-
Culture in Motion. New York, 2000.
ness of their practices with regard to Christianity” and to
McNally, Michael D. “The Practice of Native American Chris-
challenge “Indian people to examine their beliefs” whereby
tianity.” Church History 69 (December 2000): 834–859.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATIVE AMERICAN SCIENCE
6425
Morrison, Kenneth. The Solidarity of Kin: Ethnohistory, Religious
vernaculars expressing foreign worldviews and are com-
Studies, and the Algonkian-French Religious Encounter. Alba-
pounded by provincial colloquialisms lacking modern equiv-
ny, N.Y., 2002.
alents.
Peelman, Achiel. Christ Is a Native American. Ottawa, Ontario,
TWO WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING THE NATURAL WORLD.
Canada, 1995.
The scientific method provides its practitioners with the au-
Tinker, George. Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native
thority to validate knowledge as objective truth. Objectivity,
American Cultural Genocide. Minneapolis, Minn., 1993.
based on the absence of personal bias, is the foundation for
Treat, James, ed. Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Reli-
the integrity of Western science. Some would argue, howev-
gious Identity in the United States and Canada. New York,
er, that objectivity is not a strength of the scientific enter-
1996.
prise; rather, it is its greatest weakness because it allows the
experimenter to do “science for the sake of science,” unen-
Vecsey, Christopher. On the Padres’ Trail. Notre Dame, Ind.,
1996.
cumbered by a subjective personal bias consisting of ethical
and moral considerations. Advocates of science use the pre-
Vecsey, Christopher. The Paths of Kateri’s Kin. Notre Dame, Ind.,
emptive disclaimer that benefits outweigh risks to justify
1997.
profit-driven research even where there are negative out-
Vecsey, Christopher. Where the Two Roads Meet. Notre Dame,
comes. As long as “objectivity” is equated with integrity, one
Ind., 1999.
can justify anything with equal impartiality, even making a
MICHAEL D. MCNALLY (2005)
nuclear bomb to destroy evil. The western scientific mind,
in just a few hundred years, leaves behind the most imposing
legacy of all time, a world full of side effects that generations
to come will be forced to cope with, not the least of which
NATIVE AMERICAN SCIENCE. A comprehen-
is environmental degradation on a global scale.
sive understanding of Native American science presents a
challenge because it is difficult to draw meaningful conclu-
Native Americans for thousands of years maintained a
sions from the ideas, practices, and observations of hundreds
completely different worldview of ancient systems of subjec-
of separate societies. Adding to the challenge is that Native
tive knowledge, orally transmitted. In these traditions, re-
American traditions were oral.
spect for life and caring for the land was and is a cultural im-
perative to insure the survival of future generations. Despite
THE VALIDITY OF ORAL TRADITIONS. The oral histories of
bloody conflicts and the loss of land, integral to the survival
American Indians are knowledge systems about the natural
of a society and its customs, many groups maintained some
environment and how they sustain a social structure of mu-
semblance of their ancient knowledge systems by means of
tual dependence that ensures the survival of future genera-
their traditions of oral history. Skilled orators have preserved
tions. These oral narratives lay out a background on which
ancient knowledge to the present. Now Native American
further descriptions weave a picture that originated in the
scholars convey knowledge in images using the written word,
minds of the ancients. The ability to visualize the narrative
despite the difficulty of precisely illustrating a concept. The
provides a sturdy framework on which to build an age-old
orator, who has many visual props at hand, can be sure of
lesson of ideologies and conceptual understanding. In this
precisely illustrating a concept for an audience, whereas the
way Native Americans passed on a culture that sustained life
writer most likely will never know this about the reader.
for thousands of years. These narratives were not passed on
by rote. Rather, they provided knowledge that was experi-
In the spirit of the scientific method, the following hy-
enced and became embedded in the conscience. Often, skill-
pothesis offers a tangible approach to begin piecing together
fully articulated Native American knowledge was associated
an understanding of how oral history might work at the
in complex ways with ritual or ceremony. The inhabitants
physiological level. Modern cognitive neuroscientists, using
of the Americas before European contact, in hundreds of dis-
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), map brain
tinct societies, maintained knowledge banks of such sophisti-
activities associated with the movement of limbs, the five
cation that modern scholars who study human antiquity are
major senses, thought, perception, and memory. Ancient
mystified as to the origin of such a keen understanding of
wisdom endures as thoughts and perceptions of the mind,
nature.
not as squiggles of a pen. The physical manifestations of
thought and even perception remain elusive (we cannot put
Confidence in the historical authenticity of ancient nar-
either in a petri dish), but fMRI at least reveals the location
ratives is seen to be weak because of a lack of written evi-
in the brain of the activity of mental imagery or visualization.
dence, sanctioned genocide, and removal of children to mis-
One might intuitively associate such activity with the visual
sionary and government boarding schools thereby distorting
cortex, but this is not the case. The fMRI data indicate that
American Indian cultural traditions. Yet faulting oral tradi-
mental imagery and visualization are more closely associated
tions because they are not set in stone is applying too high
with the seat of memory in the brain.
a standard. Even in contemporary interpretations of translat-
ed ancient texts there are frequent conceptual misunder-
It is tempting to conclude that using imagery and visual-
standings. Misconceptions arise from struggles with foreign
ization enhances the memory of details. The evidence seems
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6426
NATIVE AMERICAN SCIENCE
to confirm that the mental image relays specific knowledge
catalysts for the Scientific Revolution in Europe [during the
in the telling of a story. By letting an image do the talking
sixteenth century]” (2002, p. xi). In view of this historical
rather than a narrative memorized by rote, orators, when
relationship between the Scientific Revolution and ancient
called upon to relay the knowledge, are free to pass on the
Native American knowledge, the modern Western mind is
tradition in their own words. The Western scientific mind
naturally tempted to locate ancient knowledge of natural
is uncomfortable with this practice because the orator has
phenomena squarely in the domain of modern science. Were
freedom of expression to embellish or omit key features of
it otherwise, our tradition would have to teach that the Sci-
the knowledge. However, the trained orator knows that if the
entific Revolution is an outgrowth of ancient knowledge—a
person on the receiving end has not grasped the idea to the
concept that the contemporary scientific community is not
fullest, if an exact copy of the image has not transferred from
likely to embrace. Regardless, at the point of European con-
one mind to the next, it could compromise the very survival
tact, American Natives had in place meaningful understand-
of the tribe. Even if the information that the orator learned
ings of the function and utility of the natural environment.
in one day took several days to paint for the mind’s eye of
TRANSFERRING BETWEEN THE SYSTEMS. It is intriguing how
the receiver, the transfer was precise.
ancient minds conceived of the innovations. People every-
Humans within a community are drawn down different
where, throughout time, have desired to understand the
life paths. As an example, one person might be an excellent
complexities, beauty, and utility of the natural world within
astronomer and will hone that skill, while another might
a spiritual domain. Intellectual maneuvers within a spiritual
have a talent to heal and will pursue that career path. Cele-
domain limit knowledge acquisition to a realm bound by
bration of each milestone in life, from the time of birth,
subjectivity. It is in this realm that the ancients as well as
through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, is
moderns operated in the quest for the knowledge of how to
ceremonially guided, thus maintaining the continuity of
sustain both the people and the life-giving environment.
knowledge and a sense of community. Ultimately, commu-
However, the objective mind finds it impossible to rational-
nity members serve the needs of the community not solely
ize the mechanism that reveals knowledge.
for purposes of that day or season but rather because they
Modern anthropologists and archaeologists have put
operate within a framework designed to insure the survival
forth several hypotheses of how the ancients acquired knowl-
of generations into the future.
edge. The two most popular ideas reflect easy-to-recognize
ANCIENT WISDOM AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION. Edu-
attitudes: Perhaps Native Americans stumbled upon their
cation in the Western tradition convinces its audience that
knowledge by accident, since there is no record of their using
it is risky to commit a story to memory, say nothing of the
the European scientific method. Or perhaps Native Ameri-
workings of a whole society, because it will inevitably suffer
cans used a variation of the scientific method over a long pe-
corruption. So memory cannot be trusted to represent the
riod, since it provides a logical way to gain knowledge. Both
truth, whole and entire. Yet Native Americans have devised
ideas impose preconceived ideas on American Indians that
and orally transmitted superior innovations and inventions
presume methods foreign to the ancient cultural experience.
that persist to the present day.
Neither is adequate to define an entire continent of people.
The first idea is a stereotypical assumption that American In-
Emory Keoke and Kay Porterfield (2002) document
dians are intellectually inferior. The second educated guess
hundreds of Native American innovations and inventions
assumes that ancient ancestors were no more intelligent than
demonstrating the superiority of the American Indian intel-
the Ken Keyes’s hundredth monkey, who learned simply by
lect at the time of European contact. Old World explorers
observing.
reaped many inventions and innovations from the highly in-
telligent inhabitants of the New World. The gifts fostered
But consider this: Einstein himself said that one of the
a greed that, within twenty years, set the stage of a betrayal
keys to his intelligence lay in his ability to visualize the prob-
that spanned five centuries, remnants of which persist today.
lems he was working on and then to translate those visual
The dehumanizing stereotype of “savage wild heathens” ra-
images into the abstract language of mathematics. One of the
tionalized European expropriation from the New World of
most famous examples of this is the story that he developed
intellectual property in the form of inventions, processes,
his special theory of relativity out of daydreams visualizing
philosophies, and political or religious social systems. Euro-
what it would be like to ride through the universe on a beam
peans returned to the Old World and often claimed that in-
of light (Cardoso).
novations were accidental discoveries, thus relieving them-
With this in mind, an important question arises. Why
selves of the burden of crediting ancient intellectual property
does the human brain occupy more space than it needs, since
as a source. There is evidence of appropriated knowledge in
by some estimates, the average person uses only ten percent
the areas of agriculture, medicine, transportation, architec-
of its potential? If the theory of evolution is true, why has
ture, psychology, military strategy, government, and lan-
natural selection not phased out the excess folds of our gray
guage.
matter? Contrary to expectations, the excess gray matter is
Keoke and Poterfield claim, “A case can be made that
used for visualization, and visualization, as described by
contact with American Indians actually served as one of the
many Native American elders, is a vehicle that reveals knowl-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATS
6427
edge of the natural world, as illustrated by Einstein’s day-
Roberts, Royston M. Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science.
dreams. If the concept of Einstein’s daydreams brings forth
New York, 1989.
in the mind of the reader a mental image of a gaze beyond
Suzuki, David, and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders: Honor-
the windowpane, then the reader has acquired knowledge
ing Sacred Native Visions of Nature. New York, 1992.
based on mental imagery. This is the whole point of oral his-
Williamson, Ray A. Living the Sky: The Cosmos of the American In-
tory, a tradition rooted in mental imagery and visualization.
dian. Norman, Okla., 1984.
Sons and daughters of Manifest Destiny whittle away
M
at a terrible legacy left by their ancestors, as strength returns
ARIA CATALINA (2005)
slowly to the sons and daughters whose ancestors survived.
Together, a vision of the future that reveals to the world the
inalienable right of full recognition is possible. The right of
NATS. The nats of Burma make up a structured system
self-determination and the implicit right to self-govern and
of animistic spirits, predating the advent of Therava¯da Bud-
unite as a sovereign nation is on the horizon. Native Ameri-
dhism but coexisting with it and with other systems of divi-
cans all over the continent are embracing sovereignty on a
nation and prediction such as astronomy and alchemy. The
path leading to the unity of their nations, with the ultimate
nat cult is oriented to handling immediate and personal cri-
goal of picking up the chards of a broken vessel and replen-
ses and avoiding evil, whereas Buddhism, the dominant
ishing a parched dream.
higher religious ideology in Burma, is concerned chiefly with
S
rebirth and eventually with salvation. Most students of Bur-
EE ALSO Aesthetics, article on Visual Aesthetics; North
American Indian Religions, overview article; Oral Tradition;
mese religion agree that the term nat refers to any one of a
Poetry, article on Native American Poetry and Religion;
host of animistic spirits, including human beings who have
Politics and Religion, article on Politics and Native Ameri-
died violent deaths; former royal figures; spirits in fields,
can Religious Traditions; Rites of Passage, article on North
trees, and rivers; and regional, territorial overlords. The nats
American Indian Rites; Shamanism, article on North Amer-
that are propitiated in Burma are the auk nats, the lower ac-
ican Shamanism; Study of Religion, article on The Academ-
tive spirits. The devas of Hinduism are also called nats, but
ic Study of Religion in North America; Visual Culture and
they are not a ritual entity in Burma. In the time of King
Religion, overview article.
Anawratha (c. 1044 CE), an official list of nats was compiled.
Since then, the members of the list have changed, but the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
number, thirty-seven, remains constant. The thirty-seven of-
Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language
ficial nats share with the remaining nats the capacity to cause
in a More-Than-Human World. New York, 1996.
harm and, sometimes, to offer protection. They need to be
Basso, Kieth H. Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language
respected and propitiated if evil is to be warded off.
among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, 1996.
Anthropological studies of Burmese religion have dis-
Cajete, Gregory. Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous
covered the surprising fact that the nats of Burma form a
Education. Skyland, N.C., 1994.
structured system. This is in contrast to similar systems of
Cajete, Gregory, ed. A People’s Ecology: Explorations in Sustainable
animistic spirits in other Therava¯da Buddhist countries,
Living. Santa Fe, 1999.
Thailand, Sri Lanka, Laos, and Cambodia. The Thai ph¯ı and
Cajete, Gregory. Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence.
the Sinhala yaka¯ spirits, which play the same role as the nats,
Santa Fe, 2000.
do not form a structure as they do in the Burmese system.
Deloria, Barbara, Kristen Foehner, and Sam Scinta, eds. Spirit and
Here, the nats are differentiated on four levels: the territorial
Reason: The Vine Deloria, Jr., Reader. Golden, Colo., 1999.
nats reign over a region; the village nats guard a human settle-
Gornick, Vivian. Women in Science: 100 Journeys into the Territo-
ment; the mizaing and hpazaing are nats at the family level
ry. New York, 1990.
inherited from the mother and father, respectively; and final-
Jaimes, M. Annette, ed. The State of Native America: Genocide,
ly there are nats connected with special activities such as trav-
Colonization, and Resistance. Boston, 1992.
el, domestic protection, and other frequent and mundane ac-
James, Keith. Science and Native American Communities: Legacies
tivities.
of Pain, Visions of Promise. Lincoln, Neb., 2001.
Nats are often represented in carved figures or other
Keoke, Emory D., and Kay M. Porterfield. Encyclopedia of Ameri-
symbolic modes such as the coconut and red cloth of the
can Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inven-
house-protecting nat, Min Maha Giri, found on a house pole
tions and Innovations. New York, 2002.
in every Burmese home. There are also festivals held to honor
Keyes, Ken, Jr. “The Hundredth Monkey.” Available from http://
certain nats. The most important nat festival, of national
www.spiritual-endeavors.org/free/.
prominence, is the celebration consecrated to the Taung-
Nelson, Richard K. Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View
byon brothers, a pair of nats. At some nat festivals, and at
of the Northern Forest. Chicago, 1983.
other occasions where many people are gathered, there is
Peat, F. David. Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native Ameri-
often dancing by natgadaws. These nat wives are said to be
can Worldview. Grand Rapids, Mich., 2002.
possessed by their nat spouses, and in the trance of possession
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6428
NATURALISM
they offer prognostications for onlookers who feed them
istotle, is by nature political, and this conviction leaves no
strong drink and tobacco. The natgadaws do not take actual
room for the contrasts Cynics and Stoics need to define their
husbands, since the nats are said to fill that particular role.
positions. His naturalism, unlike theirs, was directed mainly
against Eleatic skepticism about change and against the deni-
SEE ALSO Burmese Religion.
al of “nature” and “natural motion” by Democritus (460–
363? BCE) and others. Aristotle aimed to develop and defend
BIBLIOGRAPHY
natural science as knowledge of what exists “by nature.” The
Brown, R. Grant. “The Taungbyon Festival.” Journal of the Royal
nature of a thing, for him, is its power of acting in a particu-
Anthropological Institute 45 (1915): 355–363.
lar determinate way, as defined by its end. The study of man
Htin Aung. “The Thirty-seven Lords.” Journal of the Burma Re-
is thus continuous with physics, for to study man is to study
search Society 39 (1956): 81–100.
a specific kind of natural body by seeking out its nature. Man
Nash, June C. “Living with Nats: An Analysis of Animism in Bur-
stands within nature, which is an intelligible, teleological
man Village Social Relations.” In Anthropological Studies in
order of motions. If Aristotle’s philosophy is definitive of
Theravada Buddhism, edited by Manning Nash. See pages
classical naturalism, then Democritus would surely qualify
117–136. New Haven, 1966.
as an antinaturalist, despite his materialism, though both are
Nash, Manning. The Golden Road to Modernity: Village Life in
routinely referred to as naturalists by modern writers. “Natu-
Contemporary Burma. New York, 1965.
ralism” later acquires specifically pejorative connotations in
Spiro, Melford E. Burmese Supernaturalism. Exp. ed. Philadelphia,
some Platonic, gnostic, and Christian writings, where the
1978.
natural is contrasted with the spiritual in a way foreign to Ar-
Temple, R. C. The Thirty-seven Nats: A Phase of Spirit-Worship
istotle and Democritus alike.
Prevailing in Burma. London, 1906.
These ancient usages have had some impact on recent
New Sources
discussions of naturalism, mainly via Christianity, which
Brac del Perrière, Bénedicte. Les Rituels de Possession en Bermanie:
transmitted an unstable amalgam of Hebraic, Stoic, Platonic,
du Culte d’Etat aux Cérémonies Privées. Paris, 1989.
and Aristotelian conceptions of nature to the modern world.
Rodrigue, Yves. Nat-pwe: Burma’s Supernatural Subculture. Trans-
Nor can the rediscovery and dissemination of ancient writ-
lated by Roser Flotats. Gartmore, U.K., 1992.
ings since the late medieval period be entirely discounted as
MANNING NASH (1987)
an influence. Still, modern debates over naturalism are best
Revised Bibliography
viewed as responses to the rise of modern science. The central
point at issue is the scope of scientific inquiry as it is now
practiced, and the basic terms of debate are set by the devel-
opment of the sciences since 1600, not by conceptions of na-
NATURALISM. In the broadest sense, naturalism can
ture inherited from antiquity.
denote any philosophy in which “nature” or “the natural”
functions as the most general explanatory or normative con-
“Naturalism,” when used as the name of a general philo-
cept. What counts as naturalism in a particular context de-
sophical outlook in contemporary discussion, usually signi-
pends upon how the term nature and its cognates are used.
fies the view that all objects, truths, and facts fall within the
Given the long and varied history of such terms in Western
scope of scientific inquiry, that nothing is in principle insus-
thought, it should not be surprising that any two doctrines
ceptible to scientific explanation. This view may usefully be
named “naturalism” may have little more than etymological
termed unrestricted naturalism. It differs from restricted
connections in common.
forms of naturalism in that its thesis is not confined to a spe-
HISTORY AND DEFINITIONS. Even in ancient Greece, “natu-
cific domain of inquiry, such as ethics. An ethical naturalist
ralism” designated several distinct positions. For the Cynics,
holds that ethical truths, facts, or values fall within the scope
naturalism consisted in severe condemnation of conventional
of scientific inquiry. As a form of restricted naturalism, ethi-
values and artificial virtues. The virtuous man is one who
cal naturalism can be defended without committing oneself
lives naturally, but living naturally requires a rigorously as-
to the unrestricted position. Furthermore, one can accept a
cetic practice in which all conventional and artificial goods
form of unrestricted naturalism without committing oneself
are shunned. Stoic naturalism also sought detachment from
to, say, ethical naturalism, provided one is prepared to deny
the conventional and the artificial, and agreed that the virtu-
that there are ethical truths, facts, or values in the relevant
ous man is one who lives naturally, but its conception of na-
sense. To adopt a naturalistic attitude toward something is
ture was articulated in an elaborate cosmology. Human na-
to maintain that it falls within the scope of scientific inquiry.
ture, for the Stoics, is part of cosmic nature, and virtue is
Unrestricted naturalists sometimes argue, however, that fail-
identified with conformity to natural law. Both Cynicism
ure to bring a domain of putative truths or facts within the
and Stoicism take us a great distance from Aristotle (384–
scope of scientific inquiry shows only that there are no truths
322 BCE), who resisted any attempt to abstract the virtuous
or facts to be found there, thus calling that domain, rather
life from the polis but who nonetheless looked with favor
than the scope of science, into question. Such arguments can
upon something called “naturalism.” Man, according to Ar-
bring unrestricted naturalists into conflict with those defend-
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NATURALISM
6429
ing naturalistic approaches in a specific area, a fact responsi-
scientific inquiry itself without begging the question? It
ble for much terminological confusion, not least of all in de-
seems that it cannot, and what this shows is that any attempt
bates over religion.
to vindicate the naturalist’s thesis without arguing in a circle
necessarily makes an appeal to standards of judgment that
Many different conceptions of scientific inquiry and its
do not belong to scientific inquiry per se. Hence, naturalism
findings have flourished in the modern period, and the con-
cannot be justified; the only noncircular means one could use
tent of both restricted and unrestricted forms of naturalism
in trying to justify it obviously contradicts it.
has varied accordingly. Where materialism has reigned as a
philosophy of science, “naturalism” and “materialism” have
This line of argument may seem compelling, but it
tended to be used interchangeably, and Democritus has
hardly forces naturalists to abandon their position. Does not
made his way onto lists of early naturalists. Materialist ver-
the same problem arise for any standards or principles any-
sions of naturalism define themselves polemically over
one might propose as valid and ultimate? If so, then natural-
against supernaturalism and idealism, neither of which is
ists are at least no worse off than their critics. The real ques-
compatible with an ontology designed to reduce everything
tion, naturalists will argue, is how critics intend to stop the
that exists and happens to matter in motion. That is, both
regress of standards short of infinity without themselves ar-
supernaturalism and idealism postulate entities and occur-
guing in a circle.
rences that fall outside the scope of scientific inquiry as mate-
The antinaturalist can stop the regress, it would seem,
rialists conceive it. But it is important to see that scientific
only by invoking a set of standards that are self-justified, in-
inquiry can be conceived in other ways and associated with
tuitively known, or demonstrably indispensable to rational
other sorts of ontological assumptions.
thought as such. What, then, prevents naturalists from
A group of twentieth-century American philosophers
claiming similar status for the principles implicit in scientific
known as critical naturalists has consistently gone out of its
practice? Once this question has been raised, naturalist and
way to deny materialist methodological and ontological prin-
critic seem on equal footing: each seems to require arguments
ciples. Critical naturalists often cite Aristotle and Barukh
capable of certifying some set of principles as fundamental
Spinoza (1632–1677) as the great representatives of the nat-
in the relevant sense. Furthermore, the debate can easily de-
uralistic tradition. Some, like Frederick Woodbridge (1867–
generate into a merely verbal dispute at this point, for it is
1940), have made extensive use of ideas from such figures
not necessarily clear why the antinaturalist’s principles can-
in their own constructive projects. Many have tried to make
not be said to be part of scientific method—namely, the
room, within a naturalistic outlook, for the human phenom-
foundational part.
ena—such as mind, intention, and culture—formerly
Increasingly, however, naturalists have expressed skepti-
claimed as the special province of the idealists. Some have
cism about such notions as self-justification and intuitive
argued that, because naturalistic methods place no a priori
knowledge, whether defended by other naturalists or by their
constraints on the types of hypotheses one may consider in
critics. So they have sought a more radical response to the
science, acceptance of naturalism involves no bias against su-
problem, arguing that scientific inquiry is just the honorific
pernaturalist ontologies as such. Hence, in recent philoso-
title given to the continuing process of rational criticism and
phy, as in the remainder of this article, “naturalism” is not
revision of inherited theory and practice. This process, while
tied to a particular ontology, though a naturalist in this sense
perhaps best exemplified in the natural sciences, is not con-
remains bound to embrace whatever ontological scruples and
fined to them and is essentially continuous from field to
commitments the course of scientific inquiry, rightly under-
field. It derives its justification not from foundational princi-
stood, entails.
ples on which it rests but rather from the way it helps adap-
DEBATES OVER NATURALISM. The most common general
tion to the environment through progressive self-correction.
charge leveled in the literature of the middle and late twenti-
Justification is a dialectical affair directed toward the prag-
eth century against versions of unrestricted naturalism is that
matic resolution of problems. In this view, humankind is
they cannot successfully account for themselves. Can natu-
saved from infinite regress in justificatory arguments not by
ralism account for itself without either falling into contradic-
foundational principles but by the settling of real doubts, and
tion or arguing in a circle? Does naturalism in fact presup-
if the process as a whole is circular, it is not viciously so. Nat-
pose something that cannot be brought within the scope of
uralistic philosophy is simply scientific inquiry gone self-
scientific inquiry as naturalists construe it?
conscious, reflecting on itself. The great pragmatist, John
Dewey (1859–1952), offered something like this defense and
Taking these questions as their point of departure, some
reformulation of naturalism, restated eloquently by W. V. O.
antinaturalists argue as follows. Naturalism is, in its unre-
Quine (1908–2000).
stricted forms, a philosophical thesis about the validity and
scope of scientific inquiry. How, then, is naturalism to be
When some critics have charged naturalism with an in-
justified as a philosophical thesis? By appealing to scientific
ability to account for itself, they have argued somewhat dif-
inquiry? That would be consistent with the naturalistic the-
ferently from the way considered thus far. Their point is that
sis, but it also seems circular. How can the validity and limit-
defending naturalism and practicing science are human ac-
less scope of scientific inquiry be established by appealing to
tivities involving thought and purposeful behavior in the
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6430
NATURALISM
pursuit of values, and that naturalism is unequipped to ac-
sires—are nonetheless determined by essentially nonrational
count for any such activity. This argument challenges natu-
forces in the human personality, society, or history. On the
ralists to show that they can explain thought, intention, and
other hand, one could argue that religious beliefs, though
value without violating naturalistic scruples. But then unre-
now known to be false, arose under circumstances that tend-
stricted naturalism, to be vindicated, must ultimately be pre-
ed to make them seem reasonable to reasonable people.
pared to either explain or explain away every domain of puta-
tive objects, truths, or facts in naturalistic terms. So the
Those committed to defending traditional religious
appraisal of unrestricted naturalism must sooner or later take
claims as true are not the only people interested in opposing
up each member in a long series of analyses of restricted top-
the naturalist’s attempts to explain religion. The other major
ics, one of which is religion.
source of antinaturalism in the study of religion is the claim,
often made by thinkers in the hermeneutical tradition of
NATURALISM AND RELIGION. What can naturalists make of
Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911), that the objective proce-
traditional religious utterances, such as the theist’s discourse
dures of scientific inquiry are insufficient for use in the study
about God? Assume for the moment that some of what the
of human beings, least of all their religious and artistic self-
theist says is to be interpreted as asserting the existence of a
expression. Human beings are, of course, objects within na-
supernatural being who created the universe. If the theist is
ture, and the naturalist’s methods can teach a great deal
right in making this assertion, presumably, the naturalist will
about humankind as a natural species. But human beings are
be obliged to show that God can be brought within the scope
also spiritual, self-creating subjects. Understanding them in-
of scientific inquiry. The naturalist will, in other words, have
volves determining the meaning that their behavior, verbal
to construct a “natural theology.” Some naturalists, such as
and nonverbal, has for them, and therefore calls for an inter-
the eighteenth-century Deists, have adopted this strategy,
pretive approach distinct from the naturalist’s explanatory
but most have deemed it unsuccessful, concluding instead
methods.
that no supernatural being exists. If no such being exists, nat-
uralists need not be held responsible to account for its exis-
Naturalists have responded to the hermeneutical tradi-
tence scientifically. The task, in that event, would be to ex-
tion’s antinaturalism in several ways. The most common sort
plain God’s existence away while still making sense of
of response can be seen in various attempts to reduce much
religious behavior, including the theist’s utterances about
of what hermeneutical theorists want to say about meaning
God, reports of religious experience, and so on.
and understanding to the languages of natural science. Criti-
cal and pragmatic naturalists move in another direction, ac-
If, however, the theist’s utterances about God are not
cusing Dilthey and his followers of uncritically taking over
to be taken as true assertions about a supernatural being, how
unduly narrow conceptions of scientific inquiry from the
shall they be taken? One alternative is to say that they are
materialists and positivists they otherwise oppose. Broaden
true but elliptical assertions about something else, something
the conception of scientific inquiry enough, and the line her-
that does fall within the scope of science. Some followers of
meneutical theorists have drawn between the natural sciences
the French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1859–1917) argue,
and humanistic studies (Naturwissenschaften and Geistes-
along these lines, that religious utterances are best interpreted
wissenschaften) will disappear—as will the rationale for view-
as symbolic assertions about society, that the actual object of
ing hermeneutical philosophy and naturalism as exclusive al-
religious worship is the social group, and that religious be-
ternatives.
havior can be fully explained in a systematic science of soci-
ety. Similar proposals have been developed by other theorists
Finally, it should be noted that some naturalists have
who take economics or psychology, not sociology, as the ap-
been as interested in reconstructing religion as they have
propriate idiom of reduction.
been in criticizing or explaining it. Dissatisfied with tradi-
tional religion on naturalistic grounds, they have attempted
A second alternative is to claim that the problematic re-
to devise religious systems capable of fulfilling the essential
ligious utterances are not properly viewed as assertions in the
personal or social functions they assign to religion without
strict sense at all. Instead, they are to be assimilated to some
departing from naturalism as a creed. The most ambitious
other class of speech-acts, such as expressions of emotions,
such attempt was that of Auguste Comte (1798–1857), the
wishes, or moral prescriptions. An example of this approach
French positivist, who took the rituals of Roman Catholi-
would be the emotivist theory of religious language popular
cism as models for his own conception of the sacraments and
among logical positivists.
identified humanity as the proper object of religious devo-
Third, a naturalist may take the apparent assertions in
tion and service. Dewey’s proposals, in contrast, were much
religious discourse at face value while ascribing false beliefs
less ambitious and involved no attempt to found an orga-
to those who utter them, a strategy much simpler than the
nized religion. According to Dewey, any ultimate end that
others but also one that raises the additional question of how
serves to unify one’s life and actions takes on a religious qual-
these allegedly false beliefs came to be accepted. Here again
ity. Dewey’s aim was to portray this-worldly concern with
at least two options suggest themselves. It may be argued, on
“the problems of men” as the optimal religious ideal. There
the one hand, that religious assertions—while not to be con-
have been other recent attempts to reconstruct religion in
strued as nonpropositional expressions of emotions or de-
naturalistic terms, but none has won much of a following.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
6431
SEE ALSO Analytic Philosophy; Deism; Hermeneutics; Logi-
NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
cal Positivism; Materialism; Nature, article on Religious and
SPECULATIONS
Philosophical Speculations; Positivism; Science and Reli-
In the West, “natural philosophy” and “philosophy of na-
gion; Sociology; Supernatural, The.
ture” have developed side-by-side and at times have been
confused. The first has been defined by Galileo, Auguste
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Comte, and Charles Darwin as the pursuit of a total but es-
The best place to begin a study of naturalism is with Naturalism
sentially objective knowledge of phenomena, whereas the
and the Human Spirit, edited by Yervant H. Krikorian (New
second has oriented such thinkers as Gottfried W. Leibniz,
York, 1944), which includes characteristic essays by John
Georg W. F. Hegel, and Henri Bergson toward an intuitive
Dewey, Sidney Hook, and John Herman Randall Jr., as well
approach that nevertheless strives to be rigorous regarding
as an essay titled “Naturalism and Religion” by Sterling P.
the reality that underlies data derived from observation.
Lamprecht. No study of naturalism should end before taking
Among the thinkers of this second category, those who have
up O. K. Bouwsma’s essay “Naturalism,” in his Philosophical
Essays (Lincoln, Neb., 1965), pp. 71–83. George Santayana’s
come more and more to be labeled Naturphilosophen, or
five-volume work The Life of Reason, or the Phases of Human
“philosophers of nature,” since the time of German Roman-
Progress (New York, 1905–1906) exerted considerable influ-
ticism occupy a special place.
ence on American naturalism in the early twentieth century
and includes a notable treatment of religion. John Dewey’s
Since antiquity, the representatives of that tendency are
account of naturalized religion appears in his book A Com-
generally committed to grasping the concrete character of
mon Faith (New Haven, 1934). The most comprehensive re-
nonmechanical, nonphysical reality or, as F. J. W. Schelling
cent naturalistic reconstruction of religion is probably Julian
put it, the “productivity” concealed behind sensible appear-
Huxley’s Religion without Revelation (1927; reprint, New
ances, without, as a rule, neglecting the study of appearances
York, 1958). The most influential twentieth-century attack
themselves. They are not satisfied with a natural philosophy
on naturalism may well be Edmund Husserl’s “Philosophie
based on empiricism alone. Their ideas indisputably bear the
als strenge Wissenschaft,” Logos 1 (1910): 289–314. For clas-
mark of the religious, indeed of Gnosticism—not in the du-
sic statements of the hermeneutical tradition’s antinatural-
alistic sense this word evokes when it is applied to the Gnos-
ism, see Wilhelm Dilthey’s Gesammelte Schriften, 2d ed.
tics of the beginning of our own era, but in the sense of a
(Stuttgart, 1957–1960). W. V. O. Quine’s pragmatic natu-
ralism can be sampled in his Ontological Relativity and Other
frame of mind fixed on defining the nature of the relation-
Essays (New York, 1969). The concerns of the hermeneutical
ships linking God, human beings, and the universe by means
tradition from Dilthey to Hans-Georg Gadamer and of prag-
not relevant solely to the experimental method.
matic naturalism from Dewey to Quine come together most
clearly in Richard Rorty’s Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
PRE-SOCRATICS, STOICISM, HERMETISM, AND THE EARLY
(Princeton, 1979).
MIDDLE AGES. The pre-Socratics hardly opposed matter to
mind, soul to body, or subject to object, but they had a ten-
New Sources
dency to approach nature with a nondualistic, noncategorical
Griffin, David Ray. Religion and Scientific Naturalism: Overcoming
attitude. In such a view, all being is concrete. Yet their think-
the Conflicts. Albany, N.Y., 2000.
ing contained dynamic and creative contradictions. Cosmol-
Hardwick, Charley. Events of Grace: Naturalism, Existentialism,
ogies and anthropologies rested on pairs of opposites. The
and Theology. New York, 1996.
pre-Socratics had a sense of analogy and homology insofar
as they did not think in purely Aristotelian categories. Their
Lawlor, Mary. Recalling the Wild: Naturalism and the Closing of the
American West. New Brunswick, N.J., 2000.
imaginary world was grounded in concrete nature, interpret-
ing and molding it into living structures. Hence the impor-
Mitchell, Lee Clark. Determined Fictions: American Literary Natu-
tance of the elements (whose rich symbolism would later be
ralism. New York, 1989.
taken up again by the alchemists): water for Thales, air for
Nielsen, Kai. Naturalism and Religion. Amherst, N.Y., 2001.
Anaximenes, fire for Heraclitus. For these physicist-
metaphysicians, especially Heraclitus, the logic of antago-
Pizer, Donald. The Theory and Practice of American Naturalism:
nism was primordial. “Night and day,” he said, “they are
Selected Essays and Reviews. Carbondale, Ill., 1993.
one.” Hence the pre-Socratics’ labyrinthine style, which
Reich, Lou. Hume’s Religious Naturalism. Lanham, Md., 1998.
seems obscure because it is made of paradoxes. Parmenides
was already moving away from such categories of nature with
JEFFREY STOUT (1987)
his linear thought, his doxa, which tended to annul these
Revised Bibliography
contradictions. Thus, too, Anaxagoras, who saw in nature a
thinking principle that is copresent in the ordering of the
world, but that also separates the human being from the rest
NATURE
of the cosmos. But later, Empedocles affirmed six princi-
This entry consists of the following articles:
ples—reassemblage and dispersion, plus the four elements—
RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
and presented the history of the world as the reconstitution
WORSHIP OF NATURE
of a dislocated unity.
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6432
NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
Stoicism, over almost six centuries, paved the way for
philosophical speculation that was committed to deciphering
Neoplatonism and certain Gnostic and Hermetic currents.
living, concrete meanings. According to Jean de Meung, na-
Indeed, it placed emphasis on the need to know the concrete
ture became the “chamberlain,” or vicar, of God—a God
universe, harmoniously blending wisdom and technique,
who, as it turned out, incarnated in stone in this age that saw
and taught the necessity of a savoir-faire that rejects pure
the emergence of a great sacred art of the West.
speculation and must lead to the knowledge of an organic
whole, thus assuring the accord between things heavenly and
Nature, its unity and its laws, is what interested the Pla-
terrestrial. That trait appeared again and again in a more sys-
tonism of the school of Chartres as it appeared in the works
tematic manner as one of the important aspects of Alexan-
of William of Conches, who was much concerned with phys-
drine Hermetism, whose teachings often affirm that God is
ics, propagated the teachings of Eriugena on the world soul,
known through the contemplation of the world. Hence the
and undertook, like Bernard Silvester of Tours (De Mundi
preference of the Hermetica texts for the particular, the mira-
universitate, 1147), to integrate a Platonic philosophy of na-
bilia, over the abstract and the general; science is not “disin-
ture within Christianity. The Platonic doctrine of ideas, and
terested” but aims to rediscover the general by means of an
the reflection on numbers, were of a nature to incite the in-
enriching detour through the concrete and through individ-
tellect to remove from the sensible world any form of reality
ual objects
judged to be absolute, and to place it in the realm of the ar-
chetypes or exempla. But the school of Chartres did not suc-
This focus on the concrete hardly occurs in Neoplato-
cumb to this temptation inherent in classical Platonism. It
nism, where the intelligible reality, the realm of the mind to
rather tended to integrate the intellect with the material
which one strives to gain access, has no purpose in explaining
world and the natural sciences. Its debt to Arabic science in
the world of the senses. Instead, it aids us in quitting this
this respect is quite evident—especially in medical science,
world in order to help us to enter the pure region where
which had only recently been made accessible to the West.
knowledge and happiness are possible. The essential thing is
to go beyond the sensual, up to the world of ideas. Within
In the thirteenth century two opposing tendencies di-
diverse branches of early Gnosticism, the belief prevailed that
vided philosophical and religious reflection. The Franciscan
the world is the work of an evil entity.
orientation, represented mainly by Bonaventure, showed re-
newed interest in all things in nature. This was followed by
The ninth-century theologian John Scotus Eriugena,
the Dominican orientation, derived from Aristotle and rep-
who was born in Ireland and lived at the court of Charles
resented by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, who
the Bald, authored De divisione naturae (or Periphyseon),
elaborated a philosophy based mainly on concepts rather
which was to nourish much of subsequent Theosophical
than on living, inter-related symbolic images. From another
speculation up to the age of German idealism in the nine-
source came a third tendency, that of the school of Oxford,
teenth century. The two kinds of nature he distinguished,
which shared with the spirit of Chartres a desire for universal
namely natura naturans and natura naturata (i.e., creative na-
intuition. Nature holds the largest place in the thought of
ture and created nature), were later to inspire Jewish qaballis-
Bonaventure, along with his mystical leanings. The “Seraph-
tic literature.
ic Doctor” considered nature equal to the Bible and as a book
In the same century, the Arabs translated many ancient
to be deciphered. The spirit of Oxford blossomed further in
texts and, inspired by Aristotle, wrote commentaries on
the work of the early thirteenth-century bishop Robert
them. But together with the rationalistic empiricism of Aris-
Grosseteste. Neoplatonism and an interest in the sciences,
totle, and in the margins of a form of positivism, we see Arab
two traits characteristic of both these English masters, ap-
thought also expressing a highly mythicized vision of a world
peared clearly in Grosseteste. His preferred subject, specula-
ruled by spiritual forces that only intuition can aspire to
tions on the nature of light, was to enjoy a long posterity.
grasp. The medieval West received this teaching by way of
The nature of light as the “first corporeal form” (lux) ac-
the Latin translations of Arabic texts that were often con-
counts for the presence of all of the bodies of the universe
cerned with the theory and practice of medicine and magic.
and the constitution of the world by its expansion, its con-
densation, or its rarefaction. Grosseteste imagined that a
The twelfth century saw a return to the cosmological
point of light created by God was diffused in such a manner
themes of Greco-Roman antiquity, in other words, to a uni-
that a sphere of a finite radius was formed, which was to be-
verse conceived and represented as an organic whole, subject
come the universe (a hypothesis that has been, duly or not,
to laws that must be sought in the light of analogy. But the
paralleled to the Big Bang theory). The limit of its power of
“discovery” of laws would entail twofold consequences: on
diffusion determined the firmament, which in turn sent back
the one hand, a powerful process of secularization was set in
a light (lumen), which in turn engendered the celestial
motion, at the expense of a sense of the sacred. On the other
spheres and the spheres of the elements. Adam Pulchrae Mu-
hand, and conversely, a lasting renewal of what might be
lieris, another theologian of the light, prefigured several of
called the feeling of cosmic participation took place. This lat-
Grosseteste’s intuitions with his Liber de intelligentiis.
ter corresponded to the systematic and poetic elaboration of
a network of relations between the visible and invisible
Roger Bacon, a thirteenth-century Franciscan of Paris
realms of creation. The universe was approached by form of
and Oxford, has been often presented as a rationalist precur-
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NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
6433
sor of the experimental method of modern science. Never-
Peter of Abano. Astrological Hermetism makes up half of his
theless, what Bacon called “experience” (experimentum)
encyclopedic work, of which the Conciliator is the most im-
should be taken not in its current, modern sense, but in the
portant volume. Here, nature is seen as controlled by the
sense of “the work of an expert.” In this understanding, the
stars, and objects are filled with spirits.
practices of the alchemist and the astrologer as well fall under
the heading of experimentumi. Paracelsus would later go
In addition, alchemy played a big role. It had begun to
along similar paths when dealing with “experience” in medi-
regain currency in the West in the twelfth century. It as-
cine, by which he understood the study and knowledge of
sumed three forms, which may have been complementary in
concealed natural forces. For Bacon, experimental science
the minds of many alchemists, but which it is convenient to
meant secret and traditional science, with the condition that
distinguish. These were, first, research into procedures of
concrete science not be separated from the Holy Scriptures
metallic transmutation (for example, the production of
but that the two be complementarily linked together.
gold); second, a “spiritual” alchemy, in which the chemical
metaphors served as an aid to meditation, with a conscious
To these works must be added what became a well-
or unconscious transformation of the experimenter himself
known genre in the thirteenth century, that of the summae
as the goal; and third, an alchemy presented as a philosophy
(“sums”) and specula (“mirrors”), of which Alexander Neck-
of nature, as in Petrus Bonus’s Pretiosa margarita novella. In
am’s De naturis rerum is the first example. To this genre be-
the middle of the fourteenth century, the Franciscan Jean De
long such works as the Speculum majus of Vincent of Beau-
Rupescissa (or Jean de Roquetaillade) developed at length the
vais, an exposé of natural history in the form of a
idea that a “quintessence” is at work in each object, and he
commentary on the first chapters of Genesis. Aside from this,
proposed theories on the four elements and the “three princi-
other works of the same sort worthy of note include De na-
ples.” All such speculations herald Paracelsus’s work, but be-
tura rerum by Thomas of Cantimpré, and Bartholomew the
fore him another great name emerged in the thought of the
Englishman’s De proprietatibus rerum. Only occasionally do
fifteenth-century: Nicholas of Cusa, the apostle of a total sci-
these works offer a philosophy of nature in the full sense of
ence in which the ars coincidentiarum is clearly distinguished
the term, but since they are replete with lots of histories and
from the ars conjecturarum of common science. The first cor-
observations on the powers of plants, animals, and minerals,
responds to the principle of the intellectual knowledge of ob-
as well as on the heavenly signs, they prepared the way for
jects, the second to the principle of a purely rational knowl-
the occult philosophy of the Renaissance.
edge. What he called the docta ignorantia is a form of
superior knowledge, a gnosis of the coincidence of opposites,
FROM THE LATE MIDDLE AGES TO THE RENAISSANCE. The
or state of the unity of all things.
problem of nominalism versus realism, which was posed
sharply in the fourteenth century, entailed a debate with high
The Renaissance promoted the revival of a philosophy
stakes for the construction of a philosophy of nature. Nomi-
of nature, primarily in Germanic countries, which were
nalism (contrary to realism) is loath to see in the laws and
thenceforth the preserver of holistic worldviews; that is, em-
the realities of the sensible world a collection of analogous/
bracing the fullness of the world. In the seventeenth century,
homologous replicas of realities on high, or exempla. Nomi-
the term pansophy was often bestowed on them, in order to
nalism emerged victorious from the debate, clearing the field
emphasize their universalizing character. As early as the six-
for the development of modern science, beginning with
teenth century, Paracelsus, the famous physician of Einsie-
physics. Thus the continuity between a spiritually structured
deln, Basel, and Salzburg, played a decisive role, with his im-
universe and self-sufficient, purely physical laws, which had
mense oeuvre and his abundant posterity. While preserving
been sustained by “traditional” philosophies, was broken. At
the Neoplatonic idea of intermediaries between humankind
the same time, the influence of nominalism joined with that
and the divine, he did so less as a spiritualist meditating on
of Averroism and, in bringing about the downfall of the Avi-
the nature of intermediary intellects than as a practitioner
cennian concept of the universe, paved the way for an ongo-
seeking to discover the analogical relationships between a
ing secularization of the cosmos.
concrete, living, dynamic heaven and the human being stud-
ied in all his constituent parts.
The Ars magna of Ramón Lull, written in 1308 and in-
spired by Qabbalah, was an instrument of knowledge that
In opposition to Neoplatonism, nature for Paracelsus
claimed to be applicable at all possible and imaginable levels,
emerged directly from divine power. He distinguished two
from God himself down to the lowest orders of nature, by
orders of suprasensible realities, or “lights.” There is the
way of the angels, the stars, and the four elements. Lull’s Ars
“light of grace,” of a uniquely spiritual order, a divine world
played the role of a channel through which a part of the me-
to which human beings are related through their immortal
dieval Neoplatonism revived by Eriugena passed, in other
spirit. This is the domain of mysticism proper; he hardly ven-
words, a dynamic Platonism close to the Jewish mysticism
tured to occupy himself with it, except in order to stress its
that was to flourish in Florence and Spain. It was interpreted,
ontological preeminence and existence. His domain of re-
along with other writings falsely attributed to him, as a form
search was the other “light,” that of nature, or philosophia
of Qabbalah, although it was hardly so. A grandiose concep-
sagax, which he described as an autonomous power of revela-
tion of nature is also found in the contemporary writings of
tion. Between these two lights he placed astronomy or astrol-
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NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
ogy as a third area or term. Everything that concerns these
discourses dealt more and more with the notion of “higher
three realms, as well as biology, human psychology, and even
physics,” or “sacred physics,” as opposed to a merely rational
the arts, emerges from nature’s light and obeys the laws of
variety. Such sacred physics set itself up against the desacral-
analogy. Hence the focus on deciphering correspondences
ization of the universe. It was a matter of resacralizing both
among metals, planets, parts of the human body, and so
science and the world. Theosophy stricto sensu starts from a
forth, with a view to improving, through observation and ex-
speculation that bears on the divine, whereas Naturphiloso-
perimentation, our understanding of the complexity of na-
phie proper begins with an observation of natural phenome-
ture’s divinely created unity. Chemistry and medicine are
na, which it then tries to integrate into a holistic and spiritual
emphasized in the search for such a comprehension. One
worldview. But since Theosophers often transferred to the
must, as Paracelsus himself said, “acquire the wonders of
spirit or the divine itself the proprieties of physics, it is scarce-
God through the mediation of Nature.”
ly surprising that in some authors the distinction between
Naturphilosophie and Theosophy tends to get blurred.
Paracelsism spread through Germany and the rest of
Europe at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning
Mosaic physics also flourished in the seventeenth centu-
of the seventeenth, at least two generations after the death
ry. The term physica sacra, often linked to it, served to desig-
of its initiator, whose work was not well known nor widely
nate a reading of the Bible considered as the key to under-
published until then. Among his successors and disciples,
standing another book, that of nature. The contents of both
Gerhard Dorn, Alexander von Suchten, and Oswald Croll
books were supposed to coincide. Jan Amos Comenius, for
occupy an important place. Their philosophy, like their mas-
instance, represents this tendency. In the pre-Enlightenment
ter’s, is not autonomous but is set within a theology; it has
era, at the end of the seventeenth century, first in England,
a dynamic character bearing on all levels, up to the level of
then in other European countries, there arose a so-called
God himself, by no means a deus otiosus. The manner in
physico-theology, which endeavored to reconcile scientific
which they conceive the organic unity of the world with its
discoveries with faith (not necessarily with the Bible) as a re-
multiple hypostases always results in a kind of “sacred phys-
action to mechanistic worldviews and Cartesian rationalism.
ics” far from the dryness that characterizes many cosmologies
Physico-theologians (for example, Friedrich Christian Lesser,
of the Middle Ages. Paracelsism corresponds to a new and
Lithotheologie, 1735) were lavish in descriptions of animals
influential irruption of a “physiological” cosmology—or cos-
(bees, mollusks, spiders, birds, etc.), plants, and natural phe-
mosophy, rather—in the West, and in the seventeenth cen-
nomena (lightning, storms), to which they attributed sym-
tury was to lead to developments operating in several direc-
bolic and spiritual, albeit generally static, meanings.
tions: notably, a “chemical philosophy,” more or less
influenced by alchemy, and which the new scientific para-
In the context of the later widespread craze for experi-
digms struggled to get rid of throughout the seventeenth and
mentation with electricity and galvanism (1789, experiments
eighteenth centuries.
of Galvani; 1800, Voltaic pile), the pre-Romantic period wit-
nessed the success of Franz Anton Mesmer’s theories, and the
These pansophic outlooks fueled the inspiration of the
development of animal magnetism by Armand Marie de
Rosicrucian movement, whose first manifestations were the
Puységur and his followers. Another result of the belief in a
Fama Fraternitatis (1614) and the Confessio Fraternitatis
magnetic fluid pervading human beings and the whole uni-
(1615)—which were almost simultaneous with those of
verse was the so-called “theology of electricity.” The latter
thinkers like Robert Fludd and Jakob Boehme. With Boeh-
was marked by a kind of spiritual realism represented by the
me, a new esoteric current appeared, namely the so-called
Theosopher Friedrich Christoph Oetinger and other figures
Theosophical one (see below).
like Prokop Divisch, Johann Ludwig Fricker, Gottlieb Frie-
THE ROOTS OF ROMANTIC NATURPHILOSOPHIE. Among
drich Rösler (e.g., their book Theorie der meteorologischen
the precursors of Romantic Naturphilosophie are, in particu-
Elektrizität, 1765). This “theology” may be considered, at
lar, Christian Theosophy, “mosaic physics,” “physico-
least with regard to Oetinger, as a kind of proto-Natur-
theology,” the so-called “theology of electricity,” the first ex-
philosophie.
periments in animal magnetism, and also three new orienta-
tions that appeared toward the end of the eighteenth century
Besides these three precursors, three further factors per-
on the stage of philosophy in general, and will be further ex-
taining to the history of philosophy proper, are also relevant
plained below.
to the appearance of Naturphilosophie.
To begin with Christian Theosophy, an esoteric current
The influence of French naturalism. With Georges-
that flourished from the beginning of the seventeenth centu-
Louis de Buffon’s theoretical works and Denis Diderot’s Le
ry onward (notably with Boehme), one of its prevailing as-
rêve de d’Alembert (1769), a new way of considering physics
pects is the search for dynamic correspondences between na-
had begun to emerge. It began as a kind of literary exercise
ture, human beings, and God (or divine entities) through an
rather than a strictly scientific discourse, but as it became
ongoing “illuminative” speculation bearing on the complex
more popular it pervaded the culture of the time. Buffon, in
and dramatic relationships between these three, envisaged as
particular, fostered a taste for synthesis (a typical trait of Ro-
dramatis personae. In the eighteenth century, Theosophical
mantic thought, along with the painful experience of human
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NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
6435
limits) and promoted the theme of the soul of the world
Avesta, 1851), Joseph Görres (Aphorismen über Kunst, als
(anima mundi).
Einleitung zu künftigen Aphorismen über Organonomie, Phy-
sik, Psychologie und Anthropologie [Aphorisms on art, as an
The philosophies of Immanuel Kant and Johann
introduction to future aphorisms on organonomy, physics,
Gottlieb Fichte. In Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Natur-
psychology, and anthropology], 1802); Justinus Kerner (Eine
wissenschaft (Metaphysical foundations of natural science,
Erscheinung aus dem Nachtgebiete der Natur [A manifestation
1786), which discussed the necessity of discovering the a pri-
from the night-side of nature], 1836); Dietrich Georg Kieser
ori principles at work behind empirical data, Kant presented
(in particular his contributions in the 1820s to the journal
as a constitutive characteristic of nature the two forces of
Archiv für den Thierischen Magnetismus); Giovanni Malfatti
Newtonian physics, attraction and repulsion, at a time when
(Studien über Anarchie und Hierarchie des Wissens [Studies
the notion of polarity was already spreading outside esoteric
about anarchy and hierarchy of knowledge], 1843); Johann
circles and flowing into various domains, including medi-
cine. Leaning on some of Kant’s ideas, which he extended
Friedrich von Meyer (in particular his contributions in the
to the utmost, Fichte proceeded to spread the idea that the
1820s and 1830s to Blätter für höhere Wahrheit [Journal for
world is a product of imagination (notably in Grundlage der
higher truth]); Adam Müller (Lehre vom Gegensatz [The con-
gesamten Wissenschaftslehre [Foundations of the entire doc-
tradiction theory], 1804); Novalis (pseudonym of Friedrich
trine of science, 1794–1795]). Imagination was understood
von Hardenberg, Das allgemeine Brouillon: Materialien zur
as resulting from a synthetic and spontaneous activity of the
Enzyklopädistik [The general draft: Materials for my encyclo-
spirit (i.e., the thing in itself and our representation of it are
pedic project], 1798–1799); Hans Christian Oersted (Der
identical).
Geist der Natur [The spirit of nature], 1850–1851); Lorenz
Oken (Lehrbuch der Naturphilosophie [Coursebook on Na-
Spinozan philosophy. Having been considered an
turphilosophie], 1809); Johann Wilhelm Ritter (Fragmente
atheist during most of the eighteenth century, Spinoza’s reli-
aus der Nachlasse eines jungen Physikers [Fragments from the
gious ideas returned to center stage at the turn of the century,
legacy of a young physicist], 1810); the painter Philipp Otto
but were now interpreted as those of a man intoxicated with
Runge (Farbenkugel [Ball of colors], 1810); Gotthilf Hein-
God. His “Deus sive natura” was no longer read as a disguised
rich von Schubert (Ansichten über die Nachtseite der Natur-
profession of materialistic faith, but as the affirmation that
wissenschaft [Views on the night sides of the science of na-
nature is something divine. At this time, there was a prevail-
ture], 1808); Henrik Steffens (Grundzüge der philosophischen
ing tendency to conceive of God as not identical with things
Naturwissenschaften [The main traits of the philosophical sci-
but as the primordial center of energy from which the devel-
ence of nature], 1806); Gottfried Reinhold Trevisarus (Die
opment of organic forms and the entire finite world pro-
Erscheinungen und Gesetze des organischenn Lebens [The man-
ceeded. Indeed, Naturphilosophie generally avoids pantheism
ifestations and laws of organic life], 1831–1833); Ignaz
in favor of this panentheism (i.e., God is everywhere in na-
Troxler (Über das Leben und sein Problem [On life and its
ture, but outside also).
problem], 1806); Johann Jakob Wagner (Organon der men-
T
schlichen Erkenntniss [Organon of human knowledge],
HE ESSENTIALS OF ROMANTIC NATURPHILOSOPHIE. Na-
turphilosophie proper appeared during the last years of the
1830). One should also mention, with respect to other cul-
eighteenth century, heralded by two groundbreaking works,
tural fields, such names as Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin
published almost simultaneously in 1798: F. J. W. Schel-
(L’Esprit des choses [The spirit of things], 1802), William
ling’s Von der Weltseele (On the soul of the world) and Franz
Paley (Natural Theology, 1802), and Sir Humphrey Davy
von Baader’s Über das pythagoräische Quadrat in der Natur
(Consolations in Travel, 1830).
(About the Pythagorean square in nature). Besides these two,
The Theosophical orientation proper is far from being
mention must be made of the first writings of the theoreti-
the rule amongst these figures. It is conspicuous in Baader,
cian in animal magnetism, Carl August von Eschenmayer
Meyer, and Schubert, for example, but almost absent from
(e.g., Sätze aus der Naturmetaphysik auf chemiche und medi-
the works of such authors as Burdach, Oken, and Wagner.
cinische Gegenstände angewandt [Elements of the metaphysics
However, most Naturphilosophen share three common te-
of nature, applied to chemical and medical objects], 1797).
nets, which are explicitly or implicitly present in their dis-
Along with Baader, and even more than Schelling, Eschen-
course, and account for their proximity to esotericism in gen-
mayer combined the data of the pansophic-esoteric legacy
eral, and to Theosophy in particular:
with the new spirit of Kantian philosophy. Among the fur-
ther representatives of Naturphilosophie, the following au-
First, nature has a history of a mythical order. This on-
thors and their representative works stand out: Karl Friedrich
tological postulate functions as a poetic mainspring for re-
Burdach (Blicke ins Leben [Glimpses into life], 1842–1848);
search and speculation. The world is not made of eternal, im-
Wilhelm Butte (Arithmetik des menschlichen Lebens [Arith-
mutable things but is, like the spirit, engaged in a process of
metic of human life], 1811); Carl Gustav Carus (Natur und
a highly dramatic character. A quadruple polar structure
Idee, 1862); Joseph Ennemoser (Der Magnetismus im Ver-
underlies most of these speculations. The first pole is the un-
hältnis zur Natur und Religion [Magnetism as related to na-
differentiated chaos, or primordial light. From that, two op-
ture and religion], 1842); Gustav Theodor Fechner (Zend-
posite poles emerge, which are both opposed and comple-
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NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
mentary to one another and assume various forms, like fire
ble processes at work within nature and the whole cosmos).
and water, fire and light, masculine and feminine, attraction
Things always present themselves as symbols, which bring
and repulsion. A fourth term then manifests, which reflects
back to both the warp and woof of a universal web. Living
the first one and is the common product within which the
structures are detected in crystals, celestial constellations, and
two opposing terms combine. Such a quaternary is the basic
electric phenomena. Mechanistic imaginary and the com-
structure, in fact a mythical narrative, identified by Schelling
partmentalization of science into sectors cut off from one an-
as “the repressed mystery of Christianity.” It is the story of
other are replaced by an organic merging of all disciplines.
the “Redeemed Redeemer,” that is, the metahistory of a cap-
Thus concrete science and metaphysics, or experimentation
tive light awakened by another light that had remained free.
and meditation, are two sides of the same coin. Almost all
Hence the frequent use of the two notions of light and gravi-
representatives of this current were scholars with at least one
ty (rather than darkness), the latter being understood as
scientific specialty, like chemistry, physics, geology, mine en-
something by which the primitive energies have been en-
gineering, or medicine. The fragments of empirical reality re-
gulfed, but from which they are still likely to reemerge. In
quire a “second reading.” Once reality has been subjected to
a similar vein, Jakob Boehme had described nature as a fire
scientific analysis, it needs to be deciphered symbolically in
whose embers human beings should rekindle and which in
order to yield clusters of meaning. Consequently, a scientific
turn would redeem them.
fact is perceived as a sign, and signs respond to each other.
Concepts borrowed from chemistry are transferred to astron-
The second tenet concerns the identity of spirit and na-
omy or human psychology; notions pertaining to botany are
ture, first expressed by Schelling. “Spirit” is understood as
used to describe inorganic processes or vice versa. It is not
the universal, even divine one, in its relation to nature and
surprising that the Romantic image of the wise physician,
to the human beings. Ontologically, this identity rests on a
characteristic of period literature, enjoyed a great success,
mythical conception of the history of nature, based on an
based as it was on the analogy between medicine and poetry.
epistemological plane where the negative or destructive op-
In literature, such transfers from one domain to another
position of the two is surmounted: Spirit becomes nature,
often took the form of aphorisms (e.g., Novalis), a genre gen-
nature becomes spiritualized. Oersted wrote: “The more you
erally praised by German Romanticism. The Romantic writ-
advance toward [the] agreement between Nature and Spir-
er Friedrich Schlegel claimed that “the combinatorial mind
it. . .the more perfect you will find it and [the more you will
is truly prophetic,” and Schelling advocated a form of non-
see that] these two Natures are the seeds of one common
dogmatic polytheism: “Monotheism of the mind and of the
root” (Betrachtungen über die Geschichte der Chemie [Consid-
heart, and polytheism of the imagination and of art, this is
erations on the history of chemistry], 1807). This “philoso-
what we need” (1962, vol. 1, p. 70).
phy of identity” (viz., Schelling) has remained the most sug-
gestive idea of Naturphilosophie, because it bears on the
Goethe’s philosophy of nature is somewhat distinct
from the current of Naturphilosophie. Admittedly, through-
perennial metaphysical question of the relationship between
out his life he certainly maintained the notion of a vital uni-
nature and spirit. By the same token, self-knowledge and
verse, and his scientific works, especially those on the meta-
knowledge of the world go hand in hand. Both are an initia-
morphosis of plants and on colors, place him close to some
tory journey and immersion into “the becoming” (das Wer-
leanings of the Naturphilosophen. But he was more interested
den). But this Werden is dramatic because it implies both
in trying to grasp eternity in an instant, or infinity in an ob-
order and disorder. The world that surrounds us, and we
ject (William Blake), than in discovering commonalities or
ourselves, bear witness to an ancient order that has been dis-
correspondences between things, or in what the latter sym-
rupted. The idea is conspicuous also in Romantic art and lit-
bolize of the invisible. More generally, he remained aloof
erature, which lavishly depict natural landscapes resulting
from Romanticism. Apart from brilliant exceptions like Rit-
from cataclysmic events, thus reflecting one of the essential
ter and Oersted, the Naturphilosophen did not make signifi-
themes developed by Theosophy, namely the belief in an
cant discoveries themselves, but they were keen to find and
original fall of human beings and nature. The interdepen-
express truths of a different order, that of the absolute.
dence of human being and nature, including the entire cos-
mos and the soul of the world, is the central idea underlying
IN THE WAKE OF ROMANTIC NATURPHILOSOPHIE. After
the research of such Naturphilosophen as Baader, Schubert,
about sixty years, the current of Naturphilosophie faded away
and Kerner in mesmerism, animal magnetism, and dreams.
in the 1850s. It was probably the last period in which peo-
ple—or, at least, the savants—had felt at home on earth.
Third, nature as a whole is a living net of correspon-
Gradually, an estrangement from nature had made headway:
dences to be deciphered and integrated into a holistic world-
the view had begun to prevail that nature is hostile, and not
view. Nature is to be read as a text replete with symbolic im-
a place where they could feel at home. Nature came to repre-
plications, whose meaning lies beyond itself. A spirit speaks
sent either “the other,” linked to a feeling of no longer being
through it. As a consequence, rigorous experimental science
“at home in the world,” or conversely to a reflexive response
is never more than an obligatory first step toward a compre-
against the increasing disenchantment of the world (a kind
hensive, holistic knowledge encompassing both natura natu-
of last-ditch attempt at exorcizing the specter of disenchant-
rans and natura naturata (i.e., the invisible as well as the visi-
ment). This process had already been smoldering for quite
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NATURE: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
6437
a few decades, as exemplified by Arthur Schopenhauer’s Die
Benz, Ernst. Theologie der Elektrizität: Zur Begegnung und Ausei-
Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The world as will and repre-
nandersetzung von Theologie und Naturwissenschaft im 17ten
sentation, 1819), in which nature is considered as being out-
und 18ten Jahrhundert. Mainz, Germany, 1970.
side the categories of understanding. In the second half of
Bernoulli, Christoph, and Hans Kern, ed. Romantische Natur-
the nineteenth century, Naturphilosophie was definitely su-
philosophie. Jena, Germany, 1926.
perseded by the advent of scientistic, materialistic world-
Brinkmann, Richard, ed. Romantik in Deutschland: Ein interdiszi-
views. However, it left numerous legacies. A number of cele-
plinäres Symposium. Stuttgart, Germany, 1978. See the sec-
brated philosophers in the twentieth century, like Ludwig
tion entitled “Romantik im Spanungsfeld von Naturgefühl,
Klages, Hermann Keyerling, and Max Scheler, have re-
Naturwissenschaft und Philosophie, ” pp. 167–330.
claimed some of its heritage, but in an essentially speculative
Cazenave, Michel, ed. Science et conscience: Les deux lectures de
manner, since very few of them were chemists, astrophysi-
l’universe. Paris, 1980.
cists, or physicians.
Engelhardt, Dietrich von. “Bibliographie der Sekundärliteratur
Originally inspired by Goethe, Rudolf Steiner followed
zur romantischen Naturforschung und Medizin, 1950–
an orientation more akin to Naturphilosophie proper, which
1975.” In Romantik in Deutschland: Ein interdisziplinäres
has consequently left its imprint upon the teachings and lit-
Symposium, edited by Richard Brinkmann, pp. 307–330.
erature of the Anthroposophical Society until the present.
Stuttgart, Germany, 1978.
Less directly but more importantly, the most obvious surviv-
Debus, Allen G. The Chemical Philosophy: Paracelsian Science and
al of Naturphilosophie is to be found in the theories of the
Medicine in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 2 vols.
unconscious. In this respect, works like Schubert’s Die Sym-
New York, 1977.
bolik des Traums (Symbolism of dreams, 1814), and perhaps
even more Carus’s Psyche: Entwicklungsgeschichte der Seele
Engelhardt, Dietrich von. “Romantische Naturforschung.” In Hi-
storisches Bewusstsein in der Naturwissenschaft von der Aufklä-
(Psyche: The historical development of the soul, 1846), cer-
rung bis zum Positivismus, edited by Dietrich von Engelhardt,
tainly influenced the ideas of late nineteenth-century think-
pp. 103–157. Freiburg, Germany, 1979.
ers like Eduard von Hartmann (Philosophie des Unbewussten
[Philosophy of the unconscious], 1869). Even more impor-
Faivre, Antoine. Philosophie de la nature: Physique sacrée et théoso-
tantly, these theorists of the unconscious represent the his-
phie, XVIIIème-XIXème siècles. Paris, 1998.
torical roots of psychoanalysis, leading to the theories of Sig-
Faivre, Antoine, and Rolf Christian Zimmerman, eds. Epochen der
mund Freud (for whom the unconscious is rather
Naturmystik: Hermetische Tradition im wissenschaftlichen
monolithic, as it had been for Arthur Schopenhauer) and
Fortschritt. Berlin, 1979.
those of Carl Gustav Jung, who described the unconscious
Gilson, Étienne. La philosophie au moyen âge: Des origines patris-
as a dynamically functioning quaternary. Jung may be con-
tiques à la fin du XVe siècle. 2d ed. Paris, 1944.
sidered the latest major representative of Naturphilosophie,
Gode von Aesch, Alexander. Natural Science in German Romanti-
given his views of alchemy (namely, that what alchemists saw
cism. New York, 1941; reprint, 1966.
in their crucible was a constellation of their own uncon-
scious), and his theories on synchronicity as well.
Gusdorf, Georges. Le savoir romantique de la nature. Paris, 1985.
Over the last decades, members of several scientific
Hanegraaff, Wouter. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Es-
communities have adopted some conceptions pertaining to
otericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Albany, N.Y.,
Naturphilosophie, whether they were aware of this tradition
1996. See pages 64–76.
or not. For example, the idea of intelligent matter has been
Joël, Karl. Der Ursprung der Naturphilosophie aus dem Geiste der
addressed by scientists like Valdemar Axel Firsoff (Life,
Mystik. Jena, Germany, 1906.
Mind, and Galaxies, 1967) and Jean Charon (L’Homme et
Leibbrand, Werner. Die spekulative Medizin der Romantk. Ham-
l’Univers [Man and the universe], 1974). The hypothesis that
burg, Germany, 1956.
matter is modeled on the spirit has been developed in Arthur
Lenoble, Robert. Histoire de l’idée de nature. Paris, 1969.
Koestler’s The Roots of Coincidence (1972). Authors like
David Bohm (Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980) and
Pagel, Walter. Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medi-
Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics, 1975) have developed “ho-
cine in the Era of the Renaissance. Basel, Switzerland, 1958;
listic” interpretations of modern physics, thus fostering a sort
2d ed., 1982.
of visionary physics that has gained entrance into the litera-
Schelling, F. W. J. Briefe und Dokumente. Edited by Horst Fuhr-
ture of the New Age (see Hanegraaff) in the form of various
mans. 2 vols. Bonn, Germany, 1962.
speculations on the relationship between “science” and “con-
Sladek, Mirko. Fragmente der hermetischen Philosophie in der Na-
science,” “science” and “tradition,” and so on.
turphilosophie der Neuzeit. Frankfurt, Germany, 1984.
Stebbins, Sara. Maxima in Minimis: Zum Empirie- und Autoritäts-
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NATURE: WORSHIP OF NATURE
NATURE: WORSHIP OF NATURE
peoples adored Num, a god who lived in the seventh heaven
What is ordinarily spoken of as “nature”—the physical
and whose name means “sky.” Num overspreads the entire
world, including all living beings beyond the control of
universe and is identified not only with the sky but with the
human culture—often appears to the religious consciousness
sea and the earth. Tengri (Sky) is the supreme being among
as a manifestation of the sacred. Through nature, modes of
Mongols (Tengeri among the Buriats).
being quite different from the specifically human reveal
Baiame is the supreme god among tribes of southeastern
themselves to the religious imagination. The sun, the moon,
Australia (Kamilaroi, Euahlayi, and Wiradjuri). He wel-
and the earth, for example, can symbolize realities that tran-
comes the souls of the dead into his dwelling place beside the
scend human experience. Throughout the history of reli-
flowing waters of the Milky Way. His voice is thunder; he
gions, “nature” frequently is perceived as initiating a relation-
is omniscient. Although supreme beings of the sky like
ship with humankind, a relationship that is the foundation
Baiame reveal important mysteries to the first ancestors be-
of human existence and well-being. In large part, this rela-
fore they withdraw on high, and although they play a major
tionship is expressed in forms of adoration, a response of the
part in initiation ceremonies, they do not usually dominate
total personality, or of an entire religious community, to the
liturgical life.
phenomena of nature.
Objects fallen from the sky come from the sacred locus
The worship of nature underscores the fact that the sa-
of the heavens and often become the objects of religious
cred can appear in any guise. The religious person is con-
cults. For example, the Numana of the Niger River valley in
fronted by the paradox that the sacred can manifest itself in
West Africa, who accord an important place to the divinity
material form without losing its essential character. In the
of the sky, vernerate small pebbles, which they believe have
worship of nature, radically different levels of existence are
fallen from the sky. They install these sacred pebbles on top
felt to interpenetrate and coexist. The possibilities of the
of cones of beaten earth some three feet high and offer sacri-
human spirit become coextensive with the sacred capacities
fices to them. Since the pebbles have fallen from the sky, they
of the rest of the physical universe. The worship of nature
are believed to be fragments of the sky god. Actual meteorites
thus highlights both the freedom of the sacred to appear in
are frequently the center of a cult associated with sky gods.
any form, and the capacity of the human being to recognize
In the same way, flints and other species of “thunder stones”
it for what it is in any expression. It also underlines the capac-
or “rain stones” fallen from the sky are treated as sacred, for
ity of profane reality itself to become a transparent symbol
they are believed to be the arrowpoints shot by the god of
of something other than itself, even while remaining what
lightning or by other celestial divinities.
it is. In such a religious perception of the universe, nature
transcends its brute physicality. It becomes a cipher, a sym-
Worship of the sun is widespread, especially at the times
bol of something beyond itself. From this point of view, na-
of the solstices. The Chukchi of northern Asia, for example,
ture’s existence is like the human situation in the world. Its
offer sacrifices to the light of the sun. Among the Chagga of
modes of being as a manifestation of the sacred become re-
Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Ruwa (Sun) is the supreme
sources for understanding the human religious condition. In
being, who receives sacrificial offerings in times of crisis. In
many traditions, in fact, the belief in the shared destiny of
societies engaged in intensive agriculture, the sun is wor-
nature and humanity is highly elaborated, so that the objects
shiped in connection with the fertility of the crops and re-
of nature are held to possess the same essential qualities as
generative life of the cosmos. Such is the case with Inti in
human beings: emotions, life cycles, personalities, volition,
the Inca pantheon. The sun’s power in such cases is not lim-
and so on.
ited to the fertility of foodstuffs but extends also to human
progeny. Privileged groups of human beings reckon their de-
The value and function of nature thus goes beyond the
scent from the sun as did the Inca nobles, the Egyptian pha-
concrete sphere to the mystery of the sacred as it appears in
raoh, and important chiefly families on the island of Timor
the fuller reaches of religious experience. Only by keeping
that reckon they are the “children of the sun.” In many cul-
this in mind will people understand the forms in which com-
tures the sun is believed to traverse the underworld at night.
munities respond to powers revealed in the physical universe.
Therefore the sun becomes a sacred guide for the soul’s jour-
The following provide a series of suggestive illustrations of
ney through the land of the dead. In the Harvey Islands, the
worship of nature.
dead cluster in groups to await the biannual postmortem
trek. During the solstices the sun leads these groups through
The sky is often revered as a manifestation of divinity
the netherworld. Veneration of the sun takes the form of fol-
or venerated as the locus of the gods. The Konde of east-
lowing his tracks when he sets. The sun carries into heaven
central Africa adored Mbamba (also named Kiara or Kyala),
the warriors who have fallen in battle.
a divinity who dwelt with his family in the heights above the
sky. The Konde offer prayer and sacrifice to the god who
Frequently the sun is worshiped because of its heroic
dwells in the sky, especially at times when rain is called for.
achievements, including the creation of human beings. The
Many divinities of the sky originally lived on earth or with
sun and the moon created human beings from gourds, ac-
the first human beings. Eventually, they withdrew on high.
cording to the tradition of the Apinagé people of South
Not much is recounted about them in myth. The Samoyed
America. In the tradition of the Desána, a Tucano-speaking
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NATURE: WORSHIP OF NATURE
6439
group of southern Colombia, the sun inseminated his daugh-
heart-mind of the Marvelous Law. It is the Lotus Pedestal
ter with light (through her eye) and caused the creation of
on which the Buddha rests” (verses attributed to Enchin and
the universe.
quoted in Grapard, 1986, p. 50). The sacred mountain em-
bodies the six realms (rokudo¯) of existence: that of the gods,
The moon is one of the most fascinating and rich reli-
human beings, titans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hells.
gious characters. It has long been an object of worship in
Within these realms, arranged in a vertical hierarchy, all be-
many cultures. The moon’s shifting shape and changing dis-
ings and all forms of rebirth have their place. Mount Haguro,
position in the sky at various times of the night, day, and
another sacred mountain on the northern part of the Japa-
month makes it the focus of a wide range of associations that
nese island of Honshu, serves as the center of worship during
have led to its veneration. Sin, the Babylonian god of the
four seasonal feasts. The New Year celebration is one of the
moon, had important connections with the waters of the
most important and dramatic of these, for at that time the
earth. Their ebb and flow were connected with the rhythmic
sacred combat between the old and the new year determines
capacities and periodic nature of Sin. Sin also created the
the outcome of the future year (Earhart, 1970; Blacker,
grasses of the world.
1975, chap. 2).
The moon is frequently a lascivious being associated
In South America, offerings are made to the mountains
with the wanton powers of fertility. Often the moon is vener-
of the Andes throughout the year to sustain and stimulate
ated as the source of sexual life and originator of reproductive
the life of the community. The mountain is a divine body
processes such as menstruation and intercourse. The Canelos
in whose life all beings participate and from whose abun-
Quichua of eastern Ecuador, for example, treat Quilla, the
dance and well-being all benefit. The community cultivates
moon, as a central supernatural being. When the new moon
food from the body of the mountain. It gives forth fluids
is immature, it is called llullu Quilla, the “green” or “unripe”
(water, semen, milk, and blood) that sustain life. Sacrifices
moon. During these phases it is a prepubescent girl unable
and offerings placed in specific holy sites on the mountain
to conceive offspring or fashion pottery or prepare beer. The
replenish the fat, the power source, of the mountain body
adult moon, pucushca Quilla, however, is a lascivious male
(Bastien, 1985, pp. 595–611).
whose incestuous exploits are recounted in myth. The
moon’s illicit exploits with his sister, the bird Jilucu, engen-
Waters are frequently presented as supernatural beings
dered the stars. When they discovered their origins, the stars
worthy of worship. Water, according to mythic accounts, is
wept and flooded the earth (Norman Whitten, Sacha Runa:
often the source of primal life. Such is the case in the Babylo-
Ethnicity and Adaptation of Ecuadorian Jungle Quichua, Ur-
nian creation story recorded in the Enuma elish, wherein
bana, Ill., 1976, p. 45).
Apsu and Tiamat (fresh water and sea water, aspects of the
primordial ocean) mingle chaotically to give rise to all subse-
Among the Siriono of eastern Bolivia, Yasi (Moon) is
quent forms of life. Springs, rivers, and irrigation waters are
the most important supernatural being. He once lived on
the centers of religious attention throughout the world. They
earth as a chief, but after creating the first human beings and
are celebrated not only during the episodes of the agricultural
teaching them the fundamentals of culture, he ascended into
cycle but also at moments of rebirth into initiatory societies
heaven. The waxing of the moon occurs as Yasi washes his
and at moments of initiation into culture itself. Immersion
face clean by degrees after returning from the hunt. The Si-
water, standing in a stream or under a waterfall, or other
riono build lean-tos made of leaves in order to protect sleep-
forms of extended exposure to water serve as ordeals com-
ers from exposure to the dangerous rays of the moon. These
monly associated with initiation. For the Akwe¯ and Cha-
would cause blindness. Yasi provokes thunder and lightning
vante peoples of Brazil, for example, the lengthy exposure of
by throwing jaguars and peccaries down to earth (Holmberg,
initiands to water recalls the time when mythical heroes cre-
1960).
ated the world’s contents at the time of the flood.
Mountains are a ubiquitous object of cult. In the Kuni-
In Scandinavian mythology Ægir (the Sea) is the bound-
saki Peninsula of Japan, for example, a tradition that dates
less ocean. His wife, Ran, casts her net through the ocean and
back to the Heian period establishes a systematic, metaphori-
drags human beings into its depths as sacrificial offerings.
cal relationship between the image of the mountain and
The nine daughters of Ægir and Ran represent the various
the salvific power of the Lotus Su¯tra (Grapard, 1986,
modes and moments of the sea. All of these divine beings
pp. 21–50). The sacred mountain of this peninsula repre-
dwell in the magnificent castle at the bottom of the ocean
sents the nine regions of the Pure Land and is an important
where the gods occasionally gather around a miraculous cal-
pilgrimage center. Its eight valleys are the eight petals of the
dron. Apparently the cult of disposing of caldrons at the bot-
lotus blossom that represents the Diamond Mandala and the
tom of seas or lakes is associated with this mythology.
Womb Mandala. These structures become the basis for the
architecture of temples, the divisions of the text of the Lotus
Water monsters are also the object of cultic action. They
Su¯tra of the Wondrous Law, and the program for the spiritual
are placated or combated to stave off a repetition of the cos-
lives and geographic travels of pilgrims. All of these isomor-
mic deluge. Aquatic dragons embody the fertile principles
phic structures represent the Pure Land of the Dainichi
manifest in moisture. They must be slain or tamed to release
Nyorai. “This mountain is the permanent residence of the
their fecund powers and to prevent drought. Thus the Chi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6440
NATURE: WORSHIP OF NATURE
nese dragon Yin gathers together all the waters of the world
Animals have also stimulated the religious imagination
and controls the rain. Images of Yin were fashioned at times
in such a way as to warrant devotion. Animals, birds, fish,
of drought and at the onset of the rains (Granet, 1926, vol.
snakes, and even insects have all become the focus of adora-
1, pp. 353–356).
tion in one culture or another. Often their bodies represent
The earth is sacred in many traditions and is the object
the transformed expression of supernatural beings that un-
of devotion and affection. As the source of life, Pachamama
derwent metamorphosis at the beginning of time (Goldman,
(Mother Earth) of the Andes is worshiped on various occa-
1979).
sions throughout the year. The agricultural cycle is coordi-
Examples of the worship of nature could be multiplied
nated with her menstrual periods, the times when she is open
endlessly. There is hardly any object in the natural cosmos
for conception. The earth is frequently a partner of the sky
that has not become the center of cult somewhere at one time
or of some other celestial fertilizing divinity. Among the Ku-
or in one place or another. How this should be interpreted
mana of southern Africa, for example, the marriage of the sky
is a matter of extreme delicacy. In general modern interpret-
and the earth makes the cosmos fertile. Liturgical life is di-
ers have failed to settle on a satisfactory explanation. Even
rected toward the fruitful accomplishment of this union.
the term nature carries a range of connotations that obscure
Among North American Indian peoples such as the Pawnee,
the meaning of sacred objects of cult in many cultures. Each
the Lakota, the Huron, the Zuni, and the Hopi, the earth
generation of scholars in the last century spawned a number
is the fertile partner of the sky and the source of abundant
of interpretive theories in which the worship of nature fig-
life. The care extended to the earth takes involved forms of
ured as a large element in the assessment of religion in gener-
worship. The earth is also frequently the locus of burial. As
al. In fact, the effort to desacralize nature in the Western per-
such the earth becomes an ambivalent source of regenerative
ception and to identify the perception of nature as sacred
life, for it is a regeneration accomplished through devouring.
with “primitive” peoples played a large role in the foundation
All that is buried in the earth and rises to new life must un-
of the social sciences and in the self-understanding of the
dergo the decomposition of the seed. Rituals associated with
modern West (Cocchiara, 1948). Offering a nuanced inter-
the earth, such as agricultural orgies, frequently reenact this
pretation of the worship of nature would require a detailed
furious and destructive episode of degeneration in imitation
deconstruction of the cultural sciences as well as a subtle ap-
of the experience of the seed in the earth.
preciation of the religious terminology of each culture in
Plants, trees, and vegetation also have their place in wor-
question. James G. Frazer contended that the worship of na-
ship. The tree of life or the cosmic tree expresses the sacred-
ture and the worship of the dead were the two most funda-
ness of the entire world. Scandinavian myth offers the exam-
mental forms of natural religion (1926, pp. 16–17). F. Max
ple of Yggdrasill, the cosmic tree. Yggdrasill sinks its roots
Müller founded his school of comparative religious studies
into the earth and into the netherworld where giants dwell.
on the principle that myths spoke about nature. E. B. Tylor
Divinities meet daily near the tree to pass judgment on the
also established his influential theory of animism, a still-
world’s affairs. The Fountain of Wisdom flows from a spot
lingering interpretation of religion on the notion that human
near the tree as does the Fountain of Memory. Yggdrasill mi-
beings projected onto nature certain animate qualities of
raculously renews itself in spite of the fact that an enormous
their own character, visible especially in dream and in the ra-
serpent named Níðhoggr (Nidhogg) gnaws at its roots. The
tional explanations of death. Claude Lévi-Strauss pushes this
universe will continue to exist because Yggdrasill perdures.
intellectualized perception of nature in the formation of reli-
An enormous eagle defends it from its enemies and the god
gion even further, contending that religion involved the hu-
Óðinn (Odin) tethers his horse to its branches.
manization of the laws of nature (Lévi-Strauss, 1966,
Other kinds of vegetation also manifest sacred powers
p. 221). A politico-economic interpretation of religion
and divinities. Thus the Vedic and Puranic creation accounts
points to the intricate unity between nature and human be-
identify the lotus floating upon the water as a manifestation
ings, bound together by common origins and by reciprocities
of the divinity and of the universe. Miraculous trees, flowers,
visible in ritual. According to Michael Taussig (1980), it is
and fruits reveal the presence of divine powers. Rites of
ritual action that aligns human beings with the helping spir-
spring frequently center on plants, boughs, or trees that are
its of nature. These rituals are extended in the modern rites
treated as sacred. The fertility of the cosmos is symbolized
of labor, such as those associated with miners and farmhands.
by the union of male and female plants or by the blossoming
The rituals dedicated to nature are aimed at enlisting nature’s
of a bough from a specific species of plants. Around the
power in the cause of liberation of human being in the cos-
world, the agricultural cycle is hedged around with religious
mos. The worship of nature, in this view, is an example of
acts directed toward the furthering of the powers of fertility
cosmological principles and the rituals dedicated to nature
manifest in various crops. In particular, the moments of sow-
are also the arenas where these principles are created, re-
ing and reaping are marked by sacrifices. The seeds them-
newed, and reformed (Taussig, 1980). The worship of nature
selves undergo a form of sacrificial death as do the harvested
has also become an important object of scholarly study in
stalks at the end of the growing season. The picking of first
order to study nature as a category in the conceptual schemes
fruits and the gathering of the last sheaf of the fields is fre-
of different cultures (Ortner, 1974; MacCormack and
quently the occasion for religious festival and ceremony.
Strathern, 1980).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAVAJO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
6441
SEE ALSO Animals; Center of the World; Deus Otiosus;
Suzuki, David T., and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders: Hon-
Earth; Ecology and Religion; Hierophany; Moon; Sky; Sun;
oring Sacred Native Visions of Nature. New York, 1992.
Supreme Beings; Vegetation; Water.
LAWRENCE E. SULLIVAN (1987)
Revised Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
General Works
The classic study of the sacral experience that underlies the wor-
ship of nature remains Mircea Eliade’s Patterns in Compara-
NAVA¯D¯I, EAL¯I SH¯IR SEE EAL¯I SH¯IR NAVA¯D¯I
tive Religion (New York, 1958), which contains extensive dis-
cussions and bibliographies on many of the themes treated
briefly above (sun, moon, water, earth, vegetation, et al.). For
earlier discussions, see F. Max Müller’s Natural Religion
NAVAJO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS. Because
(London, 1888), E. B. Tylor’s Primitive Culture, 2 vols.
of it colonial origin, the designation Navajo is in the process
(1871; reprint, New York, 1970), and James G. Frazer’s The
of being replaced by the term Diné, a word derived from the
Worship of Nature (London, 1926). Other helpful studies in-
phrase Diyin Dine’é (people with supernatural powers). For
clude The Savage Mind by Claude Lévi-Strauss (London,
this reason, Diné will be used throughout this article. The
1966) and Menschenbilder früher Gesellschaften: Ethnologische
Diné, whose population in the 2000s has been estimated at
Studien zum Verhältnis von Mensch und Natur, edited by
180,462, now live primarily on the Diné Nation (a land re-
Klaus E. Müller (Frankfurt, 1983), which gathers together
serve approximately 270,000 square miles in size) located
a number of essays on various aspects of nature (forests,
within the four corners of northeastern Arizona, northwest-
stones, cultivated plants, and pastoral animals) and includes
a bibliography.
ern New Mexico, southeastern Utah, and southwestern Col-
orado. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that
Specialized Studies
the Diné were latecomers to the American Southwest, arriv-
Bastien, Joseph W. “Qollahuaya-Andean Body Concepts: A To-
ing between 1000 and 1525 CE. Through contact with the
pographical-Hydraulic Model of Physiology.” American An-
thropologist 87 (September 1985): 595–711.
Spanish and Pueblo peoples they acquired horses, sheep,
goats, and agriculture. Anthropologists generally attribute
Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Prac-
similarities between Diné and Pueblo cosmologies and prac-
tices in Japan. London, 1975.
tices to the fact that many Pueblo refugees began to live
Cocchiara, Giuseppe. Il mito del buon selvaggio: Introduzione alla
among the Diné following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Many
storia delle teorie etnologiche. Messina, 1948.
Diné elders describe this period as one of mutual exchange,
Earhart, H. Byron. A Religious Study of the Mount Haguro Sect of
rather than of unilateral influence.
Shugendo. Tokyo, 1970.
Goldman, Irving. The Cubeo: Indians of the Northwest Amazon
COSMOLOGY AND WORLDVIEW. The path of walking in
(1963). Urbana, Ill., 1979.
beauty and harmony, known as Hózhóójí, is the basic philos-
ophy of the Diné Nation and is the foundation for their cul-
Granet, Marcel. Danses et légendes de la Chine ancienne. 2 vols.
Paris, 1926.
ture, beliefs, and traditions. The path of K’e is based on a re-
ciprocal relationship of kinship with the surrounding
Grapard, Allan G. “Lotus in the Mountain, Mountain in the
Lotus: Rokugo¯ kaizan nimmon daibosatsu hongi.” Monumenta
environment and the universe. The Diné bá’ólta’í (teacher,
Nipponica 41 (Spring 1986): 21–50.
messenger) Wilson Aronilth Jr. explains: “According to our
Holmberg, Allan R. Nomads of the Long Bow: The Siriono of East-
great forefathers’ teaching, our clan system is the foundation
ern Bolivia. Washington, D.C., 1960.
of how we learn about our self image and self identity. . . .
A wise Diné can look back into the values of his clan and
MacCormack, Carol P., and Marilyn Strathern, eds. Nature, Cul-
ture, and Gender. Cambridge, 1980.
see his true self” (Aronilth, 1991, p. 76). The Diné were in-
structed by the Diyin Dine’é to live within the boundaries
Ortner, Sherry. “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?” In
Women, Culture, and Society, edited by Michelle Zimbalist
of the four mountains located in New Mexico, Arizona, and
Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere. Stanford, Calif., 1974.
Colorado. Instruction were given by the Diyin Dine’é to
build a hooghan (round house). The primary function of the
Tambiah, Stanley J. “Animals Are Good to Think and Good to
Prohibit.” Ethnology 8 (October 1969): 423–459.
hooghan was as a place for ceremonies and prayers.
Taussig, Michael T. The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South
The Diné origin myth recounts the Diné hajíínáí
America. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1980.
(emergence) from a series of underworlds onto Nahasdzáán
Zolla, Elemire. “Korean Shamanism.” Res 9 (Spring 1985):
(the Earth’s surface). Using a medicine bundle brought from
101–113.
the underworlds, in an all-night ceremony at the place of
New Sources
emergence, First Man, First Woman, and other Diyin Dine’é
Albanese, Catherine L. Nature Religion in America: From the Al-
set in place the “inner forms” of natural phenomena (earth,
gonkian Indians to the New Age. Chicago, 1990.
sky, the sacred mountains, plants, and animals), creating the
Burton, Lloyd. Worship and Wilderness: Culture, Religion, and Law
present world (the fourth world). The Diné creation story
in the Management of Public Lands and Resources. Madison,
recounts that it is in the fourth world that ’Asdzáá Náleehé
Wis., 2002.
(Changing Woman) was born; she was impregnated by
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6442
NAVAJO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Jónaa’éí (Sun) and gave birth to twin sons, who killed various
Diné ideal. The foundation of the philosophy is the recipro-
monsters that had been endangering the Diyin Dine’é. Using
cal relationship between the Diné and all of the entities in
the medicine bundle First Man had given her, ’Asdzáá
the universe, including animals, plants, the cosmos, and the
Náleehé created maize. She also created the Diné (Earth-
earth that sustains all living things.
Surface People), from epidermal waste rubbed from her skin.
Illness is thought to be a state of hóchó that has resulted
The Diné creation myth indicates that there is no di-
from the patient’s contact with something “dangerous.” Le-
chotomy between the natural and supernatural in Diné reli-
land C. Wyman and Clyde Kluckhohn (1938, pp. 13–14)
gion. Furthermore, humans (the Earth-Surface People) and
list four groups of “etiological factors” that can produce sick-
the Diyin Dine’é are conceived of in terms of the same set
ness:
of motivating forces: the notion of nílch’í (wind), the concept
1. Natural phenomena such as lightning, wind, and thun-
of bii’gistiin (inner form) or bii’sizíinii (in-lying one), and the
der.
opposing notions of hózhó (harmony, balance) and hóchó
(disharmony, disorder).
2. Some kinds of animals, including bears, deer, coyotes,
porcupines, snakes, eagles, and fish.
Wind is a unitary phenomenon that is the source of all
3. Coming into contact with ceremonial paraphernalia at
life, movement, and behavior. However, wind has various as-
inappropriate times.
pects that have different functions and, hence, different
names. Before the Emergence, winds are said to have given
4. Diné ghosts, aliens, witches, or werewolves.
the means of life (i.e., breath) to the inhabitants of the under-
Following such an encounter, a ceremony is required to re-
worlds. After the Emergence, mists of lights were placed
store the individual to the state of hózhóójí.
along each of the cardinal directions and four sacred moun-
tains were created in each direction. Each direction is said
CHANTS AND CEREMONIES. Anthropologists have identified
to have an “inner form” (bii’gistiin) as well as a closely associ-
twenty-four chant complexes; only about eight were well
ated wind. From the four directions these winds give the
known and frequently performed in the 1970s, while six
means of life, movement, thought, and communication to
were extinct and four were obsolete. There has been little
the natural phenomena, the Diyin Dine’é, and the Diné.
agreement among either Diné consultants or anthropologists
Wind’s Child is sent to guide and advise the Earth-Surface
as to how these chants might be ordered into a system. (See
People. Finally, each Diné also has a “wind within one”
Wyman and Kluckhohn, 1938; Haile, 1938; Reichard,
(nílch’í biisíinii) that enters at birth and guides the indi-
1950; Wyman, 1983; Witherspoon, 1983; and Werner et
vidual.
al., 1983, for various possibilities.)
Chants are associated with a number of rituals, the most
Thus both natural phenomena and humans have inner
important of which are the Hózhóójí and Enemyway cere-
forms or “in-lying ones” animated by wind. As Gary Wither-
monies. The Hózhóójí (Blessingway) ceremony is of central
spoon has written, “In most cases the Holy People of the fifth
importance for the Diné, and is intended to preserve a beau-
world are those who are the inner forms of various natural
tiful, peaceful, harmonious state of balance (hózhó). It is the
phenomena and forces, including animals. These in-lying
foundation of the Kinaaldá ceremony, a puberty ritual for
ones are the controlling and animating powers of nature.
young girls. The Enemyway ceremony (‘anna’jí), in contrast,
Diné ritual is designed to control the Holy People who are
is designed to counteract the evil effects of contact with non-
the inner forms and controlling agents of natural phenome-
Diné people killed in battle and is used to exorcise their spir-
na” (Witherspoon, 1983, p. 575).
its (ghosts). According to Wyman (1983, p. 541), it is one
The Diyin Dine’é are immune to danger, destruction,
of a mostly obsolete group of ancient war ceremonials and
and death. They are not holy in the sense that they are virtu-
is now classed together with other ceremonies collectively la-
ous, but rather in the sense that they are powerful. It is the
beled Evilway (hóchó’ojí).
responsibility of each Diné to maintain harmonious relations
The Diné model of the cosmos is expressed in the set-
with the Diyin Dine’é, though the Diyin Dine’é may be per-
ting of the ceremony itself. The chant takes place in the hoog-
suaded to aid in the restoration of a person who has become
han, which is circular like the horizon. Movement during a
ill through improper contact with them.
ritual is always clockwise or “in the direction of the sun.”
In Diné belief the term hózhó refers to a positive or ideal
Men sit on the south side of the hooghan; women on the
environment. As Witherspoon puts it, “The goal of Diné life
north side. The singer sits on the southwest side and the pa-
in this world is to live to maturity in the condition described
tient, when resting, sits on the northwest side. The east
as hózhó, and to die of old age, the end result of which incor-
(where the door is located) is associated with the Hayoołkááł
porates one into the universal beauty, harmony, and happi-
Hastiin Diyin (Dawn Spirit Talking).
ness described as ‘Sa’áh naaghái, Bik’eh hózhó’ ” (Wither-
COMPARISONS. Although Diné elders do not make cross-
spoon, 1983, p. 573). The phrase “Sa’áh naaghái, bik’eh
cultural comparisons between Diné traditions and the tradi-
hózhó” (long life, filled with happiness and harmony) occurs
tions of other Native American Indians, some scholars, such
in most ritual songs and prayers and clearly exemplifies the
as Louise Lamphere, note striking similarities between Diné
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAVARA¯TRI
6443
ceremonialism and that of both the Apache and the Pueblo.
McNeley, James K. Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy. Tucson,
Both the Diné and the Apache place great emphasis on the
Ariz., 1981.
goal of achieving long life, and both center their ceremonies
Ortiz, Alfonso. The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being, and Becom-
on the individual—that is, on changing his or her state
ing in a Pueblo Society. Chicago, 1969.
through prestation, the removal of evil objects, and identifi-
Reichard, Gladys A. Navaho Religion: A Study of Symbolism. 2 vols.
cation with supernatural power. Like Pueblo religion, Diné
New York, 1950.
religion entails a view of a cosmos that is structured as a
Tedlock, Dennis. “Zuni Religion and World View.” In Handbook
bounded universe in which the present world is at the top
of North American Indians, vol. 10, Southwest, edited by Al-
of several layered worlds through which the ancestors
fonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C., 1979.
emerged. While Diné ritual replicates the cosmos differently
Werner, Oswald, Allen Manning, and Kenneth Y. Begishe. “A
than Apache ritual, its use of color, sex, and directional sym-
Taxonomic View of the Traditional Navajo Universe.” In
bolism find many parallels in Pueblo ritual and in the Pueblo
Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 10, Southwest, ed-
worldview (see Heib, 1979; Tedlock, 1979; and Ortiz,
ited by Alfonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C., 1983.
1969).
Witherspoon, Gary. Navajo Kinship and Marriage. Chicago,
The similarities between the ceremonies of the Diné, the
1975.
Apache, and the Pueblo suggest that there are unifying fea-
Witherspoon, Gary. “Language and Reality in Navajo World
tures to ceremonialism in native Southwest cultures. South-
View.” In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 10,
west religion, like that of other Native American cultures; is
Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C.,
closely tied to the natural environment. Native cosmologies
1983.
are rooted in conceptions of time and space that imbue the
Wyman, Leland C. Blessingway: With Three Versions of the Myth
local terrain with supernatural meaning. Natural objects are
Recorded and Translated from the Navajo by Father Berard
made into ritual objects and are used to attract positive su-
Haile. Tucson, Ariz., 1970.
pernatural power, to remove dangerous power, and to repre-
Wyman, Leland C. “Navajo Ceremonial System.” In Handbook
sent sacred presence. A ceremonial specialist using these ob-
of North American Indians, vol. 10, Southwest, edited by Al-
jects and ritual actions communicates with the supernatural
fonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C., 1983.
in order to ensure that natural and cultivated plant and ani-
Wyman, Leland C., and Flora L. Bailey. “Idea and Action Patterns
mal life will continue to be abundant and that individual and
in Navaho Flintway.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 1
communal health and prosperity are maintained.
(1945): 356–377.
Although many books are available with specific de-
Wyman, Leland C., and Clyde Kluckhohn. Navajo Classification
scriptions of ceremonies, rituals, chants, and prayers, the
of Their Song Ceremonials. Memoirs of the American Anthropo-
Diné emphasis on orality and holistic understanding suggests
logical Association 50. Menasha, Wis., 1938.
that long-term fieldwork and language acquisition are the
LOUISE LAMPHERE (1987)
most reliable and responsible methods of research.
MARILYN NOTAH VERNEY (2005)
SEE ALSO Athapaskan Religious Traditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NAVARA¯TRI (“nine nights”), also known as Durgotsava
Aberle, David F. “‘The Navajo Singer’s Fee’: Payment of Presta-
(“festival of the goddess Durga¯”), is a festival celebrated in
tion?” In Studies in Southwestern Ethnolinguistics: Meaning
India and Nepal at the time of the vernal and autumnal equi-
and History in the Languages of the American Southwest, edited
noxes. The nine nights are followed by a festival known both
by Dell H. Hymes with William E. Bittle, pp. 15–32. The
as Da´sara¯ (or Da´sahara¯, “destroying the ten [sins]”) and as
Hague, 1967.
Vijaya¯da´sam¯ı (“victory on the tenth [day]”). Although the
Aronilth, Wilson, Jr. Foundation of Navajo Culture. Navajoland,
festival of the vernal equinox is not celebrated in all regions
U.S.A., 1991.
of India, it appears in modified form in local festivals dedi-
Haile, Berard. “Navaho Chantways and Ceremonials.” American
cated to the Goddess. The great autumnal Navara¯tri, which
Anthropologist 40, no. 4 (January–March 1938): 639–652.
takes place during the nine nights following the new moon
Heib, Louis. “Hopi World View.” In Handbook of North American
in the lunar month of October-November, is pan-Indian and
Indians, vol. 9: Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz. Washing-
is regarded as an important rite performed to benefit a variety
ton, D.C., 1979.
of aspects of Hindu life (see Kane, 1958, vol. 5, pt. 5,
Kaplan, Bert, and Dale Johnson. “The Social Meaning of Navajo
pp. 156–157).
Psychopathology and Psychotherapy.” In Magic, Faith, and
Healing, edited by Ari Kieve, pp. 203–229. New York, 1964.
The theology and function of the Goddess, particularly
Lamphere, Louise. “Symbolic Elements in Navajo Ritual.” South-
of Durga¯ and of all popular female deities, find expression
western Journal of Anthropology 25, no. 3 (1969): 279–305.
in the Navara¯tri (Biardeau, 1981, pp. 142–156). Its main
Lamphere, Louise. “Southwestern Ceremonialism.” In Handbook
textual source is the Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya (Glorification of the
of North American Indians, vol. 10, Southwest, edited by Al-
Goddess), which is a section of the Mar-kan:d:eya Pura¯n:a
fonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C., 1983.
often extracted and regarded as a text in its own right. Ac-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6444
NAZ:Z:A¯M, AL-
cording to that text, the demons (asuras) at one time over-
Vijaya¯da´sam¯ı concerns primarily the ks:atriya caste. In
came the gods, and Mahis:a¯sura, the Buffalo Demon, took
royal states and in Nepal the king performs a¯yudhapu¯ja¯, offi-
the place of the king of the gods. From the palpable anger
ciates at parades of soldiers astride horses and elephants, and
of the gods was formed the body of the Goddess, known vari-
symbolically conquers the world by throwing arrows to the
ously as Maha¯ma¯ya¯ (“great illusion”), Can:d:¯ı (“the cruel”),
four directions. Ritually crossing the boundaries, the king
Durga¯ (“unattainable”), and by other names. The Goddess,
goes toward the northeast to perform ´sam¯ıpu¯ja¯, the worship
incarnate at the energy (´sakti) of the gods, obtained weapons
of the ´sam¯ı tree, traditionally associated with the sacred fire.
from the gods and in her various forms fought against the
This appears to be a ritual restatement of an event recounted
multifarious asuras, whose archetype is Mahis:a.
in the Maha¯bha¯rata in which the heroes of the epic retrieve
the weapons they had hidden in that tree. Seated in a royal
When she is regarded as a virgin, as distinct from any
audience, the king receives the renewed allegiance of his sub-
male consorts, or as the supreme deity, the Goddess in India
jects. In some regions there are dramatic enactments of the
is depicted as a fearsome and terrible deity who demands
victory of Vis:n:u’s incarnation as Ra¯ma over Ra¯van:a, the
blood sacrifices. From the defeated Buffalo Demon springs
demon-king of Sri Lanka. In former times, the end of
a purus:a, a “man” who when sacrificed becomes a devotee
Navara¯tri, which coincides with the end of the monsoon,
of the Goddess. Navara¯tri is thus closely associated with sac-
marked the time for kings to return to their wars. Moreover,
rificial themes, although in most regions vegetable substi-
the close association between the asura-slayer, Dev¯ı, and the
tutes now take the place of sacrificial animals in the ritual.
kingdom, which is under her protection, symbolically re-
The many forms and aspects of the Goddess and of the asuras
stores prosperity to everyone in the domain.
correspond with the various interests and evils of this earth,
for the continuation of which she manifests herself. What is
SEE ALSO Durga¯ Hinduism; Hindu Religious Year.
more precisely at stake in the story of the Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya,
however, is Mahis:a¯sura’s usurpation of the gods’ power over
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the world. Hence it follows that the Goddess’s close relation-
Madeleine Biardeau’s L’hindouisme: Anthropologie d’une civilisa-
ship with the king is a crucial element for the preservation
tion (Paris, 1981) gives an accurate idea of the Goddess in
of the Hindu cosmo-social order and for the prosperity of
the Hindu conceptions. P. V. Kane’s History of Dharma´sa¯stra
the kingdom as well.
(Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Law), vol. 5, pt. 1
(Poona, 1958), pp. 154–194, remains useful for its textual
The Navara¯tri is more complex in some regions of India
references. For Navara¯tri celebrations in Bengal, Ákos
than in others. In some areas it is primarily a festival marking
Östör’s The Play of the Gods: Locality, Ideology, Structure, and
the growing season. In others, it centers mostly around the
Time in the Festivals of a Bengali Town (Chicago, 1980) is the
worship of a local goddess, who may be thought of as the
most detailed and interesting study. See also Oscar Lewis’s
spouse of an untouchable. It may also be a highly ceremoni-
Village Life in Northern India (Urbana, Ill., 1958) and Law-
alized and intricate festival, as in the former princely states,
rence A. Babb’s The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in
where the king was required to perform the Buffalo Sacrifice.
Central India (New York, 1975).
MARIE-LOUISE REINICHE (1987)
The main Navara¯tri ritual consists of installing the God-
dess in the home and in the temple throughout the nine
nights of the ceremony. In Tamil Nadu the Goddess is seated
among many other images in a royal audience and is visited
NAZ:Z:A¯M, AL-. Abu¯ Ish:a¯q Ibra¯h¯ım ibn Sayya¯r
daily by women singing devotional songs; there, the ninth
al-Naz:z:a¯m (c. AH 165–221/c. 782–836 CE) was an early
night is consecrated to the worship of Sarasvat¯ı, the goddess
Muslim theologian of the rationalist MuEtazil¯ı school.
of learning, and to a¯yudhapu¯ja¯, the worship of weapons and
tools. In other regions young girls are worshiped as embodi-
Born in poverty in the city of Basra, al-Naz:z:a¯m rose to
ments of the virgin Goddess. In Mysore (modern-day
literary prominence through his keen wit and rhetorical
Karnataka) and Bastar the nine nights were a time of ascetic
skills, and eventually moved to Baghdad where he was grant-
practices for the king.
ed a large salary by the state. His most notable poetry em-
ployed abstract theological terms and metaphors in praise of
In Bengal, the installation of the Goddess in a royal tem-
wine and the beauties of youths, but he was remembered
ple is an elaborate life-giving rite (see Östör, 1980,
(and criticized) especially for his theological views. He stud-
pp. 71ff.). The night between the eighth and ninth days
ied theology under his uncle, Abu¯ al-Hudhayl al-EAlla¯f (d. c.
serves as the climax to the ceremony as a whole. Nava-ratri
841 CE), the founder of the Basra school of speculative
is also an important popular festival in which the Bengalis
MuEtazil¯ı theology. He is also said to have applied his prodi-
build huge, richly decorated images of the Goddess. These
gious memory to the study of traditions (h:ad¯ıth), Jewish and
icons of Dev¯ı are destroyed during the Vijaya¯da´sam¯ı rites.
Christian scriptures and commentaries, Greek philosophy,
Large and excited crowds of people (who at times transgress
and Iranian dualistic traditions. In Baghdad he caused a stir
the norms of conduct) parade the many images of the God-
with his “new philosophy,” a non-atomistic system in which
dess to bodies of water, where they are immersed.
infinitely divisible bodies move by discrete instantaneous
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NAZ:Z:A¯M, AL-
6445
leaps. He attracted a proverbially large number of disciples,
QurDa¯n, which the MuEtazilah claimed is created rather than
who perpetuated aspects of his teaching for a century or so;
eternal. Al-Naz:z:a¯m agreed, but whereas he considered
but although the Baghdad school of the MuEtazilah drew on
human speech an attribute of the speaker (an accident and
some of his ideas, his physical theory soon lost out to Abu¯
a movement by which the speaker breaks up and articulates
al-Hudhayl’s atomism, and his thought was largely rejected
a previously existent but formless sound), he claimed that
by the Basra school. His own books are lost, but Josef van
God’s speech is itself sound created in articulated form. Thus
Ess has pieced together a broad, if still partly tentative, sketch
he could not describe God as speaking, or say that human
of his thought from citations by later writers, including most
recitation of the QurDa¯n is itself the QurDa¯n. Although he for-
notably his famous pupil, the celebrated litterateur and theo-
malized the doctrine that the QurDa¯n is a miraculous proof
logian, al-Ja¯h:iz: (d. 869 CE).
of Muh:ammad’s prophethood, he did not claim, as would
later theologians, that its rhetorical style is intrinsically inimi-
Seeking common ground from which to debate dualists
table; instead he argued that Muh:ammad’s opponents had
such as the Manichaeans, al-Naz:z:a¯m adopted an ontology
failed to match the QurDa¯n’s eloquence only because God
akin to their view of the world as a mixture of opposites. He
had temporarily rendered them unable to do so. What he
rejected Abu¯ al-Hudhayl’s view that the world consists of in-
considered probative was the QurDa¯n’s content—its revela-
divisible atoms in which qualities inhere as accidents, pro-
tion of things that a human being could not otherwise know.
posing instead that objects are combinations of perceptible,
corporeal qualities that pervade one another and become
In theology al-Naz:z:a¯m insisted that knowledge of God
hidden or manifest as things change. For example, coldness
be arrived at through doubt and reason, but on rationally in-
is among the normally manifest qualities of wood, but when
scrutable points of law he insisted on following the letter of
it is set ablaze the previously latent quality of fire, itself com-
the QurDa¯n. He blamed the prevailing chaos of conflicting
posed of warmth and brightness, becomes manifest. Human
legal opinions on those prominent companions of the proph-
beings cannot create or destroy such qualities, but the human
et Muh:ammad who had followed their own opinions in their
spirit is capable of initiating changes in their arrangements
rulings. His older contemporary, the famous jurist al-Sha¯fiE¯ı
(i.e., movements or actions, which are the only accidents rec-
(d. 820 CE), had sought to bring Islamic law into full harmo-
ognized by al-Naz:z:a¯m). The spirit, a subtle body, by nature
ny with the QurDa¯n by interpreting the QurDa¯n almost exclu-
wills only what is good, but because it is trapped in a percep-
sively in light of reports from the Prophet himself, by extend-
tible body permeated by conflicting motivations, it can
ing the reach of its provisions through reasoning by analogy,
choose evil. The body implements the actions willed by the
and by exploiting its linguistic ambiguities to resolve contra-
spirit, and God creates the effects of those actions in their
dictions. Al-Naz:z:a¯m took a diametrically opposite approach.
objects, in accordance with the qualities he gave each object
He rejected the independent legal authority of reports
at creation.
(h:ad¯ıth)—even those that the Muslim community accepted
by consensus (ijma¯ E)—arguing that reports give certainty
Although al-Naz:z:a¯m’s ontology had many points in
only when corroborated by rational or perceptual evidence,
common with Stoic philosophy and Iranian dualistic tradi-
regardless of how many people transmit them. He also reject-
tions, he employed it in the defense of Islamic doctrines, cit-
ed most, if not all, analogical reasoning (qiya¯s), and insisted
ing the intermingling of opposite qualities, for example, as
that the language of the QurDa¯n be applied absolutely literally
proof of a creator who brings them together. He proposed
in the absence of specific qualifying evidence (which may,
radical formulations of several cardinal MuEtazil¯ı principles:
however, include reports or consensus). Some aspects of this
God’s justice, God’s oneness, and the createdness of the
approach were soon taken up by the Z:a¯hir¯ı school of law
QurDa¯n. Prompted by debates with dualists over the problem
(now institutionally defunct), and he was much quoted by
of evil, al-Naz:z:a¯m went beyond the disputed MuEtazil¯ı thesis
Sh¯ıE¯ı legal theorists, who shared his rejection of analogy and
that God always does what is best (as:lah:), to claim that God
consensus and his antipathy for certain companions of the
is not even capable of injustice, or indeed of anything less
Prophet. Mainstream Sunn¯ı legal theory, however, followed
than what is most salutary for his creatures (including ani-
al-Sha¯fiE¯ı’s lead.
mals). God does not will or create either good or bad human
actions, except in the sense that he commands certain acts,
and creates their effects in their objects. Against Christians,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
dualists, and even some Muslims who seemed to vitiate
The only comprehensive European-language study of al-Naz:z:a¯m
God’s oneness by ascribing to him eternal partners,
is in Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3.
al-Naz:z:a¯m adopted an extreme form of the MuEtazil¯ı teach-
Jahrhundert Hidschra: Eine Geschichte des religiösen Denkens
im frühen Islam (Berlin, 1991–1997), vol. 3, pp. 296–418.
ing that God does not have real attributes coeternal with
Vol. 6, pp. 1–204, provides an annotated German transla-
himself. He argued that to affirm one of God’s attributes is
tion of the citations on which van Ess based his study. The
not to ascribe a positive quality to God’s essence, but merely
most detailed English overview is van Ess’s article “Abu¯
to affirm that essence and to deny that it has the opposite
Esh:a¯q. . .Naz:z:a¯m” in Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by
quality. Only God’s actions upon the created world can be
Ehsan Yarshater (New York and London, 1982). Helpful
described positively. One such action is his speech, the
works on specific aspects of al-Naz:z:a¯m’s thought include:
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6446
NDEMBU RELIGION
Bernand, Marie. “Le savoir entre la volonté et la spontanéité selon
of which was determined by the consideration of symptoms
an-Naz:z:a¯m et al-G
ˇ a¯h:iz:.” Studia Islamica 39 (1974): 25–57.
and by divination. The ritual (n Egoma, “drum”) was per-
Ess, Josef van. “Ein unbekanntes Fragment des Naz:z:a¯m.” In Der
formed by a cult association consisting of those who had al-
Orient in der Forschung: Festschrift für Otto Spies zum 5. April
ready been afflicted in that mode. The aim was to bring the
1966, edited by Wilhelm Hoenerbach, pp. 170–201. Wies-
spirit up out of the ground (the place where the spirits dwell)
baden, Germany, 1967. On al-Naz:z:a¯m’s legal theory, princi-
so that by recognizing its existence and giving it a concrete
pally reports and consensus.
form—as a figure, effigy, tooth, or voice—it could be re-
Ess, Josef van. Das Kita¯b al-Nakt des Naz:z:a¯m und seine Rezeption
vealed. Ku-solola, “to reveal,” was a basic element of Ndembu
¯
im Kita¯b al-Futya¯ des G
ˇ a¯h:iz:: Eine Sammlung der Fragmente
religion and curative ritual. The religion taught: “what hurts
mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Göttingen, Germany,
you, when discovered and propitiated, helps you.” Through
1972. On al-Naz:z:a¯m’s legal theory, principally his criticisms
the use of medicines, drumming and singing, and distinctive
of companions of the Prophet.
rites appropriate to each mode, the spirit was brought once
Ess, Josef van. Theology and Science: The Case of Abu¯ Ish:a¯q
more into the social milieu and would, at a switch point in
an-Naz:z:a¯m. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1978. On al-Naz:z:a¯m’s theo-
the ritual, begin to do good instead of harm to the patient.
ries of bodies and movement.
Often what triggered the change was a sacrifice, which might
Ess, Josef van. “Wrongdoing and Divine Omnipotence in the
be the beheading of a fowl or a blow on an effigy, signifying
Theology of Abu¯ Ish:a¯q an-Naz:z:a¯m.” In Divine Omniscience
killing; while the victim embodied the spirit, the act gave a
and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish, and
sense of innocence and communitas. Ndembu sacrifice was
Christian Perspectives, edited by Tamar Rudavsky,
the point where the visible and invisible components of the
pp. 53–67. Dordrecht, Netherlands, 1985. This is followed
cosmic order interpenetrated and exchanged qualities. When
by a response by Richard Frank entitled “Can God Do What
Is Wrong?” (pp. 69–79).
the spirit world and the world of the living were at one, the
patient was healed.
Wolfson, Harry Austryn. “The Ha¯t:ira¯ni in the Kalam and
˘
Ghaza¯l¯ı as Inner Motive Powers of Human Actions.” In
LIFE-CRISIS RITUALS. A young girl or boy could not become
Studies in Mysticism and Religion, Presented to Gershom G.
a full member of the Ndembu people without an initiation
Scholem, edited by Efraim E. Urbach, R. J. Zwi Werblowsky,
ritual. The matrilineal character of the descent system em-
and Chaim Wirszubski, pp. 363–379. Jerusalem, 1967.
phasized the bond of breast feeding; thus, a forest shrub
called mudyi, which has milky sap, was a dominant symbol
DAVID R. VISHANOFF (2005)
for both girls’ and boys’ initiations. Mudyi represented the
matrilineage itself and the virtues of good family living; its
“milk” was the sensory pole of the symbol’s meaning, hinting
NDEMBU RELIGION. The Ndembu, also called the
at the satisfactions associated with mother’s milk—a pole
Lunda, number about sixty thousand and inhabit small vil-
that gave power to the ideological pole of goodness.
lages in the district of Mwinilunga in the northwestern prov-
Both girls’ and boys’ initiations were rites of passage,
ince of Zambia. Although their descent system is matrilineal,
and they are still performed in a truncated form. The novice
women leave home to marry into their husbands’ villages, a
passes ritually from childhood into a liminal time of seclu-
system that sets up social tensions and, before the advent of
sion when she or he is neither child nor adult. Finally the
Christianity, used to result in a high divorce rate. In this con-
initiate is reincorporated into society as a full member.
flict-torn society, cult associations formerly had a great unify-
ing power, calling together members from many different
Girls are initiated singly, at puberty; the initiate used to
kinship groups to cooperate in rituals that gave moments of
be laid down under a blanket at the foot of a milk tree for
spiritual revelation, which in turn resolved conflicts and
an entire day, while the women danced around her. At eve-
healed illness.
ning she was carried into a seclusion hut, where she received
C
training for three months. At the end she performed a public
ULTS OF AFFLICTION. Among the Ndembu, affliction was
seen as having a spiritual cause: the spirit of a dead matrilin-
dance and might then be married.
eal relative (mukishi) afflicted a living descendant, “coming
Boys from five to fifteen years of age are still circumcised
out” in a range of different modes of spirit visitation. Thus
in groups in a sacred enclosure away from the village. They
the spirit might “come out in Nkula,” the mode of menstrual
are secluded there during healing, and in former times used
troubles; WubwangDu, the mode of twins; Isoma, the miscar-
to be visited by an ikishi dancer, a spirit from ancient times
riage mode; Ihamba, a spirit tooth wandering in the patient’s
(not an ancestor spirit). Finally the boys would rejoin society
body, needing ritual extraction; WuyangDa, the mode for
in a public celebration that used to include a triumphal
hunters; Tukuka, the mode of Western diseases; or Chiham-
dance before the chief. In both rituals the place of ordeal and
ba, the mode of the demigod of thunder. Wu-bwangDu and
humiliation used to be called “the place of death”; symbolic
Ihamba afflictions still exist today.
death and rebirth were basic features of these and many of
The spirit “caught” a living relative in the first place be-
the curative rites.
cause he or she had not honored the spirit’s memory. When
Death itself was celebrated by a masked dancer (ka-
afflicted, an individual required a complex ritual, the mode
dang Eu) who was both mourner and clown. Among the fu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
NDEMBU RELIGION
6447
nerary symbols were three trenches filled with white-, red-,
other types of beings are also feared: the leader of the andum-
and black-colored water, representing goodness, blood and
ba, the kahwehu, often the ghost of the witch’s murdered
ambivalence, and death; these trenches were known as “riv-
husband, who is said to have continued intercourse with her,
ers” proceeding from Nzambi, the creator god. Formerly, a
and the musalu, or zombie, which can be raised from a corpse
stilt walker, the head of the funerary society, would come to
by a witch and sent out to kill.
beat and initiate the small boys of the mourning camp. Med-
icines and rituals are still used to keep the ghost of the dead
GOD. The pre-Christian Ndembu recognized a creator god
person quiet.
who was known as Nzambi. Having once created the world
Nzambi never intervened in the lives of humans, and his role
Thus Ndembu religion was directly concerned with
in religion was exiguous except in a negative sense. The
human events, whether sickness, bad luck in hunting, con-
Ndembu girl during her sacralization and seclusion was care-
flict in the village, or phases in the maturation of an individu-
fully shielded from his sight—as represented by the sun. This
al. It was mainly through sickness that an individual began
male god, the sun, and men and boys, must be absent from
to sense the presence of an ancestor spirit; thus it was the very
her scenes of rebirth. Nzambi’s place was far away above the
irregularities of life, its negative events, that created the posi-
world. He was thought to be connected with rain, animals,
tive sense of the supernatural, especially when the spirit pos-
and fertility, and also with the moral order, which decreed
sessed a patient and she swayed, her body physically released
piety to the dead and compassion to the living. Christians
by its presence. The palpable existence of spirits developed
have appropriated the name Nzambi to translate the term
in the course of the experience of misfortune. This is not to
God; and now even traditional healers pray to Nzambi, just
be explained as a compensation mechanism; misfortune did
as Ndembu Christians have been doing for decades.
more than arouse fantasies, for it triggered well-recognized
faculties (wanga) that needed the stimulus of trouble, and
B
then of social cooperation, in order to flower. Senior doctors
IBLIOGRAPHY
still train their apprentices in those faculties and teach the
The works of Victor Turner are central to understanding Ndembu
appropriate material accompaniments of medicine, drum-
religion. His early study “Lunda Rites and Ceremonies”
ming, confession, and trance in order to exorcise evil spirits.
(1953), reprinted in The Occasional Papers of the Rhodes-
Livingstone Museum (Manchester, 1974), provides a factual
In spite of the growth of Christianity, traditional healers are
account of each Ndembu ritual. Four subsequent books pro-
increasing in numbers. Owing to the suppression of ancestor
vide analysis. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual
cults, they do not appeal to the ancestor spirits of the pa-
(Ithaca, N. Y., 1967) is a collection of essays including dis-
tients, but instead are helped by tutelary spirits from among
cussions of the rite of circumcision, the funerary cult, initia-
their own ancestors or from some strong departed personali-
tion of a doctor, and hunters’ rites. The Drums of Affliction:
ty. Formerly a doctor entered his vocation after being sick
A Study of Religious Processes among the Ndembu of Zambia
himself. In the case of an incipient diviner he might be trou-
(London, 1968) analyzes rites associated with menstruation,
bled in his breathing until he gave in to the demands of his
teeth, and girl’s initiation. The Ritual Process: Structure and
spirit and underwent the Kayong’u initiation.
Anti-Structure (Chicago, 1969) studies curative rites and the
twin ritual. Revelation and Divination in Ndembu Ritual (Ith-
SPIRITS. In the past, Ndembu religion centered upon ances-
aca, N. Y., 1975) analyzes the ritual drama Chihamba and
tor spirits who communicated with humans frequently but
compares its symbolism with that of Western religion. I have
unpredictably. Like the people’s own lives, their domain was
recently analyzed the work of a modern Ndembu doctor-
process, not the absolute. Continually involved in human
priest in “Philip Kabwita, Ghost Doctor: The Ndembu in
life, they could heal their descendants and make them sexual-
1985,” Drama Review 10, no. 4 (1986).
ly potent. Such spirits could also be reborn in their patrilater-
New Sources
al descendants. They were often whimsical, difficult, and eas-
Jordan, Manuel. “Art and Divination among Chokwe, Lunda,
ily offended when forgotten, but beneficent when treated
Luvale and other Related Peoples of Northwestern Zambia.”
with respect. Thus all of humanity, past, present, and future,
In Insight and Artistry in African Divination, edited by John
was strongly knit together. Mukishi ancestor spirits and the
Pemberton. Washington, D.C., 2000.
ancient ikishi spirits, however, are no longer recognized as
Pritchett, James Anthony. Continuity and Change in an African So-
necessary agents of healing or change in rites of passage.
ciety: The Kanongesha Lunda of Mwinilunga, Zambia. Ph.D.
The Ndembu also believed in the mwevulu, the spirit
thesis, Harvard University, 1990.
shadow that was thought to leave a person and wander about
Pritchett, James Anthony. The Lunda-Ndembu: Style, Change and
when he or she was asleep and dreaming. It was this “shad-
Social Transformation in South Central Africa. Madison,
ow” that left a person when he or she died. Certain evil spirits
Wis., 2001.
are still feared, principally the mufu, the dangerous ghost that
arises when funerary rites have not been properly fulfilled,
Turner, Edith L. B. Experiencing Ritual: A New Interpretation of
African Healing, Philadelphia, 1992.
and the harmful andumba (sg., ndumba), familiars sent by
witches in the shape of little men with their feet reversed, or
Turner, Victor Witter. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-
in the form of hyenas, jackals, owls, or small rodents. Two
Structure. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1995.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
6448
NDEMBU RELIGION
Turner, Victor Witter. Schism and Continuity in an African Soci-
ety: A Study of Ndembu Village Life. Oxford and Washington,
D.C., 1996.
EDITH TURNER (1987)
Revised Bibliography
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N