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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
4
DACIAN RIDERS
LINDSAY JONES
•
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ESTHER
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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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
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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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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 f o u r
a c r e d m a t
s
S t
A e
C R r
E D M A T T E R
Understandings of matter, of the physical, obdurate objects
that make up the everyday world, vary considerably among
religions. Matter is sometimes regarded as evil or void of real being, sometimes as
infused with spiritual realities that animate it. In other traditions, matter and spirit
are inextricably joined and the idea of a dualist split between the two is inconceivable.
Likewise, the experience of matter as sacred varies from the idea of holy substance,
to consecrated matter, to objects sacred to memory, to objects that are morally useful
but in no manner sacred in the sense of being infused with an intrinsic power. But in
every case the power or use ascribed to natural or artificial objects is inseparable from
the cultural webs of meaning-making that invest them with the power to signify. It
is in this sense that sacred matter of whatever kind helps construct the life-worlds of
those who harness its power by using objects in their rites and ceremonies.

Perhaps the root of sacred matter in many if not all religions is the physical
remains of saints, heroes, and found-
ers. Bones, teeth, and hair endure far
beyond the decay of flesh and viscera
and are commonly prized as the material
trace of the saint’s existence. These items
become relics when they are recognized
as the locus of spiritual power and pres-
ence, and they therefore offer access to
the holy figure for the sake of blessing.
In many religions holy men and women
are thought to acquire such an excess of
merit that it forms a reservoir that may
be accessed by prayer in the presence of
the saint’s relics. The relic becomes part
of a metaphysical economy in which
(a) Svayambhūnāth Stupa, west of Kathman-
du, Nepal, during a celebration of the birth,
enlightenment, and death of the Buddha.
[©Macduff Everton/Corbis]
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SACRED MATTER
blessing is procured by pilgrimage, prayer, or penitential
deed or offering. Within a few centuries of the Buddha’s
death a cult of relics of his body formed in India and
Sri Lanka and moved with the faith as it spread north
and south across Asia. The relics were placed in funerary
mounds called stupas (a) and in portable shrines designed
like stupas (b). Stupas became major sites for local as
well as international pilgrimage and were eventually sur-
rounded by temple and monastery complexes and towns.
Pilgrimage and relic veneration built their metaphysical
economy over the commercial economies of local and far-
flung populations, offering material well-being to crafts-
men, townspeople, and religious communities.

The veneration of relics likely originates in devotion
to the deceased at the graveside and in the dynamics of
proselytism as religions spread to new regions, where the
convert’s need for shrines and access to the founder and
other saints is fueled by competition with indigenous rival
religions. In the case of Roman Catholicism, the practice
(b) LEFT. Portable Buddhist shrine, thirteenth century, bronze,
Thailand or Cambodia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift
of Enid Haupt, 1993. (1993.387.7a-d) [Photograph ©2001 The
Metropolitan Museum of Art] (c) B OTTOM. Etruscan sarcophagus
made of carved travertine, from a tomb in Cerveteri, Italy, late
fifth century bce. [©Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.]
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SACRED MATTER
of relic veneration was energized by the cult of martyrs
during the first centuries of the church’s existence. But
there is reason to believe that the cult of relics built on
the ancient practice of ancestral worship and prayer to the
dead to secure blessing in the present. Long before Roman
Catholicism existed, inhabitants of the central Italian
peninsula, the Etruscans, practiced an elaborate form of
funerary cult in which the dead were interred in figural
sarcophagi (c) in underground tombs carved as domestic
interiors that collectively formed part of an ever-expand-
ing necropolis, or city of the dead. The catacombs beneath
Rome are their descendents.

Gothic cathedrals, much of the art, and many of
the liturgical items of the later medieval Catholic Mass
functioned as reliquaries to house the sacred items that
had become especially important to European Christians,
including the relics pilfered during the Crusades in Pales-
tine and the Byzantine world. The bodily suffering and
vindication of Jesus became the focal point of many dif-
ferent devotions, both cloistered and lay. Religious leaders
and monastic orders endorsed devotion to saints and their
relics and to the Eucharist. Elaborate monstrances (d) dis-
played the host or relics of Mary or other saints in crystal
chambers housed in structures that depicted the church.
Portions of the “true cross” were avidly collected in the
Holy Land and brought back to cathedrals and chapels in
Europe for veneration.
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SACRED MATTER

Objects can also become sacred by ritual prepara-
tion, when spiritual power comes to reside in them. Such
objects may be found or manufactured. Vodou and its
West African precursor Vodun consist of ritual practices
that are designed to solve problems of spiritual malevo-
lence caused by one’s misdeeds or the harmful intentions
of another. Shamans or priests and priestesses are able to
invest objects with a counteractive power (e), or to enter
trances or perform libations at altars (f ). Another Carib-
bean religion that originated in West Africa, Santería,
fashions beautiful garments (g) for initiates and practitio-
ners to wear when they are ritually transfigured into an
orisha, one of the spirits of natural forces, such as thunder,
fresh water, or the sea. The garments are worn only a few
times, including during consecration as a priest and at
one’s burial.

Like the performative garment, masks are a familiar
aspect of African and Oceanic as well as some Native
(e) TOP. A Fon bocio figure, a Vodou protective object, made
of wood, hide, fiber, cowrie shell, and cord, southern Benin.
[©Werner Forman/Art Resource, N.Y.]
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SACRED MATTER
American religions. The mask and the costume it accom-
panies assume a sacred power and are kept by their owner,
and even handed down among family members. The mask
reproduced here (h) was worn by the Nootka people on
Vancouver Island in dances in the spring and fall to invoke
ancestral spirits. The founding myth of the group related
that they descended from a family of eagles that flew from
heaven and transformed themselves into human beings
when they arrived. Accordingly, during the ceremonial
dance the eagle mask transforms into a human face that
is contained within. The annual performance of the rite
connects the people with their primordial origins.
(g) RIGHT. Sequined taffeta garment for wear by a male Santería
initiate. [Photograph by Ysamur Flores-Peña] (h) BELOW. A Nootka
transformation mask, used in reenactments of the community’s
primordial origins, 1890s, feathers and wood, Vancouver
Island, British Columbia. [©The Field Museum;
photograph by John Weinstein]
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SACRED MATTER
(i) Jewish worshipers parade Torah scrolls at the Western Wall in

But for some religions the idea of a spiritual energy
Jerusalem. [©Peter Guttman/Corbis]
inhering in material forms is repugnant because it confuses
the divine with the merely phenomenal. Some Christians,
Jews, and Muslims, as well as Sikhs and some Hindus and
Buddhists, maintain that objects and rituals are merely
convenient and time-honored forms of commemoration
and the useful expression of devotion and communal soli-
darity. The very idea of sacred matter, substance endowed
with power, conflicts with the stark distinction of spirit
and matter of some religions, or the radical transcendence
of the divine among others. For many Jews, for instance,
liturgical objects (i) are prized for their association with
orthopraxy, with strict adherence to the liturgical calendar
and its prescription of ceremony. Some Christians, such
as those of the Anabaptist and Puritan traditions, do not
consecrate objects for use in worship spaces, and indeed,
may not even set aside spaces to be exclusively used for
worship. Any such privileging of objects threatens idola-
try, the confusion of the divine with a created or material
form.

Yet even within these traditions material forms can
acquire a powerful quality that imbues their visual display
with a meaning that is not merely symbolic, such as the
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SACRED MATTER
display of the Torah scroll in Jerusalem (i). For other
(j) Crystals, rocks, and statuary deposited at the center of a laby-
religious traditions, material forms are an integral part
rinth in northwestern Indiana. [Photograph by David Morgan]
of evoking divine power and communicating with forces
that transcend the human sphere. Often these forms are
found objects, as in the case of the rocks left by visitors to
labyrinths (j) or other sacred spaces important to earth-
centered spiritualities. Crystals are believed by many to
possess healing powers in their vibrational energy, which
is transferred to humans in therapies of placing stones
on the body at the chakras, the seven centers of energy
derived from yogic teaching.

Other powers are attributed to stones by priests and
users. Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, used a seer
stone, a small, brightly colored, perforated stone, in his
practice of divining, looking for hidden treasures buried
in the New York landscape. Smith is said to have claimed
that possession of one such stone gave him the divine
power of the all-seeing eye. He used the seer stones that
he possessed to search for buried money, but it was on one
such quest that he found the golden plates that he claimed
were the source of the Book of Mormon.

Managing the sacred power of objects occupies a
good deal of attention and ritual practice. Since they are
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SACRED MATTER
the locus of power, the objects must be stored properly
and carefully prepared for use and display. Often, as in
the case of the Australian Aboriginal sacred stone called
tjurunga (k), the object is kept from sight except when
in ritual use since it embodies the totemic spirits of its
owner and serves as the dwelling of creator spirits. The
sacred stones are displayed during initiations and are
used by elders to relate traditions to those undergoing
initiation. Hindu priests dedicate themselves to the daily
preparation of the stone lingam of Śiva (l) at temples
around the world, where they ritually bathe the ancient
stone in honey, milk, or fragrant water before covering it
with a dress and mask in order for its presentation to the
devout.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brooke, John L. The Refiner’s Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmol-
ogy, 1644–1844. New York, 1994.
Cosentino, Donald J., ed. Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. Los Ange-
les, 1995.
Fitzhugh, William W., and Valérie Chaussonnet, eds. Anthropology
of the North Pacific Rim. Washington, D.C., 1994.
Flores-Peña, Ysamur, and Roberta J. Evanchuk. Santería Garments
and Altars: Speaking without a Voice. Jackson, Miss., 1994.
Pike, Sarah M. Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves: Contemporary
Pagans and the Search for Community. Berkeley, 2001.
Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism:
(k) TOP. A 34-inch stone tjurunga with linear incisions,
Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravada Tradition. Cam-
found in Australia before 1935. [Masco Collection; photograph by
bridge, U.K., 1997.
Dirk Baker] (l) ABOVE. A brāhman.a priest bathes an ancient
David Morgan ()
stone symbol of Śiva in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
[©Photograph by Stephen P. Huyler]
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D
DACIAN RIDERS. The so-called Dacian Riders were associated with a mystery reli-
gion of the Getae and the Dacians, peoples of Thracian stock who lived in ancient Dacia
(roughly equivalent to modern-day Romania). The cult of the Dacian, or Danubian, Rid-
ers began to spread among Roman soldiers soon after 106 CE, when Dacia was conquered
by Trajan and made a province of the Roman Empire. Traces of the cult have been found
as far away as the Roman provinces of Gaul and Britain.
Numerous reliefs and gems depicting the Dacian Riders are extant. Of the 232 items
catalogued by Dumitru Tudor (1969–1976), 60 were found in Dacia, 24 in Moesia Supe-
rior, 34 in Moesia Inferior, 47 in Pannonia Inferior, and 25 in Pannonia Superior. Most
of the Dacian reliefs are made of marble. They were copied on a large scale in lead, a very
expensive material whose use can be explained only by the magical purposes for which
the images of the Dacian Riders were intended. Of the 90 lead copies extant, 44 were
found in Pannonia Inferior.
The most ancient reliefs show only one horseman, whose iconography was influenced
by that of the Thracian Rider. Later monuments show two riders at either side of a god-
dess whose principal symbolic attribute is a fish. Of the 31 pieces belonging to the one-
horseman type, 18 were found in Dacia. The two-horseman type belongs to the later peri-
od of this cult, which flourished in the third century CE and declined in the fourth.
Besides the two horsemen and the goddess with a fish, the iconography of the monu-
ments includes prostrated characters, attendants, and various symbols, such as the sun,
the moon, stars, and numerous animals (including the ram, dog, lion, eagle, peacock,
raven, cock, snake, and sometimes even the bull). Scholarly identifications of the goddess
are widely divergent. The two horsemen have been identified with the Dioscuri by some
scholars and with the Cabiri brothers by others. The Greek iconography of the Dioscuri
has had a particular impact on that of the Dacian Riders, but all these scholarly hypotheses
are more or less fanciful.
It is likely that certain beliefs and practices, borrowed especially from Mithraism,
were added to a local Dacian cult and that these borrowings changed the cult into a mys-
C LOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT CORNER. Women dance with skeletons in a fifteenth-century woodcut of
the Dance of Death. [©Bettmann/Corbis]; Seventeenth-century Chinese nobleman’s badge
depicting a dragon-like beast. [©Art Resource, N.Y.]; Demeter hands Triptolemos a sheaf of
corn in a fifth-century BCE Greek relief depicting the creation of agriculture. National
Archaeological Museum, Athens. [©Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Laozi riding a water
buffalo, circa 960–1280. [©Burstein Collection/Corbis]; Ruins of Tholos Temple at Delphi,
Greece. [©Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis] .
2123
2124
DACO-GETIC RELIGION
tery religion. Although the myth of the Danubian Riders re-
DADDY GRACE. Charles M. “Daddy” (1881–1960)
mains unknown, it is safe to state that it was based on some
Grace was the founder of the United House of Prayer for All
Dacian beliefs not shared by the Thracians south of the Dan-
People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith.
ube. The two horsemen and the goddess were probably sup-
A combination of Daddy Grace’s grandiosity, his followers’
posed to establish a link between three cosmic layers (heaven,
intense devotion, and popular confusion between Grace and
earth, and underworld), as the partition of the reliefs into
the controversial Father Divine caused outsiders to be skepti-
three registers seems to suggest.
cal of the church for decades. After Grace’s death, new lead-
Only three degrees of initiation were present in the mys-
ership made superficial changes that allowed the United
teries of the Dacian Riders: Aries (“ram”), Miles (“soldier”),
House of Prayer to move away from its marginal status and
and Leo (“lion”). The first two were placed under the influ-
closer to the American religious mainstream. Early in the
ence of the planet Mars, the last one under the influence of
twenty-first century, its long-term stability invites an appre-
the sun. If we interpret the numerous animals depicted in
ciation of the strength of the institutional foundations de-
the reliefs of the Danubian Riders as astrological entities,
signed and laid by Grace.
then we may surmise that the symbolism of this mystery reli-
Daddy Grace was born Marceline Manuel DaGraca on
gion was fairly complicated. Inscriptions are unusually scarce
the island of Brava, Cape Verde (at that time a Portuguese
in number, short (especially those on gems), and indecipher-
territory), off the northwest coast of Africa. With his parents
able. Initiates in the mysteries identified their grade by
and four siblings, Grace immigrated to Massachusetts at the
badges and seals; for example, a gem of unknown provenance
turn of the twentieth century. In his first years in the New
bears as its inscription the single word leon. In all probability,
Bedford area, Grace held odd jobs such as picking cranber-
sacrifice of a ram played an important part in these mysteries.
ries, dishwashing, and selling patent medicines. During this
time he also Americanized his surname and began using the
SEE ALSO Thracian Rider.
first name Charles. Grace had two brief marriages, from
which one daughter and two sons were produced. He died
BIBLIOGRAPHY
from heart ailments at the age of seventy-eight.
On the Dacian Riders, see the excellent work of Dumitru Tudor,
Grace was baptized Roman Catholic in Brava, but his
Corpus monumentorum religionis equitum Danuvinorum, 2
religious calling in the United States led him to Protestant
vols. (Leiden, 1969–1976). Volume 1, The Monuments,
forms of worship, particularly the holiness movement. His
translated by Eve Harris and John R. Harris, is a detailed cat-
alog; volume 2, The Analysis and Interpretation of the Monu-
early attempts to start a church were unsuccessful. He found
ments, translated by Christopher Holme, is a thorough sur-
himself rejected from the pulpit of a Massachusetts Nazarene
vey of scholarly theories concerning the mysteries.
church and was unable to gain a following in southern states
despite extensive travels in his “Gospel Car.” Grace finally
New Sources
met with success when he returned to Wareham, Massachu-
Alexandrescu, Petre. “L’oiseau unicorne, Introduction à
setts, opening his first House of Prayer in 1919, with himself
l’iconologie thrace.” Comptes rendues de l’Académie
d’Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (1993): 725–745. As well as the
as bishop.
Dacian Rider, the god with the unicorn bird was an impor-
Grace’s church grew quickly in its first two decades,
tant presence in the Getan pantheon.
spreading both south and west to over a dozen states. Regard-
“Heros Equitans.” In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classi-
less of its growth, the church was commonly perceived as an
cae (LIMC), vol. 6, 1–2. Zürich and Munich, 1992,
invalid organization in which the leader exploited the work-
pp. 1019–1081. Various specialists examine the iconography
ing-class membership for profit. Journalists attempted to
of the heroic horseman, including full lists of the monuments
make a mockery of the bishop because his flamboyant per-
and the related illustrations. See especially the chapter on
sonal style made for good press. Not only did he have long
“Les Cavaliers Danubiens,” pp. 1078–1081, providing a re-
hair, painted fingernails, suits of bright colors, and jewels on
appraisal of the relevant religious-historical issues.
his wrists and fingers, but he also traveled with an entourage
Sanie, Silvin. “Kulte und Glauben im römischen Süden der Mol-
that included a chauffeur, bodyguards, and occasionally law-
dau (Ostrumänien).” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römisc-
yers and other assistants. Grace’s visibility as a man of means
hen Welt I, vol. II, 18, 2. Berlin and New York, 1989,
and power was certainly one element of the House of Prayer’s
pp. 1272–1316. See especially pp. 1294–1296, dealing with
early growth, but it also contributed to outsiders’ skepticism.
the Dacian Rider and its mystery cult guaranteeing immor-
tality.
The United House of Prayer, though remaining nonde-
nominational during Grace’s lifetime, is squarely in the Pen-
IOAN PETRU CULIANU AND CICERONE POGHIRC (1987)
tecostal tradition. It is charismatic by nature, and Grace’s
Revised Bibliography
theological teachings were based on the ideas of one God,
one faith, one baptism, and one leader. Although popular
lore holds that Grace claimed to be God, evidence demon-
DACO-GETIC RELIGION SEE GETO-DACIAN
strates that this is a misconstruction. Instead, the church’s
RELIGION
theology focuses on the coming of the end-time 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
DAGAN
2125
portance of church leadership in helping to prepare. Worship
bishop of the multimillion dollar organization that included
services include demonstrations of the gifts of the holy spirit,
approximately one hundred Houses of Prayer nationwide.
as well as music led by their popular brass shout bands. The
Under McCollough, congregants’ attention was turned to is-
House of Prayer’s traditions, including annual festive convo-
sues of social justice, and church investments expanded to
cations and group baptisms (first on beaches, later by fire
include projects that were of direct benefit to members, such
hose in the streets) added to its visibility during Grace’s
as affordable housing and scholarship programs. McCol-
reign. There has long been an emphasis on member partici-
lough’s less ostentatious style of leadership helped move the
pation in church auxiliaries, which once included such clubs
House of Prayer closer to the mainstream of African Ameri-
as the Grace Flower Girls, the Grace Willing Workers Club,
can religion. Just as it was under Daddy Grace, the church
the Grace Gospel Choir, the Grace Soul Hunters, and the
today continues as a thriving, forward-thinking organization
Grace Soldiers. Beyond the church, members are expected
that provides an example of the harmonious mix of other-
to conduct themselves with conservative behavior, and are
worldly theology with present-world practicality.
encouraged to read and understand the Bible.
Grace was the figurehead of the church, supported by
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brune, Danielle E. “Sweet Daddy Grace: The Life and Times of
a vast number of individual ministers and a set of General
a Modern Day Prophet.” Ph.D. diss., University of Texas,
Council Laws prescribing overall operations. Grace was not
Austin, 2002. A cultural biography of Grace that offers par-
accountable to anyone, and likewise the many ministers op-
ticularly good treatment of the early years of his church
erating under him had a large degree of independence in
and a critical analysis of popular misconceptions about his
their practices and teachings. After opening each new church
leadership.
or mission, Grace’s involvement with individual Houses of
Damon, Sherri Marcia. “The Trombone in the Shout Band of the
Prayer was primarily based on financial management. Origi-
United House of Prayer for All People.” Ph.D. diss., Univer-
nally, Grace performed healings, but in time he encouraged
sity of North Carolina, Greensboro, 1999. A history of the
people to believe they would heal because of their faith rather
use of the trombone in the shout bands of the United House
than because of his direct touch. As he aged, Grace took de-
of Prayer for All People.
creasing roles in religious services, though he frequently trav-
Davis, Lenwood G. Daddy Grace: An Annotated Bibliography.
eled to make church appearances. His sermons and other
New York, 1992. This bibliography provides a sketch of
speaking roles were not as important as his mere presence at
many noteworthy incidents and other highlights of the
church events, and as a result very few records of his sermons
church’s history during the time of Grace’s bishopric.
have been preserved.
Fauset, Arthur Huff. Black Gods of the Metropolis: Negro Religious
Grace’s innovative investments and business ventures al-
Cults of the Urban North. Philadelphia, 1944. This early
lowed the church to flourish, and this is where his genius was
source includes a chapter on the House of Prayer based on
put to best use. Though often perceived by outsiders as using
the author’s doctoral fieldwork, and compares it to other
marginalized African American churches of that time period.
his working-class followers’ donations for his own ends,
Grace quietly used the money to build a wealthy corporate
Hodges, John O. “Charles Manuel ‘Sweet Daddy’ Grace.” In
empire for the church. The church offered a pension fund
Twentieth-Century Shapers of American Popular Religion, ed-
for ministers and elderly members, as well as a small insur-
ited by Charles Lippy, pp. 170–179. New York, 1989. A
short and pithy essay on the history of the church and Grace
ance plan. It owned several manufacturing businesses that
himself.
generated revenue for the church corporation. Grace increas-
ingly invested in real estate. For example, when he first
Robinson, John W. “A Song, a Shout, and a Prayer.” In The Black
opened a House of Prayer in Harlem in 1938, Grace pur-
Experience in Religion, edited by C. Eric Lincoln,
chased the headquarters of Father Divine’s Peace Mission
pp. 212–235. Garden City, N.Y., 1974. A detailed essay on
the House of Prayer including information about its changes
Movement and evicted them. This building was one of the
after Grace’s death; intended as an update to Fauset’s work.
first pieces of a trophy real estate collection that grew to in-
clude the El Dorado on Central Park West, two apartment
MARIE W. DALLAM (2005)
buildings in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, a large swath of
property on 125th Street in Harlem, and other mansions,
apartment buildings, and businesses in places as varied as Los
DAGAN
Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Newport News, Washington
(Daga¯n) was a West Semitic god, well known in
D.C., and Havana, Cuba.
ancient Syria and ancient Palestine. He is mentioned in texts
from Ebla (Tell Mard¯ıh, in Northern Syria) dating to the
Following Grace’s death in January 1960, the church
˘
mid-third millennium BCE, in which his name occurs as part
experienced confusion over questions of succession to the
of theophoric anthroponyms with the element Da-gan or
bishopric and the extent of church assets. Several issues had
Da-ga-an. The logographic abbreviation BE (for b¯elum/
to be resolved by the courts, and at least one splinter group
ba Ealum; lord) also occurs in texts from Ebla—both as part
formed. When the dust cleared, “Sweet Daddy” Walter Mc-
of personal names and independently as a deity present in
Collough (1915–1991) of Washington, D.C., was elected
diverse Syrian and Northern Mesopotamian towns. This 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
2126
DAGAN
has frequently been identified with Dagan. However, BE is
tive role. On the other hand, in the ritual texts from Ugarit,
most likely a divine epithet, which refers to Dagan only in
Dagan is frequently mentioned and plays an important role.
some specific cases, primarily the BE of Tuttul (i.e., “the
ETYMOLOGY. In all these third and second millennium texts,
Lord of Tuttul” refers to Dagan), modern Tell B¯ıEa, on the
Dagan appears as father of the gods and, along with his con-
Bal¯ıh River. Outside Ebla, and also during the second half
˘
sort, Shalash, he belongs to the earliest generation of gods
of the third millennium, Dagan is attested in texts from Mari
in the Syrian pantheon. In the first millennium, Dagan’s
(Tell H:ar¯ıri, Southern Syria), which had a temple devoted
name occurs as Dagon (Da¯gôn) in the biblical historical nar-
to this god, probably built toward the end of the third mil-
ratives (with an expected a¯ to o¯ shift), in which he is designat-
lennium, and Tell Beydar in the region of the upper Ha¯bu¯r
˘
ed a Philistine deity, with temples dedicated to him in Ash-
River. The mentions of the “King” of Terqa in early Mari
dod, Gaza, and probably Beth-Shan (1 Sm. 5:1–7; Jgs. 16:23;
documents also refer to Dagan (dlugal Terqa, with the divine
1 Chr. 10:10; 1 Mac. 10: 83–84, 11:4).
determinative d refers to DINGIR preceding the Sumerian
word for king, lugal). In all these pre-Sargonic Syro-
Traditionally, three different Semitic etymologies of this
Mesopotamian texts (i.e., prior to c. 2340
theonym have been proposed: (1) the root *dg (fish), which
BCE), the only
clear attestations of Dagan are in personal names.
appeared already in Saint Jerome, the Talmud, and else-
where, but which is now regarded as a folk etymology by
SARGONIC AND UR III PERIODS. During the Sargonic (c.
most scholars; (2) the root *dgn (grain; da¯ga¯n), with the ex-
2340–2113 BCE) and Ur III periods (c. 2113–2004 BCE),
pected fertility implications, but which works only in West
Dagan appears in royal inscriptions of Mesopotamian kings,
Semitic and is likely to also be a folk etymology; and (3) the
but always in a Syrian context and especially in personal
root *dgn (cloudy, rainy), also bearing somehow a fertility
names, as in previous periods. The only autochthonous Syri-
connotation.
an mention of Dagan during these periods comes from a
Mari inscription, in which he appears along with two proper-
The latter possibility is not immediately evident, be-
ly Mesopotamian deities, Ishtar and Enki. In the Old Baby-
cause the Semitic root in question (*dgn) would seem to
lonian period (first half of the second millennium
mean “cloudy, rainy” only in Arabic. Nonetheless, there is
BCE), the
figure of Dagan emerges as the most important deity in the
a related root in Syriac (a Christian Aramaic dialect) that oc-
pantheon of the Middle Euphrates region, and his name is
curs in a verb meaning “to be blind, to have blurry eyes”
abundantly attested in letters from Old Babylonian Mari, as
(dgen, with intransitive vocalization) and in nouns referring
well as documents from Terqa and Tuttul. Both at Mari and
to ophthalmic maladies and blindness. The Arabic verb da-
at Aleppo, Dagan appears as the recipient of funerary offer-
jana means primarily “to be dusky, gloomy,” as in dujna/
ings. Moreover, he plays a role in prophecies and divination,
dujunna (darkness) and adjan (dark). Nonetheless, Arabic
especially extispicy (observation of the entrails of sacrificial
exhibits occurrences of this root referring to rain or rainy
animals). As in previous periods, Dagan is widely attested in
conditions (dajn; heavy rain) and the Syriac cognate (degna¯,
theophoric personal names from the Middle and Upper Eu-
dega¯na¯) has a distinctive secondary but frequent meaning
phrates regions, as well as the Ha¯bu¯r area.
concerning snow (packed snow).
˘
M
Based on the problems posed by the aforementioned Se-
IDDLE BABYLONIAN PERIOD. In the Middle Babylonian
period (second half of the second millennium
mitic etymologies and the association of Dagan to the earth,
BCE), Dagan
is particularly well represented in texts from two Late Bronze
an Indo-European etymology has been proposed for this
sites: Emar (modern Tell Meskene), on the Middle Euphra-
theonym: *dhehom (earth), as in Sanskrit kam, Greek khtho¯n
tes, and Ugarit (Ras Shamra) on the Syrian Mediterranean
(with metathesis), Latin humus (and probably also homo; ter-
coast. In texts from Emar and smaller neighboring towns in-
restrial, human being), Tocharian tkam:, Hittite tegan (geni-
cluding Ekalte and Azu, along with the customary syllabic
tive taknaˇs), and perhaps even part of the name of the god-
spelling of the name (Da-gan), one finds the logogram
dess Demeter (D¯em¯et¯er *Gdan-mát¯er, with *gd *ghdh *dheh).
dKUR, the determinative for divine names followed by the
As in most etymologies of proper names, tentative and specu-
logogram KUR (mountain; land). This spelling may be an
lative by nature, it is difficult to rule out this Indo-European
abbreviation of the epithet dkur-gal (The Great Mountain),
hypothesis. Such an etymology would also match the possi-
but it may also point to a chthonic nature of Dagan. The
ble linguistic identity of the Philistines.
latter might be associated with a possible Indo-European ety-
mology and with Dagan’s funerary offerings. The most im-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
portant religious festival in Late Bronze Emar, the zukru fes-
On Dagan in general, see Lluís Feliu, The God Dagan in Bronze
tival (related to the Semitic root *zkr; to call, recall) was
Age Syria (Leiden, 2003) and Bradley L. Crowell, “The De-
velopment of Dagan: A Sketch,” Journal of Ancient Near
devoted to Dagan. Dagan also played an important role in
Eastern Religions 1 (2001): 32–83. On Dagan at Ebla, see
most Emar rituals, as his temple seems to have been the epi-
Francesco Pomponio and Paolo Xella, Les dieux d’Ebla
center of religious life in that city. An important corpus of
(Münster, 1997). For Dagan at Tuttul, see Manfred Kreb-
mythological and epic narratives exists from Ugarit, in which
ernik, Ausgrabungen in Tall Bi Ea/Tuttul, II: Die altorientalisc-
Dagan is attested only in epithets of other gods (e.g, Ba⊂lu
hen Schriftfunde (Saarbrücken, Germany, 2001). On Dagan
is “the son of Dagan”) and in oblique references with no ac-
at Late Bronze Emar, see Daniel E. Fleming, Time at Emar
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAINAS
2127
(Winona Lake, Ind., 2000). On Dagan in Ugaritic rituals,
the one who rears it and determines its fate. These dainas are
see G. del Olmo Lete, Canaanite Religion (Bethesda, Md.,
characterized by their deep emotionality. This is particularly
1999) and Dennis Pardee, Les textes rituels, I–II (Ras Shamra-
true of dainas dealing with the fate of foster children. Dainas
Ougarit XII) (Paris, 2000). On the etymology of Dagan, see
sung directly after the birth of a child during the cultic feast
Fred Renfroe, Arabic-Ugaritic Lexical Studies, pp. 91–94
(pirt¯ızˇas) in the sauna, the traditional place of birthing, have
(Münster, Germany, 1992) and Itamar Singer, “Semitic
a special significance because of their cultic character. These
daga¯n and Indo-European *dhehom: Related Words?” in The
dainas are devoted to the goddess of fate, Laima.
Asia Minor Connexion, edited by Yoël L. Arbeitman,
pp. 221–232 (Louvain, 2000).
2. Dainas dealing with love, the selection of a partner,
GONZALO RUBIO (2005)
and marriage are rather different from those associated with
birth. They are imbued with joy and contain erotic and sexu-
al elements intended to chafe and mock others. Some of the
DAHOMEAN RELIGION SEE FON AND EWE
songs are so caustic that the seventeenth-century bishop Paul
RELIGION
Einhorn, having heard the wedding songs of Latvian peas-
ants, failed to comprehend their deep religious and cultic
character. He wrote in dismay in his Historie lettice in 1649:
DAINAS. In Baltic cultures, the songs known in Latvian
“Afterwards such improper, brazen, and flippant songs were
as dainas and in Lithuanian as dainos deal with two funda-
sung without interruption, day and night, that even the devil
mental cycles, the life cycle of humans and the festival cycle
himself could not have devised and put forth anything more
of the agricultural seasons. Although they are often referred
improper and lewd.” Yet such fertility dainas belong to the
to by the common designation folk song, this modern term
very old family cult.
is misleading, for the dainas, with their trochaic and dactylic
3. The third group of life-cycle dainas, those dealing
meters, differ from the folk songs known to European schol-
with death, are rich in content, representing the individual’s
ars. The original Lithuanian dainos have to a great extent dis-
preparation for death. Their cultic character becomes evident
appeared because of the influence of the European folk song,
in songs that describe the bearing of the casket from the
but Latvian dainas have survived in great numbers. About
home to the cemetery, which was the site of the cultic feast.
sixty thousand (not including variants) have been collected
There a particular type of daina was sung to guarantee that
and published by scholars. Their content reveals that they
the dead person would have a favorable relationship with the
were an integral part of daily agrarian life among Baltic peo-
ruler of the grave and the realm of death, occasionally re-
ples; as such, they bear directly on Baltic religion.
ferred to as Kapu Ma¯te (“grave mother”).
Regarding the etymology of the term, Suniti Kumar
Chatterji has pointed out that
FESTIVAL CYCLE. The second cycle includes dainas that de-
scribe the agricultural work routine and festivals. In their se-
the Baltic word daina had unquestionably its Aryan
quence they mirror the yearly cycle, including its holidays.
[Indo-Iranian] equivalent, etymologically and semanti-
cally, which is perfectly permissible. . . . An Indo-
The most important holidays are the summer and winter sol-
European root *dhi-, *dhy-ei, *dhei-, meaning “to think,
stices. The commencement and conclusion of particular
to ponder over, to give thought to,” appears to be the
work phases also have an important place in the cycle. In the
source of the Vedic dh¯ena¯ and the Avestian da¯ena¯. An
spring, when planting began, bread and meat were plowed
Indo-European form *dhaina¯ as the sourceword can
into the first furrow. Similarly, the leading of the first cattle
very easily and quite correctly be postulated. (Chatterji,
to pasture and the first horses to night watch were also ob-
1968, pp. 69–70)
served as special events. All of these occasions were associated
From the age of Vedic literature words derived from this
with sacral feasts under the leadership of the paterfamilias.
source word deal with the following notions: speech, voice,
Appropriate dainas were an integral part of these rituals. The
praise, prayer, panegyric, and song. The Pahlavi d¯en
commencement as well as the conclusion of certain jobs was
(“religion”) developed into the Avestan da¯ena¯, which, in
observed, especially during the fall harvest. This was a time
turn, appears in modern Arabic as d¯ın, meaning “religion,”
of relative abundance, and therefore the feasts were especially
specifically, orthodox Islam. These etymological derivations
lavish.
and semantic relationships suggest that dhaina¯ is an ancient
RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS. Both of these cycles mirror the
Baltic word that has retained the meaning of “song” through
framework of the Baltic peasant’s life, which consisted of
the years.
both hard work and joyous festivity, represented by work
LIFE CYCLE. Dainas figure prominently in an individual’s life
dainas and festival dainas. The peasants, in close harmony
cycle at three major points: birth, marriage, and death. Each
with nature, performed their tasks with songs that helped
of these events determines not only the content but also the
them to adhere to the rhythm of work. Festival dainas,
form of the dainas.
whether of the first or second cycle, introduce another an-
1. In songs dealing with childbirth, the mother figure
cient element inherent in the name dainas itself: that of
appears not only as the one who bears the child but also as
dance. The verb dainot really means “to sing and move
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2128
DAIVAS
rhythmically in a group,” that is, “to dance” in the broadest
Indo-European root meaning “shine, be bright.” In Zoroas-
sense of the word.
trian Iran, however, daiva had a negative sense. Other terms
The great majority of dainas are songs describing various
were used to refer to divine beings, such as baga (“one who
chores that have no specific religious content. Many describe
distributes”), ahura (“lord”), and yazata (“one worthy of
nature, using explicit personifications of and metaphors for
worship”), while daiva was used to designate malefic or de-
natural phenomena. A significant number of songs, however,
monic powers. For that reason one speaks of a “demoniza-
do have a religious dimension, which can be explained by the
tion” of the daiva as a phenomenon characteristic of Zoroas-
significance of religion in Baltic daily life. Man’s place in na-
trianism.
ture and his dependence on it forced him to ponder the basis
In all probability daiva acquired a negative value in the
of his existence and to determine his relationship with the
Iranian world because of the condemnation by Zarathushtra
forces of nature. The dainas are the clearest proof of this close
(Zoroaster) of traditional religion. The prophet of Ahura
relationship. Furthermore, because the source material relat-
Mazda¯ propounded a faith and a doctrine of monotheistic
ing to the religious life of the Baltic peoples is limited, the
inspiration, and the gods of ancient polytheism were repudi-
dainas represent an irreplaceable source for the reconstruc-
ated as illusions or chimeras.
tion of this religious framework.
Later, after Zoroastrianism had reached a compromise
with the older religious sensibility and with the various forms
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of polytheism that had spread throughout the Iranian world
Barons, Kriˇsja¯nis. Latwju dainas. 2d ed. 6 vols. in 8. Riga, 1922.
in the first millennium BCE, the daivas were condemned not
An academic complete-text edition with variants of Latvian
because they were considered, as Zarathushtra had seen
dainas.
them, the fruit of ignorance and superstition but because
Chatterji, Suniti Kumar. Balts and Aryans. Simla, India, 1968.
they were thought to be real demonic beings. The signifi-
cance of daiva thus changed from “god” to “demon.” In this
Greble, Vilma. “Tautas dziesmas.” In Latvieˇsu literatu¯ras v¯esture,
vol. 1, pp. 22–158. Riga, 1959. Historical survey of the dif-
later form of the religion, Indra, Saurva, and
ferent editions of dainas and a short introduction to the main
Na¯nhaithya—who had prominent positions in the Indian
problems.
pantheon as Indra, S´arva, and Na¯satya—became archde-
Jonval, Michel. Les chansons mythologiques lettonnes. Paris, 1929.
mons. They were opposed, respectively, by the Amesha
A selection of religious dainas concerning the pre-Christian
Spentas Asha, Khshathra Vairya, and A¯rmaiti.
Latvian deities.
The Zoroastrian pandemonium is particularly rich.
Katzenelenbogen, Uriah. The Daina. Chicago, 1935. The only
Among the most important daivas are Ae¯shma (“wrath,
edition of dainas in English, with a brief introductory survey
fury”), known throughout the Zoroastrian tradition;
of their ethnological value.
Apaosha (“dearth”), fought by Tishtrya, the yazata of the star
Lietuviuh tautosaka, vol. 1, Dainos. Vilnius, 1962. A complete-
Sirius; Asto¯v¯ıdha¯tu (“dismembering of skeleton”); Bu¯shya˛sta¯
text edition of Lithuanian dainos with a Marxist ideological
(“sloth”); and Nasu (“corpse”), the demon of decay.
introduction.
Zarathushtra’s condemnation of the daivas, intended as
New Sources
the rejection of the gods of polytheism, always remained, if
Latvieˇsu tautas dziesmas. Riga, 1979. Latvian folk songs.
only with the modification explained above, a characteristic
Raudupe, Rud¯ıte. Dievatzin¸a v¯eda¯s un daina¯s. Riga, 2002. Per-
feature of Zoroastrianism. In all its subsequent historical
ception of God in vedas and dainas.
manifestations—as, for example, in an inscription of Xerxes
at Persepolis—there are traces, even if partly distorted, of
Sex Songs of the Ancient Letts. New York, 1969.
Zarathushtra’s original teaching.
Sˇva¯be, Arve¯ds, Karl¯ıs Straubergs, and Ed¯ıte Hauzen-
berga-Sˇturma, eds. Latvieˇsu tautas dziesmas. Chansons
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Populaires Lettonnes. 12 vols. Copenhagen, 1952–56.
Benveniste, Émile. “Hommes et dieux dans l’Avesta.” In Festschrift
V¯ık¸e-Freiberga, Vaira, ed. Linguistics and Poetics of Latvian Folk
für Wilhelm Eilers, pp. 144–147. Wiesbaden, 1967.
Songs. Kingston and Montreal, 1989.
Bianchi, Ugo. “L’inscription ‘des daivas’ et le zoroastrisme des Ac-
V¯ık¸e-Freiberga, Vaira, and Imants Freibergs. Saules dainas. Latvi-
héménides.” Revue de l’historie des religions 192 (1977): 3–30.
an Sun songs. Montreal, 1988.
Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism, vol. 1. Leiden, 1975.
HARALDS BIEZAIS (1987)
Burrow, T. “The Proto-Indoaryans.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Revised Bibliography
Society (1973): 123–140.
Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. Ormazd et Ahriman. Paris, 1953.
Gershevitch, Ilya. “Die Sonne das Beste.” In Mithraic Studies, ed-
ited by John R. Hinnells, vol. 1, pp. 68–81. Manchester,
DAIVAS. The Iranian term daiva originally signified
U.K., 1975.
“god,” as is shown in several occurrences of the word in the
Gnoli, Gherardo. Zoroaster’s Time and Homeland. Naples, 1980.
Avesta (Av., da¯eva; OPers., daiva; MPers., Pahl., d¯ew). Like
Gray, Louis H. The Foundations of the Iranian Religions. Bombay,
the Vedic deva or the Latin deus, daiva may be related to the
1930.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAI ZHEN
2129
Henning, W. B. “A Sogdian God.” Bulletin of the School of Orien-
However superficial or profound his conversion to evi-
tal and African Studies 28 (1965): 242–254.
dential research, Dai Zhen succeeded in gaining entry to the
Kellens, Jean. Le panthéon de l’Avesta ancien. Wiesbaden, 1994.
most illustrious intellectual circles. His publications in math-
Lommel, Herman. Die Religionn Zarathustras nach dem Awesta
ematics and waterway engineering earned him high renown.
dargestellt. Tübingen, 1930.
In 1773 the emperor appointed him to the elite board of
Molé, Marijan. Culte, mythe et cosmologie dans l’Iran ancien. Paris,
compilers of the Imperial Manuscript Library (Siku Quan-
1963.
shu). He had risen to the very pinnacle of scholarship, yet
Nöldeke, Theodor. “Der Weisse De¯v von Ma¯zandara¯n.” Archiv
even during his tenure at the library he continued to write
für Religionswissenschaft 18 (1915): 597–600.
books on philosophy.
Widengren, Geo. Stand und Aufgaben der iranischen Religions-
geschichte. Leiden, 1955.
His colleagues and peers tended to view his philosophi-
cal writings as incidental digressions from his scholarly work.
GHERARDO GNOLI (1987)
Translated from Italian by Roger DeGaris
Although one or two of his closest disciples recognized the
importance of philosophy to Dai Zhen’s intellectual life,
none of them was able to carry on his philosophical work.
DAI ZHEN
Hu Shi revived Dai Zhen’s philosophy at a memorial confer-
(zi, Shenxiu; hao, Dongyuan; 1724–1777),
ence in 1923–1924, claiming that Dai Zhen, fully steeped
the most illustrious representative of the kaozheng school of
in the empirical scholarship of his day, had attacked and
evidential research and one of the leading philosophers of the
transcended the errors and excesses of Song neo-
Qing dynasty (1644–1911).
Confucianism, laying the groundwork of a new Confucian
Dai Zhen was born into a modest mercantile family of
vision. Others, notably Yu Yingshi, have argued that Dai
Xiuning, Anhwei Province. He pursued his earliest education
Zhen’s thought is in fact profoundly indebted to neo-
by borrowing books from neighbors. He learned very quickly
Confucianism and is a continuous development of that heri-
and astonished his teachers by questioning the authority of
tage. Yu maintains that Dai was never fully converted to the
everything he read. For a brief period he was apprenticed to
antiphilosophical prejudices of his peers. He saw scholarship
a cloth merchant, but in 1742 he was sent to the home of
as a handmaiden to the larger task of philosophy. Arguing
a wealthy scholar and there studied with Jiangyong (1681–
from Dai Zhen’s letters and conversations, Yu contends that
1762).
the real target of his philosophy was not the Song school, but
The scholar Jiangyong provided the formative influence
his narrow and pedantic contemporaries in evidential re-
during the first period of Dai Zhen’s adult life. He was a spe-
search.
cialist in the Li ji (Record of Rites) and in mathematics and
phonology; the training he gave Dai Zhen in these areas be-
Dai Zhen’s philosophy was based on a monism of qi
came the foundation for much of Dai Zhen’s later scholar-
(“ether”). He argued against the Song neo-Confucian dis-
ship in the kaozheng tradition. This side of his education fit-
tinctions between metaphysical and physical, between heav-
ted him for the mainstream of Qing intellectual life.
en-endowed nature and material nature. Such dualism, he
Jiangyong, however, also steeped his pupil in the philosophi-
claimed, led Confucians to neglect the empirical world and
cal systems of Song neo-Confucianism, inculcating the no-
to believe that there was in human beings a dichotomy be-
tion that practical scholarship and moral philosophy were the
tween nature and feelings. On the grand scale, Dai argued
two legs of Confucian learning.
that the Dao was nothing other than the orderly patterns of
the movements of ether; it was not a metaphysical principle.
In 1754, Dai Zhen moved to Beijing, where he mingled
Analogously, he held that the realization of human nature
with representatives of the kaozheng school of evidential re-
was nothing other than the orderly patterns of one’s feelings.
search, notably Huidong (1697–1758). Kaozheng scholars
As the sages had channeled the floodwaters to restore the
accused the Song neo-Confucians of pointless speculation in-
order of Dao in the world, so feelings, properly channeled,
fluenced by the Buddhists; such learning, they claimed, was
are the manifestations of human nature. Human life in the
disdainful of the practical problems of the real world and ne-
material world is made up of feelings or response. When feel-
glected solid scholarship in favor of subjectivism. Although
ings are healthfully expressed and fundamental needs satis-
during his early years in Beijing Dai Zhen defended the need
fied, both the body and xin, or mind and heart, of the person
to ask larger questions about morality and meaning, his writ-
can be healthy and whole. To channel feelings and under-
ings published between 1758 and 1766 show the influence
stand the order and movements of ether, the mind must
of kaozheng on his thinking. Some scholars interpret this pe-
weigh (quan) its perceptions and responses carefully. Weigh-
riod as a repudiation of his past philosophical training. It is
ing requires accurate and informed perceptions that take ac-
certain that Dai Zhen brought to Beijing ideas that ran
count of all the evidence and, carefully comparing the evi-
counter to the consensus of his peers, but whether his col-
dence, come to a balanced response.
leagues in Beijing convinced him to change his orientation,
or whether he simply emphasized the nonphilosophical side
An organic connection ran between Dai Zhen’s scholar-
of his work to gain acceptance at the capital, is a question
ship and his philosophy. Only the former aspect of his
that remains unanswered.
work was appreciated during his lifetime, whereas the latter
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2130
DAKHMA
area is the subject of continued debate among Confucian
were already practiced in priestly circles in the Achaemenid
scholars.
period, as we know from Herodotus) were designed to avoid
scrupulously any contamination of the earth, fire, and water
SEE ALSO Mengzi.
and can be traced to earlier practices widespread among the
nomads of Central Asia. These—as we learn from the Vendi-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
dad—prescribed that corpses, considered impure, be exposed
Although during his lifetime Dai Zhen was best known for his es-
to vultures so that the bones could be cleansed of flesh. Once
says on mathematics, waterworks, and phonology (Liang,
they were purified of humors and putrefying flesh, the bones
pp. 58–59), he is today highly regarded for his philosophical
were placed in special ossuaries. According to Strabo, the ex-
writings. His Yuan shan, composed in 1763 and revised in
1776, has been translated by Cheng Chung-ying as Dai
posure of corpses was also practiced in eastern Iran during
Chên’s Inquiry into Goodness (Honolulu, 1971). In it Dai de-
the Parthian period.
veloped his monism of ether and his views of human nature
Later, dakhma became the technical term for the “tow-
and feelings. Meng-zi zi i su cheng (Elucidation on the mean-
ers of silence,” the buildings used for the rites of exposure
ing of words in Mencius) in 3 chüan (Beijing, 1956) was
of the corpses, whether in Zoroastrian communities in Iran
composed in 1769, but revised during his final years at the
or in Parsi communities of India. The modern translation
Imperial Manuscript Library. The Elucidation is his most sys-
tematic philosophical work and grounds his monism and his
“towers of silence” seems to have been used for the first time
view of human nature in the writings of Mencius.
by R. Z. Murphy, Oriental translator for the British govern-
ment at Bombay (Modi, 1937).
Fang Chao-ying has written a very useful biography of Dai Zhen
in Eminent Chinese of the Qing Period, 1644–1912, vol. 1,
The dakhma, which continues to be used today, al-
edited by Arthur W. Hummel (Washington, D.C., 1943),
though in more limited forms, is a circular tower, construct-
pp. 695–700. Regarding the thought of Dai Zhen, Hu Shi’s
ed of stone and often located on a hill. An iron door opens
Dai Dongyuan di zhexue (Shanghai, 1927) makes the case
onto a large platform consisting of three concentric circles.
that the originality of Dai’s philosophy lays the groundwork
The first and largest is for the bodies of men; the second, in
for a new Confucian school. Yu Yingshi’s Lun Dai Zhen Yu
Chang Xuecheng (On Dai Zhen and Chang Xuecheng; Hong
the middle, is for those of women; and the third is for those
Kong, 1976) argues that Dai’s thought develops organically
of children. After the corpse has been exposed and reduced
out of his deep knowledge of the neo-Confucian tradition
to a skeleton, the bones are put in a large, deep hole at the
and in dialogue with the concerns of the greatest minds of
center of the dakhma.
the kaozheng school. Hou Wai-lu, in volume 5 of his Zhong-
Zoroastrian ritual attaches great importance to funerals,
guo sixiang tongshi (Beijing, 1963), pp. 430–464, provides a
which are consequently very detailed and complex, as well
lucid analysis of Dai Zhen’s thought and a succinct account
of the twentieth-century revival of his philosophy.
as meticulous in their purificatory practices. Equally complex
are the rites for the consecration of the dakhma, which con-
Three English-language works provide a brief introduction to Dai
sist of ceremonies for the excavation of the site, for the foun-
Zhen’s philosophy. Cheng Chung-ying discusses the philo-
sophical system in the introduction to his translation
dation, and for the consecration itself.
(above). Liang Qichao provides an appreciative introduction
to Dai’s thought and scholarship in Intellectual Trends of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Qing Period, translated by Immanuel C. Y. Xu (Cambridge,
Boyce, Mary. “An Old Village Dakhma of Iran.” In Mémorial Jean
Mass., 1959), pp. 54–62. Fung Yulan provides a critique of
de Menasce, edited by Philippe Gignoux and A. Tafazzoli,
his philosophical position in A History of Chinese Philosophy,
pp. 3–9. Louvain, 1974.
vol. 2, 2d ed., translated by Derk Bodde (Princeton, 1953),
Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism, vol. 1. Leiden, 1975.
pp. 651–672. Finally Yu Yingshi’s article “Some Preliminary
Observations on the Rise of Qing Confucian Intellectual-
Boyce, Mary. A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism. Oxford,
ism,” Tsing-hua Journal of Chinese Studies, n.s. 11 (1975):
1977.
105–146, provides a larger picture of the rise of evidential
Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices.
research that shows that Dai Zhen’s moral philosophy moti-
London, 1979.
vates his evidential research.
de Jong, Albert. Traditions of the Magi. Zoroastrianism in Greek
JUDITH A. BERLING (1987)
and Latin Literature. Leiden, 1997.
Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. La religion de l’Iran ancien. Paris,
1962.
DAKHMA. The Iranian term dakhma, which probably
Hoffmann, Karl. “Av. daxma-.” Zeitschrift für vergleichende
originally signified “tomb,” seems to be derived from the
Sprachforschung aus dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Spr-
ache 89 (1965): 238.
Indo-European root *dhm:bh, “bury” (Hoffmann, 1965),
and not from dag, “burn,” as some scholars have proposed.
Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji. The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of
It is occasionally used in the Avesta with a negative meaning,
the Parsees. 2d ed. Bombay, 1937.
insofar as the burial of bodies was condemned: the funeral
GHERARDO GNOLI (1987 AND 2005)
rites adopted by the Zoroastrian community (and which
Translated from Italian by Roger DeGaris
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DALAI LAMA
2131
DALAI LAMA, title of the spiritual and formerly politi-
in Mongolia, his reincarnation was discovered to be none
cal leader of the Tibetan people, is a combination of the
other than the great-grandson of Altan Khan himself. The
Mongolian dalai (“ocean”), signifying profound knowledge,
fourth Dalai Lama, Yon tan rgya mtsho (1589–1617), is the
and the Tibetan blama (“religious teacher”). The title dates
only one in the lineage ethnically not a Tibetan. Escorted
from 1578 CE, when it was conferred by Altan Khan of the
from Mongolia to Lhasa, he was enthroned in the Dalai
Mongols upon Bsod nams rgya mtsho (1543–1588), third
Lama’s residence in ’Bras spung monastery. Recognition of
hierarch of the Dge lugs pa school of Tibetan Buddhism,
this Mongol prince as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama
commonly called the Yellow Hat sect. The title was applied
thereafter bound the Mongols by faith to the Yellow Hat
posthumously to the two preceding hierarchs, Dge ’dun-
school, and in time they were to protect it militarily from
grub pa (1391–1475), founder of Bkra ´sis lhun po (Tashil-
its enemies.
hunpo) monastery near Shigatse in Gtsan˙ province, and Dge
The power struggle in Tibet between the Red Hat
’dun rgya mtsho (1475–1542), founder of the Dalai Lama’s
Karma pa and the Yellow Hat Dge lugs pa continued to esca-
residence in ’Bras spung monastery near Lhasa in Dbus prov-
late in favor of the Red Hats and the lay king of Gtsan˙. Final-
ince. After 1578 the title was given to each of the successive
ly in 1642, at the invitation of the fifth Dalai Lama, Nag
reincarnations of the Dalai Lama. The present Dalai Lama
dban rgya mtsho (1617–1682), Gu ´sr¯ı Khan of the Mongols
is fourteenth in the lineage.
led troops into Tibet, defeated the Red Hat opposition, and
Incarnation (Tib., sprul sku), the manifestation of some
executed the lay king of Gtsan˙. In effect Gu ´sr¯ı Khan had
aspect of the absolute Buddhahood in human form, is an an-
conquered Tibet, but true to his faith, he presented the coun-
cient doctrine and one common to various schools of Maha-
try to the fifth Dalai Lama as a religious gift. Thus the Dalai
yana Buddhism, but the concept of the reincarnation (yan˙
Lama became the religious and political head of Tibet. Be-
srid) of a lama is unique to Tibetan Buddhism. The concept
cause he was a monk, a civil administrator was appointed to
emerged in the fourteenth century in the hierarchic lineage
handle the day-to-day affairs of state.
of the Black Hat Karma pa and was soon adopted by the
other Tibetan schools.
After the enthronement of this Dalai Lama, a prophetic
scripture was discovered. It revealed that the reincarnate
From the inception of the institution, traditional proce-
Dalai Lama was also an incarnation of the Bodhisattva of
dures for discovering the rebirth of a Dalai Lama, similar to
Compassion, Avalokite´svara (Tib., Spyan ras gzigs), tradi-
those used for other reincarnate lamas, were followed. Indic-
tionally regarded as the patron bodhisattva of Tibet. The re-
ative statements made by the previous Dalai Lama during his
lationship between the noumenal Avalokite´svara and the
lifetime, significant auguries surrounding his death and after-
phenomenal Dalai Lama was attested by symbolism. Accord-
ward, and meditative visions by special lamas were recorded
ing to Buddhist doctrine, the mystical abode of
and interpreted as guides to finding his rebirth. In time, but
Avalokite´svara is a mountain called the Potala; so the fifth
no sooner than nine months after the death of the previous
Dalai Lama ordered a massive fortress, also called the Potala,
Dalai Lama, the people began to expect reports of an excep-
to be built on a mountain in the Lhasa area. Begun in 1645,
tional male child born in accordance with various omens.
the Potala at Lhasa served as the palace of the Dalai Lama
Such a child, usually two or three years old when discovered,
for more than three hundred years.
was subjected to tests to determine physical fitness, intelli-
gence, and the ability to remember events and objects from
The most common Tibetan prayer is the six-syllable
his previous existence. If more than one likely candidate was
“Om: man:i padme hu¯m:.” Printed on prayer flags, contained
found, the final selection was made by drawing a name from
in prayer wheels, carved repeatedly in wood and stone, and
a golden urn. Once the true reincarnation was determined,
chanted daily by Tibetan Buddhists, this is the vocative man-
he was enthroned in the Potala palace as the Dalai Lama. The
tra in Sanskrit of Avalokite´svara. In view of his relationship
monastic education of a Dalai Lama, directed by learned tu-
to the Dalai Lama, the six-syllable mantra symbolically serves
tors of the Dge lugs pa school, occupied his time for years.
at once as an invocation to both the noumenal and phenom-
When he attained his majority, at about eighteen years of
enal manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Be-
age, he assumed the religio-political power of the office of
cause of the belief that the Dalai Lama is an incarnation of
Dalai Lama.
Avalokite´svara as well as a reincarnation of his predecessor,
he is frequently, but incorrectly, called the “God-King” of
In the beginning, the religious power of the Dalai Lama
Tibet in Western writings.
was limited to the monastic members and lay patrons of the
reformed Yellow Hat school. By the middle of the sixteenth
The fifth Dalai Lama was a learned scholar and the au-
century, religio-political power in Tibet was unevenly divid-
thor of many texts, including a history of Tibet. During the
ed between the Red Hat Karma pa, supported by the lay king
forty years he was head of state, the Mongols helped to pro-
of Gtsan˙, and the Yellow Hat Dge lugs pa, patronized by lay
tect his newly established government and to expand its terri-
princes of Dbus. The third hierarch of the Yellow Hat school
torial control. In recognition of the important role he played
was subsequently invited to Mongolia by Altan Khan, who
in religio-political history, he is referred to in Tibetan litera-
gave him the title Dalai Lama. When the Dalai Lama died
ture as the Great Fifth.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2132
DALAI LAMA
The death of the fifth Dalai Lama was kept secret for
The thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubbstan rgya mtsho
fifteen years by the civil administrator for political reasons.
(1876–1933), assumed full power in 1895. He survived an
His reincarnation, Tshan˙s dbyan˙s rgya mtsho (1683–1706),
attempt on his life by his former regent, who purportedly re-
was discovered in due course but was not officially acknowl-
sorted to witchcraft in hopes of furthering his political ambi-
edged as the next Dalai Lama until 1697. Unlike the monas-
tions. During his long reign as head of state, the thirteenth
tic training of his predecessors, who had been publicly en-
Dalai Lama was forced to flee to Mongolia in 1904 to escape
throned and tutored as children, that of the sixth Dalai Lama
British troops invading from India. He spent years traveling
was not only kept secret but was apparently less than strict.
in Mongolia and China. Not long after his return to Lhasa,
Already in his teens when enthroned in the Potala, he soon
he was again forced to flee early in 1910, this time to India
gained notoriety for his addiction to wine, women, and song.
to avoid the invading Chinese forces. The Chinese revolu-
Censure caused him to renounce his vows as a monk in
tion of 1911 that overthrew the Manchu dynasty and estab-
1702, but he remained in the Potala as the Dalai Lama. Fi-
lished the Republic of China also marked the end of Manchu
nally in 1706, he was deposed by Lha bzan˙ Khan, a great-
domination of Tibetan affairs. The Manchu imperial garri-
grandson of Gu ´sr¯ı Khan, and deported to China; he died
son at Lhasa, which had been set up early in the eighteenth
enroute. The sixth Dalai Lama is perhaps best remembered
century, was deported to a man by the Tibetan government.
for sixty-two four-line verses, commonly referred to as his
From 1913 until his death in 1933, the thirteenth Dalai
“love songs.” A recurring theme in his poetry is the psycho-
Lama was the head of an independent government. Living
physiological conflict between his monastic obligations as the
in exile in British India motivated the thirteenth Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama and his passion for mundane pleasures.
to implement various reforms in Tibet to improve the wel-
fare of his people. His importance in Tibetan history can be
After the deposition and death of the sixth Dalai Lama,
compared with that of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama in the sev-
Lha-bzan˙ Khan became undisputed ruler of Tibet. He en-
enteenth century.
throned a puppet in the Potala, but the Tibetan people re-
fused to accept him as the Dalai Lama. Instead, a boy born
The fourteenth Dalai Lama, Bstan ’dzin rgya mtsho,
in eastern Tibet was recognized as the true reincarnation.
was born in 1935 of Tibetan parentage in the Chinghai prov-
Owing to the unstable situation in Lhasa, the seventh Dalai
ince of China. Two other likely candidates were also found;
Lama, Bskal bzan˙ rgya mtsho (1708–1757), was taken to
but the one from Chinghai successfully passed all the tests,
Kumbum monastery in the Kokonor region for safekeeping.
the omens were in mystical agreement, and he was confirmed
In 1717 Mongols from Dzungaria, in support of the seventh
as the true reincarnation by the State Oracle of Tibet himself.
Dalai Lama, invaded Tibet and killed Lha bzan˙ Khan. The
The Chinghai candidate was duly enthroned in the Potala
puppet Dalai Lama was deposed and later deported to
at Lhasa in 1940. During the next decade, half of which was
China. The seventh Dalai Lama was escorted to Lhasa by a
taken up by World War II in Asia, the young Dalai Lama
Manchu imperial army and enthroned in the Potala in 1720.
was educated and prepared for the time he would assume his
role as religio-political ruler of Tibet.
A significant change was made in 1721 in the structure
of the Tibetan government. The office of the civil adminis-
The invasion of eastern Tibet late in 1950 by forces of
trator, which had concentrated political power in one pair
the People’s Republic of China precipitated the empower-
of hands, was abolished and replaced with a council of four
ment of the fourteenth Dalai Lama when he was just fifteen
ministers collectively responsible for the secular branch of the
years old. He was escorted to a village near the Indian border
dyadic hierocracy.
to avoid capture by the Chinese. In 1951, an agreement was
reached between the Tibetan government and the Peking re-
The death of the seventh Dalai Lama in 1757 led to the
gime, and the Dalai Lama subsequently returned to Lhasa.
creation of a new government position. The office of the
In 1956, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, the
Dalai Lama had become institutionalized by then, and there
high-ranking reincarnate lama of the Yellow Hat monastery
was no question but that his reincarnation would succeed to
of Bkra ´sis lhun po, were invited to India to attend the Bud-
his position of ruling power. Thus, the death of a Dalai Lama
dha Jayanti, a great celebration marking the twenty-five-
meant an interregnum of some twenty years, during which
hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Buddha. After the
his reincarnation had to be discovered and educated, and his
Dalai Lama returned to Tibet, however, the constrained po-
majority attained before he would resume power. During
litical situation there continued to deteriorate, and in March
that period, another reincarnate lama of the Dge lugs pa
1959 the Tibetan populace revolted against the Chinese re-
school was appointed regent to rule Tibet on behalf of the
gime in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama fled to India. That month
minor Dalai Lama. Reluctance of successive regents and their
the Chinese abolished the traditional Tibetan government,
supporters to hand over power each time a Dalai Lama
ending over three hundred years of hierocratic rule by the
reached his majority is blamed, perhaps unjustly, for the fact
Dalai Lama, incarnation of Avalokite´svara, Bodhisattva of
that the eighth Dalai Lama ruled only for a few years, the
Compassion.
ninth and tenth died young without assuming power, and
the eleventh and twelth Dalai Lamas ruled only for short pe-
The present Dalai Lama continues to live in exile in
riods before their death.
India. He has traveled internationally, visiting various 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
DAMIAN, PETER
2133
countries as well as continental Europe, the United King-
near Monte Catria in the Marches. Damian is reticent about
dom, and the United States. The leaders of two great reli-
his conversion, but it is known that it was not sudden. Vita
gious traditions met when the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Ti-
Romualdi, Damian’s first datable work (1042), is as valuable
betan Buddhism was welcomed in the Vatican by Paul VI
for its view of eremitical life as the apex of Benedictine obser-
in 1973 and by John Paul II in 1979.
vance as it is as a source for the life of Damian’s revered men-
tor. Chosen prior in 1043, Damian turned the colony into
SEE ALSO Dge lugs pa.
a stable community with a written rule, a library, and a tem-
poral base, and saw it grow into a widespread congregation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The only book dealing with the first thirteen Dalai Lamas in some
Damian’s conviction that his pursuit of evangelical per-
detail remains Günther Schulemann’s Die Geschichte der
fection did not exempt him from public service helped him
Dalailamas, 2d ed. (Leipzig, 1959). Charles A. Bell’s Portrait
cope with an important challenge of his day, namely the re-
of the Dalai Lama (London, 1946) is a biographical sketch
form of the church, appeals for which mounted from outside
based on the author’s personal friendship with the thirteenth
monasteries, from Emperor Henry III, from Archdeacon
Dalai Lama, but part 2 of the book explains what a Dalai
Hildebrand (later Pope Gregory VII), and from others. A
Lama is and how he is discovered and educated. A scholarly
rare insight into the mystery of the church as the union of
listing, but with basic dates and data only, of all fourteen
every member in Christ complemented his strong support
Dalai Lamas, as well as the regents who successively served
of its hierarchical structure in the Roman tradition. His col-
them, can be found in Luciano Petech’s “The Dalai-Lamas
laboration with the popes began under Leo IX (1049–1054)
and Regents of Tibet: A Chronological Study,” Tuoung bao
(Leiden) 47 (1959): 368–394.
and was closest with the moderate Alexander II (1061–
1073). Damian became cardinal bishop of Ostia in 1057,
English translations of three books by the fourteenth Dalai Lama,
carrying out delicate missions in Italy, France, and Germany.
Tenzin Gyatso, are recommended. His autobiography, My
Land and My People (New York, 1962), is an interesting nar-
After reconciling the archbishop of Ravenna with the Roman
rative of his selection, education, and experiences. The Open-
see, he died at Faenza, where his cult began.
ing of the Wisdom-Eye and the History of the Advancement of
The flow of writings from Damian’s pen, matching his
Buddhadharma in Tibet (Bangkok, 1968) and The Buddhism
tireless activity in the church, includes 175 letters, small
of Tibet and the Key to the Middle Way (New York, 1975)
tracts, some 50 sermons, saints’ lives, prayers, hymns, and
provide lucid expositions of the fundamental philosophical
teachings of Tibetan Buddhism that must be mastered by a
poems. His efforts at reform, based on the norms of church
Dalai Lama.
law, reflect the issues of his times: clerical immorality (Liber
Gomorrhianus), theological problems raised by traffic in
Also recommended are David L. Snellgrove and Hugh E. Richard-
church offices (Liber gratissimus), and political-ecclesiastical
son’s A Cultural History of Tibet (New York, 1968), Rolf A.
Stein’s Tibetan Civilization (Stanford, Calif., 1972), and
strife (Disceptatio synodalis). Of lasting interest are the fruits
Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa’s Tibet: A Political History (New
of his beloved solitude: his ideal of Christian virtue and fidel-
Haven, Conn., 1967). Each of these works contains an excel-
ity to duty in all walks of society, and his spiritual counsel,
lent bibliography.
scriptural comments, and meditations. He was steeped in the
Bible and drew on the church fathers, especially Augustine,
TURRELL V. WYLIE (1987)
whose works he procured for Fonte Avellana. Still prized in
the twelfth century, his writings were eclipsed by the intellec-
tualism of the Scholastic age, but Dante’s praise assured
DAMASCENE, JOHN SEE JOHN OF
Damian recognition outside the church as well (Paradiso
DAMASCUS
21.106–111). Thanks to excellent transmission of the manu-
scripts, Damian’s corpus was secured for the modern age in
the Editio princeps of Costantino Gaetani (four volumes,
DAMIAN, PETER
Rome, 1606–1640). Scholarship has shifted from its earlier
(1007–1072), also known as Pier
selectivity to a consideration of Damian’s whole legacy and
Damiani; Italian author, monk, cardinal, doctor of the
of the man himself, as evidenced in the studies published in
church, and Christian saint. Born in Ravenna, Damian ac-
1972 for the ninth centennial of his death. Perhaps the major
quired his training in the liberal arts, his superior command
significance of Peter Damian for Western religion lies in the
of Latin, and his knowledge of Roman law at Ravenna, Faen-
fact that he, like the Camaldolese and Carthusians, gave new
za, and Parma, where an urban culture survived. Ravenna,
life and form to the strain of contemplative life and asceti-
capital of Romagna and the old Byzantine exarchate, re-
cism stemming from the Desert Fathers of Egypt.
gained importance through the Ottonian revival. Through-
out his lifetime, Damian retained ties with Ravenna’s civil
and clerical circles.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The collected works are available in Patrologia Latina, edited by
In 1035, when already a priest and teacher, he changed
J.-P. Migne, vols. 144 and 145, (Paris, 1853). Single items
careers to join the disciples of the extreme ascetic Romuald
have modern editions, and an edition of the letters is in prep-
(d. 1027) in the wilderness at Fonte Avellana, a hermitage
aration for the “Monumenta Germaniae Historica” series.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2134
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
The only anthology in English is Saint Peter Damian: Selected
tors), particularly their faith in their ability to affect the
Writings on the Spiritual Life, translated with an introduction
world around them.
by Patricia McNulty (London, 1959). Both Owen J. Blum’s
Saint Peter Damian: His Teachings on the Spiritual Life
Dance has potency through sensory sensitivity and per-
(Washington, D.C., 1947) and my own Saint Peter Damiani
ception: the sight of performers moving in time and space,
and His Canonical Sources: A Preliminary Study in the Ante-
the sounds of physical movements, the odors of physical ex-
cedents of the Gregorian Reform (Toronto, 1956) have ample
ertion, the feeling of kinesthetic activity or empathy, and the
bibliographies. An expert portrayal is Jean Leclercq’s Saint
sensations of contact with other bodies or the dancer’s envi-
Pierre Damien: Ermite et homme d’église (Rome, 1960). Two
ronment. Meaning in dance relies on who does what, and
important collections of new studies are San Pier Damiano:
on when, where, why, how, and with and to whom it is done.
Nel IX centenario della morte, 1072–1972, 4 vols. (Cesena,
Such variables can convey gender roles, class status hierar-
1972–1978); and San Pier Damiani: Atti del convegno di studi
chies, race, and other group identities. Skilled dancing may
nel IX centenario della morte (Faenza, 1973).
show spiritual excellence.
J. JOSEPH RYAN (1987)
More like poetry than prose, dance may have cognitive,
language-like references beyond the dance form itself. Mean-
ing may be conveyed through various devices, such as meta-
DANCE
phor (a dance in place of another expression that it resembles
This entry consists of the following articles:
to suggest a likeness between the two), metonym (a dance
DANCE AND RELIGION
connected with a larger whole), concretization (mimetic pre-
POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
sentation), stylization (somewhat arbitrary religious gestures
POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
or movements that are the result of convention), icon (a
THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FURTHER
dancer enacting some of a god’s characteristics and being re-
CONSIDERATIONS]
garded or treated as that god), and actualization (a portrayal
of one or several aspects of a dancer’s real life).
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
Meaning may also exist in the spheres of the dance
Dance is part of many systems of belief about the universe
event, including nondance activity, the human body in spe-
that deal with the nature and mystery of human existence
cial action, the whole dance performance, performance seg-
and involve feelings, thoughts, and actions. From a compara-
ments as they unfold as in a narrative, specific movements
tive worldwide perspective, dance may be seen as human be-
or style reflecting religious values, the intermeshing of dance
havior composed (from the dancer’s point of view) of pur-
with other communication media such as music, and the
poseful, intentionally rhythmical, and culturally patterned
presence of a dancer conveying a supernatural aura or energy.
sequences of nonverbal body movements in time, in space,
and with effort. Different from ordinary motor activities,
It is not possible to know the origins of religious dance.
these movements have inherent and “aesthetic” values; that
Rock art verifies its antiquity, however, and many peoples
is, they have both appropriateness and competency. Accord-
have explanatory myths. The Dogon of Mali, for example,
ing to historical and anthropological research, people dance
say that god’s son the jackal danced and traced out the world
to express an awareness that is often difficult to express in
and its future; the first attested dance was one of divination
words, and to fulfill a range of intentions and functions that
that told secrets in dust. A spirit later taught people to dance.
change over time. Perceptions of orthodoxy and authenticity
Hindus of India believe that S´iva danced the world into
vary. People dance to explain religion, to create and re-create
being and later conveyed the art of dancing to humans.
social roles, to worship or honor, to conduct supernatural be-
A popularly held psychological and theological theory
neficence, to effect change, to embody or merge with the su-
found in numerous histories of dance suggests that dance
pernatural through inner or external transformations, to re-
evolved instrumentally to cope with unknown happenings
veal divinity through dance creation, to help themselves, and
in the human environment. Spontaneous movement—an
to entertain. Specific knowledge of dance practices associated
outlet for the emotional tension endemic in the perpetual
with the supernatural is acquired through initiation, divina-
struggle for existence in a baffling environment—developed
tion, oracle, observation, and copying.
into patterned, symbolic movements for the individual and
The power of dance in religious practice lies in its mul-
group. When a desired situation occurred following an in-
tisensory, emotional, and symbolic capacity to create moods
strumentally intended dance (for example, rain followed a
and a sense of situation in attention-riveting patterns by
danced request), the dance was assumed to have causative
framing, prolonging, or discontinuing communication.
power and sacred association. Over time, style, structure, and
Dance is a vehicle that incorporates inchoate ideas in visible
meaning in dance changed through the perception of super-
human form and modifies inner experience as well as social
natural revelation, individual or group initiative, and con-
action. The efficacy of dance in contributing to the construc-
tacts with other people. When different religious groups
tion of a worldview and affecting human behavior depends
come together, one may dominate the other, sometimes lead-
upon the beliefs of the participants (performers and specta-
ing to complete acceptance or syncretism. In many parts 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
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
2135
the world, a group may practice both the old and new reli-
had a stifling impact on dance worldwide. Europeans recog-
gions, as when African deities share their altars with Chris-
nized that non-European dance was intertwined with indige-
tian saints.
nous religions and moralities. Even though these dances
ACCEPTANCE OF DANCE AS RELIGIOUS PRACTICE. Views of
often had themes and origins comparable to those of Europe-
mind and body, especially concerning emotion and sexuality,
an folk dances, colonialists considered indigenous dances to
affect dance in religion (as well as in other aspects of life).
be the manifestation of savage heathenism, and thus antago-
Whereas various arts use the body as an accessory to create
nistic to the “true faith.” They therefore frequently sought
sounds or visual objects, dance is manifest directly through
to eliminate them. The British influence, for example, con-
the body and evokes bodily associations. Christian, Muslim,
tributed to the demise of Hindu temple dancing without
and Hindu beliefs and practices illustrate significantly differ-
succeeding in spreading Christianity. However, even when
ent perspectives about dance and religion.
proscribed or out of fashion, dance rises phoenixlike and
transformed. The Hindu temple-dancing became an Indian
Christianity’s love-hate relationship with the body and
nationalist symbol appropriated by middle-class women.
acceptance of a mind-body dichotomy—which the rational-
Black slaves in the United States, members of Nigerian Yoru-
ism of sixteenth-century Europe intensified—has led to both
ba Assemblies of God, and a number of white Christian
positive and negative attitudes toward dance. Recognizing
groups have all included in their worship what appears to be
Christ’s humanity, Christianity views the human body as a
dance—though under a different name, such as “play,” “the
temple housing the Holy Spirit, and it calls its church the
shout,” or “feeling the Lord.”
“body of Christ.” Paul said, “Glorify Christ in your bodies”
(1 Cor. 6:15–20). From the second century, Christians (e.g.,
As former European colonies in Africa, Latin America,
Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Clement of Alexandria) described
and Asia regained independence, they frequently reevaluated
dance as an imitation of the perpetual dance of angels, the
and renewed their devalued dances. Moreover, counterreac-
blessed and righteous expressing physically their desire to
tions in the twentieth-century West to claims of the separa-
enter heaven. Christianity built upon the Hebrew tradition
tion of mind from body have led to a renaissance of dance
of demonstrating through pious dance that no part of the in-
as religious practice in churches and temples. When West-
dividual was unaffected by the love of God. Yet Christianity
erners developed more accepting attitudes about the body,
also scorned flesh as a root of evil to be transcended, even
and as biblical scholarship on dance increased after the
mortified. Misunderstandings of Paul’s view of flesh, by
1960s, a sacred dance movement gave impetus to the resur-
which he meant to refer to the individual acting selfishly, led
gence of Christian congregational, choir, and solo dancing.
to negative attitudes toward the body in general that he did
Nevertheless, some Christian groups still ban dancing.
not share. Christianity’s rejection of the body reflects an in-
Islam generally disapproves of dancing as a frivolous dis-
ability to come to terms with the passing of time and with
traction from contemplating the wisdom of the Prophet. Its
death. Moreover that the body is the instrument of sex and
religious leaders look upon dancing with contempt.
of dance creates fear of unbridled arousal of the passions and
sexuality. Consequently, religious and secular totalitarian
The sacred and secular, the ritualistic and playful, and
governments try to exert control over dance.
the spiritual and sexual do not everywhere have the dichoto-
mous character so common in Muslim societies and in in-
Although the Greeks, Hebrews, and Christians took
dustrial societies, where specialization and separation are
part in ancient fertility and sustenance dances, some of these
hallmarks. For example, Hinduism generally merges the sa-
dances took the form of unrestrained, sensual rites. This per-
cred and the sexual in a felicitous union. As religion is about
ceived debasement of religion led to the periodic proscrip-
mystery, potential danger, hope of heaven, and ecstasy, so
tion of dance and to penalties against dancers. Legends of Sa-
too are sexual love and its ramifications. Rather than consid-
lome’s sensuous dance, for which she received John the
ering carnal love a phenomenon to be “overcome,” as in
Baptist’s head in reward (she either obeyed her revengeful
some Christian denominations, a strand of Hinduism ac-
mother in requesting this or expressed her anger about John’s
cepts sexual congress as a phase of the soul’s migration.
not reciprocating her sexual interest in him), have kept alive
Through the path of devotion (bhakti), a surrender to the
negative associations with dance. Some Christians hold any
erotic self-oblivion of becoming one, a man and a woman
glorification of the body, including dancing, an anathema:
momentarily glimpse spiritually and symbolically the desired
outspoken enemies of physicality with an ascetic dislike of
absolute union with divinity. This is a microcosm of divine
eroticism, which could undermine faith and unsettle the hi-
creation that reveals the hidden truth of the universe. The
erarchic status quo, they preach the ideal of the Virgin. West-
dance conveys this vision of life in telling the stories of the
ern philosophy and Victorian prudishness have not, howev-
anthropomorphic gods. Hinduism has a pantheon of deities
er, affected the Eastern Orthodox Church to the extent of
and is really a medley of hundreds of belief systems that share
eliminating dance in worship.
commonalities, as do Christian denominations. The su-
Because the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe-
preme, all-powerful God is manifest in a trio of divinities:
an industrializing nations that imperialistically dominated
Brahma, Vis:n:u (who appears in the incarnation of Kr:s:n:a, of
the world economy were largely Christian, this religion has
amorous nature and exploits), and S´iva (Lord of the Dance,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2136
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
who created the universe, which he destroys and regenerates
events, and processes. Of course, all religious dance may have
through dance). S´iva’s rhythms determine those of the
an entertaining element.
world. The classic Indian sacred treatise on dance, the Na¯t:ya
Creating and re-creating social roles. Often used as
S´a¯stra, describes dance as an offering and demonstration of
a means to legitimize social organization, religion may em-
love to God, a cleansing of sin, a path of salvation, a partak-
ploy dance as its agent to convey attitudes about proper so-
ing of the cosmic control of the world, and an expression of
cial behavior at the same time that it fulfills other purposes
God within oneself.
and functions. An example comes from Hinduism, which
TYPOLOGY OF SACRED DANCE PRACTICE. Dance is fre-
has a rich ancient history in the arts and religion. Although
quently an element of the process by which symbolic mean-
both male and female royalty in early India may have been
ings related to the supernatural world of ancestors, spirits,
well versed in dancing, the Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra is the scripture of
and gods are exchanged among performers and spectators.
a male sage, Bha¯rata Muni, who upon receiving instruction
From the perspectives of various religions and the functional-
from the gods later handed it down through his sons. Recog-
ist, structuralist, feminist, and identity theories that view reli-
nizing that dance is symbolic, he thought danced enactments
gion as part of the larger social system, there appear to be
of myths and legends would give people guidance in their
eleven categories of dance, which are neither exhaustive nor
lives.
mutually exclusive. The specific dances referred to in the dis-
Male Brahmans (members of the priestly class) taught
cussion below are from different times and cultures, removed
dance to males who performed only as young boys (gotipuas),
from their rich historical and social contexts; they are chosen
to males who performed in all-male companies (kathakali),
to illustrate kinds of beliefs and acts.
and to women dedicated to serving in the temples
Explaining religion. Dance is part of ritual construc-
(devada¯s¯ıs). A dancer usually performs both male and female
tions of reality communicated to people so they may under-
roles and movement styles for the deities in private devotions
stand the world and operate in it. The lore of sacred and pro-
and at religious festivals involving the larger community.
fane belief, often intertwined, is told and retold in dance.
Some common religious dance themes are about male-
In early Christendom, dancing began as metaphor and
female relations. In the allegories of Ra¯dha¯ (loveliest of the
metonym for the mysteries of faith. During the first part of
milkmaids) and Kr:s:n:a (the eternal lover dancing in the heart
the Middle Ages, dancing accompanied Christian church fes-
of every man), for example, their illicit love becomes a spiri-
tivals and processionals in which relics of saints or martyrs
tual freedom, a type of salvation, and a surrender of all that
were carried to call attention to their life histories. Later, in
the strict Indian social conventional world values.
the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, dance was
Human analogies explain Hindu divinity; conversely,
an accepted liturgical art form in mystery and miracle plays.
the tales of the gods—more powerful versions of men and
Elaborate dramatic presentations flourished in the Renais-
women with the same virtues and vices—provide sanctified
sance, but then printed tracts, pamphlets, and books and
models for human actions as well as fantasies with vicarious
other promotions of the ascendance of the mind began to
thrills related to cultural sexual taboos. Danced enactments
erode the importance of dance as a medium of religious ex-
of legends send messages of patriarchal dominance—that it
pression. The Jesuits sponsored ballet as honorable relaxation
is acceptable for men to lustfully wander outside of marriage,
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries until its suppres-
whereas, in contrast, women are supposed to be faithful to
sion for being veiled political commentary.
their husbands, forgive them, and bear their children in spite
The Spanish Franciscans used dance dramas, especially
of the pain, risk of death, and agony from high infant mor-
those depicting the struggle of the church against its foes, to
tality.
explain the Christian faith to the illiterate New World Indi-
In the West Sepik District of Papua New Guinea, the
ans they hoped to convert. Pageants of Moors and Christians
Umeda people convey gender status through the annual Ida¯
were common. Appropriating indigenous Indian dances, the
dance, a ritual for sago palm fertility and a celebration of sur-
Franciscans suffused them with Christian meaning. Similar-
vival in the face of physical and mystical dangers. Although
ly, Muslims in East Africa at the end of the nineteenth centu-
the sexual division of labor is supposedly complementary, in
ry used indigenous attachment to the old Yao initiation
this dance the cultural creativity of men is pitted against the
dances to gradually introduce another dance that was regard-
biological creativity of women, and female culture is opposed
ed as an initiation into Islam.
and ultimately conquered by male culture.
Contemporary Western dance performances in places of
The myths and metaphors of religious codes present
worship, referred to as sacred, liturgical, or midrash dance
basic propositions concerning expected behavior between
(search for biblical meaning in the Torah through improvisa-
leaders and followers, other than relations between the sexes.
tional movement); public theaters; film; television; and on
Such codes are danced for all to see. The Indian kathakali
the internet perpetuate the tradition of dance explaining reli-
(in which feminine-looking boys learn to dance female roles)
gion. Choreographers present biblical scenes, incidents, and
draws upon the physical training techniques from Kerala’s
concepts in addition to religious philosophy, characters,
military tradition. This powerful and spectacular drama,
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DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
2137
staged as a public ritual for the entire community, has been
tion from Illinois to Utah, discovered that dance was a means
claimed to be a reaction to foreign aggression and a reaffir-
to strengthen group morale and solidarity through providing
mation of the priestly and warrior social status, as well as an
emotional and physical release from hardship.
affirmation of masculine pride in matrilineal and matrilocal
In Orissa, India, the custom of small boys dancing
society.
dressed as girls has coexisted with a female dance tradition
Dance in preconquest Mexico was devoted to deities
since the fifteenth century. The sakh¯ıbha¯va cult believes that,
and agricultural success; its performance, as well as its repre-
because Kr:s:n:a is male, the most effective way of showing de-
sentation in artifacts, appears to have served contemporary
votion is as a female, like the milkmaids (gop¯ıs) who dance
sociopolitical designs: to create, reflect, and reinforce social
their love for Kr:s:n:a.
stratification and a centralized integrated political organiza-
tion encompassing diverse, geographically dispersed ethnic
The Gogo of Tanzania dance the Cidwanga as a sign of
groups. Nobles, priests, and commoners, old and young,
reverence in the annual ritual for good rains and fertility.
male and female, each had distinct dances and spatial levels
Groups in Nigeria provide many illustrations of worshipful
for performing at the pyramid temple.
dance. The Kalabari believe that human beings make the
gods great. Fervent worship adds to a deity’s capacity to aid
Worship or honor. At regularly scheduled seasonal
the worshipers, and just as surely the cutting off of worship
times, at critical junctures, or just spontaneously, dances are
will render them impotent, or at least cause them to break
part of rituals that revere; greet as a token of fellowship, hos-
off contact with erstwhile worshipers. Among the Efik, the
pitality, and respect; and thank, entreat, placate, or offer pen-
worshipers of the sea deity Ndem briskly dance in a circle
itence to deities, ancestors, and other supernatural entities.
at the deity’s shrine to express metaphorically the affective
Not only may dance be a remedial vehicle to propitiate or
intensity of a wish, whether it be for a child or a safe journey.
beseech, it may also be prophylactic—gods may be honored
The brisker the dance, the more likely Ndem is to grant re-
to preclude disaster.
quests. Because the Ubakala Igbo dance to honor and propi-
Dance is a means of religious concentration as well as
tiate the respected living, it is not surprising that the spirits
of corporeal merging with the infinite God. The Jews dance
of the departed and other supernatural entities are also hon-
to praise their God in sublime adoration and to express joy
ored in this way. Some deities, such as the Yoruba S:ango,
for his beneficence. Hasidic Jews communicate with God
love to be entertained and can best be placated with good
through ecstatic dancing designed to create a mystical state.
dancing.
Hebrew Scriptures refer to “rejoicing with the whole being,”
Like the human creatures they basically are, the ances-
as well as to specific dances performed for traditional festi-
tors of the Fon of Dahomey (or the other spiritual entities
vals. The God-given mind and body are returned to God
who are given anthroposocial attributes) are believed to love
through dance. As a result of the destruction of the Temple
display and ceremony. Thus both living and spiritual entities
in 70 CE Jews generally eliminated dance and song from reg-
are believed to watch a dance performance, and both catego-
ular worship until such a time as they could return from the
ries of spectators may even join the dancers, the latter often
Diaspora and rebuild the Temple. The Talmud, ancient rab-
doing so through possession. Supernatural beings are some-
binic writings that constitute religious authority for tradi-
times honored to ensure that they do not mar festivals.
tional Judaism, describes dancing as the principal function
of the angels and commands dancing at weddings for brides,
Conducting supernatural beneficence. Dance may be
grooms, and their wedding guests. Procreation is God’s will,
the vehicle through which an individual, as self or other
weddings a step toward its fulfillment, and dancing a thanks-
(masked or possessed), becomes a conduit of extraordinary
giving symbolizing fruitfulness. Even in exile there could be
power. Among the Ganda of Uganda, parents of twins, hav-
dancing, because out of the wedding might be born the Mes-
ing demonstrated their extraordinary fertility and the direct
siah who would restore the people to the Land of Israel.
intervention of the god Mukasa, danced in the gardens of
their friends to transmit human fertility supernaturally to the
In Christianity the Catholic Church allowed dances cre-
vegetation. Yoruba mothers of twins dance with their off-
ated for special occasions, such as the canonization of cardi-
spring and promise to bless all those who are generous with
nals or commemoration of their birthdays. Throughout
alms. Here the motional, dynamic rhythm and spatial pat-
Latin America, devotional dances are part of a pilgrimage
terns of dance transfer desired qualities to objects or indi-
and processional fiesta system that fuses Indian and Catholic
viduals.
tenets. Dance training and production preparation are often
undertaken as part of a religious vow to a powerful saint, the
The men and women of Tanzania’s Sandawe people
Virgin, or a Christ figure. The Mormons believe that, when
dance by moonlight in the erotic PhekDumo rites to promote
engaged in by the pure of heart, dance (excluding the em-
fertility. Identifying with the moon, a supreme being be-
bracing-couple position of Western social dance) prepares
lieved to be both beneficial and destructive, they adopt styl-
the individual and community for prayer meetings or other
ized signs or moon stances; they also embrace tightly and
religious activity; devotion and recreation unite the individu-
mimic the act of sexual intercourse. The dance, metaphori-
al with God. Brigham Young, who led the Mormon migra-
cally at least, conducts supernatural beneficence.
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DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
Because dance movement is metonymical with life
repression and guilt that oppose the erotic impulses so that
movement, dance parody of sorcerer-caused disease and
life may continue. The young boys’ highly lascivious tek-tek
death affects the ascendance of life spirits and health forces.
masked dances represent sexuality as well as the children who
The Tiv of Nigeria parody dropsy and elephantiasis through
are its desired fruits.
dance.
Dance mediates between childhood and adult status in
The Sun Dance of the hunting peoples of the Great
the Chisungu, the girls’ initiation ceremony of the Bemba
Plains of North America was an elaborate annual pageant
of Zambia. The women conducting the ceremony believe
performed during full summer, when scattered tribal bands
they are causing supernatural changes to take place as each
could unite in a season of plenty. Representatives danced to
initiate is “danced” from one group with its status and roles
renew the earth, pray for fertility or revenge for a murdered
to another. Among the Wan of the Ivory Coast, a man must
relative, and transfer medicine. The typical Sun Dance in-
dance a female initiate on his shoulders. During the initia-
volved a week of intense activity culminating in dramatic cli-
tion to an ancestral cult, the Fang of Gabon carry religious
mactic rites. Male dancers participated in accord with per-
statues from their usual places and make them dance like
sonal vows made previously for success in warfare or healing
puppets to vitalize them.
of a loved one. Each dancer strove to attain personal power.
Another form of status change occurs at death. The
Dancers were pierced through the breast or shoulder muscles
Ubakala perform the dance dramas Nkwa Uko and Nkwa
and tethered with thongs to the central pole of a ceremonial
Ese to escort a deceased aged and respected woman and man,
lodge altar. Staring at the sun, they danced without pause,
respectively, to become ancestors residing among the spirits,
pulling back until the flesh gave way.
later to return in a new incarnations. These forms are similar
Effecting change. Dance may be used as a medium to
to the dances in the Christian tradition that enable one to
reverse a debilitating condition caused by the supernatural
enter heaven.
or to prepare an individual or group to reach a religiously de-
Among the Dogon, death creates disorder. But through
fined ideal state. This includes status transformation in rites
the symbolism and orderliness of dance, humans metaphori-
of passage, death, healing, and prevention, as well as rites to
cally restore order to the disordered world. Symbolically spa-
reverse political domination.
tializing things never seen, the Dogon represent heaven on
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Ap-
earth. So too at the time of death the mask dance helps to
pearing, commonly called Shakers because of their dramatic
mitigate the psychic distress and spiritual fear of the dead.
practice of vigorous dancing, believed that the day of judg-
The funeral dance of the Nyakyusa in Tanzania begins
ment was imminent. Numbering about six thousand mem-
with a passionate expression of anger and grief and gradually
bers in nineteen communities at its peak in the 1840s, the
becomes a fertility dance. In this way dancing mediates the
group held that salvation would come through confessing
passionate and quarrelsome emotions felt over a death and
and forsaking fleshy practices. Notwithstanding their pro-
the acceptance of it.
fessed attitudes toward the body, the first adherents were
seized by an involuntary ecstasy that led them to run about
Dances related to death were common in medieval Eu-
a meeting room, jump, shake, whirl, and reel in a spontane-
rope, a largely preliterate society dominated by the Christian
ous manner to shake off doubts, loosen sins and faults, and
church. It interpreted an economically harsh and morally
mortify lust in order to purify the spirit. In repentance they
complex world as a fight between God and the devil. Part
turned away from preoccupation with self to shake off their
of a convivial attempt to deny the finality of death, dances
bondage to a troubled past. This permitted concentration on
also had other manifestations and functions. In the so-called
new feelings and intent.
Dance of Death, a performer beckoned people to the world
beyond in a reaction to the epidemic Black Death (1347–
Dancing for the Shakers, who believed in the dualism
1373), a bubonic plague outbreak in Italy, Spain, France,
of spirit versus body, appears to be a canalization of feeling
Germany, and England. Evolving with the image of the skel-
in the context of men and women living together in celibacy,
etal figure seen as one’s future self, the dance was a mockery
austerity, humility, and hard manual labor. Shaker dance in-
of the pretenses of the rich and a vision of social equality.
volved a sequence of movements, designed to shake off sin,
The dance emphasized the terrors of death to frighten sinners
that paralleled the sexual experience of energy buildup to cli-
into repentance. Hallucinogenic and clonic cramp symptoms
max and then relaxation. Individualistic impulsive move-
of bread and grain ergot poisoning, called Saint Anthony’s
ments evolved into ordered, well-rehearsed patterns. Shaking
Fire, led some of its sickly victims to move involuntarily in
the hand palm downward discarded the carnal; turning
dancelike movements. Such people were believed to be pos-
palms upward petitioned eternal life.
sessed. Other victims sought relief from pain through ecstatic
For Buddhist Sherpa lamas, laymen, and young boys in
dancing, considered to be of curative value and efficacious
Nepal, dancing is a means by which they resolve the necessity
in warding off death. Dances were also connected with wakes
of simultaneously affirming and denying the value of worldly
for the dead and the rebirth of the soul to everlasting life.
existence. The spring Dumje ceremony purges the forces of
Dancing at the graves of family, friends, and martyrs was be-
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DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
2139
lieved to comfort the dead and encourage resurrection as well
is usually accompanied by a devout state and altered con-
as protect against the dead as demons.
sciousness aided by autosuggestion or autointoxication
through learned frenzied movement that releases oxygen,
Gregory of Nazianzus, bishop of Constantinople, Tur-
adrenalin, and endorphins and sometimes promotes vertigo.
key, thought of dancing at the graves of martyrs as a means
Audience encouragement abets crossing the threshold into
to cast out devils and prevent sickness. Dance could also
another state of being. The dance itself is often characterized
trample vices and that which enslaves people and holds them
by a particular type of musical accompaniment. A possessed
down.
devotee may achieve a consciousness of identity or a ritual
Among the Gogo, dance metaphorically effects a super-
connection with the supernatural iconically, metonymically,
natural change through role reversal in a curative and preven-
metaphorically, or experientially. Some practitioners retain
tative rite. When men fail in their ritual responsibility for
their own identities; others become the spirit—and self-
controlling human and animal fertility, disorder reigns.
identity depends on the spirit that animates the body.
Women then become the only active agents in rituals ad-
A supernatural possessor may manifest itself through the
dressed to righting the wrong. Dressed as men, they dance
dancer’s performance of identifiable and specific patterns
violently with spears to drive away contamination.
and conventional signs. In this way it communicates to the
The Hamadsha, a Moroccan S:ufi brotherhood, per-
entire group that it is present and enacting its particular su-
forms the hadrah, an ecstatic dance, in order to cure an indi-
pernatural role in the lives of humans. Thus fear of the super-
vidual who has been struck or possessed by a devil. They seek
natural entity’s indifference is allayed. Possession may alter
a good relationship with a jinni (spirit), usually EA¯Dishah. In
somatic states and cause a dancer’s collapse. The specific
the course of the dance, people become entranced and slash
characteristics of possession are culturally determined, and
at their heads in imitation of Sidi, EAli’s servant, who did so
even children may play at possession.
when he learned of his master’s death. A flow of blood is be-
There are four types of personal possession. Diviners,
lieved to calm the spirit. The Hamadsha women fall into
cult members, medicine men, and shamans are among those
trance more readily and dance with more abandon than the
who participate in the first type “invited” spirit mediumship
men.
possession dances. Numerous African religions and their off-
Dance was an integral part of many American Indian
shoots in Haitian vodou and Brazilian macumba, as well as
religious revivals and reaffirmations in response to historical,
other faiths, involve the belief that humans can contact su-
economic, and political situations they wanted to change.
pernatural entities and influence them to act on a person’s
The northern Paiute and peoples of the Northwest Plateau
behalf. The worshiper takes the initiative and lends his or her
believed that ceremonies involving group dancing, a visible
body to the tutelary spirit when there is an indication that
index of ethnic and political alliances and action, would
the spirit wishes to communicate with the living or when the
bring about periodic world renewal. The Indians thought
devotee desires a meeting. As a sensorimotor sign, the dance
certain group dances had the power to end the deprivation
may indicate the deity’s presence or a leader’s legitimacy; as
that resulted from defeat at the hands of whites and bring
a signal, it may be a marker for specific activities. As a met-
about the return of Indian prosperity. The Ghost Dance reli-
onym, it may be part of the universe; and as a metaphor, it
gion incorporated Christian teachings of the millennium and
may refer to human self-extension or social conflict.
the second coming of Christ in order to attract acculturated
The Kalabari believe a possessed dancer invites a god as
Indians.
a guest into the village. “Dancing the gods” is considered an
Mexican dance groups, known as concheros, danza Chi-
admirable achievement. Masquerade dancers may become
cimeca, danza Azteca, and danza de la conquista, originated
possessed, and in some cases the performer is expected to
in the states of Querétaro and Guanajuato as a response to
await possession before dancing. In possession dances the
the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. The groups
ability of Water People gods to materialize as pythons is ac-
may also be seen as “crisis cults,” syncretistic attempts to
cented as they metamorphose from acting like people to
create prideful cultural identity and new forms of social inte-
writhing on the ground and slithering about the house rafters
gration. Participants, at the low end of the socioeconomic
as the great snakes do. The oru seki (spirit) dancing occurs
scale and heavily represented in the laborer and shoe-shine
in the ritual to solicit a special benefit or to appease a spirit
occupations, adopt the nomenclature of the Spanish military
whose rules for human behavior have been infringed. Posses-
hierarchy and perform dances reenacting the conquest that
sion of the invoker, an iconic sign in the midst of the congre-
were derived from Spanish representations of the Moors and
gation, assures the spirit’s presence, power, and acceptance
Christians. The warlike dances involve women, the aged, and
of the invocation and offerings.
children as well as men.
Among the Ga of Ghana it is through a medium, whose
Embodying the supernatural in inner transforma-
state of possession is induced by dance, that the god signifies
tion: personal possession. Dance may serve as an activating
its presence and delivers messages prophesying the coming
agent for a specific kind of change: giving oneself temporarily
year’s events and suggesting how to cope with them. Posses-
to a supernatural being or essence. This metamorphic process
sion legitimizes leadership among the Fanti of Ghana. Be-
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2140
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
cause the deities love to dance, the priests assemble drum-
dance activates n/um, that potency from which medicine
mers, become possessed, and then speak with the power and
men derive their power to protect the people from sickness
authority of the deity. The Korean shaman attains knowl-
and death. The medicine dancer may go into trance and
edge and power in the role of religious leader through trance
communicate with spirits without being possessed by them.
possession induced by dancing.
The ceremonial curing dance may be called for in crisis situa-
tions, or the dance may occur spontaneously; it is redressive
Invited possession may be a mechanism for individuals
and prophylactic.
to transact social relationships more favorably. Healing prac-
tices often mediate the natural, social, and supernatural. In
Merging with the supernatural toward enlighten-
Sri Lanka’s Sinhala healing rites, an exorcist attempts to sever
ment or self-detachment. Illustrations of another form of
the relationship between a patient and malign demons and
inner transformation through dance come from Turkey and
ghosts. The exorcist’s performance of various dance se-
Tibet. In Turkey the followers of the thirteenth-century
quences progressively builds up emotional tension and gen-
poet-philosopher Mawlana Jala¯l al-D¯ın Ru¯m¯ı, founder of
erates power that can entrance both the healer and the pa-
one of Islam’s principal mystic orders, perform whirling
tient. Their bodies become the demonic spirit’s vehicle,
dances. Men with immobile faces revolve in long white shirts
constitute evidence of its control, and convince spectators of
with covered arms outstretched, slowly at first and then faster
the need, as the healer prescribes, for a change in social rela-
until they reach a spiritual trance. These men, the dervishes
tions that will exorcise the demonic spirit and transform the
(the word refers to a person on the threshold of enlighten-
patient from illness to a state of health.
ment), strive to detach themselves from earth and divest
themselves of ties to self in order to unite with a nonpersoni-
A second kind of possession dance, known as “invasion”
fied God. This process occurs through revolving movement
(also often a metaphor and signal of social pathology or per-
and repeated chanting that vibrates energy centers of the
sonal maladjustment) indicates that a supernatural being has
body in order to raise the individual to higher spheres.
overwhelmed an individual, causing some form of malaise,
illness, or personal or group misfortune. A deity or spirit who
The Tibetan Buddhist dance ritual called Ling Dro De-
manifests itself in specific dances identified with the super-
chen Rolmo permits imaging the divine. The dancer’s circu-
natural speaks or acts using the possessed’s body. Some cul-
lar path and turning movement aid the participants toward
tures—for example, in Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle
enlightenment by providing a means to realize that the deity
East, Brazil, and Korea—recognize that a person’s poor phys-
is a reflection of one’s own mind.
ical condition and related fear and helplessness may also be
Embodying the supernatural in external transforma-
associated with difficult social relationships that the person
tion: masquerade. Sacred masquerade dances, part of a peo-
feels helpless to remedy by himself or herself. Dance becomes
ple’s intercourse with the spirit world, make social and per-
a medium to exorcise and appease the being, thus freeing the
sonal contributions through symbolic actions that are similar
possessed individual and ameliorating his or her irksome as-
to those made through dances that explain religion, create
cribed status or difficult situation. Meeting the wishes of a
and re-create social roles, worship and honor, conduct super-
spirit as part of exorcism frequently imposes obligations on
natural beneficence, effect change, and involve possession.
those related to the possessed.
The Midimu masked dancing of the Yao, Makua, and
The vimbuza healing dance of the Chewa and Tumbuka
Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique helps to explain re-
societies in Malawi is a socially sanctioned means of express-
ligion by marking the presence of the supernatural (ances-
ing those feelings and tensions that if otherwise broadcast
tors) in the affairs of the living. In effect, ancestors return
would disrupt family or community relationships. The dance
from the dead to rejoice on the occasion of an initiate’s re-
is medicine for the vimbuza disease, which causes terrifying
turn from the training camp. The Dogon’s masked-society
dreams or visions, the eating of unusual meat, or the uttering
dancing patterns depict their conception of the world, its
of a specific groan.
progress and order, and its continuity and oneness with the
total universe. Dance is thus a model of the belief system.
A third kind of possession, called “consecration,” in-
Participants in the Nyau society of Chewa-speaking peoples
volves initiation and the impersonation of a deity, during
dance a reenactment of the primal coexistence of people, ani-
which time the dancer becomes deified. In India the audi-
mals, and spirits in friendship and their subsequent division
ence worships the young performers in the Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯s who
by fire. The people believe that underneath their masks the
play Kr:s:n:a, Ra¯dha¯, Ra¯ma, and other mythic heroes in the
dancers have undergone transformation into spirits.
same way they would revere icons. Performers of the Tibetan
Social roles are emphasized when the Yoruba’s Ge:le:de:
sacred masked dance, or Echam, are viewed as sacred beings.
society masquerade figures appear annually at the start of the
Not only may individuals be possessed by supernatural
new agricultural year to dance in the marketplace and
entities, they may also experience “essence possession,” the
through the streets. They honor and propitiate the female
fourth type, by an impersonal religious or supernatural po-
oris:a (spirits) and their representatives, living and ancestral,
tency. Among the Lango of Uganda, jok is liberated or gener-
for the mothers are the gods of society and their children are
ated in dancing. Similarly among the !Kung San of Namibia,
its members—all animal life comes from a mother’s body.
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DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
2141
Although both men and women belong to the Ge:le:de: cult
permitted in the Bedu masked dance mentioned above.
(to seek protection and blessings and assuage their fear of
There appear to be humor and an underlying feeling that
death), only men dance, with masks portraying the appropri-
these acts are socially acceptable and that through them par-
ate sex roles of each character. Mothers have both positive
ticipants will be purged of whatever negative emotions they
(calm, creative, protective) and negative or witch (unmitigat-
may harbor.
ed evil affecting fertility, childbirth, and the functioning of
The masked dancer may be an iconic sign, revered and
men’s sexual organs) dimensions. The mothers possess pow-
experienced as a veritable apparition of the being he repre-
erful ase (vital, mystical power). A man can have ase most
sents, even when people know that a man made the mask
fully when he is spiritually united with an oris:a. When men
and is wearing it. Because the Angolan Chokwe mask and
symbolically externalize the vital life forces in dance, they
its wearer are a spiritual whole, both in life and death, when
may be asserting their virility and freedom in the presence
a dancer dies, his mask is buried with him.
of the powerful mothers and, in addition, recognizing and
honoring their powers in order to appease them to ensure
Revelation of divinity through dance creation. With-
that they utilize their ase for male benefit.
in a Protestant Christian view, artistic self-expression is anal-
Among the Nafana of the Ivory Coast, masked dancing
ogized to the creative self-expression of God as creator.
occurs almost nightly during the lunar month of the year.
Dancing a set piece is considered a reflection of the unknow-
The dancing is intended to worship and effect change. Living
able God’s immanence, irrespective of the performer’s inten-
in the masks, the Bedu spirits bless and purify the village
tion. The dancer is to dance as God is to creation. The lan-
dwellings and their occupants and metaphorically absorb evil
guage of movement is God given, and both the progression
and misfortune, which they remove from the community so
of a dancer’s training and the perfection of performance re-
that the new year begins afresh.
veal God’s achievement. Within the Franciscan view, God
is present in good works and in the creative force of the arts.
The masked (antelope headdress) dance of the Bamana
Through dance rituals in Latin America, performers become
of Mali represents Chi Wara, the god of agriculture—a su-
one with creation. When an individual dances with exper-
pernatural being who is half animal and half man—who first
tise—individuality, agility, and dexterity—the Gola of Libe-
taught people how to cultivate the soil. Chi Wara’s public
ria consider this to be a sign of a jina’s gift of love given in
presence is an invocation of his blessings. In a concretized
a dream.
form that makes appeals more understandable to the young,
animal masked dances remind humans that they have some
Self-help. Many people wanting to stay well or to cope
animal characteristics, and participants respond to the danc-
with stress seek out nontraditional spiritual pathways. They
ers both positively and negatively. In this way the masked
draw upon teachings from different religions and borrow
dancing presents human foibles at a distance for examination
movements for their own spiritual dances. Some people seek
without threat to individuals, thus helping to effect change.
a “high” through vigorous dance and the release of endor-
Masked dancing can be a metaphor for both normative
phins.
and innovative behavior. Under religious auspices the dancer
Nonsacred theatrical and recreational dance. In many
is freed from the everyday restrictions on etiquette and thus
parts of the world that have become somewhat modernized
is able to present secular messages and critiques. Presented
and secularized, participants in nonsacred theatrical dance
by the unmasked, these messages might produce social fric-
often choose to explain religion, to convey or to challenge
tions or hostilities rather than positive change.
its models for social organization and gender roles, to effect
Among the Nsukka Igbo of Nigeria, the council of el-
change, and to honor the divine by infusing their dances
ders employed masked dancers representing an omabe spirit
with elements drawn from religions worldwide. Many folk
cult whenever there was difficulty in enforcing law and order.
dances associated with religious holidays or events have been
In Zambia, Wiko Makishi masqueraders, believed to be res-
transformed into commercial theatrical, nightclub, tourist,
urrected ancestors and other supernatural beings, patrol the
and museum productions—and into performances (by danc-
vicinities of the boys’ initiation lodges to ward off intruders,
ers other than the “folk”) for recreational purposes.
women, and non-Wiko.
Choreographers interpretatively embody religious
A Chewa man residing with his wife and mother-in-law
events in sensory storytelling or reflect theologically rooted
often resorts to the male masked Nyau dancer to mediate be-
affirmations and values without reference to specific stories
tween himself and a mother-in-law whose constant demands
in opera and dance concerts and on television and the Inter-
on him he resents. When the dancer dons the mask of the
net. Isadora Duncan, a pioneer of American modern (a form
Chirombo (beast), he directs obscene language against her.
of dance that originally reflected a rebellion against formali-
No action may be taken against him, for in his mask he en-
ty) viewed her dance as a prayer through which one could
joys the immunity of the Chirombo. Afterward, the mother-
become one with nature, itself sacred. Dance was an invoca-
in-law often reduces her demands.
tion for which Duncan desired audience participation. Yet
Socially sanctioned ritual abuse with ribald and lewd
women have mostly performed dances taught by male
movements and gestures in a highly charged atmosphere is
choreograpahers and interpreters, and thus helped to perpet-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2142
DANCE: DANCE AND RELIGION
uate both male dominance over females and stereotypes of
Bharata Muni. The Na¯tyasa¯stra: A Treatise on Ancient Indian
women as virgin or whore. Good women in the Bible are
Dramaturgy and Histrionics, Ascribed to Bharata Muni.
tainted by using seduction (e.g., Judith). Martha Graham,
Translated by Manomohan Ghosh. Calcutta, India, 1950.
another pioneer of modern dance, was a leader in choreo-
Important source of many forms of dancing in India.
graphing a woman’s viewpoint and dominance without
Bloch, Maurice. “Symbols, Song, Dance, and Features of Articula-
guilt. Dancers in India are modifying the movement and
tion: Is Religion an Extreme Form of Traditional Authori-
story line of the epics to assert feminist perspectives.
ty?” Archives Européenes de Sociologie 15 (1974): 51–81. A
claim that formalizing dance is a kind of power or coercion
Technology and religious practice. Access to new
by restricting options for expression.
technology is sometimes manifest in ritual, such as the ap-
Clive, H. P. “The Calvinists and the Question of Dancing in the
pearance of a telephone mask. Movements of contemporary
Sixteenth Century.” Bibliothèque d’humanisme et Renaissance
disco have been incorporated into possession dance. Televi-
23 (1961): 296–323.
sion broadcasts some rituals as they occur. There are replays
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. The Dance of Shiva: Fourteen Indian
and documentaries. Among the Edo in Benin City, Nigeria,
Essays. New Delhi, 1971. Reprint ed. of The Dance of Shiva
videorecording capturing the span of real time became a
(New York, 1957). A discussion of dancing milkmaids as a
mandatory assertion of the importance of individual partici-
metaphor of human souls.
pants. Visibility may effect efficaciousness. Choreography
Crapanzo, Vincent. “The Hamadsh.” In Scholars, Saints, and
with the camera loses immediacy of the place of worship or
Sufis, edited by Nikki R. Keddie, pp. 327–348. Berkeley,
theater but gains excitement through access.
Calif., 1972. A description of the ecstatic dance of a Moroc-
I
can cult.
N SHORT. Dance is a barometer of theology, ideology, wor-
ldview, and social change within often overlapping categories
Cuisinier, Jeanne. La danse sacrée en Indochine et Indonésie. Paris,
of religious practice. Dance appears to be part of a cultural
1951.
code or logical model enabling humans to order experience,
Deren, Maya. Divine Horsemen: Voodoo Gods of Haiti. Foreword
account for its chaos, express isomorphic properties between
by Joseph Campbell. New York, 1970. An account of the
principles and many of the rites of an African-based religion.
opposing entities, and explain realities. Dance and religion
merge in a configuration that encompasses sensory experi-
De Zoete, Beryl. Dance and Magic Drama in Ceylon. London,
ence, cognition, diffused and focused emotions, personal and
1957. A description predating Kapferer’s A Celebration of
Demons (1983).
social conflicts, and technology. People dance to explain reli-
gion, convey sanctified models for social organization, revere
Drewal, Henry John, and Margaret Thompson Drewal. Ge:le:de::
Art and Female Power among the Yoruba. Bloomington, Ind.,
the divine, conduct supernatural beneficence, effect change,
1983. A description of masked dancing and gender relations.
embody the supernatural through internal or external trans-
formation, merge with the divine toward enlightenment, re-
Fallon, Dennis J., and Mary Jane Wolbers, eds. Religion and
Dance. Focus on Dance, vol. 10. Reston, Va., 1982. Twenty-
veal divinity through creating dance, engage in self-help, and
two articles primarily in the area of Western culture.
convey religious themes in secular theater and recreation.
Félice, Phillipe de. L’enchantement des danses, et la magie du verbe.
Permeated with religious tradition, dance continually
Paris, 1957.
changes.
Fergusson, Erna. Dancing Gods: Indian Ceremonials of New Mexico
SEE ALSO Darw¯ısh; Drama; Ghost Dance; Human Body;
and Arizona. New York, 1931. A descriptive presentation.
Ritual; Spirit Possession; Sun Dance.
Friedlander, Ira. The Whirling Dervishes, Being an Account of the
Sufi Order Known as the Mevlevis and Its Founder the Poet and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mystic Mevlana Jalalu’ddin Rumi. New York, 1975. Includes
Adams, Doug. Congregational Dancing in Christian Worship. Rev.
numerous photographs and bibliography.
ed. Austin, Tex., 1980. Biblical, historical, and theological
Friedson, Steven. Dancing Prophets: Musical Experience in Tum-
perspectives provide the context for a discussion of dance
buka Healing. Chicago, 1996. An analysis of religious prac-
principles and practices.
tice in Malawi.
Adams, Doug, and Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, eds. Dance as
Gell, Alfred. Metamorphosis of the Cassowaries: Umeda Society,
Religious Studies. New York, 1990. Resources and explana-
Language, and Ritual. London, 1975. An insightful analysis
tion of dance and Scripture and women in dance and Scrip-
of ritual dances.
ture.
Gore, Charles. “Ritual, Performance, and Media in Urban Con-
Amoss, Pamela. Coast Salish Spirit Dancing: The Survival of an An-
temporary Shrine Configurations in Benin City, Nigeria.” In
cestral Religion. Seattle, 1978. A probing of the reasons for
Ritual, Performance, Media, edited by Felicia Hughes-
this revival within its new context.
Freeland, pp. 66–84. Association of Social Anthropologists
Andrews, Edward Deming. The Gift to Be Simple. New York,
Monographs 35. London, 1998.
1940. A description of the history, songs, music, and dances
Granet, Marcel. Danses et légendes de la Chine ancienne. 2 vols.
of the Shakers.
Paris, 1926.
Backman, E. Louis. Religious Dances in the Christian Church and
Griaule, Marcel. Conversations with Ogotemmêli: An Introduction
in Popular Medicine. Translated by E. Classen. London,
to Dogon Religious Ideas. London, 1965. A Dogon elder’s ac-
1952. A rich source of historical material.
count of his people’s cosmology.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2143
Hanna, Judith Lynne. The Performer-Audience Connection: Emo-
of the Christian church and its reawakened use in the twenti-
tion to Metaphor in Dance and Society. Austin, Tex., 1983.
eth century.
Discussion of religious attitudes that shape performance ex-
Tucker, JoAnne, and Susan Freeman. Torah in Motion: Creating
pectations, focusing on two forms of Hindu dance and a
Dance Midrash. Preface by Rabbi Norman Cohen. Denver,
black spiritual.
Colo., 1990. By asking pertinent questions about biblical
Hanna, Judith Lynne. To Dance Is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal
passages and then answering them through movement activi-
Communication. Chicago, 1987. A theory based on contem-
ties that illustrate and explicate their nuances, midrash enliv-
porary knowledge that explains how dance works and how
ens the Bible.
it can be studied. Extensive bibliography.
Wagner, Ann. Adversaries of Dance: From the Puritans to the Pres-
Hanna, Judith Lynne. Dance and Stress: Resistance, Reduction, and
ent. Urbana, Ill., 1997. A history of hostility toward dance
Euphoria. New York, 1988. Illustrations through history and
in the United States.
across geography of how danced religion helps people cope.
Hanna, Judith Lynne. “The Representation and Reality of Divini-
Waterhouse, David, ed. Dance of India. Toronto, 1998. Includes
ty in Dance.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 56,
feminist perspectives.
no. 2 (1988): 501–526. A discussion of different ways of
Wood, W. Raymond, and Margot P. Liberty, eds. Anthropology
manifesting divinity.
on the Great Plains. Lincoln, Nebr., 1980. Articles with bibli-
Kapferer, Bruce. A Celebration of Demons. Bloomington, Ind.,
ographies on the sun dance and the Ghost Dance religion.
1983. A descriptive analysis of the role of dance gesture and
style in ritual healing among the Sinhalese.
JUDITH LYNNE HANNA (1987 AND 2005)
Leeuw, Gerardus van der. Sacred and Profane Beauty. Translated
by David E. Green. New York, 1963. Commentary on the
secularization of dance, believed by author to be the original
DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST
art form.
EDITION]
Lum, Kenneth Anthony. Praising His Name in the Dance: Spirit
Dance and religion have been intertwined in various ways
Possession in the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work in
Trinidad, West Indies. Studies in Latin America and the Ca-
through the centuries. The attitudes toward dance expressed
ribbean. Amsterdam, 2000. Based on traditional Yoruba reli-
in ancient Greek writings and the Bible are part of a philo-
gion in West Africa, the Spiritual Baptist Faith persons pos-
sophical legacy that has been influential throughout the in-
sessed by the Holy Spirit retain their own identity, whereas
tellectual and cultural history of the Western world. The an-
in Orisha Work, those possessed by oris:as (spirits) become
cient Greeks believed that dance was supreme among the
the spirits.
arts, indeed that it was fundamentally inseparable from
McKean, Philip F. “From Purity to Pollution? The Balinese Ket-
music and poetry. In the Laws, Plato writes that all creatures
jak (Monkey Dance) as Symbolic Form in Transition.” In
are prompted to express emotions through body movements,
The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian Coher-
and he notes that such instinctive response is transformed
ence Systems, edited by A. L. Becker and Aram A. Yengoyan,
into dance by virtue of a gift from the gods: rhythmic and
pp. 293–302. Norwood, N.J., 1979. A descriptive analysis
harmonic order. Other Greeks held the general belief that
predating Kapferer’s study.
dance was originally transmitted directly from the gods to
Oesterly, W. O. E. The Sacred Dance. Cambridge, U.K., 1923.
humans, and consequently that all dancing is a spiritual en-
An estimate of the role of sacred dance among the peoples
deavor. Whatever the origin of dance, classical historians
of antiquity and non-Western cultures.
maintain that religious rituals were indeed the source of
Paul, Robert A. “Dumje: Paradox and Resolution in Sherpa Ritual
many Greek dances, though dancing was not confined to rit-
Symbolism.” American Ethnologist 6 (1979): 274–304. A de-
scription of boys’ dances that represent sexuality as well as
uals or occasions of formal worship. Dance was also an inte-
the children who are the desired result of it.
gral part of Greek social life, as recreation and as a means of
Porter, Stanley E., Michael A. Hayes, and David Tombs, eds.
solemnizing events or experiences. The spiritual nature of
Faith in the Millennium. Sheffield, U.K., 2001. Catholic
dance was apparently considered so all-encompassing that
missionaries allow syncretism among northern Australian ab-
the Greeks made no rigid distinction between religious danc-
original Tiwi that respects both native and Christian ideo-
ing and secular dancing.
logies.
The Hebrew scriptures contain numerous references to
Rostas, Susanna. “From Ritualization to Performativity: The
the dance activities of the Israelites in biblical times. Dancing
Concheros of Mexico.” In Ritual, Performance, Media, edited
was an expression of joy in all realms of life, a celebration of
by Felicia Hughes-Freeland, pp. 85–103. Association of So-
cial Anthropologists Monographs 35. London, 1998. Rural
mental and corporeal fulfillment as well as a personal declara-
tradition is politicized by urban dancers who reject colonial-
tion of spiritual devotion. Modern scholars have debated
ist taint to favor indigenous identity.
whether dance was a part of actual religious rituals or formal
Sendrey, Alfred. Music in Ancient Israel. New York, 1969. Chap.
worship in the Jewish faith. Some believe that there was no
8 is about dance, verbs that express the act of dancing, and
role for dancing in the Temple or in performances of the reli-
the functions of dance.
gious officiants during services and ceremonies. Even so,
Taylor, Margaret F. A Time to Dance: Symbolic Movement in Wor-
dance clearly played a significant part in the public festivals
ship. Philadelphia, 1967. An overview of dance in the history
that accompanied the holy days. For example, the pilgrim-
E N C Y C L O P E D I 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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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
ages associated with seasonal festivals were sanctified by
As Peter Burke notes in Popular Culture in Early Modern
dancing, singing, and the playing of musical instruments
Europe (1978), by the sixteenth century European society
such as the harp. Also, the triumphs of the Jewish people over
was sufficiently stratified to be able to distinguish between
their oppressors were celebrated in victory parades with
the culture of the common people and the culture of the
dancing and special songs.
elite. The elite were a minority who had access to formal
scholastic training; they were the innovators and primary
By the dawn of the Christian era, two major factors af-
beneficiaries of such intellectual movements as the Renais-
fected the status of dance in the philosophy of the church
sance and the Enlightenment. The rest of society went about
establishment. The first was the tangible and immediate heri-
everyday life, molding and adapting time-worn traditions
tage of attitudes toward dancing found among the Jewish
and values to accommodate the inevitable shifts demanded
people; the second was the active dance traditions of the vari-
by social and economic change. It cannot be assumed, how-
ous pagan cults that were now converting to Christianity.
ever, that the common people were a homogeneous group,
The Christian community shared with the Jews the funda-
or that the elite educated minority did not participate in pop-
mental belief that dance was a means of expressing reverence
ular culture. Burke illuminates the complexity of these issues,
to God. The angels danced in heavenly joy, and mortals
noting the diversity of the common people: there were
danced to celebrate their faith. Many ancient pre-Christian
poorer peasants and richer peasants, freemen and serfs, uned-
customs found in European cultures were preserved (e.g., the
ucated laborers and literate merchants, rural dwellers and
practice of dancing at burial grounds) and coexisted along-
urban dwellers, religious sects and regional subcultures. The
side the new rites of the church. Other dance customs were
elite took part in a broad range of popular culture outside
actually integrated into Christian religious ceremonies. Reli-
the boundaries of their intellectual pursuits, if simply because
gious dances performed by the clergy included the ring dance
they were surrounded by that culture.
and the processionals that formed part of the various saints’
festivals. Other dances were performed only by members of
By the late eighteenth century factors such as dramatic
the congregation, including ribbon dances, ring dances ac-
population shifts, the radical expansion of commercial capi-
companied by songs and hand-clapping, and processionals.
talism, and the advent of industrialization contributed to the
Over the centuries as Christianity spread, local enthusiasm
disruption of traditional community life in many parts of
for dancing remained strong, and church officials were com-
Western Europe and the subsequent demise of many popular
pelled to limit the types of religious events in which dancing
traditions. In the same period, a new intellectual movement
was acceptable. Regional church authorities forbade dancing
took root in which the folk or rural peasants became increas-
in the house of the Lord: dancing would be permissible (to
ingly idealized in the eyes of the elite, and “folk culture” be-
varying degrees) only in the religious observances that took
came a national treasure embodying the survivals of the un-
place in public festivals outside the church structure itself.
corrupted national past. In the nineteenth century the
The fact that such restrictions were issued repeatedly indi-
anthropologist E. B. Tylor pointed to folklore, especially old
cates that they were not always obeyed, nor were they always
customs and beliefs, as providing evidence of the historical
enforceable in local communities.
development of primitive culture into civilized society. Folk-
lore materials were seen as the vestiges of primitive culture,
The continued strength and tenacity of dance customs
somehow preserved by the folk memory in the midst of an
in the face of the declining approval of church authorities
otherwise relatively civilized society.
suggest the depth of the fundamental Western belief in the
spiritual nature of dance. In Religious Dances (1952), Louis
This argument was supported further by comparing
Backman provides a chronicle of historical references that il-
folklore to parallel cultural elements found in existing primi-
lustrates individual dance forms and activities and their rela-
tive societies. Seemingly irrational folk beliefs or antiquated
tionship to the Christian church in various regions. The in-
folk customs were explained on the basis of their full-fledged
terconnection of dance and religion, however, must be
primitive counterparts; the original function and meaning of
considered in a context that extends beyond the confines of
the folklore survivals were considered equivalent to those of
official, formalized religion. The very definitions of folk
the related primitive practices, even when the forms or con-
dance and popular dance have developed from a spectrum
texts of performance differed greatly. Many scholars believed
of cultural beliefs that ranges from the organized religious es-
that primitive religion was the ultimate source of folklore be-
tablishment to the vernacular spirituality that animates ev-
cause religion played such a prominent role in primitive life.
eryday life.
If folklore was what remained of ancient pagan religion,
FOLK DANCE AND POPULAR DANCE. Although the terms
then it might follow that folk dance was what remained of
folk dance and popular dance did not enter common use until
ancient religious ritual. Yet it is curious that the genre of folk
the early twentieth century, the dance phenomena they de-
dance was neglected in the heyday of naming and document-
scribe have existed for centuries. Rather than referring to par-
ing folk cultural genres in the nineteenth century. There is
ticular dance choreography, folk dance and popular dance
no doubt that the folk were dancing, but most scholars men-
refer to the dancing found in certain social strata of European
tion dancing only in passing, generally in reference to season-
society in a certain period of history.
al or religious festivals or the celebration of rites of passage.
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2145
This puzzle still remains to be explored fully, but two factors
Europe, the church had been waging campaigns to cleanse
can be suggested as important elements in this regard.
Christian ritual of any taints of paganism, of which dance
was one of the most insidious elements. Whatever their intel-
The first factor is that as a cultural commodity vying for
lectual creeds, nineteenth-century scholars in Europe and
scholarly attention, dance was of comparatively low status.
America were good Christian gentlemen and ladies, and
The young fields of folklore and anthropology were intent
there can be little doubt that the official religious prejudice
on establishing themselves as scientific pursuits, and toward
against dancing influenced scholarly perceptions. It is possi-
that end researchers were concerned with the task of generat-
ble that this Christian heritage contributed to a sense of dis-
ing texts. Dance was not a literary genre that could be re-
comfort with folk dance material, which in turn further dis-
corded in words, and unlike music it did not have associated
couraged researchers from working in that field.
with it a common form of notation. To be sure, scholars did
not hesitate to describe folk customs and celebrations in writ-
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, dance
ten accounts that were often illustrated with drawings and,
began to be considered with some seriousness. James G. Fra-
later, photographs. The first studies of the late nineteenth
zer included dance as one of the myriad customs examined
century that discussed dance in any detail used that type of
in his comparative treatise on magic and religion, The Golden
descriptive narrative: they presented dance customs, com-
Bough (1890). The development of the open-air folklife mu-
plete with notes on costumes, other related material para-
seum in Scandinavia with its focus on traditional folkways
phernalia such as swords, ribbons, sticks, or bells, unusual
gave impetus to the founding of the Friends of Swedish Folk
dramatic characters such as a man or woman impersonator
Dance in 1893. This was one of the first organizations of its
or a hobbyhorse, and the social event of which the dance ac-
kind, dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of re-
tivity was a part. Yet very little explicit or technical descrip-
gional folk dances. Lilly Grove, in her history of dancing
tion was included of the actual dance forms or styles them-
(London, 1895), included whole chapters on national dances
selves. It seems that, while writing about dance customs was
and dance customs. English folklore journals published es-
certainly possible, the difficulty of rendering dance into doc-
says on seasonal festivities that discussed rustic examples such
umentary evidence hardly encouraged early scholars to invest
as maypole dancing and morris dancing. The year 1903, in
their intellectual enthusiasm in such an elusive genre.
saw E. K. Chamber’s The Mediaeval Stage (London), one of
the earliest uses of the terms folk dance and Volkstanz in a
The second factor in the scholarly neglect of folk dance
scholarly study, signalling a subtle shift in intellectual atti-
is that it was indeed believed to manifest the remnants of an-
tudes: dance was finally included in the rank of folk-
cient religious ritual. This is ironic because that type of con-
compound genres, and a whole group of dance forms and
nection with primitive culture would generally have been
customs associated with the romantic notion of the folk be-
considered a favorable quality in the evolutionary school of
came “folk dance.”
thought that considered folklore to be descended from an-
cient religion. In the case of dance, however, it may have
Throughout the early twentieth century, the concept of
contributed to some intellectual discomfort. By the nine-
the folk dance was codified through the collecting and pub-
teenth century, dance style was socially stratified, although
lishing of dance materials and through work in the now
the choreographic forms danced in the elite ballrooms were
growing fields of folklore studies and dance education. To
not dissimilar to those danced in peasant villages. The elite
differentiate certain important features of dance culture, par-
were responsible for infusing these dance forms with an edu-
ticularly the origin and transmission of dance forms and
cated and refined style of performance appropriate to their
styles and the contexts of dance performance, the term popu-
social class, for the physical abandon and overt emotionalism
lar dance began to be used. Folk dance referred to dances
displayed in much peasant dancing would have been judged
whose origins were obscured in ancient customs and ceremo-
quite improper, even uncivilized, by the upper classes. The
nies that derived from primitive religious ritual. Folk dances
contemporary observations of European missionaries and
were passed on from one generation to the next and were
travelers of wild, impassioned dancing in primitive societies
performed as part of traditional folk community festivals.
served as a graphic comparison to dancing in folk communi-
Though popular dances might be adopted into the folk rep-
ties in Europe and may have intensified the elite’s sense of
ertoire and performed in traditional contexts, they were not
a debasing impropriety of folk dance. More so than any other
native to the folk community. Popular dances originated
folk performance genre, dance may have seemed a bit threat-
from an external source, such as a foreign culture or a profes-
ening—too primitive and too close to home; for it could be
sional dance instructor. Popular dances were transmitted
argued that the only thing separating the dancing of the elite
through a broader variety of social relationships than would
themselves from the blatantly uncivilized dancing of the folk
generally have been included in the traditional folk learning
was a fine line of decorum. In addition, scholars were well
process; that is, people learned from non-community mem-
aware of the fact that the Christian clergy had long believed
bers, from strangers, or from dance teachers. Popular dances
that dance and dance customs (which nineteenth-century
were most often performed during recreational events orga-
scholars would have equated with folk dance) were the sur-
nized for the purpose of social dancing, often in a public set-
vivals of pagan religious rituals. For centuries, throughout
ting such as a dance hall. Folk dance was believed to be a pure
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2146
DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
expression of national identity, whereas popular dance was
on the basis of context, belief, and—to a lesser extent—form.
a commodity in the aesthetic marketplace of a heteroge-
Religious dance is dance performed as part of religious wor-
neous, multicultural society.
ship, often taking place in the church or sanctuary. It is be-
lieved to be devotion incarnate, more than just a symbol or
The development of the concepts of folk dance and
gesture of piety. Common forms of religious dance include
popular dance is critical to a larger understanding of dance
the processional, circle, and solo individual dance. In perfor-
and religion. The very definition of folk dance is inextricably
mance the dancer seeks to express reverence and to interact
tied to Western ideas about the history of religion and
directly with the divine.
human culture. In the end, however, the definitions of folk
dance and popular dance have to do not so much with types
Ceremonial dance is a much broader category and in-
of dance activity as with the progression of intellectual judg-
cludes dancing that is part of a whole spectrum of celebratory
ments about social and economic class. According to the
events, from the religious to the secular. Religious events
nineteenth-century models on which they are based, folk
such as saints’ festivals and secular events such as civic pa-
dance is the dance performed by the folk, and popular dance
rades frame a continuum of events that manifest many types
is the dance performed by the working class, or bourgeoisie.
and degrees of spiritual belief. Celebrations such as Carnival,
These intellectual constructions are so romantically idealized
certain rites of passage, and seasonal festivities embody an
and oversimplified, however, that they do not reflect the cul-
ambiguous spirituality that lies somewhere between the sa-
tural reality of the time. Even if nineteenth-century peasants
cred and the secular, or perhaps encompasses elements of
had been the pristine, homogeneous group the folk were sup-
both. Ceremonial dance is believed to transcend the realm
posed to be, there was constant interaction between folk and
of everyday life, reaching toward a higher spiritual power, be
popular culture. Popular dances did circulate among rural
it a deity, luck, or art. Of any category, ceremonial dance em-
peasant communities and in some cases were regarded as hav-
braces the largest variety of dance forms including proces-
ing more prestige than older traditional forms because they
sionals, circle and line dances, various set formations, couple
were new, different, innovative, or exotic. Likewise, the
dances, and solo dancing.
dancing of the new working class was full of deeply embed-
Social dance, finally, refers to dancing that is performed
ded traditional elements: a foreign or popular dance form
for recreation, generally as part of events that are oriented
would be performed in the traditional, regional body move-
around leisure activity and social interaction. Social dance is
ment style of the performer, reflecting traditional concepts
believed to be the expression of the individual or a social rela-
of the body; a laborer who paid an admission fee to enter a
tionship and does not refer directly to any religious or spiri-
public dance hall would pursue social interaction with mem-
tual concept, except in one sense. In that dancing is consid-
bers of the opposite sex and different age groups according
ered artistic performance, it attends to the immanent
to traditional—and commonly shared—rules. Perhaps most
spirituality of art as a vehicle of power and meaning. The
importantly, the new popular dances were evaluated and ac-
forms of social dance include various group and couple for-
cepted on the basis of how well they satisfied current fash-
mations and solo individual dancing.
ions, but those fashions were at least partially rooted in a folk
aesthetic. The complexity of the historical interrelations be-
These three categories of dance—religious, ceremonial,
tween folk dance and popular dance and the disparity be-
and social—are somewhat fluid. Changes in one factor or an-
tween intellectual ideals and cultural reality must be consid-
other can result in a shift in category for a given dance. For
ered seriously.
example, with a change in context, social dance can become
ceremonial dance; with a change in belief, ceremonial dance
Fundamental beliefs about dance as a form of expresion
can become religious dance (this is what occurs in many cases
run deep in Western culture and have influenced the intellec-
when a dancer becomes “possessed” by a spirit or deity.)
tual fashions of every age. Whatever the criteria used to de-
Thus it is clear that dance cannot be considered an inanimate
limit folk dance and popular dance, it is in the meaning of
cultural object. Its significance must be assessed in perfor-
dance in vernacular culture that the relationship between
mance as it is actively employed in a social process. Following
dance and religion can be explored most profitably. Vernacu-
is a sampling of dance customs found in different cultures
lar dance, then, refers to dancing that is integral to the every-
in Europe, the Middle East, and the New World, illustrating
day life and beliefs of a given group of people, irrespective
primarily examples of religious and ceremonial dance.
of whether that dancing might also be classified as folk or
Europe. The religious revival movement of Hasidism
popular. Religion must also be contemplated in terms of ev-
developed in Europe in the eighteenth century. In reaction
eryday culture, ranging from the dogma of the official reli-
to the Jewish orthodoxy of the time, Hasidism emphasized
gious establishment to the traditional beliefs and practices
the individual expression of devotion that was within the
that embody spirituality.
means of every man and woman and not limited to those ed-
VERNACULAR DANCE, SPIRITUALITY, AND RELIGION. There
ucated few who were privileged to study the Torah. Dance
are three general categories of dance as it relates to religion
became a primary mode of religious expression, and as Hasi-
and spiritual values: religious dance, ceremonial dance, and
dism spread through eastern European Jewish communities,
social dance. Each of those categories can be distinguished
ecstatic dancing became an identifying marker of Hasidic
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2147
worship. In fact, critics of the revival sometimes mocked or
done only by the Ca˘lu¸sari and a final group dance in which
ridiculed the exaggerated dance style when voicing disap-
the villagers dance with the Ca˘lu¸sari. The exhibition dances
proval of religious extremism. Hasidic dance is religious
are of two types, one consisting of simple walking figures
dance in the fullest sense; it is a means of inspired communi-
done in circle formation, the second being a combination of
cation with God. Not only is dance and ritual movement a
complicated steps, jumps, and acrobatic leaps that demand
revered element of religious services but dancing infuses the
virtuosic skill from each dancer. In Ca˘lu¸s, dancing is an act
spirit of religious devotion into numerous other festivities
of magic, an inexorable part of the healing ritual and beliefs
and celebrations. A prominent form of Hasidic dance is solo
about supernatural forces.
improvisation, which sometimes consists of little more than
The Tuscan veglia offers an example of dancing that
simple shuffling steps or weight shifts, various distinctive
straddles the boundary between social and ceremonial dance.
body postures, and gestures of the arms and hands, which
The veglia is the traditional evening social gathering that is
are often raised above the head. Specific dance steps are not
held regularly through the winter season. This custom lingers
required, and any decorous movement performed with a
on to this day in some areas but was common throughout
spiritual intent can be acceptable. Group and couple forma-
Tuscany until a general decline that began in the 1970s. At
tions are also common, though men and women are strictly
the veglia, family and friends gather around the kitchen
segregated in all aspects of religious worship, including
hearth in rural homes, and amid general socializing and mer-
dance. Couple forms include simple variations of linking el-
riment, the performance of traditional narratives unfolds.
bows and turning, and of forward and back patterns; group
Through storytelling, children are instructed in the moral
forms include complex set dances in square and circle forma-
values of the community, young unmarried couples court
tions. The H:asidim have apparently never hesitated to adopt
each other with the singing of love songs, and the elders re-
dance forms from surrounding gentile cultures, and this pro-
flect on their experiences by exchanging tales of insight, hap-
cess continues in Hasidic communities today.
piness, and woe. Though the veglia is primarily a social occa-
One end of the spectrum of ceremonial dance, that
sion, it also has ceremonial qualities: it is a seasonal event;
which is associated with the religious or sacred, is found in
it is only open to people who have a certain relationship to
the Romanian ritual Ca˘lu¸s. For approximately one week be-
the host family; there are prescribed rules for social inter-
ginning on Whitsunday, the villagers of southern Romania
course between age groups; and there is a particular sequence
observe Rusalii, a period when the spirits of the dead are be-
that is appropriate for the performance of certain artistic
lieved to return to be among the living. Also during this peri-
genres. The veglia is a time of heightened social interaction
od, evil forces are believed to be unusually threatening, and
defined by a community reverence for traditional values and
various types of behavior are restricted or forbidden in efforts
a group negotiation of the boundaries of artistic perfor-
to ward off the illness caused by being “possessed by Rusalii.”
mance.
Such an illness can only be cured through the ritual Ca˘lu¸s.
Though dancing takes place throughout the year except
In addition to the general healing and protective properties
during Lent, Carnival season is especially devoted to dance
of Ca˘lu¸s, the ritual is also seen as a source of good luck and
events. The “Carnival veglia” is often organized by the young
fertility. Handerkerchiefs or small articles of clothing are
unmarried men, who arrange for a suitable location, hire a
sometimes attached to the dancers’ costumes in hopes that
musician, and provide refreshments. They then invite young
they will be imbued with this luck, which is then brought
women to the dance, who always come accompanied by a
back to the owner of the object. Likewise, threads from the
chaperon. At other times, the dance veglia is hosted by a
dancers’ costumes are throught to be charmed, and specta-
given household, in which case one’s attendance is depen-
tors often pluck them in hopes of deriving some magical ben-
dent on being acquainted with the family and garnering an
efit. Ca˘lu¸s involves a complex of performance genres, materi-
invitation. In either case, the dance veglia is specifically an
al culture, and beliefs, and it is believed they work together
event for the young to socialize. Every year during Carnival,
to effect some modicum of human control over nature and
the landlords hold a dance party to which people of all social
the supernatural.
classes are invited. Peasants and landowners dance together
as equals, temporarily nullifying class differences.
In Ca˘lu¸s, women of the community sing long, emotion-
al laments in the traditional manner to maintain contact be-
There are also two instances when the dance veglia is
tween the dead and the living. All the dancing, however, is
held in a public hall. In one case, the young men arrange for
performed only by a select group of men, the Ca˘lu¸sari. These
a dance party to be held on a Sunday afternoon following
men are all highly skilled dancers and must take an oath not
the religious service. This dance is semi-secretive in that it
to reveal the secrets of Ca˘lu¸s and to obey certain behavioral
is not announced formally in the community, thereby allow-
interdictions. Dancing is a primary vehicle of ritual magic
ing the young women to attend without the knowledge of
and healing and is performed with great seriousness and
their mothers and chaperons. A public hall is also the setting
sense of responsibility. The Ca˘lu¸sari visit each house in the
for the special dance parties that are held on the three most
village, dancing in the courtyard to a group of eager specta-
important days of the Carnival period. These are organized
tors. The performance includes exhibition dances that are
by private social clubs whose members are confined to repre-
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
sentatives of the families from a given village. The young
tradition” in Islamic religion. The “great tradition” refers to
people dress in elaborate finery, the men in dark suits with
the tenets of official religion based on the sacred written
white gloves, the women in special outfits that are supposed
texts. The “little traditon” refers to the belief systems sur-
to have never been seen before. The proceedings of the dance
rounding the veneration of saints, the control of evil spirits,
event are directed by the caposala, who is a well-known and
and other spiritual endeavors. The beliefs and customs of the
respected man from the community. The caposala formally
little tradition are not specified in the official religious texts
presides over the various and sundry forms of social interac-
and are, in fact, frowned upon by some religious function-
tion. He coordinates the sequence of dances, dance and
aries. They are, nonetheless, an integral part of everyday reli-
courting games, and dancing competitions, and he serves as
gious prescriptions of devotion. It is in this little tradition
a matchmaker, employing both overt and covert methods to
of vernacular spirituality that we find dance customs related
bring certain young couples together to dance and enforcing
to religious life. There are few studies that discuss dancing
the etiquette that demands that no favoritism be shown in
in Muslim and Jewish communities, and virtually none that
choosing dancing partners so that all the young women have
examine Christian settlements. Even these limited materials,
at least one dance with each young man. He also maintains
however, suggest some cultural consistency or interrelation-
peaceful social equilibrium, settling any dispute and expel-
ship between customs, and possibly dance forms, found
ling troublesome participants. These dance veglie often last
among different religious groups in the Middle East. It re-
until dawn, although the party held on the final night of Car-
mains for future research to explore fully the implications of
nival ends promptly at midnight, which marks the beginning
ethnicity, religion, and regionality on artistic performance.
of Lent. The last part of the Carnival season was, in years
past, distinguished by the appearance of two costumed char-
The “little tradition” of many Muslim communities in-
acters. The first of these masked men, dressed in fancy black
cludes a type of ceremonial dancing that plays a key role in
formal attire, was the incarnation of Carnival itself, and he
a ritual process of exorcism known as the za¯r. Though found
arrived just in time to dance the last dance of the evening.
in several Middle Eastern countries, the za¯r appears to be
The second man entered at midnight, cloaked in a long gray
most well known and vital in the Nile region, particularly
coat decorated with smoked herrings; he was the embodi-
in Egypt. The spirit that must be exorcised in the za¯r ceremo-
ment of Lent, and he brought the festivities to a ceremonious
ny is also known as za¯r. The za¯r ceremony is performed to
end.
cure an individual of spirit possession. Though anyone is po-
tentially vulnerable to possession, women are the most com-
The dance forms performed at a veglia are always the
monly afflicted. It is believed that pure spirits are ever pres-
same and are always danced in a particular sequence. The
ent, wandering around the earth. These spirits demand
first dance is a polka, followed by a mazurka, a waltz, and
respect, and humans are required to observe rules of spiritual
a quadrille. The quadrille was considered the climax to the
etiquette, such as giving thanks or asking permission for cer-
dance sequence, as it involved a variety of complicated steps
tain actions. Pure spirits can impose good or evil upon
and patterns and allowed the greatest opportunity for flirting
human beings, but it is believed that committing some in-
during the changing of partners. Recently, other couple
fraction or allowing a breach in deferential protocol will pro-
dances have been inserted after the waltz, such as the tango
voke a spirit to possess an individual and wreak punishment.
and the one-step. All of these forms are popular dances, and
Such possession can manifest itself in a variety of physical
though they are all based on folk dance forms to varying de-
and mental symptoms, such as chronic aches and pains in
grees, none is specifically native to Tuscany. Despite the fact
certain body parts, general indolence, allergies, rheumatism,
that these dances have been, at some point in history, im-
epileptic fits, and different feminine complaints, including
ported into the Tuscan countryside from some foreign
barrenness.
source, they have been unabashedly adopted into the com-
munity repertoire and through generations of performance
The za¯r ceremony requires the services of two important
have become thoroughly naturalized. The dancing that takes
ceremonial functionaries, as well as an ensemble of musi-
place at a veglia is social dancing in the most straightforward
cians. One role is that of the shaykhah, who is a spiritual in-
sense: young men and women dance together to be with each
termediary. Through consultations, divination, and the pre-
other, confirming and expanding an everyday relationship.
scription of different types of ritual behavior, the shaykhah
It can also be considered ceremonial dancing by virtue of its
ascertains what is needed to appease and expel the spirit. The
central role in the veglia, transforming everyday life and so-
second role is that of the munshidah, who is a singer versed
cial interaction into festivity and artistic performance.
in the specialized traditional repertoire of za¯r songs. The
munshidah sings different songs throughout the ceremony,
MIDDLE EAST. The Middle East is the birthplace of three
entreating the spirit to make itself known and interact with
of the world’s major religions—Judaism, Christianity, and
the shaykhah. Both the shaykhah and munshidah are generally
Islam—and home to a variety of regional cultures and lin-
hereditary roles passed on from mother to daughter.
guistic groups. Though all three religions and their subde-
nominations are found in the Middle East today, Islam pre-
The za¯r ceremony itself can last anywhere from one to
dominates. In The Middle East (1976), anthropologist John
several days, depending on the wealth of the possessed
Gulick distinguishes between the “great tradition” and “little
woman who has come for help. The “patient” must follow
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2149
the advice of the shaykhah to wear special garments and orna-
ing the importance of the event being celebrated at the time.
ments or to consume certain foods and drinks. The patient
Their song texts were sung in local Yemenite Arabic dialect
provides whatever offerings the shaykhah determines are nec-
and were performed by the women as they danced. Though
essary, generally a combination of a few fowl and pieces of
the women’s songs were less overtly religious, the dancing of
gold or silver jewelry. At sunset, a large circular table is cov-
both men and women was considered a means of rejoicing
ered with an elaborate meal, accompanied by chants and spe-
and of honoring the celebrants.
cial songs. At two o’clock the following morning, the animals
are ritually slaughtered according to Islamic custom, and the
NEW WORLD. Among the European cultures in the New
possessed woman is smeared with the warm blood. The next
World, the religious sect known as Shakers offers a unique
day the za¯r ceremony continues as the shaykhah guides the
example of religious dancing in community worship. The
patient through various rituals while the munshidah sings the
Shakers originated in England in the mid-eighteenth century
appropriate songs.
and settled in America shortly before the Revolution. They
held that the second appearance of Christ was imminent and
The emotional climax of the ceremony is reached when
that true believers must follow certain tenets in order to tran-
the possessed woman starts to dance. Individual spirits are
scend wordly existence and achieve everlasting life. The
associated with distinctive rhythmic patterns, and as the mu-
foundations of Shaker faith were observed through keeping
sicians play a particular beat the possesed woman will be
apart from the world at large, the two sexes living separately
drawn to dance. The dancing is frenzied and ecstatic, and the
and remaining celibate, sharing all property in common, dili-
dancer speaks in the voice of her possessing spirit. The spirit
gently pursuing craftwork with their hands, and worshiping
makes demands that the shaykhah must then interpret and
with joyful abandon. The early Shakers were overcome with
satisfy. The dancing continues and the excitement builds as
ecstasy in their worship and were given to fervent and eclectic
the musicians, munshidah, and shaykhah encourage the danc-
displays of divine inspiration including speaking in tongues,
er, who will dance until she is thoroughly exhausted. The
whirling or shaking, singing song fragments, shouting, and
dance is always a solo improvisational form, consisting of
jumping.
torso bending and swaying, head and arm gestures, and some
simple stepping and floor patterns. The dancing performed
As the sect grew and developed, their deranged array of
in the za¯r ceremony is considered a vehicle for the spirit to
spiritual responses was institutionalized into orderly forms of
express itself and a critical cathartic element in the process
song and dance. Though the expression of their religious zeal
of exorcism.
was largely disposed to tidy devotional exercises, the Shaker’s
Yemenite Jewish culture provides a vibrant example of
faith was no less impassioned. Dancing was considered a
the range of dance activity in the religious and spiritual life
spiritual gift, or the “work of God,” which they were most
of a community. Jewish communities in Yemen were among
happy to receive. Devotional dancing was also believed to
the most isolated in the Middle East, and many ancient cus-
function as a means of expelling and pacifying carnal desires,
toms were preserved as an ongoing part of daily life. For ex-
thereby allowing a pure bodily manifestation of faith. There
ample, religious dancing was an integral part of the observa-
were instances of individuals dancing by themselves while re-
tion of certain holidays, such as Simh:at Torah. In celebration
ceiving the spirit, but most Shaker dancing was performed
of the yearly cycle of reading the Torah, the congregation
in large groups consisting of all the able-bodied Believers.
sang special verses of the pizmon, which are religious texts
Men and women formed separate lines or circles and danced
sung only in the synagogue. Along with their joyous, exuber-
a variety of floor patterns and simple figures. There were
ant singing, the congregation danced around with the Torah
dances in square and circle formations as well as procession-
scrolls, carrying them from the central desk of the synagogue,
als and sacred marches. Many of the dance patterns were said
where they were placed for reading, back to the ark, where
to have originated in spiritual visions and dreams received
they were stored. The dancing consisted of simple walking
by the Shakers and were imputed with specific symbolic
steps without much elaboration or stylization, but the danc-
meanings illustrating Shaker beliefs.
ing was considered an expression of devotion to Jewish reli-
The population of the New World is a panoply of dif-
gious law as written in the Torah.
ferent cultural groups, with a broad spectrum of religious be-
There was also ceremonial dancing in Yemenite Jewish
liefs and customs. Over the centuries different cultures have
communities. Celebrations and rites of passage such as cir-
come into contact, influencing each other to varying degrees.
cumcisions or the two weeks of preparations and festivities
Rather than dissolving into a homogeneous mass, however,
that accompanied a wedding were commemorated with
distinct aspects from different cultural traditions were re-
dancing and singing. Traditionally, men and women danced
blended into new creole forms. These creole cultures, lan-
separately, each to the singing of special dance songs and the
guages, or performance traditions often contain elements
playing of a drum. The dance songs sung by the men had
that can be easily identified and traced to specific Old World
fixed religious texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, or literary Arabic
origins, but the new incarnation is not an exact replica of the
and were performed by two singers who sat apart from the
original. In all cases, there has been change, development,
dancers. The women sang songs about everyday life, includ-
and adaption to suit new conditions and social contexts.
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
One of the most dramatic examples of this reblending
dance, seeking to achieve greater spiritual power through ar-
process is found in Afro-American culture. The historical cir-
tistic performance. The dancing in vodou worship that is as-
cumstances of the slave trade threw together Africans from
sociated with possession is undeniably religious dancing, as
several different national territories in west Africa, including
it is the actual practice of religious belief and devotions.
at least five major cultural groups. The intermingling of dif-
ferent African traditions and beliefs has yielded an array of
SEE ALSO Carnival; Folklore; Folk Religion; Shakers;
new Afro-American forms, which have also intermingled
Vodou.
with other non-African traditions according to regional and
historical conditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A well-rounded and detailed study discussing the nature of dance
The vodou religion practiced in Haiti is one instance of
in Greek civilization is Lillian B. Lawler’s The Dance in An-
this intermingling of African and non-African traditions. It
cient Greece (London, 1964). This book also outlines the im-
incorporates a synthesis of different African beliefs and ritu-
portant Greek philosophical tenets that have influenced
Western ideas about dance. A good historical study of literary
als that further interface with Roman Catholic practice and
references to dancing and Christianity, especially focusing on
symbolism. Vodou is based on a complex mythology that re-
the dance epidemics, is Eugène Louis Backman’s Religious
lates major gods to lesser divinities. These spirits are called
Dances in the Christian Church and in Popular Medicine,
lwa, a Kréyol term, and they include ancestor spirits, gods
translated by E. Classen (London, 1952). An excellent intro-
and goddesses of nature, a trickster, a god of creativity, and
duction to the history of popular culture and folk culture is
a supreme god who presides over all the others. Every spirit
Peter Burke’s Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe (New
has an individual personality and is associated with certain
York, 1978). This book also has a very useful bibliography.
domains of everyday life or spiritual well-being. To ensure
The classic work that epitomizes the nineteenth-century study of
the goodwill of the lwa and be taken under their protection,
comparative religion and ideas of cultural evolution is James
a person must be initiated into the spiritual society. A priest
G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough, 3d ed., rev. & enl., 12 vols.
or priestess, known as hungan, coordinates the ceremonies
(London, 1911–1915). Though his source materials are
and rites that take place in their sanctuary and tends to com-
quite uneven, Frazer includes a multitude of references to
munity needs requiring divination, exorcism, and healing.
dance-related customs. A further elaboration of evolutionary
ideas is found in Curt Sachs’s World History of the Dance,
Vodou ceremonies and dances are generally performed
translated by Bessie Schönberg (New York, 1937). While
in a covered shed that has a post standing in the center of
this book has been used as a standard text for many years and
the floor space. This center post is considered the means by
offers interesting examples of dance customs, it ignores twen-
which the spirits descend into the peristyle. Though the spir-
tieth-century developments in the study of human culture
and restates outdated nineteenth-century philosophy. One of
its communicate with initiates through symbolic dreams and
the few examinations of dance by a historian of religions can
visions, they commonly possess people and make their will
be found in Gerardus van der Leeuw’s Sacred and Profane
known. Each spirit expresses itself through a distincitve rep-
Beauty (New York, 1963).
ertoire of speech mannerisms, body movements, special
Additional source material on the history of folk dance, popular
dances, and a predilection for certain objects, such as a hat,
dance, and vernacular dance is discussed in my article “Folk-
bottle, or stick. It is said that a spirit “mounts” its “horse”
dance,” in the International Encyclopedia of Dance (New
when a person becomes possessed; the person is a vehicle for
York, forthcoming). One of the first works to develop the
the spirit, an expressive body through which the spirit inter-
concept of vernacular dance is Marshall Stearns and Jean St-
acts with the crowd and other spirits. Possession behavior is
earns’s Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance
regarded as tangible evidence of a spirit’s personality and
(New York, 1964). A varied collection of short essays is The
temperament, and watching the possessed during vodou cer-
Chasidic Dance, edited by Fred Berk (New York, 1975). Of
emonies is believed to be an important way for potential ini-
particular interest in that collection is the article by Jill Gel-
tiates to learn about the spirits.
lerman, “With Body and Soul: The Dance of the Chasidim”
(pp. 16–21), which recounts the contemporary practices of
Dancing and possession are closely interrelated. Three
Hasidic communities in Brooklyn, New York. A recent
dances are performed to honor each spirit, accompanied by
monograph that offers detailed description and analysis
songs and the playing of a drum ensemble. Rhythm acts as
based on first-hand observations is Gail Kligman’s Ca˘lu¸s:
a kind of supernatural intermediary and entices the spirits
Symbolic Transformation in Romanian Ritual (Chicago,
1981). A delightful account of traditional social life, which
themselves to dance. Each spirit has its own particular dances
includes a collection of song and narrative texts, is Alessandro
through which it reveals its power and aesthetic agility.
Falassi’s Folklore by the Fireside: Text and Context of the Tus-
Dancing is considered a ritual act on several levels. In one
can Veglia (Austin, 1980). A good introduction to the culture
sense, dancing is held to be a gift, performed by initiates as
of the Middle East written from an anthropological perspec-
an offering to please the spirits. In another sense, dancing is
tive is John Gulick’s The Middle East (Pacific Palisades,
believed to be a means of divine communication by which
Calif., 1976). This book contains useful annotated bibliogra-
a spirit imparts its essence or intentions to a devotee. On yet
phies after each chapter.
another level, dancing is transcendental, in that aesthetic ful-
There are very few sources on dance in the Middle East, but a
fillment has spiritual significance. Both humans and spirits
good overview is found in Lois Ibsen al-Faruqi’s “Dance as
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DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
2151
an Expression of Islamic Culture,” Dance Research Journal 10
chronologically and based their evaluations upon traditional
(Spring-Summer 1978): 6–13. Two short studies that con-
aesthetic criteria; and dance ethnologists and anthropologists
tain interesting history and illustrations are Metin And’s
who focused on the cultural role(s) and effects of dance.
“Dances of Anatolian Turkey,” Dance Perspectives 3 (1959):
Ironically, the historians and critics traditionally concentrat-
5–76, and Morroe Berger’s “The Arab Danse du Ventre,”
ed their research efforts on the West while the ethnologists
Dance Perspectives 10 (1961): 4–67. Two longer studies that
and anthropologists considered the non-western countries.
offer detailed descriptions and contextual information based
The now classic hierarchy of dance forms from ballet
on contemporary observations are Magda Ahmed Abdfel
Ghaffar Saleh’s A Documentation of the Ethnic Dance Tradi-
through ballroom continues to function. However, since
tions of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 2 vols., Ph.D. diss., New
1987 attention has been paid to the expanding universe in-
York University (Ann Arbor, 1979), and Shalom Staub’s The
spired by gender studies, cultural attitudes toward the body,
Yemenite Jewish Dance, M.A. thesis, Wesleyan University
and the inclusion of the marginalized—that is, those who for
(Ann Arbor, 1978).
reasons of race, ethnicity, gender, or class were omitted from
The classic work on the Shaker sect remains Edward Deming An-
earlier academic research and thereby the history of civiliza-
drew’s The Gift to Be Simple: Songs, Dances, and Rituals of the
tion. This transformation can be partially credited to the al-
American Shakers (New York, 1940). A revealing examina-
most simultaneous airing of the eight-part television series
tion of Afro-American art and the process of creolization,
Dancing! with its companion volume (1992) and the publi-
much of which is in relation to religion, can be found in
cation of the multi-volume International Encyclopedia of
Robert Farris Thompson’s Flash of the Spirit: African and
Dance (1998).
Afro-American Art and Philosophy (New York, 1981). A clas-
sic study in the field of Afro-American religion remains Al-
Throughout the 1990s, the oral history project of the
fred Métraux’s Voodoo in Haiti (New York, 1959).
Dance Collection of the New York Library for the Perform-
ing Arts has expanded its efforts into the collecting, support-
LEEELLEN FRIEDLAND (1987)
ing, and curatoring of the interviews, papers, ephemera, and
film related to both popular and folk dance. In particular,
the Dance Collection received funding support to coordinate
DANCE: POPULAR AND FOLK DANCE
with the Smithsonian Institution the videotaping of the
[FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
American Folklife Festivals.
Traditionally, dance scholarship has privileged classical and
As an artistic, religious, and social practice, popular and
theatrical dance over popular and social dance. Folk dance
folk dances generate a cultural and political identity for both
has been viewed since the nineteenth century as a special case
dancer(s) and audience. These forms of dance have garnered
study in expressions of group identity and of interest for spe-
the attention of folklorists, anthropologists, and historians of
cialists in folklore, mythology, and ritual. Popular dance has
religion who typically study the interrelations among the
been a study in class distinctions and in modes of transmis-
arts, mythology, and dance of indigenous peoples as a way
sion, especially with regard to the ever-widening forms of late
of learning and communicating cultural values and religious
twentieth-century mass media. The dearth of scholarly pub-
identity. Some expansions of the traditional boundaries of
lications related to popular and folk dance continues even
the interdisciplinary nature of the study of the religious con-
among dance ethnologists and anthropologists.
nections with folk and popular dance have expanded into the
Dance anthropologists Joanne W. Kealiinohomoku and
realms of American Studies, Performance and Display, Pop-
Adrienne Kaeppler and dance sociologists like Helen Thom-
ular Culture, and Religious Studies.
as, have found that dance—like language, art, and religion—
NEW PERSPECTIVES. Both from the perspective of religious
is found in all human societies. Popular and folk dances are
studies and dance theory, the primary objective is to remove
powerful forces in the shaping and experiencing of culture
the “stigma of entertainment” from any intellectual analysis
and values, but these terpsichorean modes are culturally dis-
of either social or folk dance. The varied interpretations of
tinct idioms, such as in Mircea Eliade’s discussion of the
the body and performance in contemporary scholarship may
ca˘lu¸suri (1985).
proffer a methodology for dance as kinesthetic modes for the
However, the fundamental difficulty for any form of ac-
politics of identity and difference. The category of “vernacu-
ademic research is that the vehicle for dance is the human
lar dance” (Spalding, 1995) has opened the borders within
body, so that the ephemeral nature of dance presents a diffi-
which dance had functioned and promises to re-shape the
culty for “objective” analysis, as do the varied cultural atti-
meaning and values of popular and folk dance for a new gen-
tudes toward the body. Further, all forms of popular dance,
eration of scholars.
whether as a formal social dance such as the waltz or as infor-
SEE ALSO Carnival; Folklore; Folk Religion, overview arti-
mal and fleeting as teenage dance crazes, are perceived more
cle; Performance and Ritual; Shakers; Vodou.
as an “entertainment” than as a historically significant sub-
ject for scholarly attention.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Into the 1980s, dance scholarship had been divided into
Carty, Hilary S. Folk Dances of Jamaica: An Insight. A Study of Five
two groups: dance historians and critics who operated
Folk Dances of Jamaica with Regard to the Origins, 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
2152
DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
Development, Contemporary Setting, and Dance Technique of
that the latter is closely tied to religion, while dance in the
Each. London, 1988.
West, especially theatrical dance, has developed outside reli-
Desmond, Jane C. Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of
gious institutions and often in opposition to them. Most of
Dance. Durham, N.C., 1997.
the major Asian dance–drama forms originated in religious
Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas, vol. 2. Translated by
contexts, involve religious themes, and, especially in the past,
Willard R. Trask. Chicago, 1986.
were often performed by religious practitioners. Outside Eu-
Erenberg, Lewis A. Swingin’ the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Re-
rope and Asia, dancing intended for presentation to an audi-
birth of American Culture. Chicago, 1998.
ence has been rare until recently and has usually taken place
Harris, Janice A., Anne Pittman, and Maryls S. Waller. Dance
in a religious context. Divine possession has often been a ve-
Awhile: Handbook of Folk, Square, Contra, and Social Dance.
hicle for quasi-theatrical performance.
6th edition. New York, 1988.
A dichotomy can also be discovered between the history
Herbst, Edward. Voices in Bali: Energies and Perceptions in Vocal
of Western dance on the one hand and that of Western
Music and Dance Theater. Hanover, N.H., 1997.
music, visual arts, and architecture on the other. While reli-
International Encyclopedia of Dance. 6 vols. New York, 1998.
gion provided a legitimate context and a source of patronage
Kaeppler, Adrienne Lois, Joanne W. Kealiinohomoku, and Cyn-
for the growth of other European arts, this was not the case
thia Novack. Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and
for dance. For the most part, the church not only did not
American Culture. Madison, Wis., 1990.
support dance, it vehemently opposed it.
Kaeppler, Adrienne Lois, Judy Van Zile, and Elizabeth Tatar.
Yet, such broad generalizations about the divorce of
Hula Pahu: Hawaiian Drum Dances. Honolulu, 1993.
dance from religion tend to obscure recognition of how in-
Mendoza, Zoila S. Shaping Society through Dance: Mestizo Ritual
fluential religion has in fact been. While direct religious in-
Performance in the Peruvian Andes. Chicago, 2000.
tent has been relatively rare, it has been strong in some peri-
Mohd, Anis Md. Nor. Zapin: Folk Dance of the Malay World. New
ods and for some choreographers. A few have been motivated
York, 1993.
to express their religious conviction in dance, and others have
Ness, Sally Ann. Body, Movement, and Culture: Kinesthetic and Vi-
sought in dance the wellsprings of spirituality. These chore-
sual Symbolism in a Philippine Community. Philadelphia,
ographers have often found inspiration in non-Western reli-
1992.
gions where the connection between the spirit and the body
Pearlman, Ellen. Tibetan Sacred Dance: A Journey into the Religious
is often a key principle. Whereas in earlier centuries myth
and Folk Traditions. Rochester, Vt., 2002.
and ritual were used as plot devices or as political metaphors,
Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Per-
often in recent decades the choreography has explored the
forming Diverse Identities. Seattle, Wash., 2001.
deeper dimensions of their symbolism.
Peterson, Betsy. The Changing Faces of Tradition: A Report on the
Religious content has entered Western theatrical dance
Folk and Traditional Arts in the United States. Washington,
D.C., 1996.
in a variety of ways, including (1) the use of biblical or folk-
loric religious themes; (2) the depiction of characters, rituals,
Phim, Toni Samantha, and Ashley Thompson. Dance in Cambo-
and myths of non-Judeo-Christian religions or of unortho-
dia. New York, 1999.
dox sects; (3) the influence of religious philosophies; (4) ex-
Shay, Anthony. Choreographic Politics: State Folk Dance Compa-
plorations of the concept of ritual or the stylizations of spe-
nies, Representation, and Power. Middletown, Conn., 2002.
cific rituals; (5) the enactment of myths or the probing of
Spalding, Susan Eike, and Jane Harris Woodside. Communities in
mythic symbolism; (6) the use of general religious concepts
Motion: Dance, Community, and Tradition in America’s
or central characters, events, or processes, such as Death,
Southeast and Beyond. Westport, Conn., 1995.
Creation, and the Devil; (7) plots involving supernatural
Thomas, Helen. The Body, Dance, and Cultural Theory. New
characters and stories; (8) the theme of religiously motivated
York, 2003.
sexual repression; (9) the use of religion as a device for ex-
Van Zile, Judy. Perspectives on Korean Dance. Middletown, Conn.,
ploring cultural identity; (10) explorations of altered states
2001.
of consciousness as often occurs in sacred dance; and (11)
Williams, Drid. Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures. Ur-
settings of the Mass as theatrical works. In addition, many
bana, Ill., 2004.
dance plots presuppose a knowledge of Judeo-Christian eth-
Zuhur, Sherifa, ed. Images of Enchantment: Visual and Performing
ics, symbolism, ritual, and history in order to be understood
Arts of the Middle East. Cairo, Egypt, 1998.
fully. Religion has also indirectly affected theatrical dance
DIANE APOSTOLOS-CAPPADONA (2005)
history by its varying attitudes toward dance, which have in-
cluded suppressing, supporting, and ignoring it.
Conflicting attitudes toward the human body and, by
DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL
extension, toward dancing have characterized all three of the
DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
major monotheistic religions in the West—Judaism, Chris-
A distinction often drawn between dance in the West (the
tianity, and Islam. Although the negative view has generally
Euramerican tradition) and dance in the rest of the world is
won out, alternative models and solutions constantly chal-
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DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2153
lenge any overwhelming orthodoxy. Biblical literature, for
transcend human suffering. Such lines as the following have
instance, provides both favorable and unfavorable pictures.
become a rallying point for other religious sects that wish to
On the one hand, there is the model of King David’s joyous
recognize sacred dance: “To the universe belongs the dancer.
dance before the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sm. 6:14–16); on
Whoever does not dance does not know what happens” (Acts
the other hand, there are the Israelites’ idolatrous dance
of John 95:16–17).
around the Golden Calf (Ex. 32:19) and Salome’s allegedly
Condemnation of dancing continued into the later
lascivious dance before King Herod (Mt. 14:6, Mk. 6:22).
Middle Ages. However, the inherent theatricality of the
Contradictory, too, are possible interpretations of the words
Christian liturgy, as well as of the biblical literature, could
of the apostle Paul. For instance, his statement that the
not be ignored. Dramatic performances were often elaborate,
“body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19) has been
sometimes involving processionals and dancing. Dance roles
interpreted as indicating the appropriateness of using the
tended to be comic or grotesque character parts. Starting
body in dance as a vehicle of worship and also as justification
around the twelfth century through about the fifteenth cen-
for condemning dance as a defilement of the “temple.” Am-
tury, plays were associated with Easter and Christmas. Cor-
biguity about the relation of body and soul has plagued Jews,
pus Christi festivals involved dancing, often by guild mem-
Christians, and Muslims alike, and has militated against the
bers or under government sponsorship. Los Seises, a ritual
acceptance of dancing.
dance performed by boy choristers, was initiated in Seville
Interestingly, some heterodoxies in monotheistic reli-
and is still performed today. The Pelota of Auxerre is thought
gions have incorporated dance as a major focus of expres-
to have been a complex dance in which the clergy passed a
sion—the gnostic sects of early Christianity, the Sufis in
ball among themselves along the stations of a labyrinth.
Islam, the Hasidim of Judaism, and the Shakers of American
Dances moving along the paths of labyrinths on the floors
Christianity. The Mormons are unusual in their embrace of
of cathedrals, such as the one at Chartres, were also integrat-
dancing as both a social and theatrical experience.
ed into the liturgy.
There has been more interrelationship between religion
Dancing in both a recreational and performance context
and theatrical dance in the twentieth century, in quantity as
took place mostly outside the church, often in conjunction
well as in diversity of expression, than at any other time.
with local saint days and religious festivals. Christmas was
With organized religions in general neither condemning nor
particularly enlivened by popular dancing often involving
supporting dance, perhaps dance has been freer to adopt reli-
mumming, a practice that still accompanies this holiday in
gious themes without political ties or negative consequences.
parts of the United Kingdom and in North and South Amer-
Perhaps the apparent secularization of society has rendered
ica. The Feast of Fools provided the opportunity for bur-
religious themes more neutral raw material. On the other
lesques of the established church. Many of the celebrations
hand, the growing popularity of dance has made this medi-
on these holidays had pagan roots, providing further reason
um of expression more acceptable in religious contexts. In
for official condemnation.
addition, while primarily growing up outside of religious in-
stitutions, theatrical dance in the twentieth century has re-
The miracle, mystery, and morality plays of the Middle
turned to the church and synagogue in the burgeoning litur-
Ages were performed in the churchyards and contained some
gical or sacred dance movement.
of the beginnings of professional dance. The dancing parts
tended to be fools, shepherds, and demons. The Devil was
EARLY CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGES. The
often blamed for inventing dancing, and it is the Devil who
strongest evidence that there was dancing connected with re-
was one of the most danced characters. Minstrels, jongleurs,
ligion in the early Christian church is the persistent condem-
and other traveling performers of this period often included
nation of dance chronicled in the writings of over six hun-
acrobatics, mime, and dancing in their performances. Pag-
dred years of church councils. At this time, dancing was
eants included tableaux vivants depicting biblical scenes.
particularly associated with ceremonies at the shrines of
While generally not dance per se, they involved the commu-
martyrs.
nication of meaning through postures and movement rather
The disdain of the church for dancing stemmed in part
than through words. The Dance of Death was a pervasive vi-
from the state of dancing at the time. Much of the refine-
sual and literary symbol.
ment of Greek and Roman dance and theater had degenerat-
Social dancing was practiced in the feudal manors of the
ed into generally bawdy mime and acrobatic shows, or else
Middle Ages, and performances including dancing began to
the dancing had become associated with pagan rituals. The
enter the courts toward the end of the period. However, it
church even refused baptism to performers. A growing asceti-
was in the courts of Renaissance Europe that the roots of the-
cism further divorced Christianity from dance. In addition,
atrical dancing emerged, roots not directly linked to religion,
certain heretical movements incorporated dance into their
but affected by religious ideas in indirect ways.
liturgy, further fueling orthodoxy’s condemnation of it. For
instance, the gnostic sects enacted the “Round Dance of the
RENAISSANCE. With the rediscovery of classical antiquity
Cross” from the Acts of John as an actual sacred ritual dance
during the Renaissance came a desire to discover the relation-
that enabled the participants to identify with Christ and to
ship between Greek philosophy and dance. Renaissance
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DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
courtiers viewed dance as a medium that could express cos-
model of cosmic harmony. Dance was elevated to the status
mological, moral, and political principles. Aristotelian ethical
of an ethical ideal. Political concepts were couched in mytho-
theory, Plato’s mystical geometry, and Neoplatonist ideas of
logical themes that were revealed in dance.
love were exemplified in dance. While dance in the Renais-
During the Renaissance, Tanzhausen were important in-
sance was for the most part composed of simple patterns of
stitutions in the Jewish ghettos of northern Europe. They
stepping, there was also an emphasis on elaborate spatial for-
fostered many choreographers, then called “dance masters,”
mations. Much like the members of a contemporary march-
who traveled throughout Europe, often arranging dances at
ing band at a football game, the performers constantly creat-
various courts. The best-documented Jewish dance master
ed floor patterns that they skillfully transmuted to other
was, however, a product of the court tradition of southern
patterns. To the Renaissance dancer and spectator, the geo-
Europe: Guglielmo Ebreo (William the Jew of Pisaro) is the
metrical figures that were formed had symbolic significance:
author of one of the earliest extant dance manuals, dating
the dissolution of the patterns revealed the mutability of na-
from the mid-fifteenth century.
ture, but underlying these shapes and changes was a grand
unifying order emanating from God. The patterns of the
In the later Renaissance and early Baroque period in
dancing were interpreted in different ways. For example, in
Italy, ballet developed in conjunction with the growth of
cosmological terms, they might reveal the harmony of nature
opera. Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
as in the cycles of the heavenly bodies; in moral terms, they
(1624) featured a duel between the Christian crusader
might exemplify order and virtue and the resolution of ex-
Tancredi and the disguised Muslim maiden Clorinda whom
tremes; and in political terms they might demonstrate the
he loved. He kills her, and as she lies dying she asks for bap-
court’s control over these cosmic patterns. It was felt that
tism. The same theme has been treated by others, most nota-
dancing helped create order within the individual’s soul and
bly by the American choreographer William Dollar in his
thereby could promote order and peace in political affairs as
1949 ballet The Duel.
well. Dance linked the political, moral, and cosmological or-
With the rise of Protestantism, the opposition to danc-
ders in an inseparable cycle. Dance did not just portray ritu-
ing grew and was taken to extremes in Calvinist contexts. Al-
al, it was felt to affect the cosmic and mundane realms of ex-
though the Puritan condemnation of dance was not so vehe-
istence.
ment or all-encompassing as often painted, it was strong
The dance-plays had primarily mythological themes.
enough to squelch much social dancing and to thwart theat-
The best-documented ballet of this period, Le ballet comique
rical dancing in America and in some strongly Calvinist
de la reine (1581), related the triumph of Minerva (Wisdom)
countries in Europe.
and Jupiter (Virtue) over the evil Circe. The king is seen as
The objection was especially strong to “mixed” or cou-
her ultimate conqueror, restoring the cosmos to peace. An-
ple dancing and to women appearing on the stage. Such am-
other important later work has a historical theme relating to
bivalance toward dance persists to the present and was dra-
Christianity. In Le deliverance de Renaud (1617), the Chris-
matically represented until well into the twentieth century
tian crusader Renaud is seduced away from battle by the en-
in the United States in the so-called blue laws, which prohib-
chantress Armide. Subsequently, the Christians lose, but Ar-
ited dancing and similar activities on Sunday. From the eigh-
mide’s powers fail and Renaud is able to escape and liberate
teenth century into the twentieth, dance performances often
Jerusalem. The plot was interpreted as an allegory for the
had to be billed as lectures or sacred concerts. Puritanical re-
king freeing France from chaos.
pression of the body and dancing has been a theme in several
Thus although in European history dance has often
twentieth-century choreographies, especially in the works of
been associated with immorality, the Renaissance also of-
Martha Graham.
fered an alternative interpretation: the conception of dance
BAROQUE AND PRE-ROMANTIC PERIODS. It is in the French
as virtue. There are examples of this attitude in antiquity, in
court of Louis XIV (r. 1643–1714), called the Sun King, that
the writings of Plato and Cicero, for instance, but a fuller de-
theatrical dance germinated. In numerous court pageants the
velopment of this theme blossomed in the sixteenth century
king himself was the star dancer, and his favorite role was
with the developing concept of the gentleman. Sir Thomas
Apollo, the personification of the sun. The subject matter of
Elyot’s Boke Named the Governour (1531) and Sir John Da-
court ballets continued to be mythological or pastoral, and
vies’s poem Orchestra (1594), among other works, reveal this
the message was still a political one. Professional dancers
perspective. Adapting the concept of correspondences, they
began to appear, and with the establishment of the Paris
discovered the symbolic relationship between dance and par-
Opéra, ballet finally left the confines of the court. With the
ticular virtues or states of being. Elyot associated dance with
evolution of the proscenium stage, the figure-based style of
prudence, reason, and order. Particular dance movements
the Renaissance with its attendant symbolism was no longer
were analyzed for their moral symbolism. Davies saw the cor-
viable; the frontal view of the body was the focus. The ballet
respondence between dance and chastity and marriage in
vocabulary rapidly expanded in this context. The aesthetic
contradistinction to the usual correlation between dance and
still had a moral overtone; complaisance, an air of refined con-
lust. Both authors describe couple dancing in terms of a
straint, was the ideal.
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DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FIRST EDITION]
2155
Religious institutions were also directly involved in the
themes from exotic lands and medieval times, grand visual
ballet of the Baroque period in the form of the performances
spectacles, and sometimes characters drawn from life rather
regularly produced by the Jesuit colleges. These colleges were
than from mythology or antiquity. The boulevard theater
not seminaries, but rather institutions of higher secular edu-
also discovered the potential for spectacle in biblical themes,
cation. Unlike most other orders, the Jesuits embraced dance
producing such ballets and pantomimes as Samson, Suzanne
as divertissements honnêtes. They performed plays at different
et les vieillards, Daniel, and David et Goliath during the peri-
times throughout the year, but the principal event was dur-
od from 1816 to 1838. Many of the production techniques
ing graduation. They generally staged a five-act tragedy with
and themes of this Theater of Marvels were adopted and re-
a biblical, classical, or national theme. A four-act ballet was
fined at the Opéra.
performed between the acts of the play. The ballets were
One curiosity of this period was the highly popular,
sometimes loosely connected to the play, but they did not
somewhat sacrilegious, political satire The Ballet of the Pope
deal overtly with religious themes, favoring the Greek
(1797) by Dominique Le Fevre, performed at La Scala in
mythological or allegorical plots prevalent also in the court
Milan. The choreographer danced the role of Pope Pius VI,
and opera ballets. They were performed in the colleges
who engaged in most unpopelike behavior. An important
throughout Europe by the students and were immensely
work of this period was Salvatore Viganó’s La vestale (1818),
popular. They served as a welcome relief from the heaviness
which told the story of the forbidden love of a Roman Vestal
of the often obscure Latin rhetoric of the plays. In Paris the
Virgin, ending in the dual murder of the two would-be lov-
students were joined by the most famous dancers of the Paris
ers. Pierre Gardel’s L’enfant prodigue (1812) was perhaps the
Opéra, and the ballets were choreographed by the same pre-
first of a long succession of interpretations of this story.
eminent dance masters, such as Pierre Beauchamps and
Louis Pécour, who created the masterpieces of the secular
THE ROMANTIC BALLET. With the rise of romanticism in
theater.
the arts, another type of religious theme entered ballet. The
beginnings of the Romantic ballet are commonly traced to
The ballets were often veiled social and political com-
the 1831 opera Robert le diable in which Marie Taglioni, the
mentaries couched in mythological terms. Themes ranged
dancer who was to become the quintessential ethereal balleri-
from “Crowns,” a depiction of methods of royal succession,
na, led a group of the spirits of nuns in a supernatural scene.
to “The History of Dance,” an apologia for dance, to “The
The development of ballet technique, especially the begin-
Empire of Fate,” a critique of the doctrine of predestination
ning of pointe work, created a mechanism to promote the
promoted by the Jansenists, a group that was ultimately to
otherworldly ideals of romanticism. La sylphide (1832) and
cause the downfall of the Jesuits in the mid-eighteenth centu-
Giselle (1841), versions of which are still widely performed,
ry. Dancing was compatible with the Christian humanist,
are considered the epitomes of romanticism in ballet. Both
this-worldly orientation of the Jesuit order. Their ballets dif-
exist in a context of the depiction of otherworldly spirits and
fered from their secularly sponsored counterparts in having
the desire to escape from this-worldly reality. Because of the
no female performers or romantic plots and in always having
Romantic emphasis on emotionalism, subjectivity, malaise,
a moral point.
and the attraction to ungovernable forces, this aesthetic trend
has often been labeled as un-Christian. Yet a pervasive theme
Dance also developed in England, where choreogra-
is the contrasting of these uncontrolled states with the tran-
pher-scholars like John Weaver (1673–1760) debated the
quility and harmony of nature and Christian values.
significance of the dance. The French choreographer Jean-
Georges Noverre (1727–1810) shared similar concerns with
Overtly religious themes were rare, but Christian ethics
Weaver, and both were instrumental in the development of
were pervasive. The conflict between Christian values and
ballet d’action, which led into another phase of dance history,
the supernatural or wild unknown was displayed in many
the pre-Romantic. The characters were still mythological or
guises. The Romantic litterateur Théophile Gautier charac-
pastoral, but rather than being merely allegorical symbols,
terized the two leading ballerinas of his day, Marie Taglioni
they often displayed emotions and showed some sense of
and Fanny Elssler, respectively, as a Christian and a pagan
characterization. Important ballets of this period were the
dancer, referring to the virginal ethereality of the former and
mythologically based The Loves of Mars and Venus (1717) of
the voluptuous passion of the latter. The roles available to
Weaver and Noverre’s Medea and Jason (1763). It was the
the Romantic ballerina in this era also reflected this kind of
Age of Reason, and theatrical dance also emulated these
dichotomy: supernatural wood and water nymphs alternated
ideals.
with female bandits, gypsies, and exotic temptresses. Plots
often contrasted the two.
The French Revolution affected the development of bal-
let in several ways. For one, it dispersed many of its aristo-
In Giselle, the peasant girl is betrayed by an aristocratic
cratic dancers to other countries, including the United
suitor, goes mad, and dies, joining the ranks of avenging
States, where theatrical dancing ran up against Puritan dis-
wilis, spirits who dance men to death. At one point, Giselle
dain. At this time, too, a different energy was at work outside
protects her lover by shielding him against the cross on her
the Opéra in the boulevard theaters of Paris. Catering to the
tomb. Thus, religious symbolism often entered the ballet in
middle class, they featured comic, acrobatic movements,
incidental or subtle ways. The Devil also showed up in many
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Romantic ballets—for example, Le Diable boiteux (1836)
ing women’s legs. Ballet became more the province of the
and Le violin du Diable (1849).
music hall. However, the evolution of ballet continued in
Russia, where the great classical ballets Swan Lake (1895),
Another variation of the Romantic ballet thrived in
The Nutcracker (1892), and Sleeping Beauty (1890) were cho-
Denmark under the choreographer Auguste Bournonville
reographed. The themes were primarily fairy tales or exotic
(1805–1879). His ballets also reveal the fascination with the
spectacles, but the choreographic quality of the works of
supernatural and the exotic, but Bournonville emphasized
Marius Petipa (1818–1910) and Lev Ivanov (1834–1901) el-
the optimistic and harmonic aspects of the Romantic spirit,
evated the genre. Few ballets from this period are extant, but
for the most part eschewing the darker emotionalism of the
it seems that very few had more than a gloss of religious sig-
Romantic ballets in France, England, and Russia. Contem-
nificance. Thus, Petipa’s La bayadère (1877) continues a tra-
porary Danish dance critic Erik Aschengreen noted:
dition of depicting Hindu priests and temple dancers, and
“Bournonville’s ballets rest on the idea of spiritual aspiration,
his La fille du pharon (1862) depicts his notion of Egyptian
with poetry and beauty as important qualities and with
religion. Ironically, Ivanov’s The Nutcracker, and the many
Christianity as the conqueror of all dissonances” (Aschengr-
versions of this work rechoreographed by others, has become
een, 1979, p. 111).
almost synonymous with Christmas. It takes place at a
While rarely dealing with religious subject matter per se,
Christmas party, but it has no Christian significance per se
Bournonville’s ballets are suffused with Christian values and
although it involves religious phenomena such as magical
symbolism. His ballets contrast social harmony with uncon-
transformation. It is probably performed by more companies
trolled forces outside society. Christian symbols often are the
in more performances all over the world than any other work
devices that effect the triumph of human values over the dan-
and might be said to be a symbol of the secular Christmas.
ger of the irrational. He often uses two women (or one
DELSARTE. During the nineteenth century, another trend
woman in two transformations) as a device for contrasting
with religious overtones was developing that was to have pro-
the rational and irrational, Christian and pagan. A striking
found impact on the growth of twentieth-century dance.
example of this is in his extant ballet A Folk Tale (1854). This
François Delsarte (1811–1871) developed a system for ana-
is the story of the human baby Hilda who was snatched from
lyzing and explaining the source of expression in movement,
her cradle and replaced by the troll baby Birthe. Each grows
especially as it relates to singing, acting, and oratory. In the
up unaware of the truth. Birthe struggles to conform to the
United States, a primary application was to dance. Underly-
human world, but bursts of temper and uncontrolled and
ing his quasi-scientific categorization of movement possibili-
vulgar movements reveal her troll nature. Hilda, on the other
ties and their meanings are two basic laws. The Law of Corre-
hand, instinctively bows to church bells in the distance and
spondence states, “To each spiritual function responds a
fashions herself a cross from sticks. Her calm nature soothes
function of the body; to each grand function of the body cor-
the chaos around her. The ballet ends happily with each
responds a spiritual act.” The Law of Trinity led him to di-
character acknowledging the rightness of remaining true to
vide all nature, and therefore movement too, into a series of
one’s nature. A wedding, the sanctioning of love by the
triads. For instance, he presented the following series:
church, ends this ballet, as in many other Romantic works.
In Napoli (1842) and The Flower Festival in Genzano (1858),
Life
Soul
Mind
the heroine invokes the aid of the Madonna. In Napoli, for
Physical
Emotional
Mental
instance, the heroine is saved from her transformation into
Ease
Coordination
Precision
a sea nymph by an amulet of the Virgin Mary.
Motion
Space
Time
Energy
Love
Wisdom
The theme of another ballet, Arcona (1875), is overtly
Christian—a chronicle of the christianization of the Slavs in
There were three corresponding zones of the body: limbs (or
Denmark. The heroine is about to be initiated into the pagan
lower torso), torso (or upper torso), and head. Each body
religion when she sees the cross worn by a Danish prisoner.
part could be further subdivided into three areas, each of
Bournonville’s libretto states: “No sooner has Hella hung the
which replicated the physical, emotional, and mental layer-
cross around her neck . . . than her whole being is suffused
ing. Thus, which body part one used, in conjunction with
with a religious feeling hitherto unknown to her” (McAn-
which other parts, in what section of space determined the
drews, 1982–1983, p. 330). She proceeds to free the Chris-
expressive message of the movement. Outgrowths of Del-
tian prisoner. In Bournonville’s La sylphide (1836), which is
sarte’s work were the art of statue-posing, in which the per-
still his most widely performed work, the hero’s rejection of
formers created tableaux vivants according to Delsartean
home to quest after the sylphide results in his losing every-
principles; aesthetic gymnastics, a form of physical fitness for
thing, an example of how the choreographer contrasted the
Victorian women; and pantomiming of poetry. These forms
virtues of the Christian home with the disruptive forces of
of performance were precursors of modern dance.
the nonsocial.
To some followers of Delsarte, the system was “the basis
CLASSICAL BALLET. The Romantic ballet began to decline
of a new religious education, destined to perfect the children
in Europe and the United States, and the values changed to
of men . . . and redeem the earth” (quoted in Ruyter, 1979,
promote spectacles that were often merely vehicles for flaunt-
p. 20). An underlying idea was that since man was made in
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the likeness of God, then his movements must inherently re-
emphasized spiritual intent. In her later years, she was able
veal God. The three great precursors of twentieth-century
to fulfill some of her dreams to create religious theatrical
dance—Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn—
dancing, becoming the first major choreographer to develop
were explicitly influenced by Delsartean philosophy, and
liturgical dance.
through their teachings Delsarte indirectly affected the first
In St. Denis’s biography, appropriately titled Divine
generation of modern dancers.
Dancer, a distinction between her own and Duncan’s views
EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY MODERN DANCE. Isadora
on dance in relation to religion is succinctly phrased as fol-
Duncan (1878–1927) is usually credited with pioneering the
lows: “[Duncan and St. Denis] followed the polar paths of
break with the past and ushering in a twentieth-century
mysticism: one, seeking the Self in the Universe; the other,
dance form. She discarded what she felt was the artifice and
seeking the Universe in the Self. St. Denis . . . probed to-
vulgarity of the theatrical dance that surrounded her and
ward an unseen center, cultivating an interior space. Duncan
looked to an idealized conception of Greek spirit embodied
. . . created an expanding consciousness that seemed to con-
in dance. She found her models also in nature, as in the
sume the cosmos” (Shelton, 1981, p. 97).
curves and flow of waves and shells. She drew on Delsartean
From childhood St. Denis had been exposed to various
principles and philosophy, but she also developed her own
forms of spiritual philosophy, from “American Transcenden-
ideas, which were impregnated with religion and politics.
talism to Swedenborgian mysticism of her parents’ Eagles-
Through dance she believed that one could liberate not only
wood colony, to her explorations of Christian Science and,
the body but also the soul. One could become united with
ultimately, the Vedanta” (Shelton, 1981, p. 93). Her dance
nature, and nature was sacred. She wrote: “This is the highest
was deeply influenced by Delsartean principles both in the
expression of religion in the dance: that a human body
techniques of movement and in her belief in the correspon-
should no longer seem human but become transmuted into
dence between the physical and the metaphysical. She be-
the movements of the stars” (quoted in Pruett, 1982, p. 57).
lieved that “the Creative Dancer is always striving to give ex-
She found inspiration in the writings of the philosopher
pression to Divine Intelligence” (quoted in Cohen, 1974,
Friedrich Nietzsche, often quoting his statement: “Let that
p. 134) and that “dancing is a living mantra” (quoted in
day be called lost on which I have not danced” (Duncan,
Shelton, 1981, p. 244).
1928, p. 77). She was fascinated by his distinction between
As early as St. Denis’s first concert, she choreographed
the Apollonian and the Dionysian. She wanted the audience
works based on Eastern religions. In Radha (1906) she was
to experience her work as more than entertainment, as par-
a goddess surrounded by worshiping priests. She danced a
ticipation in her “invocation.”
solo built on each of the five senses, culminating in a final
She searched for inspiration in Greek antiquity. She
dance in which she renounced all sensuality, ending in the
contemplated the Parthenon and sought a dance form that
yogic Lotus Position, lost in sama¯dhi (meditative trance).
would be worthy of this temple. When she found it, she ex-
Her costume featured a bare midriff, and even more daring,
claimed, “And then I knew I had found my dance, and it was
she danced in bare feet. Other of her signature works were
a Prayer” (Duncan, 1928, p. 65). Her dancing was composed
Incense (1906), in which she performed a pu¯ja¯ ritual, and The
of simple runs, skips, and walks, often accompanied by ges-
Yogi (1908), based on a passage from the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯,
tures pregnant with meaning. Although one of her best-
which was a very austere unfolding of a few simple gestures
known pieces was Ave Maria (1914), her dances rarely had
revealing a yogin’s spiritual state. She also danced White Jade,
overtly religious themes.
in which she portrayed Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of
mercy, and in other dances she took the roles of various god-
The next major figures of twentieth-century dance were
desses (Isis, Ishtar, et al.) and biblical heroines. In her later
Ruth St. Denis (1879–1968) and Ted Shawn (1891–1972),
years, she danced Madonnas. She presented pageants in
her husband. Out of Denishawn, their school and company,
churches and theaters dancing the role of the Virgin in
came the three most influential pioneers of modern dance:
Masque of Mary (1934), Ballet of Christmas Hymns, and Heal-
Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman.
ing. In the Blue Madonna of St. Mark’s she portrayed Mary’s
Not only were St. Denis and Shawn seminal in the develop-
life from the birth of Christ to the crucifixion. She was eighty
ment of modern dance but they were also the most directly
years old at its premiere. In the “He Is Risen” section of Res-
involved in exploring the relationship between religion and
urrection, she danced Mary Magdelen. She formed the Soci-
dance in their choreography and in their teachings—and
ety of Spiritual Acts, a Christian Science discussion group for
both pioneered the return of dance to the church.
which she choreographed dances based on religious themes.
Out of this grew her Rhythmic Choir, which performed in
St. Denis (born Ruth Dennis) ransacked the world’s
churches.
dances searching not only for visually exciting forms but in-
sight into the use of dance in religion that was so prevalent
Edward (Ted) Shawn had studied to be a Methodist
outside the West. While the religious intent of her choreog-
minister but found dance instead. He described the basis for
raphy was so often buried in the spectacle of her perfor-
the Shawn-St. Denis relationship as follows: “She, pursuing
mances in the vaudeville circuit, her writings and teachings
the dance upstream to its source, found there religion, and
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I, pursuing religion upstream, found the dance was the first
L’après-midi d’un faune (1912), which predates Horst, and
and finest means of religious expression, and so we have wed-
in Paul Taylor’s Profiles (1979). The stylization of religious
ded artistically and humanly ever since” (Shawn, 1926,
ecstasy has characterized the many versions of The Rite of
p. 12). In a taped interview he explained his calling as fol-
Spring. Horst worked with almost all the early modern danc-
lows: “I feel my whole life as a dancer has been a ministry
ers, but he had an especially close collaboration with Martha
. . . because it includes in it every attribute of God; it has
Graham.
lightness and rhythm and proportion and expressiveness
. . . the only way you can describe God is to describe him
Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham. Nurtured by
in the terms of a great dancer.” He often quoted Nietzsche’s
“Miss Ruth’s” spiritual lectures and later influence by Horst’s
comment, “I could not believe in a God who did not know
methodology and theories of movement style, the two great
how to dance.” He was more directly Christian in his intent
pioneers of American modern dance, Martha Graham
and choice of themes, while St. Denis was immersed in East-
(1894–1991) and Doris Humphrey (1895–1958), brought
ern religions and mystical philosophy.
to their independent careers Delsartean principles and reli-
gious themes. During the early period of modern dance, in
Among his many works were Brothers Bernard, Law-
the late 1920s and the 1930s, ritual was a common theme.
rence, and Masseo: Three Varieties of Religious Experience; O
Two classics are Graham’s Primitive Mysteries (1931) and
Brother Sun and Sister Moon, a Study of Francis of Assisi;
Humphrey’s The Shakers (1931). The former was inspired
Dance of the Redeemed, inspired by religious visual arts such
by the rituals of the Native American Christians of the south-
as William Blake’s illustrations for the Book of Job; and
western United States. It is an abstraction of the passion play
Mevlevi Dervish. He often incorporated the dancing of the
as seen through the experience of the Virgin Mary. The three
Doxology into his concerts.
sections—“Hymn to the Virgin” (adoration), “Crucifixus”
(Virgin’s grief), and “Hosannah” (exaltation)—are punctuat-
The religious import of St. Denis’s dances was usually
ed at the beginnings and ends by processions of the Virgin
lost to the audience, which saw only exotic spectacle. Realiz-
and her attendants, composed of weighted, solemn step-
ing this, Shawn and later St. Denis turned to explicit Chris-
pings. Processions are a frequent device in Graham’s works,
tian themes and contexts. As early as 1917, Shawn choreo-
and they lend to virtually any theme a ritualistic quality. In
graphed an entire church service held in the Scottish Rite
the same year, The Shakers depicted the essence of the dance
Temple of San Francisco. (In 1921 the same work was cen-
ritual of the American religious sect, the Shakers, who used
sured by the local clergy and the commissioner of public safe-
dance and song as their primary modes of worship. Both
ty of Shreveport, Louisiana.)
works created fictitious rituals based on actual sources.
An accompanist and composer for Denishawn was to
Religious themes per se were not common in Hum-
become a major force in shaping American modern dance
phrey’s choreography or that of her colleague Charles Weid-
choreography. Louis Horst (1884–1964) became mentor to
man (1901–1975). Their choreography was, however, reli-
at least two generations of modern dancers. He developed a
gious in the wider sense of showing a concern for the
systematic method for composing dances, using musical
fundamental issues of human life. For instance, Humphrey
composition as a guide to teach dancers about form and
described her New Dance (1935) trilogy as having the theme
style. One of his choreographic devices was based on “mod-
of the relationship of man to man. To her, New Dance repre-
ern dance forms,” that is, stylistic models garnered from the
sented “the world as it should be, where each person has a
arts of an era and translated into dance. What he called Prim-
clear and harmonious relationship to his fellow beings”
itivism embraced two styles, Earth Primitive and Air Primi-
(quoted in Cohen, 1972, p. 137). It conveys its message
tive. Both were characterized by awkward asymmetrical
without overt narrative; it is through the organization and
movements, the former revealing a sense of vitality, the latter
disorganization of group relationships that the theme is de-
of awe. The Archaic style was conceived of as ritualistic, and
veloped.
the movement style was based on Egyptian and Greek bas-
reliefs. Medievalism had two aspects, religious and secular.
Humphrey’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (1938)
It included the symbolism of denial of the flesh as revealed
is a plotless work to Bach’s music. However, she found in
in off-balance, distorted postures. The ecstasy of saints and
the music religious import that colored the dance. For in-
the exuberance of courtly love and minstrelsy were the es-
stance, in a program note she points out that the “minor mel-
sence of secular life. In Horst’s outline, the nineteenth and
ody . . . seems to say ‘How can a man be saved and be con-
twentieth centuries were characterized by Introspection/
tent in a world of infinite despair?’” (quoted in Cohen, 1972,
Expression, Cerebralism, Jazz, Americana, and Impression-
p. 149). Dancing to Bach was highly controversial. Even his
ism. Primitivism, the Archaic, and Medievalism took clues
secular music has been interpreted as being suffused with
from visual arts and music, and all had religious connota-
spirituality. One of Humphrey’s earliest pieces was to Bach’s
tions. Those themes have been repeated throughout twenti-
so-called Air for the G String (1929), which consists of a
eth-century modern dance and ballet, whether or not directly
group of women with a leader who basically walk, pose, dip,
as a result of Horst’s teaching. Stylized gestures have often
and sway in sumptuous draperies inspired by the paintings
been used to evoke an archaic context, as in Nijinksy’s
of Fra Angelico. Although there is no plot or context, the
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costumery, music, and the rapturous poses (often in Gothic
Embattled Garden (1958), a major retelling of the Adam-
sway as in sculptures of the Madonna), suggest a pious ritual.
Eve-Lilith myth; and Lucifer (1975). A major historical
Humphrey later defended her use of Bach, especially in the
work, Seraphic Dialogue (1955), is based on the story of Joan
context of World War II, by stating: “Now is the time for
of Arc. The characters are Saint Michael, Saint Catherine,
me to tell of the nobility that the human spirit is capable of”
Saint Margaret, and Joan at the moment of canonization.
(quoted in Cohen, 1972, p. 243). Choreographers continue
Joan recalls the three facets of her life as the Maid, the War-
to use Bach as a means of lending a spiritual aura to their
rior, and the Martyr.
works. In later years Weidman choreographed Christmas Or-
Graham uses religious themes as a device for probing
atorio (1961), Easter Oratorio (1967), and Bach’s St. Mat-
psychological dimensions. She treats mythology as the psy-
thew’s Passion (1973).
chology of another age and seeks to reveal the “inner land-
It is impossible to look at Martha Graham’s towering
scapes” of the human psyche in her dance. Even in her less
sixty-year career without considering the role of religion. Her
frequent plotless works there are religious reverberations. Di-
work can be seen as falling into several periods. Her earliest
version of Angels (1948) is a rare lyrical and joyful work for
works were stark, ascetic, often ritualistic pieces. She later
four couples and three solo women, yet at the end the soloist
turned to more narrative works, exploring facets of female
in white is crowned with the splayed fingers of a symbol of
psychology and aspects of Americana. In the 1940s she began
benediction. The title of Acrobats of God (1960), derived
her epic treatment of mythological and biblical themes,
from the name of a group of early church fathers who lived
which has continued for forty more years. Almost all her
in the desert, alludes to a comparison of the ascetic spiritual
early works are lost, but some of their titles are suggestive:
life of the Desert Fathers to the arduous training of dancers.
Figure of a Saint, Resurrection, Vision of the Apocalypse, Here-
Both works celebrate the dancer, and their titles may reveal
tic, all choreographed in 1929, stand out among other titles.
Graham’s conception of their superhuman quality. In the
last section of the abstract Acts of Light (1981), the “Ritual
El penitente (1940), inspired by the Spanish-Indian fla-
of the Sun” is evoked by the stylization of a technique class.
gellant sects of the American Southwest, is the depiction of
Christ’s journey to Calvary as performed by a troup of tour-
Other first-generation American modern dance cho-
ing players. Appalachian Spring (1944) is the story of a wed-
reographers. Two other pioneers were Lester Horton
ding in the nineteenth-century frontier. The figure of the Re-
(1906–1953) and Helen Tamiris (1905–1966). Very few of
vivalist who weds the couple is a crystallization of one aspect
their works survive. Horton often used themes from other
of American religion. The ambivalence about physical enjoy-
cultures that were inherently religious: Siva-Siva (1929),
ment (whether in the sexual connotations of marriage or in
Voodoo Ceremonial (1932), Sun Ritual (1935), and Pentecost
the abandonment of dance and play) is expressed in the Re-
(1935) are examples of works utilizing such themes. His
vivalist’s movements. He dances a tormented solo of self-
three best-known works all have religious themes: Salomé
condemnation characterized by crawling on his knees, breast
(several versions from 1934 to 1950), Le sacre du printemps
beating, and fervent praying. The moralistic dilemma of am-
(1937), and The Beloved (1948). The Beloved is still in active
bivalence toward sexuality is explored in many of Graham’s
repertory. Although it is not expressly religious, it is an exam-
works, especially in her treatment of women, such as in her
ple of the theme of sexual repression implicitly derived from
American Provincials: Act of Piety, Act of Judgment and the
religious beliefs. It is a duet for a husband and wife. The
Scarlet Letter. In Graham’s Letter to the World (1940), the
man, outwardly a symbol of rectitude, proceeds to manipu-
poet Emily Dickinson battles repression as personified in an
late and then to strangle his wife, who presumably is guilty
ancestress figure. Graham’s family was staunchly Presbyteri-
of a sexual transgression.
an, and her father had objected to dancing for moral reasons.
Tamiris (born Becker) choreographed many works of
social protest. She is best known for her Negro Spirituals.
Graham’s Dark Meadow (1946) is a ritual of rebirth and
This is a suite of dances (solos and group pieces) to which
procreation with strong erotic overtones and pervasive Jun-
she added over a period of fifteen years beginning in 1928.
gian and Freudian symbolism. Archetypal characters, such as
She is credited as the first to use black spirituals. Negro Spiri-
She of the Ground (representing the female principle), dance
tuals is set to music representing a gamut of moods. Partially
a myth of rebirth. There are allusions to the worship of phal-
pantomimic in degrees of abstraction, each piece is a distilla-
lic monuments and to sacrifice in the name of fertility. Her
tion of a theme. The crucifixion section, for instance, was
monumental works based on Greek mythology include Cave
inspired by the visual imagery of medieval religious paint-
of the Heart (1946), retelling the Medea legend; Night Jour-
ings. Her goal was to reveal the human side of suffering, op-
ney (1947), the Oedipus story through the experience of Jo-
pression, and joy. Ted Shawn also choreographed Negro
casta; the full length Clytemnestra (1958); and Cortege of Ea-
Spirituals in 1933, and the theme became very popular
gles (1967), the story of Hecuba; and lesser-known works,
among black choreographers beginning with Alvin Ailey’s
such as Phaedra (1962), Circe (1963), and Andromache’s La-
Revelations (1960).
ment (1982). Other biblical works include Herodiade, the Sa-
lome story as seen through the psyche of her mother; Judith
Central European modern dance. In Europe, another
(1950) and Legend of Judith (1962); Gospel of Eve (1950);
approach to modern dance developed. The foremost figure
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there was Rudolf Laban (1879–1958), better remembered
this philosophy. Gurdjieff, influenced by Sufism, developed
today for his theoretical work (now called Laban Movement
dancelike movement exercises designed to effect certain mys-
Analysis) and the development of a dance notation system
tical states. The work of Steiner and Gurdjieff was part of
(Labanotation or Kinetography Laban), than for his chore-
a tradition that centered on the belief that mystical knowl-
ography, which has been lost. Laban believed in the spiritual
edge could be manifested in physical behavior and that the
source of movement and felt that dance was a means of at-
altered states of consciousness generated by movement could
tuning to the harmony of the universe. He had been im-
put one in touch with the underlying patterns of the uni-
pressed in his youth by the dancing of Muslim dervishes and
verse.
sought to find and understand the link between movement
and spirituality. He developed the idea of “movement
SECOND GENERATION OF AMERICAN MODERN DANCE.
choirs,” communal dancing of lay dancers, as an expression
Humphrey’s closest protégé was José Limón. Several of his
of the festive spirit of humanity. His stage choreography
major works were based on religious themes. He often drew
often dealt with cosmic themes. For example, The Swinging
on his Mexican and Native American heritage. La Malinche
Temple was a choreodrama of all types of dancing from pri-
(1949) is a form of the passion play as performed by a troupe
mordial rhythms through priestly processions, to ecstatic,
of traveling Mexican peasants. The Visitation (1952) is based
comic, and combative dances. His writings and the scenarios
on the Annunication; The Apostate (1959) captures a battle
for many of his dance works have a strain of mysticism, a
between Christianity and paganism; and There Is a Time
search for the divine power of movement, whereas the system
(1956) is a danced version of Ecclesiastes 2. Limón’s Psalm
for the analysis of movement that developed from his theo-
(1967) includes the theme of the Jews under Hitler, and The
ries is known for its objectivity.
Unsung (1970) deals with the spirituality of Native Ameri-
cans. In The Traitor (1954) he retells the story of Jesus and
Laban’s two most famous students were Mary Wigman
Judas, casting Judas as a symbol of modern man. Missa brevis
(1886–1973) and Kurt Jooss (1901–1979). Wigman is con-
(1958), first performed in a bombed-out church in Buda-
sidered the principal dancer-choreographer of central Euro-
pest, is a dance of pain and an affirmation of faith. At certain
pean modern dance. While not concerned with themes from
any specific religion, her work in general grapples with spiri-
points, women dancers are carried like the statues of the Ma-
tuality and the larger issues of life. Many of her works deal
donna in Mexican religious processions.
with death or the cycle of nature. Her signature work was
The choreography of Alwin Nikolais, a student of
the solo Witch Dance (1914, rechoreographed in 1926),
Holm, rebels against the emotionalism of the first generation
which probes the demonic side of human nature. Many of
of modern dance. He turns instead to portraying the moving
her works revolved around the darker, grotesque aspects of
body as just one element of a multimedia theater. He has
life, themes that seem to have been appropriate to Germany
often been criticized for dehumanizing the dancer, but he in-
between the two world wars, her most productive period.
terprets his work in a religio-philosophical manner; he sees
Jooss is best known for The Green Table (1932), an anti-
man as a “fellow traveller . . . rather than the god from
war ballet still widely performed. In this work, he draws on
which all things flowed. . . . He lost his domination but in-
the medieval image of death as the Grim Reaper, placing the
stead became kinsman to the universe” (quoted in Siegel,
work in a religious historical context.
1971, p. 11). His pieces often are glimpses into the ritualistic
The European tradition of modern dance was estab-
lives of what seem to be alien tribes of people whose activities
lished in America by Wigman’s student Hanya Holm
make profound comments on human existence. His Tower
(1898–1992). Her works of the 1930s often made social and
(1965), for example, details the building of a metaphorical
political statements but can also be seen as having an under-
Tower of Babel to which each dancer contributes a piece
lying moral message. Her masterwork, Trend (1937), was
only to have the whole monument topple at the end.
nonliterary, but its theme was the discovery of the meaning
Erick Hawkins is among those choreographers who
of life.
worked with Graham. His choreography is notable as a rejec-
At the same time that Laban was beginning his experi-
tion of her aesthetic and technique. He has been inspired by
mentation, there were several others in Europe exploring the
Zen philosophy and feels that an audience should be brought
relationship between movement and spirituality in the con-
to enlightenment. His goal has been to develop a technique
text of new religions. Among these were Rudolf Steiner
that would be harmonious with nature, gentle and free of
(1861–1925) and G. I. Gurdjieff (1877?–1949). Steiner de-
tension. His choreography is often ritualistic and deals with
veloped a comprehensive religious and philosophical system
the human relation to nature and the oneness of body and
called Anthroposophy, which encompassed a movement and
soul. The mood of his works is often meditative with poetic
dance system called Eurythmy. In this practice, specific ges-
resonances. In Plains Daybreak (1983), for example, masked
tures and floor patterns are correlated with specific sounds
dancers represent the essences of animals during a mythical
and spiritual functions. Performing the movements thereby
time near the beginning of creation. Lords of Persia (1965)
promotes physical and spiritual health. Structured choreog-
is a portrayal of an ancient game of polo stylized as sacred
raphy to works of classical music is one form of expressing
ritual.
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Paul Taylor has produced a wide range of works that fre-
through dance, and the healing nature of movement. Debo-
quently make comments on the human condition and social
rah Hay created a series of Circle Dances based on simple
relationships. Sometimes his works involve religious themes.
movements to be performed in a group with no spectators.
One of his most enduring works is Three Epitaphs (1960),
She was influenced by taiji quan and Daoist philosophy. The
in which dancers covered in black appear as figures whose
goal of these dance experiences was to understand the inner
postures and gestures convey both humor and pathos. The
self, the power of the group, and the individual’s connection
title of this work and the accompaniment of early New Orle-
to the cosmos. Meditation as well as ecstatic movements have
ans jazz funeral music provide an ironic commentary to the
characterized these ritualistic dances.
antic interactions of these creatures. His Churchyard (1969)
Meredith Monk, on the other hand, creates multimedia
is a dance of piety transformed into wild eroticism; Runes
theatrical works that are often ritualistic in character. She
(1975) creates a prehistoric ritual of sacrifice and regen-
creates layers of evocative imagery and archetypal characters
eration.
and transforms ordinary speech into chants and spectacular
Merce Cunningham made a radical break with the past.
sounds. Her Vessel (1971) dealt with Joan of Arc. Many of
He creates plotless works in which movements, music, and
her other works, such as Quarry (1976) and Education of the
decor are conceived of as separate elements. Pure movement
Girlchild (1972), have presented themes of human life and
is the primary content of his works, and therefore religious
history in a ritual structure.
themes are irrelevant. However, underlying Cunningham’s
TWENTIETH-CENTURY BALLET. While modern dance grew
choreography is a philosophy based on Zen Buddhism. Like
out of a desire for self-expression, ballet traditionally has
his principal musical collaborator, John Cage, Cunningham
been concerned with telling stories. The twentieth century
often composes according to chance principles; for instance,
saw the development of plotless (or abstract) works that in-
throwing the I ching (casting lots) determines the order in
herently give limited scope for interior states or religious
which movement phrases will be combined. Such an indeter-
themes. Yet, ballet also expanded its expressive powers in
minate method of choreography helps him to feel liberated
such a way as to become a vehicle for religious ideas as well.
from becoming attached to his possessions, which are his
choreographic creations.
The first major break with nineteenth-century ballet in
both form and content was Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
POSTMODERN DANCE. Cunningham signaled the beginning
This company produced a few biblical works: Salomé (1913),
of a reconception of dance. The idea that theatrical dance
The Legend of Joseph (1914), and Prodigal Son (1929). Le dieu
was marked by storytelling, emotional expression, and a fixed
bleu (1912) was based on the Hindu god Kr:s:n:a. The most
relationship to music and decor was shattered by his work.
remarkable religious work was also perhaps the most revolu-
Many choreographers in the next generation of modern
tionary ballet in dance history—Le sacre du printemps (1913),
dance have been called “post-Cunningham” or postmodern.
choreographed by the great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. The
One of the more prominent characteristics of this trend in
dance and its music by Igor Stravinsky caused a riot at the
dance has been the focus on movement for movement’s sake.
premiere, and the ballet was performed only a few times. It
Dances were often composed of everyday movements danced
drew on a mythic history of Old Russia, but its pounding
by untrained performers. They wished to return dance to the
rhythms, ecstatic dancing, circular floor patterns, and sacrifi-
people, rather than reserving it for the virtuosic performer.
cial dance of death became a model for many other rituals
Religious themes would not seem relevant to plotless works
in twentieth-century dance. There have been many other re-
that aimed to expose the nature of movement rather than the
choreographings of the Stravinsky music, including Léonide
nature of human and spiritual existence. Yet, a major stream
Massine’s 1930 reworking for Diaghilev (in which the Cho-
of postmodern dance has been the exploration of the concept
sen Maiden was danced by Martha Graham, who fifty-four
of ritual. Many choreographers shared the aims of the experi-
years later was to choreograph her own Rite of Spring). Other
mental theater of the 1960s and 1970s, especially the idea
notable examples were by Horton, Wigman, ballet choreog-
that dance and theatrical performances could be rituals for
rapher Maurice Béjart, German Expressionist modern-dance
both performers and audience. A goal was to provide a trans-
choreographer Pina Bausch, and Paul Taylor, who trans-
formative experience, a function of many religious rituals.
formed the ritual into a gangster play within a play.
The means of effecting these changes in physical and mental
states were also modeled on a conception of ritual that often
Two of the last works that Diaghilev produced were
emphasized symbolism, manipulations of time and space, re-
Apollon musagète (1928) and Prodigal Son (1929), both cho-
petititons, nonlinear development of actions, and a highly
reographed by George Balanchine, who was to become the
formal structure. Some aimed at the creation of a feeling of
most influential ballet choreographer in the United States,
community; others reached for a spiritual experience, a feel-
if not the world. Though Balanchine is known primarily for
ing of holism or integration with the universe. They were
his plotless works, these two early ballets with religious
concerned with experiencing dance as a metaphor for life.
themes are counted among his greatest, and both are per-
formed in many companies around the world. Apollon musa-
Anna Halprin has been a pioneer in this area. She ex-
gète, now titled Apollo, retells the birth of the god and his
plored the use of trance, the expression of communal feeling
coming of age under the tutelage of three of the Muses. In
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Prodigal Son, Balanchine drew on motifs from his native
Antony Tudor is known for his psychologically motivat-
Russia, including visual imagery from religious icons, espe-
ed ballets, and few of his works are religious in content. His
cially the two-dimensional quality, and certain gestures and
Shadowplay (1967), which depicts a wild boy as lord of the
liturgical movements from the Russian Orthodox church,
jungle, however, was influenced by Zen Buddhism. Underly-
such as beating the chest and back.
ing his masterwork Pillar of Fire (1942) is the theme of reli-
giously induced sexual repression. His Dark Elegies (1937)
Other Balanchine works of some religious significance
is a ritualization of grief.
include his Nutcracker (1954), Noah and the Flood (1962),
and his Greek mythological masterpiece, Orpheus (1948).
In modern ballet, mythic characters are often used to
His Don Quixote (1965) also has much religious imagery.
create a psychological dimension. Tudor’s Undertow (1945),
Despite the relative lack of religious themes in his choreogra-
for example, is a contemporary murder story, but the charac-
phy, religion was very important in Balanchine’s personal
ters have mythological names, and his Judgment of Paris
life. One of the last works he created incorporated much reli-
(1938) is set in a Paris bar where Juno, Minerva, and Venus
gious symbolism and has been interpreted as his comment
are tawdry showgirls.
on death. In 1981, he choreographed the last movement of
The American John Butler, who choreographs in both
Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony as a ballet of the same
the ballet and modern dance idioms, has produced a large
name. A dance of grief is followed by a procession composed
opus of religious works. He was the principal choreographer
of angels with enormous wings, hooded figures, and monks
for the American religious television series Lamp unto My
who prostrate themselves in the form of a cross. A child ex-
Feet in the 1960s. One of his major works is Carmina burana
tinguishes a candle to the final notes of the symphony.
(1959), which is set to thirteenth-century poems discovered
Another choreographer for the Ballets Russes was Léo-
at a Benedictine monastery. The monks and nuns of the
nide Massine. Although he is best known for his character
dance temporarily discard the discipline of their order to en-
ballets, he also choreographed several ambitious but short-
gage in the passions of secular life and to experience the
lived works based on religious themes. Seventh Symphony
wheel of fate.
(1938), set to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, was a chronicle
Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, choreographing for
of the world from its creation to its destruction; Noblissima
the Joffrey Ballet, have created several works based on reli-
visione (1938) was the story of Saint Francis of Assisi; and
gious themes. Joffrey’s Astarte (1967), which has been called
Laudes evangelii (1952) was the translation into dance of a
the first psychedelic ballet, is a contemporary depiction of
fourteenth-century text depicting eight episodes from the life
the Akkadian Ishtar, moon goddess of love and fertility who
of Christ.
was called Astarte by the Greeks, though audiences are often
Frederick Ashton has been the principal choreographer
unaware of this theme. Set to loud electronic rock music,
in Great Britain. Like British ballet in general, his works tend
flashing lights, and projected film, the dance evokes the at-
to be literary, although he occasionally has used religious
mosphere of an après-discotheque seduction. The man strips
themes. An early Ashton work was the choreography for the
to his briefs, the goddess lets down her hair, and an erotic
Virgil Thomson-Gertrude Stein opera Four Saints in Three
pas de deux of power and submission takes place in a halluci-
Acts (1934). His Dante Sonata (1940), based on the Inferno
natory sequence. It was the first multimedia rock ballet to
of Dante’s Commedia, was a reaction to World War II. It was
receive widespread attention, and it ushered in a new trend
conceived as a battle between the Children of Light and the
in ballet, enticing new audiences into the theater. Arpino’s
Children of Darkness. The Wise Virgins (1940) was also an
Sacred Grove on Mount Tamalpais (1972) is a paean to the
antiwar ballet. Performed to Bach cantatas and chorale pre-
“flower children” of the 1960s, an innocent romp of renewal
ludes, it created visual images reminiscent of Baroque art.
depicting a wedding ceremony and the birth of a son who
The work had a devout atmosphere. He also occasionally
promises to be a kind of prophet to the celebrants. His Trini-
used mythical themes, as in Cupid and Psyche, Leda, Mercury,
ty (1969) is a three-part contemporary ritual of young people
Mars and Venus, and Daphnis and Chloe. His The Quest
employing some popular dance movements set to a rock or-
(1943) was the story of Saint George; his Tiresias (1951) de-
chestration of Gregorian chant and other sacred music styles.
picted a Cretan athletic ritual.
In the third section, “Saturday,” the dancers carry lighted
candles. A male soloist dances to a rock version of the hymn
Other choreographers in England include Ninette de
“Ite, missa est” that concludes the Latin Mass. The final
Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet. One of her most success-
image is of the stage, empty except for the pattern of votive
ful works was Job, a Masque for Dancing (1931) based on
candles on the floor.
William Blake’s drawings. As an example of Western ambiv-
alence toward the relationship between religion and dance,
Contemporary European choreographers have been
censors prohibited the depiction of God in this work, leading
more attracted to religious themes than their American coun-
de Valois to create a character called Job’s Spiritual Self. Mir-
terparts. John Neumeier, mainly choreographing for the
acle in the Gorbals (1944) by Robert Helpmann was a morali-
Hamburg Ballet, created the four-hour Saint Matthew’s Pas-
ty play in dance in which Christ comes to the slums of Glas-
sion (1981) set to Bach’s work. The story is conveyed
gow, revives a suicide, and in turn is murdered by the crowd.
through tableaux vivants interspersed with dancing com-
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2163
menting on the deeper aspects of the drama. Neumeier’s
ball analogies in his exuberant evangelical addresses. In this
Mahler’s Third Symphony has a theme of redemption and in-
work Bathsheba does a striptease behind a screen fashioned
corporates Mahler’s idea of the quest for divine love.
from a scarf, and Joseph’s seducer is the contemporary Mrs.
Potiphar. Page emphasizes those stories that portray women
The Czech Jiri Kylian, working primarily for the Neder-
betraying men. Taylor’s American Genesis (1973) recasts the
lands Dans Theater, has offered Psalm Symphony (1978),
stories as episodes in American history, using bits of Ameri-
based on Psalms 39, 40, and 150, among other works. Fur-
cana—such as minstrel-show techniques—as ironic com-
ther examples include John Cranko’s Kyrie eleison (1968) and
mentary on both United States history and the biblical sto-
Kenneth Macmillan’s Requiem (1976). Maurice Béjart, cho-
ries themselves.
reographer for his Belgian company, Ballet of the Twentieth
Century, is known for tackling grand epic themes. Several
Other ways in which biblical stories have served as a
of his works have themes with religious connotations. In his
means of social commentary include interpreting the story
Nijinsky—Clown of God (1971), the Ballets Russes is cast as
of Joseph as a message about overcoming political oppression
Nijinsky’s Paradise with Diaghilev as its overseeing God. His
and the story of Esther as a metaphor for Nazism’s “final so-
Bhakti (1968) draws on Hindu mythology, and his Notre
lution.” Jooss’s Prodigal Son found his downfall not in the
Faust (1975) is one of several dance treatments of this work
pursuit of decadent living but in the quest for power, a poi-
over the centuries.
gnant theme for Germany in 1931.
Contemporary ballet has incorporated many move-
RELIGIOUS THEMES AND CULTURAL IDENTITY. Modern
ments and much of the sensibility of modern dance. It often
dance, built on a philosophy of the expression of emotions
does not use pointe work but may reserve this kind of move-
and personal identity, has provided a vehicle for the explora-
ment to portray particular ideas. A ballerina on pointe some-
tion of ethnic and religious identity through dance. This has
times is cast in a higher spiritual mode. For instance, in Ash-
been true, in particular, for Jewish, Afro-American, and
ton’s Illuminations (1950), Sacred Love dances on pointe,
Asian choreographers.
while Profane Love has one bare foot; in Neumeier’s Mahler’s
Jewish history, ritual, and music have inspired several
Third Symphony, the figure of idealized love dances on pointe
twentieth-century works in both modern dance and ballet.
while most of the other dancers do not.
Several topics have been particularly popular: Jewish village
BIBLICAL THEMES. The flexibility of interpretation inherent
life of tsarist Russia and eastern Europe, the Holocaust, Hasi-
in biblical literature has been an inspiration for many differ-
dism, Sefardic Judaism, and Jewish folk tales. Some works
ent treatments that range from literal interpretations to the
employ movement qualities and steps associated with dances
probing of universal psychological truths to political and so-
from Jewish communities or with prayer movements, while
cial commentary. Several characters and episodes have been
others use Jewish themes or music without any particular
particularly appealing. These include: the theme of creation,
ethnic movement style.
the garden of Eden, the story of Cain and Abel, Noah and
The second generation of modern dancers were particu-
the Flood, Job, David and Goliath, Joseph, Samson and De-
larly drawn to social and political themes. This period of
lilah, Salome, the Prodigal Son, the Wise and Foolish Vir-
growth also coincided with World War II and the attendant
gins; and the many biblical heroines, including Miriam,
Holocaust, providing thematic material for powerful dances.
Jephthah’s Daughter, Esther, Deborah, Judith, Ruth, the
Many of the works of Pearl Lang have Jewish themes. Per-
Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalene. The life of Christ and
haps her best-known work is The Possessed (1975), based on
interpretations of various psalms have also been frequently
the dybbuk legend. She also choreographed dances using Ha-
choreographed themes. One of the more popular subjects has
sidic themes, biblical stories, and poems composed by Holo-
been the story of Adam and Eve. Treatments of this theme
caust victims. Her Tailor’s Megillah is the retelling of Esther’s
indicate some of the range of interpretations of biblical sto-
story in a tailor’s shop.
ries. Graham’s Embattled Garden (1958) introduces Lilith
into the domestic routine of the Garden of Eden, whereas
Anna Sokolow created the solo Kaddish (1946); Dreams
Butler’s After Eden (1966) and Limón’s The Exiles (1950)
(1961), an abstract enactment of the horrors of the Nazi con-
both deal with the fate of Adam and Eve after the expulsion,
centration camps; and The Holy Place (1977), based on
while Roland Petit’s Paradise Lost (1967) featured a pop in-
Psalm 137 and dealing with the theme of the Jews in exile.
terpretation with Adam plunging into a backdrop of a huge
The first part of The Exile (1939) is set in ancient times, the
lipsticked mouth at the end of the dance. The story has been
second deals with persecution, culminating in Nazism. She
treated with awe and wonder and irony, and as tragedy and
created both The Bride, in which a shy Jewess faces a wedding
comedy.
to an unknown groom, and Mexican Retablo, in which she
danced a Madonna.
The Book of Genesis has provided a source of comedic
ballets. Billy Sunday (1946), choreographed by Ruth Page,
Tamiris choreographed Memoir (1957), depicting
is the retelling of these familiar stories as they might have
themes of Jewish life. Holm offered Tragic Exodus (1939)
been explained by the baseball-player-turned-preacher Billy
and They Too Are Exiles (1940), which dealt with the dispos-
Sunday, who used the vernacular and often employed base-
session and persecution of all peoples, but at that time, refer-
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ence to the Jews in Hitler’s Germany was all too apparent.
Asian religious themes have often been popular in West-
Sophie Maslow choreographed The Village I Knew (1950) as
ern dance history. In the past, Eastern themes tended to be
an evocation of Jewish life in tsarist Russia.
used as a device for creating exotic spectacle. St. Denis pro-
moted a form of Orientalism that adopted the color and sen-
In ballet, Eliot Feld has contributed Tzaddik (1974), a
suality of Asian dance but also attempted to expose its spiri-
representation of a scholar’s intensely emotional introduc-
tual import. Cunningham, Hawkins, and Tudor have been
tion of two students into the world of religious study. His
influenced by Zen Buddhism. Starting in the 1960s, but es-
Sephardic Song (1974) was influenced by traditional Sefardic
pecially in the 1970s and 1980s, there has been an explicit
music. Jerome Robbins choreographed The Dybbuk Varia-
attempt to create a dance form that assimilates Eastern and
tions (1974), an abstract version of this story. Robbins is also
Western dance and that especially captures the spiritual qual-
well known for his staging and choreography of the musical-
ity of Asian dance. Asian and Asian-American choreogra-
theater work Fiddler on the Roof (1964), which drew on
phers have been particularly active in adopting Eastern tech-
many dance forms and images of turn-of-the-century Jewish
niques and themes to the modern dance context, often
life in Russia.
emphasizing the creation of ritual. Kei Takei and the duo
Israel has a very active theatrical dance culture. Many
Eiko and Koma are particularly noteworthy for their use of
choreographers there naturally turn to Jewish and biblical
Japanese rituals and movement qualities, and Mel Wong is
themes. One of the more prominent companies, the Inbal
known for his synthesis of Chinese culture and American
Dance Theatre, whose principal choreographer is Sara Levi-
modern dance.
Tanai, draws on the dances and rituals of the Jewish minori-
ties of the Middle East, especially the Yemenites. Some ex-
The discovery of Asian religions in the context of the
amples of works by Israeli choreographers include Levi-
drug-influenced counterculture of the 1960s led to works
Tanai’s Psalm of David (1964), which features the story of
such as Béjart’s Bhakti, a ballet about love as manifested in
Avishag, the girl brought to the aging David; Margalit
the relationships between Ra¯ma and Sita¯, Kr:s:n:a and Ra¯dha¯,
Oved’s The Mothers of Israel, choreographed for Ze’eva
and S´iva and S´akti. In the 1970s and 1980s, there has been
Cohen, draws on the image of the biblical Sarah, Rebecca,
a growing interest in S:u¯f¯ı dancing, and choreographers have
Rachel, and Leah; the Bat-Dor Company performs Domy
adopted spinning techniques, as in the work of Laura Dean,
Reiter-Soffer’s I Shall Sing to Thee in the Valley of the Dead
and have explored the mystical symbolism of Muslim faith.
My Beloved (1971), which tells the history of Israel through
Modern dance also took root in Japan, where a unique
the story of King David’s loves; Rina Schoenfeld choreo-
synthesis of American and central European Expressionist
graphed Jephthah’s Daugher for the Batsheva Company; and
modern dance, Japanese no¯, and kabuki combines with a
the Russian dancer Rina Nikova founded the Biblical Ballet
post-World War II sensibility. An avant-garde trend called
of Israel.
butoh, a word referring to an ancient dance, exists in the
African Americans have also drawn on dance as a vehicle
shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and lends itself to the
for the expression of cultural identity. Religious practices and
creation of ritualistic theatrical probings of primordial and
music are a major component of this identity and have
postapocalyptic images.
formed the basis for many ballet and modern dance works.
SACRED OR LITURGICAL DANCE. Dance has returned to the
Revelations, a work by Alvin Ailey, was one of the first of
church and synagogue in the twentieth century. With St.
these works, and it has also proved to be the most popular
Denis and Shawn as its foremost pioneers, the sacred dance
and enduring. It is a suite of dances to black hymns and gos-
or liturgical dance movement has grown rapidly. Another
pel music, each section revealing the theme or spirit of the
early experiment with ritual dancing in the church took place
song—from the solemn abstraction of “I’ve Been ’Buked’”
at Saint Mark’s-in-the-Bowerie Church in New York, begin-
to the rousing church service of the finale. The audience is
ning in the 1920s. Choreographed by the rector of the
often whipped into an enthusiastic hand-clapping and foot-
church, William Norman Guthrie, the dance, depicting the
stomping participation that is akin to the atmosphere of
Annunication, was performed by six barefooted women
many black churches. In this way, Revelations has introduced
robed in flowing white material probably dancing in the
to the Western theater a different model for the role of the
Duncanesque style of the avant-garde of the time. For this
spectator at a ballet performance. Some of the other reli-
scandalous act, Saint Mark’s was suspended from the Episco-
giously inspired Ailey works include Three Black Kings
pal church. The ritual dance was performed annually for
(1976) and the often humorous Mary Lou’s Mass (1971), in
many years and continued to cause controversy.
which biblical stories are reenacted.
Contemporary sacred dance covers a range of ways in
Many African and African American choreographers
which movement can be incorporated into the liturgy. These
also draw on African religious practices. Katherine Dunham,
include (1) rhythmic or dance choirs, analogous to singing
Pearl Primus, and Asadata Dafora were among the first to
choirs, (2) performances based on religious themes or stories
do this. Dunham’s Rites of Passage (1941) depicted a fertility
by lay or professional dancers, which the congregation
ritual, and Shango, a vodou rite. Primus’s Fanga (1949) cre-
watches, (3) congregational dancing in which everyone par-
ated a ritual in an African context.
ticipates, (4) dancing based on ritual dances of other cultures,
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(5) charismatic dancing, (6) danced individual prayers, and
the relation between religion and visual arts. About half the
(7) dance with therapeutic intent (spiritual healing through
articles in this volume are devoted to the liturgical dance
dance). Aims of sacred dance include promoting the affirma-
movement. The journal Parabola’s issue on “Sacred Dance,”
tion of the body, offering dance to God, creating a sense of
vol. 4, no. 2 (May 1979), contains articles on the dance of
community, finding the festive nature of life and religion,
Jesus by Elaine H. Pagels and on labyrinths by Rosemary
and integrating body and soul. Leaders in the sacred dance
Jeanes. Jamake Highwater’s Dance: Rituals of Experience
(New York, 1978) is a personal view on the importance of
movement have been, among others, Margaret Fiske Taylor,
reaffirming the ritual nature of dance; his book includes a
Douglas Adams, Mary Jane Wolbers, Judith Rock, and Carla
discussion of which contemporary theatrical choreographers
de Sola. Exponents of liturgical dance have also been unusu-
create works that fulfill his conception of ritual.
ally prolific writers. In the United States, the Sacred Dance
Guild was formed in the late 1950s, and the movement grew
Most information about religion and theatrical dance must be
pieced together from a general history of Western dance. A
rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s in many countries, fed by
basic introduction to this topic is Jack Anderson’s Dance
other related trends: the reemergence of exuberant social
(New York, 1979). A more detailed, although somewhat out-
dancing, the growth of alternative religions and religious
of-date book is Lincoln Kirstein’s Dance: A Short History of
practices, and the rise of dance therapy. While the sacred
Classical Theatrical Dancing (New York, 1935). Marcia B.
dance movement is mainly a Christian movement, there is
Siegel’s The Shapes of Change (Boston, 1979) analyzes some
also a growing following in Judaism. A central controversy
of the important works of American dance including Negro
within the movement is whether to emphasize the liturgical
Spirituals, Shakers, Revelations, and several of Graham’s
aspect or the aesthetic aspect, whether sacred dance should
works. A brief description and listing of dances by major
be performed by the laity with a communal, participatory
modern dance choreographers can be found in Don Mc-
focus or whether it should be performed by professionals
Donagh’s The Complete Guide to Modern Dance (Garden
City, N.Y., 1976). Anthologies of primary sources include
with an aesthetic goal. Ironically, the success of theatrical
Dance as a Theatre Art, edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen (New
dance in America, despite the opposition of religious ortho-
York, 1974), and, for theoretical essays, What Is Dance?, ed-
doxies, has led to the addition of a new (or rediscovered) di-
ited by Roger Copeland and Marshall Cohen (New York,
mension of religious practice—the expressive power of
1983). One of several books of synopses of ballet librettos is
dance.
101 Stories of the Great Ballets by George Balanchine and
Francis Mason (Garden City, N.Y., 1975).
SEE ALSO Anthroposophy; Circumambulation; Drama;
Gurdjieff, G. I.; Labyrinth; Procession; Steiner, Rudolf.
For dance in the early Christian church and in the medieval Euro-
pean tradition, see Eugène Louis Backman’s Religious Dances
in the Christian Church and in Popular Medicine (London,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1952). For later attitudes held about dance by the Christian
There has been very little written about religion and theatrical
church, see The Mathers on Dancing, edited by Joseph E.
dance. Aside from a few isolated articles or books on particu-
Marks III (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1975), which contains an exten-
lar topics, most information must be gleaned from general
sive bibliography of antidance literature from 1685 to 1963.
books on dance. There are, however, a few anthologies that
On the Renaissance, see James Miller’s “The Philosophical
cover aspects of this topic. In 1979, an International Seminar
Background of Renaissance Dance,” York Dance Review 5
on the Bible in Dance was held in Israel. The papers from
(Spring 1976), and Roy Strong’s Splendour at Court (Lon-
the conference were not published as a group, but the manu-
don, 1973).
scripts are available at the Dance Collection, New York Pub-
For the Baroque, see Shirley Wynne’s “Complaisance, an Eigh-
lic Library at Lincoln Center, and elsewhere. Papers of spe-
teenth-Century Cool,” Dance Scope 5 (Fall 1970): 22–35,
cial interest to this topic are those on Limón, Graham, The
and Wendy Hilton’s Dance of Court and Theater: The French
Prodigal Son, Billy Sunday, labyrinths, and biblical dance on
Noble Style, 1690–1725 (Princeton, 1971). On the Jesuit
television. In conjunction with this event, Giora Manor pub-
theater, see Régine Astier’s “Pierre Beauchamps and the Bal-
lished an extensive study of the use of biblical themes in bal-
lets de Collège,” Dance Chronicle 6, no. 2 (1983): 138–151.
let and modern dance, The Gospel according to Dance (New
for pre-Romantic ballet, the principal history is Marian Han-
York, 1980). Worship and Dance, edited by J. G. Davies (Bir-
nah Winter’s The Pre-Romantic Ballet (Brooklyn, N.Y.,
mingham, 1975), is particularly useful for information on
1975). Ivor Guest has written extensively on the Romantic
dance in the church, both historically and as part of the con-
ballet; his books include The Romantic Ballet in Paris, 2d rev.
temporary liturgical dance movement. Focus on Dance X: Re-
ed. (London, 1980), and The Romantic Ballet in England
ligion and Dance, edited by Dennis J. Fallon and Mary Jane
(Middletown, Conn., 1972). On Bournonville, see his auto-
Wolbers (Reston, Va., 1982), includes Lynn Matluck
biography, My Theater Life, translated by Patricia N. McAn-
Brooks’s “The Catholic Church and Dance in the Middle
drew (Middletown, Conn., 1979), and Erik Ashengreen’s
Ages,” Diane Milhan Pruett’s “Duncan’s Perception of
“Bournonville: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” Dance
Dance in Religion,” and Georganna Balif Arrington’s
Chronicle 3, no. 2 (1979): 102–151. His librettos have been
“Dance in Mormonism: The Dancingest Denomination.” A
translated by McAndrews in various issues of Dance Chroni-
thought-provoking article by Douglas Adams and Judith
cle (1980–1983).
Rock, “Biblical Criteria in Modern Dance: Modern Dance
as Prophetic Form,” also delivered at the seminar in Israel,
On Delsarte and his impact, see Nancy Lee Ruyter’s Reformers and
is an application to dance of Paul Tillich’s four categories of
Visionaries: The Americanization of the Art of Dance (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
2166
DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL DANCE [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
York, 1979), which also contains an extensive bibliography
correspondences among dance traditions. Since 1987, the
of primary sources, and Ted Shawn’s Every Little Movement
central investigations by dance scholars have moved beyond
(Pittsfield, Mass., 1984). Duncan’s own writings in The Art
the “how, what, where, and why” of dance to those related
of the Dance (New York, 1928) reveal her thoughts on reli-
to dance as a communicator of meaning and values through-
gion and dance. Suzanne Shelton’s Divine Dancer (Garden
out world cultures and religions.
City, N.Y., 1981) gives an excellent analysis of St. Denis’s
beliefs and choreography. Some of Shawn’s ideas are in The
Interest in the investigation of liturgical and theatrical
American Ballet (New York, 1926). On Humphrey, see
dance has extended into the realm of religious studies—
Selma Jeanne Cohen’s Doris Humphrey: An Artist First (Mid-
especially world religions—beyond the traditional categories
dletown, Conn., 1972) and my “The Translation of a Cul-
of “dance and liturgy,” ritual studies, and the umbrella of art
ture into Choreography: A Study of Doris Humphrey’s The
and religion. These are evidenced in the work of Ann Cooper
Shakers, Based on Labananalysis,” Dance Research Annual 9
(1978): 93–110. The Notebooks of Martha Graham (New
Albright, Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, and Ann Dils. While
York, 1973) provides unique perspective on the development
J.G. Davies’ texts remain as classics for the study of liturgical
of her choreographic ideas. For information on Laban, see
dance in Christianity, Doug Adams, Helga Barbara
his autobiography, A Life for Dance, translated by Lisa Ull-
Gundlach, Thomas A. Kane (in Introducing Dance in Chris-
mann (New York, 1975). On Wigman, see her The Language
tian Worship), Judith Rock, and Carla De Sola continue to
of Dance, translated by Walter Sorell (Middletown, Conn.,
expand the discussions about the nature, styles, and meaning
1966). For information on Steiner and Gurdjieff, see the
of Christian liturgical dance into the contemporary scene.
“Occult and Bizarre” issue of Drama Review 22 (June 1978).
Other religion scholars have incorporated analyses of ritual
For the second generation of modern dance, Margaret Lloyd’s The
and ceremonial dance into their studies of individual reli-
Borzoi Book of Modern Dance (New York, 1949) is the most
gious traditions, i.e., Hinduism and Native America, which
detailed. Hawkin’s ideas are explained in Erick Hawkins:
might otherwise not culturally identify these dances as “litur-
Theory and Training, edited by Richard Lorber (New York,
gical.” Issues of gender studies, investigations of the body,
1979). Nikolais discusses his work in “nik: a documentary,”
and the study of the economic, ethnic, engendered and/or
edited by Marcia B. Siegel, Dance Perspectives 48 (Winter
racial minorities have affected the modes and methods for
1971). For an overview of the Ballets Russes, see John Perci-
studying liturgical and theatrical dance. This appears in the
val’s The World of Diaghilev (New York, 1971). For Balan-
chine, see among others, Choreography by George Balanchine:
work of Jane C. Desmond, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Judith
A Catalogue of Works, edited by Harvey Simmonds (New
Lynn Hanna, and Cynthia Novack.
York, 1983), and Marilyn Hunt’s “The Prodigal Son’s Rus-
Both the performance and the study of liturgical and
sian Roots: Avant-Garde and Icons,” Dance Chronicle 5, no.
theatrical dance have incorporated the technologies of video,
1 (1982): 24–49. Postmodern dance is introduced in Sally
Banes’s Terpsichore in Sneakers (Boston, 1980). Anna Hal-
mass media, and the internet as well as a place within the aca-
prin’s Movement Ritual (San Francisco, 1979) is an example
demic spectrum in the newer categories of “performance and
of one of the outgrowths of this movement.
display,” and “visual culture” (Mitoma, 2003). Scholarship
in the fields of liturgical and theatrical dance has entered geo-
On the sacred dance movement, see Carlynn Reed’s And We Have
graphic areas previously investigated to a lesser extent, such
Danced: A History of the Sacred Dance Guild and Sacred
Dance, 1958–1978 (Austin, 1978), which contains a useful
as Southeast Asia, Pre-Columbian Latin America, Oceania,
bibliography.
and Africa. These are shown in the work of Judy Mitoma,
Richard Anderson Sutton, Robert Farris Thompson, and
SUZANNE YOUNGERMAN (1987)
Elizabeth Zimmer. The influence—historically and from
post-1960s global cultures—of non-Western religious dance
traditions on Western dance, whether religious or secular, is
DANCE: THEATRICAL AND LITURGICAL
emerging as an investigative focus for both dance history and
DANCE [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
religious studies scholars. However, more often than not the
study of the influences of non-western dance and religion is
Academic studies related to the topic of theatrical and liturgi-
in terms of a particular dancer in historical studies, such as
cal dance have remained predominantly within the circles of
Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, José Limon, and Martha
dance scholarship. Traditionally, such studies have been di-
Graham. Exciting possibilities for new scholarship include
vided into two categories of analysis: dance history and criti-
analyses of the “east-west” connectives in such contemporary
cism, which have premised their evaluations according to
choreography as that of Eiko and Komo, Meredith Monk,
chronological and classic aesthetic criteria; or ethnography
Peter Sparling, and Yin Mei.
and anthropology, which have inquired into the cultural for-
mations and functions of dance. The former has emphasized
NEW PERSPECTIVES. The new directions for the study of the-
typically the West and the latter non-Western cultures. The
atrical and liturgical dance will emerge in coordination with
publication of the International Encyclopedia of Dance (1998)
a growing recognition of global and multi-cultural dis-
and the televised presentation of the eight-part series Danc-
courses, especially in terms of cross-cultural analyses of the
ing! (1992), with its companion volume, generated both
creative process and the human body as evidenced for exam-
scholarly and public interest in the global and multi-cultural
ple in the work of Mitoma and Zimmer. New questions
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAN FODIO, USUMAN
2167
about the definition of dance—liturgical and/or theatrical—
Novack, Cynthia. Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and
are raised with the advent of technology and the merging of
American Culture. Madison, Wis., 1990.
dance with other media to create “performance pieces,” such
Richmond, Farley P., Darius L. Swann, and Phillip B. Zarilli, eds.
as the collaboration between architect Zaha Hadid and the
Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Honolulu, 1990.
Charleroi Dance Company (2001). Analyses of dance as a
Rock, Judith, and Norman Mealy. Performer as Priest and Prophet:
communicator of cultural values and ideas will re-frame the
Restoring the Intuitive in Worship through Music and Dance.
mode and methods of studying theatrical and liturgical
San Francisco, 1988.
dance from the perspective of dance studies in the work of
Roseman, Janet Lynn. Dance Was Her Religion: The Sacred Chore-
Ruth Solomon and John Solomon, and in religious studies
ography of Isadora Duncan, Ruth St, Denis, and Martha Gra-
as evidenced in the work of a new generation of scholars,
ham. Prescott, Ariz., 2004.
most notably Kimerer Lewis LaMothe.
Rust, Ezra Gardner. The Music and Dance of the World’s Religions:
A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography of Materials in the
SEE ALSO Anthroposophy; Circumambulation; Gurdjieff, G.
English Language. Westport, Conn., 1996.
I.; Labyrinth; Performance and Ritual; Procession; Steiner,
Shelton, Suzanne. Ruth St. Denis: A Biography of the Divine Danc-
Rudolf.
er. Garden City, N.Y., 1990.
Solomon, Ruth, and John Solomon, eds. East Meets West in Dance
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Voices in the Cross-Cultural Dialogue. Chur, Switzerland;
Adams, Doug. Changing Biblical Imagery and Artistic Identity in
New York, 1995.
20th Century Liturgical Dance. Austin, Tex., 1984.
Sutton, Richard Anderson. Calling Back the Spirit: Music, Dance,
Adams, Doug, and Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, eds. Dance as
and Cultural Politics in Lowland South Sulawesi. New York,
Religious Studies. Eugene, Ore., 2001.
2002.
Albright, Ann Cooper. Choreographing Difference: The Body and
Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-
Identity in Contemporary Dance. Middleton, Conn., 1997.
American Art and Philosophy. New York, 1983.
Desmond, Jane C. Dancing Desire: Choreographing Sexualities On
Zuhur, Sherifa, ed. Colors of Enchantment: Theater, Dance, Music,
and Off Stage. Madison, Wis., 2001.
and the Visual Arts of the Middle East. Cairo, 2001.
De Sola, Carla. The Spirit Moves: A Handbook of Dance and
DIANE APOSTOLOS-CAPPADONA (2005)
Prayer. Austin, Tex., 1986.
Dils, Ann, and Ann Cooper Albright, eds. Moving History/
Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader. Middleton,
Conn., 2001.
DAN FODIO, USUMAN (AH 1168–1232, 1754/5–
1817 CE), renowned Fulbe Islamic teacher and shaykh.
Fernández Olmos, Margarite, and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert,
eds. Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Carib-
Shehu (Hausa for shaykh) Usuman dan Fodio was born in
bean. New Brunswick, N.J., 1997.
the Hausa kingdom of Gobir, in the north of the present-day
state of Sokoto, Nigeria. He came of a line of Muslim schol-
Gagne, Ronald. Introducing Dance in Christian Worship. Portland,
Ore., 1984.
ars of the Fulbe clan Torodbe that had been established in
the area since about 854/1450. They worked as scribes,
Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. The Black Dancing Body: A Geography
teachers, and in other literate roles and contributed over sev-
from Coon to Cool. New York, 2003.
eral generations to the dissemination of Sunn¯ı Islam among
Gundlach, Helga Barbara. Religiösen Tanz: Formen-Funktionen-
the inhabitants of Gobir. As a result, the Gobir royals were
Beispiele. Marburg, Germany, 2000.
superficially won over to Islam. Nonetheless, authority in
Hanna, Judith Lynne. Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity,
Gobir still rested on customary norms, not the Islamic
Dominance, Defiance, and Desire. Chicago, 1988.
shar¯ı Eah, at the end of the eighteenth century CE. This caused
Heth, Charlotte, ed. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and So-
mounting frustration among these Muslim literates and re-
cial Traditions. Washington, D.C., 1992.
sulted in the emergence of an Islamic reform movement that
International Encyclopedia of Dance, 6 vols. New York, 1998.
reached its peak at that time. The Shehu Usuman became
Kehoe, Alice Beck. The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory and Revitaliza-
widely accepted in Gobir and neighboring kingdoms as its
tion. New York, 1989.
leader.
Kirstein, Lincoln. Dance: A Short History. Princeton, N.J., 1987.
The Shehu Usuman spent his early manhood as a teach-
Anniversary edition.
er and preacher of Islam in Gobir and the nearby kingdoms
Lonsdale, Steven. Dance and Ritual Play in Greek Religion. Balti-
of Zamfara, Katsina, and Kebbi. He appears to have had no
more, Md., 1993.
initial intention of pursuing reform by force, but the pro-
Mazo, Joseph H. Prime Movers: The Makers of Modern Dance in
longed resistance of the Gobir chiefs and courtiers to de-
America. Hightstown, N.J., 2000. 2d edition.
mands for stricter adherence to Islam built up tension. After
Mitoma, Judy, and Elizabeth Zimmer. Envisioning Dance on Film
several violent incidents, organized warfare broke out be-
and Video. New York, 2003.
tween the Gobir forces and the Shehu’s followers in 1219/
Needham, Maureen, ed. I See America Dancing: Selected Readings,
1804. For the Muslim reformers this was jiha¯d, war against
1685–2000. Urbana, Ill., 2002.
unbelievers.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2168
DANIEL
The campaigns in Gobir ended in 1223/1808, when the
Hausa sources; my The Development of Islam in West Africa,
Gobir dynasty collapsed and was replaced by a polity orga-
(New York, 1984), which places the Fulbe reform movement
nized along Islamic lines that the reformers described as a
in the wider West African context; and Baya¯n wuju¯b al-
“caliphate” (Arab., khal¯ıfah). The Shehu remained its titular
hijrah Eala¯ al- Eiba¯d, edited and translated by F. H. el-Masri
head until his death in 1232/1817, when he was succeeded
(Khartoum and Oxford, 1978), the edited Arabic text and
by his son, Muhammadu Bello. Elsewhere in the Hausa
English translation of one of the Shehu’s major works with
an excellent critical introduction. There are also many arti-
kingdoms and even as far south as Yorubaland and the Nupe
cles in learned journals that deal with aspects of the Shehu’s
kingdom other jiha¯ds, led by the Shehu’s “flag bearers,” or
life and writings. These are conveniently listed in Hiskett
military commanders, continued until brought to a halt by
(1973 and 1984) and Last (1967).
the colonial occupations of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
MERVYN HISKETT (1987)
The Shehu was not only a war leader but also a scholar
and poet in the classical Arabic tradition. Best known among
his verse works is his panegyric to the prophet Muh:ammad,
DANIEL, or, in Hebrew, Daniyye’l; hero of the biblical
Al-da¯l¯ıyah (The Ode Rhyming in Da¯l), that helped to spread
book that bears his name. Daniel is presented as a Jew in the
the prophet’s S:u¯f¯ı cult and was seminal to a genre of Hausa
Babylonian exile who achieved notoriety in the royal court
prophetic panegyric (Hau., madahu) among the generations
for his dream interpretations and cryptography and for his
that followed him.
salvation from death in a lion’s pit. He also appears in the
last chapters of the book as the revealer of divine mysteries
His Arabic prose works are numerous (see Last, 1967).
and of the timetables of Israel’s restoration to national-
Their main thrust is against all manifestations of indigenous,
religious autonomy. As a practitioner of oneiromancy in the
non-Islamic Hausa culture—song, music, ornate dress, ar-
court, described in Daniel 1–6 (written in the third person),
chitecture, social mores, and so on—and an insistence that
Daniel performs his interpretations alone, while as a vision-
these be replaced by Islamic alternatives. His works also in-
ary-apocalyptist, in Daniel 7–12 (written in the first person),
fluenced his society, and posterity, by disseminating the ideas
he is in need of an angel to help him decode his visions and
of the Qa¯dir¯ı order of S:u¯f¯ıs, to which he was deeply commit-
mysteries of the future. It is likely that the name Daniel is
ted, especially as regards the cult of the awliya¯ D (Arab.; sg.,
pseudonymous, a deliberate allusion to a wise and righteous
wal¯ı, “one near” to Alla¯h). Indeed, the Shehu’s own charisma
man known from Ugaritic legend and earlier biblical tradi-
stems largely from his reputation as a wali.
tion (Ez. 14:4, 28:3).
The immediate political consequences of the jiha¯d were
The authorship of the book is complicated not only by
to overthrow the discrete Hausa principalities based on tradi-
the diverse narrative voices and content but by its language:
tional, unwritten customary codes and to substitute the uni-
Daniel 1:1–2:4a and 8–12 are written in Hebrew, whereas
fied Islamic system of the caliphate governed by the revealed
Daniel 2:4b–7:28 is in Aramaic. The language division paral-
and written shar¯ı Eah. More long-term cultural and religious
lels the subject division (Daniel 1–6 concerns legends and
consequences were to displace, to some extent, indigenous
dream interpretations; 7–12 concerns apocalyptic visions
African notions about cosmology and replace them with the
and interpretations of older prophecies). The overall chrono-
Islamic celestial architecture, to challenge African cyclical ex-
logical scheme as well as internal thematic balances (Daniel
planations of life and death with the finality of the Islamic
2–7 is chiliastically related) suggest an attempt at redactional
doctrine of divine punishment and reward, and to enhance
unity. After the prefatory tale emphasizing the life in court
the status of Arabic literacy in Hausa society.
and the loyalty of Daniel and some youths to their ancestral
The Shehu is still a much revered personality among
religion, a chronological ordering is discernible: a sequence
Hausa Muslims, having become something of a symbol of
from King Nebuchadrezzar to Darius is reported (Dn. 2–6),
Hausa Muslim nationalism. However, the S:u¯f¯ı aspects of his
followed by a second royal sequence beginning with Belshaz-
teaching are now less emphasized than in the past, perhaps
zar and concluding with Cyrus II (Dn. 7–12). Much of this
because the Wahha¯b¯ı doctrine has become more influential
royal dating and even some of the tales are problematic: for
in West Africa.
example, Daniel 4 speaks of Nebuchadrezzar’s transforma-
tion into a beast, a story that is reported in the Qumran
scrolls of Nabonidus; Belshazzar is portrayed as the last king
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of Babylon, although he was never king; and Darius is called
The bibliography on the Fulbe jiha¯d is extensive, and the student
a Mede who conquered Babylon and is placed before Cyrus
is advised to consult lists in Murray Last’s The Sokoto Ca-
II of Persia, although no such Darius is known (the Medes
liphate (London, 1967). The following will also be found
useful in the first instance: my edition and translation of
followed the Persians, and Darius is the name of several Per-
Tazy¯ın al-waraqa¯t (Ibadan, 1963), an account of the Shehu’s
sian kings). Presumably the episodes of Daniel 2–6, depict-
life and the jiha¯d from the Muslim reformers’ own view-
ing a series of monarchical reversals, episodes of ritual obser-
point; my The Sword of Truth (New York, 1973), a study of
vances, and reports of miraculous deliverances were collected
the life and times of the Shehu based on the Arabic and
in the Seleucid period (late fourth to mid-second 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
DANTE ALIGHIERI
2169
BCE) in order to reinvigorate waning Jewish hopes in divine
Braverman, Jay. Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel. Washington,
providence and encourage steadfast faith.
D.C., 1978.
Hartman, Louis F., and Alexander A. Di Lella. Book of Daniel.
The visions of Daniel 7–12, reporting events from the
Anchor Bible, vol. 23. Garden City, N.Y., 1978.
reign of Belshazzar to that of Cyrus II (but actually predict-
ing the overthrow of Seleucid rule in Palestine), were collect-
New Sources
ed and published during the reign of Antiochus IV prior to
Collins, John J., and Peter W. Flint, eds. The Book of Daniel: Com-
the Maccabean Revolt, for it was then (beginning in 168
position and Reception. Boston; Leiden, 2002.
BCE) that the Jews were put to the test concerning their alle-
Van der Woude, A. S., ed. The Book of Daniel in the Light of New
giance to Judaism and their ancestral traditions, and many
Findings. Leuven, 1993.
refused to desecrate the statutes of Moses and endured a mar-
Wills, Lawrence Mitchell. The Jew in the Court of the Foreign King:
tyr’s death for their resolute trust in divine dominion. All of
Ancient Jewish Court Legends. Minneapolis, 1990.
the visions of Daniel dramatize this dominion in different
MICHAEL FISHBANE (1987)
ways: for example, via images of the enthronement of a God
Revised Bibliography
of judgment, with a “son of man” invested with rule (this
figure was interpreted by Jews as Michael the archangel and
by Christians as Christ), in chapter 7; via zodiacal images of
cosmic beasts with bizarre manifestations, as in chapter 8; or
DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321), Italian poet,
via complex reinterpretations of ancient prophecies, especial-
theologian, and philosopher. Dante offered in his Commedia
ly those of Jeremiah 25:9–11, as found in Daniel 9–12.
a “sacred poem” of enormous erudition and aesthetic power,
which more than any other work of Christian literature mer-
The imagery of the four beasts in chapter 7 (paralleled
its the appellation conferred on it by a mid-sixteenth-century
by the image of four metals in chapter 2), representing four
edition: “divine.” After producing the Vita nuova in 1295,
kingdoms to be overthrown by a fifth monarchy of divine
Dante entered the volatile world of Florentine politics,
origin, is one of the enduring images of the book: it survived
which, however unjustly, subsequently led to his banishment
as a prototype of Jewish and Christian historical and apoca-
from the city in 1302. In exile for the remainder of his life,
lyptic schemes to the end of the Middle Ages. The role and
he wrote the Convivio, the De vulgari eloquentia, and the De
power of this imagery in the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century
monarchia in the following decade, works that together reveal
work of the exegete Isaac Abravanel, the scientist Isaac New-
a commonality of themes: an admiration for the Latin clas-
ton, and the philosopher Jean Bodin and among the Fifth
sics, a dedication to the study of philosophy, and a commit-
Monarchy Men of seventeenth-century England, for exam-
ment to the revival of the Roman imperial ideal. These con-
ple, is abiding testimony to the use of this ancient topos in
cerns are all transfigured in the long and elaborate course of
organizing the chiliastic imagination of diverse thinkers and
the Commedia (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), which repre-
groups. The schema is still used to this day by various groups
sents an encyclopedic synthesis of late medieval thought sub-
predicting the apocalyptic advent.
sumed within an overarching theological vision. The poem
The encouragement in the face of religious persecution
is at once profoundly traditional in its religious ordering of
that is found and propagandized in Daniel 11–12 contains
human experience and an innovation of substance and form
a remarkable reinterpretation of Isaiah 52:13–53:12, regard-
that suggests an utterly new mentality at work. It can be seen
ing the suffering servant of God not as all Israel but as the
both as an attempt to exorcise what would shortly become
select faithful. Neither the opening stories about Daniel and
the spirit of the Renaissance and yet also as a brilliant precur-
the youths nor the final martyrological allusions advocate vi-
sor of it.
olence or revolt; they rather advocate a stance of piety, civil
Dante came of age in Florence at a time when the papa-
disobedience, and trustful resignation. Victory for the faith-
cy was embroiled with the Holy Roman Empire over tempo-
ful is in the hands of the archangel Michael, and the martyrs
ral jurisdiction in Italy. Widespread corruption in the
will be resurrected and granted astral immortality. Presum-
church, as well as within the powerful mendicant orders of
ably the circles behind the book were not the same as the
the Franciscans and the Dominicans, seemed to give rise to
Maccabean fighters and may reflect some proto-Pharisaic
many individualistic and charismatic expressions of piety
group of h:asidim, or Pietists. The themes of resistance to op-
that, while passionately Catholic, nonetheless found them-
pression, freedom of worship, preservation of monotheistic
selves alienated from the established religious institutions
integrity, the overthrow of historical dominions, and the ac-
and hierarchies. It is in this context that a devout layman like
knowledgment of the God of heaven recur throughout the
Dante, discovering himself a mere “party of one,” could dare
book and have served as a token of trust for the faithful in
to arrogate to himself the quasi-biblical role of prophet. He
their darkest hour.
became a voice crying in the wilderness, instructing the pow-
ers of church and state in their true responsibilities at the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
same time that he was attempting to woo the ordinary reader
Bickerman, Elias J. Four Strange Books of the Bible: Jonah, Daniel,
(in a daring use of the vernacular for so ambitious a poetic
Koheleth, Esther. New York, 1967. See pages 53–138.
work) into a full conversion of the heart.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2170
DAO’AN
Whatever the poet’s personal upbringing may have
most significant of all—and most singularly responsible for
given him, it is known that he studied for an extended period
the Commedia’s immense and enduring popularity—is
“in the schools of the religious orders and at the disputations
Dante’s superb representation of the self: ineradicable even
of the philosophers” (Convivio 2.12). At Santa Croce he
in death; more vivid than the theological context in which
would have been exposed to the wealth of Franciscan piety,
it is eternally envisioned; more subtly and realistically por-
while at Santa Maria Novella the Dominican Remigio de’
trayed than in any other work of medieval literature. The
Girolami expounded the theology of Thomas Aquinas with
poem’s itinerary leads us along the paths of theology to a vi-
special regard for the Aristotelian philosophy that subtends
sion of God, but its hundred cantos offer an investigation
it. In such an intellectual atmosphere Dante found validated
of human nature and culture that grounds the reader’s atten-
what was to be one of the most impressive characteristics of
tion in the complex realities of earth.
his own work: the massive appropriation of pagan and classi-
cal writers for Christian reflection and use.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The quantity of secondary material on Dante written in English
In assessing Dante’s relation to medieval theology and
alone is staggering. Carole Slade’s extensive and somewhat
religious thought it is commonplace to emphasize the forma-
annotated bibliography in Approaches to Teaching Dante’s Di-
tive influence of “the Philosopher” (Aristotle) and the “An-
vine Comedy (New York, 1982) gives a fine sense of the
gelic Doctor” (Thomas); that is, to stress his strong debt to
whole range. Among those works that deal sensitively with
Scholasticism. It must be remembered, however, that the
Dante’s relation to Christian belief and tradition, one needs
poet everywhere shows himself to be an independent and
to accord special tribute to the critical oeuvre of Charles S.
eclectic thinker, whose imaginative meditation on the Chris-
Singleton, who has exerted a powerful influence on Ameri-
tian faith leads him far and wide: to the systematics of Peter
can studies of Dante by underscoring the importance of the
Lombard, the Platonism of Bonaventure, the mysticism of
poem’s theological assumptions. In addition to Singleton’s
translation and commentary (Princeton, 1970–1975), there
Bernard of Clairvaux and the Victorines, the biblical exegesis
are his earlier works: An Essay on the Vita Nuova (Cambridge,
(as well as the retrospective confessional mode) of Augustine.
U.K. 1949), Dante Studies 1: Commedia, Elements of Struc-
Thus, while we may well speak of Dante as standing at the
ture, 2d ed. (Baltimore, 1977), and Dante Studies 2: Journey
crossroads of medieval religious thought, the intersection is
to Beatrice, 2d ed. (Baltimore, 1977). Charles Williams’s The
one that he personally constructed rather than discovered
Figure of Beatrice (London, 1958) gives a coherent theologi-
ready-made. The synthesis of the Commedia is idiosyncrati-
cal reading of all of Dante’s works, whose point of view in-
cally his own.
forms not only Dorothy Sayers’s commentary and notes
(Harmondsworth, 1951–1967) but her Introductory Papers
As a propagator of the Christian religion Dante must,
on Dante (New York, 1954) and Further Papers on Dante
of course, be assessed by the achievement of his great poem,
(New York, 1957). There are also brilliant insights into the
with its account of the state of the soul after death portrayed
religious ethos of the Commedia in Erich Auerbach’s Dante:
in the course of a journey undertaken by the poet himself
Poet of the Secular World (Chicago, 1961) as well as in an im-
(lasting from Good Friday 1300 to the Wednesday of Easter
portant chapter of his Mimesis (Princeton, 1953). Robert
Week) through the realms of damnation, purgation, and be-
Hollander’s Allegory in Dante’s Commedia (Princeton, 1969)
atitude. Granted this extraordinary experience through the
and Studies in Dante (Ravenna, 1980) deal masterfully with
the poet’s claim to write an “allegory of the theologians” (and
intercession of his deceased love, Beatrice, the pilgrim-poet
therefore in the manner of scripture itself). John Freccero’s
is led step by step through a process of conversion by a series
many brilliant essays on the Commedia, collected under the
of guides and mediators: the pagan poet Vergil, Beatrice her-
title The Poetry of Conversion (Cambridge, Mass., 1986),
self, and the churchman-mystic-crusader Bernard. But in its
stress the poet’s debt to Augustine’s Confessions and the
larger aspect, the poem is itself an invitation to conversion:
Christian Neoplatonic tradition. The latter connection is ex-
to the individual reader, to rediscover the Gospels’ “true
plored in Joseph Anthony Mazzeo’s Structure and Thought
way”; to the church, to recover its spiritual mission; and to
in the Paradiso (Ithaca, N.Y., 1958). Finally, William Ander-
the state, to exercise its divinely ordained mandate to foster
son’s Dante the Maker (Boston, 1980) takes seriously the vi-
temporal well-being.
sionary origin of the Commedia and therefore forces us to ex-
amine again the literal level of the poem and its bid to be
There are other transformations as well. Hell is por-
believed as a genuine vision of God.
trayed not as a place of arbitrary horror, but as the eternal
PETER S. HAWKINS (1987)
living out of the soul’s self-choice, whereby punishments not
only fit but express the crimes of sin. Dante also brings Pur-
gatory aboveground and into the sun, turning the traditional
place of torturous penance into more of a hospital or school
DAO’AN (312–385), also known as Shi Dao’an, Chinese
than a prison house. No less striking is the presentation of
Buddhist monk, scholar, and gifted exegete whose organiza-
Beatrice, at once the earthly lover praised in the youthful
tional abilities and doctrinal acumen helped shape the direc-
pages of the Vita nuova and the Christ-event for Dante: a
tion of early Chinese Buddhism. Dao’an was born to a family
woman in whom we see human eros accorded an unprece-
of literati in what is now Hebei Province in North China.
dented place in the scheme of human salvation. But perhaps
He became a novice at the age of twelve. In 335 he journeyed
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAO’AN
2171
to Ye (Hebei Province), the new capital of the Later Zhao
But the distinguishing feature of Dao’an’s fifteen-year
kingdom, where he studied with Fotudeng (d. 348), the
stay in Xiangyang was his shift in attention from dhya¯na texts
thaumaturge-monk whose magical prowess and success at
and practices to the Maha¯ya¯na Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ (perfection of
predicting the outcome of battle had served to recommend
wisdom) literature. Although there is evidence that he had
Buddhism to the non-Chinese rulers of the kingdom. With
become acquainted with these su¯tras prior to 365, the years
the death of Shi Hu, then ruler of the Later Zhao, in 349,
in Xiangyang were characterized by a radical reorganization
Dao’an left Ye and began a peripatetic career in North China
of his religious interests: six of Dao’an’s commentaries from
that was to last until 365, when he was forced by war to flee
this period are devoted to the Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ literature. He
south to Xiangyang (Hubei Province). During this period he
is also said to have lectured twice yearly on the Fangguang
gathered around himself an ever-growing band of disciples
jing, Moks:ala’s translation (291 CE) of the Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯
and developed the scholarly and organizational skills for
Su¯tra in twenty-five thousand ´slokas. It is as an outgrowth
which he is esteemed.
of this interest in speculations on prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ that he is
Dao’an’s interests during the period 349–365 were con-
credited with establishing the teaching of original nonbeing
ditioned by the pronounced orientation of the Buddhism of
(benwu zong), one of seven so-called prajña¯ traditions that
North China around primarily Hinayanistic techniques of
flourished in China during the fourth and fifth centuries.
meditation designed to advance the practitioner through suc-
From the scant evidence remaining to us, Dao’an’s teaching
cessively rarefied transic states (Skt., dhya¯na; Chin., chan).
appears to have emphasized the existence of an underlying
The enumeration of these states constituted the topic of sev-
substrate (benwu) that stands to phenomena (moyou) as both
eral su¯tras introduced to China in the second century CE by
fundamental substance and source. By focusing the mind in
the Parthian translator An Shigao. During his time in the
meditation upon this radically other, empty absolute,
North, Dao’an wrote commentaries to no fewer than six of
Dao’an taught, release from phenomenal existence can
An Shigao’s translations, remarking at one point that the
be won.
study of dhya¯na categories constituted “the very pivot of the
religious life.” That the practice of the techniques described
Two other hallmarks of Dao’an’s stay at Xiangyang bear
in An Shigao’s translations occupied a central role in the
mentioning. The first is his compilation, in 374, of the first
community of monks gathered around Dao’an can scarcely
critical catalog of Chinese Buddhist texts. As a culmination
be doubted.
of his lifelong interest in the fidelity of the sources available
to the Chinese, the Zongli zhongjing mulu (Comprehensive
This interest in some of the earliest products of the in-
catalog of the collected scriptures) became a model for all fu-
teraction between India and China may reflect something of
ture works of this sort. Dao’an personally inspected each of
the growing historiographical and text-critical concerns that
the more than six hundred works in the catalog, laboriously
would become the hallmark of Dao’an’s later years. His biog-
copied the colophons, where available, and scrupulously
raphies emphasize his concern lest the meaning of the scrip-
passed judgment on the authenticity of the information
tures be obscured by the translation process or by the efforts
given there. The other noteworthy feature of Dao’an’s career
of well-meaning exegetes to couch Buddhist ideas in equiva-
in Xiangyang is his inauguration of a cult to the bodhisattva
lent Chinese terms bearing only a nominal relationship to
Maitreya. In this cult, clearly the model for his disciple Huiy-
the original Sanskrit. Like no one before him in the history
uan’s own Amitabha confraternity (402 CE), Dao’an and
of Chinese Buddhism, Dao’an recognized that profound dif-
seven other devotees gathered before an image of Maitreya
ferences separated the original teachings of the scriptures
and collectively vowed to be reborn in Tusita Heaven, the
from the hermeneutical framework devised for them in
abode of the bodhisattva prior to his rebirth in this world.
China. In light of this, he undertook his own program of tex-
His biography relates how, in a miraculous visitation to
tual exegesis, including careful notation of the history of vari-
Dao’an shortly before his death, Maitreya vouchsafed to him
ous texts in China, and formally repudiated a prevailing
a vision of Tusita.
method of textual interpretation known as geyi (matching
meanings), under which numerical categories from the scrip-
The final era of Dao’an’s career began in 379 when Fu
tures were paired with terms from secular literature.
Jian, ruler of the Former Qin kingdom, laid siege to Xiang-
The year 365 found Dao’an in Xiangyang with an en-
yang. In the aftermath of the capitulation of the city Dao’an
tourage of over four hundred disciples. Once there he moved
was brought to Chang’an to preside over a monastic commu-
quickly to establish a monastic center and to forge links with
nity several times larger than that at Xiangyang. With Fu
the local government and aristocracy that would ensure its
Jian’s restoration of Chinese hegemony over Central Asia,
institutional stability. Aware of the difficulties in regulating
Chang’an was once again the eastern terminus of a trade and
monastic life in the absence of a complete translation of the
information network that stretched through Chinese Turki-
Vinaya, or monastic rules, he promulgated a series of ordi-
stan, beyond the Hindu Kush, and into India itself. In the
nances of his own devising. These appear to have treated the
final years of Dao’an’s life a number of important missiona-
daily regimen of the monks and their observance of the
ries and translators arrived in Chang’an from the western re-
Upos:adha (Pali, Uposatha), or fortnightly confessional cere-
gions, especially from Kashmir, where the Sarvastivada com-
mony.
munity was exceptionally strong. They brought with them
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2172
DAO AND DE
texts that gradually began to fill the lacunae in the canon so
no hon’yakuron,” Indogaku bukkyo¯gaku kenkyu¯ 5 (1957):
lamented by Dao’an. The Ekottara and Madhyama A¯gamas,
120–130.
the Jña¯naprastha¯na (the central work in the Sarvastivada Ab-
MARK D. CUMMINGS (1987)
hidharma Pitaka), and important sections of the Sarvastivada
Vinaya were all introduced at this time. As head of an offi-
cially sponsored translation bureau, Dao’an advised the
DAO AND DE, the “way” and “virtue,” respectively, are
translation team in matters of style (Dao’an, of course, knew
basic Chinese philosophical concepts with particular rele-
no Sanskrit), and composed prefaces to some of the texts. His
vance in the Daoist tradition. They are important separately
classic guidelines for translators, consisting, formulaically, of
as politico-philosophical and religious terms. Joined as a bi-
five parameters for changing the text (wu shiben) and three
nomial, dao-de appears first in the third century BCE and
conditions under which deviation from the original was not
plays a key role in religious Daoist speculation. In modern
encouraged (san buyi), date from this period.
Chinese, dao-de means “morality.”
Dao’an’s influence over the exegetical and bibliographi-
Dao is the word for “road” or “pathway.” It has no other
cal traditions of Chinese Buddhism during its formative
sense in the earliest texts—that is, in the oracle bones of the
years can scarcely be overestimated. As the first Buddhist on
Shang dynasty (c. 1200 BCE). By the time of the Eastern
Chinese soil to confront the problem of understanding Bud-
Zhou (770–256 BCE), dao comes to mean the correct or nat-
dhist texts on their own terms, free from the conceptual dis-
ural way something is done, especially in the actions of rulers
tortions imposed on them by their association with indige-
and kings (Vandermeersch, 1980). Used as a verb, dao also
nous thought, Dao’an brought to the young church a new
means to “show the way,” “tell,” or “guide,” and hence gains
measure of maturity. He is also significant for having com-
the meaning “teaching” or “doctrine.” In both these senses,
bined in a single career the emphasis on Pietism and dhya¯na
the term is central to the various philosophical schools of an-
practices characteristic of the Buddhism of North China
cient China and the formulation of political doctrines; it
with the Gnostic speculations of Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ and xuanx-
often designates a meta-way of talking about specific ideas
ue thought that engaged the Buddhist thinkers of the South.
or political measures (Hansen, 1992). A. C. Graham accord-
That Buddhism emerged with the doctrinal and institutional
ingly entitled his volume on ancient Chinese thought Disput-
autonomy that it did during the fifth century is attributable
ers of the Tao (1989).
in no small measure to Dao’an’s efforts.
In the philosophical texts, dao means both “the way the
universe operates” and “the teachings people follow.” Thus,
SEE ALSO Huiyuan; Kuma¯raj¯ıva; Maitreya.
the Lunyu (the Analects or “Sayings of Confucius,” dated to
about 400 BCE) speaks of the “dao of the ancient kings” and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
says a state “has dao” if it is well governed. A Confucian gen-
Extensive discussions of Dao’an’s role in the development of Chi-
tleman “devotes himself to dao” and people do not all “have
nese Buddhism can be found in Tang Yongtong’s Han Wei
the same dao” if they adhere to different principles. The clas-
liang-Jin Nan-bei chao fojiao shi (Shanghai, 1938), vol. 1,
sic of all texts on dao, the Dao de jing, states, “dao that can
pp. 187–277; Ito¯ Giken’s Shina bukkyo¯ seishi (Yamaguchi-
ken, 1923), pp. 111–206; and Erik Zürcher’s The Buddhist
be dao’ed is not the eternal dao” (chap. 1), emphasizing the
Conquest of China (1959; reprint, Leiden, 1972), vol. 1,
ineffable nature of the way that underlies existence.
pp. 181–204. Kenneth Ch’en’s Buddhism in China: A Histor-
Despite this, it is possible to create a working definition,
ical Survey (Princeton, 1964) offers a summary of Dao’an’s
such as that by Benjamin Schwartz in his The World of
career on pages 94–103.
Thought in Ancient China (1985). He describes dao as “or-
For a good introduction to the Buddhism of North China in
ganic order”—organic in the sense that it is not willful. It
Dao’an’s time, see Arthur Wright’s essay on Dao’an’s teach-
is not a conscious, active creator, not a personal entity, but
er, “Fo-t’u-têng: A Biography,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic
rather an organic process that just moves along. It is mysteri-
Studies 11 (1948): 321–371. Dao’an’s biography in the
ous in its depth and unfathomable in its essence.
Gaoseng zhuan has been translated by Arthur Link in “The
Biography of Shih Tao-an,” T’oung pao 46 (1958): 1–48.
Beyond this, dao is also order, clearly manifest in the
Useful for their treatments of Dao’an and the prajña¯ tradi-
rhythmic changes and patterned processes of the natural
tions of the fourth and fifth centuries are Arthur Link’s “The
world. As such, it is predictable in its developments and can
Taoist Antecedents of Tao-an’s Prajña¯ Ontology,” History of
be analyzed and described in ordered patterns. These ordered
Religions 9 (1969–1970): 181–215; Kenneth Ch’en’s “Neo-
patterns are what the Chinese call ziran, or “self-so,” which
Taoism and the Prajña¯ School during the Wei and Chin
is the spontaneous and observable way things are naturally.
Dynasties,” Chinese Culture 1 (October 1957): 33–46; and
Yet while dao is very much nature, it is also more than nature.
Fung Yu-lan’s A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, The Pe-
It is also the essence of nature, the inner quality that makes
riod of Classical Learning, translated by Derk Bodde (Prince-
things what they are. It is governed by laws of nature, yet it
ton, 1953), pp. 243–258. Ui Hakuju’s Shaku Do¯an kenkyu¯
is also these laws itself.
(Tokyo, 1956) reviews Dao’an’s career and includes annotat-
ed editions of his major prefaces. For a discussion of Dao’an’s
In other words, it is possible to explain the nature of dao
translation guidelines, see O
¯ cho¯ Enichi’s “Shaku Do¯an
in terms of a twofold structure. The “dao that can be dao’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
DAO AND DE
2173
and the “eternal dao.” The latter is the mysterious, ineffable
the word also came to mean a basic “goodness” or “generosi-
dao at the center of the cosmos; the former is the dao at the
ty,” as well as “to admire someone for his generosity,” indi-
periphery, visible and tangible in the natural cycles. About
cating the moral quality (virtue) and psychic force of a per-
the eternal dao, the Dao de jing says:
son (Munro, 1969).
Look at it and do not see it: we call it invisible. Listen
Used frequently in the politico-philosophical texts of
to it and do not hear it: we call it inaudible. Touch it
ancient China, de denotes an energy in the ruler that enables
and do not feel it: we call it subtle. . . . Infinite and
him to found or continue a dynasty. The theory was that
boundless, it cannot be named;. . . Call it vague and
heaven, surveying the world and finding the people suffering
obscure. (chap. 14; see LaFargue, 1992)
from disorder, conferred its mandate (ming) on the person
This dao is entirely beyond the perception of ordinary hu-
with the greatest de. His subsequent success attested to and
mans. It is so vague and obscure, so subtle and so potent, that
supported heaven’s choice. Usually, the first ruler of a dynas-
it is utterly beyond all knowing and analysis, and cannot be
ty is heavy with de and thus able to govern without effort
grasped however much one may try. The human body, the
(Lunyu 2.1). He does not need to use punishment to gain
human senses, and the human intellect are not equipped to
obedience; the wisest of the land are eager to serve him,
deal with dao on this level, and the only way a person can
knowing that he will heed their advice. Accordingly, the dia-
ever get in touch with it is by forgetting and transcending
logue of Mengzi with the king of Qi is centrally concerned
his or her ordinary human faculties, by becoming subtler and
with the question: “What innate de does one need to be
finer and more potent, more like dao itself.
king?”
Dao at the periphery, on the other hand, is characterized
Following the establishment of a dynasty, the usual pat-
as the give and take of various pairs of complementary oppo-
tern was that the ruler’s de diminished over time, until a new
sites, as the natural ebb and flow of things as they rise and
dynasty needed to be established and received the mandate
fall, come and go, grow and decline, are born and die. The
of heaven. This diminishing, however, was not inevitable,
Dao de jing says:
but involved the active forfeiture and loss of de by subsequent
rulers. It could be prevented through personal restraint and
To contract, there must first be expansion. To weaken,
there must first be strengthening. To destroy, there
ritual correctness, and many political texts serve to advise rul-
must first be promotion. To grasp, there must first be
ers on just how to maintain these. If not prevented, a bad
giving. This is called the subtle pattern. (chap. 36)
last ruler, who was entirely without de, would appear on the
scene. He would neglect the proper rituals, engage in sensual
Things, as long as they live, develop in alternating move-
indulgence, follow the advice of greedy counselors, exploit
ments, commonly described with the terms yin and yang. It
the people to build grandiose palaces, and govern by punish-
is the nature of life to be in constant change, and of things
ment and harsh measures.
to always be moving in one or the other direction, up or
down, towards lightness or heaviness, brightness or darkness,
The result of this vision of de is a paradox: the ruler who
and so on. Nature is in a continuous flow of becoming, latent
needs to be straightened out most lacks good counsel and
and transparent, described as the alternation of yin and yang,
would not listen if he had it, while the one who has good
complementary characteristics and directions, that cannot
counselors and is wise enough to recognize their wisdom and
exist without each other. This is the nature of dao as it can
listen to them is “virtuous” already. As the concept of de be-
be observed and followed in politics and self-cultivation. If
comes more recognizably “virtue,” which all people may
practiced properly, following this aspect of dao will ultimate-
have, it leads to a persistent difficulty in moral philosophy:
ly lead to a state of spontaneous alignment with the ineffable
the question of how de is to be imparted to the person who
dao, the creative force at the center (see Roth, 1999). Attain-
lacks it. The problem exasperated Confucius (e.g., Lunyu
ing this state of perfect alignment is described as sagehood
5.9, 6.10). Later philosophers had various solutions, such as
and being in complete nonaction (wuwei).
Mengzi and his famous principle of the inherent goodness
of human nature.
De as a term goes back further than dao. It has been
identified in the oracle bones, where it seems to indicate a
Another paradox arises not from the aspect of de as
psychic quality of the king that is approved by the spirits and
moral virtue but from its aspect as psychic force. The person
that gives him influence and prestige (Nivison, 1978–1979).
with de has prestige, effectiveness, and status—things people
Thus, in the Shang dynasty, heaven or the ancestors would
desire. However, in order to acquire and strengthen de, one
recognize and “approve” the de of a sacrificer, preferring the
must be self-denying, sincerely generous, and generally good.
“fragrance” of his offerings to those of others (Shangshu 30).
Therefore, efforts to gain more de must be self-defeating, un-
The good king observes the religious duty to care for de in
less one seems to be trying to avoid it. The Dao de jing solves
himself, seen as a psychic entity implanted in the person by
this issue by saying:
heaven. Not unlike the concept of mana in Polynesian reli-
The person of superior de is not conscious of his de;
gions, de is thus the personal power inherent in a person that
therefore he has de. The person of inferior de never loses
allows him or her to be vibrant and strong and rule in harmo-
sight of his de; therefore he loses de. The person of supe-
ny with the wishes of the gods and ancestors. By extension,
rior de takes no action and has no ulterior motive
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2174
DAO AND DE
for doing anything. The person of inferior de takes
To sum up, de means the inherent force and power that
many actions and follows ulterior motives in doing so.
moves the world and makes people and animals come to life.
(chap. 38)
It can be held to a greater or lesser degree, be purer or cruder,
superior or inferior. When strong and radiant, it imparts it-
Thus, the person with the greatest de is unassuming and un-
self to others and creates harmony and good government,
impressive, follows the patterns of dao in nonaction, and
thus resulting in a “virtuous” situation and imbuing its carri-
comes to serve all. Again, the text says: “Strong de appears
er with virtue—in the original sense of virtus, the power that
as if unsteady; / true substance seems to be changeable”
makes a man strong and valiant. When lost, it results in
(chap. 41).
death or the loss of inherent integrity—both cosmic and
The person in the Dao de jing who has perfect de is also
moral—which in turn causes political corruption and the
most in line with dao: the sage, who can be, but does not
downfall of dynasties.
have to be, the ruler. The sage is described as unobtrusive,
Dao and de in combination occur mainly in Daoist
inactive, and independent, free from all possessions or at-
texts. The Dao de jing is the classic example. Divided into
tachments and without a formal teaching or program of ac-
eighty-one chapters, the text also has two major parts, a Dao
tion. Because he is all these things, which match him to the
jing, and a De jing. The former discusses the more cosmic
natural forces of heaven and earth, “the sage is whole” (chap.
dimensions of life and the larger perspective of Daoist
22) and his accomplishments are thorough and long-lasting.
thought; the latter focuses on the concrete activities and pat-
Part of his permeating effect is that he subtly and impercepti-
terns of daily life. De here describes the activation of dao in
bly—like the dao—spreads de by just being, imposing some
the visible cycles of existence; that is, dao at the periphery.
of his psychic force and inherent goodness on others. There-
Both parts are of equal importance in the text, but while the
by he “causes people to be unknowing and free from desires,
standard version of the Dao de jing places the dao part first,
so that the smart ones will not dare to impose” (chap. 3). He
the manuscripts found at Mawangdui (168 BCE) reverse the
is “always there to help the people, rejecting no one and no
order (see Henricks, 1989).
creature” (chap. 27), never puts himself forward in any way
yet finds himself a nucleus of social and cosmic activity.
A fifth-century religious Daoist text that takes up the
Dao de jing in its mystical dimension and links it to practices
Not presenting himself, he is radiant. Not thinking
of ritual and self-cultivation also discusses the relationship
himself right, he is famous. Not pushing himself for-
between dao and de. Section 10 of the Xisheng jing (Scripture
ward, he is meritorious. Not pitying himself, he is emi-
of western ascension) relates dao and de and connects both
nent. (chap. 22)
to the social virtues of Confucianism:
The Dao de jing is a good example of a text where the politi-
In dao, make nonbeing the highest; in de make kindness
cal quality of de as virtue is conflated with the more psycho-
your master. In ceremony, make righteousness your
logical aspect of de as inherent life force. In this latter sense,
feeling; in acting, make grace your friend. In benevo-
de indicates the essential character of anyone or anything, ef-
lence, make advantage your ideal; in faith, make effica-
fective in interaction with people and things. The same is
ciousness your goal. . . .When kindness, social re-
also apparent in other philosophical texts. Thus, Confucius
sponsibility, ceremony, and faith are lost, dao and de are
says that “the de of the ruler is wind; that of the people is
also discarded, they perish and decay. When social de
grass” (Lunyu 12.19); and the correspondence system of the
is not substantiated by dao, it will be supported only by
five phases, which fully developed in the Han dynasty, de-
material wealth. (Kohn, 1991, p. 242)
scribes its different aspects as the wu de or the “five powers”
In the same way, the texts suggests that “the way the good
(see Yates, 1997).
person acts in the world can be compared to the bellows: he
never contends with others, his de always depends on dao.
In the Zhuangzi (the Book of Master Zhuang, the second
This is because he is empty and void and utterly free from
major text of ancient Daoism, compiled in the third century
desires” (sect. 18). Dao and de in this text are thus seen as
BCE), this more physical yet intangible aspect of de is made
closely related, and one cannot be cultivated without the
clear in a chapter called “The Sign of Virtue Complete”
other. More importantly, the concept of de is expanded to
(chap. 5), and particularly in the story of the suckling pigs.
include the various specific virtues of Confucian society.
Told in the voice of Confucius, it tells of a group of little
pigs nursing at the body of their dead mother. “After a while
The most detailed Daoist discussion of the relation of
they gave a start and ran away, leaving the body behind, be-
dao and de is found in the Daoti lun (On the embodiment
cause they could no longer see their likeness in her. . . .
of dao), a short scholastic treatise associated with Sima
They loved not her body but the thing that moved her
Chengzhen (647–735), the twelfth patriarch of Highest
body”( i.e., her de). By the same token, several other stories
Clarity (Shangqing) Daoism. According to the text, “dao is
in the same chapter tell of people who have lost a part of their
all-pervasive; it transforms all from the beginning. De arises
body (maimed in war or as punishment) but are in no way
in its following; it completes all beings to their end. They ap-
impaired in their de, their inherent life force—the thing that
pear in birth and the completion of life. In the world, they
moves the body—still being complete.
have two different names, yet fulfilling their activities, they
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOCHUO
2175
return to the same ancestral ground. Dao and de are two and
SEE ALSO Chinese Religion, overview article; Daoism, over-
yet always one. Therefore, there is no dao outside of the om-
view article.
nipresence of de. There is no de different from the comple-
tion of life through dao. They are one and still appear as two.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dao is found in endless transformation and pervasive omni-
Graham, A. C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in An-
presence. De shines forth in the completion of life and in fol-
cient China. La Salle, Ill., 1989. Overview of ancient Chinese
lowing along. They are always one; they are always two. Two
thought, discussing different dimensions of the concept of
in one, they are all-pervasive. All-pervasive, they can yet be
dao.
distinguished. Thus their names are dao and de” (Daoti lun
Hansen, Chad. A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought: A Philosophi-
1a; see Kohn, 1998, p. 130).
cal Interpretation. New York, 1992. Presentation of dao as
meta-language in relation to various philosophical dis-
According to this, dao and de are two aspects of the un-
courses.
derlying creative power of life; they need each other and de-
pend on each other. They are different yet the same, separate
Henricks, Robert, ed. and trans. Lao-Tzu: Te-Tao ching. New
York, 1989. Translation of the Dao de jing as found in several
yet one, nameless yet named, at rest yet in constant move-
manuscript versions at Mawangdui.
ment. Pervading all, penetrating all, they are indistinct, yet
can also be distinguished and named, creating a particular
Kohn, Livia. Taoist Mystical Philosophy: The Scripture of Western
Ascension. Albany, N.Y., 1991. Translation and discussion of
vision of reality. Names and reality, then, raise the problem
the fifth-century scripture Xisheng jing.
of epistemology and knowledge of dao. Both names and real-
ity ultimately belong to the same underlying structure that
Kohn, Livia. “Taoist Scholasticism: A Preliminary Inquiry.” In
essentially can never be grasped. But they are also an active
Scholasticism: Cross-Cultural and Comparative Perspectives,
edited by José Ignacio Cabezón, pp. 115–140. Albany, N.Y.,
part of the world.
1998. Discussion of the speculative dimension of religious
The practical application of this concept of dao and de
Daoism, including a presentation and partial translation of
as two aspects of the same underlying power is realized in
the Daoti lun.
Daoist cultivation. Through mystical practice, adepts strip
LaFargue, Michael, trans. and ed. The Tao of the Tao-te-ching. Al-
off all names and classifications in their minds, and allow the
bany, N.Y., 1992. Translation and interpretation of the Dao
“chaos perfected” nature of dao to emerge. Chaos, as the text
de jing with particular attention to the vision of dao.
explains, means “without distinctions,” something, not a
Munro, Donald J. “The Origin of the Concept of Te.” In The
thing, that cannot be called by any name. Perfected means
Concept of Man in Early China, edited by D. J. Munro,
“total and centered in itself,” some not-thing that has no re-
pp. 185–197. Stanford, Calif., 1969; reprint, Ann Arbor,
ferent outside of itself. Speaking of self or beings as “chaos
Mich., 2001. On the earliest understanding of the concept
perfected” thus creates a dichotomy that is not there original-
of de.
ly. Any name, even that attached to the human body, arises
Nivison, David S. “Royal ‘Virtue’ in Shang Oracle Inscriptions.”
from a conscious self and is mere projection. The concept
Early China 4 (1978–1979): 52–55. On the most ancient
is a formal expression of a perceived difference—it is unrelat-
forms and meanings of de.
ed to the being as being, as chaos perfected (Daoti lun 5a).
Roth, Harold D., trans. and ed. Original Tao: Inward Training
(Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism. New
Knowledge of dao is thus a contradiction in terms, yet
York, 1999. Translation and discussion of mystical chapters
that is precisely what Daoism is about, what adepts strive to
of the Guanzi, an ancient Daoist text.
realize. It can only be attained in utter so-being, a state that
Schwartz, Benjamin. The World of Thought in Ancient China.
is both empty and serene and not empty and not serene at
Cambridge, Mass., 1985. Overview of ancient Chinese phi-
the same time. It thereby comes close to dao, which embodies
losophy.
emptiness and rests originally in serenity, yet is also actual-
Vandermeersch, Leon. Wangdao ou La voie royale: Recherches sur
ized in the living world and moves along with beings and
l’esprit des institutions de la Chine archaique. 2 vols. Paris,
things (Daoti lun 5b).
1980. Extensive discussion of the “dao” of the king in ancient
The close connection of de to dao in this vision is ap-
China, examining historical and philosophical sources.
plied to guide practitioners to an integrated mystical vision
Yates, Robin D. S., trans. and ed. Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huang-
of the universe and lead them toward the attainment of sage-
Lao, and Yin-Yang in Han China. New York, 1997. Transla-
hood and oneness with dao. De helps to explain why, “if
tion and discussion of proto-Daoist materials found at Ma-
there is no difference between all beings and dao, should one
wangdui.
cultivate it at all?” The answer is that “cultivation makes up
LIVIA KOHN (2005)
for the discrepancy, however minor, between the root and
its embodiment, and leads back to original nonbeing” (Daoti
lun 8b). De, the visible, tangible, and active part of dao in
the world is the bridge that allows the first step in this direc-
DAOCHUO (562–645), known in Japan as Do¯shaku;
tion—a major stepping stone in the recovery of the original
Chinese pioneer of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia.
flow of life in dao.
Daochuo advocated devotion to Amita¯bha Buddha and 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
2176
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
birth in his Pure Land as the only practice in our age that
rary attachment to concrete forms in Pure Land devotion-
would guarantee salvation. Although Pure Land devotion
alism.
was popular among most Maha¯ya¯na Buddhists as a supple-
The most important disciple of Daochuo was Shandao
mentary practice, Daochuo followed Tanluan (c. 488–c.
(613–681), who wrote systematic works that firmly estab-
554) in regarding it as necessary for salvation. Other forms
lished Pure Land as a major religious tradition in East Asia
of Buddhism he branded as the “path of the sages” (sheng-
and influenced Honen in Japan. It was the sense of crisis and
dao), too difficult to practice during these times.
urgency that permeates the Anloji that dramatized the neces-
A religious crisis caused in part by the bewildering de-
sity of Pure Land devotion, while the concrete methods of
mands of Indian Buddhist texts in the eyes of Chinese practi-
practice that Daochuo promoted made Pure Land attractive
tioners was exacerbated by famine and war in the Bingzhou
and accessible to common people. Pure Land devotion thus
area of Shansi Province where Daochuo lived, and he became
became a popular social movement in China for the first
the first Pure Land thinker to proclaim that the ten-
time, and the sound of Amita¯bha’s name has been chanted
thousand-year historical period predicted by the scriptures
unceasingly in Chinese Buddhist worship ever since.
for the final decline of Buddhism (i.e., the mofa; Jpn.,
S
mappo¯) was at hand. Accordingly, he deemed traditional
EE ALSO Honen; Jingtu; Mappo
¯ Shandao; Tanluan.
practices inadequate since no one could attain enlightenment
based on self-effort. For Daochuo, the only hope was
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Anloji (Jpn., Anrakushu¯) of Daochuo is available in George
through outside help. He preached that the Wuliangshou jing
Eishin Shibata’s “A Study and Translation of the Anraku
(the Larger Sukha¯vat¯ıvyu¯ha Su¯tra) was designed for this peri-
Shu¯” (M.A. thesis, Ryu¯koku University, 1969).
od and that reliance on the compassionate vows of the Bud-
Readers of Japanese will want to consult Nogami Shunjo¯’s Chu-
dha Amita¯bha—which guarantee people of ordinary reli-
goku jo¯do sansoden (Kyoto, 1970) and Yamamoto Bukkotu’s
gious capacities rebirth in his Pure Land followed by speedy
Do¯shaku kyo¯gaku no kenkyu¯ (Kyoto, 1957).
and painless enlightenment there—was the only soteriologi-
cally effective action remaining.
DAVID W. CHAPPELL (1987 AND 2005)
After his conversion to Pure Land in 609, Daochuo
took up residence in the Xuanzhong Monastery. There, he
DAOISM
lectured over two hundred times on the Kuan wu-liang-shou
This entry consists of the following articles:
ching (*Amita¯yurdhya¯na Su¯tra) and advocated its practices,
AN OVERVIEW
especially the vocal recitation of Amita¯bha’s name (nianfo;
THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
Jpn., nembutsu). Departing from the view of Tanluan, for
DAOIST LITERATURE
whom nianfo involved a transcendent quality of mystical
HISTORY OF STUDY
union with Amita¯bha’s name, Daochuo was the first Chinese
Buddhist to teach reliance on verbal recitation, which was
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
to be aided by bushels of beans or rosaries to record the num-
The English word Daoism, with its nominalizing suffix, has
ber of recitations. (Daochuo himself is alleged to have recited
no counterpart in the Chinese language. The term has been
the name of Amita¯bha as much as seventy thousand times
used in Western writings on China to refer to a wide range
a day.) As a consequence, Pure Land devotion spread rapidly
of phenomena. First, scholars employ the term Daoism to
among the laity under the slogan “chant the Buddha’s name
designate early philosophical texts classified as representing
and be reborn in the Pure Land” (nianfo wangsheng) and ro-
daojia (schools of the Dao) in early Chinese bibliographic
saries became ubiquitous in Chinese Buddhism.
works. Some of these, such as the Dao de jing (The classic
Because the prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ literature affirmed that real-
of the way and its power), also known as the Laozi after its
ity is characterized by both form and emptiness, Daochuo
supposed author, propounded methods of governance based
argued for the legitimacy of using verbal recitations and at-
on mystical gnosis, inaction on the part of the ruler, and a
tention to the physical aspect of Amita¯bha and his Pure
metaphysics centered on the concept of the Dao. Others,
Land. These practices, he believed, were temporary expedi-
such as the eponymous Zhuangzi, emphasized mystical
ents to lead people to formlessness, nonattachment, and non-
union with the Dao and equanimity in the face of death and
duality after rebirth in the Pure Land. In his only surviving
other natural processes.
writing, the Anloji, Daochuo acknowledges that understand-
Second, given the staunch antipathy toward Confucian
ing the Pure Land as formless is superior to seeing it as form,
methods of social organization common to texts classified
and that one’s original motivation should be a desire for en-
daojia, the term Daoism has been employed in modern schol-
lightenment (bodhicitta) in order to save others, not just de-
arship to mark a wide range of anti-Confucian, utopian, and
sire for the bliss of Pure Land. However, according to the
escapist strains of thought. For instance, eremitic withdrawal
Maha¯ya¯na doctrine of “two truths,” those who understand
from government service, a practice with deep roots in the
the ultimate truth of emptiness are able to use the conven-
Confucian tradition, was until recently routinely portrayed
tional truth of form to save beings, thus legitimizing tempo-
as “Daoism.”
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2177
Third, and even more loosely, Daoism has been used in
Daoist texts as well, but with an added dimension of great
works on China to express a sort of free-flowing effortlessness
significance. For Daoists, the Dao underwent further trans-
informing individual endeavors, especially the arts of callig-
formations, analogous to those it underwent at the begin-
raphy, painting, music, and the like. Fourth, Daoism has
nings of time, to incarnate itself in human history. The Dao
been used to refer to any Chinese religious practice that is
itself is seen as anthropomorphic, possessed of likes and dis-
not identifiably Confucian or Buddhist. Fifth, and more
likes, desires, sentiments, and motivations—the full range of
strictly, the term Daoism is used by scholars to translate the
human emotions. At the same time, the Dao might act in
Chinese term daojiao (literally, “teachings of the Dao”), the
history through avatars, such as Laozi, who were fully human
closest analogue for our term Daoism. The Chinese, like the
in appearance. Finally, a number of deities, including those
Japanese, had no formal name for their native religion until
resident in the human body, are regarded as divine hyposta-
the arrival of Buddhism. The term daojiao was thus fairly
ses of the Dao.
widely adopted to distinguish Daoist religious practice from
fojiao, “the teachings of the Buddha,” or Buddhism.
Qi has been variously translated as “breath,” “pneuma,”
“vapor,” or “energy.” Seen as the basic building block of all
The present entry deals solely with these religious move-
things in the universe, qi is both energy and matter. In its
ments. Even with our narrower focus, problems of definition
primordial form, before division, the Dao is described as
remain. Most Daoist organizations lacked or failed to em-
“nothingness,” void and null. The first sign that it was about
phasize elements deemed essential in other religions. With
to divide, a process that would eventuate in the creation of
some exceptions, most Daoists throughout history would
the sensible world, was the appearance within this nothing-
agree that their religion did not have a single founder, a
ness of qi, a term that originally seems to have meant
closed canon of scriptures, a unified creed, exclusive criteria
“breath” or “steam.” All physical objects in the universe are
of lay membership, or a stable pantheon. Historically speak-
thus composed of relatively stable qi, while rarified qi is re-
ing, the most important structuring force was not internal,
sponsible for motion and energy and is the vital substance
but external to the religion. In its efforts to impose order on
of life. In that the Dao is characterized by regular and cyclical
the realm, the state from time to time sought to control Dao-
change, the transformations of qi could be described in terms
ism through overseeing the initiation of clerics, the number
of recurring cycles, marked off in terms of yin, yang, the five
of temples, the approved canon, and the like. While none
phases, or the eight trigrams of the Yi jing. In such interlock-
of these attempts were ultimately successful, they did provide
ing systems, qi was the intervening matrix by which things
impetus for stricter organizational cohesion than would oth-
sharing the same coordinates in the cycle might resonate and
erwise have been the case.
influence one another.
The high degree of doctrinal flexibility deployed by
Daoists, building both on such cosmological specula-
Daoist organizations often leads modern scholars to debate
tion and on various practices for extending life that featured
which specific ideas and practices might or might not be
the induction into the body of pure, cosmic qi, came to re-
called Daoist. A more productive approach, one that empha-
gard qi as the primary medium by which one might appre-
sizes not what Daoism is, but how various traditions func-
hend and eventually join with the Dao. Most meditation
tioned within society, will notice how Daoism has remained
practices, in one way or another, involve swallowing qi and
an open system, accepting elements drawn from diverse
circulating it within the body. The primary difference be-
sources and organizing them according to a constellation of
tween Daoist meditations and similar hygiene practices is
key principles and practices. None of these constituents are
that Daoists visualize the substance either in deified form or
exclusive to or original with the Daoist traditions. Yet the
as the astral sustenance for qi-formed deities resident in the
distinctiveness of the religion lies in the combination of such
body. In fact, all of the gods are held to be concretions of
elements into a structure of beliefs and practices with distinct
qi from the earliest moments of the Dao’s division. Qi, par-
priorities. These priorities are explored in the following
ticularly that mysterious substance known as yuan qi (primal
section.
qi) thus bridges the gulf between the sensible and the supra-
mundane worlds.
KEY ASPECTS OF DAOISM. The defining concept of the Dao-
ist religion is the Dao itself, understood in a particular way.
Macrocosm-microcosm. While all existence is seen to
The term dao, originally denoting a “way” or “path,” came
be part of the Dao, movements away from its primordial
to be used in pre-Han philosophical discourse to refer to the
condition of unity are held to be destructive, evil, and trans-
proper course of human conduct and, by extension, to the
gressive. The perfect human is thus imagined to be a flawless
teachings of any philosophical school, especially insofar as
microcosm of the cosmic whole, with the bodily spirits per-
these were based on the venerated ways of the sages of antiq-
fectly attuned to their counterparts in the macrocosm. The
uity. In the Laozi, the Zhuangzi, and other early writings, the
most common depiction of the body in Daoist writings holds
Dao came to be seen not as human order, but as the meta-
that it is divided into three realms, corresponding to the tri-
physical basis of natural order itself, inchoate yet capable of
partite cosmic division into heaven, humanity, and earth. A
being comprehended by the sage, primordial yet eternally
spot in the brain, between and behind the eyebrows, controls
present. This Dao of the early thinkers informs religious
the palaces of the head; the heart, organ of sentience 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
2178
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
emotion, controls the center; and a spot above the pubis,
as an official in this celestial pantheon. Because of this, Dao-
center of reproduction, controls the life force. These are
ist priests are sometimes called “officials of the Dao.”
sometimes called the “three primes” or the “three cinnabar
The gods who fill various ranks in the pantheon, includ-
fields.” From an initial unity before birth, the human body
ing the highest, are not fixed. Daoists hold that gods, as part
moves towards increased diversity and closer to death.
of a changeable cosmos, are themselves subject to change and
Daoist ritual is much concerned with identifying and
can be promoted or demoted. A number of rituals end with
combating the forces of aging, degeneration, and illness. The
a procedure to “establish merit,” whereby the gods invoked
goal, at once temporal and spatial, is to bring the various as-
in the rite are recommended for promotion in gratitude for
pects of the body back into unified harmony. Beings who ex-
their prompt aid. Divinities from Buddhism and the gods
isted in this state are called xian (Transcendents) or zhenren
worshiped by local cults could also be absorbed into the pan-
(Perfected). Generally, xian had once been human, while
theon. New revelations almost always include information
zhenren are pure manifestations of aspects of the Dao,
on new gods or rearrangements of the existing pantheon.
though this distinction is not always strictly maintained.
Ritual. Meditations and ritual practices are designed to
In the correlative cosmology of Chinese science devel-
bring individuals and communities back to a state of integra-
oped during the early Han dynasty, the earth was held to
tion with the Dao. Modeled on the dawn assemblies held by
mirror the heavens, so that each portion of the realm corre-
the human monarch to review his officials, the basic ritual
sponded precisely with a sector of the heavens. This corre-
program brings the Daoist priest in vision before the assem-
spondence was the basis for the determination of the celestial
bled bureaucracy of heaven where, through his merit, he can
omens that were regularly reported to the throne. The pole
formally request the rectification of disease or other disorder.
star and surrounding constellations corresponded to the em-
Ritual robes, headgear, and paraphernalia, all carefully de-
peror and his court, so that “invasions” of meteors or comets
scribed in Daoist manuals, are fashioned after the styles of
in that portion of the sky were held to be particularly dire
the imperial court. Communication with the spirits of heav-
portents. In addition, four (and later five) mountains, or
en takes place sometimes through recitation of petitions,
“marchmounts,” were designated the corners and center of
sometimes through their presentation by burning. In addi-
the square earth, symbolically encompassing the realm and
tion, some documents—talismans and longer texts—are
corresponding to the five phases. These mountains, which
written in “celestial script,” an imaginative form of writing
support the sky dome, were thus points where communica-
loosely resembling ancient forms of Chinese graphs, but il-
tion with heaven was easiest. Most important in this regard
legible to ordinary mortals.
was the eastern marchmount, Taishan, associated with the
One striking feature of Daoist ritual is the way it col-
east, the rising of the sun, and new beginnings. Here a num-
lapses space and time. The ritual space is constructed to sym-
ber of Chinese emperors ascended to perform a rite called
bolize the cosmos, overlaid with the vertical dimension of the
the fengshan to seal with heaven their mandate to rule.
center, which represents the highest courts of the heavens.
These concepts were further developed in Daoism.
Temporally, Daoist ritual seeks to bring its performers back
Daoist ritual often focuses on the northern dipper, whose
to the moment of cosmogenesis, when the Dao was integrat-
movements mark the passage of time, and on the palaces of
ed and whole. In its fully developed form, Daoist ritual be-
the apex of heaven, the higher gods of which are described
came a colorful pageant that had a marked influence on Chi-
in great detail. The other asterisms, the sun, and the moon
nese drama. The ascent of the priests to the courts of heaven
also house gods responsible for the orderly revolutions of
is outwardly symbolized with banners, retinues of acolytes
these celestial bodies who could be accessed through ritual.
bearing incense and flowers, and ritual pacing accompanied
Eventually, all of the marchmounts boasted Daoist temples.
by austere music.
Bureaucratic pantheons. Imperial symbolism extends
Eschatology. In its concern with time, Daoism adopted
into almost every aspect of the Daoist religion. Aspects of the
the notion of cyclical return common to ancient Chinese
Dao are visualized as the lord of heaven with a dizzying num-
metaphysics. One component of the “Mandate of Heaven”
ber of spirit-officials. Just as the well-run kingdom depended
concept was that empires rose and fell in a regular cycle, a
on the labors of its bureaucracy, so the workings of the cos-
cycle that was eventually associated with the cyclical progress
mos depend on this pantheon of spirits. The human body
of the five phases. Daoist contributions to this system of
is held to house a corresponding pantheon of spirits. Daoist
thought came to the fore particularly when the religion was
methods for communicating with the spirits of the body and
employed by one or another aspirant to the throne to sup-
the heavens involve both visualization meditations and the
port his program. But, given that Daoism came into being
actual delivery of documents, swallowed for the internal spir-
as a religious entity during the final days of the Han empire,
its and buried, submerged, or burned for delivery to the cos-
dire pronouncements concerning an imminent sweeping
mic pantheon. Illness, like disorders in the human realm, can
away of the unjust and the establishment of a new kingdom
be cured through such petitioning rites, the goal of which
of Great Peace were always part of the religion, helping to
is to bring disharmony to the attention of the highest gods.
support its program of moral reform. One early version
When the priest presents such documents, he or she is acting
promised that the righteous would be the “seed people” 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
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2179
the coming age, chosen to repopulate the new divinely sanc-
berg with three peaks. Above the waterline, the peaks are dis-
tioned kingdom. Equally important were the contributions
tinct, but below, where the religion of the common masses
of Buddhist scripture, whose vast cosmological visions and
is situated, they merge into undifferentiation.
descriptions of “kalpa cycles” came to inform eschatological
Such is not the case for Daoist interactions with the
writings.
popular, or common, religion of the Chinese people, which
Morality. The idea that humans, through indulging
is centered on cults to the powerful dead who are often con-
their desires and hoarding what should be shared, block the
sulted through mediums and propitiated with meat sacrifice.
correct circulation of energies that should exist in the ideal
Originally, Daoist organizations forthrightly banned all such
Daoist kingdom has been present from the beginning. As
worship of “blood eaters,” arguing that these unholy gods
noted above, illness was seen by early Daoists as a sign of
only drained the sustenance of those who worshipped them.
such transgression. Followers were urged to repent of trans-
Eventually, a few such figures were admitted to the Daoist
gressions and to petition the deities to repair the imbalances
pantheon and other associated practices, such as fortune-
caused thereby. The primary transgression mentioned in
telling, were allowed. Nonetheless, most Daoist lineages
Daoist writings seems to be covetousness or desire. Even
strove first and foremost to distinguish their practice from
when providing explanations for the Laozi, however, early
that of common cult religion.
Daoists did not follow that text in its rejection of Confucian
DAOISM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE IMPERIAL ERA: FIRST
virtues such as humaneness and responsibility. Instead, they
AND SECOND CENTURIES CE. As mentioned above, the Dao-
argued that such virtues were too often merely outward and
ist religion began with the founding of the Way of the Celes-
advocated the practice of “secret virtue,” good acts per-
tial Masters (Tianshi dao) in the second century CE. Recent
formed secretly so that only the gods would know and re-
archeological finds and increased scholarly attention have
ward the agent. Eventually, Daoist texts and morality tracts
begun to clarify the lively religious scene of the Han dynasty
regularly came to include lists of precepts to be followed by
(206 BCE–220 CE) that provided the backdrop to this event
priests and by the laity.
and contributed elements that were shaped into the Daoist
Relations with other religions. The doctrinal flexibili-
synthesis.
ty of Daoist practice meant that the system was quite accom-
From later Warring States times, shadowy fangshi or
modating to Buddhism, and later to such foreign imports as
“masters of prescriptions” sought patronage with various rul-
Manichaeism. This ability to absorb the beliefs and practices
ers, promulgating esoteric techniques passed from master to
of other religions could elicit a negative response from pro-
disciple. These included knowledge of paradises beyond the
ponents of the targeted religion. One idea that resurfaced
seas, alchemical, magical, and medical techniques, and the
several times in Chinese history was that Buddhism was but
ability to contact spirits. From such sources there grew a
a foreign version of Daoism, created by Laozi himself when
widespread popular belief in the existence of xian, “Tran-
he disappeared through the western gates of the Chinese
scendents” or “Immortals,” winged beings who could bypass
kingdom. Insofar as this story was related to show that Dao-
death, travel vast distances to inhabit remote paradises, or
ism was fit for the Han peoples, while Buddhism had been
confer blessings on deserving mortals. One of the most pow-
specifically crafted for “foreign barbarians,” it was rightly
erful of these was the Queen Mother of the West, who was
seen by Buddhists as an attempt to co-opt their religion.
held to reside on the mythical cosmic mountain Kunlun. In
Books propounding this theory were imperially banned sev-
the opening years of the common era, a panic spread through
eral times.
the Shandong peninsula when farmers left their fields and
Most Daoist adaptations of Buddhist doctrine and prac-
traveled west to greet what they said was the imminent arrival
tice were innocent of such motives. Since Buddhist su¯tras
of this deity. The Queen Mother would eventually find a
were translated into Chinese, it was natural that Buddhist
place in the Daoist pantheon. From around the same time
doctrine had to be explained in native terms. Daoism often
we have records of others sacrificing to the deified Laozi, re-
informed or, through adapting Buddhist doctrine and prac-
garding him as a salvific, cosmic deity in the fashion of the
tice to its own uses, reconfigured those native understand-
archaic deity Taiyi.
ings. While appropriations went both ways, it is undeniable
Another aspect of Han belief that was adapted into
that many features of the Daoist religion are adaptations of
Daoism was the idea that documents addressed to the bu-
ideas brought in with Buddhism. The distinctive Daoist
reaucracy of the otherworld should be interred with the dead
ideas of rebirth, of the underworld purgatories, of monastic
to facilitate the transfer from one realm to the other and to
life—to name but a few—all grew from productive interac-
ensure that the dead did not return to injure the living. Ar-
tions with Buddhism. Generations of Chinese scholar-
cheologically recovered documents, addressed to the Yellow,
officials and Buddhist scholiasts sought to clarify the bound-
or Heavenly, Thearch and his officers attest to this belief.
aries between the two religions, but the attempt proved less
than successful. Indeed, as Erik Zürcher (1983) has re-
Perhaps the most important ingredient, however, was
marked, China’s three great religions—Buddhism, Daoism,
the constellation of ideas surrounding Han imperial religion.
and Confucianism—might be envisioned as a floating ice-
These include the belief that heaven responds directly to
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
human actions, rewarding good and evil, and that heaven
Zhang Jue organized his followers into thirty-six admin-
forecasts its will through signs and portents. The Han court
istrative regions. The new age of the Yellow Heaven was to
invested a good deal of administrative energy in collecting
dawn in the year 184, the beginning of a new sexagesimal
and analyzing such portents. This led to the composition of
cycle by the Chinese calendar. Despite well-laid plans, news
apocryphal addenda (chenwei) to the imperially-sanctioned
of Zhang Jue’s uprising reached the court and the Yellow
Confucian classics that detailed the systems underlying celes-
Turbans were defeated within the year.
tial omens and explained how to interpret them. According
The ideologies and practices of the early Celestial Mas-
to these texts, heaven regularly intervened in human history
ters were superficially similar to those of the Yellow Turbans.
by sending its envoys in human form. Normally, these di-
Historians note that the early Celestial Masters knew of the
vinely engendered beings were seen to be the founders of new
Scripture of Great Peace, but there is no conclusive evidence
dynasties. But cultural heroes, such as Confucius, were also
of any direct connection between the two movements. The
born in this fashion.
Celestial Masters revered as founder Zhang Ling (Zhang
In the chaotic years leading up to the fall of the Han
Daoling in Daoist texts), a man of Pei (in modern Jiangsu
dynasty, a number of aspirants to the throne, holding that
province) who traveled to the kingdom of Shu (the western
celestial approbation had departed from the Liu house, em-
part of modern Sichuan) to study the Dao on Mount Crane-
ployed religious persuasions of the sort that had supported
call. Daoist texts record that there, in the year 142 CE, he was
the divine mandate of the dynasty to mobilize followers.
visited by the “Newly appeared Lord Lao,” the deified Laozi.
Among the rebel groups mentioned by court historians was
Laozi granted him the title “Heavenly [-appointed] Teacher”
the organization to which later Daoists traced the beginnings
or Celestial Master. On Ling’s death, the title of Celestial
of their dispensation, the Celestial Masters. Sometimes men-
Master was passed on to his son Heng, and eventually to his
tioned by historians in the same tone was a more infamous
grandson, Lu. The line of transmission, it is claimed, remains
group, the Yellow Turbans.
unbroken this day, but the first three Celestial Masters, and
their wives, are the most important. Later Daoist ritual regu-
Centered in the eastern reaches of the Han empire, the
larly includes the invocation of their names.
Yellow Turban rebellion, led by a man named Zhang Jue,
was a well-planned insurrection organized around a millen-
Some scholars have suggested, however, that the legends
nial religious ideology. Zhang called his movement the “Way
of the first two Celestial Masters were fabrications, since only
of Great Peace” and, under the slogan that the “Yellow Heav-
Zhang Lu is mentioned in non-Daoist historical records.
en is about to rise,” sought to position himself and his fol-
Nonetheless, a stele inscription found in the modern prov-
lowers as the vanguard of a new and perfect society. It is like-
ince of Sichuan, recording the initiation of a group of liba-
ly that this ideology was drawn from a revealed book, the
tioners, or priests, in 173 CE, attests to the fact that Celestial
Scripture of Great Peace, perhaps a version of a work that had
Master practice existed at that time and already had pro-
been promulgated earlier in the Han dynasty by a court fac-
duced a corpus of scriptures.
tion. The Scripture of Great Peace, which survives only in
The Celestial Masters divided their followers into twen-
fifth- or sixth-century recensions, promotes an ideal social
ty-four parishes or dioceses, each headed by a libationer. But
structure based on cosmic principles, particularly the idea
this hierarchy was not organized along traditional lines.
that the moral action of each person determines not only in-
Women and non-Han peoples—two groups so devalued in
dividual wellbeing, but also the health of the body politic and
traditional Chinese society that accounts of them, if they ap-
the smooth functioning of the cosmos.
peared at all, were placed at the end of standard histories—
The Yellow Turbans converted people to their cause
were welcomed as full members of the Celestial Masters’
through healing practices, including incantation, doses of
community. Both could serve as libationers, and men were
water infused with the ashes of talismans, and confession of
encouraged to emulate virtues specifically associated with
sins. The Scripture of Great Peace relates confession to the
women.
idea that political and cosmic disease is caused by humans
Libationers instructed the people by means of the Dao
and must be cured on the individual level. Sin, in this text,
de jing, which was to be recited chorally so that even the illit-
is the failure to act in accord with one’s social role, thereby
erate could be instructed. The Xiang’er commentary to the
blocking the circulation of the Dao’s energies. Those who
Dao de jing, attributed to Zhang Lu and surviving in part in
should labor with their bodies fail to do so, but live in idle-
a Tang dynasty manuscript recovered from Dunhuang, at-
ness; those who possess wealth keep it for their own enjoy-
tests to the novel ways in which they interpreted the text.
ment rather than allowing it to circulate; and those who
should teach virtue only “accumulate” it for their personal
As Terry Kleeman (1994) has shown, the central teach-
benefit. These and other blockages to the circulation of
ing of the Celestial Masters, called “the Correct and Ortho-
goods and life forces lead, by this account, to illness and
dox Covenant with the Powers,” held that “the gods do not
death. This strict correspondence between microcosm and
eat or drink, the master does not accept money.” This stric-
macrocosm was to be a prominent feature of later Daoist
ture, as clarified in the Xiang’er commentary, mandates the
practice.
rejection of blood sacrifice, central to popular and imperial
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2181
cult. In place of gods, and their priests, who could be swayed
A fascinating document found in the Daoist canon, the
by offerings, the Celestial Masters revered deities who were
“Commands and Admonitions for the Families of the Great
pure emanations of the Dao and ate only qi. Agents of this
Dao,” dated to the first of the three yearly assemblies in 255,
unseen bureaucracy resided even in the human body and so
gives us some idea of how the community fared under the
could not be deceived. They would be moved only by good
Wei kingdom. Delivered in the voice of Zhang Lu, who had
deeds or ritually presented petitions of contrition. In any
doubtless died by that time, the document warns the com-
event, they kept detailed records of each person’s merits and
munity of the impending fall of the dynasty and excoriates
demerits.
them for lapses in practice. From this document, we learn
The Celestial Masters cured illness with confession and
that the system of parishes had fallen into disarray and that
the ingestion of talisman water. The ill were to confess their
a number of new texts, including the important Scripture of
transgressions in specially constructed “chambers of qui-
the Yellow Court were in circulation. The “Admonitions” fur-
etude” and to present the necessary written petitions to the
ther states that Zhang Lu himself, or at least the medium
offices of heaven, earth, and water. Three times a year—the
who now spoke in the voice of Zhang, authored the Scripture
seventh of the first month, the seventh of the seventh month,
of the Yellow Court, which presents detailed meditations on
and the fifth of the tenth month by the lunar calendar—
the gods of the body.
people were to assemble at their assigned parish. There, liba-
DAOISM OF THE SIX DYNASTIES: FOURTH THROUGH SIXTH
tioners would verify records of death and birth, and commu-
CENTURIES. We hear no more of the Celestial Masters until
nal meals would be held. On this occasion, members of the
the Jin dynasty’s (265–420) hold on northern China began
community were to present a good-faith offering of five
to weaken early in the fourth century. A group of ethnic Ba
pecks of rice. This gave rise to an alternate name for the com-
families, some two hundred thousand strong, returned to the
munity, the “Way of the Five Pecks of Rice” or, in less favor-
region of Chengdu where Li Te inaugurated the short-lived
able sources, “the rice bandits.” Beyond these faith-offerings,
theocracy known as the Cheng-Han (302–347). Other Ce-
the community was enjoined to perform acts of merit, such
lestial Master adherents came into the region around present-
as the building of roads or the provision of free food for trav-
day Nanjing when the Jin dynasty relocated there in 317.
elers.
The writings of Ge Hong (283–343), a member of an influ-
As Kristofer Schipper (1982) shows in detail, libationers
ential southern gentry family, provide detailed information
were also responsible for bestowing on the faithful registers
on the vibrant religious scene that the Celestial Masters en-
recording the number of transcendent “generals,” residents
countered.
of their own bodies, that they were empowered to summon
and control. Children of six years of age received a register
At a young age, Ge Hong formally received from his
with one general. By marriageable age, initiates could receive
tutor—a man who claimed that his lineage extended through
registers listing seventy-five generals, a number that they
Ge’s great-uncle—“Grand Purity” alchemical scriptures and
could double by performing the Celestial Master marriage
the Esoteric Writings of the Three Sovereigns. Throughout the
ritual. This ritual, known as “merging qi” included instruc-
remainder of his life, Ge collected as many such texts as he
tion in a precise method of intercourse that could replenish
could. Though his poverty prevented him from ever concoct-
the bodily forces of male and female participants, normally
ing an elixir himself, Ge Hong became an ardent proponent
deficient in yin and yang qi respectively, without the ex-
of practices of transcendence that extended back to the fang-
change of bodily fluids that led to reproduction. As the
shi of the Han. Two works bearing his name have survived.
Xiang’er commentary explains, the Dao wishes people to re-
The inner chapters of the eponymous Baopu zi (Master who
produce, but not to squander their vital energies. Later re-
embraces simplicity), known by Ge Hong’s style name, rep-
formers were to criticize and rectify this practice, which was
resent a spirited defense of the arts of transcendence and in-
considered “lascivious” by outsiders.
clude transcriptions of some of the methods Ge studied. Ge
ranks such practices, listing herbal recipes meant to prolong
By the end of the second century, Zhang’s grandson,
life as a distant second to the ingestion of the mineral and
Zhang Lu, then head of the community, took sanctuary in
metallic products of the alchemist’s furnace. The Traditions
the Hanzhong Valley, just north of the Sichuan basin and
of Divine Transcendents, which survives only in later redac-
over 200 kilometers southwest of the Han capital of
tions, provides vivid hagiographies of important transcen-
Chang’an (modern Xian). In 215 CE, Zhang Lu surrendered
dent figures, including Laozi and Zhang Daoling, who is
to Cao Cao, the Han general whose son was to inaugurate
here portrayed as a practitioner of alchemy.
the Wei dynasty (220–265) of the Three Kingdoms period.
As a result of this act of fealty, a large portion of the Celestial
While Ge Hong shows only a limited awareness of Ce-
Master community was relocated from Hanzhong to areas
lestial Master religion, as Robert Campany (2002) has
farther north, while many of its leaders were enfeoffed or
shown, his writings provide invaluable testimony to the ways
otherwise ennobled. While some followers doubtless re-
religious practitioners operated in the society of the time,
mained from the early period in Sichuan, the spread of Dao-
gaining reputations for their esoteric arts, seeking patronage,
ism throughout China as a whole begins with this diaspora
and initiating disciples. Further, Ge’s written works attest to
of the original Celestial Master community.
several scriptural traditions that were eventually to find their
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
way into the Daoist canon. The most important of these are
refer simultaneously to, for instance, the placement of pal-
the two traditions into which Ge was initiated as a youth and
aces in the heavens and the arrangement of spirit-residences
the Five Talismans of Lingbao, a book of visualization practice
in the viscera. Yang frequently uses such devices as synesthet-
and herbal recipes. Indeed, it was through Ge’s own family,
ic metaphor to portray how apparent contradictions collapse
as well as families related to his by marriage, that Celestial
in the Dao. In addition, because Yang’s revelations described
Master Daoism was to be reshaped through an infusion of
spirit marriages with young female Perfected awaiting both
these southern traditions.
him and the Xus, one cannot discount the erotic component
of Yang’s productions. Yang’s unique style was immediately
Between the years 363 and 370, the Daoist Yang Xi
and widely imitated, both by writers of Daoist scripture and
(330–c. 386) was employed as a spiritual advisor by a gentry
by later secular writers.
family related to Ge’s through marriage. Yang’s patrons, who
had employed before him a Celestial Master libationer, were
Finally, the Shangqing texts were prized for their mes-
Xu Mi (303–373), a minor official at the imperial court, and
sage. The Shangqing texts do not represent a radical break
his son Hui (341–c. 370). From his meditation chamber,
with the past. All of the meditations and rituals found in
Yang brought to them enticing revelations from the unseen
them have analogues in earlier religious literature. A number
world. These concerned both the whereabouts in the under-
of scriptures contain improvements on earlier Celestial Mas-
world or heavens of the relatives and acquaintances of the
ter techniques, while one fragment proves to be a rewritten
Xus and their circle, as well as complete scriptures outlining
version of the Buddhist Su¯tra in Forty-two Sections. What is
new practices. Transmitted from person to person among
really new is the way in which the constituent parts are modi-
this privileged group, Yang’s Shangqing (Upper clarity or su-
fied to give preeminence to the guided meditations and visu-
preme purity) scriptures and revealed fragments of divine in-
alizations of the practitioner. The meditation practice of the
struction eventually came to be collected in the first of the
Shangqing scripture includes both visionary journeys into
tripartite divisions of the Daoist canon. Thereafter, the
the heavens and more direct ways of working with the body.
Shangqing scriptures, augmented by later revelations and ad-
ditions, became the center of one school of Daoist practice,
Visionary journeys have an ancient pedigree in Chinese
with its own patriarchs, priests, temples, and liturgies.
religion. In the Shangqing scriptures, the adept is instructed
to perform purifications and then to visualize his or her body
Several features distinguished the Shangqing scriptures
ascending to the sun, moon, stars, or up into the celestial
from the mass of scriptural material produced during this pe-
timekeeper, the northern dipper. There, the adept imbibes
riod. First of all, the texts emanated from the highest reaches
astral sustenance, the food of the gods, pays homage to the
of the heavens. The Transcendents (xian) of earlier scripture
gods, or exchanges documents with them. Practices aimed
occupy only lower positions in the celestial hierarchy. Above
at perfecting the body also typically involve visualization.
them are ranks of even more exalted and subtle beings, the
While there are quite a few references to drugs and elixirs in
Perfected (or “Authentic Ones,” zhenren), a term originating
the Shangqing texts, the tradition tended to transform more
in the Zhuangzi but here made part of a bureaucratic pan-
physical practices into meditative experience. Generally, the
theon of celestial deities. The Perfected, male and female, are
spirits that inhabit the body are energized through the inges-
clothed in resplendent garb, described in terms of mists and
tion of pure qi, enjoined not to leave, and merged with their
auroras. They are decked out with tinkling gems, symbols of
celestial counterparts. In some practices, the joining of bodily
their high office. Their bodies are formed of the purest qi and
gods with those of the macrocosm functions as an interioriza-
glow with a celestial radiance as they move about the heavens
tion of the Celestial Master sexual practice known as “merg-
in chariots of light. The texts such beings brought were like-
ing qi.” Other techniques teach ways of reenacting the pro-
wise exalted in that they described the practices the Perfected
cess of gestation using the qi of the nine heavens to create
themselves employed to subtilize their bodies. In fact, one
an immortal body.
form the Shangqing scriptures take is that of a biography of
one or another of the Perfected, replete with descriptions of
After the death of Yang and the Xus, the fragments of
the practices associated with that deity.
personal revelation and the scriptures Yang had received
from the Perfected were scattered. The preservation of such
Secondly, the Shangqing scriptures clearly earned their
a significant portion of Yang’s writings is due to the efforts
eventual popularity in large part through the compelling way
of Tao Hongjing (456–536), perhaps the foremost scholar
in which they are written. Yang Xi must be counted among
of early Daoism. Tao collected the more personal revelations
the major innovators in the history of Chinese letters. The
that Yang Xi wrote for the Xus in his Zheng’ao (Declarations
language of his texts—both poetry and prose—is abstruse,
of the Perfected), an extremely diverse work that includes re-
dense, and obscurely allusive. It seems to exemplify as much
cords of the Perfected mates promised to Yang Xi and Xu
as express the mysterious qualities of the spirit world to
Mi, injunctions to Xu Mi and Xu Hui concerning the details
which he had been granted privileged access as the result of
of their practice, letters between them, accounts of the un-
his strivings. The macrocosm-microcosm identity familiar
derworld topography of Mount Mao, and even records of
from other Daoist texts becomes for Yang license for a mul-
dreams. As this work cites a number of scriptures, it has prov-
tivalence of signification whereby literally whole passages
en invaluable to scholars’ attempts to reconstruct Daoist his-
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2183
tory. In addition, Tao Hongjing edited a number of the
pages are the original, authentic pronouncements of the Ce-
scriptures that he was able to acquire and preserved annotat-
lestial Worthy from prior kalpas. As a result, the Lingbao
ed passages from them in his Dengzhen yinjue (Secret instruc-
scriptures give what amounts to the earliest attempt to grade
tions on the ascent to perfection), which survives only in
religious practices, an emphasis that led Lu Xiujing (406–
part.
477), the Daoist who first catalogued the Lingbao scriptures,
to also make a listing of all Daoist texts, entitled the Catalog
At the very beginning of the fifth century, another
of the Three Caverns. Lu’s catalog originally comprised
southern corpus of scriptures began to emerge, attesting to
1,228 juan (scrolls) of texts, of which 138 had not yet been
yet another attempt to reform Daoist practice. These scrip-
revealed on earth. The texts were divided into three “caverns”
tures, collectively known as Lingbao (Numinous gem), repre-
or “comprehensive collections”: Dongzhen (comprehending
sent at once a return to the communal practices of the Celes-
tial Masters and a renewed attempt to make Daoism the
perfection, containing Shangqing texts), Dongxuan (compre-
common religion. The Lingbao scriptures drew upon the re-
hending the mysterious, containing Lingbao texts), and
ligious traditions of the day (fangshi practice, Han-period
Dongshen (comprehending the spirits, containing early
apocrypha, southern practices known to Ge Hong such as
southern scriptures). All subsequent Daoist canons were or-
those found in the Lingbao wufu jing itself, Celestial Master
ganized into these “three caverns.” Three deities, each re-
Daoism, Shangqing Daoism, and Buddhism), sometimes
garded as a transformation of the former, were designated the
copying entire sections of text and presenting them so as to
ultimate sources of these three collections of texts. These
accord with its central doctrines in order to fashion a new,
were: (1) for Dongzhen, the Lord of Celestial Treasure, resid-
universal religion for a unified China. While Lingbao propo-
ing in the Heaven of Jade Clarity; (2) for Dongxuan, the
nents failed in this attempt—the emperor upon whom they
Lord of Numinous Treasure, residing in the Heaven of
based their hopes, Song Wudi (r. 420–422) failed to reunify
Upper Clarity; and (3) for Dongshen, the Lord of Spiritual
the kingdom, and monks expert in the texts they plagiarized,
Treasure, residing in the Heaven of Grand Clarity. With
Buddhist and Daoist alike, denounced their productions as
some modifications, this trinity, also known as the “three
forgeries—the Lingbao texts they produced did lead to a new
pure ones,” continued to be central to later Daoist ritual tra-
Daoist unity.
ditions.
While Lingbao descriptions of the spiritual cosmogra-
In the north of China, reform of the Celestial Masters’
phy of the human body differ little from those of the
practice took a different turn. In 415 and again in 423, Kou
Shangqing scriptures, their soteriology are very different.
Qianzhi (365–448), a Celestial Masters’ priest, received from
The Lingbao texts describe an elaborate cosmic bureaucracy
the deified Laozi revelations containing codes explicitly
that has survived the destruction of the cosmos through
meant to reform aberrant practice and lead to a more tightly
countless kalpas, or “world-ages,” a concept adapted from
organized ecclesia. With the help of a high official, he pre-
Buddhism. At the apex of the pantheon is the Celestial Wor-
sented these to the throne of the Toba (a Turkish people)
thy of Primordial Commencement, a deity who plays some-
Wei dynasty (386–534). Because the foreign rulers in the
what the same role in the Lingbao scriptures as the cosmic
north of China were interested in controlling religions that
Buddha in Buddhist scriptures. By joining with the enduring
might disguise rebellion, the Toba emperor agreed to make
Dao through keeping its precepts and conducting rituals for
Kou’s new dispensation the official religion of the kingdom.
the salvation of others, adherents hope to ensure for them-
The demand for orthodoxy increased to the extent that the
selves either a favorable rebirth “as a prince or marquis” or
emperor was eventually urged to proscribe Buddhism. The
immediate promotion into the celestial bureaucracy. The
Daoist theocracy barely outlived Kou.
hymns and liturgies of the scriptures reenact and prepare
Subsequent northern emperors continued to harbor sus-
practitioners for this latter, final destination. This was the
picions of unregulated religious practice, however, leading to
first instance in which a version of the Buddhist concept of
a series of court debates between Buddhists and Daoists and
rebirth was fully integrated into Daoist doctrine. Significant-
concomitant attempts to abolish one religion or the other.
ly, Daoists, holding that their religion valued life while Bud-
The best documented of these occurred during the reign of
dhism valued death, did not forward nirva¯n:a (cessation) as
Yuwen Yong, Emperor Wu of the Zhou dynasty (r. 560–
a religious goal. Because later Daoist ritual practice was based
578). Harboring the ambition to reunify China, Emperor
on these early Lingbao texts, this explanation of rebirth was
Wu, who had himself received initiation into Daoist scrip-
to become an enduring feature of the religion.
tures, held several debates between Buddhists and Daoists to
The moral component of the Lingbao scriptures—a
determine which of their doctrines would best complement
mixture of traditional Chinese morality and Buddhist salva-
the Confucian state orthodoxy. Daoist apologists argued, ap-
tional ethics—is much more prominent than that found in
parently with some success, that their practice extended back
earlier texts. There is also a pronounced proselytizing empha-
into the prehistorical golden age of the Central Kingdom,
sis. The texts argue that contemporary Daoist and Buddhist
while the Buddhist religion was a recent foreign import. But
practices are but variant paths that lead to the same goal and
the debates were still inconclusive and the emperor charged
that the rewritten versions of some practices found in their
one of his officials, Zhen Luan, to compose a treatise com-
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
paring the two religions. When Zhen produced the “Treatise
Laozi’s text, the Dao de jing, into the state exam system, even
Deriding the Dao,” which debunked the claim of antiquity
composing an imperial commentary to the text. The favor
of Daoist scriptures and undermined the hope for a unifying
he bestowed on the religion was matched by imperial over-
ideology, the emperor ordered it burned and commissioned
sight. He instituted the office of commissioner for Daoist rit-
the scholarly monk Dao’an to write a new treatise, “Treatise
ual to control at the national level the ordination and regis-
on the Two Teachings.” Both works survive in the Buddhist
tration of the priesthood. Similar oversight was accorded
canon, providing scholars with opposition views regarding
Buddhist institutions.
the Daoist practice of the day. Daoist apologists, on the other
hand, preserved no similarly detailed documentation of the
It was during the second half of Xuanzong’s reign that
debates.
his enthusiasm for the religion came most fully to the fore.
The watershed events were the appearance of the divine an-
As would happen again and again throughout Chinese
cestor to the emperor in dreams and the discovery of a talis-
history, Emperor Wu’s attempts at central control of religion
man, the whereabouts of which was also revealed by Laozi.
were neither effective nor long lasting. In 574, he ordered
As a result of this latter discovery, the emperor changed the
that Buddhist and Daoist monks return to lay life and confis-
reign-name to “Celestial Treasure.” He distributed images of
cated temple holdings. Later in the same year, he established
Laozi, fashioned after his dream vision, throughout the em-
a central Daoist temple, the Tongdao guan (Observatory for
pire, granted grand titles to the sage, and established official
Comprehending the Dao) and commissioned the composi-
institutes for Daoist study in each prefecture of the realm.
tion of an encyclopedic collection of Daoist writings, the
As Timothy Barrett (1996) shows, graduates of these insti-
Wushang biyao (Secret essentials of the most high). While the
tutes could take part in the newly inaugurated Daoist exami-
proscriptions did not endure beyond Emperor Wu’s death
nation in the capital and enter the civil service, the first time
in 578, the controversies continued as subsequent emperors
religious examinations had ever been used for this purpose.
attempted to co-opt the prestige of Buddhism and Daoism
Meanwhile officials reported apparitions of Laozi and other
to bolster their dynastic designs. Within Daoism, the Wu-
signs of divine approbation with great frequency. Even
shang biyao did have the effect of providing its contents with
Xuanzong’s flight from the capital as a result of the An Lu-
the stamp of orthodoxy, though at some point the more egre-
shan rebellion and his removal from power are not without
gious passages claiming that Buddhist doctrine and practice
legends of Laozi’s continued support of the emperor.
originated with Daoism were expunged from the collection.
Due in part to this imperial favor, the Tang dynasty
DAOISM UNDER THE TANG (618–907). The rulers of the
marked a rapid expansion of Daoist belief and practice into
short-lived Sui dynasty (581–618), which did manage to
the gentry class, with a concomitant growth in Daoist schol-
unify China, favored Buddhism to lend cosmological author-
arship. A number of encyclopedias, annotations, and local
ity to their state orthodoxy. But millennial expectations,
histories survive from the period. In response to the subtleties
drawn from both Buddhism and Daoism, arose in force
of Buddhist philosophy, Daoist scholars evolved a number
again to contribute to the downfall of the dynasty. Foremost
of philosophical approaches to Daoism, from meditations on
among these expectations was the idea, derived from early
the self and nurturing life to analyses of the processes by
Daoism and given prominence in the Shangqing scriptures,
which one might join with the Dao. Distinctive styles of
that the “Perfect Lord” Li Hong would soon descend to
music, art, and dance were also developed. With the regular-
sweep away the unjust and establish a rule of great peace.
ization of Daoist monasticism, we learn more about women
Among those who took on the mantle of the Perfect Lord
who entered Daoist orders, some clearly attracted by the
was Li Yuan, founder of the Tang dynasty. Further, he
prospect of gaining more control over their lives. A few
claimed descent from Laozi, whose given name was said to
gained kingdom-wide reputations for their piety. Once such
have been Li Er. Given this, Tang emperors tended thereafter
was Huang Lingwei (c. 640–721), who after a long period
to favor the Daoist religion.
of training restored and occupied the shrine of the Shang-
qing goddess Wei Huacun. Her reconstruction of the site
As a result, the Tang period marked a time of consolida-
was aided at each step by divine visions and dreams. The
tion and expansion for the Daoist tradition. Even Wu Zhao
number of poems presented to her by famous figures and the
(r. 684–705), who proclaimed herself “emperor” and re-
laudatory biography written after her death by the official
named the dynasty Zhou, while giving secondary status to
and calligrapher Yan Zhenqing (709–784) attest to her fame.
the religion that had lent support to those she sought to re-
place, took recourse to Daoist symbolism, ritual, and prestige
The practice of alchemy also came into prominence
to establish her rule. The most fervent imperial supporter of
during the Tang. As in other areas of Daoist scholasticism,
Daoism was Li Longji (the Xuanzong Emperor, r. 712–756).
ancient texts were collected and compared. One representa-
The emperor’s personal involvement with the cult of the dy-
tive work is the Essential Instructions from the Scriptures on
nastic ancestor built up slowly over the course of his long
the Elixirs of Great Clarity (Sivin, 1968) by the physician and
reign. At first he sponsored rituals for the welfare of the state,
pharmacologist Sun Simiao (581–682). While the exact ex-
employing prominent priests such as Sima Chengzhen (647–
tent of elixir ingestion is unknown, a number of literati men-
735) to help revise state ritual and music. He also introduced
tion the practice in their writings. In addition, Tang emper-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2185
ors patronized masters of alchemy and several of the later
These disparate features of the religion endure to the
emperors may have died as a result of such experimentation.
present day. In many ways, then, scholars tend to see the
Meanwhile, the use of alchemical experimentation as a
Song period as the beginning of modern Daoism. The most
means to observe the workings of the cosmos led to the grad-
thoroughly studied example of a local therapeutic and exor-
ual creation of “inner alchemy,” a term that refers to various
cistic tradition that rose to national prominence, and eventu-
methods for merging “cinnabar” and “lead” within the body
ally received court recognition, is the Rectifying Rites of
to create the immortal embryo without actual ingestion of
Tianxin (the center of heaven, that is, the northern dipper).
mineral or metallic substances. As Fabrizio Pregadio (2000)
While serving the fourth ruler of the state of Min (present-
has shown, this trend began during the late Six Dynasties pe-
day Fuzhou) during the years 935 to 939, a Daoist priest by
riod (220–589 CE) with the Zhouyi cantong qi (Token of the
the name of Tan Zixiao was asked to interpret a set of talis-
concordance of the three, based on the Book of Changes), a
mans that had come to light. These, he pronounced, were
work that shows operative alchemy to be a replication of cos-
part of a secret patrimony, the Rectifying Rites of Tianxin,
mic processes as defined by the symbol systems of the ancient
passed down from Zhang Daoling. The talismans, as they de-
fortune-telling manual, the Book of Changes. Widely studied
veloped in the tradition, were held to embody the power of
during the Tang, this work, together with the dangers of elix-
the celestial emperor of the north, of the Department of Ex-
ir ingestion, led to the eclipse of operative alchemy.
orcisms, and his agents, the fearsome generals Tianpeng, He-
isha, and Zhenwu, among others. Daoist priests visualized
Later Daoists were to look back on the Tang as a golden
Tianpeng in Tantric form and the latter two with disheveled
age, and often traced their own lineages to real or mythologi-
hair, bulging eyes, brandished weapons, and martial dress.
cal Tang figures. A more balanced picture of the religion ap-
And thus they are depicted in Daoist statuary and painting.
pears in the works of Du Guangting (850–933), the fore-
The rites of Tianxin were passed from master to master, fi-
most Daoist priest of the Shu kingdom (in present-day
nally coming to the Daoist Deng Yougong, who between
Sichuan). Writing as the Tang dynasty lay in ruins, Du’s col-
1075 and 1100 wrote ritual manuals that were eventually in-
lections of hagiographies, miracle tales, inscriptions, and rit-
cluded in the imperially sponsored Song Daoist canon of
ual summaries attest to aspects of the religion that are given
1120, the first ever to be printed.
short shrift or lacking in earlier sources (Verellen, 1989).
Here we learn of the importance of Daoist practice at the
Another ritual tradition was founded by Lu Shizhong
local level, the veneration of holy women, and the impor-
(fl. 1100–1158), a native of Chenzhou (modern Henan)
tance of lay benefactors for the maintenance of temples and
who received visits from the deified Zhao Sheng, who had
images.
been a disciple of the first Celestial Master. Lu’s manuals,
known as the Rites of the Jade Hall, blend the Rites of Tian-
DAOISM UNDER THE SONG (960–1279) AND YUAN (1206–
xin with Lingbao funeral rites and show an increased empha-
1368). In gauging the development of Daoism during the
sis on meditation practice. Characteristic of these and other
Song and Yuan dynasties, we must avoid the “documentary
therapeutic rituals of the early Song was the practice of
fallacy.” More than half of the texts found in our primary
kaozhao, “summoning for investigation.” In kaozhao ritual,
source for the study of the religion, the Ming canon printed
the master transforms himself into a martial deity, identifies
in 1445, were compiled after the mid-twelfth century. This
the demon causing problems, seizes it, and causes it to de-
dramatic increase in documentation, in part the result of the
scend into the troubled person or a surrogate where it might
invention of printing and consequent spread of literacy, pro-
be interrogated and the problem resolved (Davis, 2001).
vides evidence, unavailable from earlier times, on how the re-
Such practices could only arise once illness was no longer
ligion operated at all strata of society. This has sometimes led
linked to morality, as it had been in earlier Daoist traditions.
scholars to underestimate the penetration of Daoism into
lower levels of society in earlier periods and to overstate the
Early Song rulers, who like the Tang rulers before them
spread of the religion during the Song and Yuan. Even ac-
traced their ancestry to a Daoist deity, here the Yellow Em-
counting for this distorting factor, however, it does appear
peror, had recourse to the protection offered by demon-
that social changes—especially the rise in mercantilism, in-
quelling ritual. Threatened by peoples to their north, they
creased literacy, and the relaxation of governmental con-
found special protection from the celestial general Heisha,
trol—led to new forms of organization, an increase in the
whom they ennobled with the title “the Perfected Lord who
number of literate priests, heightened religious competition,
Supports the Sage [ruler] and Protects [his] Virtue.” They
and a consequent burgeoning of pantheons and practices. In-
also ordered the construction in the capital Kaifeng of a mas-
creasingly, localities, regional associations of various kinds,
sive temple complex dedicated to Zhenwu, the Perfected
and minority communities came to adopt Daoist deities and
Warrior. In addition, rulers patronized ritual specialists, built
practices. At the same time, scholarly Daoists composed vast
temples throughout the realm and sponsored the collection
ritual compendia, consolidating and formalizing practice.
and printing of Daoist texts. The Yunji qiqian (Seven slips
And, again under foreign rule in the north of China, another
from the book bags of the clouds), a 120-chapter collection
counter-trend emerged. This was Quanzhen Daoism, a well-
of Daoist texts extracted from the canon of 1120, survives
organized and highly centralized monastic movement.
from this period.
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DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
The imperial support of Daoism culminated in the brief
Wang’s most famous disciple, Qiu Changchun (1148–
theocratic reign of Huizong (r. 1101–1125), who called to
1227), was summoned to the Jin court in the 1180s and,
court Daoists from the major ordination centers. In addition
in 1220, to the itinerant court of Chinggis Khan (r. 1206–
to confirming the prestige of old Daoist lineages—
1227), who hoped to obtain the drug of immortality from
Shangqing was represented by its putative twenty-fifth patri-
him. Although Qiu allowed that he knew only hygienic tech-
arch and the Celestial Masters, now centered at Mount
niques for prolonging life, he made a favorable impression
Longhu (in modern Jiangxi), by their thirtieth—several new
on the khan, who bestowed special privileges on the Quan-
lineages were also created in response. Lin Lingsu (1076–
zhen order, including authority over the religious in his
1120) arrived in the capital with revelations he had received
realm. Quanzhen Daoism grew explosively during the Yuan
from Shenxiao (Divine empyrean), the highest reaches of
dynasty, despite prescriptions of the order ordered by Kublai
heaven. Lin revealed the divine identity of Huizong as the
Khan (r. 1260–1294) in retribution when his armada sent
deity “Great Thearch of Long Life” and promulgated a set
against Japan was destroyed by a typhoon in 1281. Accord-
of rituals based on earlier Shangqing and Lingbao texts. Yang
ing to the estimates of Vincent Goossaert (2001), by 1300
Xizhen (1101–1124) claimed to have emerged from the cav-
there were some four thousand Quanzhen temples in north-
erns hidden in Mount Mao, the ancient center of Shangqing
ern China, housing an estimated twenty thousand clerics,
practice, with a set of therapeutic rituals that had been be-
around one-third of whom were women.
stowed upon him in this underworld study center. These
As an order, Quanzhen was devoted to both communal
were called the “Rites of Youthful Incipience.” Huizong’s en-
discipline and self-cultivation. Priests and nuns took vows of
thusiasm for these Daoist traditions went to such extremes
celibacy and left the home to live communally in one of the
that he commanded that all Buddhists of the realm be de-
many temples. There, submitting to monastic discipline,
moted to Daoists of the second rank. This and other excesses
they would work to cultivate lack of attachment, purity of
incited further disputes between Buddhists and Daoists. But
mind, and immortality through the practice of inner alche-
Huizong’s reign was short and in 1127 the court moved
my. As they often took up residence in the temples of local
south to evade the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234).
cults or other orders, the rituals conducted by Quanzhen
clerics derived from all the major traditions of Daoism.
During the southern Song, the most noteworthy devel-
Sometimes their eclecticism led them into difficulties, as
opments involved the codification of innovations begun in
when Quanzhen clerics championed a later version of the
the north. Lin Lingsu had presented his Shenxiao tradition
Huahu jing, the scripture that held that Laozi was the Bud-
as an extension of the ancient Lingbao canon and the culmi-
dha, before the Yuan emperors in a series of debates with
nation of Shangqing revelation. In line with these claims, he
Buddhists. In a final debate before Kublai Khan in 1281, the
had presented to the throne a sixty-one-chapter version of
enraged emperor ruled against them and, as we have seen,
the originally one-chapter Lingbao Scripture of Salvation.
eventually suppressed the order. In mature form, Quanzhen
This important text formed the basis for another ritual tradi-
doctrine was less doctrinaire, drawing from the quietist as-
tion, the Lingbao dafa (Great Rites of Lingbao). While there
pects of Confucianism and Ch’an (Jpn., Zen) Buddhism and
were regional variations, the centerpiece of this tradition was
revering both the Buddhist Heart Su¯tra and the Confucian
the rite of liandu (roughly, “salvation by fiery smelting”).
Classic of Filial Piety.
Through an extremely elaborate external ritual—involving
The remarkable spread of Quanzhen during the Yuan
chants, pacing, and the use of talismans—and an equally
period can be attributed to several factors. First, clerics tend-
complex internal ritual through which the bodily spirits of
ed to travel widely, spreading the doctrine. Second, Quan-
the master descended into the hells, the rite aimed to purify
zhen adepts, more than those of other contemporary reli-
and rescue the dead.
gious groups, tended to use literary works—dialogic treatises,
Under the Jin in northern China, several new traditions
poetic accounts of practice, public inscriptions, organization-
appeared. The most important and enduring of these was the
al histories, and the like—as proselytizing tools. Third,
Quanzhen (“Perfect Realization” or “Completion of Authen-
Quanzhen adepts easily assimilated themselves to existing re-
ticity”). The movement was inaugurated by the ascetic and
ligious establishments, reinterpreting the texts of their rivals
visionary Wang Zhe (1113–1170), also known as Wang
and even occupying their temples.
Chongyang. After achieving enlightenment in 1167, Wang
DAOISM IN THE MING (1368–1644) AND QING (1644–
wandered the Shandong peninsula, converting followers and
1911). Scholars have only recently begun to turn their atten-
founding associations for the promulgation of his doctrine.
tion to post-Yuan developments in the Daoist traditions
Wang gathered around him a coterie of favored disciples, all
traced above. One difficulty derives from the often-strained
highly literate men among whom Ma Danyang (1123–1184)
relationship between Daoist practitioners and the throne. In-
was his designated heir. The later tradition settled on a list
creasingly stringent controls placed on Daoist institutions
of qi zhen (Seven Perfected or “Authentic Ones”) as the fore-
and practitioners during the Ming and Qing attest to the
most disciples. This list included Sun Bu’er (1119–1183),
continued vitality of the religion. At the same time, tight im-
Ma’s wife, thus signaling the vital role female clerics had
perial oversight tended to erase from the public record much
come to play in the movement.
that we would like to know.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2187
The first Ming ruler, Taizu (r. 1368–1399), attempted
being and nonbeing. The group spread throughout south-
to manage Daoism by establishing various agencies govern-
eastern China and endured for about 150 years after Lin’s
ing the religion, regulating the number of monks and nuns
death.
who could be ordained, and mandating the maximum age
Another result of Ming attempts at religious control was
at which they could do so. Taizu favored the Zhengyi order,
the strengthening of lay associations, both trade guilds and
but tolerated the Quanzhen movement. Clerics of many ritu-
those local groups organized for the purpose of sponsoring
al traditions thus began to take refuge in these two orders,
a temple or religious site. One prominent example is the fa-
a situation that continues. It is clear, however, that Taizu’s
mous Yongle Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy), a temple dedicat-
restrictions, though continued by subsequent emperors, only
ed to Lü Dongbin first occupied by Quanzhen adepts in the
superficially limited the numbers or activities of Daoists.
1240s that had, by the mid-Ming, fallen into disrepair. Be-
Chengzu (r. 1402–1425), also known by his reign-title
ginning in 1614, local leaders organized subscription cam-
as the Yongle Emperor, provided more protection for Dao-
paigns for the repair and ritual use of the temple. To the ef-
ism. He ordered the compilation of a new canon (completed
forts of such associations we owe the remarkable preservation
after his death) and designated Zhenwu, the Perfect Warrior,
of fourteenth-century murals depicting scenes from the life
the dynastic protector. Claiming that Zhenwu had aided him
of Lü Dongbin, perhaps drawn from popular Yuan plans,
in unifying the realm, the emperor set up a sanctuary for this
and depictions of Daoist divinities used in ritual (Katz,
deity in Beijing’s forbidden city when he took residence there
1999). The support of temple associations is also responsible
in 1421. He also provided support for the god’s cult center
for the incorporation into Daoism of popular deities such as
on Mount Wudang in Hubei. For similar reasons, Chengzu
Ma Zu, goddess of merchants and fishermen.
supported other deities, including the popular “god of war,”
Another sign of popularization was the printing and dis-
Guandi, one of a list of popular deities who were adopted
tribution of Daoist tales. Among these, one of the most com-
into the Daoist pantheon.
pletely studied concerns the mysterious figure Zhang San-
Subsequent Ming emperors continued the dual policy
feng. Pierre-Henry de Bruyn (2000) relates the origins of this
of support and control begun by the first rulers of the dynas-
figure: When Chengzu (r. 1402–1424) usurped the throne
ty. Despite official patronage for some, there seem to have
by having his nephew murdered, he still entertained doubts
been few doctrinal developments during this period. The
that the burnt corpse presented to him was in fact his neph-
main trend seems to have been one of amalgamation of di-
ew. He consequently sent secret police throughout the realm
verse practices into a single way, something that pleased rul-
on the pretext of seeking the immortal “Zhang Sanfeng,” but
ers as evidence of unity. One important tradition that pro-
actually to seek for his nephew. As a result of this apparent
vided a foundation for this search for unity was the tradition
imperial interest, all sorts of legends began to circulate con-
of inner alchemy. Zhao Yizhen (d. 1382), a master trained
cerning this figure. These were duly published and circulated
in Quanzhen and Qingwei ritual, proposed a strict course of
by the faithful, and a cult arose.
self-examination through the use of “ledgers of merit and de-
The same trends—strict imperial control, standardiza-
merit,” a widespread practice at the time. Such self-criticism,
tion of Daoist traditions under the aegis of Zhengyi and
he held, could bring human emotions into harmony with
Quanzhen, and growing lay involvement—intensified dur-
reason, dispel illusion—whether that of demons, spirits, or
ing the Qing dynasty. The Manchu rulers of the Qing vener-
bodhisattvas—and prepare the way for proper absorption of
ated Tibetan Buddhism and promoted neo-Confucian doc-
cosmic essences through meditation. Zhang Yuchu (1361–
trine as state orthodoxy, even to the extent of promulgating
1410), the forty-third Celestial Master of the Zhengyi tradi-
its tenets among the populace through imperial “sacred
tion, carried on Zhao’s understandings of inner alchemical
edicts.” The Confucian elite, feeling that excessive emphasis
practice, explicitly incorporating into his system the insights
on personal cultivation had led to the collapse of the Ming,
of Chan Buddhism on inner nature.
tended to support the state orthodoxy. As a result, officially
sanctioned “three teachings” movements during the Qing
An even more syncretic teaching was propounded by
tended to exist for the purpose of spreading Confucian mo-
Lin Zhao’en (1517–1598), scion of an official family from
rality. An unintended consequence of this imperial initiative
Fujian who studied with various Daoist masters and eventu-
was an upsurge in lay associations and sectarian movements
ally styled himself “Master of the Three Teachings.” His
organized under the pretext of spreading morality. Shanshu
group became the “Three in One Teaching,” merging in-
(Morality books) promoting Confucian ethics based on Bud-
sights from Confucianism as the principle doctrine, with
dhist notions of karma and Daoist concepts of longevity and
Daoism and Buddhism. Lin taught a method of inner culti-
of the bureaucratic organization of the unseen worlds had
vation in nine stages, culminating in “breaking through the
circulated since the Song dynasty but now were produced in
void,” a final step of inner alchemical practice for forming
even greater numbers.
the internal embryo. To this stage of ultimate attainment,
Lin assimilated the “perfect sincerity” of neo-Confucian un-
Beginning in the Ming, sectarian movements published
derstanding of the Doctrine of the Mean and the Buddhist
similar works, known as baojuan (precious volumes) of a
concept of moving beyond illusion into the ground between
more striking religious character. A number of these were
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2188
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
produced by “spirit writing,” a type of revelation whereby
DAOISM IN JAPAN. There is no clear evidence of the trans-
spirits of gods, Transcendents, or even cultural heroes were
mission of organized Daoism to Japan. No records of Daoist
believed to compose texts by taking control of a writing im-
investiture or even the presence of Daoist priests have yet
plement. The most common means, still in use today, in-
been detected. A number of scholars have cited references to
volved two mediums wielding a double-handled planchette
immortality seeking, alchemy, and other practices and words
that would inscribe the deity’s words, graph by graph, in a
associated with Daoism in texts from the seventh century CE
shallow box filled with sand. This message would then be
forward. For example, the Nihonshoki (Chronicle of Japan),
“transcribed” by several observers. Texts produced in this
under entries for the years 456 to 479, mentions several
way began to appear as early as the Song dynasty (Kleeman
mountaintop establishments it styles do¯kan (Daoist temples),
1994), but the popularity of such works seems to have in-
but it is uncertain what sort of establishment might have
creased radically during the Ming.
been meant. Most Japanese scholars, then, agree with the
One of the most widespread of the sectarian move-
1933 findings of Tsukami Jikiryo¯ that “Daoist ideas trans-
ments, named by Susan Naquin (1985) “White Lotus Sec-
mitted to Japan in ancient and Heian (794–1185) times
tarianism,” centered on the Maitreya-like goddess, the Eter-
came first under the umbrella of esoteric Buddhism and yin-
nal Venerable Mother, who, it was believed, would reappear
yang divination, and then spread to the wider populace”
to eradicate evil and create a new heaven and earth. These
(cited in Masuo, 2000, p. 824). A number of the practices
movements, only loosely organized, were a threat both to the
scholars point to in support of this assertion, however, are
Buddhist and Daoist establishments and to the government.
best considered part of Chinese common religion, rather
Imperial attempts at suppression only succeeded in spurring
than specifically Daoist.
millenarian movements.
One example is the practices associated with the geng-
While Qing rulers gave precedence to the Zhengyi order
shen (Jpn., ko¯shin) day, the fifty-seventh day of the sexagesi-
in state ritual, they also appreciated the organizational
mal cycle of days according to the Chinese calendar. Accord-
strengths of Quanzhen, with its strict rules for clerics. Over
ing to texts as early as the Baopuzi, the human body played
the course of the dynasty, the Longmen branch of Quanzhen
host to three worms or “corpses” that sought the death of
rose to domination. The Longmen branch traces its found-
their host and would, on the night of this day, ascend to
ing back to Qiu Chuji of the Song, but, as Monica Esposito
heaven to report on his or her transgressions. Since these evil-
(2000) has shown, it actually originated during the Ming
minded residents might depart the body only during sleep,
among southern Daoist movements. The importance of the
one method to frustrate them included an all-night vigil.
Longmen branch can with assurance be traced to Wang
While Daoist texts taught that abstention from meat, sexual
Changyue (d. 1680), who from 1656 until his death served
abstention, and purification procedures were also necessary,
as abbot of the Baiyun guan (White Cloud Abbey) in Beij-
the vigil in Japan (as sometimes in China) became the occa-
ing. Wang reorganized Quanzhen precepts to include neo-
sion for an all-night party.
Confucian rules for living that were favored by Qing rulers.
He divided the precepts into three ascending stages: (1) ini-
Introduced in the mid-ninth century, ko¯shin practice
tial precepts of perfection; (2) intermediate precepts; and (3)
was modified in the eleventh century by Tendai monks, who
precepts of celestial transcendence. He also held that anyone
added further Daoist and Buddhist elements from a variety
could gain immortality through their careful cultivation.
of scriptural sources. During the Edo period (1603–1687),
Under Wang’s direction, Baiyun guan became a central
esoteric monks and yamabushi began delivering morality lec-
training center for all Daoist traditions, formally granting the
tures on the practice throughout the country and a number
precepts to male and female clerics from all over the kingdom
of ko¯shin halls were established to accommodate those hold-
as part of their official investiture. This, in itself, was crucial
ing vigils. Thriving ko¯shin halls still exist in Osaka and Nara.
to the spread of Longmen branch teachings.
Although specific practices for ridding the body of the three
worms found a place in Daoism, the belief in the three
As Wang Changyue’s example shows, while Quanzhen
worms was not confined to Daoism, as its presence in Bud-
and other Daoist organizations continued to discourse on
dhist texts composed in China attests.
and practice the inner alchemy of earlier days, there was an
increased emphasis on universalism. Simplified descriptions
Other practices associated with Daoism—methods of
of the discipline were promulgated not only by Daoists, but
appeasing the celestial bureaucracy, the use of apotropaic tal-
by sectarian groups and lay organizations, and even in popu-
ismans and spells, even the ritual “pace of Yu” (a magical gait
lar plays and novels. Schools of martial arts and physical cul-
held to avert evil originating in ancient Chinese occult tradi-
tivation adopted some inner alchemical learning to their own
tions and adapted into Daoism)—can be found in similar
purposes, leading to the widespread practice of qigong
form, mixed with Chinese common religion and Buddhism.
(roughly, “breath achievement”) in modern times. While
One group that seems to have been particularly receptive to
many qigong schools have their own origin myths, a more
Daoist practice was the yamabushi practitioners of Shugendo¯
scholarly account of their origins is that, while some of their
(roughly “way of practice for inciting auspicious response”).
practices are quite ancient, they in fact grew from the intel-
According to legend, Shugendo¯ began in the seventh centu-
lectual and social conditions of Ming and Qing times.
ry, but was certainly widespread by the end of the Heian pe-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2189
riod. The practice of yamabushi, who undergo austerities in
chemy continued in the form of private danhak pai (schools
the mountains to gain spiritual powers, includes healing, the
of alchemical studies), which developed in distinctive ways
dispelling of misfortune, a version of the pace of Yu, and the
and began to claim transmissions from shadowy ancient fig-
use of spells and talismans. While some of these can be traced
ures of Korean history.
to Daoist works, the precise vectors of transmission are un-
The “new religions” that developed in Korea in the
known. In addition, the twelfth-century Shinto¯ schools of Ise
nineteenth century drew extensively on Daoist scriptures and
and Yoshida developed a view of spirits (Jpn., kami) divided
practices. The Donghak (Eastern Doctrine), established in
according to function and sometimes associated with the
1860 by Choi Jaewu (1824–1864) and others, includes sacri-
northern dipper and other asterisms that made specific use
fices to Daoist gods, the use of talismans, and the practice
of Daoist works.
of visionary journeys to the celestial realms.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number
of Daoist practices, including those associated with Quan-
DAOISM TODAY. The official body governing Daoist practice
zhen Daoism, arrived in Japan as a result of the popularity
in modern China is the Chinese Daoist Association, formed
of neo-Confucianism. Morality books were another source
in 1956 and officially approved by the Ministry of Internal
of knowledge of Daoist deities, such as the martial god
Affairs on May 20, 1957. Operating from the White Cloud
Guandi, and of practices meant to satisfy the moral oversight
Temple in Beijing, the organization coordinates Daoist prac-
of the celestial bureaucracy. In line with the flexible nature
tice and controls the initiation of priests and nuns. At first,
of Daoist belief, such foreign elements were easily modified
the association, following Qing precedent, recognized only
to conform with Japanese society.
Zhengyi (Celestial Master) and Quanzhen traditions. Dur-
ing the government-sponsored mass movements of the
DAOISM IN KOREA. Unlike the case of Japan, there are re-
1960s and 1970s, all Daoist holdings were returned to state
cords of the formal transmission of Daoism into the Korean
control. Following the Cultural Revolution, and particularly
peninsula. In the early seventh century, Tang emperors, who
from 1979 forward, governmental control of religious prac-
traced their lineage to Laozi, sent priests on at least two occa-
tice has relaxed considerably and researchers report a resur-
sions to teach Daoist ritual in the court of the king of
gence of Daoist practice throughout the country. This has
Koguryo˘ (37 BCE–668 CE). During the late Tang, monks of
been matched by an exuberant growth of scholarship on all
the unified Silla (668–935) are recorded as having visited the
aspects of the religion.
Chinese capital to study Daoism. Not much is known,
though, about how well established the religion became as
In Taiwan, free exercise of religion existed since the
a result of such exchanges.
founding of the Nationalist government in 1949. All forms
of religious practice flourished and the crafts necessary to rit-
During the Koryo˘ dynasty (918–1392), however, Dao-
ual—the painting of religious images, construction of ritual
ist ritual became part of imperial practice. King Taejo (r.
garb and implements, and so on—thrived. Many early West-
918–943) set up some fifteen Daoist sites, ordered rites for
ern researchers into the Daoism, beginning with Kristofer
the welfare of the state, and gave Daoism a ranking equal to
Schipper, began their studies with fieldwork on the island.
that of Buddhism. Subsequent emperors followed suit.
In 1951, Zhang Enpu, the putative sixty-third generation
Under King So˘njong (r. 1083–1094), Daoist rituals were no
Celestial Master founded the Taiwan Daoist Society to pro-
longer confined to the capital and, in 1115, Song Huizong
vide coordination for Daoist activities. This quasi-
provided clerics to assist in imperial Daoist rites. Jung Jae-seo
governmental organization represents only one facet of the
(2000) has found that there were a total of 191 recorded jiao
vibrant Daoist practice seen in Taiwan; Daoist practitioners
rituals performed during the Koryo˘. During this period, Ko-
and scholars have also entered into fruitful communication
rean intellectuals also became interested in Daoist practice,
with their counterparts in mainland China.
sometimes modeling their associations on the hagiographies
of Chinese Transcendents.
Outside of China, Daoist practice exists wherever there
is a substantial Chinese community. In premodern times,
The Choso˘n dynasty (1392–1910) promoted neo-
one of the vectors of transmission seems to have been non-
Confucianism as the state doctrine and closed many of the
Han peoples who had been converted to Daoism as part of
temples built during the Koryo˘, but still allowed some Daoist
strategies of Sinification. For instance, the Yao people, resi-
rituals for the welfare of the royal family. A version of Chi-
dent in northwest Thailand, practice a form of the Rectifying
nese methods of control was instituted early in the dynasty
Rites of the Center of Heaven, dating to the Song. Michel
whereby candidates for the priesthood were examined in the
Strickmann (1982) has provided evidence that the Yao ac-
Lingbao scriptures, a Zhenwu scripture, and other important
quired their traditions from officially sponsored missionaries,
texts. Eventually only one temple, the Sogyo˘k so˘, with one
perhaps as early as the Song. Comparable evidence for the
hall dedicated to Grand Unity and another to the Three Pure
Daoism of other parts of Southeast Asia has not so far been
Ones and patronized by officials, was allowed to conduct for-
discovered.
mal Daoist rituals. These were entirely Chinese-style Daoist
rites. The temple was finally abolished as a consequence of
More common was the spread of Daoism with Chinese
the Japanese invasion. Nonetheless, private study of inner al-
mercantile communities, something that we know to 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
2190
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
occurred from early times. Today Singapore and Malaysia
Schafer, Edward H. The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain
host the most widespread practice of the religion. Active as-
Maidens in T’ang Literature. Berkeley, Calif., 1973. A survey
sociations for the coordination of Daoist practice were
of Chinese mythology on water goddesses, some of whom
founded there in 1979 and 1995, respectively. These um-
were adapted into Daoism.
brella organizations frequently coordinate with the Daoist
Schipper, Kristofer. Le corps taoïste. Paris, 1982. Translated by
Associations of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Karen C. Duval as The Taoist Body. Berkeley, Calif., 1993.
Schipper offers an overall analysis of the Daoist religion with
SEE ALSO Dao and De; Fangshi; Huangdi; Shugendo¯; Taiji;
an excellent chapter on ritual.
Xi Wang Mu; Yinyang Wuxing; Yuhuang.
Sivin, Nathan. “On the Word ‘Taoist’ as a Source of Perplexity.”
History of Religions 17 (1978): 303–330.
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drawn largely from the official histories.
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Ch’en Kuo-fu. Daozang yuanliu kao. 2d ed. Beijing, 1963. An im-
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that attests to the vivacity of modern Daoist practice.
Livia Kohn, pp. 792–820. Leiden, 2000.
Granet, Marcel. La pensée chinoise (1934). Reprint, Paris, 1968.
Katz, Paul R. Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at
A classic on the systems of Chinese thought with their sym-
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bols and categories. A brilliant pioneering study, it contains
of an important temple and its artwork.
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of longevity.
Chinese Millennial Kingdom. Honolulu, 1998. A study of the
Maspero, Henri. Mélanges posthumes sur les religions et l’histoire de
Ba converts to Daoism and the kingdom they founded in
la Chine, edited by Paul Demiéville; Vol. 2: Le taoïsme. Paris,
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Kohn, Livia, trans. and ed. Laughing at the Tao: Debates Among
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Chinese Religion (Amherst, Mass., 1981). Written by one of
1995. A translation and study of the Xiaodao lun of Zhen
the founders of modern French Sinology, this posthumous
Luan.
work contains important essays on religious Daoism.
Masuo Shin’ichiro¯. “Daoism in Japan.” In Daoism Handbook, ed-
Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China. 5 vols. Cam-
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bridge, U.K., 1954–1983. This work is an ambitious and
Naquin, Susan. “The Transmission of White Lotus Sectarianism
successful undertaking on Chinese scientific thought, with
in Late Imperial China.” In Popular Culture in Late Imperial
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and the techniques of longevity (vol. 5).
Evelyn S. Rawski, pp. 255–291. Berkeley, Calif., 1985.
Ren Jiyu, ed. Zhongguo daojiao shi. Shanghai, 1990. The best gen-
Seidel, Anna K. La divinisation de Lao tseu dans les taoïsme des
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Han. Paris, 1969. An excellent study of the divinization of
Robinet, Isabelle. Les commentaries du Tao Tu King jusqu’au sep-
Laozi.
tième siècle. 2d ed. Paris, 1981. A study of the main commen-
Seidel, Anna K. “Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments: Tao-
taries of the Laozi.
ist Roots in the Apocrypha.” In Tantric and Taoist Studies II,
Robinet, Isabelle. Histoire du taoïsme des origines au XIV siècle.
edited by Michel Strickmann, pp. 291–371. Brussels, 1983.
Paris, 1992. Translated by Phyllis Brooks as Taoism: Growth
The seminal article on the relations between early Daoism
of a Religion. Stanford, Calif., 1997. One of the foremost
and Han imperial religion.
scholars of Daoist texts here traces the early development of
Stein, Rolf A. “Remarques sur les mouvements du taoïsme politi-
the religion.
co-religieux au IIe siècle ap. J.-C.” T’oung pao 50 (1963):
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: AN OVERVIEW
2191
1–78. A study of sectarian revolts that brought about the
Lagerwey, John. Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History. New
downfall of the Han dynasty.
York, 1987. An account of the cosmology of Daoist ritual.
Strickmann, Michel. Le taoïsme du Mao-Chan: Chronique d’une
Schipper, Kristofer. “The Written Memorial in Taoist Ceremo-
révélation. Paris, 1981. A historical survey of an important
nies.” In Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, edited by Ar-
sect of the Chinese middle ages.
thur P. Wolf, pp. 309–324. Stanford, Calif., 1974.
Strickmann, Michel. “The Tao Among the Yao: Taoism and the
Schipper, Kristofer. Le Fen-Teng: Rituel taoïste. Paris, 1975.
Sinification of South China.” In Rekishi ni okeru minshu¯ to
Schipper, Kristofer. “Taoist Ritual and the Local Cults of the
bunka, edited by Sakai Tadao, pp. 23–30. Tokyo, 1982.
T’ang Dynasty.” Taipei, 1979. This work, as well as the pre-
Verellen, Franciscus. Du Guangting (850-933): Taoïste de cour à
ceding two, written by one of the best specialists of Daoism,
la fin de la Chine médiévale. Paris, 1989. One of the few
examines various aspects of ritual.
book-length studies of the life and works of an important
Longevity Techniques and Meditation
Daoist figure, this works provides valuable information on
Anderson, Poul, trans. The Method of Holding the Three Ones: A
the development of Daoist practice during the Tang dynasty.
Taoist Manual of Meditation of the Fourth Century A.D. Co-
Daoist Hagiography
penhagen and Atlantic Highlands, N.J., 1980. A good trans-
Campany, Robert Ford. To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: Ge
lation of a meditation text of the Mao-shan school.
Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents. Berkeley, Calif.,
Baldrian-Hussein, Farzeen. Procédés secrets du Joyau magique:
2002. A translation and study of the Shenxian zhuan, this
Traité d’alchimie taoïste de l’onzième siècle. Paris, 1984. An in-
work contains important insights into transcendent cults of
troduction to a Song dynasty system of internal alchemy,
the fourth century CE and their relations with Daoism.
with translation.
Kaltenmark, Max. Le Lie sien tchouan: Biographies légendaires de
Despeux, Catherine, trans. Traité d’alchimie et de physiologie tao-
immortels taoïstes de l’antiquité. Beijing, 1953. A fully anno-
ïste. Paris, 1979. A translation of Zhao Bichen’s important
tated translation of the earliest collection of transcendent bi-
work of modern internal alchemy.
ographies.
Despeux, Catherine. Taiji Quan: Technique de longue vie et de
Kleeman, Terry F. A God’s Own Tale: The Book of Transformations
combat. Paris, 1981. An interesting study of Chinese boxing,
of Wenchang, the Divine Lord of Zitong. Albany, N.Y., 1994.
with good translations.
A translation and study of a work produced by planchette in
Gulik, Robert H. van. Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary
1181.
Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from ca. 1500 B.C. till 1644
Ngo Van Xuyet. Divination, magie, et politique dans la Chine an-
A.D. (1961). Reprint, New York, 2003. A pioneering work
cienne. Paris, 1976. A thorough study of the occult sciences
on an important subject, with an interesting chapter on the
and fangshi in China during the Han dynasty and the Three
various interpretations of alchemical language.
Kingdoms period.
Maspero, Henri. “Les procédés de ‘nourrir le principe vital’ dans
Schipper, Kristofer. L’Empereur Wou des Han dans la légende tao-
la religion taoïste ancienne.” Journal asiatique 229 (1937):
ïste. Paris, 1965. A translation of an ancient Daoist novel,
177–252, 353–430. Reprinted in Le taoïsme et les religions
important for the study of the legends and practices of the
chinoises (Paris, 1971). Fundamental work on physiological
Mao-shan school.
practices.
Daoism and Fine Arts
Robinet, Isabelle. Méditation taoïste. Paris, 1979. Translated by
Chang Chung-yüan. Creativity and Taoism: A Study of Chinese
Norman Girardot and Julian Pas as Taoist Meditation (Alba-
Philosophy, Art, and Poetry. New York, 1963. Examines the
ny, N.Y., 1993). A study of Shangqing visualization tech-
influence of Daoist thought on the arts and poetry.
niques by the foremost scholar of Shangqing literature.
Little, Stephen, ed. Taoism and the Arts of China. Chicago, 2000.
Schafer, Edward H. Pacing the Void: T’ang Approaches to the Stars.
The illustrated catalog of the first Western exhibit of Daoist-
Berkeley, Calif., 1977. Tang dynasty astronomical lore, in-
related art, this book includes essays by scholars on a variety
cluding the foundations of Daoist dipper practice.
of subjects.
Alchemy and Medicine
Daoist Ritual
Pregadio, Fabrizio. “Elixirs and Alchemy.” In Daoism Handbook,
Hou Ching-Lang. Monnaies d’offrande et la Notion de Trésorerie
edited by Livia Kohn, pp. 165–195. Leiden, Netherlands,
dans la religion chinoise. Paris, 1975. An interesting work that
2000.
helps to understand some aspects of Daoist ritual.
Sivin, Nathan. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge,
Kaltenmark, Max. “Quelques remarques sur le T’ai-chang Ling-
Mass., 1968. A first-rate study of an alchemical treatise writ-
pao wou-fou siu.” Zinbun 18 (1982): 1–10. Includes a de-
ten by Sun Simiao of the Tang dynasty.
scription of an ancient ritual.
Ware, James R., trans. Alchemy, Medicine, Religion in the China
Kleeman, Terry F., “Licentious Cults and Bloody Victuals: Sacri-
of A.D. 320: The Nei-P’ien of Ko Hung (1967). Reprint, New
fice, Reciprocity, and Violence in Traditional China.” Asia
York, 1981. Complete translation of the Daoist section of
Major (3d series) 7, no. 1 (1994): 185–211. The primary
the Baopuzi. Unfortunately it is not always reliable.
study of the sacrificial religion against which Daoism devel-
Diverse Collections and Articles
oped its “Pure Covenant” with the gods.
History of Religions 9 (November 1969 and February 1970). Pro-
Lagerwey, John. Wu-shang pi-yao: Somme taoïste du sixieme siècle.
ceedings of the First International Conference of Taoist
Paris, 1981. A study of the first Daoist anthology.
Studies.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2192
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
Welch, Holmes, and Anna K. Seidel, eds. Facets of Taoism: Essays
The Way of the Heavenly Masters was founded, accord-
in Chinese Religion. New Haven, Conn., 1979. Proceedings
ing to the mid-third century Zhengi fawen Tianshi jiao-jie
of the Second International Conference of Daoist Studies.
k’o-jing (Scripture of the rules and Teachings of the Heavenly
Zürcher, Erik. “Buddhist Influence on Early Taoism.” T’oung pao
Masters, a Text of the Method of Orthodox Unity), by
66 (1980): 84–147.
Zhang Daoling. He is there said to have received, in the year
Bibliographies
142, from the Newly Manifested Lord Lao (Xinzhu Laojun),
Loon, Piet van der. Taoist Books in the Libraries of the Sung Period:
the “Way of the Covenant of Orthodox Unity with the Pow-
A Critical Study and Index. Ithaca, N.Y., 1984. A work in-
ers” (zhengyi mengwei dao). He set up twenty-four “gover-
tended for specialists; however, the introduction on Daoist
nances” (zhi) and “divided and spread the energies of the
literature in Song times is of general interest.
mysterious (celestial), the original (terrestrial), and the begin-
Seidel, Anna. “Chronicle of Taoist Studies in the West, 1950–
ning (the Way) in order to govern the people.” The earliest
1990.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 5 (1989–1990): 223–348.
list of these governances appears in the late sixth-century
This journal continues to publish important articles on
Wushang biyao (Essentials of the supreme secrets): it places
Daoism.
all but one of the governances in what is now Sichuan prov-
Soymié, Michel. “Bibliographie du taoïsme: Études dans les
ince and clearly confirms that the movement started in the
langues occidentales.” Études taoïstes 3–4 (1968–1971): 247–
western part of that province.
313 and 225–287.
To¯ho¯ shu¯kyo¯ (Journal of eastern religions). Sponsored by the Japan
According to the dynastic histories, Zhang Daoling was
Society of Daoistic Research, this journal publishes impor-
succeeded by his son Heng, and Heng by his son Lu. Zhang
tant articles and each year a bibliography of scholarship on
Lu controlled northeastern Szezhuan for over thirty years,
Daoism in Japanese and Western languages from the preced-
until he surrendered in 215 to Cao Cao, future founder of
ing year.
the Wei dynasty (220–264). Cao Cao gave him the title
STEPHEN R. BOKENKAMP (2005)
“General Who Controls the South” (zhennan jiangjun), en-
feoffed him, and married his son Pengzu to Lu’s daughter.
It was probably at this time that the last of the twenty-four
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS
governances was located in the capital city of Luoyang and
COMMUNITY
that the Way of Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi Mengwei Dao)
There is no trace in the historical records of any organized
became the dominant religion in the state of Wei. It remains
Daoist community before the Latter Han dynasty (25–220
to this day the most important form of religious Daoism.
CE). Among the various politico-religious movements that
SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD. The dynastic histories note that the
sprang up during the second century as the dynasty went into
adherents of Zhang Daoling were called “rice rebels” because
decline, the most famous are the Way of the Heavenly Mas-
a tax of five bushels of rice was levied on initiates. Through-
ters (Tianshi Dao) and the Way of Great Peace (Tai ping
out the Period of Disunion (220–589), the nickname Way
Dao). Although the historical evidence linking these two
of the Five Bushels of Rice (Wudoumi Dao) continued to
groups is slim, both clearly aimed at the total transformation
be applied to the “church” of the Heavenly Masters. Its origi-
of society and the establishment of a Daoist utopia; both
nal organization consisted of a hierarchy of laypeople called
were founded by people surnamed Zhang, probably because
“demon soldiers” (guizu), low-level priests called “demon
the Zhang clan was thought to be descended from the Yellow
clerks” (guili), higher-level priests called “libationers” (jijiu),
Emperor, who, together with Laozi, was revered in Han
and chief priests called “head libationers.” Each of the liba-
Daoism as the divine source of Daoist teachings; both orga-
tioners was in charge of an “inn of equity” (yishe). Said to
nized the faithful into cosmologically determined units; and
be like the postal relay stations of the Han government, these
both considered sickness a sign of sin and therefore pre-
inns were open to travelers, and free “meat and rice of equi-
scribed confession as a prerequisite for healing.
ty” were supplied them.
HAN PERIOD. At least partly inspired by a Tai ping jing
That the “church” had in fact virtually supplanted the
(Scripture of great peace), presented to the throne during the
state may be seen from the fact that justice was administered
reign of the emperor Shun (r. 126–145 CE), the Way of
by the libationers. Minor infractions were punished by the
Great Peace was founded by three brothers who called them-
obligation to repair the routes between the inns: the word
selves the generals of the lords, respectively, of Heaven,
dao means “way, route,” and free circulation of goods, per-
Earth, and Man. In addition to healing by means of confes-
sons, and ideas was considered essential to a society built on
sion and “symbol-water” (fu-shui), they and their subordi-
Daoist principles.
nates spread the message that a new era, the era of Yellow
Heaven, was about to begin. Having organized their adher-
The basic institutions and attitudes of the movement all
ents, known as the Yellow Turbans, into thirty-six military
reveal its utopian character. Perhaps most striking in this re-
regions (fang) covering eight of the twelve provinces of the
gard is the equal treatment accorded to men and women—
empire (all of eastern China), they rose in revolt in the first
both could become libationers—and to Chinese and tribal
year of a new sixty-year cycle, a jiazi year (184 CE). It took
populations. There were, as a result, a large number of these
government forces a full ten months to crush the revolt.
tribal people among the adepts of the Heavenly Masters. 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
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
2193
various titles given the leaders of the movement, and in par-
most elevated service performed by Daoist priests at the re-
ticular that of libationer, were taken from the Han system
quest of temple communities.
of local administration, where they referred to individuals se-
Progress in this vast meritocracy was marked by the
lected locally for their moral qualities and their wisdom. The
graded transmission of a whole series of commandments and
hierarchy envisaged was one that was communally oriented
registers. According to the Regulations of the Most Perfect, the
and merit based. Although the position of Heavenly Master
first series of commandments was transmitted to seven-year-
was in later times a hereditary one, it is not certain that this
old children. Starting at the age of eight, they could receive
was true at first; until as late as the Five Dynasties period
a register with the name and description of one general on
(907–960) there are many references to heavenly masters of
it, then the register of ten generals at age twenty. Next came
surnames other than Zhang.
the registers of seventy-five generals, of which there were
In addition to running the inns of equity, the libationers
two, a feminine (yin) one giving control over seventy-five im-
were charged with the task of explaining the Laozi (Dao de
mortals (xian), and a masculine (yang) one, to which were
jing) to the faithful. Part of a commentary on the Laozi, the
attached the same number of potentates (ling). The Regula-
Xiang’er zhu, found in the Dunhuang caves at the beginning
tions state simply that these two registers are to be transmit-
of this century, is generally attributed to Zhang Lu. The
ted successively to the same person. It is probable, however,
commentary insists above all on the moral conduct of the
that the second transmission occurred only after successful
faithful: “Who practices the Dao and does not infringe
accomplishment of the rites of sexual union called “mingling
the commandments will be profound as the Dao itself; Heav-
the energies” (heqi), for the reform-minded Heavenly Master
en and Earth are like the Dao, kind to the good, unkind to
Kou Qianzhi (d. 448), in forbidding the practice of these
the wicked; therefore people must accumulate good works
rites by other than married couples in his New Regulations,
so that their spirit can communicate with Heaven.”
refers explicitly to the “registers of male and female officers.”
The “demon clerks”—so called, no doubt, because they
These registers gave the names and physical descriptions
had direct charge of the “demon soldiers”—had as their chief
of these generals and the armies of immortal and spiritual of-
task the recitation of prayers for the sick. After the sick per-
ficers under their command. The role of these armies was to
son had first meditated on his sins in a “quiet room” (jingshi),
guard and protect the adept, just as the gods of the popular
the demon clerk would write down the person’s name and
pantheon, who are also often called generals, were supposed
the purpose of his confession. He drew up this “handwritten
to do. The adept who received further registers was called a
document for the Three Officers” in three copies, one to be
“Daoist who distributes his energies” (sanqi Taoshi), that is,
sent to each of these governors of Heaven, Earth, and the
one who had moved beyond self-protection to saving others:
Waters. It was for this service that the faithful contributed
a priest.
five bushels of rice, as well as the paper and brush for prepar-
In general, each additional register increased the adept’s
ing the documents.
power over the invisible world of the spirits and added there-
An early Daoist text, the Tai-zhen ke (Regulations of the
by to his understanding of the Covenant of Orthodox Unity
most perfect) states that every household should set up a
with the Powers. To enter the Way of the Heavenly Masters
meditation room and place the list of the names of its mem-
meant to worship only those powers enrolled, like the adepts
bers in five bushels filled with “faith-rice” (xinmi). Every
themselves, on official registers and to cease to worship the
year, at the beginning of the tenth month, all the faithful
“gods of ordinary people” (sushen). According to the Xiang’er
were to gather at the governance of the Heavenly Master
commentary, “the Way is most venerable, it is subtle and
himself and contribute their faith-rice to the Heavenly Gra-
hidden, it has no face nor form; one can only follow its com-
nary. They would then go in to pay their respects to the
mandments, not know or see it.” The ultimate goal was to
Heavenly Master and listen to an explanation of the rituals,
know this invisible way, to “hold on” to its mysterious—
ordinances, and commandments. The family registers of all
“orthodox”—Unity. This required forswearing all contact
the faithful were to be brought up to date at this time, that
with the multiple “heterodox cults” (yinsi) current among the
is, births, deaths, and marriages were to be recorded, so that
people. Throughout the Period of Disunion and, in some-
the centrally held registers agreed with the family registers.
what diluted form, down to the present day, Orthodox
Unity Daoists have been, like the Confucians, implacable
Similar gatherings were held in the first and seventh
opponents of these cults.
months, the former to determine, according to their respec-
tive merits, the advancement of the officers of the move-
This well-formed, cosmologically comprehensive eccle-
ment, the latter that of the laypeople. On each of these three
siastical organization survived, more or less intact and with
“days of meeting” (huiri), linked respectively to the Three
appropriate modifications, through the Tang dynasty (618–
Officers (San Guan) of Heaven, Earth, and the Waters, a
907). One of the reasons for its survival was its readiness to
“memorial stating the merit [of each and all] was sent up.”
come to terms, in the manner of Zhang Lu, with the state.
These days of meeting, especially the grand assembly of the
The Scripture of the Teachings of the Heavenly Master cited
tenth month, are clearly the origin of the community Offer-
above explicitly criticizes the Yellow Turbans as a “perverse
ings (jiao), which continue to constitute, to this day, the
way” (Xiedao) responsible for the death of millions. The same
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DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
text states that the Dao, that is, Lord Lao, had often in the
western regions beyond China and there transformed himself
past appeared as the “teacher of kings and emperors.” But
into the Buddha in order to convert the barbarians is first
after his “new manifestation” in the year 142, he would ap-
attested in a memorial presented to the throne in the year
pear no more, for “Lord Lao had then bestowed on Zhang
166 by one Xiang Kai. At that time, Buddhism was still per-
Daoling the position of Heavenly Master.” Now, in the year
ceived in China as a form of Daoism, and so the legend was
255, the Heavenly Master urges the faithful to obey the
useful, even complimentary to the Buddhists. But by the
“pure government of the Wei.”
time the libationer Wang Fou wrote the first known (now
lost) version of the Huahu jing around the year 300, Bud-
The power and the appropriateness of this conception
dhism had become an entirely autonomous force in Chinese
in the context of the Confucian state may be seen from the
life, and the compliment had turned into a polemic slur.
fact that in 442 the emperor Taiwu (r. 424–452) of the
Northern Wei (386–535) became the first of a long line of
The Daoists rarely won the court debates, and the
emperors to “receive registers” (shoulu), that is, to receive a
Huahu jing was regularly proscribed over the centuries, start-
Daoist initiation that was tantamount to ecclesiastical (di-
ing in 668 with its suppression by Tang Gaozong (r. 650–
vine) investiture. Emperors—especially, but not exclusively,
684). But before the work disappeared definitively from cir-
those favorable to Daoism—perpetuated this practice until
culation, after Yuan Shizu (r. 1260–1295) ordered all copies
the end of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1126).
burned in 1281, it had served for nearly a millennium as a
means of conveying a central Daoist conviction, based on
The man who thus invested the emperor Taiwu was
many a passage in the Laozi, that the Dao embraced all
Kou Qianzhi. In 425, Kou was named Heavenly Master and
things, large and small, high and low, Chinese and barbarian.
his New Regulations, partly of Buddhist inspiration, was pro-
To the Daoists it followed logically that “Daoism”—the
mulgated throughout the realm. In 431, in what may be con-
“teaching of the Way” (daojiao)—included within itself all
sidered a forerunner of the system of officially sponsored ab-
other teachings.
beys (guan) begun under the Tang and continued through
the Qing (1644–1911), altars (tan) were set up and priests
Outrageous from the Buddhist point of view, Daoist
assigned to officiate on them in every province.
universalism was most attractive to Chinese emperors. The
emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou dynasty, for example,
It is also noteworthy that the first great persecution of
began the decree in which he ordered the foundation of the
Buddhism occurred under the reign of the emperor Taiwu:
Abbey for Communicating with the Way (Tongdao Guan)
inspired by Kou’s Confucian friend, Cui Hao (381–450),
a mere eleven days after proscribing Buddhism as follows:
and with Kou’s reluctant cooperation, a decree promulgated
“The supreme Way is vast and profound: it envelops both
in the year 444 attacked, in the same breath, the “heterodox
being and nonbeing; it informs highest heaven and darkest
cults,” with their mediums and sorcerers, and Buddhism. Al-
hell.” According to Buddhist sources, the people appointed
though the proscription of Buddhism that followed in the
to staff this state abbey were all “enthusiasts of the Laozi and
year 446 was rescinded by a new emperor in 454, these
the Zhuangzi and proponents of the unity of the Three
events proved to be the opening round of a long competition
Teachings.”
for imperial favor. In southern China, in 517, the emperor
Wu (r. 502–549) of the Liang dynasty (502–557) abolished
Another expression of Daoist universalism constantly
all Daoist temples and ordered the return of Daoist priests
attacked by the Buddhists was its regular “fabrication” of
to the laity. In the year 574, after a series of debates between
new texts by plagiarizing Buddhist su¯tras. This criticism ap-
representatives of the “three teachings” (sanjiao)—
plied especially to the Lingbao (“numinous treasure”) scrip-
Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism—the emperor Wu
tures that began to appear in southeastern China in the 390s.
(r. 560–578) of the Northern Zhou dynasty (557–581) pro-
The most important of these texts, the Wuliang duren jing
scribed Buddhism and made Daoism the state religion. Dao-
(Scripture of universal salvation), may be described as pure
ists were later instrumental in bringing about the suppression
“Maha¯ya¯na Daoism.” From start to finish, it has the flavor
of Buddhism by the Tang emperor Wuzong (r. 841–847) in
of a Buddhist scripture, but the revealed words come from
the year 845 and its reduction to subordinate status by the
the mouth, not of the Buddha, the “World-honored One”
emperors Huizung (r. 1101–1126) of the Northern Song
(Shizun), but from that of the “Heaven-honored One of the
dynasty, in 1119, and Taizu (r. 1206–1229) of the Yuan
Primordial Beginning” (Yuanshi Tianzun), that is, the Dao.
dynasty, starting in 1224.
These texts also take over Buddhist notions of karmic retri-
bution and introduce Buddhist-inspired rituals for the dead.
The most telling arguments used in these various con-
flicts were, on the Buddhist side, that the only authentic
Some twenty years prior to the appearance of the first
Daoist works were those of its philosophers, the Laozi and
Lingbao texts, another group of texts had been revealed in
the Zhuangzi and, on the Daoist side, that Buddhism was a
the same part of China that was to play an extremely impor-
foreign religion suitable only for barbarians. The court de-
tant role in the court Daoism of the Tang dynasty. Owing
bates themselves often focused on a Daoist text called the
little to Buddhism, this new Shangqing (“high purity”) liter-
Huahu jing (Scripture of the conversion of the barbarians).
ature completely transformed the methods of the traditional,
The idea that Laozi, at the end of his life, had gone into the
eremetic Daoism of the South—alchemy, gymnastics, diet,
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DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
2195
visualization, and sexual practices—by incorporating them
texts: together, they met every religious need, from that of
into a complex system revealed in ecstatic prose and poetry
a sick peasant requiring an exorcism to that of the refined
by a kind of automatic writing during séances. Recitation of
aristocrat seeking sublime spiritual union.
these sacred texts and visualization of the spirits described in
them became the high roads to spiritual realization in this
The idea of this tripartite division was no doubt inspired
movement.
by the Buddhist Tripit:aka, but whereas the division of the
latter was generic, that of the Daoist was practical. Corre-
The milieu in which these revelations occurred was that
spondingly graded registers, moreover, were created to ac-
of the southern aristocracy, a group that recently had been
company initiation into each successive level of texts. Five
supplanted by émigrés fleeing North China after the barbar-
separate rituals of transmission were included in the original
ian capture of the capital city of Luoyang in 311. These émi-
Wushang biyao (compiled c. 580 at imperial behest): progres-
grés, who founded the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), with
sive initiation into the texts of the Three Caverns was preced-
its capital in Jiankang (modern Nanking), brought with
ed by the transmission of ten commandments (against mur-
them the Way of the Heavenly Masters, and many Southern-
der, robbery, adultery, etc.) and of the Laozi.
ers—among them the father and uncle of Xu Mi (303–373),
one of the main recipients of the new revelations—had
The addition of these two rituals of initiation was a clear
adopted the Northerners’ religion. Wei Huazun (d. 334)
sign that the idea of the Three Caverns, however coherent
herself, the “teacher in the beyond” of the inspired calligra-
ideologically, was too far removed from the reality of Daoist
pher of the revealed texts, one Yang Xi (330–?), had been,
practice to survive without major modifications. The other
during her life on earth, a libationer. Xu Mi continued to
ritual chapters in the Wushang biyao provided further evi-
employ his father’s libationer, Li Tung. One of the “real per-
dence of this: nine of ten chapters were taken directly from
sons” (zhenren) who was revealing to Xu the new methods
the texts of the Three Caverns, but one, the “mud and soot
for spiritual (as opposed to physical) rites of union criticized
fast” (tutan zhai), a ritual of confession, required an officiant
Xu for his excessive use of the old methods of the Heavenly
who was at once a “libationer belonging to a diocese of the
Masters: “The method for mingling the energies is not prac-
Heavenly Masters” and a “ritual master of the Three Cav-
ticed by the Real Persons; it is an inferior Way that destroys
erns.” This situation was remedied, probably in the early
the orthodox energies of the real vapors.” Also, illness was
Tang period, by adding the Four Supplements (gsifu) to the
attributed not to sin and consequent attacks by demons, but
Three Caverns. In the resulting initiation hierarchy, Ortho-
to physiological causes, and massages and drugs were there-
dox Unity texts occupied, appropriately, the bottom of the
fore prescribed instead of the confession of sins. The demons
seven rungs: emperors interested in Daoism invited Shangq-
of the Shangqing texts are those forces that try to keep the
ing masters to court and received their registers, but the typi-
adept from achieving the level of concentration necessary for
cal country priest required no more than the registers of Or-
the spiritual union with a divine spouse, which alone can lead
thodox Unity—and the skills they implied. The remaining
to “realization” (immortality).
three of the Four Supplements also incorporated older Dao-
ist traditions: alchemy, the Scripture of Great Peace, and the
It was probably a second- or third-generation practi-
Laozi.
tioner of the new techniques of realization who first classified
T
Daoist literature into the “three caverns” (sandong). Tradi-
ANG PERIOD. The Tang dynasty saw the development of
tionally, it is Lu Xiujing (406–477) who is credited with this
the more or less definitive forms not only of the Daoist
hierarchical classification, which places Shangqing texts first,
canon, but also of Daoist messianism and monasticism.
Lingbao second, and Sanhuang (Three Sovereigns) last. The
Closely related to its utopianism, Daoist messianism always
Sanhuang scriptures, of which only small portions survive,
had an intensely political character. In the second-century
represent the talismanic, exorcistic literature of popular Dao-
Laozi bianhua jing (Scripture of the transformations of
ism. It may be that they represent the tradition of the Yellow
Laozi), Laozi puts himself forward as the messianic leader.
Turbans, for the Three Sovereigns are those of Heaven,
But during the Period of Disunion, it was usually a “descen-
Earth, and Man, whose lords the brothers Zhang served as
dant” of Laozi, the Perfect Lord (zhenjun) Li Hung, who ex-
generals.
cited the messianic hopes of the people. Thus Kou Qianzhi,
in his Laojun yinsong jiejing (Scripture of the recitation of the
Heavenly Master texts are conspicuously absent from
prescriptions of Lord Lao), complains that many false proph-
this classification, but it may well be that they were felt by
ets “attack the orthodox Dao and deceive the common peo-
Lu, who is one of the most important liturgists in Daoist his-
ple. All they have to say is, ‘Lord Lao should reign, Li Hung
tory, to be unnecessary: not only would he have shared, as
ought to manifest himself.’” Li Hung messianism even ap-
a practitioner of Shangqing methods, the dim views of the
pears in the Shangqing scriptures: according to the Shangq-
sexual rites of the Heavenly Masters, but also, and more im-
ing housheng daojun liji (Shangqing biography of the Latter-
portantly, he had incorporated the basic Heavenly Master lit-
day Saint and Lord of the Way), Li Hung will appear in a
urgy into the Lingbao texts, which he himself had edited.
jen-renchen year (the twenty-ninth year of the sixty-year
The Three Caverns thus constituted a complete and self-
cycle, possibly 392) to establish a new world populated by
contained canon of exorcistic, liturgical, and meditational
the chosen and governed directly by the Latter-day Saint.
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DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
The centuries-old conflict between this popular Daoist
It is generally assumed, with good reason, that these and
messianism and the Heavenly Master tendency—seen in the
other non-state abbeys were populated by monks and nuns.
careers of both Zhang Lu and Kou Qianzhi—to opt for the
First, people who entered these institutions were said, like
role of spiritual advisor to the emperor, found its perfect res-
their Buddhist counterparts, to have “left the family” (chu-
olution in the Tang dynasty when, at last, not Li Hung him-
jia). Second, from the mid-sixth to the mid-eighth century,
self, but another family of the same surname as Laozi, Li,
a new type of Lingbao scripture, clearly designed for monas-
came to power. This advent, moreover, is said to have been
tic living was very much in vogue: the vocabulary and long-
predicted toward the end of the Sui dynasty (589–618) by
winded style of these texts is that of Buddhist scholastics; re-
one Ji Hui, a Daoist who had entered the Abbey for Com-
peatedly, they recommend such Buddhist virtues as charity
munication with the Way at the beginning of the Sui dynas-
and compassion and such Buddhist practices as scripture-
ty: “A descendant of the Lord Lao is about to rule the world,
copying, recitation, and preaching; above all, they explicitly
and our teaching will prosper.” No sooner had Tang Gaozu
recommend celibacy. The Taishang icheng Haikong zhizang
(r. 618–627) come to power than he asked Ji Hui to cele-
jing (The reservoir of wisdom of sea-void, a scripture of the
brate an Offering to pray for divine benediction on the
unique vehicle of the Most High), after speaking in deroga-
dynasty. He then ordered the complete rebuilding of the Lou
tory manner of Orthodox Unity Daoists, affirms that only
Guan (Tower Abbey) and, in 620, changed its name to
those who “leave the family” can liberate themselves from all
Zungsheng Guan (Abbey of the Holy Ancestor). In 625,
attachments and achieve enlightenment. Preaching is impor-
after holding a debate between representatives of the “three
tant in this ekaya¯na (“unique vehicle”) Daoism because it
teachings,” Gaozu ranked them in the order Daoism, Confu-
frees people from doubt and ignorance.
cianism, and Buddhism.
Other texts in this group, however, such as the Yuany-
Tower Abbey occupied the site where Laozi was said to
ang jing (Scripture of the primordial Yang) suggest that these
have revealed the Laozi to the keeper of the pass, Yin Xie,
Buddhist practices are but a preparation for more traditional
before disappearing into the western regions. Daoist sources
Daoist ones, among which it names the rites of sexual union.
make it out to have been a center for the cult of Laozi already
Indeed, Daoist monks and nuns often lived in the same com-
in the time of Qing Shihuang (r. 221–209 BCE) and describe
munity and are known to have practiced these rites: they had
it as an important northern Daoist center throughout the Pe-
“left their families,” but Daoist commandments forbade only
riod of Disunion. In the Tang dynasty it became a dynastic
concupiscence, not intercourse. On the contrary, carefully
cult center. In 679 its abbot, Yin Wencao (d. 688) compiled,
regulated sexual intercourse was one of the oldest of Daoist
on the order of the emperor, the Sheng Ji (Annals of the saint)
roads to immortality, said to have been practiced by Laozi
in ten volumes. Judging on the basis of its Song-dynasty suc-
himself.
cessor, the Hunyuan sheng ji (Annals of the saint of the
womb), this was a “salvation history” of Daoism, presented
State support entailed state control. The emperor Xuan-
as the successive divine interventions of Lord Lao in human
zong introduced registration of Buddhist and Daoist monks
history. In 741, after the emperor Xuanzong (r. 713–756)
and nuns and restriction of their movement. He set limits
had encountered his divine ancestor in a dream, a statue cor-
on the size of monastic communities and on their land hold-
responding to the face he had seen in his dream was found
ings. He ordered all monks who had not received official or-
near the Abbey of the Holy Ancestor. The emperor had the
dination certificates to pass an exam. A commissioner was
statue set up in the inner palace for his own worship. He then
appointed for each religion to ensure that these various ordi-
ordered that similar statues be cast and sent to all the state-
nances were respected. Specific ritual services were also re-
sponsored abbeys in the country, declared a general amnesty,
quired of these state clergy: both Buddhists and Daoists were
and had an inscribed tablet set up at the Zongsheng Guan
to perform services for the deceased of the imperial family
to commemorate these events.
on the anniversaries of their deaths; Daoists also celebrated
rituals for the prosperity of the state on the three “days of
The first network of Daoist buildings was that associat-
origin” (the fifteenth day of the first, seventh, and tenth
ed with the twenty-four governances of Heavenly Master
months) and on the emperor’s birthday. This latter was made
Daoism in the second century. The first state-sponsored
a three-day national holiday, to be celebrated with feasting
Daoist abbey in history is generally thought to be the
throughout the empire.
Chongxu Guan (House for the Veneration of the Void)
founded in 467 by the emperor Ming of the Liu Song (420–
Xuanzong favored Daoism in still other ways: he inau-
479) for Lu Xiujing. But it was not until 666, after perform-
gurated imperial use of a ritual known as “throwing the drag-
ing the feng-shan ritual of celestial investiture on Taishan,
on and the prayer slips” (tou longjian), its aim was to report
that the Tang emperor Gaozong (r. 649–683) decreed the
dynastic merit to the Three Officers and to pray for personal
creation of a system of state-sponsored Daoist (and Bud-
immortality. In 731, upon the suggestion of the Shangqing
dhist) monasteries in each of the prefectures—there were
patriarch Sima Chengzhen (647–735), sanctuaries dedicated
over three hundred—in the empire. This dual system was
to the Daoist Perfect Lords of the Five Sacred Peaks were set
perpetuated under all successive dynasties, until the fall of
up on these mountains and Daoist priests selected to staff
the empire in 1911.
them. In early 742 the emperor ordered all Daoist temples
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DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
2197
in the empire to copy the Benji jing (Scripture of the original
term) throughout the coming year. At the end of the year
Monastic Populations
he issued a second decree attributing the good harvest to the
Year
Registrations
Buddhism
Daoism
merit thus obtained. In 748 he added to the Daoist monastic
739
Monasteries
3,245
1,137
network a system of shrines on all forty-six mountains that
Convents
2,113
550
had “cave-heavens” (tongtian). He also ordered the establish-
ment of abbeys on the various sites where famous Daoists of
1077
Monks
202,872
18,513
Nuns
29,692
708
the past had “obtained the Way.” Between two and five Dao-
ists were appointed for each of these new shrines and abbeys.
1677
Monks
110,292
21,286
Nuns
8,615
——
Xuanzong also went to considerable lengths in giving
institutional form to the special relationship between the rul-
ing house and its divine ancestor: in 737 he placed the Daoist
clergy under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Imperial
T ABLE 1 .
Clan; in 741 he ordered the creation of temples for the wor-
ship of Laozi in the two capitals (Chang’an and Luoyang)
icy restricting the number of ordinations. Ordination im-
and in each prefecture, as well as a parallel network of Daoist
plied exemption from taxation, conscription, and corvée. A
academies and examinations. The imperial ancestral tablets
Southern Song-dynasty (1127–1260) compilation of the
were henceforth to be kept in the temple dedicated to Laozi
Qing-Yuan period (1195–1201) restricts the number of
in Chang’an, and statues of the imperial ancestors were set
Daoist novices to one per fifty and of Buddhist to one per
up in the Taiqing Gong (Palace of Grand Purity), which had
hundred of the population as a whole. Qing-dynasty (1644–
been built in Pozhou, Laozi’s birthplace. In the mid-740s
1911) law allowed monks and nuns of both religions to
Xuanzong had his own image set up next to that of Laozi
adopt a single pupil to whom they could transmit their ordi-
in the Taiqing Gong in Chang’an, and later added those of
nation certificate. No religious institution could be founded
his chief ministers as well. A first imperial commentary on
without imperial permission.
the Laozi was published in 732, a second in 735, and in 745
the Laozi was declared superior to the Confucian classics.
All nineteenth-century observers note that the result of
Among Xuanzong’s successors—at least five of whom died
these restrictive policies was a glaring gap between the law
of elixir poisoning in their Daoist-inspired quest for immor-
and reality. At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, a state
tality—only Wuzong (r. 840–846) found anything to add
census revealed 12,482 monasteries and temples founded
to Xuanzong’s ideological edifice: he made Laozi’s birthday
with imperial permission and 67,140 without. Already in the
a three-day national holiday.
eighth century, Zhang Wanfu (fl. 711), in his Shou sandong
F
jingjie falu zheri li (Calendar for the selection of days for the
IVE DYNASTIES, SONG, AND YUAN PERIODS. Later dynas-
ties naturally could not make use of this link with Laozi; the
transmission of the registers, prescriptions, and scriptures of
Song replaced it with a similar genealogical tie to the equally
the Three Caverns), complains that the Daoists of these areas
Daoist Yellow Emperor, but the Tang system of state control
paid attention neither to the fasts of the official liturgy nor
and support survived. Registration statistics preserved over
to the proper transmission of ritual knowledge: “Their only
the centuries provide interesting insight into the shape and
interest is in Offerings and sacrifices.” Moreover, their “vul-
functioning of the system. (See table 1.)
gar ways” had become popular of late in the capital cities of
Chang’an and Luoyang as well.
The figures for the year 739 show that even the extrava-
These comments of Zhang suggest that, by his time, the
gant patronage of Xuanzong did not suffice to bring the
aristocratic, meditative Shangqing tradition already was los-
number of Daoist monastic centers on a par with those of
ing ground to more popular forms of Daoism. Other indica-
the Buddhists. This is not a reflection of the relative popular-
tions of this are the gradual rise of a “Confucian” Daoist
ity of the two religions, but of the fact that lay clergy contin-
movement called the Way of Filial Piety (Xiaodao). First
ued to be the norm among Daoists. A text compiled at impe-
heard of in the seventh century, claiming to have been
rial behest around 712, the Miaomen youqi (Origins of the
founded by one Xu Sun (239–292?), it was in fact a local
school of mystery) distinguishes between hermits and those
cult whose growth from its base in Hongzhou (Jiangxi) had
who “leave the family,” on the one hand, and libationers and
led to its adoption and absorption by Daoism. This process
those who “live at home,” on the other. These latter catego-
was to be repeated many times in the future, most notably
ries, whose chief function is healing, are said to be particular-
in the case of a local Fujian cult of two brothers, which was
ly numerous in Sichuan and the South.
converted by imperial decree in 1417 into a state Daoist cult.
The figures from the eleventh and seventeenth centuries
The emperor Chengzu (r. 1403–1425) decided on the eleva-
show a marked decline for the Buddhists and remarkable sta-
tion of these two “perfect lords of boundless grace” (hong’en
bility for the Daoists. Although Buddhism is generally said
zhenjun) after a nagging illness had been cured by a drug pre-
to have lost much influence under the last two dynasties,
scribed, apparently, by the Fujian temple’s medium. The
what these figures really demonstrate is the success of the pol-
brothers’ official titles in the imperial “canon of sacrifices”
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2198
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
were lengthened, a second temple built for them in the capi-
Zhengfa (“orthodox rites of the heart of heaven”), a new
tal, a special Daoist liturgy created, and, in 1420, a Lingbao
form of exorcistic healing based on texts discovered on
scripture produced. It taught the virtues of loyalty to one’s
Mount Hua-kai (Jiangxi province) and attributed to Zhang
superiors, filial piety, charity, and justice, and the emperor
Daoling himself. The movement spread throughout south-
had it printed for dissemination on a wide scale in order to
ern China—the Yao tribes that have since migrated to Thai-
repay his debt to the divine brothers.
land still practice these rites today—and by the start of the
twelfth century was deemed important enough to merit im-
Another example of the increasing imbrication of popu-
perial attention (the oldest extant collection of these rites was
lar cults, imperial ideology, and Daoist liturgy occurred at
presented to the throne by one Yuan Miaozong in 1116).
the beginning of the Song dynasty. Between 960 and 994,
a commoner by the name of Zhang Shouzhen received a se-
Du Guangting (850–933) was at once an important
ries of revelations on Mount Zhongnan, the site of Tower
Daoist liturgist and one of Daoism’s greatest hagiographers.
Abbey. The god, who was an assistant of the Jade Emperor,
His liturgical compilations draw on both the Lingbao and
revealed himself to be the divine protector of the new ruling
the Zhengi traditions; his collections of anecdotal literature
house and instructed Zhang to find a Daoist master. Having
are a gold mine of information on local cults and popular
been initiated by a Daoist of Tower Abbey, Zhang received
Daoism. The liturgies may be described as a synthesis of past
further revelations leading to the establishment of an imperi-
practice, the stories as a harbinger of future developments:
ally funded temple in 976, an official title in 981, and, above
Du’s career marks a watershed in the history of Daoism.
all, a system of Daoist Offerings that has survived, at least
Suddenly, the veil is lifted on the world of popular
in part, until the present day.
piety—a world of miracles, exorcisms, pilgrimages, and por-
The basic feature of the new system is the grading of Of-
tents—and on the place of Daoism in that world. In his Dao-
ferings according to the number of “stellar seats” (xingwei)—
jiao lingyan ji (Records of Daoist miracles), for example, Du
from 24 to 3,600—used to construct the altar. Divided into
tells a story about Xu Sun’s magic bell: when a military gov-
nine grades (3 x 3), the upper three altars were reserved for
ernor tried to remove it from the Daoist abbey where it had
the emperor, the middle three for his ministers, and the
been ever since the time of Xu Sun, Xu appeared to the gov-
lower three for gentry and commoners. The upper three al-
ernor in a dream and told him his life was in danger. The
tars had, respectively, 3,600, 2,400, and 1,200 stellar seats,
governor returned the bell and went to burn incense and
corresponding to the Grand Offerings of All Heaven (Pu-
confess his fault in the abbey, but his sin was too grave to
tian), the Entire Heaven (Zhoutian), and Net Heaven (luo-
be pardoned and he died in battle soon afterward.
tian). Perfect expression of the hierarchical universalism
Another tale recounts how a mysterious visitor, later ru-
common to both Daoist and imperial ideology, this system
mored to have been Zhang Daoling himself, visited the
was adopted as the universal norm in the year 1009 by the
Heavenly Master of the eighteenth generation and repaired
emperor Zhenzong (r. 998–1023). It was to remain in offi-
the sword used by the first Heavenly Master to “punish and
cial use throughout the Yuan (1279–1368) and perhaps
control gods and demons.” The sword had been in the fami-
beyond.
ly, adds Du, for twenty-one generations. Elsewhere in the
A 1,200-seat version, based in part on an official edition
same book, in introducing the story of a man who was re-
of Daoist ritual promulgated under Huizong (r. 1101–
leased from hell because he was wearing a register transmitted
1126), has been preserved by Lü Taigu in his Daomen ding-
to him in the year 868 by the nineteenth-generation Heaven-
zhi (The Daoist system normalized) of 1201: starting from
ly Master, Du notes that, until the thirteenth-generation de-
the highest celestial and stellar divinities, the list descends—
scendant of Zhang Daoling, the registers transmitted to the
by way of the celestial officials linked to the texts of the Three
faithful had been made of wood, but “because they were
Caverns, the perfect lords and immortals of Daoist history
being transmitted on such a vast scale, the thirteenth Heav-
and geography, the vast bureaucracy of the Three Officers,
enly Master could not make them in sufficient numbers and
and all the governors of hell—to the humblest gods of the
so started using paper and silk instead.”
soil and agents of the time cycle. Among the Daoist sites for
Du no doubt owed his knowledge of such events to his
whose lords a seat is reserved are the Five Sacred Peaks, the
own master, Ying Yijie (810–894), who, at the age of eigh-
various “cave-heaven” paradises, and the twenty-four gover-
teen, had gone to Longhu Shan (Dragon-tiger Mountain) in
nances; famous Daoists mentioned include Zhang Daoling,
Jiangxi to be initiated by the eighteenth Heavenly Master.
Xu Sun, Lu Xiujing, Du Guangting, various patriarchs of the
Much later accounts claim that Zhang Sheng, the fourth-
Shangqing lineage, Tan Zuxiao, Jao Tongtian, Zhongli
generation descendant of Zhang Daoling, had been the first
Quan, and Lü Dongpin.
to take up residence on Mount Longhu. The first contempo-
The last two named are semi-legendary Daoist immor-
rary trace of a Zhang family in southern China dates to 504,
tals who came to be revered together as the patrons of an im-
when according to a stele, the twelfth-generation descendant
portant school of neidan (internal elixir alchemy) first heard
lived in an abbey in what is now Jiangsu. In the mid-eighth
of in the eleventh century. Dan zixiao (fl. 930) and Jao
century Sima Chengzhen mentions a Zhang living on
Tongtian (fl. 994) were the co-founders of the Tianhsin
Mount Longhu. The next reliable witness is Du Guangting.
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DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
2199
It is therefore impossible to ascertain whether the Zhang
trayed by their hagiographers as ascetics and, in some cases,
family, which apparently lived on this mountain in unbro-
eccentrics. Qiu Changchun (1148–1227) lived for seven
ken succession from at least the mid-eighth century until
years in a cave. Hao Datong (1140–1212) spent six years
1949, was indeed descended from the first Heavenly Master.
under a stone bridge neither moving nor speaking and eating
only when people offered him something. For nine years
What is certain is that, from Du Guangting’s time on,
Wang Chui (1142–1217) spent his nights in a cave standing
the lineage grew steadily more important in Chinese religious
on one foot so as not to fall asleep. Wang is also depicted
life. Already in 1015, the emperor Zhenzong (r. 997–1023)
as a wandering exorcist and healer (herbal medicine was one
recognized its hereditary rights. By 1097 Mount Longhu had
of the arts that Wang Zhe insisted “those who study the Way
won official recognition as an authorized center for initiation
must master”).
into Daoist practice, along with Mount Mao (Jiangsu) for
the Shangqing tradition and Mount Gezao (Jiangxi) for the
The reputations of the Seven Real Persons (qizhen), as
Lingbao. The thirtieth Heavenly Master (1092–1126)
Wang’s disciples came to be known, soon made the move-
played a prominent role at the court under Huizong, and his
ment of Integral Perfection a force to deal with. It attracted
reputation for magical powers was already celebrated in a
lay followers from all levels of society, including the gentry
contemporary novel. Full consecration came in the thirty-
class, to which most of the seven and Wang Zhe had be-
sixth generation, to Zhang Zongyan (d. 1291): invited to the
longed. Their following seems to have been particularly large
capital by the emperor Shizu (r. 1260–1295) in 1277, he was
among women. The emperor Shizong (r. 1161–1190) sum-
commissioned to perform a Grand Offering of the Entire
moned Wang Chui in 1187, questioned him about the
Heaven (2,400 divinities) in the Changchun Gong (Palace
methods for “preserving life and ruling the country,” and
of Eternal Spring). Shortly thereafter, he was appointed head
constructed for him the Xiuzhen Guan (Abbey for the Culti-
of all Daoists in southern China. The emperor Chengzong
vation of Perfection). In 1197 Wang was involved, together
(r. 1295–1308) decreed in 1295 that Heavenly Master texts
with the Zhengi Daoist Sun Mingdao, in the celebration of
for the Offering be used throughout the empire. Finally,
a Grand Offering of the Entire Heaven in the Tianchang
under the first Ming emperor, Taizu (r. 1368–1399), the
Guan (Abbey of Celestial Longevity) in the capital. In 1202
Heavenly Masters were put in charge of all Daoist affairs.
the emperor Zhangzong (r. 1190–1208) ordered Wang to
perform an Offering in the Palace of Grand Purity in Laozi’s
During the Yuan dynasty the control of Daoism in the
birthplace.
North was entrusted to the successive leaders of the Quanz-
hen (“integral perfection”) order. One of three major Daoist
But it was Qiu Changchun’s three-year westward trek
movements to emerge in the North during the twelfth centu-
to meet Chinggis Khan in Central Asia that assured the
ry, when that part of China was ruled by the foreign Jurchen
order’s future, for when Qiu returned to China in 1223, he
Jin dynasty (1115–1234), it alone was destined to survive be-
did so armed with decrees granting tax and labor exemption
yond the Yuan. Its founder, Wang Zhe (1112–1170), a na-
to himself and his disciples and control over “all those in the
tive of the same village in Shaanxi as Zhongli Quan, had wit-
world who leave their families” to him. The result was the
nessed, at the age of eighteen, the takeover of his native
rapid growth of the Integral Perfection order and the start
province by the invading Jurchen. He nonetheless served for
of another round of confrontrations with the Buddhists.
a time in the military before deciding to abandon both his
When Qiu died, the Tianchang Abbey was renamed the
career and his family. In 1160, after a period of living in re-
Abbey of Eternal Spring (Changchun Guan), in Qiu’s
clusion in Liujiang village, not far from Tower Abbey, two
honor, and his disciples inherited his position. One of them,
mysterious encounters with Daoist immortals led him to dig
Li Zhichang (1193–1273), abbot between 1238 and 1256,
a grave, to which he gave the name “tomb of the living dead,”
precipitated the crisis with the Buddhists by printing and dis-
and to live in it for three years; having built a thatched hut,
tributing the Laozi bashii huatu (Pictures of the eighty-one
he lived next to it for another four. In 1167 he suddenly
transformations of Laozi). One of these transformations, of
burned down his hut and left for Shandong to begin prosely-
course, was that into the Buddha. The Buddhists protested
tizing. According to Wang’s hagiographers, the three immor-
and also accused the Daoists of appropriating their temples.
tals who appeared to him were Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongpin,
Debates were held in 1255, 1258 (the burning of the offend-
and Liu Haichan, all of whom Wang refers to in his writings
ing books was ordered, but not carried out), and 1281
as his teachers.
(Zhang Zongyan also participated in this debate). After the
last confrontation, the Daoist canon was ordered de-
Wishing to shock people into enlightenment, which
stroyed—an order carried out, at least in part, and the Quan-
necessarily entailed a complete break of the sort he had made
zhen order went into a partial eclipse until the end of Shizu’s
from his own family and career, Wang’s methods were ap-
reign. It was replaced at the court by the Heavenly Masters
parently uncompromising and even violent. In this manner
and their ambassadors.
he selected seven disciples, including one separated couple,
to carry on his work. He also established five sanjiao hui
Strictly speaking, Integral Perfection Daoism taught
(“assemblies of the three teachings”) before dying while on
nothing new. It was a reform movement that sought, in the
his way back to his home in the west. His disciples are por-
tradition of Daoist universalism, to synthesize the best 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
2200
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
Three Teachings. Like Chan Buddhism, which Wang Zhe
The temples of the Eastern Peak (Dongyue Miao), on
apparently knew fairly well, it preached celibacy and “sitting
the contrary, were without exception run by Orthodox Unity
in meditation” in order to control the “apelike mind and the
Daoists. According to an inscription written by one Zhao
horselike will”; as in neo-Confucianism, perfect authenticity
Shiyan in 1328 and set up on the grounds of the Temple of
was prized as the ultimate goal of self-cultivation. But it was
the Eastern Peak in Beijing, such temples “first become wide-
eminently Daoist in insisting that both one’s “nature” (xing)
spread in the middle of the Song dynasty.” By the Yuan
and one’s “life force” (ming) had to be nurtured, and in hav-
dynasty they were to be found in every town of any size, and
ing recourse for the latter to the usual panoply of physiologi-
mediums and their Daoist masters worked in them side by
cal practices. Quanzhen masters were also frequently re-
side, the former to contact the souls of the dead and the latter
nowned adepts of the martial arts, and Wang Zhe himself
to save them, for the Eastern Peak, the abode of the dead al-
must have practiced internal alchemy inasmuch as his divine
ready in Han times, was associated at once with the tribunals
teachers were its patrons.
of hell and the hope of immortality. Veritable nerve centers
of the traditional Chinese religious system, the temples of the
Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongpin, especially the latter,
Eastern Peak seem to have been singled out for destruction
appear frequently to convert and save people in a number of
by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution (1966–
Yuan operas (zaju) of clearly Quanzhen inspiration. A tem-
1976).
ple on the presumed site of Lü Dongpin’s house was convert-
ed into a Quanzhen abbey toward the end of the Jin dynasty
It is not known when the original Daoist community
and then, after the abbey had burned down in 1244, rebuilt
organized by the Heavenly Masters disappeared. As early as
on a vast scale between 1247 and 1358. The three surviving
the third century, leaders of the community were complain-
halls of the resulting Yonglo Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy) are
ing that libationers were increasingly self-appointed or at
dedicated, respectively, to the Three Pure Ones, Lü Dong-
least not appointed by the hierarchy. The office of libationer,
pin, and Wang Zhe. The magnificent murals of the latter
moreover, seems very early on to have become a hereditary
two halls tell the stories of Lü and Wang and of Wang’s con-
one. It is nonetheless fairly certain that laypersons continued
version by Lü. The murals of the first hall portray many of
to practice the initiatory rites of sexual union as late as the
the same divinities as were listed in Lü Taigo’s list of 1201:
mid-Tang, and Heavenly Master “congregations” must
they are all “going in audience before the Origin” (chaoyuan),
therefore have continued to exist. But by the mid-Song,
that is, before the Three Pure Ones. The other great surviv-
when the Heavenly Masters themselves began once again to
ing monument of Daoist history, the fabulous complex of
play a political role, it was as hierarchs not, as in the time
abbeys and palaces on Mount Wu-tang (Hubei), built by the
of Zhang Lu, of an organized lay community, but of all Or-
Ming emperor Chengzu in honor of Pei-ti (Emperor of the
thodox Unity priests. Over the centuries, laypersons of
North), divine patron of the exorcistic and martial arts, was
means continued to make the pilgrimage to Dragon-Tiger
also a Quanzhen center. Reopened in 1982, it has since been
Mountain in order to be invested before death with a “regis-
recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Fund. The
ter of immortality,” but the main function of the Daoist
Tower Abbey was first taken over by the Quanzhen order in
“pope” was the transmission of registers to priests. By the
1236, when disciples of Qiu Changchun rebuilt it.
1920s and 1930s even the number of such registers had
dropped off to from one to three hundred a year, and it was
LATER DEVELOPMENTS. Both the site of Lü Dongpin’s
estimated that only one percent of Zhengi priests actually ap-
house and Mount Wu-tang were important pilgrimage cen-
plied for such a register.
ters from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries on. As such,
they reveal an important aspect of Daoism’s role in Chinese
This situation was in part due to the fact that the foreign
society in those centuries: Daoists occupied and ran impor-
Qing dynasty had terminated the special relationship be-
tant cult centers and their temples. In particular, the Daoists,
tween the ruling house and the Heavenly Masters. During
together with the Buddhists, inhabited the many sacred
the Ming dynasty, by contrast, emperors were constantly in-
mountains of China and took care of the pilgrims who came
viting the Heavenly Master to the capital to perform Offer-
to them. Several of the more important pilgrimage centers
ings, the compilation of the Daozang (Daoist canon) was en-
also developed networks of “branch offices”—local centers
trusted to the Heavenly Masters, and several emperors even
where the lay-person who lacked the means or the motiva-
arranged high marriages for what had in effect become their
tion to make a long pilgrimage could nonetheless worship
spiritual counterpart: the emperor controlled the (Confu-
the divinity of his choice. On the Daoist side, the most nu-
cian) administration; the Heavenly Master had final authori-
merous temples of this kind were those dedicated to Lü
ty over all gods and demons. He was, in other words, not
Dongpin, the Emperor of the North, and the Emperor of the
only the nominal head of all Daoist priests, but also the over-
Eastern Peak. The first two were centers for the practice of
seer of all local cults. Throughout the Ming period, the
divination by selection of slips, which were then interpreted
Heavenly Master continued to be associated with imperial
by an attendant. The halls dedicated to Lü Dongpin in most
campaigns against heterodox cults. At the same time, local
Quanzhen abbeys served simultaneously as temples for the
Orthodox Unity priests were “infiltrating” local temples—of
local populace.
the Eastern Peak, of the City God (Chenghuang Miao), 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
DAOISM: THE DAOIST RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
2201
the third-century patriot and general Guan Yü (Guanti
enly Master Daoism may be found in Anna Seidel’s “Das
Miao)—and performing Offerings for the consecration of
neue Testament des Dao: Lao Tzu und die Entstehung der
temples dedicated to gods who, although not “Daoist,” had
daoistiszhen Religion am Ende der Han-Zeit,” Saeculum 27
been officially invested by imperially promulgated titles in-
(1978): 147–172, and Rolf A. Stein’s “Remarques sur les
scribed in the “canon of sacrifices.” The collective ceremo-
mouvements du daoïsme politico-religieux au deuxième siè-
nies of initiation of original Daoism seem to have survived
cle ap. J.-C.,” T’oung pao 50 (1963): 1–78. On Daoist rejec-
only among tribal peoples such as the Yao: there, ordination
tion of “heterodox cults,” see Rolf A. Stein’s “Religious Dao-
ism and Popular Religion from the Second to the Seventh
remains a prerequisite for salvation and is therefore extended
Centuries,” in Facets of Daoism, edited by Holmes Welch and
to the entire community.
Anna Seidel (New Haven, 1979), pp. 53–81. On Daoist
The number of Daoist monks—mostly of the Quanz-
messianism, see Anna Seidel’s “The Image of the Perfect
hen order since the Yuan dynasty—never approached that
Ruler in Early Daoist Messianism: Laozi and Li Hung,” His-
of lay Daoist priests (or Buddhist monks). The monks none-
tory of Religions 9 (November 1969 and February 1970):
theless played an important part in shaping Daoist history
216–247, and Christine Mollier’s Une apocalypse taoïste du
from the fifth century on. Not only did their leaders have
Ve siècle: Le livre des Incantations divines des grottes abyssales
privileged relations with emperors, at least until 1281, they
(Paris, 1990). On the early history of zhurch-state relations
and the development of Daoist sanction of imperial power,
also regularly exchanged visits and poems with the members
see Anna Seidel’s “Imperial Treasures and Daoist Sacra-
of the gentry class from which many of them came. Wang
ments: Daoist Roots in the Apocrypha,” in Tantric and Dao-
Zhe’s first convert and eventual successor, for example, Ma
ist Studies in Honour of R. A. Stein, edited by Michel Strick-
Yü (1123–1183), was known locally as Ma panzhou, Ma
mann (Brussels, 1983), vol. 2, pp. 291–371, and Richard B.
“half-the-prefecture,” because of his extensive land holdings.
Mather’s “Kou Qianzhi and the Daoist Theocracy at the
Also, it was these Daoists who controlled the network of offi-
Northern Wei Court, 425–451,” in Facets of Daoism,
cial abbeys first created in the Tang dynasty.
pp. 103–122. My Wushang biyao: Somme daoïste du sixième
siècle (Paris, 1981) describes the ideological content of Daoist
At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the White Cloud
universalism under the Northern Zhou dynasty. For the so-
Abbey of Beijing, originally built around the grave of Qiu
ciological background and early history of Shangqing Dao-
Changchun became the center of a reinvigorated, imperially
ism, see Michel Strickmann’s “The Mao-shan Revelations:
recognized Quanzhen lineage. In the 1940s it still had at least
Daoism and the Aristocracy,” T’oung pao 63 (1977): 1–64.
nominal control of twenty-three such abbeys throughout the
Isabelle Robinet’s Méditation daoïste (Paris, 1979) and La
country. Qiu’s birthday on the nineteenth day of the first
révélation du Shangqing dans l’histoire du daoïsme, 2 vols
lunar month was one of Beijing’s biggest festivals. The only
(Paris, 1984), gives thorough surveys of Shangqing practices
complete copy of the Ming-dynasty Daoist canon to survive
and their prehistory.
to the present is that of the same White Cloud Abbey. It was
For the Tang dynasty, the best introduction is Timothy Barrett’s
only natural, therefore, that it was selected by the govern-
Daoism under the T’ang: Religion and Empire During the Gol-
ment in the 1950s as the seat of the National Daoist Associa-
den Age of Chinese History (London, 1996). Charles David
tion. Among the major abbeys that have been restored since
Benn’s “Daoism as Ideology in the Reign of Emperor Xuan-
the government began, in the early 1980s, to allow and even
zung (712–755)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan,
encourage the restoration of religious buildings, many are on
1977) gives a detailed study of the period up to the mid-
the 1940s list of twenty-three, and all reopened abbeys send
Tang. On the pivotal figure Du Guangting, Franciscus Ver-
their best novices to Beijing for a six-month training period.
ellen’s Du Guangting (850–933): taoïste de cour à la fin de la
Gradually, however Zhengi Daoists have joined the hitherto
Chine médiévale (Paris, 1989) gives an exemplary study of the
Quanzhen-dominated national association, and they now
intertwining of religious and political history. On Huizong,
perform rituals in their temples as in the past.
the “emperor as Daoist god,” see Michel Strickmann’s “The
Longest Daoist Scripture,” History of Religions 17 (February-
SEE ALSO Du Guangting; Jiao; Kou Qianzhi; Laozi; Liang
May 1978): 331–354. Procédés secrets du Joyau magique. Tr-
Wudi; Lu Xiujing; Millenarianism, article on Chinese Mille-
aité d’alchimie daoïste du onzième siècle, edited and translated
narian Movements; Priesthood, article on Daoist Priesthood;
by Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein (Paris, 1984) is a translation
Sima Chengzhen; Taiping; Wang Zhe; Worship and Devo-
and study of the main text on internal alchemy in the
tional Life, article on Daoist Devotional Life; Zhang Daol-
Zhongli Quan/Lü Dongpin tradition.
ing; Zhang Jue; Zhang Lu; Zhenren.
A special issue of The Journal of Chinese Religions (no. 29, 2001),
edited by Vincent Goossaert and Paul Katz, is entirely devot-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ed to “New Perspectives on Quanzhen Taoism.” The Yongle
For good general surveys of early Daoism see Daoism Handbook,
Palace Murals (Beijing, 1985) gives beautiful reproductions
ed. Livia Kohn (Leiden, 2000): Barbara Hendrischke, “Early
of the Yonglo murals. An excellent study is provided by Paul
Daoist Movements” (chap. 6); Peter Nickerson, “The South-
R. Katz in Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin
ern Celestial Masters” (chap. 10); Livia Kohn, “The North-
at the Palace of Eternal Joy (Honolulu, 1999). David
ern Celestial Masters” (chap. 11); Charles Benn, “Daoist Or-
Hawkes’s “Quanzhen Plays and Quanzhen Masters,” Bulle-
dination and Zhai Rituals” (chap. 12). Excellent
tin de l’École Francaise d’Extrême-Orient 69 (1981): 153–170,
introductions to the ideological content of pre-Tang Heav-
is a delightful introduction to the subjects named.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2202
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
On the legislation governing official abbeys, see Werner Eich-
vention. The former minister of education and renowned
horn’s Beitrag zur rechtlizhen Stellung des Buddhismus und
bibliophile Fu Zengxiang (1872–1950) was instrumental in
Daoismus im Song-Staat: Übersetzung der Sektion “Daoismus
convincing President Xu Shichang (1855–1939) of the
und Buddhismus” aus dem Qing-Yuan T’iao-Fa Shih-Lei (Lei-
scholarly value of the Daozang and to underwrite its publica-
den, 1968) and J. J. M. de Groot’s Sectarianism and Religious
tion by the Commercial Press of Shanghai. The copy that
Persecution in China, vol. 7 (Amsterdam, 1903), chap. 3.
was selected for photographic reproduction in the 1920s and
Excellent introductions to Daoism from the Song through the
that has since been reprinted in at least three modern editions
Qing may be found in Livia Kohn, ed., Daoism Handbook
was the wood-block concertina canon housed in the Baiyun
(Leiden, 2000): Lowell Skar, “Ritual Movements, Deity
Guan (White Cloud Abbey) of Beijing, the central Daoist
Cults, and the Transformation of Daoism in Song and Yuan
seminary of the People’s Republic of China. It is thought
Times” (chap. 15); Lowell Skar and Fabrizio Pregadio,
“Inner Alchemy (Neidan)” (chap. 16); Pierre-Henry de
that this copy of the canon was largely derived from the 1445
Bruyn “Daoism in the Ming (1368–1644)” (chap. 20);
printing, apart from the lacunae reconstituted in 1845.
Monica Esposito, “Daoism in the Qing (1644–1911)”
History of compilation. Among the earliest inventories
(chap. 21). New light on the role of Tantrism in transform-
ing Daoism’s relationship with popular religion may be
of Daoist writings are those recorded in the bibliographic
found in Edward L. Davis, Society and the Supernatural in
monograph of Ban Gu’s (32–92) Han shu (History of the
Song China (Honolulu, 2001).
Han) and Ge Hong’s (283–343) Baopuzi. It was not until
the late fifth century, well after the establishment of the
On Daoism among the Yao, see Jacques Lemoine’s richly illustrat-
ed Yao Ceremonial Paintings (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.,
Shangqing and Lingbao scriptural traditions, that a single,
1982). On Daoism as it functions in modern Chinese soci-
comprehensive catalogue of Daoist texts was attempted. Lu
ety, see my Daoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History (New
Xiujing (406–477), principal codifier of the Lingbao corpus,
York, 1987) and Kenneth Dean, Taoist Ritual and Popular
undertook the task on the order of Song Mingdi (r. 465–
Cults of Southeast China (Princeton, 1993).
472). The Sandong jingshu mulu (An index to the scriptural
J
writings of the three caverns), which Lu presented to the em-
OHN LAGERWEY (1987)
Revised Bibliography
peror in 471, was said to list over twelve hundred juan
(scrolls or chapters), ranging from scriptures and pharmaceu-
tical works to talismanic diagrams. Nearly three centuries
later, Tang Xuanzong (r. 712–756), confident that he was
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
the descendant of Laozi, issued a decree dispatching his en-
Compared to Buddhism, the literature of Daoist traditions
voys throughout the empire in search of all existing Daoist
remains largely unexplored. Large-scale study in this area was
writings. The collection that followed was given the title San-
greatly enhanced in 1926 with the appearance of the first
dong qionggang (Exquisite compendium of the three caverns)
widely accessible reprint of the Daozang, or Daoist canon,
and reportedly included around thirty-seven hundred or
which, at 1120 fascicles, is the largest repository of Daoist
fifty-seven hundred juan. It was the first canon from which
literature ever compiled. Research on Daoism prior to that
multiple copies were to be transcribed for distribution to
time was, with few exceptions, generally confined to studies
Daoist temples. But not long after Xuanzong officially au-
of texts such as the Laozi and Zhuangzi that are widely avail-
thorized this undertaking in 748, the imperial libraries of the
able in editions outside the canon. For the most part, the
capitals of Chang’an and Luoyang were destroyed during the
West has also had its understanding of the Daoist legacy
An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellions, and much of the San-
shaped by what has been summarized from the writings on
dong qionggang was apparently lost.
the subject by Buddhist polemicists and unsympathetic Chi-
nese literati. The one-sided view of Daoist traditions that
Subsequent compilations were attempted upon the
such limitations promote is easily amended when the re-
command of various Song emperors, who similarly viewed
sources of the Daozang are taken into account, together with
their mandate as part of a larger Daoist dispensation. Song
subsidiary compilations and pertinent collections of epigra-
Zhenzong (r. 998–1022) assigned his trusted adviser Wang
phy and manuscripts. The social and historical context of
Qinruo (962–1025) the task of preparing a new catalogue
much of this material has only recently come under intensive
of Daoist texts in the imperial archives. By 1016 an assistant
scrutiny. Continued research on the Daoist literary heritage
draftsman named Zhang Junfang (fl. 1008–1029) was put
is likely to challenge many long-held perceptions about the
in charge of a staff of Daoist priests to make copies of a new
nature of religious traditions in Chinese society.
canon for distribution to major temples. The Da Song tian-
gong baozang (Precious canon of the celestial palace of the
THE DAOZANG. Before 1926, very few copies of the Daoist
great sung; 4,565 juan) that resulted was the first definitive
canon were available outside of those kept in the temple ar-
edition of what has come simply to be called the Daozang.
chives of China. The state traditionally sponsored both the
compilation and distribution of the Daozang. While it can-
A century later Song Huizong (r. 1101–1125) initiated
not be said that the newly founded Republic of China was
an even more ambitious program for the compilation and
a patron of Daoism, the reprinting of the canon between
dissemination of a new Daoist canon. In 1114 he issued an
1923 and 1926 came about only through government sub-
edict ordering all local officials, clergy, and laity to submit
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DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
2203
whatever Daoist texts they had to the capital of Kaifeng. A
classified according to the “Three Caverns” (sandong). This
number of Daoist priests answered his call to help with the
tripart division became a fundamental organizational feature
collation of the incoming literature. Their work culminated
of the Daozang. Although there has been a tendency in the
in the Zhenghe wanshou Daozang (Daoist canon of the lon-
past to equate these three compartments of texts with
gevity of the Zhenghe reign), the first canon to be printed.
the “Three Receptacles” (sanzang) of the Buddhist canon, the
The blocks for nearly fifty-four hundred juan were cut some-
closer parallel is actually the Buddhist triya¯na or sansheng
time around 1118 to 1120. It is not known how many copies
(“three vehicles”). Rather than being representative of three
of the Daozang were subsequently made and there is also
genres of literature such as the Su¯tra, Vinaya, and Abhidhar-
some question as to how much was lost upon the Jurchen
ma of the Three Receptacles, the Three Caverns reflect three
takeover in 1127. But it appears that at least some blocks sur-
distinct revelatory traditions. And like the Three Vehicles,
vived, for in 1188 it is reported that Jin Shizong (r. 1161–
the Three Caverns are viewed as a ranking of textual legacies.
1189) commanded their removal from Kaifeng to the Tian-
The Dongzhen section evolved around the Shangqing (Su-
chang Guan (Abbey of Celestial Perpetuity) in the central
preme Clarity) scriptures, the Dongxuan around the Lingbao
capital of the Jurchen empire, the predecessor to the Baiyun
(Numinous Treasure), and the Dongshen around the San
Guan in Beijing. His grandson and successor, Jin Zhangzong
huang (Three Sovereigns). Since this categorization gives pri-
(r. 1190–1208), had the temple enlarged in 1190 and then
macy to the Shangqing traditions, it is assumed that it was
appointed two imperial academicians to assist the abbot in
devised well before Lu Xiujing compiled his catalogue, per-
reediting the canon. With the carving of additional blocks
haps by the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth centu-
two years later, the Da Jin xuandu baozang (Precious canon
ry. There is less certainty about the origins of the Four Sup-
of the arcane metropolis of the great Chin) totaled over sixty-
plements that follow the Three Caverns, what are known as
four hundred juan.
the Taixuan, Taiping, Taiqing, and Zhengyi components of
In 1215 the capital of the Jurchen fell into the hands
the canon. The term ssu-fu (“four supplements”) does not
of the Mongols and it is not known how much of the en-
seem to date before the turn of the sixth century. The first
larged canon of the Jin escaped destruction. But by 1237
three have commonly been regarded as individual appendices
work on a new edition was undertaken, sponsored this time
to the Three Caverns, but in fact they appear to have been
by the local administration of Shanxi province. Two Quanz-
organized around very specific literary collections. Central to
hen masters, Song Defang (1183–1247) and his disciple Qin
the Tai-xuan division is the Dao de jing. Likewise, the Tai-
Zhi’an (1188–1244), oversaw a staff in the hundreds. The
ping jing (Scripture on the grand pacification), the Taiqing
Xuandu baozang (Precious canon of the arcane metropolis),
(Grand Purity) legacy of alchemical writings, and the
completed in 1244, was apparently the largest ever, compris-
Zhengyi (Authentic unity), or Celestial Master heritage lie
ing altogether seven thousand juan. Over a hundred copies
at the heart of the Taiping, Taiqing, and Zhengyi subdivi-
were said to have been made, but in 1281 Khubilai Khan de-
sions. It may be that these four supplements were inspired
creed that all texts and printing blocks of the Daozang be
by demands to establish a more cohesive body of Daoist liter-
burnt, save the Dao de jing. Fragments of the 1244 canon
ature vis-à-vis the rapidly developing corpus of Chinese Bud-
were nonetheless spared and, together with what remained
dhist writings. Although the preeminence of the Shangqing
of the Jurchen and Song canons, came to serve as the founda-
revelations was apparently never in question, it seems that
tion of the Ming Daozang.
by the sixth century there was more awareness of the diversity
of inspiration from which they arose. Liturgical texts of the
The canon currently in print is based on the compila-
Tang dynasty, moreover, seem to suggest that the arrange-
tion completed between 1444 and 1445 and a supplement
ment of the canon corresponds to descending ranks of ordi-
dating to 1607. Ming Chengzu (r. 1402–1424) initiated the
nation, from the top level of Dongzhen down to the first step
project in 1406 by appointing the forty-third Celestial Mas-
of the Zhengyi initiation.
ter, Zhang Yuchu (1361–1410), as compiler-in-chief. But
the final version of the Da Ming Daozang jing (Scriptures of
Whatever the underlying significance of the organiza-
the Daoist canon of the great Ming) was actually completed
tion of the Daozang, accretions over the centuries have result-
under the guidance of Shao Yizheng, a prominent Daoist
ed in a less than systematic presentation of texts. Each of the
master at the court of Ming Yingzong (r. 1436–1449). The
Three Caverns is subdivided into twelve sections: (1) original
fiftieth Celestial Master, Zhang Guoxiang (d. 1611), super-
revelations, (2) divine talismans, (3) exegeses, (4) sacred dia-
vised the preparation of a 240-juan supplement to the 5,318
grams, (5) histories and genealogies, (6) codes of conduct,
juan of this edition. It is known as the Xu Daozang (Supple-
(7) ceremonial protocols, (8) prescriptive rituals, (9) special
mentary Daoist canon) of the Wanli reign (1573–1619),
techniques (i.e., alchemical, geomantic, numerological), (10)
whereas the fifteenth-century core is sometimes referred to
hagiography, (11) hymnody, and (12) memorial communi-
as the Zhengtong Daozang or Daoist canon of the Zhengtong
cations. The distribution of texts is not always in keeping
reign (1436–1449).
with either the major headings or these subheadings. No cat-
egorical distinctions are applied to the Four Supplements
Organizational divisions. As the title of Lu Xiujing’s
and the Xu Daozang, the contents of which are as diverse as
catalogue of 471 suggests, Daoist writings were traditionally
the Three Caverns.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2204
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
Facets of research. Nearly half of the volumes in the
commanders on high could be summoned only by those
canon either bear dates after 1126 or can be directly linked
privy to their names and capable of infusing talismanic com-
to new scriptural traditions developing after the Northern
munications with their vitality. Countless texts, including
Song dynasty. Moreover, the prefaces of at least sixty titles
even Ge Hong’s Baopuzi, purport to preserve the apotropaic
in the Daozang indicate that they circulated in printed edi-
talismans of the Celestial Masters. The manipulation of such
tions prior to their incorporation into the canon. Prefaces
talismans was and still is thought to keep spectral forces at
and colophons, however, are not always reliable guides to the
bay. Throughout the centuries the codifiers of later revelato-
history of a text. Fictive lineages are often invoked in order
ry and ritual writings have never forgotten the ultimate heri-
to establish the historical antiquity of newly codified writ-
tage of the Tianshi Dao as a healing cult. Many anthologies
ings. It is not unusual to find, for example, the provenance
of ritual are based precisely on the understanding that the ul-
of a text traced directly to the founder of the Tianshi Dao
timate mission of their founders was to convey hope in the
(Way of the Celestial Masters), Zhang Daoling (fl. 142 CE).
salvation of humankind from all forms of suffering.
An even larger number of texts are simply presented as the
word of divine authority. The names of the deities cited often
Salvation was also the message behind one of the earliest
prove critical to the identification of a text vis-à-vis estab-
scriptures recorded in the canon, the Taiping jing (Scripture
lished scriptural traditions. Other internal dating features
on the grand pacification). An early version of a text by this
that help clarify the historical and social origins of a compila-
title was apparently promoted during the Western Han in
tion include reign titles, datable place names and official ti-
support of a faction that sought to influence the direction
tles, as well as the titles of canonization granted by imperial
of the ruling house through its expertise in the interpretation
decree to various patriarchs and apotheosized cultic figures.
of cosmological omens. What circulates as the Taiping jing
The language itself, particularly the use of specialized termi-
can be traced in part to another faction that arose during the
nology, also helps determine the setting in which a text arose.
Eastern Han on the Shandong Peninsula. Because of the
The terminus a quo or terminus ad quem of a work can like-
text’s link with Zhang Jue, leader of the Yellow Turban peas-
wise be determined with the help of a number of inventories
ant rebellion, and the fall of the Han empire, the Taiping jing
of Daoist texts.
fell out of favor for several generations. It was not until the
sixth century that a new, and much larger, edition of 170
Contents. The range of literature in the canon is as di-
juan appeared, portions of which are preserved in the canon
verse as the beliefs and practices associated with Daoism
as well as in Dunhuang manuscripts. This edition, the prove-
since the Han dynasty. Much research to date has concen-
nance of which can be traced to the Shangqing axis mundi
trated on the scientific significance of Daoist alchemical and
of Maoshan (in present-day Jiangsu), seems to retain many
pharmaceutical works. Aside from the early Shangqing and
of the major themes promoted in the Han dynasty works.
Lingbao scriptural traditions, little has been reported on the
The text was generally regarded as the omen of a more pros-
textual legacy of Daoist revelatory and cultic inspiration. The
perous era. While there is difficulty in distinguishing the sec-
Daozang, furthermore, has yet to be fully appreciated as a
ond-century text from later accretions, it appears that one
valuable repository of belles-lettres in its own right. The fol-
consistent feature was the hint of an apocalypse should the
lowing survey highlights a few of the texts in the canon with
divine teachings recorded within not be put into effect. The
enduring literary and religious interest.
sixth-century editors enlarged upon this theme by interpolat-
ing references to the promise of deliverance by a messianic
Revelation and ritual. As a work ostensibly transmitted
figure sacred to Shangqing, Housheng Jun, or the Sage-lord
from master to disciple, the Dao de jing or Laozi has long
to Come. Overall, however, the Taiping jing stresses the im-
been regarded as a revelation in itself. The writings that Laozi
portance of creating a utopian society in the present, one in
reportedly delivered to the gatekeeper Yin Xi on his journey
which the political, social, and economic welfare of all could
west have served as the inspiration for centuries of instruc-
be assured upon the recitation of the scripture and the keep-
tion on the attainment of the Dao. To the Celestial Masters,
ing of behavioral precepts in accordance with the will of the
the Dao de jing seems to have functioned foremost as a code
heavens above. This ideal of equity is tempered in part by
of behavior for young initiates. It is thought that the Xiang’er
instructions on techniques for prolonging life, a pastime in
commentary on the Laozi (Xiang’er zhu) discovered at Dun-
which only a select few could indulge.
huang was compiled by one of the first, if not the first, patri-
arch of the Celestial Masters. The commentary extrapolates
The common denominator between the practices pre-
not only rules of conduct but also techniques of meditative
scribed for attaining longevity in the Taiping jing and in the
practice from the text and is the only substantial writing asso-
Shangqing scriptures is a large body of macrobiotic literature
ciated with the early Celestial Masters to survive. The apo-
that is traditionally associated with the fangshi or technocrats
theosis of Laozi, that is, Taishang Laojun, or Lord Lao the
of Chinese society. The titles of many of these works are re-
Most High, who appeared before the founder Zhang Daol-
corded in early hagiographies. Central to these guides on the
ing was said to have revealed not scriptures but the sacred
pursuit of a life everlasting is the ability to gain communion
registers and talismans of divine guardians. Both were essen-
with the gods residing within one’s own body as well as with
tial to the demonifuge mission of the Tianshi Dao. Divine
those on high. One of the earliest and more provocative 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
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
2205
struction manuals on gaining communication with the cor-
began ascribing the origin of some twenty-seven Lingbao
poreal hierarchy is the Huangting jing (Scripture of the Yellow
scriptures to his grand-uncle Ge Xuan (164–244). This set
Court). The innate ambiguities of this lengthy verse com-
of sacred writings actually owes its inspiration to not only the
posed in heptasyllabic meter were apparently thought to be
centuries-old arcana of southern Chinese religious practice
at least partially resolved upon repeated recitation. A revised
and the more recent Shangqing innovations, but also to the
and less arcane version of the Huangting jing was reportedly
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhist traditions of the Nanjing area. The mes-
among those texts conveyed to Yang Xi (b. 330), the prime
sage of Lingbao, as epitomized in the Duren jing (Scripture
recipient of the Shangqing revelations during the years 364
on the salvation of mankind), was that all could ultimately
to 370. The most comprehensive record of Shangqing beliefs
be released from the cycle of suffering and ascend to the ce-
and practices was made over a century later by the eminent
lestial realm by adhering to the teachings of the Yuanshi
Daoist master Tao Hongjing (456–536). The Zhengao (Dec-
Tianzun, or Celestial Worthy of Primordial Commence-
larations of the perfected) that he edited is largely intended
ment. The foremost contribution of the Lingbao tradition
to be a verbatim account of the instructions given Yang dur-
was in fact a whole program of liturgical services to be per-
ing the visits of divine transcendents. Central to the expecta-
formed on behalf of the living and dead. Equally significant
tions of those promoting the new dispensation of Shangqing
was the articulation of a code of behavior to be followed by
was the imminent descent of a messiah who could replace
the faithful in their struggle to escape the bonds of the mun-
the disorder of their age with order. The eschatological sce-
dane realm. As with the Shangqing tradition, a systematic
nario for the advent of a savior by the name of Li Hong is
presentation of the Lingbao corpus came some time after the
set forth in the Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (Annals of the
original revelations. What is preserved in the canon from this
Lord of the Tao, the sage-to-come of Shangqing). The vision
syncretic development is due to the efforts of Lu Xiujing, the
of Li Hong’s epiphany continued to inspire a number of
compiler of the first known catalogue of Daoist writings.
messianic movements as reflected, for example, in the Dongy-
uan shenzhou jing (A scripture of spirit spells from the cav-
Expansion on the Lingbao rituals continued for centu-
erned abyss), a composite work dating from the fifth and
ries, as is reflected, for example, in the Wushang huanglu
sixth centuries that has its analogues in the newly compiled
dazhai licheng yi (Protocols on the establishment of the great
dha¯ran:¯ı su¯tras of that era.
Zhai retreats of the Yellow Register), a compilation based on
the writings of Lu, as well as two major Tang liturgists,
The Shangqing visionaries worked not only toward the
Zhang Wanfu (fl. 711) and Du Guangting (850–933), and
restoration of terrestrial order but also toward their own pro-
the Song Daoist masters Liu Yongguang (1134–1206) and
motion into the ranks of the divine. The methods by which
Jiang Shuyu (1156–1217). Du Guangting was by far the
their eschatological hopes could be realized ranged from the
most prolific Tang liturgist, for in addition to editing a num-
rigid control of diet to stringent respiratory exercises and ex-
ber of Lingbao codes, he also compiled the protocols for vari-
perimentation with pharmaceutical compounds. But the
main sustenance for adepts pursuing such a regimen were the
ous ordination rituals, including those marking the bestowal
vital forces of the sun, moon, and stars. It was thought that
of the Dao de jing and the divine registers of Shangqing and
the regular and concentrated absorption of these powerful
Zhengyi. He issued, moreover, a series of ritual texts associat-
sources of radiance would lead ultimately to one’s cosmic
ed with the Scripture of Spirit Spells, as well as with the archa-
transmigration. Feeding on the illumination of astral bodies
ic practice of casting propitiatory prayers inscribed on metal
is among the most fundamental techniques of the Daoist
or wood into caves and streams. The diversity of Du’s contri-
master (central to his private meditative sessions as well as
butions reflects in general the trend of his age toward a con-
his liturgical performances) and is by and large a technique
solidation and systematization of diverse ritual practices in
of visualization, the skill of which is the concern of many
which the Daoist priesthood was engaged.
manuals predating the Shangqing revelations. Those texts in
The editorial enterprises of the Tang dynasty soon yield-
which the ultimate goal specified is ascent to the celestial
ed to a new wave of scriptural innovation during the Song
realm of Taiqing are commonly regarded as part of a Taiqing
dynasty. The creation of more innovative ritual traditions
scriptural tradition, the origins of which remain unclear. The
was apparently stimulated in large part by Song Huizong’s
teachings of these Taiqing manuals were incorporated into
patronage of Daoist masters. Among the most influential at
both the Shangqing revelations and the slightly later scriptur-
his court was Lin Lingsu (1076–1120) of Wenzhou (in pres-
al tradition known as Lingbao. The prolongation of life
ent-day Zhejiang). Lin convinced the emperor that he was
through the ingestion of astral essences is, for example, a les-
the incarnation of Changsheng Dadi (Great Sovereign of
son in the Taishang Lingbao wufu xu (Prolegomena on the
Long Life) and, as such, was responsible for the salvation of
five talismans of the numinous treasure of the most high),
all under his domain. To this end, Lin drew on the soterio-
a text originally dating to the late third century and recycled
logical features of the Lingbao legacy and the messianic ex-
by spokesmen for the Lingbao tradition in the late fourth
pectations of the Shangqing tradition to devise what he
century.
called the Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) dispensation. The
The major recipient of the Lingbao revelations was Ge
Gaoshang shenxiao zongshi shoujing shi (Formulary for the
Chaofu, a nephew of Ge Hong. In the 390s, Ge Chaofu
transmission of scriptures according to the patriarchs of
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2206
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
the exalted divine empyrean) is a record of the evolution of
raphies of a number of divine transcendents with whom he
the Shenxiao scriptures from their origins as cosmic script to
was in communication, but only a few survive. Some of his
their bestowal upon the Grand Sovereign himself. Large ritu-
contacts are memorialized in the Liexian zhuan (Lives of the
al compendia were eventually compiled based on this new
immortals), traditionally attributed to Liu Xiang (77–6 BCE)
scriptural heritage, with the Duren jing uniformly established
but apparently based on several centuries of oral tradition
as the central focus. Among the largest of such corpora are
surrounding various local cults.
those associated with the teachings of Ning Benli (1101–
1181), also of Wenzhou, namely the Shangqing Lingbao dafa
More extensive hagiographic accounts were compiled
(Great rites of the Shangqing Lingbao legacy), compiled by
during the Tang dynasty, most notably by Du Guangting.
a disciple named Wang Qizhen, and the Lingbao lingjiao jidu
One work of his, the Yongcheng jixian lu (A record of the
jinshu (Golden writings on salvation, based on the instruc-
transcendents assembled at Yongcheng), is entirely devoted
tions conveyed by the Lingbao legacy), edited originally by
to the lives of divine women, starting with an account of the
Lin Weifu (1239–1302) of Wenzhou.
cosmic evolution of the primordial goddess who gave birth
to the historical Laozi. Du Guangting was above all a good
Another scriptural tradition codified during Song Hui-
storyteller and, as his Daojiao lingyan ji (An account of the
zong’s reign was the Tianxin Zhengfa (Authentic Rites of the
divine efficacy of the teachings of the Dao) and Shenxian
Celestial Heart), the origins of which were traced to the dis-
ganyu zhuan (A record of inspirational encounters with di-
covery in 994 of sacred texts at Huagai Shan (in present-day
vine transcendents) further attest, he was most interested in
Jiangxi). One of the Daoist masters working on the compila-
recording accounts of sacred phenomena. Such works, to-
tion of a new canon at Kaifeng, Yuan Miaozong (fl. 1086–
gether with Buddhist miracle tales, contributed significantly
1116) sought to make amends for a lack of talismanic healing
to the development of the narrative in Chinese literary
rituals by compiling the Taishang zhuguo jiumin zongzhen
history.
biyao (Secret essentials of the most high on assembling the
perfected for the relief of the state and delivery of the people).
By far the most comprehensive hagiographic work in
At the heart of this corpus are the instructions on the applica-
the canon is one compiled by a specialist in Thunder Ritual
tion of the three talismans central to the Tianxin legacy:
named Zhao Daoyi (fl. 1297–1307), the Lishi zhenxian tidao
San’guang (Three Sources of Radiance; i.e., sun, moon, and
tongjian (A Comprehensive mirror on successive generations
stars); Zhenwu (Perfected Martial Lord); and Tiangang (Ce-
of perfected transcendents and those who embody the Dao).
lestial Mainstay; i.e., Ursa Major).
Largely derivative of earlier works, this text preserves much
material that has otherwise been lost. Among more special-
The best testimony to the diversity of healing ritual
ized works is the Xuanpin lu (A record of the ranks of the
from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries is the Daofa hui-
sublime) edited by a prominent literatus named Zhang Yu
yuan (A corpus of Daoist rites), compiled after 1356. The
(1283–c. 1356). The author, who was himself temporarily
most voluminous work in the canon, this corpus is devoted
in residence at Maoshan, dedicates a large portion of his text
largely to what are known as leifa (“thunder rites”), based on
to the Shangqing heritage, from Yang Xi to the twenty-fifth
the practice of quelling demonic forces through the absorp-
patriarch Liu Hunkang (1035–1108). A separate account of
tion and projection of thunder pneumas. The opening chap-
the Zhengyi patriarchs, the Han Tianshi shijia (A genealogy
ters of the work are derived from one of the later Thunder
of the Celestial Masters since the Han), is a composite work,
Ritual traditions called Qingwei (Purified Tenuity), codified
based on editions dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth
in part by Zhao Yizhen (d. 1382). Many rituals that evoke
century. The imprimatur of the fiftieth Celestial Master,
the authority of the Zhengyi tradition appear to reflect the
Zhang Guoxiang (d. 1611), is found not only in this text but
influence of the thirty-ninth Celestial Master Zhang Sicheng
in the latest hagiography of the canon, the Soushen ji (In
(d. 1343). Most outstanding of all are the ritual instructions
search of the sacred), edited by Luo Maodeng (fl. 1593–
to be enacted on behalf of various astral deities and cultic fig-
1598). Also a composite work, this text opens with the biog-
ures such as the martial lord Guan Yu (d. 219). These thera-
raphies of Confucius, S´a¯kyamuni, and Taishang Laojun.
peutic rites were prescribed for a wide range of ailments,
Most predominate thereafter are the accounts of apotheo-
from conjunctivitis to manifestations of possessing spirits.
sized cultic figures from south of the Yangtze. The dates of
Many attest, moreover, to a long tradition of collaboration
birth and ascension recorded in many of these entries give
between Daoist masters and spirit-mediums.
some indication as to the annual cycle of festival days autho-
rized by church and state.
Hagiography. Not unlike Confucian and Buddhist bio-
graphical accounts, Daoist hagiographies were compiled pri-
Several hagiographic works honor the Quanzhen heri-
marily as commemorative works, usually with a didactic
tage founded by Wang Zhe (1113–1170). One of the earliest
message in mind. The lives of transcendents were generally
is the Jinlian zhengzong ji (An account of the true lineage of
intended to instruct on the paths by which one’s divine desti-
the golden lotus), completed in 1241 by Qin Zhi’an, editor
ny might be realized, as well as on the rewards inherent in
of the 1244 canon. This work was apparently lost in the book
venerating those who gained entry into the celestial ranks.
burning of 1281 and only recovered in the Ming. It was un-
The visionary Yang Xi was reportedly conveyed the full biog-
known to the compilers of a similar hagiography, the Jinlian
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
2207
zhengzong xianyuan xiangzhuan (An illustrated biographical
abbot of the Yulong Guan, an abbey established in Jiangxi
account of the transcendent origins of the true lineage of the
at the putative site of Xu’s ascension. Liu’s disciple Huang
golden lotus). Liu Zhixuan and Xie Xichan completed this
Yuanji (1270–1324) edited the Jingming zhong xiao quanshu
text in 1326, according to what written documents and stone
(A comprehensive compilation on the Jingming tradition of
inscriptions remained. They differ with Qin in attributing
loyalty and filiality), the biographies of which exemplify the
the origins of Quanzhen teachings to Laozi, but there is una-
role of Xu’s disciples as guarantors of political stability. The
nimity on the following four patriarchs: Donghua Dijun
traditional attributes of zhong (loyalty) and xiao (filiality) are
(Sovereign Lord of Eastern Florescence), Zhongli Quan, Lü
reinterpreted in this context as metaphors for submission to
Yan (b. 798?), and Liu Cao (fl. 1050). Central to both works
authority and the suppression of rebellion. Shrines to Xu are
are the hagiographies of the founder Wang and his seven dis-
still maintained in Taiwan today and, even more remarkably,
ciples, known to the tradition as the Seven Perfected Ones
the Yulong Abbey is officially designated as a historical mon-
(qi zhen) of Quanzhen: Ma Yu (1123–1183), Tan Chuduan
ument worthy of preservation.
(1123–1185), Liu Chuxuan (1147–1203), Qiu Chuji
(1148–1227), Wang Chuyi (1142–1217), Hao Datong
A number of other hagiographic accounts testify to the
(1140–1212), and the single matriarch, Sun Bu’er (1119–
popularity of local cults at various sacred mountain sites, in-
1183).
cluding Lu Shan on the northern border of Jiangxi, once a
popular missionary resort, and Huagai Shan, the source of
Among hagiographies for individual Quanzhen patri-
the Tianxin revelations. Most well-known perhaps is the
archs is an anonymous compilation in tribute to Wang
guardian of Wudang Shan (in present-day Hubei), referred
Chuyi, the Tixuan zhenren xianyi lu (A record of the marvels
to as Xuanwu (Dark Martial Lord) or Zhenwu (Perfected
manifested by the perfected who embodies sublimity). The
Martial Lord). How early this deity associated with the north
nineteen episodes in this text offer a rare view of the thera-
was enshrined in China is not known, but well over three
peutic mission of Quanzhen masters, in the roles of healer,
hundred shrines are established in his name on Taiwan
rain-maker, and demon queller. Even more well-known is
today. Xuanwu’s role as defender of the Song empire against
the patriarch Qiu Chuji, whose journey into Central Asia for
the Western Xia invasions and other threats is commemorat-
an audience with Chinggis Khan is commemorated in the
ed in the Xuantian shangdi qisheng lu (An account of the reve-
Changchun zhenren xiyou ji (The journey to the west of the
lations conveyed to the sages by the supreme sovereign of the
perfected Changchun). Qiu’s disciple Li Zhichang (1193–
dark celestial realm). A composite work, it is derived largely
1256) completed this work in 1228, following Qiu’s death
from the textual counterpart to the wall paintings of a shrine
at the Tianchang Abbey in Beijing. The transcendent Lü
dedicated to the Martial Lord by Song Renzong in 1057. A
Yan, conventionally credited with Wang Zhe’s enlighten-
later anthology reveals in turn that many literati of the thir-
ment, is the subject of a lengthy chronicle by Miao Shanshi
teenth and fourteenth centuries promoted Xuanwu as the
(fl. 1324), the Chunyang dijun shenhua miaotong ji (Annals
special guardian of the Mongol empire. Similarly, the Da
of the wondrous communications and divine transforma-
Ming Xuantian shangdi ruiying tulu (An illustrated account
tions of the sovereign lord Chunyang). As with similar narra-
of the auspicious responses of the supreme sovereign of the
tive sequences, this text appears to have evolved from centu-
dark celestial realm during the great Ming) is a collection of
ries of storytelling traditions that also found their expression
encomia dating from 1405 to 1418 that honor the deity’s
in temple wall paintings.
role in establishing the mandate of the Ming.
Most numerous of the hagiographies focused on local
Topography, epigraphy, and historiography. The cho-
cults are those dedicated to Xu Sun (239–292?), whose career
rography of sacred space, in the heavens above, on the earth
as a healer and subduer of malevolent dragons was estab-
below, and in the subterranean caverns beyond, is the subject
lished from Sichuan east to the central Jiangxi River valleys.
of many works in the Daoist canon. Certainly among the
The earliest text to survive intact is the Xiaodao Wu Xu er
most renowned of such texts from antiquity is the Wuyue
zhenjun zhuan (A Hagiography of Wu and Xu, the two per-
zhenxing tu (Mappings of the true form of the Five Sacred
fected lords of the filial way). Xu’s association in this account
Peaks), talismanic variations of which were introduced into
with Wu Meng, the legendary exemplar of filiality, attests to
the Lingbao textual corpus. The apotropaic value of these di-
an early ritual tradition that evolved around his cult in
agrams was recognized by Ge Hong and inspired Daoist lit-
Jiangxi, apparently a Tang variation on Lingbao liturgy. The
urgists for many generations later. The Five Sacred Peaks also
Yulong ji (An anthology of jade beneficence), a later work
serve as a crucial point of reference in Du Guangting’s Dong-
compiled by the well-known specialist in Thunder Rites, Bai
tian fudi yuedu mingshan ji (A record of the celebrated moun-
Yuchan (fl. 1209–1224), reveals the extent to which Song
tains, conduits, sacred peaks, munificent terrains, and cav-
Huizong patronized this cult as a symbol of unity in the face
erned heavens). In addition to mapping out the wuyue (“five
of the Jurchen invasions. Veneration of Xu Sun eventually
[sacred] peaks,” e.g., Tai Shan in the east, Heng Shan in the
led to the development of a nationalistic cult known as the
south, Song Shan in the center, Hua Shan in the west, and
Jingming Dao (Way of Purity and Perspicacity), generally
Heng Shan in the north) and the interlocking network of
thought to have been founded by Liu Yu (1257–1308), an
ranges, Du identifies ten major and thirty-six supplementary
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2208
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
dongtian or subterranean chambers, as well as seventy-two
It later served as a haven for refugees during the fall of the
sites traversed by various transcendents and the twenty-four
Mongol regime and by 1367 went up in flames.
original parishes established by Zhang Daoling in western
To the sacred font of the Shangqing revelations is dedi-
Sichuan.
cated the largest topography in the canon, the Maoshan zhi
Larger descriptive topographies date from the Song to
(A treatise on Maoshan). The forty-fifth Shangqing patri-
Ming. The canon preserves individual records for three of the
arch, Liu Dabin (fl. 1317–1328), completed this text in
Five Sacred Peaks. That compiled in commemoration of the
1328, at a time when the site enjoyed a renewal of royal pa-
Sacred Peak of the East, Dai shi (A history of Dai), was pres-
tronage. His account opens with a comprehensive collection
ented to Ming Shenzong (r. 1573–1619) on New Year’s Day
of imperial communications concerning Maoshan, dating
of 1587. In compiling this work the editor, Zha Zhilong (fl.
from 1 BCE to 1319 CE. Other outstanding features include
1554–1586), sought to reinforce the ritual obligations of the
the hagiographies of the three eponymous transcendents sur-
court toward Tai Shan, devoting large portions of the text
named Mao as well as the ranks of Shangqing patriarchs and
to the history of imperial sacrifices and various temple com-
matriarchs, the history of various shrines and hermitages, an
pounds, as well as the supernatural phenomena witnessed at
anthology of stone inscriptions dating from 520 to 1314,
the site from 78 BCE to 1586.
and a large selection of prose and prosody sustaining the
sanctity of the region.
Earlier and less ambitious accounts are available for the
sacred peaks of the west and south. The Xiyue Huashan zhi
The Daozang also preserves a few works solely com-
(A treatise on Hua Shan, sacred peak of the West) is attribut-
prised of texts carved on stone. Most notable are the antholo-
ed to a Wang Chuyi, not to be confused with the Quanzhen
gies of epigraphy prepared on behalf of the Quanzhen heri-
patriarch of the same name. This text, derived in part from
tage. The largest is the Ganshui xianyuan lu (An account of
the Huashan ji (A record of Hua Shan) dating to the Tang,
the origins of transcendents at Ganshui) compiled by the
may in fact be the work of the author of an 1183 preface,
Quanzhen archivist Li Daoqian. The title refers to the Ganhe
Liu Dayong. Unlike the treatise on Tai Shan, there is little
Garrison (in present-day Shaanxi), where the founder Wang
discussion of ritual traditions in propitiation of the spirits
Zhe reportedly achieved enlightenment in 1159. Most nu-
embodied in the mountain. Instead, the compiler was far
merous are the tomb inscriptions commemorating worthies
more interested in recounting stories about supramundane
ranging from Wang Zhe to a contemporary of the editor.
forces and in identifying indigenous plants and minerals with
Another anthology, the Gongguan beizhi (Epigraphic memo-
magical properties.
rials of palaces and abbeys), is devoted largely to the early his-
tory of the Baiyun Guan in Beijing. One inscription marks
The Nanyue zongsheng ji (An anthology on the collective
the conclusion of a massive renovation of the Tianchang
highlights of the sacred peak of the south) is wholly devoted
Guan, as the earlier abbey was known, in 1179. Also includ-
to the history of Daoist sanctuaries on Heng Shan. The edi-
ed is the proclamation issued upon the completion of the Jin
tion of this text in the Daozang is an extract from a fuller ac-
canon at the Tianchang Guan in 1191.
count of sacred shrines, including Daoist, Buddhist, and
folk, that is printed in the Buddhist canon. Chen Tianfu (fl.
Zhu Xiangxian (fl. 1279–1308) of Maoshan is the edi-
1131–1163), who completed this text in 1163, relies in part
tor of two works commemorating the site where Laozi reput-
on the Nanyue xiaolu (A short account of the sacred peak of
edly left behind the Dao de jing in answer to the gatekeeper
the south) compiled by Li Chongzhao in 902. Of consider-
Yin Xi’s pleas for instruction. One is a set of hagiographic
able interest are Chen’s own contributions on the history of
inscriptions entitled Zhongnanshan shuojing tai lidai zhenxi-
rituals on behalf of the emperor’s longevity and national
an beiji (An epigraphic record of the successive generations
prosperity. As the inventory of canonizations reveals, Song
of perfected transcendents at the pavilion for the recitation
Huizong was a particularly avid patron of the shrines at
of scripture on Zhongnan Shan). Zhu composed these ac-
Heng Shan.
counts and had them inscribed on stone following a pilgrim-
age in 1279 to the Lou Guan (Tiered Abbey) established in
Five topographies in the canon celebrate mountain
honor of Yin Xi’s discipleship. He derived much of his data
ranges in Zhejiang, the most famous of which is Tiantai
from an earlier work compiled by Yin Wencao (d. 688), a
Shan. Central to the Tiantaishan zhi (A treatise on the
Daoist master who apparently regarded himself as a descen-
Tiantai Mountains) is the history of the Tongbo Abbey, lo-
dant of Yin Xi. The second work compiled by Zhu, the Gu
cated on a peak of that name. It was for centuries the most
Louguan ziyun yanqing ji (An anthology from the abundant
prominent temple compound in the Tiantai range. Built
felicity of purple clouds at the tiered abbey of antiquity), in-
originally for the Daoist master Sima Chengzhen (647–735),
cludes inscriptions on the history of the shrine dating from
the Tongbo Guan reportedly once housed one of the largest
625 to 1303.
collections of Daoist texts in the country. With the fall of
Kaifeng and the reestablishment of the Song mandate at
The historical works in the Daozang do not match the
Hangzhou, the temple became an even more important talis-
size and scope of those in the Buddhist canon. There are a
man of the state and was evidently at the height of its glory
large number of brief historical surveys embedded in various
in 1168, following thirty-seven years of construction activity.
texts, composed generally to establish the ultimate antiquity
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DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
2209
and thus authority of a scriptural tradition. The earliest sepa-
the Void) and a lengthy essay arguing that divine transcen-
rately compiled history in the Daoist canon is the Lidai di-
dence can indeed be learned. The history of a second Tang
wang chongdao ji (A record of reverence for the Dao on the
anthology in the canon, the collected works of the renowned
part of sovereign rulers over successive generations) of Du
Du Guangting entitled Guangcheng ji (An anthology of
Guangting. The opening summary of the pre-Tang era is lit-
Guangcheng), is more obscure. It, too, is a valuable resource
tle more than a statistical analysis of the number of temples
on the ritual activities of Daoist masters whose reputations
established and Daoist masters ordained from one period of
made them favorites at court.
state patronage to the next. The discussions thereafter focus
on the role of Taishang Laojun as the ancestral guardian of
By far the most numerous of literary collections in the
the Tang, especially his defense of the empire during the up-
canon are those compiled after the Tang. A vast corpus, for
rising of Huang Chao (d. 884).
example, has evolved around the semi-legendary Lü Yan,
claimed as the patriarch of both the Quanzhen and Nanzong
The unifying feature of all later histories in the canon
(Southern Heritage) traditions. A substantial collection of
continues to be the providential manifestations of Lord Lao.
verse conventionally ascribed to him in truth probably dates
Prototypes of this historiographic approach include the early
no earlier than the thirteenth century. One anthology, the
writings on huahu (“converting the barbarians”) that were es-
Chunyang zhenren huncheng ji (An anthology of the perfected
sentially chronicles of Laozi’s incarnations as the supreme
on arising from turbulence), was prepared by He Zhiyuan,
preceptor of all peoples. To write a history of the faith was,
a disciple of Song Defang. He was among those assigned to
in other words, to write a hagiography of Lord Lao as the
work on the Canon of 1244, the opportunity of which no
messiah. This approach is exemplified in Jia Shanxiang’s (fl.
doubt led to this edition. What he claimed to be the product
1086) Youlong zhuan (Like unto a dragon), the title of which
of Lü’s divine inspiration appears instead to reflect the liter-
is drawn from Confucius’s putative characterization of Laozi
ary legacy of Wang Zhe and his disciples.
as recorded in the Shi ji (Records of the historian) of Sima
Over a half-dozen works alone purport to be the teach-
Qian (145–86 BCE). Jia concentrates on Lord Lao’s role as
ings and writings of founder Wang. A number of the texts
instructor to the ruling house and the history of the Taiqing
were compiled in direct tribute to Ma Yu’s discipleship
Gong (Palace of Grand Clarity, in present-day Luyi, Henan
under Wang. The master’s basic pedagogy was apparently to
province), the reputed birthplace of the “historical” Laozi.
recite a verse that would provoke a response from his devo-
Nearly a century later, Xie Shouhao (1134–1212), a
tees. Two works, the Chongyang jiaohua ji (An anthology on
prominent Daoist master at the site of the Xu Sun cult in
the proselytism of Chongyang) and the Chongyang fenli shi-
Jiangxi, presented an even more comprehensive chronicle to
hua ji (An anthology of Chongyang on the ten transforma-
Song Guangzong (r. 1190–1194). In compiling the Huny-
tions according to the sectioning of a pear), preserve hun-
uan shengji (A chronicle of the sage from the primordiality
dreds of these missives between Wang and Ma. The
of chaos), Xie sought to correct the inconsistencies in Jia’s
exchange began, according to legend, when Wang locked
account by drawing on a wider range of readings from the
himself up for one hundred days on the grounds of his hosts
sanjiao, or “three teachings” (i.e., Confucianism, Daoism,
Ma and wife Sun Bu’er and communicated with them mere-
and Buddhism). Xie’s work is an invaluable source of cita-
ly by submitting a gift of food, often a section of pear, ac-
tions from works no longer extant, such as the early chronicle
companied by instruction in verse. There is unfortunately no
on Lord Lao compiled by Yin Wencao. He is also particularly
comparable record of Sun’s responses, although late editions
attentive to the history of the compilation of the canon.
of her writings available outside the canon suggest that at
Among those who found Xie’s work indispensable was the
least a few considered her to have been equally literate.
hagiographer Zhao Daoyi.
Other texts in the canon reveal that Wang was also will-
LITERARY COLLECTIONS AND DIALOGIC TREATISES. Among
ing to entertain the questions of his disciples. Records of such
the most informative sources on the beliefs and practices of
question-and-answer sessions, known as yulu or dialogic trea-
Daoist masters are their collected writings, editions of which
tises, were as popular with the Quanzhen masters as with
were commonly prepared by devotees. The prime example
their Chan Buddhist counterparts. A somewhat redundant
is of course Tao Hongjing’s assiduous collation of Yang Xi’s
example of this genre, the Chongyang shou Danyang erhshisi
revelatory verse. The writings of Wu Yun (d. 778), an or-
jue (Twenty-four lessons conveyed by Chongyang to Dany-
dained Zhengyi master often summoned by Tang Xuanzong,
ang), is composed of a series of questions and answers attri-
were brought together more expeditiously. According to a
buted to Ma and his master Wang. Among the lessons taught
preface by Quan Deyu (759–818), a scribe named Wang
is that the devotee should speak very little, control all emo-
Yan rescued what remained of the master’s writings and pres-
tions, and minimize anxiety and cravings. Further details on
ented them to the imperial archives. The edition in the
Wang’s instruction are found in the Chongyang lijiao shiwu
canon, the Zongxuan xiansheng wenji (A literary anthology
lun (Fifteen discourses on the teachings set forth by Chongy-
of Master Zongxuan) is that which a disciple Shao Yixuan
ang). Moderation in all things appears to be the central mes-
conveyed to Quan. Among Wu’s most well-known composi-
sage of this dialogue. According to the concluding statement
tions is a sequence of verse entitled Buxu ci (Lyrics on pacing
ascribed to Wang, departure from the mundane realm was
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2210
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
to be accomplished mentally, not physically. The closing
generations. Among those whose teachings expanded upon
simile, obviously borrowed from the Buddhist translator and
this legacy are Qiu’s successor Yin Zhiping (1169–1251),
exegete Kumarajiva, is that one’s body is like the root-stock
Liu’s disciple Yu Daoxian (1168–1232), and Hao’s disciple
of a lotus mired in mud, whereas one’s heart-mind is sus-
Wang Zhijin (1178–1263). Later syncretists for whom there
pended in space as the lotus blossom itself.
is ample record in the canon include Li Daochun (fl. 1290),
Miao Shanshi (fl. 1324), Wang Jie (fl. 1310), Chen Zhixu
The writings associated with Ma Yu are even more nu-
(fl. 1329–1336), Wang Weiyi (fl. 1294–1304), and Zhao
merous than those of his master. Aside from three works
Yizhen (d. 1382). Many of these figures drew equally from
based on exchanges with Wang, there are altogether six sepa-
the Quanzhen and Nanzong traditions. The fullest docu-
rate collections of prose and prosody printed under his name
mentation on the latter is to be found in late encyclopedic
in the canon. One compilation, the Dongxuan jinyu ji (An
anthologies of the Daozang.
anthology of the gold and jade of Dongxuan), includes a par-
ticularly revealing verse that exhorts Buddhist monks and
Encyclopedic anthologies. The earliest comprehensive
Daoist masters to come together in accord and do away with
encyclopedic work in the canon is the Wushang biyao (The
slander. Another work, the Jianwu ji (An anthology on grad-
essentials of unsurpassed arcana). Only two-thirds of the
ual enlightenment), features onomatopoeic verses that were
original one hundred juan survives of this anonymous com-
apparently designed to illustrate, as the title implies, that en-
pilation. Citations from a wide selection of texts are orga-
lightenment is a gradual process. A significant number of
nized under 288 headings, ranging from cosmology and sa-
Ma’s verses are expressly dedicated to female adepts, includ-
cred topography to the protocols for transmitting divine
ing his wife Sun. All men and women of the Dao, he urges,
scriptures and instructions on meditative practices. The ori-
would best bring under control their yima xinyuan, or “horse
gins of this text are revealed in a Buddhist, not Daoist, com-
of the will and monkey of the mind.”
pilation, namely the Xu gaoseng zhuan (Supplementary biog-
Qiu Chuji, the youngest disciple of Wang and eventual-
raphies of exalted monks) of Daoxuan (596–667), which
ly the most renowned, has comparably fewer writings to his
states that Zhou Wudi (r. 561–578) ordered its compilation
name in the canon. The Changchunzi Panxi ji (An anthology
following his pacification of the state of Northern Qi in 577.
of Changchunzi from the Pan tributary) preserves composi-
It is thought that work began on this vast anthology as early
tions dating both from Qiu’s seclusion in the upper reaches
as 574, when Wudi issued a decree establishing the Tongdao
of the Yellow River valley as well as from his later ritual activ-
Guan (Abbey of Communication with the Dao) as a symbol
ities at Qixia (in present-day Shandong). Among his verses
of the anticipated political and ideological reunification of
are commemorations of various jiao fetes over which he
the empire. The text is not only an invaluable resource for
had presided, personal communications to Jin Shizong
citations from the original Shangqing and Lingbao revela-
(r. 1161–1189), and instructions on meditative practices. In
tions, but also for the later codifications they inspired.
addition to Li Zhichang’s account of Qiu’s later years, the
Two smaller compendia were compiled a century later
Xuanfeng qinghui lu (A record of a felicitous convocation on
by a relatively unknown recluse named Wang Xuanhe (fl.
the sublime spirit of the Dao), ascribed to Yelü Chucai
683). The larger of the works, the Sandong zhunang (Pearl
(1189–1243), provides a record of the sermons delivered be-
bag of the three caverns) is organized under thirty-four cate-
fore his patron, Chinggis Khan.
gories dealing with various aspects of conduct befitting an
All but a fraction of the collected writings associated
adept and includes extracts from a number of texts on con-
with the other select members in Wang’s circle are lost. The
templative pursuits that are otherwise lost. The second cor-
single anthology of Tan Chuduan’s teachings in the canon
pus attributed to Wang is the Shangqing daolei shixiang (A
arose directly from the initiative of the junior patriarch Liu
categorical survey of the Dao of Shangqing), which special-
Chuxuan. Of the five anthologies attributed to Liu, only one
izes in citations dealing with six types of sacred quarters,
survives, although a dialogic treatise compiled by his disciples
from private retreats to the cosmic chambers of revealed liter-
reveals somewhat more about his career. Liu’s sayings, many
ature.
of which were inspired by lines in the Dao de jing, were re-
A much larger encyclopedic anthology, the Yunji qiqian
portedly so popular as to have become part of the local cul-
(Seven lots from the book-pack of the clouds), was compiled
ture of his circuit. The two paragons of filial piety, Wang
by Zhang Junfang, inspired apparently by his assignment to
Chuyi and Hao Datong, are remembered with one antholo-
oversee the copying of a new canon on the order of Song
gy each. The Yunguang ji (An anthology from Yunguang),
Zhenzong. Zhang states in his preface that his intention was
named for the cavern in which Wang secluded himself for
to prepare a reference work for the emperor’s personal use.
nine years, is a valuable supplement to the hagiographic
But since the Yunji qiqian was not completed until 1028 or
Xianyi lu. The one edition of Hao’s teachings to be preserved
1029, it was obviously presented to his successor Renzong
attests to his training as a diviner and abiding interest in the
(r. 1023–1053). The writings Zhang selected for this work
Yijing.
date from the earliest revelations to the first decades of the
The influence of the early Quanzhen patriarchs is easily
eleventh century. Recorded, for example, in the opening es-
measured by the volume of writings that emerged from later
says on cosmogony and scriptural transmission are unique
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: DAOIST LITERATURE
2211
copies of the prefaces composed for the first catalogues of
only source available. Among the number of publications is-
Shangqing and Lingbao literature. Additional subheadings
sued during the Qing dynasty, the next largest corpus is the
include sacred topography, behavioral precepts, ritual purifi-
Daozang jiyao (An edition of essentials from Daoist canon).
cation, visualization techniques, and hagiography. Notably
The reedition of this work in 1906 includes 287 titles, com-
absent are any instructions on liturgical procedure, a subject
pared to nearly fifteen hundred in the canon. Over half of
that Zhang clearly considered to be beyond the scope of this
the titles are found in the Daozang as well, but this anthology
corpus.
also contains works otherwise unknown, including tracts at-
tributed to Sun Bu’er and Liu Cao, as well as the writings
Two remarkable collections of writings treating “inner
of later syncretists such as Wu Shouyang (d. 1644).
alchemy” (neidan) appeared during the Southern Song peri-
od. The first in print was the Dao shu (Pivot of the Dao)
Perhaps one of the most neglected resources for Daoist
compiled by the bibliophile Zeng Cao (fl. 1131–1155).
literature is epigraphy. Aside from the few, mainly Quanz-
Among the rare texts Zeng records is the Baiwen pian (A
hen, collections in the canon, there is a wide range of stone
folio of one-hundred questions), based on a putative ex-
and bronze inscriptions pertinent to the history of the faith.
change between Lü Yan and his mentor, the late Han tran-
An anthology of epigraphy compiled by Wang Chang
scendent Zhongli Quan. The entire last chapter is devoted
(1725–1806), for example, includes a transcription of the
to the Lingbao pian (A folio on Lingbao), a variant edition
Taishang Laojun riyong miaojing (A wondrous scripture of
of the Lingbao bifa (Conclusive rites of Lingbao), which was
Lord Lao and most high for daily use) carved on stone in
also compiled as a tribute to this legendary discipleship. A
1352 at the Pavilion for the Recitation of Scriptures in Sh-
related theoretical work on the cultivation of the jindan
aanxi. A variant redaction of this text is found in the Daozang
(metallous enchymoma), the Zhong Lü chuandao ji (An An-
and, at 141 words, is among the shortest works in the canon.
thology on Zhong [li]’s transmission of the Dao to Lü), is
It is essentially a code of conduct based on many traditional
found in both the Dao shu and a later Song collectaneum of
Chinese attributes such as filiality. Study of epigraphic docu-
neidan literature, the Xiuzhen shishu (Ten writings on the
ments will soon be greatly facilitated by the imminent publi-
cultivation of perfection). This anonymously compiled an-
cation of a comprehensive anthology of inscriptions bearing
thology also includes many texts associated with the Nan-
on the history of Daoism, a project begun by Chen Yuan and
zong, or Southern Heritage, the “five patriarchs” (wuzu) of
now being completed by Chen Zhichao at the Chinese Acad-
which are: Liu Cao (d. ca. 1050), Zhang Boduan (d. 1082),
emy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
Shi Tai (d. 1158), Xue Zixian (d. 1191), and Chen Nan
Scriptures and related sacred writings found in various
(d. 1213). The establishment of this patriarchy appears to be
archives constitute another essential source of Daoist litera-
a rather late innovation inspired by the legacy of the Seven
ture. The Dunhuang manuscripts preserved in a number of
Perfected of Quanzhen. By the early fourteenth century a
libraries worldwide, for example, include texts that clarify the
number of texts began to assert that Liu conveyed the teach-
early history of several scriptural codifications. One such
ings of the venerable Zhongli Quan and Lü Yan to both
work, of which only a portion survives in the canon, is the
Wang Zhe in the north and Zhang Boduan in the south.
Benji jing (Scripture on the original juncture). Over seventy
Zhang Boduan is popularly regarded as the “founder”
fragments of this text are in the British and French archives
of Nanzong. His writings were initially viewed as treatises on
of Dunhuang manuscripts. One of the compilers is known
waidan, “exterior,” or laboratory, alchemy. More recent re-
to have taken part in debates before the court of Tang Gaozu
search suggests that they fall, rather, into the mainstream of
(r. 618–626) on the issue of whether the Buddha was a disci-
neidan literature. An edition of the major corpus attributed
ple of the Dao. The text itself, designed apparently in part
to him, the Wuzhen pian (Folios on the apprehension of per-
to support this theory, seems to have taken its inspiration
fection), is recorded in the Xiuzhen shishu, with a preface by
from discussions on the cosmogonic concept of pu¯rvakot:i
Zhang dating to 1075. The same anthology also includes
(Chin., benji) in the Madhyama¯gama and Sam:yukta¯gama,
variant editions of similar lyrical sequences ascribed to Shi
Chinese translations of which appeared in the fourth and
Tai, Xue Zixian, and Chen Nan. But by far the most domi-
fifth centuries. Parables in one section of the Benji jing,
nant in the Xiuzhen shishu are the writings of Chen’s putative
moreover, were evidently drawn from the Dharmapada. The
disciple, the renowned Thunder Ritual specialist Bai Yu-
text reached the height of its popularity during the reign of
chan. Nearly half of the text is devoted to a record of his in-
Tang Xuanzong, who ordered all Daoist priests not only to
structions on jindan and Thunder Ritual traditions, as well
copy it out but also to recite and lecture on it during official
as his liturgical activities in Fujian and his accounts of the
religious festivals. In short, the lessons within were thought
Xu Sun cult in central Jiangxi. It may be that the Xiuzhen
to lead to the salvation of the state as well as of the individual.
shishu was compiled by devotees of Bai, for the latest work
Later collections of manuscripts and rare blockprints
included is a set of texts on jindan by Xiao Tingzhi (fl. 1260),
also have much to reveal about the continuity and change
a second-generation disciple.
in Daoist traditions. Among published works is the Zhuang
OTHER SOURCES. While the Daozang is the most compre-
Lin xu Daozang (Supplementary Daoist canon of the Zhuang
hensive collection of Daoist literature, it is by no means the
and Lin clans) edited by Michael Saso, a collection of Daoist
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2212
DAOISM: HISTORY OF STUDY
works largely gathered from a Zhengyi fraternity in Xinzhu
Maspero, Henri. Le taoïsme et les religions chinoises. Paris, 1971.
of north Taiwan. These texts, as well as those recovered by
Translated by Frank A. Kierman, Jr., as Taoism and Chinese
Kristofer Schipper in the Tainan area of south Taiwan, sug-
Religion (Amherst, 1981). A collection of essays on the ori-
gest a remarkable continuum of Daoist liturgical practice. A
gins of Daoist practices, drawn largely from the early litera-
scripture dedicated to Tianfei (i.e., Mazu) in the Schipper
ture on various macrobiotic techniques.
Archives of Paris, for example, proves to be a variant of a text
Naundorf, Gert, et al., eds. Religion und Philosophie in Ostasien.
in the canon dating to 1409–1412. The manuscript version
Würzburg, 1985. Contributions include studies on neidan
conveys an image of this well-known Fujianese patroness of
and the Taiping jing.
seafarers that accommodates a folk vision of her as an avata¯ra
Needham, Joseph, and Lu Gwei-Djen. Science and Civilisation in
of Guanyin. Tianfei’s assimilation to this all-compassionate
China, vol. 5, pt. 5. Cambridge, U.K., 1983. A broad survey
bodhisattva is promoted in popular narratives on the life of
of instructions on neidan (physiological alchemy) and other
the goddess compiled during the late Ming dynasty. Just as
macrobiotic techniques in the Daoist canon and subsidiary
collections.
she continues to inspire poets, novelists, and even scriptwrit-
ers in this age, so, too, has much of the Daoist literature both
Robinet, Isabelle. Méditation taoïste. Paris, 1979. An introduction
in and outside the canon left its mark on centuries of Chinese
to early manuals on techniques of visualization such as the
Huangting jing.
belles-lettres. Further study of this literature can only disclose
how deeply the Daoist heritage pervades all aspects of Chi-
Robinet, Isabelle. La révélation du Shangging dans l’histoire du tao-
nese society.
ïsme. 2 vols. Paris, 1984. A comprehensive study of the ori-
gins and development of the Shangqing scriptural legacy.
SEE ALSO Alchemy, article on Chinese Alchemy; Du
Schipper, Kristofer. Le Fen-teng: Rituel taoïste. Paris, 1975. An an-
Guangting; Fangshi; Ge Hong; Laozi; Lu Xiujing; Millenar-
notated translation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
ianism, article on Chinese Millenarian Movements; Sima
Daoist ritual texts in illustration of a continuum of Lingbao
Chengzhen; Tao Hongjing; Wang Zhe; Xian; Zhang Dao-
liturgy since at least the Song dynasty.
ling; Zhang Jue.
Schipper, Kristofer. Le corps taoïste. Paris, 1982. An introduction
to Daoist beliefs and practices with a special emphasis on
BIBLIOGRAPHY
teachings concerning the hierarchies of gods within and
Baldrian-Hussein, Farzeen. Procédés secrets au joyau magique:
without.
Traité d’alchimie taoïste du onzième siècle. Paris, 1984. An in-
Strickmann, Michel. Le taoïsme du Mao Chan: Chronique d’une
vestigation into the textual history of the Lingbao bifa, with
révélation. Paris, 1981. On the social history of the Shang-
a full translation.
qing scriptural tradition, with special attention to its messi-
Boltz, Judith Magee. “In Homage to T’ien-fei.” Journal of the
anic eschatology.
American Oriental Society 106 (1986). A study of the Tianfei
Strickmann, Michel, ed. Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honour of
scripture in the canon, collated with manuscripts in the
R. A. Stein, vol. 2. Mélanges chinoise et bouddhique, vol. 21.
Schipper Archives.
Brussels, 1983. Includes studies on ritual investiture, the
Boltz, Judith Magee. A Survey of Taoist Literature, Tenth to Seven-
early Shangqing and Lingbao textual legacies, and a Shenxiao
teenth Centuries. Berkeley, 1987. An introduction to over
soteriological meditation technique.
two hundred titles in the Daoist canon from revelation and
Waley, Arthur, trans. The Travels of an Alchemist. London, 1931.
ritual to encyclopedic anthologies.
A study and translation of Changchun xiyou ji by Li Zhichang
Chavannes, Édouard. Le jet des dragons. Paris, 1916. A remarkable
(1193–1256), on the journey west of the Quanzhen patri-
study of the tradition of casting prayers inscribed on stone
arch Qiu Chuji (1148–1227).
or metal into caves and waterways, including an annotated
Welch, Holmes, and Anna Seidel, eds. Facets of Taoism. New
translation of a ritual manual compiled by Du Guangting
Haven, 1979. Includes studies on the origins of the Daozang,
(850–933).
the Taiping jing, and the Shangqing revelations.
Ch’en Kuo-fu. Tao-tsang yüan-liu k’ao (1949). 2d ed. Beijing,
Wu Chi-yu, ed. Pen-chi ching: Livre du terme originel. Paris, 1960.
1963. A pioneering work in the history of the Daoist canon.
Textual history of the early seventh-century Daoist scripture
Kandel, Barbara. Taiping jing: The Origin and Transmission of the
Benji jing, inspired in part by Chinese translations of
“Scripture on General Welfare”; The History of an Unofficial
Maha¯ya¯na texts.
Text. Hamburg, 1979. A brief study on the history of texts
Yoshioka Yoshitoyo. Do¯kyo¯ kyo¯ten shiron. Tokyo, 1952.
circulating under the title Taiping jing.
Lagerwey, John. Wu-shang pi-yao: somme taoïste du sixième siècle.
JUDITH MAGEE BOLTZ (1987 AND 2005)
Paris, 1981. A detailed analysis of the organization and con-
tents of the sixth-century anthology of Daoist literature enti-
tled Wushang biyao.
DAOISM: HISTORY OF STUDY
Loon, Piet van der. Taoist Books in the Libraries of the Sung Period.
London, 1984. An analytic index to Daoist writings cited in
Although Daoism represents a tradition as ancient and as
private and official Song bibliographies dating from 945 to
rich as any other major religion, the serious study of this tra-
1345, with introductory essays on the history of these compi-
dition has been almost entirely a twentieth-century phenom-
lations and the Daoist canon.
enon and largely a phenomenon of the second half 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
DAOISM: HISTORY OF STUDY
2213
twentieth century at that. The reasons for this are not far to
society), a slim volume published in Tokyo in 1948 by Kubo
seek. From its fourth and last printing in 1445 until its re-
Noritada, demonstrates, even after their return to Japan
production by photomechanical means in 1926, the Daoist
these scholars were concerned to relate their historical and
canon (Daozang), a compendium of over one thousand dif-
bibliographical research to the fuller picture of Chinese soci-
ferent works representing the full scope of the tradition, was
ety they had witnessed. Their numbers were also sufficient
a decidedly rare work, the jealously guarded possession of a
to found in 1950 the Japan Society of Taoistic Research
handful of monasteries. Until the twentieth century, more-
(Nippon Do¯kyo¯ Gakkai) and to start, the following year, the
over, few outsiders would have been inclined to persist in
publication of a journal, To¯ho¯ shu¯kyo¯, a serial still published
seeking them out. To the traditional Chinese scholar, raised
with an annual update on Daoist bibliography.
in the neo-Confucian belief that Buddhism and Daoism
alike were little more than gross superstition, there was little
In contrast, 1950 saw the publication in Paris of the
reason to take an interest in such literature.
posthumous writings on Daoism of the sole French scholar
to have followed up the pioneering work of Chavannes and
Although certain eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
Pelliot by carrying out research into materials in the Daoist
scholars made use of the Daoist canon to obtain good edi-
canon. Henri Maspero (1883–1945), like others of his gen-
tions of ancient philosophical or historical texts (which, as
eration, came to the study of Daoism not as a specialist but
in the case of the Mozi, were often not Daoist works but were
as a broad-ranging scholar. He had published in the fields
included in the canon for reasons unrelated to their con-
of Egyptology and Vietnamese studies and had produced a
tents), it was not until 1911 that a Chinese scholar lingered
Sinological masterpiece, a one-volume survey of preimperial
over the rest of the canon. This scholar was Liu Shipei, a fer-
China, before his research into the China of the latter Han
vent nationalist whose attitude toward tradition had been en-
period and thereafter brought him face to face with the Dao-
larged by the modern world to embrace a less orthodox range
ist religion. During the 1930s he applied himself to unravel-
of study.
ing the formative stages of the religion, working indepen-
dently of, but using similar methods to, his Japanese
By the time Liu published the results of his readings,
contemporaries (for example, comparing materials in the
non-Chinese scholars who had inherited the best of the tradi-
Daoist canon with the Dunhuang manuscripts and with
tional Chinese polymath’s zeal for knowledge (without the
Buddhist sources). Maspero perished at Buchenwald in 1945
polymath’s blind spot with regard to religion) had begun to
before he had published more than a portion of his findings.
show a lively interest in Daoism also. French Sinologists,
In his three-volume collected writings, compiled by Paul De-
such as Édouard Chavannes and Paul Pelliot, and Japanese,
miéville, his equally erudite literary executor, an entire vol-
such as Tsumaki Naoyoshi, came to Daoism out of a general
ume is devoted to Daoism. Maspero’s description of Daoism
interest in Chinese civilization, but also from societies where
remains a highly rewarding record of the first encounter be-
the study of religion was an accepted branch of learning.
tween a modern European mind and the full complexity of
Japan, in particular, had at an early stage accepted much of
this ancient religion.
China’s medieval culture, including the Buddhist faith, but
had not undergone a neo-Confucian rejection of this legacy
Sadly, Maspero had no students. Maspero’s great con-
to the same degree. Thus, learned Buddhists, such as Tokiwa
temporary in the study of Chinese religion, Marcel Granet,
Daijo¯, were already confronting the complex issue of the re-
more immediately influenced the experts on Chinese religion
lationship between Chinese Buddhism and Daoism in the
who rose to prominence in postwar Paris. Yet Granet was not
1920s. One of them, O
¯ fuchi Eshin, had even traveled abroad
unaware of the importance of Daoism, and the work of such
to investigate the millennium-old manuscripts of Daoist
men as Max Kaltenmark, Rolf Alfred Stein, and Michel Soy-
scriptures that had been discovered among other ancient ma-
mié helped maintain the primacy of Paris as the center of
terials at Dunhuang in Northwest China at the turn of the
Daoist studies in the Western world. Nor were these men,
century.
for their part, unaware of the achievements of their Japanese
colleagues: Soymié established with Yoshioka in 1965 a sec-
The increased political role of Japan in China during the
ond Japanese journal devoted to Daoism, the Do¯kyo¯ kenkyu¯.
1930s also brought many Buddhist scholars to China. Some,
By this time a number of studies of Daoism had been pub-
such as Fukui Kojun, returned to Japan to pursue research
lished in Japan, and many points of controversy were hotly
in the Daoist canon, now available in its modern printing
debated. A new generation of European researchers specifi-
in academic libraries, while others, such as Yoshioka Yoshi-
cally interested in Daoism emerged, and the new publication
toyo, stayed longer to gain firsthand experience of Daoist
soon introduced the findings of Anna Seidel and K. M.
monastic life. Yoshioka’s 1941 Do¯kyo¯ no jittai (The actual
Schipper to a Japanese audience.
state of Daoism), published in Beijing, remains an invaluable
source on a mode of religious life now largely vanished. The
While the two major streams of Daoist studies were be-
expulsion of the Japanese from China after 1945 effectively
ginning to flow together, research in China remained almost
halted all such opportunities for fieldwork and even led to
as it had been in France in the 1930s, the domain of one lone
the loss of much material already painstakingly collected.
scholar. Since the reprinting of the Daoist canon, established
However, as Do¯kyo¯ to Chu¯goku shakai (Daoism and Chinese
specialists in the history of Chinese religion, such as Chen
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2214
DAOISM: HISTORY OF STUDY
Yinke and Chen Yuan, had devoted articles to aspects of
1979, at a third conference held in Switzerland, that the situ-
Daoist history, and one small volume attempting an account
ation in Beijing had changed sufficiently for Chen Guofu to
of the whole development of Daoism had been published,
participate. Daoist studies were thus finally able to achieve
partly on the basis of early Japanese research. But from 1949
true international status and to win a degree of recognition
onward the only aspects of Daoist studies to see publication
in Daoism’s native land.
were those connected with the history of peasant uprisings
The change of climate in the People’s Republic of China
or the history of science. In the former area the textual schol-
manifested itself in a number of other ways. The year 1979
ar Wang Ming produced in 1960 an excellent edition of the
also saw the first publication of a new academic periodical,
Taiping jing, a major Daoist scripture associated with the
Shijie zongjiao (World religion), marking the start of the offi-
Yellow Turban insurgents of the Han dynasty, but subse-
cially recognized study of religion in post-1949 China. Al-
quent discussion of the text by a number of academics tend-
though it was initially much concerned with the history of
ed not to focus on religious issues.
atheism, in the following year articles on Daoism were in-
In 1963 Chen Guofu, a historian of science and the
cluded. The first volume of an outline history of Chinese
“lone scholar” referred to above, managed to republish an ex-
Daoist thought, Zhongguo Daojiao sixiang shigang, and a new
panded version of an outstanding monograph, originally
textual study by Wang Ming also appeared at this time. By
published in 1949, on the formation of the Daoist canon.
1980 the Chinese Daoist Association was active once more.
Chen had initially undertaken his lengthy and painstaking
In 1981 a dictionary of religion (Zongjiao cedian) containing
research during the 1940s, when his interest in the history
a large number of entries on Daoism, was published. The
of Chinese alchemy led him to the question of the dating of
first dictionary of Daoism as such, the Daojiao dacidian by
Daoist texts on this subject. But especially in the 1963 edi-
Li Shuhuan, appeared in 1979 in Taiwan, but while Li’s sta-
tion of his Daozang yuanliu kao, he also included gleanings
tus as a Daoist priest contrasts markedly with that of the
on many other topics that had caught his eye in the course
Marxist compilers of the later volume, inasmuch as neither
of his readings. Other scholars, unable to claim to be further-
dictionary incorporated the findings of non-Chinese schol-
ing the study of science rather than religion, were less fortu-
ars, both fell well below the standard that could have been
nate. Man Wentong, who had published some worthwhile
achieved through international cooperation.
research on Daoist texts in the 1940s, saw his work confiscat-
Although Chinese scholarship on Daoism lagged be-
ed during the late 1950s; only a few further notes were pub-
hind that of France and Japan, the potential for development
lished posthumously in 1980. The Chinese Cultural Revolu-
was great. In the early 1980s Daoist priests appeared once
tion of the 1960s ended for a while the activities of the
again in China’s streets and marketplaces, showing that the
Zhongguo Daojiao Xiehui (the Chinese Daoist Association),
living tradition of the religion had not been cut off entirely
a group formed in 1957 but unable even then to achieve
by the Cultural Revolution and that scholars might still learn
much in either religious or academic terms.
from it firsthand. Furthermore, China’s bibliographic re-
Chen Guofu had begun his alchemical researches while
sources remained (and still remain) the envy of the outside
studying in the United States under Tenney L. Davis at the
world. One might mention, for example, the epigraphical
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and it was almost ex-
sources on Song Daoism used by the historian Chen Yuan,
clusively this scientific aspect of Daoism that had continued
besides those related to canonical literature. At this point in-
ternational work was already under way on a complete bibli-
to attract the attention of the English-speaking world—
ographic guide to the canon in its modern reprinted form.
apart, that is, from the perennial fascination with the Dao
Based in Paris under the direction of Schipper, it was spon-
de jing, reinvigorated for academics in the 1970s and 1990s
sored by the European Association for Chinese Studies and
by discoveries of early versions of its text. Thus, when the
involved scholars from European countries and beyond.
first international conference on Daoism met in Italy in
Even before publication of the guide, the project led to the
1968, two historians of science, Joseph Needham from Great
publication of concordances to important Daoist texts and
Britain and Nathan Sivin from the United States, joined
to an analysis by John Lagerwey of a sixth-century Daoist en-
with experts on religion such as Schipper and Seidel. No
cyclopedia, published by Lagerwey as the Wushang piyao
Chinese scholar attended, nor did any senior scholar from
(1981). It also indirectly stimulated a monograph by Piet van
Japan. This situation was rectified in 1972 at the next confer-
der Loon titled Taoist Works in the Libraries of the Sung Peri-
ence, which was held in Japan so a number of Japanese schol-
od (1984).
ars could attend, as did Hou Ching-lang, originally from
Taiwan but trained in Paris. Hou was by no means the first
In Japan, major collaborative ventures were preceded by
Chinese to have conducted research into Daoism there. In
publications reflecting the work of individual careers. First
1960 Wu Chi-yu had used the Dunhuang manuscripts to
Yoshioka and then Kubo produced histories of Daoism
compile an edition of an important Daoist scripture, the
aimed at general audiences. O
¯ fuchi Ninji completed a cata-
Benji jing. A few other Chinese scholars had by now pub-
log of all the Daoist manuscripts from Dunhuang with a
lished on Daoism in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or farther afield—
companion volume of photographs of every text. These two
Liu TsDun-yan in Australia, for instance. But it was not until
works were published as Tonko¯ Do¯kyo¯, respectively subtitled
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAOISM: HISTORY OF STUDY
2215
Mokuroku-hen and Zuroku-hen, in Tokyo in 1978 and 1979.
in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century
Collaborative ventures began when a volume on Daoism was
the trend toward the internationalization of Daoist studies
required for a series on the rich material of Dunhuang, and
has continued, even though the initial series of international
no fewer than ten writers (including Schipper) joined under
conferences has not been maintained. The steady revival and
the editorship of Yoshioka. Yoshioka died in 1979, but the
progress of academic life in the People’s Republic of China
volume, Tonko¯ to Chu¯goku Do¯kyo¯, eventually appeared in
saw the emergence of strong centers of research outside the
1983. It includes a sixty-two-page general bibliography of
Institute for the Study of World Religions in the China
Daoism based on material he had earlier collected. Yoshioka
Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, which launched Shijie
had in a sense initiated cooperative scholarship in Japanese
zongjiao. Sichuan University in Chengdu, for example, has
Daoist studies somewhat earlier. A Festschrift in his honor,
since 1986 published a journal, Zongjiaoxue yanjiu (Religious
Do¯kyo¯ kenkyu¯ ronshu¯ (Collected essays in Daoist studies),
studies), which consistently carries articles on Daoism, and
drawing on the work of fifty-four Japanese and foreign con-
also completed publication between 1988 and 1995, under
tributors, was published in Tokyo in 1977.
the editorship of Qing Xitai, of the first comprehensive his-
In 1983 a comprehensive survey of Daoism involving
tory of Daoism up to the twentieth century, spread over four
the work of twenty-three scholars was published in Japan
volumes, a work now available in English translation. The
under the general title Do¯kyo¯. This was the first collaborative
Chinese Daoist Association, meanwhile, published not only
attempt at a full description of the religion in any language.
its own journal but also a major encyclopedic dictionary in
The three volumes of this survey, Do¯kyo¯ to wa nani ka?,
1994, a year before an even larger work of the same type from
Do¯kyo¯ no tenkai, and Do¯kyo¯ no dempo¯, are devoted respective-
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which had already
ly to a description of Daoism itself, an assessment of its im-
produced a comprehensive guide to the literature in the
portance in relation to other aspects of Chinese life and
canon in 1991. In some respects, publication on Daoism in
thought, and a survey of its spread beyond its Chinese ori-
China (notably the series Zangwai daoshu and its continua-
gins. The last volume also contains surveys of research in
tion, supplementing existing canonical collections, and espe-
Japan and elsewhere. The study of Daoism outside mainland
cially the republication of traditional works on self-
China became increasingly prominent, especially as it moved
cultivation) was assisted by the rapid rise of interest in qigong
from historical to anthropological research. Historical re-
in the late 1980s, though government worries about the im-
search has not, however, decreased in importance. Pioneer-
plications of the craze eventually led to its increasing regula-
ing works such as the Han Eguk Togyosa of Yi Nu¯ng-hwa, a
tion in the following decade, especially after 1999.
study of the history of Daoism published in Seoul, South
The stream of monographs and research aids produced
Korea, in 1959, have successors in the publications of Japa-
in Japan has increased to a flood, and more concise encyclo-
nese scholars concerned to reassess the impact of Daoist be-
pedic dictionaries drawing on a wider range of international
liefs on the history of their own culture. Of these, the sympo-
scholarship have been published in Japan. The French lan-
sium Do¯kyo¯ to kodai tenno¯sei, which appeared in Tokyo in
guage has remained important for scholarship in the field,
1978 under the editorship of Fukunaga Mitsuji, deals with
even though scholars who had initially published in French
an issue of no slight importance to the modern Japanese,
often choose to publish in English or see their work translat-
namely the possibility of Daoist influence on such a quint-
ed. The same holds true for the less conspicuous but not un-
essentially Japanese institution as the emperorship.
important tradition of Daoist studies in Germany. During
However, it is in the investigation of Daoism as prac-
the last decade of the twentieth century the study of Daoism
ticed nowadays outside mainland China that the greatest di-
in English at last came into its own. The only journal exclu-
versity of scholarly activity became apparent. Kubo, in his re-
sively dedicated to it, Taoist Resources, lasted less than a de-
search into Daoist beliefs associated with the hour gengshen,
cade (1988–1997) before being absorbed into the Journal of
has covered not only Japan but also Okinawa. Of the many
Chinese Religions, but this and other established periodicals
ethnographers and others concerned with recording Daoist
find much more room for contributions on Daoism. Stephen
practices in Taiwan, one scholar based on that island, Liu
Bokenkamp’s pioneering Early Daoist Scriptures initiated the
Zhiwan, published the first part of his study Chu¯goku Do¯kyo¯
first monographic series in English dedicated to Daoism (in
no matsuri to shinko¯ in Tokyo in 1983. In 1975 the American
1997), whereas established social historians like Robert
Michael Saso published in Taipei twenty-five volumes of
Hymes and Edward L. Davis publish volumes exploring the
Daoist texts used under the title Zhuanglin xu Daozang. The
role of Daoism in local society from the eleventh century on-
Daoist practices of the Yao people of northern Thailand were
wards.
recorded by Japanese scholars and have attracted the atten-
In part, this willingness of North American university
tion of French, American, and Dutch scholars. Daoism in
presses to venture into what had been before the 1980s a vir-
Hong Kong, Singapore, and other overseas Chinese commu-
tually unknown area was the result of the emergence of a
nities was investigated to some extent as well.
wider reading public in the English-speaking world, a public
By the mid-1980s, Daoist studies were thus no longer
still primarily interested in the Dao de jing, feng-shui, or the
confined to one or two pioneers working in isolation, and
martial arts, but also prepared to explore further. To cater
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2216
DAOSHENG
to such interests a number of websites emerged, including
count of the religion in its homeland. James Miller, Daoism:
some of real academic value, such as that maintained by the
A Short Introduction (Oxford, 2003), is an up-to-date
Italian expert on alchemy, Fabrizio Pregadio, who is also edi-
summary. Livia Kohn, ed., Daoism Handbook (Leiden,
tor of a substantial and groundbreaking encyclopedia of
2000), is a compendious source of information in Eng-
Daoism in English. Livia Kohn, who had from early in her
lish. Fabrizio Pregadio’s website, available at http://
career attempted to provide materials in English to meet the
venus.unive.it/pregadio/taoism.html, is a gateway to the
mysteries of Daoism.
needs of higher education in North America, edited the first
major work of reference on Daoism in English, the Daoism
T. H. BARRETT (1987 AND 2005)
Handbook, though her student James Miller has achieved an
even more remarkable feat by condensing knowledge into a
readable introductory volume. Miller’s work has earned the
DAOSHENG (360?–434), also Zhu Daosheng; Chinese
approbation of at least one ordained Daoist priest engaged
Buddhist monk, student of the Nirva¯n:a Su¯tra, and early pro-
in doctoral research in English. The combination of religious
ponent of a doctrine of sudden enlightenment. The precise
and academic qualifications goes back to Schipper’s contacts
age at which Daosheng entered the religious life is unknown.
with Daoist circles in Taiwan, but the increasingly obvious
Accounts of his early career state only that he studied under
strength of the religion throughout the Chinese world sug-
Zhu Fatai (a disciple, with Dao’an, of Fotudeng) in Jian-
gests it is a combination that may become more common in
kang, the southern capital. In 397 he journeyed to Mount
the future. Certainly the revival of Daoist practice on a large
Lu and became the disciple of Dao’an’s most famous stu-
scale in China itself has enabled scholars such as Kenneth
dent, Huiyuan. During his first year on Lushan, Daosheng
Dean and Lagerwey, partly inspired by the pioneering work
took advantage of the presence of the Kashmiri monk
of der Loon, to combine textual scholarship and fieldwork
Sam:ghadeva to study the Sarva¯stiva¯da Abhidharma litera-
to bring new insights into many aspects of Daoist ritual and
ture. Around 406 he left Lushan for the northern capital of
its relationship to Chinese social life.
Chang’an, where he presumably attended Kuma¯raj¯ıva’s
Meanwhile, the very vibrancy of the religion in the con-
translation seminars of the Vimalak¯ırti and Saddharma-
temporary world has started to stimulate reflection on the
pun:d:ar¯ıka Su¯tras. Later, he wrote commentaries to both of
way it was originally represented in Western scholarship as
these scriptures.
a moribund tradition perpetuated only by ignorant charla-
In 407 Daosheng abruptly left Chang’an and returned
tans. In this, the lead has been taken by the Australian scholar
to Lushan, bearing with him a copy of Sengzhao’s Boruo wu
Benjamin Penny, who has briefly examined some of the in-
zhi lun (Prajña¯ is not knowledge). Liu Yimin’s correspon-
fluences working on nineteenth-century accounts of Dao-
dence with Sengzhao regarding this text, included in the
ism. In 2003 Elena Valussi challenged the rhetoric of decline
Zhaolun, resulted from this fortuitous transmission. Shortly
in later Daoism through a London doctorate devoted to the
after arriving on Mount Lu, Daosheng was off again, this
emergence in the Qing period of texts promoting the self-
time to Jiankang, where in 418 Faxian translated a recension
cultivation of women. These show an ongoing pattern of ad-
of the Maha¯ya¯na Maha¯parinirva¯n:a Su¯tra. This text, like its
aptation and innovation into the twentieth century not easy
H¯ınaya¯na namesake, purported to record the last discourse
to reconcile with the negative assessments of Western mis-
of the Buddha, a fact that very naturally conferred on it a
sionary observers. The early twenty-first century is at last see-
prestige and authority all its own. Quite unlike the H¯ınaya¯na
ing the recognition of Daoism as a religious tradition of re-
version, however, the Maha¯ya¯na text preached that nirva¯n:a
markable richness and historic depth that has by no means
was “permanent, joyous, personal, and pure” (Chin., chang,
been extinguished by modernity and that may yet have much
le, wo[!], jing), assertions that are substantially at odds with
to teach. Several of those responsible for demonstrating this,
the normative Maha¯ya¯na teaching that the nature of nirva¯n:a,
like Anna Seidel (1938–1991), Michel Strickmann (1942–
like that of all dharmas, is itself empty (´su¯nya) of all attri-
1994), and Isabelle Robinet (1932–2000), did not live to see
butes. More curious to Daosheng’s ears, however, was the
the full fruits of their efforts.
statement in Faxian’s translation that the icchantikas (Chin.,
yichanti, beings who have cut off their roots of virtue and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
seek only to gratify their desires) could never attain buddha-
Retrospective surveys with a narrow focus are K. M. Schipper,
hood. To Daosheng, such a statement vitiated the central
“The History of Taoist Studies in Europe,” in Europe Studies
claim of Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism to be a vehicle of salvation for
China, edited by Ming Wilson and John Cayley (London,
all beings. Disdaining to accept the letter of the text, he in-
1995), pp. 467–491; and Fukui Fumimasa, “The History of
sisted on the ultimate buddhahood of the icchantikas, and
Taoist Studies in Japan and Some Related Issues,” Acta Asia-
in so doing brought down upon himself the wrath of the mo-
tica 68 (1995), pp. 1–18. J. J. Clarke, The Tao of the West:
nastic community in Jiankang. Daosheng was forced to leave
Western Transformations of Taoist Thought (London, 2000),
the capital in 428 or 429 when accusations of heresy were
is an outsider’s account useful for its information on the
formally brought to the attention of the emperor.
broader context of the acceptance of Daoism as a topic of
study. Lai Chi-Tim, “Daoism in China Today, 1980–2002,”
Back on Lushan, Daosheng did not have to wait long
China Quarterly 174 (June 2003), pp. 413–427, is an ac-
for vindication. In 430 a new recension 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
DAOSHENG
2217
Maha¯parinirva¯n:a Su¯tra, translated by Dharmaks:ema in
lightenment itself a sudden, radical break in consciousness,
Liangzhou in 421, reached the southern capital. Eight chap-
or is it of a piece, more rarefied perhaps, with the gradual
ters longer than Faxian’s recension, this text contained pas-
steps of spiritual progress along the bodhisattva path?
sages in the sections hitherto unavailable to the Chinese that
explicitly guaranteed salvation to the icchantikas. When the
A document contemporary with Daosheng, Xie
contents of this text became known in Jiankang, Daosheng
Lingyun’s Bianzong lun (Discussion of essentials; included
was invited to return to the capital. He died on Mount Lu
in the Guang hongming ji, T.D. no. 2103) apprises us that
in the year 434.
for many Chinese the bodhisattva path was seen as a course
of gradual progression and graded stages of enlightenment.
Daosheng’s works, nearly all lost, reflect the broadened
Against this view, the Bianzong lun sets forth what it calls the
textual horizons of the Chinese Buddhist world of the early
new doctrine of Daosheng. According to this doctrine, as the
fifth century. They include essays on the Buddha nature and
Absolute is unitary, indivisible, and without any qualifiers
the dharmaka¯ya (the transcendental, absolute body of the
whatsoever, so too must the wisdom that comprehends it be
Buddha); a treatise on the two truths, presumably a
a sudden, intuitive insight (dunwu) into the whole of reality.
Ma¯dhyamika-oriented work deriving from the influence of
Such an insight can admit to no gradation. Daosheng likens
Kuma¯raj¯ıva; and commentaries on several su¯tras, including
the process of enlightenment to that of a fruit ripening on
the Vimalak¯ırti, the Saddharmapun:d:ar¯ıka (Lotus), the
a tree. Religious practice may inculcate confidence and faith
Nirva¯n:a (the principal scriptural warrant for many of his no-
in the dharma, but at the moment when one reaches enlight-
tions), and the As:t:asa¯hasrika¯-prajña¯pa¯ramit:a¯. But what we
enment there is a qualitative leap or disjunction, just as
know of his thought is based principally on secondary
the fruit suddenly falls away from the tree when it reaches
sources, the testimony of Sengzhao, for instance, who liberal-
maturity.
ly cites Daosheng’s views in his own commentary on the
Vimalak¯ırti Su¯tra. Of Daosheng’s scriptural commentaries
Daosheng’s teaching of sudden enlightenment was not
only that on the Lotus survives.
the first such doctrine in China. Previous thinkers such as
Zhi Dun and, allegedly, Dao’an, had spoken of the seventh
For Daosheng, the phenomenal world is supported by
bhu¯mi as the critical stage at which insight dawns. For them,
an absolute, a principle of cosmic and moral order (li) that
however, this insight was deepened in later stages. Daosheng
is unitary, indivisible, and immanent in all things. This cos-
mic order is dharma. As the source of things, it is also their
rejected this lesser doctrine of sudden enlightenment (xiao
ti, or substance, and yet it is ultimately without any qualify-
dunwu), as he did the gradualist notions of his former com-
ing attributes whatsoever: it is kong, empty, wu, without exis-
panion in Chang’an, Huiguan (354–424), who argued that
tence, or ziran, self-same, what is naturally so. The personifi-
practitioners of different levels of spiritual maturity perceive
cation of this principle is, of course, the Buddha, but as the
the truth in different ways and to differing degrees: the truth
Buddha is in a sense no more than a reification of the dhar-
may be whole, but some are capable of seeing only a portion
ma, the body of the dharma (dharmaka¯ya), buddhas and or-
of it. This subitist versus gradualist controversy was one of
dinary beings share a common substance. The Nirva¯n:a Su¯tra
the issues subsumed within the discourse of fifth- and sixth-
asserts, in its most well-known passage, that all beings possess
century debates on the jiaopan, the divisions of scriptures
this buddha nature (foxing). If so, argues Daosheng, the reli-
that attempted to account for the diversity, even incongruity,
gious life does not culminate in the acquisition of some new
the Chinese found among the teachings of the Indian su¯tra
quality but in an awareness within each of us of an already
literature. These organizing schemes classified texts both ge-
present enlightenment. Once this awareness dawns, there
netically, according to the type of teaching embodied there-
then arises what the Nirva¯n:a Su¯tra refers to as the true self
in, and historically, according to the period in the career of
(zhen wo), an unqualified, blissful, and unchanging con-
the Buddha in which they were said to have been preached.
sciousness. It was in terms of this True Self that Daosheng
In one of the most prominent of these early systems,
understood the Nirva¯n:a Su¯tra’s teaching that nirva¯n:a is per-
Huiguan proposed that the Buddha preached at least two
manent, joyous, personal, and pure.
types of doctrine, dunjiao, or sudden teachings, and jianjiao,
Classical Maha¯ya¯na thought conceives of the religious
gradual teachings (a third type, indeterminate, is often attri-
path as commencing with a mind set on enlightenment (bod-
buted to Huiguan and was widely found in jiaopan contem-
hicitta) and progressing through a series of ten bodhisattva
porary with his). But Huiguan’s emphasis here does not bear
stages (bhu¯mis) in which deluded thought is suppressed and
directly on the nature of the enlightenment experience itself;
nondual insight (prajña¯) into reality cultivated. The seventh
as the term jiao (teaching) implies, what is at issue is the
of these bhu¯mis is usually considered a decisive point in the
method employed in various texts to bring beings to enlight-
spiritual life. From that point on, the practitioner is consid-
enment, suggesting that in their quest for a systematization
ered no longer subject to spiritual retrogression; his con-
of the Buddhist scriptures, the scholar-monks of Daosheng’s
sciousness is wholly oriented toward enlightenment, even if
time admitted, in best Maha¯ya¯na fashion, a plurality of reli-
that path involves, as it must, the decision to delay final
gious paths without necessarily denying the suddenness of
nirva¯n:a for the sake of others. But is the experience of en-
enlightenment itself.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2218
DA¯RA¯ SHIKO
¯ H, MUH:AMMAD
For his part, Daosheng too proposed a classification of
Demiéville, Paul. “Bussho¯.” In Ho¯bo¯girin, edited by Paul De-
the Buddha’s teachings according to the capacities of the au-
miéville, fasc. 2, pp. 185–187. Tokyo, 1930.
dience. In the Miaofa lianhua jing su, his commentary to the
Demiéville, Paul. “La pénétration du bouddhisme dans la tradi-
Lotus Su¯tra, Daosheng acknowledges the need for various de-
tion philosophique chinoise.” In his Choix d’études boudd-
vices to provoke faith in dharma and posits a fourfold divi-
hiques, pp. 241–260. Leiden, 1973. Includes a discussion of
sion of the Buddha’s teachings: (1) Good and Pure Wheel
subitist versus gradualist tendencies in Chinese Buddhism.
of the Law; (2) Expedient Teachings; (3) True Teachings;
Fung Yu-lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, The Period
and (4) Teachings without Residue. Whether these refer, as
of Classical Learning. 2d ed. Translated by Derk Bodde.
commonly interpreted, to specific texts or, as also main-
Princeton, 1953. See pages 270–284.
tained (O
¯ cho¯, 1952, pp. 232–238), merely to teaching
Fuse Ko¯gaku. Nehanshu¯ no kenkyu¯. 2 vols. Tokyo, 1942. See espe-
methods, they are indicative of Daosheng’s recognition that
cially volume 2 for an extensive treatment of the develop-
ment of the notions of sudden and gradual enlightenment
although the Truth may be indivisible, the means to attract
(pp. 139–171) and the thought of Daosheng and Huiguan
people to it must take heed of their capacity to comprehend
(pp. 172–196).
what is taught. Clearly, Daosheng never intended to pre-
Hurvitz, Leon N. Chih-i (538–597): An Introduction to the Life
clude the necessity for religious cultivation by promulgating
and Ideas of a Chinese Buddhist Monk. Brussels, 1962. Dao-
his doctrine of sudden enlightenment.
sheng is discussed on pages 193–201.
Crucial as these issues may have been for the Indian
Itano Cho¯hachi. “Do¯sho¯ no tongosetsu seiritsu no jijo¯.” To¯ho¯
Buddhist tradition, where both subitist and gradualist ten-
gakuho¯ 7 (December 1936): 125–186.
dencies are attested, it is important to recognize the extent
Itano Cho¯hachi. “Do¯sho¯ no bussho¯ron.” Shina bukkyo¯ shigaku 2
to which the debate over the topic in China was carried out
(May 1938): 1–26.
against a backdrop of indigenous values and perceptions. De-
Liebenthal, Walter. “A Biography of Chu Tao-sheng.” Monu-
spite the provocative fact that Xie Lingyun classed as sudden
menta Nipponica 11 (1955): 284–316.
the doctrines of Confucius, Confucian teachings were peren-
Liebenthal, Walter. “The World Conception of Chu Tao–sheng.”
nially associated with a gradual path of moral and intellectual
Monumenta Nipponica 12 (1956): 65–103.
cultivation epitomized in their concept of the ideal person,
Liebenthal, Walter. “The World Conception of Chu Tao-sheng
the junzi. By contrast, the very notions most typically associ-
(Texts).” Monumenta Nipponica 12 (1956–1957): 241–268.
ated with the subitist doctrine, the unity and indivisibility
Liebenthal, Walter, ed. and trans. The Book of Chao. Beijing,
of the Truth and the ineffability and spontaneity of the expe-
1948. Appendix 3 contains a useful discussion of sudden and
rience of it, are characteristically Daoist. As Demiéville
gradual enlightenment.
points out (1973, pp. 256–257), Daosheng’s most well-
O
¯ cho¯ Enichi. “Jiku Do¯sho¯ sen Hokekyo¯sho no kenkyu¯.” O¯tani dai-
known assertions—that works are in vain, that acts engender
gaku kenkyu¯ nenpo¯ 5 (1952): 169–272.
no retribution, that karman is a mere nominal designation,
Tang Yongtong. Han Wei liang-Jin Nan-bei chao fojiao shi. 2 vols.
Shanghai, 1938. See volume 2, pages 601–676, for a full
and that buddahood is innate in all beings—handsomely re-
treatment of Daosheng.
capitulate the notions of sagehood championed in the imme-
diately preceding centuries by the xuanxue thinkers.
New Sources
Kim, Young-ho. Daosheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Su¯tra Su¯tra:
In later centuries, subitist and gradualist patterns would
A Study and Translation. Albany, 1990.
manifest themselves again in the controversies of the South-
Lai, Whalen. “Some Notes on Perceptions of Pratitya-Samutpada
ern and Northern Chan teachings (upon which Daosheng’s
in China from Kumarajiva to Fa-yao.” Journal of Chinese
thought has no real bearing whatsoever) and, in another
Philosophy 8 (1981): 427–435.
form altogether, in the division of the neo-Confucian teach-
Lai, Whalen. “The Mahaparinirvana-Sutra and Its Earliest Inter-
ings into the so-called Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang traditions,
preters in China: Two Prefaces by Tao-lang and Daosheng.”
testifying to the power of these motifs over Chinese intellec-
Journal of the American Oriental Society 102, no. 2 (1982):
tual and religious history. It is thus important to see in Daos-
99–105.
heng’s thought the extent to which Buddhist and indigenous
Lai, Whalen. “Daosheng’s Theory of Sudden Enlightenment Re-
patterns of religious thinking fertilize each other and to rec-
Examined.” In Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlighten-
ognize in the concerns of the still young Chinese Buddhist
ment in Chinese Thought, edited by Peter Gregory,
pp. 169–200. Honolulu, 1987.
church of Daosheng’s day the resumption of perennial Chi-
nese themes and conflicts.
Yu, David C. “Skill-in-Means and the Buddhism of Daosheng: A
Study of a Chinese Reaction to Maha¯ya¯ana of the Fifth Cen-
S
tury.” Philosophy East and West 24, no. 4 (1974): 413–427.
EE ALSO Bodhisattva Path; Guo Xiang; Huiyuan;
Kuma¯raj¯ıva; Sengzhao; Wang Bi.
MARK D. CUMMINGS (1987)
Revised Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ch’en, Kenneth. Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey.
Princeton, 1964. Daosheng’s thought is introduced on pages
DA¯RA¯ SHIKO
¯ H, MUH:AMMAD. (According to
112–120.
some sources, Dara Shuko¯h.) Sultan Muh:ammad Da¯ra¯
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DA¯RA¯ SHIKO
¯ H, MUH:AMMAD
2219
Shiko¯h (AH 1024–1069/1615–1659 CE), the eldest son of
between Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h and Ba¯ba¯ La¯l Da¯s). As a result of his
the Mughal emperor Sha¯hjaha¯n and Mumta¯z Mah:al, was
discussion with Ba¯ba¯ La¯l and other S:u¯f¯ıs he wrote Majma E
born in the city of Ajmer. Da¯ra¯’s political career began in
al-Bah:rayn (The Mingling of the Two Oceans). This work rep-
1634, when he was given the first man¸sab (rank) in com-
resents one of the most important attempts to reconcile
mand of 1,200 dha¯t (soldiers) and 6,000 sawa¯r (horsemen).
Islam and Hinduism in the history of Indian thought, and
By 1657 the number of troops under Da¯ra¯’s command had
specifically in the field of comparative religion. Yet despite
reached 100,000. Moreover, later in the same year, due to
its ecumenical nature, Majma E became the most controver-
the illness of his father, Da¯ra¯ was appointed as regent to look
sial work written by Da¯ra¯.
after the affairs of the empire.
Da¯ra¯ also translated fifty Upanis:ads—under the title
Da¯ra¯ was not a successful warrior, however. His three
Sirr-i Akbar (The greatest veil)—from the original Sanskrit
expeditions against the Persian army, in 1639, 1642, and
into Persian. Later, Anquetil Duperron, a French scholar,
1653, ended in humiliation and cost him the chance of cap-
translated the Persian rendering of Da¯ra¯ into French and
turing Kandahar. His later career, moreover, saw two detri-
Latin and introduced his work to Europe. In his preface to
mental defeats in the war of succession at the hands of his
the Sirr-i Akbar, Da¯ra¯ assigned the Upanis:ads the status of
brothers, who refused to accept Da¯ra¯ as the new regent. First
kita¯b-i maknu¯n (a well-guarded book)—a status previously
he lost against Mura¯d and Aurangze¯b in Samu¯garh, and then
assigned by Muslim scholars only to the QurDa¯n. For Da¯ra¯,
a few months later he suffered his final defeat in 1659 at the
the Upanis:ads and the QurDa¯n represented two facets of the
hands of Aurangze¯b in Deorai. Although Da¯ra¯ was a brave
same truth. Da¯ra¯’s other scholarly efforts in the field of Hin-
warrior, his lack of diplomatic and leadership skills lost him
duism include a translation of the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ and his com-
his crown, and he was forced to flee to Dadar for refuge.
mission of a translation of the Jo¯g Ba¯shist, also known as
There he was betrayed by his host, Malik J¯ıwan, and handed
Minh:a¯j al-Sa¯lik¯ın (The path of the wayfarers). In the preface
over to the new emperor, Aurangze¯b. Finally, Da¯ra¯ was pa-
to Jo¯g, he praises the prophet Muh:ammad and admires the
raded in disgrace through the streets of Delhi and beheaded
Hindu avatar Ramchand. This also demonstrates that, for
in Dhu¯ al H:ijja AH 1069 (August 1659).
him, both personalities were guides of the same stature. Da¯ra¯
Shiko¯h’s efforts to forge a new relationship between Hindu-
Da¯ra¯ was a patron of arts, architecture, and literature
ism and Islam was the most remarkable ecumenical achieve-
and was himself a skilled calligrapher, artist, poet, writer, and
ment in the history of Mughal India.
translator. He wrote several works on Sufism and translated
a few remarkable Sanskrit works into Persian. Da¯ra¯ appears
BIBLIOGRAPHY
to have been interested in the Qa¯diriyya S:u¯f¯ı silsila (literally,
Chand, Ta¯ra¯. “Dara Shikoh and the Upanishads.” Islamic Culture
“order”) from his childhood. He was formally initiated by
(1943): 397–413.
Mulla¯ Sha¯h into the Qa¯diriyya silsila sometime in 1639 or
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. H:asana¯t al- EA¯rif¯ın. Edited by Sayyid Makhdoom
1640. He remained committed to his silsila throughout his
Rah¯ın. Tehran, Iran, 1973.
life, and as a poet he adopted “Qa¯dir¯ı” as his pen name.
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. Majma E-ul-Bahrain, or, The Mingling of the Two
It was his interest in Sufism that led Da¯ra¯ to start writ-
Oceans. Edited and translated by M. Mahfuz-ul-Haq. Cal-
ing in 1639 or 1640. His first four works were on Sufism.
cutta, 1929.
The first, Saf¯ınat al-Awliya¯ D (Ship of the saints), contains
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. Risa¯la-i H:aqq-numa¯ D, Majma E al-Bah:rayn, Up-
more than four hundred short biographies of S:u¯f¯ı saints of
anikhat Mundak. Edited by Sayyid Muh:ammad Riza¯ Jala¯l¯ı
Na¯D¯ın¯ı as Muntakhaba¯t-i A¯tha¯r. Tehran, Iran, 1956.
various orders. The second, Sak¯ınat al–Awliya¯ D (Tranquility
of the saints), encompasses the lives of twenty-eight Qa¯dir¯ı
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. Saf¯ınat al-Awliya¯ D. Kanpur, India, 1900.
S:u¯f¯ıs, mostly Da¯ra¯’s contemporaries. The third work,
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. Sirr-i Akbar: The Oldest Translation of Upanishads
Risa¯la-i H:aqq numa¯D (The compass of the truth), is a manual
from Sanskrit into Persian. Edited by Ta¯ra¯ Chand and
Muh:ammad Riza¯ Jala¯l¯ı Na¯D¯ın¯ı. Tehran, Iran, 1957.
aimed at explaining the theory and practice of S:u¯f¯ı medita-
tion. The fourth work, H:asana¯t al- EA¯rif¯ın (Merits of the
Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h. Sak¯ınat al-Awliya¯ D. Edited by Sayyid Muh:ammad
Gnostics), is a collection of the sha¸th:iyya¯t (ecstatic utter-
Riza¯ Jala¯l¯ı Na¯D¯ın¯ı and Ta¯ra¯ Chand. Tehran, Iran, 1965.
ances) of the S:u¯f¯ı saints from the eleventh century down to
Ernst, C. W. Words of Ecstasy in Sufism. Albany, N.Y., 1985.
Da¯ra¯’s own time. His S:u¯f¯ı writings show that he was an en-
Göbel Gross, Erhard. Sirr-i Akbar:
Die persische
thusiastic follower of the doctrine of wah:dat al-wuju¯d (one-
Upani¸sadenübersetzung des Mog˙ulprinzen Da¯ra¯ Sˇukoh. Mar-
ness of being) and advocated an inclusive approach towards
burg, Germany, 1962.
other religions.
Hasrat, Bikrama Jit. Da¯ra¯ Shiku¯h: Life and Works. Allahabad,
India, 1953; 2d ed., New Delhi, 1979.
It was Da¯ra¯’s broad-minded S:u¯f¯ı attitude that brought
Huart, Clement, and Louis Massignon. “Les entretiens de Lahore
him to the study of Hinduism. He held a series of dialogues
(entre le prince impérial Da¯ra¯ Shiku¯h et l’ascète hindou Baba
with a Hindu yogi, Ba¯ba¯ La¯l Da¯s, and discussed with him
La’l Das).” Journal Asiatique 208 (1926): 285–334.
various concepts of Hinduism, at times comparing them
Karim, Arshad Syed. “Muslim Nationalism: Conflicting Ideolo-
with Islam. This conversation was later compiled as
gies of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb.” Journal of the Pakistan
Su¯ Da¯l-o-jawa¯b Da¯ra¯ Shuko¯h-o-Ba¯ba¯ La¯l Da¯s (The dialogue
Historical Society 33, pt. 4 (1985): 288–296.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2220
DARKNESS
Narain, Sheo. “Da¯ra¯ Shikoh as an Author.” Journal of the Punjab
plicity of life, limitation of material needs, reliance upon
Historical Society 2 (1913–1914): 21–38.
God for sustenance, and other aspects of Muhammadan pov-
Qanungo, Kalika-Ranjan. Dara Shukoh. 2d ed. Calcutta, 1952.
erty or Sufism as laziness, lackadaisicalness, indifference to
Shayegan, Darius. Les relations de l’Hindouisme et du Soufisme
cleanliness, neglect of duties toward oneself and society, and
d’après le Majma E al-Bahrayn de Da¯ra¯ Shoku¯h. Paris, 1979.
other injunctions emphasized by the shar¯ı Eah, or Islamic law.
This negative aspect of the term increased with the decay of
PERWAIZ HAYAT (2005)
certain S:u¯f¯ı orders during the past two or three centuries and
also with the attempt by some people to pass themselves off
as darw¯ısh without any involvement with Sufism at all.
DARKNESS SEE LIGHT AND DARKNESS
Nonetheless, the association with spiritual poverty, self-
discipline, and the basic virtues of humility, charity, and ve-
racity remains the primary meaning of the word.
DARS´ANAS SEE M¯IMA¯M:SA¯; NYA¯YA; SA¯M:KHYA;
VAIS´ES:IKA; VEDA¯NTA; YOGA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arberry, A. J. Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam (1950).
Reprint, London, 1979.
DARWIN, CHARLES SEE EVOLUTION;
Birge, John K. The Bektashi Order of Dervishes (1937). Reprint,
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
New York, 1982.
Ernst, Carl W. The Shambala Guide to Sufism. Boston, 1997.
Keddie, Nikki R., ed. Scholars, Saints, and Sufis: Muslim Religious
DARW¯ISH. The Persian word darw¯ısh, from the Pahlavi
Institutions in the Middle East since 1500. Berkeley, Calif.,
driyosh, is most likely derived from the term darv¯ıza, mean-
1972.
ing “poverty,” “neediness,” “begging,” and so forth. The
Nicholson, Reynold A. The Mystics of Islam (1914). Reprint, Lon-
word darw¯ısh has entered the other Islamic languages, such
don, 1963.
as Turkish and Urdu, and is even found in classical Arabic
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill,
sources. It has become an English word in the form of der-
N. C., 1975.
vish. In all these cases, including the original Persian, it is re-
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR (1987 AND 2005)
lated primarily to spiritual poverty, equivalent to the posses-
sion of “Muhammadan poverty” (al-faqr al-muh:ammadi).
Hence the term darw¯ısh referring to a person who possesses
this “poverty” is the same as the Arabic term faq¯ır used in
DASAM GRANTH. The Dasam Granth (Tenth book)
Sufism in many Islamic languages besides Arabic (including
is a collection of writings attributed to Guru¯ Gobind Singh,
Persian itself) for Muhammadan poverty. Within S:u¯f¯ı cir-
the tenth Sikh guru¯ (1666–1708). It was compiled sometime
cles, these words are used interchangeably, along with
after his death by Bha¯¯ı Man¯ı Singh, one of his devoted fol-
mutas:awwif, “practitioner” of Sufism.
lowers. The Dasam Granth is 1,428 pages long, so it is almost
The term darw¯ısh appears in Persian literature as early
the same size as the Guru¯ Granth (1,430 pages). The Guru¯
as the tenth century and in such early Persian S:u¯f¯ı texts as
Granth, also known as the A¯di Granth (First book), is the sa-
the works of Khwa¯jah EAbd Alla¯h Ans:a¯r¯ı of Herat, where it
cred scripture of the Sikhs, but some parts of the Dasam
carries the basic meaning referred to above but encompasses
Granth are also used in Sikh prayers. The authorship and au-
such variations as “ascetic,” “hermit,” and “wandering S:u¯f¯ı”
thenticity of a large proportion of this work is questioned.
(qalandar). Later it also became an honorific title bestowed
Most of the Dasam Granth is in the Braj language, but the
upon certain S:u¯f¯ıs such as Darw¯ısh Khusraw, the leader of
entire work is printed in the Gurmukhi script.
the Nuqt:awiyah school at the time of Shah EAbba¯s I.
Guru¯ Gobind Singh was a superb poet who introduced
Throughout the history of Sufism, the state of being a
vigorous meters and rhythms to revitalize his people and cre-
darw¯ısh, or darw¯ısh¯ı, has been held in great honor and re-
ated novel images and paradoxes to stretch their imagination.
spect, as seen from the famous ghazal of H:a¯fiz: that begins
He was also a great patron of the arts and employed numer-
with the verse
ous poets from different religious backgrounds. Much of the
Rawd:iy-i khuld-i bar¯ın khalwat-i darw¯ısha¯nast
poetry written by Guru¯ Gobind Singh himself as well as that
Ma¯yiy-i muh:tashim¯ı khidmat-i darw¯ıshanast
by his court poets was lost during his evacuation from An-
andpur in 1705. Bha¯¯ı Man¯ı Singh spent years collecting
The sublime eternal Paradise is the spiritual
whatever materials he could salvage, and from these he pro-
retreat of the dervishes;
duced the first recension of the Dasam Granth.
The essence of grandeur is the service of the dervishes.
The Dasam Granth remains controversial among schol-
There is, however, a secondary meaning associated with
ars, and it elicits a range of responses from devotees. Such
darw¯ısh that carries negative connotations, interpreting sim-
compositions as the Jaapu, Aka¯l Ustat, Bicitra Na¯tak, Can:d:¯ı
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAVID [FIRST EDITION]
2221
Caritra, Can:d:¯ı di Va¯r, S´abad Haza¯re, and Gya¯n Prabodh are
Recognize the single caste of humanity
generally accepted as Guru¯ Gobind Singh’s compositions,
Know that we are all of the same body, the same light.
and these are revered by the Sikhs. A large proportion of the
(Aka¯l Ustat 85)
Dasam Granth (about 1,185 pages) is devoted to stories,
The tenth guru¯’s verse continues to have great resonance for
many of them based on Indian myth, others dealing with
the global society. Difference should not stand in the way of
amorous intrigues. Most people believe that these sections
people getting to know one another:
were written by the poets of the guru¯’s entourage. They are
Different vestures from different countries may make us
therefore neglected, but the Benati Chaupai from this section
different. But we have the same eyes, the same ears, the
is one of the daily Sikh prayers.
same body, the same voice. (Aka¯l Ustat 86)
The Dasam Granth opens with the Jaapu. Analogous to
Guru¯ Na¯nak’s Japu (the first hymn in the Guru¯ Granth),
SEE ALSO A¯di Granth; Sikhism; Singh, Gobind.
Guru¯ Gobind Singh’s Jaapu carries forward in breathtaking
speed Na¯nak’s message of the One reality. Many Sikhs recite
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Jaapu daily in the morning. It is also one of the hymns
For the text in the original Punjabi, see Bhai Randhir Singh’s Sab-
recited as part of the Sikh initiation ceremony. Through dy-
dharath Dasam Granth, 3 vols. (Patiala, India, 1988). This
namic metaphors and rhythm, the Jaapu exalts the animating
text has been reproduced with a translation by Jodh Singh
and life-generating One that flows through and intercon-
and Dharam Singh, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib: Text and
Translation (Patiala, India, 1999). Excellent scholarly works
nects the myriad creatures: “salutations to You in every coun-
in Punjabi include Rattan Singh Jaggi, Dasam Granth da
try, in every garb” (Jaapu 66). Like Na¯nak’s Japu, Gobind
Kartritav (New Delhi, 1966); and Piara Singh Padam,
Singh’s Jaapu celebrates the presence of the transcendent
Dasam Granth Darsan (Patiala, India, 1990). Studies written
within the glorious diversity of the cosmos: “You are in
in English include D. P. Ashta, The Poetry of the Dasam
water, You are on land” (Jaapu 62); “You are the sustainer
Granth (New Delhi, 1959); C. H. Loehlin, The Granth of
of the earth” (Jaapu 173).
Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood (Lucknow,
The Jaapu is followed by Aka¯l Ustat (Praise of the time-
India, 1958); J. S. Grewal, Contesting Interpretations of the
less one), which occupies twenty-eight pages of the Dasam
Sikh Tradition (New Delhi, 1998); Hew McLeod, Sikhs of
the Khalsa: A History of the Khalsa Rahit (New Delhi, 2003);
Granth. It proclaims the unity of humanity:
and Robin Rinehart, “Strategies for Interpreting the Dasam
Hindus and Muslims are one . . . . The Hindu temple
Granth,” in Sikhism and History, edited by Pashaura Singh
and the Muslim mosque are the same. . . . All human-
and N. Gerald Barrier (New Delhi, 2004).
ity is one. (Akal Ustat 86)
NIKKY-GUNINDER KAUR SINGH (2005)
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) popularized these verses in
his famous prayer, “¯I´svara and Allah are your names, temple
and mosque are your homes.” Verses from the Aka¯l Ustat are
central to the Sikh initiation ceremony. They rhythmically
DAVID [FIRST EDITION], second king of Israel
repeat that without love all religious practices are ineffective:
and Judah (c. 1000–960 BCE), and founder of a dynasty that
“They alone who love, find the Beloved.”
continued until the end of the Judean monarchy. David was
The thirty-eight-page Bicitra Na¯tak (Wondrous drama)
the youngest son of Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah.
follows the Aka¯l Ustat. This poetic autobiography is a magi-
DAVID’S PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL. David is regard-
cal mixture of biographical facts and literary imagination. It
ed by both tradition and modern scholarship as the greatest
is the only autobiographical work by any of the Sikh guru¯s.
ruler of the combined states of Israel and Judah. He was able
The three Durga¯-Can:d:¯ı poems come next and retell the
to free them from the control of the Philistines and to gain
story of Durga¯’s titanic battles against the demons from the
a measure of domination over some of the neighboring states
Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya. With all his artistic zeal, the guru¯ amplifies
(Edom, Moab, Ammon) and some of the Aramean states of
the warrior role of the ancient Hindu heroine.
Syria. At the same time he established treaty relations with
Tyre and Hamath. He also extended the territories of Judah
Kha¯lsa¯ Mahima (Praise of the Kha¯lsa¯), which comes
and Israel to include a number of major Canaanite cities and
later in the Dasam Granth, is a favorite hymn amongst the
took Jerusalem by conquest. It became his capital and re-
Sikhs. It celebrates the democratic Kha¯lsa¯ community creat-
mained the ruling center of Judah until the end of the mon-
ed by Guru¯ Gobind Singh: “The Kha¯lsa¯ is my special form
archy.
. . . the Kha¯lsa¯ is my body and breath.” Another popular
text from the Dasam Granth is the defiant Zafar Na¯ma¯ (Let-
There are no references to David in any historical source
ter of victory), written in Persian, and addressed to the em-
outside the Bible. One contemporary ruler, Hiram of Tyre,
peror Aurangzeb.
mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11, is known from other historical
Like his predecessor guru¯s, Gobind Singh appropriates
sources, but the correlation of the chronologies of the two
love as the highest form of action. His devotional composi-
kings remains problematic.
tions reiterate Sikh ideals and ethics. Their tone is forceful,
The assessment of David’s career is based upon sources
and their imperatives are clear:
in 1 Samuel 16 through 1 Kings 2. Some of these that men-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2222
DAVID [FIRST EDITION]
tion his military activities reflect annalistic or formal docu-
to regard it as the thematic center of the larger Deuteronomic
ments. These are now embedded within two literary works
history of the monarchy and its ideology of kingship.
often regarded as nearly contemporary with David and an
The dynastic promise is the real climax to the account
important witness to the events: the story of David’s rise to
of David’s rise to kingship. With David a new era begins in
power (1 Sm. 16 through 2 Sm. 2:7, 2 Sm. 5), and the court
two respects. God promises David an eternal dynasty but as-
history, or succession story (2 Sm. 2:8–4:12, 6:16, 6:20–23;
signs the task of building the Temple—a permanent
2 Sm. 9–20; 1 Kgs. 1–2). It remains less clear how 2 Samuel
abode—to his son Solomon. God will be “a father” to the
6–8 relates to either of these works or how they all fit into
king, and he will be God’s “son.” He may be disciplined for
the larger history of the monarchy. The materials in 2 Samuel
disobedience to God’s laws, but the dynasty will remain in
21–24 are supplemental additions that do not belong to the
perpetuity.
other sources.
David as the “servant of Yahveh” who is completely obe-
There are, however, two serious questions about this lit-
dient to God becomes the model for all future kings, espe-
erary analysis. First, the identification of a distinct literary
cially those of Judah. Not only is his obedience rewarded
work, the story of David’s rise to power, may be doubted,
with an immediate heir, but it is said to merit the perpetua-
since it may be viewed as a continuation of earlier materials
tion of his dynasty even if some future kings are disobedient
in Samuel and as having strong ties to the rest of the so-called
to God’s laws.
Deuteronomist’s history of the monarchy—in which case it
would be a work of the exilic period. Second, the court histo-
This dynastic promise also becomes the basis for the
ry was not originally part of this history but constitutes a later
hope of a restoration of the monarchy after the destruction
addition with quite a different perspective. If these two views
of the state in 587/6 BCE and ultimately leads to messia-
can be sustained, then both works are comparatively late, and
nism—the belief that a son of David will arise and restore
great caution must be exercised in using them as historical
the fortunes of Israel and usher in the final reign of God.
sources for the time of David.
Court history. The so-called court history, or succes-
DAVID IN THE TRADITION OF ISRAEL. Whatever their histor-
sion story, variously regarded as a unique piece of early histo-
ical value might be, the literary works within 1 Samuel 16
ry writing, a historical novel, and a work of royal propagan-
through 1 Kings 2 establish David’s place within the Israelite-
da, is a literary masterpiece of realistic narrative. Some view
Jewish tradition. Two quite different views of David’s char-
it as written in support of Solomon, while others understand
acter and his significance for later Israel are given in these
it as anti-Solomonic. If this work is an early source used by
works.
the historian of Samuel and Kings, then it is not clear how
he could have been reconciled to such a pejorative view of
Rise to power. David’s introduction is directly linked
David, since the rest of the history so completely idealizes
to God’s rejection of Saul, so that he immediately appears
him.
as the “one after God’s own heart” to replace Saul. Shortly
after David enters Saul’s service as personal armor bearer,
The court history, in fact, was a later addition to the his-
musician, and successful military leader, Saul becomes jeal-
tory that seeks to counter the idealized view of David by sug-
ous and turns against David. While Saul’s son Jonathan, his
gesting that he gained the throne from a son of Saul under
daughter Michal, his servants, and all the people grow to love
doubtful circumstances and that the divine promise to David
David, Saul grows to hate him and makes various attempts
was constantly used by David, Solomon, and others to legiti-
on his life so that David flees. David establishes a band of
mize very questionable behavior. The “sure house” of David
followers in Judah and becomes a vassal of the Philistines.
is characterized by endless turmoil, and Solomon finally suc-
Saul, demented, cruel, and forsaken by God, ultimately dies
ceeds David after a palace intrigue. David himself commits
on the battlefield with his sons. David, after offering a la-
adultery and murder. One of his sons, Amnon, rapes his sis-
ment for Saul and Jonathan, is made king at Hebron, first
ter Tamar and is avenged by his brother Absalom. After an
by Judah and subsequently by Israel. David then captures Je-
exile Absalom returns to lead a revolt against his father that
rusalem and wages successful warfare against the Philistines.
finally ends in Absalom’s death. This is followed by yet an-
All of this comes to David because “God is with him.”
other revolt between north and south.
Throughout the entire account, David is viewed as one who
This pejorative view of David’s monarchy and the dy-
can do no wrong. Heroic and magnanimous, he is the obvi-
nastic promise did not suppress the royal ideology or its evo-
ous replacement for Saul.
lution into messianism. At most it “humanized” David and
The dynastic promise. Once the land is at peace, David
gave added appeal to the tradition as a whole.
is able to bring the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Sm. 6) and build him-
DAVID IN THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. The historian of 1
self a palace (2 Sm. 5:11). He then proposes a plan to Nathan
and 2 Chronicles sees in David the real founder of the Jewish
the prophet to build a temple for the Ark, and this leads to
state, a state dominated by the Temple and an elaborate
a dynastic promise by God through the prophet (2 Sm. 7).
priestly hierarchy (1 Chr. 10–29). The Chronicler’s source
Although some have argued that this promise is based upon
for David was the history in Samuel and Kings modified by
a special document of the early monarchy, it seems preferable
his perception of the state, which was based upon his own
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAVID [FIRST EDITION]
2223
times in the Hellenistic period. He presents David as imme-
holy writ, David was also considered a prophet through
diately coming to the throne over all Israel after the death
whom God spoke and gave his revelation to Israel.
of Saul. There is no account of his struggle with Saul or of
Some elements in the Davidic tradition gave the rabbis
his warfare with Saul’s son, Ishbosheth. The whole of the
difficulty, most notably David’s sin of adultery with Bathshe-
court history has been excised as too derogatory. In its place
ba. Some attempted to exonerate him, but those who found
David becomes the real founder of the Temple, laying all the
him guilty of wrongdoing saw a divine purpose in the events,
plans, providing for all the workmanship and the materials,
namely that David was to be an example of contrition and
and even establishing the whole hierarchy of priestly and
repentance to give hope and encouragement to Israel when
Temple officials. Of particular importance for later tradition
it sinned (Midrash Tehillim 40.2, 51.1, 51.3). Another prob-
is the association of David with the Temple music, which
lem was the tradition that David was descended from Ruth
did much to identify him as the “sweet singer of Israel.” In
the Moabite (Ru. 4:17), since this would make him ineligible
this history David is completely idealized, and the time of
for participation in the congregation of Israel. As a compen-
David is an anachronistic legitimation for the ecclesiastical
sation, every attempt was made to enhance David’s genealog-
state that developed in the time of the Second Temple.
ical line and give him the strongest possible pedigree. The
DAVID AND THE PSALMS. David is directly mentioned in
dynastic promise to David represented the future hope of Is-
only a few psalms (78, 89, and 132), those that make refer-
rael, but many rabbis were concerned that it not be used for
ence to the dynastic promise, all of which are dependent
political or ideological manipulation by messianic adventur-
upon Samuel and Kings. In the Hebrew scriptures the super-
ers. At the same time the liturgical tradition continued to
scriptions, which are all late, and which modern scholarship
embody the hope in a restoration of the kingdom of David
considers secondary additions, attribute seventy-three psalms
in the age to come.
to David. This continues the tradition of David’s association
Christianity, as reflected in the New Testament, also
with the sacred music of the Temple. But in a number of in-
recognized David as author of the psalms, as an example of
stances the individual laments (e.g., Ps. 51) are associated
piety, and as a prophet of divine revelation; but the emphasis
with particular events in David’s life. Thus the psalms that
was clearly on the messianic aspects of the tradition. Since
were originally anonymous become increasingly associated
Jesus was identified as the Messiah, he received the title “son
with the figure of David.
of David,” although he repudiated the political connotation
DAVID IN PROPHECY. While the royal ideology had at most
of such a designation. Matthew and Luke, in their birth sto-
a minor place in preexilic prophecy, it was only in late proph-
ries, connect Jesus with Bethlehem, the city of David, and
ecy and in exilic and postexilic editing of prophetic books
supply genealogies that trace his lineage back to David.
that the dynastic promise to David plays a major role in vi-
David as prophet also bears witness in the psalms to Jesus
sions of the future (Is. 9:5–6 [Eng. version 6–7], 11:1–10,
as the Messiah (Acts 2:25–37).
61:1–7; Jer. 33:14–26; Ez. 34:23–24; Am. 9:11ff.; Mi. 5:1–3
Islam’s tradition about David is slight. The QurDa¯n
[EV 2–4]; Zec. 12:7–9). Hope is expressed for the restoration
knows of a few episodes in David’s life, such as the victory
of the Davidic dynasty and times of prosperity. In their most
over Goliath, but this and other stories are confused with
elaborate form these prophecies predict an “anointed one”
those of other biblical figures (2:252). The QurDa¯n also rec-
(the Messiah) who would manifest all the idealized attributes
ognizes that God gave Psalms to David as a divine book in
of royalty, liberate Israel from its enemies, and bring in the
much the same way as Moses and Muh:ammad received their
reign of Yahveh.
revelations (17:56).
DAVID IN RABBINIC JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM.
The most important development in the Davidic tradition
BIBLIOGRAPHY
in postbiblical Judaism was the regarding of David as the au-
Treatments of the historical periods of David’s reign may be
thor of the Psalter, or at least as author of most of the psalms
found in John Bright’s A History of Israel, 3d ed. (Philadel-
within it. This meant that David, as the composer of Israel’s
phia, 1981); the contribution by J. Alberto Soggin, “The
sacred hymns and prayers, was a model of Jewish piety. In
Davidic-Solomonic Kingdom,” in Israelite and Judaean His-
the psalms David speaks not only for himself but for all Isra-
tory, edited by John H. Hayes and J. Maxwell Miller (Phila-
delphia, 1977); and those by Benjamin Mazar and David N.
el. His praise represents the spiritual life of the worshiping
Freedman in The World History of the Jewish People, vol. 4,
community, and in his prayers he supplicates God for Israel
pt. 1, edited by Abraham Malamat (Jerusalem, 1979),
in all time to come. Furthermore, a number of the psalms
pp. 76–125.
have as their theme the glorification of the Law (Torah) and
The standard treatment on the story of David’s rise to power is
the ardent devotion of the psalmist to the study of the Law
Jakob H. Gro⁄nbaek’s Die Geschichte vom Aufstieg Davids, 1
day and night (Ps. 1, 19, 119). Consequently, David was
SAM. 15–2 SAM. 5: Tradition und Komposition, “Acta
viewed as a great authority on the Law, and his words and
Theologica Danica,” vol. 10 (Copenhagen, 1971). The clas-
example could often be invoked to settle a point at issue in
sic work on the so-called succession story is Leonhard Rost’s
the discussions of legal matters (halakhah) (B. T., Ber. 4a; B.
Die Überlieferung von der Thronnachfolge Davids, “Beiträge
T., Yev. 78b–79a). Since the Psalter came to be regarded as
zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament,” vol. 3,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2224
DAVID [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
no. 6 (Stuttgart, 1926), translated by Michael D. Rutter and
mon, are now dated by Finkelstein and others to the follow-
David M. Gunn as The Succession to the Throne of David
ing ninth century. For example, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer,
(Sheffield, 1982). Building upon this study was the impor-
which are said to be rebuilt by Solomon in 1 Kings 9:15, have
tant essay by Gerhard von Rad, “Der Anfang der Gesch-
been reinterpreted on the basis of pottery analysis, carbon-14
ichtsschreibung im Alten Israel,” Archiv für Kulturgeschichte
dating, and other means, as early ninth-century cities. Even
32 (Weimar, 1944): 1–42, translated by E. W. Trueman
if one might disagree with the new dating of these large cities,
Dicken as “The Beginning of Historical Writing in Ancient
however, one is still left with the numerous small settlements
Israel,” in Gerhard von Rad’s The Problem of the Hexateuch
and Other Essays (Edinburgh, 1966), pp. 166–204. See also
elsewhere, especially in the south around Jerusalem. These
the studies by Roger N. Whybray, The Succession Narrative
small sites do not at all bear evidence of the significant politi-
(London, 1968), and David M. Gunn, The Story of King
cal reorganization or population and settlement growth that
David: Genre and Interpretation (Sheffield, 1982). A more
would have taken place with the united monarchy.
detailed treatment of my own views may be found in chapter
As for excavations in Jerusalem itself, the great capital
8 of my In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient
World and the Origins of Biblical History (New Haven,
of David and Solomon in the Bible, they have produced an
Conn., 1983).
almost total lack of evidence for significant tenth-century oc-
cupation. Either subsequent occupation of Jerusalem
For a more detailed treatment of the Jewish and Christian tradi-
throughout the centuries destroyed or obscured its monu-
tions with bibliography, see the article “David” in Theologis-
che Realenzyklopädie, vol. 8 (New York, 1981).
mental buildings, or else Jerusalem was merely a highland
village in the tenth century, without the great temple and
JOHN VAN SETERS (1987)
palace of the Bible’s united monarchy. Population estimates
for the environs of Jerusalem and points south suggest that
only around five thousand people lived in that area, whereas
DAVID [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS].
up to forty-five thousand lived in settlements north of Jerusa-
lem. Thus, it is unlikely that Jerusalem in the tenth century
The most important recent developments in the study of the
was the capital of a large kingdom, or a city of any particular
biblical king David have to do both with the degree of histo-
importance whatsoever, let alone the center of an empire
ricity of the Bible’s account and with new textual material.
stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates, as is described in 1
Fueled by a more skeptical approach to biblical historiogra-
Kings 4:21 for Solomon’s reign.
phy and by new interpretations of the archaeological evi-
dence, in recent years some scholars have come to question
Interpretations of the Tel Dan inscription, found at Tel
the historicity of the entire united monarchy of Israel (the
Dan in northern Israel in three fragments in 1993 and 1995,
biblical reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon). Nonetheless,
add to the discussion. Perhaps dating to just before 800 BCE,
the fragments of the Tel Dan inscription discovered in 1993
the inscription is written in Aramaic, probably by a king of
and 1995 seem to contain the first and only early mention
Aram who celebrates his defeat of a king of Israel and perhaps
so far of David outside the Bible.
also of a king of byt dwd, “the house (i.e., dynasty) of David.”
The fragments preserve at most only four words in each of
The Bible’s account of the united monarchy of Israel in
twenty-one lines, and thus it remains difficult to piece to-
1-2 Samuel and 1 Kings (part of the so-called Deuteronomis-
gether the historical situation that is commemorated. The
tic history) is no longer accepted by many scholars as accu-
simplest interpretation is that the inscription reflects the exis-
rate documentation about the tenth century BCE, but instead
tence at that time in some form of both Israel an early form
as an idealized portrayal of a past golden age. Some scholars
of Judah, with the latter signified by the name of the dynastic
(especially Thomas L. Thompson, Niels Peter Lemche, and
hero, David, from days long past.
Philip Davies) have gone so far as to argue that the united
monarchy never really existed but was merely the propagan-
However, while the Tel Dan inscription shows that
distic invention of post-exilic or even Hellenistic Jewish writ-
there was a byt dwd, “house of David,” recognized by Ar-
ers. According to this, the twin kingdoms of first Israel in the
ameans around 800 BCE, it does not prove the historicity of
ninth century and later its sister Judah in the seventh century
the biblical narratives concerning king David. (Note that it
would have arisen independently and would not have been
has also been suggested that the phrase byt dwd should be re-
the result of a split of Israel under Solomon’s son, Reho-
stored to line thirty-one of the Moabite inscription from the
boam, in the last quarter of the tenth century. Other schol-
late ninth-century BCE, but that proposal is problematic and
ars, however, maintain a pre-exilic or exilic date for the main
unlikely.)
portions of the Deuteronomistic history, but suggest that the
In sum, the biblical narratives about David are particu-
Bible has exaggerated the extent and might of the historical
larly important for what they tell historians about political
David and Solomon’s tenth-century kingdom (e.g., Israel
theology, apologetic writing, and literary devices in biblical
Finkelstein, Neil Silberman, Amihai Mazar).
historiographic discourse. However, for the purpose of his-
With regard to the archaeology of tenth-century Israel,
torical reconstruction, the search for the historical kernel of
certain sites with monumental gates and palaces that had
the Davidic traditions may well belong to the realm of mod-
been previously connected to the reign of David’s son Solo-
ern apologetics and contemporary political theology.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAEWAH
2225
BIBLIOGRAPHY
During the early centuries of Islamic history, da Ewah
On David, see especially S. L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography
often had strong political orientations when used to mean
(Oxford, 2000); Baruch Halpern, David’s Secret Demons:
a summons to support a claimant to Islamic rule. New move-
Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King (Grand Rapids, Mich.,
ments would spread their ideologies of Islamic statehood
2001); and Amihai Mazar, et al., David, King of Israel: Alive
through highly organized and disciplined networks of infor-
and Enduring? (in Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1997).
mation and indoctrination. The most forceful and long-lived
Essential essays on biblical historiography and the historical recon-
da Ewah enterprise was the Sh¯ıE¯ı sect known as the
struction of the tenth century BCE include Thomas L.
Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıyah, which insisted that the true Muslim community
Thompson, Early History of the Israelite People from the Writ-
should be ruled by a politico-religious leader descended from
ten and Archaeological Sources (Leiden, 1992) and The Bible
in History: How Writers Create a Past (London, 1999); Philip
the family of Muh:ammad through the line of Isma¯E¯ıl JaDfar
Davies’ In Search of Ancient Israel (Sheffield, U.K., 1992);
al-S:a¯diq (d. 756 CE), one of the great Sh¯ıE¯ı imams. The
Niels Peter Lemche, The Israelites in History and Tradition
Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıyah developed da Ewah into a comprehensive political
(London, 1998); V. Philips Long, Israel’s Past in Present Re-
theology aimed at their ultimate dominance of the Muslims.
search: Essays on Ancient Israelite Historiography (Winona
The movement inducted converts into a fanatically devoted
Lake, Ind., 1999); and Mario Liverani, “Nuovi sviluppi nella
community that observed a hierarchy of degrees of member-
studio della storia dell’Israele biblico,” Biblica 80 (1999):
ship, marked by initiation into ascending levels of esoteric
488–505.
knowledge. The leaders at each level were called da¯ E¯ıs, “sum-
Archaeological studies of the tenth century BCE may be found in
moners,” who exercised authority by regions in which they
Israel Finkelstein, The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement
preached and taught the doctrines of the movement. The
(Jerusalem, 1988), and a more popular presentation in Israel
da¯ E¯ıs were considered by the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıyah to be the represen-
Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Ar-
tatives of the imam. In some cases, the head da¯ E¯ı was the
chaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its
highest religious leader of a country, a sort of Sh¯ıE¯ı “bishop.”
Sacred Texts (New York, 2001). In opposition to Finkel-
stein’s dating of the “Solomonic” cities, but supporting the
More often, the da¯ E¯ıs functioned in an underground man-
idea that the extent of the united monarchy has been exag-
ner, spreading their doctrines in territories not under
gerated in the Bible, see Amihai Mazar, “Iron Age Chronolo-
Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı rule. As well as preaching and propaganda, advanced
gy: A Reply to I. Finkelstein,” Levant 29 (1997): 157–167.
theology and philosophy were major activities of the da¯ E¯ıs.
On the Tel Dan inscription see George Athas’s The Tel Dan In-
In the modern period, da Ewah most often refers to Is-
scription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation (Sheffield,
lamic missionary activities, which are increasingly character-
U.K., 2003).
ized by long-range planning, skillful exploitation of the
TAWNY L. HOLM (2005)
media, establishment of study centers and mosques, and ear-
nest, urgent preaching and efforts at persuasion.
DAEWAH.
Da Ewah as mission should never be spread by force
The Arabic term da Ewah (lit., “call, invitation,
(su¯rah 2:256). If the hearers refuse to embrace Islam, then
summoning”) is used especially in the sense of the religious
they should be left alone, at least for a time. But a committed
outreach or mission to exhort people to embrace Islam as the
Muslim should not give up the task of da Ewah. If nothing
true religion. The Arabic root d Ew occurs frequently in the
else succeeds, the silent example of a devout Muslim may be
QurDa¯n, where it can also mean calling upon God in prayer
used by God as a means to someone’s voluntary conversion.
(as in du Ea¯D). The QurDa¯n contains many imperatives to
spread Islam, as in su¯rah 16:125–126:
In the strong Islamic revival the post-colonial period,
Call [ud Eu] thou to the way of thy Lord with wisdom
da Ewah has a less specifically political and a more marked
and good admonition, and dispute with them in the
spiritual and moral emphasis than in earlier times. The
better way. Surely thy Lord knows very well those who
ummah, the Muslim community, is believed to transcend na-
have gone astray from his way, and he knows very well
tional political entities, and the shar¯ı Eah, the sacred law, is
those who are guided. And if you chastise, chastise even
said to make claims on Muslims even when it is not em-
as you have been chastised; and yet assuredly if you are
bodied as the actual legal code (except in certain countries).
patient, better it is for those patient. And be patient; yet
Da Ewah, then, is the cutting edge of Islam and as such is di-
it is thy patience only with the help of God.
rected at fellow believers as well as at the multitudes outside
Da Ewah can also mean simply an invitation to a mundane
the ummah who nevertheless possess the God-given fit:rah
affair, such as a meal, or propaganda for a political or sectari-
(su¯rah 30:30), or “inherent character,” also to be intentional
an cause. A specialized meaning of da Ewah has been the
Muslims and thus vicegerents (khulafa¯ D; s. g., kha-l¯ıfah, “ca-
quasi-magical practice of spell and incantation through invo-
liph”) of God on earth (2:30). From North Africa to Indone-
cation of the names of God and his good angels and jinn,
sia, and beyond, Muslim individuals and organizations are
in pursuit of personal goals such as healing, success in love
strenuously dedicated to missionary activities, utilizing the
or war, avoidance of evil, and other things. This occult prac-
media and other advanced means of communication and
tice became highly elaborated and included astrology, a mag-
“market research.” Da Ewah faculties are prominent in Mus-
ical alphabet, numerology, and alchemy.
lim training schools and universities, and the hope is 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
2226
DAY, DOROTHY
strong obligation to spread Islam will be felt by Muslims at
terlee and John Day. An opening in journalism for John Day
all levels of society. Da Ewah, as well as migration, is responsi-
took the family to San Francisco in 1903, but the earthquake
ble for the significant recent growth of Muslim populations
there, three years later, forced a removal to Chicago. In 1915
in Western countries.
the family moved to New York where Dorothy, having fin-
ished two years at the University of Illinois, began her own
SEE ALSO Shiism, article on Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıyah.
life in journalism as a reporter for the Socialist Call.
For the next five years she dabbled in radical causes,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
moving from one cheap flat to another, mostly in the lower
Maurice Canard’s article “DaEwa,” in The Encyclopaedia of Islam,
New York area. In 1919 she left a hospital nurse’s training
new ed. (Leiden, 1960–), offers a detailed analysis with ex-
tensive source citations, although it does not treat modern
program to live with a flamboyant journalist, Lionel Moise.
Islamic mission. A provocative collection of exploratory es-
The affair ended with her having an abortion, a circumstance
says and discussions is Christian Mission and Islamic Da Ewah:
that filled her with such grief that she was brought to the
Proceedings of the Chambésy Dialogue Consultation, edited by
brink of suicide. Later, living in a fisherman’s shack on Stat-
Khurshid Ahmad and David Kerr (London and Ann Arbor,
en Island as the common-law wife of Forster Batterham, she
Mich., 1982), first published as a special issue of the Interna-
bore a daughter, Tamar Therese. Out of gratitude for her
tional Review of Mission 65 (October 1976). For an introduc-
daughter and a mystical rapture she felt in living on such
tion to da Ewah as occult spell and incantation, see the article
close terms with nature, she turned to God and was subse-
“DaEwah” in Thomas Patrick Hughes’s A Dictionary of Islam,
quently baptized a Catholic. In 1932 she met the French
2d ed. (London, 1896). A standard survey of Sh¯ıE¯ı sectarian
itinerant philosopher, Peter Maurin, and after some months
concepts and practices of da Ewah as propaganda is Bernard
of tutelage she acquired from him the idea of “the correlation
Lewis’s The Origins of Isma¯ E¯ılism (1940; reprint, New York,
1975).
of the spiritual with the material.” This was the beginning
point of her vision of social re-creation.
FREDERICK MATHEWSON DENNY (1987)
Her personality was remarkably forceful and engaging,
but she could be given to moments of authoritarian harsh-
ness. After a series of retreats during World War II, the unre-
DAY, DOROTHY (1897–1980), personalist revolu-
mitting struggle of her life was to grow in sanctity. In her
tionary, journalist, and lecturer. Between 1933, when she
later years the impression she gave was of one who had
brought out the first penny-a-copy issue of the Catholic
achieved a rare level of holiness. She died on November 29,
Worker, and 1980, when she died, Dorothy Day became, in
1980, and was buried at Jamestown, Long Island, not far
the opinion of many, America’s foremost Roman Catholic
from the site of her conversion.
voice calling for peace and a profound change in the major
institutional forms of the contemporary world. She opposed
BIBLIOGRAPHY
what she regarded as the enslaving colossus of the modern
Dorothy Day wrote five books, all of which, from various perspec-
state and the technological giantism to which it was a part-
tives, are autobiographical. The best and most comprehen-
ner. Fundamental to her ideas of social reordering was her
sive is The Long Loneliness (New York, 1952). A full-length
biography is my Dorothy Day (New York, 1982), based on
insistence on the personal transformation of value based on
personal acquaintance with Day and for which I had access
the primary reality of spirit rather than the spirit of acquisi-
to all of her personal manuscript materials. An excellent edi-
tiveness. For her, this meant taking her directions from
tion of Day’s writings is Robert Ellsberg’s By Little and Little:
church tradition, the papal encyclicals, and her literal read-
The Selected Writings of Dorothy Day (New York, 1983).
ing of the Gospels. She used these sources to justify her abso-
W
lute pacifism and her communitarian ideas on social recon-
ILLIAM D. MILLER (1987)
struction.
For Day, the ultimate and transfiguring value was love,
a subject that was the theme of her best writing. The exercise
DAYANANDA SARASVATI (1824–1883), leading
of a sacrificial love was at the heart of her personalist revolt
Hindu reformer and founder of the A¯rya Sama¯j, known by
against the enlarging domain over life of institutional forms.
the westernized form of his religious name, Daya¯nanda
The world would be renewed by persons who loved and not
Sarasvat¯ı. What is known of Dayananda’s early years comes
by state management. In her own case she chose to wage her
from two autobiographical statements made after he founded
revolution by establishing “houses of hospitality” in the des-
the A¯rya Sama¯j in 1875. Although he refused to reveal his
titute areas of lower Manhattan in New York City, by pro-
family and personal names or place of birth in order to pre-
moting communitarian farms, and by an immense writing
serve his freedom as a sam:nya¯sin (“renunciant”), these state-
and speaking regimen that left few Catholic parishes or
ments allow a reconstruction of his life before he became a
schools untouched by her ideas by the time of her death.
public figure.
She was born the third in a family of five children in
Dayananda claimed to have spent his childhood in a
Brooklyn on November 8, 1897, the daughter of Grace Sat-
small town—from his description, most likely Tankara—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
DAY OF THE DEAD
2227
the princely state of Morvi in northern Kathiawar, now in
ing in Hindi and seeking a receptive audience for his mes-
Gujarat’s Rajkot district. His father was a high-caste brah-
sage. He found the first such audience in Bombay, where he
man landowner and revenue collector and a devout worship-
founded the A¯rya Sama¯j (“society of honorable ones”) on
er of S´iva. Dayananda received Vedic initiation at eight and
April 10, 1875. His major breakthrough, however, came two
began to study Sanskrit and the Vedas. Although his father
years later in the Punjab, where a rising class of merchants
preferred that he become a devotee of S´iva, an experience in
and professionals was seeking a defense of Hinduism against
the local S´iva temple undermined Dayananda’s faith that the
Christian missionary activity. A chapter of the A¯rya Sama¯j
temple icon was God, and turned him away from S´aiva ritual
was founded in Lahore in 1877, and this soon became the
practice involving images. The deaths of a sister and a be-
headquarters for a rapidly expanding movement in the Pun-
loved uncle a few years later made him realize the instability
jab and western Uttar Pradesh.
of worldly life, and when, around 1845, he learned that his
Dayananda left control of the A¯rya Sama¯j in the hands
family had secretly arranged his marriage, he fled to become
of local chapters and spent his last years perfecting his mes-
a homeless wanderer.
sage. He completed the revision of his major doctrinal state-
The young mendicant studied the monistic philosophy
ment, Satya¯rth praka¯s, shortly before his death on October
of the Upanis:ads with several teachers before being initiated
30, 1883. With final conviction, he declared that the Vedic
into an order of sam:nya¯sins as Dayananda Sarasvati in 1847.
hymns revealed to the r:s:is were the sole authority for truth,
He lived as an itinerant yogin for the next thirteen years, but
and he reaffirmed his faith in the one eternal God whose rev-
in 1860 he settled in Mathura to study with the Sanskrit
elation thus made salvation possible for all the world.
grammarian Vrija¯nanda (1779–1868). Vrija¯nanda, whom
Dayananda accepted as his guru, aided Dayananda in per-
SEE ALSO A¯rya Sama¯j.
fecting his Sanskrit and also convinced him that the only
truthful texts were those composed by the r:s:is (“seers”) be-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
fore the Maha¯bha¯rata, since, he taught, all later works con-
Dayananda’s longest autobiographical statement appeared in The
Theosophist in three installments in 1879–1880. This state-
tained false sectarian doctrines. Dayananda committed him-
ment has been supplemented by an excerpt from one of his
self to spreading this message when he left his guru in 1863,
lectures in Poona in 1875 and published with explanatory
though it took him most of his life to decide which individu-
notes, a doctrinal statement, and a chronology of his life in
al texts were true and which were false.
Autobiography of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, edited by K. C.
Between 1863 and 1873, Dayananda spent most of his
Yadav (New Delhi, 1976). The best scholarly study of Daya-
time in small towns along the Ganges River in what is now
nanda’s life and thought is J. T. F. Jordens’s Daya¯nanda
Sarasvat¯ı, His Life and Ideas (Delhi, 1978). A more focused
western Uttar Pradesh meeting representatives of various
analysis of the central element in Dayananda’s belief system
Hindu communities and debating sectarian pan:d:its. These
is provided by Arvind Sharma’s “Svami Dayananda Sarasvati
experiences confirmed his early doubts about image worship
and Vedic Authority,” in Religion in Modern India, edited by
and led him to reject all of the Hindu sectarian traditions—
Robert D. Baird (New Delhi, 1981), pp. 179–196. The stan-
not only Vais:n:avism, to which he had an early aversion, but
dard account of Dayananda’s life by one of his followers is
eventually even worship of the formless S´iva. In place of sec-
Har Bilas Sarda’s Life of Dayanand Saraswati, World Leader,
tarianism and the related religious and caste restrictions, he
2d ed. (Ajmer, 1968).
argued with growing conviction for a united Hinduism
THOMAS J. HOPKINS (1987)
based on the monotheism and morality of the Vedas.
Throughout this period Dayananda continued to dress
as a yogin in loincloth and ashes and debated only in San-
DAY OF ATONEMENT
skrit; thus his message was restricted mainly to those ortho-
SEE RODSH HA-
dox upper-caste Hindus who were most solidly opposed to
SHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR
his views. Early in 1873, however, he spent four months in
Calcutta as the guest of the Bra¯hmo Sama¯j leader Deben-
dranath Tagore, met the great Bra¯hmo spokesman Keshab
DAY OF THE DEAD. The feast of All Saints Day and
Chandra Sen, and discussed religious issues with these and
the liturgical celebration of All Souls Day have long histories
other westernized Hindu intellectuals. Dayananda saw first-
in Western Christendom. The origins of these occasions in
hand the influence of the Bra¯hmo organization, learned the
the Christian yearly cycle are uncertain, but by the four-
value of educational programs, public lectures, and publica-
teenth century they ranked immediately after Christmas and
tions in effecting change, and accepted from Sen some valu-
Holy Week in importance, and their celebration had been
able advice to improve his own reception: abandon the loin-
fixed on November 1 for All Saints Day and November 2
cloth and the elitist Sanskrit in favor of street clothes and
(or November 3 if November 2 fell on a Sunday) for All
Hindi.
Souls Day. Since then these two festivities, most commonly
Dayananda left Calcutta with an unchanged message
known as the Days of the Dead, have been inextricably inter-
but a broader perspective and a new style, lecturing and writ-
related in the liturgy of the Western Church. At the onset
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2228
DAY OF THE DEAD
of, perhaps even as the result of, the Reformation and the
cal polytheistic pantheons. Whether or not the distinction
rise of modern science during the Renaissance, there was a
between God and saints is understood or explicitly made by
significant decline in the ritual and ceremonial underpin-
these subsocieties, the fact remains that in behavior and prac-
nings of Christendom, but in the New World (more precise-
tice these segments of Christendom are practicing
ly in the Catholic New World) the rites, ceremonies, and
monola¯try, not monotheism. Indeed at least in Catholicism
symbolic meaning of All Saints Day and All Souls Day have
it may be difficult to be a theologically pure monotheist.
been reinvigorated and in many ways have achieved their
maximum elaboration.
The feast of All Saints Day is in a sense democratic in
that it commemorates all the saints of God, canonized and
DEVELOPMENT OF THE OBSERVANCES. All Saints Day com-
uncanonized, known and unknown. It is a rite of propitia-
memorates those individuals who in the service of the church
tion and intensification, in which the church celebrates the
have achieved that ambivalent status of “sainthood.” Al-
external glory of God in the company of those who are clos-
though the transcendentally different natures of the omnipo-
est to his perfection. The origins of the feast are lost, but
tent-omnipresent almighty God of Christian monotheism
there are indications that as early as the middle of the fourth
and its underlings, the saints, may be clearly understood and
explained by theologians, this has not been the case for sig-
century a day was set aside to commemorate the martyrs who
nificant segments of practicing Christians since probably the
had died before Christianity became the official religion of
formative period of Christianity between the first and fourth
the Roman Empire. Specifically May 13 commemorated all
centuries
the martyrs of Edessa (an important early center of Chris-
CE. Indeed there is plenty of historical evidence that
for sizable segments of Christendom the proliferation of
tianity, now the city of Urfa in southern Turkey), and it ap-
saints and their relationship to God have come to look suspi-
pears that this date soon spread to the western empire. By
ciously like polytheism and have led to practices incompati-
the early seventh century most bishoprics in the West cele-
ble with monotheism. Moreover there are anthropologists
brated on this day their own and other martyrs of Christen-
(Ralph Linton, John M. Roberts, L. Keith Brown, Hugo G.
dom. Some scholars doubt that there is a connection be-
Nutini) who maintain that the bulk of Christianity for cen-
tween May 13 and November 1, and no one has determined
turies has been practicing monolatry (or polylatry) and not
how and under what circumstances a feast of all saints came
monotheism—that is, that in behavior (psychologically) and
to be celebrated on the latter date. Scholars also are not
practice (ritually and ceremonially) no transcendental differ-
agreed as to when the category of “saint” or the status of
ence emerges between God and the saints, including the
“sainthood” appears in Christian theology and practice. It is
many manifestations of the Virgin Mary. This is certainly the
safe to assume, however, that there were no saints as ritual
case with Mesoamerican Indians in the early twenty-first
and ceremonial objects of worship until the beginning of the
century. Most contemporary Mexican Indians have not in-
seventh century. It is reasonable to surmise an evolution
ternalized the theological distinction between God and the
from martyr to saint, but the social and religious condition
saints, even if they somewhat vaguely understand it, and in
of this transformation and amalgamation are not clear. In
their actual religious behavior and practice God is little more
any case, by the beginning of the ninth century November
than a primus inter pares, a more powerful deity than the
1 was widely celebrated as the day of all martyrs and saints
many saints and the various forms of the Virgin Mary. Mexi-
in Western Christendom, and in the latter part of the elev-
can Indians, and often rural mestizos, often rank the village
enth century, during the papacy of Gregory VII, that date
patron saint higher than God the Father, God the Son, and
officially became All Saints Day in the modern sense of the
God the Holy Ghost or they center their Catholicism on the
feast. Since then All Saints Day has steadily increased in im-
cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, thus in effect abandoning
portance as a ritual occasion in the yearly cycle, and in south-
the central tenet of monotheism.
ern Europe, especially Spain, it developed elaborate propor-
tions beginning in the early fourteenth century.
Lest the reader think that the syncretic nature of Cathol-
icism in this region of the New World is a special case, two
All Souls Day, November 2, is a liturgical celebration
examples from other parts of the world may be cited. In their
of the Western Church commemorating the “faithfully de-
ranking and expressive analysis of the saints as conceived and
parted”—that is, those who have died within the fold of the
practiced by Chinese Catholics in Hong Kong, John M.
church. It is observed as a day for honoring and rejoicing
Roberts and John T. Myers found that the array of Catholic
with those who are in heaven, offering prayers for those who
supernaturals (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
are in purgatory so that they may soon enter the kingdom
Ghost, several dozen saints, and half a dozen manifestations
of heaven, and in general supplicating with the dead to watch
of the Virgin Mary) was similar to the Chinese pantheon of
over the living and thanking them for past intercessions. All
gods. The respondents conceived of these Catholic supernat-
Souls Day is a yearly rite of propitiation and thanksgiving
urals as gods who have definite rankings and spheres of ac-
and, in the popular conscience, a veritable cult of the dead.
tion. In many peasant communities in the West as well—
Indeed it is a form of ancestor worship somewhat reminis-
such as southern Italy, Sicily, and southern Spain—the saints
cent of the Roman gods of the household, the lares and pena-
are conceived as deities of sorts, with powers in their own
tes (the feast of Parentalia), from which it probably devel-
right and not infrequently arranged in arrays similar to classi-
oped. Among the many organizational, ritual, ceremonial,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAY OF THE DEAD
2229
and symbolic examples of syncretism as Christianity devel-
Souls Day never acquired official liturgical status—further
oped out of the confluence of Hebrew monotheism and
evidence that the church was unwilling to formally sanction
Roman polytheism, All Souls Day is one of the clearest.
a celebration so pregnant with pagan elements and unchris-
tian evocations. All Souls Day came to have liturgical status
Until well into the Middle Ages the church was reluc-
only by custom. Nonetheless by the second half of the fif-
tant to establish a specific liturgical day for propitiating and
teenth century All Saints Day and All Souls Day were liturgi-
thanking the dead. The reason for this reluctance was the de-
cal feasts celebrated as a unit and ranked among the four
sire to dissociate the church from the persistent and tena-
most important occasions in the yearly ritual cycle of West-
cious pre-Christian rites and ceremonies of the cult of the
ern Christendom.
dead and ancestor worship, widespread among all branches
of Indo-European polytheism, which from the beginning the
What the church was up against throughout the Dark
church regarded as “superstitious” and theologically impure.
and Middle Ages is well known; the situation has been repli-
The efforts of the early church fathers (Augustine, Jerome,
cated several times during the past five hundred years in the
Athanasius, Boniface, and Chrysostom) to render what they
context of the expansion of western European peoples
regarded as superstitious and heretic remains of the polythe-
throughout the world. With specific reference to All Souls
istic past (many aspects of witchcraft and sorcery, rites and
Day, many beliefs and practices of pagan origins or corrup-
ceremonies associated with particular festivities and the cult
tions of Orthodox Christian beliefs concerning the dead were
of the gods, the cult of the dead itself, and so on) indicate
associated with this celebration and ancillary concerns.
that a significant amalgam of beliefs and practices of the old
Throughout Western Christendom, these beliefs and prac-
and new religions already existed. By the beginning of the
tices survived until well into the sixteenth century. With the
eighth century, at least in the circum-Mediterranean area,
onset of secularization in Western society, they were dis-
many aspects of Christianity had been significantly syncre-
placed to marginal areas and to the lower levels of the social
tized. Despite these efforts and the efforts of subsequent
order, but they are still found in circum-Mediterranean areas
theologians, as Christianity spread to more marginal areas of
and in other parts of Europe.
Europe, syncretism placed a permanent mark on several
BELIEFS AND PRACTICES. Among the best-known beliefs and
practices of the Christian faith. More than the other two
practices that were associated with the All Souls Day complex
great branches of monotheism (Judaism and Islam), Chris-
and relevant to the cult of the dead, the following may be
tianity has been unable to divest itself completely of polythe-
mentioned. During the vigil of November 2 the souls of the
istic beliefs and practices out of which it arose. Christian
dead came back in spirit to bless the household where they
theologians have always insisted on an ideologically pure mo-
had died. On November 2 the souls in purgatory came back
notheism, and ever since the church became an imperial
in the form of phantoms, witches, and toads, lizards, and
force in the middle of the fourth century, it has successfully
other repellent animals in order to scare or harm persons who
obliterated deviations that smacked of polytheism, panthe-
wronged or injured them during their lives. Food offerings
ism, monolatry, and other deviant supernatural conceptions.
were made to the dead in the cemeteries, ritually disposed
Nevertheless the syncretic aspects of Christianity have mani-
of by those concerned after the souls had symbolically tasted
fested themselves in many contexts and segments of Chris-
the food. Special food offerings, consisting of a dish or drink
tian worship, and theologians, sometimes to their embarrass-
that he or she had particularly liked, were made to prominent
ment, have had to accommodate rituals, beliefs, and
departed members of the household. Garments that had
behaviors with a distinct polytheistic, pantheistic, or
been worn by particularly good or pious members of the
monolatrous character within a strict monotheistic ideology.
household were displayed on the family altar so that the souls
The often marked dichotomy between theology and practice
would rejoice upon contemplating such a display of affection
appears to be a constant from Christianity’s folk beginnings
and become effective protectors of their living kin. The way
to its imperial maturity during the first half of the sixteenth
to the house was marked by recognized signposts of flowers
century.
and other decorations so that the returning souls could more
easily find their earthly homes. This veritable cult of the dead
Although prayers to the dead were encouraged from ear-
during the Dark and Middle Ages had probably changed lit-
liest times, the church, for the reasons given above, was slow
tle since Roman times.
in giving liturgical recognition to the rites and ceremonies
concerning the dead that probably had been going on for
All Saints Day, on the other hand, was rather heavily
centuries in many parts of Christendom. However, Pentecost
influenced by northern Indo-European polytheism and by
Monday was dedicated to the worship of the dead in Spain
the liturgical feasts of the Byzantine (Orthodox, Armenian)
by the middle of the seventh century. For reasons unknown,
and Coptic churches, which in turn were doubly influenced
November 2 was set aside for commemoration of All Souls
by other Near Eastern polytheistic systems. Both the Ger-
Day, a practice that was well established in the Cluniac
manic and Celtic traditions, particularly the latter, celebrated
monasteries in northern France by the middle of the twelfth
in the late autumn a complex of rites and activities associated
century—that is, not long after November 1 had officially
with the end of harvest and the impending arrival of winter
become All Saints Day. Unlike All Saints Day, however, All
and intended to honor the gods of agriculture and natural
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2230
DAY OF THE DEAD
elements. During the process of conversion to Christianity,
Spain this may be attributable to the Christian reconquest
the church condemned this complex as dealing with the devil
of Spain from the Moors in particular and Muslims inputs
and dabbling in witchcraft and sorcery. In the British Isles
in general, but the evidence is not conclusive. It is certain,
this was the celebration of Samhain, which has survived
however, that the Dominican order was instrumental in en-
among English- and Gaelic-speaking peoples and is variously
hancing the importance of All Saints Day–All Souls Day
known as Hallow E’en, Allhallows, Hallowmas, and most
during the fifteenth century. For example, the Dominicans
commonly Halloween. Probably by the middle of the fif-
initiated the custom of having a priest celebrate three masses
teenth century Halloween had coalesced as a syncretic com-
for the eternal glory and rest of the faithfully departed on All
ponent of English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh Catholicism.
Souls Day. This action gained quick acceptance throughout
By that time the high point of the celebration was the vigil
Spain, and All Souls Day became ritually more important
of All Saints Day, and since then Halloween has been inti-
than All Saints Day. (This apparently never happened in any
mately associated with this liturgical feast as well as All Souls
other country of western Europe.) By the middle of the fif-
Day. The Protestant Reformation kept the celebration of All
teenth century the combined celebration of All Saints Day
Saints Day, but for several reasons (most significantly the de-
and All Souls Day in Spain was commonly referred to as
nial of the belief in purgatory) it abolished the feast of All
Todos Santos. This combined liturgical celebration had be-
Souls Day. With the increasing secularization of northern
come increasingly important and ranked just below Christ-
European societies, the Halloween–All Saints Day complex
mas and Holy Week in the yearly ritual cycle of Spanish Ca-
was transformed into what it is in the early twenty-first cen-
tholicism, popularly if not theologically. It was in this form
tury, a secular feast. In many parts of northern Europe, how-
that Todos Santos was introduced into the New World by
ever, the church was never able to stamp out completely
the mendicant friars in the first half of the sixteenth century,
many beliefs and practices associated with regional complex-
and All Souls Day has remained the most ritually significant
es that were instrumental in shaping the combined liturgical
of the two days.
celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Thus even
In Mexico the Day of the Dead is also known as Todos
in the early twenty-first century, from Ireland to Russia, the
Santos and, after Christmas and Holy Week (Easter), is the
ethnographer or folklorist finds survivals of these beliefs and
most important celebration in the annual religious cycle. In
practices (related mainly to food, drink, and special rites per-
several respects it is more elaborate than in Spain due to its
formed in the household or cemetery) among peasant and
syncretic component, which reinforced the Spanish Day of
rural folk.
the Dead with similar beliefs and practices of Pre-Hispanic
polytheism. The celebration of Todos Santos has three main
The syncretic background of All Saints Day in the By-
components: the offerings to the dead on the household
zantine Church is not well known and still less that of the
altar, the decoration of the graves in the cemetery, and the
Coptic Church. However, the contemporary celebration of
celebration of the different kinds of dead from Palm Sunday
All Saints Day and All Souls Day in the East indicates that
to Easter Sunday. All three of these components, but particu-
syncretism there was perhaps more influenced by pagan ele-
larly the last, are heavily laden with pre-Hispanic elements.
ments than in the West. The celebrations of the Greek and
Moreover the sociological significance of the Todos Santos
Armenian Churches appear to be more diversified and exhib-
greatly departs from its Spanish antecedents. November 1
it more traits of early Christian origin that is the case in the
and 2, the central core of the celebration, are homecoming
Western Churches. The Eastern Churches celebrate All Souls
for Mexican folk people (rural Indian and mestizo communi-
Day on several different dates: the Greek Church on the Sat-
ties); those who have migrated to the city return to visit their
urday before Sexagesima Sunday (the second Sunday before
kin and together remember the dead, and if they do not re-
Lent); the Armenian Church on Easter Sunday (as in Spain
turn for three consecutive years, they are no longer regarded
in the seventh century). The most interesting celebration of
as members of the community. Throughout the Todos San-
All Souls Day is in the Syrian-Antiochene Church. On the
tos cycle (from a week before to a week after November 1)
Friday before Septuagesima (the third Sunday before Lent),
people are on their best behavior, exchange offerings, and
dead priests are honored; on Friday before Sexagesima, all
make special efforts to intensify kinship, ritual kinship (com-
the blessed souls in heaven and purgatory are worshipped;
padrazgo), and friendship relationships. This, in other words,
and on Friday before Quinquagesima (the first Sunday be-
is a “sacralized” period or a kind of treuga Dei (truth of God)
fore Lent), all those who have died away from home and par-
in the community’s annual cycle.
ents and friends are remembered. An even more elaborate di-
vision of labor in the celebration of All Souls Day is present
SEE ALSO Afterlife, article on Mesoamerican Concepts; Fu-
in rural Tlaxcala, Mexico. Perhaps there is a connection with
neral Rites, article on Mesoamerican Funeral Rites.
the Syrian-Antiochene rites, or it may be simply a continua-
tion of pre-Hispanic practices.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Duchesne, Louis. Le Liber Pontificalis. Paris, 1955–1957. An in-
It is probably in southern Italy and Spain that the cele-
dispensable source for reconstructing the evolution of All
bration of the combined feasts of All Saints Day and All
Saints Day and All Souls Day throughout the Dark and Mid-
Souls Day acquired its most complex and elaborate form. In
dle Ages.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DAZHBOG
2231
Gaillard, Jacques. Catholicisme. Paris, 1950. From the Catholic
Svarog probably hammered the sun into shape and placed
standpoint, this book offers many insights into the chronolo-
it in the sky. For the chroniclers, he was identical with Heli-
gy, evolution, and interrelationship of All Saints Day and All
os.) The importance of this god is attested in the thirteenth-
Souls Day.
century Old Russian epic Slovo o polku Igoreve, where the
Hatch, Jane M. The American Book of Days. New York, 1978. A
phrase “grandchildren of Dazhbog” is used to refer to the
good source on the origins of All Saints Day in late antiquity
Russian people.
and on the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day
in the United States.
Dazhbog seems to have been one of the various manifes-
Hennig, John. “The Meaning of All the Saints.” Medieval Studies
tations of the Indo-European god of the “shining sky” or
10 (1948): 132–167. Provides a good account of the evolu-
“heavenly light.” In the Kievan pantheon his name appears
tion of the cult of the dead in Western Christendom.
next to that of Khors, another sun deity (cf. Persian khurs¯ıd,
“sun”), and he was identified with the Greek god Apollo by
Kellner, Karl Adam Heinrich. Heortology. London, 1908. A good
source in English on Catholic festivals with detailed informa-
early Russian translators. Dazhbog is possibly an analogue of
tion on the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
the northwestern Slavic deity Svarozhich (Svarozˇicˇi, Zuaris-
cici; “son of Svarog”), who was worshiped in the temple at
Lane, Sarah, Marilyn Turkovich, and Peggy Mueller. Los Días de
Radigast (Rethra), near Feldberg, in present-day northern
los Muertos, The Days of the Dead. Chicago, 1987. A useful
source that includes some interesting ideas on the belief sys-
Germany. There, as noted in 1014 by Thietmar, bishop of
tem and realization of Todos Santos in Spanish-speaking
Merseburg, were a number of carved idols dressed in armor
countries.
and helmets, each dedicated to some aspect of the god. The
most important one was that of Svarozhich.
Leies, John A. Sanctity and Religion according to St. Thomas. Fri-
bourg, Switzerland, 1963. An excellent source for under-
In Roman Jakobson’s view, Dazhbog, like the Vedic
standing the concept of sainthood in Catholicism and how
Bhaga, is “the giver of wealth,” and the name of Dazhbog’s
it is related to dead souls in general and the role saints play
immediate neighbor in the Kievan pantheon, Stribog, means
as mediators between humans and the deity.
literally—like that of Bhaga’s partner Amsa—“the appor-
Linton, Ralph, and Adelin Linton. Halloween through Twenty
tioner of wealth” (see Jakobson, 1972). The name Dazhbog
Centuries. New York, 1950. An excellent account of Hallow-
is a compound of dazh’ (the imperative form of dati, “to
een, its evolution throughout the centuries, and how it is re-
give”) and bog (“god”). Both Slavs and Iranians eliminated
lated to the Christian cult of the dead.
the Proto-Indo-European name for the “god of heavenly
Nutini, Hugo G. Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Ex-
light,” *dieus, and assigned the general meaning of “god” to
pressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Cult of the Dead. Prince-
a term that originally signified both wealth and its giver, bog.
ton, N.J., 1988. This book provides an exhaustive account
The origin of the name Dazhbog may go back to the period
of the Days of the Dead in Tlaxcala in the early twenty-first
of close Slavic-Iranian contacts, not later than the Scythian-
century, including the syncretic origins of the cult of the
dead in the interaction of sixteenth-century Spanish Catholi-
Sarmatian period.
cism and Mesoamerican Indian polytheism.
In Serbian folk beliefs, Dabog (i.e., Dazhbog) is an ad-
Radó, Polikarp. Enchiridion Liturgicum. 2 vols. Rome, 1961. A
versary of the Christian God: “Dabog is tsar on earth, and
good handbook on Catholic liturgical practices that includes
the Lord God is in heaven.” Dabog is also known as “the sil-
many entries on the cult of the saints and the cult of the
ver tsar”; in mining areas as Dajboi, a demon; and as Daba
dead.
or Dabo, the devil.
Las Tradiciones de Días de Muertos en México. Mexico City, 1987.
Good regional descriptions of beliefs and practices of All
Saints Day and All Souls Day for an area of Christendom
BIBLIOGRAPHY
where the Day of the Dead is probably most pronounced.
C
ˇ ajkanovic´, Veselin. O srpskom vrhovnom bogu. Posebna izdanja,
Srpska Kraljevska Akademija, vol. 132. Belgrade, 1941.
HUGO G. NUTINI (2005)
Dickenmann, E. “Serbokroatisch Dabog.” Zeitschrift für slavische
Philologie (Leipzig) 20 (1950): 323–346.
DAZHBOG
Jagic´, V. “Mythologische Skizzen: 2, Dazˇdbog, Dazˇbog-Dabog.”
was the pre-Christian sun god of the East
Archiv für slavische Philologie (Leipzig) 5 (1881): 1–14.
and South Slavs. The name Dazhbog (Old Russian,
Dazh’bog) is first mentioned in the Kievan pantheon, listed
Jakobson, Roman. “Slavic Mythology.” In Funk and Wagnalls
in the Russian Primary Chronicle (c. 1111 CE). His connec-
Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend
tion with the sun is clearly stated in the Malalas Chronicle
(1949–1950), edited by Maria Leach, vol. 2,
of 1114: “Tsar Sun is the son of Svarog, and his name is
pp. 1025–1028. Reprint, 2 vols. in 1, New York, 1972.
Dazhbog.” (Svarog, the creator of the sun, is identified in
New Sources
Greek translation with the smith Hephaistos. Like his Lithu-
Kapica, F. S. Slavyanskije tradicionnije verovanija, prazdniki i ritu-
anian counterpart, the heavenly smith Kalvelis, whose
ali [Slavic traditional beliefs, festivities and rituals]. Moscow,
achievement is described in the Volynian Chronicle of 1252,
2001.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2232
DE
Shaparova, N. S. Kratkaya enciklopedija slavyanskoj mifologii [A
In a similar vein, Ida Paladino has tried to present Dea
short dictionary of Slavic mythology]. Moskva, Astrelj, 2001.
Dia as a minor paredros of Fors Fortuna. Paladino thinks
M
that, with the Lares, also present in the lucus of the Arvals,
ARIJA GIMBUTAS (1987)
Revised Bibliography
and Diana (whose name relies on the same etymon), Fors
Fortuna shared a marginal position, as well as a link to Servi-
us Tullius and the plebs. When Augustus reformed this cult,
DE S
he preferred, according to Paladino, the less plebeian goddess
EE DAO AND DE
Dea Dia. According to an isolated inscription from Ami-
ternum (CIL I, 2d ed., 1846), Dea Dia herself could be of
Sabine origin.
DEA DIA. The worship of the Roman goddess Dea Dia
As Henri Le Bonniec (1958, p. 202) has shown, Dea
was in the hands of a priesthood of twelve, the fratres arvales
Dia cannot possibly be taken as another form of Ceres be-
(Arval brethren), and she possessed a shrine in a grove out-
cause the ritual of the Arval brethren, which is the best
side Rome at the fifth (or sixth, depending on the period)
known in ancient Rome, forbids this assimilation. Moreover,
milestone on the Via Campana, in the modern suburb of La
the Arval proceedings never mention Ceres (the hypothesis
Magliana. The deity, her cult, and her priesthood supposedly
of Kurt Latte that her “real” name was secret and taboo is
date back to very early in Roman history, but they under-
not convincing). And generally speaking, the trend of in-
went a major renovation by Augustus (r. 27 BCE–14 CE).
digitation, as surmised by Greek and Roman antiquarians
From the previous period, we only know of the existence of
and grammarians, has been denied pertinence in religious
the arvales and of a public sacrifice, mentioned by Varro (De
history (Le Bonniec, 1958, p. 203). Accordingly Ileana
lingua latina 5, 74). The site itself bears testimony of cultic
Chirassi-Colombo and Robert Schilling have reconsidered
occupation since at least the third century BCE. But it is im-
the problem. Both start with the name of the goddess, from
possible to be sure whether these items belonged to Dea Dia
dius (luminous) and diuum (sky), and consider her as the
or to Fors Fortuna, who possessed a temple on the same spot.
goddess of the sky (Chirassi, 1968) or of the beneficial light
After Augustus’s reform the priesthood consisted of
necessary to agriculture (Schilling, 1969; Franz Altheim
twelve members chosen by cooptation from the most distin-
[1931] links her, unconvincingly, to the moon). Chirassi
guished families. The reigning emperor was always a mem-
considers this Dia as an archaic paredros of Jupiter, or Dius,
ber. The reorganization was one element in Augustus’s policy
with whom she is supposed to have formed a couple repre-
of directing enthusiasm for his person and policies into tradi-
senting the sky and the earth.
tional religious channels. Under the empire the Arval
brethren offered sacrifices not only to Dea Dia but to a wide
Referring to the cultic evidence, Schilling shows that the
variety of divinities to secure the health and prosperity of the
name Dea Dia is an emphatic doublet, meaning literally,
emperor and his family. Along with sometimes lengthy de-
“the celestial goddess.” According to the Arval proceedings,
scriptions of the rituals celebrated in the grove of Dea Dia,
Dea Dia performed her divine function between the periods
and of other sacrifices of the brotherhood in Rome, the re-
of sowing and harvesting and was thus the good light of
cords of the Arval brethren were inscribed on marble, and
heaven that brought the crops from germination to matura-
numerous fragments have been preserved. These records, ex-
tion. This is evident in both the date and the ritual of her
tending from 21
festival. Her feast was always held in May, about a month
BCE to 241 CE, are a major source for tradi-
tional Roman religion in the imperial age. The cult and its
before the beginning of the harvest in central Italy. Its exact
priesthood are documented as late as 304
date was announced in January, on the 7th or the 11th. The
CE.
ritual at her festival employed, among other offerings (a
Dea Dia, who was the owner of the lucus fratrum arvali-
lamb, meatballs, sweet wine, and pastries), green ears from
um and the main addressee of the cult celebrated by the Arval
the current crop, together with dried ears of grain from the
brethren, is only known by the proceedings of this brother-
previous year’s crop. The other gods and goddesses men-
hood. Thus, there has been much speculation about her
tioned in her lucus are to be considered her assistants or her
identity. During the nineteenth century, when scholars tend-
guests; the precise link to her neighbor Fors Fortuna is not
ed to assimilate gods, Wilhelm Henzen (1874, p. ix) saw her
known. The temple and the grove of Dea Dia could have
as a goddess similar to Ceres, if not Ceres herself. In the
been built at La Magliana only after Augustus’s reform,
Römische Mythologie (1831) of Ludwig Preller and Heinrich
which could have so monumentalized an aristocratic ritual.
Jordan, Dea Dia was supposed to embody certain aspects of
the numen otherwise venerated under the names of Ceres,
SEE ALSO Arval Brothers; Roman Religion, article on the
Tellus, and perhaps Ops or Acca Larentia (see also Fowler,
Early Period.
1911, p. 435; Wissowa, 1912, p. 195). One also finds assimi-
lations to Diana, Hebe, and the Mother of the Gods. In
BIBLIOGRAPHY
short, Dea Dia was supposed to be an indigitation (the as-
The records of the Arval Brothers are available in Acta Fratrum Ar-
similation of minor deities to one major god or goddess) of
valium, edited by Wilhelm Henzen (Berlin, 1874, also CIL
Ceres or another goddess linked to agriculture.
VI, 2023–2119; 32338–32398), and in Commentarii
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEAD SEA SCROLLS
2233
fratrum arvalium qui supersunt: Les copies épigraphiques des
politan of Jerusalem, and to Eliezer Sukenik, a professor rep-
protocoles annuels de la confrérie arvale (21 av.-304 ap. J.-C.),
resenting the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The scrolls in
edited with a French translation by John Scheid (Rome,
the possession of the Syrian metropolitan were purchased in
1998). Some of the records can be found in translation in
1954 by Yigael Yadin, Sukenik’s son, on behalf of the He-
Frederick C. Grant’s Ancient Roman Religion (New York,
brew University.
1957), pp. 233–238, and in Roman Civilization, vol. 2, ed-
ited by Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold (New York,
Scientific exploration of the cave in 1949 by G. Lankes-
1955), pp. 254–257.
ter Harding and Roland de Vaux uncovered additional frag-
A survey and study of the problems posed by the character and
ments and many broken jars. From 1951 on, a steady stream
cult of Dea Dia is offered by John Scheid in Romulus et ses
of manuscripts has been provided by bedouin and archaeolo-
frères: Le collège des frères arvales, modèle du culte public dans
gists. Some of these manuscripts are held in the Archaeologi-
la Rome des empereurs (Rome, 1990). For details see Wilhelm
cal (Rockefeller) Museum in East Jerusalem. Many are dis-
Henzen, Acta fratrum Arvalium quae supersunt (Berlin,
played in the beautiful Shrine of the Book, a part of the Israel
1874); Ludwig Preller and Heinrich Jordan, Römische
Museum built especially for the display and preservation of
Mythologie, 3d ed. (Berlin, 1881), vol. 2, p. 26; William W.
the scrolls.
Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People (Lon-
don, 1911); Georg Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Römer,
DATING. From the beginning, the dating of the scrolls was
2d ed. (Munich, 1912); Franz Altheim, Terra mater: Unter-
a matter of controversy. Some saw the new texts as docu-
suchungen zur altitalischen Religionsgeschichte (Berlin, 1931);
ments of the medieval Jewish sect of the Karaites. Others be-
Henri Le Bonniec, Le culte de Cérès à Rome: Des origines à
lieved they dated from the Roman period, and some even
la fin de la République (Paris, 1958); Ileana Chirassi, “Dea
thought they were of Christian origin.
Dia e Fratres Arvales,” Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni
39 (1968): 191–291; Robert Schilling, “Dea Dia dans la li-
Of primary importance for dating the scrolls was the ex-
turgie des frères Arv ales,” in Hommages à Marcel Renard, ed-
cavation of the building complex immediately below the
ited by Jacqueline Bibauw (Brussels, 1969), vol. 2,
caves on the plateau. In the view of most scholars, those who
pp. 675–679; and Ida Paladino, Fratres Arvales: Storia di un
lived in the complex copied many of the scrolls and were part
collegio sacerdotale romano (Rome, 1988).
of the sect described in some of the texts. Numismatic evi-
J. R
dence has shown that the complex flourished from circa 135
UFUS FEARS (1987)
JOHN SCHEID (2005)
BCE to 68 CE, interrupted only by the earthquake of 31 BCE.
Similar conclusions resulted from carbon dating of the
cloth wrappings in which the scrolls were found. Study of
DEAD SEA SCROLLS.
the paleography (the form of the Hebrew letters) in which
The manuscripts unearthed
the texts are written has also supported a similar dating. It
between 1947 and 1956 in the Judean desert, in caves along
is certain, then, that the scrolls once constituted the library
the coast of the Dead Sea, have come to be known collective-
of a sect that occupied the Qumran area from after the Mac-
ly as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The main body of materials comes
cabean Revolt of 166–164 BCE until the great revolt against
from Qumran, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, 8.5
Rome of 66–74 CE.
miles (13.7 km) south of Jericho. Other texts, including the
Masada scrolls and the Bar Kokhba texts, are occasionally
THE SCROLLS. The many scrolls that were found in the
also referred to as Dead Sea Scrolls, but this article will per-
Qumran caves can be divided into three main categories: bib-
tain only to the Qumran scrolls themselves. These scrolls
lical manuscripts, apocryphal compositions, and sectarian
constituted the library of a sect of Jews in the Greco-Roman
documents.
period that has been identified by most scholars as the
Fragments of every book of the Hebrew scriptures have
Essenes.
been unearthed at Qumran, with the sole exception of the
DISCOVERY. In the second half of the nineteenth century,
Book of Esther. Among the more important biblical scrolls are
Hebrew manuscripts discovered in the genizah
the two Isaiah scrolls (one is complete) and the fragments of
(“storehouse”) of the Ben Ezra synagogue in Cairo began cir-
Leviticus and Samuel (dated to the third century BCE). Wil-
culating in Europe. Much of this collection, known as the
liam Albright and Frank Moore Cross have detected three
Cairo Genizah, was acquired for the University of Cam-
recensional traditions among the scrolls at Qumran: (1) a
bridge by Solomon Schechter in 1896. Among these texts
Palestinian, from which the Samaritan Pentateuch is ulti-
was a strange composition, known as the Zadokite Fragments
mately descended, (2) an Alexandrian, upon which the Sep-
or the Damascus Document, that outlined the life and teach-
tuagint (the Greek translation of the Bible) is based, and (3)
ings of a Jewish sect. Eventually, this same text was found
a Babylonian, which serves as the basis of the Masoretic (re-
at Qumran.
ceived and authoritative) text fixed by rabbis in the late first
century
There, in 1947, a young bedouin entered what is now
BCE.
designated Cave I and found a group of pottery jars contain-
The apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings were
ing leather scrolls wrapped in linen cloths. These scrolls, the
known until recently only in Greek and Latin transla-
first finds, were sold to Athanasius Samuel, the Syrian metro-
tion. The Cairo Genizah yielded Hebrew and Aramaic frag-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2234
DEAD SEA SCROLLS
ments of medieval recensions. Among the important frag-
According to the sect’s own description of its history,
ments found at Qumran are Ben Sira, Jubilees, Aramaic
it had come into existence when its earliest members, appar-
fragments of the Enoch books, the Testament of Levi, and ad-
ently Zadokite priests, decided to separate themselves from
ditions to Daniel.
the corrupt Judaism of Jerusalem and left to set up a refuge
at Qumran. The sect was organized along rigid lines. There
By far the most interesting materials are the writings of
was an elaborate initiation procedure, lasting several years,
the sect that inhabited Qumran. The pesharim are the sect’s
during which members were progressively received at the rit-
biblical commentaries, which seek to show how the present
ually pure banquets of the sect. All legal decisions of the sect
premessianic age is the fulfillment of the words of the proph-
were made by the sectarian assembly, and its own system of
ets. Prominent among these texts are the pesharim to Habak-
courts dealt with violations and punishments of the sectarian
kuk, Nahum, and Psalms, and the florilegia, which are chains
interpretation of Jewish law. New laws were derived by ongo-
of verses and comments. The commentaries allow us a
ing inspired biblical exegesis.
glimpse of the sect’s self-image and allude to actual historical
figures who lived at the time during which Qumran was oc-
Annual covenant renewal ceremonies took place in
cupied.
which the members of the sect were called to assemble in
The Damascus Document describes the history of the
order of their status. Similar mustering was part of the sect’s
sect and its attitudes toward its enemies. It also contains a
preparations for the eschatological battle. The Qumran sect
series of legal tracts dealing with various topics of Jewish law,
believed that in the End of Days, two messiahs would appear,
including the Sabbath, courts and testimony, relations with
a Davidic messiah who was to be the temporal authority, and
non-Jews, oaths and vows, and so forth.
a priestly messiah of Aaron, who was to take charge of the
restored sacrificial cult. They were both to preside over a
Admission into the sect, the conduct of daily affairs, and
great messianic banquet. Meals of the sect were periodically
the penalties for violating the sect’s laws are the subjects of
eaten in ritual purity in imitation of this final banquet.
the Manual of Discipline. This text makes clear the role of
ritual purity and impurity in defining membership in the sect
The sect maintained a strictly solar calendar rather than
as well as detailing the annual mustering ceremony of cove-
the solar-lunar calendar utilized by the rest of the Jewish
nant renewal. Appended to it are the Rule of the Community,
community. The sect was further distinguished by its princi-
which describes the community in the End of Days, and the
ple of communal use of property. Although private owner-
Rule of Benedictions, which contains praises of the sect’s
ship was maintained, members of the sect could freely use
leaders.
each other’s possessions. The scrolls themselves refute the
widespread view that the sectarians of Qumran were celibate.
The Thanksgiving Scroll contains a series of poems de-
scribing the “anthropology” and theology of the sect. Many
IDENTIFICATION OF THE SECT. Dominant scholarly opinion
scholars see its author as the “teacher of righteousness” (or
has identified the Dead Sea sect as the Essenes described in
“correct teacher”) who led the sect in its early years.
the writings of Philo Judaeus and Josephus Flavius of the first
century CE. Indeed, there are many similarities between this
The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons
group and the sect described by the scrolls.
of Darkness describes the eschatological war. The sect and the
angels fight against the nations and the evildoers of Israel for
In many details, however, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not
forty years, thereby ushering in the End of Days. This scroll
agree with these accounts of the Essenes. Josephus himself
is notable for its information on the art of warfare in the
calls the Essenes a “philosophy” and makes clear that it was
Greco-Roman period.
composed of various groups. If, indeed, the Dead Sea com-
munity was an Essene sect, perhaps it represented an offshoot
Unique is the Temple Scroll, which is an idealized de-
of the Essenes who themselves differ in many ways from
scription of the Jerusalem Temple, its cult, and other aspects
those described by Philo and Josephus. A further difficulty
of Jewish law. This text is the subject of debate as to whether
stems from the fact that the word essene never appears in the
it is actually a sectarian scroll or simply part of the sect’s
scrolls and that it is of unknown meaning and etymology.
library.
T
Scholars have noted as well the points of similarity be-
HE SECT AND ITS BELIEFS. The Qumran sect saw itself as
the sole possessor of the correct interpretation of the Bible,
tween the Qumran writings and aspects of the Pharisaic tra-
the exegesis of which was the key to the discovery of God’s
dition. Louis Ginzberg has called the authors of these texts
word in the present premessianic age. Like other apocalyptic
“an unknown Jewish sect.” Indeed, many groups and sects
movements of the day, the sect believed that the messianic
dotted the spiritual and political landscape of Judaea in the
era was about to dawn. Only those who had lived according
Greco-Roman period, and the Dead Sea sect, previously un-
to sectarian ways and had been predestined to share in the
known from any other sources, may have been one of these
End of Days would fight the final battle against the forces
groups.
of evil. In order to prepare for the coming age, the sect lived
QUMRAN AND THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. The Dead Sea
a life of purity and holiness at its center on the shore of the
Scrolls have illuminated the background of the emergence of
Dead Sea.
rabbinic Judaism and of Christianity. In the years leading up
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEATH
2235
to the great revolt of 66–74, Judaism was moving toward a
cussed thoroughly in Roland de Vaux’s Schweich Lectures of
consensus that would carry it through the Middle Ages. As
1959, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls (London, 1973).
Talmudic Judaism emerged from the ashes of the destruc-
Important scholarly studies are Frank Moore Cross’s The An-
tion, other groups, like the Dead Sea sect, fell by the wayside.
cient Library of Qumran and Modern Biblical Studies, rev. ed.
Nonetheless, the scrolls allow us an important glimpse into
(Garden City, N.Y., 1961), and Géza Vermès’s The Dead Sea
the nature of Jewish law, theology, and eschatology as under-
Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective (Philadelphia, 1981). The the-
ology of the Qumran sect is studied in Helmer Ringgren’s
stood by one of these sects.
The Faith of Qumran, translated by Emilie T. Sander (Phila-
The scrolls show us that Jews in the Second Temple pe-
delphia, 1963). On the relationship to Christianity, see Mat-
riod were engaged in a vibrant religious life based on study
thew Black’s The Scrolls and Christian Origins (London,
of the scriptures, interpretation of Jewish law, practice of rit-
1961) and William S. LaSor’s The Dead Sea Scrolls and the
ual purity, and messianic aspirations. Some Jewish practices
New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1972). Two studies
known from later texts, such as phylacteries, thrice-daily
of the importance of the scrolls for the history of Jewish law
prayer, and blessings before and after meals, were regularly
are my books The Halakhah at Qumran (Leiden, 1975) and
Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Chico, Calif., 1983).
practiced. Rituals were seen as a preparation for the soon-to-
dawn End of Days that would usher in a life of purity and
New Sources
perfection.
Charlesworth, James H. The Pesharim and Qumran History: Chaos
or Consensus? Grand Rapids, Mich., 2002.
The scrolls, therefore, have shown us that Jewish life and
law were already considerably developed in this period. Al-
Davies, Philip R., George J. Brooke, and Philip R. Callaway. The
though we cannot see a linear development between the Ju-
Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls. London, 2002.
daism of the scrolls and that of the later rabbis, since the rab-
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated
bis were heirs to the tradition of the Pharisees, we can still
Literature. 5th International Symposium, 2000. Liturgical
derive great advantage from the scrolls in our understanding
Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls:
of the early history of Jewish law. Here, for the first time,
Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium of the Orion
we have a fully developed system of postbiblical law and
Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Lit-
erature, 19–23, January, 2000. Edited by Esther G. Chazon
ritual.
with the collaboration of Ruth Clements and Avital Pinnick.
The Dead Sea sect, and, for that matter, all the known
Leiden and Boston, 2003.
Jewish sects from the Second Temple period, were strict ad-
VanderKam, James C. The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their
herents to Jewish law as they interpreted it. At the same time,
Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and
with their emphasis on the apocalyptic visions of the proph-
Christianity. [San Francisco], 2002.
ets, the sects provide us an understanding of the emerging
Vermès, Géza. An Introduction to the Complete Dead Sea Scrolls.
Christian claims of messiahship for Jesus. Only against the
Minneapolis, MN, 2000.
background of the Dead Sea Scrolls can the worldview of
early Christianity be understood.
LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN (1987)
Revised Bibliography
The contribution of the biblical scrolls to our under-
standing of the history of the biblical text and versions is pro-
found. We now know of the fluid state of the Hebrew scrip-
tures in the last years of the Second Temple. With the help
DEATH is a fact of life. This statement is at once banal
of the biblical scrolls from Masada and the Bar Kokhba
and profound. It is banal insofar as it is common knowledge
caves, we can now understand the role of local texts, the
that all human life is limited in duration; it is profound,
sources of the different ancient translations of the Bible, and
however, insofar as serious reflection on the end of life chal-
the process of standardization of the scriptures that resulted
lenges the limits of human language, conceptual thought,
in the Masoretic text.
symbols, and imagination. In an important sense, the mean-
In the years spanned by the Dead Sea Scrolls, the text
ing of life is dependent in part on one’s understanding of
of the Hebrew scriptures was coming into its final form, the
death. That death is a fact of life is also paradoxical, for it
background of the New Testament was in evidence, and the
suggests a coincidence of opposites—death-in-life and life-
great traditions that would constitute rabbinic Judaism were
in-death. How people have imagined death-in-life and life-
taking shape. The scrolls have opened a small window on
in-death has shaped their experience of biological death both
these developments the analysis of which will reshape our
individually and collectively. Death is paradoxical, as well,
knowledge of this crucial, formative period in the history of
in that although every death is an individual experience—
Western religion.
only individuals die, even when they die together in large
numbers—death is also a profoundly social experience.
SEE ALSO Essenes.
Death as a biological fact or as a physiological state is
B
uniform across time and space. However, this universal
IBLIOGRAPHY
An excellent introduction is Yigael Yadin’s The Message of the
sameness in biological terms should not lull one into the
Scrolls (New York, 1957). The archaeological aspect is dis-
error of assuming that the human sense or experience 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
2236
DEATH
death has been—or is also—uniform across space and time.
transitional state? These and many other questions have long
When contemplating death today, people must avoid the
spurred speculation concerning death and the possibility of
anachronism of projecting their contemporary understand-
an afterlife.
ing and experience of death back onto others in the past.
Similarly, they must also avoid the cultural imperialism of
Recognizing that death raised questions for people, nu-
assuming that their understanding and experiences are nor-
merous nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholars
mative and that those of other cultures should be measured
were led to speculate on the relationship of human ponder-
in their terms. This entry on death is concerned with the di-
ings on death to the origins of religion. These theories of the
verse ways in which death has been imagined and the many
origins of religion were often written in the Enlightenment
different ways it has been experienced in different cultures
genre, represented by Rousseau’s essay Discourse on the Ori-
and different ages. To say this is to recognize that although
gin of Social Inequality. Such works of imaginative recon-
death is “a given” in one sense, it is culturally and historically
struction are based on pure speculation, not historical evi-
constructed in various ways.
dence. These reconstructions also are based on the ill-advised
belief that modern psychological assumptions are universally
The study of beliefs and ritual practices surrounding
applicable. Finally, such accounts are based on logical infer-
death has been pursued using a number of different method-
ences (often faulty) that are presumed to have been drawn
ological approaches, including ethnographic, sociological,
by the earliest human beings. The British anthropologist
psychological, historical, morphological, and structural to
E. E. Evans-Pritchard dismissively labeled this sort of “a pri-
name a few. The best comparative studies of death in the his-
ori speculation, sprinkled with illustrations” the “if I were a
tory of religions build upon the large number of available de-
horse” fallacy and unworthy of the name historical recon-
tailed ethnographic descriptions of specific communal beliefs
struction (1965, p. 24). While there is little or no historical
and ritual practices, but move beyond these in a number of
evidence to support these imaginative flights, it is salutary to
ways. Comparative studies in the history of religions are in-
note the broad influence they once had.
terdisciplinary in nature, integrating the findings of different
Today scholars strive to understand how different con-
disciplines in an effort to understand the complex existential
ceptualizations of death, the afterlife, and the body, as well
meanings of religious beliefs and practices. The classic ethno-
as different ritual practices, affect the individual and collec-
graphic monograph tended to present a historically “flat”
tive experience of death. The cultural historical constructions
and socially undifferentiated picture of the conception of
of death, the body, the afterlife, and so on also directly affect
death and the performance of mourning and funerary rites
one’s religious valuations of life in this world. In thanatology
in a given culture. Unfortunately, such “snapshot” studies of
(the study of death), among other things, it is important to
different cultures implied that religious beliefs were static
consider the religious anthropology (i.e., the specific under-
over time and uniformly held by all members of a given cul-
standing of human nature and divine nature and the rela-
ture or religious tradition. More recently, the subfield of his-
tionship between them), the understanding of the body, and
torical anthropology has reintroduced history into the mix
the operative cosmology of a given culture or religious com-
and produced numerous sensitive studies of change in beliefs
munity. Moreover, one must take into account a given cul-
and practices. Scholars have also paid more attention to the
ture’s epistemology of death and the afterlife (i.e., how peo-
effects of cultural contact, colonialism, and issues of gender,
ple claim to know things about death and the afterlife). After
resulting in more complex representations.
all, most people would deny that their concepts about death
In this essay, no attempt will be made to present an ex-
are based on mere speculation. Cultures have established
haustive survey of beliefs and ritual practices related to death.
means of obtaining evidence on matters related to death and
Rather than providing ethnographic detail and careful histor-
the afterlife. This evidence is commonly found in the content
ical analysis, the entry focuses on selected themes and issues
of dreams, reports from shamans concerning their ecstatic
that emerge from a broad survey of cultures and religions,
flights through the multiple realms of the universe, or indi-
and in so doing offers some general reflections concerning
vidual accounts of visionary experiences or events witnessed
the human imagining and experience of death. In passing,
in trance states. Alternatively, the “proof” may be found in
it also touches upon methodological issues involved in the
the authoritative proclamations of myths or sacred texts.
comparative, cross-cultural, and historical study of beliefs
Death may be accepted as a fact of life by many persons
and ritual practices surrounding death.
today, but historians of religions have clearly demonstrated
THE CONCERN WITH DEATH. Death has been a central con-
that humans have rarely imagined death to have been a natu-
cern of religious persons across space and time. The brute
ral and inevitable condition from the beginning of time.
fact of death raises pressing questions: Why do people and
Throughout the world, a myriad number of myths tell how
other living things have to die? What happens to a person
death came into the world and how humans came to be mor-
after death? Do the dead have a continued existence of some
tal beings. Death is often claimed to be the result of an acci-
sort? Are they happy? Where do the dead go? Can the dead
dent of some sort or an unfortunate mistake or choice made
return to the world of the living? Can the dead communicate
by a god or an ancestor. It may be the result of an act of for-
with the living? Is death permanent, or is it a temporary or
getfulness, trickery, or theft, or it may have resulted from 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
DEATH
2237
breaking of a taboo or perhaps the commission of some
the body surviving death. Thus, the corpse was carefully em-
major or minor transgression. The Genesis account of the fall,
balmed in order to preserve its form, while items the de-
with the consequential changes in the human ontological
ceased would need in the afterlife were also buried with the
condition and in the world itself, is only one such myth. It
body.
is important to recognize that this myth, like other such sto-
Practitioners in alchemical traditions around the world
ries, continues to exercise power over the collective imagina-
have searched for the elixir of immortality. Alchemists pro-
tion and lives of millions of people. In yet other religions,
vided recipes and proffered various techniques to transform
the length of human life is imagined to be different in differ-
the mortal body into an immortal one. Some religions speak
ent cosmic ages, with the length usually decreasing as the de-
of a spiritual body existing after death. In such traditions, the
volutionary process continues.
decomposition or immolation of the physical body is often
OVERCOMING DEATH. If death was not always a fact of life,
seen as a form of release into a spiritual existence. Such a be-
then the possibility suggests itself that death might be over-
lief informs the Ainu bear festival in Northern Japan in
come in some way. The study of death in the history of reli-
which a deity (kamui) visits the world of the living in the
gions is, in part, the history of how different cultures and re-
form of a bear cub. The cub is nursed and raised by the Ainu;
ligious communities have sought to deny the finality of the
it is also entertained before it is ritually killed, thereby releas-
seemingly “given” nature of death. Many religious beliefs
ing the deity from its temporary physical form and sending
and practices aim to overcome death in some way or to re-
it back to the spirit world (Kimura, 1999).
store humans and the world to conditions prior to the intro-
Other traditions, such as yoga in its many forms, have
duction of death. Eschatologies, for example, imagine the
sought to overcome the embodied nature of human existence
end of the world as it now exists, including the end of death.
(i.e., to overcome the body itself, which is identified as the
Similarly, the so-called cargo cults that emerged in the face
locus of mortality) in order to achieve an immaterial and
of radical cultural disruption and rampant disease in situa-
timeless state of pure consciousness. In Indian religious tradi-
tions of cultural contact are expressions of a desperate antici-
tions, biological death is believed to lead to rebirth in another
pation of the destruction of this world and the inauguration
physical form, whereas moksa, release from the karmic cycle
of a renewed world.
of birth-death-rebirth, puts an end to death. Death, then, has
More generally, scholars have long noted that initiatory
been imagined in many different ways, some positing anoth-
rites involve symbols and scenarios of death and rebirth. The
er form of embodied existence and others a disembodied
performance of an initiatory rite rehearses death followed by
state. Only a few religions, such as the ancient religion repre-
a scenario of rebirth of some kind. This death may be imag-
sented in the Enuma Elish, viewed death as a real end, with
ined in biological terms, or it may be the death (end) of a
no form of existence following it.
specific status or ontological condition. In many religions,
THEORIES OF DEATH AND THE ORIGINS OF RELIGION. As
religious healers gain their powers precisely by having over-
noted above, the recognition of the central importance of
come death through an initiatory trial of some sort. Such ini-
death in the conceptual worlds of human beings throughout
tiatory trials are often unsought, but they need not be. Many
time has occasionally led Western scholars to make some
examples of what one might call “dying onto the world” are
overblown claims concerning death and the origins of culture
found in the history of religions, including the elaboration
or civilization. Before returning to a brief consideration of
of religious vocations defined over against mundane life in
some of the issues related to death that remain central to the
the world. These include, to name only two of the most com-
study of the history of religions today, it is necessary to re-
mon types, the renunciation of the world by monks and nuns
view in a cursory manner a few of the most famous—and
and individuals going into the mountains, desert, or the bush
wrongheaded—grand theories of the origins of religion that
in order to practice some form of asceticism and to seek vi-
were based in part on the scholars’ imagined human response
sions. In many religions, lay persons or ordinary men and
to death in the misty past.
women can also ritually gain a foretaste of death and the af-
terlife. Altered states of consciousness of various sorts provide
Edward B. Tylor. The famous nineteenth-century arm-
access to knowledge of the afterlife in many religions. For
chair anthropologist Edward B. Tylor no doubt went too far
Pentacostal Christians, for instance, the psychosomatic expe-
in claiming that death was the reason religion existed. In his
rience of the descent of the Holy Ghost—the loss of con-
highly influential two-volume work Primitive Culture
sciousness, speaking in tongues, the radiant sense of divine
(1871), Tylor argued that the concept of the soul or an ani-
infusion—is a form of dying onto life as, while at the same
mating spirit arose when primitive peoples reflected on
time a foretaste of what the Second Coming will bring.
death, trance states, visions, and dreams. He asserted that the
belief in the existence of the soul was the logical deduction
Religious seekers have also proactively pursued various
that primitives drew from putting together two separate ex-
means of achieving immortality, sometimes in human-
periences. First, according to Tylor, the primitives’ awareness
embodied form and other times by seeking to overcome the
of the sudden transformation of a vibrant human body into
human body. The ancient Egyptians exemplify those who
a corpse at the moment of death must have suggested to
imagined the afterlife to be similar to life in this world, with
them that the animating source of life was not to be found
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2238
DEATH
in the physical body. At the moment of death, the material
level. Indeed, he claimed that a universal psychological con-
body remained, but it was cold, immobile, and lifeless. In
nection existed between sexual activity and death. He found
dreams and visions, however, people often saw and con-
evidence for this assertion not only in the lives of his neurotic
versed with dead persons, who thus seemed to continue to
patients and ethnographic descriptions of primitive rites, but
“exist” in some form even after their bodily demise. Putting
in such things as a colloquial phrase for male ejaculation,
two and two together, this led to the logical deduction that
which translates as “the little death.” Freud was not an an-
an animating spirit or soul must exist that was invisible, im-
thropologist, though he used the work of anthropologists, so-
material, and detachable from the physical body.
ciologists, and ethnographers in his works of cultural inter-
pretation. Nor was he really interested in cultural diversity.
Tylor believed that this type of primitive reasoning was
Rather, his interest, like so many others of his age, was
the basis of the most primitive cultural stage of development,
only in different psychological-cum-cultural stages of devel-
which he labeled “animism.” Animism is the belief that both
opment.
animate and inanimate things, natural phenomena, and the
universe itself possess a vital animating power or soul. Like
Few anthropologists or historians of religions today
many nineteenth-century theorists, Tylor assumed that all
would accept Freud’s universal claims or offer competing
cultures passed through evolutionary stages. The precise enu-
universal claims of their own for that matter. For instance,
meration of these stages varied from scholar to scholar, but
rather than make a universal assertion about the significance
in general they follow the pattern of evolution from a belief
of “the little death,” they would note that the male anxiety
in magic to religion and, ultimately, to the triumph of reason
implicit in this phrase flows from the widely-held (but not
and science. At each stage, it was believed that belief in the
universal) archaic belief that the vital fluids and life energy
earlier form of magic or religion would decline. Moreover,
in one’s body are finite in quantity and that they are not re-
contemporary peoples living in technologically primitive cul-
plenished. For those holding this understanding of the male
tures were held to be living fossils, as it were. As such, the
body, any expenditure of seminal fluids is assumed to deplete
study of “primitives” seemed to hold the promise of provid-
the man’s life force. Ironically then, the act that leads to the
ing scholars in various disciplines the opportunity to view
creation of new life ultimately contributes to the male’s own
what the life of their own ancestors must have been like mil-
physical decline and death.
lennia earlier.
Menstruation and lactation, to name two prominent fe-
Ghosts and ancestral spirits. Herbert Spencer, one of
male physiological functions, are also highly-charged sym-
the founders of modern sociology, offered a similar theory
bols in many cultures and religions, but Freud paid consider-
in The Principles of Sociology (1885). However, he main-
ably less attention to them. Had he, he would have found
tained that the origins of religion were to be found in the
that they, too, are often associated with death-in-life and life-
belief in ghosts rather than the soul. Significantly, visions of
in-death. Freud was equally unaware of the significant im-
the dead—as well as encounters with them in dreams—again
pact the differences in the religious anthropologies of diverse
played a central role in Spencer’s theory. Because the dead
people or their different understandings of the human body
were believed to still be present somehow in the world, Spen-
could have on their experience of sexual activity and death,
cer claimed that they came to be propitiated and offered
among other things. Indeed, Freud dismissed native explana-
food, drink, and so on by their living relatives and friends.
tions of such things outright, claiming that conscious expla-
Moreover, the most important and powerful members of so-
nations never got to the real unconscious causal sources of
ciety were believed to retain their position and power even
human psychology and behavior.
after death. Thus, they were treated with special respect and
decorum, as they had been while alive. Over time, these an-
In Totem and Taboo, Freud again associated death with
cestors evolved into deities. Thus, according to Spencer,
the origin of religion, society, and civilization. Building upon
primitive ancestor worship was the basis of all religions. Un-
the now long-discredited hypothesis that the earliest human
fortunately, there is no hard historical evidence for this asser-
beings lived in hordes each ruled by a dominant male and
tion or for the other universal claims he proffered.
the mistaken concept of totemism, Freud produced a gothic
tale (or, perhaps, a modern psychological myth) of primordi-
Sigmund Freud. For his part, Sigmund Freud made a
al patricide. In Freud’s telling, a single dominant male
stunning series of claims about death, sex, and religion in
claimed exclusive sexual rights to all of the women in the
both his psychological writings and in his works of cultural
horde. The sons produced by this supreme male must have
historical interpretation. The latter include Totem and Taboo
looked up to their father and aspired to be like him, even as
(1918), Civilization and Its Discontents (1930), The Future
they hated and envied him. They no doubt became increas-
of an Illusion (1928), and Moses and Monotheism (1939).
ingly frustrated, Freud suggested, as they reached sexual ma-
Freud offered a psychological explanation of the paradoxical
turity, but were still denied a sexual outlet within the horde.
coincidence of opposites of death-in-life and life-in-death.
Then, one day the sons collectively hatched a plan to kill
He argued that eros and thanatos, the drives to reproduce
their father in order to gain sexual access to the women. After
oneself and to annihilate oneself, were both primordial in
the dastardly deed had been done, “cannibal savages as they
human nature and deeply intertwined at the unconscious
were,” the sons instinctually devoured their victim in order
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DEATH
2239
to incorporate his power. Then, according to Freud, some-
Freud did not consider primitives to be rational beings; rath-
thing momentous happened.
er, he compared them to neurotics and children. Yet, just as
most healthy boys work their way through the psychological
The sons’ love and admiration of the father, which had
conflicts of the Oedipal stage, he believed that cultures, too,
been repressed in order to commit the murder, resurfaced as
evolved psychologically, with reason gradually replacing
pangs of guilt and psychological ambivalence. These quickly
fantasy.
overwhelmed them. On the one hand, they were grieved by
their father’s death and horrified by their role in it, but on
Modern studies of death. Today few people ascribe to
the other they experienced a sense of satisfaction in having
the psychological assumptions underlying these and other
replaced the father. Yet Freud claims that in death the father
theories that connect death to the origin of religion. The
became even stronger than he had been in life through the
search for origins of this sort has been abandoned. Still,
workings of psychological repression and substitution. In the
scholars have been struck by the patterned ways in which
wake of the murder, the sons forbid themselves sexual access
death has been associated with life in many cultures. For in-
to the local women (this is the origin of the incest taboo and
stance, scholars have long noted the striking association of
exogenous marriage rules) and forbid the slaying of the fa-
death with fertility and/or the regeneration of life in religions
ther. The latter taboo was expressed through the deflected
around the world. In Versuch über Grabersymbolik der Alten
form of the totem animal or plant, the surrogate for the fa-
(1859), J. J. Bachofen noted the prominence of symbols of
ther, which was normally taboo but which was eaten in a col-
fertility (e.g., eggs) and women on the tombs of ancient
lective ritual meal. In this way, Freud connected the origins
Greece and Rome, which he interpreted as indicating a belief
of the totemic festival with the primitives’ ambivalent psy-
in life coming out of death. For his part, Sir George Frazer
chological response to the death or murder of the father.
made the image of the dying-and-rising god a central theme
The psychological ambivalence felt towards the dead fa-
of his influential comparative study, The Golden Bough,
ther was, Freud claims, the origin not only of the universal
which went through multiple editions during the early twen-
incest taboo and various taboos surrounding death, but also
tieth century. Other scholars, such as the classicist Jane Har-
of the totemic meal, social organization, moral restrictions,
rison, carried the study of the ancient mystery cults further,
and even religion itself. Significantly, Freud’s narrative and
demonstrating in Themis (1911) how the social order was re-
analysis was concerned not only with instincts, but with the
lated to the natural order through these religious rites.
ways instincts and primitive desires are affected and con-
In 1906, Robert Hertz, a student of Emile Durkheim,
trolled by the psychodynamics of family and social organiza-
published a seminal essay on the collective representation of
tion. For the primitive, the totemic object or animal is a sur-
death in Année Sociologique in which he analyzed double or
rogate for the murdered father, while in a more developed
secondary burial practices in Southeast Asia (Hertz, 1960).
stage of culture the figure of God clearly serves this purpose.
In the cultures he studied, the first burial period was tempo-
Applying the biological theory of Ernst Haeckel that on-
rary and dedicated to mourning. After the flesh of the corpse
togeny recapitulates phylogeny to psychology (i.e., the stages
had rotted away, the dry skeletal remains were disinterred
of biological development of an individual from conception
and then reburied elsewhere. With this secondary burial, the
through maturity replicate in abbreviated form the evolution
deceased was integrated into the society of the dead, while
of the species), Freud argued that the study of the mental life
the mourners were reintegrated into the society of the living.
of children, as well as dreams and neuroses, could shed light
Hertz also pointed to structural and symbolic parallels be-
on the primitive stage of human development. He believed
tween funerary rites and initiation rites and marriages, an in-
that the earliest object of sexual desire for every infant boy
sight that numerous other scholars subsequently followed up
is incestuous and forbidden—his mother. Like the grown-up
and detailed in many other societies. More recently, Maurice
sons in the primal horde, an infant son is jealous of the fa-
Bloch and Jonathon Parry have revived interest in the sym-
ther’s sexual possession of the mother and desires to elimi-
bolic association of death and fertility in a culturally wide-
nate him as a rival. Freud posited that the Oedipal complex,
ranging collection of essays entitled Death and the Regenera-
as he labeled it, was a universal psychological complex, but
tion of Life (1982).
one which healthy children in civilized societies could now
One final scholar deserves special mention. In a series
overcome through submitting to social controls and, there-
of important publications, Philippe Ariès presented an un-
by, learning to control their instincts and deferring the im-
precedented survey of the changing attitudes toward and rep-
mediate gratification of their desires.
resentations of death in Europe over a thousand years from
For Freud, religion was the crucial link between the in-
the eleventh through the twentieth centuries. Ariès used an
dividual and society. Religious myths and rituals were the
interdisciplinary approach in his quest to trace these changes,
collective expressions of the same unconscious desires and
working with literary, liturgical, testamentary, epigraphic,
psychological processes that produce dreams and neuroses in
and iconographic sources of evidence. Specialists may quib-
individuals. Freud famously claimed that religion was a col-
ble over specific details and dispute some of Ariès’ interpreta-
lective neurosis that would eventually be outgrown, although
tions, but his work has demonstrated beyond a doubt that
not in the near future. Unlike Spencer and Tylor, though,
the experience of death is subject to change over time within
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2240
DEATH
the same culture. On the other hand, scholars have also dis-
Liminality. Death creates a liminal time and space for
closed the remarkable continuity of some funerary practices
the living and for the deceased. For a given period of time,
over several millennia. Margaret Alexiou’s study, The Ritual
those closely related to the deceased often have specific ritual
Lament in Greek Tradition (1974), and more recent anthro-
obligations placed upon them, as well as a number of prohi-
pological field work (e.g., Danforth, 1982), has demonstrat-
bitions (e.g., they cannot comb or wash their hair, wear col-
ed that the performance of funerary laments and the practice
orful clothing, participate in certain activities, eat certain
of secondary or double burial continues down to the present
foods, go to certain places). The deceased is often imagined
in some rural areas, in spite of the dominant presence of
as being in a liminal condition as well, betwixt-and-between
Greek Orthodox Christianity.
the world of the living and the world of the dead. In these
cases, the funerary and mourning rites are designed to assist
To his credit, Ariès did not attempt to offer a grand
the deceased in his or her journey to the otherworld or to
overarching psychological or sociological theory about death.
effect the transformation into an ancestor, spirit being, and
Rather, he sought to organize in a significant way the huge
so on. These rites are often viewed as aiding the dead, but
amount of historical evidence he had surveyed and then to
at other times they are also clearly designed to keep the dead
trace the changes that occurred over broad sweeps of time.
from returning to the world of the living or otherwise caus-
In his magnum opus, Homme devant la mort (1977; English
ing havoc. The liminal status of the newly dead or the dead
translation, The Hour of Our Death, 1981), Ariès suggested
for whom funerary rites were not performed is often imag-
that the history of the Western representations and experi-
ined to be potentially dangerous. Such liminal beings haunt
ences of death could be organized around variations on four
the world of the living and may cause illness, death, or other
psychological themes: the growing awareness of the individu-
calamities; they may also possess individuals or cause them
al; the defense of society against untamed nature; belief in
to go mad. Thus, many posthumous rituals are prophylactic
an afterlife; and belief in the existence of evil.
in nature and designed to protect the living from the dead.
DEATH IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. Death has rarely
The liminal status of the corpse almost always requires
been taken as an end as such, a real terminal point. Rather,
that it be prepared or handled in specific ritualized ways. In
for most humans throughout time, physiological death has
some societies, the deceased is buried or cremated with ob-
signaled a transitional moment and state, not an absolute
jects he or she will need in the other world; in other societies,
end. At death, life as previously lived in this world ends for
the dead may be buried in a fetal position, perhaps indicating
the deceased, but the memory and imagination of the living
a belief in rebirth. The care taken with the remains of the
open up paths to the past and the future and to other worlds
dead throughout human history has provided archaeologists
and other modes of existence. A survey of the history of reli-
with some of their most important evidence about the reli-
gions clearly shows a widespread affirmation that death
gious beliefs and practices of diverse peoples.
creates the potential for new beginnings, for a new stage of
In many societies, death does not terminate all relation-
the cycle of birth-death-rebirth, or for transitioning to differ-
ships between the deceased and living relatives. Throughout
ent ends. The transformative possibilities signaled by death
East Asia, for instance, ancestral cults involve regular ritual
are numerous and extremely variable. However these possi-
interactions often for up to thirty or more years, including
bilities are imagined, though, humans have rarely been con-
prayers, offerings of food, drink, and incense, memorial ser-
tent to “let nature take its course,” as it were. Upon closer
vices, and even dances to entertain the dead during the festi-
inspection, even those religious groups that apparently let na-
val of the dead. In Japan, the corpse is cremated and the ashes
ture take its course following a death (e.g., when the Parsi
buried in a cemetery. The deceased is given a posthumous
Zoroastrians of India exposed the corpse on top of a tower
name, which is inscribed by a Buddhist priest on a wooden
to be consumed by carrion birds, or the Lakota Sioux ex-
tablet that is installed in a domestic Buddhist or Shinto an-
posed the corpse on a bier to the elements), will be found
cestral shrine. After the requisite period of memorial rites has
to have performed ritualized acts intended to symbolically
passed, the ancestral tablet is itself burned in a symbolic sec-
integrate the deceased into a cosmological world of meaning.
ond cremation. Thereafter, the individual identity of the de-
ceased ends and he or she is incorporated into the anony-
Death almost inevitably moves the living to perform rit-
mous class of ancestors.
ual work of some sort in an effort to control what happens
posthumously both in the world of the living and in that of
Communicating with the dead. Many religions also
the dead. The transformations made possible by death are
have ritual techniques for communicating with the dead. In
not automatic, nor are they necessarily without danger. By
traditional societies, a shaman or medium often serves as a
and large, people have assumed that the desired transitions
conduit of communication with the dead. The deceased may
and transformations after death can be accomplished safely
possess a ritual functionary in order to communicate his or
only through proper ritual acts. The performance of such rit-
her needs or desires, or the ritual specialist may travel
uals may require specific changes in dress, bodily decoration,
through ecstatic flight to the land of the dead to speak with
voice (e.g., in ritual mourning), diet, daily activities, and so
the dead. In other religions, dreams or visions induced by
on among the living.
hallucinogens may provide a means of interacting with the
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DEATH
2241
ordinary dead. Many societies have regular festivals to which
Such rites are based on the widespread belief that one’s state
the dead are invited, such as Obon in Japan or the Days of
of mind and mental focus at the time of death are critical
the Dead in Mexico.
in determining one’s posthumous condition. Those who die
in an emotionally agitated state, whether it be of fear, anger,
In many mourning rites, mourners converse with the
jealousy, or lust, will not find peace in the afterlife and, thus,
deceased by speaking, singing, or otherwise performing both
become potentially dangerous. Many different ritual prac-
voices in the dialogue. The desire to maintain some contact
tices seek to overcome the arbitrary nature of death precisely
with deceased loved ones is widespread, although such con-
by controlling the timing and/or manner of death, but also
tact is carefully controlled and of limited duration. In some
one’s mental response to it. By overcoming the survival in-
societies one finds that—more than death itself—it is the
stinct, one overcomes the fear of death and even death itself.
fear of being forgotten after death that is paramount. One
The so-called self-mummified buddhas of Japan are the des-
thinks of the ancient Greeks and the cult of heroes in which
iccated remains of Shugendo¯ priests, now enshrined as ob-
posthumous fame was more valued than life itself.
jects of worship, who took a vow to have themselves buried
Many religions encourage visits to the gravesites of the
alive in the mountains. Thousands of people gathered to wit-
deceased, where tears are shed, prayers are said, offerings of
ness the event, while the priest, breathing through a hollow
flowers, food, and incense are made, and communion with
bamboo tube, continually beat a drum and recited the nem-
the deceased occurs. In many societies, songs associated with
butsu, or the ritual invocation of the Bodhisattva Amida
the dead are sung to recall the deceased, including an enu-
(Amita¯bha), until death, or release, came (Hori, 1962).
meration of the places he or she used to visit or the lands the
deceased may have hunted or tilled. The deceased is often
Many religions feature rituals of pacification of the
ritually mourned or keened at the gravesite, although in so-
dead, designed to assist the deceased to accept his or her new
cieties that practice double or secondary burial, these songs
status and surroundings. A certain ambivalence is evident in
or mourning rites are sometimes offered at the now-empty
many of these rites. On the one hand, surviving loved ones
initial burial site. In some societies, physical objects, songs,
wish for a continued relationship with the deceased; on the
or specific places associated with the dead function as souve-
other hand, there is some fear or anxiety expressed over the
nirs or memento mori, recalling the deceased to mind. In an-
possible return of the dead. The living seek to tightly control
cient Japan, people employed objects (e.g., a comb, an item
their interactions with the dead through ritual means. Al-
of clothing) called katami (to see the form/shape [of the de-
though the dead are invoked to be present, the rites also usu-
ceased]) to conjure up an image of the dead (Ebersole, 1989).
ally include formal send-offs to return the deceased to the
In the Victorian period, people often carried lockets contain-
land of the dead.
ing a snippet of hair from a deceased or absent loved one.
Some scholars have long argued that mourning, funer-
Victorian women also made elaborate hair weavings or flow-
ary, and memorial rites are really for the living and answer
ers, birds, and other decorative forms—by using the hair of
to their psychological or social needs. Durkheim, for exam-
dead family members—for similar purposes. With the emer-
ple, claimed they responded to the need for renewed social
gence of photography, photos of the deceased, including
solidarity; more recently, psychologists and others insist on
those of dead infants and children carefully posed to appear
the need for individuals to work through the grieving pro-
to be sleeping, became extremely popular. Today many per-
cess. (The findings of the history of religions, though, might
sons find these objects macabre and disturbing, witnessing
well lead one to question whether there is a single universal
to a major shift in cultural sensibility surrounding death.
grieving process.) Obviously, religious rituals serve multiple
Many religions provide rituals to be performed for the
purposes, and need not be mutually exclusive. A brief consid-
benefit of the dead, as noted earlier. The practice of endow-
eration of the different scholarly interpretations of Japanese
ing Christian masses to be performed or the reading of Bud-
Buddhist rites of pacification for aborted fetuses (mizuko
dhist sutras for a deceased individual are examples. Some-
kuyo¯) will demonstrate this. These rites were newly created
times individuals made arrangements for such rites to be
in late twentieth-century Japan, where abortion was a com-
performed on their behalf after their death, a clear indication
mon form of birth control. Some have argued that mizuko
of the belief in the continued existence of the self and person-
kuyo¯ rites answer the psychological needs of the parent(s),
al identity. In other cases, it is the surviving family members
who experience pangs of guilt after the decision to abort (cf.
who are expected to perform memorial or ancestral rites or
La Fleur, 1992). Others, such as Helen Hardacre (1997),
to have them performed by religious functionaries. The
have argued that entrepreneurial Buddhist priests created the
Hindu pinda rite of offerings of food and drink to one’s
need for such rites through skillful marketing techniques.
deceased parents is a prime example of a daily domestic
Significantly, advertisements represented aborted fetuses as
practice.
haunting spirits in need of pacification rites.
Preparation for facing death, pacification, and the
The corpse. Whenever death occurs, a corpse is creat-
grieving process. Many religions also developed rites de-
ed—an object at once like a living body and radically differ-
signed to help those facing imminent death to accept this
ent from it. Yet, one finds numerous reports of anomalous
fate. The Catholic rite of last unction is but one example.
cases that deny this truism a universal status—the Taoist im-
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2242
DEATH
mortal who leaves the physical world, leaving behind only
anticipated death and rebirth differently than did their
sandals, mysteriously empty tombs or graves, and so on. No
slaves, especially insofar as the afterworld was believed to rep-
matter what the details are, such reports imply that the
licate the social, political, and economic structures found in
“death” involved was not an ordinary biological death. In
this world. Similarly, the ruling Mayan and Aztec elites must
some cases, death is denied by claims that an individual has
have understood and experienced the ritual sacrifice of the
gone away or into hiding (e.g., the Sh¯ıEah Hidden Imam in
many human captives offered as tribute differently than did
Iran), perhaps to return triumphantly at a later time. In an-
many of the conquered people, who were regularly forced to
cient Japan, the emperor or empress did not die; rather, as
provide the persons for these bloody sacrifices. Unfortunate-
a “living deity,” he or she had returned to the High Heavens
ly, most of the records and representations of these sacrificial
and there become secluded behind the bank of clouds. In
deaths come from the elite sectors of the societies. Such evi-
many cases, death restores a person to true form, as in the
dence must be used carefully, always bearing in mind that
case of a deity who had temporarily taken on material or
the voices of the powerless and the disenfranchised were rare-
human form. In yet other cases, at death the individual is re-
ly recorded.
portedly changed instantly into another now permanent or
eternal form—a star in the heavens, a rock formation, a
Sacrificial rites. Modern scholars have with little diffi-
spring—leaving no corpse
culty reconstructed the symbolic logic informing the ritual
taking of human life in Mesoamerican empires. There once
When a corpse is present, however, it is usually consid-
again myths and rituals proffer the paradoxical claim that life
ered to be polluted, leading to numerous avoidance proce-
comes out of death. In order to renew the cosmos and to
dures. In many societies, only designated individuals may
guarantee fertility and regeneration, blood must be shed at
touch and prepare the corpse. In India, these ritual function-
a specific time, at a specific place, and in a specific choreo-
aries are outcastes; in other societies, they may be close rela-
graphed manner. This might be in the form of ritual bleed-
tives, who take on a polluted state for the duration of the fu-
ings from the penis of the Mayan king or through human
nerary and mourning rites. In modern technologically
sacrifice at the Aztec New Year and other appropriate mo-
developed societies, these roles have been assumed by medi-
ments of transformative potential (cf., Carrasco, 1999).
cal professionals and professional morticians.
Such rituals clearly represented the religio-political ide-
In a striking number of cultures, though, it is predomi-
ology of the power elites. It should not be uncritically as-
nately women who perform these ritual duties. Bloch and
sumed, however, that such ritual performances accurately re-
Parry have provocatively argued that the prominence of
presented the shared cultural understanding of all people in
women in funerary rites is not, as Frazer and many others
the empire. At the same time, neither should it be uncritical-
believed, so much a part of the symbolic regeneration of life
ly assumed that the rites were nothing more than a vehicle
as it is a symbolic elaboration of female sexuality and fertility
for ideological obfuscation on the part of the ruling elites.
precisely in order to oppose it to “real” vitality. That is, fe-
To be sure, in significant ways, human sacrifice was a forced
male sexuality and biological reproduction are equated with
performance, but cases exist in which persons voluntarily
death-in-life, which must be overcome. Among other reli-
went to their own deaths, and as such require an understand-
gions Bloch and Parry cite, they suggest that Christianity
ing the power such symbolic activities—designed to effect
epitomizes this pattern. They contrast the role the woman
the magic of transforming death into life or even immortali-
Eve played in the Fall in the Garden of Eden—which led to
ty—can have over individuals and groups. At a minimum,
human sexuality, biological procreation, and death—to that
the question here is one of what constitutes a meaningful vol-
of the Virgin Mary. The asexual conception of Jesus and his
untary death for specific groups.
subsequent death and resurrection restore the possibility of
access to the life eternal of Paradise. The meaning and valua-
The history and complex multiple and competing
tion of physiological death, fertility, and regeneration can be
meanings of the Hindu ritual practice of sati—the self-
totally transformed by shifts in symbolic and ritual represen-
immolation of a widow on her husband’s funerary pyre—
tations, which recontexualize these (Bloch and Parry, 1982).
may serve as an exemplar of voluntary ritual death. Sati has
long captured people’s imagination, but only recently have
Whatever the merit of Bloch and Parry’s overall thesis,
scholars begun to explore its history and the complex, ongo-
it is clear that the meanings of concepts such as death, fertili-
ing, and contested representations of its meaning. For in-
ty, sexuality, and rebirth are not singular, nor are they cultur-
stance, Catherine Weinberger-Thomas (Chicago, 1999) sen-
ally determined for all time or for all persons within a cul-
sitively explored how British merchants and later colonial
ture. The meanings for such fundamental categories can be
authorities used the ritual as a rationale for taking control of
renegotiated over time within the same religious tradition,
India; how Western scholars have depicted it and why; how
as Ariès and others have shown. At an individual or subgroup
fundamentalist Hindu religious and political groups have
level, they may also be affected by one’s class, gender, or oc-
embraced it; the complex issues of gender; and the at times
cupation among other things. A few admittedly extreme ex-
intense social and familial pressures a widow faces. She also
amples allow a more general point about these factors to be
seeks to understand why some young women chose to follow
made. Take, for instance, Egyptian pharaohs. They no doubt
their husbands in death. She discloses the power of the belief
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DEATH
2243
that the widow’s self-immolation makes two human bodies
of death before the mind’s eye of the living has often served
into one indivisible body, which is ritually transformed into
didactic purposes, moving persons to act in spiritually and
a sacrificial oblation and rice ball—a pinda. The funeral pyre
morally proper and ascribed ways. The Buddhist ritual con-
becomes the mirror image of the marriage bed in which male
templation of putrefying corpses, the ritual visualization of
and female powers were first conjoined, although now this
the inevitable future of all human bodies, visiting collective
union of opposites is forever. This ritual suicide is also the
ossuaries, and so on have been used to move people to re-
inverse of the primordial self sacrifice of Purusha, as detailed
nounce the material body and the world. Graphic pictures
in R:gveda X: 40. In the latter, the primordial divine sacrifice
of hells and the land of the dead in many religions have simi-
leads to the creation of the material world, the caste system,
larly served to keep death in the minds of people, just as im-
and so on; with the ritual sacrifice of sati, all of these are over-
ages of heaven and the afterlife have proffered hope to many.
come and the couple escapes the cycle of birth-death-rebirth.
The ubiquitous presence of death, however, can also
Continued presence of death in life. It is a common-
make it banal and rob it of any sense of sacrality or meaning.
place to say that religions create worlds of meaning. But they
People can become inured to death by the numbing effect
also create meaningful deaths. Death is never far from
of the sheer numbers of the dead in times of plague, war, and,
human experience, no matter how people may try to banish
to use a modern term, natural disaster. Death’s seemingly re-
it from sight and mind. It permeates daily life just as it struc-
lentless redundancy can lead persons to perform horribly im-
tures the rhythms of collective life. Graveyards, ossuaries,
moral acts as death’s banality threatens the foundations of
tombs, memorials, and museums bring the presence of death
society. Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon, set in Kyoto in an
and the dead into human consciousness and landscape.
age of terrible civil war and a time of rampaging plague, is
Monumental architectural buildings and structures seek to
an unforgettable portrait of death’s power to destroy law and
guarantee and to control the memory of the dead by future
order and to create utter chaos. Sheer desperation, coupled
generations. The mall of Washington, D.C., for instance, is
with the drive to survive, can lead humans to depravity as
a public space filled with memorials to the dead designed to
the moral order of the universe collapses. In the European
evoke a sacred sense of the past and a collective American
Holocaust, the carrying out of the Nazi policy of extermina-
identity. Today in secular scientific cultures, human genes
tion of the Jews, gypsies, and others was possible in part be-
and DNA have become yet another way of re-imagining the
cause in the camps killing became so banal.
continued presence of the dead in the living.
There is also the “death without weeping”—the resigna-
Religious calendars are punctuated with festivals and
tion at times of the poorest of the poor to the necessity of
observances related to the dead, but so are secular calendars.
death for some if others are to live. The myriad images of
The citizens of modern nation-states celebrate memorial days
a happier life in the future that many religions have proffered
of various sorts for their war dead, the victims of genocide,
must not blind one to the desperate, horrible, and yet ratio-
presidents, and kings, but they also celebrate birthdays and
nal decision that innumerable mothers have made through-
beginnings. Even when the dead are feared or are considered
out history to stop feeding one child so that others might live
polluting and, thus, are segregated and separated spatially
(cf., Scheper-Hughes, 1992). Similarly, in much of the world
from the living, they hover nearby. Ritual avoidances of spe-
today and in all countries before the advances of modern
cific places, foods, words, names, and so on also bring the
medicine, giving birth was an extremely dangerous act. All
dead—even in their physical absence—into the conscious-
too often, bringing life into the world meant the death of the
ness of the living. The dead live in memory, in dreams, and
mother.
in physical tokens. In other cases, the dead are physically near
to hand—buried under the cathedral floor, enshrined in part
Yet, in the history of religions, few societies have collec-
or in whole as holy relics in temples and sanctuaries, or in-
tively embraced an existential fatalism, which assumes that
terred under the entranceway to a house. The dead may even
death is meaningless. Rather, plagues, wars, and natural di-
be literally incorporated into the living through some form
sasters have often been taken to be cosmological signs of
of endocannibalism (e.g., Amazonian natives drinking the
some sort. They have generated eschatological visions on a
cremation ashes of a villager). Scholars have noted the strik-
cosmic scale of the end of the world as we know it and the
ing similarity to the symbolism (or the reality of the miracle
beginning of a new world. Or they have stimulated calendri-
of transubstantiation) of the Christian Eucharist—“This is
cal speculation on a cosmic scale, with the positing of ages
my body; this is my blood.”
through which the universe must pass. Examples are legion,
ranging from ancient Indian speculation on devolutionary
Death is everpresent, as well, in the privileged myths
cosmic ages (yugas) and Buddhist writings on the present
and stories told again and again in song and poetry, in the
time as the Age of Declining Dharma to the elaborate inter-
arts (painting, sculpture, weaving, mosaics, pottery, etc.), in
meshing calendars of the Aztecs and the Mayans, which inex-
dance and dramatic performances, in children’s play (“Ring
orably move through their cycles of change and ends and be-
around a rosey/ pocketful of posies/ ashes, ashes, all fall
ginnings. In almost all cases, as has been seen in the case with
down.”), and today on television, in the movies, and in video
the death of an individual, the end is imagined as a begin-
games. Bringing the ubiquity and the absolute redundancy
ning. The end of a cosmic age is a moment of transition 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
2244
DEATH
transformation, one marked by death, destruction, and dan-
Aries’ work reminds one that the manner in which death and
ger. Yet the religious imagination of humans turns this dark
the afterlife (or, the different possible consequences of death)
time—this descent into chaos—into a prelude to a renewed
are imagined and represented informs the lived experience
time and a return to order. Often this denouement is re-
of death both by the dying person and the survivors. Aries
hearsed in ritual performance and mythic narration.
describes “the tame death” in medieval Europe when a dying
individual accepted his or her coming death and met it at
The need to explain death. Death is both uniform and
home. Surrounded by loved ones, the dying person said her
arbitrary. It is uniform in so far as all persons, regardless of
or his last goodbyes and prepared to face death calmly, for
social status, position, and wealth are subject to dying. Death
one’s state of mind at the time of death helped to determine
is arbitrary, though, in terms of when it strikes, how it
one’s fate.
strikes, and often who it strikes. In this sense, death is enig-
matic, mysterious, and unnerving. Although death is inevita-
Many religions have taught ways of preparing for death
ble, specific deaths need to be explained. In many societies,
and facing this inevitability calmly. Holy men of the Agora
the corpse or skeletal remains were examined for evidentiary
sect in India meditate on death in the cremation grounds,
purposes, or other ritual means, such as divination, were em-
spread the ashes of the dead over their own bodies, use
ployed to determine who or what had caused a death. Today
human skulls as begging bowls, and pursue other practices
in scientifically developed countries, a special medical practi-
in order to live with death continually (cf. Parry, 1994).
tioner will perform an autopsy for these purposes.
Some Japanese samurai also practiced daily meditation in
In the past and in many traditional cultures today, ritual
which they envisioned their deaths in battle. By practicing
autopsies of a different sort were and are performed. In rural
dying in this way, they sought to prepare themselves to face
Greece, for instance, as in centuries past, old women and fe-
death unflinchingly (Reynolds and Waugh, 1977). In a myr-
male relatives will fondle and closely examine exhumed skel-
iad number of different ways, humans have sought to control
etal bones for signs of the moral condition of the deceased
death, even if it could not be conquered. The query “Death
and, thus, his or her posthumous fate (cf. Danforth, 1982).
where is thy sting?” is an expression of the achievement of
In other societies, the condition of a corpse after death is
this control over death (1 Corinthians 15:55).
taken to be a sign of his or her spiritual status. In Buddhist
One way to gain control over death is to control the
and Christian lore, for example, the corpses of saints do not
timing of one’s death or to overcome the arbitrary timing of
decay, nor do they emit disgusting odors. Rather, they release
death by foretelling it. The ability to predict one’s own death
aromatic smells. Such extraordinary corpses are, of course,
or to will it to happen at a certain time and place are widely
the source of relics in the cults of religions around the world.
recognized as a sign or a power of a holy person. The Japa-
Such body relics are the repository of healing and saving
nese Buddhist poet-monk Saigyo¯ (1118–1190) wrote a well-
powers; they are also yet another expression of the belief in
known poem (no. 77) included in his collection, Sankashu¯
life-from-death.
(Nihon koten bungaku taikei, Vol. 29, p. 32), that reads:
If the timing of death often seems arbitrary, societies
and religious communities seek to regularize it temporally by
negawaku wa Let me die, I pray, hana no shita nite
punctuating religious and political calendars with days me-
under the cherry blossoms haru shinan of spring. sono
morializing the dead. Whether it be the Sh¯ıEah Muslims’ an-
kisaragi no around the full moon mochizuki no koro of
the month of Kisaragi.
nual memorialization and re-enactment of the martyrdom of
al Husain, Christians’ annual ritual remembrances of the
Kisaragi is the classical Japanese name for the second lunar
crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection, the celebration
month. Gotama the Buddha passed away on the fifteenth of
throughout East Asia of the festival of the dead, a ritual time
this month, so Saigyo¯’s wish was to emulate the Buddha even
when the spirits of the dead are invited to return to the world
in death. When Saigyo¯ died on the sixteenth of Kisaragi,
of the living and are entertained there, or modern national
many people took this as an auspicious sign. Saigyo¯’s posthu-
memorial days for the war dead, calendars are filled with days
mous fame rested in part on this “proof” of his extraordinary
dedicated to the collective recollection of the dead. Through
spiritual nature. Similar miraculous powers of forecasting
such collective reflections on death, communal values are re-
one’s own death are found in religions around the world.
affirmed. In an important sense, life cannot have meaning
CONCLUSION. These general comments on death in the his-
until death does.
tory of religions have done little more than present a brief
While death is universal, it is imagined, encountered,
introduction to the subject. In many ways, conceptions of
and responded to in a myriad number of different ways
death are subject to change over time, just as they vary dra-
across space and time. Death in the history of religions is the
matically in different religions. The imagining of death is not
history of the ever-changing imagination and revaluation of
an empty exercise; it shapes the individual and communal
death, as well as of the stylized responses to it. Philippe Aries’
experience of death and life. That death is a fact of life re-
magisterial thousand-year history of death in Europe is one
mains one of the most intractable mysteries that human be-
notable attempt to interpret and understand the existential
ings must confront. Human beings past and present have al-
meaning of the shifting representations of death over time.
ways sought to find meaning in death and, thereby, in life.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DECONSTRUCTION
2245
The history of this search for meaning in the history of reli-
Metcalf, Peter, and Richard Huntington. Celebrations of Death:
gions is both poignant and ennobling.
The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual. Cambridge, U.K.,
1979; 2d ed., 1991.
SEE ALSO Afterlife; Ages of the World; Alchemy; Ancestors;
Nihon koten bungaku taikei, vol. 29. Tokyo, 1958.
Ashes; Banaras; Birth; Bones; Bushido; Cannibalism; Cargo
Parry, Jonathon. Death in Benares. New York, 1994.
Cults; Day of the Dead; Descent into the Underworld;
Dying and Rising Gods; Easter; Eschatology, overview arti-
Reynolds, Frank E., and Earle H. Waugh, eds. Religious Encoun-
cle; Fall, The; Funeral Rites, overview article; Ghost Dance;
ters with Death: Insights from the History and Anthropology of
Heaven and Hell; Human Sacrifice; Initiation; Life; Other-
Religions. University Park, Pa., 1977.
world; Pure and Impure Lands; Relics; Rites of Passage;
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. Death Without Weeping: The Violence of
Sacrifice; Sati; Suicide; Tombs; Underworld.
Everyday Life in Brazil. Berkeley, Calif., 1992.
Spencer, Herbert. Principles of Sociology. London, 1885.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stannard, David E. The Puritan Way of Death: A Study of Religion,
Alexiou, Margaret. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Lon-
Culture, and Social Change. Oxford, 1977.
don, 1974.
Tylor, Edward B. Primitive Culture. London, 1871.
Ariès, Philippe. The Hour of Our Death. New York, 1981.
Weinberger-Thomas, Catherine. Ashes of Immortality: Widow
Bachofen, Johann Jakob. Versuch uber Grabersymbolik der Alten,
Burning in India. Chicago, 1999.
Basel, Germany, 1859.
Bloch, Maurice, and Jonathon Parry, eds. Death and the Regenera-
GARY L. EBERSOLE (2005)
tion of Life. Cambridge, U.K., 1982.
Carrasco, Davíd. City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role
of Violence in Civilization. Boston, 1999.
DECALOGUE SEE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Danforth, Loring M. The Death Rituals of Rural Greece. Princeton,
1982.
Durkheim Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Lon-
DE CHARDIN, PIERRE TEILHARD SEE
don, 1915.
TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, PIERRE
Desjarlais, Robert. Sensory Biographies: Lives and Deaths Among
Nepal’s Yolmo Buddhists. Berkeley, Calif., 2003.
Ebersole, Gary L. Ritual Poetry and the Politics of Death in Early
DECONSTRUCTION. The word deconstruction was
Japan. Princeton, 1989.
coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930–2004),
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. Theories of Primitive Religion. Oxford,
with whom the movement of that same name is identified.
1965.
Derrida rejects the classical anthropological model of lan-
Frazer, James. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion.
guage, according to which the speaking subject gives verbal
London, 1912.
expression to inner thoughts that are subsequently written
Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Psy-
down. In such a model, writing is a sign of speaking; speak-
chic Lives of Savages and Neurotics. New York, 1918.
ing is a sign of thinking; and thinking is a sign of being. In-
Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. New York, 1928.
stead, Derrida follows the structuralist thesis of Swiss linguist
Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. London, 1930.
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), which posits that lan-
guage is to be understood scientifically as a purely formal sys-
Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism. New York, 1939.
tem of signs (langue) internally related to one another (like
Hardacre, Helen. Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan. Berke-
a dictionary in which one word is defined by other words)
ley, Calif., 1997.
and underlying the utterances of speaking subjects (parole),
Harrison, Jane. Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Reli-
thus eliminating both the subjective-psychological and ob-
gion. Cambridge, U.K., 1911.
jective-metaphysical factors. In Saussure’s model, signifiers
Hertz, Robert. “A Contribution to the Study of the Collective
are arbitrary (the word king has no natural likeness to a real
Representation of Death.” In Death and the Right Hand,
king) and differential (they differ by the “space” between,
trans. Rodney C. Needham. London, 1960.
say, king and ring). The signified is the effect produced by
Hori, Ichiro. “Self-Mummified Buddhas in Japan: An Aspect of
the rule-governed use of signifiers. Derrida’s thought is post-
the Shugen-do¯ (‘Mountain Asceticism’) Sect.” History of Re-
structuralist; it criticizes Saussure for privileging speech over
ligions 1, 2 (1962): 222–242.
writing, in violation of the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign,
Kimura, Takeshi. “Bearing the ‘Bare Facts’ of Ritual: A Critique
and for treating linguistic strings as closed systems of fixed
of Jonathan Z. Smith’s Study of the Bear Ceremony Based
structures. Metaphors and wordplay illustrate the uncontain-
on a Study of the Ainu Iyomante.” Numen 46, no. 1 (1999):
able capacity of linguistic chains to network out indefinitely
88–114.
in new directions, pushing endlessly against the limits im-
LaFleur, William R. Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan.
posed by the rules. Derrida encapsulated his adaptation of
Princeton, 1992.
Saussure in the neologism différance, French philosophy’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
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DECONSTRUCTION
most famous misspelling. The idea is to keep networks open-
iety since the future is also an absolute risk. The motif of the
ended, to resist their tendencies to closure, in order to allow
“come” clearly has messianic overtones that Derrida ac-
new and unforeseen effects.
knowledged in later, more autobiographical, essays like “Cir-
cumfession,” where he reflects on his birth as a Jew and on
Deconstruction is not a settled body of substantive the-
his early life in a Jewish family in French Algeria. The motifs
ses or positions but a style of thinking that applies in any field
of love and desire have overtones of Augustine’s cor inquie-
of inquiry, theoretical or practical, by virtue of which any
tum, of what Derrida calls the “prayers and tears of Augus-
present set of beliefs or practices is held to be indefinitely re-
tine,” which also surface in these same essays about his life
visable (deconstructible) in the light of something unrevis-
in the Franco-Christian colony that is the historic land of
able (undeconstructible). Inasmuch as the undeconstructible
Augustine.
is never actually present or realized, the undeconstructible is
also said to be “the impossible.” According to Derrida, the
The word deconstruction, which has the predominantly
least bad definition of deconstruction is the “experience of
negative sense of disassembling something, is clearly not the
the impossible.” “Least bad” because, in deconstruction,
best word for this deeply affirmative mode of thinking.
which is resolutely anti-essentialist (nominalistic), words
Coined by Derrida as a translation of Heidegger’s Destruk-
have only a relatively stable unity of meaning, shifting histo-
tion, and used by him to characterize his own work, it owes
ries of use, and no fixed or defined borders. Derrida uses the
its currency just as much to commentators who seized upon
word experience in the sense not of empirical data gathering
it. Heidegger himself was likely referring to Martin Luther’s
but of running up against something unexpected, even trau-
use of destructio, which itself goes back to 1 Corinthians 1:19.
matic. “The impossible” does not mean a simple logical con-
Just as for Luther, destroying the wisdom of the wise meant
tradiction, such as (p & ~p), but something that shatters the
nothing destructive, but rather the recovery of the original
horizon of expectation, that is not accountable (or possible)
sense of scripture by breaking through the crust of Scholastic
under prevailing presuppositions.
theology. And just as Heidegger did not mean anything neg-
The same sense is conveyed when Derrida describes de-
ative but rather the recovery of the unthought sense of
construction as the “invention of the other.” Invention has
“being” that was hidden in the history of metaphysics, so De-
the more literal sense of “coming upon” and even of “in-
rrida does not mean anything negative, but rather the releas-
coming” (Latin, in-veniens), running up against something
ing of the possibility of the impossible, or the coming of the
that comes in upon or comes over us, overwhelming our
event, that threatens to be closed off by conventional inter-
powers of anticipation. By the “other,” Derrida means not
pretation and practices. While the word has entered the gen-
the relatively other—that is, new evidence confirming an ex-
eral vocabulary (e.g., “deconstructing Woody Allen”) with
isting horizon—but the “wholly other” (tout autre), a phrase
the negative sense of knocking down and exposing faults, to
he borrows from the Jewish ethicist Emmanuel Levinas,
deconstruct something in Derrida’s sense is not to ruin it but
meaning something unforeseeable, unrepresentable, for
to give it a history, to open it up to a future. Something that
which we have no concept. A deconstructive analysis thus
is insulated from deconstruction is not protected but petri-
prepares the way for or explores “the possibility of the impos-
fied, having hardened over into a dogma, like a law that
sible.” Jean-François Lyotard makes a comparable distinc-
could never be reformed or repealed. The word enjoyed, or
tion between making a new move in an old game (the possi-
suffered from, a succès de scandale, particularly in American
ble or relatively other) and inventing a new game altogether
literary theory circles in the 1970s, where it seemed to invite
(the impossible or wholly other). That, in turn, invites com-
a kind of interpretive anarchy that licensed any interpreta-
parison with Thomas Kuhn’s distinction between normal sci-
tion, however bizarre. When Derrida protested against such
ence, which makes new discoveries within an existing para-
interpretations, critics thought him involved in the self-
digm, and revolutionary science, when an anomaly forces a
contradiction of insisting that his own texts should be inter-
fundamental reconfiguration of the current schema, result-
preted carefully, thus refuting his own theory that anything
ing in a “paradigm shift.”
goes.
Derrida has recourse to a family of venir (“to come”)
In fact, careful reading is what deconstruction is all
words picked up in English in both Latinate (invention) and
about. A philosophical theory with wider implications, de-
Anglo-Saxon forms (coming). Deconstruction is turned to
construction first gained ascendancy in the 1960s and 1970s
the “in-coming,” the invention, or the advent, of the “event,”
as a literary theory. A deconstructive reading settles deeply
which is a unique and “singular” happening, not an instance
into the grain of a text, sensitizing itself to its tropes and met-
or example of a universal (Derrida’s idea of “singularity” is
aphors, its choice of words, the chains in which those words
derived from So⁄ren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and
are caught up, and the complex and even anonymous opera-
Levinas). The event defies convention, where everything is
tions of the linguistic system in which the author is working,
regularized and routinized. Deconstructive thinking is guid-
in order to show that the text contains an unmasterable com-
ed by the invocation “come” (viens), which Derrida has not
plexity—dissemination—that cannot be contained by the au-
hesitated to call a certain “prayer,” by which he means a deep
thor’s own intentions or conscious logic. Thus, Derrida’s
desire or love of the event to come, which is not without anx-
well-known critique of “logo-centrism.” Derrida’s frequent
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DECONSTRUCTION
2247
use of puns and wordplay is not a substitute for an argument
Religious thinkers are fascinated by a distinction Derri-
but an exemplification of a theory about wordplay, which il-
da introduced in the 1990s between the concrete “messia-
lustrates the unmasterable, unintended dimension of lan-
nisms”—the three great monotheistic religions of the book,
guage, the semantic, graphic, and phonic chains that no in-
as well as the philosophical eschatologies of G. W. F. Hegel,
tentional agent can contain. James Joyce, an early hero of
Karl Marx, and Heidegger—and the pure “messianic” or
Derrida’s, embodies this point about language almost per-
“messianicity.” The pure messianic means the formal struc-
fectly. This disseminative effect is not something that a clever
ture of desire, expectancy, or openness, the pure structure of
writer or reader is doing to the text, exerting a kind of vio-
the “to come” (à venir)—like the hospitality to come, the jus-
lence or mastery over it, but an auto-deconstructive opera-
tice to come, and, most famously, the “democracy to
tion going on within the linguistic network itself.
come”—that is concretized in the historical messianisms. In
virtue of the pure messianic, one can speak of a “religion
That this is not interpretive anarchy but responsible
without religion,” a religious desire without confessional
work, Derrida thinks, is clear to anyone who reads carefully.
dogma or institutional ties. The “democracy to come” is not
Anyone who reads Greek philosophy carefully knows that
a Kantian regulative ideal, which brings a concept to ideal
there is all the difference between “Plato,” a shorthand for
completion beyond its empirical limits, because, for Derrida,
a cluster of condensed philosophical theses, summarized and
democracy is not a concept or an essence on which we are
passed along in prepackaged histories of philosophy, and a
making asymptotic progress, but a moment in the open-
close, careful reading of or immersion into Plato’s writings,
endedness of history that makes possible an event, whose
which reveals multiple voices, dramatic devices, conflicting
coming cannot be foreseen and whose name is not known,
and suggestive counter-motifs, and loose threads—in short,
and where nothing guarantees that it will not bring forth a
a “text,” a highly woven and interwoven complex, not a neat-
monster instead of a messiah. “Secular” political theory, and
ly argued “book” under the absolute conscious control of an
philosophy generally, is always transcribing an “unavowed
“author.” We might add that anyone who has studied the
theologeme,” like the messianic promise, thus skewing any
Jewish or Christian scriptures carefully will understand that
rigorous distinction between the religious and secular, faith
these are “texts” in just this sense; that is, a complex weave
and reason, religion and the nonreligious, prayer and social
(or “palimpsest”) of many voices, competing theological and
hope, theism and atheism.
political agendas, redactive layerings, anonymous interven-
tions, lost stories, liturgies, and multiple extra-textual refer-
This is not to say that religious thinkers were not inter-
ences or reinscriptions of earlier texts, texts without fixed
ested in deconstruction from the start. The early essay “Dif-
“margins.” In the same way, conservative critics charge de-
ferance” (1967) started a discussion with negative theology
construction with being out to destroy “tradition,” but Der-
that dominated the dialogue between deconstruction and
rida would respond that he only wants to show its immense
theology until the late 1990s. As Derrida says, he loves the
complexity and competing voices; there is no such thing as
syntax, semantics, and the tropes of negative theology, which
“tradition” in the singular but rather an interweaving of
is a self-effacing discourse, a discourse that attempts to erase
many traditions and counter-traditions, of dominant and re-
its own traces. Beyond matters of style, the critique of the
cessive voices, and even of chance mutations in manuscripts.
metaphysics of presence in deconstruction (what is present
Close readings of the past—the uncovering of forgotten
is deconstructible; the undeconstructible is never present)
women, for example—opens up hitherto closed possibilities
bears a substantive analogy to the critique of idols in apopha-
for the future. Deconstruction is very conservative, Derrida
tic theology (if you comprehend it, it is not God; if it is God,
once quipped, because the only way to love and be loyal to
you cannot comprehend it). Nonetheless, while negative the-
the past is to deconstruct it.
ology clearly uses deconstructive techniques, deconstruction
is not negative theology, because it has no commitment to
Although Derrida’s avant-garde style of writing, espe-
a hyperousios, to a Godhead beyond God or a God beyond
cially early on, lent superficial credibility to the misinterpre-
being. The exchange between Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion
tation of deconstruction as a form of relativism or even nihil-
is the most important in this regard.
ism, no one today can mistake the sustained seriousness of
the later writings, whose ethical, political, and even religious
In the 1980s, deconstruction was appropriated by the
character is beyond doubt. Reading his account of the “gift
theology of the “death of God,” most notably in Mark C.
without return” or “forgiving the unforgivable,” more in-
Taylor’s Erring: A Postmodern A/theology (1984). Taylor ar-
formed critics today will accuse him of a Kantian rigorism
gued that the first wave of death-of-God thinking in the
or unrealistic ethical purism, an accusation that he also re-
nineteenth century left the old God standing under the new
jects. From the early 1980s on, Derrida has written not only
name of Humanity. Deconstruction is the true hermeneutics
about the gift and forgiveness, but about justice and the law,
of the death of God because it has displaced any absolute
hospitality, friendship, democracy, capital punishment, and
center, human or divine, with the free play of signifiers. God
international human rights. In 2003 he published Voyous, a
has descended into the world without remainder, even as
book about the denunciation of “rogue states” by the West-
scripture has descended into écriture without remainder, a
ern democracies.
reading that reflected the Nietzschean understanding of Der-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2248
DEFILEMENT
rida then dominant in American departments of literature.
DEFILEMENT SEE PURIFICATION; TABOO
Since then a different appreciation of the religious dimension
of deconstruction has emerged in thinkers such as John
Caputo, Kevin Hart, and Hent de Vries, for whom decon-
struction is the hermeneutics not of the death but of the de-
DE GROOD, J. J. M. SEE GROOT, J. J. M. DE
sire for God.
SEE ALSO Heidegger, Martin; Literature, article on Critical
Theory and Religious Studies; Structuralism.
DEIFICATION. The Latin term deificatio does not ap-
pear until late in the Roman era, and then first in Christian
B
literature, particularly in the controversies involving the Nes-
IBLIOGRAPHY
Altizer, Thomas J. J., ed. Deconstruction and Theology. New York,
torians, who blamed the orthodox for “deifying” the body
1982.
of Christ. In current usage, the English term deification is
equivalent to apotheosis. In light of history, however, apotheo-
Caputo, John D. The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion
sis might be reserved to refer to the consecration of heroes,
without Religion. Bloomington, Ind., 1997.
of political personages, of Hellenistic sovereigns and, nota-
Carlson, Thomas A. Indiscretion: Finitude and the Naming of God.
bly, of Roman emperors. In this article the subject will be
Chicago, 1999.
the deification of individuals or of things generally through
Derrida, Jacques. Writing and Difference. Translated by Alan Bass.
means that correspond to certain general tendencies of
Chicago, 1978.
Greco-Roman paganism.
Derrida, Jacques. “Circumfession: Fifty-nine Periods and Periph-
PYTHAGOREANISM AND CATHARTIC DEIFICATION. Since
rases.” In Jacques Derrida, by Geoffrey Bennington and
death makes the radical difference between men and gods,
Jacques Derrida, translated by Geoffrey Bennington. Chica-
the problem of deification is indeed that of immortalization.
go, 1993.
In the Classical epoch, the Greeks attributed the power of
immortalizing (athanatizein) to the Getae and to the Thra-
Derrida, Jacques. On the Name. Edited by Thomas Dutoit. Stan-
ford, Calif., 1995.
cians through a kind of shamanism that may have involved
Zalmoxis. No evidence exists of the ritual patterns of these
Derrida, Jacques. The Gift of Death. Translated by David Wills.
practices, but they must have been based on a doctrine of the
Chicago, 1995.
soul and on the existence of spiritual elites. Zalmoxis was re-
Derrida, Jacques. Monolingualism of the Other, or, The Prosthesis
garded as a daimo¯n and as a disciple of Pythagoras. The con-
of Origin. Translated by Patrick Mensah. Stanford, Calif.,
nection is significant, since belief in metempsychosis is some-
1998.
times attributed to the Thracians.
Derrida, Jacques. “On Forgiveness: A Roundtable Discussion with
The belief in metempsychosis is tied to the first explicit
Jacques Derrida.” In Questioning God, edited by Mark Doo-
formulation of a deification of persons through asceticism
ley, Michael Scanlon, and John D. Caputo. Bloomington,
and the satisfaction of penalties consequent upon the plea-
Ind., 2001.
sures of previous lives. It is found in the writings of the Py-
Derrida, Jacques. Acts of Religion. Edited by Gil Anidjar. London
thagorean philosopher Empedocles (frag. 145–146): a soul
and New York, 2002.
is a kind of “demon” that is bound to the cycle of reincarna-
Derrida, Jacques. Voyous. Paris, 2003.
tion in expiation for its faults. At the end of purifying rein-
carnations, after having been “prophets, cantors, physicians
Derrida, Jacques, and John D. Caputo. Deconstruction in a Nut-
. . . ,” these fallen and ransomed “demons” are “reborn as
shell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida. Edited with a
gods”: they become the “table companions of the immor-
commentary. New York, 1997.
tals.” The last two verses of the Pythagorean Golden Verses
Derrida, Jacques, and Jean-Luc Marion. “On the Gift: A Discus-
(70f.) offer hope of a state like that of an immortal god for
sion between Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion.” In
the sage “who, having left his body behind, goes forward into
God, the Gift, and Postmodernism, edited by John D. Caputo
the free ether.” Hierocles would explain this deifying libera-
and Michael J. Scanlon. Bloomington, Ind., 1999.
tion of the soul as the “highest aim of the hieratic and sacred
de Vries, Hent. Philosophy and the Turn to Religion. Baltimore,
craft,” that is, of philosophy. Deification, then, consists of
1999.
restoring the personal daimo¯n to its authentic status as an im-
Hart, Kevin. The Trespass of the Sign: Deconstruction, Theology, and
mortal god. It is the goal of a spiritual asceticism confirmed
Philosophy. New York, 2000.
by various means of testing.
Horner, Robyn. Rethinking God as Gift: Marion, Derrida, and the
The same teaching is implicit in Plato, notably in the
Limits of Phenomenology. New York, 2001.
Phaedo (69c, 114c), where the philosopher is talking not ex-
pressly about a deification, but rather about a sojourn among
Taylor, Mark C. Erring: A Postmodern A/theology. Chicago, 1984.
the gods. It is also seemingly implicit in the inscriptions en-
JOHN D. CAPUTO (2005)
graved upon the noted golden tablets of Thurii (fourth 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
DEIFICATION
2249
third century BCE) and of Rome (second century CE). These
against death and infernal demons. Dionysos was held to
assure the deceased that he will be a god by virtue of his heav-
have returned from the nether regions along with his mother
enly ancestry, his divine race, and the sentence that he has
Semele, and to have been “reborn.” His myth provided a
served. Caecilia Secundina “became divine according to the
model for the rebirth of any initiate, to whom the same im-
law,” that is, by the law that governs reincarnations (Orphi-
mortality was promised (Turcan, 1966, pp. 396ff., 436ff.,
corum fragmenta 32g.4). The deceased in one of these tablets
466ff.). This regeneration required the (figurative) death of
states expressly that he has escaped at last the “circle of sor-
the initiate, who was subjected to a rite of katabasis. The ini-
rows,” an image that elsewhere is applied to the cycle of re-
tiate was seen as undergoing the same trials of initiation that
births. Whether these tablets bear inscribed fragments of an
had turned Dionysos into a true Bacchus (ibid., pp. 406ff.).
Orphic “book of the dead,” of a missa pro defunctis, or of a
The Neoplatonists compared the restoration of the soul (pu-
Pythagorean hieros logos (“sacred teaching”), their formulary
rified and reintegrated in God) to the awakening of Dionysos
promises a posthumous deification.
Liknites (ibid., p. 401). The initiation of the cult of Isis offers
many comparisons. The neophyte had to die to his previous
The same point of view is declared on the new tablet
life, and the ritual involved a descent into hell, with some
of Hipponium: the soul of the deceased woman will take “the
kind of mystical or hallucinatory journey through the cos-
sacred path along which the other initiates and Bacchants
mos. Yet as recompense the initiate was defied, adorned “ad
walk unto glory.” The reference is to Orphic Bacchants. It
instar Solis” (“as a likeness of the Sun,” that is, Osiris-Helios),
is significant that Orphic vegetarianism expresses the desire
and held up to the faithful as an idol. The benevolence of
to live not as men but as gods. This asceticism had the aim
Isis, who judged someone to be worthy, made the neophyte
of purifying man from his Titanic components by liberating
into a new Osiris. The funeral rites of mummification in an-
the Bacchus within him. A liberation of this sort coincides,
cient Egypt had the same purpose. Yet in figuratively antici-
as it does in Empedocles and Plato, with the escape from the
pating the initiate’s death, the mysteries of Isis during the
“circle of genesis.” The Orphic-Pythagorean deification thus
Roman epoch in some way democratized apotheosis, in that
presupposes a persevering action directed toward oneself, a
in its beginnings only pharaohs were the beneficiaries.
cathartic and mystic tension. When Hippolytus (Philosophu-
mena 6.9.25) attributes to Pythagoras the statement that
The mysteries of Cybele likewise promised a regenera-
souls “become immortal, once they are detached from their
tion to their adherents and an elevation (epanodos) toward
bodies,” this does not mean that physical death liberates
the gods. Just as in the initiation of the cult of Isis, the initi-
them automatically, but that immortality is the reward for
ate is thought of as dying like Attis, in order to share in the
continual effort at personal purification. This conviction is
love of Cybele in a blessed hieros gamos. The Galli, by castrat-
based upon a dualist anthropology.
ing themselves, identified with Attis. To avoid this personal
bodily sacrifice, use was made of the taurobolium, the ritual
THE MYSTERIES AND INITIATORY DEIFICATION. Orphic-
sacrifice of a bull. The function and meaning of the tauro-
Pythagorean ideas were disseminated with variations (espe-
bolium are debated (R. Duthoy, The Taurobolium: Its Evolu-
cially involving metempsychosis) by advocates of Platonism
tion and Terminology, Leiden, 1969). Yet the fact remains
and Neoplatonism. Ever since the Classical epoch, the Or-
that the beneficiary of the taurobolium was factitiously iden-
phic mystics, as well as various wandering charlatans, had
tified with the victim by drenching himself in the victim’s
promised, through the use of specialized formulas, not a reli-
blood, thereby becoming an Attis that those present could
gious purification, but only an ethical purification in the
worship. Just like the initiate of Isis, the initiate of Attis was
spirit of the philosophers. Later, during the Hellenistic age,
“reborn” through the taurobolium: in aeternum renatus.
the multiplication and success of mystery religions popular-
Whatever the rites or mysteries, the resting with a divine na-
ized a new form of deification.
ture was thought of as a regeneration (Nilsson, 1974,
These cults—centered on deities who were regarded as
p. 653). This feature is also seen in Hermetic deification.
having lived and suffered among men—put into question
HERMETISM AND GNOSTIC DEIFICATION. Comparing as-
the radical distinction between cursed mortals and blessed
trology with an initiation, Vettius Valens (second century
immortals. Insofar as they made their initiates relive in a li-
CE) identifies contemplation of the stars with a kind of mysti-
turgical way the trials of the gods who had died and revived
cal union with God: the knowledge of the heavens “divi-
(Osiris) or were reborn (Attis), the mystery religions con-
nizes” the man who possesses it, as if the subject came to
nected their devotees with an adventure that ended with vic-
merge with the object. This is even more true of the knowl-
tory over death. Indeed, the initiation that, at first, was re-
edge of God when, in the imperial epoch, philosophy be-
garded as giving the candidates some assurance of a kind of
comes theosophy. In the Corpus Hermeticum, this idea recurs
privileged status in the beyond (Eleusis) tended also to safe-
frequently, “for this is the blessed end of those who have the
guard them against bad luck, and even to deify them by a
knowledge: they become God” (Corpus Hermeticum 1.26).
form of ritual identification with Dionysos, Attis, or Osiris.
The good choice—that of divine things—“deifies man”
The Dionysian mysteries made a Bacchus of the initiate; the
(ibid., 4.7). We are “divinized” by the birth into spiritual life
consecration of the initiate by means of the winnowing bas-
that constitutes gnosis. Asclepius 41 gives thanks to the su-
ket and the phallus regenerated him by immunizing him
preme God, that he has deigned to “consecrate for eternity,”
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2250
DEIFICATION
that is, to deify men in the flesh. This affirmation seems to
reproached pagans: the very idea that men could make gods!
conflict with that in Corpus Hermeticum 10.6, where it is de-
The most frequently denounced example of idolatrous fic-
nied that the soul can be divinized while in a body.
tion is that of Serapis who, according to Origen (Against Cel-
sus 5.38), owed his existence “to the profane mysteries and
Indeed, Hermetic gnosis supposes a complete regenera-
to the practices of sorcerers invoking demons.” Indeed, teles-
tion. It is the new man enlightened and reborn in God who
tic action consists of causing divine influence to enter into
becomes a god by dying to physical life and by becoming
idols, to “animate” them or to illuminate them through the
alien to the world even in this life. Regeneration consists of
magical process known as pho¯tago¯gia. This consecration of
the substitution of ten good “powers” (including “the knowl-
statues employing magical formulas played a great role in late
edge of God”) for twelve evil “powers” attributable to the zo-
paganism.
diac. The disciple then identifies himself with the cosmic
eternity, Aion, and he is then divinized. This is the very rec-
FUNERARY AND ICONOGRAPHIC DEIFICATION. The adorn-
ommendation that Nous makes to Hermes: “Become Aion,
ment of tombs displays the concern for deifying individuals
and you will understand God” (ibid., 11.20). Here again it
by analogy or through iconography. This tendency was first
is a matter of restoring the soul to its original state: “You are
evident in Rome among the class of freedmen who sought
born a god and a child of the One,” declares Hermes to Tat
thus to insure themselves some kind of moral promotion.
(ibid., 13.14).
Their cippi or stelae represent, from the first century CE,
Herakles, Hermes, Dionysos, and Artemis portrayed after
Similarly, the Gnostic systems derived from Christian
the image of the deceased man or woman. The epitaphs, the
inspiration, whatever the variations in their myths and their
architecture of the tombs, and the literary tradition confirm
soteriology, envision only the final restoration of the spirit
the intention to identify the dead with gods, goddesses, and
to its original divine state. Finally, the idea that by knowing
heroes. When the use of sarcophagi began to prevail at the
oneself one learns to know God and to be known by him
time of the Antonines, sepulchral imagery manifested even
so as to be “deified,” or “generated into immortality,” is ex-
more clearly the same concerns that are evident among
pressed by orthodox Christians (Hippolytus, Philosophumena
higher social circles; emperors and empresses provided the
10.34). In contrast with Hermes Trismegistos, Hippolytus
example. This style of funerary deification consisted either
promises the Christian a body that will be as immortal and
of featuring the deceased’s medallion portrait (imago elipeata)
incorruptible as the soul itself. But, like the Hermetist, the
as being carried by the gods (Tritons, Centaurs, Victories,
Christian must also die to the old man and to the profane
Erotes) or of giving the sculpted god, goddess, or hero the
life.
same features as the dead man or woman, who could then
MAGICAL AND THEURGIC DEIFICATION. Certain procedures
be seen as Dionysos, Ariadne, Mars, Hercules, Endymion,
of deification are comparable to Hermetic gnosis, at least in-
or Selene. Imagery of predatory animals (eagles, griffins) or
sofar as they are presented as “formulas for immortality” that
gods (Dioscuri, Pluto) also implies a deification by analogy.
feature magical concepts. This is true in the case of the so-
Finally, sarcophagi with figures of the Muses, or with scenes
called Mithraic liturgy (end of the third century CE), where
of teaching, of battle, or of hunting, heroize the deceased
the name of Mithra appears as only one of those associated
through association with the depicted qualities of gallantry
at that time with the sun. The ritual involves prayers and a
or erudition.
journey of the spirit that in some way anticipates the posthu-
Thus, in the Hellenistic and Roman world, philosophy,
mous ascension of the soul unto Helios and the heavenly
theosophy, magic, mystery religions, and the cult of the dead
Aion, both invoked for the occasion. As in Hermetism, the
all aspired to the same goal (one that on principle was exclud-
apathanatismos asserts that a subject is regenerated by the
ed in Classical Greek religion): for the individual person to
very object of his theosophical quest, but this is conditional
become or become again a god.
to the exact application of a formula. Other magical texts in-
sist upon the importance of knowledge revealed by the god
SEE ALSO Apotheosis; Soul, article on Greek and Hellenistic
or gods: “We thank you for . . . having divinized us through
Concepts; Theurgy; Thracian Religion.
the knowledge of your being,” states one papyrus. Following
the death of the magus, Aion carries away his breath (pneu-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ma) by way of rescuing it from Hades, “as befits a god.” The
Bianchi, Ugo. The Greek Mysteries. Leiden, 1976.
neophyte is “reborn” and freed from fate, as was the initiate
Bianchi, Ugo, and Maarten J. Vermaseren, eds. La soteriologia dei
of Isis. Neoplatonic theurgy would give its approval to pagan
culti orientali nell ’Impero Romano. Leiden, 1982.
magic, and Psellus could believe that it was capable of mak-
Dieterich, Albrecht. Eine Mithrasliturgie. 3d ed. Leipzig, 1923.
ing gods of men.
Dodds, E. R. The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley, 1951.
The magus could also deify animals by ritually mummi-
Festugière, A.-J. La révélation d’Hermès Trismégiste, vols. 3 and 4.
fying them in accordance with traditional Egyptian practices.
Paris, 1953–1954.
Further, he could deify idols through telestic action and the-
Festugière, A.-J. Hermétisme et mystique païenne. Paris, 1967.
urgy. In this sense, Asclepius 23 affirms that man is the cre-
Festugière, A.-J. Études de religion grecque et hellénistique. Paris,
ator of gods. It was precisely for this reason that Christians
1972.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEISM
2251
Festugière, A.-J. L’idéal religieux des Grecs et l’evangile. 2d ed. Paris,
Some Deists completely rejected all revealed and ecclesi-
1981.
astical religion, adopted anticlerical attitudes, challenged the
Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion. 2d ed., rev. Boston, 1963.
scriptural canon, questioned the credibility of miracle narra-
Nilsson, Martin P. Geschichte des griechischen Religion, vol. 2, Die
tives, or even rejected the New Testament as fabrication and
hellenistische und römische Zeit. 3d rev. ed. Munich, 1974.
imposture. Thus Edward Stillingfleet, bishop of Worcester,
Reitzenstein, Richard. The Hellenistic Mystery Religions. Translated
described the addressee of his polemical Letter to a Deist
by John E. Steely. Pittsburgh, 1978.
(1677) as “a particular person who owned the Being and
Providence of God, but expressed mean esteem of the Scrip-
Rohde, Erwin. Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality
among the Greeks (1925). Translated by W. B. Hillis. Lon-
tures and the Christian Religion.” Yet a number of influen-
don, 1950.
tial seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British thinkers de-
scribed themselves as “Christian Deists” on the grounds that
Schilling, Robert. “La déification à Rome: Tradition latine et in-
terférence grecque.” Revue des études latines 58 (1980): 137ff.
they accepted both the Christian religion based on supernat-
ural revelation and a Deistic religion based solely on natural
Turcan, Robert. Les sarcophages romains à représentations diony-
reason, consistent with Christianity but independent of any
siaques. Paris, 1966.
revealed authority.
Wrede, Henning. Consecratio in formam deorum: Vergöttlichte
Privatpersonen in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Mainz am Rhein,
Thus, even the principal sense of deism, which refers to
1981.
belief in God without belief in supernatural revelation, is in-
Zuntz, Günther. Persephone: Three Essays on Religion and Thought
herently imprecise. No sharp dividing line can be drawn be-
in Magna Graecia. Oxford, 1971.
tween Christian or revelationist Deists and Deists who recog-
R
nized no revelation. The former often accepted Christian
OBERT TURCAN (1987)
Translated from French by Paul C. Duggan
revelation precisely because it accords with natural or ratio-
nal religion and sometimes advocated allegorical readings of
scripture in order to secure this agreement, while the latter
DEISM.
often disavowed any “mean esteem” of Christian scriptures
The term deism was originally equivalent to the-
and expressed admiration for the inspiring way in which the
ism, differing only in etymology: theism based on the Greek
truths of natural religion were presented in them. Further,
word for god (theos), and deism on the Latin (deus). In the
there is no sharp line separating Christian Deists and ortho-
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, deism came
dox Christian theologians (such as Thomas Aquinas or Duns
to signify one or another form of rationalistic theological un-
Scotus) who maintain that some parts of Christian doctrine
orthodoxy. Often used pejoratively, it was also sometimes
can be known by natural reason.
worn as a badge of honor. The first known use of the term
occurs in the Instruction chrétienne (1564) of the Calvinist
Deism was most prominent in England, the only place
theologian Pierre Viret: “I have heard he is of that band who
where it approached the status of a movement. Among its
call themselves ‘Deists,’ a wholly new word which they
best-known representatives were Lord Herbert of Cherbury
would oppose to ‘Atheist.’”
(1583–1648), author of De veritate (1624); his disciple
In its principal meaning, deism signifies the belief in a
Charles Blount (1654–1693); John Toland (1670–1722),
single God and in a religious practice founded solely on natu-
author of Christianity not Mysterious (1696); Anthony Col-
ral reason rather than on supernatural revelation. Thus Viret
lins (1676–1729); and Matthew Tindal (1657–1733), au-
characterizes deists as “those who profess belief in God as cre-
thor of Christianity as Old as the Creation (1730), often de-
ator of heaven and earth, but reject Jesus Christ and his doc-
scribed as “the Deist’s Bible.” The powerful influence of
trines.” John Dryden’s preface to his poem Religio Laici
English Deism is attested by the sizable number of attacks
(1682) defines deism as “the opinion of those that acknowl-
on it by the orthodox, including not only Stillingfleet, but
edge one God, without the reception of any revealed reli-
also Richard Bentley, Charles Leslie, Samuel Clarke, and
gion.” The currency of the term in the eighteenth century
(most famously) Joseph Butler in his Analogy of Religion
was undoubtedly enhanced by the article on Viret in Pierre
(1736). Deism also met with vicious persecution in England,
Bayle’s Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697).
where blasphemy was punishable by forfeiture of civil rights,
fines, and even imprisonment. At least two prominent Deists
Like most epithets of controversy, deism was used in a
were imprisoned for expressing their blasphemous opinions:
number of senses other than its principal one. It was often
Thomas Woolston (1670–1733) was sent to prison in 1729
used as a vague term of abuse with no determinate meaning
and died there; Peter Annet was fined, pilloried, and impris-
at all. Among the chief subordinate or deviant senses of the
oned to hard labor in 1764 at age seventy.
term are (1) belief in a supreme being lacking in all attributes
of personality (such as intellect and will); (2) belief in a God,
Deism is generally associated with British religious
but denial of any divine providential care for the world; (3)
thought. However, a number of major continental religious
belief in a God, but denial of any future life; (4) belief in a
thinkers of the late sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
God, but rejection of all other articles of religious faith (so
centuries clearly qualify as Deists under the principal mean-
defined by Samuel Johnson in his Dictionary, 1755).
ing of the term. They include Giordano Bruno (1548–1600)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2252
DEITY
and Lucilio Vanini (1584–1619), both burned as heretics for
rey’s Voltaire and the English Deists (1930; reprint, Hamden,
rejecting ecclesiastical authority and scriptural revelation;
Conn., 1967) and Ernest C. Mossner’s Bishop Butler and the
Barukh Spinoza (1632–1677); François-Marie Arouet (Vol-
Age of Reason (New York, 1936). Perhaps the two most clas-
taire; 1694–1778); Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778);
sic works on religion by thinkers identified above as Deists
Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768); Gotthold Ephra-
are Barukh Spinoza’s Tractatus theologico-politicus (1670),
im Lessing (1729–1781); Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786);
translated by R. H. M. Elwes in Chief Works, vol. 1 (1883;
reprint, New York, 1955), and Immanuel Kant’s Religion
and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). (Both Voltaire and Kant,
within the Limits of Reason Alone (1793), translated by Theo-
however, repudiated the label “Deist” and always described
dore M. Greene and Hoyt H. Hudson (LaSalle, Ill., 1960).
themselves as “Theists.”) There were outspoken Deists
among the founding fathers of the United States of America,
ALLEN W. WOOD (1987)
notably Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), Thomas Paine
(1737–1809), and Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826).
Deism appears to be exclusively a seventeenth- and eigh-
DEITY. As a symbol, deity represents the human struggle
teenth-century phenomenon, but this is partly an illusion.
at its highest; it represents humanity’s effort to discover its
There are special reasons why the term deism attained curren-
identity in confrontation with the limits of its universe.
cy then but did not survive longer. The rise of modern sci-
Deity is the symbol of what transcends the human being and
ence did not immediately initiate warfare of science with reli-
the symbol of what lies hidden most deeply within. While
gion, but it did initiate warfare within religion, between the
other creatures merely accept their environments as a given,
orthodox who held fast to tradition, authority, and the su-
human beings exist as such only when they realize both their
pernatural, and the freethinkers, who sought a religion that
solidarity with the universe and their distinction from it. In
harmonized with nature and reason. A term was needed by
the journey toward self-identity humanity encounters deity.
the orthodox to distinguish the freethinkers from themselves,
In a cross-cultural context, deity symbolizes the transcen-
and by the religious freethinkers to distinguish themselves
dence of all the limitations of human consciousness and the
from mere atheists. Deism served both needs. The term has
movement of the human spirit toward self-identity through
fallen into disuse in the past two centuries, however, perhaps
its encounter with the ultimate. Deity symbolizes humanity’s
chiefly because in nineteenth- and twentieth-century philo-
knowledge that it is not alone nor the ultimate master of its
sophical and religious thought the distinctions between rea-
fate. And yet this knowledge, dim though it may be, asso-
son and tradition, nature and supernature, have lost the
ciates humanity with this same deity. Deity both transcends
sharpness they had for thinkers of the seventeenth and eigh-
and envelops humanity; it is inseparable from humanity’s
teenth centuries. Greater tolerance of diversity of opinion
awareness of its own identity and yet is always elusive, hid-
within Christian society has also lessened the need for an epi-
den, and for some, seemingly nonexistent.
thet whose principal function was to scourge independent
THE POLYSEMY OF THE WORD. Deity is a word with a diver-
thinkers. Deism itself has also become a less popular posi-
sity of meanings. It is an ambiguous and often polemical
tion, owing to the increasing tendency of rationalists to be-
word. The different interpretations that it has been given
come simple unbelievers rather than to settle for compro-
show that it is also a relative word.
mises and half-measures. Yet deism—in fact, if not in
name—still survives in all religious communities and indi-
Ambiguity. The word deity is ambiguous. It is not a
viduals whose convictions arise from autonomous thinking
proper name. It is not even a common name, since its possi-
rather than from the submission of reason to ecclesiastical or
ble referents are hardly homogeneous. It is the product of
scriptural authorities.
many and heterogeneous abstractions. Most names referring
to divine beings or the divine were originally common names
SEE ALSO Bruno, Giordano; Doubt and Belief; Enlighten-
singled out in a peculiar way. What was general became spe-
ment, The; Kant, Immanuel; Lessing, G.E.; Mendelssohn,
cific, concrete, and, like a single being, evocative of emotion.
Moses; Reimarus, Hermann Samuel; Rousseau, Jean-
Thus Alla¯h probably comes from al-illah, that is, “the God.”
Jacques; Spinoza, Barukh; Theism.
Ñinyi or Nnui, the name for God among the Bamum of
Cameroon, means “he who is everywhere”—and thus is at
BIBLIOGRAPHY
once concrete and elusive. Yahveh means “he who is” (or “he
An excellent nineteenth-century account of British Deism is to be
who shall be”), which becomes being par excellence for
found in Leslie Stephen’s History of English Thought in the
Christian Scholasticism. S´iva means “auspicious, benign,
Eighteenth Century, vol. 1 (1876; reprint, New York, 1963).
kind”—what for the S´aivas represents the highest symbol of
A detailed account of Deistic thinkers is presented by J. M.
the deity stripped of any attribute.
Robertson in A History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern,
vol. 2, To the Period of the French Revolution, 4th ed. (Lon-
In short, there are gods called Alla¯h, Nnui, Yahveh,
don, 1936). For the social background of Deism, see W. K.
S´iva; but there is no god called Deity. One worships Vis:n:u,
Jordan’s Development of Religious Toleration in England, 4
or even the Buddha, but one does not worship deity as such.
vols. (1932–1940; reprint, Gloucester, Mass., 1965). Two
One may worship only a particular deity. We often speak of
very good studies of aspects of Deism are Norman L. Tor-
“major” and “minor” deities in religious traditions. The
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DEITY
2253
word deity, in short, has a higher degree of abstractness than
tification of so many ideologies by slogans such as “In God
does the word God.
we trust” or “Gott mit uns.” Deity has been all too often the
cause of strife and war, sometimes under the guise of peace.
In Western antiquity, in the Middle Ages, and up to the
present, deity in its adjectival or pronominal form is a word
Relativity. From the perspective of a sociology of
applied to creatures and used without theological misgivings.
knowledge, the modern use of the word deity could be inter-
Works and persons are called “divine” and “deities” because
preted as the Western effort to open up a broader horizon
they share in deity in a way in which they would not be said
than that of a monotheistic God but without breaking conti-
to share in God. Spiritual writers or popular heroes are called
nuity with tradition. God was a common name. It became
“divines” in many languages. The word simply denotes a
a proper name: the Abrahamic God. And it was then that
character of (divine) excellence, which can be shared by
this God came to designate the one God, which Muslims or
many creatures.
Christians wanted to propagate around the world. All others
were “mere” gods or, at most, inappropriate names for the
The word god was also originally a common name, but
true God. It is interesting to see how Western scholarship
soon became the proper name of the one God of the theists
today tries to disentangle itself from its monolithic and colo-
(and also of the atheists, for many atheists are merely anti-
nial mentality. Is the word deity the last bulwark of this
theists; both live within the mythic horizon of the one per-
attitude?
sonal God, accepting or rejecting it). By extension scholars
speak of the African gods, discuss the nature of a supreme
We may draw two opposing conclusions from the para-
god, and the like.
doxical fact that this word denotes both the most communi-
cable and the most exclusive aspects of the “divine” reality:
At any rate, deity is not identical with god. One does not
everything that is shares a divine character, and nothing—no
believe in deity in the individualized sense in which one may
thing—that is can be said to embody or exhaust the divine,
believe in God. Yet one may accept that there is something
not even the totality of those things that are. In sum: the
referred to by the word deity. The referent will always retain
word says everything, every thing, and nothing, no thing.
a certain mystery and show certain features of freedom, infin-
One legitimate conclusion from this ambiguity may be that
ity, immanence, transcendence, or the like. For others, this
one should avoid the word altogether or speak of deities in
mysterious entity becomes the highest example of supersti-
the plural as special superhuman (divine) entities.
tion, primitivism, unevolved consciousness, and a pretense
There is another possible conclusion, however. Precisely
for exploiting others under the menace of an awesome and
because of its polysemic nature, this word may become a fun-
imaginary power. The ambiguity of the word is great.
damental category for the study and understanding of reli-
Polemical usage. At the same time deity is also a polem-
gion. The subject matter of religion would then be related
ical word. It has sometimes stood against some conceptions
to deity, and not just to God or to gods. Polysemy does not
of God without rejecting the divine altogether. The philo-
need to mean confusion. It means a richness of meanings,
sophical Deism of the last centuries in Europe, which devel-
a variety of senses. Deity could then become a true word, that
oped a concept of the divine more congenial to the natural
is, a symbol not yet eroded by habit, rather than a univocal
sciences emerging at the time than to the idea of a personal
concept.
god, could serve as an example. The deity of the Deists was
I should now try to describe the field of the symbol
to substitute for and correct the theos of the theists without
“deity” and study its structure. Regarding its field I shall ana-
discarding the belief in the existence of some supreme being
lyze the means of approach to this symbol in its broadest as-
or first cause. Yet this polemic was not new to the eighteenth
pect. Then, I shall examine the structure of deity by analyz-
century. The prolific Greek writer-priest at Delphi, Plutarch
ing the different avenues, contexts, and perspectives under
of Chaeronea (c. 46–c. 119 CE), our first source for the word
which deity has been studied. I shall then mention the struc-
theot¯es, uses it in his polemic against the mythological inter-
ture of human consciousness when referring to deity. I shall
pretations of historical heroes as they appeared in the work
further briefly compare deity with other equally broad cate-
of Euhemerus of Messina (fl. 300 BCE). In the New Testa-
gories in order to get a more accurate picture, and finally I
ment this word, in the only passage in which it appears (Col.
shall try to summarize my findings.
2:9), is translated by the old Latin deitas, whereas the Vulgate
A
uses the more current divinitas—a word unknown before
N APPROACH TO DEITY. This article does not deal primari-
ly with the concept of God as it is generally understood in
Cicero (106–43 BCE). In the Letter to the Romans 1:20 we
the Western world, and therefore it is not necessary to dis-
find the word theiotes derived from the adjective theios and
cuss, for instance, atheism or the nature of God. Further, this
also translated as divinitas in the Vulgate.
essay’s cross-cultural perspective requires that the viewpoints
Deity is not only polemical in regard to a personal con-
of other cultures be integrated with our own instead of sim-
ception of God. It is polemical also as a symbol of the politi-
ply reported. Still we are engaged in what is predominantly
cal use of the divine. We should not forget the wars of reli-
a Western activity: taking a perspective from one tradition
gion, the attempted legitimation of power and use of
(as betrayed by the very use of the word deity) and expanding
violence in the name of God, gods, and divinity, nor the jus-
it in order to achieve a more universal viewpoint.
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DEITY
Linguistic background. Johann Gottlieb Fichte
would then be a purely formal concept with no significant
(1762–1814) provides us with a caution: “Deity appears only
content whatsoever.
in the highest performance of thinking.” We must keep in
We may note the tendency, especially common to the
mind at the very outset that discourse about deity is unique,
West, to universalize what is familiar, as in the following sen-
because the locus of deity is beyond both the things of the
tences: “The Christian God is an absolute value for all; mod-
senses and the things of the intellect. Yet the way to deity
ern technology is fit for the entire world; the natural sciences
belongs to the dynamism of our intellect. This is expressed
are universally valid; truth is universal.” We shall have to
in the first sentence of the Brahma Su¯tra: “Atha¯to
avoid such pretension if we are to take other cultures as seri-
brahmajijña¯sa¯” (“Now therefore the desire to know brah-
ously as we take Western cultures. The word deity cannot en-
man”). The text refers to the “desiderative knowledge” or the
compass all that other traditions have said about what in one
“knowing desire” (jijña¯sa¯), which arises out of an existential
group of cultures can be rendered by deity. Were we to use
situation (atha). It liberates us from the weight of selfishness
the term brahman or kami instead of deity, our meaning
(aham:ka¯ra), permitting us to soar in the search for deity. The
would change. The context being different, the results would
process follows both an existential and an intellectual path,
also be different. Thus we must be careful in making extrapo-
with no separation between pure and practical reason. Deity
lations and avoid generalizations that are not warranted by
is as much at the beginning as at the end of the human
the self-understanding of the different cultures of the world.
quest—and also in between. The search requires purity of
mind, strength of will, and a change of life.
With these preliminary warnings in mind, we may now
examine the distinction between God and deity. This dis-
While speaking of deity we have already had occasion
tinction was known to medieval Christianity and was given
to refer to God, and we now introduce brahman. Do all these
clear expression by Meister Eckhart in his distinction be-
words designate the same “thing”? Or have they at least the
tween the godhead and God. The godhead, or deity, is as far
same meaning?
from God as heaven is from earth. Deity is here the inner
and passive aspect of the divine mystery and is related to the
Brahman is certainly not the one true and living God
deus absconditus that was much commented upon during the
of the Abrahamic traditions. Nor can it be said that Shang-ti
patristic period. God, on the other hand, would be the outer
or kami are the same as brahman. And yet they are not totally
and active aspect of the same mystery. Be this as it may, how-
unrelated. Can we affirm that all those names refer to deity
ever, we will use the word deity, in distinction to godhead,
as a broad category? Is deity perhaps the common name for
to mean not just God’s essence (as in Thomas Aquinas) or
God, the godhead, the divine, brahman, mana, and so forth?
the “God beyond God” or the ground of God (as in Eck-
To begin with, it must be stressed that brahman and
hart), but simply that divine dimension elusively present ev-
God, for instance, are not the same. The one is passive and
erywhere, which only our highest thinking performance can
does not need to care, it is at the bottom of everything and
glimpse and which is the goal of our existential human quest.
is the very condition of possibility for all that there is. The
Deity, then, not only may denote God or gods as sub-
other is active and provident; it is above everything, personal,
stantial beings but also may be used as a generic name con-
the creator of all that is. But they are not so different as to
noting all those forces, energies, entities, ideas, powers, and
make the translation of the one by the other totally inaccu-
the like that come from “above” or “beyond” the human
rate. The Christian Scholastics, while affirming the ineffabil-
realm. In this sense deity represents the element of reality that
ity of divine names, did not deny that some names are more
belongs neither to the material world nor to the merely
applicable than others. We shall call brahman and God ho-
human realm but is above or beyond the sensible and intel-
meomorphic equivalents, because they perform correspond-
lectual order. Deity may thus stand for one of the three di-
ing yet different functions in their respective systems.
mensions of reality that practically all human traditions re-
veal. First, there is the realm of heaven: the gods, the
It is tempting to use the word deity as an abstract noun
superhuman powers, the supraintelligible. Then there is the
for all such homeomorphic equivalents. Deity would then
realm of the human: consciousness, ethics, life, mind, the in-
refer to God, kami, brahman, Zeus, Rudra, Tien, the Dao,
telligible, and so forth. And finally, the realm of the earth:
El, Baal, Urðr, Re, Ka¯l¯ı, and so on. This enterprise is relative-
the cosmic, the material, the spatiotemporal reality, the sen-
ly simple as long as we remain within more or less homolo-
sible, and so on.
gous cultures, making it easier to find common properties
like infinity, omniscience, goodness, immutability, omnipo-
We cannot proceed further in the study of the human
tence, simplicity, unity, and so on. But when we attempt to
approach to deity until we examine the nature of the “thing”
include such properties as futurity, nothingness, or illusion,
we are trying to investigate. It is irrelevant now whether the
we find that these attributes are not at all common and are
world of deity is the paradigm of the human world, in which
incompatible with the previous ones. In point of fact there
case the latter would be only a shadow of the real, or whether
is no common structure other than the purely formal one of
on the other hand the divine universe is only a projection of
being a vague something different from and perhaps superior
the unfulfilled desires of humans. The fact remains that the
to human beings, and sometimes only apparently so. Deity
human experience crystallized in language witnesses to the
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existence of such a divine world, be it populated by daimones
It belongs to a second moment of human reflection to try
or by theoi, by devas, elohim, spirits of all types, the one God,
to put order into that world, to assign to it its degree of reali-
or by nobody. Have we a common name to designate that
ty, to decide what kind of hierarchy reigns there, and to elu-
universe? Can we say that this is the world of deity? For this
cidate the relationship of that world with the human world
we need a historical interlude.
and the rest of the universe. One does not prove the existence
of deity in a primordial civilization. The gods are simply
Historical background. How have human beings come
there.
to the notion of deity? For some scholars this notion has been
the result of an inference of some type of causal thinking.
THE STRUCTURE OF DEITY. Historical investigation is only
Deity is then a supreme being or beings, of a celestial or other
a part of the question about deity. How people have come
type. The human question about the origin of life, the world,
to this idea is less important than the structure of the idea
and the like triggers the search for a cause that then will be
itself. This structure is not an “objective” datum, however.
“located” in whatever place appears to be more appropriate
It is in part a function of human interest. We have here an
for the dwelling of a supreme being or beings, whether in the
example of how any human enterprise is motivated and con-
heavens or in the earth. Others would see the origin of deity
ditioned by human interests and prevailing myth. Because
not so much in the intellectual quest as in the existential anx-
deity has no detectable referent outside human conscious-
iety of the human being facing the elemental mysteries of life
ness, its structure depends in part on one’s opinions about
and nature. Still others have seen the search for deity as based
it and on those of any human consciousness for which the
neither on causal thinking, nor on anxious feeling, but on
notion makes sense. In other words, what deity is is insepara-
simple awareness.
ble from what people have believed it to be.
For others deity is the disclosure of a supreme being
We must try then to make sense of the ideas and experi-
through its own initiative, which explains why man has come
ences humankind has had on the subject. For this we must
to the idea of deity. If such a supreme being exists, even if
attempt to understand the context in which the problem has
its “revelation” is progressive and related to the intellectual
been put. This leads us to distinguish between the methods
development of the peoples concerned, it is always from that
that can be employed to elucidate the question and the hori-
power that the first step comes.
zons within which the problem of deity is set. The main
methods are theological, anthropological, and philosophical.
Contemporary discussions are the aftermath of that
These methods are all interrelated, and distinguishing them
great controversy of past decades about the origin of the idea
is really a question of emphasis. The possible horizons of the
of God, a controversy that resulted from the conflict of the
problem consist of the presuppositions that we make about
emerging theory of evolution with traditional beliefs in God.
what we are looking for when we set about asking about deity
Wilhelm Schmidt (1868–1954), rejecting the evolutionary
and its origins. Horizons are a function of our universe and
scheme, searched for traces of a primitive revelation of a “pri-
of the myths we live by. I shall distinguish three such hori-
mordial monotheism” among primitive peoples. Schmidt
zons. Combining these with the methods just mentioned
was elaborating the insights of Andrew Lang (1844–1912),
would give nine different sets of notions about deity. Brevity
who had argued for the existence of a belief in supreme be-
requires, however, that I do not develop these nine represen-
ings among archaic peoples, in opposition to the then perva-
tations of the divine. I will describe only the three fundamen-
sive theory of primitive animism, represented by E. B. Tylor
tal horizons that predetermine the question of deity.
(1832–1917). Finally, atheistic movements—scientific, dia-
lectical, or historical—will make of deity a superfluous hy-
Horizons. In order to understand what kind of deity
pothesis, an artificial tool for the subjection of humans, an
we are talking about, it is essential to reflect on the horizon
undue extrapolation of our present ignorance, a mere illusion
of the question. Is the deity to be conceived as absolute con-
to console us in the midst of our impotencies.
sciousness? As a supreme being? As the perfect, ideal individ-
ual? Or as the creator of the world? In short, where do we
It seems fair to say that the most universal, primordial
situate the divine? Where is the locus of deity? The horizons
human experience is neither monotheistic, nonatheistic, nor
are, of course, dependent on the culture of any given time
polytheistic but rather a deep-rooted belief in a divine world,
or place. Viewed structurally, however, the function of deity
a world populated by different kinds of superhuman beings
always seems to provide an ultimate point of reference. We
or forces. Whether those beings are one or many, whether
may situate this point outside the universe or at its center,
they represent a polytheistic hierarchy or an Urmonotheismus,
in the depths of man (in his mind or heart), or simply no-
is not the most important point. What is most important is
where. Cosmology, anthropology, and ontology offer us the
that these beliefs express a human experience that says that
three main horizons.
man is not alone in the universe and that the sensible world
is not all there is to reality. This is made clear not only by
Metacosmological. The human being in ancient times
innumerable oral traditions and written texts in nearly every
lived facing the world. The main concern was the universe
culture but also by the existence of a veritable jungle of
as a human habitat. Humanity’s vision is directed toward
names for the divine. All human languages have an enormous
things in heaven and on earth. The horizon of deity is pre-
treasure of words denoting the super- or extrahuman realm.
cisely this universe, but not just as one thing among others.
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DEITY
The locus is metacosmological. Deity is here related to the
from his often painful limitations. Modern theologies of lib-
world. Certainly, it may be identified as immanent to
eration belong here, as does the notion of a god acting in
the world, or more probably transcendent to it, but deity is
history.
the deity of the world, and the world is the deity’s world.
Meta-ontological. We are told that the culmination of
What type of function or functions deity is supposed to per-
man’s development is self-awareness. The power of reflection
form and what kind of relation it has with the world are left
makes Homo sapiens the superior being that he believes him-
to the different cosmologies and traditions. In any case, deity
self to be. The locus of the deity here cannot be just a super-
is a kind of pole to the world, a prime mover that sets the
man or a ground of the world. It has to be a superbeing. The
world into motion, sustains it, directs it, and even creates it.
locus is meta-ontological.
A temporal metaphor can be used to say the same thing. In
this case, the deity is represented as the beginning, present
Humanity is proud of the human power of abstraction.
before the big bang, or at the end of the evolution of the
Deity is here not only beyond the physical world but also
physical universe, as the omega point. Or the deity may be
outside any natural realm, including that of the human
both alpha and omega, at the beginning and at the end of
world, the intellect, the desires, and the will. Deity is totally
the universe. The most common name for this deity is
above and beyond nature, including human nature. The
“God,” whether this be Varun:a, “supreme lord, ruling the
transcendence or otherness of deity is here so absolute that
spheres” (R:gveda 1.25.20), or Yahveh who “made heaven and
it transcends itself, and thus it can no longer be called tran-
earth” (Gn. 1:1). This God is “that from which truly all be-
scendence. Deity does not exist; it is meta-ontological, be-
ings are born, by which when born they live, and into which
yond being. It is not even nonbeing. The apophatism is abso-
they all return” (Taittir¯ıya Upanis:ad 3.1). This God is the
lute. The deity neither is nor exists, nor is it thinkable or
pantokrato¯r of many traditions, Eastern and Western. Even
speakable. Silence is the only proper attitude toward it, not
the deus otiosus belongs to this group. Deity is here a metacos-
because we are incapable of speaking about it, but because
mological category. Its most salient feature is its infinity. The
silence is what befits it. This silence neither hides nor reveals.
world we experience is contingent, and all things are tran-
It is silence because it says nothing, there being nothing to
sient, finite. Only the deity is infinite.
say. Possible names for this deity are ´su¯nyata¯, Neither Being
nor Nonbeing, Huperon, and so on. Deity is here a meta-
Meta-anthropological. At a certain moment in history
ontological reality. Seen from below, as it were, it belongs
the main interest of humanity was no longer nature or the
to the unthinkable. Seen from within, it belongs to the un-
world outside, above and mysterious, but humanity itself.
thought. To think about it would be idolatry.
Humanity’s visions were directed toward the inner recesses
of the human spirit: the feelings, the mind. The locus of
Here we encounter the problem of the nothingness of
deity is here the human realm, but not just a human field
deity, the radical apophatism developed in many traditions.
made wider. It has to be deeper as well. The locus is meta-
The most salient feature here is immanence and transcen-
anthropological.
dence, the two belonging together. Deity is the immanence
and transcendence inserted in the heart of every being.
Here deity is seen as the symbol for the perfection of
the human being. The notion of deity does not come so
We should hasten to add that these three horizons are
much as the fruit of reflection on the cosmos or as an experi-
not mutually exclusive. Many a thinker in many a tradition
ence of its numinous character as it does from anthropologi-
has tried to elaborate a conception of deity embracing all
cal self-awareness. Deity is the fullness of the human heart,
three. Within Hinduism, for instance, nirgun:a brahman
the real destiny of man, the leader of the people, the beloved
would correspond to the third type, sagun:a brahman to the
of the mystics, the lord of history, the full realization of what
first, and ¯ı´svara might be the personal deity of the devotee.
we really are. This deity does not need to be anthropomor-
Similarly, the Christian Scholastic tradition would like to
phic, although it may present some such traits. Deity is here
combine God, the prime mover (the first type), with the per-
a¯tman-brahman, the fully divinized man, the Christ, the
sonal God of the believers (the second type), and that of the
purus:a, or even the symbol of justice, peace, and a happy so-
mystics (the third type). How far all three can be reduced to
ciety. Here deity may be considered immanent or tran-
an intelligible unity is a philosophical and theological prob-
scendent, identified with or distinguishable from man, but
lem that different traditions try to solve in different ways.
its functions are related to the human being. It is a living,
The morphological traits of deity may be summarized
loving, or menacing deity, inspiring, caring, punishing, re-
according to these three horizons, suggesting a threefold
warding, and forgiving. In this deity all pilgrimage ends, all
structure for deity. The ultimate experience of the meta-
longing disappears, all thoughts recoil, and all sin is blotted
ontological deity is the character of the “I.” Deity is the ulti-
out. The deity is a meta-anthropological category.
mate “I,” the final subject of activity. “Who am I?” The “I”
who can respond to this question without further question-
The vexed problem of divine personality belongs here,
ing is the ultimate “I,” the deity.
as do psychological analyses of human belief in deity. The
most salient feature of this horizon, however, is the attribute
The meta-anthropological deity represents the experi-
of freedom. The deity is here freedom itself, liberating man
ence of the “thou.” In the human urge toward the deity this
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2257
latter appears as the ultimate “thou” with whom dialogue
These methods are not mutually exclusive, and all three
and human relations can be established.
play a role in the human quest for deity. All are required and
they imply each other. We distinguish between them for
The deity as the ultimate cause and prime mover of the
heuristic reasons only. Each one presents divisions and sub-
world is the “he, she, or it” that only an inference discloses.
divisions. Sociology, psychology, anthropology, and so forth
One speaks of this deity always in the third person.
are among the important disciplines within these three ap-
Methods. We may now turn to the different methods
proaches, each with its own particular methods.
used in the attempt to understand deity. Whatever deity may
We refer to methods in the plural, for there is not one
be, it is neither a sensible nor an intelligible thing. The deity
single theological, phenomenological, or philosophical
is neither a visible thing nor a mere thought. Modern herme-
method. Each of these approaches presents a variety of meth-
neutics speaks of “pre-understanding” as a necessary condi-
ods. What we describe here is only a general pattern of meth-
tion of understanding, of a “hermeneutical circle” that is
ods, which acquire a proper physiognomy when applied to
needed in all interpretation. Within the realm of sensible or
particular cases.
intelligible objects we may be able to ascertain what pre-
Theological. The theological method begins with an ac-
understanding is. We acquire an idea of the whole, which we
cepted datum: there exists a world of the gods, the world of
may modify while investigating the parts. It is on the basis
deity. We will therefore have to clarify and eventually justify
of this pre-understanding that a given method is applied to
the raison d’être of such a world, but we do not necessarily
understanding an object. But how can this be done in the
have to prove its existence. In short, the origin of the idea
case of deity? If every method implies a proleptic jump into
of deity is the deity itself—whatever this deity may be. This
the alleged object, a coming back to our starting point, and
forms the core of the so-called ontological argument and of
a methodical process afterward, it is difficult to see how such
any religious enterprise that wants to clarify the nature of
a method can be applied in our attempt to understand deity.
deity. Deity could not be known if it did not exist. The theo-
We do not know in which direction we should make the first
logical problem here consists of determining what kind of ex-
jump nor with what instruments to approach it—unless we
istence this is. When Thomas Aquinas, for instance, ends
start from the received tradition or with an authentic mysti-
each one of his five proofs for the existence of God by saying
cal experience. This amounts to saying that we renounce
“and that is what all call God,” he shows his theological
finding a method of searching for deity and replace it by
method of clarifying the existence of something that we al-
methods of research, interpreting the opinions of people
ready call God. The deity was already there, certainly, as an
about it. We know, further, that if we start with some “in-
idea, but also as a reality that hardly anyone doubted, al-
struments,” the results will greatly depend on the nature of
though its rationality had to be demonstrated and its exis-
those instruments. We can then neither jump (if we do not
tence verified as real and not merely apparent. Theological
know the direction) nor come back (if the subject matter is
proofs thus presuppose faith and only prove that such faith
beyond the senses and the intellect). In a word, the method
is rational. They are a form of fides quaerens intellectum
for seeking the deity is sui generis—if indeed there is a meth-
(“faith seeking understanding”).
od at all.
We have already indicated that each combination of
How do we come to a pre-understanding of deity? We
method and horizon yields a distinct picture of deity. In fact,
may receive it from tradition. In the case of a direct mystical
theological methods have been mainly combined with the
experience there is not a pre-understanding but an immedi-
cosmological and the ontological horizons. They have been
ate insight that the mystic afterward explicates in terms of
less conversant with the anthropological one, and this ex-
the culture in which he or she lives, and so ultimately it
plains the uneasiness in theological circles when dealing with
comes to the same thing. The mystic needs a post-
the emerging sciences of man, like psychology and sociology.
understanding, as it were, in terms of his or her time and cul-
The theological dialogues with Freud, Jung, and Weber are
ture, which amounts to an initial pre-understanding for all
typical examples. There are serious studies on the psychology
the others. The pre-understanding of deity is, therefore, a
and sociology of religion, but little attention has been given
traditional datum. Now, there are three main attitudes to-
to the psychology and sociology of deity from a theological
ward this datum. If one accepts it as a starting point and pro-
perspective. Hans Urs von Balthasar’s work on a theology of
ceeds to a critical effort at understanding it, this is the theo-
aesthetics is a notable exception.
logical method. The theologian tries to clarify something from
Phenomenological. The phenomenological method
within. If one tries to bracket one’s personal beliefs and at-
could also be described as morphological, or even historical,
tempts to decipher the immense variety of opinions through-
since it is used in the new science of religions, often called
out the ages regarding the idea of deity, this is the phenome-
the history of religions. On the whole there is a consensus
nological method. The datum is then the sediment of the
regarding the phenomenological method, as the study of
history of human consciousness. Finally, if one reflects on
people’s beliefs drawn from their own self-understanding, as
one’s own experience, enriched as much as possible by the
reflected in the critical consciousness of the scholar. Here is
thoughts of others, this is the philosophical method.
the place for a typology of the conceptions of deity. This
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DEITY
method is important today, in a world in which people of
Is deity the highest being or is it being as such? In the latter
different religions mingle in the concerns of daily life, that
case it cannot be a supreme being. The ontological difference
is, in the stresses of technological civilization.
is not the theological one. The history of religions puts the
same question by simply asking how the supreme being is
Use of the phenomenological method uncovers an im-
related to the entire reality. This polarity between being and
mense variety of types of deity. We find the so-called animis-
supreme being permeates most of the conceptions about
tic conception of deity as an all-pervading and living force
deity. We could phrase it as the polarity between the deity
animating everything that there is. We find so-called poly-
of the intellectuals (being) and the deity of the people (su-
theism, the presence of many “gods” as supernatural entities
preme being). A more academic way of saying it is this: deity
with different powers and functions. We find so-called deism
may appear as a result of a thinking reflection (discovering
as the belief in a supreme being, probably a creator, who is
being) or an existential attitude (requiring a supreme being).
afterward passive in relation to his creation, a notion that ex-
For the former, deity is the subsisting being, source of being,
cludes any kind of specially revealed god. We find monothe-
the foundation, the being “being” in all beings. For the latter,
ism of the type of the Abrahamic religions, religions of a liv-
deity is the supreme being, the lord, the divine person, the
ing, provident, and creator god. We find the various theisms
ultimate in the pyramid of reality. The former conception
that modify the exclusiveness of the monotheistic model, and
will have to clarify the relation between deity as a ground of
pantheism, the identification of the deity with the universe.
being and an undetermined and general ens commune. The
We also find all sorts of atheisms, as reactions to theism and
latter will have to define the relation between deity as esse sub-
especially to monotheism. And of course we find a number
sistens and the rest of beings that the deity creates, rules, and
of distinctions and qualifications of these broad notions that
directs.
are intended to respond to the demands of reason or answer
difficulties raised by particular or collective experiences.
Is deity being (Sein, sat, esse) or the supreme being (höch-
These types, and the changes that they have undergone
stes Seiendes, paramatman, ens realissimum)? One can think
through the ages, have been the subject of many useful and
about the first, but one cannot worship it. One can adore
comprehensive studies by well-known scholars like Mircea
the second and trust in it, but this God cannot be reasoned
Eliade, Gerardus van der Leeuw, Geo Widengren, Kurt Gol-
about; it is corroded by thinking.
dammer, W. Bede Kristensen, and Friedrich Heiler. With
If the philosophical locus of the deity is the ultimate
the possible exception of Widengren, none of these authors
question, we may find as many conceptions of deity as there
uses the notion of God as a major religious category. Even
are ultimate questions. Thus the many and varied answers.
Widengren, who emphatically wants to distinguish religion
The diversity of religions can also be explained from this per-
from magic, while affirming that “faith in God constitutes
spective. Religions give different answers to ultimate ques-
the intimate essence of religion,” has a very large idea of what
tions, and the questions themselves are different. But philo-
God means. All the others recognize that there is a particular
sophical reflection may ask still further: what is it that
sphere that is at the center of religious life.
prompts man to ask the ultimate question, whatever this
Philosophical. The philosophical method proceeds dif-
question may be? Why is man an asking being, ever thirsty
ferently, although, in ways, not totally disconnected from
for questions?
those of the previous ones. Pascal’s famous mémorial, which
In a word, the issue of the deity has to do with the pecu-
was found stitched in his coat after his death, “The God of
liarity of man as a questioning animal. “God acts without a
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, not of philoso-
why and does not know any why,” says Meister Eckhart.
phers and scholars,” has since served in the West to empha-
What prompts man to question is ultimately the conscious-
size this difference. Without entering into the discussion of
ness of not being realized, of not knowing, of being finite.
whether the “living God” is the actus purus or whether one
This consciousness can be expressed as the anthropological
can fall in love with the prime mover, the quintessence of
discovery that man is imperfect, still in the making; the cos-
the philosophical method consists in the willingness to ques-
mological observation that the universe is moving, that is,
tion everything. The philosophical method is that of the rad-
also still becoming; or the ontological thought of nothing-
ical question, be it the question of salvation, moks:a, happi-
ness lurking over being. In sum, the problem of becoming
ness, or whatever form in which it may be conceived. It is
emerges here as the theological problem par excellence. If be-
within this framework that the question of deity appears.
coming is possible, it is because being is still “being.” What
Here in a cloud either of knowledge or of unknowing, in a
covers this gap between being and becoming (encompassing
science of good and evil, lies the philosophical locus of deity.
or not encompassing the two) is the locus of the deity: it
This locus is the ultimate question, even if there is no final
keeps open the flow of being.
answer.
THE TEXTURE OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS OF DEITY. The
When this ultimate locus is considered to be being, the
different perspectives on the human approach to deity that
question of deity turns out to be what Heidegger calls an
we have found end in a healthy pluralism: reality is itself plu-
“onto-theology,” a reflection on the being of beings. Here,
ralistic. We cannot, of course, encompass this plurality in a
the philosophical method meets the historical controversy.
unified scheme of intelligibility on a universal scale. Yet if
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2259
we keep in mind our particular situation in time and place
vation, nor can there be a science of the divine. Thus Meister
and its various viewpoints and prejudices, we may venture
Eckhart says that we must transcend not only the things of
some further valid considerations.
the imagination but even those of the understanding.
Our point of departure is the lost innocence of our pres-
Long before S´an˙kara, the Indian world made crucial the
ent situation. Whatever deity may be, whatever peoples of
distinction between appearance and reality and recognized
other epochs have felt, thought, or believed about deity, even
that the latter transcends both the senses and the mind. The
if they have told us that it was the deity itself who spoke to
short Kena Upsanis:ad is perhaps one of the best scriptural
them, it remains always the conviction of contemporary man
texts to underline the transcendence and immanence of the
that all relation to deity takes place in and through human
deity:
consciousness. This in no way weakens the reality or the ob-
That which cannot be expressed by words but by which
jectivity of deity. It only affirms that human consciousness
the word is expressed . . . That which cannot be
is always a fellow traveler in this journey. If we want to reach
thought by the mind, but that by which, they say, the
a consensus regarding the many opinions on the nature of
mind is thought . . . That which cannot be seen by the
deity, we shall have to fall back upon the texture of our con-
eye, but that by which the eyes have sight. . . . It is not
sciousness, even while accepting that deity may be much
understood by those who understand; it is understood
more than an act or content of consciousness and that this
by those who do not understand. (1.5ff, 2.3)
consciousness may vary with time and place and even be
In sum, of the divine there is only logos (“word”): theologia.
shaped by the power of deity.
But it is a logos irreducible to nous; that is, it is a word only
In view of the many opinions about deity we have to
revealed in the experience itself. This does not allow us to
rely upon the one factor that is common to them all, namely
conclude that the divine is just a subjective state of experi-
the human consciousness that uses the word deity or its ho-
ence. All things are related to states of experience, but of all
meomorphic equivalents. Deity has this one constitutive fea-
others we have a communicable referent; we can get at the
ture: it is disclosed to us in an act of consciousness, an act
res nominis, that is, at the thing named. This is not the case
of consciousness that, in spite of having a transcendent inten-
with the divine. The res nominis is in the ratio nominis, that
tionality, has no verifiable referent outside of consciousness.
is, in the meaning of the name itself. And this is what has
The reference of the word deity, in fact, is neither visible nor
made theological and religious disputes so uncompromising-
intelligible, and yet every culture in the world witnesses to
ly serious. The names of God are all we have. Considering
the fact that men constantly speak about a “something” that
names as mere labels of things (as in nominalism) is the prop-
transcends all other parameters. We have then to rely on the
er procedure of modern science, but this method is not ade-
cultural documents of the past and the present that witness
quate if applied to deity. Without the names we have no way
to this tertium we call deity.
of reaching the referent.
We rely on the fact that people have meant something
The names of deity are also different from abstract
when using this word or its equivalents. The analysis of deity
names like justice and beauty. We may infer the meaning of
is based therefore not on the empirical presence of the object
justice by observing a certain pattern of behavior among peo-
nor on the immediate evidence of thought but on tradition
ple and acquire some sense of beauty by contrasting some of
in its precise and etymological meaning, that is, on some cul-
our experiences with similar ones of other people. Both
tural good that is being transmitted to us. One exception
human behavior and sensible objects fall in the category of
seems to be the case of mystics, who say that they have direct-
commonly shared experiences. In other words, the referent
ly experienced this extra-empirical and supra-intellectual re-
in all these cases is verifiable outside of consciousness al-
ality. Yet the moment that the mystics speak they have to fall
though not independent of it. This is not the case with deity.
back upon their consciousness. The thought and speech of
We cannot verify it as an object outside the field of our own
the divine belong to that unique field of human conscious-
consciousness, nor can we compare our states of conscious-
ness whose contents are disclosed in the very experience that
ness as we can in the case of other abstract concepts. In this
has them and nowhere else. This explains the elusive charac-
latter case we can point to the things or acts reflecting, reveal-
ter of the divine and also accounts for the fact that the ques-
ing, or somehow defining the meaning we give to such
tion is more important than the answer.
words. In the case of deity we can certainly infer the idea peo-
ple have of it from what they say and do, but there is one
Deity is visible only in its alleged manifestations—and
difference: a dimension of transcendence, of ineffability, in-
there is no way to make visible the manifesting power be-
adequacy, ultimacy, or uniqueness, which necessarily leaves
yond what is manifested. Nicholas of Cusa says pointedly
a gap between the manifested and its source. This is the rea-
that God is the invisibility of the visible world, just as the
son why some traditions have postulated a special “seventh”
world is the appearance of the invisible God.
sense related to the divine, which is neither reducible to the
five senses nor to the “sixth” sense of the intellect.
Nor is deity intelligible. It would cease to be divine if
we could grasp its meaning as something belonging to the
Now, to affirm that all the names of deity mean ulti-
human or worldly sphere. The divine is not subject to obser-
mately the same thing assumes at the start that “our” name
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DEITY
is the real one. We make of our conception of it, expressed
is built into human nature. But we often fail to recognize that
in the name we give it, the pattern for all other conceptions.
we cannot make a claim for universality in our own terms,
The name we give it would then name the “thing” that is
which are far from being universal.
supposed to have other names as well. This is not the case.
Meaningful talk about the divine is thus restricted to
Not everybody is looking for the same thing, either the ulti-
those belonging to the same mythical sphere. Others will
mate cause, the ground of being, or absolute nothingness, if
hear but not really understand. Each culture or subculture
any of these is what we mean by deity. Much less are the wor-
has a myth in which their particular form of the divine is pos-
shipers of Ka¯l¯ı ready to give up their practice and worship
sible and talked about. In this sense it cannot be generalized.
Alla¯h, or true Christians ready to deny Christ and adore Cae-
It is restricted to those of the same faith, to the initiated.
sar. Deity is not a Kantian “thing in itself.” Words matter.
Properly speaking, we do not know what we are talking
The conception we have of deity is certainly not identical
about when we refer to the divine. We are already taking it
with its reality. But it is our way of access to it, which we
for granted, which is the function of any myth, that is, to
cannot deny without betraying ourselves. Martyrdom for
offer the unquestioned horizon of intelligibility where our
the sake of a name is a human fact not reducible to sheer fa-
words are meaningful.
naticism.
And yet the world of deity is an ever-recurrent world in
The name we give it, or the name anyone else gives it,
the history of mankind. What do all these traditions refer to?
does not exhaust the nature of deity. Strictly speaking we do
If asked, believers might answer that the divine is not just
not name it. We only refer to him, her, or it. Or we simply
a purely subjective state of consciousness; most will assert
believe, call, pray, shout, dance, or whatever. Deity is not an
that they refer to the highest realm of reality, a realm so high
object of naming but of invocation. Deity is what we appeal
that it is beyond the reach of human powers. And yet they
to, implore, and worship precisely because it is beyond our
continue to speak of it. It belongs to their myth. The myth
apprehending faculties.
is the locus of belief. It is only when pressed by those outside
In the Greek tradition theos is a predicative name.
their group that they concede that there is no possibility of
Things are divine, and a particular entity is godly. Theos is
showing any referent in the world of common human experi-
an attribute. God is not a concept but a name. But when the
ence. At most they may point to an homeomorphic experi-
name loses its power no amount of conceptualization can
ence if they have found a language of communication.
give it back.
What is, then, the content of such an experience of
There has been a shift in the idea of deity from the pred-
deity? We have said that the content of the experience is in-
icate to the subject. This is a great revolution. In the West
separable from the experience itself, so that it cannot be
this could be said to represent the genius of the Abrahamic
“shown” outside the experience: the divine is neither sensible
traditions. While many traditions say that light, love, or
nor intelligible. Is there something else? Common sense and
goodness is God, that is, divine (“Truth is God” was a slogan
historical evidence say that of course there is something else,
of Mohandas Gandhi), the New Testament reverses the sen-
since everybody seems to speak about the divine in one form
tence and affirms that God is light, love, or goodness. Some-
or another. The critical mind will say that it makes no sense
thing similar could be said of the great Upanisadic revolu-
to speak about something that we cannot think. That is why
tion: in the Upanis:ads we witness the passage of the god of
many a philosopher feels more comfortable calling the con-
the third person (the Vedic gods) to the god of the first per-
tent of that experience nothingness. All theology ends by
son (aham brahman, “I am brahman”) by means of the sec-
being apophatic.
ond person (tat tvam asi, “that thou art”). The revelation of
From these considerations we may infer that there is
the “I” dawns in the very realization of the aspirant to libera-
something in human consciousness that points to something
tion; the “I” is not a third person (he, she, it, or even they).
beyond, and yet we are unable to “locate” it outside that con-
The language of the deity cannot be the third person. The
sciousness. God has been described as a “transcending center
deity has to be the first person. It is only the real “I” when
of intention” (John E. Smith). No wonder that many think-
it says “I,” or rather when “I” says “I,” and more exactly when
ers in both the East and West then identify deity with con-
I say “I.” This is what is called realization—the realization
sciousness in its highest form. Others defend a sort of tran-
of the I (by the I). Only the I can say “I.”
scendental dynamism of human consciousness toward a
superior and perfect form of consciousness, which they then
At any rate the divine is so linked to our state of con-
call divine. Still others affirm that it is only a pathological
sciousness that there is no way of deciding what ontic status
growth of our own consciousness, triggered perhaps by fear
it has outside the ontological statement. Or, rather, the deity
of the unknown or fostered by religious priestcraft for the
has no ontic status. An ontological statement has an accepted
sake of power. Finally, while recognizing both the divine im-
currency only with people who share in the same myth, one
manence of human consciousness and the human intention-
in which a particular form of the divine is taken for granted.
ality toward a divine transcendent consciousness, some do
The claim to universality is the temptation of any com-
not dare to consider deity as the all-encompassing reality but
plex and sophisticated culture. This aspiration to universality
only as a dimension of it. Reality is primary to consciousness.
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2261
Consciousness is always consciousness of, of reality, of being,
other hand, deity does not denote merely a character of
even of itself. This last is the no¯esis no¯eseo¯s of Aristotle, the
things, as does the word sacred. Deity is a source of action,
absolute reflection of Hegel, and the svayampraka¯´sa (“self-
an active element, a spontaneous factor: it is free. Its actions
illumination”) of Veda¯nta. Now pure consciousness cannot
cannot be anticipated; it has initiative. We cannot deal with
be of anything, not even of itself. This is what lets Veda¯nta
deity as with an object that we can imprison in the web of
say that brahman is not even conscious of being brahman.
our thoughts. Deity has a mysterious quality of being able
It is ¯I´svara, the Lord, who is the full consciousness of brah-
to act and not just react, to take the lead, even if in a purely
man. Something similar could be said of the Father, the
passive way.
plenitudo fontalis of the Christian Trinity.
We should distinguish between personality and person
THE DEITY BETWEEN GOD AND THE SACRED. Having tried
on the one hand and person and substance on the other. We
to present the problematic of deity in its broadest aspect, we
may recall that the concept of person in the West was devel-
may ask whether speaking of “the divine” is not preferable
oped not as a meditation on man but as a theological prob-
to speaking of “deity.” It may better describe what we are
lem. To speak of the personality of deity is no more an an-
looking for, namely a super- or metacategory that can serve
thropomorphism than is speaking of God as a supreme
to express the religious phenomenon in its universality. In
being, which some would call an anthropomorphism simply
fact, deity, because its grammatical form is substantive, sug-
because man is also a being. Here the polemical aspect of the
gests a certain kind of substantialization that is inappropriate
notion of deity comes to the fore. Almost everyone will admit
for many religious traditions, which we could call the
that there is a third dimension in reality, since man and the
na¯stika¯s or ana¯tmava¯dins (such as the Buddhists who say that
world, as they are experienced by us, do not exhaust that
there is no God because there is no substance). Thus, in spite
other pole that is neither man nor the world as we experience
of some modern efforts at adaptation, the Buddhist world,
them now. But not everyone is prepared to admit that this
for one, feels uncomfortable with the word deity—although
third pole has personality, that is, that it is endowed with
not, of course, with deities.
freedom, is a source of action, has an identity, and is relation-
There is another category of similar generality that has
ship.
often been presented as the center of the religious traditions
In this sense, the concept of deity is not just the idea
of humankind. Every religion, we are told, deals with the sa-
that there is a third pole in reality. Nor is it identical with
cred. It was Nathan Söderblom who, in 1913, described the
the concept of God. It stands between the sacred and God.
notion of holiness as even more essential than the notion of
It shares with the former its immanence and with the latter
God. For Söderblom, there is no real religion without a dis-
its personality (in the sense we have indicated). But while the
tinction between the holy and the profane. Mircea Eliade is
concept of God seems to imply a certain substance, the idea
today the most important spokesman for the centrality of the
of deity does not need to present this characteristic. It says
sacred as the religious phenomenon par excellence. But, we
only that this third dimension is not a mere mental hypothe-
may ask, if the sacred is the central category of religion, what
sis, a piece of mental equipment necessary for making sense
is the place and role of deity?
of reality or merely something to fill in the gaps in our under-
There is a danger in wanting to reduce the immense jun-
standing. The notion of deity affirms boldly that this other
gle of man’s religious experience, as crystallized in the differ-
dimension is real, that is, active, free, efficacious, and power-
ent religions of the world, to a single category or even to a
ful on its own account. But it does not make it independent
single set of categories. Even if this were possible, its only
of the two other poles and thus not even independent of our
purpose would be to give a panoramic and coherent picture
conceptions of it. In a word, deity connotes the highest form
of the whole. But what cannot be universalized is precisely
of life.
the perspective of the observer. Let us assume that the sacred
CONCLUSION. This cross-cultural approach to the mystery
is a convincing category for understanding and describing re-
of deity has one liberating consequence. It liberates us from
ligious phenomena. It would still be true that it is only a suit-
the many aporias that, for centuries, have tortured the
able category for us—that is, a very special class of readers
human mind as it attempts to consider God as the supreme
in time and space. If our parameters of understanding
being. Among these are the questions: is it personal or imper-
change, then the perspective must also vary. In short, we can-
sonal? If almighty, how can it condone evil? If infinite, what
not universalize our perspective, and a “global perspective”
is the place of finite beings? If absolutely free, why can it not
is obviously a contradiction in terms. There is thus room for
make two and two equal five? If omniscient, what about
more than one attempt to focus the religious experience of
human freedom? Subtle theological and philosophical an-
man. Let me try then to point out the locus of deity in the
swers have been put forward. But the answers could be made
panorama of human religious experience and distinguish it
simpler by cutting the Gordian knot of a universal theory
from the sacred.
about God and rediscovering the divine as a true dimension
of reality.
One feature seems to permeate all the varied meanings
of deity: personality. Deity does not need to be a substance
Whether the word deity means a plurality of divine be-
nor a person in the modern sense of the word. But on the
ings, absolute consciousness, perfect happiness, the supreme
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DEITY
being, a divine character of beings, or being as such, thought
ities are intrinsically related, and their relation does not lie
about deity has no referent. At the same time it seems to be
on the level of the logos but on the level of the mythos, as we
one of the most unvarying and powerful factors in human
have suggested. All our ways and means, all our quests and
life throughout ages and across cultures. Words referring to
perspectives already belong not only to the searching but also
deity or its homeomorphic equivalents are unique. Philoso-
to what is sought. Deity is not independent of our own
phy avers that the intentionality of human consciousness,
search for it. If we radically destroy all the ways to the peak,
while pointing outside itself, cannot show in the realm of the
the entire mountain will collapse. The slopes of the moun-
sensible or the intelligible the referent of this intentional act.
tain also make the mountain.
In a word, there is no object that is deity. Either human con-
Scholars may debate whether humankind is or is not
sciousness transcends itself, or thought about deity is an illu-
monotheistic, whether a personal god is a universal truth or
sion, albeit a transcendental illusion of historical reality.
there actually is a creator, whether the so-called atheists are
We should return now to one of our earlier queries. Is
right in denouncing anthropomorphisms and dogmatisms of
the word deity broad enough to include all the types of the
all sorts, whether there is a divine origin of this universe or
mystery we have tried to describe? We know that its original
a glorious or catastrophical Parousia. One thing seems to
field is the cosmological, but we have also noted that we dis-
emerge as a cultural universal and a historical invariant: be-
tinguish it from the name God precisely to allow it other ho-
sides the world and man there is a third pole, a hidden di-
rizons.
mension, another element that has received and is still receiv-
ing the most varied names, each name being a witness of its
The word deity may partially fulfill this role on one es-
power and of the impotence of human beings to reduce ev-
sential condition: that it strip itself of all connotations com-
erything to a common denominator.
ing from a single group of civilizations. This amounts to say-
ing that it cannot have any specific content, because any
The human being both individually and as a species is
attribute, be it being, nonbeing, goodness, creatorship, fa-
not alone. Man is not alone not only because he has an earth
therhood, or whatever, is meaningful only within a given cul-
under his feet but also because he has a heaven above his
tural universe (or a group of them). Deity becomes then an
head. There is something else, something more than what
empty symbol to which different cultures attribute different
meets the eye or comes into the range of the mental. There
concrete qualifications, positive or negative. Deity would
is something more, a plus that humans cannot adequately
then say something only when translated into a particular
name but that haunts them nevertheless. This plus is free-
language.
dom and infinity. Deity stands for all that is unfinished (in-
finite) and thus allows for fulfillment in one sense or another.
I am still critical of such an option, however, and would
Man needs—and discovers—an opening, a way out of the
like to propose a compromise that may appear obvious once
strictures of the exclusively empirical or ideological affairs of
explained. Were this article to be translated into Chinese, Ar-
daily life. The idea of deity can provide such an opening,
abic, or Swahili, what word would we use to convey this idea
provided that it can be kept free of any particular content.
of deity? Either we would coin a new name or use an old one
It would then become a symbol for the emerging myth of
with the connotations of the particular language. So we can
a human race that can no longer afford to transform cultural
say that for the English language deity may be a convenient
discrepancies into a cosmic tragedy.
name to use to transcend the provincial limits of certain
groups of cultures such as the one that thinks, for instance,
SEE ALSO Anthropomorphism; Evolution, article on Evolu-
that Buddhism was not a religion and Confucianism only a
tionism; God; Gods and Goddesses; Otherworld; Sacred
philosophy because they do not accept the Abrahamic idea
and the Profane, The; Study of Religion; S´u¯nyam and
of God. But we should not elevate the word deity as the name
S´u¯nyata¯; Theism; Theology; Transcendence and Imma-
for that metacategory. It is only a pointer toward the last ho-
nence; Truth.
rizon of human consciousness and the utmost limit of
human powers of thinking, imagining, and being. Now, an
BIBLIOGRAPHY
abstract name like the Ultimate or a metaphor like horizon
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Herrlichkeit. Einsiedeln, 1961. A treat-
are equally dependent on particular cultural systems or ways
ment of the topic from the perspective of a theology of aes-
of thinking. Perhaps the word mystery is more adequate, in
thetics.
spite of its Hellenic flavor. Or should we say brahman, kami,
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Theodramatik. Einsiedeln, 1978.
numen...?
Castelli, Enrico, ed. L’analyse du langage théologique: Le nom de
At any rate we should insist that this does not mean that
Dieu. Paris, 1969. Offers a philosophical perspective.
all those quests search for the same thing but in different
Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas, vol. l, From the Stone
places. The quest is different in each case, and so are the ways
Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Chicago, 1978.
or methods involved. We leave open the question (ultimately
Gilson, Étienne. God and Philosophy. New Haven, 1941.
as a pseudo-question) whether we use different methods be-
Heidegger, Martin. Holzwege. Frankfurt, 1950. Offers distinc-
cause we look for different things or whether we find differ-
tions between concepts of God, deity, the sacred, and sal-
ent answers because we use different methods. Both possibil-
vation.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH
2263
James, E. O. The Concept of Deity. London, 1950. A historical
son of the Old Testament scholar Franz Delitzsch (1813–
treatment.
1890). Both were men of extremely high linguistic ability,
Kumarappa, Bharatan. The Hindu Conception of the Deity as Cul-
but in other respects they formed a striking contrast. The fa-
minating in Ra¯ma¯nuja. London, 1934.
ther was pious and conservative in theology, and although
Owen, H. P. Concepts of Deity. New York, 1971.
he was interested in Christian missions to the Jews, he was
Panikkar, Raimundo. The Unknown Christ of Hinduism. Rev. &
warmly appreciative of Judaism; the son became iconoclastic
enl. ed. New York, 1981. See pages 97–155.
and contemptuous toward traditional doctrine and hostile to
Panikkar, Raimundo. Il silenzio di Dio: La risposta del Buddha.
the entire dependence of Christianity upon Judaism.
Rome, 1985. An analysis of the Buddhist idea of the empti-
ness of deity.
The leading figure in the Assyriology of his time, Frie-
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. “The Supreme Being: Phenomenological
drich Delitzsch placed grammar and lexicography of the lan-
Structure and Historical Development.” In The History of Re-
guages of ancient Mesopotamia on a sound and exact basis.
ligions: Essays in Methodology, edited by Mircea Eliade and Jo-
In the area of biblical scholarship, his Die Lese- und Schreibfe-
seph M. Kitagawa. Chicago, 1959.
hler im Alten Testament (1920) provided an exhaustive classi-
Pöll, Wilhelm. Das religiöse Erlebnis und seine Strukturen. Munich,
fication of ways in which copying errors, such as writing one
1974. See the chapter titled “Der göttlich-heilige Pol.” A
consonant in place of another, may have affected the text of
positive analysis of the divine/sacred from a psychological
the Hebrew Bible. His main influence on religious studies
perspective.
came with the “Babel-Bible” controversy. Advances in Assyr-
Schmidt, Wilhelm. Der Ursprung der Gottesidee: Eine historisch-
iology had already made a difference to scholarship but had
kritische und positive Studie. 12 vols. Munster, 1912–1955.
hardly affected the general public. Delitzsch’s two lectures
A response to the evolutionary hypothesis concerning the
“Babel und Bibel” were delivered, in 1902, before the Ger-
concept of deity.
man Oriental Society and were attended by Kaiser Wilhelm
New Sources
II, who took an active interest in these matters. In the past,
Benard, Elisabeth, and Beverly Moon, eds. Goddesses Who Rule.
the Bible had been considered the oldest book: it was be-
New York, 2000.
lieved to reach back to the beginnings of the world. Now As-
Lang, Bernhard. The Hebrew God: Portrait of an Ancient Deity.
syriology presented new knowledge, knowledge that went
New Haven, 2002.
back to an epoch much earlier than that of which the Bible
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. God: Myths of the Male Divine.
had known. The similarity between the Babylonian and the
New York, 1996.
biblical worlds was enormous. But this meant that the Old
Maxwell, T. S. The Gods of Asia: Image, Text, and Meaning. Ox-
Testament material was not unique and could not count as
ford, 1997.
pure revelation. The Babylonian material confirmed the an-
Miles, Jack. God: A Biography. New York, 1995.
tiquity of the biblical material but put in question its finality.
Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other
In fact the Old Testament rose little above the religious and
Deities in Ancient Israel. San Francisco, 1990.
ethical level of Mesopotamian civilization.
Stark, Rodney. One True God: Historical Consequences of Monothe-
ism. Princeton, N.J., 2003.
By relativizing the authority of many elements within
Stroud, Joanne, ed. The Olympians: Ancient Deities as Archetypes.
the Bible, the new discoveries made room for a conception
New York, 1996.
of religion that was more in accord with “reason.” Delitzsch
Wilkinson, Richard. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient
insisted on the spiritual and universal nature of God as dis-
Egypt. London, 2003.
cerned, he thought, by the German Reformation. In this
light, what Delitzsch considered the limited, parochial, and
RAIMUNDO PANIKKAR (1987)
Revised Bibliography
sometimes immoral world of the Old Testament could not
continue to have authority. These ideas met with a storm of
opposition. In his later work Die grosse Täuschung (The great
DE LAS CASAS, BARTOLOMÉ S
deception; 1921), Delitzsch continued in the same vein but
EE LAS
CASAS, BARTOLOMÉ DE
became more extreme. The Old Testament was a collection
of fragments which had some literary and cultural value but
had no relevance for Christianity. Christianity had as close
DE LA VALLÉE POUSSIN, LOUIS S
a relation to paganism, Delitzsch claimed, as it had to Juda-
EE LA
VALLÉE POUSSIN, LOUIS DE
ism, and he emphasized to an almost hysterical degree the
“defects,” “inaccuracies,” and “immoralities” of the Old Tes-
tament.
DELAWARE PROPHET SEE NEOLIN
Delitzsch was facing real problems in the existence of
common ground between the Bible and its antecedent reli-
gious environment and of religious differences between some
DELITZSCH, FRIEDRICH (1850–1922), German
strata of the Bible and others. But the controversial stand he
Assyriologist. Friedrich Conrad Gerhard Delitzsch was the
took was rooted more in modern ideological conflicts than
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2264
DELORIA, ELLA CARA
in a dispassionate study of the ancient religions. His use of
For the next thirteen years Deloria was involved in Indi-
ancient evidence was often exaggerated and distorted, as
an education. She taught at All Saints from 1915 to 1919,
when he argued that Jesus, being a Galilean, was not of Jew-
worked for the YMCA supervising health education in Indi-
ish blood and when he asserted that Jesus’ teaching was
an schools from 1919 to 1923, then taught dance and physi-
“anti-Jewish.” Similarly, Delitzsch’s conception of Christian-
cal education at Haskell Indian school in Lawrence, Kansas.
ity draws from only a very narrow strand in the Christian tra-
In 1927 Boas, finally learning Deloria’s whereabouts, visited
dition. As history of religion, his assessment of the data was
her to propose that she resume the Lakota language studies
intemperate, and his outbursts had the effect of retarding
that she had begun with him in New York. She readily
rather than advancing the cool assessment of the problems
agreed. He proposed that she record “all the details of every-
that Assyriological discovery had created for the relationship
day life as well as of religious attitudes and habits of thought
between Bible and religion.
of the people” (Boas quoted in Deloria, 1988,
pp. 235–236). From 1928 until 1938, with support from
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Columbia University, Deloria studied the language, re-
Delitzsch’s controversial lectures were published in German as
corded stories and ethnographic material from Lakota elders
two books under the same title, Babel und Bibel (Leipzig,
throughout South Dakota, and translated historical texts
1902–1903); the English edition, Babel and Bible (Chicago,
written by tribal members. From 1939 until 1948 she con-
1903), contains not only the lectures but a selection from the
tinued to work as time allowed on the materials she had col-
comments they engendered, including those of Kaiser Wil-
helm II and of Adolf von Harnack, along with replies by De-
lected.
litzsch. Die grosse Täuschung (Stuttgart, 1921) appears never
Deloria’s collaboration with Boas himself culminated in
to have been published in English.
a grammar of Lakota (Boas and Deloria, 1941). However,
New Sources
most of her studies were carried out under the supervision
Arnold, Bill T., and David B. Weisberg. “A Centennial Review
of Ruth Benedict, a cultural anthropologist who was Boas’s
of Friedrich Delitzsch’s ‘Babel und Bibel’ lectures.” Journal
assistant and colleague. After Boas’s death in 1942, Deloria
of Biblical Literature 121, no. 3 (Fall 2002): 441–457.
continued to collaborate with Benedict until the latter’s
Larsen, Mogens Trolle. “The ‘Babel/Bible’ Controversy and its
death in 1948.
Aftermath.” In Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, vol 1.
New York, 1995.
One of the first projects Deloria undertook for Boas was
JAMES BARR (1987)
the translation of a native language text on the Sun Dance,
Revised Bibliography
the most important traditional Lakota religious ceremony.
A long and detailed account, it had been written in the early
1900s by George Sword, a religious leader among the Oglala
DELORIA, ELLA CARA (1889–1971). Ella Cara De-
Lakotas on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern
loria was born January 31, 1889, on the Yankton Sioux Indi-
South Dakota. Deloria read the text aloud to an Oglala elder
an Reservation in southeastern South Dakota. She was the
and with his guidance edited and retranscribed it. The text,
daughter of the Reverend Philip Deloria, an Episcopal priest,
printed in both Lakota and English, was her first professional
and Mary Sully Bordeaux. Her parents were enrolled mem-
publication (Deloria, 1929).
bers of the Yankton Sioux tribe, and both were descended
As a member of a prominent Episcopal family, Deloria
from Dakota (Sioux) and Euro-American ancestors. The year
had little familiarity with traditional Lakota religion, but she
after Ella’s birth, her father was given charge of St. Eliza-
became very interested in it. She recorded a large number of
beth’s Mission in north-central South Dakota, on the Stand-
myths and sacred stories, many of which have been published
ing Rock Reservation. Because his parishioners and the chil-
in Lakota and English (Deloria, 1932; Rice, 1992, 1993,
dren attending the mission school were primarily Hunkpapa
1994). While recording autobiographical texts from elders
and Blackfoot Tetons (Lakotas), the Deloria family adopted
she learned a good deal about the individual’s role in reli-
the l dialect of the Tetons in place of the d dialect of the
gious ceremonies, visions and other supernatural experiences,
Yanktons. Therefore, Deloria, although a Yankton, grew up
and conflicts between traditional religion and Christianity.
speaking the Lakota dialect of the Sioux language.
Benedict pressed her to interview medicine men and record
Deloria’s primary schooling was at St. Elizabeth’s until
their visions, but this forced Deloria into a personal dilem-
1902, when she attended All Saints, an Episcopal boarding
ma. Her father was a prominent missionary, and her younger
school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1910 she entered
brother, Vine V. Deloria, had followed in his footsteps and
Oberlin College, then transferred to Columbia Teachers
begun his career as a missionary at Pine Ridge. Showing
College in 1913, where, two years later, she earned her bach-
undue interest in traditional religion jeopardized the family’s
elor of science degree. During her senior year at Columbia
reputation, and, in any case, traditional religious leaders were
Teachers she met Franz Boas, professor of anthropology at
not comfortable sharing their sacred knowledge with a de-
Columbia University, who introduced her to the formal
vout Christian, who might ridicule them. Deloria focused in-
study of American Indian languages and cultures, thereby
stead on the forms of ceremonies, starting with the Sun
setting in motion the course of much of the rest of her life.
Dance. She hypothesized that all the Sioux groups shared
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DELPHI
2265
common ceremonies but that each performed them in differ-
Murray, Janette K. “Ella Deloria: A Biographical Sketch and Lit-
ent ways. She worked for years on a study that would docu-
erary Analysis.” Ph.D. diss., University of North Dakota,
ment the variations from group to group, but failed to com-
1974.
plete it.
Rice, Julian. Deer Women and Elk Men: The Lakota Narratives of
Ella Deloria. Albuquerque, 1992. A literary analysis of De-
Deloria’s Speaking of Indians (1944) was intended to in-
loria’s Lakota stories and other writings.
troduce American Indians to a broad popular audience. In
it, with great insight and empathy, she succinctly summa-
Rice, Julian. Ella Deloria’s Iron Hawk. Albuquerque, 1993. A bi-
lingual presentation and literary analysis of a long, previously
rized her understanding of traditional religion. She consid-
unpublished sacred story recorded by Deloria.
ered the Lakotas before they had learned of Christian teach-
ings to be naturally religious, “always subconsciously aware
Rice, Julian. Ella Deloria’s The Buffalo People. Albuquerque, 1994.
of the Supernatural Power. Before it they felt helpless and
A bilingual presentation and literary analysis of five previous-
ly unpublished stories recorded by Deloria.
humble” (Deloria, 1944, p. 51). She exemplified this with
an account of the Sun Dance, making the esoteric ritual
RAYMOND J. DEMALLIE (2005)
comprehensible to the general public.
The concern with communicating to the public moti-
vated Deloria to write an ethnographic novel, Waterlily, that
DELPHI. The Delphic oracle was the most important or-
told the story of three generations of women before the reser-
acle of ancient Greece. Archaeological excavations at Delphi
vation period. It masterfully summarizes the important
have shown that the temple of Apollo, which was the center
themes of her study of Lakota culture and is the only written
of the oracular activities, was not built before 750 BCE. It was
source that explores the religious life of Lakota women.
a time of extensive Greek colonization, and one in which the
When she completed the book in 1948 she could not find
oracle, for obscure reasons, managed to play an important
a publisher; it was published posthumously (Deloria, 1988)
role. This activity may well have been the decisive factor in
and rapidly became the most widely read of her works.
establishing Delphi almost immediately as an authoritative
After Benedict’s death in 1948 Deloria struggled to con-
oracle, and Homer’s Iliad, most commonly dated to the
tinue her work and received a number of grants for studies
eighth century BCE, already mentions the wealth of its votive
of religion and social life. From 1955 to 1958 she returned
offerings. Its geographical location, far from powerful Greek
to St. Elizabeth’s Mission to run the school she had attended
city-states, undoubtedly helped its rise to fame; for none of
as a girl. A grant for work on a Lakota dictionary provided
the consulting states had to fear that its rich presents would
her a position at the University of South Dakota from 1962
foster the development of a rival state. On the other hand,
to 1966. After retiring, she continued to live in Vermillion,
Delphi was not so remotely situated as the oracle of Dodona
South Dakota, until her death on February 12, 1971.
(in northwestern Greece), its older rival. The Delphic ora-
cle’s fame was highest in the Archaic period, when even kings
Deloria was the most prolific native scholar of the La-
from Lydia and Cyrene came for consultation.
kotas, and the results of her work (much of which is still un-
published, archived in the American Philosophical Society
Earlier studies went so far as to stress the role of Delphi
Library, Philadelphia, and the Dakota Indian Foundation,
in supporting new moral and religious values such as requir-
Chamberlain, South Dakota) are an essential source for the
ing purification following a murder, but the evidence for
study of Lakota religion.
such Delphic initiatives is actually very slight. It is indeed
hard to see why Delphi, unlike all other oracles, should try
SEE ALSO Lakota Religious Traditions; North American In-
to influence its clients beyond their immediate needs. The
dians, article on Indians of the Plains.
famous sayings “Nothing in excess” and “Know thyself,”
which in the sixth century were fitted into the wall of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Delphic temple, reflect existing ideas rather than new ones.
Boas, Franz, and Ella C. Deloria. “Dakota Grammar.” Memoirs
Both sayings exhort man to remain within his human lim-
of the National Academy of Sciences 23, no. 2. Washington,
its—a common idea in Archaic Greek literature. It seems
D.C., 1941. The standard reference grammar of Lakota.
therefore more likely that the oracle, through its central posi-
Deloria, Ella C. “Dakota Texts.” Publications of the American Eth-
tion in Greek society, functioned as a sounding board that
nological Society, vol. 14. New York, 1932. Comprises sixty-
could amplify current religious conceptions and preoccupa-
three Lakota stories (and one in Dakota) printed in the origi-
tions.
nal as recorded by Deloria with word-by-word and free En-
glish translations.
The ritual of consulting the oracle was relatively simple.
Deloria, Ella C. Speaking of Indians. New York, 1944. Deloria’s
After making various sacrifices, consultants of the oracle had
popular introduction to American Indians, including a suc-
to enter the temple of Apollo where they presented their
cinct and insightful summary of Lakota culture.
questions, orally or written on a tablet, to the priestess of
Deloria, Ella C. Waterlily. Lincoln, Neb., 1988. An ethnographic
Apollo, the Pythia. She was an older woman, whose age
novel focusing on three generations of Lakota women. Con-
made it socially acceptable for her to mix in the company of
tains a biographical sketch of the author by Agnes Picotte
men such as priests and ambassadors. At the same time, she
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2266
DELUGE, THE
was dressed as a girl; the conception of the Pythia as the bride
see L. Maurizio, “Anthropology and Spirit Possession: A Re-
of Apollo was at least hinted at in Delphic mythology. The
consideration of the Pythia’s Role at Delphi,” Journal of Hel-
priestess made her utterances seated on a tripod and holding
lenic Studies 115 (1995): 69–86 and “Delphic Oracles as
a spray of laurel, but unfortunately we are not informed
Oral Performances: Authenticity and Historical Evidence”,
about the exact process whereby she arrived at her oracles.
Classical Antiquity 16 (1997): 308–34. R. C. T. Parker’s
Later reports, both ancient and modern, mention prophetic
“Greek States and Greek Oracles,” in R. Buxton, (ed.), Ox-
ford Readings in Greek Religion (Oxford, 2000), pp. 76–108
vapors emerging from a chasm below the priestess, but this
analyses the questions Greek states posed and the answers
has been disproved by modern archaeological findings. Such
they received.
reports were evidently rationalizing explanations of the Pyth-
ia’s skill in giving oracles. Her voice was supposed to change
JAN N. BREMMER (1987 AND 2005)
when she responded to the inquiries, which seems to indicate
an altered state of consciousness. At the “séance,” special
“prophets” were present who translated the Pythia’s utter-
DELUGE, THE SEE FLOOD, THE
ances into acceptable prose or hexameters. It is not known
to what extent the consultants could influence the outcome
of the oracle, but it seems clear that the opinion of powerful
clients was regularly taken into consideration. The grateful
DE MARTINO, ERNESTO. An ethnologist and his-
consultants dedicated votive offerings to the god, and in the
torian of religions, Ernesto de Martino (1908–1965) was
highly competitive Greek society the exhibition of these of-
born on December 1, 1908, in Naples, Italy, where he stud-
ferings encouraged a kind of potlatch in dedications: at the
ied under Adolfo Omodeo, graduating with a degree in phi-
end of the fifth century, there were nearly thirty special
losophy in 1932. His degree thesis, subsequently published,
buildings in which Greek cities displayed their dedications.
dealt with the historical and philological problem of the El-
Many of the inquiries and the oracle’s corresponding
eusinian Gephyrismi (ritual injuries addressed to the goddess)
answers have been preserved, although a number of these an-
and provides an important methodological introduction to
swers are demonstrably forgeries—products of hindsight.
the concept of religion. Clearly influenced by reading Das
Greek cities as well as individuals sought the oracle’s advice
Heilige by Rudolf Otto, de Martino preferred to emphasize
on a wide range of religious, political, and private matters.
the choleric nature of the believer, overturning the German
The evidence shows that in general the oracle helped to de-
scholar’s thesis and making it capable of being applied to re-
cide between various alternatives rather than to predict the
lations with gods in polytheistic religions and spirits in ani-
future; recourse to the oracle must often have been a conve-
mist religions. Attracted by the ideological stance of the re-
nient way of avoiding the risk of being blamed for the wrong
gime, for several years de Martino worked on an essay
decision.
interpreting Fascism as a historically convenient form of civil
religion. However, the attempt was insubstantial and the
Delphi’s prestige remained high until the fourth century
work, still unpublished, was gradually rejected by the author.
BCE, when it was looted and, perhaps more fatal, when Alex-
At this time, which we now call the “Neapolitan” period,
ander the Great moved the center of the Greek world to the
lasting until 1935, de Martino fell under the spell of the per-
East. The rulers of the warring factions after Alexander’s
sonality and work of an archaeologist who was particularly
death (c. 323 BCE) had no time for embassies to Delphi. Al-
open-minded concerning the ancient history of religions and
though on a much lower level, the oracle continued func-
who was disliked by both the regime and its intellectual op-
tioning in Roman times when the prolific author Plutarch
ponents: Vittorio Macchioro, known for his Orphic inter-
(c. 45–120 CE) was one of its priests; his two treatises The
pretation of the frescoes in the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii
Oracles at Delphi No Longer Given in Verse and The Obsoles-
and advocate of a theory of religion understood essentially
cence of Oracles are a mine of information on Delphi’s rich
as experience.
mythology and ritual. In the fourth century CE, Delphi still
attracted the attention of Roman emperors, but the prohibi-
De Martino moved to Bari, where he became a history
tion of all pagan cults in 392 by the Christian emperor Theo-
and philosophy teacher at a regio liceo. He almost immediate-
dosius I also meant the end of this age-old institution.
ly had the opportunity to become part of the philosopher
Benedetto Croce’s circle and to move in an anti-regime envi-
SEE ALSO Oracles.
ronment. He slowly distanced himself from Fascism com-
pletely, so that in 1941 he was one of the founders of the
B
Liberal Socialist Party. Meanwhile, he had singled out reli-
IBLIOGRAPHY
gious ethnology as his main subject of study and edited the
The best survey of the history of the oracle, together with a collec-
tion of all the extant oracles, is H. W. Parke and D. E. W.
essays that made up his first book (Naturalismo e storicismo
Wormell’s The Delphic Oracle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1956). The
nell’etnologia, printed in the 1940s by Laterza) and formed
oracles are translated and discussed, if in a sometimes too
the basis of the research that would in time develop into his
skeptical way, by Joseph Fontenrose in The Delphic Oracle
most famous work, Il mondo magico. In the first book, which
(Berkeley, 1978). For recent, revisionary studies of the oracle
is primarily methodological, de Martino set out an idealistic
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DE MARTINO, ERNESTO
2267
theory of ethnology, perhaps in a negative rather than posi-
South, or as he said in a much discussed essay of 1949, “the
tive sense, refuting those theories that appeared least appro-
explosion of the lower-class people’s world into history.”
priate to the understanding of magical religious phenomena,
Two literary works, along with his direct political experience,
such as the prelogical thought of Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and the
impelled him to see the south of Italy as an area in need of
Urreligion of Father Wilhelm Schmidt. If the criticism of the
urgent study, to be wrested from the domain of folklore:
Viennese school (highly regarded in Italy) seems somewhat
Quaderni del carcere by Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) and
expected today and in line with that already put forward by
Cristo si è fermato a Eboli by Carlo Levi (1902–1975). In the
Raffaele Pettazzoni, the dispute with Lévy-Bruhl would de-
former he found a conceptual framework that allowed him
velop fruitfully, in that de Martino ended up making use of
to set Marxism in a historical context, placing it within the
his insight regarding “magic participation,” not just in socio-
structure of Italian cultural life, and of seeing religious belief
logical but in ontological terms.
and practice in southern Italy as the historical result of the
interaction, not entirely contradictory, between the ruling
After September 8, 1943, he was at Cotignola (near Ra-
and lower classes, between the Catholic Church and a core
venna) with the partisan adherents of the Partito d’Azione
of pre-Christian traditions. In the work of Levi, on the other
(Party of Action), and it was during the course of that year,
hand, he found a map of the spread of magic in the former
the low point of European civilization, that the central theo-
Kingdom of Naples, an invaluable guide, enabling him to se-
ry upon which Il mondo magico was based took shape. Exten-
lect places and subjects to study, according to a different per-
sive study of parapsychology and psychopathology led him
spective to meridionalist writing, which was more interested
to reconsider radically the problem of magic in primitive so-
in aspects of material poverty than in forms of cultural pover-
cieties, hitherto neglected or avoided by ethnologists; in par-
ty. This was a gap that would be closed to some extent with
ticular, paragnomic powers were interpreted by de Martino
the work de Martino would carry out during the 1950s, spe-
as useful and vital tools in a culture in which the individual
cifically looking to set out a “religious history of the South.”
is unable to separate himself from the world around him and
Driven by the urgency of this project, which was also
continually risks vanishing. In this dramatic scene, which is
political, de Martino undertook a lengthy and substantial se-
centered upon the crisis of “presence” (perhaps a translation
ries of ethnological excursions into the world of magic de-
of Heidegger’s Dasein), the sorcerer or shaman is someone
scribed by Levi, seemingly not limited by time but restricted
who knows how to lose the presence voluntarily and regain
in terms of location, centered around the sassi (terminus tech-
it by ritual action, playing the part of actor and director in
nicus) of Matera and delimited by the Naples of Croce. These
a collective drama, which allows the group to recover the en-
expeditions were groundbreaking for several reasons: first, he
ergy that has been lost. Edited after the end of the war, the
was in charge of a team of trained professionals and experts
book was published in 1948, provoking discussion rather
in related disciplines (such as social work, psychiatry, para-
than agreement, but nonetheless marking the author as one
psychology, ethnomusicology, sociology, and photography),
of the leading postwar Italian intellectuals.
but most of all because he was concerned about setting out
In 1947, meanwhile, de Martino moved to Rome. He
the problem of the relationship between the subject and ob-
did not manage to find a permanent university post (he only
ject of research. The most extensive of these field studies gave
became a qualified university teacher in 1952), and he had
rise to and produced the greatest contributions to the reli-
to make do with high school teaching, something he found
gious history of the South that de Martino himself had begun
rather unsatisfying. To supplement the paltry salary and es-
to carry out: the 1952 expedition, organized to acquire infor-
pecially to maintain a leading position in the political and
mation concerning Lucanian ceremonial magic, gave rise to
cultural life of the capital, he worked directly with the Rome
the first part of Sud e magia (1959); the expeditions of 1953
office of the Einaudi publishing house, where liberal socialist
to 1956, recording the funeral laments of Lucania, formed
and communist intellectuals were brought together and
the basis of the ethnographic chapters of Morte e pianto ritu-
where he would establish—along with Cesare Pavese (1908–
ale nel mondo antico (the largest and most detailed of de Mar-
1950)—a collection of ethnological and religious studies that
tino’s books, published in 1958 and winning the prestigious
were to go down in history as “La Collana Viola”: this series
Premio Viareggio literary prize); while the 1959 expedition
would also contain irrational religious and ethnological clas-
to Galatina, in Puglia, which was interested in gathering such
sics (by Kerényi, Eliade, Jensen, Frobenius, and others), giv-
information as still existed on the ancient “tarantula” rituals,
ing great offense to the supporters of Croce and the commu-
formed the harsh starting point of Terra del rimorso (1961),
nists and rightly gaining de Martino a formidable intellectual
the third and unfortunately final stage of this lay pilgrimage
reputation. All this took place at the very moment when, like
to places where mere existence itself is something of an en-
many other politically committed scholars of his generation,
deavor. From these three works, the cultural institutions sur-
he was beginning an intense, fervent period of militancy: for
veyed and studied, corroborated by historiographical case
a time he joined the Socialist Party and traveled to Bari and
study, were given a sense of worth that previous folkloric re-
Lecce, first in his role as commissar of the provincial federa-
search had neglected or even sometimes crushed.
tion and then as an inspector, experiencing at first hand the
The rapid transformation of the south of Italy as a result
great land struggle of those years in the countryside of the
of the so-called economic miracle and the gradual withdraw-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2268
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
al of de Martino from active politics (partly as a result of dis-
nel mito Achilpa delle origini,” in Studie Materiali di Storia
illusion with the unself-critical position adopted by the Ital-
delle Religioni 23 (1951–1952); “Fenomenologia religiosa e
ian Communist Party after the events of 1956) are the most
storicismo assoluto,” in Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Reli-
obvious reasons that led to the end of the meridionalist peri-
gioni 24–25 (1954); “Storicismo e irrazionalismo nella storia
od begun in 1949. In 1958 the writer finally gained a univer-
delle religioni,” in Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni
sity chair in Cagliari, and the following year he began to hold
28 (1957); and Magia e civiltà (Milan, 1962). In 1995 the
publisher Argo (Lecce) began a collection of the unpublished
a course on the history of religions. At first he seemed to be
works of de Martino, and a large number of unpublished
concerned with collecting and revising the more theoretical
works can also be found in the author’s personal archive,
essays that he had been writing in the meantime (in 1962
maintained by Vittoria De Palma and deposited with the
Furore simbolo valore was published), but contrary to what
aforementioned Associazione Internazionale E. de Martino.
some thought he had not in fact ceased his research and was
The vast majority of critical work on de Martino is posthumous.
in fact already working on a magnum opus concerning cul-
Here we will only mention those works that form an essential
tural apocalypses, which was to represent a compendium of
starting point: Benedetto Croce, “Intorno al ‘magismo’ come
his philosophy. This work would remain largely unfinished,
età storica,” in Filosofia e storiografia (Bari, 1949); Enzo Paci,
but from the preliminary notes (published posthumously in
Il nulla e il problema dell’uomo (Turin, 1950); Renato Solmi,
1977 by Clara Gallini as La fine del mondo), he was already
“E. De Martino e il problema delle categorie,” Il Mulino 7
embarked upon an intensive program to reestablish human
(1952); Cesare Cases, in his introduction to the edition of
sciences on the basis of an extremely detailed and careful in-
Mondo magico (Turin, 1973); Pietro Clemente, “Morte e
pianto rituale. Riflessioni su un lavoro di E. De Martino,”
disciplinary study: the madness of the end of the world, the
Annali della Facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell’Università di Siena
drama of the Christian apocalypse, the eschatological ele-
4 (1983); Pier Giorgio Solinas, “Idealismo, marxismo, strut-
ments of Third World religions, the collapse of the bourgeoi-
turalismo,” in L’antropologia italiana. Un secolo di storia, ed-
sie prophesied by Marxism, the “loss of the center” in the ar-
ited by A. R. Leone (Bari, 1985); Placido and Maria Cherchi,
tistic expression of the twentieth century, are all themes that
Ernesto de Martino. Dalla crisi della presenza alla comunità
are analyzed throughout the respective texts (psychiatric, reli-
(Naples, 1987); Carlo Ginzburg, “Momigliano e De Mar-
gious and historical, ethnological, philosophical, and liter-
tino,” in Rivista storica italiana 100 (1988); Ricardo Di
ary) and return once again to that distinct contemporary
Donato, “Preistoria di Ernesto De Martino,” Studi storici 1
sense of “ending,” which the author interprets, at times ecu-
(1989); Giuseppe Giarrizzo, “Note su Ernesto de Martino,”
menically, as the “ontic” risk of losing forever the world as
Archivio storico di cultura 8 (1995); Ernesto de Martino nella
cultura europea, edited by Clara Gallini and Marcello
a cultural homeland. One of the means of salvation is ethno-
Massenzio (Naples, 1997); Silvia Mancini, Postscript to the
graphic humanism, and it was this message, albeit not yet in
French edition of Mondo magico (Paris, 1999); and Gennaro
complete detail, that the author found the time to convey.
Sasso, Ernesto de Martino fra religione e filosofia (Naples,
He was taken ill with a lung tumor and died in a Roman hos-
2001). Numerous journals, such as Studi e Materiali di Storia
pital on May 6, 1965.
delle Religioni 51 (1985) and La ricerca folklorica 13 (1986),
have devoted whole issues to de Martino.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PIETRO ANGELINI (2005)
To date (2003) there is still no systematic and comprehensive bi-
ography of de Martino. Scholars should refer to: Giuseppe
Galasso, “Ernesto de Martino,” in Croce, Gramsci e altri stori-
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE. In the Homer-
ci (Milan, 1969); and Mario Gandini, “Ernesto de Martino.
ic epics, no link is established between the two goddesses De-
Nota bio-bibliografica,” in Uomo e Cultura 10 (1972). There
are useful items also in: Andrea Binazzi, “Ernesto de Mar-
meter and Persephone, to whom later sources attribute a
tino,” in Belfagor 196 (1969); Clara Gallini, in his introduc-
close mythical and ritual relationship, insofar as they are
tion to La fine del mondo (Turin, 1977); and Ricardo Di
mother and daughter. In the Iliad (14.326), Demeter is pres-
Donato, ed., La contraddizione felice? Ernesto de Martino e gli
ented as the bride of Zeus; elsewhere in the same poem
altri (Pisa, 1990). Further information can be found in his
(2.696) and in the Odyssey (5.125–129), her specific function
correspondence with Cesare Pavese in La collana viola, edited
as goddess of the harvest is also mentioned. Although Deme-
by Pietro Angelini (Turin, 1991) with Pietro Secchia in
ter appears to play a marginal role in the Homeric religious
Compagni e amici, edited by Ricardo Di Donato (Flor-
panorama, she is a figure of extreme antiquity, perhaps relat-
ence,1993) and Renato Boccassino in Una vicinanza discreta,
ed to the Sitopotinja (mistress of the wheat) mentioned in
edited by Francesco Pompeo, (Rome, 1996). See also the
the Linear B texts of Mycenae (twelfth century BCE), and she
profile by Vittorio Lanternari in the Dizionario biografico
degli italiani, vol. 38 (Rome, 1990) and by the same author,
performs a fundamental role in the polytheistic Greek sys-
La mia alleanza con E. de Martino (Naples, 1997).
tem. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Demeter is one of the many
brides of Zeus, and in the Erga (vv. 465ff.), the poet presents
A catalog of the works of de Martino, which is almost complete,
Demeter Chthonia, partnered with Zeus Chthonios, as the
has been edited by Mario Gandini and Silvio Previtera for
sovereign dispenser of the fruits of the land.
l’Associazione Internazionale E. de Martino (Rome, 1995).
In addition to the works referred to in the article, the follow-
In both of Homer’s epics, Persephone, daughter of Zeus
ing should be noted: “Angoscia territoriale e riscatto culturale
(Odyssey 11.217), is referred to as queen of the underworld
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
2269
and bride of Hades. The fact that no link between the two
in search of her daughter. This mythical theme in fact pro-
goddesses is mentioned does not imply that such a link was
vides a wealth of material for the various cults, constituting
unknown at the time of composition. Nor does it follow that
the common thread that links the many pieces of the vast
one may identify in Persephone the figure of a pre-Hellenic
mosaic of Demetrian sites.
underworld goddess, different from the Kore (maiden) of the
wheat and daughter of Demeter, as proposed by some schol-
Among the sources that testify to the functional rela-
ars and comprehensively argued by Gunther Zuntz (1971).
tionship between myth and sacred place, the Periegesis by
The first reference to their relationship and to the dramatic
Pausanias in particular offers extensive material for the re-
circumstances that led to Persephone becoming the bride of
construction of a basic Demetrian cartography, whereas the
Hades is found in Hesiod (Theogony, 912–914). The narra-
remaining documentation—literary, epigraphic, and archae-
tion of the event meanwhile, which represents one of the lon-
ological—helps fill in the details. Among the numerous cults
gest-lived and most geographically widespread mythical tra-
connected with the theme of Demeter’s wanderings, the
ditions in Greek history, is the subject of the Hymn to
most significant are those of Megara and Pheneos. In the first
Demeter in the pseudo-Homeric collection, datable to
location, Pausanias mentions the rock called “Anaclethris be-
around 600
cause Demeter (if the story be credible) here too called her
BCE. This text, although literary and nonliturgi-
cal in nature, represents a sort of manifesto of the mythical-
daughter back when she was wandering in search of her.
ritual context of Eleusis, because it links Persephone’s abduc-
Even in our day the Megarian women hold a performance
tion to Demeter’s founding of the mysteries. Demeter’s re-
that is a mimic representation of the legend” (Periegesis, 1,
fusal to accept the loss of her daughter leads Zeus to allow
43, 2). Every year at Pheneos a festival with evident aspects
them to periodically meet on Olympus, despite the fact that
of the mysteries was celebrated in a construction known as
Persephone has since become queen of the underworld. The
the Petroma, formed by two large stones with a circular
successful resolution of the problem involves the human
opening, “with a mask inside of Demetra Cidaria. This mask
world, to which Demeter grants not only agrarian fertility,
is put on by the priest at the Greater Rites who for some rea-
which had ceased as a consequence of her mourning, but also
son or other beats with rods the Folk Underground. The
a new ritual dimension within which initiates may experi-
Pheneatians have a story that even before Naon arrived the
ence direct and intimate contact with the two goddesses and
wanderings of Demeter brought her to their city also. To
obtain, with their goodwill, the guarantee of happiness after
those Pheneatians who received her with hospitality into
death. The mythical and cultic role of Demeter and Perseph-
their homes the goddess gave all sorts of pulse save the bean
one in Greek religion is not limited to the Eleusinian myster-
only” (Periegesis 8, 15, 1–4). Insofar as the divine mask—
ies, even though these are essential to defining their identity
many examples of which have been found in the Demeter
and prerogatives. Their role is actually extremely wide-
sanctuaries—is worn by the celebrant, this leads one to sup-
ranging and diversified, and they are found both in the typi-
pose that the latter aims to impersonate Demeter herself. The
cal formula of the mother and daughter pair and as distinct
beating of the rods on the ground would thus seem to be
figures with respective cults.
aimed at “recall” and may be considered similar to the ritual
performed at the Anaclethris rock in Megara in memory of
DEMETER CULTS. A wealth of sources testifies to the cult of
the despairing wail of the mother looking for her abducted
Demeter throughout the area to which Hellenism spread,
daughter.
from the islands of the Aegean and Asia Minor to Magna
Graecia. Sicily was particularly devoted to the worship of De-
Reports of Diodorus Siculus illustrate a different but
meter. A characteristic aspect of Demeter cults was the cen-
parallel mythical tradition by placing the divine event in a
tral importance of the abduction and search for Kore; in
Sicilian setting. It is difficult to establish the antiquity of this
many parts of Greece and the colonies, and in particular in
version, whereby the island is the place of the abduction, of
Sicily, the foundation of the cult and the structure of its
Demeter’s search, and also of the maiden’s return, although
places of worship are often linked to the mythical theme of
this version was already formed by the high Hellenistic peri-
the goddess visiting human hosts. Therefore the divine expe-
od. Nevertheless the spread of the Demetrian cult, starting
rience has an etiological function toward the numerous local
from the most ancient colonial foundations (eighth to sev-
cults, influencing both the arrangement of the sacred area
enth centuries BCE) in Sicily, leads one to believe that the
(temple, enclosure, grove, or even vast sanctuary) and the rit-
process of “transferring” the cult and its adaptations to local
ual practice, which assumed a great variety of forms, at times
conditions induced the corresponding mythical narration to
connected to the Eleusinian model, at others Thesmopho-
become rooted in the territory, along with the cultic struc-
rion. There is thus created a sort of map of the Demeter cult
tures. Diodorus situates the Sicilian version of the abduction
that reflects the movements of the divine figures in the cos-
in the Heroic Age and attributes the foundation of the mag-
mos, with the earth as their meeting point. The sacred site
nificent festival of Syracuse to Herakles (Bibliotheke, 4.23).
and the ritual praxis celebrated there are in turn configured
He goes on to provide an extended narration of the myth
as a tangible sign of the divine passage along two vectors: ver-
that, while reflecting the existing pan-Hellenic pattern, is
tical, through the underworld, the surface of the earth, and
characterized by its entirely Sicilian setting, which unfolds
Olympus; and horizontal, representing Demeter’s wandering
on the road linking Enna, where the abduction of the divine
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2270
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
maiden took place, and Syracuse. Here the king of the under-
as the female counterpart of the highest-level priest, the hi-
world “ripped open the earth, plunged with the abducted
erophant who revealed the sacred symbols of the mysteries.
maiden into Hades and made a spring flow forth, where the
The other esoteric Demeter cults, particularly the Thesmo-
Syracusans every year celebrate a famous festival” (Biblio-
phoria, are entirely characterized by female aspects, with only
theke, 5.3–4).
a few exceptions, in which men’s involvement was limited
Having completed the union between mythical event
to certain phases of the rite. This exclusive female Demetrian
and ritual practice, the historian offers a detailed description
rituality is not configured as being in opposition to the male
of two festive cycles, with sacrifices and grandiose ceremonies
sphere but rather in a dialectic relationship and complemen-
dedicated respectively to Persephone at the time of the ripen-
tary to it. In almost all cases the cults in question have an
ing of the wheat (May–June) and to Demeter at the time of
evident political dimension in the sense that, inserted in the
sowing of the seed. The first festival is called the katagoge of
official calendar of the city, they are connected to the promo-
Kore, a name intended as the “recall” of the divine maiden
tion of the well-being and prosperity of the entire communi-
rather than as her “descent” (into the underworld). The re-
ty. Whereas generally excluded from the judicial-
sult is that in the Sicilian context the positive outcome of the
administrative activities of the Greek city, women neverthe-
story, with Persephone’s periodic return to her mother, was
less played a crucial role on the sacred level, which
the premise and foundation for a special cultic practice.
represented an essential and irreplaceable element of city
life, for it was on this level that the city depended for its legit-
The second festival, dedicated to Demeter, concerns the
imacy and for the strength that ensured its survival and con-
theme of the goddess’s laughter, which marks the end of her
grief, and which is usually provoked—according to the vari-
tinuity.
ous traditions—by aischrologia or by more or less explicitly
The Thesmophoria are the oldest and most pan-
obscene behavior. These attitudes are transferred from the
Hellenic in diffusion of the female esoteric Demeter cults.
mythical level, on which a female figure with various names
The name Thesmophora was given to the goddess as an ex-
(Iambe, Baubo, or a nameless old woman) intervenes, to a
pression of her role as giver of civilizing laws (thesmoi), in
ritual level representing one of the most typical and recurrent
particular of the rules of marriage. Agriculture and marriage,
elements of the Demeter cults, from the Eleusinian mysteries
as well as chthonic and human fertility, are Demeter’s func-
to the Thesmophoria. The seasonal collocation of the Syra-
tional prerogatives and the cornerstones of human identity.
cusan festival at the time of the sowing or of the first germi-
Humans, in the Greek ideological panorama, are defined as
nation of the wheat (October–November) confirms its con-
different from the gods due to their double roles as eaters of
nection with agriculture and the analogy with
bread and generators of children, insofar as they are mortal
Thesmophorion practice, despite the duration of the rite (ten
but producers of culture. The Thesmophoria, which was re-
days) and its public aspects. Many archaeological finds from
served for married women with full rights of citizenship,
the city and surrounding territory confirm, in the wealth of
took place once a year, although on different dates in the fes-
votive materials portraying the two goddesses and their wor-
tive calendars of the various Greek cities. The festival is also
shipers, just how pervasive and deep-rooted Demetrian and
connected to the abduction of Persephone; sources relate
Persephonean religiosity was.
that on the days of the festival the thesmophoriazousai (the
Whereas Demeter cults distinguished all of Sicily, some
women who celebrated the Thesmophoria) ritually evoked
of the main centers were in Agrigento, which Pindar cele-
Demeter’s grief, the search for Persephone, and Persephone’s
brates as the “dwelling place of Persephone” (Pythics, 12,
retrieval. The festival involved both of the goddesses; in
1–5); Gela, the site of a characteristic Thesmophorion (Bi-
many cases a male figure, Eubuleus or Zeus Eubuleus; and
talemi); and Enna, where Cicero—who witnessed the tradi-
a triad that included a married couple, probably identifiable
tion whereby “the island of Sicily is entirely consecrated to
as Persephone and an underworld Zeus, who corresponded
Ceres and to Libera”—recognized the presence of the “more
to Hades/Pluto. Extensive archaeological evidence confirms
ancient Ceres,” venerated in a famous sanctuary (In Verrem
the pervasive nature of this cult, with numerous finds dating
Actio 2, 2, 4, 48, 106–108). Archaeological research has
from the archaic age up to late Hellenism spread throughout
brought to light in these and many other Sicilian locations
the Hellenized Mediterranean world, with particular concen-
sacred areas and votive hoards of such richness as to com-
trations in the Aegean Islands, in Magna Graecia, and in Sici-
pletely confirm the opinion, again reported by Cicero, of the
ly. The recurrent image of the female figure in votive deposits
ancient inhabitants of the island, who claimed that “these
(the worshiper or goddess herself) with various attributes (a
two goddesses were born in those places and the cultivation
piglet, a cist, a dish of fruit, a torch) vividly express its central
of cereals was introduced for the first time in that land.”
element, with its double reference to agrarian and female fer-
The service of Demeter, without being an exclusive pre-
tility. The presence of various figures of kourotrophos, a di-
rogative of women, was nevertheless usually performed by
vine or human nursing mother, in the Thesmophorion
priestesses. In the priestly hierarchy of Eleusis, an essential
places of worship strengthens the female connotations of
role was played by the hiereiai (“priestesses”) and by the
the mythical-ritual scenario gravitating around the two god-
hierophantis (“she who reveals the sacred things”), who acted
desses.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE
2271
Numerous other exclusively female rituals gravitate
Orphic Argonautika link explicitly to the Thesmophoria. In
around Demeter, often together with her daughter and in re-
some formulas relative to the otherworldly journey of the
lationship with the mythical theme of the abduction. In Ath-
soul contained in the well-known gold leaves from Thurii
ens there was the Stenia, a nocturnal festival in which women
(fourth–third centuries BCE) that seem to reflect an eschatol-
kept a vigil, perhaps awaiting the return of the two goddesses,
ogy of Orphic inspiration, Persephone is invoked as “pure
and the Scire, connected also with Athena, Poseidon, and
Queen of them below” (in Kern, 1922, fr. 32 c-f), and De-
Erecteus. Sources of the imperial age attest the presence of
meter is also mentioned.
mysteries of one or the other goddess in numerous centers,
above all in the Peloponnese and in Asia Minor, and in cities
SEE ALSO Baubo; Eleusinian Mysteries; Goddess Worship,
in which the cult of Demeter had a long and consolidated
overview article, article on Goddess Worship in the Helle-
tradition, such as Smyrna, Ephesus, and Pergamus.
nistic World; Greek Religion; Hades; Hekate; Orpheus;
Thesmophoria.
PERSEPHONE CULTS. Some cults were dedicated solely to
Persephone without Demeter, albeit often coupled with her
underworld husband Hades, whereas others included her
BIBLIOGRAPHY
mother but merely in a sporadic or marginal role. Among
Publication of the complete edition of the Locri pinakes, after ex-
these, particularly significant is the Magna Graecian cult in
tensive analyses of the iconography and underlying religious
concepts, was successfully started with publication of the first
Locri, whose flourishing is shown by a few literary sources
four volumes, various authors, in Atti e Memorie della Società
and by extensive archaeological evidence. Whereas its period
della Magna Grecia, ser. 4, 1, 1–4 (Rome, 1999). For a pic-
of greatest splendor was between the end of the sixth century
ture of the historico-cultural situation in Locri, a useful
and the mid-fifth century BCE, this cult also spread outside
source is Atti del sedicesimo Convegno di studi sulla Magna
the Locri Persephoneion to Medma and other towns of
Grecia Taranto, 3–8 ottobre 1976, vols. 1–2 (Naples, 1977).
Magna Graecia and to Francavilla in Sicily. It was character-
The problem of Persephone’s identity as been analyzed by
ized by the enthusiastic participation of the local people and
Gunther Zuntz, Persephone: Three Essays on Religion and
by a rich mythical background with a corresponding ritual
Thought in Magna Graecia (Oxford, U.K., 1971).
praxis, whose reconstruction depends entirely on the exegesis
Claude Bérard’s Anodoi: Essai sur l’imagerie des passages chthoniens
of the complex iconography. The votive pinakes (tablets) that
(Rome, 1974) analyzes extensive iconographic material rela-
have been found in large numbers in the favissae (under-
tive to myths of crossing cosmic levels in which various di-
ground chambers for sacred deposits) of the sanctuary pres-
vine figures are involved, including Persephone. The agricul-
ent numerous scenes in which the divine and mythical levels
tural connections of the various forms of the Demeter cult
intertwine deeply with human life and ritual. The scenes are
in Attica are highlighted by Allaire Chandor Brumfield, The
dominated by the majestic figures of Persephone and Hades
Attic Festivals of Demeter and Their Relation to the Agricultur-
al Year (New York, 1981). Walter Burkert’s excellent manual
on their thrones, often accompanied by other divine figures
on Greek religion, Die Griechische Religion der archaischen
(Dionysos, Hermes, Ares) and above all human images, such
und Klassischen Epoche (Stuttgart, Germany, 1977), translat-
as maidens with various attributes (ball, cockerel) and
ed by John Raffan as Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical
women engaged in picking fruit, in ritual procession, and in
(Cambridge, Mass., 1985), provides indispensable data for
scenes of sacrifice or nuptial significance. A particularly inter-
collocating the cult in the wider context of Greek religious
esting depiction is that of a female figure (goddess or
history. The typology of the nursing deities is examined by
woman?) sitting at a table upon which is placed a basket that
Theodora Hadzisteliou Price in Kourotrophos: Cults and Rep-
she holds open to reveal a boy inside. Another scene that
resentations of the Greek Nursing Deities (Leiden, Nether-
stands out for the frequency and variety of figurative motifs
lands, 1978). An exhaustive overview of the Sicilian and Ital-
is that of a chariot drawn by winged horses carrying a maid-
ian centers of the cult, with comprehensive archaeological
documentation, is provided by Valentina Hinz, Der Kult von
en, who is led, often by force, by an abductor, who is some-
Demeter und Kore auf Sizilien und in der Magna Graecia
times a youth and sometimes an older man. The two levels
(Wiesbaden, Germany, 1998). See also Otto Kern, Orphi-
of the divine and human are inextricably intertwined, be-
corum Fragmenta (Berlin, 1922), and Alberto Bernabé and
cause the scenario of the mythical marriage is superimposed
Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal, Instrucciones para el más
by the reference to the common female experience of mar-
allá: Las laminillas órficas de oro (Madrid, 2001). The relation
riage perceived as a maiden’s separation from her family and
between Eleusis and Orphism has been discussed in detail by
her assumption of the new role of adult woman, wife, and
Fritz Graf, Eleusis und die orphische Dichtung Athens in Vor-
mother.
hellenistischer Zeit (Berlin and New York, 1974).
Lastly, the varied ancient religious literature attributed
A useful commentary with a wide range of parallel documentation
accompanies the translation by N. J. Richardson of The Ho-
to the mythical Thracian poet Orpheus displayed a great in-
meric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford, 1974). Giulia Sfameni Ga-
terest in the myths and rituals gravitating around the mother
sparro’s Misteri e culti mistici di Demetra (Rome, 1986) offers
and daughter pair. Although the thesis of an influence of Or-
a picture of the Demeter cults as intended to set up an in-
phic doctrines in Eleusis has been convincingly confuted by
tense relationship between the faithful and the goddess
Fritz Graf (1974), numerous testimonies reveal the existence
through the ritual reevocation of the mythical event, often
of particular mythical versions of the abduction, which the
in an esoteric context.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2272
DEMIÉVILLE, PAUL
On the methods of access to the priesthood by Greek women, see
work on Buddhism in China, the school of Chan (Zen) in
Judy Ann Turner, “Hiereiai: Acquisition of Feminine Priest-
the Tang dynasty in particular, and for his work on the Bud-
hoods in Ancient Greece,” Ph.D. diss. (University of Califor-
dhist materials found at Tun-huang.
nia, Santa Barbara, 1983). For the complex religious and so-
cial dimension of feminine priesthood in the ancient world,
see Sfameni Gasparro, “Ruolo cultuale della donna in Grecia
BIBLIOGRAPHY
e a Roma: Per una tipologia storico-religiosa,” in Donna e
Book-length studies by Demiéville include the following: Les ver-
culture: Studi e documenti nel III anniversario della “Mulieris
sions chinoises du Milindapañha (Hanoi, 1924); Le Concile de
Dignitatem,” edited by Umberto Mattioli (Bologna, Italy,
Lhasa: Une controverse sur le Quiétisme entre bouddhistes de
1991), pp. 57–121.
l’Inde et de la Chine au huitième siècle de l’ère chrétienne (Paris,
1952); and Entretiens de Lin-tsi, translated and edited by De-
GIULIA SFAMENI GASPARRO (2005)
miéville (Paris, 1972). Demiéville was the author of numer-
ous articles, the most important of which are reprinted in
two volumes: Choix d’études sinologiques (Leiden, 1973) and
Choix d’études bouddhiques (Leiden, 1973). Both of these vol-
DEMIÉVILLE, PAUL (1894–1979), French Sinolo-
umes contain extensive bibliographies, which are updated in
gist and Buddhologist. Demiéville was born in Lausanne,
Yves Hervouet’s obituary for Demiéville, published in
Switzerland, and completed undergraduate studies at Bern
T’oung pao 65 (1979): 1–12.
in 1911. He subsequently studied in Munich, London,
New Sources
Edinburgh, and Paris, finishing work for a doctorate in
Gregory, P. N., and Kuroda Institute. Sudden and Gradual: Ap-
music at the University of Paris in 1914. He began his study
proaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought. Honolulu,
of Chinese the following year at King’s College in London,
1987.
but he returned to Paris to study first at the École Nationale
ROBERT G. HENRICKS (1987)
des Langues Orientales and then at the Collège de France,
Revised Bibliography
where he worked with Édouard Chavannes. Demiéville grad-
uated from the École des Langues Orientales in 1918, having
mastered not only Chinese but Japanese and Sanskrit as well.
In 1920 he moved to Hanoi, and from 1924 to 1926 he
DEMIURGE. The Greek term d¯emiourgos (together with
taught Sanskrit and Western philosophy at the University of
its variants) is derived from the words d¯emos (“people”) and
Amoy. From 1926 to 1930 he lived in Japan, where he edited
ergon (“work”) and thus has the basic meaning of “one who
the first four volumes (1929–1931) of the encyclopedic dic-
works for the people,” an artisan or a professional. This ety-
tionary of Buddhism Hôbôgirin, compiled under the direc-
mological base subsequently developed in two directions. On
tion of Sylvain Lévi and Takakusu Junjiro. (The dictionary
the one hand, d¯emiourgos came to refer to a magistrate; on
resumed publication in the 1960s.)
the other, it became a name for the original creator of the
world, in the specific sense of an ordainer or arranger, some-
In 1931, Demiéville returned to France to become pro-
one who as an artist fashions the world out of preexisting
fessor of Chinese at the École Nationale des Langues Orien-
matter in accord with a preexisting model. It is this second
tales, a post he held until 1945, at which time he became di-
meaning that is of primary concern here.
rector of studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études,
teaching courses in Buddhist philology. In 1946 he suc-
The term d¯emiourgos occurs only twice in Homer, each
ceeded Henri Maspero to the chair of Chinese language and
time in the Odyssey. At 17.383 it refers to a professional man
civilization at the Collège de France, the position he held
such as a soothsayer, physician, carpenter, or inspired poet.
until his retirement in 1964.
At 19.135 it refers to a herald, “one who performs a public
function” (k¯erukon hoi d¯emioergoi easin). Here the develop-
Demiéville was a corresponding member of the British
ment of the later meaning, that of “magistrate,” is already
Academy, the Association for Asian Studies, and the School
perceptible. Sophocles uses the term in its original sense
of Oriental and African Studies in London and was an hon-
when he calls Hades “the savage artisan of Hector’s girdle”
orary member of To¯yo¯ Bunko and of the Académie du
(Ajax 1035). Similarly, Aristophanes links the d¯emiourgoi
Japon. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the universi-
(“artisans”) with other categories of workers (Peace 297) and
ties of Louvain and Rome, and he was elected a member of
uses the term d¯emiourgikos (“in the style of an artisan, a spe-
the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1951. He
cialized worker”) to refer to Hermes, the versatile god of in-
served as codirector of the journal T’oung pao (Leiden) from
ventions (Peace 429). At one place d¯emiourgos possibly takes
1945 to 1976.
on the specialized sense of “potter” (Knights 650), which sug-
Demiéville was a prolific writer, publishing 179 studies
gests the future evolution of the word in the sense of “(cos-
(books and articles) and 104 book reviews. His works are
mic) molder.” The same term is used in its original meaning
characterized by philological precision and a thorough exam-
by Herodotos (7.31), whereas Thucydides uses it in the sense
ination of the sources. They are models of scholarship. He
of “magistrate” (5.47.9; cf. 1.56). The pre-Socratic philoso-
wrote on Chinese language, art, literature, archaeology, his-
phers use the term d¯emiourgiai in its original meaning (see,
tory, philosophy, and religion. But he is best known for his
for instance, Philolaos, frag. 11t), whereas in the doxography
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEMIURGE
2273
of these philosophers, the term may refer to a molder or a
(makranthro¯pos) in the Timaeus, a myth that would express
former, in the sense of a cosmogonic agent (as in Em-
a kind of pantheistic unity of God and world, such a survival
pedocles).
is unlikely. In fact, in Plato’s Timaeus the role of the Demi-
urge is incompatible with an essentially monistic conception
Plato uses the term d¯emiourgos to refer both to an artisan
of the world as a gigantic organism. Rather, this text is in-
and to an original arranger of the world. Meaning “artisan”
formed by Plato’s fundamental dualism, a dualism that de-
or “craftsman,” the term occurs in Laches 185e and 195b and
scribes an ontological reality while at the same time provid-
in Charmides 162e, 164a–b, 171c, 173c, 174e, and 175a.
ing a principle of philosophical hermeneutics.
The last two cases include the sense of something that affects
or causes; compare Sophist 219c, Philebus 55d, and Laws
Plato distinguishes two realms. On the one hand there
829d, where the suggestion is of performers of noble deeds.
is the ideal world, the world of the Ideas, the models of all
See also Gorgias 452a, 453a–e, and 454a, where rhetoric and
reality. Opposite this stands the sensible world, which comes
arithmetic “produce” persuasion, as do the arts in general.
into being through the activity of the Demiurge, who proj-
Compare, however, the term used as “creator of phantoms,”
ects the efficacy of the ideal models that he contemplates into
that is, the opposite of a real creator, in Republic 599a–d and
the receptive cho¯ra (“receptacle”). Clearly the Demiurge is
601b, and see also Republic 340e, 346c, 597d; Apology 22d
here to be distinguished both from the Ideas, including the
and 23e; Alcibiades 1 131a and 140b–c; Gorgias 447d and
supreme idea, the idea of the Good, and from the soul of the
455b; and Euthydemus 280c. Note particularly Republic
world, the soul that the Demiurge introduces into the
389d, which quotes Homer’s Odyssey 17.383. In the context
“body” of the world in order to animate it.
of the theory of the three categories of citizens in the polis,
Plato refers to the Demiurge as a cause or principle
see Republic 415a; Phaedrus 248e; and Sophist 219c (cf.
(aitia) of the world, a term that he also applies to the world
Statesman 280c). See also Critias 110c and 112b and Laws
of Ideas in its relation to the sensible world. Even the cho¯ra
746c and 921b.
itself, the receptacle that preexists the molding activity of the
Closely associated with the meaning “artisan” is the
Demiurge, is called an aitia, although due to its inferior on-
meaning “professional man” or “specialist,” which appears
tological status it is sometimes referred to inaccurately in
in Homer. In this sense the term occurs in Laches 195d and
translation as “prime matter,” in relation to the Demiurge
Charmides 164b (cf. Philebus 55d and Sophist 229d); Protago-
and the world of Ideas.
ras 312b and 322b (d¯emiourgik¯e techn¯e, “the professional art”
The molding and animating activity of the Demiurge
or “skill in handiwork,” the gift of Prometheus to mankind,
is an ordering activity that opposes the primordial chaotic
as opposed to the more spiritual or ethical politik¯e techn¯e, the
disorder of the elements, progressively reducing their disor-
“political art,” which is the gift of Zeus); Cratylus 389a,
derly movement. The world is said to be generated by the
where the legislator is the most rare among the “specialists”
Demiurge, who is also termed its “maker and father” (poi¯et¯es
or “experts” (cf. 428e and Laws 921d, respectively, referring
kai pat¯er, Timaeus 28; cf. 41 and “maker and father,”
to specialists in the arts of instruction and of war); Euthyde-
d¯emiourgos kai pat¯er, at Statesman 273; at Republic 597d the
mus 301c and Phaedo 86c, where it is a question of artists
painter is not d¯emiourgos kai poi¯et¯es). The Demiurge is also
(cf. also the Symposium 186d, among others; Republic 401c;
described as “the most perfect of causes,” while the world is
and Sophist 236a, where it refers to the sculptors of statues);
described as “the most beautiful of generated beings” (Ti-
and Hippias Maior 290b, where Phidias is mentioned as “a
maeus 29). The model that inspires the maker is eternal, al-
good craftsman knowing the beautiful” (here we are close to
ways the same, uniform and ungenerated. The Demiurge it-
the meaning of a molder of the universe inspired by an invisi-
self is said to be difficult to know; knowledge of it is
ble model). Finally, see Republic 596b, where a craftsman
impossible to divulge (Timaeus 28). Nevertheless, despite
“fixes his eyes on the idea or form.”
these difficulties, the role of the Demiurge does not seem to
be in doubt. The beauty of the world sustains the belief that
D¯emiourgos in the sense of a divine artisan or creator of
the activity of the Demiurge is beneficent, inspired by an
the world is found in the Timaeus, Statesman, Philebus, Re-
eternal model. As we shall see, this belief stands in marked
public, Sophist, and Laws. It is the Timaeus, however, that
contrast to the ignorance and the modus operandi attributed
provides us with the most complete description of the Demi-
to the demiurge in Gnostic systems. Plato’s Demiurge, being
urge. In fact, in the Timaeus nearly every occurrence of the
good and without envy (phthonos), excludes as much as possi-
noun d¯emiourgos and the verb d¯emiourgeo¯ refers to the divine
ble every imperfection from the world.
molder of the universe. The only exception to this is 24a,
where the reference is to an ordinary artisan. The Timaeus
The role of the Demiurge in fashioning the world is pri-
presents the role of the Demiurge as essential to both the
marily one of providing order. He takes the visible, preexis-
world and man, since it is responsible for their correspon-
tent mass that moves without measure and order (kinou-
dence as microcosm and macrocosm. Although this theme
menon pl¯emmelo¯s kai atakto¯s) and orders it, placing intellect
of the microcosm and macrocosm has led some scholars to
within the soul of the world and the soul within the world’s
posit the survival of (reconstructed) ancient Indo-Iranian
body, so that the world as a whole might be truly a living
speculations on an alleged myth of a primordial man
being, having a soul and an intellect, and born through 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
2274
DEMIURGE
providence of God (29–30). The fashioning of man is some-
an intermediary presence. But there is an immense differ-
what more complex. The Demiurge provides man only with
ence: the Gnostic demiurge itself belongs to this inferior
the higher, immortal part of his soul. The soul’s inferior,
world, the world of ignorance that holds the spiritual soul
mortal part, as well as the human body, are the creation of
in bondage. It is accordingly inferior to the human soul,
the inferior gods. Once brought into being, the Demiurge
which, when enlightened by gno¯sis, realizes its consubstan-
locates the souls among the stars and notifies them of the
tiality with the divine pneuma, or spirit. The inferiority of
“laws of fate” (nomous tous heimarmenous). All souls begin as
the demiurge is sometimes reflected in its name, as when it
equals, each enjoying the same original conditions. Their in-
is called Saklas (“foolish one”).
dividual destinies are to be determined by either their obser-
More precise characterization of the demiurge varies
vance or neglect of piety and righteousness. The just soul is
considerably according to the different Gnostic schools and
destined to return to its star, while the others are subjected
sects. On the one hand, there is the monstrous, almost de-
to the law of metensomatosis, according to which a first rein-
monic figure of the lion-headed demiurge Ialdabaoth found
carnation would be in the form of a woman, to be followed
in the Gnostic Apocryphon of John and the ignorant, “psy-
by rebirth in the form of an animal, if the soul should persist
chic” (i.e., nonspiritual) Ialdabaoth of the Valentinians. The
in its evil (here Plato is heir to the Orphics). Only submission
latter was assigned a role in the preliminary education of man
to reason can insure the soul’s return to its star. Plato adds
and was destined to be taken up at the end of time into the
that the Demiurge “dictated to them all these laws in order
heavenly realm known as Ogdoad. Significantly, this latter
to be in the subsequent times innocent of the evil (kakia) of
realm was not included in the higher, divine realm of the
each of them,” which can mean either that the Demiurge is
pl¯ero¯ma. On the other hand, among some followers of Basi-
innocent of moral evil or, more probably, that it is not re-
lides one finds the demiurge Sabaoth, who was conceived of
sponsible for evil souls. It is only after the establishment of
as just and who cooperated with the pneumatic or spiritual
this original justice by the Demiurge that the lower gods
beings, though he always remained unassimilable to them
create for every individual the remaining part of the soul and
and was presented as the son of the evil, dethroned Ialdab-
the body.
aoth.
Plato discusses the Demiurge in other dialogues as well,
Common to all these Gnostic demiurges, however,
although these discussions are not always consistent with the
whether in the Valentinian or Sethian currents, is a complete
doctrine presented in the Timaeus concerning the creation
lack of spiritual or pneumatic nature: they are essentially in-
of man. Further discussions may be found at Statesman 270,
ferior. In addition, they are often described in terms original-
273 and 308; Philebus 27 (cf. 26 and 39); Republic 507, 530
ly applied to the creator god of the Hebrew scriptures, a god
(cf. 596 and Sophist 234a–b); and Laws 902.
debased in the Gnostic ideology. This explains the popularity
of Hebrew or pseudo-Hebrew names for the demiurge, such
The development that leads from the Demiurge of Plato
as Ialdabaoth.
to the demiurge of the Gnostics is a long one. As a transition-
al figure we may mention the Middle Platonist Numenius,
The demiurge is also found in other Gnostic groups and
who to an extent foreshadowed the pessimistic outlook of the
religions. We may mention the ambivalent demiurge of the
later gnostics. The demiurge of Numenius, which he called
Mandaeans, Ptahil, and the demiurge of the Manichaeans,
the Second God, was an ambivalent figure torn between the
the Spiritus Vivens (“living spirit”), who was an evocation
possibilities of contemplating the ideal world or, alternative-
of the Father of Light and was believed to have fashioned the
ly, directing his attention downward toward the sensible
world from the dark, demonic substance of slaughtered
world. A quite different development of the Platonic Demi-
demons.
urge is found in Philo of Alexandria. Philo employs the nar-
SEE ALSO Archetypes; Gnosticism.
rative of the Timaeus when he introduces the notion that in
creating man God had not worked alone but had been assist-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ed by other heavenly agents. This introduction of demiurgic
Boyancé, Pierre. “Dieu cosmique et dualisme: Les archontes et
intermediaries was intended to keep God separate from
Platon.” In The Origins of Gnosticism, 2d ed., edited by Ugo
human evil.
Bianchi, pp. 340–356. Leiden, 1970.
Coming to the Gnostics, we encounter the notion of an
Bréhier, Émile. The Philosophy of Plotinus. Translated by Joseph
Thomas. Chicago, 1958.
inferior demiurge, a notion more or less common to the vari-
ous gnostic schools, sects, and religions, with their anti-
Dodd, C. H. The Bible and the Greeks (1935). London, 1964.
cosmic attitudes, and in clear-cut opposition to the far more
Dodds, E. R., et al. Les sources de Plotin. Geneva, 1960.
positive Platonic notion. This opposition was noticed by the
Elsas, Christoph. Neuplatonische und gnostische Weltablehnung in
founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (third century CE), who
der Schule Plotins. Berlin, 1975.
wrote a treatise “against those who say that the Demiurge of
Festugière, A.-J. La révélation d’Hermès Trismégiste. 4 vols. Paris,
the world is bad and that the world is bad,” namely the
1950–1954.
Gnostics (Enneads 2.9). It is true that the Gnostic demiurge
Guthrie, W. K. C., et al. Recherches sur la tradition platonicienne.
continues to function as the fashioner of the world and as
Vérone, 1957.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEMONS: AN OVERVIEW
2275
Horst, P. W. van der, and Jaap Mansfeld, eds. and trans. An Alex-
Reydams-Schils, Gretchen. Demiurge and Providence, Stoic and
andrian Platonist against Dualism: Alexander of Lycopolis’
Platonist Readings of Plato’s ‘Timaeus’. Turnhout, 1999.
Treatise “Critique of the Doctrines of Manichaeus.” Leiden,
UGO BIANCHI (1987)
1974.
Revised Bibliography
Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion. 2d ed., rev. Boston, 1963.
Merlan, Philip. From Platonism to Neoplatonism. 2d ed., rev. The
Hague, 1960.
DEMONS
Pétrement, Simone. Le dualisme chez Platon, les gnostiques et les
This entry consists of the following articles:
manichéens. Paris, 1946.
AN OVERVIEW
Places, Édouard des. Pindare et Platon. Paris, 1949.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Robinson, T. M. Plato’s Psychology. Toronto, 1970.
Rose, H. J., et al. La notion du divin depuis Homère jusqu’à Platon.
DEMONS: AN OVERVIEW
Geneva, 1954.
Except in some monotheistic religions, all demons are not
Simon, Marcel. “Eléments gnostiques chez Philon.” In The Ori-
assumed to be evil. Many kinds of spiritual beings who are
gins of Gnosticism, 2d ed., edited by Ugo Bianchi,
pp. 359–376. Leiden, 1970.
not obviously gods may be described as demons. Demons are
far more powerful than humans, though their powers are
New Sources
limited and they are longer-lived, though not necessarily im-
Benitez, Eugenio E. “The Good or the Demiurge.” Apeiron 28
mortal. Demons often seem to be the anthropomorphic con-
(1995): 113–140.
ceptualization of discrete, invisible natural forces that are
Brisson, Luc. “Le démiurge du Timée et le créateur de la Genèse.”
perceptible mainly through their effects, such as wind or spe-
In Le style de la pensée. Recueil de textes en hommage à Jacques
cific diseases. In prescientific cosmologies, air, wind, and the
Brunschwig, edited by Monique Canto-Sperber and Pierre
“breath” (spiritus) of life are usually conceived as invisible or
Pellegrin, pp. 25–39. Paris, 2002.
even immaterial. As spirits, demons are normally invisible,
Burkert, Walter. “Sacrificio-sacrilegio: il trickster fondatore.”
becoming perceptible either through their effects on hu-
Studi Storici 4 (1984): 835–845.
mans, or through language or signs. When becoming visible,
Carpenter, Amber Danielle. “Phileban Gods.” Ancient Philosophy
demons may exhibit their own inherent shapes or assume fa-
23 (2003): 99–111.
miliar or monstrous forms.
Classen, Carl Joachim. “Schöpfergott oder Weltordner. Zu den
Gottesvorstellung der Griechen von Homer bis zu Platon.”
Demonic spirits may protect or inhabit places, bodies
In Ansätze. Beiträge zum Verständnis der frühgriechischen
of water, or vegetation. Demons may also inhabit or be
Philosophie, pp. 3–27. Würzburg, 1986.
guardians of an underworld, and may torment human souls
Deuse, Werner. “Der Demiurg bei Porphyrios und Jamblich.” In
there. At times ghosts have demonic characteristics. They
Die Philosophie des Neuplatonismus, edited by Clemens Zint-
may be the ancestors of the culture that describes them, or
zen, pp. 238–278. Darmstadt, 1977.
recently deceased family members who, it is feared, could re-
Fossum, Jarl. “The Origin of the Gnostic Concept of the Demi-
turn to claim surviving relatives or neighbors.
urge.” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 61 (1985): 142–
In some religions (particularly Judaism, Christianity
152.
and Islam), demons may be identified with or compared to
Hadot, Ilsetraut. “À propos de la place ontologique du démiurge
angels or devils. However, in English and other modern lan-
dans le système philosophique d’Hiéroclès le Néoplatoni-
guages, the three terms, all derived from ancient Greek, have
cien.” Revue des Etudes Grecques 106 (1993): 430–459.
differing implications. Daimon, and its derivatives daimonios,
Jackson, Howard M. The Lion Becomes a Man: The Gnostic Leon-
daimonion (daemon, daemonium in Latin), denote a suprahu-
tomorphic Creator and the Platonic Tradition. Atlanta, 1985.
man spiritual being that interacts directly with humans. The
Mansfeld, Jaap. “Bad World and Demiurge. A ‘Gnostic’ Motif
daimon’s character may be good, evil, or changeable, but late
from Parmenides and Empedocles to Lucretius and Philo.”
Judaism and Christianity eventually define demons as pro-
In Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions presented to
foundly, irredeemably evil.
G. Quispel on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, edited by
Roelof van den Broek and Maarten J. Vermaseren,
Angel (aggelos or angelos; Latin angelus) denotes a mes-
pp. 261–314. Leiden, 1981.
senger, and was originally applicable to human as well as su-
prahuman envoys. In Judaism and Christianity, the angel is
Perl, Eric D. “The Demiurge and the Forms.” Ancient Philosophy
18 (1998): 81–92.
a spirit messenger sent to humans by the god, but the term
could include other functions, such as rewarding or punish-
Quispel, Gilles. “The Origins of the Gnostic Demiurge.” In
ing humans.
Kyriakon. Festschrift Johannes Quasten, ed. by Patrick Gren-
fell and Josef A. Jungmann, pp. 271–276. Münster, 1970.
The noun devil (diabolos; Latin diabolus) derives from
Quispel, Gilles. “The Demiurge in the Ap Jn.” In Nag Hammadi
a verb meaning “to throw across” and by extension to attack,
and Gnosis. Papers Read at the First International Congress of
accuse, or slander. The devil is the sworn enemy of the god,
Coptology, Cairo December 1976, pp. 1–33. Leiden, 1978.
and attempts to harm, subvert, or seduce the god’s worship-
E N C Y C L O P E D I 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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DEMONS: AN OVERVIEW
pers. The devil is inferior in power and wisdom to the god;
vetalas are demon-like beings that haunt graveyards, threaten
in the three principal monotheistic religions, he is a renegade
the living, and feed on human flesh; some are ghosts, others
creature of the god. Devil and demon can thus be synony-
are suprahuman. Pitrs are ancestral spirits. In Hinduism re-
mous common nouns, particularly in Christianity, which de-
incarnation eliminates the absolute ontological barrier be-
fines the Devil as leading an army of subordinate demons.
tween humans and suprahumans that modern western cul-
(In fully dualistic religions deriving from the ancient Iranian
tures take for granted. The term deva refers to godlike beings,
prophet Zarathushtra [c. 600 BCE], the evil opponent of the
but even they are subject to reincarnation; moreover, hu-
god is not his inferior but his inverted twin, fully as divine
mans may be reincarnated as devas. Devas are in conflict with
and powerful.)
asuras or “not-gods” (cf. Greek Titans). Yet asuras are neither
radically evil nor the dedicated opponents of a single su-
Aside from ruling certain phenomena for all or many
preme deity, unlike demons of Judaism and, especially,
members of a society, demons may dedicate continuous at-
Christianity. Nor is the enmity of the devas and asuras a his-
tention to a single individual. A spiritual guardian protects
toric constant; it appears that asura corresponds to “god” in
the interests of his devotee. Conversely, a demon can afflict
some Vedic texts. When its meaning evolved to approximate
or even “possess” humans, entering their bodies and creating
“demon,” the word sura was coined as its antonym. Though
disease or an alien, transgressive personality.
occasionally opposed to divinities and humans, Hindu “de-
Demons’ invisibility implies that they either have bodies
mons” are not inimical to them inherently or by definition.
of finer matter than that composing the visible world, or else
lack bodies altogether. Yet demons are in many cultures
In Iranian religion, which apparently descended from
thought to behave like ordinary embodied humans: they may
the same “parent” religion as Hinduism, a similar conflict ex-
have sexual relations among themselves or with humans, and
isted between beings called daevas and ahuras. “In Iran, the
procreate demonic or semi-demonic children who are super-
ahuras defeated the daevas, the leader of the ahuras became
humanly powerful, charismatic, or evil.
the high God, Ahura Mazda, the god of light, and the Irani-
an daevas, consigned to the ranks of evil spirits, became min-
TRIBAL CULTURES. The belief in invisible beings who con-
ions of Ahriman, the lord of darkness. In India, the devas de-
trol or strongly affect the conditions of human life is univer-
feated the asuras” (Russell, 1977, p. 58). In both cases, “One
sal. It appears to be an essential trait of humanity to think
group of deities was vanquished by another and relegated to
of its own interactions with the physical world in anthropo-
the status of generally evil spirits” (Russell, 1977, p. 58). In
morphic terms, considering forces and even objects as if they
Iranian religions, however (Zoroastrianism, Zervanism,
had personalities and desires. From the point of view of cul-
Mazdaism), the “demonization” of the defeated gods created
tures possessing writing, demonic modes of thinking resem-
a dualistic system, a dichotomy between the forces of good
ble the literary and ethical device of allegory, wherein psy-
and evil more absolute than in Christianity, Islam, or Juda-
chological and physical phenomena are described as well-
ism (Russell, 1977, 104ff.).
defined “people.” According to the critic Angus Fletcher,
demons “share [a] major characteristic of allegorical agents,
BUDDHISM. Many of the suprahuman beings important to
the fact that they compartmentalize function,” explaining
Buddhist ontology were inherited from Hinduism. The
limited aspects of the world: “Constriction of meaning, when
asura is a jealous or hostile god/demon, while the preta is a
it is the limit put upon a personified force or power, causes
ghost condemned to constant hunger; they are two of the un-
that personification to act somewhat mechanistically”
happy destinies to which persons who have lived badly can
(Fletcher, 1964, 40, 55). This relative predictability expresses
be reborn in the world of sense experience. The asuras have
a desire to tame or domesticate the world: “Coming from the
been ejected from a divine realm of contentment ruled by
term that means ‘to divide,’; daemon implies an endless series
its King, Indra. Ma¯ra, whose name means “death,” promotes
of divisions of all important aspects of the world into separate
illusory thinking and vice, and behaves as a sort of Devil-
elements for study and control” (Fletcher, 1964, 59). The
figure in Buddhism. He tempted the Buddha with doubt as
need to understand the conditions of life leads to a belief that
the latter was approaching enlightenment, even sending his
good—and especially, bad—fortunes are due to the agency
own daughters and other minions to frighten and seduce
of spirits. Demons give shape to inchoate fears of sudden vul-
him. Evil, however, is not personified by Ma¯raas it is by Ira-
nerability, dependence or victimization, triggered by solitary
nian evil gods or by the Judeo-Christian Devil, since evil, de-
wastelands, darkness, or sexual anxieties. Attempts to control
fined as suffering, is inevitable and necessary in the Buddhist
or placate these invisible forces take the form of exorcism,
world view. Ma¯rais not responsible for cosmic evil as Satan
trickery (e.g., substituting effigies for potential human vic-
is.
tims), or worship.
GREECE AND ROME. Theos (god) and daimon are near-
HINDUISM. In Hinduism the question of gods and demons
synonyms in Homer (c. 800 BCE); daimon denotes more the
reflects a complex, multimillennial history of religious and
power or agency of a god, rather than personality (cf. Latin
cultural beliefs. In the Vedas and epics, suprahuman beings
numen). From Hesiod (c. 700 BCE) on, demons were consid-
are mentioned whose exact nature, and their differences from
ered inferior to the gods. Socrates’ (d. 399 BCE) daimon was
everyday humans, are often unclear. Rakshasas, pisacas, and
a kind of tutelary instinct, not necessarily external to him.
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In the Symposium, Plato (d. 347 BCE) held that the gods, who
Akkadian demonology. In middle Babylonian times, words
have no direct contact with humans, use daimons as their
related to Hebrew l¯ıl¯ıt designate sterile, sexually frustrated,
messengers (aggeloi). Greek gods had no fixed good or evil
or uninitiated female demons, or a succubus demon (Lilitu).
character; nor did demons until the late Hellenistic period,
Later, Rabbinic commentators describe Lilith as the rebel-
when they were generally considered evil. Other spirits, not
lious first wife of Adam, who, vainly claiming parity with
always explicitly called daimons, might have either fixed or
him, left him and bore endless broods of demons. Lilith
changeable character. Keres were fate-like powers of evil and
threatens newborn Jewish children with crib death, and must
death for individuals; heroes were spirits of the dead; Lamia,
be warded off by an inscription invoking three angels God
Empusa, Gello, and Mormo were names for a female spirit
originally sent to subdue her. Saint Jerome (d. 420 CE) trans-
that killed infants and (in some cases) coupled with sleeping
lated l¯ıl¯ıt in Isaiah 34 as Lamia; his commentary identified
men. The Erinyes and the alastor were spiritual avengers of
the two infanticidal demons, maintaining that other Hebrew
the dead. Other figures, more important to mythology than
sources identify Lilith as an Erinys, or Fury.
to ordinary experience, were probably demons at their origin:
Yahweh himself sometimes sent entities defined as or re-
the Harpies may have been wind-demons, and the Gorgons
sembling evil spirits to punish erring Israelites or destroy
underworld- or sea-demons.
their enemies (1 Sam. 16:14; Judg. 9:22–23; 1 Kings 22:19ff.;
Roman spirits (lares, manes, penates and genii) were not
Exod. 12:23; Sirach 39:28f.). But these agents had no more
unambiguously godlike or demonic or ghostly. The Lamia,
specificity or character than is implied by the tasks they per-
however, had the same characteristics as her Greek namesake,
formed for Yahweh; they were his “projections,” and he
while the stryx, a nocturnal demon who appeared as a
could even accompany them (as in Exod. 12).
screech-owl or a human shapeshifting witch, also assaulted
The role of Satan as chief of the demons evolved gradu-
sleeping babies (or according to some authors, suckled them
ally. In pre-exilic texts, Hebrew satan was a common noun,
with her own milk). Roman religion adopted the Etruscan
designating any opponent or adversary. During the exile, the
death-demon Charun, making him the ferrier of souls to the
Israelites became acquainted with dualistic theologies deriv-
underworld.
ing from the teachings of Zarathushtra, wherein divine rivals
In Hellenistic demonology the Jew Philo of Alexandria
of equal power compete for human allegiance. Post-exilic
(d. 40 CE) distinguished between angels and demons as good
texts (1 Chron. 21:1; Job 1:11; 2:5) describe a unique demon-
and evil spirits, although he classified some Gentile gods as
ic adversary or satan of Israel or individual humans. This per-
angelic, against traditional Jewish “demonization” of them
sonage has an ambivalent relation to Yahweh, relieving him
(see below). The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the He-
of responsibility for evil, but furthering, rather than oppos-
brew Bible begun in the third century, also made the angel/
ing, his designs. The Septuagint translated this usage of satan
demon distinction. The Middle Platonist Plutarch (d. c. 120
as diabolos.
CE) distinguished demons from gods and agreed that demons
Post-exilic texts dismissed the gods and tutelary spirits
were entirely evil. In his Platonic Theology, Proclus (d. 485
worshipped by rival civilizations as empty idols. The Septua-
CE) rationalized the system of gods, goddesses, heroes, and
gint rendered the Hebrew terms for such foreign deities (es-
demons in Hellenistic religion, building on the Neoplato-
pecially shedim) as daimon even when translating pre-exilic
nism of Plotinus (d. 270 CE). But Proclus’s concept of the
texts (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 95:5, 105:37; Isa. 65:11).
Good as the highest principle, transcending all being, mini-
mizes the distinctions between gods and demons, making
The Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha accelerated
Neoplatonic theology seem a de facto demonology. Accord-
the dualistic process that turned all demons into the enemies
ingly, when Marsilio Ficino (d. 1499), Giovanni Pico della
of God. Notable is the demon Asmodeus of Tobit 3:8 and
Mirandola (d. 1494), and other European philosophers of
17, who killed the first seven husbands of Sarah, and whose
the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries revived Neopla-
name may reflect a Persian phrase, aeshma daeva, or “demon
tonic and Hermetic theology, guardians of Christian ortho-
of wrath.” He was defeated by Raphael, an angel of the Lord.
doxy often suspected them of demon-worship.
Ancient tradition related that, on the Day of Atone-
JUDAISM. There are few recognizable demons in pre-exilic
ment, the scapegoat, laden with the sins of the Israelites, was
texts of the Hebrew Bible. Several beings mentioned there
sent into the desert wastes “for Azazel” (Lev. 16:8–28). In 1
resemble spirits, and seem traceable to evil spirits of the Mes-
Enoch and other pseudepigrapha, Azazel became a recogniz-
opotamians, Canaanites, and other neighbors, who believed
able Devil-figure: ringleader of demons, enemy of God, and
that demons frequented remote and dangerous places. Desert
tempter of humans. According to these texts demons were
demons were assimilated to or described as wild animals (Isa.
originally holy angels, or “Watchers” (egregori) who rebelled
13:21; 34:14). Hebrew words for these spirits were ren-
because of their lust for human women (see below). Aside
dered as daimon and daimonion by the translators of the Sep-
from Azazel, other texts named the demons’ leader as Belial,
tuagint.
Mastema, Satanael, Sammael, Semyaza, and Satan.
Lilith appears in the Hebrew Bible only once, as a noc-
Pseudepigraphic and Talmudic sources identify some
turnal demon (Isa. 34:14); her name probably derives from
demons as the souls of deceased evil giants, who were born
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DEMONS: AN OVERVIEW
when the Watchers, also called bene ha-elohim or “sons of
against Christ (Luke 10:18; Eph. 2:1–2; 6:11–13; 2 Cor.
God,” mated with the “daughters of men” (1 Enoch 6:2, etc.;
6:14–16; Col. 2:15). “By the end of the New Testament peri-
cf. Gen. 6:1–4; Deut. 1:28; Num. 13:22, 33). The title “sons
od, Christian tradition made no distinction between fallen
of God” reflects an older, semipolytheistic view of Yahweh
angels and demons” (Russell, 1977, p. 236).
as the sovereign of a heavenly court (cf. Job 1; Ps. 82). The
dead-giant demons were numerous; one text counts 409,000
Subsequent Christian literature internalized and spiritu-
giants drowned by Noah’s Flood (3 Maccabees 2:4; Wisdom
alized the danger of demonic persecution. Christian writers
14:5–6; 1 Enoch 15:8–16:1; Jubilees 10:1–3; Testament of
continued to see demons as responsible for human physical
Solomon 17:1; 3 Apocalypse of Baruch 4:10). Demons are
and psychological suffering, but also developed the notion
more frequently discussed in the Babylonian Talmud and the
of temptation: Satan tempts every Christian to oppose God
Midrashim than in the Jerusalem Talmud. Demons are im-
through sin, just as he tempted Jesus in the desert (Mark
portant to Qabbalah, which drew on Christian and Muslim
1:12–13; Matt. 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). All temptation, from
demonologies, including folklore, pursuing a systematic un-
Adam and Eve onward, was eventually credited to Satan. For
derstanding of the subject. Although long-lived, demons are
most of the Middle Ages, demons were assumed to be ubiq-
mortal, and may have been saved from extinction by Noah’s
uitous and constantly tempting Christians and others. Such
Ark. The Zohar and later works of Qabbalah describe de-
temptation usually happened privately and invisibly, though
mons having natural bodies of fire and air and an inherent
demons could act visibly and even publicly. The early mo-
(rather than fictive or virtual) gender. Mating between male
nastic desert fathers regularly encountered demons who
demons and women, and between female demons and men,
tempted them extravagantly, an experience detailed in Atha-
is common, and produces demonic or hybrid children. De-
nasius’s (d. 373 CE) Life of Saint Anthony and elsewhere. The
mons may depend on human semen even to reproduce their
incubus demon was a sexual predator who polluted or violat-
own species. Demons are organized into hosts, and control
ed sleeping women. The magician Merlin was supposedly
or meddle in most areas of human life; they must be carefully
born to a nun thus impregnated, while Saint Bernard of
avoided or approached through incantations or by learning
Clairvaux (d. 1153) allegedly defeated another incubus who
and using their individual seals.
tormented a pious laywoman. The popular legend of
C
Theophilus (ninth to thirteenth centuries) described a priest
HRISTIANITY. As with Judaism, the Christian scriptural
canon was formed gradually, creating an eclectic and evolv-
who, disappointed in his career, contracted his soul to the
ing body of doctrine about spiritual beings. Like the contem-
Devil but was eventually rescued by the Virgin Mary.
porary Jewish apocrypha, new Testament demonology elab-
After 1100, Western Christian interest in demons in-
orated on canonical Hebrew texts. It also shows resemblances
creased dramatically. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215
to various strains of Hellenistic religion and philosophy.
declared that “the Devil and the other demons” (diabolus et
Christian innovations took place mainly on two fronts, exor-
alii daemones) were created good but became evil through
cism and the role of Satan. The Gospels describe demons or
free choice. The Book of Job, whose sophisticated theodicy
evil spirits (daimon, daimonion, pneuma akatharton, pneuma
explicitly portrayed “the satan’s” responsibility for human
poneron) who possess or afflict humans, but fear and obey
suffering, became highly influential for both writers and vi-
Jesus. Demons proclaim Jesus’s power before witnesses by
sual artists. The apocryphal Book of Tobit, novelistically re-
obeying his adjurations (Matt. 8:32; Mark 5:13; Luke 8:33),
counting the archangel Raphael’s defeat of Sarah and To-
and through explicit verbal declarations (Luke 4:41; Mark
bias’s demonic persecutor Asmodeus, also evoked interest.
1:23–25, 34; Matt. 8:29; cf. Mark 5:7). By affirming his
Peter Lombard (d. 1160), Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274),
power, both miraculous healing and demonic utterances
Saint Bonaventure (d. 1274), and many other theologians
prove Jesus’s divinity (cf. Matt. 8:16–17). Saint Paul
devoted systematic attention to good and—especially—evil
(d. 65/67 CE) refers infrequently to demons (1 Cor. 10:20–
angels, inventing angelology and demonology as a scientific
21 [cf. Deut. 32:17]; 1 Timothy 4:1); other New Testament
subdiscipline of Christian theology. Treatises discussed the
books concentrate on Satan and (in Revelation) the host of
moral qualities of angels but also their history, social organi-
fallen angels.
zation, psychology, physiology, and sexuality. Demonic cor-
Jesus and the Gospel writers present Satan as Jesus’s de-
poreality became a major concern: since demons were
clared personal adversary (Mark 3:23; Luke 11:18–21), par-
thought sometimes to interact visibly and tangibly with hu-
alleling the representation of Satan as Yahweh’s adversary in
mans, the question arose whether they had bodies, and if so,
Jewish apocrypha and further confirming Jesus’s divinity.
of what sort. Aquinas’s solution prevailed: demons are pure
The rivalry between Jesus and Satan is developed in Saint
spirit without matter, but can fabricate virtual bodies; thus
Paul’s Epistles and the Book of Revelation; the latter provides
they can afflict humans both internally (by possession and
dramatically explicit visualizations of the divine Christ and
other invisible means) and in external reality (through appa-
the demonic hordes arrayed against him. Luke, John, Paul,
rition “in person”). Visual representations of demons became
and Revelation (e.g. chapter 12) consolidate the portrait of
progressively more horrific after 1200, emphasizing a gro-
Satan as the leader of numerous evil angels who fell from
tesque hybrid corporeality that seemed increasingly “real”
Heaven because of their rebellion—not against Yahweh but
rather than a visual allegory of spiritual perversity. This pro-
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2279
cess was particularly notable in depictions of the Last Judg-
In fact, the Witch was a phantom of the inquisitorial
ment and Hell, which were practically ubiquitous by the late
imagination, evoked by a coercive dialogue between tortured
Middle Ages. In these pictures, the interaction of spirits—
defendants and demon-obsessed prosecutors and judges, but
human souls and demons—was portrayed as physical, corpo-
the witch stereotype resisted facts, proof, and compassion
real violence.
until after 1700, killing some 50,000 to 60,000 defendants
in western Christendom. Thanks to this “witch craze,” narra-
Detailed literary and visual representations of the bibli-
tives of human-demon interaction are an important preoccu-
cal demonic world relate to a growing interest in narratives
pation of western culture and a major subgenre of its litera-
about more recent human encounters and interactions with
ture. From Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus (1590s), John
demons. About 1225, Caesarius of Heisterbach collected sev-
Milton’s Paradise Lost (1674), and Johann Wolfang von
eral dozen such tales in his Dialogue on Miracles; other collec-
Goethe’s Faust (1790), to Aldous Huxley’s Devils of Loudun
tions of miracles and saints’ biographies did likewise. In this
(1952), Arthur Miller’s Crucible (1953) and Ira Levin’s Rose-
period, exorcism, which had become formalized over the
mary’s Baby (1967), the Devil and the demonization of his
centuries, inspired intense interest in necromancy. This form
accused allies have retained their fascination.
of “black magic” arose in what Richard Kieckhefer (1989)
has called the “clerical underworld” (pp. 153ff) of relatively
Nor is the phenomenon of demonization limited to
learned professional exorcists. Originally defined as persons
Christianity—or to religion. The perception of an imperfect
who commanded the souls of the dead (as in Odyssey, book
natural or social order leads in extreme cases to a kind of col-
11 and the biblical story of Saul and the “Witch” of Endor
lective paranoia: disasters are blamed on powerful saboteurs,
[1 Sam. 28]) necromancers were redefined by Christian au-
who mask their immense malignant power beneath a pre-
thorities as necessarily—and often willingly—contacting de-
tense of marginality or benignity. Like demons, they are
mons. While proponents defined necromancy as effected in
imagined as powerful, omnipresent, and immune to conven-
the name of God, ecclesiastical consensus countered that it
tional methods of discovery or ordinary human justice. Ex-
necessarily involved unholy alliances with demons.
traordinary, extralegal measures are required to unmask and
neutralize the threat, or legality itself must be redefined. The
“Demonization” of individuals and social groups, based
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Holocaust, and aspects of
on the notion of the demon as satan or diabolos—
more recent genocides (e.g., Rwanda, Kosovo) bear witness
adversary—became a major vehicle of political and religious
to the powerful appeal of this myth. Evidence of its appeal
persecution during the Christian Middle Ages. Jews, here-
also appears in the “show trials” and gulags of Stalinism
tics, “infidels,” political enemies and vulnerable targets of op-
(1930s), Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution (1960s), Pol
portunity (e.g., the Templars) were defined as unremittingly
Pot’s Cambodia (1970s), and the House Un-American Ac-
evil, and as literally in league with the Devil; their destruc-
tivities Committee under Joseph McCarthy (1950s). When
tion was incumbent on the pious or orthodox. Between the
“things go wrong,” and no external enemy is clearly to blame,
twelfth and the fifteenth centuries, Catholic enforcers of or-
the evil will be sought inside the afflicted social body. Mani-
thodoxy, becoming sensitized to the spread of necromancy,
fest powerlessness or a clear record of benignity offer no pro-
also encountered widespread and alarming heresies among
tection from persecution: as was often proclaimed in early
the laity (e.g., Catharism, Waldensianism, Hussitism). They
modern Europe, the devil’s subtlest trick is to convince us
thus began attempting to verify rumors, dating to the elev-
that he doesn’t exist. Demonization occurs interculturally as
enth century, that even unlettered heretics had regular de-
well: a society’s internal cohesion is enhanced by a dualistic
monic encounters. Stereotypical “confessions” of such expe-
world-view that identifies foreign antagonists as completely
riences, extracted under torture from real or suspected
evil. It is more important that the antagonist be completely
heretics, were cited to explain the origin and appeal of hereti-
wrong and evil than for “us” to be completely right and
cal doctrines. Confessions further stimulated officials’ curios-
good.
ity by portraying demons with vivid and shocking immedia-
I
cy, creating a vicious cycle of inquiry and confirmation.
SLAM. The most widespread figures in Islamic demonology
are the d:jinn or jinns. They are ontologically intermediate,
By the 1430s both ecclesiastical and secular judges were
somewhat like the Greek daimonia and the Judeo-Christian
pursuing a new variety of super-heretic, the Witch, created
angels and devils. According to the QurDa¯n (LV, 14), their
by this process. Unlike previous heretics, witches were not
bodies were created of smokeless flame, while human bodies
considered merely deluded about doctrine. The Witch vol-
came from clay and angelic bodies from light. Jinns are of
untarily sought to encounter Satan and his demons “in per-
both sexes. Given their ethereal composition, jinns are nor-
son,” attending vast but secret mass meetings (the Sabbat or
mally imperceptible to humans, but may become perceptible
“Witches’ Dance”) where humans worshiped Satan as their
in a variety of guises, including giants, dwarves, or animals.
god and had orgiastic sex with demons. Official theories
In pre-Islamic Arabia, jinns were desert beings like nymphs
about witches grew exponentially more sensational and com-
and satyrs, and hostile to humans; they were gradually “spiri-
plicated, making witchcraft responsible for society’s most in-
tualized.” By Muh:ammad’s time, Arabs of Mecca were sacri-
tractable problems—crop failure, disease, infertility, infant,
ficing to them and seeking their favor (QurDa¯n VI, 128;
adult, and animal mortality, religious and political turmoil.
LXXII, 6).
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Jinns have a social organization and family life, and in-
since the 1980s belie such a facile scenario. In the United
teract variously with humans, including through romantic
States, polls register a majority of persons claiming to believe
love and intermarriage. They can be contacted through vari-
in spirit phenomena. The literal, personal existence of the
ous forms of magic, and may respond favorably, but can also
Devil has been strongly affirmed by charismatic and funda-
be easily offended and will react accordingly. At times they
mentalist Protestants and by Catholics alike. Meanwhile, ex-
behave playfully, teasing and tricking humans. Jinns are
orcism, which the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s had
prominent in folklore, popular magic, and literature, from
de-emphasized, has become a divisive issue, even in the
the Thousand and One Nights onward. The notion of the jinn
Pope’s own diocese of Rome. In the United States and else-
has been transmitted from Arabia to non-Arabic centers of
where, the same period has witnessed panics over alleged Sa-
Islamic culture, where it blends variously with local tradi-
tanic cults and “satanic ritual child abuse,” along with enthu-
tions about spirits.
siastic New Age variants of angelolatry, benign or “white”
witchcraft and magic, and the space-age demonology of
Subclasses of the jinn are the Gh:u¯l, the siDlat, and the
E
“alien abduction syndrome” and “multiple personality syn-
ifr¯ıt. For ancient Arabs, the Gh:u¯l (etymon of English ghoul)
drome.” These movements variously express a lost sense of
was a shape-shifting being who lived in desert wastes and led
religious connection or “spirituality”—a term that defies pre-
travelers astray. The Gh:u¯l may be male or female; according
cise definition and often seems not to require belief in actual
to differing traditions, the si Dlat may be either a female Gh:u¯l
spirits.
or a kind of witch among the ghouls; some writers maintain
that men can sire children on a si Dlat but not on a Gh:u¯l. In
On the other hand, the assumption that, before the ad-
popular usage Gh:u¯l may designate a human or demonic can-
vent of scientific thinking in the seventeenth century, all
nibal; this usage has inspired English and French concepts
Christians and Jews, or the overwhelming majority of them,
of ogres and vampires (ghoul, goule). The Eifr¯ıt is a powerful,
believed in the literal existence of demons and angels, is
cunning, frightening jinn, and may also be thought identical
equally erroneous. Skepticism about spirit did not arise sud-
to a marid; alternatively, one may be more powerful than the
denly in the 1600s; Aquinas himself had recognized the need
other.
to rebut it. Skepticism provoked the earliest treatises by mili-
tant witch-hunting demonologists (1460s), and remained a
The sh:ayta¯n for pre-Islamic Arabs was a jinn, a kind of
constant anxiety of Christian demonology even after 1700,
“genie” or “genius” or guardian spirit who was sometimes
when widespread witch-hunting had ceased.
good, sometimes evil; as tutelary spirit it was also called the
karin. It was responsible for inspiration of all sorts, and
The Sadducees, a Jewish sect in the time of Jesus, re-
human progress in general, but particularly for poetic inspi-
fused to believe in spirit (Mark 12:18; Acts 23:8). As detailed
ration. The sh:ayta¯n could also be a rebellious jinn, thus an
above, the oldest books of the Hebrew Bible make no men-
“evil spirit” or “demon.”
tion of angels and demons as beings distinct from and subor-
dinate to Yahweh, or to an individual named “Satan.” The
In Islamic usage, the singular al-Sh:ayta¯n is a personal
Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (d. 1204) opposed
name paralleling Jewish and Christian references to Satan.
the belief in demons. Among Muslims, the question of the
This figure is also named Ibl¯ıs (possibly a contraction of dia-
real existence of jinn was problematic. Ibn Sina (Avicenna,
bolos). His epithets include EAduww Alla¯h (Enemy of God)
d. 1037) denied their existence, and Ibn Khaldu¯n (d. 1406)
and al- EAduww (The Enemy). The Islamic Satan resembles
opined that only God knew the truth, while other philoso-
the Christian and late Jewish figure, as portrayed in the two
phers variously evaded the question. Scholars also debated
Testaments and in apocrypha such as the Life of Adam and
the nature or the real existence of the gh:u¯l, which does not
Eve. Areas of uncertainty or disagreement about Ibl¯ıs/
appear in the QurDa¯n. It is uncertain to what extent the Bud-
al-Sh:ayta¯n remain in Muslim commentary, especially regard-
dha believed in the empirical reality of demons.
ing whether he is an angel (mal Dak) or a jinn. Angels are con-
sidered ontologically sinless by some, and have other charac-
Epicurean and other ancient materialistic philosophies,
teristics incompatible with Ibl¯ıs’s fundamental rebelliousness
which asserted the perishability of the human soul, remained
and even his physical makeup as presented in the QurDa¯n.
familiar—mostly through hostile paraphrases—throughout
Also unclear is the exact nature of his sin, particularly the re-
the “Age of Faith,” or Christian Middle Ages. Thomas Aqui-
lation between his pride and his disobedience.
nas observed that some contemporary Aristotelian philoso-
phers denied the reality of angels and devils; on one occasion
DOUBT, SKEPTICISM, UNBELIEF. Since demonic beings are
he attributed the attitude to Aristotle himself. Accusations
by definition invisible most or all of the time, belief in their
of philosophical skepticism were periodically leveled at inno-
responsibility for human welfare or suffering—and belief in
vative thinkers during the thirteenth and following centuries,
their very existence—varies considerably over time.
at times with apparent justification. The philosopher Pietro
Until recently, the narrative of progress by which west-
Pomponazzi argued exhaustively between 1516 and 1520
ern societies define themselves inspired confident assertions
that Aristotle’s philosophy lent no support to the reality of
that these societies were “outgrowing” or had already aban-
angels, demons, magic, or human immortality, while the
doned the belief in demonic reality. However, developments
Fifth Lateran Council of 1513 dogmatically reaffirmed
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEMONS: AN OVERVIEW
2281
human immortality as an article of faith. From Aquinas until
ter); “Divinities” (Jacob N. Kinnard); “Evil” (Maria Heim);
nearly 1800, Christian apologists regularly invoked the phe-
“Ghosts and Spirits” (Peter Masefield); “Hells” (Stephen F.
nomena of witchcraft and exorcism as proof that angels, de-
Teiser); “Hells, Images of” (Karil J. Kucera); “Local Divini-
mons, and the immortal soul were not imaginary.
ties and Buddhism” (Fabio Rambelli); “Ma¯ra” (Jacob N.
Kinnard); “Realms of Existence” (Rupert Gethin);
Between about 1550 and 1700, epidemics of demonic
“Sam:sa¯ra” (Bryan J. Cuevas); “Yaks:a” (Jacob N. Kinnard).
possession among Western Christians, often linked to accu-
sations of witchcraft, provided compellingly theatrical argu-
Greece and Rome
Luck, Georg. Arcana Mundi. Magic and the Occult in the Greek
ments for demons’ reality, but also provoked widespread
and Roman Worlds. Baltimore, 1985. A now-classic collec-
skepticism. As demonic witchcraft was progressively discred-
tion of texts; see pp. 163–175 for a succinct analysis of kinds
ited, interest shifted to ghosts (in the eighteenth century) and
of spirits.
spiritualism (in the nineteenth) among those interested in
Ogden, Daniel. Greek and Roman Necromancy. Princeton, N.J.,
defending the reality of spirit and human immortality. Yet
2001. See esp. pp. 219–230.
purported demonstrations continued to produce skepticism
Ogden, Daniel. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and
and ridicule.
Roman Worlds. Oxford, 2002. Another excellent anthology
The enduring controversies over the reality of demons
of texts.
and spirits provide ample evidence that the drive to under-
Price, Simon, and Emily Kearns, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of
stand cosmic forces in human terms is not restricted to
Classical Myth and Religion. Oxford, 2003.
“primitive,” “medieval,” or “unscientific” societies.
Judaism
Jung, Leo. Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan
SEE ALSO Angels; Devils; Monsters.
Literature. New York, 1974.
B
Langton, Edward. Essentials of Demonology: A Study of Jewish and
IBLIOGRAPHY
Still useful is the entry “Demons and Spirits” in The Encyclopedia
Christian Demonology, Its Origin and Development. London,
of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, vol. 4 (Edin-
1949.
burgh, 1911), a series of twenty articles concerning as many
Rappoport, Angelo S. Ancient Israel: Myths and Legends. 1928. Re-
cultures. Although they concentrate on the figure of the
print, New York, 1987.
Devil in Christian religion, the books by Jeffrey Burton Rus-
Roth, Cecil, and Geoffrey Wigoder, gen. eds. Encyclopaedia Judai-
sell (below) contain frequent and useful discussions of de-
ca. 16 vols. Jerusalem, 1971. See articles “Asmodeus” (Edito-
monology in several cultures from the ancient Near East to
rial Staff, 3.754–755); “Azazel” (Shmuel Ah:ituv, 3.999–
modern times. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter
1002); “Demons, Demonology” (Delbert Roy Hillers, Louis
W. van der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the
Isaac Rabinowitz, Gershom Scholem, 5.1521–1533); Lilith
Bible: (DDD), 2d ed. (Leiden, 1999) has in-depth articles re-
(Gershom Scholem, 11.245–249); “Samael” (Gershom
garding not only the Hebrew and Christian Bible but also
Scholem, 14.719–722); “Satan” (Louis Isaac Rabinowitz and
its ancient sources and analogous demonological lore else-
Editorial Staff, 14.902–905).
where.
Christianity
Tribal Cultures
Clark, Stuart. Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in
Collins, John J. Primitive Religion. Totowa, N.J., 1978. Chap. 8,
Early Modern Europe. Oxford, 1997.
“Supernatural Beings and Myths,” pp. 190–227, includes
cross-cultural examples and bibliography.
Cohn, Norman. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired by the
Great Witch-Hunt. New York, 1975.
Fletcher, Angus. Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. Ithaca,
N.Y., 1964.
Flint, Valerie. “The Demonisation of Magic and Sorcery in Late
Antiquity: Christian Redefinitions of Pagan Religions.” In
Tylor, E. B. Primitive Culture, vol. 1, Religion in Primitive Culture
Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. Ancient Greece and Rome.
(1871; reprint [of chaps. 11–19], Gloucester, Mass., 1970).
Philadelphia, 1999, pp. 277–348.
One of the founding texts for the topic.
Keck, David. Angels and Angelology in the Middle Ages. Oxford,
Hinduism
UK, 1998.
Lochtefeld, James G. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism. 2
Kieckhefer, Richard. European Witch Trials: Their Foundations in
vols. New York, 2002. See articles “Ancestral Spirits,” “Dei-
Popular and Learned Culture. Berkeley, Calif., 1976.
ties,” “Demons,” “Deva,” “Rakshasa,” “Vetala.”
Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, U.K.,
Witzel, Michael. “Veda and Upanis:ads,” in The Blackwell Com-
1989.
panion to Hinduism. Edited by Gavin Flood, pp. 68–98, esp.
71–73, “R:gvedic Mythology.” Oxford, 2003
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiqui-
ty to Primitive Christianity. Ithaca, N.Y., 1977.
Buddhism
Bunce, Fredrick W. An Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Deities, Demi-
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Satan: The Early Christian Tradition. Itha-
gods, Godlings, Saints and Demons: With Special Focus on
ca, N.Y., 1981.
Iconographic Attributes. Illustrations by G.X. Capdi. 2 vols.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages. Itha-
New Delhi, 1994.
ca, N.Y., 1984.
Buswell, Robert E., gen. ed. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. 2 vols. New
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern
York, 2004. See articles “Ancestors” (Mariko Namba Wal-
World. Ithaca, N.Y., 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
2282
DEMONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Strickland, Deborah Higgs. Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making
five different stages in the development of consciousness
Monsters in Medieval Art. Princeton, N.J., 2003. Compari-
(also referred to as stages of the relation between object and
son of negative stereotypes and demonizations.
subject). I would like to discuss the attitude toward the exis-
Islam
tence of demons at each of these five stages with reference
Gibb, H. A. R., B. Lewis, E. van Donzel, C. E. Bosworth, P. J.
first to cultures in which the stage of consciousness domi-
Bearman, et al., eds. The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition.
nates and then to cultures of modern Western civilization.
Leiden, 1960–2002. 11 vols. plus supplements. See articles
“D:jinn” (P. Voorhoeve 2.546–550); “Gh:u¯l”
Examples of each of these five stages can be found in
(D. B. Macdonald, Ch. Pellat, 2.1078–1079); “Ibl¯ıs” (A. J.
human psychology side by side with the more advanced
Wensinck, L. Gardet, 3.668–669); “EIfr¯ıt” (J. Chelhod,
stages. There is no civilization in which consciousness be-
3.1050–1051); “Mala¯Dika” (D. B. Macdonald, W. Ma-
longs only and exclusively to one stage alone, because differ-
delung, 6.216–219); “al-Sh:ayta¯n ” (T. Fahd, A. Rippin,
ent psychological faculties will be developed to a different de-
9.406–409).
gree at any one time. Even though the main function may
McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, ed. The Encyclopaedia of the Qur’a¯n. 3
become advanced and rational, the inferior function remains
vols. issued. Leiden, 2001—. “Angel” (Gisela Webb, 1.84–
archaic and closely aligned with the unconscious psyche.
92); “Devil” (Andrew Rippin, 1. 524–527); “’Ifr¯ıt” (Thomas
T
Bauer, 2.486–487); “Jinn” (Jacqueline Chabbi, 3.43–50);
HE MYTH OF THE COSMIC MAN: ARCHAIC MENTALITY.
“Spiritual Beings” (as yet unreleased).
The unconscious psyche is the original mind of man, his pri-
meval mentality, with which he still functions through his
Doubt, Skepticism, Unbelief
instincts. All persons function in this archaic way when un-
Popkin, Richard H. The History of Skepticism: From Savonarola to
conscious; that is, to be unconscious in psychological terms
Bayle. New York, 2003. The standard text in this field; the
is to be governed simply by the unconscious forces of in-
third rev. ed. of a book first published in 1960.
stinct. Humankind has survived for hundreds of thousands
Stein, Gordon, ed. The Encyclopedia of Unbelief. 2 vols. Buffalo,
of years supported by this primordial mentality, living in a
N.Y., 1985. See especially “Devil, Unbelief in the Concept
state of identify with the environment called by Lucien Lévy-
of” (George V. Tomashevich); “Evil, Problem of” (Peter H.
Bruhl “the participation mystique.” The fact that human-
Hare); “Immortality, Unbelief in” (Leon J. Putnam); “Skep-
kind survived the Stone Age points to the value of this in-
ticism” (Richard H. Popkin). Though it purports to describe
phenomena of unbelief, this work often dedicates most of its
stinctive behavior.
attention to belief. There are no entries for unbelief in spirits,
The consciousness of these early stages of humankind
demons, or angels.
and of today’s hunters and gatherers resembles that of early
Stephens, Walter. Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of
childhood. At this stage man lives undifferentiated from his
Belief. Chicago, 2002. Argues that early modern European
surroundings. This does not mean that he cannot differenti-
demonic witchcraft was an invention of literate Christian
ate between himself and the objects around him, but rather
elites, and that it constituted “resistance to skepticism,” rein-
that for him these objects are alive: they have soul and behave
forcing their own faltering belief in the reality of spirits, sac-
like animated beings. In the words of Jung, the individual
raments and divine benevolence by providing supposed evi-
dence of human-demon encounters.
lives as though he were immersed “in a stream of events in
which outer and inner worlds are not differentiated, or are
WALTER STEPHENS (2005)
differentiated very indistinctly.”
For archaic man, the whole world reflects his psyche, or
his psyche is just as much outside as inside, because as long
DEMONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
as a psychic content is unconscious, it will appear in both
The experience of the demon as a supernatural being that can
realms. This stage of consciousness is mirrored in the myth
affect human life for good or for bad is found all over the
of the cosmic man, a giant who pervades the entire universe;
world. Modern depth psychology provides us with a fuller
examples are the Indian Purus:a or the Scandinavian Ymir.
understanding of the nature of this phenomenon. Even in
The psyche of archaic man is everywhere. All of the objects
modern civilization where there is no longer the belief in de-
in the universe of archaic man lead their own purposeful
mons, demons continue to play an important role. The exis-
lives, influencing or even dominating him. He feels inferior
tence of demons is a fact. The question of central importance
to these powers of nature and worships or propitiates them.
is “How does consciousness interpret this fact?”
Religion and magic are at his disposal in order to deal with
these powers. Because his own ego is ill defined, it is easily
The interpretation depends upon the development of
transformed into an animal or possessed by one of the sur-
consciousness and the awareness of the multiple forces that
rounding powers, by a spirit or a demon, or transformed into
determine human personality and experience. A more ad-
an animal. Possession belongs to this mentality, and one can
vanced stage of consciousness can look back at the preceding
be exorcised as easily as possessed.
stage and describe it. For the present stage of consciousness,
however, there exists no outside objective and critical stand-
By worshiping these powers, human beings acknowl-
point from which to observe it. C. G. Jung has distinguished
edge their reality and importance, and they are kept in the
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DEMONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
2283
awareness of the entire community. Only when something
nature that formerly lived in these places. Most vegetation
escapes our attention and is thus neglected are we in danger
rites in May and on midsummer’s night recall the spirits of
of being possessed by it.
grain. Many Europeans still put a fir tree with colored rib-
bons on a newly built house in order to appease the spirits
Possession—when our actions are determined by some
who will enter and dwell there. In Greek religion, the spirits
psychic (or spiritual) force that overwhelms the ego—is by
of nature are personified as nymphs, dryads, and satyrs as
no means a phenomenon restricted to primitive societies, nor
well as in the form of the god Pan and numerous other local
is it limited to those in our present civilization whom we call
deities. Many of the sanctuaries of the Virgin Mary found
possessed. On the contrary, it is a universal experience.
in the woods, in a grotto, or by a well have inherited the site
Whenever an unconscious power takes over the ego, posses-
from pagan spirits. In the beginning of the common era,
sion occurs. Archaic man is threatened by all the demons and
Christian churches were built on the site of earlier temples,
spirits around him, but at the same time he is wrapped also
sometimes with the stones of the earlier temples, because the
in the protection of the symbolic mother; that is, he is pro-
power of the numen was already present there. Modern exor-
tected by powers that look out for him and provide him with
cists continue to banish ghosts in places that have been
sustenance so that he does not have to worry about himself.
haunted for ages.
For example, when the Kusase people hear a certain tree in
the village ask for a new dress and for new offerings, they are
THE SACRIFICE OF THE COSMIC MAN: PROJECTION. In the
not surprised since this happens from time to time. In the
myth of the cosmic man, the giant is sacrificed by the gods
context of their world, this is a common event and demands
or by the wise men of old. This sacrifice symbolizes the cul-
no explanation.
tural moment when the archaic mentality is sacrificed in
The idea of an all-pervading power in nature (mana,
favor of a different level of consciousness. This moment
manitou, orenda, wakanda) forms part of this animistic view
seems to correspond to the great Neolithic revolution of hu-
of existence. And magic is the primitive technology that seeks
mankind, the transition from a life of hunting and gathering
to manage this power. But the religious attitude is already
foods (living off the gifts of nature, the symbolic mother) to
prominent at this stage in the person of the shaman, rain-
the life in which both plants and animals were domesticated.
maker, or weathermaker, who is a specialist in dealing with
In agriculture and the herding of animals, humankind as-
spiritual powers. Furthermore, the power becomes embodied
sumed some responsibility for husbanding natural resources
in certain sacred persons such as the chief, warrior, or black-
and providing a steady food supply the human being. At this
smith, as well as in sacred objects such as swords, stones, and
point he becomes separate from its environment; for the first
medicine.
time there occurs a split between human as subject and na-
ture as object. Differentiation from the environment is one
In modern Western civilization this archaic attitude still
of the most difficult tasks for humankind. Psychic develop-
survives. Not only fairy tales and legends but also the words
ment (individuation) depends upon the ongoing continua-
of poets reflect this attitude. And whenever an emotion lays
tion of this process. However, the individual is constantly
hold of us, we fall back into such archaic behavior; for exam-
threatened by demons, threatened, that is, by forces that are
ple, we kick the corner that “hit us,” or we swear at the car
unconscious. The mythical combat between the hero and the
that refuses to budge. We treat things as if they had a will
dragon mirrors this dangerous situation.
of their own. This indicates that we believe that things share
our human nature: the lime tree in the famous folk song
Therefore it is consciousness that, in effect, creates the
bears all the feelings of love and the sorrow of farewell that
cosmos, for in the differentiation of consciousness the world
men and women experience beneath its branches. We find
comes into being as a realm separate from man. From this
ourselves feeling attached to objects as well as to persons, and
stage onward we can properly speak of a projection whenever
when either fails to act according to our expectations, we ex-
there is any doubt as to whether or not a phenomenon does,
perience strong emotion, because we identify with them to
in fact, belong to the outer world in which we seem to experi-
a certain extent.
ence it. For example, when a schizophrenic of our civilization
hears the voice of the devil, it is correct to interpret the voice
If we look closely at our fears, we may detect the old de-
as a projection of something that exists within him rather
mons and spirits in modern disguise: irrational fear of cancer
than something existing in the world.
or of atomic energy, idiosyncrasy, fear of war and power. We
do not trust our modern consciousness to be able to handle
Usually a demon is understood to be a supernatural
these mighty things; there might be a demon in them that
being of a nature intermediate between that of gods and
would make a fool of us. And we still worship the body of
men. In the writings of Homer, the word for “demon,”
Christ in the host or the represented person in icons. In Swit-
daimo¯n, can still refer to a god or, in a rather vague sense,
zerland, mountain climbing was avoided for a long time be-
to a divine efficacy. In a famous passage of Plato’s Sympo-
cause of the belief in a divine numen living on top of the
sium, Diotima describes Eros as a “great spirit [daimo¯n], and
mountain. Old names point to this fact, such as the Vrenelis-
like all spirits a being intermediate between the divine and
gärtli of Glärnisch, or “garden of Venus.” Many names of
the mortal” (202e). Psychologically speaking, this corre-
parcels of land or of rivers also refer to the ancient spirits of
sponds to the complex of the collective unconscious as de-
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2284
DEMONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
fined by Jung. The complex, which is a necessary and normal
people, but they are themselves unconsciously infected by
component of the psyche, is intermediate between the ego
the spiritual culture of the latter. Some conquering tribes be-
and the archetype, having both a personal and an impersonal
lieve that the vanquished tribe survives in spirit form. In the
aspect. Whereas the archetypes are inborn dispositions, the
new religious system the high gods become demons and spir-
complex comes into being through experiences in the indi-
its. As high gods they had received a cult and were represent-
vidual life.
ed in the collective consciousness, but in the new system they
sink into relative unconsciousness. The Greek magical papyri
At this stage of consciousness, for example, the warrior
are full of ancient high gods and goddesses, among them
is no longer believed to be generally demonic, but rather he
both Hekate and Hermes. Hellenistic syncretism absorbed
becomes the berserker who fights with a mad frenzy only
many gods of the Mediterranean culture. In early Christiani-
when he is possessed by the god Odin. Mediumship and pos-
ty the pagan gods became demons or spirits. The medieval
session attributed to specific gods or spirits are regular phe-
iconography of the Devil, for example, depicts the Greek god
nomena at this stage of consciousness. At this level, every dis-
Pan, who in ancient times was first a spirit of nature and the
ease is explained as the result of a spirit or demon. They are
god of shepherds and finally became god of the universe. (In
primitive forms of what we call mental disorders or Geistesk-
Greek pan means “all.”) Plutarch relates the story of the
rankheit (“spirit-illness”). In psychological terms, a complex,
death of the great Pan, according to which some sailors learn
also called a partial personality, takes over the ego.
of the event and bring the tale to an island, whereupon a
The shaman is the master of spirits, the one who has
great lamentation ensues. This story marks the end of the ar-
overcome his own states of possession. Demons are far from
chaic worship of nature, an end that resulted from the rise
being only noxious. In spirit-mediumship the spirits mediate
of Christianity. Our modern dilemma deriving from the pol-
the power of divination, providing information about the fu-
lution of nature demonstrates the practical value in the wor-
ture and about matters removed from ordinary perception.
ship of ancient nature spirits, which served to render the su-
They mediate between the spirit world and men and convey
perhuman quality of nature conscious to humankind,
to their society the beneficial power of the gods. Everyone
forming a consciousness that has been lost up to our present
may have his own guiding spirit that controls to some effect
time. Today, natural science is searching again for the mys-
his behavior. Mediumship may be experienced as a vocation
teries of nature, albeit with a rationalistic attitude.
whereby a spirit chooses a specific person as its vehicle. Our
word inspiration means that a spirit is whispering wisdom
MORAL DIFFERENTIATION: BELIEF IN A WORLD OF GOOD
into the ear of the inspired. When the world as a whole is
AND EVIL DEMONS. In the ancient story of Jacob’s fight with
no longer believed to be alive, it remains, nevertheless, filled
the angel at the Jabbok River (Gn. 32:24) Yahveh is a deadly
with spirits and demons. One must be careful lest one be
but not evil power. In the tale of Job from a later period,
tripped up by a demon unnoticed. Spirit possession can even
Satan (“the adversary”) is one of the sons of God and repre-
be contagious, especially during adolescence.
sents the partial separation of an inner opposition generated
by God himself. Similar is the history of the deva/da¯eva com-
Spirits, particularly those of dead ancestors, may have
mon to both prehistoric India and Iran. Originally the term
control over the fertility of the earth, because they are be-
was a neutral one referring to the celestial, daytime sky. After
lieved to live in the earth under the ground or above the rain
further development in India the term deva came to signify
clouds. Passing by a cemetery one must take care not to be
the high gods. In Iran, however, da¯eva acquired the meaning
bewitched by a lurking ghost, the spirit of an ancestor that
of “demon” in the evil sense.
might cause illness or even death. (Psychologically, this ap-
pears to be the same fear that one experiences today when
Moral differentiation splits the world further into the
passing by a graveyard late at night.) Furthermore, a young
opposites of night and day, earth and sky, left and right, good
girl has to be careful when she walks by a pond lest one of
and evil. The collective consciousness is always in danger of
the unborn souls lurking there might jump into her womb
identifying with one of a pair of opposites, abandoning the
and make her pregnant. The ghosts of the dead are especially
second to the demonic powers of the unconscious. Such an
hungry and desirous of blood or meat, food that must be
attitude gave rise, for example, to the Black Mass. Neglected
provided through sacrifices. The great power of a mighty
aspects of the psyche are not simply repressed and forgotten,
man continues to hold sway even after his death. In the vicin-
they become more and more powerful in the unconscious
ity of the grave of a shaykh there is a palm tree and a conical
psyche and more disturbing to the conscious personality. A
stone; barren women may silently step over the stone seven
worldview that fails to acknowledge and experience the origi-
times and eat dates from the tree in order to become
nal unity of the opposites is in danger of an invasion from
pregnant.
the neglected or rejected side. Psychologically, every optimis-
tic or exclusively good attitude calls forth a reaction from its
A regressive appearance of demons and spirits occurs
opposite. The more one-sided the conscious attitude, the
when the high gods become remote. This often happens
larger grows the demonic counterworld.
when a new civilization overlays an older one, whether by
historical change or by conquest. The conquerors impose
THE ENLIGHTENMENT: DENIAL OF THE EXISTENCE OF DE-
their social and administrative systems upon the conquered
MONS. Modern literature on demons is written for the most
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DEMONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
2285
part from the standpoint of rationalism and attempts to ex-
expression for lumbago is Hexenschuss, which means literally
plain demons as superstitious phenomena of a primitive
“the witch’s shot.”
mentality. The psychoanalytic approach developed by Sig-
The projection plays an important role in the transfer-
mund Freud toward religious phenomena in general shares
ence of complexes from one person to another. Unconscious
this attitude. It is a necessary transitional stage in the devel-
complexes are always projected onto other persons whom
opment of consciousness for man to ask “Who creates the
they may harm. Emotions are energy-laden phenomena that
demons?” and to answer “It is I!” In fact, man cannot help
also affect other people. Typically, the gods of love (Eros,
assuming responsibility for the products of his own imagina-
Cupid, Amor, Ka¯ma) are armed with a bow and arrow, indi-
tion. They have arisen in him, and therefore he is their cre-
cating that projections are sent by the divine principle or
ator. Thus man identifies with his consciousness and explains
demon. But Job’s plague, too, was caused by the arrows of
all unconscious phenomena as derivative of that con-
Yahveh (Job 6:4), and the Vedic god Rudra sends death and
sciousness.
illness with his arrows (R:gveda 7.46). A demon can be either
But in our time we can observe a certain counterreaction
a pathological complex or a new, creative impulse; both issue
to this one-sided view in the form of irrational reactions: the
forth in connection with an archetype and embody a value
new religions; the parapsychology enthusiasts; drug-based re-
that can destroy or save the individual person.
ligion and fascination with science fiction among the youth;
Further, the reality that analytical psychology attributes
the “worship” of the natural wisdom of animals by some
to demons provides insight into the parapsychological mean-
modern scientists; and the popularity of modern myths such
ing of ghosts. The autonomy of the complex, together with
as J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
the concept of synchronicity (the meaningful coincidence of
events), provides tools with which we can understand,
OBJECTIVITY OF THE PSYCHE: UNUS MUNDUS. Modern ana-
though not explain, the psychology of apparitions. French
lytical psychology attributes to demons a reality of their own,
and English literature on this topic is extensive and points
recognizing the important role they play in the psychology
to a common belief in locally bound spirits, the genius loci,
of man. Because the Auseinandersetzung (Ger., “coming to
often depicted as a snake. In Roman families the genius was
terms”) with the world of demons and spirits in the individu-
also a spirit of fertility. Modern parapsychology takes into
ation process is so important, Jung specified a method called
account the psychological conditions that give rise to the ap-
active imagination in which the figures of the unconscious
pearance of apparitions. Beyond any doubt there are some
are regarded as autonomous living entities of the psyche.
people who are simply more aware of or sensitive to such
Using this method it is possible to approach the archaic men-
phenomena; they are often said to possess second sight. Nev-
tality from a position of conscious responsibility, acknowl-
ertheless, such occurrences are not uncommon for the less
edging the unconscious and its personifications (demons,
sensitive.
spirits, ghosts, fairies, angels, and so on) and seeking to find
the appropriate way to respond to them. For these personifi-
There is little doubt of the existence of the phenomena
cations may become conscious to the ego, but they are not
that have been called demons, angels, spirits, ghosts, and so
created by it. The ego is obligated to take the unconscious
on. But since these are experiences of a psychic nature, they
realities into consideration. (This process recalls the Latin re-
can never be known except by means of such inner images.
legere, “to gather up again.”) Spirits and demons must be al-
lowed to arise as inner figures so that the ego can come to
SEE ALSO Spirit Possession.
terms with them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sometimes one central spirit becomes the leading prin-
The most important work for this topic from the standpoint of
ciple. This figure is called the archetype of the Anthropos,
analytical psychology is Marie-Louise von Franz’s Projection
or the Self in human form (the unconscious principle of per-
and Re-Collection in Jungian Psychology (La Salle, Ill., 1980).
sonality). Often the Anthropos is experienced as an inner
Recent encyclopedic works mostly treat the topic historically
guide, as, for example, Poimandres (“shepherd of men”),
and geographically. I mention here only the more recent and
Agathos Daimo¯n (“good spirit”), and Hermes-Thoth in an-
extensive ones. Lutz Röhrich gives a concise survey of de-
tiquity; Mercurius in alchemy; and Khidr in Islam. The
mons in legends and fairy tales, including a psychological
section, under “Dämon,” in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, vol.
daimo¯n of Socrates was a figure or a voice of a similar kind
3 (Berlin, 1979). Material from the standpoint of the history
who forbade him certain things. A later variation is the
of Christianity is collected in Otto Böcher’s article “Dä-
guardian spirit who mediated between the spirit world and
monen,” in Theologische Realenzyklopädie, vol. 8 (Berlin,
man, bringing dreams and foretelling the future.
1981); articles include extensive bibliographies, with men-
tion of Judaism. Even more comprehensive is the article
The contemporary notion of spirits affects our under-
“Geister (Dämonen),” with extensive bibliography, by Cars-
standing of mental illness as well as the psychic side of physi-
ten Colpe and others in Reallexikon für Antike und Christen-
cal illness. Lauri Honko has studied the belief in so-called
tum, vol. 9 (Stuttgart, 1976). The standard reference for the
sickness projectiles, and he demonstrates the appearance of
Bible and Judaism is Werner Foerster’s article “Demon,” in
this belief in numerous cultures. For example, the German
the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1935),
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2286
DENOMINATIONALISM
translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Licence, Tom. “The Gift of Seeing Demons in Early Cistercian
1964), which also gives the meaning of the term in folklore.
Spirituality.” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 39 (2004): 49–65.
Andres’s article “Daimo¯n,” in Pauly’s Real-encyclopädie der
Ribi, Alfred. Die Dämones des Hieronymus Bosch. Küsnacht, 1990.
classischen Altertumwissenschaft, supp. 3 (Stuttgart, 1918), is
still useful for Greek material. The Church Fathers’ stand-
Stephens, Walter. Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of
point is found in G. W. H. Lampe’s A Patristic Greek Lexicon
Belief. Chicago, 2002.
(Oxford, 1978), pp. 327–331. The New Catholic Encyclope-
Velasco, Sherry M. Demons, Nausea, and Resistance in the Autobi-
dia (New York, 1967) gives a very short survey, as does Bern-
ography of Isabel de Jesús. Albuquerque, 1996.
hard Kötting’s article “Dämon,” in Lexikon für Theologie und
Worobec, Christine. Possessed: Women, Witches, and Demons in
Kirche, vol. 3 (Freiburg, 1959). The articles under “Démon,”
Imperial Russia. DeKalb, Ill., 2001.
in the Dictionnaire de spiritualité, ascétique et mystique: Doc-
trine et histoire, vol. 3 (Paris, 1957), give very interesting ma-
ALFRED RIBI (1987)
terial not found elsewhere.
Revised Bibliography
The classical survey of ancient authors is Julius Tambornino’s De
antiquorum daemonismo, “Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche
und Vorarbeiten,” vol. 7 (Giessen, 1909). Another classical
DENOMINATIONALISM. Denominationalism is
work is The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, 2 vols., trans-
one of the least understood aspects of Protestantism. In both
lated by Reginald C. Thompson, which consists of Babylo-
popular usage and dictionary definition, denominationalism
nian and Assyrian incantations against the demons, ghouls,
is commonly equated with sectarianism. This is a strange re-
vampires, hobgoblins, ghosts, and kindred evil spirits that at-
versal in meaning, for in origin and intention the concept
tack humankind (London, 1903–1904). The entry in the
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Has-
of denominationalism was the opposite of sectarianism.
tings, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1911), summarizes the material in
The fact that few Protestants take offense when their
an extensive and comprehensive way; the introductory article
church is called a denomination is evidence of a lingering
by Louis H. Gray is the most useful.
awareness that the term has a positive connotation quite dif-
No important recent works dealing with the subject in a scientific
ferent from the negative implication of sectarianism. A sect
way exist. An outdated, although still useful, book is Demon-
by definition is exclusive. It claims the authority of Christ
ology and Devil-Lore, 3d ed., rev. & enl., 2 vols. (London,
for itself alone, whereas the word denomination was adopted
1889), by Moncure D. Conway. Ilmari Manninen’s Die dae-
as a neutral and nonjudgmental term that implied that the
monistischen Krankheiten im finnischen Volksaberglauben
group referred to was but one member, denominated by a
(Helsinki, 1922) and Lauri Honko’s Krankheitsprojektile:
particular name, of a larger group to which other Protestant
Untersuchung über eine urtümliche Krankheitserklärung (Hel-
denominations belonged. It was an inclusive term conveying
sinki, 1959) are high-quality standard collections of material
related to this topic.
the notion of mutual respect and recognition. Albert Barnes,
minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia
The iconography of demons and spirits is very enlightening, but
(1830–1867), summarized the meaning of denominational-
unfortunately Herbert Schade’s article “Dämonen,” in Lex-
ism when he said that the spirit it fostered
ikon der Christlichen Ikonographie, vol. 1 (Freiburg, 1968), is
too short. One needs to refer to Enrico Castelli’s Il demoniaco
is opposed to all bigotry and uncharitableness; to all at-
nell’ arte: Il significato filosofico del demoniaco nell’ arte
tempts to “unchurch” others; to teaching that they wor-
(Milan, 1952), Heinz Mode’s Fabulous Beasts and Demons
ship in conventicles, that they are dissenters, or that
(London, 1975), or Jurgis Baltrusaitis’s Réveils et prodiges: Le
they are left to the uncovenanted mercies of God. . . .
gothique fantastique (Paris, 1960). A classical work with pic-
The Church of Christ is not under the Episcopal form,
tures is Edward Langton’s Essentials of Demonology: A Study
or the Baptist, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, or the
of Jewish and Christian Doctrine, Its Origin and Development
Congregational form exclusively; all are, to all intents
(London, 1949).
and purposes, to be recognized as parts of the one holy
catholic Church.
Important for our topic is the profound work of Dieter Harmen-
ing, Superstitio: Ueberlieferungs- und theoriegeschichtliche Un-
Denominationalism, in origin, was related to religious tolera-
tersuchungen zur Kirchlich- theologischen Aberglaubensliteratur
tion and religious freedom. The latter were political and con-
des Mittelalters (Berlin, 1979), as well as Wilhelm Dupré’s
stitutional responses to religious diversity and were designed
Religion in Primitive Cultures: A Study in Ethnophilosophy,
to enable a religiously diverse people to live together in peace.
“Religion and Reason,” vol. 9 (Paris, 1975). An exhaustive
Denominationalism, on the other hand, was a response to
collection of material and history of ideas can be found in
problems created by the division of adherents of a single reli-
Karl R. H. Frick’s Die Erleuchteten (Graz, 1973), Licht und
gious tradition into separate and competing ecclesiastical bo-
Finsternis (Graz, 1975), and Das Reich Satans (Graz, 1982).
dies. They shared a common faith but were divided by issues
New Sources
of church government and worship. Denominationalism
Bhattacharyya, Narenda Nath. Indian Demonology: The Inverted
took toleration and, later, religious freedom for granted, ac-
Pantheon. New Delhi, 2000.
cepted arguments put forward in their defense, and then
Cuneo, Michael. American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land
moved beyond the goal of peace among competing groups
of Plenty. New York, 2001.
to a quest for unity in the midst of the acknowledged differ-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DENOMINATIONALISM
2287
ences of those who shared a common faith. To this end, both
nationalism. The denominational understanding of the
an ideology and a system of relationships were devised that
church had been hammered out by non-Separatist Puritan
would permit members of the several Protestant denomina-
preachers prior to and during the sessions of the Westminster
tions to acknowledge the unity that transcended their divi-
Assembly of Divines, a body of clergymen summoned in
sions and thus encourage them to maintain friendly coexis-
1643 during the English Civil War to advise the “Long Par-
tence and to engage in concerted action to promote shared
liament” in the shaping of a religious settlement. The prob-
concerns and forward common ends. It is interesting that a
lem that stymied the Parliament and the Westminster As-
similar ideology and rationale for mutual respect and cooper-
sembly was the splintering and fragmenting of a triumphant
ative activity, utilizing the equally neutral term sector for de-
Puritanism. Puritans of several hues had united to bring
nomination, was adopted by Jacob Neusner, noted professor
down rule by “lordly prelates” in the church, but, having
of Judaic studies at Brown University, to explicate the unity
done this, they were unable to agree on an alternate policy.
that exists within a divided Judaism. (See his Sectors of Ameri-
A solution to this problem was proposed by non-Separatist
can Judaism, 1975, pp. 259–277.)
Independents (Anglicans of a congregational persuasion)
Denomination as a nonjudgmental term in Protestant-
both within and outside the assembly. Those who were
ism was brought into vogue in the eighteenth century by
members of the Westminster Assembly were called the Dis-
leaders of the Evangelical Revival in Great Britain and of the
senting Brethren.
parallel Great Awakening in North America. John Wesley
The non-Separatist Independents were indebted to the
was representative of British leadership when he declared: “I
Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century for their basic
. . . refuse to be distinguished from other men by any but
insights. They recalled repeated cautions against sanctifying
the common principles of Christianity. . . . I renounce and
churchly forms. The true church, the reformers had insisted,
detest all other marks of distinction. But from real Chris-
is not an institution, although it finds institutional expres-
tians, of whatever denomination, I earnestly desire not to be
sion in the world. Calvin was more confident than Luther
distinguished at all. . . . Dost thou love and fear God? It
that external ecclesiastical arrangements could be deduced
is enough! I give thee the right hand of fellowship.” Gilbert
from the Bible; still, he had a word of caution for those “who
Tennant, based in New Jersey but itinerating throughout the
are not satisfied unless the church can always be pointed out
colonies, was even more precise in defining what the word
with the finger.” This, he said in the preface to the Institutes,
implied: “All societies who profess Christianity and retain
cannot be done in any final sense. The whole question of the
the fundamental principles thereof, notwithstanding their
boundaries of the church must be left to God, “since he alone
different denominations and diversity of sentiments in smal-
‘knoweth them that are his.’” The reformers acted upon this
ler things, are in reality but one Church of Christ, but several
insight only to a limited degree, but they did recognize as
branches (more or less pure in minuter points) of one visible
true churches, more or less adequate in external form, those
kingdom of the Messiah.”
possessing an essentially common faith, whether they were
Although the revivalists made current coin of the term,
Lutheran churches as in various political units of Germany
it had been used as early as 1688 by Samuel Willard, minister
and Scandinavia, Reformed churches as in other political di-
of Old South Church in Boston, in a lecture later published
visions of Europe, or an Anglican church as in England. The
as part of his Compleat Body of Divinity, in which he com-
new element introduced in mid-seventeenth-century En-
mented: “Through our knowing but in part, it is come to
gland was the application of this understanding to a situation
pass that professors of Christianity have been of diverse opin-
where divisions were within a geographical area rather than
ions in many things and their difference hath occasioned sev-
between geographical areas.
eral denominations, but while they agree in the foundation
As the fragmentation of Puritanism increased after
they may be saved.” Moreover, the denominational concept
1640, the moderates associated with the Dissenting Brethren
was implicit in the participation of Increase and Cotton
became increasingly aware of “the danger of rending and di-
Mather in 1717 in the ordination of a Baptist minister. And
viding the godly Protestant party” at its moment of triumph
it was equally implicit at about the same time in the accep-
when there was “an absolute necessity of their nearest
tance by Harvard College of funds from Thomas Hollis, a
union.” Not only did divisions threaten the achievement of
Baptist, for the endowment of a professorship of divinity and
reforms desired by all the godly, they constituted a denial of
for a scholarship fund that would be available to Baptist as
the spirit of Christianity itself. “We are wrangling, devising,
well as to other ministerial students. Such incipient manifes-
plotting, working against one another,” said Jeremiah Bur-
tations of a irenic denominational temper were precipitated
roughes, their most eloquent spokesman in the Assembly,
by policies of James II and then by the perceived conse-
whereas “love and unity are Christ’s badge.” It was an unhap-
quences of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Act of
py fact that “we are divided notwithstanding we are all con-
Toleration of 1689. Still, the creative moment in forging the
vinced of the evil of our divisions.” The problem was to find
concept of denominationalism antedated the crisis of the
a way to peace and unity when Christians did not all agree.
years following 1688–1689 by almost half a century.
“If we stay for peace and love till we come to the unity of
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ORIGIN. Usually a movement or a
faith in all things,” Burroughes confessed, “we must stay for
theology is born before it is named. This was true of denomi-
ought I know till we come to another world.”
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2288
DENOMINATIONALISM
With this dilemma in mind, seventeenth-century Inde-
lishment” during the 1650s. Later there were the “Heads of
pendents elaborated a series of principles as a basis on which
Agreement” of 1690, the joint petition to Queen Anne in
Christians could be united notwithstanding their differences.
1702 from those who came to be called the “three old de-
First, so long as people live “in this muddy world” and
nominations,” and the establishment in 1732 of a formal
“deceitfulness” lurks within the human heart, it is inevitable
representative committee, known as “the Dissenting Depu-
that there shall be differences of opinion even among the
ties,” to protect and expand the rights of the dissenting
godly.
churches and their members.
DENOMINATIONALISM IN THE UNITED STATES. The denom-
Second, even when differing convictions do not involve
inational concept of the church was accepted in New En-
fundamentals, they cannot be lightly regarded. Those who
gland from the beginning. “We do not go to New England
fear God must first be persuaded themselves before they can
as Separatists from the Church of England,” said Francis
accept the judgment of others.
Higginson, “though we cannot but separate from the corrup-
Third, differences must be approached with humility
tions of it.” As did their brethren at home, they adopted the
and a degree of tentativeness. No one put this more vividly
neutral term way when explaining points of distinction from
than Thomas Hooker of Connecticut, as his contribution to
other orthodox Protestants (e.g., John Cotton, The Way of
the ongoing discussion in England. “The sum is, we doubt
the New England Churches Cleared, 1648). Moreover, the el-
not what we practice, but it’s beyond all doubt that all men
ders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony expressed the same
are liars and we are in the number of those poor feeble men;
willingness to learn from others when responding to an in-
either we do or may err, though we do not know it; what
quiry concerning their practice. “We see as much cause to
we have learned we do profess and yet profess still to live that
suspect the integrity of our own hearts as yours; and so much
we may learn.”
the more as being more privy to the deceitfulness of our own
Fourth, as a corollary to human fallibility, Burroughes
hearts than to yours . . . which causeth us with great rever-
contended that “God hath a hand in these divisions to bring
ence to accept and receive what further light God may be
forth further light. Sparks are beaten out by the flints striking
pleased to impart unto us by you. But as we have believed,
together.” How can people know that they are right, asked
so have we hitherto practiced.” They were upset, however,
another, until they “by discussing, praying, reading, meditat-
when dissidents challenged their attempt to fashion a new
ing, find that out?”
Zion in the American wilderness, since there was ample
room for dissidents to establish their own communities. Ban-
Fifth, “though our differences are sad enough,” they do
ishment was the response, but as John Cotton explained, per-
not make us of “different religions.” While “godly people are
haps somewhat blandly, “Banishment in this country is not
divided in their opinions and ways . . . they are united in
counted as much a confinement as an enlargement,” point-
Christ.” Nor does the mere fact of separation constitute
ing out that “the jurisdiction (whence a man is banished) is
schism. It is schismatic only when it is not “loving and peace-
but small, and the country round about it large and fruitful;
able,” only when it is “uncharitable, unjust, rash, violent.”
where a man may make his choice of variety of more pleasant
Burroughes gave several illustrations of what he had in
and profitable seats than he leaveth behind him.”
mind. Both Scots and refugees from abroad, he noted, had
Although New Englanders did not always match profes-
been permitted to have their own churches in England with-
sion with practice, their understanding of the church was
out being regarded as schismatics. This also had been true
well adapted to the situation in other colonies where religious
of Independents when they were in exile on the continent.
diversity prevailed and no single group occupied a dominant
Furthermore, persons of sufficient means in England had the
position. Even North Carolina could be regarded as a south-
liberty of “choosing pastors” by “choosing houses,” moving
ern Pennsylvania in its ethnic composition and religious
from a parish where in good conscience they could not enjoy
complexion, and the valley of Virginia and late-blooming
the means of grace to another parish where they could. When
Georgia were not greatly different.
they did so, no cry of schism was raised. Should the same
liberty be denied the less affluent who could not afford to
Not only was the denominational theory of the church
move their dwelling from one side of the street to the other?
popularized by leaders of the Great Awakening, since 1690
Were they to be condemned as schismatics when their richer
it had been reinforced by the growing influence of John
brethren were not?
Locke, who had adopted and set forth, in his Letter Concern-
ing Toleration, a view of the churches that he derived from
What Burroughes and others were pleading for was a
his non-Separatist Puritan antecedents. (See George L.
recognition that, although Christians may walk in different
Hunt, Calvinism and the Political Order, 1965,
“ways” of outward obedience, they are still united in Christ
pp. 111–113.)
and may work together for common ends of “godliness.”
They did, in fact, unite in defense of “the good old cause”
By their acceptance of religious freedom following the
of religious toleration. Many (those of Episcopal persuasion
American Revolution, most Protestant churches (with their
as well as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists) did
general assemblies, general conventions, general conferences,
participate in Oliver Cromwell’s “voluntary national estab-
general councils, or general associations) were committed 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
DENOMINATIONALISM
2289
voluntarism and became, from a legal point of view, volun-
nized body of believers, is the instrument through which
tary societies. They were under no legal restraint in dealing
God effects his purposes. This is the true church where “the
with their own internal affairs. Nor were most of them the
great human impulses” lead people to do “Christian work in
least inhibited in following the practice developed during the
the spirit of Christ” even when they “studiously” disown
years of the Great Awakening in joining together in efforts
him. Broad churchmanship, it was sometimes called, or cath-
to promote concerts of prayer and religious revivals. In addi-
olic Christianity.
tion, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, out of
their concern for the whole of society, a host of additional
The roots of this catholic Christianity can also be traced
voluntary societies, both denominational and interdenomi-
back to seventeenth-century England, to the “latitudinari-
national, were founded to promote missionary, educational,
ans” of the decades following 1660. Two streams converged
benevolent, and reform activities. These societies became so
to inform the views of the “men of latitude.” One was de-
ubiquitous that Orestes Brownson complained that “matters
rived from the Cambridge Platonists, non-Separatist Inde-
have come to such a pass that a peaceable man can hardly
pendents at the university, who, unlike fellow Independents
venture to eat or drink, to go to bed or get up, to correct his
serving as pastors, faced the problem of finding a basis for
children or kiss his wife” without the guidance and sanction
unity within an institution (the university) rather than be-
of some society.
tween institutions (the churches). After 1660 they joined
forces with those influenced by the rationalism of the En-
This pattern of institutional activity persisted into the
lightenment to fashion a defense of diversity (latitude) within
twentieth century, with new societies being formed as new
a comprehensive state-established church. Thus they stood
needs were perceived to supplement the work of the older
in opposition to those who insisted upon a narrowly defined
societies. Such newer societies were as varied as the Student
Caroline Christianity (i.e., during the reign of Charles II) as
Volunteer Movement, the League for Industrial Democracy,
the only true faith of the Church of England. The latitudi-
the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the Southern Christian
narian apologetic initially had little relevance to a situation
Leadership Conference. In addition, Protestant churches be-
where religious diversity was widespread and there was no
came linked by such official agencies as the Foreign Mission
dominant state church. Additional changes in the climate of
Conference of North America.
opinion were necessary before it could become pertinent.
COUNTERVAILING ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES. Not
Another impulse leading to unhappiness with the de-
everyone was enamored with denominationalism as an ex-
nominational concept was the belief that, from an organiza-
pression of Christian unity. There were manifestations of
tional and administrative point of view, the denominational
“high church” sentiment by some groups (e.g., Landmark
system was inefficient and financially improvident. John D.
Baptists) who insisted that they alone represented the true
Rockefeller Jr., a Baptist who was deeply devout and devoted
church and refused to recognize or cooperate with those out-
to the mission enterprise and whose social concerns had been
side their ranks. Others (e.g., Old School Presbyterians) es-
awakened by men who surrounded his father, is a prime il-
tablished official boards firmly under church control to carry
lustration of this second impulse. A careful steward, Rocke-
on work hitherto delegated to voluntary societies. Still oth-
feller sought efficiency and economy through consolidation
ers, such as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, sought to
of missionary endeavor and other aspects of Christian activi-
fashion a unified movement in which denominational dis-
ty. He used his influence and his money to make Christian
tinctions would disappear. They preempted the name Chris-
outreach cost-effective by initiating such breathtaking
tian for themselves and called upon others to reject party
schemes to redeem a global society as the Interchurch World
names and nonbiblical creeds and practices that were a
Movement of 1919–1920 and the Laymen’s Foreign Mis-
source of division and to unite instead on the basis of biblical
sion Inquiry of 1930–1932. In the end he ceased contribut-
names and practices alone. Typical of their point of view was
ing to denominational projects, restricting his stewardship to
the slogan “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where
consolidated efforts.
the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.” Although the adher-
ents they gathered were regarded as a denomination by oth-
A third factor bringing denominationalism into disre-
ers, they repudiated the name and spoke of themselves as a
pute was a by-product of German sociological studies, nota-
brotherhood.
bly those of Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923). The key concept
was a typology that drew a distinction between “church” and
A major shift in attitude toward denominationalism
“sect” applicable to countries with a predominant state
began in the late nineteenth century. It grew out of a growing
church. A “denomination,” however, was difficult to fit into
conviction among a few key leaders that unity should find
this scheme, for it was neither “church” nor “sect” in terms
expression in a comprehensive church sufficiently broad in
of Troeltsch’s analysis. Still, his views were intriguing. The
outlook and tolerant in spirit to minimize differences of
most influential attempt to adapt Troeltsch’s typology to the
opinion. Phillips Brooks, pastor of Trinity Church in Boston
American scene was H. Richard Niebuhr’s The Social Sources
(1869–1891) and briefly Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts,
of Denominationalism (1929), which in a curious way ideal-
was one who helped cultivate the temper that led in this di-
ized European state churches because they were institutions
rection when he declared that humanity itself, not any orga-
into which everyone was born, rich and poor alike.
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2290
DENOMINATIONALISM
A scathing indictment of denominationalism preceded
congratulatory, they made peace with the world. This accul-
Niebuhr’s analysis of “the ethical failure of a divided church”
turation won from Niebuhr a stinging rebuke: “A God with-
and his descriptions of the churches of the disinherited, the
out wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without
middle class, and those produced by nationalism, sectional-
judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a
ism, and the color line. “Denominationalism in the Christian
cross.” Niebuhr’s summons was a call for renewal, for the re-
church,” he declared,
covery of a sense of mission that must precede and accompa-
ny any movement toward unity. Only a renewal that trans-
is an unacknowledged hypocrisy. It represents the ac-
lated the love of God into love of brother would be powerful
commodation of Christianity to the caste-system of
enough to overcome the walls of partition—institutional,
human society. . . . The division of the churches
closely follows the division of men into the castes of na-
ethnic, racial, sectional, economic—that fragmented the
tional, racial, and economic groups. It draws the color
body of Christ.
line in the church of God; it fosters the misunderstand-
The strictures of The Kingdom of God in America did lit-
ings, the self-exaltations, the hatreds of jingoistic na-
tle to mitigate the negative connotation evoked by the term
tionalism by continuing in the body of Christ the spuri-
denominationalism as a result of its being equated with sectar-
ous differences of provincial loyalties; it sets the rich
ianism. Niebuhr’s earlier Social Sources of Denominationalism
and poor apart at the table of the Lord, where the fortu-
continued for more than half a century to be his most influ-
nate may enjoy the bounty they have provided while the
ential book. Many Protestants seemed oblivious to his sec-
others feed upon the crusts their poverty affords.
ond thoughts. Instead of responding to the summons for re-
Niebuhr acknowledged the insights he had derived from
newal as a prerequisite for unity, many had become converts
Troeltsch’s typology. “Churches” are natural social groups
to a twentieth-century version of “latitudinarianism” or
“akin to the family or the nation” into which people of all
“catholic Christianity” that sought a united church that
classes are born, whereas “sects” are “voluntary associations.”
would be ample enough to accommodate the views and
Sects compromise the universality of the Christian faith by
opinions of everyone. Instead of seeking renewal as a first
their surrender to various caste systems. As generations pass,
step, such leaders opted for the more direct approach of tin-
sects become denominations that are inclusive in the sense
kering with institutional arrangements to increase the scope
that people are born into them, with membership being de-
of comprehension, a procedure that did not differ in kind
termined by custom and family tradition. But as denomina-
from the preoccupation with institutional concerns that Nie-
tions, these former sects perpetuate in the body of Christ the
buhr regarded as the nub of the problem.
caste systems of society. The volume closed with a summons
Since the common core of Protestantism had become
to organic unity. Denominations were challenged to tran-
so badly eroded, it is possible that Protestant denominational-
scend their social conditioning and coalesce into a compre-
ism may no longer be a viable term to indicate anything more
hensive church that would express the brotherhood of the
than Protestant diversity. Perhaps Sidney Mead, author of
Christian gospel.
numerous perceptive and incisive essays dealing with the
By 1937 Niebuhr had second thoughts and published
shape of Protestantism in America, is right in using the words
The Kingdom of God in America as a partial corrective to his
church, denomination, and sect as synonyms. There is an over-
earlier volume. He was still aware of the ways in which eth-
abundance of Protestant denominations in this sense, but
nicity, race, sectionalism, and economic circumstance had
only minority segments are linked by a common faith and
led to the formation of separate Christian groups. But this
few of these segments possess a theological concept of de-
was not the whole story. He had not taken into account that
nominationalism to express their unity and undergird their
denominationalism in its initial manifestation was the prod-
cooperative activities.
uct of a new religious vitality with a dynamic sense of mission
Recognizing this situation, and conceding that the use
that placed primary emphasis on inner Christian experience.
of the word denomination is likely to persist, Martin E. Marty
While differences of outward form and structure were not
of the University of Chicago in 1982 made a sensible sugges-
deemed unimportant and although there were competing
tion. As the Bible justifies the use of the word church only
claims as to their relative adequacy to express and advance
for a local congregation or the entire church, the word de-
the claims of Christ, stress was upon changed lives and a
nomination can serve as a useful “in-between” term to desig-
shared mission that encouraged cooperative activities and a
nate existing ecclesiastical groupings that have provided
not unfriendly coexistence. Slowly, however, the differing
“family tone” and clusters of memories and symbols that still
patterns took on greater importance as they became institu-
can be invoked to sustain Christians in their daily lives. “De-
tionalized. Here the problem was not compromise with caste
nominations,” Marty noted, “are an offense only when they
systems but the process by which institutions over a long pe-
undercut the local church or the whole church,” but when
riod of time begin to regard their own perpetuation as an end
Christians are faithful to their “particular heritage,” without
in itself. The earlier Puritan and the later evangelical sense
condemning others, they enrich the whole church. Such an
of mission that provided the denominations with their rea-
observation is not far removed from the spirit of those who
son for existence and bound them together in common
initially fashioned the denominational concept of the
causes began to fade. Becoming self-satisfied and self-
church.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEPROGRAMMING
2291
SEE ALSO Anabaptism; Anglicanism; Baptist Churches;
all of which are aimed at convincing members of so-called
Christian Science; Church, article on Church Polity; Con-
new religious movements (NRMs) to leave such groups and
gregationalism; Disciples of Christ; Jehovah’s Witnesses; Lu-
return to more mainstream social and religious lifestyles.
theranism; Mennonites; Methodist Churches; Moravians;
Such groups might be “cultic,” that is, communal and with
Mormonism; Pietism; Presbyterianism, Reformed; Puritan-
high-demand authoritarian leadership, or they may simply
ism; Quakers; Salvation Army; Seventh-day Adventism;
hold unconventional beliefs and rituals. Definitions of cult
Shakers; Unitarian Universalist Association.
have been extremely variable and inclusive, and the term has
been used to refer to groups ranging from Old Catholics,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses to members of the Uni-
While there are many histories of individual denominations, nu-
fication Church, the Hare Krishnas, the Seventh-day Ad-
merous handbooks or guides with accounts of the different
ventist–derived Branch Davidians, and even Pentecostals.
religious bodies (e.g., Arthur C. Piepkorn’s Profiles in Belief,
7 vols., New York, 1977–), and much discussion of the
Deprogramming is regarded by its advocates as a “lib-
churches as voluntary associations, bureaucratic structures,
erating” process that frees NRM members from a presumed
and ethnic groupings, surprisingly little attention has been
hypnotic state of involuntary servitude or “mind control”
given to the theory and concept of denominationalism itself.
that has been previously “programmed” into them. Depro-
The most important discussions of denominationalism, from a va-
gramming (as a term and practice) began in 1971 as the ad
riety of perspectives, have been assembled by Russell E. Ri-
hoc vigilante response of one man, Theodore (Ted) Roose-
chey in Denominationalism (Nashville, 1977). Richey in-
velt Patrick Jr., to the intense missionizing activities of the
cludes a chapter from H. Richard Niebuhr’s The Kingdom of
Children of God, a fundamentalist Christian sect that was
God in America (Chicago and New York, 1937) and calls at-
later renamed The Family. Patrick was a civil rights activist
tention to the importance of Niebuhr’s Social Sources of De-
and Special Representative for Community Relations under
nominationalism (Hamden, Conn., 1929). He includes Sid-
California governor Ronald Reagan. According to Patrick’s
ney E. Mead’s essay “Denominationalism: The Shape of
Protestantism in America,” reprinted from Mead’s The Lively
autobiographical Let Our Children Go! (1976), his teenage
Experiment (New York, 1963), which contains other perti-
son and nephew met several missionaries of the Children of
nent material. Other essays included are by E. Franklin Fra-
God and returned home noticeably and “mysteriously” dis-
zier, Fred J. Hood, Winthrop S. Hudson, Martin E. Marty,
oriented. Patrick attended a meeting of the group and, by
Elwyn A. Smith, and Timothy L. Smith. Richey notes that
his account, found himself powerfully drawn to surrender his
the understanding of Protestant denominationalism pres-
rationality and free will. Patrick claimed that he was contact-
ented in this entry represents a fairly general consensus, hav-
ed within a single week by fifty-two families who complained
ing been adopted by Sydney E. Ahlstrom in A Religious His-
that their children had been similarly affected by the Chil-
tory of the American People (New Haven, Conn., 1972),
dren of God. Patrick developed a rough explanation of the
pp. 96, 381–382; Robert T. Handy in A History of the
“programming” (or conditioning) performed by that group.
Churches in the United States and Canada (New York, 1976),
At the time, he had no knowledge of the post–Korean War
p. 112; Winthrop S. Hudson in Religion in America, 3d ed.
(New York, 1981), pp. 81–82; Martin E. Marty in Righteous
coercive influence/brainwashing literature developed by U.S.
Empire: The Protestant Experience in America (New York,
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) propagandists and psy-
1970), p. 69; and The Westminster Dictionary of Church His-
chologists.
tory (Philadelphia, 1971), “Denominationalism.” For the
D
most theologically informed explication of denominational-
EPROGRAMMING INTERVENTION. The style of intervention
ism, see Jacob Neusner’s “Conservative Judaism in a Divided
that Patrick developed to “rescue” young persons from
Community,” in Sectors of American Judaism (New York,
NRMs included sudden forcible abduction of a NRM mem-
1975), vol. 2 of his Understanding American Judaism.
ber, detainment for days or longer in secured locations, the
demeaning of the NRM, constant argumentation, and a bar-
New Sources
rage of verbal assaults on the integrity, sincerity, values, and
Brauer, Jerald C., ed. The Lively Experiment Continued. Macon,
Ga., 1987.
activities of the religion and its leaders, all frequently inter-
spersed with biblically based references. Patrick and other de-
Muller, Robert Bruce, and Russell E. Richey, eds. Reimagining
programmers never claimed to be proselytizing their own
Denominationalism. New York, 1994.
personal credos—a claim that is contradicted by the sworn
Newman, William M., and Peter L. Halvorson. Atlas of American
depositions and testimonies of some deprogrammees—but
Religion: The Denominational Era. Walnut Creek, Calif.,
rather to simply “free minds” so that NRM members could
2000.
once again think for themselves.
WINTHROP S. HUDSON (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Noncoercive deprogramming attempts also occurred, as
when a parent or clergyperson—by telephone, mail, or face-
to-face—tried to create doubts or second thoughts in the
mind of a young “cult” member who, in the absence of more
DEPROGRAMMING. The term deprogramming has
than moral or emotional persuasion (i.e., without forcible re-
been used since the 1970s to refer to a range of behaviors,
straint or violence), decided to leave the new faith. However,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2292
DEPROGRAMMING
the coercive form of deprogramming caught public attention
then, when the counseling was supposedly finished, to bolt
and became the object of opposition by such groups as the
back to the NRM group. Few families could afford repeated
American Civil Liberties Union.
deprogramming attempts since the practitioners began to
charge upwards of $30,000.
By the fall of 1971, Patrick had resigned his state posi-
tion to devote himself full-time to mostly coercive depro-
Second, there were mounting legal costs for unsuccess-
grammings. By early 1972 he was actively pursuing such in-
ful deprogrammers in criminal and civil proceedings. Several
terventions nationwide against a variety of NRMs, and he
high-profile deprogrammers, including Patrick and private
inspired a cottage industry of imitators, some of whom had
investigator Galen Kelly, served time in prison as judges be-
been his apprentices. These deprogrammers represented a va-
came more aware of the religious liberties implications of de-
riety of backgrounds, from private investigators, insurance
programming, as well as its status as an unrecognized, ersatz
salesmen, and used-car salesmen to attorneys, degreed psy-
therapy. Coercive deprogramming and its questionable
chologists, and convicted felons.
brainwashing assumptions were also aggressively criticized by
civil liberties advocates, behavioral science scholars, and
The heyday of deprogramming occurred at the same
NRM spokespersons. Such criticism eventually tainted an-
time that some highly visible new religions were in apparent
ticult “rescue” heroics with an odious reputation.
expansion. One source of deprogrammers’ clientele was a
subculture of relatives of previous NRM members who re-
With the collapse of the CAN in 1996 due to bankrupt-
ferred subjects to Patrick and other deprogrammers. Other
cy as a result of civil suits brought against it (mostly by mem-
sources included several anticult or counter-NRM organiza-
bers of the Church of Scientology), deprogrammers, who
tions, such as the Citizens Freedom Foundation and its suc-
now called themselves “thought reform” counselors or con-
cessor, the Cult Awareness Network (CAN).
sultants, lacked a national referral conduit and either had to
establish internet websites or gain footholds in local church
There are few reliable estimates of how many depro-
community networks. However, the single legal case that fi-
grammings took place. In the late 1980s sociologist David
nally brought an end to the CAN was Scott v. Ross (1995),
G. Bromley used a triangulation of media reports and inter-
a civil suit brought by Jason Scott, a United Pentecostal adult
nal organizational documents to track down almost four
whose mother hired an “exit counselor” named Rick Ross to
hundred attempted deprogrammings of members of the
deprogram her three sons from a church of which she disap-
Unification Church. Bromley found that most of the suc-
proved. After Scott’s two brothers were successfully depro-
cessful deprogrammings were performed on persons either
grammed, Scott was violently abducted, physically abused,
newly affiliating with the church or just beginning the pro-
and forcibly detained at a remote Washington State location
cess of disaffiliating, which suggests that the deprogrammers’
for almost a week.
faith in the efficacy of their techniques was overblown. Nev-
ertheless, Bromley concluded that “the practice of forcibly
The jury was clear in its decision to award damages to
separating individuals from religious groups for the purpose
Scott ($875,000 in compensatory damages, as well as puni-
of inducing them to renounce their memberships is unprece-
tive damages in the amount of $1,000,000; against CAN;
dented in American religious history” (1988, p. 203).
$2,500,000 against Rick Ross; and $25,000 each against
Ross’s two accomplices). The CAN’s primary activity in this
DEPROGRAMMINGS IN DECLINE. By the late 1980s depro-
and other operations was to provide the public and the media
grammers were seeking to shed Patrick’s legacy of kidnap-
with false or inflammatory opinion in the guise of “informa-
ping and forcible confinement of deprogrammees, and they
tion” about unconventional religions. The jury’s decision,
tried to upgrade their image to that of mental health thera-
under the definitions provided in Washington law, was that
pists, or “exit counselors.” Meeting at annual CAN confer-
CAN was an organized hate campaign. In a curt note to the
ences over a period of several years, they struggled to craft
defendants, who appealed the verdict, U.S. district court
a code of ethics and to work out details, including a sliding
judge John C. Coughenour concluded:
scale of counseling fees that differentiated between academi-
cally trained and nondegreed practitioners. However, the re-
Finally, the court notes each of the defendants’ seeming
sulting code of ethics focused mainly on the abuses of some
incapability of appreciating the maliciousness of their
deprogrammers who took drugs during deprogrammings
conduct towards Mr. Scott. Rather, throughout the en-
and had sex with their captive clients, indicative of the unreg-
tire course of this litigation, they have attempted to por-
tray themselves as victims of Mr. Scott’s counsel’s al-
ulated “profession” that deprogramming had become.
leged agenda. Thus, the large award given by the jury
Deprogrammings became all but extinct by the late
against both CAN and Mr. Ross seems reasonably nec-
1990s for several reasons. First, there were some spectacularly
essary to enforce the jury’s determination on the op-
bungled attempts, as when deprogrammers abducted the
pressiveness of the defendants’ actions and deter similar
conduct in the future (Scott v. Ross, 1995).
wrong person or allowed targeted persons to escape. In addi-
tion, the deprogrammings frequently did not work; it was
The final death knell for deprogramming was shrinking pub-
relatively easy for deprogrammees to pretend to be decon-
lic and official concern over many NRMs, some of which
verted ex-members ready to rejoin mainstream society, and
(such as the Unification Church) accommodated to the larg-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DESCARTES, RENÉ
2293
er society and became, therefore, less visible, while others
legacy. If it is true, as Whitehead said, that European philos-
simply disappeared. In a time of war and fear of foreign ter-
ophy consists of footnotes to Plato, modern European phi-
rorism, which characterized most of the 1990s and the early
losophy, in the same sense, consists of footnotes to Descartes.
twenty-first century, NRMs in North America were not a
Born to a noble Roman Catholic family, Descartes was
major source of disquiet, and the market for interventions
educated in the physics and metaphysics of an Aristotelian
dramatically declined.
and Thomist tradition, and in medicine and law. He joined
S
the Dutch army, and, while in the Netherlands, became in-
EE ALSO Anticult Movements; Brainwashing (Debate);
Cults and Sects; Law and Religion, article on Law and New
terested in mathematics and the new physics. Having trav-
Religious Movements.
eled in various countries, he returned to France, where he
outlined the first version of a new method of thinking based
BIBLIOGRAPHY
on mathematics (Rules for the Direction of the Mind), but he
Bromley, David G. “Deprogrammings as a Mode of Exit from
did not complete or publish it. After settling in the Nether-
New Religious Movements: The Case of the Unification
lands, he maintained contact with scholars by letter; Marin
Church.” In Falling from the Faith: Causes and Consequences
Mersenne was his main correspondent. He passed the last
of Religious Apostasy, edited by David G. Bromley,
year of his life in Sweden at the court of Queen Christina.
pp. 185–204. Beverly Hills, Calif., 1988.
Descartes’s aim was to use mathematics as a model for
Bromley, David G., and Anson D. Shupe Jr. Strange Gods: The
developing a fully unified form of human knowledge. He ap-
Great American Cult Scare. Boston, 1981.
plied this method in his Treatise on the World. The trial of
Jason Scott, Plaintiff, v. Rick Ross et al., Defendants. Case no. C94–
Galileo and condemnation of Galileo’s Dialogues convinced
00796, November 29, 1995. Remarks of U.S. district court
Descartes not to print his own work, which clearly confirmed
judge John C. Coughenour, pp. 8, 14. Seattle, Wash.
the heliocentric theory. In 1637 he published several parts
Patrick, Ted, with Tom Dulack. Let Our Children Go! New York,
of it with a methodological introduction, called The Dis-
1976.
course on Method, which was to become one of the greatest
Richardson, James T. “A Social Psychological Critique of ‘Brain-
texts of modern thought. In 1641 he published his other
washing’ Claims about Recruitment to New Religions.” In
major work, Meditations on First Philosophy, which had pre-
The Handbook on Cults and Sects in America, edited by David
viously been sent to a number of scholars, among them
G. Bromley and Jeffrey K. Hadden, pp. 75–97, vol. 2, part
Gassendi, Hobbes, and Arnauld; their objections and Des-
B. Greenwich, Conn., 1993.
cartes’s replies were subsequently published with the main
Shupe, Anson D., Jr., and David G. Bromley. The New Vigilantes:
text. The Principles of Philosophy appeared in 1644 and The
Deprogrammers, Anti-Cultists, and the New Religions. Beverly
Passions of the Soul in 1649. Some other works and his volu-
Hills, Calif., 1980.
minous correspondence were published posthumously.
Shupe, Anson, Susan E. Darnell, and Kendrick Moxon. “The
Cult Awareness Network and the Anticult Movement: Im-
The Discourse indicates that for Descartes philosophy
plications for NRMs in America.” In New Religious Move-
was a methodological and conceptual basis for the sciences,
ments and Religious Liberty in America, edited by Derek H.
to make them useful in the domination of nature. Although
Davis and Barry Hankins, pp. 21–43. Waco, Tex., 2002.
the metaphysical problems he discussed in his Meditations
Wright, Stuart A., and Helen Rose Ebaugh. “Leaving New Reli-
are not subordinated to this goal, it is clear that Descartes
gions.” In The Handbook on Cults and Sects in America, ed-
was interested only in matters that could be solved by ratio-
ited by David G. Bromley and Jeffrey K. Hadden,
nal means and that his mental attitude was essentially antihi-
pp. 117–158, vol. 2, part B. Greenwich, Conn., 1993.
storical.
ANSON SHUPE (2005)
Cartesian method demands that we accept as true only
what is presented “clearly and distinctly” to our mind, leav-
ing no room for doubt. We should suspend our judgment
DERVISH SEE DARW¯ISH
in all matters where the slightest doubt is possible, including
all the truths of common sense, in order to find something
that resists all doubts. Sense-perception does not provide us
with any indubitable knowledge, since we cannot be a priori
DESCARTES, RENÉ (1596–1650), French philoso-
certain that we are not dreaming or that we are not being
pher. Descartes is held to be the father of modern philosophy
deceived by a malicious demon. But my very act of doubting,
and chief architect of the modern approach to the relation-
however far extended, and therefore the fact that I am think-
ship between science and religion. The scholastic tradition,
ing, cannot itself be doubted. And thus I find at least this
already ably criticized by Descartes’s time, was in effect obvi-
one certainty in which I cannot be deceived: I think, and I,
ated by a new, universal metaphysical construction based on
the thinker, must exist; no demon could induce me to err
the conceptual apparatus of Descartes. The entire develop-
on this point. This reasoning, summarized in the famous for-
ment of European philosophy, in all its diverse tendencies,
mula “Cogito ergo sum,” can be admitted as the basis of
has been dependent, directly or indirectly, on the Cartesian
knowledge.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2294
DESCARTES, RENÉ
The cogito, accepted as a kind of epistemological abso-
of other things on our bodies and cause movements of our
lute, is in Descartes’s work an implicit challenge to the au-
body by the sheer act of will becomes difficult to solve; and
thority of tradition and an appeal to look for truth only in
Descartes’s followers, when trying to explain the unity of
the reason of a thinking individual. And it implies that the
soul and body and their mutual influence, naturally tended
only object that is directly and indubitably accessible to one’s
to materialist or occasionalist explanations, none of which
mind is its own activity; wherever else we start, our beliefs
conformed to the master’s doctrine, which implied both that
will be exposed to doubt.
the soul is absolutely free and capable of dominating the af-
fects, and that the affects are passive states caused by the
While I grasp my existence as identical with the aware-
movement of blood.
ness of existence, I observe, according to Descartes, that
nothing belongs necessarily to my nature except the fact that
Descartes’s philosophy almost instantaneously pro-
I think; therefore I may describe myself as a thinking thing,
duced new lines of division in European intellectual life.
or thinking substance, or immaterial soul. This transition
Though attacked, mainly for its rationalist rigor, by both
from “I think” to “I am a thinking substance” was strongly
Protestants (the school of Voetius) and Catholics (all Des-
criticized by Descartes’s contemporaries and later. It gave rise
cartes’s works were put on the Index of Prohibited Books in
to the question, much debated in the twentieth century,
1663), its impact was soon to be felt not only among philoso-
whether or not the “self” or “I” can be described at all in “ob-
phers, scientists, and physicians, but among theologians as
jective” categories.
well. In the Netherlands, Coccejus’s school tried to apply
Descartes’s methods in theological investigations; in France,
Our mind, according to Descartes, has a natural light
Malebranche and other occasionalists attempted a Catholic
whereby it is capable of acquiring knowledge on most impor-
assimilation of a somewhat modified Cartesianism. In the
tant issues without relying on sense-perception. We have in
Jansenist milieu the influence of Descartes was very strong.
our mind a natural idea of God, or a perfect being. Since our
By the end of the seventeenth century few orthodox Carte-
mind clearly perceives that it is not perfect itself (of which
sians remained, but the impact of the doctrine was felt
the fact of doubting is evidence, if indeed evidence is need-
throughout the early French Enlightenment; its general ra-
ed), it could not have fabricated this idea, as a more perfect
tionalist and determinist approach laid the foundation of
thing cannot be produced by a less perfect; consequently the
eighteenth-century materialism, while its skeptical side and
very presence of this idea is a proof of the actual existence
the cogito were crucially important in the rise of modern ide-
of the perfect being. This psychological argument for God’s
alism, starting with Berkeley.
existence, like the ontological argument in traditional ver-
Although there are no reasons to doubt that Descartes
sion, which Descartes accepts as well, implies nothing about
himself believed in God and in the immortality of the soul,
God’s presence and signs in the world. God’s first function,
his philosophy made God absent in the world and thus use-
in Descartes’s construction, is to assure the reliability of
less in interpreting it. Descartes was not, strictly speaking,
human knowledge: being perfect, God cannot deceive us,
a deist, insofar as, according to him, the force needed to sus-
therefore we can rely both on our commonsense belief in the
tain the universe in existence is the same as that needed to
reality of the material world and on our intellectual intuition.
create it; yet he contributed decisively to the deist and atheist
(Many critics pointed out the circularity in this reasoning:
movements of the subsequent centuries. He was the modern
acts of intuition are necessary to acquire the certainty of the
founder of totally secularized thinking. Outstanding twenti-
existence of God, who subsequently appears as a guarantor
eth-century Thomists (Gilson, Maritain) saw in Descartes
of the infallibility of those very acts.) We can thus affirm the
the main author of what they believed to be the aberration
reality of the material world.
of modern intellectual life, of its individualist, idealist, and
Descartes conceived the material world, or “extension,”
rationalist tendencies. And the problem of the transition
in strictly mechanistic terms. All processes are explained by
from the cogito to the world and vice versa has remained,
the laws of mechanics; living organisms behave according to
thanks to Descartes, one of the crucial issues in modern phe-
the same principles that govern artificial automata; there is
nomenology and existential philosophy.
no specific realm of life. To be sure, human beings are en-
dowed with an immaterial soul, which is the seat of all sensa-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tions; animals, having no soul, are no more than mecha-
Works by Descartes
nisms, and their reactions are just mechanical movements.
Correspondance. 8 vols. Edited by Charles Adam and Gérard Mi-
In human beings, organic (that is, mechanical) processes,
lhaud. Paris, 1936–1963.
should be distinguished from psychological events in the
Descartes: Philosophical Writings. Selected, translated, and edited
soul. The human organism does not differ from other mech-
by Elizabeth Anscombe and P. T. Geach. Edinburgh, 1964.
anisms; its death is a physical phenomenon, whereas the sep-
Contains a good bibliography.
aration of the soul is not the cause but the effect of death.
Œuvres de Descartes. 2d ed. 12 vols. Edited by Charles Adam and
The two substances—soul and body—that make up the
Paul Tannery. Paris, 1956–1957.
human being cannot affect each other; therefore the question
Philosophical Letters. Translated and edited by Anthony Kenny.
of how we can realize, in perception, the mechanical impacts
Oxford, 1970.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
2295
Works about Descartes
The beliefs concerning descent into an underworld in-
Adam, Charles. Descartes: Sa vie et son œuvre. Paris, 1937.
habited by spirits and supernatural beings could be based in
Alquié, Ferdinand. La découverte métaphysique de l’homme chez
part on experiences in which the soul is believed to leave the
Descartes. 2d ed. Paris, 1966.
body during a state of altered consciousness—such as trance,
Doney, Willis, ed. Descartes: A Collection of Critical Essays. Garden
sleep, or near-death experiences—or during the visions and
City, N.Y., 1967.
hallucinations associated with these states. The content of
Gilson, Étienne. La doctrine cartésienne de la liberté et la théologie.
such experiences, however, is determined to a large extent by
Paris, 1915.
the cultures and traditional beliefs of the persons undergoing
Gilson, Étienne. Études sur le rôle de la pensée médiévale dans la for-
them, but these phenomena also have remarkable similarities
mation du système cartésien. Paris, 1930.
in different cultures and ages, a fact that encourages intercul-
Gouhier, Henri. La pensée religieuse de Descartes. Paris, 1924.
tural comparisons.
Laporte, Jean. Le rationalisme de Descartes. 2d ed. Paris, 1950.
Leroy, Maxime. Descartes, le philosophe au masque. Paris, 1929.
THE ROADS TO DEATH: TOPOGRAPHIES OF THE DESCENT.
Mouy, Paul. Le développement de la physique cartésienne. Paris,
Beliefs concerning the descent into the underworld are often
1934.
connected with the concept of a three-layer cosmos, accord-
Sebba, Gregor. Bibliographia Cartesiana. The Hague, 1964.
ing to which the human world is located midway between
the realm of spirits above and the realm of the dead below—
LESZEK KOLAKOWSKI (1987)
the “underworld.” The underworld itself may also be
thought of as divided into layers. In certain Asian, European,
Mesoamerican, and Oceanic cultures, for instance, the un-
DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD. Nar-
derworld is believed to be divided into as many as nine layers.
ratives the world over tell of descents into the underworld.
Mayan cultures recognized nine levels of the underworld,
Many traditions include myths connected with journeys to
and some funerary temples reproduce a descent in nine
the “otherworld” undertaken by both human and suprahu-
phases. Scandinavians called the ninth and lowest level
man beings. Experiences of such journeys are especially com-
Niflhel.
mon in the shamanistic traditions, but they are also found
in association with various ecstatic religious phenomena and
These cosmic levels are often believed to be connected
various heroic and visionary contexts within a great number
to one another by a cosmic tree or mountain, which is fre-
of cultures.
quently believed to be located in the north. In inner and
An important differentiation can be made between the
northern Asia, India, and northern Europe, the “center of the
descent with no return (accomplishing the due of human
world” is found in the north. The cosmic tree that connects
mortality) and the descent with return made by heroes, sha-
the levels of the cosmos also acts as a path of communication
mans, and other extraordinary humans. The imaginary expe-
among them. The Vasyugan Khanty, the Maya, and the
riences with return could fulfill different objectives: to ex-
Scandinavians, for instance, believe that it has its roots in the
plain the cosmic subterranean topography, to rescue
underworld. In the shamanistic tales of Siberia, the opening
someone from the realm of the dead, and to expose the pun-
leading to the underworld is represented as lying at the foot
ishments and sufferings in the otherworld with a moral pur-
of the cosmic tree or at the foot of its counterpart, the sha-
pose. The descent into the underworld, particularly to the
man’s tree. The Altaic Turks, on the other hand, locate this
kingdom of the dead, is one of the central themes in myths
opening at the “center of the cosmos” and describe it as a
explaining the cosmic order, the limits and possibilities of the
“smoke hole.” Many northerly peoples locate the opening to
human being, the relationships between gods, and human re-
the different cosmic levels in the North Star that shines at
lationships with god or the gods.
the center of the world and symbolizes supernatural stability
and eternity.
But the descent into the underworld is also a powerful
imaginal and, on occasion, stereotyped literary motif. In the
In all cultural traditions the most important part of the
European traditions, due to the influence of the Homeric
underworld is the realm of the dead. Most of the traditions
Nekyia (ninth book of the Odyssey), the descent (Greek, ka-
describing the descent into the underworld are in fact con-
tabasis), an imaginary motif is present in major literary and
cerned with visiting the dead, though this realm may be de-
artistic works despite the cultural, chronological, and reli-
scribed differently in various cultures. In some cultures of the
gious differences between contexts and authors (between, for
East, in central Asia, and in ancient Greek religion, for in-
instance, Vergil’s sixth book of the Aeneid and the Inferno
stance, it is described as the palace of the sovereign of death
in Dante’s Commedia). Such a literary motif is also found in
or as a mighty dwelling place. In ancient Scandinavian folk-
the Middle Eastern traditions from the Epic of Gilgamesh to
lore it is a great hall, whereas in the Finnish epic it is a large
the Book of Enoch or the isra of Muh:ammad. There are cross-
living room. Among the hunting peoples of Siberia, it is con-
relationships among all of these literary traditions. Christ’s
ceived of as a yurt village, in the Celtic culture it is in an insu-
descent into hell and medieval Christian literature develop-
lar location, and in ancient Greek tradition Hades (the realm
ing the topic of the descent and the description of hell have,
of Hades, the god of the underworld) seems to be described
therefore, a long literary tradition.
as a palace. Despite the variety in representations, however,
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DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
many of the concepts surrounding the realm of the dead and
ful guidance of the spirits is the cornerstone of the classical
the roads to entrances are similar in all parts of the world.
shamanism of Siberia and inner Asia, and corresponding
Belief in a local opening and a road leading to the un-
practices connected with the activities of a seer or an ecstatic
derworld are common in the cultures of Europe, Asia, Amer-
healer are found in other parts of the world as well: in North
ica, West Africa, Melanesia, and Polynesia. On the west side
America, in Oceania, in the folk religion of Indochina,
of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, for instance, one finds the
among the early religions of Europe, and especially in the
Black Rock, from which the souls of the dead are thought
various religions of South America. One typical feature of
to set off on their journey to the otherworld. Volcanoes, such
this type of otherworldly journey is the use the shaman
as Etna, or caves, such as that of Lough Derg in Ireland, mark
makes of ritual techniques intended to induce ecstasy.
the beginning of the road to hell or purgatory, as in medieval
Where there is a belief in an underworld, it is not un-
Christian literature. In the ancient Greek imaginary topogra-
common for people to have chance experiences of descend-
phy, subterranean entrances to the realm of Hades are not
ing into it during sleep or trance. In shamanistic cultures
uncommon (more than fifty are testified in the ancient
such spontaneous experiences were interpreted as proof that
sources), and sanctuaries could be located in caves or en-
the spirits had selected a candidate as a future shaman. Ac-
trances to the underworld: the best-known example is the
cording to a Nentsy myth, a woodcutter suddenly found
Nekyomanteion (oracle of the dead) at Ephyra.
himself on the back of a minryy bird, from which he fell
One of the universal features of such a road to the un-
through a hole into the underworld. There he wandered
derworld is darkness. This is why the Yakut shaman has disks
from the dwelling of one spirit to that of another and had
representing the sun and moon sewn onto clothing—to pro-
to recognize each in turn. He was then cut into pieces and
vide light on the route to the otherworld. The road is also
put together again, after which one of the spirits guided him
dangerous, fraught with difficulties and preternatural obsta-
back to the earth’s surface. This experience was taken to be
cles that only an initiate or a spirit being can overcome. In
the initiation as a shaman, particularly in view of the dissec-
Finnish folklore such obstacles include a great eagle, a snake,
tion and reassembling of the body by the spirits.
a fiery pond or waterfall, and a river bristling with swords.
Chance visions, pains, and torments were interpreted as
Similar obstacles are also found in the mythologies of the
the shaman’s sickness and were taken as signs of a person’s
Middle and Far East, of classical antiquity, and of the Ger-
candidacy as a shaman. While learning to use the drum and
manic peoples, and they were also cultivated in the Christian
sing the shaman’s songs, the candidate withdrew from the
vision literature and art of the Middle Ages. According to the
normal life of the community, fasted, and sought contact
ancient Germans and the Yakuts of Siberia, the dead had to
with the spirits. A journey to the underworld, experienced
be equipped either with shoes or a horse to protect them on
through visions and auditions, was a prerequisite for initia-
their difficult journey.
tion. The central element of this journey was the experience
Traditions familiar in both Asia and Europe tell of a
of rebirth. The reports of such initiation visions prove that
stream surrounding the realm of the dead that must be
the initiate’s experiences were shaped by the shamanistic tra-
crossed on a ferry or by a narrow bridge made dangerous by
dition of the community in question. The older shamans in-
swords, or they speak of a wall surrounding the underworld
terpreted the candidate’s experiences in such a way as to
over which the soul must leap. In ancient Greek mythology
channel them toward accepted, traditional patterns. During
the ferryman Charon helps the dead cross the labyrinthine
this initiation period the new shamans became familiar with
underworld waters and enter the realm of Hades. But Char-
that part of the spirit world to which they would later jour-
on, as a literary and iconographic motif, is found even in
ney during shamanic séances.
Western Christian literature and arts (e.g., in the Sistine
A number of the peoples of inner Asia and southern Si-
Chapel), despite the religious changes produced in the idea
beria referred to the shaman’s journeying to the underworld
of the underworld by Christianization. It could be used as
as “black.” This seems to be a reference to the fact that the
an example of the plurality of beliefs about the underworld
underworld contained not only the abodes of the dead but
that coexist in a culture or a religion and that encourage the
also the dwelling places of various disease-causing or other-
microanalysis of cases, contexts, and points of view.
wise dangerous spirits. In order to be an accomplished sha-
Another widespread concept connected with the under-
man, one had to know the roads leading to these places and
world is that of the beast or dog that guards its gates. Exam-
be able to recognize their inhabitants. This made it all the
ples include the Greek Kerberos, with its three heads; the
more important for a candidate to study the topography of
Scandinavian Garmr, a huge and bloody monster; the Baby-
the underworld during the initiation period. In the more
lonian Nedu, with its lion’s head, human hands, and bird’s
northerly regions, this study was conducted under the guid-
feet; and the Egyptian Ammut, the watchdog of the under-
ance of special spirits, usually zoomorphic spirits of nature.
world god Osiris that has the body of a lion, the front limbs
THE DESCENT AS SHAMANIC RITUAL. The ritual descent
of a crocodile, and the rear limbs of a hippopotamus.
into the underworld takes place during a shamanistic séance,
THE SHAMANIC INITIATION AND THE DESCENT INTO THE
in the course of which the shaman describes in song the
UNDERWORLD. A journey to the underworld under the help-
stages of the journey. In northern Siberia and the Arctic re-
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DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
2297
gions in particular, the actual transfer to the otherworld was
who carried the travelers to the underworld on its back. At
thought to coincide with the highest point in the shaman’s
the séance during which all this took place, the shaman ex-
altered state of consciousness and was indicated by loss of ex-
pressed the stages of the journey with dramatic effects, giving
ternal consciousness. The shaman’s soul was then thought
instructions to the assisting spirits and expressing in song the
to have left the body and to be traveling in the otherworld
horror and relief over the difficulties along the way. As de-
in the form of an animal or accompanied by benevolent
scribed at such séances, the road to Buni included eighteen
spirits.
stages that had special names and generally known features.
The most difficult task along the journey was crossing the
The visit to the underworld was sometimes portrayed
river separating the living from the dead. The shamans could
through performable means. The journey of the “black” sha-
tell when they had reached their destination from strange
mans of the Altaic Tatars to Erlik Khan, the lord of the un-
footmarks, the sound of dogs barking, and other traditional
derworld, was expressed not only in song but also in mime
signs.
and movement. The shamans gave detailed descriptions of
the stages of the journey and the meeting with Erlik Khan.
In modern shamanism (and in neoshamanism), because
First they rode southward, climbed the Mountain of Iron,
of undergoing the process of adaptation to the modern world
on whose slopes lay the fading bones of unsuccessful sha-
and global society, some of the classical themes of the descent
mans, and then descended through a hole into the under-
into the underworld are objects of redefinition and psycho-
world. They next crossed the sea of the underworld by an
logical interpretation (using, for example, the Jungian and
extremely narrow and dangerous bridge and arrived at the
New Age concept of shadow as explanation). The descent
dwelling of Erlik Khan. At first the lord of the underworld
into the underworld has become an inner experience of com-
was angry, but as the shamans offered him drink and sacri-
bat against a personal alter ego. The cosmic topographical
fices, he became benevolent and promised to fulfill the sha-
implication and the social interest of the shamanic exploit
mans’ wishes. The shamans then returned to earth riding on
are transformed in a private experience without social or cos-
a goose.
mic relevance.
When descending into the underworld, the shaman
THE HEROIC DESCENT AND THE ORPHEUS THEME. The
tried to solve problems that were thought to be caused by
journeys to the underworld undertaken by shamans and
the spirits. The reasons for the journey to the underworld
mystics typically involve visions experienced during trance.
thus depended on the sorts of spirits living there and on the
There are, however, myths and tales in parts of the world that
way they were thought to influence human life. If an illness
tell of journeys to the underworld undertaken by humans or
was believed to be caused by a loss of soul, it was the sha-
gods without the aid of ecstatic techniques or powers. Visit-
man’s task to fetch the patient’s soul from the malevolent
ing the underworld was thought to be one of the standard
spirits who had stolen it. Other typical reasons for descend-
deeds of mythical heroes. The heroes descending into the un-
ing into the underworld were to acquire knowledge concern-
derworld need not necessarily be human, for Ishtar makes
ing the future, the weather, lost objects, or persons; to meet
the journey in the Akkadian myth, Lemminkäinen’s mother
the spirits who assisted at a birth; to meet the keepers of the
does so in the Finnish tradition, and the Mayan twins
game during a period of famine; to escort the soul of a sacrifi-
Hunahpu and Ixbalanque descend into Xibalba (the realm
cial animal to its destination; or to accompany the souls of
of the deities of the death) in the Popol Vuh.
the dead to the underworld. For example, the initiatory vi-
The reasons for the descent were many. One of the most
sion of the Nganasani shaman Sereptie Djaruoskin reveals
popular was the rescue of a relative or loved one who had
that he knew the roads leading from the foot of the shaman’s
died young. But the journey also could be undertaken to
tree to the spirits responsible for every kind of sickness, to
search for immortality, knowledge, or some special favor, to
the main guardians of the game, and to the spirits who pro-
escort the dead to their final resting place, or to receive initia-
vide protection at births.
tion in the mysteries of the underworld. Here exists a close
If the soul of a dead person should fail to go to the un-
parallel to the reasons given for the shaman’s journey.
derworld but instead keep disturbing the peace of the living,
A test of strength between love and death is the basis
the shaman was called upon to play the role of psychopomp
of the legends and myths in which one left behind in this
(guide of souls). Indeed among the Nanay (Goldi), the Altaic
world follows the beloved or relative “to the land of no re-
Turks, and the Nentsy, escorting the soul of the dead to its
turn.” And when the result of the journey is positive, the in-
new abode was one of the shaman’s most important tasks.
exorable law of mortality—the power of Thanatos—is over-
After a death, the Nanay arranged a festival, during which
come by the power of Eros. The best-known representative
the shaman caught the wandering spirit and placed it on a
of this type of narrative is the Orpheus theme, various forms
cushion specially made for the occasion. A big clan memorial
of which are found not only in Eurasia but also in North
festival was then held, and the shaman escorted the soul of
America, Oceania, and Melanesia.
the dead to Buni, the clan’s own kingdom of the dead. On
the way the shaman and the soul in keeping were assisted by
In Vergil’s version, in the fourth book of the Georgics,
the spirit Buchu, who knew the way, and the bird Koori,
perhaps the best literary expression of the classical myth (be-
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2298
DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
cause the Orphic versions, included in Katabasis of Orpheus,
destination, she dies, and the earthly vegetation wilts. When
have unfortunately disappeared), Orpheus sets off for Hades
the gods sprinkle her with the water of life, she recovers and
in search of his wife Eurydice, who has died young. With his
returns to earth.
songs and his music, Orpheus relieves the suffering in the un-
derworld and wins the favor of the gods. Eurydice is prom-
THE HEROIC AND INITIATION DESCENT: IMMORTALITY
ised to him on condition that he not turn to look at her on
AND APOTHEOSIS. In some cases a hero penetrates the king-
the road up. The impatient Orpheus breaks his vow and loses
dom of death to gain immortality. One of the oldest known
his wife. Despite the negative result of the katabasis, for the
examples is the Sumerian myth of Gilgamesh, in which Gil-
followers of the Greek mystery cults who use the name of
gamesh crosses the waters of death and reaches the land of
Orpheus as a sign of identity this underworld exploit is a
eternal life. There he finds a plant that guarantees immortali-
demonstration of the possibility of acquiring knowledge that
ty. But a snake snatches it from him on his return trip, and
can defeat death. The Orphic initiation offers the wisdom
he is forced to accept mortality for humankind. The account
to find the appropriate path in the underworld journey and
of Gilgamesh’s journey has been compared to the account
the knowledge of the correct descent that is inscribed in the
of Herakles’s visit to Hades and Odysseus’s Nekyia. But
Orphic-Dionysiac gold lamellae (sheets) found in a number
Odysseus refuses the immortality promised to him by Calyp-
of burial sites in Greece and southern Italy.
so in order to to maintain his own identity. Herakles reaches
apotheosis (the transformation into a god) after a number of
A negative result is also obtained by the god Izanagi in
exploits (crucially the visit to the garden of the Hesperides),
his underworld search for his twin sister and wife Izanami
not simply after his victorious return from the underworld,
in the realm of Yomi as reported in the Japanese Kojiki. The
when he brings with him the watchdog Kerberos and delivers
episode explains a cosmic division into two layers, upper and
Alcestis and Theseus.
lower, ruled by the twin gods, a provisional arrangement
changed by the following generation of gods.
The pursuit of immortality is also part of the tradition
woven around the Polynesian trickster and culture hero
Greater happiness befalls the heroes of the Polynesians,
Maui. Maui believed he could make himself immortal by
including the Maori of New Zealand, who rescue their loved
crawling through the body of his giant grandmother Hine-
ones by deceiving the spirits trying to prevent their escape.
nui-te-po. Hine-nui-te-po wakes as Maui enters her mouth
In one Maori narrative, Hutu follows Pane, who has died of
and, closing her mouth, kills the intruder. This swallowing
love for him, to the underworld. There Hutu entertains the
motif, also found in the story of Jonah and the great fish, is
spirits, having them sit on the top of a tree that has been bent
quite common in traditions concerned with initiation and
over and fastened to the ground by a rope. When Hutu lets
takes both mythical and ritual forms. It is found in the Finn-
go of the rope, the spirits are hurled into the air, and he es-
ish folk epic, in which Väinämöinen enters the belly of a
capes with his beloved.
giant sage who had long been dead. Väinämöinen descends
In addition to spouses or lovers, the main characters in
to the underworld in the role of a sage to seek knowledge and
these tales may also be people who are attached to one anoth-
incantations. In this respect he is reminiscent of a shaman.
er by some other tie. For example, there are stories among
A similar seeking journey is made by the Scandinavian god
the Indians of North America that stress sibling attachment.
Odin, who is described as having ecstatic powers.
The Tatars of the Sayan steppes tell the story of Kubaiko,
who goes to look for her brother in the kingdom of death
Further reasons for traveling to the underworld include
ruled by Erlik Khan. After carrying out the superhuman tasks
the search for some special object, as in the descent of Psyche,
imposed upon her by the princes of death, Kubaiko receives
or the mere satisfaction of curiosity. In each case the journey
the body of her brother and brings him back to life with the
is described as extremely dangerous and difficult, with its
water of life. The story gives a long description of the state
success depending on special conditions: the travelers should
after death and the punishment of sinners. The torments in-
not eat any food offered in the underworld, nor should they
flicted in Hades to the enemies of the gods (Sisyphos, Tan-
look back on the return journey, lest they fall under the
talos, Tityos) are described in the story of Odysseus’s journey
power of the spirits giving chase from below (which happens
to the land of the dead. But because the goal of the hero is
to Izanami in the Japanese myth and Persephone in the
not to rescue someone but to obtain information, the episode
Greek myth).
seems more an invocation followed by a vision than a de-
In some cultures, a main reason to endure the descent
scent.
is to demonstrate the supernatural condition of the traveler,
The related idea of the death and resurrection of a god
a recognition of his or her extraordinary or divine nature.
lies behind certain invigoration rites. There is a myth con-
The katabasis of Dionysos, with the rescue of his mother Se-
nected with the Akkadian Ishtar and her Sumerian counter-
mele, shows without a doubt to his followers the power of
part Inanna that describes the descent of the goddess into the
the god over death. And then Dionysos, like a sort of mystic
underworld, probably to try to subjugate that realm. On her
Hades, could offer to those who had endured the initiation
way, Ishtar takes off her clothes and her ornaments as she
into his mysteries the liberation from death: the Dionysian
passes through the gates that lead to Arallu. On reaching her
path (difficult to distinguish from the Orphic path) to over-
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DESCENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
2299
shadow the mirage of common underworld destiny as it ap-
But these descriptions of journeys into hell (and eventu-
pears in the words inscribed in the golden intiatory lamellae.
ally paradise and other locations) repeat beliefs that are famil-
iar from the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions,
In a similar way, some Christian theologians explain
and the relationships between authors and religious tradi-
Christ’s descent into the underworld as a complete victory
tions are difficult to trace. The influence of a literary tradi-
over hell, overcoming the power of evil and rescuing the
tion that overcomes religious backgrounds using identical
“saints of the Old Testament,” highlighting the new alliance
that changes the foundations of the cosmic topography with
imaginal resources is undeniable, but the final purposes of
the descent. The complex theological implications of the epi-
the descriptions are also significant. For example, Aeneas’s
sode have been understood in different ways in the various
descent in Vergil’s sixth book of the Aeneid, Christ’s descent
Christian denominations (a number of which discarded the
into hell in the Gospel of Nicodemus, the visions exposed in
cosmic implications of the descent, simply understood as a
the Iranian Arda¯ Wira¯z Na¯mag, the journey described in the
paraphrastic reference to the act of dying). But the icono-
Book of the Scale, or other descriptions of the isra of
graphical possibilities of the episode have been widely ex-
Muh:ammad had specific religious significance within each
ploited in art and literature, especially in the Middle Ages
religious tradition.
and in Oriental Christianity, due to the values of glory and
The visionary descent appears also in Far Asian tradi-
sovereignty that underlie the episode and the classical and
tions. The ascetic practices known as gyo, practiced by Bud-
oriental imaginal implications of the descent into hell.
dhist priests in Japan, sometimes led to trances that included
THE VISIONARY DESCENT WITH MORAL PURPOSES. Visions
visions of journeys to the underworld. Some of the visions
of descending into the underworld are a part of the traditions
were of an initiatory nature and had structural and thematic
of the religions of the Middle East and the ancient Mediter-
similarities to the shamans’ visions. In the Nihon ryo¯iki a
ranean world, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christiani-
priest called Chiko¯, while feigning death, found himself ac-
ty. The visit in question is usually to the kingdom of the
companied by two messengers on the road to the under-
dead, and one of its main themes is the observation of
world. The road led westward and finally to a golden palace,
the torment awaiting sinners in the other world, along with
the door of which was guarded by two terrible beings. Three
the judgment of souls. The moral purposes of the journey
times the messengers ordered Chiko¯ to clasp a burning hot
are evident and serve as arguments to reinforce the belief in
pillar so that his flesh was burned and only his bones re-
the ethical mainstream proposed by these religions.
mained, and three times the spirits put him together again.
One of the earliest records in the Greek tradition of the
They finally sent him back to earth, ordering him to re-
transformation of the literary heroic descent into a descent
nounce the sin of envy. In addition to such reports of initia-
with moral purposes is the Platonic myth of Er, related at
tory trials, the Japanese narratives also contain revelations of
the end of Plato’s Republic (c. 380
the sentences passed by the king of the underworld and the
BCE), in which the visions
of the postmortem destiny had a propaedeutic purpose in the
horrors awaiting sinners. One type of narrative, which has
philosophical way of life proposed by Plato. Earlier accounts
parallels in the Chinese tradition, tells of persons descending
about the punishment in Hades for amoral or criminal atti-
into the underworld to save one of their relatives from the
tudes certainly existed—for instance, in the Nekyia painted
torments of hell. Such descriptions of the judgment and pun-
in the fifth century BCE by Polygnotos in the Cnidian Lesche
ishment of sinners could serve as a moral warning to lead a
at Delphi (and described by Pausanias)—but in Plato the de-
virtuous life, but they could also be used as a meditation re-
scription had a moral purpose.
source (e.g., the visonary visit to the realm of the punished
during the meditative practice with bhava chakra in
Multiple examples of the imaginal and moral effective-
Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism).
ness of these sorts of visionary descents exist in the ancient
world. The Book of Enoch relates a descent into the SheDol
The theme of visionary descent experienced a renewal
that shows the diversity of the ideas about the underworld
in European tradition with Emanuel Swedenborg’s (1688–
in Hellenistic Judaism. The judgment of the dead in an
1772) description of a supposed visit to the underworld in
Egyptian papyrus of the first century CE describes how Setne
his De coelo et ejus mirabilibus, et de inferno, ex auditis et visis
Khamuas, a high priest of Memphis, descended into the halls
(Heaven and its wonders and hell from things heard and
of Amenti under the guidance of his son Si-Osiris. In the
seen, 1758). He proposed a Christian esoterical topography
Christian Apocalypse of Peter (c. 135 CE), the visions detail,
of hell and an angelology, in which the torments of the sin-
in an explicit and meticulous way, the terrible punishments
ners are transformed in an inner postmortem experience of
of the sinners. These themes were particularly popular in the
the evil committed in life. Swedenborg is useful as an early
Christian literature and art of the Middle Ages, and the de-
example of the modern prevailing tendency to the interior-
scriptive and imaginal possibilities of the journey were ex-
ization brought about by the loss of imaginal fascination of
ploited in Christian countries. The popular medieval English
the heroic motif of the descent. (The powerful 1998 icono-
mystery play The Harrowing of Hell is an example of this, al-
graphical adaptation of the classical descensus in Vincent
though the most accurate and famous artistic expression of
Ward’s film What Dreams May Come is perhaps an excep-
such beliefs is Dante’s Commedia (1321).
tion.) In fact, the descent into the underworld seems to 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
2300
DESERTS
of little interest in the theological speculations and ritual
Loofs, Friedrich. “Descent to Hades (Christ’s).” In Encyclopaedia
practices developed in Christianity in particular and in the
of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, vol. 4. Edin-
world religions in general, excluding perhaps some shamanic
burgh, 1911.
contexts.
Lopatin, Ivan Alexis. The Cult of the Dead among the Natives of
the Amur Basin. The Hague, 1960.
SEE ALSO Judgment of the Dead; Shamanism; Underworld;
Visions.
MacCulloch, J. A. “Descent to Hades (Ethnic).” In Encyclopaedia
of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, vol. 4. Edin-
burgh, 1911.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bishop, J. G. “The Hero’s Descent to the Underworld.” In The
MacCulloch, J. A. The Harrowing of Hell: A Comparative Study
Journey to the Other World, edited by Hilda R. Ellis David-
of an Early Christian Doctrine (1930). New York, 1982.
son, pp. 109–129. Totowa, N.J., 1975.
Patch, Howard Rollin. The Other World according to Descriptions
Blacker, Carmen. “Other World Journeys in Japan.” In The Jour-
in Medieval Literature (1950). New York, 1970.
ney to the Other World, edited by Hilda R. Ellis Davidson,
Popov, A. A. “How Sereptie Djaruoskin of the Nganasani (Tavgi
pp. 42–47. Totowa, N.J., 1975.
Samoyeds) Became a Shaman.” In Popular Beliefs and Folk-
Böcher, Otto, Walter Sparn, and Karl Christian Felmy. “Höllen-
lore Tradition in Siberia, edited by Vilmos Diószegi,
fahrt Jesu Christi.” In Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegen-
pp. 137–145. Bloomington, Ind., 1968.
wart, edited by Hans Dieter Betz et al., 4th ed., vol. 2. Tü-
Quinn, J. D., and J. H. Rohlings. “Descent of Christ into Hell.”
bingen, Germany, 1998–2000.
In New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed., vol. 4, pp. 683–686.
Casadio, Giovanni. “Dioniso e Semele: Morte di un dio e resur-
Detroit, Mich., 2003.
rezione di una dona.” In Dionysos, mito e misterio, edited by
Fede Berti, pp. 361–377. Ferrara, Italy, 1991. The article
Sullivan, Lawrence E. Icanchu’s Drum: An Orientation to Meaning
was reprinted in Giovanni Casadio, Il vino dell’anima, pp.
in South American Religions. New York, 1988.
145–167 (Rome, 1999).
Swedenborg, Emanuel. De coelo et ejus mirabilibus, et de inferno,
Colpe, Carsten. “Höllenfahrt.” In Reallexikon für Antike und
ex auditis et visis. London, 1758. Translated by George F.
Christentum, edited by Ernst Dassmann et al., vol. 15, cols.
Dole as Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell: Drawn from Things
1015–1023. Stuttgart, Germany, 1991.
Heard and Seen (West Chester, Pa., 2000).
Colpe, Carsten. “Jenseitsfahrt II (Unterwelts- oder Höllenfahrt).”
ANNA-LEENA SIIKALA (1987)
In Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, edited by Ernst
FRANCISCO DIEZ DE VELASCO (2005)
Dassmann et al., vol. 17, cols. 466–489. Stuttgart, Germany,
1995.
Colpe, Carsten, and Peter Habermehl. “Jenseitsreise.” In Reallex-
ikon für Antike und Christentum, edited by Ernst Dassmann
DESERTS. In areas of continuous occupation, the pres-
et al., vol. 17, cols. 490–543. Stuttgart, Germany, 1995.
ence of the sacred transcends and resolves the stresses pro-
Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis. The Road to Hel: A Study of the
duced by the environment. In the desert, humankind, de-
Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature (1943). West-
prived of the support of social solidarity and helplessly
port, Conn., 1977.
confronted by supernatural forces, is beset by anguish and
Dieterich, Albrecht. Nekyia. Beiträge zur Erklärung der neuent-
fear.
deckten Petrusapokalipse. Leipzig, Germany, 1893.
THE DESERT AND PERSONAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. The
Diez de Velasco, Francisco. Los caminos de la muerte: Religión, rito
first visions of the desert, therefore, are pessimistic. It is the
e iconografía del paso al más allá en la Grecia antigua. Madrid,
region of the savage beasts and malevolent spirits, of demons
1995.
of all kinds. In primitive societies it is the place of trials, of
Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Trans-
initiations. It is the place to which the rejected and the exiled
lated by Willard R. Trask. Rev. and enl. ed. New York, 1964.
are banished: Cain (Gn. 4:11–16), Hagar and Ishmael (Gn.
Eliade, Mircea. Birth and Rebirth (1958). New York, 1975.
21:9–15), and the scapegoat that was burdened with the sins
Ganschinietz (Ganszyniec), Ryszard. “Katabasis.” In Pauly’s Real-
of Israel (Lv. 16:8–10). Particularly characteristic of the most
Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, edited by
ancient sedentary societies of the Middle East (Haldar,
August Friedrich von Pauly et al., vol. 20, cols. 2359–2449.
1950), this conception was long lived. For the prophets of
Stuttgart, Germany, 1919.
Israel (e.g., Ez. 20) and in the accounts of the Exodus, the
Gounelle, Rémi. La descente du Christ aux enfers: Institutionalisa-
time in the desert is that of infidelity (Ex. 17:7), of the golden
tion d’une croyance. Paris, 2000.
calf (Ex. 32), and of punishment before the entrance into the
Harris, W. Hall, III. The Descent of Christ: Ephesians 4:7–11 and
Promised Land.
Traditional Hebrew Imagery. Leiden, Netherlands, 1996.
Himmelfarb, Martha. Tours of Hell. Philadelphia, 1983.
But another, parallel attitude also developed: the desert
Hultkrantz, A˚ke. The North American Indian Orpheus Tradition:
as apprenticeship and self-knowledge. As a terrain of strug-
A Contribution to Comparative Religion. Stockholm, 1957.
gle, the desert leads to the discovery of one’s own being and,
Kuusi, Matti, Keith Bosley, and Michael Branch, eds. and trans.
thereby, to the affirmation of the individual. At a more
Finnish Folk Poetry: Epic; An Anthology in Finnish and En-
evolved stage of religious thought, it is the privileged place
glish. Helsinki, 1977.
of divine revelation, of the betrothal of Israel with Yahveh
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DESERTS
2301
(Gillet, 1949), of the offer of alliance, and of law that brings
THE DESERT IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. Does this
liberation. After the infidelities in the land of Canaan, it was
proximity to the divine lead to the development of a particu-
by means of a return to the desert, the place of love and inti-
lar religious structure? Ernest Renan thought so. In his His-
macy with the divine, that reconciliation with Yahveh was
toire générale des langues sémitiques (1885), inspired by the
achieved (Hos. 2:14–16; Jer. 2:2–3). The desert thus be-
long Christian tradition, he wrote: “The desert is monotheis-
comes a refuge from corruption and depravity. Philo Judaeus
tic. Sublime in its immense uniformity, it first revealed to
(d. 45–50 CE) adds to this specifically Jewish conception a
man the idea of infinity, but not the perception of an unceas-
theme of Hellenistic mysticism—the romantic yearning of
ingly creative life that a more fertile nature inspired in other
the world-weary city dweller for solitude, for retreat to the
races” (p. 6). He later returned to this idea and defined it
desert, where he can find peace. The desert, where the air is
more precisely in his Histoire du peuple d’Israël (vol. 1, 1887,
pure and light (On the Contemplative Life 22–23), assumes
pp. 45, 59). He found the basis for the development of prim-
for Philo an absolute value. It was for this reason that God
itive monotheism, which he attributed to the Semitic peo-
gave his laws to his people “in the depths of the desert” (On
ples, to be “the customs of nomadic life,” where there is little
the Decalogue 2). This idea leaves its trace, then, through a
room for cultic practice and where “philosophical reflection,
whole series of Christian authors, for example, Origen: “John
exercised intensely within a small circle of observation, leads
the Baptist, fleeing the tumult of the cities, went into the de-
to extremely simple ideas.” More than a century after Renan,
sert, where the air is purer, the sky more open, and God more
his idea of the desert as source and origin of Jewish mono-
intimate” (Homilies on Luke 11). It is the point of departure
theistic thought would again inspire the works of a master
of the entire Christian monastic movement toward settle-
of biblical archaeology, William Albright (1964,
ment in the desert after the fourth century—a movement
pp. 154–156).
that to a large extent regains the primitive pessimistic vision
in its land of choice, Egypt.
Actually, this idea is now largely outdated and has been
vigorously disputed. All the studies on pre-Islamic Arab reli-
The desert is where the devil is encountered and where
gion in particular (Wellhausen, 1897; Ryckmans, 1951;
Christ contended with him (Mauser, 1963). Monastic asceti-
Henninger, 1959) have drawn a picture of it that has little
cism developed as a struggle in a fearsome place that was the
to do with monotheism and that associates with the supreme
land of demons par excellence. But this struggle was victori-
deity, Allah, a numerous and varied cortege of deities. The
ous. The presence of the pious anchorites integrated the de-
desert is the domain of polymorphous and diffuse ritual. It
sert into the realm of faith either by transforming it into a
is, to repeat the expression of the QurDa¯n, “associationistic,”
city, desertum civitas (Athanasius, Life of Anthony 14; cf.
and the desert bedouin are “the most obdurate in their impi-
Chitty, 1966), or by fertilizing it and making it bloom ac-
ety and hypocrisy” (sura 9:97).
cording to the prophecy of Isaiah 35:1: desertum floribus ver-
nans (Jerome, Letters 14). Finally, it was in the desert that
However, the situation remains ambiguous. Beside and
the monks would find h¯esuchia, the serenity of solitude.
above the other gods was Alla¯h. He was incontestably a god
Christian tradition would thus, in the course of centuries,
of the nomads, a provider of rain (Brockelmann, 1922), and
base the movement toward the solitary life that was to be-
one can easily imagine the extreme importance that he as-
come as essential component of it on the image of the desert
sumed for a nomad whose survival depends entirely on the
as a place of solitude (¯eremia).
condition of the grazing land. Not only among the Arabs was
This approbation of solitude, brought to its apogee in
the god of rain the unique god. It has been possible to recon-
Christianity, was to be more or less present in all higher reli-
struct the special characteristics of the religion of pastoral
gions in which the ascetic imperative is based on meditation,
peoples in general in conjunction with the peculiarities of
which is facilitated by life in the desert: Buddhism, particu-
their social structure and their way of life; such a reconstruc-
larly in the Tantric forms, Daoism, and Islam. However, in
tion has been made for the first time in an environment very
the case of Islam, the acceptance was relatively cautious. For
different from the desert, namely, that of the high grassy sa-
the Muslims, the desert was above all a thème d’illustration
vannas of East Africa (Meinhof, 1926). The creation of pow-
(Arnaldez, 1975). It is necessary to “realize” the desert of
erful personages, of heroic saviors who are then frequently
spiritual solitude before the sole existent being, God. But it
enrobed in historic myths connected with the origins of the
is dangerous to actually take abode in the desert. It is true
tribe, is an expression of the instability of the pastoral tribe,
that there man can avoid hypocritical ostentation (ri Da¯D) and
which assembles or disperses in accordance with the impor-
the artificial social role that destroys authentic sincerity
tance of the individuals that direct and guide it within a con-
(ikhla¯s). But he thereby runs the risk of arrogance, of devel-
text of aggressive relationships between groups. This orienta-
oping the cult of his inner self. This more reserved attitude
tion often accompanies that which consists of making the
of Islam in regard to the reality of the desert does not affect
god of rain the unique god, dispenser of all benefices. The
the value attributed to the desert as a synonym for solitude
herdsman soon breaks free of polytheism. Ancestor worship
and retreat, ending in the solitariness (infira¯d) that culmi-
is unknown to him, and the dead are forgotten. The herds-
nates in mystical ascension. Both by its nature and its sym-
man is knowledgeable and intrepid, little inclined toward
bols, the desert brings man closer to God.
fear and superstition.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2302
DESERTS
One is here indeed on the way to the monotheistic god,
ration such as that of which the birth of Islam, following that
but under the impetus of a somewhat different logic. It is not
of Judeo-Christian monotheism and Zoroastrian dualism,
that the desert is monotheistic but rather that the pastoral
constitutes the final manifestation (Watt, 1953, 1956;
nomad has the tendency, at least, to become monotheistic.
Rodinson, 1961). Although Yahvism, as Nyström (1946) has
In contrast with the profusion of rituals in the Australian de-
shown, surpasses and in many particulars contradicts and
sert traversed by primitive hunters or gatherers is the evolu-
transcends the bedouin ideal, this ideal is nonetheless neces-
tion toward the monotheistic god of the warlike pastoral
sary to it.
tribe, herders of large beasts of the African savannas or the
There is, therefore, no “religion of the desert.” But, in
bedouin of the deserts of the Old World. This trend toward
the historical evolution of humanity in the Old World, the
monotheism is a late development in the cultural history of
deserts have indeed been the privileged place for the develop-
humanity. Contrary to Wilhelm Schmidt’s opinion, this
ment of the pastoral nomadic cultures that evolved preco-
“great god of the herdsmen” is not the legacy of a primitive
ciously toward monotheism and that constituted an essential
monotheism. Today we know that the pastoral nomads were,
component in the genesis of the great monotheistic religions.
in the main, descendants of the first agrarian civilizations of
the Old World, or were at least posterior to them. They con-
SEE ALSO Arabian Religions; Eremitism; Monotheism; Re-
stitute, in the world of the deserts and the steppes, a relatively
treat.
recent cultural development, first in the form of the pre-
bedouin herders of bovines, and then, after the domestica-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion of the horse and the dromedary, in the form of the wide-
Albright, William F. History, Archaeology, and Christian Human-
ism. New York, 1964.
spread, aggressive, warlike nomadism of the bedouin type,
which in the Middle East does not go back further than the
Arnaldez, Roger. “Le thème du désert dans la mystique musul-
second millennium
mane, thème d’inspiration ou thème d’illustration.” In Les
BCE.
mystiques du désert, pp. 89–96. Gap, France, 1975.
But the appearance of monotheistic tendencies in the
Baly, Denis. “The Geography of Monotheism.” In Translating
tribes of pastoral nomads can be rapid, as is shown by the
and Understanding the Old Testament, edited by Harry
analysis of neopastoral civilizations of the New World (Plan-
Thomas Frank and William L. Reed, pp. 258–278. New
hol, 1975). The Navajo of the Colorado plateaus of North
York, 1970.
America, whose pastoral mode of life did not emerge until
Bartelink, G. J. M. “Les oxymores desertum civitas et desertum
the second half of the eighteenth century, still do not recog-
floribus vernans.” Studia Monastica 15 (1973): 7–15.
nize a supreme deity (Reichard, 1950). But among the Goa-
Brockelmann, Carl. “Allah und die Götzen, der Ursprung des is-
jira of Colombia and Venezuela, whose aggressive, cavalieris-
lamischen Monotheismus.” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft
tic, pastoral life goes back at least two or three centuries,
21 (1922): 99–121.
there is a process of elaboration that seems much more ad-
Chitty, Derwas J. The Desert a City. Oxford, 1966.
vanced. Involved here is the predominance of a demiurgic
Gillet, Jacques. “Thème de la marche au Désert dans l’Ancien et
creator (Maleiwa) and a rain giver (Juya), who are, however,
le Nouveau Testament.” Recherches de science religieuse 36
not yet confused with each other, although the first signs of
(April–June 1949): 161–181.
such a confusion are evident (Perrin, 1976). Among the
Guillaumont, Antoine. “La conception du désert chez les moines
herdsmen of East Africa, such as the Maasai, whose forma-
d’Égypte.” In Les mystiques du désert, pp. 25–38. Gap,
tion of a pastoral system goes back at least a thousand years,
France, 1975.
pastoral monotheism is well defined.
Haldar, Alfred O. The Notion of the Desert in Sumero-Accadian and
West-Semitic Religions. Uppsala, 1950.
But, rather than being a true monotheism, it is in fact
Henninger, Joseph. “La religion bédouine pré-islamique.” In
a monolatry in that it is willing to recognize the existence of
L’antica societa beduina, edited by Francesco Gabrieli,
other gods, who fulfil the same functions for the benefit of
pp. 115–140. Rome, 1959.
neighboring tribes or peoples; it is a protomonotheism in
Mauser, Ulrich W. Christ in the Wilderness: The Wilderness Theme
Baly’s sense of the term (1970, pp. 258–259). The moral
in the Second Gospel and Its Basis in the Biblical Tradition.
monotheism (Baly’s “absolute” or “transcendent” monothe-
London, 1963.
ism) is a much more complex and revolutionary structure
Meinhof, Carl. “Religionen der Hirtenvölker.” In his Die Relig-
(Pettazzoni, 1950), the birth of which implies a break, not
ionen der Afrikaner in ihrem Zusammenhang mit dem
a simple evolution. Its occurrence exclusively in the Middle
Wirtschaftsleben, pp. 71–84. Oslo and Cambridge, Mass.,
Eastern and Old World cultural environment reflects condi-
1926.
tions of conflict. Here the presence of groups of pastoral no-
Les mystiques du désert dans l’Islam, le judaïsme, et le christianisme.
mads with still rather primitive monotheistic tendencies cer-
Gap, France, 1975. Papers delivered at a conference of the
tainly played an essential role within the orbit of sedentary,
Association des Amis de Sénanque, 28 July–3 August 1974.
sacerdotal civilizations that were polytheistic but much more
Nyström, Samuel. Beduinentum und Jahwismus: Eine soziologisch-
highly developed (as Weindl, 1935, demonstrated). These
religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zum Alten Testament.
conflicts could not be resolved except by a universalistic aspi-
Lund, 1946.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DESIRE
2303
Perrin, Michel. Le chemin des Indiens morts: Mythes et symboles goa-
tual life? Third, how do people deal with desire in their reli-
jiro. Paris, 1976.
gious or spiritual lives? What are the negative and positive
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. “La formation du monothéisme.” Revue de
strategies with which religious and spiritual individuals,
l’Université de Bruxelles 2 (1950): 209–219.
communities, and traditions have dealt with desire? Where
Planhol, Xavier de. “Le désert, cadre géographique de l’expérience
desire has been taken as a threat to the religious life or to spir-
religieuse.” In Les mystiques du désert, pp. 5–16. Gap, France,
itual integrity, what strategies have been developed to disci-
1975.
pline, train, overcome, transcend, detach from, or eradicate
Reichard, Gladys A. Navajo Religion. 2 vols. New York, 1950.
desire? Where desire has been viewed more positively, what
Rodinson, Maxime. Mahomet. Paris, 1961. Translated by Anne
strategies have been developed to channel, direct, release,
Carter as Mohammed (New York, 1971).
render articulate, or otherwise enlist and incorporate the en-
ergies and vitality of desire into the spiritual or religious life?
Ryckmans, Gonzague. Les religions arabes préislamiques. 2d ed.
Louvain, 1951.
In other words, how have individuals and communities
sought to share and pass on what they have learned about
Schmidt, Wilhelm. Der Ursprung der Gottesidee, vols. 7–12, Die
desire and how to deal with it?
Religionen der Hirtenvölker. Münster, 1940–1955.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muh:ammad at Mecca. London, 1953.
What is named when speaking of desire? How is it
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muh:ammad at Medina. London, 1956.
thought about, imagined, represented to oneself, and located
Weindl, Theodor. Monotheismus und Dualismus in Indien, Iran
in relation to other phenomena—particularly to matters of
und Palästina als Religion junger, kriegerisch nomadistischer
religious or spiritual importance?
Völker im Gravitations bereich von Völkern alter Kultur. Vien-
Desire is commonly understood in volitional terms, in
na, 1935.
which case it is identified with such things as willing, want-
Wellhausen, Julius. Reste arabischen Heidentums. 2d ed. Berlin,
ing, and wishing, choice and appetite, inspiration and moti-
1897.
vation, and even with intention. Desire is also understood
XAVIER DE PLANHOL (1987)
in more emotional or affectional rather than volitional terms,
Translated from French by Roger Norton
in which case it is associated or identified with such things
as emotion, feeling, passion, love, eros, (and eroticism), at-
tachment, craving, yearning, greed, and lust. These volitional
DESIRE is one of those important subjects that are seldom
and affectional vocabularies for interpreting desire are, of
discussed under their own names, so that one hardly knows
course, not incompatible—especially if, as is often the case,
where to go for answers to questions about the nature of de-
the affections are understood as central to or constitutive of
sire and its significance for the religious or spiritual life. The
the self as willing and loving. Where reason is set over against
term desire is only rarely found in the index or tables of con-
and valued above either will or emotion, desire will usually
tents of books on religion, even when the term figures promi-
be viewed as spiritually problematic.
nently in the author’s description or interpretation of reli-
In discussions of religious ethics, desire will figure more
gion. In addition, there is no widely shared consensus about
the meaning of the term, so it is put to a variety of uses.
positively in teleological than in deontological ethics. Teleo-
There is no standard inventory of experiences, realities, or re-
logical ethics is likely to involve some consideration of the
lations to which the term refers.
telos (goal or object) of desire—its satisfaction or fulfillment
in happiness, well-being, pleasure, ecstacy, and/or union or
In order to clarify the subject of desire and indicate
communion or some other form of participation in the di-
some representative ways in which desire has been religiously
vine or sacred reality. In deontological ethics, on the other
and spiritually interpreted, its scope and boundaries will be
hand, desire will be seen in tension or conflict with the gov-
discussed through a cross-cultural overview. In this context,
erning moral principles of obligation and duty. Yet here, too,
the varieties of desire and of the experiences, realities, and
reality goes beyond the terms of analysis, as when through
terms closely associated with desire—and of other terms anti-
the agency of religious rituals duty is sometimes converted
thetical to it, terms of contrast through which some of the
into desire. According to anthropologist Victor Turner, sa-
particular meanings of desire become fixed—will be exam-
cred symbols have two semantic poles, one abstract and nor-
ined. The dimensions of desire will thus be reflected upon
mative, the other physiological and “orectic”—that is, relat-
by charting the regions of human experience to which the
ing to desire or appetite, willing and feeling. The drama of
term desire refers.
ritual action, he suggests, may cause an exchange of proper-
In a discussion of the term desire, three kinds of ques-
ties between these semantic poles, condensing their many re-
tions need be considered. First, what is it that is being
ferents into a single cognitive and affective field, the biologi-
named? How is desire thought of, imagined, represented to
cal referents ennobled and the normative referents charged
oneself, and located in relation to other phenomena? Second,
with emotional significance. By such an exchange of qualities
how does desire enter into human experience? In what cir-
between semantic poles, what is socially necessary is rendered
cumstances does it become an issue for the religious or spiri-
desirable, and duty becomes desire.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2304
DESIRE
There is at least one striking contrast in the cultural and
In contrast, Augustine takes a very different view of de-
religious treatment of desire between Oriental and Occiden-
sire. Addressing himself to God, he begins the Confessions by
tal cultures. In Western cultures desire is generally given a
proclaiming the greatness of God and the desire to praise
more positive place in the vision of human being and well-
Him. “Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou
being. But that affirmation tends to remain at a fairly ab-
hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they
stract level, formulated by theologians. At the more pedestri-
find rest in Thee.” But Augustine goes on to write of other
an level of spiritual guidance and of daily life among ordinary
desires that distract him from desire for God—desires for
people, desire is hedged about with all sorts of constraints.
success and adulation, sexual desires, that great complex of
In both East and West, desire is treated in a highly differenti-
desires that he came to identify as belonging to the City of
ated fashion, but the pattern of differentiation varies signifi-
Man in contrast with those of the City of God.
cantly. In Asia desires are viewed in the context of the stages
How do people deal with desire in their religious or spir-
of life and are judged and constrained or released and li-
itual lives? For some, desire itself, of whatever sort, is spiritu-
censed differently, according to the stage of life in question.
ally destructive. The primary—or at any rate initial—aim of
In the West, desires are viewed more consistently in relation
their spiritual practice and discipline is to wean themselves
to their objects rather than to the stages of life, and desires
from all desire, even the desire for enlightenment, self-
are evaluated and graded according to higher and lower, finer
transcendence, liberation, salvation, nirva¯n:a, or mystical
and coarser objects of desire.
union with God. For others, desire is not itself intrinsically
Desire figures in human experience in many ways and
problematic but is seen as an essential and even a central
becomes religiously valid or problematic under a variety of
mark of their humanity and of their spirituality. The issue
circumstances. To illustrate the spiritual importance and
for them is the right direction of desire, the right ordering
power of desire and the complexity of the issues raised by de-
of the various desires toward their appropriate objects, and
sire, consider two of the greatest religious texts: the Dao de
a true perception of appropriate rank among possible objects
jing, the principal classic of Daoism, a collection of about the
of desire.
fourth century BCE attributed to Laozi, and Augustine’s Con-
fessions, a Christian classic written near the end of the fourth
The experience of desire is often powerful and demand-
century CE. The Dao de jing is divided into two books. Book
ing. One may experience a single powerful desire as all-
1 begins and ends on the subject of desire:
consuming and overriding all others. Or one may experience
conflicting desires and find ourselves wrestling with their
The way that can be spoken of
competing claims. Even if one has resolved the issues raised
Is not the constant way;
by a particular desire or set of desires, one may well find that
The name that can be named
resolution challenged and upset by the appearance of yet new
Is not the constant name.
desires, and at some point in this process one’s response may
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
well be to seek a path away from all desire—a way of apathy,
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
disinterestedness.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to
observe its [the way’s] secrets;
Desire invokes, if it does not actually generate, tension
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to
and contrast—between the present and the future, the actual
observe its [the way’s] manifestations.
and the possible, the real and the ideal—and tends to nourish
The way never acts yet nothing is left undone.
or express restless dissatisfaction with the former in each of
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it,
these pairs and to assign higher value to the latter. And yet
The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own
the disquieting role of desire can be seen as undermining
accord.
complacency, mobilizing creative energies, and generating
After they are transformed, should desire raise its head,
new achievements.
I shall press it down with the weight of the nameless
EASTERN CONCEPTS. A representative range of religious
uncarved block.
movements and texts will be selectively analyzed to illumi-
The nameless uncarved block
nate the issues raised by the religious significance of desire.
Is but freedom from desire,
This examination will be a topical study rather than a chro-
And if I cease to desire and remain still,
nological survey of historical records. For this reason some
The empire will be at peace of its own accord.
of the early religious movements are passed over entirely, and
(Dao de jing, trans. D. C. Lau, Baltimore, 1963,
modern movements, texts, and developments have generally
pp. 57, 96)
not been considered.
The ambiguity of desire is recognized, as well as the
In India various sentiments have been recorded to de-
need to be acquainted with it. But real power and serenity
fine desire. At both the intellectual-scholarly and the popular
lies in freedom from desire and in the active inactivity that
levels, the element of desire has been discussed and analyzed.
is here identified with the “nameless uncarved block.” Desire
is presented as a problem rather than a resource for true spiri-
Hinduism. Among the ancient sacred texts that deal
tuality.
with desire, the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ (the most revered of Hindu
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DESIRE
2305
texts, composed between the fifth and second centuries BCE)
The G¯ıta¯ is the most important sacred text in a tradition
has been generally considered the most important one. In
in which desires are ultimately to be overcome in detach-
this tradition ka¯ma (Skt., “desire”) is one of the four basic
ment. In the Vedas and the Upanis:ads, desire is given a
aims or drives (purus:a¯rthas) that need to be either satisfied,
prominent place in the description of human nature, but
redirected, or transcended in life. The four basic aims are
then precisely for that reason it is ultimately desire that must
dharma (in its narrower meaning of social duty), artha (en-
be uprooted in order to achieve liberation from bondage to
joyment of material things), ka¯ma (pleasurable experiences
the wheel of existence. Nonetheless, in that same tradition,
generally, but often, as in the context of the G¯ıta¯, the satis-
desires appropriate to the stages of life on the way to libera-
faction of sensual desire), and moks:a (release, liberation).
tion are affirmed and even celebrated with imaginative exu-
They are to be realized, transformed, or transcended in such
berance. Ka¯ma (desire, most especially erotic and sensual de-
a way as to realize one’s personal obligation (svadharma) in
sire, delight, and pleasure) is often assigned a very positive
accordance with one’s social station and stage of life. Thus
role in the spiritual life and in the religious vision of reality.
the exact nature of one’s response to desire depends upon
At one level of this tradition is the Ka¯ma Su¯tra, a manual for
one’s place in the class system (varna) and one’s advancement
the enrichment of erotic and sexual pleasure appropriate to
along the path marked by the four basic stages (a¯´sramas) of
the householder stage of life.
life—student, householder, forest dweller, and renunciant.
At a deeper and broader level of this tradition there is
The appropriate measure for the enjoyment or the con-
trol of desire and its objects and related passions is also seen
the rich and complex Hindu mythology in which the place
in Hinduism in terms of the three gun:as (energy fields, or
of desire in the life of the gods is portrayed. Wendy
strands), which differently combine to form all things in na-
O’Flaherty, in Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of
ture (prakr:ti). In ascending order of spiritual health, these
S´iva (London, 1973), has shown, for example, how in the
three gun:as are tamas, rajas, and sattva. A life in which igno-
mythology of S´iva, desire and asceticism, chastity and sexual-
rance, insensibility, and lethargy predominate is tamas (dull-
ity, quiescence and energy, are variously related and yet in
ness), one in which emotion and subjectivity predominate
a fashion that affirms even where it does not clarify a pro-
is rajas (turbulence), and one in which intelligence and ob-
found inner connection between asceticism and eroticism
jectivity predominate is sattva (dynamic equilibrium).
and the power inherent in the transformation of one into the
other. The tension is exhibited in part through the conflict
Fulfillment of one’s own dharma (svadharma), again, in-
between S´iva and Ka¯ma—S´iva, the eternal brahmaca¯rin (stu-
volves some combination of three types of discipline (yoga),
dent), the god whose essence is chastity, and Ka¯ma, the god
each of them requiring the sublimation and transcendence
of desire. But the conflict is also evident within S´iva himself,
of desires, passions, and emotions together with an intensifi-
for he sometimes appears in the ambiguous figure of an erot-
cation of (1) action without attachment in karmayoga, the
ic ascetic, both yogin and lover, (even a yogin because he is
yoga of work and action, (2) loving devotion to a personal
a lover) and is sometimes represented in images with an erect
deity in bhaktiyoga, and (3) knowledge and wisdom in the
phallus, the ithyphallic yogin. While in Hindu mythology
most demanding path of jña¯nayoga. The aim is to rise above
asceticism and eroticism revolve about each other in cycles
both tamas and rajas toward the equilibrium and detachment
of alternating ascendancy, chastity building into desire and
of sattva, knowing neither attraction nor repulsion, neither
the fulfillment of desire leading to chastity, the balance of
pleasure nor pain, having passed from both the absence and
these energies is found ideally through the control and trans-
the turbulence of desire to the renunciation of all desires and
formation of desire.
aversions into a condition of equilibrium or serenity beyond
desire.
Tantrism, a complex of teachings and practices that
In the G¯ıta¯, desire, anger, and greed are described as
takes both Hindu and Buddhist forms, develops some of
“the threefold gate of Hell that leads to the ruin of the soul”
these last themes in a radical direction. Tantric teaching en-
(16.21). Arjuna, the protagonist, learns that he must move
visages the world as a field of energy generated through the
among the objects of sense “with the senses under control
sexual union of masculine and feminine aspects of sacred en-
and . . . free from desire and aversion” (2.62) if he would
ergy, ´sakti. The mobilization of ka¯ma, desire, plays an im-
attain “serenity of mind” and that the same is required if he
portant part in Tantric practice designed to participate in the
would attain intelligence, concentration, peace, or happiness.
restoration of the universe to its original unity with its sacred
“He attains peace into whom all desires flow as waters into
source. That practice involves the sublimation rather than
the sea, which, though even being filled, is ever motionless”
the conquest or destruction of desire. It includes the ritually
(2.70). Yet it is only particular desires that are to be aban-
controlled performance of sexual union, but without con-
doned, for action without attachment involves “desiring
summation, redirecting the energy spiritually upward rather
[only] to maintain the order of the world” through one’s ac-
than physically outward. In emulation of the sacred activity
tion (2.71), and Kr:s:n:a, the god, declares: “I am the strength
of world-generation, erotic desire and play is thus ritually ele-
of the strong, which is free from desire and passion,” but also
vated into a vehicle of meditative discipline and devotion
“I am the desire in all beings, which is not incompatible with
(bhakti)—and a means of sharing in the plenitude of sacred
dharma” (7.11).
power by which the world is sustained.
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DESIRE
Buddhism. The Dhammapada, an early Therava¯da
“just sitting”—not sitting in order to accomplish some objec-
Buddhist collection of teachings about the moral life and the
tive but just sitting, letting the activity of the “monkey
path to spiritual perfection, includes much on the subject of
mind” come and go as it will, letting come what may and
desire. Desire is a principal manifestation of the selfish crav-
letting it go, accepting what comes but not desiring and not
ing, grasping, or blind demandingness (Pali, tan:ha¯) that, ac-
holding on, simply letting the mind be emptied of all dis-
cording to the four noble truths of Buddhism, is the cause
criminations and attachments, and in that simplicity of pres-
of unhappiness, pain, and sorrow (duh:kha), and that can
ence actualizing one’s undefiled Buddha nature and opening
only be destroyed by following the eightfold path toward the
the way to satori, enlightenment. In all of this there is no
freedom and joy of nirva¯n:a. The 423 aphorisms of the
place for desire—except of course, paradoxically, for the de-
Dhammapada offer guidance for those who would follow
sire to break through one’s own illusory view of reality and
that eightfold path. Humanity is portrayed as besieged by
experience the true reality of Buddha nature. That desire,
dangerous and destructive desires on every side. “When the
too, is dissolved rather than conquered in the sustained disci-
thirty-six streams of desire that run towards pleasures are
pline of Zen—a way of just being in accord with the Way,
strong, their powerful waves carry away that man without vi-
letting go of any desire that the “thatness” (tathata¯, “such-
sion whose imaginings are lustful desires” (339). “The creep-
ness”) of things be otherwise. The practice of meditation
er of craving grows everywhere,” and one must “cut off its
then becomes a model for activity in everyday life, with ev-
roots by the power of wisdom” (340). Only if you “cut down
erything to be done just for what it is, just doing, just being,
the forest of desires” and its undergrowth, and not only a
and not aiming at some desired end.
particular tree of desire, will you “be free on the path of free-
Daoism. Daoism is an important Chinese movement
dom” (283). Beyond that, if the very “roots of craving are
whose influence extended beyond the sectarian confines of
not wholly uprooted” (338) the tree and forest of desires will
the Daoist church to the arts, literature, and Chinese philos-
flourish again. Desire is specifically associated with pleasure,
ophy in general. Its influence can also be discerned in the for-
passion, lust, sensuousness, and craving (212–216), and all
mation of the Chinese Chan school (known in Japan as Zen)
of these are portrayed as generating sorrow, fear, hatred,
of Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism. As is evident from the passages
bondage, and disharmony. On the other hand, the surrender
from the Dao de jing already cited, Daoism recommends
of all desires leads to the joy, wisdom, and freedom of
freedom from desire as essential to the Way (the Dao) and
nirva¯n:a. “The loss of desires conquers all sorrows” (354).
its power or virtue (de). But it proposes to achieve that free-
“When desires go, joy comes: The follower of Buddha finds
dom, not by disciplined control of desire or even of the
this truth” (187). The true brahman, “leaving behind the de-
mind, nor quite by rising above desire, but rather by going
sires of the world” (415), “has nothing and desires nothing”
beneath it, by following the wisdom of the valley, of water,
(421). “He who has no craving desires, either for this world
in which is to be found the power of the Way. “The highest
or for another world, who free from desires is in infinite free-
virtue is like the valley” (41). “Highest good is like water. Be-
dom—him I call a brahman” (410).
cause water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures without
contending with them and settles where none would like to
In Zen Buddhism, a Japanese religious movement of
be, it comes close to the Way” (8). Nature rather than empire
Chinese origin that emphasizes the direct experience of en-
provides the models. “The river and the sea” are powerful,
lightenment, desire is treated in a somewhat different fash-
and their power endures, because “they excel in taking the
ion. A Maha¯ya¯na Buddhist text, popular in the Zen school,
lower position” (66). Even the empire will be at peace if the
the Lan˙ka¯vata¯ra Su¯tra, extresses compactly the aim of dhya¯na
ruler will but say with the sage, “I am free from desire, and
(Jpn., zen, “meditation, trance”): “The goal of tranquiliza-
the people of themselves become simple like the uncarved
tion is to be reached not by suppressing all mind activity but
block” (57). Abandon desires, simply let them drop. Seek not
by getting rid of discriminations and attachments.” As dis-
to control them or the world, but find spiritual health—and,
crimination dissolves and distinctions—between self and
not incidentally, survival—in a life of simplicity, humility,
other, between this and that, even between sam:sa¯ra and nir-
and harmony with nature, the flow of which is only dis-
vana—are experienced as illusory, desire and attachment fall
turbed by desires. In wuwei, the action that is no action, lies
away as well, and delusion is displaced by enlightenment
the power of the Way. “The Way never acts yet nothing is
(Jpn., satori).
left undone” (37). Do not try to establish harmony, as
Zen Buddhism in Japan is most powerfully represented
though it depended upon you, but let go and let harmony
by the Rinzai and So¯to¯ sects, whose principal discipline is
reign, as it will do of its own accord. Such is the perspective
zazen, sitting meditation. The Rinzai practice is to concen-
of Daoism on desire.
trate meditation on a ko¯an, a riddle designed to break the
WESTERN CONCEPTIONS. Turning now from religions of
grip of the discriminating rational mind, opening the way for
Eastern origin to religions of Middle Eastern and Western
kensho¯, the experience of seeing into one’s essential Buddha
origin, it is necessary to again be very selective, because there
nature and realizing one’s unity with all that is. In So¯to¯ prac-
is no hope of even surveying the relevant literature on desire
tice the adherent moves through the unity of body and mind
or of describing the many strategies for addressing desires.
in sitting, to concentrate on the sitting itself, shikantaza,
The principal sources that provide the themes upon which
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DESIRE
2307
variations have been played are to be found in ancient Israel
a fallen condition to its proper destiny in God. The appropri-
and in ancient Greece, in the Bible and in Hellenistic cul-
ate human role in that process is to conform the will to God
tures. The variations are themselves substantial, although for
in a covenant of faith and obedience to God’s laws, or, to
the most part they share a generally more positive assessment
put the same matter differently, to conform the heart to God
of desire as an ingredient in human nature and as contribut-
in love to God and neighbor. In either case the critical
ing to spiritual fulfillment than is characteristics of the reli-
human response is a matter of will or of love more than it
gious movements already examined.
is of reason or of knowledge, and desire is central to Augus-
tine’s understanding of both will and love—or, more precise-
Stoicism. Among the traditions in the West, Stoicism
ly, of willing and loving as different terms for the same activi-
provides a unique perspective. The Enchiridion of Epictetus,
ty. So, in the City of God, Augustine says: “The right will is
a Hellenistic philosopher who taught in Rome in the late first
. . . well-directed love, and the wrong will is ill-directed
century and early second century CE, is the most influential
love. Love, then, yearning to have what is loved, is desire; and
formulation of basic Stoic teachings. Epictetus begins by dis-
having and enjoying it, is joy; feeling what is opposed to it,
tinguishing things within one’s power from things beyond
is fear; and feeling what is opposed to it, when it has befallen
one’s power. Desire is among the former things, and in a
it, is sadness” (14.7). In the Confessions, Augustine had said
world where there is much that is beyond one’s power, one
that “the mind can experience four kinds of emotion—
can achieve spiritual serenity and freedom only to the extent
desire, joy, fear, and sorrow” (10.14). It is these same four
that one disregards things beyond one’s control and focuses
emotions that he here presents as forms of love, with the crit-
on those things one can control. The basis of such a life is
ical and spiritually constructive role assigned to the affirma-
the perception that there is a universal logos (reason) and
tive affections of desire and joy.
nomos (law) at work in all that happens and that if one keeps
one’s mind in harmony with that universal nature, respond-
The way in which Augustine appropriates Hellenistic
ing to events according to reason and not emotion, then
and especially Platonic ideas into his formulation of Chris-
one’s external circumstances will be of little consequence.
tian thought is illustrated by his also presenting the four clas-
One can live in simplicity, with moderate desires and expec-
sical Greek virtues as forms of love:
tations, not demanding that events happen as one wishes,
Temperance is love giving itself entirely to that which
but wishing them to happen as they do happen. Stoicism is
is loved; fortitude is love readily bearing all things for
a religious philosophy of lowered expectations and reflective
the sake of the loved object; justice is love serving only
responsibility in the station to which one is assigned by God.
the loved object, and therefore ruling rightly; prudence
Old Testament. The Old Testament contains many
is love distinguishing with sagacity between what hin-
observations about various desires, ranging from the use of
ders it and what helps it. The object of this love is not
erotic love and desire and pleasure as metaphors for God’s
anything, but only God, the chief good, the highest wis-
dom, the perfect harmony. So we may express the defi-
relationship to Israel to expressions of God’s frustrated desire
nition thus: that temperance is love keeping itself entire
and longing for a covenant faithfulness on the part of the
and incorrupt for God; fortitude is love bearing every-
people of Israel and expressions of comparable desire on their
thing readily for the sake of God; justice is love serving
part for intimacy with God, as well as injunctions to detach
God only, and therefore ruling well all else, as subject
from or to discipline various desires in accordance with
to man; prudence is love making a right distinction be-
God’s commandments and laws. What the Bible has to say
tween what helps it towards God and what might hin-
directly about desire may fairly be summed up in three pas-
der it. (Morals of the Catholic Church, chap. 15)
sages: the Lord’s declaration through the prophet Hosea,
The passage is worth quoting at length in this context,
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge
for the second formulation shows clearly that the first formu-
of God, rather than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:60); the excla-
lation is also about four forms of that true virtue that for Au-
mation, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps.
gustine is not just any love or all love but specifically the love
42:2); and the saying of Jesus, “For where your treasure is,
of God. It is also clear that these forms of love are all manifes-
there will your heart be also” (Mt. 6:21).
tations of desire, that is, of that phase in the life of the virtu-
Early Christianity. Augustine (354–430 CE) gives the
ous lover marked more by yearning for what is loved than
most powerful classical formulation of the convergence of
by the joy of actually or fully having and enjoying it.
Hellenistic and biblical traditions. It is from Augustine that
Indeed, for Augustine all of human life is moved by de-
has come the most influential expression of Western religious
sires. He takes it for granted that “we all certainly desire to
thought about desire and also the most important expression
live happily” and that without desire people do nothing. The
of what has proved for many to be most problematic about
problem is not to uproot or transcend desire, which is an es-
the orientation toward desire. There is in Augustine some-
sential mark of humanity and of belonging to God. It is right
thing of the whole range of Christian attitudes toward desire.
rather to direct desires toward their appropriate objects and
Augustine affirms the basic biblical conviction that ev-
to order all objects of desire in accordance with their true re-
erything that is has its origin in God and is essentially good
lation to God, the summum bonum, the source and center
and that by the grace of God the world is being restored from
of all value and beauty, in whom alone restless human hearts
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2308
DESIRE
will find the satisfaction of all their deepest desires. It is for
al intercourse, the primary end of which is said to be con-
Augustine the dynamic of desires that draws the heart toward
ception.
God, though only an infusion of divine grace is sufficient to
Medieval and Renaissance Christianity. The pivotal
turn desire from all lesser goods toward God. Augustine
role of Augustine is illustrated by the fact that the other three
makes a major distinction between desires directed upward,
most important theologians of Roman Catholic and Protes-
which he calls caritas, or love, and those directed downward,
tant Christianity, Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), Martin
which he calls cupiditas, or lust. The one tends toward God,
Luther (1483–1546), and John Calvin (1509–1564), are all
the other toward worldly goods. An even sharper contrast is
essentially Augustinian and in most respects do not depart
invoked as he distinguishes between the City of God and the
from Augustine’s views on desire. Thomas Aquinas, follow-
City of Man, the heavenly and earthly cities into which all
ing Aristotle, assigns more importance to the intellect and
humanity is divided, the one formed by the desire or “love
reason in directing the will than does Augustine and gives
of God, even to the contempt of self,” the other by the “love
a more Aristotelian turn to the ranking and the formation
of self, to the contempt of God” (City of God, 14.28). An
of intellectual and moral virtues in the governance of appe-
otherwise Platonic contrast between lower and higher desires
tites, passions, and desires by reason. The classical Greek vir-
and their corresponding hierarchy of objects cumulating in
tues are not presented by him as forms of love but are rather
God is thus transformed into a more historical contrast cul-
supplemented by the three theological virtues of faith, hope,
minating in heaven and hell—a contrast and contest between
and charity, through which God’s grace makes possible and
those moved to seek God and respond to God’s grace and
completes the natural desire of all intelligent creatures for the
those moved to seek self and the world.
“vision of God.”
Three kinds of objections have been raised against Au-
On the subject of desire, Luther departs from Augustine
gustine’s views related to desire. Mention of them can serve
principally in connection with his insistence upon the uni-
as a shorthand way of indicating some alternatives to Augus-
versal priesthood of all believers, the dignity of all callings
tine among Christians that cannot be surveyed here. One ob-
and not only of the priesthood, and hence the abandonment
jection is that even if Augustine is right that all of human
of celibacy as essential to the priesthood. He also exhibits a
life is moved by desires, he is wrong in identifying the love
certain lustiness of character and a more affirmative attitude
of God with desire, and that he is led into that error by
toward the expression of sexual desire within the context of
adopting the Platonic idea of love as eros, an aspiring love
married love.
moved by the beauty of its object and the desire to possess
and enjoy that object. Anders Nygren, a Lutheran theolo-
John Calvin departs from Augustine primarily by devel-
gian, has been most forceful in claiming that “agape, Chris-
oping a distinctively political strategy in both church and
tian love . . . has nothing to do with desire and longing”
state for the encouragement and the enforcement of sober,
(Agape and Eros, London, 1932–1939), because it is a love
righteous, and godly lives turned from ungodliness and
which bestows value rather than being attracted by it. M. C.
worldly lust. He was at war against what he called “irregular
D’Arcy in The Mind and Heart of Love (New York, 1947)
desires” or “inordinate desires of the flesh” (The Institutes of
and Daniel D. Williams in The Spirit and the Forms of Love
the Christian Religion 3.3.2). Such desires are considered sin-
(New York, 1968) are among those who have challenged Ny-
ful “not as they are natural, but because they are inordinate”
gren’s diametrical opposition between eros and agape.
and are contrasted with “those desires which God implanted
so deeply” in human nature “that they cannot be eradicated
A second objection has been that Augustine, and with
from it without destroying humanity itself.” Desires are to
him Thomas Aquinas and much of Christian orthodoxy, has
be drawn away from the world and toward God. “Whatever
been led by Greek ideas about the impassibility of God—the
is abstracted from the corrupt love of this life should be
idea, for example, that God’s perfection includes his being
added to the desire for a better” one in full communion with
unchanging and self-sufficient—into either denying or dis-
God (3.2.4). But Calvin rejected too great an austerity as well
torting the biblical view that God, too, is moved by desire,
as a stoic divestment of all affections, arguing that God’s gifts
because desire is the mark of some need, some lack, which
are given for human pleasure and delight as well as for
would be remedied or satisfied by what is desired. The issue
human necessity—though people are to use them as though
is whether a God who is understood to love and act with a
they used them not, according to the requirements of their
purpose in the world can without contradiction be construed
calling.
as unchanging, impassible, unmoved by desires such as those
that are often attributed to God in the Bible and in the piety
European Enlightenment. Barukh Spinoza (1632–
of both Jews and Christians.
1677), a freethinking but “God-intoxicated” philosopher (as
some have called him), developed a religious philosophy akin
A third objection has been against Augustine’s repudia-
to Stoicism in its determination to see things from a universal
tion of sexual desire and his influence on the long history of
and rational perspective. But he assigns to desire a much
the Roman Catholic Church’s requirement of celibacy for
more crucial and positive role in human experience than does
the priesthood and its teaching that sexual pleasure and even
Epictetus. In his Ethics he examines the conditions under
the expression of love are at best only secondary ends of sexu-
which desire can spring from reason, from the knowledge
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DEUS OTIOSUS
2309
and love of God. In his view, there are but three primary
as superfluous. The urgent quest for the almightly is thus re-
emotions—joy, sorrow, and desire. Of these three, to which
flected in the prayers of Ra¯biEah al-EAdaw¯ıyah (d. 801):
all other emotions are related, it is the two affirmative affec-
O God, my whole occupation and all my desire in this
tions of desire and joy that are most important, and of these
world, of all worldly things, is to remember Thee, and
“desire is the very nature or essence of a person” (3.57). It
in the world to come, is to meet Thee. This is on my
is the intellectual love of God that gives the mind power over
side, as I have stated; now do Thou whatsoever Thou
its emotions, and the Ethics is an elaborate analysis of how
wilt. O God, if I worship Thee for fear of Hell, burn
this process culminates in and flows from a condition of
me in Hell, and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise,
blessedness.
exclude me from Paradise; but if I worship Thee for thy
own sake, grudge me not Thy everlasting beauty. (quot-
MONASTICISM. Monasticism has been an important strategy
ed in Arberry, p. 51)
for spiritual discipline and the control of desires in most reli-
As the prayer indicates, for Ra¯biEah all aspects in life
gious traditions. For Buddhism it is the sam:gha, the commu-
were subservient to her intense desire for spiritual elevation
nity of monks. For Christians there have been a variety of
and union with God.
monastic orders, many of them following variations on the
rule drawn up by Benedict of Nursia (480–543), with many
SEE ALSO Four Noble Truths; Logos; Mystical Union; Tan-
desires renounced by the three vows of chastity, poverty, and
trism.
obedience. The Benedictine rule requires manual labor in
part to control desires by diverting energy and employs the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
image of the “ladder of humility” for the disciplinary steps
Arberry, A. J. Muslim Saints and Mystics. London, 1964.
by which “desires of the flesh” are cut away and displaced
Nygren, Anders. Agape and Eros. 2 vols. London, 1932–1939.
by the love of God and a “second nature” that delights in
virtue. The Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi (thirteenth cen-
O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Ascetism and Eroticism in the Mythol-
ogy of S´iva. London, 1973.
tury), a collection of legends and traditions about the saint,
reflects a different pattern of monastic discipline, more severe
Turner, Victor. The Forest of Symbols. Ithaca, N.Y., 1967.
in its insistence upon poverty and freedom from all compro-
ROLAND A. DELATTRE (1987)
mise with the world, but it also offers a more joyful asceti-
cism, sending monks out of the cloister to delight in the cre-
ated world and its beauty and to celebrate the realized desire
for ecstatic union with Christ.
DESTINY SEE FATE
MYSTICISM. For the mystics, desire is generally equated with
search for the transcendent. The testimony of Francis of Assi-
si has much in common with religious mysticism around the
DETERMINISM SEE FREE WILL AND
world, in which the experience as well as the language of de-
DETERMINISM
sire and joy, of ecstasy and delight, play an important role.
For the mystic, the spiritual desires cultivated and realized
are of far greater significance than all the abandoned worldly
DEUS OTIOSUS. The Latin term deus otiosus (pl., dei
desires. In his Sayings of Light and Love, John of the Cross
otiosi), meaning literally “god at leisure” or “god without
(1542–1591) advises: “If you desire that devotion be born
work,” denotes a god who has withdrawn or retired from ac-
in your spirit and that the love of God and the desire for di-
tive life. The paucity of detailed descriptions of these deities,
vine things increase, cleanse your soul of every desire and at-
when coupled with their widespread appearance in cultures
tachment and ambition in suchwise that you have no con-
around the globe, presents a puzzle for the study of religions.
cern about anything.” In The Spiritual Canticle he notes that
Athough the outline of these divine personalities is usually
“the soul lives where she loves more than in the body she ani-
sketchy, they maintain a firm hold on the religious imagina-
mates,” and that “God does not place His grace and love in
tion. The study of gods who have retired from their arena
the soul except according to its desire and love.” And in The
of activity has provoked deep reflection on the meaning and
Living Flame of Love he declares to God:
function of symbols, especially of divine forms, in religious
What you desire me to ask for, I ask for; and what you
life.
do not desire, I do not desire, nor can I, nor does it even
CELESTIAL ASSOCIATIONS. Many African creation myths in-
enter my mind to desire it. . . . Tear then the thin veil
volving dei otiosi recount how the divine sky lay flat on the
of this life and do not let old age cut it naturally, that
earth at the beginning of time. Nuba and Dogon myths, for
from now on I may love you with the plenitude and
example, describe how the chafing of the sky against the
fullness my soul desires forever and ever.
earth stunted human growth and disrupted normal routines
Similiarly, the S:u¯f¯ıs considered spiritual union with the
of work. (R. C. Stevenson, “The Doctrine of God in the
transcendent beloved as the pivotal aspect of all their desires
Nuba Mountains,” in African Ideas of God, ed. E. W. Smith,
and endeavors. All else in existence was generally regarded
London, 1950, p. 216; Marcel Griaule, Masques Dogons,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2310
DEUS OTIOSUS
Paris, 1938, p. 48). “In particular, women could not pound
heavens his presence is made known mostly in the sounds
their grain without knocking against the sky, and so close re-
of thunder, the eerie groans from the nocturnal jungle, and
lations finally ended when the sky’s anger at the annoying
through the sound of sacred bull-roarer used in initiation
blows of the women’s pestles caused it to withdraw from the
rites (Alfred W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Aus-
earth” (Dominique Zahan, The Religion, Spirituality, and
tralia, New York, 1904, pp. 362ff., 466ff.). Similarly, Bunjil,
Thought of Traditional Africa, Chicago, 1979, p. 16). In
the heavenly supreme being of the Kulin tribes of Australia,
other African societies, such as the Nyarwanda and Rundi
created earth, trees, animals, and human beings and then left
of central Africa, the creator god lived with the first people
the world to live in the heaven beyond the “dark heaven” vis-
at the beginning of time (or the first people lived in the sky
ited by holy men (ibid., p. 490).
with the god). For one reason or another, the god moved
ABSENCE OF MYTH AND CULT. The most striking feature of
away from the company of his creatures—upstream, down-
the deus otiosus is the absence of an active cult dedicated to
stream, to a mountaintop, or to the sky (R. Bourgeois, Ban-
the god. Even where there is sporadic and spontaneous devo-
yarwanda et Barundi, Brussels, 1957, vol. 3, pp. 19–25).
tion, it is remarkable how often there is no regular calendar
Most forms of the deus otiosus cluster around the sym-
of seasonal rituals celebrated in honor of the god. Mythic ac-
bolism of the sky. The manifestation of the sacred in the sky
counts of the deus otiosus are scanty. Even those myths that
and the belief in supreme beings of the sky is most often
exist are short compared to the dramatic epics of heroes,
overwhelmed and replaced by other sacred forms. We do not
storm gods, or the divine forms associated with the agricul-
mean to say that devotion to the beings of the sky was the
tural cycle. A large number of celestial supreme beings re-
first and only religious practice of archaic humankind. In the
ceive no regular worship. Among them we may mention
first place, we do not have the data we need to reconstitute
Muladjadi of the Batak of central Sumatra, Petara remem-
the first forms of religious practice and belief in human histo-
bered by the Sea Dyaks of Kalimantan (Borneo), Ndengei
ry. More important, the study of histories that we know
of Fijian mythology, and Yelefaz from the island of Yap.
more fully indicate the unlikelihood that a belief in a su-
The absence of scheduled cult and the brevity of mythic
preme being of the sky would exclude all other religious
reference to the deus otiosus led scholars to a misconception.
forms. The point to begin with is that the experience of the
At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the
sky as a religious reality, in fact as the divine sphere, places
twentieth (and even today, in some circles), scholars of reli-
emphasis on the religious value of withdrawal and transcen-
gion and culture overlooked the importance of this religious
dence. The sky itself, as a symbol of sacred being, embraces
form. The deus otiosus was seen as an anomalous piece of
or constitutes these elemental structures of a deus otiosus,
speculation, as a recent addition to the divine pantheon in
withdrawal and transcendence. For this reason, countless
response to contact with Christian missionaries, or as an ar-
other hierophanies can coexist with this sacred manifestation
chaic idea that had lost the clarity of its expression and mean-
of the remote sky.
ing. It did not fit into the schemata that evaluated mythic
For example, Puluga is an omniscient sky-dwelling di-
thinking as infantile, unsubtle, or undeveloped. Rather than
vinity revered in the Andaman Islands. After a stormy rela-
regard the absence of the deus otiosus from myth and cult as
tionship with the first people, Puluga reminded them of his
an inherent feature of its structure, scholars frequently ig-
commands and withdrew. Men have never seen him since
nored the issue or slighted its value in favor of theories that
that time of estrangement at the beginning (Paul Schebesta,
portrayed tribal peoples as theologically naive or intellectual-
Les Pygmées, Paris, 1940, pp. 161–163). In a similar way, Té-
ly underdeveloped.
maukel, the eternal and omniscient creator of the Selk’nam
WITHDRAWAL OF GOD. Myths that mention the deus otiosus
of Tierra del Fuego, is called so’onh-haskan (“dweller in the
usually face head-on the question of the god’s absence from
sky”) and so’onh kas pémer (“he who is in the sky”). Témaukel
the preoccupations of culture. The narratives themselves de-
created mythical ancestors who took over the process of cre-
scribe the withdrawal or substitution of the supreme being.
ating the world. Once creation was accomplished, he with-
For example, O:lo:run, the Yoruba divinity whose name
drew beyond the stars. For his part he remains indifferent to
means “lord or owner of the sky,” turned over the project
human affairs. Correspondingly, human beings possess no
of creating the world to O:batala, one of his sons. When
images of Témaukel or regular cult dedicated to him, and
O:batala became drunk and mismanaged the creation of hu-
they direct their prayers to him only in cases of dire illness
mans from clay, Oduduwa, his younger brother, usurped the
or bad weather (Martin Gusinde, “Das höchste Wesen bei
task of creation. O:lo:run then permanently absented himself
den Selk’nam auf Feuerland,” in Wilhelm Schmidt Festschrift,
from human history. He does not intervene directly in
Vienna, 1928, pp. 269–274). The Muring people of the east
human affairs, for he delegated the care of human creation
coast of Australia recount in their myths the story of Dara-
to his sons and to the oris:a, a collection of deities each with
mulun, their “father” (papang) and “lord” (biamban). Dara-
its own precinct, priesthood, temple, and devotees. Although
mulun, the true name of this divine being of the sky, is
absent from the unfolding course of human affairs, O:lo:run
known only to initiates. For a brief time he lived on earth
remains an essential presence, for he inspires the breath of
and instituted the rites of initiation. Since his return to the
life into all individuals and allots them their destiny. 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
DEUS OTIOSUS
2311
more, the Yoruba call upon O:lo:run in times of desperate ca-
Sublimity. The descriptions of supreme beings who
lamity (E. Bo:laji Idowu, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief,
withdraw on high introduce students of religion to the most
London, 1962; Peter Morton-Williams, “An Outline of the
sublime end of the spectrum of divine forms, for the deus
Cosmology and Cult Organization of the Oyo,” Africa 34,
otiosus is often the most sublimated of sublime forms. By nar-
1964; Benjamin C. Ray, African Religions: Symbol, Ritual,
rating descriptions of the most remote, transcendent, invisi-
and Community, Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1976, pp. 49–76,
ble, or intangible reality, cultures offer themselves and schol-
esp. pp. 52ff.).
ars expressions of an experience of being that, by definition,
Myths describe the origins of the status of the deus otio-
most transcends the senses. The myths of the deus otiosus are
sus in cultural life as well as in the religious imagination. On
statements about the nature of creativity itself and about the
the one hand, the god withdraws on his own initiative after
subtle powers and rarefied capacities of the religious imagina-
finishing his work of creation or of overseeing its accomplish-
tion. The Witóto of Colombia offer the following example:
ment. On the other hand, another frequent scenario is the
in the beginning nothing existed except “mere appearance,”
usurpation of the supreme being’s sovereignty by a younger
which was “something mysterious.” Moma, the supreme
and more active god. In the Hittite translations of Hurrian
being, touched this phantasm. Moma calls himself Nainue-
texts made around 1300 BCE, there is an initial episode that
ma, “he who is or possesses what is not present.” He is an
describes the struggle for the “kingship of heaven.” At first,
illusive appearance linked to sacred sounds associated with
the god Alalu was king, then the divinity named Anu over-
ritual words and chants. By means of dream, Nainuema held
powered him. At the beginning of Anu’s reign, Kumarbi, the
the phantasm against his breast and fell into deep thought,
main protagonist of Hittite myth and the father of the gods,
his breath helping him hold onto the illusion with the thread
was Anu’s servant. After nine years, Kumarbi chased Anu
of his dream. Moma plumbed the dream-contained, breath-
into the sky, tossed him to the ground, and bit off his loins
held phantasm to its bottom and found that it was empty.
(Hans G. Güterbock, “The Hittite Version of the Hurrian
He fastened the illusion to his dream-thread with a gluey
Kumarbi Myths: Oriental Forerunners of Hesiod,” American
substance and then stamped on the bottom of the illusion
Journal of Archaeology 52, 1948, pp. 123–124; and C. Scott
until he came to rest on the earth. He made the forests rise
Littleton, “The ‘Kingship in Heaven’ Theme,” in Myth and
by spitting and covered the earth with heaven (Konrad T.
Law among the Indo-Europeans, edited by Jaan Puhvel,
Preuss, Religion und Mythologie der Uitoto, vol. 1, Göttingen,
Berkeley, 1970, pp. 93–100). A parallel in Greek mythology
1921, pp. 27, 166–168). Such sublime features of the deus
describes the castration of the sky god Ouranos and the
otiosus have great value for the student of religious forms, for
forced separation of Heaven (Ouranos) from Earth (Gaia).
they describe the outer boundaries of imaginable being.
In Mesopotamian mythology as well, the young gods led by
Marduk guarantee that the great gods such as An, Enlil, and
Passivity. The passive character of the dei otiosi leaves
Ea lose their supremacy in the cult.
the gods’ personalities vague and ill-defined. The deities
often avoid dramatic action and remain inert or aloof. In
The existence in mythology of this most streamlined
fact, the creativity of the dei otiosi is often described in nega-
and ethereal of divine forms, the deus otiosus, teaches a lesson
tive terms. Their omnipresence comes across as a lack of pres-
about the dynamics of the religious imagination. The dei
ence in any single or definable place over another. Their om-
otiosi, especially those supreme beings of the sky who retire
nipotence implies an uninvolvement with any single or
after the creative episode, withdraw from the world in several
specific cosmic operation, such as the growth of crops or the
senses. They withdraw on high and leave their creation be-
transitions of the human life cycle. Their omniscience im-
hind. They also withdraw to the outer margins of the reli-
plies a certain indifference to, or lack of interest in, any one
gious imagination and define the outermost reach of creativi-
fact over another. Their immortality implies a certain stasis,
ty, for they assume the most wispy of images. No doubt,
immobility, and inability to change. These negative valences
contact with outsiders, especially Christians or Muslims, has
are a function of the gods’ association with creation at the
often played a role in shaping the contemporary forms of dei
very beginning. Once creation is accomplished and being has
otiosi. However, such contact does not preclude the existence
appeared for the first time, the function of a creator is com-
of an indigenous structure of the deus otiosus. In fact, the exis-
pletely exhausted and the god becomes otiose. The divinities
tence of a myth of an otiose god enabled many cultures to
and their unique creative powers retire from the active world
recognize aspects of the foreign supreme being and reconcile
they have initiated. They remain the ground of all created
them with their own. Far from remaining insignificant, the
being and of all creative possibilities and, for that very reason,
features of the deus otiosus exhibit definite signs, especially of
retire into infinity, beyond the bounded spaces of creation.
vagueness and sublimity, that demarcate the outer reach of
imaginable being.
Once the universe comes into existence, the supreme being’s
active mode is no longer in need of full manifestation, nor
SYMBOLIC CHARACTERISTICS. The deus otiosus is a limit-
is it desired.
image, for before and beyond the deus otiosus nothing exists.
The Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin admitted, “What
Primordiality. The withdrawal of the deus otiosus from
there was before our Father Earthmaker came to conscious-
the creative scene marks the end of the primordium. There-
ness, we do not know.”
fore, it may be said that the presence of the deus otiosus de-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2312
DEUS OTIOSUS
fines primordiality, a potent condition full of possibilities.
one kind of being and another; their continued transcen-
Dei otiosi have always existed; they bespeak the meaning of
dence and absence guarantee the symbolic life they signify.
eternity and antiquity. The sky, or whatever paradisal place
Many myths portray the danger that the sky will fall; that
the gods dwelled in, has always been inhabited by supernatu-
is, they portray the fear of the collapse of symbolic possibili-
ral beings. For example, for the Aranda of Australia, the
ties. If the symbolism of withdrawal of the deus otiosus, the
“great father” (knaritja) is an eternal youth (altjira nditja)
reality transcendent above all others, will not stand up to
who lives in an eternally green countryside covered with
scrutiny and cannot stay removed, then no symbolic distance
flowers and fruits. The Milky Way transects this immortal
of any kind can be guaranteed, and representational life fails.
dwelling place. The great father and his heavenly compan-
In fact, it is only at the end of time that many dei otiosi make
ions, all equally young, take no interest in the affairs of earth;
their return. Attawanadi, for example, will return to the
the great father leaves the management of such affairs to the
Makiritare when the earth ceases to exist (Marc de Civrieux,
ancestors. The Aranda great father represents the primordi-
Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle, ed. and trans. David
um, the state of being that has no immediate significance,
M. Guss [San Francisco, 1980, pp. 28ff.]. The relationship
although it has unprecedented ontological bearing. Beatific
between gods and humans comes into being when the sepa-
existence, immortality, anteriority, or static antiquity are un-
ration of creator from created is acknowledged. “The period
matched conditions of being. That primordial state was in-
of man’s ‘religiousness’ is not at all the ‘paradisiac’ era when
terrupted, and direct contact with it became difficult or im-
God lived in the ‘village’ of men but the period following
possible. Only a few privileged people, such as mythic heroes
when God had lost his earthly and human qualities in order
or specialists in ecstasy, can revisit a situation that has be-
to live separately from mankind” (Zahan, The Religion, Spiri-
come irretrievably lost. Primordiality reveals something
tuality, and Thought of Traditional Africa, p. 16). The with-
about the very nature of time and space. It is a quality that
drawal of the deus otiosus becomes the foundation-stone of
cannot be recaptured in terms of the present conditions of
religious life: “the African feels deeply that the more
the cosmos. The withdrawal of the deus otiosus is part of the
inaccessible God seems to be, the greater is his need of him”
definition of a primordial world that stands over and against
(Zahan, p. 16).
history. Primordiality is the milieu in which reality and eter-
Symbolic life, made possible by the withdrawal of pri-
nity can truly manifest themselves. Knowledge of the exis-
mordial being, offers humankind the freedom of the symbol-
tence of a deus otiosus affirms that even unique modes of
ic condition, a dynamic existence that could never have
being can be apprehended as a species of time.
flourished if the creator had continued to crush or over-
Transcendence. The fate of the deus otiosus in mythic
whelm his creation with his ponderous presence and imme-
history guarantees that the first state of being becomes some-
diacy. Mediation, intermediaries, and symbolic distance be-
thing less immediate and pressing. The god withdraws and
come indispensable and possible when the god retires from
becomes distant, and, for its part, human history becomes
the scene.
enveloped by the wrappings of symbolic life. For example,
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS.
in the very beginning of the Makiritare creation cycle, all that
The knowledge of the mythic history of the dei otiosi, the
existed was sky and eternal light. Shi, the invisible sun, had
story of their creative acts and the transformations they un-
already created Wanadi, the heavenly creator, by blowing on
dergo while disappearing into the starry vault or into the for-
quartz crystal. During that first period, there was no separa-
est or downstream, are an indispensable part of culture.
tion between the sky and the earth; the sky had no door in
Equipped with this knowledge, members of a culture live in
it as it does now, and Wanadi was bright and shining every-
awareness of the sacred nature of their environment and of
where. He wished to make houses and place good people in
their sociocultural order because they know the mythic histo-
them, and for this reason sent aspects of himself to earth. At-
ry of each one of its forms. The withdrawal of the primordial
tawanadi (“house-Wanadi”), the third aspect of Wanadi,
being, the deus otiosus, leaves indelible marks on the physical
specialized in constructing enclosures. He created the en-
universe and its organic contents.
closed stratum called earth. Attawanadi made a new, visible
sky for the earth so that the real sky could no longer be seen.
For example, the Campas of Peru describe the migration
The atta, the house or village of the Makiritare, is an exact
of the sun (Pava) into the sky. He enlisted the aid of the
replica of the first universe created by Attawanadi. Atta-
hummingbird Neoronke, who carried one end of the sky-
wanadi’s creation of the house-world achieved symbolic clo-
rope to the highest level of the universe. As Pava ascended,
sure. He withdrew from his creation.
transformations occurred that gave nature its present condi-
tion. Many primordial beings, which at that time existed in
Myths of creation involving a deus otiosus frequently re-
protohuman form, became animals such as the tapir or the
count the lifting up of the sky and the installation of that
mouse. Certain trees and flowers used to demarcate the ca-
heavenly body, the primordial image of transcendence. The
lendrical year were daughters of Pava. The trees are the
sky becomes the paradigm of distance and difference. As the
clothes that these young women shed when they migrated
object of first real separation, the deus otiosus and its celestial
to heaven with him. When the sky-rope dropped to the earth
manifestations betoken the possibility of distance between
after the ascent, a number of beings fell from heaven to earth,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEVA¯NAM
: PIYATISSA
2313
including the wasp, the porcupine, and the sloth (Gerald
Long, Charles H. “The West African High God: History and Re-
Weiss, Campa Cosmology: The World of a Forest Tribe in
ligious Experience.” History of Religions 3 (1964): 328–342.
South America, New York, 1975, pp. 219–588; esp.
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. “The Formation of Monotheism.” In his Es-
pp. 389–390).
says on the History of Religions, translated by H. J. Rose. Lei-
den, 1954.
There is no guarantee that the divine form of the deus
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. “The Supreme Being: Phenomenological
otiosus will remain balanced on the periphery of the religious
Structure and Historical Development.” In The History of Re-
imagination. In some cases it seems that the god lapses into
ligions: Essays in Methodology, edited by Joseph M. Kitagawa
total oblivion. In other instances, prophets re-form and revi-
and Mircea Eliade, pp. 59–66. Chicago, 1959.
talize the concept of the supreme being and reinstate his cult.
Verger, Pierre. “The Yoruba High God.” Odu 2 (January 1966):
Where mythic knowledge of the retired god disappears en-
19–40.
tirely, the deity becomes completely otiose and no longer has
New Sources
religious value. Such was probably the fate of Dyaus, the
Casadio, Giovanni. “El and Cosmic Order: is the Ugaritic Su-
Indo-European sky god, who eventually was no longer wor-
preme God a deus otiosus?” In Studia Fennica 32 (1987): 45–
shiped. No hymns or myths present this oldest Vedic reli-
58. For a bibliography on the deus otiosus in the religious-
gious form. The name simply designates the “sky” or “day.”
historical literature see p. 57.
However, there lingers the memory that the “Sky knows all”
Casadio, Giovanni. “A ciascuno il suo: otium e negotium del dio
(Atharvaveda 1.32.4) and that there is the “sky father”
supremo dalla Siria alla Mesopotamia.” Studi e materiali di
(Atharvaveda 6.4.3), who is one element of the primordial
storia delle religioni 58 (1992): 59–79. After a discussion of
pair, Dya¯va¯pr:thiv¯ı, “sky and earth” (R:gveda 1.160). This
the bibliography on the deus otiosus as a cross-cultural type,
draws Dyaus into the circle of similarly named Indo-
the controversial case of the Mesopotamian celestial god is
European sky gods for whom we possess mythologies: Greek
examined.
Zeus Pater, Roman Jupiter, Illyrian Daipatures, Scythian
Flamand Jean-Marie. “Deus otiosus: recherches lexicales pour ser-
Zeus-Papaios, and Thraco-Phrygian Zeus-Pappos.
vir à l’histoire de la critique religieuse d’Épicure. ” In Sophies
Maietores. Chercheurs de sagesse: hommage à Jean Pépin, edited
The god Mwari of the Shona people of Zimbabwe ap-
by Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé, Goulven Madec, and Denis
pears to be an instance of the recovery of the deus otiosus.
O’Brien, pp. 147–166. Paris, 1992.
Since the fifteenth century, circumstances have contributed
M
to the revitalization of this remote sky god’s cult. The Rozvi
IRCEA ELIADE AND LAWRENCE E. SULLIVAN (1987)
Revised Bibliography
royal dynasty patronized the cult in the center of the city of
Zimbabwe and the priests of Mwari have become important
political figures (Daneel, 1970, pp. 30–35).
DEVA¯NAM:PIYATISSA (247–207 BCE), king of Sri
The form of the deus otiosus, even if it is recalled only
Lanka. According to the Maha¯vam:sa, Deva¯nam:piyatissa was
in wispy outline, is an essential stimulus to the life of the reli-
an ally of A´soka and through A´soka’s influence introduced
gious imagination. To one degree or another such a form is
Buddhism to Sri Lanka. At the outset of his reign,
implied in every complete corpus of myths. Since every reali-
Deva¯nam:piyatissa sent envoys to India with gifts for A´soka.
ty appearing in the mythic beginnings of the world is a total
In return, A´soka sent gifts and implicit support for
and absolute statement of its kind of being, the change and
Deva¯nam:piyatissa’s kingship. The Sinhala chronicles also re-
dynamism that undergird human history provoke a total
late that the Buddhist elder, Mahinda, who was either the
eclipse or disintegration of primordial form. The death,
son or the brother of A´soka, visited Deva¯nam:piyatissa to es-
transformation, or withdrawal of supernatural beings into
tablish the Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka.
the heights or into the extremes of the cosmos exemplifies
Mahinda is said to have arrived in the island on the full-
the fate of primordial existence as a whole.
moon day of Poson (May–June), a day still celebrated in Sri
SEE ALSO Sky; Supreme Beings.
Lanka as the date of the founding of Buddhism there.
Deva¯nam:piyatissa greeted Mahinda on Missaka Hill, now
BIBLIOGRAPHY
called Mihintale, and proceeded from there to the site of
Daneel, M. L. The God of the Matopo Hills: An Essay on the Mwari
Anura¯dhapura. Near the royal pavilion in Maha¯megha Park
Cult in Rhodesia. The Hague, 1970.
at Anura¯dhapura, Mahinda and Deva¯nam:piyatissa laid out
Danquah, J. B. The Akan Doctrine of God. 2d ed. London, 1969.
and subsequently built the monasteries and shrines that came
Eliade, Mircea. “The Sky and Sky Gods.” In his Patterns in Com-
to be the international center for the Therava¯da Buddhist
parative Religion, pp. 38–123. New York, 1958.
tradition. The heart of their complex was the Maha¯viha¯ra,
Eliade, Mircea. “South American High Gods.” History of Religions
the Great Monastery, which was established 236 years after
8 (1968): 338–354 and 10 (1970–1971): 234–266.
the Buddha. The king also built the first stupa or cetiya in
Ikenga-Metuh, Emefie. “The Paradox of Transcendence and Im-
Sri Lanka, the Thu¯pa¯ra¯ma, to enshrine the collarbone relic
manence of God in African Religions: A Socio-historical Ex-
of the Buddha.
planation.” Religion 15 (1985): 373–385.
At the request of the women in Sri Lanka,
Lienhardt, Godfrey. Divinity and Experience. Oxford, 1961.
Deva¯nam:piyatissa arranged for Mahinda’s sister Sam:gha-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2314
DEV¯I
mitta¯ to come from India to ordain women into the Bud-
Satanas is used to mean not just any adversary, as is often
dhist order of nuns. Sam:ghamitta¯ brought with her a branch
the case in the Old Testament, but the adversary of God.
from the bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained en-
Throughout the New Testament, Satanas refers to the Devil,
lightenment. The king planted this branch at Anura¯dhapura,
and Revelation 12:9 describes “the great dragon . . . that an-
where it remains today as a sacred shrine for Buddhists.
cient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan.” As Robbins
points out (p. 130), English translations generally render
SEE ALSO A´soka.
both the sat:an of the Hebrew scriptures and Satanas of the
New Testament as “Satan.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The primary source for this subject is The Maha¯vam:sa, or, The
Thus two different conceptions were fused, and this
Great Chronicle of Ceylon, translated and edited by Wilhelm
idea of an evil demigod became the common heritage of Ju-
Geiger (1912; reprint, Colombo, 1950). A reliable secondary
daic and Christian traditions. The word devil as used in the
source is C. W. Nicholas and Senarat Paranavitana’s A Con-
New Testament fuses two elements—the Greek and the Ju-
cise History of Ceylon (Colombo, 1961).
daic. The Greek element is provided by the inclusion of the
New Sources
sense of daimo¯n (“demon”), which referred to a guardian
Dissanayake, Wimal. “The Poetics and the Politics of the
spirit or a source of inspiration. The description of the Devil
Mahavamsa [The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka].” In Hand-
as the “prince of the demons” (Mt. 9:35) is particularly sig-
cuffed to History: Narratives, Pathologies, and Violence in
nificant in this respect, for, according to Russell (1977,
South Asia, edited by S. P. Udayakumar, pp. 147–164. Lon-
p. 229), the association of the Devil with the demons is par-
don, 2001.
alleled by his association with the fallen angels (see Rv. 12:4,
GEORGE D. BOND (1987)
12:7ff.; Eph. 2:1–2). However, the Greek Septuagint “used
Revised Bibliography
demon for the Hebrew words meaning ‘vengeful idols’
(schedim) and ‘hairy satyrs’ (seîrim). The Vulgate Latinized
accordingly and the English authorized version (1613) trans-
DEV¯I SEE GODDESS WORSHIP, ARTICLE ON THE
lated both by ‘Devil,’ while the revised version (1881) substi-
HINDU GODDESS
tuted ‘demon’ in Deuteronomy and the Psalms [and] re-
tained ‘Devil’ in the New Testament.” The overall result of
these philological developments was that “originally distinct
species of spirits were unified by interchangeable translations
DEVILS. The definition and derivation of the term devil
of Devil, demon, fiend. All these terms devolved on Satan”
need to be carefully delineated. This need for care in defining
(Robbins, 1959, p. 131). This explanation should clarify the
devil arises from the fact that the very class of creatures being
use of the terms demon and devil as they are employed here.
designated as malign may have been originally benign or may
The word demon denotes spirits in general while the word
be capable of acting in either a benign or malign way. One
devil denotes evil spirits, malign beings viewed as embodi-
species of devils in classical Hinduism consists of the asuras,
ments of evil.
also called pu¯rvadevas, or “those who were formerly gods or
benign beings.” In Zoroastrianism, the same asuras, by con-
TYPOLOGY. Several typologies of devils are possible, and con-
trast, are called ahuras, or “lords.” In Christianity, Satan, the
sideration may be limited to those that proceed by habitation
Prince of Darkness, is regarded as a fallen angel. According
and function. Psellus (eleventh century CE) distinguishes
to Origen (whose view is considered heresy by orthodox
devils by habitat as fiery, aerial, terrestrial, aqueous, subterra-
Christians), he will, in time, be reinstated in his “pristine
nean, and heliophobic. A simpler scheme may be applied in
splendor and original rank.” There are, however, also classes
the case of Africa and Oceania, where devils could be associ-
of intermediate beings whose association with evil is equivo-
ated with animals, waters, forest, and mountains. The former
cal. In Islam, genies or, more properly, jinn provide a useful
scheme has the merit of being comparable with those of oth-
illustration: “They were vaguely feared, but were not always
erworld religions, wherein, however, the site of habitation
malevolent” (Watt, 1970, p. 153).
may not be described in terms of elements but may be locat-
ed in space. Islam provides a link between the two types. The
BIBLICAL TERMINOLOGY. The problem is also, in part, ety-
jinn are created out of a single element, fire, but are “associat-
mological. The English word devil derives from the Greek
ed with deserts, ruins and other eerie places, and might as-
diabolos, which has the original sense of “accuser” or “traduc-
sume such forms as those of animals, serpents, and other
er” (from diaballein, “to slander, traduce,” lit., “to throw
creeping things” (Watt, 1970, p. 153). But the jinn are not
across”). The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) uses the word
necessarily evil like the devils, or shayt:a¯ns, who prompt
satan in the sense of “adversary,” and it was translated in the
human beings to evil.
third century BCE by Egyptian Jews as diabolos. When the
Greek Septuagint (Old Testament) was translated into Latin,
According to one tradition the species (for which we
diabolos was rendered as diabolus (in the early translations)
may use “genies” as a convenient westernized rubric) is made
or as sat:an, in the standard Vulgate text (Robbins, 1959,
up of five orders, namely, ja¯nn, jinn, shayt:a¯ns, Eifr¯ıts, and
p. 130). In the New Testament, on the other hand, the name
ma¯rids. The last are said to be the most powerful and 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
DEVILS
2315
the least; shayt:a¯n is generally used to signify any evil genius;
by members of the same class, is provided by Zoroastrianism,
an Eifr¯ıt is a powerfully evil genius, while a ma¯rid, as indicat-
where the devil, Angra Mainyu, rallies around his standard
ed, is an evil genius of the most powerful class. At this point
Aka Manah (“evil thought”), Indra, Saurva, Nanhaithya,
it should be noted that sources admit to some confusion be-
(parallel with three Indian deities who are opposed), Taurvi
tween ja¯nn and jinn; while it is held that ja¯nn are trans-
(“hunger”) Zairich (“thirst”) and Ae¯shma (“fury”), so that
formed jinn, just as certain apes and swine were transformed
one finds closely allied devil figures performing several dia-
men, it is also admitted that the two are often used indis-
bolical functions, only some of which have been listed. One
criminately as names for the whole species, whether good or
of the clearest formulations of devilish functions in Chris-
bad (jinn is the more common term, however). As for the
tianity is found in the Admirable History (1612) of Sebastien
characteristics of jinn, they are of different shapes, appearing
Michaëlis, which is set forth in three sets of hierarchies, each
as serpents, scorpions, lions, wolves, jackals, and so on; they
specifying the name of the devil, his function, and his adver-
are of land, sea, and air; and either have wings that allow
sary (Robbins, 1959, p. 129).
them to fly, move like snakes or dogs, or move about like
Another way in which devils could be typologized is by
men. Other embodiments of evil in Islam may also be men-
gender differentiation, for female devils are not unknown. In
tioned: qut:rub, gharra¯r, si Elah, shiqq, and nasna¯s. Of these,
popular Hinduism the Churalin, a demoness regarded as the
the gharra¯r is comparable to the ogre inasmuch as the latter
composite spirit of women who have died in childbirth
is also a figure of folklore who feeds on human beings.
(Babb, 1975, p. 248), is referred to as identifiable by an in-
In the Indic worldview the devils have been provided
verse foot formation. Islam speaks of beings called ghu¯l in
with a habitation and a name. Jainism provides an example
general, though properly speaking it is said to apply only to
of the many typologies of devils in Indic religions. The seven
the female, whose male counterpart is the gharra¯r. She is sup-
netherworlds contain the hells, one of which, the Vyantaras,
posed to lead a solitary existence in the deserts, to waylay
includes demons, goblins, ghosts, and spirits, which are di-
travelers and practice cannibalism. The case of the lamia, a
vided into eight ranks—kinnaras, kimpurus:as, mahoragas,
vampire or (night-)mare, may also be discussed here. The
gandharvas, yaks:as, ra¯ks:asas, bhu¯tas, and pi´sa¯cas, all of which
word serves a dual sense, which may cut across gender differ-
are found in Hindu mythology in nearly the same forms (Ja-
entiation: it could mean a succubus demon or a witch. It was
cobi, in Hastings, 1911, p. 608).
suggested in the fifteenth century in Germany and Czecho-
slovakia that lamiae were demons in the shape of old women
Anthropological studies of Buddhism, particularly as
who stole children and roasted them.
practiced in Burma (Spiro, 1978) and Thailand (Tambiah,
1970), have led to the identification of devilish beings in
POSSESSION. As universal as belief in evil spirits is belief in
Buddhism. Thus it has been noted in the case of Burmese
the phenomenon of possession of the body by these evil spir-
Buddhism that nats, witches, ghosts, and demons, though
its. The history of Christianity records epidemics of posses-
substantively different, share the functional attribute of caus-
sion, and a distinction is drawn between possession and ob-
ing pain (Spiro, p. 40). It is noteworthy that although Hin-
session, the former being more grave inasmuch as it involves
duism does not acknowledge a specific devil, which Bud-
actual residence by the evil spirit in the body of the possessed.
dhism does in the form of Mara, it acknowledges the
Exorcism has been associated with Christian evangeliza-
existence of devilish beings, who are also functionally differ-
tion since its inception. This is also true of other religions.
entiated. Hindu lore distinguishes between asuras, a class of
Tambiah (1970) clearly distinguishes between possession by
supernatural beings continually opposed to the gods;
benevolent and malevolent spirits (ph¯ı) in the context of
ra¯ks:asas, demonic beings who roam about at night, disturb
Thailand, and notes how the distinction figures in Buddhist
the penances of ascetics, and harass and kill people; pi´sa¯cas,
mortuary rites. Although the Thai beliefs about such evil
who frequent cremation grounds; veta¯las, or vampires; and
spirits are so free-floating as to resist typologizing, certain
pretas and bhu¯tas, phantoms of the dead who bother human
kinds of devilish spirits most often cited as attacking people
beings on occasion. Sometimes the word bhu¯ta is inclusive
may be mentioned. Spirits of the rice field (ph¯ı rai ph¯ı naa)
of preta and pi´sa¯ca (Crooke, in Hastings, 1911, p. 608). The
can attack villagers; so can the spirit that lives on a mountain
Hindu god S´iva, incidentally, presides over his own gan:as,
(ph¯ı pu loob) but the attack of the ph¯ı paub, a malevolent dis-
or malevolent troopers, who include some of the abovemen-
embodied spirit, is to be feared most as it may be hosted by
tioned creatures and can act in extremely unpleasant ways
some living being. Its origin is attributed to the transforma-
when incensed.
tion of spells into an evil force inside a magical expert, either
By contrast, in Islam, the various functions of the one
a man or a woman. The force then acquires an existence of
and same class of demons—the shayt:a¯ns—may be distin-
its own and can possess others.
guished: they teach humans magic, lead them to unbelief, try
DEBATE ON ORIGINS. Speculation regarding the origin of
to eavesdrop on heaven, and accompany obstinate unbeliev-
belief in devils has proceeded along several routes. According
ers. An intermediate form of functional differentiation, be-
to one view, belief in devilish beings may have its roots in
tween the Hindu one, organized by class as well as function,
the experience of prehistoric man. At this time wild animals
and the Islamic one, where different functions are performed
of strange shapes and sizes roamed the earth, and it would
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2316
DEVOTION
have been easy for early human beings to assume that nonhu-
Awn, Peter J. Satan’s Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychol-
man evil spirits abounded and assumed animal forms. Along-
ogy. Leiden, 1983.
side this explanation may be placed the anthropological view,
Babb, Lawrence A. The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in
according to which beliefs in all classes of spiritual beings—
Central India. New York, 1975.
benign or malign—are derived from belief in the disem-
O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Women, Androgynes, and Other
bodied spirits of the dead. Considerable controversy sur-
Mythical Beasts. Chicago, 1980.
rounds this view, but it may be safe to affirm that among
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiqui-
many peoples the hostile spirits of the dead would be identi-
ty to Primitive Christianity. Ithaca, N.Y., 1977.
fied as devils. Psychological explanations for the origin of
Spiro, Melford E. Burmese Supernaturalism. Exp. ed. Philadelphia,
devils include the ideas of hallucinations and projection with
1978.
various degrees of sophistication. As early as 1218, Gervase
of Tilbury suggested that belief in lamia or nightmare was
Tambiah, Stanley J. Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-East
Thailand. Cambridge, 1970.
simply nocturnal hallucination, and some modern scholars
would argue that man manufactures his devils out of his
Watt, W. Montgomery. Bell’s Introduction to the Qur Da¯n. Edin-
fears. It is often considered self-evident that the “conception
burgh, 1970.
of such beings doubtless stems from man’s instinctive fear
ARVIND SHARMA (1987)
of the unknown, the strange and horrific. It is significant that
belief in evil spirits or Devils can exist without the idea of
the Devil, i.e. the personification of the principle of evil in
a single being” (Brandon, 1970, p. 229).
DEVOTION. Religious devotion is ardent affection, zeal-
ous attachment, piety, dedication, reverence, faithfulness, re-
In addition to the historical (i.e., prehistorical); anthro-
spect, awe, attentiveness, loyalty, fidelity, or love for, or to,
pological (i.e., animistic); and psychological (i.e., psychoana-
some object, person, spirit, or deity deemed sacred, holy, or
lytical) explanations, one must consider also the theological
venerable. Devotion may also be thought of as action, such
aspect, for what is really involved is an explanation of the
as worshiping, praying, and making religious vows.
problem of evil. How is its existence to be reconciled with
belief in a benevolent God? Evil creatures that defy God, de-
Devotion is a very common phenomenon in all areas of
spite his potential supremacy, may offer the scaffolding for
the world and in most religious traditions. In some tradi-
some kind of a theological explanation. Given the existence
tions, sects, or cults, devotion is the central religious concern
of evil, one can offer a certain range of justifications: (1) what
or is almost synonymous with religion itself. This is the case,
is perceived as evil is necessary for greater good; (2) evil exists
for example, in some versions of Chinese and Japanese Pure
as a necessary part of a good creation; (3) the universe is not
Land Buddhism, several Hindu devotional movements, and
perfect but is being perfected, hence the existence of evil; and
some Christian movements, such as Pietism. The centrality
(4) evil is necessary to retain free will. The existence of devils,
of devotion seems to be more common in religious traditions
as of the Devil, can be reconciled in various ways, as repre-
in which theistic tendencies are central, although its impor-
senting the principle of evil either singly or collectively and
tance in Pure Land Buddhism is sufficient evidence to cau-
emerging out of an attempt to come to existential grips with
tion against equating devotion with theism. Religious devo-
the fact that evil exists. Since most events are caused by an
tion frequently exists in a theological context of hierarchy
agent, one might assume that evil is also caused by an agent,
where there is at least functional if not ontological theism
which may itself be either intrinsically or instrumentally evil.
and divine being(s) are considered to be superior to and have
power over a human devotee.
SEE ALSO Ahuras; EA¯shu¯ra¯D; Demons, article on Psychologi-
OBJECTS OF DEVOTION. The extensiveness of devotion in re-
cal Perspectives; Evil; Satan; Spirit Possession; Theodicy.
ligion becomes evident when the variety of objects of devo-
tion is considered. While deities are usually considered the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
principal objects of devotion, a great many other things are
Still useful are the articles grouped under “Demons and Spirits”
also given devotion in the world’s religions. In many African
in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James
Hastings, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1911); see particularly the
religions, as well as in such historical traditions as Hinduism
pieces by Edward Anwyl (Celtic), William Crooke (Indian),
and Confucianism, ancestors are important objects of rever-
Hermann Jacobi (Jain), Arthur Lloyd (Japanese), P. J. Ma-
ence, awe, and devotion. Various people, living and dead, are
clagan (Chinese), V. J. Mansikka (Slavic), Eugen Mogk
also objects of devotion or the focus of devotional cults.
(Teutonic), L. A. Waddell (Tibetan), and A. V. Williams
Guru¯s in Hinduism, saints in Christianity, the xian (immor-
Jackson (Persian). A Dictionary of Comparative Religion, ed-
tals) in Daoism, the sage kings in Confucianism, ima¯ms in
ited by S. G. F. Brandon (London, 1970), also contains a
Islam, t¯ırtham:karas in Jainism, and the buddhas and bodhi-
useful entry under “Demons,” and The Encyclopedia of
sattvas in Buddhism are only a few examples of divine per-
Witchcraft and Demonology (New York, 1959), by Rossell
sonages who receive devotion in the world’s religions.
Hope Robbins, offers much information. In addition to
these reference works, the following books provide informa-
In most religions, devotion is primarily addressed to a
tion on devils in particular cultures and religious systems.
deity. This could be male, female, or androgynous (as 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
DEVOTION
2317
half-male, half-female deity Ardhana¯r¯ı´svara in Hinduism,).
of the Covenant in ancient Judaism and the Host in Chris-
The deity or divinity could be in the form of an animal or
tianity. Sacred texts are also objects of devotion in some reli-
tree; sometimes, the deity may temporarily possess a human
gions, insofar as they are seen to be the locus of divine revela-
being and during the period of possession that person is the
tion. Although the place and function of these texts in the
object of veneration. Devotion can also be shown to saints,
various religious traditions are quite different, the Torah in
guru¯s, and charismatic teachers.
Judaism, the Lotus Su¯tra in Nichiren Buddhism, the Ad¯ı
Granth in Sikhism, and the QurDa¯n in Islam are books held
Relics associated with sacred personages are the objects
in great reverence. Indeed, the sacred, holy, or divine has re-
of devotion in many religions. The physical remains of the
vealed itself to, or been apprehended by, humankind in so
Buddha were incorporated into stupas, the shrines around
many different ways and in such a variety of forms that at
which devotional Buddhism began. To this day, parts of the
some point in the religious history of the world almost every
Buddha’s physical body are enshrined in temples such as the
conceivable object has received religious devotion.
Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka. In Christianity,
particularly in the late medieval period in Europe, there was
And finally, in a circular fashion, people perceived to be
a lively traffic in relics, which became extremely important
paradigmatic devotees themselves become the objects of de-
in popular piety. Relics were incorporated into church altars
votion. Many saints, teachers, and devotees are honored,
and often represented the concrete, objective aspect of the
venerated, and prayed to as bestowers of earthly favors, as
divine around which the church was built. Pieces of the true
mediators between human beings and gods, and as exalted
cross, bones of martyrs, vials of the Virgin Mary’s milk, even
divinities in themselves.
the foreskin of Jesus, were among the holy relics that were
the objects of popular devotion. In contemporary Christiani-
TYPES OF DEVOTION. Devotion is of different types and
ty the Shroud of Turin is probably the best-known example
takes place in different physical settings, with different atten-
of a holy relic. In other traditions as well, the physical re-
dant moods, and within different kinds of communities. It
mains of saints are commonly revered, and the burial places
is often meditative, emotionally disciplined, and subdued,
of saints, where purported miracles attributed to devotion are
and consists primarily of the willful directing of one’s atten-
not uncommon, often become centers of healing cults.
tion to the object of devotion. This is the nature of devotion,
for example, as described in the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯. There, Kr:s:n:a
In many societies, charismatic leaders, relics, and shrines
teaches Arjuna to center himself mentally on God in all his
of saints also become the devotional focus of adherents from
actions in order to make his entire life an act of devotion.
communities different from the one to which they were orig-
There is a similar emphasis in most theistic traditions in
inally associated. Thus, Hindu devotees throng the darga¯hs
which the devotee is taught to be attentive to God in all
(shrines where S:u¯f¯ı saints are entombed) in India. In many
things.
cases, the land where these shrines were built was donated
by Hindu rulers to the Muslim saints they venerated. Sites
Devotion may also express itself in emotional frenzy and
where miraculous cures and healing are said to take place also
passion. S:u¯f¯ı devotion is usually accompanied by music and
draw devotees from a variety of religious affiliations. Thus,
dance, and much S:u¯f¯ı devotional poetry is intensely passion-
Lourdes, Fátima, Velankanni, and other places where it is
ate. The Bha¯gavata Pura¯n:a, a medieval Hindu devotional
held that Marian apparitions took place are pilgrimage cen-
text, says that true devotion is always accompanied by shiver-
ters for devotees from a variety of religious traditions. Devo-
ing, the hair standing on end, tears, and sighs of passion. The
tion in these cases is focused on a person, site, or object not
Hindu saint Caitanya (1486–1533) exemplified this kind of
ordinarily considered to be part of the religious tradition to
devotion. He was so often overcome by fits of emotional de-
which one officially belongs. These “fuzzy boundaries” be-
votion to Kr:s:n:a, in which he would swoon or become ecstat-
tween religions abound in South, Southeast, and East Asia,
ic, that he could barely manage the normal routines of daily
where rigid affiliation to a religious tradition has historically
life.
not been part of a community’s ethos.
The setting of devotion may be quite formal. Churches,
Rivers in Hinduism and mountains in Shinto¯ are often
synagogues, temples, and mosques are all places in which
especially revered; indeed, most religious traditions associate
people devote their minds and hearts to the divine. In such
sacredness with specific places. Certain cities, such as
settings devotion may be highly formalized, even routinized,
Va¯ra¯n:as¯ı in Hinduism, Jerusalem in Judaism and Christiani-
and under the direction of professional clergy. In its formal
ty, Mecca in Islam, and Ise in Shinto¯, play an important role
expression devotion is often communal or congregational
in the tradition of many religions and are often themselves
and arises from, or is even dependent upon, the coming to-
the centers of pilgrimage and devotion. Sometimes whole
gether of a group of people for a common devotional pur-
geographical areas or countries are the objects of devotion,
pose. On the other hand, devotion in such formal physical
such as the Indian subcontinent as a whole for Hindus and
settings may also take the form of a lone individual perform-
Israel for many Jews.
ing an act of devotion to a special saint.
Where it is not possible to visit an original pilgrimage
Devotion may also be highly informal and unstruc-
site, devotion often focuses on ritual objects such as the Ark
tured. The best examples of this are the lives of famous 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
2318
DEVOTION
who were great devotees. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) in
which the deity is imagined and approached as a person
Christianity and Caitanya in Hinduism were both character-
and is expected to respond to his devotees accordingly.
ized by spontaneous outbursts of passionate devotion in
In Islam, for example, the term mana¯ja¯t, meaning “inti-
nearly any setting.
mate converse,” is supposed to characterize a person’s
Devotional communities (groups formed primarily as a
devotion to God. The attitude the devotee adopts in this
result of, or in order to cultivate, devotion) also vary from
personal relationship varies and is often dependent
the highly structured to the very unstructured. Monastic or-
upon how the deity is perceived.
ders in Christianity and the S:u¯f¯ı orders in Islam, in which
2. One of the most common metaphors used in theistic
devotion serves a central role, are examples of highly struc-
devotion is that of a love relationship. The love of the
tured devotional communities. The South Indian devotee-
devotee may be like that of a servant for the master,
saints of S´iva (the Na¯yana¯rs) and Vis:n:u (the A¯lva¯rs), in com-
¯
¯
child for a parent, parent for a child, friend for a friend,
parison, were part of unstructured traditions in which indi-
or lover for the beloved. In theistic devotion the mood
vidual poet-devotee-saints wandered the countryside or
of love, especially when the relationship is familial, erot-
resided at temples and sang devotional hymns to their lord.
ic, or romantic, introduces great intimacy, passion, and
The devotional community may extend no further than an
tenderness into the devotional experience. When devo-
individual saint and his or her admirers, students, followers,
tion is expressed in terms of a love relationship, the deity
or devotees. Such was the case in the early days of Saint Fran-
is usually cast in a very approachable role and is de-
cis’s religious life and for such Hindu saints as Lalle´svar¯ı or
scribed as reciprocating the devotee’s love with a pas-
Kashmir (fourteenth century) and M¯ıra¯ Ba¯¯ı of Rajasthan
sionate love of his or her own. Many goddesses, for ex-
(1498–1546).
ample, are portrayed as mothers who are attentive to
The practice of devotional rituals may also have several
and fiercely protective of their devotees/children, while
goals. While most religions portray the ideal goal as submis-
the Lord’s Prayer in Christianity describes God as the
sion to the deity’s love without any expectation of reward or
devotees’ father. Throughout theistic devotion, deities
fear of punishment, millions of devotees pray or perform vo-
assume the roles of loving parent, intimate friend, play-
tive rituals for the fulfillment of specific desires. Thus prayers
ful child, or impassioned lover in response to the devo-
may be offered or devotional exercises performed for the cure
tee’s own devotional role. In some roles of intimacy, the
of a family member, achievement of a particular career goal,
devotee may even tease or scold the deity; such is the
the birth of a child, the marriage of a son, or even the selling
case with Andal (c. eighth century) and Namma¯lva¯r
of a house. These prayers and votive rituals form the bulk
¯
(c. ninth century), who composed Tamil devotional
of most devotional petitions in many religions.
hymns, hailing Kr:s:n:a as harsh and cruel and as the per-
CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVOTION. Although the contexts,
son who knows no righteousness.
objects, and moods of devotion vary, there are several charac-
3. Theistic devotion is also characterized by expressions or
teristics that typify most religious devotion. These involve
feelings of praise and submission. Both attitudes presup-
the emotions, the will, and the mind.
pose that the deity is morally superior to, wiser, and
1. The object, person, or deity to whom devotion is direct-
more powerful than the devotee, and usually that the
ed is regarded with awe and reverence. There is a recog-
devotee has been created by the deity or is wholly depen-
nition, often more emotional than mental, that the ob-
dent on the deity for his or her continued existence and
ject is imbued with sacred power. This awe or reverence
well-being. In praise, the deity’s qualities of goodness,
may assume a passionate intensity, exclusivity, or ardor
greatness, and generosity are often mentioned. The
that overwhelms the devotee.
deity is praised for bestowing various blessings, particu-
2. There is faith—conviction, trust, or confidence—on
larly the blessing of life, on the devotee, the country or
the part of the devotee that the object of devotion is real,
nation, or the world as a whole. Theistic devotion typi-
that it underlies, overarches, or in some way epitomizes
cally expresses itself by praising the deity as the source
reality. This aspect of devotion is usually associated with
of all good things and as the embodiment of all good
the will; it involves commitment, loyalty, and often sub-
qualities. In Islam, for example, the term h:amd, mean-
mission to the object of devotion.
ing “thankful praise,” often characterizes devotion. The
3. Single-mindedness, at least for the time that a particular
relationship that is frequently spoken of when praise
person, object, or deity is venerated, often involves men-
and submission dominate is that of a master and
tal concentration on its object. Spiritual techniques that
servant.
aim at focusing and concentrating the mind are often
The devotee of a deity often expresses total dependence upon
part of religious devotion.
the god by feelings, attitudes, gestures, or acts of submission.
Characteristics of theistic devotion. When religious
In Arabic the word muslim means “one who surrenders (to
devotion is theistic in nature it is further typified by the fol-
God),” suggesting the centrality of this attitude in Islamic
lowing characteristics.
tradition. The Muslim term Eiba¯dah (worship) is often used
1. Theistic devotion involves a personal relationship in
to characterize devotional observances to God, clearly indi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEVOTION
2319
cating that the divine-human relationship is like that of a
a formal, periodic, structured expression of devotion. The
master to a slave ( Eabd). In S´r¯ı Vais:n:avism, a Hindu devo-
prescribed daily and Friday prayers in Islam, called s:ala¯t, for
tional movement, the theme of complete self-surrender (pra-
example, are essentially devotional in nature. In Hindu pu¯ja¯
patti) is central; such submission is held to epitomize bhakti,
(worship), which occurs in both temple and domestic set-
or devotion to God.
tings and which may be performed by an individual or by
large groups, the basic pattern of ritual actions denotes per-
The style of submission may depend upon the type of
sonal attendance upon and service of the deity by the wor-
relationship envisioned by the devotee. The submission of
shipers. The deity is symbolically bathed, fanned, fed, and
a child to its mother, for example, might be quite different
entertained by the priest or directly by the devotee. It is com-
from the submission of a slave to his owner. In many tradi-
mon in worship to make an offering to the deity, which again
tions the devotee is affirmed to be greatly inferior to the
is often done in the spirit of devotion. Some forms of wor-
deity; men and women are often described as morally weak,
ship are primarily occasions for devotees to express together
sinful, corrupt, and insignificant, and the deity as over-
their devotion to their god. This is the case, for example,
whelmingly superior. In this relationship the proper attitude
with Hindu k¯ırtana and bhajan, gatherings of devotees at
of the devotee is abasement and submission.
which songs are sung in praise of a deity. The setting is usual-
Devotion in the context of nontheistic traditions.
ly informal and the mood warm and emotional. It is not un-
Devotion, most prominent in theistic traditions, is some-
common for devotees to dance and leap for joy while they
times considered a form of justification for letting loose the
sing their hymns of praise. In Protestant revival meetings,
flow of divine grace. One may ask if it has any place in philo-
too, open expression of emotional devotion to God is en-
sophical schools such as Zen Buddhism and Advaita
couraged and expected of those present.
Veda¯nta, where individual meditation in a nontheistic con-
Performing and fine arts. Devotion in many religions
text is seen as the way to reach the final goal. Zen, Advaita
is expressed through music and dance. Many church and
Veda¯nta, and some yogic traditions have ontologies which
synagogue services deploy music, chants, and ritual action to
consider the distinction between the deity and devotee
express devotional intensity in an aesthetic framework. Mak-
meaningless or challenge concepts of reality as we know
ing joyful noise or using the body to depict one’s longing for
them. In many of these schools there is no ultimate gracious
the divine have been hallmarks of almost all religious tradi-
deity whose grace will give salvation or liberation. Thus, in
tions. Deities and devotees in many traditions dance the cos-
the nontheistic traditions, philosophically speaking, devo-
mos, dance their relationship to each other, and dance to the
tion has no ultimate value as a path to liberation, nirva¯n:a,
powers of the universe. Devotees in the Hindu tradition em-
or the final goal. Yet, many adherents of these traditions
ulate the dance of the deities S´iva, Pa¯rvat¯ı, or Kr:s:n:a. Many
have, in fact, composed devotional hymns addressed to
dances portray a soul’s longing for the supreme being; the
teachers and deities.
devotional songs of Hindu schools are standard accompani-
DEVOTION AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES. Devotion is often
ment for dancers. Devotion to the deity is expressed through
associated with or expressed in the context of several com-
a number of bhavas or attitudes, including the attitudes con-
mon types of religious practices.
nected with service, maternal love, and romantic love. Sing-
ing emotional lyrics with devotion is said to be a path
Prayer. Devotion often takes the form of prayer. In
through which one can reach salvation. In the Hebrew scrip-
prayer a deity is entreated, supplicated, adored, or praised in
tures, Miriam took a tambourine in her hand and danced
a mood of devotional service or attentiveness. In some cases,
with all the other women; Psalm 149 exhorts one to praise
the devotee cultivates a mood of devotion before praying, in
the Lord’s name in dance. There is a palpable expression of
order to ensure sincerity and concentration. In medieval Ju-
devotion in the dances of some S:u¯f¯ı traditions and in the cir-
daism, for example, some authorities recommended the prac-
cular dances seen among the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıs.
tice of kavvanah, the directing of attention to God, before
prayer so that prayer might be undertaken with the proper
Divine beings are often painted, carved, or fashioned
mental inclination.
out of various materials to be used as objects of devotion.
These objects are frequently invested with life and the divine
Moving and dramatic expressions of devotion are found
is said to reside in them after ritual consecrations. Many of
in poems and hymns that articulate the prayers of devotees
these icons are carved with devotion for worship by other
to the divine in many indigenous religions and in every theis-
devotees.
tic religious tradition among the world’s historical religions.
Pilgrimage is a popular undertaking in many religions,
Hymns, such as those central to Protestant Christianity, are
and for many pilgrims the journey is an act of devotion. Set-
devotional prayers set to music. Collective prayer, common
ting off on a long trip to a sacred place is a sort of physical
in many religions, is another example of formalized de-
prayer. Through the pilgrimage the pilgrim may be making
votion.
a special appeal to a deity or expressing gratitude for a bless-
Worship. As a formal expression of homage, service,
ing received from the deity. In Islam a pilgrimage to Mecca
reverence, praise, or petition to a deity, worship is closely re-
is enjoined as one of the fundamental acts of submission in-
lated to, or expressive of, devotion. Much worship represents
cumbent upon all Muslims.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2320
DEVOTION
The pilgrim may be making the pilgrimage simply to
ries esteemed in Christianity as the best place to devote one-
steep himself or herself in an atmosphere of piety and devo-
self to God. Life in the monastic community was dominated
tion that is far more intense than in ordinary circumstances.
by regular worship and prayer several times a day and im-
The feeling of community that arises among pilgrims is often
posed a devotional discipline on the individual. To a great
strong, and the entire journey, which can last for weeks or
extent, monasticism in Christianity was a systematic attempt
even years, may turn into a devotional extravaganza with
to perfect a human being’s devotional predilections. As in
hymns being sung all day long, devotees swooning in fits of
Christian asceticism, the goal was to become attentive to
ecstasy or possession, and miraculous cures or incidents
God at all times, except that in the monastic context this goal
being reported. The annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur in
was sought with the help of a like-minded community and
Maharashtra is an act of mass devotion sustained for weeks,
under the guidelines of a carefully regulated spiritual disci-
not unusual in Hinduism.
pline or rule. In many respects, several S:u¯f¯ı brotherhoods
and Pure Land Buddhist monastic communities were also or-
Devotion is also closely connected with patronage. The
ganized attempts to create the ideal environment for cultivat-
large cathedrals of medieval Europe, the Hindu temple com-
ing the devotional sentiment.
plexes of South and Southeast Asia, Buddhist stupas and
temples, and Shinto¯ shrines were frequently built by royalty,
Apart from acts of renunciation in which a devotee may
nobility, or wealthy patrons as a testimony to their devotion
make a clean break with the world he or she lives in, there
and piety.
are many acts of asceticism that are woven into the daily life
Meditation. Although many kinds of meditation may
of the faithful. Thus, Muslims may fast during the month
not involve devotion, devotion often uses meditative tech-
of Ramad:a¯n, from sunrise to sundown. Hindu women fast
niques. Meditation usually involves disciplining the mind so
on particular days of the week, lunar month, or year for the
that it can focus on something without being distracted by
welfare of their families. In many situations, acts of devotion-
frivolous thoughts or bodily needs and discomforts. For
al asceticism addressed to specific deities may be performed
many practitioners the goal is to achieve or maintain atten-
for immediate worldly benefits, rather than for salvation or
tiveness to a deity. Meditation is used to perfect, deepen,
liberation.
sharpen, or enhance devotion. In such cases meditation and
Mysticism. For many devotees, particularly in theistic
devotion may become synonymous. In Japanese Pure Land
traditions, there is a deep longing to be close to, in the pres-
Buddhism the term anjin (which is sometimes translated as
ence of, or absorbed into the deity. This is also the goal of
“faith”) refers to a meditative calm in which the heart and
mysticism in theistic traditions, and devotion and mysticism
mind are quieted through concentration on Amida Buddha
are often closely associated. In medieval Jewish mysticism,
and his paradise. A particularly common meditative tech-
devequt, which is usually translated as “cleaving to God,” is
nique used to engender, express, or enhance devotion is the
considered the highest religious state that can be attained.
constant repetition of the deity’s name or a short prayer to
This state of cleaving to God is synonymous with an intense
the deity. S:u¯f¯ıs invoke the names of God over and over as
devotion in which the devotee is completely preoccupied
part of their dhikr (a term meaning recollection that refers
with and absorbed into the divine. In Sufism the term fana¯ D
to devotional techniques); Eastern Orthodox Christian
describes a point in the devotee’s or mystic’s spiritual quest
monks chant the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus have mercy on me
in which all feeling of individuality and ego fall away and the
a sinner”) as often as possible; devotees of Kr:s:n:a chant his
S:u¯f¯ı is overwhelmed by God. In Christianity, Paul expresses
names repeatedly. In Pure Land Buddhism, devotees chant
the idea of union with the divine as follows: “It is no longer
a short prayer (“Hail to Amida Buddha”) over and over to
I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). In trying
sharpen and concentrate their faith in Amida.
to describe the intimacy of his unmediated experiences of
Asceticism and monasticism. Asceticism and monasti-
God, John of the Cross (1542–1591), a Spanish mystic,
cism are often undertaken in the context of devotion, espe-
spoke of a river merging with the ocean and of iron heated
cially in the theistic and Pure Land Buddhist traditions. The
until it becomes one with the fire. Mystical union, then, rep-
Desert Fathers sought solitude in the desert in order to devel-
resents the ultimate goal of many devotees in several different
op their attentiveness to God without distractions or hin-
traditions, and the mystical path is often understood as being
drances from society or other people. Their asceticism was
the highest path a devotee can embark upon. In many of
clearly associated with, and intended to cultivate, devotion.
these cases, devotion is gendered and a submitting devotee
An ascetic strain is also strong in Sufism, a highly devotional
is portrayed as a woman in the ecstatic embrace of her lover.
expression of Islam, and many of the most important Hindu
Social action and charity. In some religious traditions,
devotional leaders and saints have been world renouncers. In
charitable service to one’s fellow human beings is considered
many cases, it is clear that asceticism, or renunciation of the
the most perfect form of devotion to the divine. Several
world, has been found not only compatible with devotion
Christian movements with a strong devotional bias have em-
but a positive encouragement of it.
phasized works of charity as central to devotional life. With
The case is similar with monasticism. An isolated, clois-
the inauguration of active religious orders for men by Francis
tered, highly regimented religious community was for centu-
of Assisi in the thirteenth century, and for women by Mary
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DEVOTION
2321
Ward and Vincent de Paul in the seventeenth century, the
The second argument follows from the first. Why is de-
focus of religious life, which had earlier been cloistered, shift-
votion the easiest path? Because it is the most natural to
ed from the cultivation of one’s spiritual predilections in iso-
human beings. In some Hindu devotional movements, bhak-
lation from society to serving the poor and needy in the
ti (devotion) is said to represent one’s inherent dharma
world. Several religious brotherhoods and sisterhoods in
(proper way of acting) as opposed to one’s inherited dharma,
Protestant Christianity aim at serving the poor, while the So-
which is equated with one’s caste, occupation, and social
cial Gospel movement of the nineteenth century in the Unit-
roles. All human beings, according to this logic, have an
ed States represents an attempt to provide theological justifi-
inner longing to love God, and until they do they remain
cation for social involvement as central to Christian life.
frustrated, incomplete, lonely, and lost. Devotion is under-
stood as a person’s cultivation of this natural urge to serve
A dramatic modern example of devotion as inextricably
and love the creator, who has instilled in human beings at
associated with social service is the life of Mother Theresa of
the deepest level a longing to be reunited with their source.
Calcutta and her Sisters of Charity, who minister to the
“poorest of the poor” as a way of life. Mother Theresa said
The idea of devotion representing a person’s natural in-
that she taught the women who joined her order to see Jesus
clination is also expressed in many S:u¯f¯ı images that speak of
in each person they served; in serving men and women, they
one who is not devoted to God as being like a fish out of
serve Jesus.
water, a camel far from a watering hole, a bird separated from
its mate. To seek God by means of the mystic way is to return
Other traditions, too, equated service to human beings
home, to seek the familiar and comfortable, to indulge one’s
with service to God. Mahatma Gandhi, for example, who
natural longings. A similar idea is expressed in Augustine of
had a strong devotional bent, was once asked why he did not
Hippo’s (354–430) famous saying to the effect that human
withdraw from the world in his search for God. He replied
beings are restless until they find their rest in God.
that if he thought for one moment that God might be found
in a Himalayan cave, he would go there at once, but he was
In the vision of Francis of Assisi, all creation was
convinced that God could only be found among human be-
brought into being in order to praise the creator; every spe-
ings and in their service.
cies in existence praises God in its own special way. Even in-
DEVOTION AND ETHICS. Some narratives depict devotees as
organic nature celebrates the creator in some way. For Fran-
flouting the accepted norms of ethics of the tradition. Thus,
cis, devotion to God represents the inherent and underlying
a devotee may resort to highway robbery or may sell her body
law of the creation and is apparent everywhere. Some S:u¯f¯ıs
so that the money may be used for charity or a pious cause.
write that the entire creation is said to be pervaded by the
In some such narratives, the devotee is depicted as undergo-
presence of God, that his divine presence intoxicates all crea-
ing a test. In some there is a miraculous intervention and the
tures and sets them singing and dancing in ecstatic praise.
devotee is vindicated, but in others, the story may aim to
In the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯, when Kr:s:n:a teaches Arjuna how
show that within the world of devotion, the normal code of
to discipline his actions so that he will not reap the fruits of
behavior may be nuanced or even reversed, with a logic of
karman, he tells him to dedicate all of his actions to God,
its own that is not seen in everyday life. In some traditions,
to become God’s instrument in all that he does (9.27). One
this philosophy is taken one step further to make the point,
who is truly devoted to a deity makes every action, no matter
in an exaggerated manner, that the devotion of a so-called
how apparently insignificant, routine, or frivolous, an act of
sinner is more “pure” or acceptable to a devotee than the
devotion to the divine. Similarly, Hasidic Judaism teaches
half-hearted or mindless devotional ritual of one who is con-
that the state of devequt, or cleaving to God, should be a per-
sidered to be virtuous or morally upright.
son’s constant state of mind. In everyday life, even while per-
The philosophy of devotion. The Hindu and Bud-
forming the most mundane acts, a person should cleave to
dhist traditions, in which there are very strong competing
the Lord.
paths alongside the devotional path, put forth two kinds of
arguments in defending the excellence of the devotional way.
SEE ALSO Worship and Devotional Life.
Both traditions assume that the world has entered a final pe-
riod of moral, religious, and ethical decline (the kaliyuga in
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hinduism, and mappo¯ in Japanese Buddhism), in which
There is a lack of books on devotion as a religious phenomenon.
human beings are no longer spiritually capable of undertak-
Friedrich Heiler’s Prayer: A Study in the History and Psycholo-
ing certain religious paths that were popular among people
gy of Religion, translated by Samuel McComb (London,
in earlier ages. Asceticism, meditation, monasticism, and reli-
1938), seeks to describe a widespread devotional phenome-
non in religion, but it focuses primarily on Western religious
gious ceremonialism, in particular, are held to be too de-
traditions. There are more and better sources for individual
manding for people of the present age, whose spiritual capac-
traditions. Abraham Zebi Idelsohn’s Jewish Liturgy and Its
ities are weak. In this age, devotion is the best way to reach
Development (New York, 1967) has sections on devotion in
the spiritual goal, the best because it is the easiest. It can be
the Jewish tradition. Owen Chadwick’s Western Asceticism
practiced by anyone, by monk and peasant, rich and poor,
(London, 1958) contains translations of important ascetic
priest and layman, man and woman, young and old.
texts in the Christian tradition and deals with the exemplary
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2322
DE VRIES, JAN
role of the ascetic in Christian piety. David Knowles’s Chris-
in intense competition. Factionalism between groups of dif-
tian Monasticism (New York, 1969) is a standard work on the
fering philosophic opinion was highly encouraged; thus there
monastic ideal in Christian life. Annemarie Schimmel’s Mys-
was more intellectual activity within the Dge lugs pa order
tical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1975) treats the
on this level than between Dge lugs pa and the other orders
S:u¯f¯ı traditions in Islam, which are highly devotional in na-
of Tibetan Buddhism.
ture. Constance Padwick’s Muslim Devotions: A Study of
Prayer-Manuals in Common Use (London, 1961) surveys
Although the Western study of Dge lugs pa education
popular devotional manuals in Islam. A. K. Ramanujan has
is scarcely more than a half century old, it is possible to piece
translated several devotional hymns of a South Indian Hindu
together a picture of this highly developed program for sti-
devotee and presented an overview of Hindu devotion in a
mulating the metaphysical imagination. In general, Dge lugs
volume entitled Hymns for Drowning: Poems for Visnu by
pa doctrinal training is classified into two types, su¯tra and
Nammalyar (Princeton, 1981). Edward C. Dimock and De-
Tantra, based on a division of the texts regarded as the Bud-
nise Levertov have translated several Bengali Hindu devo-
dha’s word. Training in the su¯tra system is further divided
tional hymns in a book entitled In Praise of Krishna: Songs
into a more “practical” and a more “theoretical” system of
from the Bengali (New York, 1967). Alfred Bloom’s Shinran’s
Gospel of Pure Grace (Tucson, Ariz., 1965) and Gendo
study. Both practical and theoretical systems are based on
Nakai’s Shinran and His Religion of Pure Faith (Kyoto, 1946)
great Indian books and Tibetan texts that consist of either
deal with devotional Buddhism in Japan.
explicit commentaries on those texts or expositions of main
themes in them.
DAVID KINSLEY (1987)
VASUDHA NARAYANAN (2005)
The practical system centers on Tsong kha pa’s Lam rim
chen mo (Great exposition of the stages of the path) and Indi-
an texts such as S´a¯ntideva’s Bodhica¯rya¯vata¯ra (Engaging in
the Bodhisattva deeds). The theoretical system centers either
DE VRIES, JAN SEE VRIES, JAN DE
on comparative systems of tenets, both Buddhist and non-
Buddhist, or on the “Five Great Books.” The large Dge lugs
pa universities take the latter approach for a curriculum of
DGE LUGS PA. The Dge lugs pa (Geluk pa) order of
su¯tra study that begins when the student is around eighteen
Tibetan Buddhism was founded in the early fifteenth centu-
and continues for twenty to twenty-five years.
ry by Tsong kha pa (1357–1419) in the area of Lhasa, the
To prepare students for study of these texts, the curricu-
capital of Tibet. He established a monastic university on a
lum begins with a class on introductory debate that serves
mountain called Dga’ ldan (“the joyous”) in 1409, and his
to establish the procedure of combative and probing analysis
sect was thus originally called Joyous Way (Dga’ ldan pa’i
used throughout the entire course of study. The approach is
lugs); later it came to be called Virtuous Way, Dge lugs pa.
at once individualistic (as used in the preparation and execu-
Students built two other large monastic universities in the
tion of specific debates) and group-stimulated (in that infor-
Lhasa area, ‘Bras spung (Drepung) (1416) and Se ra (1419),
mation and philosophic positions are acquired from fellow
and the system gradually spread throughout the country.
debaters in an ongoing network of communication). The
Within two hundred years the sect had become an important
preliminary classes further study basic psychology and basic
political force, such that around 1640, with the help of the
theory of reasoning. Then begins a reading of the first of the
Mongolian potentate Gushri Khan, the fifth Dalai Lama
Five Great Books: the future Buddha Maitreya’s Abhisa-
(1617-1682) assumed power as head of the government. The
maya¯lamka¯m:ra (Ornament for clear realization), a rendering
lineage of Dalai Lamas maintained this position until the
of the hidden teaching on the path structure in the Perfection
Chinese takeover in 1959.
of Wisdom Su¯tras; this work is usually studied for six or seven
The Dge lugs pa educational system so captured the
years.
imagination of Tibetans that its universities attracted great
The class then passes on to the second Great Book,
numbers of men. Dge lugs pa gradually became the domi-
Candrak¯ırti’s Madhyamaka¯vata¯ra (Supplement to [Na¯ga¯r-
nant mode of religious education and the dominant cultural
juna’s] treatise on the middle), to explore for two years the
force in an area ranging from the Kalmyk Mongolian lands
explicit teaching on the emptiness of inherent existence ex-
in Russia near the Caspian Sea through Outer Mongolia,
pounded in the Perfection of Wisdom Su¯tras. Next is Vasu-
Inner Mongolia, Mongolian Siberia, parts of China, and
bandhu’s Abhidharmako´sa (Treasury of manifest knowl-
Tibet. Lhasa, with its large Dge lugs pa universities, became
edge), a compendium of the types and nature of afflicted
the cultural, religious, educational, medical, and astrological
phenomena (klis:t:adharma) as well as the pure phenomena
capital of Buddhist Inner Asia. Great influence was exercised
(vaiyavada¯nikadharma) that act as antidotes to them; this
by a complex system of education, devotion, meditation, and
takes two years. The fourth Great Book is Gunaprabha¯’s
cultism, the pattern for which was set by brilliant Dge lugs
Vinaya Su¯tra (Aphorisms on discipline), also studied for two
pa leaders in Lhasa over several centuries.
years.
In Lhasa each monastery had at least two competing fac-
Each year throughout the entire twenty-year program,
ulties and student bodies, which periodically met to debate
time is taken out for pursuit of the last of the Great Books,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DGE LUGS PA
2323
Dharmak¯ırti’s Pra¯man:avarttika (Commentary on [Dig-
the most subtle consciousness, the fundamental innate mind
na¯ga’s] compilation of prime cognition), largely epistemo-
of clear light, is actualized, the wind (Skt., pra¯na; Tib.,
logical and logical studies. At the end there are several years
rlung), or energy, associated with this most subtle conscious-
for review and preliminary rounds of debate in preparation
ness is said to be used as the substantial cause for appearing
for the national yearly debate competition in Lhasa; the win-
in an actual divine body such that one no longer needs the
ner becomes a national hero.
old coarse body. Transformation is literally both mental and
physical.
Throughout the long course of study reasoned analysis
is stressed, but at the same time the student maintains daily
This most subtle mind is the same as the clear light of
practice of Tantric rites revolving around visualization of
death that terrifies ordinary beings, who fear they are being
himself as a deity. He also participates in cultic rites at the
annihilated when it manifests. The Dge lugs pa system of ed-
university, college, and subdivision levels to appease and sat-
ucation is aimed at overcoming this fear of one’s own most
isfy various protector deities associated with those units, and
basic nature; thus it suggests that the sense of otherness that
participates in devotional assemblies on a daily basis centered
many of the world’s cultures associate with profound reli-
on deities like the savioress Ta¯ra¯. Because of the long training
gious experience of the awesome is based on a misconception
period in su¯tra studies, this less obvious, yet very strong and
about the basic nature of one’s own being. Further, it sug-
even dominant Tantric side of Dge lugs pa often goes unno-
gests that this fear and sense of otherness can be caused to
ticed by foreign observers.
disappear through an understanding of the actual status of
phenomena, which is gained through reasoned investigation
After taking a dge b´shes degree, a monk can proceed to
brought to the level of a profoundly moving experience. This
a Tantric college, the two prime ones being the Tantric Col-
highly developed view of the compatibility of reason and
lege of Upper Lhasa and the Tantric College of Lower Lhasa.
deep mystic insight, expressed in a system of education and
Both have as their main purpose the study, transmission, and
ritual exercise, is a distinctive feature of Dge lugs pa.
practice of the Guhyasama¯ja Tantra, again through the ex-
tensive commentaries of Tsong kha pa. The distinguishing
Since the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet in 1959, just
feature of Tantrism is deity yoga; its practitioners meditate
prior to the takeover of the government by Chinese Commu-
on themselves as having the physical form not of an ordinary
nists, a refugee community of Dge lugs pas under his leader-
person, but of a deity embodying the highest levels of wis-
ship (which is not confined to members of the Dge lugs pa
dom and compassion.
order) has, in scattered places throughout India, reestab-
lished smaller versions of Lhasa’s three main monastic uni-
Underlying this entire program of religious immersal
versities (each having two competing colleges as subdivi-
through doctrinal, devotional, ritualistic, and meditational
sions) as well as two of the Tantric colleges and the
means is a commitment to reason. The harmony of reason
monasteries of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Thus the
with the most profound religious experiences of compassion,
Dge lugs pa educational system has been reestablished in
wisdom, deity yoga, and manifestation of the fundamental
India and, as of 2003, involved approximately ten thousand
innate mind of clear light is stressed. Meditation is viewed
monks. There are also approximately eight hundred Dge lugs
as being of two varieties, stabilizing (or fixating) meditation
pa nuns in India and Nepal, with scholastic education being
and analytical meditation, with the latter receiving great
introduced in the early 1990s in some nunneries, a remark-
stress in Dge lugs pa. To develop compassion, reflective rea-
able development in the empowerment of women. Clearly
soning is used to enhance basic feelings that are recognized
this re-establishment of monastic training in exile is a feat of
as part of common experience. To develop wisdom, reflective
considerable achievement by an overall Tibetan refugee pop-
reasoning is used in an intricately devised process so that the
ulation in India and Nepal of 120,000.
student may penetratively understand the incorrectness of as-
sent to the false appearance of phenomena as if they existed
SEE ALSO Buddhism, Schools of; Dalai Lama; Tsong kha
in their own right. The aim is not merely to defeat rival sys-
pa.
tems but to overcome an innate, unlearned misconception
of the nature of phenomena.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Such analytically derived realization of emptiness con-
The study of Dge lugs pa is in its infancy, but several helpful expo-
stitutes the first step in practicing deity yoga in Tantrism.
sitions have emerged. For a historical and political study, see
The wisdom consciousness—the realization of emptiness im-
David L. Snellgrove and Hugh E. Richardson’s A Cultural
pelled by compassion—is then used as the basis for manifest-
History of Tibet (1968; reprint, Boulder, Colo., 1980),
ing as a divine being. The wisdom consciousness itself ap-
pp. 177–267. An anthropological treatment of Dge lugs pa
power structures is found in Martin A. Mills’ Identity, Ritual
pears as a deity in an indivisible fusion of wisdom and
and State in Tibetan Buddhism: The Foundations of Authority
compassion that is symbolized by a vajra, a diamond. Utiliz-
in Gelukpa Monasticism (London and New York, 2003). A
ing these continuous divine appearances, stabilizing medita-
short biography of Tsong kha pa, the founder of Dge lugs
tion can then be performed on essential points within the
pa, and scattered samples of his teachings are given in The
body to induce subtler levels of consciousness that are used
Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Dharamsala, 1982), ed-
to realize the same emptiness of inherent existence. When
ited by Robert A. F. Thurman. Tsong kha pa’s Lam rim chen
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2324
DHAMMAKA¯YA MOVEMENT
mo is being translated as The Great Treatise on the Stages of
Highly skilled at organization and proselytization, this move-
the Path to Enlightenment by the Lamrim Chenmo Transla-
ment was also plagued by public controversies and periodi-
tion Committee, Joshua W.C. Cutler, editor-in-chief (vol-
cally threatened with suppression.
ume one: Ithaca, N.Y., 2000; volume three: Ithaca, N.Y.,
ORIGINS AND GROWTH. Dhammaka¯ya meditation was de-
2003). Tsong kha pa’s analytic style in which reason domi-
nates over and interprets tradition is evidenced in his Tantra
veloped in the early twentieth century by the Thai monk
in Tibet, translated and edited by me (London, 1977, Ithaca,
Luang Pho Sot Jandasaro¯ (Thai: Cˇhanthasaro¯). Supporting
N.Y., 1987). Glenn H. Mullin’s The Fourteen Dalai Lamas:
his teaching with references to the Pali texts of Therava¯da
A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation (Santa Fe, 2001) includes
Buddhism, Sot claimed his new method of meditation was
biographies of all fourteen Dalai Lamas. Janice D. Willis’s
taught by the Buddha and resulted in an actual vision of the
Enlightened Beings: Life Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradi-
Buddha’s essence. Though these teachings eventually proved
tion (Boston, 1995) presents hagiographies of a number of
controversial, they drew little note in Sot’s day. He was even-
saints from the Dge lugs pa order. For a stirring autobiogra-
tually appointed abbot of Wat Paknam in what is now west-
phy of a Dge lugs pa scholar and lama as well as a description
ern Bangkok, which he made a center of dhammaka¯ya teach-
of the course of training and basic teachings of the school,
ing and practice, a role continued into the late twentieth
see The Life and Teaching of Geshé Rabten, translated and ed-
century.
ited by B. Alan Wallace (London, 1980). Georges B.J. Drey-
fus’s The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a
Following Sot’s death in 1959, several disciples contin-
Tibetan Buddhist Monk (Berkeley, Calif, 2003) compares the
ued teaching his method. By the late 1960s one of them, a
educational systems of Dge lugs pa monasteries with that of
white-robed nun named Chandra Khonnokyoong (Thai,
Rnying ma pa. A sense of how a Dge lugs pa scholar’s mind
C
ˇ han Khonnokyu¯ng), had attracted a group of university
probes issues can be gained from Lati Rinbochay’s Mind in
Tibetan Buddhism, edited, translated, and introduced by
students into her circle. In 1969 one of them, a recent gradu-
Elizabeth Napper (London, 1980); in this work the topic of
ate of Kasetsart University, took ordination as Phra Dham-
basic psychology is examined in depth. The themes of death,
machaiyo (Pali, Dhammajayo¯; Thai, Thammachaiyo¯) and
the subtler levels of consciousness, and the mind of clear
served from then on as titular head of this new branch of the
light, as presented by an eighteenth-century Dge lugs pa
movement. By 1970 Chandra’s core of devotees had attract-
scholar, Yang jen ga way lo drö, is given in Lati Rinbochay
ed the funds to establish a new meditation center just north
and my Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth in Tibetan
of Bangkok, and the movement’s activities rapidly expanded.
Buddhism (London, 1979, Ithaca, N.Y., 1985), and these
By the early 1980s the movement had attracted thousands
topics are also treated in intimate and practical detail in His
of devotees, and its meditation center was now registered as
Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Advice of Dying and Living a Better
a monastery under the name Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya.
Life (New York, 2002). The doctrine of emptiness and its
place in the Dge lugs pa worldview is presented in consider-
The founders of Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya had a talent
able detail, drawing from several works of their scholastic tra-
for organization. The movement’s core of university and
dition, in my works Meditation on Emptiness (London,
technical-school students quickly took control of the student
1983,1996), Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism
Buddhist clubs at several of the most prestigious campuses
(Berkeley, Calif., 1999), and Reflections on Reality (Berkeley,
in Bangkok. In the 1980s on-campus activities expanded
Calif., 2002). How the doctrine of emptiness and expression
of compassion is practiced in Anuttarayoga Tantra is pres-
rapidly, and by the late 1980s the movement controlled clubs
ented in detail in Daniel Cozort’s Highest Yoga Tantra (Itha-
on more than fifty campuses around the country. The group
ca, N.Y., 1986).
also organized annual meditation and indoctrination retreats
that gradually increased in length and numbers. In Thai
PAUL JEFFREY HOPKINS (1987 AND 2005)
Buddhism, young men have long been expected to undertake
temporary ordination before assuming adult responsibilities,
but for many urban men this tradition had become increas-
DHAMMAKA¯YA MOVEMENT.
ingly abbreviated, and the movement was seeking to reverse
At the turn of
this trend. By the late 1980s the Dhammaka¯ya movement’s
the twenty-first century, the Dhammaka¯ya (Thai,
program of meditation retreats, which it dubbed
Thammaka¯i) movement was one of the most dynamic and
dhammada¯ya¯da (Thai, thammatha¯ya¯t, meaning “heir of the
controversial aspects of Thai Therava¯da Buddhism. The Pali
dhamma”), was enrolling more than a thousand participants
word dhammaka¯ya corresponds to the Sanskrit term
a year in a program that entailed a two-month commitment
dharmaka¯ya, which in Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism has come to
and culminated in a highly publicized mass ordination.
refer to one of the three aspects of the buddha-nature, specif-
ically its unmanifest yet all-pervading essence. By the late
In the 1980s a competing center opened in Ratchaburi
twentieth century the term had also been applied to a specific
province, a little west of Bangkok. This center, led by Phra
meditation method and to the movements that taught it. By
Sermchai Chaiyamanggalo, became registered as the monas-
the early twenty-first century, the most prominent of these
tery Wat Luang Pho Sodh Dhammaka¯yaram, which takes
movements, based at Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya on the north
great pains to distance itself from Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya.
edge of Bangkok, had attracted tens of thousands of followers
A third center, Wat Paknam, reportedly also functions as a
in Thailand and established several branch centers abroad.
center of dhammaka¯ya teachings. However, as of late 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
DHAMMAKA¯YA MOVEMENT
2325
the largest, best known, and most controversial of the move-
The meditation. Participants in dhammaka¯ya medita-
ments continued to be the one based at Wat Phra
tion are urged to relax, focus on a meditative object such as
Dhammaka¯ya.
a clear crystal ball, and recite the mantra samma¯ a¯rahan˙
(Thai, samma¯ a¯rahang, literally, “fullness of spiritual attain-
By the late 1980s Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya was drawing
ment”). When devotees meditate in groups, as they often do,
a congregation of more than 1,000 on Sundays (more than
the voice of the session leader becomes an additional (unac-
5,000 at the beginning of the month), and claimed to draw
knowledged) meditative object.
more than 50,000 on major Buddhist observances. Its fol-
lowers also organized branch meditation groups and centers
Leaders teach that when meditators have become suffi-
throughout the country, and by the 1990s several overseas
ciently skilled, or their store of merit sufficiently full, they
branches had also been organized. By the late 1990s the
will see a glowing sphere called the pat:hommamagga (Thai,
crowds had gotten even larger, and the organization had ac-
pathommamak, or “beginning of the path”). As they continue
quired a full square mile of land and was nearing completion
to gaze upon the sphere, it should pass through a series of
of a massive stupa faced by a pavilion said to accommodate
self-representations (or “sheaths”) of increasing clarity, re-
100,000 people. Meditation retreats continued to multiply
sulting in a vision of the dhammaka¯ya. Visual representa-
(including dhammada¯yada retreats for young women), and
tions of these successive sheaths show a glowing circle con-
the movement had required additional land for temples and
taining a man sitting in meditation; in the later spheres he
meditation sites throughout the country.
is wearing a yellow robe, and in the final, “dhammaka¯ya,”
CONTROVERSIES. The Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya movement
sheath he looks like a glowing saint, or Buddha.
has been plagued by controversy throughout its existence.
The dhammaka¯ya seen in meditation is a self-
Criticisms have focused variously on its style of meditation,
representation both of the Buddha’s eternal essence and of
its interpretation of the terms dhammaka¯ya and nirva¯n:a, the
the buddhahood within. Thus the meditator does not attain
alleged self-aggrandizement of its leaders, and the potential
something he or she does not have, but rather sees what was
threat to competing streams of Thai Therava¯da Buddhism
already there. This clarity is founded on the merit accumulat-
entailed by its size, its financial power, and its political con-
ed in past lives, but is enhanced by the practice of medita-
nections.
tion, especially dhammaka¯ya meditation. Not only can med-
The exact nature of the controversies changed over time.
itation on the dhammaka¯ya speed attainment of nirva¯n:a,
In the 1970s, the movement was thought to be communist
owing to the tremendous amount of merit it generates, but
because of its successes among university students, who at the
advanced practitioners can also use meditation to explore
time tended to be leftist. By the late 1980s the movement
past lives and to visit the heavens and hells of traditional Thai
was more likely to be considered right-wing due to its con-
Buddhist cosmology.
nections with the government and military officials; criticism
Points of orthodoxy. In many ways the Dhammaka¯ya
shifted to the movement’s size, ambitions, and organization-
movement operates entirely within the norms of Thai
al methods, though few in this period raised questions about
Therava¯da Buddhism. Its emphasis on meditation is paired
doctrinal issues. In addition, visible and sometimes violent
with an emphasis on lay morality and the promotion of Bud-
rifts arose between the movement’s educated urban followers
dhist identity and Buddhist missions. The movement justi-
and the farmers, who tended to be less well-connected and
fies its teachings with references to the Pali texts of the
outside the movement and who sometimes lost their liveli-
Therava¯da traditions, and the majority of its practices (other
hoods as the movement expanded its land holdings. These
than the meditation itself) are grounded in Thai Buddhist
conflicts came to a head in the late 1980s as the movement
convention. The cosmology is also fairly conventional, as-
was expanding its main center near Bangkok.
serting the reality of past and future lives, as well as the exis-
By the late 1990s, leading critics had amplified their at-
tence of multiple heavens and hells, all of which can be visit-
tacks to include allegations of doctrinal heresy. During this
ed (and experientially verified) through meditation.
period several of the movement’s leading monks were also
charged with financial improprieties. In the midst of this, the
Heterodox teachings. The movement also promotes
most serious crisis in the movement’s history, leading gov-
several heterodox teachings, two of which deserve special
ernmental officials seriously proposed replacing the monas-
note. The first has to do with the notion of the dhammaka¯ya.
tery’s entire leadership with non-dhammaka¯ya monks. In
The Dhammaka¯ya movement says that this notion, which
1999 Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya’s abbot was briefly suspended,
is found in the Pali texts, refers to the Buddha’s eternal es-
but the monastery and movement remained in the hands of
sence, or to the buddhahood within, which can be viewed
his deputies, and in late 2003 neither abbot nor movement
directly through meditation. Opponents say that the Pali ref-
seemed to have suffered lasting damage.
erences to dhammaka¯ya refer solely to the inwardly compre-
hended truth of the Buddha’s teachings.
TEACHINGS. Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya is known for its em-
phasis on meditation and on a strict lay morality. It is
The second of these teachings has to do with the nature
dhammaka¯ya meditation that has drawn the greatest
of nirva¯n:a. Although most Therava¯da teachers hold that
attention.
nirva¯n:a refers to a “snuffing out,” or the end of the cycle 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
2326
DHAMMAKA¯YA MOVEMENT
existence and suffering, the Dhammaka¯ya movement asserts,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
again with references to the Pali scriptures, that nirva¯n:a is
Despite the movement’s size and notoriety, there are few examples
a place where past buddhas can be visited through medi-
of English-language scholarship based on fieldwork with the
tation.
movement’s devotees. The best examples of fieldwork-based
writings include Apinya Fuengfusakul, “Empire of Crystal
It appears that these teachings were developed by Luang
and Utopian Commune: Two Types of Contemporary
Pho Sot, and versions of them are propagated by all of the
Therava¯da Reform in Thailand,” Sojourn: Social Issues in
movement’s competing branches. As noted above, until the
Southeast Asia 8, no. 1 (February 1993): 153–183, which in-
1990s these teachings drew little public comment, but late
cludes a description of the movement’s organizational struc-
in the decade they were the subject of much controversy, as
ture; Edwin Zehner, “Reform Symbolism of a Thai Middle-
opponents branded them heretical.
Class Sect: The Growth and Appeal of the Thammakai
Movement,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 21, no. 2
SIGNIFICANCE. In terms of the educated, relatively urban
(September 1990): 402–426, which includes discussion of
Thai culture from whom the movement draws most of its
the controversies of the 1980s and a description of a major
followers, Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya takes a middle of the road
religious observance at Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya; and Jeffrey
position, appealing to the mind while avoiding intellectual-
Bowers, Dhammakaya Meditation in Thai Society (Bangkok,
ism, and appealing to popular fascination with the miracu-
1996), a published master’s thesis that includes an extended
lous while rejecting traditional magical rituals. The move-
description of dhammaka¯ya meditation from the perspective
ment’s leaders lecture in classroom style, its followers read
of the rival center at Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dham-
religious literature voraciously, and the organization spon-
maka¯yaram. Of these, Apinya has conducted the most sus-
sors Pali quiz contests, yet its commitment to building its
tained fieldwork with the Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya move-
own organization, and the relatively simple nature of its
ment. Unfortunately, most of her fieldwork results are avail-
able only in the Thai-language research report titled
teachings, separate it from more intellectual Thai Buddhist
Sa¯tsanathat khong chumchon mvang samai mai: suksa¯ karan¯ı
leaders such as Buddhada¯sa and Prayut Payutto. On the
wat phra thammaka¯i [Religious perspectives of contemporary
practice side, the movement believes strongly in the action
urban society: A case study of Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya]
of karma and the beneficial power of merit (especially merit
(Bangkok, [undated, but appearing sometime between 1996
accumulated through meditation); many devotees expect
and 1998]).
that the practice of dhammaka¯ya meditation will not only
help to calm the mind, but can also have miraculous effects
For information on the controversies of the 1980s, see Zehner
(1990, cited above) and Peter A. Jackson, Buddhism, Legiti-
on external circumstances. Yet the movement also discour-
mation, and Conflict: The Political Functions of Urban Thai
ages allegedly “non-Buddhist” or “magical” practices such as
Buddhism (Singapore, 1989). The best set of English-
traditional divination, possession, and healing rituals.
language materials on the controversies of the late 1990s is
Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya is an extension of the nine-
the archive of articles maintained by the Bangkok Post at
http://www.bangkokpost.com. Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya
teenth-century reforms of Prince Mongkut (later King Rama
(under the guise of its Dhammaka¯ya Foundation) maintains
IV) and Prince-Patriarch Vajiraña¯n:a (Thai, Wachirayan),
its own website at http://www.dhammakaya.or.th/, and the
who fully accepted Western science for investigating and
rival Wat Luang Phor Sodh Dhammaka¯yaram maintains a
mastering the material world, while asserting traditional Thai
website at http://www.concentration.org/. Both websites in-
Buddhist cosmology as the means of understanding one’s
clude information about teachings and recent events.
place in the world and strict textualism as a means of under-
standing Buddhism. To this reformist stance the Wat Phra
For scholarly interpretations of the Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya
movement, see Donald K. Swearer, “Fundamentalistic
Dhammaka¯ya movement added late-twentieth-century orga-
Movements in Therava¯da Buddhism,” in Fundamentalisms
nizational and public-relations techniques, along with a
Observed, edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby,
pragmatism, emphasis on lay practice, and advertisement of
pp. 628–690 (Chicago, 1991), which analyzes the move-
success that appeals to many educated city dwellers. Unlike
ment as a kind of Buddhist fundamentalism; also Charles F.
most earlier Buddhist movements, Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya
Keyes, “Buddhist Politics and Their Revolutionary Origins
organizes lay practice much like a school would organize its
in Thailand,” International Political Science Review 10, no. 2
students or a corporation its workers, while continuing to
(1989): 121–142, which cites the movement as an example
proclaim the superiority of the monastic path. The organiza-
of the recently increased emphasis in Thai Buddhism on
tion views its role as calling people, especially secularly edu-
seeking a better future through ethically impelled practical
cated people, back to a whole-hearted devotion to Bud-
action. Several authors, including Zehner, Jackson, and
dhism, while hoping to make Wat Phra Dhammaka¯ya the
Keyes (all cited above), have explored aspects of the move-
primary center through which meditation’s meritorious
ment’s appeal to its primarily urban, middle-class following.
Additional information on the social and economic contexts
power will be channeled for the benefit of the world.
of the movement is provided in Pasuk Phongpaichit and
Chris Baker’s respected survey Thailand: Economy and Poli-
SEE ALSO Buddhism, article on Buddhism in Southeast
tics (Kuala Lumpur, 1995).
Asia; Buddhist Meditation, article on Therava¯da Buddhist
Meditation.
EDWIN ZEHNER (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
DHARMA: HINDU DHARMA
2327
DHARMA
too important to gloss over by means of one term. Nonethe-
This entry consists of the following articles:
less, the lexical meanings of dharma remain extremely diverse
HINDU DHARMA
and the decision to translate the word into one term or an-
BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
other remains difficult and context-sensitive.
In fact, the wealth and subtlety of meanings denoted by
DHARMA: HINDU DHARMA
dharma belies any brief definition. Even a cursory glance at
The term dharma, central to Hindu conceptions of morality,
the numerous textual examples reveals a number of broad
tradition, and national identity, is a notoriously difficult one
meanings. Like the term r:ta, which refers to the Vedic con-
to define. Standard definitions relate the word variously to
ception of cosmic and social order, dharma is depicted as a
the individual’s duty to observe custom or law, to the indi-
cosmological principle that encompasses both the structure
vidual’s conformity to duty and nature, or to divine law it-
of reality and the essential rightness of this structure. It is
self. An examination of the word in context, however, quick-
Varun:a’s dharma that separates Heaven and Earth, and
ly reveals that all of these simple definitions gloss over
Mitra-Varun:a are the two guardians of this order, whose laws
numerous complexities and contradictions. This is primarily
are truth itself (R:gveda 6.70.1; 5.63.1). Both of these gods
due to the fact that dharma both embraces and tries to bridge
are wise with dharma (R:gveda 5.63.7). This conception ex-
a foundational ambiguity in Hindu thought.
tends to the much later dharma texts. Manusmr:ti (Manu),
for example, argues that the practice of appointing a childless
Hindu cosmologies, histories, and normative traditions
widow to another man is unacceptable because it destroys the
describe a wide gap that separates that which is essentially
eternal dharma or the natural order of things (9.64).
true and eternal from its historic and contingent manifesta-
tions. The broadest and most compelling way of putting the
Dharma often recurs in the plural nominal form in
matter is in the distinction between Veda (transcendent
Vedic literature, referring either to religious laws or ritual
knowledge) and itiha¯sa (history), or between ´sruti (revela-
practices. Agni is said to cherish the laws (dharmani) (R:gveda
tion) and smr:ti (tradition based on memory). S´ruti represents
5.26.6; 8.43.24). Soma, like a steer, which is both powerful
the source of absolute authority—revealed knowledge—
and fecund, ordains laws (R:gveda 9.64.1), while Varun:a en-
while smr:ti is the tradition that humans obey in order to live
forces them (R:gveda 7.89.5), but the sacrifices are the first
the sanctioned life. At the heart of Hinduism, then, is this
laws (Atharvaveda 7.51). In fact, several Vedic gods are given
paradox: the tradition that tells Hindus how to live in the
the name Dharma or some variation of it, most notably Agni,
world is a tradition of recollection, and memory must bridge
who is called Svadharma—“whose very self is the law”
a daunting gap between the present and the timeless
(R:gveda 3.21.2). Other gods who bear the name Dharma are
absolute.
Savitr:, Vi´svadeva, Mitra, and Varun:a. And, of course, Dhar-
ma himself is a Vedic god (R:gveda 8.35.13) and the post-
The concept of dharma encompasses this paradox and
Vedic divine father of Yudhis:t:hira in the Maha¯bha¯rata
reflects Hindu cosmology’s understanding of the ambiguous
(1.1.69).
relationship between absolute truth and history and time, be-
tween revelation and remembrance. This can be seen, for ex-
The strong religious and ritual meanings of dharma ex-
ample, in the story that holds that Praja¯pati composed a
tend to post-Vedic literature, including Dharmasu¯tras and
book on dharma that, at one thousand chapters, was so vast
Dharma´sa¯stras, but more specialized meanings are added as
it had to be reduced to a mere four thousand ´slokas in order
well. Dharma can mean “Law” as a sacred normative order
to accommodate human frailty (Na¯radasmr:ti, Introduction).
of reality, as in the A¯pastamba Dharmasu¯tra, in which a stu-
It can also be seen in the belief that at the end of each cosmic
dent is encouraged to take delight in dharma (5.11). A simi-
age (yuga) the Veda will disappear, requiring recurring dhar-
lar meaning attaches to dharma in Manu, in which the birth
ma legislation at the beginning of each successive new age
of a bra¯hman:a is described as the eternal physical form of
(Vis:n:u Pura¯n:a 3.2). Something eternal and absolute remains
dharma (1.98).
forever, but what we as humans see of it changes, gets lost
The renowned cosmological doctrine of the four yugas
to forgetfulness, and must be gleaned from limited memory
(aeons) entails the successive deterioration of dharma. In
in order to serve as a binding moral tradition. These pro-
Manu, dharma is compared to a bull that loses one leg in
foundly important ideas must be taken into account in any
each age following the initial Kr:tayuga. This conception,
attempt to understand the concept of dharma and the nature
along with the implication that the loss of dharma leads to
of ethical discourse within Hinduism.
a deterioration of health and longevity in each age, resembles
THE LEXICAL DIVERSITY OF DHARMA. Dharma is generally
the Vedic doctrine of r:ta in which moral and natural factors
understood as a concept that encompasses several meanings,
are inseparable. A sense prevails here that dharma implies
including morality, law, religion, and tradition, as well as the
some substance that increases or diminishes with the rise or
nature of reality or the nature of individual members of soci-
fall of order—or, for that matter, with the observance of ritu-
ety. For contemporary and western scholarship this is far too
als or good and bad actions. This “substance” has often been
ambiguous: the conceptual distinction between the nature of
translated as “merit” in texts that use dharma in the following
reality and morality, or between religious and legal rules is
sense: “Four things increase and thrive for a man who habitu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2328
DHARMA: HINDU DHARMA
ally greets other people . . . long life, dharma, fame and
contentment” (a¯tma-tus:t:i) or conscience. The doctrine of the
strength” (Manu 2.121; 3.131). This sense of dharma over-
four sources (or “feet”—pada) of dharma achieves two pri-
laps with the ethical and eschatological domain of karma in
mary goals: one is technical, the second ideological. Techni-
its psychological implications as pun:ya (merit) or pa¯pa (de-
cally, the four sources reflect a hierarchy of prestige and
merit or sin)—the attendant consequences of doing right or
therefore the ranking of applicability among rules. One may
wrong. Perhaps “virtue” would be a fair translation for dhar-
look to tradition only where the Vedas are silent and to good
ma in the sense of a quality that attaches to individuals who
custom only where the first two say nothing. In a conflict
follow the law—though the distinction between the law that
between rules—for instance, the widow’s right to inherit as
is followed and the virtue that increases may be arbitrary
opposed to her obligation to perform sat¯ı (self-immolation)
here.
on the funeral pyre—the rule that originates in a higher
source of dharma prevails.
The meanings of dharma extend far beyond the topics
mentioned above to areas that circumscribe the social do-
The ideological goal of this doctrine is to ground dhar-
main, particularly law and morality. A paradigmatic expres-
ma (as contingent law and morality) in a transcendent and
sion of this usage is the famous statement in the S´anti Parvan
fixed source of authority. The law on the books, the custom-
of the Maha¯bha¯rata that dharma restrains the evil acts of men
ary practice in the region, even moral common sense, ulti-
and helps the acquisition and preservation of wealth
mately point to the Veda and to the sacred order of reality.
(12.91.5). In other words, dharma can be broadly under-
Despite the efforts of some scholars, such as P. V. Ka¯ne,
stood as the law that underlies social order—a juridical
to show that the Vedas do cover a wide array of dharma top-
equivalent of law as cosmic order, or a principle of absolute
ics, and even specific rules, most contemporary scholars agree
justice: “Because of dharma alone people are sustained in
that the Vedic texts (sam:hita¯) contain little in the way of ex-
their separate stations” (Maha¯bha¯rata 12.110.11). The broad
plicit rules of conduct. Consequently, the Veda should be re-
principle that upholds social order and economic activity be-
garded as a source of authority, a metaphysical constitution,
comes instantiated in the work of the king as the dispenser
so to speak, rather then a positive source for rules of conduct
of justice: “No one should violate the justice (dharma) that
or ethical reasoning. This recognition underlies the later syn-
the king dispenses” (Manu 7.13). The king is the guardian
thesizing theories of M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ philosophers. When the
of dharma in this sense, and the paradigmatically righteous
foundational M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ text, Jaimini’s M¯ıma¯m:sa¯su¯tras
king, Yudhis:t:hira in the Maha¯bha¯rata, is the dharma ra¯ja.
(c. 100 BCE), states that dharma is a beneficial act indicated
But dharma also refers to the specific laws that the king
by Vedic injunction, it is attempting to ground the authority
enforces, such as the law (dharma) for the division of inheri-
of contingent rules of conduct on the eternal validity of
tance (Manu 1.115), the duties of husband and wife (Manu
Vedic language and its meanings (1.1.2). In other words, the
8.7), the duties of the priest (Manu 12.71), and others. The
M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ philosopher, like his colleagues within the Nya¯ya
distinction made between rules of conduct that are enforced
and Vai´ses:ika schools, is aware of the gap that separates pres-
by the court (“positive law”) and those that are sanctioned
ent circumstances and the justifying norm, which is said to
by religious principles (God’s revenge, hell, karman), does
be eternal and immutable. The commentaries on the
not apply here. The legal concept of vyavaha¯ra (legal transac-
M¯ıma¯m:sa¯su¯tras, such as that of Kuma¯rila, argue that what
tion), often contrasted with dharma, simply refers to the
makes dharma binding even as it changes over time, is pre-
manner by which a legal dispute is brought to the attention
cisely this grounding of the language of dharma in the lan-
of the court, not to the source of authority or sanction. In
guage of Vedic injunctions. What makes dharma known are
other words, whatever particular problem the king addresses
the rules of interpretation based on M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ hermeneutics
(settling inheritance disputes; defining the boundary be-
of Vedic language, primarily the distinction between injunc-
tween the rights of two castes), the issue is always regarded
tion (vidhi) and statement of fact or embellishment
as a matter of dharma, in this case, ra¯ja dharma.
(arthava¯da). In short, the doctrine of the four sources of
dharma in its basic form, and the philosophical-grammatical
DHARMA AND AUTHORITY. The complexity and richness of
speculations on the link between dharma and Veda, reflect
dharma reflects not so much the failure to make conceptual
a sharp awareness of the problematic nature of law and mo-
distinctions as the multiplicity and durability of the tradi-
rality in relation to ultimate authority.
tions in which the term figures. A great number of texts over
THE LITERARY SOURCES OF DHARMA. Among its many lexi-
millennia simply cannot speak with one voice. Nonetheless,
cal meanings dharma can indicate “tradition” in a very broad
Hindu theorists began to synthesize and unify the concep-
sense, or, as sana¯tana dharma (eternal dharma), it can refer
tion of dharma from an early age. Their theories seek to
to the normative tradition loosely identified with Hinduism.
ground dharma as rule of conduct in some type of metaphys-
However, in the narrower technical sense of rule of conduct
ical foundation such as the Vedic conception of r:ta. Possibly
(religious, moral, legal), dharma is found mainly in a large
the oldest such theory is found in the Gautama Dharmasu¯tra,
but clearly circumscribed literary corpus.
which lists three sources (mu¯la) of dharma (1.1–2). These are
Veda, tradition, and good custom. Later dharma texts (such
The Vedic Sam:hita¯s do contain some references to mat-
as Manu and Ya¯jñavalkya) added a fourth, namely “self-
ters of dharma, and the newer Gr:hyasu¯tras are systematic ex-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DHARMA: HINDU DHARMA
2329
positions of procedures for domestic and life-cycle rituals.
of succession and inheritance, throughout India, with the ex-
However, the explicit and comprehensive enumeration of
ception of Bengal, where the Da¯yabha¯ga digest of
dharma rules begins with the Dharmasu¯tras, which originally
J¯ımu¯tava¯hana (twelfth century) prevailed. The Anglo-Indian
belonged to Kalpasu¯tras associated with specific Vedic
courts turned the Mita¯ks:ara¯ into the virtual law code for per-
schools. The four major Dharmasu¯tras are attributed to Gau-
sonal law under British dominion.
tama, Baudha¯yana, Vasis:t:ha, and A¯pastamba. The texts,
While commentaries were being composed in medieval
written in the post-Bra¯hman:a period but notoriously diffi-
and early modern India for the sake of clarifying and pro-
cult to date, were probably composed between 600 and 200
moting legal schools, large compendia or digests (nibandhas)
BCE. The su
¯tra texts were composed in a brief aphoristic
also began to appear. These were collections of quotes from
prose style, and they are regarded as parts of the smr:ti (rather
the older dharma texts, logically arranged under various
than Veda) tradition within the broad classification of the
headings, with occasional brief commentaries. The most
four sources of dharma. Far grander in scale and elaboration
prominent among the many digests were the Kr:tyakalpataru
are the Dharma´sa¯stras, written in ´sloka (a four-part meter)
of Laks:m¯ıdhara (twelfth century), which was a vast collec-
verse using the classical Sanskrit that was the hallmark of the
tion of nearly 30,000 ´slokas. The Smr:ti Candrika¯ of Devanna
Ra¯ma¯yan:a and Maha¯bha¯rata as well. The S´a¯stras cover the
Bhat:t:a is a South Indian digest from roughly the same period
same topics as the Dharmasu¯tras but they expand and add
and contains a very important commentary on the
detail, and they reflect many of the social changes that took
Dharma´sa¯stra. Additional works of note include the Viva¯da
place in the intervening centuries. The major, and oldest,
Ratna¯kara of Can:d:e´svara, the Smr:ti Sindhu of Nanda
works are Ma¯nava Dharma´sa¯stra (or Manusmr:ti),
Pan:d:ita, and the Vyavaha¯ra Mayu¯kha of N¯ılakan:t:ha Bhat:t:a.
Ya¯jñavalkyasmr:ti, and Na¯radasmr:ti. Like the preceding su¯tra
texts, these works are impossible to date with precision. The
It is important to note that along with the specialized
most renowned and often-discussed of all dharma texts,
sources of dharma there have always been the informal or
Manusmr:ti, reveals the hand of several compilers and con-
popular sources of moral and religious norms. Among many
tains both internal and external evidence of a contradictory
others, these include mythical and folk narratives contained
nature (see Doniger and Smith, 1991). Its dating is very
in the Maha¯bha¯rata and Ra¯ma¯yan:a (along with explicit dhar-
broadly placed between the third century
ma sections), oral and theatrical performances in temples or
BCE and the second
or third century
during festivals, the Pañcatantra and Hitopade´sa (collections
CE. Ya¯jñavalkya and Na¯rada are slightly
more recent, as are additional dharma texts such as
of stories about moral and pragmatic conduct), the
Para¯´sarasmr:ti, Br:haspatismr:ti, and Ka¯tya¯yanasmr:ti.
Katha¯saritsa¯gara, the plays of Ka¯lida¯sa and other dramatists,
the Pura¯n:as, and devotional songs.
Roughly contemporary texts with the early
THE TOPICS OF DHARMA. Because the concept of dharma
Dharmasu¯tras, and serving as respected sources of dharma,
is so fluid and encompasses so many domains, it is difficult
are the two great epics, the Ra¯ma¯yan:a and Maha¯bha¯rata. The
to limit the range of dharma to a fixed set of “topics.” In a
latter is a consciously framed model of good conduct, and
sense, everything is dharma. Still, the most prestigious and
the twelfth book (S´anti Parvan) is a virtual encyclopedia of
systematic literary source of dharma, Manu, does consciously
dharma. Georg Bühler believed that a full 10 percent of the
enumerate a number of clearly defined areas. Manu 1.111–
´slokas in Manu were shared with the Maha¯bha¯rata, and
118 serves as a general table of contents for the work as a
P. V. Ka¯ne gives the nod of precedence to the Dharma´sa¯stra.
whole and includes the following major topics, among oth-
The Artha´sa¯stra of Kaut:ilya, though specializing in matters
ers: rituals of change (sam:ska¯ras—“rites of passage”), the du-
of statecraft and polity over law and morality, was nonethe-
ties of a student, rules for marriage, sacrifices and last rites,
less a valuable source of ra¯ja dharma, or the rules that apply
rules that describe and restrict means of livelihood, food, pu-
to the king. It dates to the first two centuries BCE, perhaps
rification, the duties of women, rules for the ascetic, matters
to the court of Candragupta Maurya.
relating to the king and court procedure, rules for husband
Far more specialized as sources of dharma are the com-
and wife, inheritance, protection of the state, rules for time
mentaries (bha¯s:ya) that have been attached to the
of emergency, expiation, and rules that apply to foreigners
Dharma´sa¯stras, especially Manu and Ya¯jñavalkya. The oldest
and heretical social groups.
is Bha¯ruci’s commentary on Manu—an incomplete work,
VARN:A¯S´RAMADHARMA. The central domain of dharma,
possibly of South Indian origins. The most prestigious com-
which gradually came to be equated by several texts with
mentary on Manu from the perspective of adjudication, is
dharma itself, is varn:a¯´sramadharma: the duties of the four
Medha¯tithi, dating to the ninth or tenth century. However,
social classes (varn:as) and the four stages of life (a¯´sramas)
the Manvartha Mukta¯vali of Kullu¯ka, a fifteenth century
(Vis:n:usmr:ti 1.48; Ya¯jñavalkyasmr:ti 1.1). The social classes
work composed in Banaras, is far more comprehensive and
include the bra¯hman:a (priest), ks:atriya (warrior), vai´sya
clear. The Dharma´sa¯stra of Ya¯jñavalkya also inspired several
(merchant), and ´su¯dra (laborer). The Dharma´sa¯stras explic-
commentaries. By far the most important was the Mita¯ks:ara¯,
itly regard these as social categories rather than specific or de-
authored by Vijña¯ne´svara in the eleventh century. This large
finitive occupations. All ks:atriyas are not warriors and many
work had a vast influence on family law, especially matters
bra¯hman:as perform tasks different than officiating in rituals.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2330
DHARMA: HINDU DHARMA
Still, the rules that indicate the appropriate duties (svadhar-
age) and a¯paddharma (rules for time of emergency). But ad-
ma) befitting each social class are firm, enforced by the rule
ditional techniques included the M¯ıma¯ms:a¯ distinction be-
of law and fortified by the threat of ritual pollution and the
tween injunctive text (vidhi) and mere explanatory passages
retributive psychology of karman. Some svadharma rules
(arthava¯da), as well as the concept of loka-vidvis:t:a—norms
may be suspended during times of emergency (a¯paddharma).
that are odious to the public despite their origin in dharma
The rules or duties that apply to all members of society are
texts.
designated sa¯dha¯ran:a (or sa¯ma¯nya) dharma. These are not
very numerous and, though prestigious, they have never
The dharma literature does not provide more than a few
gained the sanctity one sees invested within Judaism in the
dozen explicit examples of exceptions to the immutability of
Ten Commandments. There are several lists of
dharma. But the principle is familiar and prestigious, and so
sa¯dha¯ran:adharma but Manu specifies nonviolence (ahim:sa¯),
it may be invoked to substantiate legal and social reforms
truthfulness, not taking other people’s property (asteya), pu-
when the time is right. The most notorious examples among
rity, and restraint of the senses as the dharma of all the
the fifty or so Ka¯l¯ı-varjya rules are the prohibitions against
varn:as. The Va¯mana Pura¯n:a describes a tenfold dharma
n¯ıyoga—the pairing of a childless widow with her deceased
common to all, adding generosity, forbearance, quiescence,
husband’s brother, the remarriage of widowed virgins, eating
not demeaning oneself, and ascetic discipline to Manu’s list
meat, or killing a bra¯hman:a aggressor (in self-defense) (Ka¯ne,
(Ka¯ne, 1968–1975, vol. 2, p. 11).
1968–1975, vol. 3, pp. 930–968). The rules of a¯paddharma
tend to loosen prohibitions against upper-caste freedom: A
The doctrine of the four stages of life, so central to the
bra¯hman:a may study under a ks:atriya, upper-caste members
Dharma´sa¯stras, follows the older Dharmasu¯tra version (Gau-
may engage in low-caste professions (which are usually pol-
tama Dharmasu¯tra, Baudha¯yana Dharmasu¯tra), which in-
luting), a vai´sya may lend money at interest, and, most noto-
cluded only three stages: the student (brahmaca¯rin), the
riously, a high-caste Hindu may steal and eat polluting meat.
householder (gr:hasthin), and the forest-dweller
This latter case is illustrated in the famous story of
(va¯naprasthin) who is not a complete renouncer. Only from
Vi´sva¯mitra who stole dog meat from a can:d:a¯la (untouchable)
the su¯tra texts of A¯pastamba and Vasis:t:ha onwards does a
during time of drought and famine (Manu 10.108;
fourth a¯´srama emerge—that of the sam:nya¯sin who renounces
Maha¯bha¯rata 12.141.90), as well as in the lesser-known
all social relations and identity in full pursuit of moks:a (liber-
stories of Us:ati Cakra¯yan:a and, earliest of all, Va¯madeva
ation). The addition of the fourth stage of life represents, ac-
(R:gveda 4.18.13).
cording to Patrick Olivelle, the attempt to resolve a perceived
tension between the competing values of dharma and moks:a
Like the ranking of the four sources of dharma, these
in the enumeration of life’s four supreme values: ka¯ma (love),
concepts were intended to situate law and ethics in the his-
artha (wealth), dharma (morality), and moks:a (liberation). In
toric and contingent world while preserving dharma’s au-
broader terms yet, the addition of the fourth stage of life is
thority as grounded in Veda. However, when pressure for re-
another effort to encompass, by means of dharma, both con-
form began to build up under Anglo-Indian courts in the
tingent reality and transcendent or ultimate value. The syn-
nineteenth century, these devices were seldom explicitly in-
thesis corresponds to the contemporaneous drive to ground
voked by either reformers or conservatives, although they oc-
dharma in Veda as transcendent authority (pra¯man:a). Both
casionally figured in substance. The abolition of sat¯ı (widow
types of synthesis may have been historic reactions to the
burning), known as the Bengal Sat¯ı Regulation of 1829, was
challenges of heterodoxy (Buddhism, Jainism), or more spe-
the first major case to test the Dharma´sa¯stra and the judicial
cifically, the threat that the quietist or monastic life (nivr:tti)
autonomy given by the British to Hindu law in modern
posed to the pursuit of active engagement (pravr:tti) in social
times. Reformers claimed that sat¯ı did not originate in smr:ti
life. Hence, in Manu both nivr:tti and pravr:tti are regarded
(authoritative tradition—Dharmasu¯tras and Dharma´sa¯stras)
as domains of dharma, and the fourth stage of life (sam:nya¯sa)
but in custom, and that it was “revolting to the feelings of
is fully integrated into the a¯´sramadharma. In a different vein,
human nature.” The opponents of reform appealed both to
the roughly contemporary Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ resolves the tension
smr:ti (although the texts were sharply divided on the matter)
between meditative inactivity and varn:a duty (svadharma) by
and to the sanctity of “immemorial” practice in matters of
postulating yet other integrative concepts—devotion (bhak-
religious belief. In other words, both sides appealed to the
ti) to God (Kr:s:n:a) and selfless action.
prestige invested in the hierarchy of the four sources of dhar-
DHARMA, TIME, AND SOCIAL REFORM. The dharma texts,
ma, but the reformers also introduced the matter of
which tipped their hats to the eternal Veda as their eternal
loka-vidvis:t:a. Similar legal battles followed (for instance, the
source of authority (in theory), contained several rules of
Caste Removal of Disabilities Act of 1850; the Hindu
conduct that later communities were bound to find unwor-
Widow Remarriage Act XV of 1856). In the case of widow
thy of their values. A small number of hermeneutic and ideo-
remarriage, the opponents of reform appealed to the
logical devices were constructed either by the compilers of
Ka¯l¯ı-varjya principle as showing that precisely because the
dharma texts or by subsequent theorists to admit changes
Ka¯l¯ı age was morally depraved: widows, even the very young
into an ostensibly immutable tradition. Chief among these
and virgins, should not be allowed to remarry. These conser-
were the doctrines of Ka¯l¯ı-varjyas (rules unfit for the Ka¯l¯ı
vatives showed that the principle of overriding positive legal
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
2331
rules could be used as a tool for protecting the status quo and
Gharpure, J. R., trans. Hindu Law Texts: Ya¯jñavalkya Smr:ti with
not only for reform. The reformers, as usual, argued that the
Commentaries by Vijña¯ne´svara, Mitra-mi´sra, and S´u¯lapa¯n:i.
rule they wished to reform was not Sastric but rooted in cus-
7 vols. Bombay, 1936–1942.
tom, and that the change promoted social morality by en-
Mandlik, Vishwanath Narayan, ed. and trans. Vyavaha¯ra
shrining what the British called “equity.” Backed by British
Mayu¯kha. New Delhi, 1982.
courts and power, reformers consistently won the legal bat-
Olivelle, Patrick, ed. and trans. Rules and Regulations of Brahmani-
tles, but social practice was far slower to change.
cal Asceticism: Yatidharmasamuccaya of Ya¯dava Praka¯´sa. Al-
bany, N.Y., 1995.
Due to the fact that Hindu dharma has always encom-
passed religious, social, and juridical matters, twentieth-
Olivelle, Patrick, trans. The Dharmasu¯tras: The Law Codes of
century legislation has been strongly shaped by the culture
A¯pastamba, Gautama, Baudha¯yana, and Vasis:t:ha. New York,
of dharma. The social and legislative battles of the nineteenth
1999.
century continue to influence various aspects of Hindu law
Critical Studies
today in topics such as marriage, succession, adoption,
Creel, Austin. Dharma in Hindu Ethics. Calcutta, 1977. A detailed
guardianship, caste law, and minority rights. In other words,
and systematic ethical analysis of dharma.
conflicting interpretations of dharma still effect social policy
Derrett, J. Duncan M. Religion, Law, and the State in India. New
in India today. Moreover, the question of dharma has spilled
York, 1968.
out of the courtroom and legislature to become part of a far
Gupta, Ram Chandra. The Wonder That Is Hindu Dharma. Delhi,
more impassioned ideological contest over what constitutes
1987. A close and textually detailed study of dharma in a va-
Hindu consciousness (Hindutva) in the face of competing
riety of legal, religious, and social contexts.
values such as feminism, social equality, and religious
Ka¯ne, Pa¯nduranga Va¯mana. History of Dharma´sa¯stra. 2d ed. 5
pluralism.
vols. Poona, India, 1968–1975. A monumental historical
The concept of sana¯tanadharma, which both conserva-
and textual study of dharma, both in its narrower senses and
more broadly as the ritual and scriptural traditions of ancient
tives and liberals now often equate with normative Hindu
India.
identity, emerged in the early years of the nineteenth century
in response to Anglo-Indian social legislation. The orthodox
Lingat, Robert. The Classical Law of India. Translated by J. Dun-
opponents of Ram Mohan Roy (members of the Dharma
can M. Derrett. Berkeley, Calif., 1973. A clear and concise
introduction to dharma as legal tradition and as religious ide-
Sabha) used it as an ideological response to the reformers’
ology in history.
claim on the Veda as a source of equity and a blueprint for
reform. Sana¯tanadharma thus became conflated with Hindu
Narang, Sudesh, Urmi B. Gupta, and Urmila Rustagi, eds.
Dharma´sa¯stra in Contemporary Times. Delhi, 1988. Collec-
identity and national pride. This is how even such figures as
tion of essays linking Dharma´sa¯stra to social and legal issues
Aurobindo Ghose and India’s president-scholar Sarvepalli
in recent decades.
Radhakrishnan used the term. For social and religious con-
servatives, “sat¯ıdharma” could then be defended—as it is still
O’Flaherty, Wendy, and J. Duncan M. Derrett. The Concept of
Duty in South Asia. New Delhi, 1978. Studies by several
defended in some nationalist circles today—as a voluntary
scholars on the religious and philosophical aspects of
affirmation of national and religious ideology by Hindu
dharma.
women of courage. And, although no one justifies dowry
murders (the killing of brides whose dowry was deemed un-
Olivelle, Patrick. The A¯´srama System: The History and Hermeneu-
tics of a Religious Institution. New York, 1993.
satisfactory), or the violence toward Dalits (scheduled castes,
tribes) over matters of land or labor, the remedy for such
Saraswati, Baidyanath. Thinking about Tradition: The Indian Vi-
tragedies has been complicated by the ideological contest
sion. Varanasi (Banaras), India, 1988. Analytical and norma-
over the meaning of dharma and the seemingly ageless con-
tive essay on the meaning of dharma as tradition.
flation of religious and ethical discourse within matters of
Sternbach, Ludwik. Juridical Studies in Ancient Indian Law. 2
dharma.
vols. Delhi, 1965–1967.
Weinberger-Thomas, Catherine. Ashes of Immortality: Widow-
SEE ALSO Karman, article on Hindu and Jain Concepts;
Burning in India. Translated by Jeffrey Mehlman and David
S´a¯stra Literature; Su¯tra Literature; Varn:a and Ja¯ti; Vedas.
Gordon White. Chicago, 1999. Phenomenological and his-
torical study of sat¯ı ideology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARIEL GLUCKLICH (2005)
Primary Sources
Bhattacharya, Bhabatosh, trans. Dan:d:aviveka of Vardhama¯na
Upa¯dhya¯ya. Calcutta, 1973.
DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND
Derrett, J. Duncan M., trans. Bha¯ruci’s Commentary on the
DHARMAS
Manusmr:ti. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, Germany, 1975.
The pan-Indian term dharma (from the Sanskrit root dhr:,
Doniger, Wendy, and Brian Smith, trans. The Laws of Manu.
“to sustain, to hold”; Pali, dhamma; Tib., chos) has acquired
Harmondsworth, U.K., 1991.
a variety of meanings and interpretations in the course of
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2332
DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
many centuries of Indian religious thought. Buddhism shares
aspects are differentiated, two terms are employed: dharma,
this term and some of its meanings with other Indian reli-
as a body of religio-philosophical discourses as contained in
gions, but at the same time it has provided a set of unique
the Su¯tras, and Vinaya, or monastic discipline, the rules and
and exclusive interpretations of its own. Dharma can imply
regulations for the application and practice of dharma. The
many different meanings in various contexts and with refer-
Pra¯timoks:a (monastic code) contains rules of conduct, each
ence to different things. Here we shall consider it under two
of which is also called dharma.
general headings: the first as dharma in a general sense, com-
prising a variety of meanings, and the second as dharma(s)
The shortest and yet the clearest exposition of dharma
in a technical sense, denoting the ultimate constituents or el-
as the Buddha’s word (buddhavacana) is epitomized in
ements of the whole of the existing reality.
S´a¯kyamuni’s first sermon, when he “set in motion” (i.e., pro-
claimed) the wheel (lore) of dharma: the four noble truths
GENERAL USAGES. Dharma was and still is employed by all
and eightfold noble path. There is suffering and it has a cause
the religious denominations that have originated in India to
that can be eliminated through the knowledge and practice
indicate their religious beliefs and practices. In this sense,
of the path of dharma as summarized by the Eightfold Noble
dharma refers broadly to what we would term “religion.”
Path: right views, right conduct, and so forth. Another pre-
Dharma also designates the universal order, the natural law
sentation of the same path is articulated within the basic tril-
or the uniform norm according to which the whole world
ogy of monastic practice of cultivating wisdom (prajña¯), mo-
(sam:sa¯ra) runs its course. Within the Buddhist context this
rality (´s¯ıla), and meditation (dhya¯na). Through wisdom one
universal order is coordinated in the doctrine of dependent
acquires a full vision of dharma, through morality one puri-
origination (prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da). This rigorous natural law,
fies all that obscures the vision of dharma, and through medi-
which controls the sequence of events and the behavior and
tation one matures dharma within oneself and indeed trans-
acts of beings, has no cause or originator. It is beginningless
forms oneself into an epitome of dharma.
and functions of its own nature. It is said in the An˙guttara
Nika¯ya and the Sam:yutta Nika¯ya, and later rephrased in the
Dharma denotes truth, knowledge, morality, and duty.
Lan˙ka¯vata¯ra Su¯tra, that the nature of things is such that the
It is the truth about the state and function of the world, the
causal law as the inevitable determination of karman contin-
truth about how to eliminate its evil tendencies, and the
ues to evolve spontaneously whether or not the tatha¯gatas ap-
truth about its immutable spiritual potentiality. It is knowl-
pear in this world. It is an inherent and all-pervading law that
edge in the sense that once one becomes aware of dharma
does not depend for its existence on the appearance of the
one acquires the knowledge to become free from the bonds
Buddhas, whose mission in this world is merely to reveal it.
of phenomenal existence. It is morality, for it contains a code
S´a¯kyamuni Buddha first perceived and understood this fun-
of moral conduct that conduces to spiritual purification and
damental law and then proclaimed and explained it to his
maturation. It is duty, for whoever professes dharma has a
followers. The discovery of the nature of dharma is compared
duty to comply with its norms and to achieve the goal that
in some su¯tras to the discovery of an old and forgotten city.
it sets forth. In this sense there is only one duty in Buddhism:
In the Maha¯ya¯na, especially within the context of the doc-
the ceaseless and constant effort to strive for nirva¯n:a.
trine of the three Buddha bodies (trika¯ya) and the reinterpre-
Dharma, together with the Buddha and the sam:gha,
tation of the relationship between sam:sa¯ra and nirva¯n:a as
constitute a “threefold jewel” (triratna) before which one
two aspects of the same reality, dharma as the universal norm
makes prostrations and in which one takes refuge. Here dhar-
received a wider and deeper interpretation. As a part of the
ma does not so much represent a body of teachings as it as-
compound dharmaka¯ya, it signifies both the immanent and
sumes a character of awesomeness, protection, and deliver-
transcendental reality of all beings and appearances. Thus,
ance wholly appropriate to the Truth. One stands in awe of
it clearly denotes the essence of sentient beings as well as the
dharma as a self-sustained righteousness whose universal leg-
nature of the Buddhas. In the sense of denoting phenomenal
acy is to protect through its righteousness those who profess
existence, it is also referred to as reality (dharmata¯), the es-
it. Soon after his enlightenment, realizing that there is no one
sence of reality (dharmadha¯tu), suchness (tathata¯), emptiness
more perfect than himself in virtue, wisdom, and meditation
(´su¯nyata¯), or store-consciousness (a¯laya-vijña¯na). In the
under whom he could live in obedience and reverence,
sense of referring to the nature of the buddhas, it is known
Sa¯kyamuni decided that he would live honoring and revering
as buddhahood (buddhata¯), as the self-nature of the buddhas
dharma, the universal truth he had just realized. As one of
(buddhasvabha¯va), or as the womb of the buddhas
the Three Jewels, the Buddha is dharma’s embodied personi-
(tatha¯gata-garbha).
fication, revealer, and teacher. The sam:gha constitutes a body
Dharma as the Buddha’s teaching or doctrine as a
of dharma’s followers among whom dharma thrives as the
whole comprises his exposition of the universal order of na-
norm of daily life, becoming an inspiration and a path to de-
ture as described above and his proclamation of the path to-
liverance. The Three Jewels as conceived in the early period
ward deliverance. Thus, when his teaching is meant as a
can be paralleled, as a somewhat general compar-ison, with
whole system it is the term dharma (or ´sa¯sana) that is em-
the later concept of the three buddha bodies. Dharma as
ployed. When his teachings are referred to or explained from
dharmaka¯ya represents its own sublime and absolute aspect,
two different angles, that is, when theoretical and practical
the Buddha as a sam:bhogaka¯ya represents the pure and glori-
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DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
2333
fied state of dharma, and the sam:gha as nirma¯n:aka¯ya repre-
that it includes material as well as immaterial elements. Such
sents dharma as discovered and operating within the world.
sentient life, in which the material and immaterial elements
TECHNICAL USAGES. The strictly technical meaning of dhar-
are tied together, evolves or flows according to the strict law
mas as ultimate elements or principles of existence as system-
of causality as decreed in the causal nexus of dependent origi-
atized in the Abhidharma literature, especially in the Abhid-
nation. Furthermore, this constant flux of sentient life coor-
harma works of the Sarva¯stiva¯da school, is not so distinct or
dinated by the law of dependent origination has a moral law
rigidly formulated in the four Nika¯yas (A¯gamas). In the
superimposed upon it: the “law” of karman. It is with regard
su¯tras of the four Nika¯yas we find many descriptions of dhar-
to such a flux that the dharma theory attempts to provide an
mas and their various classifications, but their systematiza-
explanation. There is no substance or person but there are
tion into what we could call “dharma theory” took place
dharmas (psychophysical elements) that flow according to
within the Abhidharma literature. Thus, in the Nika¯yas
the law of dependent origination that is set in motion by the
dharmas are usually characterized as good or bad with refer-
law of karman. Basically, the dharma theory provides an ex-
ence to ethical conduct, but receive little attention as coher-
planation of how the universe functions within the context
ent metaphysical or epistemological systems. The Dasuttara
of a sentient life, in particular a human flux, for it is human
Sutta enumerates some 550 dharmas to be cultivated or
life that Buddhism is concerned with. Dharma theory consti-
abandoned. The San˙g¯ıti Sutta gives an even larger number
tutes then not so much an explanation of what the universe
of them, and the Maha¯parinibba¯na Suttanta lists some 1,011
is as it does an attempt to describe of what it consists and
dharmas. In this latter work we also find a set of dharmas that
how it functions. Thus, in the detailed enumeration of dhar-
S´a¯kyamuni ascertained to be for the benefit of living beings.
mas as basic and infinitesimal elements that constitute the
These include the thirty-seven bodhipaks:ya dharmas that
conglomeration of the universe we find an analysis of human
constitute the thirty-seven practices and principles conducive
life and its destiny. But this analysis is not “Buddhist psy-
to the attainment of enlightenment.
chology,” as many call it; it is an exposition of both the cons-
Rather than providing further examples from the su¯tras
tant and inevitably coordinated flux of phenomena and the
I propose now to concentrate on describing the dharma theo-
inherent potentiality of bringing this flux to a halt.
ry of the Sarva¯stiva¯da school. Within its systematized presen-
I shall now describe some general classifications of dhar-
tation one finds practically all the important aspects of dhar-
mas (again, after the Sarva¯stiva¯da Abhidharma). Dharmas are
mas and their role; the variant interpretations of other
divided into conditioned (sam:skr:ta) and unconditioned
schools will be mentioned wherever appropriate.
(asam:skr:ta). The conditioned dharmas (seventy-two in all)
Buddhism makes an emphatic and “dogmatic” state-
comprise all the elements of phenomenal existence (sam:sa¯ra).
ment that a “soul” (a¯tman) as interpreted by non-Buddhist
They are called conditioned because by their nature and in
schools in India does not exist. By denying the existence of
their flow they cooperate in and are subject to the law of cau-
a soul as a permanent and unifying factor of a human entity
sality; they conglomerate or cooperate in the production of
it has removed all grounds for asserting the permanency of
life (pr:hagjana). The unconditioned elements (three in all)
the human entity or the existence of any indestructible ele-
are those that are not subject to the law that governs phe-
ment therein. With reference to the substantiality of physical
nomenal existence. Dharmas are also divided into those that
things it has removed the concept of substance and replaced
are influenced or permeated by negative tendencies or de-
it by modalities: there is no substance but only the appear-
pravities (a¯srava; in a moral sense, bad karmas) and those that
ances of what we call substances or things. Having removed
are not under the influence of depravities (ana¯srava; morally,
the notion of substance Buddhism has construed an explana-
good karmas). These are the same dharmas as in the previous
tion as to how this world functions. According to this expla-
classification but here they are viewed from two aspects:
nation, the universe is seen as a flux of dharmas, the smallest
when they are influenced chiefly by ignorance (avidya¯) their
elements or principles of which it consists, but this flux is not
flux has the tendency to perpetuate itself; when they are
merely a flux of incoherent motion or change. On the con-
under the influence of intuitive wisdom (prajña¯) they acquire
trary, the world evolves according to the strict law of depen-
the tendency toward appeasement or tranquillity. By their
dent origination (prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da).
nature the unconditioned dharmas must be classed among
This universal flux can be conveniently viewed, for the
the dharmas that are not under the influence of depravities.
moment, at three simultaneous and interrelated levels. If we
We should recall here that the chief characteristic of sam:sa¯ra
take the inanimate world (matter) alone, it flows in accor-
is motion or unrest, duh:kha, and that of nirva¯n:a is tranquilli-
dance with a uniformly homogeneous and natural law of
ty, nirodha. The dharmas can be also divided in relationship
change. Similarly, the organic world (vegetation) flows ac-
to the four truths. Here again we have a twofold division.
cording to its own uniform evolution of natural life (germi-
The first two truths (unrest, duh:kha, and its cause, samudaya)
nation, growth, etc.). The third level is constituted by sen-
refer to the seventy-two dharmas that are permeated by de-
tient life. This last one, apart from comprehending the other
pravities or that are conditioned. The two other truths (rest,
levels (matter and organic functions), includes a sentient ele-
nirodha, and the means to it, ma¯rga) refer to the three uncon-
ment (consciousness or mind) as well. In general, we can say
ditioned dharmas that are always at rest (nirodha) and to the
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DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
dharmas that are on the way (ma¯rga) to become extinguished
Now at last we come to enumerate the individual dhar-
(nirodha).
mas. Within the classification into the five skandhas, matter
Having described the general divisions I shall now pro-
(ru¯pa) contains eleven dharmas: five sense organs (a¯yatanas
ceed to list a set of three standard classifications within which
1–5) and their five corresponding sense objects (a¯yatanas 7–
individual dharmas are distributed. The first classification,
11), plus an additional element to be discussed below.
which includes the conditioned dharmas alone, refers to their
A¯yatana (dha¯tu) number 12 (nonsensuous objects) is in this
grouping as perceived in a sentient life. This classification di-
system classified as an immaterial dharma, as we shall see,
vides dharmas into five aggregates or skandhas. Here we have
and hence is not considered here.
(1) matter or body (ru¯paskandha): eleven dharmas; (2) feel-
Matter or body is conceived as consisting of the four pri-
ings, sensations, or emotions (vedana¯skandha): one dharma;
mary elements (maha¯bhu¯tas)—earth, water, fire, and air.
(3) perceptions (sam:jña¯skandha): one dharma; (4) impulses
Secondary or refined matter (bhautika, derived from or relat-
or will-forces (sam:ska¯raskandha): fifty-eight dharmas; (5)
ed to matter) is represented by the senses and their objects
consciousness or mind (vijña¯naskandha): one dharma. This
(i.e., sense data). As already mentioned above, there is no
division into five skandhas not only constitutes an analysis
substance as such. The four primary elements are talked
of all phenomena but also serves to prove that there is no soul
about in Buddhism, but rightly understood these are taken
(a¯tman) in a human entity, for none of the five skandhas can
to refer to properties: hardness (earth), cohesion (water), heat
be identified with or regarded as a soul.
(fire), and motion (wind). The primary matter (four ele-
The second classification divides dharmas with reference
ments) present in a body sustains the secondary matter (the
to the process of cognition. Here we have the six sense organs
senses and their objects). Since the Buddhists analyze matter
(indriya) and the six sense objects (vis:aya) jointy called the
within the context of a sentient life, their description of mat-
“bases” or “foundations” (a¯yatana) of cognition. The six
ter is mainly concerned with discerning how it functions and
sense organs or internal bases are (1) sense of vision
how it appears, not with what it is, for properly speaking it
(caks:ur-indriya¯yatana); (2) sense of hearing (´srotra-); (3)
does not exist. The world is in constant flux, the living life
sense of smell (ghra¯na-); (4) sense of taste (jihva¯-); (5) sense
changes from one moment to the next. Consequently, be-
of touch (ka¯ya-); and (6) consciousness or intellectual faculty
cause Buddhists are constrained from speaking in terms of
(mana-). The six sense objects or external bases are (7) color
soul or substance, matter is styled as sense data alone. Such
and form (ru¯pa-a¯yatana); (8) sound (´sabda-); (9) smell
a definition of the physical dharmas that constitute the sense
(gandha-); (10) taste (rasa-); (11) contact (spras:t:avya-); and
data (ten dharmas) accounts for the component of matter
(12) nonsensuous or immaterial objects (dharma-). The first
that sustains consciousness, the other component of sentient
eleven a¯yatanas have one dharma each; the immaterial ob-
life. What then is the eleventh dharma?
jects comprise sixty-four dharmas.
The Sarva¯stiva¯da, viewing the human personality as a
The third classification groups dharmas in relationship
threefold aspect of body, speech, and mind, divided karman
to the flow (santa¯na) of life that evolves within the threefold
(as it operates within a sentient life) into mental action
world (ka¯ma-, ru¯pa-, and a¯ru¯pya-dha¯tu) as described by Bud-
(manas, identified with volition, or cetana¯) and physical and
dhist cosmology. This group is divided into eighteen dha¯tus,
vocal actions. Mental action was classed as immaterial but
or elements. It incorporates the previous division into the
physical and vocal actions that proceed from mental action
twelve bases, to which is added a corresponding set of six
were classed as belonging to matter (ru¯paskandha). Further-
kinds of consciousness to the intellectual faculty. Thus we
more, physical and vocal action was seen as being an (exter-
have (13) visual consciousness (caks:ur-vijña¯nadha¯tu); (14)
nal) “expression” (vijñapti), but when mental action was
auditory consciousness (´srotra-); (15) olfactory consciousness
committed but not externalized its “material” concomitant
(ghra¯n:a-); (16) gustatory consciousness (jihva¯-); (17) tactile
was seen as “nonexpression” (avijñapti). It is the latter “unex-
consciousness (ka¯ya-); and (18) nonsensuous consciousness
pressed matter” (avijñaptiru¯pa) that constitutes the eleventh
(mano-). Within this group the five sense organs and their
dharma among the skandha division. Although immaterial,
five objects contain one dharma each (ten dharmas in all).
it was classed as matter because physical and vocal action
Consciousness (no. 6) is divided here into seven dha¯tus (no.
with which it was associated was classed as such.
6 plus 13–18). The dha¯tu that represents immaterial objects
Three skandhas (feelings, perceptions, and impulses)
(no. 12) contains sixty-four dharmas. All the eighteen dha¯tus
contain jointly sixty dharmas, which are included as immate-
exist in the sensuous world (ka¯madha¯tu) or the world in
rial objects within the two other (a¯yatana, dha¯tu) classifica-
which the mind operates through the sense data. In the
tions (no. 12 in both). The three immutable elements
world of refined matter (ru¯padha¯tu), the objects of smell and
(asam:skr:ta) and avijñapti are also included among the imma-
taste (nos. 9–10) and the olfactory and gustatory conscious-
terial dharmas of these two latter divisions, thus making a
nesses cease to exist. In the world without matter (but fre-
total of sixty-four dharmas.
quently interpreted as very subtle matter for we are still with-
in sam:sa¯ra) all the dha¯tus cease to exist except for
Now I shall describe the sixty dharmas that are included
consciousness (no. 6), its immaterial objects (no. 12), and its
in all three classifications (skandha, a¯yatana, and dha¯tu).
nonsensuous aspect of cognition (no. 18).
They are divided into two main groups: one group comprises
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DHARMA: BUDDHIST DHARMA AND DHARMAS
2335
forty-six associated dharmas or mental dharmas (caittadhar-
which the whole of phenomenal existence is analyzed and
ma), that arise from or in association with pure consciousness
which account for all events that take place within it.
or mind (citta-sam:prayuk-tasam:ska¯ra); the second group
The Sarva¯stiva¯da also enumerate three unconditioned
comprises fourteen unassociated dharmas, that is to say,
dharmas: space (a¯ka¯´sa), emancipation through discerning
dharmas that can be associated neither with matter nor with
knowledge (pratisam:khya¯nirodha), and emancipation
mind (ru¯pa-citta-viprayukta-sam:ska¯ra).
through nondiscerning knowledge (apratisam:khya¯-nirodha).
The forty-six associated dharmas include ten mental
Thus, the total of dharmas both conditioned and uncondi-
dharmas that are present in a sentient life (citta-
tioned amounts to seventy-five in the Sarva¯stiva¯da school.
maha¯bhu¯mika): (1) feeling, (2) perception, (3) will, (4) con-
The Therava¯da tradition enumerates only one uncondi-
tact, (5) desire, (6) comprehension, (7) memory, (8) atten-
tioned dharma (nirva¯n:a) and eighty-one conditioned dhar-
tion, (9) aspiration, and (10) concentration; ten morally
mas: four primary elements; four secondary elements; five
good (ku´sala-maha¯bhu¯mika) dharmas that are present in fa-
sense organs; five sense objects; two aspects of sex (male and
vorable conditions: (11) faith, (12) courage, (13) equanimi-
female); heart as the sustaining element of psychic life; two
ty, (14) modesty, (15) aversion to evil, (16) detachment from
kinds (bodily and vocal) of avijñaptiru¯pa; a psychic vitality
love, (17) detachment from hatred, (18) nonviolence, (19)
of matter; space; three properties (agility, elasticity, and pli-
dexterity, and (20) perseverence in good; six obscuring
ability) of body; three characteristics (origination, duration,
(kle´sa-maha¯bhu¯mika) dharmas that enter the stream of a sen-
and decay) of conditioned dharmas; material food; fifty-two
tient life in unfavorable moments: (21) confusion (igno-
mental elements, including twenty-five wholesome, fourteen
rance), (22) remissness, (23) mental dullness, (24) lack of
unwholesome, and thirteen morally neutral elements; and
faith, (25) indolence, and (26) addiction to pleasure; ten ad-
consciousness.
ditional obscuring (upakle´sa-bhu¯mika) dharmas that may
The Sarva¯stiva¯da asserted that all the conditioned dhar-
occur at different times: (27) anger, (28) hypocrisy, (29) ma-
mas are real (they exist for they happen) and that they have
liciousness, (30) envy, (31) ill-motivated rivalry, (32) vio-
the characteristic of coming into existence, lasting for a short
lence, (33) malice, (34) deceit, (35) treachery, and (36) self-
period, and disappearing again in order to reappear in a new
gratification; two universally inauspicious (aku´sala-
karmically determined formation. They also maintained that
mahabhu¯mika) dharmas: (37) irreverence, and (38) willful
dharmas exist in all three times: past, present, and future.
tolerance of offences; and eight dharmas that are called unde-
termined (aniyata-bhu¯mika) or undifferentiated in the sense
The Lokottarava¯da school, a Maha¯sa¯m:ghika subsect,
that they can have different moral implications: (39) re-
treated all the conditioned dharmas as unreal and held that
morse, (40) deliberation, (41) investigation, (42) determina-
only the unconditioned dharmas are real. The Prajñaptiva¯da
tion, (43) passion, (44) hatred, (45) pride, and (46) doubt.
school, another Maha¯sa¯m:ghika group, argued that the twelve
All forty-six dharmas listed above cannot be associated with
a¯yatanas are not real because they are the products of the
(or cofunction with) consciousness at the same time on the
skandhas, which are the only real entities. The Sautra¯ntikas
general principle that their inner inclinations are variously
admitted the existence of thought but rejected the reality of
geared toward either good or evil.
the majority of the associated and all the unassociated dhar-
mas, denied the reality of the past and future, and main-
The fourteen unassociated dharmas are (47) acquisition
tained that only the present exists. They also rejected the ex-
(pra¯pti), or the controlling force of an individual flux of life,
istence of the unconditioned dharmas, considering them
(48) force (apra¯pti) that suspends some elements, (49) force
mere denominations of absence. The Ma¯dhyamika school re-
of homogeneity of existence, (50) force that leads to trance,
jected the ultimate reality of dharmas altogether. The
(51) force produced by effort to enter trance, (52) force that
Vijña¯nava¯da school recognized mind as the only reality
stops consciousness, thus effecting the highest trance, (53)
(cittama¯tra) and treated the whole of phenomenal existence
force that projects life’s duration, (54) origination, (55) dura-
as its illusive projection. Finally, a well-known Buddhist for-
tion, (56) decay, (57) extinction, (58) force that imparts
mula (ye dharma¯ hetuprabhava¯, etc.) expresses the soteriolog-
meaning to words, (59) force that imparts meaning to sen-
ical aspect associated with the analysis of sentient beings in
tences, and (60) force that imparts meaning to sounds.
terms of dharmas: “Whatever events arise from a cause, the
Tatha¯gata has foretold their cause, and the Great Hermit has
Pure consciousness or mind constitutes one dharma
also explained their cessation.”
(fifth skandha, sixth a¯yatana). In the division into dha¯tus
vijña¯na is, as it were, subdivided among seven dha¯tus (no.
SEE ALSO Buddhist Philosophy; Four Noble Truths; Kar-
6 plus 13–18) where the same consciousness is viewed in re-
man, article on Buddhist Concepts; Ma¯dhyamika; Nirva¯n:a;
lation to the sense organs and immaterial objects.
Prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da; Sarva¯stiva¯da; Sautra¯ntika; Soteriology;
Soul, article on Buddhist Concepts; Yoga¯ca¯ra.
Adding all the conditioned dharmas together yields elev-
en material dharmas, one dharma representing conscious-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ness, forty-six associated dharmas, and fourteen unassociated
The dharma theory of the Sarva¯stiva¯dins is systematically set forth
dharmas—seventy-two in all. These are the dharmas into
in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmako´sa, translated by Louis de La
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2336
DHARMAK¯IRTI
Vallée Poussin as L’Abhidharmako´sa de Vasubandhu, 6 vols.
valid cognition), contains chapters on perception, on infer-
(1923–1931; reprint, Brussels, 1971). Theodore Stcher-
ence, and on proof, and is the final formulation of
batsky’s The Central Conception of Buddhism and the Mean-
Dharmak¯ırti’s epistemological and logical thought in mixed
ing of the Word “Dharma” (1923; reprint, Delhi, 1970) is a
verse and prose. For its clarity in structure, presentation, ar-
lucid introduction to the topic. For the Therava¯da view, see
gument, and verbal expression, it is a masterpiece of Indian
especially A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics: Dham-
scholarly literature. In what is largely an excerpt of the latter
masangani, translated by C. A. F. Rhys Davids (London,
work, the Nya¯yabindu (A drop of logical argumentation),
1923), a rendering of the first book of the Therava¯da Abhid-
harma. Ñya¯n:atiloka’s Guide through the Abhidhamma Pitaka,
Dharmak¯ırti gives a succinct su¯tra-like formulation of his
3d ed., revised and enlarged by Ñya¯n:atiloka Thera (Colom-
epistemology.
bo, 1957), is the single most useful guide to the study of the
The Hetubindu (A drop of logical reason) examines logi-
Therava¯da Abhidhamma. The reader will also find useful
cal reason, negative cognition, and causality. The Va¯danya¯ya
A. K. Warder’s “Dharmas and Data,” Journal of Indian Phi-
(The rule for disputations), his last work, attempts to apply
losophy 1 (1971): 272–295.
the new logical theory to the dialectical practice.
New Sources
Dharmak¯ırti refuted solipsism in his Santa¯na¯ntarasiddhi (A
Bhuti, Tsewang. “Klong rdol bla ma’s List of 108 Dharmas of Pra-
proof of other mental continuities) and rejected the reality
jnaparamita and the Commentary.” Tibet Journal 25, no. 3
of relations in Sambandhapar¯ıks:a¯ (Examination of Relation).
(2000): 48–68.
Most of Dharmak¯ırti’s thought is devoted to epistemo-
Cox, C. Disputed Dharmas, Early Buddhist Theories on Existence:
An Annotated Translation of the Section of Factors Dissociated
logical and logical themes. In its context, this must be under-
from Thought from Sanghabhadra’s Nyayanusara. Tokyo,
stood as an attempt to establish a philosophical foundation
1995.
of meaningful everyday and Buddhist practice. For
Dharmak¯ırti, valid cognitions can be established only with
Dessein, Bart. “Dharmas Associated with Awarenesses and the
Dating of the Sarvastivada Abhidharma Works.” Asiatische
regard to the Buddha, who—himself a means of valid cogni-
Studien 50, no. 3 (1996): 623–651.
tion—can provide the motifs and goals of all human actions
that are the frame of judgment necessary to differentiate the
Frauwallner, E., S. F. Kidd, and E. Steinkellner. Studies in Abhid-
validity or invalidity of cognitions. At the same time, percep-
harma Literature and the Origins of Buddhist Philosophical
Systems. Albany, 1995.
tion and inference, the two kinds of valid cognition, can be
used to demonstrate that the Buddha is the only conceivable
Ganguly, S. Treatise on Groups of Elements: The Abhidharma-
source from which we can derive such advice.
dhatukaya-padasastra: English Translation of Hsüan-tsang’s
Chinese Version. Delhi, 1994.
In the field of logic, Dharmak¯ırti overcomes the formal
Mejor, M. Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosa and the Commentaries
character of Digna¯ga’s theory, in which only three forms or
Preserved in the Tanjur. Stuttgart, 1991.
characteristics of logical reason are formulated as the neces-
sary conditions of logical certainty, by giving an ontological
TADEUSZ SKORUPSKI (1987)
explanation for such certainty. According to this explana-
Revised Bibliography
tion, concepts are related to each other only when they refer
to the same real entity or to an entity caused by that referred
to by the other concept. The necessary logical relation is thus
DHARMAK¯IRTI (c. 600–660), Buddhist philosopher
based on a relation of real identity or of causality. Conse-
of South Indian origin, pupil of ¯I´svarasena, and teacher at
quently, only such concepts may be used as logical reasons
Na¯la¯nda. Dharmak¯ırti’s thought brings the tradition of Bud-
(hetu) that are either “essential properties” (svabha¯va), “ef-
dhist epistemology and logic as founded by Digna¯ga (c. 480–
fect” (ka¯rya), that is, concepts referring to something as the
540) to its culmination and final accomplishment.
effect of something else, or “non-perception of something
perceivable” (dr:´sya¯nupalabdhi).
Dharmak¯ırti’s philosophical work consists of seven trea-
tises still extant either in the original Sanskrit or in Tibetan
Dharmak¯ırti’s theory of concepts (apoha) explains a
translation. Dharmak¯ırti’s stated intention was to give an ex-
concept as the difference from other things that is common
planation of Digna¯ga’s ideas, and tradition accepted his ex-
to individual entities. Lacking any principle of unity, abso-
planation as such. His works, however, surpassed those of the
lutely different individual entities nonetheless cause the same
earlier philosopher to become the basis for the study of this
judgments precisely on account of such experience of them
tradition by later Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. His first
that differs from experience of others. The resultant concept
major work, Prama¯n:ava¯rttika (Commentary on the means
is nothing real, but by recourse to experience and practice
of valid cognition), is a verse text in four chapters. The first
there is nevertheless a relation between reality and the false
chapter, “On Inference,” was written with a prose commen-
realm of linguistic constructs of varying degrees of reliability.
tary, thus constituting his earliest work, and was only later
While perception is a direct valid cognition of what is real,
joined with the other chapters, “Establishment of the Means
inference is an indirect valid cognition, since it is conceptual
of Valid Cognition,” “On Perception,” and “On Proof.” The
by nature and must be gained under strict control by means
Prama¯n:avini´scaya (Analytical determination of the means of
of logical reason (hetu). Concepts that may be used as logical
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DHARMAPA¯LA
2337
reasons serve to infer other concepts as necessarily true or to
S´¯ılabhadra, his successor as abbot of Na¯landa¯ and teacher of
remove or correct wrong concepts. One of the most influen-
the famous Chinese monk Xuanzang (569–664). It was
tial results of this new logical theory is a new form of the in-
Xuanzang who introduced Dharmapa¯la’s thought to China,
ference of universal momentary destruction (ks:an:ikatva) in
where, under the name of Faxiang (“dharma characteris-
which Dharmak¯ırti derives it from the concept of being
tics”), it supplanted the traditions transmitted by Parama¯rtha
(sattva¯numa¯na), thereby offering a new method for establish-
(499–569) and Bodhiruci (d. 527) to become the dominant
ing the first of the four noble truths, “All is suffering.”
form of Yoga¯ca¯ra there. The Faxiang “school” was intro-
duced to Japan beginning in the late seventh century by the
SEE ALSO Buddhist Philosophy.
monk Do¯sho¯ (629–710), enjoyed three subsequent trans-
missions, and, as the Hosso¯ school (the Japanese pronuncia-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion of the Chinese Faxiang), became perhaps the most emi-
Stcherbatsky, Theodore. Buddhist Logic (1930–1932). Reprint,
nent of the six scholastic traditions that flouished during the
New York, 1962. An introduction to Buddhist logic, includ-
Nara period (710–784).
ing many references to Dharmak¯ırti.
The eldest son of a minister in Ka¯ñc¯ıpuram,
Steinkellner, Ernst, trans. Dharmak¯ırti’s Hetubinduh:, vol. 2. Vien-
Dharmapa¯la became a Buddhist monk in his youth. He stud-
na, 1967. German translation of the first Indian text on logic
ied Buddhism at the Na¯landa¯ monastic university and later
as such, including the important proof of momentariness as
the essential character of being; also contains an elaborate
became its head. In several doctrinal debates Dharmapa¯la de-
discussion of causality and a theory of negative cognition.
feated philosophers representing both non-Buddhist and
Buddhist (especially H¯ınaya¯na) opinion. At twenty-nine,
Steinkellner, Ernst, trans. Dharmak¯ırti’s Prama¯n:avini´scayah:, vol.
2. Kapitel: Sva¯rtha¯numa¯nam. Vienna, 1979. A German
however, realizing that he was not destined to live long, he
translation of the chapter on inference that constitutes the
retired from his post at Na¯landa¯ to concentrate on writing.
essence of Dharmak¯ırti’s logical thought.
He died two years later. Despite the relative brevity of his
career, Dharmapa¯la wrote a number of works, some of which
Vetter, Tilmann. Erkenntnisprobleme bei Dharmak¯ırti. Vienna,
1964. A study of Dharmak¯ırti’s theories of cognition, con-
are preserved in the Chinese canon. These include the Guan-
cepts, perception, and being.
suo yuan lun shi (T.D. No. 1625), the Cheng wei shi lun
(T.D. no. 1585), and the Dasheng guang bolun shi lun (T.D.
Vetter, Tilmann, trans. Dharmak¯ırti’s Prama¯n:avini´scayah:, vol. l,
Kapitel: Pratyaks:am. Vienna, 1966. Text and German trans-
no. 1571). The second of these, Xuanzang’s translation of
lation of the chapter on perception, with an investigation of
the Vijña¯ptima¯trata¯siddhi, a compilation of ten commen-
congition in general and the problem of extra-cognitional re-
taries on Vasubandhu’s Trim:´sika (Thirty verses), includes a
ality.
commentary by Dharmapa¯la’s own hand. More than a mere
Vetter, Tilmann, trans. Die Lehre des Buddha in Dharmak¯ırti’s
gloss of the original text of Vasubandhu, however,
Prama¯n:ava¯rttika. Vienna, 1984. German translation of a
Dharmapa¯la’s commentary constitutes an original doctrinal
major part of the second chapter of the Prama¯n:ava¯rttika. In-
treatise in its own right.
cludes an introductory study of Dharmak¯ırti’s presentation
Unlike the Ma¯dhyamika thinkers, who concentrated on
of the essence of Buddhist interpretation of reality and reli-
giouspractice, providing the motifs, conditions, and purpose
the refutation of fallacies without explaining how the magic
of epistemological theory.
(i.e., the illusion, in Buddhist terms) of “self” should arise
in every living being, Dharmapa¯la offered an intricate analy-
New Sources
sis of this process from the Yoga¯ca¯ra point of view. This anal-
Jackson, Roger R. “Atheology and Buddhalogy in Dharmakirti’s
ysis begins with an interpretation of causality, or “dependent
Pramanavarttika.” Faith and Philosophy 16, no. 4 (1999):
472–505.
co-origination” (prat¯ıtya-samutpa¯da): every action creates a
pattern or potential for future action, just as in legal cases a
Namai, Chisho Mamoru. “Dharmakirti on Compassion and Re-
single decision becomes a precedent for the future. The pre-
birth.” Indo-Iranian Journal 44, no. 1 (2001): 84–90.
cedents, karmic residues in this case, are technically referred
Steinkellner, Ernst. “Kumarila, Isvarasena and Dharmakirti in Di-
to as “seeds” (b¯ıja), which are “deposited,” as it were, in a
alogue: A New Interpretation of Pramanavarttika I 33.”
“receptacle” or “store” consciousness, from which, under the
Bauddhavidyasudhakarah (1997): 625–646.
proper conditions, they manifest themselves at some future
ERNST STEINKELLNER (1987)
time. The process by which actions “deposit” seeds in the
Revised Bibliography
subconscious is known as “impression” (va¯sa¯na); the actual-
ization of these seeds in the mental life of the being involved
is known as “manifestation.”
DHARMAPA¯LA (530–561), Indian Buddhist thinker
The accumulation of these numerous potentials suggests
associated with the Yoga¯ca¯ra school and founder of a
a division of labor between the storage function, the coordi-
Vijña¯nava¯da (“consciousness only”) tradition that was to be-
nating function, and the discriminating function. In
come highly influential in the scholastic traditions of East
Yoga¯ca¯ra thought, these functions represent concrete activi-
Asian Buddhism. His numerous followers include
ties of different levels and types of consciousness, 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
2338
DHARMAPA¯LA
numbered eight in the system championed by Dharmapa¯la.
dent reality but “real” in the sense that they exist as part of
The storage function is referred to as a¯laya-vijña¯na
a nexus of events that mutually condition and reinforce each
(“storehouse consciousness”). It is the a¯laya that receives the
other. This character of things is referred to as
b¯ıjas deposited by actions and as such functions as a karmic
paratantra-laks:an:a (“dependent character”). Finally, things
repository in which the continuity of past actions in the
are characterized as “ultimately real” when viewed without
stream of an individual’s lives is preserved. The coordinating
the distortions of conceptualization. But what constitutes
function is called the “cognitive” center (manas); it serves to
this “perfected character” (parinis:panna-laks:an:a) is precisely
synchronize all the activities of mind so that they function
the “emptiness” (´su¯nyata¯) of the thing, its lack of self-nature
as an integrated whole. It is the manas that, turning inward,
(svabha¯va) or the “ultimate absence of a reality-in-its-own-
fails to perceive that the a¯laya essentially has no existence
right.” Such a reality is also referred to as “suchness”
other than the seeds that it stores, and thus falsely imputes
(tathata¯).
to the a¯laya the permanence and unity of a self or a¯tman.
Dharmapa¯la’s Vijña¯ptima¯trata¯siddhi was the subject of
Such a (false) belief in the existence of a self is traditionally
at least three major commentaries (T.D. nos. 1830, 1831,
regarded by Buddhists as the very source of suffering. Ordi-
1832) and a host of subcommentaries. Although Faxiang
nary sentient beings (as opposed to Buddhas and very highly
thought failed to survive the challenges posed by the creation
advanced bodhisattvas) are unaware of the actions of these
of the new, more fully sinicized, Buddhist traditions of the
two functions. A¯laya and manas thus constitute unconscious
Tang period (618–907), its doctrines were kept alive in the
functions of mind.
wide dissemination of the commentaries to the Cheng wei shi
The discriminating function is represented by the six
lun. In Japan, Hosso¯ thought continues to this day to serve
types of consciousnesses of which we are all aware: the five
as part of the basic Buddhist training of scholars and clerics
senses and the thinking process itself (mano-vijña¯na). These,
alike.
like the manas, are ultimately the very creations, “evolutes,”
SEE ALSO A¯laya-vijña¯na; Kuiji; Parama¯rtha; Tathata¯; Vasu-
of the seeds stored in the a¯laya, which manifest themselves
bandhu; Xuanzang; Yoga¯ca¯ra.
under the proper causal conditions as our psychophysical
“selves.” What appears in consciousness, under this interpre-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tation, is thus not an external reality but simply the products
Fukaura Seibun. Yuishikigaki kenkyu¯. 2 vols. Kyoto, 1954.
of previous actions and cognitions thrown into consciousness
Fukihara Akinobu. Goho¯shu¯ yuishikiko¯. Kyoto, 1954.
by the functioning of the a¯laya. Thus the mind, which
La Vallée Poussin, Louis de, ed. and trans. Vijña¯ptima¯trata¯siddhi:
should be indivisible, is, in Dharmapa¯la’s view, fundamen-
La Siddhi de Hiuan-tsang. 2 vols. Paris, 1928–1929.
tally fractured into subjective and objective components: that
which is conscious and that which we are conscious of.
Nakamura Hajime. “A Brief Survey of Japanese Studies on the
Philosophical Schools of the Maha¯ya¯na.” Acta Asiatica l
The interaction of the three functions, further compli-
(1960): 67–88.
cated by the subject-object split, transforms the reality of the
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. Indian Philosophy, vol. l. 2d ed. Lon-
illusional existence of living beings. These functions are
don, 1927. Dharmapa¯la’s contributions to Buddhist thought
therefore referred to as the “three sources of transformation.”
are discussed in the chapter entitled “The Yoga¯ca¯ras.”
What is usually called “self” is merely the “subject portion”
Sharma, Chandradhar. A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. Liv-
of the a¯laya as interpreted by the manas. Similarly, what is
ingston, N. J., 1971. For treatment of Dharmapa¯la, see chap-
usually called the “external world” is the “object portion,”
ters entitled “Vijña¯nava¯da” and “Svatantra-Vijña¯nava¯da.”
a mere sense of externality. Whether or not there exists a
Ueda, Yoshifumi. “Two Main Streams of Thought in Yoga¯ca¯ra
world outside of consciousness is not at issue here: it is the
Philosophy.” Philosophy East and West 17 (1967): 155–165.
sense of externality that obtains within consciousness that is
New Sources
the subject of Dharmapa¯la’s analysis, for deliverance or en-
Keenan, J. P., ed. Dharmapalas’s Yogacara Critique of Bhava-
lightenment consists in realizing that the “self” and the “real”
viveka’s Madhyamika: Explanation of Emptiness: The Tenth
world are mere reifications, enforced in language, of con-
Chapter of Ta-ch’eng Kuang pai-lun shih lun, Commenting on
sciousness.
Aryadeva’s Catuhsataka Chapter Sixteen. Lewiston, N.Y.,
1997.
Yoga¯ca¯ra analysis of reality, a term as ambiguous in San-
Tillemans, T. J. F. Materials for the Study of Aryadeva, Dharmapala
skrit as it is in English, thus must take into account the vary-
and Candrakirti: The Catuhsataka of Aryadeva, Chapters XII
ing ways in which a thing may be construed as real. Accord-
and XIII, with the Commentaries of Dharmapala and Can-
ing to Yoga¯ca¯ra doctrine, a “triple nature” (trisvabha¯va) is
drakirti. Vienna, 1990.
inherent in all things. First, there is the sense in which all
Vasubandhu, et al. Treatise in Thirty Verses on Mere-Consciousness:
things are mere constructs of mind, mental fabrications de-
A Critical English Translation of Hsüan-tsang’s Chinese Ver-
void of reality outside of the consciousness that creates them.
sion of the Vijñaptimatratatrimsika with Notes from Dharma-
This character of things is referred to as parikalpita-laks:an:a
pala’s Commentary in Chinese. Delhi, 1992.
(“imaginary character”). Second, there is the sense in which
RICHARD S. Y. CHI (1987)
things are dependently originated, devoid of any indepen-
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
DHIKR
2339
DHIKR (Arab., “remembrance, mention”) is an impor-
h:ad¯ıth—because Adam’s children keep on falling into for-
tant Islamic concept and practice best known in the West
getfulness, the shortcoming of their father (20:110). If the
as a form of S:u¯f¯ı ritual. Because it signifies a kind of prayer,
QurDa¯n is a remembrance, so also is the human response to
the term dhikr is usually translated as invocation, since it in-
it (here the root’s fifth verbal form, tadhakkur, is often em-
volves the repetition of a name or names of God, often with-
ployed). To be human is to remember: to acknowledge and
in a set phrase such as “Praise belongs to God.” The sources
confirm the obvious. “Not equal are the blind and the seeing
frequently discuss it in conjunction with supplication (du EaD,
man, those who have faith and do deeds of righteousness and
“calling [upon God]”), which normally adds a request to the
the wrongdoer. Little do you remember!” (40:58).
mention of a name or names; supplication may take the form
The ultimate object of remembrance is God, since noth-
of a personal prayer in any language, while dhikr employs Ar-
ing else is truly worthy of human devotion, which is to say
abic names drawn from the QurDa¯n. Both are fundamentally
that “there is no god but God.” The QurDa¯n employs the
voluntary and in any case need to be distinguished from the
term dhikr Alla¯h, “the remembrance of God,” twenty-six
daily prayer (sala¯t), which is incumbent upon all the faithful.
times in nominal or verbal form. In a number of other in-
Studies of dhikr in Western languages usually emphasize
stances where the word ism (“name”) is inserted into this
the bodily movements and the techniques for bringing about
phrase, the emphasis is placed upon the verbal mentioning
concentration that are employed by various S:u¯f¯ı groups and
of the name Alla¯h, for example, when people are commanded
thus neglect the centrality of the concept in the QurDa¯n,
to remember/mention God’s name before sacrificing animals
where the term is employed, along with various closely relat-
(5:4, 6:118, and elsewhere), but the command to remember/
ed derivatives, about 270 times. Although techniques have
mention God’s name is also a general one: “And remember
certainly fascinated a number of Islamicists and travelers to
the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to him” (73:8; also
the East, they have always been of secondary interest within
2:114, 22:40, 24:36, 76:25, 87:115). In any case the remem-
the S:u¯f¯ı tradition itself. Nor is it necessary to search for out-
brance of God is almost invariably interpreted to coincide
side influence to explain their genesis: perseverance in re-
with the mentioning of his name, whether vocally or men-
membering God—and sincere Islam is nothing if not this—
tally.
will eventually entail a certain concern with the technical as-
pects of controlling one’s thoughts and attention.
Fifteen verses actually command the remembering of
God. But beyond obedience to such commands, human be-
The basic meaning of the term dhikr can be brought out
ings must remember God because true life—life with God
by answering three questions:
in the next world—depends on it. In QurDanic terms, “to be
1. What is the object of remembrance? God, whose nature
forgotten by God” is to burn in the Fire; to be remembered
is defined succinctly by the first shaha¯dah, or creedal
by him is to dwell in Paradise. If we want God to remember
statement, “La¯ ila¯ha illa¯ Alla¯h” (“There is no god but
us, we must follow the divine command to remember him:
God”), and in detail by the whole range of names and
“Remember me, and I will remember you” (2:152), since
attributes (al-asma¯ D wa-al-s:ifa¯t) mentioned in the
God will forget those who disobey this command. Speaking
QurDa¯n.
of the resurrection, God says, “Today we do forget you, even
as you forgot the encounter of this your day; and your refuge
2. Why should God be remembered? Because human be-
is the Fire” (45:34; also 20:126, 32:14, 38:26, 59:19). Such
ings are commanded to remember him by his revela-
verses help explain why the S:u¯f¯ı Ibn EAt:a¯D Alla¯h al-Iskandar¯ı
tions to the prophets and because ultimate human felici-
(d. 1309) can say in his well-known treatise on dhikr, “All
ty depends upon this remembrance.
acts of worship will disappear from the servant on the Day
3. How can God be remembered? By imitation of the
of Resurrection, except the remembrance of God” (Mifta¯h:
Prophet, who provides the model through his sunnah
al-fala¯h:, Cairo, 1961, p. 31).
(practice or custom) for all religious and spiritual ac-
tivity.
Just as dhikr brings about felicity in the next world, so
too it provides the way to achieve proximity to God in this
In short, to understand the full implications of the term
world. In contrast to the hearts of the godfearing, the hearts
dhikr as it is employed in the QurDa¯n and the tradition one
of the unbelievers are “hardened against the remembrance of
needs to have a clear grasp of the three “principles of reli-
God” (39:22–23). Note the emphasis through repetition in
gion” (us:u¯l al-d¯ın), namely divine unity, prophecy, and the
“Those who have faith, their hearts being at peace in God’s
return to God (in its widest sense, embracing both the “com-
remembrance—in God’s remembrance are at peace the
pulsory return” through death and the “voluntary return”
hearts of those who have faith and do righteous deeds; theirs
through spiritual practice).
is blessedness and a fair resort” (13:28). The way to achieve
QURDANIC SOURCES. The QurDa¯n refers to itself as a remem-
this peace of heart (cf. the “soul at peace with God,” 89:27)
brance (dhikr) or reminder (dhikra¯, tadhkirah) more than
is to follow the Prophet, one of whose names is Dhikr Alla¯h:
forty times and also alludes to other revelations by the same
“You have a good example in God’s Messenger, for whosoev-
terms (su¯rahs 10:71, 21:48, 21:105, 40:54). God had to send
er hopes for God and the Last Day and remembers God fre-
a long series of prophets—124,000 according to a
quently” (33:21). The Prophet is the perfect embodiment 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
2340
DHIKR
God’s remembrance; hence, his sunnah provides all the de-
prayer and other outward acts of worship, since by its nature
tails of how to remember God in every act of life. Ibn EAt:a¯D
remembrance is a personal affair related more to the domain
Alla¯h quotes a short h:ad¯ıth that epitomizes the pervasive ra-
of intention than to outward activity. In general, therefore,
tionale for the love of the Prophet: “He who remembers me
the S:u¯f¯ıs more than any other group emphasized the impor-
has remembered God, and he who loves me has loved God”
tance of the devotional practices. In the words of Khwa¯jah
(Mifta¯h:, p. 46).
Muh:ammad Pa¯rsa¯ (d. 1420), “The root of being a Muslim
H:
[as:l-i musalma¯n¯ı] is ‘No god but God,’ words that are identi-
AD¯ITH. The h:ad¯ıth literature provides a wealth of material
on dhikr corroborating the QurDa¯n picture while emphasiz-
cal with remembrance.’” Hence, he says, the soul of the daily
ing the practice of mentioning or invoking God’s names and
prayer and the other ritual practices, such as fasting and pil-
the benefits it provides beyond the grave. The Prophet calls
grimage, is “the renewal of God’s remembrance in the heart”
dhikr the best act of worship. Every word a person utters in
(Quds¯ıyah, ed. Ah:mad T:a¯hir¯ı EIra¯q¯ı, Tehran, 1975, p. 30).
this life will be counted against him or her in the next life,
In the same way, the S:u¯f¯ıs considered all Islamic doctrine
except “bidding to honor and forbidding dishonor” (sura
and theory to be aimed at awakening remembrance in the
3:11, 7:157, and elsewhere) and remembering God. When
soul. If on the one hand the QurDa¯n commands human be-
a companion of Muh:ammad complained about Islam’s
ings to remember God, on the other it provides a full justifi-
many ordinances and asked for a single practice to which he
cation for the necessity of this remembrance in its teachings
could cling, the Prophet replied, “Let your tongue remain
about human nature and ultimate felicity, as, for example,
moist in the remembrance of God.” The Prophet reported
in its description of the “trust” given to human beings in
that God says, “I am with my servant when he remembers
preference to all other creatures (33:72).
me. If he remembers me in himself I remember him in my-
In commenting on the QurDanic teachings, the S:u¯f¯ıs in
self, and if he remembers me in an assembly, I remember him
particular demonstrate that remembrance of God implies far
in an assembly better than his.” Such “assemblies” of God’s
more than just the ritual activities that go by this name. Full
remembrance are well attested in the Prophet’s time and be-
remembrance means actualizing all the ontological perfec-
came the model for S:u¯f¯ı gatherings.
tions latent within the primordial human nature (fit:rah) by
The h:ad¯ıths make clear that the important formulas of
virtue of its being a divine image. These perfections belong
remembrance or invocation are those still heard throughout
ultimately to God, the one true being, and in his case they
the Islamic world on every sort of occasion: “There is no god
are referred to as the divine names. Al-Ghaza¯l¯ı and many
but God,” “Praise belongs to God,” “Glory be to God,”
others speak of human perfection as “assuming the traits of
“God is greater,” and “There is no power and no strength
the divine names” (al-takhalluq bi-al-asma¯ D al-ila¯h¯ıyah); Ibn
save in God.” Only the last is non-QurDanic, while the first,
al-EArab¯ı (d. 1240) even offers this phrase as the definition
the Shaha¯dah, is said to be the most excellent. The h:ad¯ıths
of S:u¯f¯ısm (Al-futu¯h:a¯t al-makk¯ıyah 2.267.11). Since Alla¯h is
also make clear that all of God’s names, traditionally said to
the all-comprehensive name (alism al-ja¯mi E), the referent of
number ninety-nine, may be employed in invocation and
all other divine names, the stage of full human perfection is
supplication, though certain names, such as All-Merciful or
also known as “being like unto Alla¯h ” (ta Dalluh), or “theo-
All-Forgiving, have always been employed far more than oth-
morphism.” For Ibn al-EArab¯ı and others, the remembrance
ers, such as Avenger or Terrible in Retribution.
of the name Alla¯h is the sign of the fully realized human indi-
vidual to whom reference is made in the prophetic saying,
The idea that each name of God has a specific character-
“The Last Hour will not come as long as there remains some-
istic is already well reflected in the h:ad¯ıth literature. Thus,
one in this world saying, ‘Alla¯h, Alla¯h!’” (Futu¯h:a¯t 3.248.17,
for example, many h:ad¯ıths allude to “the greatest name of
3.438.21).
God” (alism al-a Ez:am), the name “when called by which he
answers and when asked by which he gives.” Litanies (awra¯d,
The hallmark of this potential theomorphism is the par-
ah:za¯b) composed of divine names, formulas of remem-
ticular nature of human intelligence, which sets men and
brance, and QurDanic verses have been common among Mus-
women apart from all other creatures. Turning to God—
lims from earliest times. Some of them mention the ninety-
remembrance—actualizes the divine image latent within hu-
nine “most beautiful names”; others, such as al-jawshan
mans; ultimate felicity is nothing but the remembrance of
al-kab¯ır (quoted from the Prophet in Sh¯ıE¯ı sources, e.g.,
our own true nature, or the realization of genuine human
EAbba¯s Qumm¯ı, Mafa¯t¯ıh: al-jina¯n, Tehran, 1961/2,
character traits, the names of God.
pp. 179–207), list one thousand names of God.
S:u¯f¯ı teachings and practice can be summarized by the
S:U¯F¯I TRADITION. The Sh¯ıE¯ı h:ad¯ıth literature, which in-
“best of invocations,” the Shaha¯dah: “La ila¯ha illa¯ Alla¯h ”
cludes sayings from all twelve imams as well as from the
(“There is no god but God”). The aim is to “annihilate”
Prophet, helps to demonstrate that the remembrance of God
(fana¯ D) all “others” (aghya¯r) and to “subsist” (baqa¯D) in the
remained central to Islamic piety in the two centuries follow-
divine. In the words of Ibn EAt:a¯D Alla¯h, “No one says correct-
ing Muh:ammad. But while the QurDa¯n commands the faith-
ly ‘No god but God’ unless he negates everything other than
ful to remember God, the jurists could not impose remem-
God from his soul and heart” (Mifta¯h:, p. 28). Likewise Najm
brance upon the community except in the form of the ritual
al-D¯ın Ra¯z¯ı (d. 1256): “When one pursues the dhikr 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
DHIKR
2341
persists in it, the attachment of the spirit to other than God
abandon all invocation, both outward and inward, until total
will be gradually severed by the scissors of la ilaha, and the
emptiness is achieved (Al-risa¯lah al-ha¯diyah al-murshid¯ıyah,
beauty of the monarch of illa Alla¯h will become manifest and
MS; cf. M. Valsan, “L’épïtre sur l’orientation parfaite,”
emerge from the veil of might” (The Path of God’s Bondsmen,
Études traditionnelles 67, 1966, pp. 241–268). But the final
p. 270). For Ru¯m¯ı as for many other S:u¯f¯ıs, the fire of love
word for most seekers remains with Ibn al-EArab¯ı: “Invoca-
drives the seeker to remember God constantly; only this can
tion is more excellent than abandoning it, for one can only
effect the final transformation: “Love is that flame which,
abandon it during contemplation, and that cannot be
when it blazes up, burns away everything except the beloved.
achieved in an absolute sense” (Futu¯h:a¯t 2.229.24).
It drives home the sword of la¯ ila¯ha in order to slay other
Many classifications of types of dhikr can be found in
than God” (Mathnav¯ı 5, vv. 588–590).
S:u¯f¯ı works. Some of these refer to the depth of concentration
Though many authorities agree that “La¯ ila¯ha illa¯ Alla¯h”
achieved by the disciple, such as invocation of the tongue,
is the most excellent invocation, others hold that the “single
of the heart, of the innermost mystery. Another common
invocation” (al-dhikr al-mufrad)—the mention of only the
classification distinguishes between loud or public and silent
name Alla¯h—is superior. Ibn al-EArab¯ı often quotes approv-
or private dhikr. The former was usually performed in groups
ingly the words of one of his masters, Abu¯ al-EAbba¯s
according to various ritual forms that took shape within the
al-EUrayb¯ı, who held that this invocation is best, since in in-
different S:u¯f¯ı orders. Sessions of public invocation range
voking “no god but God” one could die in the terror of nega-
from the reserved to the ecstatic; some groups, such as the
tion, but in invoking Alla¯h one can only die in the intimacy
Mawlaw¯ıyah, or “whirling dervishes,” considered music and
of affirmation (Futu¯h:a¯t 1.329.2, 2.110.21, 2.224.34).
dance aids to concentration, while others banned anything
but sober recitation. Most S:u¯f¯ıs would probably agree that
S:u¯f¯ı masters employed various names methodically to
public sessions are really a secondary form of S:u¯f¯ı practice,
bring out the spiritual potentialities and shape the character
since the individual’s progress on the path, to the extent it
traits of their disciples. Many S:u¯f¯ı works provide informa-
does not derive totally from God’s grace, depends upon his
tion on names that can be appropriately invoked—though
or her own efforts. Thus SaEd¯ı (d. 1292) is not speaking met-
never without the permission and inculcation (talq¯ın) of a
aphorically when he says at the beginning of his famous
master—by disciples at different stages of spiritual growth.
Gulista¯n: “Every breath taken in replenishes life, and once
Works on the “most beautiful names,” such as al-Ghaza¯l¯ı’s
let out gives joy to the soul. So each breath contains two
Al-maqs:ad al-asna¯ (partially translated by R. Stade, Ninety-
blessings, and each blessing requires thanksgiving.” It is the
nine Names of God, Ibadan, 1970), often discuss the moral
silent and persevering remembrance of God with each breath
traits and spiritual attitudes that reflect each of the individual
or each heartbeat, always within the context of the prophetic
names on the human level. Ibn EAt:a¯D Alla¯h devotes several
sunnah, that takes the seeker to the ultimate goal.
pages to the properties of various names and their influence
on disciples at different stages of the path. He points out, for
SEE ALSO Attributes of God, article on Islamic Concepts;
example, that the name Independent (al-Ghan¯ı) is useful for
Shaha¯dah; Sufism.
a disciple who seeks disengagement (tajr¯ıd) from phenomena
but is unable to achieve it (Mifta¯h:, p. 35). Nonetheless, those
BIBLIOGRAPHY
who invoke the name Alla¯h should not be interested in spe-
For a representative sampling of the h:ad¯ıth literature, see
cific benefits but should exemplify the attitude expressed in
al-Khat:¯ıb al-Tabr¯ız¯ı’s Mishka¯t al-mas:a¯b¯ıh:, 4 vols., translat-
the famous prayer of the woman saint Ra¯biEah al-DAdaw¯ıyah
ed by John Robson (Lahore, 1963–1965), pp. 476–492.
(eighth century): “O God, if I worship thee for fear of Hell,
Sh¯ıE¯ı sources provide more of the same in far more detail,
burn me in Hell, and if I worship thee in hope of Paradise,
for example, Majlis¯ı’s Bih:a¯r al-anwa¯r (1956–1972; reprint,
exclude me from Paradise; but if I worship thee for thy own
Beirut, 1983), vol. 90, pp. 148–285. Al-Ghaza¯l¯ı brings to-
sake, grudge me not thy everlasting beauty” (A. J. Arberry,
gether QurDa¯n, h:ad¯ıths, the sayings of the pious, and the
views of contemporary theologians and S:u¯f¯ıs in the chapter
Muslim Saints and Mystics, London, 1966, p. 51).
on dhikr and supplication in his Ih:ya¯ D Eulu¯m al-d¯ın, 5 vols.
Some S:u¯f¯ıs wrote of transcending dhikr, since in the last
(Cairo, 1932), translated by K. Nakamura as Ghazali on
analysis it is an attribute of the seeker and is therefore “other
Prayer (Tokyo, 1973).
than God,” a veil concealing God from sight (al-Kala¯ba¯dh¯ı,
For dhikr in the S:u¯f¯ı tradition, see Louis Gardet’s entry in The
The Doctrine of the Sufis, p. 107). Ibn al-EArab¯ı explains that
Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (Leiden, 1960–), and J. Spen-
there can be no invocation after the veil has been lifted and
cer Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders in Islam (New York,
contemplation (musha¯hadah) takes place, for “invocation
1971), pp. 194–217, both of which deal mainly with tech-
niques. A far more insightful treatment is provided by Anne-
disappears in the theophany of the invoked” (Futu¯h:a¯t
marie Schimmel’s Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill,
2.245.21). According to al-Nu¯r¯ı (d. 907), true invocation is
1975), pp. 167–178. Among translated texts a brief overview
“the annihilation of the invoker in the invoked” (Ru¯zbiha¯n,
of the views of the early S:u¯f¯ıs is provided by al-Kala¯ba¯dh¯ı’s
Mashrab al-arwa¯h:, ed. Nazif H. Hoca, Istanbul, 1974,
The Doctrine of the Sufis, translated by A. J. Arberry (Lahore,
p. 139). Ibn al-EArab¯ı’s foremost disciple, S:adr al-D¯ın
1966), pp. 105–108, while a comprehensive explanation of
al-Qu¯naw¯ı (d. 1274) writes that the S:u¯f¯ı must gradually
its significance is given by Najm al-D¯ın Ra¯z¯ı’s The Path 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
2342
DIALOGUE OF RELIGIONS
God’s Bondsmen from Origin to Return, translated by Hamid
ing Natural Religion (1779), R. A. Vaughan’s Hours with the
Algar (Delmar, N.Y., 1982), pp. 268–285. For a description
Mystics (1856), and Ninian Smart’s A Dialogue of Religions
of various forms of dhikr within the context of contemporary
(1960). This type of dialogue relates closely to the conven-
Egyptian Sufism, see Michael Gilsenan’s Saint and Sufi in
tions of the theater and the novel, which may serve a similar
Modern Egypt (Oxford, 1973), pp. 156–187.
purpose and of which this type of dialogue is a didactic off-
WILLIAM C. CHITTICK (1987)
shoot. Less artificial were attempts to record the conversa-
tions and informal statements of literati and religious lead-
ers—Martin Luther’s Tischreden (Table Talk, 1566),
Boswell’s Life of Johnson (1791), Dialogues of Alfred North
DIALOGUE OF RELIGIONS. Etymologically, the
Whitehead (1954), and, from India, The Gospel of Sri Rama-
word dialogue (Gr., dialogos) means simply “conversation,”
krishna (1897).
although in Western intellectual history its dominant mean-
ing has been “a piece of written work cast in the form of a
Imaginative dialogue has also served the cause of inter-
conversation.” In the history of religions, “conversations”
religious controversy—for example, by convincing an imagi-
about the meaning of beliefs, rituals, and ethics have no
nary opponent of the error of his ways. An early missionary
doubt been taking place, though informally and unrecorded,
example was K. M. Banerjea’s Dialogues on Hindu Philosophy
from the very beginning, or at least from the first encounter
(1861), which set Indian traditions against one another in
of divergent belief systems. However, the phrase dialogue of
the interests of Christianity. This apologetic method was,
religions has become common in various religious traditions
however, short-lived.
only since the second half of the twentieth century.
Common to the older forms of didactic or controversial
Written dialogues on religion and on philosophical sub-
dialogue was the assumption that religious truth is to be ar-
jects have a long history. The most celebrated Western exam-
rived at rationally, by reasonable discourse and the weighing
ples are no doubt the dialogues of Plato, and particularly
of evidence and proofs. Doubtless there were cases in which
those in which the teaching methods of Socrates are pres-
this actually happened. In the eighteenth and nineteenth
ented on a question-and-answer basis. Within many religious
centuries, contacts between religious traditions increased
traditions, dialogues between teachers and their pupils were
rapidly, and along with them actual (as opposed to imagi-
recorded as a means of communicating and deepening in-
nary) conversational encounters between believers. How
sights. But in virtually all such cases the neophyte occupied
often these followed an ideally rational course must remain
a position of submission to the teacher, whose authority de-
a moot point: one suspects they seldom did so. But since dur-
rived from what he had learned orally from his mentor and
ing this same period the Western countries were politically
proved in practice. This type of dialogue is especially marked
and economically dominant, and the Christian missionary
in the Indian traditions, Hindu and Buddhist alike. A rela-
enterprise was experiencing its greatest successes, conversa-
tionship of faith and trust is set up between master and disci-
tions usually involved Christians, and were seldom between
ple, whereupon the disciple receives instruction, often in re-
equal partners. Where other traditions were concerned, for
sponse to respectful questioning. Many of the Upanis:ads are
instance in confrontations between Hindus and Muslims in
cast in dialogue form, as is the Bhagavadg¯ıta¯ and a portion
India, there could be a level of mutual suspicion that pre-
of the Buddhist Pali canon. The Judeo-Christian tradition
vented constructive conversations from taking place at all.
likewise contains much instruction in dialogue form: the
The West was, however, becoming steadily better informed
Law (Torah) is interpreted orally by rabbis to the circle of
on matters concerning other religious traditions, while the
their disciples, whereas the teachings of Jesus are often placed
rapid onset of theological liberalism was modifying the terms
in the context of conversations and instruction sessions with-
in which Western religion was expressed. Before World War
in the company of followers. It is hardly possible in any of
I, the dominant concepts were “sympathy” and “fulfillment,”
these instances to speak of a dialogue between equals, since
and although innumerable conversations took place, no one
the disciple or pupil comes seeking the insights that only that
applied to them the word dialogue.
particular teacher can provide. In the Socratic dialogue the
Apologetics and controversy aside, in the late nineteenth
pupil is made to play a more active role, certainly, but the
century began a serious attempt to bring the religious leaders
presence of the master is what guarantees that insights will
of the world together in a spirit of reconciliation, concentrat-
emerge.
ing on what united them rather than what kept them apart.
Artificial or imaginative dialogues on religious and
The pioneer assembly was the World’s Parliament of Reli-
metaphysical subjects also occur frequently in Western litera-
gions, held in Chicago in 1893; its original impulse came
ture, following the pattern established in classical antiquity.
from Swedenborgians, yet it gathered under the banner of
An early medieval example of the genre was the Icelander
a common theism. The parliament at least attracted delegates
Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (early thirteenth century), in
from every major tradition, and although it dismayed the or-
which Gangleri asks three informants about the contents of
thodox of many creeds (especially within evangelical Chris-
Norse mythology. Later examples are very numerous, and in-
tianity), it established many important contacts. It also
clude works as diverse as David Hume’s Dialogues Concern-
marked the beginning of the modern Hindu “mission” to 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
DIALOGUE OF RELIGIONS
2343
West in the person of Swami Vivekananda, who taught, fol-
the way for this era is one of the finest hopes of the scientific
lowing Ramakrishna, the equal value of all religions as path-
study of religion” (quoted in Sharpe, 1975, p. 272). Other
ways to the Real. This view was strongly supported in theory
scholars, however, regarded this ideal as less than “scientific.”
by organizations like the Theosophical Society (founded in
Parliaments, congresses, and conferences continued to
1875) and Ba¯ha¯’i. A Chicago “continuation committee” was
bring together religious leaders in a spirit of irenic idealism,
formed, though no further full-scale parliaments were ever
on the pattern of the League of Nations. Yet there was an
held. The Chicago spirit survived, however, in an Interna-
increasing sense of the threat to religion being posed by the
tional Council of Unitarian and Other Liberal Religious
European totalitarian regimes, as well as by materialism, and
Thinkers and Workers, which worked between 1901 and
frequent calls were made for the world’s religious leaders to
1913. Its aims were to introduce believers to one another,
band their people together to meet these pressures. What the
to emphasize the “universal elements” in all religions, and to
leaders could not guarantee to do, however, was change the
work for the “moral uplift of the world.” World War I
religious configurations of the world. Local situations were
brought these efforts to a temporary halt, but after the war,
still, during the interwar years, dominated by local concerns.
when internationalism was held to be one safeguard against
Within the Christian churches, there were several notable
further conflict, various interfaith movements emerged, cul-
moves in the direction of increasing visible unity—among
minating in the World Fellowship of Faiths (1929).
Methodists in Britain, Presbyterians in Scotland, Protestant
Eight years earlier, Rudolf Otto had instituted his Re-
churches in Canada and South India—but relatively little
ligiöser Menschheitsbund (Interreligious League) with the
could be done on the interfaith level.
same end in view—the lessening of international tensions
The notion of dialogue in its modern sense entered the
through the banding together of believers. These moral ob-
world of religion during the confused and confusing years
jectives were accepted on the liberal wing of Christianity,
after World War I, and was closely connected with the phi-
coming to expression at the Jerusalem conference of the In-
losophy of existentialism. Its first and most widely read man-
ternational Missionary Council in 1928, and classically in
ifesto was Martin Buber’s I and Thou (1923), which urged
the liberal manifesto edited by W. E. Hocking, Re-Thinking
that human beings should cease to look upon one another
Missions (1932). In general, however, Christians were uneasy
merely as objects (“I-It”) and approach one another directly
about interfaith cooperation. Hindus adjusted to it more eas-
and with mutual acceptance as fellow humans (“I-Thou”).
ily, and in the person of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan gained an
Buber was Jewish and therefore well acquainted with racial,
international spokesman of great force and clarity. Radhakr-
religious, and economic oppression. But such forms of op-
ishnan held that the comparative study of religion made ex-
pression might emerge whenever and wherever negative
clusive claims on the part of any individual tradition impossi-
value judgments were applied by a dominant group to their
ble, and that behind all empirical forms of religion there is
(supposed) inferiors. The only cure was the recognition of
“the same intention, the same striving, the same faith” (Rad-
common humanity, and the personal discourse—or dia-
hakrishnan, East and West in Religion, London, 1933,
logue—of individuals, whatever their beliefs, on that level.
p. 19).
Although Buber and the other existentialists were wide-
Between the wars, world congresses and fellowships of
ly read, and although, as we have seen, many interfaith initia-
faiths continued to meet regularly, even under the lengthen-
tives were begun between the wars, the application of the
ing shadow of various forms of totalitarianism. Mention
term dialogue to the relation between religious traditions did
might also be made of the Oxford Group Movement (subse-
not become common until the years after World War II. By
quently retitled Moral Re-Armament), which was basically
that time the political and religious patterns of the world had
Christian but which was more concerned with moral than
begun to change more and more rapidly. Western political
with theological issues: it enjoyed its heyday in the late
imperialism was being rapidly dismantled; former colonies
1930s, and attracted many non-Christians. On another level,
were becoming independent almost daily, with a consequent
the philosophia perennis proclaimed by Coomaraswamy,
questioning of the values of the colonial period, religious val-
Schuon, and Guénon gained followers from various tradi-
ues not excepted; but at the same time Christianity was an
tions, Eastern as well as Western. This, however, was less a
important factor in the lives of the new nations, and needed
meeting place of religious traditions than a means by which
to find a new role, independent of the former governing
they might be transcended. In the area of scholarship, al-
powers. The newly independent nations were seldom other
though the study of religion on a multicultural basis un-
than partly Christian. India became officially “secular,” while
doubtedly did increase mutual respect among the traditions
having a massive Hindu majority, and Pakistan was created
and further dialogue between them, few individual scholars
as a Muslim state, for Hindu-Muslim dialogue on the sub-
were prepared to pronounce on the issue. One exception was
continent had been a marked failure. Elsewhere in the world,
Friedrich Heiler of Marburg, who stated at an international
whether official ideology was Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish (in
conference in Tokyo in 1958 that “a new era will dawn upon
the sole case of Israel), or “secular,” Christianity was in al-
mankind when the religions will rise to true tolerance and
most all cases thrust on to the defensive. In the Western
co-operation on behalf of mankind. To assist in preparing
countries themselves the Christian pattern underwent a 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
2344
DIALOGUE OF RELIGIONS
gressive polarization between conservative and liberal views,
them. The great drawback to this approach is its indi-
with liberals in particular suffering greatly from postcolonial
vidualism. Although suitable enough among intellectu-
guilt on the one hand and an uncertainty as to ultimate reli-
als in the semisecular West, it leaves out of consideration
gious values on the other.
the extent to which the individual is shaped by the com-
munity of which he or she, depending on its support
It was in this atmosphere that the word dialogue began
and adhering to its values, is part. To bypass the com-
to emerge as the only workable term with which to describe
munity is often simply impossible, and although this ap-
the proper attitude of one group of believers over against an-
proach rests on high ideals, it may prove to be little
other. It should be remembered, however, that during the
more than a theoretical stance.
time of its greatest popularity, between the mid-1960s and
the mid-1970s, the word was used almost exclusively by the
3. Secular dialogue stresses that where there are tasks to be
liberal wing of Christianity (both Catholic and Protestant)
performed in the world, believers in different creeds
in the West, and by similarly liberal Christians in the devel-
may share in a program of joint action, without regard
oping nations. Conservatives found the term unacceptable,
to their respective convictions. In the theological cli-
since it implicitly placed religious traditions on a par with
mate of the 1960s and 1970s, dialogue very frequently
one another, or at least was less than explicit when it came
appeared to be pointed in this direction. It simply by-
to affirming the claims of Christianity. In the non-Western
passed the belief question in the interests of practicali-
world, too, there were those who suspected that the new em-
ties. “Desacralization turns the eyes of men to the world,
phasis on dialogue was no more than a subtler and more in-
to time and history, and the realities of history are often
sidious form of missionary apologetics.
more manageable for purposes of dialogue than the su-
pramundane things of an ethereal world” (Jai Singh,
An important symbolical breakthrough was achieved by
1967, pp. 43–44).
the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) of the Roman
Catholic church, which spoke in several documents about di-
4. Spiritual dialogue has been advocated chiefly by those
alogue, the church for instance urging “her sons . . . pru-
who have been trained in the contemplative and monas-
dently and lovingly, through dialogue and collaboration with
tic traditions, and who have learned to set high value
the followers of other religions,” to “acknowledge, preserve,
upon Eastern (or other) spirituality, while not wishing
and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among
to lessen their hold upon their own. Its locus is not de-
these men, as well as the values in their society and culture”
bate and discussion, but prayer and meditation, and in
(Nostra aetate 2). Similarly, the disciples of Christ “can learn
recent years it has given rise to a considerable number
by sincere and patient dialogue what treasures a bountiful
of ashrams and meditation centers in East and West
God has distributed among the nations of the earth” (Ad
alike. In theoretical terms, it rests on a monistic theolo-
gentes 2.11). Statements of this kind had the effect of liberat-
gy similar in many ways to Veda¯nta; in practical terms,
ing Catholics from previous restrictions on fellowship with
it often concedes to the East a level of attainment in
non-Catholics, and of releasing a flood of “dialogue litera-
matters of spirituality superior to that of the West, and
ture,” in the production of which Protestants were soon to
is prepared to use non-Christian scriptures, liturgies,
share.
and techniques alongside those that are specifically
Christian. Often it will stress the importance of theologia
But not all this literature saw the nature and purpose
negativa, negate the primacy of logic and conceptual
of dialogue in the same light. In addition, much of it suffered
knowledge, and rely on experience, intuition, and con-
in that it was not actually emerging from discussions between
templation. In this respect it was a typical product of
believers belonging to different traditions, but remained on
the 1960s.
the level of theorizing about dialogue. Various types of activi-
ty seemed to be capable of being contained beneath the “dia-
Since about the mid-1970s, the term dialogue has been some-
logue” canopy.
what less used than during the previous decade, partly on ac-
count of changing fashions, partly in response to socioeco-
1. Discursive dialogue (previously “debate” or “discussion”)
nomic pressures. There is little real evidence that the stated
involves meeting, listening, and discussion on the level
goals of dialogue (at least as formulated by Christians) were
of mutual competent intellectual inquiry. As such it was
ever reached, and in any case, each new generation has had
neither very new nor very remarkable, though it had al-
to take up the task of meeting other believers afresh. But at
ways been fairly uncommon. As an intellectual activity,
least the “dialogue period” helped to banish some of the im-
it could only ever be profitable among equally equipped
patience and the inaccuracies of the past, although doubtless
partners, since it presupposes the willingness of both to
creating fresh problems of its own. While it taught many
listen, as well as speak.
Christians the importance of sympathy and seriousness in in-
2. Human (“Buberian”) dialogue rests on the existential
terreligious discourse, it failed to engage the attention of
foundations previously described, and assumes that it is
most other traditions on anything but a superficial level. As
possible for human beings to meet purely and simply
such, what has often been called a “dialogue of religions” and
as human beings, irrespective of the beliefs that separate
set forth as a practical activity, has remained on the level 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
DIAMOND
2345
theory and ideals. Actual encounters of believers there will
The symbol of the vajra is important in Buddhism as
always be. They will undoubtedly remain haphazard, unpre-
well, where it symbolizes the power of the Buddha’s teaching
dictable, sometimes violent, and always determined by local
(the dharma) to overcome the deluding passions of sentient
conditions.
beings. The Diamond Throne or Seat is the place of enlight-
enment. Situated at the foot of the bodhi tree, it is the un-
SEE ALSO Religious Diversity; Truth.
changeable axis or center of the world.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In Tantric Buddhism vajra represents immutable, unal-
Jai Singh, Herbert, ed. Inter-religious Dialogue. Bangalore, 1967.
terable spiritual power. Symbolizing clarity and light, it also
Klostermaier, Klaus Konrad. Hindu and Christian in Vrindaban.
refers to the indeterminate character and ultimate emptiness
Translated by Antonia Fonseca. London, 1969.
of the Buddha nature. Mircea Eliade cites a Tantric text that
Klostermaier, Klaus Konrad. “Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Its Reli-
makes a clear identification between ´su¯nyata¯ (“voidness”)
gious and Cultural Implications.” Studies in Religion 1
and vajra. The Chan patriarch Huineng is said to have de-
(1971): 83–97.
clared that neither that which is waxing nor that which is
Sharpe, Eric J. “The Goals of Inter-religious Dialogue.” In Truth
waning is the diamond.
and Dialogue in World Religions: Conflicting Truth-Claims,
In the traditional mineralogy of the Indian subconti-
edited by John Hick, pp. 77–95. Philadelphia, 1974.
nent, the diamond represents perfection. Stones and metals
Sharpe, Eric J. Comparative Religion: A History. London, 1975.
were thought to grow within the earth’s womb, each with
See the discussion on pages 251–266.
its own lethargic pace and rhythm. The crystal was unripe
Sharpe, Eric J. Faith Meets Faith: Some Christian Attitudes to Hin-
(Hindi, kaccha¯) and constituted a state of intermediate matu-
duism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. London,
ration. The diamond was the epitome of maturity and ripe-
1977.
ness (Hindi, pakka¯). The crystal is not hard; the diamond is.
ERIC J. SHARPE (1987)
The Indian alchemist, associating the diamond with immor-
tality, identified it with the philosophers’ stone.
Similarly, in Tibetan iconography the diamond scepter
DIAMOND. The diamond, first of all, participates in the
signifies the adamantine or immutable world, which is also
hierophany of stones signifying in religious consciousness
potential or nonmanifest. The bell or tilpa refers to the phe-
that which is hard, rugged, and unchanging. Above all, stone
nomenal world, which is manifest and changing. The dia-
is. Like all precious stones, the diamond also partakes of the
mond scepter is the active principle; the bell is the passive.
general symbolism of treasures and riches, which in religious
The former is wisdom and the latter, human reason.
terms represent moral and intellectual knowledge.
The diamond has also been linked with the supreme fe-
As a symbol the diamond, as the hardest of all stones,
male divinity, who is usually associated with the earth. In
has a wide range of meanings, among them indestructibility,
Tibet the earth goddess Ta¯ra¯ has a human incarnation, the
constancy, the unyielding, and dominance. Because of its
Diamond Sow. She is also traditionally regarded as the con-
brilliance it also signifies unconquerable light, excellence,
sort of or feminine counterpart to the bodhisattva
frankness, joy, life, and purity.
Avalokite´svara. In the transition from tarot cards to modern
In Greek the word for “diamond” is derived from ada-
playing cards, diamonds replaced the ancient suit of penta-
mas, meaning “invincible, unconquerable.” In some places,
cles, which had been symbols of Mother Earth (Ta¯ra¯) and
and especially on Greek emblems, it indicated the irradiant
of the earth as feminine.
mystic center, a meaning discovered in the most obscure ex-
The characteristics of hardness and durability have lent
amples as well as in the most prominent. Jean Chevalier and
themselves to other meanings. In the Old Testament the dia-
Alain Gheerbrant (1982) point out that the German word
mond could symbolize hardness of the heart and forehead
Eckstein (“cornerstone”) also refers to the diamond in a deck
(Jer. 17:1). In Rome it was believed that the stone promoted
of cards. The cornerstone is one of many symbols for the cen-
harmony, and that it guarded health and vitality if worn on
ter. In a more obvious example, Plato likens the axis of the
the left hand, close to the heart. This belief probably in-
world to a diamond.
formed its character as an emblem of reconciliation in the
Until the nineteenth century, diamonds were found al-
Middle Ages and as a sign of betrothal in the modern world.
most entirely in India. On the subcontinent the word vajra
meant both “lightning” and “diamond.” Thus, the vajra of
In some places the diamond’s brilliance and lucidity
the god S´iva has a double aspect as thunderbolt and diamond
made it a symbol for Christ. In Hebrew culture the sixth
scepter. Vajra also belongs to the god Agni as a spiritual
stone of the high priest’s breastplate, a diamond, was said to
power and to Indra as a temporal power. As a diamond vajra
become dark or light according to the guilt or innocence of
is adamantine and depicts spiritual power, but as thunder-
an accused person.
bolt and lightning it also represents both destruction and fer-
Mircea Eliade (1958) has related diamonds to “snake
tilization, death-dealing and life-giving powers, the alternat-
stones,” which in many cultures are thought to have fallen
ing and complementary forces of the universe.
from the heads of snakes or dragons. In ancient India, 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
2346
DIANA
later in the Hellenistic and Arab worlds, it was believed that
over the Palatinus, where her temple shines at night. Varro
the stones were poisonous if anyone touched them with their
adds that lucere derives from luere (to undo, to dissolve), be-
lips, because they had once been in a snake’s throat. The no-
cause light (lux) dissolves darkness; from lux derives Noctilu-
tion that precious stones came from snake spittle has been
ca (De lingua Latina 6.79). In her temple a lamp remained
found in areas ranging from China to Great Britain.
lit, illuminating the night. That rite is not Greek, but Italian.
Pliny the Elder (23–79
For his part, Cicero commands that “just as the Sun receives
CE) described the dracontia, or
dracontites, that were to be found in the brains of dragons.
the name of Apollo, so the Moon receives that of Diana” (De
Philostratus the Lemnian (b. c. 190
natura deorum 3.20.51); the same duality of day versus night
CE) reported that the
eyes of some dragons were stones of blinding brilliance im-
appears in Horace’s Ode 4.6, when the poet, in this hymn
bued with magical powers. Sorcerers, he relates, after they
honoring Augustus, praises Apollo Phoibos (= Sun) and, later,
have worshiped reptiles, cut off their heads and take out the
the rites celebrated in honor of Diana-Phoibe, whose flame
precious stones.
grows, ripening the wheat fields: rite crescentem face Noctilu-
cam, prosperam frugum celeremque pronos volvere mensis (As
Given such beliefs, it is not surprising that the diamond
with a torch that rekindles the moonlight, to bring back fa-
has a reputation as a remedy for snakebite. Indeed, Pliny de-
vorable prosperity and swift fruitfulness).
scribes it as a universal talisman, rendering poisons and every
malady harmless and causing evil spirits and bad dreams to
Catullus dedicates his Carmen XXXIV to Diana. Here,
depart. In occidental Europe, the diamond has been thought
the rhythmic repetitions transform the poem into a true
to chase away savage beasts, phantoms, sorcerers, and the ter-
hymn or a prayer where she is invoked as Mistress (domina)
rors of the night. In Russia, its purity and lucidity have made
of wild life in verses 9 through 12: montium domina ut fores
it a charm to impede lust and to strengthen the resolve of
/ silvarumque virentium / saltuumque reconditorum amnium-
the chaste.
que sonantum (Thus you are mistress of the hills, and the
flourishing woods and the secluded pasture land and the re-
B
sounding river). The verses show the duality of Diana as a
IBLIOGRAPHY
Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, in Dictionnaire des symboles
midwife and protector of children, and as regent of the
(Paris, 1982), have written an interesting and often provoca-
gloomy night. Thus, Diana is the light that rules the night.
tive essay on the diamond. Mircea Eliade, in Patterns in Com-
This is why she is also invoked as Lucina (and by the Greeks
parative Religion (New York, 1958), primarily discussed the
as Lucifera), stealing the role from Juno herself, who aids
diamond as a magical object. His description of the signifi-
women in labor (Cicero, De natura deorum 2.68).
cance of the stones in the same book is also helpful. Berthold
Laufer’s book The Diamond: A Study in Chinese and Hellenis-
The Italic cult to Diana is very ancient. Legend attri-
tic Folklore (Chicago, 1915), is one of the few sources that
butes to King Tatius the establishment of her cult in Latium,
include substantial material on the diamond as a symbol
brought from the land of the Sabines. According to Livy
rather than a physical object.
(27.4.12), a temple and a forest (templum et lucus) were con-
secrated to her in Anagnia, the land of the Hernici, as was
New Sources
Harlow, George, ed. The Nature of Diamonds. New York, 1997.
a hill near the Tusculum. These natural landscapes defined
from early on the sacred surroundings of Diana: dark forests,
Hart, Matthew. Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession.
luxuriant woods, and caves.
New York, 2001.
Kendall, Leo P. Diamonds Famous and Fatal: The History, Mystery
The paradigm of such a cult can be found in the oldest
and Lore of the World’s Most Famous Gem. Fort Lee, N.J.,
and most renowned of Diana’s sanctuaries in Latin worship,
2001.
that of Diana Aricina, located in the forest of Nemus, on a
lakeshore at the foot of the Alban hills (Pliny, Naturalis hi-
ELAINE MAGALIS (1987)
Revised Bibliography
storia 16.91). From the name of the lake and the forest, the
goddess takes the epithet Nemorensis. In Aricia, the worship-
ers of Diana were mostly female, and her night rituals were
impressive. Once the women had performed the rites, they
DIANA. Latin grammarians offer the oldest and most
returned to Rome in a procession, carrying torches and illu-
commonly accepted etymology of the name of Diana. She
minating the night with the fire of their goddess. The proces-
is the female counterpart of Zeus/Deus, following the etymo-
sion was repeated, more theatrically, on the ides of August,
logical chain: Deus, dius, Divus, Diovis, dies, duius, Diviana,
when the women, carrying the torches, would stand around
Diana. Therefore, Diana is “the goddess,” and she is often
Lake Nemi until they could feel the presence of the goddess:
defined as such in inscriptions of the imperial era, which
“Diana herself, who crowns with flowers her chosen hounds,
honor her as Dea Diana, Deana, or simply, Diana.
sets her darts and lets the wild beasts lose, while in their
chaste homes, the people, throughout the land of Italy, cele-
Varro (De lingua Latina 5.68), following the ancient
brate the day of Hecate” (Statius, Silvae 3.1.55–60).
texts of Epicharmus and Ennius, states that “the Moon
(luna) takes her name from lucere (to illuminate) because it
This archaic temple held extraordinary importance in
shines alone at night.” For this reason it is called Noctiluca
the organization of the later cult of the goddess, for, when
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIANA
2347
it was moved to Rome, the priest of the temple of Diana in
After the burning of Rome in 65 CE, Nero ordered the
the Aventine was addressed by the “archaeological” title rex
construction of a temple to Diana in the Aventine, which is
nemorensis (Ovid, Fasti 3.265; 6.735). The title conferred sa-
also mentioned by Vitruvius (5.5.8) and Ovid (Fasti 3. 883–
cred respect, and was evidence of the ancient barbarism. The
884). The temple took the place of another one, in a differ-
priest of Diana “always had to defend himself sword in hand
ent location, that “Servius Tullius had consecrated to the
against his foes” (Ovid, Ars amandi 1.260). The notion of
moon,” according to Tacitus (Annales 15.41.1). Livy also re-
barbarism and a constant state of “defense and vigilance” are
fers to the temple (40.2.2) when he tells the prodigious story
probably at the heart of Diana’s success among slaves and
of how, in the year 182, the door to the sanctuary was blown
gladiators. In the time of Augustus, the bronze tables with
down by a hurricane.
the founding decree of the confederate temple, the lex arae
During the first and second centuries CE Diana was
Dianae in Aventino, were still preserved. As in Aricia, in
highly honored by the military, especially equestrian officers
Rome the anniversary of her cult was August 13. On that
throughout the Roman Empire. Dedications allude to
date, slaves received symbolic freedom and women purified
Diana’s ancient names, as well as her earlier functions as god-
themselves by washing their hair and combing it delicately
dess of the forests and ruler of wild animals. Thus, in Altava
(Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae 100).
(Mauretania Caesariensis) she is invoked as “Diana Dea
The early commingling with Artemis can explain those
nemorum comes, victrix ferarum” (CIL VIII, 9831); Diana
aspects of Diana that contrast with her virginal nature. At
Nemorensis is worshiped in Narona (Dalmatia) (CIL III,
Aricia, votive objects have been discovered that take the form
1773); while in Intercisa (Lower Pannonia), honors go to
of vulvas and phalluses. Syncretism progressively altered the
Numen Dianae Tifatinae (Année Epigraphique, 1968, 429).
Latin goddess to the point of conferring various features of
In an important inscription in León (Hispania), dating to the
the Greek goddess upon her beyond her lunar function; thus
second century CE, a senator who was also legatus in legion
she became a midwife like Artemis Locheia, a huntress-
VII Gemina, writes a long votive invocation of the goddess,
goddess, and, as Diana Trivia, a goddess of crossroads, after
building a temple in her honor and offering her his hunting
the example of Hekate Trioditis. By the time of Augustus,
trophies: boar tusks, deer antlers, and a bear skin, all of them
the absorption of Diana by Artemis was virtually complete,
hunted by Tullius Maximus, who calls himself “general of
as can be seen in the Carmen saeculare of Horace. On the
the descendants of Aeneas” (Del Hoyo, 2002).
other hand, Strabo (4.1.5) relates that the cultic statue on the
In late antiquity, the name of Diana and her nocturnal
Aventine displayed the same traits as the Artemis of Mar-
names (such as Hekate, Triva, Selene, Luna) had great accep-
seilles, which in turn was identical with the Artemis of
tance in the religion of the people and in magic.
Ephesus.
In Campania, north of Capua, there was another great
SEE ALSO Artemis; Dea Dia; Moon; Roman Religion, article
archaic sanctuary to Diana, called the Diana Tifatina because
on the Early Period.
of the abundance of evergreen oaks on its surrounding hills.
It was created around the third century BCE. The numerous
BIBLIOGRAPHY
inscriptions found there suggest the popularity of her cult,
Blagg, T. F. C. “The Cult and Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis.”
especially between the first century BCE and the first century
In Pagan Gods and Shrines of the Roman Empire, edited by
CE, which depict Diana Tifatina as “huntress.” The temple
Martin Henig and Anthony King, pp. 211–219. Oxford,
received generous tributes from Sulla in gratitude for his vic-
1986.
tory over C. Norbanus not far from the temple of Tifatina
Cels-Saint Hilaire, Janine. “Numen Augusti et Diane de l’Aventin:
(Velleius, Paterculus 2.25.4; Plutarch, Sulla 6). Economic ac-
Le témoignage de l’ara narbonensis.” In Les grandes figures re-
tivity, based on the ownership and farming of the land, ex-
ligieuses: Fonctionnement pratique et symbolique dans
tends to the imperial era. The policies of protection of the
l’antiquité, pp. 455–502. Paris, 1986.
temple by the emperors is exemplified by the actions of Ves-
Del Hoyo, Javier. “Cvrsv certari: Acerca de la afición cinegética de
pasian in 77 or 78 against private individuals who improper-
Q. Tvllivs Maximvs (CIL II 2660).” Faventia 24, no. 1
ly occupied lands surrounding the temple of Diana Tifa-
(2002): 69–98.
tina—by illegally expanding the size of adjacent plots during
the first century
Gras, Michel. “Le temple de Diane sur l’Aventine.” Revue des
CE. The emperor demanded that the land
études anciennes 89 (1987): 47–61.
be returned to the temple (quibus secundum instrumentum
fines restituuntur). Sulla granted the land to the temple of
Guldager, Pia. “The Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis: The Late Re-
Diana in 82 CE, and its boundaries were legally recorded in
publican Acrolithic Cult Statues.” Acta archaeologica 66
the land registry under Augustus. The imperial judgment is
(1995): 191–217.
preserved in an inscription in Capua, stating that Emperor
Montero, Santiago, and Sabino Perea. Romana religio/religio ro-
Vespasian “restored the limits of the lands under litigation
manorum: Diccionario bibliográfico de religión romana. Ma-
to the temple of Diana Tifatina, donated by Cornelius Sulla”
drid, 1999. See the entry on “Diana” (p. 150), with the rele-
(CIL X 3828).
vant 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
2348
DIETARY LAWS
Ruiz Sánchez, Marcos. Confectum Carmine: En torno a la poesía
able mastery over hermetic and Gnostic literature. He ap-
de Catulo. Murcia, Spain, 1996. See volume 2, pages 65–70,
plied himself in Abraxas to uncovering in this literature ele-
for a commentary on poem XXXIV.
ments of Stoic, Orphic, astrological, Egyptian, and Judaic
ROBERT SCHILLING (1987)
origin. Yet for all that he did not neglect Classical Greek lit-
SABINO PEREA YÉBENES (2005)
erature (especially Aeschylus and Aristophanes). He wrote
Translated from Spanish by Fernando Feliu-Moggi
the article “Aischylos” for the Real-Encyclopädie (1893); in
this article the religious sense of tragic grandeur surpasses the
level of purely verbal and bibliographical erudition. The ori-
DIETARY LAWS SEE KASHRUT
gins of Christianity were part of his concern as well. His
study of the Apocalypse of Peter, a text discovered in a tomb
in Akhmim, Egypt, led to the publication of Nekyia (1893),
an in-depth study of the Greek tradition of descent (kataba-
DIETERICH, ALBRECHT (1866–1908), German
sis) into the underworld and of Judeo-Christian apocalyptic
philologist and historian of Greco-Roman religions. Born in
tradition. It stressed the importance of popular beliefs and
Bad Hersfeld (in the Hesse region of Germany), Albrecht
of beliefs of popular origin at the periphery of official cults
Dieterich completed his secondary studies in the school
or of Classical paganism.
where his father (who wanted Dieterich to become a theolo-
gian) was a member of the faculty. At the University of Leip-
During 1894 and 1895, a long Mediterranean voyage
zig in 1885–1886, Dieterich studied the New Testament and
took him to Greece, Asia Minor, Naples and Pompeii, Sicily,
church history; he also took an interest in the philosophy of
and finally Rome. He thus made direct contact with the ob-
religion in general and enrolled in courses in classical philolo-
jects of his studies: the countrysides, the representational
gy (taught by Georg Curtius, Otto Crusius, and Otto Rib-
monuments, the common people’s way of life, and the ever-
beck). He pursued higher studies at the University of Bonn
living folklore in rustic festivals. The paintings of Campania
from 1886 to 1888, where the teaching of Hermann Usener
(commented upon by August Mau) and Italian theater in-
(whose daughter he later married) had decisive influence
spired Dieterich’s book Pulcinella (1897), a perspicacious
upon his scientific orientation. He also studied under Franz
study of the history of comic characters from classical antiq-
Bücheler, who introduced him to funerary epigraphy, and
uity extending into the present. His visit to the Lateran Mu-
under Reinhard Kekulé, who taught him to appreciate ico-
seum resulted in his publication in 1896 of a commentary
nography.
on the epitaph of Aberkios (a bishop of Hierapolis, Phrygia)
in which he proposed a pagan interpretation, which generat-
Dieterich consolidated the bases of his philological
ed both enthusiastic support (e.g., from Salomon Reinach)
training at Usener’s urging, who had him write a dissertation
and sharp criticism (e.g., from Franz Cumont).
on Aeschylus. He then worked on an edition (with com-
ments) of the magical papyrus J 384 of Leiden; it was sub-
In 1895 he became an auxiliary professor of philology
mitted to a competition sponsered by Bücheler and won the
at the University of Giessen, and then became in 1897 a full
prize (the text was published in the Jahrbücher für klassische
professor there, succeeding Edvard Schwartz. His teaching
Philologie, supp. vol. 16, 1888). In this work Dieterich
on Greek and Latin literature made reference to iconography
showed his concern for historical and linguistic comprehen-
as well as to popular mythology. Greatly impressed by Erwin
sion of the papyrus’s strange elements (that at first glance ap-
Rohde’s Psyché (1890–1894) and Wilhelm Mannhardt’s
pear irrational) by paying attention to how these elements
Wald- und Feldkulte (1875–1877), he became fascinated
manifest the marginal strains of Greco-Roman religion (e.g.,
with ethnography and collaborated in the projects of the
Orphism, Hermetism, and Gnosticism). Having obtained
Hessische Vereinigung für Volkskunde. In this activity he al-
his doctoral degree in 1888, he passed his state examination
ways insisted upon the necessity of providing a philological
in 1889 with his dissertation addressing the question, “What
basis for comparisons. He held conferences at Frankfurt on
do we know about the theism or pantheism of Plato?” In
the rites of birth and death that served as a prelude for his
1891 he qualified as a doctor of philosophy at the University
book Mutter Erde (1905).
of Marburg with his work De hymnis Orphicis capitula quin-
Dieterich was interested in the magical aspect of litera-
que, in which the problems of literary and religious history
ture manifested in the mysticism of signs, in demonology,
are treated together. (The hypothesis that he advanced in this
and in all the aberrant and disturbing fringes of Greco-
book—that of an Alexandrian elaboration of some “Orphic
Roman paganism, which until then were somewhat neglect-
hymns”—is no longer supported, but nevertheless it is still
ed by classical philologists. In a similar way, Oriental reli-
generally agreed that certain aspects of Orphism in Ptolemaic
gions also concerned him. In a letter written in 1897, he ar-
Egypt deserve attention.)
gued that the Egyptian deity Sarapis was a syncretic god
He had at first planned to edit another magical papyrus
foreshadowing a kind of henotheism that would pave the
of Leiden (J 395) as part of his doctoral work; it was instead
way for Christian monotheism. Hugo Hepding, with his
published as an appendix to his Abraxas (1891). This book,
book Attis (1903), inaugurated the series “Religionsgesch-
written in homage to Usener, displayed Dieterich’s remark-
ichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten,” which Dieterich, along
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIETERLEN, GERMAINE
2349
with Richard Wünsch, edited until Dieterich’s death. The
Eine Mithrasliturgie (1903). 3d ed. Edited by Otto Weinreich.
same year saw the publication of Dieterich’s Eine Mithrasli-
Leipzig, 1923.
turgie, an expansion of an article he had published in 1902
Mutter Erde: Ein Versuch über Volksreligion (1905). 3d ed. Leipzig,
(“Die Religion des Mithras” in the journal Bon ner Jahrbü-
1925.
cher); the topic was the famous papyrus in the National Pa-
Kleine Schriften. Edited by Richard Wünsch. Leipzig, 1911. In-
pyrus Library in Paris (Supplementum Graecum 574) that
cludes detailed biographical information on Dieterich.
contains the “formula for immortality.” Although
New Sources
Dieterich’s description of this text as a Mithraic liturgy is no
Betz, Hans Dieter. The “Mithras Liturgy,” Text, Translation, and
longer generally accepted, his commentary does display pro-
Commentary. Tübingen, 2003. See pages 14–26.
digious erudition.
Marchand, Suzanne. “From Liberalism to Neoromanticism: Al-
Dieterich moved to the University of Heidelberg in
brecht Dieterich, Richard Reitzenstein, and the Religious
1903, succeeding Crusius as professor of classical philology.
Turn in fin-de-siècle German Classical Studies.” In Out of
There he dedicated himself mainly to the history of religions.
Arcadia: Classics and Politics in Germany in the Age of Burck-
Beginning in 1904, his editing (at first with Thomas Achelis
hardt, Nietzsche and Wilamowitz, edited by Ingo Gildenhard
but from 1905 to 1908 alone) of the journal Archiv für Reli-
and Martin Ruehl, pp. 129–160. London, 2003.
gionswissenschaft occupied the greater part of his time. This,
Pettersson, Olof. Mother Earth: An Analysis of the Mother Earth
however, did not prevent him from writing a magnum opus
Concepts according to Albrecht Dieterich. Lund, 1967.
that he had been nurturing for some time: Mutter Erde: Ein
Wessels, Antje Ursprungszauber. Zur Rezeption von Hermann
Versuch über Volksreligion (1905). In it he defends the thesis
Useners Lehre von der religiösen Begriffsbildung (RGVV 51).
that rites of birth and death can be explained as functions
Berlin and New York, 2003. See pages 96–128.
of a fundamental belief, a primitive and universal given in
ROBERT TURCAN (1987)
the history of religions. His idea enjoyed considerable suc-
Translated from French by Paul C. Duggan
cess. It was answered with justified criticisms (for example,
Revised Bibliography
by Olof Pettersson in his book Mother Earth, Lund, 1967);
yet the work still has merit, and any criticisms of it ought
to be nuanced (see my review of Pettersson’s book in Revue
de l’histoire des religions 175, 1969, pp. 69–71). Significantly,
DIETERLEN, GERMAINE (1903–1999), a tower-
Mutter Erde was dedicated to Usener on the occasion of his
ing figure in French ethnography, is especially known for her
seventieth birthday. In the same year (1905), a supplement
exhaustive documentation of the Dogon of Mali. In 1931
to Archiv für Religionswissenschaft was also dedicated to
she joined the famous ethnographic expedition, the Dakar-
Usener; in it, a piece entitled “Sonnentag” by Dieterich drew
Djibouti mission, led by Marcel Griaule (1898–1956). She
a relationship between a Heidelberg custom and the ancient
became an integral part of Griaule’s interdisciplinary re-
and modern feasts of Palm Sunday. He was planning one
search team and his closest associate. Dieterlen’s interests and
work on popular religion and another on the origins of
investigations were wide-ranging. She made more than forty
Christianity.
expeditions, mostly to Mali but also to Burkina Faso, Ivory
Coast, Niger, and Ghana. She researched Bozo, Peul, and
Dieterich died of a cerebral apoplexy shortly after begin-
Bambara (Bamana) as well as Dogon cultures, including
ning a course of lectures at Heidelberg; he was fully active
music and instruments, statuary and art, jewelry, oral litera-
and in the prime of his career. His students (notably Frie-
ture, language, and religion.
drich Pfister, Eugen Fehrle, and Otto Weinreich) bear the
clear stamp of his teaching. He contributed to a greater un-
Dieterlen was already married and thirty years old when
derstanding of Greco-Roman paganism by opening classical
she decided to earn her baccalaureate in order to pursue a
philology to the exegesis of obscure texts from late antiquity;
vocation in the nascent science of ethnography. That she de-
he also contributed to the comparative study of religions and
fied the constricting social conventions of her day shows the
to the study of popular traditions without ever losing sight
extraordinary will and determination that she extended into
of the great Hellenic literary tradition.
the field, where she was reputed to be both exacting and
tireless.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dieterlen’s first work, “Calebasses dahoméennes”
Dietrich’s published works include the following:
(“Documents de la mission Dakar-Djibouti”), published in
De hymnis orphicis capitula quinque. Marburg, 1891.
1935 in collaboration with Griaule, was a descriptive study
Abraxas: Studien zur Religionsgeschichte des spätern Altertums. Leip-
of the more than thirty-six hundred objects brought back by
zig, 1891.
the Dakar-Djibouti mission for the Trocadero Museum.
Nekyia: Beiträge zur Erklärung der neuentdeckten Petrusapokalypse.
Dieterlen’s careful attention to material culture reflects the
Leipzig, 1893.
influence of her teacher Marcel Mauss (1872–1950). Her
Die Grabinschrift des Aberkios. Leipzig, 1896.
first great work, Les âmes des Dogons (1941), inaugurated her
Pulcinella pompjanische Wandbilder und römische Satyrspiele. Leip-
innovative research on religious ethnology. During three
zig, 1897.
subsequent expeditions she deepened her focus on belief sys-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2350
DIETERLEN, GERMAINE
tems, producing the classic Essai sur la religion des Bambara
During the mid-1960s the CIAI organized two seminars
(1951). These three works, though disparate in content and
on the Voltaic region. The result was an important collec-
style, reflect the two orientations in Dieterlen’s scientific life:
tion, African Systems of Thought (1965), coedited by Dieter-
concrete objects and symbolic representations. Dieterlen’s
len and the British anthropologist Meyer Fortes (1906–
fascination with the relationship of concrete manifestations
1983). The volume initiated a wide and enduring debate on
to systems of belief is evident in another work coauthored
the meaning of non-Western thought. It also explored the
with Griaule, Signes graphiques soudanais (1951).
degree to which the contrasting theoretical orientations and
methods of the two schools determined strikingly different
Dieterlen carefully attended to the very words of those
appraisals of similar cultures.
she studied as a means of understanding their beliefs and sys-
A founding member and director of research for the
tems of representation. Her method was to note their lan-
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS),
guage and then later develop reflections and deepened in-
Dieterlen created a research group on African religions. She
sights by examining their words. This was the method used
organized the CNRS’s influential 1971 international collo-
in Le renard pâle (1965), which she published after Griaule’s
quium on what later became a fashionable theme in anthro-
death under both their names. An extraordinary work, it is
pology, the “notion of personhood.” Dieterlen’s contribu-
the extended study and amplification of the cosmogonic sys-
tion recovered the feminine as important aspects of the
tem first expounded by a Dogon elder seventeen years before
Dogon mythology and social system, including a consider-
and related by Griaule in his landmark book, Dieu d’eau
ation of pregnancy, childbirth, and the placenta as the bearer
(Conversations with Ogotemmêli) in 1948. Her comprehen-
of the sacred signs of creation. In an astounding homage to
sive synthesis of Dogon cosmogony is complemented by a
Dieterlen, the Dogon gave her the status yasiguine (sister of
thorough analysis of its concrete manifestation in their social
Sigui), which entitled her to be a member of the male mask-
arrangements. Dieterlen’s respect for the authority of her na-
ing society.
tive informants’ own self-representation is epitomized in Le
titre d’honneur des Arou (1982), almost entirely comprised of
SEE ALSO Griaule, Marcel.
direct transcription.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dieterlen’s assumption that key informants were articu-
Dieterlen, Germaine, in collaboration with Marcel Griaule. “Cale-
late exponents of local knowledge provided the guiding im-
basses dahoméennes” (“Documents de la mission Dakar-
pulse for her novel use of ethnographic film as a research
Djibouti”). Journal de la Société des Africanistes V, no. 2
tool. She viewed filmed ceremonial events with informants
(1935): 203–246.
to elicit a dialogue and insights that led to fuller comprehen-
Dieterlen, Germaine. Les âmes des Dogons. Paris, 1941.
sion. A unique achievement in the history of ethnography
Dieterlen, Germaine. Essai sur la religion Bambara. Paris, 1951.
was the series of eight films she made with Jean Rouch
Translated as An Essay on the Religion of the Bambara (New
(1917–2004) between 1967 and 1973 consecrated to the
Haven, Conn., 1960).
Sigui, a Dogon masking ritual held every sixty years that ex-
Dieterlen, Germaine. “Mythe et organization sociale au Soudan
français.” Journal de la Société des Africanistes 25 (1955):
tends over a seven-year period. A pioneer of the medium,
39–76.
Dieterlen eventually served as the president of the Commit-
Dieterlen, Germaine. “Mythe et organization sociale en Afrique
tee on Ethnographic Film.
occidentale.” Journal de la Société des Africanistes 29 (1959):
Another critical contribution Dieterlen made to the
119–138.
field was her promotion of dialogue between the French and
Dieterlen, Germaine. “Colloque sur les cultures voltaïques
British schools of anthropology, which employed character-
(Sochamp, 6–8 décembre 1965).” Recherches voltaïques 8
(1967): 33–44.
istically opposing means of interrogating West African cul-
ture. The French approach, personified by Griaule and
Dieterlen, Germaine. “L’image du corps et les composantes de la
personne chez les Dogon.” In La notion de personne en Af-
Dieterlen, gave primacy to the symbolic and mythical fea-
rique noire, Paris, 11–17 octobre 1971. Colloques interna-
tures of culture, while the British method, more analytical
tionaux du C.N.R.S., pp. 205–229. Paris, 1973.
than metaphysical, documented social organization, particu-
Dieterlen, Germaine. Systèmes de signes: Textes réunis en hommage
larly kinship and politics. Collaborating extensively with
à Germaine Dieterlen. Centre National de la Recherche
British colleagues, Dieterlen played an ambassadorial role
Scientifique. Paris, 1978.
that fostered constructive discussion about method even as
Dieterlen, Germaine. Le titre d’honneur des Arou (Dogon, Mali).
it promoted work that cut across the boundaries of Franco-
Paris, 1982.
phone and Anglophone countries. Dieterlen served on the
Dieterlen, Germaine, and Marcel Griaule. Signes graphiques sou-
Council of the International African Institute (CIAI) along
danais. Paris, 1951.
with Daryll Forde (1902–1973), who edited the important
Dieterlen, Germaine, and Marcel Griaule. “The Dogon of the
collection African Worlds: Studies in the Cosmological Ideas
French Sudan.” In African Worlds: Studies in the Cosmological
and Social Values of African Peoples (1954) that also bridged
Ideas and Social Values of African Peoples, edited by Daryll
French and British preoccupations.
Forde, pp. 83–110. London, 1954.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIGNA¯GA
2351
Dieterlen, Germaine, and Marcel Griaule. Le renard pâle. Paris,
that empirical reality is a product of the consciousness; (6)
1965. Translated by Stephen C. Infantino as The Pale Fox,
A¯lambana-par¯ıks:a¯, an examination of the object of cogni-
Chino Valley, Az., 1986.
tion; (7) Hetucakrad:amaru; (8) Nya¯yamukha; (9) Hetumukha
Ferry, Marie-Paule. “Hommage à . . . Germaine Dieterlen.”
(not extant except for a few fragments); and (10)
L’humanité (November 29, 1999).
Prama¯n:a-samuccaya. These last four works treat logic and
Griaule, Marcel. Dieu d’eau. Paris, 1948. Translated as Conversa-
epistemology.
tions with Ogotemmêli (London and New York, 1970).
Digna¯ga was a proponent of the Yoga¯ca¯ra doctrine inso-
International African Seminar (3d, 1960, Salisbury, Southern
far as he maintained that phenomenal existence was fabricat-
Rhodesia). African Systems of Thought: Studies Presented and
ed by the consciousness. However, the notion of the
Discussed at the Third International African Seminar in Salis-
a¯laya-vijña¯na (“receptacle consciousness”), a central
bury, December 1960. Prefaces by M. Fortes and G. Dieter-
Yoga¯ca¯ra doctrine, is not mentioned in any of his works. He
len. London, New York, 1965.
belonged to that school of the Yoga¯ca¯ras that did not recog-
Lewis, I. M. “Obituary.” Anthropology Today 16, no. 2 (April
nize the a¯laya-vijña¯na and the “I-consciousness” (manas) sep-
2000): 25–56.
arately from the six kinds of ordinary sense consciousness:
Piault, Marc-Henri, and Joelle Hauzeur, eds. “Les empreintes du
visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and discrimina-
renard pâle: Pour Germaine Dieterlen.” Journal des African-
tive. In some of his works he evinces an interest in
istes 71, no. 1 (2001): special issue.
Sautra¯ntika doctrine, and in fact, Digna¯ga’s epistemological
LAURA S. GRILLO (2005)
theories as expounded in the Prama¯n:asamuccaya were made
acceptable for both the Sautra¯ntikas and the Yoga¯ca¯ras.
Among the treatises concerning the Yoga¯ca¯ra philoso-
DIFFUSIONISM SEE EVOLUTION, ARTICLE ON
phy, the A¯lambana-par¯ıks:a¯ is most important. In this work
EVOLUTIONISM; KULTURKREISELEHRE
Digna¯ga repudiates the realists by arguing that a cognition
cannot take for its object a thing in the external world,
whether it is an individual atom or an aggregate of atoms.
DIGNA¯GA
His discussions are similar to those presented by Vasuband-
(c. 480–540 CE), founder of the Buddhist
hu in his Vim:´satika¯-vijñaptima¯-trata¯siddhi. However, the
school of epistemology and logic in India. Born near Ka¯ñc¯ı
originality of Digna¯ga lies in his insistence that an object of
in South India, Digna¯ga first belonged to the Va¯ts¯ıputr¯ıya
cognition (a¯lambana) must fulfill two necessary conditions:
school of H¯ınaya¯na Buddhism, but unconvinced of the ade-
first, the object must be the cause (ka¯ran:a) of a cognition,
quacy of its doctrine, he left the school. Some source materi-
and second, it must possess the same form (a¯ka¯ra) as that
als record that he became a pupil of Vasubandhu, a re-
which appears in the cognition. To satisfy these two condi-
nowned scholar of Buddhist philosophy, but his direct
tions the object must be a real entity (dravya-sat) and possess
relationship to Vasubandhu may be questioned: a passage in
a gross form (sthu¯la¯ka¯ra). With these two conditions in view
one of Digna¯ga’s works indicates an uncertainty concerning
Digna¯ga examined and rejected the realist theories and drew
the authorship of a book traditionally attributed to Vasu-
the conclusion that the object of cognition is nothing other
bandhu. Digna¯ga stayed for some time in Na¯landa¯, then the
than the form of an object that appears in the cognition.
center of Buddhist learning, and obtained mastery of the
Vijña¯nava¯da philosophy and of logic. His later years were
Digna¯ga’s major contribution in the field of logic is the
spent in Orissa.
invention of the “wheel of reasons” (hetucakra), which shows
nine possible relations between a logical reason (hetu) and
Digna¯ga composed many philosophical treatises. Most
what is to be proven (sa¯dhya), and enables one to distinguish
are no longer extant in Sanskrit, but a certain number of
a valid reason from invalid ones. The hetucakra was first pres-
them are available in Tibetan or Chinese translation. The
ented in the Hetucakrad:amaru, and later incorporated in the
important ones are (1) Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯-pin:d:a¯rtha-sam:graha,
Nya¯yamukha, a work treating the dialectic on the model of
a summary of the Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ Su¯tra from the Yoga¯ca¯ra
Vasubandhu’s Va¯davidhi, and in the Prama¯n:asamuccaya, a
standpoint; (2) Traika¯lya-pa-r¯ıks:a¯, a treatise on the concept
systematic exposition of the theory of knowledge.
of time consisting of verses taken from Bhartr:hari’s
Va¯kyapad¯ıya with a slight but significant modification: it is
The Prama¯n:asamuccaya is the most important of
intended to set forth the Yoga¯ca¯ra view that phenomenal ex-
Digna¯ga’s works, for it is the synthesis of the doctrines ex-
istences are produced by the consciousness (vijña¯na); (3)
pounded by him in different treatises. It comprises six chap-
Abhidharmako´sa-marma-d¯ıpa, an abridgment of Vasuband-
ters focusing on, respectively, (1) perception (pratyaks:a), (2)
hu’s book treating the dogmatics of the H¯ına¯yana schools;
inference sva¯rtha¯numa¯na), (3) syllogism (para¯rtha¯numa¯na),
(4) Hastava¯la-prakaran:a, an examination of the Sautra¯ntika
(4) proper and improper examples in syllogism
concepts of ultimate reality (parama¯rtha-sat) and empirical
(dr:s:t:a¯nta-dr:s:t:a¯nta¯bha¯sa), (5) “differentiation from others”
reality (sam:vr:ti-sat); (5) *Upa¯da¯ya-prajñapti-prakaran:a, a
(anya¯poha) as the meaning of a word, and (6) futile rejoinder
clear explanation of the Sautra¯ntika concept of empirical re-
(ja¯ti). In the first chapter, Digna¯ga makes a radical distinc-
ality, arguing at the conclusion from the Yoga¯ca¯ra viewpoint
tion between the two means of cognition, namely, percep-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2352
DIHLAW¯I, SHA¯H WAL¯I, ALLA¯H
tion, which apprehends the particular (svalaks:an:a) with no
Kitagawa Hidenori. Indo koten ronrigaku no kenkyu¯: Jinna no
conceptual construction (kalpana¯), and inference, which ap-
taikei. Tokyo, 1965. A lucid exposition of Digna¯ga’s system
prehends the universal (sa¯ma¯nyalaks:an:a) produced through
of logic (part 1) and a Japanese translation of the main por-
conceptual construction. The doctrines that invited attack
tions of the Prama¯n:asamuccaya, chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6, with
from opponents, such as that of the identity between the
explanations based on Jinendrabuddhi’s commentary (part
2). Appendix A consists of an annotated English translation
means (prama¯n:a) and the result (prama¯n:aphala) of cognition
of Dharmak¯ırti’s Sam:ta¯na¯ntarasiddhi, and an abridged En-
and that of “self-awareness” (svasam:vitti) of cognition, are
glish translation of Digna¯ga’s Ch’ü yin chia she lun
advocated in this chapter. Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6 deal with
(*Upa¯da¯-yaprajñapti-prakaran:a). Appendix B presents two
logical problems. In these chapters Digna¯ga discusses in full
Tibetan texts of the Prama¯n:asamuccaya.
detail such topics as the distinction between inference for
New Sources
oneself (sva¯rtha¯numa¯na) and inference for others
Franco, Eli. “Did Dignaga Accept Four Types of Perception?”
(para¯rtha¯numa¯na), the three character-istics (triru¯pa) of an
Journal of Indian Philosophy 21 (1993): 295–299.
inferential mark (lin˙ga), the object of inference (anumeya),
Ho, Chien-Hsing. “How Not to Avoid Speaking: A Free Exposi-
the “wheel of reasons” (hetucakra), and the concomitance in
tion of Dignaga’s Apoha Doctrine.” Journal of Indian Philos-
agreement (anavaya) and in difference (vyatireka) between
ophy 24 (1996): 541–562.
inferential mark and example, and establishes the system of
Robbins, Robert. “A Reexamination of Dignaga’s Concept of Self
three-membered syllogism. The fifth chapter is devoted to
Awareness.” In Contacts Between Cultures, edited by A. Har-
the elucidation of the apoha doctrine, that is, the doctrine
rak, pp. 242–248. Lewiston, N.Y., 1992.
that the function of a word consists in the “differentiation
Tillemans, Tom J. F. “Pre-Dharmakirti Commentators on Digna-
(of an object) from other things” (anya¯poha) and not in the
ga’s Definition of a Thesis (paksalaksana).” Buddhist Forum
direct reference to a real entity. This doctrine also aroused
(1994): 295–305.
controversy among the scholars of the different philosophical
Tuske, Joerg. “Dinnaga and the Raven Paradox.” Journal of Indian
schools.
Philosophy 26 (1998): 387–403.
Digna¯ga had a great influence on the scholars of both
HATTORI MASAAKI (1987)
Brahmanic and Buddhist schools. Uddyotakara (c. sixth
Revised Bibliography
century) of the Nya¯ya school, Kuma¯rila Bhat:t:a (c. seventh
century) of the M¯ıma¯m:sa¯ school, and Mallava¯din (c. sixth
century) of the Jain school made vehement attacks on his
DIHLAW¯I, SHA¯H WAL¯I, ALLA¯H SEE WAL¯I
doctrines as presented in the Prama¯n:asamuccaya.
ALLA¯H, SHA¯H
Pra´sastapa¯da (c. sixth century), a Vai´ses:ika philosopher, was
much indebted to Digna¯ga for the formulation of his theory
of inference. Among Buddhist scholars, Dharmak¯ırti (c.
DILTHEY, WILHELM (1833–1911), German phi-
600–660) wrote an elaborate commentary on the
losopher of history and intellectual historian. Dilthey was
Prama¯n:asamuccaya, the Prama¯n:ava¯rttika, in which he fully
born in Biebrich am Rhein, where his father, a liberal Calvin-
developed the ideas formulated by Digna¯ga. Soon this work
ist theologian, was court chaplain to the duke of Nassau. Fol-
took the place of the Prama¯n:asamuccaya in academic circles,
lowing graduation at the head of his Gymnasium class in
and was studied both by Buddhists and by members of rival
nearby Wiesbaden, he enrolled at Heidelberg in 1852 to
schools.
study theology. After only a year, however, he left for Berlin
SEE ALSO Dharmak¯ırti; Indian Philosophies; Vasubandhu;
and there began to concentrate on history and philosophy,
Yoga¯ca¯ra.
studying with some of the greatest representatives of German
historical scholarship: Leopold von Ranke, Theodor
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mommsen, Jakob Grimm, August Boeckh, Franz Bopp, and
Frauwallner, Erich. “Digna¯ga, sein Werk und seine Entwicklung.”
Karl Ritter. In philosophy, his principal mentor was the Aris-
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Süd- und Ostasiens 3 (1959):
totelian F. A. Trendelenburg. Dilthey’s interest in the Ger-
83–164. On the basis of the careful examination of
man theologian and philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher
Digna¯ga’s works, the author proposes a chronological order
also stems from this Berlin period. In 1860, his essay on
for them and sketches the development of Digna¯ga’s
Schleiermacher’s hermeneutics was awarded two prizes by
thought. The Sanskrit or Tibetan texts of some short treatises
the Schleiermacher Society and was followed by a commis-
are appended.
sion to complete an edition of Schleiermacher’s correspon-
Hattori Masaaki, trans. Digna¯ga, On Perception, Being the Pratyak-
dence and write his biography. Dilthey defended his doctoral
sapariccheda of Digna¯ga’s Prama¯n:asamuccaya. Cambridge,
dissertation on Schleiermacher’s moral principles in 1864. In
Mass., 1968. An annotated English translation of chapter 1
of the Prama¯n:asamuccaya, based on the Sanskrit fragments
the same year he presented a monograph on the analysis of
and the Tibetan versions. In the annotation references are
moral consciousness that served as his Habilitationsschrift,
made to the philosophical arguments of the rival schools and
the thesis that qualified him for university teaching. After a
Digna¯ga’s followers. Transliterated texts of two Tibetan ver-
brief period of teaching at Berlin, he was called to Basel in
sions are printed on facing pages.
1867, and then to Kiel in 1868.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DILTHEY, WILHELM
2353
In 1870, Dilthey published the initial volume of his
persons, actions, and artifacts fall within it. However, the lat-
Leben Schleiermachers (Life of Schleiermacher), the first of
ter are identifiable only on the basis of a general criterion that
several ambitious projects that would remain unfinished. In
defines the features of romanticism. Thus knowledge of the
1871, he accepted a chair at Breslau, where his main efforts
whole rests on knowledge of the parts, which in turn presup-
were devoted to the problem of the nature and methods of
poses knowledge of the whole.
the human sciences. In 1883, he published the first part of
The main aim of Dilthey’s philosophical work was to
his major philosophical work, Einleitung in die Geisteswissen-
develop a critique of historical reason that would resolve the
schaften (Introduction to the Human Sciences). In 1883,
question of how knowledge in the human sciences is possi-
Dilthey also returned to Berlin to succeed Hermann Lotze
ble. Dilthey struggled with this enterprise for more than
in the chair that had once been occupied by Hegel. Election
forty years in the attempt to identify a basic or foundational
to the Prussian Academy of the Sciences followed in 1897.
science for the human sciences. In his writings of the 1880s
In 1900, he gave up his seminars, and in 1907 he retired
and the early 1890s, he seems to have envisaged a descriptive,
from teaching altogether in order to develop more systemati-
analytical, and phenomenological psychology as this founda-
cally the philosophical ideas put forward in the Einleitung.
tion. Beginning in 1895, however, he stressed hermeneutics,
Dilthey died while on a working holiday in the Austrian
or the theory of interpretation, as the basis for a valid theory
Tyrol in 1911.
of knowledge on which the human sciences can be grounded.
Dilthey’s research on Schleiermacher and his account of
Nevertheless, in his last works Dilthey retained intact many
the process of understanding the activity of a religious think-
of the psychological theses of his earlier writings; moreover,
er constituted an important component of his work on the
the hermeneutic doctrines of his later work are also present
theory and practice of intellectual history. Yet his major con-
in his earlier writings. As a result, the relationship between
tribution to religious studies lies in his theory of the human
psychology and hermeneutics in the development of Dil-
studies and its implications for the scientific investigation of
they’s thought remains one of the most controverted issues
religion.
among scholars who have attempted to understand his proj-
ect of a critique of historical reason.
Dilthey’s theory of the human studies may be under-
stood as an attempt to establish the idea that these disciplines
BIBLIOGRAPHY
have a distinctive subject matter and method that differenti-
The standard edition of Dilthey’s works is the Gesammelte Schrif-
ate them from the natural sciences. The difference in subject
ten, 2d ed. (Stuttgart, 1957–), of which twenty-three vol-
matter is not grounded in two different modes of being but
umes, prepared by various editors, have appeared. Also being
is, rather, based on two different ways of experiencing the
published is a six-volume English edition of selected works
by Dilthey. Under the general editorship of Rudolf A. Mak-
world. Each is empirical, and each has its own definitive sci-
kreel and Frithjof Rodi, five volumes have so far been issued.
entific objectivity and validity. The distinctive subject matter
Major works on Dilthey in English include Makkreel’s Dil-
of the natural sciences is the world as given in the abstrac-
they: Philosopher of the Human Studies (Princeton, 1975), Mi-
tions of sense perception and structured by reference to caus-
chael Ermarth’s Wilhelm Dilthey: The Critique of Historical
al laws. The distinctive subject matter of the human sciences
Reason (Chicago, 1978), H. P. Rickman’s Wilhelm Dilthey:
is the world as the person actually experiences it: the histori-
Pioneer of the Human Studies (Berkeley, 1979), and Theo-
cally constituted ensemble of meanings and values that are
dore Plantinga’s Historical Understanding in the Thought of
the objects of his practical projects and interests. Because
Wilhelm Dilthey (Toronto, 1980). For extant English transla-
the artifacts of this historical world are all expressions of the
tions of Dilthey’s works, see Plantinga’s bibliography. Since
human spirit, or Geist, the human sciences are the
1983 there has also been a scholarly journal devoted to Dil-
they’s work, with some articles in English and current bibli-
Geisteswissenschaften, the disciplines that investigate expres-
ography: Dilthey-Jahrbuch für Philosophie und Geschichte der
sions of the human spirit.
Geisteswissenschaften (Göttingen).
Verstehen, or understanding, the distinctive method of
New Sources
these disciplines, is a consequence of the attitude that defines
Bambach, Charles R. Heidegger, Dilthey, and the Crisis of Histori-
their subject matter. Because the actions and artifacts that ex-
cism. Ithaca, 1995.
press the human spirit are meaningful entities, a kind of
Makkreel, Rudolf A., and John Scanlon. Dilthey and Phenomenol-
knowledge is possible in the human sciences that cannot be
ogy. Washington, D.C., 1987.
reduced to explanation, or knowledge of the nomological
Owensby, Jacob. Dilthey and the Narrative of History. Ithaca,
structure of natural phenomena. Verstehen identifies the
1994.
meaningful content of expressions of the spirit and the struc-
Rickman, H. P. Dilthey Today: A Critical Appraisal of the Contem-
tures in which they are implicated. Much of Dilthey’s work
porary Relevance of his Work. New York, 1988.
in the philosophy of the human sciences was concerned with
Tuttle, Howard N. The Dawn of Historical Reason: The Histori-
the elucidation of this process of understanding and its dis-
cality of Human Existence in the Thought of Dilthey, Heideg-
tinctive epistemological quality, which he called the her-
ger, and Ortega y Gasset. New York, 1994.
meneutic circle. An interpretation of the Romantic move-
GUY OAKES (1987)
ment, for example, presupposes prior knowledge of which
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
2354
DINÉ RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
DINÉ RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS SEE
tionship with the heavens and the order of an agricultural
NAVAJO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
year. Furthermore, Emitai ehlahl, which means “it is rain-
ing,” indicates Emitai’s crucial role in the disbursement of
that life-giving resource.
DINKA RELIGION SEE NUER AND DINKA
Emitai is seen as the creator of the world and all its in-
RELIGION
habitants and as the source of human knowledge of farming,
ironworking, and healing. He established a set of duties and
interdictions to which he holds people accountable. At the
DIOLA RELIGION.
time of death, Emitai decides whether a person has lived
Numbering some four hundred
morally enough to become an ancestor or whether, if the in-
thousand people, the Diola inhabit the well-watered coastal
dividual concerned disregarded Emitai’s interdictions, he
plain between the Gambia and Sa˜o Domingo rivers of Sene-
will become a phantom wanderer or, ambivalently, a village
gambia and Guinea-Bissau. They are sedentary wet-rice
dweller in a land to the south. All fates are temporary; the
farmers and usually described as a stateless people, governed
dead are eventually reincarnated.
by village councils. Despite a common ethnic label the vari-
ous Diola subgroups speak distinct dialects and have some-
Emitai communicates with people through dreams and
what divergent religious beliefs and political organizations.
visions and endows some of them with powers to communi-
cate with him and with lesser spirits. While lesser spirits re-
The past two centuries of Diola religious history have
ceive the bulk of ritual attention, prayers are ultimately re-
been characterized by the increasing interaction of Diola reli-
ceived by Emitai. In times of crisis or when people feel they
gion with Islam and Christianity. While Muslims and Chris-
have exhausted other means, Emitai is prayed to directly.
tians have been in contact with the Diola at least since the
This is especially true during droughts when a ritual known
sixteenth century, few conversions occurred before the late
as Nyakul Emit is performed. Rituals are conducted at all the
nineteenth century. On the north shore of the Casamance
village shrines, and prayers are offered directly to the su-
River, where contact with Islam was both earliest and most
preme being: “Ata-Emit, is it true that this year’s rice is des-
violent, many Diola have embraced Islam and, to a lesser ex-
tined to wither in the rice paddies? . . . The misfortune will
tent, Christianity. However, the growth of these new reli-
be so large that we will not have the strength to speak. Give
gions had to await the firm establishment of colonial rule and
us water, give us life.”
the growth of commerce in peanuts before gaining domi-
nance over the traditional religion. On the south shore the
In Diola religion, the lesser spirits provide specific ways
vast majority of the population resisted the advance of Islam
for individuals, families, and communities to resolve recur-
and Christianity until after World War II. While Christiani-
rent problems and to sustain a religious community. Thus
ty has made substantial inroads since that time, Diola reli-
there are shrines associated with rain, women’s fertility,
gion remains dominant. This may partly result from the
farming, hunting, fishing, war, ironworking, healing, family
south’s escape from the devastation of the Mandinka inva-
welfare, and village councils. These cults were introduced in
sions and its slower integration into the colonial economy.
a variety of ways. Some are said to have existed since the time
A major factor, however, was the ability of south shore reli-
of the first ancestors, that is, beyond the memory of Diola
gion to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in the nine-
historians. Others were borrowed from the Bainounk, a peo-
teenth and twentieth centuries. Innovations in ritual struc-
ple who were conquered by the Diola but who still retain a
tures, the creation of new cults, and the emergence of Diola
spiritual authority as the first inhabitants of the region. Still
prophets have all contributed to the vitality of Diola tradi-
others were introduced by people who had spiritual powers,
tional religion. This study will focus on south shore Diola
who were said to be able to travel up to Emitai or make con-
religion.
tact with spirits through dreams or visions. Others were
learned about from neighboring Diola or from other neigh-
Adherents of Diola religion believe in a creator god and
boring peoples. Such shrines were installed by elders from
in a number of lesser spirits whose powers originate with the
the outside community who also initiated a local group of
supreme being but who are more accessible to the religious
shrine elders. The large number of shrines helps to ensure
community. A study of Diola ritual might suggest that the
that one path can resolve any particular problem, and it al-
supreme being, variously known as Ata-Emit or Emitai, was
lows a broad access to religious authority. Most people even-
a remote high god whose name was rarely invoked in prayer,
tually become shrine elders. The shrines themselves contain
who had no shrines, and who was not a moral force in com-
ritual objects associated with spirits but not the spirits them-
munity life. The lesser spirits, variously known as ukine or
selves. These objects help to summon the spirits and focus
sinaati, dominate ritual life. By examining the history of vari-
the attention of the worshipers.
ous cults and other religious beliefs, it becomes clear that
Emitai is an active force in Diola life as a provider of life it-
While the preceding description represents broad con-
self, as a source of spiritual aid in a time of crisis, and as the
tinuities in Diola religion since 1700, environmental disrup-
creator of the various cults. His name is derived from emit,
tion, political and economic changes, and prophetic leaders
meaning both “sky” and “year,” thus indicating a strong rela-
have all influenced Diola religion. Droughts and epidemics
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
2355
have created spiritual challenges that have led to the forma-
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE (c. 500 CE),
tion of new cults and changes in ritual structure. Diola par-
Christian mystical theologian, also known as Pseudo-
ticipation in the slave trade generated new sources of com-
Dionysius. In the early sixth century, a set of treatises and
munity vulnerability as well as new sources of social
letters appeared under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite,
stratification, each of which had religious consequences.
whom Paul had converted in Athens (Acts 17:34). At a synod
Men who gained wealth from the ransom or sale of captives
in Constantinople in 533, the writings were used to support
often invested their wealth in the acquisition of priestly of-
the monophysite position, but their authenticity was chal-
fices, thereby changing the role of priests and the ability of
lenged. Nevertheless, the works soon came to be accepted as
the less fortunate to gain religious authority. A new series of
both apostolic and orthodox, and assumed nearly canonical
cults stressing lavish sacrifices to gain ritual authority became
status and authority in Eastern and Western Christendom.
increasingly important to the Diola in the eighteenth
century.
Hilduin first translated the works into Latin (c. 832),
and mistakenly identified Dionysius the Areopagite with
During World War II a Diola woman named Alinesi-
Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France.
toué had a series of visions of Emitai. It was a time of severe
Though Abelard challenged this last identification, not until
drought and increasing French military conscription and
the Renaissance did Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus again ques-
confiscation of rice and cattle. Alinesitoué revealed that
tion the authenticity of the writings’ apostolic claims. These
Emitai had given her a series of shrines that would help pro-
claims were decisively overturned in 1895, when two schol-
cure rain but whose ritual offices would be open to all, re-
ars, Joseph Stiglmayr and Hugo Koch, documented the de-
gardless of wealth, age, or sex. She advocated a renewed com-
pendence of the Dionysian corpus on Proclus, the fifth-
mitment to community, a stripping away of social and
century Neoplatonic philosopher. The works were thus com-
religious hierarchies, and a reaffirmation of many customs
posed in the late fifth or early sixth century. Despite many
that had fallen into disuse. She taught that Emitai was deeply
scholarly attempts to identify their author, he remains hid-
involved in the lives of the Diola and that they could expect
den behind his influential pseudonym. Dionysius’s treatises
his assistance if they followed his ways. Alinesitoué’s teach-
are Divine Names, Celestial Hierarchy, Ecclesiastical Hierar-
ings enabled the Diola to meet the crisis generated by the
chy, and Mystical Theology. The titles indicate Dionysius’s
French occupation and a renewed Christian mission chal-
principal concerns: religious language, hierarchy, and spiritu-
lenge. They allowed the Diola to adapt to their increasing
integration into the rapidly changing order of a colonial
ality.
and independent Senegal with the support of a vital Diola
Divine Names poses the problems of religious knowl-
religion.
edge and language by contrasting divine transcendence and
theophany. In itself the divine nature is beyond being
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(huperousios), yet God becomes manifest in all being as its
The major ethnographic study of the Diola, with extensive discus-
cause. God is both utterly transcendent and present in all
sion of religious issues, is Louis-Vincent Thomas’s Les Diola,
things. This paradox underlies Dionysius’s affirmative and
2 vols. (Dakar, 1958). Thomas has also written a vast num-
negative theology. Affirmative theology focuses on divine
ber of articles on Diola ritual, concepts of death, initiation,
causality and knows God through God’s self-manifestations.
and so on. J. David Sapir has written a number of articles on
It traces the causal procession from God’s unity, through the
Diola symbolic thought, of which “Kujamama: Symbolic
divine ideas, or forms, to celestial hierarchy and thence to the
Separation among the Diola-Fogny,” American Anthropolo-
sensible world; as it follows this descent, affirmative theology
gist 72 (December 1970): 1330–1348, is the most impor-
discovers an increasing variety of divine names, from “good”
tant. On the relationship between religious beliefs and legal
and economic change, see Francis G. Snyder’s Capitalism
and “one” to “ancient of days,” “sun,” and “rock.” Converse-
and Legal Change: An African Transformation (New York,
ly, negative theology retraces the procession of beings in a
1981). Historical approaches to Diola religion include Jean
return that moves from the sensible world, through the intel-
Girard’s Genèse du pouvoir charismatique en Basse Casamance
ligences and forms, and to divine unity. Thus Dionysius em-
(Sénégal) (Dakar, 1969) and my “Belief and Value Change
phasizes the dissimilarities in sensible symbols and the limits
among the Diola-Esulalu in Eighteenth and Nineteenth
of all intelligible divine names. His work Mystical Theology
Century Senegambia” (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1986).
negates all language about God because divinity cannot be
There are also two important studies of the influence of
known in its transcendence. For Dionysius, therefore, God
Islam among the Diola: Frances Anne Leary’s “Islam, Politics
is both nameless and praised in all names.
and Colonialism: A Political History of Islam in the Casa-
mance Region of Senegal, 1850–1914” (Ph.D. diss., North-
In Celestial Hierarchy Dionysius defines hierarchy as “a
western University, 1970) and Peter Allen Mark’s “Econom-
sacred order, activity and knowledge” that seeks “as far as
ic and Religious Change among the Diola of Boulouf
possible [an] assimilation and union with God” (3.1–2). Its
(Casamance), 1890–1940” (Ph.D. diss., Yale University,
order is defined by each rank’s capacity for assimilation to
1976).
God, and its activity is purification, illumination, and perfec-
ROBERT M. BAUM (1987)
tion as it receives and communicates divine knowledge.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2356
DIONYSOS
The celestial hierarchy consists of nine ranks of angelic
dard, and his treatment of liturgy and the sacraments
intelligences, arranged in groups of three: (1) seraphim, cher-
enriched the symbolic thinking of the Middle Ages. The Di-
ubim, thrones; (2) dominations, virtues, powers; and (3)
onysian corpus became a major source for speculative think-
principalities, archangels, angels. The first triad is immedi-
ers, including John Scottus Eriugena, Albertus Magnus,
ately united to God, whose light and knowledge it communi-
Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas of Cusa. Perhaps most im-
cates to the lower ranks. In its turn the third triad presides
portant was the influence of Dionysius on mystical theology,
over the human hierarchies. The ecclesiastical hierarchy
evident in the Victorines, the Rhineland and English mys-
stands between the celestial hierarchy and the hierarchy of
tics, and in John of the Cross. Even while these Western
the Mosaic law, which it supersedes (Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
thinkers were transforming his doctrine in their schools and
5.2). Within the church there are six ranks in two triads: (1)
monasteries, they consistently revered him as the “divine Di-
bishops, priests, and ministers or deacons; and (2) monks,
onysius.” Although Dionysius’s influence waned with the in-
the “holy people of God,” and those being purified (e.g.,
creasing suspicion concerning his identity, he still speaks
penitents and those awaiting baptism). Dionysius again
powerfully on the issues of religious knowledge, language,
stresses the activities of perfecting, illuminating, and purify-
and symbolism and their inherent limits.
ing, but his focus here is symbolic and sacramental. Baptism
is the sacrament of initiation and illumination, and the eu-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
charistic liturgy exemplifies both the christological mystery
The standard edition of the extant works of Dionysius remains
and the perfecting “communion and union with the One”
that of Balthasar Cordier (Antwerp, 1634), published in vol-
(Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 3.1). Contemplation (theoria) of the
ume 3 of J.-P. Migne’s Patrologia Graeca (1857; reprint,
sacraments’ hidden meanings purifies and illumines the un-
Turnhout, 1977). Gunther Heil has prepared a new edition
derstanding, and produces an intellectual insight akin to that
of La hiérarchie céleste with a French translation by Maurice
of the celestial hierarchy.
de Gandillac and an introduction by René Roques (Paris,
1970). The Dionysian corpus is available in English transla-
The brief treatise Mystical Theology both completes and
tions: John D. Jones’s Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite: The Di-
transcends the schemes of the divine names and of the hierar-
vine Names and Mystical Theology (Milwaukee, 1980); Mysti-
chies. It emphasizes the divine nature’s radical transcen-
cal Theology and the Celestial Hierarchies, 2d ed. (Fintry,
dence, and it envisions mystical union in terms of unknow-
U.K., 1965); Thomas L. Campbell’s The Ecclesiastical Hier-
archy (Lanham, Md., 1981; from a Ph.D. diss., 1955); and
ing (agno¯sia). The concluding chapters present negative
Ronald F. Hathaway’s translation of Dionysius’s letters in his
theology’s ascending motion by stripping away the sensible
study Hierarchy and Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius
and intelligible names of God. Dionysius then denies that
(The Hague, 1969). An excellent survey of Dionysius and his
God can be named adequately even in negative terms, be-
influence is the series of articles by René Roques and others
cause God is prior to all affirmation and negation. In itself
under “Denys l’Aréopagite,” in the Dictionnaire de spiritu-
the divine nature remains beyond all the contrasts that arise
alité, vol. 3 (Paris, 1957), edited by Charles Baumgartner.
in its causal self-disclosure—and thus beyond all knowledge
Other studies include Denys Rutledge’s Cosmic Theology:
and speech. For Dionysius, mystical theology is an austere,
The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Pseudo-Denys (Staten Island,
intellectual ascent to union with God, and because divinity
N.Y., 1965); Bernhard Brons’s Gott und die Seienden (Göt-
tingen, 1976); and Jan Vanneste’s “Is the Mysticism of Pseu-
is essentially unknowable, this union occurs in the cloud and
do-Dionysius Genuine?,” International Philosophical Quar-
darkness of unknowing. This assimilation to God also com-
terly 3 (1963): 286–306.
pletes the task of hierarchy. It is the perfection that the intel-
lect seeks in symbols, sacraments, and intelligible divine
DONALD F. DUCLOW (1987)
names. Yet mystical theology accomplishes this ecstatically,
by going out from intellect and hierarchy to their hidden
source in the divine nature itself. In this way mystical theolo-
gy completes the return to the God “beyond being.”
DIONYSOS is included in the pantheons of the majority
of Greek cities and is present at such very early festivals as
The Dionysian writings are the product of a thoroughly
the Apaturia, the festival of the phratries, and the An-
hellenized Christian mind. Their reliance on Proclus and
thesteria, that of new wine and the assembly of the dead. The
Damascius continues and even exaggerates the Greek patris-
youngest of the Olympian gods, he is somewhat insecure
tic use of Platonic and Neoplatonic thought to interpret
about his divine identity because he was conceived in the
Christian faith. Dionysius was drawn into the mainstream
womb of a mortal woman, Semele. His semidivine status
of Byzantine theology by Maximos the Confessor, John of
may account for his consistent interest in mortals and wine
Scythopolis, and John of Damascus. Dionysius’s major im-
drinkers. As the god of masks, Dionysos appears in many
pact, however, came in the medieval West, where he was an
forms, but he most loves to disguise himself as a god of the
immensely authoritative but alien figure. As the only Greek
city, posing as a political deity and expressing absolute
father to be fully and widely welcomed in the West, Diony-
power. He appears in this form at Teos, where the city and
sius influenced the whole range of Latin theology and spiri-
the territory are consecrated to him and where he has a mag-
tuality. His account of the angelic hierarchy became stan-
nificent temple. In the town of Heraia in Arcadia, one 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
DIONYSOS
2357
two Dionysian temples is reserved for Dionysos the Citizen
scattered abroad, and broken into seven pieces, Dionysos ex-
(Dionysos Polites). In Patras, where he is promoted to the
periences for himself the effects of the utmost differentiation,
rank of tyrant and given the title of Aisymnetes, he is the
in accord with the process that began after the first age under
magistrate in charge of giving every person his rightful share.
the aegis of Phanes-Metis, another name for Dionysos. The
His political career begins in the seventh century on the is-
primordial god of the perfect Unity, Phanes-Metis comes
land of Lesbos. Here he appears alongside Zeus and Hera in
back at the end in order to return things once again to the
the common sanctuary as the god who is an “eater of raw
beginning. In this scenario Apollo, even at Delphi, plays a
flesh” (Alcaeus, Fragment 129). Thus the keystone of this po-
role in the odyssey of Dionysos. Apollo buries the remains
litical and religious edifice is Dionysos’s subversive character,
of Dionysos’s murdered body at the foot of Mount Parnas-
expressed in his rejection of the sacrificial system of eating
sus; shares the sovereignty of the oracle with Night, the pri-
food that is cooked according to the proper order (roasted
mordial power; and, finally, becomes the Sun, the greatest
then boiled) in favor of omophagia, the desire to eat raw flesh.
of the gods even to Orpheus himself, rising to the summit
The most extreme form of omophagia is allelophagia, in
of Mount Pangaeus in Dionysos’s Thracian kingdom.
which men devour one another, becoming like wild beasts
The success of Dionysos in Orphic theology reveals
and ferocious animals. Such behavior allows them to escape
more than his ability to appear as the youngest of the Olym-
from the human condition: it is a way of getting outside one-
pians and the oldest of the ancient gods. It demonstrates too
self by imitating those animals least subject to domestication.
his mystical calling, his natural tendency to rule over myster-
It is at Delphi, in the great pan-Hellenic sanctuary of
ies. In Ephesus, in the late sixth century, the philosopher
the eighth century, that Dionysos presents the full extent of
Heraclitus denounced those who prowl in the night, in par-
his influence. In partnership with Apollo, the most ambi-
ticular “magi, Bacchants, and mystics.” It is sacrilegious, ac-
tious god in the pantheon, Semele’s son dominates not only
cording to Heraclitus, for people to be initiated into what
the assemblies of local gods but also the whole course of
they dare to call mysteries. From the discoveries at Olbia on
Greek religion. Although he is originally from Thebes,
the shores of the Black Sea, we now believe that Dionysos
Dionysos can be found in two parts of Delphi: in the heights
first appears as the initiator in the sixth century, long before
of Mount Parnassus, where the members of the Thyiads, “the
a Scythian king had enrolled in the band of Bacchus (Gr.,
agitated ones,” gather every other year in the Corycian cavern
Bakchos) in this same city, where he was fond of going for
to honor him in the secret liturgy of the triet¯eris (“triennial
the aesthetic pleasure of living à la grecque—even to the ex-
festival”); and in the sanctuary of the Pythia, in a tomb-
tent of becoming a follower of Dionysos. This initiation was
cradle beside the golden statue of Apollo, where he waits in
already known to King Scylas (Herodotos, 4.79), who had
mortal slumber until his servants come to wake him and
already begun preparations for it when a prodigy occurred:
where the Pure Ones, the priests of Apollo, privately offer
his palace of white marble, struck by lightning, was reduced
sacrifice to him. At Delphi, Dionysos holds himself aloof
to ashes. Nonetheless Scylas went ahead with the initiation
from the giving of oracles, whereas in other sanctuaries ora-
ceremony, during which he publicly played the Bacchant,
cles are closely connected with him. But this is because at
staggering through the town with a band of revelers.
Delphi he forms, together with Apollo, one of a pair of forces
What Herodotos implies in his account of Scylas going
who are alternative poles in a system open to all of the altars
through with the initiation (telet¯e) is stated clearly in Euripi-
or sanctuaries they share. Apollo has his Dionysian side, just
des’ The Bacchae in the voice of Dionysos. To Pentheus, who
as Dionysos presents more than one Apollonian aspect. The
has failed to recognize his divinity and who will remain firm-
close connection between them at Delphi is the culmination
ly entrenched in a ridiculous error, Dionysos, appearing as
of all the alliances that link them together at other places and
a stranger, recounts how the god introduced him to his rites,
in other ways.
during which Dionysos watched him while he himself
looked upon the god. In this mirror image, the initiation
Dionysos and Apollo are particularly joined in Orphic
seems to denote an experience in which the Bacchant comes
thought and its theogonic discourse, which was wholly at
face to face with his god: he becomes as much a Bacchus as
variance with the official dogma of Hesiod’s theology. The
is Dionysos. The lord of the Bacchanalia refuses to reveal this
religious system of the city and of the world, Hesiod’s theolo-
experience to Pentheus; these are unspeakable things (arr¯eta)
gy categorically rejected the way of life advocated by follow-
that non-Bacchants may not know (1.472). At Cumae, in
ers of Orpheus, who renounced the world and sought to be
the fifth century, a similar formula prohibited entry to a
saved by returning to the primordial unity that preceded di-
Greek cemetery “save to those who have been initiated to
versity. In the succession of divine ages described in the Or-
Dionysos.”
phic theogony, Dionysos is at once the last ruler and the first.
In the last age he appears in the guise of the child who is
At Olbia and at Cumae, Dionysos obviously does not
lured by the Titans with toys—a spinning top, a devilish
receive the official, public worship that so many cities prac-
rhombus, and a mirror—and then slaughtered and devoured
tice during the winter months, when solemn processions are
after being first boiled and then roasted (in breach of the nor-
attended by the entire population. Sacred laws from Asia
mal order of the sacrificial ceremony). In being torn apart,
Minor clearly distinguish between regular sacrifices, in which
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2358
DIONYSOS
a goat or even a large ox is offered to Dionysos in full view
of town or camps on its outskirts, Dionysos is always the lord
of the city, and more private ceremonies in which the priest-
of dementia and of the ability to get outside oneself.
ess of Dionysos celebrates an initiation into the cult of the
The popular tales of his coming and his manifestations
god who drives people mad, inciting men and women to rav-
describe, often in explicit terms, the favored modus operandi
ing lunacy. There is a difference between thuein and telein.
of Dionysos. It has to do with what the Greeks call the god’s
The same holy law of the Miletians, in 276 BCE, specifies that
epid¯emia: the tendency of a power to take up residence in one
the rites of consecration (telest¯eria) should be invested in the
sanctuary and then switch to another temple and another
priestess, who can initiate people into Dionysos Bakcheios
country. Thus Apollo likes to spend the winter in the compa-
“in the city, in the country, or in the islands.” These are the
ny of the Hyperboreans, making it possible for Dionysos to
so-called trieteric mysteries, which take place every two years.
be “woken” by his priestesses, who proclaim his return. This
At Miletus they were celebrated at the same time as the Feast
is epid¯emia in the sense of appearance or presence (parousia)
of the Return, when the god, escorted by the priests and
and not in the sense of contagion, which would suggest that
priestesses, came back and entered the town.
Dionysos moves from one place to another like a contagious
In more than 150 cities of Asia Minor and the islands,
disease whose infectious source is located on foreign soil (in
Dionysos appears in the guise of Bakcheios, the god of the
the country of the Thracians) and is responsible for the vio-
bacchanals—those who, like him, have become bakchoi.
lent fevers that invade the healthy, vigorous body of the Hel-
“Many are those who carry thyrsi; few are the Bacchants,”
lenic nation. One need only peel the outer shell of legend
according to a saying of the initiation masters quoted by
from this picture, only recently revealed with the aid of a
Plato in his Phaedo (69c). To the initiate is reserved the expe-
number of myths concerning Dionysian Thrace and the
rience of frenzy and possession, seeing the god face-to-face
god’s enemies, to uncover the reality of a very faithful histo-
and sharing his madness and delirium. In the last golden tab-
ry. The Dionysian parousia, as originally intended, presents
two interlocking aspects. The god who comes is a foreigner
let, a book of the dead unearthed at Vibo Valentia in Cala-
and remains so, carrying within him the most unwavering
bria in 1974, the titles mystic and bacchant are given to the
strangeness.
chosen ones who go to the right, under the sign of memory,
and take the sacred path that leads to the gods. Dionysos fol-
Yet the opposite side of Dionysos, and his appearance
lows the same direction, from the sixth century on, to enter,
vis-à-vis the other gods, is that he affirms through his dis-
via Iacchos, into the system of Eleusinian gods—the myster-
avowal that he is a god too strange, and too much a stranger,
ies founded by Demeter on the fringes of Athens.
to be believable. In Greece, the stranger, as opposed to the
“barbarian,” belongs to the society of those who share the
In connection with Dionysos the Initiate—who, under
same blood, the same language, and the same gods, accord-
the name of Mustes, has a temple between Tegea and Argos
ing to Herodotos’s definition. Dionysos, indeed, is no bar-
(Pausanias, 8.54.5)—we find esoteric practices and rules of
barian god, even when his outrages smack of barbarism. Born
secrecy. Near Mantinea, in a great ancient chamber known
in Thebes, in the town of Kadmos, he is a great god, the
as the megaron, the honey companions (meliastai) worship
equal of Apollo, the oracular power known as Ismenios.
Dionysos, a neighbor of Black Aphrodite (Pausanias, 8.6.4).
Dionysos presents himself in his status as a foreigner in more
At Brysai, on the slopes of Mount Taigetos in Laconia, only
than one of his Joyous Entrances. For example, at Patrae in
women are permitted to view the statue of Dionysos, en-
Achaia (Pausanias, 7.19.7–9), Dionysos enters as an idol in
sconced in an open-air sanctuary, and the sacrifices they per-
a sealed chest, like a demon god classed as a foreigner, and
form are carried out in the greatest secrecy (Pausanias,
is conveyed by an equally strange king, a prince stricken with
3.20.3). Males are also excluded on Lesbos, at Aigai, and on
madness for having looked at the face, the mask, of Diony-
the island on the shores of the Atlantic described by Posi-
sos. This strange team puts an end to an equally outlandish
donius. The privilege of experiencing a private, face-to-face
sacrifice in which the human blood of both sexes had to be
encounter with Dionysos or of being truly possessed by him
shed, bringing forth a sickness (nosos) in the land; the earth
is restricted to women, notwithstanding the violent objec-
is diseased with punishment imposed by a cruel Artemis.
tions of some modern-day feminists, who condemn the Dio-
nysian interest in women as another way of oppressing them.
But the stranger who comes with Dionysos, instead of
The most unfortunate effect of this misinterpretation is to
making himself a host and returning the gracious generosity
obscure the Dionysian union and its fundamental aspect: it
seen in a feast like the Xenia, appears ungrateful to those who
is an individual allegiance that rejects kinship or feudal ties
find him. The strangeness of Dionysos seems to imply that
and, in the fluid form of the private thiasos, creates associa-
he cannot be recognized as a god at first sight. Thus he is
tions and communities independent of authority and outside
obliged to offer a public demonstation of his divine power
the control of the state. If the mystical and mysterious side
so that all people can see what a great god they have failed
of Dionysos appears less clearly in the Athenian city-state—
to acknowledge.
no doubt because the mystical pole there is called Eleusis—
The appearance of Dionysos requires the revelation of
still it is a major component of Dionysianism in very many
Otherness through its exacting violence. There are those who
cities from the earliest times. Whether he resides in the center
do not know him and still slight him, doubters and 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
DIONYSOS
2359
who neglect, scorn, or refuse to believe in or accept him. And
ment, his Bacchus outfit, which he gives to Pentheus in The
there are those who are called on to persecute him, whom
Bacchae.
he has chosen to be his tormenters and thus the most striking
The tales of his epiphany thus show how the worship
witnesses to his parousia, once they have become his rightful
of Dionysos, with its formalized mythology, establishes itself
victims. In Boeotia, in the city of Orchomenus, the daugh-
within the sphere of the purification called for by the insanity
ters of King Minyas, absorbed in household tasks, pay no
that the stranger carries. Dionysos the Purificator (Lysios) is
heed to Dionysos. But then the god, in the guise of a young
the opposite side of the Bacchanal, the god who leads men
girl, carefully encourages them to join in his mysteries. Sud-
and women astray in his frenzy. That he is a dual god is
denly, all three are entranced by Dionysos’s metamor-
shown by his pairs of neighboring temples, at Thebes, at
phoses—the girl disappears, and the god is a bull, a lion, a
Corinth, and at Sicyon. The unclean madness that forms the
leopard. They watch in fascination as milk and nectar flow
basis of his cult is always part of him, however disciplined
along the weaver’s loom. Already they are caught in the web;
and civilized Dionysos may seem in the pantheons of cities
wishing to honor the unknown god by offering sacrifice, they
unmindful of his fundamental wildness.
draw lots to see who will have the privilege of providing the
chosen victim. The tragically elected Leucippe falls upon her
BIBLIOGRAPHY
own son and, with the help of her sisters, tears him to pieces
Detienne, Marcel. Dionysus Slain. Translated by Mireille Muell-
in front of Dionysos (Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses
ner and Leonard Muellner. Baltimore, 1979.
10).
Detienne, Marcel. Dionysos à ciel ouvert. Paris, 1986.
In Thrace, where Dionysos is also treated as a stranger,
Farnell, Lewis R. The Cults of the Greek States, vol. 5 (1909). Re-
Lykurgos embodies the irreconcilable foe whose blindness
print, New Rochelle, N.Y., 1977. See pages 85–344.
compels the god, despite himself, to unleash the cruelest of
Jeanmaire, Henri. Dionysos: Histoire du culte de Bacchus. Paris,
deeds. Like a madman, Lykurgos brandishes his double ax,
1970.
the pelekus, to kill Dionysos, not knowing that in Thessaly,
Kerényi, Károly. Dionysos: Archetypal Image of the Indestructible
at Pagasai, Dionysos is called the god of the ax, Pelekus.
Life. Princeton, 1976.
Lykurgos, hallucinating in his mania, turns the weapon back
Nilsson, Martin P. The Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and
upon his own flesh and blood: he strikes down his children,
Roman Age (1957). New York, 1975.
whose living limbs, arms, and lopped-off legs appear to him
Otto, Walter F. Dionysos: Myth and Cult. Bloomington, Ind.,
as so many branches on a vine. This happens before the
1965.
Edonians, incited by Dionysos, attempt to put an end to the
Segal, Charles. Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides’ Bacchae. Princeton,
fatal barrenness of their land by handing over their king to
1982.
wild horses. The king is to be torn apart on Mount Pangaeus,
West, M. L. The Orphic Poems. Oxford, 1983.
where the oracle of Dionysos, like that at Delphi, will be
New Sources
erected. On its peak, Orpheus, the worshiper of the greatest
Bierl, Anton F. Harald. Dionysos und die griechiche Tragödie. Tü-
of the gods, whom he names Apollo, is torn to pieces by
bingen, 1991. See the review by Giovanni Casadio, in Quad-
Thracian women with a violence borrowed from Dionysos.
erni di storia 38 (1993): 185–198.
The stranger-god finds the full measure of his parousia
Carpenter, Thomas H. Dionysian Imagery in Archaic Greek Art.
in murderous frenzy, in the mania that leads to killing and
Oxford, 1986.
to the spilled blood of a son torn apart by his mother, to chil-
Carpenter, Thomas H. Dionysian Imagery in Fifth Century Athens.
dren who are cut down alive by their father, and to father
Oxford, 1997.
and daughter, such as Icarus and Erigone, losing their lives
Carpenter, Thomas H., and Christopher A. Faraone, eds. Masks
for lack of pure wine. Dionysos is truly himself only in un-
of Dionysus. Ithaca and London, 1993.
yielding madness, when the mania creates, through murder,
Casadio, Giovanni. Storia del culto di Dioniso in Argolide. Rome,
a taint, a miasma, a sickness or pestilence. One must be
1994.
cleansed of this stain; it is urgent to escape the plague, for
Casadio, Giovanni. Il vino dell’anima. Storia del culto di Dioniso
in it appears the contagious power of those who fall into
a Corinto, Sicione, Trezene. Rome, 1999.
madness, which affects an entire town or even a whole coun-
Cazanove, Oliver de, ed. L’ association dionysiaque dans les sociétés
try. In the mania of Dionysos is a taint that the god himself
anciennes. Rome, 1986. See the review by Giovanni Casadio,
experiences in the course of his life (Apollodorus, Library
in Dialogues d’histoire ancienne 15 (1989): 285–308.
3.5.1). When he discovers the vine, Hera, his stepmother,
Frontisi-Ducroux, Françoise. Le dieu-masque. Une figure de Diony-
breathes madness into Dionysos, dooming him to the wan-
sos d’Athènes. Paris and Rome, 1991.
derings of all madmen. Dionysos goes to Proteus, then to
Henrichs, Albert. “Loss of Self, Suffering, Violence: the Modern
Cybele in Phrygia; at last he finds Rhea, who eases and puts
View of Dionysus from Nietztsche to Girard.” Harvard
an end to his nomadic delirium. Dionysos is purified, deliv-
Studies in Classical Philology (1984): 205–240.
ered from the taint of his madness. While with Rhea he
Henrichs, Albert. “Dionysus.” In The Oxford Classical Dictionary,
learns the rites of his cult, and he receives from her his rai-
pp. 479–482. Oxford and New York, 1996.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2360
DIOSCURI
McGinty, Park. Interpretation and Dionysos. Method in the Study
to the wise conduct of life is transmitted from the mentor
of a God. The Hague, 1978.
(or master) to the protégé (or disciple). This wisdom, about
Merkelbach, Reinhold. Die Hirten des Dionysos. Stuttgart, 1988.
how to properly live, necessarily combines practical matters
Pailler, Jean-Marie. Bacchus. Figures et pouvoirs. Paris, 1995.
of daily life with more esoteric bodies of theory or doctrine.
In the practice of discipleship, moreover, such wisdom is be-
Privitera, Giuseppe Aurelio. Dioniso in Omero e nella poesia greca
lieved to be available only within the mentoring relationship.
arcaica. Rome, 1970.
The disciple’s belief that the master is uniquely capable of
Seaford, Richard. Reciprocity and Ritual. Oxford, 1994.
communicating wisdom is crucial to the master’s continuing
Turcan, Robert. Les sarcophages romaines à rprésentations diony-
authority in the relationship. It is also crucial to the disciple’s
siaques. Paris, 1966.
ongoing willingness to emulate those elements of the mas-
Turcan, Robert. Liturgies de l’initiation bacchique à l’époque ro-
ter’s way of living that are taken to embody the latter’s own
maine (Liber). Paris, 2003.
possession of wisdom.
Versnel, Hendrik Simon. Ter Unus. Isis, Dionysos, Hermes. Leiden,
Indeed, emulation of the master is the essence of the
1990.
master–disciple relationship. It is both a primary strategy in
MARCEL DETIENNE (1987)
the disciple’s quest for wisdom and proof that this knowledge
Translated from French by David M. Weeks
has been properly mastered. So, for example, the disciples of
Revised Bibliography
Stoic philosophers in the Hellenistic world would seek to
embody the attitude of apatheia (indifference to pleasure or
pain) modeled in the lives of such masters as Epictetus (50–
DIOSCURI SEE TWINS
130 CE). Similarly, initiates into Islamic S:u¯f¯ı circles would
be expected to emulate the specific discipline or path
(t:ar¯ıqah) modeled by the guide (shaykh). Another common
DISCIPLESHIP.
aspect of emulation involves, as in early rabbinic Judaism
Scholars of the world’s religions have
(from about the third century CE) and Tibetan Buddhist mo-
contributed much to the study of discipleship in the settings
nastic settings even in contemporary times, memorizing the
of specific religious communities. But there remains much
master’s formal teaching in oral or written texts, and inter-
to be done in framing a general estimate of the social mean-
preting their meaning in oral instructional settings.
ing and historical impact of discipleship as a communal pat-
tern in the history of religions. The present entry, therefore,
In many cases, orally recited stories that first circulated
offers a model of discipleship that might be helpful in orga-
among disciples about the deeds of a master were written
nizing comparative studies of this important type of religious
down to provide hagiographic material for circulation both
society.
within and beyond the immediate circle of disciples. The di-
Religious discipleship, in the sense defined below, seems
verse oral collections of Jesus’ sayings and deeds that underlie
to be specifically rooted in the great civilizational religious
the canonical and extra-canonical Gospels may well have
and philosophical systems that arose in the Mediterranean
been collected by Jesus’ disciples prior to the point at which
world, Mesopotamia, South Asia, and East Asia from the
they were combined into a broader evangelical literature.
middle of the first millennium
Later, more formal examples of hagiography in the Christian
BCE through the middle of
the first millennium
tradition include the Life of Anthony and the Life of Pachomi-
CE. Buddhism, Christianity, Confucian-
ism, Greco-Roman philosophical tradition, Islam, Hindu-
us, both of which were fundamental to the development of
ism, Judaism, Daoism, and Zoroastrianism are the most in-
fourth-century asceticism as a pattern of Christian disciple-
fluential traditions to have emerged or reached classical
ship. Comparable writings are transmitted in Sufism (e.g.,
expression during this period. At the conceptual center of
The Way of Ah:mad ibn EAl¯ı ar-Rifa¯ E¯ı of the twelfth century),
each stands a moral seriousness that challenges adherents to
Jewish contemplative circles (The Life of the Holy Lion Rabbi
transform themselves in light of a comprehensive vision of
Isaac Luria of the early seventeenth century), and Daoism
the place of human life in the cosmic order. At the social cen-
(Collected Accounts of the Perfected of the tenth century),
ter of these traditions stand strikingly similar types of author-
among many others.
itative figures—literate intellectuals (priests, scribes, teachers,
Emulation of the master necessarily involves disciples in
or prophets) who claim, on the basis of learning in ancient
intense psychological identification with, and dependence
tradition or personal insight, to mediate wisdom about the
upon, their mentors. Thus the virtue of humility or self-
essential purposes of life. Communities established for the
effacement before the master is a prized trait of the disciple.
perpetuation and transmission of such wisdom were proba-
Symbolic postures of subordination can be as simple as care-
bly the earliest settings for the practice of religious disciple-
fully observed protocols governing, for example, which rab-
ship.
binic disciples walked to the left or the right of the sage, and
A WORKING MODEL OF DISCIPLESHIP. Discipleship can be
which the sage actually chose to lean upon when walking.
defined most generally as a particularly intense mentoring re-
In this context, it is not unusual for disciples to expect and
lationship in which a body of knowledge deemed essential
receive corporal punishment as a form of discipline, as speci-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DISCIPLESHIP
2361
fied, for example, in the Rule of the Christian monastic order
ting of discipleship, however, students are trained to reconc-
of Saint Benedict. In other systems of discipleship, as in some
eive their own human perfection in emulation of the model
Tantric traditions of India or in ancient Greek philosophical
presented by their master. In this sense, the knowledge of-
discipleship, identification with or subordination to the mas-
fered in the discipleship relationship is not formative but
ter can also be expressed via sexual intimacy.
“transformative.” It holds out to the disciple the promise of
DISCIPLESHIP AND SOCIAL HIERARCHY. The basic social
becoming in some fundamental sense a new being. In pos-
protocol of discipleship involves practices for ordering
sessing the master’s transformative knowledge and embody-
human relationships in view of hierarchy of power and au-
ing it, one passes from a state of ignorance to one of wisdom,
thority. The fundamental purpose of that relationship is to
illumination, or grace, depending upon the symbolic vocab-
authorize the transmission of knowledge and wisdom from
ulary native to the traditions that nourish specific disciple-
the superior (the master) to the subordinate (the disciple).
ship communities.
The nature of this knowledge will be discussed below. For
now, it is important to focus upon the nesting of the disciple-
CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORMATIVE KNOWLEDGE. As
ship relationship within a web of other types of hierarchical
mentioned above, transformative knowledge can be known
institutions in which the transmission of knowledge is also
only through a direct relationship of discipleship with the
an essential goal.
master. Familiarity with a master’s teaching alone, either as
oral tradition or written text, does not constitute a transfor-
Most historical examples of religious discipleship in-
mative appropriation of the master’s knowledge. Rather, it
volve not simply a teacher and a student, but a group. This
is necessary to hear the master’s own teaching accompanied
group is the discipleship community. Such communities, in
by the master’s explanation; it is necessary to observe the
many respects, are analogous in intention and structure to
master’s behavior in various settings, in order to emulate the
such common social institutions as kinship systems and
ways in which the master’s teachings are embodied in con-
schools. The social hierarchy created within the discipleship
crete models of execution.
community is different from that of family and school, but
dependent upon both. In discipleship, the community is a
The master, from this perspective, is a living medium
kind of school that recapitulates at a more refined level the
through which a truth, otherwise hidden from natural sight,
cultural task of the family. Here the disciple returns to the
is disclosed and made tangible. The master is a disclosure of
psychological situation of childhood to be fundamentally re-
truth, and this disclosure is only in part mediated through
formed as a human being. Now the task of emulation in-
specific verbal teachings. Its fullness must be found in the ac-
volves absorbing the teaching of a master in such a way as
tual existence of the master. Thus the disciple commonly
to embody the master’s own achievement.
views the master as a kind of text to be decoded and inter-
preted. The full, transformative knowledge imparted by the
What is that achievement? It is at this point that the
question of special knowledge and wisdom arises. The mas-
master is available only to the disciple who knows how to
ter’s achievement is greater than that of the biological parent
read the master’s text—and this text includes more than the
or other elder, who has merely become a participant in the
master’s verbal utterances. It includes the entire being of the
received cultural or religious tradition. The master, by con-
master as it is disclosed to the disciple in the personal en-
trast, has reached that form of human perfection held out by
counter.
tradition as the highest attainable. The master, then, is a par-
In the history of religions, the nature and significance
ent, but more so. Often called “Father” or “Mother,” the
of the transformative knowledge made available to disciples
master can displace the biological parents in the disciple’s
by masters is always linked to broader cultural and religious
scale of loyalties and affections. Certain Greco-Roman philo-
traditions within which the discipleship communities them-
sophical paths, echoed by some rabbinic teachers of the early
selves have emerged. In other words, masters control, focus,
common era, as well as medieval S:u¯f¯ı masters, held, for ex-
and refine symbol systems that penetrate widely throughout
ample, that a disciple owes more respect to a master than to
a given culture. They transform “culture” into a disciplinary
a biological parent. The reason should not be hard to predict:
path that creates a “subculture,” a community living out the
parents only bring their child into physical life, whereas the
larger values of a cultural tradition in particularly intense and
master, by contrast, brings the disciple into eternal, life-
concentrated form. Monasticism in the diverse Christian and
transforming knowledge.
Buddhist traditions are examples of discipleship communi-
The master is also more than a teacher, for a system of
ties that are perceived, by both insiders and their lay or royal
discipleship is more than a school. Schools transmit the
patrons, to represent the purest representation of the path of
knowledge expected of functional participants in the reli-
life defined by Christ or the Buddha. Depending upon cir-
gious tradition or culture. Whether at a relatively fundamen-
cumstances, however, discipleship communities can define
tal or at a more sophisticated level, they transmit “formative”
themselves, under a master’s guidance, in an adversarial rela-
knowledge, knowledge that shapes the cultural and autobio-
tionship to the larger cultural and religious tradition. A “sub-
graphical identity of the knower and enables one to both
culture” of discipleship, in other words, can become a “coun-
share in and contribute to creativity in the culture. In the set-
terculture.”
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2362
DISCIPLESHIP
Thus the so-called Dead Sea sect of second-century BCE
120 CE) had its roots in visionary discipleship communities
Jewish Palestine, founded by a priest known as the Righteous
formed among scribes in particular. The ability to receive vi-
Teacher (moreh tzedek), was certainly a discipleship commu-
sions of a heavenly world, to interpret their meaning for oth-
nity that framed itself in opposition to the existing culture
ers, and to cultivate new visions, was read as a sign of the vi-
of the Jerusalem Temple priesthood. It is highly probable as
sionary’s transformation into a new being, no longer entirely
well that the original discipleship communities surrounding
earthbound, but capable of tasting in this life the immortality
Siddha¯rtha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, were de-
of the divine world. This form of visionary pursuit proved
fined in some sort of adversarial relationship to socially dom-
to be of particular salience among the various Christian com-
inant forms of Hindu asceticism and Brahmanic traditional-
munities of Late Antiquity labeled by their Orthodox Chris-
ism. Buddhism and Christianity, from this perspective, are
tian theological opponents as Gnostics. It was richly appar-
examples of countercultural discipleship communities that
ent as well among neighboring Jewish communities
ultimately became comprehensive religious civilizations in
associated with heavenly ascent to the merkavah, or divine
their own right, and that lived to spawn further subcultures
Throne, who witnessed angels bathed in divine light and sur-
of discipleship.
rounded by rivers of fire singing hymns to the hidden God
of Israel.
The precise social agendas of discipleship communities
are distinct, at least theoretically, from the specific sorts of
The cultivation of experiences of ego-lessness and loss
transformative knowledge that they offer to their members
of self-consciousness is commonly found among contempla-
as the pinnacle of and reward for a life of self-discipline. For
tive traditions frequently defined as mysticism. It is entirely
the present introductory purpose, it will be helpful to orga-
fair to assert that mysticism is among the most frequent set-
nize the patterns of transformative knowledge transmitted
tings for the flourishing of discipleship communities. Con-
within discipleship communities into the following clusters:
templative exercises associated with yogic disciplines for fo-
(1) knowledge concerning the cultivation and interpretation
cusing awareness beyond the self, necessarily mediated by a
of visions; (2) knowledge concerning the cultivation of con-
guide or guru¯, have very ancient roots in the Indian subconti-
ditions of ego-lessness and loss of self-consciousness; and (3)
nent and continue to be widely practiced in traditional and
knowledge concerning self-mastery in view of ultimately au-
westernized forms. Equally well known are the contempla-
thoritative laws or norms. It is important to remember that,
tive traditions of Japanese Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Bud-
like all typological exercises in the history of religions, these
dhism, Islamic Sufism, some forms of Jewish Qabbalah, and
types rarely appear in “pure” form. Rather, students should
a host of Christian meditative practices cultivated primarily
be prepared to find various degrees of admixture of one or
in monastic settings. All of these require protracted periods
more of these patterns in any given discipleship community.
of discipleship to a master in order to achieve and control
the interpretation of various states of loss of self.
The cultivation of visionary experience, especially asso-
ciated with healing, is, according to some historians of reli-
In one sense, the search for self-mastery in view of ulti-
gion, among the oldest forms of religious activity. Often re-
mately authoritative norms or laws is common to any form
ferred to under the general rubric of shamanism, its roots lie
of discipleship, for the essence of discipleship is the incorpo-
in the preagricultural societies of hunters and gatherers, and
ration of a discipline framed by rules. In certain types of dis-
it continues in a variety of forms into contemporary times.
cipleship circles, however, self-mastery is viewed not merely
It is impossible to know how prehistoric shamanic experi-
as a means toward the acquisition of transformative knowl-
ences were transmitted or whether training in the cultivation
edge, but as the essence of wisdom itself. This is particularly
of such experiences took the form of discipleship communi-
so when heroic cultivation of memory is regarded as part of
ties as defined here. It is clear, however, that guidance in the
the discipline of self-transformation. Scrupulous Brahmanic
shamanic arts among contemporary practitioners often takes
performance of ancient Vedic rituals, associated with the
forms quite similar to discipleship, although the life-defining
memorization of vast corpora of orally transmitted Sanskrit
vision that inaugurates the life of the shamanic healer is com-
texts, is one of the oldest continuous traditions of this sort
monly sought in isolation.
of discipleship community. In Judaism, this type of disciple-
ship became prominent in the rabbinic communities of late
The point is that the formation of discipleship commu-
antiquity (c. 200 CE–700 CE). Disciples in this tradition
nities for the cultivation of extraordinary visions is not limit-
studied under masters who had memorized the traditions of
ed to classical shamanic rites of healing. The prophetic guilds
Oral and Written Torah that had been revealed on Sinai to
of ancient Israel and other Mediterranean and Mesopota-
Moses and incorporated them into their very being. Like
mian cultures also cultivated visionary experiences. Here,
their masters, disciples sought to be transformed into “living
however, the healing of individuals was not a primary con-
books” from which the revelation of God could be read.
cern, but rather the disclosure of divine purposes in relation
to communities or to society as a whole. Many scholars have
SOME QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY. As stated above,
suggested, moreover, that the tradition of pseudepigraphic
the comparative study of discipleship as a pattern of religion
apocalyptic literary prophecies of Second Temple period Ju-
remains relatively undeveloped, especially in light of the mas-
daism (c. 520 BCE–70 CE) and early Christianity (c. 30 CE–
sive documentation of discipleship communities in specific
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DISCIPLESHIP
2363
religious traditions. It is useful, therefore, to pose some
as those created in Judaism, where—with the possible excep-
pointed questions for further research on the nature of disci-
tion of the first-century Therapeutrides of Alexandria—
pleship and the relationship of discipleship communities to
female discipleship is largely unknown?
the larger patterns of the religious cultures in which they
emerge.
SEE ALSO Leadership.
The first is as follows: What structural and historical
BIBLIOGRAPHY
roles have discipleship communities played in forming and
Asad, Talal. “Discipline and Humility in Medieval Christian Mo-
transmitting traditions central to religious traditions as a
nasticism.” In Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons
whole? To what degree, in other words, does the discipleship
of Power in Christianity and Islam, pp. 125–167. Baltimore,
community constitute a formative, culturally influential con-
Md., & London, 1993.
text for the production and transmission of aesthetic, ideo-
Brown, Peter. “The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late
logical, ritual, or other traditions? Are there religious civiliza-
Antiquity.” Journal of Roman Studies 61 (1972): 80–101.
tions that appear to have been largely generated by
Brown, Peter. The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Re-
discipleship communities; are there others in which disciple-
nunciation in Early Christianity. New York, 1988.
ship communities appear relatively late in the articulation of
Byrskog, Samuel. Jesus the Only Teacher: Didactic Authority and
the tradition? What historical or ideological factors might ex-
Transmission in Ancient Israel, Ancient Judaism, and the Mat-
plain such differences?
thean Community. Stockholm, 1993.
The second question concerns the wisdom cultivated
Cabezón, José Ignacio. Buddhism and Language: A Study in Indo-
Tibetan Scholasticism. Albany, N.Y., 1994.
within discipleship communities. How is transformative
knowledge constructed in relationship to the sorts of ritual
Cabezón, José Ignacio, ed. Scholasticism: Cross-Cultural and Com-
parative Perspectives. Albany, N.Y., 1998.
or theological knowledge mediated beyond the discipleship
community? That is, in what settings do discipleship com-
Cannon, Dale. Six Ways of Being Religious: A Framework for Com-
munities represent themselves as self-selecting elites who
parative Studies of Religion. Belmont, Calif., 1996.
must protect their special knowledge from outsiders? What
Carruthers, Mary. The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Me-
conditions account for moments in which discipleship com-
dieval Culture. Cambridge, UK, 1990.
munities seek to expand the circle to include and transform
Chamberlain, Michael. Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval
those originally outside the circle? How have discipleship
Damascus, 1190–1350. Cambridge, UK, 1994.
communities been involved in the politics of knowledge
Elm, Susanna. “Virgins of God”: The Making of Asceticism in Late
within their several host cultures?
Antiquity. Oxford, 1994.
Ernst, Carl W. “The Textual Formation of Oral Teachings in
A third question focuses upon the media in which trans-
Early Chishti Sufism.” In Texts in Context: Traditional Her-
formative knowledge is communicated in the situation of
meneutics in South Asia, edited by Jeffrey R. Timm,
disciple mentoring. Discipleship as such seems to be largely
pp. 271–297. Albany, N.Y., 1992.
associated with religions in which literacy and the interpreta-
Fowden, Garth. “The Platonic Philosopher and His Circle in Late
tion of writings play important roles. Yet the importance of
Antiquity.” Philosophia 7 (1977): 359–383.
the mentoring relationship commonly places a premium on
Fowden, Garth. “The Pagan Holy Man in Late Antique Society.”
orally transmitted knowledge. Can the study of discipleship
Journal of Hellenic Studies 102 (1982): 33–59.
communities shed light on the relative importance of written
Gammie, John G., and Leo G. Perdue, eds. The Sage in Israel and
and oral forms of communication within the broader reli-
the Ancient Near East. Winona Lake, Wis., 1990.
gious traditions in which they participate? Many discipleship
Gold, Daniel. The Lord as Guru: Hindu Sants in North Indian
communities are profoundly hostile to, or at least ambivalent
Tradition. New York, 1987.
about, the use of written sources in the teaching of disciples.
Gold, Daniel. Comprehending the Guru: Toward a Grammar of Re-
These include the following: Brahmanic priests, rabbinic
ligious Perception. Atlanta, Ga., 1988-.
sages, Hindu sants, Greco-Roman philosophers, and Chris-
tian monastic ascetics, among others. How do such attitudes
Hadot, Ilsetraut Hadot. “The Spiritual Guide.” In Classical Medi-
terranean Spirituality: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, edited by A.
mirror broader cultural attitudes regarding the authority of
Hilary Armstrong, pp. 436–458. New York, 1986.
books and teachers as repositories of knowledge?
Hadot, Pierre. “Forms of Life and Forms of Discourse in Ancient
Finally, a fourth question: To the degree that the disci-
Philosophy.” Critical Inquiry 16 (1990): 183–205.
pleship community is constructed hierarchically, how does
Hengel, Martin. The Charismatic Leader and His Followers. Trans-
its hierarchy replicate or undermine other social hierarchies
lated by James C. G. Greig. Edinburgh, UK, 1981.
beyond the community? At times, for example, initiation
Hevelone-Harper, Jennifer. “Spiritual Direction.” In Late Antiq-
into discipleship communities offers relief from confining
uity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, edited by G. W.
gender roles (as in female monasticism in Buddhism and
Bowersock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar, pp. 704–705.
Christianity). What principles explain this creation of a space
Cambridge, Mass., 1999.
in which normal gender practices are suspended? Why are
Hezser, Catherine. The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement
such principles absent in other discipleship traditions, such
in Roman Palestine. Tübingen, Germany, 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
2364
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
Idel, Moshe. Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic. Albany, N.Y.,
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. The Disciples of Christ
1995.
is an American-born religious group formed in 1832 by the
Ivanhoe, Philip J. Confucian Moral Self Cultivation. 2d ed. India-
merger of the Christian movement led by Barton Stone with
napolis, Ind., 2000.
the “Reforming Baptists,” headed by Thomas and Alexander
Jaffee, Martin S. “A Rabbinic Ontology of the Written and Spo-
Campbell. Most of the early leaders of the movement, in-
ken Word: On Discipleship, Transformative Knowledge,
cluding Stone and the Campbells, had been Presbyterians,
and the Living Texts of Oral Torah.” Journal of the American
but they imbibed deeply of the spirit of religious freedom in
Academy of Religion 65 (1997): 525–549.
the wake of the American Revolution. Stone was one of the
Jaffee, Martin S. “Transformative Knowledge.” In Early Judaism,
leaders of the Kentucky revival at the turn of the nineteenth
pp. 213–243. Upper Saddle River, N.J., 1997.
century. Distressed by Presbyterian opposition to the revival,
Jaffee, Martin S. “Torah in the Mouth in Galilean Discipleship
in 1804 he and five other ministers left the church, announc-
Communities.” In Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral
ing their plan to be “Christians only” in “The Last Will and
Tradition in Palestinian Judaism, 200 BCE–400 CE,
Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.”
pp. 126–152. New York, 2001.
Katz, Steven T. “Models, Modeling, and Mystical Training.” Reli-
Thomas Campbell came to America in 1807, having
gion 12 (1982): 247–275.
been a Presbyterian minister in Northern Ireland. Disturbed
Klein, Anne C. Knowledge and Liberation: Tibetan Buddhist Episte-
by the sectarian spirit of the American church, Campbell
mology in Support of Transformative Religious Experience. Ith-
clashed with the synod, and in 1809 he was suspended from
aca, N.Y., 1986.
the ministry. Campbell and a few of his supporters almost
Klein, Anne C., ed. and trans. Path to the Middle: Oral
immediately formed the Christian Association of Washing-
Ma¯dhyamika Philosophy in Tibet. Albany, N.Y., 1994.
ton (Pennsylvania), and Campbell wrote a fifty-six page ex-
Malamud, Margaret. “Gender and Spiritual Self-Fashioning: The
planation of his views, called the Declaration and Address.
Master-Disciple Relationship in Classical Sufism.” Journal of
Thomas Campbell’s son, Alexander, arrived in America
the American Academy of Religion 64 (1996): 89–117.
shortly after the publication of the Declaration and Address.
McMahon, David. “Orality, Writing, and Authority in South
Twenty-one years old at the time, Alexander Campbell had
Asian Buddhism: Visionary Literature and the Struggle for
been influenced by the reforming ideas of Scottish evangelist
Legitimacy in Mahayana.” History of Religions 37 (1998):
Robert Haldane while spending a year in Glasgow, and he
249–274.
immediately embraced his father’s independent position. He
Rousseau, Philip. Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of
quickly rose to the leadership of the movement. The Camp-
Jerome and Cassian. Oxford, 1978.
bells joined with Baptist associations from 1815 until 1830
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill,
and were known by the name Reformers.
N.C., 1975.
Preaching similar pleas for Christian union and in fre-
Schofer, Jonathan. “Virtues in Xunzi’s Thought.” Journal of Reli-
quent contact with one another in Kentucky, the Stone and
gious Ethics 21 (1993): 117–136.
Campbell movements sealed a remarkably successful union
Snyder, H. Gregory. Teachers and Texts in the Ancient World: Phi-
in 1832. Alexander Campbell and his followers generally fa-
losophers, Jews, and Christians. New York, 2000.
vored the name Disciples of Christ, while the Stone churches
Swartz, Michael D. Scholastic Magic: Ritual and Revelation in Early
continued to use the name Christian Church. Many local
Jewish Mysticism. Princeton, N.J., 1996.
congregations were called Churches of Christ. All three
Tambiah, S. J. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Am-
names have been used throughout the movement’s history.
ulets: A Study in Charisma, Hagiography, Sectarianism, and
The new church spread rapidly with the westward migration
Millennial Buddhism. Cambridge, UK, 1984.
of population; at the time of the union in 1832 it was esti-
Trimingham, J. Spencer. The Sufi Orders in Islam. New York,
mated to have 22,000 members, and by 1860 that figure had
1971; reprint, 1998.
grown to nearly 200,000.
Valantasis, Richard. Spiritual Guides of the Third Century: A Semi-
otic Study of the Guide-Disciple Relationship in Christianity,
Two ideas undergird Disciples thought, both of them
Neoplatonism, Hermetism, and Gnosticism. Minneapolis,
highly attractive amid the optimism on the American fron-
Minn., 1991.
tier in the 1830s. First was an emphasis on Christian union.
Valantasis, Richard. “A Theory of the Social Function of Asceti-
Second was an appeal for the “restoration of the ancient
cism.” In Asceticism, edited by Vincent L. Wimbush and
order of things” as a means of attaining unity. The battle cry
Richard Valantasis, pp. 544–551. New York, 1995.
of the movement, stated in 1809 by Thomas Campbell, was
Wach, Joachim. “Master and Disciple: Two Religio-Sociological
“Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scrip-
Studies.” Journal of Religion 42 (1962): 1–21.
tures are silent, we are silent.”
Weber, Max. The Sociology of Religion. Translated by Ephraim
The Disciples were Arminian, believing in freedom of
Fischoff. Boston, 1963.
the will, and they were revivalistic, although never given to
Yearley, Lee. “Teachers and Saviors.” Journal of Religion 65
extreme enthusiasm. They held traditional views on most
(1985): 225–243.
questions and were most visibly set apart by their restoration-
MARTIN S. JAFFEE (2005)
ist views on the local church. They organized autonomous
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DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
2365
congregations presided over by elders and deacons and em-
Although the tensions of the nineteenth century had
phasized weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper. In the early
clear sectional and sociological underpinnings, the debate
years of the movement, Alexander Campbell was caustically
also had a doctrinal focus. As it became ever more apparent
anti-institutional, but by the 1840s antimission sentiment
that the hoped-for millennium of peace and unity was not
abated. Most early Disciples were also strong postmillennial-
imminent, conservative Disciples lost interest in Christian
ists, believing that the second coming of Christ would be
union as a practical goal, and liberal Disciples increasingly
ushered in by the world reformation begun by Luther and
discarded legalistic restorationism as a means of attaining
capped by their own restoration movement.
union. The most visible issues that divided churches were
support for the missionary society that had been founded in
In addition to the Campbells and Stone, the most
1849 and the scripturality of the use of instrumental music
prominent early leader of the Disciples was another Scottish
in worship. The founding of the society (which had Alexan-
Presbyterian minister, Walter Scott, who is credited with for-
der Campbell’s tacit approval) seemed to some an abandon-
mulating the “five-finger” plan of salvation—faith, repen-
ment of the anti-institutional principles of the early move-
tance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, and gift of the Holy Spir-
ment; the society further alienated many southerners because
it—which was preached by a generation of pioneer Disciples
of the passage of political resolutions during the Civil War;
evangelists. The Disciples were slow in developing denomi-
finally, the organization was attacked as “unscriptural” by
national institutions; consequently, the most powerful lead-
rigid restorationists. The introduction of organs into the
ers of the movement were editors of religious journals. Alex-
churches also rankled conservatives, who considered them
ander Campbell edited the Christian Baptist from 1823 to
symbols of decadence and found no evidence of their pres-
1830 and the Millennial Harbinger from 1830 until 1864,
ence in the New Testament churches. By 1900, hundreds of
just two years before his death. Stone, Scott, and scores of
conservative local congregations had separated from the
other preachers also published papers that tied the loose-knit
movement as independent Churches of Christ.
movement together.
The most powerful Disciples journal during the late
While conceiving of themselves as a protest against sec-
nineteenth century was the Christian Standard, published in
tarian division, the Disciples quickly became a part of the de-
Cincinnati, Ohio, by Isaac Errett until his death in 1888.
nominational competition in the American Midwest and
The most influential journal among the conservatives of the
South. Alexander Campbell’s influence among the Baptists
South was the Gospel Advocate, edited for over half a century
was particularly strong, and in some parts of the West, the
by David Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee. By the end of
Disciples devastated Baptist associations. The church spread
the century, however, leadership of the movement had drift-
rapidly westward from Ohio and Kentucky and as far south
ed toward James H. Garrison, who in 1874 became editor
as Tennessee and Texas.
of the Saint Louis-based Christian-Evangelist. Garrison was
grounded in the nuances of Disciples theology, but he was
The years after the Civil War form a second era in Disci-
irenic in spirit and encouraged a new generation of Disciples
ples history. By 1866, all of the first generation leaders of the
leaders to take the mainstream of the movement into the cen-
church were dead, and dramatic shifts in power occurred
ter of liberal American Protestantism.
within the church. The Disciples continued to grow rapidly;
the religious census of 1906 listed around 1,150,000 mem-
In the early twentieth century the Disciples suffered a
bers in the movement. But the census also revealed that a
second major division and a slowing growth rate. As a new
major schism had taken place within the church. Deep sec-
generation of Disciples liberals, particularly a group associat-
tional and sociological tensions had begun to appear shortly
ed with the University of Chicago, pressed for a more ecu-
after the Civil War.
menical view of the Disciples mission and a more liberal un-
derstanding of the scriptures, conservative opposition
In spite of the facts that the Disciples were strongest in
solidified around the Christian Standard. Finally, in the
the border areas and that most of the church’s leaders had
1920s, the conservatives began withdrawing their support
urged moderation during the slavery controversy, Disciples
from Disciples organizations and in 1927 established the
were seriously divided by the Civil War. In 1863, northern
rival North American Christian Convention. These dissen-
Disciples passed a resolution of loyalty to the Union at the
tient conservative congregations remained loosely associated
meeting of the American Christian Missionary Society,
in the Undenominational Fellowship of Christian Churches
which had been formed in 1849. Southern Disciples were
and Churches of Christ. The more liberal wing of the move-
deeply angered. Although most Disciples argued that the
ment adopted the name Christian Church (Disciples of
church could not divide because it had no denominational
Christ).
apparatus, in the years after the Civil War northern and
southern newspapers and other institutions became increas-
A full body of boards and commissions developed in the
ingly antagonistic. In the census of 1906 the most conserva-
twentieth century, headquartered mostly in Indianapolis and
tive wing of the movement (which was almost entirely south-
Saint Louis. In 1968 the church restructured into a represen-
ern) was identified separately and designated the Churches
tative and more centrally controlled organization, losing per-
of Christ.
haps one-third of its listed congregations in the move and
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DISCIPLINE, SPIRITUAL
completing the second schism, which had been in progress
tions of social hierarchy. Such is the case in Dinka sacrifice,
since the 1920s.
as described by Godfrey Lienhardt, who presents what ap-
Disciples have been important leaders in modern ecu-
pears to be a “butcher’s chart” detailing the assignment of
menical activities. The Christian Century began as a Disciples
different cuts of meat to different social groups, the prestige
journal (founded as the Christian Oracle in 1884), and its ed-
of group and cut being directly correlated. That the butcher’s
itorial corps was long dominated by Disciples. The Disciples
chart is, in effect, a diagram of social hierarchy is not lost on
have also been prolific builders of universities and colleges,
the Dinka themselves, who observe: “The people are put to-
perhaps the most widely known being Texas Christian Uni-
gether, as a bull is put together.” Lienhardt (1961) goes on
versity, Butler University, Drake University, and Bethany
to elaborate: “Since every bull or ox is destined ultimately for
College.
sacrifice, each one demonstrates, potentially, the ordered so-
cial relationships of the sacrificing group, the members of
SEE ALSO Campbell, Alexander.
which are indeed ‘put together’ in each beast and represented
in their precise relations to each other in the meat which it
BIBLIOGRAPHY
provides.”
The best general summary of Disciples history is William E.
Tucker and Lester G. McAllister’s Journey in Faith (Saint
A similar pattern is also evident in one of the most an-
Louis, 1975). A sociological interpretation of Disciples histo-
cient Italic sacrifices, the Feriae Latinae, a ritual that dates
ry in the nineteenth century can be found in my books Quest
to the period prior to Roman domination of central Italy but
for a Christian America (Nashville, 1966) and The Social
subsequently was taken over by the Romans and adapted to
Source of Division in the Disciples of Christ (Atlanta, 1973).
their purposes. Thus, according to Dionys of Halikarnassos
A survey of the movement written by a leader of the conser-
(4.49), all forty-seven cities that were members of the Rome-
vative Christian churches is James D. Murch’s Christians
dominated Latin League were called upon to send represen-
Only (Cincinnati, 1962). A Churches of Christ perspective
tatives each year to the Alban Mount “to congregate, feast
can be found in Earl I. West’s The Search for the Ancient
together, and take part in common rituals.” Within the
Order, 2 vols. (Indianapolis, 1950). Three older works that
Feriae Latinae, however, were celebrated both the cohesion
remain significant are William T. Moore’s A Comprehensive
of the Latin League and the unequal status of its members,
History of the Disciples of Christ (New York, 1909), and two
books by Winfred E. Garrison, Religion Follows the Frontier
themes that found expression in the sacrificial banquet at the
(New York, 1931) and An American Religious Movement
center of the rite. Thus, each city was assigned to contribute
(Saint Louis, 1945).
a different, carefully graded portion of food to the celebra-
tion (“some lambs, some cheeses, some a portion of milk”),
DAVID EDWIN HARRELL JR. (1987)
while hierarchically ranked portions of meat taken from the
sacrificial bull were distributed to all the participants. Given
its sociopolitical importance, the distribution of meat was
DISCIPLINE, SPIRITUAL SEE SPIRITUAL
carefully scrutinized, and any mistake in the assignment of
DISCIPLINE
portions could force the repetition of the entire ritual, as
could the failure of any participant to pray for the welfare
of the whole Roman people. The latter offense would mark
a failure of social solidarity; the former, of proper hierarchy.
DISMEMBERMENT. Among the many procedures
that are carried out in sacrificial ritual, dismemberment and
A similar case is found in one of the best-documented
distribution of the victim’s body figure prominently. More-
sacrifices performed by the ancient Germanic peoples, that
over, beyond its physical dimension, dismemberment also
of the Semnones, as reported in chapter 39 of Tacitus’s Ger-
possesses complex and highly significant social, symbolic,
mania:
and intellectual dimensions, as has been shown, for instance,
in Jean-Pierre Vernant’s analysis of the primordial sacrifice
They say that the Semnones are the oldest and most re-
nowned of the Suebi. This belief is confirmed in a reli-
performed by Prometheus, according to Hesiod’s Theogony.
gious ceremony of ancient times. At a fixed time, all the
For, as Vernant has argued, the division of the victim’s body
people of the same blood come together by legations in
in effect establishes the difference between gods, who are im-
a wood that is consecrated by the signs of their ancestors
mortal and have no need of food (since they receive only the
and by an ancient dread. Barbaric rites celebrate the
victim’s bones and fat) and humans, who receive portions of
horrific origins, through the dismemberment of a man
bloody meat wrapped in an ox’s stomach and whose lives are
for the public good. . . . There the belief of all looks
thus characterized by hunger, death, and ultimate bodily
back [to the primordial past], as if from that spot there
decay.
were the origins of the race. The god who is ruler of all
things is there. Others are inferior and subservient. The
Whereas the Promethean model of sacrificial division
good fortune of the Semnones adds to their authority.
(evident also in the sacrifices of the Greek city-states) served
One hundred cantons are inhabited for them, and this
to discuss and establish the distinction between human and
great body causes them to believe themselves to be the
divine, other sacrificial patterns are more attuned to grada-
head of the Suebi.
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DISMEMBERMENT
2367
Several points must be made regarding the logic and intent
fire alike have their origin from the mouth (fire being thus
of this grisly rite in which the public dismemberment of a
the “eater” of whatever is placed into it, the sacrificial fire
human victim was the central feature. First, this was done
being called the “mouth of the gods”). The lower classes, in
in repetition or representation of creation, insofar as the sac-
contrast, are relegated to more lowly, mundane pursuits;
rifice celebrating the “horrific origins” (horrenda primordia)
warriors occupy an intermediate status.
was performed at the very place where the “origins of the
The model that is established within this myth (as also
race” (initia gentis) were believed to be. This comes as little
within the practice of Vedic sacrifice) is, quite literally, that
surprise, however, given the well-known Germanic myths
of an “organic” cosmos and a “corporate” society, the parts
that describe creation as resulting from the bodily dismem-
of which are ordinarily unified but are also analytically de-
berment of a primordial giant by the gods themselves. (For
tachable, whereupon their hierarchic interrelations become
the fullest account, see Snorri Sturluson’s Gylfaginning 6–8.)
fully evident. Moreover, the corporate nature of society also
Second, the sacrifice was performed to confirm the Sem-
finds expression within the very rhythms of sacrificial ritual.
nones’ claim to primacy within the Suebian confederation,
Lienhardt’s observations regarding Dinka sacrifice are, once
of which they considered themselves the “oldest and most re-
again, most instructive:
nowned” (vetustissimos se nobilissimosque) members. This
claim was also expressed in bodily terms: the Semnones re-
It is at the moment immediately preceding the physical
garded themselves as the “head of the Suebi” (Sueborum
death of the beast, as the last invocation reaches its cli-
caput), something that was perhaps no idle metaphor, but
max with more vigorous thrusts of the spear, that those
one reflected—and justified—in the formal distribution of
attending the ceremony are most palpably members of
a single undifferentiated body, looking towards a single
the dismembered remains of sacrificial victims.
common end. After the victim has been killed, their in-
The theme of creation as the result of a primordial act
dividual characters, their private and family differences,
of sacrificial dismemberment is also common in ancient
and various claims and rights according to their status,
India. As one celebrated text relates:
become apparent once more. In the account of the role
of cattle, I mentioned the Dinkas’ way of figuring the
When they divided Man [Skt., Purus:a], how many
unity and diversity of kin-groups in the unity of the bull
pieces did they prepare? What are his mouth, arms,
or ox and in the customary division of its flesh. Similar-
thighs, and feet called? The priest was his mouth, the
ly in a sacrifice, whilst the victim is still a living whole,
warrior was made from his arms; His thighs were the
all members of a gathering are least differentiated from
commoner, and the servant was born from his feet. The
each other in their common interest in that whole vic-
moon was born of his mind; of his eye, the sun was
tim. With its death, interest turns towards the custom-
born; From his mouth, Indra and fire; from his breath,
ary rights of different participating groups in the divi-
wind was born. From his navel there was the atmo-
sion of its flesh. . . . Sacrifice thus includes a
sphere; from his head, heaven was rolled together; From
recreation of the basis of local corporate life, in the full
his feet, the earth; from his ear, the cardinal points.
sense of those words. The whole victim corresponds to
Thus the gods caused the worlds to be created. (R:gveda
the unitary solidarity of human beings in their common
10.90.11–14)
relationship to the divine, while the division of the flesh
The text is remarkable for the way in which it describes soci-
corresponds to the social differentiation of the groups
taking part. (Lienhardt, 1961, pp. 233–234)
ety and the cosmos alike as having both been formed from
the bodily members of the first sacrificial victim. Thus, we
Although he does not use these terms, Lienhardt here master-
are first presented with a set of social homologues to the
fully describes the phases of aggregation and segmentation
human body, wherein four differentially ranked classes—
that mark most rituals. As is clear in the accounts of the
priests (Skt., bra¯hman˙a), warriors (ks:atriya), commoners
Feriae Latinae and the Semnones’ sacrifice, individuals and
(vai´sya), and servants (´su¯dra)—derive their respective hierar-
groups gather for the performance of a ritual in which they
chic positions and characteristic modes of action (speech,
gradually surrender their sense of separate identity as they
force of arms, production and reproduction, and running of
come to feel part of a broader social totality, united by bonds
errands) from that bodily part with which they are associated
of kinship, polity, commensality, and/or common purpose.
(mouth, arms, thighs, and feet). Similarly, a second set ho-
Then, toward the end of the proceedings, this social totality
mologizes parts of the cosmos to bodily members or faculties:
breaks into its constituent parts once again, only to be reunit-
moon to mind, sun to eyes, wind to breath, and so on. More-
ed at the next sacrifice. Further, as Lienhardt recognized, the
over, the social and the cosmic sets themselves are implicitly
moment at which the phase of aggregation ends and that of
correlated through the mediation of the body, for the cos-
segmentation begins is that moment in which the victim is
mos—like the body and society—is organized into hierarchi-
killed and its flesh divided.
cally ranked vertical strata: heaven (including the celestial bo-
Social segmentation thus coincides with sacrificial dis-
dies), atmosphere (including the wind), and earth.
memberment, while aggregation corresponds to a victim that
The logic of dismemberment thus establishes the priest-
is whole. That victim, like society, contains within its body
ly class as concerned with heavenly matters, such as sacred
the potential to be cut into hierarchically differentiated
speech and the ritual fire, by their very nature, for priests and
pieces, but its life depends upon the preserved unity and co-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2368
D¯IVA¯L¯I
operation of those pieces within an organic whole. These
the waxing moon. These lights stand for the hope kindled
same processes also find abstract, philosophical expression at
by the new season that comes at the end of the dangerous
times, as in the thought of Empedocles (fifth century BCE),
monsoon. In many ways the festival is a celebration of a new
who describes the entire cosmos as being ruled by two com-
year. Accordingly, debts are paid off, and merchants close
peting processes: Strife, which tears things apart and finds its
their accounts in anticipation of new wealth.
representation par excellence in sacrificial dismemberment
D¯ıva¯l¯ı is a three-night festival, the last night of which
(see, for example, his fragments numbered B128, B137, and
is the first night of the waxing moon. The celebrations incor-
B20 in the Diels-Kranz collection), and Love, the force that
porate a number of mythic elements, many of which find
reunites those things rent asunder by Strife. For that matter,
colorful regional variations. As in any renewal rite, care is
things are not so dissimilar when it comes to the celebrated
taken to cleanse and purify homes and shops, and people
Aristotelian tools of analysis (i.e., separating a whole into its
make certain to perform special ablutions in a ritual bath.
constituent parts) and synthesis (i.e., reassembling the parts
The festival is most obviously characterized by the seemingly
into an organic whole), whereby thought is dismembered
infinite number of oil lamps that are lit everywhere, as well
and put back together, after the fashion of a sacrificial ox.
as by the noise of exploding firecrackers that are said to
SEE ALSO Cosmogony; Greek Religion; Purus:a; Sacrifice.
frighten away evil spirits and to welcome the arrival of
Laks:m¯ı, goddess of prosperity. In some regional practices the
B
lamps are said to light the darkness for departed ancestors or
IBLIOGRAPHY
An important collection of essays on the general theme of dis-
to welcome the demon king Bali.
memberment within sacrificial ritual has appeared under the
It is to Laks:m¯ı, however, that the people offer jewels
editorship of Christiano Grottanelli, Nicola F. Parise, and
and money, delicate foods, and special new clothes made for
Pier Giorgio Solinas: “Sacrificio, Organizzazione del cosmo,
the occasion. Much importance is placed on the giving of
dinamica sociale,” Studi storici 25 (October–December
1984): 829–956. Further studies on the same theme, orga-
gifts to all members of the family and to the neighborhood
nized by the same editors, will be forthcoming in L’Uomo.
servants who help people throughout the year. Men gamble
Also of great interest are the essays that appear in La cuisine
at various games in a ritual reenactment of the dice tourna-
du sacrifice en pays grec, edited by Marcel Detienne and Jean-
ments played by the gods to determine the fate of human
Pierre Vernant (Paris, 1980). Discussion of the Dinka mate-
beings.
rials is found in Godfrey Lienhardt’s Divinity and Experience:
The Religion of the Dinka (Oxford, 1961). On the Feriae La-
The festival is associated with several Puranic myths.
tinae (and its possible connection to myths of creation by sac-
Their underlying idea calls forth what was at issue during the
rificial dismemberment), see Walter Burkert’s “Caesar und
rainy season and centers on the notion, which holds true for
Romulus-Quirinus,” Historia 11 (1962): 356–376; on the
ancestors as well, that underworld creatures play a crucial
Semnones, see L. L. Hammerich’s “Horrenda Primordia:
role in the acquisition of wealth. A well-known myth relates
Zur ‘Germania’ c. 39,” Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift
how the dwarf Va¯mana (an incarnation of Vis:n:u) asked Bali
33 (May 1952): 228–233, and Alfred Ebenbauer’s “Urs-
to grant him as much land as he could cover in three steps.
prungsglaube, Herrschergott und Menschenopfer: Beobach-
The generous demon king agreed. To his amazement, two
tungen zum Semnonenkult (Germania c. 39),” in Antiqui-
of the dwarf’s steps covered the earth and the sky; the third,
tates Indogermanicae: Gedenkschrift für Hermann Güntert,
planted on Bali’s head, sent the demon to the underworld,
edited by Manfred Mayrhofer et al. (Innsbruck, 1974),
pp. 233–249. I have also discussed many of these materials
a region that became his domain. For his generosity, Bali was
at greater length in Myth, Cosmos, and Society: Indo-European
then allowed to come to the surface of the earth during
Themes of Creation and Destruction (Cambridge, Mass.,
D¯ıva¯l¯ı in order to bestow wealth on human beings.
1986).
Another myth, one in which the god Kr:s:n:a is said to
New Sources
slay Naraka (or Naraka¯sura, the “demon of hell”), similarly
Ulrich, Katherine Eirene. “Divided Bodies: Corporeal and Meta-
marks the momentary halt of evil underworld powers.
phorical Dismemberment and Fragmentation in South Asian
Naraka is the son of Bhu¯dev¯ı, the earth goddess, and Vara¯ha,
Religions.” Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 2002.
the incarnation of Vis:n:u as a boar, who had rescued the god-
BRUCE LINCOLN (1987)
dess when she lay buried under the waters of the sea. Al-
Revised Bibliography
though he was ultimately killed by Kr:s:n:a—as all demons
must eventually be killed by a god—Naraka, like Bali, is nev-
ertheless paid homage when the question of wealth is at
D¯IVA¯L¯I,
stake.
also known as D¯ıpa¯val¯ı, is an important renewal
festival celebrated all over India in October–November at the
In North India the second day of D¯ıva¯l¯ı is reserved for
time of the autumn equinox. D¯ıva¯l¯ı marks the end of the
the worship of the hill Govardhana, near the town of Mathu-
rainy season and the harvest of the summer crops. The name
ra, a site of deep religious significance for devotees of Kr:s:n:a.
D¯ıva¯l¯ı can be translated as “row of lights,” in reference to
Once Indra had captured all of the world’s cattle. Kr:s:n:a freed
lights lit on the nights of the transition from the waning to
the cows, but the enraged Indra flooded the earth with 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
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
2369
downpour of rain to drown the valuable animals. Kr:s:n:a then
are concerned with essentially distinct goals. This helps to ex-
raised Govardhana so that the cows would be saved. The im-
plain the continuing fascination with divination even today
portance of the myth is clear in the context of D¯ıva¯l¯ı, for
on the part of well-educated people, notably in regard to as-
in Hindu thought the cow is a powerful and evocative sym-
trology, the Yi Jing, and spiritualism or necromancy (séances
bol of prosperity. The ritual here primarily involves worship
with the dead). Divination involves communication with
of cattle, but—in a play on the word govardhana (lit., “cow-
personally binding realities and seeks to discover the “ought”
increasing”)—offerings are made to mounds of cow dung
addressed specifically to the personal self or to a group. Sci-
(govar) to ensure continued prosperity and wealth (dhana).
ence, however, if faithful to its own axioms, cannot enunciate
One final ritual marks the celebration of D¯ıva¯l¯ı. Girls
any “oughts” because of its methodological, cognitive, and
and women, who at the onset of the rainy season had tied
moral neutrality: it only offers hypotheses about reality and
protective threads around their brothers’ wrists, now invite
is concerned with general statistical regularities, not with
the boys and men for delicacies in exchange for gifts. This
unique persons or events. The existential situation and bind-
rite is accompanied by the worship of Yama, lord of the dead,
ing transcendental realities are beyond its concern. It may be
and his twin sister, Yami. Yama is also known as Dharmara¯ja
argued that, precisely to the degree that such modern disci-
(“king of the social and cosmic order”), for that very order
plines as psychotherapy and Marxist theory leave science be-
is then restored with the return of prosperity, which is depen-
hind, they take on divinatory (and therefore religious) func-
dent upon women and on controlled underworld powers.
tions, and represent modern contributions to the history of
divination.
SEE ALSO Gambling; Hindu Religious Year; Yama.
BASIC FORMS. Anything can be used to divine the meaning
of events. It is very common to assign spontaneous and arbi-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
trary meaning to signs or omens when one is deeply anxious
For textual details on the festival, see P. V. Kane’s History of
about the outcome of a personal situation. But the cultural
Dharma´sastra, 2d ed. (Poona, 1958), vol. 5, pt. 1,
form of divinatory methods and signs is seldom entirely ran-
pp. 194–210. Some interesting regional variations are given
dom: each one expresses a specific logic.
in Lawrence A. Babb’s The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hindu-
ism in Central India (New York, 1975) and in Oscar Lewis’s
A full list of divinatory agents, therefore, would amount
Village Life in Northern India (Urbana, Ill., 1958).
to a catalog of both nature and culture. H. J. Rose, in his
MARIE-LOUISE REINICHE (1987)
article “Divination, Introductory and Primitive,” in volume
4 of the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh,
1911), classifies the most common means used to obtain in-
sight as follows: dreams (oneiromancy); hunches and presen-
DIVINATION
timents; involuntary body actions (twinges, sneezes, etc.); or-
This entry consists of the following articles:
deals; mediumistic possession; consulting the dead
AN OVERVIEW
(necromancy); observing animal behavior (e.g., ornithoman-
GREEK AND ROMAN DIVINATION
cy, interpreting the flight of birds); noting the form of en-
trails of sacrificial victims (extaspicy or haruspicy), or the vic-
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
tims’ last movements before death; making mechanical
is the art or practice of discovering the personal, human sig-
manipulations with small objects such as dice, drawing long
nificance of future or, more commonly, present or past
or short stalks from a bundle, and so on (sortilege); reading
events. A preoccupation with the import of events and spe-
tea leaves (tasseography), or using playing cards (cartogra-
cific methods to discover it are found in almost all cultures.
phy), etc.; decoding natural phenomena (as in geomancy,
The culture possibly least interested in divination is that of
palmistry, phrenology, or astrology); and—of course—
the traditional Australian Aborigines, yet even they hold divi-
“miscellaneous.” Plato—in an analysis that still forms the
natory “inquests” at funerals to discover the identity of the
basis of most modern treatments (as in the world survey of
sorcerers responsible for the deaths.
divination edited by Caquot and Leibovici, 1968)—
distinguished “ecstatic” and “nonecstatic” types, with the lat-
Much of science itself has evolved from forms of divina-
ter including all inductive and empirical systems of noting
tion and may be said to continue certain aspects of it. Astron-
portents, studying entrails, and so forth. But ecstatic states
omy, for example, is deeply indebted to ancient Near Eastern
and inductive methods can be mingled confusingly; indige-
and Hellenistic astrological researches; mathematics and
nous interpretations of so-called objective omens often as-
physics were advanced by Indian, Pythagorean, and Arabic
sume spirit possession of the omens and/or ecstatic insight
divinatory cosmological speculations; and several leading Re-
in the diviner, while some mediums appear quite normal
naissance scientists were inspired by the divinatory schemes
when “possessed.”
of Qabbalah and hermitism in their search for the moral har-
monies and direction of the universe. Yet it would be incor-
It would be more useful to establish what the indige-
rect to label divination a mere infantile science or pseudosci-
nous theory of divination is, rather than to attempt to assay
entific magic, for modern science and traditional divination
the states of mind actually experienced by diviners in differ-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2370
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
ent cultures and periods. The same conscious experience of
various forms of wisdom divination common to India, and
heightened awareness can be interpreted in one culture as
these in turn are more esteemed than folk mediumistic and
deep wisdom and in another as spirit possession. Under the
possession divination methods.
influence of such interpretations, in fact, an individual divin-
er might permit himself to drift into a deeper mediumistic
Possession divination. There are many varieties of pos-
trance, or on the contrary strive toward a more intense lucidi-
session divination. The most common is augury: divining
ty. How a condition is interpreted influences the way it un-
the message sent by spiritual beings through nonhuman crea-
folds and realizes itself.
tures or things. The classic form of augury, much used in an-
cient Greece and Rome, consisted of attending to the flight
Stressing the indigenous theory of divination also di-
of birds, which were thought to be seized by the gods or spir-
rects us to the cosmological assumptions and the attitudes
its and directed according to a code known to the diviner.
toward the self that unit various seemingly unrelated meth-
But all other forms of interpreting supposedly objective spirit
ods. For example, cultures that stress mediumistic interpreta-
messages were also included in the Latin term augurium.
tions of trance usually also explain the casting of lots or the
conformations of entrails in terms of spirit possession: divi-
Even when human agents are seized by the spiritual be-
nation, according to this overarching viewpoint, consists of
ings, this does not always imply trance: a popular form of
the forms of communication developed by invisible beings
divination in ancient Near Eastern, medieval European, and
to instruct humanity on the meaning of events. But cultures
even modern societies such as Mexico, is to pose a question
that have developed a concept of a decodable impersonal and
and then attend to the first chance words one overhears from
elemental divine order would see the entrails or the sortilege
passing strangers on the street. Another almost universal
in terms of microcosmic echoes of vaster harmonies. In gen-
method whereby spirits or divinities communicate with a
eral, then, we may distinguish three general types of divina-
person is to induce twitches or sudden pains in the body.
tion, based on indigenous meanings: those based on the im-
Quite explicit meanings can be derived from this, depending
mediate context when interpreted by the spiritual insight of
on the part of the body affected and other indications, and
the diviner (intuitive divination); those based on spirit ma-
of course varying according to the specific cultural context.
nipulation (possession divination); and those reflecting the
The theory behind the contemporary use of the Ouija board
operation of impersonal laws within a coherent divine order
is explicitly spiritualistic, yet all that one must do to use it
(wisdom divination).
is put oneself in a receptive mood: ordinary awareness re-
mains. A very similar state is apparently involved in some
Intuitive divination. The Shona of Zimbabwe esteem
cases of glossolalia, according to American Pentecostals I
their hombahomba diviners above all other kinds because
have interviewed, but full mediumistic trance is reported in
these remarkable men, consulted by strangers who travel
many studies (see, for example, Felicitas Goodman, Speaking
from far off to seek their help, can spontaneously tell their
in Tongues, Chicago, 1979). The divinatory interpretation of
visitors’ names, family connections, urgent problems, and
dreams is another very widely used method; here manipula-
even minor experiences encountered on the journey. People
tion by spiritual beings begins to require outright alteration
speak in awe of the piercing eyes and aura of penetrating
of consciousness, although only when the ego has already
awareness of these diviners, whose fame can spread over great
dimmed its awareness.
distances. And yet—an example of how types of divination
can run into one another—the hombahomba may attune
Full divinatory possession of human beings may be of
himself to the consultation by casting hakata dice (a form of
several theoretical forms: prophetic inspiration, shamanistic
wisdom divination), after which, in one reported case, the
ecstasy, mystical illuminations and visions, and mediumistic
diviner became possessed before returning to a state of mind
or oracular trance. They differ according to the degree of ego
in which he could begin the inquiry.
awareness and lucidity, awareness of the ordinary world, and
the theoretical recipient of the divinatory message. The
Intuitive divination is perhaps the elementary form out
prophets of the Bible seem to retain a lucid sense of them-
of which, through various interpretations, the other two de-
selves and the world as they exhort their audience, although
veloped. It is seldom much stressed, although its distribution
they are gripped by an overmastering sense of the integral
as hunches and presentiments is universal. The reliability of
meaning of events as illuminated by God’s presence. The re-
amateur intuitions is not usually considered very great, yet
cipient of this revelation of temporal meaning is both the
in many cultures extraordinary spiritual masters are often
prophet and the human community. In shamanistic trance
credited with this type of divinatory insight, which then has
the struggle between ego awareness and the spirits is often
more prestige and credence than any other. For example, dis-
portrayed as being so intense that it forces a displacement of
ciples of a tsaddiq or saintly master in Hasidic Judaism fre-
the shaman from this world: the shaman may fly far away
quently claim that their master can look into a person’s soul
to interrogate the spirits or God, and may have to struggle
at first meeting and determine not only the past lives but also
with bad spirits and force them to confess their role in
the future course of that person. Precisely the same claims
human events. As recipient of the divinatory communica-
are made for many Hindu guru¯s. These insights by the guru¯
tions, the shaman may later report on his conversations to
are regarded as far more reliable and authoritative than the
an assembled audience, or may permit the audience to eaves-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
2371
drop on the actual interviews or even to be directly addressed
possessing populations over 100,000. I might add that in
by the spirits through his mouth, but in any case he remains
such societies a sense of relative deprivation and ego diminu-
self-possessed and afterward can recall everything that oc-
tion must be common, since individuals meet people every
curred. For the mystical visionary, on the other hand, the en-
day who enjoy other roles in life. Less advantaged groups (the
tire ordinary world is eclipsed by the ecstatic revelations, and
poor, women, and so on) might well seek transcendental re-
the mystic is the sole direct recipient of the communications.
lease from the resultant frustrations through mediumistic
The oracular medium, however, loses all awareness, it is said,
trance more often than more privileged sectors of society (see
and therefore often remains ignorant of the message
I. M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion, Baltimore, 1971). In any case,
that is communicated directly from the spiritual being to the
here one obtains power only through radical self-effacement;
audience.
even kings become divine only through being possessed. This
is the opposite view from that underlying shamanism.
The dependency in particular cultures or subgroups of
a culture on “objective” augury methods, or on methods that
It is perhaps inevitable that, at the center of social
progressively encroach on or even obliterate ego awareness,
power, attempts are made in such cultures to master all that
suggest differing views of the self, society, and the world. Sat-
can be known of the arbitrary will of the gods. The court di-
isfactory cross-cultural studies of divinatory theories from
viners frequently compile mountainous records of precedents
this point of view have not yet been made, but some points
of monster births or other omens, the results of centuries of
may be tentatively suggested. All kinds of possession divina-
haruspicy, and so forth, as in Babylonia, where we see the
tion assume a mysterious, arbitrary world governed by per-
fruit of intense efforts to maintain clarity as far as is possible.
sonal powers who are involved with a vulnerable humanity.
The Babylonian priests noted every heavenly sign over many
The human self must learn how to submit to or cajole these
centuries, identifying each celestial body with a god. But no
capricious and often dangerous spirits. However, in loosely
system emerged from this, for the classical Babylonian world-
view was polytheistic and predicated on power, passion, and
organized, relatively egalitarian societies with an emphasis on
personal whims of the divinities. Yet the result was a hierar-
personal initiative, we can expect more confidence in the
chy of divination methods: present at the courts were alert,
ability of the human ego to sustain its integrity when faced
learned priests who interpreted the will of the gods in elabo-
with the spiritual powers. This is what we find, for example,
rate augury ceremonials, while among the lower classes medi-
in circumpolar and related cultures in Europe, Siberia, and
umism and a much more random and confused use of omens
North America. A study by H. Barry, I. L. Child, and
indicated the insecurity of ego control.
M. K. Bacon (cited by Erika Bourguignon, Possession, San
Francisco, 1976) shows that hunting-fishing cultures gener-
When the entire social structure and even the cosmos
ally depend on short-term risks and personal initiative, so
is felt to be inauthentic, as in late antiquity, mediumistic ec-
that individuals are trained from childhood to be self-reliant
stasy may tend to apocalyptic predictions of the end of the
and self-sufficient: each adult can master all the cultural skills
age: the muted protest becomes radical and explicit. Or mys-
necessary to survive, and ego alertness is highly valued. In
tical visions may teach the negation of the entire world. In
such societies mediumistic divination is not found; instead,
such cases, divination merges with salvation cults.
individuals possess an encyclopedic knowledge of portents,
Wisdom divination. The elaboration of divination sys-
and of methods for obtaining auguries of the capricious spir-
tems based on a unified field of impersonal and universal
its’ intentions. The autonomous ego can negotiate its way
processes that can be studied, harmonized with, and above
through a mysterious cosmos, while the shaman, able to re-
all internalized by nonecstatic sages, is an important but rare
tain ego awareness and control even in the most intimate re-
development in the history of religion. It is most often found
lationship with the spirits, is the group guide.
in complex civilizations that have been defeated by equally
The same cross-cultural study indicates that children in
powerful cultures and therefore must integrate their own in-
agricultural societies are trained to be obedient, reliable, co-
digenous views with other perspectives. Wisdom divination
operative, and patient—qualities needed for ceaseless cultiva-
is a syncretistic movement beyond specific cults, approaching
tion of crops and for interaction with fixed communities.
the elemental ground from which all personal spirits and cul-
The social group, not the individual, is the survival unit; per-
tic gods as well as cultural groups arise. But the speculative
sonal success is obtained through accommodation to others.
effort must usually begin in court and priestly circles, for it
Even the powerful must submit to the more powerful and
depends on a cumulative effort of generations and a special-
the spirits, while the weak survive only through self-
ized learning of which, in most early civilizations, only cen-
effacement. Here, mediumistic trance expresses the natural
tralized priesthoods are capable. Only after literacy and edu-
state of things. A survey of African cultures by Lenora Green-
cation become general can the sagelike diviner detach himself
baum (in Religion, Altered States of Consciousness, and Social
from court circles and apply himself to individual and non-
Change, edited by Erika Bourguignon, Columbus, Ohio,
political concerns.
1973) has shown that mediumistic divinatory trance is most
Thus it was only after Babylonia fell to Persian conquest
common in societies having slaves and two or more heredi-
in the sixth century BCE that its priestly thinkers were chal-
tary (i.e., fixed) classes, such as commoners and nobility, and
lenged by a view that placed “Truth” (the Zoroastrian artha)
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2372
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
and a cosmic order founded in a supreme being above the
the hellenistic period, are now literally two thousand years
capricious gods. The new empire embraced many cultures,
out of congruence, making the system obsolete even in its
making possible as a real option personal conversion to such
own terms.
missionizing, universal monotheisms as those espoused by
the Jews and the Persians. The old social boundaries—and
A quite similar history of a wisdom divinatory system
their gods—now became part of a vaster order, and an at-
is that of the Yi Jing in China. It was the practice in court
tempt was begun to link individual lives directly to a single
circles of the Shang dynasty to consult the nature spirits and
cosmic pattern rather than to any intermediate hierarchies.
royal ancestors—and especially the celestial supreme being—
Inevitably, the effort was eventually to lead to a kind of
concerning all significant state decisions. Scapulimancy was
pagan monotheism, but it began as an attempt to confirm
the favored technique—in the late Shang period tortoise
the polytheistic view. With the new radical improvements in
shells were generally substituted, supplemented by sortilege
mathematics and astronomy, the first personal horoscope
with long and short yarrow stalks. These methods had their
known to us was made of a ruler in 410
roots, respectively, in hunting-fishing cultures to the north
BCE. The new cities
and academies of the Hellenistic world spurred the fusion of
and in agricultural tribes to the south. Although these meth-
Zoroastrian, Babylonian, Jewish, Syrian, and Greek currents;
ods already involved a conception of heavenly and earthly
as Franz Cumont (1912) has made clear, astrology came to
polarities, it was apparently only after the Shang were over-
function as nothing less than a universal and syncretistic reli-
thrown by the Zhou, and after the Zhou had expanded rap-
gious perspective that underlay or influenced all the religions
idly in succeeding centuries to embrace cultures throughout
of late antiquity. Even synagogues, as we know from recent
northern, central, and even southern China, that an elemen-
excavations, commonly traced the zodiac on their sanctuary
tal metaphysics arose that transcended all gods and spirits
floors or walls.
and was encapsulated in the Yi Jing as such. There is no refer-
ence to personal spirits or gods anywhere in the text of the
The growing separation of divination and wisdom from
Yi Jing in its present form, which stems from the late Zhou
the central institutions of power was resented by many kings
and former Han dynasties. Instead, all of reality is regarded
and emperors. One of Augustus’s first acts as emperor was
as woven out of a dialectic of yin and yang forces (contracting
the burning of about two thousand collections of pseudo-
and expanding, respectively): all things and persons are com-
Sibylline oracles circulating among the people, since some of
posites in the process of transformation. Using the elaborate
the oracles favored rival figures or criticized Roman policies,
binary code of this method, one can discover what the trans-
while others, by Jewish proselytizers, predicted the impend-
formations imply, but only if one has attained true nobility
ing messianic era. Several Roman emperors outlawed all non-
and tranquility of character. Confucian mandarins and phi-
official divination; Constantine the Great and his successors
losophers through the ages ruled their lives by this text, but
used Christianity as an excuse to roast to death any astrologer
only in the Ming dynasty did its use become widespread
and client caught in private consultation (see Cramer, 1954,
among the general populace, reflecting the growth of literacy
and D. Grodzynski’s article in Vernant et al., 1974). Even
and the escalating complexity of Chinese civilization. The Yi
in modern times astrology can have political aspects: the
Jing had come to serve as a quiet intellectual aid to personal
Nazis directed certain agents to gain reputations in the Unit-
transcendence and mastery of immediate social pressures.
ed States and England as astrologers, and then to predict the
This function—the same one it serves today in the West—
success of Nazi endeavors or otherwise demoralize Western
differed from its earlier Confucian use as a guide in official
efforts. Within Nazi Germany itself, astrology was strictly an
life and in social activity often associated with the court.
instrument of state.
The Chinese had a number of other forms of wisdom
Today, however, astrology serves usually as a muted
divination, in particular a distinctive form of astrology and
protest against everyday social identity or generally accepted
an elaborate geomancy. The latter offered detailed instruc-
scientific values and cosmology. While interest in astrology
tions on the cosmic forces affecting any specific site, and pro-
is widespread, it has been especially favored by the so-called
fessional geomancers were consulted whenever a house was
counterculture, and by many in the lower and lower-middle
to be built, a road laid, or a grave site chosen. Astrology too
classes, particularly women, since it desubstantializes oppres-
governed all aspects of village life by the later medieval peri-
sive personal relationships, offering instead an exotic alterna-
od, despite the general folk use of many possession divina-
tive identity in which faults are erased or elevated into associ-
tion methods, ranging from countless omens and portents
ation with a “star family” embracing strangers. In an
to outright mediumistic séances.
increasingly fluid, anonymous, and heterogeneous society,
pattern and typological identities are discovered within a
Hindu astrology combined some elements of the Chi-
larger cosmic harmony, and a sense of control is restored to
nese system and more of the Middle Eastern system into its
personal life through the aesthetic and probabilistic terms in
own configuration. Other significant forms of wisdom divi-
which predictions are couched. The power of such a vision
nation include the Islamic hati system (al-khat:t: bi-raml) and
is seen in the fact that it persists, even though the zodiac
the several derivations of it in West Africa (especially the Yor-
houses and their stellar correlates, fixed as they were during
uba and Fon Ifa systems), Zimbabwe, and Madagascar.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
2373
DIVINATION IN WESTERN RELIGIONS. The Jewish and
heritor of Middle Eastern, Persian, and even Indian methods
Christian traditions are markedly ambivalent about divina-
of divination—came scholarly catalogs of divinatory signifi-
tion. For example, the rabbis criticized the use of folk meth-
cances of dreams, omens, and studies of specialized systems
ods found in surrounding cultures, just as the Torah itself
such as palmistry, astrology, and crystal gazing. Astrology—
forbids all appeals to local nature spirits or to the dead. While
despite the rejection of it in the late Roman Empire by
the efficacy of such appeals is not necessarily denied (1 Sm.
church leaders who often cited critical analyses by earlier
28), such acts were thought to suggest that God is not the
pagan philosophers—came to be regarded as a universal sci-
one source of all events and of all truly reliable knowledge.
ence in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance renewed acquain-
(See Dt. 18:10–22; Lv. 19:26, 19:31, 20:6–7, 20:27; Jer.
tance with classical criticisms (permitting astronomy to de-
10:2; and the tractates Pes. 113a and Ned. 32a from the Tal-
velop as an independent science), but the increasing literacy
mud. For a full discussion, see Cohen, 1949.) Thus prophet-
of later generations spread knowledge of these systems and
ic inspiration directly from God, the use of Urim and Tum-
encouraged devotees to elaborate their own methods further
mim in the Temple, certain kinds of omens, and even dream
and publish studies of them. Cartomancy (including the use
divination by Joseph in Egypt and at local shrines in ancient
of tarot cards), phrenology (divination by head conforma-
Israel were certainly acceptable. So most Talmudic rabbis
tions), graphology (handwriting analysis), and many other
permitted dream divination, water gazing, and the use of
novel systems or elaborations of earlier systems developed at
omens; contradictory views were expressed concerning as-
this time. Pietists of the Reformation heartily condemned
trology, but by the Middle Ages most rabbis accepted what
these alternative systems of wisdom, but continued to use
was in effect the science of the day. Moses Maimonides,
dreams, omens, and even scriptures opened at random to
however, made a scathing attack upon it: freedom of will, he
comprehend events.
said, is fundamental to Torah spirituality; those who follow
In the modern period, devotees of such systems as as-
God cannot in any case by subject to the stars (see, e.g., Dt.
trology or water witching often feel constrained to offer “sci-
4:19–20), while a close analysis of astrology shows it to be
entific” explanations for the claimed success of their meth-
based on poor reasoning and worse science. Necromancy was
ods—explanations often extrinsic to the methods themselves.
explicitly condemned in the Torah (Dt. 18:11), and there is
Extrasensory perceptions (precognition, etc.), for example,
very little reference to any kind of spirit possession in the
have been cited, or the “synchronicity” invoked by C. G.
Talmud; the late medieval dybbuk possession chiefly in-
Jung for the power of the Yi Jing: with the mind tuned in
volved tormented but not malicious spirits who sought expi-
by the divinatory apparatus and method, the diviner may no-
ation for sins. Yet qabbalistic meditations resulted in a wide
tice the minute evidences of interconnections and processes
variety of wisdom divinatory methods based on the divine
in the environment that are usually ignored, or the diviner
image sustaining the whole of creation, and prophetic ecstat-
may in this heightened state even comprehend vaster ele-
ic visions were sought by mystics from the Talmudic age on.
mental wholes leading inevitably to certain outcomes. It is
In Christianity some of the same themes and ambigui-
even suggested that divinatory consciousness may be able to
ties reappear, but now the antithesis between good and bad
pick up unobservable rhythms in events, in somewhat the
divination is understood as part of a war between Christ and
same way that a radio picks up invisible transmission. These
Satan. For example spirit possession, mediumistic and other-
hypotheses may describe real processes; unfortunately, they
wise, is a frequent phenomenon and is generally viewed as
are at present untestable.
demonic and requiring exorcism. However, astrological signs
SACRIFICIAL MOTIFS. In any case, divination is fundamen-
can be good, for they marked Jesus’ birth. Dream divination
tally directed by religious, not scientific, concerns. Its basic
by Joseph or Pilate’s wife, casting lots, and mediumistic glos-
curiosity is not about how the world is constructed apart
solalia are all approved (Mt. 1:20, 2:2, 2:12, 27:19; Acts 1:26,
from the pulsing heart of the observer, but about the existen-
10:10), unless performed by non-Christians like Simon
tial meaning of particular human lives. Above all, divination
Magus or by sorcerers (Acts 8:9, 13:6, 16:16). Folk methods
illuminates suffering and alleviates doubt. It restores value
used in the Roman Empire and afterward were readily incor-
and significance to lives in crisis. But to achieve this, all sys-
porated into Christian and official usage, although the
tems of divination demand the submission of the inquirer
fourth-century Synod of Laodicia and the contemporaneous
to transcendental realities, whether these be divine persons
Theodosian Code outlawed divination (drawing on earlier
(possession divination) or the underlying divine order (wis-
precedents in Roman legislation). Thus divinatory invoca-
dom divination). The inquirer is made to achieve spiritual
tion of pagan deities or spirits, schismatic prophetic move-
distance from the self and the immediate crisis.
ments within Christianity, and even oracular attempts to
criticize or delegitimize the ruling regime were all stamped
This recentering of the self is usually directed by sacrifi-
as “Satanism.”
cial motifs and rituals. Almost all African divination, for ex-
ample, ends in sacrifice to the spirits named in the consulta-
Similar attitudes continued into later European cul-
tions as responsible for the crisis, and many rites also begin
tures, but a rich and highly varied regional folk practice of
with sacrifice. Very often the act of divination is simply a sac-
divination persisted. From Islamic civilization—itself the in-
rificial rite: in Nilotic and Bantu cultures, the answer 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
2374
DIVINATION: AN OVERVIEW
“read” from the entrails of victims. Often the actions of the
tivate a continual attitude of tranquil self-offering. The mo-
sacrificed victim give the spirit’s answer. In the Democratic
mentum of wisdom divination, in short, is to internalize the
Republic of the Congo and nearby culture areas, chickens
basic attitude operating in all divination; it does this by ren-
may be fed a partially toxic substance: if the bird dies, God
dering the structures of the transcendent into a form in
has accepted it and signified “yes” to the question; if not, the
which they can be grasped consciously and autonomously.
answer is “no.” A similar logic directs witch ordeals. As in
The very vagueness of the answers in most forms of wisdom
Africa, so also in Europe is the observation of the last convul-
divination aid in this personal appropriation, making the cli-
sive movements of a sacrificial victim a divination practice.
ent participate in shaping meaning out of the session.
Strabo tells us that the ancient Gauls often killed a slave or
captive by a sword stroke in the back: the future was then
SEE ALSO Dreams; Geomancy; Necromancy; Oracles; Yiny-
told from the way he fell, his movements, and the way the
ang Wuxing.
blood flowed. Even wisdom divination is frequently given a
mythical source in a primal sacrifice (as in the case of the Af-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
rican Dogon and Bambara rites, and also the Yoruba and
Useful historical surveys of divination and related topics in world
Fon systems of divination, called Ifa and Fa, respectively.
cultures include Lynn Thorndike’s monumental A History of
The oracle bone divination of Shang dynasty China had a
Magic and Experimental Science, 3 vols. (New York, 1923–
sacrificial context, and the actual procedure by which one
1958), and Auguste Bouché-Leclerq’s still very useful His-
consults the Yi Jing is basically structured by sacrificial ideas.
toire de la divination dans l’antiquité, 4 vols. in 2 (1879–
1889; reprint, New York, 1975). Thorndike’s history is
Mediums perhaps most dramatically embody a sacrificial
chiefly oriented to Western culture, but the first two volumes
logic: those initiated in the spiritualistic religions of Nigeria
deal with antiquity. Bouché-Leclerq focuses on classical
and Dahomey, for example, and in their perpetuations in re-
Greco-Roman cultures. A total of seventeen learned articles
cent centuries in the Caribbean, must undergo a symbolic
on divination in particular cultures, and an additional twelve
and psychic death and resurrection—one so experiential that
articles on astrology and other religious aspects of heavenly
occasionally the offering to the spirits, the medium-
phenomena in world cultures, can be found in the Encyclo-
candidate, does not rise again from the ground.
paedia of Religion and Ethics, 13 vols., edited by James Has-
tings (Edinburgh, 1908–1926), under “Divination” (vol. 4,
All this expresses a deeper truth, that divination requires
1911) and “Sun, Moon, and Stars” (vol. 12, 1921). More up
the radical submission of the diviner and indeed the client
to date is the excellent survey edited by André Caquot and
to the transcendental sources of truth, before their lives can
Marcel Leibovici, La divination: Études recueillies, 2 vols.,
be transformed and set straight, before they can be reincor-
(Paris, 1968), which, in addition to the expected essays on
porated harmoniously into the world. In short, divinatory
the major ancient Near Eastern, classical, and Asian cultures,
rites follow the pattern of all rites of passage. The client, hav-
contains numerous essays on pre-Christian European cul-
ing learned in the course of the rite to offer up to the divine
tures; the ancient civilizations of the Americas; native or trib-
al cultures in Siberia, Africa, and elsewhere; and modern folk
all egocentric resistance, ends the session reoriented to the
and urban Western societies—all with helpful bibliogra-
world and able to take positive and confident action in it.
phies. The most recent English symposium is Michael Loewe
G. K. Park (in Lessa and Vogt, 1965) has suggested that
and Carmen Blacker’s Divination and Oracles (London,
divination assists in political and personal decision making
1981), with nine authoritative essays ranging from Tibetan
culture to Islam.
precisely by removing the decision from contesting parties
and giving it an objective legitimacy, both through its spiri-
An anthropological symposium on divination that refers to politi-
tual source and its convincing ritual drama. O. K. Moore
cal aspects as well is Divination et rationalité, by Jean-Pierre
(ibid.) has added that even the “randomizing” of decision
Vernant and others (Paris, 1974). A useful selection of im-
outcomes in divination is actually adaptive in situations
portant theoretical anthropological essays on divination is in-
cluded in Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological
where egoistically obvious or socially customary decisions
Approach, 2d ed., edited by William A. Lessa and Evon Z.
might end up limiting personal or group survival chances.
Vogt (New York, 1965); later editions include some more re-
By hunting in accord with the cracks that appear on heated
cent studies but omit much from the second edition. Medi-
deer shoulder blades, the Naskapi Indians of Labrador are
umship has evoked the greatest attention from anthropolo-
prevented from overhunting favorite areas and are therefore
gists; see, for example, Spirit Mediumship and Society in
more likely to find game year-round.
Africa, edited by John Beattie and John Middleton (New
York, 1969), in addition to the studies mentioned in the text
Wisdom divination also often works in this way: by free-
of the foregoing article.
ing the inquirer from customary ways of thought, it fre-
For an authorative summary of what we know about ancient Mes-
quently reveals fresh insight into problems. Thus the cryptic
opotamian divination, see A. Leo Oppenheim’s Ancient Mes-
proverbs or aphorisms (as in the Ifa system or the Yi Jing),
opotamia (Chicago, 1964), pp. 198–227, or W. H. P.
or the nonbinding details and universalizable generalities (as
Römer’s “Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Historia Re-
in astrology), open up a cosmic perspective that in itself be-
ligionum, edited by C. Jouco Bleeker and Geo Widengren,
stows tranquility and a renewed ability to cope effectively
vol. 1 (Leiden, 1969), especially pp. 172–178. H. W. Parke
with crises. One learns to see behind appearances and to cul-
has summarized his many authoritative studies on Greek
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DIVINATION: GREEK AND ROMAN DIVINATION
2375
mediumship in his brief Greek Oracles (London, 1967); he
the dead not received the cult that was due them? Was a god
does not ignore social and political implications. Still out-
being ignored? Alternatively, an enquirer might ask a god’s
standing is Franz Cumont’s Astrology and Religion among the
advice: shall we institute a new political system in Athens?
Greeks and Romans (1912; reprint, New York, 1960). More
In the latter sort of cases, the enquirer typically presented a
recent are Hans Lewy’s Chaldaean Oracles and Theurgy: Mys-
detailed plan to the god and then asked for his or her approv-
ticism, Magic and Platonism in the Later Roman Empire, new
al, rather than giving the god completely free rein to decide
edition by Michel Tardieu (Paris, 1978), and Frederick
Henry Cramer’s Astrology in Roman Law and Politics (Phila-
what should be done. The knowledge that one sought from
delphia, 1954).
divination usually was not all that different in its nature from
what one could learn from another person. It differed mainly
Talmudic views of divination are well discussed by Abraham
Cohen in his Everyman’s Talmud, new ed. (New York,
insofar as the gods, demons, and ghosts might know more
1949), pp. 274–297; further information is available in the
because they had a greater range of sources of knowledge;
article “Divination” by Shmuel Ahituv and others in the En-
they knew what was going on among the dead, among the
cyclopaedia Judaica, 16 vols. (Jerusalem, 1971). A general sur-
gods, and in distant parts of the world that the average en-
vey of Muslim divination is available in Toufic Fahd’s La
quirer could not reach.
divination arabe (Leiden, 1966), and in the various symposia
mentioned above. On hati geomancy, see the article by Rob-
Almost any object, person, statement, or event could
ert Jaulin in the collection by André Caquot and Marcel Lei-
convey information; the challenge was to learn how to
bovici, cited above, and Robert Jaulin’s La géomancie: Analyse
choose, interpret, and act upon it correctly. Sometimes divi-
formelle (Paris, 1966). For a penetrating study of the Yoruba
natory information aroused debate among its recipients as to
Ifa system, see Wande Abimbola’s Ifa: An Exposition of Ifa
how to interpret it. For example, during the Persian Wars
Literary Corpus (London, 1976).
of the early fifth century BCE, the Athenians received an ora-
Any study of Chinese divination should begin with Joseph Need-
cle from Apollo at Delphi advising them to protect them-
ham’s brilliant study Science and Civilisation in China, vol.
selves “by wooden walls,” but prominent citizens argued for
2 (Cambridge, 1956), pp. 216–395; an excellent bibliogra-
different interpretations. Themistocles (c. 524–c. 460 BCE)
phy is appended. Among the many perceptive studies of the
finally convinced the others that this meant they should in-
Yi Jing is Hellmut Wilhelm’s Heaven, Earth and Man in the
crease the size of their navy (ships being built of wood) rather
Book of Changes: Seven Eranos Lectures (Seattle, 1977). A use-
than seek refuge on the Acropolis, which had in former times
ful survey of other forms of Chinese wisdom divination as
well as of allied forms of the I ching is Wallace A. Sherrill and
been protected by a “wall” of thorn bushes. Themistocles was
Wen Kuan Chu’s An Anthology of I Ching (London, 1977).
proven correct when the fortified navy saved not only Athens
Also see Stephan D. R. Feuchtwang’s An Anthropological
but all of Greece (Herodotos, Histories 7.140–143).
Analysis of Chinese Geomancy (Vientiane, Laos, 1974).
This story also demonstrates that anyone, not only a
New Sources
specialist, was free to interpret divinatory information; in-
Aguilar, Mario I. “Divination, Theology and Healing in an Afri-
deed, the Greek chrêsmologoi, or professional interpreters of
can Context.” Feminist Theology no. 7S (1994): 34–38.
oracles, had urged the Athenians to abandon their city after
Ciraolo, Leda, and Jonathan Seidel, eds. Magic and Divination in
they heard the oracle, but their advice was ignored. Profes-
the Ancient World. Leiden, 2002.
sional seers (manteis) traveled with armies to provide advice,
Cryer, Frederick H. Divination in Ancient Israel and Its Near East-
but the general Xenophon (c. 431–c. 352 BCE) stated that
ern Environment: A Socio-historical Investigation. Sheffield,
he himself was knowledgeable enough in the arts of divina-
England, 1994.
tion so that his seer could not deceive him with false informa-
Davis, David. “Divination in the Bible.” Jewish Bible Quarterly
tion (Anabasis 5.6.29). This statement also reflects the com-
30, no. 2 (April–June 2002): 121.
mon presumption that, far from being unimpeachable,
professional diviners were motivated by the same things as
EVAN M. ZUESSE (1987)
other people and might put their own interests before those
Revised Bibliography
of their clients. Moreover, even when the source and inter-
pretation were considered trustworthy, divinatory informa-
tion might be challenged. The “wooden walls” oracle was the
DIVINATION: GREEK AND ROMAN
second oracle the Athenians had received from Delphi; they
DIVINATION
had rejected an earlier one because it offered the city no hope
People tend to think of divination as a process concerned
at all, and they asked the god for a more optimistic response.
with the future and with such questions as “Will I marry?”
Similarly, in Rome the results of sortition (a method where-
and “Will I be rich?” But in ancient Greece and Rome, as
by an answer was obtained by shaking or drawing lots out
in many other cultures, divination was predominantly con-
of a jar) might be overturned in the civic and military arena
cerned with discerning the will of the gods and other super-
when participants judged them to be “ill-omened.” For ex-
human entities (e.g., demons, ghosts) and then learning how
ample, if the results commanded that a man serving in the
to bring oneself into harmony with them. Thus, the enquirer
office of flamen Dialis (a prominent priesthood) should ac-
might try to find out why famine was harming his city: Had
cept a foreign posting, the results were overturned because
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2376
DIVINATION: GREEK AND ROMAN DIVINATION
the flamen was forbidden from sleeping outside his own bed
ed together and were believed to be very old, such as those
for more than two nights running. Divination, in short, was
of Bacis and the Sibyls. “Belly-talkers” (engastrimuthoi) had
always as much a process of negotiation as it was of obtaining
gods or demons in their stomachs that prophesied (see Plato,
knowledge.
Sophist 252c, and Plutarch, On the Obsolescence of Oracles 9,
GREECE. Although Greek and Roman divinatory methods
414e).
and the contexts in which they were used were very similar
In later antiquity there were other divinatory techniques
in many regards, there were also distinctions, and it is there-
that private practitioners might employ. It is likely that many
fore best to treat the two cultures separately. We begin with
of these were available earlier but simply do not show up in
Greece.
the more meager sources of that time; examples are scrying
Institutional oracles. Both of the oracles that Athens
(gazing at water or some other reflective surface), lychno-
received during the Persian Wars came from the Delphic Or-
mancy (gazing at a flame), and “direct vision”—that is, a per-
acle, one of the oldest (perhaps dating to the late ninth centu-
sonal encounter with a god. The later sources make it clear
ry
that the practitioners often combined and adapted divinatory
BCE) and most prestigious of Greek institutional oracles,
which were situated in a fixed spot and administered by a
procedures that we would consider separate from one anoth-
priesthood. At Delphi, in an inner chamber of Apollo’s tem-
er. Thus, a practitioner might call a spirit into a child to
ple, the Pythia (a woman who had pledged to remain a vir-
prophesy at the same time as he asked the child to scry. In
gin) sat on a sacred tripod, wore a crown of sacred laurel, and
short, divination was a collection of practices open to impro-
was inspired by the god himself. Through her mouth, Apollo
visation, even if modern scholars (and already some ancient
issued statements that were transmitted to enquirers by
intellectuals such as Cicero) have attempted to categorize its
priests called “prophets”—literally, “those who speak for”
varieties.
someone else. The statements might be worded so as to re-
Everyday divination. Divinatory methods were avail-
quire interpretation, as we have seen, but the truly enigmatic
able to ordinary people as well. Typically, these involved a
Delphi response, whose meaning proves to be quite different
person interpreting some spontaneous occurrence that
from what it seems (as in the story of Oedipus), is probably
seemed significant. In the Odyssey (17.541), Telemachus
only a literary motif.
sneezes unexpectedly, and his mother, Penelope, interprets
Although Delphi was the most famous oracle in the an-
this to mean that she will soon be rid of her troublesome suit-
cient world, there were others. Most were sponsored by
ors. Dreams were viewed as having hidden meanings (but see
Apollo (including those at Didyma and Claros), but Zeus
Odyssey 19.562–567, where Penelope dismisses attempts to
had one at Dodona, and other gods had oracles, too. Dead
find hidden meanings in her dreams). Although one could
heroes might also convey information through oracles: Am-
call in professional help for especially strange ones, the aver-
phiaraus had one in Oropus and Trophonius had one in Le-
age person usually could manage without such help.
badeia. The means by which the information was conveyed
Intellectuals became fascinated with dreams: Aristotle
varied from place to place; at the oracle of Trophonius, en-
(384–322 BCE) wrote a short treatise, On Divination in Sleep,
quirers descended into an underground shrine and apparent-
in which he denied that dreams were predictive, but the Sto-
ly encountered the hero himself.
ics went on to explore in depth the “scientific” reasons that
dreams might be so. In the second century
Independent practitioners. Independent experts who
CE, Aelius Aristi-
des kept a “dream diary” that described his nightly visions
went by a variety of titles provided divination as well;
and proposed interpretations for them. Artemidorus’s dream
ornithomanteis (interpreters of birds’ behavior), oneiromanteis
book, also from the second century, includes the dreams of
(dream interpreters), and teratoskopoi (interpreters of por-
people whom he interviewed, with notations as to what sub-
tents) were among them. The word mantis, the most general
sequently happened—an early effort at systematizing and
term of all, might be applied to any of these and many other
testing dream interpretation. He also attempted to catalogue
types. Neither the titles nor the methods of divination that
and categorize symbols that might appear in dreams, some-
they represented were mutually exclusive, and many practi-
what in the way that Sigmund Freud later would (and in-
tioners used more than one technique as the situation de-
deed, Freud, in his study of dreams, sometimes quotes Ar-
manded. Manteis might provide other services as well, such
temidorus). At the shrine of the hero Amphiaraus, people
as purification and initiation into private mystery cults. Al-
“incubated” (slept) in a special building and waited for the
though myths that made manteis such as Melampus and Am-
hero to advise them in dreams. Priests might help the dream-
phiaraus members of prominent royal families may reflect
ers interpret the dreams.
the status of manteis during some early period of Greek histo-
ry, by the classical age manteis were marginalized members
There are many more divinatory methods about which
of society. For important matters it was preferable, when
only a little is mentioned in the sources, making it impossible
possible, to consult one of the institutional oracles. Chrês-
to say how common or respected they were. Aristophanes (c.
mologoi (interpreters of oracles) not only interpreted infor-
450–c. 388 BCE) shows us a woman asking a statue of Hekate
mation delivered by institutional oracles, as mentioned in the
outside her house whether she should go out that day (Ly-
story of Themistocles, but also oracles that had been collect-
sistrata 63). At dice oracles, which were set up in market-
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DIVINATION: GREEK AND ROMAN DIVINATION
2377
places of Greek Asia Minor during the Roman Imperial peri-
experts known as augures; until they gave the go-ahead, no
od, merchants apparently took the initiative, when they
public business (such as elections, Senate meetings, or initia-
pleased, of rolling the dice and then looking up the signifi-
tion of new priests) could be conducted. Their role was
cance of the roll on a chart engraved on the base of a statue
strictly interpretative, however; the actual taking of the aus-
of Hermes (the god of merchants). There were also a few
pices was carried out by a magistrate. The augures also deter-
people who were what today would be called “clairvoyant”—
mined whether ritual faults had been committed during the
that is, they could “see” what was happening in distant places
taking of auspices—if so, the act had to be repeated correctly.
(Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 8.26; Eunapius, Lives of the
Prodigies or portents were unbidden omens sent by the
Sophists 468).
gods to warn humans of imminent disaster. These might take
Sometimes the conversation of other people (especially
any of myriad forms: the birth of a two-headed calf or a her-
children), when overheard by someone who needed advice,
maphrodite, sudden strokes of lightning, and eclipses are ex-
was interpreted as a divine message. The story of the conver-
amples. Before a prodigy was studied, the Senate had to de-
sion of Saint Augustine (354–430 CE) to Christianity plays
cide that it really was a prodigy; if so, either of two types of
on this practice: while sitting in his garden he heard a child
experts were called in: haruspices or pontifices. (Haruspices
on the other side of the wall sing out “pick it up and read
were from Etruria, reflecting the Roman belief that the
it,” which Augustine took to refer to the Bible that lay on
Etruscans were masters of many religious practices, especially
a table next to him; later, after he had converted, Augustine
divinatory ones.) The haruspices and pontifices gave advice
decided that it must have been an angel rather than a child
about how to avert the disaster that the prodigy had portend-
(Confessions 8.12.29).
ed. Although this implicitly included interpreting the prodi-
R
gy, emphasis was always on aversion rather than explanation;
OME. Much of what was said about Greek methods of divi-
nation is also true for Rome; in fact, in many cases, Greek
in this sense, Roman divination was an eminently practical
sources explicitly discuss Roman participation as well. The
rather than a theoretical art. We also hear of portents in
Romans, for example, frequently visited the institutionalized
Greece, and of experts (manteis, for example) sometimes
oracles that the Greeks had established, such as Delphi, as
being called in to interpret them, but Greek cities had no
well as a few of their own, such as the lot oracle of the Roman
similarly complex, official system in place for dealing with
goddess Fortuna at Praeneste. But Roman divination dif-
them.
fered from that of the Greeks in two important ways. First,
Entrail reading (also called extispicy or haruspinica) is
the state exerted far greater control over the methods that
a form of divination found throughout the Mediterranean.
were used for public matters—and eventually tried to exert
(Typically, the liver and other internal organs of every sacrifi-
control over private divination as well. Second, although
cial animal were “read” to determine whether the gods were
Greek intellectuals already had mocked and challenged divi-
pleased with the sacrifice, and if the sacrifice occurred at the
natory procedures, Roman writers provide a much richer pic-
outset of an important endeavor, the gods’ pleasure or dis-
ture of debates that swirled around the topic. It must also
pleasure was construed as sending a message about the en-
be noted that the Romans at least believed (and were proba-
deavor itself.) In Rome, extispicy was especially associated
bly to some extent correct in believing) that their methods
with military matters. Before battle, the haruspices looked at
of divination had been inherited from the Etruscans, who
the entrails of the sacrificial animal and determined, from the
were viewed as especially sagacious in such matters.
pattern of bumps and other characteristics upon them,
Civic divination. Roman civic divination can be divid-
whether the gods were pleased. If they were not, that did not
ed into three main types, organized according to whether
necessarily mean that the endeavor had to be abandoned; the
the information conveyed was sought or unsought, and to
sacrifice might be repeated numerous times until the entrails
the circumstances that surrounded each individual divinato-
signified that it was all right to go ahead.
ry incident.
None of the three methods just described foretells the
future, strictly speaking; at most they indicate what might
Taking the auspices was an act initiated by people seek-
happen if proper actions are not taken to avert crisis, or what
ing a sign from the gods to ensure that an undertaking would
might happen if the gods’ advice (e.g., not to go into battle)
be successful—that is, that the gods approved of it or were
were ignored. Roman divination, even more than Greek, was
at least open-minded about it. A famous form of this type
an ongoing consultation with the gods in which humans at-
of divination was feeding sacred chickens and watching
tempted to discover how they must modify their behavior to
whether they consumed the food. Obviously, this was open
maintain the pax deorum (peace with the gods) that lay at the
to manipulation—a starving chicken will eventually eat. An-
center of Roman religion.
other form required defining a templum, that is, designating
a rectangular section of the sky that was then divided into
A final form of official Roman divination that should
left, right, front, and back subsections. One then watched for
be mentioned involved the Sibylline Books, collections of
signs to appear within the templum’s subsections (e.g., light-
oracular verses in Greek dactylic hexameter, supposedly pur-
ning, particular birds such as [Jupiter’s] eagle) and drew
chased from the Cumaean Sibyl (one of several sibyls or
meaning from these signs. Such auspices were interpreted by
prophetesses inspired by Apollo) during an early period of
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DIVINE, THE
Roman history; the collection was occasionally supple-
Cicero takes up from the Stoics is cosmic sympatheia, the idea
mented as time went on and was completely rebuilt after the
that everything in the cosmos is connected to other things;
original books were lost in a fire in 83 BCE. The collection
thus, movements or changes in the heavenly world should
was under the care of a priestly group called the quindecem-
be signaled by changes in the world below. Once one knew
viri sacris faciundis (fifteen men concerned with sacred ac-
how to read and interpret the system, these changes could
tions), but only the Senate could decide when the collection
provide information that was not otherwise available. Sympa-
would be consulted for advice. In later antiquity, Christians
theia continued to be debated by philosophers throughout
and Jews read their own meanings into these oracles, finding
antiquity and into the Middle Ages.
within them, for instance, predictions of Christ’s coming.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
State control of divination. Of course, Romans needed
Beard, Mary. “Cicero and Divination.” Journal of Roman Studies
advice concerning private as well as public matters, and by
76 (1986): 33–46.
and large the same methods were available to them as to the
Bouché-Leclercq, Auguste. Histoire de la divination dans
Greeks: everything in the world potentially carried meaning,
l’Antiquité. 4 vols. Paris, 1879–1882.
if properly observed and interpreted. Knowledge is power,
however, and periodically, particularly during the Imperial
Dodds, E. R. “Supernormal Phenomena in Classical Antiquity.”
In The Ancient Concept of Progress. Oxford, 1973.
period, certain forms of divination were either condemned
or kept under strict governmental control. The most impor-
Graf, Fritz. “Magic and Divination.” In The World of Ancient
tant of these was astrology. In the second century
Magic, edited by David Jordan, Hugh Montgomery, and
BCE, catar-
chic astrology (the reading of star signs at the outset of an
Einar Thomasson. Bergen, Norway, 1999.
endeavor) was introduced into Rome (Pliny, Natural History
Johnston, S. I. “Charming Children: The Use of the Child in An-
35.199), and by 139 BCE the Senate had already passed a law
cient Divination.” Arethusa 34, no. 1 (2001): 97–117.
expelling all astrologers (Valerius Maximus 1.3.3). The purge
MacBain, Bruce. Prodigy and Expiation: A Study of Religion and
was constantly repeated; the first century CE alone saw eleven
Politics in Republican Rome. Brussels, 1982.
new attempts to expel astrologers. Other forms of divination
North, John. “Diviners and Divination at Rome.” In Pagan
came under fire, as well; the emperor Augustus had more
Priests: Religion and Power in the Ancient World, edited by
than two thousand oracular books burned to prevent unau-
Mary Beard and John North. London, 1990.
thorized access to them. In general, these purges fell into line
Parker, Robert. “Greek States and Greek Oracles.” In Crux: Essays
with other attempts by Roman rulers to control religion and
Presented to G. E. M. de Ste. Croix on His 75th Birthday, ed-
thereby access to the divine—purges of Jews, of magicians,
ited by P. A. Cartledge and F. D. Harvey. London, 1985.
of members of mystery cults in honor of Dionysos, and, of
SARAH ILES JOHNSTON (2005)
course, of Christians.
Response to divination. As mentioned above, Aristotle
already had formally critiqued dream divination in the
DIVINE, THE SEE HOLY, IDEA OF THE; SACRED
fourth century BCE, and many other Greeks had challenged
AND THE PROFANE, THE; TRANSCENDENCE AND
particular operators as being dishonest or inept. But there is
IMMANENCE
more evidence for intellectual engagement with the question
of how (or whether) divination worked in sources from the
Roman period, perhaps because people of this time were
more interested in the topic or perhaps because the sheer luck
DIVINE CHILD SEE CHILD
of survival has left more.
Cicero’s treatise, Concerning Divination, is an articulate
DIVING PRESENCE SEE SHEKHINAH
investigation of arguments for and against divination that
takes the form of a dialogue between Cicero and his brother,
Quintus. The latter represents those who believe divination
works, particularly the Stoics; Cicero himself presents philo-
DIVINITY SEE DEITY; GODS AND GODDESSES;
sophical arguments against it, particularly those of the Plato-
SUPREME BEINGS
nists and Cynics. No resolution is reached, but in the course
of the discussion Cicero not only offers a lengthy résumé of
divinatory methods, but also elaborates on a division of divi-
DIVINIZATION SEE APOTHEOSIS;
natory methods that had first been proposed by the Stoics
DEIFICATION; HEROES
and that still holds considerable sway: that between natural
divination (e.g., dreams, inspired prophecy such as that of
the Delphi Pythia or the Sibyls) and artificial divination,
which required special training or tools (e.g., reading bird
DJAN’KAWU. The name Djan’kawu (also spelled as
flights, astrology, sortition). Another important topic that
Djang’kawu or Djanggawul) refers to ancestral beings de-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DJAN’KAWU
2379
scribed in the mythology of the Dhuwa moiety, or descent
DJAN’KAWU SONGS. The songs of the Djan’kawu constitute
group, of the Yolngu people, who live in northeast Arnhem
a distinctive genre in the repertoire of Dhuwa moiety groups,
Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Yolngu
and are called birlma, or clap stick songs. Male singers use
people divide themselves into two moieties called Dhuwa
heavy ironwood clap sticks to create a slow steady rhythm
and Yirritja. People inherit their moiety identity from their
unaccompanied by a didgeridoo, or Aboriginal drone pipe.
father and paternal grandfather, and are required to marry
The songs have a chant-like sound with a low pitch and shal-
someone from the other moiety. Land and water areas, to-
low melodic profile. They “follow” songs sung by the
temic ancestors and ceremonies, natural species, and other
Djan’kawu themselves, and so are often sung in the first per-
phenomena are all assigned to one or the other moiety.
son as if the Djan’kawu themselves were singing. The songs
Djan’kawu traditions are found in many patrilineal groups
do not have a direct narrative structure but rather evoke im-
of the Dhuwa moiety, especially coastal groups.
ages related to the Djan’kawu and places associated with
The ancestral beings called Djan’kawu comprise an
them.
elder and younger sister in some groups’ stories while others
The songs tell of the catfish the Djan’kawu caught with
add a brother. Their names also vary from group to group.
their ngarnmarra mats, of shellfish in the mangrove swamps,
Dhuwa moiety myths describe the journey of the Djan’kawu
of flying foxes and black cockatoos (fruit bats) in the trees,
“following the sun” from Burralku, an island across the sea
of water monitor lizards in the creeks and water holes, and
to the east, to the eastern coast of northeast Arnhem Land,
of monsoon rains and floods. A particularly interesting fea-
then along the coast and islands to the west towards the sun-
ture of the Djan’kawu songs is the way they manipulate time
set. The Djan’kawu are said to have traveled on foot and by
and space. On one level they represent the long journey of
canoe or bark raft, each carrying two long sticks called
many days, during which the Djan’kawu gave birth to people
Garninyirdi, one in each hand. The Garninyirdi were used
from all the Dhuwa moiety groups and gave them their an-
as walking sticks on land and as paddles for the canoe.
cestral law. On another level the songs trace the passage of
The Djan’kawu also carried twined pandanus baskets,
the sun through a single day, for singers often begin the song
or dilly bags, decorated with the orange feathers of the red-
series early in the morning (for a purification ceremony, for
collared lorikeet, and containing many strings of lorikeet
example) and sing through the day until sunset, when the
feathers as well as rangga, which are sacred objects made of
ceremony ends. On one level the songs represent the ances-
wood and other materials. The sisters had with them conical
tral beings’ journey from Burralku in the east through the
ngarnmarra mats of the kind that Dhuwa women use as
lands and waters of many groups, to those belonging to peo-
aprons, bassinets, and mosquito nets, and which served as
ple far to the west towards the sunset. On another level the
fishing nets in the myths and songs.
songs follow the Djan’kawu around a particular group’s
The Dhuwa stories relate how the Djan’kawu saw and
country, through the sea to the mangroves, up to the saline
named many fish, birds, reptiles, and animals on their jour-
mud flats and across to the swamps and lagoons, into the for-
ney. They gave birth to many children in the country of each
est and patches of jungle. The song cycles may be construed
Dhuwa moiety group, and left the powers of continuing re-
as following the seasons of the year, ending with the mon-
production in the water holes and springs they made with
soon rains. They also seem to recapitulate the human life
their sticks. The springs bubbled up on the beaches or in the
cycle, beginning with conception (represented by the sisters
saline mud of the mangroves, the fresh water mixing with
catching fish with their conical mats and putting them in
salt water at high tide. The Djan’kawu placed sacred objects
their dilly bags), and ending with the Djan’kawu, exhausted
in the waters of each group and reserved some water holes
from their labors, walking or paddling toward the setting
for older men.
sun.
As in the doctrines of Aboriginal people from other re-
DJAN’KAWU DESIGNS. Designs associated with the
gions of Australia, the Djan’kawu left traces of their journey,
Djan’kawu belong to the Dhuwa groups who possess the
activities, and physical presence in the land and waters. In
myths. They are painted on the body for ceremonies and on
Yolngu terminology, the traces of the ancestors and the songs
sacred objects; drawn with ridges of sand or soil on the earth
and other gifts that they left behind are their footprints, or-
to mark ceremony grounds; or reproduced on bark paintings
luku, the foundation (rom) of ancestral law (mardayin). A
or prints for sale. The Djan’kawu designs have some features
group may identify a specific locale in their country as the
in common. One is the use of a circular form that radiates
place where the ancestors pulled their canoe up to the man-
vertical and horizontal bands with diagonal divisions be-
groves. They planted one of their sticks and it became a tree.
tween the bands. This design may represent the sun, a
They heard men chanting from a ceremony ground in the
waterhole made by the Djan’kawu, or other aspects of the
forest. A certain causeway of shell was their path. The
Djan’kawu stories. It may be drawn as two circles joined by
Djan’kawu endowed each group with the myths, songs,
a band, representing springs and channels in the mangroves,
dances, designs (painted or made in the sand), and sacred ob-
or repeated several times to form a grid of circles, bands, and
jects that describe and “follow” their journey, actions, and
diagonal lines. These multivalent images have many mean-
presence.
ings, including symbolic references to a group’s country that
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2380
DJAN’KAWU
function as a kind of map, as well as references to the group’s
Riyawarra tree. The participants are all painted with stripes
sacred objects.
and carry the long sticks required to reenact the creative jour-
A second design associated with the Djan’kawu consists
ney of the Djan’kawu. At the tree the women are lying under
of horizontal stripes of white, red, and yellow ochre painted
conical ngarnmarra mats. As the men surround the women,
on the body for ceremonies or on a ritual digging stick or
working the long sticks back and forth, the women burst out
hollow-log coffin. This polysemous design has a rich array
of the mats to represent the birth of children to the moiety
of meanings ranging from the red-collared lorikeet to the
groups. Then all participants bathe in the sea, or a lagoon
bands on a mangrove tree left by the tides. The adult males
or river nearby, their body paints mixing together in the
of the moiety keep the design’s other meanings secret.
water.
DJAN’KAWU DANCES AND CEREMONIES. Adults and chil-
The Djan’kawu songs, dances, and designs may be used
dren follow the ancestors’ journey in a sacred dance accom-
in other ceremonies. The men may paint a Djan’kawu design
panied by male singers. The dancers move in a line or as a
on the initiate’s chest during a circumcision ceremony or on
pair through the camp, each dancer provided with a pair of
the deceased during a funeral ceremony. The Djan’kawu rit-
long sticks, and painted in horizontal stripes of red and yel-
uals and designs are also incorporated in purification ceremo-
low ochre and white clay. From time to time the dancers
nies following a death, in which the mourners wash them-
form a circle and spear the ground with their sticks, working
selves while standing in a sand sculpture representing the
them back and forth, representing the Djan’kawu making
springs made by the Djan’kawu.
waterholes and giving birth to each group along their jour-
ney. Finally they surround the deceased (in a funeral) or the
The Djan’kawu were credited with setting down prece-
initiate (in a circumcision), or the sacred Riyawarra tree (in
dents for such matters as kin relations and customary rights
a Nga:rra ceremony), where the leader calls out the ancestral
in the countries associated with them. A body of designs and
names of the Dhuwa moiety groups whose countries lie
ceremonies are the ancestral inheritance of each group and
along the ancestral track.
form part of its ancestral law (mardayin). Each patrilineal
group is differentiated from others by the particular constel-
The Nga:rra revelatory ceremony is an important ritual
lation of sacra associated with its country (or countries), the
in which young men are gradually admitted to participate in
specific details of its mythology, its particular sacred objects,
secret dances and see the sacred objects. The young women
and the form of its designs. The groups are linked by the
learn the dances at the public ground. Each day during the
common features described above.
ceremony, the men dance out from the men’s ground to
the public dance ground where the women represent the
The Djan’kawu mythology and associated sacra are but
Djan’kawu sisters at the Riyawarra tree. The men then chase
one of a vast array of Yolngu mythological traditions. A sec-
the women away and perform the dances of Salmon, Catfish,
ond major Dhuwa moiety tradition is that of the Wagilak
and other fish. The leader calls out the ancestral names of
sisters, whose long journey began in the south. Their story
a Dhuwa moiety group, which changes on each day of the
is associated with a cycle of ceremonies in a “desert” style,
ceremony, and all the men and women participate in the
in which wild cotton is stuck to the body in patterns and rit-
Kingfisher dance.
ual songs are accompanied by boomerangs used as clap sticks.
These daily dances represent central episodes in the my-
Yirritja moiety mythology includes several long journeys as
thology of each Dhuwa group. According to one group’s
well, such as those of Lany’tjung. Yirritja patrilineal groups,
myths, the ancestral sisters leave their dilly bags full of sacred
however, recognize many beings, creators, and ancestors, in-
objects hanging in a tree by the swamp while they go to the
cluding Shark, Honeybee, Saltwater Crocodile, Long-
mangroves to collect crabs and shellfish. The men then sneak
Necked Turtle, Whale, and Dingo. What distinguishes the
out from a secret ceremony ground, steal the dilly bags, and
Djan’kawu mythology is its association with the Nga:rra cer-
take them back to the ceremony ground, where the sisters
emony of the Dhuwa moiety.
are not admitted because they are women. From that mo-
ment on, the teller of the myth remarks, the men possessed
SEE ALSO Australian Indigenous Religions, articles on
the ancestral sacred objects and the women became the
Mythic Themes; Gadjeri; Gender and Religion, article on
“workers” at the hearth. Each group’s story, however, varies
Gender and Indigenous Australian Religions; Iconography,
in its details: in one version a fire destroyed the dilly bags,
article on Australian Aboriginal Iconography.
in another the men attempted to have intercourse with the
women but failed, in still another the sisters were joined by
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a brother. But the dances are sufficiently abstract to accom-
Berndt, Ronald M. Djanggawul. Melbourne, 1952.
modate each group’s version of the story—a necessary char-
acteristic because many Dhuwa moiety groups participate
Keen, Ian. Knowledge and Secrecy in an Aboriginal Religion. Ox-
jointly with their Yirritja moiety relatives.
ford, 1994.
On the final day of the Nga:rra ceremony, the men
RONALD M. BERNDT (1987)
dance out from the secret ground through the camp to the
IAN KEEN (2005)
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DOCTRINE
2381
DOCETISM. The term docetism is primarily used with
Although docetism is frequently associated with Gnosti-
reference to ancient Christologies where the reality of Jesus
cism—and many variations of such ideas can be found in the
Christ’s physical body was denied, or at least various of the
Nag Hammadi and similar writings—it is best understood
normal carnal properties and functions were refused in favor
as a collection of widespread tendencies that evidence the im-
of those more spiritual or ethereal. Christ had only the ap-
peratives of popular piety, the impress of pagan notions of
pearance (Greek, dokesis) of a human, and only seemed
divinity or archetypal polarities between heaven and earth,
(dokein) to be a man. Such docetists were accused by their
and the influence of the glorified Christ already envisioned
opponents of putting forward a phantasm, and obviating the
in the transfiguration and resurrection appearances. The
fundamental Christian hope in the resurrection with a birth
term docetist first appears in a letter of Serapion of Antioch
and death that were not entirely real.
as quoted in Eusebius of Caesarea’s History of the Church
(6.12.6) with reference to those who circulated the Gospel of
Beliefs in the divine origin and nature of the Christ in-
Peter, dating from around the mid-second century; but indi-
evitably put pressure on the full humanity of Jesus from the
cations of pressure in this direction are evident from virtually
earliest times. Many found it hard to accept that he would
the earliest strata of Christian belief that can be tracked his-
eat and drink in the normal way, let alone perform more
torically. There is no evidence for any single sect of “docet-
gross human functions, suffer the debilitations of old age and
ists,” and (even though Clement of Alexandria ascribes it to
disease, or emit bodily fluids. Thus, some texts ascribe special
Julius Cassianus) no founder or point of origin can be sup-
characteristics to his body, such as that he could alter his ap-
posed other than in theologically driven histories of heresy.
pearance at will, or, in the Acts of John, that his eyes never
However, docetic Christologies are useful in tracking the
closed and he left no footprints. A particular issue was his
heritage of later systems, such as the understanding about the
conception and birth, and here one can argue that docetic
advent of Jesus (that he came “without body”) assumed in
tendencies have affected mainstream Christian beliefs, where
Manichaeism; the duplication of the docetic Jesus in the
the virgin birth and associated doctrines have had enormous
Mandaean savior figure Anosh-Uthra; and possibly the
devotional power. Another problem was the reality of his
QurDanic teaching at 4:157 about the crucifixion (that Jesus
death, and again one can track a variety of strategies that have
was not killed, but rather a resemblance of him on another).
attempted to circumvent that most human of fates, such as
It has even been suggested as a source for the development
substitution of another on the cross or survival somehow of
of the triple-body of the Buddha doctrine in Maha¯ya¯na texts.
the experience to awaken in the tomb.
Essentially, docetism is a term of opprobrium utilized by
opponents to highlight the supposed correctness of their own
Certainly, the resurrection narratives, with their curious
views. Its usage reflects a refusal to accept the worth or impe-
portrayals of Jesus unrecognized by his closest associates—or
tus driving divergent Christologies, and thus the develop-
suddenly disappearing or appearing in their midst, implicate
ment of varied Christianities, some of which (such as Mar-
docetism in the basic Christian story, while the notion of
cionism or Manichaeism) placed a premium on a
“the resurrection body” enables it to coexist with imperatives
noncorporeal savior free from limitations of time or matter.
requiring his full humanity. The disciples fear that they have
The term is still found in contemporary discussions of Chris-
seen a ghost, and thus he must eat a piece of grilled fish be-
tology to indicate particular emphases, but it remains rooted
fore their eyes (Lk. 24:37–43), just as he puts Thomas’s hand
in theological or value-laden assumptions.
into his side (Jn. 20:27).
Apart from these contentious issues about the canonical
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Standard accounts of early Christian doctrine provide references
gospel narrative itself, it is clear that docetic beliefs received
to primary sources. See, for example, Alois Grillmeier, Christ
support (whatever the original intention) from phrasing in
in Christian Tradition, 2d rev. ed., vol. 1, From the Apostolic
the early hymn embedded in Philippians 2:5–11, which
Age to Chalcedon (451), translated by John Bowden (London,
states that Christ Jesus took “the form of a slave, being born
1975); J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 5th rev. ed.
in human likeness,” as this echoes as a proof-text through the
(London, 1977); and Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradi-
writings of adherents to such views. Conversely, 1 John 1:1–3
tion: A History of the Development of Doctrine, vol. 1, The
and 4:1–3, and 2 John 7 evidence anti-docetic emphasis on
Emergence of the Catholic Tradition, 100–600 A.D. (Chicago,
the flesh that has been touched. Already, by the early second
1971).
century, Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp were combating
IAIN GARDNER (2005)
those who denied the fleshly reality of Jesus’ birth, life, and
death, as well as those who claimed that his suffering was
only apparent. Marcion can be taken as indicative of the tra-
DOCTRINE. Most dictionaries record two related senses
jectory of an indigenous Christianity in Asia Minor that now
of the term doctrine: according to the first, it is the affirma-
sought divorce from its Jewish and historical origins, and for
tion of a truth; according to the second, it is a teaching. The
whom Jesus descended suddenly from the third heaven to
two are not mutually exclusive: to affirm something as true
Capernaum in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, fully
is a way of teaching it, and that which is taught is usually
formed but in appearance only.
held to be true.
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2382
DOCTRINE
The denotation of the term is thus reasonably clear.
the third century, Augustine, in De magistro (Concerning the
However, the connotations (i.e., the feelings and attitudes as-
teacher), reveals a major concern with doctrine in this sense.
sociated with it), differ according to where the emphasis is
His specific tractate on Christian doctrine, De doctrina chris-
placed in a given instance. As the statement of a truth, doc-
tiana, is not an exposition of the content of Christian doc-
trine has a philosophical cast; as a teaching, it suggests some-
trine but a discussion of the most effective way to teach it.
thing more practical. The first connotation prevails among
Indeed, the immense Augustinian corpus contains no specu-
the secular sciences. The doctrine of evolution, for example,
lative overview of Christian knowledge; his most memorable
comprises a body of knowledge that is appropriately charac-
works in the field of doctrine are devoted to specific themes
terized as a theory, but not a teaching. Philosophical dis-
that troubled the faith of Christians in his time: free will (De
course reveals more variation: according to the context, “the
libero arbitrio); divine providence (City of God); the Trinity
doctrine of the equality of man” may be taken either as a pre-
(De Trinitate). Even the great disquisitions on doctrine by
cise axiom belonging to a political theory, or as a practical
Thomas Aquinas (the Summa theologiae and Summa contra
maxim designed to guide political action.
gentiles) are in the form of questions and answers that reveal
an obvious affinity for the method of catechetical instruc-
Religious doctrines tend to be characterized by their
tion. Luther’s most important contribution to the area of
practical intent. Even when a doctrine appears in the shape
doctrine is his Longer Catechism and Short Catechism; Cal-
of an abstruse theoretical disquisition, it is usually the case
vin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is an expanded version
that any speculative interest is strictly subordinated to the
of a small handbook he originally produced to assist Chris-
spiritual, which is the dominant concern. For example, the
tians in understanding the teachings presented in Luther’s
orientation of Judaism is toward practical obedience to the
catechisms.
law of God, not speculative knowledge of his being. The doc-
trinal element in Judaism thus reveals an intimate connec-
The examples of such major Catholic and Protestant
tion with the notion of teaching. The most important figure
figures are evidence of the dominant focus of Christian doc-
is the rabbi (“teacher”); the most important word is torah
trine on spiritual instruction. The teaching focus of doctrine
(“instruction”), which refers to God’s revelation in the He-
has both a constructive and defensive thrust. It is, in part,
brew scriptures and, more specifically, to his law as presented
an attempt to refute heresies within the church and false
in the five books of the Pentateuch. In a broader sense, torah
teachings without, as many historians of doctrine have point-
encompasses the oral as well as the written law, together with
ed out. This polemical aspect offers a partial explanation for
the continuing tradition of rabbinical interpretations. The
the greater emphasis on certain themes and the neglect of
Talmud (“study”) is an authoritative compilation of exposi-
others at a particular time and place. Still, the refutation of
tions of the law and applications of it to particular circum-
error is not an end in itself, but a means through which to
stances. It has been observed that the phrase “to read the Tal-
enhance the efficacy of the soteriological aspect of the teach-
mud,” while grammatically correct, is a violation of the text’s
ing, which remains the paramount concern.
religious character, since the only appropriate response to the
Talmud is to study it.
A CATEGORY OF COMPARATIVE RELIGION. Doctrine is not
restricted to Christianity. There are examples in each of the
In Islam, the shar¯ı Eah, or study of God’s law, is of para-
world’s major religious traditions of affirmations that possess
mount importance. Here the doctrinal element is subordi-
the same kind of authority and intent: in Judaism, the She-
nated, of course, to judgments about moral and ritual behav-
maE (“Hear!”) with its admonition “Hear, O Israel! The Lord
ior. The term kala¯m, however, indicates a kind of thought
is our God, the Lord is one”; in Islam, the testimony of the
very close to that indicated by the English terms doctrine and
Shaha¯dah that “there is no god but God, and Muh:ammad
theology. Kala¯m literally means “word” or “speech,” and the
is his prophet.” Examples of doctrine central to other reli-
QurDa¯n is deemed kala¯m Alla¯h, the word of God. In the
gions include the doctrine of the permanent self, or a¯tman,
course of time, kala¯m has come to mean both a single truth
in Hinduism; the doctrine of nonself, or ana¯tman (Pali, anat-
and a system of truth (as is the case with the English term
ta), in Buddhism; the Confucian doctrine of “humanity” or
doctrine), and has played an important role in the history of
jen; the Daoist doctrine of the efficacy of nonaction, or wu-
the Islamic tradition.
wei; and the Shinto belief in kami, the presence of sacred
Christianity uses the terms doctrine and dogma to desig-
power in things.
nate the teachings through which salvation is offered to all
It is even more significant that each religion makes use
those who hear and respond. An early example of such a doc-
of words that, though not exact synonyms for the terms doc-
trinal affirmation is Paul’s claim that Christians have been
trine or teaching, are very close to them in meaning: torah
“reconciled to God by the death of his Son” and that “much
(“instruction”) in Judaism and kala¯m (“doctrine, theology”)
more, being reconciled, [they are] saved by his life” (Rom.
in Islam; dar´sana (“school, viewpoint”) in Hinduism; dhar-
5:10).
ma (“teaching”) in Buddhism; chiao (“teaching”) in Confu-
The development of Christian doctrine is closely allied
cianism and Daoism; Butsudo (“way of the Buddha”) in Japa-
with the task of instructing catechumens who are being pre-
nese Buddhism; kami no michi (“way of the Japanese
pared to receive the sacrament or rite of baptism. As late as
divinities”) in Shinto¯.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOCTRINE
2383
The prevalence of a doctrinal factor in all of the world’s
ed: (1) it is absolute nonexistence; (2) it is a positive state of
major religions suggests that it ought to be treated as a gener-
bliss and tranquillity; (3) it is a state that can only be indicat-
al category in the academic study of religion. This has, at
ed in terms of what it is not; and (4) it is something ineffable,
times, not been recognized with sufficient clarity because of
incapable of being rendered in either positive or negative
a romantic bias that exalts feeling over thought and deems
terms. Depending upon the Buddhist text or school that is
“doctrine” an alien intrusion into a religious form of exis-
consulted, each of these options receives some sort of sup-
tence that is essentially nonrational in character.
port. On what basis is one to choose among them?
However, the notion of a dichotomy between thought
The scholar-observer who, as a speculative venture, ex-
and feeling in the religious life is not tenable. Feelings, per-
amines the doctrine from without, will probably make a
ceptions, and emotions require form and structure to be-
choice based on historical grounds (which option is closest
come the content of human experience. By the same token,
to the original teachings of the historical Buddha?) or on sys-
mysticism and rationalism reveal an intimate affinity, since
tematic considerations (which is most consistent with Bud-
most mystics become known to us through the discursive ac-
dhist thought as a totality?). On the other hand, a Buddhist
counts of their ineffable experiences that they produce. Even
will judge them according to their efficacy as religious vehi-
the symbol systems of nonliterate societies have a doctrinal
cles. From this perspective, it may appear that each option
or rational aspect that gives religious shape to communal life.
makes a contribution according to changes in circumstance
as the Buddhist seeker proceeds along his religious path.
Doctrine, then, is a category in the comparative study
of religion that belongs with ritual, sacrament, mystical expe-
The notion of nirva¯n:a as extinction is as austere and for-
rience, and other factors whose importance has been recog-
bidding to the average member of a Buddhist society as it
nized for some time. Like them, doctrine is designed to focus
is to a nonbeliever. Still, it may be effective as a means to sep-
the mind, emotions, and will on the religious goal that the
arate the seeker from some of the distorted perceptions of
community has accepted as its ultimate concern.
“existence” that are one cause of his anguish. In different cir-
cumstances, the prospect of an end that includes bliss and
Buddhism. Buddhism provides a striking example of
tranquillity may be more therapeutic; at other times, the way
the role played by doctrine in the realization of a religious
of negations, or an even more intricate path of “spiritual ag-
goal. According to the Buddhist dharma, or teaching, the ex-
nosticism,” eschewing both negations and affirmations, may
istence of man is determined by limitless craving (tr:s:n:a¯) that
be efficacious. While man remains in a state of bondage to
produces anguish (duh:kha) and a fundamental distortion of
his anguish and illusions, a definitive description of his final
one’s thoughts and feelings about the world. The teaching
end is of little value. The authority of the doctrine of nirva¯n:a
offers release from the tyranny of those disordered percep-
lies rather in the therapeutic role it plays in the attainment
tions and a path of deliverance from the endless cycle of birth
of a goal that will only be truly known in the process of its
and rebirth (sam:sa¯ra) to which man’s obsessive desires have
concrete realization. When this takes place, it will become
bound him. The teaching consists of training in the control
apparent that the “goal” was in the seeker’s possession all the
of thoughts and feelings, conscientious ethical behavior, and
time. The doctrine has led him on an arduous journey to a
an intensive discipline of inner concentration and medita-
destination that, once reached, coincides with the place of
tion. The doctrinal component supports the posture of mind
departure that he never left.
and heart that is to be assumed throughout the various stages
of the training.
THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINAL FORM. At the present time,
doctrine is frequently associated with systematic theology.
However, in his present state of illusion, the seeker is
For over a thousand years of church history, theology had
never able to discern the true difference between the theoreti-
diverse meanings, some of which were remote from those of
cal and the practical. He does not know what is a mere pallia-
Christian doctrine. Plato used the word theology to describe
tive and what truly heals. In this state he perceives Buddhist
the stories about the gods told by poets; Aristotle used it to
teachings as paradoxical: metaphysical reticence is advised in
describe his doctrine of immutable substance. Augustine dis-
meditations that seem endlessly speculative; simplicity is ad-
tinguished three senses: the theology of the poets, a civic the-
vocated in arcane terms. These paradoxes are themselves
ology based on public ceremonies, and a theology of nature.
symptoms of the ignorance of the seeker, who does not even
Sometimes the term was used in a narrow sense by Christian
know what constitutes the simplicity and healing that he
thinkers, who restricted it to the doctrine of God.
seeks. The doctrine or teaching leads him along a path that,
Muslim theologians such as al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (1058–1111
by both wakening and frustrating his speculative curiosity,
CE)
participated in a golden age of theology devoted to the task
brings about a transformation of thought and feeling that is
of reconciling Greek philosophy with the faith of Islam.
the prerequisite for the authentic liberation that is his goal.
During the same period, Maimonides (Mosheh ben Mai-
The doctrine of nirva¯n:a (Pali, nibba¯na) is a striking case
mon, 1135/8–1204) worked on the reconciliation of Greek
in point. The term literally means “blowing out,” as when
thought with Judaism; Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) un-
a candle is extinguished. It is used to indicate the final end
dertook a similar task in respect to the Roman Catholic faith.
of man. But what is it? Four possibilities have been suggest-
Even more important is the fact that during the twelfth 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
2384
DOCTRINE
thirteenth centuries revisions in medieval education were
religious and secular disciplines, are at present showing a re-
made that, among other things, introduced the notion of
newed respect.
doctrinal theology as an academic discipline with a status
similar to that of the secular subjects taught in the university
SEE ALSO Creeds; Dharma; Dogma; Jiao; Kala¯m; Theology;
curriculum.
Torah; Truth.
Hugh of Saint-Victor (c. 1096–1141) developed an ap-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
proach to theology that subsumed the two senses of the term
The most up-to-date extended history of doctrine from a Protes-
theory (i.e., both intellectual endeavor and contemplation of
tant perspective is Jaroslav Pelikan’s The Christian Tradition:
God) under the complex notion of “speculation,” which had
A History of the Development of Doctrine, 4 vols. (Chicago,
previously been applied, for the most part, to religious medi-
1971–1984). The work provides many revaluations of con-
tation. Hugh characterized the method of theology as a kind
ventional historical judgments and includes an extensive bib-
of thought that is theoretical, both in the rational sense of
liographical apparatus of primary and secondary sources.
Nineteenth-century studies like Adolf von Harnack’s History
submission to the norms of logic and in the contemplative
of Dogma, 7 vols. translated by Neil Buchanan (London,
sense of religious aspiration and vision. However, the delicate
1895–1900), and Reinhold Seeberg’s Text-Book of the Histo-
balance that he proposed is the prescription of an ideal and
ry of Doctrines, 2 vols. translated by Charles E. Hay (Grand
not what most works of systematic theology are, in fact, like.
Rapids, Mich., 1952), among others, remain indispensable
Theologians readily acknowledge that the norms of rational
in spite of inadequacies of interpretation corrected by later
adequacy as a rule take precedence over a devotional focus.
historians. Bernhard Lohse’s A Short History of Christian Doc-
They deem it sufficient that theology provides rational sup-
trine: From the First Century to the Present, translated by F.
port for the spiritual life without functioning as a direct ex-
Ernest Stoeffer (Philadelphia, 1978) is a brief summary that
pression of it.
is also a helpful essay of interpretation; George A. Lindbeck’s
The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal
The institutionalization of systematic and doctrinal the-
Age (Philadelphia, 1984) offers an approach to doctrine that
ology in universities and seminaries has guaranteed for it a
makes use of the categories developed by philosophers of lan-
place of continuing importance in the history of the church
guage. The Dictionnaire de theologie catholique, 15 vols., ed-
from the time of the Renaissance to the present. However,
ited by Jean-Michel-Alfred Vacant et al. (Paris, 1903–1950),
is important for an understanding of doctrine from a Catho-
it is evident that in the course of its long history the church
lic perspective. Also useful is the Encyclopedia of Theology:
has also made use of other forms (e.g., epistles, catechisms,
The Concise Sacramentum Mundi, edited by Karl Rahner
creeds, tractates, and biblical commentaries) to express the
(New York, 1975). “Dogma,” an essay by Rahner in this en-
concerns of doctrine. At the present time, there is some evi-
cyclopedia, together with his “Considerations on the Devel-
dence that the essay is replacing the systematic tome as the
opment of Dogma,” in his Theological Investigations, translat-
preferred means for doctrinal discussions among both Cath-
ed by Kevin Smyth, vol. 4 (Baltimore, 1966), pp. 3–35, offer
olic and Protestant thinkers.
a sophisticated statement of the standard approach to Catho-
lic doctrine and dogma. An informative account of the emer-
The fourth book of Augustine’s Christian Doctrine of-
gence of doctrinal theology as an academic discipline is G.
fers comments about doctrine that are still relevant to the
R. Evans’s Old Arts and New Technology: The Beginnings of
contemporary scene. Augustine suggests that rhetoric is as
Theology as an Academic Discipline (Oxford, 1980).
important as logic in the communication of doctrine,
The following works offer useful discussions of rhetorical and lit-
though, like Plato in his attack on the Sophists, he is aware
erary genres other than systematic theology appropriate for
that the eloquence of rhetoric may deceive rather than en-
contemporary statements of doctrine: Giles B. Gunn, The
lighten. Augustine accepts, however, Aristotle’s defense of
Interpretation of Otherness: Literature, Religion, and the Amer-
the notion of a viable rhetoric that deals with the distinction
ican Imagination (Oxford, 1979); David Tracy, The Analogi-
between probative arguments and those based on a misuse
cal Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Plural-
of eloquence analogous to a formal logic that distinguishes
ism (New York, 1981); Nathan A. Scott, Jr., ed., The New
Orpheus: Essays toward a Christian Poetic (New York, 1964).
between valid and invalid syllogisms. Augustine makes use
of the rhetorical tradition derived from Aristotle to explore
The following are useful studies of the role of doctrine in religions
the capacity of Christian doctrine to teach, delight, and per-
other than Christianity. For Judaism: Judah Goldin, ed. The
Living Talmud (New York, 1957); Jacob Neusner, The Way
suade. He recommends a subdued style for the task of careful
of Torah: An Introduction to Judaism (Belmont, Calif., 1970);
instruction, a moderate style for condemnation and praise,
Leo Trepp, Judaism: Development and Life (Belmont, Calif.,
and a grand style, forceful with the emotions and the spirit,
1982). For Islam: Charles J. Adams, “The Islamic Religious
for those moments when the need emerges to move the read-
Tradition,” in Religion and Man, edited by W. Richard
er to action.
Comstock (New York, 1971), pp. 553–617; Fazlur Rahman,
Islam, 2d ed. (Chicago, 1979). For the religions of India:
Contemporary experiments in the communication of
Robert Baird, “Indian Religious Traditions,” in Religion and
doctrine through literature and other media are thus not un-
Man (cited above), pp. 115–250; Ninian Smart, Doctrine
precedented; they are, in fact, the continuation of a classical
and Argument in Indian Philosophy (London, 1964). For
tradition of rhetoric toward which many thinkers, in both
Buddhism: Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and Devel-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DO
¯ GEN
2385
opment (Oxford, 1951); Melford E. Spiro, Buddhism and So-
of Kyoto, where in 1241 he was joined by a group of Zen
ciety: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes, 2d ed.,
practitioners known as the Darumashu¯ (the lineage of Bod-
exp. (Berkeley, 1982). For the religions of China: Tu Wei-
hidharma). In 1243 Do¯gen secured the patronage of a pow-
ming, Humanity and Self-Cultivation: Essays in Confucian
erful warrior family, the Hatano, and relocated his Zen com-
Thought (Berkeley, 1978); C. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese
munity to the Hatano estates in Echizen province where the
Society (Berkeley, 1961). For the religions of Japan: Alfred
following year he founded the Daibutsuji Monastery (re-
Bloom, “Far Eastern Religious Traditions,” in Religion and
named Eiheiji in 1246). In 1253 Do¯gen became deathly ill
Man (cited above), pp. 254–396; H. Byron Earhart, Japanese
Religion: Unity and Diversity, 3d rev. ed. (Belmont, Calif.,
and returned to Kyoto for medical treatment, which proved
1982). For the religions of preliterate societies: W. Richard
ineffective. Today, Eiheiji is one of the two headquarter tem-
Comstock, The Study of Religion and Primitive Religions
ples, along with So¯jiji, of the So¯to¯ Zen school, one of Japan’s
(New York, 1972); Mary Douglas, Natural Symbols: Explora-
largest religious denominations. In 1878 the Meiji emperor
tions in Cosmology (New York, 1970); Clifford Geertz, “Reli-
(Mutsuhito, 1852–1912) awarded Do¯gen with the posthu-
gion as a Cultural System,” in Anthropological Approaches to
mous name Jo¯yo¯ Daishi.
the Study of Religion, edited by Michael Banton (New York,
1966), pp. 1–46.
Do¯gen was an extremely prolific author who wrote es-
says, sermons, and poetry, both in literary Chinese and in
W. RICHARD COMSTOCK (1987)
Japanese. His early short compositions—such as Bendo¯wa (A
talk on practicing Buddhism, 1231), Fukan zazen gi (Univer-
sal exhortation to practice sitting Zen, 1233), and the Chi-
DO
¯ GEN (1200–1253), more fully, Eihei Do¯gen (or
nese-language Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ (True dharma eye collection,
Buppo¯ Do¯gen, but never Do¯gen Kigen or Kigen Do¯gen as
1235, a compilation of 301 ko¯an, or topics for Zen study)—
has been mistakenly suggested), was the founding abbot of
comprise a concise introduction to key Zen doctrines and
the Eiheiji Zen monastery. Since the late nineteenth century,
methods of practicing Zen meditation.
he has been officially designated, along with Keizan Jo¯kin
(1264–1325), as one of the two founding patriarchs of the
In midcareer, and especially after being joined by mem-
Japanese So¯to¯ Zen school, and, most recently, he has been
bers of the Darumashu¯, Do¯gen wrote a series of books in Jap-
widely celebrated as one of Japan’s most creative and original
anese also collectively titled Sho¯bo¯genzo¯. While this Japanese-
religious thinkers, whose writings and novel use of language
language Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ apparently never reached the final form
seem to anticipate many modern philosophical concerns.
intended by Do¯gen, he nonetheless completed at least three
compilations: an initial draft in sixty books, a revised draft
Do¯gen lived at a time of political and religious unrest.
in seventy-five books, and a new draft in twelve books. After
Shortly before his birth, the Buddhist monastic centers in the
Do¯gen’s death, books from these three compilations were
ancient capital of Nara had been destroyed by warfare in
mixed together (sometimes with unrelated compositions) to
1185, Japan’s first military government (shogunate) had
produce many other separate editions, each independent
been established in Kamakura in 1180, and the royal court
from the others. In 1796, monks at Eiheiji began work on
in Kyoto in 1194 had banned the establishment of indepen-
publishing an officially sanctioned “Head Monastery” (hon-
dent Zen temples, which were just beginning to appear. Dur-
zan) edition of the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯. It was revised in 1906 to in-
ing the year of Do¯gen’s birth (1200), however, the fortunes
clude ninety-five books, arranged in a rough chronological
of the new Zen movement changed when the shogunate
order that bares no relationship to the order of books in any
began to support the pioneer Japanese Zen teacher Eisai
of the three compilations by Do¯gen. Each individual book
(1141–1215).
in the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ typically is organized around a series of
Do¯gen entered monastic life as a youth. From 1212 to
quotations from Chinese ko¯an or Chinese translations of the
1217 he studied the mixed exoteric-esoteric (kenmitsu) Bud-
Buddhist scriptures. Do¯gen then comments in Japanese on
dhism of the Japanese Tendai tradition on Mount Hiei.
each of these passages to show how they should be read and
From 1217 to 1225 he studied Zen Buddhism under
understood as expressions of religious truth. Together the
Myo¯zen (1184–1225), who was Eisai’s successor as abbot of
books in the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ comment on approximately 512
Kenninji temple in Kyoto. In 1223 Do¯gen accompanied his
ko¯an, thereby providing an encyclopedic overview of Zen
teacher Myo¯zen on a pilgrimage to China. In 1225, after
(and general Buddhist) teachings.
Myo¯zen died, Do¯gen became the disciple of the Chinese
In later life, Do¯gen seems to have concentrated his liter-
monk Rujing (1163–1227), who was then abbot of the
ary efforts on composing works in Chinese. After his death,
major state monastery on Mount Tiantong (i.e., Mount Tai-
his disciples compiled these Chinese-language compositions
bei in Zhejiang province). Two years later, in 1227, Do¯gen
into the Eihei ko¯roku (Extensive recorded sayings of Eihei
inherited Rujing’s Caodong Chan (Japanese, So¯to¯ Zen) lin-
Do¯gen, ten fascicles), which contains sermons, lectures, and
eage and returned to Japan.
verse organized into sections from Ko¯sho¯ji, Daibutsuji, and
Once back in Japan, Do¯gen initially resided at Kenninji.
Eiheiji. It contains the only writings by Do¯gen that can be
In 1230 he established a new Zen community (officially des-
positively dated to his mature years between 1247 and 1252.
ignated the Ko¯sho¯ji monastery in 1236) in Fukakusa outside
In all, it includes Do¯gen’s comments on approximately 298
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2386
DO
¯ GEN
ko¯an. Finally, in 1667, monks at Eiheiji compiled a collec-
nal Japanese philosopher whose ideas and methods of analy-
tion of Do¯gen’s independent essays on monastic procedures,
sis presented innovative responses to ontological, phenome-
which they published as Eihei shingi (Eihei Do¯gen’s monastic
nological, and linguistic issues posed by Western thinkers
regulations). The proper practice of Buddhist monasticism
such as Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), Jean-Paul Sartre
was of major concern to Do¯gen, and many of the books in
(1905–1980), and others. Do¯gen’s notion of time as discon-
the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ also address this topic.
tinuous moments (uji), in particular, has attracted much at-
tention. Just as important, but less discussed in Western-
Do¯gen died in almost complete obscurity, known only
language scholarship, is Do¯gen’s innovative methods of read-
to his immediate disciples. The So¯to¯ Zen community he
ing Chinese-language texts. In a manner with many parallels
founded, however, prospered. At first it expanded slowly but
to postmodern literary deconstructionism, Do¯gen’s Japa-
steadily, and then it grew rapidly under the leadership of
nese-language comments frequently dissect and rearrange in-
monks affiliated with the So¯jiji monastery, which had been
dividual words or phrases from Chinese-language passages in
founded by a fourth-generation dharma heir of Do¯gen
ways that defy the ordinary rules of grammar to reveal hid-
named Keizan Jo¯kin. During this period of expansion,
den layers of significance. Today Do¯gen’s importance to phi-
manuscript copies of Do¯gen’s prodigious oeuvre were stored
losophy is widely recognized, not just in Japan, but through-
in the head monasteries of each major temple network,
out the world.
where they served more as symbols of religious authority and
legitimacy than as sources for studying Zen Buddhism.
There have been sporadic attempts to translate Do¯gen’s
writings, especially his Japanese-language Sho¯bo¯genzo¯, into
This situation changed during the Tokugawa period
Western languages. None of the results has been wholly satis-
(1600–1868) as a result of government policies that simulta-
factory, however, with paraphrased interpretation frequently
neously promoted Buddhist scholasticism and reorganized
substituting for the complex linguistic gymnastics of Do¯gen’s
many So¯to¯ temple networks. At that time, reform-minded
original prose. Moreover, any translation must confront the
So¯to¯ monks, such as Manzan Do¯haku (1636–1714), who
thorny problem of how to reconcile the existence of at least
sought to challenge temple policies, cited Do¯gen’s writings
three separate versions of Do¯gen: the thirteenth-century Zen
to support their positions and began publishing excerpts
teacher, the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century So¯to¯ sectari-
from his Japanese-language Sho¯bo¯genzo¯. So¯to¯ authorities re-
an patriarch, and the twentieth-century Western (or world)
acted by asking the government to ban its publication, which
philosopher. Do¯gen has become too big to be defined by any
was done from 1722 to 1796. With the subsequent publica-
one audience.
tion of the Head Monastery edition of the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯, how-
ever, Do¯gen eventually came to be identified with doctrinal
SEE ALSO Eisai; Keizan; Zen.
orthodoxy for the So¯to¯ Zen school. Influential So¯to¯ monks,
especially Menzan Zuiho¯ (1683–1769) and Nishiari Boku-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
san (1822–1910), interpreted Do¯gen as advocating a religion
Abe, Masao. A Study of Do¯gen: His Philosophy and Religion. Edited
of “just sitting” (shikan taza), in which the practice of sitting
by Steven Heine. Albany, N.Y., 1992.
Zen (zazen) is itself the complete authentication of awaken-
Bielefeldt, Carl. Do¯gen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation. Berkeley,
ing (shusho¯ ichinyo). Meditation on ko¯an and striving to see
1988.
nature (kensho¯; i.e., attain satori) are to be rejected. In this
Bodiford, William M. So¯to¯ Zen in Medieval Japan. Honolulu,
way, Do¯gen’s Zen came to be contrasted to other forms of
1994.
Zen Buddhism, now usually associated only with Japanese
Faure, Bernard. “The Daruma-shu¯, Do¯gen, and So¯to¯ Zen.”
Rinzai or O
¯ baku Zen lineages. More recently, some So¯to¯
Monumenta Nipponica 42, no. 1 (1987): 25–55.
scholars have advocated a “Critical Buddhism” (hihan
Bukkyo¯), which portrays Do¯gen’s teachings as standing in
Gunn, Robert J. Journeys into Emptiness: Do¯gen, Merton, Jung, and
opposition to many Buddhist doctrinal norms, such as origi-
the Quest for Transformation. New York, 2000.
nal awakening (hongaku), that are widely accepted in East
He, Yansheng. Do¯gen to Chu¯goku Zen shiso¯ (Do¯gen and Chinese
Asia.
Zen doctrines). Kyoto, 2000.
Heine, Steven. Existential and Ontological Dimensions of Time in
In 1868 the Tokugawa regime was overthrown, and
Heidegger and Do¯gen. Albany, N.Y., 1985.
Japan entered a period of rapid transformation into a mod-
Hubbard, Jamie, and Paul L. Swanson, eds. Pruning the Bodhi
ern political state, with an industrialized economy fully en-
Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Honolulu, 1997.
gaged in the world. In 1906 the Head Monastery edition of
the Sho¯bo¯genzo¯ was published for the first time in a modern
Ishii Shu¯do¯. Do¯gen Zen no seiritsu shiteki kenkyu¯ (Historical re-
searches in the development of Do¯gen’s Zen). Tokyo, 1991.
typeset edition readily accessible to a mass audience. It soon
came to the attention of Japanese intellectuals who had not
Kagamishima Genryu¯. Do¯gen Zenji to sono shu¯hen (Zen teacher
been educated in Buddhist doctrines but trained in Western
Do¯gen and his surroundings). Tokyo, 1985.
philosophy. Leading scholars and educators, such as Watsuji
LaFleur, William R., ed. Do¯gen Studies. Honolulu, 1985.
Tetsuro¯ (1889–1960), Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962), and
Nakaseko Sho¯do¯. Do¯gen Zenji den kenkyu¯ (Research in the biogra-
Akiyama Hanji (1893–1980), discovered in Do¯gen an origi-
phy of Zen teacher Do¯gen). 2 vols. Tokyo, 1979–1997.
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
DOGMA
2387
Shaner, David E. The Bodymind Experience in Japanese Buddhism:
church is present and closed in the doctrinal decisions of the
A Phenomenological Perspective of Ku¯kai and Do¯gen. Albany,
first seven ecumenical councils (325–787), whose formula-
N.Y., 1985.
tions are considered the embodiment of dogma and the sum-
Stambaugh, Joan. Impermanence Is Buddha-nature: Do¯gen’s Un-
mary of the teachings of scripture. The further dogmatic de-
derstanding of Temporality. Honolulu, 1990.
velopment of the Latin church is rejected. Dogma in the
WILLIAM M. BODIFORD (2005)
Orthodox churches has not so much a doctrinaire-
intellectual function as it does a doxological and life-defining
one.
DOGMA. Dogma, in the strictest sense, whether em-
The relationship to dogma of the churches and commu-
bodied in the sacred scripture of the Old and New Testa-
nities produced by the Reformation is defined by the theolo-
ments or in tradition, is understood by the Roman Catholic
gy of the reformers, which, on the one hand, does not dis-
Church to be a truth revealed by God (directly and formally),
pute that the church may have to make obligatory statements
which is presented by the church for belief, as revealed by
and that the truth of scripture may only be able to be revealed
God, either through a solemn decision of the extraordinary
through a painstaking process. It therefore accepts at least the
magisterium (pope or council) or through the ordinary and
Trinitarian-Christological dogma of the old church as an ap-
general magisterium of the church (episcopacy). It is to be
propriate expression of the matter of the gospel. But, on the
accepted by the same faith that is due to the divine word it-
other hand, through the principle of sola scriptura (over
self (fides divina) or to the church’s tradition (fides catholica).
against an association of scripture and tradition), the theolo-
gy of the reformers takes up a different position, scripture
This magisterial definition, as it was given by the First
being for them no longer merely the source and norm of all
Vatican Council, has the following historical antecedents: (1)
Christian speech, teaching, and preaching, but, rather, the
the ancient philosophical (Platonic-Stoic) use of the word
single final authority. All confessions and dogmas are to be
dogma to designate that which seems right to all, as opinion
measured against it. In this sense, dogmatic statements (even
or teaching, as foundation or decision, as decree or edict, as
the Trinitarian-Christological) are only secondarily binding
a rational judgment that is identical to a moral decision, or
for Protestant theology, and then only when it has been dem-
as a decree of a legitimate authority; (2) the New Testament
onstrated whether and to what extent dogmas open up an
use, in which Old Testament law is said to be the dogma of
access to direct biblical instruction, where it is presupposed
God and the decisions of the apostolic council are designated
that scripture, on the basis of its transparency, is its own in-
as dogmas in Acts 16:4; and (3) the patristic and medieval
terpreter. In spite of all confessional-theological discussions
transmission of both these strains, the dogma of God in dis-
tinction to the teachings of human beings or of the philoso-
among the churches and communities growing out of the
phers. The close connection between the “dogmas of the
Reformation, and in spite of the changing theological posi-
Lord” and the “fidelity to the church” is already asserted in
tions and the change in the functional definition of dogma
the regula fidei, the canon of truth. Finally, synodal decrees
connected with them (from orthodoxy through rationalism
are also considered dogmas in opposition to the dogmas of
and Pietism and from the purely ethical and practical inter-
the heretics. The content referred to by dogma also occurs
pretation to dialectical and existential theology), they agree
in the patristic and scholastic tradition under equivalent des-
both negatively and positively. Negatively, they agree in their
ignations, for instance, professio and confessio, or (Catholic)
rejection of the Roman Catholic understanding of dogma
truth in general; fides, the correct doctrine handed down by
and its function for faith and church as “doctrinal law.” Posi-
the church; and, in Thomas Aquinas, over against the con-
tively, they agree in the conviction that God’s word must not
cept of dogma, the narrowed concept of articulus fidei. What
only be existentially recognized but also known as objective
led to an emphasis on the formal authority of dogma was,
truth and reproduced in statements and doctrinal teachings,
finally, the emphasis on the claim to the limitless autonomy
however these may then be interpreted and qualified with re-
of human reason in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
gard to their binding character.
The definition of the concept and function of dogma
In the question of the development of dogma, Roman
in the Eastern Orthodox churches, in spite of the multiplicity
Catholic theology must proceed from the fact that the
and differing historical development of these churches, can
church defines statements as revealed by God if they satisfy
begin with their formal unity in terms of doctrine, law, and
one of the following conditions: (1) Even if previously stated,
liturgy. Faith is based upon the dogmas that have been trans-
they were not always expressly defined or bindingly taught
mitted in part through scripture and in part through the oral
as revealed. (2) They articulate the express contents of state-
paradosis (“handing down” of tradition) of the apostles and
ments of the earlier tradition in very different or newly devel-
have then been interpreted by the councils and church fa-
oped conceptual terms (by defending the always known
thers. Because and to the extent that the church speaks with
meaning of the revealed statement more expressly against he-
the authority of the Holy Spirit, it is infallible in the same
retical misinterpretations, by setting off more clearly individ-
way as scripture. The believing acceptance of the revealed
ual aspects of these statements, or by placing these aspects
truth of faith is necessary for salvation. The dogma of the
in a dialectical interplay of faith and reason or in a more ex-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2388
DOGMA
plicit relationship to other truths of faith and of reason). (3)
The problem is stated differently in Protestant theology,
They refer to statements in the tradition that may not be im-
because there is in evangelical theology no faith statement of
mediately equivalent to them or explicitly capable of being
the church that could be an absolutely binding norm for the
traced back to the apostles or that cannot even be supposed
private understanding of scripture, and thus there can actual-
with historical probability to have been once previously avail-
ly be, from the start, only a history of theology, not really
able. Thus not only theology but also revelation (to the ex-
a history of dogma and faith after scripture. Behind this
tent that it is only present in proclamation, acceptance of
problem is, as its natural presupposition, the problem of the
faith, and practice) has a history, a “development,” and a
historicity of the (ever the same) recognition of truth in gen-
“progress” after Christ, even if this history is essentially dif-
eral and that of reconciling a present continuing immediacy
ferent from the development of revelation before Christ.
of the divine revelation in the church (which is necessarily
The problem of the development of dogma and its solu-
historically new) with the relegation of the present proclama-
tion consists in the task of demonstrating the fundamental
tion back to an earlier historical past, that is to say, back to
possibility and the actuality, in individual cases, of the identi-
the apostolic period.
ty of the later, “developed” matter of faith with the apostolic
The first three centuries of Christianity and perhaps the
matter given in Christ. The difficulty of the problem lies in
following one and a half centuries, which saw the develop-
the fact that, according to church doctrine, the entire “pub-
ment and culmination of the first three, present a history of
lic” revelation, entrusted to the church and its teaching office
Christian belief and dogma in a confrontational struggle
and involving an obligation of belief, was closed with the
with the simultaneous assimilation of a non-Christian spiri-
death of the apostles, that is, that the church can only contin-
tual and cultural (Hellenistic-Roman) environment. Howev-
ue to bear witness to what it has heard about Christ in the
er, the second long period after the waning of antiquity, that
apostolic generation and has recognized as belonging to the
is, from the early Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, was a
deposit of faith. Therefore an additional, later, ecclesial reve-
time of unfolding and differentiation of the substance of
lation is not possible, does not expand the old Christian reve-
faith from within its own center outward into even more sys-
lation, and cannot undergo an epigenetic transformation in
tematized distinctions that, because of their one point of de-
the sense that might be implied by modernism. Because the
parture from within, could be considered without really
solution to the problem (formally speaking and in general)
major confrontation with external contradictions and as a
must be sought in the fact that a new dogma is contained
more or less homogeneous abstraction presupposed by all to
“implicitly” in an old dogma or in the whole of what was pre-
be self-evident. (This was so in spite of the continuing influ-
viously believed, the problem and its solution may be formu-
ence of Platonism and the medieval reception of Aristotelian-
lated in the following way.
ism, and in spite of the crises that occurred with the split be-
1. What is the status of implicitness and what is the process
tween the Eastern and Western churches and with the
of explication such that these can be recognized as factu-
Reformation of the sixteenth century.) This was, therefore,
ally given in the development of dogma? That is, how
a time for summae and simultaneously and for the same rea-
can the identity of faith, as expressed in an actual history
sons a time (because the whole was taken for granted) when
of faith, and revelation after Christ be explained?
one threw oneself into theological questions with enormous
2. What implications are sufficient so that the explicated
passion and almost became lost in them. It was a time the
can be considered as revealed by God (and not simply
effects of which are reflected in the great catechisms of the
taught by the church with infallible authority)? Such an
modern period. It was a time in which one could take for
implication is obviously to be applied, however, in such
granted long papal encyclicals over relatively small questions
a way that it can be said not only that the new dogma,
of detail of the Christian faith; in which the magisterium re-
as derivative in its truth and certainty upon the original
acted carefully and quickly to real or imagined attacks against
revelation, could thus legitimately appeal to the witness
individual doctrines of this detailed system; and in which one
of God (purely objective implication) but also that it,
had the impression that the entire system was clear and could
of itself (even if in a different form), has always been
hardly be further developed, except in the case of individual
witnessed to by God’s self and has always been believed
questions, so that the major work of theology had to be
by the church (subjective implication).
turned backward upon its own history.
The problem, precisely posed, has only been clearly present
Today (after a long preparation since the Enlighten-
since the nineteenth century, that is, since there has existed
ment, from which time also dates the defensive dialogue with
a history of dogma that not only (as still in the post-
liberalism and modernism) we have doubtless entered upon
Tridentine period) doxographically collects the proofs from
a new, third phase in the history of faith and thus also in the
an earlier time for the doctrine of the present and thereby
history of dogma and of theology. Today it is no longer a
considers these proofs to be only different from the contem-
question of an ever more detailed unfolding of the basic sub-
porary doctrine in their external form but also sees that the
stance of faith within a homogeneous environment that has
recognition of revelational truth has a real history after
a common horizon of understanding with the church. It is
Christ.
much more a question of winning a new understanding (nat-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOGMA
2389
urally preserving the substance of faith which has been hand-
from a Catholic point of view can be found in Georg Söll’s
ed down) of the one totality of faith in a non-Christian envi-
“Dogma und Dogmenentwicklung,” in Handbuch der Dog-
ronment, in a new epoch of a global world civilization in
mengeschichte, vol. 1, fasc. 5 (Freiburg, 1971), which includes
which world cultures that were never Christian have ap-
an extensive bibliography. From the Protestant perspective
peared. It is also a question of a history of faith and dogma
the following articles in Theologische Realenzyklopädie, vol. 9
in a new diaspora, with confrontation and assimilation to be
(Berlin and New York, 1982), pp. 26–125, should be con-
sulted: “Dogma” by Ulrich Wickert and Carl H. Ratschow,
simultaneously carried out in a radically new way that in-
“Dogmatik” by Gerhard Sauter, Anders Jeffner, Alasdair
cludes even the most divergent belief, that of atheism and the
Heron, and Frederick Herzog, and “Dogmengesch-
doubt as to whether religion in general will survive. To that
ichtsschreibung” by Wolf-Dieter Hauschild. See also Karl-
extent, there is a formal similarity between the period of the
mann Beyschlag’s Grundriss der Dogmengeschichte, vol. 1
history of dogma now beginning and the first period, even
(Darmstadt, 1982), pp. 1–54.
if the matter and the tasks of the first and the third periods
The relationship between kerygma and dogma (also in conversa-
are radically different.
tion with Protestant positions) is analyzed in Karl Rahner
The history of faith and dogma will probably develop
and Karl Lehmann’s Kerygma and Dogma (New York, 1969),
in the future not in the style of the second period, as an evo-
Walter Kasper’s Dogma unter dem Wort Gottes (Mainz,
lutionary unfolding and systematizing differentiation of the
1965), and Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger’s Offenbarung
basic substance of faith, but rather as the transposition of this
und Überlieferung (Freiburg, 1965).
lasting faith into new and pluralistic horizons of understand-
The problem of the development of dogma from a theological-
ing. Because of the incommensurable and not synthesizable
systematic perspective is treated by Karl Rahner and Karl
pluralism of contemporary and future horizons of under-
Lehmann in Das Problem der Vermittlung, “Mysterium Salu-
standing, transpositions of faith will have to occur by means
tis,” vol. 1 (Einsiedeln, 1965), pp. 727–787; by Karl Rahner
of a plurality of theologies that, despite the necessary readi-
in “The Development of Dogma,” in Theological Investiga-
ness for dialogue of these theologies among themselves, will
tions, vol. 1 (New York, 1961), pp. 39–77; by Karl Rahner
not be able to be synthesized adequately for the preservation
in “Considerations on the Development of Dogma,” in
and rediscovery of the one faith.
Theological Investigations, vol. 4 (New York, 1966),
pp. 3–35; by Joseph Ratzinger in Das Problem der Dog-
The task of the magisterium in this incipient period
mengeschichte in der Sicht der katholischen Theologie (Co-
will, therefore, hardly consist any more in the definition of
logne, 1966); and from an evangelical point of view by Ger-
“new” individual dogmas, no longer so much in the anxious
hard Ebeling in Die Geschichtlichkeit der Kirche und ihrer
monitoring of supposed or real deviations from individual
Verkündigung als theologisches Problem (Tübingen, 1954). An
traditional doctrines, but rather in the preservation of the
instructive analysis of the more recent Catholic models of the
one entirety of the faith in its basic substance and, in fact,
development of dogma can be found in Herbert Hammans’s
not so much through a “censuring,” but rather through the
Die neueren katholischen Erklärungen der Dogmenentwicklung
positive, constructive, collaborative work on this new inter-
(Essen, 1965). For the modernist theological-critical ap-
pretation of the old faith that is demanded today in a new
proach, the broadly based source study by Émile Poulat, His-
toire, dogme et critique dans la crise moderniste, 2d ed., rev.
and not necessarily Christian environment.
(Paris, 1979), should be consulted. It is written, however,
The history of faith and dogma will continue, but it will
from a somewhat sociological perspective.
have a different character, not so much the history of individ-
With regard to the theory and the history of the development of
ual, newly articulated statements of faith and of the theology
dogma (as well as of the historiography of dogma), the prole-
that reflects upon them, but rather the history of the restate-
gomena of the classic handbooks and manuals of dogmatic
ment of the old basic substance of faith in the confrontation
history are to be consulted: for example, those by Harnack,
with and assimilation of the future horizon of understanding.
Seeberg, Ritschl, Köhler, Schwane, Tixeront, et al. In addi-
It is self-evident that this history will be then no longer mere-
tion, see, for Catholic theology, Handbuch der Dogmengesch-
ly the history of the formulation of early Christian and West-
ichte, edited by Michael Schmaus et al. (Freiburg, 1971–),
ern dogmas and their theology (including their export to
which is arranged according to treatises; for the Protestant
other countries) but rather the history of the faith and dogma
perspective, see Alfred Adam’s Lehrbuch der Dogmengesch-
of a universal church, however little we can concretely imag-
ichte, 2 vols. (Gütersloh, 1965–1968), and Handbuch der
ine today what is materially and formally meant by that. This
Dogmen- und Theologiegeschichte, 3 vols., edited by Carl An-
naturally does not exclude but rather includes the fact that
dresen (Göttingen, 1980–1984). Recent positions can also
be found in Avery Dulles’s The Survival of Dogma (New
the changing new conception of the one entirety of the
York, 1971) and Gerald O’Collins’s The Case against Dogma
Christian substance of faith will also have consequences for
(New York, 1975).
the interpretation of many or all individual doctrines.
New Sources
SEE ALSO Creeds; Doctrine; Theology.
Crowley, Paul G. In Ten Thousand Places: Dogma in a Pluralistic
Church. New York, 1997.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A summary introduction to the history of the concept of dogma
Hines, Mary E. The Transformation of Dogma: An Introduction to
and the history of the problem of the development of dogma
Karl Rahner on Dogma. New York, 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
2390
DOGON RELIGION
McGrath, Alister E. The Genesis of Doctrine: A Study in the Foun-
galensis represents the human fetus). Their gestation inside
dations of Doctrinal Criticism. Oxford and Cambridge,
the egg was interrupted by an act of rebellion: one of the
Mass., 1990.
male beings prematurely left the “mother” (the placenta), de-
Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Systematische Theologie. 3 vols. Göttingen,
serting both “her” and his female counterpart, thus prefigur-
1988.
ing the birth of single beings even though Amma had envis-
Segundo, Juan Luis. The Liberation of Dogma: Faith, Revelation,
aged twin births. The solitary being descended into space
and Dogmatic Teaching Authority. Translated by Phillip Ber-
and primordial darkness, taking with him a piece of the pla-
ryman. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1992.
centa that became Earth. Aware of his solitude, he traveled
Theissen, Gerd. Biblical Faith: An Evolutionary Approach. Phila-
through space, attempted to reascend to heaven to join his
delphia, 1985.
female twin again, and even sought her out in the bowels of
Earth, an incestuous act that brought to a climax the disorder
ADOLF DARLAP (1987)
K
he had already introduced into the world by leaving the pla-
ARL RAHNER (1987)
Translated from German by Charlotte Prather
centa. The piece of placenta rotted and thus death appeared
Revised Bibliography
on earth.
Amma put an end to the male being’s disorderly acts by
transforming him into a fox, an animal that occupies a very
DOGON RELIGION. The Dogon inhabit the cliffs
important position in Dogon ideology. This small, wild crea-
of Bandiagara, an area located in the southwestern region of
ture, which is known more properly as Vulpes pallida, goes
the bend of the Niger River in Mali. This area consists of a
about only at night and never drinks water from ponds near
vast, rocky plateau that ends in its southern part in a 124-
the village—which, for the Dogon, explains why the fox was
mile-long (200-kilometer-long) cliff overlooking a vast plain.
chosen to symbolize this enemy of light, water, fertility, and
Numbering approximately 225,000, the Dogon are cultiva-
civilization.
tors of millet and other cereals and breeders of small live-
The mythical fox Yurugu (also known as Ogo) was con-
stock; owing to the scarcity of permanent water sources on
demned to an eternal search for his lost twin. Moreover, he
the plateau and on the cliffs, they have had to exploit all re-
lost the ability to speak when Amma, from whom he had
sources available to them. Onion and pepper gardens and
stolen speech, punished him by cutting off his tongue (in-
plantations of large trees (ficus, baobab) surround the villages
deed, actual foxes emit only a brief, almost clipped cry); but
whose clay houses picturesquely conform to the jagged con-
he still retained the power to foretell the future by “speaking”
tours of the rock.
with his paws.
The Dogon are well known in ethnographical literature.
Unable to restore total order to his universe, Amma
Since 1931 they have been the subject of numerous publica-
sought to mitigate the disorder let loose by the fox; he sacri-
tions by the French ethnologist Marcel Griaule (1898–1956)
ficed Nommo, the other male twin who had stayed in the
and by other researchers schooled in his methods. The
egg. Nommo’s dismembered body purified the four cardinal
Dogon are perhaps best known for their art, whose consum-
points of the universe, and the blood that flowed forth gave
mate form is sculpture in wood (masks, statuettes, locks).
birth to various heavenly bodies, edible plants, and animals.
The traditional religion of the Dogon is complex and
involves, among other things, a rich myth of origin, belief
Amma then burst the Digitaria exilis, a minuscule grain
in a unique god, and an intricate cult of the ancestors. Chris-
into which he had “rolled” all the elements of creation; these
tianity has had little impact on their culture, but Islam, dur-
elements emptied into an ark of pure earth (the remains of
ing the late twentieth century, made significant inroads,
the placenta). In that ark Amma also placed Nommo, whom
without, however, destroying the vitality of long-standing re-
he had already resuscitated, and his other “sons,” the four
ligious beliefs and practices.
pairs of heterosexual twins who are the ancestors of the
human race. He lowered the ark from the heavens by means
THE CREATION MYTH. The Dogon myth of origin provides
of a copper chain; the ark crashed onto Yurugu’s earth at the
both an explanation of the world and a justification of
time of the first rainfall, which formed the first pool of water.
Dogon social organization. The creation of the world was the
The sun also rose for the first time. Nommo went to live in
deed of the god Amma, the one god and image of the father
the pool while the eight ancestors settled on the spot where
who existed before all things. He traced the plan of the uni-
they had landed. Using the pure earth from their ark, these
verse using 266 signs (a number corresponding to the gesta-
ancestors created the first cultivated field, and cultivation
tion period for human beings). The design (the preliminary
then spread throughout Yurugu’s impure earth (the bush).
act of creation) corresponds to thought, which “conceives”
before action or speech. Following an unsuccessful initial at-
The ancestors initially communicated by means of cries
tempt, from which he salvaged only the four elements (water,
and grunts until one of the Nommo twins, the master of
earth, fire, and air), Amma placed in the “egg of the world,”
water, life, speech, and fertility, taught them language at the
or the original placenta, two pairs of androgynous twins in
same time that he instructed them in the art of weaving. He
the form of fish (to Sudanese peoples the catfish Clarias sene-
then revealed to the ancestors such other fundamental tech-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOGON RELIGION
2391
niques as agriculture, blacksmithing, dance, and music. The
The fourth ancestor, Dyongu Seru (“witness of heal-
first human society was thus founded; marriage was intro-
ing”), has a different status. He was in effect the first human
duced when the ancestors exchanged sisters.
to die, following the breach of an interdiction. His cult is cel-
ebrated by the mask society (which exists only on the cliff
The descent of the ark is analogous to birth. The ances-
and on the plateau). It is an exclusively male association,
tors of humanity who began their life on earth can be seen
which all boys enter after their circumcision; each one must
as newborns emerging from the maternal womb; the ark is
carve his own mask and must learn the society’s secret lan-
the placenta, and its chain is the umbilical cord; the rains are
guage. The dance of the masks takes place as part of funeral
the fetal waters.
ceremonies for men. Objects of death, the masks are strictly
CULTS AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. The four male ances-
forbidden to women, who are associated with fertility and
tors founded the four major religious cults, which are also
the forces of life. Women can only observe the dances from
the pillars of social organization; among the Dogon, social
far away.
order cannot be dissociated from religion. The eldest of the
ancestors, Amma Seru (“witness of Amma”), is associated
The death and resurrection of Dyongu Seru are com-
with the creator god and with air (sky). The patriarch of the
memorated through the Sigi, a spectacular ceremony that
extended family is Amma Seru’s representative in the human
takes place every sixty years; the last one was held between
community. His residence, known as the “big house,” is the
1967 and 1974. This feast also marks, on the human plane,
focal point of the paternal lineage, and this is where the altar
the renewing of the generations (sixty years is thought to be
to the ancestors is situated. The altar is composed of pottery
the average human life span) and, on the celestial plane, the
bowls (deposited there whenever a family member dies) into
revolution of the “star of Digitaria exilis” around the “star
which the patriarch pours libations in honor of the ancestors.
of Sigi,” or Sirius. The Dogon’s longstanding knowledge of
this Sirius satellite, which was only recently discovered by as-
Paternal lineages combine to form a totemic clan; all
tronomers, is a mystery that science has not yet uncovered.
members of a particular clan must respect the same taboo,
The ceremony, celebrated from village to village over a peri-
be it animal or vegetable. The clan is headed by a priest
od of eight years, includes dances executed by men in single
whose vocation is revealed through trances that incite him
file (each generation is ranked according to age-group). Their
to seek an object hidden by dignitaries of the clan at the
costumes and paraphernalia refer to both maleness and fe-
death of the priest he will succeed. He remains subject to
maleness: for example, the cowrie shells that decorate the
these trances, which force him to wander through the coun-
dancers’ costumes and the fish-head design of their embroi-
tryside prophesying; he is said to be possessed by Nommo.
dered bonnets are symbols of fertility; when they drink the
As the representative of the ancestor Binu Seru (“witness of
ritual beer, they sit on a ceremonial seat, which is a masculine
the binu”), the priest is responsible for the cult of the binu,
symbol. Another important component of the Sigi ceremony
the ancestors associated with the various animal and vegeta-
is the erection of the “great mask,” a single tree trunk or log
ble species. According to the custodians of profound knowl-
carved in the shape of a snake to represent the resurrected
edge, the binu are also symbols of the different parts of
ancestor.
Nommo’s dismembered body; the ensemble of these binu
represents the body resuscitated in its entirety. The cult itself
Dyongu Seru is associated with fire, death, the wilder-
is associated with water, and its ritual is celebrated in sanctu-
ness (in his role as hunter and healer), and, consequently, dis-
aries whose façades are periodically redecorated with paint-
order—connections that, in turn, link his cult with the
ings done in thin millet paste; each transformation favors a
mythical fox Yurugu who, on a more mundane level, is com-
specific event—the coming of the rains, the harvesting of
memorated in divination rites. Diviners trace framed grids
various crops.
in the sand, and during the night small foxes come to eat the
food offerings placed on these “tables”; the configuration of
The cult of Lébé is dedicated to the ancestor Lébé Seru
spoors left by the animals are then interpreted as responses
(“witness of Lébé”) who, having died, was subsequently
to questions about the future. Yurugu, however much de-
brought back to life in the form of a large snake; this ancestor
cried for being the source of disorder, is respected for his abil-
is associated with Earth (the planet and soil, as well as the
ity to foretell the future, a gift that even Amma could not
mythic archetype Earth), and with vegetation that periodi-
take away from him. In effect, by liberating himself from all
cally dies and comes back to life. His priest is the hogon, the
rules through his act of rebellion, Yurugu placed himself be-
most senior of the region, whose authority once had political
yond time. Ultimately he incarnates individual liberty, in op-
impact, since it was he who administered justice and con-
position to the group solidarity essential for the survival of
trolled the marketplaces. The hogon and the totemic priest
traditional societies, and therein lies his ambiguity.
together celebrate the feast of sowing (bulu) before the com-
ing of the rains; they distribute to the villagers the millet
The Dogon religious universe is also peopled by various
seeds that have been stored in the preceding year. These seeds
categories of spirits who haunt the wilderness, the trees, and
are thought to contain the spiritual essence of this cereal. The
inhabited sites; these spirits are the outcome of Yurugu’s in-
mythical snake Lébé is said to visit the hogon every night to
cestuous coupling with Earth. They represent natural forces
lick his body and thus revitalize him.
and the original proprietors of the soil, with whom men had
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2392
DOGS
to ally themselves in order to gain possession of cultivable
nologie et langage: La parole chez les Dogon (Paris, 1965),
land. Offerings presented to these spirits on different occa-
which has been translated into English by Dierdre La Pin as
sions propitiate them and renew the original alliance.
Words and the Dogon World (Philadelphia, 1986).
SPEECH AND BEING. A human being is viewed as a whole
New Sources
composed of a body and the eight spiritual principles of both
Additional sources are Dirk Verboven’s A Paxiological Approach
sexes. A vital life force (nyama) animates the entire being.
to Ritual Analysis: The Sigi of the Dogon (Gent, 1986) and
The ambivalence of the human condition (that is, its simul-
Germaine Dieterlen’s Les Dogon: Notion de Personne et Mythe
taneous maleness and femaleness), which recalls the law of
de la Creation (Paris, 1999).
twin births ordained by Amma but later destroyed by
GENEVIÈVE CALAME-GRIAULE (1987)
Yurugu, is mediated by circumcision and clitoridectomy;
Translated from French by Brunhilde Biebuyck
these procedures free the child from the influence of the op-
Revised Bibliography
posite sex (located in the prepuce and the clitoris) and thus
have an equilibrating function. Death destroys the tie that
holds together the various components of a person’s being;
DOGS.
funeral ceremonies assure that each component is restored
Recent archaeological discoveries place the domes-
to its place and facilitate the transference of the vital force
tication of the dog thousands if not tens of thousands of years
from the deceased to an unborn child, who will establish a
prior to that of any of the other animals with which humani-
cult for that ancestor.
ty has shared its cultural evolution. This shared heritage is
reflected in the ritual, mythology, and religious doctrine of
Speech is fundamental in Dogon thought. It forms itself
nearly every human society. The ancient Phoenicians, Chi-
in the body, all of whose organs contribute to its “birth,” and
nese, Meso-Americans, and Egyptians buried, entombed, or
like human beings, it possesses vital energy and spiritual
mummified dogs, separately or together with their human
principles. The four basic elements enter into its composi-
masters; archaic astronomical systems from Europe, Asia, Af-
tion, but water is the most essential component. In symbolic
rica, and North America identify star clusters or planets with
rapport with all technological processes, especially the art of
supernatural dogs; and dogs figure prominently in a wide va-
weaving (the organs of the mouth are said to “weave”
riety of myths and rituals, particularly those concerned with
sounds), speech is both creative (on the divine plane) and fer-
death and afterlife.
tilizing (on the human plane); in fact, intercourse between
spouses is successful only if “good words” make the woman
The place of Canis familiaris in religious traditions
fertile. Speech is also the cement that holds together all social
closely corresponds to the social roles, behaviors, and spatial
relationships and facilitates the advance of society, its prog-
orientations of dogs in relationship to humans, as protectors
ress and survival.
of the home, in hunting, and in herding. In every case, the
dog is located at a problematic boundary between “us”—the
If ancestor worship and the belief in Amma dominate
living members of a human community—and “them”: the
the religious beliefs of the Dogon, the mythical figures who
dead, wild animals, interlopers, and human enemies of that
command their worldview are Nommo and Yurugu: the two
community. As a watchdog, it prowls the zone of demarca-
incarnate opposed and complementary principles (order/
tion between within and without, inhabited space and out-
disorder, life/death, humidity/dryness, fertility/sterility) that
side world. As a herding animal, it constitutes a moving pe-
wrangle over possession of the universe. That struggle, which
riphery, enclosing the herd that it guards from savage
is constantly rekindled, assures both the equilibrium and
predators and human rustlers, but also culling animals that
progress of the world.
have been designated for slaughter. In the hunt, the hound
leads—seeing, hearing, and scenting the prey before its mas-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ter, who follows its bark, is able to do so—and fetches back
The most complete and most detailed version of the Dogon origin
small game in its mouth. Man’s best friend has a dark side
myth is given in Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen’s
as well: the domesticated dog can turn rabid, predatory, or
Le renard pâle (Paris, 1965). The first published version of
feral, in which cases it may endanger the very humans and
the myth can be found in Dieu d’eau: Entretiens avec Ogotem-
livestock it normally protects. Furthermore, the dog’s glut-
mêli (Paris, 1948), Griaule’s very popular book translated
into English by Robert Redfield as Conversations with
tony may be a stronger impulse than its faithfulness to its
Ogotemmêli (London, 1965). Griaule’s Masques dogon (Paris,
master, and its indiscriminate eating habits allow it to con-
1938) still remains the definitive reference work on the mask
sume carrion, excrements, and other impure substances, in-
society and on funerary ceremonies, as does that by Michel
cluding the bodies of humans slain in battle.
Leiris, La langue secrète des Dogons de Sanga (Paris, 1948), on
All of these canine qualities and behaviors have made
the society’s secret language. For information on perceptions
of the person in Dogon society, one can consult Dieterlen’s
for an intimate association between dogs and death in the
Les âmes des Dogons (Paris, 1941), even though our under-
world’s religions. Gods of death, such as the Greek Hekate,
standing of this question has been considerably enriched
the Indian Yama and Bhairava, and the Teutonic Garmr, are
since that book’s publication. Speech and its utilization at
often identified with or accompanied by dogs that guard the
different levels of social life is analyzed in my own study Eth-
gates to their realms. Very often, the dog is cast as a hell-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOGS
2393
hound that tracks down and even devours the errant dead,
This doubling of dogs’ eyes is not limited to Indian or
for which reason the dead may be buried together with a sop
Indo-Iranian religions, and is of a piece with a broader phe-
to distract it, as in the case of the Sa¯rameya—the twin dogs
nomenon of doubling in the symbolism of death. Four-eyed
of the Indian death god Yama—the Greek Cerberus, and the
dogs are found in the mythology and ritual of numerous cul-
Nicaraguan Tausun Tara. Alternatively, the dog serves as a
tures, including the Ibo of Nigeria who behead a four-eyed
psychopomp, a guide who leads or herds the recently de-
dog (that is, a dog with pronounced markings over its eyes)
ceased over the dangerous paths leading to the world of the
when burying their chiefs. This they do in order that the dog
dead—hence the sacrifice of dogs or the burial of dog effigies
may transfer its powers of clairvoyance to the deceased. Simi-
with the dead in Nahuatl, Chamba (northern Nigeria), and
lar practices involving dogs of this sort are found in hunting
ancient Chinese traditions. In several northern European tra-
rituals in many parts of Africa, while Finnish and Slavic tra-
ditions, a spectral pack of dogs accompanies the storm god
ditions employ four-eyed dogs to root out and protect
Woden, or the Christian Devil, on his wild hunt after the
against evil spirits. Hellhounds are often found in pairs, or
souls of the damned. At different periods, the Tibetans, Kal-
with two heads (as in the case of the Greek Orthos, Cer-
muks, Parsis, Bactrians, Hyrcanians, Mongols, Javanese, and
beros’s less famous elder brother); and the name of the Indi-
Kamchatkans have exposed their dead in “sky burials,” rely-
an Yama may itself be read as “Twin,” the brother of Manu,
ing on necrophagous dogs and birds of prey to consume the
“Man,” who sacrifices him. As the first being to die, Yama
bodily remains and thereby carry off the pollution of death.
becomes the lord of the world of the dead. A parallel my-
theme is found in ancient Rome, in which Romulus kills his
Numerous myths of the origin of death involve a dog.
twin brother Remus (whose name is an Indo-European cog-
In several western African traditions, the dog is a messenger
whose failure to deliver a message to a high god results in
nate of Yama) as a foundation sacrifice. In Mesoamerica, the
human mortality. A central Asian mytheme, found from the
Nahuatl dog god Xolotl is considered to be the twin brother
Balkans to Siberia and northern Japan, features a primal dog
of Quetzalcoatl, and together the two represent the planet
who is charged by a deus otiosis-type figure with protecting
Venus, as the morning and evening stars respectively. The
the bodies of a primal human pair; the dog succumbs to the
eastern and western entrances to East Asian Buddhist tem-
temptations of the Devil, who befouls humans and dog with
ples are guarded by Foo (or Foh) dogs, which are said to sym-
his spittle, thereby rendering them mortal.
bolize the yin and yang principles. In ancient Egypt, the jack-
al- or dog-headed Anubis of Cynopolis was considered to be
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam generally cast the dog
the “opener” of the northern paths of the dead, while the
in a negative light, especially by emphasizing its impurity,
wolf-god Up-uaut or Ap-heru of Lycopolis opened the
and often identify dogs as demons or minions of the Devil.
southern paths. Likewise, the “entrance” to the Milky Way,
A striking exception is the role of the dog in the early Chris-
the starry path of the gods and the dead in several Indo-
tian and later Islamic myth of the “Cave of the Seven Sleep-
European traditions, is guarded by two dogs, Canis Major
ers,” which draws on a widespread Indo-European mytheme
and Canis Minor, with the dog star Sirius being located in
that has a faithful watchdog guard the mouth of a cave where
the former constellation of the Greco-Roman system. Locat-
six saints sleep for hundreds of years. From the high Middle
ed at the threshold of two worlds, these beings that symbolize
Ages down to the twentieth century, a greyhound was vener-
the transition between death need two bodies, two heads, or
ated in the Dombes region of southeastern France as Saint
four eyes to look both backward and forward, toward both
Guignefort, the healer of sick children, in spite of repeated
the living and the dead who live in a symbiotic relationship
attempts by the Roman Church to suppress the cult of this
not unlike that obtaining between man and dog.
decidedly noncanonical saint.
In Roman mythology, the aforementioned twins Rom-
In Zoroastrianism, the dog plays a particularly positive
ulus and Remus, who had been forsaken at birth, are suckled
role in postmortem ritual. A dog is fed three times daily for
and protected by a she-wolf in a cave at the base of the Pala-
three days following a death, as a conduit for nurturing the
tine hill. They enjoy the same mythic fate as Cyrus, the
soul of the dead. In the celebrated rite of sag did, the power-
founder of the Achaemenid dynasty and the Persian Empire:
ful gaze of a “four-eyed dog” drives away the demonic Nasus
according to Herodotos, the infant Cyrus, who had been left
spirits that swarm around the corpse of the deceased. In Zo-
to die at the order of the Median king Astyages, was saved
roastrian otherworldly geography, one or two four-eyed dogs
by a Median woman named “Bitch.” Other versions of the
are present at the Cinvat bridge in order to aid the souls of
story, such as that of Trogus Pompeius, simply state that
the just to cross over to the “Best Existence,” which lies be-
Cyrus was raised by a she-dog, as were also the Greek Aescu-
yond. The same four-eyed dog is found, this time with a neg-
lapius, the Persian Afrasiyab, and Lugaid Mac Con of Irish
ative valence, in ancient India, where this creature was put
legend. A variation on this Indo-European mytheme of a dy-
to death beneath the feet of a horse representing the king,
nastic founder or culture hero being fostered by an animal
as a part of the famous a´svamedha sacrifice. This apotropaic
nurse, is a central and east Asian ethnogenic myth, which
(evil-averting) sacrifice identified the dog with the king’s
likely spread into the circumpolar regions. This is the myth
rival in what was essentially a ritual of royal conquest, which
of the origin of a people or race through the union of a
concluded with the sacrifice of the horse itself.
human woman and a male dog, a most illustrious example
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2394
DOLGAN RELIGION
being that of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan, as is related in the
with a wide cultural area focus include David Gordon
opening lines of the Secret History of the Mongols (c. 1240 CE).
White’s Myths of the Dog-Man (Chicago, 1991), which limits
The Inuit of the central Arctic trace the origin of the “five
itself to Europe and Asian mythology, Barbara Frank’s Die
human races” back to the union of the daughter of the pri-
Rolle des Hundes in afrikanischen Kulturen (Wiesbaden,
mordial human pair, a maiden named Uinigumasuittuq
1965), and Wilhelm Köppers’s “Der Hund in der Mytholo-
(“She Who Did Not Wish to Marry”), with the family dog,
gie der zirkumpazifischen Völker,” Wiener Beiträge zur Kul-
turgeschichte und Linguistik 1 (1930): 359–399. Several
Siarnaq. A similar myth is found among several of China’s
studies extensively treat the dog in death-related mythology
“southern barbarian” peoples, including the Man, Yao, and
and ritual. These include Manabu Waida’s “Central Asian
Liao. In both Chinese and European medieval literatures,
Mythology of the Origin of Death: A Comparative Analysis
this mytheme, which was transmitted along the Silk Road
of Its Structure and History,” Anthropos 77 (1982): 663–
from its original Central Asian source, underwent a transfor-
701, Bruce Lincoln’s “The Hellhound,” Journal of Indo-
mation that made it a stock fixture of world mythology. As
European Studies 7, nos. 3–4 (Fall/Winter 1979):
it traveled east and west, it became an account of a remote
273–285, Manfred Lurker’s “Der Hund als Symboltier für
“Kingdom of Women” that shared its borders with a “King-
den Übergang vom Diesseits in das Jenseits,” Zeitschrift für
dom of Dogs.” During the mating season of the former,
Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 35 (1983): 132–144, and
these dogs, or Dog-Men would cohabit with the women,
Franke J. Neumann’s “The Dragon and the Dog: Two Sym-
bols of Time in Nahuatl Religion,” Numen 22, no. 1 (1975):
with female offspring being kept by the women, and males
1–23.
by the dogs or Dog-Men. This was the source of the rich Eu-
ropean mythology of races of Dog-Men (Cynanthropoi) or
Works focusing on a single cultural area include Mahasti Ziai Af-
Dog-Headed Men (Cynocephali), who figure in the Alexan-
shar’s The Immortal Hound: The Genesis and Transformation
der Legend and the writings of Marco Polo, as well as in the
of a Symbol in Indo-Iranian Traditions (New York, 1990),
Eduard Erkes’s “Der Hund im alten China,” T’oung Pao 38
legends of several medieval Christian saints, who sought to
(1944): 186–225, Frank Jenkins’s “The Role of the Dog in
convert these monsters to the true faith.
Romano-Gaulish Religion,” Latomus 16, no. 1 (January–
Numerous mythical traditions cast supernatural dogs in
March 1957): 60–76, Carla Mainoldi’s L’image du loup et du
various types of foundation myths. According to the mythol-
chien dans la Grèce ancien d’Homère à Platon (Paris, 1984),
ogy of two Mesoamerican peoples, the Huichol and the Tla-
and Jean-Claude Schmitt’s Le saint lévrier: Guignefort
guérisseur d’enfants depuis le XIIIe siècle (Paris, 1979), which
panec, the repopulation of the earth is effected, following a
focuses on the remarkable cult of a greyhound, which persist-
great flood, through the union of a man and a she-dog. The
ed well into the twentieth century in the Dombes region of
Nahuatl Xolotl reanimates humanity at the beginning of a
southeastern France.
new creation cycle by fetching the bones of dead humans
from a prior cycle back to his dwelling and bleeding on them
DAVID GORDON WHITE (2005)
from his penis. The North American Shoshone and Ac-
howami, as well as several African peoples, identify the dog
as the bringer of fire to humanity. Maya manuscripts depict
the dog as the bringer of maize to the world, while several
DOLGAN RELIGION. The Dolgans are a small,
southern Chinese and Southeast Asian myths portray the dog
Turkic-speaking nationality living on the Taimyr Peninsula
as swimming over the waters of a primal flood while carrying
in northern Siberia. Their primary occupations are hunting
grains of rice on its tail, to feed a starving humanity.
and fishing; they also breed a small number of domesticated
reindeer, which are utilized as means of transport during no-
Poised on the uncertain boundary between humanity
madic migration. During the winter season the Dolgans live
and animality, wildness and domestication, inside and out-
in the forest-tundra zone, and toward summer they migrate
side, the living and the dead, purity and impurity, even the
northward into the tundra in pursuit of wild reindeer herds.
divine and the demonic, dogs have, throughout the long his-
In 1989 there were seven thousand Dolgans, 80 percent of
tory of their relationship to humans, been especially “good
whom spoke their native tongue, which is derived from the
to think with,” whence the abundance of mythology, ritual,
Yakut language. The Dolgans appeared as a distinct national-
and religious precept that we humans have generated around
ity during the last three hundred years and are largely de-
canine modes of being in the world.
scended from the Tunguz and the Yakuts; their religion had
its origin in the culture area of their formation.
SEE ALSO Animals.
The Dolgans are converts to Christianity, and they bear
B
Russian names. Their calendar—a six-sided small stick
IBLIOGRAPHY
carved from mammoth bone—is known as the paskaal (from
The most comprehensive surveys of dogs in world religions con-
centrate on mythology. These include Freda Kretschmar’s
Russian paskhal Dnyi, “relating to Easter”); the basic Russian
Hundestammvater und Kerberos, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1938; re-
Orthodox holidays are marked on the sides of the paskaal.
print, New York, 1968), Maria Leach’s God Had a Dog:
The old men who can calculate time by this calendar are
Folklore of the Dog (New Brunswick, N.J., 1961), and Patri-
called paskaalcit and are deemed to be sages. Icons are found
cia Dale-Green’s The Lore of the Dog (Boston, 1967). Studies
in each Dolgan dwelling, but the Russian Orthodox 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
DOLGAN RELIGION
2395
represented on them are no more revered than are the other
During nomadic treks, white or piebald reindeer carry
spirits of the Dolgan pantheon.
the boxes containing sa˘ıtaans and icons in cases. Such a rein-
deer is decorated with a beaded, embroidered headband and
In their mobile dwellings (urasa), special sanctity is at-
a bell is hung on its neck. This reindeer is always placed just
tached to the four foundation poles (suona) in which the spir-
before the end of the animal train; the reindeer transporting
its who protect the people living in the urasa dwell. After a
the dwelling poles is tied to it. When they arrive at a new
successful hunt, these poles are smeared with the blood of
place, the Dolgans avoid setting up their urasa where another
a wild reindeer and purified by the smoke of burning fat.
stood earlier, since strange sa˘ıtaans might prove powerful
When a dwelling’s owner dies, the weeping of the suona is
and feel wrathful toward the newcomers.
heard. The cover of the urasa is sewn out of reindeer cham-
ois, on which are drawn the sun, moon, reindeer, or urasa,
The activities of the Dolgans are accompanied by many
according to a shaman’s instructions. The urasa functions as
religious rites. After killing a reindeer, the hunter smears his
a barrier impenetrable to evil spirits. In building a permanent
rifle with its blood. The bones of a reindeer that has been
dwelling, the Dolgans leave two tall trees by the side of the
eaten are buried in the ground, and a tripod of poles is placed
entrance, so that the souls of the dwellers may live in their
above them so that other reindeer will not go near that place.
branches. The trees are termed serge (“post”) in Yakut.
Upon killing an arctic fox, the hunter cuts off its nose so as
not to give away his luck with its skin. The Dolgans rarely
The Dolgans call all supernatural beings sa˘ıtaan, a word
hunt bears, which they fear and which they regard as women
of Arabic origin brought to the Dolgans by the Russians,
transformed into beasts. The hunter who has killed a bear
who borrowed it from Turkic-speaking Muslims. In practice,
lies on its back imitating sexual intercourse. Then the partici-
small stones and anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images
pants in the hunt take out the bear’s heart, eat it, and caw
carved from wood or reindeer antler, as well as certain house-
like ravens. While fishing, the Dolgans present to the Master
hold objects, figure as sa˘ıtaans.
of the River or Lake beads or scraps of red wool tied to nets.
Near the body of water they hang a fox skin from a rope at-
All these objects are revered because they are bearers of
tached to the ends of two sticks thrust into the ground. Some
spirits, either independently or by means of the shaman. A
Dolgans throw small, flat pieces of dough into the water; im-
sa˘ıtaan may be a personal helper of its owner or the protector
pressions of crosses worn on the body are made on these.
of an entire family or nomadic group; it may, for example,
be the hook used to hang the caldron in the urasa. Facing
Shamans play such a large role among the Dolgans that
the hook, the Dolgans smear it with the blood or fat of a
the emergence of each new shaman is met by his kinsmen
slaughtered animal and address it, saying, “May the caldron
with great joy. According to Dolgan tradition, a shaman
hung on thee be full lifelong!” One type of sa˘ıtaan, with
owns one to three Tuuruu trees, the term designating the
human form, is called the ba˘ıana˘ı. The idea of the ba˘ıana˘ı
“world tree” among the Tunguz, and he sets the souls of the
and the term itself are borrowed from the Yakuts, among
persons under his protection on their branches. Signs of a
whom Bai-baianai is master of the forest. But among the
shaman’s power are the number, height, and extent of
Dolgans a ba˘ıana˘ı becomes the personal helper of the hunter
branching of his trees. A weak shaman’s tree will be sickly,
who made its image. However, the ba˘ıana˘ı acquires power
and the people in his charge may die. On the second day after
only after the shaman animates the figurine by placing his
death, the shaman must accompany the dead person’s soul
breath within it. Before going on a hunt, the hunter smears
into the netherworld.
his ba˘ıana˘ı with the fat of a wild reindeer and tosses it into
Among the Dolgans, as among the Yakuts, shamans are
the air in order to divine his chances of catching game. If the
called o˘ıun; a female shaman is called udaghan, as among the
figurine falls on its back, there will be success; if it falls on
Yakuts, Buriats, and Mongols. The Dolgans divide shamans
its belly, there will be failure. Wooden images of birds and
into several categories according to their ability. The strong-
animals, called singken, also belong to the category of
est shamans, ulakan o˘ıun, can cure diseases, divine events,
sa˘ıtaans that assist hunters. Hunters carry them along on the
and generally know all that happens on earth. In the past,
hunt, together with the ba˘ıana˘ı.
the frequent wars between groups of Dolgans were decided
by shamanic duels, with each shaman trying to increase the
At the beginning of each winter month, the hunter puri-
ilbis or power of the war spirit of his group. He sheltered the
fies his ba˘ıana˘ı with the smoke of burning fat. Upon killing
kut, or soul, of his leader on a cloud and killed the soul of
a wild reindeer, he cuts the fat from the animal’s knee and
the opposing leader. The shamanic séance, which in some
suspends it from the figurine. After a particularly successful
cases continued for several days and nights, is called kyyryy
hunt, the Dolgans feed not only the ba˘ıana˘ı but all their
by the Dolgans, from the Yakut word kyyr, “to hop.”
sa˘ıtaans. They hang them on poles over the hearth, into
which they throw small pieces of fatty food. Then they ar-
In the spring, when the first grass appeared, the shaman
range a low table near the hearth and place on it pieces of
performed the annual shamanic ritual Djilga Kyyryy, by
the heart and lungs of slain animals. Afterward, the sa˘ıtaans
which he would divine what awaited his nomadic group.
are smeared with blood and placed in a box, where they re-
This ritual, the greatest religious festival of the year, is also
main.
called DDyly Oduuluur. To conduct this rite a new urasa was
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2396
DÖLLINGER, JOHANN
made, and seven or nine images of birds with heads turned
he denounced the break in historical continuity effected by
toward the sun were fastened on top of the poles making up
the Protestant schism. Later in his career, however, he came
the urasa’s frame. The shaman departed on these birds to
to oppose as “inconsistent with tradition” new prerogatives
meet the chief of the upper world in order to secure his sup-
of the papacy, such as the opposition to modern scholarship
port for the forthcoming year. During this festival, the Dol-
and the assertion of infallibility. In 1863, Döllinger orga-
gans and their shaman performed the ritual dance Kisi
nized, without ecclesiastical permission, a meeting of one
Kaamy Gynan (“people’s step-by-step procession”). They
hundred Catholic theologians in Munich, to evaluate the sci-
circled the hearth three times clockwise, then exited from the
entific study of history. In his opening address he denounced
tent and continued the same movement around it. This festi-
scholasticism and called boldly for a thorough use of critical
val probably came to the Dolgans from their neighbors the
tools in examining church history, independent of Roman
Nganasani, who called it AnyDo Dialy (“big day”) and con-
authority. Although hailed by liberal Catholics throughout
ducted it on the summer solstice. However, the dance is
Europe, such principles were soon condemned by Pope Pius
Yakut in origin.
IX, in his 1864 Syllabus of Errors and in his encyclical Quanta
cura. Such disagreements intensified as rumors grew that un-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
restricted papal infallibility was to be affirmed at the First
Dolgikh, B. O. “Proiskhozhdenie dolgan.” Sibirskii etnografi-
Vatican Council (1869–1870). For his opposition to infalli-
cheskii sbornik (1963), fasc. 5, pp. 92–141.
bility, Döllinger was excommunicated, with both haste and
Popov, A. A. “Materialy po rodovomu stroiu dolgan.” Sovetskaia
publicity, in March 1871, by Archbishop Scherr of Munich.
etnografiia (1934), fasc. 6, pp. 116–139.
Some have seen the excommunication as gratuitous. Döl-
Popov, A. A. “Okhota i rybolovstvo u dolgan.” In Sbornik statei
linger’s opposition resulted partially from conciliar secrecy,
“Pamiati B. G. Bogoraza,” pp. 146–206. Moscow, 1937.
which kept him from learning until too late the restrictions
Popov, A. A. “Kochevaia zhiznD i tipy zhilishch u dolgan.” Sibirskii
placed on infallibility. Because of the enforced ignorance,
etnograficheskii sbornik (1952), fasc. 1, pp. 143–172.
some of his arguments (1869–1871) sound more rhetorical
than relevant.
Popov, A. A. “Perezhitki doreligioznykh vozzrenii dolganov na
prirody.” Sovetskaia etnografiia (1958), fasc. 2, pp. 77–99.
Döllinger provided a rallying cry for the development
Popov, A. A. “The Dolgan Sajtans.” In Shamanism in Siberia, ed-
in Germany of the “Old Catholic” church (which denied
ited by Vilmos Diószegi and Mihály Hoppál, pp. 449–456.
papal infallibility). He admitted he belonged to this church
Budapest, 1979.
“by conviction,” but he never formally joined. His refusal of
Popov, A. A. “Shamanstvo u dolgan.” In Problemy istorii obshchest-
an offer to become the first German Old Catholic bishop
vennogo soznaniia aborigenov Sibiri, pp. 258–264. Moscow,
hampered that church’s growth. Even after excommunica-
1981.
tion, he continued to attend Roman Catholic services, even
though he was denied the sacraments by his excommunica-
BORIS CHICHLO (1987 AND 2005)
Translated from Russian by Demitri B. Shimkim
tion. Despite political ability sufficient to hold national of-
fice under Ludwig I of Bavaria, neither his scholarship nor
his statecraft was adequate to reconcile Catholicism with mo-
dernity. As important to Germany as Cardinal Newman was
DÖLLINGER, JOHANN (1799–1890), more fully
to England, Döllinger influenced Lord Acton and widened
Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger; Roman Catholic profes-
the ambit of historical consciousness in the Roman Catholic
sor of dogmatics and church history at the University of Mu-
church. He has not yet found his definitive place in that
nich (1826–1872), who became the controversial center of
church’s history. Extolled in a book by his close friend the
scholarly liberal Catholicism in Europe. Son of a pious Cath-
Old Catholic priest Johannes Friedrich (Ignaz von Döllinger,
olic mother and an educated, anticlerical father, he was or-
3 vols., 1899–1901), he also was castigated by the Jesuit
dained at age twenty-three and served briefly as a curate be-
Émile Michael (Ignaz von Döllinger, 1892), whose criticism
fore finishing his doctoral dissertation and being appointed
was so severe that Döllinger was repudiated even by the usu-
to Munich. There he was somewhat novel among Roman
ally nonjudgmental modernist Friedrich von Hügel. The de-
Catholics, though not unprecedented, in his emphasis upon
finitive Döllinger biography has not yet been written.
the scholarly study of church history.
The key principle in Döllinger’s thought, “organic
BIBLIOGRAPHY
growth,” or “consistent development,” gave not only approv-
For an interesting survey of Döllinger’s development, from apolo-
al but also limits to changes in the Catholic church. Early
gist for Rome to staunchly pre-Vatican I Roman Catholic,
see Peter Neuner’s Döllinger als Theologe der Ökumene
in his career, defending established developments in Catholi-
(Paderborn, 1979). Showing similarities and differences be-
cism, he denounced mixed marriages, affirmed the authority
tween Newman and Döllinger, though with surprisingly su-
of the pope (1836), and favored the policy that Protestant
perficial analysis of some materials, is Wolfgang Klausnitzer’s
soldiers be required to kneel at the consecration when they
Päpst-liche Unfehlbarkeit bei Newman und Döllinger (Inns-
were present at a Catholic mass (1843). Likewise, in his
bruck, 1980). Lacking in details, but with an evenhanded
works on Luther (1851) and the Reformation (1846–1848),
treatment of the Vatican I infallibility controversy, is Walter
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JEWISH PRACTICES
2397
Brandmüller’s Ignaz v. Döllinger am Vorabend des I. Vati-
ple entertain guests and generally pass time in the family suk-
kanums (Saint Ottilien, 1977). Important correspondence is
kah. H:anukkah, in early winter, is focused domestically as
included in the work edited by Victor Conzemius, Ignaz von
well. Lights are ritually kindled in the home, and special holi-
Döllinger: Briefwechsel 1820–90, 3 vols. (Munich, 1963–
day foods are prepared. H:anukkah also has indoor child-
1971). An unsurpassed bibliography of Döllinger’s writings,
centered activities (gift-giving and living-room games). In
including translations, is in Stephan Lösch’s Döllinger und
late winter, Purim requires a formal feast at home, and
Frankreich (Munich, 1955).
women and children become particularly involved in the tra-
RONALD BURKE (1987)
ditional sending of gifts of food to friends.
PERENNIAL DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES. Besides seasonal
events, the Jewish home also has perennial ritual activities,
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES
primarily on the Sabbath, when the routine of the home is
This entry consists of the following articles:
transformed. Domestic rituals are observed on the Sabbath:
JEWISH PRACTICES
candles are lit by the housewife on Sabbath eve; the Qiddush
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
MUSLIM PRACTICES
(“sanctification of the day”) is chanted at the first of the three
HINDU PRACTICES
mandatory festive meals; families sing Sabbath songs (zemi-
CHINESE PRACTICES
rot) and sometimes study Torah together. Of these customs,
JAPANESE PRACTICES
candle-lighting is a major rite for women, a virtual symbol
of female religious identity. In recent times, with the attenua-
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JEWISH
tion of many more-burdensome Jewish customs, candle-
PRACTICES
lighting has remained vital and thus has become more prom-
Besides the synagogue, the home has traditionally been a
inent. According to some traditions, parents formally bless
main focus of religiosity both for the Jewish family as a unit
their children on Sabbath eve, and Sabbath night is a pre-
and especially for women. Women were traditionally exclud-
ferred time for conjugal relations. In the home the Sabbath
ed from the duty of Torah study, which for men was, and
ends with the ceremony of havdalah (“separation” of the Sab-
to some extent remains, a major focus of spirituality. More-
bath from the week), which involves the use of wine, spices,
over, women were not obligated to observe many of the reli-
and a special braided candle, and at which a new fire is lit.
gious practices that bound men. In particular, their place in
Another perennial domestic ritual element is the display of
public synagogue ritual was minimal. Consequently, domes-
religious artifacts. Foremost of these is the mandatory mezu-
tic rituals, and especially those governed by women, are im-
zah inscription of biblical verses, encased on all doorposts.
portant focuses of their spirituality. For all Jews, certain ritu-
Brass or silver candelabra, wine goblets, and collections of Ju-
al customs (minhagim) and rabbinic laws (halakhot) actually
daica books are common in the more prosperous homes. It
require a domestic setting. These rituals may be divided into
is a custom to leave a section of wall in the home (about one
those that are held on specific occasions of the Jewish calen-
square foot) unpainted, as a symbol of pain over the destruc-
dar and those that are a constant presence in daily life.
tion of ancient Jerusalem (zekher le-h:urban).
PERIODIC DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES. The annual festival
The celebration of rites of passage spills over into the
cycle begins in the spring with Passover, which focuses on
home through the holding of festive meals. Domestically, the
two major domestic activities: the thorough cleaning of the
most marked rites of passage are mourning rites, which re-
home to remove leavened food, and then the Seder, the Pass-
strict the bereaved to their homes and require them to receive
over eve feast, which has traditionally been led by the father
condolence visits. Memorial candles for the dead are lit at
and requires the participation of the children. ShavuEot, in
home. In the past, marriages in Mediterranean countries
early summer, is accompanied by only minor domestic cus-
were patrilocal and some marriage observances paralleled
toms, such as decorating the home with greenery and partak-
mourning rites. The bridal couple were restricted to their
ing of dairy foods. The period of mourning for the destroyed
new home for seven days of festivity, and daily rites were held
Temple, which follows in midsummer, affects the home in
in the presence of visitors. In our time, owing to the attenua-
a fashion opposite to that of the festivals: enjoyment of
tion of patrilocality, the practice among many young Ortho-
music, food, new clothing, and vacations, and joyfulness in
dox bridal couples, both in Israel and elsewhere, is to travel
general, are restricted. The fall holy days start with Ro’sh ha-
distances to visit their kin, and to be hosted in different
Shanah and Yom Kippur, which are primarily synagogue-
homes where rites are held for the duration of seven days.
centered occasions but which include secondary domestic ac-
tivities. On Ro’sh ha-Shanah, foods symbolizing good for-
In Orthodox and traditionally observant families, the
tune are served at the family meal, and on Yom Kippur, fam-
home is the scene of innumerable daily acts of individual
ily elders bless the young. During the weeklong Sukkot
piety: the ritual washing of hands upon arising, before meals
festival the domestic focus is again pronounced. Temporary
and after voiding; the uttering of grace after meals, and of
booths or huts (sukkot) are erected near or adjacent to each
shorter benedictions before and after the partaking of any
family home. Meals are eaten there, and some males follow
food. Prayers are recited upon waking and upon retiring at
the rabbinic tradition of sleeping in the booths at night. Peo-
night, and three daily prayer services (shah:arit, in the morn-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2398
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JEWISH PRACTICES
ing, minh:ah, in the afternoon, ma Eariv, in the evening) are
to a commercial setting, the rite has become uncommon. An-
required of all adult males. In recent times, because of the
other exception is in practices of the Hasidic movement,
weaker hold of the community, weekday prayers are fre-
which encourages male groups to congregate by themselves,
quently said at home rather than at the synagogue; hence,
or at the court of the rebbe, the sect leader. In these congrega-
the role of the home in daily prayer has increased.
tions, adult males eat the third of the three required meals
together, away from their families, on the Sabbath afternoon.
The most pervasive home observances are those that
Hasidism also encourages men to spend some of the holy
concern food and conjugal relations. Observance of the rules
days and Sabbaths at the distant court of the rebe, again sepa-
of kashrut (maintaining a ritually pure, kosher kitchen), is
rating them from their families.
dependent upon the foods introduced into the home, and
on the separation of various categories of foods in the kitchen
SEE ALSO Kashrut.
and dining area. Kashrut also requires the services of extra-
domestic agents, such as a shoh:et (ritual slaughterer), and of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
manufacturers of kosher foods. The maintenance of “family
For a masterly, though brief, overview of the position of formal
halakhah, see Aaron Lichtenstein’s “Ha-mishpahah be-
purity” (t:aharat ha-mishpah:ah) depends to a greater extent
halakhah” in Mishpeh:ot Yisra Del: Divrei ha-kinus ha-
on the privacy of domestic practice. Family purity consists
shemonah- Easar le-mah:shavah Yehudit (Jerusalem, 1976),
of the maintenance of a monthly schedule of conjugal separa-
pp. 13–30. On Ashkenazic Jewry, Jacob Katz’s Tradition and
tion and reunion based on the menstrual cycle, and on the
Crisis: Jewish Society at the End of the Middle Ages (New York,
woman’s periodic immersion in a miqveh (ritual bath). While
1961) provides a fine sociological overview; much pertinent
the availability of an external agent, the miqveh, is required
information is scattered in the chapters on the family, reli-
here as well, the element of domestic autonomy in this area
gion, and Hasidism. In a shorter monograph, Tsibbur
of intimacy is nonetheless very strong. The autonomy of the
ve-yih:idim be-Maroqo: Sidrei h:evra ba-kehillot ha-Yeh:udiyot
home in this area was curtailed in traditional times (in
ba-me Dot ha-18–19 (Tel Aviv, 1983), I describe eighteenth-
and nineteenth-century Moroccan Jewry and thereby pro-
Northern Europe roughly until the mid-nineteenth century,
vide documentation for a section of Sephardic Jewry; some
in Mediterranean lands until close to the mid-twentieth cen-
of this material appears in English in “Women in the Jewish
tury). Decisions concerning the proper timing of immersion
Family in Pre-Colonial Morocco,” Anthropological Quarterly
were not handled exclusively by the woman then, but rather
56 (July 1983): 134–144. A comprehensive ethnographic
in conjunction with a circle of elder females, family and
survey of religious and other home feasts in a village of Mo-
neighbors. If there was any physiological irregularity, male
roccan immigrants in Israel is given in Moshe Shokeid’s
rabbis were consulted. In contemporary Orthodoxy, middle-
“Conviviality versus Strife: Peacemaking at Parties among
class sensitivities concerning the privacy of sexual matters
Atlas Mountains Immigrants in Israel,” in Freedom and Con-
have eliminated the role of the outside female circle; rabbis
straint: A Memorial Tribute to Max Gluckman, edited by
are consulted only in the most unusual cases. But it is in the
Myron J. Aronoff (Assen, Netherlands, 1976). One such
feast is described in detail in my Immigrant Voters in Israel:
maintenance of kashrut that the role of the home has in-
Parties and Congregations in a Local Election Campaign (Man-
creased most in contemporary times, and has assumed a
chester, 1970), pp. 140–147. The qabbalistic sources for
novel symbolic weight. The affective term kosher home is now
some of the comparatively recent domestic Sabbath customs
commonly used in reference to kashrut observance, which
are cited in Gershom Scholem’s On the Kabbalah and Its
has gained much greater prominence in relation to its histori-
Symbolism, translated by Ralph Manheim (New York, 1965),
cal place in Jewish practice and thought. Over time, addi-
pp. 142–146. In an overview of U.S. suburban Jewry, Jewish
tional domestic practices have become more prominent
Identity on the Suburban Frontier (Chicago, 1979), Marshall
(contemporary domestic Sabbath practices are innovations
Sklare and Joseph Greenblum analyze the novel weight of
of the late sixteenth century). Most recently in the West, the
H:anukkah child-centered activities.
pressure of Christmastime commercialism has encouraged
New Sources
Jewish families to elaborate the observance of H:anukkah, es-
Broner, Esther M. Bringing Home the Light: A Jewish Woman’s
pecially with parties, gift giving, and the decoration of the
Handbook of Rituals. San Francisco, 1999.
home, as an ethnic counterpoint to Christian symbols such
Dahbany-Miraglia, Dina. “Negotiating Passover: Women, Food
as the tree and Santa Claus.
and Power.” Women in Judaism: Contemporary Writings
(June 11, 2003). Available from http://www.utoronto.ca/
There are two major exceptions to this development
wjudaism/contemporary/contemp_index1.html.
(i.e., the increasing emphasis on Jewish domestic ritual). One
Goldberg, Harvey E. Jewish Passages: Cycles of Jewish Life. Berke-
is the virtual disappearance of the h:allah-separation rite.
ley, 2003.
Married women baking their bread used to separate and burn
Plumb, Marcia. “Filling the Bookcase: Women’s Rituals in Rab-
a small portion of the dough, as a symbol of the tithe that
binic Texts.” Journal of Progressive Judaism 2 (1994): 49–70.
was due the priests in Temple times. H:allah-separation used
Sered, Susan Starr. “Husbands, Wives, and Childbirth Rituals.”
to be a major female responsibility, similar to Sabbath can-
Ethos 22 (1994): 187–208.
dle-lighting and to the maintenance of family purity (nid-
SHLOMO DESHEN (1987)
dah). But as bread production has shifted from a domestic
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
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
2399
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHRISTIAN
ways. Not uncommon among Eastern Christians, especially
PRACTICES
those of Slavic extraction, is the custom of burning a lighted
Contemporary forms and practices of Christian religious life
candle before a picture of the deceased person during the day
in the home vary widely among the various denom-
of the anniversary. A festive dinner, with gifts for the hon-
inations and branches of Christianity, as well as among eth-
ored person, is commonly given on the saints’ name days of
nic and socioeconomic groups within those broader divi-
family members, and various national groups enjoy festive
sions. The usual division of Western Christians into Roman
meals featuring traditional ethnic foods on the feast days of
Catholic and Protestant is, for the purpose of the present dis-
their important saints.
cussion, more suitably replaced by a distinction between
those denominations, such as Roman Catholic, Episcopa-
The cycle of feasts and seasons of the Christian calendar
lian, and Lutheran, with strong liturgical traditions, and
provides many occasions for religious observances in the
those, such as Baptists and Pentecostals, that have a less fully
home, especially among Christians with strong liturgical tra-
developed ritual heritage.
ditions. During the pre-Lenten Carnival season, doughnut
making and pancake suppers are common, such customs
Western Christians often adorn their homes with reli-
originating from earlier times when lard and other meat
gious images such as crucifixes and holy pictures, and Eastern
products had to be consumed before the beginning of Lent.
Christian homes traditionally contain an icon corner where
images of Christ and the saints are honored and where family
While Lenten fasting and abstinence have become merely
prayers are said. A lighted candle or oil lamp usually burns
token or even nonexistent among many Western Christians,
before these icons. In the homes of families of the Eastern
Eastern Christians commonly abstain from meat, butter,
churches and the Western churches with more developed lit-
eggs, milk, and other animal products throughout this peri-
urgies, palm or other branches blessed in church on Palm
od, as well as during other penitential times. Some families
Sunday may be placed behind these images.
in the nonliturgical churches are returning to the ancient
practice of fasting twice weekly, usually on Tuesday and Fri-
Traditional Roman Catholics sometimes provide small
day. In the West during Lent, families often give money
fonts for holy water at the doors of bedrooms, and during
saved by having simple meals to charitable organizations.
the month of May a Marian shrine may be set up in a corner
Also, soft pretzels continue to be served in some homes, a
of the home. The blessing of a new home, usually conducted
practice that originated in the Middle Ages when the shape
by a priest, is practiced by some liturgically oriented Chris-
of the pretzel was thought to resemble the crossed arms of
tian families of both East and West, with Eastern Christians
a person at prayer. Hot cross buns, another customary food
observing an annual renewal of the house blessing during the
of medieval origin, are served in some Christian homes on
period following the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany) on Jan-
the Fridays of Lent and during the last days of Holy Week.
uary 6.
Some form of grace, said daily at the main meal or at
Eastern Christian families continue their tradition of
each meal, is common among Christians, at least on special
creating intricately decorated Easter eggs to be included in
occasions. Also common among most denominations is the
a basket of foods (with sausage, butter, cakes, and other foods
practice of an adult or older member of the family hearing
proscribed during Lent), which is taken to the church and
a child’s bedtime prayers. Christian families observe the
blessed at the all-night Easter service and eaten at a holy
Lord’s Day (Sunday) in various ways. A festive meal is often
breakfast following that service on Easter morning. A similar
part of the day, which may be honored as a day of rest.
breakfast has become popular among some Western Chris-
Among some families of the nonliturgical traditions, family
tian families in recent years following the restoration of the
gatherings for prayer, often held early in the morning and
Easter Vigil service to its original time in the middle of the
consisting of Bible readings, hymn singing, and prayers by
night. Two unique Eastern Christian family customs prac-
a leader, are customary.
ticed during this season should be noted: (1) the bringing
Devout Christian families often say prayers for sick fam-
home of a lighted flame from the matins service of Holy Sat-
ily members. These prayer services can include the laying on
urday (held on Holy Friday evening) and the marking of the
of hands and anointing with oil by a priest (in the liturgical
form of a cross on the underside of every door lintel with
traditions) or by a layperson (in the nonliturgical traditions).
smoke from this flame; and (2) the blessing of and picnicking
These rites of anointing are usually reserved for the seriously
at the graves of departed relatives and friends on the Sunday
ill and dying in more conservative religious families. In the
following Easter Day.
Eastern tradition, a priest, or, among Western Christians, a
Many Western Christian families observe a similar me-
layperson or priest sometimes brings the Eucharist from the
morial custom, but in the autumn season rather than at Eas-
church to the sick person; in the less liturgically oriented
ter. Picnicking at the graves of the departed on November
churches the Lord’s Supper may be celebrated by an or-
2 (All Souls Day) is common especially among Hispanic
dained person in the sickroom.
Christians; visits to cemeteries on that day, or the following
Families of different denominations observe anniversa-
Sunday, are also made by members of various denomina-
ries of the deaths of family members and friends in various
tions.
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2400
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Eastern Christians continue the ancient practice of pre-
homes, although Twelfth Night parties on the eve of the
paring fruit on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
feast, a custom dating from the Middle Ages, continue to be
(August 6) and flowers on the Feast of the Dormition of
held or are being revived. In Hispanic cultures, January 6,
Mary (August 15) to be taken to the church for a special
known as the Day of the Three Kings, is a major feast, and
blessing. Some Western Christians have renewed a similar
families of Slavic extraction continue the centuries-old cus-
practice of bringing freshly baked bread to the church to be
tom of using blessed chalk to mark the doorways of their
blessed at Lammastide (the first two weeks of August).
homes with the numerals of the current year and the initials
of the Three Kings. Known as the Feast of Theophany
The Advent season encompasses immensely rich and
among Eastern Christians, January 6 celebrates the manifes-
varied family observances. The custom of the Advent wreath
tation of God’s presence in the world that was given at the
enjoys widespread popularity in the West. On the Advent
baptism of Jesus. Water, as the primal element representing
wreath, constructed from a circle of evergreens surmounted
all creation, is blessed in the churches and preserved by fami-
by four candles (usually three purple and one rose colored),
lies at home; the custom of the reverent drinking of some of
Christians light one additional candle each week during the
this blessed water by members of the family persists, and the
four weeks of Advent. In some families the wreath is lighted
priest uses the same water to bless the home on the tradition-
before the evening meal to the accompaniment of brief
al annual visit during this season.
prayers and often the singing of the Advent carol O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel. Among Western Christians three tradi-
Recent developments in Christian domestic religious
tional feasts during Advent are regaining the popularity they
observance include the adoption by some Christian families
had in earlier centuries: Saint Barbara’s Day (December 4),
of Jewish feasts. These include H:anukkah near the winter
when a dormant branch of flowering cherry, known as the
solstice, with its custom of lighting the menorah (an eight-
Barbara branch, is brought indoors and blooms on or near
branched candelabrum), and the feast of Purim in the spring,
Christmas Day; the Feast of Saint Nicholas (December 6),
when the story of Queen Esther is read aloud to the accom-
which is often celebrated with small gifts placed in the chil-
paniment of joyous noisemaking by children. Christian fam-
dren’s shoes left outside bedroom doors on the eve of the
ilies celebrating these festivals serve traditional foods, such
feast; and the Feast of Santa Lucia (December 13, usually the
as potato pancakes for H:anukkah and prune-filled three-
date of the earliest sunset of the year), which is observed with
cornered pastries for Purim. Of particular interest is the cele-
customs dating from pre-Christian times and features saf-
bration of the Seder (the Jewish Passover meal) in some
fron-yellow yeast buns, known as Lucia cakes, baked in the
Christian homes during Holy Week. As Christians rediscov-
form of a spiral sun.
er the centrality of Jewish Passover imagery to their own be-
liefs and practices, especially its relevance to the Eucharist,
Among Hispanic people the last nine days of Advent are
they have begun to extend invitations to family and friends
known as Posadas (“lodgings”). Children, portraying Mary
to celebrate a Seder with them annually; some families follow
and Joseph seeking shelter on their way to Bethlehem, go
the Jewish ritual strictly, while others adapt it in various
from door to door and are turned away repeatedly. Finally,
ways.
the last home welcomes them, which then becomes the site
of a joyful service and feast.
SEE ALSO Carnival; Christmas; Easter; Epiphany; Hal-
Some families honor the religious significance of the tra-
loween.
ditional Christmas tree by a ritual blessing of the tree. Often
they place a crêche or nativity scene under or near the tree
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and adorn it with other traditional decorations, such as can-
Much information on the domestic practice of European Catho-
dles and glittering tinsel.
lics up until recent times can be found in Pius Parsch’s The
Church’s Year of Grace, 5 vols. (Collegeville, Minn., 1953–
A festive family dinner on Christmas Eve is common
1959). Francis X. Weiser’s Handbook of Christian Feasts and
among many ethnic groups, often with a prescribed number
Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore (New
of courses (usually seven, nine, eleven, or twelve) limited to
York, 1958) deals more directly with domestic practices
fish or vegetable dishes. The fact that the day before Christ-
among Catholics of European heritage prior to the Second
mas was one of strict fast and abstinence in previous centu-
Vatican Council. No comparable texts exist on domestic
ries accounts for the tradition of a meatless festive meal. Eth-
practices among families of the nonliturgical traditions or of
nic variations abound at this Christmas Eve meal; among the
those of the Eastern Christian tradition, although Constance
better known is the Polish custom of the distribution by the
J. Tarasar’s The Season of Christmas (Syosset, N.Y., 1980)
head of the family of portions of a waferlike rectangle of un-
provides much information on family practices among East-
ern Christians for the period between November 15 and
leavened bread, known as oplatek, with prayers and good
February 2.
wishes for the holy season and the coming year.
The more recent contemporary trend toward self- or family-
The Feast of the Epiphany (traditionally celebrated on
generated ritual is discussed by Virginia H. Hine in “Self-
January 6 but observed by some denominations on a Sunday
Generated Ritual: Trend or Fad?” in Worship 55 (September
near that date) is little observed in most Western Christian
1981): 404–419. My book Passover Seder for Christian Fami-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: MUSLIM PRACTICES
2401
lies (San Jose, Calif., 1984) provides an example of the adap-
icance. Ritual purity (t:aha¯rah) is an essential precondition
tation of Jewish traditions among contemporary Christians.
for acts of worship. Things such as blood, certain bodily flu-
The bimonthly periodical Family Festivals (San Jose, Calif.,
ids, wine, pigs, and dogs are regarded as ritually unclean
1981–) offers numerous examples of contemporary adapta-
(najis). A person, place, or object that comes into contact
tions by Christian families of observances from diverse non-
with any of these must be properly cleansed in order to be
Christian religious traditions.
ritually pure (t:a¯hir). The state of ritual purity may be
New Sources
achieved by ritual washing (wud:u¯ E, ghasl) for personal clean-
Cox, Harvey Gallagher. Common Prayers: Faith, Family, and a
liness and by washing in running water or a sufficiently large
Christian’s Journey through the Jewish Year. Boston, 2001.
body of water for objects. Women are themselves often con-
Gutiérrez, Ramón, Salvatore Scalora, and William Beezley. Home
sidered ritually unclean because of menstruation, childbirth,
Altars of Mexico. Albuquerque, 1997.
and child care and must work hard at keeping themselves and
Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York, 1996.
their families, as well as their homes, appropriately clean.
Clothes to be worn for prayer and other religious observances
Restad, Penne L. Christmas in America. New York, 1995.
must be ritually pure. The vessels in which food and drink
Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Consumer Rites. Princeton, N.J., 1995.
are cooked and served should be scrupulously clean as well.
SAM MACKINTOSH (1987)
Some women devote a great deal of time and energy to these
Revised Bibliography
tasks: cleanliness is indeed next to godliness and often a pre-
requisite for it. In two h:ad¯ıths (traditional accounts), the
Prophet is reported to have drawn attention to the impor-
tance of ritual purity, saying “Purification is half of faith,”
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: MUSLIM
and “The key to Paradise is worship [s:ala¯t]: the key to wor-
PRACTICES
ship is purification” (M. M. Ali, A Manual of H:ad¯ıth, La-
Owing to the segregation of the sexes and the belief that a
hore, 1944, pp. 41–42).
woman’s primary roles are as wife, mother, and manager of
domestic affairs, the traditional Muslim home is largely the
The preparation and consumption of food also have re-
domain of women. Accordingly, many religious practices
ligious overtones. Bread, the archetypical food, is regarded
that occur within the home are performed exclusively by or
as a symbol of God’s generosity and must be treated with re-
facilitiated by women; these tend to be less formal and are
spect. Housewives take care not to dispose of uneaten bread
often placed in the realm of folk practice. None of the five
with other scraps; rather, it is fed to beggars or animals or
obligatory Muslim religious observances—the profession of
transformed into breadcrumbs for later cooking. Because cer-
faith, daily prayers, fasting, the pilgrimage, and almsgiving—
tain foods are said to have been preferred or recommended
is fundamentally bound up with the home. Indeed, public
by the prophet Muh:ammad, their preparation has religious
religious institutions and performances are generally the
merit. In Iran dates are said to have been recommended by
provinces of men. Women may attend the mosque and pub-
the Prophet as the first food to eat upon breaking the
lic religious gatherings, but their presence is seldom essential
Ramad:a¯n fast. Other dishes are prepared as the result of vows
and frequently discouraged. They often remain onlookers or
to particular saints or, for Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslims, to the ima¯ms; their
are relegated to separate areas where it is difficult to follow
distribution is regarded as a praiseworthy religious act. In ad-
the central activity, such as a sermon, in any detail. Thus
dition, entire meals are prepared for religious reasons and
women’s religious activities tend to take place in the home,
served at home. These include evening meals during the fast-
where they can exercise some control and express their religi-
ing month of Ramad:a¯n, to which the poor may be invited,
osity with a degree of freedom.
or ritual meals served in consequence of vows, such as the
THE HOME ENVIRONMENT. Even within the home, a
sufrahs in Iran. Women are expected to know when and how
woman’s behavior reflects on her family’s reputation in the
to prepare dishes that have religious significance: some Irani-
Muslim community. It is expected that she will be modest
an women, for example, recognize a different dish as appro-
and circumspect in her dress and behavior, keep a good
priate for each night of the month of Ramad:a¯n. The exact
home, and be careful in performing her religious duties.
round of meals is a matter of local tradition, known to the
Women are responsible for the protection of family health
women of a particular town or region. The careful avoidance
and well-being, which is achieved in part through vows and
of prohibited foods in cooking is equally important. As the
procedures to ward off the evil eye; both practices are popu-
primary guardians of their families’ Muslim identity, Chi-
larly regarded as Islamic. Women are also charged with the
nese Muslim women go to great lengths to avoid cooking
care of young children and must see to their religious up-
with pork and pork products in the midst of the non-
bringing.
Muslim, pork-eating Chinese majority.
As managers of the home, women are responsible for
Hospitality is considered one of the hallmarks of a good
creating and maintaining an environment conducive to
Muslim, and the burden of caring for guests falls chiefly on
proper Muslim behavior for all family members. Conse-
the shoulders of the host family’s women. Here too, this re-
quently, conventional domestic tasks take on religious signif-
sponsibility takes on particular importance in areas where
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2402
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: MUSLIM PRACTICES
Muslims are a minority and proper accommodations and
Women perform essential services to their families and
food are hard to find.
define themselves as good women in discharging their duties
RITUALS AND CEREMONIES. Specifically religious domestic
as Muslims, but the opportunity to socialize with other
observances for which time is set aside and special prepara-
women in preparing for and celebrating religious occasions
tions are made include QurDanic readings during Ramad:a¯n
doubtless constitutes part of the rituals’ attraction as well. By
and special sermons at which women may officiate. In Iran
participating in individual and group religious observances
and Iraq, Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslim women attend sermons combined
at home, women are able to express their religious sentiments
with mourning for the martyred ima¯ms, particularly on
in ways that suit them personally and are socially acceptable.
EA¯shu¯ra¯D (10 Muh:arram), which commemorates the seventh-
As women move into the public world of education, paid
century CE martyrdom of Imam H:usayn and other men in
employment, and politics, circumspect behavior at school
his family along with the imprisonment and mistreatment
and in the workplace is added to their responsibilities as rep-
of the women. The rituals may be sponsored by and for
resentatives of their families and their faith.
women; if sponsored by families and attended by men as
SEE ALSO EA¯shu¯ra¯D; Folk Religion, article on Folk Islam; Is-
well, separate areas are set off for the women.
lamic Religious Year; Rites of Passage, article on Muslim
Observances to mark regained health and answered
Rites; Worship and Devotional Life, article on Muslim
vows may take place at any time of the ritual year. Auspicious
Worship.
days, such as the Prophet’s birthday, are preferred. In Iran,
ritual dinners (sufrahs) are often held on such occasions. A
BIBLIOGRAPHY
sermon commemorating the martyrdom of the ima¯m or saint
An excellent introduction to the religious practices of Muslim
who answered the vow is followed by a dinner at which foods
women, with particular attention paid to women in Iraq, can
associated with the holy figure are served. Friends and family
be found in Robert A. Fernea and Elizabeth W. Fernea’s
join in preparation of the dinner, then celebrate the answered
“Variation in Religious Observance among Islamic
vow and take home some of the remaining blessed food for
Women,” in Scholars, Saints, and Sufis, edited by Nikki R.
their menfolk and children.
Keddie (Berkeley, 1972), pp. 385–401. Women in the Mus-
lim World, edited by Lois Beck and Nikki R. Keddie (Cam-
Many ceremonies marking rites of passage are held at
bridge, Mass., 1978), is a useful collection of articles; part 4,
home, and women play a major role in preparing for them.
“Ideology, Religion, and Ritual,” includes information on
Among the ceremonies marking important stages in Muslim
women in Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, and China. Fur-
life are the formal naming of a child, circumcision, wedding
ther material on the status, responsibilities, and views of
contract ceremonies, and the reading of the QurDa¯n over a
women in contemporary Muslim societies is presented in
body before it is taken away for washing and burial.
Women and the Family in the Middle East: New Voices of
Change, edited by Elizabeth W. Fernea (Austin, Tex., 1985).
In Ethiopia, Egypt, the Sudan, and the Arabian Penin-
A detailed explanation of ritual purity is provided under
sula women participate in za¯r ceremonies. Za¯r refers to both
“Taharah” in the Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, edited by
the belief in possession by spirits (jinn; sg., jinni) and cere-
H. A. R. Gibb and J. J. Kramers (Leiden, 1953). For infor-
monies designed to alleviate illness caused by spirits. The cer-
mation on food preparation and hospitality, see Aida Sami
emonies, which involve dancing and trance, often take place
Kanafani’s Aesthetics and Ritual in the United Arab Emirates:
at the homes of afflicted women. Women who attend do not
The Anthropology of Food and Personal Adornment among Ara-
feel that belief in the za¯r and its effectiveness conflicts with
bian Women (Beirut, 1983), esp. chap. 2, “Food Rituals,”
Islam. Jinn are mentioned in the QurDa¯n and are popularly
and chap. 10, “Islam, Rites of Hospitality and Aesthetics.”
identified with the spirits that can possess and trouble
See also Bess Ann Donaldson’s The Wild Rue: A Study of Mu-
hammadan Magic and Folklore in Iran (1938; reprint, New
people.
York, 1973). Women’s religious practices in Iran are dis-
The extent to which a woman is willing and able to par-
cussed in two articles in Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious
ticipate in group religious activities depends on her socioeco-
Lives in Non-Western Cultures, edited by Nancy Auer Falk
nomic status, her education, the attitudes of senior men and
and Rita M. Gross (San Francisco, 1980). Erika Friedl’s
women in her family, and her stage of life. For more obser-
“Islam and Tribal Women in a Village in Iran”
vant and less traditional women, legitimate religious activity
(pp. 159–173) provides an interesting contrast to the materi-
is determined by formal interpretations of religious law and
al on urban women in my article on sufrahs, “The Contro-
versial Vows of Urban Muslim Women in Iran”
includes formal religious education. Highly educated or
(pp. 141–155).
strictly observant Muslim women may regard certain rituals,
such as the sufrah or za¯r, as non-Islamic and avoid them.
Lucie Wood Saunders describes the involvement of two Egyptian
village women in za¯r ceremonies and includes references to
Denigrated practices are often viewed as vestiges of pre-
other articles on the za¯r in “Variants in Zar Experience in an
Islamic rituals. Iranian Sh¯ıE¯ı sufrahs, for example, somewhat
Egyptian Village,” in Case Studies in Spirit Possession, edited
resemble sufrahs displayed in Zoroastrian ritual contexts.
by Vincent Crapanzano and Vivian Garrison (New York,
Women bearing heavy responsibility for the care of young
1977), pp. 177–191. Fatimah Mernissi’s “Women, Saints
children, food preparation, and housework have little time
and Sanctuaries,” Signs 3 (1977): 101–112, offers a compel-
to attend religious gatherings.
ling discussion of women’s visits to local shrines in Morocco.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: HINDU PRACTICES
2403
Patricia Jeffery’s Frogs in a Well: Indian Women in Purdah
made of bamboo stakes, mats, cloths, and vegetable greenery.
(London, 1979), one of the few works on Muslim women
This structure will generally be tied to one or more green
outside the Middle East, studies the domestic life and reli-
branches, which serve symbolically as ritual center posts.
gious responsibilities of the women of sayyid families who ad-
Often these are further festooned with small pouches of
minister a shrine south of Old Delhi.
grain, suggestive either of household fertility or simply of
Elizabeth Fernea has also worked on a number of films that vividly
abundance. Like the tulasi plant, the ritual post functions as
present the role of religion in Muslim women’s lives. In par-
the axis mundi. Alternative expressions of the same idea take
ticular, A Veiled Revolution, by Fernea and Marilyn Gaunt
form through elaborate floor designs, complete with a pleas-
(1982, distributed by Icarus Films, New York), addresses the
ing vertical centerpiece. During the month of October–
issue of veiling in contemporary Egypt, and Saints and Spir-
its, by Fernea and Melissa Llewelyn-Davies (1979, distribut-
November, Hindus in Bengal traditionally put an oil lamp
ed by Icarus Films, New York), portrays personal dimensions
on a pole tied to the roof. Now often replaced by an electric
of religious experience among Moroccan women. Some
bulb, this light helps the ancestors see their way in an annual
Women of Marrakesh, by Llewelyn-Davies and Fernea (1977,
journey made across the sky. In South India similar lights are
Granada Films, London) provides a finely detailed look at
placed on the central pillar of the temple for the same period.
the lives of traditional women in Morocco.
These folk concepts utilize a pillar-of-heaven concept. In this
ANNE H. BETTERIDGE (1987)
way, Hindu homes symbolically link family and temple life
to ordered energy in the cosmos at large.
The Hindu home also shares its form with cosmic space
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: HINDU
by its customary orientation to the four cardinal points.
PRACTICES
Walls, doors, and even sleeping or eating locations inside are
The Hindu home provides a necessary center for all social
often identified in this manner. In Tamil-speaking areas peo-
and religious life. A man has not fulfilled his duties and obli-
ple say that, ideally, the main door of the house should face
gations to his ancestors unless he has been a householder. A
the rising sun. The building’s interior lines will then presum-
woman is considered to be auspicious and blessed while she
ably allow the passage of morning air and light through the
is married, and incomplete if she is not. Indeed, neither men
house in straight lines. Some orthodox homes in the South
nor women in Hindu society normally perform calendrical
actually have a large mirror that faces the eastern entry, where
or life-cycle rituals unless they are wedded and their spouses
a hall leading through the whole is not possible. This way
are still alive. The home is where the major turning points
the same effect is achieved in an illusory but still highly visual
in the life cycle (birth, marriage, and death) occur. Although
manner. Similar cosmic overtones govern other aspects of
practical considerations now make the hospital and the tem-
house layout. The family hearth, for example, recalls the sa-
ple possible alternative locales, Hindus still associate such
cred fire used in many Hindu rituals, just as a domestic well
major occasions with the family living quarters. Traditional
(if there is one) symbolically leads to the underworld. A typi-
domestic architecture, wherever possible, anticipates the cel-
cal Hindu residence also reserves space for the gods. The
ebration of these periodic and grand events at home.
household shrine can be as grand as a separate room or as
H
simple as a small picture or wall niche. Often a family’s favor-
OUSEHOLD OBSERVANCES. At a symbolic level, the house-
hold of a couple serves as a miniature of cosmic principles.
ite gods are pictured in poster form, but they can also be rep-
Ideally, a home should be laid out as a series of rooms sur-
resented in other, more traditional ways, such as by lamps,
rounding a single, larger courtyard. This is the same plan that
pots of water, or measures of grain.
astrologers use to depict the organization and movement of
No verbal terminology explicitly associates the parts of
planetary deities and that priests use in laying out a sacred
the house with parts of the body, yet the two are intimately
space for ritual purposes. Because of physical constraints, a
linked. Indeed, the human body is considered by many Hin-
shortage of proper building materials, and other economic
dus to be a temple of the Lord, just as the household living
and social concerns, contemporary Hindu homes in South
space is a shrine. Hence daily bathing is a key part of the
Asia frequently deviate from the traditional ideal. Nonethe-
Hindu toilet, and the body should be internally cleansed by
less, life in a modern house can still be linked, in several sym-
fasting in preparation for important events. Similarly, daily
bolic ways, to this basic design.
sweeping is essential to the maintenance of the house, as is
Where Vis:n:u is the prime deity it is common to have
the regular whitewashing or repainting of interior walls. The
a tulasi plant growing in the family courtyard. This plant,
use of a medicinal cow-dung wash on the floors is also part
treated as sacred, will always be tenderly cared for. Even
of traditional preparations for many ceremonial events. After
when the tulasi itself is missing, a distinctively shaped pedes-
such preliminaries, homes in many parts of India are further
tal intended for it often forms part of the basic household
decorated with powdered floor designs, ritual wall paintings,
layout. No exact parallel exists for homes where S´iva is the
bunches of specially tied leaves, or strings of flowers. These
foremost god. Nonetheless, there are other ways to mark off
adornments help protect a dwelling against evil spirits and
the symbolic center of family living space for special occa-
serve, as well, to beautify personal space. Similarly, a Hindu’s
sions. One common practice is to erect a square canopy
own body is frequently beautified with scented powders after
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2404
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: HINDU PRACTICES
bathing. Protective strings or amulets, and black eye paste,
that were observed during its preparation. Many Hindu men
can be added to ward off various unwelcome forces.
who travel, or who live alone for other reasons, learn to cook
for themselves.
In a striking way, images of fire and cooking further link
these two forms—the human body and the “body” of the
A somewhat similar division of labor by gender governs
home—within Hindu religious life. On the domestic hearth
worship at domestic shrines. Many Hindu women regularly
each day, foodstuffs are transformed through water and heat
tend a family altar, laying or hanging fresh flowers around
into consumable meals. Human digestion also provides a fire
the gods and saying prayers. In homes where elaborate daily
that refines and transforms food internally. Fire, for a Hindu,
rituals are performed, however, these are usually left to a se-
is itself a god (Agni), yet it is also the vehicle through which
nior male. Such intensive worship is by personal preference
offerings at domestic rituals are carried to other gods via an
and is generally associated with individual orthodoxy. It is
open flame and rising smoke. Food consumption is often
also common for families to conduct day-to-day rituals
seen as a parallel process that makes offerings to an internal
themselves but to hire a priest-specialist for the more elabo-
god. Thus all eating, but especially the partaking of full
rate work associated with honoring family gods during spe-
meals, is a semisacred activity. Orthodox Hindus bathe and
cial festivals or at key domestic events.
change into clean clothes before meals, and prefer not to talk
RELATION TO NONDOMESTIC OBSERVANCES. It would be
while seated for any significant feeding purpose. Many Hin-
incorrect to draw any sharp division between Hindu house-
dus are also sensitive about having maximum privacy at this
hold rites and nondomestic observances. The human body,
time. No one but an approved cook should tend the domes-
the domestic living space, and the public temple, as pointed
tic hearth, and no one but the eater should look at the meal
out earlier, are ritually similar. Worship relating to one, for
set before him. Because of the presence of an internal fire,
a Hindu, is often equivalent to worship at another.
the period reserved for food consumption is also a time of
transformation. The threat of mismanaging this process, and
Hospitality, another key theme, also runs through both
hence of subsequent spiritual and physical disorder, is always
temple and domestic events. The reception accorded special
present at such moments. Careful controls surround the eat-
household visitors has its own rituals of greeting, seating, and
ing process for this reason.
feeding. Gods are treated as household guests, while human
visitors may be treated like gods. Foods appropriately offered
Firm rules also govern body movements in the home.
a guest, as well as the sequence in which they are presented,
Because personal or household space should be respected and
have been codified in detail. In traditional circles even the
kept clean, shoes or sandals must always be left at the door.
serving dishes used to welcome guests are made of special
Furthermore, Hindus are very aware of the symbolism of ver-
metals and molded into special shapes. Details of gesture and
tical placement. The lowest floor of a house is reserved for
posture are also important when one is receiving visitors.
unclean visitors. Washermen or itinerant merchants sit or
Such gestures are sometimes carefully described in folktales.
stand there. Higher levels are reserved for honored guests and
Details of such hospitality rules, but not the principles, vary
for family members, while the very highest spots are used for
by region and by a family’s social or community status.
sacred shrines and for valued photos of deceased relatives.
One always sits and lies at a level lower than that allocated
For any Hindu, the house guest par excellence is the reli-
to these revered symbols. Similarly, much family etiquette re-
gious mendicant. Many devout, well-to-do people make a
volves around bowing to senior members, often touching
point of feeding ascetic wanderers daily. Family honor and
their feet. Women generally cover their shoulders (and in the
personal merit both increase with the generous giving of food
North, their heads) in the presence of certain relatives. Such
to one who has renounced the world. Popular religious leg-
gestures indicate an attitude of special respect. Correct male
ends tell of gods who become beggars in order to test a de-
behavior is similar. Men partially uncover themselves (legs,
vout householder. These holy persons challenge the donor,
head, chest) when performing services for pay, thus acknowl-
testing to see if he or she is willing to sacrifice personal abun-
edging inferior status, but cover up (at least their legs) to ex-
dance for religious devotion. In all such encounters divine
press deference to senior relatives and to gods.
grace enters the household with the guest’s presence, just as
a deity is thought to enter the household shrine during wor-
It is difficult to delineate male roles from female roles
ship. It is not uncommon, furthermore, to give foods that
in discussing domestic observances. In wealthy homes male
were first offered at the family shrine to strangers who later
servants often cook, but among close relatives it is usually
appear at the door.
women who tend the family hearth. An exception arises
when women in the house are menstruating, at which time
Public and domestic elements also come together in
they are not supposed to touch anything in the kitchen, or
other Hindu observances. One tradition, becoming more
indeed to even enter that room. If no other female relatives
and more popular at present, is the hymn-singing evening
are available, men may temporarily assume the task of food
among friends. This event can be held in a public temple,
preparation at this time. Hindus can also be quite particular
but it is also commonly organized in private. The partici-
about taking cooked food from strangers, since in such a case
pants either seat themselves facing a household shrine or use
they know little about the caste and pollution restrictions
an image taken from that altar as a centerpiece. Such gather-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: HINDU PRACTICES
2405
ings redefine space in a personal home, so that it becomes
POLLUTION. Hindu men and women both contract ritual
more like the space of the public temple.
pollution upon the death of close relatives. Complex rules
govern how long one is disqualified from participating in fes-
Hindu domestic rituals spill into the wider world in
tival events after a family funeral has taken place. Both sexes
other ways. A good illustration is provided by the popular
also suffer from temporary pollution after sexual intercourse
southern rite called Pon˙kal. This is the special boiling of raw
(requiring a bath) and after eating foods cooked by persons
rice (pon˙kal) on a festive occasion, and its subsequent offer-
of low caste (traditionally requiring additional acts of expia-
ing to one or more divinities. The symbolism of Pon˙kal car-
tion). Hindu women acquire pollution during childbirth and
ries with it many of the associations between body, home,
menstruation as well. The rules vary by caste, region, and the
shrine, and cosmos already mentioned. At an overt level,
general orthodoxy of the household as to the action and pre-
Pon˙kal transforms raw rice into a milky, mushy gruel that
cautions necessary in such circumstances. Most urban or ed-
is then offered to a god or goddess with a short ceremonial
ucated Hindus now consider some or all of these pollution
pu¯ja¯. In a third step, the same food is later distributed among
ideas outdated. The enforcement of such restrictions persists,
the key participants and eaten. At a deeper level Pon˙kal is
however, in many rural areas.
symbolically associated with the harvest of rice or the birth
of a child. In each of these three transformations there is both
The Hindu concept of pollution is still imprecisely and
careful control and the application of heat. In Pon˙kal the
incompletely understood by theorists, but it is known that
cooking is confined by a pot; in a field rice is ripened or
this idea interweaves, in complex ways, such elements as do-
cooked by the sun, there held to the earth in which it was
mestic precautions, detailed rules for social intercourse, and
planted; in gestation a child matures or “cooks” inside the
several concepts of danger. Pollution, for the Hindu house-
mother’s belly while still confined to her womb. The Pon˙kal
holder, involves a social misalignment, the loss of bodily sub-
ceremony is also linked to key calendrical festivals such as the
stances, or a lapse in key biological functions. Either matter
Tamil New Year, where yet a further temporal transition is
is out of place or primal energies have been misaligned. Pol-
celebrated.
lution-linked restrictions serve to prevent such disorders
from spreading. As in the Pon˙kal ceremony, unusual admix-
The pon˙kal is generally cooked in new pots, often on a
tures and the heat that they generate are a necessary force in
new stove. Normally it is prepared in the open, on a house
transformation. Such processes, though necessary, must be
threshold, or at the border of a temple compound. In this
properly contained and monitored in order to confine the
sense cooking pon˙kal is a little like cooking at a picnic. The
chaos produced as their by-product. Hindu domestic cere-
place is unusual and the method of preparation slightly dif-
monies symbolize the need for regulation and control. They
ferent from normal. There is also a special ritual involved in
thus ensure a fruitful channeling of vitalizing and heating
the cooking, whereby each pot must boil up and spill out in
forces of many kinds.
an auspicious direction, but not substantially overflow. This
rice-cooking ritual may be performed at home and the prod-
SEE ALSO Rites of Passage, article on Hindu Rites.
uct directly offered to deities there, or it may be prepared in
an open temple yard by women from separate households.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
It will then be offered to a publicly enshrined god or goddess.
Two classical sources of great importance on domestic matters are
The rite of Pon˙kal thus moves a key domestic activity out
The Dharma´sa¯stras, best summarized by P. V. Kane in Histo-
of the inner sanctum of the kitchen and into more marginal
ry of Dharma´sa¯stra, 5 vols., 2d ed., rev. & enl. (Poona, 1968–
and more open spaces. The preparation of this most vulnera-
1975); and The Laws of Manu, translated by Georg Bühler,
ble of food substances, boiled rice, is also opened up on such
Sacred Books of the East, vol. 25 (1886; reprint, Delhi,
occasions to an unusual degree of public view. Both these
1964). No recent sourcebook provides a reader with the same
changes suggest the temporary merger of domestic with
colorful detail on a full range of Hindu domestic practices
wider human domains.
and at the same time charts an overview of first principles.
Current works, however, do give a better idea of day-to-day
If the cooking of pon˙kal involves a relaxation of the dis-
household observances. An in-depth discussion of cooking,
tinction between household and temple, it is also a key ritual
gastronomy, and food exchange, for example, can be found
in events that mark the overlap of a household social group-
in Ravindra S. Khare’s The Hindu Hearth and Home (Dur-
ing with other key dimensions of community structure. A
ham, N. C., 1976). A more technical treatment of a broad
share of Pon˙kal rice, for example, is often offered to immedi-
range of domestic and temple ritual is provided by Carl
ate family ancestors. Furthermore, cooking pon˙kal is a com-
Gustav Diehl in Instrument and Purpose: Studies on Rites and
mon ritual ingredient of festivals celebrated by much larger
Rituals in South India (Lund, 1956). Another excellent de-
scription of household ceremonies, especially those celebrat-
groupings of kinfolk, such as whole lineages, clans, or sub-
ing the life cycle of individuals, is to be found in Margaret
castes. The preparation of pon˙kal is also a big event at calen-
S. Stevenson’s Rites of the Twice Born (London, 1920). A still
drical celebrations for the village goddess. Here members of
earlier work by Abbé Jean Antoine Dubois, Hindu Manners,
many different castes participate overtly. By joining in such
Customs and Ceremonies, translated by Henry K. Beauchamp
an event, they define their common membership in a unit
(Oxford, 1906), describes the whole range of Hindu ceremo-
larger than the hamlet or single community.
nials he encountered between 1792 and 1823, during his 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
2406
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHINESE PRACTICES
journ in southern India as a Catholic missionary. Though
and orientation are particularly important in a farmhouse,
highly judgmental in places, the ethnographic detail he in-
which can be built without regard to streets or nearby
cludes retains its value to this day. Much contemporary in-
structures.
formation about rural domestic practices in the North is con-
tained in Ruth S. Freed and Stanley A. Freed’s Rites of Passage
An urban house, of course, must be built on an empty
in Shanti Nagar (New York, 1980). Information on central
lot and must face a street, so the opportunities for geomantic
India can be found in Lawrence A. Babb’s The Divine Hier-
siting and orientation are correspondingly restricted. But in
archy: Popular Hinduism in Central India (New York, 1975),
both urban and farm houses, the internal proportions of con-
and traditions in the Tamil-speaking area of South India (es-
struction are another important consideration in assuring a
pecially those surrounding the Pon˙kal ceremony) are dis-
harmonious dwelling. Such measurements as the size and
cussed by Louis Dumont in Une sous-caste de l’Inde du Sud;
placement of gates and doors, the arrangement of rooms,
Organization sociale et religion des Pramalai Kallar (Paris,
and, in particular, the placement of the ritual altar are
1957).
deemed to affect the relations between a house and its inhab-
New Sources
itants. Accordingly, not only geomancers but also carpenters
Bühnemann, Gudrun. Puja: A Study in Smarta Ritual. Vienna,
must be familiar with correct proportions; carpenters’ manu-
1988.
als contain both explicit instructions for the proper propor-
Rodrigues, Hillary. Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The
tioning of a house and an occasional hint at how to cause
Liturgy of the Durga Puja with Interpretations. Albany, 2003.
discord in an enemy’s family by purposefully building the
Tachikawa, Musashi. Puja and Samskara. Delhi, 2001.
house incorrectly.
BRENDA E. F. BECK (1987)
Disharmony in family relations is sometimes attributed
Revised Bibliography
to bad geomantic siting or improper proportioning or layout
of a house. To correct such spatial dissonance, it is not un-
common for people to erect a screen to prevent the direct
entry of certain undesirable forces or spirits, reorient a door
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHINESE
so it will face the domestic altar at a different angle, or per-
PRACTICES
haps build or take down a wall in order to restore harmoni-
Chinese domestic rituals are rich and varied, differing from
ous relations between a house and neighboring structures. In
place to place and over time. We know most about the obser-
extreme cases, houses geomantically diagnosed as incurable
vances of the southeastern provinces (Kwangtung, Fukien,
may be abandoned in favor of more salubrious sites.
and Taiwan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; what
follows reflects this imbalance in our knowledge. Widespread
Not only must a house harmonize with its spatial sur-
hints and a few fuller accounts of other provinces and other
roundings, it must also be occupied at a harmonious, and
periods, however, give us confidence that, despite consider-
thus auspicious, time. A family moves into a new house dur-
able variation in specific rituals, the same basic themes have
ing a two-hour period selected by a horoscope reader (who
shaped domestic ritual throughout China for several hun-
may double as a geomancer) to harmonize with the hours,
dred years.
days, months, and years of birth of as many of the family
members as possible. The actual act of moving is marked by
The Chinese word jia means both “house” and “fami-
lighting incense to the household gods and ancestors on the
ly,” and everywhere in China there exists a close ritual con-
new altar. The full celebration of moving into a new house
nection between the building and its inhabitants. It is conve-
is an elaborate one, often complete with major ritual sacri-
nient to divide Chinese domestic rituals into three types:
fices, officiated by Daoist or other priests, and including a
those concerning the house itself, those dealing with the life
large feast for relatives, friends, and neighbors.
cycle of the family and its members, and those calendrical
rites that are ordinarily performed by the household corpo-
Even after taking all prudent geomantic and horoscopic
rately, or by one or more household members for the benefit
precautions, a family may still find its house a source of do-
of the family as a whole.
mestic disharmony. Certain rituals are designed to protect
against this or to remedy it should it occur. Families who
RITES OF THE HOUSE. The placement and spatial propor-
have moved into a previously occupied house will protect
tions of a house are believed to affect greatly the fortunes and
themselves against the spirit of the original owner, who is
well-being of its inhabitants. Before building, then, care is
thought to reside in the house: on certain calendrical holi-
taken to site and orient a house in a way favorable to those
days this spirit, Ti-chi-chu (“lord of the foundation”), is wor-
who will live in it. This is done by selecting a site, if possible,
shiped with a small offering. In many areas, exorcisms, per-
with the advice of a geomancer, a specialist in the technique
formed by Daoist or other priests, are employed either as
of feng-shui (“wind and water”). A geomancer can tell from
precautions against possible haunting or in order to banish
the topography of a potential site and its surroundings how
a ghost or spirit thought to be causing trouble.
well the “cosmic breaths” or “natural forces” (qi) set up by
building the house will harmonize with those of the natural
In addition to such malevolent spirits, more benevolent
environment and the potential inhabitants. Geomantic siting
or protective spirits also reside in the Chinese house. 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
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHINESE PRACTICES
2407
local gods and family ancestors are enshrined on an altar,
treated as being in a state of ritual pollution, and is confined
usually a prominent feature of a central parlor or another
to the house. During that month, the room where the birth
auspiciously located room in the house. They are the object
took place is also considered polluted, as is anyone who en-
of many of the calendrical and life-cycle rituals described
ters it. For a first son, a first-month feast often marks both
below. Besides these, the house also plays host to some lesser
the lifting of the state of pollution and the introduction of
spirits, the most important of which is Zaojun, the so-called
the child to the community; for subsequent sons and for
kitchen god or, more accurately, “lord of the stove.” The
daughters the ritual is often omitted.
stove god is a low-ranking divinity, but many people consid-
er him important because he is a sort of spy, sent by the Jade
A mother with young children has special ritual duties
Emperor in Heaven to report on the activities of household
incumbent on no one else; she makes daily prayers and offer-
members. As there is one stove for each household, even if
ings to Chuangmu (“bed mother”), a low-ranking spirit
there is more than one household in a dwelling, each house-
whose special concern is the health and growth of young chil-
hold also has its own stove god, represented either by a pic-
dren. Closely associated with the bed, the bedroom, and
ture or by his title written on red paper and pasted on the
motherhood, the Bed Mother is ignored by other members
wall near the stove. This provides the stove itself with a cer-
of the household; she is also, unlike such domestic spirits as
tain sanctity. Thus, polluting substances (such as laundry,
the Lord of the Stove, unaffected by pollution. After a
which is presumed to contain menstrual blood) cannot be
woman’s children are all of school age or older, she will no
placed on or hung in front of the stove, any more than these
longer need the special protection of the Bed Mother, and
substances can come in contact with the altar. In addition,
will cease the prayers and offerings to her.
in some areas people ritually send the stove god back to
Since no rituals have marked puberty or other coming
Heaven to make his report on one of the last days of each
of age for Chinese boys or girls in late traditional or modern
lunar year; sometimes they place a bit of sticky candy on his
times, the next ritually important event in the life cycle of
lips so that his report will be brief and inarticulate, or alterna-
the family is marriage. Marriage, like the other life-cycle ritu-
tively, a bit of opium to soften his mood. Some families occa-
als mentioned above, is closely connected with both the fam-
sionally offer incense to a minor divinity associated with the
ily group and the house itself. After the initial negotiations
household pigs or other livestock; rituals and stories sur-
and matching of horoscopes of the prospective spouses, the
rounding this spirit are not as important or as elaborated as
first major ritual is the engagement, in which members of the
those concerning the stove god.
groom’s family (but in most areas, excluding the groom him-
L
self) deliver the betrothal payment (pinjin) and other gifts to
IFE-CYCLE RITUALS. Domestic rites and celebrations ac-
company almost every stage in the life cycle of family mem-
the bride’s family, and the groom’s mother places a ring on
bers, including pregnancy, birth, early childhood, marriage,
the bride’s hand. A few weeks or months later, at a horos-
family division, death, and the passage to ancestral status. At
copically determined day and time, the marriage itself takes
each stage, both the family as a social unit and the house as
place. The day before the wedding, members of the groom’s
a ritually charged space play an important part.
family go to the bride’s house to exchange some ritual pres-
ents for the bride’s dowry, which they then proceed to take
When a woman becomes pregnant, a spirit known as
home with them. Part of the dowry—the clothing, jewelry,
the “fetus spirit” (taishen) comes into being. This spirit,
cosmetics, and bedroom furniture—is installed in the “new
thought by some to be the soul of the unborn child, is not
room” (xinfang), ideally a newly built room, but minimally
yet firmly attached to the fetus, but migrates around the
a newly outfitted one, in which the new couple will sleep.
house, changing its position from day to day. By reading a
The next visit of the groom’s relatives fetches the bride her-
ritual calendar, people can discern, for example, that the
self, who comes in splendor in a red sedan chair, and at a
fetus spirit will be in the bedroom today, on the roof tomor-
ritually auspicious moment is carried into the bedroom, the
row, in the front door the day after, and so on. No one wor-
act marking the actual wedding. Later, she and her new hus-
ships or propitiates the fetus spirit, but all must be careful
band worship the ancestors of his house, symbolizing the in-
not to offend it for fear of harming the unborn child.
corporation of the bride into her marital family. A feast fol-
Thoughtlessly driving a nail into a wall where the fetus spirit
lows, introducing the family’s bride to relatives and
is staying, for example, may cause the child to be born with
neighbors.
a harelip; sawing or cutting cloth in the fetus spirit’s current
room can cause missing limbs or digits; moving things that
With all sons bringing their brides to live as part of a
have long lain still at a time when the fetus spirit is in that
joint family, the household will, inevitably, grow too large
room can cause spontaneous abortion.
and its conflicts too intense to remain together as a joint cor-
poration. The eventual establishment of separate household
Aside from such considerations, the pregnant woman
groups involves not only the equal division of property and
has but few ritual restrictions placed on her. Birth ordinarily
residential space among the brothers but also the division of
occurs in the woman’s bedroom. The blood of birth, like the
ritual responsibilities. After the households are divided,
blood of menstruation, is polluting, and thus offensive to the
brothers may continue to share an altar for household gods
gods. For one month following the birth, a new mother is
and ancestors, but they can no longer share a stove or a stove
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2408
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: CHINESE PRACTICES
god. A simple ritual of division involves a final common
tral tablets. Depending on region and on individual prefer-
meal, followed by division of the ashes from the original
ence, there may be a separate tablet for each ancestor or mar-
stove and the consecration of a new stove, with a new stove
ried pair of ancestors, there may be a single tablet-cabinet,
god, for each of the newly independent households.
containing rectangular wooden strips, one for each ancestor
or pair, or the names of all the ancestors may be written on
Death, like other phases in the life cycle, is an affair both
a broad, rectangular wooden board. In any case, the names
of the family and of the house. A person’s death places all
of individual ancestors are always written on the tablets, to-
family members, as well as the house (whether or not the per-
gether with their birth and death dates, and often the num-
son died at home), in a state of ritual pollution for a month,
ber of sons erecting the tablet. Exactly which deceased fore-
and initiates the most elaborate and sustained series of life-
bears are worshiped as ancestors varies from household to
cycle rituals. At a ritually auspicious time, a priest or monk,
household, but the general rule is that a family should wor-
depending on local tradition, places the body in its elaborate-
ship the household head’s father and mother, father’s father
ly painted wooden coffin, which remains in the family’s par-
and father’s mother, and so on back three to five generations
lor until the burial. A paper soul-tablet with its own incense
from the current head. In fact, however, other ancestors are
burner is set up on a special table adjacent to the family’s
often included. For example, if a woman with no brothers
altar. Copious offerings of food and incense are made night
marries into the family, she will bring her ancestors’ tablets
and day until the funeral, which must occur at a ritually op-
with her, and if a man marries into his wife’s family, he may
portune time, and thus may be delayed several weeks. The
also bring his parents’ tablets, or more if he has no brothers
funeral involves the participation of many people besides the
to take care of the tablets at home. Ancestors with surnames
family members, and as such, is not a purely domestic obser-
other than that of the primary ancestral line of the household
vance. But the connection to the house remains strong; the
cannot be worshiped together with the primary ancestors;
two ritually crucial acts of the funeral, those that must be per-
they must have their own incense burner, and may be rele-
formed at proper times on pain of severe illness for family
gated to a separate, subordinate altar.
members, are carrying the coffin out of the house and lower-
ing it into the grave. The family pays all funeral expenses,
Daily devotions at the altar include incense offered
including a modest feast for a large gathering of relatives,
morning and evening, first to the gods and then to the ances-
neighbors, and friends. Those who come to pay their respects
tors. Often, a third stick of incense is placed in a burner just
help offset the cost by bringing the family gifts of money.
outside the front door of the house and offered to dangerous
ghosts. Any family member may perform these simple rites;
After the funeral the temporary, paper spirit-tablet re-
in practice the duty most often falls to the senior woman.
mains on its table for a few weeks, after which it is moved
to the family altar, where it is still worshiped separately from
More complex offerings to various spirits may come on
the wooden tablets of previously deceased ancestors. After
the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, correspond-
one or two years, a carved wooden tablet replaces the paper
ing roughly to the dates of the new and full moon, respective-
one, and the deceased takes a place among the ancestors of
ly. These offerings may include presentation of food and
the household, to be worshiped as part of the domestic ritual
burning of ritual money as well as the customary lighting of
calendar.
incense. But the truly elaborate domestic offerings are re-
CALENDRICAL RITUALS OF THE FAMILY. Calendrical rituals
served for special occasions of three kinds. First are the holi-
center around the altar, which is usually divided into two
days, which are dispersed differently through the Chinese
halves. The left-hand part (which stands at the observer’s
lunar and solar years from one region to the next; only the
right when facing the altar) is the ritually superior half, and
New Year and the Mid-Autumn festival, celebrated the fif-
enshrines the household gods. These may include deities of
teenth day of the eighth lunar month, approach universality.
Buddhist origin such as Guanyin or one of the Buddhas; his-
Second are the birthdays of individual gods, on which occa-
torical heroes, such as the Three-Kingdomsera fighter Guan-
sions households may worship individually or as part of a
gong or one of the more local heroes; or purely traditional
larger, community celebration. Finally, there are the death-
gods of the folk religion, such as Tudigong (“earth spirit”).
day anniversaries of the family’s individual ancestors; these
There is usually a scroll hanging on the wall behind the gods’
are of course different for each family.
half of the altar, depicting whatever gods are popular locally.
For any of these three sorts of calendrical occasions, each
Families who feel particular devotion to an individual god
family will prepare and present its own offerings, which al-
may in addition place that god’s carved wooden image on
ways include incense, food, and paper money, and may also
the altar in front of the scroll. A single incense pot serves for
include other paper offerings, such as clothing for the ances-
offerings to all the gods or, if need be, to a particular god on
tors, and on some occasions firecrackers. Offerings always
his or her birthday or other special occasions, such as the an-
differ according to the particular occasion and according to
niversary of the day when the god saved a family member’s
which spirits are being worshiped. As a general rule, gods re-
life or aided in some other extraordinary way.
ceive large, symbolic offerings, such as whole fowl or meat
The subordinate side of the altar, the right side (which
cuts and “gold” paper money. Ancestors receive smaller and
stands at the observer’s left), is the seat of the family’s ances-
more intimate presentations, including food cooked,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JAPANESE PRACTICES
2409
chopped, and ready to eat, along with silver spirit money and
New Sources
in some places clothes or other practical goods, burnt in
Benn, Charles D. Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang
paper form. Ghosts, worshiped in many places in the seventh
Dynasty. Westport, Conn., 2002.
lunar month, receive massive and impersonal offerings, such
Ebery, Patricia Buckley. Confucian and Family Rituals in Imperial
as uncooked foods, and always the lowest denomination of
China: A Social History of Writing about Rites. Princeton,
paper money.
N.J., 1991.
Goodrich, Anne Swann. Peking Paper Gods: A Look at Home Wor-
A calendrical ritual of any sort represents the discharge
ship. Nettetal, 1991.
of a family’s ritual obligations, either alone or along with
other households in the community. At the same time, ritual
Gunde, Richard. Culture and Customs of China. Westport, Conn.,
2002.
occasions of this sort provide families with the opportunity
to socialize and to strengthen ties with other families. All
Hayes, James. South China Village Culture. New York, 2001.
food offerings are eventually eaten, and all but the simplest
Holzman, Donald. Immortals, Festivals, and Poetry in Medieval
are elaborate and expensive enough to be suitable for enter-
China: Studies in Social and Intellectual History. Brookfield,
taining guests. Even on the private occasion of an ancestor’s
Vt., 1998.
death-day, a family will invite a few relatives or neighbors to
Knapp, Ronald G. China’s Living Houses: Beliefs, Symbols, and
a ritual meal, and on a major community holiday or god’s
Household Ornamentation. Honolulu, 1999.
birthday every house in a village or a city street will be full
STEVAN HARRELL (1987)
of guests from outside the local community. On these holi-
Revised Bibliography
days, as on so many other private and public occasions, the
Chinese family affirms its good standing and its unity
through ritual.
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JAPANESE
PRACTICES
SEE ALSO Chinese Religion, article on Popular Religion;
The Japanese dwelling once was a sacred place in which im-
Chinese Religious Year.
ages and symbols of numerous deities and spirits were the
object of purely domestic ritual. Over the past century, and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The best single source of modern analyses of Chinese domestic ob-
with increasing acceleration since the end of World War II
servances is Arthur P. Wolf’s edited collection Religion and
in 1945, both the number of objects of veneration and the
Ritual in Chinese Society (Stanford, Calif., 1974). Particularly
frequency of the rituals directed toward them have declined
informative for domestic rites are Wolf’s “Gods, Ghosts, and
precipitously. Despite the decline, there nevertheless remain
Ancestors,” pp. 131–182; Stephan Feuchtwang’s “Domestic
ceremonies and practices that speak directly to the notion
and Communal Worship in Taiwan,” pp. 105–129; and
that the dwelling and its occupants will enjoy the protection
Wang Songxing’s “Taiwanese Architecture and the Super-
of an array of tutelary deities and spirits so long as they are
natural,” pp. 183–192. A good general account, including
fittingly propitiated.
interesting descriptions of exorcistic rituals, is David K. Jor-
dan’s Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors (Berkeley, 1972). Maurice
In analyses of Japanese religious behavior it is common
Freedman’s writings are notable for their comprehensiveness
to distinguish three general domains: Buddhism, Shinto¯, and
and wealth of ideas, particularly those concerning ancestor
folk beliefs and practices. Although the categories are by no
worship and geomancy. See particularly his Lineage Organi-
means exclusive, this tripartite division affords a useful way
zation in Southeastern China (London, 1958), Chinese Lin-
of organizing a discussion of change. The postwar period has
eage and Society: Fukien and Kwangtung (London, 1966), and
seen the near eclipse of domestic practices belonging to the
many of the articles collected and reprinted in The Study of
realms of folk religion and Shinto¯. Both were closely bound
Chinese Society: Essays by Maurice Freedman, edited by G.
up in the annual cycle of agricultural and fishing communi-
William Skinner (Stanford, Calif., 1979). These latter in-
ties, whose way of life has been irreversibly altered by the
clude not only treatments of ancestor worship and geomancy
but rich accounts of marriage rituals as well. The most de-
massive social and economic transformation of the twentieth
tailed and satisfying study of ancestral rites, including those
century. Shinto¯, furthermore, has long been deprived of its
in the home, is Emily M. Ahern’s The Cult of the Dead in
privileged position as the vehicle for the government’s efforts
a Chinese Village (Stanford, Calif., 1973).
to construct a national cult centered on emperor worship.
All the above sources concern the three southeastern provinces of
Rites in the Buddhist idiom alone survive as the chief focus
Taiwan, Kwangtung, and Fukien; accounts of domestic rites
of domestic religious observances.
in other areas of China consist primarily of descriptions of
Before turning to these Buddhist rites, however, it is ap-
festivals and of life-crisis rituals, with little analysis. Good de-
propriate to survey briefly the rapidly vanishing world of
scriptions for Shantung can be found in Martin C. Yang’s
household deities and spirits, for only a generation or two
A Chinese Village: Taitou, Shantung Province (New York,
1945) and Reginald F. Johnston’s Lion and Dragon in North-
ago their benign presence was thought essential to the well-
ern China (New York, 1910); for Hopei, there is much useful
being of the domestic unit. Few dwellings would have con-
material in Sidney Gamble’s Ting Hsien; A North China
tained all of them, given the very great regional variation in
Rural Community (New York, 1954; reprint ed., Stanford,
these matters, but it is safe to say that most would have had
Calif., 1968).
at least one.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2410
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JAPANESE PRACTICES
Known by many names, the yashikigami (house deity)
cation of the house site and the ridgepole ceremony are still
was found in one form or another throughout the country.
widely observed.
Customarily enshrined in the corner of the house yard or on
There remain three other major domestic deities associ-
other land owned by the family, it served as the tutelary deity
ated directly with the dwelling itself, kama no kami (deity of
of the household or the community and in some places was
the stove), suijin (deity of the well), and benjo¯-gami (deity of
thought to represent the spirits of the ancestors of the con-
the toilet), all of whom received offerings primarily at the
temporary population. The rites associated with the house
New Year. The first was enshrined on a shelf, where offerings
deity were essentially Shinto¯ in character, but lacked any
of rice, tea, sakaki branches, candles, and incense were made.
connection with the state cult. Equally common, perhaps,
The well god, represented by a stone image or a small clay
was the toshi no kami or toshigami (year deity), enshrined in
shrine set near the well or pump, received offerings of flow-
the Shinto¯ style on a shelf set high on the wall of the main
ers. The toilet god has been of little importance in most areas
room of the house. As the name implies, it was venerated
for a long time, but was given a little rice at the New Year.
chiefly at the New Year, at which time its vaguely tutelary
Of the minor household deities, many were worshiped in
powers were invoked to see the family safely through the
limited areas or by certain kinds of households. It would be
coming year.
impossible to enumerate them here.
Once almost universal but quite rare since the disestab-
Until the end of World War II, which ended in a defeat
lishment of state Shinto¯ was the practice at the New Year and
so catastrophic that the carefully crafted structure of national
on some other festival occasions of hanging a scroll in the
Shinto¯ was totally discredited, most houses had a shelf for
tokonama (alcove) of the main room of the house bearing the
Shinto¯ deities called the kamidana. Made of plain wood and
characters Tensho¯ ko¯taijin (i.e., the name Amaterasu
bearing unglazed pottery vessels for offerings, it held a mis-
O
¯ mikami, the sun goddess, founder of the imperial line). Of-
cellany of amulets (fuda or omamori), souvenirs from Shinto¯
ferings to this premier deity of the Shinto¯ pantheon consisted
shrines, and most particularly a talisman from the imperial
of rice or glutinous rice cake and branches of the sakaki tree.
shrine at Ise, seat of the imperial ancestors. At the end of the
Less ordinarily enshrined in homes than in places of business,
war many people took down the kamidana or failed to incor-
Inari, usually referred to as the fox god but in reality the god-
porate one into new dwellings built in the postwar period.
dess of rice, was found in some house yards. In other areas,
Nonetheless, the practice of collecting amulets from both
an image of the bodhisattva Jizo¯ (Skt., Ks:itigarbha), the pro-
Shinto¯ shrines and Buddhist temples remains a vigorous one,
tector of children, was installed somewhere outside the house
and almost anyone on a visit or pilgrimage will purchase
and, like Inari, was made the object of occasional offerings.
them to bring back to keep in the house, on his or her per-
Many houses contained a pair of images of two other
son, or, more recently, in the family automobile. These amu-
deities thought to bring good fortune. Ebisu, usually depict-
lets are for easy childbirth, traffic safety, curing alcoholism,
ed with a large fish under his arm, and Daikoku, shown
success in school examinations, and a host of other mundane
standing or sitting astride bales of rice and holding a hammer
concerns. Never the object of veneration or offerings, they
from which money and other valuables flow, were placed to-
are thought to serve a generally protective function.
gether on a separate shelf, and offerings of food were made
Most of the rites associated with the household deities
to them periodically. Daikoku appeared in another form as
so far discussed are performed rather casually. An offering
well, as the largest of the four main pillars supporting the
may be made by anyone who thinks of it, although the wife
roof of the house. Called daikoku bashira, this post was the
of the family head or the grandmother of the house is most
central point of the geomantic diagram from which all auspi-
likely to discharge this function as part of her domestic du-
cious and inauspicious directions were calculated. Although
ties. Very different are the rites associated with veneration of
no offerings were made to it, care was taken that the pillar
the spirits of the deceased members of the household, for in
was not defaced and that no one leaned disrespectfully on
this context the family coalesces as a worshiping unit. These
it.
rites center on the butsudan (Buddhist domestic altar), a cab-
inet with doors that normally stands in the main room of the
Ritual of a combined folk and Shinto¯ character is also
dwelling. The altar doors are opened only when a ceremony
a feature of the construction of the house itself. The site itself
is held or someone wishes to speak to the ancestral spirits.
is protected by the placing of emblems of purity and sanctity
Although the altar may contain certain Buddhist parapher-
called shimenawa (twisted straw rope) and gohei (folded
nalia, perhaps an image of a bodhisattva or scroll bearing a
white paper streamers). When the ridgepole is raised, a priest
picture or sacred text, it is first and foremost the repository
or the head carpenter, accompanied by the head of the house
for the memorial tablets of deceased family members. For
and his sons, performs rites designed to secure the good for-
this reason it is called the ancestor shelf (senzodana) in many
tune of the family and from atop the structure throws down
parts of the country.
rice cakes to family members, helpers, and neighbors. The
ceremony is followed by a feast featuring numerous dishes
On major occasions of worship, priests may be called
symbolizing prosperity, longevity, and felicity. Less widely
to the home to conduct the services, but all the other ceremo-
practiced in cities than in the countryside, both the sanctifi-
nies for the ancestral spirits are performed by members 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
DOMESTIC OBSERVANCES: JAPANESE PRACTICES
2411
family. They may assemble as a collectivity or approach the
well as somber and inauspicious ones, were observed in the
altar individually, but on such occasions the presence of a rit-
context of a concern for the continuity of the domestic unit,
ual specialist is not required. Because the matter is rather
celebrating the addition of new members through birth or
complicated, it will be well at this juncture to lay out the vari-
marriage, changes in their social position, and transition to
ety and kinds of circumstances that lead the living members
the realm of ancestorhood. Today, however, women give
of the household to interact ritually with the spirits of their
birth in hospitals and weddings are held in commercial estab-
dead kin.
lishments. Only the funeral service remains a household
event.
Particular attention is given the ancestral spirits on four
occasions in the annual ritual cycle: New Year, the vernal and
The annual round is punctuated by the observance of
autumnal equinoxes, and Obon (Festival of the Dead) in the
a combination of secular and religious occasions on which,
middle of July or August by the Western calendar. By far the
as in the life-cycle events, special foods are prepared by the
most important of these is Obon, when the spirits are wel-
women of the house and ritual objects specific to the event
comed back to the house and given a feast by the members
are displayed. There is still considerable variation in the
of the family. They remain for three days and are sent off
scheduling of these rites and practices, but the establishment
again with gifts of food and flowers. On all four of these
of a series of national holidays and adoption of the Western
calendrically determined occasions, the collectivity of the an-
calendar in rural and urban areas alike have served to encour-
cestors is worshiped by the collectivity of the family. Other
age standardization of the annual cycle. Many official holi-
occasions for domestic worship center on the deceased indi-
days and not a few informal practices retain some vestiges of
vidual. Special offerings and su¯tra reading mark every sev-
religious elements, although for the most part these have be-
enth day of the first forty-nine days after death. Memorial
come much attenuated in recent years.
services are held at the altar in a sequence of anniversaries of
the person’s death (nenki or shu¯ki), generally the first, third,
The annual ceremonial calendar begins with the great
seventh, thirteenth, seventeenth, twenty-third, twenty-
three-day celebration of Osho¯gatsu, the New Year, which is
seventh, thirty-third, fiftieth, and one-hundredth. Depend-
essentially a family-centered holiday. Decorations are placed
ing on the family’s sectarian affiliation and preferences, one
in and around the dwelling and offerings made to the ances-
of the last three anniversaries may terminate the series of ob-
tors and the deities. In many rural areas January 15 is marked
servances for the deceased as an individual. In addition to
as Kosho¯gatsu, Little New Year, by the preparation of special
these prescribed rites, rice, tea, and other foods are placed in
foods and other observances. On March 3 families with
the altar daily, usually at the time of the morning meal. For
daughters celebrate Momo no Sekku or Hina Matsuri, Girls’
the more elaborate and formal rites, most people deem it ap-
Day, by setting up displays of dolls and making or purchas-
propriate that the family head officiate, but at all others any
ing special cakes and preparing a meal of auspicious dishes.
member may make the offerings. Inasmuch as responsibility
The vernal equinox, Shu¯bun no Hi, today observed on
for care of the ancestors is conceived as an extension of a
March 21, is a religious occasion for cleaning the family
woman’s domestic role, it is not surprising to find that adult
graves and venerating the ancestors. On May 5 families with
female members of the family are heavily involved in the
sons mark Boys’ Day, Tango no Sekku or Sho¯bu no Sekku,
daily offering of food and drink to the ancestral spirits, who
by flying cloth banners and carp streamers over the house,
are clearly thought to remain in need of care and sustenance.
displaying objects such as miniature helmets, spears, swords,
and masculine dolls, and as on Girls’ Day, preparing or pur-
More casual, less routinized contact between the living
chasing special cakes. Since the end of World War II, both
and the domestically enshrined ancestors is also common.
these days have been combined into Children’s Day, May 5,
Individuals may petition the ancestors for assistance in some
but the old distinction is still widely observed.
endeavor, report successes to them and apologize for failures,
seek their advice rhetorically by raising problems and ex-
Tanabata, the Star Festival, now held on July 7 for the
pressing doubts about the best course of action in some mat-
most part, is the occasion for practicing calligraphy and set-
ter, and offering them a portion of gifts of food brought to
ting up branches of living bamboo festooned with decora-
the family by visitors. At such times no formal offerings are
tions in the yard of the house. The Festival of the Dead,
made, but such interaction, in which conventional rather
Obon, is the paramount religious holiday. Formerly held on
than ritual speech is used, clearly supports the contention
the thirteenth to the fifteenth days of the seventh lunar
that, as David W. Plath (1964) has put it, the Family of God
month, it is now observed in July in some areas and in Au-
is the family and the dwelling the site of the most intense
gust in others. The autumnal equinox, Shu¯bun no Hi, like
religious activity in which most Japanese ever engage.
the vernal, is an occasion for veneration of the ancestral spir-
its. The annual cycle formerly concluded with Setsubun, the
Until recent times the house was also the site of births,
eve of Risshun, first day of the old solar year. Today it falls
weddings, and funerals, as well as a number of other events
out of sequence about February 3. Each family member eats
marking stages in the life cycles of its members. Each was
a number of boiled beans equal to his or her age in years and
marked by the preparation of ceremonial foods and the dis-
tosses roasted beans outside the house with the cry “Oni wa
play of ritual objects. Auspicious and festive occasions, as
soto, fuku wa uchi” (“Devils out, good fortune in”). Like
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2412
DOMINIC
many of the formerly religious occasions, Setsubun increas-
DOMINIC (1170–1221), Christian saint and founder of
ingly is regarded as an observance children will particularly
the Order of Friars Preachers, popularly known as the Do-
enjoy.
minicans. Born at Caleruega in Old Castile, Spain, of parents
With the passage of time, many of these festive occa-
of the lesser nobility, Domingo de Guzmán received his early
sions, which formerly played such a significant role in the life
education for the clerical state from his archpriest uncle be-
of the household, will continue to fade in importance, and
fore going to Palencia to study arts and theology from 1186
their meaning will be lost. Already most young Japanese have
until 1196. In the latter year he became a canon regular of
seen them performed in the traditional manner only in cos-
the reformed cathedral chapter of his home diocese of Osma,
tume dramas on television or read about them in accounts
where he was ordained to the priesthood and spent the next
of life before World War II. Nonetheless, the core of domes-
seven years. A diplomatic mission to Denmark in 1203
tic ritual concerned with the care of the ancestors of the
brought Dominic, as the traveling companion of his bishop,
house remains the bedrock on which rests what is left of the
Diego d’Acebes, into contact with the Albigensian, or Catha-
sacred character of the domestic unit in Japanese society.
rist, movement in Languedoc.
This dualist heresy, which had its origin in the teachings
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of the Persian religious thinker Mani (216–276), had come
In the interest of encouraging further reading, only sources in En-
to western Europe from the Bogomils of Bulgaria, spreading
glish are cited here. For treatments of the annual ceremonial
along medieval trade routes in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
cycle, household deities and spirits, and other religious prac-
tices centering on the family dwelling and its residents, see
turies. The Albigensians (the name derives from the city of
Richard K. Beardsley, John W. Hall, and Robert E. Ward’s
Albi, near Toulouse) offered a viable religious alternative for
Village Japan (Chicago, 1959); Ronald P. Dore’s City Life in
many men and women in southern France who were disen-
Japan: A Study of a Tokyo Ward (Berkeley, 1958); John F.
chanted with the institutional church, and the austere lives
Embree’s Suye Mura: A Japanese Village (Chicago, 1939); Ed-
of the Albigensian teachers, known as the perfect, often stood
ward Norbeck’s Takashima: A Japanese Fishing Community
in marked contrast to the wealth and immoral behavior of
(Salt Lake City, 1954); and Robert J. Smith’s Kurusu: The
the Roman Catholic clergy.
Price of Progress in a Japanese Village, 1951–1975 (Stanford,
Calif., 1978). These topics are also dealt with in two impor-
Confronted with a profound challenge to Catholic
tant articles: Hiroji Naoe’s “A Study of Yashiki-gami, the
teaching and authority, Innocent III (1198–1216) had en-
Deity of House and Grounds,” in Studies in Japanese Folk-
listed the services of the Cistercians as preachers among the
lore, edited by Richard M. Dorson (Bloomington, Ind.,
Albigensians. When Dominic and Diego arrived at the papal
1963) and Michio Sue-nari’s “Yearly Rituals within the
court in 1205 on their way home to Spain, after the unsuc-
Household: A Case Study from a Hamlet in Northeastern
cessful completion of their Danish mission, Innocent sent
Japan,” East Asian Cultural Studies 11 (1972): 77–82. Do-
them to join the Cistercian preaching mission. The nine
mestic veneration of the ancestors is discussed in detail in my
years of Dominic’s preaching among the Albigensians
study Ancestor Worship in Contemporary Japan (Stanford,
Calif., 1974), which includes an exhaustive bibliography on
(1206–1215) constituted the germinating period for his un-
the subject. An excellent succinct statement concerning the
derstanding that the ecclesial crisis represented by the Albi-
meaning of the ancestral rites is David W. Plath’s “Where the
gensian movement could be met only by a group of doctrinal
Family of God Is the Family: The Role of the Dead in Japa-
preachers who would proclaim the gospel and live in apostol-
nese Households,” American Anthropologist 66 (April 1964);
ic poverty. While in Languedoc, Dominic established a form
300–317.
of religious life for a group of converted Albigensian women
New Sources
at Prouille. This first community of Dominican nuns
Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hid-
marked the beginning of countless ways in which women
den Legacy of Material Culture. Berkeley, 1997.
over the centuries would come to share in and help create
Kato, Etsuka. The Tea Ceremony and Women’s Empowerment in
the Dominican vision.
Modern Japan: Bodies Re-Presenting the Past. New York,
In 1215 Dominic gathered his first companions in Tou-
1994.
louse, and with the approval of Bishop Fulk they began to
Mizuta, Kazuo. The Structures of Everyday Life in Japan in the Last
preach and live a communal religious life within the diocese.
Decade of the Twentieth Century. Lewiston, N.Y., 1993.
Dominic’s vision, however, extended far beyond the confines
Perez, Louis G. Daily Life in Early Modern Japan. Westport,
of Languedoc. Hence he accompanied Fulk to the Fourth
Conn., 2002.
Lateran Council in 1215 to obtain papal approval for his
Pitelka, Morgan, ed. Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History, and Prac-
dream of a band of doctrinal preachers available to serve the
tice. New York, 1994.
universal church wherever there was need. Innocent III ap-
Sand, Jordan. House and Home in Modern Japan: Architecture, Do-
proved of Dominic’s idea in principle, but since the council
mestic Space, and Bourgeois Culture, 1880–1930. Cambridge,
had just forbidden the establishment of any new religious or-
Mass., 2003.
ders, the pope told him to return when he and his compan-
ROBERT J. SMITH (1987)
ions had selected an already approved rule under which they
Revised Bibliography
would live.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOMINICANS
2413
Dominic and the first friars chose the rule of Augustine,
Dominic fell ill during a preaching tour in Lombardy
the rule under which Dominic had already lived as a canon
after the meeting of the general chapter of 1221, and he died
regular, supplemented with legislation borrowed from the
in Bologna (where he is buried) on August 6, 1221. In 1234
Premonstratensians and modified in ways appropriate to
he was canonized by Gregory IX (1227–1241), and he is
their new circumstances. In a series of three bulls between
commemorated in the Roman calendar on August 8. The in-
December 1216 and February 1217, Honorius III (1216–
fluence of Dominic perdures in the shared vision of a reli-
1227) officially approved Dominic’s plan for a universal
gious family of men and women dedicated to preaching the
preaching brotherhood and addressed its members as “the
gospel to all people while living in a community that is com-
Order of Preachers.”
mitted to common prayer and simplicity and whose mem-
In 1217 only four years remained of Dominic’s life, but
bers are jointly responsible for their life and mission.
they were to be years of intense activity in which he set forth
the basic design for the Order of Preachers with bold strokes.
SEE ALSO Dominicans.
Since Dominic believed that doctrinal preaching was re-
quired to meet the spiritual needs of men and women in an
BIBLIOGRAPHY
increasingly urban and academic culture, he saw study as es-
The most scholarly and reliable biography of Dominic is the work
sential to a universal preaching mission. Upon his return
by M.-H. Vicaire, O.P., Saint Dominic and His Times, trans-
from Rome in 1217, Dominic dispersed the first sixteen fri-
lated by Kathleen Pond (London, 1964). The documents
ars gathered in Toulouse throughout Europe, sending seven
that constitute the primary sources for Dominic’s life have
been collected by Francis C. Lehner, O.P., in Saint Dominic:
of them to establish a religious house at the University of
Biographical Documents (Washington, D.C., 1964).
Paris. From the dispersal in 1217 until the spring of 1220,
Dominic was on the road, preaching, visiting the friars he
THOMAS MCGONIGLE (1987)
had sent out, gathering new members for the order, founding
new houses, and seeking continued papal support for the
work of the preachers.
DOMINICANS. The popular name of the Order of Fri-
Dominic’s thought has survived not in his writings, for
ars Preachers (Ordo Praedicatorum, abbreviated O.P.) was
only a few of his letters are extant, but rather in the formative
derived from the name of the order’s founder, Domingo de
guidance that he gave to the first two general chapters of the
Guzmán (1170–1221), generally called Dominic. In France
order in 1220 and 1221. The idea of a general chapter was
the Dominicans were once known as Jacobins, from their
not unique to Dominic; begun by the Cistercians in the pre-
priory of Saint Jacques at the University of Paris, and in En-
vious century, it had become the common form of unifying
gland they were known as Black Friars, from the black man-
and promoting the life of a religious order. Dominic, howev-
tles that they wore over their white habits.
er, saw the general chapter not as a gathering of abbots but
as an assembly of brothers elected by their peers who would
Along with the Franciscans, the Dominicans constitute
legislate for the common good. In Dominic’s vision the mas-
the heart of the mendicant friar movement of the thirteenth
ter of the order was to be the center of unity on the universal
century. After the renaissance of the twelfth century, the
level, the provincial on the regional level, and the prior on
presence within medieval society of a growing number of
the local level. But the friars themselves, functioning through
urban-dwelling and literate laypeople, critical of and often
the general, provincial, and local chapters, were to assume
alienated from the institutional church, posed a great pasto-
responsibility for carrying on the life and mission of the
ral problem. The secular and religious clergy at the beginning
order.
of the thirteenth century seemed ill equipped to meet the
Under Dominic’s dynamic leadership, the chapters of
spiritual needs of an urbanized laity and unable to cope with
1220 and 1221 established the basic constitutional frame-
the rapid spread of the Albigensian and Waldensian heresies
work that would ensure constant flexibility in adapting the
in the cities of southern France and northern Italy.
order’s preaching mission to diverse situations. They gave a
Between 1215 and 1221, Dominic with papal approval
primary place to study as essential to doctrinal preaching,
founded a religious order whose members would not be
embraced mendicant poverty, provided for dispensations
bound by monastic stability but would be itinerant doctrinal
from the constitutions when necessary so as not to impede
preachers, living a life of poverty in community and educated
preaching or study, and universalized the mission of the
to minister to the spiritual needs of a literate urban laity. The
order by establishing eight provinces in western Europe. The
presence of the Dominicans at the burgeoning universities
chapters of 1220 and 1221 brought Dominic’s vision to life:
of Europe established a mutual relationship that would have
an order of preachers whose preaching would flow from a life
profound consequences for the history of European thought.
of study and common prayer, lived in a community of broth-
From the local priory, which was seen as an ongoing theolog-
ers professing the vows and being jointly responsible,
ical school for preachers, to the great centers of study at Paris,
through a chapter system of representative government, for
Oxford, Bologna, and Cologne, the houses of the order con-
a universal preaching mission in cooperation with the bish-
stituted a vast educational network. Albertus Magnus (1193–
ops and with the papacy’s protection and support.
1280) and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), with their monu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2414
DOMINICANS
mental achievements of utilizing the insights of Aristotelian
events that inaugurated the Reformation, and Dominicans
thought in the formulation of a new Christian philosophical
were to be found both joining the ranks of the Reformation
and theological synthesis, represent the best of the Domini-
preachers and defending the old faith before and after the
can tradition of study at the service of preaching the gospel
Council of Trent (1545–1563). Although religious changes
in ever new and challenging milieus.
in Europe caused the disappearance or decline of the Domin-
The same creative élan that marked the Dominican
ican provinces in northern Europe, seven new provinces were
presence at the great university centers of Europe was also
founded in Central and South America. Dominican mission-
manifest in missionary activity. Within the first hundred
ary activity in the New World was rendered illustrious by the
years of their existence, the Dominicans had established mis-
preaching of Louis Bertrand (1526–1581), by the charitable
sions in Scandinavia, the Baltic area, eastern Europe, Greece,
work of Martín de Porres (1579–1639) and Juan Macias
Persia, the Holy Land, and North Africa.
(1585–1645), and by the struggles of Bartolomé de Las
Casas (1474–1566) to protect the Indians from the exploita-
Dominican emphasis on doctrinal preaching led popes
tion of Spanish colonial officials.
and bishops to use the order in the work of the Inquisition.
This darker aspect of Dominican history is somewhat coun-
Although the order numbered between thirty and forty
terbalanced by the positive impact that the order’s model of
thousand friars and nuns in forty-five provinces in the seven-
government by elected representatives had upon the emerg-
teenth century, and Thomism flourished under such distin-
ing parliamentary system of Europe.
guished commentators as John of Saint Thomas (1589–
1644), much of the outward structure of the order was swept
From its earliest days the Order of Preachers embraced
away during the difficult period from 1789 to 1848. Under
not only priests, student brothers, novices, and lay brothers,
the impulse of the French Dominican preacher Jean-
all of whom constituted what came to be called the first
Baptiste-Henri Lacordaire (1802–1861) and the outstanding
order, but also contemplative nuns (the second order) and
leadership of Vincent Jandel, seventy-third master of the
women religious and laypeople living in the world (the third
order (1855–1872), the Dominicans entered upon a new
order). The first order grew rapidly in the first hundred years
spring in the mid-nineteenth century that ultimately pro-
of the order’s existence. In 1277 there were 12 provinces and
duced in the early decades of the twentieth century the bibli-
404 priories with about thirteen thousand friars whereas in
cal scholar Marie-Joseph Lagrange (1855–1938) and the
1303 there were 18 provinces and 590 priories with about
Thomistic theologians Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–
twenty thousand friars. Because the Black Death took a great
1964) and Juan Arintero (1860–1928).
toll in the middle of the fourteenth century, the number of
Dominican friars probably never exceeded thirty thousand
Dominican theologians Yves Congar, Dominic Chenu,
at any one time during the Middle Ages.
and Edward Schillebeeckx were leaders in the new theologi-
cal movement that flourished after World War II in Europe
The monasteries of Dominican second-order nuns,
and culminated in Vatican II. The renewal of the order in
which numbered 4 during the last years of Dominic’s life,
accordance with the norms of the council began with the
increased to 58 in 1277, 141 in 1303, and 157 in 1358.
publication of the new constitutions written at the general
Munio of Zamora, seventh master of the order (1285–1291),
chapter held at River Forest, Illinois, in 1968. The four sub-
drew up a rule in 1285 for lay men and women who wished
sequent general chapters have continued the renewal process
to be Dominicans while continuing to live in the world. It
and given special emphasis to new forms of preaching and
is impossible to estimate how many men and women shared
to the modern media of communication, the ministry of so-
the Dominican life and mission as members of the third
cial justice, and the development of the order in South Amer-
order, but Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), mystic and doc-
ica, Africa, and Asia. In 1974 the concept of the first, second,
tor of the church, stands as an eloquent witness to the third
and third orders was replaced by that of the Dominican fami-
order’s profound influence upon medieval society.
ly. New emphasis was given to the common mission of the
The German Dominicans Meister Eckhart (1260–
men and women of the order to preach the gospel, while rec-
1327), Johannes Tauler (1300–1361), and Heinrich Suso (c.
ognizing the diverse ways in which the ministry of preaching
1295–1366) were leaders in the fourteenth-century mystical
is carried out by the clerical, religious, and lay members of
movement, but like all other religious orders the Dominicans
the order.
experienced a considerable loss of members and a marked de-
Over the past seven centuries 18 Dominican men and
cline in observance and morale as a result of the Black Death.
women have been canonized, and 334 members of the Do-
Raymond of Capua, twenty-third master of the order (1380–
minican family have been beatified. Furthermore, 4 popes,
1400), inaugurated a reform movement in the last decades
69 cardinals, and several thousand bishops have been drawn
of the fourteenth century that resulted in the renewed life of
from the Dominican order to the service of the universal
the order in the fifteenth century, exemplified by Antoninus
church. In 2000, the Dominican family throughout the
of Florence (1389–1459), Fra Angelico (1387–1455), and
world included 5,171 brothers in solemn vows, 4,672 priests,
Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498).
and 477 lay brothers. In 1983 there were 4,775 nuns in 225
The Dominicans Johann Tetzel (1465–1519) and
cloistered monasteries, 40,816 women religious in 140 con-
Thomas de Vio Cajetan (1469–1534) played key roles in the
gregations, and 70,431 laity or secular Dominicans.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DÖMÖTÖR, TEKLA
2415
SEE ALSO Albertus Magnus; Catherine of Siena; Dominic;
of the first modern Hungarian folklorists and who was killed
Eckhart, Johannes; Las Casas, Bartolomé de; Savonarola,
by the Nazis, she gave a detailed picture of the work before
Girolamo; Tauler, Johannes; Thomas Aquinas.
World War I of the Hungarian Section of the Folklore Fel-
lows in organizing the rich Hungarian folklore collections.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dömötör’s monograph on Hungarian folk beliefs is a
The most scholarly history of the Dominican order from its begin-
careful work. She avoids the use of such basic religio-
nings to the Reformation is The History of the Dominican
Order, 2 vols., by William A. Hinnebusch, O.P. Volume 1
scientific concepts as the term mythology as regards the Hun-
is titled Origins and Growth to 1500 (New York, 1966); vol-
garians. Contrary to many Finno-Ugric scholars, she prefers
ume 2, Intellectual and Cultural Life to 1500 (New York,
historical interpretations of folklife and belief and is reluctant
1973). Hinnebusch’s untimely death in 1981 prevented his
to say anything about “Hungarian shamanism.” In the intro-
completing two further volumes that would have taken the
duction she lists the previous attempts to describe the “an-
history of the order from the Reformation to the present.
cient Hungarian religion,” but in general she finds uncon-
However, a concise summary of the material planned for the
vincing their reconstructions and historic stratifications
two final volumes can be found in his work The Dominicans:
concerning the ancient Hungarian “mythology” or “reli-
A Short History (New York, 1975).
gion,” because in such works “the scope of speculation re-
The publication of two works edited and translated by Simon
mains very wide indeed” (1982, p. 42). When Hungarians
Tugwell, O.P.—Early Dominicans (New York, 1982) and
adopted the Christian faith (during the reign of King Ste-
On the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers by Jordan of Saxo-
phen I, 997–1038), the old pattern of social organization dis-
ny (Oak Park, Ill., 1982)—have provided excellent selections
integrated, to be replaced by the emergence of a feudal social
of primary documents necessary for an understanding of the
structure. According to Dömötör, Hungarian medievalist
early history of the Dominican family. Both works also con-
tain superb introductions to the sources of Dominican spiri-
historians have interpreted the true historic data related to
tuality.
beliefs and customs according to their own expectations. Re-
garding the time of the Reformation, she discusses “diabolic
New Sources
beings,” evil-eye cases, and witches. The witch trials existed
Borgman, Eric. Dominican Spirituality. New York, 2001.
in Hungary until 1768, and their pattern does not signifi-
Conrad, Richard. The Catholic Faith: A Dominican’s Vision. New
cantly modify the general European picture. At the time of
York, 1994.
the Enlightenment a tendency toward teaching the people
THOMAS MCGONIGLE (1987)
not to trust superstitions appeared.
Revised Bibliography
Dömötör did not address the later sociohistorical strati-
fication of Hungarian folk beliefs. She wanted to draw an
overall picture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
DÖMÖTÖR, TEKLA (1914–1987) was a Hungarian
The major chapters of her description are: animistic beliefs
folklorist and pioneering scholar of folk religion in the Hun-
(mythical beings, metamorphosis, ignis fatuus, “fair lady,”
garian context. Born in Budapest, Hungary, she studied En-
“fair maid” and fairies, revenants and ghosts, demons of na-
glish and German philology at the Pázmány Péter University
ture, giants and dwarfs, the devil and his accomplices, Lucy,
in Budapest from 1932 to 1936. Her Ph.D. dissertation
malevolent spirits, bogeymen, demons of disease, change-
(1937) was about German medieval ritual drama. She be-
ling, werewolf, dragon, snake, and other mythical animals
came a university teacher in 1953, then was professor and
and plants); the “cunning folk” (people with special skills);
chair of the folklore department in Budapest—the universi-
healers and their cures; magic (and divination); the magical
ty’s first woman chairperson and professor—from 1973 to
power of words (incantations and prayers); man and nature
1984. Her primary field of research was the history of Hun-
(creation of the earth and weather lore); laicized traditions
garian theater and Hungarian folk customs and folk beliefs.
of the church (popular religion), pilgrimages, and sects; and
Beginning in the 1960s she participated in international con-
the living and the dead (grave posts).
ferences and societies of European folklore. In 1985 she won
As is evident from these contents, Dömötör’s book does
the Herder Prize for fostering comparative folklore research
not give a deep historical analysis and does not follow any
in central Europe.
system of phenomenology of religion. The order of the sever-
Dömötor’s major works are devoted to Hungarian folk
al subchapters in the book remains unexplained. In fact the
calendar customs and Hungarian ritual poetry, including ref-
differences between old traces of “mythology,” folk beliefs,
erences to folk beliefs and folk legends. Extending her earlier
superstitions, and forms of everyday popular religion are not
popular books, she wrote the first new summary on Hungari-
distinguished or systematized. Dömötör was afraid of mak-
an folk beliefs (1981 in Hungarian, English translation
ing any terminological or theoretical suggestions or conclu-
1982). Dömötör wrote a biographical sketch about János
sions. The fear of giving concess to mystical or nationalistic
Honti (1910–1945), the closest friend of her husband, Ala-
interpretation (of the primordial Hungarian religion) para-
dár Dobrovits, professor of Egyptology at the Budapest Uni-
lyzed the systematization of Hungarian worldview studies.
versity. In this biographical sketch of Honti, who was one
On the other hand, most of the data Dömötör refers to are
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2416
DONATISM
historically correct, put into European context, and without
gence into history in 180, the North African church had
boasting speculations. In particular she refers to the results
been a church of martyrs. Its members believed themselves
of Géza Róheim, Vilmos Diószegi, Éva Pócs, and Mihály
to be under the continuous guidance of the Holy Spirit. For
Hoppál but with idiosyncratic restrictions. Superfluously she
many, the ideals of purity, integrity, and zeal for martyrdom
stresses the importance of the social context, whereas in fact
took precedence over that of universality. Under Cyprian’s
she was never a follower of any social or historical interpreta-
guidance, the church had decided that a valid sacrament
tion of the beliefs. (Except for some slogans, she was never
could not be administered by a cleric in a state of sin or to
a Marxist either.) Empiricism and eclecticism prevail in her
one who was outside the church. Congregations should sepa-
studies on Hungarian folk legends and folk customs. Dömö-
rate themselves from a priest who was a sinner. In addition,
tör wrote the short entry “Hungarian Religion” in the first
in the latter part of the third century, the less romanized
edition of The Encyclopedia of Religion, however, without any
province of Numidia had become a separate province of the
reference to gender problems.
church, and its primate had acquired the right of consecrat-
ing each new bishop of Carthage. Now the bishops of Nu-
SEE ALSO Hungarian Religion
midia were eager to assert the claim of their province in the
government of the North African church.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Balázs, Géza, and József Hála, eds. Folklór, életrend, tudomány-
These factors helped to consolidate opposition to Caeci-
történet: Tanulmányok Dömötör Tekla 70. születésnapjára.
lian, and in 312 he was condemned to deposition by a coun-
Budapest, 1984. A Festschrift in honor of Dömötör’s seven-
cil presided over by the primate of Numidia. The emperor
tieth birthday, in Hungarian, without a detailed biography,
Constantine, however, supported Caecilian, put a consider-
and without any bibliography.
able sum of money at his disposal, and exempted from mu-
Dömötör, Tekla. Hungarian Folk Beliefs. Budapest, 1977. Trans-
nicipal levies clergy loyal to him. In April 313, the opposition
lation of A magyar nép hiedelemvilága. Good illustrations and
appealed to Constantine, outlining their complaints against
references.
Caecilian and requesting arbitration from bishops in Gaul,
Dömötör, Tekla. János Honti, Leben und Werk. Folklore Fellows
as Gaul, they claimed, had not suffered in the persecution.
Communications no. 221. Helsinki, 1978.
Dömötör, Tekla. Táltosok Pest-Budán és környékén. Budapest,
Long-drawn-out legal processes ensued. Constantine
1987. Novelistic stories about her life.
first delegated the opposition’s complaint to Pope Miltiades,
Dömötör, Tekla. Hungarian Folk Customs (1983). Budapest,
himself an African, but on the rejection of the pope’s deci-
1988. Updated edition of a popular book.
sion in favor of Caecilian (October 5, 313) by the opposi-
Dömötör, Tekla, ed. Népszokás, néphit, népi vallásosság. Budapest,
tion, summoned a full council of Western bishops at Arles
1990. For this volume on folk customs, folk beliefs, and pop-
on August 1, 314, to decide the issue. The opposition, now
ular religion in the new Hungarian “academic” handbook of
led by Donatus of Casae Nigrae in southern Numidia, reject-
folk traditions, she wrote a chapter on the research history
ed this decision also. Only after the acquittal of Felix of Ap-
of Hungarian folk beliefs (pp. 501–526), the same text as in
thungi in February 315, another appeal, and the dispatch of
the first chapter of Hungarian Folk Customs (1988), in En-
a commission of bishops to Carthage did Constantine con-
glish, pp. 21–75.
clude that Caecilian was innocent; he pronounced judgment
Magda, S. Gémes. “Dömötör Tekla önálló mu˝vei.” Néprajzi
Hírek 16 (1987): 105–106. Includes an incomplete bibliog-
in that sense on November 10, 316.
raphy.
Persecution (317–321) failed to destroy the Donatists,
VILMOS VOIGT (2005)
as they were now known. Under Donatus’s leadership they
became the majority party among North African Christians,
and this predominance was only threatened temporarily by
DONATISM is the name given to the schism that divid-
the exiling of Donatus by the emperor Constans in 347/8.
ed the North African church from around at least 311 until
Under the emperor Julian the Donatist leaders returned in
the end of the sixth century. The immediate cause was the
strength. Their leader was now a cleric named Parmenian
refusal of part of the clergy and congregations of Carthage,
who was not a North African but described as a “Gaul or
supported by bishops from Numidia, to accept the election
Spaniard.” As bishop of Carthage, until his death in 391/2,
of the archdeacon Caecilian as bishop of Carthage in succes-
he witnessed Donatism at the height of its power in North
sion to Mensurius. It was claimed that one of Caecilian’s
Africa. His death, however, was followed by schism between
consecrators, Felix of Apthungi, had been a traditor (i.e., one
his followers. The new bishop of Carthage, Primian, was
who had handed the scriptures to the authorities during the
supported by the Numidians but opposed by Maximian, a
Great Persecution of 303–305) and was therefore unworthy.
descendant of Donatus who represented more moderate ten-
It was also claimed that Caecilian had maltreated confessors
dencies within the church.
in prison at Carthage by preventing food supplied by well-
The Maximianist schism was contained and unity with-
wishers from reaching them.
in the Donatist church restored at the Council of Bagai on
In the background of the schism, however, were impor-
April 24, 394. Four years later, however, one of the principal
tant theological and nontheological issues. Since its emer-
Donatist leaders was implicated in the revolt against Emper-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DONATISM
2417
or Honorius by the native chieftain, Count Gildo. On its
they were protesters. Church and state must always be sepa-
failure, the Donatist church faced attack by the North Afri-
rate. Martyrdom must be accepted as a Christian duty. As
can catholics, now ably led by Aurelius, bishop of Carthage,
far as the Donatist was concerned, the conversion of Con-
and Augustine of Hippo. Augustine took advantage of the
stantine might never have taken place. In addition, Dona-
fact that nearly all Christendom had remained loyal to Caeci-
tism, unlike any other Christian movement in the Roman
lian and hence regarded his Catholic successors as the true
Empire, gave scope for revolutionary stirrings among the
bishops of Carthage. In addition, by their practice of rebap-
peasantry, for it expressed the peasants’ hopes for the great
tizing converts the Donatists rendered themselves liable to
reversal of material fortunes that would presage the millenni-
the antiheretical laws of the emperor Theodosius. Moreover,
um. Its forceful repression by church and secular authorities
the extremist Donatists and social revolutionaries known as
also provided precedents for the persecution of heresy in the
Circumcellions, who since 340 had been terrorizing the
Middle Ages and in the Reformation and Counter-
landowners of the day and the Catholic population in gener-
Reformation periods.
al, were considered a menace to civil authority. Augustine
Material remains of Donatism are still to be seen in
persuaded the government of the emperor Honorius to pro-
North Africa, especially in Numidia, where the great church
mulgate edicts banning the Donatists in February and March
of Bishop Optatus of Timgad (388–398) is an outstanding
405 and finally in May 411 maneuvered them into a confer-
monument to Donatism at the height of its power. Many
ence with the Catholics under an imperial commissioner,
Donatist chapels have been found in rural sites of Roman
Marcellinus, to decide what party was the “catholic church”
and Byzantine date in Numidia. Some Donatist literature
in North Africa.
has survived, notably the circular letter written by Bishop Pe-
In the previous twelve years Augustine had written a se-
tilian of Constantine to his clergy about 400; it is preserved
ries of tracts designed to show that there was no historical
in Augustine’s Contra litteras Petiliani. Tyconius was a
justification for the schism and that rejection of universality
Donatist biblical exegete of first caliber whose work was used
as the standard of catholicism as well as erroneous teaching
extensively in the early Middle Ages by orthodox writers such
on the church and sacraments made the Donatists heretics.
as Bede. Finally, Donatism found expression in peasant art
In addition, Bishop Aurelius’s yearly conferences of Catholic
forms, especially in woodcarving. These art forms often in-
bishops of Carthage had revitalized the organization and
corporated a biblical text or the watchword used by the Cir-
sense of purpose of the catholics. When the conference met,
cumcellions, “Deo laudes.”
all the advantages lay with them, although the Donatists still
SEE ALSO Augustine of Hippo; Christianity, article on
managed to match the Catholics in number of bishops,
Christianity in North Africa; Constantine; Cyprian.
namely 284. After three session of debate Marcellinus gave
his decision against the Donatists. This was followed on Jan-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
uary 30, 412, by an edict that effectively banned Donatism,
Bonner, Gerald. St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies.
confiscated Donatist property, and ordered the exile of
London, 1963.
Donatist leaders.
Brisson, Jean-Paul. Autonomisme et christianisme dans l’Afrique ro-
maine. Paris, 1958.
This time the repressive measures succeeded. Augustine
provides evidence for the conversion of Donatist congrega-
Brown, Peter. Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine.
tions and surrender of Donatist church property. The Cir-
London, 1972.
cumcellions, however, remained active and eventually con-
Diesner, Hans-Joachim. “Die Circumcellionen von Hippo Regi-
tributed to the downfall of Roman Africa when the Vandals
us.” Theologische Literaturzeitung 85 (1960): 497–508.
invaded from Spain in 429. In the Vandal occupation (429–
Frend, W. H. C. The Donatist Church: A Movement of Protest in
534) little is heard of the Donatists, but at the end of the
Roman North Africa (1952). Reprint, Oxford, 1971. Includes
bibliography and a list of Donatist writers.
sixth century, after the Byzantine reconquest, Donatism
emerged again in southern Numidia. Descriptions of the
Frend, W. H. C. Town and Countryside in the Early Christian Cen-
progressive advance of the movement are found in a series
turies. London, 1980.
of letters from Pope Gregory to his representatives in North
Lancel, Serge, trans. and ed. Actes de la conférence de Carthage en
Africa, to imperial officials, and to the emperor Maurice.
411. Sources chrétiennes, vols. 194, 195, and 224. Paris,
1972–1975.
After 601 nothing more is heard of the movement. Only fur-
ther archaeological investigation of Numidian rural sites is
Mandouze, André. “Encore le Donatisme.” L’antiquité classique
likely to add to our information about the final phase of the
29 (1960): 61–107.
sect.
Monceaux, Paul. Histoire littéraire de l’Afrique chrétienne, vols.
4–6 (1901–1923). Reprint, Brussels, 1966.
Donatism demonstrates the continuance in the West of
Saumagne, Charles. “Ouvriers agricoles ou rôdeurs de celliers? Les
the biblical rigorist and individualist pattern of early Chris-
Circoncellions d’Afrique.” Annales d’histoire économique et so-
tianity that placed individual holiness under the guidance of
ciale 6 (1934): 351–364.
the spirit as its highest ideal. The Donatists were the true suc-
Simpson, W. J. Sparrow. St. Augustine and African Church Divi-
cessors of Tertullian and Cyprian in the African church, and
sions. London, 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
2418
DONG ZHONGSHU
Tengström, Emin. Donatisten und Katholiken. Göteborg, 1964.
als. Which of these materials was written by Dong Zhongshu
Includes a bibliography.
is highly controversial.
W. H. C. FREND (1987)
Other Han sources contain many quotations from
Dong Zhongshu, but larger fragments of his writing are also
transmitted. The “Wuxing zhi” chapter in Hanshu includes
DONG ZHONGSHU (also Tung Chung-shu, c.
Dong’s commentaries and explanations to historical and
195–c. 115
contemporary anomalies and catastrophes. Furthermore, the
BCE) is one of the most important thinkers of
Han dynasty (206
fragments of the Chunqiu jueyu, a handbook on law cases as-
BCE–220 CE) Confucianism. His concept
of the relationship between Heaven and humans has been in-
cribed to Dong, give an impression of the pragmatic and for-
fluential for the development of Confucianism. Yet Dong’s
mal usage of the Chunqiu as a book of legal precedents.
contribution to the history of religion is a matter of dispute
CRITICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE SOURCES. The evalua-
due to diverging evaluations of the sources connected to him.
tion and interpretation of these sources determines the dif-
Today, four sorts of sources with possible information about
ferent reconstructions of Dong Zhongshu’s life, religion, and
Dong Zhongshu exist.
philosophy.
SOURCES. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) written
In the sources that most probably stem from Dong’s
by Sima Qian around 100 BCE contains a biography of Dong
hand—in Shiji and Hanshu, in the first 17 Chunqiu exegeti-
Zhongshu, the earliest and most reliable source about his life
cal chapters and the ritual chapters of the CQFL, as well as
and thought. According to Shiji, Dong in his early years was
any of the above mentioned fragments—Dong Zhongshu is
interested in the principles operating within the forces of yin
never connected to wuxing or to Huang-Lao thought. He ap-
and yang. On the basis of these principles he created a ritual
pears as a specialist on prognostication and religious rites em-
that should seek and stop the rain, and he attempted to inter-
ploying the theory of yin and yang. Moreover, he is depicted
pret historical and contemporary anomalies and catastrophes
as an important political thinker and instructor who profess-
as omens.
es Heaven and antiquity as the most important models upon
In the biography of Dong Zhongshu in the Dynastic
which a state should be molded. In the Chunqiu jueyu he is
History of the Han (Hanshu) written by Ban Gu at the end
quoted as an important exegetical voice in legal court cases.
of the first century CE, Dong is depicted rather as patriarch
These sources present him as a serious traditional scholar
of Han Confucianism and as a political teacher. Appended
whose thought was rooted in the classical Confucian writings
to the biography are three memorials, which contain a ques-
and in his belief in a Heavenly way and its signs.
tion-and-answer exchange between Dong and Emperor Wu.
There is little theoretical innovation in his work. It is
In these memorials Dong refers to two ultimate authorities
rather mainly important in the history of thought because
that should serve as guidelines for the Han government:
of decisive selections and new evaluations of traditional con-
Heaven and antiquity. Dong claims that Heaven responds
cepts like the will of Heaven, the law of stimulus and re-
to human action according to the same principles that Con-
sponse, correspondence between human action and Heaven,
fucius’s judgments of praise and blame respond to the action
love for the people, cyclical change of institutions, and
of the historical actors in the Spring and Autumn Annals
human nature. Dong is not developing these concepts fur-
(Chunqiu). According to Dong, Confucius inserted his judg-
ther but rather applies and combines old traditions in new
ments in the Chunqiu in correspondence with the laws and
contexts like text exegesis, modification of cosmological cy-
the will of Heaven, and has thus proven how Heaven re-
cles, devaluation of yin (punishment) against yang (educa-
sponds to human action. Heaven’s response is not a con-
tion), or the introduction of a lenient aspect in Heaven’s
scious choice—it is mechanical and automatic, but it does
clockwork of mechanical resonance. Innovative is Dong’s
not always respond in a one-to-one analogy to the actions.
connective approach through which he interrelates different
Instead, Heaven appears as a rather lenient and gracious force
areas such as prognostication, human nature, politics, cos-
that starts signaling with small tokens of anomalies as warn-
mology, and text exegesis on the basis of a singular Heavenly
ings before sending harsh punishments in the form of catas-
scheme that reaches into all of these realms. However, he
trophes.
therewith does not intertwine these realms into one unified
The Chunqiu fanlu (CQFL) is a post-Han collection
system that could function as a universal organism, but rath-
that was probably edited six centuries after Dong’s death. It
er establishes structural parallels and analogies in order to de-
is a compilation of extremely heterogeneous and contradicto-
fend his moral, political, and philosophical position against
ry materials, including chapters on Chunqiu exegesis,
Legalists, Mohists, and Huang-Laoists.
Huang-Lao philosophy (the philosophy of the Yellow Em-
CRITIQUE ON TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE
peror Huangdi and Laozi which focuses on questions of
SOURCES. Dong Zhongshu appears rather differently under
inner spiritual self cultivation, the void, the dao, the empty-
the premise that he is the author of the whole CQFL, a prem-
ing of the mind, non-action and non-being), Confucian vir-
ise which has been upheld by the mainstream of traditional
tues, state institutions, cosmological speculations on yin-
scholarship. As the material of the CQFL is so abundant,
yang, wuxing, Heaven and Earth, and sacrificial and rain ritu-
complex, and comprehensive, Dong, as the assumed author,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DÖNMEH
2419
has subsequently been depicted as the architect of Han Con-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
fucianism, the founder and theorist of Han cosmology and
Arbuckle, Gary. “Restoring Dong Zhongshu (BCE 195–115): An
Han political philosophy who ingeniously created the great
Experiment in Historical and Philosophical Reconstruc-
synthesis of yin-yang, wuxing, and exegetical scholarship on
tion.” Ph.D. diss., University of British Columbia, Dept. of
Asian Studies, Vancouver, 1991.
the Confucian classics in a great unified theological and tele-
ological system.
Bujard, Marianne. “La vie de Dong Zhongshu: enigmes et hy-
pothèses.” Journal Asiatique 280 (1992): 145–217.
Further research shows that this picture can not be up-
Queen, Sarah A. From Chronicle to Canon: The Hermeneutics of
held. Han Confucianism is a collective term covering highly
the Spring and Autumn, according to Tung Chung-shu. New
complex and contradictory philosophies of very different
York, 1996.
synthetic teachings, which vary strongly from thinker to
JOACHIM GENTZ (2005)
thinker. Dong’s philosophy is neither theological nor teleo-
logical, but rather a traditional philosophy of a balance of ex-
tremes. Heaven as a willful institution plays a crucial role in
Dong’s philosophy; however, this institution is strictly sub-
DÖNMEH. The followers of the Ottoman Jewish messi-
dued to the working rules of yin and yang and should not
ah Shabbetai Tsevi (or Shabtai Zvi; 1626–1676), subsequent
be compared to a deity. Dong’s Chunqiu scholarship is no-
to his conversion to Islam, are known as the Dönmeh. De-
where connected to or mixed with cosmological theories. It
spite hostility originating from the belief that they had con-
rather develops from concrete text exegesis to a theory of ab-
verted to Islam deceitfully, though perhaps with a salvific in-
stract political and moral principles. Although historical
tent, the Dönmeh adhered to Tsevi and his successors. They
Chunqiu precedent cases are sometimes taken to illustrate
maintained a certain degree of unity even after their removal
in 1924 from Salonika, which had become their capital early
cosmological principles, theories of cosmology and of Chun-
on, to Turkey (where they are still present). Tsevi’s conver-
qiu scholarship remain strictly disconnected.
sion is understood to have been the model for their own, un-
The central position of Heaven as a model and argu-
dertaken in imitation of his and intended to assist him in his
mentative foundation of the design of the imperial position
attempt to defeat demonic forces associated with Islam by
descending among them. There were, however, several dif-
within the political philosophy of the CQFL, and, moreover,
ferent theologies and theologians of the Shabbatean sects, in-
the interpretation of the CQFL material as a systematic
cluding some that did not convert to Islam or counsel con-
whole, has led Chinese reformers at the end of the nineteenth
version until long after the seventeenth century, and several
century to declare Dong Zhongshu’s Confucianism to be the
that converted sincerely, whether to Christianity, to Islam,
correct and pure form of Chinese Confucianism. According-
or to Turkish secular, progressive nationalism. All the sects
ly, this ostensible systematic and religious Confucianism,
retained a certain unity based in their history, their belief (or
constructed as an indigenous form of unified Chinese na-
the memory of one) in Tsevi’s divine role and destiny, and
tional state religion, was used to oppose Western religion and
their practice of a number of rituals and customs from the
culture. In a counterreaction, Chinese Marxist histories of
late seventeenth century recalling Tsevi’s passion and his lib-
Chinese thought evaluate Dong’s philosophy as feudal ideal-
erationist, even antinomian, praxis. In general it may be
ist theology because of this alleged fixation on Heaven as the
more useful to consider the Dönmeh as a movement of revi-
systematic center of his thought. It is correct that Heaven in
talization, looking back to the conversos of Iberia, and as
Dong’s writings is revived as a central philosophical authori-
counterparts of their contemporaries, the Portuguese-Dutch
ty. However, the way in which Heaven is brought into the
Jews.
argumentation is far from “theology” in the sense of a unified
Among themselves the Dönmeh (Turkish: turners, con-
religious system founded in something like theos. Dong’s the-
verts) are known collectively as the ma Daminim (Hebrew, be-
ories, and even the theories concerning Heaven in the later
lievers); few of the earlier sectarian groups—Izmirli (from
chapters of the CQFL, merely reflect a cosmo-political dis-
Izmir), also known as kabayeros (knights); Yakubiler (follow-
course and nowhere show an attempt to unify or systematize
ers of Tsevi’s brother-in-law); Konyousos (followers of
different models of Heaven’s operations. Therefore, they
Tsevi’s chief successor, Barukhya Russo Counio)—remained
should not be regarded as an innovative outline of a Chinese
distinct after the rise of secular Turkey and the population
theology, but rather be read in the context of other cosmo-
transfer of 1924. The members of the groups occupied them-
political writings of Dong’s time contained in the Lüshi
selves as merchants, bureaucrats, and artisans and developed
Chunqiu, the Huainanzi, and the Xinyu. Religious theory in
a great interest in progressive schooling, religion serving as
Han times developed rather in the realm of the search for im-
moral instruction, and scientific training served by modern
mortality in the fangshi, Huang-Lao, and Mohist spheres.
pedagogy. Basic beliefs (in the messiahship of Shabbetai
Dong Zhongshu used the concepts of Heaven and yin and
Tsevi and in his “spiritual [antinomian] Torah” and its trini-
yang for political, prognostication, and ritual purposes. He
ty), practices (spousal exchanges, consumption of ritually im-
did not formulate a religious theory of his own.
pure foods), and festivals (invented by Tsevi or commemo-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2420
DONNER, KAI
rating deeds of his passion) have held the Dönmeh together
Anti-Dönmeh journalism in Turkey has increased in in-
to a certain degree. This cohesion has been assisted by bonds
tensity since the 1990s. Typically driven by anti-Semitic,
of secrecy and privacy and by the marginalization of the
populist, and religious motives, this writing has defined the
group from both Jewish and Islamic communities. Dönmeh
Dönmeh community in ways that stress its alienation from
attachment to progressive social politics has been of great im-
Turkish social, political, and religious norms.
portance and can be seen as arising from this marginaliza-
tion.
SEE ALSO Messianism; Shabbetai Tsevi.
The most important literature of the Dönmeh that re-
B
mains from the early periods includes their prayer book, col-
IBLIOGRAPHY
Baer, Marc David. “Revealing a Hidden Community: Ilgaz Zorlu
lections of praise-songs, and some homiletic material. The
and the Debate in Turkey over the Dönme/Sabbatians.”
late nineteenth century witnessed the rise to prominence of
Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 23, no. 1 (Spring 1999):
Dönmeh in Ottoman Salonika. Dönmeh bankers and textile
68–75. An important review of the book by Zorlu listed
and tobacco merchants played a large role in global trade and
below, and an updating of research on the Dönmeh.
finance; headed the city’s Chamber of Commerce; founded
Scholem, Gershom. “Doenmeh.” In Encyclopaedia Judaica, edited
influential progressive schools, literary journals, and architec-
by Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, vol. 6. Jerusalem,
tural styles; and engaged in local and then imperial politics—
1971. Summarizes much of this scholar’s work on the topic
serving as mayors, members of parliament, and ministers,
(with bibliography to that date) including his own essays and
and generally espousing modernization and, in time, secular-
publications of Dönmeh literature and religion.
ization. Some Dönmeh became so committed to radical new
Zorlu, Ilgaz. Evet, Ben Salanikliyim: Türkiye Sabetaycilik üstüne
philosophies and political ideas that they played an impor-
Makalaer. Istanbul, 1998. A modern “confession.”
tant role in the revolutionary movement that deposed the
HARRIS LENOWITZ (2005)
sultan in 1908 and laid the groundwork for the creation of
MARC DAVID BAER (2005)
the Republic of Turkey in 1923. At the same time, many re-
mained faithful to ancestral Shabbatean traditions.
Because they were considered Muslims by the Greek
DONNER, KAI. Finnish scholar Karl Reinhold (Kai)
government, the Dönmeh of Salonika were subject to depor-
Donner (1888–1935) united British anthropology and
tation to Turkey as part of the population exchange of 1923–
Northern ethnography. Born into a Swedish-speaking fami-
1924. Relying on their Jewish origins, some Dönmeh asked
ly, Donner was educated in the religious liberalism and bilin-
the Greek government to excuse them from the expulsion,
gualism that prevailed in Finnish universities at the begin-
as other Dönmeh approached Turkish officials with the same
ning of the twentieth century. His father, Otto Donner, was
aim. Despite their protests, the estimated ten to fifteen thou-
a professor of Sanskrit and comparative linguistics at the
sand Dönmeh were compelled to abandon their native Salo-
University of Helsinki; in 1883 he founded the Finno-Ugric
nika. Immediately following their arrival in Turkey in 1924,
Society, a nationalistic organization that studied the lan-
the Dönmeh faced a wave of controversy as Muslims sought
guages, ethnology, and history of Finno-Ugric peoples.
to determine whether they were Jews or Muslims, foreigners
or Turks. For over two decades, newspapers published sensa-
In 1908 Donner’s studies in Budapest introduced him
tionalized accounts of Dönmeh beliefs and practices.
to Hungarian research in Finno-Ugristics (Hungarian is an
Throughout the 1930s many kept Shabbetai Tsevi’s memo-
Ugric language). Three years later he went to Cambridge
ry, traditions, and customs fully alive. Actively practiced cus-
University, where he became familiar with British anthropo-
toms included the recitation of passages from traditional
logical models. This is significant because until the turn of
Dönmeh literature—such as “Shabtai Zvi, esperamos a ti”
the twentieth century Finnish scholars wrote mainly in Ger-
(from the kaddish, as in the Dönmeh prayer book)—at the
man and rarely ventured outside the spheres of German and
Festival of the Lamb held on the seashore, and at other Dön-
Russian science.
meh feasts, fasts, burials, and festivals.
The ranking scholars of British anthropology at that
After World War II the Dönmeh managed to integrate
time were A. C. Haddon and W. H. R. Rivers in Cambridge,
into the mainstream of Turkish society, marrying into secu-
who established the first British anthropological field labora-
larized Muslim families and almost entirely losing their dis-
tory on the western Pacific islands of the Torres Strait. Other
tinctive religious beliefs and customs, other than rituals at-
leading lights were Charles G. Seligman, Edward Wester-
tending burial at predominantly Dönmeh cemeteries in
marck, and Bronislaw Malinowski in London, as well as
Istanbul. At the same time, Dönmeh retained social ties
Robert R. Marrett and Alfred R. Radcliffe-Brown at Oxford.
among themselves by sending their children to the originally
The Torres Strait study launched functionalism (a theory
Salonikan Dönmeh schools relocated to Istanbul and serving
that emphasized the interdependence and importance of in-
on their boards, residing in the same neighborhoods in Istan-
stitutions and behavioral patterns—particularly cultural
bul, maintaining the textile and tobacco businesses and busi-
practices—for a society’s survival) as a method for conduct-
ness relationships established in Salonika, and retaining
ing field work; this became Donner´s model for his studies
membership in the same Masonic lodges.
in Siberia.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOSTOEVSKY, FYODOR
2421
Donner’s association with these British anthropologists
who were merchants, ministers, and even prisoners in Sibe-
was formative and through them he learned the basics of eth-
ria. His memoir Siperian samojedien keskuudessa vuosina
nological field work. Haddon introduced him to Malinow-
1911–1913 ja 1914 (Among the Siberian Samoyed), first
ski; Sir James Frazer, another Cambridge fellow and author
published in 1915, was republished in 1979 with a preface
of the seminal Golden Bough, donated his portable grammo-
written by his son Jörn Donner (b. 1932), a filmmaker and
phone for Donner’s linguistic studies. Donner was also deep-
author.
ly influenced by Rivers’s article “The Genealogical Method
as Anthropological Inquiry,” published in a 1910 issue of So-
SEE ALSO Finno-Ugric Religions.
ciological Review: “I have had only positive results from its
use among the Samoyeds and later on in Finland,” he re-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
marked. “It will be the key to the gate to the world already
Donner, Kai. A Samoyede Epic. Helsingfors, 1913.
gone. It makes [it] possible to remember in a touchable man-
Donner, Kai. Bei den Samojeden in Sibirien. Stuttgart, 1926.
ner the old beliefs and customs, ancestral worship.”
Donner, Kai. Ethnological Notes about the Yenisey-Ostyak (in the
Turukhansk Region). Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituk-
Donner made two expeditions to Siberia, the first a two-
sia, vol. 66. Helsinki, 1933.
year venture, begun in August of 1911, in which he travelled
from Tomsk to Narym, Tymskoye and in the settlements by
Donner, Kai. La Sibérie: La vie en Sibérie—Les temps anciens.
L’espèce humaine, vol. 6. Paris, 1946.
Ob and Tym rivers—the main areas of the Samoyedic peo-
ples, who numbered about 18,000 at that time. Donner’s
Donner, Kai. Among the Samoyed in Siberia. Translated by Rine-
second tour took place in 1914, during World War I and the
hart Kyler and edited by Genevieve A. Highland. New
Russification of the Samoyeds he had met during his first
Haven, 1954.
tour.
Donner, Kai. Ketica: Materialen aus dem Ketischen oder Jenisseiost-
jakischen. Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituksia, vol. 108.
Donner categorized his Siberian field data according to
Helsinki, 1955.
the typological and genealogical models he learned in Brit-
Pentikäinen, Juha. “Northern Ethnography: On the Foundations
ain. He was particularly influenced by Haddon’s 1908 publi-
of a New Paradigm.” Styles and Positions: Ethnographical Per-
cation The Study of Man, which defines ethnology as “de-
spectives in Comparative Religion. Comparative Religion 8.
scription of a man, a tribe, people in a smaller or larger area”
Helsinki, 2002.
demanding special characteristics from the scholar. Donner
JUHA PENTIKÄINEN (2005)
used these methods in Siberia even though he believed that
the Samoyeds had little collective knowledge about their an-
cestors. Haddon’s genealogical methods, for example, helped
explain the inheritance of shamanic prestige symbols in a Ket
DOORWAYS SEE PORTALS
River clan that Donner described in 1915. He also used an-
thropometry (the collection, correlation, and comparison of
human body measurements) as a research tool.
DOSTOEVSKY, FYODOR (1821–1881), Russian
Between his two Siberian treks he took part in a research
novelist. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s childhood was
seminar led by Westermarck at the University of Helsinki,
spent in the constrained atmosphere of a Muscovite charity
where he was encouraged to write his doctoral thesis on the
hospital, where his father served as a doctor. It was the mur-
Samoyed. Although there was no department of religious his-
der of his father (1838) that was alleged by Freud to have
tory at the university, Heikki Paasonen (1865–1919), a
determined the course of Dostoevsky’s epilepsy. This theory
Finno-Ugrist, suggested that Donner write his dissertation
is usually discounted, but there is no doubt about the epilep-
on comparative religion instead of philology (the study of
sy itself, nor about its capacity to inspire in its victim some-
languages and literature) as he had intended.
thing of a “higher awareness.” Early symptoms of the condi-
tion were experienced in 1849 during his first period of
Donner’s fieldwork followed Castrén’s footsteps as
imprisonment. By this time the young Dostoevsky, a gradu-
faithfully as possible, although he sought to disprove some
ate of the Academy of Military Engineering in Saint Peters-
of the less-likely hypotheses proposed by Castrén—whose
burg, had already established a reputation with some works
nationalistic fervor had sought too many relatives on the
of fiction, the earliest and most acclaimed of which was Poor
Finnish family tree. Donner believed, for example, that Cas-
Folk (1846).
trén´s inclusion of Uralic and Mongolian-Turkic peoples in
But it was not for his writings that Dostoevsky had been
the Finno-Ugric family was wrong. While they shared some
arrested. His crime was having participated in a utopian-
common vocabulary, this was due to their long-lasting con-
socialist discussion group. At a time of repression in the after-
tacts in Siberia.
math of the European revolutions of 1848, Dostoevsky and
Donner’s field notes are also interesting from a historical
his fellow “conspirators” found themselves arbitrarily sen-
perspecitve. On his journeys he met Russian officials, Ortho-
tenced to death. Only minutes before the execution was the
dox missionaries, European emigrants, as well as other Finns
sentence commuted. The years of penal exile in Siberia 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
2422
DOSTOEVSKY, FYODOR
followed (four years of hard labor and four of military service
porary mind, merely to depict its erosion should not be suffi-
in the ranks) could not efface the memory of the cynically
cient for someone like himself who has progressed to his “ho-
contrived mock execution, and Dostoevsky was to return to
sanna” through what he describes as “a great crucible of
this near experience of death more than once in his later
doubt.”
fiction.
After his second marriage (1867), and especially in the
The penal exile itself provided ample material for a
last decade of his life, Dostoevsky gradually reverted to
semidocumentary study of it, Notes from the House of the
the Orthodox Christianity of his youth. Indeed, even in the
Dead (1860–1861), which was to be published on Dos-
darkest days of his exile, he had never abjured his residual
toevsky’s return to European Russia. Part of the book was
loyalty to “the image of Christ,” regardless (as he wrote in
to be serialized in the short-lived journal Vremia, which Dos-
1854) of whether it corresponded to the truth or not. Nor
toevsky founded with his brother (1861). Despite the sup-
had he abandoned a certain faith in some kind of golden age,
pression of this journal, Dostoevsky was to revert to journal-
yet to be recaptured. But none of this was enough to over-
ism throughout the years to come in order to ensure a
come a deep-seated reluctance, an organic inability, to pro-
modest income. But the greater part of his rarely adequate
ceed with a didactic novel. The creative process inevitably in-
income was derived from the serial publication of his novels
volved him in the production of works that are
and novellas in the well-established literary periodicals of the
multicentered and polyphonic in both their philosophical
day.
and psychological concerns.
It was in the second of Dostoevsky’s own periodicals,
Nevertheless, he continued to nurture the hope that he
Epokha, that the first of his major works appeared, Notes from
might one day “compel people to admit that a pure and ideal
the Underground (1864). This anguished work ushered in the
Christianity is not an abstraction, but a vivid reality, possibly
period (and introduced some of the thematics) of the great
near at hand; and that Christianity is the sole refuge of the
novels. The majority of these novels were composed in west-
Russian land from all its evils.” Toward the end of his life
ern Europe, to which Dostoevsky withdrew to escape his
it seemed that The Brothers Karamazov might prove the ap-
creditors. He found it necessary to mortgage his writings for
propriate vehicle for such a demonstration. The saintly figure
some time, much to his disadvantage. Only after completing
of the elder Zosima would be called upon to act as the princi-
abroad much of Crime and Punishment (1866), all of The
pal spokesman of faith in the work. Thus, the spokesman was
Idiot (1868), and The Possessed (1871–1872) was Dostoevsky
required to perform a task to which his author was ill-suited.
in a position to return to his homeland. A Raw Youth (1875)
Equally important, the faith that Dostoevsky invokes was cu-
and the unfinished The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)
riously diluted, even secularized. Not that it fails to reflect
were thus exceptional in being composed on Russian soil by
a “process of discovery”—but necessarily a part of that pro-
this most Europhobic of Russian patriots. Even so, with rare
cess are the incisive arguments presented by Ivan Karamazov
exceptions (such as The Gambler, 1867) all the novels have
and his Grand Inquisitor, critics of the divine dispensation.
a Russian setting.
The Dostoevsky whom one emperor had seemingly
This is not to say that the novels are restricted by their
sought to execute was to be offered a state funeral by another.
time and place, deeply rooted though they are in each. In the
The didacticism that had little opportunity to flourish in the
dismal byways of Dostoevsky’s Saint Petersburg or his pro-
novels had found an outlet in the brash and chauvinistic
vincial towns, problems and myths with universal implica-
journalism of the writer’s later years—hence at least some of
tions are encountered. The significance of suffering, the limi-
the acclaim which accompanied him to his grave. But it was
tations of reason, and the importance of free will are debated
the reputation of a novelist who had given his readers an in-
as early as Notes from the Underground. Each of the major
sight into his crucible of doubt which was to live on. Had
novels has moral and religious problems at its center. Yet an-
he not taken pride in the fact that he “alone had brought out
swers to these problems are not necessarily to be expected.
the tragedy of the underground”? It was a tragedy, he had
Rather (as one of Dostoevsky’s characters urges in The Idiot),
noted in 1875, “which consists of suffering and immolation;
“it is the continuous and perpetual process of discovery
of the awareness of that which is better, and of the inability
[which is important], not the discovery itself.” Dostoevsky
to attain it.”
does not set himself up as an arbitrator between the charac-
ters engaged in this process. Indeed, in The Possessed and The
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brothers Karamazov he even abandons his role as narrator to
Generally recognized as an outstanding survey of Dostoevsky, and
“independent” surrogates.
one written with considerable insight into his development
as a religious thinker, is Konstantin Mochul’skii’s Dostoevsky:
It is one of these surrogates who notes that “reality
His Life and Work (Princeton, 1967). Another wide-ranging
strives toward fragmentation.” The world of the novels is re-
survey is provided by Richard Peace, Dostoyevsky: An Exami-
plete with disorientation and disorder. Yet in the privacy of
nation of the Major Novels (Cambridge, U.K., 1971). This
his notebooks Dostoevsky still insists that there is or ought
contains interesting material on the novelist’s treatment of
to be some “moral center” or “central idea.” However eroded
religious sectarians. Robert L. Jackson’s Dostoevsky’s Quest for
such a central idea may be, however obscured in the contem-
Form (New Haven, 1966) is concerned with the subject’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
DOUBT AND BELIEF
2423
idealism and his reluctance to confine himself merely to the
have remained a repository of ancient beliefs and traditions.
phenomena of everyday life. Malcolm V. Jones, in his Dos-
Latvians have preserved to this day the word jumis and the
toyevsky: The Novel of Discord (London, 1976), discusses the
deity of the same name. The meaning of the word is “two
centrifugal forces in the fiction with erudition and tact. The
things grown together into one unit,” such as apples, pota-
classic treatment of the novelist’s polyphonic technique is
toes, and so on. Jumis and jumm, Finnish and Estonian
Mikhail Bakhtin’s Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (Ann
words considered to be ancient borrowings from the Baltic,
Arbor, Mich., 1973). By contrast, L. A. Zander in Dostoevsky
mean “two things or beings joined together,” “bundle of
(London, 1948) argues that his subject is essentially a propo-
nent of Orthodox Christianity. Less partisan is the useful
flax,” and “divinity who gives wedding luck.”
study of The Religion of Dostoevsky by A. Boyce Gibson (Lon-
Twin ears of rye, barley, or wheat—a relatively rare phe-
don, 1973). The symposium New Essays on Dostoyevsky, ed-
nomenon in nature—are a manifestation of jumis. When a
ited by Malcolm V. Jones and Garth M. Terry (Cambridge,
double ear is found at harvest time, it is brought home by
U.K., 1983), contains my analysis of the teachings attributed
the reaper and put in a place of honor on the wall beside the
to the elder Zosima, “The Religious Dimension: Vision or
table. In the following planting season, the jumis is mixed
Evasion? Zosima’s Discourse in The Brothers Karamazov,”
with the seed grain and sown in the field. Jumis is a force that
pp. 139–168.
increases wealth and prosperity, signified by double ears,
SERGEI HACKEL (1987)
double fruit, and double vegetables.
Neolithic images of the great goddess are frequently
marked with two dashes over the hips, arm stumps, between
DOUBLENESS. The prehistoric cultures of Europe
the breasts, or on the pubic triangle. Often two horizontal
used images of doubles to indicate potency or abundance.
or vertical lines are painted or incised across the face or a
This can be seen in the frequent use of double images of cat-
mask of the goddess. The double line also typically appears
erpillars, crescents, eggs, seeds, spirals, snakes, phalli, and
on mother and child figurines, which suggests that these lines
even goddesses. Dualism is also expressed by two lines on a
may have connotations of resurgence and new life.
figurine, or in the center of an egg, vulva, or seed, and by
Double-headed goddesses convey the idea of twin birth
a double-fruit symbol resembling two acorns.
on a cosmic plane. Figurines of “Siamese twins” are known
The exaggerated buttocks of Upper Paleolithic and
throughout the Neolithic period and the Copper Age. The
Neolithic figurines (called “steatopygous” in the archaeologi-
heads of these figurines are beaked and masked; the bodies
cal literature) are probably a metaphor of the double egg or
are marked by chevrons, meanders, and crossbands. These
breasts, that is, of intensified fertility or pregnancy. Such fig-
attributes identify the image as a bird goddess. In Anatolia
urines usually have no indication of other anatomical details;
and the Agean area, two-headed figurines continue into the
the upper part of the body is totally neglected. An intensifica-
Archaic period of Greece. The twin aspect of the great god-
tion of the meaning can be seen in whirls, snake coils, spirals,
dess is also expressed by double-bodied or double-necked
and lozenges engraved on the buttocks of figurines created
vessels from the early Bronze Age in the Aegean, Crete, and
during the Copper Age of east-central Europe (5500–3500
Malta.
BCE). Obviously, the fat female posteriors that appear on pre-
SEE ALSO Baltic Religion; Dualism; Numbers; Prehistoric
historic figurines had other than erotic significance or simple
Religions; Twins.
aesthetic purpose. They were, in fact, the actualization of a
cosmogonic concept. Egg symbolism made manifest certain
BIBLIOGRAPHY
basic beliefs, hopes, and understandings concerning creation,
Butler, Michael. Number Symbolism. London, 1970.
life origins, and the birth process as well as reverence for su-
Crawley, A. E. “Doubles.” In Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,
pernatural potency, expressed by the doubling device, the
edited by James Hastings, vol. 4. Edinburgh, 1911.
“power of two.”
Schimmel, Annemarie. Das Mysterium der Zahl: Zahlensymbolik
A glyph formed by two ellipses connected at one end—a
im Kultur-Vergleich. Cologne, 1984.
double grain or double fruit—appears on ceramics, seals, and
New Sources
megaliths throughout the duration of Old Europe (6500–
Doniger, Wendy. Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in An-
3500 BCE). The sign may have been retained from the Upper
cient Greece and India. Chicago, 1999.
Paleolithic period: a sign of two connected ovals that look
MARIJA GIMBUTAS (1987)
much like buttocks can be seen in Magdalenian parietal art.
Revised Bibliography
Similar signs are engraved on Irish megaliths. The double-
fruit glyph continued to be significant in Minoan ceramic
art. By the middle Minoan period, it can be seen in associa-
DOUBT AND BELIEF. [This entry is a philosophical
tion with a tree and a sprouting bud, incorporated in the hi-
discussion of the interrelation of doubt and belief in the Western
eroglyphic inscription on seals.
tradition.]
The mystique of the power of two lingers in European
Doubt and skepticism, although popularly accounted
folk tradition, especially in the East Baltic countries, which
antithetical to religious belief and alien to the religious atti-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2424
DOUBT AND BELIEF
tude, are in fact inseparable from every deeply religious dis-
the extent that it is successful in terms of its own aims,
position. The fact that twentieth-century philosophical cri-
is creative, engendering openness of the will as well as
tique of religion focused on questions of meaning rather than
of the mind. Like all attitudes it is, of course, susceptible
on questions of truth (the usual preoccupation in the nine-
to deformity. It may be feigned, for instance, to disguise
teenth century, when T. H. Huxley coined the term agnostic)
a moral unwillingness to reach a decision because of the
does not at all diminish the importance of doubt as part of
implications of making such a commitment. That the
the intellectual process of religious belief. All authentic reli-
attitude of doubt can lead to such a moral deformity or
gious faith, indeed, may be viewed as a descant on doubt.
perversity is of itself, however, no argument against its
THE MEANING OF DOUBT. The word doubt, although often
salutariness or its integrity. It is an attitude that has sus-
regarded as the opposite of belief, signifies primarily vacilla-
tained the greatest minds of all ages in human history;
tion, perplexity, irresolution. These primary meanings are
a notable exemplar is Socrates.
discoverable in the Latin word from which doubt is derived:
2. Doubt as a philosophical method is exhibited in the
dubito, which is grammatically the frequentative of the Old
thought of many important thinkers. Celebrated in-
Latin dubo, from duo (“two”). To doubt means, therefore,
stances include Augustine and Descartes. In Augustine’s
to be of two minds, to stand at the crossroads of the mind.
dictum “Si fallor, sum” (“If I doubt, I exist”) and in the
The regular German word for doubt (Zweifel, from zwei,
well-known Cartesian formula “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I
“two”) brings out the vacillating connotation more obviously
think, therefore I am”) are to be found intellectual as-
than does the English word. In German, Zweifelgeist means
surances that in the act of doubting one’s own existence
“skepticism, the spirit of doubt,” and Er zweifelte was er tun
is an awareness of that existence, since if one can catch
sollte means “He was in doubt what he should do”—that is,
oneself doubting, one cannot be doubting that one ex-
he was of two minds about it. The Greek doiazo¯ (“I doubt”)
ists and so at least one can be certain of the proposition
also exhibits this two-mindedness.
“I exist,” whatever that proposition be taken to mean.
Doubt, therefore, is not to be equated with unbelief or
Doubt, then, is a methodological point of departure as
disbelief but rather with a vacillation between the two oppo-
well as an implicate of all thought. Thinking, in the
sites: unbelief and belief. In doubt there are always two prop-
sense in which it is understood in this intellectual tradi-
ositions or theses between which the mind oscillates without
tion, which goes far beyond any computerlike function
resting completely in either. To the extent that religious peo-
of the human brain, entails doubting.
ple deprecate doubt, what they are deprecating must be inde-
cision rather than unbelief, and what skeptics find praisewor-
3. While both of the foregoing modes of doubt are relevant
thy in it must be not unbelief but a willingness to recognize
to questions of religious belief, that which most sharply
two sides to a question. Doubt is the attitude of mind proper
illuminates an understanding of the nature of religious
to the skeptic, who is by no means necessarily an unbeliever
belief is the notion that doubt is an implicate of religious
any more than a believer. The only serious reproach that ei-
faith and therefore of the religious belief that formulates
ther believer or unbeliever may justly direct to the skeptic is
that faith. By taking the view that authentic religious
that of declining to make up his mind in one direction or
faith does not entail blind, thoughtless belief but must
the other—that is, a moral rather than an intellectual re-
always be accompanied by an element of doubt, we rec-
proach.
ognize that such faith and the belief that formulates it
are in some way sustained by doubt, making doubt and
MODES OF DOUBT. Doubt may be considered in three
belief as inseparable from each other as are, in the
modes: an attitude of mind, a philosophical method, and a
human body, the arteries and the veins. If one hopes to
necessary ingredient in or component of belief.
preserve the vigor and vivacity of one’s thought, one
1. The characteristic attitude both of the ancient Greek
must conserve in it the element of doubt that sustains
thinkers and of the Renaissance men who admired and
it. Authentic religious faith, whatever it is, can never be
followed them has doubt as one of its fundamental in-
as the schoolboy is said to have defined it: believing
spirations. (By attitude is meant here an inclination of
steadfastly what you know isn’t true; instead, it must al-
the will.) That is, rather than conceiving philosophy as
ways entail doubt. Some religious philosophers in the
a way of showing this or that proposition or thesis to
modern existentialist tradition, such as Kierkegaard,
be such as to lead logically to a settled conviction, think-
Unamuno, and Marcel, have emphasized that a faith
ers in this tradition insist upon an openness of mind sus-
unshaken by doubt cannot be authentic faith at all but
tained by an ongoing attitude of questioning. Even
is a mere blind nodding without either intellectual con-
when inclining to one view or another, such thinkers
tent or moral decision. I have called faith a descant on
will always not only pay homage to doubt as a method-
doubt, by which I mean, of course, that it rises beyond
ological principle but will endeavor in practice to keep
the doubt that is at the same time its necessary presup-
their minds constantly alert to the claims of both sides
position: one cannot have a descant with nothing to des-
of every question: they will show a judicial rather than
cant upon, nor can a descant ever leave the rest of the
a prosecuting or defensive attitude. Such an attitude, to
music permanently behind it.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOUBT AND BELIEF
2425
Contemporary religious thinkers in the tradition of Kierke-
lieve there is no God and Our Lady is his mother.” So al-
gaard talk of the “leap of faith,” a phrase that sometimes exas-
though faith is an act of the will, it must be expressed not
perates their hearers. How does one jump from doubt to be-
only in a particular belief but by a whole system of beliefs,
lief without injuring, not to say destroying, the integrity of
each of which is believed to illumine the others. Hence there
the belief? Before dealing with this vital question, we must
is in the mainstream of Western theological tradition the ten-
first clarify the relation between faith and belief, more partic-
dency to set forth creedal statements that call for believers’
ularly as these terms arise in religious contexts.
assent, as does, for example, the Nicene Creed. In Indian
F
thought and practice, by contrast, one may hold one’s own
AITH AND BELIEF. In religious literature faith and belief
often have been identified with each other. In medieval usage
view (dar´sana) without repudiating that of another that
the Latin fides (“faith”) generally means both. Even in the
seems logically incompatible with it. That attitude, however,
New Testament the distinction between the two is not en-
arises from an emphasis on the inadequacy of all formula-
tirely clear, for the Greek word pistis (“faith”) often has the
tions of truth (dharma). The West, except in the more philo-
older connotation of intellectual conviction alongside the
sophical types of religious literature and in the more mystical
notion of trust, the bending of one’s whole being to God in
varieties of religious experience, has been less skeptical about
complete confidence in his infinite goodness and in his abili-
the capacity of religious symbols to portray the realities of
ty to guard and to guide one’s entire life in the best possible
the spiritual dimension of being.
way. The thirteenth-century Thomas Aquinas, who became
Faith, although it entails an intellectual element of be-
a quasi-official spokesman of the Roman Catholic church,
lief, plays a special and often misunderstood role in the Bible
and even Martin Luther, leader of the sixteenth-century Ref-
and therefore in all biblically oriented Jewish and Christian
ormation, when they wrote of fides, often meant intellectual
thought. A classic series of illustrations of the fundamental
assent as much as an act of the will. The classic Lutheran dog-
religious significance of faith is provided by the author of the
matic treatises usually distinguished three elements in fides:
Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 11), who points to the actions of
notitia (“knowledge”), assensus (“assent”), and fiducia
Abraham, Noah, and other biblical figures, upholding them
(“trust”). By this they implied that both intellect and will are
as exemplars of the courage of those who have lived by faith.
involved in fides; nevertheless, following Luther himself, they
Such faith is typified in Abraham’s going out “not knowing
recognized fiducia as the principal element and the others as
whither he went” (Heb. 11:8). It is closely akin to trust. We
subordinate to it.
should note carefully, however, that although Abraham’s
In much Christian literature, however, not least among
courage may have been boundless, his ignorance was by no
heirs of the Reformation, the term faith is invested with a
means absolute. He was not totally uninformed. He did not
volitional connotation and belief with an intellectual one.
wander forth haphazardly as in a game of blindman’s buff.
The distinction is useful, for faith has an ethical content,
Yet, considerable as his knowledge presumably was, his act
with implicates of courage and perseverance that are irrele-
entailed both great personal courage and a firm personal con-
vant to intellectual assent to any proposition or thesis, reli-
viction that he could rely on the guidance and guardianship
gious or otherwise. Nevertheless, faith also entails a meta-
of God, in whom he reposed his trust and to whom he dedi-
physical stance. The object of faith is an “is,” not merely an
cated both his courage and his intelligence, using all the will-
“ought to be.” It is the postulated real, so that no matter to
power and the knowledge at his disposal.
what extent authentic faith may be called volitional rather
The “knight of faith,” whom Kierkegaard depicts in
than cognitive, an act of the will rather than an intellectual
Fear and Trembling, engages in a paradoxical movement that
affirmation, it must be somehow connected with the intellec-
presupposes and transcends the “purely human” courage that
tual activity by which it comes to be formulated. Since, as
mere renunciation of the world demands. His is a uniquely
we have seen, thought itself implies doubt, every assertion
humble courage that makes him perfectly obedient to God.
of belief that is not to be dubbed mere credulity presupposes
Faith is “the greatest and hardest” enterprise in which one
an intellectual choice between two alternative possibilities.
can engage, entailing as it does a leap beyond even the high-
And since, as we have seen, doubt is an implicate of belief
est ethical decisions of which anyone is capable. From all ra-
and all authentic faith has in it an intellectual element of be-
tional standpoints the leap is absurd, running counter to ev-
lief, then doubt must be called an implicate of faith, no mat-
erything to which human wisdom directs our attention as
ter how much the volitional element in faith be emphasized.
reliable guideposts to right decision and noble action: com-
Beliefs, moreover, cannot be held in isolation: they are
mon sense, logic, and experience. In his journals, Kierke-
part of a creedal system that may be called authentic only to
gaard expressly asserts that “faith’s conflict with the world is
the extent that they are not mere uninformed opinions or
a battle of character. . . . The man of faith is a person of
thoughtless presuppositions. As soon, therefore, as we start
character who, unconditionally obedient to God, grasps it as
developing either faith or reason, the question of accepting
a character-task that one is not to insist upon comprehend-
this belief and rejecting that one inevitably arises. Without
ing” (Journals and Papers, vol. 2, pp. 13–14). Kierkegaard
the coherence that is thereby achieved, one would seen be
was by no means an enemy of either the aesthetic or the intel-
in a position like that parodied in apothegms such as “I be-
lectual or of the ethical life of man; his concern was to show
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2426
DOUBT AND BELIEF
the uniqueness of faith as a category transcending all other
take him to a dimension beyond the empirical world as com-
modes of human consciousness.
monly understood, expresses his faith in a creedal statement,
he can claim only a kind of knowledge. Many philosophical
This distinctiveness that Kierkegaard saw in faith has
objections attend his claim. For instance, has he merely expe-
warranty in the New Testament, from which he drew his
rienced a psychological state within himself, or has he in any
principal inspiration. Through such faith the Christian is
sense encountered the ground of existence, the ultimate reali-
saved (Eph. 2:8) and made righteous in the sight of God
ty? Or, again, might he have encountered God through the
(Rom. 5:1). Inseparable though faith is from belief, it is not
superego of his own psyche? He can never be consistently
to be equated with it. It has a quality that distinguishes it
and constantly sure; yet his faith, ever challenged by such
from every other activity of mind and will. Nevertheless, hav-
questions, survives the challenges. When the authentic be-
ing recognized that distinctiveness, we must now explore fur-
liever goes on to proclaim his belief “in” God, he is speaking
ther the relation of faith to whatever cognitive status can be
from experience, as is the swimmer who says he believes “in”
assigned to belief.
swimming and knows that he knows what he is talking
Prevalent but erroneous is the notion that faith, espe-
about.
cially in the tradition of the Protestant reformers, excludes
Since the knight of faith is engaged in a practical, not
claim to knowledge of God. Hence faith is often contrasted
a theoretical, inquiry, his method, like the method of the sci-
with sight. In the teaching of the Christian school at Alexan-
ences, is inductive. The inductive method used so habitually
dria, faith tended to be treated as a vestibule to knowledge,
and extensively in modern science entails making hypotheses
a prolegomenon to a Christian gnosis. By contrast, the re-
and subjecting them to tests that result in their verification
formers glorified living by faith. Yet the French reformer
or falsification. While the knight of faith cannot verify or fal-
Calvin expressly states: “Faith consists in the knowledge of
sify the beliefs that express his faith in the same way that the
God [cognitio Dei] and of Christ” (Institutes 3.2.5). He is not
scientist tests his hypotheses, his procedure is in some impor-
claiming knowledge of God as God is in himself (apud se);
tant respects analogous. As the creative scientist invests his
he does mean that we know him as he is in his dealings with
time and may stake his reputation on the eventual verifica-
us (erga nos). Faith, then, ever for so doughty a champion
tion of his hypothesis, so the knight of faith stakes his life
of its volitional character, has a cognitive element in it. In-
and his final destiny on his. Although he cannot hope to pro-
deed, as good theologians no less than great mystics have al-
vide a definitive, assent-compelling verification of his faith
ways seen, faith yields a kind of knowledge, a gradual unfold-
here and now, the claim implicit in his faith is verifiable or
ing of awareness of God in human experience, apart from
falsifiable in the long run. Such faith entails risk. It is, as Pas-
which awareness faith could not be indefinitely sustained.
cal saw, a gamble; yet it is by no means a mere idle gamble,
This awareness of that to which the name God is given is for-
for it is informed by one’s whole interpretation of life, as the
mulated in a set of beliefs that express in one way or another
scientist’s hypothesis is no mere guess, but is founded on the
the stance to which faith leads the person who exercises it.
whole range of his scientific experience and inquiry.
Faith, practical and volitional as it is, is the means by which
the knight of faith actually arrives at what he comes to call
We have seen that in the thought of the Middle Ages
communion with (that is, entailing knowledge of) God. Just
faith (fides) was generally equated with belief. The great
as we learn to drive or skate or play the piano less from books
thinkers of the thirteenth century were much more familiar
than by doing the thing, so through faith we arrive at the
with deductive methods of reasoning than with inductive
cognitive element to which it leads and is expressed in a set
ones. Despite the foundations for inductive methods that
of beliefs.
were laid by original medieval minds such as Robert Grosse-
teste, Roger Bacon, and Johannes Duns Scotus, medieval sci-
Human knowledge is always limited and subject to revi-
ence did not advance as physics, chemistry, and biology have
sion, except in the case of mathematics, which is a closed sys-
advanced in recent times. The medieval men certainly did
tem, a vast tautology that is indispensable as an instrument
not lack powers of observation. They made astonishingly
in scientific inquiry yet incapable by itself of yielding new
perceptive discoveries and invented many ingenious techno-
information. Knowledge of the empirical world, based on
logical tools. They were hampered, however, by not taking
observation and experiment, can never yield certainty. As
seriously enough those inductive methods by which modern
Kant showed, we cannot know the “thing-in-itself.” Doubt
science has made its advances. For the same reason they tend-
is therefore inseparable from all inquiry into and discoveries
ed to underestimate the meaning and power of faith as the
about the empirical world. Yet through advancement in the
volitional, practical, risk-taking catalyst of authentic aware-
sciences we do have a better grasp of the world around us
ness of God, apart from which both the beliefs and the
than did our primitive ancestors. We would not propose to
doubts that spring from it must lack authenticity. This pecu-
go back to our forebears’ view that the earth is flat with a
liar role of faith was expressed in the nineteenth century by
blue dome of sky above it, but we must be prepared to doubt
John Henry Newman. In his Apologia pro vita sua he reports
that our present knowledge of astronomy is irreformable and
that it was not logic that carried him on any more than it
to recognize that a thousand years hence it, too, may seem
is the mercury in the barometer that changes the weather:
primitivistic. When the knight of faith, whose adventures
“The whole man moves; paper logic is but the record of it.”
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DOUBT AND BELIEF
2427
The difference between the medieval and the post-
by pointing out that saying “I know” registers the highest
Renaissance understanding of the nature of faith may be due
possible cognitive claim in a form that authorizes someone
also, at least in part, to a general change of outlook that the
to rely on the statement, so that it functions in a way similar
Renaissance brought about in respect to the nature of man.
to “I promise.” Thus the claim to know is no more than a
In medieval thought the will was treated as but one of several
strident way of asserting a particular belief.
“faculties,” or powers of the soul. Such was the change
It is one thing to contend that everyone has the right
wrought by the Renaissance that a tendency developed to see
to be sure of his beliefs; it is another thing to affirm that the
the will as virtually synonymous with the whole person. In
beliefs are justified as claims to knowledge. By claiming to
this view the whole person is the agent; hence the act of faith
know, I would claim—judiciously or rashly—to have no
comes to be seen more and more as an act of the will.
doubt. If I affirm that something is a known fact, I am con-
BELIEF AND KNOWLEDGE. The twentieth-century philoso-
tending that no one has any need or any right to doubt it.
pher Bertrand Russell, in one of his best books, Human
No alleged facts, however, can be said to be so indubitable,
Knowledge (London, 1948), reminds us that “all knowledge
and none, therefore, is so indisputable. When in creedal
is in some degree doubtful, and we cannot say what degree
statements such as the Nicene Creed or the so-called Apos-
of doubtfulness makes it cease to be knowledge, any more
tles’ Creed we use the traditional “I believe” or “We believe,”
than we can say how much loss of hair makes a man bald”
we exhibit the characteristically religious disposition of open-
(p. 516). He goes on to say that all words outside mathemat-
ness and its implication of the possibility of doubt. This
ics and logic are vague. After pointing out that empiricism
doubt may be transcended by faith, yet the faith is meaning-
as a theory of knowledge is inadequate, though less so than
less apart from it. Perceptive, then, was the poet Alfred Ten-
any previous one, he concludes that “all human knowledge
nyson’s observation that more faith lives in honest doubt
is uncertain, inexact, and partial” (p. 527).
than “in half the creeds”; for unless the believer’s affirmation
recognizes the possibility of doubt, his faith has no vitality.
Russell’s thought on this subject represents a develop-
The absence of doubt is the height of irreligion. Both the will
ment of the empiricist view championed in the eighteenth
to believe, which the psychologist and philosopher William
century by David Hume. According to Hume all human
James popularized in the late nineteenth century, and the
knowledge is reducible to more or less strong beliefs. Al-
will to doubt, which Bertrand Russell said he would prefer
though some modern philosophers have argued for a clear
to preach, are necessary for a lively faith. When the authentic
distinction between knowledge and belief, they show only
believer says “I believe,” he omits a hidden qualifier—
that it may be convenient to dub certain very strong beliefs
“Nevertheless, I believe.” For if there can be nothing (outside
knowledge in order to distinguish them from other beliefs
the tautologies of logic and mathematics) that justifies a
that are weak. While I may feel so certain about some be-
claim to certainty, then doubt is proper to every belief. Au-
liefs that I wish to assign to them a special place among my
thentic belief does not sidestep doubt. On the contrary,
beliefs and so call them knowledge, I can never claim to be
when one seriously intends to live by faith, one does not at
entirely certain that I have examined all possible alternatives,
all claim that the formulation of that faith is adequate or irre-
if only because I cannot know all the possible alternatives.
formable.
When belief in a geocentric universe was fashionable, many
must have felt confident that such a universe was demonstra-
NIHILISM AND CERTAINTY. The role of doubt in belief can
ble beyond a shadow of a doubt. If anyone doubted it, he
be clarified by a glance at two extremes: nihilism and certain-
could be asked to follow the movement of the sun from its
ty. Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, “nothing”) consists in the
rising to its setting and so be shown conclusively that the sun
dogmatic tendency to deny not only the existence of God but
moved; yet that conclusion would be wrong according to
the permanence of any entity. According to such a view one
today’s reckoning.
can therefore say nothing that is absolutely true of anything
since no claims to truth have any objective grounds. A classi-
For practical purposes one may choose to call one’s
cal exponent of nihilism in its intellectual aspect is Gorgias
strongest beliefs knowledge, but it can never be knowledge
in Plato’s dialogue of that name. In contrast to the earlier
in the sense of an infallible grasp of truth or an acquaintance
philosopher Protagoras, who held that “man is the measure
with reality. Even to say “I know I am in pain” is not an ex-
of all things” (i.e., truth is relative to persons and circum-
ception since it adds nothing to saying “I am in pain.” If I
stances), Plato’s Gorgias taught that there can be no truth
did not know myself to be in pain, I could not be in pain;
at all. On the practical or ethical side the nihilist denies all
and if I were in pain, I could not have neglected to notice
“higher” and “objective” values. In the nineteenth century
it. Of course I feel pain; but to say “I know” is to claim
the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche held that the
knowledge of what pain is, and this I cannot properly claim.
interpretation of existence that Christianity bequeathed to
Nor could such a claim to know result in any objective
Europe was fundamentally a life-negating pessimism. A par-
knowledge at all. As my friend you would presumably trust
ticular form of nihilism emerged in Russia. Mikhail Bakunin
my word; nevertheless, you would be entitled to disbelieve
(1814–1876) taught that society’s only hope lies in its de-
me. John Austin in his essay “Other Minds” (Proceedings of
struction, while, even more radically, Dmitrii Pisarev (1840–
the Aristotelian Society, supp. vol. 20, 1946) recognized this
1868) taught that society is so evil that its destruction is 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
2428
DOUBT AND BELIEF
good in itself. Existentialism, by contrast, is not necessarily
consequences, has led to total indetermination may ‘find’
nihilistic, although some forms of it (e.g., those of Jean-Paul
God or not. But if he find God, the faith of that man is im-
Sartre and Albert Camus) have nihilistic elements in them.
movable” (À l’extrême du scepticisme, Paris, 1947, p. 168).
Certainty is a peculiarly difficult concept. After the Re-
Laughter is likewise relevant to the spirit of humility and
naissance, John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume
doubt. To be able to laugh at oneself is surely the hallmark
all paved the way for Kant’s demonstration that we can have
of humility. Neither the religious fanatic nor the antireli-
no certain knowledge of the “thing-in-itself.” Noteworthy is
gious propagandist is likely to be able to do so, and so neither
the fact that down to the present century the papal index of
can ever laugh lovingly about religion. The mirth that
prohibited books included these writers only in respect to
springs from self-forgetfulness is a potent instrument in the
those of their works that cast doubt on the possibility of cer-
attainment of religious insight, for it springs from deep hu-
tain knowledge. Although from Augustine to Thomas the
mility and a childlike love that have matured into intellectual
medieval thinkers had discussed the conditions of certain
openness and awe before the mystery of being. That is im-
knowledge, all of them held that at least some kind of knowl-
possible apart from doubt.
edge is possible. Otherwise, how else could one know, for in-
Faith, to have any value at all, emerges in personal en-
stance, that God exists? Modern thinkers, however, have
counter with divine being: “Scio cui credidi ” (“I know whom
generally been reluctant to recognize the possibility of abso-
I have believed”; 2 Tm. 1:12). In childhood we learn to trust
lute certainty except in the realm of logical and mathematical
those who surround us with love. In due course we discover
relationships that are (as we have seen) tautologies. Russell
that, like all human beings, they, too, have their limitations.
distinguished three kinds of claims to certainty: (1) logical,
The deeply religious person, however, claims to have en-
or mathematical, certainty—for example, if we grant that
countered the being in whom alone such trust may be placed
man is a rational animal, we may be certain that by implica-
without reserve, and so such a person sets no limits on the
tion man is an animal; (2) epistemological certainty, accord-
faith that issues from the encounter. What such a person may
ing to which a proposition is credible in the highest degree
and should question is what precisely the encounter signifies
as a result of the abundance of evidence adduced for it—for
and how it is to be interpreted. If the faith does not entail
example, we can be certain that the earth moves around the
any doubt at all, surely it is a straw in the wind.
sun; and (3) psychological certainty, which occurs when a
Moreover, without a willingness to doubt, religious tol-
person merely feels no doubt about the truth of a proposi-
erance is impossible. True, religious tolerance is not in itself
tion—for example, if after having known you for two min-
the mark of authentic faith, for it may spring from mere in-
utes I were to say, “I am an excellent judge of people, and
difference to or ignorance of the cardinal issues of the reli-
I know for certain that you are not to be trusted.”
gious consciousness; but a faith that is fundamentally intoler-
THE ROLE OF DOUBT IN AUTHENTIC FAITH AND BELIEF.
ant of any expressions of religion other than its own merely
Superficial critics of religion tend to ask, “How genuine is
reveals its lack of confidence and the trivial nature of its
the believer’s belief?” Such a question never yields—nor
thrust. Genuinely religious persons, whatever their beliefs,
could it ever yield—any satisfactory answer. The questioner,
are always thoroughly impressed by the mystery of faith. The
having taken care to steer between the Scylla of nihilism and
tendency to explain rather than to contemplate mystery is the
the Charybdis of a claim to certainty, would more fruitfully
vice of much popular, institutional religion and has im-
formulate the question by asking, “How genuine is the doubt
mensely contributed to the disunity of Christendom as well
behind the belief?” For when a believer says, “In spite of x,
as to the maintenance of barriers between one religion and
I believe y,” that which is most likely to determine the signifi-
another. The apocalyptic literature of religion unfolds the
cance of y is knowledge of the content to be assigned to x.
presence of mystery; it does not purport to explain it. Genu-
ine religion is always full of wonder and therefore full of
Doubt is a profound expression of humility. Without
doubt, while irreligion is wonderless. With wonderless belief
the humility that is and always has been at the root of all cre-
the devotee can offer only wonderless love, which is tanta-
ative philosophical and scientific inquiry from Socrates on-
mount to blasphemy since it entails a casualness such as one
ward, pretensions to religious faith are shown for what they
might properly express in saying, for instance, “Of course I
are: at best a caricature, at worst a mockery, of religion. For
love candy, doesn’t everyone?” Such religion, shorn of doubt,
humility is not only the virtue that corresponds to the vice
lacking humility, and therefore loveless, surely reveals its own
of pride—which according to the teachings of all the great
ignorance and depravity, for it expresses a mere narcissistic
religions of the world is the fundamental obstacle to spiritual
looking at oneself in a mirror rather than an outpouring of
perceptivity; it is also closely connected with love, which is
love to the source and ground of being, apart from which re-
in Christian teaching the spring of all virtues. So faith and
ligion is indeed vain.
love respectively have as their implicates doubt and humility.
If humility be radical enough it can become the best means
SEE ALSO Enlightenment, The; Epistemology; Existential-
of access to God, who “resisteth the proud, but giveth grace
ism; Faith; Intuition; Knowledge and Ignorance; Logical
unto the humble” (Jas. 4:6). We may also say with E.-Alexis
Positivism; Philosophy, articles on Philosophy and Religion,
Preyre that “the man whom doubt, pushed to its extreme
Philosophy of Religion; Skeptics and Skepticism; Truth.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DOV BER OF MEZHIRICH
2429
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DOV BER OF MEZHIRICH (c. 1704–1772), Ha-
The classic source on doubt as a philosophical method is René
sidic teacher and leader of the movement from 1760. A
Descartes’s Discourse on Method (especially part 3). For a dis-
scholar and an ascetic qabbalist from his youth, Dov Ber
cussion of a “doubtful faith” that can partake of rational
sensed a lack in the rigorous routine of study, fasting, and
checks and balances yet allow beliefs that go beyond theoreti-
self-mortification that provided the standards for intense
cal knowledge, see Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment
Jewish spirituality in his day. Tradition has it that he was a
(especially section 91). Another classical treatment of the na-
ture of belief is Blaise Pascal’s Pensées. So
physically frail man, rendered so in part by the voluntary self-
⁄ ren Kierkegaard’s
singularly important perceptions on doubt and belief are
denial of his early years.
scattered throughout his works, but especially important are
Toward the middle of the eighteenth century, Dov Ber
his Journals and Papers, 7 vols., edited and translated by
Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, assisted by Gregor
came under the influence of YisraDel ben EliEezer (1700–
Malantschuk (Bloomington, Ind., 1967–1978) and his Ei-
1760), the Besht, a wandering healer and folk teacher and
ther/Or, 2 vols., translated by David F. Swenson, Lillian M.
the central figure of a spiritual revival movement that had
Swenson, and Walter Lowrie, with revisions and foreword by
met with some modest success among Jews in Podolia. The
Howard A. Johnson (Princeton, 1959). John Henry New-
Besht, though a person of significantly less rabbinic learning
man discusses belief in terms of an “illative” sense in An Essay
than Dov Ber, was a natural mystic and a charismatic person-
in Aid of a Grammar of Assent (1870; reprint, with an intro-
ality who probably had mastered the supranormal powers of
duction by Étienne Gilson, New York, 1955) and in his Apo-
perception. Their meeting transformed Dov Ber’s life. The
logia pro vita sua, 2d ed. (1865; reprint, New York, 1964).
On the meaninglessness of “radical” doubt, see G. E.
Besht taught a religion of divine immanence, of the palpable
Moore’s “The Refutation of Idealism,” reprinted in Philo-
presence of God in each place, each moment, and every
sophical Studies (London, 1922); “A Defence of Common
human soul. In this teaching Dov Ber felt his own religious
Sense,” in Philosophical Papers (New York, 1959); and Some
life come alive, and he was liberated by it from the excessive
Main Problems of Philosophy (New York, 1953), especially
demands of his earlier asceticism.
chapter 1. Frederick R. Tennant’s theory of belief and faith
is expounded in his Philosophical Theology, 2 vols. (Cam-
While the death of the Besht occasioned a struggle for
bridge, U.K., 1928), especially volume 1, chapter 11, and in
leadership in the nascent movement, most of the master’s
his The Nature of Belief (London, 1943), especially chapter
disciples followed Dov Ber as he moved the center of Hasidic
6. Martin C. D’Arcy, S.J., in The Nature of Belief (London,
teaching westward to Volhynian Mezhirich, where he served
1931), gives an account consonant with the Thomist tradi-
as preacher (maggid). In the twelve years of his leadership,
tion. Also important are Dorothy Emmet’s The Nature of
he attracted to Hasidism a dazzling group of young seekers,
Metaphysical Thinking (London, 1945) and John Hick’s
many of whom were to become important teachers, leaders,
Faith and Knowledge, 2d ed. (Ithaca, N.Y., 1966). In several
of my books, notably Christian Doubt (London, 1951) and
and authors in their own right. These include such well-
God beyond Doubt (Philadelphia, 1966), I have discussed
known Hasidic figures as Menah:em Mendel of Vitebsk,
faith as a descant on doubt.
ShneDur Zalman of Lyady, Levi Yitsh:aq of Berdichev, Eli-
melekh of Lizhensk, and Aharon of Karlin. It was Dov Ber
New Sources
who sent them forth to spread the Hasidic message through-
Bookchin, Murray. Re-Enchanting Humanity: A Defense of the
out the Jewish communities of eastern Europe, and it is
Human Spirit against Anti-humanism, Misanthropy, Mysti-
cism and Primitivism. London, 1995.
largely due to his impact that Hasidism became a far-flung
and important force in Jewish history. His death in 1772 oc-
Gellner, Ernest. Reason and Culture: The Historic Role of Rationali-
curred just as the controversy and bans against the H:asidim
ty and Rationalism. Malden, Mass., 1992.
were first being issued by the rabbinical authorities.
Gratzer, Walter. The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-
Deception, and Human Frailty. New York, 2000.
Dov Ber was a mystic intoxicated by the single idea of
devequt (“attachment to God”) as a return to the state of pri-
Howard-Snyder, Daniel, and Paul Moser, eds. Divine Hiddenness:
mal nothingness. He taught a panentheistic doctrine that
New Essays. New York, 2002.
bordered on acosmism: the transcendent God also fills all the
Kitcher, Philip. The Advancement of Science without Legend; Objec-
worlds; his life force is the only true vitality in all of being.
tivity without Illusions. New York, 1993.
The outer human self as well as the exterior appearance of
Shermer, Michael. How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age
all reality are the infinitely varied garb of God. As the devotee
of Science. New York, 1999.
learns to transcend such externals, he will find only the One,
that nothing that is in fact the only Being. Paradoxically, this
Wilson, A. N. God’s Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western Civi-
lization. New York, 1999.
highly abstract immanentism was combined frequently with
entirely personalistic religious metaphors. God is often de-
Wilson, David Sloan. Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and
scribed by Dov Ber as a father who reduces the intensity of
the Nature of Society. Chicago, 2002.
his presence in the world, a process called tsimtsum, the way
GEDDES MACGREGOR (1987)
a patient parent lessens the complexity of a concept while try-
Revised Bibliography
ing to impart it to a beloved child.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2430
DOVES
Much of Dov Ber’s work focuses on issues of devotion.
Schatz Uffenheimer, Rivka. Hasidism as Mysticism: Quietistic Ele-
He taught that proper prayer must be for the sake of the
ments in Eighteenth Century Hasidic Thought. Translated by
Shekhinah (the exiled divine presence) and that supplication
Jonathan Chipman. Princeton, N.J. and Jerusalem, 1993.
for one’s own sake was selfish. Prayer as practiced in the
ARTHUR GREEN (1987)
Mezhirich circle was an ecstatic ascent to devequt, with the
Revised Bibliography
externals of worship successively cast aside as the worshiper,
even while continuing to recite the prescribed liturgy, basked
in the glow of God’s presence. The heights of such prayer
DOVES SEE BIRDS
bordered on the prophetic; moments passed in which the
worshiper’s own voice was silenced as “the Shekhinah spoke
from his mouth.”
Unlike earlier Jewish mystics, who seemed to shy away
DRAGONS. The etymology of the term dragon (from the
from unitive formulations in discussing their experiences,
ancient Greek drako¯n and the Latin draco, -onis) points to
Dov Ber freely advocated union with the divine. The human
serpents, for the Greek term means “serpent,” and it refers
soul, wholly identified with shekhinah, the lowest of the ten
to real snakes as well as to mythical snakes or snakelike fig-
divine emanations, had to return to h:okhmah, or primordial
ures; the Latin term may also refer to actual serpents. By
wisdom, the highest of the ten and often called by the name
dragons we mean mythical creatures shaped like serpents or
Ein, representing the divine nihil. In this act of mystical self-
with serpent features, and often endowed with features or
annihilation, man served as a channel by which all the divine
parts belonging to various animals (a body like a lizard’s
energy released in creation was reunited with its source, ef-
or a crocodile’s, with a feline’s or a reptile’s head, a bat’s
fecting a foretaste of ultimate redemption.
wings, an eagle’s or a lion’s paws and claws, and a mouth en-
dowed with many tongues and pointed fangs). Dragons are
In Dov Ber’s teaching, the messianic urgency that char-
often presented as fierce, devouring monsters; according to
acterizes much of the earlier Qabbalah is set aside or “neu-
many traditions, they spit fire; they may be chthonic, aquat-
tralized”; the immediate and highly individual act of devequt
ic, or aerial beings.
seems to mitigate the need for the long-range and collective
striving for tiqqun, or cosmic redemption. This neutraliza-
Even though the specific shape of the dragon’s mon-
tion was also made possible by a vision that denied the ulti-
strous body becomes increasingly standardized in time and
mate reality of evil, considered an illusion that stood as a
assumes a heraldic fixity in the art of many cultures, as in the
temporary barrier to our sight of the good.
European or in the Chinese and Japanese, the dragon is bet-
ter defined by its meaning and function in mythical thought
Dov Ber’s teachings were edited by his students and
than by that shape. Dragons are the symbols of elements,
published after his death in Maggid devarav le-Ya Eaqov
forces, or principles present, or active, in the cosmic (or pre-
(1784), Or Torah (1804), and Or ha-emet (1899). He is also
cosmic) world. They thus express, in mythical language, as-
frequently quoted throughout the many writings of his disci-
pects of the natural setting of the various societies, and the
ples, and his dominant influence is felt throughout the later
dangerous or positive qualities of those aspects, such as
Hasidic literature.
drought or rain, flood, and so on. Beyond this “natural”
meaning they possess a more complex value on the cosmic
BIBLIOGRAPHY
level, being forces of stability or of disorder, of staticity or
Dov Ber’s Maggid devarav le-Ya Eaqov has been published in a criti-
cal edition by Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer (Jerusalem, 1976).
of dynamism, of death or of life. Again, they may have a sim-
His other works are available in reprinted traditional edi-
ilar meaning on a “social” or “political” level, symbolizing
tions. While no work of Dov Ber’s as such has been translat-
the enemies, or, in some cases, the champions, of a given cul-
ed into English, the reader can obtain an idea of his teachings
ture, society, group, or class. In this case also, however, the
from the works of his disciple Menah:em Nah:um of Cherno-
symbolism of this first level expresses a second-level, “cos-
byl, Upright Practices and The Light of the Eyes, translated by
mic” symbolism of evil, disorder, and injustice, or of protec-
me (both, New York, 1982). Dov Ber’s thought is the chief
tion and strength.
subject of Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer’s important study
Ha-H:asidut ke-mist:iqah (Jerusalem, 1968). For biography,
The main Old World traditions about dragons can be
see volume 1 of Samuel A. Horodetzky’s Ha-H:asidut
classified in two different groups. A tradition belonging to
ve-ha-h:asidim (Tel Aviv, 1951), pp. 75ff.
cultures located in the western part of Eurasia and in some
parts of East Africa presents dragons as chaotic beings, re-
New Sources
Goldstein, Niles Elliot. Forests of the Night: The Fear of God in
sponsible for death and disorder, and vanquished by gods or
Early Hasidic Thought. Northvale, N.J., 1996.
heroes. This tradition has its roots in the ancient mythologies
Kushner, Lawrence Square. “Bratslav and Mezritch: The Two
of the Near East, and of the Indian, Iranian, and European
Poles of Jewish Spirituality.” In What Kind of God? Essays in
world, and it continues into the Christian culture of the Eu-
Honor of Richard L. Rubenstein, edited by Betty Rogers Ru-
ropean Middle Ages as well as into the Christian mythology
benstein and Michael Berenbaum, pp. 357–366. Lanham,
of Egypt and Ethiopia. A second tradition is typical of East
Md., 1995.
Asia (notably China, Japan, and Indonesia) and presents
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAGONS
2431
dragons as powerful and helpful beings. The distinction,
patched by the various Near Eastern gods: to names already
however, is not a totally simple and straightforward one, for
present in the more ancient Ugaritic texts (Yamm, Mavet, or
“positive” aspects are present in the dragon lore of the west-
Mot) one can add names such as Peten, Nahash, Rahab, Levi-
ern area, notably in India (where myths present dragonlike
athan, Tannin, Behemoth. Indeed, this seems to have been
beings that are similar to the dragons of East Asia), and drag-
an ancient Israelite myth connecting creation to the fight
on-slaying myths are not unknown to the East Asian cul-
against one or more primeval monsters, and thus a cosmo-
tures. In order to respect the complexity of the material, a
gonical motif alternative to the one(s) contained in the first
more detailed treatment is required, based upon specific as-
chapter of the Book of Genesis.
pects and motifs of the dragon lore of the Old World, rather
than upon the usual twofold classification.
Given the structural correspondence between cosmo-
gonies and eschatologies, it is not surprising to find that
DRAGONS IN COSMOGONIES AND ESCHATOLOGIES. The
eschatological myths of various societies show a dragon as
most ancient traditions about dragons go back to the Sume-
the being (or as one of the beings) responsible for the lapse
rian, Akkadian, and Egyptian mythologies of the first three
into chaos and death that is to take place at the end of time.
millennia BCE. In these contexts dragons (often clearly ser-
Thus in late biblical texts (e.g., Dn. 7, Jb. 7:12), as well as
pentine; in some cases, as in that of Tiamat, of different,
in Judaic and Christian texts of “apocalyptic” content (e.g.,
though unclear, shapes) represent forces or elements that in-
Rv. 12–13, 20), the primeval dragon is said to have been de-
terfere with the correct order or functioning of the world,
feated but not totally destroyed, and to return at the end to
and they are vanquished by gods who shape and organize the
wreak havoc, only to be finally annihilated. Other religious
cosmos and, through their victory, acquire authority and
traditions also present dragonlike beings as eschatological en-
power over the newly ordered world. The god Enlil defeats
emies: thus the Germanic mythology (the Midgarðr serpent
a monstrous being, the Labbu, in a Sumerian text. The god
of the Prose Edda) and the Iranian (the serpentine Azhi
Marduk vanquishes the monsters Tiamat and Kingu in the
Dahaka, later called Zohak, who is chained to Mount Dema-
Akkadian text Enuma elish of Babylon. In the mythology of
vend by the hero Thraetaona/Feridun and who returns at the
the Syrian city of Ugarit (end of the second millennium BCE)
end of time).
the god Baal defeats the monsters Yamm (“sea”) and Mot
(“death”). The dragon Apopis is slain by the god Seth in
DRAGONS AS ABDUCTORS AND DEVOURERS. To the above
Egyptian mythology. In similar mythical traditions the ser-
themes one should connect the similar mythical complex
pentine Vr:tra is killed by the warrior god Indra (or by the
that presents dragons as robbers who steal wealth or abduct
hero Trita) in Indic mythical narratives that go back to the
women, and the theme of the devouring dragon. In some of
R:gveda. In the Hittite texts of Bogazköy, the serpent Illuy-
the “cosmogonical” myths listed above (e.g., in the Ugaritic
anka is killed by the storm god. In Greek mythology, Zeus
myth of Baal, Mot, and Yamm) the“chaotic” enemy is also
slays the monster Typhon, who had a hundred snake heads,
presented as a devourer, or as a tyrant levying tribute; in
and Apollo kills the female serpent (drakaina) at Delphi, and
other cases, such as the ancient Egyptian myth about Astarte
then builds his own sanctuary on the spot where the mon-
and the sea (nineteenth dynasty), a goddess is sent (as “trib-
strous being has been slain.
ute”?) to the monster by the gods it terrorizes. But a more
precise motif of this type has recently been reconstructed and
In some cases, these myths have been interpreted as
called the Indo-European cattle-raiding myth. In the my-
myths of fertility and of the seasonal pattern, because the vic-
thologies of many Indo-European-speaking societies (Indic,
torious deity is often a storm god, and drought, rain, and the
Iranian, Hittite, Greek, Roman, Germanic, and Armenian)
life of vegetation are often at stake. But the cosmogonic qual-
versions or traces of a type of myth have been found, wherein
ity of these myths is clear in all cases: in order to construct,
a monstrous, serpentine, three-headed being steals cattle
or to defend, the world order, the god has to destroy the pri-
from a hero or a community; a god or hero retrieves the cattle
meval, chaotic dragon. In some cases (as in that of Apsu and
and dispatches the monster. The Indic example is the very
the female Tiamat, who represent two parts of the original
myth of Indra (and/or Trita) mentioned above, that is clearly
watery chaos, and of the younger monster Kingu) the dra-
cosmogonic; the Hittite example is the myth, also cited
gonlike monster represents the preexisting, static, chaotic
above, of Illuyanka and the storm god. This overlapping, and
matter that must be broken, divided, and restructured to
the eschatological developments of the Germanic and Irani-
build the cosmos. In other cases (as in the myths about
an myths of this group (see above), point to a typological and
Apopis, the serpent who tries to stop the sun from rising and
historical connection between the theme in question and the
setting, or of Vr:tra, the “withholder” who blocks the cows
cosmogonical myths mentioned in the preceding section,
symbolizing water and dawn) the serpentine monsters are be-
though there is no consensus among scholars on the original
ings that cause staticity and death by stopping the correct
cosmogonic value of the cattle-raiding myths.
functioning of the world, and they must be eliminated.
In the Iranian myth belonging to this group, the mon-
The Hebrew Bible contains many traces of an ancient
ster Azhi Dahaka/Zohak steals not cattle (though an inter-
mythology, wherein Yahveh, in primeval times, defeats mon-
pretation of the stolen female as cattle has been proposed for
sters that are extremely similar to the dragonlike beings dis-
the most ancient versions) but royal women, and his oppo-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2432
DRAGONS
nent Thraetaona/Feridun regains the young women (and, in
cases, their symbolic value is drastically “historicized,” and
the later versions, the usurped throne) by defeating the drag-
they are identified by various societies or groups with real,
on. This theme of a dragon who steals women and is defeated
external enemies such as foreign nations or oppressive powers
by a hero who thus regains them is no less widespread than
and rulers. It has been shown that in many traditions of the
the theme of the devouring or greedy dragon. It is attested
cattle-raiding myth type the serpentine cattle raider (or ab-
in ancient Greek mythology (e.g., the hero Perseus saves An-
ductor of women) is seen as the representative of an enemy
dromeda from the dragon), and it is a central theme in medi-
(often non-Indo-European) group, against which the society
eval and modern dragon lore in Europe and Asia, appearing
that created the myths was engaged in a continuous warfare;
in folk tales collected from the oral tradition of European
in the Hebrew Bible and in the most ancient Christian texts
peasants down to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in
the various monsters listed above are quoted to indicate
which a “princess” is stolen by a dragon (or by some other
neighboring nations (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, etc.) or tyran-
monstrous enemy) and recovered by a young man of the
nical rulers that oppressed Israel or persecuted the believers.
lower social strata, who kills the monster and is promoted,
often by gaining the hand of the “princess.” In other folk
In later Judaic and in other religious and magical texts
tales of the same traditions, the dragon steals or devours vital
of the eastern Mediterranean of Hellenistic and Roman
elements such as light or water, or pollutes the soil or the air
times, dragons and serpents are increasingly presented as
of whole regions.
symbols and instruments of the evil forces, and from this
D
background, as well as from the eschatological value of drag-
RAGONS AS WITHHOLDERS AND CUSTODIANS. The tradi-
tion of the dragon as a greedy usurper, robber, devourer, or
ons in biblical and other traditions (see above), the identifica-
withholder may be combined with two other widespread
tion of the dragon with the enemy of God, Satan, arose. This
motifs: the theme of the serpent who in primeval times de-
interpretation was already explicit in the “canonical” Chris-
prived humankind of immortality—a theme attested, for ex-
tian apocalypse (Rv. 20:2; see above), and it became the most
ample, in the biblical Book of Genesis (3:1–15) and in the
generally accepted in the Christian world. In the new Chris-
Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh—and the widespread
tian context, numerous hagiographic and other traditions
theme, which is especially important in many Asian mythol-
contained a restructured version of the ancient mythical
ogies, of the snake that resides at the foot of the tree of life
theme of the battle against the dragon or monster, in which
or the cosmic tree. Such combinations probably gave rise to
the dragon was an embodiment or an emissary of Satan. The
the theme of the dragon as a custodian of the tree of life or
best-known type of battle between a holy being and the dev-
of other sources of immortality or longevity: one should
ilish dragon in Christian traditions opposes the satanic
quote the ancient Greek myth of the dragon that guarded
enemy to a warrior figure. One might mention Saint George,
the golden apples of the Hesperides, killed by Herakles when
a saintly knight of Anatolian origin, who often replaced the
the hero conquered the apples, or the na¯gas of Indic tradi-
“pagan” dragon slayers of local, pre-Christian traditions; or
tion, that guarded the White Mountain and its wonder-tree
Michael, the Archangel, an important figure of Christian an-
Maha¯sankha, “tall as Mount Meru,” that produced a special
gelology that is presented as a dragon slayer already in the
fruit. In other cases the dragon is shown not guarding but
earliest texts (Rv. 12:7–9). These two figures are extremely
attacking the holy tree: thus, in Iranian mythology (Bundah-
popular in Christian iconography from the earliest times;
ishn 18.2) the reptile created by Ahriman that damages the
they are usually shown dispatching the satanic dragon with
miraculous plant Gayo-kerena, or, in Germanic traditions,
a lance or sword, clad in full armor, and Saint George is often
the serpent Níðhoggr that attacks the roots of the cosmic tree
depicted on horseback.
E
Yggdrasill.
Saints George and Michael are not, however, the only
The theme of the dragon as guardian of the tree of life
Christian dragon-slayers. The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus,
or cosmic tree is connected typologically to the theme of the
for example, is often depicted as trampling a serpent, as the
dragon who guards treasures, widely attested in China, India,
Second Eve who defeats the forces of evil, in fulfillment of
and Europe. See, for instance, the ancient Greek tradition
the verse of the Book of Genesis (3:15) that announced an
about the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece and was
eternal enmity between the seed of Eve and the serpent; the
killed by the hero Jason, who thus obtained the precious
iconographical type continues, today still, in Catholic sacred
token of kingship; the serpents guarding the gold of Apollo
art. Finally, other dragon-fighters of Christian tradition,
among the Scythians (Herodotus, 3.116); and the Germanic
such as Saint Marcellus of Paris (fifth century) or Saint Hila-
myth of the snake Fafnir who guards the gold coveted by
ry of Poitiers, appear not as warriors, but as bishops, their
Regin and is killed by the hero Sigurd. The theme of the
weapon against the dragon being not the sword or lance but
dragon guarding the tree of life became an important icono-
the bishop’s pastoral staff. The connection established by the
graphical motif in ancient and medieval art of Asia and Eu-
hagiographic sources between their victory over the dragon
rope: it is found, in a rigid heraldic scheme, even in the reliefs
and their role as culture heroes and as peaceful leaders of
of the Baptistery of Parma and of other medieval churches.
their communities shows that their treatment of dragons
DRAGONS AS ENEMIES AND DEVILS. In other traditions,
(often not slain, but tamed or chased away) has specific
dragons are ever-active, menacing symbols of evil. In some
meanings, different from those of the other Christian narra-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAGONS
2433
tives about dragons, and probably less concerned with a
droughts, images of the Ying dragon, a water figure, were
theological symbolism: we are told of Hilary that “he gave
made, to propitiate rainfall. Yet dragons are also important
more land to humankind, for colonists migrated to the place
in rituals of cosmic renewal, as is shown by the presence of
that had been held by the beast” (“addidit terra hominibus,
dragon masks during the lamplit, nightly festivities that close
quia in loco beluae incola transmigravit”).
the Chinese New Year feast; and many traditions and prac-
DRAGONS AS GIVERS OF FECUNDITY AND LIFE. In spite of
tices point to the other value of dragons as symbols of cosmic
the systematic “demonization” of dragon figures in the
rhythm. In particular, this is clear in the symbolic correspon-
Christian Middle Ages, specialists of European folklore and
dences and ties between dragons and the Chinese emperors
medieval culture have shown that many aspects of the dragon
or Sons of Heaven who were also representative of cosmic
lore of Europe point to a more complex symbolic and mythi-
rhythms and givers of fecundity. Thus we are told that an
cal value of dragons. It will suffice here to quote the heraldic
emperor of the Hsia dynasty ate dragons in order to ensure
use of dragons in crests, banners, and insignia, from late an-
magically the welfare of his kingdom, and that when that
tiquity to modern times; the identification (that has been
same dynasty underwent a crisis and lost its vital force, drag-
compared to “totemic” practices of tribal societies) of nations
ons appeared to reestablish the correct rhythmic flux in vari-
and lineages with dragons; the presence of dragons (often as
ous ways. Finally, mythical dragons were responsible for the
symbols of fecundity and prosperity) in liturgical processions
ascension of monarchs to the heavenly regions, as happened,
(such as the Rogations of western Europe) or in folkloric fes-
we are told, when Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, was ab-
tivals (such as Carnival).
ducted with several members of his court by a bearded drag-
on and carried to the sky.
The “positive” traits of dragons in European traditions
show the dragon lore of Europe to be polysemous. They may
Throughout Southeast Asia, in South India, Indochina,
be usefully compared to the “positive” traits of dragons in
and Indonesia, dragons are water figures and symbols of fer-
East Asia, and especially in China, where dragon figures are
tility. This is attested not only by narrative traditions but also
no less polysemous than in the Western tradition. In China,
by ritual practices. Thus, in modern Cambodian weddings
the theme of dragons as forces or beings that have to be con-
the bride is identified with the moon, her teeth are treated
trolled and confirmed in order to “create” the cosmic order
as if to deprive them of serpent venom, and the rituals are
is well attested by, for example, the Confucian Shujing (Book
explicitly connected with myths about a dragonlike royal an-
of stories). That text recounts how the mythical emperor Yu,
cestress; in Tenasserim (Burma), to stop the rainy season and
the founder of the Hsia dynasty, who gave the world its cor-
to bring in the dry weather, a statue of Upagutta, a mythical
rect order, built the first canals, freed the land from the cha-
serpent king, is plunged in water and offered sacrificial gifts,
otic waters, and chased away the serpents and dragons, forc-
in a ritual that is a symmetrical reversal of the Chinese drag-
ing them to reside in the marshes.
on rite mentioned above.
To this tradition one could add many others, such as
DRAGONS AS PARENTS AND ANCESTORS. Many traditions of
the deeds of the dragon-slaying emperor Chuan-hin. Howev-
Asia and Europe present dragons as the parents of heroes and
er, one should note that Nü-kua (the goddess who ordered
holy men and as the mythical ancestors of kingly dynasties.
the world in primeval times according to another ancient
The ancient Greek myth of the origin of the Boeotian city
text, the Lizi, and killed the black dragon) and her spouse,
Thebes combines this theme with the theme of the serpent
the mythical emperor Fuxi, are represented as dragonlike be-
as guardian and withholder: the hero Kadmos kills the drag-
ings in sculptures of the first centuries CE. This paradox of
on that barred the way to the site of the future city and then
the dragonlike dragon-slayer is emblematic of the complexity
sows the dragon’s teeth in the earth, thus giving rise to the
of Chinese dragon lore. Chinese dragons embodied the fertil-
Spartoi (“sown men”), who become the first Thebans. Alex-
izing qualities of water, and the importance of rain in the ag-
ander the Great (r. 336–323 BCE) was believed by some to
ricultural life of that region explains the increasingly ouranic
be born from his mother’s encounter with a god in the shape
traits of dragons, their wings, their connections with light-
of a serpent, and a similar legend was told of the Roman em-
ning.
peror Augustus. According to a Chinese tradition, the prin-
Far from being a mere symbolic expression of the natu-
cess Liu was resting by a pond with her husband, when she
ral elements, however, Chinese dragons represent the rhyth-
was raped by a dragon and conceived thus the future emper-
mic forces that rule the life of the cosmos. This is explicitly
or Gaozu; and the culture hero Fuxi was said to have been
stated by the Daoist Zhuangzi, who writes that the dragon
born from a pond that was famous for its dragons. Similar
is a symbol of rhythmic life because it embodies the waters
traditions are attested in Annam and Indonesia; and the In-
that guarantee the living order of the cosmos by their harmo-
dian kings of Chota Nagpur were believed to have descended
nious movement. The cosmic value of dragons as symbols
from a na¯ga, or serpentlike spirit, named Pun:d:ar¯ıka.
of rhythm and flux is not distinguished, in this text, from
A series of Asian traditions recount the birth of a famous
their value on the level of the material elements of nature.
kingly ancestor or holy man from a prince or priest and a
The connection of Chinese dragons with rain is well ex-
na¯g¯ı (female counterpart to the male na¯ga). Thus, according
emplified by the ritual practices of ancient China; during
to a Palaung myth, the na¯g¯ı Thusandi and the son 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
2434
DRAGONS
solar deity, Prince Thuryia, gave birth to three sons who be-
in Échanges et communications: Mélanges offerts à Claude Lévi-
came the kings of three lands (China, the land of the
Strauss, edited by Jean Pouillon and Pierre Maranda, vol. 2
Palaung, and Pagan). Similar traditions about the origins of
(The Hague, 1968), pp. 1180–1206.
royal dynasties from female dragon figures exist in South
A good source for medieval European dragon lore, especially the
India, Indochina, and Indonesia. In India the birth of the
theme of the bishop as a dragon tamer, and an important
sage Agastya from the apsara Urvasi is recounted in a compa-
critical study is Jacques Le Goff’s “Culture ecclésiastique et
rable fashion.
culture folklorique au Moyen-Âge: Saint Marcel de Paris et
le dragon,” in Richerche storiche ed economiche in memoria di
In the legends, the dragon-woman is often recognized
Corrado Barbagallo, edited by Luigi De Rosa, vol. 2 (Naples,
as such suddenly, because she smells strongly of fish, or be-
1970), pp. 53–90. This essay has been translated as “Ecclesi-
cause she is spied upon while she takes a bath and plays in
astical Culture and Folklore in the Middle Ages: Saint Mar-
the water with a na¯ga. In modern traditions of this kind from
cellus of Paris and the Dragon,” in Le Goff’s Time, Work and
Cambodia, the female dragon is a moon figure, and her
Culture in the Middle Ages (Chicago, 1980), pp. 159–188. Le
mythical marriage with a solar prince is the prototype of
Goff and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie’s “Mélusine maternelle
today’s marriage rituals, as well as a symbol of cosmic union
et défricheuse,” Annales: Économies, sociétés, civilisations 26
(1971): 587–622, offers a source on Mélusine.
between opposites. Similarly, the traditions about the birth
of a dynasty from the union of a watery, dragonlike female
Bibliography for East Asian dragons can be found in Eliade’s Pat-
and a fiery solar male are symbolic of a primeval unity of op-
terns in Comparative Religion (cited above), Barbara Renz’s
posites that prepares the new cosmos represented by the new
Der orientalische Schlangendrache (Augsburg, 1930), and
Hampden C. Du Bose’s The Dragon, Image, and Demon, or
dynastic order.
The Three Religions of China (London, 1886). On the mythi-
A comparable symbolic interpretation has not been of-
cal serpentine ancestress in Southeast Asia, see the bibliogra-
fered by scholars for the European traditions of the same
phy provided by Eliade (cited above), adding Éveline Porée-
type, that also derive princely dynasties from dragonlike fe-
Maspéro’s “Nouvelle étude sur la nagi Soma,” Journal asia-
males, and are known both from medieval chronicles and
tique 236 (1950): 237–267.
other texts, and from modern folklore. In the best-known of
New Sources
these European narrative traditions (the story of the extrahu-
Avil, François. Interprétation symbolique du combat de saint Michel
man female Mélusine or Mélusigne, often classified as a fairy
et du dragon. Paris, 1971.
by its medieval redactors) the female protagonist is spied
Jones, David E. An Instinct for Dragons. New York and London,
upon by her husband, who discovers that she turns into a
2000. A cross-cultural study on the origins and spread of
snake when taking a bath. The Mélusine stories have been
dragon lore, following a socio-biological approach and in-
compared to the myth told by Herodotus (4.8–10) about the
cluding an excellent bibliography.
birth of the ancestors of the three Scythian “tribes” from the
Lurker, Manfred. “Drache.” In Wörterbuch der Symbolik. Stutt-
hero Herakles and a powerful female being, who was half
gart, Germany, 1983, pp. 138–139.
woman, half serpent, but decidedly chthonic rather than
Morris, Henry M. Dragons in Paradise. El Cajon, Calif., 1993.
watery.
Nigg, Joe. Wonder Beasts: Tales and Lore of the Phoenix, the Griffin,
the Unicorn, and the Dragon. Englewood, Colo., 1995.
SEE ALSO Chaos; Monsters; Snakes.
Passes, David. Dragons. Truth, Myth and Legend. New York, 1993.
B
Shuker, Karl. Dragons. A Natural History. New York, 1995.
IBLIOGRAPHY
G. Elliot Smith’s The Evolution of the Dragon (New York, 1919),
Visser, Willem de. The Dragon in China and Japan. Wiesbaden,
although outdated, is still useful as a general study. The best
Germany, 1969. Original edition Amsterdam, 1913.
discussion of dragons and their symbolic meaning is in Mir-
Watkins, Calvert. How to Kill a Dragon. Aspects of Indo-European
cea Eliade’s Patterns in Comparative Religion (New York,
Poetics. Oxford, 1995. After an introduction to the field of
1958), chaps. 5 and 8. This book has an excellent biblio-
comparative Indo-European poetics the author examines the
graphical appendix. On dragons as chaotic beings of prime-
structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths throughout
val times and on the theme of the cosmogonic battle against
the Indo-European tradition. A copious bibliography is pro-
such monsters in the ancient Near East, Indic, and Greek
vided.
worlds, see Mary K. Wakeman’s God’s Battle with the Mon-
ster: A Study in Biblical Imagery (Leiden, 1973). For still
CRISTIANO GROTTANELLI (1987)
wider comparative material, see Joseph Fontenrose’s Python:
Revised Bibliography
A Study of the Delphic Myth and Its Origins (Berkeley, Calif.,
1959).
DRAMA
On the “cattle-raiding myth,” see Bruce Lincoln’s Priests, War-
This entry consists of the following articles:
riors, and Cattle: A Study in the Ecology of Religions (Berkeley,
1981), esp. pp. 103–122. On the Indo-European myths
DRAMA AND RELIGION
ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
about the fight against the dragon, consult Viacheslav Ivanov
ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FURTHER
and V. N. Toporov’s “Le mythe indo-européen du dieu de
CONSIDERATIONS]
l’orage poursuivant le serpent: Réconstitution du schéma,”
MIDDLE EASTERN NARRATIVE 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
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
2435
INDIAN DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
create a breeze. This breeze is said to be a blessing passed
BALINESE DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
from the ancestors to the living. No one may touch the danc-
JAVANESE WAYANG
EAST ASIAN DANCE AND THEATER
ers, however, and men with whips or sticks keep the dancers
AFRICAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
and the spectators separated.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE AND DRAMA
MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND DRAMA
The Egungun ritual contains other performative ele-
EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
ments, including songs of praise for the orisha and satirical
EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FURTHER
sketches. The ritual does not possess the elements of a ritual
CONSIDERATIONS]
MODERN WESTERN THEATER
drama in that it does not contain a set narrative, characters,
or specific dialogue, but according to Joel Adedeji (1972),
Egungun had a direct influence in the development of dra-
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
matic forms such as the Yoruba Alarinjo theater and on the
Although it can be said that the presentation of drama and
postcolonial drama of such writers as Wole Soyinka
religious ceremony are analogous, the two practices are not
(b. 1934) (Adedeji, 1972, p. 254).
always directly related in world history. The notion popular-
R
ized in the early twentieth century by the Cambridge School
ITUAL DRAMA. The earliest known record of ritual drama
comes from an Egyptian stele erected around 1868
that drama springs directly from ritual has been largely dis-
BCE. It
is the account by Ikhernofret of his participation in the Mys-
credited. However, religious practices and dramatic presenta-
teries of Osiris at Abydos. The stele reads like a list of heroic
tion often share many common elements: costume, storytell-
accomplishments: “I overthrew the enemies of Osiris. I cele-
ing, a playing space, and an audience. Also many of the
brated the Great-Going-Forth, following the god at his going.
world’s dramatic forms are derived from religious rituals and
I sailed the divine boat of Thoth.” The drama he is recount-
are still, in some way, connected to religious celebration.
ing, often called the Abydos Passion Play, recounts the life,
With that in mind, drama has had a long, sometimes inti-
death, and resurrection of Osiris. It is difficult to get an accu-
mate, sometimes adversarial relationship with religion.
rate idea of how elaborate or developed the performance may
Scholars generally assign drama and religious ritual to
have been or where one might place it on the continuum be-
a continuum with the following divisions: ritual with perfor-
tween ritual and drama.
mative elements, ritual drama, drama presented as part of a
religious festival, and secular drama. While this continuum
Another example of ritual drama is the Mayan dance
cannot be used as a trajectory of theatrical development, it
drama Rabinal Achí (also known as the Dance of El Tun).
provides a useful tool with which to understand the many
Scholars have long studied the accounts of ritual warfare
kinds of relationships theatrical performance has had with re-
among the Mayans, but in the 1990s Nikolai Grube deci-
ligious practice. Some societies developed rituals with ad-
phered the glyph for the word dance. Several precolonial
vanced elements of performance but never developed any-
dances have survived, including the Dance of Giants, a sol-
thing approaching a secular drama. Conversely, some
stice ritual of the lunar gods in conflict with the solar gods,
societies adopted a secular performance form independent of
and a pole dance in which dancers attached to ropes wound
religious ritual. At the same time, many in Western society
tightly around a pole slowly descend (fly) to the ground from
have assigned the secular theater a religious importance and
the top as the ropes unwind.
power, particularly during the mid–twentieth century, when
The text of Rabinal Achí is the only Mayan precolonial
interest in so-called primitive cultures surged.
dramatic text to survive. In the nineteenth century a Queché
RITUAL COMPRISING PERFORMATIVE ELEMENTS. To under-
actor named Bartolo Zis first transcribed the text into Que-
stand the relationships between these various forms and con-
ché using the Roman alphabet. The French priest-explorer
cepts it is useful to examine the ritual practice of Egungun.
Charles Brasseur de Bourbourg, after seeing a performance,
Egungun ritual influenced later performance forms in Yoru-
convinced Zis to recite it to him. The drama retells the story
baland and what came to be known as Nigeria. Yoruba reli-
of the ritual warfare between the Rabinal and Queché war-
gion centers on deities related to nature (the orisha) and an-
riors during the Mayan Classic period (300–900 CE). In the
cestor worship. The followers of Yoruba believe human
story the Rabinal warrior has captured Cawek, a Queché
spirits travel back and forth to a spiritual plane between lives,
warrior. Rabinal brings Cawek before the Rabinal chief,
and followers look to the spirits of their ancestors for
where Cawek’s request to say good-bye to his homeland is
guidance.
met with silence. Cawek leaves the room and returns some-
time later angry at the idea that anyone might have assumed
The ancestor may appear to someone in material form
that he had fled. He then bravely faces his sacrificial death.
embodied by a dancer from the Egungun secret society. The
ancestor can be summoned at particular times of need or may
The dancers of the drama, the Twelve Yellow Eagles and
appear regularly during cyclical rituals, such as the Egungun
Twelve Yellow Jaguars, wore elaborate costumes and masks.
Festival. The dancer wears elaborate costumes, which consist
The drama was accompanied by music, and Brasseur includ-
of a mask and long strips or panels of fabric. The dancer
ed musical notation in his description. His version includes
whirls around so that the long strips of fabric fan out and
two trumpets (probably European-style) and a drum, al-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2436
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
though scholars assume that other native instruments were
DRAMA OF RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS. Of the secular dramatic
used in the precolonial performances. The anthropologist
traditions, many coincide with religious festivals, and many
Georges Reynaud made special note of the “parallelism” of
of those can be traced back directly to a ritual drama or a
the dialogue. The ritualistic dialogue consists of “parallel” re-
ritual practice. Nigerian scholars have traced the Egungun
sponses in which the second speaker repeats what the first
ritual origin of Alarinjo theater, the court theater of the Oyo
speaker says before adding more dialogue to the conversa-
Yoruba kingdom that predated colonialism. While the
tion. The dialogue also contains ritualistic salutations and
drama may be tied to religious practice, dramatic traditions
closings.
such as Alarinjo demonstrate an elaborate theatrical practice
in which artisans train for specific tasks within the theatrical
Dancers continued to perform the ritual drama into the
art, such as acting, dance, costuming, mask making, set de-
twenty-first century, although as Carlos Escobar (2001)
sign, or music. Often a system of guilds and schools control
points out, some question how much the text must have
the selection and training of the artists and oversee the pro-
changed through the ages, especially after the Spanish priests
duction of the theatrical event. In other words, artists are
outlawed such rituals in 1625. Zis inherited the oral text in
producing art for art’s sake.
secret, and subsequent translations present an even greater
filter of the text. Richard Leinaweaver (1968) noted that in
SANSKRIT DRAMA. Scholars know very little about the origin
a twentieth-century production the masks, costumes, and
of Sanskrit drama, a performance form that remained popu-
musical instruments were placed on a sacred altar the night
lar from approximately the second century CE to the ninth
before the drama was staged, a syncretic practice that per-
century. While some say that Sanskrit drama has its origins
formers of the sacred autos, the Catholic liturgical dramas,
in the popular traditions, others argue that it shares many el-
also occasionally observe (Leinaweaver, 1968, p. 15).
ements with certain religious rituals. Regardless of its origins,
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RITUAL AND SECULAR DRAMA.
the Sanskrit theater of India has a close relationship with
Ritual drama developed in many societies in large part be-
Hindu temple festivals. According to Farley Richmond and
cause drama and religious ritual share so many elements and
his colleagues (1990), the Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra, the ancient Indian
structural qualities. As Richard Schechner notes in Between
dramaturgical text, equates dramatic performance with holy
Theater and Anthropology (1985), both employ the use of “re-
sacrifice (Richmond et al., 1990, p. 47). The Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra
stored behavior,” or behavior that is repeated. The repetition
also gives Sanskrit drama divine origins. In the story, Brahma¯
sets dramatic performance and ritual behavior apart from the
creates drama as an alternative to the less desirable behavior
behavior of everyday life. The distance of the performers
in which people were engaged. The gods gave the priests the
from the behavior makes the behavior “symbolic and reflex-
charge of creating and maintaining the dramatic tradition
ive” in a way that regular behavior is not.
(Richmond et al., 1990, pp. 25–26).
Religious ritual and dramatic performance both employ
While Sanskrit drama, in its ancient form, did not last
the use of a “frame” to set these behaviors apart from every-
past the ninth century, other forms grew up in its place.
day life. These may be as complex as the concentric circles
Wealthy families offer kathakali performances at temple fes-
of ritual sacrifice that separate the world of the sacred from
tivals and other important events. Kathakali evolved from a
the world of the profane or as simple as the rectangle of the
Sanskrit drama derivative and plays devoted to celebrating
proscenium arch in the Western theater. But herein lies the
the life of Kr:s:n:a. Although it may have sprung from devo-
key difference between ritual and the performance of secular
tional worship, kathakali is an institution unto itself. The
drama.
kathakali actor undergoes extensive training from a young
age. Kathakali students learn elaborate makeup art specific
Arnold van Gennep (1960) explained that in the ritual,
to their character types. In addition to the dance steps, the
such as the rite of passage, the ritual subject moves through
actor must learn a series of hand gestures and complex facial
three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. The
expressions. It is through the face that the actor evokes the
subjects pass through the ritual frame into a marginal, or li-
appropriate rasa and reflects the psychic state of the
minal, state where their status is ambiguous. Then the sub-
character.
jects are restored to everyday life in a new state, with a new
status. Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss (1964) also defined
THE ORIGINS OF GREEK DRAMA. Also associated with a reli-
ritual as “a religious act which, through the consecration of
gious festival, Greek tragedy supposedly evolved from dithy-
a victim, modifies the condition of the moral person who ac-
rambs, or choral dance drama, to honor the demigod Diony-
complishes it or that of certain objects with which he is con-
sos. To some extent, high school and college textbooks have
cerned” (Gennep, 1960, p. 13). As Victor Turner (1982)
oversimplified the relationship of tragedy to Dionysian wor-
noted, while ritual behavior can be defined as obligatory, col-
ship, influenced perhaps by the century-old theory of Gilbert
lective, integrated, and transforming—or liminal—secular
Murray that rituals of vegetation deities, specifically the Dio-
drama is optional, individual, removed, and although it may
nysian sparagmos (ritual rending), were evident in the trage-
question the status quo or experiment with form, it is ulti-
dies of Euripides. However, as William Ridgeway suggests
mately void of the transforming quality of ritual. It is, there-
(and Herodotus before him), dithyrambic performance was
fore, merely liminoid.
not limited to religious worship as the people of Sicyon used
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
2437
the dithyramb as a tribute to ancestors and dead heroes. Also
against the theater, decreeing excommunication for anyone
while the dithyramb may have influenced the development
who attended theater instead of church and declaring that
of tragedy, the dithyramb continued to develop as an inde-
no plays should be performed on Sundays. While very little
pendent form. Scholars have begun to look at Greek dramat-
evidence exists of secular drama’s persistence and develop-
ic forms as having a multitude of influences instead of look-
ment during this time, scholars deduce that the continual
ing for one ritualistic ur-drama that must have predated
stream of declarations by the church is evidence enough.
Aeschylus.
LITURGICAL DRAMA: MEDIEVAL RITUAL DRAMA. In the late
In the sixth century BCE Peisistratus established the
medieval period the Catholic Church began to develop a the-
Greater Dionysia. The festival included many activities cele-
atrical practice of its own. Many scholars believe that the li-
brating wine and fertility, such as the procession of the phal-
turgical drama grew out of the Mass in the form of a trope,
lus. Like two of the other Dionysian festivals, the Greater Di-
or a lengthened musical passage used to elaborate some mo-
onysia included dramatic contests. According to the Marmor
ment in the liturgy. The most widely cited trope is the Quem
Parium, the first tragic contest occurred in 534 BCE. Al-
Queritis, the trope that accompanies the Easter Mass in the
though the priest of Dionysos occupied the central seat at
form of a dialogue between the three Marys and the angel
the dramatic performance, the dramas themselves do not re-
at the tomb. This simple passage was accompanied by stage
flect a particular religious belief. Rather, they reinforce Athe-
directions written in the tenth century by Bishop Ethelwold
nian class and political ideology. Athenian playwrights of the
in the Regularis Concordia, instructing the monks to position
fifth century BCE seem particularly interested in analyzing the
themselves around the tomb “in imitation of the angel seated
benefits of Athenian institutions, such as democracy or the
in the tomb, and of the women coming with spices to anoint
courts. The plays were performed at a religious festival but
the body of Jesus” (Gassner, 1963, p. 37). The tropes were
other than that have very little connection with religious
performed on the platea (a flat space in the front of the
thought.
church) in front of a mansion (a small structure that signified
RELIGION AND DRAMA AT ODDS. While many religions in-
a location such as the sepulcher, manger, or Hellmouth).
cluded drama as an important part of religious observance,
The theory of the development of liturgical drama holds
some religions (especially the Christian and Islamic) forbade
that these miniature dramatic presentations in the form of
theater. Even before Rome became a Christian empire in the
tropes became more elaborate and developed into the later
late fourth century CE, the early Christian Church looked
outdoor vernacular religious drama, following the ritual-to-
with disfavor on dramatic performance. Tertullian wrote De
drama trajectory. But some scholars, such as Dunbar Ogden
Spectaculis at the end of the second century CE, sometime
(2002), dispute that, pointing to the fact that the tropes con-
after his own conversion to Christianity. He devoted his en-
tinued to develop as a separate form parallel to the outdoor
tire treatise to explaining why Christians should not attend
drama (Ogden, 2002, p. 35).
any of the entertainments such as races, gladiatorial combat,
Atellan farce, and tragedies.
CYCLE PLAYS, MIRACLE PLAYS, AND MORALITY PLAYS: ME-
DIEVAL RELIGIOUS DRAMA. With the establishment of the
Most of Tertullian’s explanations are simple: Christians
Feast of Corpus Christi as a churchwide celebration by Pope
should not take pleasure in watching others being harmed,
Urban IV in 1264, outdoor religious drama began to form.
nor should they witness licentious behavior. His thinking
Whether it developed from the trope or not, the festival al-
also reflects some of the complexities of early Christian
lowed for several developments: the presentations could be
thought. He noted that watching such entertainment
much more elaborate outdoors, and the stories could be per-
aroused passions that could lead to sinful feelings and ac-
formed in the vernacular because they were situated outside
tions. Tertullian condemns the practice of acting itself, stat-
of the formal Mass. Furthermore, since the festival was an
ing: “[God] regards as adultery all that is unreal. . . . He
annual festival, all the events of the church calendar were
never will approve any putting on of voice, or sex, or age;
covered at one time, allowing for the dramatization of the
He never will approve pretended loves, and wraths, and
life of Jesus or even the entire Bible from the Creation to
groans, and tears” (chapter 23). Tertullian found the very
the Last Judgment. The outdoor cycles continued to use the
idea of performing a role sinful.
mansion and platea staging from the indoor pieces.
In the first half of the treatise, Tertullian lays out what
In addition to the cycle plays, groups of performers
seem to be the most vehement of his reasons for avoiding the
began to perform miracle plays and morality plays. Miracle
entertainments: their pagan origins. The fact that the theater
plays dealt with the lives of saints or participated in debating
of Rome was a temple of Venus and that the Greek theater
a church controversy. The Croxton Play of the Sacrament ex-
came from the Dionysian festivals, Tertullian states, are rea-
amined the issues of transubstantiation and whether Jews can
son enough to avoid theatrical entertainment. The theater
convert to Christianity. Morality plays instructed the audi-
became the site of conflict between Roman pantheism and
ence in how to be a good Christian. For instance, Everyman
emerging Christianity.
instructs Christians to attend confession regularly in order
The Catholic Church, in its quest for a monopoly on
to assure that their accounts are in order when death unex-
spectacle during the medieval period, continued to campaign
pectedly arrives.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2438
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
CHRISTIAN DRAMA IN THE AMERICAS. By the dawn of the
Protestant minister Jeremy Collier helped to put an end to
Renaissance, Christian drama was popular all over Europe
Restoration comedy when he wrote his “Short View of the
from the cycles of the British Isles to the autos of Spain. The
Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage” in 1698.
autos quickly spread to the Americas with the colonization
Unlike some of his predecessors, Collier felt that drama
of much of the New World by the Spanish in the sixteenth
should not be banned because drama could be used for di-
century. The priests who accompanied the conquistadors at-
dactic purposes. But Collier disliked how evil was rewarded
tempted to supplant indigenous rituals with autos to indoc-
in Restoration comedy. He objected to the licentious behav-
trinate the indigenous people in the ways of Christian
ior of Restoration comedy characters, particularly the
practice.
women. He also objected to characters taking the Lord’s
name in vain and mocking the clergy. These were sentiments
The priests also encouraged the converted native people
that were shared by the increasingly powerful merchant class,
to stage their own Christian pageants, which became an
initiating a sea change in the nature of English drama.
opening for the performance of political subversion. Many
scholars have noted the contradictory semiotics of La con-
MODERN THEATER AS RELIGION. While experimental
quista de Jerusalén (The conquest of Jerusalem, 1543). The
movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Franciscans charged the indigenous converts of Tlaxcala to
seemed to challenge the Christian moral imperative, many
perform the pageant during the Feast of Corpus Christi. The
avant-garde artists became interested in the spiritual practices
frame of the pageant is the liberation of Jerusalem from the
of non-European cultures. One of the most influential of
Moors. In a layering of symbols, the Christians were dressed
these artists was Antonin Artaud (1895–1948). In 1931 Ar-
as the new captain general of New Spain. The Moors were
taud witnessed a Balinese dance at the Colonial Exposition,
dressed like the former captain general, the conqueror of the
a performance that had an immediate and profound effect
Aztecs, Hernando Cortés. This created a performance of the
on Artaud and launched his writings about his “Theater of
“reversal of the conquest,” with the indigenous people de-
Cruelty.” For Artaud, the key to the truth lay hidden deep
feating Cortés at Jerusalem.
within the human psyche, a psyche that had been perverted
C
and repressed by civilization. Artaud wanted a theater that
HURCH INFLUENCE ON MODERN SECULAR DRAMA. With
the Renaissance came a new secular drama, especially in
would act on the senses with sounds and images visceral
places where the religious drama was outlawed to prevent re-
enough to force the members of the audience to see their true
ligious conflict in a Europe increasingly divided along Cath-
selves. For Artaud, the so-called primitive societies of Bali
olic and Protestant lines. In England, Elizabeth I outlawed
and Mexico had escaped the effects of European civilization
religious drama in 1559 and specifically suppressed cycle
and were able to convey something deeper in their perfor-
plays in 1570. University students continued to study the
mance by way of gesture and facial expression.
classic plays of Rome and used them as models along with
This primitivism of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty influ-
a variety of other sources, including the Bible, for Renais-
enced several avant-garde artists: Jerzy Grotowski of the Pol-
sance drama. Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus (c.
ish Laboratory Theatre, Richard Schechner’s Performance
1588) reflects the conflicting cosmologies of the medieval
Group, Julian Beck and Judith Malina of the Living Theatre,
world and the English Renaissance. The play resembles a
and Joseph Chaikin of the Open Theatre. Grotowski (1968)
morality play with the forces of good and evil fighting for
sought to use ritual to induce actors into “casting off his ev-
Faustus’s soul. Although Faustus condemns himself to hell
eryday mask” and to lose themselves as a kind of sacrifice
for the knowledge he gains, he remains a Renaissance man,
(Grotowski, 1968, p. 34). He advocated a theater without
a humanist, and a seeker of scientific truth.
lights, a stage, or elaborate costumes so that he could remove
In Italy, with the power of the church on the wane,
the separation of the actors from the audience; and he used
powerful Italian families, such as the Medici family, began
long and arduous rehearsal workshops to create communitas
to celebrate an Italian culture that preexisted the church. The
among his actors.
Medici family poured money into creating spectacles that
In 1968 the Open Theatre embarked on the Bible
often used Roman mythology as the main theme. But Chris-
Workshops, a series of improvisations designed to explore
tian morality maintained an influence on the high arts, and
some of the concepts in the Bible. Through these workshops
morality occupied an important position as a central compo-
the Open Theatre explored the life of Jesus and the stories
nent of the concept of verisimilitude in drama. The neoclas-
in Genesis. Chaikin encouraged the company members to
sicists, who advocated returning to the ideals of Horace and
read Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell to inform their explora-
Aristotle in the sixteenth century, stressed that truthfulness
tion. The improvisations developed into the dramatic work
meant a higher, moral truth rather than a specific, historical
The Serpent: A Ceremony, a play that drew connections from
truth.
modern political assassinations to what the group believed
Christian clergy continued to be a powerful force in
were the roots of such violence in the Bible.
shaping the direction of the development of Western drama.
FEMINIST SPIRITUALITY AND THE THEATER. In the 1970s
A few years after Protestants in England had managed to suc-
and 1980s cultural feminist theater took up the use of ritual
cessfully close the theaters during the Commonwealth, the
in performance. As Jill Dolan noted in The Feminist Spectator
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: DRAMA AND RELIGION
2439
as Critic (1988), many women left avant-garde groups and
THE FUTURE OF DRAMA AND RELIGION. The future of
formed their own when it became clear to them that
drama and religion is impossible to predict. In some cases,
women’s issues were being ignored. As part of the feminist
religion will continue to act as a censor, suppressing seeming-
theater movement in France, Hélène Cixous reiterated Ar-
ly objectionable material, as in the case of funding being
taud’s belief that gesture and movement could somehow sub-
pulled from four performance artists who were National En-
vert language, which to Cixous was phallocentric. But as
dowment for the Arts recipients in 1990. Certainly the two
Dolan pointed out, women’s groups in the United States
will continue to share common elements, especially their cre-
rarely followed her lead and looked instead to discover a fem-
ative potential. As Schechner says of ritual, dramatic perfor-
inist narrative, which was seen as cyclical and connected to
mance “opens up a time/space of antistructural playfulness”
the earth. The cultural feminist groups often used ritual in
where creative choices and solutions can be explored and re-
performance. For example, the group At the Foot of the
hearsed (Schechner, 1993, p. 233). The exploration of new
Mountain used ritual as a companion to their performance
religious ideas will continue to spur new material and create
of Ashes, Ashes in which they asked the audience to visualize
new dramatic practices, and drama will continue to be
saying good-bye to someone close to them as the apocalypse
shaped by religious ideas.
approached. Dolan recounted a ritual performed in conjunc-
SEE ALSO Performance and Ritual; Ritual.
tion with Story of a Mother II in which the group encouraged
the audience to celebrate mother-daughter relationships and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
their matrilineal history. This development in cultural femi-
Adedeji, Joel A. “The Origin and Form of the Yoruba Masque
nist theater fit within a larger trend by cultural feminists to
Theatre.” Cahiers d’études Africaines 12 (1972): 254–276.
return to Wiccan spirituality in what was perceived as a re-
Breasted, James Henry. “The Ikhernofret Stela.” In Ancient Re-
turn to a matriarchal society that predated patriarchal reli-
cords of Egypt, vol. 1, pp. 663ff. Chicago, 1906. Available
gions such as Christianity.
from http://www.nefertiti.iwebland.com/texts/ikhernofret.
htm.
POSTCOLONIAL DRAMA AND RELIGION. In the nations for-
Brockett, Oscar G., and Franklin J. Hildy. History of the Theatre,
merly colonized by the British, many scholars have docu-
9th ed. Boston, 2003.
mented the ways colonial administrators, uneasy with the
idea of using Christianity to teach English morality, used
David, A. Rosalie. A Guide to Religious Ritual at Abydos. Warmin-
ster, U.K., 1981.
Shakespeare in place of the Bible. Now, as part of the project
to revive national traditions, many native dramatists have
Dolan, Jill. The Feminist Spectator as Critic. Ann Arbor, Mich.,
1988.
employed religious elements from their precolonial cultures.
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play,
Miguel Ángel Asturias used the Mayan dance of Los Gi-
Agency. Bloomington, Ind., 1992.
gantes in his play Soluna (1955), a title that literally means
Emigh, John. Masked Performance: The Play of Self and Other in
Sun/Moon. The central character envies the spiritual life of
Ritual and Theatre. Philadelphia, 1996.
the indigenous peasants around him. He has been told that
Escobar, Carlos René García. “Hacia un suceso prehispánico con
a mask he received from a sorcerer will make time run back-
los k’ichés.” La Hora, November 9, 2001. Available from
ward. He dreams that the peasants act out Los Gigantes, the
http://www.lahora.com.gt/06-11-01/paginas/cult_2.htm.
Mayan ritual fight between the agents of the Sun and the
Gassner, John, ed. Medieval and Tudor Drama. New York, 1963.
agents of the Moon. When he awakens, the train carrying
Gennep, Arnold van. The Rites of Passage. Translated by Monika
his wife, who had been in the process of leaving him, wrecks
B. Vizedom and Gabrielle L. Caffee. Chicago, 1960.
after an eclipse and an earthquake, and she returns to him.
Grotowski, Jerzy. Towards a Poor Theatre. New York, 1968.
While Asturias appropriated Mayan spiritual elements in his
Grube, Nikolai. “Classic Maya Dance: Evidence from Hiero-
work, it should be noted that Asturias was not a Mayan but
glyphs and Iconography.” Ancient Mesoamerica 3, no. 2
rather a white Guatemalan anthropologist who studied with
(1992): 201–218.
Georges Reynaud at the Sorbonne. Some scholars have been
Hubert, Henri, and Marcel Mauss. Sacrifice: Its Nature and Func-
critical of his European-informed look at the Guatemalan
tion. Translated by W. D. Halls. London, 1964.
native people.
Kirby, E. T. Ur-drama: The Origins of Theatre. New York, 1975.
Wole Soyinka has written about Yoruba spiritual prac-
Leinaweaver, Richard E. “Rabinal Achi: Commentary” and “Rabi-
tices in his plays, such as Death and the King’s Horseman
nal Achi.” Latin American Theatre Review 1, no. 2 (1968):
(1975), which involves Egungun and the ritual suicide of the
3–53.
king’s horseman on the night of the king’s burial. The for-
Monterde, Francisco. Teatro indígena prehispánico. México City,
eign administrators, who lack understanding and sensitivity
1955.
to the Yoruba religion, continually trivialize Yoruba practice,
Nagler, A. M. The Medieval Religious Stage: Shapes and Phantoms.
even to the point of wearing Egungun costumes to a Western
New Haven, Conn., 1976.
masked ball. They attempt to stamp out the “barbaric” cus-
Ogden, Dunbar H. The Staging of Drama in the Medieval Church.
toms and interfere with the horseman’s task to tragic effect.
Newark, Del., London, and Cranbury, N.J., 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
2440
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
Richmond, Farley P., Darius L. Swann, and Phillip B. Zarrilli. In-
regeneration) becomes the king. Often the defeated an-
dian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Honolulu, Hawaii,
tagonist is identified as a dragon who has impounded
1990.
the subterranean waters and caused drought, or who has
Rozik, Eli. “The Ritual Origin of Theatre—a Scientific Theory
embroiled the sea and rivers and brought floods. His
or Theatrical Ideology?” Journal of Religion and Theatre 2,
discomfiture ensures the irrigation of the soil in proper
no.1 (Fall 2003). Available from http://apollo.fa.mtu.edu/
measure, and the power to control it is then formally
~dlbruch/rtjournal/vol_2/no_1/rozik2.html.
vested in the victorious new king.
Schechner, Richard. Between Theater and Anthropology. Philadel-
4. A communal feast, whereby members of the community
phia, 1985.
recement their bonds of kinship by commensality, thus
Schechner, Richard. The Future of Ritual: Writings on Culture and
becoming companions in the literal sense of the word.
Performance. London and New York, 1993.
The community’s gods are thought to be present either
Soyinka, Wole. Myth, Literature, and the African World. Cam-
as guests or as hosts. The ancestral dead are likewise in
bridge, U.K., 1976.
attendance, since the ongoing existence of the commu-
Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacri-
nity necessarily involves the past as well as the present
fice. Oxford and New York, 2003.
and future (“Our founders are with us in spirit”).
Tertullian. De spectaculis. Florence, 1961.
Often the ritual program takes the form of the burial and
Turner, Victor. From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of
subsequent disinterment of a puppet representing the tem-
Play. New York, 1982.
porary death and subsequent revival (resurrection) of vegeta-
Versényi, Adam. Theatre in Latin America: Religion, Politics, and
tion and fertility.
Culture from Cortés to the 1980s. Cambridge, U.K., 1993.
Six factors turn this ritual program into drama in the
Vince, Ronald W. Ancient and Medieval Theatre: A Historiographi-
modern sense of the term:
cal Handbook. Westport, Conn., 1984.
1. It comes to be interpreted as the representation in pres-
E. J. WESTLAKE (2005)
ent time of a situation or process that essentially tran-
scends the particular moment when it is performed—
that is, as the punctualization of something essentially
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL
transtemporal. This is accomplished by representing the
DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
successive functional acts as incidents (or episodes) in
It is now commonly recognized that drama in the ancient
a myth or story, the actors then impersonating supernat-
Near East originated as a program of ritual acts performed
ural beings, such as deities, or demons.
at seasonal festivals, especially at the New Year festival. The
2. There is shift of focus from the ritual plot to the inter-
central theme of this program was “off with the old, on with
play of characters. The actors are no longer cardboard
the new”; it was designed to mark the end of one lease of
figures representing such abstractions as old year and
communal life and to ensure the next. The program is attest-
new, life and death; the combat becomes one of con-
ed in many parts of the world and survives—albeit in attenu-
flicting personalities.
ated form—in folk plays still performed in northern Greece
and in such popular diversions as the English mummers’
3. The action comes to be performed by a professional
play.
class (e.g., priests) rather than by the community as a
whole. The broad masses then constitute an audience.
The principal components of this ritual program are as
This converts drama in the original sense of the term,
follows:
namely, something done (Gr., drao¯, “do”), into theater,
1. The deposition (or even execution) of the reigning king,
something watched (Gr., theaomai, “watch”), that is,
regarded as the embodiment of communal life momen-
into a spectacle.
tarily ended, followed by the installation of a successor,
4. Subsidiary elements are introduced in order to enhance
regarded as a new avatar (or incarnation) of the ideal,
popular interest and attention. Familiar songs are insert-
perpetual kingship (“Le roi est mort; vive le roi!”). Often
ed in which the audience may join; messages are repeat-
a temporary king is appointed during the interval.
ed verbatim when delivered, so that latecomers to the
2. The ceremonial “marriage” of the new king to a chosen
performance may catch up with the preceding action;
bride in order to ensure the continued fecundity of the
the several incidents are tricked out with details drawn
people. This epitomizes a brief period of sexual license
from traditional folklore; things are done abortively
observed by the community as a whole to the same end.
twice and successfully only at the third try, thereby in-
creasing momentum and excitement.
3. A combat between principals or teams symbolizing, re-
spectively, new year and old, summer and winter, rain-
5. The ritual combat is sometimes rationalized as the com-
fall and drought, or simply life and death. When waged
memorative reenactment of a historical event, the actors
by principals, the victor (necessarily the embodiment of
being identified with traditional heroes and their adver-
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DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
2441
saries. In certain parts of Greece, for instance, the op-
upon himself to increase his vigor. The threshing of the grain
posing teams were portrayed as the followers of Alexan-
represents the belaboring of Osiris by his rival. Interspersed
der and Darius respectively, and in the English
rubrics identify the actors with their mythic counterparts and
mummers’ play they become at times King George and
list props for the various scenes.
Napoleon. Indeed, by this process the ritual purport
The Edfu Drama is engraved, with illustrative reliefs, on
may be obscured altogether, as when the folk play devel-
one of the walls of the temple at Edfu (Idfu; ancient Bekh-
ops into the enactment of an incident from scripture
det); this text was composed for a ritual performance at a
(e.g., the Flood, the Annunciation, or the Crucifixion
spring festival. Its central theme is the reinvigoration of the
in the medieval mystery plays or the story of Esther in
king as the epitome of communal life. It consists of a pro-
Jewish plays staged at Purim).
logue, three acts (subdivided into scenes), and an epilogue.
6. In the course of time, when the original function of the
At one point, there is mention of a “chief lector,” and since
performance has been forgotten, the action may degen-
there is no indication of separate speakers, it is probable that
erate into burlesque, farce, or masquerade, as is often the
the action was performed in pantomime and that what we
ase in the modern survivals. This development eventual-
have before us is simply the script for that “reciter.”
ly gives rise to comedy.
The contents include such ingredients of the ritual pat-
The earliest examples of ritual drama come from the ancient
tern as the combat, the installation of the victor as king, and
Near East. They are preserved in hieroglyphic and cuneiform
a “sacred marriage” at which he is the bridegroom. The ac-
texts emanating from the civilizations of the Egyptians, the
tion is interpreted mythically: the king is the local god,
Babylonians and Assyrians, the Hittites of Asia Minor, and
Horus of Bekhdet; his adversary, termed “the Caitiff,” or
the Canaanites of ancient Syria. These texts date in general
“Monster,” is identified as a hippopotamus (analogous to the
from the second and third millennia BCE, although their con-
dragon elsewhere), and the bride is the goddess Hathor of
tents in several cases represent traditions older than the docu-
Dendera.
ments themselves. Most of them are explicitly associated
The Memphite Theology (or Memphis Drama), inserted
with seasonal ceremonies, either being accompanied by a for-
on a slab of black granite now in the British Museum, was
mal “order of service,” or else containing interspersed liturgi-
written in the reign of Shabaka (c. 712–697 BCE), but a pre-
cal rubrics. It should be observed, however, that since the rit-
amble states expressly that it was copied from an original,
ual drama was (and still is) often performed in pantomime,
which has been dated by modern scholars some eighteen cen-
the dialogues being recited and the story narrated by a “lec-
turies earlier. It was designed to be performed at a festival.
tor,” some of the texts appear to be scripts for these “present-
ers” rather than libretti for the actors.
The theme is, once again, the death or discomfiture of
EGYPT. The Egyptian texts are the oldest. The Ramesseum
the old king, the ritual lament over him, the combat, and the
Coronation Drama is inscribed on a papyrus unearthed in
installation of the victor as the new king in the city of Mem-
1896 in the precincts of the Ramesseum at Thebes. The
phis. The king is again identified with Horus, his defunct
manuscript dates from the reign of Sen-Wosret (Sesotris) I
predecessor with Osiris, the wailing women with Isis and
(c. 1970 BCE), but it is believed that the contents go back
Nephthys, and the combat as that between Horus and Seth.
some thirteen centuries earlier to the time of the first dynas-
The action, however, is not only mythified, but also histori-
ty. The text was designed for the ceremony of installing (or
cized; the upshot of the combat is that the god Geb awards
reinstalling) the pharaoh at a New Year festival. It includes
Upper Egypt to Seth and lower Egypt to Horus, but both
such elements of the ritual pattern as the combat, the death
areas are eventually united in a single country whose capital
of the old king and the lamentation over him, the investiture
is Memphis. The text concludes, in fact, with a hymn to
and enthronement of the new king, a communal feast at-
Ptah, patron god of that city.
tended by the governors of the several provinces (nomes) of
It has been suggested also that certain mythico-magical
Egypt, and various acts (for example, the threshing of grain
texts engraved on plaques and stelae depicting Horus tread-
and the milking of goats) designed to promote fertility.
ing triumphantly on snakes, crocodiles, and scorpions were
The successive ritual acts are construed as an enactment
copied from ritual drama. There is, however, no indication
of the mythic discomfiture of the god Osiris by his evil
that these myths were associated with seasonal festivals, nor
brother Seth. The combat is taken to represent the fight be-
do they include several of the typical elements of the ritual
tween them. The new king is identified with Horus, son of
pattern.
Osiris, who avenged his father and defeated Seth. The two
BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. The evidence for drama among
sacred women who bewail the slain king are the goddesses
the Babylonians and Assyrians is inferential and indirect but
Isis and Nephthys, who bewailed Osiris. The official who in-
nonetheless persuasive. First, we have a long mythological
vests the new king is the god Thoth, who adjudicated the
poem, the Enuma elish (wrongly called an epic of creation),
contest between the gods. The various regalia are explained
which was recited by a priest as part of the liturgy of the New
symbolically: the maces handed to the new king are the testi-
Year festival. This relates how Marduk, the primary god of
cles of Seth wrested from him by Horus and then grafted
Babylon, vanquished a rebellious marine monster named
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2442
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
Tiamat and her cohorts, how he thereby acquired sovereign-
recited?) by a disciple of the high priest. It was therefore a
ty over the gods, was installed in a newly built palace, and,
liturgical chant, probably recited at an autumnal festival that
at a banquet, determined the world order. Although this text
inaugurated the rainy season after that of the winter squalls
is a literary composition and not a scenario, it clearly con-
and the dry summer months.
forms to the ritual pattern of combat, enthronement, and re-
newal, and it is therefore reasonable to conclude that it is
A burlesque version of the primitive seasonal drama may
based on some more ancient seasonal drama.
be seen to underlie another composition from Ras Shamra,
conventionally known as the Poem of Dawn and Sunset. This
Second, we have a series of texts—albeit fragmentary—
consists of two sections: the first gives the rubrics for a ritual
in which what seem to be successive acts in a seasonal ritual
ceremony at the time when grapes ripen, and the second an
are interpreted mythologically as representing incidents in a
accompanying mythological narrative. Two women encoun-
story concerning Marduk. This has suggested that these texts
ter the aged supreme god El at the seashore while he is shoot-
accompanied a dramatic performance. It has been proposed
ing down a bird and boiling it for his dinner. They make rib-
alternatively, however, that they refer rather to historical
ald remarks about his senility and seeming sexual impotence.
events that learned academicians explained as exemplifica-
Thereupon he gives forthright proof to the contrary. The la-
tions of a traditional myth.
dies bear a pair of siblings. Someone—apparently the cuck-
From the Hittites comes a text that describes how the
olded husband of each—reports to the god that the children
weather god, with the aid of a mortal, defeated a marine
(of whose true parentage he is evidently unaware) glow like
dragon named Illuyanka, how this was followed by a desired
dawn and sunset—a common trait of divine offspring—
precipitation of rain, and (apparently) how control of the
whereupon El cynically suggests that their proper place
subterranean waters was thereafter vested in the king. The
would be up in the sky alongside the sun, moon, and fixed
story is tricked out with folkloric motifs and was designed
stars. Subsequently, further children, called “the gracious
for recitation at an annual festival. It is prefaced by a petition
gods,” are born. El is informed that these have insatiable ap-
for rain and is accompanied by a description of the festival
petites—another common folkloric trait of divinely begotten
ceremonies. Hence, although it is once again a liturgical reci-
children. He thereupon consigns them to the desert, there
tation rather than the actual text of a play, it clearly derives,
to forage for their food. After a time, they fall in with the
like its Mesopotamian counterpart, from some earlier dra-
official custodian of grain and beg food and drink. Although
matic performance. Another Hittite text describes a ritual
he has only a meager supply to meet his own needs, he appar-
combat, in which the antagonists are historicized respectively
ently feeds them, or they break into his silo. The rest of the
as the Hittites themselves and a neighboring people called
story is missing, but a few fragmentary words at the end may
the Masa (possibly the Maeonians of Lydia).
be interpreted to mean that as a reward for his generosity,
the gods annually bestow a due measure of crops and fruits.
That sacred drama was known also to the Canaanites
The text would thus be a more or less comic version of the
in the second millennium BCE may be confidently deduced
ritual drama acted out at a festival of renewal in June, when
from a lengthy mythological poem discovered at Ras Shamra
vines are preliminarily trimmed. The seduction of the two
(ancient Ugarit) on the north coast of Syria. This relates how
women would then reflect the sacred marriage, and
Baal, god of rainfall and fertility, successively vanquished
the children would be the gods subsequently astralized as the
Yamm, lord of seas and rivers, and Mot, genius of aridity and
Heavenly Twins (Dioscuri), the regnant constellation of that
death. By virtue of defeating the former, he acquired sover-
month.
eignty over the gods and was installed in a newly built palace.
At an inaugural banquet tendered to the gods, he deliberately
HEBREW SCRIPTURES. Literary echoes of the sacred drama
excluded Mot, whereupon his offended rival lured him down
have also been recognized by several modern scholars in cer-
to the netherworld. During his sojourn there, all fertility
tain of the biblical psalms. Those, for instance, that begin
failed on earth. An interrex was appointed in the person of
with the words, “The Lord reigneth” (or “hath become
a young god named Athtar—probably the genius of artificial
king”), Psalms 97 and 99, for example, would have been pat-
irrigation—but he was too small to “make the grade,” and
terned after a traditional type of hymn composed for the an-
the languishing earth was revived only when Baal’s sister
nual enthronement of the god at the New Year festival (even
Anat, aided by the Lady Sun, descended into the lower re-
though the ceremony itself may have been discarded); while
gions, retrieved him and gave him burial, as a necessary pre-
Psalm 93, which acclaims the Lord as having acquired sover-
lude to his eventual resurrection. Thus revived, Baal finally
eignty by subduing “the mighty waters,” as occupying a gor-
discomfited Mot in combat and made known his return by
geous temple, and as issuing eternal decrees for the govern-
an impressive display of sheet lightning.
ment of the world, would reflect the same myth as the
Mesopotamian and Hittite texts, based on the seasonal
Clearly a myth of the alternation of wet and dry seasons
pattern.
in the Syrian year, this poem reflects unmistakably in its con-
tents and sequence the characteristic features of the standard
Some scholars have also suggested that the Song of Songs
seasonal ritual—the combat, interrex, enthronement, and
is really a pastoral drama, in which a country maiden (the
banquet. A colophon states expressly that it was redacted (or
Shulammite) abducted by the king (Solomon) for his harem,
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DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
2443
is won back by her shepherd lover. There is, however, no evi-
tic of seasonal ceremonies; the emphasis on her glum absten-
dence of such secular drama in the ancient Near East. More-
tion from mirth and laughter finds its explanation in the
over, this view depends very largely on dubious interpreta-
statement of Plutarch and other writers that the festival was
tions of certain passages, and the assumed scenes of the
observed in a grim, lugubrious mood and that all merriment
drama sometimes consist of a single verse! It is therefore more
was forbidden; while the obscene gestures and jokes of the
probable that the biblical book is simply a repertoire of love
crone Iambe correspond to the chanting of ribald songs
songs.
couched in iambic meter as a means of stimulating fertility.
RITUAL PATTERNS IN GREEK AND OTHER LITERATURE.
It is not, however, in the seasonal pattern alone that the
Much of the same ritual pattern that underlies the ancient
origin of Greek drama may be recognized. Other scholars—
Near Eastern texts may be recognized also as one of the main
notably William Ridgeway (1915) and even Murray him-
sources of classical Greek drama, for Gilbert Murray (1912)
self—have suggested that an alternative source lay in some
has pointed out that in several of the classical Greek tragedies
cases in the commemorative stories of ancient heroes recited
that have come down to us, notably in those of Euripides,
on the anniversaries of their births or deaths or at annual fes-
it is possible to discern—albeit through a glass darkly—such
tivals when their shades were believed temporarily to rejoin
standard elements of the primitive ritual pattern as the com-
their kinsmen (this would be like the reenactment of histori-
bat (usually attenuated to a mere verbal altercation), the dis-
cal incidents in modern pageants, for example, on President
comfiture of the loser (e.g., Pentheus or Hippolytus), the cer-
Washington’s birthday).
emonial lament, and sometimes also the resurrection of the
fertility spirit (modified, to be sure, into a mere final theoph-
Finally, survivals of the primitive ritual pattern have
any, like that of Dionysos in The Bacchae). On this theory,
been recognized by several modern scholars not only in
the prologue, which came eventually to summarize the back-
drama but also in other forms of literature. It has been
ground of the play, would have developed out of a more
claimed, for instance, that some of the hymns of the Hindu
primitive ritual formula that served originally not to intro-
R:gveda were chanted in seasonal masquerades and that some
duce the characters but to inaugurate the religious ceremony
of the odes in the Chinese Shih ching were the libretti of
at which the play was performed. (Such a prologue indeed
crude harvest pantomimes. The Scandinavian Elder Edda
occurs in the aforementioned Canaanite Poem of Dawn and
and the legend of the Holy Grail have likewise been derived
Sunset.) So, too, the division of the chorus into two halves
from ritual archetypes. Doubtless in certain cases, enthusi-
would be a survival of the two opposing teams in the ritual
asm has outrun sobriety, but this can scarcely detract from
combat.
the fact that a set of usages so constant and recurrent in an-
cient communities may be expected to have left its impress
A striking example of how the primitive ritual drama
on their literature and art.
survived in literary form has been detected by Murray in The
Bacchae of Euripides. Here he finds a mythified version of
SEE ALSO Egyptian Religion, article on The Literature;
the combat, the dismemberment (in this case, of Pentheus),
Enuma Elish; Epics; Literature, article on Literature and Re-
the lament, the retrieval of the scattered members, and, as
ligion; New Year Festivals; Poetry, article on Poetry and Re-
“by a sort of doubling,” the resurrection, attenuated into the
ligion; Psalms; Purim Plays.
final epiphany of the true god Dionysos instead of the revivi-
fication of the slaughtered victim.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Some twenty years later, Francis Cornford (1934,
The most comprehensive account of standard seasonal rites, an-
1961), an eminent British classicist, applied this theory to
cient and primitive, and of their survival in popular usages
Greek comedy, arguing that traces of the combat, the death-
is still James G. Frazer’s monumental The Golden Bough, 3d
ed., rev. & enl., 12 vols. (London, 1911–1915). Of several
and-resurrection, the sacred marriage, and the banquet could
condensed editions, my abridgement, with notes, is the most
be recognized in each of the extant plays of Aristophanes. It
recent: The New Golden Bough (1959; New York, 1977).
must be noted, however, that other scholars have questioned
Highly stimulating also, though sometimes exaggerated, is
this assumption.
Jane Ellen Harrison’s general treatment of the subject in her
Ancient Art and Ritual (London, 1913).
Nor is it only in Greek drama that survivals of the ritual
pattern may be recognized. Equally impressive is the evi-
Translations and discussions of the ancient Near Eastern texts can
dence afforded by the so-called Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
be found in my Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the An-
This describes the rape of Demeter’s daughter Persephone
cient Near East, 2d ed. (1961; New York, 1977); translations
and the search for her by her mother and the goddess Hekate.
alone appear in Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old
Testament, 3d ed., edited by James B. Pritchard (Princeton,
But the successive incidents in the narrative reproduce to a
1969). For a translation and discussion of the Egyptian Edfu
nicety certain features of the ritual associated with the festival
drama, see A. M. Blackman and H. W. Fairman’s “The
of Thesmophoria and with the Eleusinian mysteries. Thus,
Myth of Horus at Edfu I–II,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology
the search by torchlight reproduces the torchlight procession
21 (1935): 26–36, 28 (1942): 32–38, and 29 (1943): 2–36.
by female worshipers; the fast observed by Demeter repro-
On the relations of the seasonal patterns to classical Greek
duces the period of abstinence and mortification characteris-
tragedy, see Gilbert Murray’s “Excursus on the Ritual Forms
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2444
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
Preserved in Greek Tragedy,” in Harrison’s Themis (Cam-
ANCIENT EGYPT. Gaster was excessively optimistic about the
bridge, 1912), pp. 341–363, and on their assumed relation
possibilities of knowing the actual setting of many ancient
to Greek comedy, see Francis M. Cornford’s The Origin of
compositions. In the case of the Ancient Egyptian, some
Attic Comedy, 2d ed. (1934; New York, 1961). On traces of
compositions have been regarded as ritual dramas by some
the pattern in Euripides’ The Bacchae, see E. R. Dodds’s edi-
scholars, including the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the
tion, Bacchae (Oxford, 1944), and on the ritual background
Triumph of Horus from the Ptolemaic temple at Edfu, and
of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, see N. J. Richardson’s The
the Ptolemaic papyri concerning the mysteries of Osiris at
Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford, 1974). Survivals in mod-
ern Greek folk plays are described by R. M. Dawkins in “The
Abydos. In fact, in some instances (e.g., the Mysteries of Osi-
Modern Carnival in Thrace and the Cult of Dionysus,” Jour-
ris at Abydos and the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus), the papyri
nal of Hellenic Studies 26 (1906): 191–206, and by A. J. B.
include annotations about the performance of songs and
Wace in “North Greek Festivals,” Annual of the British School
switch between first person singular and plural—the latter
at Athens 16 (1910): 232ff. The alternative view that Greek
may indicate solos sung by Isis and duets by the two goddess-
drama developed out of recitations at the annual or periodic
es (Isis and Nephthys) in the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus. Nev-
commemoration of heroes is best presented in William
ertheless, the evidence is generally ambiguous, and even the
Ridgeway’s The Origin of Tragedy (London, 1910).
indications of the expected performative nature of songs and
On the medieval mystery and miracle plays, the best source is
hymns do not imply an actual dramatic performance with
E. K. Chambers’s The Mediaeval Stage, 2 vols. (Oxford,
different roles enacted by actors. The compositions them-
1903), but the older collection of texts in William Hone’s
selves and the rituals connected to them were literary drama-
Ancient Mysteries Described, Especially in English Miracle Plays
tizations of divine deeds, which would have taken place in
(London, 1823) is still useful. The standard work on the En-
a mythical time. However, there is no clear indication that
glish mummers’ play is R. J. E. Tiddy’s posthumous The
these compositions were ever staged as actual dramas.
Mummers’ Play, edited by Rupert S. Thompson (Oxford,
1923), where some twenty-three specimens are collected.
MESOPOTAMIA. The Mesopotamian case is even more com-
plicated. One can question whether the Sumerian and Akka-
Regarding literary forms of the ritual pattern, see, for the odes in
dian religious narratives had any actual life outside the nar-
the Chinese Shih ching, Bruno Schindler’s essay in Occident
and Orient, edited by Schindler (London, 1936),
row walls of the scribal world. For many of the ritual texts
pp. 498–502; for the Elder Edda, Bertha S. Phillpotts’s The
and exorcisms, specific instructions do prescribe their recita-
Elder Edda and Ancient Scandinavian Drama (Cambridge,
tion at various points in rituals. Moreover, there are some let-
1920); and for the legend of the Holy Grail, Jesse L. Wes-
ters stating that certain rituals were performed or instructing
ton’s ingenious, but much controverted work From Ritual to
them to be performed. Nonetheless, almost all the texts
Romance (Cambridge, 1920). For possible echoes of the pat-
whose performance seems more or less well attested in differ-
tern in the Psalter, see my Thespis, 2d ed. (1961; New York,
ent sources are nonnarrative and mostly performative utter-
1977), pp. 442–452, and Aubrey R. Johnson’s “The Role of
ances (i.e., incantations and rituals whose illocutionary lin-
the King in the Jerusalem Cultus,” in The Labyrinth, edited
guistic nature qualify them as speech acts). However, for the
by S. H. Hooke (London, 1934), pp. 73–111. For a skeptical
Mesopotamian religious narratives—the kinds of composi-
critique of this view, however, see S. G. F. Brandon’s essay
tions that articulate a theological or theologico-political dis-
“The Myth Ritual and Position Critically Considered,” in
Myth, Ritual and Kingship, edited by S. H. Hooks (Oxford,
course—very little evidence exists that they were ever per-
1958), pp. 261–291.
formed. Ironically, the Enuma elish (the Babylonian story of
creation) is the only religious narrative for whose perfor-
THEODOR H. GASTER (1987)
mance there seems to be some explicit evidence. One frag-
mentary tablet refers to the recitation of the whole Enuma
elish on the fourth of Nisan (i.e., on the fourth day of the
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL
Akitu festival). The Akitu was the Babylonian New Year fes-
DRAMA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
tival, celebrated from the first to the twelfth of Nisan (the
first of Nisan would be near the vernal equinox, about March
Beginning with his 1936 master’s thesis, Theodor H. Gaster
21). In Babylon, the Akitu was a sowing festival. In other
(1906–1992) focused most of his research on the analysis of
Mesopotamian cities, however, especially in earlier periods,
Ancient Near Eastern mythological compositions (especially
the Akitu took place twice a year—during harvest season and
those from Ugarit, modern Ras Shamra in Syria) as religious
during sowing season.
dramas that were performed within a ritual setting. Gaster
was deeply influenced by James G. Frazer’s (1854–1941) un-
That the Enuma elish was probably the only Mesopota-
derstanding of the relation between myth and ritual, as well
mian religious narrative ever performed is ironic because this
as by his preoccupation with seasonal patterns in mythologi-
is an exceedingly atypical work: The style, dialect, grammar,
cal narratives and discourses. Although this approach, exem-
and lexicon of the composition seem to point to an individu-
plified by Gaster’s famous work Thespis, was predominant in
al author, an erudite scholar trained in all the intricacies of
North American and British scholarship during the 1950s
the most arcane scribal traditions. Most Assyriologists date
and 1960s, now it can also be regarded as a modern intellec-
the composition to the reign of Nebuchadrezzar I (c. 1100
tual construct rather than as a historical reconstruction.
BCE), and the scribal and scholarly setting of the text can
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RITUAL DRAMA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
2445
hardly be doubted. The poem abounds in puns and word
secular literature, the Sumerian dialogues and disputations
play based on signs and compound signs, which can make
might seem pieces of a chamber theater of sorts, if it were
sense only in writing. The famous list of the fifty names of
not for the fact that these are strictly scribal compositions
Marduk in Tablet VII of the Enuma elish is understandable
whose life was limited to the confines of the Mesopotamian
only in its written form: Every line of the text is an expansion
schools.
based on homophonic and homographic Sumerograms
The Ugaritic cycle of BaElu has been interpreted by
evoked by each specific name of Marduk. The text is itself
Gaster and others as a ritual dramatization of a seasonal pat-
a scholarly commentary. Thus, the only religious narrative
tern. This approach makes several assumptions for which
that may have ever been publicly performed in Mesopotamia
there is no textual evidence: (1) the BaElu narrative mentions
constitutes the epitome of artificiality, the prototype of
very few terms or expressions that could be linked to a ritual
scholarly literature. Even if regarded as part of the official
or seasonal cycle; (2) the identification of Yammu (the sea)
cult, the Enuma elish stands alone in the history of Meso-
with a dragon or monster; (3) the banishment of Môtu
potamian religious texts and little can be inferred from its
(death) prior to his confrontation with BaElu; (4) the seasonal
uniqueness.
pattern reverses the order of the texts; (5) the cycle would
SACRED MARRIAGE. Also with regard to Mesopotamia, many
correspond to an autumnal festival of which there are no
assume that the cycle of lyric compositions focused on the
traces in the Ugaritic corpus (e.g., rituals, administrative doc-
relation between Inanna and Dumuzi reflects a ritual usually
uments, letters); and (6) the palace of BaElu in the cycle can-
called hieròs gámos (sacred marriage) and that these texts
not be the temple excavated at Ras Shamra, because the com-
would have been connected to its performance. However,
position places it on Mount Sapanu (s:pn, S:apa¯nu, biblical
very little is known about such a ritual. As part of the celebra-
s:a¯pôn, Saphon), presumably north of Ugarit. Therefore,
tion of the new year from the second half of the third millen-
there is no textual basis for an interpretation of this mythical
nium to the beginning of the second, the king, representing
cycle as a ritual drama. As in the case of the Egyptian compo-
Dumuzi, would have had (or pretended to have) sexual inter-
sitions above, a composition may narrate a mythical event
course with a woman (usually a high priestess) who was rep-
in a dramatized fashion, but this does not imply that the
resenting the goddess Inanna. Echoes of this ceremony sur-
composition was performed as a drama, especially in the ab-
vived in first millennium texts that describe royal rituals and
sence of any specific evidence (e.g., administrative texts con-
the epithalamia of, for instance, Nabu and Taˇsme¯tu in Assyr-
cerning festivals or references to performance within the
ia, and Nabu and Nanaya in Babylonia. Most of the details
composition itself or in other texts). This would also apply
of this sacred marriage are unknown. In documents from the
to the biblical Song of Songs, which is simply a lyrical dialogue
Ur III period (c. 2100–2000 BCE), there are some mentions
between the Shulammite and her lover, sometimes seemingly
of priestesses spending the night in the god’s bedchamber.
portrayed in the poems as King Solomon. The Song of Songs
Other possible sacred marriage rites have been proposed for
may have been performed as a series of recitatives, but can
earlier periods, especially those involving the moon god
hardly be labeled as a drama and was probably never a hiero-
(Nanna/Suen), and his high priestess at Ur. In spite of all of
gamic text.
this more or less oblique evidence, important doubts have
In sum, it is a misguided effort to search for the histori-
been cast on the actual existence of such a rite. The arcane
cal or typological roots of Greek drama in the Ancient Near
character of this ritual and the unclear and scanty evidence
East. Some compositions include dialogues between charac-
can be explained in the light of the inherent nature of the
ters and some concrete genres (rituals, incantations, exor-
ritual, whatever its actual performative mechanisms were.
cisms) were performative by nature. However, there is no in-
Nonetheless, the Mesopotamian sacred marriage may well
ternal or external evidence of any actual dramatic, staged
have been a mere intellectual construct, a religious narrative
performance of any of these mythological and ritual texts.
in which the mythical and historical discourses intersect as
part of the Mesopotamian political theology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HITTITE. Probably the only area in which Gaster’s enthusi-
On Theodor H. Gaster, see Richard H. Hiers and Harold M.
asm was partly justified is Anatolia. A number of Hittite ritu-
Stahmer, “Theodor H. Gaster, 1906–1992,” Ugarit-
als have been regarded as the forerunners of drama. Some of
Forschungen 27 (1995): 59–114; 28 (1996): 277–285, and
these rituals are labeled as uttar (utterance, word, spell) in
Mark S. Smith, Untold Stories: The Bible and Ugaritic Studies
their colophons and refrains and have sections clearly noted
in the Twentieth Century, pp. 73–75, 88–90 (Peabody,
as direct speech (with the quotation particle -wa). Moreover,
Mass., 2001). On ritual drama in Hittite texts, see Calvert
some Hittite compositions can be regarded as ritual dia-
Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Po-
etics, pp. 135–44, 284–88 (Oxford, 1995). On the ritual in-
logues, as in the case of the text describing the “great road”
terpretation of the Ugaritic cycle of BaElu, see Mark S. Smith,
the soul takes at death. Nonetheless, most Anatolian texts in
The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, I, pp. 60–75 (Leiden, 1994). On the
Hittite, Luwian, and Palaic are actually rituals, and rituals
Mesopotamian sacred marriage, see Johannes Renger and
are performative by nature. Some of these rituals include dia-
Jerrold S. Cooper, “Heilige Hochzeit,” Reallexikon der As-
logues that were perhaps dramatized, but this is still a far cry
syriologie 4 (1975): 251–269, J. S. Cooper, “Sacred Marriage
from staged drama. Likewise, in the realm of Mesopotamian
and Popular Cult in Early Mesopotamia,” in Official Cult
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2446
DRAMA: MIDDLE EASTERN NARRATIVE TRADITIONS
and Popular Religion in the Ancient Near East, edited by E.
al-Ja¯h:iz: (d. 868/9) included H:asan al-Bas:r¯ı (d. 728/9) in his
Matshushima, pp. 81–96 (Heidelberg, 1993), R. F. G.
list of learned popular preachers. Most, however, were bent
Sweet, “A New Look at the ‘Sacred Marriage’ in Ancient
on impressing their audiences, and since it is easy to pass
Mesopotamia,” in Corolla Torontonensis: Studies in Honour
from edifying tales to profane ones, they began to enjoy great
of R. M. Smith, edited by Emmet Robbins and Stella San-
success among the uneducated. By about 892, popular
dahl, pp. 85–104 (Toronto, 1994), Gonzalo Rubio, “Inanna
preaching was considered a problem in the Muslim commu-
and Dumuzi: A Sumerian Love Story,” Journal of the Ameri-
nity, and the government announced that storytellers, astrol-
can Oriental Society 121 (2001): 268–274, Philip Jones,
“Embracing Inana: Legitimation and Mediation in the An-
ogers, and fortune-tellers were not to appear in the streets
cient Mesopotamian Sacred Marriage Hymn Iddin-Dagan
and mosques of Baghdad. In Spain in the twelfth century,
A,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 123 (2003): 291–
religious storytellers were banned from performing in ceme-
302, and Pirjo Lapinkivi, The Sumerian Sacred Marriage in
teries and from telling tales in which the Prophet’s name was
the Light of Comparative Evidence (Helsinki, 2004). Emman-
mentioned, and municipal authorities were charged with
uel Laroche’s Catalogue des textes hittites (Paris, 1971) is avail-
preventing women from attending their sessions in tents.
able online at http://www.asor.org/HITTITE/CTHHP.
html. Also see Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazköi (Berlin,
Because of the bias of the sources in favor of the reli-
1921–1990).
gious establishment, most accounts of popular preachers and
storytellers after the ninth century describe them as charla-
GONZALO RUBIO (2005)
tans and often associate them with beggars and confidence
men. They were accused of mixing edifying narratives from
the QurDa¯n with fanciful biblical legends, stories from pre-
DRAMA: MIDDLE EASTERN NARRATIVE
Islamic Arabia and Persia, eschatological and cosmological
TRADITIONS
tales based on invented chains of authorities, romances with
Popular religious storytelling has been widespread in the Is-
religious associations, and popular etymologies, leaving no
lamic Middle East since the earliest times, and its forms have
questions unanswered. Among the public, they became more
varied considerably according to time, place, and branch or
highly regarded than the theologians, who condemned them
sect of Islam. For the period before 1500, sources for reli-
for falsifying the religious tradition. They were also opposed
gious storytelling are few and widely scattered; nevertheless,
by the S:u¯f¯ıs, who maintained that they did not transmit true
some idea of the situation can be gained. With the establish-
mystical experiences. More than one source describes their
ment of Shiism as the state religion in Persia in about 1500,
practices used to impress their audiences, which included
important new forms of religious oral narrative appeared,
painting their faces, artificially stimulating the flow of tears,
some of which are still practiced in the twentieth century.
making histrionic gestures, pounding on the pulpit, running
up and down its stairs, and even throwing themselves off it.
Religious storytelling on the popular level has its roots
These storytellers flourished in Iraq, Persia, and Central Asia
in formal preaching in the mosque. In its broadest sense, it
but were relatively scarce in the Hejaz and in Muslim North
attempts to interpret the religion and meet the spiritual
Africa. Whatever the accuracy of these accounts may be, it
needs of the common people in a manner more accessible
is clear that the popular religious storytellers, like the friars
to them than that of a preacher representing the religious es-
of medieval Christianity, bridged the gulf between an intel-
tablishment. This kind of storytelling quickly came to reflect
lectual and distant religious establishment and an illiterate
the values and beliefs of popular Islam and in doing so wid-
populace needing spiritual guidance and education in terms
ened the gap between the Islam of the theologians and juris-
they could comprehend.
prudents and that of the common people. The sources for
the study of popular religious storytelling reflect, by and
When the Safavids (1500–1732) were establishing Shi-
large, the views of the small educated class, including the reli-
ism as the official religion in Persia, one of the means they
gious class, and deplore the existence and influence of popu-
used to spread their message was the oral storyteller. This ap-
lar oral narrators.
pears to have stimulated the development and specialization
of oral narration, and to judge from the sources, religious sto-
In the first century of Islam it became the practice of
rytelling flourished in Persia from the sixteenth to the early
governing authorities to appoint a preacher for the local
twentieth century. I shall describe here the three most impor-
mosque and pay him a stipend from the state treasury. At
tant forms.
the same time, unofficial preachers (qa¯s:s:, lit. “story-teller”;
pl., qus:s:a¯s:) began delivering sermons in mosques and else-
Rawz:ah-khva¯n¯ı began with public readings from
where. While the official preachers represented the views of
Ruwz:at al-shuhada¯ (The garden of martyrs), a collection of
the religious establishment, the free preachers were not so re-
stories by H:usayn Va¯Eiz: Ka¯shif¯ı (d. 910 AH/1504–1505 CE)
stricted. Enlightenment mixed with entertainment in their
about the Sh¯ıE¯ı ima¯ms. Soon moving out of the mosque and
sermons, and edifying tales slowly developed into entertain-
into public places and private houses, rawz:ah-khva¯n¯ı became
ing ones, always within the framework of transmitting and
an integral part of religious life. It is still practiced widely in
interpreting the tradition of the Prophet. Some popular
Iran. Another form of oral religious narrative, rarer today, is
preachers were highly respected men of great learning, and
a variety of picture storytelling called pardah-da¯r¯ı. Working
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: INDIAN DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
2447
in pairs, narrators make use of a large canvas on which are
5000 BCE. The ancient remains of Mohenjo-Daro and
painted pictures of the imams in their struggles with the op-
Harappa (2500–2000 BCE) are more definitive. Here archae-
ponents of Shiism. The canvas is slowly unrolled or unveiled
ological remains clearly point to the prevalence of ritual per-
as the story is related in a mixture of prose and verse. Finally,
formance involving populace and patrons. The Mohenjo-
there is sukhanvar¯ı, which began in Safavid times and is all
Daro seals, bronze figurines, and images of priests and bro-
but extinct in Iran today. Probably deriving from an older
ken torsos are all clear indications of dance as ritual.
rivalry between Sh¯ıE¯ı and Sunn¯ı religious storytellers,
The aspect of Vedic ritual tradition closest to dance and
sukhanvar¯ı was a contest in which two narrators attempted
drama was a rigorous system called yajña. Various types of
to outdo each other in improvising verses praising the imams
sacrifices called yajñas were held at different astronomical
and condemning the Sunn¯ıs. The contests would usually
confluences and lasted for five, seven, fifteen, or twenty-one
take place in coffeehouses and were most popular during the
days. These rituals were dramatic performances presented in
nights of Ramad:a¯n.
a sacred enclosure. Usually three altars symbolized the celes-
Among the Sunn¯ıs of Ottoman Turkey and the Turkic
tial, terrestrial, and mundane worlds. The altars were in the
peoples of Central Asia, religious storytelling was practiced
shape of a square, a circle, and a semicircle. The performance
to a modest extent. It is believed that the meddahs (dramatic
included incantation, verses recited in different meters in
storytellers) of Turkey were originally religious storytellers,
specific intonation, movement in eight directions along a cir-
and nineteenth-century travelers report hearing popular reli-
cumambulatory path in the sacred enclosure, and offerings
gious narratives in Kabul and Bukhara. Today the practice
of sixteen auspicious objects. Combined, these activities con-
has almost disappeared from Sunn¯ı Islam, but it is still popu-
stituted a comprehensive ritual drama. Participating were the
lar among the Sh¯ıE¯ı communities of Iraq and Anatolia, in ad-
priests and the yajamana, the person desiring the perfor-
dition to Iran. There a variant of rawz:ah-khva¯n¯ı is common:
mance of the sacrifice. Roles were clearly defined: the patron,
passages from maqtals, books that relate the martyrdom of
his wife, the priest, his assistants, and members of the society
the ima¯ms, are recited, most often during the first ten days
representing the various vocations.
of Muh:arram (the first month of the Muslim lunar year).
The ritual’s movement pattern was dramatic from in-
SEE ALSO TaEziyah.
ception to conclusion. The cosmos was symbolically recreat-
ed for the duration of the performance, and the movement
BIBLIOGRAPHY
of the universe in its process of involution, evolution, and
Because references to religious storytelling are so widely scattered,
devolution was suggested. The ritual’s ultimate conclusion
the following sources have been chosen for their bibliograph-
was the ritual burning of the sacred enclosure.
ical references as well as their information on the subject.
Charles Pellat’s “K:a¯s:s:,” in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new
The concern of the Vedic poet was also focused on im-
ed., vol. 4 (Leiden, 1978), gives a basic introduction to the
ages of dance and drama, as evidenced by the inumerable tex-
subject but focuses on Arabic sources. Ignácz Goldziher in
tual references to these arts. Some members of the Vedic pan-
his Muslim Studies, edited by S. M. Stern, vol. 2 (New York,
theon were dancers: U
¯ s:a, the goddess of the dawn; Indra, the
1973), pp. 149–159, discusses the early preachers of Islam
god of the thunderbolt; and the two sets of twin gods, the
and the rise of popular preaching. This was originally pub-
Ma¯ruts and the A´svins.
lished as Muhammedanische Studien, 2 vols. (Halle, 1889–
1890). The scandalous side of popular religious storytelling
Archaeological remains from the Mauryan period pro-
is depicted vividly by C. E. Bosworth in his The Mediaeval
vide evidence of the prevalence of ritual dance and dance
Islamic Underworld, vol. 1 (Leiden, 1976), pp. 15, 24–29.
drama. The terra-cotta figures of the dancing girls, the drum-
The various forms of dramatic religious storytelling in Iran
mer, and others of this period suggest preoccupation with rit-
are described by Bahra¯m Bayz:a¯D¯ı in his Nama¯yish dar Ira¯n
ual dance. The tradition continues in the Sunga, Stavahana,
(The Theater in Iran; Tehran, 1965), pp. 71–76. Metin And
and Kushan periods (second century BCE to second century
describes Sh¯ıE¯ı religious practices and storytelling in his “The
Muharram Observances in Anatolian Turkey,” in Ta Eziyeh:
CE), culminating with the great Buddhist stupas, Jain monu-
Ritual and Drama in Iran, edited by Peter Chelkowski (New
ments, and early Hindu temples of the Gupta period (fourth
York, 1979), pp. 238–254.
to sixth centuries CE). The frequency of ritual performance
is evident from the architectural remains of sacrificial enclo-
WILLIAM L. HANAWAY, JR. (1987)
sures, sculptural reliefs, and literary evidence.
THE NA¯T:YA S´A¯STRA. Attributed to Bha¯rata, the Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra
(second century BCE to second century CE) enunciates a theo-
DRAMA: INDIAN DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
ry of aesthetics and the techniques of dramaturgy in thirty-
In the cultures of the Indian subcontinent, drama and ritual
six chapters. These chapters discuss dramatic evolution, the-
have been integral parts of a single whole from earliest re-
atrical and stage construction, and the presentation of drama.
corded history. The first evidences of ritual dance drama per-
Drama is viewed as a reenactment of the cosmos, which is
formances occur in the rock paintings of Mirzapur, Bhimbet-
composed of celestial, terrestrial, and mundane worlds. It is
ka, and in other sites, which are variously dated 20,000–
compared to a ritual performance (yajña) and aims at eman-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2448
DRAMA: INDIAN DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
cipation or release (moks:a) gained through the purification
enter, almost exactly as described in the Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra, carry-
of emotion (ra¯sa).
ing a brimming vase and a pole. In the central area of the
Like the stupa and temple, the theater is a sacred enclo-
stage, eight auspicious gifts, as:t:a-man˙gala, are offered; these
sure, and the stage is the sacred altar. A center is established,
offerings almost replicate the offerings within the temple
and all else radiates from it. The stage center is demarcated.
sanctum. The actors then circumambulate the stage, estab-
The performance is a ritual that begins with offerings to the
lishing the eight directions and the three spaces of the uni-
sacred center and the deities of the eight directions. The
verse—nether, terrestial, and celestial.
Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra devotes a full chapter to the preliminary rituals
A single play takes from seven to nine nights to com-
(pu¯rvaran˙ga). These comprise various entries and exits of
plete. Each act is elaborated upon in minutest detail. A reper-
three principal dancer-actors who establish the ritual space
toire of ten plays is extant, although today only excerpts are
through song and mime. Drama proper follows. The Na¯t:ya
presented. Night after night audiences witness these perfor-
S´a¯stra clearly draws upon Vedic ritual drama to create the
mances in rapt attention. Participation in the performance
edifice for dramatic ritual. It extracts elements from the four
is a ritual act comparable to the daily worship the devotee
Vedas: intonation, recitation, gesture, language, music, and
offers to the deity inside the temple.
the internalized states of emotion, to create a fifth whole that
In the Guruvayur Temple (c. fifteenth century
Bha¯rata called the fifth Veda of drama. With speech, move-
CE), the
dance drama called Kr:s:n:attam is presented in the temple
ment, music, and costumery, the performance is early multi-
courtyard rather than in a kuttambalama. The life of Kr:s:n:a
media. The Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra recognizes regional variations and
is enacted by a totally male cast of actors over a period of
can be presented in either stylized or natural modes.
eight nights. The performance is based on the Kr:s:n:agiti, a
Enunciated in oral tradition two thousand years ago, the
text composed by King Manavedan. The favorite episodes of
precepts of the Na¯t:ya S´a¯stra are still followed in India in
Kr:s:n:a’s life—his birth in a dark prison, his childhood pranks,
many dance and drama forms in whole or in part. The pre-
his conquest of the snake demon Kaliya, his destruction of
liminaries invariably invoke principal deities; the sacred en-
the demonness Pu¯tana¯ and the demons hidden in tree
closure is demarcated. Whether the performance is in open
trunks, his playful sport with the cowherdesses (gop¯ıs), and
space or in a closed theater, a center is established. Offerings
his final journey to heaven (svargar´sana)—are all re-created
are made of eight auspicious things, such as coconut, water,
in a charming spectacle full of lyricism and fluidity. The faces
turmeric, and so forth. Once the director and his compan-
of some actors are painted in green or red, symbolizing good
ions have established the consecrated space, the audience is
and evil characters, respectively; other characters wear large
invited to participate in the mythical, consecrated time of the
masks.
drama.
The kathakali dance drama form was inspired by kutti-
The architectural plans of many stupas and temples
yattam. By some accounts it developed as a reaction to
built between the second and thirteenth century provide evi-
kr:s:n:attam. Eclectic in character, it is a highly sophisticated
dence of adhering to a sacred geometry of the square and cir-
art form utilizing the preliminary rituals of kuttiyattam and
cle. In each instance, a center is fundamental. Many rituals
presenting dance dramas based on the Indian epics, the
were performed in different areas of the temple, from the
Ra¯ma¯yan:a and Maha¯bha¯rata. While kathakali’s ritualistic or-
inner sanctum to outer enclosure. By the eighth century and
igins are not immediately clear, it draws essentially upon the
particularly between the tenth and thirteenth century, special
rituals held in the temple sanctum.
structures called nat:aman:d:apa were built for ritual dance and
dance drama.
The countless ritual dance drama forms of several village
communities in Kerala are fundamental to the evolution of
Music and dance were included as part of temple offer-
all temple dance drama forms. The preserve of the socioeco-
ings (sevas) involving flowers and incense. A solo dancer per-
nomically deprived and backward classes, these forms are
formed before the deity. Hereditary dancers called devada¯s¯ıs
known as teyyams, a name derived from the word daivam (“to
also performed in the temple sanctum. This practice was
be god”). Many different forms of teyyam and teriyattam con-
prevalent in all parts of India. Many other ritual dance dra-
tinue to be performed in Kerala. In these performances, the
mas were performed in the courtyard, a tradition that contin-
spirit of the deity enters the actor so that the ritual enactment
ued and developed in many parts of India.
invariably culminates in magic and trance. These forms char-
RITUAL DANCE DRAMA. The ritual dance-drama form with
acteristically feature elaborate makeup, high headgears, and
the longest continuity, called kuttiyattam, is performed today
oversize costumery, all designed to create an otherworldly vi-
in special theaters (kuttambalamas) in Kerala. The spectacle
sion. In the form called mudiyettu, an enclosure is made, and
held in these special theaters within the temple precincts is
the image of the goddess Ka¯l¯ı is traced on the ground with
performed by professional acting families called chakyars.
the powders of different cereal grains. Another person, who
Such families can trace their genealogies back to the tenth
many be considered devotee or priest, worships the image.
century of the common era.
Then this priest/devotee dances in a trance state and obliter-
The play starts with the sounding of a large, pitcher-
ates the image. A second enclosure is made, and the action
shaped drum, the mizhavu. The director and his companions
of the dance drama shifts to this second space. A lamp, which
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: INDIAN DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
2449
had accompanied the first part of the performance, is moved
act their roles in the changing locales; the audience identifies
to the second enclosure, symbolizing continuity. The story
them with the mythical heroes. During the performance of
of Ka¯l¯ı vanquishing the demon Darika is enacted in the sec-
the Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯, a period of over twenty days, the actors who
ond enclosure. Until about the mid-twentieth century, the
play the main role of Ra¯ma and his brothers are considered
role of Ka¯l¯ı was performed by the same actor who worshiped
deified. They are consecrated through ritual before the be-
and obliterated the image in the first enclosure; today they
ginning of the dance drama; from that time on the human
are different actors. At the end of the performance, the actors
is icon come to life. Only after their final performance when
who take the roles of Ka¯l¯ı and Darika become possessed.
they remove their headgear do the actors return to mundane
It is important to remember that for those forms draw-
life. Until that time, the audience worships them as they
ing inspiration from the temple, the ritual precedes the dra-
would an icon, the sacred and the profane are concurrent
matic spectacle, and the actors always are narrators and per-
without tension, and actual time and place become mythical
formers of the myth. In village dance drama rituals, however,
while also retaining their own ordinary identities.
the performer is not an actor but is transformed for the dura-
Ritual and dance drama around the Kr:s:n:a theme consti-
tion into the deity. The performance, therefore, invariably
tute another performance system throughout India. Inspired
ends in trance with the actor possessed.
by the early life of Kr:s:n:a, especially that narrated in the
Similar dance-drama forms are known elsewhere in
Bha¯gavata Pura¯n:a (c. ninth century), the cycle of Kr:s:n:al¯ıla¯
India. The patterns of chanting mantras in the temple sanc-
plays is performed two weeks before the Janma¯s:t:am¯ı, the day
tum; singing inside the temple; and performing dances in the
of Kr:s:n:a’s birth on the eighth day of the waning moon of
dance hall (manadappam), dance drama in the temple court-
July–August. The most important of these is the Vr:nda¯vana
yard, and dance drama in the village field or open spaces are
Kr:s:n:al¯ıla¯. Again, as in the case of Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯, young boys are
pan-Indian.
trained for their roles, initiated, and consecrated. For the du-
ration of the cycle plays, these young boys, as Kr:s:n:a, his con-
One can identify three major systems of dance as ritual
sort Ra¯dha¯, and other cowherdesses (gop¯ıs), are considered
process and ritualistic dance drama from the thousands of
deified. Beginning with Kr:s:n:a’s birth, a new episode in his
distinctly regional or local forms. The first is an offering of
life is presented each day. This is known as l¯ıla¯. The enact-
music and dance, usually performed by a solo female dancer
ment of the stories in the early life of Kr:s:n:a culminates in
or a group of dancers. This genre owes its repertoire in vary-
the ra¯sa, the circular dance of great antiquity in which Kr:s:n:a
ing degrees to the traditions followed by devada¯s¯ıs, ma¯haris,
stands in the center with the gop¯ıs surrounding him. During
and others, and includes the bha¯ratana¯t:yam of South India,
the dance, Kr:s:n:a creates the illusion in which each gop¯ı be-
the orissi of Orissa, and the ardhananr:tyam of Andhra
lieves her partner to be Kr:s:n:a. In the Vr:nda¯vana Kr:s:n:al¯ıla¯
Pradesh.
the one young Kr:s:n:a suddenly is multiplied, leading to com-
The second system includes the dance dramas within
plex circle dancing until Kr:s:n:a and his consort Ra¯dha¯ finally
and without the temple courtyard. Here the performers are
stand in the center. All others pay obeisance to the icon
largely male dancer-actors, not devotee-narrators as in the
(mu¯rti) of Kr:s:n:a and Ra¯dha¯ as they would within the temple.
solo offering. The medieval cycle plays concerning the life
Ecstatic cries fill the arena. Devotees prostrate themselves be-
of Kr:s:n:a or Ra¯ma emerged within this broad category. While
fore the young dancers who are, for that time and space,
known throughout India, they are special to the North and
deities.
East. The third system is characterized by the presentation
In Manipur, the same Kr:s:n:al¯ıla¯ becomes Ra¯sal¯ıla¯ and
of themes from the Maha¯bha¯rata and Ra¯ma¯yana.
¯
is performed five times yearly to coincide with the full moon
Performances of Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯ are pervasive throughout
of spring, the monsoons, late autumn, and so forth. Instead
India. The life cycle of Ra¯ma, hero and god, is also presented
of young boys, young girls before puberty take the principal
during early autumn in Java, Bali, Thailand, and Malaysia.
roles. The gop¯ıs can be women of any age, from ten to more
Commencing with ritual preliminaries—invoking gods of
than sixty. The enactment of Kr:s:n:a’s early life is a moving
the water, earth, and sky and the deities of the quarters, and
spectacle, but the presentation of ra¯sa provides the most
seeking benediction—the life of Ra¯ma is enacted nightly in
heightened ecstatic experience. The ra¯sa is held in the
episodes about his birth, his ultimate coronation, the banish-
Govindj¯ı Temple precincts in Manipur in springtime; the
ing of S¯ıta¯, and, in some versions, his immersion in the wa-
maha¯ra¯sa, or grand ra¯sa, in the November full moon. The
ters of the river Saryu. The Ra¯mnagar Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯ and the
gop¯ıs arrive in two files of twenty to forty dancers each,
Tuls¯ıgha¯t:a Ra¯ma-l¯ıla¯ are held in different parts of the city
dressed in glittering skirts and transparent veils. They sing
of Banaras. These ritual dance-drama performances take on
verses from the tenth section of the Bha¯gavata Pura¯n:a, each
a special quality because the locale itself is transformed into
gop¯ı vying with the others to communicate her yearning for
the situs of the story. Each episode is performed in a different
the Dark Lord. Tears flow effortlessly. Singing in falsetto,
place. The singer-director recites verses from the
with minimal restrained gestures, also occurs. Always played
Ra¯macaritama¯nas, a sixteenth-century work by Tuls¯ıda¯s.
by a young girl, Kr:s:n:a appears, dances, and looks for the
Young boys, especially trained for the annual performance,
gop¯ıs. Ra¯dha¯, dressed in a green skirt to distinguish her from
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2450
DRAMA: BALINESE DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
the red-skirted gop¯ıs, then appears. This provides an oppor-
then Western forces of trade, political authority, and reli-
tunity for a solo dance of great beauty. A dialogue through
gious instruction; the ritual and drama apparently central to
music and dance takes place between the two, followed by
Javanese statecraft altered accordingly. Neighboring Bali, in
estrangement and then reunion. As in the Vr:nda¯vana
part isolated from these developments and from the more in-
Kr:s:n:al¯ıla¯ the dance ends with a circular movement but with-
tensive style of Dutch colonialism, provided a context for the
out a number of Kr:s:n:as appearing.
continuing cultivation of both scribal and performing arts
The atmosphere is charged with devotion (bhakti).
tied to rites of ancestor commemoration and a cult of king-
Members of the audience enter the arena and bow down or
ship, to wet-rice agricultural cycles, and to intricate temple
prostrate themselves before the dancer-deities, offer gifts, and
systems that organize productive lands, civic units, domestic
then retreat. The dance can last all night until early in the
space, and funerary areas into networks of shrines. Hindu de-
morning, when the gop¯ıs and the audience worship the child
ities and local ancestors make periodic visitations to these
actors portraying Kr:s:n:a and Ra¯dha¯ as they would the icons
shrines to be entertained. Moreover, demonic agents both
inside the temple sanctum.
regularly and occasionally upset the social and cosmic equi-
librium and must be appeased at places vulnerable to their
SEE ALSO L¯ıla¯.
influence, such as the ground, the sea, and all crossroads.
B
Balinese temple celebrations always include the playing
IBLIOGRAPHY
Bhattacharya, D. H. Origin and Development of the Assamese
of gongs and metallophones (gamelan, the instruments for
Drama and Stage. New Delhi, 1964.
which the percussion orchestra is named) and specific dances
in ritual processions; they may also include shadow puppet
Blank, Judith. The History, Cultural Context and Religious Mean-
ing of the Chau Dance. Chicago, 1972.
theater (wayang), masked dance drama (topeng), or many un-
masked dance dramas. Performances may be used to upgrade
Desai, Sudha. Bhavai: A Medieval Form of Ancient Indian Dramat-
life-crisis rites, such as tooth filings, weddings, and crema-
ic Art. Ahmadabad, 1972.
tions. A specific orchestral ensemble accompanies each vari-
Ghosh, Manomohan, ed. and trans. Natyasastra. 2 vols. 2d rev.
ety of dance and drama. Important genres include gambuh,
ed. Calcutta, 1967.
topeng, parwa, and wayang. In gambuh, unmasked courtly
Guha, Thakurta P. The Bengali Drama. London, 1930.
dramas dating back at least four hundred years, the orchestra
Hawley, John Stratton. At Play with Krishna: Pilgrimage Dramas
adds haunting flutes to its percussions. Gambuh tales come
from Brindavan. Princeton, 1981.
from the indigenous cycle of love and political intrigue called
Hein, Norvin. The Miracle Plays of Mathura. New Haven, 1972.
Malat in Bali and Panji in Java. Masked topeng, performed
Jones, Clifford, and Betty True Jones. Kathakali: An Introduction
either by a soloist or by multiple actor-dancers, stages narra-
to the Dance-Drama of Kerala. San Francisco, 1970.
tives from dynastic chronicles. Parwa, probably originating
Raju, P. T. Telugu Literature: Andhra Literature. Bombay, 1944.
around 1885, is similar to wayang wong, in which masked
dancers replace the famous leather puppets of wayang kulit;
Ranganath, H. K. The Karnataka Theatre. Dharwar, 1960.
but parwa contents are restricted to episodes from the
Shekhar, Indu. Sanskrit Drama: Its Origin and Decline. Leiden,
Maha¯bha¯rata. Bali’s versions of the Ra¯ma¯yan:a remain the
1960.
basic source for wayang, both the renowned nighttime varie-
Vatsyayan, Kapila. Traditional Indian Theater: Multiple Streams.
ties that project puppet shadows onto a screen and the day-
New Delhi, 1980. Includes extensive bibliography.
time version without shadows, regarded as a more potent
New Sources
message to ancestral shades. Myriad additional genres repre-
Sax, William S., ed. The Gods at Pay: Lila in South Asia. New
sent one of the fullest flowerings of dramatic dance in the
York, 1995.
history of civilizations.
KAPILA VATSYAYAN (1987)
Complex rules delimit which episodes in what perfor-
Revised Bibliography
mance mode are suited to which rituals; variations reflect
Bali’s history of shifting sponsorships by courts, ancestor
groups, localities, and now national and commercial agen-
DRAMA: BALINESE DANCE AND DANCE
cies. Several types of dance involve divine or demonic posses-
DRAMA
sion (for example, the prepubescent trance dancers of
Balinese dance and dance drama are integral to the distinc-
Sanghyang Dedari). Trance occurs frequently in Balinese rit-
tive Hindu-Buddhist religious practices found in Bali, Lom-
ual, most spectacularly among the participants in the famous
bok, and parts of East Java, Sumatra, and Celebes recently
exorcist battles based on the Tantric tale of Calonarang, in
converted to Bali-Hindu religion or settled by Balinese under
which the witch Rangda (whose dread masks belong to vil-
Indonesia’s national program to relocate population. Many
lage-area temples) engages the friendlier force of lionlike Ba-
sourcebooks for Balinese drama derive from the pre-Muslim
rong (whose costumes are usually owned by hamlets). The
period of Javanese civilization. Beginning in the fourteenth
end is inevitably a standoff. Most Balinese dance dramas,
century, Java’s Hinduized courts confronted first Islamic,
however, are thought to be given not by deities or demons,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: BALINESE DANCE AND DANCE DRAMA
2451
but for them. Bali’s traditional concept of “audience” in-
love magic. The realms of health and disease, activities of al-
cludes the ordinarily remote deities, lured to their “seats” for
lure and cure, and the values of aesthetics and exorcism re-
the show; partisan ancestors, to whom descendants may have
main intertwined in Bali-Hinduism, where any analytic sep-
“promised in their hearts” a particular performance; human
aration of the theatrical, the political, and the religious arts
spectators of all social ranks; and outsiders as well, including
is difficult to sustain.
foreigners and tourists. Indeed commoners, called “outsid-
Recent studies of Balinese dance and drama adopt help-
ers” to noble courts (puri), are essential spectators. That ritu-
ful, although conscientiously rationalized, schemes advanced
al and drama are seldom designed for a closed public, despite
by I G. Sugriwa, R. Moerdowo, and other Indonesian schol-
the culture’s exclusivistic hierarchies, helps explain the resil-
ars. They distinguish four types of dances. There are dances
ience of Bali’s semiprofessionalized dance and drama organi-
indispensable to ritual sacrifice, performed in the inner tem-
zations: talented peasants moonlighting in troups for hire.
ple by the deities’ female attendants and male guardians,
Any Balinese ritual mobilizes an array of specialists,
drawn from the community concerned. There are optional
some restricted by caste or social position, others not. Brah-
dance dramas of the middle courtyard that heighten a temple
mana priests (pedanda) specialize in Sanskrit and esoteric
ceremony or a crisis rite; masks and costumes and the per-
manuals that prescribe rituals for purifying water (tirtha) re-
formers themselves, perhaps hired from outside, are ritually
quired by their clients for ceremonies. Puppeteers (dhalang),
consecrated. A third type encompasses “secular” dances per-
not restricted to a particular caste but sometimes concentrat-
formed in conjunction with a temple ceremony, but outside
ed in certain ancestral lines, are highly respected virtuosi: a
the walls, along with cockfights and games of chance; one
dhalang is the actors, propmen, screenwriter, director, and
example is the flirtatious Joged, a dance that recalls pre-
conductor rolled into one. Young dancers are intensively ex-
colonial royal involvement in prostitution and other service
ercised in choreographic codes that replicate in gestures what
monopolies. Finally, commercial dances, casually performed
a dhalang depicts through puppets. A temple celebration,
with unconsecrated masks, have flourished in tourist shows;
cremation, wedding, or other ritual may be elaborated into
the consummate example is the picturesque monkey dance
a bustling, muted circus, with multiple rings of performers
(the Cak), which has become the trademark of Balinese cul-
and onlookers, perhaps including a priest intoning mantras,
ture in Indonesia.
a reading group reciting select texts, a wayang, various phases
The rich interplay among dance, drama, and religious
of the ritual itself, extra attractions, and several gamelan. His-
practice and belief in Bali pertains to many important issues.
torically transforming genres of dance and drama have com-
Balinese Hinduism’s stress on dance in popular ritual sets it
bined and recombined select channels of refined versus agi-
off vividly from Islamic values of neighboring islands and of
tated form: sound (in phased periodicities of percussion),
the Indonesian nation. Although many dramatic texts in Bali
voice (in chant and prayer, individual and choral song, and
originated in India, its dance is very different from South
spoken dialogues), languages (Sanskrit; Old Javanese, or
Asian varieties, as are its temples. The rituals garnished with
Kawi; High Balinese; vernacular Balinese; Indonesian), styles
Balinese dance drama have counterparts among non-Hindu
of movement, and levels of gesture. Certain performers—the
Indonesians, particularly wet-rice growers and societies orga-
puppeteer, the topeng soloist, the translating and paraphras-
nized into rival centers of authority marked by competitive
ing servant-clowns of wayang wong—must master all codes.
displays during rituals of death, reburial, marriage, circumci-
sion (not practiced by Balinese), or other passage rites. A
Dance and drama in Bali portray stock types of conven-
major problem in interpreting Balinese arts concerns their
tional characters, ordered into cosmically opposed sets, right-
place in rivalries among rajas, among localities, and among
hand (“mountainward”) and left-hand (“seaward”). The fa-
other sponsors. The manufacture of sacred objects—gongs,
miliar panoply from Hindu myth and epic includes gods; he-
masks, daggers, written texts, and the like—and expertise in
roes; adventurous knights; ladies; prime ministers; ladies-in-
rituals necessary to maintain and periodically cleanse and re-
waiting; servants; ogres; demons; animals (some
consecrate them remain important in Balinese notions of sta-
anthropomorphic); and clowns, the most popular figures,
tus and prestige. Moreover, dramas often contain stories of
marked by specifically Balinese characteristics. Stage layouts,
their own origins and credit different social segments, dynas-
the situation of performances in and around temples, and the
ties, and ancestors with instituting distinct arts and perfor-
punctuation of ritual by dance and drama help articulate
mances. Contrary claims in these matters still vitalize Bali-
such conceptually opposite attributes as refined and crude
nese social and political processes and introduce
and divine and demonic implicit in all spatial arrangements,
complications into the historiography of Balinese religion,
interactions, and temporal flow. Styles of offerings and
dance, and drama.
priestly functions, too, activate complementary cycles of pat-
terned sound, gesture, story, and ritual regalia: from the eso-
Explicit Bali-Hindu philosophies of religion correlate
teric mantras and mudra¯s (hand postures) of pedanda (high
action, word, and thought, thus orchestrating ritual deed,
priests of the right-hand powers) or sengguhu (high priests of
spoken syllables, and mental images in a theory of the inter-
the left-hand powers), to the charms, tokens, and homey
relation of visual, verbal, spatial, and sonic arts. Some Bali-
icons of the many balian (“curers”) dealing in sorcery and
nese experts make fine distinctions between trance and “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
2452
DRAMA: JAVANESE WAYANG
spiration” (taksu) as well as other conditions of dramatic and
DRAMA: JAVANESE WAYANG
religious awareness. Although several modern institutes and
Wayang kulit, also known as wayang purwa (“shadow play”),
schools for the preservation and advancement of Balinese arts
is a type of puppet theater that is indigenous primarily to
have promoted new experiments in training and documenta-
Java, the most populous island of Indonesia, but that flour-
tion (including musical notation systems), traditional court-
ishes also on the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok and
based or village-centered training techniques persist for
in the state of Kelantan on the Malay Peninsula. Wayang
music, dance, drama, sculpture, painting, and so forth. Cer-
kulit is performed by a sacral puppeteer (dalang), who, ac-
tain principles of Balinese religion seem manifest less in pop-
companied by the percussive yet flowing music of the gam-
ular creed than in ideals of transmitting from masters to nov-
elan orchestra, moves intricately crafted leather figures in
ices complex aesthetic skills, such as musically structured
front of an oil lamp to cast flickering shadows on a white
muscular coordination of postures plus pulsations of eyes,
screen as he chants mythological narrative in old sanskritized
limbs, feet, and fingers. Performers achieve exemplary con-
Javanese or other languages. Variants of wayang kulit include
centration, self-control, and personal effacement; their poise
the wooden-rod puppet form wayang golek among the Sun-
seems to exist in dynamic tension with the risk of demonic
danese of West Java and a human dance drama (wayang
wong) patterned after the puppet plays.
abandon. Judging from Balinese culture, a religion can be
danced as much as believed.
Wayang kulit traditionally lasts all night—from 9 PM to
7 AM—and is a rite as well as a drama. It is performed at wed-
dings and circumcisions, to exorcise evil spirits, and to cure.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wayang kulit also embodies an elaborate mythology and phi-
A recent, insightful general description of Balinese dance is I. M.
losophy. The two great Hindu epics, the Maha¯bha¯rata and
Bandem and Fredrik De Boer’s Kaja and Kelod: Balinese
the Ra¯ma¯yan:a, are the mythological sources for some of the
Dance in Transition (2d ed. New York, 1995). The classic ac-
wayang kulit narrations. The Ra¯ma¯yan:a depicts the quest of
count, which accentuates dramatic narrative, remains the
Prince Ra¯ma, aided by the white monkey god Hanuman, for
splendid volume by Beryl de Zoete and Walter Spies, Dance
Princess S¯ıta¯, who is abducted by the monster king Ra¯van:a.
and Drama in Bali (1938; reprint, Oxford, 1973). There are
The Maha¯bha¯rata portrays the battle between the five
fine illustrations with concise descriptions and case studies
in Urs Ramseyer’s The Art and Culture of Bali (Oxford,
knightly brothers, the Pandavas, and the hundred rival
1977). The abundant philological work on Balinese texts,
princes, the Kurawas. But these plots are only a skeleton for
many involved in dance drama, can be surveyed, beginning
a vast cycle of interlocking episodes developed by the Indo-
with Christiaan Hooykaas’s Religion in Bali (Leiden, 1973)
nesians. In addition to the Hindu epics, variants of wayang
and Drawings of Balinese Sorcery (Leiden, 1980); Hooykaas
kulit draw on stories from Arab, Javanese, and other tradi-
alone produced a score of major books of translation and
tions, as well as contemporary plays, including some ad-
commentary. On performance contexts for right-hand and
dressing such topical matters as family planning or national
left-hand magic, see Marie-Thérèse Berthier and John-
ideology.
Thomas Sweeney’s Bali: L’art de la magie (Paris, 1976). For
Wayang kulit characters are categorized according to
a guide to the intriguing collection of work done by assorted
artists, musicologists, anthropologists, and performers in the
their status, temperament, and manner, and their interrela-
1920–1930s, see Traditional Balinese Culture, compiled by
tionships are plotted through intricate genealogies that trace
Jane Belo (New York, 1970). Still vivid and relevant are
them to the origins of the world. The refined characters tend
many parts of Miguel Covarrubias’s Island of Bali (New
to appear on the puppeteer’s right, the crude ones on his left.
York, 1937). Background on social and historical processes
The refined princes, epitomized by Arjuna of the Pandavas,
at work in religion and dramatic arts is reviewed in my book
have narrow, almond-shaped eyes, down-turned noses,
The Anthropological Romance of Bali, 1597–1972 (New York,
slightly bowed heads, no chin whiskers, and delicate phy-
1977) and Clifford Geertz’s Negara: The Theater State in
siques. Crude monsters, typified by Buriswawa, are fat, with
Nineteenth-Century Bali (Princeton, 1980). All of the works
heavy, bristling eyebrows, round eyes, bulbous noses, and red
listed include extensive bibliographies with copious relevant
faces. Battles between refined heroes and crude monsters
literature in Dutch, Indonesian, and Balinese.
carry psychological as well as political meanings, symbolizing
the tension between fleshly desire and spiritual tranquillity.
New Sources
Related themes include the hero’s search for his origin and
George, D.E.R. Balinese Ritual Theatre. Alexandria, Va., 1991.
destiny as he passes through temptations represented by for-
Herbst, E. Voices in Bali: Energies and Perceptions in Vocal Music
est nymphs, and his search for the self, symbolized by his
and Dance Theater. Hanover, N.H., 1997.
climbing inside the ear of his own miniature replica to dis-
cover the universe inside the person. For Javanese, to experi-
Lewiston, D. Music from the Morning of the World: The Balinese
ence the symbolism of a wayang play is vicariously to struggle
Gamelan & Ketjak, the Ramayana Monkey Chant. New York,
through the life cycle and to undergo mystical exercises, and
1988.
they have composed meditations and treatises on the plays
JAMES A. BOON (1987)
that explicate their meanings in relation to Javanese philoso-
Revised Bibliography
phies and theologies, as well as world religions.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: EAST ASIAN DANCE AND THEATER
2453
A central role is played by Semar, the short-legged,
ing Tradition: Music and Theater in Java and Bali,” in Indo-
stout, hermaphroditic, and misshapen clown. Brother to Ba-
nesia, edited by Ruth T. McVey (New Haven, 1963).
tara Guru (S´iva), Semar was of pre-Hindu, local Javanese ori-
Translated texts of the Javanese plays, together with helpful inter-
gin (c. 600 CE), and he combines the earthly role of lowly
pretations, appear in On Thrones of Gold: Three Javanese
servant with the powers and wisdom of the highest god. It
Shadow Plays (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), edited by James R.
is he who appears on the screen at midnight, when the ele-
Brandon. A profound comment on the meaning and world-
ments rage, to restore order. Having a relation to the princes
view of the wayang is provided in A. L. Becker’s “Textbuild-
somewhat like that of Shakespeare’s Falstaff to Prince Hal,
ing, Epistemology, and Aesthetics in Javanese Shadow The-
Semar balances their extreme refinement, heroism, and no-
ater,” in The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian
Coherence Systems, edited by A. L. Becker and Aram A. Yen-
bility with his earthiness and buffoonery (a buffoonery that,
goyan (Norwood, N.J., 1979). A fascinating interpretation
when necessary, is transformed into awesome might).
of mystical meanings of the wayang kulit is provided by
If the clown-servant Semar represents, as some have sug-
Mangkunegara VII of the court of Surakarta in his On the
gested, the earthy Javanese substance beneath the courtly
Wajang Kulit and Its Symbolic and Mystical Elements, translat-
ed by Claire Holt (Ithaca, N.Y., 1957). A provocative socio-
Hindu glaze, Prince Arjuna is the consummate Satriya, the
logical interpretation is given in Benedict R. O’G. Ander-
cultured and noble knight. Before a great battle, Arjuna is
son’s Mythology and the Tolerance of the Javanese (Ithaca,
troubled by the need to kill his cousins and boyhood play-
N.Y., 1965), and a useful ethnographic view is Clifford
mates, the Kurava. In his distress he turns to his divine men-
Geertz’s Religion of Java (Glencoe, Ill., 1960), chap. 18.
tor, Kr:s:n:a, who is driving Arjuna’s chariot. Kr:s:n:a explains
Concerning ritual aspects of Balinese shadow plays, see Christian
that Arjuna must fulfill the code of his knightly caste and fol-
Hooykaas’s Kama and Kala: Materials of the Study of Shadow
low the predetermined path of his life: he must slay the
Theatre in Bali (Amsterdam, 1973). For recent studies of
enemy. He should perform that deed, however, while main-
wayang kulit, consult Mimi Herbert’s Voices of the Puppet
taining an inner detachment from it. Spiritual tranquillity in
Masters (Jakarta and Honolulu, 2002), Alit Veldhuisen-
the midst of worldly conflict is a core ideal of Hinduized
Djajasoebrata’s Shadow Theatre in Java (Amsterdam, 1999)
Javanese philosophy.
and the University of Michigan Centers for Southeast Asian
Studies’ Puppet Theatre in Contemporary Indonesia (Ann
Wayang kulit has been part of Javanese experience for
Arbor, 2002).
perhaps a thousand years, dating back at least to the time of
JAMES L. PEACOCK (1987 AND 2005)
King Airlangga in the eleventh century CE. Yet wayang kulit
remains very much a living tradition, influencing the politi-
cal and secular as well as the religious life of Indonesians. The
late President Sukarno once wrote a newspaper column
DRAMA: EAST ASIAN DANCE AND THEATER
under the penname Bima, the blunt and strong Pandava
From ancient times, theater and religion have had a close,
brother, and he named a regiment after the female warrior
often symbiotic, relationship in East Asia. Theatrical perfor-
Srikandi. Sukarno also referred to his relation to Indonesia
mance is an integral part of certain animistic, Confucian, and
as analogous to that of a dalang to his puppets, and in other
Buddhist rites in China, Korea, and Japan. Priests have been
ways he and others have drawn on the imagery of wayang in
performers, and even today temples and shrines provide
interpreting political life. Comic books on newsstands depict
places for performance. Play cycles based on religious myth
the adventures of Semar’s sons Petruck and Gareng in con-
and legend are numerous. Aesthetic systems reflect religious
temporary costumes and situations. Pedicabs are painted
worldviews. Although drama is increasingly secularized in
with the image of Semar, and he is the guardian figure for
the contemporary world, religious values and beliefs contin-
a contemporary mystical cult. Classical performances of way-
ue to be projected to audiences through masked plays (sandae
ang kulit abound, not only in palaces and schools but also
in Korea, satokagura and no¯ in Japan), popular dramas (kabu-
as part of community life—at weddings and village festivals,
ki in Japan and jingxi and other forms of Chinese opera), and
amid the laughter of children and the gossip and meditative
puppet plays (gogdu gagsi in Korea and bunraku in Japan).
conversation of their elders.
SHAMANISM AND ANIMISM. Since prehistoric times people in
northeast Asia have communicated with animistic spirits for
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the benefit of the living through songs and dances. In the
A standard source on wayang kulit is J. Kats’s Het Javaansche toon-
fourth millennium BCE, the inscription on a Chinese oracle
eel, pt. 1, Wajang poerwa (Weltevreden, 1923), which de-
bone mentions a dance of sympathetic magic performed to
scribes principal characters and some stories. Sedjarah wajang
induce the spirits to bring rain. Before the time of Confucius
purwa, edited by Raden Hardjowirogo (Djakarta, 1955),
(or Kongsi, c. 551–479 BCE), songs and dances dedicated to
provides descriptions of a larger number of characters. For
Balinese dance and drama, the classic source is Beryl de Zoete
the Eight Deities and supervised by the royal steward consti-
and Walter Spies’s Dance and Drama in Bali (New York,
tuted an important state ritual of the Chinese court. Per-
1938). Regarding wayang kulit in Malaya, see Jeanne Cuisi-
forming a masked play is a folk ritual in northwest Korea,
nier’s Le théâtre d’ombres à Kelantan, 2d ed. (Paris, 1957). An
intended to repulse evil spirits at the beginning of summer.
excellent brief introduction is Mantle Hood’s “The Endur-
Dances of demon exorcism (namahage and emburi for exam-
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2454
DRAMA: EAST ASIAN DANCE AND THEATER
ple) are central features of lunar New Year festivals in scores
ing her breasts, lowering her skirt, and dancing joyfully on
of villages in Japan. The Lion Dance, familiar through East
an overturned tub. The assembled gods and goddesses cry
Asia, may have derived from totem worship in prehistoric
out and clap with delight. Hearing their laughter, Amaterasu
times.
leaves the cave to see what is causing so much merriment—
The three-part structure of the rituals of Shinto¯, con-
thus light is restored to the world. Like a shaman, Ama no
taining many animistic elements, reveals one reason perform-
Uzume entices a goddess to leave her private world and join
ing arts in Japan are naturally linked to the practice of ani-
the community on whose behalf she is performing. Like a
mism: the god (or kami) is summoned into this world,
shaman, she entices the goddess with joyful singing and
entertained, and sent away. Because deities had to be enter-
dancing. And like a shaman, she uses a mirror and holds a
tained, a large number of religious dances developed. In
sprig of a tree, two favorite shamanic implements.
Japan many dances enact, often in attenuated, symbolic
Links between shaman and performing artist are not dif-
form, myths of the islands’ founding gods and goddesses.
ficult to identify. The Chinese ideograph for shaman repre-
The god remains enshrined in his or her god-house during
sents two people practicing a skill, by inference, the skill of
court or shrine dances (mika-gura), hence the dancer and the
performance. The same ideograph is used in Japan for a
god are separate. At agricultural festivals, village actors wear
Shinto¯ priestess (miko), who serves at a shrine as a kagura
the costumes and masks of ferocious demons (oni). In these
dancer. The old Korean term kwangdae meant shaman or
folkloric dance dramas (satokagura), the spirit moves freely
popular performer interchangeably. In Korea the husbands
into the world of humans by possessing the performer.
of female shamans performed masked plays (sandae) and
From these primal traditions has come the concept of
puppet plays (gogdu gagsi). One of the standard roles in plays
a sanctified stage area. A sacred playing space, often on the
of both genres is the female shaman, usually depicted as a
ground, is set apart from the mundane world by the place-
young and alluring prostitute. It is also believed that pan’sori
ment of tree branches at the four corners. This idea, in devel-
narrative singing was developed into a Korean national art
oped form, can be seen in the Japanese no¯ stage. A plain
by these same low-status performers in the eighteenth and
square platform is marked off by four pillars and covered by
nineteenth centuries. (Confucian and Buddhist teaching
a roof in the style indicating the dwelling of a god. The
equally hold the shaman in contempt.) A Japanese myth says
bridgeway (hashigakari), on which the spirit-protagonist of
that the spreading pine tree painted on the back wall of a no¯
a no¯ play enters, mirrors the sacred passageway marked out
stage symbolizes the Yogo Pine, the tree through which the
on a shrine ground along which a god would make his or her
god descended to earth during performance. Stamping at the
journey from the other world to a temporary home at festival
conclusion of a no¯ play and the earth-stamping dance se-
time.
quences in village kagura are contemporary examples of Ama
In shamanistic traditions, the shaman is a professional
no Uzume’s stamping steps described twelve hundred years
communicator with the spirits. Throughout East Asia and
ago. The four flags worn on the back of a Chinese opera gen-
from earliest times, dance and song have been essential sha-
eral are averred to derive from the Chinese shaman’s flags of
manic skills. The Chinese Li ji (Book of rites; fourth century
exorcism.
BCE) tells of shamans wearing animal skins who drive out evil
It has been theorized that acting originated in East Asia
spirits, and The Elegies of Chu of the first century BCE de-
in the shamanic act of possession. There are difficulties with
scribes elegantly dressed male and female shamans singing
such an argument. The village actor in Japan who wears the
and dancing seductively to woo deities to make the passage
mask and costume of a demon may or may not be possessed
down into this world. Contemporary shamans continue the
by the mask’s spirit; in neither case, however, is he function-
tradition of being skilled singers and dancers. Dances of Jap-
ing as a trained shaman. Conversely, the shaman, possessed
anese shamans are relatively simple, while seances (kut) of
by a deity and speaking the deity’s words, rarely enacts past
present-day Korean shamans contain complex dances de-
events in that deity’s life as the actor would do. Rather, the
signed to please the god being invoked. The purely theatrical
shaman’s function, at least as we know it today, is to bring
skill of juggling can be part of the shaman’s repertory in
the god’s knowledge and power into the mundane world in
Korea. In Japan, juggling and acrobatics were associated with
the service of practical needs (curing sickness, assuring pros-
Shinto¯ agricultural festivals in medieval times as “field
perity, et al.). The art of mimesis (acting) and especially the
music” (dengaku), and they are still performed today during
enactment of a story about a character (drama) are not essen-
Shinto¯ festivals such as the New Year celebration.
tial to this function. Similarly, the action of a no¯ drama has
The origin of theater in Japan is described in the Kojiki
been likened to a shamanistic seance because in the typical
(Records of ancient matters; 712) and the Nihongi (Chroni-
play an intermediary, usually a Shinto¯ priest, summons a
cles of Japan; 720) in a myth that has the shape of a shaman-
dead spirit or deity to enter this world. But the parallel is in-
istic performance. The sun goddess, Amaterasu, has with-
exact: the enticed spirit does not possess the intermediary but
drawn in anger from the community of fellow deities into
becomes independently manifest on stage. Finally, and in a
a rock cave, thus plunging Japan into darkness. Another god-
more general sense, the performing arts may have had their
dess, Ame no Uzume, tries to lure her from the cave by show-
origin in shamanism. If so, we must imagine ancient man
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DRAMA: EAST ASIAN DANCE AND THEATER
2455
waiting for a shaman professional to create the first songs and
formances died out, but village masked plays, such as the
dances. What is more likely is that after song and dance exist-
widespread sandae in Korea, and the Lion Dance (Jpn., sh-
ed, shamans utilized these theatrical arts for religious pur-
ishimai) that is seen everywhere in East Asia, are believed to
poses.
be their descendants. Remnants can also be seen in contem-
porary gyo¯do¯ processions in Japan, in which monks wearing
CONFUCIANISM. While less influential perhaps than primal
masks of bodhisattvas circle a statue of the Buddha. Popular,
traditions, Confucianism has affected the performing arts in
anticlerical views of Buddhism can be seen in contemporary
three main ways. First, according to Confucian doctrine, the
Korean sandae. Buddhist monks are ridiculed for being venal
performance of appropriate music and dance helped assure
and lustful.
the harmonious working of the universe. Confucian rulers
supported court performance as a ritual function, often co-
The origin of no¯ in Japan can be traced back to ninth-
opting preexisting animistic rituals. During the Tang dynas-
century performances of sorcerers (jushi or noroji) who
ty (618–907) in China, the Koryo˘ dynasty in Korea (from
would impersonate a guardian deity of Buddhism such as
c. the eleventh century), and at the Japanese imperial court
Bishamon at the New Year exorcism ceremony, and of tem-
during the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185), rulers pa-
ple sextons who would play his oni (demon) antagonists. In
tronized large contingents of palace performers, and they es-
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Buddhist priests enacted
tablished official schools to preserve the ritually correct
teachings and legends of Buddha in ennen no¯ and sarugaku
forms. The Pear Garden school, founded by the emperor
no¯. Even after professional actors took over in the thirteenth
Xuanzong (712–754), was the most famous of these in
and fourteenth centuries, troupes lived at Buddhist temples.
China. The Japanese form of court dance, bugaku, continues
The troupe organized by Kan’ami Kiyotsugu (1333–1384),
to be patronized by the emperor in modern Japan and thus
the nominal founder of no¯, was attached to the Kofukuji in
represents an unbroken tradition of some thirteen hundred
Nara, and most of Kan’ami’s life was spent performing at
years. Second, Confucian ideals of proportion, moderation,
Buddhist temple festivals around the country. A dozen no¯
and symmetry set the aesthetic tone of court performance.
plays out of the repertory of 240 concern Shinto¯ deities.
Bugaku is an excellent reflection of Confucian ideals in its
O
¯ kina, a ceremonial piece commemorating felicitous longev-
sedateness, repeated patterns, and geometric symmetry of
ity, is the most ancient and sacred. The majority, however,
form.
are deeply imbued with Buddhist teachings. By the time of
Third, the ethical norms of Confucianism—social du-
the great actor Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1443), the protago-
ties as expressed in the “five human relationships”—set the
nist (shite) of a typical no¯ play was the ghost of a famous man
standards of morality for dramatic characters, especially in
or woman who was suffering torment in Buddhist hell. At
popular theater. Filial piety is celebrated in Chinese operas
the conclusion of such a play, the spirit abandons the sinful
such as The Lute Song (c. 1358), and duty to one’s lord in
human ties binding him or her to this world and, through
scores of Japanese kabuki and bunraku plays such as The
the mercy of Amida Buddha, attains salvation in Western
Forty-seven Loyal Retainers (1749) and The Subscription List
Paradise. While Zen philosophy is expressed by characters in
(1841). Korean sandae present a peasant’s view of Confucian
some no¯ plays, the Pure Land salvation of Amida is far more
morality: unfilial sons and unfaithful wives are mockingly
pervasive (as it is in kabuki and bunraku plays).
satirized. Domestic plays (sewamono) in eighteenth-century
Early puppet plays in Japan emphasized Buddhist mira-
kabuki and bunraku use the conflict between human feelings
cles and legends. The Chest-Splitting of Amida, showing the
(ninjo) and social duties (giri) as a major plot device. Chika-
Buddha saving a dying girl by placing his heart in her chest,
matsu Monzaemon (1653–1724) wrote a score of domestic
was a sixteenth-century favorite. Buddhist ghosts of the dead
plays in which young lovers, unable to meet the heavy de-
and reincarnated spirits are standard characters in Chinese
mands of duty—to spouse, parents, children, employer—
opera, no¯, bunraku, and kabuki, becoming, in the latter, ob-
choose to die together rather than live under Confucian re-
jects of parody in the nineteenth century. Buddhist concepts
strictions.
underlie several features of playwriting. Coincidence
BUDDHISM. Between the seventh and the eleventh centuries,
abounds, not because playwrights were careless, but because
Buddhism was widely propagandized in East Asia by popular
of the belief in reincarnation: people whose paths had crossed
forms of masked drama. Giak, the Buddhist masked dance
in previous lives were fated to meet again in later incarna-
drama of Korea, was brought to Japan in 612 by the Korean
tions. The Buddhist idea that the world is transient and in
immigrant, Mimaji (Jpn., Mimashi), who had learned the art
constant flux finds its parallel in the episodic structure of
in China. Called gigaku (“elegant entertainment”) in Japan,
Chinese operas, Korean sandae, and Japanese kabuki and
it was supported by the imperial court as a means to spread
bunraku dramas. The relative unimportance of climax, so
the new state religion. Gigaku is described in a fourteenth-
noticeable to the Western theatergoer, is a reflection of the
century book on music, A Short Manual of Instruction, as a
belief that each moment is equal to any other, that life is a
procession that passed through the city streets in which
stream constantly flowing. Zen concepts of intuitive appre-
masked performers enacted comic scenes ridiculing the evils
hension—as opposed to explicit statement—underlie the no¯
of drunkenness, lechery, and lewdness. Court-supported per-
aesthetics of restraint, suggestion, and abhorrence of realistic
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2456
DRAMA: AFRICAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
detail in staging. A practical man of theater, Zeami nonethe-
nation of these features in recurring formal settings. Simple
less formulated a particularly Buddhist vision of the ideal no¯
routine activities as well as momentous events—the hoeing
performance. It should express yu¯gen, a quiet beauty tinged
of a field, the telling of a tale, the recitation of an epic, the
with dark, melancholy emotion. The no¯ actor and theoreti-
coming out ceremony of a newborn child, the celebration of
cian Komparu Zenchiku (d. between 1468 and 1471) carried
a marriage, the initiation of young men and women, the en-
Zen aesthetics to its furthest when he spoke of the art of no¯
thronement of a chief, or the burial rites of a headman—are
passing through “six wheels,” an image relating to the Bud-
accompanied by dramatic performances, all with more or less
dhist duality of illusion-reality, and leading to ultimate en-
explicit religious content. Groups of interacting participants
lightenment, symbolized by the wheel of emptiness and the
(protagonists, preceptors, experts, attendants, musicians,
sword.
singers, active audience), in specific settings and at prescribed
For the sake of convenience, the contribution of each
moments, portray characters and enact events through the
religion to the performing arts has been discussed separately
combined use of words, songs, gestures, rhythms, dances,
here. Yet such a division is necessarily arbitrary and perhaps
mimicry, music, and artifacts. The narration of a tale, for ex-
misleading. One aspect of dance or theater may reflect several
ample, becomes a performance event in which narrator and
East Asian religions. To cite but one example, the annual
audience may enhance the presentation of a text through
cycle of full-moon festivals that is celebrated by performances
phonic, verbal, and mimetic features, including dialogue,
in all parts of East Asia relates to local traditions, Confucian-
choral singing, handclapping, gestures, and sometimes music
ism, Buddhism, and, indeed, Daoism as well.
and special costumes (Ben-Amos, 1977, pp. 13–16; Finne-
gan, 1970, pp. 500–502).
SEE ALSO Music, articles on Music and Religion in China,
Korea, and Tibet, Music and Religion in Japan.
In the performance of an epic, Nyanga bards identify
with the central hero by acting out select passages before an
BIBLIOGRAPHY
audience that responds with encouragements and sung re-
No single book adequately addresses the topic of this article. Halla
frains (Biebuyck and Mateene, 1969). Accompanied by song
Pai Huhm describes the unique role of shamanism in the
and music, Pygmy hunters among the Bembe perform spec-
performing arts of one country in Kut: Korean Shamanist Rit-
tacular solo and duo dances. Painted and dressed in animal
uals (Elizabeth, N.J., and Seoul, 1980), while the classic
hides and feather hats, the hunters imitate the behavior of
study of shamanism in East Asia remains Mircea Eliade’s
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, rev. & enl. ed.
certain animals and the techniques used to spear them in a
(Princeton, 1964). There are interesting chapters on Shinto¯
display of skill and prowess that placates the deities presiding
ritual and myth in performance in Fred Mayer and Thomas
over the hunt. The Khomani of southern Africa stage plays
Immoos’s Japanese Theatre (New York, 1977). Buddhist con-
in which men and boys act out, with appropriate sound ef-
tributions to no¯ are covered in detail in Inoura Yoshinobu’s
fects, the hunting of a gemsbok or a fight between baboons
A History of Japanese Theater, vol. 1, Noh and Kyogen (Tokyo,
and dogs, or plays in which women and girls imitate the
1971), and in Patrick Geoffrey O’Neill’s Early No Drama
movements and habits of turtles (Doke, 1936,
(London, 1958). Oh Kon Cho’s Korean Puppet Theatre:
pp. 465–469). After harvest time among the Malinke and
Kkoktu Kaksi (East Lansing, Mich., 1979) discusses Bud-
Bamana of West Africa, disguised men, accompanied by a
dhism and shamanism as butts of satire. In Major Plays of
Chikamatsu (New York, 1961), Donald Keene offers an anal-
female chorus, present nocturnal comical and satirical
ysis of Confucian and Buddhist values in Japanese popular
sketches that portray characters such as a thief, a braggart,
drama. The most complete accounts of early religious influ-
or an adulterous woman. Each performance is a structured
ences on Chinese theater are still those of A. E. Zucker, The
entity that starts with a ballet with male and female partici-
Chinese Theatre (Boston, 1925), and Cecilia S. L. Zung, Se-
pants. A prologue, which is both sung and acted, follows, in-
crets of Chinese Drama (1937; New York, 1964).
troducing the individual actors. Last are the actual plays in
JAMES R. BRANDON (1987)
which the actors also engage in dialogue with the musicians
(Labouret and Travélé, 1928). Countless other examples
could be given of such performances where dramatic action
DRAMA: AFRICAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
offers an opportunity for entertainment, display of artistic
In traditional Africa, everyday life, blending profane and sa-
skill, social prestige, and reward. Broad religious conceptions
cred activities, is permeated with music, dance, rhythmic
are implicit in the overall purposes of such performances,
movement, symbolic gestures, song, and verbal artistry. Body
which show the close bond between animals and humans or
adornment—costuming, painting, tattooing, decorating,
the disastrous consequences of not living in conformity with
and masking—is not only a mark of status, age, and sex dif-
standards set by the ancestors.
ferentiations but also serves as an element of beautification,
The elements of religious drama emerge more directly
play, imitation, impersonation, and visual communication of
in activities linked with hunting, planting, harvesting, and
religious values.
other seasonal events. These performances not only ensure
Dramatic performances by soloists and groups of actors
a successful hunt or abundant crops but also placate the su-
interacting with active spectators originate from the combi-
pernatural beings that are responsible for order in nature, ap-
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DRAMA: AFRICAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
2457
pease the spirits of the animals, attract and neutralize evil be-
an important man. The performance includes a combination
ings, purify humans of their sinful interference with natural
of special body ornamentation, dance, acrobatics, panto-
forces, and protect against witchcraft.
mime, song, panegyrics, tales, lessons in ethics, and invoca-
tions of nature spirits and dead quasi-divinized twins. It also
In dances preceding an actual expedition, elephant
involves the construction of special decors, platforms, fences,
hunters among the Baasa are painted and specially dressed
and litters in which solo dancers are brought to the village
to present the village audience with a sequence of realistic
(Iyandza-Lopoloko, 1961; Vangroenweghe, 1977).
skits in which elephants are praised and appeased before
being symbolically killed (to increase the chances for a safe
Dramatic forms of expression climax in those rituals and
and successful hunt). The movements of the elephant are viv-
festivities in which masked, painted, and costumed actors,
idly re-created by a disguised hunter who carries two small
sometimes carrying artifacts (clubs, whips, scepters, staffs,
elephant tusks. At the same time, actors painted to portray
swords, axes, rattles, phalli, figurines), engage in prescribed
marauding leopards symbolically evoke the dangers of the
and staged performances. The intricate action involves a
deep forest, while others brandish spears and display medi-
combination of sung and spoken texts, vocal signals, music,
cines to depict the power, tribulations, and joys of the spe-
dance, gestures, and mimicry by specially disguised perform-
cialist hunters. The song texts are specifically addressed to
ers who interact with one another and with the participating
famed ancestors, divinities, and elephant spirits to protect
audience. These maskers represent ancestors, divinities, na-
and purify the hunters.
ture spirits, monsters, and mythological or undefinable sui
generis creatures. In many ethnic groups these total perfor-
Divination and therapeutic sessions may be simple
mances, incorporating elements of what is conventionally
events in which a diviner or healer submits the patient to pri-
called drama, sacred opera, and ballet, form an intrinsic part
vate consultation and treatment. If masks, figurines, and
of men’s initiations (for example, puberty rites, induction
other sculptures are used, the sessions develop into a se-
into voluntary associations and cult groups, enthronement
quence of dramas in which mystic powers are captured, con-
rites for chiefs and headmen, and initiation schools for ritual
trolled, and released for the benefit of the patient.
experts). The numerous activities of these initiations—which
Among the Kongo, when a person is diagnosed by a di-
may extend over a considerable period of time and may be
viner to be suffering from a sickness or misfortune caused by
staged in several prescribed settings—are interspersed with
nkosi, the patient must be treated by a ritual expert who holds
performances in which the actors embody supernatural be-
complete control over this mysterious power. Nkosi is con-
ings and human prototypes.
tained in a secret mixture of mineral, vegetal, and animal in-
Outstanding examples of traditional African dramatic
gredients placed in the cavity of a wooden figurine and con-
art are found in the young men’s Mukanda rites, held period-
secrated by the sacred words and deeds of a healer initiated
ically by a large number of related ethnic groups in southern
to this power.
parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern
The treatment consists of an ordered sequence of dra-
Angola, and northern Zambia. Novices are circumcised at an
matic events. The invited healer, accompanied by attendants
early stage of the rites as part of the transition from boyhood
playing small slit-drums, carries the figurine to the outskirts
to manhood, but the overall aims of the Mukanda institution
of the village. Dialogue and action including the patient’s rel-
are social, didactic, moral, and aesthetic. Living in prolonged
atives follows. After receiving gifts, healers and assistants pro-
seclusion, the young men are not only trained in vital eco-
ceed to the patient’s house. The figurine is placed on a mat
nomic activities but are thoroughly educated in values and
while the patient, surrounded by many relatives, is seated
beliefs. They spend a large part of their secluded life learning
outside. There follows a series of dramatic actions, accompa-
how to perform dances, music, and songs and how to manu-
nied by songs, imprecations, gestures, music, and rhythmic
facture costumes, masks, and other paraphernalia. Through-
movements. The figurine is manipulated like a puppet while
out the Mukanda, the elders and ritual experts who organize
the power contained in it is exhorted, conjured, and ap-
and direct the rites, and even the women and noninitiated
peased with words, gestures, and sacrificial blood; the patient
males who are excluded from their secret activities, are in-
and relatives are aspersed with lustral liquid; the patient is
volved in a series of celebrations in which choreographic and
rubbed successively with white clay, oil, and the medicines
musical performances are as essential as the material and so-
contained in the figurine; and the rules and prohibitions
cial aspects. Masked and costumed male performers, singly
linked with nkosi are interpreted (Van Wing, 1941,
and in groups, participate in the secret and public events.
pp. 89–90).
Among the Chokwe, who have the most highly devel-
Funerary ceremonies are sometimes accompanied by a
oped mask institution, maskers appear in all major stages of
spectacular dramatic finale intended to honor the deceased
the Mukanda rites and in the public festivities that follow.
and their families. An elaborate example is the Bobongo of
The masks, hierarchically organized, fall into distinctive se-
the Ekonda of west-central Africa. Organized équipes of men
mantic, morphological, and functional groups. They also dif-
or women rehearse for several weeks before presenting the
fer in the materials used (some are sculptured in wood; others
theatrical spectacle three to fifteen months after the death of
are constructed of fibers, beaten bark, and resin), in size and
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2458
DRAMA: AFRICAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
volume, in the ornamental designs, and in the related acces-
through prayers, offerings of food, and sacrifices. Typical
sories, costumes, and paraphernalia. Each fully outfitted
Yoruba masquerades linked with the Egungun cult start with
masker impersonates a unique character and refers symboli-
a sequence of songs and invocations to divinities, ancestors,
cally to a range of religious, cosmological, moral, philosophi-
and elders along with acrobatics and dances; next are plays
cal, and social concepts.
in which mythical themes are enacted together with satirical
and burlesque sketches of characters; the performance ends
Masks may represent an ancestor of a chief or a lineage
with a procession to collect gifts (Drewal, 1975, pp. 46–48).
founder, a nature spirit, a mythological being, or some sui
Among the northwestern Igbo of Nigeria, some of the mask-
generis creature that exists only through the mask, as well as
ers in plays produced by males of the same age group repre-
social and psychological types. All maskers are thought to be
sent women. These plays are performed at feasts held soon
ikishi, beings who rise from the dead for the Mukanda
after harvest or at celebrations for the earth spirit. The forms
through the intercession of ritual experts and devotees. For
of the masks depict ideal feminine beauty and character; the
both insiders and outsiders, masks and maskers are always
male maskers imitate female dancing style and portray
surrounded with an aura of sacredness, mystical power, dan-
women at work or at leisure (Boston, 1960). In the Afikpo-
ger, and mystery. The maskers have distinctive roles as im-
Igbo Okumkpa play, which is part of a calendar of seasonal
personators of “others.” Those that directly embody specific
festivals, as many as one hundred maskers (always thought
ancestors or nature spirits perform in situations of social con-
to be personifications of ancestral and nature spirits) present
trol: they lend authority, dignity, integrity, and conformity
danced and sung satirical and topical scenes that are con-
to the proceedings; they protect against witchcraft or inter-
ceived as commentaries on the lives of real persons (Otten-
ference by noninitiates; they supervise and sanction the fer-
berg, 1975, pp. 87–127).
mentation of corn, the brewing of the sacred corn beer, and
the preparation of medicines; they sanction the secrecy and
Dramatic impersonations of supernatural beings and
accuracy of the rites; they discipline and test moral and phys-
mythological, legendary, and prototypical characters are ac-
ical strength. Others that depict prototypical characters in
complished not only through masks but also by simpler
the guise of legendary figures assume the roles of entertainers,
methods of mimicry, dance, word, object, and gesture. A case
comedians, and social critics to underscore basic social and
in point is the initiation of men and women into the hierar-
moral values. All maskers stir strong emotions among novices
chically graded Bwami association of the Lega. Most phases
and initiates as well as among noninitiates: they spread terror
of these initiations consist of structured dramatic sequences.
and anxiety; they create an atmosphere of severity and re-
Stereotypical characters are depicted in pantomimes by ex-
straint; they engage in the burlesque, the libidinous, the sa-
pert dancers and preceptors or are represented by natural ob-
tirical.
jects and artifacts (including masks and figurines) that are
displayed and manipulated in song and dance contexts. The
The danced and masked dramas of the Mukanda rituals
characters are ancestors, legendary persons, illustrious initi-
alternate between reality and fiction, tragedy and comedy,
ates of the past, personified animals and objects, or social,
and combine the performing arts to convey deep religious,
physical, and psychological types. All of them positively or
moral, philosophical, and sociopolitical messages. Moreover,
negatively illustrate the association’s code of values.
in several ethnic groups, the closing of the Mukanda period
is followed by dance tours. Organized by previous and recent
In one episode, for example, an initiate represents Kya-
novices and their tutors, these masked dances function as dis-
munyungu za Baitindi (“big arrogant one of the passionate
plays of individual artistic talent and skill and as sources of
dice players”). The sickly old man, stumbling, irascible, and
prestige and material reward. These dance tours have gradu-
loaded with bags containing valuables, arrives uninvited in
ally become independent dramatic performances in which
a village to play the dice game. In highly dramatic action that
the secular element of entertainment and fun overshadows
involves a cast of other initiates, the old man provokes the
the lingering sacredness attributed to the masks (Bastin,
villagers by quarreling with the headman, interfering with
1982; Lima, 1967).
the dice throwing, and challenging his opponents to a fight;
unwilling to listen to advice, he is chased away. This scene
In numerous festivals imbued with religious meanings
refers to the novice who must passively listen to the advice
among West African peoples (e.g., the Yoruba, Igbo, Abua,
of his tutors and show respect and restraint in all his actions.
Urhobo, and Ijo of Nigeria), the central actors are maskers,
often recruited from the members of secret societies, cult
The countless episodes in which ancestors (generalized
groups, and certain age groups. The spectacles performed at
or specifically named), stereotypical characters (e.g., Great
designated times by Yoruba Ge:le:de: maskers follow a precise
Old One or Beautiful One), personified animals (e.g., pan-
plot pattern in danced sketches that include social com-
golin or turtle), objects (e.g., a bark pounder or a shell), and
ments, satires, caricatures of strangers, and scenes honoring
activities (e.g., poison ordeal or divination) are enacted are
important persons and depicting hunters and women at mar-
always performed with dance, music, and song and with ap-
kets. Artistic competition and the search for prestige in such
propriate objects and paraphernalia. In many instances the
performances are keen (Drewal, 1975, pp. 142–146). Their
dramatic effects are enhanced by light and dark contrasts
overall purposes, however, are the propitiation of witches
(some of the action takes place at night, at dawn, or in 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
DRAMA: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE AND DRAMA
2459
closed initiation house lighted with burning resin torches),
Hanna, Judith Lynne. To Dance Is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal
special vocal features (dialogues, orations, praises, name
Communication. Austin, Tex., 1979.
shouting) and musical features (imitation of nature sounds;
Iyandza-Lopoloko, Joseph. Bobongo, danse renommée des Ekonda.
use of mirlitons, bull roarers, and other unusual and sacred
Tervuren, 1961.
musical instruments; message drumming), and by alternat-
Labouret, Henri, and Moussa Travélé. “Le théâtre mandingue
ing solo dances and ballets by initiated men or women (Bie-
(Soudan français).” Africa 1 (1928): 73–97.
buyck, 1973).
Lima, Mesquitela. Os “akixi” (mascarados) do Nordeste de Angola.
Theater in the modern Western sense may be a fairly
Lisbon, 1967.
recent development in Africa, but from immemorial times
Ottenberg, Simon. Masked Rituals of Afikpo: The Context of an Af-
drama has been an intrinsic part of narrative sessions, rituals,
rican Art. Seattle, 1975.
and other celebrations (Schipper-de Leeuw, 1977,
Schipper-de Leeuw, Mineke. Toneel en Maatschappij in Afrika.
pp. 7–38). Moreover, the dramatic enactment of characters
Assen, 1977.
and events may become the most important feature in initia-
Traoré, Bakary. The Black African Theatre and Its Social Functions.
tions and cult activities and as a result may be established as
Ibadan, 1972.
a partly independent form. The dramatic performances—
Vangroenweghe, Daniel. “Oorsprong en verspreiding van Bobon-
short, self-contained sketches, longer, conceptually interre-
go en Iyaya bij de Ekonda.” Africa-Tervuren 23 (1977): 106–
lated scenes, or elaborate plays—are multifunctional. They
128.
are total aesthetic expressions in which the participants,
using a multimedia system of communication, display indi-
Van Wing, J. “Bakongo Magic.” Journal of the Royal Anthropologi-
cal Institute 71 (1941): 85–97.
vidual and collective skills in the arts of dance, song, music,
sculpture, design, and costume to emphasize beauty, pag-
DANIEL P. BIEBUYCK (1987)
eantry, inventiveness, harmony, and perfection. They are
sources of entertainment for the actors and for the audience,
which often actively participates as part of a chorus or an or-
chestra or by responding with its own dance, song, hand
DRAMA: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE
clapping, and dramatic action. They provide means of gain-
AND DRAMA
ing prestige and reward and of reaffirming status, rank, and
In all regions of North America, indigenous peoples prac-
authority not only of the participants but also of the ances-
ticed various public rituals for the purpose of communicat-
tors and supernatural beings. They incorporate multifaceted
ing with the supernatural spirits and powers that controlled
messsages on religious, moral, social, and political themes.
their universe. The most ubiquitous and theatrical form of
Finally, those performances in particular that involve mask-
the dramatic performance was dance in which actors wore
ers are thought to be sacred occasions during which divini-
elaborate costumes and masks representing the supernatural
ties, ancestors, nature spirits, and mythical beings return to
beings they sought to appease. These dance dramas often in-
the human world to be honored and placated, to bring com-
volved a special performance area that included entrances
munal well-being, and to sanction the rules and practices of
and exits for the performers; a chorus of singers and dancers;
initiations and rituals.
principal dancers; scenic backdrops; special lighting effects;
and, most importantly, plots revolving around myths of cre-
B
ation and supernatural beings and powers who were per-
IBLIOGRAPHY
Bastin, Marie-Louise. La sculpture tshokwe. Meudon, 1982.
ceived to inhabit the everyday world. These dance dramas
were characterized by masquerade, imitation, role reversal,
Ben-Amos, Dan. “Introduction: Folklore in African Society.” In
Forms of Folklore in Africa: Narrative, Poetic, Gnomic, Dra-
burlesque, and reenactments of myths and personal visions.
matic, edited by Bernth Lindfors, pp. 1–34. Austin, Tex.,
American Indians relied greatly on their ability to mime
1977.
the behaviors of those animals and birds that were important
Biebuyck, Daniel P. Lega Culture: Art, Initiation, and Moral Phi-
to their religious life. The environment played a great role
losophy among a Central African People. Berkeley, 1973.
in ritual performance, which was grounded empirically in
Biebuyck, Daniel P., and Kohombo C. Mateene. The Mwindo
knowledge of the seasons, flora, and fauna. As might be ex-
Epic from the Banyanga. Berkeley, 1969.
pected, hunters chose to emulate in their dances those ani-
Boston, J. S. “Some Northern Ibo Masquerades.” Journal of the
mals that were important to their survival, while farmers per-
Royal Anthropological Institute 90 (1960): 54–65.
formed rituals that focused on the agricultural cycle.
Doke, C. M. “Games, Plays and Dances of the Khomani Bush-
Dance drama was performed to the accompaniment of
men.” Bantu Studies 10 (1936): 461–471.
vocal music sung by an individual or chorus. The songs
Drewal, Henry John. “African Masked Theatre.” Mime Journal 2
might contain meaningful text, sometimes short phrases that
(1975): 36–53.
poetically captured the theme of the dance, or meaningless
Finnegan, Ruth. Oral Literature in Africa. London, 1970.
vocables that despite their lack of semantics were highly
Graham-White, Anthony. The Drama of Black Africa. New York,
structured both melodically and rhythmically. The range of
1974.
native musical instruments in North America was compara-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2460
DRAMA: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE AND DRAMA
tively limited. Various sizes and shapes of drums served as
supernatural power upon him before returning the hero to
the major accompaniment to song in all regions. Rhythmic
the village. The hero was most frequently possessed by a
patterns were characterized mainly by single unaccented
“cannibal spirit” and therefore craved human flesh. In the re-
beats, duple accented beats, and accented triplets. Only in
enactment, a frenzied hero was led back into the dance house
the Pueblo Southwest do we find a highly structured sense
by villagers and fed flesh believed to have been taken from
of rhythm, particularly in some of the mimetic animal and
a human corpse, although more likely it was animal meat.
bird dances, in which there is a perfect correspondence be-
The dance house was replete with trap doors and tunnels,
tween song, drum, and dance steps without benefit of mea-
and performers could quickly appear and disappear magical-
sured beats in the strict Western sense of time.
ly. The dancers wore huge masks with movable parts, some
representing the large beak of a bird, through which the
Costumes were both realistic and stylized. On the
dancers cried out “Eat! Eat!” Hollow stems hidden beneath
Plains, a Buffalo dancer would dress in the hides of a bull,
the floor were used as microphones through which the voices
complete with a headdress of horns, a robe over his shoul-
of the actors could emanate from any part of the house. Dolls
ders, leggings made from the hairless part of the hide, and
strung on ropes partly obscured by the dim firelight flew
a buffalo tail hanging conspicuously from his waist. Similar-
through the air for dramatic effect. Finally, the principal
ly, Eagle dancers of the Pueblo Southwest soared gracefully
dancer, believing he had consumed human flesh, calmed
in the dance plaza wearing costumes made from eagle feath-
down to end the event gracefully.
ers topped with a headdress representing the bald eagle’s
crown and golden beak. But in the Northwest Coast region,
In the Northeast, the best-known Iroquoian sodality
where wood sculpture reached its highest aesthetic form in
was the False Faces. The society was formed when a super-
all of North America, intricately carved masks, made to be
natural being called False Face appeared to the Iroquois in
manipulated by strings revealing masks within masks, and
the form of detached faces and taught them the art of curing.
carved and painted dance houses and scenery frequently fea-
The elaborate masks were carved and painted in grotesque
tured stylized representations of ravens, whales, bears, and
ways, and when worn by the society, members were believed
other animals and birds significant to the coastal culture.
to frighten away malevolent spirits that caused sickness. The
All ritual performances were for the benefit of the gener-
mask was carved from a living tree and was painted red or
al public as well as the principal performers, and all perfor-
black depending on whether the carver began work in the
mances required a specially constructed performance area.
morning or afternoon. Noses, mouths, and eye holes were
Frequently, the public part of the performance represented
twisted and contorted, and long shocks of horsehair fell over
only a small part of a longer ritual that sometimes took sever-
the wearer’s shoulders. The False Faces performed during the
al days or weeks. For example, among the Lakota on the
midwinter festivals on the New York and Canadian reserva-
Great Plains, the vision quest was regarded as a personal and
tions. Additionally, they visited every Iroquois house in fall
private form of mediation and propitiation. However, it was
and spring in order to exorcise evil spirits. Wearing the masks
necessary for a medicine man to interpret the candidates’ vi-
and tattered clothing, the False Faces carried turtle-shell rat-
sions. Frequently, in order to legitimate the experiences, the
tles and hickory sticks. When someone had contracted a dis-
supplicants were directed to reenact their visions before the
ease over which the False Faces had power, the leader of the
entire village. This reenactment took the form of imitation
society was informed, and the troop of False Faces appeared
of various animals or birds that had informed them, and ap-
at the patient’s house, striking and rubbing their rattles
propriate costumes representing the buffalo, wolf, elk, bear,
against the house as they entered. Once inside they sang and
or eagle were worn.
danced, accompanied by the shaking of rattles. Some of the
dancers would scoop up hot embers from the fire and blow
On a larger scale, Plains Indians performed the Sun
them on the patient in order to cure him.
Dance collectively, after individual dancers had participated
in private vision quests. An integral part of the ceremony, the
In the Great Lakes area the ritual of the Midewiwin was
elements of which were widely diffused to nearly all Plains
enacted by the Ojibwa and other central Algonquians.
tribes, was the erection of the medicine lodge, or sacred
Translated as “Great Medicine Society,” the Mide (the short-
arbor, in which the performance occurred. Dancers wore
ened form of the name) held its meetings once a year in a
special costumes including long kilts, necklaces representing
special lodge resembling a large wigwam varying in length
sunflowers, and wreaths of sage around their wrists, ankles,
from one hundred to two hundred feet and in width from
and forehead. The segments of the dance in which the Sun
thirteen to thirty feet. In height it was seven to ten feet with
was propitiated were directed by the Sun Dance leader. The
an open apex that was covered with cattail mats and birch-
performance lasted for several days and was accompanied by
bark during inclement weather.
other intrusive dances prior to going on the buffalo hunt.
The Midewiwin was a membership organization, and
The Kwakiutl of the Northwest Coast were unsurpassed
people were admitted on the basis of application, of having
as dramatists with a full sense of lighting, scenery, costumes,
a suitable dream, or by replacing a deceased relative who had
and plot. The dance dramas were presented in cycles and de-
been a member. Both men and women could join, and the
picted the kidnapping of the hero by a spirit who bestowed
religious leaders of the Mide were elected by its membership.
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DRAMA: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE AND DRAMA
2461
The main annual functions were initiatory, and curing rites
The Hopi of Arizona perform a number of masked
were conducted by carefully trained Mide shamans.
dances on their mesas. The kachina dances, named after the
spirits of the dead, are the most intriguing. The Hopi believe
The Mide priests determined which candidates would
that in mythological times the kachinas came from their
be accepted into the society, and candidates were expected
homes in the West to bring them rain and to ensure them
to pay for the rites of initiation, which included knowledge
long and happy lives. Later, the kachinas showed the people
of the myths, rituals, songs, and remedies of the society. All
how to make masks and costumes and taught them their
ceremonies had originated in revelations and were carefully
songs and dances with the understanding that if the people
transcribed on birchbark scrolls with a bone stylus and hand-
performed the ceremonies correctly, the supernaturals would
ed down pictographically from generation to generation.
continue to bring prosperity to the villages. There are over
The initiation rite was the most dramatic. The candi-
250 named kachina spirits among the Hopi, each represented
dates knelt on mats surrounded by four posts inside the med-
by a different mask and costume. It is believed that the men
icine lodge. Two members held the candidates’ shoulders,
who impersonate the spirits at the kachina performances be-
while four others thrust their medicine bags at them. As the
come the spirits they represent. Women and uninitiated
four leaders approached, the candidates were overcome by
youth are not supposed to know that the kachina dancers are
the power of the leaders’ spirits and fell lifeless to the ground.
really their clansmen. At each performance the kachinas
When revived, each candidate spat out a small cowrie shell
bring gifts for the children and place them in the center of
called migis, which was the sacred emblem of the Mide. The
the village plaza. The kachina dances are performed during
initiator then offered the shell to the four directions and sky
the first half of the year, when their appearance is supposed
after which it magically disappeared again into the candi-
to ensure the successful planting of crops. The ceremonies
date’s body, and the candidate was fully resuscitated. All
represent intense periods of ritual performance in which all
members were required to attend meetings once a year for
men and women in the village undergo instruction in their
the renewal of their spiritual powers, but smaller gatherings
faith. It is also a time when the people entertain their spiritu-
could be held for the treatment of the sick, singing songs,
al benefactors.
and strengthening their belief in the power of the Mide. A
At the time of the summer solstice, the Niman dance
feast was an inseparable part of all Mide functions.
is performed in which all the kachinas appear en masse before
the villagers who thank the supernaturals for the gift of a
One of the most important ceremonies of the Southeast
good harvest. It is believed that the kachinas then leave to
was the Green Corn Dance, a celebration of the harvesting
return to their homes. When they return to their homes, they
of one of the major food staples of North America. Known
visit the dead, who are performing rituals of the winter sol-
among the Creek as the Busk (from the Creek word puskita,
stice while similar ceremonies are being performed by the liv-
“to fast”), the ceremony of first fruits took place in August.
ing during the summer.
The Busk was actually an aggregation of different ceremo-
nies, including the drinking of Ilex cassine, or “black drink,”
In New Mexico among the Zuni the Shalako ceremony
used as an emetic to purge the participants and purify them-
is held in November or December each year. Six dancers are
selves. A sacred fire was built, and young initiates had their
dressed to represent giant birds, the messengers of the rain
flesh scratched to make them brave. Both men and women
gods, with conical costumes attached to their waists measur-
performed various dances including the Stomp dance, which
ing in height from ten to twelve feet. They have birdlike faces
was performed in a serpentine pattern by a line of alternating
complete with beaks that are movable, protruding eyes, and
men and women. The women wore turtle-shell shakers
upcurved tapered horns. At midnight, they enter special
around their knees that accompanied the antiphonal singing
houses that have been built for their performance. They utter
of the group. At the end of the Busk, the various clans partic-
birdlike calls and clack their beaks in rapid succession. They
ipated in a stickball game that marked the conclusion of the
dance and make speeches telling the people to pray for an
ceremony. Variations of the Green Corn Dance were found
abundant harvest and long lives for the villagers.
also among the Seminole, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw,
and Yuchi of the Southeast, as well as among other tribes
The Shalako dancers are joined in their ritual by the ten
where corn was cultivated.
Koyemshi, or “Mudheads,” the children of a legendary inces-
tuous union. These impersonators are appointed by the Zuni
The Southwest is where the highest concentration of
priests to serve for one year and are then free from further
dance drama is found not only with the elaborate agricultural
duties for another four years. The Koyemshi entertain at all
rituals of the Pueblos, but with the various curing rituals, pu-
public rituals when the kachinas are away from the village
berty ceremonies, and mimetic animal dances. Literally hun-
by providing comic, and sometimes obscene, interludes be-
dreds of these rituals were performed by the Navajo, Apache,
tween the more serious dances. Sometimes they play Eu-
and Pueblo peoples each year. In many cases native rituals
roamerican games such as beanbag. The jokes, puns, and rid-
are still held in conjunction with feasts of the Catholic
dles that they cry out to the villagers are filled with
Church. All provide colorful spectacles equal to any of the
scatalogical references, and they play pranks and make ob-
religious pageants of North America and Europe.
scene jokes about the most respected and sacred aspects of
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2462
DRAMA: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE AND DRAMA
Zuni religion. In this manner they make moral and ethical
balletic movements, they slap their swords vigorously against
points by burlesquing those institutions and individuals with
their thighs and legs. On the fourth night, the candidate
whom people come in contact every day. They also burlesque
joins the dancers dressed in a yellow buckskin fringed dress
their most sacred beliefs through vulgar references that
with designs like those of the masked dancers. At the end of
strongly constrast with appropriate Zuni behavior. For the
the four days, the young woman scatters pollen over the peo-
duration of the ritual, the onlookers participate vicariously
ple who were brought to her to receive her blessings.
in what is temporarily socially approved behavior.
The Apache regard the dance as particularly powerful,
The Koyemshi appear as ludicrous figures. They wear
and each of the aspects of the dance must be done properly
formless baglike cotton masks that have bumps or knobs pro-
lest harm befall the tribe. If the dance is not executed proper-
truding from them. The knobs are filled with raw cotton
ly, it is believed that the dancers may have trouble with their
seeds and earth or dust taken from the footprints made by
eyes and noses, their faces will swell, or paralysis will set in.
the people in the streets around the village. Sometimes feath-
Among one of the most vivid ritual performances of the
ers are tied to the knobs, and the lower part of the mask is
Navajo of the Four Corners region of the Southwest is the
tied to the knobs with black cotton in scarflike fashion.
Yeibichai, also known as Night Chant. The word yeibichai
Under the scarf they wear a small bag containing squash,
is partly a corruption of the Zuni word for “spirit” plus the
corn, and gourd seeds. Their masks and bodies are painted
Navajo term for “maternal grandfather,” hence it literally
with pink clay that comes from the sacred lake. These clowns
means “grandfather of the gods.” The ceremony was handed
also wear black homespun kilts, and the leader adds to his
down by supernaturals and was thought to be particularly ef-
kilt a black tunic worn over his right shoulder. As is true with
ficacious in curing both psychosomatic and somatic disor-
the Hopi, the Zuni dancers and clowns serve to underscore
ders, especially insanity, deafness, or paralysis.
the religious values of the society by occasionally emphasiz-
ing the absurd.
The ritual is sponsored by one man and his clan relatives
in winter and is performed outdoors on a barren plateau. A
Nearby in Arizona and parts of New Mexico and Okla-
sacred hogan is built at the west and a brush arbor shelter
homa, numerous bands of Apache perform a ceremony used
for the dancers at the east. Between the two a row of bonfires
variously as a puberty ceremony, or to cure illness and avert
is built.
catastrophe. The Mountain Spirits dance, or Gahan, as it is
The ceremony takes nine days, the first eight being com-
properly known, is an essential feature of the female puberty
posed of secret ceremonies, and the last day, a public perfor-
ceremony, in which the young initiate ritually represents
mance. In the dance the Grandfather of the Gods is personi-
White Painted Woman, the divine mother of the Apache
fied by the lead dancer, who wears buckskin hunting clothes.
culture hero, or in some cases, Mother Earth. The Apache
The other dancers wear masks and kilts and resemble Pueblo
believe that performance of the ritual brings good fortune to
kachinas.
the initiate, her family, and to the entire tribe.
The ritual specialist in charge of the Yeibichai is the
In this ceremony four male dancers represent the four
chanter, a person who has chosen to learn the sacred ritual.
directions, or Mountain Spirits, powerful supernatural be-
He pays to be taught and studies for many years learning by
ings who act as intermediaries between humans and the
rote every detail. During this time he collects sacred objects
Great Spirit. The initiate is secluded in a special lodge. She
such as prayer sticks, herbs, turquoise, white shell, abalone,
is painted and dressed by a woman of impeccable reputation
and jet, which he will use in his ceremonies. The specialist
who also has received a vision from the White Painted
also may learn a few lesser rites plus the Blessingway, a ritual
Woman. Each day a male singer sings appropriate songs for
that must follow every other ritual to atone for any possible
her. Each night the masked dancers appear in spectacular and
mistakes in them.
grotesque costumes. They are dressed and painted by a sha-
man in a special brush arbor before the evening ceremonies
During the first four days, the patient and his relatives
begin. The shaman paints their bodies with designs repre-
purify themselves by sweating and taking emetics. The pa-
senting the sun, moon, lightning, planets, rain, and rainbow.
tient and the chanter pray to the supernaturals to aid them
After being painted and instructed, the dancers line up facing
in the ceremony. Each supernatural must be named in the
east. They then spin clockwise, spit four times into their
proper order lest misfortune befall them. The chanter sings
headdresses, and put them on after feigning this action three
sacred songs and administers potions and sacred pollen to
times. A fire is made in the ceremonial lodge by rubbing
help rid the patient of evil forces.
sticks together, and each night the masked dancers enter the
During the next four days, the chanter and helpers coax
lodge and dance around the lodge in a prescribed manner.
the supernaturals into the ritual area by constructing sand
They wear wooden headdresses shaped like huge rainbows
paintings of them. The final power will arrive when pollen
projecting from their black-hooded faces. Yellow buckskin
has been sprinkled on the sand painting. In these paintings,
kilts are tied from their waist, cuffed by long fringed boots.
male divinities are represented as having round heads, while
They carry wooden swords in each hand, and as they dance
females have square heads. The yeis, as these male and female
in rigid, angular patterns, bending and crouching in near-
divinities are called, are pictured as standing on clouds or
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DRAMA: MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND DRAMA
2463
lightning and guarded by rainbows. The completed painting
BIBLIOGRAPHY
forms an altar sometimes ranging in width from four to eigh-
Densmore, Frances. Chippewa Music. Bulletin of the Bureau of
teen feet.
American Ethnology, no. 45. Washington, D. C., 1910. A
classic work on the Chippewa with detailed discussion of the
Next, the patients are bathed and dried with cornmeal
Midewiwin.
and painted with the symbols of the supernaturals. They are
Densmore, Frances. Yuman and Yaqui Music. Bulletin of the Bu-
then brought into the hogan to receive power from the su-
reau of American Ethnology, no. 110. Washington, D.C.,
pernaturals represented in the sand painting. Sand from vari-
1932. A good description of the Yaqui Deer Dance.
ous parts of the painted figures is pressed against their ailing
Drucker, Philip. Indians of the Northwest Coast. Garden City,
parts, and they are made one with the supernaturals and
N.Y., 1955. A discussion of various tribes of the Pacific
share their power. Finally the sand is swept up so that it may
Northwest with some emphasis on material culture and ritu-
not be contaminated. The Navajo word for the design means
al drama.
the “going away of the group” and the design itself is regard-
Kurath, Gertrude P. Iroquois Music and Dance: Ceremonial Arts of
ed as a temporary visit from the supernaturals. On the ninth
Two Seneca Longhouses. Bulletin of the Bureau of American
night, both the chanter and the patient must stay awake until
Ethnology, no. 187. Washington, D.C., 1964. A description
dawn while the power increases in them. The Yeibichai im-
of music and choreographic patterns of numerous Iroquoian
personators are dressed in grotesque masks and decorated
rituals including the False Face society.
kilts with as many turquoise and silver necklaces, bracelets,
Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Albuquerque,
and bow guards as they can put on. They spend the night
1972. The section entitled “Ritual Drama and Pueblo World
publicly dancing and singing. The patients must not sleep
View,” by Ortiz, himself an anthropologist and Pueblo, is
until sunset, when they enter the sacred hogan and stay there
one of the best theoretical introductions to ritual drama.
for four nights. The rite is ceremonially concluded with the
Powers, William K. Oglala Religion. Lincoln, Neb., 1977. In-
Bluebird Song, sung in honor of the bird of the dawn that
cludes a description and analysis of the vision quest, sweat
brings promise and happiness.
lodge, and Sun Dance of the Lakota Indians of the Great
Plains.
Although most dance dramas were performed by groups
Powers, William K. Sacred Language: The Nature of Supernatural
of singers and dancers, the Deer Dance of the Yaqui of the
Discourse in Lakota. Norman, Okla., 1986. Contains descrip-
Southwest is a unique solo performance. The Yaqui believed
tions and illustrations of various animal impersonators
that the deer had the power to cure or cause illness and also
among the Lakota.
to bring thunder, lightning, and rain. Dancing to the deer
Reichard, Gladys A. Navaho Religion. New York, 1950. Perhaps
deity also ensured food and fecundity for the people and ani-
the best work ever done on Navajo symbolism.
mals.
Roediger, Virginia More. Ceremonial Costumes of the Pueblo Indi-
ans. Berkeley, 1941. An excellent illustrated book of ceremo-
A religious pageant announcing the Deer Dance, which
nial costumes, including those described for the Hopi and
took place just before Easter, was suddenly interrupted by
Zuni.
the presence of four to six dancers and four singers striking
gourds with sticks to create a rasping sound. All dancers were
Tyler, Hamilton A. Pueblo Gods and Myths. Norman, Okla.,
1964. A good historical background to the Pueblo with an
naked from the waist up and wore grotesque masks repre-
emphasis on cosmology and worldview.
senting human faces. The lead dancer, however, wore small
deer antlers attached to his head and a cocoon rattle, six to
Underhill, Ruth M. Red Man’s Religion. Chicago, 1965. Although
stylistically dated and somewhat patronizing, there are excel-
eight feet in length and filled with pebbles, wrapped around
lent descriptions of ritual drama from most parts of native
one leg.
North America.
The lead dancer performed most of the Deer Dance
WILLIAM K. POWERS (1987)
alone. His movements mimicked that of the deer with great
realism, his head moving quickly and erratically from side to
side as if he had picked up the scent of danger. His feet
scratched the earth before he quickly bolted upward, leaping
DRAMA: MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND
gracefully over some imaginary barrier. Then, as the dance
DRAMA
came to a close, the dancer became hunter and hunted, imi-
Mesoamerican dance and other dramatic performances not
tating the actions of a man with bow and arrow carefully
only serve as public entertainment but also are inextricably
stalking his prey. Letting fly the arrow that mortally wound-
linked to native society, religion, and worldview. In Me-
ed him, he fell to the ground quivering as he breathed his
soamerica, dance encompasses the interplay of physical, his-
last.
torical, and spiritual aspects of human existence. On a basic
corporeal level, dance encompasses concepts of sensuality,
SEE ALSO Clowns; Iconography, article on Native North
sex, and fertility—not only of humans, but also of the world
American Iconography; Music, article on Music and Reli-
as a whole, such as the summer season of warmth, growth,
gion; Sun Dance.
and abundance. This is commonly expressed through flowers
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2464
DRAMA: MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND DRAMA
that symbolize sexual organs, pleasure, beauty, the soul spirit,
ple, they shared very similar symbolic domains. Aztec figu-
as well as the numinous realm of ancestors. Through dance,
rines frequently depict Xochiquetzal wearing her flower
historical events and political and social relationships are de-
headband while in a position of dance, with bouquets of
fined and expressed through bodily presentation and move-
flowers in her extended hands. Duran mentions that the
ment. Mesoamerican dance includes both song and nonver-
“most enjoyed” Aztec dance, the Dance of Flowers, was dedi-
bal aspects of communication including distinct gesture,
cated to Xochiquetzal. Both Aztec deities contain the term
posture, position, and pasitas, or steps. In addition, dance
xochitl, of “flower” in their names, a basic symbol of sensuali-
forms a conduit linking the living to the gods, ancestors, and
ty and fertility in Mesoamerica.
other supernatural beings. Drama encompasses basic con-
Aside from condoned aspects of comportment, Me-
cepts such as reenactments of creation mythology, and
soamerican dance frequently lampoons egregious conduct of
through ritual pageants, the definition of communities.
both sexes. Masked performers reinforce accepted models of
Drama was also a fundamental part of ritual sacrifice and
behavior through burlesque and clowning, which is the an-
public humiliation of captives. In fact, because public dance
tithesis of socially accepted norms expressed by other dancers
and performance were so intensely interwoven in Me-
during the same occasion. However, for the Aztec, there was
soamerican cultures, during the colonial era, community
a being of dance decidedly different from Xochipilli and
dances, dramas, and theatrical events formed a locus for mass
Xochiquetzal—the bestial Huehuecoyotl, the old and cor-
conversion throughout New Spain. Although it will never be
rupt coyote god of dance identified with drunkenness, ex-
known how any of these performances were viewed or re-
cess, and unseemly sexual demeanor. In the Aztec calendrical
ceived in the past, in general, Mesoamerican dances today
system he is the patron of the thirteen-day week called “one
do not eliminate the observer. Spectatorship and vicarious
flower,” and in the ancient manuscripts illustrating this peri-
participation are integral components in community festivals
od he appears with grotesque monkey-like dancers in the
and contribute greatly to the success of the event.
context of alcohol and wanton excess. At the time of early
PHYSICALITY OF DANCE. Given the essentially physical na-
contact in Yucatan there was a rich variety of comical dances,
ture of dance, it is not surprising that throughout Me-
theatrical lampoons, and social parodies. Officials were
soamerica it relates to somatic sensations. For example, the
openly addressed and ridiculed by costumed dancers who
Dominican friar Diego Duran disapprovingly describes the
used cleverly phrased metaphors and witty allusions to make
Aztec Tickling Dance as “so roughish as to be compared to
reference to their improper activities. Either performed on
our own Spanish dance called the saraband, with all its wrig-
stage or indoors, these humorous farces were closely associat-
gling and grimacing and immodest mimicry.” Duran also
ed with the god K’uk’ulkan, or Quetzalcoatl. Titles of the
mentions that the term for this dance, cuecuechcuicatl, can
comedies provide clues to some of the favored targets of these
also mean “dance of the itch,” a connotation very similar to
direct displays, including “the parasite,” “the cacao grower,”
conceptions of dance among the ancient Mixtec of Oaxaca.
and “the chile vendor.” The last mentioned dance is suspi-
Thus there is the Mixtec town called Zahuatlan, which
ciously similar to the well-known and infamous Aztec ac-
means “place of itching” in Nahuatl. The original Mixtec
count of the last king of Tula, Huemac, and his daughter.
term for this community is Yucu Cata, meaning “mountain
In this legend the daughter falls hopelessly and lustfully in
of itching,” but in Mixtec, cata also signifies “dancing,” and
love with a Huastec Maya chile vendor who, tellingly, wears
in the pre-Hispanic Codex Selden (c. sixteenth century), this
no breechcloth.
town is rendered as a mountain marked by an obviously
Ritual clowns are commonly portrayed in figurines of
dancing man holding rattles in his upraised arms. The Aztec
the Late Classic Maya (600–900 CE), portable images that
and Mixtec relation of dance to itching suggests a restless and
may well have been passed out at festival events as mementos.
agitated physical need much like intense sexual desire.
Quite frequently, such figures were aged beings displaying
In Mesoamerica, dance is a basic form of interaction be-
bestial attributes and wielding dance rattles or fans, clearly
tween the sexes. Among the Aztec it provided a means to
marking them as performers. At times these grotesque char-
meet and interact with possible future paramours and
acters, the converse of Classic Maya conventions of comeli-
spouses. Finely dressed warriors danced during the day at the
ness, were paired with beautiful young women in erotic em-
cuicacalli (“house of flowers”) to attract women for potential
braces, scenes surely meant to be humorous. One of the most
trysts. These dances promptly ended when children from the
common themes addressed in ritual humor in contemporary
various wards arrived for their lessons, indicating the eroti-
Maya communities was inappropriate sexual behavior of se-
cally charged nature of these adult events. However, during
nior and typically aged public officials. On a fundamental
children’s dances it often became evident that certain boys
level, ritual clowning defines and normalizes appropriate
and girls had a special affinity and fondness for one another,
gender roles through a folk or “popular” medium. This is es-
and this was often the prelude to future marriage. Two Aztec
pecially true for children, who learn during socially focused
deities closely identified with dance and music were the male
and framed events some of the most elemental aspects of in-
Xochipilli and the female Xochiquetzal, youthful and beauti-
dividual public identity and responsibility.
ful beings of sensuality, pleasure, and fertility. Although
One of the most common dance positions portrayed in
there is little direct evidence indicating that they were a cou-
ancient Mesoamerican art is with the arms upraised and the
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DRAMA: MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND DRAMA
2465
elbows bent at right angles to the sides of the body. This con-
clearing the way for him. . . . He sang; songs were
vention occurs with the wildly grinning performers of the ce-
learned; chants were intoned. They told him proverbs
ramic art of Nopiloa and Remojadas, Veracruz (c. 500–800
and pleasantries to pass the time.
CE). These figures often display attributes of spider monkeys
The same source also mentions a palace courtyard with flow-
in their headdresses. Frequently amusing creatures, spider
ering trees where the king danced, as well as a detailed list
monkeys of the verdant, humid jungles were widely identi-
of the sumptuous items worn by the king during his perfor-
fied with dance and sexuality in Mesoamerica. In addition,
mances. Diego Duran records that during the coronation of
when they run they adopt the same basic upwardly raised
King Tizoc, some 2,000 nobles danced in his honor within
arm position enjoyed by dancers. Dancers adopted this posi-
the palace. In this event, dance served as a social contract ac-
tion in many areas of ancient Mesoamerica besides Remoja-
knowledging Tizoc as king of Tenochtitlan.
das, including the Classic Maya and highland Mexico.
S
At an early age Aztec children were taught songs, music,
OCIAL POLITICS OF DANCE. What were the social politics
of dance and performance, and what were the stakes? Aside
and dance at the aforementioned cuicacalli, the house of
from parodies, one essential reason for community dance was
song, located near the central temple area of each communi-
undoubtedly related to notions of self-display and social
ty. According to Diego Duran, boys and girls between twelve
prestige. Aristocratic participants, including members of the
and fourteen years of age were brought separately from the
royalty, presented themselves publicly to affirm their ances-
various wards of the city; each group of boys was accompa-
try, identity, and current place within courtly society. Six-
nied by an old man, and each group of girls by an old
teenth-century chroniclers mention that the Aztec had pro-
woman. Serving essentially as chaperones, these old men and
fessional singers who composed songs and public
woman would walk behind the children as they marched to
performances concerning the glorious deeds of ancestors and
and from the cuicacalli, closely watching for any inappropri-
nobles; especially important were the “feats, victories, and
ate or disrespectful behavior. The cuicacalli is described as a
conquests” of kings. Among the Classic Maya, including
compound of many spacious chambers surrounding a large
such ancient cities as Copan, Palenque, Yaxchilan, it is clear
courtyard used for the dance. According to Duran this court-
from numerous works of art that rulers frequently personi-
yard also featured a stone statue of the god of dance with his
fied and incarnated gods, demonstrating their unique link to
arms extended and hands hollowed to receive bouquets of
the supernatural world. Imagery of elaborately costumed
flowers and feather fans.
dancing nobles appears in a wide variety of media, from large
REPRESENTATIONS IN ART AND LITERATURE. Classic Maya
permanent monuments carved in stone to smaller painted or
art is filled with portrayals of dance, which are identifiable
incised elite vessels and innumerable ceramic figurines, indi-
by the accoutrements of the dancers, including masks, rat-
cating that these motifs were available for commoners as well
tles, and fans. In addition, the dancers are frequently attend-
as for the upper echelons of society. These “mass market” ob-
ed by musicians playing drums, trumpets, flutes, and rattles,
jects, which were widely circulated throughout the urban
as well as by male and female singers. However, perhaps the
centers as well as rural outliers, must have expanded the de-
clearest indications of dance are the poses adopted by these
sire for these important ceremonial events.
performers. Aside from the symmetrically upraised arm posi-
For the Aztec, members of the royal court adhered to
tion mentioned above, dancers gesticulate dramatically, with
strict rules of conduct that established what the scholar Susan
the arms extended and the hands bent sharply at right angles.
Evans described as a “theater for courtly behavior.” Public
Very rarely are dancers depicted in profile; instead, they tend
speaking, song, and dance were all important aspects of pal-
to be represented in a frontal or three-quarter body position
ace life. Even the title of king, or tlatoani, signifies “speaker,”
with the head almost invariably in profile. This position af-
denoting the importance of oratory and rhetoric. According
fords the spectator the most direct and probably preferred
to sixteenth-century chroniclers, the Nahuatl “lordly lan-
viewing perspective. Typically, the feet are turned out sharp-
guage” of the court, tecpillatolli, was quite distinct from the
ly at right angles with one foot raised. In an almost life-size
language of the commoners, known as macehuallatolli.
in-the-round sculpture from Structure 10L–16 at Copan, the
Music, song, and poetry were closely identified with royalty
founding king of the Copan dynasty, K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo,’
and courtly behavior, and the god of music was Xochipilli,
is explicitly portrayed with his feet turned sharply outward
the “flower prince,” the god of the palace folk. In Aztec
from the central axis of his body, indicating that this was a
thought flowers symbolize both music and rulership. The
true pose of dancers, and not an artistic convention deriving
king of Tetzcoco, Nezahualcoyotl, was renowned as a gifted
from matters of perspective. This position is strikingly simi-
poet, and a number of Nahuatl texts ascribed to him survive
lar to second position plié of French ballet, developed during
to this day. The Florentine Codex (c. 1577) describes the pub-
the reign of King Louis XIV, its first star. This stance derived
lic demeanor of Aztec kings:
from a particular presentation of the body intended to inten-
sify viewership of the central performing figure, whose out-
When the ruler went forth, in his hand rested his reed
turned legs heightened the impact of physical movement.
stalk which he went moving in rhythm with his words.
His chamberlains and his elders went before him; on
For the Classic Maya, not only are there detailed por-
both sides, on either hand, they proceeded as they went
trayals of particular forms of dance, but also the accompany-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2466
DRAMA: MESOAMERICAN DANCE AND DRAMA
ing glyphic texts often provide specific terms for distinct
tin Kerr (K2025), a masked figure accompanied by musi-
dances. Thus, the epigrapher Nikolai Grube deciphered the
cians threatens an unarmed young man with his spear and
glyph denoting dance, probably read as ak’ta. Another glyph
shield. Rather than in the typical pose of the captive, this fig-
following this term refers to the specific form of dance, and
ure stands in a dramatic position of dance with one arm fully
among these are dances with staffs, an axe-like scepter known
upraised and the other flexed behind his waist. Behind the
as the god K’awil, and even live serpents. In addition, there
youth are contortionists, who with their grotesque faces ap-
are references to a ballplayer dance and military dances.
pear to personify trophy heads. Such a theme of historical
Quite frequently, Maya kings impersonated particular dei-
reenactment is consistent with the sixteenth-century Rabinal
ties, and in Maya texts such performances are phrased by a
Achi, which concerns the arraignment and eventual execu-
clause that could be glossed as “in the famous image of,” fol-
tion of Cawek of the Forest People from the Quiche nation
lowed by the name of the particular deity portrayed. It is like-
by the court of Rabinal. Although this was an event cast in
ly that as with the contemporary katsina dancers of the Hopi,
the fifteenth century, the dance continues to be celebrated
Zuni, and other Puebloan peoples of the American South-
in the community of Rabinal to this day.
west, such dancers were considered not simply as skilled per-
DANCE ACCOUTREMENTS. In the most tragic moments of
formers but rather the spiritual embodiments of conjured be-
the Rabinal Achi, Cawek muses how his bones will be used
ings. For the Great Plaza at Copan, many of the elaborately
by future generations in celebrations. In a similar manner,
carved stelae of the thirteenth ruler Waxaklahun Ub’ah
it is clear that war trophies worn by dancers in Mesoamerica
K’awil portray the king as various gods frozen in dance, sug-
were not simply for one occasion, but were esteemed regalia
gesting that such plazas were important loci for public
of past heroic events that were passed down through genera-
dances.
tions as valuable family possessions and inscribed memories.
WAR DANCES. Among the ancient Maya, dance also served
It is likely that such pieces were tied into the original perfor-
to celebrate military victories. Not surprisingly, such dances
mances when they first appeared before the public. It is also
involved the display of war trophies, including body parts,
clear that many of the fine jewels and other accoutrements
and the strength and virility of the male warriors. The Fran-
presented by royal courts of the ancient Maya, Mixtec, Aztec,
ciscan friar Diego de Landa mentions such war dances as the
and other peoples of Mesoamerica were esteemed as physical
Holcan Ok’ot and the Batel Ok’ot, during which hundreds
testimonies of special moments of royal favor. For the Aztec,
of warriors danced in long strides in perfect unison to the
there are descriptions of the emperor bestowing elaborately
beat of the drum. Landa also notes that during the month
worked necklaces and other jewels during specific celebra-
of Pax, warriors danced with the jawbones of the vanquished.
tions. When one handles these pieces, it is clear that they
Similarly, many Classic Maya vessel scenes depict musicians
were meant for music and dance, for both the gold pendants
and elaborately dressed striding warriors with captives, sev-
and the jades make light tinkling noises. Although the Clas-
ered heads, and other body parts; quite probably these were
sic Maya lacked metals, they did possess a rich array of shell
scenes of celebratory war dances. One of the more elaborate
and jade jewelry and dance regalia. As Rosemary Joyce noted,
portrayals of this type of celebratory dance is found in Room
the jewels worn for these events would accumulate an heir-
3 of Structure 1 at the site of Bonampak’, Chiapas, Mexico.
loom quality. Perhaps the most important objects of royal
In this chamber, warriors dance with severed heads and other
Maya dance were three jade plaques hanging from a belt
body trophies to the accompaniment of trumpets and rattles.
mask. When worn in dance, these items emit a powerfully
In the center of the south wall scene, men display massive
vibrant sound, quite possibly denoting the voice of the ances-
fan-like elements extending laterally from the side of their
tral head from which the plaques depend. In a number of
groins. Although this has been interpreted as a supreme act
examples, including the famed Leiden Plaque, such jades
of penis perforation and self-sacrifice, it is entirely possible
have anachronistic texts that refer to historical episodes well
that is it a mock bloodletting event celebrating male virility
before the style of the carving, suggesting that the pieces are
and bravery.
indeed heirlooms of ancient peoples and events.
Aside from the dancing men with their phallic fans, the
The frequent use in dance of shining jewels of jade,
pivotal element in the Room 3 scene from Structure 1 is a
shell, and precious metals, as well as the elaborate plumage
beheaded figure swung above the heads of two celebrants.
of tropical birds, is not simply related to sumptuary goods
The murals of this chamber almost surely concern the sacrifi-
of the elite. Rather, such beautiful and precious items relate
cial climax of a particular historical event. However, these
to the symbolism of brilliant colored flowers, a basic repre-
events were not limited to one particular occasion, rather
sentation of the soul and paradise, not only in Mesoamerica
they were re-created in pageants celebrated by the entire
but the American Southwest as well. In these regions, a com-
community, quite possibly over generations. Each drama not
mon and ancient metaphor for the numinous state of contact
only recalled the original event, but all subsequent perfor-
between the world of the living and the supernatural realms
mances as well, revivifying the accomplishments and pride
of the gods and ancestors is the “rain of flowers.” Thus in
of the population with each presentation. One remarkable
the remarkable early colonial Aztec songs known as the Can-
Late Classic vessel seems to depict the original historical
tares Mexicanos, there is frequent mention of raining flowers
event, one episode removed. In this scene, published by Jus-
and jewels, along with the presence of incense. Diego Duran
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
2467
mentions that during his accession, emperor Tizoc carried
DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
a smoking censer to the pivotal drum to inaugurate the dance
[FIRST EDITION]
of nobles. Still today, copal incense and music are used to
Ancient drama ceased to be performed at the beginning of
open the path for religious processions. Along with flowers,
the Middle Ages. Christian authors like Tertullian (third
incense is one of the most basic offerings for the honored an-
century) complained that it was cruel, obscene, and idola-
cestral dead in both ancient and contemporary Mesoamerica.
trous. Whatever the justification for such complaints, by the
Even today, among the contemporary Jakaltek Maya of high-
fifth century it was no longer relevant to the dominant Chris-
land Guatemala, dance is a means of “untying,” feeding, and
tian culture. Performances in the ancient manner may have
communicating with the ancestral beings, for them the most
been offered in Byzantium as late as the seventh century, but
compelling reason for traditional dance. Although scenes of
they were sporadic and culturally insignificant. A Christian
the rain of flowers do appear in Aztec portrayals of dance and
imitation of classical Greek tragedy, Christos paschon (fifth
music, such scenes are much more widespread in Classic
century?), may or may not have been performed. Curiously,
Maya art, where not only dancers but also kings are por-
in spite of the memories of ancient drama that lingered in
trayed in this shining place of sweet music and incense, con-
Byzantium, European religious drama was created in the
tacting their ancestors from the other realm.
Latin West rather than the East.
Ancient dramatic texts were copied and read in the West
BIBLIOGRAPHY
throughout the Middle Ages. The tenth-century nun Hros-
Acuña, René. Farzas y representaciones escénicas de los Mayas antigu-
vitha of Gandersheim wrote attractive Christian comedies
os. Mexico City, 1978.
imitating the comedies of Plautus, but it is unlikely that they
Bierhorst, John. Cantares Mexicanos: Songs of the Aztecs. Stanford,
were performed. In the later Middle Ages, the terms tragedy
Calif., 1985.
and comedy referred to narrative works like Dante’s Com-
Bricker, Victoria. Ritual Humor in Highland Chiapas. Austin,
media. The mimes, folk plays, and quasi-dramatic entertain-
Tex., 1975.
ments performed sporadically during the Middle Ages did
not establish a significant dramatic tradition, and they have
Duran, Diego. Book of the Gods and Rites and the Ancient Calen-
dar. Translated and edited by Fernando Horcasitas and
disappeared almost without a trace.
Doris Heyden. Norman, Okla., 1971.
In the tenth century several brief plays appeared that
Duran, Diego. The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated
were written for performance. These plays were not imita-
by Doris Heyden. Norman, Okla., 1994.
tions of ancient drama but original compositions. They all
depict the visit of the Marys to the sepulcher of Christ on
Grube, Nikolai. “Classic Maya Dance: Evidence from Hiero-
the morning of the Resurrection. They are to be sung rather
glyphs and Iconography.” Ancient Mesoamerica 3 (1992):
201–218.
than spoken, and they begin with the Angel’s question:
“Quem quaeritis in sepulchro?” (“Whom do you seek in the
Kerr, Justin. The Maya Vase Book: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs
sepulcher?”). Since they are attached to the Easter liturgy
of Maya Vases. 5 vols. New York, 1989–1997.
they are called liturgical dramas.
Martí, Samuel, and Gertrude Prokosch Kurath. Dances of Aná-
Liturgical dramas of the nativity of Christ appeared in
huac: The Choreography and Music of Precortesian Dances.
Chicago, 1964.
the eleventh century. By the twelfth century there were dra-
mas of the postresurrection appearances of Christ, the Ascen-
McArthur, Harry S. “Releasing the Dead: Ritual and Motivation
sion, Pentecost, the Slaughter of the Innocents, and the
in Aguacatec Dances.” Cognitive Studies of Southern Me-
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soamerica (1977): 6–35.
liturgical subjects: Lazarus, the apostle Paul, Joseph and his
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino. Florentine Codex: General History of the
brothers, Saint Nicholas, and the Antichrist. Two long ver-
Things of New Spain, edited and translated by A. J. O. Ander-
nacular plays survive from this period: Le mystère d’Adam and
son and C. E. Dibble. 13 vols. Santa Fe, N. Mex., 1950–
La seinte Resurreccion. Both require more sophisticated acting
1982.
and staging than the liturgical plays. By the fifteenth century
Taube, Karl A. “Ritual Humor in Classic Maya Religion.” In
vernacular religious drama was flourishing throughout Eu-
Word and Image in Maya Culture, edited by William Hanks
rope. In addition to plays on biblical subjects there were
and Donald S. Rice, pp. 351–382. Salt Lake City, 1982.
saints’ plays, miracle plays, and morality plays. Some of the
Taube, Karl A. “Dance.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Me-
plays were gigantic by modern Western standards, requiring
soamerican Cultures: The Civilizations of Mexico and Central
a whole day or even several days for performance and using
America, edited by Davíd Carrasco, pp. 305–308. Oxford,
huge casts and elaborate stage machinery.
2001.
During the Renaissance, Protestant and Roman Catho-
Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacri-
lic authorities discouraged the performance of medieval reli-
fice. Oxford, 2003.
gious drama, and it was gradually supplanted by the secular
KARL TAUBE (2005)
theater. Only one medieval play has survived to the present
RHONDA TAUBE (2005)
in more or less continuous performance: The Mystery of Elche
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DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
(c. 1420), which is presented annually in the town of Elche
their initiation during Lent. They were baptized at around
in Spain on the Feast of the Assumption. The well-known
midnight on Holy Saturday. Dressed in white robes, they
Oberammergau Passion is of later origin (seventeenth centu-
then proceeded to their first Communion, which occurred
ry) and is performed only at ten-year intervals. A few medi-
early on Easter morning, a time roughly coincident with the
eval plays have occasionally been revived in the twentieth
moment of Jesus’ resurrection, which baptism enacts.
century. Of these, the fifteenth-century morality play Every-
Like baptism, the Mass is a real action. By means of con-
man is the most enduringly popular.
secration, bread and wine are transformed into the body and
There has been much speculation about the origins of
blood of Christ. The change is a transubstantiation, a change
the tenth-century Resurrection play. Historical scholarship
of substance, not a symbolic change or a commemoration.
has sought a specific “source” and located this source in a
The Mass ordo is a sequence of discrete ritual moments
ninth-century lyric composition (trope) that was used to or-
arranged in the form of prologue, rising action, climax, and
nament the regular liturgy. In The Drama of the Medieval
denouement. This structure took shape over centuries and
Church (1933) Karl Young argues that the Resurrection play
with innumerable variants. It was regarded, however, as di-
began as a trope of the Introit of the first mass of Easter day.
vinely ordained, which means that the arrangement of the
This trope was eventually separated from the Introit and at-
ritual moments follows the will of God rather than natural
tached to Easter matins. In the new position its dramatic
causality. The structure cannot be explained, but it must be
quality could be exploited, and it began to be acted.
observed if the ritual is to produce its miracle.
The possibility of a deeper relationship between the Res-
The initial tone of the Mass is solemn and the conclud-
urrection play and the liturgy of the church is suggested by
ing tone is joyful. The climax is the miracle of the real pres-
the fact that in every culture in which drama is an indigenous
ence. It is both a recognition (anagno¯risis) of Christ and a re-
form, the earliest examples are closely associated with reli-
versal (peripeteia) of the tone of the ritual. Medieval liturgists
gious rituals. The rituals are dramatic in quality and the dra-
described the reversal as a change from sorrows (tristia) to
mas have obvious ritual elements and themes. The relation-
rejoicing (gaudium). The Mass, in the Classical Greek sense,
ship between Greek religious ritual and Greek drama was
is therefore comic rather than tragic in structure.
apparent to Aristotle, and the lingering influence of this rela-
tionship can be seen in several of the extant Greek tragedies.
Bits of scriptural history are embedded in the structure
Both the form and the theme of the Resurrection play point
of the Mass. When the celebrant repeats the words of Christ
to a similar relationship with Christian ritual.
at the Last Supper during the consecration he is, for the mo-
ment, representing the historical Christ. Representation also
Baptism is the Christian rite of initiation. The sequence
occurs during the celebrant’s “extension of hands” (extensio
of events in a liturgical ceremony is described in what the
manuum) in imitation of the arms of Christ on the cross.
Middle Ages called an ordo, an order of procedure. As per-
formed in the early centuries, the ordo of baptism required
In the ninth century these and related historical ele-
the candidate to descend naked into the font, to be immersed
ments led to a full-scale interpretation of the Mass in which
three times, and, on emersion, to be signed in holy oil and
each ritual moment was equated with an event in the life of
blessed by a bishop. This sequence is itself a generalized
Christ. The most elaborate description of the Mass from this
drama in which immersion in water is the visible expression,
point of view is the Liber officialis of Amalarius of Metz. Ac-
or “imitation,” of cleansing from sin.
cording to Amalarius the climax of the Mass is the commin-
gling. Because Christ’s body and blood are united in the
In elaborating Paul’s ideas of baptism and resurrection
commingling, it corresponds to the Resurrection. The two
(Rom. 6:3–4) Cyril of Jerusalem (fourth century) uses the ter-
subdeacons who assist represent the two Marys who visited
minology of Greek dramatic criticism: “O Paradox! We did
the sepulcher on Easter morning. At the moment of the com-
not really die, we were not really buried, we were not really
mingling, their solemnity is changed to joy, as though
crucified and raised again; but our imitation [mim¯esis] was
through the announcement of the angel to the historical
a likeness [en eikoni], and our salvation a reality” (Catechesis
Marys.
mystagogica 2.5).
In this interpretation the Mass is both a ritual and an
Cyril understands baptism in two ways. The ritual occu-
elaborate historical drama. The ritual provides the absolute
pies the foreground. It is a real action because it produces “a
reality on which the drama rests. It is, however, a generalized
reality,” namely, the rebirth and salvation of the candidate.
reality, a sacramental ground. The drama gives this sacra-
This reality is absolute. It is caused by the intervention of the
mental reality a specific narrative meaning that allows it to
divine—the Holy Spirit—in the world of time. Baptism is
be “understood.” It seems probable that the Amalarian inter-
also a stylized enactment by imitation (mim¯esis) of the death
pretation was popular in the ninth and later centuries pre-
and resurrection of Christ. This historical drama defines the
cisely because the laity no longer understood the Mass on its
ritual by giving it a specific meaning that is true, rather than
own terms and welcomed the assistance that the interpreta-
conjectural, as far as Christianity is concerned.
tion provided. At any rate, for the reasons outlined above,
Throughout the earlier Middle Ages the Easter Vigil was
ninth-century Easter liturgy was dominated by the theme of
the preferred time for baptism. The candidates prepared for
the Resurrection.
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DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
2469
The Resurrection play of the tenth century was per-
Unlike ritual reality, the reality of drama is contingent.
formed at Easter. Its structure reproduces in little the struc-
Scriptural history is true in a special sense, and, therefore,
ture of the Mass: a movement from sorrow, through a climax
necessary; but other kinds of history can err, and elaborations
which is a recognition and a reversal, to rejoicing. And the
based on probability are contingent by definition. The reality
historical moment that is its subject, namely the Resurrec-
of medieval religious drama is therefore a hypothetical reali-
tion, is the moment Amalarius equated with the climax of
ty, “reality in appearance,” in which the reality of the appear-
the Mass. Liturgy also provides the stage on which the play
ance is sustained by the absolute reality of the sacramental
is performed, the clerics who act its roles, and vestments that
ground on which it rests.
serve as its costumes.
Ritual reality is an ordo, absolutely determined. “Reality
In the Mass generalized ritual action is primary and nar-
in appearance,” however, is plastic and can be manipulated.
rative drama secondary. In the transition from ritual to
Three kinds of manipulation are common in medieval reli-
drama this relationship is inverted. The Resurrection play
gious drama: extension, invention, and imitation.
makes the story primary and ritual action secondary, second-
Extension is the addition of historical episodes to an al-
ary in the sense of being a submerged sacramental ground,
ready existing drama. The visit of Mary Magdalene to the
an a priori shaping principle that must be deduced a posteri-
cross can be added, for example, at the beginning of the Res-
ori from the materials it has shaped. The sequence of ritual
urrection play, and the appearance of Christ at Emmaus at
moments is not a plot. It is, rather, a form that can be the
the end, without changing the play’s structure. The limit of
shaping principle of many different plots, both historical and
extension for scriptural drama is shown by the English Cor-
fictional. It provides the absolute reality on which medieval
pus Christi plays; they begin with the Fall of Lucifer and end
religious drama builds it appearances.
with the Last Judgment, but they retain the comic structure,
including the visit to the sepulcher as the climax, of the Res-
When the ritual structure of the Mass becomes the
urrection play. For religious drama based on historical
ground for a play about the Resurrection, this structure
sources other than scripture (the Legenda Aurea, for example)
seems to be replaced by a plot, a story with characters. The
the limit of extension is the limit of the historical narrative.
clerics who perform the actions of the ritual become actors.
Invention is the creation of episodes that are not found
Their ceremonial gestures become mimetic gestures express-
in history. As is evident from the problem of the gestures of
ing human motives. Their prayers and chants become styl-
the Marys confronting the angel, even the briefest historical
ized dialogue, still sung, but dialogue in which questions pro-
drama uses extension because history never provides all of the
duce replies and commands are visibly obeyed. Meanwhile,
details that drama requires. Whenever extension occurs it
because the congregation no longer participates, as it does in
moves the drama from history toward fiction. The report of
the ritual, it becomes a group of spectators, an audience.
the Marys to the apostles is scripture, but the dialogue begin-
Underlying these visible changes there is a movement
ning “Dic mihi Maria” is fiction. Scripture states that the
from ritual sequence to natural causality. The ritual mo-
Marys brought ointment to the sepulcher. Where did the
ments in the Mass follow one another in a given order be-
ointment come from? Probably from a spice merchant. How
cause they must be in that order. Natural causality is not so
was the ointment obtained? Probably by bargaining. Bar-
much absent from the ordo as irrelevant to it. On the other
gaining has its humorous as well as its serious aspects, so an
hand, because the events of a plot occur in natural time, they
invented spice-merchant episode, freed of the restrictions of
are subject to causality. If scriptural history says they oc-
the biblical narrative, has the potential of becoming amusing
curred, they are necessary; if not, they are only probable.
or satirical. One of the earliest episodes invented for the Res-
Scripture, for example, states that when the Marys came to
urrection play is the “spice merchant” (unguentarius) scene.
the sepulcher they encountered an angel. The angel is thus
It is mildly satiric. It is also anachronistic. Historical research
a necessary element of the Resurrection play, even though
might have produced something like a Palestinian merchant
outside of the sphere of natural causality. Scripture is vague,
of the first century, but the result would have baffled the au-
however, about the gestures of the Marys when they encoun-
dience. Therefore the dramatist produced a character who is
tered the angel. The actors performing the roles of the Marys
“probable” in the sense of resembling the sort of merchant
must decide what gestures the Marys probably used. In sever-
with whom his audience was familiar. This means also that
al extended versions of the Resurrection play the Marys re-
the character has the quality of “realism.”
port their experience to the apostles. The Bible says that such
A brilliant instance of realistic invention is provided by
a report occurred but does not provide the dialogue. Several
the Second Shepherds’ Play of the Wakefield Cycle (fifteenth
plays therefore use a well-known lyric composition (se-
century). Scripture states that shepherds visited the infant
quence) that begins “Dic mihi Maria” (“Tell me, Mary”) for
Jesus. What were the shepherds like? The Wakefield drama-
the dialogue. The popularity of this composition demon-
tist creates a comic vignette of medieval English shepherds
strates that it was widely considered an acceptable—therefore
that is so effective that it all but eclipses the Nativity scene
probable—version of the dialogue. Hence its appropriateness
that is the play’s subject. A similar impulse toward free inven-
for the play.
tion is evident in the gigantic French mystères of the late Mid-
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DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA [FIRST EDITION]
dle Ages, which are based on saints’ lives rather than scrip-
probable result?” The comic plots are pure fiction. The myth
ture. This playful impulse is made possible by the fact that,
and legend that provide the subject matter of the tragic plots
as long as the sacramental ground is respected, it will sus-
are drained of their ancient religious import: myth and leg-
tain—that is, make acceptable—almost any kind of inven-
end provide a means of distancing the thought-experiment,
tion. The playfulness is expressed in passages that are alter-
or drama, from immediate experience and thus of emphasiz-
nately humorous, grotesque, satirical, serious, and intensely
ing its status as “autonomous appearance.”
devout, and in abrupt juxtapositions of the comic and the
ploddingly didactic, the realistic and the miraculous.
Spanish and English drama of the Renaissance took an
opposite path. As neoclassic critics rightly observed, Shake-
The late medieval morality play is entirely fictional,
speare’s plays ignore verisimilitude and decorum and are
being made up out of the probabilities of theories of religious
filled with extravagant language, improbable inventions and
psychology. Because it is fictional it is more cautious—more
characters, and astonishing juxtapositions of the serious and
rationalistic—than the plays based on scriptural history and
the comic. They may be considered in this regard a final
saints’ lives. Its characters are more consistent, its dialogue
flowering in a secular context of the traditions of religious
more restrained, and its use of digressive, comic, and realistic
drama. Shakespeare’s enormous history cycle, extending
materials and abrupt juxtapositions more conservative. Its re-
from the “fall” of England through the murder of Richard
liance on the sacramental ground of ritual is evident in its
II to its miraculous “salvation” following the defeat of Rich-
comic plot, which regularly hinges on the miraculous conver-
ard III, is a secular equivalent of the Corpus Christi play.
sion or salvation of its protagonist, and in its use of religious
Several of his tragedies end on a note emphasizing the re-
themes and characters from the invisible world: good and
demptive quality of suffering: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and
bad angels, departed souls, demons, and comic “vices” who
Macbeth. The motif of salvation by miracle is rationalized by
reappear in Renaissance drama rationalized as villains, like
the “unrealistic” devices of coincidence and disguise in come-
Iago, or as comic embodiments of the principle of disorder,
dies like The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, and Measure
like Falstaff.
for Measure; it becomes explicit in The Winter’s Tale and The
Imitation is simply the use of models. The Resurrection
Tempest. The medieval tradition also appears in characters
play embodies the concept of a “reality in appearance” rest-
influenced by medieval conventions (Falstaff as comic vice),
ing on a sacramental ground. Once the original form of the
in ritualistic scenes (Othello kneeling to pledge allegiance to
play became widely known, it could be a model for other
Iago), in magic and miracles (Midsummer Night’s Dream, the
Resurrection plays and for plays using the same techniques
rebirth of Hermione), and in the emphasis at the end of
but different subject matter. As the dramas became more
many of the plays on reestablishment of community (As You
complex through extension and invention, the possibilities
Like It, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, The Tempest). Accord-
for imitation multiplied. By the fifteenth century (and prob-
ing to later, neoclassic (eighteenth-century) criticism, Shake-
ably much earlier) medieval religious drama had institution-
speare’s plays should be failures. They are sprawling, loosely
alized itself, and its authors drew their techniques primarily
constructed, improbable, and indecorous. The fact that they
from other dramas. Because the “reality in appearance” of re-
succeed is evidence of their reliance on a reality deeper than
ligious drama is explicit and the sacramental ground is a pri-
the “autonomous appearance” of neoclassic drama and of the
ori and invisible, the surface eventually came to seem real—
continuing importance of this deeper reality for the modern
that is, autonomous—while the sacramental ground came to
audiences who respond to them.
seem a corollary of subject matter and hence either an acci-
Liturgical drama is emphatically not an antiquarian sub-
dent of history or a liability, rather than the foundation on
ject, and its reemergence in extremely popular vernacular
which the drama rests.
forms is significant. Paul Claudel and T. S. Eliot, among oth-
During the Renaissance, French and Italian drama re-
ers, attempted to revive religious drama in the twentieth cen-
jected the medieval tradition. At first the alternative was di-
tury; their efforts were not fully successful. Perhaps this is be-
rect imitation of the tragedies of Seneca and the comedies
cause their plays are concerned primarily with subject matter,
of Plautus and Terence. Since ancient drama rests on a
that is, with appearance. A few twentieth-century plays
ground entirely different from, and alien to, the ground of
began with ritual rather than subject matter, and these seem
medieval drama, it is not surprising that most of the direct
moderately effective: Timothy Rice and Andrew Lloyd Web-
imitations were stillborn. In seventeenth-century France di-
ber’s Jesus Christ Superstar and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.
rect imitation gave way to a neoclassicism that paid homage
Popular movie and television entertainments—Westerns,
to ancient models but was based on rationalist principles of
thrillers, science fantasies—retain the comic structure of ritu-
verisimilitude, decorum, and the norm of nature. The dra-
al and its convention of “salvation by miracle,” although the
mas of Molière and Racine assume that appearance is auton-
miracles are always rationalized as coincidence, luck, or “in-
omous and seek to create the illusion of reality by subjecting
tervention from beyond.” Popular entertainment, however,
all of their materials to the rule of probability. Their plays
is limited by its dependence on stereotypes and formulas. Its
resemble thought-experiments arising from the question,
“reality in appearance” is thin and predictable when com-
“Given this situation and these characters, what would be the
pared to the “reality in appearance” observable in medieval
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DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA (FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS)
2471
religious drama and in English and Spanish drama of the Re-
The distinction between rite and mimetic drama is nec-
naissance.
essarily blurred. The semidramatic Palm Sunday procession
is a case in point. In German-speaking countries and Poland,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the procession included a Palmesel, a carved life-size image
The standard bibliography of medieval drama is Carl J. Stratman’s
of Jesus riding on a donkey. This ceremony, along with cer-
Bibliography of Medieval Drama, 2d ed. (New York, 1972).
tain other semidramatic rites, would be maintained for some
Supplements are provided by C. Clifford Flanigan in Re-
centuries in spite of the prohibitions of the Council of Trent.
search Opportunities in Renaissance Drama 18 (1975): 81–
Brigittine nuns, using a carved corpus of Jesus for the Burial,
102 and 19 (1976): 109–136. The best history of the Roman
continued traditional Good Friday ceremonies into the
Mass is Josef A. Jungmann’s The Mass of the Roman Rite, rev.
twentieth century.
ed., 2 vols. (New York, 1959). E. K. Chambers’s The Medi-
aeval Stage, 2 vols. (1903; reprint, Oxford, 1925) is dated but
The first of the medieval music-dramas to become
has interesting material on medieval folk drama. Karl
something of a modern box-office success was the twelfth-
Young’s The Drama of the Medieval Church, 2 vols. (1933;
century Play of Daniel when it was staged by the New York
reprint, London, 1967), remains the standard treatment of
Pro Musica in the 1950s. This play, originally composed by
the subject from the historical point of view and reprints
young men of Beauvais Cathedral for the Christmas season,
most of the texts of the surviving liturgical plays. The most
has eschatological overtones and is an impressive collation of
complete collection of texts of Latin liturgical dramas is Wal-
biblical history and prophecy. Another very effective play is
ther Lipphardt’s Lateinische Osterfeiern und Osterspiele, 9
the slightly earlier Sponsus from Saint Martial of Limoges,
vols. (Berlin, 1975–1991). An analysis of medieval religious
which stages the Wise and Foolish Virgins (with the latter
drama emphasizing its reliance on liturgy is offered in my
Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages (Balti-
seeking to buy oil from oil merchants); the reward of the
more, 1965). See also J. D. A. Ogilvy’s “Mimi, Scurrae,
Wise is to be invited in to the marriage feast by the Bride-
Histriones: Entertainers of the Middle Ages,” Speculum 38
groom, while the Foolish are cast into darkness, as specified
(1963): 603–619; George La Piana’s “The Byzantine The-
in Matthew 25.
atre,” Speculum 11 (1936): 171–211; and H. A. Kelly’s The
The most remarkable example from this period, howev-
Devil at Baptism: Ritual, Theology, and Drama (Ithaca,
er, is the Ordo Virtutum (c. 1151) of Hildegard of Bingen,
1985). European vernacular drama is surveyed in Richard
Axton’s European Drama of the Early Middle Ages (London,
which was virtually unnoticed by scholars until the 1980s.
1974), and the English cycle plays are reviewed in V. A.
It dramatizes the fall of Anima (the Soul) and her return to
Kolve’s The Play Called Corpus Christi (Stanford, Calif.,
the circle of the Virtues, over whom Humility presides as
1966). Very suggestive general discussion of ritual and drama
queen. The music of this ambitious play, which has twenty
is found in Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton,
singing roles (the number of nuns in Hildegard’s abbey), is
1957). C. L. Barber’s Shakespeare’s Festive Comedies: A Study
based on chant but is unique for its time. The single male
of Dramatic Form and Its Relation to Social Custom (Prince-
character, the Devil, is unmusical and only shouts indeco-
ton, 1959) and E. M. W. Tillyard’s Shakespeare’s History
rously; his appearance may be surmised from the illustrations
Plays (1944; reprint, New York, 1964) are representative of
in the manuscript of Hildegard’s Scivias, which also con-
discussions of Shakespeare from a ritual and generally Chris-
tained an earlier draft of the play.
tian point of view.
These music-dramas were not intended to be entertain-
O. B. HARDISON, JR. (1987)
ment. As Katherine of Sutton, Abbess of Barking in Essex,
indicated circa 1370 when offering a Harrowing play in
which the nuns of the convent were to take part, the purpose
DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA
was to bring the participants out of their spiritual lethargy.
(FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS)
Such a motive is particularly evident in the Peregrinus, which
adapted the Emmaus story to the religious community’s de-
The origin of the Latin Visit to the Sepulcher and the related
sire for the sight of the absent God. Ritually, singers and con-
ceremonies of the Good Friday Depositio (usually involving
gregation were to be brought into sacred time as if present
the burial of a consecrated wafer and/or image) and Easter
at the original events.
Elevatio, which first appeared in the Regularis Concordia
(c. 980 CE) from Winchester, remains controversial, but the
Little direct connection can be claimed between the li-
various forms taken by these dramatic rites have been most
turgical drama and the vernacular plays of the late Middle
fruitfully studied from the standpoint of the geographical
Ages. The ambiguity of the Middle English term play has cre-
distribution of texts and music, rather than of theory (espe-
ated some scholarly confusion, but for the most elaborate ex-
cially the discredited theory of evolutionary development).
amples of the vernacular drama—for example, the great Cre-
While centers of this music-drama activity were monasteries
ation-to-Doom cycles presented at York and possibly
and cathedrals, widespread records of parish church presen-
Coventry on the feast of Corpus Christi and at Chester dur-
tation exist at least for the Depositio and Elevatio. The Easter
ing Whitsun week—the purpose of the producers seems
sepulchers required for these are recorded in great numbers
principally to have been to involve the audience aesthetically
throughout much of Europe, and many still exist.
and spiritually in the depiction of salvation history. These
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2472
DRAMA: EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS DRAMA (FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS)
dramas attempt to make visible and to stage-manage the vio-
possibility of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War—
lence connected with the life of Jesus from the massacre of
while some of his films from the early 1960s treat the tre-
the innocents to the crucifixion in a way that focuses the au-
mendous power of religious experience over against the ter-
dience’s compassion toward the sufferer, the Lamb of God.
ror of the void in a world without God.
Audience response is difficult to ascertain when we are deal-
Some current challenges for scholarship will involve
ing with productions from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and six-
more thorough exploration of the following: the connections
teenth centuries. Occasional evidence of inappropriateness
between traditional religion and early drama; the significance
appears, as in the play of the Funeral of the Virgin at York
of positional symbolism (to use Mary Douglas’s term) or its
that dramatized the attack by a Jew on her bier—a case of
displacement, and the applicability of other anthropological
anti-Semitism in which the audience apparently participated
insights in dramas, both medieval and more recent; the
raucously, and of which the sponsoring guild disapproved.
spread of early religious drama to the East (e.g., the adapta-
But, in general, the producers—the guilds and the city cor-
tion of European forms such as the Magi play to Indian
poration of York—would never have been able to carry on
dance drama in South India) and to the New World; com-
the tradition of staging the plays in the cycle on pageant wag-
parisons of European vernacular plays with dramas such as
ons through the streets at such enormous expense for nearly
the Sh¯ıE¯ı passion plays of the death of H:usayn in Iran and
two hundred years unless a serious religious purpose had
Iraq; and the sponsorship and reception of religious drama
been involved. They clearly were setting out to make visible
since the Middle Ages, as well as, more specifically, the en-
for audiences the same scenes that were depicted in religious
gagement of audiences with religious content.
art of the city churches and the minster, and they were doing
this in a manner that brought the stories forth in a lively rath-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
er than a static way. Audiences were therefore being invited
Battenhouse, Roy, ed. Shakespeare’s Christian Dimension: An An-
to imagine themselves as onlookers at the events of sacred
thology of Commentary. Bloomington, Ind., 1994.
history. The popular Meditations on the Life of Christ, trans-
Davidson, Audrey Ekdahl, ed. Holy Week and Easter Ceremonies
lated by the Carthusian Nicholas Love of Mount Grace Prio-
from Medieval Sweden. Kalamazoo, Mich., 1990. Includes
ry in Yorkshire, indeed told people that it was necessary for
Brigittine examples, with musical transcriptions.
their salvation to be able to imagine the passion of Christ vi-
Davidson, Audrey Ekdahl, ed. The Ordo Virtutum of Hildegard of
sually in all the stages of his suffering. Both in England and
Bingen: Critical Studies (and reduced facsimile of the manu-
on the continent people felt they received spiritual benefit
script). Kalamazoo, Mich., 1992. Supplemented by Gunilla
from watching plays on the lives and suffering of saints.
Iversen, “O Virginitas, in regali thalmo stas; New Light on the
Ordo Virtutum: Hildegard, Richardis, and the Order of the
Just as the vernacular plays of the late Middle Ages did
Virtues.” Early Drama, Art, and Music Review 20, no. 1
not directly evolve out of liturgical drama, so too the plays
(1992): 19–22.
of Shakespeare and his contemporaries cannot be viewed as
Davidson, Clifford, ed. The Saint Play in Medieval Europe. Kala-
having emerged through an evolutionary process that
mazoo, Mich., 1986.
brought about the secularization of earlier biblical, morality,
Fassler, Margot. “The Feast of Fools and Danielis Ludus: Popular
or saint plays. Secularization was largely forced on the public
Tradition in a Medieval Cathedral Play.” In Plainsong in the
stage in England by the iconoclastic bias of the Reformation
Age of Polyphony, edited by Thomas Forrest Kelly,
and the fear of the authorities that the medieval saint and
pp. 65–99. Cambridge, U.K., 1992.
biblical plays promoted Catholicism. Nevertheless, at their
Gardiner, F. C. The Pilgrimage of Desire: A Study of Theme and
best, Renaissance dramas retain a religious dimension that
Genre in Medieval Literature. Leiden, 1971.
extended to both stage picture and the invocation of religious
Gibson, Gail McMurray. The Theater of Devotion: East Anglian
iconography in their texts, and they have rightly been seen
Drama and Society in the Late Middle Ages. Chicago, 1989.
(in Heideggerian terms) to facilitate the “deconcealment of
Muir, Lynette R. Biblical Drama of Medieval Europe. Cambridge,
Being.”
U.K., 1995.
Ogden, Dunbar, ed. The Play of Daniel: Critical Essays, with a
With the rise of modernity, the plays of Henrik Ibsen
transcription of the music by A. Marcel J. Zijlstra (and fac-
and of August Strindberg examine religious themes in an un-
simile of the manuscript). Kalamazoo, Mich., 1997.
orthodox but powerful way. Strindberg in his late plays pres-
Puthussery, Joly. “Chavituna¯takam: A Music-Drama of Kerala
ents a rich visual symbolism that reflects a world in which
Christians.” Early Drama, Art, and Music Review 19, no. 2
God is simultaneously absent and present. T. S. Eliot’s Mur-
(1997): 93–104; and 20, no. 1 (1997): 27–33.
der in the Cathedral (1935), as well as, to a lesser extent,
Sheingorn, Pamela. The Easter Sepulchre in England. Kalamazoo,
Charles Williams’s Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury (1936) re-
Mich., 1987.
tain their interest. After World War II, perhaps some of the
Simon, Eckehard. The Theatre of Medieval Europe: New Research
most striking treatments of religion appeared in the films of
in Early Drama. Cambridge, Mass., 1991.
Ingmar Bergman. The Seventh Seal (1957) explores human
Stockenström, Göran. “Strindberg’s Cosmos in A Dream Play:
doubt and fragility against the background of death in the
Medieval or Modern.” Comparative Drama 30 (1996): 72–
plague years of 1348 to 1350—a symbolic treatment of the
105.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
2473
Much new research on early religious drama, both English and
sion, the advent of virtual-reality meeting places on the
continental, appears in the journals Comparative Drama,
World Wide Web, and multiplex movie palaces have all
Early Drama (superseding The REED Newsletter); The Early
brought about a change in the way people gather in public—
Drama, Art, and Music Review (formerly EDAM Newsletter);
or do not so gather—to participate at the performance of sto-
Medieval English Theatre; and Research Opportunities in Re-
ries, rituals, and myths.
naissance Drama; while for documentation concerning origi-
nal performance and sponsorship, see the volumes of Records
The change in patterns of assemblage has not been quite
of Early English Drama.
the same for all social classes. The popularity of religious
C
gatherings continues more vigorously among the marginal-
LIFFORD DAVIDSON (2005)
ized than among the affluent. One might even argue that re-
ligion serves as a theater of the poor, although it would be
more accurate to say that among them the bifurcation be-
DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
tween religion and drama is not as deep as among those with
Where religion has kept alive its affinity with dance, drum,
higher incomes.
and the dramatic appearance of the gods, it has remained
The rise of the charismatic movement within traditional
vital. Where drama has kept alive its quality of magic disclo-
and established churches, as well as the growth of Pentecostal
sure, it has remained indispensable. These legacies have
denominations, may indicate a renewed quest for theatrical
proved difficult to maintain in Western society, but they
and ecstatic worship, paralleling the revivalism of an earlier
contain the heart of the expectations people bring to theater
age.
and to religious ceremony alike. The ancient and persistent
link between religion and drama may be viewed as the result
It would be a mistake, of course, to link forms of wor-
of factors that include the emergence of theater from reli-
ship too closely to social strata. In the United States, for in-
gious ritual, the acting out of sacred myth and story, the
stance, congregations of evangelical churches now occupy
quasi-priestly or shamanic characteristics of theatrical per-
middle- to upper-level income brackets and are flourishing.
formers and, conversely, the theatrical qualities of religious
In some cases their messages, saturated with apocalyptic
liturgies.
themes, are inherently dramatic and conjure up spectacular
imagery. However, it must be said that insofar as religion and
It is often supposed that the theater in modern Europe
theater are middle-class institutions, both are, ironically, of
and North America, like Western civilization in general, has
less and less importance to the middle class. The social brack-
steadily become more secular, which is to say, less and less
eting of the two institutions leads to a kind of aesthetic
concerned with religion. The truth of this assumption, with
bracketing as well: theater becomes pictorial (and hence no
respect to theater and modern society alike, is debatable. To
significant competition for film and television), while reli-
the extent that it may be true, it is balanced by the fact that
gious rituals become archaic, not to say quaint. In this situa-
Western religion itself has undergone a kind of seculariza-
tion, theater and religion often look to each other for some
tion: it has, in many quarters, undergone demythologizing,
lost component to help restore their immediacy. The funda-
the “death of God,” and a radical turn toward political action
mental link between them is their use of performance to
in “this world,” all without losing its identity as religion.
make what is unseen seen and what is absent present, and
More significant than the phenomenon of secularization is
this in the immediacy of a specific time and place.
the fact that, in most European and American societies in
CHRISTIANITY AND RENAISSANCE THEATER. Although Eu-
modern times, the professional theater and institutional reli-
ropean Christianity was much indebted to classical Greek
gion have both become culturally marginal—perhaps for
and Roman civilization, it also inherited the Bible’s view of
similar reasons.
history as fulfillment of divine promise and of Christ as a re-
Before 1700, the principal places for public storytelling
deemer who did not fit either the tragic or the comic proto-
were theaters and churches. The advent of novelistic fiction
types of antiquity. Hence, Christianity brought into Europe-
in the eighteenth century meant that stories could be told to
an culture many sensibilities concerning human character,
a wide audience without people having to gather in a public
experience, and historical existence that were significantly
place. Even so, theater remained a popular institution
different than those upon which the drama of Greece and
throughout the nineteenth century while revivalistic religion,
Rome had been based. It is likely that these sensibilities be-
if not regular church attendance, was also vigorous, especially
came mixed with those of the religions that were already
in the United States. The immense success of motion pic-
practiced in Europe when Christianity arrived. Several non-
tures and television in the twentieth century reduced the au-
classical ideas emerged that proved important to drama: for
dience for live theater to a very small portion of the popula-
example, that human nature is not divided into a limited
tion. Although, compared to this, the number of
number of fixed character types; that some individuals are
churchgoers remains very large, perhaps twenty to twenty-
subject to marked changes in character as a result of experi-
five times as great in the United States, it too has shrunk as
ences they undergo; and that human history is capable of
the audience for film and television has grown. New methods
genuine novelty and surprise. As they worked their way into
of communication, the proliferation of channels on televi-
dramatic expression on stage, these ideas led to a mode of
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2474
DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
drama concerned with processes of history, the dynamics of
cially those of Jean Racine and Thomas Corneille, and also
class interaction, and the confrontation of the human soul
the comic dramas of Molière, are not well understood with-
with temptation, with conscience, and with God.
out knowledge of Christian doctrine and ethics in that age,
including, for example, Jansenist theology, which was impor-
An unprecedented outburst of dramatic genius occurred
tant to the work of Racine. The anticlericalism that spread
in the sixteenth century. The greatest talents were those of
during the Enlightenment, especially in France and Germa-
William Shakespeare in England and Lope de Vega in Spain.
ny, exacerbated ancient tensions between religion and the-
Their writing for the stage was based upon very different
ater, with the result that the rift between them was at its wid-
ideas of dramatic form from the Greek and Roman classics.
est in the Age of Reason. Whether that has anything to do
These ideas led to a form more loose, more episodic, more
with the fact that this was not an especially creative period
open to variety in human characterization, more concerned
of playwriting, as compared to epochs before and after, is a
with reflective consciousness, and more open to depictions
matter for speculation. The theater of the eighteenth century
of the grotesque and the ugly. The immediate sources of the
went in for extraordinary scenic effects and allied itself with
new sensibility, with its profound effect upon dramatic form,
experiments being made by painters and architects. It tended
theater design, and modes of acting, are thought to lie in me-
more toward the pictorial than the performance aspect of
dieval Christian dramas known as mystery plays, in popular
theater and hence was distant from any deep religious sensi-
religious festivals, whether Christian or not (some of which
bility.
gave rise to mummers’ plays, concerned with death and res-
urrection), in biblical literature, and in Christian homilies.
The Romantic movement that began in the late eigh-
In England, the new dramatic sensibilities were ex-
teenth century was a different matter. It stimulated the use
pressed by Shakespeare and most of his contemporary dram-
of religious themes in drama, often in unorthodox forms.
atists, using themes much indebted to the humanists and to
Goethe’s Faust (1808/1832) is perhaps the most famous ex-
Protestant (mostly Puritan) reformers of that age and show-
ample, but it is difficult to think of a Romantic playwright
ing the strong influence of a rising middle class. In Spain,
in whose dramas religious ideas or experiences do not make
the new sensibilities were expressed by Lope de Vega and
an appearance, whether in a positive manner (as in Faust),
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, using ideas more congenial to
a negative manner (as in much of Henrik Ibsen), or a highly
feudalism and to Roman Catholicism. The Renaissance,
charged ambivalent manner (as in the works of Wilhelm von
with its ambivalent attitude toward Christianity, the church,
Kleist, Georg Büchner, and others).
and dogma, empowered dramatists not only to express their
SOCIAL REALISM. During the nineteenth century, European
own religious ambivalence but also, in the process, to fashion
drama began to display two major interests: the effect of so-
a new dramatic form.
cial conditions upon human existence (leading to a style usu-
Puritan influence on drama, noticeable during the reign
ally known as realism) and the quest for meaning in life amid
of Elizabeth I in England, soon changed to hostility toward
the uncertainties occasioned by the French Revolution, the
theatergoing. By the early seventeenth century, most Puri-
Industrial Revolution, and the emerging evolutionary view
tans would have been startled to know that John Calvin had
of nature. Depictions of the quest for meaning, more than
spent many Sunday afternoons watching the performance of
the positivistic concern for social realism, led frequently to
plays, even if those were indeed plays on scriptural subjects
plays depicting a search for God or for the protagonist’s soul.
by Theodore Beza. In 1642, English Puritans, who had
Ibsen’s Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867) fall into this cate-
achieved municipal power in London, closed all theaters,
gory, as do many plays by August Strindberg, such as Advent
partly because the stage was thought conducive to loose mor-
(1898), To Damascus (1898–1904), Easter (1900), and The
als, but also because it was associated with the royal court,
Ghost Sonata (1907). At the same time, there was also a ten-
the nobility, and Roman Catholicism. Although the theaters
dency for the more realistic or “secular” plays to develop a
were allowed to reopen in 1660 with the accession of Charles
symbolic mode that verges on myth and confronts an audi-
II to the throne, this forced closing left its mark on all subse-
ence with quasi-religious mystery. Ibsen’s The Wild Duck
quent relations between church and theater throughout the
(1884) and The Master Builder (1892) are of this kind, as
Western world, relations that are sometimes intense but
well as Strindberg’s horrifying plays about marriage, The Fa-
most often strained.
ther (1887) and The Dance of Death (1901). It is worth not-
ing that Ibsen was interested in the religious existentialism
DRAMA IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTU-
and anticlericalism of So⁄ren Kierkegaard, and that Strind-
RIES. With some exceptions, the seventeenth and eighteenth
berg was at one time a practitioner of alchemy and at another
centuries were not periods of important interaction between
a disciple of Emanuel Swedenborg.
religion and drama. In the Counter-Reformation, Jesuits
throughout Europe made widespread use of dramas to prop-
To this tendency among major nineteenth-century
agate the faith, producing a legacy of postmedieval didactic
playwrights to evince an interest in religious themes, the
theater that has had widespread influence, for example on the
most notable exception is Anton Chekhov. In him the heav-
twentieth-century Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht. The
ens are closed. The symbolism of plays like The Seagull
neoclassic dramas of France in the seventeenth century, espe-
(1896) and The Cherry Orchard (1904), strong and beautiful
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DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
2475
as it is, does not hint at transcendent mystery. The closing
of Christianity” (quoted in Cole, 1961, p. 237ff.). The plays
speech of Sonya in Uncle Vanya (1897), with its vision of an
of O’Neill that treat this religious theme include Desire under
eventual heavenly peace, is moving precisely because the au-
the Elms (1924), The Great God Brown (1926), Lazarus
dience recognizes that her words are only wistful.
Laughed (1928), Dynamo (1929), and Mourning Becomes
Electra (1931).
George Bernard Shaw, a fourth luminary among play-
wrights at the turn of the century, was a severe critic of con-
In O’Neill’s works there is also another, slightly differ-
temporary Christianity, mostly because of what he saw as its
ent understanding of the modern religious situation, one
moral hypocrisy and its alliance with capitalism; yet he intro-
closer to the views of Tillich. O’Neill articulated this in a let-
duced religious motifs in almost all his plays, and it may be
ter to the critic George Jean Nathan. Here he wrote of his
said of him, as of William Butler Yeats, that he invented a
desire to dig at “the roots of the sickness today,” which he
religion of his own. Made up of ideas taken from Christiani-
described as “the death of an old God and the failure of sci-
ty, from the philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Henri
ence and materialism to give any satisfying new one for the
Bergson, and from Fabian socialism, Shaw’s faith amounted
surviving primitive religious instinct to find a meaning for
to a divination of the creative force of life. While concern
life in, and to comfort its fears of death with” (quoted in
for life as both rational and holy is never absent from Shaw’s
Clark and Freedley, 1947, p. 690). Such a sense of the loss
work, the plays in which it is most prominent are Man and
of God, of meaning, of satisfaction and comfort, may be
Superman (1903), Major Barbara (1905), Back to Methuselah
called post-Nietzschean, after the German philosopher who
(1922), and Saint Joan (1923). Meanwhile, Shaw’s Irish
was the first among modern intellectuals to write of the
compatriot, the poet Yeats, was making use of theater to
“death of God.” This view of the modern human situation,
communicate not only the legends of Irish patriotism but
when held with passion, gives rise to a conviction known as
also poetic religious visions, especially in plays written late
existentialist, of which O’Neill was the first and remains the
in his life, such as Calvary (1921), The Resurrection (1927),
foremost exponent in American theater. His deepest expres-
and Purgatory (1938).
sions of this attitude are to be found in his late plays, particu-
T
larly The Iceman Cometh (1939) and Long Day’s Journey into
WENTIETH-CENTURY THEATER. World War I put an end,
not to romanticism in the arts, as used to be said, but to its
Night (1940), but it is anticipated much earlier in his expres-
nineteenth-century phase. Following the war, the theatrical
sionist plays, such as The Emperor Jones (1920) and The
motifs and styles of the preceding century continued, but in
Hairy Ape (1922).
a deeper, more tortured form. The quest for meaning became
In Europe, too, one can discern a line of development
more desperate. One result in the theater was a form known
from the pre-expressionist, anarchist outcry of Alfred Jarry’s
as expressionism, which used theatrical resources—decor, cos-
Ubu roi (1896) through the expressionist drama—including
tuming, lighting, music, scene construction, performance
many examples from Russia, France, and Italy not men-
technique—to achieve effects more like painting, cartoon-
tioned here—continuing in specifically existentialist dramas
ing, clowning, and poetry than like the narrative art that
such as No Exit (1944) by Jean-Paul Sartre and Caligula
most Western theater has been. Indeed, from Yeats onward
(1944) by Albert Camus, thence into the post-1945 “theater
the experimental Western theater has reached out to Eastern
of the absurd” (including the work of Eugène Ionesco, Ar-
(mostly Japanese) stylistic conventions, which are themselves
thur Adamov, Jean Genet, Fernando Arrabal, Edward Albee,
firmly rooted in religious tradition.
and others) and culminating in the plays of Samuel Beckett,
In the work of German expressionist playwrights such
most famously in his first published play, Waiting for Godot
as Ernst Toller, Ernst Barlach, and Oskar Kokoschka (better
(1952).
known as a painter) is found an outrage against existence that
Crucial to this development, as also to the experimental
is at once moral and religious, the latter with varying degrees
theater of the 1960s and 1970s, were the ideas put forward
of explicitness. Art of this kind, in the theater as well as in
by Antonin Artaud in a book of essays entitled Le théâtre et
other forms, was employed by the theologian Paul Tillich to
son double (1938, translated as The Theater and Its Double,
depict the religious situation in Germany in the late 1920s.
1958). Artaud’s “theater of cruelty,” as he called it, is actually
He wrote of such art as engaged in a religious protest against
a theater of pure gesture in which words and ideas are “cruel-
“bourgeois self-sufficient finitude,” as he termed the attitude
ly” subordinated to actions performed for their own sake
that had infiltrated both the churches and other social insti-
(l’acte gratuit). This concentration upon the theatrical ges-
tutions and against which much serious theater of the time
ture per se would return theater to the domain of ritual.
protested.
Theologically speaking, an acte gratuit is the action of a di-
vinity that is answerable only to itself. Avant-garde theater
Such a theater of antireligious religious protest (to use
in the twentieth century has been an attempt to return the-
a very dialectical expression for it) was also brought forth by
ater to its religious roots without necessarily adopting—
the first playwright of the American theater to achieve an in-
indeed, often opposing—religious faith.
ternational reputation—Eugene O’Neill, whose plays often
depict “the creative pagan acceptance of life,” as he put it,
There was, however, a movement in midcentury to re-
“fighting eternal war with the masochistic, life-denying spirit
store religious faith to the theater by way of a return to poetic
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DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
drama. The movement’s most prominent figure was the poet
sociated with it, tend to move theater in the direction of ritu-
T. S. Eliot, who in 1934 was asked by E. Martin Browne,
alization and thus bring to the surface one of its more
a theater director working for the Anglican diocese of Lon-
important yet hidden connections with religion.
don, to compose some verses (later known as “Choruses from
the Rock”) for a diocesan stage production. This was fol-
For this reason, it may be argued that there has been no
lowed by a commission from Browne and Canterbury Ca-
more significant development in the relation between theater
thedral that resulted in the play Murder in the Cathedral
and religion in the twentieth century than the experimental
(1935), an explicitly religious play, which made Eliot famous
theater movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The most influ-
as a playwright and which is arguably the best poetic drama
ential exponent of this movement was Jerzy Grotowski,
written in modern times. Eliot later aspired to the writing
founder of the Polish Laboratory Theater. The notion of the-
of religious plays composed in verse about people in modern
ater as religious ritual has become more explicit for many of
circumstances, partly because of the aesthetic challenge such
Grotowski’s successors. Peter Brook has acknowledged the
a task presented, partly for the sake of propagating Christian
inspiration of G. I. Gurdjieff, also a major influence for Gro-
faith in the modern world, and partly as an answer to existen-
towski. Inspired by yogans and dervishes, Gurdjieff’s concept
tialist playwrights. He wrote five of these, of which the most
of theater was that of a spiritual quest employing movement
popular has been The Cocktail Party (1949). Others active
and music to achieve enlightenment. Brook turned increas-
in the revival of poetic religious drama have been Christo-
ingly to an exploration of religious themes, including perfor-
pher Fry, Ronald Duncan, Henri Ghéon, and André Obey.
mance adaptations of S:u¯f¯ı poetry and a spectacular dramati-
However, the Belgian Michel de Ghelderode, who wrote per-
zation of the Hindu epic, Maha¯bha¯rata. Brook’s 1998
haps the most forceful religious dramas of the century, chose
production about a Russian mnemonist, Je suis un Phéno-
not to use verse. Instead, he adopted a theatrical style some-
mène, implied, according to the London Times, “that the
where between that of expressionism and absurdism, yielding
brain remains unknowable and exists in relation to yet more
works of strong religious and theatrical interest, including
imponderable issues to do with friendship, God and death”
Barabbas (1929), Chronicles of Hell (1929), and The Women
(quoted in Moffitt, 1999, p. 164). Indeed, the intensity of
at the Tomb (1928)
such work necessitates the formation of quasi- or actual reli-
gious communities of performers who often abandon the
During this period, Brecht was seeking a theater that
role of entertainer in favor of both improving technical skills
synthesized both the aesthetic value of expressionism and the
and finding an absolute immediacy of the performing gesture
instructional value of naturalism. He sought a theater that
in a quest for a transcendent awareness.
was poetic, parable-like, didactic, and epic, portraying the
large configurations of power while locating the dilemmas of
One such troupe, Dzieci (Polish for “children”),
the little person within these configurations. In his play, Gal-
founded by Grotowski disciple Matt Mitler in 1999, is “ded-
ileo (1943), for example, he demonstrates how the authority
icated to a search for the ‘sacred’ through the medium of the-
of an institution supersedes the rationality of scientific truth.
ater.” Carrying this idea to pastoral lengths, Dzieci regularly
Garbed in papal vestments, the otherwise supportive prelate
visits patients in hospitals, where moments of nonverbal in-
must force Galileo to renounce his discovery. To watch
teraction result in therapy for the patient, learning for the
Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble perform one of his plays was to
performer, and transcendent awareness for both. In the
watch a calm ritual unfold. The dramaturgy is antinaturalis-
course of developing a theater project inspired by Aldous
tic and yet captivating. Although there is controversy over
Huxley’s Devils of Loudun, the Dzieci troupe stumbled upon
the precise meaning of Brechtian concepts like “the alien-
the idea of creating a Fool’s Mass, which has become its sig-
ation effect” (Verfremdungs-effekt) and “epic,” the result was
nature piece, performed repeatedly in various church set-
a certain spaciousness that allowed audiences to contemplate
tings. The performers wear vestments not of priests but of
ideas that might form a basis for decisions in real life. Al-
medieval bedlam idiots who are called upon by circumstance
though Brecht, with his Marxist orientation, derided reli-
to celebrate a Mass even though they do not know how.
gious piety, his work seems to lie within a biblical tradition
Moving easily between the sublime and the ridiculous, draw-
of prophecy in its analysis of an era and its denunciation of
ing its audience through laughter toward participation and
the destructive forces within society
contemplation, the work resists being categorized as either
theater or religion, becoming both at once in an event experi-
PERFORMANCE THEATER. An important result of the compe-
enced by many as transformative. As they stand beside these
tition given to theater by film and television has been the rec-
grotesque characters in prayer, worshippers begin to partici-
ognition by innovative theorists and practitioners that the-
pate in the liturgy with new understanding.
ater is not necessarily an art of representation. Instead,
leading innovators began to view theater as an art of perfor-
AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATER. African American religion in
mance that focuses upon the actuality of the performer’s exis-
the United States, unlike the religion of most white Ameri-
tence and the interaction between the performer, the other
cans, has made a direct artistic contribution to the theater,
performers, and the spectators. There have been attempts to
largely because worship in African American churches has re-
work from an aesthetic of actuality rather than one of imita-
tained a vigorous performance tradition. Narrative recitation
tion. This awareness, and the techniques of performance as-
in African American preaching, for example, is theatrical in
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DRAMA: MODERN WESTERN THEATER
2477
the deepest sense of the word. Music and rhythm provide the
challenge one another over what has the greater power—the
structure of the service, and dancing often occurs. The reli-
devil or God, oppression or loving-kindness.
gious service aims at a visible experiential encounter between
African-Canadian playwright Djanet Sears deals with
the suppliants and a God who provides security, dignity, and
both feminist and racial issues in her work. In 2002 Sears
freedom.
wrote and directed a powerful spectacle about a young
There has also been a close connection between African
woman struggling to see God through a veil of personal trag-
American church music and music performed for entertain-
edy. The staging incorporates dance, Caribbean and African
ment in clubs and theaters. In the commercial theater, this
choral elements, and perhaps classical Greek theater. Sears
connection has been manifest in many productions, among
reached back to Shaw for the title to this work, and, in an
them Langston Hughes’s Tambourines to Glory (1949), with
act of cultural reappropriation, named her play Adventures
gospel music by Jobe Huntley, and Black Nativity (1961),
of a Black Girl in Search of God.
as well as Vinette Carroll’s Your Arms Too Short to Box with
God (1975). Lee Breuer’s The Gospel at Colonus (1983) is a
CURRENT POSSIBILITIES. An expanding use of drama within
powerful musical with a book drawn from Sophocles’ Oedi-
liturgy itself can be expected in twenty-first-century theater.
pus at Colonus, Oedipus Rex, and Antigone. This text was
Playwrights and liturgists are turning for inspiration to the
sung, orated, and preached as if it were part of an African
dynamics of early church drama, the mystery plays, and the
American church service. Here gospel music, African Ameri-
work of Swedish theologian and playwright Olov Hartman.
can preaching, an avant-garde approach to theater, and the
The nonecclesiastical work of Brazilian director Augusto
ritual basis of Greek theater as echoed in the Sophoclean text
Boal, who breaks down distinctions between audience and
all joined to provide a glimpse of the ecstasy that a living tra-
actor as a method of working out practical solutions to op-
dition of religious theater can provide.
pressive situations, may also provide a helpful resource in fu-
ture liturgical and dramatic exploration. These approaches
CONTEMPORARY THEATER. It would be a mistake to assume
provide clues both to the enrichment of participative ritual
that religious themes are not part of the work of the major
and theater, and to the discovery of a dramatic vehicle for
playwrights of late twentieth and early twenty-first century.
the proclamation of a theology of liberation.
British playwright David Hare’s Racing Demon (1990) cri-
tiques the Church of England in a wry Shavian manner. The
play portrays how the kindly vicar of an inner city parish is
BIBLIOGRAPHY
sabotaged and ultimately ousted by the establishment and its
On the ancient connections between religious rituals and drama,
ecclesiastical allies. In a scene reminiscent of Brecht’s Galileo,
see Theodor H. Gaster’s Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama
in the Ancient Near East (New York, 1950); A. W. Pickard-
a bishop dons his vestments as he grows ever more merciless
Cambridge’s The Dramatic Festivals of Athens, 2d ed., revised
in his condemnation of the saintly but naive vicar. At the
by John Gould and D. M. Lewis (Oxford, 1968); Ritual,
heart of this play and Hare’s The Secret Rapture (1988) is the
Play, and Performance, a collection of readings edited by
question of the survival of goodness in a system of ruthless
Richard Schechner and Mady Schuman (New York, 1976);
greed and exploitation.
and Schechner’s Essays on Performance Theory, 1970–1976
(New York, 1977). The rise of European drama from liturgy
For the inchoate characters of American writer David
has been documented by Karl Young in The Drama of the
Rabe, religion seems a vague notion that has been mislaid in
Medieval Church (London, 1933), but the standard view of
the recent past. Rabe’s characters flail about in a violent, frag-
the growth of European drama solely from Christian origins
mented world at the mercy of moment and emotion. Al-
has been challenged in The Origin of the Theater: An Essay,
though they reach out for a moral authority, they find none,
by Benjamin Hunningher (New York, 1961). Indispensable
and question one another helplessly and often comically. A
for understanding how Western drama has been structured
character in Rabe’s Hurly Burly (1985) asks, “What I’m won-
to represent changing views of reality, some religious and
dering here is, you got any particularly useful, I mean, lead
some not, is The Idea of a Theater, by Francis Fergusson
on this karma stuff?” Rabe’s is a postmodern vision to which
(Princeton, 1949). For the influence of biblical thought on
even existentialism can bring no comfort. The works of
Renaissance drama, see The Sense of History in Greek and
Shakespearean Drama by Tom F. Driver (New York, 1960)
South African playwright Athol Fugard, including The Island
and Juliet Dusinberre’s Shakespeare and the Nature of
(1973) and Master Harold and the Boys (1982), create a dia-
Women, 2d ed. (New York, 1996). An analysis of develop-
logue across racial and religious barriers. His plays are a com-
ments in nineteenth- and twentieth-century drama as they
bination of righteous anger and yearning for reconciliation.
pertain to modern consciousness and its search for meaning
The vibrancy and common elements of theater and wor-
is to be found in Romantic Quest and Modern Query: A Histo-
ry of the Modern Theater by Tom F. Driver (New York,
ship in African American culture continue to produce rich
1970). The views of Paul Tillich cited above are from his
results. The playwright August Wilson brings to his work a
book The Religious Situation, translated by H. Richard Nie-
sense of spiritual continuity. Everything from African ani-
buhr (New York, 1932). European Theories of the Drama, rev.
mism, slavery, and the history of the African American
ed., edited by Barrett H. Clark (New York, 1947), is the
church appears in Wilson’s symbols in plays where the ghosts
standard sourcebook for theoretical writings about the whole
are both destructive and constructive. Wilson’s characters
of Western drama, both ancient and modern.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2478
DREAMING, THE
There is no book dealing comprehensively with religion and mod-
pies, there a low ridge the sleeping body of the emu; the red
ern drama. A good book of limited scope is The Great Pendu-
streaks on the cliff face recall the blood shed in a territorial
lum of Becoming: Images in Modern Drama, by Nelvin Vos
dispute; ghost gums stand as mute witness to where the
(Grand Rapids, Mich., 1980). See also The Making of T. S.
Lightning Brothers flashed angrily at their father Rain; the
Eliot’s Plays, by E. Martin Browne (London, 1969). Among
lush growth of the bush berries is the legacy of prudent care
reference works on modern drama, Myron Matlaw’s Modern
by two old grandmothers; the clear sweet water holes the
World Drama: An Encyclopedia (New York, 1972) is particu-
larly useful.
home of the rainbow serpent. The water holes stay sweet and
pure because the Law is followed. Sacred places, imbued with
For an overview of Peter Brook see, Between Two Silences: Talking
the power of the ancestral heroes, must be approached ac-
with Peter Brook, edited by Dale Moffitt (Dallas, 1999), and
cording to the Law laid down in the Dreamtime. The ritual
Brook’s Threads of Time: Recollections (Washington, D.C.,
work necessary to keep the Law alive is often called “busi-
1998). For the theatrical theories of Boal, Brook, and others
see, In Contact with the Gods? Directors Talk Theatre, edited
ness,” and those schooled in the Law, “business men” and
by Maria M. Delgado and Paul Heritage (Manchester, UK,
“business women.”
1996). For commentary on Brecht see, Martin Esslin, Brecht:
DREAMINGS, RELIGION, AND TOTEMISM. Tracing the gene-
The Man and his Work, rev. ed. (New York, 1971), and John
alogy of the term Dreaming or Dreamtime has been the sub-
Fuegi, The Essential Brecht (Los Angeles, 1972), as well as
Fuegi’s Brecht and Company: Sex, Politics, and the Making of
ject of a spirited exchange between Patrick Wolfe, in “On
Modern Drama (New York, 1994). Some of the ideas con-
Being Woken Up: The Dreamtime in Anthropology and in
tained in the above entry are explored more thoroughly in
Australian Settler Culture” (1996, pp. 197–224) and How-
Liberating Rites: Understanding the Transformative Power of
ard Morphy in his response, “Empiricism to Metaphysics: In
Ritual by Tom F. Driver (1997); see especially the preface
Defence of the Concept of the Dreamtime” (1996,
and Part 2: “Modalities of Performance.” For examples of li-
pp. 163–189). While it is interesting to ascertain the first
turgical drama, see Three Church Dramas by Olov Hartman,
documented usage of the term, it is perhaps more important
translated by Brita Stendahl (Philadelphia, 1966).
to consider the context within which terms such as Dream-
See also Toby Cole, ed., Playwrights on Playwriting: The Meaning
ing were being employed.
and Making of Modern Drama from Ibsen to Ionesco (New
York, 1961), and Barrett H. Clark and George Freedley,
Ronald Berndt (1987) noted:
eds., A History of Modern Drama (New York, 1947).
The basic indicator of what is (or was traditionally) re-
TOM F. DRIVER (1987)
garded as sacred, the Dreaming serves to articulate the
REX DEVERELL (2005)
main components of Aboriginal religion. Variously de-
fined, this concept has its own identifying terms among
differing Aboriginal groups: alcheringa (Aranda),
djugurba (Western Desert), bugari (La Grange), ungud
DREAMING, THE. If one asks: Why do you call out
(Ungarinyin), djumanggani (eastern Kimberley), won-
before approaching a sacred site? Why do you sweep the
gar (northeastern Arnhem Land), and so on. Such
paths clean the first time you visit the camping site of a de-
words are not necessarily translatable, but nearly all of
ceased relative? Why do you click your fingers to move rain
them refer in one sense to a category of actions and
things, mythic beings, natural species and elements, and
clouds? Why does the hunter not get the best part of the
human or human-type characters of the far distant past,
catch? Why do you never look directly at or speak to your
the creative era, or the beginning. In addition, however,
mother-in-law? Why do you marry a classificatory matri-
they imply a condition of timelessness. They do not
lateral cross-cousin? Why do you kill an iguana by hitting
refer only to the past as such but to the past in the pres-
it behind the ear? Why is the baby carrier rubbed with red
ent and into the future—a past that is believed to be
ochre? Why do you always ask a particular relative if you can
eternally relevant to all living things, including human
go to a certain place to hunt or gather? The first answer will
beings. (pp. 479–480)
most likely be, “because that’s the Law,” or “that’s the
For the most part, the observers and recorders in the
Dreaming.”
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reluctant to
Although Aboriginal beliefs and practices are not consis-
call Aboriginal beliefs and practices “religion.” They were
tent across the Australian continent, at the core is the con-
more comfortable with concepts of “magic” and “supersti-
cept of the Dreaming, a moral code that informs and unites
tion.” In his 1962 article (reprinted in 1979) Stanner traced
all life. The dogma of Dreaming states that all the world is
the resistance to the idea that Indigenous Australians had
known and can be classified within the taxonomy created by
what might properly be called “religion.” Skeptical and dog-
the ancestral heroes whose pioneering travels gave form,
matic pronouncements held sway. The blindness, he argued,
shape, and meaning to the land, seas, and skies in a long-ago
was not that the men would not see but rather that the idea
creative era that W. E. H. Stanner, in his classic 1962 article
of religion without God, without creed or priests, “was or-
“Religion, Totemism, and Symbolisim,” called the “found-
ganic with the European mind of the day” (1979, p. 108).
ing drama” (Stanner, 1979, pp. 113–114). Here a rocky out-
In 1915, in The Elementary Form of the Religious Life, Émile
crop indicates the place where the ancestral dog had her pup-
Durkheim would write of the profoundly religious character
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DREAMING, THE
2479
of Aboriginal culture, and it is this notion in part that Stan-
Territory) Act, 1976, the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander
ner explores in his sketch of positive characteristics of Ab-
Heritage Protection Act, 1984, and the Native Title Act, 1993,
original religion. First, the world was full of signs of intent;
that Aboriginal voices have been given primacy in defining
second, at its best religion put a high worth on the human
their relationships to land and their Dreamings. However,
person; third, it magnified the value of life by making its con-
the constraints of the Australian law that seeks to “recognize”
servation and renewal into a cult; fourth, it privileged the
traditional ties to land specifies that to be granted title to the
spiritual over that material domain; fifth, it was a discipline
land of their ancestors, the claimants must meet the criteria
that subdued egotistical man to a sacred continuing purpose;
of traditional ownership enshrined in legislation. What has
sixth, the religious philosophy entailed assent to life’s terms;
happened is that a once-dynamic, negotiable, accommodat-
and lastly, the use of symbolism in major cults inculcated a
ing, and integrative set of beliefs and practices has been ren-
sense of mystery (1979, pp. 113–114).
dered static by statute. The assertion by indigenous Austra-
Stanner’s article also explored the notion of “totemism.”
lians that their Law remains unchanged has been taken as a
He argued:
lived reality by Anglo law, and those who cannot measure
up to early written records are deemed to have “lost” their
What is meant by Totemism in Aboriginal Australia is
culture or to have fabricated it. For a number of reason, ac-
always a mystical connection, expressed by symbolic de-
counts of the Dreaming were not recorded by nineteenth-
vices and maintained by rules, between living persons,
and early twentieth-century observers and when recorded
whether as individuals or as groups or as stocks, and
were presented as myths and “just so” stories rather than un-
other existents—their “totems”—within an ontology of
derstood as religion.
life that in Aboriginal understanding depends for order
and continuity on maintaining the identities ad associa-
In a central Australian land claim brought by the Kaytej,
tions which exemplify the connection. (1979, p. 128)
Warlpiri, and Warlmanpa in 1981, three women, Nampijin-
In 1933 A. P. Elkin proposed a threefold classification of in-
pa, Napurrula, and Nungarrayi, cooperated in explaining
dividual totem, social totem, and cult totem. Stanner looked
about their Dreamings, or Yawakayi (meaning bush berry),
at four modes of acquiring a totem—dream, conceptual, au-
in the country of Waake and Wakulpu, southwest of Ten-
gury, and descent-affiliative, but admitted that there was no
nant Creek (Transcript of Evidence, pp. 175–191). The wit-
satisfactory classification and much research was yet to be
nesses were careful to locate the Dreamings in place and in
done.
relationship to each other and to themselves. Their conversa-
tional style draws the audience into this account of the
The Ngarrindjeri of the lower Murray River translate
founding drama, and the repetition underscores the moral
their word ngatji as totem and explain its significance as
lessons being imparted. They were there to bear witness to
“friend, countryman, and protector.” Ngatji bring messages
the fact that none had ventured onto the territory or knowl-
and reassurance that the land is indeed alive and “full of signs
edge of another. Although the narrators mention secrets of
of intent.” In central Australia ceremonial participants refer
the Dreamings, the story has been told in a public context
to ritual paraphernalia representing sacred places and
and may be shared with persons not bound by the Law.
Dreamings by kin terms. In this region Aborigines trace their
relationship to the land through both mother’s father and fa-
Yawakayi comes from Waake and went to visit his
ther’s father. Other considerations are also important. Some
brother as Wakulpu, the other one comes from Yangan-
are specific and individualistic, such as the place where one’s
pali [Wauchope]. He stopped at the soakages along the
forebears are buried and the place where one was born and
way . . . at Warnku, he was just sitting in the shade
conceived. The latter is usually reckoned by the first sensa-
. . . There is a creek there . . . Then he got up and
went straight to Wakulpu . . . The one from Waake,
tion of movement felt by the mother-to-be, the quickening
he stopped at Jajilpernange, Wulpuje. His brother at
around the sixteenth week of pregnancy. Both birth and con-
Wakulpu told him to go straight back. There was one
ception sites are open to a degree of manipulation in that one
Yawakayi who was sitting by himself at Wakulpu. He
can plan to be in a particular area when a birth is imminent,
was sitting by himself. His name was Amberanger. He
or one can choose not to acknowledge a pregnancy until near
was the oldest brother. That is his secret name. That is
a site with which one would like to have one’s child associat-
the Dreaming’s own name. The other Yawakayi came
ed. Other considerations are more general and community
and was asking this one. “Nambinyindu?” which
based, centering on ties of kinship and ritual sharing or ex-
means, “What name are you?” “I am food, I am vegeta-
change. People also have sentimental ties to the places where
ble food. What about you?” He refused to answer. He
they worked and lived. These are the places they know, and
made a sign which means, “I don’t know. I don’t want
in Aboriginal society it is only with knowledge of the ways
to let on.” “I said mine. I’m hungry.” What they were
of the land that one may assert a right to use that land and
doing [Napurrula explained], is calling each other’s se-
cret names. Another name was Yarrirnti. “You can be
tell the stories of the Dreaming.
Yarrirnti,” he answered. “What about you?” He then
BEARING WITNESS. It is only since the late 1970s, with the
said, “I am Wakuwarlpa” which is a fruit like yawakayi.
presentation of evidence from Aboriginal witnesses in land
These two Yawakayi were asking each’s secret names
claims brought under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern
and also for secret places that they held [Napurrula ex-
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2480
DREAMING, THE
plained]. That is all, and then he went back—the one
continuance of the Law. The Law binds people, flora, fauna,
who was visiting from Wakulpu . . . to Waake . . .
and natural phenomena into one enormous interfunctional
back to Waake. The one who was at Wakulpu stayed
world. It is the responsibility of the living to give form and
living there permanently. He stayed there and that is it
substance to this heritage in their daily routines and their cer-
. . . and the one who came from Wauchope . . . he
emonial practices; to keep the Law, to visit the sites, to use
was staying there, where that house, that hotel at
the country, and to enjoy its bounty. It is in the living out
Wauchope is. He went from there, from Wauchope, he
of the Dreamtime heritage, particularly in the ceremonial
went to Warnku from Wauchope. He went from
Warnku where there is a swamp and he slept there, at
domain, that we see how the past is negotiated in the present,
Wirlilunku. That is the name of the swamp where the
how men and women position themselves vis-à-vis each
Dreaming camped . . . then he went in at Wakuplu for
other and vis-à-vis the Law. The common core of knowledge
ever. He entered the ground. The soakages of Wakulpu,
of the Dreamtime concerns knowledge of ancestral activities
Kirlartakurlangu. Wirlilunku, a swamp, Jarnapajinijini,
(the major sites and their Dreaming affiliations), the rights
Amarralungku, Martunkunya, Kungku, Alajiyte, Ku-
of the living descendents, and the responsibilities of the ritual
nanyirre, all Yawakayi places.
bosses of the particular business. It is a structural grid onto
The women continued to name the places the Dreaming vis-
which people, place, and relatedness are mapped.
ited, but as they neared the boundary of their country, one
It is through ceremonial activity that men and women
said, “Stop there. We’re getting too close to someone else’s
give form to their distinctive interpretation of the heritage.
country.”
Thus, although the dogma of Dreaming states that the Law
What were the responsibilities of these women as the de-
continues unchanged and immutable, the living shape and
scendents of these Dreamings? Nungarrayi explained:
negotiate beliefs and practices. In most parts of Australia
We do that yawulyu for Wakulpu all the time. We make
there is a taboo on calling the names of the dead. When an
the country good . . . for fruit. So it will grow up well,
important ceremonial leader dies, songs, designs, place
so we can make it green, so that we can hold the Law
names, and ritual paraphernalia associated with him or her
forever. My father told me to hold it always this way.
will also become taboo. This knowledge will eventually come
So I go on holding yawulyu for the country. . . .
back into circulation through the dream of a person who
Sometime we dance, man and women together . . .
stands in the right relationship to the songs, dances, and
For Wakulpu. So we can “catch him up,” “hold him
places to be able to carry on the Law.
up.”
Knowledge of the Dreamings is passed down the gener-
In an oral culture the Law can be given meaning only
ations through song, ceremony, and ritual designs and
through the expressions of the living. As long as one has con-
through being in the country of one’s ancestors. When it is
tact with the land and control over sacred sites, the Dream-
shared, the correct people must be present to make sure the
time, as an ever present, all-encompassing Law, can be assert-
Law is followed and to bear witness should any challenge as
ed to be a reality. But land, as the central tablet, the sacred
to the propriety of ceremonies arise.
text, is no longer under Aboriginal control across the coun-
D
try. Accounts of the Dreaming reflect these altered circum-
REAMINGS AND ART. It is partly through the growing pop-
ularity of Aboriginal art and endeavors such as the exhibit
stances, and in the accounts of contact with the colonizers
entitled Dreamings at the Asia Society in New York in 1987
and the changing use of land, Indigenous Australians have
that the concept of the Dreamings has reached an interna-
attempted to contain the changes, to assimilate the intruders,
tional audience. There is a long tradition of illustrating Ab-
and thus make them amenable to their law. The narratives
original Dreamtime stories for a popular audience such as
of travels through the country of the ancestors, of family, and
The Dreamtime: Australian Aboriginal Myths in Paintings by
of outsiders now meld details of the ruptures in relations to
Ainslie Roberts with text by Charles P. Mountford. This and
the Dreamings and to country with those of continuing con-
similar collections of “myths and legends” pandered to Anglo
nectedness asserted with the past.
sensibilities rather than reflecting Indigenous storytelling
Although each song, dance, and design bears the stamp
modes. But now Indigenous artists are speaking directly to
of its finder, the dogma of Dreaming that entails this neces-
their audiences. In Kuruwarri: Yuendumu Doors Dreaming
sary and continuous process of reinvention ensures that only
stories referring to more than two hundred sites are presented
one person may claim to be an individually inspired creator:
in Warlpiri and English. The 1983 project involved five art-
Living persons may only assert and reaffirm the law and act
ists painting thirty doors at the Yuendumu settlement school
as the custodians of knowledge of the Dreaming. The process
with Dreaming designs. They negotiated the content with
of reinvention is necessary because of the taboos on a per-
other Warlpiri men and women who also collectively owned
son’s property at death. It is continuous because the Dream-
the designs. Their goal was to teach their children, but the
ings must be shown to have continuity and people to have
doors, now unhinged, are owned by the South Australian
access to that power. Renewal depends on access to country.
Museum and have traveled widely.
Over the generations a song that referred to a specific inci-
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY. The Law is inscribed on the
dent will become shrouded in oblique references, intelligible
land and encoded in relationships that are testimony to the
only to the contemporaries of the person depicted in the song
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DREAMING, THE
2481
or design. However, once the reference is no longer to a par-
Several Dreamings are associated with the opening on
ticular person but to a subsection, the song becomes part of
the Murray River mouth to the sea. In one, Thukapi, a preg-
a more general repertoire of ancestral activity in the area. Ul-
nant turtle, looking for a place to lay her eggs, drags her
timately, it will concern the ancestors themselves. In Daugh-
swollen body to the sea and pushes open a channel for the
ters of the Dreaming Diane Bell traces the way in which a song
river waters to flow into the sea. In another complex of sto-
that began as a reference to a specific event becomes assimi-
ries, the creative hero Ngurunderi creates the landscape. The
lated into the general body of Dreaming activity (2002,
actual location of the Murray mouth does shift, silt up, and
pp. 92–94).
change shape. The multiplicity of myths reflects the chang-
ing nature of the land itself.
Fred Myers (1986, pp. 64–68), writing of the Pintupi
of central Australia, describes the process of deductive rea-
At one level the Dreaming is an era shrouded in the
soning by which landscape is assimilated to narrative struc-
mists of time from which people claim to be descended with-
ture and the underlying impulse to find explanations within
out actually tracing the links. Information concerning past
the framework of known stories for anomalous formations
generations is difficult to locate on a chronological scale be-
is satisfied. Ian Keen (1994, pp. 296–297), writing of the
cause there is a taboo on calling the names of the dead. This
Yolngu of Arnhem Land, a people whose stories have become
is often given as a reason for the shallowness of genealogies,
the standard references in the study of religion, points out,
patrilines, matrilines, and so on. Such an explanation is tau-
“Yolngu assimilated introduced ritual forms to their own
tological. It is more pertinent to recognize that the remem-
mythology and interpreted old forms in terms of mytholo-
bering of a unique name and exact dates adds little to Aborig-
gised newcomers.” Robert Tonkinson, writing of the reli-
inal understanding and perceptions of the past. What is
gious life of the Mardudjara of the Western Desert, identifies
stressed when identifying a person, alive or dead, is their rela-
“four related aspects of its internal dynamism” (1978,
tionship to others, their Dreaming affiliations, and their ritu-
p. 113).
al associations. In this way it is possible to locate every person
as a unique individual: no two persons share exactly the same
In the southeast, where ties to land have been disrupted
social rituals and kin field. Siblings are perhaps the closest.
and knowledge of ancestral activity has been challenged, peo-
To say “our grandparents were siblings” is sufficient to bind
ple still validate Stanner’s 1962 edict: “Aborgines thought
two people as sharing the same Dreaming, rights, and re-
the world full of signs to men: they transformed the signs
sponsibilities.
into assurances of mystical providence; and they conceived
life’s design as fixed by the founding drama” (1979,
The shallowness of genealogical memory is not a form
pp. 113–114). For the Ngarrindjeri the land is still alive with
of cultural amnesia but rather a way of focusing on the basis
signs of intent, foreboding, and significance. The ngatji (to-
of all relationships—that is, the Dreaming and relationships
tems), such as Ritjuruki, the little willy wagtail bird, and
to the land. By not naming deceased relatives, people are able
Nori, the pelican, bring messages. The past is constantly
to stress a relationship directly to the Dreaming. It is not nec-
being refound and reincorporated into the present, albeit a
essary to trace back through many generations to a founding
radically altered one.
ancestor to make a claim. By stating that a person is of a cer-
tain country, usually by reference to a grandparent who was
As Keen (1994) argued, rather that trying to record
from the area, the identity of a person is known.
changes to a “traditional” order, we should “trace trajectories
Relations to country that underpin relationships be-
of transformation in relations, powers, trends, events, and
tween people are evident also in the way people refer to ritual
the forms into which people try to shape their worlds”
objects. During a ceremony it is not unusual to hear partici-
(p. 297).
pants refer to a sacred object that represents a particular an-
HISTORY AND DREAMINGS. One debate concerning the rela-
cestor, Dreaming track, or sacred site as “mother,” father,”
tionship between history and myth has been pursued with
or “aunty.”
some vigor by Steven Hemming in “River Murray Histories”
At another level the Dreaming is only two generations
(1995) and Philip Clarke in “Myth as History?” (1995) with
behind the present generation, moving concurrently with the
reference to the Ngurunderi exhibit in the South Australia
present, its heritage entrusted to the “old people,” to the de-
museum in the mid-1990s. To be sure, some narratives are
ceased grandparents. It is this aspect of the Dreaming that
grounded in history. For example one of the major creative
makes any attempt to establish an ethnographic baseline an
heroes of the Lower Murray River, Ngurunderi, is said to
uneasy enterprise. The Dreaming is not a long dead and fixed
have called out in the voice of thunder to his escaping wives.
point of reference. It is a living and accessible force in the
As they ran into the Southern Ocean, the seas rose and sepa-
lives of people today, just as it was in the past. Here, then,
rated the land from the nearby islands. The bodies of the
is the structural potential for change, the Indigenous mode
fleeing wives can be seen as the rocky islands known as The
of incorporating change within their cosmos.
Pages. If this is to read as history, the story recalls events of
6,000 to 10,000 BCE when Kangaroo Island was cut off from
Those who give form and substance to the Dreaming
the mainland and the sea rose to near present levels.
live increasingly divergent lifestyles from those envisaged as
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2482
DREAMS
correct in the Dreaming of a century or two ago. People no
Morphy, Howard. “Empiricism to Metaphysics: In Defence of the
longer live in small mobile bands but on large settlements
Concept of the Dreamtime.” In Prehistory to Politics: John
and outstations, in towns and fringe camps, on cattle stations
Mulvaney, the Humanities and the Public Intellectual, edited
(ranches), and in the cities. They no longer subsist by hunt-
by Tim Bonyhady and Tom Griffiths, pp. 163–189. Mel-
ing and gathering but have become members of the cash
bourne, 1996.
economy. People are no longer independent producers but
Myers, Fred R. Pintipu Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment. Place and
rely on wage labor and social security. New items have been
Politics Among Western Desert Aborigines. Washington, D.C.,
1986.
accommodated in the ceremonies that bring forth the
Roberts, Ainslie (illustrator), and Charles P. Mountford (text).
Dreamings. Wooden digging sticks are now metal crowbars,
The Dreamtime: Australian Aboriginal Myths in Paintings.
car springs are used as adzes. These incorporations are seam-
Adelaide. 1965.
less. Other resources can be brought under the control of the
Stanner, W. E. H. On Aboriginal Religion. Oceanic Monographs,
Dreaming law by classifying them within the subsection sys-
No. 11, Sydney, 1966.
tem. Thus, one’s car may be known as a particular relative
Stanner, W. E. H. “Religion, Totemism, and Symbolism.” In
and be painted for ceremony with Dreaming motifs. Even
White Man Got No Dreaming, pp. 106–143. Canberra,
residence in a new territory can eventually be legitimated
1979.
once evidence is found of Dreamtime activity in the locality.
Tonkinson, Robert. The Mardudjara Aborigines. New York, 1978.
Being born on the country, even if it is not that of one’s
Transcript of Evidence. “Kaytej, Warlpiri and Warlmanpa Land
grandparents, confers some rights that will strengthen over
Claim.” Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act,
several generations of residence, births, and burials in an
1976, 1981.
area. The Law is not challenged by certain changes, but oth-
Warlukurlangu Artists. Kuruwarri: Yuendumu Doors. Canberra,
ers such as alcohol present significant problems.
1992.
The twin notions of an ideologically fixed universe and
Wolfe, Patrick. “On Being Woken Up: The Dreamtime in An-
a structural potential for change through actual behavior are
thropology and in Australian Settler Culture.” In Prehistory
not irreconcilable rather; they allow one to maintain a secure
to Politics: John Mulvaney, the Humanities and the Public In-
position known to be underpinned by the Law while leaving
tellectual, edited by Tim Bonyhady and Tom Griffiths,
room to respond within particular constraints. Stanner
pp. 197–224. Melbourne, 1996.
(1966, p. 169) put it well when he wrote, “They attained sta-
DIANE BELL (2005)
bility but avoided inertia.” It is possible to establish how life
ought to be lived and to be relatively certain that in these val-
ues there is continuity with the past. It is somewhat more
DREAMS. The category of dreams designates both sleep-
difficult to determine what is or was the actual behavioral
ing and imaginal states of consciousness together with wak-
content of the Law as applied or acted upon in any given sit-
ing descriptions and other representations of these states.
uation, unless one has actual documented observations.
Sleeping consciousness includes healing dreams, prophetic
dreams, archetypal dreams, nightmares, and lucid dreams.
SEE ALSO Australian Indigenous Religions, overview article;
Imaginal consciousness includes guided fantasies known as
Ecology and Religion, article on Ecology and Indigenous
waking dreams, omens, and visions.
Traditions; Law and Religion, article on Law and Religion
in Indigenous Cultures.
Dreaming is both a sleeping and a waking experience
that is activated whenever energy flows inward toward the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
spiritual and intellectual senses rather than outward toward
Bell, Diane. Daughters of the Dreaming, 3d ed. Melbourne, 2002
the worldly and perceptual senses. When one falls into a
(originally published, 1983).
trance or falls asleep, the worldly senses vanish inside, the ev-
Berndt, Ronald M. “The Dreaming.” In Encyclopedia of Religion,
eryday mind stops functioning, and one is sleeping. After a
edited by Mircea Eliade, vol. 4, pp. 479–81. New York,
period of nothingness, the mind begins to function again,
1987.
and dreaming begins. As this happens one slowly moves from
Clarke, Philip A. “Myth as History? The Ngurunderi Dreaming
private sensations, personal memories, images, and symbols
of the Lower Murray, South Australia.” Records of the South
to transpersonal imagining as an interactive social process.
Australia Museum 28, no. 2 (1995): 143–156.
T
Durkheim, Émile. The Elementary Form of the Religious Life. New
HE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF DREAMS. From the earli-
York, 1915.
est times sleeping dreams and waking visions have been of
Elkin, A. P. Studies in Australian Totemism. New York, 1978
considerable interest to humankind. Dream narratives have
(originally published, 1933).
also been examined to learn how members of different cul-
Hemming, Steven. “River Murray Histories: Oral History, Ar-
tures categorize and use their dreams. Some researchers have
chaeology and Museum Collections.” In Work in Flux, ed-
shown both the tactical use of dreams in social interaction
ited by E. Greenwood, K. Neumann, and A. Sartori,
and the cultural influences on dream content. Others have
pp. 102–110. Melbourne, 1995.
chosen not to focus their attention on dream narratives or
Keen, Ian. Knowledge and Secrecy in an Aboriginal Religion. Ox-
social context but rather to use dreams to investigate psycho-
ford, 1994.
logical issues, such as personality and values.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DREAMS
2483
Before Sigmund Freud published The Interpretation of
choanalytic approach to dreams often combine it with an
Dreams (1900), scholars described dreams as the ultimate
ethnographic approach to the culture in order to probe both
source of religious beliefs concerning the supernatural and
the psychological and the cultural significance of dreams. Vi-
the nature of the human soul. After Freud’s book, many peo-
sionary or prophetic dreams, for example, often transform
ple followed him in separating the nature of the dream expe-
the psyche of the dreamer, and they may be a source of inspi-
rience, or the “manifest dream,” from the so-called real
ration for the founding of new religions and charismatic
meaning of the experience, which he labeled the “latent
movements as well as for triggering anticolonialist revolts.
dream.” The manifest dream content is investigated with the
Would-be prophets commonly experience revelatory dreams
help of a dreamer’s associations to the key elements in the
that underlie both their personal access to charismatic power
dream that are traced to the dreamer’s hidden or latent
and their spiritual message. Examples include the origins of
thoughts, consisting of a combination of wishes and con-
the Dream and Ghost Dances of Native North America as
flicts. The manifest dream content—though often distorted,
well as Melanesian cargo cults and Japanese new religions
disguised, or presented in metaphorical form—and the latent
(Michelson, 1923; Burridge, 1960; Fabian, 1966; Worsley,
dream content are in turn linked to a distinction between
1968; Franck, 1975; Lanternari, 1975; Stephen, 1979).
two modes of thought: primary and secondary process. Pri-
mary process consists of nonlogical symbolic imagery, where-
Freud’s hypothesis concerning type dreams states that
as secondary process is predominantly verbal and logical.
the same manifest content—for example, flying, climbing,
or the loss of a tooth—reveals identical latent meanings
A number of researchers who were interested in the
across cultures. Charles Seligman (1923) tested this idea by
cross-cultural study of dreams utilized Freudian concepts
publishing a request for British colonial officials and mis-
and methodologies. Some, however, remained skeptical and
sionaries to send him records of native dreams. He believed
tested the key hypotheses. Others ignored the approach alto-
that if type dreams of the Freudian sort were found frequent-
gether. Those who followed Freud’s psychoanalytic theories
ly in this data base, then the human unconscious was qualita-
and methods argued that similar latent contents—including
tively so alike worldwide that it constituted a common store
incestuous family attachments, sibling rivalry, anxiety about
on which fantasy might draw. His store metaphor points to
maternal separation, and fear of castration—are revealed in
the objectifying notion of dream symbolism as a simple trait
dream reports gathered in vastly different cultures. The eth-
that might be measured or weighed by colonial officials. It
nographer Anthony Wallace (1958) even described the Iro-
ignores the importance of communicative context both with-
quois of North America as having independently invented
in these cultures and in the negotiation of reality between co-
their own psychoanalytic techniques of dream interpretation.
lonial administrators and indigenous peoples. This lack of
Other researchers employed one or more of the follow-
sensitivity to the context and manner in which one conducts
ing Freudian methodologies in working with dreams:
research is also true for the Navajo research of Jackson Stew-
ard Lincoln (1935). He ignored the influence of social set-
1. eliciting associations to dream images as they are related,
ting on his own collection of dreams: transactions that took
2. focusing on an element containing a metaphorical key
place at the Black Mountain Trading Post.
to the meaning of the dream,
While Seligman and Lincoln found that similar sorts of
3. asking for the previous day’s events connected with the
dreams occurred worldwide, the Freudian premise that uni-
dream,
versal type dreams should mean the same thing everywhere
4. allowing the subject to freely associate to the dream.
they occurred was never tested empirically until Benjamin
Kilborne (1978) asked a group of Moroccan dream inter-
The ethnographer Dorothy Eggan (1966), for example, did
preters to explain the meaning of a set of fifteen dreams he
not press her Hopi consultants for the previous day’s residue
culled from Freud. Kilborne found that whereas Freud treat-
or free associations but allowed them to take the initiative
ed dream reports as analyzable structures requiring secondary
in dream telling and free association. The psychoanalyst
associations before they could be adequately interpreted,
Géza Róheim (1952), on the other hand, obtained associa-
Moroccans did not make an analyzable entity of either the
tions from Australian Aborigines for each dream episode and
dream or the context of interpretation. Thus in a woman’s
elicited personal anecdotes, myths, and songs. Because he
dream of a deep pit in a vineyard created when a tree was
was focused on the infantile wish rather than on current con-
removed, which Freud used as a classic example of a female
flicts, he suggested that an analyst need only be familiar with
castration dream, Moroccan dream interpreters focused pri-
the simple factual knowledge required to follow the manifest
marily on the pit, leaving out the tree, or else focused on the
narrative content of a dream.
tree, leaving out the pit. In the first instance the pit was de-
The psychoanalytically trained ethnographer Waud
scribed as representing a trap for the dreamer, whereas in the
Kracke (1979) disagreed with Róheim, noting that in order
second case the tree represented a good person who died.
to understand what a person’s dreams reveal about his or her
Whereas the Freudian explanation of dream symbols draws
personality it is necessary to learn the language of dreaming
on the notion of universal latent content, the Moroccan ex-
within that individual’s culture. Researchers who use a psy-
planation centers on the dreamer’s social position.
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DREAMS
Although most dream researchers chose the Freudian
terpretations of respected elders are taken seriously. Chil-
path of analysis, a few, including John Layard (1988), Vera
dren’s dreams, while they are always given the benefit of in-
Bührmann (1982), and Lawrence Petchkovsky (1984), fol-
terpretation, have little effect on adult’s actions. Other
lowed Carl Jung. The sharpest disagreement between the
societies urge their children to experience and report certain
Freudians and the Jungians centers on Freud’s hypothesis
types of culturally approved dreams and visions that help
that the manifest dream is simply a disguise of the latent
them to allay anxiety and bring them power and prestige. In
dream that embodies an infantile erotic wish. Jung (1974)
yet other cultures parents carefully monitor their children’s
argued that images in dreams reflect the structure of psycho-
dream reports lest they begin receiving nightmares. If a
logical complexes in the personal unconscious that rest upon
youngster receives such dreams, the parents do what they can
archetypal cores in the psyche and are subject to the in-
to alter them by taking the child into the mountains, where
dividuating force of the self.
they ask that person’s spirit to stay away.
Dreaming encourages a variety of attitudes and re-
The first issue in dream sharing is to categorize the
sponses: pragmatic, cognitive, and spiritual. The pragmatics
dream as to its type: good or bad, lucky or unlucky. Once
of dreaming centers on the tactical use of dreams and visions
this has been decided, a dreamer chooses whether or not to
in dream sharing, social interaction, and healing. A cognitive
tell the dream. This depends on a combination of personal
response focuses on expectations concerning the theoretical
preference and wider cultural patterns. At Zuni Pueblo in
nature of dreaming and dream interpretation systems togeth-
western New Mexico, for example, the dreams that are im-
er with the languages of dream telling. Spiritual approaches
mediately told are only those that are considered to be “bad,”
to dreaming combine symbolic, mythic, and ritual elabora-
in that dead people appear and attempt to lure the dreamer
tions of consciousness. Although these responses overlap, the
to visit the Land of the Dead (Tedlock, 1992, p. 118). The
following sections introduce them one after the other.
way Zunis prevent the completion of such nightmares is to
T
tell them while inhaling the fumes of a burning piñon
HE PRAGMATICS OF DREAMING. Deciding which dreams
to share, how, and with whom are important issues. Informal
branch, then to plant feathered prayer sticks for the ancestors
dream telling upon awakening with members of one’s imme-
asking them not to appear. If the dream is frightening, the
diate family is found in all societies. More formal public
dreamer may even ask for a ceremonial whipping at the
dream sharing, although it is far less common, also occurs
hands of a masked ancestral figure. Such whippings remove
in many places. However, the significance given to the act
the bad thoughts and turn them around, reversing their
of dream sharing, whether formal or informal, varies mark-
meaning. Good dreams, on the other hand, are not reported
edly from one society to another. In some societies people
until they have been “completed,” in other words until they
place a high value on both the personal and the public use
have come true.
of the many forms of dreaming, including waking dreams,
Among Quechua speakers in the Peruvian Andes,
lucid dreams, visions, and nightmares. In other societies
dreams are premonitory of the day’s events (Mannheim,
dreaming is regarded as insignificant and is given limited im-
1992, p. 145). If you experience a bad dream, when you get
portance or even ignored. Epistemological differences be-
out of bed in the morning you should step on the left instead
tween these attitudes toward dreaming are evident when peo-
of on the right foot. Then before telling anyone your dream,
ple relate their life stories.
you must find a young sheep or llama and recount the dream
Many Amerindian societies, for example, honor dream-
to the animal then spit in its mouth three times saying, “Dis-
ing and construct personal biographies around dreams and
appear, disappear, disappear.”
visions. The Lakota holy man Black Elk, when he first met
In China from the earliest times the nature of dreams—
his biographer John Neihardt (1932), immediately shared
whether lucky or unlucky—was considered to be determined
his power dreams with him. Likewise in Chile, when the
by the spirits (Fang and Zhang, 2000). During the Zhou
Mapuche shaman Tomasa first met Lydia Degarrod (1990),
dynasty (c. 1150–256 BCE) the emperors practiced rituals to
she shared her power dreams and visions. In northern Cali-
solicit lucky dreams and to avoid unlucky dreams. Texts con-
fornia and Oregon there were in the past, and in some cases
taining charms to help one avoid bad dreams or turn them
there remain, organized schools of shamans in which novices
into good dreams were eventually written down. The New
shared their dreams with their teachers. After listening care-
Collection Zhou Gong’s Dream Interpretations (Tang dynasty,
fully to the novices’ dreams, the teachers encouraged them
c. 618–907 CE), for example, explains that those who have
to receive specific types of dreams or visions that allowed
evil dreams should not tell anyone. When they rise in the
them to heal patients.
morning they should instead write on a piece of paper “Red
sunshine, the sun rises in the east.” If they read this charm
For Mayans in Mexico and Central America it is routine
three times and place it under their beds, the ghosts will im-
to awaken one’s spouse or other sleeping partner in the mid-
mediately flee.
dle of the night to narrate a dream (Tedlock, 1992, p. 120).
Parents also ask their children each morning about their
After a dream is categorized, it can be enacted or inter-
dreams. In most of these societies, even though there may
preted in various ways. Jungians and certain other dream
be no recognized dream interpreters, dreams and dream in-
workers regard one’s dream images as aspects of the self.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DREAMS
2485
Thus all of the symbols within a dream are “translated” into
decide whether a person was referring to an actual occurrence
words upon waking and are shared later during an analytic
or to a dream (Hermitte, 1964, p. 183). A third ethno-
session or dream-group meeting. During this period the
grapher who was editing a Tzotzil Mayan’s life story reported
dreamer, with the help of the analyst or facilitator, moves
that she found herself asking him over and over again wheth-
into the inner space of the dream and brings out or elaborates
er a particular event he was describing occurred in conscious
the dream events, often amplifying them through mythic or
waking life or in a dream while he was sleeping (Guiteras
visual similarities, rhymes, or wordplays.
Holmes, 1961, pp. 256–257).
K’iche’ Mayans handle their dreams in a similar but
During fieldwork at Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexi-
slightly different manner. Unlike Western dream enthusiasts,
co, Barbara Tedlock sometimes found it difficult to tell
Mayans do not wait for the dream to end to integrate it. In-
whether a person was narrating a nighttime dream or a wak-
stead they begin during the process of dreaming whenever
ing experience. When she asked a middle-aged man whether
an important mythic symbol appears. If they miss this oppor-
he ever had dreams that foretold the future, he answered:
tunity, they wait for a later dream when the symbol recurs
“Yes, awhile back a sheep herder found a dead rabbit, badly
in a somewhat different form. At that time the dreamer
torn up, and he cooked and ate it. Later on the man was
awakens slightly, cognitively enters the dreamscape, and in-
thrown from a burro, his foot caught in the stirrup, and he
terrogates each and every symbol as it appears, one after the
was dragged around in some rocks. When his partner found
other, so that each reveals its true nature. This practice, called
him, he was all tore up, dead” (Tedlock, 1973 field notes).
“completing the dreaming,” is similar to both Dream Yoga
Instead of narrating one of his own dream experiences,
and lucid dreaming.
this man related a waking omen. Thus although there are
DREAMING, COGNITION, AND INTERPRETATION. The di-
separate terms in the Zuni language to distinguish dreaming
chotomy between dreaming as an internal subjective reality
from the perception of omens, the fact that the rabbit was
and waking as an external objective reality, together with a
eaten in life rather than in a dream seemed to be a matter
devaluation of dreaming, is an inheritance from the ancient
of indifference to the narrator. Either way, the incident of
Greeks, most especially from Aristotle. He dismissed dreams
the rabbit portended the incident with the burro. This
as nothing but mental pictures that, like reflections in water,
blending of waking omens and sleeping dream signs into a
are not the real objects. This idea was elaborated at the end
single category of premonitions is found more generally
of the Middle Ages, when the notion of the person as having
among Amerindians.
a soul or spirit that could temporarily leave the body during
dreaming became heretical. Whereas dreaming was already
This remarkable creative potentiality of dreaming oc-
devalued within the West by the time of the emergence of
curs because dreams are a way of thinking and of organizing
naturalistic or scientific thought, it was not until the develop-
knowledge. At some level all people believe this, as is revealed
ment of Cartesian dualism in the seventeenth century that
by the common saying “I’ll have to sleep on that decision.”
dreams were firmly placed within the realm of fantasy or irra-
At the same time people often profess the belief that dreams
tional experience.
are meaningless fantasies or confused mental imaginings
with little truth value. This ambivalence arises from the edu-
It must be remembered, however, that the irreducible
cational system that teaches that only fully conscious rational
dualism of “spirit” and “matter,” which denies the common
thoughts can provide true knowledge. Nevertheless people
principle from which the terms of this duality proceed by a
also believe that irrational, or better yet nonrational, uncon-
process of polarization, was a historical development within
scious thoughts or intuitions are a sign of “genius.”
Western philosophy. A majority of the world’s peoples have
THE LANGUAGE OF DREAMING. It has been suggested that
not focused their thinking around oppositionalism and thus
dreaming is the original native tongue, a common language
have not isolated dreaming within the “unreal” realm of spir-
shared by all human beings. However, when discussing
it. Rather, it is a rationalist proposition that dreaming is
dreams, people often neglect the important fact that in any
somehow a more subjective, false, private, illusory, or tran-
given society the language or languages spoken deeply affect
sient reality than the more objective, true, public, real, or
the perception and narration of dreams. Both the structure
permanent reality of waking life.
of the language and its available vocabulary help to channel
This difference in attitudes toward dreaming is demon-
the imagination of dreamers. Thus within a number of lan-
strated by a set of interchanges between Rarámuri Indians
guages, including French, Italian, K’iche’ Mayan, and Xa-
living in northern Mexico and the ethnographer William
vante, the verb stem for dreaming is transitive, indicating
Merrill (1992). Merrill noted that he was frustrated when on
that a dreamer acts upon or “makes” something while dream-
numerous occasions people described to him incredible per-
ing. In other languages, such as English, German, Spanish,
sonal experiences but failed to mention that the events had
Zuni, Kalapalo, and Egyptian hieroglyphics, the verb stem
taken place in dreams until he specifically asked. Another re-
used to describe the process of dreaming is intransitive, indi-
searcher living in a Tzeltal Mayan community in Chiapas,
cating that dreaming is a passive state of being, that one sim-
Mexico, noted that since dream events were deeply integrat-
ply “has” or “sees” a dream. This difference underscores the
ed into conscious behavior, it was often difficult for her to
variable attention paid to dreaming as a passive observation
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2486
DREAMS
by a dreamer and dreaming as an active experience of the
Euro-Americans share this principle of dream interpretation
dreamer’s soul, psyche, or self.
with people living in faraway, exotic places.
In dream telling a dreamer’s source of knowledge or au-
This underlying sameness in human cognition is also
thority as a narrator is also marked grammatically. Wherever
stressed within structuralism. A structural approach to
dreaming is conceived as involving the actions of the soul
dreaming demonstrates that dreams, like myths, constitute
rather than of the dreamer’s ego, third-person singular forms
a set of systematic transformations of a single structure con-
are used. Epistemological concern with a dreamer’s source
sisting of a set of oppositions representing a dilemma or con-
of knowledge or authority is often marked grammatically.
flict facing a dreamer. Philippe Descola (1989), in research
On the Northwest Coast of Canada Kwakiutl speakers use
among Jivaroan people in South America, found that the in-
a suffix that indicates that the action of the verb occurred in
dividual unconscious and the collective unconscious are re-
a dream. There is also another suffix meaning apparently,
lated less by contiguity or universal archetypes than by use
seemingly, and it seems like as well as in a dream. Since these
of encoding devices for the diversity of reality within elemen-
two suffixes include adverbial and conjunctional ideas pos-
tary systems of relationships. He noted that, like structual-
sessing a strong subjective element, they are categorized as
ists, indigenous dream interpreters emphasize the logical op-
word suffixes and are placed in a single classification express-
erations through which symbols are connected and suggests
ing the sources of subjective knowledge. As a grammatical
that a comparative grammar of dreams is needed that might
category these suffixes indicating events known only indi-
elucidate how various cultures choose and combine a set of
rectly have been classified by linguists as evidentials. There
rules or codes for dream interpretation.
are several kinds of evidentials—tense particles, adverbs, and
The turn away from treating non-Western dreams as to-
quotatives—that require the speaker to adopt a particular
tally other, fully knowable objects to be gathered, analyzed,
stance toward the truth value of an utterance.
tabulated, and compared with Western dreams toward pay-
The use of evidentials demonstrates major epistemologi-
ing attention to the problematics of dream communication
cal differences among various traditions. In a number of cul-
and interpretation worldwide has occurred within anthro-
tures report forms consisting of verbs as well as particles indi-
pology for several reasons. First, ethnographers came to dis-
cate that the preceding or following utterance is an
trust survey research in which “data” is gathered for the pur-
animation of the speech of a deity, ancestor, or other super-
pose of testing Western theories concerning universals in
natural. In these examples there is no distinction, as there is
human psychology. Cross-cultural content analysis, in which
in English, between direct discourse that is faithful to the
statistical assertions about dream patterns within particular
wording and indirect discourse that is faithful to the mean-
ethnic groups or genders were the goal, have been critiqued
ing. Instead, for many peoples there appears to be an irreduc-
by anthropologists. There are several reasons for this, includ-
ible dialectic between linguistic structure, practice, and ideol-
ing the fact that sample surveys aggregate respondents who
ogy. It also reveals the existence of separate dream
are deeply distrustful of the researcher with those who are
interpretation codes for lay dreamers and professional dream
not, as if suspicion made no difference whatsoever in the va-
interpreters within the same society. Only people who have
lidity of their replies. Further, a comparativist focus on the
been trained as dream interpreters use the quotative.
extractable contents, underlying structure, or cognitive
grammar of a dream report not only omits important phe-
Psychologists of both psychoanalytic and cognitive
nomena, such as pacing, tones of voice, gestures, and audi-
bents have read anthropology to compare the dreams of pre-
ence responses, that accompany dream narrative perfor-
literate, tribal, traditional, or peasant peoples with their own
mances but is also an expression of the culture of alphabetic
findings concerning the dreams of literate, urban, modern,
literacy and thus is culture-bound.
or industrial peoples. This dichotomy, however, denies peo-
Another reason for the abandonment of content analysis
ple living in other cultures contemporaneity with industrial
by most anthropologists is their formal training in linguistics,
peoples. Instead of using typological time to create and set
which encourages them to reject the basic assumption of ag-
off an object of study, such as “tribal dreaming,” cultural an-
gregate statistical research, namely that meaning resides
thropologists have become interested in intersubjective time
within single words rather than within their contexts. Fur-
in which all of the participants involved are coeval or share
thermore dream symbols taken in isolation can be misleading
the same time. This focus on communicative processes
if the researcher has not spent sufficient time observing and
among people living in the same time but in vastly different
interacting within the culture in order to make sense of local
cultures demands that coevalness not only be created and
knowledge and produce a “thick description” of that culture.
maintained in the field but also that it is carried over during
Rather than interpreting the language of dream narratives in
the write-up process. Robert Dentan (1986), while discuss-
semantico-referential, context-independent terms, it is more
ing the principle of contraries in which dreams indicate the
appropriate to utilize context-dependent or pragmatic
opposite of what they seem, noted that practitioners of this
meaning.
type of dream interpretation include such widely separated
peoples as Ashanti, Malays, Maori, Semai, Zulu, Polish
Because of these considerations, researchers no longer
American schoolgirls, and psychoanalysts. In other words
set out to elicit dream reports as ethnographic objects to 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
DREAMS
2487
used primarily as raw data for comparative hypotheses. In-
ture of the communal dream sharing and interpreting system
stead, since the attitudes toward and beliefs about dreams
that allowed the combination of elements from different in-
held by a people reveal important aspects of their worldviews,
dividual’s dreams to be related through intertextual and con-
constructing a detailed ethnography of dreaming has become
textual analysis.
an important research goal. Ethnographers tape-record and
During her research among Australian Aboriginal peo-
transcribe verbatim dream narratives along with dreamers’
ples, Sylvie Poirier (2003) found that dreaming was closely
interpretations. The method of ethnographic semantics, in
intertwined with religious beliefs. In Western Australia, for
which direct and formal questioning is used, may also be ap-
example, dreams represent the privileged space-time of in-
plied to ascertain how members of a particular linguistic
creased receptivity among individuals, the environment, and
group categorize their dreams. The goals of this methodology
the ancestral world. Through studying local epistemology,
are to produce a taxonomic system of types of dreams, good,
she found that not only was the interpretation of dreams
bad, true, false, and to reveal native dream theory and tech-
open to multiple readings depending on context but that
niques of dream interpretation.
dream experience was also a primary step in the social con-
This combination of linguistic and ethnographic meth-
struction of the person. This sensitivity to the crucial impor-
odologies, applied within different domains, particularly
tance of the social and cultural context in understanding and
suits contemporary cultural anthropology, which requires re-
interpreting dreams has been elaborated by historians of reli-
searchers to enter the field for extended periods of time with
gion to include the integration of dream interpretation into
broad sets of research interests. By living in the community
the culture’s ontological and semiotic maps and the further
they learn the local language as well as how to interact appro-
integration of dream theory into culturally specific notions
priately, and they are present for various formal and informal
of personality and economies of consciousness, so that
social dramas. Sooner or later they are present when a dream
dreaming can be seen in the context of metapsychology
is narrated within a family or to a practicing shaman or other
(Shulman and Stroumsa, 1999, p. 7).
dream interpreter. If this event attracts their attention, they
By studying dream sharing and the transmission of
make notes about it in their field journals, and they may later
dream theories in their full social contexts as communicative
record other such occurrences on audio- or videotape. Once
and integrative events, including the natural dialogical inter-
they have translated their texts, they may ask the narrator,
actions that take place within these events, scholars have real-
who may or may not be the dreamer, questions about the
ized that both the researcher and those who are researched
meaning, significance, and use of the dream account.
are engaged in the creation of a social reality that implicates
This shift in research strategy from eliciting dozens of
both of them. Although ethnographers have long subscribed
dreams as fixed objects to studying naturally occurring situa-
to the method of participant observation, it still comes as a
tions, such as dream sharing, representation, and interpreta-
shock when they discover how important their participation
tion, is part of a larger movement within the human sciences
is in helping to create what they are studying. Gilbert Herdt
in which there has been a growing interest in analyses fo-
(1992) reported his surprise at discovering the therapeutic
cused on practice, interaction, dialogue, experience, and per-
dimension of his role in New Guinea as a sympathetic listen-
formance together with the individual agents, actors, per-
er to his key consultant, who shared with him erotic dreams
sons, selves, and subjects of all this activity. A number of new
that the consultant could not communicate to anyone within
books in the human sciences display this shift from a focus
his own society.
on the dream as an object to the social context surrounding
Likewise the importance of the psychodynamic process
both the personal experience and cultural uses of dreaming
of transference, or the bringing of past experiences into a cur-
(Dombeck, 1991; Parman, 1991; JDedrej and Shaw, 1992;
rent situation with the result that the present is unconscious-
Tedlock, 1992; Shulman and Stroumsa, 1999; Young, 1999;
ly experienced as though it were the past, has only recently
Lohmann, 2003).
been fully realized and described for anthropology. Waud
DREAM SHARING. Lydia Degarrod (1990) recorded the ma-
Kracke (1979), during his fieldwork with the Kagwahiv Indi-
jority of her subjects’ dreams within a natural setting rather
ans of Brazil, kept a diary containing his personal reactions,
than by arranging formal interviews. During her research in
dreams, and associations. In an essay discussing these field
southern Chile with the Mapuche Indians, she gathered
responses, Kracke not only analyzed his personal transference
dreams and interpretations from members of two families
of his own family relationships to certain key Kagwahiv indi-
who were coping with serious stress caused by witchcraft and
viduals but also his cultural transference of American values
illness. Through dream sharing and interpreting, the afflicted
to Kagwahiv behavior patterns.
members of the families were able to express their anxieties
THE SPIRITUALITY OF DREAMING. Throughout history hu-
and externalize their illness, and other family members were
mans have perceived the visible world of daily living as con-
able to participate in the healing of their loved ones. Degar-
taining an invisible essence or world of the imagination that
rod hypothesized that these types of family interventions
manifests in sacred places. This may be located above, below,
were possible due to the general belief that dreams facilitate
behind, or alongside of the everyday waking world. Melane-
communication with supernatural beings and due to the na-
sians picture a magical underground mirror world, in Celtic
E N C Y C L O P E D I 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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DREAMS
myths the Otherworld lies somewhere in the west, entered
After I awoke the song was singing in my voice box.
through lakes or caves, and in Korean shamanism it lies just
Then I myself tried, tried to sing, and amazingly the
across a river from the everyday world. During dreaming,
song turned out to be beautiful. I have remembered it
human spirits leave the body and wander in these mythic
ever since. (Tedlock, 1972 speech to the New School)
realms, meeting and engaging with other spirits.
In Myanmar (formerly Burma) a young woman dreamed re-
Dreams are perceived as an experience of the shadow,
peatedly of a spirit suitor in human form. After sharing her
spirit, or soul. As such they are fertile ground for reflection,
dreams with her friends, she was encouraged by them to sym-
spiritual growth, and prophecy. Insights derived from
bolically wed him. As an orchestra played, she performed a
dreams have challenged people to deepen and refine their un-
special dance and then entered a screened-off area where a
derstandings of the sacred. The process of dreaming lies at
group of women shamans waited. One of them moved a mir-
the heart of shamanism and those religions such as Daoism
ror back and forth in front of her face, hypnotizing her, while
and Buddhism that have long intermingled with shamanism.
pressing another mirror against her back. A second woman
shaman attached cotton strings to her ankles and wrists,
In shamanic cultures dreams allow increased receptivity
placed a longer cord diagonally across her shoulders, and
among persons, ancestors, animals, and indeed the entire
pierced her hair knot with a needle to which a cotton string
natural world. The visible entities that surround one—rocks,
was attached. As the young woman drifted into sleep, she be-
persons, animals, trees, leaves—are crystallizations of con-
came both the wife of the spirit and an initiated shaman.
scious awareness. The invisible medium between such enti-
From this point onward she was not only in love with and
ties is a dreamlike realm from which all conscious forms
loved by her spiritual spouse, but she also was able to trans-
emerge. In a number of traditions the rainbow is the outside
form herself into his spirit double through appropriate dress
edge of dreaming, a place where the invisible potentials be-
and dance gestures (Spiro, 1967, p. 322).
come manifest, and flashes of lightning are discharges from
the depth of dreaming. It is through the nightly experience
Within Buddhist nations, such as Myanmar, Mongolia,
of dreaming that shamans learn to connect themselves to the
and Tibet, there are both clerical (written) and shamanic
cosmos in order to gain knowledge and power.
(oral) spiritual traditions. Whereas each accepts dreams as
spiritually meaningful, the clerical tradition, in which
This shamanic approach toward dreaming is highly de-
dreaming is primarily used as an aid to achieving enlighten-
veloped in hunting-and-gathering societies. When a hunter
ment, holds that dreams are examples of the empty and illu-
falls asleep, the spirit detaches itself from the body, tracks
sory nature of this world. In the shamanic tradition dreaming
and catches a prey animal. The following morning the awak-
leads directly to the esoteric practice of Yoga or lucid dream-
ened dreamer goes into the forest to the dream place and gets
ing, both of which involve cultivating and controlling one’s
his or her prey. In far northern Canada hunters explain this
dreams. Tibetan dream practice combines indigenous sha-
ability to communicate with and influence animals as the
manic beliefs about the spiritual power of dreams with the
spiritual practice of “deep hope.” They envision this form of
Buddhist goal of enlightenment (Young, 1999).
dreaming as learning how to untie or lay out a straight men-
tal-spiritual path to the goal of getting meat. In yet another
LUCID DREAMING. Within many spiritual traditions the key
form of dream hunting a person develops an amorous dream
moment of lucidity is described as the result of an interior
alliance with a forest spirit who becomes his or her hunting
dialogue or imaginal conversation between different parts of
guide. The spirit falls in love with the dreamer, visiting often
the self, psyche, or soul. The dreamer is simultaneously cog-
in dreams, and enjoys intercourse with the dreamer. This in-
nizant of being asleep and removed from the external world
timate relationship eventually turns the dreamer into a suc-
and of being awake and receptive to the inner world. At this
cessful hunter. A third type of dreaming involves spirit ani-
crossover point between sleeping and waking there are often
mals who visit hunters and “sing through them” while they
complex synesthesias—visual, auditory, and tactile—as the
are sleeping, granting them special songs that ensure their
lucid dream emerges from the dream landscape. This new el-
later success in hunting. These types of power dreams are
ement, which interrupts the imagery and narrative flow of
sources of spiritual entities, such as divine partners or
an ongoing dream, fuses dreamer to dreamscape in such a
spouses, attending spirits, companion animals, co-essences,
way that it may be experienced as fearful or joyful.
or spirit doubles.
Several methods for achieving lucidity while dreaming
Worldwide there is a close connection between dream-
are described in the autobiography of the well-known
ing and shamanic initiation. Essie Parrish, a famous Kashaya
Cahuilla shaman Ruby Modesto (Modesto and Mount,
Pomo shaman from northern California, told Tedlock one
1980). This remarkable woman spent her adult life as an
of her earliest power dreams. She was eleven years old at the
herb doctor, spiritual healer, and midwife within her home
time she was selected to serve her people as a healing shaman.
community outside Palm Springs. She explained that direct-
As I lay asleep, a dream came to me. I heard a man sing-
ing the course of dreaming, or what is called in her tradition
ing way up in the sky. It was as if the singing entered
“setting up dreaming,” was the most important spiritual
deep into my chest, as if the song itself were singing in
practice within her culture. It had been actively sought, used,
my voice box. Then it seemed as if I could see the man.
and taught for generations by shamanic healers.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DREAMS
2489
DREAMS AND PROPHECY. In monotheistic religions, such as
Robert Desjarlais (1991), during his fieldwork in Nepal
Judaism and Christianity, dreaming is closely related to pro-
with the Yolmo Sherpa, noted a large degree of agreement
phetic traditions. The prophet Muh:ammad was chosen for
among individuals concerning the meaning of dream imag-
his mission late in his life, when the angel Gabriel appeared
ery and found an implicit dictionary of dream symbolism
to him in a dream. The Old Testament records the prophetic
that individuals relied upon most frequently in times of
dreams of Joseph, the son of Jacob (Gn. 37:5–11), and in
physical or spiritual distress. In this dream interpretation sys-
the New Testament both the Magi and Mary’s husband Jo-
tem the experience of dreaming is believed to have a close,
seph are warned in dreams to beware of King Herod. The
even causal connection with the future life of the dreamer.
Magi are warned to return to their country by another route,
This principle is also found in many other cultures. Howev-
whereas Joseph is told “take the child and his mother and
er, such interpretations are often provisional. Not all people
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going
in a given society place their faith in them, and in some socie-
to search for the child to kill him” (Mt. 2:13).
ties only certain individuals are believed to be able to experi-
A widespread type of prophetic dream is the conception
ence prophetic or precognitive dreams. Researchers who have
dream that parents experience shortly before the birth of ex-
undertaken substantial fieldwork within American society
traordinary children. Stories about the birth of Christian and
have found that middle-class dreamers also admit to having
Muslim saints contain many such dreams, which are believed
experienced dreams of the prophetic or precognitive sort in
to be signs of divine involvement, sometimes even actual di-
which they obtain information about future events. The
vine fathering. For example, Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus,
Western conception of dreams as predictors of misfortune
received a dream in which an angel appeared to him saying,
or success, together with the anecdotal literature on “psychic
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife,
dreams,” indicates that this form of dream interpretation is
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Mt.
far from rare in Western societies.
1:20–21). This dream proclaims Jesus’ divine origin and en-
Labeling certain dream experiences prophetic or precog-
courages Joseph to accept Mary’s child as the son of God.
nitive, however, does not explain how these and other dream
Women also have conception dreams. According to Ko-
experiences are used within a society. In order to learn about
rean Daoist beliefs, whenever heavenly spirits and those of
the use of dreaming, researchers cannot simply gather exam-
a woman’s body join together and crystallize to make a baby,
ples of different types of dreams by administering a question-
a dream emerges. One night a Korean woman dreamed that
naire but must interact intensively with local populations for
she was bathing in a stream all alone in the moonlight. “I
long periods of time. Thus whereas Desjarlais discovered an
saw a red pepper floating around me. Without thinking, I
implicit metaphorical dictionary of dream symbolism among
picked it out of the water, and woke up. Ten months later
the Sherpa early in his fieldwork, it took him some time as
I had a gentle, though obstinate, boy” (Seligson, 1989,
an apprentice shaman to learn the precise way these dream
p. 15). In the West during the Middle Ages a pregnant
symbols served as symptoms and signifiers both shaping and
woman’s dream was recorded in an eleventh-century text,
reflecting distress.
The Life of Saint Thierry. The future mother of Thierry was
Among the Navajo of the American Southwest and the
disturbed by her dreams and consulted a woman renowned
Maya of Guatemala, as people age their dreams become more
for her gift of interpreting dreams.
and more continuous with waking life, predicting, causing,
She confided her vision, first begging [the woman] to
or expressing events in the world. As a result they no longer
pray for her, so that the vision would not forecast for
clearly distinguish what they discover in dreams from what
her an unnatural event, and then begging her to tell her
they learn through direct sensory experience or from other
the meaning of the vision. After praying, invested with
people. Elders sometimes even manipulate their dream nar-
prophetic grace, [the dream interpreter] said: “Have
ratives to blur the distinction between the present and the
faith, woman, since what you have seen is a vision com-
mythological past.
ing from God.” (Schmitt, 1999, p. 277)
MYTHS AND DREAMS. Whereas dreams have been described
Conception dreams can also be experienced by a fetus while
as private, highly fluid experiences and myths as public, fixed
still inside its mother’s womb. Desert-dwelling Yuman
linguistic forms, they are actually closely related. Both myths
speakers in the American Southwest remember their earliest
and dreams have a story line that is expressive of an inner
dreams from the time they are within their mothers’ wombs
emotional-aesthetic structure together with an imagistic,
(Kroeber, 1957). These unborn souls are said to journey to
metaphor-rich tapestry of spiritual feeling. Links between
a sacred mountain, where their deceased elders give them
dream portents and the events they predict are often made
special spiritual powers. After the baby is born, he or she to-
by way of myths. Examples include Daoist practices in an-
tally forgets this prenatal journey, but dreams of the moun-
cient China as well as those of contemporary peoples living
tain reappear during adolescence. In these traditions all
in the Amazon Basin in Brazil.
songs, myths, good fortune, and in fact all knowledge itself
is derived from dreams. Thus the Mohave and other Yumans
For Daoists the appearance of a peach in a dream was
are said to interpret their culture in terms of their dreams,
an extremely favorable omen, because the Queen Mother of
rather than their dreams in terms of their culture.
the West loved peaches and invited her favorites to partake
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2490
DREAMS
of them in order to acquire immortality (Fang and Zhang,
Bührmann, M. Vera. “The Xhosa Healers of Southern Africa: A
2000). In the Amazon Basin to dream of an armadillo
Family Therapy Session with a Dream as Central Content.”
smoked out of his burrow indicates that a kinsman will die,
Journal of Analytical Psychology 27 (1982): 41–57.
because in a myth a man lures his brother-in-law into an ar-
Bulkeley, Kelly. The Wilderness of Dreams: Exploring the Religious
madillo’s home and tries to kill him there (Reid, 1978). On
Meanings of Dreams in Modern Western Culture. Albany,
the other hand, to dream of either leaf-cutter ants or a white-
N.Y., 1994. A thoughtful evaluation of the major modern
lipped peccary entering the house indicates that the person
approaches to the study of dreams.
will be killed. This is based on a set of myths in which twin
Burridge, Kenelm. Mambu: A Melanesian Millennium. London,
heroes kill their grandmother by transforming leaf-cutter
1960.
ants into poisonous spiders then create and destroy white-
Crapanzano, Vincent. “Text, Transference, and Indexicality.”
lipped peccaries with thunder sticks (Reid, 1978).
Ethos 9 (1981): 122–148.
Degarrod, Lydia N. “Coping with Stress: Dream Interpretation
As processes dreams and myths are inversions of one an-
in the Mapuche Family.” Psychiatric Journal of the University
other. Whereas dreams move from sensory imagery to verbal
of Ottawa 15 (1990): 111–116.
form, myths move from language to sensory imagery. Thus
Dentan, Robert K. “Ethnographic Considerations in the Cross-
among the Sharanahua of eastern Peru, when shamans elicit
Cultural Study of Dreaming.” In Sleep and Dreams, edited
dream reports from their patients, they typically consist of
by Jayne Gackenbach, pp. 317–358. New York, 1986.
single images, such as “peccary” or the “sun,” that simulta-
Descola, Philippe. “Head-Shrinkers versus Shrinks: Jivaroan
neously echo myths and overlap with the shamans’ categories
Dream Analysis.” Man 24 (1989): 39–45.
of songs and symptoms. These thoughts may be shared
Desjarlais, Robert. “Dreams, Divination, and Yolmo Ways of
through “representation” by talking about, drawing, paint-
Knowing.” Dreaming 1 (1991): 211–224.
ing, or describing a dream or through “presentation” by re-
Dombeck, Mary-Therese. Dreams and Professional Personhood. Al-
enacting the dream in poetry, song, and dance.
bany, N.Y., 1991.
In representational symbolism intentional reference is
Eggan, Dorothy. “Hopi Dreams in Cultural Perspective.” In The
paramount, the medium of expression is relatively automat-
Dream and Human Societies, edited by G. E. von Grune-
ic, and inductive reality is paramount. In presentational sym-
baum and Roger Caillois, pp. 237–266. Berkeley, Calif.,
1966.
bolism meaning emerges as a result of an experiential immer-
sion in the emotional patterns of the dream that is grasped
Fabian, Johannes. “Dream and Charisma: ‘Theories of Dreams’
in the Jamaa-Movement (Congo).” Anthropos 61 (1966):
intuitively. Dream workers of various kinds—prophets,
544–560.
gurus, shamans, theologians, and psychoanalysts—use a
Fang Jing Pei, and Zhang Juwen. The Interpretation of Dreams in
combination of these techniques to help dreamers engage
Chinese Culture. New York, 2000.
with the image-filled mythic world of dreaming. It has been
noted by healers that in many cultures dramatizations of
Franck, Frederick. An Encounter with Oomoto: “The Great Ori-
gin.” West Nyack, N.Y., 1975. The story of the founding
dreams are a highly effective treatment for disoriented and
of a new religion based on a woman shaman’s dreams.
alienated persons. The psychiatrist Wolfgang Jilek (1982)
Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. In Standard Edi-
observed that Northwest Coast shamans who encouraged
tion of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
their clients to perform their dreaming in public are 80 per-
London, 1900.
cent effective in healing, compared with the 30 percent effec-
Grunebaum, G. E. von, and Roger Caillois, eds. The Dream and
tive rate for psychiatrists using the private representational
Human Societies. Berkeley, Calif., 1966. A wide-ranging
techniques favored by depth psychology.
analysis of dreams within various cultures. The focus, howev-
Some Western dream workers have independently come
er, is not the culture or religion-specific perception of dreams
to a similar conclusion about the presentational power of
but rather the observation that the modern age seems to have
less need of dreams.
dreaming. They have noted that because dreams involve an
imagistic healing process, it is best if the cogitating mind
Guiteras Holmes, Calixta. Perils of the Soul: The World View of a
Tzotzil Indian. New York, 1961.
stays out of the process. Consequently many of them no lon-
ger interpret dreams but instead focus on reenacting and re-
Herdt, Gilbert. “Selfhood and Discourse in Sambia Dream Shar-
experiencing the feelings and images of the dream as fully as
ing.” In Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpre-
tations, edited by Barbara Tedlock, pp. 55–85. Santa Fe,
possible. Others take the position that the healing power of
N.Mex., 1992.
dreaming requires both experiencing, for energy, and inter-
Hermitte, M. Esther. Supernatural Power and Social Control in a
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Hunt, Harry T. The Multiplicity of Dreams: Memory, Imagination,
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E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2492
DRUIDS
of them rests exclusively on a rather small number of written
est authority. They were reported to commit to memory a
sources, which are fragmentary and difficult to interpret.
great number of verses, some of them remaining in training
This poses the fundamental question of to what extent the
for some twenty years. Yet another piece of information is
classical and early medieval statements about druids may be
provided by Pliny the Elder, according to whom the designa-
taken as an adequate reflection of historical reality.
tion “druid” was derived from the Greek name of the oak,
because the druids chose oak groves for their sacrificial rites
THE DRUIDS OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN AUTHORS. The
and held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the oak
oldest classical reference to druids may be contained in a pas-
sage written in the third century
on which it grew. Describing a druidic sacrifice, Pliny men-
CE by the philosophical
writer Diogenes Laertios. Discussing the supposition of some
tions a druid in white clothing climbing the tree and cutting
earlier writers that philosophy had its origins among the bar-
the mistletoe with a golden sickle.
barians, he mentions Persian magi, Babylonian or Assyrian
As Suetonius in his biography of the emperor Claudius
Chaldeans, Indian gymnosophists, and Celtic druids, refer-
reports, Roman citizens were forbidden to participate in the
ring to the philosophers Aristotle and Sotion of Alexandria
religion of the druids even in the time of Augustus, long be-
as his sources. If Diogenes’ identification of these sources is
fore the entire priesthood was totally banned in the middle
correct, the druids may have attracted the attention of classi-
of the first century CE. However, druids continue to be men-
cal authors as early as the fourth century BCE. However, the
tioned sporadically, and there are even some references to fe-
earliest detailed description of druids apart from this brief
male druids (who are not known from pre-Roman times) as
and somewhat doubtful reference is given in the first century
kinds of female soothsayers in the late imperial period.
BCE by the Stoic philosopher Posidonius of Apamea. His de-
scription of druids can be reconstructed in outline by com-
In evaluating this body of evidence, it should be noted
paring the statements to be found in Strabo, Diodorus
that all Greek and Latin statements about druids refer to
Siculus, and Timagenes (as cited by Ammianus Marcellinus),
Gaul in the immediately pre-Roman and Roman period, and
which are demonstrably dependent on Posidonius. In addi-
that there is virtually no information about druids in earlier
tion to these authors, there is information about druids in
times or in other Celtic-speaking regions, such as the Iberian
Julius Caesar, Pliny the Elder, and other authors writing in
Peninsula, Italy, the Balkans, and Asia Minor. Furthermore,
the imperial period.
most if not all information about pre-Roman druids is de-
monstrably contained in or derived from Caesar and Posi-
Diodorus mentions the druids in the context of his de-
donius, whereas sources from the late imperial period refer-
scription of Celtic society. He groups them together with
ring to contemporary druids may use this term in a rather
poets and soothsayers, saying that they were highly respected
loose sense meaning no more than “Gaulish soothsayer.” On
theologians and philosophers that were held responsible for
stylistic grounds, Pliny the Elder’s description of a druidic
all matters of sacrificial offerings. An allusion to his view of
sacrifice may also be considered to be based on Posidonius,
their teaching may be seen in his explanation of Celtic brav-
whose highly influential Celtic ethnography is known only
ery, which he attributes to a belief in the transmigration of
in outline. Thus, any evaluation of the evidence rests on an
souls. Strabo gives a very similar account, stating that the
estimate of the trustworthiness of two authors, Posidonius
druids were natural and moral philosophers. According to
and Julius Caesar. As regards Posidonius, it should be noted
him, the druids were considered to be most just and therefore
that his comparison of druids and Greek philosophers may
entrusted with settling both private and public disputes. The
mirror both his own philosophical turn of mind and the in-
druids’ preoccupation with natural philosophy is also men-
fluence of Greek culture on the Celts of southern Gaul,
tioned by Cicero, who differs from the other sources by as-
where he collected most of his information. As for Julius
cribing to them the pursuit of divination by means of the in-
Caesar, it seems possible that he deliberately depicted the
terpretation of signs. (Cicero, incidentally, also tells us that
druids as a worthy counterpart to the Roman pontifices pre-
the Gaulish noble Diviciacus frequently referred to by Julius
sided over by the pontifex maximus, just as he depicted the
Caesar was a druid.) To this description Ammianus Marcel-
Gaulish gods along the lines of the Roman pantheon, in
linus (referring to Timagenes) adds that the druids were or-
order to emphasize the Gauls’ adaptability to Roman civiliza-
ganized in brotherhoods, in accordance with the teaching of
tion and to stress their cultural superiority over the Germanic
Pythagoras.
tribes east of the Rhine. It is probable that the elaborate and
A more elaborate description of the druids is given by
large-scale sacrificial rites at major Gaulish sanctuaries, such
Julius Caesar, whose account concurs to a large extent with
as those of Gournay-sur-Aronde or Ribemont-sur-Ancre,
the above-mentioned writers but offers much additional in-
presuppose the existence of a specialized cult personnel, and
formation not to be found elsewhere. Caesar describes the
it stands to reason that the performance of divinatory prac-
druids as the most important social group (making no men-
tices (which may leave no archaeological traces) would also
tion of either poets or soothsayers). According to him, they
have been one of their functions. However, both Posidoni-
did not pay any taxes, had immunity from military service,
us’s view of the philosophical quality of the druids’ teaching
and were exempt from all lawsuits; organized on a national
and Julius Caesar’s account of the hierarchical and national
basis, they were presided over by a single druid with the high-
structure of their organization are somewhat open to doubt.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUMS
2493
THE DRUIDS OF MEDIEVAL IRISH LITERATURE. In looking
1697), Henry Rowlands (1655–1723), and William Stuke-
for druids in medieval Insular Celtic literature, it will be
ley (1687–1765), who popularized the idea that Stonehenge
noted that Welsh sources are completely silent on this point
and contemporary monuments were to be interpreted as
and that the oldest Irish references to druids tend to assimi-
temples of the druids. Mention should also be made of the
late the druids to pagan priests as known or, rather, imagined
Welsh antiquary Iolo Morgannwg (Edward Williams, 1747–
from biblical and apocryphal writings. (The Welsh term der-
1826), who from patriotic motives tried to demonstrate a
wydd [prophet], though superficially similar to Old Irish
continuity of tradition stretching from the pre-Christian
druí, is to be analyzed as *do-are-wid-, so that its usage does
druids to the modern Welsh poets. When, in the course of
not tell us anything about druids in the technical sense of the
the nineteenth century, Indo-European linguistics and Celtic
term.) Thus the hagiographer Muirchú in his Life of Patrick
studies came to be established as academic disciplines, great
modeled the saint’s confrontation with King Loegaire’s dru-
store was set by correspondences between the writings of
ids on the Old Testament account of Moses’s confronting
classical and medieval authors, and by real or alleged Indo-
the magicians of Pharaoh. Conversely, an Old Irish gloss on
European parallels. Especially influential have been the ideas
the New Testament calls the pharaoh’s magicians “two
of Georges Dumézil (1898–1986) and his followers, who de-
Egyptian druids.” Among the most prominent features of the
rived the druids from a prehistoric Indo-European priest-
druids in Irish literature is their association with magic.
hood that they believed was also at the base of the ancient
However, this should not be taken to reflect any genuine tra-
Indian Brahmans. More recently, however, an increased
dition, being most likely based on the medieval Christian as-
awareness of methodological problems involved in this ap-
sociation of pagan religion with the workings of demons. In
proach and substantial advances in Indo-European linguis-
fact, it may be questioned whether there are any clear recol-
tics, Celtic studies, classical philology, and prehistoric ar-
lections of pagan priests to be found in medieval Irish writ-
chaeology have helped to show the fragility of many facile
ings, as in many cases the druid appears to be depicted as a
interpretations of that written evidence which, without exag-
negative counterpart of the Christian priest. A typical exam-
geration, may be said to have generated an amount of discus-
ple of this tendency would seem to be Muirchú’s description
sion inversely proportionate to the verifiable facts.
of a contest between Saint Patrick and a pagan druid, in the
course of which both of them throw their books into a river.
SEE ALSO Celtic Religion, overview article.
Clearly, sacred writings were for the early medieval author
of this story of such paramount importance that he could not
BIBLIOGRAPHY
envisage a pagan priest doing without them. Similarly, some
Jones, Leslie Ellen. Druid, Shaman, Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Pa-
other medieval Irish narratives credit the druids with per-
ganism. Enfield Lock, UK, 1998. An account of the druids
forming ceremonies of name-giving that seem to be modeled
and modern druidic ideologies.
on the Christian baptism, presumably because medieval cler-
Kendrick, Thomas Downing. The Druids. London, 1927. A clas-
ics found it hard to believe that there should have been no
sic study which, though dated from an archaeological
pagan equivalent of this fundamental Christian rite. In fact,
point of view, gives a convenient survey of the Greek and
the survival of the Continental Celtic word for “druid” in
Roman evidence in the original languages and in English
Old Irish cannot be taken to warrant a continuity of either
translations.
social organization or religious teaching.
Maier, Bernhard. The Celts: A History from Earliest Times to the
Present. Translated by Kevin Windle. Edinburgh, 2003. A
THE DRUIDS OF MODERN SCHOLARSHIP. Much modern
discussion of the druids and their significance for Celtic reli-
writing about the druids has been bedeviled by the fact that,
gion and modern Celtic ideologies within a broader histori-
from the seventeenth and eighteenth century onward, the
cal context.
fragmentary and often contradictory classical and medieval
Owen, A. L. The Famous Druids: A Survey of Three Centuries of
statements were invoked to buttress more or less ill-founded
English Literature on the Druids. Oxford, 1962. A study of
assumptions about Celtic culture and religion in general. A
the references to druids in English works of literature dating
general tendency has been to interpret the pagan Celtic past
from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
in the light of the present and to “explain” the present with
Piggott, Stuart. The Druids. London, 1968. A general account,
reference to alleged pagan antecedents. Ideas of continuity
embracing archaeology, written evidence, and the history of
have been especially prominent in Great Britain and Ireland
scholarship.
due to linguistic continuity, but also in France where the idea
BERNHARD MAIER (2005)
of “our ancestors, the Gauls” was used to establish and prop-
agate a cultural identity different from and superior to that
of the Germans. Major factors in the creation of these ideolo-
gies were an uncritical reliance on the credibility of the writ-
DRUMS are instruments that produce sound through the
ten sources and the absence of a firm chronology, so that
striking, rubbing, or plucking of stretched membranes. The
Stone and Bronze Age artifacts and monuments came to be
religious use of drums is historically and geographically ex-
associated with the druids. Influential figures in this develop-
tensive, but by no means universal. They are conspicuously
ment were the British antiquaries John Aubrey (1626–
lacking in many Christian and Islamic liturgical 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
2494
DRUMS
as well as in various African religions. Their absence from the
must come in contact with the skins of slaughtered animals,
oldest forms of religious music of such well-known hunter-
or because of associations with powerful, dangerous beings
gatherers as the African Pygmies and San (Bushmen), the
and forces; hence, both making and playing drums have been
Australian Aborigines, the Väddas of Sri Lanka, and others
restricted to low castes. The negative association of drums
suggests that drums are not particularly archaic or “primi-
with noise and chaos may be less widespread than is some-
tive” but rather are associated with the later cultural systems
times assumed: for example, drums were included only in a
of sedentary agriculture and urban civilization. They are im-
few scattered, atypical cases in the European Christian “In-
portant in both local traditions and in the “great” intercul-
struments of Darkness” complex described by Claude Lévi-
tural, literate religious traditions.
Strauss in From Honey to Ashes (New York, 1973). Christian
Drums have relatively low value in Middle Eastern and
and Buddhist images of hells with sinners imprisoned in
European religious traditions, somewhat more in East Asia,
drums gain at least some of their negative impact from the
Oceania, and Native America, and high value and variety of
demons shown beating them.
uses in South Asian, African, and Inner Asian and circumpo-
In their positive roles, drums may be associated with al-
lar shamanistic traditions. Where drums are used, they may
most any aspect of religious experience, and may even them-
have considerable symbolic or ritual value: E. Manker (in
selves be considered deities. One common symbolic complex
Diószegi, 1968, p. 32) describes how, when Christian mis-
links them with elements of nature, biology, and cosmology.
sionaries burned the drums of Sami (Lapp) shamans, the
A drum may embody an axis mundi of the cosmic tree or
Sami protested that the drums were their compasses; how
mountain in its wooden or earthen body, the life force of a
could they find their way in the world without them?
helping spirit in the form of the animal that supplied its skin,
DESCRIPTION. Drums belong to the organological class
the voice of thunder or of an animal/spirit in its sound, and
membranophones, instruments that produce sound by
elements of hunting or pastoral lifestyles in its manufacture,
means of a stretched flexible membrane (skin, plastic, etc.).
treatment, and use. Another widespread symbolic complex
Instruments shaped or played like drums, but lacking mem-
derives from social relationships: drums may form “family”
branes—the “slit-drums” or “log drums” of many tropical
relationships with one another or with humans; sets of them
areas, the “bronze drums” of Southeast Asia, the “steel
may constitute hierarchies that parallel or are included with-
drums” of Trinidad, and so forth, are idiophones or solid in-
in human and divine hierarchies; and they may play func-
struments. Other mislabels, such as “tambourine” (correct
tional roles within society and the pantheon, ranging from
only for frame drums with jingles) or “tom-tom” (corruption
invoking the deities to functions as practical as telecommuni-
of a Sinhala/Tamil name for paired kettledrums), often have
cation. The “royal drums” of Africa and ancient South India
been indiscriminately applied by Westerners to non-Western
were part of the property, symbols, and tools of divine king-
drums in much the same way as labels like “witchcraft” and
ship, considered so powerful and important in some cases
“vodou” have been widely and derogatorily applied to non-
that it might be more appropriate to speak of the king as a
Western religions.
symbol of the royal drums than the reverse. The model of
Drums are described by number of membrane heads
royal and divine proclamation is often central to the religious
(one to five), by material composition (wood, earth/clay,
symbolism of drums, whether or not they are actually sound-
metal, bone, etc.), by shape of body (shallow frame, round-
ed for communication or musical purposes. Where the sym-
bottomed kettle, straight-sided cylindrical, bulging barrel,
bolic connection of drums, dance, and sensuality exists, it
narrow-waisted hourglass, etc.), and by playing technique
may become a positive symbol of divine enjoyment and ce-
(hands, sticks, suspended clappers), decorations, and other
lestial pleasures, with court and village dances serving as
physical features. Although such features are the basis of sci-
models for, or sacramental participations in, their heavenly
entifically accurate descriptions, religious traditions them-
counterparts.
selves often categorize and evaluate drums in terms of less
It should be emphasized that the symbolism of drums
tangible but religiously more significant factors.
does not support any unitary hypothesis of universal sexual
SYMBOLISM. Drums may carry a wide range of symbolic val-
symbolism. Drums may be seen as feminine because of their
ues, both positive and negative. The negative symbolism best
hollow bodies and soft skins; as masculine because of their
known in the West, that of sensuality and licentiousness, is
intrusive sounds and the rigid sticks or hand tensions re-
based on culture-specific associations of drums, rhythmic
quired to play them; or as neuter, androgynous, or symbolic
dance, and sexual abandon. Because this particular symbol-
of sexual union because of any of these or other reasons. The
ism is not universal (for example, dance and sexuality may
paired high/low-pitch kettledrums of Asia are often consid-
be seen as normal, as religiously beneficial, or as unrelated
ered male/female; but if low is “male” in one culture, it is
to drums), the negative symbolism of sensuality may be rarer
just as likely to be “female” in a neighboring culture. The
than other negative associations. Another important one is
multioctave drum sets of West African and African American
the association of drums with pollution. In South Asia, for
possession religions are often viewed as “families,” with the
example, drums have sometimes been considered religiously
largest and lowest drum acting as “mother,” and with prima-
polluting because the hands of those who touch or play them
ry contrasts drawn across generational rather than gender
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUMS
2495
lines. As with most instruments, drums are more widely
very high religious value and function to the plucked idio-
played by men than by women; but for almost every case of
phone mbira used in Bira possession rituals, while consider-
a male-oriented drum tradition or practice, a corresponding
ing drums and their music appropriate to less sacred contexts
female-oriented example can be found somewhere, occasion-
oriented around socializing and entertainment. In the last
ally even in the same culture or religious tradition.
analysis, neither race, place of residence, nor ecological adap-
RELIGIOUS USE. Drums may be excluded from religious
tation is an accurate predictor of the importance or unimpor-
uses, used peripherally to demarcate the temporal, spatial, or
tance of drums in African music and religion.
structural boundaries of religious occasions, or integrated in
Against this background of diversity, of contrasting oc-
positive, essential ways into religious thought and perfor-
currences interspersed with significant blank spaces where no
mances. If they are used religiously, their role is usually musi-
uses are found, the pattern of use of drums in African reli-
cal; but sometimes they function instead as signaling or com-
gions stands out clearly as one of remarkable religious and
munication devices, as silent cult objects or offerings, or in
artistic richness. In some cases, drums and ritual are so close-
other capacities. Drums may or may not have special reli-
ly associated with each other that the same term can be used
gious status compared with other musical instruments. For
to refer to both (Turner, 1968, p. 15). If drums are not uni-
example, many Islamic traditions exclude all instruments
versally present, they nevertheless occur throughout the con-
equally from religious observances. Some Christian tradi-
tinent in nearly every possible physical shape (beside those
tions have admitted other instruments while excluding
mentioned above, goblet-shaped, conical, cylindroconical,
drums. Many African and South Asian traditions assign spe-
and footed varieties are widespread), musical function, and
cial roles and status to a wide variety of drums. In most of
religious value, and application. Drums may be found in
Central and North Asia, drums were the prime focus of ritu-
every position and role from that of peripheral accessories
al, while other instruments were used for secular music. Gen-
that signal the start of ceremonies to that of spirit beings in
erally, the great intercultural religious traditions of Near
their own right, called to life through invocations and rituals,
Eastern origin have shown more hostility or indifference to
tended by priests and acolytes, and housed, unseen by pro-
drums than have many others; but this ultimately may be
fane eyes, in sacred dwellings. They are so widespread and
due as much to the lack of early wide distribution and musi-
important that even religious traditions of Near Eastern ori-
cal importance of drums in the area as to religious factors.
gin—those of the Fala¯sha¯ Jews and Coptic Christians of
The vast range of religious valuations and uses of drums
Ethiopia, as well as of the Islamic S:u¯f¯ıs—overcome the reser-
can be suggested by a few specific examples.
vations widespread among non-African branches of their re-
spective religious traditions to the extent of allowing some
African and African American traditions. Although
liturgical drumming by cult members, leaders, or priests.
images of a “dark continent” filled with compulsively throb-
Frequently, however, the drumming is less extensive and
bing, obsessively omnipresent drums, witch doctors, and
elaborate than that used by neighboring religious traditions
similar colonialist missionary-in-the-cannibal-pot stereo-
of local African origin. The paired kettledrum apparently
types have partially faded away in the post-independence pe-
spread with Islamic conquests and conversions. Its most
riod (1950s onward), the ideal pan-African perspective of
widespread ritual use, however, is in ceremonies of state,
many writings continues to mask a range of cultural, reli-
rather than in Islamic worship.
gious, and musical diversity as great as is found in Europe
or in Asia. The use of drums in African religions is a typical
Although only extensive reading in the ethnographic,
example of this diversity, with cases ranging from drums
religious, and ethnomusicological literature would give an
playing central, essential religious roles to their total absence
adequate sense of the religious uses of African drums, a few
from a religious tradition.
topics of broad interest are worth mention.
Colin Turnbull, in The Forest People (New York, 1961)
Talking drums. The widely mentioned “talking drums”
and Wayward Servants (New York, 1965), found the drums
that transmit verbal messages by playing tonal and rhythmic
used occasionally by the Mbuti Pgymies to be a late import
abridgments of stylized phrases are frequently slit-drums
from contacts with sedentary non-Pygmy villagers. Drums
(i.e., wooden percussion tubes) or xylophones, rather than
were not suitable by reason of their heavy wooden construc-
true drums with membranes; but drums may also be used
tion to the traditional Mbuti nomadic-forager lifestyle and
for communication, as in the cases of the atumpan two-drum
their associated religious observances—a point equally worth
set of Ghana or the variable-tension hourglass drums wide-
noting in regard to other hunter-gatherers who lead a no-
spread in West Africa. Most reported cases of religious use
madic life without the assistance of draft animals. Even the
have involved announcements and communications among
pastoralist Fulbe, distributed through nearly the entire sub-
cult members (e.g., to invite guests to an initiation ceremo-
Saharan borderland, adopted drums only in ceremonial con-
ny), a peripheral application sometimes combined or alter-
texts arising from culture contact with neighboring sedentary
nated with the widespread practice of using drums to accom-
agricultural peoples such as the Hausa. Agriculturalists, in
pany religious dance. However, there have also been reports
turn, need not accord drums a significant place in religion:
(e.g., among the Ewe and Yoruba) of “talking drums” used
Maraire (n.d.) reports that the Shona of Zimbabwe assign a
for direct communication with gods or spirits, transmitting
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2496
DRUMS
messages in the form of invocations or prayers—a function
ent lack in African languages of a “time” domain that extends
of greater apparent religious centrality and importance than
to musical categories. J. H. Kwabena Nketia (n.d.) has sug-
announcing and signaling.
gested that music itself might constitute an extralinguistic,
complementary system of conceptualization. We might hy-
Royal drums. One especially characteristic function,
pothesize that musical rhythm is one fundamental human
best documented in East Africa but occurring in other re-
mode of perceiving and conceptualizing time, whether lexi-
gions as well, is the use of drums as royal emblems or regalia,
cally labeled as such. If so, the apparent “polyrhythm” of si-
a religious function insofar as it usually relates to concepts
multaneous contrasting-length market weeks in West Africa
and cults of sacral kingship. Drums may be personalized spir-
may share an underlying conceptual unity with musical
its or ancestors, or conduits of power; in either case, they are
polyrhythms. On the other hand, we might equally hypothe-
the sacralizing and legitimizing emblems of royal rule, and
size that musical polyrhythms result at least in part from the
as such receive honor, offerings, and ritual care that may be
proliferation of conceptually multigenerational drum “fami-
greater than that accorded the king himself. Royal drums are
lies” that replicate socioreligious concepts of ancestor-
the prime example of drums that may be religious artifacts
descendant relationships. While research trends during most
without necessarily being musical instruments as well: some
of the twentieth century moved gradually away from consid-
royal drums are never played, and a few may exist entirely
eration of such broad issues, favoring a view of music as an
on a divine plane, invisible to all but the gods themselves
autonomous “art” intelligible only in terms of acoustic-
(Lois A. M. Anderson, n.d.). Other royal drums may have
structural principles peculiar to itself, new approaches in the
a full range of musical uses while still enjoying a higher ritual
century’s final decades suggested a growing interest in the
status than their profane counterparts; such was the case with
conceptual bases of the close links between music and reli-
the entenga tuned-drum ensemble of the Buganda court.
gion that are so evident in African behavior and perfor-
Often, as with the Buganda and Rwanda royal drums, several
mance.
sets existed, each with its own kind and degree of religious,
political, and musical function. Playing and/or priestly ser-
Buddhism. Buddhist traditions share a common sym-
vice of the royal drums might be restricted to male members
bolic valuation of drums but differ widely in patterns of use.
of either hereditary noble or service classes. As was also the
The act of proclaiming the Buddhist teaching is traditionally
case with royal drums in ancient South India, some African
known as “sounding the drum of the Dharma,” either be-
royal drums were the recipients of ritual blood sacrifices.
cause of a proclamation by S´a¯kyamuni Buddha (c. 560–480
BCE) after his enlightenment that he would sound the
Possession. Drums may not be used at all in possession
“drum of immortality” (amata-dundubhih:), or because of an
cults (cf. the Shona Bira, mentioned above). But their impor-
edict of the Indian emperor A´soka (d. 232 BCE) that “the
tance in West African areas exploited by the slave trade led
sound of the war drum [bherighos:a] has now become the
to their use in African American possession religions such as
sound of dharma [dharmaghos:a].” Both dundubhih: and bher¯ı
Haitian vodou, Brazilian Candomblé, the Lucumi of Cuba,
were royal/military drums. Perhaps because of the Buddha’s
the Shango religion of Trinidad, and others. In keeping with
ks:atriya (warrior/princely) caste origin, Buddhist drum sym-
their West African sources, these religions use drums in
bolism relies heavily on the concepts of royal authority and
cross-generational “families” of three or more to accompany
invincibility. Drum sounds reach everywhere, filling earth
spirit-possession rituals and dances. There has been some
and sky; they are clear and unmistakable; and they cannot
controversy as to whether the sounds of the drums actually
be ignored or overwhelmed by lesser sounds. These are all
“cause” or induce possession, that is, whether their effects are
characteristics both of the royal drums themselves and of the
best understood in physiological or cultural and religious
teaching proclaimed by the Buddha.
terms.
The use of drums in Buddhist ritual, derived from the
Rhythm and time. The musical variety of African reli-
stupa (reliquary mound) cult sanctioned in the
gious drumming extends from the austere patterns of widely
Maha¯parinibbana Sutta, is said to date back to the death of
spaced single beats used by the Fala¯sha¯ Jews, to elaborate
the Buddha (c. 480 BCE). They are pictured on the railings
polyrhythms (one rhythm played simultaneously with one or
of the stupa in relief sculptures of the first century BCE–first
more contrasting rhythms) of the complex and compelling
century CE period. In Indian Buddhism up to the early sec-
sort that most listeners associate with African styles. The
ond millennium CE, drums served the function of elaborat-
question of possible conceptual relationships between musi-
ing and ornamenting the ta¯la rhythmic cycle outlined by the
cal rhythm and cosmological/calendrical time has been raised
cymbals, according to standard Indian musical practice of
by Alan P. Merriam in his article “African Musical Rhythm
the time. Written drum notations were introduced before
and Concepts of Time-Reckoning” (in Thomas Noblitt, ed.,
the mid-eighth century CE.
Music East and West, New York, 1981, pp. 123–141) and
by others. The unresolved issue is whether the perception by
Sri Lanka. Modern practice varies with traditions and
foreign observers of “time” and cyclicity in African music (or
cultures. Generally, Therava¯da Buddhism restricts the use of
their being labeled as such in European languages) corre-
instruments to laymen, while Maha¯ya¯na and Vajraya¯na tra-
sponds significantly to African conceptions, given the appar-
ditions allow monks to play them as well. In present-day Sri
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUMS
2497
Lanka, Therava¯da Buddhism exists in conjunction with a va-
which provide a primary musical structure based on elabo-
riety of indigenous yakkha (local spirit) cults whose priests
rate mathematical sequences. The hourglass drum made
are hereditary low-caste drummer-dancers using their ritual
from two human skulls (Skt., ka¯pa¯la-d:amaru), adopted from
and artistic skills to control a variety of powerful forces. Just
the Indian Ka¯pa¯lika yogic tradition, is also largely subordi-
as their gods are admitted to the Buddhist pantheon in a sub-
nate, often being replaced by a similar wooden drum. Never-
ordinate role, so also their instruments and performances
theless, such drums may symbolically embody the entire
find a subordinate, boundary-marking role in some Buddhist
range of Buddhist concepts and teachings and enjoy greater
ceremonies.
practical importance in specialized ritual/meditational tradi-
tions. In East Asian Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism, drums are often
Two kinds of drums, the dawula (cylindrical drum) and
used, together with an assortment of metal and wooden idio-
the tammätamma (paired kettledrums), play a more central
phones, to mark off the subdivisions of musical structures.
role in the orthodox Buddhist cult of stupas and other types
Japanese Buddhist practices range from the elaborate drum-
of cetiya (relics), in the pañcava¯dya, or fivefold instrumental
ming in Zen temples to the greatly lessened use of drums in
music that can be traced back to the first centuries of Indian
traditions such as Buzanha Shingi Shingon, in which idio-
Buddhism. The drums play auspicious music based on beat
phones such as the wooden fish-shaped mokugyo¯ play beat
patterns conventionally associated with the Buddha, with
patterns accompanying chants. Some traditions give drums
acts of offering or circumambulation, and so on. The players
a practical role to match their symbolic value, as with the
are of the same caste and are often the very same persons as
Nichiren school Nihonzan Myohonji pacifist monks who
those who serve as priests of the yakkha religions. The prima-
walk about chanting and beating a small single-headed frame
ry drum of the yakkha cult, the gäta bere barrel drum, also
drum, literally “sounding the drum of the Dharma” to call
finds an important place in Buddhist rituals as the mangul-
attention to their Buddhist teachings and way of life.
bere, or “auspicious drum.” In the chief Buddhist temple of
Kandy, even high-caste specialists play the hourglass udäkki
Shamanism. In the “classical” shamanism of Inner and
drum to accompany secret songs of praise in the inner shrine.
North Asia, drums play central roles in religious belief and
practice. The drum is the shaman’s primary religious tool for
Nepal. In the Vajraya¯na Buddhism of the Newars of
attracting helper gods or spirits, for taming or inciting them
Nepal, drums find both more diverse and more central ritual
to action, and for carrying the shaman away on spiritual
roles. Parallels with Therava¯da include the use of paired ket-
flights to heavenly realms or to the underworld. The drum
tledrums in the fivefold offering music and the adoption of
itself is part of the shaman’s pantheon, a living spirit helper
drums from local cults, such as the barrel drums adorned
or a theriomorphic steed such as a horse or a deer. It may
with ram’s horns (yakkakhim:) embodying the indigenous
serve as object as well as agent of religious acts, being treated
god of dance (Nasadyah) which accompany some dances
to life-cycle rituals, like those performed for humans, from
with Buddhist contents. Specific drums are allocated to spe-
its “birth” to its “death,” as well as to cyclic or occasional cer-
cific castes, from the small barrel drum (naykhim:) of the
emonies encouraging or exhorting it to perform its helping
butchers to the deified barrel drums (damah:khim:), decorated
function. It may also serve the shaman as a tool for special-
with masks of the deities they embody and played by the
ized ritual purposes, as in drum-divination ceremonies in
highest castes of Buddhist Tantric priests. In processions
which the upturned skin of the drum is sprinkled with small
farmers play the dhimay, which is made from an irregularly
grains that move about through sympathetic vibration when
shaped cross section of tree trunk. They and the oil-presser
a second drum is played nearby (or, if the drum has two play-
caste play the ma¯khim: barrel drum to accompany songs of
ing heads, when the second head is beaten) to form divinato-
praise at Buddhist temples. Vajra¯ca¯rya priests accompany
ry patterns on the drumhead. The type of drum used may
some of their Tantric ca¯rya songs and dances with the
indicate the shaman’s status in a graded hierarchy of initiato-
kwotah:, a three-headed drum set made by joining a large hor-
ry rankings. In contrast to many religious drum traditions,
izontal and small vertical barrel drum together. The drum
shamanic drumming is frequently performed by women, as
becomes the embodiment of both the god of dance and the
female shamans are fairly widespread.
buddha Vajra-sattva during performance, and it plays musi-
cally structured, notated compositions of mantra syllables
The shaman’s drum is usually a shallow frame drum
evoking the presence of buddhas and gods. Drumming, sing-
with a wooden circular or ellipsoidal body and one skin head,
ing, and dancing, along with meditation, become the techni-
played with a stick. Small jingling pieces of metal or bells
cal means for generating the man:d:ala of buddhas in the per-
may be mounted either on or inside the drum, or worn sepa-
formers’ own bodies, voices, and minds.
rately on the shaman’s costume. Making the drum recapitu-
Central and East Asia. Outside the South Asian home-
lates a primordial cosmological quest, as in this song of the
land of Buddhism, drums lose their caste associations and
Tibetan Bon tradition:
some of their practical musical importance, while retaining
seek a drum, where do I seek? I seek in the four direc-
their symbolic value. In Tibetan Vajraya¯na, the double-
tions, and the eight between; On the Chief of Moun-
headed frame drum (rnga) is used in both vocal and instru-
tains, in the center of the world, There, there is a tree
mental performances, but in a role supporting the cymbals,
growing; A mighty sandalwood tree has grown. Now,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2498
DRUMS
having cut a branch from it, Bending, bending, forced
religious traditions outside the “classical” Asian/circumpolar
in a coiled circle, Knowing the method, hewn by an ax’s
area, broad similarities in ideology and practice seem to justi-
blade, With the hide of a black antelope covered over,
fy comparative extension of the term shaman (originally from
That amazing drum, that swastika-circle drum, Sewn
the language of the Tunguz of Siberia); some of these tradi-
together with effort, by the pressure of a tendon, Has
tions (e.g., the Mapuche of Chile) use drums in ways similar
a miraculous, melodious, sweet sound, full of meaning:
to Asian shamans, while many “shamanic” traditions of Latin
Beaten, it is beaten in the highest heaven; Sounds, it
America use hallucinogenic drugs and/or rattles whose sym-
sounds at the peak of the world-mountain; The realm
of demons trembles: Shig shig! When I beat on that
bolic and functional status so closely parallel that of the sha-
great drum, then Even all the ocean, churned, clouds
man drum as to suggest that they are local substitutes for it.
up with mud; The massive Chief of Mountains, shaken,
Other traditions. Drums have seen religious use on
is thrown down; The water-serpent children are uneasy
every inhabited continent, although in Aboriginal Australia
in their minds; E ma! How great this most superior of
they were characteristic only of coastal zones of contact with
wonders!
Melanesian cultures. They have been used throughout most
The feeling of joyful mastery expressed here is the result of
of human history and found a place in the religions of an-
spirits, called and subjugated by the drum, entering the play-
cient civilizations of both the Old and New Worlds.
er’s body and merging into a single identity under his con-
Near East and Mediterranean. Drums appeared rather
trol. Siberian ethnographic accounts are seldom detailed
late in Mesopotamia. Clapper idiophones were shown in the
enough to show exactly what role the drumming plays in this
artwork of the Mesilim and Ur I periods (c. twenty-eighth–
course of events, but the process is quite clear for the related
twenty-fourth centuries
Himalayan shamanic traditions. The shaman begins by
BCE). Drums alone begin to appear
in depictions of ritual dances in the neo-Sumerian period
drumming at moderate speed in a dotted-rhythm beat pat-
(twenty-second–nineteenth centuries
tern, singing an invocation of the “first shaman”; he then
BCE). Frame drums
(adapa?, balag?) existed in sizes ranging from extremely large
changes to a slightly slower, steady rhythm, as he sings an
varieties played by two men down to small handheld types
invitation song to the spirits who will come to help in the
carried by dancers; the latter apparently spread to Egypt (six-
ritual. As he senses the approach of the spirits, his body be-
teenth–eleventh centuries), Israel (tof, mentioned in Exodus,
gins to shake, sounding the metal bells on his costume or in
Psalms, etc.), Greece (tumpanon, sixth–fifth centuries?),
the drum, and the beating grows louder. The drumming be-
Rome (tympanum, c. 200
comes irregular, suddenly breaking off into short periods
BCE), and eventually throughout
the Near East, where it is still widespread under the Arabic
when the drum is silent, and only the sound of the shaking
name daff.
bells carries on the emotional momentum of the perfor-
mance. The singing is interspersed with special vocal effects:
In Sumeria, drums were ideographically linked with the
singing into the face of the drum, grunting, whistling, sneez-
god Enki and by ritual and symbolic attention to their skins
ing, and altered tones of voice. These events are signs of the
with the bull, symbol of sacred strength. The small frame
entry of a spirit into the drummer’s body, and of the struggle
drum became associated (c. 2000 BCE) with women players
for control between him and the spirit. As the shaman asserts
and with revelry and has generally retained these associations
mastery over the spirit, the drum reenters with a strong,
throughout its geographical and historical range. Even today
steady beat, the shaman begins a song of praise to the helping
it is widely played by women at weddings. In Israel the small-
spirits, and the way is open for subsequent ritual stages of
frame drum was excluded from Temple ritual. Other drums
dancing, travel to spirit worlds, diagnosis, divination, curing,
may have been employed until the ban on instrumental
or whatever is required by the ritual.
music following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The
small-frame drum was associated in Egypt with the goddess
The combination of heightened emotion and use of the
Isis and in Greece with the imported Cybele and native
drum to summon and control spirits, evident both in sha-
Dionysos cults. Eventually it spread to Rome along with
manic songs, as quoted above, and in the actual events of the
these three “orgiastic” religions.
ritual, is characteristic of the full geographic range of Asian
shamanism. Use of the drum as a “steed” for a flight to the
Cultic associations with dance and sexual license helped
spirit world is a more limited phenomenon. Mircea Eliade
to shape Judeo-Christian attitudes to drums up to the pres-
(1964) argues that ecstatic flight is the historical and religious
ent day, but they may not be entirely responsible for the sub-
core of the shamanic complex, and that those traditions that
sequent exclusion of drums from the Jewish, Christian, and
lack it represent a degenerate stage; I suggest in “Musical
Islamic liturgies. In fact, such associations applied only to
Flight in Tibet” (in the journal Asian Music 5, 1974,
one type of drum (the small-frame drum); but this was, per-
pp. 3–44) that the practice of drumming to attract the tame
haps significantly, in an area where few types were available
theriomorphic spirits is a religious transformation of wide-
as more “respectable” liturgical alternatives. Cylindrical
spread use of music by Asian hunters and pastoralists to lure
drums, goblet-shaped or footed drums, and a few other types
and control animals, and that the ideology of spiritual flight
were known in Sumeria and Egypt. In Israel, Greece, and
is a later and more localized superimposition on a conceptual
Rome frame drums may have been the only drums available.
basis of the shaman as a spiritual hunter-pastoralist. In some
There is no evidence of musically important or elaborate
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUMS
2499
rhythmic traditions that might have stimulated the importa-
structure and the elemental cosmic structure it embodies.
tion or invention of other types. Even the drum perhaps
Drums were part of an ideal system of ba yin or “eight
most characteristic of the Near East, the paired kettledrum,
sounds” represented by the names of eight characteristic ma-
did not appear until the beginning of the second millen-
terials from which instruments are constructed: metal, stone,
nium CE.
silk, bamboo, wood, skin, gourd, and earth. Each of the in-
At any rate, we see the disappearance of drums and
strument groups corresponding to these materials in turn
other instruments from the Jewish liturgy in the first century
corresponds to a cardinal point of the compass, a season of
CE, after the destruction of the Temple and the rise of the
the year, a natural element or phenomenon, and other cos-
less ritualistic synagogue tradition. Christianity, perhaps sim-
mological features. Drums are classified under their most
ply following the lead of its parent tradition and culture,
characteristic constituent material, skin, and they correspond
seemed to mirror the synagogue in its apparently exclusively
to the north, to winter, and to water. In Confucian ceremo-
vocal musical practices. Islam, in its turn, excluded drums,
nial music, they play a musical part that is slow and simple
instruments, and “music” from its worship, which neverthe-
in terms of technique and rhythmic density but that, togeth-
less came to include melodically chanted “readings” from the
er with the other instruments of the ensemble, forms part of
QurDa¯n and religious poetry; these in turn eventually came
a restrained, carefully regulated, and balanced whole. Barrel
to embrace possible rhythmic accompaniment with drums,
drums, some very large, are the most characteristic type used.
even the once-suspect frame drum. By the early second mil-
Americas and Oceania. New World civilizations, like
lennium CE the S:u¯f¯ıs movement began to develop, leading
their Old World counterparts, made use of drums. Ritual ap-
to ritual traditions that use drums along with other instru-
plications included sacrifices that sometimes involved
ments to accompany inspirational dancing. Drums would
human victims and, among the Incas at least, used their skins
likewise gradually reenter Christian religious music through
as drumheads. However, reports of at least one “drum” used
the influence of European folk, military, and art music tradi-
in sacrificial rituals are the result of misidentification: the
tions.
Aztec teponaztli was a slit-drum, or wooden percussion tube,
India and China. Textual evidence indicates the pres-
rather than a membranophone.
ence of drums in India and China by at least the late second
millennium
The drum most widely used in American music and rit-
BCE; they are probably considerably older in
both regions. There is some evidence for the use of drums
ual is the frame drum, the form, ideology, and use of which
in the Indus Valley civilization of the third millennium
in many regions show general parallels to that of the Asian
BCE.
The earliest Indian sacred texts, the Vedas, seem to regard
shaman’s drum. In addition to their shamanic use, frame
drums as primarily military instruments used by the Central
drums were utilized in a wide variety of local religious con-
Asian Aryan tribes who migrated into India some time after
texts; among the best-known examples are the Plains Sun
the middle of the third millennium. Later Tamil (South In-
Dance and War Dance, as well as the late nineteenth-century
dian) literature, which may reflect a much earlier culture, de-
Ghost Dance and other postcontact syncretistic and revital-
scribes a cult of sacred royal drums reminiscent of African
ization movements. Frame drums are played with sticks held
traditions, including sacrifice and ritual care by priests who
in one hand only, a practice that links them with other unac-
were avoided because of their association with powerful, dan-
culturated Native American drum traditions and distinguish-
gerous beings. Such cults may have provided the initial impe-
es them from Euro-American and African American tradi-
tus that led to the eventual high religious value of drums in
tions and styles.
Hinduism. Another stimulus was provided by the decline of
Two relatively recent traditions show some unusual fea-
Vedic sacrificial ritual and its supplanting by the perfor-
tures. Thomas Vennum, in his The Ojibwa Dance Drum
mance of pu¯ja¯ offerings, a development particularly stressed
(Washington, D.C., 1982) and subsequent work, has exam-
in Buddhist traditions, where we find the first evidence of
ined the history of the “dream drum” revealed in a vision by
musical pu¯ja¯. Hindu traditions parallel their Buddhist coun-
the Great Spirit to Tailfeather Woman of the Sioux in the
terparts in variety and richness, incorporating drum music
nineteenth century and passed on to the Ojibwa (Chippewa)
at every level; and one of the three supreme post-Vedic gods,
and other Northeast Woodlands peoples through manufac-
S´iva, is identified with the hourglass-shaped d:amaru drum,
turing and song-learning rituals ultimately intended as a way
which he plays to accompany his own cosmic dance. The
of creating intertribal peace. While the “dream drum” is a
elaborate rhythms of Indian drumming were, at least until
larger and more elaborate version of the widespread frame
the growth of Islamic dominance in the second millennium
drum, other physical types of drums may also attain religious
CE, part of a tradition that was inseparably both aesthetic per-
importance. The best-known example is the water drum
formance and religious offering, whether Hindu, Buddhist,
used to accompany songs in the sacramental peyote rituals
or Jain, and hence a reflection of the same ideals of complexly
of the Native American Church. The drum consists of a
multifaceted individuality that appear in Indian pantheons
solid-bottomed body that forms a vessel into which water is
and ritual practices.
poured and with the single playing head covering it at the
In China, by contrast, drums and their music were a bal-
top. Using more or less water creates a higher or lower sound;
anced component in both a carefully orchestrated musical
the dampness also changes the tension of the drumhead
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2500
DRUMS
(which can be tuned by making it wetter or dryer), and the
(1962) that a beat frequency of 8–13 cycles per second (the
sound has a characteristic wavering reverberation caused by
range of normal alpha variation) will be found to predomi-
the movement of the water inside.
nate in “possession” rituals with drums.
In Oceania, the area richest in variety of musical instru-
Neher’s hypothesis has been accepted without further
ments was Melanesia, where log slit-drums (percussion idio-
examination by a number of ethnologists and scholars of reli-
phones) generally enjoyed more religious and musical promi-
gion (e.g., Siikala, 1978) but has been questioned or rejected
nence than true drums with membranes. Oceanian drums
by ethnomusicologists investigating actual drum usage in
tend to have only one playing head, often made from fish
transformation rituals. Gilbert Rouget (1977, 1985) argues,
or shark skin and to be set or held in vertical position and
based on extensive studies of African and African American
played with the hands. Hourglass shapes are common in
traditions, that the laboratory experiments differ greatly from
Melanesia, and cylindrical types are widespread in Polynesia.
the conditions and experiences of actual ceremonies; that au-
tomatic physiological causation is out of the question be-
Drums were accorded sacred status in Polynesia, kept
cause most of those who hear the drumming (even the same
and tended by priests in temples, and considered receptacles
individuals on different occasions) do not experience trance
of mana (sacred power). Some were associated with sacrifice,
or possession; and that if Neher’s quantitative predictions
including, in Tahiti, human sacrifice. Many were “royal
were correct, “then the whole of sub-Saharan Africa should
drums,” used to honor chiefs as well as gods; one Hawaiian
be in trance from the beginning to the end of the year.” But
king traveled with such a drum in his canoe. Important
in fact, given the speeds that occur in drum music elsewhere,
drums of chiefs or gods were often large, with smaller ver-
if Neher’s (1961) dubious alternative of a lower limit of 4
sions used in lesser contexts; ensembles of varying sizes were
beats per second were accepted, much of the world would
found in some areas. The Hawaiian ceremonial Mele Hula
be in perpetual trance.
dances utilize two drums: the larger pahu hula of wood,
played with the hands, and the smaller pu¯niu made from a
While proponents and opponents of the hypothesis
coconut shell, played with a braided fiber “stick.” Although
have tended to argue over its merits on the basis of logic and
other instruments are also used, the drums are reserved for
conviction, Neher’s quantitative prediction has not been
the most important dances.
subjected to quantitative testing by comparison with mea-
DRUMS AND POSSESSION. African American religions, sha-
surements of drum rhythms in actual performances. Figure
manism, and many other religious traditions employ drums
1 shows a comparison of (A) Neher’s (1962) predicted mini-
in conjunction with, and apparently to induce, a kind of ex-
mum tempo of 8 beats per second for “trance” rituals, with
perience known in the research literature as “possession” or
transcriptions of actual drumbeat tempos in (B) the “invita-
“altered states of consciousness.” Behind such standard labels
tion” song to helping spirits sung by a Tamang shaman; (C)
lie essential differences in both the experience itself and the
the instrumental “Invitation to the Protector of Religion”
process of achieving it: Haitian priestesses and Tibetan ora-
(Chos skyon˙ Spyan Ddren) played for the Tibetan state oracle
cles, for example, are controlled by the beings who enter their
(Gnas-chun˙ chos skyon˙) before he sinks into a quiescent state
bodies, while the Tamang shaman asserts control over the
to receive the god Pehar; and (D) the “Song of Invitation”
spirits who enter his. Both of the former rely on others to
(Spyan Ddren gyi dbyan˙s) sung to the oracle just before he be-
play drums for them during the ritual, but the shaman acts
gins to show evidence of having been transformed into a state
as his own drummer. What all these traditions have in com-
of conscious identity with the god.
mon is a varied range of techniques for transformation of
Clearly, the minimum quantitative requirements of the
personal consciousness into a correspondingly varied range
hypothesis are not satisfied by two of the best-known Asian
of experiences of identity with a god or spirit and, in many
traditions that ought to fall within its intended scope. Exam-
but not all cases, the use of drums with or without additional
ple B of figure 1 is 58 of the required minimum speed, while
instruments.
Example C would have to be 280 times as fast to reach the
A famous and controversial hypothesis by Andrew
minimum 8 beats per second. Other well-known Asian tradi-
Neher (1961, 1962) posits an automatically causal, physio-
tions (e.g., Tibetan and Newar Tantric sa¯dhanas) likewise fail
logical link between drumming and ritual experiences of
to satisfy the hypothesis; and, while one might expect to find
consciousness-transformation. Neher cites laboratory experi-
more cases of African and African American traditions that
ments with photic driving (pulsating lights) and covariation
fall in the predicted quantitative range, there are also African
of alpha rhythms in the brain to support a suggestion that
cases that do not meet the requirements of the hypothesis
rhythmic drumming, with its wide frequency spectrum and
(John Blacking, n.d.). In any case, the hypothesis in its given
high energy content, would automatically affect a normal
form must be rejected, as the occurrence of exceptions to its
brain in such a way as to affect alpha rhythms and produce
predictions show the operation of cross-cultural variables ex-
reactions similar to those reported by laboratory subjects: vi-
ternal to the species-universal mechanisms of human physi-
sual, tactile, kinesthetic, and emotional sensations for experi-
ology. The possibility cannot be excluded that a more sophis-
ments with light, but only “unusual perceptions” and muscle
ticated reformulation of a physiological-causation theory will
twitching reported for actual tests with drums. He predicts
lead to verifiable, significant results. Current research on mu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUMS
2501
sical and religious practices show, however, such a wide range
of variation as to render the search for causal universals pro-
gressively more difficult, and also greater apparent progress
in the investigation of cultural and ideological factors that
seem to underlie both religious and musical practices.
SEE ALSO Shamanism; Spirit Possession.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Although drums are both musical and religious instruments, it is
difficult to find studies that do not ignore or misinterpret
one of these two aspects. Information is scattered in journal
articles and general religious and musical studies of particular
areas; and many important findings of recent researchers are
still unpublished, as indicated by the number of “n.d.” (no
date) citations for information used in this article.
F IGURE 1 . Neher’s minimum projected tempo figures
The most extensive previous general study, A. E. Crawley’s article
“Drums and Cymbals,” in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and
compared with drum tempos in two ritual traditions.
Ethics, edited by James Hastings, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1912),
is flawed by outdated and inaccurate ethnographic data and
General works on Buddhist drums are unavailable; and on drum
by discredited interpretive approaches. These faults are com-
symbolism, only Rinjing Dorje and Ter Ellingson’s article
mon to many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century eth-
“Explanation of the Secret Gcod D:a ma ru D: An Exploration
nographies (and almost universal in travelers’ and missiona-
of Musical Instrument Symbolism,” Asian Music (1979): 63–
ries’ accounts); while later studies have increasingly tended
91, gives Buddhist primary source material, a text on the
to treat music and religion as autonomous, mutually unintel-
symbolism of a Tibetan drum. The standard work on sha-
ligible domains. Thus, even such excellent ethnographic
manism, Mircea Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of
studies of drum-centered ritual traditions as Victor Turner’s
Ecstasy, rev. & enl. ed. (New York, 1964), contains valuable
The Drums of Affliction: A Study of Religious Processes among
information on the ideology and use of drums, as do various
the Ndembu of Zambia (Oxford, 1968) or Bruce Kapferer’s
articles in Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia,
A Celebration of Demons: Exorcism and the Aesthetics of Heal-
edited by Vilmos Diószegi, (Bloomington, 1968); Shaman-
ing in Sri Lanka (Bloomington, Ind., 1983) exclude drums
ism in Siberia, edited by Vilmos Diószegi and Mihaly Hop-
and their music from the depth of analytical attention paid
pál (Budapest, 1978); and sections of Anna-Leena Siikala’s
to other components of ritual symbolism and performance.
The Rite Technique of the Siberian Shaman (Helsinki, 1978).
The scientific, physical description of drums is given accurate and
The only detailed study of music and drumming in a “clas-
readable treatment in the “Terminology” section
sic” Asian shaman tradition is Valerie Jill Poris’s “Shamanis-
(“Membranophones,” pp. 459–463) of Curt Sachs’s The
tic Music in the Bhuji River Valley of Nepal” (M.A. thesis,
History of Musical Instruments (New York, 1940), an organo-
University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1977). Andrew Neher
logical classic with a wealth of accurate information orga-
describes his drum-possession hypothesis in two journal arti-
nized around partly outdated historical viewpoints. The
cles, “Auditory Driving Observed with Scalp Electrodes in
most comprehensive and up-to-date organological informa-
Normal Subjects,” Electroencephalography and Clinical
tion will be found in the New Grove Dictionary of Musical
Neurophysiology 13 (June 1961): 449–451, and “A Physio-
Instruments, 3 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie (New York,
logical Explanation of Unusual Behavior in Ceremonies In-
1984).
volving Drums,” Human Biology 34 (February 1962):
The most ambitious recent effort to relate African drumming and
151–160. The best counterarguments to Neher are given by
ideology, criticized by some specialists for lack of method-
Gilbert Rouget, in a short article, “Music and Possession
ological explicitness and generalization of localized West Af-
Trance,” in The Anthropology of the Body, edited by John
rican experience to a pan-African scale, is John M. Chernoff’s
Blacking (London, 1977), pp. 233–239, and in a book that
African Rhythm and African Sensibility (Chicago, 1979). A
is so far the most complete study of its subject, Music and
less exciting but perhaps more reliable ethnomusicological
Trance: A Theory of the Relations between Music and Possession
study, also from West Africa, is J. H. Kwabena Nketia’s
(Chicago, 1985).
Drumming in Akan Communities of Ghana (Edinburgh,
New Sources
1963). The classic work on “talking drums,” with an old-
Ahlbäck, Tore, and Jan Bergman. The Saami Shaman Drum:
fashioned perspective and pronounced missionary bias, is
Based on Papers Read at the Symposium on the Saami Shaman
John Carrington’s Talking Drums of Africa (London, 1949).
Drum Held at A˚bo, Finland, on the 19th–20th of August 1988.
Among the more technically oriented organological studies
A˚bo, Finland, and Stockholm, 1991.
of specific regions, Olga Boone’s Les tambours du Congo Belge
et du Ruanda-Urundi (Tervuren, Belgium, 1951) is one of
Hart, Mickey, Jay Stevens, and Frederic Lieberman. Drumming
the more comprehensive. There are a number of good studies
at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion.
of religious and symbolic aspects of drumming-centered ritu-
San Francisco, 1990.
al traditions in Africa, among which Victor Turner’s works
Hawkins, Holly Blue. The Heart of the Circle: A Guide to Drum-
(including the book already cited) are outstanding examples.
ming. Freedom, Calif., 1999.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2502
DRUZE
Houk, James T. Spirits, Blood, and Drums: The Orisha Religion in
INITIATED VERSUS UNINITIATED. Religious beliefs unite
Trinidad. Philadelphia, 1995.
Druzes into socially cohesive communities and divide them
Jacobs, Adrian. Aboriginal Christianity: The Way It Was Meant to
into two main classes: the initiated or wise ( Euqqa¯l) and the
Be. Rapid City, 1998.
uninitiated or “ignorant” (juhha¯l). The initiated members
Keshavarz, Fatemeh. Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-
learn the precepts of their faith through readings and discus-
Din Rumi. Columbia, S.C., 1998.
sions of the sacred writings in the Druze house of prayer
Powers, William K. Beyond the Vision: Essays on American Indian
(khalwah or majlis). Only those believers who demonstrate
Culture. Norman, Okla., 1987.
piety and devotion and who have withstood the lengthy pro-
Redmond, Layne. When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual
cess of candidacy are introduced to the esoteric teachings and
History of Rhythm. New York, 1997.
oral traditions of the faith. The Druze doctrine considers
Sindima, Harvey J. Drums of Redemption: An Introduction to Afri-
women more spiritually prepared than men, and women
can Christianity. Westport, Conn., 1994.
therefore undergo a less rigorous initiation process. The initi-
Vélez, Maria Teresa. Drumming for the Gods: The Life and Times
ated men and women are easily identified by their modest
of Felipe García Villamil, Santero, Palero, and Abakuá. Phila-
dark clothes and white head covers.
delphia, 2000.
Initiated persons are further subdivided into a number
Wardwell, Allen. Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Sha-
manism and its Art. New York, 1996.
of categories, with the Aja¯w¯ıd (plural of juwayyid, the dimin-
utive form of jayyid, which means “good”) as the most de-
TER ELLINGSON (1987)
vout among the initiated. The Aja¯w¯ıd serve as models for be-
Revised Bibliography
havior, truthfulness, and wisdom, and whenever disputes
arise their opinions are both revered and followed. Thus,
they provide exclusive authority on the religious doctrine and
DRUZE. The title Druze (Arab. Durz¯ı; pl. Duru¯z) was
dictate the proper conduct of members of the community,
given to the community by outsiders who derived it from the
reinforcing its interactions within families, villages, and the
name of Muh:ammad ibn Isma¯E¯ıl al-Daraz¯ı (d. 1019).
rest of the world.
Al-Daraz¯ı is considered by Druzes to be the “deviate” or
“great heretic.” Druzes refer to themselves as Muwwah:h:idu¯n
Uninitiated persons make up the majority of Druze so-
(Unitarians) or Ahl al-Tawh:¯ıd (the People of Unitarianism).
ciety. They may seek initiation at any age, but their accep-
In addition to these titles, the community is often known in
tance is based on their character. Although the uninitiated
the Middle East as Banu¯ Ma Eru¯f (Sons of Mercy, or Sons of
are indeed “ignorant” of the Druze doctrine, they are expect-
Beneficence). The term Ma Eru¯f is derived from the Arabic
ed to behave according to certain prescriptions, both spiritual
words Earafa (to know), ma Erifah (knowledge), and Eirfa¯n
(e.g., devotion to God and his prophets) and moral (e.g., re-
(esoteric knowledge, gnosis). More importantly, the Druze
spect for elders, care for the young, and honor for women).
manuscripts refer to the community as madhhab Eirfa¯n¯ı (a
The division of Druzes into the initiated and uninitiated
gnostic school), and to its members as A Era¯f (those who pos-
also has important ramifications for the political behavior of
sess knowledge).
members of the community. This social structure may have
There are approximately one million Druzes in the
facilitated Druze political cohesiveness, since religious leader-
world today, with the majority of them living in Syria (40–
ship is provided by the Euqqa¯l, while political leadership is
50%), Lebanon (30–40%), and Israel (6–7%). Syrian
exercised by the juhha¯l. However, despite the power held by
Druzes can be found mainly in the H:awra¯n and S:uwayda¯D
the political leaders, families continue to consult, revere, and
provinces, with the city of S:uwayda¯ having the largest Druze
defer to the initiated members of their own families and of
population. In Lebanon, Druzes live primarily in the EAlayh
the community as a whole. Even though almost none of the
and the Shu¯f regions, with smaller populations in BEabda¯,
initiated members hold political office, their perspectives
MarjEuyu¯n, Ra¯shayya¯, and al-Matn. Some Druze families
carry political weight, influencing the decisions of the com-
also reside in Beirut, where the judiciary and administrative
munity’s political leaders. Thus, while the initiated exercise
center of the community has its headquarters. In Israel,
strong yet indirect power in enforcing accepted standards for
Druzes live in the Galilee and Carmel Mountain regions,
the community, the uninitiated draw strength from, as well
with smaller numbers in other parts of the country. There
as provide protection for, the initiated and the way of life,
are also a few thousand Druzes living in Jordan.
beliefs, and values they represent.
In addition to these larger concentrations of Druzes in
HISTORY VERSUS GENEALOGY. Druzes trace their genealogy
the Middle East, smaller communities can be found in Aus-
to the beginning of time, believing that tawh:¯ıd has existed
tralia, Canada, Europe, the Philippines, South America,
in several phases or cycles (adwa¯r) since the creation. They
West Africa, and the United States. These Druze diasporas
hold that before the biblical (or historical) Adam, there were
have established communal associations, such as the Ameri-
343 million years of human existence, and that during that
can Druze Society, the British Druze Society, the Druze As-
period and up to the present certain communities have pro-
sociation of Toronto, the Sidney Druze Society, and La
fessed tawh:¯ıd in one form or another. The Druze manu-
Druzo Brazileiri.
scripts include an elaborate cosmological doctrine that begins
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DRUZE
2503
with the prebiblical Adam, referred to as “the pure Adam”
defeat neared, al-Daraz¯ı redirected the public’s attack by de-
(Adam al-S:afa¯D), and known as Adam Kadmun (Primordial
claring that he had acted on H:amzah’s instructions.
Adam) in the Jewish Qabbalah and other religious traditions.
H:amzah’s previous withdrawal from preaching now
Druze historical origins, on the other hand, are traced
worked against him by reinforcing al-Daraz¯ı’s assertion that
to eleventh-century Fa¯t:imid Egypt. The Fa¯t:imis (r. 909–
he was indeed following H:amzah’s directives. Consequently,
1171 CE) are Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı Sh¯ıEah who originated in North Africa
instead of attacking al-Daraz¯ı, the crowd turned against
but conquered Egypt and built Cairo in 969 CE as their seat
H:amzah’s residence at the Ridan mosque. Although
of power. According to almost all scholarly accounts, and
al-Daraz¯ı was eventually executed by al-H:a¯kim and his
based on Druze manuscripts, the Druze religious doctrine
teachings were repudiated, some writers thereafter attributed
was founded, approved, supervised, or simply tolerated by
his teachings to the followers of H:amzah. In doing so, they
the sixth Fa¯t:imid caliph, al-Mans:u¯r, known as al-H:a¯kim bi-
referred to such followers as Druzes after Daraz¯ı’s name, and
Amr Alla¯h (r. 996–1021 CE).
erroneously portrayed al-Daraz¯ı as the founder of Druzism.
In the eyes of many historians, al-H:a¯kim was the most
In 1021 CE, al-H:a¯kim departed on one of his routine
controversial among Fa¯t:imid caliphs, due partly to rumors
trips, but he never returned, leaving fertile ground for specu-
about a claim for divinity, which he apparently never made,
lation. His contemporaries said that he could have been as-
and partly to his early resolutions against the ritualistic prac-
sassinated by his sister’s agents, attacked by nomads who had
tices of several religious communities. Descriptions of
not recognized him, or he could have simply died of natural
al-H:a¯kim as insane and eccentric became dominant in main-
causes. Whatever the case, his body was never found, and his-
stream Islamic scholarship and later in the West as well.
torians have been unable to resolve the mystery surrounding
However, more recent historians have come to view him as
the caliph’s life and disappearance. In the same year, H:amzah
an antagonist to ritualistic practices and as a reformer with
withdrew completely from the public eye and delegated the
his own style and approach.
leadership of the community to Baha¯D al-D¯ın al-Sa¯mmu¯q¯ı,
who is considered the third important figure in the emer-
A second important figure in the Druze religious reform
gence of the Druze movement.
movement is H:amzah ibn EAl¯ı (b. 985), who is considered
the main authority behind Druze teachings. H:amzah came
Baha¯D al-D¯ın took office in a period when the Fa¯t:imid
to Cairo in December 1016 CE, and in May 1017 al-H:a¯kim
caliph, al-Z:a¯hir, successor of al-H:a¯kim, began persecuting
officially conferred the title of ima¯m on him, announcing
members of the new movement. This period of persecution
that he and his associates could begin disseminating their re-
is known in the Druze tradition as a “testing phase” or “hard-
ligious reforms. Druze manuscripts tell us that H:amzah ibn
ship” that lasted over five years. After 1026 CE, Baha¯D al-D¯ın
EAl¯ı sent missionaries in every direction of the earth with a
wrote letters both to prospective converts in new locations
document or “proclamation of faith” known as al-Mitha¯q
and to those members who had seceded from the movement
(the Covenant) by which the prospective converts could
as a result of the persecution. He also sent missionaries to
commit themselves and pledge their loyalty to the new move-
strengthen and guide believers. Baha¯D al-D¯ın continued his
ment and its religious doctrine. Then he sent twenty of his
activity until the closing of the Druze tawh:¯ıd movement in
followers to the supreme Muslim judge, Ah:mad ibn
1043. In that year H:amzah ibn EAl¯ı, Baha¯D al-D¯ın and the
al-EAwa¯m, asking him not to adjudicate cases by members
other luminaries left Egypt to an unknown destination.
of the new movement because the movement’s doctrine,
Druzes believe that they will all return on the Day of Judg-
among other things, prohibited polygamy and the remarriage
ment. Since 1043, Druzism has remained closed to new
of one’s divorcee, practices that were authorized in the Islam-
converts.
ic courts. H:amzah’s emissaries were attacked and some were
killed.
In the past nearly one thousand years, Druze communi-
ties have faced various challenges, most notably their reli-
During this external resistance to the new movement,
gious and spiritual decline during the fourteenth and fif-
an internal power struggle arose between H:amzah and one
teenth centuries. That period led to the emergence of several
of the activists mentioned earlier, al-Daraz¯ı. Although
important spiritual leaders, the most important being the
H:amzah was technically al-Daraz¯ı’s superior, he decided to
prolific theologian al-Am¯ır al-Sayyid al-Tanu¯kh¯ı (d. 1479),
withdraw from public preaching in order to prevent any con-
who is the author of a number of treatises and commentaries.
fusion in the ranks of new and prospective converts.
On the social and political levels, Druzes have remained a
Al-Daraz¯ı exploited the opportunity of H:amzah’s withdraw-
close-knit community and have almost always stayed loyal
al and not only claimed the title of ima¯m for himself, but
to the governments under which they lived. Exceptions that
also began to falsify H:amzah’s writings and teachings in
are worth mentioning may include the MaEn¯ıs’ uprisings
order to present al-H:a¯kim as divine. This was apparently in
against the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and the
the hopes that al-H:a¯kim would favor him over H:amzah. In-
At:rashs’ rebellion against French rule in the 1920s. Both the
stead, al-H:a¯kim withdrew his support from al-Daraz¯ı and
MaEn¯ıs and At:rashs were also supported by non-Druze resi-
public opposition to al-Daraz¯ı’s teachings increased. As his
dents of the region.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2504
DUALISM
BELIEFS VERSUS PRACTICES. The Druze manuscripts advo-
world’s printed spiritual texts are only a few drops in a vast
cate that the sources of tawh:¯ıd are many and include the He-
ocean of wisdom. These drops are partially recorded in a
brew Bible, the New Testament, and the QurDa¯n. The Druze
number of ancient and medieval texts, some of which repre-
(holy) book, known as The Epistles of Wisdom (Rasa¯ Dil
sent versions of older manuscripts with some degree of error.
al-H:ikmah), is in actuality a hermeneutic of biblical and
Related to the belief in h:ikmah and its place in the
QurDanic doctrines rather than an independent book of reve-
Druze community is the belief in accessing such h:ikmah
lations.
through initiation. As stated earlier, initiation in Druzism is
Several beliefs and practices may be highlighted. The
a lengthy and arduous process. Like other esoteric and mysti-
first Druze belief is in God and his oneness, without an at-
cal groups, such a process demands that the initiated member
tempt to penetrate the nature of his being and attributes.
be not only of the right character and personality, but also
With minor variations, the Druze belief in God is consistent
in a ready mental and spiritual state in life.
with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition.
Finally, Druze religious practices, as distinguished from
Secondly, Druzes believe in the teachings of several in-
beliefs, include the following:
termediaries, including seven spokesmen (nutaqa¯ D) who
1. Speaking the truth (s:idq al-lisa¯n);
preached tawh:¯ıd in their times: Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, Muh:ammad, and Muh:ammad ibn Isma¯E¯ıl. For
2. Protecting coreligionists (h:ifz al-ikhwa¯n);
each of these seven spokesmen, God provided a foundation
3. Abandoning the worship of idols/sin (tark Eiba¯dat
(asas) to help in spreading tawh:¯ıd. These helpers are, respec-
al-awtha¯n);
tively, Seth, Shem, Ishmael, Aaron/Joshua, Simeon Peter,
E
4. Fleeing from devils and oppression (bara Dah min
Ali ibn Ab¯ı T:a¯lib, and al-Qaddah. Because these spokesmen
al-aba¯lisah wa-al-tughya¯n);
and their helpers came from God, introduced his teachings,
and obeyed and worshiped him, Druzes acknowledge and re-
5. Declaring the unity of the creator (tawh:¯ıd al-Ba¯riD);
vere them. In addition to the spokesmen and foundations,
6. Being contented with God (rid:a¯D);
Druzes believe that there was also a hierarchy of luminaries
(h:udu¯d) in each cycle. The five central luminaries are, in de-
7. Submitting to God’s will (tasl¯ım).
scending order, the Universal Intellect (al- EAql al-Kull¯ı), the
Universal Soul (al-Nafs al-Kull¯ıyah), the Word (al-Kalimah),
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Preceding (al-Sa¯biq), and the Following (al-Ta¯l¯ı). Each
Abu Izzeddin, Nejla M. The Druzes: A New Study of Their History,
Faith, and Society. Leiden, 1984.
of these spiritual luminaries was also represented by a human
in each respective period.
Ben-Dor, Gabriel. The Druzes in Israel: A Political Study. Jerusa-
lem, 1979.
Third, Druzes believe in the phenomenon of the trans-
Betts, Robert Brenton. The Druze. New Haven, 1988.
migration of souls, or more precisely perhaps, metempsychosis.
They use the unique term taqa¯mus, derived from qa¯mis,
Firro, Kais. A History of the Druzes. Leiden, 1992.
meaning “shirt,” and not the common Arabic term tana¯sukh
Firro, Kais. The Druzes in the Jewish State: A Brief History. Leiden,
(reincarnation). Druzes rely on biblical and QurDanic pas-
1999.
sages, as well as on Platonic and Neoplatonic arguments, to
Hitti, Philip K. The Origins of the Druze People and Religion. New
support their belief in taqa¯mus. Generally, and in contrast
York, 1928.
to other traditions, Druzes believe that after the death of the
Makarem, Sami Nasib. The Druze Faith. Delmar, N.Y., 1974.
body the soul is instantly reborn into a new human body.
Silvestre de Sacy, Antoine Isaac. Exposé de la religion des Druzes.
Thus, Druzes do not accept the doctrine that the soul “hov-
Paris, 1838. Reprint, Amsterdam, 1964.
ers” without the body, nor the belief that humans are reborn
Swayd, Samy S. The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography. Los Ange-
as animals, plants, or things. Moreover, they believe that the
les, 1998.
soul’s punishment or reward is granted only on the Day of
Judgment and after a large number of lives in which the soul
SAMY SWAYD (2005)
would have experienced all possible roles, being poor and
rich, healthy and ill, and having had long and short lives.
In addition to the above three beliefs in God, intermedi-
DUALISM. As a category within the history and phe-
aries, and metempsychosis, Druzes believe in the centrality
nomenology of religion, dualism may be defined as a doc-
of wisdom (h:ikmah) as a collective body of knowledge con-
trine that posits the existence of two fundamental causal
cerning theology, cosmology, and eschatology. The word
principles underlying the existence (or, as in the case of the
h:ikmah is often associated with The Epistles of Wisdom, but
Indian notion of maya as opposed to atman, the painful ap-
here the use of h:ikmah is distinctive and more cumulative,
pearance of the existence) of the world. In addition, dualistic
going beyond the eleventh-century religious doctrine. Some
doctrines, worldviews, or myths represent the basic compo-
Druze sages are aware of such distinction between the book
nents of the world, or of humans, as participating in the on-
of h:ikmah and the body of h:ikmah, and they confirm that the
tological opposition and disparity of value that characterize
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUALISM
2505
their dual principles. In this specific religio-historical sense,
mortal body and the immortal soul, the “One” and the
dualism is to be distinguished from the more general philo-
“Many,” the finite and the infinite, as well as the world per-
sophical doctrines of transcendence and metaphysical irre-
ceived by the senses and the world of eternal ideas compre-
ducibility, which are opposed to monistic or pantheistic doc-
hended by the mind or the Kantian ontological distinction
trines of immanence. This article will examine dualism only
between the phenomenal and the noumenal world.
in the former sense, as a religio-historical phenomenon. It
begins with a systematic overview of the nature and types of
Although the term “dualism” entered forcefully into
dualism, then proceeds to a closer examination of some spe-
philosophical terminology, theories, and arguments, in the
cific historical instances.
field of religious history and theology throughout the nine-
teenth century, it would retain its original association with
As a religio-historical phenomenon, dualism is more
Zarathushtra and the ancient Persian religion. The develop-
specific than either simple duality or polarity. Not every du-
ment of Oriental scholarship, the history of religions, and
ality or polarity is dualistic—only those that involve the du-
ethnology in the second half of the nineteenth century, how-
ality or polarity of causal principles. Thus not every pair of
ever, led to the application of the term beyond ancient Iran
opposites (such as male and female, right and left, light and
in the discussions of the religions of ancient Egypt and Meso-
darkness, good and bad, spirit and matter, and sacred and
potamia, the Greek and the Hellenistic world—particularly
profane) can be labeled as dualistic, even when their opposi-
with regard to some currents in Pre-Socratic philosophic tra-
tion is emphasized. They are dualistic only when they are un-
ditions, Orphism and Pythagoreanism)—and the first
derstood as principles or causes of the world and its constitu-
studies trying to identify dualist strands in the preliterate cul-
tive elements. In addition, in order for pairs of opposites to
tures of North America and Eurasia. Consequently there ap-
be dualistic, it is not necessary that they be mutually irreduc-
peared the first attempts to determine the place of religious
ible or coeternal. Indeed, one may be the creation of the
dualism in the history of religions on the whole. Dualism
other, as in the dualistic doctrine of the Bogomils, where
came to be variously defined as a reaction against monothe-
Satan, created by God, is in turn the creator of the human
ism; as an intermediate phase of passage between polytheism
body. In short, there is no dualism where there is no question
and monotheism; as a protest against the presence of evil in
of cosmogony or anthropogony, where there is no account
the world; as a corrective to monism’s tendency to effect a
of the principles responsible for bringing the world and hu-
premature synthesis (Rudolf Eucken); and as a response to
mans into existence. This means that a concept of mere ethi-
the experience of irrationality in the world (Max Weber).
cal dualism, stressing the moral opposition between good
and evil and their respective protagonists (as in the Christian
Another approach to the problem in which dualism and
concepts of God and the devil), is not properly dualistic in
monotheism are treated as intimately related phenomena was
the religio-historical and phenomenological sense—unless,
also to find its early expressions in literature, for example, in
however, good and evil are also connected with opposite on-
Ludwig Stein’s Dualismus oder Monismus (1909). The wid-
tological principles, as in Zoroastrianism and in Manichae-
ening of the scope of the study of religious dualism in the
ism. The simple contrasting of good and evil, life and death,
early twentieth century was also effected by the historical-
light and darkness, and so on is in fact coextensive with reli-
critical methods of inquiry introduced by the Religions-
gion itself and cannot be equated with the much more specif-
geschitliche Schule. At the same time, the prominent focus on
ic phenomenon of dualism.
the impact of ancient Iran and Mesopotamia on Judaism,
Christianity, and Gnosticism in the most influential works
DUALISM IN RELIGIO-HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL AND
of the Religionsgeschitliche Schule, as well as the postulation
SOCIOLOGICAL DISCOURSE. In 1700 the English Orientalist
of Iranian redemption myths—like that of the “redeemed re-
Thomas Hyde (1636–1703) used in his Historia religionis
deemer,” believed by Richard Reitzenstein to have crucially
veterum Persarum (1700) the term “dualistae” in reference to
influenced Gnosticism—helped to retain what should have
the ancient religion of the Persians, whom he described as
been by then an anachronistic paradigm of Iran as the cradle-
professing a belief in two principles—respectively the Light
land of religious dualism.
and Good one and the Dark and Evil one, a belief he traced
to Zarathushtra. Subsequently, the terms “dualist” and “du-
Meanwhile, the contemporary advance in research in
ality” were employed in reference to Zarathushtra by Pierre
the dual organization of a number of mainly preliterate socie-
Bayle and Gottfried Leibnitz, and in 1734 Christian Wolff
ties generated increasing interest among anthropologists and
in his Psychologia rationalis introduced the term “dualism”
sociologists in its origins, development, and ways of func-
to define philosophical systems like that of René Descartes
tioning. This had direct implications for the study of
(1596–1650), which posit that mind and matter are two dis-
dualism, polarity, and contrariety in religious and cultural
tinct substances. Subsequently, the term came into use for
history. Coupled with the widening exploration and under-
philosophical descriptions of Cartesianism, the mind-body
standing of the phenomenon of dual symbolic classification
problem, and the doctrines of transcendence. More general-
in such preliterate (as well as some later) societies, this led
ly, the term dualism came to be applied also to philosophical
to the conceptualization of some influential anthropological
systems that contained important and paradigmatic pairs of
and sociological approaches to the problem of dualism and
oppositions like that of Plato, with its dualities between the
dual social organization. For Emile Durkheim and his fol-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2506
DUALISM
lowers, as well as related theorists—like the Russian scholar
sources for Manichaeism between the two World Wars, and
A. Zolotarev—the bipartite classification of society and the
the eventual discovery of the Nag Hammadi Gnostic corpus
world (and the related religious and mythological/
in 1945, revolutionized the study of Gnosticism and led to
cosmological notions) had its origins in dual models devel-
increasing numbers of studies, such as Hans Jonas’s The
oped in society itself. Other scholars favored “historical” ex-
Gnostic Religion (1958), that focused on various aspects of
planations for the rise of social organization of a binary
Gnostic dualism. Employing the newly redefined methods
type—decoded largely as a consequence of the historical mix-
of form criticism, redaction history, and tradition history,
ture of two different ethnic entities.
these studies revisited and reassessed the theories and argu-
ments of the Religionsgeschitliche Schule regarding the origins
Although making some major contributions to the
of Gnostic dualism, and often broke into completely new
study of dual social organizations, particularly in relation to
territories.
the use of dual symbolic classification and religious traditions
such as the cult of the divine twins, these historicizing and
A new stage in the research on religious dualism and a
sociologizing approaches were frequently marred by obvious
movement towards the accomplishment of its Weltgeschichte
reductionism. According to the influential alternative ap-
was inaugurated in the studies of Ugo Bianchi between 1958
proach offered by the structural anthropology of Claude
and 1995. Among the many contributions of these studies
Lévi-Strauss and his followers, the principles of dual social
was the elaboration of a systematic typology of dualism with
organization derive from a “deep structure” operating un-
the simultaneous and balanced use of comparative-historical
consciously in the human mind, one of whose most impor-
and phenomenological approaches to the various historical
tant mechanisms is that of the binary opposition intrinsic to
and theological problems posed by dualist traditions (per-
the mind’s perception of the world.
taining to, among others, diffusion, cultural exchange, paral-
Structural anthropology stimulated a number of studies
lel development, and acculturation). Thus depth, meticu-
and widespread debates across a range of fields, ranging from
lousness, and variety were finally given to the religio-
whether binary differentiation and oppositions form the pri-
historical senses in which dualism can be validly used.
mal and permanent basis of human consciousness and cul-
Bianchi’s discussions, typology, and definitions of dualism—
ture (including theories that it could be related to the bi-
which integrated material both from literate and nonliterate
camerality of the human mind) to their posited correlations
religions—have recently been further elaborated, specified,
with the general formal characteristics of language and the
and in some cases challenged by other scholars working in
diffusion and history of binary systems of thought and action
the various fields of religious studies.
in various civilizations. The studies and debates also ranged
ROLE IN MONOTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, AND MONISM. In the
from preliterate societies, to the use of a “polar mode of
historical phenomenology of religion, dualism need not be
thought” in classical Greece and China, and the preoccupa-
opposed necessarily to either monotheism, polytheism, or
tion of binary opposites and contrariety in medieval and
monism.
early modern Europe.
Dualism in monotheism. Dualistic manifestations of
The resultant expanding study of binary social organiza-
monotheism can be found in the Gathas of the Zoroastrian
tions and symbolic classifications on the whole, and separate
Avesta and in Christian Gnosticism. Here one finds an onto-
problems—such as the correlation between beliefs/
logically inferior and often demonic figure, such as Ahriman
cosmology based on the binary cosmos of certain cultures
(Angra Mainyu) in the Avesta or the Prince of Darkness in
and the related social institutions (binary or not)—has not
Manichaeism or the psychic demiurge in Gnosticism, all of
always distinguished sufficiently the term dualism from dual-
which exist as a second principle along with the supreme
ity, polarity, contrariety, and oppositional thought. With the
God. Only in Marcionism does this dualism lead beyond
prevalent focus being on the sociological or psychological in-
monotheism to a properly ditheistic doctrine (the supreme
terpretation of religion, this has led to some ambiguity and
god of perfect goodness, as opposed to the inferior god of
uncritical use in the application of the term dualism in an-
“justice”). Additionally, some forms of non-Gnostic Chris-
thropological and sociological discourse, as well as a frequent
tian speculation deeply influenced by Platonism can be re-
lack of terminological specification, which has to be contrast-
garded as dualistic. Rather than a Gnostic belief in two irre-
ed with the terminologically well-defined usage of the term
ducible agencies that account for the existence of humans
in philosophical discourse gradually established throughout
and the universe, there is in the speculation a belief in the
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
fundamental opposition of the immaterial human soul and
Indeed the term dualism may have originally been intro-
the material—that is, physical—body. Although present here
duced in a religio-historical framework, but the parameters
is the same God who creates both the soul and the body, the
of its legitimate and specific usage were determined earlier
occasion for the creation of the latter is the primordial sin
in philosophical discourse—this process was somewhat de-
of what were originally “incorporeal”—that is, not bound to
layed in religious studies of the phenomenon, at least prior
a material body—rational souls. This primordial sin can ac-
to the appearance of the first more systematic works on reli-
cordingly be viewed as a second principle or cause that moti-
gious dualism. The unearthing and publication of new
vates God to create the human body in its present constitu-
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DUALISM
2507
tion and the visible world in which people must live until
in Vedic cosmogony) remains a brahman. In other words,
the final apocatastasis, or restoration of his primordial, “im-
the character of these primordial entities, fated to a final de-
material” condition.
feat and transformed substantially into the elements of the
universe, is far from demonic; they remain different from the
Such is the picture presented by the platonizing anthro-
aggressive beings that characterize the Zoroastrian and Gnos-
pology of Origen (c. 185–c. 254 CE. In this case, one can
tic worldviews.
speak of an anthropological dualism, which implies not only
the dual constituents of soul and body, but more importantly
Dualism in monism. Finally, even monism can be ex-
a duality of causes: the omnipotent will of God and the sin
pressed in dualistic terms. This is the case, paradoxically
of a created soul, the latter motivating the creation of the
enough, in the classical Advaita doctrine of Sankara (c. 788–
human physiological body and the material world. Clearly,
820), and in other systems that reduce the multiplicity of the
sin is not to be understood here as the efficient cause of this
material world to illusion—that is, to metaphysical nonexis-
“second creation”; it merely motivates the subsequent (sec-
tence. These systems in fact correspond to the definition of
ond) creative act of God. Rather, sin is to be understood here
dualism put forth earlier, inasmuch as maya (illusion),
as “previous sin,” as distinct from the original sin of Adam.
though ontologically insubstantial, nevertheless gives rise to
Whereas the latter was committed by Adam as a fully corpo-
the phenomenal world and its suffering. Instances of dualis-
real man, this “previous sin” was committed by the preexist-
tic monism can be found outside India as well. In Greece the
ing souls in a kind of “prologue in heaven.” Elements of this
monistic doctrine of Parmenides is not without dualistic
Origenian tradition of anthropological dualism are also
overtones, with its opposition between truth and opinion
found in Gregory of Nyssa, who thought that God created
(doxa)—a distinction that was also proper to Plato. More
the human (sexual) body because of his foreknowledge of the
profoundly intermingled, and at the same time opposed, are
(not sexual) sin of Adam and his fall from paradise.
the coeternal principles of Love and Discord in the ontology
One finds a somewhat different form of non-Gnostic,
and cosmology of Empedocles. One also thinks of Heracli-
dualistic monotheism in certain Jewish thinkers who admit
tus’s essentially dualistic doctrine of “war” (polemos), where
the existence of angelic agents who cooperate with God the
the “way downward” and the “way upward” oppose each
creator. In Philo Judaeus (c. 20
other, all within the context of the axiological preeminence
BCE– after 42 CE), for in-
stance, these angels are particularly concerned with the cre-
attributed to the principle of Logos, which has as its material
ation of people or their lower constituents. Philo shows here
aspect fire.
the clear influence of Plato, who in his Timaeus had opposed
TYPES OF DUALISM. In order to provide a more systematic
the great Demiurge, creator of the immortal part of the soul,
examination of dualism, it is necessary to review a typology
and the “generated gods,” whom the Demiurge appoints to
of its basic forms. These forms, however, require verification
create the lower, mortal parts of the soul and the human
through comparative historical research. From the systematic
body.
point of view, every form of dualism may be classified by type
Needless to say, dualistic formulations of monotheism
as either radical or moderate, either dialectical or eschatologi-
were criticized by Christian theologians, who sought to avoid
cal, and as either cosmic (or procosmic) or anticosmic. Each
any limitation of the absolute creativity of God. Neverthe-
of these pairs is examined in turn below.
less, it should be noted that some of the abovementioned
Radical versus moderate. Radical dualism and moder-
conceptions (those of Philo and Plato) were originally in-
ate dualism may be distinguished from each other on the
tended to safeguard God’s innocence in relation to evil. Thus
basis of their respective views of the two fundamental princi-
the Platonists attributed human evil not to God, but to the
ples. Radical dualism admits two coequal and coeternal prin-
freedom of the will and to the corporeal nature of humans.
ciples (in the sense that both of them exist and act from the
Dualism in polytheism. Dualistic conceptions can also
very beginning, whatever may be their final destiny; see
be found in polytheism. In some polytheistic cosmogonies
below). Late Avestan and medieval Zoroastrianism, as well
there is an opposition between two distinct causal principles,
as the early Gathic doctrine of the two primordial spirits, are
represented on the one hand by the older, semipersonal ar-
examples of such radical dualism. In particular, the two
chai, or principles of an elementary character, and on the
Gathic spirits are to be understood as existing independently
other by a new race of youthful and energetic gods. Thus
from the beginning of the world with their perfectly contrary
Ouranos, in the cosmogony of Hesiod, and Apsu, in the
natures. Notwithstanding the interpretation given by most
Mesopotamian Enuma elish, are each violently opposed in
Iranologists, the conflicting moral choices of the two Gathic
their egocentrism and ontological passivity by new gods,
spirits between asha (Truth) and druj (Untruth) means mere-
among whom figures a wise and energetic demiurge who
ly the declaration of their inborn natures, and the bad spirit
creates or sets in order the world, apportions lots, and fixes
has nothing in common with Ahura Mazda, the high god.
destinies. It should be noted that in this type of cosmogony,
That the Gathic spirits are mentioned in the Gathas as
the vanquished primordial entities do not completely lose
“twins” does not imply more than their being symmetrical
their sacredness. Ouranos, for instance, retains a prophetic
and contrary in essence to each other. (Manichaeism and
function, Apsu remains pure, and Vrtra (an analogous figure
some varieties of medieval Catharism also belong within this
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2508
DUALISM
form.) Among the Greeks there exists a radical dualism in
ondary demiurge). The supreme being’s forgetfulness points
Orphism, with its conception of the kuklos tes geneseos (“the
to the fact that Raven is implicitly, even before his birth, a
cycle of birth”) and the dualistic implications of its meta-
constituent element of the universe. In fact, the myth tells
physics; in Empedocles’ theory of the two opposed principles
us that he comes into being in darkness, during the night fol-
of Love and Discord; in Heraclitus; and in Plato’s doctrines
lowing creation, born of a creator god’s abandoned garment.
of the two alternating revolutions of the world, mentioned
Thus the creator is, in one way or another, responsible for
in the Statesman, and of the coeternity of the Ideas and the
the totality of existence, and Raven owes his existence to a
“receptacle” (chora). There are also several forms of radical
kind of inborn necessity.
dualism in India, particularly in the Samkhya system, with
It would seem, therefore, that the most ancient formula-
its opposed principles of purusa and prakrti.
tions (or at least the simplest) did not choose between the
Unlike the radical dualism, moderate (or monarchian)
two possibilities of radical and moderate dualism. Perhaps
dualism exhibits only one primordial principle, while a sec-
such an alternative was not recognized. Such may also have
ond principle somehow derives from the first, often through
been the case with what we have called the moderate dualism
an incident that took place in a kind of prologue in heaven.
of the Valentinians and of other Gnostics and sectarians,
This second principle then plays a central role in bringing
whose mythologies are frequently reminiscent of the dualistic
the world into existence. Many of the Gnostic systems pro-
scenarios of archaic cultures.
vide examples of moderate dualism, in particular the systems
In this connection one may also mention the mytholo-
of Valentinus, where the structure of the divine, pneumatic
gies of the Yaz¯ıd¯ıs, the Ahl-i Haqq, and the dualistic myths
world (the pleroma) allows for the possibility of a fall in heav-
and legends found in the folklore of eastern Europe. The lat-
en. The fall of Sophia, the last Aion, is a result of her location
ter have been influenced both by the doctrines of the Bo-
on the periphery of the divine pleroma. This dangerous posi-
gomils, who themselves drew upon certain Christian apocry-
tion amounts to a kind of predestination. Although this does
phal writings; but they also have some features in common
not destroy the moderate, or monarchian, character of
with the dualistic mythologies found among the Tatars of the
Valentinianism, it does show that Gnostic metaphysics here
Altai and among other Turkish and Mongolian populations
includes a concept of crisis or instability in the divine that
of Central Asia.
is fundamentally dualistic. It also provides evidence of Gnos-
ticism’s connections with other speculative trends during the
Dialectical versus eschatological dualism. Dialectical
Hellenistic period, such as the Orphic, Pythagorean, and Pla-
dualism may be distinguished from eschatological dualism
tonic traditions. Other examples of moderate dualism are the
by the fact that the two irreducible principles recognized by
anthropogony of Plato’s Timaeus, and medieval sects (some
the former function eternally, whereas in the latter case they
of the Cathari and the Bogomils).
do not. In dialectical dualism the two principles are often
conceived of as good and evil, respectively, both in the ethical
Evidence of radical or moderate dualism among nonlit-
and metaphysical sense. Samples are to be found in Orphic
erate cultures is ambiguous, and this fact may be significant
speculation on the one and the many, in Empedocles and
for an understanding of the formation process of dualistic
Heraclitus, and in Platonism. The Hindu opposition of
ideologies and creeds. Thus, whereas the Algonquin myth of
atman and maya also represents this type of dualism, as does
the two brothers Ioskeha and Tawiskaron, born of Ataentsic
the Chinese ideology of yin and yang, and various theosophi-
(a primordial female being) can be traced to a type of radical
cal speculations.
dualism—because the brothers have, respectively, a positive
and negative relation to creation from the beginning—other
The distinctive feature of eschatological dualism is the
American myths of a dualistic character are different. They
belief that the evil principle will be overcome at the end of
may present a supreme being who in the beginning is unop-
history. Examples of this type of belief can be found in Zoro-
posed but is later joined by a second figure of unknown ori-
astrianism, Manichaeism, Gnosticism, Bogomilism, and
gin who begins to interfere in the creation process. The un-
Catharism. As can be seen from this list, many forms of es-
known origin of the rival, who is often characterized as a
chatological dualism are historically dependent on doctrines
demiurgic trickster, may be intended to indicate that his ear-
within Christianity, where soteriology is strongly eschatolog-
lier absence was really an unmanifested presence, and that
ical (though nondualistic). Similarly, some forms of dialecti-
he is in fact an integral part of a single, all-inclusive scenario.
cal dualism are connected with monistic speculations. It
should also be noted that whereas dialectical dualism is al-
The same seems to be true of the North American myth
ways radical dualism, eschatological dualism can be ground-
of Nih’asa (or Napiwa), the “hard man” who arrives late, his
ed on either radical dualism, as in the case of Zoroastrianism
origin unknown. He succeeds in taking control of the earth
and the Manichaeism influenced by it, or on moderate dual-
with the creator god’s permission, but then immediately acts
ism, such as one finds in most Gnostic traditions, in Bo-
against the latter’s purposes. The less tragic Chukchi myth
gomilism, and in Catharism.
of the primordial times conveys the same impression. The
supreme being creates everything, but forgets to create Raven
Cosmic (Procosmic) versus anticosmic dualism. Cos-
(who in other Northeast Asian myths is a trickster and a sec-
mic and anticosmic forms of dualism are distinguished 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
DUALISM
2509
their attitudes towards the world. Cosmic dualism contends
causal powers of equal standing; cosmic dualism, expressing
that creation is fundamentally good, and evil comes to it
the division of the universe and humankind into opposed
from the outside. Zoroastrianism can be named as a typical
forces of good and evil—which are, however, not viewed as
example. Anticosmic dualism contends, to the contrary, that
coeternal or causal; spatial dualism, which divides the world
evil is intrinsic to the world and present in an essentially neg-
in two spatially differentiated parts, like heaven and earth;
ative or delusive principle or substance such as matter, the
and eschatological dualism focused on the bisection of the
body, or the inferior soul. Examples here include Orphism,
world into two temporally separated parts like the present
Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Bogomilism, Catharism, and cer-
age and the future one (also referred to as spatial dualism);
tain forms of Hinduism. In Manichaeism, for instance, we
ethical dualism, indicating the splitting up of humanity into
find the notion of the world as being made out of the dark,
two mutually exclusive camps on the basis of their adherence
material substance of demons, molded by a divine demiurge,
to virtue or vice; soteriological dualism, signifying the bisec-
the Spiritus Vivens. The cosmos is created as a providential
tion of humans into two groups on the basis of their accep-
engine in order to permit the progressive liberation of the
tance or rejection of a messianic figure; theological dualism,
souls trapped within it, which are eventually guided to the
denoting the contrast between God and humans or the cre-
heavenly paradise.
ator and his creation (a contrast approaching genuine dual-
OTHER TYPOLOGIES OF RELIGIOUS DUALISM. With the ex-
ism only when the element of antagonism between the two
pansion of research on religious dualism, other typologies
is accentuated); physical dualism, referring to the radical sep-
have also been put forward that should be taken into account
aration between spirit and matter; anthropological dualism,
when considering separate disciplines like that of Dead Sea
designating the contrariety between body and soul as dissim-
Scrolls studies, in which such alternative typologies of dual-
ilar principles of being (obviously related to the previous type
ism have become more influential. Some modern scholars
of physical dualism) and finally, psychological dualism, de-
have added more dichotomies to the above scheme of
noting the opposition of two principles or impulses—good
Bianchi’s three pairs, as in the case of Ioan Coulianu, who
and evil—within people and struggling to prevail upon
added to the scheme the dichotomy of antihylic (against
them. It is obvious that the types of cosmic and eschatologi-
matter) versus prohylic dualism (The Tree of Gnosis, 1992),
cal dualism refer to different kinds of dualist concepts in this
while effectively not recognizing mitigated dualist teachings
typology and Bianchi’s scheme, differences that should be
as belonging to religious dualism and, accordingly, the first
reckoned with when dealing with studies in the relevant
pair in Bianchi’s typology. In her Le Dieu Separé (Paris,
fields
1984) Simone Pétrement puts the main focus on the dichot-
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF TYPES. A general consideration
omy of horizontal dualism (where the division is between be-
of the typologies that have just been presented permits one
ings on the same level as in Zoroastrian and Qumran dual-
to make several interesting observations. First of all, the first
ism) and vertical dualism (where the division is between
opposition—that between radical and moderate forms of du-
realities of different levels as in Platonic, Christian, and
alism—seems to be the least significant. This calls into ques-
Gnostic dualism as well as the Cartesian and Kantian sys-
tion the frequent assumption that dualism in its genuine
tems). A. H. Armstrong (“Dualism: Platonic, Gnostic, and
form implies the coeternity of the two principles. That this
Christian,” 1992) proposes as a main dichotomy a distinc-
particular alternative caused important clashes in the Cathar
tion between cosmic dualism, which perceives the whole ex-
churches of the Western Middle Ages should not lead us to
istence as constituted by the interaction of two opposite prin-
overestimate its importance. The fundamental ambiguity in-
ciples, and two-world dualism, which posits the division
volved in the question of the origin of the rival of God, the
between two levels of reality, the normal and the higher one.
demiurge-trickster, in the dualistic mythologies of a number
The cosmic dualism in this scheme is further divided into
of nonliterate cultures points rather to the relative unimpor-
four varieties: conflict-dualism of the Iranian pattern, in
tance of this opposition. From the metaphysical point of
which the two principles are intrinsically opposed and in a
view, the second form of typological opposition, that be-
constant conflict; dualism in which the two principles are
tween dialectical and eschatological dualism, which is the
seen as independent but complementary or interacting in
most important. Finally, in relation to the actual conception
harmony—as frequently speculated in Chinese thought; and
and practice of life, it is the third opposition, that between
two types of dualism in which the second principle derives
cosmic and anticosmic dualism, that is central.
from the first, accordingly either in revolt or opposition
This final point enables us to recognize the specific char-
against the first principle, or in harmony and collaboration
acter of Zoroastrianism in relation to the other types. As an
with it.
outstanding form of cosmic dualism, Zoroastrianism is to be
Another kind of typology of religious dualism is widely
distinguished sharply from anticosmic Manichaeism, in spite
used in the study of the Qumran texts and differing from
of their similarities as both radical and eschatological. Mani-
Bianchi’s scheme in several important respects. Advanced by
chaeism, which is generally Gnostic and Western in charac-
James H. Charlesworth and elaborated by other Qumran
ter, nevertheless shares in the radical and eschatological form
scholars, it distinguishes ten types of dualistic thought: meta-
of Zoroastrian dualism and suggests the conceptual and
physical dualism, denoting the opposition of two prominent
iconographic influence of the Iranian religious milieu.
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2510
DUALISM
The opposition of cosmic and anticosmic is less helpful
death). These may have been influenced not only by Iran but
for arriving at a specific characterization of Platonic and Her-
also by the dualistic folklore traditions of eastern Europe.
metic forms of dualism. Both Plato and Plotinus strongly af-
The earth-diver cosmogonies and dualism. Even in
firmed the beauty and order of the cosmos (something that
Iran, there have occasionally been peripheral formulations of
sets Plotinus apart from the Gnostics). Nevertheless, they oc-
dualism that cannot be explained on the basis of Zoroastrian
casionally expressed less optimistic views. In the Laws, for ex-
ideology alone. The characterization of Ahriman as a kind
ample, Plato formulated an opposition between two souls of
of demiurge-trickster, for instance, is not unlike the charac-
the world, one good and the other evil. Furthermore, both
terization of similar figures in the nonliterate cultures of Asia.
he and Plotinus shared the Orphic doctrine of the body as
Ultimately one is led to question the origins of Zoroastrian
the tomb or prison of the soul and the view of life as a kind
dualism itself: to what extent was it influenced or predeter-
of death. In the end, it is impossible to describe the thought
mined by the figure of Zarathushtra? To what extent, and
of either as consistently cosmic or anticosmic.
in which ways, was Iranian religion characterized by dualistic
DUALISM IN HISTORY. Up to this point in the entry, the ap-
tendencies prior to Zarathushtra? And, what was more im-
proach to dualism has been systematic. But the history of re-
portant for this: those elements that were paralleled in the
ligions entails more than a purely phenomenological or sys-
Vedic literature of India (such as the parallel figures of Indra-
tematic outlook. Employing a comparative-historical
Vrtrahan and Verethraghna), or those that recall Inner Asian
method raises the question of possible historical connections
folklore?
between different forms of religious dualism, and engages
However these questions are to be answered, one possi-
one in analyzing the historical milieus in which these phe-
bility deserves special mention, namely that of what one
nomena arise. A historical-comparative treatment of dualism
might call a “dualistic imperialism.” This may be illustrated
as a specific category of religious thought and experience
by considering the historical fate of the so-called earth diver,
need not revert to diffusionist explanations that presuppose
the mythical theme of a bird or animal that dives into the
a single historical origin of dualism and explain its subse-
primordial sea in order to bring up some mud for the creator,
quent geographical extension as a consequence of cultural
who then spreads it on the surface of the waters to create the
diffusion and adaptation. The diverse historical forms of du-
earth. This motif is widespread, being found in Inner Asia,
alism can be better explained on the basis of parallel develop-
eastern Europe, and North America. What is interesting is
ment, provided this approach avoids the presuppositions of
that it has dualistic implications only in the Old World,
evolutionism and physiological development. Yet it is not
which seems particularly significant because other dualistic
less historical in character than the diffusionist approach.
myths are far from rare in the New World. It may mean that
What is intended, then, is a historical typology that
the originally nondualistic motif of the diver was first given
would explain the independent development of analogous
a dualistic interpretation in Asia, some time after versions of
religious phenomena such as dualism on the basis of compa-
it had spread to North America. The reasons for such an in-
rable religious and historical circumstances or presupposi-
sistence on a dualistic interpretation of the motif in Asia can
tions. In any case, with the modern scholarship available, it
only be guessed at, but once it had taken hold, it could have
would be hard to support a diffusionist explanation of the
modified the earlier situation and led to the appropriation
widespread presence of dualism in different cultures, times,
of themes previously extraneous to dualism. Thus one would
and religions. Given the presence of forms of dualism in the
have a kind of “dualistic imperialism” whose more peculiar
archaic cultures of North America, it is clearly impossible to
manifestations would have appeared in Iran or at its borders.
view all forms of dualism as having a single geographical
Such a hypothesis need not have anything to do with the the-
point of origin, such as Iran. Here it is best to focus only on
ory that dualism as such originated in these regions.
those connections that can be historically documented.
Whereas it is still early to conclude that the earth-diver
cosmogonic scenario can be seen as the core of a widespread
As was pointed out above, such connections can be
“Eurasian dualism,” various East European, Siberian, and
found between some forms of Manichaean and Zoroastrian
Central Asian earth-diver cosmogonies display dualist ele-
dualism. Similar comparative-historical conclusions could be
ments in different stages of development and combination.
drawn concerning the relationship between the dualistic con-
It would be safe to assume that both internal factors (like in-
ceptions found in eastern European folklore and in such
herited binary cosmogonies and the divine twins mythology)
western Asian sects as the Yaz¯ıd¯ıs. One could possibly speak
and external influences (in the Eurasian cases: Christian dia-
of a certain dualistic propensity in the ethnological back-
bology, with its inherent dualist tendencies; as well as possi-
ground of these areas without losing sight of the opposite
ble Zoroastrian and Manichaean influences in the central
possibility—namely, the direct influence of the great dualis-
Asian cosmogonies) conditioned the overall general move-
tic religions and the active dualistic sectarian movements
ment towards dualism, as the mythic scenario came to be re-
such as the Bogomils. Similar possibilities exist in the case
interpreted and modified, particularly in Eurasia.
of the well-established dualistic mythologies of the Inner
Asian Turks and Tatars (see, for example, the dark figure of
Traces of the earth-diver cosmogonic lore may be found
Erlik, an antigod particularly connected with the realm of
in the cosmogonies of Islamic heterodox groups such 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
DUALISM
2511
Alevi, the Yaz¯ıd¯ıs, and the Ahl-i Haqq, but its dualist ele-
should not be forgotten that important differences separate
ments have been variously tamed. In most of the mature east
the metensomatosis and asceticism of Orphism and Pythago-
European versions of the cosmogonic scenario, the two pri-
reanism from the animistic creeds and practices of northeast
mordial beings are identified as God and Satan, and it is God
European shamanistic cultures. In particular, the ethical and
who dispatches Satan to dive in the primal sea (whether in
ontological motivations of the Greek mysteriosophic tradi-
ornithomorphic form or not) upon which there follows the
tions are conspicuously absent in such cultures. The same is
antagonism between the two figures. These east European
true of those Balkan personages, such as Zalmoxis, who are
dualist cosmogonic legends vary in detail, yet all of them em-
connected in Thrace with practices and beliefs of “immortal-
phasize the role of Satan as an original companion of God
ization” that are different from the Orphic conception of
and a crucial vehicle for the creation of the material world.
death and reincarnation in the context of ethical and onto-
logical purification. Nevertheless, these so-called barbarian
Diffusion of dualism. It is now time to focus attention
elements may form an essential part of the history of Europe-
on other territories and cultures in which dualism, in forms
an dualism.
different from those found in Inner Asia and North America,
was once widespread. These territories extend from the bor-
The “Pythagorean” abstention from meat was also attri-
der of the Achaemenid empire in the East to Sicily and
buted to Zalmoxis. Moreover, for the celibate sect of the
Magna Graecia in the West. Here, Orphism and Pythagore-
Ktistai, and also the pagan sect of the Pious Ones (Eusebeis)
anism—both typical forms of dualism—took forms different
of Balkan antiquity, abstaining from meat (Strabo, Geo-
from those found in Iran, Inner Asia, and North America.
graphia 7.3.3.5) may recall some corresponding aspects of
Rather than a supreme being opposed by a devilish or trick-
the medieval Balkan sect of the Bogomils, founded by a
ster-like demiurge, we find a form of anthropological dual-
priest named Bogomil (“he who prays to God,” or perhaps
ism that is at the same time ontological and cosmological.
“he who loves God”). The dualistic folklore of the Balkans
The doctrines of soma-sema (body-tomb), metensomatosis,
and eastern Europe, as well as the more or less dualistic apoc-
and purification from “previous sin” characterize this
rypha popular there, are also a part of this history. These oral
mysteriosophical, anthropological dualism, which is rooted
and literary instances are particularly interesting in that they
in a metaphysics that opposes oneness and multiplicity in the
may show the influence of Gnostic motifs drawn from liter-
context of an eternally recurring cycle. The term “mysterio-
ary texts and oral legends originating in the East. Generally
sophical” is intended to refer to the tendency of Orphism
speaking, one can say that “Oriental” dualism—derived from
and Pythagoreanism, and later Plato and Platonism, to adapt
both literary and oral traditions and characterized by the op-
elements from the theology of the mystery religions to their
position of a creator and an inferior demiurge (the lower god
own philosophies. The mystery religions themselves seem to
of Gnosticism, or the demiurge-trickster of ethnology and
have been free from the antisomatic attitudes typical to Or-
folklore)—was influential in those Balkan and eastern Euro-
phism and Pythagoreanism.
pean regions where dualistic trends were already in evidence.
The di-theism of those imported mythologies may have been
The anticosmic and antisomatic doctrines of Greek
prepared for by indigenous conceptions of a duality of gods,
mysteriosophy are comparable in some respects to the monis-
such as the white god and the black god mentioned by a me-
tic-dualistic speculation found in the Indian Upanis:ads,
dieval—and not authoritative—text: Helmold’s Chronica
some of which were roughly contemporary with the
Slavorum (twelfth century).
mysteriosophic currents of the West. Greek mysteriosophy
no doubt contributed to the development of similar trends
DUALIST DENOMINATIONS AND TENDENCIES IN JUDAISM,
in the West— for example, in the form of Gnostic, Hermet-
CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM. The ostensibly contradictory
ic, Neoplatonic, and Neo-Pythagorean dualism, and in
views of early Zoroastrianism as “dualist monotheism” or
Gnostic antisomatism, which connected death with eros and
“monotheistic dualism” (and the related debates on whether
genesis (birth) with phthora (corruption, death). Although
Zurvanism should be considered a “heretical” monistic devi-
Gnosticism, and in particular Christian Gnosticism, was un-
ation from dualist Zoroastrianism or just its triadic version)
doubtedly heir to the eschatological setting of non-Gnostic
have been continuously challenged and redefined against the
Christianity, these objective historical and phenomenologi-
background of the monotheistic worlds of Judaism, Chris-
cal connections with pagan mysteriosophy should not be
tianity, and Islam. Concerning early Zoroastrianism, the
overlooked.
main debates have been focused on whether Angra Mainyu
can be regarded as proceeding from Ahura Mazda or as a like-
Also not to be overlooked is the question of the influ-
wise uncreated being who is directly opposed to him, as well
ence of North Asian, northeast European, and Balkan forms
as on whether Angra Mainyu should be considered evil by
of animism and shamanism on the development of dualism
nature or by choice.
in the Mediterranean area, as well as in Iran and Central Asia.
The problem of the relation between such non-Greek forms
Dualism in Judaism. To a great extent these debates
of animism and shamanism and some of the “irrational” as-
have been provoked by the various chronological problems
pects of Archaic and Classical Greek culture is well known.
posed by nature of the primary sources for Zoroastrianism
Although the issue is certainly of primary importance, it
and the difficulties in separating the early stages of Zoroastri-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2512
DUALISM
an thought from later sources. These problems have also af-
of the archangels and God’s vice-regent, Metatron, as the
fected the study of the religious interchange between ancient
“Lesser Yahweh.”
Iran and Israel and the emergence of dualist tendencies in
postexilic Judaism. Previously focused on the development
More explicit dualist tendencies reappear in Judaism
of Jewish angelology and demonology and the emerging no-
from the twelfth century onwards in early Qabbalistic tradi-
tion of Satan as the personification of cosmic evil opposed
tions (along with other parallels to Gnostic notions from late
to God and humanity in the intertestamental period, the ar-
antiquity which have not been historically explained), partic-
guments for Zoroastrian influence on postexilic Jewish
ularly those concerned with the problem of evil and positing
thought received a fresh impetus with the discovery and pub-
the existence of another, parallel world of a sitra’ ahra, wag-
lication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, among which documents
ing a constant war with the “side of holiness”(in contrast
like the Community Rule and the War Rule offered explicit
with the non- and often antidualist theodicy in contempo-
dualist proclivities and terminology. This was coupled with
rary Jewish philsosophy). These dualist tendencies were mag-
the related expansion of research into the intertestamental
nified in the later Lurianic Qabbalah of Isaac Luria (1534–
Enochic apocalyptic tradition with its generative, novel, and
1572), with the elaboration of its fundamental doctrines of
dualistically-oriented notion of the superhuman origin of
the divine tsimtsum (contraction), the breakup of the spiritu-
evil caused by the sinful descent of the fallen angels—the
al vessels and the discharge of the demonic kelippot (shells)
Watchers—in the early section of the apocalyptic corpus of
in creation.
1 Enoch, The Book of the Watchers.
Dualism in early early Christianity and gnosticism.
Although Qumran cosmic dualism (“cosmic” as in
In early Christianity some of the concepts of Satan and his
Charlesworth’s scheme above) remains a dualism under one
opposition to God and man—developed in postexilic and
God who determines the dualistic structure, a number of
particularly apocalyptic Judaism—were accepted with all
studies have sought a Zoroastrian or Zurvanite pedigree for
their ambiguities and potential for radical new develop-
the Qumran teachings of the “Two Ways” and the “Two
ments. Early Christianity retained a tension between its mo-
Spirits” and the temporal and eschatological dimension of
notheistic theology and the dualist implications of its evolv-
the “war dualism” in the War Rule. As Qumran thought
ing diabology and the evident spirit-flesh opposition in the
presents varied dualist traits with a complex evolution, such
New Testament. The inherited heavenly antagonism be-
arguments for a certain outside dualist impact on them need
tween Michael and Satan was reflected in Revelation; there
to be balanced by a proper analysis of their links with late
are definite dualist traits in John and Paul where the Devil
sapiential theology (with its “embryonic” ethical dualism and
is the “god of this world,” with his imperium embracing not
the related dual classification of the creation into pairs of op-
only the evil spirits and wicked men but also “this age” (Aion)
posites and antitheses) and the cosmic antagonism of op-
and this world (kosmos)—he was the “Prince of this World”
posed supernatural powers in intertestamental pseudepigra-
and “the whole world . . . lies in the power of the evil one”
pha such as the Aramaic Testament of Levi, The Book of
(1 Jn 5:19), although his prevalence in the world has been
Jubilees, and the Enochic apocalyptic works.
broken with Christ’s advent. In early Christian thought, the
Devil was the personification and source of evil and death—
Rabbinic Judaism. Following the destruction of the
an angel—who has fallen, through his pride and free will, to
Second Temple in 70 CE, rabbinic Judaism tended to coun-
lead the hosts of evil against the “Kingdom of God” and
terbalance the dualist trends developed in apocalyptic Juda-
Christ. At this time the Enochic story of the downfall of the
ism, although it retained elements of the impact of Platonic
angels was still popular and known among the Church Fa-
soul-body dualism on Jewish thought in the Hellenistic peri-
thers. As well, the Church Fathers also had to defend the or-
od (on figures such as Philo). Rabbinic texts from the second
thodox Christian tenets of evil as privation of good and God-
century CE warn against the heresy of the “Two Heavenly
ness against the more radical, dualist solutions of the origin
Powers” linked to speculations about the exalted status of an
of evil advanced in the contemporary Gnostic schools of the
angel or vice-regent of the Lord that may have been related
second and third centuries.
to nascent Gnostic thought.
Despite the evident dualism of spirit and flesh in early
In rabbinic Judaism the figure of Satan and the myth
Christianity, the world was viewed as a creation of the benev-
of the downfall of the angels lost much of the intensity and
olent God-Creator and was not evil by nature. Conversely,
the dualist traits that had marked some earlier Jewish apoca-
the multifarious Gnostic schools did share, on the whole, an
lyptic trends, although the aggadic tradition preserved and
anti-cosmic dualism—the material world was negated as an
elaborated various stories about Satan (Samael) and the evil
imperfect and evil creation of an inferior demiurgic, or clear-
spirits. Otherwise, in rabbinic theory Satan was linked to the
ly “Satanic” power, and was opposed to the supernal spiritual
evil inclination within man (yetser ha-ra) which was opposed
world of the true but remote and unknown God. The Gnos-
to the good inclination (yetser ha-tov). Dualistic tendencies
tic schools drew widely on the syncretistic heritage of antiq-
were retained, however, in the Jewish Merkabah (Divine
uity to embellish their basic dualist myths and concepts relat-
Chariot) and later Hekhalot traditions, especially in the spec-
ed to the creation of the world by the demiurge, the fall of
ulations surrounding the status and functions of the highest
the soul, the missions of the redeemer and revealer of the gno-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUALISM
2513
sis, and finally the release and ascent of the soul to its spiritual
The first important early medieval version of Christian
abode. Gnosticism shared its preoccupation with the divine
dualism was formulated by the Paulicians who emerged in
knowledge, gnosis, the soul’s search for its divine origin, and
the complicated world of early medieval Armenia. Whereas
its final salvation with another religio-spiritualist current
Paulician radical dualism has been often traced in the past
whose teachings crystallized in the early Christian era, Her-
to Manichaean, Gnostic, or Marcionite influences, it seems
meticism, which also presented some dualist traits—yet there
more plausible that Paulicianism developed its dualist ver-
were also important differences between the two movements
sion of Christianity through a spiritualist and allegorical
in the spheres of theology, cosmology, and anthropology.
reading of the New Testament, its dualist element being in-
fluenced directly or indirectly by the various dualist residues
Gnostic groups, moreover, adopted and further elabo-
still active in the religious scene of late antique and early me-
rated esoteric traditions current in early Christianity and
dieval Armenia, ranging from Zoroastrian to Gnostic surviv-
Jewish Christianity that were believed to have been transmit-
als. The Paulicians entered Byzantium around the mid-
ted both orally in apostolic times and through apocryphal
seventh century, and in 759 entered the Balkans for the first
(understood as “hidden”) texts. Whereas the classification
time to establish a long-lasting presence in Thrace, continu-
and provenance of the various Gnostic schools (Christian
ing to play a frequently important role in the development
and non-Christian Gnosticism, for example) continues to
of Balkan-Byzantine—and consequently medieval European
provoke debates and conflicting theories, a general distinc-
Christian—dualism.
tion between Gnostic radical dualism of the two primal prin-
ciples (as in Manichaeism) and Gnostic moderate dualism
The history of medieval Christian dualism entered a
(Valentinianism and Sethian Gnosticism) has found a wider
new, crucial stage with the emergence of the Bogomil heresy
acceptance. Gnostic groups—and particularly Manichae-
in the first half of the tenth century in the newly Christian-
ized Bulgarian kingdom. The origins of Bogomilism are sur-
ism—retained the use of pseudepigraphy, and the
rounded by many riddles, but it is now apparent that whereas
Manichaeans continued to resort to the composition and
the antisomatic and anticosmic aspects of Bogomil dualism
compilation of new apocrypha in their later history.
should be explored in the wider context of Byzantine heresy,
After the collapse of the Manichaean westward mission,
heterodoxy, and alternative demonology, there are strong
and amid the intense persecution during the early reign of
parallels between the main Bogomil theological formulas and
Justinian the Great (527–65), Manichaeism remained most-
diabology, on the one hand, and apocryphal traditions, pre-
ly confined to Asia, where it survived as a separate religion
served in a number of apocryphal works, and which were
until the end of the Middle Ages. Following the widespread
translated and disseminated in the Slavonic Orthodox world
dissemination of manifold Gnostic and dualist teachings
around the time of the formation and spread of Bogomilism,
during late antiquity, traces and actual transmitters of Gnos-
on the other.
tic and dualist traditions in the early Middle Ages become
Given this wide-ranging translation and diffusion of
increasingly difficult to discern and identify. In the Near
apocryphal texts in the initial phases of the development of
East, such teachings enjoyed an uninterrupted historical
Slavo-Byzantine culture, it seems not so surprising that the
maintenance within the still-existing small religious group of
formulation of the Bogomil new version of Christian dual-
the Mandaeans in southern Iraq and Khuzistan in Iran,
ism was strongly stimulated by the influx of teachings,
rightly considered the last survivors of the great Gnostic
themes, and notions rediscovered in the newly translated
movements of late antiquity.
apocryphal works from late antiquity. The expansion of the
Bogomil mission, both eastwards in Byzantium, and west-
Medieval forms of Christian dualism. In the early
wards, stimulated the diffusion of the Christian dualist tradi-
Middle Ages, traces and elements of Gnostic and dualist
tion in western Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centu-
teachings in varying degrees of intensity were also preserved
ries and reached its culmination in the growth of an
in various apocryphal works from late antiquity that, despite
organized Cathar movement in northern Italy and southern
being banned, were preserved, maintaining their circulation
France (contemporary Catholic accounts often refer to the
mainly in the eastern Christian world in heterodox, sectari-
crucial impact of Balkan-Byzantine dualism on its forma-
an, or simply learned circles. Under the right circumstances
tion). Modern theories may differ in their estimation of the
these Gnostic or dualist residues in apocryphal works could
chronology and the scale of Bogomil influence on original
effect a revival of related attitudes through simple borrowing
Catharism, but invariably confirm its vital role in providing
of their themes, or through creative interpretation spreading
a new dualist framework for western heretical and heterodox
from these works to the canonical scriptures, complete with
currents. Bogomil and Cathar dualism had a strongly anti-
all of the possibilities for the formulation of new hetero-
cosmic, antisomatic, and eschatological character.
doxies and heresies. A number of such apocryphal texts were
preserved in Byzantium, where the process of the creation of
Original Bogomil dualism had a monarchian nature
new apocrypha, like apocalyptic revelations about the course
that clearly contrasted with the mature Paulician radical du-
of world history, continued throughout the early Middle
alist dogma of the two principles: the evil creator of this
Ages.
world and the good Lord of the world to come. By the 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
2514
DUALISM
three decades of the twelfth century, however, both Bogomil
Umm al-kita¯b and in the pre-Fatimid early Isma¯E¯ıl¯ı cosmo-
and Cathar dualism divided into two strands, a monarchian
logical tract of Abu¯ E¯Isa¯ al-Murshid deserve greater attention
and a radical trend, which advanced different versions of
and study which can indicate whether their revival of dualist
Christian dualism. Generally, according to the first, monar-
and gnostic tendencies is the outcome of an assimilation of
chian strand, there was one sublime God, Father of All, yet
Neoplatonic and related traditions from late antiquity or
the material universe was created and ruled by his rebellious
novel religious syntheses in Islamic garb. Likewise, the dual-
firstborn, Satan or Lucifer, the Lord of the Old Testament.
ist tendencies in the cosmology and diabology of Islamic het-
The one sublime God’s younger son, Jesus Christ, was sent
erodox communities such as the Alevi, the Yaz¯ıd¯ıs and the
in a semblance of the human body to “save that was lost”
Ahl-i Haq need to be considered in the context of their con-
during the satanic reign through his baptism in the Holy
glomerate-like belief systems in which the later and locally-
Spirit and with fire (Lk. 19:10). Generally, the radical branch
adopted elements need to be differentiated from the more
of Bogomil and Cathar dualism taught that Satan-Lucifer
archaic components of their beliefs which include versions
was a son of an eternal evil god whose attack on the heaven
of the ancient and dualistically-oriented earth diver cosmo-
of the good God caused the fall of the angels, and that the
gonic scenario.
mission of Christ was to redeem angelic souls from their im-
In the case of the Yaz¯ıd¯ıs and the Ahl-i Haqq the archa-
prisonment in human bodies.
ic layer of beliefs includes pre-Islamic Iranian traditions,
Both versions of Bogomil-Cathar dualism present a
both Zoroastrian and pre-Zoroastrian. In the case of the
number of differences from the variants of theological dual-
Alevi, any search or claims for influences of the Balkan and
ism and related teachings professed by earlier antiecclesiasti-
Anatolian Christian dualist sectarians on their teachings and
cal and heretical movements such as Manichaeism and Pauli-
practices of Alevism should consider first the arguments for
cianism. To a considerable extent, this is due to the Bogomil-
traces of a Manichaean impact on Alevi traditions, again ar-
Cathar indebtedness to earlier apocryphal and apocalyptic
guably traceable to the pre-Islamic exposure of some Central
traditions and their predilection for the elaboration of new
Asian Turkic groups, most famously the Uighurs, to Mani-
vivid mythic stories in support of their dualist doctrines. This
chaeism. And when one considers the greater problem of du-
practice presents a telling parallel to Gnosticism, in which
alism vis-à-vis Islam, one should take into account that when
the creation of Gnostic secret dualist myths was, as pointed
even these Islamic heterodox traditions have inherited a cos-
out by Guy Stroumsa in his Hidden Wisdom (1996), a crucial
mogonic tradition with strong dualist leanings like the earth-
part of the process of a “self-conscious re-mythologization”
diver one, they generally tended to minimise its dualist po-
by the Gnostic theorists. In both cases this re-
tential (without neutralising it altogether) in contrast to the
mythologization and creation of a dualist mythology was ac-
hardening of the dualist elements in the Christian heterodox
complished through a determined inverse exegesis of the nor-
and popular cosmogonies based on the same cosmogonic
mative scriptures to produce alternative and striking ac-
scenario.
counts of cosmogony, fall, and salvation of the soul. Whereas
PLUTARCH’S VIEW. Some of the more important historical
the campaigns of the Inquisition, the rise of spiritual currents
and systematic forms of dualism as found in different reli-
in Catholicism, and the work of the Mendicant orders all ef-
gious contexts have been considered in this entry. Consider
fected the eclipse of Catharism in the early thirteenth centu-
briefly, now, a type of dualistic thought that, far from being
ry, reports of Bogomil activities in the eastern Christendom
limited to the expression of a particular creed, was a key to
discontinue only in the early fifteenth century, amid the
the interpretation of different religious systems and of reli-
spread of new syncretistic and sectarian movements in the
gion in itself. This type of dualistic thought is exemplified
early Ottoman era.
in Plutarch’s treatise Isis and Osiris. The aim of the philoso-
pher and theologian of Chaeronea is to show, on the basis
Dualism in Islam. Although the diabology and cosmol-
of Platonic or Middle Platonic hermeneutics, that dualism,
ogy of the QurDa¯n and early normative Islam was notably
as the idea of two opposing forces manifesting themselves in
strictly monotheistic and antidualistic, veiled or explicit du-
the universe, is a notion common to most of the religions
alist tendencies eventually appeared in Islamic mystical and
of his time.
ghula¯t (heterodox) traditions, as Islam expanded and en-
countered a multitude of other religious traditions. Still, one
In the course of developing his thesis, Plutarch provides
needs to distinguish the definite dualistic traits in such tradi-
precious information concerning the Persian, Mesopota-
tions from the heightened use of dualities and polarities, as
mian, and especially the Egyptian religions. The information
in the system of ninth-century mystic al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi
he gives concerning the Osiris-Seth opposition in Egypt is
or the use of Zoroastrian themes and imagery in al-
the sole ancient literary document containing a complete
Sohrawardi’s thought; one needs also to be extremely cau-
form of that basic myth. His interpretation of the different
tious regarding the antidualist polemical clichés of Sunn¯ı
characters of the myth and of the different forms of relation-
heresiologists who could attack the Isma¯E¯ıl¯ıs as followers of
ship that link them together is clearly Platonic and heavily
dualist Manichaeism. In this context the appearance of gnos-
speculative. He goes so far as to introduce different kinds of
tic-like and dualist traits in the syncretistic and revelatory
opposition: a hostile opposition between Osiris/Horus 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
DUALISM
2515
Seth, and an opposition of cooperation and transcendence
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present monotheism with its most radical challenge? This
paradigmatic study of the sociological approach to the phe-
can be seen also in the dialectics of Hegel, Nietzsche, Marx,
nomena of duality, dual social organization and dual symbol-
ic classification.
and Freud, all of which are samples of “dualism” in the mod-
ern world.
Duvernoy, Jean Le Catharisme I: La Religion des Cathares. Tou-
louse, France, 1976.
SEE ALSO Demiurge; Gnosticism; Manichaeism; Orpheus;
Eliade, Mircea. “Prolegomenon to Religious Dualism.” In The
Plato; Tricksters; Twins; Zoroastrianism.
Quest: History and Meaning in Religion. Chicago, 1969. This
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2516
DUALISM
essay challenges some of the prevalent sociological and an-
Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God
thropological approaches to dualism to propose a compara-
and Beginnings of Christianity. Boston, 1958; 2d ed., rev.&
tive analysis of the phenomenon in literate and nonliterate
enl. 1963. Jonas’s seminal study of the nature and types of
cultures using the hermeneutic approach of the history of re-
Gnostic dualism, defined as “anticosmic and eschatological
ligions.
in character; on the basis of the specific dualist features of the
Eliade, Mircea. De Zalmoxis à Gengis-Khan. Paris, 1970. Chapter
Gnostic schools Jonas distinguished between Syrian-
3 contains an important comparative study of the so-called
Egyptian and Iranian types of Gnosticism.”
“earth-diver” cosmogonies a number of which present
Kehl-Bodrogi, K. Die Kizilba¸s/Aleviten: Untersuchungen über eine
marked dualist features.
esoterische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Anatolien. 1988.
Eucken, Rudolf. “Dualism.” In Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics,
Kehl-Bodrogi, K. (ed.) Syncretistic Religious Communities in the
edited by James Hastings, vol. 5. pp. 99–101. Edinburgh,
Near East. Leiden, Netherlands, 1997.
1912.
Kreyenbroek, P. Yezidism: Its Background, Observances and Textual
Fontaine, P. F. M. The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of
Tradition. Lewiston, N.Y., 1995.
Dualism. 18 vols. Amsterdam, 1986–2003. Fontaine bases
Lambert, Malcolm. The Cathars. Oxford and Malden, Mass.,
his typology on Bianchi’s scheme but uses a much broader
1998.
definition of the term “dualism” (unsolvable or unbridgeable
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Le Structures élémentaires de la parenté. Paris,
opposition between concepts, principles or groups of people)
1949.
and applies it to a variety of religious, culural, political, and
social phenomena in antiquity and the Middle Ages such as
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Anthropologie structurale. Paris, 1958.
dualism in ancient Greek social and political history, Roman
Maybury-Lewis, David, and Uri Almagor, eds. The Attraction of
“imperialistic dualism,” interior politics and social life, By-
Opposites: Thought and Society in the Dualistic Mode. Ann
zantine hooliganism, medieval imperialism, etc.—a com-
Arbor, Mich., 1989. The volume contains important contri-
mendable effort but with a neglible use of the available an-
butions to the study of dual symbolic classification, offering
thropological and sociological work and theory on dual
some significant reassessments of earlier approaches to and
symbolic classification and dual social organization.
interpretations of the phenomenon.
Frey, Jörg. “Different Patterns of Dualistic Thought in the Qum-
Mélikoff, I. Sur le traces du soufisme turc. Recherches sur l’Islam
ran Library: Reflections on their Background and History.”
populaire en Anatolie. Istanbul, 1992.
In Legal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meet-
Moosa, M. Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects. Syracuse, N.Y.,
ing of the International Organization for Qumran Studies,
1987.
Cambridge, 1995, Published in Honour of J. M. Baumgarten,
edited by M. Berstein et al., pp. 275–337. Leiden, 1997.
Needham, Rodney. Symbolic Classification. Santa Monica, Calif.,
1979. This book demonstrates Needham’s influential ap-
Gamie, J. G. “Spatial and Ethical Dualism in Jewish Wisdom and
proach to the phenomena of duality and dual symbolic classi-
Apocalyptic Literature.” Journal of Biblical Literature 93
fication.
(1974): 356–85.
Needham, Rodney, ed. Right and Left: Essays on Dual Symbolic
Granet, Marcel. La Pensée chinoise. Paris, 1950. Incorporates anal-
Classification. London, 1973
ysis of the dual classification by ying and yang in Chinese
thought.
Numazawa, Franz Kiichi. Die Weltanfänge in der japanischen
Mythologie. Fribourg, 1946. A comparative analysis of the
Griaule, Marcel, and Germaine Dieterlen. Le renard pâle, vol. 1.
Chinese yin-yang ideology.
Paris, 1965.
Pagels, Elaine. The Origins of Satan. New York, 1995. An explora-
Halm, H. Die islamische Gnosis. Die extreme Schia und die Alawi-
tion of the legacy of Jewish apocalyptic satanology and vision
ten. Zurich, 1982.
of the cosmic struggle, involving the split of society into two
Hamilton, Janet, and Bernard Hamilton eds. Christian Dualist
opposing forces, in the early Christian tradition, focusing
Heresies in the Byzantine world c. 650–c.1450, translations of
mainly on the social implications of the figure of Satan.
Old Slavonic texts by Yuri Stoyanov. Manchester, U.K.,
Pétrement, Simone. Le dualisme dans l’histoire de la philosophie et
1998.
des religion. Paris, 1946.
Hyde, Thomas. Historia religionis veterum Persarum eorumque
Pétrement, Simone. Le dualisme chez Platon, les gnostiques et les
Magorum. Oxford, 1700.
manichéens. Paris, 1947. Pétrement’s approach to the history
Insler, S., trans. The Gathas of Zarathustra. Leiden and Téhéran,
and phenomenology of religious dualism differs somewhat
1975.
from that of Bianchi and Eliade and she furnishes further her
Ivanov, V. V., and V. N. Toporov. Slavianskie iazykovye mod-
own version of dualist typology
eliruiushchie semioticheskie sistemy. Moscow, 1965.
Pétrement, Simone. Le Dieu separé. Paris. 1984. Pétrement en-
Ivanov, V. V. Issledovaniia v oblasti slavianskikh drevnostei. Mos-
deavours to redefine Gnostic theology as not dualistic in a
cow, 1974. One of the major and most representative works
strict sense but a rigorous accentuation of transcendence in-
of the Russian scholarship investigating duality and dual
debted to dualist tendencies in John and Paul.
symbolic classification, applying often an innovative meth-
Reitzenstein, Richard Die Vorgeschichte der chtistlichen Taufe.
odology.
Leipzig and Berlin, 1929.
Ivanow, W. The Truth-Worshippers of Kurdistan: Ahl-i Haqq texts.
Rottenwöhrer, Gerhard, Der Katharismus, 4 vols., Bad Honnef,
Leiden, Netherlands, 1953.
Germany, 1982–1993.
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
DU GUANGTING
2517
Schmidt, Wilhelm. Der Ursprung der Gottesidee. Vols. 9–12.
After the sack of the capital by the rebels in early 881, Du
Münster, Germany, 1948–1955. Comprises important East
followed the court into exile in Chengdu (Sichuan). As a tex-
European and Asian popular cosmogonic traditions of the
tual and liturgical scholar, Du deplored the loss of Daoist sa-
dualist-oriented earth-diver versions.
cred books in the wake of the destruction of Chang’an and
Shaked, Shaul. Dualism in Transformation: Varieties of Religion in
eventually reconstituted parts of the canon from temple li-
Sasanian Iran. London, 1994. A lucid survey of the transfor-
braries in Sichuan. Du announced the divine restoration of
mations of Zoroastrian dualism in Sasanian Iran, making a
the Tang dynasty under the auspices of Lord Lao in his me-
full and often pioneering use of the extant sources.
morial Lidai chongdao ji (Daozang 593), which he presented
Stein, Ludwig. Dualismus oder Monismus. Eine Untersuchung über
to the emperor on the eve of the court’s return to the capital
die doppelte Wahrheit. Berlin, 1909. Stein argues that mo-
in 885. When Xizong was once again obliged to flee
nism and dualism are intimately related not in terms of op-
Chang’an the following year, Du Guangting obtained per-
position but as a contrasted pair of notions.
mission to return to Sichuan.
Stoyanov, Yuri. The Other God. Dualist Religions from Antiquity
to the Cathar Heresy. New York and London, 2000. An up-
Many of Du’s works were written during the period of
to-date, broad survey of dualist religions and currents from
transition from the Tang (618–907) to the Five Dynasties
the ancient Middle East to medieval Europe, with a particu-
(907–960), while he was a priest in the temple Yuju guan
lar focus on medieval Christian dualist heresies.
in Chengdu and a frequent visitor to nearby Mount Qing-
Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, edited by H. J. Jones. London,
cheng. This phase in Du’s career brought him into contact
8 vols., 1917–1932.
with the future emperor Wang Jian (847–918) and his local
Stroumsa, Guy. G. Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the
staff and allies, who were to proclaim the kingdom of Shu
Roots of Christian Mysticism. Leiden, 1996.
after the fall of the Tang in 907. Under the first two rulers
of the independent Shu kingdom, Du resumed his earlier
Weber, Max. Soziologie, weltgeschichtliche Analysen, Politik, edited
functions as court Daoist and official, reaching the rank of
by Johannes Winckelmann. Stuttgart, Germany, 1956.
vice president of the board of finance (hubu shilang) in 916.
Widengren, Geo. “Der Iranische Hintergrund der Gnosis.”
Around the time of the fall of the Former Shu in 925, Du
Zeitschrift für Religions und Geistesgeschichte 4 (1952): 97–
seems to have retired to Mount Qingcheng, where he died
114.
in 933.
Widengren, Geo, A. Hultga˚rd, and M. Philonenko. Apocalyptique
iranienne et dualisme Qoumrânien. Paris, 1995.
Du Guangting was a prolific author. His lifelong mis-
Wolffe, Christian. Psychologia rationalis. Frankfurt, Germany,
sion to preserve and transmit works from the Daoist canon
1734.
led Du to patronize the burgeoning printing industry in
tenth-century Sichuan. Under the Song (960–1279), Du
Zaehner, Robert C. Zurvan: A Zoroastrian Dilemma. Oxford,
was recognized as the foremost patriarch of the Daoist litur-
1955.
gical tradition, handed down by Lu Xiujing (406–477) and
Zolotarev, A. Dual’naia organizatsiia pervobytnykh narodov i
Zhang Wanfu (fl. 711–713). His voluminous writings, com-
prozhozhdenie dualisticheskikh kosmogonii. Moscow, 1964
pendia, and editions in this domain (see, for example, the
(written 1941). One of the most thorough and well-
“Liturgical Manual for the Yellow Register Retreat,” Tai-
researched works on the interrelations between dual social
organization and the related religious and mythological/
shang huanglu zhai yi [Daozang 507]) are regarded as authori-
cosmological traditions in a number of cultures.
tative to this day. Du’s contributions to philosophical and
scriptural exegesis are epitomized in his massive annotation
UGO BIANCHI (1987)
of the Tang imperial commentary on Laozi’s “The Way and
YURI STOYANOV (2005)
Its Power” (Dao de zhenjing guangsheng yi [Daozang 725]).
Active in the religious and political arenas under three impe-
rial governments, Du was a well-placed observer of a key pe-
DU GUANGTING (850–933; adult style, Binsheng;
riod in Chinese history, which is now recognized as the tran-
epithet, Dongying zi; name in religion, Master Guangcheng)
sition from the medieval to the modern periods. Hundreds
was born in the region of Chuzhou in Zhejiang. Around 870,
of his court and liturgical memorials document his activity
after failing to obtain the civil service examination degree
at various social levels, from the emperor to the newly risen
(mingjing) in the Confucian classics, Du underwent Daoist
merchant class (see especially Lidai chongdao ji [Daozang
training and initiation at Mount Tiantai in Zhejiang. His
593] and the surviving seventeen-juan fragment of his col-
master Ying Yijie (810–894) belonged to the Tiantai branch
lected works, the Guangcheng ji [Daozang 616]). His writings
of the Shangqing lineage that descended via Xue Jichang
probe contemporary events from the perspective of an over-
(d. 759), a disciple of Sima Chengzhen (647–735). Soon
arching, sacred history of Daoism that was intertwined with
after the accession of Emperor Xizong (r. 873–888), Du was
the destiny of imperial government. Du’s narrative oeuvre,
summoned to court. He performed various functions as a
in particular, reveals a keen observation of the place of reli-
Daoist prelate and official redactor at the capital Chang’an
gion in a society undergoing the violent dislocations and up-
up to the outbreak of the Huang Chao rebellion (880–885).
heavals of rebellion and civil war. Belonging ostensibly to 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
2518
DUMÉZIL, GEORGES
genre of Daoist hagiography—devoted to the lives of immor-
DUMÉZIL, GEORGES. Georges Dumézil (1898–
tals and chronicles of sacred sites—his anecdotal histories are
1986) was a French scholar who revolutionized the study of
also akin to the imaginative literature known as “traditions
comparative mythology, especially comparative Indo-
of the supernatural” (chuanqi) that was popular in Tang
European mythology. In the early decades of the twentieth
times. Du Guangting authored or transmitted hundreds of
century, largely as a result of the eclipse of Max Müller’s
tales of this genre, which he collected into separate books.
“solar mythology” (Dorson, 1955), the science of compara-
With some overlap, these collections are organized around
tive mythology—especially comparative Indo-European my-
recognizable themes. For example, the “Evidential Miracles
thology—reached a low ebb. However, the basic questions
in Support of Daoism” (Daojiao lingyan ji [Daozang 590])
to which Müller and his adherents had addressed them-
focuses on the interaction of the Buddhist and Daoist com-
selves—the curious thematic, if not in all cases etymological,
munities in late medieval society; the “Record of Marvels”
parallels among a great many ancient Indo-European gods
(Luyi ji [Daozang 591]) on the cultural distinctiveness and
and heroes—remained unresolved. In the early 1920s a
sacred destiny of the Sichuan region; the “Encounters with
young French scholar named Georges Dumézil set out to
Immortals” (Shenxian ganyu zhuan [Daozang 592]) on the
find a viable framework in terms of which these questions
Daoist theme of the supernatural encounter as revelation;
might once again be approached.
and the “Record of the Assembled Immortals of Yongcheng”
(Yongcheng jixian lu [Daozang 783]) on the legends of female
Born in Paris on March 4, 1898, Dumézil attended the
immortals in the entourage of the Queen Mother of the
Lycée Louis-le-Grand and later the prestigious École Nor-
West (Xi wang mu). Du’s classification of these rich materi-
male Supérieure. After serving as an artillery officer in 1917
als offers significant insights into the order of a medieval
and 1918, he returned to his studies at the University of
Daoist’s mental universe. His works, despite many losses,
Paris, where in 1924 he completed his doctoral thesis. Enti-
constitute one of the richest testimonies to have come down
tled Le festin d’immortalité: Étude de mythologie comparée
from medieval China.
indo-européenne (The Feast of Immortality: A Study of Com-
parative Indo-European Mythology, 1924), it marked the be-
SEE ALSO Daoism, overview article.
ginning of one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished
scholarly careers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dumézil’s initial attempts (e.g., 1924, 1929) to develop
Cahill, Suzanne. Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen
a “new comparative mythology” were grounded in James G.
Mother of the West in Medieval China. Stanford, Calif., 1993.
Frazer’s now largely discredited theory, first enunciated in
Based on the biography of the goddess in Yongcheng jixian
the latter’s masterwork, The Golden Bough (1890), that reli-
lu.
gion everywhere reflects an attempt to magically renew the
Chavannes, Edouard. “Le jet des dragons.” Mémoires concernant
world by periodically killing and replacing kings and other
l’Asie Orientale 3 (1919): 53–220. See pages 172–213 for a
persons symbolic of divine beings. But the Frazerian model
translation of one of Du’s ritual protocols.
ultimately failed to provide the theoretical framework
Imaeda Jiro¯. “To Ko¯tei sho¯ko¯.” In Do¯kyo¯ kenkyu¯ ronshu¯: Do¯kyo¯
Dumézil was seeking. By 1938, however, he had made a
no shiso¯ to bunka, edited by Yoshioka Hakushi kanreki kinen
major discovery and had begun to draw upon a wholly differ-
ronshu¯ kanko¯kai, pp. 523–532. Tokyo, 1977.
ent theoretical base. The discovery was that the several an-
Qing Xitai. “Du Guangting dui daojiao lilun di zongjie he faz-
cient Indo-European-speaking communities, at least in their
han.” In Zhongguo daojiao sixiang shigang, vol. 2,
earliest periods, were characterized by a tripartite social class
pp. 653–678. Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, 1985.
system that broadly resembled the three Aryan or “twice-
Verellen, Franciscus. Du Guangting (850–933): Taoïste de cour à
born” castes of classical and later Indian society (i.e.,
la fin de la Chine médiévale. Paris, 1989. See also the follow-
Bra¯hman:a, Ks:atriyas, and Vai´sya). The new theoretical base
ing studies of Du’s works: “‘Evidential Miracles in Support
was the sociology of Émile Durkheim and his followers, to
of Taoism’: The Inversion of a Buddhist Apologetic Tradi-
which Dumézil was introduced by Marcel Granet. Although
tion in Late T’ang China,” T’oung Pao 78 (1992): 217–263
it is unfair to characterize Dumézil as a full-fledged
(Daojiao lingyan ji); “A Forgotten T’ang Restoration: The
Durkheimian (his fundamental training was in philology and
Taoist Dispensation after Huang Ch’ao,” Asia Major 3d ser.,
the history of religions), he nevertheless came to adopt one
7, no. 1 (1994): 107–153 (Lidai chongdao ji); “Shu as a Hal-
lowed Land: Du Guangting’s Record of Marvels,” Cahiers
of Durkheim’s most famous maxims: that important social
d’Extrême-Asie 10 (1998): 213–254 (Luyi ji); and “Encoun-
and cultural realities are inevitably “collectively represented”
ter as Revelation: A Taoist Hagiographic Theme in Medieval
by supernatural beings and concepts (Durkheim, 1912).
China,” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient 85
In a remarkable series of books and articles written dur-
(1998): 363–384 (Shenxian ganyu zhuan).
ing the course of the next decade, Dumézil successfully com-
Zheng Suchun. “Du Guangting.” In Zhongguo lidai sixiang jia,
bined his newly discovered evidence for tripartite social
vol. 8, edited by Wang Shounan and Hong Anquan, et al.,
structures, Durkheimian sociology, and the traditional
pp. 330–370. Taipei, 1999.
methods of comparative philology, and he arrived at a com-
FRANCISCUS VERELLEN (2005)
prehensive model of the common Indo-European ideolo-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUMÉZIL, GEORGES
2519
gy—that is, the tripartite cognitive model in terms of which
Perrine (Curien). After suffering a massive heart attack, he
the ancient (and not so ancient) Indo-European speakers or-
passed away in Paris on October 11, 1986.
dered their social and supernatural universes. The salient fea-
tures, or functions, as Dumézil labeled them, of this ideology
BIBLIOGRAPHY
are as follows: (1) the maintenance of cosmic and juridical
Major Works by Georges Dumézil
sovereignty; (2) the exercise of physical prowess; and (3) the
Dumézil published over seventy-five books and several hundred
promotion of physical well-being, fertility, wealth, and so on.
articles, reviews, replies, etc. For more comprehensive bibli-
At least some evidence of this cognitive model can be seen
ographies of Dumézil’s publications, see Rivière (1979) and
in every ancient Indo-European tradition, from Vedic India,
Littleton (1982).
whose three-fold caste system was collectively represented,
Dumézil, Georges. Le festin d’immortalité: Étude de mythologie
respectively, by Varun:a and Mitra (first function), Indra
comparée indo-européenne. Paris, 1924. Dumézil’s doctoral
(second function), and the A´svins, or Divine Horsemen
thesis.
(third function), to the Old Norse figures Ty´r and Odin,
Dumézil, Georges. Mythes et dieux des Germains: Essai
Thor, and Njord and Freyr, who reflect the same functional
d’interprétation comparative. Paris, 1939. This book contains
paradigm. Moreover, it soon became clear that the three
Dumézil’s first systematic articulation of the tripartite ideol-
functions are endlessly replicated in an extremely wide vari-
ogy.
ety of cultural phenomena, including triads of epic heroes,
Dumézil, Georges. Jupiter-Maris-Quirinus I: Essai sur la conception
threefold categories of diseases (and cures), and even tripar-
indo-européenne de la société et sur les origins de Rome. Paris,
tite conceptions of physical space.
1941.
Dumézil, Georges. Les dieux des indo-européens. Paris, 1952. This
At first glance, Dumézil’s approach might appear simi-
book contains a comprehensive overview of Dumézil’s model
lar to that of his longtime friend and colleague, Claude Lévi-
at midcentury.
Strauss. However, where Lévi-Strauss (e.g., 1963) is con-
Dumézil, Georges. Aspects de la fonction guerrière chez les indo-
cerned with the universal structure of the human psyche,
européens. Paris, 1956. Translated by John Lindow, Alan
Dumézil’s purview is limited to the Indo-European-speaking
Toth, Francis Charat, and Georges Gopen as Gods of the An-
domain (Littleton, 1982, pp. 277–275), and he was the first
cient Northmen (Berkeley, Calif., 1973).
to admit that non-Indo-European speakers, such as the Sino-
Dumézil, Georges. L’idéologie tripartie des indo-européens. Brussels,
Tibetans, the Hamito-Semites, the Uto-Aztecans, and the
Belgium, 1958. This monograph remains the best single in-
Bantu are constrained by wholly different cognitive models,
troduction to Dumézil’s basic ideas.
predicated on other functional paradigms.
Dumézil, Georges. La religion romaine archaïque, avec un appen-
To be sure, Dumézil’s theories and methods have not
dice sur la religion des Etrusques. Paris, 1966. Translated by
met with universal approval. Some critics suggest that on
Philipp Krapp as Archaic Roman Religion (Chicago, 1970).
more than one occasion he imposed the tripartite model on
Dumézil’s “bilan romain.”
data that are perhaps amenable to other interpretations (Lit-
Dumézil, Georges. Mythe et épopée I: L’idéologie des trois fonctions
tleton, 1982, pp. 186–202). Still others have claimed that
dans les épopées des peuples indo-européens. Paris, 1968. The
he was a crypto-fascist (Momigliano, 1983 and Lincoln,
first volume of a magisterial series of books concerning how
the tripartite ideology manifests itself in Indo-European
1991, pp. 231–267), an unfortunate accusation that has
epics.
been laid to rest by Didier Eribon in Faut-il brûler Dumézil?
(Is it necessary to burn Dumézil?, 1992). In addition, Nicholas
Dumézil, Georges. Heur et malheur du guerriére: Aspects mythiques
de la fonction guerriére chez les indo-européens. Paris, 1969.
Justin Allen (1987) has suggested that a “fourth function”
Translated by Alf Hiltebeitel as The Destiny of the Warrior
exists outside of the tripartite paradigm and can be character-
(Chicago, 1970).
ized as “other.”
Dumézil, Georges. Mythe et épopée II: Types épiques indo-européens:
After spending several years teaching at the University
un héros, un sorcier, un roi. Paris, 1971. Part 1 translated by
of Istanbul (1925–1932) and a year as a lecturer at the Uni-
Jaan Puhvel and David Weeks as The Stakes of the Warrior
versity of Uppsala in Sweden (1932–1933), Dumézil re-
(Berkeley, Calif., 1983); Part 2 translated by Jaan Puhvel and
turned to France and settled into a career at the University
David Weeks as The Plight of a Sorcerer (Berkeley, 1986);
of Paris, punctuated by visiting professorships at other uni-
Part 3 translated by Alf Hiltebeitel as The Destiny of a King
versities, including the University of Lima, Peru (1955), and
(Chicago, 1973).
the University of California at Los Angeles (1971). In 1948
Dumézil, Georges. Mythe et épopée III: Histoires romaines. Paris,
he was appointed Professeur de Civilisation indo-européenne
1973. Translated by Antoinette Aronowicz and Josette Bry-
in the Collège de France, a position that was created for him,
son as Camillus: A Study of Indo-European Religion as Roman
History. (Berkeley, Calif., 1980).
where he remained until his retirement in 1968. In 1979, in
the autumn of his eightieth year, he was elected to the Acadé-
Other Works
mie française.
Allen, Nicholas Justin. “The Ideology of the Indo-Europeans:
Dumézil’s Theory and the Idea of a Fourth Function.” Inter-
In 1925 Dumézil married the former Madeleine Leg-
national Journal of Moral and Social Studies 2, no. 1 (1987):
rand, a union that produced a son, Claude, and a daughter,
23–39.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2520
DUMUZI
Dorson, Richard. “The Eclipse of Solar Mythology.” In Myth: A
god is discontinuous. From the Old-Babylonian period (the
Symposium, edited by Thomas A. Sebeok, pp. 15–38. Phila-
twentieth through the sixteenth century BCE), nonhomoge-
delphia, 1955.
neous songs about the god and the goddess Inanna have been
Durkheim, Émile. Les formes élémentaires de la vie religeuse. Paris,
found. Thorkild Jacobsen (1976, pp. 23–73) gathered them
1912. Translated by Joseph Ward as Swain as The Elementa-
into a single plot, segmented in four sections:
ry Forms of the Religious Life (New York, 1961).
1. courtship songs
Eribon, Didier. Entretiens avec Georges Dumézil. Paris, 1987.
These “conversations,” which the author recorded a few
2. wedding songs
months before Dumézil died in 1986, are the closest the
3. death and lament songs
French mythologist ever came to writing a memoir.
4. search and return songs
Eribon, Didier. Faut-il brûler Dumézil? Paris, 1992. The definitive
answer to Momigliano, Lincoln, and others who have ac-
There is no evidence to ascribe the search and return songs
cused Dumézil of being a “crypto-fascist.”
to the god’s return from the netherworld, so it must be re-
Frazer, Sir James G. The Golden Bough (abridged edition). New
moved from Jacobsen’s otherwise valid reconstruction. The
York, 1922.
first two sections are clearly connected to that type of hieros
Granet, Marcel. La civilization chinoise. Paris, 1929. Translated by
gamos in which the king, playing the role of Dumuzi, mar-
Kathleen E. Innes and Mabel R. Brailsford as Chinese Civili-
ried the goddess Inanna. It is not known how this rite was
zation (New York, 1930). It was Granet who introduced
actually celebrated, but direct evidence of its historical per-
Dumézil to the Durkheimian approach to religion.
formance is available, since kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Anthropologie structurale. Paris, 1958. Trans-
and of the Dynasties of Isin and Larsa (from the twenty-first
lated by M. Layton as Structural Anthropology (New York,
through the eighteenth century BCE) explicitly declare in
1963).
their texts that they married the goddess Inanna (in particu-
Lincoln, Bruce. “Shaping the Past and the Future.” Times Literary
lar, two of them, Shulgi and Iddin-Dagan, left celebrative
Supplement (London), October 3 (1986): 1107–1108. Re-
hymns on regard). The king’s personification of Dumuzi and
view of Georges Dumézil’s L’oublie de l’homme et l’honneur
his marriage with the goddess was intended to attract the
des dieux.
gods’ blessing on the reign. After the wedding the reign
Littleton, C. Scott. The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthro-
would become prosperous in all aspects, including agricul-
pological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumézil. 3d edi-
ture. Dumuzi is also a character in a “contrast” (belonging
tion. Berkeley, Calif., 1982.
to the gender of the debates) where he, the shepherd, is com-
Littleton, C. Scott. “Gods, Myths and Structures: Dumézil.” In
peting with the farmer to obtain the hand of the goddess In-
Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, edited by Simon
anna. Two kings named Dumuzi are recorded in the great
Glendinning, pp. 558–568. Edinburgh, UK, 1999.
Sumerian King List (composed during the Isin period); one
Miller, Dean A. The Epic Hero. Baltimore, Md., 2000. An impor-
whose reign lasted thousands of years is included among the
tant assessment of the role of the hero in the several ancient
antediluvian kings, and the other is included with the mythi-
Indo-European epics; reflects current thinking about the na-
cal kings of Uruk.
ture and symbolism of the “second function.”
After the Old-Babylonian period there was a change in
Momigliano, Arnaldo. “Permesse per una discussione su Georges
the documentation: only lamentation songs, which mourn
Dumézil.” Opus 2 (1983): 329–341. The first scholar to ac-
the god’s departure, were transmitted; Dumuzi as a lover and
cuse Dumézil of harboring fascist beliefs.
a bridegroom was almost completely forgotten. Only the au-
Strutynski, Udo. “Introduction.” In Camillus: A Study of Indo-
thority he took post mortem as a great officer of the nether-
European Religion as History by Georges Dumézil, edited by
world is still mentioned. The gala/kalû priests (related to Ish-
Udo Strutynski, pp. 1–39. Berkeley, Calif., 1980. A succinct
tar) sang these lamentation songs when conducting funerals,
overview of Dumézil’s contributions to Roman religion.
at the beginning of an activity as a prophylaxis against evil
Wikander, Stig. Der arische Männerbund. Lund, Sweden, 1938.
entities, and during rituals for appeasing a god when his tem-
The late Stig Wikander was Dumézil’s earliest disciple. This
ple had to be touched for reconstruction or restoration. The
book had a profound impact on the evolution of his ideas,
change in the tradition coincides with a change in the use
especially as they relate to the “second function”; that is, the
of the hieros gamos rite to apply only to marriage between di-
Indo-European warrior ideology.
vinities, excluding the form in which the king, personifying
C. SCOTT LITTLETON (2005)
Dumuzi, unites with Inanna (for a possible exception, see
Nissinen, 2001, p. 103).
At last the myth of Adapa must be considered. The
DUMUZI. The god Dumuzi (Akkadian: Tammuz) ap-
myth tells how Adapa, because of an impious act, had to sub-
pears very early in the cuneiform documentation, and an
mit to the verdict of the heaven god An. Dumuzi and Gizzi-
echo of him is still present today, since the month of July
da, a divinity often confused with Dumuzi, were at the gate-
in Middle Eastern calendars bears his name. In the history
post of heaven, as intermediaries with lofty An. The
of cuneiform Mesopotamian literatures, the tradition on the
contradiction between the netherworld, where Dumuzi plays
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUMUZI
2521
a role of responsibility, and the heavenly one is seemingly
tion of the year. This is the only known case of Dumuzi’s
real, since the anthropomorphic aspect of the divinity is the
going up, and it represents the god’s short sorties—in his role
mere representation of a cosmic power that can be mani-
of netherworld officer—to bring back haunting ghosts. This
fested in other forms: Dumuzi and (Nin)gizzida are actually
function of the god is related to the series of incantations of
mentioned as constellations in an astronomic text.
Ishtar and Dumuzi (Farber, 1977).
OBSERVATION ON THE DOCUMENTATION. Scholars still de-
DUMUZI’S PORTRAIT. Dumuzi was a young shepherd. After
bate whether the whole of the love literature is related to the
his premature death at the hand of demons, he became an
couple Inanna and Dumuzi, or whether a part is formed by
officer in the netherworld, where he stayed. There are clues
merely profane songs, or whether a part is connected with
that his ascent in the final part of “Inanna’s Descent” is relat-
the Hieros gamos. The discussion parallels the debate over the
ed to his official task (Scurlock, 1992). Dumuzi’s character
biblical Song of Songs. Because divinities, even in anthropo-
in mythology is rather vague, mixing qualities of Ama-
morphic forms, are not belles lettres characters but represen-
ushum gal anna, Ningizzida, and, in specific cases, Damu (a
tations of cosmic powers, in the love songs the two lovers,
genuine vegetation god). Songs in his honor praised him
even when they are depicted as laymen, are two persons who
with all these and other names, including those of the divi-
act under the influence of that particular cosmic power that
is love. Under this point of view, the lovers are a manifesta-
nized kings of the Ur III and Isin dynasties (who took part
tion of that cosmic power, and so they play exactly the same
in the Hieros gamos). The god shows solar traits as well in,
role as the anthropomorphic characters of Inanna and Du-
for example, his driving the ghosts haunting the living back
muzi (Lambert, 1987, p. 26; Alster, 1999, p. 832; Nissinen,
into the netherworld. Like the sun, he is closely related to
2001, pp. 126ff.). Consider the exorcist who declares, “I am
kingship, so that for some time sovereigns personified him
Asalluhi [/Marduk],” or Gudea who intends to tell his dream
in the Hieros gamos. It must be remarked that both Dumuzi
to the goddess Nanshe, to have its meaning cleared, but who
and Utu are masculine characters very close to Inanna, the
in reality is given the oracle by the seers and the diviners of
former being her husband and the latter her elder brother.
the goddess’ temple (Waetzoldt, 1998). All these priests par-
DUMUZI AS DYING AND RISING GOD. Tammuz is men-
ticipate in the nature of the cosmic power the respective di-
tioned in the Bible in a prophecy of Ezekiel (dated between
vinities represent. All the love songs, as well as the songs of
the seventh and sixth century BCE). Because the biblical
the king’s wedding, must therefore be included in the catego-
prophet lived in Babylonia, where he was deported after the
ry of the songs of Inanna and Dumuzi.
conquest of Jerusalem, this passage should be considered as
There are two distinct traditions regarding Dumuzi’s
belonging to the Mesopotamian cultural area. The evidence
death. One tells how he was caught by demons who carried
for this is that (1) the sun god Shamash is mentioned in the
him into the netherworld, where he played an important role
same context and (2) there are no further mentions of Tam-
after his arrival there. Another is included in the finale of the
muz in the Old Testament. Mentions of Tammuz from peri-
Sumerian poem “Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld.”
ods after the Mesopotamian cuneiform literary tradition are
Two versions of the poem exist, one in Sumerian (with
relevant. Lamentations of the Sabians of Harran for the pass-
minor variations according to local versions) and one in Ak-
ing away of Ta’uz (Tammuz, identified with St. George by
kadian. Both versions contain a narrative in which Inanna
the Christians), are doumented, written in Arabic and dated
requests—for no apparent reason—to penetrate the nether-
to the tenth century CE. But the crucial feature—extraneous
world. The queen of that kingdom, her sister Ereshkigal, al-
to the Mesopotamian cultural area—is the translation of the
lows Inanna access, ordering the porter to deprive Inanna of
biblical “Tammuz” of Ezekiel to “Adonis.” This translation
a piece of jewelry at each of the seven netherworld gates. In-
has influenced scholars’ opinions up to recent times. In the
anna is therefore naked, denuded of her divine powers (her
Septuagint translation, the name Tammuz was left untrans-
jewels) when she arrives before the queen of the netherworld,
lated, but later Christian authors (Origen, Saint Jerome) ren-
and Ereshkigal hangs her, in a condition of suspended life,
dered it as Adonis. When the first cuneiform texts mention-
from a nail. Inanna’s faithful vizier, the goddess Ninshubur,
ing Dumuzi/Tammuz were discovered, the ancient
obtains help from Enki, who creates two beings to rescue her.
identification of Tammuz with Adonis played a decisive role
These creatures enter the netherworld and gain Ereshkigal’s
in scholars identifying a pattern of death and resurrection
gratitude, and in return they ask for the piece of meat hang-
that could not be deduced from the surviving parts of the
ing from the nail—such is Inanna’s appearance. But because
texts themselves (which, at the time, were but roughly under-
of the netherworld law that there must be a substitue for any-
stood). The existence of Tammuz’s resurrection, symbolizing
one leaving its reign, a replacement must be found to in
the vegetation cycle from sowing (death) to blooming (resur-
order to set Inanna free. Demons escort Inanna from the
rection), became authoritative. This composite portrait
netherworld, and she begins looking for someone to replace
placed him together with other divinities in the Eastern
her. In an outburst of anger she chooses her unlucky husband
Mediterranean area, including the Egyptian Osiris (whose
Dumuzi, who is not displaying signs of mourning for her
resurrection is well-established in myth), some Syro-
death, and the demons take him into the netherworld. His
Palestinian divinities, and the mythic-ritual complex of De-
sister Geshtinanna generously agrees to replace him for a por-
meter and Persephone. Dying and resurrecting were 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
2522
DUMUZI
mon to all these divine figures, hence their current label as
which is opposed to Hebrew and Christian monotheism. To
dying and rising gods.
further his theory, Bianchi (1965) accepted the intransitivity
T
of the Dumuzi myth, relating it to the character of Adonis,
HEORIES ON THE DYING GOD. The Tammuz that emerged
as in Jacobsen’s fatalistic-vegetative interpretation.
from philological research was forced into a preconceived
pattern of dying and rising fertility gods, based on what was
The pattern of the dying and rising gods has been recon-
known about the connection between Adonis and Tammuz
sidered and re-interpreted. Henri Frankfort (1948) has the
(François Lenormant in 1874). This identification began
distinction of being the first to differentiate Osiris from other
with the Akkadian version of “Ishtar’s Descent to the Neth-
divinities in the supposed class of dying and rising gods.
erworld”—the first myth to be found—even if its meaning
Based on new studies, the western Semitic Baal and the
was far from certain. References in the Akkadian myth to the
Phoenician Eshmun and Melqart have been reconsidered
vegetative seasonal cycle provided evidence for what scholars
and recognised as prototypes of divinised dead sovereigns
already assumed, namely Dumuzi’s inclusion in the dying
(del Olmo Lete, 1996).
and rising god class. Two opinions developed about this
Advancing studies opened new perspectives on Dumuzi
cycle. One, first proposed by the Assyriologist Lenormant (in
as well. After Oliver R. Gurney’s article (1962), which criti-
1880), identified the sun as the main character of the cycle.
cally examined Langdon’s, Anton Moortagart’s, and Adam
The second, following Sir James George Frazer’s path (The
Falkenstein’s positions, Bent Alster (1972) confirmed the
Golden Bough in 1890 and Adonis, Attis, Osiris in 1905), saw
myth’s connection with kingship and the absence of refer-
the life cycle—in particular the vegetal one—as the deep
ences to the vegetative cycle. A by-form of Dumuzi, wor-
meaning of that myth. A third line of thought located the
shiped in Lagash in the third millennium and older than any
myth’s meaning in both the solar cycle and the vegetative one
mention of Dumuzi in that town, the god Lugal-URU-
(indications of this direction can be found in Lenormant
KAR2, has been shown to be related to kingship and to be
himself and in Barton in 1902). At the beginning of the past
extraneousness to the vegetation cycle, so indirectly confirm-
century Marduk joined the rank of these divinities; he was
ing the genuine features of Dumuzi (Pisi, 1995).
explicitly compared with Christ by Heinrich Zimmern, who
in 1906 published the first exhaustive research on the Baby-
M. M. Fritz (2003, pp. 291–301, 370) has shown how
lonian festival of Akitu, Zum babylonischen Neujahrsfest.
Dumuzi (and Amaushumgalanna, who is identified with
Zimmern misunderstood some passages (which are not fully
him) is a distinct divine character not to be confused with
clear even today!), and thought that after Marduk was im-
Damu and Ningizzida. Both the latter gods are vegetation
prisoned (which Zimmern took to mean “death”), he was re-
divinities, and because Damu was also worshiped as a healing
suscitated. The scholar drew comparisons with New Year cel-
god, some scholars thought that there were two distinct gods
ebrations from other cultures to reach a parallel with Christ’s
with the same name. Now Fritz uncovers evidence that this
passion. His thesis was expanded by Stephen Herbert Lang-
is not the case and that Damu was a single divine character
don (1923), who interpreted Marduk’s apotheosis, the
who contained both qualities of healing and vegetation god.
Enuma elish, and the Akitu festival, within the same cultural
It is evident from the documentation Fritz adduced that the
context as “Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld,” Tammuz’s
peculiar features of Damu do not match those of Dumuzi,
fate (since he was thought to alternate with the goddess in
and therefore, the latter cannot be considered a vegetation
sojourning on earth), and the Hieros gamos rite. As Assyriolo-
god (Fritz, 2003, p. 370). Nonetheless, in particular circum-
gists advanced in their studies, they toned down some of this
stances (which Fritz describes) Damu and Ningizzida may
excess but nonetheless inclined to follow the underworld-
be included in the same context with Dumuzi (Fritz, 2003,
agrarian interpretation. They considered Dumuzi to be a
pp. 249–268).
vegetation god; therefore, in the holy marriage the king was
IS THE MYTHICAL COMPLEX OF INANNA AND DUMUZI A
performing a fertility rite to restore life after the death of win-
RELIGION APART? As mentioned, in The Treasures of Dark-
tertime. Thorkild Jacobsen (1962) presented the most ex-
ness Thorkild Jacobsen identified Inanna’s and Dumuzi’s
haustive exposition of this theory, linking it to the village so-
songs as manifestations of “intransitivity.” In the previous
ciety of the fifth and fourth millennium, before the rise of
edition of this Encyclopedia he outlined the character Du-
the city-state, when survival depended on the actions of nat-
muzi’s “passivity”:
ural agents. He compared the “intransitivity” of the gods
from that era to the “transitivity” of the great gods of the
Dumuzi was generally visualized as a young man or
third millennium, in the age of the fighting city-states. Ugo
boy. Under some of his aspects he is of marriageable
Bianchi became interested in Dumuzi while researching the
age; in others he is younger, a mere child. He is dearly
loved by the women who surround him—his mother,
origin of the mystery cults and Gnosticism. In Bianchi’s
sister, and later, his young bride—but there is no evi-
opinion, four phases followed in sequence. First cults devel-
dence to assume that his cult was predominantly a
oped similar to those of Tammuz, followed in the order by
women’s cult [Fritz, 2003, pp. 353–359]. The love
the mystery cults, the so-called mysteriosophic cults, and
songs of his wooing and wedding are all love songs to
Gnosticism. Bianchi saw Dumuzi as the earliest manifesta-
him or are self-praise of the bride hoping her body will
tion of the dualism that reached its apex in Gnosticism, and
please him; there are no love songs of his to Inanna.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN
2523
Correspondingly, the laments for him are by his moth-
Waetzoldt, Hartmut. “Die Göttin Nanse und die Traumdeu-
er, sister, and widowed bride, never by a father. One
tung.” Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 60
may also cite here Ezekiel 8:14: There sat women weep-
(1998).
ing for Tammuz.
For Sumerian love songs, see the full edition in Yitzhak Sefati,
The intransitivity and passivity of the Inanna and Dumuzi
Love Songs in Sumerian Literature (Bar-Ilan, 1998) and the
complex differentiate it from a religion centered on the pan-
studies by Bent Alster, “Marriage and Love in the Sumerian
theon of the divine characters who transitively and actively
Love Songs,” in Mark Cohen et al., eds., The Tablet and the
Scroll: Near Eastern Studies in Honour of W. W. Hallo (Poto-
operate in the cosmos. This opinion of Jacobsen—for com-
mac, Md., 1993), pp. 15–27. On the reconstructed myth of
pletely unrelated reasons—is shared by other great interpret-
Dumuzi and Inanna, see Thorkild Jacobsen, “Toward the
ers of Mesopotamian thought. Both Falkenstein (1954), on
Image of Tammuz” in W. L. Moran, ed., Toward the Image
an evemeristic ground, and Jean van Dijk (1971), who com-
of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and
pared the hunters’ cult to that of the farmers and breeders,
Culture (Cambridge, Mass., 1970), pp. 73–101, and The
who worshiped respectively Enlil and An, considered inde-
Treasures of Darkness (New Haven, Conn., and London,
pendent the mythological complex of Inanna-Dumuzi from
1976), chapter 2. On love in Mesopotamian literature, see
the remaining religious beliefs. The myth’s connection with
W. G. Lambert, “Devotion: The Languages of Religion and
kingship could provide a clue to this peculiarity. An active
Love” in M. Mindlin et al., eds., Figurative Language in the
principle (Dumuzi), by his union with the goddess (Inanna)
Ancient Near East (London, 1987), pp. 25–40; G. Leick, Sex
and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature (London and New
of the Venus planet (the crepuscolar nature of which, be-
York, 1994); M. Nissinen, “Akkadian Rituals and Poetry of
tween day and night, represents the passage between oppo-
Divine Love” in R. M. Whiting, ed., Mythology and Mytholo-
sites, here from heaven to earth), borrows Venus star’s power
gies, Melammu Symposia II (Helsinki, 2001), pp. 93–136.
of manifestation, spreading it all over the earth (this radia-
On Dumuzi’s death see Bent Alster, Dumuzi’s Dream (Co-
tion is similar to the biblical Glory or the Hindu shakti).
penhagen, 1972), and for lamentations on his departure see
When this role is over, this power is cast into the nether-
Mark E. Cohen, The Canonical Lamentations of Ancient Mes-
world, where it exercises its strength, since everything earthly
opotamia (Potomac, Md., 1998). On Dumuzi as an officer
is bound for death. It is from this pattern that the king’s role
in the netherworld, see J. A. Scurlock’s “K 164: New Light
derives, not because he is his people’s leader, but because he
on the Mourning Rites for Dumuzi?,” Revue d’Assyriologie 86
is the conduit for divine power from heaven and therefore
(1992): 53–67. For insight on Dumuzi in later times up to
becomes the distributor of it over the earth. The autonomy
the tenth century, see J. Hämeen-Anttila, “Continuity of
Pagan Religious Traditions in Tenth-Century Iraq” in A.
and peculiarity of this pattern enabled its wide scattering out-
Panaino and G. Pettinato, eds., Ideologies as Intercultural
side Mesopotamian religion. A shadow of it could still be
Phenomena, Melammu Symposia III (Bologna, Italy, 2002),
found in the fourth century CE, when the emperor Julian ex-
pp. 89–108. For discussions of Dumuzi’s nature, see Oliver
panded philosophically the cosmological aspects of a peculiar
R. Gurney, “Tammuz Reconsidered: Some Recent Develop-
version of the myth of Attis and Cybele (Mander, 2001).
ments,” Journal of Semitic Studies 7 (1962): 147–160, and
The Inanna and Dumuzi complex serves as a bridge between
Bent Alster, “Tammuz,” in K. van der Toorn, B. Becking,
the human and the divine, between life and death, and be-
and P. W. van der Horst’s Dictionary of Deities and Demons
tween unity and multiplicity. Kingship is an essential com-
in the Bible, 2d ed. (Leiden, 1999), pp. 828–834; and P. Pisi,
ponent because it connects heavenly will and human society.
“Il dio LUGAL-URUxKAR2 e il culto degli antenati regali
nella Lagash pre-sargonica,” Oriens Antiquus Miscellanea II
SEE ALSO Adonis; Dying and Rising Gods; Inanna; King-
(1995): 1–40. For information about Dumuzi’s relationship
ship, article on Kingship in the Ancient Mediterranean
with other cultures see Pietro Mander, “Antecedents in the
World; Mesopotamian Religions, overview article.
Cuneiform Literature of the Attis Tradition in Late Antiqui-
ty,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 1 (2001): 100–
149; Pietro Mander, “Il contributo di U. Bianchi allo studio
BIBLIOGRAPHY
del pensiero mesopotamico antico” in G. Casadio, ed., Ugo
Bianchi, Ugo. “Initiation, mystères, gnose.” In Initiation, edited by
Bianchi. Una vita per la storia delle religioni (Rome, 2002),
C. J. Bleker, pp. 154–171. Leiden, 1965.
pp. 87–143; and M. M. Fritz, “. . . und weinten um Tam-
Del Olmo Lete, Gregorio. El continuum cultural cananeo. Barcelo-
muz”—Die Götter Dumuzi-Ama’ushumgal’anna und Damu,
na, 1996.
Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Band 307 (Münster, Ger-
many, 2003).
Falkenstein, Adam. “Tammuz” Compte Rendu de la Rencontre As-
syriologique Internationale 3 (1954): 41–75.
PIETRO MANDER (2005)
Farber, W. Beschwörungsrituale an Ishtar und Dumuzi. Wiesba-
den, 1977.
Frankfort, Henri. Kingship and the Gods. Chicago, 1948.
DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN (c. 1266–1308), Franciscan
Langdon, Stephen Herbert. The Epic of Creation. Oxford, 1923.
philosopher and theologian, and founder of the school of
Van Dijk, Jean. “Sumerische Religion.” In Handbuch der Reli-
Scotism. Born in Scotland and trained by his paternal uncle
giongeschichte—Band 1, edited by J. P Asmussen and J.
at the Franciscan friary at Dumfries, Scotland, Duns Scotus
Læsso⁄e, pp. 435–436. 1971.
entered the Franciscan order at an early age and was ordained
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2524
DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN
a priest. As a bachelor of theology he studied and taught at
proposes this as the rationale for Mary’s immaculate concep-
Oxford, completing his lectures on Peter Lombard’s Sen-
tion, an argument that became basic for defenders of that
tences, which he began revising as the Ordinatio in 1300.
doctrine until its declaration in 1854 as a dogma by Pius IX.
When in 1302 the turn came for the English province to pro-
Finally, God willed the sensible world to serve humanity.
vide a talented candidate for the prestigious University of
As a philosopher, Duns Scotus modified the Aristotelian
Paris, Duns Scotus was sent. During the demonstrations
influence current in his day with insights of Augustine of
against Boniface VIII initiated by Philip the Fair, Duns Sco-
Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury, Richard of Saint-Victor, and
tus sided with the pope and, as a consequence, was exiled
Ibn S¯ına¯ (Avicenna). Developing Ibn S¯ına¯’s conception of
from France. Just where he spent his exile is unknown, but
metaphysics, Duns Scotus provided a powerful rational
with the death of Boniface and the accession to the papacy
proof for an infinite being, who he believed had revealed
of Benedict XI, the church’s ban against the king and the
himself to Moses as the “I am who am.”
university was lifted, and Duns Scotus returned to complete
his Paris lectures on the Sentences. He became regent master
In his philosophical system, Duns Scotus stressed the
probably in 1305.
metaphysical primacy of the individual, each with its own
unique “haecceity,” which exists only because God’s creative
During his regency Duns Scotus conducted quodlibetic
love wanted just “this” and not “that.” On the other hand,
disputations covering a wide variety of theological and philo-
he logically analyzed what individualized created natures
sophical questions about God and creatures proposed by his
must have in common, if scientific knowledge of them is to
audience. His later version of these questions (Quaestiones
become possible.
quodlibetales), like his Ordinatio (begun at Oxford, and
Duns Scotus adopted the peculiar “Augustinian” tradi-
hence referred to as the Opus oxoniense), was not finished at
tion of the earlier Franciscan school, which stressed the “su-
the time of his untimely death, yet these two works were
persufficient potentiality” of the will for self-determination,
widely copied for distribution and are largely responsible for
and showed how it could be reconciled with the Aristotelian
his fame as a philosopher and theologian. In addition he left
notion of an active potency, if one rejected the controversial
a number of important philosophical works on logic, psy-
principle that “whatever is moved is moved by another.” In
chology, and metaphysics, presented in the form of questions
this and other ways he brought the earlier anti-
suggested by the works of Porphyry and Aristotle. Like Colla-
Aristotelianism of his Franciscan predecessors into the main-
tiones oxoniense et parisienses (shorter questions on specific
stream of what contemporaries considered essential to Aris-
philosophical and theological topics), these were probably
totle’s philosophical system. For instance, he indicated how
the result of disputations Duns Scotus conducted for the
Aristotle’s criteria for rational and nonrational faculties could
Franciscan students at Oxford and Paris. The most extensive
be used to prove that the will, not the intellect, is the primary
and influential of these philosophical works are the Quaes-
rational potency. Nonrational faculties are determined to act
tiones subtilissime super libros Metaphysicorum Aristoteles and
in one way, said Aristotle, all other conditions being the
the important Tractatus de Primo Principio, a compendium
same; rational faculties are free to act in more than one way
of what reason can prove about God. Duns Scotus left Paris
and thus are the basis of all creativity in the arts. If that be
in the fall of 1307 to teach at the Franciscan house of studies
so, Duns Scotus argued, the intellect is nonrational, since it
in Cologne, where he died the following year. His remains
has but one mode of acting determined by the objective evi-
rest in the nave of the Franciscan church near the Cologne
dence. In this it resembles all active potencies that are collec-
cathedral, where he is venerated as blessed.
tively called “nature.” The will alone has the basic freedom,
In his writings, Duns Scotus views theology as a practi-
when it acts with reason, for alternate modes of acting. Thus
cal science rather than a theoretical science, inasmuch as it
for Duns Scotus the distinction between nature and will rep-
gives human beings the necessary knowledge to reach their
resents the primary division of active potencies, correspond-
supernatural end. This end consists in sharing in the inner
ing roughly to the Aristotelian division of nonrational and
life of the Trinity in heaven. Developing Richard of Saint-
rational.
Victor’s insight that perfect love wants the beloved to be
Original also is Duns Scotus’s development of Anselm
loved by others, Duns Scotus envisions the motive for cre-
of Canterbury’s distinction of the will’s twofold inclination,
ation as follows. God first loved himself, then he freely decid-
or “affection,” namely, love of the advantageous on the one
ed to create co-lovers of his infinitely lovable nature. Being
hand and love of what is right and just for its own sake on
orderly in his love, he next predestined Christ’s human na-
the other. As the seat of the former, the will is only an intel-
ture to share this glory and gave this nature the highest possi-
lectual appetite that seeks happiness and self above all else.
ble grace that could be bestowed upon a creature. Christ, the
Only by reason of its affection for justice is the will free to
God-man, purchased grace for both angels and humanity.
moderate this self-seeking and, according to right reason,
But because God foresaw Adam’s sin and humanity’s conse-
love what is good objectively for its intrinsic worth. Unlike
quent fall from grace, Christ came as a suffering, rather than
Anselm, however, Duns Scotus understood justice not mere-
a triumphant, mediator. The most perfect form of media-
ly as a supernatural, infused gift, called “gratuitous grace” or
tion, however, would have been to preredeem, and Scotus
“charity,” but as a congenital or innate freedom of the will,
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DURGA¯ HINDUISM
2525
free precisely because it liberates the will from that necessity
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aristotle claimed was characteristic of all natural agents,
The Scotistic Commission (Rome) began publishing a critical edi-
namely, to seek happiness and the perfection of their nature
tion of the collected works of Duns Scotus in 1950. The
above all else.
Luke Wadding edition (Lyons, 1639), reprinted as John
Duns Scotus: Opera omnia, edited by L. Vivès (Paris, 1891–
These two affections of the will are not volitions as such;
1895), contains the major portion of his writings. A critical
though they incline the will, they do not necessitate it or
edition of the Tractatus de Primo Principio, edited by Mari-
cause it to act. The will itself determines how it will act, but
anus Mueller (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1941), has been reprint-
ed with translations in several languages. I have added to my
when it does it acts in accord with one or the other of these
earlier edition and translation an extensive commentary on
affections. While the affection for the advantageous corre-
this work in A Treatise on God as First Principle (Chicago,
sponds with Aristotle’s conception of choice, the affection or
1983). Selections from the Ordinatio are available in my
bias for justice is an essentially Christian notion. This incli-
Duns Scotus: Philosophical Writings (Edinburgh, 1962). The
nation, according to Duns Scotus, has a twofold effect: (1)
most recent edition of the Quodlibetal Questions (Latin text
it enables the will to love God above all else for God’s own
and Spanish translation) is by Felix Alluntis, Obras del Doctor
sake, and (2) it allows the will to moderate its natural inclina-
Sutil Juan Duns Escoto (Madrid, 1968); an English transla-
tion for happiness and self-actualization, either as an individ-
tion by Felix Alluntis and myself is entitled God and Crea-
ual or as a species, and to love according to right reason.
tures: The Quodlibetal Questions (Princeton, 1975). An exten-
sive bibliography by Odulfus Schaefer, Bibliographia vita
Thus the affection for justice provides the natural basis for
operibus et doctrina Iohannis Duns Scoti (Rome, 1950), covers
a rational ethical philosophy. Both affections are essential to
nineteenth- and twentieth-century secondary literature. This
human nature, but they can be perfected supernaturally and
has been updated to 1965 by Odulfus Schaefer in the Acta
directed to God as their object. Charity perfects the will’s af-
ordinis Fratrum Minorum (Florence) 85 (1966) and by Ser-
fection for justice, inclining it to love God for his own sake;
vus Gieben in Laurentianum 6 (1965). Contemporary inter-
hope perfects the will’s affection for the advantageous, inclin-
est in Duns Scotus’s thought is apparent from the interna-
ing it to love God because he has shown his love for us in
tional Scotistic Congresses held every five years, the
this life and because he will be our ultimate happiness in the
proceedings of which are published under special titles in the
life to come.
general series “Studia Scholastico-Scotistica” (Rome, 1968–)
by the Societas Internationalis Scotistica. Duns Scotus on the
Another important psychological notion of Duns Sco-
Will and Morality (Washington, D. C., 1986) contains a
tus’ that influenced subsequent scholastics is his conception
large selection of Latin texts that I have translated into En-
glish.
of intuitive intellectual cognition, or the simple, nonjudg-
mental awareness of a here-and-now existential situation.
ALLAN B. WOLTER (1987)
First developed as a necessary theological condition for the
face-to-face vision of God in the afterlife, intellectual intu-
ition is needed to explain our certainty of primary contingent
DURGA¯ HINDUISM. In classical Hindu mythology
truths such as “I think,” “I choose,” “I live,” and to account
the goddess Durga¯ is one of the principal forms of the wife
for our awareness of existence. Duns Scotus never makes in-
of the great god S´iva. She is particularly celebrated for her
tellectual intuition the basis for his epistemology. Neither
victory over the buffalo demon Mahis:a¯sura. At a higher level
does he see it as putting persons into direct contact with the
of abstraction she is considered to be the energy (´sakti) of
external sensible world, with any substance material or spiri-
S´iva. Ultimately she is Dev¯ı, the Goddess, whose myriad
tual, or with an individual’s haecceity, for in this life, at least,
names and forms are merely transient and adventitious dis-
human intellect works through the sensory imagination. In-
guises that overlay a unitary spiritual reality.
tellectual intuition seems rather to be identified with the in-
distinct peripheral aura associated with all our direct sensory-
Most modern scholars have sought to find the ultimate
intellectual cognition. We know of it explicitly only in retro-
origin of the goddess worship of Hinduism in the prehistoric
spect when we consider the necessary conditions for
Indus Valley civilization centered in what is now Pakistan.
intellectual memory.
This theory is plausible, but the evidence for an important
goddess cult in the Indus civilization is inconclusive, and the
The notion of intellectual intuition continued to be a
historical links of such a cult with classical Hinduism are im-
topic of discussion and dispute down to the time of Calvin,
possible to document. Preclassical Vedic literature mentions
who, influenced by the Scotist John Major, used an auditory
numerous goddesses, but they are clearly of secondary im-
rather than a visual sense model of intellectual intuition to
portance. The earliest Vedic text, the R:gveda, praises several
explain our experience of God. Whereas Duns Scotus re-
river goddesses, most notably Sarasvat¯ı; the goddess Us:as,
stricted intuition of God to the beatific vision in the afterlife
the Dawn; Aditi, a rather vague mother of several gods; and
or to the special mystical visions given to the prophets or to
the goddess Va¯c, Speech. An ancillary Vedic text, the
Paul of Tarsus, John Major explained that we may also expe-
Br:haddevata¯ (2.77), includes Durga¯ among the many names
rience God intuitively whenever he “speaks to our soul”
of Va¯c, but this is considered to be a late interpolation. The
through some special inspiration.
Taittir¯ıya Sam:hita¯ (1.8.6.1) of the Yajurveda mentions
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DURKHEIM, ÉMILE
Ambika¯, later one of the common alternate names of Durga¯,
As Hindu thinkers tend to conflate all her forms into
as the sister of S´iva. In the later Taittir¯ıya A¯ran:yaka (10.18),
a single great goddess, many modern scholars similarly con-
S´iva is said to be “the husband of Ambika¯, the husband of
sider these forms to be manifestations of a single archetypal
Uma¯.” Uma¯ appears in the Kena Upanis:ad (3.12) as
mother-goddess concept. However this may be, it is also clear
Haimavat¯ı, the daughter of Himavat, the Himalaya.
that most of these forms have distinct historical origins. They
It is not until the early centuries of the Christian era,
derive from a variety of goddesses from specific regions and
however, that either Durga¯ in particular or the Goddess as
localities, each associated with specific social or ethnic groups
a unitary concept become important figures in Hindu reli-
and fulfilling specific cultural functions. Many of the major
gious texts. Hymns in praise of Durga¯ as the Goddess appear
terrifying forms of the Goddess, such as Durga¯, seem to have
in the Vira¯t:aparvan (6) and the Bh¯ıs:maparvan (23) of the
arisen among semi-hinduized tribes such as the S´abaras and
epic Maha¯bha¯rata, the critical edition of which considers
Pulindas and retain these associations in classical texts. Local
them to be late interpolations. In the Harivam:´sa, the “ap-
forms of goddesses of disease, such as the goddesses of small-
pendix” to the Maha¯bha¯rata, the Goddess consents to be
pox, may also have contributed to the evolution of these ter-
born as Ya´soda¯’s child, who is exchanged for Kr:s:n:a and
rifying forms.
killed by Kam:sa. There follows another long hymn dedicated
Durga¯ Mahis:amardin¯ı is popular especially in Bengal
to her, but the critical edition considers this also to be an in-
and Bihar in the east and in Tamil Nadu in the south. Her
terpolation. The three hymns provide lists of her names and
great festival is the Durgotsava, or Durga¯ Pu¯ja¯, also called
forms and praises of her greatness, but they do not narrate
Navara¯tri, celebrated during the first ten days of the waxing
her mythological exploits. These appear in great detail in the
fortnight of the autumn month A¯´svina. Clay images of
classical texts known as the Pura¯n:as, dated between the third
Durga¯ are made and presented with varied offerings. For-
and fifteenth centuries CE.
merly many buffalo and goats were sacrificed to her, but this
Most important in this context is the section of the
practice has been gradually dying out. Recitations of the
Ma¯rkan:d:eya Pura¯n:a known as the Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya, also called
Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya also play an important part in the festival. On
the Can:d:¯ıma¯ha¯tmya and Durga¯sapta´sat¯ı. This text celebrates
the “Victorious Tenth Day” (Vijayada´sami) the images are
the Goddess’s victory over the buffalo demon Mahis:a¯sura
paraded to a river or tank. Now considered lifeless, they are
and over the demons S´umbha and Ni´sumbha. The great
deposited in the water.
prevalence of Durga¯’s buffalo-killer form, known as
Mahis:amardin¯ı, in iconography shows this to be her most
SEE ALSO Goddess Worship, article on The Hindu God-
important exploit. The Dev¯ıma¯ha¯tmya tells how the gods are
dess.
oppressed for a century by the demons led by Mahis:a¯sura.
Finally they appeal to the great gods Vis:n:u and S´iva to rescue
BIBLIOGRAPHY
them. The anger of Vis:n:u and S´iva, joined with the anger
The best work on the historical evolution of the Goddess is J. N.
of all the other gods, produces a mass of luminous energy.
Tiwari’s Studies in Goddess Cults in Northern India (Canber-
This then takes the form of a woman, the Goddess. Each god
ra, 1971). Also useful is M. C. P. Srivastava’s Mother Goddess
gives her his principal weapon. The god Himavat gives her
in Indian Art, Archaeology and Literature (Delhi, 1979).
Translations of the basic myths from Sanskrit sources are eas-
the lion, which becomes her “vehicle.” During a great battle
ily found in Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty’s Hindu Myths: A
she destroys the armies of Mahis:a¯sura and finally beheads the
Sourcebook (Baltimore, 1975). Tamil myths are discussed in
demon himself.
David Shulman’s “The Murderous Bride: Tamil Versions of
In classical mythology many of the forms assumed by
the Myth of Dev¯ı and the Buffalo-Demon,” History of Reli-
the wife of S´iva can be divided into those that are terrifying
gions 16 (1976): 120–146. A detailed description of the
and those that are benevolent. Durga¯ Mahis:amardin¯ı be-
Durga¯ Pu¯ja¯ festival appears in P. V. Kane’s History of
longs among the former, together with Can:d:ika¯, Ka¯l¯ı,
Dharma´sa¯stra, 2d ed., rev. & enl., vol. 5 (Poona, 1975).
Vindhyava¯sin¯ı, Ca¯mun:d:a¯, and many others. Her benevolent
New Sources
forms include Sat¯ı, Uma¯, Pa¯rvat¯ı, S´iva, and Gaur¯ı. These
Sharma, Bulbul. The Book of Devi. New Delhi; New York, 2001.
benevolent forms have their own distinct cycle of myths, re-
DAVID N. LORENZEN (1987)
corded in the Pura¯n:as and other works, such as Ka¯lida¯sa’s
Revised Bibliography
Kuma¯ra-sam:bhava. She also appears as Yoganidra¯ (“cosmic
sleep”); as Vis:n:uma¯ya¯ (“world illusion”); as Ambika¯ (“the
mother”); as S´akti (“divine energy”); and as simply Dev¯ı
(“the goddess”). Since she is S´akti, those who worship her
DURKHEIM, ÉMILE (1858–1917), known generally
above all other gods are frequently called S´a¯ktas. S´a¯kta wor-
as France’s first sociologist, was far more than that. David
ship tends to blend into the somewhat heterodox current of
Émile Durkheim was also a historian and theorist of pedago-
Hinduism known as Tantrism, after the religious texts called
gy, moral education, and morals; a student of traditional so-
the Tantras. Durga¯ as the one Dev¯ı, on the other hand, is
cieties, ritual life, and the world’s religions; an active agent
one of the five great gods of the nonsectarian, orthodox
of social reform and religious change in his own milieu; a
Brahmanic cult known as Pañca¯yatana.
writer of patriotic tracts during World War I; a prominent
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DURKHEIM, ÉMILE
2527
defender of Alfred Dreyfus; a champion of charitable relief
produced the work for which he is justly most famous, The
efforts for Jews fleeing the Russian pogroms of the early
Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912). He died on the
twentieth century; and a lifelong, although thoroughly eclec-
eve of the end of World War I, considerably wounded in
tic and radical, philosopher.
spirit by the death of his son, André, on the field of battle,
but writing what he considered would be his masterpiece, a
In terms of his own strategic intellectual goals and his
book to have been entitled La Morale.
reputation among his contemporaries, Durkheim sought to
infuse a sociological apperception into all areas of human life,
Durkheim’s years at the École Normale Supérieure
especially religion. As an academic, he raised this awareness
(1879–1882) gave the new life he had fashioned for himself
of the social dimension first by systematically challenging the
a definite intellectual and personal formation. Among his
identities of the two leading humanistic disciplines of his
classmates were such future luminaries as the philosopher
day—history and philosophy. In doing so, he sought to radi-
Henri Bergson and the statesman and socialist Jean Jaurès.
cally reorient their practice. To Durkheim, the historians of
Among his instructors, Durkheim was greatly influenced by
his day were dull describers and documenters; Durkheim
the “scientific” history of Gabriel Monod, and even more
sought instead to explain events by revealing their underlying
perhaps by the historian of Roman religion and domestic rit-
sociological causes. He likewise thought that philosophy had
uals, Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges. Among philoso-
stagnated by remaining speculative and locked into psycho-
phers, the neo-Kantian Émile Boutroux exerted direct influ-
logical introspection. Durkheim argued that philosophy
ence upon Durkheim with his notions about the
could solve its perennial problems only by seeking the empir-
independence of different levels of being, such as the social
ical social causes to the conditions it considered. Exemplify-
over the psychological. Linked with Boutroux in terms of
ing this attempt to surpass both history and philosophy by
Durkheim’s emerging social realism was Alfred Espinas, a
seeking the underlying, collective, empirical causes of human
major figure in the “eclectic” tradition of philosophy and so-
action was one of Durkheim’s earliest books, Suicide (1897).
cial thought in France. Durkheim credited Espinas with
In this book, he tried to show that while suicide seemed at
being the source of his sense of autonomous reality of the
first like a lonely, deeply internal, even metaphysical matter,
social realm over the realms of biology and personal
it was to be explained by the conditions of membership in
psychology.
social groups, such as religious communities, to which indi-
viduals taking their own lives belonged. Durkheim’s mature
Another vital philosophical influence upon Durkheim
sociological approach to religion emerged a decade or so
was the neo-Kantian republican rationalist and founder of
later, but it retained many of the same methodological priori-
the periodical Critique philosophique, Charles Renouvier. Re-
ties established in Suicide.
nouvier seems to have played a role in shaping Durkheim’s
reading of Immanuel Kant, as well as his passion for a science
Durkheim’s life followed a similarly innovative pattern.
of morality. Renouvier’s political liberalism, especially its af-
The teenage Durkheim abandoned Jewish religious practice.
firmation of the sacredness of the individual human person,
He thus passed up the professional calling prepared for him
ran parallel to Durkheim’s inclinations towards a “religion
as the eldest son in a family with a long history of rabbinic
of humanity.” Guided in large part by the values of Renou-
service. He left his home in Épinal, Lorraine, for a new life
vier, and enhanced by his close friendship with the neo-
in Paris, where he attended one of the classical collèges to pre-
Hegelian Renouvierian, Octave Hamelin, Durkheim articu-
pare for entry into the exclusive École Normale Supérieure,
lated a form of humanistic liberalism that remained with him
the elite institution for educating the influential instituteurs
throughout his life. Like other progressives of his time and
who staffed the nationwide system of rigorously secular state-
place, Durkheim’s interest in Hegelian revisions of neo-
run lycées. After teaching philosophy for several years at pro-
Kantianism recalled not only Hamelin, but also such nota-
vincial lycées, interrupted by a short study tour of German
bles as the legendary promoter of left-wing Hegelianism, Lu-
universities (1885–1886), in 1887 Durkheim joined the fac-
cien Herr. Over the dual extremes of a utilitarian individual-
ulty of the University of Bordeaux in a position created for
ism and materialism, on the one side, and a collectivist
him in social science and pedagogy, where he remained for
socialism and mystagogic spiritualism on the other,
fifteen years. There, he produced his first trademark books—
Durkheim sought to integrate an unruly French egoism with
The Division of Labor in Society (1893), The Rules of Sociologi-
a broad, but concrete, communalism. His defense of Captain
cal Method (1895), and Suicide—and many germinal articles.
Alfred Dreyfus, articulated in terms of the French republic’s
In Bordeaux, Durkheim also began to develop an interest in
collective valuation of the individual as a sacred being, cap-
ethnological topics, such as totemism, and also religion.
tures what has aptly been called the eclectic “social individu-
alism” at the core of Durkheim’s values.
Durkheim lived the final fifteen years of his life in Paris,
where he succeeded Ferdinand Buisson in the chair of the
Although his years in Bordeaux were happy and produc-
Science of Education at the Sorbonne. He likewise contin-
tive, Durkheim’s move to Paris in 1902 proved indispensable
ued the work he had already begun in Bordeaux, organizing
to the success of his celebrated periodical, L’année so-
the annual review L’année sociologique, and pursuing his work
ciologique (1898–1913). Its success was facilitated in large
on pedagogy, religion, and social science. In the capital, he
part by his nephew, Marcel Mauss, and Mauss’s close collab-
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2528
DURKHEIM, ÉMILE
orator, Henri Hubert. These two Durkheimians also recruit-
induced enthusiasms in rituals. As atheists, the Durkheimi-
ed members for what arguably was Durkheim’s most impor-
ans did not believe an experience of God or spirit was possi-
tant “work”—that lively and extravagantly talented team of
ble because gods or spirits either did not exist or were beyond
coworkers, the Durkheimian “équipe.” This remarkable
the cognitive abilities of humans to experience. Ritual, on the
community not only absorbed and deployed Durkheimian
other hand, was religion in tangible form.
ideas for generations, but would also shape a good deal of
On the other hand, the Durkheimian identity of society
what and how Durkheim himself would think and write. As
and God was also intended to be read as arguing that all so-
historians of religion themselves, Hubert and Mauss, for ex-
cial forms contained a spiritual or normative aspect to them.
ample, made significant contributions to Durkheim’s articu-
Materialists therefore attacked the Durkheimians for insist-
lation of the central notion of sacrifice in The Elementary
ing upon the place of norms, values, consensus, beliefs, and
Forms. Others associated with the équipe were Maurice Halb-
other intangibles—“spiritual” factors—in the makeup of
wachs, Robert Hertz, Célestin Bouglé, Antoine Meillet,
Marcel Granet, Louis Gernet, Marc Bloch, Lucien Febvre,
human reality. So, on this reading of the God-society identi-
and Lucien Lévy-Bruhl. His location in Paris also placed
ty, the Durkheimians were asserting the “godly” quality of
Durkheim in the thick of the struggles over the future of the
social reality. Societies, whether families, tribes, nations, and
Third Rebublic against its Catholic adversaries, and along
so on, were not therefore just agglomerations of particulars,
with that, all the attendant academic and national political
but units of humanity linked together by the common values
struggles that shaped the times and Durkheim’s work as well.
that at once constitute them and that they hold to be sacred.
It is this side of the God-society identity that fits with the
In terms of his study of religion, one can perceive the
deeply held Durkheimian views of the importance of religion
same socializing efforts that Durkheim had employed in re-
and of its primacy in time and agency among other social in-
gards to the fields of history and philosophy. At the time, the
stitutions.
study of religion was dominated by various combinations of
philosophy, psychology and Christian theologies. Bringing
The genesis of Durkheim’s consuming interest in reli-
a social dimension to the study of religion meant that more
gion is a subject of some debate. William Robertson Smith’s
attention would be accorded the collective, group, or institu-
Lectures on the Religion of the Semites (1889) is frequently,
tional functions and contexts of religion. Durkheim thus
and with good reason, cited for its influence upon
spurred the study of religious communities like monastic
Durkheim’s turn to the study of both simple societies and
groups, charismatics, local cults, “world” religions, ritual as-
religion. Durkheim’s first two major books, The Division of
sociations, ethnic and national religions, and such institu-
Labor in Society and Suicide dealt with social problems of so-
tions as the church, synagogue, and so on. Further, insofar
called advanced industrial societies, while his masterpiece in
as his work concerned philosophical, psychological, or theo-
the study of religion, The Elementary Forms of the Religious
logical matters in religion, Durkheim wished to cast a social
Life, explored so-called primitive ritual and religion and dealt
light upon them in order to show how they were dependent
with such topics as the sacred, totem, taboo, sacrifice, or-
upon their social location for much of their form and con-
deals, myth, and symbolism—all set among the aboriginal
tent. How, for example, might the early Christian belief in
folk of Australia. These were not the interests one might have
the visitations of the Holy Spirit be related to the effervescent
expected from an author concerned mostly with the prob-
vitality of the young community and its avid ritual life? How
lems of the industrial society. Yet, in a way, a continuity may
and why was the notion and experience of the “sacred” so
be discerned, at least from Suicide to The Elementary Forms,
widely deployed in the religions of the world, and why was
despite general agreement among scholars that around 1895
it so often linked with the identities of religious com-
Durkheim shifted his interest to religion and to the so-called
munities?
primitive societies. One might, for instance, argue that a so-
cial problem afflicting the France of his day was that of how
In this respect, the fruitfulness of the research fostered
to establish a secure and viable social order. How, given the
by this articulation of the social dimension of religion for
threat of war with Germany or the fissiparous individualism
modern religious studies far overshadows that upon which
bred by modern urban life (the political anarchism of the day
far too much attention has been focused by students of reli-
was also a concern), could modern societies hope to maintain
gion—the so-called sociological reduction of religion. Com-
sufficient cohesion to continue surviving? Durkheim rea-
monly regarded as the most important feature of Durkheim’s
soned that the secrets of social integration and coherence
thought about religion—doubtless because of the apologetic
were there to be learned in the “elementary forms of social
anxieties it stirs—this “reduction” takes the form of claiming
life” in the societies of so-called primitive peoples, where co-
that all talk of God can be reduced to talk about society. As
herence and well-regulated order was the norm. If one could
a formula, this is to assert that society and God are identical.
isolate and identify the “elementary” institutions, practices,
There is indeed ample warrant for the view that the
and mechanisms that “primitive” societies employed to se-
Durkheimians believed that all talk of God was really about
cure their own coherence, then perhaps modern folk could
and derived from social experience. The religious experience
either create or retrieve these aspects of a social technology
of “spirit” is explainable in terms of the dynamics of crowd-
of order and coherence for their own use. The Elementary
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DURKHEIM, ÉMILE
2529
Forms answered this question by proposing Aboriginal Aus-
Durkheim, Émile. “Individual and Collective Representations”
tralian society and its elaborate sacrificial ritual religious life
(1898). In Sociology and Philosophy, translated by D. F. Po-
as a model for the France of its day. As ritual sacrifice func-
cock, pp. 1–34. New York, 1974.
tioned among the Aborigines to weld the people into a
Durkheim, Émile. “Contribution to Discussion ‘Religious Senti-
coherent whole, so also would the civic sacrifice of duty
ment at the Present Time.’” In Durkheim on Religion, edited
and devotion to country insure France’s integrity against
by W. S. F. Pickering, pp. 181–189. London, 1975.
their foe.
Durkheim, Émile. The Evolution of Educational Thought: Lectures
on the Formation and Secondary Education in France (1906).
A revival of interest in Durkheimian work, spurred by
Translated by Peter Collins. 2d ed. London, 1977.
the publication of Steven Lukes’s Émile Durkheim: His Life
Durkheim, Émile. The Rules of Sociological Method and Selected
and Work (1972), shows no sign of letting up. Some of this
Texts on Sociology and Its Method. Translated by W. D. Halls,
may have to do with the steadily declining political and intel-
edited by Steven Lukes. London, 1982.
lectual fortunes of Marxism. Despite their shared conviction
Durkheim, Émile. “The Problem of Religion and the Duality of
about the social nature of human beings, Durkheimian social
Human Nature” (1913). In Knowledge and Society: Studies in
thought has escaped the downdraft in which Marxism was
the Sociology of Culture, Past and Present, edited by Henrika
caught due to its links to a discredited totalitarianism. Even
Kuklick, vol. 5, pp. 1–44. Greenwich, Conn., 1984.
in his own time, while Durkheim’s theories were seen as fully
Jones, Robert Alun. “Durkheim in Context: A Reply to Perrin.”
social, they were also seen as alternatives to the economic ma-
Sociological Quarterly 15 (1975): 552–559.
terialism of Marxism. Thus, Durkheim actually provided an
Jones, Robert Alun. “On Understanding a Sociological Classic.”
alternative both to Marxian economic materialism and to the
American Journal of Sociology 83, no. 2 (1977): 279–319.
abstract individualist interpretations of human life that Marx
Jones, Robert Alun. “Robertson Smith, Durkheim and Sacrifice:
attacked as well. Like Marx, Durkheim challenged the con-
An Historical Context for The Elementary Forms.” Journal of
ventional wisdom of entrenched abstract individualism, and
the History of the Behavioral Sciences 17, no. 2 (1981):
pushed people to seek the underlying social constraints and
184–205.
causes that shape the way they act—whether this be their re-
Jones, Robert Alun. “Demythologizing Durkheim.” In Knowledge
ligious behavior or anything else. Social and cultural con-
and Society: Studies in the Sociology of Culture, Past and Pres-
straints are thus paramount in Durkheim’s view, and as such
ent, edited by Henrika Kuklick, vol. 5, pp. 63–83. Green-
seem more subtle, complex, and diverse than Marx’s eco-
wich, Conn., 1984.
nomism would allow. Thus, today, when the sociocultural
Jones, Robert Alun. The Development of Durkheim’s Social Real-
dimensions conditioning economic life itself are gaining new
ism. Cambridge, U.K., 1999.
appreciation, Durkheim’s emphasis upon the role of religion
Jones, Robert Alun, and Paul W. Vogt. “Durkheim’s Defence of
and kindred sociocultural factors in social formation will
Les formes élementaires de la vie religieuse.” In Knowledge and
likely become more compelling as well.
Society: Studies in the Sociology of Culture, Past and Present,
edited by Henrika Kuklick, vol. 5, pp. 45–62. Greenwich,
Conn., 1984.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Besnard, Philippe, ed. The Sociological Domain: The Durkheimians
Karady, Victor. “The Durkheimians in Academe: A Reconsidera-
and the Founding of French Sociology. Cambridge, U.K.,
tion.” In The Sociological Domain, edited by Philippe Bes-
1983.
nard, pp. 71–89. Cambridge, U.K., 1983.
Karady, Victor, ed. Émile Durkheim: Textes, vol. 1, Éléments d’une
Durkheim, Émile. Suicide. (1897). Translated by John A. Spauld-
théorie sociale. Paris, 1975.
ing and George Simpson. New York, 1951.
Karady, Victor, ed. Émile Durkheim: Textes, vol. 2, Religion, mo-
Durkheim, Émile. “Individuals and the Intellectuals” (1898). In
rale, anomie. Paris, 1975.
Durkheim on Religion, edited by W. S. F. Pickering,
Karady, Victor, ed. Émile Durkheim: Textes, vol. 3, Fonctions so-
pp. 59–73. London, 1975.
ciales et institutions. Paris, 1975.
Durkheim, Émile. “Concerning the Definition of Religious
Loisy, Alfred. “Sociologie et religion.” Revue d’histoire et de littera-
Phenomena” (1899). In Durkheim on Religion, edited by
ture religieuses 4 (1913): 45–76.
W. S. F. Pickering, pp. 74–99. London, 1975.
Lukes, Steven. Émile Durkheim: His Life and Work, A Historical
Durkheim, Émile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life: A
and Critical Study. New York, 1972; reprint, Stanford,
Study in Religious Sociology (1912). Translated by J. W.
Calif., 1985.
Swain. New York, 1915.
Pickering, W. S. F. Durkheim’s Sociology of Religion: Themes and
Durkheim, Émile. Professional Ethics and Civic Morals. Translated
Theories. London, 1984.
by Cornelia Brookfield. Westport, Conn., 1957.
Pickering, W. S. F. “Human Rights and the Cult of Individual:
Durkheim, Émile. “The Dualism of Human Nature and Its Social
An Unholy Alliance Created by Durkheim?” In Individual-
Conditions” (1914). In Essays on Sociology and Philosophy,
ism and Human Rights in the Durkheimian Tradition, edited
edited by Kurt Wolff, pp. 325–340. New York, 1960.
by W. S. F Pickering and W. Watts-Miller, chap. 3. Oxford,
Durkheim, Émile. Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Ap-
1993.
plication of the Sociology of Education (1925). Translated by
Strenski, Ivan. “Durkheim, Hamelin, and the French Hegel.” His-
Everett K. Wilson and Herman Schnurer. New York, 1961.
torical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 16 (1989): 146–149.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2530
DUSHUN
Strenski, Ivan. “The Rise of Ritual and the Hegemony of Myth:
his disciples, to chant the Huayan jing (Mahâvaipulya-
Sylvain Lévi, the Durkheimians, and Max Müller.” In Myth
buddhagan:d:avyu¯ha Su¯tra) and to learn from it the practice
and Method, edited by Wendy Doniger and Laurie Patton,
of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. We can infer from this
pp. 52–81. Charlottesville, Va., 1996.
that his own religious exercises were intimately related to
Strenski, Ivan. Durkheim and the Jews of France. Chicago, 1997.
such practices. Dushun had at least four disciples: the above-
Strenski, Ivan. “Durkheim’s Bourgeois Theory of Sacrifice.” In
mentioned Fan Xuanzhi, Zhiyan, who was to become the
On Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, edited
Huayen school’s second patriarch, a monk known simply as
by N. J. Allen, W. S. F. Pickering, and Willie Watts Miller,
Da, and a child of a Li family. The latter two persons are oth-
pp. 116–126. London, 1998.
erwise unknown.
Strenski, Ivan. “The Ironies of Fin-de-Siècle Rebellions against
Historicism and Empiricism in the École Pratique des
Tradition has long ascribed to Dushun authorship of
Hautes Etudes, Fifth Section.” In Religion in the Making: The
the seminal Fajie guanmen (On the meditation of the
Emergence of the Sciences of Religion, edited by Peter Pels and
Dharmadha¯tu), a work that sets forth the basic doctrinal and
Arie L. Molendijk, pp. 159–180. Leiden, 1998.
practical stance of Huayan Buddhism. Some modern schol-
Strenski, Ivan. Contesting Sacrifice: Religion, Nationalism and So-
ars, however, doubt that this book was either edited or writ-
cial Thought in France. Chicago, 2002.
ten by him. The Xu gaoseng zhuan (Further biographies of
Strenski, Ivan. Theology and the First Theory of Sacrifice. Leiden,
eminent monks), which contains the most reliable account
2003.
of Dushun’s life, makes no reference whatsoever to the Fajie
Tiryakian, Edward. “L’École Durkheimiennes à la recherche de la
guanmen. Nor is there any positive relation between the
Société Perdue.” Cahiers internationaux de sociologie 66
thought expressed in this work and the thought of Dushun’s
(1979): 97–114.
disciple and patriarchal successor Zhiyan. Finally, the
Vogt, W. Paul. “Durkheimian Sociology versus Philosophical Ra-
Fapudixin zhang, written by Fazang, the Huayan school’s
tionalism: The Case of Celestin Bouglé.” In The Sociological
third patriarch, has the same content as this work. Given
Domain: The Durkheimians and the Founding of French Soci-
these arguments, and considering the long tradition of
ology, edited by Philippe Besnard, pp. 231–247. Cambridge,
pseudepigraphy in the Buddhist tradition, the association of
U.K., 1983.
Dushun with the Fajie guanmen appears doubtful.
Vogt, W. Paul, ed. “Obligation and Right: The Durkheimians
and the Sociology of Law.” In The Sociological Domain: The
SEE ALSO Huayan.
Durkheimians and the Founding of French Sociology, edited by
Philippe Besnard, pp. 177–198. Cambridge, U.K., 1983.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dushun’s role in the formation of Huayan Buddhism is the sub-
IVAN STRENSKI (2005)
ject of three important articles: Tokiwa Daijo¯’s “Shina
kegonshu¯ dento¯ ron,” To¯ho¯gakuho¯ (Tokyo) 3 (1932): 1–96
and its sequel, “Zoku kegonshu¯ dento¯ ron,” To¯ho¯gakuho¯
DUSHUN (557–640), also known as Fashun; first patri-
(Tokyo) 5 (1934): 1–85; and Yu¯ki Reimon’s “Kegon hokkai-
arch of the Huayan school in China. Dushun was born in
kanmon ni tsuite,” Indogaku Bukkyo¯gaku kenkyu¯ 6 (1958):
the town of Wannien in Yongzhou Province, the birthplace
587–593. In my own study of early Huayen thought, Shoki
of many important Buddhists. At the age of eighteen he was
chu¯goku kegonshiso¯ no kenkyu¯ (Tokyo, 1977), I question the
ordained by Senzhen of the Yinsheng Si, and studied Bud-
reliability of the traditional attribution of the Fajie guanmen
to Dushun; see especially pages 325–370.
dhist meditation under him. Some years later he went to
Qingzhou Province and there recommended that people
In addition, it is clear that the Wujiao zhiguan (Cessation and con-
templation practice in the five teachings) cannot be attribut-
hold a Buddhist vegetarian feast. According to legend, he is
ed to Dushun based on its contents. Ishii Ko¯sei tried to dem-
said to have satisfied the hunger of a thousand people with
onstrate a new point of view that it appeared several de-
food adequate for only five hundred. According to this same
cades after the third patriarch Fazang’s death (712) in the
legend, he acquired such great supernatural power through
article named “Kegonshu¯ no kangyo¯bunken ni mieru
meditation that he was able to effect miraculous cures. In-
zenshu¯hihan,” Matsugaokabunko kenkyu¯ nenpo¯ 17 (Kamaku-
deed, it is principally for such charismatic powers, and not
ra, 2003):47–62.
for his doctrinal contributions, that he is known to later
KIMURA KIYOTAKA (1987 AND 2005)
church historians.
As a result of his growing reputation, Dushun was asked
to preach at the court of Tang Taizong (627–645). It is said
DUT:T:HAGA¯MAN:¯I (“Ga¯man:¯ı the wicked”), prince of
that the emperor bestowed upon him the honorary name
a minor Sinhala kingdom who unified Sri Lanka as a Bud-
Dixing (Imperial heart) in the year 632. In the years after his
dhist polity and ruled the island as overlord for twenty-four
death at the Yishan Si temple in Nanjiao, popular legend de-
years (c. 161–137 BCE). In a manner characteristic of the rul-
clared Dushun to have been an incarnation of the bodhisattva
ers of classical India, Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı marked his position as
Mañju´sr¯ı.
overlord by constructing numerous religious monuments
Little precise information is known about Dushun’s re-
and with great donative ceremonies (maha¯da¯nas) for the
ligious practice. It is said that he urged Fan Xuanzhi, one of
Buddhist monastic order.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DUT:T:HAGA¯MAN:¯I
2531
Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı established his polity through a series of
ter has made the Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı story a vitriolic element in
military campaigns against the Sinhala and Tamil rulers of
the political and religious rhetoric of modern Sri Lanka.
other minor kingdoms. His polity was fragile, however,
The story was an important part of the dhammad¯ıpa
maintained more by an ability to coerce than by administra-
(“island of truth”) tradition, which viewed Sri Lanka as the
tive institutions; it collapsed soon after his death. The image
repository of the Buddha’s teaching. It emphasized the neces-
of Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı was more enduring. It provided a model
sity of political unity for the island to fulfill its religious desti-
of the ideal Buddhist king and the ideal layman, who have
ny, as well as the special and exclusive relationship its rulers
the responsibility to protect and promote Buddhist institu-
were to have with Buddhism.
tions materially, for which spiritual benefits accrue.
The Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı story has also had a continuing sig-
The image of Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı was embellished in a folk
nificance in Sinhala Buddhism as a background for interpre-
epic tradition that extolled his virtues as a pious king and his
tation. It has provided a context for resolving conflicts about
exploits as a warrior. This epic tradition was the source for
ethical issues (e.g., whether violence is ever permissible), for
the many versions of the Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı story found in the
elucidating points of Buddhist doctrine, and for legitimizing
Sri Lankan monastic chronicles and in later Sinhala litera-
social and religious charters.
ture. The classic version is found in the Maha¯vam:sa, the
most important of the chronicles.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Maha¯vam:sa version of the Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı story has been
The qualities of piety and violence—antithetical in ca-
translated by Wilhelm Geiger in chapters 22–32 of The
nonical Buddhist ethics—are woven together in the
Maha¯vam:sa, or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon (London,
Maha¯vam:sa’s account of Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı’s military campaign
1912). This classic version should be compared with the later
to become overlord. He declares that his battles are “for the
versions found in the Thu¯pavamsa, translated from Pali
sake of the sa¯sana [i.e., Buddhism]” and “not for the plea-
by N. A. Jayawickrama (London, 1971), and in the
sures of sovereignty.” He goes into battle with monks in his
Saddharma¯lan:karaya, a medieval Sinhala prose work, a trans-
army and a relic of the Buddha on his spear. The dramatic
lation of which is found in An Anthology of Sinhalese Litera-
climax comes with Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı’s single combat with the
ture up to 1815, edited by Christopher Reynolds (London,
1970). A classic discussion of the epic tradition is provided
Tamil king El:a¯ra, who, while described as a just and righ-
by Wilhelm Geiger in The D¯ıpavam
˙ sa and Maha¯vam:sa and
teous ruler, is judged by the Maha¯vam:sa as unfit to be over-
Their Historical Development in Ceylon, translated by Ethel
lord because he was not a Buddhist.
M. Coomaraswamy (Colombo, 1908). Many of the articles
All versions of the story give prominence to the pious
in the collection Religion and Legitimation of Power in Sri
Lanka, edited by Bardwell L. Smith (Chambersburg, Pa.,
deeds done by Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı after he became overlord. The
1978), consider the place of the Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı story in Sin-
Maha¯vam:sa says that, in addition to his construction of
hala “religio-nationalism”; related folk traditions are dis-
monuments (including the Great Stupa at Anuradhapura)
cussed by Marguerite S. Robinson in “‘The House of the
and his many donations to the monastic order, he gifted sov-
Mighty Hero’ or ‘The House of Enough Paddy’? Some Im-
ereignty over the island to the relics of the Buddha, a sign
plications of a Sinhalese Myth,” in Dialectic in Practical Reli-
of Sri Lanka’s identity as a Buddhist polity. As a result of
gion, edited by Edmund R. Leach (Cambridge, U.K., 1968),
these meritorious deeds, we are told, he has been reborn in
pp. 122–152. An idea of how widely the story has functioned
the Tusita (Skt., Tus:ita) heaven, and in the future will be re-
as a background for interpretation in Sinhala Buddhism can
born as a chief disciple of the next buddha, Metteyya.
be gathered from the many references to Dutugämunu (the
Sinhala cognate of Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı) in Richard F. Gom-
A crucial element in the story is Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı’s re-
brich’s Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the
morse over the killing done in battle, a motif that recalls
Rural Highlands of Ceylon (Oxford, 1971).
A´soka, the first Buddhist imperial ruler. A delegation of en-
New Sources
lightened monks (arahants) counsels the king that he has no
Bartholomeusz, Tessa. “In Defense of Dharma: Just-War Ideology
reason to feel remorse. In different versions of the story, vari-
in Buddhist Sri Lanka.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 6 (1999).
ous explanations for this counsel are suggested, an indication
Available from http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/6/current6.html.
perhaps that the counsel itself troubled Buddhists:
Bretfeld, Sven. Das singhalesische Nationalepos von König Duttha-
Dut:t:haga¯man:¯ı’s victims were not Buddhist, and thus killing
gamani Abhaya: Textkritische Bearbeitung und Übersetzung
them was somehow not equivalent to taking human life; his
der Kapitel VII. 3-VIII. 3 der Rasavahini des Vedeha Thera
intentions to protect the sa¯sana were good, and would out-
und Vergleich mit den Paralleltexten Sahassavatthuppakarana
weigh the evil of his actions; there would be no opportunity
und Saddharmalankaraya. Berlin, 2001.
for the fruits of these evil deeds to mature, since his rebirth
Obeyesekere, Gananath. “Dutthagamani and the Buddhist Con-
in heaven was assured by his good deeds, and this counsel
science.” In Religion and Political Conflict in South Asia, ed-
was given only to comfort his mind.
ited by Douglas Allen, pp. 135–160. Westport, Conn.,
1992.
The folk epic tradition assumed a strong communalist
CHARLES HALLISEY (1987)
character—specifically anti-Tamil—which became increas-
FRANK E. REYNOLDS (1987)
ingly visible in the later literature. This communalist charac-
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
2532
DVERGAR
DVERGAR (dwarfs) are an all-male race of supernatural
BIBLIOGRAPHY
beings in Germanic mythology. Only in later sagas are they
See John Lindow’s Scandinavian Mythology: An Annotated Bibliog-
described as stunted and deformed. Molded from earth or
raphy (New York, 1988), particularly for the studies by Lotte
quickened in the blood of giants in earlier eddic sources (Gyl-
Motz. Mircea Eliade discusses the significance of the artisan
faginning, ch. 13; Voluspá, st. 9), the dwarfs were created by
in early societies in The Forge and the Crucible, 2d ed. (Chica-
E
go, 1978), and Margaret Clunies Ross takes a sociological ap-
the gods. This was the most successful of the gods’ experi-
proach in the first volume of Prolonged Echoes: Old Norse
ments in producing life by nonbiological means, for the
Myths in Medieval Northern Society (Odense, Denmark,
dwarfs were craftsmen like the gods and served their inter-
1994). The encyclopedia-style entries of Rudolf Simek’s Dic-
ests. Artisans in wood and metal and gifted with magical cre-
tionary of Northern Mythology (Cambridge, U.K., 1993) and
ativity, dwarfs produced precious objects such as Þórr’s ham-
John Lindow’s Handbook of Norse Mythology (Santa Barbara,
mer, Óðinn’s spear, Sif’s golden hair, Freyr’s boat, and
2001) are very detailed.
Freyja’s necklace and boar. A particularly useful item that
L
they forged for the gods was the magical fetter that kept the
OTTE MOTZ (1987)
ELIZABETH ASHMAN ROWE (2005)
monstrous wolf Fenrir bound until the gods’ last battle at
Ragnaro˛k. Dwarfs also engaged in creative enterprises of
their own, such as brewing the mead of wisdom and poetic
inspiration (Skáldskaparmál, ch. 1).
DWIGHT, TIMOTHY (1752–1817), president of
Yale College and leader of Connecticut orthodoxy. A grand-
Dwarfs occupied an intermediate position between gods
son of Jonathan Edwards, Dwight viewed himself as within
and giants (Hávamál, st. 143). Active, inventive, and human-
the Edwardsean “New Divinity” tradition. But by Dwight’s
like, as were the gods, they lived in earth or rocks and associ-
time the Edwardsean “consistent Calvinism” had become an
ated with death and cold, as did the giants. Also like giants,
arid scholasticism that denigrated all human activity, or
dwarfs were assigned a place in Germanic cosmogony. Four
“means,” used in the process of attaining salvation. As Harri-
dwarfs (Austri [East], Vestri [West], Suðri [South], and No-
et Beecher Stowe later commented, the high Calvinistic sys-
rðri [North]) were said to uphold the four corners of the sky,
tem as expounded by Edwards’s intellectual followers was
which was made from the skull of the primordial giant Ymir.
like a “rungless ladder” with piety at the top and no human
But where the giants were generally hostile to the gods,
way to ascend. “Consistent Calvinist” ministers of early na-
dwarfs were generally friendly, becoming vindictive only
tional America alienated their parishioners and dampened re-
when they were treated unfairly. For example, the gold
ligious fervor. On the other hand, liberal moralists of the
guarded by the dragon Fáfnir had originally been taken from
time were compromising the historic doctrines of the re-
a dwarf by Loki. The dwarf put a curse on it, which led to
formed faith and veering toward Unitarianism. Dwight, an
the tragedies of the Vo˛lsungs and the Nibelungs. Unmotivat-
important transitional figure in the development of a nine-
ed hostility by the dwarfs is seen in their capture and killing
teenth-century American evangelical consensus, devised a
of Kvasir, from whose blood they brewed the mead of poetic
practical theology with the avowed purpose of countering
inspiration.
America’s late-eighteenth-century slide into secularism.
Dwarfs could not reproduce, but the eddic poem Alvíss-
As president of Yale College between 1795 and 1817,
mál describes how Alvíss (All-Wise) persuaded the gods to
Dwight forged his system of theology, which he preached in
give him Þórr’s daughter. Like the giants who sought Freyja
sermon form, exerting profound influence on a multitude of
and Iðunn for their brides, this dwarf tried to redress the so-
students who later entered the ministry. With his pragmatic
cial imbalance that forbade the goddesses to be married to
approach, Dwight did not abjure such Calvinist doctrines as
anyone but gods. Þórr thwarted Alvíss’s effort by starting a
depravity, election, or absolute divine sovereignty, but he
riddle contest with him, with questions continuing until
avoided giving them the effect of rendering humanity power-
dawn, when the rays of the sun turned the dwarf into stone.
less in the process of salvation. He laid emphasis on the
Depicted principally as craftsmen and resembling
means by which one can attain piety, accentuating the spiri-
priests in their possession of secret knowledge and magic
tual potency of an environment saturated in “true religion.”
chants (Hávamál, st. 160), dwarfs show affinity with the
In many an emotion-laden sermon Dwight exhorted his stu-
earth-dwelling forces of magical creativity of the Mediterra-
dents to repent and receive the Savior. In his revivalistic
nean regions, such as Ptah of Egypt, Hephaistos of Lemnos,
preaching and his enhancement of Christian nurture,
and the Daktyls of Crete, but they are more likely to have
Dwight influenced such important divines as Nathaniel W.
originated as demons of death, as suggested by their under-
Taylor and Lyman Beecher, both of whom studied under
ground home and names like Bláinn (Blue, black), Dáinn
him at Yale. These men devised the practical, evangelistic or-
(Dead), and Nár (Corpse). Alvíss is described as having a pale
thodoxy that spawned the interdenominational “benevolent
nose and looking as if he had spent the night with a corpse.
societies” and played a major part in spreading the Second
There is little to suggest that the dwarfs were venerated.
Great Awakening. Dwight’s emphasis on nurture was later
picked up and expanded by the influential Hartford theolo-
SEE ALSO Eddas; Germanic Religion; Jo˛tnar.
gian Horace Bushnell, a forerunner of the Social Gospel.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DYBBUK
2533
BIBLIOGRAPHY
with the evil “impregnation” of the dead into bodies of the
Dwight’s best-known work is his Travels in New England and New
living, contemporary Jewish mystics actively pursued benev-
York (1823; reprint, Cambridge, Mass., 1969). In this four-
olent “impregnations” of saints into their own bodies, often
volume compendium, he comments editorially on the reli-
through prostration upon the graves of the righteous (Kallus,
gion, culture, and politics, as well as the geographical features
2003; Giller, 1994).
of his region. Republished, the Travels has been edited and
given an excellent introduction by Barbara Miller Solomon.
Classical Jewish sources generally regarded the afterlife
Dwight’s Theology Explained and Defended in a Series of Ser-
as entailing a stay of up to a year in Gehenna, a purgatory
mons, 4 vols. (New Haven, 1823), went through a number
that was thought to refine and purify the soul in preparation
of nineteenth-century editions. It is the best and most com-
for its entrance into the Edenic heavens. According to six-
prehensive exposition of his theology. There are three mod-
teenth-century conceptions, however, particularly evil indi-
ern biographical studies of Dwight, each of which views his
viduals lacked sufficient merit to gain admission to Gehenna.
life from a different perspective. Charles E. Cunningham’s
They would thus linger in a tortuous limbo of unspecified
Timothy Dwight 1752–1817 (New York, 1942) concentrates
on his attainments as educator. It is the most complete biog-
duration. Respite for such a soul could only be obtained
raphy of Dwight. Kenneth Silverman’s work, Timothy
through its taking refuge in the body of a living person; pos-
Dwight (New York, 1969) focuses on the development of his
session also allowed a soul to negotiate the terms of its admis-
social and political views as expounded in his narrative and
sion to Gehenna through the intervention of a rabbinic
epic poetry. Stephen E. Berk’s Calvinism versus Democracy:
exorcist.
Timothy Dwight and the Origins of American Evangelical Or-
thodoxy (Hamden, Conn., 1974) considers Dwight as theolo-
LOCUS. The Galilean town of Safed was the epicenter of the
gian and ecclesiastical politician, relating his career to the
efflorescence of spirit possession among Jews in the sixteenth
broader social and religious currents of his time. It contains
century. The Jews of Safed in this period were predominant-
the only detailed appraisal of Dwight’s theology.
ly pietistic refugees and penitent conversos of Iberian origin
who, along with other new immigrants from Jewish commu-
STEPHEN E. BERK (1987)
nities from around the world, chose the town for its religious
advantages as soon as political and economic conditions fa-
cilitated their doing so. Despite its small size, Safed became
DYBBUK is a term used in Jewish sources for a dead soul
the religious capital of world Jewry, producing masterworks
possessing the body of a living person. The term first appears
of legal, homiletical, and mystical literature that have re-
in seventeenth-century Ashkenazi (European) Jewish
mained influential to this day. Leading the Jewish religious
sources. Earlier Jewish sources and Sephardic (Middle East-
revival in Palestine that followed in the wake of the Ottoman
ern) Jewry even after the seventeenth century refer to a pos-
conquest of 1516, these mystics cultivated benevolent forms
sessed person as “adhered to by an evil spirit” (davuk mi-ruah
of possession while also serving as exorcists for those whose
ra Dah). Ashkenazi usage borrowed the root of the verb “to ad-
experiences were of an unwelcome variety. Just as centers of
here” and made it into a noun signifying “the adherer”
religious devotion in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Eu-
(Scholem, 1934). While cases of spirit possession are found
rope were the focal points of outbreaks of demonic posses-
in Jewish sources dating back to antiquity, the scattered ref-
sion, cases of “dybbuk” possession notably emerge in Jewish
erences in ancient rabbinic literature were followed by a mil-
society in the context of this community of self-selected mys-
lennium of silence, which was finally broken by a dozen or
tical pietists. The monastic intensity of this small communi-
so sixteenth-century narrative accounts. These first tales
ty, which took upon itself the burden not only to lead, but
served as models for subsequent cases and their narration.
to atone for the sins of the entire Jewish people, may have
Approximately eighty similar accounts were recorded from
been the driving force behind the eruption of spirit posses-
the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries (Nigal,
sion in Safed (Chajes, 2003).
1994).
Isolated cases from this period were also reported in
ETIOLOGY. Although the early modern etiology of spirit pos-
Jewish communities elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, as
session most commonly regarded the possessing agent as a
well as in Italy. Over the subsequent centuries, dybbuk pos-
dead soul, earlier Jewish sources refer to the possessing agents
session was reported in Jewish communities from North Af-
as shedim or mazzikim, these being malevolent demons. The
rica to eastern Europe. Accounts of spirit possession from
increasing tendency to identify the intruder as a dead soul
Hasidic circles tend to focus less on the victim or spirit, as
is an indication of the growing prominence of the doctrine
did earlier accounts, and more on the exorcist—in this case,
of reincarnation in sixteenth-century Judaism (Scholem,
a Hasidic master. While always serving a didactic function,
1991). The Jewish doctrine, as articulated by contemporary
dybbuk accounts in the nineteenth century thus became part
mystical theorists, allowed both for reincarnation into a body
and parcel of Hasidic hagiography. The last well publicized
at birth (gilgul; literally, “rolling”), as well as for the tempo-
case of dybbuk possession took place in Dimona, Israel, in
rary transmigration of a soul into an adult body in a supple-
April 1999 when a 38-year-old widow was diagnosed by a
mentary capacity ( Dibbur; literally, “impregnation”). While
prominent Jerusalem rabbi as possessed by the soul of her late
the term dybbuk would come to be exclusively associated
husband.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2534
DYBBUK
SIGNS OF POSSESSION. Jewish sources note symptoms of dyb-
or sexual deprivation in patriarchal cultures. Possession af-
buk possession that closely correlate to those found in many
fords its primarily female victims with a licit opportunity for
other cultures. Physical signs include epileptic collapse,
public expression and for the release of suppressed beliefs and
called “the falling sickness” (holi ha-nofel) in medieval
feelings; exorcism, in this interpretation, reintegrates the vic-
sources; unnatural strength; and egg-shaped swellings under
tim into the community (Bilu, 1985). While such function-
the skin, often seen in motion and identified as the source
alist interpretations are compelling, critics charge that they
of the dybbuk’s speech. Impostors and insanity were thought
are invoked too quickly in the analysis of women’s religiosity,
to be ruled out, especially when the spirit spoke in a language
thus disallowing for the possibility of women acting reli-
unknown to the victim (xenoglossia) and when the sins of
giously for religious (rather than social or psychological) rea-
those present were exposed through its clairvoyance (Patai,
sons (Sered, 1994). Indeed, there is reason to believe that at
1978). Dybbukim (plural) were often thought to have en-
least some of the women described as dybbuk-possessed may
tered their female victims through the vagina, but other ori-
have been female visionaries and clairvoyants venerated by
fices could also be subject to penetration. Food in which a
segments of the community unrepresented in the accounts
dybbuk was lodged might thus enter a victim who innocently
composed by men (Chajes, 2003; Deutsch, 2004).
ate of it. Finally, while dybbuk possession was involuntary
Dybbuk possession is known today primarily through
and the victim not culpable for what she said or did under
the Yiddish play, Between Two Worlds: The Dybbuk, written
the influence, many victims were thought to have been pos-
in the early twentieth century by S. Ansky, and first per-
sessed as a punishment for a previous sin of omission or com-
formed shortly after his death in 1920 (Werses, 1986; Ansky,
mission. Sins of belief seem to have been particularly com-
2002). Ansky’s ethnographic research in eastern Europe and
mon, especially what might be called “folk-skepticism” or
his keen grasp of the dramatic potential of possession narra-
unlearned disbelief in traditional doctrines and authority.
tives resulted in a mythic tale of a righteous young scholar
T
who gives up everything, including life itself, to be united
RADITIONAL TREATMENT: JEWISH EXORCISM. While nar-
rative accounts of spirit possession among Jews are lacking
with his true love. Denied her as his bride in life, he possesses
between antiquity and the sixteenth century, the evidence of
her upon his death on the day she was to have married anoth-
Hebrew and Aramaic magical literature indicates a striking
er. Adapted for film and shot in Poland in 1937, Der Dibuk
continuity in the approach to treating the possessed over the
is one of the finest Yiddish films of the period and, in retro-
centuries. A typical Jewish exorcism would begin with the
spect, a poignant time-capsule of Jewish life in Poland in its
diagnostic examination of the suffering victim. If possession
final hour. The play, directed by Evgeny Vakhtangov, was
was confirmed, efforts to obtain the name of the spirit would
also performed in 1922 in a Hebrew version by the Habima
begin. Without obtaining this name, there could be no suc-
theater troupe in Russia; Habima would later stage popular
cessful adjuration (Gk., horkos [exorcism]; Heb., hashba Dah)
revivals of the play in Tel Aviv, lending it a formative role
of the spirit to depart. Threats of excommunication might
in the history of Israeli theater. More recent works by Leon-
be used, along with adjured angels and demons, as well as
ard Bernstein, Tony Kushner, and others testify to the en-
fumigations of burning sulphur. Such ceremonies were often
during appeal of this material.
punctuated by the thunderous blasts of a ram’s horn (shofar),
SEE ALSO Exorcism; Hasidism; Magic; Qabbalah; Spirit
which Jewish sources dating back to antiquity believed had
Possession.
the power to discombobulate demonic forces (le Darbev et ha-
satan). Finally, an amulet might be written to be hung upon
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the victim, lest she be repossessed by the dislocated spirit in
Ansky, S. The Dybbuk and Other Writings. Edited by David G.
the aftermath of a successful exorcism (Knox, 1938).
Roskies and translated by Golda Werman. New Haven and
London, 2002.
In the wake of the etiological shift of the sixteenth cen-
Bilu, Yoram. “The Taming of the Deviants and Beyond: An Anal-
tury and the increasing tendency to identify the spirit as the
ysis of Dibbuk Possession and Exorcism in Judaism.” In The
soul of a Jewish sinner, penitential liturgy on behalf of the
Psychoanalytic Study of Society: Essays in Honor of Paul Parin,
spirit is added to the exorcism formulae. Thus the exorcist
edited by L. Bryce Boyer and Simon A. Grolnick, pp. 1–32.
comes to advocate on behalf of this tormented soul and to
Hillsdale, N.J., and London, 1985.
facilitate its admission to Gehenna in a negotiated quid pro
Chajes, J. H. Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Mod-
quo, in exchange for leaving the victim quickly and un-
ern Judaism. Philadelphia, 2003.
harmed.
Deutsch, Nathaniel. The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman
and Her World. Berkeley, Calif., 2004.
According to the extant accounts, women were more
Giller, Pinchas. “Recovering the Sanctity of the Galilee: The Ven-
likely to be victims of dybbuk possession by a margin of about
eration of Sacred Relics in Classical Kabbalah.” Journal of
two to one. While heterosexual penetration was most com-
Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 (1994): 147–169.
mon, we also find cases of male souls possessing men; posses-
Kallus, Menachem. “Pneumatic Mystical Possession and the Es-
sions by female souls rarely occur. This predominance of
chatology of the Soul in the Lurianic Qabbalah.” In Spirit
possessed women, not unique to the Jewish possession
Possession in Judaism: Cases and Contexts from the Middle Ages
idiom, has often been viewed as resulting from their social
to the Present, edited by Matt Goldish. Detroit, 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
DYING AND RISING GODS
2535
Knox, W. L. “Jewish Liturgical Exorcism.” Harvard Theological
interpretations were linked by the notion that death followed
Review 31, no. 3 (1938): 191–203.
upon a loss of fertility, with a period of sterility being fol-
Nigal, Gedalyah. Sippurei Dybbuk be-Sifrut Yisrael. Jerusalem,
lowed by one of rejuvenation, either in the transfer of the
1994.
kingship to a successor or by the rebirth or resurrection of
Patai, R. “Exorcism and Xenoglossia among the Safed Kabbalists.”
the deity.
Journal of American Folklore 91 (1978): 823–835.
There are empirical problems with the euhemerist theo-
Scholem, Gershom. “‘Golem’ and ‘Dibbuk’ in the Hebrew Lexi-
ry. The evidence for sacral regicide is limited and ambiguous;
con.” Leshonenu 6 (1934): 40–41.
where it appears to occur, there are no instances of a dying
Scholem, Gershom. “Gilgul: The Transmigration of Souls.” In
god figure. The naturist explanation is flawed at the level of
On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in Kab-
theory. Modern scholarship has largely rejected, for good rea-
balah, edited by Jonathan Chipman, pp. 197–250. New
sons, an interpretation of deities as projections of natural
York, 1991.
phenomena.
Sered, Susan Starr. Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister: Religions Domi-
Nevertheless, the figure of the dying and rising deity has
nated by Women. New York and Oxford, 1994.
continued to be employed, largely as a preoccupation of bib-
Werses, Shmuel. “S. An-ski’s ‘tsvishn Tsvey Veltn (Der Dybbuk)’
lical scholarship, among those working on ancient Near East-
‘beyn Shney Olamot (Hadybbuk)’ ‘Between Two Worlds (The
ern sacred kingship in relation to the Hebrew Bible and
Dybbuk)’: A Textual History.” In Studies in Yiddish Litera-
among those concerned with the Hellenistic mystery cults in
ture and Folklore, edited by Chava Turniansky, pp. 99–185.
relation to the New Testament.
Jerusalem, 1986.
BROADER CATEGORIES. Despite the shock this fact may deal
J. H. CHAJES (2005)
to modern Western religious sensibilities, it is a common-
place within the history of religions that immortality is not
a prime characteristic of divinity: Gods die. Nor is the con-
DYING AND RISING GODS. The category of
comitant of omnipresence a widespread requisite: Gods dis-
dying and rising gods, once a major topic of scholarly investi-
appear. The putative category of dying and rising deities thus
gation, must now be understood to have been largely a mis-
takes its place within the larger category of dying gods and
nomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly
the even larger category of disappearing deities. Some of
late or highly ambiguous texts.
these divine figures simply disappear; some disappear only
to return again in the near or distant future; some disappear
DEFINITION. As applied in the scholarly literature, “dying
and reappear with monotonous frequency. All the deities
and rising gods” is a generic appellation for a group of male
that have been identified as belonging to the class of dying
deities found in agrarian Mediterranean societies who serve
and rising deities can be subsumed under the two larger class-
as the focus of myths and rituals that allegedly narrate and
es of disappearing deities or dying deities. In the first case,
annually represent their death and resurrection.
the deities return but have not died; in the second case, the
Beyond this sufficient criterion, dying and rising deities
gods die but do not return. There is no unambiguous in-
were often held by scholars to have a number of cultic associ-
stance in the history of religions of a dying and rising deity.
ations, sometimes thought to form a “pattern.” They were
THE DEITIES. The list of specific deities to whom the appel-
young male figures of fertility; the drama of their lives was
lation “dying and rising” has been attached varies. In most
often associated with mother or virgin goddesses; in some
cases, the decipherment and interpretation of texts in the lan-
areas, they were related to the institution of sacred kingship,
guage native to the deity’s cult has led to questions as to the
often expressed through rituals of sacred marriage; there were
applicability of the category. The majority of evidence for
dramatic reenactments of their life, death, and putative res-
Near Eastern dying and rising deities occurs in Greek and
urrection, often accompanied by a ritual identification of ei-
Latin texts of late antiquity, usually post-Christian in date.
ther the society or given individuals with their fate.
Adonis. Despite the original Semitic provenance of
The category of dying and rising gods, as well as the pat-
Adonis, there is no native mythology. What is known de-
tern of its mythic and ritual associations, received its earliest
pends on later Greek, Roman, and Christian interpretations.
full formulation in the influential work of James G. Frazer
The Golden Bough, especially in its two central volumes, The
There are two major forms of the Adonis myth, only
Dying God and Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Frazer offered two inter-
brought together in late mythographical tradition (e.g., the
pretations, one euhemerist, the other naturist. In the former,
second-century CE Bibliotheca, falsely attributed to Apollo-
which focused on the figure of the dying god, it was held that
dorus of Athens). The first, which may be termed the Panya-
a (sacred) king would be slain when his fertility waned. This
sisian form, knows only of a quarrel between two goddesses
practice, it was suggested, would be later mythologized, giv-
(Aphrodite and Persephone) for the affections of the infant
ing rise to a dying god. The naturist explanation, which cov-
Adonis. Zeus or Calliope decrees that Adonis should spend
ered the full cycle of dying and rising, held the deities to be
part of the year in the upperworld with the one, and part of
personifications of the seasonal cycle of vegetation. The two
the year in the lowerworld with the other. This tradition 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
2536
DYING AND RISING GODS
bilocation (similar to that connected with Persephone and,
question of whether Aliyan Baal is correctly to be classified
perhaps, Dumuzi) has no suggestion of death and rebirth.
as a dying and rising deity have major lacunae at the most
The second, more familiar Ovidian form narrates Adonis’s
crucial points. Although these texts have been reconstructed
death by a boar and his commemoration by Aphrodite in a
by some scholars using the dying and rising pattern, whether
flower. There is no suggestion of Adonis rising. The first ver-
these texts are an independent witness to that pattern re-
sion lacks an account of Adonis’s death; the second empha-
mains an open question.
sizes the goddess’s mourning and the fragility of the flower
In the major narrative cycle, Baal, having won the ruler-
that perpetuates his memory. Even when the two versions are
ship by vanquishing the dangerous waters, is challenged by
combined, Adonis’ alternation between the upper and lower
Mot, ruler of the underworld, to descend into his realm.
worlds precedes his death.
After some initial hesitation, and after copulating with a cow,
The rituals of Adonis, held during the summer months,
Baal accepts the challenge and goes down to the lower realm,
are everywhere described as periods of intense mourning.
whence it will be said of him that he is as if dead. After a
Only late texts, largely influenced by or written by Chris-
gap of some forty lines, Baal is reported to have died. Anat
tians, claim that there is a subsequent day of celebration for
descends and recovers his corpse, which is properly buried;
Adonis having been raised from the dead. The earliest of
a successor to Baal is then appointed, and Anat seeks out and
these is alleged to be the second-century account of Lucian
kills Mot. After the narrative is interrupted by another forty-
(Syrian Goddess 6–7) that, on the third day of the ritual, a
line gap, El declares, on the basis of a symbolic dream, that
statue of Adonis is “brought out into the light” and “ad-
Baal still lives. After another gap of similar length, Baal is de-
dressed as if alive”; but this is an ambiguous report. Lucian
scribed as being in combat with a group of deities. As is ap-
goes on to say that some think the ritual is not for Adonis
parent from this brief summary, much depends on the order
but rather for some Egyptian deity. The practice of address-
of incidents. As it stands, the text appears to be one of a de-
ing a statue “as if alive” is no proof of belief in resurrection;
scent to the underworld and return—a pattern not necessari-
rather it is the common presupposition of any cultic activity
ly equivalent to dying and rising. Baal is “as if he is dead”;
in the Mediterranean world that uses images. Besides, Lucian
he then appears to be alive.
reports that after the “address” women cut their hair as a sign
In another, even more fragmentary Hadad cycle (Hadad
of mourning.
being identified with Baal), Hadad goes off to capture a
Considerably later, the Christian writers Origen and Je-
group of monsters, but they, in turn, pursue him. In order
rome, commenting on Ezekiel 8:14, and Cyril of Alexandria
to escape he hides in a bog, where he lies sick for seven years
and Procopius of Gaza, commenting on Isaiah 18:1, clearly
while the earth is parched and without growth. Hadad’s
report joyous festivities on the third day to celebrate Adonis
brothers eventually find him and he is rescued. This is a dis-
(identified with Tammuz) having been “raised from the
appearing-reappearing narrative. There is no suggestion of
dead.” Whether this represents an interpretatio Christiana or
death and resurrection.
whether late third- and fourth-century forms of the Adonis
There is no evidence that any of the events narrated in
cult themselves developed a dying and rising mythology
these distressingly fragmentary texts were ritually reenacted.
(possibility in imitation of the Christian myth) cannot be de-
Nor is there any suggestion of an annual cycle of death and
termined. This pattern will recur for many of the figures con-
rebirth. The question whether Aliyan Baal is a dying and ris-
sidered: an indigenous mythology and ritual focusing on the
ing deity must remain sub judice.
deity’s death and rituals of lamentation, followed by a later
Christian report adding the element nowhere found in the
Attis. The complex mythology of Attis is largely irrele-
earlier native sources, that the god was resurrected.
vant to the question of dying and rising deities. In the old,
Phrygian version, Attis is killed by being castrated, either by
The frequently cited “gardens of Adonis” (the kepoi)
himself or by another; in the old Lydian version, he is killed
were proverbial illustrations of the brief, transitory nature of
by a boar. In neither case is there any question of his return-
life and contain no hint of rebirth. The point is that the
ing to life. There is a second series of later traditions that
young plant shoots rapidly wither and die, not that the seeds
deny that Attis died of his wounds but do not narrate his sub-
have been “reborn” when they sprout.
sequent death or, for that matter, his rebirth. Finally, two
Finally, despite scholarly fantasies, there is no evidence
late, post-Christian theological reflections on the myth hint
for the existence of any mysteries of Adonis whereby the
at rebirth: the complex allegory in the Naassene Sermon and
member was identified with Adonis or his fate.
the euhemerist account in Firmacus Maternus, in which a
pretended resurrection is mentioned. Attis is not, in his my-
Aliyan Baal. The Ras Shamra texts (late Bronze Age)
thology, a dying and rising deity; indeed, he is not a deity
narrate the descent into the underworld of the puissant deity
at all.
Aliyan Baal (“the one who prevails; the lord”) and his appar-
ent return. Unfortunately, the order of the incidents in the
All of the attempts in the scholarly literature to identify
several different texts that have been held to form a Baal cycle
Attis as a dying and rising deity depend not on the mytholo-
is uncertain. The texts that are of greatest relevance to the
gy but rather on the ritual, in particular a questionable inter-
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DYING AND RISING GODS
2537
pretation of the five-day festival of Cybele on March 22–27.
the Akitu festival, the myth is not reenacted in that portion
The question of the relationship between the Day of Blood
of the ceremonies that has survived.
(March 24) and the Day of Joy (March 25) caught the atten-
tion of some scholars, who, employing the analogy of the re-
Realizing this, some proponents of the Myth and Ritual
lationship of Good Friday to Easter Sunday, reasoned that
approach have argued that the first five days of the ritual were
if among other activities on the Day of Blood there was
only purificatory in nature, and go on to speculate that the
mourning for Attis, then the object of the “joy” on the fol-
next three days of the festival featured a dramatic reenact-
lowing day must be Attis’s resurrection. Unfortunately, there
ment of a myth of the death and resurrection of Marduk.
is no evidence that this was the case. The Day of Joy is a late
This sort of imaginative speculation gave rise to a new set of
addition to what was once a three-day ritual in which the
problems. There is no hint of Marduk’s death in the trium-
Day of Blood was followed by a purificatory ritual and
phant account of his cosmic kingship in Enuma elish. If some
the return of the statue of the goddess to the temple. Within
such myth was enacted, it was not the one stipulated in the
the cult, the new feast of the Day of Joy celebrates Cybele.
ritual program. Nevertheless, scholars turned to a cuneiform
The sole text that connects the Day of Joy with Attis is a
text that they entitled The Death and Resurrection of Bel-
fifth-century biography of Isidore the Dialectician by the
Marduk. The title is somewhat misleading. There are sixteen
Neoplatonic philosopher Damascius, who reports that Isi-
episodes in the text, which appears to narrate Marduk’s im-
dore once had a dream in which he was Attis and the Day
prisonment. The text is fragmentary and difficult to inter-
of Joy was celebrated in his honor!
pret, but it appears to be in the form of a ritual commentary
in which a set of ritual gestures are correlated to events in
Scholars have frequently cited a text in Firmacus Ma-
a subtextual narrative of Marduk’s capture.
ternus (22.3) as referring to Attis and his resurrection on the
Day of Joy: “Be of good cheer, you of the mysteries, your
For an older generation of scholars, Marduk’s imprison-
god is saved!” However, the god is unidentified, and the no-
ment was equivalent to his death, and his presumed ultimate
tion of “cheer” is insufficient to link this utterance to Attis
release represented his resurrection. More recent interpreta-
and the Day of Joy. The text most probably reflects a late
tions have minimized the cosmic symbolism: Marduk has
antique Osirian ritual.
been arrested and is being held for trial. By either reading,
such a narrative of the king-god’s weakness or crime would
Neither myth nor ritual offers any warrant for classify-
appear odd in a Babylonian setting. This caution is strength-
ing Attis as a dying and rising deity.
ened by the fact that the text is of Assyrian provenance and
is written in the Assyrian dialect. It is not a native Babylonian
Marduk. The figure of the king-god of Babylon,
text and could have played no role in the central festival of
Marduk, has been crucial to those scholars associated with
Babylon.
the Myth and Ritual school as applied to the religions of the
ancient Near East. For here, as in no other figure, the central
The so-called Death and Resurrection of Bel-Marduk is
elements of their proposed pattern appear to be brought to-
most likely an Assyrian political parody of some now unre-
gether: the correlation of myth and ritual, the annual celebra-
coverable Babylonian ritual composed after the Assyrians
tion of the dying and rising of a deity, paralleled by an annual
conquered Babylon in 691/689 BCE. At that time, the statue
ritual death and rebirth of the king. Marduk is the canonical
of Marduk was carried off into Assyrian captivity. From one
instance of the Myth and Ritual pattern.
point of view, the text has a simple, propagandistic message:
Compared to the gods of Ashur, Marduk is a weak deity.
In 1921, F. Thureau-Dangin published the text, tran-
More subtly, for those Assyrians who held Marduk in some
scription, and translation of a Seleucid era text, preserved in
reverence, the notion of his crimes would provide religious
two copies, presenting a part of the ritual for the New Year
justification for his capture.
festival (the Akitu) in Babylon. Despite a large number of
references to the performance of the ritual in Babylonian
The notion that the king undergoes an annual ritual of
texts (although not always to the Akitu associated with
mimetic dying and rising is predicated on the fact that the
Marduk or Babylon) and scattered mentions of individual
deity, whose chief representative is the king, is believed to
items in the ritual, this exceedingly late cuneiform text is the
undergo a similar fate. If it is doubtful that Marduk was un-
only detailed description of the ritual program in Babylon
derstood as a dying and rising deity, it is also doubtful that
to survive. It enjoins twenty-six ritual actions for the first five
such a ritual was required of the king. Some scholars have
days of the twelve-day ceremony, including a double reading
held that the so-called ritual humiliation of the king on the
of a text entitled Enuma elish. Assuming that this reference
fifth day of the New Year festival, with its startling portrayal
is to some form of the text now known by that name, the
of the king being dethroned, slapped, pulled by the ears, and
“Babylonian creation epic” as reconstructed by contempo-
reenthroned, is symbolic of his death and resurrection. But
rary scholarship, the ritual suggests a close link to the myth.
such an interpretation ignores both the manifest content of
However, not one of the twenty-six ritual actions bears the
the ritual text and its date. During the humiliation ceremo-
slightest resemblance to any narrative element in the myth.
ny, the king is required to recite a negative confession: that
Whatever the significance of the recitation of the text during
he did not overthrow his capital city of Babylon or tear down
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2538
DYING AND RISING GODS
its walls, that he did not insult its protected citizens, that he
The descriptions of the recovery and rejoining of the pieces
did not neglect or destroy its central temple.
of his body are all elaborate parallels to funerary rituals: the
vigil over his corpse, the hymns of lamentation, the embalm-
From one point of view, such a negative confession is
ment (usually performed by Anubis), the washing and purifi-
ludicrous. What native Babylonian king ever contemplated,
cation of the corpse, the undertaking of the elaborate ritual
much less carried out, such actions? These were the actions
of the “opening of the mouth” with its 107 separate opera-
of foreign kings (Assyrian, Persian, Seleucid) who gained the
tions, as well as other procedures for reanimation, the dress-
throne of Babylon by conquest and desecrated the native
ing of the body, and the pouring out of libations. Through
cult. However, as with Cyrus among the Israelites, so too for
these parallels, the individual Egyptian dead became identi-
the Babylonians, foreign kings could be named who restored
fied with, and addressed as, Osiris (perhaps earliest in Pyra-
Babylon and its temple. Read in this light, the ritual humilia-
mid Texts 167a–168a). The myth and ritual of Osiris em-
tion of the king appears to be a piece of Babylonian national-
phasizes the message that there is life for the dead, although
istic ritual rectification: Good fortune and continued king-
it is of a different character than that of the living. What is
ship comes to the (foreign) king if he acts as a pious (native)
to be feared is “dying a second time in the realm of the dead”
king would act. If not, he will be stripped of his kingship.
(Book of Going Forth by Day 175–176).
This understanding is made more plausible by the date
Osiris is a powerful god of the potent dead. In no sense
of the only surviving texts of the ritual. They are all from the
can the dramatic myth of his death and reanimation be har-
Hellenistic Seleucid period, that is to say, from a period after
monized to the pattern of dying and rising gods.
the ending of native kingship and the installing of foreign
kings on the throne. The pattern may be earlier, dating back,
Tammuz/Dumuzi. The assessment of the figure of
perhaps, to the time of Sargon II (r. 721–705 BCE), the earli-
Tammuz (Sumerian, Dumuzi) as a dying and rising deity in
est conqueror of Babylon to adopt consciously the Babylo-
the scholarly literature has varied more than any other deity
nian etiquette of kingship and during whose rule, for the first
placed in this class. For example, within a thirty-year period,
time, one finds legal texts guaranteeing Assyrian recognition
one of the most significant scholars in the field, the
of the rights and privileges of the “protected citizens” of Bab-
Sumeriologist Samuel Noah Kramer, has revised his judg-
ylon. In the present text of the New Year ritual, a set of ac-
ment regarding this question several times. Before 1950,
tions designed to deal with the more proximate Assyrian con-
Kramer thought it possible that Dumuzi was freed from
querors has been reapplied to the relatively more foreign
death; between 1950 and 1965, he considered Dumuzi to
Seleucid rulers.
be solely a dying god; since 1966, he has been willing to
speak again of the “death and resurrection” of Dumuzi.
There is no evidence that the Babylonian Marduk was
ever understood to be a dying and rising deity, that such a
The ritual evidence is unambiguously negative. During
myth was reenacted during the New Year festival, or that the
the summer month of Tammuz, there was a period of wail-
king was believed to undergo a similar fate.
ing and lamentation for the dead deity. A substantial number
of cultic hymns of mourning, going back to the second mil-
Osiris. In contrast to the other deities considered above,
lennium BCE, have been recovered; by the sixth century BCE,
Osiris has a thick textual dossier stretching over millennia.
the ritual was practiced in Jerusalem (Ez. 8:14); in Syria, it
Although the full, connected myth is only to be found in
is witnessed to as late as the fifth century CE and, in varia-
Greek, in Plutarch’s Isis and Osiris from the early second cen-
tions, persisted through medieval times. If third-century
tury CE, the Osirian myth can be reconstructed from the Pyr-
Christian authors are to be trusted, the figure of Tammuz
amid Texts of the fifth and sixth dynasties. While the names
interacted with that of Adonis in Asia Minor. In all of these
of the actors and details of the incidents vary, this record is
varied reports, the character of the ritual is the same. It is a
remarkably consistent over twenty-five hundred years. Osiris
relentlessly funereal cult. The young Tammuz is dead, and
was murdered and his body dismembered and scattered. The
he is mourned. His life was like that of the shoot of a tender
pieces of his body were recovered and rejoined, and the god
plant. It grows quickly and then withers away. It was a life
was rejuvenated. However, he did not return to his former
that is “no more”—a persistent refrain in the lamentations.
mode of existence but rather journeyed to the underworld,
There is no evidence for any cultic celebration of a rebirth
where he became the powerful lord of the dead. In no sense
of Tammuz apart from late Christian texts where he is identi-
can Osiris be said to have “risen” in the sense required by
fied with Adonis.
the dying and rising pattern; most certainly it was never con-
Given the predilection of scholars concerned with
ceived as an annual event. The repeated formula “Rise up,
Christian origins for a pre-Christian pattern of dying and ris-
you have not died,” whether applied to Osiris or a citizen of
ing deities, it comes as no surprise that, despite the lack of
Egypt, signaled a new, permanent life in the realm of the
cultic evidence, it was widely supposed that the period of
dead.
mourning for Tammuz must have been followed by a festival
Osiris was considered to be the mythical prototype for
of rejoicing. This speculative conclusion seemed to gain sup-
the distinctive Egyptian process of mummification. Icono-
port with the publication of the Akkadian Descent of Ishtar
graphically, Osiris is always depicted in mummified form.
from the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. The text nar-
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DYING AND RISING GODS
2539
rates the descent of the goddess into the underworld and her
in the underworld for the other half of the year, and, like-
return. However, the concluding nine lines of the text con-
wise, return.
tain a series of enigmatic references to Tammuz, Ishtar’s
For some scholars, this new conclusion to Inanna’s De-
youthful lover, in the land of the dead. Although the text no-
scent was sufficient to restore Dumuzi/Tammuz to the class
where mentions it, scholars supposed that the purpose of Ish-
of dying and rising gods. Such an understanding is unlikely.
tar’s descent was to bring Tammuz up. If so, this would place
The myth emphasizes the inalterable power of the realm of
Tammuz securely within the dying and rising pattern.
the dead, not triumph over it. No one ascends from the land
Even on the basis of the Akkadian text alone, such an
of the dead unless someone takes his or her place. The pat-
interpretation is unlikely. There is no connection stated in
tern of alternation—half a year below, half a year above—is
the text between Ishtar’s descent and Tammuz. (Indeed,
familiar from other myths of the underworld in which there
some scholars have suggested that the last lines referring to
is no question of the presence of a dying and rising deity
Tammuz were originally independent and added to the De-
(e.g., Persephone, as in Ovid, Fasti 4.613–4, or the youthful
scent as a scribal gloss.) Even more detrimental to the dying
Adonis as described above), and is related, as well, to wider
and rising hypothesis, the actions performed on Tammuz in
folkloristic themes of death delayed if a substitute can be
these three strophes are elements from the funeral ritual. Ish-
found (e.g., Stith Thompson, Motif-Index A 316; D 1855.2;
tar is treating Tammuz as a corpse. Finally, the line rendered
P 316). Such alternation is not what is usually meant in the
in the earlier translations as “on the day when Tammuz
literature when speaking of a deity’s “rising.”
comes up” has been shown to be a mistranslation. It either
As the above examples make plain, the category of dying
refers to Tammuz greeting Ishtar (i. e., coming up to her)
and rising deities is exceedingly dubious. It has been based
in the underworld, or it is a reference to the month Tammuz.
largely on Christian interest and tenuous evidence. As such,
In the Akkadian version, Tammuz is dead and remains so.
the category is of more interest to the history of scholarship
Such an understanding is witnessed to in other Akkadian
than to the history of religions.
texts. For example, in the Epic of Gilgamesh (6.46–50), the
hero insults and scorns Ishtar, reminding her that all her pre-
SEE ALSO Castration.
vious lovers—Tammuz heads the list—have died as a result
of their relationship to her.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Such considerations seemed to become purely academic
The classic formulation of the dying and rising pattern was made
with the publication of the Sumerian prototype of the Akka-
by James G. Frazer in The Golden Bough, 3d ed., 12 vols.
(London, 1911–1915), esp. vol. 4, The Dying God (1912),
dian text, Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld (Inanna is the
p. 6. Frazer cites a representative sample of the older scholar-
Sumerian form of Ishtar) and the closely related Death of Du-
ly literature. A full bibliography, from the perspective of Old
muzi. These early texts made clear that the goddess did not
Testament scholarship, is supplied in Karl-Heinz Bern-
descend to the realm of the dead to rescue her consort. Rath-
hardt’s Das Problem der altorientalischen Königsideologie im
er it was her descent that was responsible for his death.
Alten Testament (Leiden, 1961). Günter Wagner’s Pauline
Baptism and the Pagan Mysteries, translated by J. P. Smith
Inanna, the queen of heaven, sought to extend her
(Edinburgh, 1967), offers not only a full bibliography from
power over the underworld, ruled by her sister, Ereshkigal.
the perspective of New Testament research but also a bril-
As in the Akkadian text, Inanna descends through seven
liant critique of the notion of dying and rising deities.
gates, at each removing an article of clothing or royal regalia
For Adonis, the old collection of all the relevant texts and testi-
until, after passing through the seventh gate, she is naked and
monia by W. W. Baudissin, Adonis und Esmun (Leipzig,
powerless. She is killed and her corpse hung on a hook.
1911), has been partially superseded by Wahib Atallah’s Ado-
Through a stratagem planned before her descent, she is re-
nis dans la littérature et l’art grecs (Paris, 1966). The most
vived, but she may not return above unless she can find a
consistently critical position toward Adonis as a “rising god”
substitute to take her place. She reascends, accompanied by
is in Pierre Lambrechts’s “La ‘resurrection’ d’Adonis,” in Mé-
a force of demons who will return her to the land of the dead
langes I. Lévy (Brussels, 1955), pp. 207–240; compare Lam-
if she fails. After allowing two possible candidates to escape,
brecht’s Over Griekse en Oosterse mysteriogodsdiensten: De
she comes to Erech, where Dumuzi, the shepherd king who
zogenannte Adonismysteries (Brussels, 1954).
is her consort, appears to be rejoicing over her fate. She sets
The relevant texts on Aliyan Baal are collected and translated in
the demons on him, and after he escapes several times, he
Cyrus H. Gordon’s Ugaritic Literature (Rome, 1949) and
is captured, killed, and carried off to the underworld to re-
Godfrey R. Driver’s Canaanite Myths and Legends (Edin-
place Inanna. In this narrative, Dumuzi is a dying god.
burgh, 1956), both of which reject the dying and rising pat-
tern. Theodor H. Gaster is thoroughly convinced of its appli-
In 1963 a new portion of the Descent of Inanna was an-
cability; see his Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the
nounced. Here, it would appear, there is yet a further epi-
Ancient Near East, 2d rev. ed. (1961; reprint, New York,
sode. Inanna, in response to Dumuzi’s weeping, decrees an
1977). Arvid S. Kapelrud is more cautious; see his Baal in
arrangement whereby Dumuzi will take her place for half the
the Ras Shamra Texts (Copenhagen, 1952).
year in the underworld and then return to the realm of the
Hugo Hepding’s old collection and typology of sources for Attis,
living; his sister, Geshtinanna, will then take Dumuzi’s place
Attis: Seine Mythen und sein Kulte (1903; reprint, Berlin,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2540
DYNAMISM
1967), remains standard. The fundamental work on Attis as
religion. Its conceptual configurations took shape from con-
a dying and rising god is a series of publications by Lam-
temporary general attitudes toward religion and other
brechts: “Les fêtes phrygiennes de Cybèle et d’Attis,” Bulletin
human cultural phenomena, from current theories against
de l’Institut Historique Belge de Rome 27 (1952): 141–170;
which it reacted, and from ethnographic data that had sur-
Attis: Van herdersknaap tot god (Brussels, 1962); and Attis en
faced in the nineteenth century.
het feest der Hilariën (Amsterdam, 1967).
For Marduk, the text of the New Year ritual is available in English
Nineteenth-century thought on religion was dominat-
translation by A. Sachs as “Temple Program for the New
ed, by and large, by the idea of evolution, its procedures by
Year’s Festival at Babylon,” in Ancient Near Eastern Texts re-
a historical, generally noncontextual comparison of surface
lating to the Old Testament, 2d ed., edited by J. B. Pritchard
features arranged in logical progression. Each of the several
(Princeton, 1955), pp. 331–334. The Death and Resurrection
theories advanced along these lines took its name from the
of Bel-Marduk is available in a less adequate translation by
stage of religion it posited as earliest: fetishism, naturism, to-
Stephen H. Langdon: The Babylonian Epic of Creation (Ox-
ford, 1923), pp. 34–49. A shorter recension, with an impor-
temism, manism, animism, and so forth.
tant essay that challenges the parodic interpretation, has been
Dynamism reacted most directly to the view that at its
translated by Tikva Frymer-Kensky: “The Tribulations of
Marduk: The So-Called ‘Marduk Ordeal Text,’” Journal of
earliest, religion comprised a belief in a multitude of super-
the American Oriental Society 103 (January–March 1983):
natural, personal beings with whom human beings interact-
131–141. The major critical treatment of Marduk as a dying
ed. The most popular such theory, first formulated by the
and rising god is Wolfram von Soden’s “Gibt es ein Zeugnis
British ethnologist E. B. Tylor in Primitive Culture (1873),
dafür das die Babylonier an die Wiederauferstehung
counted both human souls and independent spirits among
Marduks geglaubt haben?” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 51 (May
those beings, and was called animism (from the Latin anima;
1955): 130–166.
hence “preanimism”). In developing his theory, Tylor delib-
The most useful treatment of Osiris, with full critical bibliogra-
erately neglected emotion in favor of intellect. In his view,
phy, is contained in the notes and commentary of J. Gwyn
animistic beliefs were originally explanatory: the belief in
Griffiths’s Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride (Cardiff, 1970). The
souls explained phenomena such as life and death, dreams,
newest material on Dumuzi and Inanna, with bibliography
and apparitions; spirits formed elements in a full-blown the-
for the older, is found in Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sacred
ory of personal causation. A similar theory, manism, pro-
Marriage Rite: Aspects of Faith, Myth, and Ritual in Ancient
Sumer (Bloomington, Ind., 1969). Kramer and Diane
posed by the British social thinker Herbert Spencer (Princi-
Wolkstein’s Inanna (New York, 1983) provides a highly lit-
ples of Sociology, 1876), derived all higher religious forms
erary translation.
from a belief in ghosts (manes). The work of James G. Frazer
stood in a more ambiguous relation to dynamism. On the
JONATHAN Z. SMITH (1987)
one hand, R. R. Marett called The Golden Bough the greatest
compendium of preanimistic phenomena ever compiled. On
the other, many of Frazer’s interpretations were held suspect.
DYNAMISM. In philosophy, dynamism is “the system,
Frazer conceived a stepwise development between religion
theory, or doctrine which seeks to explain the phenomena
and magic. In discussing magic, he emphasized external, im-
of the universe by some immanent force or energy” (Oxford
mutable, and mechanical sequences of events, or laws, disre-
English Dictionary). In the study of religion, dynamism is the
garding any possible efficient cause. Taboo he saw as a form
theoretical viewpoint that finds a universal, immanent force
of negative magic, while religion developed in the wake of
or energy underlying—either logically or chronologically—
magic’s failure and posited the existence of potent superhu-
all religious (and/or magical) beliefs, practices, and forms of
man beings whose wills one had to propitiate.
association. This viewpoint has also been known as anima-
Principles of evolution and the common identification
tism, preanimism, dynamistic preanimism, and, very occa-
of modern nonliterate civilizations with prehistoric culture
sionally, predeism.
made the wealth of ethnographic material then becoming
Religious dynamism received its most precise theoretical
available to Western thinkers essential to all middle to late
formulation at the beginning of the twentieth century, espe-
nineteenth-century theories of religion. Frazer’s “magical
cially in the writings of R. R. Marett, Konrad T. Preuss, and
stage” showed that not all ethnographic material fit an ani-
Marcel Mauss. It contributed to the waning of the evolu-
mistic or manistic model. For the dynamistic theories, the
tionistic animism then prevalent and exerted a great deal of
most important single ethnographic datum was the Melane-
influence on both the study of religions generally and the
sian word mana, bequeathed to the Western scholarly world
study of certain cultural areas, but in the end it succumbed
by R. H. Codrington’s The Melanesians (1891). Codrington
to criticism. In its classic form it finds no advocates today.
spoke of mana as “a force altogether distinct from physical
Some of its elements, however, persist with varying degrees
power, which acts in all kinds of ways for good or evil, and
of vitality.
which it is of the greatest advantage to possess and control”
BEFORE PREANIMISM. Dynamism was formulated as a theo-
(p. 118, n. 1). The American ethnologist Alice C. Fletcher
retical alternative to other proposed theories on the origin of
had already spoken of “Sioux” religion in similar terms.
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DYNAMISM
2541
Some writers surpassed ethnography to anticipate fea-
logically the notion of power implicit in primitive speech and
tures of the dynamistic theories. Apparently writing in igno-
action.
rance of Marett’s proposed animatism, J. N. B. Hewitt noted
Second, dynamistic theories softened the sharp distinc-
that a notion of magical potency was common among North
tion between religion and magic that Frazer, among others,
American Indians. He suggested that the Iroquois word oren-
had postulated. The force underlying religious and magical
da was suited to denote this notion, and on it he based a defi-
practices was identical. In addition, dynamists usually balked
nition of religion. Hewitt did not openly oppose other theo-
when others based the separation of religion and magic on
ries, nor did he set his definition in the context of further
a distinction between coercion and propitiation. In their
reflections on religion. Nonetheless, his article significantly
view, religious and magical acts alike could be coercive, pro-
influenced the development of dynamism on the European
pitiatory, or both simultaneously. When a distinction was
continent.
made, dynamists tended instead to distinguish magic from
By contrast, John H. King’s earlier work, The Supernat-
religion—not altogether satisfactorily—on grounds of the
ural (1892), lay in obscurity until Wilhelm Schmidt brought
agent’s moral or social position (good versus bad intent,
it to scholarly attention. King derived all religion from a
communal versus individual acts). Third, dynamistic theo-
sense of luck or chance. But he posited an intervening stage
ries envisioned taboos not as the result of cognitive imagin-
between this initial period and a later, more manistic one,
ings about causal processes but as a reaction to immanent but
an era of religion centered on nonpersonal, all-pervasive
fearful power.
power, such as mana, wakan (Lakota), or boylya (Australia).
By definition, dynamistic theories equate power with
the beginning or most elementary form of religion. But the
CLASSIC DYNAMISTIC THEORIES. Evolutionary thought can
classic dynamistic theories did not all conceive of power in
integrate evidence incompatible with previously formulated
identical terms. For Marett, power was an aspect of the su-
developmental schemes very economically by postulating
pernatural, manifested as the extraordinary and inexplicable.
further, formerly unrecognized developmental stages. These
It evoked emotions, especially awe, that impelled those who
stages assume their preferred places at the beginning of devel-
encountered it to attempt to establish relations with it. Ma-
opmental series. Insertion at the initial position allows the
rett distinguished positive and negative modes of the super-
rest of the series to remain relatively undisturbed and at
natural: mana (the supernatural has power) and taboo (power
the same time claims the greatest possible significance for the
may be harmful; be heedful of it). He imagined development
newly posited stage or stages.
proceeding from the undifferentiated and indistinct to the
At the end of the nineteenth century, two new theories
differentiated and distinct, and for him it made sense to dis-
sought to redress the inadequacies of evolutionistic animism
tinguish magic and religion only on a more developed, moral
by assigning it a derivative position. One theory, first voiced
level.
by Andrew Lang in 1898, argued, mostly on historical-
A second view was expressed by Preuss, in his highly in-
ethnographic grounds, that religion originally centered not
fluential article “Der Ursprung der Religion und Kunst.” For
on a multitude of spirits but on a supreme creator invoked
Preuss, “supernatural” and “mystical” carried connotations
to explain the existence of the cosmos. The other, dynamism,
of the spiritual, the animistic. As a result, unlike Marett, he
first enunciated by Marett, combined logic with certain eth-
posited at the initial stage of human development a distinctly
nographic data to postulate not a preanimistic superpersonal
nonmystical, efficacious power believed to reside in all
deity but a preanimistic, nonpersonal power or, as it was
objects, both animate and inanimate, and to operate in all
commonly called, mana. Nevertheless, some dynamists, Ma-
activities, both those we consider magical and those we con-
rett among them, advanced only cautious evolutionary
sider natural. Human actions with regard to this power were
claims. They saw mana as logically primitive but not neces-
prompted by the intellect, or rather, by the so-called Urdum-
sarily as temporally prior to the idea of deity.
mheit (“primal stupidity”) of humanity transcending the
bounds of instinct. In Preuss’s view, this power was originally
In addition to the common emphasis on power as con-
differentiated; the idea of a universal, indwelling power such
stitutive of religion, dynamistic theories shared several other
as orenda developed late. The gods, Preuss thought, were in
characteristics. First, they denigrated the mental abilities of
origin only natural objects of special magical efficacy. Thus,
peoples at the dynamistic stage (the primitives). On the one
he derived religion (which he identified with a concern for
hand, most abandoned the intellectualist orientation and
gods) from the era of magic.
considered religion a matter not so much of individual belief
as of collective processes and actions prompted by collective
A third view was expressed by Mauss in his General The-
emotion. Whether emotionalist or not, they generally denied
ory of Magic. Unlike Marett’s and Preuss’s notions, Mauss’s
that primitives were capable of, or interested in, the causal
power (he called it mana) was neither supernatural nor natu-
thought that Tylor and Frazer required of them. On the
ral, but social and unconscious. Originating in collective
other hand, those who spoke of a universally pervasive power
emotions and impulses, mana consisted of society’s relative
were forced to admit that primitives did not clearly conceive
values and differences in potential. It undergirded both reli-
of power as such. These scholars often claimed to work out
gious and magical practices, which Mauss distinguished only
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2542
DYNAMISM
with difficulty, and at the unconscious level it was universal
religion: animism, mana, and a belief in a primitive “origina-
and undifferentiated. But it was not opposed to differentiat-
tor” (Urheber). Rather more exclusively dynamistic, Ge-
ed representations. It called them into existence and provid-
rardus van der Leeuw made power the center of his phenom-
ed a field for their operation. In the realm of magic (on which
enology of religion.
Mauss’s work focused), differentiated representations oc-
Those who reflected more concretely on religion also
curred in three forms: the abstractly impersonal (laws of sym-
applied dynamistic insights. Somewhat like Söderblom, Ma-
pathy), the concretely impersonal (differentiated potentials),
rett’s student E. O. James discovered in his study of Australia
and the personal (demons).
that the impersonal power at the center of religion was mani-
ELABORATION AND APPLICATION. In the ensuing years, sev-
fested in animatistic, animistic, and anthropomorphic forms
eral writers expressed and expounded dynamistic views. Dif-
even at the primitive level. Summarizing a decade of intense
ferences between various notions of power persisted, inherit-
dynamistic influence on North American ethnology, Franz
ed in part along national lines, but no new major, theoretical
Boas’s article on religion in the Handbook of American Indi-
positions developed. In England, for example, E. Sidney
ans made the belief in magical power, with varying degrees
Hartland synthesized and refined a variety of positions but
of individualization and personification, “one of the funda-
made no significant theoretical contributions of his own. Al-
mental [religious] concepts that occur among all Indian
fred Vierkandt sought to refine Preuss’s views by prefacing
tribes” (Boas, 1910, p. 366).
his initial era of magic with a premagical stage and by supple-
menting the intellectual confusion of subjectivity and objec-
Descriptions of literate cultures also found dynamistic
tivity that Preuss saw underlying magic with a similar practi-
formulations useful. John Abbott, a bachelor of Oxford in
cal and affective confusion. But these were essentially
the British civil service, wrote a lengthy description of Indian
modifications in detail.
practices that interpreted ´sakti as the Indian equivalent of
mana, manifested in the positive and negative forms of pun:ya
In general, those with dynamistic leanings seemed bent
(“merit”) and pa¯pa (“evil”). In the second quarter of the
on (rather superficially) conciliating rather than adjudicating
twentieth century, H. J. Rose refused to assign priority to ei-
differing views of power. For example, Émile Durkheim and
ther dynamism or animism in discussing the earliest religion
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl maintained that Preuss’s magical and in-
of the Greeks, but his treatment of early Roman religion was
tellectualist orientations, respectively, differed more in lan-
thoroughly dynamistic, equating the Latin numen with mana
guage than in substance from religious or magico-religious
and Latin sacer with tabu.
and emotionalist views. At heart, dynamism remained the
simple assertion that in origin or in essence religion was a
ON THE WANE. The combination of the dynamist viewpoint
complex of acts and beliefs centering on a reified, autono-
with others could not forestall criticism. Because awareness
mous, efficacious, quasi-substantive power residing in all ob-
of developments in anthropology and the history of religions
jects, whether that power was differentiated or universal, and
has always varied, dynamism waned more slowly in some
whether or not the practitioners themselves formed any clear
areas than in others. Eventually, however, several critiques
ideas about it.
devastated the classic dynamistic formulations.
Dynamistic views influenced many areas of the study of
The ethnographic and linguistic critique not only op-
religion outside theoretical ethnology. In these areas, too,
posed dynamism’s genetic or essential universality; it ques-
different dynamistic heritages were displayed clearly. But in
tioned whether the notion of an impersonal, fluid power was
general writers did not appreciate and often did not discuss
at all appropriate to the cultures to which it had been as-
the different possible notions of power. In attempts to in-
cribed. For both major areas supplying dynamists with eth-
crease dynamism’s scope and adequacy, some even took the
nographic material, this critique began in 1914. Paul Radin,
movement toward conciliation one step further, combining
reviewing the writings of the Americanists Hewitt, Fletcher,
dynamistic views with other theories.
William Jones, John R. Swanton, and Boas, noted the com-
mon appearance of personal beings in their accounts and
In the human studies, for example, Durkheim linked
suggested that they had been misled by the North American
dynamism above all with totemism. For him, mana was the
Indians’ lack of concern for a supernatural being’s precise
imperative force of society manifested (more or less) as the
form. After surveying the cultures of several Polynesian is-
totemic principle, while the soul was mana individualized.
lands—mana is as much a Polynesian as a Melanesian con-
Thus, the soul was conceptually, though probably not tem-
cept—Arthur M. Hocart contradicted not Codrington’s ac-
porally, posterior to mana. Not surprisingly, the philosopher
counts so much as the theorists’ allegations that mana was
Lévy-Bruhl developed his notion of “primitive mentality” in
nonpersonal and constantly evoked an emotional response.
what came to be a clearly dynamistic context. Lévy-Bruhl
Radin characterized North American religions as “Tylorian
thought that the primitive felt rather than represented (i.e.,
animism”; Hocart declared mana to be “out and out spiritu-
conceived) an all-pervasive, ever-dynamic “essential reality,
alistic.” Later scholars would modify both characterizations.
both one and multiple, both material and spiritual” (Lévy-
Bruhl, 1966, pp. 16–17). In the history of religions proper,
A second critique, the historical, did not question dyna-
Nathan Söderblom outlined three constituents of primitive
mistic interpretations of mana but did doubt mana’s 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
DYNAMISM
2543
as the foundation of all religion. Nineteenth-century evolu-
pretations strain the evidence. Finally, he noted that personal
tionary thought had been content to establish developmental
gods were inherited from the time of the Indo-European mi-
stages from a logic of forms. The early twentieth century wit-
grations; hence it made no historical sense to posit a strictly
nessed efforts to establish the connections among nonliterate
Roman predeistic period.
societies historically. When applied to Oceania, both
D
Schmidt’s culture-historical approach and A. Capell’s histor-
ISPERSED REMNANTS. Today, classic theories of dynamism
exert virtually no influence in the study of religion or anthro-
ical linguistics led to the conclusion that, far from being
pology. Descriptive failures and the results and limits of his-
primary, mana actually belonged to the youngest cultural
torical work have contributed to the disregard not only of
stratum.
dynamism but of all evolutionary theories. Furthermore, the
A third critique addressed the presupposed orientation
semantic-symbolic view of religion that dominates at pres-
of religious beliefs and practices that underlay dynamistic
ent, again in combination with descriptive failings, has made
views. This took two forms, structural-functional and se-
dynamism’s nonevolutionary side unappealing. Nonetheless,
mantic-symbolic. With Preuss, many dynamists held that all
several dynamistic elements, now removed from their former
behavior was actual and effective, directly aimed at fostering
theoretical context, float dispersed throughout the study of
life. Symbolism arose only when acts that had been conserva-
religion.
tively preserved were no longer believed to be actually effica-
Of these, the least important is probably the name about
cious. Structural functionalists rejected the dynamists’ assim-
which the theories congealed. Dynamism (often used in the
ilation of religious acts to technical acts and looked not to
plural, dynamisms) now refers blandly to the changes charac-
purpose but to hidden function in explaining ritual’s preser-
teristic of religious phenomena. In this usage, change has lost
vation. Bronislaw Malinowski conceived of religious obser-
its purposive, effective character and arouses no desire to
vances as the “cement of the social fabric” (Malinowski,
identify an efficient cause. Some scholars, such as Ugo
1948, p. 50), magic as the result of a psychophysiological
Bianchi, use the term in combating what they see as a falsely
mechanism to allay anxieties in the face of dangerous human
static view of religion, promoted particularly by phenomeno-
impotence. Because magical power resided in human beings,
logical investigations (The History of Religions, Leiden, 1975).
Malinowski felt that any theory seeking the essence of magic
But in such a case, the term dynamism(s) refers to a character-
in a power of nature (mana) was totally misdirected. A. R.
istic of the metaphysical background against which all reli-
Radcliffe-Brown sought to avoid the distinction between
gious phenomena necessarily stand forth. It says little about
magic and religion and saw rituals as expressions of common
religion itself.
sentiments essential to an orderly social life, but he felt no
compulsion to reduce common social values and sentiments
More important are the continuing investigations of the
to a reified, efficacious power.
original ethnographic materials upon which the dynamists
built. Some phenomena still seem actually to permit a quasi-
The roots of the semantic-symbolic critique lay in the
dynamistic interpretation. Of impersonal power, A˚ke Hult-
aftermath of World War I. Europe’s search for meaning revi-
krantz writes, “Orenda is one of the most convincing proofs
talized the symbol, first among theologians, philosophers,
of such a conception that can be found” (Hultkrantz, 1983,
and litterateurs, later among historians of religions, anthro-
p. 39). But later dynamists, such as Hartland, had already
pologists, and other students of humanity. In a critique of
recognized that mana could not be adequately described as
preanimism and certain animistic and theistic notions, the
impersonal. More recently, Julian Pitt-Rivers has built espe-
German anthropologist Adolf E. Jensen completely reversed
cially on fieldwork by Raymond Firth in interpreting mana
Preuss’s notion. In Jensen’s view, practices arise as semanti-
in the light of political anthropology, as exemplifying the sa-
cally full expressions. Over time, symbolic contexts change
cred dimension that must be included in any comparative
and a state of application sets in. Practices then become se-
study of political power.
mantically depleted. They are conceived as some variety of
purposive act. Thus, both structural-functional and seman-
Perhaps most important, however, is the notion of
tic-symbolic critiques relegated to the interpretive sidelines
power in the study of religion. Even such a convinced sym-
the purposive orientation on which dynamistic notions were
bolist as Mircea Eliade has stated that “every hierophany is
based.
a kratophany” (Eliade, 1960, p. 126). Eliade interprets
power ontologically. For him it refers to what is real (sacred)
Dynamism lingered longest, it seems, in discussions of
and “therefore efficacious, fecund, fertile” (p. 129). Eliade
Roman religion. In contrast to the situation at the turn of
also cautions students of religion to keep several points in
the century, classics and anthropology were not closely relat-
mind: the particular conception of power denoted by mana
ed after World War I. In a critique of H. J. Rose, Georges
is not universal; power is not the whole of religion; and kra-
Dumézil employed each of the three arguments leveled at
tophanies exhibit differences in degree and frequency.
classic dynamism. Citing the practice of baptism, Dumézil
warned scholars not to mistake symbolic acts for efficacious
The analysis of religious power requires a more subtle
ones. He intensively examined rituals, sayings, and terms
approach than the dynamists ever developed, an approach
such as numen to show the extent to which dynamistic inter-
that abandons the evolutionistic and narrowly essentialistic
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2544
DYNAMISM
concerns of classic dynamism and that does not treat power
Mauss’s A General Theory of Magic, translated by Robert
monolithically, as an impersonal, all-pervading, efficacious
Brain (London, 1972); E. Sidney Hartland’s Ritual and Be-
essence. For years the problem lay dormant, apart from rath-
lief: Studies in the History of Religion (London, 1914); Alfred
er isolated comments such as Eliade’s. Today, there are signs
Vierkandt’s “Die Anfänge der Religion und Zauberei,” Glo-
of an inchoate resurgence of interest in questions of religious
bus 92 (1907): 21–25, 40–45, 61–65; and E. O. James’s
power as found in both literate cultures, such as India, and
Primitive Ritual and Belief: An Anthropological Essay (Lon-
don, 1917). John H. King’s The Supernatural: Its Origin, Na-
nonliterate cultures. The new interest derives in part from
ture and Evolution, 2 vols. (London, 1892), is as interested
a general reaction to radically synchronic and semantic struc-
in modern occultism as in the history of religions.
turalist interpretations. In time it may gain strength, if a gen-
R. H. Codrington’s definition of mana cited in the text was quot-
eral concern with praxis and power replaces the current wide-
ed already by F. Max Müller in the Hibbert Lectures of 1878
spread concern with meaning, as it has to some extent done
(from a letter by Codrington to Müller). Codrington’s views
already. At present, discussions of religious power are limited
on mana were most widely dispersed by his The Melanesians
to particularist accounts of varying scope, usually informed
(1891; reprint, New Haven, 1957). Subsequently, mana has
by some degree of theoretical reflection in anthropology or
evoked a large critical literature, including Arthur M. Ho-
similar fields. It is impossible to predict whether these discus-
cart’s “Mana,” Man 14 (June 1914): 46–47; Julius Röhr’s
sions will continue to flourish, to what extent they will con-
“Das Wesen des Mana,” Anthropos 14/15 (1919–1920):
tribute to a new, general vision of religion, and what insights,
97–124; F. R. Lehmann’s Mana, der Begriff des “ausserorden-
if any, such a general vision might share with classical
tlich wirkungsvollen” bei Südseevölkern (Leipzig, 1922); Ian
dynamism.
Hogbin’s “Mana,” Oceania 6 (March 1936): 241–274; A.
Capell’s “The Word ‘Mana’ Linguistic Study,” Oceania 9
S
(September 1938): 89–96; Raymond Firth’s “An Analysis of
EE ALSO Animism and Animatism; Manism; Numen;
Mana: An Empirical Approach,”Journal of the Polynesian So-
Power.
ciety 49 (1940): 483–510, reprinted in his Tikopia Ritual and
Belief (Boston, 1967), pp. 174–194 (mana as the ability to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
succeed, and, at the same time, successful results in areas of
Surveys of dynamism or of the views of individual dynamist theo-
vital human interest beyond the capabilities of normal
rists, more or less extensive, are available in a large number
human effort and by divine gift); and, of more comparative
of works written from a great variety of perspectives. The fol-
than ethnographic interest, Julian Pitt-Rivers’s Mana: An In-
lowing are, perhaps, most useful or most readily available.
augural Lecture (London, 1974), which discusses mana in
Henri Pinard de la Boullaye’s L’étude compareé des religions,
connection with Mediterranean notions of honor and grace.
vol. 1, Son histoire dans le monde occidental, 4th ed. (Paris,
Early comments of a dynamistic flavor by Alice C. Fletcher are
1929), is an early work but a good bibliographical source that
quoted in J. Owen Dorsey’s “A Study of Siouan Cults,” Bu-
sets “dynamistic preanimism” in a detailed contest. Wilhelm
reau of American Ethnology, Annual Report 11 (1889–1890):
Schmidt’s The Origin and Growth of Religion: Facts and Theo-
434–435; see also Fletcher’s article “Wakonda” in the Hand-
ries, translated by H. J. Rose (1931; reprint, New York,
book of American Indians, part 2, edited by Frederick W.
1972), is a detailed critique but is limited by subsuming dy-
Hodge (Washington, D. C., 1910). J. N. B. Hewitt’s influ-
namism under the category of “magism,” by too facile a dis-
ential views on orenda were expounded in “Orenda and a
tinction between intellectual, emotional, and volitional theo-
Definition of Religion,” American Anthropologist, n. s. 4
ries, and by the author’s thoroughly polemical concerns.
(1902): 33–46. Other works that interpreted North Ameri-
Robert H. Lowie’s The History of Ethnological Theory (New
can religions in terms of impersonal power include William
York, 1937) is sensitive to issues of historical ethnology and
Jones’s “The Algonkin Manitou,” Journal of American Folk-
“primitive rationality,” sympathetic to both Tylor and Ma-
Lore 18 (1905): 183–190; John R. Swanton’s Social Condi-
rett, but scathing in its attacks upon Frazer. E. E. Evans-
tion, Beliefs, and Linguistic Relationship of the Tlingit Indians,
Pritchard’s Theories of Primitive Religion (Oxford, 1965), a
“Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual Report,” vol. 26
more recent account, discusses its subject in terms of psycho-
(Washington, D. C., 1907), see especially page 451, note c;
logical theories, both intellectualist and emotionalist, and so-
and Franz Boas’s “Religion,” in the Handbook of American
ciological theories. Jan de Vrie’s Perspectives in the History of
Indians, part 2, edited by Frederick W. Hodge (Washington,
Religion, tranlsated by Kees W. Bolle (Berkley, 1977), is
D. C., 1910), pp. 365–371. Paul Radin takes these theorists
readily available but annoying because it dismisses many the-
to task in his “Religion of the North American Indians,”
ories simply on the grounds that they are “arbitrary.” Eric J.
Journal of American Folk-Lore 27 (1914): 335–373. For an
Sharpe’s Comparitive Religion: A History (London, 1975) is
assessment of Radin’s views, and for a survey of this interpre-
a useful survey that highlights personal biography as much
tation of American Indian religions in a broader context, see
as theoretical reflection.
A˚ke Hultkrantz’s The Study of American Indian Religions, ed-
Standard works by dynamistic theorists include R. R. Marett’s The
ited by Christopher Vecsey, (New York, 1983); see especially
Threshold of Religion (London, 1909), a collection of his
“Indian Religious Concepts,” pp. 39–46.
most important articles on dynamism; Konrad T. Preuss’s
Émile Durkheim discusses mana and the totemic principle in The
“Der Ursprung der Religion und Kunst,” Globus 86 (1904):
Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, translated by Joseph
321–327, 355–363, 375–379, 388–392 and 87 (1905):
Ward Swain (1915; reprint, New York, 1965). Lucien Lévy-
333–337, 347–350, 380–384, 394–400, 413–419, which
Bruhl’s notion of the primitive’s prelogical participation in
builds especially on the author’s fieldwork in Mexico; Marcel
a homogeneous world is perhaps most easily accessible in 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
DZOGCHEN
2545
Primitive Mentality, translated by Lilian A. Clare (New York,
religion. It is widely associated with a rhetoric stressing natu-
1923); his introduction to The ‘Soul’ of the Primitive, trans-
ralness, spontaneity, and simplicity, as well as a deconstruc-
lated by Lilian A. Clare (1928; reprint, New York, 1966)
tive critique of Buddhist philosophical positions and norma-
quite clearly endows his views on prelogical mentality with
tive practices. It has an ambiguous relationship with Tantra,
a dynamistic slant. For the other authors cited as applying
since at times it stresses its transcendence and distinctness
dynamistic insights, see Nathan Söderblom’s Das Werden des
from Tantric forms, whereas in most forms it is clearly in-
Gottesglaubens: Untersuchungen über die Anfänge der Religion,
debted in its concepts, diction, and practices to esoteric Bud-
2d rev. ed., edited by Heinrich Karl Stübe (Leipzig, 1926);
Gerardus van der Leeuw’s Religion in Essence and Manifesta-
dhist traditions. The Great Perfection is thus often portrayed
tion, 2 vols., translated by J. E. Turner (1938; reprint,
as a tradition that lacks any type of systematic philosophic
Gloucester, Mass., 1967); John Abbott’s The Keys of Power:
inquiry or even actual praxis. From the outside it is often
A Study of Indian Ritual and Belief (1932; reprint, Secaucus,
viewed on these terms as a fairly homogenous tradition.
N. J., 1974); and H. J. Rose’s Ancient Greek Religion (Lon-
don, 1946) and Ancient Roman Religion (London, 1948).
The truth is that the rubric the Great Perfection em-
braces an astonishingly varied array of traditions that, for ex-
Critiques of dynamistic views may be found in the later studies
ample, range from a systematic rejection of all praxis to com-
of Oceania and North America cited above. In the well-
plex systems of Tantric rituals, and from a rejection of all
known Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922; reprint, New
York, 1953), Bronislaw Malinowski speaks of mana as figur-
Tantra, including its sexual and horrific elements, to a full
ing largely in all magical practices and beliefs. Only a few
incorporation of esoteric funerary and sexual rituals. This di-
years later, however, in the title essay (1925) of Magic, Sci-
versity finds its expression in different doxographical
ence, and Religion and Other Essays (New York, 1948), he
schemes, which hierarchically rank diverse Great Perfection
finds dynamistic theories to be “pointing altogether in the
traditions in relationship to each other, each having its own
wrong direction.” A. R. Radcliffe-Brown discusses clearly his
distinct lineages, scriptures, and unitary rubric of self-
rejection of the search for origins and of culture-history in
identification. Despite this diversity, however, there is a
favor of “meaning” and “function” in the preface to the 1933
common rhetorical and contemplative thread that runs
edition of his The Andaman Islanders (1922; Glencoe, Ill.,
through all these traditions, which can be summed up as a
1948); for his interpretation of religion and magic, see espe-
tendency toward naturalness, innateness, and simplicity/
cially Structure and Function in Primitive Society: Essays and
simplification and a strong suspicion of techniques and rule-
Addresses (London, 1952), chapter 7, “Taboo” (1939), and
chapter 8, “Religion and Society” (1945). The other critiques
governed processes of all types.
of dynamism mentioned in the text may be found in Adolf
EARLY HISTORIES. The Great Perfection’s lineage holders
E. Jensen’s Myth and Cult among Primitive Peoples, translated
and historians claim transcendental origins tracing back to
by Marianna Tax Choldin and Wolfgang Weissleder (Chica-
divine figures and other world systems, with different histo-
go, 1963), and Georges Dumézil’s Archaic Roman Religion,
2 vols., translated by Philip Krapp (Chicago, 1970), especial-
ries for the Nyingma and Bon lineages, respectively. Nying-
ly the preliminary remarks and chapter 3, “The Most An-
ma lineages trace the origins of their lineages on this planet
cient Roman Religion: Numen or Deus?,” pp. 18–31.
and this era back to India and a variety of other countries,
and they were then transmitted into Tibetan translations and
For Mircea Eliade’s views on power, see especially Myths, Dreams
lineages during the latter half of the eighth century
and Mysteries: The Encounter between Contemporary Faiths
CE on-
and Archaic Realities, translated by Philip Mairet (New York,
ward from diverse languages and sources. The most impor-
1960), especially chapter 4, “Power and Holiness in the His-
tant early sources are attributed above all to the Indians Pad-
tory of Religions,” pp. 123–154. Scholars interested in Indi-
masambhava, Vimalamitra, and S´r¯ısim:ha, as well as the
an religions are today devoting a good deal of attention to
Tibetan Vairocana, all of whom lived in the latter half of the
religious power, usually conceived in terms of interaction.
eighth century. Many of these teachings are then claimed to
Among writings by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, see, for ex-
have been concealed within Tibet shortly afterward during
ample, Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts (Chi-
the ninth century as the Tibetan empire disintegrated. Inno-
cago, 1980). Recent anthropological writings that display an
vations in the tradition were thus largely introduced histori-
interest in power include Jay Miller’s “Numic Religion: An
cally in Tibet through the medium of revelations of these
Overview of Power in the Great Basin of Native North
concealed scriptures via visionary and physical excavations
America,” Anthropos 78 (1983): 337–354, and Adrian Cam-
known as “Treasures” (gter ma) that were revealed from at
pion Edwards’s “Seeing, Believing, Doing: The Tiv Under-
standing of Power,” Anthropos 78 (1983): 459–480.
least the tenth century and right into the present.
GREGORY D. ALLES (1987)
Bon lineages and histories of the Great Perfection are
similar in character, but quite different in details. Traditional
histories describe lineages flowing into the Tibetan plateau
from the western realm of Takzik and first appearing in the
DZOGCHEN, the Great Perfection (or Great Comple-
Zhang Zhung empire (fifth to seventh centuries) as translat-
tion, Rdzogs chen), also known as Atiyoga (a ti yo ga), is con-
ed into the Zhang Zhung language. These materials were
sidered the pinnacle of all systems of thought and practice
then retranslated into Tibetan as the Tibetan empire’s sev-
in the Nyingma (Rnying ma) and Bon traditions of Tibetan
enth-century rise eclipsed its western Zhang Zhung rivals
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2546
DZOGCHEN
and then gradually subsumed them. However, only minor
This early literature is almost entirely without any refer-
fragments of Zhang Zhung language still exist in literary
ences to practice of any kind and indeed is renowned for its
form, and all Bon literature currently exists only in Tibetan
rhetoric of transcendence and spontaneity, suggesting that all
manuscripts, the earliest of which can only be attested in
forms of practice are superfluous given the primordial purity
roughly the eleventh century. Remarkably, Bon lineages con-
of “awareness” (rig pa) possessed by all living beings. Howev-
tinue to this day to maintain a strong historical memory of
er, they are still inextricably bound up with normative Tan-
their non-Tibetan Zhang Zhung origins and affiliations. Bon
tra, which in eighth- and ninth-century Tibet was represent-
lineages of the Great Perfection, like their Nyingma counter-
ed by Tantric movements known as the “Great Yoga”
parts, transformed over time largely through the medium of
(maha¯yoga), with intricate forms of ritualism including visu-
revelations of past concealments known as “Treasures” from
alization of self as deity, peaceful and wrathful man:d:alas, and
at least the eleventh century onward.
complex initiations. The Great Perfection thus originates on
Despite these traditional claims, there is no independent
the periphery of the vast discursive terrain of the maha¯yoga
attestation of the existence of any separate traditions or lin-
by creating a vacuum within its landscape through the sys-
eages going under these rubrics outside of Tibet, though the
tematic expulsion of an array of standard Tantric principles.
nomenclature Atiyoga and the Great Perfection does appear
This absence is defined by what it has excluded, since it is
in eighth- and ninth-century Indian Tantric Buddhist litera-
an absence of precise systems that are thus inexorably evoked
ture. Admittedly, there is no question that its characteristic
under erasure. The entire spectrum of rejected Tantric ideol-
discursive language, marked by an esoteric naturalism, a
ogies and praxis thus haunts the Great Perfection’s pristine
strong language of negation, and a celebration of divine cre-
space of rhetorical absence.
ation, is pronounced in some Indian Tantras. However, we
Historical transformations. This landscape was com-
have no evidence of any independent tradition outside of
pletely transformed in the eleventh century as a series of new
Tibet known under Atiyoga, Great Perfection, or any of the
Treasure revelations gradually articulated into an entirely dif-
other rubrics that gradually emerge over time in the Nying-
ferent series of Great Perfection movements with distinctive
ma and Bon traditions for these movements. Nontraditional
rubrics of self-identification and radical new developments
scholarship since the 1980s suggests that most of the early
in doctrine and practice. This transformation was part and
literature claiming to be “translations” are original composi-
parcel of the renaissance of Tibetan culture occurring from
tions that date much later than the claimed eighth-century
the late tenth century to the early twelfth century as new
dates for their translation—much less their, at times, even
Buddhist literature and practices were imported anew from
far earlier claims for composition back in India or elsewhere
India. This period, under the rubric the “later dissemination”
before translation. Scholarship has thus begun to focus on
(phyi dar) of Buddhism, is often misunderstood as primarily
how these traditions reflect the indigenization of Buddhism
involving new movements called “modernists” (gsar ma), but
into Tibet during the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, in
particular, rather than on its supposed ancient roots.
the truth is that the older Bon and Nyingma lineages were
just as deeply involved as creative agents of change. The
Thus, the doxographical diversity of the Great Perfec-
point of delineation involved the former explicitly acknowl-
tion—despite all its variants claiming to be rooted in eighth-
edging their debt to new imports that they “translated,”
century (and earlier) translations—appears to be the hidden
whereas the latter groups tended to glide over this indebted-
key to the still secret history of the Great Perfection on Ti-
ness by assimilating new developments seamlessly into their
betan soil. Within the Nyingma tradition we can trace the
older traditions through the process of Treasure revelation.
lineaments of this secret history with a certain degree of con-
The eleventh century in particular was dominated by the rise
fidence. The tradition first appeared in the first half of the
of yogin¯ı Tantras deriving from the final efflorescence of In-
ninth century with a series of short texts attributed to Indian
dian Buddhist culture. These striking documents involved
saints that at some point were codified into a canon of eigh-
horrific imagery and violent rituals, erotic imagery, and sexu-
teen texts referred to as “mind oriented” (sems phyogs) or later
al practices and somatic practices involving a cult of the
as “mind series” (sems sde). These texts were then gradually
body’s subtle interior. They were also marked by transgres-
transformed over the next two centuries into full-fledged
sive rhetoric and an evocative imagery of long-haired siddhas
Tantras attributed to the divine authorship of Buddhas, as
celebrating lay values in ritual assemblies called “circles of the
well as into ever longer and more numerous texts. This cul-
group” (tshogs gi ’khor lo, Sanskrit gan:a-cakra). While Nying-
minated in the emergence of The All-Creating King (kun
ma or Bon lineages on the whole neither formally transmit-
byed rgyal po) at an uncertain date in the last half of the
ted nor wrote about these traditions in this or the next few
tenth century to the first half of the eleventh century. This
centuries, it is clear that in fact these new esoteric transmis-
Tantra was historically perhaps the most important and
sions made a deep if unacknowledged impact on their own
widely quoted of all Great Perfection scriptures, and it clearly
rapidly evolving traditions.
was in part formed by incorporating earlier shorter texts as
chapters. These texts represent what appears to have been the
In the case of the Great Perfection, its new variations
dominant form of the tradition during the ninth to the tenth
emerging in the eleventh century were clearly deeply indebt-
centuries.
ed to the yogin¯ı traditions. Its influences were clear in the rise
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DZOGCHEN
2547
of subtle body representations and practices, new pantheons
alized buddha, often remains unclear. Pure Lands are special
of wrathful and erotic Buddhas, increasingly antinomian
cosmic locales believed to be created by buddhas as realms
rhetoric, and a focus on motifs of death. At the same time
with optimal spiritual conditions into which Buddhists
these influences were transformatively assimilated with each
could be reborn after death. Enjoyment Bodies are resplen-
strand modified and integrated on the basis of the Great Per-
dent forms that a buddha manifests out of the pure empti-
fection’s commitments to naturalism, Gnosticism, simplici-
ness of his or her enlightenment experience and that typically
ty, and divine creation. This influence can be traced progres-
reside at the center of these Pure Lands. The philosophical
sively through movements that come to be known as the
innovation of the Seminal Heart was to integrate buddha-
Secret Cycle (gsang skor), Ultra Pith (yang tig), Brahmin’s
nature with this buddha-creativity, and then articulate this
Tradition (bram ze Di lugs), and others and culminates in the
internal Gnostic creativity as the central driving force of all
late eleventh and twelfth centuries with the emergence of the
being and manifestation.
Seminal Heart (snying thig). The Seminal Heart represents
a stunningly creative and deeply Tibetan reinterpretation of
This process of creativity marked by the unfolding of
many central Buddhist traditions around the central motif
Pure Lands and divinely resplendent buddhas—itself depict-
of the divine creativity of the Buddhas’ creation of Pure
ed clearly in the esoteric form of the creation and articulation
Lands. The central literature is a body of revealed Tantras
of a man:d:ala—is found, most importantly, in three inter-
collected together as The Seventeen Tantras (rgyud bcu bdun)
twined processes: cosmogony, post-death experience, and
and a body of exegetical literature organized as The Seminal
contemplation, as well as more minor contexts such as em-
Heart of Vimalamitra (bi ma snying thig).
bryology, dreaming, and cognitive activity. Each of these is
T
described as centrally involving a buddha’s Gnostic creativity
HE SEMINAL HEART. The Seminal Heart is characterized
by an intensely philosophical discourse, a distinctive doctri-
engendering Pure Lands, or man:d:alas of buddhas. This no-
nal intersection of divine creation and naturalism, and a
tion of buddhas creating worlds was a standard component
unique contemplative system integrating visionary practices
of Great Vehicle literature, but the innovation of the Seminal
of spontaneous image cultivation with earlier practices of
Heart was to apply it so systematically to a wide variety of
technique-free cultivation of pure awareness. In each of these
contexts in which creation, transition, and development take
areas there is a deep grounding in exoteric and esoteric forms
place. Thus, a buddha’s gnosis is identified as the preeminent
of Indian Buddhism, but there is also a startlingly creative
creative agent in the universe, rather than the more typical
assimilation. The first facet is its systematic philosophical
depiction of karma as what generates the world, embodi-
character, which is unusual because of its esoteric nature.
ment, mental action, dreaming, post-death experience, and
Tantric Buddhism in India tended on the whole to be far
other such human experiences. The Seminal Heart presents
more focused on ritual practice than on philosophical specu-
an unusual divine cosmogony, in which a Buddha’s gnosis is
lation, even if there gradually developed a cottage industry
presenting as driving the emergence of being out of nonbe-
in scholastic exegesis on these rituals and iconography. In
ing, which unfolds as a primordial array of Pure Lands. The
Tibet, however, many esoteric traditions came to develop
karmic process of conditioned existence only emerges as a
complex philosophical discourses, which some have termed
secondary process following a lack of recognition of those di-
philosophic Vajraya¯na. The Seminal Heart represents perhaps
vine arrays as “self” by an emergent cognitive capacity. Sec-
the most interesting philosophical system to emerge out of
ond, out of the experience of complete collapse into empti-
this development.
ness that marks death, the experience of the intermediate
process (bar do) between death and rebirth is marked by the
Its doctrinal heart is a unique blend of the older strains
experience of rich man:d:alas of serene and horrific buddhas.
of naturalism with a new doctrine of Gnostic creation inter-
The karmic experiences of memories of one’s past life, and
twined with esoteric conceptions and practices of death. Its
visual premonitions of one’s impending rebirth, only occur
basis is what can be best termed a Gnostic orientation, which
in a secondary post-death process should one fail to recognize
entails a Buddha’s primordial gnosis (ye shes, Skt. jña¯na) being
the divine manifestations as “self-manifestations.” Third, the
portrayed consistently as the principal creative agent driving
core contemplative practice, termed direct transcendence, in-
manifestation, even if its effects are often clouded by deriva-
volves stimulating a flow of Pure Lands out of one’s heart
tive processes fueled by emotionally fueled activity (las, Skt.
through one’s eyes into the sky, so that one reflexively experi-
karman). Thus, rather than gnosis being a product of contem-
ences, and recognizes, these divine man:d:alas of buddhas as
plative practice, it is seen as a preexistent agent that precedes,
self. Thus, in the birth of worlds, in the emergence out of
not follows, karma. This divine creativity is modeled on jux-
death, and in contemplation, we find gnosis as the primary
taposing two basic doctrines found in the Great Vehicle (theg
agent and karma as a derivative and secondary process.
chen, Skt. Maha¯ya¯na): buddha-nature (de bzhin gshegs pa Di
snying po, Skt. tatha¯gatagarbha) and a buddha’s creation of
Finally, its contemplative system consists of a massive
Pure Lands and Enjoyment Bodies (longs sku, Skt.
anthology of varied Tantric and non-Tantric contemplative
sambhogaka¯ya). Buddha-nature is the idea that all life is char-
techniques capped by two unique contemplative processes
acterized by an internal divinity, though just how inert or ac-
named “breakthrough” (khregs chod) and “direct transcen-
tive this divinity is, and its relationship with a manifestly re-
dence” (thod rgal). Breakthrough signifies the older style 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
2548
DZOGCHEN
Great Perfection contemplation, and its descriptions are typ-
elations are marked by the relative absence of yogin¯ı Tantra
ically poetic evocations of pure awareness that strictly avoid
influence and appear to substitute instead a lovely rhetoric
discussions of techniques that might be understood to gener-
of metaphors and images.
ate such states of awareness. Direct transcendence, however,
is an innovative practice that involves relying on yogic pos-
Despite such reservations, however, the Seminal Heart
tures, breathing practices, and gazing directed at the com-
was ultimately to triumph and become the dominant tradi-
plete darkness of a specially prepared retreat hut, or at
tion of the Great Perfection for the Nyingma. This was due
sources of light such as the sun. The practice aims at generat-
in no small measure to the towering achievements of Longc-
ing a spontaneous flow of luminous, rainbow-colored images
henpa (klong chen pa, 1308–1364) in the fourteenth century.
that gradually expand in extent and complexity, proceeding
Longchenpa, considered to be one of the greatest authors, in-
from fragments of buddha-bodies and sacred icons to gradu-
tellects, and poets in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, both
ally become vast man:d:alas of buddhas pervading the sky.
systematized the Seminal Heart and integrated it with broad-
While innovative, these practices clearly represent a transmu-
er Maha¯ya¯na literature and motifs. His corpus is marked as
tation of Tantric practices typically classified as “perfection
much by poetic beauty as by intellectual mastery and in-
phase” techniques (rdzogs rim). These practices involve ma-
cludes The Seven Treasuries (mdzod bdun), The Trilogy of
nipulation of a yogic or subtle body of winds, channels, and
Natural Freedom (rang grol skor gsum), The Trilogy of Relax-
nuclei within the coarse physical body, which engender ever
ation (ngal gso skor gsum), and three of the five parts of The
more subtle states of consciousness marked by experiences of
Seminal Heart in Four Parts (snying thig ya bzhi). Most of the
flashes of light. These experiences of light are typically dis-
Seminal Heart content stems from the earlier literature, but
cussed in terms of eight, ten, or eleven signs described imag-
Longchenpa’s writings refine its terminology, systematize it
istically as like fireflies, a mirage, smoke, or lightening. These
into powerful intellectual architectures, and provide brilliant
practices, as outlined in the early-eleventh-century Indian
interpretations. In addition, most previous Nyingma authors
Tantric cycle The Wheel of Time (Ka¯lacakra), culminate in
bothered little with nonesoteric philosophy, at least in their
the vision of a buddha, and the close association with staring
exegetical compositions. In contrast, Longchenpa was deeply
into darkness and at the sky make it highly probably that it
learned in exoteric Buddhist thought and wrote extensively
was a direct inspiration for the Seminal Heart.
on it, as well as explicitly integrating it with the Seminal
Heart, thereby articulating its deep roots in mainstream Bud-
Despite this influence, the practice was deeply assimilat-
dhist thought and practice.
ed into the Great Perfection with its focus on naturalness,
release rather than control, spontaneity rather than fabrica-
Following Longchenpa, there were many other major
tion, simplicity rather than complexity, and interpenetration
Great Perfection corpuses of literature in terms of revelation,
of the external and internal rather than the deeply interior
exegesis, and poetry. Throughout, we can see the dominant
world of subtle body yogas. Likewise, when we turn to the
influence of the Seminal Heart, though the earlier traditions
vast anthologies of practices presented as preliminaries and
of a pristine transcendence continue to play a vibrant though
auxiliary contemplative techniques, we find a wide range of
lesser role. Important bodies of literature include The Pene-
ordinary and unique exoteric and esoteric practices that have
trating Wisdom (dgongs pa zang thal), revealed by Rinzin
been thoroughly assimilated into the world of the Great Per-
Gödem (rig ’dzin rgod ldem, 1337–1409); The Nucleus of
fection. Throughout, common Buddhist practices have been
Ati Ds Profound Meaning (rDzogs pa chen po a ti zab don sny-
subtly and extensively altered, again, to be simple rather than
ing po), by Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa, 1646–1714);
complex, natural rather than artificial, spontaneous rather
and others. Of particular note is the seventeenth-century rev-
than contrived, governed by letting go rather than taking
elations of Jikme Lingpa (’Jigs med gling pa, 1729/30–1798)
control, and focused on the intersection of the external and
in The Seminal Heart of the Great Matrix (klong chen snying
the internal rather than on deeply internal processes. Most
thig). These revelations emerged as the most popular ritual
notably absent is any focus on the mainstream Tantric prac-
system of the Great Perfection over the last two centuries.
tice of deity yoga, with its ritual transformation of self into
In addition, they represented the culmination of an increas-
deity by complex visualizations and mantric recitations of a
ing ritualization of the Seminal Heart with an ever greater
Buddhist deity.
focus on evocation rituals of deities (grub thabs, Sanskrit
sa¯dhana) that had to come to be the lynchpin of monastic
THE DOMINANCE OF THE SEMINAL HEART. The Seminal
esotericism.
Heart’s radical transformation of the Great Perfection was
not without its internal critics from conservative Nyingma
EARLY BON TRADITIONS. The Great Perfection in nominally
figures. It seems that the most important Nyingma of the
non-Buddhist Bon circles in Tibet is deeply intertwined with
twelfth century, Nyangrel Nyima Özer (Nyang ral nyi ma
that of Nyingma lineages in all ways, though these complex
’od zer, 1136–1204), in particular developed his Crown Pith
interdependencies are unacknowledged. It is clear that iden-
(spyi ti) tradition to reassert the older traditions in new form
tical terminology, structures, and even whole passages are
as supreme. He appears to have felt that the Great Perfection
shared by the Nyingma and Bon traditions, while many of
should transcend prescriptions of specific practices as well as
the key elements of the Seminal Heart are found within pre-
the rhetoric of violence, sexuality, and transgression. His rev-
fifteenth-century Bon literature. The standard Bon doxogra-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
DZOGCHEN
2549
phy outlines three main traditions of the Great Perfection (a
LATER BON TRADITIONS. During the later renaissance peri-
rdzogs snyan gsum): Guidance on the Syllable A (a khrid),
od, Shenchen Luga (Gshen chen klu dga, 996–1035) was
Great Perfection (Rdzogs chen), and the Oral Transmission
one of the earliest and most important of Bon treasure-
(snyan rgyud). In short, the Great Perfection is said to be
finders, whose revealed Treasures in 1017 were part of The
more philosophical and the oral transmission more experien-
General Heap (sPyi spungs) canon, including the famous
tial, whereas the Guidance on the Syllable A falls in between.
Great Perfection text The Ninefold Cycle of the Hidden En-
The key authoritative figure in these traditions’ background,
lightening Mind. Shenchen Luga also excavated a commen-
paralleling that of S´a¯kyamuni and Padmasambhava for the
tarial cycle on the latter text, which itself appears to be cen-
Nyingmas, is Shenrab Miwoche (gshen rab mi bo che), a di-
tered on classic mind-series rhetoric as found in early
vine figure said to have historically founded the Bon Tantric
Nyingma Tantras of that classification.
traditions in the land of Takzik to the west of Tibet.
Zhötön Ngödrub (g/bzhod ston dngos grub grags, c.
In the Tibetan imperial period—a difficult time for
1050) further mined Great Perfection literature from The
Bonpos, given their valorization of the suppressed Zhang
General Heap cache when he excavated The Trilogy of Procla-
Zhung Empire—key figures were Tapihritsa and Gyerpung
mations (sgrags pa skor gsum), a single volume with forty-six
Nangzher Löpo (eighth century). The former is said to have
individual texts that claims to be a translation from the
orally transmitted The Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung to
Zhang Zhung language. Its root Tantra is The Golden Tor-
the latter in a vision, and his student Gyerpung then com-
toise (gser gyi rus sbal) and Samten Karmay (1988) shows
mitted it to writing to become the core text of the Oral
that this text was subsequently copied with minor modifica-
Transmission tradition. The cycle has strong connections to
tions to partially elide its Bon character by Nyingmas. This
the Seminal Heart synthesis, as it is distinctive among the
latter Tantra was then circulated as a mind-series text claim-
early Bon Great Perfection traditions for its view’s emphasis
ing to be translated from Sanskrit by Mañju´sr¯ımitra and
Vairocana, and rediscovered by the obscure Khyungdrak
on embodiment, along with its pervasive focus on visions of
(khyung grag of Lhodrak [lho brag], thirteenth century?).
light. It seems to be the earliest Bon literature that evidences
However, the Bon text itself in at least two cases reproduces
this movement beyond the more common early focus on the
lines from one of the earliest Nyingma Atiyoga texts, indicat-
Great Perfection consisting of a pristine view similar to the
ing that this Bon revelation was itself drawing on earlier Bud-
austere perspective of the non-Tantric Ma¯dhyamaka school.
dhist sources in its own composition. The cycle is also con-
However, its redaction is presumably centuries later than the
nected to The Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung by the
eighth century—much of its present one-volume redaction
presence of the identically titled The Twelve Little Child Tan-
does not even claim to go back to Tapihritsa, though the two
tras, located in the collection right after The Golden Tortoise.
key, but short, texts (The Twelve Little Child Tantras and In-
structions on the Six Lamps) both claim to have been orally
Zhötön also revealed The Great Sphere of the Great Per-
transmitted to Gyerpung from a vision of Tapihritsa.
fection’s Ultra Summit (yang rtseDi klong chen) from the same
location in 1088, which became the basis for the Great Per-
Instructions on the Six Lamps is historically intertwined
fection tradition in Bon. It claims to have been originally
with the early Seminal Heart canon with similar discussions
composed by the eighth-century siddha Nyenchen Lishu
of the six lamps: All Good as the primordial Buddha, the
Takring (snyen chen li bshu stag rings) from Takzik Long,
dying process, post-death intermediate state liberation, and,
who translated it from the Zhang Zhung language into Ti-
of course, the importance of visionary experiences of lights
betan and then concealed it. Zhötön evidently considered
and Buddhas. However, it is not a mere adaptation of any
himself to be the reincarnation of Nyenchen, just as Dangma
known Nyingma Tantra, as it uses terminology and concepts
himself was considered to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra
in its own distinctive way. At least one other text of the
when he initially excavated the latter’s Treasure cache at Zha
Zhang Zhung cycle, however, appears to be directly derived
(zhwa) temple. One of the texts from the cycle, The Lamp
from The Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra.
Illuminating the Signs of Dying, is nearly identical to a text
on the same subject attributed to Mañju´sr¯ımitra titled Ex-
The other central figure for Bon during the imperial pe-
amining for Death, which is redacted within The Turquoise
riod was Drenpa Namkha, a shadowy siddha-style figure in
Letters section of The Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra.
the eighth century as well, but whose name is said to have
been used by at least three different figures from Tibet, the
Only a few decades later Gongdzö (dgongs mdzod,
Dakpo (dwags po), and the Zhang Zhung, respectively. His
1038–1096) of the Meu (rme’u) clan founded the A Guid-
most important teachings on the Great Perfection are said
ance tradition, which differs from the other two divisions of
to be contained in The Magical Treasury of the Magical Sky
Bon Great Perfection by having a precise historical origin in
(nam mkha’ ’phrul mdzod), but this was only transcribed as
Tibet rather than transcendental origins. It appears the tradi-
an oral transmission in the twelfth century by Tulku Lung-
tion was more associated with the Nyingma mind-series
bön Lhanyen (Sprul sku lung bon lha gnyan, b. 1112?) after
movement with its central focus on inner calm (zhi gnas)
receiving them from Tsewang Rindzin (Tshe dbang rig ’dzin,
techniques revolving around concentrating on a written let-
twelfth century).
ter A. Drugom Gyelwa Yungdrung’s (bru sgom rgyal ba
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2550
DZOGCHEN
gyung drung, 1242–1290) later condensation of the tradi-
meditations in the Great Perfection from The Treasury of
tion does involve a simple channel visualization practice and
Words and Meanings.
dream yoga, but it remains to be seen if these date back to
Germano, David F. “Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tan-
the original synthesis of Gongdzö.
tric History of rDzogs Chen.” In Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies 17, no. 2: 203–335. A survey
However, Drugom is arguably the most important Bon
of the growth of Nyingma Great Perfection movements from
Great Perfection figure after the eleventh century. He partial-
the eighth to the fourteenth centuries that stresses the nature
ly corresponds to the role of Longchenpa in the Nyingma
and diversity of contemplative praxis.
tradition and composed important works in both the Guid-
Germano, David F. “The History of Funerary rDzogs chen.” Jour-
ance on the Syllable A and Oral Transmission traditions. He
nal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1
wrote a series of nine interlinked texts on The Oral Transmis-
(2004). A study of early Nyingma Great Perfection move-
sion of Zhang Zhung that present the contemplation of spon-
ments depicting a fundamental divide between types stress-
taneous light images within darkness, in sky gazing, and in
ing earlier “pristine” forms and later “funerary” forms that
sun gazing—the similarities with the Seminal Heart are de-
focus on late Tantric practice and iconography with a special
tailed. He also contributed a long exegesis to yet a third im-
focus on death motifs.
portant Great Perfection cycle, namely The Lamp Commen-
Karmay, Samten. The Great Perfection (rDzogs chen): A Philosophi-
tary Dispelling Darkness, which was included within The
cal and Meditative Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. Leiden,
1988. A study of some of the earliest of the Great Perfection
Commentarial Cycle on the Great Sphere of the Ultra Summit.
texts with a history of the movement’s early evolution.
Special mention should also be made of Shardza Tashi
Kvaerne, Per. “Bonpo Studies: The A-khrid System of Medita-
Gyeltsen (shar rdza bkra shis rgyal mtshan, 1859–1933), the
tion.” Kailash 1, no. 1 (1973): 19–50; 1, no. 4 (1973):
prolific Bon author who drew extensively on Longchenpa’s
247–332. A detailed study of the Bon Guidance on the Sylla-
own Great Perfection corpus to create compositions whose
ble A tradition of the Great Perfection.
system is basically identical to the Seminal Heart.
Longchenpa. Kindly Bent to Ease Us: From the Trilogy of Finding
Comfort and Ease. 3 vols. Translated by Herbert V. Guen-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ther. Emeryville, Calif., 1975–1976. A translation of the root
Achard, Jean-Luc. L’Essence Perlée du Secret. Turnhout, Belgium,
verses form Longchenpa’s The Trilogy of Resting at Ease, in-
1999. A survey of early Great Perfection traditions with a
cluding interpretative introductions to each chapter.
focus on the Seminal Heart via an annotated translation of
Neumaier-Dargyay, E. K., trans. The Sovereign All-Creating Mind:
a key text from The Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra, including
The Motherly Buddha. Albany, N.Y., 1992. A pioneering and
comments on Bon traditions and possible connections with
important translation of The All-Creating King, though not
Kashmiri Shaivism.
always correct in the fine details of the text’s meaning.
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. The Nyingma School of
Rossi, Donatella. The Philosophical View of the Great Perfection in
Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, vol. 1.
the Tibetan Bon Religion. Ithaca, N.Y., 1999. A study of the
Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with the collabora-
philosophical system of the Great Perfection in Bon tradi-
tion of Matthew Kapstein. Boston, 1991. An annotated
tions, including annotated translations of key texts from The
translation of a twentieth-century survey of Nyingma reli-
Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung and The Trilogy of Procla-
gions and history, including extensive sections on the Great
mations.
Perfection.
Thondup Rinpoche, Tulku. Buddha Mind: An Anthology of Longc-
Germano, David F. “Dying, Death and Other Opportunities.” In
hen Rabjam’s Writings on Dzogpa Chenpo. Ithaca, N.Y.,
Religions of Tibet in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr.,
1989. An anthology of translations of classic Great Perfec-
pp. 458–493. Princeton, N.J., 1997. A translation with an
tion of literature with a special focus on Longchenpa.
introduction of Longchenpa’s treatment of death-related
DAVID GERMANO (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


E
EA SEE ENKI
EAGLES AND HAWKS. The terms eagle and hawk can be taken to refer generally
to birds of prey, although there is much confusion as to the particular species (eagle, hawk,
falcon, vulture, osprey, etc.) in bird symbolism and its description. Eagles and hawks seem
to gather their symbolic value from their swiftness, soaring ability, and fierceness; through
these qualities they are equated and associated with various religious principles and with
deities of all kinds.
The sacred roles of the eagle and hawk in many religions derive from their association
with the life-giving and life-sustaining powers of various deities who represent the forces
of nature. The Aztec god of sun and war, Huitzilopochtli, is symbolized by an eagle. The
sun’s efforts to regain the sky from its daily rising in the east symbolize the struggle be-
tween the principles of the celestial, or spiritual, spheres and those of the lower world.
The sun gods Re and Horus of ancient Egypt, who share similar attributes, are depicted
as hawks or hawk-headed men.
A myth of the Iroquois describes how Oshadage, the Big Eagle of the Dew, bears
a lake of dew on his back, which brings water and life to the earth after forces of fire have
parched all plant life. Assyro-Babylonian religion provides a similar example: the divine
lion-headed eagle Imdugud spread his wings after a drought, shrouding the skies in rain-
bearing clouds. An Olmec deity, the dragon monster, is a composite of caiman, eagle,
jaguar, serpent, and human, a figure that fuses sun, water, earth, and fertility symbolism.
Eagle and hawk symbolism is also associated with death, for the birds often act as
the bearers of souls “heavenward.” This is true of the hawk in California Indian religions
as well as in the religious system of ancient Egypt, where the hawk was itself the emblem
of the soul. In ancient Rome an eagle was released from an emperor’s funeral pyre to signi-
fy the soul departing for the afterlife.
C LOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT CORNER. Colossus of Ramses II at the Temple of Amun in Karnak,
Egypt. [©Gian Berto Vanni/Corbis]; Coptic ceremonial fan depicting Ethiopian saints.
[©Werner Forman/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Reverse of an early-fourth-century BCE Etruscan bronze
mirror showing the mythical seer Calchas dressed as an haruspex and examining an animal
liver. Museo Gregoriano Profano, Vatican Museums. [©Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.]; Twelfth-
century mosaic of Jesus as Pantocrator. Duomo di Cefalu, Sicily. [©Adam Woolfitt/Corbis];
Glazed pottery eagle from second- to third-century CE Italy. Museo Ostiense, Ostia. [©Erich
Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.] .
2553
2554
EARTH
Because of their swiftness, eagles and hawks are the mes-
New Sources
sengers and bearers of the gods. The Iliad and Odyssey of an-
Baird, Merrily. “Birds and Insects.” In Symbols of Japan: Thematic
cient Greek culture make reference to the gods’ use of eagles
Motifs in Art and Design. New York, 2001.
as messengers. In Eddic mythology, both Freyja and Odin
Taylor, Pamela York. Beasts, Birds, and Blossoms in Thai Art. New
possessed a hawk’s plumage that gave them the capacity for
York, 1996.
swift flight. The swiftness of the eagle Garud:a is noted in the
Vogel, Dan. “Ambiguities of the Eagle.” Jewish Bible Quarterly 26
Hindu Maha¯bha¯rata. It was Garud:a who stole the soma for
(June 1988): 85–92.
Vis:n:u and so became Vis:n:u’s mount. In Christianity the
S. J. M. GRAY (1987)
swiftness of the eagle’s flight associates the bird with prayer
Revised Bibliography
rising to the Lord and with his grace descending to man.
As birds of prey, the eagle and hawk are often identified
with gods of war and with supernatural malice in general.
EARTH. “May the rain-maker water the Earth-Mother
The eagle was the weapon bearer of the Roman gods and was
that she may be made beautiful to look upon.” Thus opens
often shown clutching a thunderbolt in its talons. According
a prayer to Awitelin Tsita, the earth divinity of the Zuni of
to the Maha¯bha¯rata, hawks are unlucky omens except when
New Mexico. The chant continues, “May the rain-makers
they precede a warrior into battle. As Jupiter’s bird in Roman
water the Earth-Mother that she may become fruitful and
religion, the eagle was also a “storm bird,” just as the hawk
give to her children and to all the world the fruits of her
was among the ancient Greeks; both were identified with vi-
being that they may have food in abundance. May the Sun-
olent winds associated with the earth’s malignant forces.
Father embrace our Earth-Mother that she may become
fruitful, that food may be bountiful, and that our children
Eagles and hawks represent divine majesty, the superior-
may live the span of life, not die, but sleep to awake with
ity of the intellect over the physical and of the spiritual over
their gods” (Matilda Coxe Stevenson, “Ethnobotany of the
the material. Thus the opposition of eagle (or hawk) and ser-
Zuñi Indians,” in Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pent represents the domination of baser forces by higher spir-
Washington, D. C. 1915, p. 37). Many North American
itual forces; so also, more generally, does the symbolic equa-
peoples revered the earth and remained deeply impressed by
tion of eagle and thunderbolt. This principle is found also
its sacredness. In the first years of the twentieth century, a
in such mythical creatures as the Christian griffin, the Olmec
Cheyenne explained to a visitor, “It is by the earth that we
jaguar-monster deities, and the Assyro-Babylonian god Im-
live. Without it we could not exist. It nourishes and supports
dugud; in Greek imagery depicting a hawk ripping apart a
us. From it grow the fruits that we eat, and the grass that sus-
hare; and, similarly, in Hindu imagery of the eagle Garud:a
tains the animals whose flesh we live on; from it come forth,
and a serpent.
and over its surface run, the waters which we drink. We walk
on it and unless it is firm and steadfast we cannot live”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(George Bird Grinnell, “Tenure of Land among the Indi-
An early work comparing themes and symbols that are found re-
ans,” American Anthropologist 9, 1907, p. 3).
peatedly in the myths and practices of many religions world-
Native Americans are not the only people to speak of
wide is Ellen R. Emerson’s Indian Myths, or Legends, Tradi-
the earth with intimacy and emotion. Throughout history
tions and Symbols of the Aborigines of America Compared with
and across cultures, people have clung to their images of the
Those of Other Countries, Including Hindostan, Egypt, Persia,
sacred earth. It is worthwhile and necessary to come to grips
Assyria, and China (1884; Minneapolis, 1965). A more de-
with these images. In the first place, they reveal a reality that
tailed study of Semitic symbolism is to be found in Maurice
remains veiled in any other terms. Furthermore, the study
H. Farbridge’s Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism
of the images of the earth bears directly on our understand-
(New York, 1970). This is a rich historical discussion of Se-
mitic religious and cultural symbols, including a brief but in-
ing of the human condition as it has been plumbed by so
teresting discussion of the use of animal imagery. A very use-
much of the human family. In this article we review several
ful collection (with index) of myths representing cultures and
important aspects of the earth, seen as a religious condition:
religious traditions worldwide can be found in The Mythology
earth as the source of life, earth as it appears at the beginning
of All Races, 13 vols., edited by Louis H. Gray (Boston,
of time, the image of earth as the primal mother, and earth
1916–1932). E. Washburn Hopkins’s Epic Mythology (1915;
as the locus of regenerative life.
New York, 1969) and William J. Wilkins’s Hindu Mythology:
SOURCE OF LIFE. The cosmos is a reservoir of sacred forces.
Vedic and Puranic, 2d ed. (London, 1973), offer extensive
From a religious perspective, the earth is the clearest epipha-
discussions of the Hindu epics, with detailed accounts of the
ny of an ensemble of sacred apparitions: soil, stones, trees,
various roles played by eagles and hawks. An authoritative
discussion of the use of animal imagery in religious and cul-
water, shadows, vegetation, and the jumbled landscape of the
tural contexts is Jocelyn Toynbee’s Animals in Roman Life
world. These form a single, living, cosmic unity. The soil,
and Art (London, 1973). This work makes extensive use of
the earth, signifies this tangle of concrete vitalities. The earth
historical accounts and of the described behavior of animals
is the foundation, the generative source, of every expression
in explaining their symbolic roles.
of existence. From the earliest records we possess of religious
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EARTH
2555
history, the earth, united with everything else that is, sup-
gant children with a hundred arms and fifty heads. Although
ports and contains all the life forms that reveal themselves
Gaia finds no prominent place in the Homeric Hymns, one
to human beings. Earth is a tireless fount of existence. The
of them is addressed to her: “It is the earth I sing, securely
lesson that the Cheyenne man taught his visitor is that the
enthroned, the mother of all things, venerable ancestress
religious meaning of the earth remains indistinguishable
feeding upon her soil all that exists. . . . To thee it belongs
from all the life that takes manifest form through the powers
to give life to mortals and to take it from them” (Hymn to
of the earth: mountains, forests, water, vegetation, and so on.
Earth 1ff.).
THE CREATIVE ROLE OF EARTH IN THE BEGINNING. A great
Ancient Greek traditions affirm that the earth existed
number of myths describe a distant time when the earth pro-
before heaven, to whom the earth gave birth by parthenogen-
duced or helped create life in the world. Among the many
esis (i.e., without any male assistance or insemination; for
mythic themes, we call attention to five: androgyny, parthe-
treatment of parthenogenesis among Greek and other Medi-
nogenesis, hierogamy, sacrifice, and emergence.
terranean goddesses, see Uberto Pestalozza, Pagine di relig-
Androgyny: fullness of being. Androgyny is an ancient
ione mediterranea, Milan, 1942, vol. 1, pp. 191ff.). Through
and widespread image of wholeness. Myths make clear that
such myths the power of the creative possibilities of the earth
the meaning of androgyny goes beyond its overtly sexual
are portrayed as limitless. The motif of parthenogenesis by
manifestation to symbolize the perfection of a primordial,
the primordial earth reappears in myths that account for
nonconditioned state of being. In fact, every beginning must
all the species of animals and plants as having been born from
start in the wholeness of being. Gods who manifested power-
the body of a primordial being, as well as in myths of virgin
ful aspects of the earth, especially divinities of vegetation and
birth such as the Greek accounts of Hera who, alone and un-
fertility, reveal traces of androgyny (cf. Nyberg, 1931,
aided by men, gave birth to Typhon, Hephaistos, and Ares.
pp. 230ff., for bisexual earth divinities). These sources of ho-
Izanami, the Japanese goddess of the earth, gave birth to a
liness and power, such as Attis, Adonis, and Cybele in the
number of gods who issued from her own substance.
Mediterranean world, portray the overfullness from which
Hierogamy. Perhaps the most lavish and numerous
life springs. In cosmogonic myths, chaos often represents the
myths depicting the role of the earth in creation are those
perfect totality, the undifferentiated unity, on which all sub-
that describe a marriage between heaven and earth, a hieroga-
sequent existence bases itself. In such circumstances, the cre-
my. Myths of this sort are reported from Oceania, Indonesia,
ative role of the earth is obscure but discernible. The earth
Micronesia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. When
exists “in germ.”
heaven encounters earth, life flows forth in innumerable
Such is the case in the Japanese texts recorded in the Ko-
forms. The union of heaven and earth is a fundamental act
jiki and Nihongi. In the beginning, heaven and earth were
of creation; it generates life on a cosmic and biological scale.
inseparably mingled together. These male and female princi-
The Greek accounts about Gaia and the Japanese myths con-
ples formed a perfect and androgynous totality within an
cerning Izanami show that the views of androgyny, parthe-
egglike chaos. Eventually a tiny, amorphous island was pre-
nogenesis, and hierogamy are related and, on occasion, even
cipitated out of the chaos. In this island was a reed, a devel-
overlap one another. All of these images, which are expres-
opment of the germ that first existed in the center of the cos-
sions of a coincidence of opposites, struggle to express the
mic egg. The reed was the first articulate transformation
notion of creativity and of the cosmic fecundity of the earth.
undertaken by the earth; it generated a number of gods.
In the beginning of time, according to the Maori tradition,
Later, when heaven and earth separated definitively from one
the sky, Rangi, and the earth, Papa, were locked together in
another, they took on the human forms of a man and a
a sexual union. Their children longed for the light of day.
woman, Izanagi and Izanami. The union of the two separate
In the eternal darkness of their earthen womb, they plotted
principles generated the world. When the woman died giv-
a way to separate their parents. Eventually, the children sev-
ing birth to the fire god, the deities of local places, hearths,
ered the bonds that tied heaven to earth and shoved their fa-
and vegetation arose from her body. For the moment we
ther into the air until light appeared.
focus our attention on the first stage of creation and on the
According to Zuni accounts, the creator, Awonawilona,
incipient, androgynous being that embraces the sacred pow-
contained all being within himself. At first he existed alone
ers of the earth. These are not yet clearly defined, but they
in the universe, but then changed himself into the sun and
include all possibilities of life. As such, the divine androgyny
produced two seeds from his own substance. With these he
in which the earth shares at the most primordial stage of cre-
inseminated the waters. Under his warmth, the sea turned
ation is the ultimate ground of the realities that follow.
green and grew in size until it became the earth mother
Parthenogenesis. According to Hesiod, “Earth [Gaia]
(Awatelin Tsita, the “fourfold-containing mother earth”), on
herself first of all gave birth to a being equal to herself who
the one hand, and the sky father (Apoyan Táchu, “all-
could overspread her completely, the starry heaven [Ou-
covering father sky”), on the other. These cosmic twins em-
ranos] who was to present the blessed gods a secure throne
braced in union to produce the countless numbers of crea-
forever” (Theogony 5126f.). This divine couple procreated
tures. After many complications, the sun and the first ances-
the gods, the cyclopes, and a slew of mythical monsters, arro-
tors he created managed to free the creatures germinating 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
2556
EARTH
the dark womb of the earth. Previously they had crawled over
new sprout was carried to a temple. The goddess of maize
one another like reptiles, hissing and spitting out indecent
was honored by three different female age-groups. When the
words. Eventually, when the sky was lifted off the earth,
crop was ripe, the community celebrated a sacrifice in which
these children escaped along a ladder to freedom and light
a young girl represented Xilonen, the goddess of the new
(Frank Hamilton Cushing, “Outlines of Zuñi Creation
maize. After the young woman was sacrificed, the new crop
Myths,” in Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnolo-
could be consumed as food. Two months later, at the end
gy, Washington, D. C., l896, pp. 379–384).
of the harvest, another woman, representing the goddess
Toci, was beheaded in sacrifice. A priest wore the flayed skin
In myths of hierogamy, a sacred union with heaven,
of the victim; another ritual specialist fashioned a mask from
often symbolized by lightning, hail, or rain, is indispensable
the victim’s thigh. The masked participant played the role
to the fruitfulness of the earth. It also serves as the model of
of a woman in childbirth in the harvest ritual.
fruitful human marriage. Hierogamy explains creation from
some primordial whole that precedes it. The separation of
These sacrifices ritually repeat the creation scenario in
heaven from earth is the first cosmogonic act, a fundamental
which the violent death of a primordial earth (e.g., through
shearing of primordial unity. In this widely known mythic
flood, fire, or violent self-sacrifice) gave rise to new forms,
drama, the fecundity of the earth with heaven is noticeably
especially plants. Cut to pieces, the victim’s body is identified
absent or sparsely distributed among the peoples of Australia,
with the mythic being whose death gave life to the cereal
the Arctic, Tierra del Fuego, and the hunters and herders of
grain.
North and Central Asia.
Emergence. We have seen how the earth figures largely
Sacrifice. In some myths of creation, the earth appears
in the creation of cosmic structures, as well as plant and ani-
as a primordial victim of destruction (e.g., through confla-
mal life. A large number of myths emphasize the role of the
gration, deluge, earthquake, petrification), especially
earth in the origins of human life. As mentioned above in
through sacrifice, or even self-sacrifice. In such circumstances
the opening scenes of the Zuni creation account reported by
the fertility of the earth is never suppressed, for from the im-
Cushing, the solitary creator became the sun and impregnat-
molated or dismembered remains spring the species of
ed the great waters with two seeds from his own substance.
plants, animals, linguistic groups, or races of humankind.
These germs of men and of other creatures eventually
The mystery of the creation of edible plants through the sac-
hatched in the darkness. Po´shayank’ya, the great sage (who
rifice of a goddess of the soil or earth was reenacted through
perhaps represents the nocturnal sun), then emerged from
agrarian rituals.
the foamy body of the earth mother, who possessed four
Most often, ritual sacrifices associated with the fertility
wombs, one on top of another. It was in the deepest of these
of the soil were symbolic. In some cases, however, we possess
womb-caverns that all creatures dwelled in the beginning.
reports of the actual sacrifice of living human victims. Such
For the first time, Po´shayank’ya pleaded with the sun father
was the case, for example, among the Khonds of early nine-
to liberate humanity from the dank and crowded bowels of
teenth-century India. The Khond community, a Dravidian
the earth. In order to deliver the forms of life from the ob-
tribe inhabiting the hills of Orissa, a province of southern
scure and indistinct conditions of its fertile matrix, the sun
Bengal, bought a meriah, a voluntary victim who lived in the
father began another round of creation, but this time he
community for years, married, and fathered children. In the
aimed to produce intelligent beings who could find their way
days preceding his sacrifice the meriah was ritually identified
out of the dark, uterine hold of life-engendering earth. These
with the sacrificed divinity. The community danced in rever-
beings would have the freedom that comes from the knowl-
ence around him. The victim was led in procession from the
edge of magical power and ritual.
village to the virgin forest, the location of sacrifice. Partici-
For a second time the sun father inseminated the foamy
pants anointed him and decorated him with flowers. They
earth mother to produce twins. The twins sliced open the
called upon the earth god, Tari Pennu (or Bera Pennu): “O
mountains and slipped into the subterranean darkness. With
God! We offer the sacrifice to you. Give us good crops, sea-
their warm breath they hastened the growth of a climbing
sons, and health” (Frazer, 1926, p. 389). In front of represen-
plant, enabling it to break through to the light above. They
tatives from every village in the vicinity, the meriah was slain,
then fashioned a ladder from its stalk, thus permitting the
and a priest distributed fragments of the sacrificed body.
creatures to ascend from the lowest cavern into the second
These pieces were brought to the villages and ceremonially
chamber. The beings who stayed behind or fell along the way
buried in the fields. The remains were burned so that the
became terrible monsters, creatures of the deep. Step by step,
ashes could be spread over plowed fields to guarantee a good
the twins provided the plant-ladder to grow and led the
harvest.
earthly pilgrims toward open space and heavenly light. At
In connection with the sacredness of the earth, the Aztec
each stage, the people grew in wisdom, and humanity multi-
of central Mexico also performed acts of ritual sacrifice and
plied along the way, filling up whatever space was made
dismemberment. When plants first sprouted, people sought
available in the earth by the twins. Eventually, the twins led
the “god of the maize,” a new shoot that was brought home,
out, one after another, six distinct groups of people, the an-
revered, and furnished with food offerings. That evening the
cestors of the six human races. They emerged on the surface
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EARTH
2557
of the earth still bearing signs of their fetal existence in the
significant history of humanity. The human mother and her
ground: their toes were webbed and their ears, like those of
fertile powers are brought completely within the compass
bats and other creatures of the night, were attached to their
and sacredness of the great earth mother.
heads by large membranes. They could not yet stand erect
M
but crawled on their bellies like lizards or hopped like frogs.
OTHER EARTH. Across the face of the globe, people cling
to the belief that human beings were born from the earth.
The Caniengas Mohawk, an Iroquois group, also re-
In some cases, human maternity is believed to result from
ported that humans once dwelled in the dark womb of the
the direct insertion of a child, an earthling, into a human
earth, without sunlight and in strange form. One day, during
woman’s womb (whether in the form of a seed, an ancestral
a hunt, one of the intraterrestrials accidentally discovered a
soul, or a miniature fetus). Up until the moment of its trans-
hole that led to the surface of the earth. On the surface, this
location into the human womb, the child had lived an em-
huntsman captured a deer. Drawn by the good-tasting game
bryological existence in the earth—in a cave, well, fissure, or
and the fine countryside, the subterranean creatures decided
tree. In Lithuania, for example, children were said to come
to emerge into the light of day. Only the groundhog re-
from springs, lakes, or hills intimately associated with Ze-
mained in the earth.
myna, the earth mother, for she alone was responsible for the
Similarly, referring to the Lenni Lenape or Delaware In-
creation of new beings (Haralds Biezais, Die Hauptgöttinnen
dians, the nineteenth-century scholar John Hockewelder re-
der alten Letten, Uppsala, 1955, pp. 338–342).
marked that “Indian mythologists are not agreed as to the
In many societies, the presence of a child in a mother’s
form in which they existed while in the bowels of the earth.
womb is attribued to her contact with some animal, stone,
Some assert that they lived there in a human shape, while
or other object. Whatever role the father and his sexual union
others, with greater consistency, maintain that their existence
with the mother might play, the fertility of the earth as the
was in the form of certain terrestrial animals, such as the
primordial mother is directly responsible for human mother-
groundhog, the rabbit, and the tortoise” (cited in Frazer,
hood and offspring. In such a setting of beliefs, human be-
1926, p. 427).
ings are, in a profound sense, people of their native land. Like
These myths of emergence from the earth illustrate to
the first humans in the earth, each new generation of chil-
what extent the earth is seen as a mother. In fact, the gesta-
dren first lives among the rocks or in chasms. Aquatic ani-
tion of the fetus and the act of parturition are viewed as reca-
mals such as frogs, crocodiles, fish, swans, or storks then
pitulations of the cosmic birth of humankind and the cre-
bring them and place them magically in their mothers’
ation of life in general, when humans emerged from the
wombs. Here again, fecund earth, the fertility of cosmic
deepest chambers of the earth. Within the earth humanity
being, is represented by specific fruits or forms that take life
lived an embryonic existence; for that matter, all the forms
from her (e.g., mountains, fertility stones, the waters of grot-
of creation existed as embryos within the earth. All living be-
toes or springs, animals). A human mother simply receives
ings passed through the various stages of development in a
children in their embryonic state. She is a container that
“ripening” process that has not yet come to completion. For
helps the larval life of the earth attain a specifically human
that reason the fruits of the earth reflect many different de-
form. The belief is that the subterranean womb is the true
grees of transmutation. Some Indian minerological tracts, for
fons et origo of embryological life, and once that is under-
example, describe the diamond as “ripe” (pakka), whereas
stood, the religious beliefs and practices described below
crystal is “unripe” (kacca), and the emerald, still wrapped in
make sense.
its stone womb, is only an embryo. In the same way, base
Memories of life in the womb. The experiences of
metals and unrefined ores are not yet fully “ripe,” but human
mystics and shamans may be compared with prenatal exis-
smiths and alchemists may imitate, hasten, and complete the
tence in the womb of the earth. The primordial dark night
powerful functions of the earth mother.
of the soul portrays the opacity of subterranean life before
This passage from the darkness of unconscious and pre-
emergence onto the surface of the earth. The power of North
formal life to articulate form through emergence becomes a
American shamans, for example, sometimes depends on their
model for many human activities. When cultures wish to
extraordinary abilities to remember their prenatal life. The
create something new, restore something worn, or regenerate
images they recall from life in the womb bear striking simi-
a being, they reenact the pattern that was powerful enough
larity to the chambers, fixtures, sounds, and sensations of the
to produce life in the first place. The act of procreation and
subterranean world. The Guayaki of Paraguay often consult
birth of individual human beings in a culture is considered
pregnant women as diviners, since their unborn children re-
a reenactment of the primordial drama of emergence. The
veal secrets and truths to them. Fetal children possess the
condition of the unborn child parallels the preexistence of
power to know obscure facts because they relive the primor-
humanity in the womb of the earth. Every fetal child relives
dial experience of the divine twins. These, in the first utter
the primal experience of humanity though its signs (dark-
darkness of chaos, knew the germinal possibilities of all sub-
ness, water, enclosure, larval form, etc.). In other words, be-
sequent life forms and experienced them at first hand, in
cause the emergence myth is known, cultures recognize that
the darkness, before they pursued their diverse historical
every individual possesses a firsthand experience of the entire
destinies.
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2558
EARTH
At times the cultural community longs to return to the
mologous with the sexual act (so that the plow or spade is
womb of the earth mother. The Yaruro people of Venezuela
an emblem of the phallus, for example), women become
revered their great mother, who lived in the remote area of
epiphanies of the sacred power of the earth. The acts of
Kuma in the east, where the dead go. In the late 1930s, the
women have worldly significance, for they channel the effects
Yaruro expressed the desire to reenter the realm of their
of the earth’s ability to bear fruit and modulate its intensity.
mother in order to be reborn into the paradisal existence that
The QurDa¯n declares, “Your wives are to you as fields”
preceded life and the arrival of colonial invaders (Vicenco
(2:223). The S´atapatha Bra¯hman:a (7.2.2.5) identifies the
Petrullo, The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venezuela, Bu-
furrows of a plowed field with a vulva and the seeds sown
reau of American Ethnology Bulletin 123, Washington,
in the furrow with semen. These ideas are widespread; they
D. C., 1939, pp. 226ff.).
account for the prominent ritual role of women in agricul-
Labyrinths. The image of the earth as mother (with
ture. Many communities consider it auspicious if a pregnant
openings to the world in the form of galleries, mines, grot-
woman sows the new seed; it augurs a good harvest, for the
toes, and caves) and the desire to return to the embryonic
crops will grow apace with the fetus. Often women put the
stage of existence in the womb explain why the labyrinth can
seed in the ground cleared by men, or women choose and
be an image of the body of the earth mother. The labyrinth,
store reservoirs of the fertile powers of the earth. Agricultural
or meandering underground cavern, was an initiatory arena
labor keeps one cognizant of the sacred origins of gardening;
as well as a place to bury the dead. Entering a labyrinth
labor is the vehicle of meaning as well as the vehicle of its
(among other religious motivations for doing so) amounted
transmission from one generation to another.
to a ritual return to the womb of the mother. Labyrinthine
For example, after the Canelos Quechua women of Ec-
caves were the sites of initiation, funerals, and marriages. It
uador have set a new field, they remain in it with their chil-
is in the fruitful womb of the earth that new forms of life
dren and recount episodes from ancient myths about
first quicken. The labyrinth dramatizes the difficulty of dis-
Nungui, the goddess of garden soil, whose power underlies
covering the past back to the sources of limitless creativity.
all fertility. The neighboring women of the Jivaroan commu-
Malekula funeral symbolism, for example, describes
nity also sing to Nungui at the time of planting. Nungui is
Tenes (or Le-he-he), a frightening female being who lies in
short, fat, and black (characteristic features of many “dark
wait for dead men’s souls. She stands at the entrance to a cav-
virgins” or black madonnas associated with the soil). She
ern; in front of her, outlined on the ground, is the sketch of
forces crops to break through the surface of the earth by mak-
a labyrinth. As the dead soul approaches, she rubs out half
ing them grow. Nungui dances at night in gardens that are
of the design. If the deceased has been properly initiated, he
well maintained; the new shoots of manioc are her dancing
will know the entire outline of the labyrinth and find his
partners. Since plants tend to shrink during the daylight
road easily to the afterlife; otherwise the woman will swallow
hours, Jivaroan women harvest them in the morning.
him. The labyrinths that one finds drawn on the earth in
Malekula teach the living the road to the land of the dead.
In a related ritual Jivaroan women ask Nungui for “ba-
That is, they provide the living with the initiatory key that
bies,” three red jasper stones (nantara) whose hidden loca-
enables them to return into the bowels of the earth mother
tion in the earth is revealed to them by the goddess in
(A. Bernard Deacon, “Geometrical Drawings from Malekula
dreams. The nantara contain the female souls of manioc
and the Other Islands of the New Hebrides,” Journal of the
plants. Women hide the stones in the earth and keep them
Royal Anthropological Institute 64, 1934, pp. 132ff.; John
dark with an overturned food bowl placed in the center of
Layard, “Totenfahrt auf Malekula,” Eranos-Jahrbuch 5,
the garden. The stones carry out the role of Nungui’s mysti-
1937, pp. 242–292).
cal child who, in the primordial past, helped women accom-
plish all the tasks of farming with a single magical word. The
Agrarian rites. Rites that mark significant moments in
prescribed layout of the contemporary Jivaroan garden and
the agricultural calendar repeat what happened to the earth
the red “children-stones” hidden there remain as signs of the
in mythical times. The mysteries of how life emerged from
perfect garden that existed at the beginning of time. When
a germ hidden in an undifferentiated chaos, or was engen-
the time arrives to plant manioc seedlings, Jivaroan women
dered in the sacred union between heaven and earth, or re-
gather to sing to Nungui while squatting over the new slips.
sulted from the violent death of divinities associated with the
The woman gardener places the first manioc cutting against
soil are reenacted in the rituals of the earth. Agricultural op-
her vaginal opening and paints the plant red before placing
erations in the Andes, for example, are scheduled around the
it in the ground. The identification of the fertility of women
menstrual periods of Pachamama, Mother Earth. Special re-
with the fertility of the soil is thus complete and direct.
strictions are observed at the times when Pachamama is
When they finish planting the fields, women dance for five
“open,” for the life of the community and the cosmos de-
nights in a row in honor of Nungui and request that her pres-
pend on her fertility.
ence spur on the growth of the plants (Michael J. Harner,
Women usually play crucial roles in the rites associated
The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls, Garden City, N.Y.,
with earthly fecundity. Insofar as women are symbolically as-
1973, pp. 70–76; Julian H. Steward and Alfred Métraux,
similated with the land and insofar as agricultural work is ho-
“Tribes of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Montaña,” in Hand-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EARTH
2559
book of South American Indians, vol. 3, New York, 1948,
from the womb onto the soil, and upi, a “lifting up.” The
p. 620).
act of touching the earth introduces the child to the biotic
condition shared by all animals and plants. By lifting him up
The religious role of women, who are identified with the
from the earth, the mother repeats his transition from amor-
land, appears dramatically in ritual sexual unions performed
phous biological form to fully human stature—just as it was
in fields or in orgies with which the entire community punc-
obtained by the primordial ancestors when they first
tuates the agricultural calendar. With these sacred acts,
emerged from the earth and stood upright upon it (Pierre
women and their partners commemorate the union of heav-
Clastres, Chronique des Indiens Guayaki, Paris, 1972,
en and earth in order to stimulate the fruitfulness of the vir-
pp. 14–16). The earth must be the mother who gives birth
gin soil. Communal sexual frenzy evokes the image of the di-
to every true human being.
vine couple during the confusion of the long cosmic night
in the period before creation, or in their primal state within
Placement on the soil was also an integral part of healing
the cosmogonic egg. During orgies, the whole community
rites. Sick persons were restored to health when they were
celebrates this return to the undifferentiated state of the earth
created anew, remade in the image of the ancestral beings in
at the beginning of time. The custom of streaking naked
their primordial situation within the earth. The Huichol of
across the earth to provoke the virility of the sky or of the
Mexico, for example, when on pilgrimage to Wirikuta, their
fertilizing rains shows how rites associated with the earth
place of mythic origins, stop by pools of water that open into
break down the barriers between individuals, society, cosmic
the creative depths of the earth. The healer asks his patients,
nature, and divine forms. The experience of society during
especially barren women, to stretch out full-length on the
orgy is that of seeds and primordial embryos. The communi-
ground, which is the powerful body of the primal mother.
ty as a whole loses its articulate shape during the period of
The rite of placing a newborn child on the earth existed in
subterranean merging and disintegration that is an integral
ancient China, where a dying person was also set on the soil.
part of the process of germination. Individuality dissolves in
The earth represents the powers both of birth and of rebirth
the orgy, for neither law nor social form is maintained in the
to a new existence. The powers of the earth determine
total fusion of sexes and emotions. As in the ritual of immer-
whether the transitions of birth and death are valid and well
sion in water, orgy undoes the structures of the community
accomplished (Granet, 1953, pp. 192–198).
and identifies human life with the formless, precosmic chaos
DEATH AND REGENERATION. As a form of regenerative dark-
in the bowels of the earth before creation. Even when orgies
ness, the earth, in its sacredness and fertility, includes the re-
are not literally carried out but are only staged as perfor-
ality of death. This was clear already in the myths of the sacri-
mances (e.g., phallic dances or parades, dancing between se-
fice of a primordial divinity associated with the soil. The
ries of unmarried partners), the fruitfulness of life derived
death of the god gives rise to life in new forms, especially
from the earth depends on the symbolic dissolution of norms
that of plants. Life and death are simply two phases in the
through carousing, obscenity, debauchery, insult, or choreo-
career of Mother Earth. In fact, “life” in the light of day con-
graphic and choral union of bodies and voices normally held
sists of a hiatus, a brief period of detachment from the earth’s
separate from one another. For example, it is in connection
womb. It is death that returns one to the primordial or eter-
with the fertility of the earth that many of the so-called ha-
nal condition that existed before the cycle of life began.
daka matsuri (literally, “naked festivals”) celebrated through-
out Japan find their meaning.
Many of the terrifying aspects of the earth mother, in
the form of the goddess of death or the recipient of violent
Lying on the soil. We have already seen that the con-
sacrifices, are rooted in her status as the universal womb, the
ception and birth of human individuals are scaled-down ver-
source of all life. Death itself is not annihilation, but rather
sions of the creative process performed by the earth since the
the state of the seed in the bosom of the earth. This helps
beginning of time. Human mothers repeat that sucessful first
explain why the bodies of the dead are buried in fetal posi-
act by which life first appeared in the womb of the earth
tions in so many cultures. These “embryos” are expected to
mother. For that reason, at the moment of birth, women
come back to life. In some cases, as stated above, the dead
from many cultures put themselves directly in touch with the
reenact the experience of the earth mother herself, who was
earth and mimic her actions. In this way they partake as fully
the first person to die (e.g., Izanami of Japanese mythology,
as possible of her powers and remain under her protection.
who died giving birth to fire). In such circumstances, the
In numerous societies women give birth in such a way as to
negative depictions of the earth mother as the goddess of
deposit the child onto the earth, or else place the child on
death portray her role in the sacrificial mode of existence that
the soil immediately after birth. In some cases women in
makes passage from one form to another possible. The ubiq-
childbirth lie prostrate on the ground or move into the forest
uitous sacrificial dimension of symbolic existence guarantees
or fields. “To sit on the ground” was a common expression
the unending circulation of life. “Crawl to the earth, your
in ancient Egypt meaning to give birth (Nyberg, 1931,
mother,” proclaims the R:gveda (10.18.10). “You, who are
p. 133). Every authentic birth of an Aché of Paraguay repeats
earth I place you in the earth,” is a funerary formula from
the first act of standing upright upon the primordial earth.
the Atharvaveda (12.1.11, 12.1.14). The Kraho of Brazil
The Aché birth rites include two moments: waa, a “falling”
make every attempt to transport a dying man back to the soil
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2560
EARTH
of his maternal village. The inscriptions on ancient Roman
dency for agricultural divinities, active and dramatic, to draw
tombs illustrate the same desire to rest in one’s native earth.
attention from the primordial divinities of the soil. But in
The vitality and fecundity of the earth, its sacred power to
all the great goddesses who represent the capacities of agricul-
generate life without end, assures the reappearance of the
ture and the fruitfulness of the tilled soil there exists the un-
dead in a new living form.
derlying presence of the earth as a whole, the sacredness of
the physical place of life. It is true that the earth often appears
The rich symbolism of the earth is not exhausted by the
in cosmogonic myths as a figure vaguer in outline than the
cosmogonies, agricultural feasts, or burial practices of archaic
more clearly delineated goddesses of specific crops or particu-
peoples or tribal societies. The earth remains a powerful
lar rites in the agricultural cycle. However, the role of the
image of the possibility of new life and radically new social
earth in the earliest stages of mythic history testifies to the
existence. In contemporary religious movements of rebellion
abiding sacredness of life itself, regardless of the distinct
or revolution prompted by desperate and oppressive circum-
forms that it may include. The myths of parthenogenesis, of
stances, the earth becomes a focal image of renewal (Bruce
the androgyny of the earth, of hierogamy, of the sacrifice of
Lincoln, “‘The Earth Becomes Flat’: A Study of Apocalyptic
the primordial earth, and of emergence from the dark womb
Imagery,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 25,
of the first times affirm the sacredness of the soil. That is,
1983, pp. 136–153; see also Werner Müller, Geliebte Erde:
they disclose the meaning of its tireless creativity. That mani-
Naturfrömmigkeit und Naturhass im indianischen und euro-
festation of the sacred in the form of the soil, whether as a
päischen Nordamerika, Bonn, 1972). In the eschatological or
general presence or divine figure, helps make sense of rituals
utopian visions of new regimes or revolutionary kingdoms
and symbolic forms linked to the earth.
the face of the earth will be renewed or the end of the world
will intervene to impose a new and just order, symbolized
Descents into caves and grottoes, the imagery of subter-
by the leveling of mountains and the filling of valleys. All
ranean embryos, scenarios of return to a prenatal existence,
forms of life, without discrimination, will obtain easy and
labyrinths, rites of swearing by the earth, deposition of the
equal access to the plenteous vitality of the earth.
newborn on the earth or interment of the dead in earthen
COSMIC SOLIDARITY OF LIFE. The religious imagery of the
graves, the iconographic tradition of black madonnas, and
earth engenders a kinship among all forms of life, for they
the terrifying figures of great goddesses, as well as the stylized
are all generated in the same matrix. The intimate relation-
sexual orgies of agricultural feasts return the attention of the
ship between earth and the human, animal, and vegetal life
religious imagination to one of its most important sources:
forms inheres in the religious realization that the life force
the inexhaustible powers of the universal procreator of life.
is the same in all of them. They are united on the biological
Few images have generated such power within the religious
plane; their fates, consequently, are intertwined. Pollution or
imagination or held such a command over it throughout the
sterility on one level of existence affects all other modes of
course of human history. It is possible that the rise of the
life. Because of their common origin, all life-forms constitute
earth to primacy as a sacred form in the religious imagination
a whole. Unlike the sacredness of the sky, which appears viv-
was stunted by her sacred marriage with the sky and other
idly in the myths of the separation of the sky from the crea-
male divinities (e.g., storm gods) who are important in agri-
turely forms dependent on it, there is no rupture between
culture. Nevertheless, the earth, especially in the image of the
the earth and the forms it engenders.
great mother, has never forfeited her role as the locus of life,
the source of all forms, the guardian of children, and the
Furthermore, earth protects the existence of life in myri-
womb where the dead await their rebirth.
ad forms, and safeguards against abuses (e.g., incest or mur-
der) that threaten the good order of reproductive life. Ritual
SEE ALSO Alchemy; Androgynes; Caves; Dismemberment;
union between sexual partners and orgies celebrated in cere-
Hieros Gamos; Labyrinth; Nature.
mony are restricted to decisive moments of the agricultural
calendar. During the rest of the time, the earth mother is
BIBLIOGRAPHY
often a patroness of morality and a guardian of the norms
Several fundamental works recommend themselves for their com-
conducive to fruitful existence. The earth punishes certain
prehensive coverage of the phenomenon, as well as for their
categories of criminals, especially adulterers, murderers, and
insight. Although dated, these studies are still important and
sexual miscreants. In some cases, as in ancient Greece, the
valuable: Albrecht Dieterich’s Mutter Erde (Berlin, 1905);
shedding of blood on the earth and incest could render
Theodor Nöldeke’s “Mutter-Erde und Verwandtes bei den
the earth barren, with catastrophic consequences. Thus, in
Semiten,” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 8 (1905):
the opening of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, a priest bewails the
161–166; Ernst Samter’s Geburt, Hochzeit und Tod (Berlin,
fate of Thebes because women suffer birth pangs without liv-
1911), pp. 1–20; Wolf Wilhelm Baudissin’s Adonis und
ing issue and the fruits of the earth and the oxen in the fields
Esmun (Leipzig, 1911), esp. pp. 443ff. and 505ff.; James G.
are dying, as is the city itself.
Frazer’s The Worship of Nature (London, 1926),
pp. 316–440; Marcel Granet’s “Le dépôt de l’enfant sur le
CONCLUSION. The earth reveals the meaning and sacredness
sol,” in his Études sociologiques sur la Chine (Paris, 1953),
of life’s ceaseless ability to bear fruit. This point comes home
pp. 159–202; Henri Théodore Fischer’s Het heilig huwelik
strongly in all the images we have examined. There is a ten-
van hemel en aarde (Utrecht, 1929); Bertel Nyberg’s Kind
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EARTH FIRST!
2561
und Erde (Helsinki, 1931); Willibald Staudacher’s Die Tren-
Hessel, Dieter T., and Rosemary Radford Reuther, eds. Christian-
nung von Himmel und Erde (Tübingen, 1942); Vittore Pi-
ity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans.
sani’s “La donna e la terra,” Anthropos 37–40 (1942–1945);
Cambridge, Mass., 2000.
241–253; Uberto Pestalozza’s Religione mediterranea: Vecchi
Wright, M. R. Cosmology in Antiquity. New York, 1995.
e nuovi studi (Milan, 1951), esp. pp. 191ff.; and Gerardus
van der Leeuw’s “Das sogenannte Hockerbegräbnis und der
MIRCEA ELIADE (1987)
ägyptische Tjknw,” Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni
LAWRENCE E. SULLIVAN (1987)
14 (1938): 151–167.
Revised Bibliography
Mircea Eliade’s Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries: The Encounter be-
tween Contemporary Faiths and Archaic Realities (New York,
1960), pp. 155–189, and Patterns in Comparative Religion
EARTH FIRST! Earth First!, the best known among the
(New York, 1958), chaps. 7 and 9, deal with earth and agri-
culture and offer ample bibliograpies. For a discussion of the
so-called radical environmental groups, was founded in 1980
images of the goddess in relation to the sacredness of the
in the southwestern United States. With its slogan “no com-
earth, see Andrew Fleming’s article “The Myth of the Moth-
promise in defense of mother earth,” it underscored its anti-
er-Goddess,” World Archaeology 1 (October 1969): 247–261,
anthropocentric ideology. In contrast to the anthropocentric
and The Book of the Goddess: Past and Present, edited by Carl
point of view it promoted a “biocentric” or “ecocentric” axi-
Olson (New York, 1983), which deals with the role of the
ology that insisted that every life form, and indeed every
goddess in prehistory, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome,
ecosystem, has intrinsic value and a right to live and flourish
Canaanite-Hebrew culture, in Christianity, gnosticism, Hin-
regardless of whether human beings find it useful.
duism, Buddhism, Japanese religion, Afro-American culture,
Amerindian religions, and in contemporary thought and
DEEP ECOLOGY. This axiology has a significant affinity with
practice. Bibliographies for these topics are included on pages
deep ecology, a philosophy and term derived from the work
251–259. Mother Worship: Theme and Variations, edited by
of the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess (1912–). Naess
James J. Preston (Chapel Hill, N. C., 1982), presents several
developed deep ecology to critique what he considered the
cases from the New World, Europe, South Asia, and Africa.
“shallow” anthropocentric ethics of most forms of environ-
Jürgen Zwernemann’s Die Erde in der Vorstellungswelt und Kult-
mentalism as well as to articulate a biocentric perspective in
praktiken der sudanischen Völker (Berlin, 1968) is an example
which nature is considered to have intrinsic value.
of a study of the full range of earth symbolism in a single cul-
Naess’s path to that perspective was grounded in his joy-
ture. A most thorough and penetrating study of the earth is
Ana Maria Mariscotti de Görlitz’s Pachamama Santa Tierra
ful and mystical experiences in wild nature, which led him
(Berlin, 1978), which examines the history of belief and
to appreciate and draw from the pantheistic philosophy of
practice surrounding the earth mother in the South Ameri-
Baruch Spinoza as well as from the Hindu Vedas, especially
can Andes. Olof Pettersson’s Mother Earth: An Analysis of the
as interpreted by Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948). Naess’s
Mother Earth Concepts according to Albert Dieterich (Lund,
version of deep ecology suggested that a path to one’s person-
1967) redresses some of the hasty generalizations of
al self-realization can involve expanding one’s sense of self
Dieterich.
to include nature. Consequently, biocentric ethics can be un-
New Sources
derstood as a form of self-love rather than a duty or obliga-
Berthrong, John, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds. Confucianism and
tion. Naess was clear, however, that there are many experien-
Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Human.
tial, religious, and philosophical bases for a deep ecology
Cambridge, Mass., 1998.
perspective and that his represents only one of them.
Chapple, Christopher Key, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds. Hindu-
After hearing about it in the early 1980s, the earliest
ism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water.
Earth First! activists adopted deep ecology as a descriptor for
Cambridge, Mass., 2000.
their own ethics even though few had read Naess’s philoso-
Cloud, Preston. Oasis in Space: Earth History from the Beginning.
phy in detail. However, they identified with what they un-
New York, 1988.
derstood to be his critique of anthropocentrism and his bio-
Cooper, David E., and Joy A. Palmer, eds. Spirit of the Environ-
centric ethics. The early affinity between Earth First! and
ment: Religion, Value, and Environmental Concern. New
deep ecology was animated by two shared perceptions: first
York, 1998.
that all life evolved in the same way and from the same sin-
Elvin, Mark and Liu Ts’ui-jung. Sediments of Time: Environment
gle-celled organism and thus all life forms are related, and
and Society in Chinese History. Cambridge, Mass. 1998.
second that the biosphere and all its life forms are sacred.
Emiliani, Cesare. Planet Earth: Cosmology, Geology, and the Evolu-
Whereas Naess insisted that there are many tributaries
tion of Life and Environment. New York, 1992.
to a biocentric perspective, radical environmentalists tended
Girardot, N.J., James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, eds. Daoism and
to believe that monotheism cannot be one of them. Such ac-
Ecology: Ways within a Cosmic Landscape. Cambridge, Mass.,
tivists generally blame monotheistic religions and the agricul-
2001.
tural practices that evolved simultaneously with them for en-
Gottlieb, Roger S., ed. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Envi-
vironmental deterioration as well as the destruction of
ronment. New York, 1996.
premonotheistic foraging cultures. They also 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
2562
EARTH FIRST!
societies that preceded monotheism and/or agriculture were
Soon radical activists in North America also were calling
more environmentally sustainable because they considered
themselves elves as they took credit for a series of dramatic
nature sacred. These activists often single out Christianity as
and costly sabotage and arson attacks. Their targets included
the most powerful global form of Western monotheism in
forest service offices and equipment, ski resort lodges built
part because it is seen as devaluing the earthly realm and lo-
in habitats considered critical for endangered species, genetic
cates the sacred beyond this world and in part because it has
engineering laboratories, and gas-guzzling sport utility vehi-
been aligned with political power. The earliest Earth First!ers
cles. Whatever the targets or the descriptors they choose
found such critiques in the work of historians such as Paul
when announcing their actions, radical environmentalists
Shepard, Lynn White, Perry Miller, and Roderick Nash.
consider civil disobedience and sabotage to be forms of eco-
Earth First! cofounder Dave Foreman, the most charismatic
nomic warfare against the destroyers of nature. They hope
of the group’s early leaders and the one most responsible for
that those tactics will thwart destructive commercial enter-
articulating its critical perspective, asserted:
prises by making them unprofitable.
Our problem is a spiritual crisis. The Puritans brought
Some Earth First!ers consider themselves anarchists and
with them a theology that saw the wilderness of North
seek the overthrow of all industrial nation-states. The majori-
America as a haunt of Satan, with savages as his disciples
ty, however, have a less revolutionary goal of securing legal
and wild animals as his demons—all of which had to
protection for habitats large enough to ensure the survival of
be cleared, defeated, tamed, or killed. (Harpers Forum,
biological diversity. Indeed, the movement helped bring that
1990, p. 44)
term, which often is abbreviated as biodiversity, into popular
THE PHILOSOPHY OF EARTH FIRST! Foreman and his earli-
parlance and public debate. This broader objective depended
est Earth First! comrades found substantial evidence that
on environmental legislation and law enforcement, which
such attitudes were alive and well in contemporary America.
most Earth First!ers, despite their justification of extralegal
During the years leading up to the formation of Earth First!,
tactics, hoped to strengthen. Indeed, the earliest Earth First!
when he was still working for the Wilderness Society, Fore-
activists theorized that an uncompromising radical environ-
man concluded that ordinary political advocacy had become
mental movement could strengthen the resolve and lobbying
ineffective because the government had been corrupted by
power of mainstream environmentalists.
corporations, which were assisted by a virulently antinature
Although it is difficult to judge whether the presence of
Christian ideology, including that of President Ronald Rea-
a radical environmental front makes mainstream groups
gan and his secretary of the interior, James Watt, a devout
more effective, after the formation of Earth First! some main-
evangelical Christian. That antinature religious ideology,
stream environmental groups did develop stronger positions,
which desacralizes nature and unleashes a voracious appetite
at least in part as a response to Earth First!. A number of
for “natural resources,” combined with modern science and
them also adopted biodiversity protection as a central priori-
advanced technology, had produced an environmental ca-
ty, something that had not been prevalent before Earth
lamity in which most of the world’s life forms were jeopar-
First!’s emphasis on it. Some of the leaders of mainstream
dized, Foreman and his cohort believed. This belief that
groups who publicly criticized the movement’s illegal tactics
human beings are precipitating an environmental apocalypse
privately acknowledge that the radicals have played a positive
that imperils a sacred natural world provides the urgency felt
role politically.
by Earth First!ers and undergirds their conviction that resis-
tance to these trends is a moral imperative.
ROAD SHOWS, WILDERNESS GATHERINGS, AND OTHER
RITUALS. Equally important, the critique of anthropocentric
TACTICS AND GOALS. The general public knows less about
attitudes that the militants of Earth First! forcefully articulat-
the social, religious, and ethical perceptions of Earth First!ers
ed contributed significantly to the spread of deep ecology
than it does about the movement’s controversial tactics.
spirituality within the wider environmental movement. One
Earth First! activists have engaged in rowdy and well-
way that occurred was through the creative efforts of the
publicized protests that often have involved civil disobedi-
movement’s leaders, artists, and musicians.
ence, including innovative blockades of logging roads and in-
Some of the first generation of Earth First! activists, for
dustry or governmental offices as well as clandestine sabotage
example, toured the United States conducting “road shows”
operations that increasingly have utilized arson.
that also could be labeled biocentric revival meetings. Those
These tactics sometimes are employed by individuals as-
shows sometimes would juxtapose photographic slides of in-
sociated with offshoot groups such as the Earth Liberation
tact “sacred wilderness ecosystems” with wilderness habitats
Front (ELF), which believes that tactics more aggressive than
ruined by logging. The epistemological assumption behind
those usually deployed by Earth First! are essential. The ELF
the presentations was that a spiritually receptive heart would
first emerged in the United Kingdom in 1992. Its partici-
know that a great wrong had been committed. The American
pants called themselves “elves” to evoke playfully a sense that
Earth First! singer Alice DiMicelle, for example, once ex-
they were spirits of nature or other representatives of the nat-
plained during an interview that her role during perfor-
ural world who were defending themselves. The moniker was
mances in a 1992 Earth First! tour of the United Kingdom
also a way for many of them to signal their pagan identity.
was, through her photographs and music, to awaken 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
EARTH FIRST!
2563
audience, many of whom had never experienced a sacred wil-
Further illustrating the role that Buddhism has played
derness ecosystem, the mystical experience that is available
in the movement, John Seed was introduced to Earth First!
in such places.
by the American Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Gary Snyder,
a Buddhist who variously calls himself a deep ecologist or a
Perhaps the most common theme in the road shows was
“Buddhist animist.” Snyder also has been one of the leading
conversion stories, frequently that of Aldo Leopold, who is
proponents of bioregionalism, a decentralist environmental-
considered by many the greatest ecologist of the twentieth
ist ideology that has become the de facto social philosophy
century. In the 1930s Leopold, who had contributed to the
of radical environmentalism. It envisions local political self-
federal government’s campaign to exterminate the wolf and
rule within political units whose boundaries would be re-
other predators, encountered a female wolf and her pups and
drawn to cohere with the contours of differing types of eco-
with his Forest Service mates shot the wolf, only to witness
systems.
the “green fire” dying in her eyes as she expired. That experi-
ence precipitated Leopold’s biocentric epiphany of the in-
Snyder attempted to communicate with the Earth First!
trinsic value of predators, even those labeled varmints by the
movement soon after he heard about it but criticized tactics
mainstream culture. This led to his repentance and subse-
he considered violent that were being advocated by some
quently to some of the most poignant biocentric nature writ-
Earth First!ers, including Foreman. However, Snyder was
ing of the twentieth century. In the 1980s and afterward
strongly supportive of Earth First!ers’ deep ecological intu-
Dave Foreman became well known for ending his road show
itions and direct action resistance as long as it remained non-
performances by recalling Leopold’s conversion, urging those
violent and thus, in his view, effective political theater. After
assembled to repent, howling with him the cry of the wolf
hearing about Earth First!, Seed quickly arranged to partici-
as a sign of their reconnection with and ethical commitment
pate in one of the earliest North American road shows, which
to wild nature.
contributed to his own fusion of Buddhism, deep ecology ri-
tualizing, and radical environmental activism.
Wilderness gatherings of Earth First! activists provided
another important venue for earth-based religious rituals.
SABOTAGE AS RITUAL. For some Earth First! activists, how-
Movement poets and musicians performed their own works,
ever, the most important ritual actions are sabotage and civil
which reflected and reinforced perceptions of the sacredness
disobedience, which constitute acts of earth veneration and
of life while providing activists with powerful bonding expe-
can lead to spiritual experiences that reconnect their partici-
riences. Others took on the role of religious leaders, develop-
pants with nature. For example, early in his Earth First! peri-
ing sometimes elaborate pageants that depicted a “fall” from
od Dave Foreman, who left Earth First! but not its overall
an early nature-and-goddess-worshipping paradise of forag-
ethical commitments around 1990 primarily because of po-
ers (caused by the advent of sky-god-worshipping agricultur-
litical differences with a growing faction of anarchistic new-
al societies) that precipitated an ecological calamity. In those
comers, spoke of sabotage as a form of ritual worship. A
performances a cosmic redemption also was enacted as a
number of other Earth First! activists have described mystical
remnant community of resistance, which understood the
experiences of “earth bonding” or reported communicating
earth’s sacred nature, arose and fought for the reharmoniza-
with the trees they inhabited during antilogging campaigns.
tion of life on earth. Movement members who were also in-
Those experiences reflected or helped shape the pantheistic
volved in Neopaganism, Wicca, or New Age rituals often
and animistic worldviews that Earth First! activists often
played significant roles in shaping the ritual life of the emerg-
share. Indeed, so many Earth First!ers consider themselves
ing movement. Indeed, Earth First! has many of the sources
pagan that a possible description for the movement would
and characteristics of a wide variety of contemporary nature
be the pagan environmental movement.
religions and arguably has contributed to a number of them.
Whatever terminology Earth First! activists identify
Even more influential than the rituals at wilderness
with, during its initial decade at least, the movement proba-
gatherings was the invention of a ritual process that became
bly received its greatest inspiration from the southwestern
known as the Council of All Beings. It was developed pri-
novelist Edward Abbey (1927–1989). His Desert Solitaire
marily by two Buddhists, the American Joanna Macy and the
(1968) described mystical experiences in the desert that
Australian John Seed, both of whom became pioneering fig-
taught him humility and a proper spiritual perception; for
ures in the deep ecology movement internationally. They
him, that meant biocentrism and reverence for the land.
achieved this in part by spreading this process and similar
Abbey’s novel The Monkeywrench Gang (1975) portrayed
ones primarily though not exclusively in North America,
ecological saboteurs fighting back against a totalitarian and
Australia, and Europe. The heart of the ritual involves an
relentlessly destructive industrial civilization that was in
imaginative, if not mystical or shamanic, process in which
league with religions that seek salvation beyond this world.
the human participants take on or represent the identity of
Though a work of fiction, the book was based on an actual
other beings and entities of nature, expressing during the
group of ecological saboteurs (mentioned briefly in Desert
council’s deliberations their anguish about environmental
Solitaire) who in the 1950s battled the strip mining of the
deterioration, their hopes for the future of life on earth, and
Black Mesa plateau by the Peabody Coal Company.
their counsel and support in pursuing ecological justice.
Through its characters The Monkeywrench Gang captured the
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EARTH FIRST!
various types of nature religion that animated those early
authoritarian and antinature. Nevertheless, those environ-
green rebels, such as Doc Sarvis’s hope that “Pan shall rise
mentalists rarely object to and almost always rely on meta-
again!” (Abbey, 1975, p. 44) and George Washington Hay-
phors of the sacred to express their conviction that nature has
duke’s pondering of “the oceanic unity of things” and his ra-
intrinsic value. They also often describe environmental de-
tionale for sabotage, which was grounded in his understand-
struction as desecration or defilement. Even though a few
ing that the desert is “holy country” (Abbey, 1975, pp. 227,
participants in these movements call themselves atheists, this
128).
generally means that they do not believe in otherworldly
EARTH FIRST! AS A RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT. The human per-
deities or divine rescue from this world, not that they deny
ception of sacred places, along with battles over them, is
a sacred dimension to the universe and earthly life. Indeed,
common in the history of religion. Often there is an environ-
they often characterize their connections to nature as
mental dimension to such perceptions of sacredness; some-
spiritual.
times places are invested with an aura of holiness because
The Earth First! movement can be considered religious
they are remote, dangerous to access, or characterized by
in that it views the evolutionary process, the diversity of life,
great biomass or geomorphological uniqueness (as is the case
and the entire biosphere as precious, sacred, and worthy of
with caves, geothermal vents, and mountains). What is reli-
defense. Another religious aspect is that its participants con-
giously innovative in the Earth First! movement and other
struct myths, rituals, and ethical practices that cohere with
radical environmental groups is the notion that the greater
such beliefs. This kind of nature religion attempts to express
is the contribution of a place to the planet’s genetic and bio-
a form of spirituality that coheres with evolutionary under-
logical diversity, the greater is its sacredness.
standings of the origins and diversity of life. It claims to offer
Although Earth First! activists affirm that the entire bio-
a solution to intractable and intensifying environmental
sphere is sacred and worthy of defense, because they cannot
problems, and if nothing is done to halt the unfolding envi-
be everywhere at once, they must make hard choices and de-
ronmental catastrophe, it offers hope that some may survive
cide which parts they will act to protect or heal. Consequent-
and eventually live on the earth respectfully and sustainably,
ly, the most important ethical priority is to prevent extinc-
especially those who develop spiritual humility.
tions and the destruction of the world’s most important
As the radical environmental worldview is at odds with
biological reserves. Even decisions about where to camp are
that of many of the earth’s other peoples, viewing most reli-
determined on the basis of such considerations: a site should
gions as part of the problem, it enjoins resistance to them as
be near enough to connect spiritually to the most fragile and
well as efforts to persuade those who adhere to them to resa-
thus sacred ecosystems but not so close that it damages or
cralize their perceptions of the earth. In light of these differ-
defiles them.
ences and because the environmental conditions that con-
tributed to the rise of Earth First! and other radical
Apocalyptic expectations of the end of the world or a
environmental groups show no signs of abating, it is likely
lesser disaster also have been common in the history of reli-
that such groups will continue to precipitate or become in-
gions. Environmental degradation may have played a role in
volved in environment-related social conflicts. It is also likely
fostering the kind of suffering that gives rise to such expecta-
that for the indefinite future such religiosity and movements
tions. What is novel in the apocalypticism characteristic of
will continue to play a role in shaping religious attitudes and
Earth First! is that for the first time such an expectation is
behaviors toward the earth’s living systems.
grounded in environmental science or at least on one credible
reading of currently available scientific data. Moreover, as
SEE ALSO Ecology and Religion, articles on Ecology and
Earth First!ers are drawing on the same countercultural reli-
Buddhism and Ecology and Nature Religions; Gandhi, Mo-
gious elements as others involved in contemporary nature re-
handas; Neopaganism; New Age Movement; Wicca.
ligion, many of them also are drawing on contemporary sci-
ence as a religious resource, and this represents another
BIBLIOGRAPHY
innovation. Many Earth First!ers, for example, consider
Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire. Tucson, Ariz., 1968. A memoir
James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis spiritually meaningful, in-
of Abbey’s years as a National Park Ranger, with vivid ac-
spiring or supporting their pantheistic religious sentiments.
counts of the spiritual experiences that led to his biocentric
Others have been moved by those, such as Thomas Berry,
outlook.
who endeavor to consecrate scientific narratives of the evolu-
Abbey, Edward. The Monkeywrench Gang. New York, 1975. The
tion of the universe and biosphere, making them into new
novel (about a band of environmentalist saboteurs) that in-
sacred stories that promote the veneration and defense of
spired the Earth First! movement.
nature.
Abbey, Edward. Hayduke Lives! Boston, 1990. Drawing on
Abbey’s experiences with the movement that The Monkey-
Not all radical environmentalists, however, are comfort-
wrench Gang helped to precipitate, this humorous novel de-
able calling themselves religious, including a number of biol-
picts, in exaggerated fashion, the diverse religious and politi-
ogists who have supported radical environmental initiatives.
cal subcultures drawn to the movement.
This discomfort is usually the result of equating religion with
Abram, David. Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in
the Western institutional forms of religion that they consider
a More-Than-Human World. New York, 1996. A sophisticat-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EARTH FIRST!
2565
ed argument defending animistic religious perception, writ-
with good descriptions of the views of the animal liberation-
ten by a scholar who identifies with them. It has been well
ists and anarchists drawn into the movement, and of the con-
received by many radical environmentalists.
troversies that followed this development, it largely ignores
Andruss, Van, Christopher Plant, Judith Plant, and Eleanor
the movement’s religious dimensions.
Wright. Home!: A Bioregional Reader. Philadelphia, 1990. An
Seed, John, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess. Thinking
early collection of essays from the pioneers of the bioregional
Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. Philadel-
movement.
phia, 1988. Explains this important ritual process.
Bari, Judi. Timber Wars. Monroe, Maine, 1994. A compendium
Shepard, Paul. Coming Home to the Pleistocene. San Francisco,
of writings by Northern California Earth First! activist Judi
1998. Published posthumously, this is the best introduction
Bari, who was a lightning rod both within the movement and
to Shepard’s defense of foraging cultures, with their animistic
to her adversaries, and who was the victim of a unsolved car
spiritualities, over the monotheistic agricultures that have
bombing in 1989.
widely supplanted them.
Foreman, Dave. Confessions of an Eco-Warrior. New York, 1991.
Smith, Samantha. Goddess Earth: Exposing the Pagan Agenda of the
Foreman’s perceptions of the first decade of Earth First!, in-
Environmental Movement. Lafayette, La., 1994. An example
cluding his reasons for leaving the movement he co-founded.
of the common perception among conservative Christians
Harpers Forum. “Only Man’s Presence Can Save Nature.”
that radical environmentalists are pagans who must be
Harper’s, April 1990, 37–48.
resisted.
Hill, Julia Butterfly. The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a
Snyder, Gary. Turtle Island. New York, 1969. Snyder’s Pulitzer
Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods. San Fran-
Prize–winning book, which contributed significantly to both
cisco, 2000. An account by an activist who initially affiliated
the radical environmental and bioregional movements.
with Earth First! of her long, illegal occupation of a redwood
tree, and the spiritual and political experiences she had dur-
Taylor, Bron. “Resacralizing Earth: Pagan Environmentalism and
ing and afterward.
the Restoration of Turtle Island.” In American Sacred Space,
edited by David Chidester and Edward T. Linenthal,
LaChapelle, Dolores. Earth Wisdom. Silverton, Colo., 1978.
pp. 97–151. Bloomington, Ind., 1995. A historical analysis
LaChapelle’s works exemplify the religious experiences and
of the antecedents to radical environmentalism in the United
perceptions often associated with a radical environmental
States, with a contemporary case study depicting the ways
perspective.
that perceptions of sacred space are involved in radical envi-
LaChapelle, Dolores. Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the Deep.
ronmental campaigns.
Silverton, Colo., 1988. This book includes interesting first-
hand descriptions of the earliest connections between Earth
Taylor, Bron. “Earthen Spirituality or Cultural Genocide: Radical
First! activists and Deep Ecology proponents.
Environmentalism’s Appropriation of Native American Spir-
ituality.” Religion 17, no. 2 (1997): 183–215.
Lee, Martha F. Earth First!: Environmental Apocalypse. Syracuse,
N.Y., 1995. A book claiming to identify a sharp distinction
Taylor, Bron. “Religion, Violence, and Radical Environmental-
between apocalyptic and millenarian Earth First! factions,
ism: From Earth First! to the Unabomber to the Earth Liber-
based largely on a reading of the early years of Earth First!,
ation Front.” Terrorism and Political Violence 10, no. 4
the movement’s journal.
(1998): 10–42. An analysis of charges that radical environ-
Loeffler, Jack. Adventures with Ed: A Portrait of Abbey. Albuquer-
mentalism is a terrorist movement.
que, 2002. A biography of Ed Abbey, who died in 1989,
Taylor, Bron. “Green Apocalypticism: Understanding Disaster in
written by his best friend.
the Radical Environmental Worldview.” Society and Natural
Manes, Christopher. Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and
Resources 12, no. 4 (1999): 377–386. Focuses on the move-
the Unmaking of Civilization. Boston, Little, Brown, 1990.
ment’s apocalypticism and a critique of the book by Martha
A book written by an early Earth First!er, synthesizing and
Lee cited above.
drawing on the movement’s early journal articles; it provides
Taylor, Bron. “Deep Ecology as Social Philosophy: A Critique.”
a good introduction to the thinking animating the majority
In Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays on Deep Ecology, edited
of early Earth First! activists.
by Eric Katz, Andrew Light, and David Rothenberg,
Mason, Jim. An Unnatural Order: Uncovering the Roots of Our
pp. 269–299. Cambridge, Mass., 2000. Assesses the contri-
Domination of Nature and Each Other. New York, 1993.
butions and limits of the bioregional social philosophy that
This articulates the view—common among radical environ-
inheres in most radical environmentalism.
mentalists—that agriculture led to social injustice and envi-
Taylor, Bron. “Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part I): From
ronmental deterioration.
Deep Ecology to Radical Environmentalism.” Religion 30,
McGinnis, Michael Vincent, ed. Bioregionalism. New York and
no. 2 (2001): 175–193;and “Earth and Nature-Based Spiri-
London, 1999. A recent collection of essays describing and
tuality (Part II): From Deep Ecology to Scientific Paganism.”
mostly promoting bioregionalism; it includes historical ac-
Religion 30, no. 3 (2001): 225–245. This two-part study ex-
counts of its genesis and evolution.
plores the breadth of nature-related religion, which includes
Naess, Arne. “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology
Earth First! and Deep Ecology.
Movement: A Summary.” Inquiry 16 (1973): 95–100. This
Taylor, Bron. “Diggers, Wolfs, Ents, Elves and Expanding Uni-
is the essay in which Naess coined the trope “deep ecology.”
verses: Bricolage, Religion, and Violence from Earth First!
Scarce, Rik. Ecowarriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental
and the Earth Liberation Front to the Antiglobalization Re-
Movement. Chicago, 1990. An early journalistic treatment
sistance.” In The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures 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
2566
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
an Age of Globalization, edited by Jeffrey Kaplan and Heléne
prises some two hundred more or less distinct societies, each
Lööw, pp. 26–74. Lanham, Md., 2002. Explores the move-
defined by its own language and sense of identity, its own
ment with greater ethnographic depth than the earlier ones.
traditional territory and political structure, and its own sys-
Taylor, Bron, ed. Ecological Resistance Movements: The Global
tem of family relations, marriage, and religious belief and
Emergence of Radical and Popular Environmentalism. Albany,
practice. These groups are distributed very unevenly in areas
N.Y., 1995. Examines the continuities and discontinuities
of high and low population densities.
among diverse forms of radical environmentalism around the
world, providing comparisons between Earth First! in the
East Africa contains several clearly defined geographical
United States and Europe.
and cultural areas, with an immense variety of societies, lan-
guages, and religions. It has been the meeting place of several
Wall, Derek. Earth First! and the Anti-Roads Movement: Radical
Environmentalism and the Anti-Roads Movement. London,
main language groupings, and its peoples are remarkably di-
1999. A partisan book lauding Earth First!’s anti-roads
verse in their cultures and forms of economic, political, and
movement in the United Kingdom; provides good descrip-
familial organizations.
tions of the campaigns but reflects a number of mispercep-
In the northern part of the region live peoples represent-
tions about Earth First! in the United States.
ing several main language families and groups: Semitic and
Watson, Paul. Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaugh-
Hamitic (Cushitic), mainly in Ethiopia and Somalia, and
ter on the High Seas. Toronto, 1994. An account by a propo-
three subgroups of the Chari-Nile group of the Nilo-Saharan
nent of biocentric religion, whose group, the Sea Shepard
family—Sudanic, in the far northwest corner, Nilotic in the
Conservation Society, has been called the navy of Earth
upper Nile Valley, and Para-Nilotic (Eastern Nilotic or Nilo-
First!; their controversial tactics have included sinking whal-
Hamitic) mainly in the Rift Valley region. To the south are
ing vessels believed to be operating in defiance of interna-
tional laws.
many people speaking Bantu languages (of the Niger-Congo
family). There are small pockets of speakers of other language
Wolke, Howie. Wilderness on the Rocks. Tucson, Ariz., 1991.
families (such as Khoisan, or click, languages in northern
Written from jail by one of the cofounders of Earth First!
after a conviction for removing survey stakes from a logging
Tanzania), and there are of course speakers of intrusive lan-
road, this book provides a good example of the ecological
guages such as Arabic and English. In most parts of the re-
analysis motivating many of the movement’s activists.
gion Swahili has long been used as a lingua franca, although
in a debased form rather than in its proper form as spoken
Zakin, Susan. Coyotes and Town Dogs: Earth First! and the Envi-
ronmental Movement. New York, 1993. A journalistic treat-
along the Indian Ocean coast. However, there appears to be
ment of the early years of Earth First!, highly favorable to
no direct relationship between language and religious belief
Dave Foreman and his allies when examining internal move-
and practice.
ment disputes.
The situation is different as regards economic, political,
Zimmerman, Michael E. Contesting Earth’s Future: Radical Ecology
and familial types, and belief and practice are more obviously
and Postmodernity. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1994. A sym-
linked to them. Although there are a few hunting and gather-
pathetic scholarly analysis of the promise and perils of deep
ing peoples, such as the Hadza of Tanzania and the Okiek
ecology and radical environmentalism.
of Kenya, the vast majority of the population consists of
BRON TAYLOR (2005)
mixed farmers, growing grains and keeping some livestock,
and pastoralist livestock herders.
A century of European colonial rule over the entire re-
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS
gion and the long Arab colonial overrule along the coast have
This entry consists of the following articles:
brought about degrees of unity and interaction. Trade and
AN OVERVIEW
wars have also often linked peoples together in varying ways
ETHIOPIAN RELIGIONS
and degrees. Although East African peoples are traditionally
NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
farmers and livestock herders, large towns and urban centers
exist throughout the region, from the ancient cities of Mom-
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
basa, Mogadishu, and Zanzibar on the coast to the modern
East African religions do not form a single coherent body of
cities of Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Kampala, and Dar es-Salaam.
beliefs and practices. They show great diversity in myths and
Scattered are many lesser towns that have attracted mixed
cosmologies and in beliefs about the nature of spiritual pow-
immigrant populations from the countryside and from
ers; in kinds and authority of ritual experts; in the situations
which modern Christian and syncretist movements have
when ritual is performed; and in responses to the advent of
spread out into the rural areas. Today there are virtually no
Islam and Christianity. This diversity is consistent with the
peoples in the region who are unaffected by Christianity or
ethnic, geographical, and historical diversity of the region.
Islam (although the depth of influence of these faiths varies
Our knowledge of East African religions is very uneven, and
widely); but traditional local religions remain active in al-
this may also contribute to the seeming diversity.
most every part of the area.
The total population of the Eastern African region in
DIVINITY AND MYTH. All East African religions have a belief
2003 was about 263 million people. The population com-
in a high god, the creator. Perhaps the most accurate term
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
2567
to translate this concept here is Deity. As would be expected,
mystical link with the Nile, on which they are ecologically
even though there are variations, in all of them the Deity is
dependent. The king, as Nyikang in immanent form, repre-
attributed broadly similar characteristics: omnipotence, ever-
sents the ideal and true order of the world within himself.
lastingness, ubiquity, and being beyond the comprehension
Godfrey Lienhardt has written about the Shilluk proverb
and control of ordinary living people. The variations lie in
that says “the Shilluk only believe what they see,” pointing
the idioms and symbols used to express these features and
out that it is through their human king that they are also able
abilities. These general characteristics are found in the high
to see what they believe.
gods representing all the cosmologies of the region: Kwoth
Other than the distinction between the creation of the
(Nuer; the name also means breath or spirit), Juok (Shilluk),
world and the formation of the particular society, the most
Nhialic (Dinka), Mbori (Azande), Adroa (Lugbara; the name
widespread mythopoeic feature of the many and varied
also means power), Ngai (Kikuyu), Kyala (Nyakyusa),
myths of the region would seem to be the attribution of re-
Mungu (Swahili), and so on. The names are different, but
verse or inverted characteristics and behavior to the originally
the divine nature is the same. Usually the Deity is considered
created inhabitants. They may be portrayed as incestuous or
to be spatially unlocalized, but in some religions it is thought
as being ignorant of kinship, the idiom used by most East
to be associated with mountains and other terrestrial fea-
African societies to express and validate everyday social rela-
tures, as among the Kikuyu, who state that Ngai dwells on
tionships; they may be given close identification with animal
Mount Kenya and on lesser mountains of the Rift Valley
species, the natural and the social thereby being brought into
area.
a single conceptual system; they may be said to have dwelt
The Deity is usually considered remote and otiose: after
outside the present homeland in a state of primeval timeless-
creating the world it retired, leaving men and women on
ness, their travels and adventures representing those of past
earth ultimately dependent upon it but pursuing their own
migrations and final settlement into the present habitat; they
ways cut off from divine truth and perfection and with a
construct a cosmic topography in which the particular soci-
memory of a primeval paradise that might one day be
ety is set in both space and time as a moral community with-
reached again with the help of prophetic leaders. Perhaps all
in an asocial and amoral wilderness.
peoples of the region have myths to explain the separation,
With creation myths are found myths that tell of such
often couched in terms of a Tower of Babel story in which
matters as the relationships between people and wild and do-
a rope or a tree between heaven and earth was destroyed ei-
mesticated animals, between men and women, and between
ther by human foolishness or divine displeasure. (There is
peoples of different societies and races; the origins of and rea-
not the least reason to suppose that these separation myths
sons for death; the origins of fire and cooking, linked with
are in any way due to diffusion from Christian sources.)
the making of settlements and the exchange of primeval
There is considerable variation in the degree to which it is
hunting for farming; and the nature and validation of the
held that the Deity interferes in the everyday affairs of the
ties, rights, and obligations of descent, age, sex, and rank. It
living, beyond being responsible for death, and in beliefs held
is frequently difficult to draw any meaningful distinction be-
about the relationship between its creation of the world and
tween what may be considered by outside observers to be
the later formation of human societies. There is also much
myths and folk tales that tell of these and similar problems.
variation in its relationships with the many lesser deities that
As with myths, most folk tales are concerned with paradoxes
are found in all East African cosmologies.
and logical contradictions in the experience of the particular
culture concerned. Perhaps the great majority of East African
These aspects and relations are stated in myth, each soci-
folk tales are told about agents who are animals or humans
ety having its own corpus of myth that tells of the creation
in the guise of animals; their adventures refer essentially and
of the world, the relationship between humankind and the
by implication to human behavior. Proverbs and riddles,
Deity, and the formation of society. A typical example is that
many with similar implications, are found throughout the
of the cosmogony of the Nilotic Shilluk of the upper Nile.
region.
Their myths tell of the creation of the world by Juok and of
the later formation of the Shilluk kingdom by the culture
In Ethiopia and the Swahili and Somali coasts, the areas
hero or mediator, Nyikang. The mythical cooperation of cre-
with long-standing literacy and forms of writing, accounts
ator and hero is a feature of many East African myths, their
of the formation of the world and society and their history
two activities being distinct in time and usually in place also.
may also be in written forms. They may profess to be histori-
Nyikang, whose parentage is usually given as a father of heav-
cal chronicles of particular towns, peoples, or dynasties, but
enly provenance and a mother who was a creature of the
nonetheless they partake of the general nature of mythopoeic
River Nile with the attributes of the crocodile, is thus associ-
statements, using the same idioms as spoken myth.
ated with sky, river, and earth; he separated the Shilluk from
LESSER DEITIES AND THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE LIVING.
their neighbors and united his people as their first king. All
The Deity usually communicates with the living only indi-
later kings have been embodiments of Nyikang, and the in-
rectly, through refractions of its power in the forms of lesser
stallation of a new king is a dramatic representation of both
deities, spirits, gods, powers, and ancestors, ghosts, or shades
the social diversity and the unity of the Shilluk as well as their
(almost every writer has his or her own terminology, which
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2568
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
has led to a good deal of definitional confusion). These mys-
women who have been possessed. In some societies, for ex-
tical entities may float freely or they may be attached to social
ample the Lugbara, these women acquire a degree of personal
groups (lineages, clans, neighborhoods, and others) by hav-
independence and clearly defined identity but no more. In
ing localized shrines established for them. The relations of
others, such as the Swahili, they become members of spirit
communication are complex, but essentially the deities may
cults and so of socially recognized groupings that stress their
control or constrain the living by possessing them and mak-
joint identity as against that of the men, who are seen as affil-
ing them sick, and the living may contact the deities by sacri-
iated to a particular mosque in which women are never full
fice, prayer, and self-induced trance. Both parties are seen as
members. The Swahili spirits are localized in particular
interdependent, even if the living may not understand the
places, each of which is associated with a particular cult
full nature and motivation of the deities; but if contact
group under the control of a spirit priest who has the powers
ceases, the deities cease to have power and to “exist” in the
of mediumship and divination. The women thus form a kind
awareness of the living at all.
of mirror organization to that of the men. Something very
similar is found in the za¯r cult of much of Ethiopia, Somalia,
There are many kinds of these deities found in East Afri-
and the Muslim Sudan. Women are possessed, healed by an
can religions, but they may conveniently be divided into the
exorcist-medium, and then considered as cult adherents. The
categories of spirits and ancestors, each comprising many
high incidence of this possession would seem to be linked to
subtypes. Spirits are considered as different from the tran-
the particular problems, both social and psychological, of
scendent and otiose Deity (even though the same word may
women in these largely Muslim societies.
be used for both, as is kwoth among the Nuer). They are im-
manent, more dynamic, and more immediately demanding;
The other main category of deity in East African reli-
they are usually regarded as so numerous as to be beyond
gions is that of the dead, who, unlike spirits, are of the same
counting. Whereas the Deity is only rarely localized in
order of existence as the living and so more easily understood
shrines (as among the Kikuyu, who recognize certain fig trees
and approached. There are many kinds and levels of ancestral
as shrines for Ngai), many kinds of shrines, temples, and im-
worship, corresponding to the various kinds of ancestors:
ages are built for the spirits where they may be contacted by
those of the direct line of descent, those of submerged de-
the living. Since spirits are invisible and unknowable, being
scent lines, and those of other kin. They may be considered
of a different order than human beings, they need some locus
as individual ancestors, remembered by their personal names,
where the living may contact them.
or as collectivities of unnamed ancestral kin who are of less
importance in living memory. As they are like the living, they
A spirit may be considered as a representation of some
may easily be worshiped by sacrifice in which they are given
aspect of human experience whose power is thought to be
food, which is shared between them and the living as it is
outside the immediate community and beyond the everyday
among kin, each category of ancestors representing a particu-
knowledge or control of ordinary people, until it exercises
lar group or constellation of living kin that comes into con-
some form of power over a living person by possession or
tact with the dead on particular occasions. Also, as might be
sickness. This experience may be that of nature, as with the
expected, the ancestors may themselves act as senior kin and
smallpox and other disease gods of the Ganda or the earth-
initiate communication by sending sickness or trouble to the
quake and lightning spirits of the Lugbara; it may be experi-
living and so draw attention to themselves.
ence of outside historical events, as with the airplane and Pol-
ish (refugee) spirits of the Nyoro; or it may be the individual
Sacrifice is made typically to remove sickness or as a re-
experience of inner psychological states such as guilt and fear,
sponse of gratitude for removal of sickness, to avoid sickness
as with the sky divinities of the Dinka. The possession of a
and other troubles, and at times on regular occasions of
living person by a spirit places him or her into direct and pal-
group or individual purification. Each kin or lineage group
pable contact with the particular experience: divination iden-
makes its own sacrifices (since ancestors of other groups are
tifies the spirit, and sacrifice removes it from the possessed
of no interest to it). In centralized societies the royal ances-
victim and restores the proper status quo.
tors may be offered sacrifice on state occasions by the ruler
and his priests on behalf of the entire kingdom.
Another aspect of spirit possession is that the victim is
thereby singled out and acquires a new or additional mystical
An example of lineage sacrifice is that of the Lugbara of
and personal status. In East Africa women appear more usu-
Uganda. Here the most important and frequent sacrifices are
ally to be possessed by spirits; it has been suggested that this
made to the ghosts, those dead of the patrilineal lineage who
is so because women suffer from a greater sense of cultural
have left sons behind them. They are believed to send sick-
deprivation and ambiguity of role than do men. Women’s
ness to their living descendants to teach them if the latter
roles are less clearly defined than those of men, with the ex-
have denied respect to the living elders, who may invoke the
ception of the role of mother. When a woman is barren,
dead to do this as part of an elder’s duty. When the sickness
therefore, her role is wanting and ambiguous: she may ac-
has gone, the lineage elder sacrifices an animal to thank the
quire a more definite one, largely independent and less under
dead and so cleanse the home of sin. People may also sacrifice
the control of husband or brother, by becoming the adherent
to their matrilateral ghosts for broadly similar reasons and
and communicant of a spirit and so linking herself to other
to the collectivity of dead who left no children. Similar sacri-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
2569
fices are reported from the Nyakyusa of southern Tanzania,
In brief, sacrifice to spirits and ancestors removes sick-
but besides their being made by lineages to their own ances-
ness and guilt for the commission of sin (defined variously
tors they are also made on behalf of all the members of neigh-
but essentially as an act against the will of the Deity and the
borhoods and chiefdoms.
proper order of authority within social groups) by the immo-
lation of a victim identified with the sick person, thereby re-
The relationship between ancestor and spirit worship is
moving the experience that has disturbed or affected the local
essentially that ancestors are linked to, and typically localized
group and the moral role of the guilty person within it.
in, a shrine established by their descendants, whereas spirits
Other rites are found throughout the region: those of tradi-
are freer and if localized are tied to neighborhoods and wider
tion or transformation of status. The most widespread are
settlements instead of to descent groups. The identity of the
rites of initiation at puberty and at death.
group concerned is clearly of central importance.
Initiation rites, more generally for boys than for girls,
Sacrifice is typically made by ritual representatives of liv-
although these take place, are most elaborate in those socie-
ing groups. They are of two kinds: priests who are regarded
ties in which age-sets and generation-sets provide the basis
as having special spiritual characteristics and skills, and ordi-
for political and military action and also regulate marriage.
nary senior people (elders) who sacrifice by virtue of genea-
The best-known examples are the Para-Nilotic pastoralist so-
logical position rather than special skills as such (although
cieties such as the Maasai, Samburu, Nandi, Karamojong,
by being nearer to the dead than juniors they do have greater
and their related neighbors; some southern Ethiopian groups
spiritual authority). It is true that in most East African socie-
such as the Galla; and others such as the Nyakyusa of south-
ties priests may also be appointed on genealogical grounds,
ern Tanzania, who also have age systems of political impor-
but in those cases they come from priestly lines, as the office
tance and complex initiation rites. These rites, as with all
is not open to members of other groups. Priests are reposito-
rites of transition, begin with a rite in which the initiates are
ries of divine knowledge and power that are usually consid-
separated symbolically (and often physically) from their fam-
ered to be vested in a descent line, so that there are myths
ilies and is followed by a series of rites that takes place in se-
that explain how this line was originally selected by the Deity
clusion or secret from the remainder of society. Finally there
for this task. Examples are the Masters of the Fishing Spear
are the rites of reaggregation of the new person into society
among the Dinka, the Nuer Leopard-skin priests, the
with his or her new role as an adult able to have sexual rela-
Mugwe of the Meru of Kenya, the rainmakers of the Lug-
tions, marry, act as a warrior, and so on. In some cases, as
bara, the laibons of the Maasai and their Para-Nilotic neigh-
traditionally among the Kikuyu, the period of seclusion
bors, the members of the most senior age-sets among the
might take many months and would finish with the elaborate
Kikuyu.
symbolic rebirth of the new young man. But today initiation
rites have lost much of their former importance and are per-
The priests who have these specialized duties are uni-
formed somewhat perfunctorily in most of the region.
formly given aspects of sacredness and so set apart from ordi-
nary people. For example, the Dinka Masters of the Fishing
In those societies where ancestral cults are important,
Spear carry life within themselves for their people and so may
mortuary rites are likewise important; an example comes
not die a natural death; when they feel their powers wane
from the Lugbara of Uganda, where mortuary rites, especial-
they ask to be buried alive so that the life remains for the
ly for senior men, are long, drawn out affairs that involve the
community. At a politically higher level, the king of the Shil-
participation of kin over great distances. The disposal of the
luk is smothered for the same reasons. The Lugbara rainmak-
corpse is of little moment, but the symbolic destruction of
ers are considered almost as living ancestors, being symboli-
the deceased’s social identity, the restructuring of kin ties
cally buried at their initation as rainmakers, and they are
that were centered on him, and the rites of redomestication
buried at their real death later in ways that are the exact op-
of the soul as a ghost in its new shrine are all of the greatest
posite of those of ordinary funerals.
importance and elaboration. In societies where ancestral cults
are lacking, such as the technologically simple hunting and
Another universally found ritual expert is the diviner,
gathering Hadza of Tanzania, these rites are of virtually no
a person, male or female, believed able to discover the mysti-
importance.
cal causes of sickness and other misfortunes in the everyday
world of the living. Methods of divination used in East Africa
EXPLANATIONS OF AND RESPONSES TO EVIL AND MISFOR-
are many, including the use of oracles (more or less mechani-
TUNE. All East African religions have a concept of evil. Expla-
cal devices believed to be beyond the physical control of the
nations of evil and responses to it are typically expressed in
operators), trance and mediumship (often while possessed by
beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery, which are thus integral parts
a spirit associated with mediumship), the consultation of
of any system of religion. The first fully adequate study of
omens, and formerly, before colonial rule stopped the prac-
witchcraft—one which has not as yet been surpassed—
tices, the administration of ordeals and oaths. Diviners are
concerns witchcraft beliefs among the Azande people of
usually also healers, treating both the material and the mysti-
southwestern Sudan. The Azande distinguish between witch-
cal aspects of sickness by the use of medicines and by
craft (an innate mystical ability to harm others merely by
divination.
wishing or thinking to do so) and sorcery (the use of material
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2570
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
substances to do the same). Although this distinction is wide-
social order has been and is the recourse to prophetic leaders.
spread in East Africa, it is not universal, and many societies
It is often held that East African prophets are a modern phe-
refer merely to evildoers who use either or both means of
nomena, but this is extremely unlikely; although historical
harming others.
records are few it may be safely assumed that they have al-
ways been a feature of the region.
These beliefs are found throughout the region, although
each culture has its own peculiarities of idiom in which to
If we omit here the famous Sudanese Mahdi Mu-
express the ideology of evil; in all of them, however, the ide-
h:ammad Ah:mad who led his adherents to capture Khartoum
ology of a witch is that he or she is in some way a reverse
in 1885 and established a theocracy there, the earliest cases
of a full and properly behaving member of a community.
for which reasonably reliable records are available include
The basic principles of the system of explaining coincidence,
those from the southern Sudan and from what is now Tanza-
unexpected failure, disaster, or sickness are similar every-
nia (earlier prophets have been recorded from the Lake Nyasa
where. It is consistent with the basic, small-scale, and person-
region to the south).
al relationships of everyday life in these societies that explana-
tions of the unexpected and immediately inexplicable in
Prophets have been a marked feature of the Nuer and
technical terms should be sought in personal relations, as the
Dinka of the Nilotic Sudan. At the end of the nineteenth
activities of evil-intentioned persons. Their motivation is
century the Nuer prophet Ngundeng, claiming inspiration
held to be hatred, envy, and jealousy against those who are
from a Dinka sky divinity and spending much time fasting
more fortunate or successful. These emotions are felt toward
and living in the wilderness, was able to bring together large,
others who are already known; it is extremely rare that such
normally autonomous groupings to raid neighboring peoples
feelings are provoked by strangers. Their identity depends
and to stand together against Arab slavers and, later, British
largely on the composition of the more important groups
colonial rule. He built an earthen pyramid from which he
whose members should regard themselves as a community.
would prophesy. After his death his son Gwek succeeded
Witchcraft is a kind of treachery, a perversion for ignoble
him, refusing cooperation with the government. A deformed
ends of proper authority, obligation, and affection. Thus
man, Gwek would stand on top of the pyramid in a state of
where the basic local group is a kinship one, witches are held
possession, uttering prophecies that foretold the end of colo-
to be kin of their victims and sorcerers thought to harm unre-
nial rule. He was killed and the pyramid destroyed some
lated persons. Where such kin groups are unimportant, the
years later. Among the neighboring Dinka, Arianhdit was
distinction between witches and sorcerers may not be made.
perhaps the greatest prophet, flourishing at the time of the
First World War; he died in 1948. Dinka prophets were
These beliefs are linked to knowledge of technical causa-
Masters of the Fishing Spear as well as Men of Divinity, thus
tion. A belief in witchcraft regards the activities of witches
being both priests and prophets with powers additional to
as “the second spear,” in the Zande phrase. It is clear that
those of ordinary priests. The main Dinka prophets may well
a man is gored by a buffalo: the belief in witchcraft is used
have influenced the prophetic water cults that arose in Ugan-
to explain not that he was gored as such but why he was
da at the time of the Uganda Mutiny, marked by the drink-
gored by a particular animal at that particular time and place.
ing of divine water that would remove the Europeans and
The identity of the witch is discovered by divination, and de-
their weapons.
mands for reparation, vengeance, punishment, or other so-
cially approved action can be taken by the community so as
Among the Lugbara, to the south, a water cult known
to restore proper relations between the concerned parties.
as Yakan emerged about the turn of the century in response
The whole is an effective jural process once the premises are
to human and cattle epidemics and to the intrusion of Arabs
accepted.
and Europeans, which seriously affected local life. The dis-
turbance of a traditionally ordered society led the people to
Radical social change has occurred in almost all parts of
seek a famed prophet, Rembe, from the Kakwa people to the
East Africa during and since colonial times. Change leads to
north. At first they obtained sacred water from him; later
increases in disputes and tensions as traditional social roles
they invited him to enter their country to restore their dam-
break down and alter, and this is often expressed in terms
aged society. Rembe dispensed water that was imbued with
of suspicions and fears of witchcraft and sorcery. These evil-
divine power to his adherents, promising that drinking it
doers are traitors, coming symbolically from the outside of
would ensure the return of dead livestock and people (and
the community, and efforts are made to cleanse whole com-
so destroy the traditional ancestral cult), drive away disease
munities of them by mass purificatory religious movements
and foreign newcomers, and make the drinkers immune to
led by prophets and healers, both Christian and non-
bullets. Adherents were regarded as equal, men and women,
Christian.
old and young, irrespective of clan differences, thereby sym-
RELIGIOUS CHANGE AND PROPHETIC MOVEMENTS. East Af-
bolizing a primeval egalitarian society as portrayed in myth.
rican societies have never been static, and at times in their
The cult collapsed at his arrest in 1917, although the spirit
history change has been rapid and radical. A usual response
Yakan who inspired him is to this day believed to be a wan-
to the sense of confusion about the present, uncertainty
dering spirit. Like almost all prophets, Rembe tried to recon-
about the future, and in some cases virtual breakdown of the
struct society as it was thought to have been at the beginning
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
2571
of time, the utopia of the future being the same as the para-
and sickness. Another factor has been that of education.
dise of the mythical past.
Until independence a high proportion of educational services
were controlled by mission organizations; thus to acquire a
The communal drinking of divine water was also found
Western education and enter the modern world one had to
in southeastern and central Tanganyika during the Maji Maji
join a mission and become at least a nominal Christian. This
rebellion (maji is Swahili for water) against the German colo-
kind of conversion has nothing to do with the individual sin-
nial government in 1905–1907. It was begun by a diviner
cerity of conversion and belief, which is a matter quite out-
or prophet called Kinjikitile, who was possessed by a local
side the competence of any outsider to evaluate.
spirit as well as by a panethnic deity called Hongo. Those
who drank Kinjikitile’s water would be immune to bullets
African Independent Churches without any link to for-
and would drive the Germans into the sea. The movement
eign bodies have long been a feature of East Africa. They
turned beyond his control politically; he was hanged, but the
began largely as responses to what were seen (justifiably or
revolt was put down only after as many as a quarter of a mil-
not is not the immediate question at issue) as overbearing co-
lion Africans had died.
lonialist attitudes on the part of the mission churches. These
There were many other prophet-led movements of the
African Independent Churches (AICs) in East Africa seem
time, such as the Giriama (a Mijikenda group of the Kenya
to have developed rather later than those in other parts of
coast) movement of 1914, led by prophetesses, and the
the continent. They have been marked particularly in areas
Nyabingi movement in southwestern Uganda during the
of very high population density, which have been those
first quarter of the century and later, also led largely by
where, for obvious reasons, colonial efforts and influences
women. Both of these began as religious responses to colonial
were first directed and where the effects of external change
rule and later became increasingly political in aim until they
and of land shortage and overcrowding have been the most
were put down by the colonial governments.
severely felt. The Kikuyu, the Luhya, and the Luo of Kenya,
the Chagga of Tanzania, and the Ganda of Uganda are
Many accounts of changes in East Africa have set con-
among the most striking examples, and all of them have edu-
version to Christianity apart from more traditional and pre-
cated Christian elites and African Independent Churches.
Christian prophetic movements (except in Ethiopia, the po-
These areas also, as a not unrelated consequence, have pro-
litical center of which has been Christian since the fourth
duced most of the members of modern political and social
century—but Ethiopian Christianity has had no influence
elites.
on other parts of the region, being physically so separate).
This reflects the outsiders’ distinction between true and false
Islam has been a feature of East Africa for many centu-
religions, but from the point of view of the local societies
ries. It has been a part of the religious situation in northern
themselves the distinction is largely meaningless. Outside ob-
Ethiopia, the Sudan, and the Somali and Swahili coasts since
servers also distinguish between traditional and world reli-
the Middle Ages. The advent of Omani colonial rule based
gions, but here the differences are more significant. Chris-
on Zanzibar in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries revi-
tianity and Islam are parts of international networks of
talized it, and from the coast Islam penetrated into the interi-
economic and political as well as religious relations, so that
or along the trading and slave routes based on Zanzibar. In
their adherents may become part of extrasocietal and extra-
some cases whole groups near the coast became Muslim, as
African groupings that are significant in the lives of educated
did the Yao, for example (often largely to prevent their being
and elite people. They are also literate religions and as such
enslaved, often to enable them to participate in the slave
open up temporal and spatial visions and areas of knowledge
trade as partners with Arabs and Swahili); in others, individ-
of a wider world that are less accessible to traditional world-
ual members of the trading settlements inland, such as Tabo-
views based upon particular local societies.
ra and Ujiji in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), became Mus-
lims. In addition, Muslims from the Indian subcontinent
It may well and sensibly be argued that a person adopts
have been in the coastal towns for centuries and spread in-
a new faith both because he or she accepts, in an intellectual
land to the more modern colonial towns. In general, howev-
or emotional measure, its theological arguments and because
er, Islam has had relatively little religious impact on most of
he or she accepts it as a better way of dealing with the tribula-
East Africa, and once the power of the Zanzibar sultanate was
tions of everyday life than had been offered by the traditional
weakened it almost ceased to spread.
faith. In all traditional East African religions the factor of
healing is, and has probably always been, a central one. To
If traditional Christian and Muslim prophetic leaders
this must be added a related factor: when fears and accusa-
are considered members of a single category of religious ex-
tions of witchcraft and sorcery reach a critical stage, people
perts, it may be seen that there are certain clearly defined
turn to prophets who promise to cleanse the land of these
phases of these movements in East Africa since the latter part
evils. East Africa has had many new Christian and Islamic
of the nineteenth century. The first phase was that of the ear-
prophetic movements whose leaders promise a new society
lier effects of colonial rule, with which a link was seen with
free of witchcraft, sickness, and poverty; in addition, the
epidemics and other disasters; here the prophets were ulti-
Christian message as expressed by missionaries refers, to a
mately unsuccessful as religious or political leaders (although
large extent, to the problems of physical and moral health
their inspirational spirits have usually lingered on as free spir-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2572
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: ETHIOPIAN RELIGIONS
its of one kind or another). The second phase was during the
(London, 1957) and Communal Rituals of the Nyakyusa
second quarter of the twentieth century, when the political
(London, 1959), deal in great detail with rituals of many
aspects were less in evidence and more importance was given
kinds, set in their social context. Bernardo Bernardi’s The
to missionization, missionaries being seen as colonial agents
Mugwe: A Failing Prophet (London, 1959) deals with a par-
and even as betrayers of the Christian message as it affected
ticular priestly office among the Meru, an offshoot of the
Africans. The third and fourth phases have been more con-
Kikuyu of central Kenya. Abdul Hamid M. el-Zein’s The Sa-
cred Meadows (Evanston, Ill., 1974) is concerned with the
temporary but should be distinguished. One comprised the
elaborate beliefs and rites of the Swahili town of Lamu, on
movements led by Christian prophets to reform mission
the Kenya coast, which has nominally been Muslim for many
churches and to found syncretist or reformed sects and
centuries. Frederick B. Welbourn’s East African Rebels (Lon-
churches; these continued the process mentioned in the sec-
don, 1961) and Frederick B. Welbourn and Bethwell A.
ond phase. The other has been the rise of more overtly politi-
Ogot’s A Place to Feel at Home (London, 1966) deal in detail
cal leaders during the period of gaining political indepen-
and with sympathy with African Independent Church move-
dence from the colonial powers. The leaders’ authority has
ments in southern Uganda and western Kenya respectively.
usually had aspects of messianic and charismatic authority,
The other main category of writings on East African religions are
but no more need be said about them here. The third phase,
surveys of various kinds in which comparisons are made be-
however, is distinctly relevant and provides a main link be-
tween several local religions. Benjamin C. Ray’s African Reli-
tween the histories and followings of traditional and world
gions (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1976) is an excellent introduc-
religions, especially Christianity in this particular region of
tion to African religions in which those of East Africa feature
Africa. The acceptance of new faiths, with either the aban-
prominently, in particular the Nuer, Dinka, Shilluk, Ganda,
Lugbara, and Kikuyu. Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa,
donment of the old or a syncretism of the two, does not hap-
edited by John Middleton and E. H. Winter (London,
pen in a historical or social vacuum and cannot be considered
1963), and Spirit Mediumship and Society in Africa, edited by
in isolation from the traditional religious past. The same peo-
John Beattie and John Middleton (New York, 1969), con-
ple, as individuals, move from traditional to world religions
tain essays by various authors on these matters among several
(and often back again): they are not members of separate
different peoples. J. Spencer Trimingham’s Islam in East Af-
communities.
rica (London, 1964) is a useful survey, and John V. Taylor’s
The Primal Vision (London, 1963) is a valuable short intro-
SEE ALSO African Religions, articles on Mythic Themes and
duction to East African religion from a Christian viewpoint.
New Religious Movements; Lugbara Religion; Muh:ammad
New Sources
Ah:mad; Nuer and Dinka Religion; Nyakyusa Religion;
Anderson, David M., and Douglas H. Johnson. Revealing Proph-
Witchcraft, article on African Witchcraft.
ets: Prophecy in Eastern African History. London, 1995.
Ewel, Manfred. From Ritual to Modern Art: Tradition and Moder-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
nity in Tanzanian Sculpture. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2001.
The basic accounts of East African religions are in the form of
Hansen, Holger Bernt, and Michael Twaddle, eds. Religion and
monographs on the religious systems of particular societies.
Politics in East Africa: The Period Since Independence. Lon-
Most, although by no means all, are by anthropologists, each
don, 1995.
of whom has lived among the people in question, has learned
Meeker, Michael E. The Pastoral Son and the Spirit of Patriarchy:
their language and ways of life, and can set the beliefs and
Religion, Society and Person Among East African Stock Keepers.
rites firmly into their social, cultural, and historical contexts.
Madison, Wis., 1989.
They include two books by E. E. Evans-Pritchard. In Nuer
Religion (Oxford, 1956), on the Nilotic Nuer of the southern
Oded, Arye. Religions and Politics in Uganda: A Study of Islam and
Sudan, he discusses the complex Nuer beliefs of the soul, di-
Judaism. Nairobi, Kenya, 1995.
vinity, sin, sacrifice, and religious symbolism and relates
Omari, Cuthbert Kashingo. God and Worship in Traditional Asu
them to the social structure. The other, Witchcraft, Oracles
Society. Erlangen, Germany, 1990.
and Magic among the Azande, 2d ed. (Oxford, 1950), is es-
Ray, Benjamin. Myth, Ritual and Kingship in Buganda. New York,
sentially on notions of spiritual causation among a pre-
1991.
scientific people of the southwestern Sudan. Both these
Spear, Thomas, and Isaria N. Kimanbo. East African Expressions
books are classics in the study of African religions. The
of Christianity. Athens, Ohio, 1999.
Dinka, neighbors of the Nuer and closely related to them,
are the subject of Godfrey Lienhardt’s Divinity and Experi-
Wrigley, Christopher. Kingship and State: The Buganda Dynasty.
ence: The Religion of the Dinka (Oxford, 1961, reprinted,
New York, 1996.
1987), in which the relationships of belief and sacrifice to
JOHN MIDDLETON (1987)
Dinka efforts to understand and control their experience of
Revised Bibliography
the outside world are discussed with insight and subtlety.
John Middleton’s Lugbara Religion (London, 1960) deals in
a more strictly sociological manner with the use made by the
Lugbara of Uganda, who are related to the Azande, of ritual
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: ETHIOPIAN
in everyday social and political affairs. The two books on the
RELIGIONS
Nyakyusa, a Bantu-speaking people of southern Tanzania,
Situated in the northeasternmost part of the Horn of Africa,
by Monica Wilson, Rituals of Kinship among the Nyakyusa
Ethiopia is populated by three major groupings of people.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: ETHIOPIAN RELIGIONS
2573
These groups speak languages classified as being related to
acceptance of the religious beliefs and practices of the agricul-
three branches of Afro-Asiatic: Cushitic (e.g., Agaw, Bilen,
tural and Christian Amhara and Tigrinˇa near whom they set-
Sidama, Oromo), Semitic (e.g., Amhara, Tigrinˇa, Tigre,
tled. By the close of the twentieth century, few traces of in-
Gurage), and Nilo-Saharan (e.g., Majangir, Berta, Gumuz,
digenous Cushitic rites existed among the Muslim Jimma
Koma). Linguistic affiliations roughly correspond with reli-
Oromo, most of whom had become devout followers of the
gious observances. Centuries ago Cushitic- and Semitic-
Tija¯n¯ıyah order of Islam.
speaking Ethiopians were converted to Christianity and
Islam but they still retain some traditional beliefs and prac-
Macha, Boran, and Guji Oromo, with slight variation,
tices. The traditional religious observances of the Nilo-
all share in common the Kallu institution, which Karl Knuts-
Saharan peoples have been among the least influenced by
son describes as a social bridge between humanity and divini-
Christianity and Islam. Cushitic religious traditions, princi-
ty. Through the figure of the Kallu, a ritual expert, a person’s
pally those of the Agaw, profoundly affected the beliefs and
wishes are carried to divinity; this dignitary also constitutes
practices of Ethiopians on the central plateau.
the channel through which divinity’s will is passed down to
humanity. Moral rules of conduct are made manifest in the
AGAW. Inhabiting the northern and central plateaus in the
Kallu’s daily behavioral and ritual performances associated
region of Gonder province, the Agaw form the linguistic and
with divinity. Macha manifestations of divinity find expres-
cultural substrate population of the Semitic-speaking Am-
sion in the belief in Waka (sky or god); Atete, a female deity;
hara and Tigrinˇa. Their most northerly relatives, the mainly
and ayana, or divine agents. Kallu rituals, performed in
Islamic Bilen, are sedentary and engage in agriculture, as
groves of tall trees, incorporate sacrifices for rainmaking or
nearly all Agaw do. Three Agaw groups—the Qemant,
ceremonies in honor of Waka. Possession by ayana spirits at
Kwara, and Falasha (the last sometimes called Ethiopian
regular intervals gives the Kallu man or woman a wider
Jews, who practice a pre-Talmudic form of Judaism)—live
sphere of influence and power as a ritual clan leader.
west of the Takkaze River and north of Lake Tana. Other
Agaw groups live south of Lake Tana in Agawmeder and
AMHARA-TIGRINˇA. Inheritors of the monophysite doctrine
Damot. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the
of Christianity (which became the official religion of the old
Agaw were estimated to number about 490,000.
Aksumite kingdom in about 350 CE), the Semitic-speaking
Amhara and Tigrinˇa, inhabit large areas of central Ethiopia.
The Qemant, who have a mixture of traditional and
The provinces of Gonder, Shoa, and Gojam, and the district
Hebraic religious beliefs, live in dispersed settlements that are
of Lasta in Wollo province are the traditional homelands of
defined by sacred groves, the abodes of culture heroes called
the Amhara, estimated at the beginning of the twenty-first
qedus. Sacred groves, a feature widespread among other cen-
century to number almost twenty million. Tigrinˇa mainly in-
tral Ethiopians, are the loci of all major religious ceremonies.
habit the province of Tigre, their homeland, and more are
Among the Qemant, these ceremonies are conducted by offi-
dispersed throughout several districts in highland Eritrea.
ciates (wambar) who hold the highest political and religious
The Tigrinˇa people numbered over four million at the begin-
offices and belong to the Keber, or superior moiety. Keber
ning of the twenty-first century.
moiety members trace their ancestry to the pure Qemant; all
The Amhara-Tigrinˇa have no cult associated with their
other Qemant belong to the Yetanti moiety. Both groups
supreme being and creator god, Egziabher (the god from
disdain manual labor other than agriculture. At the apex of
across the sea). Predating the transplantation of Christianity,
the priesthood, the wambar are assisted on ceremonial occa-
the Amhara-Tigrinˇa worshiped good and evil spirits who
sions by higher and lower priests, who ritually sacrifice on
were associated with trees, fountains, and animate and inani-
behalf of the community a white bull or white sheep as an
mate objects. Nowadays, extreme devotion is expressed to
offering to the male high god, Mezgana, who is believed to
the Virgin Mary (Maryam), who is believed to dwell in such
reside in the sky. After performing purification rites, priests
sacred natural areas as high mountains, springs, and groves
and laypeople fast from the eve of the ceremony until the sac-
of sycamore trees. Sacrifices and cult activities take place in
rifice the following morning. Worship of jinn at their natural
sacred groves, though the church (bet kristyan) is the princi-
abodes is also held to regulate rain, restore fertility, and rid
pal seat of religious worship. Dedicated in the name of a pa-
the community of pests and disease.
tron saint, the church is the focal point of the parish, the larg-
OROMO. The over twenty million Oromo, representative of
est local, social, and political subdivision. At services, only
the southern Cushitic, stretch from the southern tip of Tigre
the priest and deacons (and formerly the king) may enter the
to Harar, then south to the Tana River in Kenya, and as far
sanctuary, which is completely hidden from the view of the
west as the tributaries of the Blue Nile. Their cultural life is
communicants. Priests and laypeople alike observe strict fast-
varied, ranging from the seminomadic pastoralism practiced
ing laws throughout the year and always before major reli-
by the southern Boran, who have resisted conversion to
gious festivals. Before a modern system of taxation was intro-
Christianity or Islam, to the sedentary agricultural life of the
duced in this century, church and state administration was
Macha of western Shoa province. Shoan and Wollo Oromo
supported by an elaborate system of tithing in labor and
long ago abandoned their traditional dependence upon cat-
kind, made possible by a surplus economy based on extensive
tle, a cultural transformation coinciding with their gradual
agricultural production.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2574
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
GURAGE. The southernmost speakers of Semitic Afro-
Levine, Donald N. Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multieth-
Asiatic, the Gurage inhabit the region in Shoa province
nic Society. Chicago, 1974. A bold, imaginative examination
where Lake Zeway and the middle course of the Gibbie River
of the principal linguistic and sociocultural factors account-
form, respectively, the general east and west boundaries. The
ing for the shaping of modern Ethiopia.
Shoan Oromo live to the north, and Sidama groups stretch
Shack, William A. The Gurage: A People of the Ensete Culture. Lon-
across the southern flanks of Gurage territory. Language and
don, 1966. A comprehensive analysis of social and religious
dialectical differences sharply demarcate the largely Christian
organization set against the cultural background of the food
and Muslim eastern Gurage from the adherents of traditional
quest.
religion, which is still observed among some western Gurage.
Stauder, Jack. The Majangir: Ecology and Society of a Southwest
These western Gurage numbered about 250,000 at the be-
Ethiopian People. Cambridge, U.K., 1971. A model study of
ginning of the twenty-first century. The cultural life of the
small-scale social organization of a hunting and gathering
western group is dominated by the cultivation of Ensete ven-
people.
tricosum, more commonly known as false banana, a food sta-
Trimingham, J. Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. London, 1952. Re-
ple consumed in great quantities on all religious or ritual oc-
print, Totowa, N.J., 1965. The definitive study of the
casions.
history and institutions of the Islamic peoples of the Horn
of Africa.
The remote supreme god of the western Gurage figures
New Sources
less prominently in religious beliefs and practices than do
Aspen, Harald. Amhara Traditions of Knowledge: Spirit Mediums
lesser deities, on whom major cult activities center. Guard-
and Their Clients. Wiesbaden, Germany, 2001.
ians of the shrines dedicated to the lesser deities—Wak, the
Eide, O⁄yvind M. Revolution and Religion in Ethiopia. Stavanger,
male sky god; Dämwamwit, the female deity; and Bozˇä,
Norway, 1996.
the thunder god (all of whom reside in sacred groves where
the great annual festivals are held)—exercise quasi-political
Ghebre-Ab, Habtu, ed. Ethiopia and Eritrea: A Documentary
and judicial roles in their spiritual capacity and sanction the
Study. Trenton, N.J., 1993.
authority of secular leaders. The annual festival of the female
Mengisteab, Kidane. Ethiopia: Failure of Land Reform and Agricul-
deity gives women ritual license to shed their customary sub-
tural Crisis. New York, 1990.
servient role and abuse menfolk verbally.
Shelemay, Kay Kaufman. Music, Ritual and Falasha History. East
M
Lansing, Mich., 1986.
AJANGIR. Nilo-Saharan peoples, such as the Majangir,
Anuak, and Nuer, occupy western Ethiopia, mainly along
Yamauchi, Edwin M. Africa and Africans in Antiquity. East Lan-
the Sudan border. In the early twenty-first century, the hunt-
sing, Mich., 2001.
ing and trapping Majangir were estimated to number about
Zegeye, Abebe, and Siegfried Pausewang. Ethiopia in Change:
28,000 people. They live on the southwestern edge of the
Peasantry, Nationalism, and Democracy. London, 1994.
Ethiopian plateau in dispersed homesteads adjacent to forest
WILLIAM A. SHACK (1987)
areas, which they exploit for game. The material culture of
Revised Bibliography
the Majangir is as simple as their political and religious orga-
nization; the ritual expert (tapat) possesses characteristics of
both shaman and priest, exercising quasi-political, chiefly
duties. He derives his power mainly by control over spiritual
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST
sanctions, the threat of which is sufficient to maintain peace
BANTU RELIGIONS
and order.
The northeastern Bantu-speaking peoples of East Africa in-
clude the Ganda, Nyoro, Nkore, Soga, and Gisu of Uganda;
SEE ALSO Aksumite Religion.
the Kikuyu and Kamba of Kenya; and the Gogo and Kaguru
of Tanzania. Although these societies are united by their
BIBLIOGRAPHY
common usage of Bantu languages, they differ considerably
Gamst, Fredrick C. The Qemant: A Pagan-Hebraic Peasantry of
in political, social, and economic organization and in reli-
Ethiopia. New York, 1969. A brief, informative ethnographic
gious ideas and practices.
account of social organization and religious ritual life of de-
scendants of the proto-Ethiopians.
In most of these societies the creator god is regarded as
a remote and distant figure, except among the Kikuyu where
Knutsson, Karl Eric. Authority and Change: A Study of the Kallu
he is thought to be involved in the major events of personal
Institution among the Macha Galla of Ethiopia. Göteborg,
Sweden, 1967. An analysis of ritual and cosmology in the po-
and community life and is the object of ritual activity. The
litical organization of sedentary Oromo. A comparison is
Nyoro and Nkore say that the creator god, Ruhanga, made
made of form and variation of the Kallu among other Oromo
the world and everything needed for human life on earth. He
groups.
also established the three classes of Nyoro and Nkore society:
Legesse, Asmarom. Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African
the agriculturalists, the rulers (or royal clan), and the cattle
Society. New York, 1973. A detailed analysis of the cyclical
herders. Each class is descended from one of Ruhanga’s sons,
Gada age-grade system of the pastoral Boran Oromo of
whom Ruhanga tested before assigning them their social
southern Ethiopia.
role. The Nyoro say that Ruhanga disinherited his fourth
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
2575
son, Kantu, and that he became the source of evil in the
prayers offered again to Ngai for rain, health, prosperity, and
world and eventually corrupted the people. For this reason,
children.
say the Nyoro, Ruhanga withdrew to the sky and later sent
The Kamba, who are neighbors of the Kikuyu, say that
disease and death into the world to punish the people. Be-
the creator god, Molungu, made all things, including men
cause of his remoteness, Ruhanga does not play any role in
and animals; thus the Kamba call him Mombi, the molder
Nyoro and Nkore ritual.
of all creatures. First, Molungu created the ancestors, then
Among the Ganda, the creator god, Katonda, had a
he made man and woman and sent them down from heaven.
small temple and a medium who gave oracles at night. Ka-
Later, another couple came up through the ant holes in the
tonda was known as the Owner of Heaven and the Master
earth, and their children married those of the sky couple. As
of Life, and it is said that every morning the heads of families
time passed, the people multiplied and their livestock in-
would pray to him for the protection of their households. Al-
creased and their crops prospered. However, one year the
though Katonda was important to everyone’s personal desti-
people failed to offer sacrifice to Molungu and he became
ny, offerings were not often made to him, and he appears to
angry and refused to send the rains, and there was great fam-
have had less ritual significance than most of the other gods;
ine. Many of the original clans migrated to distant places,
today he has no shrine or medium. According to Ganda my-
and these people are now the neighbors of the Kamba: the
thology, it was the culture hero, Kintu, who established the
Kikuyu, Maasai, Meru, and others.
world, populated the country, and founded the kingdom of
Originally, Molungu intended to endow human beings
Buganda. Death also came into the world as a result of the
with immortality. He sent a chameleon with a message of
misdeeds of Kintu and his wife, Nambi, and their children,
eternal life to the people. When the slow-moving chameleon
who allowed Nambi’s brother, Death (Walumbe), to come
finally arrived, he began to deliver his message, saying, “I was
to earth with them. After Death started killing people and
ordered to . . . I was ordered to. . . .” But before he could
was chased into the underworld, Kintu solemnly declared
finish, he was interrupted by the swift-flying weaverbird that
that Death would never kill all the people.
had been sent by Molungu with a new message that the peo-
The Gisu say that the creator, Were, is a distant deity
ple would die. The bird delivered his message quickly and
who allots each person his life span. Were has no shrines, and
concisely, and since that day mankind has been mortal. Ac-
no sacrifices are made directly to him, although there is a
cording to another version, the chameleon was interrupted
vague belief that he is the recipient of sacrifices made to the
by a clever and agile hare who had overheard the message
ancestors and nature spirits. Were is regarded as being invisi-
that Molungu gave to the chameleon, only he heard incor-
ble and present everywhere like the wind.
rectly and delivered the message that people would die.
The Kikuyu say that the creator, Ngai, dwells on certain
Molungu is said to dwell beyond the skies and to ob-
prominent mountains in western Kenya, including Mount
serve mankind from the tops of Mount Kilimanjaro and
Kenya. His presence is also said to be manifested in such nat-
Mount Kenya. He is thought to be well disposed to human
ural phenomena as the sun, moon, stars, rain, rainbows,
beings and to intervene in human affairs when people act
lightning, and thunder; he is also present in sacred fig trees,
against the moral principles of society, but no sacrifices are
where sacrifices are made to him. According to Kikuyu tradi-
offered directly to him. His dealings with the Kamba are me-
tion, Ngai gave the land to the ancestors, Kikuyu and Mu-
diated entirely by the spirits of the ancestors. In times of
umbi, and he told them to call upon him in times of need.
drought, flood, or epidemic, women gather and a goat is sac-
Sacrifices are offered to Ngai in times of drought, famine,
rificed. The women ask the ancestors to intercede with
and epidemic and also during the agricultural cycle. The
Molungu on behalf of the people. The sacrifice is intended
Kikuyu also pray to Ngai at the major stages of life: at birth,
to remove the ills and sins committed by the people during
initiation, marriage, and death. On less important occasions,
the year. The sacrificial animal is burned and the women call
offerings and prayers are made to the ancestors.
out all the offenses done by people in the community in
order to purify it and to ward off Molungu’s punishment.
The relationship between Ngai and the people is unilat-
Occasionally, the Kamba pray to Molungu at other times,
eral, while their relationship with the ancestors is reciprocal.
for example, to give thanks for the birth of a child or to ask
People beseech Ngai for his blessings, which he may choose
that initiated children turn out well. The prayers to Molungu
to give or to withhold, whereas they pour out beer and
are brief and general in nature, reflecting his distance and im-
slaughter animals for the ancestors, who are expected to re-
personal character.
spond favorably. The shrines to Ngai are fig trees that are
both publicly and privately owned. A diviner communicates
Among the Ganda, Soga, Nyoro, and Nkore, the prima-
with Ngai in his dreams and determines when it is appropri-
ry focus of the traditional religion is upon the hero gods, the
ate to offer sacrifice. After a sheep is killed, its intestines are
lubaale (Ganda), misimbwa (Soga), and cwezi (Nyoro and
tied around a tree and a portion of meat is placed at the foot.
Nkore). These deities are thought to have been human be-
Prayers are offered to Ngai while facing Mount Kenya and
ings who died and became gods. Some of the cwezi, for ex-
the other mountains at each of the cardinal points. Two days
ample, are said to have been ancient kings while others are
later a solemn beer-drinking ceremony may be held and
described as having once been their royal servants. Each god
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EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
has several shrines and priests throughout the country. In
the site, are also thought to disturb the ghost ancestors. The
Buganda the most important gods were also in the service
Kaguru believe that if such rituals were not performed, the
of the kingship. In precolonial times the king consulted them
land would be less fertile, the annual rains less favorable, and
about matters of state, while the common people consulted
illness and misfortune more frequent.
them about personal misfortunes. These gods are still active
Although the Kaguru do not believe in reincarnation,
today, and they are consulted about a variety of personal
they say that newborn children come from the land of the
troubles, such as illness, crop failure, loss of money, barren-
dead, where, it is said, the ghosts have villages and live as do
ness, and loss of employment. To discover the cause of the
people on earth. The difference is that life and death in the
problem, a person goes to a medium and pays a token fee
land of the ghosts is the reverse of that on earth. The ghosts
(often described as a kind of gift) and, under probing by the
mourn when one of their number dies and is born on earth,
diviner, states the nature of the problem. The medium then
and they rejoice when a person dies on earth and is born in
goes into a trance and tells the client (in the voice of the god)
their land. Hence, an infant’s hold on life is precarious be-
the remedy for the difficulty and also the additional cost in-
cause the jealous ghosts wish to take it back, and many rites
volved in order to make the remedy effective. The diviner
are performed for the ghosts in order to protect the child’s
may tell his client to use certain medicines, usually obtained
life.
at the marketplace, and/or to make a sacrifice. The diviner
usually gives some practical advice about the client’s behavior
Gogo rituals are also concerned primarily with the an-
as well. Sometimes the remedy requires the client to become
cestors, for they are believed to control the fertility of the
initiated into the cult of the god so that persistent troubles
land and the welfare of the clans who live on it. Cattle and
will cease. This entails some expense and a lifelong relation-
beer are the chief offerings. These bridge the gap between
ship with the deity and his shrine.
human beings and the spirits because they belong both to the
world of men and to the world of nature, as do the ancestor
Ghosts of the dead may also be diagnosed as the cause
spirits themselves. The semipastoralist Gogo sacrifice cattle,
of personal misfortune, though not as frequently as the gods.
their most valuable possession, to the ancestors for rain and
Like the gods, the ghosts are communicated with through
good crops and to obtain their blessings at crucial stages in
spirit possession and mediumship. But unlike the gods, the
the life cycle. Beer is poured out around a post that is consid-
ghosts may be destroyed or rendered harmless by being
ered to be the architectural and ritual center of the house-
placed in a pot that is then burned or buried in the ground.
hold. Called the nose of the homestead, the post is the locus
The Gisu place shrines for the spirits of the dead in the
of contact between the world of the living and the world of
compounds of important men or in special groves. These
the dead in the domestic rituals. Beer may also be poured
groves, which contain a number of fig trees, are sacred to the
onto the gravestones of the dead, which also link the living
ancestors. The shrines in the homesteads are shaped like
to the world of the spirits.
small huts, with forked branches extending through the roof
Among the northeastern Bantu-speaking peoples, cer-
so that offerings of meat may be hung upon them. Sacrifices
tain rites, or aspects of rites, are not aimed at the gods or spir-
take place at these shrines on important family occasions,
its but at impersonal mystical forces that affect the welfare
such as the naming of a child, the circumcision of a boy, or
of human society. By means of ritual action bad forces may
personal misfortune. The central act is the offering of beer
be removed and society purified and thereby spiritually re-
and an animal (e.g., cow, goat, or fowl) with an invocation.
newed. The Gogo distinguish between good and bad ritual
During the invocation, all the names of the dead must be re-
states. For things to go well, a good or auspicious ritual state
cited lest a spirit feel slighted and cause trouble. Beer is
must be created. When things do not go well (for instance,
sprayed over the participants as a blessing; red clay, signifying
if a woman miscarries or has a difficult childbirth or if cattle
the renewal of health, may also be rubbed on them.
become diseased), a bad ritual state is said to prevail. In these
circumstances it is assumed that the male ritual leaders have
The matrilineal Kaguru offer annual beer and animal
failed. Women must take over and act and dress like men
sacrifices to the ghosts of the dead at clan ritual sites. These
and effect a ritual cure through dancing. The women’s vio-
sites contain the graves of the founding female ancestor of
lent, masculine dancing is a reversal of normal female domes-
the clan and those of her closest descendants. The graves are
ticity and a parody of the male’s violent role in Gogo society.
cleared of growth, and beer and flour are poured onto the
In this reversal of sex roles, the ritual state of society is turned
gravestones. The blood of animal victims is also poured out.
around. The inauspicious ritual state is taken to the bounda-
Often a miniature shelter for the ghosts is built on the site.
ry of the ritual area and thrown down into a swamp or pool,
The dead are said to gain nourishment from the offerings
and the area is thus purified and a good ritual state regained.
and to be made cool and quiet and therefore unlikely to
bother the living. The fertility of the land depends upon such
Divination is central to all East African religions. The
annual rites, for the spirits of the dead guarantee the produc-
Kikuyu say that a diviner, called a man of God (mundu
tivity of the land. Cultivation and other work on the land
mugu), is chosen by Ngai through dreams. “A father may
is thought mystically to wear down the earth; and the mis-
teach, but it is God [Ngai] who chooses the [diviner]. He
deeds of the people, especially of the clan elders who live near
talks to him in the night: it comes into his head.” Divination
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EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
2577
is performed by spilling out small counters (beans and
a form of ordeal that testifies to the strength of character nec-
stones) from a gourd that reveals the will of Ngai or, more
essary for the change from childhood to adulthood. During
frequently, the will of the ancestor spirits. The result of the
the seclusion period, the initiated boys and girls are taught
inquiry is determined by the odd or even number of counters
the rules governing sexual relations and the moral principles
that are spilled out together with other small objects that
of society. For the Gisu, such rites are transformational, not
have symbolic significance. Kamba diviners use the same
merely transitional, “for it is in your heart,” and the newly
technique. A few Kikuyu diviners are also inspired in dreams
initiated person is said to be “like another person.” The em-
directed by the creator god, who gives long-range prophecies
phasis upon self-determination is also important, for a boy
about future events. During the colonial period in Kenya,
chooses when he shall be circumcised. When he does, he
such prophecies about colonial intrusion helped to legitimate
presents himself as a fully responsible agent to bear the ordeal
the Mau Mau cause against British rule. The Mau Mau, a
and to stick to his resolution. Of the Kikuyu initiation rites,
pro-independence armed revolt led by the Kikuyu in the
Jomo Kenyatta has said that “the moral code of the tribe is
1950s, was an attempt to establish traditional land rights and
bound up with this custom and . . . it symbolizes the unifi-
ways of governance.
cation of the whole tribal organization.” The rites mark the
beginning of participation in the various governing groups
The Gisu diviner diagnoses his clients’ problems by
in Kikuyu society, because age-group membership begins at
using a small wooden dish with pebbles in it. After invoking
this time. The history and legends are explained, as are the
his ancestors for assistance, he swings the dish in an arc over
moral rules of society. Ngai and the ancestors are invoked,
his head, calling out the names of spirits who might be re-
the misdeeds of childhood are symbolically cast away, and
sponsible for the problem or of people who might be causing
it through sorcery or witchcraft. If the pebbles shake and rat-
the initiates take an oath of loyalty and service to the Kikuyu
tle, then the wrong cause has been identified. When the peb-
community. Elements of these rites were also used during the
bles form a mass and do not move, the correct diagnosis has
Mau Mau oathing ceremonies. The Kaguru say that initia-
been reached. The questions that the diviner puts to the test
tion into adulthood is the most important and impressive ex-
in this fashion are based upon his local knowledge and upon
perience of their lives, and they conduct themselves in a no-
information gained from his client.
ticeably different manner after going through it. Afterward,
the fully initiated boys and girls can marry and have children,
In the lacustrine kingdoms of Bunyoro, Nkore, and Bu-
and the boys can own livestock and become warriors and el-
ganda, the death, burial, and installation of kings were major
ders in their society.
ritual events that affected the whole kingdom. The kings
In precolonial times belief in witchcraft and sorcery was
were symbolically identified with the country as a whole, and
fundamental to East African societies. Although witchcraft
hence their well-being was essential to the well-being of the
and sorcery accusations are illegal under present law, in the
kingdom. Thus they were surrounded by ritual prohibitions
that were intended to keep them in a state of health and ritu-
past belief in witchcraft and sorcery functioned as an expla-
al purity. In Bunyoro the king’s life was also strengthened
nation of misfortunes that were not attributed to the gods
periodically by the killing of human beings, sometimes in his
or ancestors, and the process of finding and punishing witch-
stead as a mock king. Although the kings were not regarded
es functioned as a means of controlling socially deviant be-
as divine beings, in Bunyoro and Nkore it was said that the
havior and of resolving tensions within the local community.
kings were killed when they grew old or ill or were wounded
Belief in witchcraft and sorcery is based upon the assumption
in battle, although there is no evidence that this actually oc-
that many of the ills of life, including death, are caused by
curred. That the kingship was thought of in this way, howev-
the evil intentions of human beings: hence the portrayal of
er, indicates the symbolic significance of the king as the
witches as human beings whose behavior is the reverse of
source of life, peace, and order in his kingdom. In Bunyoro
what is normal for humans. Witches and sorcerers are sup-
and Buganda there were also shrines for the spirits of the
posed to walk and dance upside down, to commit incest, to
royal ancestors, and in Buganda these shrines were major rit-
work at night, to travel at fantastic speeds, to go about naked,
ual centers of the kingship. The mediums at the royal shrines
and to practice cannibalism. In short, witches and sorcerers
conveyed advice from the royal ancestors to the king regard-
are thought to confound the rules of society because they are
ing matters of state, and all of the king’s officials went to the
bent upon destroying it. For the most part, witches were
shrines to be confirmed in office.
thought to be relatives of the people they attacked. The pow-
ers of witchcraft were also thought to be inherited and to be
Fundamental to the social systems of the Gisu, Kikuyu,
operative without a person’s being aware of it. Sorcery, by
Kamba, Kaguru, and Gogo are rites of puberty and of initia-
contrast, was regarded as a conscious and deliberate action
tion into adulthood. Their purpose is to transform young
in which specific magical techniques were used to destroy
boys and girls into adult men and women. In these societies
other people. Witchcraft accusations were generally directed
circumcision and clitoridectomy (or labiadectomy) are prac-
against people who exhibited antisocial characteristics—
ticed. These physical operations are regarded as the outward
jealousy, spite, deceitfulness; even physical ugliness and un-
signs of a new social position and of an inner moral change.
accounted wealth were grounds for suspicion. In the past, di-
Among the Gisu and Kikuyu, circumcision is thought of as
viners were employed to identify witches and sorcerers, and
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2578
EAST AFRICAN RELIGIONS: NORTHEAST BANTU RELIGIONS
the accused were forced to confess and were often executed.
affected by the slave raids. The original Protestant and Cath-
Despite the illegality of witchcraft and sorcery accusations in
olic missions in Uganda spread into neighboring Kenya and
the late twentieth century, belief in witchcraft and sorcery
Tanganyika, and colonial authorities rapidly opened these
still exists in most of these societies as a way of explaining
areas to other missions, such as the African Inland Mission
misfortune, and accusations may still be covertly made and
and the missions of the Salvation Army, Scottish Presbyteri-
acted upon.
ans, Baptists, German, and Swedish Lutherans, Seventh-day
Adventists, American Mennonites, Moravians, and the
Throughout the region of the northeastern Bantu-
Brethren.
speaking peoples, the modern era has been marked by the
increasing interaction of the traditional religions with Islam
While the European missionaries were primarily moti-
and Christianity. Although Islam and Christianity had long
vated by the teaching of the gospel, they also acted, con-
been present in certain areas of East Africa, it was not until
sciously or unconsciously, as agents of colonialism, racism,
the implementation of colonial rule with its new economic,
and westernization. The establishment of mission schools
educational, social, and religious order (or, in the case of
and hospitals did much to break down African traditional
Islam, the establishment in 1832 of the Omani Sultanate on
culture, and the missionaries joined colonial officials in at-
Zanzibar and the subsequent development of extensive trad-
tempting to abolish many indigenous practices, such as cir-
ing networks) that the introduced religions gained wide-
cumcision rites (especially among girls), polygamy, bride-
spread influence.
wealth, mourning rites, twin ceremonies, and ancestor
rituals. In this fashion the missionaries set about to educate
By the late thirteenth century Islam had spread to the
and westernize the next generation of African leaders. The
trading ports along the East African coast, and in the fif-
missionaries also taught about human equality and the im-
teenth century Mombasa and Zanzibar had become impor-
portance of individuals and thereby helped to foster the seeds
tant centers of Arabic influence; despite this, however, Islam
of anticolonialism among Africans who were later to take
did not penetrate beyond the coastal area until the early nine-
over the governments, schools, and churches of East Africa
teenth century. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centu-
in the postcolonial period. From the beginning, African
ries Muslim teachers and religious leaders followed the Zan-
preachers and catechists assisted the European missionaries,
zibari traders along the inland routes that conveyed ivory and
and they played a major role in spreading Christianity out-
slaves from Buganda and northern Tanganyika. Through the
side the mission stations and in founding new churches.
agency of the kings of Buganda, notably Mutesa I, Islam
Sometimes the frustrations of European control and the up-
took hold in Buganda, and Arabic literacy developed among
heavals of colonial and postcolonial life caused African reli-
the chiefly class. Despite the fact that Mutesa once martyred
gious leaders to found their own churches, especially in
several dozen Muslim converts because of the zealousness of
Kenya, where over 150 such churches were established before
their faith and the threat it posed to the exercise of his au-
and after the independence period. These churches com-
thority, Buganda became the center of Muslim expansion
bined African and Christian beliefs and rites into indigenized
and later the home of a community of Sudanese Muslims
Christian expressions; but many were short-lived, and a few
from the north.
had elements of political protest, such as the Dini ya Msamb-
Although the Portuguese established Christianity in
wa (Religion of the Ancestors) in western Kenya. After inde-
Mombasa in the early sixteenth century, it vanished when
pendence in the 1960s leadership in the mission churches
the Portuguese were expelled in 1631. Christians were forced
gradually passed into African hands, and this was accompa-
to convert to Islam. In 1844 missionary work began again
nied by a significant growth in church membership. At the
in the Mombasa area, and in the 1860s missionary activity
same time there was a resurgence in traditional religion, espe-
entered the inland, Bantu-speaking areas with the arrival of
cially in the practice of divination and healing, due largely
the Anglican Church Missionary Society and the French
to the absence of colonial repression and to the need for cul-
Catholic White Fathers at Mutesa’s capital in Buganda. Sev-
turally suitable therapeutic techniques not found in Chris-
eral years later Mutesa’s successor, Mwanga II, killed a num-
tianity, Islam, or Western hospitals. With the establishment
ber of royal pages for placing their Christian faith above their
of political parties and nationalist governments, the church-
allegiance to the throne. After a prolonged struggle for power
es, which had originally shaped the leadership of the new na-
in the kingdom between adherents of Christianity and Islam,
tions, were effectively reduced to a marginal role in the poli-
the Christian faction (with the support of British forces) was
tics of East Africa.
victorious, and Christianity became the established religion
of Buganda. Thereafter, Buganda became the center of
SEE ALSO Interlacustrine Bantu Religions.
Christian expansion in the Bantu-speaking areas. One of the
aims of missionary work was the suppression of the Arab
BIBLIOGRAPHY
slave trade, and this motive also contributed to the establish-
Beattie, John. “Spirit Possession in Bunyoro.” In Spirit Medium-
ment of colonial governments in Uganda, Kenya, and Tan-
ship and Society in Africa, edited by John Beattie and John
ganyika. During the colonial period, Islam made little head-
Middleton. New York, 1969. An excellent ethnographic
way in the Bantu-speaking areas, especially in parts formerly
survey.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EASTER
2579
Beidelman, T. O. The Kaguru. New York, 1971. Contains a brief
of Jesus Christ. The English name Easter, like the German
but comprehensive account of Kaguru religion.
Ostern, probably derives from Eostur, the Norse word for the
Heald, Suzette. “The Making of Men.” Africa 52 (1982): 15–36.
spring season, and not from Eostre, the name of an Anglo-
A perceptive psychological study of Gisu boys’ initiation cer-
Saxon goddess. In Romance languages the name for Easter
emonies.
is taken from the Greek Pascha, which in turn is derived from
Kenyatta, Jomo. Facing Mount Kenya (1938). New York, 1978.
the Hebrew Pesah: (Passover). Thus Easter is the Christian
An important interpretation from a Kikuyu point of view.
equivalent of the Jewish Passover, a spring feast of both har-
Lindblom, Gerhard. The Akamba in British East Africa. 2d ed.
vest and deliverance from bondage. The Eastern Slavs call
New York, 1969. A classic ethnography.
Easter “the great day” and greet one another, as do the
Greeks, with the words “Christ is risen,” receiving the re-
Middleton, John, and Greet Kershaw. The Central Tribes of the
Northeastern Bantu. Rev. ed. London, 1965. A comprehen-
sponse “He is risen indeed.”
sive survey and bibliography that includes ethnic groups not
Easter is the earliest of all annual Christian feasts. It may
covered in the present article.
originally have been observed in conjunction with the Jewish
Ndeti, Kivuto. Elements of Ákámbá Life. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1971.
Passover on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan. Gradu-
Contains an important interpretation of some Akamba reli-
ally, however, it was observed everywhere on Sunday, the day
gious ideas and practices.
of Christ’s resurrection. The Council of Nicaea (325)
Oded, Arye. Islam in Uganda. Jerusalem, 1974.
prescribed that Easter should always be celebrated on the
Ray, Benjamin C. “Sacred Space and Royal Shrines in Buganda.”
first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring
History of Religions 16 (May 1977): 363–373.
equinox.
Rigby, Peter. “Some Gogo Rituals of ‘Purification.’” In Dialectic
Easter was fundamentally a nocturnal feast preceded by
in Practical Religion, edited by Edmund Leach,
a fast of at least one day. The celebration took place from
pp. 153–179. London, 1968.
Saturday evening until the early morning hours of Sunday.
Rigby, Peter. “The Symbolic Role of Cattle in Gogo Ritual.” In
In the fifth century Augustine of Hippo called this “the
The Translation of Culture, edited by T. O. Beidelman,
mother of all vigils.” From at least the time of Tertullian
pp. 257–292. New York, 1973. Both of Rigby’s articles pres-
(third century) the Easter Vigil (also called the Paschal Vigil)
ent substantive interpretations of Gogo rituals.
was the favored time for baptism, since the candidates for ini-
Roscoe, John. The Baganda. 2d ed. London, 1965. A classic eth-
tiation mirrored the new life won by Christ from the dark-
nography.
ness of death.
Routledge, W. S., and Katherine Routledge. With a Prehistoric
The symbolism of light became an important feature of
People (1910). London, 1968. A well-informed account of
this nocturnal festival. It was customary on the Saturday eve-
the Kikuyu in the early twentieth century.
ning of the Easter Vigil to illuminate not only churches but
Welbourn, F. B. “The Impact of Christianity on East Africa.” In
entire towns and villages with lamps and torches; thus the
History of East Africa, edited by D. A. Low and Alison Smith,
night was called “the night of illumination.” From at least
vol 3. London, 1976.
the end of the fourth century in Jerusalem the lighting of
New Sources
lamps at vespers took on a special character at this feast. In
Barrett, Anthony. Sacrifice and Prophecy in Turkana Cosmology.
Northern European countries the use of special lights at Eas-
Nairobi, Kenya, 1998.
ter coincided with the custom of lighting bonfires on hilltops
Hoehler-Fatton, Cynthia. Women of Fire and Spirit: History,
to celebrate the coming of spring; this is the origin of the Eas-
Faith, and Gender in the Roho Religion in Western Kenya. New
ter fire later kindled in Western Christian Easter Vigils.
York, 1996.
Large Easter candles also became the rule, and poems were
Johnson, Douglas Hamilton. Nuer Prophets: A History of Prophecy
composed in honor of them and thus of Christ the light,
from the Upper Nile in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centu-
whom they symbolized. Such poems stem from as early as
ries. New York, 1994.
the fourth century; the most famous, still employed in vari-
Maloba, Wunyabari O. Mau Mau and Kenya: An Analysis of a
ous versions, is the Exultet, which originated in the seventh
Peasant Revolt. Bloomington, Ind., 1998.
or eighth century. In the East, among the Orthodox, Holy
Ruel, Malcolm. Belief, Ritual and the Securing of Life: Reflexive Es-
Saturday night is celebrated with a candlelight procession
says on a Bantu Religion. Leiden, Netherlands, 1997.
outside the church building. After a solemn entrance into the
Voshaar, Jan. Maasai: Between the Oreteti-Tree and the Tree of the
church, bells peal and the Great Matins or Morning Prayer
Cross. Kampen, Netherlands, 1998.
of Easter begins. It is followed by a solemn celebration of the
Eucharist according to the liturgy of Saint Basil.
BENJAMIN C. RAY (1987)
Revised Bibliography
The Easter Vigil also contains a number of biblical read-
ings. In the East the baptisms took place during the long
readings of the vigil, whereas in the West a procession to the
EASTER, the most important of all Christian feasts, cele-
baptistery took place after the readings had been completed.
brates the passion, the death, and especially the resurrection
In both cases the celebration of the Eucharist followed 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
2580
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
baptisms. With the decline in adult conversions and, hence,
tures, the Easter Bunny has never received any specific Chris-
in Easter baptisms during the Middle Ages, the time for the
tian interpretation.
vigil service (and thus the end to fasting) was moved up to
Among Easter foods the most significant is the Easter
Saturday morning; however, the Roman Catholic church re-
lamb, which is in many places the main dish of the Easter
stored the nocturnal character of the service in 1952 and
Sunday meal. Corresponding to the Passover lamb and to
other rites relating to Holy Week in 1956. In the current
Christ, the Lamb of God, this dish has become a central sym-
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian rites the Pas-
bol of Easter. Also popular among Europeans and Americans
chal Vigil is the high point of a triduum, or three days of ser-
on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol
vices, celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ.
of luck in pre-Christian European culture.
From at least the end of the fourth century, Easter was
provided in Jerusalem with an octave, eight days of celebra-
SEE ALSO Baptism; Christian Liturgical Year; Drama, article
tion. With the medieval decline in the octave celebration,
on European Religious Drama; Egg; Passover; Pigs; Rabbits.
Monday and Tuesday of Easter week nevertheless retained
the character of holidays. In a larger context the whole of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost was properly
For a comprehensive survey of the Western liturgical development
called Easter, and so constituted a feast in its own right; the
of Easter, see Ildephonso Schuster’s The Sacramentary (New
eight-day octave, however, was a time of special recognition
York, 1925). Good treatments of Easter and associated pop-
ular customs can be found in Francis X. Weiser’s Handbook
of the newly baptized. The Sunday after Easter was called the
of Christian Feasts and Customs (New York, 1958) and in the
“Sunday in white” because the newly baptized wore their
same author’s The Easter Book (New York, 1954). For discus-
baptismal garments for the last time on that day, and among
sion from the point of view of the history of religions, see E.
the Orthodox the octave of Easter is still called “the week of
O. James’s Seasonal Feasts and Festivals (New York, 1961).
new garments.”
JOHN F. BALDOVIN (1987)
Devotions tied to the liturgy of Easter are the origins of
liturgical drama. In the Middle Ages it was customary to
bury the consecrated host and a cross, or simply a cross, in
an Easter sepulcher on Holy Thursday or Good Friday. The
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY. From the city of Jeru-
host or cross was retrieved on Easter Sunday morning and
salem, the first Christian missionaries set out along the roads
brought to the altar in procession. From this practice devel-
of the Roman Empire to the cities and villages of the Medi-
oped a brief Easter play called the Visitatio sepulchri (Visit to
terranean world and beyond. Within only a few years after
the Tomb), which enacted the visit of the two women to
Christ, Christian communities existed in major cities of the
Christ’s empty tomb. The same dramatic dialogue can be
southeastern Roman Empire. Some aspects of the church’s
seen in the eleventh-century poetic sequence Victimae pas-
rapid development from Jerusalem through Syria and Greece
chali laudes (Praise to the Paschal Victim), which became
and on to the city of Rome are contained in the Acts of the
part of the Western liturgy.
Apostles. The areas where the Christian presence was the
strongest were in the East: Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, and
A number of popular customs mark Easter Sunday and
North Africa. Beyond the eastern confines of the Roman
the rest of Easter week. One such custom, allied to the com-
world, there were also Christian communities developing in
ing of spring with its earlier sunrise, is an outdoor sunrise ser-
Persia, Armenia, Ethiopia, and India.
vice celebrating the resurrection. Such celebrations are espe-
The dramatic growth of the early church was not with-
cially popular among American Protestants. Since Easter was
out difficulties. Yet the influence and prominence of Chris-
a time in which the newly baptized wore shining white gar-
tians within the Roman world gradually increased, especially
ments, it became customary to wear new clothes on Easter
in the more eastern areas of Syria, Asia Minor, and the Greek
Sunday and to show them off by walking around town and
peninsula. Under the Roman emperor Constantine, the for-
countryside; thus originated the Easter promenade or Easter
mal persecution of the church ceased in 311, and a new rela-
parade, popular in many places.
tionship between the church and government developed
Among the most familiar Easter symbols are the egg and
after 313. Before his death in 337, Constantine was baptized.
rabbit. The egg symbolizes new life breaking through the ap-
Emperor Theodosius finally proclaimed Christianity the of-
parent death (hardness) of the eggshell. Probably a pre-
ficial faith of the Roman-Byzantine Empire in the year 380.
Christian symbol, it was adapted by Christians to denote
PARALLEL HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS: EAST AND WEST.
Christ’s coming forth from the tomb. In many countries the
Because of a variety of developments and characteristics in
exchange of colored or decorated eggs at Easter has become
the church beginning in the first four centuries, it is common
customary. The Easter Bunny or Rabbit is also most likely
to speak generally of Eastern and Western Christianity.
of pre-Christian origin. The rabbit was known as an extraor-
These broad descriptive designations have their limitations.
dinarily fertile creature, and hence it symbolized the coming
Nevertheless, they do help us to sense the diversity in unity
of spring. Although adopted in a number of Christian cul-
that was expressed in early Christianity. The designations
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2581
also help us appreciate the fact that the theological and his-
of languages and through a variety of cultures. While Jesus
torical development of Eastern Christianity is distinctive
and the earliest Christians spoke Aramaic, the books of the
from the forms of Christianity that are expressed today both
New Testament were composed in a simple form of Greek.
by Roman Catholicism and by the many expressions of Prot-
During the first century, Greek was the “common language”
estantism. While centered upon Christ and his teachings,
of the Mediterranean world. In the eastern portion of the
both Eastern and Western Christianity came to express dif-
Roman Empire, Greek remained the preferred language of
ferent perspectives. At times, these perspectives were comple-
education and culture. In the western portion, Latin pre-
mentary, at other times opposed to one another.
dominated at least from the fourth century. Beyond the bor-
ders of the empire, the early church communities were com-
Initially, the early distinctions between Eastern and
posed of believers of a wide variety of cultures who also used
Western Christianity reflected the structural developments
languages such as Syriac and Armenian. The differences of
of the early church, especially in the Roman Empire. From
languages, most especially Latin and Greek, provided one
the beginning, the one church was a communion of local
significant basis for making a distinction between Western
churches. They were bound together by a common faith, fre-
Christianity and Eastern Christianity, at least from the
quently referred to as the “faith of the apostles.” Yet, each
fourth century. Indeed, historians of early Christianity have
regional church had its own particular characteristics. As
often spoken of the “Latin West” and the “Greek East.” This
such, the church was not a monolithic body. The Christian
designation, however, neglects those other, early expressions
faith was expressed in regional churches containing a wide
of Eastern Christianity employing other languages in teach-
variety of peoples in different cultural settings and using dif-
ing and preaching. The Christian Scriptures, for example,
ferent languages, a diversity that also expressed itself in litur-
were translated into at least five major languages of the East
gical practices.
by the end of the fourth century.
Moreover, the organizational association of local dio-
ceses within the Roman Empire became more pronounced
The early distinction between Eastern and Western
from the second century onward. Comprising local parishes,
Christianity also reflects differences in theological perspec-
each diocese maintained its integrity under the leadership of
tives and terminology in the early church. A number of theo-
its bishop. Yet a regional association of dioceses developed
logical perspectives and schools of Christian thought became
that served to strengthen the unity and mission of the
more pronounced during the fourth and fifth centuries. Each
churches in a particular area. These provinces, led by a met-
of these sought to express the Christian faith within a distinc-
ropolitan archbishop, were eventually structured along the
tive cultural context with its own philosophical antecedents.
lines of five regions within the Roman-Byzantine Empire. By
Each provided important perspectives upon the meaning of
the early fourth century, the centers were associated with the
the faith as expressed in Christian Scripture and tradition.
cities of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Je-
The desire to maintain the unity of faith did not prevent the
rusalem. Politically, Emperor Diocletian already had divided
natural development of different theological emphases as
the empire between East and West in the third century. The-
well as the use of different theological terms in various
odosius furthered this in the fourth century.
regions.
Subsequently known as patriarchs, the bishops of these
By the early fourth century, important centers of Chris-
five churches and cities exercised primatial leadership among
tian learning and thought could be found in the prominent
the bishops of their ecclesiastical region, later termed patri-
eastern cities of Alexandria, Antioch, and Edessa as well as
archates. In some cases, these ecclesiastical regions extended
in the region of Cappadocia (modern central Turkey). The
beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. The most signifi-
development of a distinctive Western Christian theology was
cant of these bishops were the pope of Rome within the west-
initially linked with North Africa and only by the fifth centu-
ern part of the Roman-Byzantine Empire and the Ecumeni-
ry with Rome.
cal Patriarch of Constantinople in the East. The position of
Patristic traditions that developed after the fourth cen-
the patriarch of Constantinople was established in the late
tury reflect the distinction between Eastern and Western
fourth century and increased in importance especially follow-
Christianity. Important teachers of the early church were
ing the rise of Islam in regions of the other Eastern patriarch-
concerned with teaching the Christian faith within a particu-
ates in the seventh century. Likewise, the influence of the
lar setting and in relationship to particular theological chal-
pope of Rome increased in Western Europe during late an-
lenges. The teachings of Tertullian (c.160–c. 225), Cyprian
tiquity and the subsequent rise of the Carolingian Empire in
(d. 258), and Augustine (354–430) reflect the theological is-
the ninth century. The Eastern patriarchates, however, con-
sues of the growing church in North Africa. Among the criti-
sistently repudiated efforts by the pope to exercise authority
cal issues were Donatism and Pelagianism. The teaching of
beyond his territory.
Ambrose (c. 339–397) reflects pastoral concerns dealing with
The early distinction between Eastern and Western
Arianism and sacramental practices in the region of Milan.
Christianity reflects the differences in languages in the early
The teachings of Athanasius (c. 296–373), Ephraem (c. 306–
church. The early church never supported a universal lan-
393), and Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) reflect their concerns
guage. On the contrary, the faith was expressed in a variety
with Christology. The teachings of Macrina (c. 327–379),
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2582
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
Basil (c. 330–379), Gregory the Theologian (329–389), and
city of Byzantium in 324, it was termed “New Rome,” or
Gregory of Nyssa (c. 330–c. 395), referred to as the Cappa-
later “Constantine’s City” (Constantinople). While they
docians, clarified the theological terms used to describe the
placed ultimate emphasis upon the Christian revelation, the
Trinity. The teachings of Leo of Rome (d. 461) reflect a con-
Byzantines appreciated the cultural and intellectual inheri-
cern with both Christology and with church organization.
tance of the ancient world. For the most part, elements of
the intellectual tradition of the Classical world were viewed
Within the early Christian East, there were many out-
as imperfect forms of preparation for the coming of Christ.
standing teachers, but none predominated in anything like
Unlike the Christian West, the Byzantines never experienced
the role played by, say, Augustine in the West. Profound
the “Dark Ages” and always maintained a high regard for
theological issues affected the eastern portion of the Roman-
learning. Founded in 425 by Emperor Theodosius II, the
Byzantine Empire especially between the fourth and eighth
University of Constantinople existed for about seven hun-
centuries. These were addressed at local councils and at the
dred years before the medieval Western universities were es-
ecumenical councils, convened in the cities of the eastern
tablished. The Byzantines never lost touch with Plato and
part of the Roman-Byzantine Empire.
Aristotle. Indeed, the West’s contact with the Byzantine
Clearly, there were different trajectories in the patristic
world during the Middle Ages frequently led to revivals of
traditions of East and West. Especially from the seventh cen-
learning. Byzantine scholars coming to Western Europe after
tury onward, a number of serious theological debates, com-
the fall of Constantinople nurtured the Renaissance of the
pounded by politics, deepened the historic differentiation
fifteenth century.
between Eastern and Western Christianity. In the realm of
theological reflection, Eastern and Western Christianity were
Moreover, the Christian East had significant examples
engaged with different theological issues and were affected
of charitable institutions, well developed by the late fourth
by the perspectives of different teachers. The East was preoc-
century. The believer was expected to imitate God in acts of
cupied with Christological themes, iconoclasm, missions to
philanthropy. This personal responsibility was also expressed
the Slavs, hesychaism (a style of prayer and meditation lead-
in a substantial way both by the church and by the govern-
ing to a personal experience of God), and the encounter with
ment. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chry-
Islam. Among its influential teachers at this time were John
sostom (c. 347–407), Olympia the Deacon (c. 368–408),
of Damascus (c. 675–c. 749), Maximos the Confessor
and John the Almsgiver (556–619) were notable teachers
(c. 580–662), Photios of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 895),
who called upon believers to care for the poor and needy.
and Gregory Palamas (c. 1296–1359). The West was preoc-
Moreover, the church took an active role in establishing
cupied with such theological issues as the atonement, the re-
charitable institutions. Basil is especially remembered for the
lationship of the church and the state, and the interplay be-
creation, about the year 372, of a “city of healing,” known
tween revelation and reason. Among its influential teachers
as the Basileias, where the sick and poor were cared for re-
were Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109), Pope Gregory
gardless of their beliefs. His activity provided inspiration for
VII (c. 1021–1085), and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274).
other church leaders and governmental officials. Throughout
its history, the Byzantine Empire was renowned for its hospi-
The great theological themes in East and West were
tals, orphanages, homes for the elderly and the poor, and
bound to be expressed in the worship, popular piety, art, and
hospices for travelers.
architecture of the churches. Here too one can sense simple
differences that may reflect deeper theological concerns. The
Many of the early Eastern teachers and philanthropists
liturgy and art of the Christian East emphasized the intimate
were nurtured in monasteries. From the fourth century there
and natural relationship between the Triune God and hu-
was a strong monastic presence in the Byzantine world, root-
manity within the context of a good creation. The Eastern
ed in a tradition established in Egypt by Anthony (c. 251–
liturgy together with liturgical art and architecture were de-
356) and by Pachomius (292–346). Basil and his sister
signed to provide a context through which this salutary rela-
Macrina also provided additional guidance for monastic
tionship is celebrated, nurtured, and, when necessary, re-
communities. The Eastern insights were subsequently re-
stored. With the coming of the Middle Ages, the developing
ceived in the West by Jerome (342–420), John Cassian
liturgy and liturgical art of the Christian West was concerned
(c. 415), and Benedict (480–540). The monasteries were
more with overcoming the barrier between God and human-
communities of celibate believers whose lives revolved about
ity caused by sin.
services of prayer. In the East, many monasteries also were
concerned with preservation of manuscripts and with schools
The early distinctions between Eastern and Western
and hospitals. The monasteries, frequently located in moun-
Christianity reflect the fact that there were also different cul-
tains, were also places of pilgrimages. Mount Athos, known
tural and intellectual contexts especially in the two major
as the Holy Mountain, contains a number of active monaste-
portions of the Roman Empire. The Byzantines, a term
ries dating from the late Byzantine period.
coined by Western historians, always described themselves
as “Romans.” They believed that their commonwealth con-
DIVISION AFTER THE COUNCIL OF EPHESUS, 431. The early
tinued the Roman Empire, albeit with a new basis in the
church professed that Jesus Christ was not only divine but
Christian gospel. Following the transfer of the capital to the
also human. Reflecting the witness of the New Testament
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2583
and early Christian teachings, the Council of Nicaea in 325
In an effort to avoid division, Patriarch Cyril and Patri-
and the Council of Constantinople in 381 opposed Arianism
arch John of Antioch came to an agreement in 433 affirming
and Apollinarianism, teachings that denied either Christ’s
a common Christological teaching and a common terminol-
full divinity or full humanity. Essential aspects of the faith
ogy. They spoke of Christ being one person (hypostasis) and
of the church were expressed in the Nicene-Constantinople
being of two natures (physis). This agreement eventually led
Creed of 381. By this time, and after much discussion, the
many in the Antiochian tradition to accept the decision of
church had settled on terminology that described the Trinity
the Council of Ephesus. The moderate Alexandrians empha-
as three persons (hypostases), one divine essence (ousia). How-
sized the union of the divinity and humanity in Christ. The
ever, further questions arose over the relationship of the di-
moderate Antiochians emphasized the integrity of both the
vinity and the humanity of Christ as well as the theological
humanity and divinity in Christ. Either approach, though,
terms to be employed. These issues led to serious and unre-
could be pushed to an extreme.
solved divisions primarily within Eastern Christianity follow-
The bishops of the church in the region of eastern Syria
ing the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chal-
and Mesopotamia met in 484 and formally rejected the deci-
cedon in 451. At their heart, these divisions of the fifth
sion of Ephesus and its clarification of 433. They continued
century reflect the differences between the theological
to be suspicious of the Alexandrian perspective and the at-
schools of Alexandria and Antioch. Both acknowledged
tacks on Nestorius, whom they honored. The alienation be-
Christ to be divine and human. Yet both differed in their de-
came even more pronounced as time passed. It was com-
scriptions of the relationship of the divinity and humanity
pounded by proponents of an extreme Alexandrian
in Christ as well as the terms to be used in describing the rela-
Christology as evidenced by the monk Eutyches (fl. 450).
tionship between them.
Moreover, the subsequent decision of the Council of Con-
stantinople in 553 to condemn posthumously the teachings
The controversy was initiated over the term to be used
of Diodore of Tarsus (died c. 390) and Theodore of Mop-
to describe Mary. Formerly a monk in Antioch, Patriarch
suestia (c. 350–428) further deepened the alienation.
Nestorius of Constantinople refused to speak of Mary as the
Theotokos (Mother or Birthgiver of God) and preferred to use
The church in the region of Mesopotamia dates from
the term Christotokos (Birthgiver of Christ). The term Theo-
at least the second century. It was conquered in the third cen-
tokos had long been part of the church’s understanding of the
tury by Persia, which never fully accepted Christianity. Zoro-
Virgin Mary and her relationship to Christ. It was less prefer-
astrianism predominated, and Christians remained a minori-
able for Nestorius because it sounded as though the humani-
ty. During the early fourth century, the bishops of the region
ty of Christ was somehow lost. Following the noted exegete
were organized into an ecclesiastical structure under the lead-
Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350–428), the Antiochian tradi-
ership of a catholicos, the bishop of the Persian royal capital
tion in general and Nestorius in particular were concerned
at Seleucia-Ctesiphon. He later received the additional title
with safeguarding the integrity of the humanity and divinity
of patriarch. The city of Edessa became a noted center of
of Christ. He was accused, however, of teaching not only
Christian theology. The church in Persia had little formal
that Christ was divine and human but also that Christ was
connection with the church in the Roman-Byzantine Em-
two beings. In his teaching, there appeared to be no true con-
pire. Attempts to reconcile the divided churches, especially
nection between humanity and divinity in Christ.
in the sixth century, were thwarted by the conflicts between
the Roman-Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire.
Representing the Alexandrian school of thought, Patri-
Compounded by politics and distance, the schism deepened.
arch Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) was the chief opponent to
In addition, the rapid rise of Islam in the early seventh centu-
Nestorius. Cyril emphasized the union of humanity and di-
ry further aggravated the separation and prevented meaning-
vinity in Christ. In so doing, he frequently used the phrase
ful contacts.
“One nature of the Incarnate Word.” Not denying Christ’s
full humanity and divinity, Cyril emphasized their union in
The church in Persia eventually came to be called by
the one reality of Christ. He usually used the word “nature”
some the Nestorian Church. More recently, it has been more
(physis) to describe the concrete expression of the one Christ.
properly known as the Assyrian Church or the Church of the
East. From the seventh century, it was generally unaffected
To resolve this dispute, a council of bishops convened
by the subsequent developments that touched the churches
in Ephesus in 431. When it began, however, not all the bish-
in the Mediterranean world through the Middle Ages and
ops from the region of Antioch had arrived. The council de-
into the modern period. However, the Church of the East
posed Nestorius and affirmed Cyril’s Christological perspec-
was engaged in remarkable missionary activity well into the
tives. The Antiochian bishops subsequently refused to accept
fourteenth century. Missions were established for a period in
the decision of Ephesus and convened their own council.
Ceylon, India, Burma, Thailand, Indochina, and China. In
They held that the terminology of Cyril could be used to
recent centuries, membership in this church, however, has
deny the integrity of the divinity and humanity in Christ.
been considerably reduced. Some members accepted the au-
For some of them, the term “nature” (physis) was used to
thority of the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth cen-
speak about the two realities of humanity and divinity.
tury. Others were the objects of Protestant proselytism in the
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
nineteenth century. A sizable number of its faithful were the
the fact that the council anathematized Nestorius. The oppo-
victims of persecution in the early twentieth century. Today
nents also claimed that the “two nature” terminology was a
the majority of its 400,000 members live in present-day Iran,
betrayal of Cyril’s usual affirmation of “one nature of the in-
Iraq, and Syria. Because of recent immigration, there are new
carnate Word.” Generally overlooked was the fact that Cyril
parishes in Western Europe and North America. It has had
in the agreement of 433 recognized the use of the “two na-
little formal contact with either the Orthodox Church or the
ture” terminology if understood properly. Those who reject-
Oriental Orthodox Churches.
ed Chalcedon also repudiated the Monophysitism of Euty-
DIVISION AFTER THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON, 451. The
ches. They were subsequently accused of the heresy of
second notable church division in the Christian East fol-
Monophysitism because of they used the term “nature” as
lowed the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In order to heal the
the Chalcedonians used the word “person” to describe the
growing division over Christology within the Roman-
reality of Christ. While opposed to the doctrinal Monophy-
Byzantine Empire, a council of bishops met at Chalcedon,
sitism of Eutyches, they accepted a “linguistic Monophysit-
near Constantinople, in 451. This council was a response to
ism” claiming to follow Cyril.
an earlier meeting of bishops held in Ephesus in 449.
The division in the Christian East after Chalcedon not
Dubbed the “Robbers Synod” by Pope Leo of Rome, that
only reflected differences in Christology. It also reflected his-
council supported the extreme Alexandrian Christology ex-
torical, political, and cultural differences between those
pressed by the monk Eutyches. He maintained that in Christ
Christians within the Roman-Byzantine world and those liv-
there was a single nature, implying that Christ’s humanity
ing on and beyond its boundaries. Following Chalcedon,
had been lost through its contact with his divinity. The bish-
those who rejected the council’s teaching made up a signifi-
ops at Chalcedon forcefully repudiated the decisions of the
cant portion of the Christians living on the periphery of the
council of 449 and its extreme Alexandrian Christology.
empire. The attempt by the Byzantines to impose the deci-
They sought to express the apostolic faith in opposition both
sion of Chalcedon through military force especially in Egypt
to extreme Alexandrian and extreme Antiochian perspec-
only compounded the division.
tives. The council was also concerned with reconciling the
growing division between the churches reflecting Alexandri-
Councils of bishops meeting in Constantinople in 553
an Christology and those reflecting the Antiochian version,
and 661 attempted to heal the growing division. They also
especially the church in Mesopotamia.
addressed ongoing questions related to describing the person
of Christ. These councils were eventually recognized as the
The statement of the council reflected the theological
Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils by the churches of the
debates reaching back to the council of Ephesus and the dif-
Byzantine-Roman world. By the seventh century, however,
fering emphasis in Christology. The statement brought to-
differences in Christology and theological perspectives were
gether the moderate elements of both Alexandrian and An-
greatly complicated by cultural, political, and linguistic fac-
tiochian Christology while opposing the extreme distortions
tors. In addition, the rise of Islam in the seventh century cre-
of each. At the same time, the statement established a com-
ated a further wedge between those churches that accepted
mon terminology that could be received by both traditions.
Chalcedon and the subsequent councils and those that did
While recognizing the mystery of the incarnation, the state-
not. While there was some contact and dialogue during the
ment affirmed that Christ is one person with two natures,
Middle Ages, misunderstandings and language and cultural
both fully human and fully divine. Neither his divine nor his
differences prevented an enduring reconciliation.
human nature is diminished or lost by the union in one per-
son. Before this, the term “nature” had been used by some
The portion of the Christian East that rejected the
to describe the single reality of Christ (one nature). Others
Council of Chalcedon developed parallel to those Orthodox
had spoken of two natures when referring to the divinity and
churches of the Roman-Byzantine Empire. While some
humanity of Christ.
theological dialogues took place in the Middle Ages, no for-
mal reconciliation was achieved. The fact that these church-
The churches related to the Patriarchate of Rome and
es, which did not accept Chalcedon, often existed in difficult
the Patriarchate of Constantinople immediately received the
political environments frequently limited their mission and
statement. The Council of Chalcedon was eventually recog-
theological development even into the twenty-first century.
nized in these churches as the Fourth Ecumenical Council.
They have often been referred to as “Monophysite churches”
However, in the decades following Chalcedon, portions of
and more recently as “Lesser Eastern Churches” or “Non-
the church in Egypt and in Syria as well as the church in Ar-
Chalcedonan Churches.” Accepting the first three ecumeni-
menia rejected the statement of the council. For a time, the
cal councils, they claim to profess the Orthodox faith, express
church in Georgia joined them. Following their lead, the
a different tradition in Christology, and possess distinctive
churches in Ethiopia and in Malankara, India, subsequently
liturgical traditions reaching back to the earliest days of East-
also rejected the decision.
ern Christianity.
Upholding a very formal Alexandrian position, the op-
Today, these churches use the title “Oriental Orthodox
ponents of Chalcedon believed that the use of the terminolo-
Churches.” They are distinguished from the Orthodox
gy of “two natures” had overtones of Nestorianism despite
Church, sometimes called Eastern Orthodox, which accept-
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2585
ed Chalcedon and the related councils of 553, 680, and 787.
tures and liturgical texts. Following their example, other mis-
The Oriental Orthodox Churches include: the Patriarchate
sionaries worked especially among Slavic tribes of Central
of Alexandria (Coptic Orthodox) (3,900,000), the Patriarch-
and Eastern Europe, inventing the Cyrillic alphabet as part
ate of Antioch (Syrian Orthodox) (250,000), the Church of
of their activity. These missions provided the background for
Armenia (Armenian Apostolic; 6,000,000), the Church of
the formal conversion of the Kiev city-state under Prince
Ethiopia (16,000,000), the Church of Malankara (India)
Vladimir (956–1015) in 988. This established not only a
(1,000,000), and the Church of Eritrea (1,700,000). While
bond with the Church of Constantinople but also a political
in full communion with one another, each church has its
and cultural relationship with the Byzantine world.
own distinctive history and liturgical traditions. Each also
has a significant number of members living in Western Eu-
Photios was also involved in debates with the Church
rope and North America.
of Rome over issues that would subsequently be identified
as the essential reasons for the “Great Schism.” Pope Nicho-
Despite their formal division between the family of Ori-
las (d. 867) refused to recognize Photios’s election in 863 fol-
ental Orthodox churches and the family of Orthodox
lowing the deposition of the previous patriarch. Refusing to
churches, theologians from both established an unofficial bi-
recognize the legitimacy of Nicholas’s authority in the East,
lateral theological dialogue in 1964. This theological dia-
Photios in 867 authored a harsh letter denouncing Western
logue became formal in 1985. It is generally recognized today
missionaries in Bulgaria and the addition of the filioque
by theologians and church leaders in both families that the
(Latin for “and from the Son,” professing the proceeding of
Christological differences between the Oriental Orthodox
the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son) to the Ni-
and the Orthodox were primarily a matter of terminological
cene-Constantinopolitan Creed in parts of the West. Igna-
differences and that in fact both families of churches profess
tius, the previous patriarch, was restored in 867 and Photios
the same faith in Christ but use different theological terms.
was deposed. A council in Constantinople in 869 recognized
the deposition. It was subsequently recognized as the Eighth
DIVISION BETWEEN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE
Ecumenical Council by the Roman Catholic Church. Pho-
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES. From the eighth century,
tios, however, was subsequently restored as patriarch. A new
signs of a growing estrangement between the Church of
council in Constantinople in 879, with representatives of
Rome and the Church of Constantinople together with por-
Pope John VIII, formally restored relations with Rome.
tions of the churches of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem
Many Orthodox consider this the Eighth Ecumenical Coun-
began to be evident in the wake of the iconoclastic controver-
cil.
sy. Its first phase began following an imperial decree forbid-
ding the veneration of icons by Emperor Leo III in 726. Ini-
Since the ninth century, the filioque addition has re-
tially, the veneration of icons was declared to be a form of
mained a point of contention between the Orthodox East
idolatry, although the use of images, evidenced by the cata-
and the Catholic West. The Orthodox continue to recite the
comb examples, dated from the earliest years of Christianity.
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381) in its original form,
With reference to the Old Testament, Leo III and his son
affirming that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father,”
Constantine V viewed “idolatry” as a cause of their political
while the West expanded the wording to say that the Spirit
difficulties. Supported by Constantine V, a local council of
“proceeds from the Father and the Son.” The addition ini-
bishops in 773 opposed the veneration of icons based upon
tially was introduced in Spain in the sixth century as a safe-
Christological perspectives. Despite vicious persecution of
guard against Arianism. Behind the addition lies the Trini-
the iconophiles, their theological perspectives eventually tri-
tarian theology of Augustine. The addition was adopted by
umphed. The chief theological defenders of icons were John
the local bishop’s council of Frankfurt (794). However, the
of Damascus, Theodore of Studios (759–826), and Nike-
addition was opposed by Pope Leo III. In the 860s Nicholas
phoros, patriarch of Constantinople (758–828). Empress
I supported the use of the filioque by Western missionaries
Irene reversed the imperial policy and supported a new coun-
in Bulgaria. The filioque was formally used in the Creed at
cil held in 787 in Nicaea, which repudiated the iconoclastic
the liturgy in Rome in 1014. From that time, Photios and
positions. A second phase of iconoclasm arose in 714 but was
the Byzantines held that the West had acted improperly to
formally ended in 843. A flowering of iconography followed.
alter unilaterally the Creed that was the common heritage of
Throughout this period, the Church of Rome consistently
the whole church. Photios also believed that the filioque ex-
opposed iconoclasm.
pressed an incorrect understanding of the relationship
among the persons of the Trinity.
With the end of iconoclasm, the Church of Constanti-
nople, supported by the government, entered into a vigorous
Behind the filioque debate was also the question of the
period of missionary activity. Chief among the missionaries
authority of the pope of Rome. Nicholas I had affirmed a
were Cyril (c. 826–869) and Methodios (c. 815–885). Sent
universal supremacy of jurisdiction for the Roman see, over
by Patriarch Photios (c. 810–c. 895) first to evangelize the
the East as well as the West. The Byzantines held that the
Khazars on the northeast side of the Black Sea in 860, the
pope, as senior among the five patriarchs, was accorded a
brothers eventually went to Greater Moravia. They created
“primacy of honor” but not a universal jurisdiction over and
the Glagolithic alphabet and translated portions of the Scrip-
above other bishops. The bishop of Rome was regarded 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
2586
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
the first bishop, but the first among equals. The Byzantines
the reform movements of Lorraine and Cluny, a number of
believed that while appeals could be made to the pope from
influential popes advanced a strong doctrine of papal author-
the East, he did not have the right to intervene without re-
ity in relationship to Western political powers. As part of the
quest in the internal affairs of the other patriarchates. Ac-
reform movement, the papacy emphasized its independence
cording to the Byzantine view, the pope cannot by himself
from political rulers in Western Europe. It also reasserted the
decide questions of doctrine apart from the wider body of
claim to universal jurisdiction over the churches of the East
bishops. Thus, the East always looked to councils to resolve
as well as the West. At the same time, the gradual Norman
grave disputes.
conquest of the Byzantine territories in Sicily and southern
There were also significant political developments in
Italy, where Eastern Church traditions prevailed, also elimi-
Western Europe. Determined to challenge the authority of
nated a significant bridge between East and West. The claims
the Roman Empire in Constantinople, Charlemagne was
of the papacy were expressed with greater strength and emo-
crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800 by Pope Leo III
tion but with little appreciation for the perspectives of the
(d. 816). The papacy looked to the Carolingians for a politi-
East.
cal and military alliance. Likewise, Carolingian theologians
Sent by Pope Leo IX, Cardinal Humbert, bishop of
were intent upon projecting Western theological perspectives
Silva Candida, led a delegation to Constantinople in 1054.
and strengthening the position of the papacy, especially in
The mission of the delegation was to discuss growing ten-
relationship to the East. Misunderstanding the council of
sions between Rome and Constantinople over theology and
787, the Carolingian theologians initially refused to accept
liturgical practices. Not received by Patriarch Michael Ceru-
its decision on the veneration of icons. Likewise, the Carolin-
larios, Humbert placed a bull of excommunication against
gians were firm proponents of the use of the filioque in the
him on the altar of St. Sophia Cathedral on July 16, 1054,
Creed. In a clear attempt to degrade the Byzantine Empire,
purportedly in the name of the pope. The anathema con-
the Carolingians refused to accord to it the title “Roman Em-
tained a number of charges against the East, including con-
pire,” which the Byzantines consistently used. The Carolin-
demnation for failure to use the filioque in the Creed and ne-
gians spoke disparagingly of it as the “Greek Empire,” and
glect of papal authority. Also noted was the Eastern practice
they termed the Church of Constantinople as the “Greek
of using unleavened bread in the Eucharist and allowing a
Church.”
married priesthood. Believing that Humbert himself and not
The exact date of the Great Schism between East and
the pope initiated the action, Cerularios anathematized
West cannot easily be established because the separation was
Humbert and his companions. While historians once used
a gradual process extending from the ninth to at least the fif-
1054 as the date of the schism, it is now recognized that the
teenth century. The degree of alienation also varied in differ-
anathemas were very limited in scope. Humbert claimed to
ent places. The process focused chiefly upon the deteriora-
excommunicate Cerularios, not the emperor or the Eastern
tion of the relationship between the Church of Rome and
Church. Cerularios excommunicated Humbert, not the
the Church of Constantinople. Differences in theological
pope, who had died earlier. It appears that mutual acts were
emphasis between the East and the West can be identified
quickly forgotten, since sacramental communion between
at least by the fourth century. Despite these, as well as the
Rome and Constantinople and other parts of the East con-
political estrangement, there was a fundamental sense of
tinued. The event of 1054 was a symptom of the deepening
unity in faith and sacramental life that persisted well into the
alienation.
Middle Ages.
While the Western Crusades sought to regain the Holy
There were, however, serious differences developing in
Land, they profoundly affected relations between Rome and
the understanding of authority in the church and especially
the Eastern churches. In the captured cities, Eastern bishops
the authority of the bishop of Rome. Different understand-
were replaced by westerners, dividing the allegiance of the
ings of the role of the bishop of Rome in West and East were
faithful and deepening the sense of alienation at the popular
compounded by political developments in Western Europe.
level. An expression of schism, rival patriarchs and bishops
In the wake of the Germanic invasions and the growth of
were commonplace in the Patriarchate of Antioch from 1100
feudalism in Western Europe in the early Middle Ages, the
and in Jerusalem from 1187. Diverted to Constantinople in
church in Western Europe developed a highly centralized
1204, the Fourth Crusade plundered the city and led to the
structure. This “feudal pyramid” placed the pope at the top.
temporary installation of a Latin patriarch there as well. The
All other Western archbishops and bishops were placed in
imposition of Western bishops loyal to Rome and to political
subservient positions to him.
powers in Western Europe became a tragic and visible ex-
The model of church governance in the West was com-
pression of schism in Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem,
pounded by political alliances between the papacy and the
and other cities. The clergy and faithful did not easily accept
Franks in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. By the
bishops imposed upon them. For them, this was a clear sign
time of Pope Gregory VII (c. 1021–1085), however, the pa-
that Rome and Western rulers had little regard for the legiti-
pacy sought to overcome political influence and other abuses
macy of the ancient patriarchal churches of the East. While
that had developed during the feudal period. Influenced by
the Byzantines eventually recaptured the city in 1261 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
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2587
Latin patriarch of Constantinople was removed to Rome, the
exemplified by these teachers were quite different from that
destruction and sense of betrayal were not easily forgotten.
embodied in Western scholasticism expressed by Thomas
Aquinas (c. 1225–1274). The Byzantines were not uncon-
Between 1204 and 1453, when the Byzantine Empire
cerned with the relationship of reason and revelation. Yet in
fell, numerous attempts were made to address the theological
espousing an apophatic and more mystical approach to the-
and ecclesiological differences and to heal the schism be-
ology, they more readily affirmed the limitations of human
tween Rome and Constantinople. Two major attempts are
speculation and the importance of prayer and worship for the
noteworthy. At the Council of Lyons (1274), a small Byzan-
transformation of the person.
tine delegation sent by Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus
(d. 1282) accepted the reunion terms of Pope Gregory X.
The dramatic events of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
Eventually repudiated in Constantinople, the meeting pro-
turies hardened the alienation between the Roman Catholic
vided little opportunity for genuine dialogue. At the Council
Church centered on the pope of Rome and the Orthodox
of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439), there was a larger delega-
Church represented chiefly by the patriarchates of Constan-
tion from Constantinople, including Emperor John VIII and
tinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The fall of
Patriarch Joseph II. With greater opportunity for discussion,
Constantinople in 1453 marked the end of the Roman-
the Byzantines recognized the Latin understanding of the
Byzantine Empire. With the victory of the Ottoman Turks,
procession of the Holy Spirit but were not required to add
the Church of Constantinople came under Muslim domina-
the filioque to the text of the Creed. The Byzantines also ac-
tion, thus joining the other patriarchates of the East.
cepted an ambiguous view of the authority of the pope. Di-
While not directly involved in the Reformation debates,
verse practices were accepted in liturgical matters. A partici-
the Orthodox were not in a position to respond properly to
pant in the discussions, Mark Eugenikos (c. 1394–1445),
the new issues raised in the West in the sixteenth century.
archbishop of Ephesus, refused to accept the agreements, and
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Orthodox
the Council of Florence was formally rejected in Constanti-
world, with the exception of Russia, was under the domina-
nople in 1484. At the same time, it was decided that individ-
tion of the Ottomans. The Ottomans designated the Ecu-
ual Western Christians (Latins) would be anointed with holy
menical Patriarchate of Constantinople as the head of the
oil upon entry into one of the other Eastern patriarchates.
“Rum Millet,” the Roman Orthodox people. Responsible to
This was a liturgical expression of disunity with Rome, per-
the sultan, the patriarch had ultimate religious and civil re-
ceived to be in schism. The Roman Catholic Church, how-
sponsibility for all Orthodox regardless of language or cul-
ever, recognized the council and subsequently used it as a
ture in the Ottoman Empire. Treated as second-class citizens
basis for the establishment of Eastern Catholic churches,
by the Ottomans, the life of the Orthodox and their church
known historically as the “unia” or “uniates,” which accepted
was gradually restricted. Orthodox had limited opportunities
the full authority of the pope. The Patriarchate of Constanti-
for advanced theological study in the East. Feeling oppressed,
nople together with those of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem,
they adopted a defensive stance emphasizing survival. The
and the church of Cyprus, claiming to also be the apostolic
Orthodox sought to maintain their patristic and liturgical in-
and catholic church, eventually came to be known as the Or-
heritance, yet they failed to develop it in a creative manner.
thodox Church.
They were content with what has been called a “theology of
repetition.” During this period, a vast collection of spiritual
During this period there was also a growing divergence
texts known as the Philokalia was edited and published in
in the theological traditions in the East and West and the is-
1782 by Makarios of Corinth (1731–1805) and Nikodimos
sues with which their respective theologians dealt. Gregory
of Mount Athos (c. 1749–1809). They were subsequently
Palamas (1296–1359) a monk from Mount Athos and later
translated into Slavonic, Russian, Romanian, and more re-
archbishop of Thessaloniki, represented the tradition of
cently into English.
hesychaism. Especially significant was the recitation of the
“Jesus Prayer.” Confronted with the teachings of Barlam of
There was also a parallel tendency among some Ortho-
Calabria (1290–c. 1350), Gregory affirmed the possibility of
dox theologians toward a form of westernization. Orthodox
genuine personal encounter with God through prayer, expe-
who could study in Western Europe were attracted to univer-
rienced as divine light and involving the whole person, body
sities dominated by either Roman Catholicism or Protestant-
and soul. In so doing, he followed Symeon the New Theolo-
ism. At the same time, some Roman Catholics and Protes-
gian (949–1022) and Gregory of Sinai (d. 1347). Gregory
tants sought to enlist the Orthodox as their allies in the
Palamas also spoke of the distinction between the divine es-
Western controversies. This meant that some Orthodox were
sence, which is always hidden, and the divine energies or
challenged in difficult circumstances to reflect more deeply
presence, which can be experienced in this life. His teachings
on new theological issues that had been raised during the
were affirmed by three councils held at Constantinople
Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
(1341, 1347, 1351). A younger companion of Palamas,
Between 1573 and 1581 Lutheran theologians at Tü-
Nicholas Cabasilas (c. 1322–1395), a lay theologian, related
bingen engaged in correspondence with Patriarch Jeremias
hesychist theology especially to baptism and the Eucharist.
II of Constantinople (c. 1530–1595). In his responses the
The approach to God and the style of theological reflection
patriarch expressed traditional Orthodox teaching, generally
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2588
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
avoiding both Catholic and Protestant perspectives and ter-
the Orthodox, viewing them as schismatic. Being threatened
minology. Later, however, Patriarch Cyril I (1572–1638) ex-
both by Roman Catholic missionaries and Ottoman political
pressed clear Calvinist perspectives in his Confession of 1629
influence, the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1755 re-
but gained few supporters among the Orthodox. Patriarch
sponded and advocated for a time the “rebaptism” of Roman
Dositheos of Jerusalem (1641–1707), in his Confession of
Catholics who entered the Orthodox Church. This unprece-
Faith adopted at the Council of Jerusalem (1672), opposed
dented recommendation did not reflect all of Orthodoxy and
Cyril but tended toward Roman Catholic perspectives and
was subsequently overturned in 1888, yet such events indi-
terminology. Metropolitan Petr Moghila of Kiev (1596–
cate the level of estrangement and the formalization of the
1646) expressed a strongly Latin style of theology within the
schism. Little formal contact between the Orthodoxy and
Orthodox Church of the Ukraine. In the seventeenth centu-
Rome followed.
ry this “Latinizing” tendency later spread from Kiev to Mos-
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. The breakup of the Ottoman Em-
cow. Russian theology became increasingly influenced by
pire led to the creation of new states in the Balkans. The Pa-
Western perspectives, particularly through the influence of
triarchate of Constantinople granted autocephalous status to
Feofan Prokopovich (1681–1736). Against this background,
the churches of Greece (1833), Romania (1864), Bulgaria
some discussions also took place between Anglicans and Or-
(1871), Serbia (1879), and later Albania (1937). Following
thodox between 1716 and 1725.
the example of older Orthodox churches, these became fully
responsible for their internal life while professing unity in the
There were significant developments simultaneously in
Orthodox faith.
the Orthodox Church in Russia. Following the adoption of
Christianity in Kiev in 988, the church flourished until the
The Church of Russia was profoundly affected by Bol-
coming of Mongols in 1240. By the fourteenth century the
shevik revolution in 1917 following the abdication of the
center of civic and religious life had moved to Moscow.
czar and the civil war. On the eve of the revolution a historic
The Church of Russia, led by the metropolitan of Moscow,
church council reestablished the patriarchal office and elect-
became autocephalous and independent from Constantino-
ed Tikhon Belavin (1865–1925) of Moscow as patriarch.
ple in 1448. In 1589 Constantinople established the Patri-
Other church reforms were prevented by the increase of per-
archate of Moscow and all Rus and ranked it after the ancient
secution. Nearly all bishops and theologians were either exe-
patriarchates. During the seventeenth century, a schism took
cuted or exiled in the 1920s and 1930s. About 85,000 priests
place within the church following the reform of liturgical
were executed. Believers were systematically persecuted.
practices by Patriarch Nikon. Those who rejected the re-
Churches and monasteries were destroyed. With the Second
forms were termed “Old Believers” or “Old Ritualists.” Pre-
World War, a modus vivendi between the church and the So-
ferring closer governmental oversight, Czar Peter the Great
viet government was established, especially to defend against
abolished the patriarchal office in 1721 in favor of the synod-
the Nazis threat. The internal life of the church, however,
ical structure. Despite these limitations, there were signifi-
continued to be severely restricted. Only after 1989, with
cant missions in China, Japan, and Alaska in the eighteenth
disintegration of the communistic system, did the plight of
and nineteenth centuries. Likewise, a number of outstanding
the church begin to improve. This has led to a dramatic
saintly teachers enriched church life. Among these were
growth of church members and the establishment of new
Paissy Velichkovsky (1722–1794), Seraphim of Sarov
churches, monasteries, and schools.
(1759–1833), Philaret of Moscow (1782–1867), and John
Following World War II the establishment of commu-
of Kronstadt (1829–1908).
nist governments in Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia also
The Orthodox living in territories close to Catholic or
led to restrictions on church life. Restrictions were lifted only
Protestant countries eventually became the objects of prose-
after 1990 with the establishment of new governments. The
lytism. With political support from Poland and as a reaction
church of Albania was especially impacted after the commu-
to Protestantism, some Orthodox Christians living in the re-
nist revolution of 1945. In the year 1967 the government
gion of Ukraine entered into communion with Rome by de-
began to close all churches and persecute Christians. Only
cision of a council of bishops held in the city of Brest in
in 1991, following the downfall of the communist govern-
1595. Both clergy and laity were permitted to maintain
ment, was the church able to be restored. In many parts of
Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Orthodox Christianity
many of their Eastern liturgical customs and much of their
is only beginning to recover from the domination of repres-
administrative organization. However, they professed ulti-
sive political and religious regimes.
mate loyalty to the pope of Rome and, in principle, Rome’s
view of the papacy. With Western political support, similar
The political and ecclesial developments of the late
“unions” were established in Carpatho-Russia in 1646 and
twentieth century led to new difficulties accompanied by the
1664, in Transylvania in 1700, and in Damascus in 1724.
reemergence of ethnic and religious conflicts in the Balkans
In other places, the Orthodox generally viewed these
into which some Orthodox leaders were drawn, especially in
“unions” as tragic attempts to impose papal authority over
Serbia. In Ukraine and Romania, tensions arose between Or-
their weakened church. By the year 1729, Rome formally
thodox and Eastern Catholics over property rights. The
forbade sacramental communion (communio in sacris) with
Church of Russia repudiated the activities of evangelical
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
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Protestant missionaries and the establishment of Roman
tions. Since 1960 the Standing Conference of Canonical Or-
Catholic dioceses. The churches of Bulgaria and Georgia ex-
thodox Churches (SCOBA), now representing nine
perienced internal divisions reflective of political disputes.
jurisdictions, has been the major instrument of Orthodox
The undue emphasis on nationalism has tended to weaken
unity and witness. It has also coordinated ecumenical dia-
a common witness and mission.
logues, charitable endeavors worldwide, and missions espe-
cially in Africa and Asia. The presence of Orthodoxy in
New and dramatic contacts between the churches of the
America has also provided many Western Christians with the
Christian West and churches of the Christian East began in
opportunity to experience firsthand the spiritual and liturgi-
the late nineteenth century and intensified throughout the
cal traditions of Eastern Christianity. This has been sup-
twentieth century. The ecumenical movement, with a goal
ported by a growing number of books and articles addressing
of the visible unity of the churches, provided many opportu-
various aspects of Eastern Christian theology, spirituality, lit-
nities for contact and theological dialogue. Each of the Or-
urgy, and history.
thodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches
eventually became members of the World Council of
The Orthodox Church today is a communion of four-
Churches, founded in 1948. Their involvement provided
teen autocephalous churches and two autonomous churches.
opportunities for new contact and dialogues between the two
These are: the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Orthodox families, beginning informally in 1964, affirming
(3,500,000 approximate members), the Patriarchate of Alex-
agreement in a common Orthodox faith. In addition, the
andria (250,000), the Patriarchate of Antioch (750,000), the
Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and the Assyrian Church of
Patriarchate of Jerusalem (130,000), the Patriarchate of Rus-
the East have established bilateral dialogues with the Roman
sia (80,000,000), the Patriarchate of Serbia (8,000,000), the
Catholic Church. Participants in many of these dialogues
Patriarchate of Romania (19,800,000), the Patriarchate
have included leading contemporary Orthodox theologians.
of Bulgaria (8,000,000), the Patriarchate of Georgia
(3,500,000), the Church of Cyprus (442,000), the Church
The ecumenical dialogues have provided opportunities
of Greece (9,025,000), the Church of Poland (570,000), the
for a true engagement of Eastern and Western traditions of
Church of Albania (160,000), and the Church of the Czech
Christianity as well as for the examination and resolution of
and Slovak Republics (55,000). The autonomous churches
historic differences. At the same time, this encounter has en-
are: the Church of Finland (57,000) and the Church of Esto-
abled Western Christian theologians to move beyond a dis-
nia (50,000).
torted perception of the Christian East. A false perception
of the Christian East as essentially exotic, decadent, and mor-
DISTINCTIVE THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. Eastern Chris-
ibund was reflected in the writings of Edward Gibbon
tianity, exemplified chiefly through the theology and life of
(1737–1794) and Adolph von Harnack (1851–1930). Their
the Orthodox Church, has had its own distinct historical de-
influence can still be found in some studies that continue to
velopment distinguishing it from both Roman Catholicism
marginalize the Christian East.
and Protestantism. At the same time, Orthodoxy has also
preserved a distinctive expression of the Christian faith that
The migration of Eastern Christians to Western Eu-
its adherents believe is in continuity with the teachings of
rope, North and South America, and Australia in the late
early Christianity and free from more recent Western Chris-
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provided a basis for
tian debates. Especially in the past five centuries, the Ortho-
the growth of parishes and dioceses in cities where Western
dox churches have not experienced the same theological dis-
Christian churches were long established, sometimes im-
cussions as those that took place within Roman Catholicism
properly referred to as the “diaspora.” Especially significant
and Protestantism. These include, for example, Western de-
has been the steady growth of the Orthodox Church in the
bates over revelation and reason, faith and works, Scripture
United States. While the Ecumenical Patriarchate claims ul-
and tradition, or science and religion. The Christian East
timate canonical responsibility, most of the Orthodox juris-
generally does not accept the dichotomies that have been part
dictions remain directly connected to an autocephalous
of the Western Christian traditions. One does not find a
church. The largest, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, is a
harsh distinction, for example, between the “City of God”
province of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Russian Or-
and the “City of Man,” between nature and super nature,
thodox Archdiocese (Metropolia), dating from the mission
body and spirit, Scripture and tradition, law and gospel, or
to Russian Alaska in 1794, received autocephaly (self-
sacred and secular.
governing) status from the Church of Russia in 1970 and was
renamed the Orthodox Church in America. This status,
The Triune God of revelation. Eastern Christianity
however, has not been recognized by most other Orthodox
teaches that the one God is a Triune God, known as Father,
churches. While each jurisdiction began to serve a particular
Son, and Holy Spirit. The one God has created all and is be-
ethnic group, a remarkable process of indigenization has
yond all. Yet this God has acted to reveal himself and his love
taken place as expressed in well-established parishes, dio-
in history. While not diminishing the value of human reason
ceses, and theological schools serving about five million. This
and reflection, the Orthodox affirm that God is a mystery
includes today persons from a wide variety of ethnic back-
who is ultimately beyond human definition. The limited
grounds, as well as persons raised in other religious tradi-
knowledge that we have of God results chiefly from the di-
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
vine revelation and not from human speculation, important
tory over the power of death, evil, and Satan. The Resurrec-
though it may be. Through this revelation, centered upon
tion of Christ is a bold proclamation that not even death is
Christ, human persons have experienced a God who is a
an obstacle to the Father’s reconciling love. The Orthodox
good God, philanthropos, a lover of humankind. This procla-
Easter hymn declares: “Christ is risen from the dead, con-
mation of the philanthropic God is at the heart of the wor-
quering death by death, and upon those in the tombs he be-
ship and mission of the Orthodox Church. It is central to
stows life.”
the life of each believer. Throughout the prayers of the Or-
thodox Church, one hears the affirmation: “You are a good
The Orthodox believe that Christ established the
God who loves humankind and to you we offer glory, Father,
church with the call of his first disciples. It is a community
Son and Holy Spirit. . . .”
of those who are called by God and who affirm Christ as
Lord and Savior. The church is part of the divine plan of sal-
The reality of Christ and the event of his coming are the
vation centered upon Christ and enlivened by the Spirit from
cornerstone of the Orthodox faith. The revelation of God to
the first Pentecost. Through the life of the church, the Holy
the ancient Israelites is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, the
Spirit reveals the presence of the Risen Christ to persons of
promised Messiah. Through his incarnation and in his per-
every age and every place and enables believers to share in
son, a new relationship between divinity and humanity has
his saving work. Because of the Spirit, Christ is not a distant
been established that affects all. In the person of Jesus Christ,
person of history. The Holy Spirit leads persons from a life
divinity is united with humanity in such a way that the dis-
of self-centeredness to a life centered upon Christ and his
tinctive character of each is maintained. The God who has
gospel. The person of the Spirit is not subordinate to Christ,
created human persons and the entire world is not a distant
nor is the ministry of the Spirit inferior to that of Christ. The
and remote being. Rather, in order to express his love and
Spirit unites human persons to Christ, who leads them to
restore persons to fellowship, God has united himself to hu-
the Father. Within this community of faith, believers have
manity in the person of Christ.
the opportunity to cultivate the bond of love not only with
one another but also with the persons of the Holy Trinity.
The Orthodox have a high regard for the dignity and
Both Christ and the Spirit work in harmony to accomplish
value of the human person, who is seen as naturally theocen-
the will of the Father, who desires that “everyone be saved
tric. From the moment of creation by God, the human per-
and come to the knowledge of truth” (I Tim. 2:4). Under
son is fashioned with an orientation to God as the source of
the guidance of the Spirit, the church has a mission to preach
life. A natural and enduring relationship between each per-
the gospel to all nations and to bear witness to the presence
son and the Triune God is assumed, rooted in the very act
of the Risen Christ.
of divine creation and deepened through the incarnation and
the coming of the Spirit. This means that it is natural and
Salvation. These fundamental affirmations about God
healthy for the human person to live life in communion with
and the human person are the basis for the Eastern Christian
the Triune God. It is unnatural for the human person not
view of salvation. From the very beginning the human per-
to be in a loving relationship with God. A source of much
son was fashioned in the “image and likeness” of God and
reflection in the Christian East, the biblical description of the
given the vocation to live in communion with God (Gen.
human person as being created in the “image and likeness”
1:26). A distortion in the natural relationship, however, was
of God (Gen. 1:26) is a profound affirmation that speaks
introduced into human history and is expressed in the story
both about the deep bond of love between God and each
of the fall. The “ancestral sin,” as the East speaks of “original
human person and the dignity of each person.
sin,” marked humanity’s turning away from God. Yet the
identity of the human person was never destroyed and the
This bond was vividly expressed in the earthly ministry
divine love was never diminished. While all sin and its conse-
of Christ. Through his preaching and teachings, Christ re-
quences distorted the relationship between God and the
vealed both the Triune God as philanthropos and the theo-
human person, it could not destroy the fundamental bond
centric nature of the human person. In proclaiming the
between God the Father and his sons and daughters. Under-
Kingdom of God, Christ announced a dramatic change in
stood essentially as a new relationship with God the Father
the course of history. Affirming the reign of God, Jesus spoke
given in Christ, salvation is first an unmerited and free divine
of the Father who loves each person and seeks a loving re-
gift.
sponse from each person. He taught that the human person
is most fully human when life is lived in communion with
The term “deification” (theosis) is frequently used in the
God and other persons through loving relationships. He
Christian East to describe the process of sanctification where-
promised that God the Holy Spirit would be a comforter and
by the human person responds to the divine initiative and
guide, nurturing those who know him as Lord. In his acts
moves ever closer to the living God, through a life that re-
of forgiveness, Christ declared God’s mercy for sinners and
flects and imitates the divine love. The believer, following
assistance to persevere. In his healings and exorcisms, Christ
the example of Christ, must freely live in such a way that the
expressed the ability of God to overcome every evil power.
relationship with God is deepened and strengthened. The
Most importantly, the Resurrection of Christ is not only the
gift of salvation must be freely received and actualized in
heart of the gospel but also as the sign of God’s ultimate vic-
the life of each believer. Through this relationship, the
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2591
human person not only grows closer to God, the source of
ness and because of human sin, it remains fundamentally
life and holiness, but also becomes more fully human. The
valuable and “very good” because of its divine origin. By
process of deification begins at the very moment of personal
uniting himself with our humanity, Christ established a pro-
creation and continues to the life that is to come. Love knows
found relationship not only with our human nature but also
no limit and no boundary. For this reason, the great teachers
with the entire created order. The ultimate transfiguration
of the church often declare: “God became human so that
of the entire cosmos is already prefigured not only in the lives
human persons may become divine.”
of the faithful but also in the material of the Eucharist, the
icons, and the relics of the saints.
Salvation is not simply personal but also communal.
The Orthodox teach that believers grow in their relationship
The Orthodox Church makes constant use of the ele-
with God within the fellowship of the church. The rite of
ments of the physical world in its worship. Bread and wine,
baptism establishes not only a personal relationship with
water and oil, fruits and flowers are but a few of the many
Christ but also a relationship with all those others who are
elements taken up by the church in its worship. In blessing
bound to Christ. Within this community of believers, the
these things of the earth, the church affirms that the physical
followers of Christ have the opportunity to deepen their love
world has its origins with God, that it possesses intrinsic
for as well as their understanding of God. They also have the
value, and that it can be a vehicle of divine presence. This
support to live their lives in imitation of Christ within the
is the same principle that applies to the icon. It is composed
responsibilities and obligation of daily life.
of the “stuff of creation,” wood and paint, or stone and glass.
The icon is a valuable means of relating to God and one an-
The theocentric person is also a person who is called to
other.
live in relationship with others. The inner orientation to the
God of love is at the same time an orientation to other per-
Worship. Eastern Christianity has always emphasized
sons. The human person is not meant to be an autonomous
the importance of worship. The gathering of believers, espe-
or individualized self. Rather, the human person is meant to
cially for the Eucharist, is an act of thanksgiving and praise
be a valuable member of a network of authentic relationships
offered in response to the presence and actions of the Triune
that contribute to well-being, wholeness, and holiness. Ulti-
God. Although Orthodox worship often can be very elabo-
mately, these relationships of love contribute to the salvation
rate, solemn, and lengthy, it expresses a deep and pervasive
of the whole world.
sense of joy. This mood is an expression of belief in the Res-
urrection of Christ and the deification of humanity, domi-
Authentic human relationships are those that nurture
nant themes of Orthodox worship. In order to enhance this
love, compassion, and mercy and make us more sensitive to
feeling and to encourage full participation, services are nor-
the needs of the “other.” Like God’s relationship with us, our
mally sung or chanted within a setting conducive to prayer.
relationships with others are meant to be expressions of love,
which heals and reconciles. In communion with God and
Worship is not simply expressed in words. In addition
others we grow in our human identity. The Orthodox take
to prayers, hymns, and Scripture readings, there are a num-
very seriously the old Christian adage “A solitary Christian
ber of ceremonies, gestures, and processions. The church
is no Christian.”
makes rich use of nonverbal symbols to express God’s pres-
ence and our relationship to him. Orthodox worship in-
Relationships among believers are meant to be a cons-
volves the whole person: intellect, feelings, and senses.
tant reminder of the profound relationship that each of us
Services in the Orthodox Church follow a prescribed
has with every member of the human family. The Orthodox
order, framework, and design, with a view to preserving its
teach that each person, regardless of circumstance or belief,
corporate dimension and strengthening a sense of unity and
is created by the same God. Indeed, each of us has been unit-
continuity. The content of the services is also prescribed.
ed with God in a very intimate way through the humanity
There are unchanging elements, and there are parts that
that Christ has shared.
change according to the feast, season, or particular circum-
Salvation also has its cosmic dimension. The Orthodox
stance. The regulating of the services indicates that worship
believe that human persons are not saved from the world but
is an expression of the entire church and not the composition
in and through the created world. The soul is not saved sepa-
on a particular priest and congregation.
rately from the body but rather together with the body. The
Worship is also an important means of communicating
whole person, body and soul, is meant to share in the process
the faith, especially through prayer. As the axiom says, the
of deification, beginning with the relationships and responsi-
rule of prayer is the rule of faith (lex orandi est lex credendi).
bilities of this life. Far from rejecting the body and the rest
This means that the essential affirmations of the faith are ex-
of the material creation, the Orthodox look upon the physi-
pressed through worship. No universal or official language
cal as the work of God and the medium through which the
is prescribed, Orthodox worship having always been cele-
divine is manifest. The entire creation, good from the begin-
brated in the language of the people. Indeed, two or more
ning, is related to the reality of the Incarnation of Christ.
languages may be used in the services to accommodate the
The creation is the gift of a good and loving God, and
needs of the congregation. Throughout the world Orthodox
although it is prone to distortion, both because of its created-
worship is celebrated in over fifty languages or dialects.
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
The Eucharist. Known as the Divine Liturgy, the Eu-
Traditionally, the sacraments are known as Mysteries in the
charist is the most important act of communal prayer for Or-
Orthodox Church because they not only celebrate and reveal
thodox Christians. In obedience to the command of the Lord
the presence of God but also make believers receptive to
given at the last supper (Luke 22:19), it has been celebrated
God. All the sacraments affect our personal relationship to
regularly since the time of the apostles. At the Eucharist the
God and to one another, although they are addressed to each
community of believers gathers to hear Scripture, offer
person by name.
prayers, present the offering of bread and wine, recall the
The sacraments are composed of prayers, hymns, Scrip-
mighty acts of God, invoke the blessing of the Spirit, and re-
ture lessons, and gestures. The Orthodox have avoided re-
ceive Holy Communion as an expression of union with
ducing the sacraments to a particular formula or action.
Christ and one another. It is an action, the Orthodox believe,
Often, a whole series of rites make up a sacrament. Most use
that manifests the presence of Christ in the midst of his fol-
a portion of the material of creation as an outward and visible
lowers and is an expression of the kingdom to come.
sign of God’s presence and action. Water, oil, bread, and
The Eucharist is celebrated on Sunday morning, the day
wine are but a few of the many elements employed. The fre-
commemorating the Resurrection. It may also be offered on
quent use of the material of creation affirms that matter is
most weekdays, especially on feast days and saint days ac-
good and can become a medium of the Spirit. In addition,
cording to local custom. It is celebrated only once a day to
the use of creation affirms the central truth of the Orthodox
emphasize and maintain the unity of the local congregation.
Christian faith: that God became human in Jesus Christ and
While an ordained bishop or priest is necessary, the Divine
entered into the midst of creation, thereby redirecting the
Liturgy is never celebrated without a congregation. In many
cosmos toward its Creator.
places the greater participation of the congregation and the
The sacrament of baptism with a threefold immersion
frequent reception of Holy Communion are being strongly
in water in the name of the Holy Trinity publicly incorpo-
encouraged.
rates persons into the church. The act is a sign of new life
As it is celebrated today, the Divine Liturgy is a product
and an identification with the death and Resurrection of
of rich historical development. The fundamental core of the
Christ. Orthodoxy encourages the baptism of infants of be-
liturgy dates from the time of Christ and the apostles. To
lieving parents. The sacrament bears witness to the action of
this, prayers, hymns, and gestures have been added. The lit-
God who calls a child to be a valued member of his people.
urgy achieved a basic framework by the ninth century. There
From the day of their baptism, children are expected to ma-
are two principle forms of the Eucharist presently in use in
ture in the life of the Spirit, through their family and the
the Orthodox Church. While their structure is the same,
church. This practice reveals that Orthodoxy views children
there are differences in prayers and hymns. The Liturgy of
from their infancy as important members of the church.
St. John Chrysostom is the version most frequently celebrat-
There is never time when the young are not part of God’s
ed. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated especially
people. Following a period of preparation, the baptism of
during Lent. According to local custom, the Liturgy of St.
adults is also practiced when there was no previous baptism
James and the Liturgy of St. Mark are occasionally used. In
in the name of the Holy Trinity.
addition, there is also the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts.
Chrismation (confirmation) immediately follows bap-
Used on weekday evenings during Lent, this is a Vesper ser-
tism and is never delayed until a later age. It is a personal
vice followed by the distribution of Holy Communion re-
Pentecost, which signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit. The
served from the previous Sunday. The Orthodox affirm the
priest anoints the various parts of the body of the newly bap-
presence of Christ in the eucharistic bread and wine but gen-
tized with holy oil saying, “The seal of the gifts of the Holy
erally avoid using terms such as “transubstantiation” to ex-
Spirit.” The sacrament emphasizes that the Spirit blesses each
press the reality. A portion of the eucharistic gifts is reserved
person with spiritual gifts and talents. The anointing also re-
for the communion of the sick, but it is not used for any
minds us that our bodies are valuable and are involved in the
other forms of devotions. Only baptized believers may re-
process of salvation. Those who are received into the Ortho-
ceive Holy Communion. Except in emergencies, the Ortho-
dox Church and have been previously baptized in the name
dox do not offer Holy Communion to members of other
of the Holy Trinity are usually anointed with the same holy
Christian churches because of the state of disunity over
oil.
teachings.
Confession is the sacrament through which sins are for-
Sacraments and prayers. The Orthodox Church has
given and the relationship to God and to others is restored
never formally determined a particular number of sacra-
and strengthened. According to Orthodox teaching, the pen-
ments. In recent centuries, however, catechisms have fre-
itent confesses to God and is forgiven by God. Viewed not
quently identified seven. With the Eucharist at the center,
as a judge but as a physician and guide, the priest bears wit-
these rites are events of church life when the perception of
ness to the presence and action of Christ and his people.
God’s actions in the lives of particular persons is heightened
Confession can take place on any number of occasions ac-
and celebrated. All the sacraments lead toward and flow from
cording to the needs of the believer. In the event of serious
the Eucharist, which is at the center of the life of the Church.
sin, however, confession is a necessary part of the preparation
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EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
2593
for Holy Communion. Orthodoxy encourages every believer
ful. Among the more significant are the Great Blessing of
to have a spiritual father or mother to whom the believer
Water on the Feast of the Theophany, January 6, the monas-
turns for spiritual advice and counsel.
tic profession, and the rites of burial.
The church blesses the relationship between a man and
There is also a fundamental connection between the
a woman and affirms the action of God in their lives through
prayers of the community and the prayer of the home, called
the sacrament of marriage. They enter into a new relation-
the “domestic church.” Prayer in the home also has a special
ship with each other, God, and the church. Marriage is not
importance for Orthodox believers. They are expected to
viewed simply a social institution or legal contract. It is an
have a personal “rule of prayer” to be followed during the
eternal vocation of the Kingdom of God extending into the
course of the day, normally in the morning and evening. In
age to come. A husband and a wife are called by the Holy
most homes of Orthodox Christians, there is usually a corner
Spirit not only to live together but also to share their Chris-
or shelf where icons are prominently displayed with a vigil
tian life together so that each, with the aid of the other, may
light. Here at the “home altar” family prayers are offered.
grow closer to God and become the persons they are meant
The traditional Book of Prayers contains numerous prayers
to be. In the marriage service, after the couple have been be-
addressing the events and responsibilities of daily life. They
trothed and exchanged rings, crowns are placed on their
serve to remind the believer of the presence of God through
heads as a sign of “glory and honor” of their vocation. Near
all aspects of life.
the conclusion of the service, the husband and wife drink
Holy Scripture. The Orthodox have a high regard for
from a common cup of wine, reminiscent of the wedding of
the Holy Scriptures. The book of the Gospels is prominently
Cana and symbolizing the sharing of the burdens and joys
placed on the altar, and at least one selection from Scriptures
of their new life together. It is expected that the marriage re-
is read at the every service of common worship. The Ortho-
lationship is permanent and eternal. However, in cases where
dox recognize twenty-seven books in the New Testament
the marital relationship breaks down, the church may grant
and forty-nine books in the Old Testament. The Orthodox
an ecclesiastical divorce and permit a second marriage.
recognize that the Bible, a collection of diverse texts written
Through the sacrament of ordination (holy orders),
at different time periods and places, and in a variety of liter-
those who have been chosen from within the church are set
ary styles, is inspired by the Spirit through the hands of
apart by the church for special service to the church. God
human persons. The books have been collected by the com-
calls each through his people to serve the needs of the com-
munity of believers for the sake of nurture and teaching. This
munity. The process of ordination begins with the local con-
means that the Orthodox view the Scriptures as the “books
gregation, but the bishop alone, who acts in the name of the
of the church.” They must be read by the faithful and inter-
wider church, can complete the action. Ordinations always
preted within the broader context of the tradition of the
take place within the context of the Eucharist. The rite in-
church. The Scriptures are not always clear or self-
volves the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the imposition
explanatory. Here, tradition refers to the essential faith affir-
of his hands on the person being ordained. There are three
mations about the Holy Trinity, the human person, and all
major orders—bishop, priest, and deacon—each of which
reality, which are professed by the church. These affirma-
requires a particular ordination. Often, other titles and of-
tions are rooted in the divine revelation centered on Christ,
fices are associated with these three orders. Each order is dis-
and they are transmitted in and through the believing com-
tinguished by its pastoral responsibilities within the commu-
munity.
nity. Only a bishop may ordain. Persons may choose to
While Scriptures are given preeminence within tradi-
marry before they are ordained. Since the sixth century, bish-
tion, reference can also be made to the faith expressed in
ops have been chosen only from the celibate clergy. Since the
other aspects of church life. These would include the Eucha-
early church, women have been ordained as deacons but less
rist and other forms of liturgical prayer, hymns, iconography,
so in recent centuries. There have been formal calls for a re-
the doctrinal decisions of the councils, the teachings of the
vival of this practice.
Fathers and Mothers, as well as the witness of the saints.
The sacrament of the anointing of the sick (holy unc-
Through all of these, the Spirit can act to nurture the believer
tion) is offered to believers who are ill or weak in body, mind,
in the truth of the faith and deepen the relationship with the
or spirit, not simply those in danger of death. As with chris-
Triune God.
mation, oil is also used as a sign of God’s presence, strength,
The Fathers and Mothers. Eastern Christianity has a
and forgiveness. After the reading of seven epistle lessons and
special devotion to the Fathers and Mothers of the church.
seven gospel lessons and the offering of seven prayers, the
There is no absolute definition of such persons. Generally,
priest anoints the body with the holy oil. In many places, this
the name is given to important teachers of the faith who are
sacrament is also celebrated for all on Wednesday of Holy
honored because of their sanctity and spiritual wisdom.
Week.
Among the more prominent are those who were involved in
The Orthodox have many other blessings and special
the Trinitarian and Christological discussions of the early
services of prayer that complement the major sacraments and
church. In every age, however, these teachers are concerned
that reflect the presence of God through the lives of the faith-
with relating the faith of the church to particular concerns
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2594
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
and issues. They are very much people of their age and have
tendom, 600–1700 (Chicago, 1974). Dimitri Obolensky’s
to be understood as such. In facing the issues of their day,
The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453
these teachers sought to affirm the intimate connection be-
(London, 1971) provides a clear and authoritative picture.
tween theological reflection, the rule of prayer, and the life
More specialized studies include, Anthony-Emil Tachiaos,
of virtue.
Cyril and Methodios of Thesalonika: The Acculturation of the
Slavs (Thessaloniki, 1989); Demetrios Constantelos, Byzan-
The icon. Eastern Christianity in general and the Or-
tine Philanthropy and Social Welfare (New Brunswick, N.J.,
thodox Church in particular are especially known for its ico-
1968); and Steven Runciman, The Great Church in Captivity
nography. Forms of iconography have existed from the earli-
(Cambridge, 1968). A small but very attractive introduction
est days of the church, as evidenced by those primitive
to the art of the Byzantine world is Rowena Loverance, By-
drawings in the catacombs of Rome. Icons may depict
zantium (Cambridge, Mass., 2004).
Christ, Mary, the Mother of God, and the other saints. At
Issues of division in the fifth and sixth century are examined in
first glance, many icons appear simply educational because
John Meyendorff, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought (New
they can depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments
York, 1975); Sabastian P. Brock, Studies in Syriac Christiani-
or from the later history of the church. But more than this,
ty (Brookfield, Vt., 1992) and From Ephrem to Romanos
icons are meant to assist the believer in being drawn closer
(Brookfield, Vt., 1999; Paul Fries and Tiran Nersoyian, eds.
to the person depicted. Icons are not worshiped, yet they
Christ in East and West (Macon, Ga., 1987); H. Hill, ed.,
may serve as vehicles through which veneration is offered to
Light from the East: A Symposium on the Oriental Orthodox
and Assyrian Churches (Toronto, 1988); and Wilhelm Baum
Christ and the saints and through which the presence of God
and Dietmar Winkler, The Church of the East (London,
is communicated to believers.
2003). Older but reliable studies are R. V. Sellers, The Coun-
Most of the icons of the saints depict them in a histori-
cil of Chalcedon: A Historical and Doctrinal Survey (London,
cal setting. The saint is pictured in a manner that appears to
1953) and Karikin Sarksian, The Council of Chalcedon and
express his or her transfiguration, sometimes accompanied
the Armenian Church (London, 1965).
by a symbolic expression of the saint’s particular ministry or
On the schism between Orthodoxy and Rome, Steven Runci-
task in life. Sometimes the saint is depicted in the company
man’s The Eastern Schism: A Study of the Papacy and the East-
of others, even pets or other animals. For the Orthodox, the
ern Churches during the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Ox-
saints dwell now in the glory of the kingdom. Yet the icon
ford, 1955) is a classic, well-documented study. See also,
is a clear reminder that the saint grew in holiness within the
Michael Fahey, Trinitarian Theology East and West (Broo-
context of the relationships and responsibilities of daily life.
kine, Mass., 1977); Richard Haugh, Photios and the Carolin-
gians (Belmont, Mass., 1975); Philip Sherrard’s The Greek
The icon is also a reminder that life is meant to be lived in
East and the Latin West: A Study in the Christian Tradition
harmony with God and others in the midst of the creation.
(London, 1959); Yves Congar’s After Nine Hundred Years:
The Background of the Schism between the Eastern and Western
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Churches (New York, 1959); Francis Dvornik, Byzantium
and the Roman Primacy (New York, 1966); and George
Surveys
Every, Misunderstanding Between East and West (Richmond,
Valuable surveys covering history and doctrine of the Orthodox
Tenn., 1966). For a full treatment of the hesychastic contro-
Church are John Meyendorff’s The Orthodox Church: Its Past
versy, see John Meyendorff’s A Study of Gregory Palamas
and Its Role in the World Today, rev. ed. (New York, 1981),
(London, 1964).
and Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church (1964;
reprint, New York, 1983). An older study by Nicholas
A classic account of the Turkish period, is Steven Runciman’s The
Zernov, Eastern Christendom: A Study of the Origins of the
Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Con-
Eastern Orthodox Church (London, 1961), provides a good
stantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek
overview. Other Eastern churches are covered extensively in
War of Independence (Cambridge, 1968). On the Catholic
A. S. Atiya’s A History of Eastern Christianity (Notre Dame,
communities, see Charles A. Frazee’s Catholics and Sultans:
Ind., 1965). For a comprehensive description of all the East-
The Church and the Ottoman Empire, 1453–1923 (Cam-
ern churches with contemporary information, see Ronald
bridge, 1983). More recent developments in the Church of
Robinson, The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey,
Russia and the Slavic world are found in James Cunning-
6th ed. (Rome, 1999).
ham, A Vanquished Hope: Movements for Church Renewal in
Russia (Crestwood, N.Y., 1981); Dimitri Pospielovsky, The
Historical Development
Russian Church Under the Societ Regime, 1917–1982 (Crest-
An outstanding study of the church in Byzantium is J. M. Hussey,
wood, N.Y., 1984); and J. Ellis, The Russian Orthodox
The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (Oxford,
Church: A Contemporary History (London, 1986).
1986). On the development of theology in the Byzantine pe-
riod, the best summary is John Meyendorff’s Byzantine The-
Essays on some developments in the Eastern churches can be
ology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2nd ed. (New
found in Ion Bria, Martyria and Mission: The Witness of the
York, 1979). See also his Imperial Unity (Crestwood, N.Y.,
Orthodox Churches Today (Geneva, 1980) and Petro Ramet,
1989) and Byzantium and the Rise of Russia (Crestwood,
ed., Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twentieth Century
N.Y., 1989). As part of his extensive history of doctrine, see
(Durham, N.C., 1988). For the development of the Ortho-
Jaroslav Pelikan’s The Christian Tradition: A History of the
dox Church in the United States, see Thomas FitzGerald,
Development of Doctrine, vol. 2, The Spirit of Eastern Chris-
The Orthodox Church (Westport, Conn., 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
EBIONITES
2595
The story of the ecumenical movement, including Orthodox in-
Gerald and Thomas FitzGerald, Happy in the Lord: The Beat-
volvement, is found in Thomas FitzGerald, The Ecumenical
itudes for Everyday Brookline, Mass., 2000); Tomas Spidlik,
Movement: An Introductory History (Westport, Conn., 2004).
The Spirituality of the Christian East (Kalamazoo, Mich.,
See also, Ion Bria, The Sense of Ecumenical Tradition: The Ec-
1986); and Paul Evdokimov, The Sacrament of Love: The
umenical Witness and Vision of the Orthodox (Geneva, 1991).
Nuptial Mystery in the Light of the Orthodox Tradition (Crest-
For dialogue statements see: Christine Chaillot and Alexan-
wood, N.Y., 1985). Among the many collections of liturgical
der Belopopsky, eds, Towards Unity: The Theological Dia-
services, see Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware, eds., The Fes-
logue Between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox
tal Menaion (London, 1969) and The Lenten Triodion (Bos-
Churches (Geneva, 1998), and John Borelli and John Erick-
ton, 1978). A collection of texts on the spiritual life see, Ni-
son, ed., The Quest for Unity: Orthodox and Catholics in Dia-
kodimos of the Holy Mountain and Makarios of Corinth,
logue (Crestwood, N.Y., 1996).
eds., The Philokalia, translated and edited by G. E. H. Palm-
Some contemporary issues are discussed in: Anastasios Yanoula-
er, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, vols. 1–4 (London
tos, Facing the World (Crestwood, N.Y., 2003); Kyriaki Kari-
and Boston, 1979–1984). An outstanding introduction to
doyanes FitzGerald, Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church
the theology of the icon is Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir
(Brookline, Mass., 1999); Emmanuel Clapsis, ed., The Or-
Lossky, The Meaning of Icons (New York, 1982).
thodox Churches in a Pluralistic World (Brookline, Mass.,
THOMAS E. FITZGERALD (2005)
2004); and John Erickson, The Challenge of the Past (Crest-
wood, N.Y., 1991).
Doctrinal Themes
EAST SYRIAN CHURCH SEE NESTORIAN
Among the contemporary treatments of Orthodox theology, see
CHURCH
John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion: Studies in Person-
hood and the Church (Crestwood, N.Y., 1985) and his Eucha-
rist, Bishop and Church (Brookline, Mass., 2002); Dumitru
Staniloae, The Experience of God (Brookline, Mass., 2000);
EBIONITES is the name given to a Jewish Christian sect
Christos Yannaras, The Freedom of Morality (Crestwood,
that flourished during the early history of the Christian
N.Y., 1984); Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way (Crestwood,
church. The origin of the term, a Hebrew word meaning
N.Y., 1995); Maximos Aghiorgoussis, In the Image of God
poor persons, is obscure. It may have been an honorific title
(Brookline, Mass., 1999); Boris Bobrinskoy, The Mystery of
given to an original group of Christians who were Jews living
the Trinity (Crestwood, N.Y., 1999); and Stanley Harakas,
in Jerusalem that needed assistance from Christians else-
Wholeness of Faith and Life: Orthodox Christian Ethics, Parts
1–3 (Brookline, Mass., 1999). An older valuable study is
where in the Roman Empire (Rom. 15:25, 2 Cor. 9:12). It
Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church
was first used by the Christian bishop Irenaeus of Lyons
(London, 1957). The extensive writings of Georges
(Gaul) in the late second century to designate a Jewish Chris-
Florovsky critically examine numerous theological themes.
tian sect. Some later writers used it ironically to refer to the
See his Collected Works, Volumes 1–5 (Belmont, Mass.,
poverty of understanding of the members of the sect, who
1974–1979). A comprehensive examination of Florovsky’s
did not believe that Jesus Christ was the divine Son of God.
contribution is Andrew Blane, Georges Florovsky: Russian In-
There is no evidence to support the claim of some Christian
tellectual, Orthodox Churchman (Crestwood, N.Y., 1993).
writers that it derived from a person named Ebion, the sup-
On approaches to the Scriptures, see Dimitrios Trakatellis,
posed founder of the sect.
Authority and Passion (Brookline, Mass., 1987); Veselin Ke-
sich’s The Gospel Image of Christ: The Church and Modern
The origin, history, and distinct character of the Ebio-
Criticism (Crestwood, N.Y., 1987); and John Breck, The
nites have been subjects of intense debate. It is possible that
Power of the Word in the Worshipping Church (Crestwood,
the Ebionites go back to the earliest period of Christian his-
N.Y., 1986).
tory, when most Christians were Jews and some continued
Worship and Spirituality
to observe the Jewish law. If so, they would be the earliest
Rich insights into worship in the Christian East are found in the
example of a Christian movement within Judaism that was
many books of Alexander Schmemann. See his Introduction
eventually left behind as Christianity adapted to the influx
to Liturgical Theology (Leighton Buzzards, U.K., 1996), For
of Gentile converts. These Christians eventually became a
the Life of the World (Crestwood, N.Y., 1973), Of Water and
distinct group that, along with other groups (e.g., the Gnos-
the Spirit (Crestwood, N.Y., 1974), and The Eucharist
tics), was rejected as heretical by the emerging great church.
(Crestwood, N.Y., 1988). See also Alkiviadis Calivas, Aspects
They are sometimes identified with the minim (heretics),
of Orthodox Worship (Brookline, Mass., 2003) and Great
mentioned in the Talmud.
Week and Pascha in the Greek Orthodox Church (Brookline,
Mass., 1992).
The Ebionites were Jews who accepted Jesus of Naza-
reth as the Messiah (Christ) while continuing to maintain
Valuable perspectives into the Eastern Christian spirituality are
found in: Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom (Crestwood,
their identity as Jews. They cultivated relations with Jews as
N.Y., 2000); Andrew Louth, The Origins of the Christian
well as Christians though they were welcomed by neither.
Mystical Tradition (Oxford, 1981); Oliver Clement, The
They followed the Jewish law, insisting on circumcision,
Roots of Christian Mysticism (London, 1993); K. M. George,
keeping the Sabbath and celebrating the Jewish festivals
The Silent Root (Geneva, 1994); Kyriaki Karidoyanes Fitz-
(Yom Kippur, Passover), and observing the dietary laws (e.g.,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2596
EBLAITE RELIGION
abstention from pork) and other Jewish customs. They repu-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
diated the apostle Paul because of his denigration of the Jew-
Klijn, Albertus Frederik Johannes, and G. J. Reinink. Patristic Evi-
ish law. They saw Jesus as a prophet, an exceptional man in
dence for Jewish-Christian Sects. Leiden, 1973.
the line of Jewish prophets (as described in Deut. 18:15), and
Schoeps, Hans Joachim. Theologie und Geschichte des Judenchris-
denied the virgin birth. They justified their way of life by ap-
tentums. Tübingen, Germany, 1949.
pealing to the example of Jesus’ life: he was circumcised, ob-
Simon, Marcel. Verus Israel: Étude sur les relations entre chrétiens
served the Sabbath and celebrated the Jewish festivals, and
et juifs dans l’Empire romain, 135–425. Paris, 1964.
taught that all the precepts of the law should be observed.
Strecker, Georg. “Ebioniten.” In Reallexikon für Antike und Chris-
They celebrated Easter on the same day that the Jews cele-
tentum. Stuttgart, 1959.
brated the Passover, and they held the city of Jerusalem in
high esteem.
New Sources
Goulder, Michael. “A Poor Man’s Christology.” New Testament
Besides the Ebionites there were other Jewish Christian
Studies 45 (1999): 332.
sects, such as the Nazarenes, the Symmachians, and the
ROBERT L. WILKEN (1987)
Elkesaites, but it is difficult to distinguish one from the
Revised Bibliography
other, and the names are not used with any consistency.
Ebionite is the most common designation, and it may simply
have been a term used to characterize any form of Jewish
EBLAITE RELIGION. The archaeological excava-
Christianity with a stress on the observance of Jewish law.
tions carried out in the ancient city of Ebla have brought to
Although early Christian writings directed against heresy
light a library with thousands of clay tablets that inform us
sometimes linked the Ebionites with other heretical groups,
in detail about the politics, economy, and religion of third-
such as the Gnostics, the distinctiveness of the Ebionites
millennium BCE Syria. These cuneiform texts have provoked
lies less in their doctrines than in their attitude toward the
great interest among scholars. Ebla’s geographical position
Jewish law.
near the Syro-Palestinian region described in the Bible, as
The Ebionites had their own gospel, but it is not possi-
well as the presence in the Eblaite onomasticon of an-
ble to reconstruct its content in any detail. Ancient writers
throponyms similar to those of the biblical patriarchs, have
mention three Jewish Christian gospels, but because of the
caused a heated debate among scholars of different ten-
fragmentary nature of our information, it is difficult to dis-
dencies.
tinguish these works clearly. The Gospel of the Ebionites (a
THE EBLAITE PANTHEON. Although archaeologists have not
modern designation) may have been similar to the Gospel
been able to identify particular buildings from the third mil-
of Matthew, but it did not include the narrative of the virgin
lennium as temples, it is clear from these texts that the city
birth and Jesus’ infancy.
of Ebla must have contained a large number of religious
buildings dedicated to the various divinities of their pan-
Information on the Ebionites is scattered over three cen-
theon, since the Eblaites were in fact a polytheistic people.
turies, from the middle of the second to the middle of the
The pantheon, as seen in the epigraphic material, is clearly
fifth, suggesting that the sect had a continuous history as a
Western Semitic, and in this respect the Eblaite civilization
distinct group from the earliest period. A continuous history
differs from civilizations of the Mesopotamian world. Of
cannot be documented, however, and it is more likely that
course scholars at Ebla were aware of the Sumerian gods, and
the persistence of people called by the name Ebionites is evi-
the Eblaite texts include a bilingual vocabulary with a section
dence that within Christianity, in spite of the break with Ju-
dedicated to listing the Sumerian gods who could be partly
daism and the bitter polemic against Jewish practices, there
identified with Eblaite gods; for example, Inanna, the Sume-
continued to spring up groups of Christians who believed
rian goddess of love and war, is equated with Ishtar, the
that one could be a Christian and still observe the Jewish law.
Western Semitic goddess with the same attributes, and Ner-
The greatest strength of the Ebionites was in Palestine
gal, the Sumerian god of the underworld, is compared to
and Syria, areas where Judaism flourished. One community
Rasap, in later times Rasef, the god of plague.
of Ebionites lived in Pella, east of the Jordan River, and
Confirming what is already known from later literature,
claimed to be descended from the original group of Chris-
the texts from Ebla show that certain syncretic processes had
tians, who were thought to have fled Jerusalem at the time
not yet occurred. For example, Enlil, the supreme god of the
of the war with the Romans in 70 CE. There was a resurgence
Sumerian pantheon, was equated in the second millennium
of Jewish Christianity in the late fourth century, encouraged
to the principal god of the Western Semitic pantheon; at
by Jewish messianism and the emperor Julian’s attempt to
Ebla, however, at least according to the bilingual vocabulary,
rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews began to hope for
the two divinities were not regarded as equivalent. At Ebla,
their return to Jerusalem and Judaea, a rebuilding of the
as throughout the whole of Western Semitic civilization,
Temple, and restoration of sacrifices—the beginning of a
Dagan is the principal god, and he is regarded as distinct
messianic age. After this period little is known of the
from the Sumerian Enlil. This suggests deep intellectual re-
Ebionites.
flection among the Eblaite writers, along with a spiritual ma-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EBLAITE RELIGION
2597
turity in their religious belief, indicating perfect knowledge
pression “Lord of the gods” and “Lord of the country,” con-
of the divine world.
firming Dagan’s leading role among the Eblaite gods and his
undisputed position as the principal Semitic god in the third
The Eblaite pantheon is indeed Semitic, and its chief
millennium. In an inscription of Sargon of Akkad, Dagan
god is Dagan, but together with familiar Semitic gods, such
is said to have presented to the king the Upper Country, con-
as Ishtar, Baal, Rasap, Kamish, Sipish, Adad, Sin, and Sha-
firming what the Eblaite texts say about the status of this
magan, we also find Hurrite gods, such as Ashtapi, Ishhara,
god.
and Hepat, and perhaps even Teshup. There are also gods
that are otherwise completely unknown, such as the divine
The use of the term Lord instead of the name Dagan has
pair Kura and Barama, protective divinities of the Eblaite
profound implications in terms of religious history. It is clear
kingdom; Kakkab (“the star”), possibly Venus; and
that Dagan is present under a wide range of aspects and con-
NI.DA.KUL (the spelling is uncertain), identified by some
ceptual representations, as demonstrated by the numerous
scholars as the moon god, who must have been part of the
occasions where dBe Lord is followed by a geographical refer-
Eblaite pantheon, or more recently with Adad-Baal of later
ence. This perhaps provides an answer to an even more in-
tradition. It is also striking that the guardian god of the city
triguing question, with all that this implies in terms of reli-
of Ebla is Dabir, who is known from the Bible.
gious history: Dagan, although the principal god, or perhaps
by virtue of being so, is not called by his own name, but rath-
Certain aspects of Eblaite religion are completely novel
er by the term Lord. We thus find ourselves dealing with a
conceptually and anticipate much later developments. In
religious concept very different from that in Mesopotamia,
particular, two pertinent and highly significant patterns of
on the basis of which the name of the god could not be spo-
Eblaite thought reveal the remarkable flexibility and toler-
ken, as is the case in other important ancient religions. This
ance of this civilization. The first and most apparent novelty
suggestive question, implicitly requiring an affirmative re-
lies in the Eblaite practice of honoring not only their own
sponse, makes us realize the enormous contribution of Ebla
divinities but also those of other cities and kingdoms both
to the understanding of later historico-religious phenomena.
on lists of official offerings made by the royal household and
in offerings made by private individuals. The recipients of
This view of the role of Dagan finds unexpected ono-
the offerings are not only gods of the city and kingdom of
mastic support, permitting us to draw the conclusion that
Ebla, but also gods from various other kingdoms and cities
the Eblaites had already arrived at an abstract concept of di-
of central-northern Syria. From sacrificial offerings to the
vinity in the third millennium. It is indeed highly probable
god NI.DA.KUL of Arukatu, Æama, and Luban, as well as
that the theophoric designations -il and -ya that are often
to Adad of Abati, Atanni, Æalam, Lub, and so on, we can
mentioned in onomastic texts do not indicate the god Il or
clearly see that the Eblaites welcomed gods venerated in
the god Ya as individual personal gods, but rather god as such
other cities into their pantheon. Frequent mention of gifts
or the concept of the divine. The use of the term Be for
(“offerings to the gods”) being dispatched by the Eblaite
Dagan and of -il and -ya for divinity itself does not mean
court to the most distant locations—Adab in southern Meso-
that we can talk of definite monotheism among the Western
potamia, Gasur in northern Mesopotamia, and Byblos on
Semitic peoples; rather we can legitimately conclude that at
the Mediterranean coast in Lebanon—all lead to the same
the very least the Eblaites had an extremely advanced concept
conclusion.
of the divine and were certainly very close to henotheism.
There would have been political reasons for this reli-
EBLAITE CULT. Turning from speculation to everyday life in
gious attitude towards foreign divinities, but it remains the
Ebla, the deeply religious nature of the Eblaites is evident
case that the Eblaites, by behaving in this way, demonstrated
from the divine worship of both private citizens and the royal
open-mindedness, flexibility, and sensitivity to the needs of
family. Eblaite texts concerning economic matters regularly
those with whom they came into contact. In contrast to the
catalogue offerings, bloody and unbloody, presented to the
jealous reaction of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians,
divine world in general and to individual gods to gain their
and Hebrews to the gods of other peoples and their rigid re-
favorable intercession in every aspect of life, and especially
jection of foreign religious traditions, one cannot help but
on important occasions, such as marriage or illness. The im-
be struck by the openness of the Eblaites in dealing with the
portant influence of the cult on public life is also reflected
varied religious observances of peoples with whom they had
in the six months of the New Calendar that refer to the festi-
political and economic relationships.
vals of various gods:
The second novelty is the particular concept of divinity
Festival of Dagan: 1st Month
held by the Eblaites, which, notwithstanding their wide-
Festival of Ashtapi: 2nd Month
spread polytheism, took the form of henotheism and a theo-
retical concept of god. Dagan in particular rises to a leading,
Festival of Ada(d): 4th Month
nearly unique role. In votive texts and in onomastic writings
Festival of Adamma: 9th Month
Dagan is often referred to not by his own name but with the
Festival of AMA-ra: 11th Month
title Lord, which corresponds to the Semitic belu. In various
religious references linked to particular cities, we find the ex-
Festival of Kamish: 12th 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
2598
EBLAITE RELIGION
Two other festivals can be added to these official festivals:
NI.DA.KUL that occurred in the territories of over twenty
itu er-me and itu hu-lu-mu. Both are religious rituals, the first
other cities. Another even more splendid procession in cele-
resembling the festival of tabernacles and the second that of
bration of the marriage of the queen lasted some six weeks,
the holocaust.
starting from Ebla and following a specific route to the town
of Binash.
Such festivals presuppose the existence of sacred build-
ings or temples and the presence of cult worshippers or
Eblaite royal power was the prerogative of the queen,
priests, but archaeologists have not managed to identify reli-
that is, the female, and the sovereign became king not via dy-
gious buildings of the third millennium, despite their pres-
nastic descent but through marriage to the queen, who was
ence as indicated by the written sources. It is recorded that
the sole and real possessor of royal power, and who was cho-
one of the structures on the acropolis, specifically é-mah
sen by the inspection of entrails. The marriage ceremony and
(“exalted house”), is the official temple area of the city of
subsequent enthronement took place in a time and manner
Ebla. Various temples mentioned in the documentary
described in the texts, from which it is clear that the ritual
sources must have been located elsewhere in the Low City,
lasted some six weeks and featured cult acts not only in Ebla
especially the temples of Kura, Adad, and Ashtar, the three
and Binash, but also in other cities where the marriage party
gods that were most worshipped at Ebla. Other texts tell us
would stop during the ceremonial procession. The Eblaite
of the existence of a temple to all the gods called e-mul,
texts describe the enthronement of two well-known sover-
where, inter alia, the marriage ceremony of the queen to the
eigns, Arennum and Ebrium, the third and fourth rulers of
new sovereign was conducted. Located in the temples were
Ebla, confirming theories advanced in previous studies re-
statues of the various gods, made mostly of gold and silver
garding the nature of Eblaite sovereignty.
and resplendent with jewels that the people had brought to
The rite of the scapegoat was one of the ceremonies in
them as gifts.
the complex ritual for the succession to the Eblaite throne.
This rite was carried out when the procession arrived in
The ranks of the priesthood are not explicitly designated
Binash, and involved the purification of the sanctuary é-mah
as such, but the priestly titles dam-dingir, reserved for female
via the expulsion of a goat, a rite that Pelio Fronzaroli (1993)
members of the ruling class, perhaps only royal princesses,
has rightly emphasized as “partly anticipating the well-
and pa4-shesh ND (“the god’s anointed”) stand out. One text
known episode in Leviticus (16:21–22).” “Let us purify the
indicates that the male head of the priestly class was called
exalted house (the sanctuary) before Kura and Barama go
a-bu-mul (“father of the gods”) and the female head ama-mul
there, let us release a goat with a silver bracelet on its neck
(“mother of the gods”); their respective relations to each
to the mountain of AliNI.”
other have not yet been investigated.
A passage from the Eblaite texts describing the purchase
Religion also played a central role in Eblaite state events.
of a silver bracelet supports the idea that this rite must have
The most weighty decisions were accompanied by oaths
occurred in the manner described above: “One Dilmunite
taken before the more important gods. Thus when Ebrium
shiqlu of silver for one bracelet for a goat for the purification
bequeaths his possessions to various children, he swears an
of the exalted house of Binash (on the occasion of) the en-
oath before Kura, Siphish, Adad, and all the gods. Further-
thronement of the sovereign” (MEE 7, 34 v. VII 6–13). The
more, in a curse mentioned in a treaty between Ebla and
text is only interested in the administrative dispatch of the
Assur, the sun god, Adad, and all the gods are invoked. Other
silver and its intended destination and not in the fate of
ceremonies took place at the temple of Dagan at Tuttul.
the goat, but the very mention of this transaction along with
the purification of the sanctuary for the enthronement of the
The power structure at Ebla was essentially secular, in
sovereign makes it clear that it was a part of this ceremony.
contrast to Mesopotamia and Egypt, where the sovereigns
This Eblaite practice marks the beginning of a rite that was
were either divine incarnations or simply their representa-
to become very widespread, especially in the region of Syro-
tives. Nevertheless, Ebla was governed by firm religious prin-
Palestine and Anatolia in the second and first millennium,
ciples: the marriage of the queen and sovereign was a reli-
as well as in the world of the Old Testament, as seen from
gious rite that took place in the temple of the gods, and the
the Leviticus passage cited above. Ebla is the oldest source for
queen herself was chosen by divination, which involved an
such a rite, which was to develop and extend until it included
inspection of entrails presided over by the “god of their fa-
all the ceremonies described in the Bible: in Ebla there is no
thers.” The term dingir followed by a personal name did not
transference of the sins of the community to the head of the
indicate that this person had been made a god, but rather re-
chosen goat, nor the sacrifice of another goat, the blood of
ferred to the god of the individual concerned, and was actual-
which is sprinkled in the sanctuary. The Eblaite text empha-
ly the eponym of various Eblaite families, thus showing that
sizes only that the temple was purified by sending a goat
the very structure of Eblaite society was based upon familial
wearing a silver bracelet to the mountain. However, this ritu-
bonds. The choice of the queen of Ebla was made with the
al dating from the middle of the third millennium
blessing of the god of the family to which she belonged.
BCE is the
nucleus of the highly detailed rite described in Leviticus. This
Other important ceremonies include various divine pro-
fact demonstrates the attachment of the Syro-Palestinian
cessions in the area around Ebla, including one for the god
peoples to religious tradition.
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ECCLESIASTES
2599
Among the most outstanding Eblaite prophetic figures,
Xella, Paolo. “Tradition und Innovation: Bemerkungen zum Pan-
at least at Mari, a particular role is assigned to an individual
theon von Ebla.” Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient 2
called the apilum (var., aplum; fem., apiltum), which transla-
(1988): 349–358.
tors have rendered as “answering,” basing their translation
GIOVANNI PETTINATO (2005)
upon the literal meaning of the Akkadian. The translation
Translated from Italian by Paul Ellis
is ill-suited to the role of the human being, however, and
would be better rendered as “prophet.” The surprise in the
bilingual vocabulary of Ebla is not so much that the term
contains the familiar Semitic root Dpl, but that it includes the
ECCLESIASTES. The Book of Ecclesiastes belongs to the
Sumerian syntagma eme-bala, which means “to translate” or
wisdom writings of the Hebrew Bible, along with Proverbs
“to interpret,” and not the meaning expressed by the Semitic
and Job. The Hebrew title of the book is Qohelet, a term re-
root, “to talk” or “to answer.” The term corresponding to
lated to the verb qa¯hal, “to gather, assemble.” Most likely the
eme-bala in Akkadian and in other Semitic languages is tar-
noun qo¯helet designates the function “gatherer,” although it
gumannu, so that probably the Eblaite scribe intended a par-
remains unclear whether the term refers to the author as a
ticular meaning of the Sumerian headword. The prophet
gatherer of wise sayings or as a gatherer of persons for in-
therefore is no longer “the one who answers,” as previously
struction. Greek translators interpreted the word to mean
translated, but rather “the translator,” that is, the person who
ekkl¯esiast¯es, “member of a citizen’s assembly.” Although the
interprets the divine message and renders it intelligible to hu-
book identifies Qohelet as “king over Israel in Jerusalem, ”
mankind, just as the Greeks intended when they chose the
that is, Solomon (1:12; cf. 1:1), scholars recognize this perso-
word prophet to refer to someone who speaks for someone
na as a literary fiction, one that is maintained only for the
else—in this case God.
section 1:12–2:26. In the epilogue Qohelet is referred to as
a h:a¯ka¯m, a “sage” who taught the people.
SEE ALSO Canaanite Religion; Hittite Religion; Israelite Re-
DATE, PROVENANCE, AND RECEPTION. The lack of specific
ligion; Mesopotamian Religions; Moabite Religion; Phoeni-
historical references within the book makes it difficult to date
cian Religion.
Ecclesiastes. Consequently, its linguistic profile provides the
best clue to the date of composition. The presence of Persian
BIBLIOGRAPHY
loan words and numerous Aramaisms, as well as Hebrew ex-
Archi, Alfonso. “Die ersten zehn Könige von Ebla.” Zeitschrift für
pressions and grammatical forms typical of other post-exilic
Assyriologie 76 (1986): 213–217.
texts, makes a date earlier than the mid-fifth century BCE all
but impossible. Opinion is divided, however, as to whether
Archi, Alfonso. “Divinité sémitiques et divinités de substrat: Le cas
d’Ishhara et d’Ishtar à Ebla.” MARI 7 (1993): 71–78.
the book is more likely to have been composed during the
Persian period (540–332 BCE) or the Hellenistic period (332
Dahood, Mitchell, and Giovanni Pettinato. “Ugaritic rshp.gn and
BCE–165 CE). A date in the fourth or third century BCE is
Eblaite rasap gunu(m)ki.” In Orientalia 46 (1977): 230–232.
most likely.
Fronzaroli, Pelio. Archivi reali di Ebla: Testi rituali della regalità
Though the date remains somewhat uncertain, the so-
(XI). Rome, 1993.
cial context of the book is reflected in the striking use of
Mander, Pietro. “Los dioses y el culto de Ebla.” In Mitología y Re-
terms drawn from the commercial world. Ecclesiastes often
ligión del Oriente Antiguo, vol. 2.1: Semitas Occidentales
uses these terms in a derived or metaphorical sense, but the
(Ebla, Mari), edited by G. del Olmo Lete, pp. 5–123. Barce-
commercial origin of words such as yitrôn (profit), h:esrôn
lona, 1995.
(deficit), h:eshbôn (account), and shallît (proprietor) is readily
Müller; Hans-Peter. “Gab es in Ebla einen Gottesnamen Ja?”
recognized. Moreover, a number of the sayings concern
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 70 (1981): 70–92.
money and economic relations. Beginning in the Persian pe-
riod, the economy of Palestine was increasingly monetary
Pettinato, Giovanni. Culto Ufficiale ad Ebla durante il regno di
Ibbi-Sipiˇs. Rome, 1979.
and commercial. The competitive economic context of Per-
sian and Hellenistic Palestine was also combined with an au-
Pettinato, Giovanni. “Pre-ugaritic Documentation of Ba’al.” In
tocratic and often arbitrary system of political and economic
The Bible World: Essays in Honor of Cyrus H. Gordon, edited
hierarchy (royal grants, tax farming, etc.) that made it diffi-
by Gary Rendsburg, pp. 203–209. New York, 1980.
cult for individuals to have a sense of control over their eco-
Pettinato, Giovanni. Il rituale per la successione al trono ad Ebla.
nomic futures. This socioeconomic situation seems to in-
Rome, 1992.
form the perspective of Ecclesiastes, in which the inability of
Pettinato, Giovanni, and Hartmut Waetzoldt. “Dagan in Ebla
persons to be able to grasp the order of the world becomes
und Mesopotamien nach den Texten aus dem dritten Jahr-
thematic. One of the ways in which this perspective is mani-
tausend.” Orientalia 54 (1985): 234–256.
fest in Ecclesiastes is the foregrounding of the contradictori-
ness of experience.
Pomponio, Francesco, and Paolo Xella. Les Dieux d’Ebla: Étude
analytique des divinités Éblaïtes à l’époque des archives royales
Not surprisingly, Ecclesiastes was one of the books about
du IIIe millénaire. Münster, Germany, 1997.
whose canonicity certain rabbis raised questions in the late
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2600
ECCLESIASTES
first century CE, when such issues were being discussed. The
dict one another are placed side by side. Exposing contradic-
shocking nature of a number of the observations of Ecclesias-
tions as the way in which the world is in fact experienced
tes provoked some of the opposition. In addition, the book’s
demonstrates the elusiveness of any intellectual or moral
odd, self-contradictory structure gave pause. As a remark in
order. Moreover, it also explains why his judgment concern-
the Talmud observes, “the sages sought to withdraw the
ing the utility of wisdom is so mixed. Wisdom may in some
book of Qohelet because its words are mutually contradicto-
cases be an advantage, but in other cases it affords no advan-
ry” (b. Shabb. 30b). Nevertheless, the book was received as
tage whatsoever. Hence, persons are unable to control their
canonical in Judaism and thus in the Christian canon. In
futures by discerning the right deed for the right time. For
fact, Ecclesiastes came to be recognized as one of the five
this reason Ecclesiastes often characterizes the work people do
Megillot, the scrolls read in connection with the calendar of
in their lives with a word that has negative connotations,
Jewish festivals. Ecclesiastes is read during Sukkot, the Festival
Eamal, meaning “burdensome toil.” Similarly, Ecclesiastes
of Booths, presumably because of the connection between
notes that although God is just, injustice is often present in
the repeated calls of Ecclesiastes to enjoy the present moment
the world. Death becomes emblematic of the inability of hu-
and the association of Sukkot with “the season of our
mans to grasp any meaningful order, since “the same fate
rejoicing.”
comes to all” (9:2), whether they are wise or foolish, good
or evil, religious or not. Like the order of the world, God re-
CONTENT AND THEMES. Although Ecclesiastes is often seen
mains inscrutable for Ecclesiastes. Although much that Eccle-
as a heterodox work, it fits quite well into the larger picture
siastes says about God would be at home in Proverbs, he dif-
of wisdom writings in the ancient Near East. Ancient Near
fers from that book in stressing the radical transcendence of
Eastern wisdom was fundamentally concerned with the quest
God (“God is in heaven and you are on earth” [5:2]). Like
for order in the natural world, especially as that order ex-
an imperial monarch in the Persian or Hellenistic period,
presses itself in the sphere of human experience. While many
God is to be feared rather than loved (5:1–7).
wisdom texts, such as the Book of Proverbs, express confi-
dence in human ability to discern and profit by perceiving
Despite the conviction of Ecclesiastes that the order of
such an order, there are also many that express a skeptical
things cannot be understood and used to human advantage,
or pessimistic view. These include the Egyptian writings of
he addresses the concern of traditional wisdom for how to
the Dialogue of a Man with His Ba, The Admonitions of Ipu-
live appropriately in the world. Consistent with his analysis
wer, and the conclusion to The Instructions of Ani. In Meso-
of the inability of persons to control their futures, Ecclesiastes
potamian wisdom The Babylonian Theodicy and, in particu-
endorses taking pleasure in the moment at hand. One should
lar, The Dialogue of a Master with His Slave articulate
enjoy eating, drinking, being festive, loving one’s spouse,
skepticism toward the project of discerning the order of the
working on the task at hand (9:7–10). Even this is not in
universe. In Israelite wisdom the Book of Job is also reckoned
one’s own power, however, but rather is frequently described
among the skeptical works. It is probably incorrect to see
as God’s “gift” or as a person’s “portion” from God. Al-
these different opinions as representing a chronological
though this advice differs from what one finds in other Israel-
movement from confidence to skepticism. It is rather more
ite wisdom texts, it is traditional wisdom, having a very close
likely that both the confident and the skeptical perspectives
parallel in the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh epic. Thus, Ecclesi-
were present within the dialogue of wisdom at most times.
astes should not be seen as representing a crisis in Israelite
wisdom, as is sometimes suggested, but rather as articulating
The particular perspective of Ecclesiastes concerning the
the skeptical or pessimistic strand of traditional ancient Near
accessibility of order in the world is announced in the open-
Eastern wisdom.
ing verse of the text (1:2). Following the translation of the
King James Version, the line is often rendered “Vanity of
vanities, says Qohelet; vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” The
BIBLIOGRAPHY
word translated “vanity” is hebel, which literally means “a
Crenshaw, James L. Ecclesiastes: A Commentary. Philadelphia,
puff of air.” It is, as C. L. Seow suggests in Ecclesiates: A New
1987.
Translation with Introduction and Commentary (1997), “any-
Fox, Michael V. A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up:
thing that is superficial, ephemeral, insubstantial, incompre-
A Rereading of Ecclesiastes. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1999.
hensible, enigmatic, inconsistent, or contradictory. . . . It
cannot be grasped—either physically or intellectually”
Lohfink, Norbert. Qoheleth: A Continental Commentary. Translat-
(p. 47). Thus, Ecclesiastes does not deny that there is an order
ed by Sean McEvenue. Minneapolis, 2003.
to the world—indeed, he often suggests that there is—only
Longman, Tremper, III. The Book of Ecclesiastes. Grand Rapids,
it is one that cannot be grasped by human knowing. Conse-
Mich., 1998.
quently, translators sometimes render hebel by such terms as
Murphy, Roland E. Ecclesiastes. Dallas, Tex., 1992.
futility or even absurdity.
Seow, C. L. Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and
The conviction of Ecclesiastes that humans cannot grasp
Commentary. New York, 1997.
the order of the world helps make sense of a frequent literary
strategy used in the book in which two sayings that contra-
CAROL A. NEWSOM (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
ECKANKAR
2601
ECCLESIOLOGY SEE CHURCH, ARTICLE ON
Two memoirs (Schutz red, 1540, and Replica, 1543) are po-
ECCLESIOLOGY
lemical tracts that also provide biographical details.
Eck’s writings were the most widely distributed anti-
Protestant theological works of his generation. He played a
major role in convincing Roman Catholic authorities that
ECK, JOHANN (1486–1543), German Roman Catho-
Luther’s teachings were novelties dangerous to the security
lic theologian known for his opposition to the Protestant re-
of the faith. He helped shape the strategy widely used against
formers. Born Johann Maier in the Swabian village of Eck,
the Protestants: to take positions representing a medieval
he entered the University of Heidelberg at age eleven. There-
consensus and, in defending them, to anticipate possible
after he studied at Tübingen (master of arts, 1501), Cologne,
Protestant objections, avoid scholastic demonstration, and
and Freiburg (doctor of theology, 1510). In 1510 he began
emphasize scriptural arguments.
studies at Ingolstadt, where he received a second doctorate
and assumed a position on the theological faculty. He quick-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ly became the dominant theological force at Ingolstadt and
Despite its age and some serious flaws, the most satisfactory biog-
retained his position and his dominance there until his death.
raphy of Eck is still Theodor Wiedemann’s Dr. Johann Eck,
Eck was ordained to the secular priesthood in 1508 and
Professor der Theologie an der Universität Ingolstadt (Regens-
preached regularly during the years he spent in Ingolstadt.
burg, 1865). For a thorough modern treatment of one aspect
of Eck’s theology, see Erwin Iserloh’s Die Eucharistie in der
Eck’s early years revealed broad intellectual interests. He
Darstellung des Johannes Eck (Münster, 1950). Two exempla-
published on logic (Bursa pavonis, 1507; In summulas Petri
ry critical editions of works by Eck are Enchiridion locorum
Hispani, 1516; Elementarius dialectice, 1517) and on Aristot-
communium adversus Lutherum et alios hostes ecclesiae, 1525–
le (1517, 1519, 1520). He read geography and canon law,
1543, edited by Pierre Fraenkel (Münster, 1979), and De
and his affinities for the humanists were reflected in his study
sacrificio missae libri tres, 1526, edited by Erwin Iserloh, Vin-
of Greek and Hebrew and his fondness for classical sources.
zenz Pfnür, and Peter Fabisch (Münster, 1982).
In theology, his most significant early work was the Chryso-
WALTER L. MOORE (1987)
passus (1514), a treatise on predestination. In it Eck declared
his preference for the Franciscans Bonaventure and Duns
Scotus but asserted that he would not be bound to any theo-
ECKANKAR was founded by Paul Twitchell (1909–
logical party—a notable declaration in view of his attach-
1971) in California in the mid-1960s. Although the Hindi/
ment to the nominalists during his years in Freiburg. The
Punjabi term Ek Onkar (literally “One God/Power”) was
Chrysopassus expounded doctrines of merit and free will that
most likely derived from Guru Na¯nak’s Japj¯ı (the first set of
would soon be under attack by Luther and other Protestants.
hymns in the Sikh holy book, Guru¯ Granth Sa¯hib), Twitchell
altered its original phonetic spelling and definition, claiming
Luther’s Ninety-five Theses (1517) changed Eck’s life.
that “Eckankar” was a Tibetan-Pali word meaning “co-
At his bishop’s request Eck responded to the theses, and en-
worker with God.” According to Twitchell, Eckankar was an
suing exchanges led to the Leipzig Disputation (1519) be-
ancient spiritual path with a lineage of 970 “Eck” Masters
tween Eck and the Wittenbergers Luther and Karlstadt.
who trace back to Gakko, who brought the true teachings
Shortly thereafter Eck went to Rome and helped secure papal
of soul travel from the city of Retz on the planet Venus.
condemnation of Wittenberg theology. He was commis-
Twitchell alleged that through this bilocation philosophy a
sioned (1520) to publicize in Germany the papal bull Exsurge
neophtye can leave his or her body via an inner light and
Domine, which condemned forty-one propositions attribut-
sound and soul-travel to higher regions of consciousness,
ed to Luther, and which Luther publicly burned.
which lead ultimately to the supreme lord, Sugmad.
The rest of Eck’s life was devoted largely to combating
The Living Eck Master (occasionally retaining the more
Protestants in Germany and Switzerland. Although he had
exalted title of Mahanta, “the highest state of God conscious-
no confidence that disputation would convince his Protes-
ness on earth”) is central to Eckankar theology because it is
tant opponents, he engaged in debate when he thought pub-
through his guidance that the student (known as a chela) re-
lic policy might be influenced—notably in Baden in 1524.
ceives various levels of initiation, usually involving instruc-
He was the most important Catholic participant in discus-
tions into new sacred tones and other higher-level practices
sions with Protestants at Augsburg (1530) and Ratisbon
of contemplation. In an early article entitled “The Cliff
(1541). His anti-Protestant publications included the follow-
Hanger” published in Psychic Observer in 1964, Twitchell ex-
ing: defenses of papal authority (De primatu Petri, 1520), the
plained the basis behind his new group:
doctrine of purgatory (De purgatorio, 1523), the sacrament
Eckankar, which I formed out of my own experience,
of penance (De satisfactione and De initio poenitentiae, both
is the terms used for the philosophy I have developed
1523), and the sacrifice of the Mass (De sacrificio missae,
for the Cliff Hanger. It is based on Shabd-Yoga, a way
1526); the Enchiridion (1525), a manual intended to refute
out form of yoga. The word is the Hindu locution for
common Protestant errors; cycles of sermons (German and
the cosmic sound current which is known in our ver-
Latin, 1530); and a German translation of the Bible (1537).
nacular as the cosmic river of 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
2602
ECKANKAR
Twitchell attributed the evolution of his personal philosophy
actively explore the spiritual worlds through Soul Trav-
into a public spiritual path to his second wife, Gail Atkinson
el, dreams, and other spiritual techniques.
(whom he married in 1964 when he was fifty-four years old
Eckankar has weathered a fair storm of controversy since its
and she was twenty-one), saying, “The switchover from the
inception, primarily because of questions concerning
Cliff Hanger to Eck began taking place after I met my pres-
Twitchell’s alleged plagiarism, biographical redactions, and
ent wife, Gail. She insisted that I do something with my
purported historical antecedents. First, Twitchell claimed
knowledge and abilities” (quoted in Brad Steiger, In My Soul
that while traveling in Europe and India he was taught Ec-
I Am Free [San Diego, 1974], p. 64).
kankar by the two former Masters who preceded him, Sudar
Eckankar’s organization and teachings have evolved
Singh of Allahabad and Rebazar Tarzs, a supposed five-
since Twitchell died of heart disease on September 17, 1971,
hundred-year-old Tibetan monk. However, there is no docu-
in Cincinnati, Ohio, shortly after giving a talk. Twitchell’s
mented evidence proving that Twitchell had visited these
widow, Gail Atkinson (his first wife, Camille Ballowe, whom
countries when he claimed he did or that either Sudar Singh
he married in 1942, divorced him on the legal grounds of
or Rebazar Tarzs are genuine historical figures. Rather, there
desertion in 1960), claimed to have had a dream in which
is ample evidence (even from Twitchell’s own pen) that he
her husband appointed Darwin Gross to be his spiritual suc-
was associated with Swami Premananda of the Self-
cessor and the leader of Eckankar. Gross, who eventually
Revelation Church of Absolute Monism in Washington,
married and then divorced Atkinson, served as the Living
D.C., from 1950 to 1955, when he was asked to leave the
Eck Master for ten years until 1981, when he appointed Har-
church compounds for personal misconduct. Additionally,
old Klemp to succeed him as the spiritual leader of the orga-
Twitchell received initiation into Shabd Yoga in 1955 from
nization. Two years later, in 1983, there was an acrimonous
Kirpal Singh, the founder of Ruhani Satsang in Delhi, India,
split between Klemp and Gross, which resulted in the latter
while the guru was on his first tour of the United States. He
being excommunciated from Eckankar. A lawsuit was filed
kept in close contact with Kirpal Singh via correspondence
by the Eckankar organization against Gross for allegedly mis-
for at least a decade and took his wife Gail to see the Indian
appropriating funds and for trademark and copyright in-
guru and have her receive initiation from him in San Francis-
fringement. Gross subsequently cut off any formal ties with
co in 1963. Twitchell also joined L. Ron Hubbard’s Church
Eckankar and started his own group called ATOM (The An-
of Scientology in the 1950s and eventually served for a short
cient Teachings of the Masters). Eckankar has more or less
time as his press agent and wrote a number of articles for the
erased Gross’s tenure (and books) from their official histo-
group.
ries. After selling the copyrights of Twitchell’s books to Ec-
With the founding of Eckankar, however, Twitchell al-
kankar, Gail Atkinson ended her association with Eckankar.
tered his biography and redacted references to his former
Under the present leadership of Klemp, Eckankar has
teachers and replaced them with a hierarchy of Eck Masters.
expanded its core audience worldwide and has an estimated
He even changed his birth date, claiming on his second mar-
paid membership of anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000
riage certificate that he was born in 1922, subtracting some
members yearly (Eckankar does not provide exact numbers).
thirteen years off his age. He also eventually denied his initia-
Klemp has also produced a wide-ranging series of books and
tion under Kirpal Singh and threatened to sue his former
discourses and has moved Eckankar’s former center of opera-
guru¯ over what he considered defamatory claims concerning
tions from Menlo Park, California, to Chanhassen, Minne-
his discipleship.
sota, where he established the temple of Eck. According to
A number of Twitchell’s books on Eckankar contain
its own accounting, Eckankar has members from over one
large chunks of material appropriated from sources he failed
hundred countries around the world.
to reference. Twitchell seemed particularly fond of plagiariz-
During Klemp’s tenure, Eckankar has also systematized
ing whole passages from Radhasoami Satsang Beas author Ju-
its teaching and made it more accessible to the general read-
lian Johnson, whose two books, With a Great Master in India
ing public by lessening its emphasis on Twitchell’s extensive
(1934) and The Path of the Masters (1939), contributed to
use of Indian-influenced terminology (particularly Hindi/
much of Eckankar’s specialized terminology that draws ex-
Punjabi). Eckankar’s official website (http://www.eckan-
tensively from the Sant Mat tradition of North India, an
kar.org) presents a codified version of its belief system:
eclectic spiritual movement that includes such poet-saints as
Kab¯ır, Da¯du¯, and Tulsi Sahib. While Gross denied such ap-
Soul is eternal and is the individual’s true identity. Soul
propriations for over a decade, the current Eck leader, Har-
exists because God loves it. Soul is on a journey to Self-
old Klemp, has acknowledged some of Twitchell’s plagiarism
and God-Realization. Spiritual unfoldment can be ac-
by calling him a “master compiler.” Regardless of these con-
celerated through conscious contact with the ECK, Di-
vine Spirit. This contact can be made via the Spiritual
tinuing controversies, Eckankar has become an exceptionally
Exercises of ECK and the guidance of the Living ECK
successful religion with centers spanning the globe. Interest-
Master. The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master is the
ingly, Eckankar has a strong presence in Africa (particularly
spiritual leader of Eckankar. Spiritual experience and
Nigeria) and in Europe, and it continues to draw thousands
liberation in this lifetime are available to all. You can
to its yearly conferences.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECKHART, JOHANNES
2603
While Eckankar has been directly influenced by the
can and Cistercian houses as preacher and spiritual director.
Self-Realization Fellowship, Theosophy, Scientology, and
By 1322 this demanding apostolate had been transferred up
particularly Sant Mat (via its specialized version of sound-
the Rhine to Cologne.
current yoga), it has, in turn, influenced a number of new
religious offshoots, including the Movement of Spiritual
By 1326 Eckhart was under attack for his theology by
Inner Awareness (MSIA), founded by John-Roger Hinkins;
the archbishop of Cologne. Rivalry between Franciscans and
MasterPath, founded by Gary Olsen; The Ancient Teachings
Dominicans; the heated atmosphere of the excesses in piety,
of the Masters (ATOM), founded by Darwin Gross; the Di-
as well as the genius of Rhenish mysticism; Eckhart’s preach-
vine Science of Light and Sound, founded by Jerry Mulvin;
ing about God and human personality in a vivid, colloquial
the Sonic Spectrum, founded by Michael Turner; and the
German—all contributed to Eckhart’s difficulties. Mindful
Higher Consciousness Society, founded by Ford Johnson.
of the accusations leveled previously against Thomas Aqui-
Each of the founders of these groups was at one time a mem-
nas, and insulted by a local inquisition presuming to evaluate
ber of Eckankar, and they have all incorporated many Eck
the Dominicans who stood under papal protection, Eckhart
terms and ideas into their respective organizations. Eckan-
appealed to the papacy, then at Avignon. He spent the re-
kar’s future looks bright as it enters its fifth decade of exis-
maining months of his life traveling the roads to and from
tence.
southern France, appealing his case before the papal Curia.
In 1329 John XXII concluded formally that seventeen of the
SEE ALSO Hubbard, L. Ron; Scientology; Sikhism; Theo-
articles ascribed to Eckhart (only a sample of the longer list)
sophical Society.
were to be construed as heretical or supportive of heresy, but
the papal document observed that Eckhart, prior to his
B
death, had rejected error. Eckhart’s place and time of death
IBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Ford. Confessions of a God Seeker: A Journey to Higher
remain unknown.
Consciousness. Silver Spring, Md., 2003.
Eckhart’s professorial works in Latin together with his
Klemp, Harold. Autobiography of a Modern Prophet. Minneapolis,
popular German sermons develop a single system that is a
2000.
religious metaphysics of spirit-in-process. Spirit here has a
Lane, David Christopher. The Making of a Spiritual Movement:
twofold significance. In a daring appropriation of apophatic
The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar. Del Mar,
mysticism, Eckhart defends the otherness of the divine being,
Calif., 1983.
that “wilderness” that to us is nothing. For Eckhart, the
Marman, Doug. Dialogue in the Age of Criticism. E-book available
Trinity exists only on the surface of the absolute, for the
from http://www.littleknownpubs.com/DialogIntro.htm.
three persons display activity. The ultimate reality of the ab-
Twitchell, Paul. Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds. San Diego,
solute is “the silent godhead” from which in love enormous
1969.
processes come forth from transcendent peace. The second
manifestation of spirit is human personality. Eckhart, whom
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LANE (2005)
some have called the greatest depth psychologist before
Freud, describes human life both theoretically and practically
as a birth. The true self that is being born in each person is
ECKHART, JOHANNES (c. 1260–1327?), called
a word of God, just as Jesus, the divine Logos, is a word of
Meister Eckhart; German theologian and mystic. Eckhart
God. This birth happens in the midst of a metaphysics of
was born at Hochheim in Thuringia (now Germany). After
psychological praxis: only by letting the world of finite being
entering the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) at Erfurt, he
and desires be can the individual prepare for the birth at the
began theological studies in Cologne about 1280, possibly
center of his or her personality (in the “spark” of the psyche)
being among the last students of Albertus Magnus. In 1293
of that new self that is the fulfillment of God’s personalized
Eckhart was in Paris as a young lecturer and in 1302 he held
love and of our individualized personality.
the chair once held by Thomas Aquinas. A versatile personal-
Eckhart exercised an extraordinary influence not only
ity, Eckhart was chosen in 1303 and in 1307 to be the reli-
upon Tauler and Süse and other Rhenish mystics but also
gious superior of a province of numerous Dominican houses
upon Nicholas of Cusa. Martin Luther too admired these
and institutions. During his second teaching period in Paris,
and other mystics of the German school from the fourteenth
after 1311, Eckhart laid the foundations for what he intend-
century, but, because of the papal condemnation, he knew
ed to be his great work, the Opus tripartitum, a synthesis of
them only from anonymous collections. After 1800 the Ger-
commentaries on the Bible, philosophical-theological trea-
man thinker Franz von Baader rehabilitated a number of
tises, and sermons on the Christian life.
mystics, including Eckhart, who then influenced Hegel and,
In 1314 Eckhart was active in Strassburg, a city rich in
more extensively, Schelling. In the twentieth century, schol-
theological schools and centers of preaching and mystical
arship discovered more writings of Eckhart, employed criti-
prayer. Eckhart, without neglecting his theological teaching
cal methods to verify and comprehend them, and filled in
(among his students were the famous mystical writers Johan-
the picture of a genius of extraordinary depth. Martin Hei-
nes Tauler and Heinrich Süse), traveled widely to Domini-
degger, both Jungian and Freudian psychologists, and 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
2604
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
scholars found Eckhart to be an inescapable voice in philoso-
ing of ecology as displayed in traditional practices of agricul-
phy, theology, and personal life. Since 1965 a significant re-
ture, commerce, fishing, or hunting. In short, it explores the
naissance of interest in Eckhart’s work has been taking place
complex and varied systems of human-Earth relations as ex-
in Europe, North America, and Asia.
pressed in religious traditions.
Religions are often thought to concentrate primarily on
BIBLIOGRAPHY
divine-human relations that aim at personal salvation or lib-
Texts of Eckhart’s works, in Latin and medieval German, are
available in Die lateinischen Werke (Stuttgart, 1956–1964)
eration from earthly travails. They also emphasize the impor-
and Die deutschen Werke (Stuttgart, 1958–). On Eckhart’s
tance of social and ethical relations between humans. The in-
life, see Josef Koch’s “Kritische Studien zum Leben Meister
tersection of religion and ecology opens up for further
Eckharts,” Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 29 (1959):
investigation the broad interactions of humans as individuals
5–15. A bibliography of writings on Eckhart is available in
and as communities with the natural world and the universe
my “An Eckhart Bibliography,” The Thomist 42 (April
at large. It underscores the many ways that humans locate
1978): 313–336. There are three new, worthwhile collec-
themselves by means of religious cosmologies within a uni-
tions of Eckhart in English: Matthew Fox’s Breakthrough:
verse of meaning and mystery. It explores the varieties of
Meister Eckhart’s Creation Spirituality (New York, 1980) of-
human flourishing in relation to nature, whether those inter-
fers numerous sermons with commentary and bibliography;
actions reflect reciprocity or respect, domination or manipu-
Edmund Colledge and Bernard McGinn’s Meister Eckhart:
The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense
lation, celebration or submission. It suggests as well that
(New York, 1981) offers selections from the Latin and Ger-
human interaction with the sacred often occurs in and
man works, with bibliography; Maurice O. Walshe, in Ser-
through nature and the larger cosmos.
mons and Treatises, 3 vols. (London, 1980–), presents partic-
Religions have acknowledged that simultaneously with
ularly fine translations. See also Master Eckhart: Parisian
Questions and Prologues, translated by Alfred A. Maurer
ongoing seasonal and geological changes there is a wholeness
(Toronto, 1974).
and a holiness in the earth. This evolving cycle of life and
death is, in part, what has engaged religious systems seeking
THOMAS F. O’MEARA (1987)
to integrate their intricate symbolic and ritual structures with
life processes. Life, death, and rebirth in the natural world
are frequently symbolized in religious traditions. This align-
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION
ment of the passage of human life with natural systems con-
This entry consists of the following articles:
stitutes a profound dynamic of religious energy expressed in
AN OVERVIEW
cosmological myths, symbols, and rituals. Along with this
ECOLOGY AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
alignment, religions have developed injunctions against over-
ECOLOGY AND HINDUISM
use of land and species found in numerous scriptures. This
ECOLOGY AND JAINISM
ECOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
interweaving of cosmological religious thought and environ-
ECOLOGY AND CONFUCIANISM
mental ethics is explored in the study of religion and ecology.
ECOLOGY AND DAOISM
ECOLOGY AND SHINTO
¯
As an emerging field, religion and ecology is still defin-
ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
ing its scope and limitations. The field embraces both de-
ECOLOGY AND CHRISTIANITY
scriptive and historical studies as well as prescriptive and con-
ECOLOGY AND ISLAM
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND
structive theologies. Most scholars in the field do not
ECOLOGY
presume that environmentally friendly scriptural passages
SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND ECOLOGY
imply environmentally sensitive practices. Moreover, schol-
ECOLOGY AND NATURE RELIGIONS
ars acknowledge the vastly different historical contexts in
which religious traditions evolve by comparison to current
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
environmental problems. Nonetheless, some scholars of the
Religion and ecology is an emerging area of study, research,
world’s religions have suggested that there are both concepts
and engagement that embraces multiple disciplines, includ-
and practices from these traditions that can be integrated
ing environmental studies, geography, history, anthropolo-
into discussions of environmental policy and ethics. For ex-
gy, sociology, and politics. This article will survey the field
ample, the Islamic concepts in the QurDa¯n regarding tawh:¯ıd
of study and some of the broader movements of religion and
(unity of creation), mizan (balance), and ama¯nah (trust or
ecology. The field of study responds to both historical and
stewardship) reflect values that have been interpreted in rela-
contemporary quests for understanding the interrelation-
tion to the natural world. Furthermore, Islamic practices
ships of humans, Earth, cosmos, and the sacred. This field
such as hima (protected sanctuaries) and h:aram (sacred pre-
involves explorations of such topics as the creative and de-
cincts) represent ancient customs whose contemporary envi-
structive dynamics of nature, divine presence and purpose in
ronmental implications are currently being explored. It is the
nature and the cosmos, the ways in which environments have
premise of many scholars of religion and ecology that the re-
shaped and been shaped by human culture, the symbolic ex-
ligions offer intellectual energy, symbolic power, moral per-
pression of nature in myth and rituals, and the understand-
suasion, institutional structures, and a commitment to social
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2605
and economic justice that may contribute to the transforma-
different. These complex interactions illustrate that religions
tion of attitudes, values and practices for a sustainable future.
throughout history have interacted in myriad ways with their
Yet scholars also recognize the challenges of historical com-
natural settings.
plexities, the inevitable gaps between ideas and practices, and
DEFINING TERMS. In the field of religion and ecology, reli-
the extremes of idealizing or dismissing particular religions.
gions may be broadly understood as a means whereby hu-
Academics have written of the dangers of idealizing the
mans, recognizing the limitations of phenomenal reality, un-
“noble savage” or “noble oriental” in this regard. Correctives
dertake specific practices to effect self-transformation and
to such idealizations can be found in environmental history,
community cohesion within a cosmological context. Reli-
which is itself a newly emerging field. These historical studies
gions are vehicles for cosmological stories, symbol systems,
will help to shed light on actual environmental practices of
ritual practices, ethical norms, historical processes, and insti-
various cultures, influenced in part by their religious tradi-
tutional structures that transmit a view of the human as em-
tions.
bedded in a world of meaning and responsibility, transfor-
DIVERSITY AND DIALOGUE OF RELIGIONS. The world’s reli-
mation and celebration. Religions connect humans with a
gions are inherently distinctive in their expressions, and these
divine or numinous presence, with the human community,
differences are especially significant in regard to the study of
and with the broader Earth community. They link humans
religion and ecology. Several types of religious diversity can
to the larger matrix of mystery in which life arises, unfolds,
be identified. First, there is historical and cultural diversity
and flourishes.
within and among religious traditions as expressed over time
Nature is seen in this light as a revelatory context for ori-
in varied social contexts. For example, Buddhism arose in
enting humans to abiding religious questions regarding the
India, spread to Southeast Asia and north across the Silk
cosmological origins of the universe, the meaning of the
Road through Central Asia to China, and to Korea, Japan,
emergence of life, and the responsible role of humans in these
and the West. This geographical expansion is paralleled by
life processes. Religions thus situate humans in relation to
strikingly different cultural expressions of Buddhist thought
both the natural and human worlds with regard to meaning
and practice.
and responsibility. This may be a limiting or liberating expe-
Second, there is dialogic and syncretic diversity within
rience. For example, religious ideas regarding nature may
and among religious traditions. This does not override the
have deep associations with social beliefs and practices that
historical and cultural diversity but instead adds another level
are seen as unchanging ideals authorizing hegemonic ideolo-
of complexity. Dialogue and interaction between traditions
gies. At the same time, religions may become a means for ex-
engenders the sedimentation and synthesis of religious tradi-
periencing a sustaining creative force in the natural and
tions into one another. This often results in new forms of
human worlds and beyond. For some traditions this is a cre-
religious expression that can be described as syncretic, the
ator deity, for others it is a numinous presence in nature, and
commingling of religions, or hybrid—the fusion of religions
for others it is the source of flourishing life.
into new expressions. Such creative expressions occurred
This experience of a creative force gives rise to a human
when indigenous peoples in the Americas adapted Christian-
desire to enter into transformative processes that link self, so-
ity into local settings. In East Asia there is an ongoing dia-
ciety, and cosmos. The term anthropocosmic refers to the
logue between and among Confucianism, Daoism, and Bud-
linkage in which the microcosm of the individual is connect-
dhism that has resulted in various kinds of syncretism.
ed to the larger human community and to the macrocosm
Third, there is cosmological and ecological diversity
of the universe itself. The anthropocosmic impulse is for rela-
within and among religions. Religious traditions develop
tionality, intimacy, and communion with this numinous re-
unique narratives, symbols, and rituals to express their rela-
ality. Individual and communal transformations are ex-
tionships with the cosmos and with local landscapes. In Dao-
pressed through rituals and ceremonies that celebrate natural
ism the body is an energetic network of breathings-in and
seasonal cycles as well as various cultural rites of passage. Re-
breathings-out that expresses a basic dialogical pattern of the
ligions link humanity to the rhythms of nature through the
cosmos. Through this process individuals open themselves
use of symbols and rituals that help to establish moral rela-
to the inner meditative landscape that represents a path of
tionships and patterns for social exchange.
organic unity with the cosmos.
The term ecology, as it is used here, locates the human
Ecological diversity is evident in the varied environmen-
within the horizon of emergent, interdependent life rather
tal contexts and bioregions where religions have developed
than seeing humanity as the vanguard of evolution, the ex-
over time. For example, Jerusalem is the center of a larger
clusive fabricator of technology, or a species apart from na-
sacred bioregion where three religious traditions, Judaism,
ture. The term is also used here—rather than the term envi-
Christianity, and Islam, have both shaped and been shaped
ronment, which can suggest something apart from humans—
by the environment. However, the formation and expression
to indicate the dynamic interaction of humans with nature.
of symbols, rituals, laws and community life within these re-
Scientific ecology is used to indicate the empirical and experi-
ligions in relation to urban, piedmont, hill country, and de-
mental study of the relations between living and nonliving
sert settings that constitute “Jerusalem” are historically quite
organisms within their ecosystems. While drawing on 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
2606
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
scientific understanding of interrelationships in nature, the
Asian, East Asian, and Indigenous traditions, as well as the
term religious ecology is used here to point toward a cultural
Abrahamic traditions.
awareness of kinship with and dependence on nature for the
continuity of all life. Religious ecology provides a basis for
The first formulation of an incipient environmental
exploring diverse cultural responses to the varied Earth pro-
philosophy in the West is often attributed to the Airs, Waters,
cesses. In addition, the study of religious ecology gives in-
and Places of Hippocrates. This work describes the close
sight into how particular environments have influenced the
formative influences of environment on peoples and their
development of cultures. Therefore, one can distinguish reli-
cultures. Concepts regarding the environment were actively
gious ecology from scientific ecology, just as one can distin-
explored in Hellenistic thought under the category of oiku-
guish religious cosmology from scientific cosmology.
mene, or community of the inhabited world. These philo-
sophical developments went beyond, but also complement-
This awareness of the interdependence of life in reli-
ed, ancient ideas of personification of natural forces in the
gious ecology finds expression in the religious traditions as
classical religions of the Mediterranean region. Various Indo-
a sacred reality that is often recognized as a creative manifes-
European and Semitic myths of creation posited a universe
tation, a pervasive sustaining presence, a vital power in the
of correspondences between material realities, cosmic bodies,
natural world, or an emptiness (´su¯nyata¯) leading to the real-
and deities that mapped out personal identity, social stabili-
ization of interbeing. For many religions, the natural world
ty, and cosmic hierarchies. Pagan worship in the Mediterra-
is understood as a source of teaching, guidance, visionary in-
nean world ritualized ancient ideas that brought self, society,
spiration, revelation, or power. At the same time, nature is
and cosmos into meaningful relation, and the Hellenistic
also a source of food, clothing, and shelter. Thus, religions
philosophers reformulated many of these ideas. Among Stoic
have developed intricate systems of exchange and thanksgiv-
thinkers the linkage between cosmology and ethics gave rise
ing in relation to human dependence on animals and plants,
to a sense of cosmopolitan citizenship as a way for humans
on forests and fields, and on rivers and oceans. These encom-
to participate in the divine order. One of the most significant
pass symbolic and ritual exchanges which frequently embody
and longest lasting concepts for describing the gradations of
ecological knowledge of ecosystems, agricultural processes,
the natural and human worlds was that of a hierarchical view
or hunting practices.
of life often imaged as a chain or ladder. Such a great chain
of being effectively brought together Platonic and Aristote-
The study of religion and ecology explores the many
lian worldviews and provided the grounds for elevating hu-
ways in which religious communities articulate relationships
mans above nature.
with their local landscapes and bioregions. Religious ecology
gives insight into how people and cultures create complex
Cosmological concepts also commanded significant at-
symbolic systems from their perceived relationships with the
tention within the Abrahamic traditions derived from the at-
world, as well as practical means of sustaining and imple-
tribution of creation to a monotheistic God. Both Rabbinic
menting these relations. In other words, these symbolic sys-
Judaism and early Christianity drew on the Hebrew Bible
tems are frequently embodied in hunting, agricultural, and
(e.g., Gen. 1:26–28; Jb. 26:8–13; and Ps. 65:5, 11–13) and
ceremonial practices that reflect respect for the mystery of
Greek Platonic thought (e.g., Timaeus and Paul’s epistles) to
life, along with ritual exchanges for appropriate interactions
articulate ideas of design and order in nature as reflecting the
with nature, especially as a source of nourishment for body
power of the Divine Creator. The land ethic in the Hebrew
and spirit.
tradition and the value of wilderness as places of encounter
with the divine also passed into Christianity. Similarly, in Is-
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN THE WEST. While move-
rael symbolic clusters were associated with shepherding in
ments of religion and ecology can be found worldwide, the
the hill country and agricultural productivity in the pied-
field of religion and ecology is largely situated in academic
mont region. Such clusters were linked with the idea of a cos-
settings in the West. With the growing critique of the unin-
mic center in Jerusalem with which one could map the entire
tended ecological and social consequences of globalization,
known world. Mapping the local and mapping the universe,
a period of intense self-reflection has emerged in the West.
or cosmography, often overlapped in cultures. These distinc-
The causes of environmental destruction have sometimes
tive cosmological concepts coalesced around the Jewish and
been traced to particular views of nature in Western philoso-
Christian notions of God’s divine plan for creation. This is
phy and religion. Some of the varied and intertwined con-
evident in the hexaemeron literature of the early Church Fa-
ceptualizations of cosmology, nature, and religion that have
thers describing the six days of creation, as well as in the writ-
arisen in Western thought are explored here. Significant con-
ings of Philo, Origen, and Augustine.
ceptualizations have also emerged, for example, in South
Asian thought regarding rita (cosmological order) and deva
Along with the sense of divine order in creation, another
(natural forces); in East Asian explorations of dao (the Way)
biblical and QurDanic theme is God’s loving care for creation.
and qi (material force); in Buddhist reflections on pratityasa-
This is manifest in the imagery of the Song of Songs in the
mutpada (dependent origination); and in Indigenous life-
Hebrew scriptures, the parables of Jesus in the New Testa-
ways regarding relationality to spirits in nature. However,
ment, and those passages in the QurDa¯n evoking ihsan, love,
other articles explore the multiple contributions of South
care, and beauty. Individuals who embodied this quest 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
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2607
devotional love of the divine through the natural world in-
This resulted in a justification for the extraction of resources
clude Qabbalistic and Hasidic teachers in Judaism like BaEal
and the exploitation of peoples and animals as irrational,
Shem Tov, Christian figures like Bernard of Clairvaux and
dark, chthonic entities. Such an objectifying worldview
Francis of Assisi, and Jala¯ludd¯ın Ru¯m¯ı among the many S:u¯f¯ı
where the divine rested more fully in a transcendent realm
masters of Islam. While this devotional exuberance inspired
accorded with emerging scientific perspectives evident in sci-
many in these traditions, the scholastic thinkers sought to
entists such as Francis Bacon who advocated the torture of
circumscribe this experiential enthusiasm with more rational
a feminine nature to make her reveal secrets.
views of God, humans, and creation.
By early modern times the discoveries of the Americas
Scholastic thought in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
caused major revisions of Western cosmology and intro-
reflects the influence of the classical ideas of a divinely or-
duced a range of new ideas that refuted the presumed flat-
dained beginning, an order to creation, the godlike form of
ness, as well as the aging and senescence, of the Earth. Ex-
creatures, and of nature as a work, like a product, resulting
plorers noted the limits of the Earth’s productivity, while
from an applied technique. God as manifest in His works be-
increasingly observing a balance and harmony in nature evi-
came identified with views of the Divine as Artisan who con-
dent both in the web of life and its potential loss in environ-
tained within Himself the Divine Forms as articulated by
mental destruction. By the seventeenth century in the West,
Plato. Many Western thinkers depicted nature as similar to
philosophers such as Barukh Spinoza and natural theologians
a scriptural book that revealed the mysteries and the mind
such as George Burnet, John Woodward, and John Ray, em-
of the Creator. However, like humans who suffered from the
phasized the order of the universe, nature’s inherent design,
sin of the original fall, nature aged and experienced decay.
its interrelationships, productivity, and capacity for positive
It might be said that in all the Abrahamic traditions there
manipulation and control. Enlightenment thought in the
is an ambivalence regarding nature. On the one hand, in
eighteenth century helped to shift conventional Western cos-
Christianity nature is seen as good, as at the Nicene Council,
mology even further from a theological perspective focused
and yet fallen, as in the writings of Augustine and Calvin.
on a personal Creator actively involved in creation to a pre-
On the other hand, in different expressions in Judaism and
dominantly scientific view of the universe as operating under
Islam nature is at once God’s handiwork as well as a potential
machine-like principles.
place of chaos requiring transcendence.
Nature was worthy of admiration by humans only if
As a result of the scientific revolution and Enlighten-
that wonder and esteem was associated with the love of God.
ment thought, some theologians gradually muted their ideas
It is in this context that Ibn S¯ına¯, Ibn Rushd, Maimonides,
about final cause and purpose in the universe itself. They
Thomas Aquinas and other scholastic thinkers of the medi-
broadly accepted the notion of Deism that God created na-
eval period reinvigorated the direct investigation of nature
ture with inherent mechanistic relationships that carried the
based on Aristotle’s notion that form is embedded in the
whole cosmos forward. The presence of God’s revelation in
world of matter. For example, in the Summa contra gentiles,
creation began to diminish for some Western religious think-
Thomas Aquinas affirmed a diversity of created forms as
ers. Thus, the revelatory character of nature was replaced by
coming closest to manifesting the divine. He wrote that,
a linear unfolding of divine creation that connected God’s
“The presence of multiplicity and variety among created
care for creation and the ancient design arguments with the
things was therefore necessary that a perfect likeness to God
Deist notion of a clockwork universe. Deism and mechanism
be found in them according to their manner of being.” (Bk.
opened the way for the further objectification of nature.
1, chap. 45, para. 2) Despite this cosmological orientation
The Romantic movement of nineteenth-century Eu-
within Christianity, as Roman Catholicism became domi-
rope, in reaction to the rational, objectifying emphases of the
nant in Europe, it nonetheless suppressed indigenous nature-
Enlightenment, brought a resurgence of the understanding
based religions and frequently leveled sacred groves and built
of nature as vital, dynamic, and, for some, revelatory of the
churches on sacred sites. Thus, while such a devotional figure
mind of God. Drawing on the writings of Jean Jacques Rous-
as Bernard of Clairvaux experienced a deep mystical union
seau, such as The Reveries of a Solitary Walker, Romantic
with the divine he also sought to tame the wild growth of
writers like Johann Fichte, Johann Herder, Friedrich Schel-
the Clairvaux valley in France as an expression of that
ling, and Johann Goethe returned to the direct experience
devotion.
of nature as a way toward unity or harmony with the sacred
The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation did not
in nature. This type of personal revelatory experience of na-
significantly alter fundamental ambivalences within Chris-
ture was troubling to the orthodox teachers of the Abrahamic
tianity toward the natural world. Rather, with John Calvin
traditions because it fostered a religious path in nature apart
and Martin Luther it deepened a sense of the fallen character
from the authorized scriptures. The Romantic contempla-
of nature, emphasizing a need to control the wild and chaotic
tion of nature later influenced the American transcendental-
dimensions of the world. Thus, as Protestantism spread to
ists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Tho-
the Americas it subtly engendered a fear of both new lands
reau, as well as such early environmentalists as John Muir
and new peoples as manifestations of the wild and chaotic.
and John Burroughs.
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2608
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
By the twentieth century, religious traditions in the
Such complex perspectives on nature in Western
West had largely relegated cosmology and the understanding
thought come into relief when considering anthropocentric
of Earth’s geological development and biological diversity to
responses to the first image of the Earth from the moon in
the domain of Earth science and life science. Salvation histo-
1969. One response can be characterized as a feeling of liber-
ry became identified with a Western anthropocentric view
ation similar to an ancient, classical Greek view of freedom
of salvation focused exclusively on the human existentialist
from the constraints of the human condition that had been
condition apart from the world of nature. The focus on the
bound by the natural world. A second response follows from
individual that characterized both Protestant Reformation
an appreciation of the beauty of the blue-green planet akin
views of personal salvation and Enlightenment views of polit-
to a Romantic perspective that seeks to know this beauty
ical liberties resulted in a highly anthropocentric view of the
more deeply through experience and contemplation. A third
human as above nature. While Darwinism resituated West-
response reflects a thoroughly modern hubris derived from
ern anthropocentrism in an evolutionary worldview, an abid-
human technological accomplishments that sees the future
ing tension surfaced in fundamentalist Christianity with its
of the Earth as a controlled, dominated, and managed
emphasis on the uniqueness of God’s creation and the
sphere. The world’s religious traditions themselves are influ-
knowledge of reality and revelation localized in the Bible and
enced by these views. Yet, they continue to generate diverse
not in nature.
responses by imaging the Earth from the standpoints of dif-
ferent cosmologies.
Many critics have cited Western anthropocentrism in
both its philosophical and religious expressions as an obstacle
THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND ECOLOGY IN NORTH AMERI-
to a more comprehensive environmental ethics. They suggest
CA. The field of religion and ecology arises from two disci-
that this anthropocentrism, in combination with the objecti-
plines that came more fully into the North American acade-
fication of nature fostered by the scientific method of obser-
my after the Second World War, namely, the study of
vation, has resulted in the economic exploitation of nature
religion and the science of ecology. Religious studies surfaced
and consumption of its resources with little sense of restraint
in the postwar era as an academic field focused on an analysis
or limits.
of religious experiences, myths, rituals, symbols, texts, and
institutions. Distancing itself from creedal positions, reli-
Significant critiques of Western anthropocentrism and
gious studies developed as a distinctive area from theology
the objectification of nature are found in the work of Lynn
that emphasizes particular denominational interpretations of
White and Arne Naess, among others. The provocative essay
religious life. The earlier emergence of the history of religions
of Lynn White titled “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic
and comparative religions was an important spur to religious
Crisis” (1967) challenged many theologians and biblical
studies. This had taken place in nineteenth-century Europe
scholars to explore the relationship of religion to the environ-
under the leadership of such scholars as Max Mueller, who
mental crisis. White argued that the technological impact of
helped translate the Sacred Books of the East, and James
humans on the planet’s ecology has been largely deleterious.
Legge, who translated the Chinese Classics. Moreover, the ap-
This is in part due to the influence of Christianity as a highly
pearance of the phenomenology of religion, the anthropolo-
anthropocentric religion emphasizing a transcendent God re-
gy of religion, and the sociology of religion also prepared the
moved from nature. These notions, White felt, contributed
grounds for a broader understanding of religion. A growing
significantly to the desacralization of nature and, thus, to the
awareness of cultural diversity and the postwar affluence of
ability to exploit nature without awareness of the conse-
the 1950s were accompanied by significant legal cases that
quences. White recommended alternative forms of Chris-
made possible the establishment of departments of religion
tianity, especially the comprehensive compassion for life of
in higher education in North America. Previously, the study
Francis of Assisi, whom White proposed as a patron saint for
of religion had been largely confined to seminaries and
ecologists.
schools of theology; now religion could be studied in the
academy. Both undergraduate and graduate departments of
The Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess has also articu-
religion thus emerged in the North American context.
lated an influential corrective to these positions of anthropo-
centrism and the objectification of nature. In Deep Ecology:
The German biologist Ernst Haeckel coined the term
Living as if Nature Mattered (1985), Bill Devall and George
ecology in 1866 as a combination of the Greek words oikos
Sessions introduced Naess’ concept of “deep ecology,” which
(house) and logos (science). The academic discipline in North
emphasizes the intrinsic ethical value of the natural world.
America can be dated from the founding of the Ecological
They drew on Advaita Veda¯nta thought in Hinduism to em-
Society of America in 1915. As a field of study in higher edu-
phasize human “self-realization” that recognized the larger
cation and as a movement for conservation it has come more
dependence of humans on the entire community of life. This
fully into its own in the postwar period. The founding of the
position also relied on the natural philosophy of Barukh Spi-
Nature Conservancy, which was established from the Eco-
noza that highlights the unity of the divine in the natural
logical Society of America, occurred in 1951. This docu-
world. Deep ecology has promoted a biocentric equality and
ments the concern and motivation of professional ecologists
the radical interdependence of species as values needed for
to preserve natural landscapes. A number of subdisciplines
protection of species diversity—both biological and cultural.
within ecology have emerged. For example, evolutionary
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2609
ecology developed from a merger of ecology and evolution
from the changing ideas and practices of the world’s religious
in the 1960s. The conservation biology subdiscipline devel-
and cultural traditions, as well as from pressing environmen-
oped with its own society in the late 1970s with the express
tal concerns, both global and local. Scholars in the field may
goal of applying ecological principles to conservation issues.
draw on social-scientific studies of how a culture mediates
Other emerging subdisciplines include restoration ecology
between human populations and ecosystems while also rely-
and landscape ecology.
ing on historical, textual, and interpretive studies from the
humanities. Various creative approaches have emerged in the
Drawing on the natural sciences of biology and chemis-
study of religion and ecology analyzing the ways in which
try, and the social sciences of economics and politics, ecology
cultures conceptualize, classify, and value their natural envi-
has become the basis for interdisciplinary departments of en-
ronments. Historical approaches have refuted older studies
vironmental studies that have developed in higher education
in this field that tended to fix a culture’s ecological insights
since the 1980s. In the 1990s the humanities began to partic-
as synchronic patterns that never changed. Now, the mutual
ipate in environmental studies with the emergence of envi-
impacts of cultures and environments are more clearly un-
ronmental literature and history as well as environmental
derstood as having changed and shaped one another through
ethics, religion, and philosophy. Religious studies have con-
time. Moreover, postmodern approaches have affected many
tributed to environmental studies from such varied perspec-
contemporary researchers in religion and ecology, attuning
tives as the study of world religions and ecology, ecotheology
them to questions about the ways in which human individu-
and ecofeminism, social and environmental ethics, nature re-
als and groups construct systems of meaning and power con-
ligions and alternative environmental movements, and cul-
cerning nature, society, and the environment. Studies of
tural and ritual studies.
place-based conservation and biodiversity are being integrat-
The fields of ecology and environmental studies have
ed with an understanding of religious ecology and sacred
developed in relation to emerging environmental concerns
place. The mutual relevance of land, life, value, and sustaina-
that spanned the twentienth century. These included the
bility are all included in the network of inquiry identified
challenging experiences of the Great Depression and Dust
with the intersection of religion and ecology.
Bowl, dire predictions regarding growth in human popula-
While a variety of methodologies are being used in the
tion, glimpses of the limits of production and consumption,
study of religion and ecology, three interpretive approaches
and awareness of the loss of species and ecosystems. This in-
challenge both scholars and the religious traditions them-
spired an incipient conservation movement that gained at-
selves: retrieval, reevaluation, and reconstruction. Retrieval
tention with the publication of two key books. Fairfield Os-
tends to be descriptive, while reevaluation and reconstruc-
born’s Our Plundered Planet (1948) described the
tion tend to be prescriptive. Retrieval refers to the investiga-
devastation already facing many ecosystems. His major con-
tion of scriptural, commentarial, legal, and other literate and
cerns focused on species loss and the cascading effects of
narrative sources in particular religions for evidence of tradi-
human population growth. A year later, Aldo Leopold’s clas-
tional teachings regarding human-Earth relations. This re-
sic text A Sand County Almanac (1949) called for a new land
quires that oral-narrative and historical and textual studies
ethic. A forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Leopold de-
uncover the theoretical resources already present within the
scribed the land ethic as expanding the boundaries of the
tradition. In addition, the method of retrieval examines eth-
community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or,
ics and rituals present in the tradition in order to discover
collectively, the land. The extension of ethics to the larger
how the tradition actualized these teachings in practices. Re-
environment was, for Leopold, both an evolutionary possi-
trieval may be complemented by studies in the environmen-
bility and an ecological necessity.
tal history of cultures or geographical areas.
Walter Lowdermilk, a forester with the Soil Conserva-
Interpretive reevaluation occurs when a tradition’s
tion Service, anticipated a similar conservation ethic after ex-
teachings are evaluated with regard to their relevance to con-
tensive travel and study of the effects of human civilization
temporary circumstances. In what ways can the ideas, teach-
on soils. He wrote an essay in Jerusalem in 1940 in which
ings, or ethics present in these traditions be adopted by con-
he observed that each nation needed to appeal to national
temporary scholars, theologians, or practitioners who wish
awareness for stewardship of soil and land for future genera-
to help shape more ecologically sensitive attitudes and sus-
tions. He called this the principle of an Eleventh Command-
tainable practices. Reevaluation also questions ideas that may
ment. Scientists and others began to explore degradation of
lead to inappropriate environmental practices. For example,
land due to industrial-technological processes and the dan-
are certain religious tendencies reflective of other-worldly or
gers to biological life caused by new chemical compounds.
world-denying orientations that are not helpful in relation
With the publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson’s Silent
to pressing ecological issues? It asks as well whether the mate-
Spring, which documented the effects of DDT on bird life,
rial world of nature has been devalued by a particular reli-
the environmental movement was born.
gion, or whether exclusively human-centered ethics are ade-
APPROACHES WITHIN THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND ECOL-
quate to address environmental problems.
OGY. While the field of religion and ecology arose in Western
Finally, reconstruction suggests ways that religious tra-
academic and philosophical contexts, it cannot be dissociated
ditions might also adopt its teachings to current circum-
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2610
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
stances in new and creative ways. This may result in a new
urged a new bio-historical understanding of humans as em-
synthesis or in a creative adaptation of traditional ideas and
bedded in complex processes of “serendipitous creativity” in
practices into modern modes of expression. This is one of
nature, and thus co-creators with the unfolding Earth pro-
the most challenging aspects of the emerging field of religion
cesses.
and ecology and requires discrimination in the transforma-
tive adaptation of traditional ideas in relation to contempo-
The feminist theologian Sallie McFague has developed
rary circumstances. Yet there are precedents for this in the
some of these ideas further, calling for new images of God
ways religions have reshaped themselves over time, as is evi-
as not simply a distant and transcendent father but also as
dent in theology and ethics.
friend and lover. Rosemary Radford Ruether draws on the
Gaia hypothesis and ecofeminism for the development of a
RELIGIOUS THINKERS ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL PROB-
broader ecotheology. Both of these feminist theologians are
LEMS. Religious and moral reflections on environmental
indebted to the earlier historical work of Carolyn Merchant
problems emerged from several Christian theologians in the
(The Death of Nature [1980]), which portrays the use and
second half of the twentieth century. One of the first to raise
abuse of nature as comparable to patriarchal domination of
a voice of concern was Joseph Sittler, a Lutheran theologian
women and the disintegration of older organic views of na-
at the University of Chicago. Writing in the 1950s, he de-
ture in which the sacred was experienced as immanent.
cried the repudiation of Earth by Christians as a distorted
Along with ecofeminism there has been an important align-
reading of the biblical promise as exclusively oriented to-
ment of social justice and environmental concerns among re-
wards humans. Urging a larger cosmological vision, Sittler
ligious thinkers in both the developed and developing coun-
called for Christianity to recover a cosmic redemption of all
tries. The significance of this movement is that it creates new
creatures and of creation as a whole. Sittler’s influence in the
religious syntheses linking awareness of environmental deg-
World Council of Churches led to the founding in 1963 of
radation with insights from economic, political, and social
a Faith-Man-Nature group. For some ten years this group
analysis. The liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff, high-
brought together leading theologians, such as Paul Albrecht,
lights this conjunction, as has the feminist theologian Ivone
John Cobb, Philip Hefner, and Paul Santmire, to explore
Gebara. Similarly, the emerging theologies and practices
Christian understandings of appropriate human interactions
identified with eco-justice and environmental racism within
with the environment.
Judaism and Christianity has been fostered by such writers
as Roger Gottlieb and Dieter Hessel.
Foremost among those thinkers who have urged Chris-
tianity to reconsider its relationship to the environment is the
In response to the growing environmental and social cri-
process theologian John Cobb. In the mid-1960s Cobb pub-
ses facing the planet, and aware of the need for new modes
lished A Christian Natural Theology, which reflected a tradi-
of human-Earth relations, Thomas Berry drew on his studies
tional Christian understanding of “natural theology” as the-
of world religions and cultures to formulate a framework for
ology done within the bounds of reason apart from any
rethinking cosmology. Beginning in the 1970s, Berry devel-
reference to the natural world. Cobb’s work later moved out-
oped the cosmological thought of the Jesuit paleontologist
side the framework of Kantian philosophy to find a basis in
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) to present a radical
the process thought of Alfred North Whitehead for valuing
revisioning of the scientific discoveries of universe emergence
the natural world and appropriate human interaction within
as the new cosmological story of our times. After many years
it. Encouraged by the early work of the theologian Joseph
of studying world religions and cultures, he published late
Sittler and the biologist Charles Birch, and spurred by his
in his career a sequence of books that elaborated this idea:
son Clifford’s concern for environmental degradation, in
The Dream of the Earth (1988), The Universe Story (with
1972 Cobb wrote Is It Too Late? A Theology of Ecology. Over
Brian Swimme, 1992), and The Great Work (1999). Berry
the years Cobb has critiqued the harmful effects of growth-
understood the central roles of cosmologies in the world’s re-
oriented economies on the community of life, especially in
ligions as activating community identity, relationship with
his work with the economist Herman Daly (For the Common
local bioregions, and communion with the Earth and uni-
Good [1989]). He and Daly challenged conventional eco-
verse itself. The challenge of contemporary societies, for
nomics, seeing it as engineered to promote development de-
Berry, is to realize and implement the transformative energies
spite the environmental and social costs.
of the new cosmological story to effect a radical revisioning
of human-Earth relations. From a cosmological perspective,
In 1972 Gordon Kaufman also published a seminal arti-
this entails the transformation of individual and community
cle, “A Problem for Theology: The Concept of Nature.”
in ways that foster the flourishing of the whole community
Here, and in his later work, In Face of Mystery: A Constructive
of life.
Theology (1993), he raised challenging questions about the
anthropocentric model of God as developed in Christianity
The Islamic scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr, while study-
and the relationship of traditional models of God to creation.
ing science at Harvard University in the 1960s, sensed the
Kaufman critiqued the nature and names of the monotheis-
limited metaphysics of science and the loss of the transcen-
tic, transcendent God that tends to distance humans from
dental unity he observed among the religions. He has been
the sense of the sacred as residing in the natural world. He
the leading spokesperson in the Islamic community for
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2611
drawing attention to the seriousness of the environmental
indigenous communities, such as cosmology, identity, advo-
crisis as well as the need for a revival of the cosmological basis
cacy, and wisdom. In Wisdom Sits in Places (1996) Basso in-
of religions where humans are seen as a microcosm of the
vestigated disciplinary rituals and meditational practices in
macrocosm of the universe.
which the Apache “drink from places” so as to “work on the
STUDIES IN ANTHROPOLOGY, CULTURAL STUDIES, AND GE-
mind.” In doing so, he developed an anthropological ap-
OGRAPHY. Among the cultural theorists who investigated the
proach to the study of religion and ecology based on place.
connection of culture and the environment was the anthro-
Within medical anthropology, various approaches have
pologist Julian Steward, who proposed the study of cultural
developed that describe the interactions of ecological systems
ecology. His studies of the Shoshone peoples of North Amer-
and religious beliefs. For example, George Foster and Barba-
ica posited relations between the environment and the eco-
ra Anderson, in their work Medical Anthropology (1978), ana-
nomic and technological aspects of society. While his work
lyzed religions as functional sociocultural systems that adapt
did not address religion directly, it marked a turning point
to different environments and thus bring new ethnomedical
in bringing together social, cultural, and environmental
strategies into being. Arthur Kleinman, in Patients and Heal-
studies.
ers in the Context of Culture (1980), was among the first med-
The Swedish historian of religions A˚ke Hultkrantz also
ical anthropologists to explore the complex relationships of
studied the Shoshone and extended this research in cultural
environment, culture, and religious beliefs as impacting heal-
ecology to religion. Hultkrantz sought to understand the cre-
ing. Byron Good, in Medicine, Rationality and Experience
ative roles of environmental adaptation by evaluating its di-
(1994), challenged the instrumental rationality prevalent in
rect influences on technological, economic, and material cul-
biomedicine as well as functionalist approaches to religion,
ture, as well as the environment’s indirect influences on
which he felt were insufficient interpretive tools for under-
social formations in specific cultures. Hultkrantz’s article
standing the dynamic relationships of environment, religion,
“Ecology” in the 1987 Encyclopedia of Religion was the only
and healing. Like Kleinman, Good called for more attention
entry on this topic. He distinguished cultural ecology and ge-
to narratives about ecology, illness, and beliefs that reveal the
ography of religions as the two major sources for modern
voices of humane and socially committed individuals and
studies of ecology of religion. Championing Steward’s cul-
communities.
tural-ecological approach, Hultkrantz stressed study of the
Early social-science contributions to the study of reli-
impact of environment on religion, both directly through
gion and ecology emerged from the field of geography. In
material culture and indirectly through social structures.
The Geography of Religions (1967), David Soper outlined a
Hultkrantz revealed how indigenous cultures have a “prima-
range of topics, modes of investigation, and examples of in-
ry integration” in which religious complexes are ecologically
teractions between religious systems and landscapes. The ge-
adapted to basic traits of sustenance and technology. Cul-
ography of religion explores religions as material, social, and
tures, such as those identified with Christianity and the so-
cultural expressions that evolved in relation to environments.
called higher religions, adapted religion to their social struc-
Religions are thus viewed as molding environmental space
tures. These Hultkrantz termed cultures of “secondary inte-
in such diverse ways as ritualization of ecology, spatial and
gration.” Through research, he felt, religio-ecological types
organizational structures, political processes and interactions
could be identified that would assess the interplay between
with other religions. Investigation of these spatial and eco-
environment and religion, especially among indigenous cul-
logical characteristics of religions has steadily influenced the
tures.
study of religion.
Other anthropologists have contributed to the explora-
The geographer Yi-Fu Tuan has explored ways in which
tion of the relationships of ecosystems to symbol systems, rit-
individuals’ affective ties with the environment result from
uals, and cultural life that have had significant implications
their being simultaneously biological organisms, social be-
for the study of religion and ecology. In Pigs for the Ancestors
ings, and unique individuals with perceptions, attitudes, and
(1969), Roy Rapport’s seminal study of liturgical cycles
values. For Tuan, the neologism topophilia describes this
among the Maring of New Guinea, Rapport suggested that
coupling of sentiment with multiple connections to place ev-
ritual among indigenous peoples functions as a conventional
ident in human cultures. Thus, the images that emerge in
means for maintaining order between social groups and their
religions, for example, are not directly shaped by the environ-
environments. More than simply proximity to natural envi-
ment; rather, environments stimulate sensory commitments
ronments, then, indigenous peoples have coded into their rit-
giving rise to emotions and ideals expressed in religion. In
ual life a developed wisdom for sustaining their social life in
this context, the multiplicity of religious symbols are second-
specific environments.
ary manifestations of the deeper ecological connections de-
scribed as topophilia.
The anthropologist Keith Basso drew attention to the
significance of place-names among indigenous peoples, espe-
This emphasis on symbols, imagination, and ecology
cially the Western Apache of North America. Basso reem-
was taken up by Richard Peet and Michael Watts in Libera-
phasized the importance of local knowledge about traditional
tion Ecologies: Environment, Development, and Social Move-
places as connected to a broad array of ideas and values in
ments (1996). Peet and Watts used Marxist dialectics to in-
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2612
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
vestigate the roles of religions in fostering “ecological
Human beings and the natural world are on a collision
imaginaries” within the overall contradictory character of the
course. . . . Human activities inflict harsh and often
relations between humans and the Earth. Ecological imagi-
irreversible damage on the environment and on critical
naries are the deep networks of affective association between
resources. If not checked, many of our current practices
bioregions and humans that surface in human imagination
put at risk the future that we wish for human society
and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter
as symbols and concepts motivating individuals and commu-
the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in
nities to action. Ecological imaginaries bring political aware-
the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are ur-
ness to political ecology. Moreover, these affective and imagi-
gent if we are to avoid the collision our present course
native connections to ecology create the possibility for deeper
will bring about. (http://www.environment.Harvard.
liberation from the grip of seemingly intractable social and
edu)
market forces.
The document calls for the cooperation of natural and social
Drawing on the social sciences and humanities, the two-
scientists, business and industrial leaders, and religious lead-
volume Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (2005), edited
ers, as well as the world’s citizens. It concludes with a call
by Jeffrey Kaplan and Bron Taylor, continues the investiga-
for environmentally sensitive attitudes and behaviors which
tion of religion and ecology by exploring diverse nature-
religious communities can help to articulate:
influenced religions as well as traditions that consider nature
A new ethic is required—a new attitude towards dis-
as sacred. These volumes are a major resource for study of
charging our responsibilities for caring for ourselves and
the intersections of society, religion, and environment. Ka-
for the Earth. We must recognize the Earth’s limited ca-
plan and Taylor not only attempt encyclopedic coverage of
pacity to provide for us. We must recognize its fragility.
the historic roles of environments in the formation and de-
We must no longer allow it to be ravaged. This ethic
velopment of religions, but they also address contemporary
must motivate a great movement, convincing reluctant
challenges to the religions raised by environmental crises.
leaders and reluctant governments and reluctant peo-
ples themselves to effect the needed changes.
MOVEMENTS OF RELIGION AND ECOLOGY: CALLS AND RE-
Although the responses of the religions to the global environ-
SPONSES. Many organizations and individuals have called for
mental crisis were slow at first, they have been steadily grow-
the participation of religious communities in alleviating the
ing since the latter part of the twentieth century. Several
environmental crisis and reorienting humans to show re-
years after the first United Nations Conference on Environ-
spect, restraint, and responsibility toward the Earth commu-
ment and Development, in Stockholm in 1972, some of the
nity. Several key documents contain this call. One is the
Christian churches began to address the growing environ-
statement of scientists titled “Preserving and Cherishing the
mental and social challenges. At the fifth Assembly of the
Earth: An Appeal for Joint Commitment in Science and Re-
World Council of Churches (WCC) in Nairobi in 1975,
ligion,” which was signed at the Global Forum meeting in
there was a call to establish the conditions for a “just, partici-
Moscow in January 1990. It suggests that the human com-
patory, and sustainable [global] society.” In 1979 a follow-up
munity is committing “crimes against creation” and notes
WCC conference was held at Massachusetts Institute of
that: “Problems of such magnitude, and solutions demand-
Technology on “Faith, Science, and the Future.” This con-
ing so broad a perspective must be recognized from the out-
ference issued a call for a new biblical interpretation of nature
set as having a religious as well as a scientific dimension.” It
and of human dominion. Moreover, there was recognition
also acknowledges that:
of the critical need to create the conditions for ecologically
The environmental crisis requires radical changes not
sustainable societies for a viable planetary future. The 1983
only in public policy, but in individual behavior. The
Vancouver Assembly of the WCC revised the theme of the
historical record makes clear that religious teaching, ex-
Nairobi conference to include “Justice, Peace, and the Integ-
ample, and leadership are powerfully able to influence
rity of Creation.” The 1991 WCC Canberra conference ex-
personal conduct and commitment. As scientists, many
panded on these ideas with the theme of the “Holy Spirit Re-
of us have had profound experiences of awe and rever-
newing the Whole of Creation.” After Canberra, the WCC
ence before the universe. We understand that what is
theme for mission in society became “Theology of Life.”
regarded as sacred is more likely to be treated with care
This has brought theological reflection to bear on environ-
and respect. Our planetary home should be so regarded.
mental destruction and social inequities resulting from eco-
Efforts to safeguard and cherish the environment need
nomic globalization. In 1992, at the time of the UN Earth
to be infused with a vision of the sacred. (http://
www.environment.Harvard.edu)
Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the WCC facilitated a gathering
of Christian leaders that issued a “Letter to the Churches,”
A second key document, “World Scientists’ Warning to Hu-
calling for attention to pressing eco-justice concerns facing
manity,” was produced by the Union of Concerned Scien-
the planet. Principles of eco-justice that have had growing
tists in 1992 and was signed by more than 2,000 scientists,
support in the last decade include: solidarity with other peo-
including more than 200 Nobel laureates. This document
ple and all creatures, ecological sustainability, sufficiency as
also suggests that the planet is facing a severe environmental
a standard of distributive justice, and socially just participa-
crisis:
tion in decisions for the common good.
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2613
In addition to major conferences held by the Christian
pastoral letters since around 1990. Pope John Paul wrote a
churches, various interreligious meetings have occurred and
message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1990, titled
movements have emerged that have shown significant levels
“The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility.” He has
of commitment toward alleviating the environmental crisis.
also spoken of the need for ecological conversion, namely a
Some of these include the interreligious gatherings on the en-
deep turning to the needs of the larger community of life.
vironment in Assisi in 1984 under the sponsorship of the
In 1988 the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines issued an
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and under the auspices of the
environmental letter titled “What Is Happening to Our
Vatican in 1986. Moreover, the United Nations Environ-
Beautiful Land” and two years later the U. S. Catholic Bish-
ment Programme (UNEP) established an Interfaith Partner-
ops Conference published a statement called “Renewing the
ship for the Environment (IPE) that has distributed thou-
Earth.” In 2000 the Boston Bishops wrote a pastoral letter
sands of packets of materials for use in local congregations
titled, “And God Saw That It Was Good,” and in February
and religious communities since 1985.
2001 the Bishops of the Pacific Northwest published a docu-
ment called, “The Columbia Watershed: Caring for Cre-
The Parliament of World Religions—held in Chicago
ation and the Common Good.”
in 1993, in Cape Town, South Africa in 1999, and in Barce-
lona in 2004—has issued statements on global ethics em-
In October 2003 the Canadian bishops also published
bracing human rights and environmental issues. The Global
a letter on the environment. In August 2000 a gathering of
Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders held interna-
more than one thousand religious leaders took place at the
tional meetings in Oxford in 1988, Moscow in 1990, Rio
United Nations during the Millennium World Peace Sum-
in 1992, and Kyoto in 1993 that had the environment as a
mit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, where discussion of
major focus. Since 1995 a critical Alliance of Religion and
the environment was a major theme. The UN secretary gen-
Conservation (ARC) has been active in England, and the Na-
eral, Kofi Anan, who addressed the summit, has called for
tional Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE)
a new ethic of global stewardship, recognizing the urgent sit-
has organized Jewish and Christian groups on this issue in
uation posed by current unsustainable trends.
the United States. A member group of NRPE, the Coalition
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD AND ECOLOGY PROJECT. It was
on Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) has helped to mo-
in light of these various initiatives and in response to the call
bilize the American Jewish communities regarding environ-
of scientists that a three-year international conference series,
mental issues, especially global warming. The Islamic Foun-
titled, “Religions of the World and Ecology,” took place at
dation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES),
Harvard University. From 1996 to 1998 over eight hundred
based in England, has from its beginnings in 1984 estab-
scholars gathered to examine the varied ways in which
lished itself as a leader in environmental conservation and ac-
human-Earth relations have been conceived in the world’s
tivism in Islamic settings. Religious groups have also contrib-
religious traditions. The intention of the series was to assist
uted to the drafting of the Earth Charter. The World Bank
in establishing a new field of study within religious studies
has developed a World Faiths Development Dialogue on
that would link to the interdisciplinary field of environmen-
poverty and development issues with a select group of inter-
tal studies and have implications for public policy on envi-
national religious leaders.
ronmental issues. The series of ten conferences examined the
traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jain-
Religious leaders and laypersons have spoken out for
ism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Shinto¯, and Indige-
protection of the environment. The Dalai Lama has made
nous religions. Held at the Center for the Study of World
numerous statements on the importance of environmental
Religions at Harvard Divinity School, the conferences were
protection and has proposed that Tibet should be designated
organized by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim in collabo-
a zone of special ecological integrity. Rabbi Ishmar Schorsch
ration with a team of area specialists. The series brought to-
of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York has fre-
gether international scholars of the world’s religions, as well
quently drawn attention to the critical state of the environ-
as scientists, environmentalists, and grassroots leaders. The
ment. Bob Edgar, president of the National Council of
papers from these conferences were published in ten volumes
Churches, has led campaigns on environmental issues such
by the Center for the Study of World Religions and distrib-
as global warming and clean air. The Greek Orthodox Patri-
uted by Harvard University Press. Recognizing that religions
arch Bartholomew has sponsored several seminars to high-
are key shapers of people’s worldviews and formulators of
light environmental degradation in the Aegean, the Black,
their most cherished values, this broad research project un-
the Adriatic, and the Baltic Seas, as well as the Danube River.
covered a vast wealth of attitudes toward nature sanctioned
He has strongly critiqued human negligence and destruction
by religious traditions. In addition, the project identified
of the environment by calling it “ecological sin.” From the
over one hundred examples of religiously inspired environ-
Islamic perspective, Seyyed Hossein Nasr has written and
mental practices and projects in various parts of the world
spoken widely on the sacred nature of the environment for
ranging from reforestation in India and Africa to preserva-
more than two decades. In the Christian world, along with
tion of herbal knowledge in South America, from the protec-
the efforts cited earlier of the Protestant community in the
tion of coral reefs in the Pacific regions to the conservation
WCC, the Catholic Church, has issued several important
of wildlife in the Middle East.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2614
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
Three culminating conferences were held at the Ameri-
As key repositories of enduring civilizational values, and
can Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachu-
as indispensable motivators in moral transformation, it can
setts, at the United Nations, and at the American Museum
be said that religions have a role to play in shaping a sustain-
of Natural History in New York. These conferences brought
able future for the planet. This is especially true because atti-
representatives of the world’s religions into conversation
tudes toward nature have been consciously and unconscious-
with one another as well as into dialogue with key scientists,
ly conditioned by religious and cultural worldviews. Lynn
economists, educators, and policymakers in the environmen-
White observed this in the 1960s, when he noted, “What
tal field. It was at the United Nations press conference that
people do about their ecology depends on what they think
an ongoing Harvard Forum on Religion and Ecology was an-
about themselves in relation to things around them. Human
nounced to continue the research, education, and outreach
ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and
begun at these earlier conferences. The forum has mounted
destiny—that is, by religion” (White, 1967). Recognition of
an international website to assist the field of religion and
the diverse roles of religions in shaping ecological world-
ecology with introductory papers and annotated bibliogra-
views, both historically and at present, has led to calls for
phies on the major world religions as well as on science,
their further involvement in addressing environmental
economy, and policy issues (http://environment.harvard.
issues.
edu/religion).
A significant example of this occurred in autumn of
CONCLUSIONS. Several qualifications regarding the intersec-
2003 in China. Pang Yue, director of the National Environ-
tion of religion and ecology were identified by scholars in the
mental Protection Bureau, gave an important speech in
Harvard research project. First, many suggest that no one re-
which he called for the creation of an environmental culture
ligious tradition has a privileged ecological perspective. Rath-
drawing on traditional values based in Confucianism, Dao-
er, scholars frequently indicate that multiple perspectives are
ism, and Buddhism. He said, “The inner spirit of traditional
the most helpful in identifying the contributions of the
Chinese culture echoes environmental culture that the world
world’s religions to environmental problems. This field is
is currently emphasizing. Traditional Chinese culture pur-
thus conceived as an interreligious project. Second, it is as-
sues harmony between human beings and nature. . .and as
sumed by many that while religions are necessary partners
human beings we have the responsibility to maintain and
in this process, they are not sufficient without the indispens-
protect our environment.” These remarks are striking in
able contributions of science, economics, education, and pol-
their departure from the materialist Marxist ideology of the
icy to the varied challenges of current environmental prob-
last fifty years in China, as well as China’s current emphasis
lems. Therefore, this field can be regarded as an
on development, seemingly at any environmental cost. This
interdisciplinary effort in which religions have an important
call for recovery of traditional values is being echoed in many
role. Third, it is acknowledged that there is frequently a dis-
parts of the world as environmental issues become ever more
junction between principles and practices, so that ecological-
pressing.
ly sensitive ideas in religions are not always evident in envi-
ronmental practices in particular civilizations. Many
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2616
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
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people are considered indigenous; they live on every conti-
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of nature and its own regional, cultural, and historical issues
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overview perspectives are useful. First, before and after con-
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tact with the civilizations of Asia, Europe, and Africa, indige-
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nous cultures certainly interacted with one another, sharing
Soper, David E. The Geography of Religions. Englewood Cliffs,
forms of traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) as well
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as a mode of historical consciousness often embedded in
myth. The transmission of knowledge of manioc cultivation
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sharing of technologies. Both of these food production tech-
Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era—A Celebration of
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niques demonstrate widespread adaptation to local symbol
systems and explanatory cosmologies. Quite often, historical
Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, ed. Judaism and Ecology: Created World
notice of such a technological change was embedded in an
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ancient myth that would be narrated in a slightly different
Tuan, Yi-Fu. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, At-
manner to mark the historical event. This first overview per-
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spective can be identified with the ancient forms of tradition-
Tucker, Mary Evelyn. Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Eco-
al environmental knowledge found among specific indige-
logical Phase. Chicago, 2003.
nous peoples that also shows evidence of having become
Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and Duncan Ryukan Williams, eds. Bud-
hybridized knowledge in other cultures. The spread of tobac-
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co similarly illustrates the features of ancient sharing and ad-
Cambridge, Mass., 1997.
aptation. Tobacco became central to the socioreligious life
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of many indigenous peoples of the Americas holding its spiri-
Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans.
tual intentions intact to the present.
Cambridge, Mass., 1998.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Grim, eds. “Religion and Ecolo-
Second, with the advent of dominant and oppressive
gy: Can the Climate Change?” Daedalus 130, no. 4 (2001).
cultures that subverted indigenous ways of knowing, these
Waskow, Arthur, ed. Torah of the Earth. Woodstock, Vt., 2000.
small-scale cultures experienced massive deaths largely due
to disease pathogens for which these native peoples had little
White, Lynn, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,”
or no immune resistance. These times of intense cultural
Science 155 (March 1967).
fragmentation and despair have varied in world history, con-
MARY EVELYN TUCKER (2005)
tinuing to the present for some indigenous peoples. This has
JOHN A. GRIM (2005)
resulted in a tremendous loss of elders who would transmit
traditional environmental knowledge as well as the cessation
of the accompanying rituals that accompany that knowledge.
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
Thus, indigenous peoples continue to experience the dimin-
INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
ishment and loss of the actual ecological diversity itself that
In anthropology the term indigenous refers to small-scale so-
stimulates their deepest cultural religiosity. Certainly, not all
cieties with distinct languages, mythic narratives, sacred
traditional knowledge is lost, nor is the biodiversity of indig-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
2617
enous homelands extinguished, but in this overview perspec-
First, despite mounting economic and political pres-
tive the religious sensibilities resulting from these profound
sures indigenous communities have demonstrated remark-
losses among indigenous people often assumes prophetic
able resistance and regeneration. This has been evident
forms that announce the end of a cosmological cycle before
through five centuries of contact with European culture and
renewal reoccurs.
continues with the twenty-first-century struggle against com-
plete absorption into dominant cultures. Cosmology (a soci-
A final overview perspective has emerged more forceful-
ety’s view of the natural world and universe) and ecology play
ly in the contemporary period that can be identified as resis-
significant roles in this struggle, as well as in the adaptation
tance and regeneration. This is not exclusively a recent devel-
of indigenous societies to contemporary culture and tech-
opment as indigenous peoples have resisted the oppression
nology.
and loss of the colonial period from its inception, but this
Second, what is known of indigenous lifeways, their in-
historical perspective serves to emphasize the global activities
tegration of culture into local ecosystems, and their environ-
of indigenous peoples who now often act in concert to make
mental knowledge has come from indigenous peoples them-
dominant cultures aware of their plight, to argue for their
selves. Elders and teachers have been the source of knowledge
sovereignty in the larger arena of nation-states, and to articu-
about, and decision makers for, religious and environmental
late their contributions to human thought and their insights
activities.
into contemporary challenges. A striking example occurred
with the Zapatistas uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, in January
The third sociopolitical consideration is an ideology
1994. This well-coordinated struggle linked labor issues with
called indigenism, the promotion, defense, and/or politiciza-
cultural survival, loss of homeland with growth of computer
tion of native cultures. Romantic perspectives view indige-
networks. Not only did this movement resist the age-old
nous lifeways as rigid, unchanging, and opposed to even ap-
forms of oppression by the Mexican state, but it has also been
propriate development. At the other extreme, national
a regenerative site for offering new thought on current issues.
governments sometimes devalue and demean the sustainable
Increasingly, global forums of indigenous peoples and local
interactions that native peoples maintain with local biore-
communities critique international agreements on environ-
gions to claim exclusive prerogatives over the use of indige-
mental or cultural issues that do not recognize the existence
nous lands. Both views are potentially misleading.
or contributions of indigenous peoples. These indigenous fo-
INDIGENOUS VOICES. Too frequently indigenous voices are
rums explore such issues as biopiracy, biocolonialism, and
not heard on ecological issues. Native American lawyer Vine
environmental racism, and propose traditional ideas and
Deloria, Jr., calls for the recognition of native peoples as na-
practices to counter the market-driven plans offered by de-
tional entities with sacred lands exempt from the arbitrary
veloped nations. No one organization speaks for indigenous
decisions of state and federal governments; this, he says
peoples, but some significant groups are the Columbia Coor-
would constitute a move from “greening” to “maturing.”
dinating Body of Indigenous Peoples Organizations of the
Deloria connects religion and ecology not simply with aca-
Amazon Basin, International Alliance of Indigenous and
demic or conservationist concerns but with the struggle for
Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests (Nepal), Amazon Alli-
legal and political rights to conserve traditional lifeways.
ance (Ecuador), Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (Fiji), In-
Indigenous logic is strikingly different from the linear,
ternational Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Ed-
analytical, mechanistic, and concept-driven rhetoric of dom-
ucation, Ethnic Minority and Indigenous Rights
inant modern societies. Traditional cultures often connect
Organizations of Africa (Nigeria), African Indigenous
their regard for the protective power of spirits with concepts
Women Organization, and the Inter-Mountain peoples Ed-
of cosmology and ecology. Spirits are differently understood,
ucation and Culture in Thailand Association as well as the
but these numinous beings are markedly place-based, rela-
ongoing work of Cultural Survival and International
tional, and felt presences. Affective, emotional ways of know-
Survival.
ing are often cultivated in rituals by means of deprivation
and body- or mind-altering substances, enabling indigenous
Traditional indigenous societies view all existence as in-
leaders to address situations of community need through
terdependent, including interactions with nature and the
spirit-inspired messages.
technology of their subsistence practices. The term lifeway
is used here to indicate this integration of thought, produc-
Indigenous leaders know that environmental knowledge
tion, and distribution. This ecologically integrated knowl-
has long been operative in their communities and that, of
edge has often been misconceived as animism or “failed epis-
late, nonnative peoples have been interested in this knowl-
temologies” too limited for consideration by modern
edge. They wonder, however, if this new interest is genuine
societies. However, indigenous knowledge traditions—based
or simply another type of exploitation.
on a relational knowing of their worlds—can contend as ro-
THEMES IN THE STUDY OF INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS AND
bust alternatives to modern worldviews that tend to objectify
ECOLOGY. Several prominent themes can be identified; this
and distance the natural world from the human. Three sig-
list is not exhaustive but represents efforts to understand the
nificant political and social undercurrents must be consid-
intricate and varied ways that indigenous peoples live in rela-
ered in the study of indigenous religions and ecology.
tion to their ecosystems.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2618
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
Balance and conservation. Many indigenous lifeways
For the Maori, interactions with the environment bring
recognize the balance that pervades both the ecosystem and
humans into contact with mana and maori, powers inherent
the cosmos. Ruptures in this balance are addressed by ritual
in all of reality. A thing’s existence carries within it mana,
procedures intended to restore personal, social, ecological,
or the inherent right to be where it is. Maori myths explore
and cosmological harmonies. Even hunting and fishing are
predator and prey relations throughout existence in concepts
believed to foster the balance of life. Thus, the Yup’ik Eski-
of hard mana—competition and aggression—as well as soft
mo of Alaska view hunter and prey as part of a cycle of reci-
mana—compassion and cooperation. All creatures also pos-
procity in which animals visit the human world to be hunt-
sess a personal life force, maori, suggesting that reality has in-
ed, treated respectfully, and sent back to return the following
trinsic intention and value.
season. Animals and plants are seen as spirit beings that will-
A Maori proverb presents a glimpse of this dynamic, in-
ingly give themselves for human sustenance. Hunting and
teractive kinship with the Earth: “The blood (toto) of hu-
other activities are part of a cycle of reciprocity based on priv-
mans (tangata) comes from food (kai); our welfare (oranga)
ilege and responsibility to a slain animal. These complex sys-
comes from land (whenua).” This links blood with the food
tems of limits on hunting, dietary prohibitions, and gender
that comes from the death of one’s nonhuman kin, namely
and kin rules regarding distribution of game and other foods
animals and plants. In addition to mana and maori, all be-
constitute indigenous conservation ethics.
ings-as-food carry individual tapu, or sacredness. Human
Religious ritual in the ecology of the Tsembaga horticul-
subsistence practices may be harmful to the mana of those
tural peoples of highland New Guinea was described in 1968
eaten, but recognition of tapu respects maori. Inner life, or
by Roy Rappaport in Pigs for the Ancestors. This study provid-
blood, is thought to depend on correct spiritual relations
ed important insight into indigenous concerns for cosmolog-
with other creatures, including ritual treatment of their tapu.
ical and ecological balance. Previously, cultural ecology
Welfare, or material prosperity, for the maori flows from eth-
taught that indigenous religions had been formed passively
ical relations with the differentiated forces of life in creation.
by interactions with local environments. Rappaport suggest-
ed instead that ritual acted as a regulatory system whereby
According to the Maori, humans are people of the land
the Tsembaga maintained their environment, limited hostili-
when they maintain right relationships with the mana,
ty, controlled population growth, promoted trade, and facili-
maori, and tapu of creatures. These knowledge-based pro-
tated the distribution of protein. In short, Tsembaga religion
cesses establish the maori of the human community, which
had ecological implications as well as connections to politi-
can only be generated by acting responsibly. The Maori
cal, social, and subsistence practices.
claim to be people of the land in Aoteroa New Zealand pro-
Richard Nelson’s 1983 study of the Koyukon peoples
ceeds from a cosmology that establishes all creatures, not
of Alaska, Make Prayers to the Raven advanced this under-
simply humans, in a web of kinship. Their ancestral preroga-
standing of indigenous religions and ecology by showing
tives entail responsible, ethical interactions with both crea-
how extensive Koyukon oral narratives of the Distant Time
tures and the land.
(Kk’adonts’idnee) contained detailed environmental knowl-
Person and power. In many indigenous cultures both
edge of the boreal forest. Moreover, these narratives pre-
male and female shamans cultivate intense, intimate, and
sented particular examples of Koyukon regard for plants and
transforming relationships with local lands and life forms.
animals. Nelson explored ways in which these ecological in-
Shamans are persons of spiritual power whose symbolic prac-
sights linked a complex Koyukon ethical system (hutlanee)
tices mirror the understandings and interactions of their
with cosmological narratives of the Distant Time and subsis-
small-scale societies, with local environments as the source
tence practices. Most importantly, Nelson’s work described
of efficacious power. Their exceptional ecological imagina-
an indigenous conservation ethic flowing from the mutual
tion makes shamans capable of interacting and identifying
interactions of lifeway and ecosystem.
with local environments in innovative and creative ways.
Narrative and place. The Maori of New Zealand speak
A shaman’s knowledge of plants, animals, terrain, and
of themselves as tangata whenua, people of the land. By
weather patterns is not merely empirical learning, but clearly
grounding their identity as a people in stories of their home-
has a religious perspective as well. Shamanistic views of the
land, the Maori are not simply expressing a nationalistic pa-
environment are relational and reflect personal and commu-
triotism. Rather, whenua means both land and placenta; this
nity identities and values. The shamans’ healing and divining
evokes the Earth-mother herself, Papatuanuku, and makes
arts present a range of unique individual expressions of cul-
land the connection both to larger cosmic forces and the
turally specific religious ecologies.
source of personal life. Myths describe how the Sky-father,
Ranginui, was separated from the Earth-mother by the ef-
Shamans transform the external environment of moun-
forts of their children, who eventually differentiate all of cre-
tains, rivers, and biodiversity into inner experiential land-
ation. Thus, the mythic offspring bring about the primordial
scapes that resonate with the surrounding animate world,
separation that introduces into creation disparate, yet
weaving together the outer environment of all beings with
interconnected, forces such as yearning, ambiguity, and
the shaman’s inner psychic world, thus generating empathy
fecundity.
and commitment from the people. As is evident in the fol-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
2619
lowing case study, this cosmology is presented as both the
living things. Life in the world is not without discord and
actual homeland and symbolic representations of it.
disagreement—demands and limits are acknowledged. Rath-
er than being symbolized as ecologists, indigenous peoples
Arkadii Anisimov’s study of the fishing and reindeer-
stand for commitment to place in the contemporary world.
herding Evenk peoples of the central Siberian plateau de-
scribes the shaman’s tent and ritual as a “fencing” designed
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Apffel-Marglin, Frederique, with the Andean Project on Peasant
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among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, N.M., 1996. The
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the Apache peoples in southwestern North America.
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Callicott, J. Baird, and Michael P. Nelson. American Indian Envi-
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N.J., 2004. By examining the worldview of these Great Lakes
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Anishinabe peoples, these authors derive indigenous princi-
trees with birds on top—all arranged in the form of a fish
ples that they bring to a theoretical discussion of environ-
weir to capture any dangerous wolf spirits sent by neighbor-
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Crocker, Jon C. Vital Souls: Bororo Cosmology, Natural Symbolism,
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shaman marshals considerable military might in the form of
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the shaman die, anxiety reigns until a new shaman can rees-
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Hughes, Donald. North American Indian Ecology. El Paso, Tex.,
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E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2620
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND HINDUISM
Nelson, Richard K. Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View
sponding to the many meanings of nature. In general, the
of the Northern Forest. Chicago, 1983. Continues to be a clas-
term nature will be used here to refer to those elements that
sic in the field of traditional environmental knowledge, tradi-
are considered to be part of the lived or conceptualized envi-
tional conservation practices, and insight into the deep affec-
ronment in the many Hindu traditions. The most frequently
tivity for the natural world among indigenous peoples.
used Indian term for “nature,” prakr:ti, may refer to matter
Ramos, Alcida Rita. Indigenism: Ethnic Politics in Brazil. Madison,
as well as the inherent tendencies in material substances.
Wis., 1998. A study of the romanticization of Brazil’s indige-
nous peoples in terms of the politics of that country.
The many Sanskrit texts within Hindu traditions have
Rappaport, Roy A. Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of
had a limited role to play in the history of the religion.
a New Guinea People. 2d ed. Prospect Heights, Ill., 2000.
Hindu traditions consider custom and practice to be as im-
Classic study of the ways in which Maring peoples of New
portant as the texts themselves. Nevertheless, with the intel-
Guinea aspire to maintain socio-ecological balance by means
lectual colonization by the West and the advent of mass
of ritual.
media, more Hindus today have started to focus on the sa-
Roseman, Marina. Healing Sounds from the Malaysian Rainforest:
cred texts, and many search for answers to the environmental
Temiar Music and Medicine. Berkeley, Calif., 1991. An eth-
crises both in text and practice. This entry, therefore, will
nomusicologist investigates the close relationships between
discuss textual sources, as well as eco-practices adopted by
song, healing practices, and ecology among a Malaysian
Hindus. This essay will consider the phenomena of nature
people.
in texts and then discuss the various forms of environmental
Suzuki, David, and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders: Sacred
activism in India that use religio-cultural concepts as sources
Native Stories of Nature. New York, 1992. Anthology of pop-
of inspiration or guidance. Environmental activism has been
ular insights and concerns of indigenous peoples that is help-
ful in the classroom and useful for generating discussion.
largely guided by notions of dharma (duty, righteousness,
“religion”). These concepts have been communicated
Vecsey, Christopher, and Robert W. Venables. American Indian
Environments: Ecological Issues in Native American History.
through stories from the epics and Pura¯n:as (Sanskrit and ver-
Syracuse, N.Y., 1980. Early study of ecological consciousness
nacular texts glorifying deities and places composed primari-
among Native North American peoples.
ly in the first millennium CE) and narrated by family or vil-
Weaver, Jace, ed. Defending Mother Earth: Native American Per-
lage elders.
spectives on Environmental Justice. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1996.
NATURE IN SANSKRIT TEXTS. The earliest hymns of the
Examination of Native American attitudes toward environ-
Vedas are addressed to many gods, and many of them are
mental perceptions and problems largely written by native
connected with natural phenomena and the environment the
academics and activists.
people lived in. Agni, the god of fire, is seen as a messenger
Wilbert, Johannes. Mystic Endowment: Religious Ethnography of the
between human beings and the deities because offerings were
Warao Indians. Cambridge, Mass., 1993. A major study of
placed in the fire to be carried to other worlds. Agni is the
the ways in which myth is embedded in ritual and subsis-
fire on earth, lightning in the atmosphere, and the sun in the
tence practices so as to affirm the traditional environmental
sky. Usha, the goddess of dawn, Varun:a, who presides over
knowledge of an indigenous people.
the waters, the oceans, and even aquatic animals, and Indra,
JOHN A. GRIM (2005)
who is associated with the thunderbolt and rain, are all wor-
shiped. A goddess known as Sarasvat¯ı is also spoken of,
sometimes as a river, sometimes as representing learning.
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
Some hymns speak of a connection between the rituals and
HINDUISM
the prevalence of cosmic and earthly order, r:ta. R:ta is truth
Hinduism, the major religious tradition in India and the
and justice, the rightness of things. It makes harmony and
faith of almost a billion people around the world, is extreme-
peace possible on the earth and in the heavens. Although r:ta
ly diverse. There are many philosophical, ritual, narrative,
is an impersonal cosmic principle, Vedic gods like Varun:a
theistic, and nontheistic traditions within Hinduism and,
were considered its upholders.
therefore, Hinduism encompasses pluralistic views towards
nature. Many Hindu communities value nature, think of the
In retrieving and revisioning the Vedas, Hindus have
universe as the body of God, pray for peace between all the
emphasized those sections that speak of peace and harmony.
elements of the universe, urge nonviolence to all beings on
Thus, the “Shanti path” (Song of peace) in the Yajurveda
earth, and personify nature and the earth as goddesses. How-
(36:17) has become popular in India and in the diaspora. Re-
ever, others devalue nature by thinking of matter (homolo-
peating a hymn composed more than three millennia ago,
gized to women) as ensnaring the spirit and preventing it
the Hindu devotee recites: “May there be peace in the skies,
from achieving liberation. Yet other Hindus think of the uni-
peace in the atmosphere, peace on earth, peace in the waters.
verse as ultimately without reality, and some Hindus think
May the healing plants and trees bring peace; may there be
of the final goal as transcending all dualities of good and evil,
peace [on and from] the world, the deity. May there be peace
spirit and matter, culture and nature.
in the world, peace on peace. May that peace come to me!”
Several Indian words in Sanskrit and in vernacular lan-
The many texts that focus explicitly on dharma or righ-
guages have philosophical and colloquial meanings corre-
teous behavior were composed in the first few centuries of
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND HINDUISM
2621
the Common Era. Many sections of the epics Ra¯ma¯yan:a and
personified as deities. The River Gan˙ga¯ (Ganges) is some-
Maha¯bha¯rata and the Pura¯n:as also focused on dharma. The
times portrayed as a consort of Lord S´iva. In the south,
epics and Pura¯n:as give detailed narratives of the periodic and
Ka¯ver¯ı Amman (Mother Ka¯ver¯ı) is the name by which the
cyclic destruction of the world. By the beginning of the third
river is fondly addressed. Hundreds of girls born in the area
eon, things are perceived as going awry. The Ku¯rma Pura¯n:a
of Coorg, where the Ka¯ver¯ı has her source, are named after
says that because of greed and passion, the people of this age
her. In the plains of Tamilnadu, Ka¯ver¯ı is seen as a devotee
seize the rivers, fields, mountains, and clumps of trees and
and sometimes the consort of Lord Vis:n:u, and several tem-
herbs, overcoming them by strength. That is just the begin-
ples (such as Terazhundur, near Kumbakonam) include a
ning of the decline in virtue and behavior. The epic
striking image of this personified river in the innermost
Maha¯bha¯rata (c. 500–200 BCE) is graphic in the portrayal of
shrine.
the events that will take place at the end of the fourth—and
worst—eon and what will happen after a thousand such ages.
Rivers such as the Gan˙ga¯, Ka¯ver¯ı, Goda¯var¯ı, and
At the end of the eon the population increases; there is a
Narmada¯ are much venerated by devotees, both as rivers and
stench everywhere. The “natural” order of things becomes
as goddesses. By bathing in the great rivers of India, one is
sluggish; the cows will yield little milk; and the trees, teeming
said to be both physically cleansed and morally purified of
with crows, will yield few flowers and fruits. The brahmans—
one’s sins (papa), which are destroyed. Moreover, one ac-
the priestly class—it is said will plunder the land bare for
quires merit or auspiciousness in this way. Although there
alms. At the end of a thousand eons, the text continues, there
is strong belief in the religious purity of the rivers, from an
will be a drought of many years, and all creatures will starve.
environmental perspective, they have become severely pol-
The fire of destruction will rage, and large clouds will rise
luted as a result of rapid industrialization and the release of
up in the sky. The epics say that at this time all humans will
toxic human and industrial waste. The rivers that are sup-
become omnivores and barbarians. They will destroy parks
posed to purify human beings, physically, morally, and ritu-
and trees, and the lives of the living will be ruined in the
ally, are said to be at the receiving end of adharma, unrigh-
world. Thus, there seems to be an almost preordained struc-
teous behavior. The beliefs of devotees that the rivers are
ture in the destruction of the environment.
intrinsically pure, moreover, works against the cleansing of
the rivers, for some people believe that they cannot really be
Other scriptural passages on dharma, however, focus on
polluted.
positive elements. They encourage the planting of trees, con-
demn the destruction of plants and forests, and assert that
PHILOSOPHICAL TEXTS, DHARMA, AND MOKS:A. Hindu texts
trees are like children. In this context, a passage from the
portray dharma and moks:a (liberation from the cycle of life
Matsya Pura¯n:a is instructive. It is said that the goddess
and death) as goals for all human beings. There are many
Pa¯rvat¯ı planted a sapling of the A´soka tree and took good
meanings for dharma. In some of its manifestations, it is con-
care of it. Her rationale was that there are many acts of dhar-
cerned with loka sangraha or the welfare of human beings.
ma that one can perform—digging wells and reservoirs pro-
Dharma refers to many topics, including notions of righ-
vide clean water to the public—but a tree is as good as ten
teousness and duty, as well as virtues such as gratitude and
sons in serving the community. Sentences such as these have
compassion, which are thought of ideally as common to all
been valorized by some temples to encourage the planting
human beings. While in some philosophical traditions,
and care of trees. Other Pura¯n:as also celebrate the planting
doing one’s dharma or duty led to moks:a, in other cases the
of trees; the Vara¯ha Pura¯n:a says that one who plants five
dictates and norms of dharma to sustain society (beget chil-
mango trees does not go to hell, and the Vis:n:u Dharmottara
dren, earn money) could be seen as binding one to the cycle
claims that one who plants a tree will never fall into hell. The
of life and death and as tugging in a direction away from lib-
Matsya Pura¯n:a also describes a celebration for planting trees.
eration. The pathways to liberation included meditative and
ASPECTS OF NATURE. Most Hindus perceive divinity in
reflective paths focusing on control of the human body and
many aspects of nature. Many animals, snakes, mountains,
mind, as well as intellectual and emotional devotion to the
rivers, trees, and, indeed, the entire universe pulsate with
deity of one’s choice. Detachment from everyday life—even
something divine. Some Hindus personify natural phenome-
while living in the midst of the world—was an integral part
na as divine; others think of natural phenomena as having
of the enterprise.
presiding deities. Although the divinity is considered invest-
It is important to keep this taxonomy in mind, because
ed in some natural phenomena and habitats, it does not fol-
theological doctrines dealing with “reality” do not necessarily
low that such habitats are not used or abused. As with many
trickle down into dharmic or ethical injunctions. This dis-
religious traditions, there is dissonance between perception
junction between dharma and moks:a is marked in some
and behavior.
Hindu texts and practices. Dharma texts promote righteous
Most of the rivers of India are considered to be female
behavior on earth, and moks:a texts encourage one to be de-
and the mountains male. Rivers are perceived to be nurturing
tached from such concerns. A few texts, such as the
(and sometimes judgmental) mothers, feeding, nourishing,
Bhagavadg¯ıta¯, have tried to bridge the paradigms of dharma
quenching, and when angered, flooding the earth. Rivers are
and moks:a.
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2622
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND HINDUISM
Thus, a theology that emphasizes the world as a body
country, have also encouraged eco-activism. Billboards say-
of God, a pervasive pan-Indian belief that goddess Earth
ing “Vriksho rakshati: rakshatah” (“Trees protect: Let us pro-
(Bhu¯dev¯ı/Vasundhara/Pr:ithv¯ı) is also a consort of Vis:n:u, or
tect them” or “Trees, when protected, protect us”) greet visi-
the notion that the mother goddess (Amba, Durga¯) is synon-
tors to the sacred pilgrimage town of Tirumala-Tirupati in
ymous with nature (prakr:ti), does not necessarily translate to
the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Tirumala-Tirupati temple
eco-friendly behavior. Likewise, renunciation, celibacy, and
is one of the oldest temples, and it carries a great deal of dhar-
detachment are laudable virtues for one who seeks liberation
mic and financial clout both in India and in the diaspora.
from the cycle of life and death, but the texts on dharma say
In response to the ecological crisis in India, the temple at
that begetting children is necessary for salvation. These bio-
Tirumala-Tirupati began what is called the Vriksha (tree)
morphic worldviews are significant if we are to assess the rele-
Prasa¯da scheme. Whenever a pilgrim visits a temple in India,
vancy of philosophical viewpoints such as deep ecology for
he or she is given a piece of blessed fruit or food to take
the Hindu traditions. On another front, the dissonance be-
home. This is called a prasa¯da or “favor” of the deity; at Tiru-
tween dharma and philosophical texts explains why some
mala-Tirupati, a sapling, rather than food, is given as the
Hindu traditions hold the Goddess to be supreme while
symbol of the deity’s grace. The nurseries of the Tirumala-
women do not always have a high position in society. It is
Tirupati temple have many varieties of plants, both decora-
true that some theological/tattva texts speak of certain kinds
tive plants and plants that are considered to be medically use-
of “oneness” of the universe and, in some cases, of the equali-
ful. The saplings cultivated are suitable for the soil in various
ty of all creation. Some philosophical texts speak of the one-
parts of India, and by planting them at home, one can have
ness of creation and the creator, and the absolute identity be-
an authentic piece of the sacred place of Tirumala wherever
tween the supreme being (Bra¯hman:) and the human soul
one lives.
(a¯tman)—a oneness that transcends the concept of “equality
of many”; however, in the sphere of dharma and everyday
The Tirumala-Tirupati temple, which is located on an
life, the hierarchies of social classes pertaining to economics,
elevation of 3,000 feet, was once surrounded by heavy for-
gender, caste, and age are significant. Hindu institutions and
ests. Apart from the giving of saplings, which is meant to
eco-activists have therefore found more resources in the nar-
raise the ecology-consciousness of the pilgrims, the forestry
ratives in the dharma texts than in those of philosophy and
department of T. T. Devasthanam (the official bureaucracy
theology in galvanizing people.
of the temple) started the Shri Venkateswara Vanabhivriddhi
scheme in 1981; it was initially called the “Bioaesthetic
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY PERI-
Plan.” Following this plan, donations made by devotees are
OD. In India there has been a fairly long, though sporadic,
used for the purchase and planting of trees and plants. Over
history of environmental activism. The faith of the Bishnoi
2,500,000 indigenous trees are said to have been planted on
and in the Chipko movement and the Narmada¯ Andolan
the hills and the plains as a result of this program. In its sup-
have become well known. The Bishnoi tradition—or as some
port of this venture, the temple quotes relevant scriptural
call it, the eco-religious revolution—was started around
texts on the importance of trees and, most importantly, hon-
1485 in Samrathal Dhora (north India) by Jambho-ji
ors the devotee-participants in this thriving program. Both
(b. 1451). Jambho-ji was said to have been influenced by the
in texts and in practice, the Hindu traditions and some insti-
pastoral life led by the deity Kr:s:n:a and is believed to have
tutions have encouraged proactive approaches in the plant-
preached his faith for about fifty-one years. Of the 120 say-
ing and protection of trees and plants.
ings credited to him, twenty-nine (bish-noi) directives are
said to be particularly significant. Many adherents today in-
Environmental activists have also deployed a number of
terpret these teachings as promoting biodiversity and the
religious strategies in the fight against the damming of rivers.
protection of trees.
Sunderlal Bahuguna, a well-known environmental activist,
The Chipko movement uses principles of nonviolent
says that damming a river is like killing it. In opposing the
protest and resistance to protect trees from commercial de-
building of the Tehri Dam in the Himalayas, a seismic zone,
velopers. The movement was organized during the 1970s in
he has argued that several sacred pilgrimage sites will be de-
the Himalayan region of the state of Uttar Pradesh and has
stroyed if the dam were to break.
since spread to many other parts of India. Local villagers em-
Several activists have drawn upon traditional Hindu
brace (chipko means “to hug”) trees, and the movement pro-
narratives and rituals to save rivers like the Gan˙ga¯ and the
motes many slogans that help spread the message. These
Yamuna¯ from pollution, and more recently from corporate
pithy sayings include such messages as “Ecology is perma-
developers. Many of the movements and statements, such as
nent economy” and “What do forests bear? Soil, water, and
the Haridwar Declaration, issued in 2002 to protect the river
pure air.” The protests are based on Mohandas Gandhi’s phi-
from privatization and commercial interests, draw upon the
losophy of nonviolence, pervasive Hindu notions of a har-
narratives and imagery of Gan˙ga¯ as mother and goddess. The
monious relationship between human beings and nature,
Haridwar Declaration correctly points out that rites of pas-
and respect for nature (prakr:ti), which is seen as divine.
sages for Hindus, from birth to death, are conducted on the
Some temples, such as the one at Tirumala Tirupati in
banks of these holy rivers and that the people will not let
South India, the largest and richest temple complex in the
their Gan˙ga¯ Ma¯ta¯ (Mother Gan˙ga¯) or its water be sold to
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND HINDUISM
2623
multinational corporations. The declaration recalls the story
mental awareness and action, sometimes using traditional re-
of the descent of this river from the heavens, as narrated in
ligious art forms, sometimes through mainstream media and
the Pura¯n:as. It goes on to say that the sacred waters of this
technology.
river cannot be the property of any one individual or compa-
Awareness of ecological concerns has also been raised
ny, and that Mother Gan˙ga¯ is not for sale. In this, and many
through the medium of traditional Indian dance. The theory
similar activist efforts, the Puranic narratives and notions of
and practice of classical dance in India is seen as a religious
dharma are pressed into use.
activity. In the twentieth century, classical dance began to be
Ramachandra Guha, a noted environmentalist, has
used as a medium for a social commentary on women and
urged a more practical environmentalism. He argues against
the environment. Noted dancers choreographed many
an extremist, radical environmentalism, and advocates a bal-
dances with environmental themes, portraying, through
ance between ecological concerns and social justice on the
their art, the Chipko movement and the pollution of the
one hand, and economics and science and technology on the
landscape, and the importance of trees. Through this medi-
other.
um audiences around the country, urban and rural, literate
and illiterate, soon came to understand the urgency of this
In the hundreds of grassroots movements around India,
message.
leaders like Veer Bhadra Mishra and Sathya Sai Baba, institu-
tions like the World Wide Fund for Nature, and pilgrimage
With the growing awareness of the ecological plight,
sites such as Badrinath have all used religious narratives, ritu-
Hindu communities are pressing into use many dharmic
al, and the values of dharma as ways of successfully motivat-
texts and injunctions. They are drawing on the epics and
ing Hindus to take action and clean up the environment,
Pura¯n:as for inspiration as they plant gardens and revive tradi-
plant new trees, and value biodiversity as an integral part of
tional lore regarding the medicinal importance of trees and
their activities. In many of these movements, women have
plants. Women, through song and dance, increasingly com-
played an active role.
municate the ways in which environmental deterioration in-
jures both women and nature, and they call for environmen-
WOMEN AND CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION.
tal protection and restoration, sometimes engaging in direct
Beginning in the late twentieth century, environmental ac-
action to resist environmentally destructive practices. The
tivists such has Vandana Shiva began to develop an
philosophical insights of Hinduism may not have been
ecofeminist critique of gender and the environment that was
strong enough to prevent environmental disaster, but the
pertinent to India. They compared the denigration of the riv-
dharmic resources have provided rich resources for the sub-
ers to the denigration of women at various times in the histo-
continents’ early initiatives to reverse these trends and make
ry of Hindu civilization. Shiva has eloquently and forcefully
the subcontinent green and toxin free.
explored as well the ways in which women suffer as “develop-
ment” destroys forests near their homes. Shiva argues that
BIBLIOGRAPHY
many of the new corporations are involved in “maldevelop-
Alley, Kelly D. On the Banks of the Gan˙ga¯: When Wastewater Meets
ment” projects in which nature and women are turned into
a Sacred River. Ann Arbor, Mich., 2002. An excellent discus-
passive objects and exploited by and for the uncontrolled de-
sion of the complex problems connected with the pollution
sires of men.
of the Ganges River.
Shiva also works on issues of hazardous wastes, biodiver-
Chapple, Christopher Key. Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self
sity conservation, globalization, and patenting and intellec-
in Asian Traditions. Albany, N.Y., 1993.
tual property rights (calling the profiteering of corporations
Chapple, Christopher Key. “Hindu Environmentalism.” In Wor-
from traditional ecological knowledge “biopiracy”). Shiva
ldviews and Ecology, edited by M. E. Tucker and J. A. Grim,
has highlighted colonialism as a major factor in the draining
pp. 113–123. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1994.
of resources from India and the dismantling of traditional
Chapple, Christopher Key, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds. Hindu-
ecological paradigms by which the earth is held in respect.
ism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water.
She argues that the process of patenting will deprive India
Cambridge, Mass., 2000. A wide variety of approaches and
of its last resource—biodiversity. Inspired by such critiques,
topics connected with Hindu environmentalism. Topics
women from diverse social classes have become environmen-
range from philosophical approaches to activism.
tally active in India.
Feldhaus, Anne. Water and Womanhood. New York, 1995.
Women in the Chipko movement, for example, have
Gadgil, Madheva, and Ramachandra Guha. This Fissured Land:
been involved in protecting trees, for women are generally
An Ecological History of India. Berkeley, Calif., 1992.
the first to feel the impact of deforestation. In an important
Gold, Ann Grodzins, and Bhoju Ram Gujar. In the Time of Trees
development, however, many women from the more power-
and Sorrows: Nature, Power, and Memory in Rajasthan. Dur-
ful classes have become influential environmental activists in
ham, N.C., 2001.
their own right, adding their strength to the cause. Women
Gruzalski, Bart. “The Chipko Movement: A Gandhian Approach
have been actively and creatively involved in communicating
to Ecological Sustainability and Liberation from Economic
the tragedy of ecological disaster and facilitating environ-
Colonisation.” In Ethical and Political Dilemmas of Modern
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2624
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JAINISM
India, edited by Ninian Smart and Shivesh Thakur,
toward liberation. Jainas have been scrupulous in developing
pp. 100–125. New York, 1993. A concise and clear intro-
techniques for the avoidance of harm to living beings. The
duction to the Chipko movement
vows of Jainism provide the very foundation for Jaina identi-
Narayanan, Vasudha. “‘One Tree Is Equal to Ten Sons’: Hindu
ty. Nonviolence undergirds the human interpretation of and
Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population, and Con-
consequent relationship with the natural world. The com-
sumption.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 65,
mitment to not inflict harm extends far beyond anthropo-
no. 2 (1997): 291–332.
centric concerns into the animal, plant, and even elemental
Narayanan, Vasudha. “Water, Wood, and Wisdom: Ecological
realms.
Perspectives from the Hindu Traditions.” Daedalus 130, no.
4 (2001): 179–206.
The A¯ca¯ra¯n˙ga Su¯tra lists five primary vows (vrata) for
Nelson, Lance E., ed. Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion
ethical practice: nonviolence, truthfulness, not stealing, sexu-
and Ecology in Hindu India. Albany, N.Y., 1998. An excel-
al restraint, and nonpossession. These same vows inspired
lent set of essays with detailed discussions on a wide variety
Mohandas Gandhi to lead a deeply abstemious life; he had
of topics.
learned of them during his childhood in Gujarat, an Indian
Prime, Ranchor, ed. Hinduism and Ecology. London and New
state with a large Jaina presence, and from Raichandbhai, a
York, 1992.
prominent Jaina lay teacher. Nonviolence requires not only
Shiva, Vandana. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit.
doing no harm to other human beings but also being in-
Cambridge, Mass., 2002
formed about and respectful of all life forms. Truthfulness
VASUDHA NARAYANAN (2005)
requires honesty in all one’s dealings and vigilance about
one’s commitment to the nonviolent ideal. Stealing causes
harm in innumerable ways, as does sexual promiscuity. In
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
addition to the obvious emotional and medical hazards pres-
JAINISM
ented by wantonness, the very act of sexual intercourse kills
The physical environment plays a key role in the Jaina world-
innumerable microorganisms generated and obliterated by
view, which makes a direct connection between its cosmolo-
the heat and friction of sexual contact. Possessions weigh
gy and its ethical system. From the earliest extant text of the
heavily on their owners. All material objects entail some sort
tradition, one learns that Jaina monks and nuns were keen
of harm in their production and maintenance. Even to wear
observers of the elements and the living beings of the natural
a heavy coat traps small insects and microorganisms. The
world. The A¯cara¯n˙ga Su¯tra, which dates from the fourth or
Jaina philosophers and practitioners were mindful of such vi-
fifth century before the common era, indicates that
olations of the code of nonviolence and advocated minimal
Maha¯v¯ıra (c. 500 BCE), who established Jainism in its current
ownership of things. The ultimate ideal can be found in the
institutional form, was a keen observer of nature. The text
story of Maha¯v¯ıra, who spent the last several years of his life
states: “Thoroughly knowing the earth-bodies and water-
totally naked, a practice emulated by the naked monks of the
bodies and fire-bodies and wind-bodies, the lichens, seeds,
Digambara branch of Jainism.
and sprouts, he comprehended that they are, if narrowly in-
spected, imbued with life” (1.8.1.11–12; in Jacobi, 1884).
In the early philosophical period of Jainism, Uma¯sva¯ti
These observations indicate the underpinning of the Jaina
(c. 450 CE) composed the Tattva¯rtha Su¯tra, a text that item-
worldview: the belief that life (j¯ıva) takes many interchang-
izes and describes the details of Jaina cosmology. The uni-
ing forms. The life force exists in the four elements of earth,
verse, shaped like a cosmic woman, consists of seven hells at
water, fire, and air as well as in microorganisms (nigodha),
its base, the surface of planet earth (Jambudv¯ıpa) emanating
plants, and animals. At the point of death, this life force
from the navel region at its center, and nine heavens that rise
moves from one body to the next, depending on its karmic
through the torso of the cosmic person up to the crown of
constitution. The life force attached to an earth body moves
the cosmic head. Beyond the body of this person can be
very slowly, whereas the life force found in an insect or mi-
found the crescent realm of the liberated souls, the siddhas
croorganism might move on very quickly. The goal of Jain-
(adepts) and t¯ırtham:karas (great teachers), who have attained
ism entails an elevation of consciousness about one’s karma,
the fourteenth and ultimate state of unattached aloneness
leading to rebirth in a human body and the adoption of a
(ayoga kevala). These adepts have literally risen above and be-
nonviolent lifestyle that will ultimately free a person from all
yond all forms of karma. All other life forms can be found
karmic entanglements. At this final stage of blessedness, one
in lower stages of consciousness, with the overwhelming ma-
ascends to the realm of perfection (siddha-loka) wherein one
jority residing in the first stage, the deluded or ignorant view
dwells eternally, observing the machinations of the world but
(mithya¯dr:s:t:i). Only human beings can begin the ascent along
never again succumbing to its allurement. The twenty-four
the spiritual path (gun:astha¯na) that ultimately frees one from
great teachers or t¯ırtham:karas of Jainism all are said to have
all karmic entanglement.
attained this state along with an undetermined number of
Uma¯sva¯ti categorized life forms according to the num-
saints.
ber of senses they possess. Earth, water, fire, and air bodies
The practice of nonviolence or ahim:sa¯ in Jainism sets
have only the sense of touch, as do plants. Worms add the
an individual on the path of spiritual purification and ascent
sense of taste. Bugs possess touch, taste, and the capacity to
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JAINISM
2625
smell. Winged insects add the ability to see. More complex
forms and extensive construction of animal shelters (pinj-
beings, such as reptiles, mammals, and fish, can also hear and
rapoles), believe the highest form of life is human life. The
think. These higher life forms develop moral agency and
inherent worth of other life forms is to be respected, but not
make clear decisions about their behavior. These categories
for its own sake. Rather, a Jaina avoids harm for his or her
became embellished with great detail in the centuries fol-
own self-purification, not to advance the spiritual status of
lowing.
another. In traditional Jainism, to interfere with another’s
karma does harm to oneself. Despite Jainism’s emphasis on
In the Middle Ages, some Jaina authors turned their at-
the need for self-purification, the myriad practices resulting
tention to an exhaustive enumeration of biotic forms.
from the importance of nonviolence—the A¯ca¯ra¯n˙ga Su¯tra
S´a¯ntisu¯ri, a S´veta¯mbara Jaina writer of the eleventh century,
even includes detailed instructions on how to empty one’s
states in the J¯ıva Vica¯ra Prakaranam that hardened rock can
bowels without harming living beings—have the unintended
survive as a distinct life form for twenty-two thousand years;
effect of guaranteeing that when in the presence of an obser-
“water-bodied souls” for seven thousand years; wind bodies
vant Jaina even an ant has a much better chance for survival
for three thousand years; trees for ten thousand years; and
than it would if in the company of even well-intentioned
fire for three days and three nights. He goes on to describe
members of other religious communities.
different forms of rock, such as quartz, gold, chalk, lava, and
many others, and the variety of shapes assumed by water and
Perhaps one illustration of a positive attitude toward en-
fire and gives elegant descriptions of plant genres, worms,
vironmental protection stemming from the observance of
bugs, animals, hell beings, gods, and humans.
ahim:sa¯ can be found in two Jaina stories that relate to trees.
Jaina cosmology proclaims that all aspects of the sur-
The first comes from a discourse in the A¯ca¯ra¯n˙ga Su¯tra in
rounding world have feelings and consciousness. The earth
which Maha¯v¯ıra tells a gathering of monks and nuns to
feels and responds in kind to human presence. The earth one
“change their minds” about looking at big trees. He says that,
treads upon, the water one drinks, the air one inhales, the
rather than seeing trees as “fit for palaces, gates, houses,
chair that supports one, the light that illumines one’s day—
benches . . . , boats, buckets, stools, trays, ploughs . . .
all these entities feel one through the sense of touch, though
seats, beds, cars sheds,” they should speak of trees as “noble,
one seldom acknowledges their presence. Humans, as living,
high and round, big,” with “many branches . . . magnifi-
sensate, sentient beings, have been given the special task and
cent” (2.4.2, 11–12; in Jacobi, 1884). This advice indicates
responsibility of growing in awareness and appreciation of
that Maha¯v¯ıra not only appreciated the beauty of trees but
these other life forms and of acting accordingly. Humans
also encouraged his followers to set aside their utilitarian per-
have the opportunity to cultivate ethical behavior that engen-
spectives. Wood, the major material used at the time for
ders respect toward the living, breathing, conscious beings
nearly all aspects of human manufacturing, was to be viewed
that suffuse the universe.
by Jainas not for its monetary value but for its inherent
beauty.
The environmental message of this remarkable faith
presents interesting challenges to the development of an ethi-
Another tree story similarly warns against the wanton
cal outlook. On the one hand, Jain precepts can support and
destruction of trees while simultaneously explaining the me-
correct the practice of an ecologically aware lifestyle. The
chanics of karma:
practice of a Jaina monk or nun or carefully observant layper-
A hungry person with the most negative black le´sya¯
son challenges even the deep ecologist. Vegetarianism must
karma uproots and kills an entire tree to obtain a few
be followed. One may not take up a profession that entails
mangoes. The person of blue karma fells the tree by
harm in any way. Only a few Jaina farmers can be found,
chopping the trunk, again merely to gain a handful of
as agriculture causes too much harm to the earth bodies and
fruits. Fraught with gray karma, a third person spares
the two-sensed worms found in the soil. Jainas generally are
the trunk but cuts off the major limbs of the tree. The
careful about their professional choices, with few members
one with orangish-red karma carelessly and needlessly
of the community participating in warfare, directly or indi-
lops off several branches to reach the mangoes. The
rectly. Virtually none will involve themselves in the traffick-
fifth, exhibiting white or virtuous karma, “merely picks
up ripe fruit that has dropped to the foot of the tree.”
ing of animal products. Most Jainas take up careers that in-
(Jaini, 1916, p. 47)
volve the production and sale of items manufactured from
one-sensed beings and have found great success in the cotton
Again, trees are not to be regarded covetously for their fruits
industry and the diamond business as well as in accounting
but are to be given respect and treated in such a way as to
and banking. Many prosperous Jaina industrialists have used
avoid the inflicting of harm. This ethic of care may be ex-
their wealth to support the extensive communities of Jaina
tended to the entire biotic community, engendering an
monks and nuns in India and have contributed generously
awareness of and sensitivity to the precious nature of life.
to the construction of Jaina temples.
A ready example of Jaina involvement in the protection
However, other aspects of the faith present ambiguous
of life can be found in their long-standing practice of animal
challenges. Like the members of virtually all other religions,
rescue. Quite often, the connection between treatment of an-
Jainas, despite their promotion of compassion toward all life
imals and the environment is overlooked. The Jaina 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
2626
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JAINISM
has a long commitment to animal protection that can serve
tures works by prominent photographers, artists, and writers
as a paradigm guiding interaction with the natural world.
that highlight the beauties of nature and critique the many
During the period of the Islamic incursion into India, the
assaults on the environment caused by consumerism and the
Jaina community was often in retreat and had some of its
global economy. Whereas this journal enjoys worldwide dis-
temples taken over and converted into mosques. However,
tribution to diverse constituencies, a newer journal, Jain
some Jaina monks exerted influence within the Islamic
Spirit: Sharing Jain Values Globally, is distributed almost ex-
world. Jinacandrasu¯ri II (1531–1613), a leader of the Khar-
clusively within the Jaina community. It includes articles on
tar Gacch order of the S´veta¯mbaras, traveled in 1591 to La-
an array of topics, including essays on the integration of Jaina
hore, where he greatly influenced the Mogul emperor Akbar
traditional values into contemporary life. One such piece,
the Great. He gained protection for Jain pilgrimage places
“Vote with Your Pocket,” by Raju Shah, extols the virtues
as well as legal protection ensuring that Jaina ceremonies
of hybrid automobiles, which “produce up to 90 percent less
would not be hindered. Akbar even lent support to Jaina ad-
emission than a similar-sized normal vehicle” (Shah, 2003,
vocacy for animals and forbade the slaughter of animals for
p. 44). Numerous websites buttress the new global reach of
one week each year.
the Jaina community, which continues to espouse vegetari-
anism and animal activism as key components of its ethical
A modern example of Jaina activism that extends into
expression. As the twenty-first century progresses, the abste-
the realm of ecological ethics is in the work of two leaders
mious lifestyle of the Jainas may become increasingly instruc-
of the S´veta¯mbara Tera¯panth¯ı movement, A¯ca¯rya Tulsi
tive to those seeking to protect the environment.
(1914–1997) and his successor A¯ca¯rya Maha¯prajña. Tulsi
was appointed to the leadership of his order in 1936, when
BIBLIOGRAPHY
he was twenty-two years old. For fifty-eight years he served
Babb, Lawrence. Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual
as leader and preceptor and worked tirelessly at promulgating
Culture. Berkeley, Calif., 1996.
the Jaina teachings on nonviolence. In June 1945, deeply dis-
Chapple, Christopher Key. Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self
turbed by World War II, he issued a nine-point declaration
in Asian Traditions. Albany, N.Y., 1993. Includes an exami-
of the basic principles of nonviolence. Starting with the proc-
nation of how traditional Jaina texts and practices might con-
lamation that nonviolence should be widely propagated, he
tribute to debates over the global issue of environmental deg-
then stated that one must overcome anger, pride, deceitful-
radation.
ness, and discontent; that all persons should pursue educa-
Chapple, Christopher Key. Jainism and Ecology: Nonviolence in the
tion; that governments must become just; that science must
Web of Life. Cambridge, Mass., 2002. Includes essays by
Nathmal Tatia, John E. Cort, Paul Dundas, Padmanabh S.
not be used for purposes of war; that governmental pro-
Jaini, and others on the contributions that Jainism can make
nouncements should promote “universal fraternity instead of
to ecological discourse. It also examines the complex issue of
national solidarity”; that people must not hoard; that the
whether a traditional system of ethical reflection based on
weak must not be oppressed; and that religious freedom
self-purification can be adapted to adopt a more socially ac-
should be granted to all (Kumar and Prakash, p. 42). Al-
tive role.
though some of these principles may certainly be seen
Dundas, Paul. “Jain Perceptions of Islam in the Early Modern Pe-
though environmentalist spectacles, particularly the admoni-
riod.” Indo-Iranian Journal 42, no. 1 (1999): 35–46.
tion against hoarding, not until 1949 did A¯ca¯rya Tulsi ex-
Dundas, Paul. The Jains. 2d ed. London, 2002. Provides a com-
plicitly mention environmental pollution. He issued an elev-
prehensive history of the Jaina faith.
en-point call for action, culminating in an eco-friendly
Jacobi, Hermann, trans. Jaina Sutras, vol. 1: The Akaranga Sutra.
message. Specifically, he asked his followers, laypeople and
The Kalpa Sutra. 1884; reprint, New York, 1968.
monastics, to observe the following admonitions: to not kill
Jaini, Jagmanderlal. The Outlines of Jainism. Cambridge, U.K.,
or attack; to not engage in destructive activities; to subscribe
1916.
to the ideals of human unity and religious toleration; to fol-
Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification. Berkeley,
low good business ethics; to limit acquisitions; to not engage
Calif., 1979. Outstanding survey of Jaina history and doc-
in falsification of elections; to abstain from bad habits and
trine.
addictions; and finally, to be “alert to the problem of keeping
Kumar, Muni Prashant, and Muni Lok Prakash. “Anuvrat An-
the environment pollution-free” (Kumar and Prakash,
ushasta Saint Tulsi: A Glorious Life with a Purpose.” Anu-
p. 71).
vibha Reporter 3, no. 1.
Lodrick, Deryck O. Sacred Cows, Sacred Places: Origins and Sur-
Contemporary Jainas, particularly in North America,
vivals of Animal Homes in India. Berkeley, Calif., 1981.
identify readily with values centered on environmental pro-
S´a¯ntisu¯ri. J¯ıva Vica¯ra Prakaranam, along with Pa¯thaka Ratna¯kara’s
tection. Anne Vallely notes, “Rather than through the idiom
Commentary. Edited by Muni Ratna-Prabha Vijaya, translat-
of self-realization or the purification of the soul, ethics are
ed by Jayant P. Thaker. Madras, India, 1950.
being expressed through a discourse of environmentalism
Shah, Raju. “Vote with Your Pocket.” Jain Spirit 14 (March–May
and animal rights” (Vallely, 2002, p. 193). One example of
2003).
this trend is in Resurgence, the journal edited by the former
Tobias, Michael. Ahimsa: Nonviolence. PBS film, Los Angeles, Di-
Jaina monk Satish Kumar. This beautiful publication fea-
rect Cinema, 1989. A video that portrays leading Jaina teach-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
2627
ers, shows Jaina pilgrimage sites, and explains fundamental
The tradition conveys this universal truth via the story
teachings.
of the founder’s journey to nirva¯n:a, the logical interrelation-
Tobias, Michael. Life Force: The World of Jainism. Berkeley, Calif.,
ship among the four noble truths, as well as in many, often
1991. A gentle introduction to the life and business practices
poignant, narratives. In one account a young mother ap-
of contemporary Jainas in India.
proaches the Buddha after the death of her infant child. She
Tobias, Michael. “Jainism and Ecology.” In Worldviews and Ecolo-
pleads with the Blessed One to restore her child’s life. In re-
gy: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment, edited by Mary
sponse the Buddha directs the grieving mother to bring him
Evelyn Tucker and John Grim. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1994. This
a mustard seed from a house in a village where death has
important chapter delineates resources from the Jaina tradi-
never occurred, and if she finds such a household he will re-
tion that can be construed as eco-friendly.
suscitate her child. The mother returns to the Buddha not
Uma¯sva¯ti. That Which Is: Tattva¯rtha Su¯tra. Translated by Nath-
mal Tatia. New York, 1994.
with the mustard seed but with the existential realization of
Vallely, Anne. “From Liberation to Ecology: Ethical Discourses
the universality of suffering caused by death. The touching
among Orthodox and Diaspora Jains.” In Jainism and Ecolo-
story of a mother’s grief over the death of her baby speaks
gy: Nonviolence in the Web of Life, edited by Christopher Key
to the heart; the syllogistic logic of the four noble truths
Chapple. Cambridge, Mass., 2002.
speaks to the mind.
CHRISTOPHER KEY CHAPPLE (2005)
Suffering and Compassion. Buddhism links the exis-
tential condition of the universality of suffering with the
moral virtue of compassion. That the Buddha, after his en-
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
lightenment, decides to share his insight into the cause of
BUDDHISM
and the path to the cessation of suffering rather than selfishly
In 1967 Lynn White, in an effort to address the roots of the
keeping this knowledge for himself, is regarded by the tradi-
growing global environmental crisis, put forward the thesis
tion as an act of universal compassion. Extrapolating from
that the biblical worldview, which placed God outside of na-
the example of the Buddha, Buddhist environmentalists as-
ture and authorized human beings to exploit nature for their
sert that the mindful awareness of the universality of suffer-
proper ends, had been a major factor in the West’s degrada-
ing produces compassionate empathy for all forms of life,
tion of the natural environment (White, 1967). The ensuing
particularly for all sentient species. They interpret the Dham-
controversy sparked by his thesis diverted attention from his
mapada’s ethical injunction not to do evil but to do good as
underlying point at the core of the religion and ecology
a moral principle advocating the nonviolent elevation of suf-
movement, namely, that human ecology is deeply condi-
fering, an ideal embodied in the prayer of universal loving
tioned by religious beliefs. Although White viewed Francis-
kindness that concludes many Buddhist rituals: “May all be-
can piety as having a more benign attitude toward nature
ings be free from enmity; may all beings be free from injury;
than mainstream Christian theology, he found in Buddhism
may all beings be free from suffering; may all beings be
an even more holistic, egalitarian worldview and an environ-
happy.” Out of a concern for the entire living environment,
mentally friendly style of life. This entry seeks to explore
Buddhist environmentalists extend loving kindness, compas-
White’s sensibility regarding Buddhism by first analyzing
sion, and respect beyond people and animals to include
four dimensions of the Buddhist worldview from the stand-
plants and the earth itself: “We humans think we are smart,
point of their potential ecological significance, and then ex-
but an orchid. . .knows how to produce noble, symmetrical
amining the normative values of a Buddhistically grounded
flowers, and a snail knows how to make a beautiful, well-
lifestyle consonant with an ecology of human flourishing.
proportioned shell. We should bow deeply before the orchid
FOUR DIMENSIONS OF A BUDDHIST ECOLOGICAL WORLD-
and the snail and join our palms reverently before the mon-
VIEW. Although over the centuries Buddhism has developed
arch butterfly and the magnolia tree” (“The Sun My Heart,”
diverse forms from the time the Buddha taught his dharma
Nhat Hanh, p. 85).
in India over 2,500 years ago, its holistic principle of causal
interdependence (pat:icca samuppa¯da, idappaccayata¯) has re-
Karma, rebirth, and Buddhist cosmology. The con-
mained the normative core of its philosophical worldview.
cepts of karma and rebirth (sam:sa¯ra) integrate the existential
Buddhists view this interdependent world as conjoined in
sense of a shared common condition among all sentient life
four ways: existentially, morally, cosmologically, and onto-
forms with the moral nature of the Buddhist cosmology. Not
logically. Existentially, Buddhists affirm that all sentient be-
unlike the biological sciences, rebirth links human and ani-
ings share the fundamental conditions of birth, old age, suf-
mal species. Evolution maps commonalties and differences
fering, and death. The existential realization of the
among species on the basis of physical and genetic traits; re-
universality of suffering lies at the core of the Buddha’s
birth maps them on moral grounds. Every form of sentient
teaching. Insight into the nature of suffering, its cause, cessa-
life participates in a karmic continuum traditionally divided
tion, and the path to the cessation of suffering constitutes the
into three world-levels and a hierarchical taxonomy of five
essence of the Buddha’s enlightenment experience, formulat-
or six life forms. Although this continuum constitutes a
ed as the four noble truths and enunciated in the Buddha’s
moral hierarchy, differences among life forms and individu-
first public teaching.
als are relative, not absolute. While Buddhism traditionally
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
privileges humans over animals, animals over hungry ghosts,
within the karmic continuum; then he perceived the fate of
male gender over the female, monk over laity, all forms of
all sentient beings within the cosmic hierarchy; finally he
karmically conditioned life—human, animal, divine, de-
fathomed the nature of suffering and the path to its cessation
monic—are related within contingent, samsaric time: “In the
formulated as the four noble truths and the law of interde-
long course of rebirth there is not one among living beings
pendent co-arising (pat:icca samuppa¯da). The Buddha’s en-
with form who has not been mother, father, brother, sister,
lightenment experience is mapped in a specific sequence: an
son, or daughter, or some other relative. Being connected
understanding of the particular (his personal karmic history),
with the process of taking birth, one is kin to all wild and
the general (the karmic history of humankind), and finally
domestic animals, birds, and beings born from the womb”
the principle underlying the cause and cessation of suffering.
(Lan:ka¯vata¯ra Su¯tra). Nirva¯n:a, the Buddhist summum
Subsequently, this principle is broadened into a universal law
bonum, offers the promise of transforming karmic condi-
of causality: “on the arising of this, that arises; on the cessa-
tionedness into an unconditioned state of spiritual liberation,
tion of this, that ceases.” Buddhist environmentalists find in
a realization potentially available to all forms of sentient life
this template a vision that integrates all aspects of the eco-
on the karmic continuum. The belief that plants and trees
sphere—particular individuals as well as general species—in
or the land itself have a similar potential for spiritual libera-
terms of the principle of mutual codependence.
tion became an explicit doctrine in Chinese and Japanese
Buddhism and may also have been part of popular Buddhist
These three stages, encompassed by the Buddha’s en-
belief from earliest times in the realization that all life forms
lightenment experience, suggest a model of moral reasoning
share both a common problematic and promise: “bodhisatt-
applicable to environmental ethics that integrates general
vas each of these, I call the large trees” (Lotus Su¯tra).
principles and collective action guides with particular con-
texts, or in the catchphrase of the popular bumper sticker,
Although the Buddhist doctrines of karma and rebirth
“Think globally; act locally.” Effective schemes of environ-
connect all forms of sentient existence together in a moral
mental justice require both general principles, such as those
continuum, Buddhist ethics focus on human agency and its
embodied in the Earth Charter, and enforceable programs
consequences, and, in this sense, Buddhism is anthropocen-
of action appropriate to particular regions and nation-states.
tric, not biocentric. The inclusion of plants and animals in
ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BUDDHIST ECOLOGY. In
Buddhist schemes of salvation may be important philosophi-
the Buddhist cosmological model individual entities are by
cally for the attribution of inherent value to nonhuman
their very nature relational, which undermines the autono-
forms of life; however, it is humans who are the primary
mous self vis-á-vis the “other,” whether human, animal, or
agents in creating the present ecological crisis and who will
vegetable. Buddhist environmentalists see their worldview as
bear the major responsibility for its solution.
one that rejects hierarchical dominance of one human over
The myth of origins in the canon of Therava¯da Bud-
another or humans over nature, and as the basis of an ethic
dhism (Aggañña Sutta) describes the deleterious impact of
of empathetic compassion that respects biodiversity. In the
human activity on the primordial natural landscape. Unlike
view of the Thai monk Buddhada¯sa Bhikkhu (1906–1993),
the Garden of Eden story in the Hebrew Bible, where human
The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon
agency centers on the God-human relationship, the Bud-
and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same
dhist story of first origins describes the negative impact of
is true for humans and animals, trees, and the earth.
humans on the earth, which results from their selfishness and
When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdepen-
greed. In the Buddhist mythological Eden, the earth flour-
dent, cooperative enterprise. . .then we can build a
ishes naturally but greed and desire lead to division and own-
noble environment. If our lives are not based on this
ership of the land, which in turn promotes violent conflict,
truth, then we shall perish (Swearer, 1998, p. 20).
destruction, and chaos. It is human agency in the Buddhist
myth of first origins that destroys the natural order of things.
In later schools of Buddhist thought the cosmological vision
Although change is inherent in nature, Buddhists believe
of interdependent causality evolved into a more substantive
that natural processes are directly affected by human morali-
sense of ontological unity. The image of Indra’s net found
ty. From the Buddhist perspective our relationship to the
in the Huayan (Jap., Kegon) tradition’s Avatam:saka Su¯tra
natural environment implies an intrinsic moral equation.
has been a potent metaphor in Buddhist ecological discus-
From a Buddhist perspective, therefore, an environmental
sions: “Just as the nature of earth is one, while beings each
policy based solely on a utilitarian cost-benefit analysis can-
live separately, and the earth has no thought of oneness or
not solve the problem. At the heart of the matter remain the
difference, so is the truth of all the Buddhas.” For the Ameri-
moral issues of greed, hatred, and violence.
can writer Gary Snyder the Huayan image of the universe
as a vast web of many-sided jewels, each constituted by the
The account of the Buddha’s awakening (nirva¯n:a) de-
reflections of all the other jewels in the web and each jewel
lineates the major elements of the Buddhist worldview in
being the image of the entire universe, symbolizes the world
terms of the concrete particular, the general, and the univer-
as a universe of bio-regional ecological communities. Bud-
sal. Tradition records that during the night of this defining
dhist environmentalists argue, furthermore, that ontological
experience the Blessed One first recalled his previous lives
notions, such as buddha-nature or dharma-nature (e.g.,
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
2629
buddhaka¯ya, tathagata-garbha, dharmaka¯ya, dharmadha¯tu)
AN ECOLOGY OF HUMAN FLOURISHING. Buddhism arose in
provide a basis for unifying all existent entities in a common
north India in the fifth century BCE at a time when the region
sacred universe, even though the tradition privileges human
was undergoing a process of urbanization and political cen-
life in regard to spiritual realization.
tralization accompanied by commercial development and the
formation of artisan and merchant classes. The creation of
For Tiantai monks in eighth-century China, the belief
towns and the expansion of an agrarian economy led to the
in a universal buddha-nature blurred the distinction between
clearing of forests and other tracts of uninhabited land.
sentient and nonsentient life forms and logically led to the
These changes influenced early Buddhism in several ways.
view that plants, trees, and the earth itself could achieve en-
For instance, the transformation of the natural environment
lightenment. Ku¯kai (774–835), the founder of the Japanese
that accompanied these changes was a factor in the Buddhist
Shingon school, and Do¯gen (1200–1253), the founder of
conception of human flourishing. Early monastic Buddhism
the So¯to¯ Zen sect, described universal buddha-nature in nat-
was not biocentric, but naturalism seems to have played a
uralistic terms: “If plants and trees were devoid of buddha-
role in popular piety, and naturalistic sentiments came to be
hood, waves would then be without humidity” (Ku¯kai);
infused in Buddhism in China, Korea, and Japan. As we shall
“The su¯tras [i.e., the dharma] are the entire universe, moun-
see, while nature as an intrinsic value may be lacking in early
tains and rivers and the great wide earth, plants, and trees”
Buddhist thought and practice, it nonetheless was always
(Do¯gen). Buddhist environmentalists often cite Do¯gen’s
central to the Buddhist concept and articulation of the ecolo-
view as support for the preservation of species biodiversity,
gy of human flourishing.
a view that ascribes intrinsic value to all species by affirming
their shared dharmic nature.
THE SANGHA AND NATURE. Even though the picture of the
Buddha seated under the tree of enlightenment traditionally
For Buddhists the truth of the principle of causal inter-
has not been interpreted as a paradigm for ecological dis-
dependence as a universal, natural law was authenticated in
course, today’s Buddhist environmental activists point out
the narrative of the Buddha’s own nirva¯n:a and his teaching
that the decisive events in the Buddha’s life occurred in natu-
(dharma). As has been noted, Buddhist scriptures and other
ral settings: the Buddha Gautama was born, attained enlight-
texts employ the hermeneutical strategies of metaphor, story,
enment, and died under trees. The textual record, further-
and discursive logic to promote and explicate this truth.
more, testifies to the importance of forests, not only as the
Throughout Buddhist history, poetry has also been an im-
preferred environment for spiritual practices such as medita-
portant literary tool for conveying the dharma and the truths
tion, but also as a place where laity sought instruction. His-
of the interdependence of humans and nature. An early Pali
torically, in Asia and increasingly in the West, Buddhists
sutta incorporates early Vedic traditions and extols nature’s
have situated centers of practice and teaching in forests and
beauty by drawing on the metaphor of Indra and the land-
among mountains at some remove from the hustle and bustle
scape of abundance:
of urban life. The Buddha’s own example provides the origi-
Those rocky heights with hue of dark blue clouds
nal impetus for such locations: “Seeking the supreme state
Where lies embossed many a shining lake
of sublime peace, I wandered. . .until. . .I saw a delightful
Of crystal-clear, cool waters, and whose slopes
stretch of land and a lovely woodland grove, and a clear flow-
The herds of Indra cover and bedeck
ing river with a delightful forest so I sat down thinking, ‘In-
Those are the hills wherein my soul delights.
deed, this is an appropriate place to strive for the ultimate
(Theraga¯ta¯)
realization of. . .nirva¯n:a’” (Ariyapariyesana Sutta).
East Asian traditions under Daoist influence best represent
Lavish patronage and the traffic of pilgrims often com-
this poetic expression. The early ninth-century Chinese Bud-
plicated and compromised the solitude and simple life of for-
dhist poet and layman, Han-shan, writes:
est monasteries, but forests, rivers, and mountains have re-
mained important in the Buddhist ecology of human
As for me, I delight in the everyday
flourishing. Recall, for example, the Zen description of en-
Way Among mist-wrapped vines and rocky caves
lightenment wherein natural phenomena such as rivers and
Here in the wilderness I am completely free
mountains are perceived as loci of the sacred, as in Do¯gen’s
With my friends, the white clouds, idling forever
Mountains and Water Su¯tra. Although some religious practi-
There are roads, but they do not reach the world
tioners tested their spiritual mettle in wild nature, more often
Since I am mindless, who can rouse my thoughts?
the norm appears to be a relatively benign state of nature
On a bed of stone I sit, alone in the night
conducive to quiet contemplation as suggested by the above
While the round moon climbs up Cold Mountain
quotation, or by the naturalistic gardens that one finds in
(Kaza and Kraft, 2000, p. 54).
many Japanese Zen monasteries originally located on the
Although the various expressions of Buddhism’s holistic, in-
outskirts of towns. Buddhada¯sa Bhikkhu called his forest
terdependent worldview that range from logical paradigms
monastery in south Thailand the Garden of Empowering
to poetry offer both guidance and inspiration to ecological
Liberation (Suan Mokkhabala¯ra¯ma), observing: “The deep
thinking, the natural world looms largest for the achievement
sense of calm that nature provides through separation from
of an ecology of human flourishing.
the stress that plagues us in the day-to-day world protects our
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2630
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
heart and mind. The lessons nature teaches us lead to a new
Hanh (b. 1926), it is the practice of mindful awareness, in
birth beyond suffering caused by our acquisitive self-
particular, that opens both heart and mind to the inter-
preoccupation” (Swearer, 1998, pp. 24–25). For Buddhist
beingness of humans and nature:
environmentalists, technology alone cannot solve the eco-
Look deeply: I arrive in every second to be a bud on a
crisis. A radical transformation of values and lifestyle will be
spring branch to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile
required. Communities like Suan Mokkhabala¯ra¯ma provide
learning to sing in my new nest to be a caterpillar in the
an example of a sustainable lifestyle grounded in the values
heart of a flower to be a jewel hiding itself in a
of moderation, simplicity, and non-acquisitiveness.
stone. . . . (“Please Call Me By My True Names,”
Nhat Hanh, 1987)
Buddhada¯sa’s Garden of Empowering Liberation stands
not as a retreat from the world but as a place where all forms
Critics of the ethical saliency of the traditional Buddhist vi-
of life—humans, animals, and plants—live as a cooperative
sion of human flourishing also argue that such nondualistic
microcosm of a larger ecosystem and as a community where
philosophical concepts as not-self (ana¯tman) and emptiness
humans are taught to practice an ecological ethic. Such an
(´su¯nyata¯) undermine human autonomy and the distinction
ethic is characterized by the virtues of restraint, simplicity,
between self and other, essential to an other-regarding ethic.
loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity, patience, wisdom,
What are the grounds for an ethic or laws that protect the
nonviolence, and generosity. These virtues represent moral
civil rights of minorities or animal species threatened with
ideals for all members of the Buddhist community—monk,
extinction when philosophically Buddhism seems to chal-
lay person, political leader, ordinary citizen, male, female.
lenge their significance by deconstructing their independent
Political leaders whose mandate it is to maintain the peace
reality as an epistemological fiction? Furthermore, they point
and security of the nation, are admonished to adhere to the
out that the most basic concepts of Buddhism—nirva¯n:a, suf-
ideal of nonviolence. King A´soka (third century BCE), the
fering, rebirth, not-self, and even causality—were intended
model Buddhist ruler, is admired for his rejection of animal
to further the goal of an individual’s spiritual quest rather
sacrifice and the protection of animals, as well as for building
than engagement with the world. They affirm, therefore, that
hospices and other public works. The Buddhist ethic of dis-
Buddhism serves primarily a salvific or soteriological purpose
tributive justice extols the merchant who generously provides
and that any attempt to ecologize the tradition distorts the
for the needy. Even ordinary Thai rice farmers traditionally
historical and philosophical record. Buddhist environmen-
left a portion of rice unharvested in their fields for the benefit
talists respond that their understanding of the tradition
of poor people and hungry animals.
brings to the debates about human rights and the global en-
vironment an ethic of social and environmental responsibili-
The twin virtues of wisdom and compassion define the
ty more compatible with the language of compassion based
spiritual perfection of the bodhisattva praised by S´a¯ntideva,
on the mutual interdependence of all life forms than the lan-
the eighth-century Indian poet-monk, in these words:
guage of rights. Furthermore, to apply Buddhist insights to
May I be the doctor and the medicine
a broad ecology of human flourishing represents the tradi-
And may I be the nurse
tion at its best, namely, a creative, dynamic response to con-
For all sick beings in the world
temporary problems.
Until all are healed.
A related but more sympathetic criticism from within
(Bodhicarya¯vata¯ra)
the Buddhist environmental movement suggests that for
Buddhism to be an effective force for systemic institutional
For contemporary engaged Buddhists, most notably the
change, the traditional Buddhist emphasis on individual
Dalai Lama, a sense of responsibility rooted in compassion
moral and spiritual transformation must be adjusted to ad-
lies at the very heart of an ecological ethic: “The world grows
dress forcefully the structures of oppression, exploitation,
smaller and smaller, more and more interdependent . . .
and environmental degradation. While preserving the
today more than ever before life must be characterized by a
unique Buddhist emphasis on the practice of mindful aware-
sense of universal responsibility, not only . . . human to
ness and a personal lifestyle of simplicity, under the inspira-
human but also human to other forms of life” (Sandell,
tion of A. T. Ariyaratna, the founder of the Sarvodaya Shra-
1987, p. 73).
madana movement in Sri Lanka, Sulak Sivaraksa, co-founder
A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ECO-BUDDHISM. For many Bud-
of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, and
dhist environmentalists, compassion naturally results from
other leaders, a new form of environmental and socially en-
the intellectual understanding that all life forms are mutually
gaged Buddhism has emerged dedicated to the creation of
interdependent. Others, however, argue that while a cogni-
a just, equitable, and sustainable world.
tive recognition of interdependence is necessary, it alone is
not a sufficient condition for an ethic of mutual regard.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
These critics point to the centrality of practice in Buddhism,
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to suggest an idealization of Confucian China as a model of
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how Confucian thought contributed to the Chinese under-
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complex environmental history would need to be examined
199–211.
for a fuller picture of the social and political reality of these
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helped to shape attitudes toward nature in the Chinese con-
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mary religious traditions have interacted with each other in
Nhat Hah, Thich, Being Peace. Berkeley, 1987.
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the traditions. Indeed, it is fair to say Confucianism and
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Schmithausen, Lambert. Buddhism and Nature: The Lecture Deliv-
ward nature, although they differ on the role of humans in
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relation to nature. Confucians are more actively engaged in
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working with nature, especially in agricultural processes,
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logical Ethics.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 4 (1997): 1–42.
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crucial for expanding the understanding of Confucianism.
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D
religious tradition in ways that are different from Western
ONALD K. SWEARER (2005)
traditions. This is because Confucianism is being recognized
for its affirmation of relationality, not only between and
among humans but also between humans and the natural
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
world. Confucians regard humans as not simply individualis-
CONFUCIANISM
tic entities but as communitarian beings. It is this emerging
Within the Confucian tradition, there are rich resources for
understanding of the religious, relational, and communitari-
understanding how Chinese culture has viewed nature and
an dynamics of Confucianism that has particular relevance
the role of humans in nature. These are evident from the dy-
to the examination of Confucian attitudes toward nature.
namic interactions of nature as expressed in the early classic
Some of these attitudes may be characterized as:
Yi jing (Book of changes), to the Han period integration of
1. Embracing an anthropocosmic worldview.
the human into the triad with heaven and Earth, to the later
neo-Confucian metaphysical discussions of the relationship
2. Affirming nature as having inherent moral value.
of principle (li) and material force (qi). This does not imply,
3. Protecting nature as the basis of a stable agricultural so-
however, that there is not a gap between such theories of na-
ciety.
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2632
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CONFUCIANISM
4. Encouraging human self-realization to be achieved in
ed resonances between self, society, and nature are constantly
harmony with nature.
being described in the Confucian texts. This early Han cor-
ANTHROPOCOSMIC WORLDVIEW. The contemporary Con-
relative synthesis, along with the institution of the civil ser-
fucian scholar Tu Weiming has spoken of the Confucian tra-
vice examination system, provided the basis for enduring po-
dition as one based on an anthropocosmic vision of the dy-
litical rule in subsequent Chinese dynasties. This is not to
namic interaction of heaven, Earth, and human. He
suggest that there were not abuses of political power or ma-
describes this as a continuity of being with no radical split
nipulations of the examination system, but simply to de-
between a transcendent divine person or principle and the
scribe the anthropocosmic foundations of Confucian politi-
world of humans. Tu emphasizes that the continuity and
cal and social thought. These Confucian ideas spread across
wholeness of Chinese cosmological thinking is also accompa-
East Asia to Korea and Japan and today are present in Tai-
nied by a vitality and dynamism.
wan, Hong Kong, and Singapore as well.
This view is centered on the cosmos, not on the human.
NATURE HAS INHERENT MORAL VALUE. For Confucians,
The implications are that the human is seen as embedded in
nature is not only inherently valuable, it is morally good. Na-
nature, not dominant over nature. The Confucian worldview
ture thus embodies the normative standard for all things.
might be described as a series of concentric circles where the
There is not a fact/value division in the Confucian world-
human resides in the center, not as an isolated individual, but
view, for nature is seen as the source of all value. In particu-
as embedded in ever-expanding rings of family, society, gov-
lar, value lies in the ongoing transformation and productivity
ernment, and nature. The moral cultivation of the individual
of nature. A term repeated frequently in neo-Confucian
influences the larger circles of society and politics, as is evi-
sources is “life-life” or “production and reproduction” (sheng
dent in the text of the Great Learning, and that influence ex-
sheng), reflecting the ever-renewing fecundity of life itself. In
tends to nature, as is clear in the Doctrine of the Mean. All
this sense, the dynamic transformations of life are seen as
of these interacting circles are contained within the vast cos-
emerging in recurring cycles of growth, fruition, harvesting,
mos itself. Thus, the ultimate context for human flourishing
and abundance. This reflects the natural processes of growth
is the 10,000 things, nature in all its remarkable variety and
and decay in nature, human life, and human society. Change
abundance.
is thus seen as a dynamic force with which humans should
harmonize and interact rather than from which to withdraw.
Indeed, in Confucianism there is recognition that the
rhythms of nature sustain life in both its biological needs and
In this context, where nature has inherent moral value,
socio-cultural expressions. For Confucians, the biological di-
there is nonetheless a sense of distinctions. Value rests in each
mensions of life are dependent on nature as a holistic, organ-
thing in nature, but not in each thing equally. Differentia-
ic continuum. Everything in nature is interdependent and
tion is recognized as critical; everything has its appropriate
interrelated. Most importantly, for Confucians nature is seen
role and place and should be treated accordingly. The use of
as dynamic and transformational. These ideas are present as
nature for human ends must recognize the intrinsic value of
early as the classical texts of the Book of Changes and the Book
each element of nature, but also its particular value in rela-
of Poetry and are expressed in the Four Books, especially in
tion to the larger context of the environment. Each entity is
Mencius, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Great Learning.
considered not simply equal to every other; rather, each in-
They come to full flowering in the neo-Confucian tradition
terrelated part of nature has a unique value according to its
of the Song (960–1279) and Ming (1368–1644) periods, es-
nature and function. Thus, there is a differentiated sense of
pecially in the thought of Zhu Xi, Zhangzai, Zhou Dunyi,
appropriate roles for humans and for all other species. For
and Wang Yangming. Nature in this context has an inherent
Confucians, hierarchy is seen as a necessary way for each
unity, resulting from a primary ontological source (Taiji). It
being to fulfill its function. In this context, then, no individ-
has patterned processes of transformation (yin/yang) and is
ual being has exclusive privileged status. The processes of na-
interrelated in the interaction of the five elements (wuxing)
ture and its ongoing logic of transformation (yin/yang) are
and the 10,000 things. Nature’s dynamic vitalism is seen
the norms that take priority. Within this context, however,
through the movements of material force (q qi).
humans have particular responsibilities to care for nature.
Within this Confucian worldview, human culture is cre-
PROTECTING NATURE AS THE BASIS OF A STABLE AGRICUL-
ated and expressed in harmony with the transformations of
TURAL SOCIETY. With regard to protecting nature, the Con-
nature. Thus, the leading Confucian of the Han period (202
fucians taught that what fosters nature is valuable; what de-
BCE–220 CE), Dong Zhongshu, developed a comprehensive
stroys nature is problematic, especially for a flourishing
synthesis of all the elements, directions, colors, seasons, and
agricultural society. Confucians would ascribe to this in prin-
virtues. This codified an ancient Chinese tendency to con-
ciple if not consistently in practice. Confucians were mindful
nect the patterns of nature with the rhythms of humans and
that nature was the basis of a stable society and that without
society. This theory of correspondences is foundational to
careful tending imbalances could result. There are numerous
the anthropocosmic worldview where humans are seen as
passages in Mencius advocating humane government based
working together with heaven and Earth in correlative rela-
on appropriate management and distribution of natural re-
tionships to create harmonious societies. The mutually relat-
sources. Moreover, there are various passages in Confucian
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CONFUCIANISM
2633
texts urging humans not to wantonly cut down trees or kill
ativity, spontaneity, and openness. This is the challenge for
animals needlessly. Thus, Confucians would wish (at least in
humans within a Confucian context: How to live within na-
principle) to nurture and protect the great variety and abun-
ture’s continuities and yet be open to its spontaneities. Thus
dance of life forms. Again, it may be noted that this did not
while nature has intelligible structures and patterns, it also
always occur in practice, especially with periods of popula-
operates in ways to produce and encourage novelty.
tion growth, military expansion, economic development,
With regard to establishing human culture and main-
and political aggrandizement.
taining institutions, the same dynamic tensions are evident
However, the goal of Confucian theory to establish hu-
within the Confucian tradition. How to be faithful to the
mane society, government, and culture inevitably resulted in
past—the continuity of the tradition—and yet be open to
the use of nature for creating housing, growing food, and es-
the change and innovation necessary for the ongoing life of
tablishing the means of production. In this sense, Confu-
the tradition. Achieving self-realization for the Confucians
cianism can be seen as a more pragmatic social ecology that
required a creative balancing of these two elements of tradi-
recognized the necessity of forming human institutions and
tion and innovation against the background of nature’s con-
the means of governance to work with nature. Nonetheless,
tinuities and changes.
it is clear for Confucians that, in principle, human cultural
In the Confucian tradition there exists underlying pat-
values and practices are grounded in nature, are part of its
terns of cosmological orientation and connectedness of self
structure and dependent on its beneficence. In addition, the
to the universe and self to society. Indeed, one might say that
agricultural base of Confucian societies across East Asia has
Confucianism as a religious tradition is distinguished by a
always been recognized as essential to the political and social
concern for both personal groundedness and cosmological
well-being of the country. Confucians realized that humans
relatedness amidst the myriad changes in the universe. The
prosper by living within nature’s boundaries—they are re-
desire for appropriate orientation toward nature and connec-
freshed by its beauty, restored by its seasons, and fulfilled by
tion to other humans is an enduring impetus in Confucian-
its rhythms. Human flourishing is thus dependent on foster-
ism. Indeed, this need to recognize and cultivate such relat-
ing nature in its variety and abundance; going against na-
edness is the primary task of the Confucian practitioner in
ture’s processes is destructive of self and society.
attaining authentic personhood.
SELF-REALIZATION IN HARMONY WITH NATURE. For Con-
fucians, harmony with nature is essential; societal well-being
This relatedness takes many forms, and variations of it
and human self-realization are both achieved in relation to
constitute one of the means of identifying different periods
and in harmony with nature. The great intersecting triad of
and thinkers in the tradition. In China, from the classical pe-
Confucianism—namely, heaven, Earth, and humans—
riod of the Book of Changes to the Han system of correspon-
signifies this understanding that humans can only attain
dences and the Neo-Confucian metaphysics of the Diagram
their full humanity in relationship to both heaven and Earth.
of the Great Ultimate, concerns for cosmology and cultivation
This became a foundation for a cosmological ethical system
have been dominant in Confucian thought. In Korea one of
of relationality applicable to spheres of family, society, poli-
the most enduring expressions of this was the four-seven de-
tics, and nature. The individual was always seen in relation-
bates that linked the metaphysics of principle (li) and materi-
ship to others. In particular, the person was grounded in a
al force (qi) to issues of cultivating virtue and controlling the
reciprocal relationship with nature.
emotions. These debates continued in Japan, although with-
out the same intensity and political consequences. Instead,
Nature functions in the Confucian worldview as great
in Japan the effort to link particular virtues to the cosmos
parents to humans providing sustenance, nurturing, intelligi-
became important, as did the expression of cultivation in the
bility, and guidance. In return, nature requires respect and
arts, in literature, and in practical learning. In this manner,
care from humans. Human self-realization is achieved by ful-
one’s cultivation was shared for the benefit of the society in
filling this role of filiality toward heaven and Earth (nature)
both aesthetic and practical matters. Thus, in varied forms
as beneficent parents who have sustained life for humans.
throughout East Asian Confucianism, the human is viewed
This idea of heaven and Earth as parents is first depicted in
as a microcosm in relation to the macrocosm of the universe,
the early classic of the Book of History and is later developed
NATURALISTIC IMAGERY OF CONFUCIAN RELIGIOSITY. Self-
by thinkers such as Kaibara Ekken in seventeenth-century
cultivation in this context is seen as essential to develop or
Japan. Humans participate in the vast processes of nature by
to recover one’s innate authenticity and one’s connection to
cultivating themselves in relation to nature, by caring for the
the cosmos. It is a process filled with naturalistic imagery of
land appropriately, by creating benevolent government, and
planting, nurturing, growth, and harvesting. It is in this sense
by developing human culture and society in relation to na-
that one might describe the religious ethos of Confucianism
ture’s seasons and transformations.
as a dynamic naturalism aimed at personal and societal trans-
Human self-realization implies understanding the con-
formation. This means that the imagery used to described
tinuities of nature in its daily rhythms and seasonal cycles.
Confucian religious practice is frequently drawn from na-
Yet humans also recognize that these orderly patterns contain
ture, especially in its botanical, agricultural, and seasonal
within them the dynamic transformations engendering cre-
modes. Thus to become fully human one must nurture
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2634
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CONFUCIANISM
(yang) and preserve (cun)—that is, cultivate—the heavenly
tions of the universe celebrated as production and reproduc-
principle of one’s mind and heart. These key terms may refer
tion (sheng, sheng). For the neo-Confucians it was clear that
to such activities as nurturing the seeds of goodness that
many of the virtues that a person cultivated had a cosmologi-
Mencius identifies and preserving emotional harmony men-
cal component. For example, humaneness (ren) in humans
tioned in the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong).
was seen as analogous to origination (yuan) in nature. The
growth of this virtue in humans thus had its counterpart in
In Mencius there is a recognition of the fundamental
the fecundity of nature itself. To cultivate (hanyang), one
sensitivity of humans to the suffering of others (IIA:6). This
needs to practice both inner awareness and outer attention,
is demonstrated through the example of an observer’s re-
abiding in reverence within and investigating principle with-
sponse on seeing a child who is about to fall into a well. Men-
out. This requires quiet sitting (jingzuo) and extending
cius suggests that the child would be rescued through activat-
knowledge through investigating things (gewu zhizhi). To be
ing the instinctive compassion of the observer, not by
reverent has been compared to the notion of recollection
promising the rescuer any extraneous rewards. Indeed, to be
(shoulian), which means literally to collect together or to
human for Mencius means to have a heart with the seeds (or
gather a harvest.
germs) of compassion, shame, courtesy and modesty, right
and wrong. When cultivated, these will become the virtues
Thus, from the early classical Confucian texts to the
of humaneness, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. When
later neo-Confucian writings there is a strong sense of nature
they are developed in a person they will flourish, “like a fire
as a relational whole in which human life and society flour-
starting up or a spring coming through” (IIA:6). Thus the
ishes. This had implications for politics and society that were
incipient tendencies in the human are like sprouts or seeds
evident throughout Chinese history, even if the ideals of the
that, as they grow, lean toward becoming fully cultivated vir-
tradition were not always realized in practice.
tues. The goal of Mencian cultivation, then, is to encourage
S
these natural spontaneities before calculating or self-serving
EE ALSO Confucianism, overview article and article on the
Classical Canon.
motives arise. This begins the art of discerning between the
Way mind (daoxin) and the human mind (renxin).
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MARY EVELYN TUCKER (2005)
and other natural phenomena. The nineteenth-century Neij-
ing tu (Chart of the inner passageways), for example, depicts
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streams. Altogether it depicts the body, like the world, as an
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
ecology of living beings that function together to create an
DAOISM
integral life form. Other charts depict the body as a single
The study of Daoism and ecology has undergone rapid revi-
solid mountain with an abundance of fountains, springs, and
sion and expansion in the past ten years but is still in its in-
waterfalls. The implication is that the environment provides
fancy. The most important reason for the transformation of
a natural analogy for understanding the functioning of the
this field is the dramatic advance in Daoist studies since
body.
1980. Whereas the focus of Daoist studies had previously
been fixed on proto-Daoist wisdom literature such as the Zh-
Other more abstract schemes for mapping the connec-
uangzi (c. third century BCE) and the Dao de jing (c. fourth
tions between the body and the environment are also preva-
century BCE), scholars now understand Daoism to include a
lent. The most widespread is the common Chinese system
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2636
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND DAOISM
of the five phases (earth, metal, water, wood, and fire), which
In the proto-Daoist Zhuangzi, the theory of transforma-
is correlated with the seasons of the year, directions, colors,
tion implies a skepticism with regard to the traditions of
the organs of the body, the emotions, tastes, and so on. The
Confucian behavior and the conventions of logical philoso-
accompanying theory of impulse and resonance (ganying)
phy. Since the natural world is constantly changing, human
provides a holistic scheme of synchronic correlation in which
patterns of thinking and habits of action can never be ade-
a change in one domain entails a corresponding change in
quate to orient humans towards nature. This attitude further
another domain. This theory, which forms an integral part
implies an ethic of deference or respect for the spontaneity
of the diagnostic scheme of Chinese medicine, is also central
of nature’s transformations. Some scholars infer from this an
to the Daoist worldview, and it functions, for instance, to
attitude of stoic, even mystical, passivity in regards to natural
coordinate the directions, times, and colors of Daoist
transformation that does not sit well with modern notions
liturgies.
of environmental activism. According to this interpretation,
even though Daoists may deplore the extinction of a species,
VIEWS OF NATURE. The resonance between human bodies
they must not let themselves be moved to action by such a
and the Dao may be traced back as far as the Dao de jing and
natural phenomenon. Other scholars infer from this concept
its seminal statement that “Dao follows [its] nature” (dao fa
of natural transformation not an ethic of passivity, but a
ziran; Dao de jing, chap. 25). Interpretations of this phrase
more sophisticated Daoist form of “noninterventionist” ac-
vary but two themes predominate. The first interpretation
tion. Such nonaction is neither crassly heroic nor wildly pre-
is that this phrase indicates the Dao’s transcendence: the Dao
cipitate, but functions mystically to create a harmonious bal-
follows no principle other than its own so-being. The second
ance within the natural order.
interpretation points to the Dao’s immanence: the Dao is in-
scribed in the patterns of nature, and thus the path to be fol-
HISTORICAL SURVEY. The earliest two Daoist religious tradi-
lowed is the natural path. This implies a core value of “natu-
tions were the Way of the Celestial Masters and the Way of
ralness” at the heart of Daoist ethics and leads to the
Great Peace. Of the two, only the former is in some form
formulation of the Daoist principle of nonaction (wuwei),
extant, but scholars have investigated both in terms of their
that is, action that is so harmonious with the flow of the Dao
environmental and ecological orientation. Chi-tim Lai in
that it seems as though it is no action (see Liu, 2001).
Taiping jing (The Daoist concept of central harmony, the
scripture of great peace) advocates a view of central harmony
Daoist thinking regards the transcendent and immanent
(zhonghe) between heaven, earth, and humankind: the role
aspects of the Dao as complementary, not opposed. On the
of humans is thus to achieve an optimal organic harmony be-
one hand, Dao transcends nature, and humans who follow
tween the three fundamental cosmological processes of heav-
the Dao aim for a transcendent state of unity with the Dao;
en, earth, and humanity. This implies that although these
on the other hand, Dao is implicated within nature, and hu-
early Daoists may not have been environmentalists in the
mans must follow a natural path. A failure to understand the
modern sense, their religious worldview was founded on a
complementarity of these principles has led to the tendency
cosmic ecology whose ideal state was a dynamic homeostatic
to separate Daoism into a natural philosophy on the one
equilibrium. This organismic, physiological worldview may
hand, and a mystical-religious tradition on the other. If,
be compared to James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, according
however, we understand nature in the Daoist sense as preg-
to which the earth is understood as a unitary self-regulating
nant with the capacity for self-transcendence it becomes easi-
organism. Unlike Lovelock, Daoists have generally regarded
er to understand how Daoism can be both “natural” and “re-
humans as the apex of creation with an active role to play
ligious.” This recursive, self-transcending view of nature is
in maintaining the creative harmony of heaven and earth.
evident in two places in the Dao de jing. It is most clearly
The Way of the Celestial Masters codified specific mea-
expressed in the cosmogony of Dao de jing chapter 42, in
sures for promoting this cosmic harmony, as evidenced in the
which “Dao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two;
One Hundred and Eighty Precepts of Lord Lao, its chief ethical
Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to the ten thou-
code before the Tang dynasty (618–907). Central to this
sand things.” At each stage of this cosmogonic process, na-
movement was the network of twenty-four “places of order”
ture becomes, as it were, pregnant with itself, in a process of
(zhi), all situated in the mountains or other natural spaces
creative emergence and evolution. Secondly, we can look to
of the kingdom of Shu (present-day Sichuan province),
the Daoist view of transformation (bianhua) according to
which functioned as the religion’s spiritual centers where as-
which natural phenomena are in a process of constant change
semblies were held and scriptures were kept. In “Daoist Ecol-
and creativity. This is not only a descriptive statement about
ogy: The Inner Transformation,” Kristofer Schipper writes
the nature of nature but implies, prescriptively, an ethic of
that nature functioned as a sanctuary in the dual sense of a
nonattachment to things. Although this Daoist view of non-
sacred space and as a refuge for the community.
attachment is not implicated, as in Buddhism, with a theory
of unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) or impermanence, it does en-
This view of nature as sacred space continued in the
tail a similar set of negative ethical prescriptions rooted in
Daoist alchemical movements that flourished in pre-Tang
the value of nonaction (wuwei), that is, noninterference in
China. Here nature functioned as the alchemist’s storehouse,
the creative process of the Way.
an immense repository of numinous substances, particularly
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND DAOISM
2637
rare minerals and fungi, that were used for the decoction of
ments in which important Daoist figures have received reli-
elixirs of immortality. In these alchemical traditions the final
gious revelations, it is not surprising that monasteries were
goal was not the extension or nourishing of life as seen in
established around these sites and continue today to mark
China’s ancient longevity (yangsheng) traditions, but rather
out the sacred character of specific natural environments.
the transcendence of ordinary human nature and the attain-
D
ment of a celestial life. As Robert Campany writes in “Ingest-
AOIST PRECEPTS. Daoist communities formulated envi-
ronmental ethical precepts that aimed to codify the relation-
ing the Marvelous,” nature is both the realm to be transcend-
ship between humans and nature. The most important set
ed and at the same time the means of transcendence.
of precepts for the early Celestial Masters community in
As the Daoist alchemical vision became thoroughly in-
Sichuan was known as the Yibaibashi jie (One hundred and
teriorized in the Shangqing dao (Way of highest clarity) and
eighty precepts). Community elders known as libationers
subsequent meditative traditions, this led to an increasing
were required to live by the code and thus set an example
emphasis on the inner landscape of the body. In the inner
for the rest of the community. Approximately twenty of
alchemy tradition, which continues to the present day, the
these precepts are injunctions against the wanton destruction
marvelous substances previously sought in nature’s bosom
of the natural environment. Members of the community
are instead found within the energetic systems of the body.
were not to dry wet marshes, poison lakes, disturb birds, pick
Similarly, the alchemical reactions are carried out by an in-
flowers, make lakes, or chop down trees without good rea-
ternal process of energy manipulation. Both the inner and
son. These precepts do not indicate a modern environmen-
outer forms of alchemy are predicated on a cosmology of
talist concern with preserving nature but rather are there for
transformation delineated in terms of the sixty-four hexa-
the benefit of the libationers themselves. The admonition
grams of the Yi jing (Book of changes).
that “you should not light fires in the plains” contains the
implication that this act will result in harm not only to the
CAVERNS AND MOUNTAINS. Of particular importance in the
environment but to the community. These precepts can thus
cosmic landscape is the concept of caverns or grottoes (dong).
be regarded as a type of ecological ethics based on the notion
In keeping with the polyvalent character of Daoist symbolo-
that human fate is inextricably implicated in the natural en-
gy, caverns have multiple meanings. Firstly, Daoist hermits
vironment. Although we can be sure that it was the fate of
often withdraw to mountain caves to engage in cultivation
humans and not the environment that concerned the Celes-
practices. Caverns are thus natural sacred environments in
tial Masters, there was no concept of a human morality that
which Daoists have lived and cultivated the Dao and are the
somehow stood apart from the natural environment.
dwelling places of immortal beings. Secondly, caverns are
understood as nodes in a network of sacred spaces that ex-
This ancient sentiment has been echoed in a recent
tend throughout the earth and are mirrored in a network of
statement on global ecology issued by the Chinese Daoist As-
ten major and thirty-six minor grotto-heavens (dongtian).
sociation. This declaration points to an inflated image of the
Daoist traditions grew up in and around these natural spaces,
human self and subjective will as causes of the split between
and became associated with the sacred mountains in which
humans and nature in modern industrial and technological
these grottoes are located. For this reason Daoist traditions
society. The text, written by Zhang Jiyu, argues that humans
may be classified not only by the lineage of their founders
must nurture spontaneity and nonassertive action (wuwei) in
but by various sacred mountains around which they formed,
order to restore the ecological balance between humans and
for example, Maoshan (Mount Mao) Daoism. The term cav-
nature. The practical effect of this declaration has been the
ern, moreover, was used by Lu Xiujing (406–477) to denote
attention to the local environments surrounding Daoist
the three major subdivisions of the Daoist canon. According
monasteries, where Daoists have been involved in planting
to this bibliographical cosmology, caverns are understood to
trees and conserving rare plant species.
be celestial repositories of sacred texts, cosmic libraries
formed of the fabric of the Dao. A further religious function
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES. The situation of Daoist monastic
of the earthly caves is thus to be a place where the revelation
environments in China is precarious. On the one hand Dao-
of sacred texts can take place. Texts are said to inscribe them-
ist monasteries located in scenic locales are lauded for their
selves on the walls of caves or at least become visible to adepts
environmental aesthetic and for actively promoting an envi-
after years of meditation in caves.
ronmental consciousness among China’s people. The mes-
sage that “Dao follows nature” receives a high profile in
The cave where Zhang Daoling, the first celestial mas-
many temple inscriptions, and the Daoist complex on
ter, is said to have meditated in the second century CE is now
Mount Qingcheng contains many signs written in Chinese
part of the monastery known as the Tianshi dong (Grotto of
and English that make the connection between Daoism and
the Celestial Master), on Mount Qingcheng near Chengdu,
environmental protection. The message is that China’s cul-
the capital of Sichuan province. In the precincts of the mon-
tural and religious traditions contain the wisdom that will
astery there is also a double gingko tree with two trunks
help China succeed in creating economic development with
joined together that Zhang Daoling is alleged to have plant-
ecological sustainability. But on the other hand these same
ed nearly two thousand years ago. It is feted with a red sash.
Daoist mountains, precisely because of their natural beauty,
Since areas of outstanding natural beauty form the environ-
are becoming local economic engines attracting significant
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND SHINTO
¯
2638
numbers of tourists and infrastructure investment from local
chief representative is Minoru Sonoda, who is both a Shinto¯
governments. The monasteries’ economic success brings the
priest and a Shinto¯ historian and has published articles in En-
danger of too many tourists and the possibility of environ-
glish. His contributions to the subject will be discussed later.
mental degradation. In this way the development of Daoist
In the West probably the most remarkable effort so far has
sites in China precisely mirrors the economic success and en-
been an international conference called Shinto¯ and Ecology
vironmental problems of China’s overall development.
that was organized by the Center for the Study of World Re-
ligions (CSWR) of Harvard University in 1997. This confer-
SEE ALSO Daoism, overview article; Qi.
ence was part of a series of conferences on Religions of the
World and Ecology. Still, there is no comprehensive study
BIBLIOGRAPHY
on the subject in a Western language, although the papers
The most comprehensive single-volume European-language work
from this conference were published in Japanese.
on Daoism and ecology is Daoism and Ecology: Ways within
a Cosmic Landscape, edited by N. J. Girardot, James Miller,
This article will first discuss the ecological conditions
and Liu Xiaogan (Cambridge, Mass., 2001). This book,
and values of modern Japan before proceeding to a discus-
which contains the essays mentioned above, includes the
sion of Shinto¯. As will become clear, the evaluation of
“Declaration of the Chinese Daoist Association on Global
Shinto¯’s contribution to Japanese environmentalism de-
Ecology” by Zhang Jiyu, pp. 361–372; Chi-tim Lai’s “The
pends on the respective interpretation of Shinto¯, which is in
Daoist Concept of Central Harmony (zhonghe) in the Scrip-
itself a controversial topic. Examples of religious symbolism
ture of Great Peace (Taiping jing): Human Responsibility
for the Maladies of Nature,” pp. 95–111; Liu Xiaogan’s
applied to objects of nature and a discussion of Shinto¯’s prag-
“Non-action and the Environment Today,” pp. 315–339;
matic ethics conclude the article.
Robert Ford Campany’s “Investigating the Marvelous”
ECOLOGY AND MODERN JAPANESE SOCIETY. Japan’s envi-
pp. 125–147, and Kristofer Schipper’s essay on the One
ronmental record is highly ambivalent. On the one hand, the
Hundred and Eighty Precepts entitled “Daoist Ecology: The
Inner Transformation, A Study of the Precepts of the Early
country is known for its environmental catastrophes, such as
Daoist Ecclesia,” pp. 79–94. Robert Ford Campany’s work
the Minamata disease, a case of mercury poisoning that cul-
on the idea of nature in the alchemy of Ge Hong can be
minated in the 1960s, or its insensitive politics in connection
found in his To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Transla-
with whale hunting and the exploitation of exotic timber
tion and Study of Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcen-
wood. On the other hand, Japanese countermeasures against
dents (Berkeley, 2002), and for theoretical treatments of al-
environmental pollution have proved surprisingly effective.
chemy see Fabrizio Pregadio’s “Elixirs and Alchemy,” in
Japan’s laws and regulations concerning exhaust gases and
Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, pp. 165–195 (Lei-
the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen have long been
den, 2000). Sarah Allen’s The Way of Water and Sprouts of
among the strictest in the world. These policies, which were
Virtue (Albany, N.Y., 1997) contains an excellent discussion
started in the 1970s, have earned Japan something of a repu-
of how early Chinese philosophical concepts are rooted in
tation as a model of environmentalism. According to Conrad
images from nature; this philosophical inquiry is also treated
in the set of essays in Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought:
Totman, a leading authority in the field of environmental
Essays in Environmental Philosophy, edited by J. Baird Calli-
history, in the long run, Japan’s achievements in ecological
cott and Roger T. Ames (Albany, N.Y., 1989). E. N. Ander-
preservation outweigh the harms Japanese society did to its
son’s Ecologies of the Heart: Emotion, Belief, and the Environ-
environmental conditions. In his famous analysis of forestry
ment (New York, 1996) discusses a wide range of Chinese
in preindustrial Japan (1989), Totman argues that given the
folk traditions, such as feng-shui and diet, in terms of their
population density and the geographical conditions of the
ecology and culture. For an up-to-date annotated bibliogra-
Japanese archipelago, one would expect Japan to be a “im-
phy of works related to Daoism and ecology, consult the
poverished, slum-ridden, peasant society subsisting on bar-
website of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at http://
ren, eroded moonscape characterized by bald mountains and
environment.harvard.edu/religion.
debris-strewn lowlands” (p. 1). Instead, outside the urban
JAMES MILLER (2005)
centers Japan enjoys a wealth of verdant forests that has
earned it the denomination “green archipelago.” Totman ar-
gues that this is not the result of nature’s benevolence but
of “generations of human toil that have converted the archi-
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
pelago into one green forest preserve” (p. 1).
SHINTO
¯
Shinto¯ and ecology cannot be called an established academic
To sustain his argument, Totman provides the follow-
subject, either in Japan or in the West. However, in reply
ing figures: Japan is not only one of the world’s most heavily
to the growing concerns for environmental politics, Shinto¯
populated societies. Since 80 percent of the country consists
and many other religions have become a focus in the debate
of hard-rock mountains, it is by far the most populous soci-
on inherent ecological thinking patterns in the established
ety in terms of density by arable land (p. 172). In fact, Japan
religious worldviews. In Japan, a discourse on the environ-
was on the verge of deforestation already in the seventeenth
mental aspects of Shinto¯ that spans strictly academic research
century. Totman’s study concentrates on the policies that
and Shinto¯ theology has developed since the 1990s. One
prevented forestry overexploitation, which elsewhere pro-
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND SHINTO
¯
2639
duced ecological calamities not only in the industrial age but,
implies a rejection of the still common notion that Shinto¯
for instance, along the Mediterranean coast during the
reflects a transhistorical Japanese mentality (including Japa-
Roman Empire. The relative success of Japanese society in
nese nature worship). Instead, special attention is given to
preserving and creating natural conditions that form the
the changing conceptions of indigenous deities and the inter-
basis of the country’s wealth naturally leads to the question
actions of Buddhism and Shinto¯. Since these interpretations
of the extent to which Shinto¯, Japan’s indigenous religion,
are not yet familiar outside specialist circles, a short historical
has contributed to the ecological standards of Japan.
overview in light of recent studies seems necessary before dis-
cussing the ecological aspects of Shinto¯. More specific essays
SHINTO¯ AND THE PROVERBIAL JAPANESE LOVE OF NATURE.
on this topic can be found, for instance, in Shinto¯ in History:
Shinto¯ (literally, “Way of the Gods”) comprises in its broad-
Ways of the Kami (Breen and Teeuwen, 2000) or Tracing
est sense a variety of beliefs in Japanese indigenous deities
Shinto¯ in the History of Kami Worship (Teeuwen and Scheid,
(kami). Kami range from powerful nature and ancestor dei-
2002).
ties to spirits of insignificant objects and are virtually infinite
in number. Beliefs and forms of worship are equally hetero-
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT. In ancient Japanese myth, the
geneous but are often directed at objects of nature such as
world (i.e., the Japanese islands) is a creation of a primordial,
trees, rocks, or mountains, which are either interpreted as
divine couple who are equally the ancestors of all divine be-
abodes of the kami or as kami themselves. Many Shinto¯
ings populating the mundane world. Yet apart from a few
shrines, even in urban areas, are further surrounded by small
mythical narrations, Shinto¯ does not possess a theoretical
groves generally protected by religious taboos. One famous
concept of nature, the universe, or the divine, as developed
shrine, Kasuga Taisha in Nara, has even allowed a tree to
for instance by Buddhism or Daoism. While there have al-
protrude from the roof of one of its buildings, thus showing
ways been individual attempts to establish something like a
special respect for the sacredness of trees. Particularly in the
canonical Shinto¯ view on these issues, such efforts drew
eyes of Western observers, Shinto¯ has been regarded there-
mostly from existing explanations of other religions and did
fore as a very ancient, “animistic” religion, maintaining fea-
not reach canonical authority. This lack of religious doctrine
tures of times when people did not yet possess the capabilities
is closely related to the fact that there is neither a founding
to change their natural environment and instead strove for
figure nor a body of canonical texts, apart from ancient
living in harmony with given environmental conditions. The
chronicles (most notably the Kojiki, or “Records of Ancient
French scholar Augustin Berque, for instance, contrasts the
Matters” from 712, and the Nihonshoki, or “Records of
Christian “physicophobiac” tradition with the Japanese love
Japan,” from 720), which were never intended as religious
for nature (“physicophily”) and its strong affinity toward the
writings by their authors. Shinto¯ is defined by its belief in
forest (Berque, 1997). Other observers, such as Spanish au-
the local deities (kami), which existed through all phases of
thor Luis Diez del Corral, directly associated Shinto¯ architec-
Japanese religious history. Yet the notion that belief in the
ture with this “physiophilic” attitude, regarding the Japanese
kami is in itself an independent, self-sufficient religion is a
shrine as the most compressed architectural expression of the
comparatively new phenomenon. During most of Japanese
forest as the home of the sacred (Diez del Corral, 1967).
religious history since the advent of Buddhism (sixth century
CE), kami were seen either as minor spiritual beings such as
Such harmonious, often romantic depictions stand in
demons or goblins or as manifestations of Buddhist entities.
stark contrast to the historical role of Shinto¯ in modern Japa-
nese society, particularly in the area of ultranationalism from
In early historical times, probably inspired by the exam-
the 1930s to World War II. At that time Shinto¯ was quint-
ple of Buddhist temples, emperors as well as other local lead-
essentially equated with emperor worship. Every Japanese
ers began to erect permanent sites of worship to their ances-
was obliged to perform religious service at the local shrine
tor deities, generally referred to as “shrines” (jinja). The most
not as a reverence to the local kami or to surrounding nature
prestigious of these sites of ancestor worship is the well-
but as a reverence to the state embodied by the figure of the
known Ise Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu, the sun goddess,
emperor. This so-called State Shinto¯ (kokka shinto¯) is nowa-
which is at the same time regarded as the ancestor deity of
days often explained as an ideological misuse of the old in-
the imperial lineage. Only in the case of such big shrines,
digenous religion, contrary to its original values and inten-
which became part of an elaborate system of state rituals, did
tions. Emperor worship, however, had been an indispensable
a professional priesthood take over the affairs of religious ser-
part of Shinto¯ theology long before the existence of a modern
vice to the kami. On the local level, however, kami worship
nation-state. Until after World War II, the emperor was tra-
was mostly conducted by community leaders or was put into
ditionally seen as descended from the Sun Goddess (Ama-
the hands of Buddhist monks. Buddhism was also instru-
terasu), and thus divine himself. Even today, hardly any
mental in erecting sites of kami worship. Already in the Nara
Shinto¯ apologetic in Japan would go as far as to remove the
period (eighth century), every large Buddhist temple had its
emperor completely from the realm of Shinto¯.
local protector kami, situated side by side with the local Bud-
dha. Thus, from the beginning of Japanese Buddhism, ef-
Recent scholarship has attempted to overcome these in-
forts were taken to integrate kami worship into the Buddhist
herently contradictory images by reducing the interpretation
worldview and liturgy. Kami worship and Japanese Bud-
of Shinto¯ to the facts gathered from historical sources. This
dhism developed during most parts of their common history
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND SHINTO
¯
2640
in mutual interaction and were not regarded as different or
conditions. On the other hand, hills or smaller mountains
competing religious systems.
close to human dwellings were sometimes regarded as a
whole as a “divine body” (shintai), as the case of Mount
From the medieval period onward, however, individual
Miwa near Nara demonstrates. Finally, there are certain sce-
thinkers engaged in a theology of kami worship independent
nic spots that owe their religious flair to their peculiar shapes.
from Buddhism. It is in this context that the word shinto¯ was
The “wedded rocks” at the Bay of Ise, two natural stone pil-
used for the first time to designate something comparable to
lars formed by the sea and now united by a sacred rope (shi-
Buddhism (in Japanese, bustudo¯, the Way of the Buddha)
menawa), are a particularly famous example.
(Teeuwen, 2002). Only in these theologies, the way of the
kami was regarded as a religion comprising, among other fea-
Trees. Sacred trees (shinboku) furnished with a simple
tures, a cosmology based on Japanese myth, an ethical system
cord of raw hemp to indicate their divine aura are a remark-
different from Buddhism, and rituals for the dead, which had
able indication of the Japanese capability to endow nature
been entirely in the hands of Buddhist monks. While such
with religious symbolism by using “almost natural” materi-
efforts to establish Shinto¯ as an independent religion were
als. Trees hold indeed a peculiar religious significance. In a
only partly successful, they induced a series of independence
recent article (2000), Shinto¯ scholar Sonoda Minoru pointed
movements in many shrines from the beginning of the Edo
out that in some of the earliest Japanese texts the word mori,
period (1603–1867) onward. In the eighteenth century, a
which translates as “forest” in modern Japanese, could be
new intellectual movement, the so-called Nativist School
used as a synonym of yashiro, the ancient word for kami
(kokugaku), focused on the idea of Japanese culture from the
shrine. According to Sonoda, this is an indication that in pre-
times before the impact of Chinese and Indian civilizations
historical times kami were venerated in simple groves. The
and led to a new evaluation of ancient history, mythology,
groves around modern Shinto¯ shrines are thus remnants of
and the pure Way of the Kami. Later generations of this
what shrines originally used to be—trees as abodes of the
school were instrumental in the reestablishment of the politi-
kami. To him, these “expressions of Japan’s ancient animistic
cal role of the tenno¯ and the proclamation of Shinto¯ as a kind
view of life” are part of an ancient forest culture, which has
of state religion in the political upheaval of 1868, generally
helped to limit ecological disasters in Japan so far (p. 45).
known as the Meiji Restoration. Most notably, the early
Meiji government commanded the separation of kami and
In fact, it remains open to debate to what extent Sono-
Buddha worship (shinbutsu bunri), thereby destroying many
da’s relation between shrines and trees actually accounts for
existing syncretistic institutions and providing for the first
a special ecological consciousness. After all, Shinto¯ does not
time the necessary conditions for Shinto¯ as an independent
protect forests in general but only a few select examples of
religion on a nationwide scale. The ideas of the Nativist
trees. In the study of Japanese forestry mentioned earlier,
School not only paved the way for the above-mentioned na-
Totman (1989) demonstrates that in the ancient period, reli-
tionalistic ideologies of State Shinto¯, they also shaped the
gious institutions not only supported indiscriminate wood
general depiction of Shinto¯ as a repository of timeless, trans-
consumption but were actually among the chief consumers.
historical Japanese values up to the present day.
Already in the eighth century the erection of shrines and
temples, together with aristocratic mansions, led to the de-
As should be clear from this short sketch of recent ap-
forestation of vast regions in the Kinai region around pres-
proaches to Shinto¯ history, it is not at all easy to determine
ent-day Nara, then the center of Japanese civilization. The
a precise value system of Shinto¯, let alone Shinto¯ attitudes
practice of rebuilding shrines anew every twenty years, which
toward nature. Yet there is an ample range of religious sym-
is nowadays still performed in the case of the Ise shrines, was
bolism related to natural objects, which is nowadays attribut-
formerly a common technique related to prehistoric con-
ed to the realm of Shinto¯. The following passages provide
struction methods, which ceased when wood became sparse
a few representative examples.
(p. 12). Totman raises these examples of “ancient predation”
in his discussion of religious impacts on Japanese environ-
Mountains and rocks. Mountains were always seen as
mentalism, which he ultimately denies (p. 181). According
the realm of the divine in premodern times. Pilgrimages to
to him, pragmatic considerations and a long period of trial
Mount Fuji and other famous peaks trace their origins back
and error with Japan’s most important construction material,
to mountain cults that arose from a characteristic blend of
wood, were more important for early modern ecological suc-
ancient shamanistic and Buddhist religious features (cf. Mi-
cesses than religious values.
yake, 2001). But while modern pilgrimages are mass phe-
nomena, undertaken mostly by bus, in olden times only very
SOCIAL ROLES OF KAMI WORSHIP. In spite of limitations of
few people entered the higher mountainous regions. Those
the received image of Shinto¯, it is quite obvious that kami
who did were almost by definition religious ascetics, called
worship played an important role in the religious life of com-
yamabushi, “those who sleep in the mountains.” It is there-
munities during all times of Japanese history. Kami rites
fore no surprise that the mountains appear in folk legends
filled those gaps, where conventional Buddhist worship fell
either as the realm of the dead or as entrances to the Buddhist
short in offering satisfactory solutions. In particular, rites re-
hell. All in all, the religious awe in relation to mountains is
lated to agricultural production are primarily addressing
tightly connected with fear of their wild, menacing natural
local kami. Regular festivals (matsuri) in honor of the kami
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
2641
play an important role in sacralizing the annual cycle of pro-
Kalland Arne. “Culture in Japanese Nature.” In Asian Perceptions
duction and in strengthening vertical and horizontal social
of Nature: A Critical Approach, edited by Ole Bruun and
bonds within local communities. In premodern times shrines
Arne Kalland, pp. 218–233. London, 1992.
seem to have also functioned as keepers of a kind of village
Maeda Hiromi. “Court Rank for Village Shrines: The Yoshida
constitution, which took the form of a pledge of the village
House’s Interaction with Local Shrines during the Mid-
to the local kami. In a recent study of shrines from the eigh-
Tokugawa Period.” In Tracing Shinto¯ in the History of Kami
teenth century, Maeda Hiromi found many examples in
Worship, edited by Mark Teeuwen and Bernhard Scheid,
which villagers were bound to raise only special crops or spe-
pp. 325–358. Special issue of Japanese Journal of Religious
Studies 29, nos. 3–4 (fall 2002).
cial animals by the will of their kami. As the economy
changed and other forms of agriculture seemed more profit-
Miyake, Hitoshi. Shugendo¯: Essays on the Structure of Japanese Folk
able, villages took great pains to change the provisions of
Religion. Ann Arbor, Mich., 2001.
their kami, which could only be done with the assistance of
Sonoda Minoru. “Shinto¯ and the Natural Environment.” In
the highest Shinto¯ authorities (Maeda, 2002). These exam-
Shinto¯ in History: Ways of the Kami, edited by John Breen and
ples testify to the severity of kami worship as well as to the
Mark Teeuwen, pp. 32–46. London, 2000.
flexibility and pragmatics of Shinto¯ precepts.
Takeuchi Keiichi. “Traditional View of Nature and Natural Re-
C
source Management in Japan: Sustainable Development and
ONCLUSION. All in all it becomes clear that the natural en-
Geographical Thought.” Hitotsubashi Journal of Social
vironment of Japan was and still is heavily endowed with reli-
Studies 30, no. 2 (December 1998): 85–93.
gious symbolism. This symbolism is often, but not always,
related to the native deities, the kami. Yet while the outer
Teeuwen, Mark. “From Jindo¯ to Shinto¯: A Concept Takes
form of these symbols seems to have been transmitted with
Shape.” In Tracing Shinto¯ in the History of Kami Worship, ed-
ited by Mark Teeuwen and Bernhard Scheid, pp. 233–263.
a remarkable degree of consistency and uniformity, the con-
Special issue of Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 29, nos.
tents of kami worship is difficult to determine and subject
3–4 (fall 2002).
to historical change.
Teeuwen, Mark, and Bernhard Scheid, eds. Tracing Shinto¯ in the
From the earliest historical times indigenous Japanese
History of Kami Worship. Special issue of Japanese Journal of
religion, whether we call it Shinto¯ or not, was related to the
Religious Studies 29, nos. 3–4 (fall 2002).
cultivation of nature, that is, agriculture. Natural conditions
Totman, Conrad. The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Preindustrial
were perceived of as kami, and religion served to turn the
Japan. Berkeley, Calif., 1989.
powers of these kami into conditions favorable for agricultur-
BERNHARD SCHEID (2005)
al production. Indigenous deities thus represented both na-
ture’s benevolent and nature’s threatening aspects. They
were neither morally good nor bad, but simply powerful.
Also in later times, kami were worshiped not so much in the
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
quest for moral guidance but in order to gain a kami’s favors.
JUDAISM
This is also one of the reasons for the well-known “this-
Judaism is rooted in two core beliefs: that God is the sole
worldliness” (genze riyaku) of Japanese religion in general
Creator of the universe and that God’s will was revealed to
and of Shinto¯ in particular.
Israel in the form of law, the Torah, as part of an eternal cov-
In the long run, Shinto¯ seems to have always adapted
enant. The dialectical relationship between the doctrine of
to the conditions of human production, not the other way
creation and the doctrine of revelation, between nature and
round. In particular, Shinto¯ has been used to endow case-
Torah, between what is and what ought to be, frames Jewish
specific, pragmatic regulations with some religious dignity.
attitudes toward the natural world, reflecting changes over
It is certainly possible to sieve environmental ideas from the
time.
traditions of Shinto¯, but in historical retrospect there is no
Biblical cosmology envisioned an earth encompassed by
clear indication that Shinto¯ served better to preserve environ-
a sphere of water, over which God’s wind (ruah) hovers. Al-
mental stability than any other religion.
though the details of the creative act remain open to interpre-
tation and debate, the act itself was broadly understood as
BIBLIOGRAPHY
one of establishing boundaries, separating heavens from
Berque, Augustin. Nature, Artifice, and Japanese Culture. North-
earth, dry land from water, animate from inanimate things,
amptonshire, U.K., 1997. (Translation of Le sauvage et
human beings from other animals. Boundary formation at
l’artifice: Les japonais devant la nature. Paris, 1986.)
creation would serve as the rationale for the distinction be-
Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen, eds. Shinto¯ in History: Ways of
tween the sacred and the profane, the permitted and the for-
the Kami. London, 2000.
bidden in the legal parts of the Bible and in post-biblical
Broadbent, Jeffrey. Environmental Politics in Japan: Networks of
Judaism.
Power and Protest. Cambridge, U.K., 1998.
In rabbinic Judaism (first to sixth centuries), cosmologi-
Diez del Corral, Luis. Del Nuevo al Viejo Mundo, Revista de Occi-
cal speculations (ma Daseh bereshit) were regarded as esoteric
dente. Madrid, 1967.
lore to be divulged only to the initiated few (Mishnah Hag.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2642
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
2:1). Although the rabbis debated the details of the biblical
many found it wanting precisely because Jewish life was di-
creation narrative, the dominant view was that the earth and
vorced from nature. When Jews were granted civil rights,
the heavens are like “a pot with a cover.” The “cover” was
they flocked to the universities, excelling in the natural sci-
identified with the firmament (raqi Da), itself composed of
ences such as physics, chemistry, and biology. Embracing sci-
water and stars of fire that coexist harmoniously (J. T. R. H.
ence as a substitute to traditional Torah study, Jews no lon-
2:5 58a), although it was believed that there were more than
ger regarded the Bible as the source of truth about the
one firmament (Hag. 12b). The sun and the moon were be-
physical world; cosmology now belonged to “science” rather
lieved to be situated in the second firmament, and beneath
than to “religion.” As a result, Jewish philosophers no longer
the earth there was the abyss.
reflected about the origin of the universe, but instead focused
on explicating the religious and existential meaning of the
In the Middle Ages, Jews reinterpreted the biblical cre-
doctrine in relation to the doctrines of revelation and re-
ation narratives and rabbinic cosmological speculations in
demption.
light of Greek and Hellenistic science and philosophy.
Whether the world was created ex nihilo or out of a pre-
DESCRIPTIONS OF NATURE IN JEWISH SACRED TEXTS. The
existing matter was hotly debated. Moses Maimonides
doctrine of creation facilitates an interest in the natural world
(Mosheh ben Maimon, 1135/8–1204) held that the origin
that God created. The more one observes the natural world,
of the universe was beyond the ken of human reason and re-
the more one comes to revere the creator because the world
mained ambiguous whether God created the world ex nihilo
manifests the presence of order and wise design in which
or out of pre-existing matter. Unlike Maimonides, Levi ben
nothing is superfluous. Psalms 19:1 expresses the point poeti-
Gershom (Gersonides, 1288–1344) argued that creation out
cally: “The heavens are telling the glory of God / and the fir-
of pre-existing matter is scientifically demonstrable and is in
mament proclaims his handiwork.” Psalms 148 depicts all of
full accord with Aristotelian science.
creation as engaged in praising God and recognizing God’s
Like its Muslim counterpart, medieval Jewish Aristoteli-
commanding power over nature. Nature also fears God (Ps.
anism was interlaced with Neoplatonic themes. The separate
68:9); it observes the relationship between God and Israel
intelligences were said to emanate from God and the corpo-
and expresses either sorrow or joy at the fortunes of the Isra-
real world emanated from the celestial spheres. Many Jewish
elites (Jl. 1:12; Am. 1:2; Jon. 3:7–9; Is. 14:7–8). In the
thinkers understood creation to mean emanation and depict-
Psalms, however, awareness of nature’s orderliness, regulari-
ed the universe as a hierarchical great chain of being in which
ty, and beauty never leads to revel in nature for its own sake.
each thing occupies its natural place and acts in accord with
Nature is never an end but always points to the divine Cre-
its inherent telos. Whereas the doctrine of creation empha-
ator who governs and sustains nature. The emphasis on or-
sizes the transcendence of God and the total dependence of
derliness of creation explains why in Judaism one does not
all created beings on God, the doctrine of emanation high-
find glorification of wilderness and why the cultivated field
lights the immanence of God, viewing the natural world as
is the primary model for the created universe in the Bible.
an extension (albeit most remote) of divine reality. Both
The Bible abounds with references to the natural world
transcendentalist and immanentist outlooks informed medi-
and figurative usage of natural elements to teach about the
eval Jewish thought, but one view is not necessarily more
relationship between God and Israel. In one famous parable,
“green” or “environmentally friendly” than the other.
fruit trees and vines willingly serve the human in ritual obser-
During the early modern period, Jewish philosophers
vance by providing oil, fruit, and wine (Jgs. 9:8–13). Con-
became increasingly more interested in the flora and fauna
versely, nature does God’s bidding when it serves to punish
of their natural environment, and Jewish philosophical-
and destroy the people of Israel when they sin; indeed, un-
scientific texts abound with information about minerals,
godly behavior leads to ecological punishment. Since God is
plants, and animals. Yet such information was still framed
the sole Creator, it is God’s prerogative to sustain or to de-
by the theological assumptions of medieval rationalism: The
stroy nature (Ps. 29:5–6; Zec. 11:1–3; Hb. 3:5–8). Nature
natural world could be understood in light of the revealed
itself becomes a witness to the covenantal relationship be-
Torah since it was the blueprint of creation. Jewish thinkers
tween Israel and God, and the ongoing drama of righteous-
were also rather slow to respond to the scientific revolution
ness, chastisement, and rebuke. Mostly the Bible emphasizes
of the seventeenth century, and most rejected Copernicus’s
divine care of all creatures: God provides food to all (Ps.
heliocentric theory on religious grounds. While a small cadre
147:9), God is concerned about humans and beasts (Ps.
of Jews earned doctorate degrees at European universities, es-
104:14; 145:16), and God’s care is extended to animals that
pecially in medicine, interest in natural sciences remained
can be used by humans such as goats and rabbits (Ps. 104:18)
marginal among Jews. Instead, the study of halakhah (Jewish
as well as to lion cubs and ravens that do not serve human
Law) and Qabbalah (Jewish mysticism) preoccupied Jewish
interest. Because God takes care of animals, they turn to God
intellectual interests, and both endeavors were textual, self-
in time of need (Ps. 104: 21; 27; 147:9; Jb. 38:41).
referential, and abstract.
The rabbis were concerned about the relationship be-
With the onslaught of modernity and the secularization
tween revealed morality (prescriptive law) and the laws of na-
of culture, Jews began to re-examine their tradition, and
ture (descriptive laws), but the rabbinic corpus harbors di-
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
2643
verse, and even conflicting, views. One theme highlights the
Qabbalah and Hasidism contributed to the bookishness
regularity of nature and its indifference to human concerns:
of Jewish culture and the alienation of traditional Jews from
“nature pursues its own course” (olam ke-minhago noheg;
the natural world. With the rise of modernity, the very lack
B.T. A. Zar. 54b). Accordingly nature is independent of the
of Jewish interest in nature was cited by the Jewish Enlight-
revealed Torah and the laws of nature are different from the
enment (Haskalah) as the reason for Jewish backwardness.
laws of the Torah. A contrary viewpoint, however, holds that
Only the return to nature could modernize the Jews, en-
the natural world is contingent upon the acceptance of the
abling them to recover their lost vitality and integrate as
Torah by the Jewish people; had they rejected the Torah, the
equals into modern society. The literature of the Haskalah
world would have reverted to primeval chaos. The link be-
movement in the nineteenth century is full of descriptions
tween nature and the moral conduct of humans is expressed
of nature, emphasizing its beauty, wisdom, and moral power.
in yet a third view, that original natural order was perfect but
suffered a radical change as a result of human original sin (B.
The return to nature was one of the major goals of Zion-
T. Kid. 82b). A fourth view posits “the animals of the righ-
ism, the Jewish secular nationalist movement that emerged
teous” as models for human conduct. Since these animals live
at the end of the nineteenth century in response to virulent
in perfect harmony with their Creator, humanity has much
anti-Semitism. The Zionist movement succeeded in revers-
to learn from them, in terms of not only the principle of ob-
ing the traditional Jewish lifestyle and creating a new type
serving God’s will but also specific lessons (B. T. Pes. 53b).
of Jew, one who was rooted in nature rather than in sacred
Finally, there is a rabbinic teaching that not only do animals
texts, but Zionism also illustrates the complex relationship
observe the moral laws, but all of nature is perceived as fulfill-
between Judaism and ecology. In the State of Israel, intimate
ing the will of God in the performance of its normal func-
familiarity with the landscape of the land of Israel, its flora
tions (J. T. Peah 1:1).
and fauna, and concern for the preservation of the physical
environment are popular among secular Israelis. Yet environ-
The relationship between Torah and nature was the
mentalism is generally not legitimated by appeal to the reli-
core of medieval philosophical speculations. Thus for Mai-
gious sources of Judaism.
monides and Gersonides, God is the supreme telos of the
universe, the intelligible apex of the entire cosmos accessible
The creative interweaving of Judaism and ecology be-
through philosophy and culminating in prophecy. Viewing
longs primarily to North America. Since 1970, considered
nature itself as “wise,” the goal of the medieval philosopher-
the beginning of Jewish environmentalism, Jewish scholars
scientist was to fathom the wisdom of nature in order to at-
(first Orthodox and later Reform and Conservative) have re-
tain the ultimate end of human life: the knowledge of God
sponded to the charge that the Judeo-Christian tradition is
to the extent this is possible for humans.
the cause of the environmental crisis. Jewish environmental-
The notion that the Torah is the paradigmatic blueprint
ism has raised awareness about ecological problems such as
of nature was elaborated and radicalized in Qabbalah. Focus-
pollution of natural resources, deforestation, erosion of top-
ing on the linguistic aspect of the creative act, the qabbalists
soil, the disappearance of species, climatic changes, and other
regarded the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the building
ecological disasters brought about by the industrial revolu-
blocks of the created world, whose permutations account for
tion, human greed, and unbridled consumerism. The na-
the diversity of nature. This approach to nature assumed
scent literature of Jewish environmentalism has shown that
magical and theurgic dimensions: The one who knows how
Jewish sacred texts and practices express concern for the earth
to decode the Torah can manipulate the physical environ-
and its inhabitants, and that the rhythm of Jewish religious
ment (hence Qabbalah was closely associated with magic, as-
life is rooted in the cycles of nature. Since 1993, the Coali-
trology, and alchemy) and even affect and impact God’s
tion on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) has coor-
inner life (namely, reunify the feminine and masculine as-
dinated a broad range of educational activities and brought
pects of the Godhead). While qabbalistic texts abound with
a distinct Jewish voice to policy making on municipal, state,
symbols derived from the natural world, corporeal nature
and federal levels.
was regarded as evil to be transcended or spiritualized.
LEGAL AND ETHICAL POSITIONS REGARDING THE ENVI-
Qabbalah gave rise to Eastern-European Hasidism in
RONMENT. In Judaism, Scripture frames legal and ethical po-
the eighteenth century. Hasidic theology treated all natural
sitions regarding the environment. While clearly privileging
phenomena as ensouled: Divine sparks enlivened all corpore-
the human perspective, the Bible places on humans special
al entities and not just human beings. The divine sparks
responsibilities toward the environment. Only the human
sought release from their material entrapment. Through ritu-
species is said to be created “in the image of God” (Gn. 1:26),
al activity, the Hasidic master attempted to draw closer to
although humans, like other animals, were fashioned from
the divine energy, the liberation of which would result not
the dust of the earth to which they return at death. Creation
only in the sanctification of nature but also in the redemp-
in the image of God did not entail a license to subdue and
tion of reality and its return to its original, non-corporeal
exploit the earth, as many environmentalists erroneously
state. The worship of God through the spiritualization of
charge, but the task to protect God’s created world. By fol-
corporeal reality (avodah ba-gashmiyut) became a major Ha-
lowing divine commandments, humans can sanctify nature
sidic value.
and endow it with religious meaning. Nature itself is not sa-
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2644
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
cred or holy, but it becomes sacred when humans interact
it can affect the perpetuation of the species. This command-
with it in the framework of observing God’s command-
ment is one of seven commandments given to the sons of
ments. Jewish environmental responsibility is exemplified in
Noah and is therefore binding on all human beings, not just
the relationship between the people of Israel and the land of
Jews.
Israel, the land that belongs to God but which God gave to
The tradition prescribes particular modes of slaughter
Israel, the chosen people, as collateral of the eternal covenant.
that are swift because they are performed with a sharp, clean
Land-based commandments. Various land-based
blade. In Hasidism this principle was combined with the be-
commandments in the Bible express the belief that God is
lief in the transmigration of souls into non-human bodies
the rightful owner of the land of Israel and the source of its
and the development of elaborate slaughtering practices de-
fertility. The Israelites working the land are but God’s ten-
signed to protect the human soul that may have transmigrat-
ant-farmers who are obligated to return the first portion of
ed into the body of the animal about to be slaughtered. The
the land’s yield to its rightful owner in order to insure the
concern for unnecessary suffering of animals is applied today
land’s continued fertility and the farmer’s sustenance and
to the industrial farming of animals for human consumption
prosperity. Accordingly, the first sheaf of the barley harvest,
and with the use of animals in scientific experimentation.
the first fruit of produce, and two loaves of bread made from
the new grain are to be consecrated to God.
Social justice and ecological well-being. The most
distinctive feature of Jewish environmental legislation is the
Scripture pays special attention to trees. Leviticus 19:23
causal connection between the moral quality of human life
commands that, during the first three years of growth, the
and the vitality of God’s creation. The corruption of society
fruits of newly planted trees or vineyards are not to be eaten
is closely linked to the corruption of nature. In both cases,
(orlah) because they are considered to be God’s property.
the injustice arises from human greed and the failure of
When Israel conducts itself according to the laws of the
human beings to protect the original order of creation. From
Torah, the land is abundant and fertile, benefiting its inhabi-
a Jewish perspective, the just allocation of nature’s resources
tants with the basic necessities of human life—grain, oil, and
is indeed a religious issue of the highest order. The treatment
wine—but when Israel sins, the blessedness of the land de-
of the marginal in society—the poor, the hungry, the widow,
clines, and it becomes desolate and inhospitable. When the
the orphan—must follow the principle of scriptural legisla-
alienation from God becomes egregious and injustice over-
tion. Thus, parts of the land’s produce are to be given to
takes God’s people, God removes them from the Holy Land.
those who do not own land. By observing the particular com-
Thus the well-being of God’s land and the moral quality of
mandments, the soil itself becomes holy, and the person who
the people who live on the land are causally linked and both
obeys these commandments ensures the religio-moral purity
depend on obeying God’s will.
necessary for residence in God’s land.
Bal tashchit (“do not destroy”). The main legal princi-
The connection between land management, ritual, and
ple of Jewish environmental ethics concerns the protection
social justice is most evident in the laws regulating the sab-
of vegetation, especially fruit-bearing trees. In war times,
batical year (shemittah). During the sabbatical year, it is for-
fruit-bearing trees must not be chopped down while a city
bidden to plant, cultivate, or harvest grain, fruit, or vegeta-
is under siege (Dt. 20:19). This commandment is undoubt-
bles, or even to plant in the sixth year in order to harvest
edly anthropocentric, but it indicates that the Torah recog-
during the seventh year. Crops that grow untended are not
nizes the interdependence between humans and trees, on the
to be harvested by the landlord but are to be left ownerless
one hand, and the capacity of humans to destroy natural
(hefqer) for all to share, including poor people and animals.
things on the other. The Jewish legal tradition thus requires
The rest imposed during the sabbatical year facilitates the
that one carefully weigh the ramifications of all actions and
restoration of nutrients and the improvement of the soil,
behavior for every interaction with the natural world; it also
promotes diversity in plant life, and helps maintain vigorous
sets priorities and weighs conflicting interests and permanent
cultivars.
modification of the environment.
Environmental virtues. In Judaism the ethics of duty
Tza Dar baDalei hayyim (“distress of living crea-
are complemented by the ethics of virtue. The very virtues
tures”). Although the Jewish tradition places the responsibil-
that rabbinic Judaism found necessary for standing in a cove-
ity for management of God’s creation in human hands, the
nantal relationship with God are the virtues that enable Jews
tradition also recognizes the well-being of non-human spe-
to be the stewards of God’s creation. The rabbinic tradition
cies: Humans should take care of other species and be sensi-
highlights the merits of humility (anavah), modesty (tzni Dut),
tive to the needs of animals. Cruelty toward animals is pro-
moderation (metinut), and mercifulness (rahmanut), all of
hibited because it leads to other forms of cruelty. The ideal
which are ecologically beneficial.
is to create a sensibility of love and kindness toward animals
in order to emulate God’s attribute of mercy and fill the
IMPORTANT RITUALS AND SYMBOLS. Ancient Israel was an
commandment “to be Holy as I the Lord am Holy” (Lv.
agrarian society that lived in accord with seasonal rhythms
19:2). Thus Deuteronomy 22:6 forbids the killing of a bird
and celebrated the completion of each harvest cycle by dedi-
with her young because it is exceptionally cruel and because
cating the earth’s produce to God. Therefore, the Jewish tra-
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
2645
dition is rich with rituals that use natural objects and with
MODERN JEWISH ECOLOGICAL THINKING. The traditional
symbolic language that is linked to natural phenomena. The
Jewish ethics of stewardship or responsibility toward nature
rituals sanctify nature, making holy corporeal, physical
find an interesting advocate in the founder of modern Or-
reality.
thodoxy, Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888). For him na-
Sukkot. Originally celebrating the end of the summer
ture has a theological significance because not only is nature
harvest and the preparation for the rainy season in the land
a model for the observance of its laws, but also it places on
of Israel, the pilgrimage festival of Sukkot was associated
humans its own demands or commandments. Hirsch sug-
with the redemption of Israel from Egypt. In Leviticus 23:42,
gested that responsibility toward non-human creatures is
Israel was commanded to dwell in booths (sukkah) for seven
commanded because empathy toward them is almost impos-
days so “that your generations may know that I made the
sible. Because it is impossible for humans to understand
people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out
these creatures, these laws appear irrational, binding humans
of the land of Egypt.” Removed from the protection of their
to the world that is alien to them. Nature is a source of reli-
regular dwellings, the Israelites were compelled by the tem-
gious and moral commitment.
porary booths to experience the power of God in nature
Human religious responsibility toward nature is also
more directly and become even more grateful to God’s power
emphasized by Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1903–1993), the
of deliverance. The rabbis elaborated the symbolic meaning
spiritual leader of modern Jewish Orthodoxy in the twenti-
of the sukkah, viewing it as a sacred home and the locus for
eth century. Soloveitchik interpreted the two creation narra-
the divine presence. They homiletically linked the four spe-
tives in the Bible as two paradigmatic human postures to-
cies (citron, palm, myrtle, and willow) used to celebrate Suk-
ward nature. The first narrative presents “the majestic man”
kot to parts of the human body, types of people, the four pa-
(Adam I) who celebrates the unique position of the human
triarchs, the four matriarchs, and even God. The festival of
in creation. Creative, functionally oriented, and enamored
Sukkot was concluded by yet another festival, known as
of technology, Adam I aims to achieve a “dignified” existence
Shemini Atzert (Eighth Day of Assembly), which included
by gaining mastery over nature. By contrast, the second cre-
prayers to God to deliver rain.
ation narrative presents the “covenantal man” (Adam II), the
Tu B DShevat (New Year for Trees). A post-biblical fes-
human who was commanded “to till and tend” the earth.
tival that illustrates how humans sanctify nature is celebrated
Adam II eschews power and control; he is a non-functional,
on the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat, which coincides
receptive, submissive human type who yearns for a redeemed
with the time almond trees bloom after the period of winter
existence, which he achieves by bringing all of his actions
dormancy. The day was celebrated as “the new year for trees”
under God’s authority. The two postures exist simultaneous-
(rosh ha-shanah la-ilanot) paralleling the birthday of the
ly and remain permanently at war with each other within
world in the month of Tishrei. During the Middle Ages,
every religious Jew. Soloveitchik thus warned against the
when Jews no longer dwelled in the land of Israel, the festival
modern glorification of humanity (Adam I) that brought
assumed a new symbolic meaning, with new prayers and new
about the destruction of nature and pointed to religious
customs. Fruits grown in the land of Israel were eaten by Di-
commitment (Adam II) as the only response to our ecologi-
aspora Jews, and a special set of Psalms was added to the daily
cal and existential crisis.
liturgy. The most elaborate ritual for the festival was con-
Long before Soloveitchik, Aharon David Gordon
structed in the sixteenth century by qabbalists, for whom the
(1856–1922), the spiritual leader of Labor Zionism, was
land of Israel was no longer merely a physical place but rather
keenly aware of the crisis of modernity and the causal con-
a spiritual reality. Modeled after the Passover service, the
nection between technology and human alienation from na-
qabbalistic ritual for the “new year for trees” endowed it with
ture. Settling in Palestine in 1904, Gordon joined the agri-
the capacity to restore the flow of divine energy to the broken
cultural settlements in order to create a new kind of Jewish
world.
life and Jewish person. He viewed humans as creatures of na-
Shabbat. The most original environmental ritual in Ju-
ture but warned that humans are in constant danger of losing
daism is the Sabbath, the introduction of imposed rest on
contact with nature. For Gordon, the regeneration of hu-
nature. On the Sabbath, humans create nothing, destroy
manity and of the Jewish people could come only through
nothing, and enjoy the bounty of the earth. Since God rested
the return to nature and the development of a new under-
on the seventh day, the Sabbath is viewed as completion of
standing of labor as the source of genuine joy and creativity.
the act of creation, a celebration of human tenancy and stew-
Through physical, productive labor, humanity would be-
ardship. Sabbath teaches that humans stand not only in rela-
come a partner of God in the process of creation. Rejecting
tion to nature but in relation to the Creator of nature. Most
the traditional Jewish focus on Torah study, Gordon viewed
instructively, animals are included in the Sabbath rest (Dt.
labor as a redemptive act, provided that the means humans
5:13–14). There are specific cases in which it is permissible
employ are in accord with the divine order of things, that
to violate the laws of the Sabbath in order to help an animal
is, with nature. Gordon’s “religion of labor” was a transvalua-
in distress. The observance of the Sabbath is a constant re-
tion of traditional Judaism.
minder of the deepest ethical and religious values that enable
Another Zionist leader, Martin Buber (1878–1965), re-
Jews to stand in a proper relationship with God.
interpreted traditional Jewish values in order to address the
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND JUDAISM
dilemmas of modern Jewish life. If the tradition understood
mendations include the cultivation of self-control, modera-
the covenant to be law-centered, Buber insisted that the cov-
tion in material consumption, sustainable economic devel-
enantal relationship culminating in revelation means a di-
opment, and communitarianism.
rect, non-propositional encounter with the divine presence.
According to Buber, humans relate to the world either di-
While Waskow’s environmentalism is linked to Hes-
rectly and unconditionally (“I-Thou”) or indirectly, condi-
chel’s social activism and indebted to social ecology, another
tionally, and functionally (“I-It”). The “I-Thou” modality
disciple of Heschel, Arthur Green, has attempted to anchor
means a direct encounter that encompasses all of one’s per-
Jewish ecological thinking in Qabbalah and Hasidism, the
sonality and treats the other as an end rather than as a means.
other dimension of Heschel’s legacy. Adopting the ontologi-
The “I-It” relationship has a purpose outside the encounter
cal schema of Qabbalah, Green maintains that all existents
itself and involves only a fragment of the other, not the entire
are in some way an expression of God and are to some extent
person. Buber’s ideas became ecologically relevant and influ-
intrinsically related to each other. From the privileged posi-
ential because he extended the “I-Thou” relationship to an
tion of the human, Green derives an ethics of responsibility
encounter with nature. In treating nature as a “Thou” rather
toward all creatures that acknowledges the differences be-
than an “It,” Buber personified natural phenomenon and
tween diverse creatures while insisting on the need to defend
recognized not only the need of humans to communicate
the legitimate place in the world of even the weakest and
with natural objects but also the inherent rights of nature as
most threatened of creatures. For Green, a Jewish ecological
a “Thou” that waits to be addressed by the wholeness of one’s
ethics must be a torat hayim, namely, a set of laws and in-
own being.
struction that truly enhances life.
Buber’s colleague and successor as the leader of adult ed-
While the Jewish tradition is rich with ecological wis-
ucation in Germany, Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–
dom, serious challenges are still posed to the future of the
1972), is considered the most influential Jewish ecological
nascent Jewish environmental movement. First, the well-
thinker. A scion of a Hasidic family who received modern
being of the natural world is still regarded as a marginal issue
university training, Heschel escaped the Nazis in Germany,
on the agenda of Jewish leadership, perhaps because Jews are
eventually settling in the United States in 1944. Intent on
generally preoccupied with the protracted Israeli-Arab con-
reversing the negative impact of modernity, which some sug-
flict, relations between the State of Israel and Diaspora com-
gest led to the atrocities of the Holocaust, Heschel’s ecologi-
munities, Jewish-Christian dialogue, pluralism within Juda-
cally-sensitive depth theology spoke of God’s glory as pervad-
ism, and gender equality. On a grassroots level, Jewish
ing nature, leading humans to radical amazement and
individuals are raising environmental issues and organizing
wonder. Heschel viewed humans as members of the cosmic
educational activities to bring the ecological insights of Juda-
community and emphasized humility as the desired posture
ism to the attention of Jews, but it remains to be seen wheth-
toward the natural world. Recognizing human kinship with
er they will succeed in capturing the imagination of most
the visible world, Heschel celebrated God’s presence within
Jews. Second, there is a conceptual gap between the religious
the world, but he also insisted that the divine essence is not
nature of the Jewish tradition and the secularist outlook of
one with nature. God is simultaneously transcendent and
the environmental movement. Thus, while in the State of Is-
immanent. Heschel’s ecological teachings have been translat-
rael there is a vibrant environmental movement, its activities
ed into concrete educational programs at the Abraham Josh-
are secular and not legitimated by Jewish religious sources.
ua Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leader-
In America, the Jewish environmental movement that speaks
ship in Tel Aviv.
in the name of the religious tradition must translate its values
and sensibilities to the language of the secular environmental
The attempt to anchor Jewish environmentalism in the
discourse, and in some cases, as with nature-based feminist
religious sources of Judaism was one characteristic of the
spirituality, Jewish environmentalism stands in direct con-
Jewish renewal movement from the 1970s and 1980s. Envi-
flict with self-conscious Neopagan sensibilities. Third, Jews
ronmental activists who were born Jews found their way back
all over the world share the habits of a consumerist society
to the sources of Judaism by recognizing their ecological wis-
that puts a major stress on the limited natural resources of
dom. Founded by Ellen Bernstein, the organization Shomrei
the planet. There is no indication that Jews, as a whole, will
Adamah (Keepers of the Earth) popularized the idea of Jew-
be interested in scaling down their lifestyles and markers of
ish environmentalism, revived nature-based Jewish rituals—
social mobility that they fought so hard to obtain. Ironically,
such as the ritual meal for the minor holiday Tu B DShevat,
it is the return to the oldest values in Judaism that might curb
and organized wilderness trips with a strong Jewish compo-
human behavior harmful to the environment.
nent. The most significant ecological thinker in the Jewish
renewal movement is Arthur Waskow, who coined the term
B
“eco-kosher” to highlight the connection between human
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tant doctrine of creation could be read either as a strong affir-
Earth, and Torah: A Tu B DShevat Anthology. Philadelphia,
mation of the value of the natural world or as dethroning its
1999.
claims to sacrality and opening it to exploitation.
Felix, Yehuda. Nature and Man in the Bible: Chapters in Biblical
Biblical scholars at the dawn of the twenty-first century
Ecology. New York, 1981.
can show that there are rich resources for the development
Gerstenfeld, Manferd. Judaism, Environmentalism, and the Envi-
of an ecological theology in the Christian canon. Historians
ronment: Mapping and Analysis. Jerusalem, 1998.
of doctrine can show that traditional formulations have posi-
Heschel, Abraham Joshua. Man Is Not Alone. New York, 1951.
tive contributions to make. But the fact is that, at least in
Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Sabbath: The Meaning for Modern
the West, these opportunities for the development of an eco-
Man. New York, 1951, 1995.
logical theology were neglected. Christian teaching generally
led to the study of the natural world as testimony to God’s
Heschel, Abraham Joshua. God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of
greatness and to the use and manipulation of the world to
Judaism. Philadelphia, 1956.
satisfy human desires. It directed people away from a sense
Hirsch, Samson Raphael. The Nineteen Letters on Judaism. Edited
of kinship with other creatures and from treating the earth
by Jacob Breuer. New York, 1969.
as worthy of respect in its own right.
Levy, ZeDev, and Nadav Levy. Ethics, Emotions, and Animals: On
the Moral Status of Animals (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv, 2002.
Throughout most of Western history, Christian teach-
ing focused on the process of personal redemption. The un-
Samuelson, Norbert M. Judaism and the Doctrine of Creation.
Cambridge, U.K., 1994.
derstanding of this process was heavily influenced by Paul’s
distinction between spirit and flesh. From a modern perspec-
Schwartz, Richard H. Judaism and Global Survival. New York,
tive, one can rightly emphasize that the flesh is to be identi-
1987.
fied not with the body but with an orientation of the whole
Soloveitchik, Josef Dov. The Lonely Man of Faith. New York,
person away from God. But through most of the history of
1992. Originally published in Tradition 7 (2) (1965).
Western Christianity, this theological duality was closely as-
Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, ed. Judaism and Ecology: Created World
sociated with the metaphysical dualism of mind, or spirit,
and Revealed Word. Cambridge, Mass., 2003.
and matter. The material world was understood to be inferi-
Waskow, Arthur. Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex, and
or; to cultivate the spirit was to break away from that world.
the Rest of Life. New York, 1995.
This required disciplining the body and repressing its desires.
Waskow, Arthur, ed. Torah of the Earth: Exploring 4000 Years of
Sexuality, in particular, was viewed as a threat to spiritu-
Ecology in Jewish Thought. 2 vols. Burlington, Vt., 2000.
ality. Saint Augustine taught that original sin is transmitted
Yaffe, Martin D., ed. Judaism and Environmental Ethics: A Reader.
from generation to generation by the sexual act. From the
Lanham, Md., 2001.
male perspective, sexuality was associated especially with
HAVA TIROSH-SAMUELSON (2005)
women, so that the denigration of sexuality was used to deni-
grate women as well. Thus, the affirmation of domination
of the body by the spirit justified the domination of women
by men. Because the body and its sexuality were the main
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
place where nature appeared in this treatment of redemption,
CHRISTIANITY
nature as a whole was perceived as an object to be controlled
The problem of human distortion of ecological processes, to
by human efforts.
which much attention has been given since the 1960s, was
not directly considered in most of Christian history. Whereas
The tendency to disparage the physical, particularly its
the teaching of Jesus reflects a rural context, the early church
expression in sexuality, had immense practical effects in the
developed largely in urban centers of the Mediterranean
church. It led to the ideal of celibacy and, in the West, to
world, where even the issues associated with agriculture were
the rejection of marriage for secular priests as well as for
little considered. Christian theology dealt with human rela-
members of religious orders. The only moral justification the
tions and especially the relation of human beings to God.
Western church allowed for sexual acts was their necessity for
Christian teaching in the early church had little bearing on
procreation. It taught that the pleasure connected with these
how the natural world was treated at the time.
acts was sinful. The association of the natural world with fer-
tility and sexuality meant that nature shared in the negativity
Nevertheless, retrospectively, the relevance of its teach-
of the human body.
ing in this regard can be seen in the habits of mind and com-
mon practices that developed in Western Christendom after
However, the tendency to denigrate the physical world
the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Concepts of na-
in general was checked by two central Christian doctrines:
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CHRISTIANITY
incarnation and creation. Both of these doctrines required a
This reading of Genesis provides the background for the
defense against those who shared the Gnostic tendency to
dominant Western understanding of the story of the fall, in
carry the hostility to the physical world through to its consis-
which the image of God in human beings is radically cor-
tent conclusion.
rupted. From this it might be concluded that the difference
The classic text for the doctrine of the incarnation of
between humans and other creatures is greatly diminished
God in Jesus is in the prologue to John’s gospel: “The Word
and the authorization to subdue them no longer valid. But
(Logos) became flesh.” Those who thought dualistically of the
the typical reading has been quite different. The emphasis
realm of spirit and the realm of flesh resisted this idea. They
has been, instead, that the good nature created by God for
thought the purely spiritual God could not actually become
human enjoyment, depicted in the Garden of Eden, was also
a part of the physical reality. They argued that Jesus was not
drastically corrupted by human disobedience to God. The
a real being of flesh and blood, but only an appearance in
earth is, therefore, no longer a friendly context for human
the physical world. This idea was called docetism. The church
life. This accents the need for human beings to dominate and
insisted that, on the contrary, the Word truly became “flesh.”
manage the natural world.
There were repeated efforts to interpret incarnation as
A far less anthropocentric and dualistic reading of the
the replacement of some normally human function in Jesus
creation story is possible. One may emphasize that God sees
by the divine. Against this, the creeds insisted that Jesus had
that creation is good before and apart from human beings.
all the dimensions of humanity, so that God assumed every
This suggests that the value of other creatures cannot be sim-
aspect of the human. This cut against the sharp dualism of
ply their usefulness to human beings. In most respects, God
spirit and flesh and indicated that all aspects of human exis-
treats human beings like other animals. The dominion they
tence are subject to redemption. Although there were strong
are given in relation to other animals does not extend to eat-
pressures toward the adoption of the doctrine of the immor-
ing them, and like other animals, humans are given only veg-
tality of the soul, the church insisted on the resurrection of
etation to eat. The sovereignty of human beings within the
the body. This can connect with occasional suggestions in
created order consists in representing God’s rule. God’s rule
the New Testament (especially Romans 8:19–23) that the re-
is for the sake of the ruled, not their exploitation. Today, les-
demption of our bodies is part of the redemption of the
sons of this sort are drawn frequently from the story. But this
whole of creation.
was rare in the tradition.
The locus classicus for the discussion of creation is the
One of the most famous and beloved Christians did
first chapter of Genesis, which deals far more directly and ex-
draw conclusions from the Scriptures that have led to think-
tensively with the natural world than any passage in the New
ing of him as the patron saint of ecologists. Actually, he
Testament. It has played the largest role in Christian history
might better be thought of as the patron saint of animal lov-
in shaping explicit teaching about the natural world, and
ers. The deep sensitivity of Saint Francis to the natural world
while it has been read in many ways, it stands against any
was focused on animals. In this relationship he emphasized
effort to treat the natural world as inherently unreal or evil.
kinship instead of the dualism that justified exploitation.
Those who most strongly opposed the affirmation of the
Saint Francis was not alone in the medieval period in
physical world argued that the God who created this world
opposing dualism, however. Many people thought in terms
is an inferior god. It cannot, they thought, have been the Fa-
of a great chain of being with many links and stages, rather
ther of Jesus Christ. The most important advocate of this
than in terms of the dualistic either/or. There were many sto-
view was Marcion, who wanted to cut Christianity off from
ries, especially from Irish Christianity, of saints who related
its Jewish roots. The church stood firm against him, insisting
positively to animals.
that the Father of Jesus Christ was the creator of the physical
At the practical level, there was also some moderation
world, and that the Jewish scriptures are part of the Christian
of dualism. In contrast to the Desert Fathers in the East,
canon.
Western monasticism balanced spiritual disciplines with
Nevertheless, in much of Western Christian history the
physical labor in the fields. In contrast with much classical
chief lesson drawn from the Genesis creation story has been
thought, it affirmed the dignity of such work and its worthi-
that human beings are the crown of creation. They differ
ness as a form of service to God. Of course, this work was
from all other creatures in that they alone are in the image
also a matter of manipulation and use.
of God, and God has given all the other creatures to human
Sacramental practice could give nature a deeper mean-
beings to control and use. People are commanded both to
ing. It tied spirit to nature in ways that are in tension with
subdue the earth and to increase in number. Hence, al-
dualism. Bread and wine were held to be transmuted into the
though the goodness of the world is recognized in this view,
body and blood of Jesus so as to work salvifically for the be-
that goodness is understood to be a matter of its usefulness
liever. Participation in Jesus was attained by the physical act
to human beings. A nature that resists subjugation to human
of eating and drinking. Sacramental thinking could extend
control may still be viewed in a very negative light. An-
this to the idea that spirit is found everywhere in nature. Na-
thropocentrism and dualism both gain support from this
ture is not thereby deified, but it testifies to the divine and
reading.
communicates it to us.
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CHRISTIANITY
2649
Instead of advancing from medieval Christianity in an
story of liberation from bondage in Egypt. The idea of cre-
ecological direction, modernity hardened the dualism al-
ation was an extension of God’s lordship over history. The
ready well established in Christian teaching and practice.
clear implication is that this extension is dispensable.
The Christian dualism of the premodern era was more prac-
tical than theoretical. God’s concern was generally under-
Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976), the greatest New Tes-
stood to be the redemption of human beings, not of all crea-
tament scholar of the twentieth century, taught that the true
tures; and humans were authorized to use other creatures as
message of the Bible was to be found in existential interpreta-
they saw fit. The church had resisted an ontological dualism
tion of the texts. People are to ask of each text what it means
that would have declared human beings to be of a different
in their personal existence. The idea of creation, from this
substance from other creatures or spirit to be a different sub-
point of view, speaks of a radical personal dependence on
stance from the physical world.
God. It says nothing about the natural world. This outcome
of the long trajectory of Christian anthropocentrism and du-
At the dawn of the modern era that resistance was ended
alism highlights, by contrast, that these tendencies were by
in secular philosophy. Descartes affirmed the ontologically
no means controlling in earlier periods.
different character of mind and matter and set the task of
modern philosophy. Many Christians, especially Protestants,
Western Christianity was awakened from its dogmatic
followed his lead, only a little checked by their commitment
slumbers primarily by the famous 1967 essay of Lynn White
to biblical interpretation. The influence of Saint Thomas on
Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” White
Catholic thought moderated its tendencies to dualism during
wrote as a historian of science and technology. He showed
the modern period.
that Western Christianity had, from an early point, a pecu-
liarly strong tendency to dominate its environment. He
The secularism that modernity encouraged also rigidi-
traced this to the influence of the Western reading of the
fied inherited anthropocentrism. This was checked in Chris-
Bible, and especially the creation story. This attitude provid-
tianity by belief in God. Christianity was, in principle, theo-
ed the context for the development of technology in the
centric rather than anthropocentric. The door was open to
West even at a time when it was somewhat backward cultur-
thinking of the relation of God to the natural world as sepa-
ally. Later it provided the context for the rise of modern sci-
rate from that of humans to this world. The tendency to an-
ence. When science and technology came together in the
thropocentrism resulted from the belief that God cares pri-
chemical revolution, and later in the nuclear one, the mastery
marily for human beings and that the rest of creation was
over nature that was called for in the Western reading of
provided to serve and be used by humans. Thus it was de-
Genesis was dramatically realized. The result, however, is to
rived from theocentrism. But modern secular thought erod-
endanger the future of life on the planet. Unless the goal of
ed this check on human pretensions. God came to function
mastery is checked by other attitudes toward the natural
only as needed by the human thinker, and finally disap-
world, the human venture, now led by the West, is likely to
peared from consideration altogether. The human world be-
end in catastrophe.
came self-contained.
Since the 1970s, Christians have scrambled, somewhat
Most Protestant thinkers have held back from this total
successfully, to contribute to the ecological worldview that
atheism. But in many instances in the past two centuries,
is now so urgently needed. This has been done chiefly by
they have placed anthropology in the center of their work.
highlighting aspects of the scriptures and tradition that had
For many modern Protestants, God seems to be an embar-
been progressively obscured. Official church teaching had al-
rassment. The anthropocentrism of these theologies goes far
ready freed itself from the general denigration of sexuality
beyond that of the tradition.
and the human body that played so large a role in shaping
After Descartes, the most important philosophical influ-
its negativity toward nature. In the twentieth century it rec-
ence on Protestant theology has been Immanuel Kant. His
ognized that this view of sexuality is not biblical and has been
dualism is even more extreme than that of Descartes, and his
profoundly harmful. This repentance for deeply entrenched
anthropocentrism is thoroughgoing. Whereas Descartes as-
teachings paved the way for the recovery of the positive affir-
signed a metaphysical status to nature different from that as-
mations of the natural world in the doctrines of creation and
signed to mind, Kant argued that nature is a construct of the
incarnation and the Pauline understanding of salvation (see
human mind. It has no separate existence.
Rom. 8:19–23).
Most progressive Protestant theology on the continent
Meanwhile, Eastern Orthodox thought has found new
of Europe followed Kant’s lead in the nineteenth and twenti-
vitality in addressing ecological issues. It had never gone as
eth centuries. In this way it was free to ignore the challenge
far as the West in viewing human beings or nature as fallen,
of the natural sciences to traditional Christian teaching. The
it rejected Augustine’s understanding of original sin as trans-
natural world simply disappeared from this theology. Ger-
mitted through the sexual act, and it was not influenced by
hard von Rad, perhaps the greatest Old Testament scholar
Cartesian dualism and Kantian idealism. Accordingly, it has
of the twentieth century, emphasized that Judaism focused
never been as anthropocentric or dualistic as the West. Patri-
on history, not nature. Its basic faith centered on the Exodus
arch Bartholomew of Constantinople has given strong lead-
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND CHRISTIANITY
ership in the Christian world in bringing the church’s
thought. Even those who oppose anthropocentrism and du-
thought to bear on ecological issues in a positive way.
alism in theory find it difficult to incorporate a truly different
way of viewing the world. When viewed in relation to the
The Roman Catholic Church has also spoken powerful-
depth of change that is needed, what has been accomplished
ly through letters from the pope and from the bishops.
is disappointing. When viewed in relation to where the
Among Protestants, the World Council of Churches has
church was in the 1960s, the change appears remarkable and
done especially creative work since 1972 when it introduced
profoundly hopeful.
sustainability into its vision of healthy societies. Later it
called for respect for the “integrity of nature.” Many member
BIBLIOGRAPHY
churches have developed their own statements. There is also
Cobb, John B. Jr. Is It Too Late? A Theology of Ecology. Rev. ed.,
a movement among evangelicals to develop an ecological the-
Denton, Tex., 1995. An early theological response to the rec-
ory influenced by the Bible.
ognition of Christian responsibility for the ecological crisis.
In the West, most of the progress in formulating a more
Originally published in 1972.
ecological theology has come from distinguishing Christian
Daly, Herman E., and John B. Cobb Jr. For the Common Good:
teaching from the Greek and modern philosophies that have
Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment,
and a Sustainable Future. 2d ed. Boston, 1994.
so greatly influenced it. In the East, on the other hand, the
philosophical theology of Gregory of Nyssa has been reem-
DeWitt, Calvin B. Caring for Creation: Responsible Stewardship of
God’s Handiwork. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1998. An evangeli-
phasized for its positive value. In the West, process theology
cal perspective on human responsibility toward nature.
has called for a new connection with philosophy, this time
Hessel, Dieter T., ed. After Nature’s Revolt: Eco-Justice and Theolo-
with one that has systematically developed some of the bibli-
gy. Minneapolis, 1992. A carefully integrated collection of
cal themes that are most useful for ecological purposes.
papers from American Protestants assessing the Christian
For example, the philosophy of Alfred North White-
legacy and dealing with such special concerns as global
head (1861–1947) was developed to counteract the dualism
warming and economics.
and anthropocentrism of modern thought. By identifying
Hessel, Dieter T., and Rosemary Radford Ruether, eds. Christian-
process as basic, instead of substance, it connects more close-
ity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans.
ly with the biblical emphasis on event and story. By affirming
Cambridge, Mass., 2000. The largest and most varied collec-
tion of papers on the topic, derived from a major interna-
the intrinsic reality and value of all things, it picks up the
tional conference. The book also contains an extended bibli-
teaching of Genesis 1. By showing how creaturely diversity
ography. This is the best place to start to get a sense of where
contributes not only to the creatures but also to God, the
Christians concerned about this topic now are.
biblical account of God’s creation and the preservation of
McDaniel, Jay B. Earth, Sky, Gods, and Mortals: Developing an
such diversity are underscored.
Ecological Spirituality. Mystic, Conn., 1990.
Perhaps most important, Whitehead stresses Paul’s in-
McFague, Sallie. Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love
sight that Christ is in us and we are in Christ and that we
Nature. Minneapolis, 1997. An ecofeminist perspective that
are “members of one another” (Eph. 4:25). Nothing is more
emphasizes the need for changing economic understanding
important to the ecological vision than the deep interconnec-
and practice.
tedness of all things. Whitehead shows that the entities that
Nash, James A. Loving Nature: Ecological Integrity and Christian
make up the world participate in the constitution of other
Responsibility. Nashville, 1991. A careful study from the
broadly neo-orthodox perspective.
entities as well as in the life of God, and that God participates
in the constitution of all creatures. What humans do to other
Rasmussen, Larry L. Earth Community, Earth Ethics. Maryknoll,
N.Y., 1996. A richly theological Lutheran perspective.
creatures, especially, in New Testament language, “to the
least of these” (Matt. 25:40), they do to themselves and to
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theol-
ogy of Earth Healing. San Francisco, 1992. A Catholic femi-
God.
nist perspective that emphasizes the sacramental vision as
There is, of course, opposition to this view. Some con-
supporting a healthy relation to the natural world.
servative Christians suppose that any strong affirmation of
Santmire, H. Paul. The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecologi-
the earth revives paganism and amounts to idolatry. The
cal Promise of Christian Theology. Philadelphia, 1985. Sant-
connection between feminism and much of the best work on
mire has done the most thorough study of major figures in
ecological theology has added to this opposition, which is di-
the Christian tradition to examine their treatment of nature.
rected as much, or more, against feminist theology as against
He identifies promising themes as well as noting the obsta-
cles their teachings pose to the development of an ecological
any supposed tendency to deify the natural world.
theology.
But by far the larger problem is the difficulty of chang-
White, Lynn, Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.”
ing basic attitudes even when the need for change is recog-
Science 155 (March 1967): 1203–1207. White’s essay was a
nized. Earth Day is widely observed every year, but emphasis
challenge to the scientific community to recognize the influ-
on the integrity of creation is still rare during the rest of the
ence of theology on its work and to the Christian community
year. Christian habits direct attention to war and injustice,
to revise its theology.
but not easily to ecological decline. This remains an after-
JOHN B. COBB, JR. (2005)
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND ISLAM
2651
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
animals are said to have received divine revelation, as when
ISLAM
God instructs bees on how to make honeycombs and honey
As with most religious traditions, in the Islamic world the
(16:68). The earth was created for the benefit of all living
attempt to retrieve environmental values in response to the
beings (ana¯m), not for humans alone (55:10). In fact, the
present ecological crisis is a recent phenomenon. Moreover,
only significant difference between humans and other beings
the overwhelming majority of Muslim intellectuals remain
is that humans alone possess volition (taqwa), and are thus
preoccupied with other issues (such as Western hegemony,
accountable for their actions.
local and regional politics, gender issues, the role of religion
Humans will accordingly be held accountable for any
in society), and accord environmental degradation a margin-
acts of wanton destruction committed against the earth
al status if they pay attention to it at all. Indeed, it might not
(2:205, 7:85). Wastefulness and overconsumption are also
be an exaggeration to state that environmental discourse is
prohibited (7:31), as is hoarding. Water, arguably the most
less developed within the contemporary Islamic tradition
vital natural resource, is to be kept as common property
than among the followers of most other major religious tradi-
(54:28). Balance (m¯ıiza¯n) is to be maintained in all things,
tions. Nevertheless, the few Islamic thinkers who have ad-
including, presumably, natural systems (13:8, 15:21, 25:2);
dressed environmental values specifically have found much
failure to do so, consequently, may be argued to be un-
in the tradition that could potentially lead Muslims to value
Islamic.
nature and to adopt a more effective and responsible steward-
ship ethic than one typically sees throughout the Muslim
IN H:AD¯ITH. The Arabs to whom the QurDa¯n was revealed
world today.
in the early seventh century CE had a long familiarity with
HUMANS AND NATURE IN THE QURDA¯N. The QurDa¯n pres-
the ecological constraints posed by their native desert envi-
ents natural phenomena as signs (ayat) pointing to the exis-
ronment. Reports about the words and deeds of Muh:ammad
tence of God (16:66, 41:53, 51:20–21, 88:17–20). The
(h:ad¯ıth) indicate that the Prophet of Islam possessed both
value of nature is therefore primarily symbolic. Scientific in-
an awareness of these constraints and a sensitivity to the du-
quiry, which aims to understand the workings of the uni-
ties of humans toward the rest of creation.
verse, thus constitutes for Muslims a sacred quest. Nature is
Muh:ammad received the first of his revelations while
perfectly proportioned and without any flaws (67:3), a reflec-
meditating in a cave on a mountain outside of Mecca. Thus,
tion of the qualities of its Creator. It has a divinely ordained
as in the case of numerous other seminal religious figures, his
purpose (3:191, 21:16, 38:27) and is neither random nor
insights came within the context of immersion in the natural
meaningless. The “environment” is nothing less than God
world. Perhaps the most illuminating of the h:ad¯ıth in this
himself, since, according to the QurDa¯n, “whithersoever you
regard is the one that states, “The earth has been created for
turn there is the presence of God” (2:115).
me as a mosque [i.e., as a place of worship], and as a means
Within the hierarchy of creation, the QurDa¯n accords
of purification” (Sah¯ıh Bukha¯r¯ı 1:331).
humans a special status, that of God’s Khal¯ıfa (2:30, 6:165),
A well-known h:ad¯ıth has Muh:ammad prohibiting his
which has been generally understood by Muslims to mean
followers from wasting water, even when it is found in abun-
“vice-regent,” thus one of stewardship or trust (amanat).
dance and when it is used for a holy purpose such as ritual
Jafar Sheikh Idris (1990) has criticized this as a later interpre-
ablutions (Musnad ii, 22). Muh:ammad also decreed that no
tation, however, arguing that the original meaning of Khal¯ıfa
more than an ankle depth of water (that is, sufficient for one
was “successor”; according to this view, humans are not the
season) could be taken for irrigation. Essential resources are
“deputies of God” but simply the “successors to Adam.”
to be common, not private property: “Muslims share alike
Nevertheless, the QurDa¯n states that “all that is in the
in three things—water, pasture and fire” (Mishka¯t
earth” has been subjected (sakhkhara) to humans (22:65) and
al-mas:a¯b¯ıh:).
that “It is He who has created for you all things that are on
Numerous h:ad¯ıth speak to Muh:ammad’s concern for
earth” (2:29). Yet ultimately, it is God “in whose hands is
the interests of nonhuman animals. In regard to the killing
the dominion of all things” (36:83; cf. 2:107, 24:42). And
of domestic animals for food he called for swift and conscien-
though humans are said to have been created “in the best of
tious slaughter with a sharp knife (Sah¯ıh Muslim 2:11, “Slay-
forms” (fi ah:sani taqwim), the QurDa¯n goes on to caution that
ing,” 10:739) and not to slaughter an animal within view of
“Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is [a
its kin. He forbade hunting for sport and frequently repri-
matter] greater than the creation of human beings: Yet most
manded his followers for abusing or neglecting their camels
people understand not!” (40:57).
and donkeys. He urged his followers to plant trees and culti-
Humans are described in the QurDa¯n as being more like
vate land to provide food not only for humans but for birds
other beings than unlike them. All creation is said to worship
and other animals as well (Sahih Bukhari 3:513). In a h:ad¯ıth
God (22:18), even if its praise is not expressed in human lan-
that is strikingly similar to a well-known rabbinical saying,
guage (17:44, 24:41–42). Nonhuman communities are said
Muh:ammad is reported as saying, “When doomsday comes
to be like human communities (6:38), and nonhuman ani-
if someone has a palm shoot in his hand he should [still]
mals are explicitly said to possess speech (27:16). Nonhuman
plant it” (Suna¯n al-Ba¯ıhaq¯ı al-Kubra¯).
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND ISLAM
IN ISLAMIC LAW. The legal corpus known as the shar¯ı Eah,
natura naturata (the created) (Nasr, 1993, p. 9). In Islamic
codified by Islamic jurists during the eighth through the
philosophy the distinction between the Creator and creation
tenth centuries CE, was meant to address the breadth of
is represented by the terms haqq (literally, “Divine Truth”)
human activity and thus includes aspects that could be said
and khalq (that which is created). The laws of the universe
to deal with environmental protection and management of
exist not in and of themselves but rather as expressions of the
natural resources. Sunn¯ı jurists based their prescriptions on
divine will, understood in Aristotelian terms as the First
interpretation of QurDanic injunctions, the example of
Cause. There are no “secondary” causes; thus, what appear
Muh:ammad as attested in the h:ad¯ıth, analogical reasoning,
to be the laws of nature are merely the “habits” of created
and their own consensus of opinion, as well as preexisting
things, which God could alter if he chose. Miracles, accord-
customary practices of the Arabs and the Persians in particu-
ingly, are seen simply as instances in which God chooses to
lar, and to some extent of other Muslim peoples. Other
cause things to happen in other than their familiar, habitual
schools of Islam also developed their own approaches to de-
manner.
fining the shar¯ı Eah.
Yet the relationship of the infinite (the Creator) to the
Common aspects of shar¯ı Eah law with the most explicit
finite (creation) is neither entirely one of immanence (tasb¯ıh:)
environmental applications may be the institution of the
nor one of transcendence (tanzih:), since both extremes are
protected zone (h:arim), which prohibited the development
incompatible with the ultimate oneness (tawh:¯ıd) of God.
of certain areas, mainly riverbanks, for purposes of protecting
Neither can creation be divine alongside the Creator, nor can
watersheds. A related institution is that of the preserve
there exist separate realities for each; either case would repre-
(h:ima), which usually entailed the protection of trees and
sent a kind of polytheism (shirk) unacceptable in Islam.
wildlife. Some traditional h:arims and h:imas still exist today,
The Muslim philosophers developed further the Helle-
but they are much diminished from former times and con-
nistic model of the cosmos, which they understood to be
tinue to disappear. The legal texts go into some detail about
spherical in shape and bounded by the stellar field. The plan-
the distribution of water resources and also devote sections
ets, the sun, and the moon occupy the middle layers, with
to the “bringing to life” (ih:ya) of “dead” lands (mawa¯t), in-
the earth constituting the center. The heavenly world
cluding the conditions and rights pertaining to one who en-
(al- Ea¯lam al-a¯ Ela), though made up of ether in contrast to
gages in such “development.”
the lower world (al- Ea¯lam al-asfa¯l), which is comprised of the
Islamic law also extends many legal protections to non-
four elements, shares with it the qualities of heat, cold,
human animals, including the “right of thirst” (h:aqq al-
moistness, and dryness and acts upon it accordingly. The
shurb), which states that they cannot be denied drinking
earth’s geography was most often understood in terms of the
water (QurDa¯n 91:13). A thirteenth-century work by EIzz
pre-Islamic Iranian divisions of seven concentric climes
al-d¯ın Ibn EAbd al-salam, QawaDid al-ahkam f¯ı masa¯lih:
(keshvars), although the fourfold division of the Greeks and
al-ana¯m (Rules for Judgment in the Cases of Living Beings), in-
the ninefold version of the Indians were also known.
cludes what some contemporary commentators have called
Muslim philosophers affirm the position of humans
“an animals’ bill of rights.” Among the provisions are that
near the top within the hierarchy of created beings, below
animals should be properly cared for, not overburdened, kept
angels but above other animals, plants, and minerals. Hu-
safe from harm, given clean shelter, and allowed to mate.
mans are the mediators between the heavenly and earthly
Although there is little in the classical legal corpus that
realms and a major channel for divine grace. The human
could be explicitly categorized as environmental law, there
body, furthermore, is perceived as a microcosm of the uni-
exist within it several basic principles that could, if so inter-
verse, with specific parts of the body being identified with
preted, serve to mitigate some of the main causes of global
parts of the zodiac and thus subject to their influences.
environmental degradation today. In particular, one may cite
The Ikhwa¯n al-S:afa, in their tenth-century treatises col-
the principles of minimizing damage, the primacy of collec-
lectively known as the Rasa¯ Dil, write that the study of nature
tive over individual interests, and the giving of priority to the
offers proof of God: “Know that the perfect manufacturing
interests of the poor over those of the rich. While some con-
of an object indicates the existence of a wise and perfect arti-
temporary Muslims—notably Mawil Izzi Dien and Uthman
san even when he is veiled and inaccessible to sense percep-
Llewellyn—have attempted to provide such interpretations,
tion. He who meditates upon botanical objects will of neces-
these have not yet found their way into the legal codes of any
sity know that the beings of this reign issue from a perfect
existing Muslim societies.
artisan” (quoted in Nasr, 1993, p. 45). For the Ikhwa¯n, who
IN ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY. From around the tenth century CE
admired Pythagoras, emphasized numbers, regarding them
Muslim philosophers, familiar with Classical works, appear
as an important means of insight into the ordering of nature.
to have been the ones to coin the Arabic term tabi Ea to repre-
In one section of their treatise the Ikhwa¯n present a fictitious
sent the Latin and Greek equivalents natura and physis. (The
court case in which nonhuman animals complain of their
word tabi Ea does not appear in the QurDa¯n.) The derivatives
treatment by humans. Goodman has drawn attention to the
tab E and matbu E may, on the other hand, have been the
similarity of ecological vision evoked in this tenth-century
source of the Latin pairing natura naturans (the creating) and
tract with that of contemporary ecologists (Goodman, 1978,
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND ISLAM
2653
pp. 5–6). The Ikhawa¯n were a marginal group, however, and
which is not often—their responses tend to be backward
their views should not be taken to represent the mainstream
looking and self-exonerating: premodern Muslim societies
Islamic thought of the time.
are argued to have been perfectly ecological or nearly so, and
IN SUFISM. Muslim mystics, known as S:u¯f¯ıs, have tended to
current environmental problems to be the fault of hegemonic
interpret QurDanic references to the oneness of God (tawh:¯ıd)
Western ideologies and lifestyles.
as indicating an underlying unity to all reality. The Andalu-
Given that among the world’s billion-plus Muslims a
sian mystic Muh:y¯ı al-D¯ın ibn al-EArab¯ı (1165–1240) de-
disproportionately high number live in poverty, and that the
scribed creation in terms of “unity of being” (wah:dat
poor suffer more immediately and dramatically from the ef-
al-wuju¯d), an idea that won wide popularity among S:u¯f¯ıs es-
fects of environmental degradation than do the rich, the lack
pecially in South Asia, where his work remains highly influ-
of serious critical attention to environmental issues by Mus-
ential. Some Muslims have found this belief to verge danger-
lim intellectuals is striking. For all the attention given in cur-
ously close to pantheism, however; the seventeenth-century
rent Islamic discourse to issues of social justice, the environ-
Indian S:u¯f¯ı teacher Shah Waliullah preferred the term “unity
ment figures very little or not at all.
of witness” (wah:dat al-shuhud) as more clearly maintaining
the distinction between Creator and creation.
The number of Islamic voices calling attention to envi-
ronmental issues is growing, though such voices remain so
The S:u¯f¯ı notion of the “Complete Man” (insan al-
far outside of the mainstream of Islamic thought. It is per-
kamil), also elaborated by Ibn al-EArab¯ı, expands the concep-
haps significant that among the very few Muslim intellectu-
tion of the human being as microcosm of the universe. For
als to write on environmental values in Islamic terms, almost
S:u¯f¯ıs, cultivation of the individual is analogous to cultivation
all have written their works in English. The first was Seyyed
of the cosmos as a whole; thus, one’s personal spiritual devel-
Hossein Nasr beginning in the 1960s. Since that time at-
opment can affect the entire world.
tempts to describe an Islamic environmental ethic have been
To S:u¯f¯ıs such as Jala¯ludd¯ın Ru¯m¯ı (1207–1273), not
undertaken by Mawil Izzi Dien, Bashir Ahmad al-Masri, Fa-
just animals and plants but the entire universe of creation is
zlun Khalid, and others.
alive. “Earth and water and fire are His slaves,” he writes in
For the most part the criticisms of several Muslim intel-
the Masnav¯ı-yi ma Enav¯ı; “With you and me they are dead,
lectuals have been directed at modernity as imposed on Mus-
but with God they are alive” (1.838). Nature also speaks,
lim societies by the West, in particular such practices as inter-
though only the mystics realize this: “The speech of water,
est taking (riba, which is forbidden in Islam) and the global
the speech of the earth, and the speech of mud are appre-
economic system that is founded upon it, as well as the ero-
hended by the sense of them that have hearts” (1.3279). The
sion of traditional Muslim social networks and the encour-
conversations of nature are indicative of affective relation-
agement of materialistic lifestyles. Overconsumption by the
ships: “You yourself know what words the sun, in the sign
West is held to be the major cause of global environmental
of Aries, speaks to the plants and the date palms/You your-
degradation, while overpopulation in the developing world
self, too, know what the limpid water is saying to the sweet
is not, a view believed justified by the QurDa¯nic verse, “There
herbs and the sapling” (6.1068–1069). Moreover, the S:u¯f¯ıs
is not a creature that walks on the earth but that Alla¯h pro-
often employ the symbolism of love (Eishq) to describe the
vides for its needs” (11:6). One example of a trend against
relationship of mutual attraction between the Creator and
continuing fervent pro-natalism characteristic of traditional
his creation. Yunus Emre, a thirteenth-century Turkish poet,
Muslim societies can be detected in the official policies of the
composed the famous line, “We love all creation for the sake
Islamic Republic of Iran, which since the late 1980s have
of its Creator.”
called for a reduction in birthrates.
Many S:u¯f¯ı tales, such as those found in the works of
Ru¯m¯ı, Attar, and others, include animal characters, though
The ecological remedies proposed by contemporary Is-
these are almost always stand-ins for human characteristics
lamic environmentalists generally involve some kind of “re-
associated with particular species. Nonhuman animals are
vival” of premodern models that are often highly idealized
seen as occupying a level below humans, and the “animal
visions of traditional Islamic society. There has been little se-
soul” of the philosophers is equated by the S:u¯f¯ıs with the
rious attempt to gauge critically the extent to which the life
“lower self” (nafs), or one’s own baser instincts, which along
ways of premodern Muslim societies were in fact “more eco-
the path of spiritual development one strives to overcome.
logical” than present-day ones, or to which they resembled
the guidelines provided in classical Islamic law, although
CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM DISCOURSE ON THE ENVIRON-
there is much evidence that in areas such as land and water
MENT. The terms used by contemporary Muslims to denote
protection, hunting for sport, and so on, abuses were ram-
“the environment”—for example, al-bi Eat in Arabic, mohit-e
pant, as indeed one may find in any human society.
zist in Persian, and çevre in Turkish—are all of recent deriva-
tion. In Muslim societies around the world discussions on
In summary, it may be concluded that the discussion on
environmental ethics and the protection of natural resources
Islam and ecology is in its very early stages but that it is likely
remain marginal and the level of discourse in most cases very
to gain in relevance and sophistication as growing numbers
low. When Muslim intellectuals address these topics at all—
of Muslims come to engage it as a vital contemporary issue.
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2654
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND ECOLOGY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
commanded to subdue it. In retrospect, of course, White’s
Ba Kader, Abu Bakr Ahmed, Abdel Latif Tawfik al-Shirazi al-
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Sabagh, Mohamed al-Sayed al-Glenid, and Mawil Y. Izzi
He claims that the Judeo-Christian worldview is anthropo-
Dien. Islamic Principles for the Conservation of the Environ-
centric, while the fragments of text from Genesis on which
ment. Gland, Switzerland, 1983. The first formal attempt by
he bases his interpretation seem to be clearly theocentric.
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THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP ENVIRONMENTAL
ETHIC. Indeed, apologists eventually succeeded in develop-
Foltz, Richard C., Frederick M. Denny, and Azizan Baharuddin,
eds. Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust. Cambridge, Mass.,
ing a very powerful Judeo-Christian stewardship environ-
2003. The most expansive collection of essays to date, most
mental ethic based on a fuller and subtler reading of the same
of them by scholars writing from within the tradition.
texts. In several preceding verses God declares the creation
to be “good.” In the emerging technical terminology of aca-
Goodman, Lenn Evan, trans. The Case of the Animals versus Man
before the King of the Jinn: A Tenth-Century Ecological Fable
demic environmental ethics, God thereby confers “intrinsic
of the Pure Brethren of Basra. Boston, 1978. An excellent
value” on the creation. And in subsequent verses the first
translation of a fascinating, but highly unrepresentative me-
man, Adam, is charged to “dress and keep” the Garden of
dieval tract.
Eden. If the Garden may be understood to represent nature
Idris, Jafar Sheikh. “Is Man the Viceregent of God?” Journal of Is-
as a whole, then the appropriate human relationship to na-
lamic Studies 1, no. 1 (1990): 99–110. A revisionist essay
ture seems to be that of caretaker, not conqueror. In light
which seeks to correct long-held misperceptions about a key
of this passage, the aforementioned (and somewhat ambigu-
Islamic term.
ous) “dominion” must then, the apologists go on to argue,
Izzi Dien, Mawil Y. The Environmental Dimensions of Islam. Cam-
surely connote not only special privileges but also special re-
bridge, U.K., 2000. The first book-length single-authored
sponsibilities—paramount among them the duty to steward
treatise on Islam and the environment by a practitioner. Lim-
and conserve creation.
ited to the Sunn¯ı legalistic perspective.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THOUGHT AND ACTION. The
Khalid, Fazlun, and Joanne O’Brien, eds. Islam and Ecology. Lon-
daring and lurid charge that the Judeo-Christian world-
don, 1992.
view—as its implications historically unfolded through two
al-Masri, Hafez B. A. Animals in Islam. Petersfield, U.K., 1989.
millennia—is to blame for the environmental crisis eclipsed
A short, early collection of essays.
a more general lemma, or fundamental assumption, that
Nanji, Azimed. Building for Tomorrow. London, 1994.
White reiterates throughout his essay: that what we do de-
pends on what we think, and, corollary to that, that we can-
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological
Doctrines (1964). Rev. ed. Albany, N.Y., 1993. A discussion
not change what we do—to the environment in this case—
of the cosmological thought of three early Islamic philoso-
until we change what we think about it and about ourselves
phers.
in relationship to it. As long as we believe that we are right-
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in
fully lords and masters of creation, we shall never care for and
Modern Man. London, 1967. One of the first books to ad-
conserve it. If this is true—and philosophers above all others
dress the spiritual dimension of the environmental crisis,
are inclined to believe that it is—then to meet the challenge
written by a Westernized Muslim scholar for a Western
of the environmental crisis requires more than the develop-
audience.
ment of scientific knowledge to better understand its proxi-
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Science and Civilization in Islam. Cam-
mate causes and the development of new “appropriate” tech-
bridge, Mass., 1968. Argues that the scientific tradition in
nologies. It requires a revolution in our most basic beliefs and
Islam, unlike in the West, never lost its sacred dimension.
values—beliefs about the nature of nature, human nature,
and the proper relationship between the two. That is a job
RICHARD C. FOLTZ (2005)
not for scientists and engineers but for philosophers, theolo-
gians, and historians of religion.
AN AGENDA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY AND COM-
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ENVIRONMENTAL
PARATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL THEOLOGY. White thus sets the
ETHICS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND ECOLOGY
two-step agenda for a new domain of philosophical inquiry.
Environmental ethics emerged as a new subdiscipline of phi-
There are other traditions of thought—most notably the
losophy in the early 1970s. It arose as a response to the wide-
Greco-Roman tradition—that have powerfully informed the
spread perception of an “environmental crisis” in the 1960s.
modern Western worldview, in which context, White be-
The inspiration for a systematic exploration of environmen-
lieved, the environmental crisis had been spawned. As a first
tal ethics was Lynn White Jr.’s (in)famous article, “The His-
step, these ideas about the nature of nature (such as the
torical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” published in Science
atomic theory of matter) and human nature (as, for example,
in 1967. In this article White laid the blame for the “ecologic
defined by reason) and the relationship between the two (du-
crisis” at the doorstep of the Judeo-Christian worldview—in
alism) must also be identified and debunked. As a second
which “man” is exclusively created in the image of God,
step, new ideas—perhaps abstracted from such revolutionary
given “dominion” over the earth (and all its creatures), and
twentieth-century sciences as quantum physics, evolutionary
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND ECOLOGY
2655
biology, and ecology—must be woven into a new, environ-
intrinsic value) of the beings who have them. And, argues
mentally responsible worldview.
Regan, beings who are “subjects of a life,” who have a sense
of self, a remembered past, an anticipated future, desires,
In suggesting that other religions—such as ancient Eu-
aversions—a life, in short, that can go better or worse from
ropean paganism and Zen Buddhism—espoused environ-
their own point of view—have intrinsic value. Kant thought
mentally responsible worldviews, White also set an agenda
that only rational beings have intrinsic value, but that doc-
for comparative religion and environmental thought. How
trine, Regan believes, falls to the Argument from Marginal
do other religious worldviews picture the nature of nature,
Cases. The “marginal cases” are prerational human infants,
human nature, and the proper relationship between the two?
abjectly mentally challenged human beings, and postrational
White’s interpretations of European paganism and Zen Bud-
human seniors suffering from dementia. Because all such
dhism were as jejune and cavalier as his interpretation of the
human beings are not rational, they have no intrinsic value,
Judeo-Christian worldview. But a more patient, thorough,
by Kant’s reckoning, and thus no rights. Therefore, they
and expert evaluation of the potential of all the world’s reli-
can—if the Kantian criterion is consistently applied—be
gions to ground and foster environmental ethics was implic-
subjected to all the horrors and indignities to which we sub-
itly called for. In direct reaction to White’s suggestion,
ject rightless animals: use them for biomedical experimenta-
Christian theologians led the way in formulating the stew-
tion, hunt them sport, or make dog food out of them. To
ardship environmental ethic. Scholars and representatives of
bring the marginal cases into the class of beings protected by
various and diverse religious traditions of thought—
rights, we must relax the criterion for intrinsic value. Though
Hinduism, Jainism, Daoism, Confucianism—soon followed
not rational, the marginal cases are subjects of a life, but so
by articulating very different environmental ethics. That en-
are many other kinds of animals.
terprise—sometimes called the greening of religion—is now
well advanced, spurred in large part by the Harvard confer-
BIOCENTRISM. Animals, however, represent only a tiny frac-
ence series and subsequent books on “World Religions and
tion of the environment that is alleged to be in a state of cri-
Ecology.”
sis. What about plants and other organisms that are certainly
alive but that cannot be regarded as subjects of a life? A major
ANIMAL LIBERATION AND ANIMAL RIGHTS. Creating a non-
school of thought in environmental ethics attempts to take
anthropocentric environmental ethic has been the central
Regan’s reasoning a step further. All organisms, plants in-
preoccupation of secular environmental philosophy. The
cluded, arguably have interests and goods of their own, even
first generation of environmental philosophers, steeped in
if they are not interested in their interests or care about what
modern Western ethical theory, tried to develop non-
is good or bad for them. If they are not subjects of a life, they
anthropocentric environmental ethics out of one or the other
are, according to Paul Taylor, “teleological centers of life”:
dominant strands of thought in (militantly anthropocentric)
they have unconscious ends (goals or purposes)—to grow,
Western ethics—utilitarianism and Kantianism.
to thrive, to reproduce—which may be fostered or frustrated
The most orthodox—and for that reason among the
by moral agents. Being a teleological center of life should
most compelling—of such efforts was mounted by Peter
therefore, according to Taylor, be the criterion for intrinsic
Singer and called “animal liberation.” At the foundation of
value (or inherent worth). However, no influential environ-
the utilitarian strain of modern ethical theory is the axiom
mental philosophers are willing to go so far as to base univer-
that pleasure is good and pain is evil; and, further, that every
sal organic rights on universal organic intrinsic value. Instead,
moral agent should strive to maximize the good (pleasure)
according to Kenneth Goodpaster, all organisms deserve at
and minimize evil (pain), no matter where or by whom expe-
least to have “moral considerability”—that is, a moral agent
rienced—the agent him- or herself or anyone else. Singer
should at least take their interests into consideration when
simply pointed out that many nonhuman beings were also
his or her actions would affect such beings. Holmes Rolston
“sentient” (capable of experiencing pleasure and pain); there-
III has most fully developed this school of thought in envi-
fore, for utilitarianism to be entirely consistent, the pleasure
ronmental ethics. He insists that we have duties to species
and pain of all sentient beings should be given equal consid-
as well as specimens because the telos they are striving to real-
eration with human pleasure and pain. Singer thought ani-
ize is precisely their kind or species. And, Rolston also insists,
mal liberation required vegetarianism—and billions of ani-
we have duties to ecosystems and to biotic communities be-
mals do indeed suffer grievously in the contemporary meat
cause they are the necessary contexts in which organisms
industry. But in an ideally reformed meat industry, animals
thrive.
might be comfortably raised and painlessly slaughtered.
Despite Rolston’s ingenuity, the main problem with
Thus, the pleasure human beings take in eating meat might
this neo-Kantian strain of environmental ethics is that it does
be vouchsafed with no pain suffered by animals on the debit
not directly address the actual environmental concerns that
side of the utilitarian benefit-cost ledger.
mandated the development of environmental ethics in the
To remedy the failure of animal liberation morally to
first place. In healthy ecosystems and stable biotic communi-
condemn the killing and eating of some of our fellow ani-
ties, individual organisms routinely and necessarily get their
mals, Tom Regan developed a case for animal rights. Rights,
ends frustrated. What is of actual environmental concern is
according to Regan, are based on the “inherent worth” (or
not the ups and downs in the careers of individual organisms.
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND ECOLOGY
Rather, concern focuses on abrupt, mass species extinction
ed Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization, and
and the erosion of biodiversity; ecological degradation; glob-
funded by financial institutions such as the World Bank and
al climate change; soil erosion; desertification; air and water
International Monetary Fund, we sanguinely call it the
pollution; and the hole in the earth’s stratospheric ozone
Global Village or, more ominously, the New World Order.
membrane. Other environmental philosophers—who seek
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human
to tailor a theory of environmental ethics to actual environ-
Rights, adopted in 1948, is its ethical correlative.
mental concerns, rather than the other way around—have
thus found it necessary to work outside the modern classical
A year later after the UN human rights declaration, Leo-
utilitarian and Kantian paradigms. The former terminates in
pold was, as Darwin before him, looking beyond his own
animal liberation, the latter basically in plant liberation, not
time to the next step in this process. For, as Leopold was
in the more comprehensive and holistic environmental ethic
keenly aware, ecology had discovered that we are members
that the environmental crisis demands.
not only of multiple human communities—our extended
families, our ethnic groups, our municipalities and states, our
THE LAND ETHIC. Often called a prophet, Aldo Leopold an-
nations or countries, and now the Global Village—we are
ticipated the emergence of the environmental crisis by more
also members of similarly nested biotic communities. If there
than a decade and, in response, sketched a “land ethic.” Leo-
is indeed an intimate—perhaps even an innate—correlation
pold was not a philosopher by training. He was trained in
between our perception of community membership and an
forestry at Yale University and began his career with the U.S.
ethical response, as Darwin argued, then when, through uni-
Forest Service, eventually to become a professor of game
versal ecological literacy, people become aware of their mem-
management and wildlife ecology at the University of Wis-
bership in biotic communities, they will respond with envi-
consin. Thus, he was less constrained by the modern West-
ronmental (or land) ethics.
ern ethical paradigms than latterly were academic environ-
mental philosophers. He was apparently influenced instead
ECOCENTRIC HOLISM AND THE PROBLEM OF ECOFASCISM.
by Darwin’s theory of the origin and development of ethics
Because Darwin thought of ethics as more focused on and
in the The Descent of Man. J. Baird Callicott has filled in Leo-
concerned with society as a whole, not its members severally,
pold’s outline of an environmental ethic and provided it with
the environmental ethic that Leopold erected on these Dar-
a full philosophical pedigree and expression.
winian foundations makes for a better fit with actual envi-
ronmental concerns. According to Leopold, “a thing is right
According to Darwin, ethics evolved from “parental and
when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty
filial affections,” which were more widely directed to more
of the biotic community; it is wrong when it tends other-
distant kin (uncles, aunts, cousins, and so on) by natural se-
wise.” Leopold understood the biotic community to include
lection—because they bonded individuals into united socie-
not only plants and animals but also soils and waters. This
ties or communities. As members of united societies or com-
broad, holistic precept thus addresses species extinction and
munities, pursuing the struggle for existence collectively,
loss of biodiversity—for nothing so violates the integrity of
individuals had a better chance to survive and reproduce
biotic communities than the loss of their component spe-
than they would as loners. Certain kinds of individual behav-
cies—water pollution, soil erosion, and most of the other
ior—murder, theft, adultery, treachery—threaten group sol-
things that are of actual environmental concern. Further, it
idarity. Ethics emerged when our earliest human ancestors
allows for the subordination of the interests of individual or-
evolved sufficient intelligence to trace the consequences of
ganisms to the good of the whole, to the integrity, stability,
generalized forms of behavior on society, sufficient powers
and beauty of the biotic community.
of imagination to envision those consequences, and, finally,
language in which prohibitions against antisocial behavior
One should immediately worry, however, that it might
could be encoded. Then, according to Darwin, as these small
also allow for the subordination of individual human inter-
original human societies—which were scarcely anything
ests to the good of the whole. Not surprisingly then, a charge
more than extended families—flourished and began to com-
of “ecofascism” has been leveled at Leopold’s land ethic, first
pete with one another for limited resources, those that
by Tom Regan. Fortunately, the charge will not stick because
merged together to form larger, better organized communi-
Leopold understood the land ethic to be an “accretion”—
ties won out. As Darwin envisioned it, over time this process
that is, an addition—to our older and more venerable tradi-
of social evolution through merger was repeated several
tions of human ethics, not a substitution or replacement for
times. Clans, also known as gens, merged to form tribes;
them. In the Darwinian foundations of the Leopold land
tribes merged to form nationalities; closely related nationali-
ethic, when smaller societies merge to form larger societies,
ties merged to form sovereign states. Each of these moments
the older more venerable social strata do not dissolve. Even
in the evolution of human societies was accompanied by a
as we are now members of the Global Village, we are still very
correlative development of ethics. Darwin foresaw a time in
much also members of extended families and nation-states.
the future—which is now upon us—in which a single
And the ethics correlative to those social strata remain opera-
human society, global in scope, would emerge. Facilitated by
tive and in many circumstances preemptive. Unfortunately,
sophisticated transportation and communication technolo-
the duties and obligations generated by our multiple com-
gies, loosely organized by such governing bodies as the Unit-
munity memberships are not always mutually consistent.
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Family obligations and patriotic duties may conflict. One or
plementary, not competitive. The mainstream approach
another of the duties generated by our memberships in vari-
aims at the long term—what Hans Kung called a “transfor-
ous human communities may conflict with the obligations
mation of consciousness”—something that will not occur in
generated by our membership in various biotic communities.
a human lifetime. The pragmatic approach aims at the (rela-
Nor, also unfortunately, is there any algorithm that one may
tively) short term—environmental issues and public policies
mechanically apply to them to resolve such moral conun-
that are current for spans of time ranging from a few years
drums. A person of goodwill must simply weigh and balance
to a decade or two (some of which of course may entrain
conflicting duties and obligations as best he or she can and
long-term irreversible effects). The environmental crisis re-
try to choose wisely among them those that, under the cir-
quires both approaches if ever it is to be adequately ad-
cumstances, are the most compelling.
dressed.
THE EARTH CHARTER. Just as the Universal Declaration of
B
Human Rights crystallized the then-new ethic of the emerg-
IBLIOGRAPHY
Barkey, Michael B. Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-
ing Global Village, so the Earth Charter, also developed
Christian Tradition: Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Wisdom
under the auspices of the United Nations, crystallizes the
on the Environment. Grand Rapids, Mich., 2000.
currently new ethic of the biospheric ecological community.
Callicott, J. Baird. In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environ-
The Earth Charter was anticipated in the early 1990s by
mental Philosophy. Albany, N.Y., 1989.
Hans Kung’s “Declaration of the Religions for a Global
Callicott, J. Baird. Earth’s Insights: A Multicultural Survey of Eco-
Ethic,” commissioned by the Parliament of the World’s Reli-
logical Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian
gions. It acknowledges, among other crises, a crisis of “global
Outback. Berkeley, Calif., 1994.
ecology” and, albeit largely focused on humanitarian con-
Callicott, J. Baird. Beyond the Land Ethic: More Essays in Environ-
cerns, declares that “the new global order” should be, among
mental Philosophy. Albany, N.Y., 1999.
other things, “nature friendly.” Kung’s declaration was re-
Goodpaster, Kenneth E. “On Being Morally Considerable.” Jour-
viewed at an interdisciplinary colloquium with participants
nal of Philosophy 75 (1978): 308–325.
from various religions and continents and sent to various col-
Kung, Hans. “The Parliament of the World’s Religions Declara-
leagues and friends who responded with dozens of sugges-
tion toward a Global Ethic,” 1993. Available from http://
tions for its improvement. The Earth Charter was drafted
astro.temple.edu.
and repeatedly redrafted by an international committee
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and
based on systematic “consultations,” spanning a decade, with
There. New York, 1949.
thousands of individuals from different cultural backgrounds
Norton, Bryan. Toward Unity among Environmentalists. New
and sectors of society, representing hundreds of organiza-
York, 1991.
tions, from all regions of the world. The first two of the four
Regan, Tom. The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley, 1983.
principles of the Earth Charter are, like the Leopold land
Rockefeller, Steven. “The Earth Charter at the Johannesburg
ethic, holistic in scope and focus, respectively, on “respect
Summit: A Report Prepared by the Earth Charter Steering
and care for the community of life,” and “ecological integri-
Committee and International Secretariat,” 2002. Available
ty.” Two principles of the Earth Charter—concerning “so-
from http://www.earthcharter.usa.org.
cial and economic justice” and “democracy, nonviolence,
Rolston, Holmes. Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the
and peace”—spell out what Leopold only assumed, that en-
Natural World. Philadelphia, 1988.
vironmental ethics must be harmonized with more tradition-
Rolston, Holmes. Conserving Natural Value. New York, 1994.
al and familiar ethics concerned with individual human lib-
Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment
erty, welfare, and rights.
of Animals. New York, 1977.
THE PRAGMATIC APPROACH. Not all environmental philos-
Taylor, Paul W. Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental
ophers have been happy with the search for a nonanthropo-
Ethics. Princeton, N.J., 1986.
centric environmental ethic that has dominated the environ-
White, Lynn, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.”
mental-philosophy literature. Environmental pragmatists—
Science 155 (1967): 1203–1207.
Bryan Norton, most notably and persistently—have
J. BAIRD CALLICOTT (2005)
criticized the preoccupation of their colleagues with theory
building, especially the construction of some comprehensive
theory designed to embrace all environmental concerns. In-
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: SCIENCE,
stead they call for a bottom-up approach: beginning with ac-
RELIGION, AND ECOLOGY
tual issues, such as a proposal to dam a river, and then sorting
The contemporary dialogue between religion and science is
out the attitudes and values at play in such cases, with the
part of the foundation of the religion and ecology dialogue.
purpose of finding a course of action on which most interest-
Many of the contemporary luminaries in this dialogue—Ian
ed parties can agree, irrespective of their attitudinal and
Barbour, Holmes Rolston III, John Haught, John Cobb, Jr.,
moral differences. These two approaches to environmental
and many others—also have published on ecological issues.
philosophy—comprehensive theory building and an action-
Both fields try to understand the relationship of humans and
oriented search for pragmatic consensus—appear to be com-
nature.
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Religion is an extremely diverse phenomenon, always
questions, though it gives rise to new insights and technolo-
plural, and difficult to philosophically define. The same can
gies that present further challenges for humanity.
be said for science. For many today, there is a deep cultural
Others promote the synthesis model, wherein they seek
ambivalence about one or the other. Science for many people
to join science and religion in metaphysical, meaning, and
brings to mind negative images of toxic industries, genetical-
moral systems. In this view, philosophers, theologians, and
ly modified foods, or nuclear holocaust. Similarly, religion
practitioners should be willing to reinterpret their funda-
also brings to mind negative images for many of religious
mental beliefs in light of contemporary science; even as they
wars, inquisitional torture, fanatical intolerance, genocidal
mine their religious traditions to recover profound insights
persecutions, and deadly cults. Often juxtaposed to these
about the nature of the Divine, the nature of humanity, and
negative images of one domain, either religion or science, is
the nature of nature. Advocates of this model note that there
generally a positive and sometimes utopian orientation to-
is not a metaphysical-free way of understanding the world
wards the other domain.
and ourselves. Humanity would be better served if we devel-
T
op a consistent, probable, and holistic understanding of sci-
YPOLOGY OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION. Ian Barbour has sug-
gested a four-part typology for how different people relate
ence and religion. The contemporary conversation is pro-
science and religion—conflict, separation, dialogue, and syn-
foundly influenced by the process philosophy of Alfred
thesis. The conflict model sees religion and science as neces-
North Whitehead, the evolutionary mysticism of Pierre Teil-
sarily in opposition. Within the conflict model, one needs
hard de Chardin, and the hierarchical epistemology of Mi-
to choose sides, so there are two versions. Scienticism pro-
chael Polanyi. This synthesis model is particularly helpful for
motes science as an alternative belief system to religion
the religion and ecology field in that it affirms the impor-
against superstition and supernaturalism. It favors a commit-
tance of science in both its philosophical implications and
ment to materialistic and reductionistic understandings of
practical understanding of the world of nature.
reality often along with a commitment to human progress
This four-part typology of the relationship between sci-
or betterment. Contemporary advocates of this position in-
ence and religion was turned into an alliteration by John
clude Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Stephen
Haught, who speaks of “conflict, contrast, contact,” and
Weinberg.
“convergence” (Haught, 1995).
GENERAL PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES. All science assumes some
The religious version of the conflict model promotes an
kind of reductionism, whereby a complex problem is broken
absolute ontological and epistemic dependency on God as
down and analyzed in terms of its parts. Reductionism has
revealed in a scriptural tradition in which cosmological refer-
led to increasing specialization in the familiar list of disci-
ences are interpreted literally. The conflict generally revolves
plines and departments of the modern university, as well as
around accounts of natural history—evolution and cosmolo-
the growing lists of sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary
gy—but also questions about the human person and ethics.
communities of research. One can distinguish between
These religious fundamentalists promote alternative “sci-
philosophical reductionism and methodological reduction-
ences” because they understand contemporary science to
ism. The latter is simply a tool for exploration and problem-
being necessarily atheistic and immoral. Both versions of the
solving, while philosophical reductionism becomes an all-
conflict model generate competing mythologies about the
encompassing worldview. There is a kind of reductionism
history of science and religion.
that assumes everything can be broken down to constitutive
The separation model sees religion and science as differ-
parts, namely, consciousness is merely biology, biology is
ent categories of endeavors. Stephen Jay Gould popularized
nothing but chemistry, and chemistry is just particle physics.
the term “Non-Overlapping Magisteria” or NOMA to de-
Many scientists and philosophers, enamored with the incred-
scribe this view of science and religion (Gould, 2002). Sci-
ible progress made in the last century, make intemperate
ence seeks to answer questions of “what” and “how,” whereas
claims about the power and prospects of reductionism to an-
religion seeks to answer questions of “why.” Science deals
swer all questions, but this can lead to absurd category mis-
with facts, religion deals with values. It is only when the two
takes. A biologist need know nothing about particle physics
step out of their proper domains that conflict arises.
to effectively practice biology. Cosmology is not likely to
shed new light on economics. The concept of emergence is
The problem with the separation model is that separate
now being explored with scientific and philosophic rigor.
is never really equal. Religions necessarily make ontological
The whole is often more than the sum of its parts. Novel en-
claims about reality; the insights of science necessarily im-
tities come to be in an evolving universe that builds on exist-
pinge upon questions of values and purpose. While religion
ing structures and processes to create new levels of complexi-
and science are certainly distinct endeavors, they need to be
ty. Many religious philosophers see the concept of emergence
in some kind of conversation. This then leads to the dialogue
in science as a way of recovering religious understandings of
model, where religion and science need to engage each other
the universe and the human person. Moreover, for some this
on boundary questions of metaphysics and ethical dilemmas
is an important philosophical basis for understanding the
such as the ecological crisis or the challenges of new technol-
large-scale evolutionary context for present day environmen-
ogies. Science is sometimes understood to be mute on these
tal questions.
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Another philosophical debate within science and reli-
quest, and cultural insights of our religious traditions. This
gion deals with the issue of materialism. The universe is
context of the epic of evolution is also critical to the dialogue
nothing more than matter-energy and space-time. In this
of religion and ecology. More people are realizing that the
view, science cannot allow for any phenomena that are not
future of the evolutionary process is severely challenged by
material. All real phenomena, as opposed to imagined phe-
the presence of more than six billion people on the planet,
nomena, can be analyzed as material or physical processes.
along with the environmental destruction humans have
In this extreme form, materialism precludes the truth claims
wrought with their sophisticated technologies.
of religion. Materialism also can leave no grounds for pro-
Another general philosophical issue explored at the in-
tecting the natural world.
tersection of science and religion is the question of dualism
However, religious and scientific philosophers today
versus holism. Humans have often understood the meta-
note that many scientific disciplines need the immaterial
physics of the universe in terms of philosophical dualism—
concept of information in order to understand material reali-
animate and inanimate, human and non-human, mind and
ty. Contemporary physics, for instance, assumes a transcen-
brain, spiritual and material. Modern science undermines
dent understanding of mathematics, even as it deconstructs
many of these dualisms. Religions have promoted both dual-
material reality into ephemeral subatomic particles, extend
istic and holistic metaphysics. Humanity is lost in this new
wave functions, and immaterial field equations. These new
understanding of the universe without a compass or a map
ontological categories open up a possibility for understand-
to the great moral, aesthetic, and ecological questions. The
ing aesthetic, moral, and spiritual realities as more than just
ecological sciences are offering a more holistic vision of life—
imagined fantasies. Information science is also an important
human and non-human—which has implications for more
part of understanding the complex interactions of ecosystems
comprehensive environmental ethics.
and species.
SPECIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES. There are also a number
of specific philosophical issues that science raises for religious
Another philosophical debate within science and reli-
thought and practice which are explored in the contempo-
gion deals with the question of causation. The reductionist
rary encounter between science and religion.
and materialist view understands causation to always be from
the “bottom-up,” while religious thinkers postulate modes
Physics and cosmology. Physics and cosmology raise
of “top-down” causation. In contemporary physics, we also
a number of profound metaphysical questions. A number of
confront the conundrum of non-local causation in entangled
the fundamental characteristics of the universe appear to be
quantum states. All of this opens up the possibility of a ro-
“fine-tuned” for the later development of complexity. This
bust understanding of free will in human action, as well as
can be seen in the specific values of the four fundamental
divine action in the universe that need not violate the laws
forces—gravity, electromagnetism, and strong and weak nu-
of science. Rather than simply a bottom-up or top-down ap-
clear forces. Other characteristics, like the ratio of matter to
proach to causation the complex interaction of chance and
anti-matter, the rate of expansion of the universe, or the par-
necessity is now part of the discussion.
ticular properties of carbon, could all be hypothetically
slightly different, in which case it would have been impossi-
Contemporary science challenges many of the tradition-
ble for the universe as we know it to evolve. Sometimes re-
al ontological hierarchies of religious worldviews. Science of-
ferred to as the anthropic principle, physicists are often at-
fers two kinds of hierarchies—chronology and size. On the
tracted to the idea that the universe, including our own
one hand there is the chronological unfolding of the uni-
consciousness, was some how intended and is sometimes in-
verse: from the infinitely dense and infinitely hot originating
terpreted as evidence for the existence of God, though the
singularity some thirteen billion years ago; through the rise
impersonal, mathematical God of Physics bares little resem-
of stable particles to galaxy and star formation; the stellar fu-
blance to the God of Scriptures.
sion of heavier elements; the growth of solar systems out of
second and third generation stars with complex chemistry;
Contemporary physics understands the nature of space-
the rise of life on at least one planet; the stunning evolution
time and matter-energy to be radically different than our
of life into myriad forms over hundreds of million years; and
common sense experiences would suggest. Time is relative
the recent rise of our own species with its capacities of mind
to the location and speed of the observer; space bends and
and language. Science also offers a new hierarchy of size,
folds under the influence of intense gravitational fields. Little
from orders of magnitude smaller and larger, unimaginable
bits of matter can be converted into an enormous amount
to our ancestors even one hundred years ago. This new epic
of energy, as seen in nuclear bombs or the stellar furnaces.
of evolution and the new topography of the universe chal-
Energy can be converted into matter, as seen in the bubble
lenge some of our religious notions of human dignity and
chambers of particle accelerators. Moreover, what we under-
divine purpose. Many traditional religious cosmogonies
stand to be the concrete stuff of our everyday world turns
seem quaint and parochial in light of this new scientific wor-
out to be mostly empty space at the atomic level and ephem-
ldview. The science and religion dialogue seeks to offer new
eral chimera at the subatomic level. These subatomic parti-
interpretations of the epic of evolution that integrates this
cles exhibit the strange properties of quantum mechanics.
new natural history with the enduring wisdom, spiritual
With both particle and wave, subatomic stuff is entangled,
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND ECOLOGY
implicating both other subatomic particles and the observer,
directly to the next generation and that as such humanity
able to influence other quantum events at a distance or back-
transcends mere biological processes. Moreover, humans are
wards into the past. The strangeness of quantum phenomena
a profoundly social and symbolic species; and we use narra-
has led many a physicist to take a religious or philosophical
tives—for instance, sacred stories—to navigate existential
turn, in spite of their prior materialist and mechanistic com-
moral and value choices. In that sense, everyone employs
mitments.
metanarratives, consciously or unconsciously, to navigate the
Contemporary astronomy and cosmology also confront
uncertainties of life. Homo sapien is a moral and believing an-
humanity with a scale and grandeur of an evolving universe
imal in which religion, broadly understood, is involved, even
difficult to imagine. Measured now in billions of light-years
if that “religion” be atheism, pragmatism, or mater-
and hundreds of billions of galaxies, our lives on this planet
ialism.
might seem rather small and insignificant. On the other
Finally, evolution gives us a new perspective on the re-
hand, our ability to even comprehend this new cosmic to-
cent past and future prospects for humanity and the planet.
pography can also ennoble and enlarge our appreciation of
Science, technology, economics, education, and government
these unique human abilities. In either case, this new view
have given humans enormous power to engage in large-scale
of the cosmos is an occasion for religious and philosophical
environmental engineering, even as we are about to embark
reflection and an opportunity to expand our understanding
upon wide-ranging genetic engineering of other species and
of the divine. Moreover, it can enhance the reasons for pro-
ourselves. In the fields of bioethics and environmental ethics,
tecting this remarkable planet.
religion and science discuss what it means to be human and
Evolution and biology. Evolution and biology raise a
the prospects of humanity’s self-transcendence or self-
series of different questions for religious thought. Where cos-
destruction in a brave new world of twenty-first century
mologists see issues of elegant improbability in the design of
technology. Science itself does not give much guidance as to
the universe, evolutionary theory points towards a chaotic
whether such a future is desirable or whether it should be
and brutal developmental process in which famine, preda-
resisted.
tion, disease, and death are the ultimate editor of a story writ-
ten through random drift. Darwinian evolution has been a
Chaos and complexity theories. Applied in numerous
flash point of conflict between science and religion, because
scientific disciplines, chaos and complexity theories suggest
it appears to undermine traditional religious understandings
that some of the most creative phenomena are distributed
of nature as a product of a benevolent and powerful God.
systems and iterative processes. In some cases, simple mathe-
As applied to humans, social Darwinism also seems to under-
matical models can describe natural phenomena. In other
mine traditional religious morality, indeed in some cases to
cases, the multiplication of feedback loops and complexity
have contributed to ruthless political ideologies in the twen-
confound us with known limitations of science and compu-
tieth century.
tation. Computer models are used to simulate climate
change, which inform environmental policy debates. Com-
Many religious and scientific thinkers have interpreted
puter models are now also used to simulate religious and cul-
evolution through teleological or teleonomical lenses, argu-
ing that natural history presents us with a progressive unfold-
tural systems. Philosophers and theologians ponder the sig-
ing of greater levels of complexity and beauty in nature.
nificance of this new paradigm for understanding the nature
Some scientists also point to mathematical patterns in na-
of God and creativity.
ture, as well as the convergent evolution of similar life struc-
Aesthetics and ethics. In these domains the interaction
tures among unrelated species. It is important to remember
of science and religion also plays itself out. Many philoso-
that the problems of suffering, death, and evil have con-
phers realize that we cannot maintain a simple Is/Ought dis-
founded humanity long before the theory of evolution, so the
tinction. The nature of nature must inform our understand-
challenge of Darwinism is not a new issue for religious and
ing about how humans desire to transform their lives, which
theological thought. Some think it useful to extend the no-
values are possible and desirable to maximize. Traditional re-
tion of free will beyond the human, that all of nature has ele-
ligious philosophy makes the distinction between natural
ments of self-creative possibility not governed by causal pro-
moral law, knowable to any reasoning human being, and re-
cesses or Divine fiat.
vealed moral law, knowable only those initiated in a particu-
The lacuna of applying evolutionary theory to human
lar tradition. The old natural law tradition needs to be con-
behavior revolves around the question of altruism. If survival
versant with the best of contemporary science, rather than
and reproduction are the key motive forces in evolution and
fall back on antiquated Aristotelian notions of fixed natural
human behavior, then why would anyone sacrifice his or her
kinds. All moral discourse presupposes sets of obligations and
self for the benefit of someone unrelated? When science ex-
the necessity of sacrifice. There is a growing appreciation of
plores human nature, it necessarily confronts religious moral
the role of religious beliefs and practices in existentially
teachings, which universally teach some version of the Gol-
grounding ethical deliberation, even as we debate issues like
den Rule. Many argue that humans evolve in a Lamarckian
abortion, euthanasia, human and animal rights, and eco-
pattern by which acquired cultural adaptations are passed on
justice.
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2661
Intra- and interreligious dialogue. Finally, science
Huchingson, James Edward. Pandemonium Tremendum: Chaos
provides a powerful common denominator for this exciting
and Mystery in the Life of God. Boston, 2001.
and productive dialogue. In many conferences and work-
John, Arthur Fabel, and Donald St. John. Teilhard in the 21st
shops today around the world, organized by groups like
Century: The Emerging Spirit of Earth. Maryknoll, N.Y.,
the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences
2003.
(www.ctns.org), the Zygon Center for Science and Reli-
McKinley, Paul Shepard, and Daniel McKinley. The Subversive
gion (www.zygoncenter.org), Metanexus Institute (www.
Science: Essays toward an Ecology of Man. Boston, 1969.
metanexus.net), the John Templeton Foundation (www.
Post, Stephen G. Unlimited Love: Altruism, Compassion, and Ser-
templeton.org), and others, religious thinkers and prac-
vice. Radnor, Pa., 2003.
tioners from diverse religious and philosophical traditions—
Rolston, Holmes, III. Environmental Ethics: Duties and Values in
as well as diverse scientific disciplines—find common
the Natural World. Philadelphia, 1988.
ground and profound challenges in confronting some of the
greatest questions of our time.
Rolston, Holmes, III. Genes, Genesis and God: Values and Their
Origins in Natural and Human History. New York, 1999.
Ecology. Once dubbed “the subversive science,” ecolo-
gy also challenges the adequacy of reductionism and materi-
Smith, Christian. Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood
and Culture. New York, 2003.
alism, as it poses both new and enduring questions about the
appropriate relationships between humans and the more-
Weinberg, Steven. First Three Minutes. New York, 1977.
than-human world. By all accounts, we live at a unique mo-
WILLIAM GRASSIE (2005)
ment in the natural history of our planet and the cultural
evolution of our species, filled with challenge and promise.
Whatever the future holds in store, the endeavors of science
and religion, separately and together, will play an important
ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND
part in the unfolding story.
NATURE RELIGIONS
The term nature religion or the plural nature religions most
BIBLIOGRAPHY
commonly is used as an umbrella term for religious percep-
Barbour, Ian. Ethics in an Age of Technology: The Gifford Lectures
tions and practices that despite substantial diversity are char-
1989–1991. Vol. 2. San Francisco, 1990.
acterized by a reverence for nature and consider nature sa-
Barbour, Ian. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Is-
cred. Over the last few centuries a number of phrases have
sues. New York, 1997.
been used to capture the family resemblance, including natu-
Berry, Thomas, and Brian Swimme. The Universe Story: From the
ral religion, nature worship, nature mysticism, and earth reli-
Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. San Francisco,
gion, and words have been invented to reflect what is taken
1992.
to be the universal essence of such religiosity, such as pagan-
Brooke, J. H. Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives.
ism, animism, and pantheism. The term nature religion, which
Cambridge, U.K., 1999.
began to be employed regularly within religious subcultures
Daly, Herman, and John Cobb, Jr. For the Common Good: Redi-
at about the time of the first Earth Day celebration in 1970,
recting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and
is used increasingly to represent and debate such “nature-as-
a Sustainable Future. Boston, 1989.
sacred” religion in both popular and scholarly venues.
Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of
HISTORY OF THE IDEA OF NATURE RELIGION. Regardless of
Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design. New York,
the terminology, the idea has a long history that in significant
1996.
ways parallels the evolution of the academic study of religion.
Dennett, Daniel. Darwin’s Dangerous Idea. New York, 1995.
Indeed, the most common contemporary understanding of
Ellis, George F. R., and Nancey Murphy. On the Moral Nature
nature religion resembles the nature-venerating religiosity
of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology, and Ethics. Minneapolis,
described in E. B. Tylor’s Primitive Culture (1871), F. Max
1996.
Müller’s Natural Religion (1888), James G. Frazer’s The
Gould, Stephen Jay. Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Full-
Worship of Nature (1926), and Mircea Eliade’s Patterns in
ness of Life. New York, 2002.
Comparative Religion (1958). As Lawrence Sullivan conclud-
Grassie, William. “Biocultural Evolution in the 21st Century: The
ed in a broad comparative review of nature-related religiosity
Evolutionary Role of Religion.” Metanexus Online. 2004.
in “Worship of Nature” in this encyclopedia, there are di-
Harel, David. Computers Ltd.: What They Really Can’t Do. New
verse examples of the worship of nature in the history of
York, 2000.
religion.
Haught, John F. Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversa-
This background helps explain why the study of religion
tion. Mahwah, N.J., 1995.
has often involved an interpretive effort to understand nature
Haught, John F. God after Darwin: A Theology of Evolution. Boul-
religion (understood broadly as nature-venerating or nature-
der, Colo., 2000.
as-sacred religion) as well as “the natural dimension of reli-
Haught, John F. Evolution and Divine Providence. Philadelphia,
gion,” a term from Catherine Albanese’s Nature Religion in
2001.
America (1990), which urged scholars to examine not only
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND NATURE RELIGIONS
religions in which nature is explicitly considered divine or
ceptions that natural forces are animated or alive. A friend
worshiped but also those in which it serves as an important
of Darwin, John Lubbock, initiated that characterization in
symbolic resource. This and other changes in the field of reli-
The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition of Man
gious studies—where scholars focus less on notions such as
(1889), citing Darwin’s observation of the way dogs mistake
worship and more on the way religion is integrated into ev-
inanimate objects for living beings. Lubbock asserted that re-
eryday life and the way it promotes identity formation and
ligion had its origin in a similar misapprehension by primi-
serves power and material interests—have recast discussions
tive humans. Soon E. B. Tylor, who some consider the father
and understandings of nature religion among religionists and
of anthropology, would coin the term animism for that type
scholars alike.
of attribution of consciousness to inanimate objects and
forces, asserting that that misapprehension was grounded in
Despite some changes as scholarly perspectives come
the dream states and sneezing of “primitive” or “savage” peo-
into and fall out of fashion, there have been important con-
ples. Not long afterward Max Müller, considered by some
tinuities in both popular and scholarly contestations over na-
the father of the academic study of religion, traced the origin
ture religion. In those contestations the line between the ob-
of Indo-European religion to religious metaphors and sym-
server and the practitioner often has been blurred; scholars
bolism grounded in the natural environment, especially the
frequently become as involved in nature-related religious
sky and sun.
production as do their overtly religious subjects.
Both classical paganism and polytheistic religions, of
The most common debate has been between those who
course, involved the supplication to or veneration of celestial
consider nature religions to be religiously or politically
bodies and other natural entities and forces. According to
primitive, regressive, or dangerous and those who laud them
Frazer, who was influenced by Tylor and Müller, belief and
as spiritually perceptive or authentic and ecologically ben-
cultus related to the sun, the earth, and the dead were espe-
eficent.
cially common in the worldwide emergence and ancient his-
NATURE RELIGIONS AS PRIMITIVE, REGRESSIVE, OR DAN-
tory of religion. Frazer approvingly quoted Müller’s Intro-
GEROUS. Perspectives that view nature religions as primitive,
duction to the Science of Religion (1873): “The worship of the
regressive, or dangerous may have originated with and
spirits of the departed is perhaps the most widely spread form
throughout recorded history have been influenced by the an-
of natural superstition all over the world” (Frazer, 1926,
cient antipathy between Abrahamic religions and the pagan
p. 18).
and polytheistic religions of the ancient Middle East. Frazer
The idea of religion as involving nature-related beliefs
noted, for example, that the Hebrew King Josiah initiated
and practices became widely influential, as did Frazer’s “wor-
a death penalty for those who worshipped the sun in the sev-
ship of nature” rubric to describe such religions:
enth century BCE and that subsequent Hebrew figures, in-
cluding the prophet Ezekiel, continued to battle the solar
[By] the worship of nature, I mean . . . the worship of
cult and other forms of what they considered nature-related
natural phenomena conceived as animated, conscious,
idolatry. The orthodox streams of Abrahamic religion, espe-
and endowed with both the power and the will to bene-
cially Christianity and Islam, maintained their hostility and
fit or injure mankind. Conceived as such they are natu-
helped push nature religions and the peoples who embodied
rally objects of human awe and fear . . . to the mind
of primitive man these natural phenomena assume the
them to extinction or marginalization through conversion,
character of formidable and dangerous spirits whose
assimilation, and sometimes violence. Those actions were le-
anger it is his wish to avoid, and whose favour it is his
gitimated in religious terms as promoting the spiritual well-
interest to conciliate. To attain these desirable ends he
being of both believers and prospective believers.
resorts to the same means of conciliation which he em-
ploys towards human beings on whose goodwill he hap-
However, criticisms of nature-related religiosity have
pens to be dependent; he proffers requests to them, and
not been restricted to the religiously orthodox. The tendency
he makes them presents; in other words, he prays and
to view nature religions as primitive (though not necessarily
sacrifices to them; in short, he worships them. Thus
dangerous) intensified as Occidental (Western) culture
what we may call the worship of nature is based on the
placed increasing value on reason and as many thinkers be-
personification of natural phenomena. (Frazer, 1926,
came less religiously orthodox. The German philosopher
p. 17)
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831), for example,
This early nature religiosity, Frazer thought, was replaced
advanced an idealistic philosophy that viewed nature reli-
first by polytheism and then by monotheism as part of a
gions as primitive for failing to perceive the divine spirit
“slow and gradual” process that was leading inexorably
moving through the dialectical process of history.
among civilized peoples to the “despiritualization of the uni-
More important for the historical study of religion in
verse” (Frazer, 1926, p. 9). Most scholarly observers during
general and scholarly reflection on nature religion in particu-
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries seemed to agree
lar was the influence of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
that the nature spirituality characteristic of early peoples and
published in On the Origin of Species (1859). Generations of
the world’s remaining “primitives” eventually would be sup-
scholars came to view nature religions as primitive misper-
planted by higher, monotheistic forms or no religion at all.
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They assumed that although such religion might be regres-
1866, is noteworthy. She was careful to point out that
sive, it could not be considered dangerous or threatening, at
Haeckel did not promote Nazi ideology. He did, however,
least to cultural and material progress.
promote an ecologistic spirituality that would be grafted to
racist worldviews, according to Bramwell. Although Haeckel
More recently, however, a chorus of voices has suggested
was atheistic and hostile to traditional monotheism, Bram-
that some forms of nature religions have been or can be per-
well believes he strongly advocated monistic pantheism, the
nicious or at least not as ecologically beneficent as they may
belief that there is no supernatural realm and no spiritual
seem upon cursory observation.
substance distinct from matter but that nature in all its forms
Drawing on analyses of dominance and power in the
is divine. According to Bramwell, “Haeckel’s most important
work of the philosopher Michel Foucault and the sociologist
legacy was his worship of Nature, the belief that man and
Pierre Bourdieu, in Nature Religion in America (1990) Cath-
nature were one, and that to damage one was to damage the
erine Albanese argued that nature religion, although it is
other” (Bramwell, 1989, p. 53). To the extent that she was
commonly thought to promote social and ecological well-
correct, the analysis of environmentalism as a new religious
being, often masked an impulse to dominate nature as well
form would become important to religious studies.
as other people. Specifically, she analyzed how some religions
Other books followed that explored connections be-
of nature that were prominent during the period of the na-
tween what some have called right-wing ecology and nature
tion’s invention justified the subjugation of both the natural
religion, including several by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke that
world and the continent’s aboriginal peoples. She also broad-
found occult and pagan roots in Nazism (Goodrick-Clarke,
ened the field of view in regard to religion by including in
1994, 1998, 2002). Richard Steigmann-Gall’s The Holy
it her own definition of religious phenomena in which nature
Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity 1919–1945 (2003),
was “a compelling religious center . . . [and] culture broker”
however, argues largely to the contrary that Christianity, or
even if it was not considered sacred. The study of nature reli-
a least an unorthodox strain of it, was far more important
gion, including, broadly “the natural dimension of religion,”
to Nazi ideology than were the few Nazis who were thinking
Albanese concluded, can illuminate “persistent patterns in
romantically about the revival of a pre-Christian, Aryan na-
past and present American life” (Albanese, 1990, pp. 200,
ture religion that probably never existed.
13).
Those studies of the Nazi period should be compared
Albanese’s analyses of nature religion caused consterna-
to fieldwork-based studies of contemporary movements. For
tion among many scholars and religionists who had a positive
example, the Swedish anthropologist Mattias Gardell, in
attitude toward nature religion. By broadening the subject
Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism
and complicating the understanding of its consequences, Al-
(2003), found significant affinities between contemporary
banese’s study precipitated significant shifts and a more com-
nature religion, environmental ideals, and racist ideologies in
plicated discussion of the nature variable in religion among
Europe and North America. Another important work that
practitioners of nature religions and scholars. A number of
took a fieldwork-based approach was edited by Jeffrey Ka-
scholars concluded that there have been worldview affinities
plan and Heléne Lööw and titled The Cultic Milieu (2002),
and historical connections among some nature religions (es-
after an influential article by the sociologist Colin Campbell
pecially northern European paganism and various pagan re-
(1972). Several of its articles analyzed whether oppositional
vival movements) and racist worldviews as well as between
nature religions and environmental movements had devel-
nature religions and radical environmental movements,
oped or were likely to develop racist and violent characteris-
which some view as prone to violence.
tics. Although the conclusions varied with the specific sub-
Perhaps the most influential among those critics was
ject matter, the book represented a turn toward field research
Anna Bramwell, whose Blood and Soil: Walter Darré and Hit-
in the effort to discern how nature religions are fused to po-
ler’s Green Party (1985) was followed by Ecology in the 20th
litical ideologies.
Century (1989). Bramwell’s main argument has been that the
NATURE RELIGIONS AS SPIRITUALLY PERCEPTIVE, AUTHEN-
environmental movement, which can be traced roughly to
TIC, AND ECOLOGICALLY BENEFICENT. Two historical works
the middle of the nineteenth century, represents an entirely
that bring the reader from ancient times nearly up to the
new “nature worshipping” ideology in which “a pantheistic
present age of historical ideas, Clarence Glacken’s Traces on
religious feeling is the norm” (Bramwell, 1989, p. 17, cf.
the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought
p. 13). This religious ideology, which she called “Ecolo-
from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century
gism,” can be fused to many ideologies, she acknowledged.
(1967) and Donald Worster’s Nature’s Economy: A History
However, she argued that it has had its strongest affinities
of Ecological Ideas (1977), demonstrate both the marginaliza-
and historical connections to racist programs (such as eugen-
tion of nature religion and its persistence as a religious force.
ics) and political movements (such as Nazism) that rejected
Early in Traces on the Rhodian Shore, for example,
Enlightenment rationality, often in favor of an agrarian ideal.
Glacken urges his readers not to “forget the echoes of the pri-
Bramwell’s discussion of Earnest Haeckel (1834–1919),
mordial Mediterranean world: its age-old veneration of
who coined the word ecology in Generelle Morphologie in
Mother Earth” or its “astrological paganism” (Glacken,
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND NATURE RELIGIONS
1967, pp. 13, 15). This is an appropriate injunction for the
primitive. This viewpoint offered instead an antidote to the
study of nature religion. In Glacken’s and other studies, in-
West’s spiritual malaise, social violence, and economic in-
cluding Worster’s Nature’s Economy, it becomes clear that
equality and the possibility of a harmonious future among
whereas belief in specific earthly and celestial nature gods
the entire community of life.
may have declined or disappeared, the perception that na-
ANTHROPOLOGY, THE STUDY OF RELIGION, AND NATURE
ture’s places and forces are sacred, which gave rise to classical
RELIGION. Throughout the twentieth century and into the
paganism, has not withered way. That perception has been
twenty-first anthropologists and scholars of religion often
resilient, at least episodically, threatening the hegemony of
have continued to play the tunes common to nature religion.
the monotheistic consensus and later challenging secular, sci-
This is ironic since such scholars frequently have been direct-
ence-based worldviews.
ly or indirectly critical of such forms of religion. Even these
Writing at the dawn of the “age of reason,” the Jewish
critics, however, have, sometimes unwittingly, offered analy-
philosopher and theologian Baruch (or Benedictus) Spinoza
ses that would be used to invent (or revitalize) nature
(1632–1677) and the French social theorist Jean-Jacques
religions.
Rousseau (1712–1778), provide two influential examples of
Frazer provides a relevant example. Although he
such a challenge.
thought nature worship would disappear as scientific ratio-
Spinoza articulated a sophisticated monistic pantheism
nality spread, his wide-ranging descriptions of nature religi-
that has directly or indirectly influenced generations of sub-
osity and his theory in The Golden Bough (1994) that much
sequent pantheistic nature religionists. Those embracing or
folk culture constitutes cultural survivals of a pagan past
being influenced by such philosophy include some of the
helped revitalize paganism or inspire new pagan religious
greatest theologians and philosophers of the modern period,
production. Other scholars and religionists would offer his-
including Friedrich Schleiermacher, Alfred North White-
torical interpretations of goddess or pagan societies that
head, and later generations of “process” philosophers and
would be integrated into Neopaganism. Mircea Eliade’s
theologians, who have been either pantheistic or panentheis-
work, especially Patterns in Comparative Religion (1958) and
tic in worldview. Spinoza was also very influential on the
The Sacred and the Profane (1959), functioned similarly as
early philosopher-architects of the deep ecology movement,
a resource. Unlike Frazer, however, Eliade apparently be-
such as the Norwegian Arne Naess and the American George
lieved that the human experience of a sacred dimension of
Sessions, as well as on a number of recent thinkers who have
life represents not false consciousness but an authentic reli-
explicitly promoted pantheistic religion, including Michael
gious perception. A generation of religion scholars and popu-
Levine (1994), Robert Corrington (1997), and Donald
lar writers followed his lead.
Crosby (2002).
Equally important has been the work of the anthropolo-
At least as important was Rousseau’s inspirational role
gists who have developed several subfield specializations that
in the so-called Romantic movement. Rousseau rejected re-
have become known as ethnobotany, traditional ecological
vealed Abrahamic religions in favor of a deistic “natural reli-
knowledge, and ecological anthropology or historical ecolo-
gion” that, he believed, helps people discern God’s existence
gy. In various ways these disciplines have examined indige-
in the order and harmony of nature. For Rousseau, natural
nous societies and sometimes peasant cultures as well in
religion and an epistemological turn to nature could provide
order to understand the relationships between ecosystems,
a way to live free of the alienation, inequality, prejudice, and
livelihoods, and religions. The pioneers of these approaches,
competitiveness of “civilization.” His Reveries of a Solitary
including the anthropologists Richard Schultes (1989), Wil-
Walker (1782), which fused botanical observation with remi-
liam Balée (1994), Roy Rappaport (1979, 1999), Gerardo
niscences of his ecstatic experiences in nature, presaged an
Reichel-Dolmatoff (1976, 1996), Steven Lansing (1991),
explosion of religious nature and natural history writing. His
and Fikret Berkes (1999), concluded that indigenous socie-
greatest legacy, however, may not have been his role in pro-
ties and their spiritualities and religious practices and ethics,
moting reverence for nature but his respect if not veneration
if not disrupted by outsiders, are usually environmentally
for indigenous peoples who lived closer to nature and were
sustainable and do not reduce biodiversity.
thus socially and ecologically superior to “civilized” peoples.
Many of these theorists have grounded their under-
Rousseau’s belief that such peoples were worthy of emulation
standing of nature religion (and religion and nature) in evo-
makes his nature religion not only a worldview; his belief also
lutionary theory, wrestling with whether religious life can be
enjoined a practice that demands direct experience in nature
seen as an evolutionary adaptation that promotes human sur-
as well as (at least eventually) ethical obligations to nature
vival. Roy Rappaport, one of the most influential theorists
itself. For Rousseau and his progeny these obligations oppose
arguing along these lines, wrote, “Religious rituals [are] nei-
the dominant social forces in the West: hierarchal religions,
ther more or less than part of the behavioral repertoire em-
centralized nation-states, and the quest to harness nature for
ployed by an aggregate of organisms in adjusting to its envi-
human purposes.
ronment” (Rappaport, 1979, p. 28). Although this may
Spinoza, and Rousseau more directly, offered a direct re-
sound like a scientifically reductionistic theory stating that
joinder to those who viewed nature religion as dangerous or
religion can be explained as a mere epiphenomenon of evolu-
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tion, Rappaport and many other anthropologists came to ap-
(1996). Another volume, Researching Paganisms (2004),
preciate, if not have a personal affinity with, the nature reli-
which Harvey later coedited with Jenny Blain and Douglas
gions of the indigenous people with whom they were well
Ezzy, argued in favor of the use of diverse methods in the
acquainted. The Harvard anthropologist Richard Schultes,
study of paganism and emphasized the value of committed
who is widely considered the founder of ethnobotany and
pagan scholarship. The second conference was held at Lan-
who studied indigenous cultures for decades in South Ameri-
caster University in 1996 and was organized by members of
ca, concluded that the religion-related ecological knowledge
that university’s religious studies department. It was titled
of indigenous people was a precious treasury for humankind
“Nature Religion Today,” and as in the “Paganism Today”
and that it was critically important to the conservation of
conference the year before, many of the organizers and pre-
biodiversity.
senters were self-consciously pagan in their religious identity.
This conference included a discussion of the revival or inven-
In addition to anthropologists, many scholars of religion
tion of Wicca, druidic religion, and Celtic nature spirituality.
have been involved in efforts to kindle a sense of reverence
Also like the first conference, this one led to a scholarly pub-
toward nature. In 1990 a group of scholars formed a Religion
lication, Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern
and Ecology Group within the American Academy of Reli-
World (Pearson, Roberts, Samuel, and Roberts, 1998). At
gion. Its purpose was not only to understand the relation-
both conferences as well as afterward the participants en-
ships between religions, cultures, and environments; many
gaged in their own forms of ritualized nature veneration. A
of its members sought to encourage religious environmental
third conference, a year later in 1997 at University College
action. Some of its most active members became involved in
Winchester, was titled “Re-Enchantment.”
the most comprehensive scholarly project to date in the
emerging field of religion and ecology: a series of conferences
The preceding examples illustrate that like some anthro-
titled “Religions of the World and Ecology” that were held
pologists, some scholars of religion not only study the various
between 1996 and 1998 and hosted by the Harvard Divinity
manifestations of nature religion but are directly involved in
School Center for the Study of World Religions (which at
such religious production, both in scholarly ways and by par-
the time was directed by one of Eliade’s most distinguished
ticipating in ritual and ethical action. The ethical action is
students, Lawrence Sullivan). Organized by two Bucknell
most often deployed in defense of ecosystems and the indige-
University historians of religion, Mary Evelyn Tucker and
nous peoples who are considered wise stewards of them.
John Grim, the conferences were followed by a ten-volume
SCIENCE AND NATURE RELIGION. In addition to anthropol-
Harvard University Press book series, published between
ogists and religion scholars, a growing number of scientists
1997 and 2004, which they edited. In the series introduc-
are becoming engaged in nature religion. Nature religionists,
tion, Tucker and Grim indirectly confessed their belief in the
scholarly and not, have embraced them and find reinforce-
earth’s sacredness by lamenting “we no longer see the earth
ment in the statements of scientists who confess their feeling
as sacred” and tracing environmental decline to this defective
that life is miraculous or that the natural world is sacred.
religious perception (Tucker and Grim, in Tucker and Wil-
Such shared sentiment has also led to interesting collabora-
liams, p. xvii). This statement seemed to also assume that ear-
tions that appear to represent new forms of nature religion,
lier humans had a superior religious sensibility toward na-
including cases of scientific narratives being considered sa-
ture. The architects of the conference and the series held out
cred and either grafted onto already existing religions in cre-
the hope that a common religious ground for valuing nature
ative ways or offered as stand-alone sacred stories for mod-
could be found among all religions. They articulated their
ern, scientifically informed people. An example of science-
conviction that scholars could contribute to this effort by
based nature reverence can be found in a statement issued
identifying and evaluating the “distinctive ecological attitudes,
in the early 1990s by a group of prominent scientists that in-
values, and practices of diverse religious traditions . . . that
cluded Stephen Jay Gould, Hans Bethe, Stephen Schneider,
comprise . . . fertile ecological ground” (Tucker and Grim
and Carl Sagan:
in Tucker and Williams, p. xxiii).
As scientists, many of us have had profound personal
In the 1990s there were several conferences that focused
experiences of awe and reverence before the universe.
explicitly on religions that consider nature to be sacred. Sev-
We understand that what is regarded as sacred is more
eral important conferences were held in the United King-
likely to be treated with care and respect. Our planetary
dom. Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman organized
home should be so regarded. Efforts to safeguard and
cherish the environment should be infused with a vision
the first one, “Paganism Today,” which was held at the Uni-
of the sacred. (Suzuki and Knudtson, p. 227, cf.
versity of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1995. It and a number
p. 167)
of edited books that followed represented, at least in part, an
effort to blend rigorous scholarship with pagan identity,
Some of these scientists had been influenced significantly by
thereby legitimating that hybrid genre. Those books includ-
the former passionate priest and world religions scholar
ed a volume that took its title from the conference, Harvey
Thomas Berry (1914–), whose thinking was, in turn, influ-
and Hardman’s Paganism Today: Wiccans, Druids, the God-
enced by Teilhard de Chardin, Alfred North Whitehead, and
dess and Ancient Earth Traditions for the Twenty-First Century
Mircea Eliade. Beginning in the late 1980s, Berry, sometimes
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND NATURE RELIGIONS
collaborating with the physicist Brian Swimme, argued that
can be apprehended through the senses (sometimes magni-
the universe story—science-based cosmological and evolu-
fied through scientific methods and technologies).
tionary narratives—should be considered sacred stories and
It is all but certain that nature religion will continue to
inspire reverence for nature and environmental action. For
evolve and encounter hostility. Nature religionists undoubt-
scientifically inclined individuals who find implausible the
edly will continue to frame such opposition as the repressive
supernaturalism that accompanies most forms of religion,
tendency of religious zealots who seek to desacralize and des-
Berry also articulated a spirituality that coheres with the feel-
ecrate the living natural world.
ings of awe and reverence that sometimes emerge from sci-
Scholarly theories regarding the evolutionary or “natu-
ence itself. Published examples include Ursula Goode-
ral” roots of religion and analyses of the ubiquity of nature
nough’s The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998), the science
as a religious resource for veneration, worship, and symbolic
writer Connie Barlow’s Green Space, Green Time: The Way
thought suggest that religion will remain deeply intertwined
of Science (1997), and Loyal Rue’s Everybody’s Story: Wising
with nature. The intersection of religion and nature therefore
up to the Epic of Evolution (2000).
will continue to provide fertile ground for both nature reli-
In addition, some scientific theories were appropriated
gion and the scholarly analysis of it.
by nature religionists as evidence for their own perception
SEE ALSO Animals; Animism and Animatism; Earth; Earth
of nature’s sacredness. The atmospheric scientist James Love-
First!; Nature; Neopaganism; Paganism, Anglo-Saxon; Pan-
lock articulated a scientific theory in Gaia: A New Look at
theism and Panentheism; Sacred and the Profane, The;
Life on Earth (1979), in which he argued that the biosphere
Vegetation.
operates like a self-regulating organism, maintaining the nec-
essary conditions of life. Although Lovelock borrowed the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaia theory’s name from the ancient Greek god of the earth,
Many of the sources provided below are introduced in the entry
he regarded it as a scientific theory, not a religious treatise.
and require no additional annotation. Other cited works in-
He was, therefore, shocked at how nature religionists seized
clude those of Stephen Fox and Michael P. Cohen, who illus-
on it as evidence for their pantheistic, nature-venerating
trate the prevalence of nature spirituality in the American en-
worldviews. But he eventually embraced the spiritual inter-
vironmental movement. Examples of deep ecology, an
environmental philosophy that often is associated with radi-
pretation of his theory, concluding in 2001 that we must
cal environmentalism and can be understood as a nature reli-
protect Gaia because “We are a part of it . . . and should
gion, can be found in the cited works of Arne Naess, Paul
revere it again.”
Shepard, Gary Snyder, George Sessions, Bill Devall, John
NATURE, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE. This discussion of
Seed, and Joanna Macy. Naess, Shepard, and Snyder are the
nature religion illustrates some of the diverse ways in which
most important intellectual architects of the movement, and
the phenomenon has been understood. It has said little, how-
Macy and Seed are its most influential evangelists and ritual-
ever, about the invention or revitalization of paganism in the
izers. Michael Zimmerman is a philosopher sympathetic to
twentieth century and paid little attention to environmental
deep ecology, radical environmentalism, and other forms of
nature religion who has been troubled by the charges of
and New Age groups, which often fit well into the nature
right-wing connections to it, and his book is a reflection on
religion construct.
that issue. The works of Bron Taylor, Sarah Pike, Michael
Although nature religions usually consider nature to be
York, and Catherine Albanese explore nature religion and its
sacred, they do not always agree about its location or where
intersections with environmental movements, New Age spir-
it manifests itself most powerfully. There are differing per-
ituality, paganism, and other forms of countercultural spiri-
tuality. The novels by James Redfield about a “Celestine
ceptions in nature religions of whether the sacred is primarily
prophecy” provide a good example of the way in which envi-
earthly (manifested in specific places such as caves, moun-
ronmental themes can be fused to New Age religion. Colin
tains, and water bodies), biotic (perceived in the earth’s flora
Campbell’s theory of the Cultic Milieu, recently illustrated
and fauna), or cosmic (reflected in a platonic way in earthly
in the volume by Kaplan and Lööw, is helpful for under-
life but located beyond the biosphere).
standing the processes by which such cross-fertilization oc-
curs. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, edited by Tay-
Despite substantial differences, some convergence may
lor, provides diverse examples of nature religion from around
be under way. Participants in contemporary nature religion
the world, and some of its entries that are especially relevant
often speak of their sense of “connection” and “belonging”
to nature religion are included below.
to the earth, its living systems, or the universe as a whole.
Albanese, Catherine L. Nature Religion in America: From the Al-
Such rhetoric is so widespread that it has become possible
gonkian Indians to the New Age. Chicago, 1990.
to define nature religions as spiritualities of connection. This
Balée, William. Footprints of the Forest: Ka’Apor Ethnobotany—The
would echo the etymological root of the word religion, which
Historical Ecology of Plant Utilization by an Amazonian Peo-
has to do with belonging or being bound to forces greater
ple. New York, 1994.
than the self. Such spiritualities usually are accompanied by
Berkes, Fikret. Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
kinship feelings and ethical obligations toward nonhuman
and Resource Management. Philadelphia, 1999.
life. They appear to be likely to play an important role in the
Blain, Jenny, Douglas Ezzy, and Graham Harvey. Researching Pa-
human religious future, perhaps in part because such religion
ganisms. Lanham, Md., 2004.
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ECOLOGY AND RELIGION: ECOLOGY AND NATURE RELIGIONS
2667
Bramwell, Anna. Blood and Soil: Walter Darré and Hitler’s Green
Harvey, Graham, and Charlotte Hardman, eds. Paganism Today:
Party. Buckinghamshire, U.K., 1985.
Wiccans, Druids, the Goddess and Ancient Earth Traditions for
Bramwell, Anna. Ecology in the 20th Century: A History. New
the Twenty-First Century. New York, 1996.
Haven, Conn., 1989.
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern
Campbell, Colin. “The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Seculariza-
Pagan Witchcraft. Cambridge, Mass., 2000.
tion.” A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain 5 (1972):
Kaplan, Jeffrey, and Heléne Lööw, eds. The Cultic Milieu: Opposi-
119–136.
tional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization. Lanham, Md.
2002. See especially Bron Taylor, “Diggers, Wolfs, Ents,
Capra, Fritjof, and David Steindl-Rast. Belonging to the Universe:
Elves and Expanding Universes: Bricolage, Religion, and Vi-
Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality. San
olence from Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front to
Francisco, 1991.
the Antiglobalization Resistance” (pp. 26–74); Jeff Kaplan,
Cauvin, Jacques. The Birth of the Gods and the Origins of Agricul-
“The Postwar Paths of Occult National Socialism”
ture. Translated by Trevor Watkins. Cambridge, U.K.,
(pp. 225–264); and Heléne Lööw, “The Idea of Purity: The
2000.
Swedish Racist Counterculture, Animal Rights, and Envi-
Cohen, Michael P. The Pathless Way: John Muir and American
ronmental Protection” (pp. 193–210).
Wilderness. Madison, Wisc., 1984.
Kellert, Stephen R. Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia in Human Evolu-
Campolo, Anthony. How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshipping
tion and Development. Washington, D.C., 1997.
Nature. Nashville, Tenn., 1992.
Lansing, J. Stephen. Priests and Programmers: Technologies of
Corrington, Robert S. Nature’s Religion. Lanham, Md., 1997.
Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali. Princeton, N.J.,
1991.
Crosby, Donald A. A Religion of Nature. Albany, N.Y., 2002.
Levine, Michael. Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Divinity.
Devall, Bill, and George Sessions. Deep Ecology: Living as If Nature
New York and London, 1994.
Mattered. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1985.
Lubbock, John. The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Con-
Eliade, Mircea. Patterns in Comparative Religion. New York, 1958.
dition of Man. London, 1889 (originally published in 1870).
Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion.
Macy, Joanna. Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our
New York, 1959.
Lives, Our World. Blain, Wash., 1998.
Fox, Stephen. The American Conservation Movement: John Muir
Messer, Ellen, and Michael Lambek. Ecology and the Sacred: En-
and His Legacy. Madison, Wisc., 1981.
gaging the Anthropology of Roy A. Rappaport. Ann Arbor,
Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough: A History of Myth
Mich., 2001.
and Religion. London, 1994.
Müller, F. Max. Introduction to the Science of Religion. London,
Frazer, Sir James George. The Worship of Nature. London, 1926.
1873.
Gardell, Mattias. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White
Müller, F. Max. Natural Religion. London, 1888.
Separatism. Durham, N.C., 2003.
Naess, Arne. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle. Edited and trans-
Glacken, Clarence. Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Cul-
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ture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the
Noll, Richard. The Aryan Christ: The Secret Life of Carl Jung. New
Eighteenth Century. Berkeley, Calif., 1967.
York, 1997. A work that buttresses allegations that nature re-
Goodenough, Ursula. The Sacred Depths of Nature. New York,
ligion, in this case that of Carl Jung, can contribute to fascist
1998.
ideologies.
Pearson, Joanne, Richard H. Roberts, Geoffrey Samuel, and Rich-
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret
ard Roberts, eds. Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the
Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. New York,
Modern World. Edinburgh, 1998.
1994.
Pike, Sarah. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. New
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Hitler’s Priestess: Savitri Devi, the
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Hindu-Aryan Myth and Neo-Nazism. New York, 1998.
Plotkin, Mark. Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice. New York, 1993.
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Na-
zism and the Politics of Identity. New York and London,
Rappaport, Roy A. Ecology, Meaning and Religion. Richmond,
2002.
Calif., 1979.
Guthrie, Stewart. Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion.
Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity.
New York and Oxford, 1993.
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Redfield, James. The Celestine Prophecy. New York, 1993.
Haeckel, Ernest. God-Nature. London, 1906.
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. “Cosmology As Ecological Analysis:
Haeckel, Ernest. The Riddle of the Universe. London, 1900.
A View from the Rainforest.” Man 2, no. 3 (1976):
Haeckel, Ernest. The Wonders of Life. London, 1905.
307–318.
Haeckel, Ernest. Monism as Connnecting Religion and Science: The
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. The Forest Within: The Worldview of
Confession of Faith of a Man of Science. London and Edin-
the Tukano Amazonian Indians. Totnes, U.K., 1996.
burgh, 1984.
Schultes, Richard Evans. “Reasons for Ethnobotanical Conserva-
Harvey, Graham. Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speak-
tion.” In Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Collection of Es-
ing Earth. New York, 1997.
says, edited by R. E. Johannes. Geneva, 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
2668
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
Schultes, Richard Evans, and Siri Reis. Ethnobotany: Evolution of
Worster, Donald. Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas.
a Discipline. Portland, Ore., 1995.
Cambridge, Mass., 1977; revised, 1994.
Seed, John, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess. Thinking
York, Michael. The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age
Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. Philadel-
and Neo-Pagan Movements. Lanham, Md., 1995.
phia, 1988.
York, Michael. Pagan Theology. New York, 2004.
Sessions, George, ed. Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. Boston,
1995.
Zimmerman, Michael E. Contesting Earth’s Future: Radical Ecology
and Postmodernity. Berkeley, Calif., 1994.
Shepard, Paul. The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game. New
York, 1973.
BRON TAYLOR (2005)
Shepard, Paul. Coming Home to the Pleistocene. San Francisco,
1998.
Snyder, Gary. Turtle Island. New York, 1969.
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION. [To explore the
Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild. San Francisco, 1990.
relations between religion and economics, this article takes as its
Spinoza, Benedictus. Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Leiden, 1991.
starting place the beginnings of modern economic theory and ex-
Steigmann-Gall, Richard. The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of
amines the perspectives on those relations that have developed
Christianity 1919–1945. Cambridge, Mass., 2003.
within the sociology of religion since the late nineteenth century.]
Suzuki, David, and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders: Honor-
ing Sacred Native Visions of Nature. New York, 1992.
A sustained scholarly interest in the relationship be-
tween religion and economics crystallized in a number of
Swimme, Brian, and Thomas Berry. The Universe Story: From the
Western societies in the early years of the twentieth century.
Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era: A Celebration of
the Unfolding of the Cosmos. San Francisco, 1992.
Since that time it has been a topic of considerable research
and debate.
Taylor, Bron. “Resacralizing Earth: Pagan Environmentalism and
the Restoration of Turtle Island” In American Sacred Space,
DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. The discussion of
edited by David Chidester and Edward T. Linenthal,
the relationship between economics and religion is plagued
pp. 97–151. Bloomington, Ind., 1995.
by a general problem having to do with how appropriate it
Taylor, Bron. “Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part I): From
is to speak of separate domains—such as the economic or the
Deep Ecology to Radical Environmentalism.” Religion 31,
religious—in premodern, especially primal, societies, where
no. 2 (2001): 175–193.
such distinctions were or are not part of everyday life. In-
Taylor, Bron. “Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part II):
deed, only during the last two hundred years or so have peo-
From Deep Ecology to Scientific Paganism.” Religion 31, no.
ple become accustomed to speak of the economy, even though
3 (2001): 225–245.
the term was used as long ago as the fourth century BCE by
Taylor, Bron. “A Green Future for Religion?” Futures Journal 36,
Aristotle to designate the relationships among members of
no. 9 (2004).
the domestic household. Aristotle was particularly concerned
Taylor, Bron, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, London
to show, in the face of the commercial expansion of his time,
and New York, 2005. See especially Animism; Anthropology
that human wants and needs are not unlimited and that use-
as a Source of Nature Religion; Berry, Thomas; Biodiversity
ful things are not, by their nature, scarce. In spite of the great
and Religion; Biophilia; Conservation Biology; Council of
expansion of trade, profit making, and eventually, price set-
All Beings; Deep Ecology; Earth Charter; Earth First! and
ting by market forces and the appearance of large-scale man-
the Earth Liberation Front; Ecology and Religion; Environ-
ufacture during the centuries following Aristotle, it was not
mental Ethics; Epic of Evolution; Fascism; Gaia; Gaian Pil-
until as recently as the end of the eighteenth century that
grimage; Leopold, Aldo; Naess, Arne; Natural History as
“the economy” became fully thematized (and then only in
Natural Religion; Nature Religion; Paganism; Pantheism;
the Western world) as a relatively autonomous realm of
Radical Environmentalism; Religious Naturalism; Religious
Environmentalist Paradigm; Religious Studies
human life. That period saw the beginnings in Great Britain
and Environmental Concern; Spinoza, Baruch; Thoreau,
of the discipline that came to be called political economy and
Henry David; Traditional Ecological Knowledge; Wilson,
the first use of the term économiste by French intellectuals.
Edward O.
The perception of the economy as a relatively autonomous
Taylor, Sarah McFarland. Green Sisters: Catholic Nuns Answering
realm (and, in the view of many of those who specialized in
the Call of the Earth. Cambridge, Mass., 2004.
analyzing it, the most fundamental human realm) went
Tylor, Sir Edward Burnett. Primitive Culture: Researches into the
hand-in-hand with the view that religion was of rapidly di-
Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art and Cus-
minishing significance.
tom. London, 1871.
PRIMACY OF ECONOMIC ASPECT. The prevailing view
Wilson, Edward Osborne. Biophilia. Cambridge, Mass., 1984.
among social scientists and historians has been that the econ-
Wilson, Edward Osborne. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge.
omy, during the long period from ancient Greek civilization
New York, 1998. These are among Wilson’s many works
to the nineteenth century, became disembedded from the so-
that have had the most influence on contemporary nature-
cietal fabric, especially in the Western world. By the late
religion discussions.
nineteenth century, therefore, the economy was seen 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
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
2669
standing apart from the rest of society. This move has been
tion of the economic factor. For Marx, religion is the defini-
called the “naturalization” of the economy (in the sense that
tive form of alienation, but for those who wrote from the
it came to be regarded as operating according to its own nat-
perspective of Saint-Simon, religion cements society and in
ural laws, particularly those issuing from the relationship be-
a sense expresses the sociality of humanity. The latter view
tween supply and demand, as expressed in monetary prices),
was brought to its consummation by Émile Durkheim in the
and it constituted a crucial aspect of the nineteenth-century
early years of the twentieth century. For Durkheim religion
diagnosis of secularization (the decline in the significance of
is the serious life, as he put it, and serves, inter alia, so as to
religion in modern society). The perception of the rapidly
elevate men and women above purely material interests.
increasing autonomy of the economy inspired in Karl Marx
R
and Friedrich Engels the idea that human history in its en-
ELIGION AND ECONOMIC LEGITIMATION. Although the
developing nineteenth-century discipline of political econo-
tirety had been motored by economic forces or, more specifi-
my (eventually known simply as economics) did not share
cally, by class conflicts centered upon economic concerns. In
the concern of Marxism and non-Marxist social science with
response to the view of the classical British political econo-
religion, religious ideas and practices emerged in the major
mists that the best form of society is one in which there is
areas of capitalism—notably Britain and the United States—
free competition among many private producers in line with
that legitimated the capitalist economy and sanctioned the
universal economic laws, Marx argued that different modes
existing social order. Indeed, capitalists themselves quite
of production have prevailed during different periods of his-
often expressed the view that certain forms of Protestantism
tory, and therefore the embryonic capitalist mode cannot be
encouraged a dedication to industrial work. More specifical-
regarded as the paradigm of all other modes, let alone as a
ly, one may point to Wesleyan Methodism in England as an
permanent and universal system.
important example of the way in which religion played a sig-
Both the classical political economists, on the one hand,
nificant part not merely in the development of the entrepre-
and Marx and Engels, on the other, thus saw the economy
neurial attitude but also in the acquiescence of workers to
as fundamental to the operation of human societies and cor-
their role in the system of social stratification. (That religion
respondingly regarded religion, particularly in modernizing
could, in spite of its allegedly imminent demise, perform this
societies, as of peripheral significance (for Marx and Engels,
service for capitalism was conceded by Marx under the rubric
it was primarily an epiphenomenon), but they differed great-
of “false consciousness.”) The greatest degree of religious le-
ly with respect to the implications of the fundamentality of
gitimation of capitalism occurred in the United States, where
the economy. Religion was, according to Marx, being driven
the predominance of a basically Calvinist form of Protestant-
from human life by capitalist materialism and in any case im-
ism encouraged the view that men proved themselves before
peded the realization of proletarian class consciousness,
God and their fellow men and women by successful, disci-
which would make possible the release of the class from the
plined economic striving.
exploitative bondage of capitalism. Nevertheless, despite
GERMAN CRITIQUES OF CAPITALISM. By the end of the nine-
Marx’s mainly negative assessment of the historical role of
teenth century, intellectuals in Europe and North America
religion, he initiated an intellectual concern with the histori-
had become almost obsessed by the idea that a major trans-
cal origins of capitalism and, more generally, with the rela-
formation of the West had occurred, for by that time not
tionship between economic matters and religion.
only had capitalistic production greatly expanded but so had
PRIMACY OF SOCIAL AND MORAL ASPECTS. Classical politi-
bureaucracy, science and technology, and urban forms of life.
cal economy as such did not encompass the sociological and
Thus in the declining years of the nineteenth century theo-
historical themes that were developed by Marx and others
ries and diagnoses proliferated concerning the causes, magni-
during the nineteenth century. For the most part, the more
tude, and implications of what was considered a more mate-
sociologically inclined social scientists of the period shared
rial and less religious mode of existence. It was in Germany,
Marx’s belief in the increasing salience of the economy but
however, that the particular problem of the relationship be-
tended to view it as a threat to the social and moral integra-
tween religious and economic factors was given the most sus-
tion of industrial societies. In France, for example, Saint-
tained initial attention, particularly as far as its history was
Simon, after having written at length about the new industri-
concerned.
al order, came to the conclusion that a new and in a sense
secular version of Christianity was necessary in order to give
The fact that an interest in the connection between eco-
the new form meaningful direction.
nomic matters and religion developed so strongly among
German scholars can be attributed in part to their felt need
While Marx spoke of the new industrial order as provid-
to comprehend the character and the place in the modern
ing the opportunity for deprived, exploited classes to seize
world of Germany, which had only recently been politically
control of the mainspring of human life (that is, its produc-
united. Although it possessed a rich culture, the area that be-
tive forces) and thus bring about the religionless humaniza-
came the German empire in the 1870s had been relatively
tion of the species, Saint-Simon had come to the conclusion
backward in economic terms and had not developed what
that religion in a modernized form was essential in sustaining
came to be called by Max Weber “the spirit of capitalism”
the meaningful sociality of human life in the face of the erup-
to the same degree as other parts of western Europe, notably
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2670
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
Britain and Holland, and the United States. A number of
the potential for antireligious developments. Socialism and
German intellectuals were thus greatly concerned (as well as
secular unionism were regarded as forms of attachment that
ambivalent) about the origins and ramifications of the capi-
rivaled commitment to the Catholic church itself. Conse-
talist mode of production, which had in those other coun-
quently, the official Catholicism of the period expressed an-
tries seemingly been responsible for rapid economic growth,
tagonism not only to most of the trappings of modernity but
urbanization, the increasing significance of money, and so
to what it saw as an ideology of modernism.
on. They were also concerned with the problem of develop-
The intense religious concern with economic matters
ing in Germany an integrated national society despite class
that characterized the early years of the twentieth century
conflicts largely produced, as they saw it, by changing eco-
soon faded. While it would be an exaggeration to say that
nomic circumstances, as well as by religious and other cleav-
only slight concern was expressed between World War I and
ages.
the 1970s, that period constituted something of a hiatus in
It should not be thought, however, that concern about
the modern religious conciousness of the economic domain.
the connection between religion and economic matters was
This may be attributed in large part to the fact that during
confined to Germany, for in less self-consciously intellectual
and in the aftermath of the phase of religious interest in eco-
ways the link was addressed in many contexts and societies.
nomic matters that spanned the late nineteenth and early
During the rapid expansion of capitalistic forms of produc-
twentieth centuries, the modern welfare state came into
tion, distribution, and exchange in the nineteenth century,
being. Indeed, the concern expressed by religious leaders
religious leaders had responded in a variety of ways. By the
about poverty, health, and other issues had more than a little
1890s the problems posed by materialism, rapid urbaniza-
to do with the steps that many governments took in Europe
tion, inequality and poverty, the rise of labor unions and
and elsewhere to establish social welfare programs for their
working-class political parties, and related conflicts between
citizens. (Moreover, many religious organizations established
the lower and middle classes had attracted the attention of
their own welfare programs, partly following the lead of the
many religious leaders, organizations, and movements. In-
Salvation Army.) During the 1970s and 1980s, however, the
deed the declining years of the nineteenth and early years of
economic costs of maintaining the welfare state increased
the twentieth centuries witnessed a spawning of movements
enormously, while serious problems of unemployment and
concerned with the relationship between religion and capi-
poverty again became evident, partly due to the decline of
talism. The most conspicuous of these movements deplored
traditional manufacturing industries in many of the more af-
the social consequences that they attributed to the capitalist
fluent societies. Meanwhile, the failure of most societies in
system.
the Third World to develop strong economies led to increas-
SOCIAL GOSPEL, CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM, AND ROMAN CA-
ing concern about global poverty, material deprivation, and
THOLICISM. The social condition that aroused the most con-
intersocietal inequalities. Against that background, there was
cern, as expressed in the Social Gospel movement in the
a considerable renewal of religious interest in economic mat-
United States and in Christian socialist movements in Brit-
ters during the 1970s and 1980s, but this time on a much
ain and other predominantly Protestant societies (where cap-
more global scale than at the beginning of the century.
italism had progressed the furthest), was the poverty and ex-
CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT. One of the major sources of the
ploitation allegedly inherent in capitalism. In response, these
revived concern with the religion-economics theme is the
movements ranged from the theological or moral denuncia-
changed relationship between the economic and the govern-
tion of capitalism in toto to the more typical advocacy of
mental spheres. In the early decades of the nineteenth centu-
methods for ameliorating the distress caused by urbanization
ry the view developed that the economy, at least under classi-
and industrialization. Their opponents within religious orga-
cal capitalism, was naturelike and operated on its own terms.
nizations tended to argue either that the primary concern of
To that extent the government was thought to have only a
religion should be with strictly spiritual matters or, as noted
small role to play in the production and distribution of
in the case of Calvinist Protestants, that capitalism was a
wealth and material resources and that what is now called
God-sanctioned form of economy in the context of which
governmental intervention in the economy was inappropri-
individuals should strive to do their disciplined best. There
ate. However, thanks largely to the growth and monopolistic
were also those in American churches who were strongly op-
tendencies of industrial enterprise, governments were gradu-
posed to anything resembling socialism, in which they saw
ally conceded a definite role in the management of the econ-
the prospect of a world without religion, not least because
omy. As the welfare state and strong central governments
of the open hostility to religion often found among secular
emerged, the economy was increasingly regarded as subject
socialists (especially those of a Marxist persuasion). Within
to state control or at least calibration rather than as an auton-
Catholic circles and specifically in the pronouncements of
omous system following its own laws. The English econo-
the Roman Catholic church itself one did not find such con-
mist John Maynard Keynes, by advocating a relatively high
spicuous extremes. Generally speaking, what prevailed in of-
degree of governmental intervention in capitalist economies,
ficial Catholicism was the view that capitalism contained the
did much to advance this view, which was further reinforced
seeds of materialism and exploitation but that outright oppo-
by the spreading influence of socialist, communist, and other
sition to it in the form of socialism or labor unionism carried
conceptions of economic planning.
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ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
2671
There has, however, been a reaction against the inter-
positions concerning such matters as the relationship be-
ventionist view, particularly in the United States, leading to
tween the individual and society. More specifically, in the
a revival of the conservative idea that economic growth is
writings of Weber there developed a particular interest in the
best encouraged by the ethic that Weber considered crucial
relationship between what he came to call material interests
to the rapid economic growth achieved by the mainly Protes-
and ideal interests in contrast to the prevailing distinction be-
tant societies of the West during the nineteenth century. On
tween material, economic forces and ideas.
the other hand, the more recent rapid economic growth of
Weber began his work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
some Asian societies, notably Japan, has further raised the
of Capitalism (1904–1905) by referring to the observations
possibility that it is not individualistic Protestantism as such
and complaints in the German-Catholic press and at Ger-
that encourages industrial enterprise, but rather a generalized
man-Catholic congresses about the fact that business leaders
sense of sacrifice and collective involvement in work, at least
and owners of financial capital, as well as skilled laborers and
in the modern corporative economy.
commercially trained business employees, were overwhelm-
MAX WEBER’S CONTRIBUTION. In addressing the crystalliza-
ingly Protestant. He set out to show that this circumstance,
tion of scholarly interest in the relationship between religion
which was duplicated on a larger scale in contrasts between
and economics at the end of the nineteenth century it should
whole societies (such as Britain and Italy), could be largely
be stressed that in the German context there was a general
explained in terms of what he called the “permanent intrinsic
philosophical and sociological issue at the center of debate.
character” of religious beliefs. Weber did not deny that such
In the later years of the nineteenth century Germany experi-
“temporary external historico-political situations” as the mi-
enced a rapidly growing interest in the writings of Marx, due
gration of ethnic groups to societies in which they became
both to academic engagement with them and to the growth
commercially successful had been important in effecting eco-
of the German Social Democratic Party, whose debates
nomic change. But he insisted that such events had occurred
about ideology and strategy largely centered upon issues
over a very long period of human history and in many differ-
raised by Marx and Engels. For Marx and Engels and for
ent places, whereas his exclusive interest was in the differen-
those influenced by them, notably the historian and promi-
tial development of the distinctively modern spirit of entre-
nent ideologue of the Social Democratic Party, Karl Kautsky,
preneurial capitalism.
the view that the economic realm was autonomous had led
to analyses that rendered religion an effect of economic fac-
Origins of capitalism. After the publication of The
tors. This view became a major ingredient in the materialist,
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber began to
as opposed to the idealist, perspective on human life and his-
situate his inquiries into the origins of modern capitalism
tory. It was against this general background that Weber
within a more general inquiry into the origins of the calculat-
began to make his highly influential contributions to the reli-
ive, rational-instrumental, and secular spirit of the Western
gion-economics theme.
world. In other words, his study of the ethos of modern capi-
talism, with its emphasis upon disciplined work, careful cal-
Economics and religion. The novelty of the argument
culation, a willingness to forgo short-term for longterm
developed by Weber is best indicated at the outset by the fact
gains, and so on, was subsumed by a wider interest in the
that his colleague Ernst Troeltsch could emphatically remark
making of the ethos of the modern Western world.
that linking the scholarly discussion of economic matters to
Weber argued that the tension between religious belief
the analysis of religion and religious change, as he himself ad-
and what he sometimes called the economic impulse is cen-
vocated, must have seemed strange to his readers, not least
tral to the understanding of the human condition. The eco-
in the German context. The major reason for this was that
nomic impulse is universal. But he asked, how and in what
for the majority of German intellectuals (not simply those
ways has it come to be tempered by rationality? In primitive
of a Marxist persuasion), the modern world was character-
society, he argued, religion is subordinated to the economic
ized by the complete triumph of material, worldly concerns
impulse and for that reason is best described as magic. Put
over spiritual ones, and religion was therefore retreating rap-
another way, economic and religious matters are, from the
idly into the background. This was widely and often pejora-
modern point of view, conflated. Rituals and myths tend to
tively perceived to have occurred most conspicuously in Brit-
be directed toward mainly economic functions. They are rel-
ain and North America. At the end of his most important
atively instrumental in the provision of economic necessities
contribution to the discussion of the relationship between
and thus more magical than religious, not least because in
economic and religious matters, Weber indeed expressed the
primitive society there is virtually no development of eco-
view that men and women were destined to live in an “iron
nomic ethics. In essence, economically based magic is the
cage” of concern with materiality, calculation, and routine,
embryonic form of religion.
condemned to involvement in highly structured “intramun-
dane” matters. However, writers such as Weber, Troeltsch,
Dualist world images. From that primitive matrix
and Georg Simmel took the view that this self-interested
there developed, argued Weber, dualistic world images, that
concern with worldly matters, notably those of an economic
is, images of a cosmos divided into two relatively indepen-
kind, had not arisen autonomously but had developed out
dent realms, such as the opposed forces of good and evil in
of changes in cultural presuppositions and psychological dis-
Zoroastrianism. Dualistic images of the cosmos gave rise to
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ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
the problem of the relationship between an individual’s ac-
provide an account of the “spirit” of modern capitalism. In
tion in the mundane world and the fate of the individual in
emphasizing spirit (in the sense of the ethos that animates
relation to the supramundane world. Given the fundamen-
a certain kind of economic action and sustains certain kinds
tality of the economic impulse—or, put another way, the ne-
of economic institutions), Weber was in effect insisting that
cessity of minimum levels of material satisfaction to support
even though much of the behavior that informs the modern
human life—it was inevitable that there should have been
world is indeed sustained by what Marx had called the dull
tension between the mundane world in its economic aspect
compulsion of economics, one could not plausibly account
and the supramundane world as a focus of meaning. As ideas
for its emergence solely in reference to economic change as
about the two domains of the cosmos crystallized, a need de-
such, not least because the monetary economy had initially
veloped, in turn, for what Weber called an ethical interpreta-
become much more significant in the West than in the East,
tion of the variations and vicissitudes in human fortunes.
and then only in certain parts of the West. Weber thus set
himself the task of stipulating what aspects of Christianity
Theodicy. Central to Weber’s analysis of the economic
in general and of Protestantism in particular encouraged the
ethics of the major religious traditions was the concept of
growth of a positive orientation to the economic realm.
theodicy. First systematically used by the philosopher G. W.
Leibniz, the term theodicy in its most circumscribed sense has
Weber began by emphasizing Martin Luther’s injunc-
to do with the existence in this world of suffering, evil, and
tion that the world should be made into a monastery.
injustice in the face of belief in an omniscient, omnipotent,
Whereas in traditional Christian teaching a clear distinction
and just God. Weber expanded its range of application, par-
had been made between those who were called to live a mo-
ticularly with reference to matters concerning economic cir-
nastic life of self-sacrifice (particularly in reference to the
cumstances, so as to embrace not merely monotheistic reli-
vows of poverty and chastity) and those who lived in the
gions (notably Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) but also the
world, Luther argued that all Christians should be capable
major religions of India, China, and Japan (notably Hindu-
of following a God-inspired way of worldly life. Thus from
ism, Buddhism, and Confucianism). It is crucial to recognize
Weber’s point of view Lutheranism constituted a crucial un-
that in loosening the concept of theodicy (illegitimately, ac-
folding and further rationalization of the inherently inner-
cording to some) to encompass nontheistic religions Weber
worldly attitude of Christianity. The religious calling was, in
had a particular, guiding purpose: his quest for the origins
other words, considered pursuable in this world. There was
of the modern ethos (a central part of which was, in his view,
no need for a separate group of exemplary religious who
the instrumental, calculative rationality of entrepreneurial
turned emphatically away from the everyday world. Weber
capitalism). In other words, although Weber in one sense fol-
argued, however, that Luther’s ideas in this and other re-
lowed Hegel and other Germans before him, and Troeltsch
spects were not so radical as those of John Calvin. The Lu-
in his own time, in trying to establish a framework for the
theran conception of the calling was, in spite of its greater
comparison of the major religious traditions, his work was
inner-worldliness in comparison with traditional, Catholic
unique in that he was not interested (as, for example, Hegel
Christianity, essentially passive. It required the typical believ-
had been) in demonstrating that Christianity carried the
er to live as religious a life as possible while remaining indif-
greatest potential for the realization of the “idea of religion.”
ferent to the wider social context. In other words, the Luther-
Nor was Weber concerned, as others had been, with examin-
an was to take the world as he or she found it and respect
ing the degree to which Indian religion constituted a viable
the secular authorities and institutional characteristics of the
metaphysical alternative to Christianity. Closer to his project
wider society. The point of the religious life was to concen-
was Troeltsch’s attempt to demonstrate the superiority of
trate upon one’s personal and familial circumstances in inti-
Christianity on the grounds that it promulgated both a par-
mate relationship with God.
ticularly transcendent view of the supernatural and a definite
set of social teachings. Nonetheless, Weber regarded Tr-
From Weber’s point of view this Lutheran ideal was not
oeltsch’s work as guided too much by theological purposes
sufficient to explain the development in the Western world
and a normative commitment to maximizing the relevance
of an ethos that positively encouraged active involvement in
of religion to the modern world, as well as by too great an
worldly and particularly economic affairs, even though it
emphasis upon the social teachings that were explicitly devel-
opened the door to such involvement. It was thus to the rath-
oped by the Christian churches on the basis of official doc-
er different Protestant attitude of Calvin that he turned in
trine. Weber was interested in what he called the “practical-
his search for the most significant source of the spirit of capi-
ethical” applications of religious teachings, the methodical,
talism. Before considering what Weber saw in Calvinism in
quotidian working out of theology and religious teaching in
this respect it is necessary to emphasize again that Weber was
concrete circumstances.
concerned with the capitalism of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. Capitalism in the sense of profit-
Spirit of capitalism. Claiming that he was attempting
seeking had existed in many parts of the world for many cen-
only to show that it was just as possible to produce an idealis-
turies, but modern capitalism of the kind that had developed
tic interpretation of the rise of modern capitalism centered
in the West since the late eighteenth century had distinctive
on religious matters as a materialistic one, Weber set out to
characteristics. It was a form of economic life that involved
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ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
2673
the careful calculation of costs and profits, the borrowing and
plined economic action was the accumulation of financial
lending of money, the accumulation of capital in the form
capital. For Weber, the process of economic investment fol-
of money and material assets, investment, private property,
lowed by accumulation of profit and more investment was
and the employment of laborers and employees in a more or
intimately related to the process of gaining confirmation of
less unrestricted labor market. Given Weber’s interest in the
salvation, even though such a calculating attitude toward sal-
spirit, or ethos, of modern capitalism it was what one may
vation was not prescribed by Calvinist theology.
loosely call the attitudinal aspect of capitalism and even more
Weber regarded the Calvinist doctrine of predestination
particularly the attitudes of businessmen that concerned
(which has appeared with much less explicitness in many
him. What he was thus looking for was an image of the eco-
branches of monotheistic religions) as the extreme theologi-
nomic realm that emphasized the virtue of disciplined enter-
cal extension of the Christianity that had developed after the
prise and a positive concern with economic activity as such
founding of the Christian church. It was the logical consum-
(more or less regardless of the material riches that the success-
ful accumulated).
mation of the idea of an omniscient God and the commit-
ment to religious involvement in the world. Calvinism thus
The central feature of Calvinism in terms of Weber’s in-
constituted a logically perfected theodicy.
terest in the growth of the modern monetary economy was
its special emphasis upon the doctrine of predestination, the
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
idea that the conception of God as all-powerful, all-knowing,
Weber concentrated on showing, as he put it, that a one-
and inscrutable led inexorably to the conclusion that the fate
sided, idealistic account of the rise of capitalism (in the sense
of the world and of human individuals was predetermined.
of stressing the role of ideas) was just as plausible as the
For Weber the crucial question hinged upon the practical
equally one-sided materialist accounts produced by Marxists.
problem posed to those who subscribed to this doctrine. Spe-
In any case, he added, a historical account of the rise of capi-
cifically, how did Calvinistic individuals decide to act in the
talism ought to acknowledge the fact that capitalism (or any
world when they believed that God had already determined
other mode of production) is not merely an objective struc-
the fate of each individual and that only a relatively small
tural phenomenon but is also, at least in part, sustained by
proportion of human beings could be saved? Weber argued
a set of presuppositions that encourage specific interests in
that individuals were constrained to look for signs of having
work and industry and discourage others. Thus, contrary to
been accorded an elite salvational status. Those who were
some interpretations of his work, he did not seek to provide
most successful would tend to regard their worldly success
a monocausal account of the rise of modern capitalism but
as an indication that they were among God’s chosen. While
rather to stress the ideational factors that had encouraged the
the conviction that one had been saved was the most general
capitalist work ethic and had been neglected by the Marxists.
indicator of being of the elect, Calvinism’s emphasis upon
Even though he was intent on emphasizing the critical signif-
each person having a calling in life, a calling to strive in as
icance of religion in the rise of modern capitalism, Weber
disciplined a manner as possible, without self-indulgence,
did not simply posit Protestantism as the cause and capital-
strongly encouraged the view that worldly success was a con-
ism as the effect. Rather he insisted that a vital aspect of capi-
firmation of acting as an instrument of God’s will and a sign
talism is the “spirit,” or ethos, that legitimates it, and he
of elect status.
sought the principal origins of that spirit. In this regard it
should be emphasized that Weber undoubtedly exaggerated
Thus, in Weber’s interpretation, Calvinism constituted
the degree to which the affinity between certain branches of
a further evolution of the Lutheran idea that life itself could
Protestantism and capitalist economic success had been over-
be subjected to the monastic conception of the religious call-
looked prior to his writings. Nevertheless, his own attempt
ing. Whereas Luther had adumbrated the relatively passive
to provide a detailed explanation of that affinity was unique
notion of being called to be as devout as possible in the
and pathbreaking. It should also be stressed that according
world, Calvin had articulated a more dynamic and active
to Weber the spirit of capitalism had gradually become self-
conception of the calling. Calvin called upon individuals to
sustaining, so that by his own time it was no longer grounded
be religious by engaging with the world. And even though
upon the “Protestant ethic.” Weber’s major thesis about the
Calvinism as a religious doctrine did not specify how one
link between Protestantism (particularly in its Calvinist and
could be supremely confident that one was acting as an in-
some other non-Lutheran forms) and capitalism was pres-
strument of God, it certainly encouraged the faithful to be-
ented in the context of an expanding debate on that topic,
come actively involved in the major institutional spheres of
notably, as has been emphasized, in Germany. His own ideas
society and, in so doing, to take individual responsibility as
exacerbated the debate and have since been subjected to ex-
agents of God. Weber maintained that it was psychologically
tensive criticism and appraisal. Indeed, the significance of his
inevitable that those who were most tangibly successful as a
argument probably became greater in the course of the twen-
result of disciplined, ascetic striving in the world would tend
tieth century. This is so not merely because of the purely
to think of themselves as chosen by God. Because worldly
scholarly interest in the making of the modern world and the
indulgence and luxuriating in the fruits of one’s endeavors
crucial role of the West in that regard but also because the
were precluded by the Calvinist ethos, the result of disci-
great economic disparities between contemporary societies
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2674
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
became a matter of widespread concern, controversy, and
ing. In other words, even though he ascribed great signifi-
conflict. Weber’s major thesis about the promotion of the
cance to religion, he wished to demonstrate the specific links
spirit of capitalism (and, more generally, of economic suc-
between religion and other aspects of human societies. But
cess) is thus of considerable relevance to the discussion of the
precisely because he did attend so closly to religion, his work
making of the modern world as a whole and, more specifical-
has frequently been interpreted as an expression of religious
ly, the distribution of resources and wealth within it. Before
determinism.
turning to such matters, however, it is necessary to indicate
the ways in which Weber fleshed out his thesis about the ori-
Weber’s work on religion and economic life has been
gins of the modern Western consciousness.
subject to an immense amount of exegesis and criticism,
most of it centered on his thesis about the Western origins
Economic ethics. In the last decade of his life (1910–
of capitalism. While much of the criticism has been well-
1920) Weber engaged in a series of studies of non-Christian
grounded with respect to the historical record, a good deal
civilizations with the express intent of explicating the eco-
of it has derived from tacit acceptance of the view that the
nomic ethics of their major religions. (He completed studies
modern economy is an autonomous realm lacking any kind
of India and China, as well as of the religion of ancient Israel,
of religious-symbolic grounding or relevance. During the
but not full-scale studies of medieval Christianity and Islam.)
1970s and 1980s, however, renewed interest was generated
These efforts were largely guided by a general analytical con-
in the religious foundations of economic life. The idea of the
trast between Occidental and Oriental world-images, at the
autonomy of economic life and action, as characteristically
center of which were religious-metaphysical conceptions of
expressed in the work of professional economists, was strong-
the relationship between the cosmos and the world. His aim
ly challenged, and religious organizations and movements
was to find out why there had arisen in the West (and more
became increasingly concerned about economic issues.
in some parts of the West than in others) the instrumental
Weber’s work hovers explicitly or implicitly in the back-
rationality that seemed to lie at the heart of not merely mod-
ground of much of the contemporary interest in the relation-
ern economic life but also modern science, modern forms of
ship between religion and economics.
organization (what he called rational-legal bureaucracy), and
T
modern life generally—or in other words, why modern capi-
HE MODERN WORLD. While Weber was clearly conscious
of the extent to which nineteenth-century entrepreneurial
talism and other aspects of modern life and consciousness
capitalism was itself being transformed, not least through the
had not arisen in Eastern civilizations.
expansion of the modern bureaucratic state, his work on reli-
The set of contrasts that Weber employed in his inqui-
gion and economic life has primary relevance to the growth
ries into economic ethics may be summarized as follows. The
or lack of growth of classical, as opposed to what is now often
Eastern conception of the supramundane world centered
called late, or advanced, capitalism. Moreover, Weber’s work
upon a notion of eternal being, whereas the Western concep-
touched little, if at all, upon one of the most significant in-
tion involved belief in a personal God. The first tended to
gredients of modern economic life, particularly in capitalist
encourage and to be consolidated by a mystical, otherworldly
societies—consumerism. Weber, as has been emphasized,
orientation, while the second was closely related to an ascetic,
was interested in the development of entrepreneurial asceti-
innerworldly orientation. The Eastern image was to be seen
cism (an asceticism that, for him, had become freed of its
in its most acute and logically consistent form in classical
original religious mooring). In contemporary language he
Buddhism, which emphasized the basically illusory character
was concerned with the origins of the work ethic. However,
of worldly life and regarded release from the contingencies
a more hedonistic dimension of economic culture is to be
of the everyday world as the highest religious aspiration. In
found in the odyssey of capitalism. Certainly the value placed
contrast to Calvinism, its Western parallel and and opposite,
upon the accumulation of consumer goods is central to the
Buddhism directed the attention of its adherents, particularly
modern form of capitalism. An interest in consumerism has
Buddhist monks, away from the conditions of everyday life
led some social scientists—notably anthropologists—to at-
and thus did not encourage the continuous application of re-
tempt to lay bare the symbolic basis of patterns of consump-
ligious ideals to the concrete circumstances of the world.
tion. That is, some analysts have become increasingly con-
More generally speaking, Weber maintained that in India,
cerned with the underlying meanings that are produced and
China, and Japan the dominant worldviews lacked the dy-
distributed by the advertising, purchase, and display of con-
namic created in monotheistic religions, particularly in
sumer goods. While not specifically involving the study of
Christianity, by the conception of a demanding God who
religion, this relatively new focus is part of a growing tenden-
had enjoined believers to transform the world in his image.
cy to situate the study of economic behavior and institutions
Thus in Eastern societies there was much more concern with
in a broader sociocultural context.
the maintenance of an organically ordered society and the
promotion of organic social ethics.
Among the more important specific developments that
suggest a return to the thorough investigation of the relation-
It is important to note that in his studies of Eastern so-
ship between religion and economic matters are these: the
cieties, Weber took great pains to discuss the ways in which
rapid economic growth in the second half of the twentieth
religious ideas and social structures were mutually reinforc-
century in societies, such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and
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ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
2675
Singapore, with religious traditions—sometimes called Neo-
moted by Marx and Engels, that individual societies are driv-
Confucian—that do not clearly conform to the Weberian
en by conflicts attendant upon economic motivations
image of Calvinist Protestantism; the emergence in the same
stimulated the rich, if controversial, attempts by Weber to
period of religious movements, many of them inspired by
show that under certain circumstances religion could be a
forms of liberation theology, which stress the importance of
critical factor in sociocultural change, so the view of the en-
linking economic ideas with theological ideas and religious
tire world as governed by the dynamics of economic motiva-
practices; and the general problem of the global economy.
tions and relationships is stimulating new ways of thinking
about the economic significance of religion.
The capitalist world system. In fact these three phe-
nomena discussed above are closely related, with the third
Talcott Parsons. A major example of such thinking, al-
probably being the most important. In the tradition largely
though not a direct reaction to the materialist form of world-
initiated by Weber, the primary concern has been to connect
system theory, is to be found in the work of Talcott Parsons.
the comparative economic success of societies (and of groups
Greatly influenced by Weber, whose The Protestant Ethic and
and regions within societies) with forms of religio-cultural
the Spirit of Capitalism he translated (1930), Parsons devoted
tradition and religious commitment. But a contrasting ap-
much of his academic career to the question of what others
proach, called world-system theory, has arisen out of the in-
have called the degree of embeddedness of economic life. At
creasing awareness that the world constitutes a single so-
the center of his thinking in this regard is the general propo-
ciocultural system, and that the affairs of particular societies,
sition that while economic activity is essential to human life,
groups, and regions are inextricably bound up with it. In one
it is neither fully determining nor fully determined. None-
of its most influential forms, the theory maintains that the
theless, Parsons acknowledged that at certain points in histo-
modern world system is largely the result of the growth of
ry the economic realm has appeared to be particularly signifi-
capitalism and that the system should be understood as a pri-
cant. Thus he attended to the various ways in which this
marily economic phenomenon. According to this view, the
apparent significance has been interpreted. Indeed, one of his
capitalist world system, which had its earliest beginnings in
main interests was the way in which the modern discipline
Europe some five hundred years ago, has spread to the point
of economics arose as one reaction among others to the cul-
that it now embraces the entire world.
tural thematization of the idea that the economic realm is the
central and most problematic realm of human existence. Spe-
In the version developed by Immanuel Wallerstein, who
cifically, Parsons examined the relationship between the re-
has placed himself in the Marxist tradition, world-system
sponses to this idea and the industrial revolution that began
theory reverses the priority that Weber’s work gives to reli-
in certain Western societies in the second half of the eigh-
gion, for Wallerstein regards the religious cleavages that oc-
teenth century.
curred in sixteenth-century Europe as consequences of the
placement of societies in the nascent world economy. Specif-
In this regard Parsons circumvented the perennial ques-
ically, he argues that those societies that became predomi-
tion of whether the economic or “material” aspects of life are
nantly Protestant were the core societies of the embryonic
more or less important than the “ideal” aspects. While con-
world capitalist system, while those that remained or became
ceding the great importance of the economic aspects, he tried
Catholic were “peripheral” societies whose major economic
to show that the ways in which they are interpreted and sym-
function was the supply of raw materials to the dominant
bolized are of no less importance. The perception of eco-
manufacturing centers. (Subsequently, as the world system
nomic autonomy yielded a number of different religious or
expanded so as to become literally a worldwide system, those
quasi-religious interpretations, two of which carried it to the
early peripheral units of the system became semiperipheral,
point of economic determinism. These were classical eco-
insofar as they were economically situated between the core
nomics as it developed in the wake of the writings of Adam
capitalist centers of economic domination and the peripheral
Smith and the particular socialist tradition initiated by Marx.
societies of the world.)
Parsons regarded these economistic responses to the industri-
al revolution as being themselves quasi-religious in nature,
Influence of religion. Thus, in the perspective of the
for they carried with them sets of ideas concerning the nature
school of thought largely led by Wallerstein, religion has
and meaning of human existence. He proposed the impor-
played a significant, but nonetheless epiphenomenal, part in
tant idea that nothing in social life is or can be purely eco-
the making of the modern global system. It has, in other
nomic.
words, played an important ideological role, in the Marxist
sense of ideology as the form in which inequality and exploi-
Economic change. Wallerstein’s world-system theory,
tation are presented as justified. To a considerable extent this
it should be emphasized, originated as a direct response to
argument constitutes the highwater mark of the economistic
the modernization theories of the 1950s and 1960s, which
view that everything in human life can be reduced to and ex-
owed much to the writing of Weber on the relationship be-
plained by economic factors. Yet, in its very extremeness, it
tween religious and economic change. New life was given to
has stimulated what promises to be a constructive reaction
Weber’s work by the widespread concern with the economic
in the form of a reassessment of the relationship between reli-
gap between established societies, particularly those of the in-
gion and economic life. In other words, just as the view, pro-
dustrial West, and those that had won their independence
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2676
ECONOMICS AND RELIGION
during the wave of decolonization of the late 1950s and the
vantages were made possible by the economic underdevelop-
1960s. Many social scientists tried to account for disparities
ment of Third World societies. In combination with that
in economic circumstances and growth rates by assessing the
perspective on the world system some leaders of the libera-
degree to which religion encouraged or discouraged involve-
tionist movement effected what during the late 1960s
ment in economic enterprise and the development of a work
seemed an unlikely fusion of Christian theology and Marxist
ethic.
ideology, thus to a significant degree violating the traditional
Marxist view that religion is, at least in the modern world,
A strong tendency among modernization theorists in
an enemy of socialist revolution. There is much debate as to
the 1950s and 1960s was to maintain that cultural change,
the degree to which this fusion of Christian ideas concerning
sometimes expressed more specifically as religious change,
the achievement of the kingdom of God upon earth and the
was a prerequisite of economic change, and that the mainly
liberation of religious consciousness with Marxist ideas con-
non-Christian societies of the world (as well as most of the
cerning the fundamentality of economic forces and relation-
Catholic Christian ones) needed either a Protestant ethic or
ships is simply a marriage of strategic convenience rather
its functional equivalent as a motivational base for engaging
than a genuine synthesis. Nonetheless, the degree to which
in economic activites that would produce economic growth.
religion and politics, more specifically theology and ideology,
This was not at all an original idea, because, as has been seen,
have been recently combined among Marxist-tinged libera-
during the nineteenth century the claim that Protestantism
tionist movements, as well as in movements often labeled as
in its Calvinist version encouraged commitment to enter-
fundamentalist (ranging from Christian fundamentalism in
prise and work had been quite widespread. Indeed in Latin
the United States to Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle
America during that period it was not uncommon for the po-
East), is very striking. Many such developments can best be
litical leaders of newly independent states to encourage the
understood in reference to the fact that the conspicuousness
spread of Protestantism in the hope that it would yield eco-
and evident fatefulness of the global economy (whether one
nomic growth in the face of the dominant, largely anticapi-
calls it capitalistic or something else) elicits specific responses
talist Catholic ethos.
from movements, societies, regions, and so on, involving at-
World-system theory achieved prominence largely be-
tempts to imbue the world order and its parts with some
cause of its opposition to the view that poor societies can
kind of symbolic meaning, such as the legitimation of privi-
achieve prosperity by their own internal efforts (even if this
leged economic circumstances (what Weber called the theod-
means the importation of new cultural and religious forms).
icy of good fortune) or the attempt to overcome underprivi-
In place of this internalist conception of societal change, the
leged conditions. In any case it is evident that the very
theory afforded a basically externalist conception, one that
different projections by Marx and Weber of a modern world
regarded the position of individual societies in the world eco-
without religion, which would allegedly yield to the force of
nomic system as almost entirely the consequence of the char-
economic interests and processes, have not yet been realized.
acter of the system as a whole. Rather than attributing eco-
What thus has changed most of all since the period in
nomic growth or lack of growth to indigenous, including
which Weber wrote extensively about the economic ethics
religious, characteristics, world-system theory maintained
of the major religions is the highly conspicuous emergence
that the economic fates of individual societies are determined
of the global economy. This process has increasingly forced
by the functioning and expansion of a capitalist world system
religions—more specifically, leaders of religious movements
(in which even internally socialistic societies are constrained
and organizations—to confront the economy and its appur-
to act capitalistically in their relations with other societies).
tenances (such as materialism and consumerism) much more
comprehensively than heretofore. Thus the original Weberi-
World as a whole. Even though a number of critical
an interest in the way in which religions differentially en-
weaknesses have been exposed in this argument, there can be
courage or inhibit economic progress has been enlarged and
little doubt that it is to the world as a whole that one must
refocused.
now look in considering many of the most important ques-
tions about the relationship between economic and religious
This is to be seen particularly in the case of Islam. Assist-
factors in modern life. One major example of this is the de-
ed in no small part by the economic circumstance of the
velopment of liberation theology, most conspicuously in
world coming to depend so much, directly or indirectly, on
Latin America. Latin American liberation theology, which
the rich deposits of oil in a number of Islamic countries,
has counterparts on all other continents, grew in part from
Islam has reasserted itself in defiance of the West. In the pro-
a perspective on the world as a whole that is closely related
cess, many questions have been raised, both within Islamic
to Marxist world-system theory. Dependency theory devel-
contexts and by observers of it, as to whether the relative eco-
oped in Latin America in the 1960s in opposition to the view
nomic backwardness of Islamic societies in recent centuries
that the relatively backward economic state of Latin America
has issued from inherent characteristics of Islam as a religious
should be attributed, inter alia, to its fatalistic Catholicism.
tradition, at one extreme, or from the subordinate position
Rather, it was argued, Latin America’s condition was to be
of Islamic societies in relation to those of West, at the other.
largely explained by its dependent status in relation to afflu-
Weber’s writings on Islam suggest strongly that it inhib-
ent countries, in particular the United States, whose very ad-
ited the growth of the instrumental rationality necessary for
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ECSTASY
2677
the emergence of a modern economic orientation, but that
Marxist Critiques of Religion (The Hague, 1975). Also rele-
view is resisted by those who maintain that much of what
vant to understanding the late nineteenth- and early twenti-
appears, in Weber’s terms, to be inimical to modern eco-
eth-century posing of issues regarding religion and econom-
nomic rationality is actually the consequence of Islamic cul-
ics is Ernst Troeltsch’s The Social Teaching of the Christian
ture’s adaption to a subordinate politico-economic situation.
Churches, 2 vols., translated by Olive Wyon (1931; Chicago,
Some scholars have argued that capitalism would have devel-
1981).
oped in Islamic societies but for this situation. Others have
Talcott Parsons’s important writings on economic and religious
maintained that Islam is inherently more conducive to a so-
factors are exemplified by his “Christianity and Modern In-
cialist economic system, and that that is precisely what is de-
dustrial Society,” in Sociological Theory, Values, and Socio-
veloping in the modern period. In any case, unlike such so-
Cultural Change: Essays in Honor of Pitrim A. Sorokin, edited
by Edward A. Tiryakian (New York, 1963), pp. 33–70, and
cieties as Britain and the United States, which led the way
“Religious and Economic Symbolism in the Western
into, and in a sense created, the modern global economy,
World,” Sociological Inquiry 49 (1979): 1–48. Immanuel
Islam, which not so many centuries ago was itself a dominant
Wallerstein’s basic ideas are to be encountered in his The
civilization, is currently engaged in a self-conscious, traumat-
Modern World-System (New York, 1974). For the relation be-
ic attempt to formulate very explicitly its economic ethics or,
tween religion and the world system, see my chapter, “The
more generally, its economic culture. The self-conscious for-
Sacred and the World System,” in The Sacred in a Secular
mulation of economic ethics or culture is also occurring to
Age, edited by Phillip E. Hammond (Berkeley, 1985),
varying degrees in a number of other major religious con-
pp. 347–457. For liberation theology, see my essay “Libera-
texts. Whether this will lead to a reunion of economics and
tion Theology in Latin America,” in Prophetic Religion and
religion of the kind that has prevailed in different patterns
Politics, edited by Jeffrey Hadden and Anton Shupe (New
York, 1987), pp. 107–139.
throughout most of human history remains to be seen.
Finally, on more general questions of the varying significance of
SEE ALSO Marx, Karl; Modernity; Money; Political Theolo-
the economic factor, see Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transfor-
gy; Revolution; Secularization; Troeltsch, Ernst; Wealth;
mation (New York, 1944), Marshall D. Sahlins’s Culture and
Weber, Max.
Practical Reason (Chicago, 1976), Chandra Mukerji’s From
Graven Images: Patterns of Modern Materialism (New York,
1983), and Jürgen Habermas’s Legitimation Crisis, translated
BIBLIOGRAPHY
by Thomas McCarthy (Boston, 1975).
Max Weber’s major writings on religion and economic issues are
available in the following English translations: The Protestant
New Sources
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1930; New York, 1977),
Dean, James, and A. M. C. Waterman. Religion and Economics:
Economy and Society, vol. 1 (Berkeley, Calif., 1978), Ancient
Normative Social Theory. Boston, 1999.
Judaism (1952; New York, 1967), The Religion of China
Graeber, David. Toward an Anthropology of Value: The False Coin
(1951; New York, 1968), The Religion of India (Glencoe, Ill.,
of Our Own Dreams. New York, 2001.
1958); and General Economic History (1927; New Bruns-
wick, N.J., 1981). A valuable exegesis of Weber’s thesis about
Howell, Martha C. The Marriage Exchange: Property, Social Place,
the economic consequences of Protestantism is Gordon Mar-
and Gender in Cities of the Low Countries, 1300–1550. Chi-
shall’s In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism (New York, 1982).
cago, 1998.
Weber’s sociology of religion in a more general sense is ad-
Knitter, Paul, and Chandra Muzaffar. Subverting Greed: Religious
umbrated, in comparison with the views of Marx and others,
Perspectives on the Global Economy. Maryknoll, N.Y., 2002.
in my “Max Weber and German Sociology of Religion,” in
Long, D. Stephen. Theology and the Market. Routledge Radical
Nineteenth Century Religious Thought in the West, edited by
Orthodoxy series. London, 2000.
Ninian Smart et al., vol. 3 (Cambridge, U.K., 1985),
pp. 263–304. Weber’s scattered writings on Islam are
Mazu, Eric, and Kate McCarthy, eds. God in the Details: American
brought critically together in Bryan S. Turner’s Weber and
Religion in Popular Culture. New York, 2001.
Islam (London, 1974). A very useful set of essays on Weber’s
Neusner, Jacob. Religious Belief and Economic Behavior in Ancient
ideas about economics in relation to religious change is to be
Israel, Classical Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and Contem-
found in The Protestant Ethic and Modernization, edited by
porary Ireland and Africa. Atlanta, 1999.
Shmuel N. Eisenstadt (New York, 1968).
Silver, Morris, ed. Ancient Economy in Mythology: East and West.
The French tradition of positive evaluation of religion in relation
Savage, Md., 1991.
to economic factors is exemplified in Émile Durkheim’s So-
cialism, translated by Charlotte Sattler and edited by Alvin
ROLAND ROBERTSON (1987)
Gouldner (New York, 1962), and in Durkheim’s The Ele-
Revised Bibliography
mentary Forms of the Religious Life, translated by Joseph Ward
Swain (1915; New York, 1965). See also my essay “The De-
velopment and Modern Implications of the Classical Socio-
logical Perspective on Religion and Revolution,” in Religion,
ECSTASY. The term ecstasy (Gr., ekstasis) literally means
Rebellion, Revolution, edited by Bruce Lincoln (New York,
“to be placed outside,” as well as, secondarily, “to be dis-
1985), pp. 236–265. A useful survey of Marxist theories of
placed.” Both senses are relevant to the study of religion, the
religions is contained in Delos B. McKown’s The Classical
first more than the second perhaps, inasmuch as it denotes
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ECSTASY
a state of exaltation in which one stands outside or transcends
thing within him responds: “At once I was in the Spirit”
oneself. Transcendence has often been associated or even
(4:2). Again he looked, saw, and heard. Another example
equated with religion. If such an understanding of ecstasy
may be provided from a later chapter of Revelation: “And he
carries the historian of religion into the hinterland of mysti-
carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a
cism, the second sense, involving as it does spirit possession
woman sitting on a scarlet beast” (17:3). Finally there is the
and shamanism, carries one to the borderland of anthropolo-
vision of the New Jerusalem: “And in the Spirit he carried
gy and even psychiatry. The vast range of phenomena cov-
me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy
ered by the term supports the adoption of an approach to-
city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God”
ward its understanding that uses a variety of methods, one
(21:10). Many religious traditions chart the path to ecstasy
of which, the philological, has already been engaged. Ecstasy
with precision and sophistication. Hinduism speaks of the
can thus mean both the seizure of one’s body by a spirit and
various steps of Yoga leading to sama¯dhi; Buddhism speaks
the seizure of a human by a divinity. Although seemingly in
of jha¯nas and nirva¯n:a; Christianity speaks of the mystical
opposition, the two senses are not mutually exclusive, and
way; and Islam speaks of the hal and maqam, or states and
between them lies the vast and diverse range of phenomena
stations en route to divine knowledge (an imagery that may
covered by the umbrella term ecstasy, with the magician
be compared to the “mansions” of Teresa of Ávila), as well
standing at one end of the spectrum and the psychiatrist at
as of wajd (“ecstasy”).
the other. The historian of religion tries to grasp the signifi-
ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH. The anthropological ap-
cance of the intervening terrain with the help of historical,
proach emphasizes the role of the shaman and the phenome-
anthropological, phenomenological, sociological, psycholog-
non of possession in both prehistoric and contemporary pre-
ical, and philosophical approaches to the study of religion.
literate societies. Shaman is a widely used term, the “lowest
HISTORICAL APPROACH. Ecstatic techniques reach back to
common denominator of which is that of the inspired priest”
prehistoric times; utilizing the principle of survivals, the his-
(Eliade, cited in Lewis, 1971, p. 49). In the anthropological
torian can reconstruct these techniques by extrapolating
approach, it is the shaman’s role as a psychopomp that is pre-
from the role of shamans in modern primal societies. In the
eminent. Through an ability to achieve a state of ecstatic ex-
realm of history proper, the mystery religions that flourished
altation, acquired after much rigorous training and careful,
in the Greco-Roman world, such as those celebrated at Eleu-
often painful initiation, the shaman is able to establish con-
sis and those centering on Orpheus, Adonis, Attis, Isis and
tact with the spirit world. In the course of this exaltation, the
Osiris, Mithra, and others, provide examples of the role of
shaman may affect the postmortem fate of the deceased, aid
ecstasy in religion. The emphasis on secrecy in these cults
or hurt the diseased in this life, as well as encounter the occu-
makes it difficult to delineate the exact role played by ecstasy
pants of the spirit world, communicate with them, and then
in their rituals, but those rituals are generally believed to have
narrate the experiences of ecstatic flight on his or her return
led to ecstatic states that signified salvific union with their
from there.
deities. Elements of ecstasy are not absent in Israelite reli-
PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH. It must be remembered,
gion, where groups or individuals were seized by the spirit
however, that while all shamans are ecstatics, all ecstatics are
of Yahveh; the case of Saul is often cited in this respect (1
not shamans. Taking a broader phenomenological approach,
Sm. 10:1–16).
one discovers that a variety of means, such as dancing, drugs,
It is significant that even the phenomenological ap-
self-mortification, and so on, have been used across cultures
proach to ecstasy, though it does not divorce the ecstasy of
and at various times to induce ecstasy and that these have
the shaman from communion with spirits, does point out
generated ecstatic states ranging from the shamanistic to the
that the “specific element of shamanism is not the incorpora-
mystical. If the first step of the phenomenological method
tion of spirits in the shaman, but the ecstasy provoked by the
is to classify, then one may employ Plato’s distinction be-
ascension to the sky or by the descent to Hell” (Eliade, cited
tween “two types of mantic or ‘prophecy’, the first the
in Lewis, 1971, p. 49); the descent of Jesus into hell and his
mantik¯e entheos, the ‘inspired madness’ of the ecstatic, e.g.
ascent to heaven, according to the Athanasian Creed, provide
that of the Pythia; the second the systematic interpretation
a rudimentary parallel to shamanistic ecstasy. Even when
of signs, such as the augury of the flight of birds” (van der
spirits are associated with the work of the shaman, the paral-
Leeuw, vol. 1, 1938, p. 225). This last category may be ex-
lel persists. In Revelation, for instance, it is ecstasy that rules
cluded from consideration here as a form of soothsaying. A
from the first moment: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s
further distinction has to be made between shamanistic and
Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet say-
mystical ecstasy, with the experience of someone like Saul
ing, ‘Write what you see in a book’” (1:10–11). John turns
providing a bridge between the two. As Gerardus van der
to “see the voice,” whereupon he sees seven lampstands and,
Leeuw writes: “With the Shamans, still further, we find our-
in the middle of them, “one like a son of man”: “When I saw
selves on the road to the prophets, but of course only in the
him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (1:17). Later we are
sense in which Saul too was ‘among the prophets’, that is as
told how John saw an open door in heaven, and he heard
regards the ecstatic frenzy that renders possible a superhu-
a voice saying, “Come up hither, and I will show you what
man development of power” (ibid., p. 218). We must there-
must take place after this” (4:1). John responds, or some-
fore consider three categories of ecstasies (and accordingly,
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ECSTASY
2679
ecstatics); they may not always be separable, but they are dis-
A broader view suggests that the process of secularization
tinct: the shamanistic ecstasy, the prophetic ecstasy, and the
does not so much do away with the need for transcendence
mystical ecstasy. The differences among the three emerge
as it provides surrogates for it. A convergence exists between
clearly when we consider the nature of ecstatic utterances.
the sociology of religion, which maintains that there are reli-
gious phenomena that belong to no determined religion, and
The ecstatic utterances of the shaman relate to the world
the Tillichian theological viewpoint, which maintains that,
of the spirits and to the shaman’s movements in that realm.
though modern people think they have overcome their need
Eliade clearly distinguishes between non-shamanic, para-
for ultimate concern or transcendence, what has really hap-
shamanic, and shamanic ecstasy, the characteristic feature of
pened is that they continue to seek it in secular contexts (as,
the last being the shaman’s ability to communicate with dead
for instance, in ecstatic participation in football matches). It
or natural spirits. The ecstatic utterances of the prophet re-
may be further added that ecstasy is by definition an extraor-
late to God: the prophet literally speaks for God, though
dinary experience that transcends routine, so that the increas-
there are borderline cases, such as the priestess at the oracle
ing bureaucratization of modern life may impel the sort of
at Delphi whose cryptic utterances had to be interpreted.
person that Eliade called homo religiosus to seek such ecstasy
These may be contrasted with the ecstatic utterances known
all the more. It has been speculatively suggested, for instance,
as shat:h:¯ıya¯t in Islamic mysticism; a typical example is provid-
that the evidence in Indus Valley culture of yogic practices
ed by al-H:alla¯j’s proclamation, “I am the Creative Truth”
possibly possessing an ecstatic dimension may reflect that
(“Ana¯ al-h:aqq”). This highly mystical utterance, which cost
culture’s highly organized, homogeneous, even monotonous
him his life, has been explained in later Sufism as resulting
appearance.
from a mistaken sense of identity with God due to God’s
overwhelming presence in mystical experience (as if a piece
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH. Various approaches to ecstasy
of red-hot coal in a furnace would call itself fire or a candle
have been discussed so far but, inasmuch as ecstasy is essen-
in the sunlight would mistake the light of the sun for its
tially concerned with the mind (or what lies beyond the
own).
mind), one might expect the psychology of religion to prove
the most illuminating. The psychology of religion, however,
SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH. The sociology of ecstasy or ec-
is a discipline with boundaries that are difficult to define
static religion, as explored by I. M. Lewis, provides another
strictly; this is even more true when it is applied to a subject
useful dimension to the topic. This approach relies heavily
like ecstasy, which the psychology of religion itself approach-
on the indirect application of the work of Émile Durkheim
es with methods that can vary from the transpersonal to the
and Max Weber. Following Durkheim, Lewis draws atten-
psychiatric. Thus, one must distinguish clearly among cer-
tion to the socially integrative function of the shaman who,
tain approaches within the psychology of religion: the psy-
at ritual services, instills in the people a sense of solidarity by
choanalytical approach, the pharmacological approach, and
emphasizing the shunning of adultery, homicide, and other
the mystical approach.
socially disruptive practices, and who often plays an active
role in settling disputes. At the same time, however, the study
The psychoanalytical approach has been applied to ec-
of ecstasy also exposes the limitations of Durkheim’s ap-
stasy at two levels, the shamanistic and the mystical. Claude
proach in certain contexts: the cultivation of ecstasy, espe-
Lévi-Strauss has argued that the cure administered by the
cially in mysticism, may lead to a breach within a religious
shaman—who, unlike the modern analyst listening to the
tradition instead of playing an integrating role in it. Thus,
patient’s words, speaks out on behalf of the patient—
Sufism was viewed with suspicion by Islamic orthodoxy until
involves “the inversion of all the elements” of psychoanalysis
the two were reconciled by al-Ghaza¯l¯ı. A more Weberian ap-
yet retains its analogy with it. J. M. Masson sees in the ecstat-
proach views the shaman as discovering through his ecstatic
ic, oceanic feelings of the mystic a reversion to the experience
flights the reasons for whatever may have befallen his client,
of the fetus in the womb.
providing the client with “meaning,” which according to
Weber is one role of religion. Moreover, a subtler application
Modern developments in pharmacology have brought
of the Weberian approach makes further generalizations pos-
what might be called chemical ecstasy into the limelight.
sible. Thus, according to the relative-deprivation theory, se-
Drug-induced ecstasy was not unknown in ancient times.
cret ecstatic cults may flourish particularly among women or
The soma of the Vedas, which R. Gordon Wasson identified
dispossessed groups in patriarchal or authoritarian societies.
with the mushroom called the Amanita muscaria, was sup-
This may be as true of women dancing ecstatically in Diony-
posed to be one such drug; it has even been suggested that
sian rituals in Greece in the fifth century
techniques of yogic ecstatic trances were developed in post-
BCE as it is in the
za¯r cult in Sudan in modern times.
Vedic Hinduism as a substitute for the soma-induced trances
once the Aryans moved deeper into India and lost contact
Another issue raised by the sociological approach to the
with the geographical source of the mushroom. Mexico pro-
study of religion is the role of ecstasy in societies that are in
vides another example of the religious use of drug-induced
the process of secularization. Two views seem to prevail. One
ecstasy in the peyote cult, which Aldous Huxley popularized
is to look upon the cultivation of cultic ecstasy as possessing
in a modern version through his experiments with mescaline.
cathartic value in a society undergoing rapid social change.
But it was the discovery of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
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ECSTASY
that threw the door wide open to this avenue to ecstasy, with
breaking down of the barriers between the individual subject
its open advocacy by modern experimenters such as Timothy
and the universe around him” (The Bhagavad-G¯ıta¯, London,
Leary and Alan Watts.
1973, p. 143). Although the Yoga Su¯tra, to which Zaehner’s
statement applies, also recognizes the existence of God, the
Modern psychology tends to dismiss these experiences
theistic mode of ecstasy that flows from the love of God is
as chemically and artifically induced and therefore not genu-
best described in the Bhakti Su¯tra: “It is as if a dumb man
ine. Such a dismissive approach is difficult for a historian of
who has tasted a delicious food could not speak about it.”
religion to countenance; drugs can be the means to, rather
The ecstasy experienced through the transtheistic or absolu-
than the cause of, these ecstasies. But the fact that such
tistic mode in Hinduism is similarly considered ineffable be-
chemical experiences are not always ecstatic should not be
cause, in it, the distinction between the one who experiences
overlooked; neither should the widespread assertion that
and the experienced is annulled. Thus one is left with the
drug-induced ecstasy may be distinguished from mystical ex-
Upanisadic paradox of the experience of the Absolute: “But
perience primarily because the drug does not usually trans-
where everything has become just one’s own self, then where-
form the personality and the subsequent life of the user, and
by and whom would one see?” (Br:hada¯ran:yaka Up. 4.5.15).
that mystical experience usually does. Psychedelic drugs can
Does Meister Eckhart provide an answer to the question
be used not merely to induce ecstasy but also to gain power,
when he says “The eye with which I see God is the same with
a fact mentioned by Patañjali in his Yoga Su¯tra and illustrat-
which God sees me”?
ed in the contemporary writings of anthropologist Carlos
Castaneda.
The Islamic mystical tradition emphasizes the passing
away of individuality in God (fana¯ D), who alone represents
For many, the classical focus of the discussion of ecstasy
divine unity (tawh:¯ıd); this loss of self into God provides the
is still provided by mysticism, notwithstanding the elabora-
experience of inward ecstasy. In Islamic mystical poetry wine
tion of the role of archaic and chemical techniques in this
symbolizes the “ecstatic experience due to the revelation of
context. Mysticism, for our purposes, may be conveniently
the True Beloved, destroying the foundations of reason” (Ar-
defined as the doctrine or belief that a direct knowledge or
berry, 1950, p. 114). Such ecstatic experience of God consti-
immediate perception of the ultimate reality, or God, is pos-
tutes the ecstatic’s knowledge of God (ma Drifah).
sible in a way different from normal sense experience and ra-
tiocination. The two channels in which the mystical tradi-
In Buddhism ecstasy plays an important role in the
tion of mankind has flowed are thus naturally identified by
trances; the typical text of the first trance runs as follows:
emotion and intuition. The ecstatic experience resulting
“Detached from sensual objects, O monks, detached from
from them has been distinguished accordingly as “commu-
unwholesome states of mind, the monk enters into the first
nion” in the first case, in which the devotee, though psycho-
absorption, which is accompanied by Thought-Conception
logically merged in God, remains a distinct entity, and as
[vitakka] and Discursive Thinking [vica¯ra], is born of De-
“union” in the second case, in which the aspirant achieves
tachment [Concentration: sama¯dhi] and filled with Rapture
an ontological identity with God. The distinction is crucial
[p¯ıti] and Joy ” (D¯ıgha Nika¯ya 1.182). It should be added,
to an understanding of mystical ecstasy: in the first case, ac-
however, that in the fifth stage, ecstasy gives way to equanim-
cess to the ultimate reality is “gained”; that is, it is something
ity, and the final attainment of nirva¯n:a is characterized not
that originally did not exist; in the second case, access to the
by ecstasy but by knowledge and bliss.
reality is “regained”; that is, it is something that always exist-
In Christian mysticism too, ecstasy plays a key role. We
ed but was not recognized until the moment of ecstasy. Mar-
see it in the statement of John Cassian (360–435) that “by
tin Buber’s distinction between I-Thou and I-It relationships
constant meditation on things divine and spiritual contem-
is relevant here. Some traditions recognize the existence of
plation . . . the soul is caught up into . . . an ecstasy.” It
both these types of mysticism. The Hindu mystic Rama-
is at the heart of the fourteenth-century text The Cloud of
krishna (1836–1886) contrasts the two ecstasies as offering
Unknowing:
a choice between “tasting sugar” and “becoming sugar,”
without insisting that the two be viewed as mutually
God wishes to be served with both the body and the
exclusive.
spirit together, as is proper, and He will give man his
reward in bliss both in body and in soul. In giving that
Ecstasy in the Hindu tradition is basically experienced
reward, He sometimes inflames the body of His devout
in three modes: nontheistic, theistic, and trans-theistic. In
servants with wonderful pleasures here in this life, not
the nontheistic mode, it results from the suppression of all
only once or twice, but very often in some cases as He
mental modifications; because of its restriction to the person
may wish. Of these pleasures not all come into the body
of the practitioner and the absence of any outside referent,
from outside through the windows of our senses, but
R. C. Zaehner refers to this mode as enstasy: “By ‘enstasy’ I
come from within, rising and springing up out of an
understand that introverted mystical experience in which
abundance of spiritual gladness and out of true devo-
tion of spirit. (cited in Progoff, 1957, pp. 172–173)
there is experience of nothing except an unchanging, purely
static oneness. It is the exact reverse of ecstasy which means
It may be noted that, here as in other instances, ecstasy is not
to get outside oneself and which is often characterized by a
divorced from knowledge of God, and the text spells out
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECSTASY
2681
stages for its attainment. In Christian mysticism, as in other
in fact occur? The phenomenologist of religion is disinclined
forms of mysticism (especially theistic), different stages are
to ask such questions, as are the followers of some other disci-
delineated, perhaps the best known being the passage of the
plines, but the historian of religion cannot choose to ignore
soul to God, first through the illuminative, second the purga-
them since almost every tradition concerned with ecstatic ex-
tive, and finally the unitive ways.
perience has provided evaluative criteria for distinguishing
between genuine and spurious experience. More generally,
THE CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH. Following Gershom
what is the role of the philosophy of religion in ecstatic expe-
Scholem’s study of Jewish mysticism, we can ask why ecstatic
riences? This is a thorny issue, complicated by a fundamental
experiences take particular forms constrained by each indi-
epistemological problem: philosophers use reason in order to
vidual culture. Why, for instance, did Teresa of Ávila not
know, but ecstatics reason because they know. And yet a
have ecstatic visions of Ka¯l¯ı? The Hindu mystic Rama-
philosophical approach to ecstasy still seems possible if two
krishna is said to have had visions of figures outside Hindu-
factors are taken into account: an ecstasy, however pro-
ism, but he is known to have been somewhat familiar with
longed, is usually a temporary state, and it can be experienced
the traditions in question. Yet C. G. Jung argued that some
by religious mystics and nonreligious mystics alike.
of his clients gave evidence of certain archetypal ecstatic vi-
sions that transcend the bounds of time and space. The role
DURATION AND EFFICACY. The duration of the ecstatic
of depth psychology in uncovering the roots of ecstasy, it
trance is variable. William James regarded transience as one
seems, has yet to be fully explored; the same is true of the
of the four marks of the mystic state, but allowed only for
other extreme, the physical symptoms accompanying the
“half an hour, or at most an hour or two.” On the other
states of ecstasy. In ecstasies of the shamanistic and prophetic
hand, according to the Hindu mystical tradition, an ecstatic
type the hypothalamus has been shown to become inactive
trance can be so profound that one does not recover from
so that people in trance become impervious to physical mal-
it at all. One reads of mystics who remained in a state of
treatment or deprivation, though they still respond to speech
trance for six hours (Teresa of Ávila), three days (Ramakrish-
and social communication. In ecstasies of the mystical type,
na), five days (Ellina von Crevelsheim), and even six months
signs of life have been known to fade, sometimes to the point
(again, Ramakrishna). Moreover, not merely mystics per se
of apparent disappearance.
but also otherwise intellectually or aesthetically gifted per-
sons have experienced ecstasy. Rabindranath Tagore de-
Humanistic psychologists such as Abraham H. Maslow
scribes one such experience:
have taken some interest in ecstasy in its relation to the con-
I suddenly felt as if some ancient mist had in a moment
cept of peak experience. This interest is even more evident
lifted from my sight and the ultimate significance of all
in Ernst Arbman’s monumental work, Ecstasy or Religious
things was laid bare. . . . I found that facts that had
Trance (1963–1970). In this psychological study of ecstasy,
been detached and dim had a great unity of meaning,
Arbman emphasizes the close relation between ecstasy and
as if a man groping through a fog suddenly discovers
mystical experience and, within mysticism, between ecstasy
that he stands before his own house. . . . An unexpect-
and visionary experience. He classifies the latter as assuming
ed train of thought ran across my mind like a strange
three forms, which represents a trichotomy of medieval
caravan carrying the wealth of an unknown king-
Christian mysticism traceable to Augustine: corporeal, imag-
dom. . . . Immediately I found the world bathed in a
wonderful radiance with waves of beauty and joy swell-
inative, and intellectual. These three forms may be instanti-
ing on every side, and no person or thing in the world
ated, respectively, by the experiences of the prophet
seemed to me trivial or unpleasing. (cited in Walker,
Muh:ammad in receiving the QurDa¯n through an angel, some
1968, p. 475)
of the experiences of Teresa of Ávila, and the recorded expe-
This passage raises a vital issue: if ordinary mortals can expe-
riences of Ignatius Loyola and Jakob Boehme. The distinc-
rience ecstasy along with the great mystics, and if ecstasies
tion between these three forms of ecstatic visionary experi-
are terminable, then what do the great religious traditions of
ence—the corporeal, the imaginative, and the intellectual—
the world ultimately have to offer by way of salvation? If the
is said to lie in the fact that, while the first experience is felt
answer is ecstatic union and ecstasy is a temporary phenome-
as something actually or objectively perceived, in the second
non, then how lasting are the results of the spiritual path?
case it is something experienced only inwardly, in a psychic
Must one follow it to experience ecstasy?
or spiritual sense. The third type of vision, in which the sense
of the word intellectual seems to correspond more to Platonic
The answer is not entirely clear, but both the theistic
than to modern usage, apprehends its object without any
and nontheistic mystical traditions have approached an an-
image or form.
swer by asking whether ecstasy and union (in a mystical con-
text) are identical. For Plotinus the two are one:
How might we establish the genuineness of the experi-
For then nothing stirred within him, neither anger, nor
ences represented by this classification, even if the existence
desire, nor even reason, nor a certain intellectual per-
of a mystical realm is granted, and even if it is further accept-
ception, nor, in short, was he himself moved, if we may
ed that the pathological state of mind might be the most re-
assert this; but, being in an ecstasy, tranquil and alone
ceptive for such experiences? Or, to broaden the scale of
with God, he enjoyed an unbreakable calm. (Plotinus,
skepticism, how do we know that the shaman’s journeys do
Enneads 6.9)
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ECSTASY
For Teresa of Ávila, ecstasy and union are not identical:
yond ordinary comprehension: ‘That there is no sensa-
tion itself is happiness.’ (Rahula, 1967, p. 43)
I wish I could explain with the help of God wherein
union differs from rapture, or from transport, or from
Given the scope and variety of the phenomenon of ecstasy,
flight of the spirit, as they call it, or from trance, which
our approach has been to use a variety of methods. It might
are all one. I mean that all these are only different names
then be proper to conclude by raising a methodological
for that one and the same thing, which is also called ecsta-
point: can or should one’s approach to the study of ecstasy
sy. It is more excellent than union, the fruits of it are
be translated into the terms of some other human phenome-
much greater, and its other operations more manifold,
non (a method often pejoratively described as “reduction-
for union is uniform in the beginning, the middle and
ist”)? Eliade argues this point:
the end, and is so also interiorly; but as raptures have
ends of a much higher kind, they produce effects both
Since ecstasy (trance, losing one’s soul, losing con-
within and without (i. e., both physical and psychi-
sciousness) seems to form an integral part of the human
cal). . . . A rapture is absolutely irresistible; whilst
condition, just like anxiety, dreams, imagination, etc.,
union, inasmuch as we are then on our own ground,
we do not deem it necessary to look for its origin in a
may be hindered, though that resistance be painful and
particular culture or a particular historical moment. As
violent. (Teresa of Ávila, Life 20.1–3)
an experience ecstasy is a non-historical phenomenon in
the sense that it is coextensive with human nature. Only
Apart from the question of whether, in either the theistic or
the religious interpretation given to ecstasy and the tech-
nontheistic context, ecstasy represents union, and if so, to
niques designed to prepare it or facilitate it are histori-
what extent and degree, there is a further question: does such
cally conditioned. That is to say, they are dependent on
ecstatic union constitute the summation of religious experi-
various cultural contexts, and they change in the course
ence? There seems to be some difference of opinion on this
of history. (Eliade, cited in Wavell et al., 1966, p. 243).
point. Thus, according to W. R. Inge,
Thus, fasting, drugs, meditation, prayer, dancing, and sex
Ecstasy was for Plotinus the culminating point of reli-
have all been used to induce ecstasy in the course of human
gious experience, whereby the union with God and per-
history.
fect knowledge of Divine truth, which are the conclu-
A dominant trend in the study of religion on this point
sion and achievement of the dialectical process and the
is reflected in what Charles Davis says of reductionistic expla-
ultimate goal of the moral will, are realized also in di-
nations in general, which also applies to the explanations of
rect, though ineffable, experience. Plotinus enjoyed this
ecstasy. His discussion is entitled “Wherein There Is No Ec-
supreme initiation four times during the period when
stasy,” a line from T. S. Eliot that refers not to the absence
Porphyry was with him; Porphyry himself only once, he
tells us, when he was in his 68th year. It was a vision
of ecstasy per se but to its absence in “the mystical dark night
of the Absolute, ‘the One’, which being above even in-
of the soul.” Davis has this to say:
tuitive thought, can only be apprehended passively by
There is no difficulty in accepting reductionistic expla-
a sort of Divine illapse into the expectant soul. It is not
nations of particular religious beliefs and practices, if
properly a vision, for the seer no longer distinguishes
such explanations are sufficiently grounded. Every ex-
himself from that which he sees; indeed, it is impossible
pression of the transcendent is a particular experience.
to speak of them as two, for the spirit, during the ecsta-
The particularity of the experience is due to non-
sy, has been completely one with the One. This ‘flight
transcendent factors. Hence, in that particularity, it is
of the alone to the Alone’ is a rare and transient privi-
open to non-religious explanations. As for a reduction-
lege, even for the greatest saint. He who enjoys it ‘can
istic explanation of religious faith as such, in my judg-
only say that he has all his desire, and that he would not
ment a reductionistic explanation is so little grounded
exchange his bliss for all the heaven of heavens’. (Inge,
and so patently the result of an inadequate development
1912, p. 158)
of the subject who offers it that I do not grant it any
Yet when we turn to other religious traditions, the culmina-
degree of probability. But I am not infallible. Despite
the certitude of my judgment, the possibility of error
tion of the religious life seems to be distinguished not so
and illusion remains. (Davis, 1984, p. 398)
much by a transient, if repeatable, ecstatic union as by a bliss-
ful state of being. The final goal of a Christian existence, for
Scholars will no doubt continue to debate the issue of ecsta-
example, is the “eternal life” of the beatific vision or the king-
sy, and shamans, prophets, and mystics continue to experi-
dom of God, and not transient ecstasies; and the final goal
ence it—if a secularized world will let them do so.
of Buddhism is the attainment of the lasting happiness of
SEE ALSO Enthusiasm; Mystical Union in Judaism, Chris-
nirva¯n:a, which is attained for good, unlike the temporary ec-
tianity, and Islam; Mysticism; Psychedelic Drugs; Shaman-
stasies of the trances.
ism.
Even the word ‘happiness’ (sukha) which is used to de-
scribe Nirva¯n:a has an entirely different sense here.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sa¯riputta once said: ‘O friend, Nirva¯n:a is happiness!
Arberry, A. J. Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam (1950).
Nirva¯n:a is happiness!’ Then Uda¯yi asked: ‘But, friend
London, 1979.
Sa¯riputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensa-
Arbman, Ernst. Ecstasy or Religious Trance. 3 vols. Edited by A˚ke
tion?’ Sa¯riputta’s reply was highly philosophical and be-
Hultkrantz. Stockholm, 1963–1970.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
2683
Davis, Charles. “Wherein There Is No Ecstasy.” Studies in Religion
And when Christians from different locations began to meet
/ Sciences religieuses 13 (1984): 393–400.
together to discuss aspects of belief and discipline, such gath-
Eliade, Mircea. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. 2d ed. Princeton,
erings began to be referred to as “ecumenical councils,” that
1969.
is, councils having representation from all parts of the
Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Rev. &
oikoumen¯e. Eastern Orthodox churches acknowledge seven
enl. ed. New York, 1964.
ecumenical councils before the Great Schism of 1054, while
the Roman Catholic Church also claims as ecumenical subse-
Inge, W. R. “Ecstasy.” In Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed-
quent councils in the West, such as the Council of Trent and
ited by James Hastings, vol. 5. Edinburgh, 1912.
the two Vatican councils. The Lutheran Formula of Con-
Leeuw, Gerardus van der. Religion in Essence and Manifestation,
cord (1577) described the early creeds (Apostles’, Nicene,
vol. 1. Translated by J. E. Turner. London, 1938.
and Athanasian) as “ecumenical creeds” because they had
Lewis, I. M. Ecstatic Religion: An Anthropological Study of Spirit
been accepted by all branches of the Christian church. The
Possession and Shamanism. Harmondsworth, 1971.
meaning of the word ecumenical was thus extended beyond
Mahadevan, T. M. P. Outlines of Hinduism. Bombay, 1956.
the theologically neutral notion of “the inhabited world” to
Maslow, Abraham. Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences. Co-
include both an understanding of the church in its world-
lumbus, Ohio, 1964.
wide sense and expressions of belief that have universal eccle-
siastical acceptance.
Nyanatiloka. Buddhist Dictionary. Colombo, 1950.
Progoff, Ira, ed. and trans. The Cloud of Unknowing. New York,
After a period of relative neglect, the word ecumenical
1957.
reappeared in the twentieth century, with new meanings ap-
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. Rev. ed. Bedford,
propriate to a new situation. Many church bodies, disturbed
U.K., 1967.
by their divisions from one another, which were made partic-
ularly apparent by the competitive nature of nineteenth-
Tart, Charles T., ed. Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Read-
ings. New York, 1969.
century missionary activities, began to look for ways to over-
come their diverse histories. Following a world conference
Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism (1911). 12th ed. New York, 1961.
of missionary societies in Edinburgh in 1910, the word
Walker, Benjamin. The Hindu World, vol. 2. New York, 1968.
ecumenism began to be used to signify a concern to reunite
Wavell, Stewart, Audrey Butt, and Nina Epton. Trances. London,
the divided Christian family. Alongside this concern for
1966.
unity was a corresponding concern for mission (from missio,
Zaehner, R. C. Zen, Drugs, and Mysticism. New York, 1972.
“a sending forth”) to the oikoumen¯e. These twin poles of
unity and mission have characterized what has come to be
ARVIND SHARMA (1987)
referred to as “the ecumenical movement.” However, a
broader use of the word ecumenism has also emerged to desig-
nate an attitude of active goodwill and concern for all peo-
ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT. The long and var-
ples. Concerns about world hunger, racism, or political op-
ied history of Christian ecumenism is reflected in the many
pression are thus frequently described as “ecumenical
definitions attached to the word itself. The Greek oikoumen¯e
concerns” and are often focal points of common action not
comes from the noun oikos (“house, dwelling”) and the verb
only among Christians but in conjunction with all people of
oikeo¯ (“to live, to dwell”). Oikoumen¯e, which is derived from
goodwill.
the present passive participle of the verb, suggests the land
THE BIRTH OF MODERN ECUMENISM: EDINBURGH, 1910.
in which people live or dwell and is usually translated “the
The fellowship of those who have been made “one in Christ”
inhabited world.” The word initially had no theological im-
has almost always been marred by institutional division. In
plications; it was a descriptive term used by the Greeks to
the earliest Christian literature, the letters of Paul, there are
describe the world they knew, and later by the Romans to
accounts of Paul’s attempts to adjudicate between factions
describe the Roman Empire.
bitterly disputing with one another. The church at Corinth
Biblical usage of the word oikoumen¯e is sparse. Eight of
was particularly notorious in this regard. The creedal contro-
the fifteen references are found in Luke and Acts, and with
versies in the early councils were attempts to set boundaries
the exception of two references that suggest the Roman em-
to the faith, and they provided canons for exclusion of here-
pire (Lk. 2:1, Acts 17:6) and one that may have cosmic im-
tics as well as inclusion of believers. In 1054 a radical divi-
port (Heb. 2:5), the remaining uses are no more than descrip-
sion, the Great Schism, culminated the separation between
tive references to “the inhabited world” (Mt. 24:14; Lk. 4:5,
Eastern and Western Christianity, and in the sixteenth cen-
21:26; Acts 11:28, 17:31, 19:27, 24:5; Rom. 10:18; Heb. 1:6;
tury the Western church was further divided into the many
Rv. 3:10, 12:9, 16:14).
separate denominations that resulted from the Reformation.
As the early church extended its geographical bounda-
It is to the credit of the groups thus divided that they
ries, writers begin to refer to the church throughout the
continued to believe that their divisions were “sinful,” but
oikoumen¯e as a way of distinguishing it from local assemblies.
not until the nineteenth century, with its missionary advance
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
from Europe and North America to the rest of the world,
areas as international relations, education, economics, and
was the situation recognized as intolerable. The efforts to
industry.
“make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19) was in fact impos-
A second Conference on Life and Work, held in Oxford
ing divisions of European origin on newly converted Chris-
in 1937, drew delegates from 40 countries and 120 denomi-
tians in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in ways that distorted
nations who discussed church and state, church and commu-
the unity in Christ that the message was supposed to bestow.
nity, and the church and its function in society, while small
It is therefore significant that the first major attempt to
groups dealt with education, the economic order, and the
begin a healing of the divisions within Christianity originat-
world of nations. Two realities loomed behind the Oxford
ed in the missionary societies. In 1910, a number of mission-
discussions. One was the rapid consolidation of Adolf Hit-
ary societies held a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, that
ler’s power in Nazi Germany and the almost “emergency”
by common consent is described as the birth of the modern
situation it created for understanding the task of the church
ecumenical movement. The purpose of the conference was
in such a world. The other was a realization that service could
to develop a common missionary strategy that would not
not adequately be discussed apart from considerations of
only avoid the scandal of the past but provide for a more cre-
doctrine. Consequently, the delegates voted that the Life and
ative and collaborative use of resources in the future.
Work Commission should seek to merge with the Faith and
THE THREE STREAMS FLOWING FROM EDINBURGH. As dele-
Order Commission, the third outgrowth of Edinburgh.
gates to the Edinburgh conference looked ahead, they saw
This third structure provided a place for the doctrinal
that some kind of structure would be necessary if the goals
issues that divided the churches to be explored. The mem-
of the conference were to be accomplished. A continuation
bers, adopting the name Faith and Order, held an initial con-
committee was established, and by 1921 it was clear that
ference in Lausanne in 1927, with over 400 delegates from
three concerns would need attention, continuing reflection,
108 churches, including not only Protestants but Eastern
and structural implementation: (1) the missionary task of the
Orthodox representatives as well. The report of the confer-
church, (2) the kinds of common service the churches could
ence exemplified a descriptive process called “comparative
render to the world even in their divided state, and (3) the
ecclesiology,” which sought to pinpoint and describe doctri-
doctrinal issues that were responsible for the ongoing divi-
nal differences as well as similarities, without as yet attempt-
sions.
ing to resolve them. However, the commonly shared convic-
In response to the first concern, the International Mis-
tion at Lausanne that “God wills unity” led the delegates to
sionary Council was established in 1921 to help various mis-
project a second conference, which was held at Edinburgh
sion boards coordinate their previously separate and compet-
in 1937, with delegates from 122 participating bodies.
ing activities and to hold conferences that would enable
Unanimous agreement was reached on a statement about
members to think in new ways about the church’s mission.
“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” although in other areas,
During its forty-year life, the council held five conferences
such as church, ministry, and sacraments, awesome diver-
that dealt with the impact of secularism on the life of the
gences remained. The delegates did acknowledge, however,
church (Jerusalem, 1928); the relationship of the Christian
that their task was not so much to create unity, which is
religion to other world religions (Madras, 1938); the need
God’s gift, as to exhibit more clearly the unity that their em-
to see missions as a two-way street on which the so-called
pirical divisions obscured.
younger churches would now be giving as well as receiving
Members of the Faith and Order Commission realized
(Whitby, 1947); the imperative need for Christian unity, if
that doctrine involves action and service, and they voted at
mission was to retain its credibility (Willingen, 1952); and
Edinburgh (in complementarity with a similar action taken
recognition that the time had come for missionary concern
by the Commission on Life and Work) that the two groups
to be related structurally to those Christians already grap-
should merge. Delegates from both groups therefore met in
pling with questions of unity and service (Ghana, 1957). The
1938 at Utrecht to work out proposals for “a world council
last conference translated into a decision to merge with the
of churches.” World War II intervened, and until 1948 the
already established World Council of Churches, a decision
world council was “in process of formation.”
that was implemented in 1961.
OTHER ECUMENICAL ADVANCES. From 1910 to 1948, ecu-
The Edinburgh-inspired concern for the church’s com-
menical activity was not limited to high-level consultations.
mon service to the world was embodied in a second struc-
Many denominations established international bodies, such
ture, called the Commission on Life and Work. Recognizing
as the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance
that organic reunion was years if not light-years away, mem-
of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches, so that global con-
bers of this commission sought to develop a consensus on
cerns could receive greater attention. National ecumenical
matters to which divided churches could relate. “Doctrine
agencies were created, such as the British Council of Church-
divides, service unites” became the slogan. The first Confer-
es and the Federal Council of Churches in the United States,
ence on Life and Work, held in Stockholm in 1925, was
which later became the National Council of Churches of
widely representative—over 600 delegates from 37 countries
Christ, providing vehicles through which Protestant groups
attended and discussed the church’s responsibility in such
could work cooperatively on many issues.
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
2685
Another ecumenical impetus reminding Christians that
three Edinburgh streams have remained central throughout
“the world is too strong for a divided church” was the rise
its history. A brief description of the structure as it existed
to power of Hitler, whose policies were bent on the extermi-
after the Vancouver assembly will indicate the wide variety
nation of the Jews, the suppression of any Christian groups
and scope of WCC commitments.
opposing Nazi claims, and the extension of racially based to-
There are three major foci of concern in the WCC,
talitarian rule. The Barmen Declaration (1934) of the Con-
identified as “program units.” Program Unit I, devoted to
fessing Church in Germany was a theological “no” to Hitler
Faith and Witness, is where the earlier Faith and Order
that brought Reformed and Lutheran groups together for the
Commission is housed. In its new guise, Faith and Order has
first time since the Reformation. Christians living under per-
continued to have an active history since the formation of
secution from 1933 to 1945 discovered that in concentration
the WCC, dealing with issues related to the visible unity of
camps or occupied territories their unity far outweighed their
the church and preparing reports on such topics as accounts
differences.
of Christian hope; the theology of baptism, Eucharist, and
THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES. In 1948 at Amster-
ministry; the relationship between church and state; and the
dam, the World Council of Churches (WCC) became a real-
unity of the church in relation to the unity of humankind.
ity, fusing the concerns of the Faith and Order and Life and
The subunit on World Mission and Evangelism is clearly the
Work commissions. In 1961 the International Missionary
repository of many of the concerns of the earlier Internation-
Council joined the WCC, thus completing the structural re-
al Missionary Council and deals with problems raised in pro-
unification of the three areas of concern originating at Edin-
claiming the faith today, discerning the true missionary con-
burgh. Some 146 churches—Protestant, Anglican, and Or-
gregation, and developing ways for churches throughout the
thodox—were the original members of the World Council.
world to share their resources, both material and spiritual.
During World War II, a skeleton staff in Geneva engaged
in refugee relief and found various ways for Christians to
The subunit on Church and Society is one of the con-
communicate across the national barriers created by the war.
tinuing vehicles for the concerns of the earlier Commission
The person most responsible during these interim years,
on Life and Work; the WCC has held important conferences
W. A. Visser ’t Hooft, a Dutch lay theologian, was elected
in this area, most notably a conference on “The Church in
the first general secretary of the WCC, and permanent head-
the Social and Technical Revolutions of Our Time” (Gene-
quarters were established in Geneva.
va, 1966), which included worldwide representation and set
a new direction for Church and Society concerns. There have
At the time of its creation, the WCC defined itself as
also been subsequent conferences on the uses of nuclear ener-
“composed of churches which acknowledge Jesus Christ as
gy and issues in medical ethics. The subunit on Dialogue
God and Savior.” From the beginning the WCC has made
with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies has been a vehi-
clear (despite misunderstanding by outsiders) that its task is
cle for widening contacts far beyond the Christian arena. The
“to serve the churches,” not to become a superchurch itself
subunit on Theological Education seeks to make resources
or to be a Protestant/Orthodox counterpart to the Vatican.
available for training for ministry in as ecumenical a context
The issue of membership in the WCC has been a deli-
as possible.
cate one. All churches accepting the basic affirmation of
Program Unit II is concerned with Justice and Service,
“Jesus Christ as God and Savior” have been welcome to
another place where certain Life and Work emphases contin-
apply for membership, and at each world assembly (held
ue to be manifest in concrete ways. The subunit on Inter-
every five or six years) new churches have joined, so that after
Church Aid, Refugee and World Service has been a conduit
the Vancouver world assembly (1983) there were three hun-
for specific, practical, and immediate help to people in need.
dred member churches representing around four hundred
The subunit on Churches’ Participation in Development en-
million Christians and including almost all the major Protes-
ables churches to be involved in economic development in
tant and Orthodox bodies in the world. Membership in the
their own lands through grants and other acts of solidarity
WCC, however, does not imply that member churches be-
such as long-term low-interest loans, along with extensive ed-
lieve that their own doctrine of the church is inadequate, nor
ucational programs and the sharing of technical services. The
does it mean acknowledging that other members are “fully”
subunit on International Affairs calls the churches’ attention
churches. At the New Delhi assembly in 1961, a more fully
to situations of injustice and conflict, particularly in such
developed basis for membership was approved. It reads: “The
areas as the violation of human rights. The Program to Com-
World Council of Churches is a fellowship of Churches
bat Racism, through separately solicited funds, gives finan-
which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior ac-
cial support to groups of racially oppressed peoples so that
cording to the Scriptures and therefore seek to fulfill together
they can work for their own liberation. The Christian Medi-
their common calling to the glory of one God, Father, Son
cal Commission engages in programs of community health
and Holy Spirit.”
care and education, particularly in areas that are without ade-
quate hospitals or professional medical assistance.
Although the WCC has gone through several structural
reorganizations since its inception and will continue to re-
Program Unit III is concerned with Education and Re-
spond structurally to new situations, the emphases of all
newal and is oriented to new thinking about Christian edu-
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
cation and its impact on parish life. The subunit on Educa-
ers were not permitted to attend either the Amsterdam
tion sponsors programs to develop leadership, educational
(1948) or Evanston (1954) assemblies of the WCC.
curricula for churches, and Bible study. The subunit on Re-
However, a few Roman Catholic ecumenical pioneers
newal and Congregational Life provides resources for local
very cautiously began to initiate contact with non-Catholics.
congregations and other Christian groups. The subunit on
After World War I, Max Metzger, a German priest, founded
Women is helping the entire Christian family to rethink the
the Una Sancta movement to foster dialogue between Protes-
roles of women in both church and society. A similar subunit
tants and Catholics. French priest Paul Couturier worked for
on Youth gives special attention to the needs of young
revision of the prayers of the Christian Unity Octave of the
people.
Roman liturgy, so that Catholics and Protestants could begin
Even this cursory listing indicates the council’s breadth
to pray together. The Foyer Unitas in Rome was established
of concern. It directs ongoing attention to theological reflec-
for the study of non-Catholic traditions. Dominican priest
tion in the context of the contemporary world (Program
Yves Congar in France, Jesuit Gustave Weigel in the United
Unit I), specific actions in various projects of service (Pro-
States, and other individuals trod a lonely path of seeking to
gram Unit II), and ongoing attempts at renewing the mind
put Protestants and Catholics on speaking terms with one
for the life of the people of God (Program Unit III). In addi-
another. After the Amsterdam assembly (1948), an “Instruc-
tion to a staff of about 275 persons to administer these vari-
tion” was issued by the Holy Office in Rome in 1949, pro-
ous activities, the WCC has a Central Committee, composed
viding some cautious initial guidelines for Catholic and non-
of about 135 members, chosen proportionately from among
Catholic encounters; even so, an invitation to the Vatican to
the member churches, which meets annually to determine
send Catholic observers to the Evanston assembly (1954) was
the ongoing tasks of the WCC between assemblies.
declined. In 1961, however, during the pontificate of John
XXIII, a similar invitation to send observers to the third as-
At the world assemblies, member churches meet to dis-
sembly at New Delhi (1961) was accepted, and five priests
cuss their common task and to work on problems that have
attended.
emerged since the previous assembly. The topics of the as-
A major ecumenical turning point occurred when John
semblies give an indication of the central themes of the
XXIII invited the major Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox
WCC’s ongoing life. From 1948 to 1983, six assemblies were
bodies to send observers to the Second Vatican Council, con-
held: “Man’s Disorder and God’s Design” (Amsterdam,
vened in the fall of 1962. Lasting warm and personal rela-
1948), “Jesus Christ the Hope of the World” (Evanston,
tionships that dissolved the frosty barriers of the centuries
1954), “Jesus Christ the Light of the World” (New Delhi,
were established during the four sessions of the council
1961), “Behold I Make All Things New” (Uppsala, 1968),
(1962–1965).
“Jesus Christ Frees and Unites” (Nairobi, 1975), and “Jesus
Christ the Life of the World” (Vancouver, 1983).
Vatican II enhanced Catholic engagement in ecume-
nism in a number of ways. For one, the very calling of a
The most volatile storm center of controversy in the life
council was seen as an instance of ecclesia semper reformanda
of the WCC has been the Program to Combat Racism. Pro-
(“the church always being reformed”), a concept Protestants
vided for at Uppsala (1975) shortly after the murder of Mar-
had previously thought was anathema to Rome. Second, the
tin Luther King Jr., who was to have been the keynote speak-
inclusion of the observers demonstrated that Rome did not
er, the Program to Combat Racism assigns considerable sums
wish to continue to live in ecclesiastical isolation. Third, the
of money each year to groups throughout the world who are
influence of the “missionary bishops” who had often worked
victims of racism and are trying to find ways of escaping such
with Protestant missionaries brought fresh perspectives to
repression. Small grants have occasionally been given to
other bishops trained in exclusivist patterns. Fourth, many
“freedom” groups, particularly in Africa, occasioning protest
of the council documents opened new doors of ecumenical
from others who feel that such gifts will foster violence. Al-
understanding.
though there have been no instances in which the charges
have proven accurate, the issue has remained an emotionally
Of the sixteen promulgated conciliar documents, at
charged one and has the effect of deflecting the public’s at-
least seven had significant ecumenical import. The docu-
tention from many of the other activities of the WCC.
ment on ecumenism opened new doors for dialogue and un-
derstanding; the document on the liturgy restored the use of
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROMAN CATHOLIC ECUMENISM.
the vernacular and made Catholic worship less foreign to
During most of the developments described above, the
non-Catholics; the document on the church affirmed the
Roman Catholic Church remained uninvolved. Its posture
“collegiality of the bishops,” correcting certain one-sided em-
was clear: church unity could be achieved only by the return
phases from Vatican I concerning the primacy of Peter that
to the Roman Catholic Church of all the Christian bodies
had been ecumenically counterproductive; the document on
who had separated from it. Since full ecclesial reality was pos-
revelation gave scripture a greater prominence and authority
sible only for churches in communion with Rome, Roman
in relation to tradition; the document on religious liberty dis-
Catholics were initially forbidden by Rome to participate in
pelled fears about Catholic ecclesiastical imperialism; the
ecumenical activities. For example, Roman Catholic observ-
document on the church and non-Christian religions created
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
2687
the possibility of dialogue between Roman Catholics and ad-
many denominations to seek organic union with one anoth-
herents of other world religions; and the document on the
er. The motivations usually include at least a desire to re-
church and the world today indicated areas of concern, such
spond organically and structurally to Jesus’ high-priestly
as economics, labor unions, nuclear weapons, and culture,
prayer “that they all may be one” (Jn. 17:21); a recognition
on which Catholics and non-Catholics could work together
that division is a “scandal” in the sight of both Christians and
despite lack of full doctrinal consensus.
non-Christians, who cannot fail to perceive the hypocrisy of
those who preach unity but do not practice it; and a desire
Assessments of the long-range impact of Vatican II are
to use institutional resources with more efficient stewardship
diverse. For many Catholics, the council brought the church
by avoiding both overlapping and competition. Although
into the modern world and made new levels of activity and
not widely heralded by the secular press, there continue to
dialogue possible. For other Catholics, the council created so
be significant numbers of mergers between denominations
many lines of rapport with modern thought and movements
that are members of the WCC. While the latter body does
that the distinctiveness of the Catholic faith seemed to be
not act as the agent or broker for such reunions, its very exis-
placed in jeopardy. For most Protestants, the council unex-
tence has brought diverse groups of Christians into contact
pectedly legitimated Catholic attitudes that continue to en-
with one another and thereby helped to enhance the move-
rich ecumenical life.
ment toward denominational reunion.
In the new atmosphere created by Vatican II, the rela-
Many of the reunions have taken place among the so-
tionship of Roman Catholicism to the WCC was raised
called younger churches as they have sought to overcome the
anew. There is no theological reason why the Roman Catho-
legacy of divisive denominationalism that the nineteenth-
lic Church could not become a member of the WCC, since
century missionary enterprise bequeathed to them. Although
the basis of membership poses no challenge to Catholic faith.
the period is exceptional, the reunifications that took place
At the Uppsala assembly (1968), three years after the conclu-
between the years 1965 and 1972 give some indication of
sion of Vatican II, the relations with Roman Catholic observ-
the intensity of the concern to heal the Christian divisions
ers were so cordial that it seemed as though an application
of centuries. During that period, united churches were creat-
for membership might soon be possible, but by the Nairobi
ed out of two or more confessions in Zambia, Jamaica and
assembly (1975) such momentum had diminished. One im-
Grand Cayman, Madagascar, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea
portant consideration, acknowledged by both sides, has been
and the Solomon Islands, Belgium, North India, Pakistan,
that, because of its size, the voting power of the Roman
Zaire, and Great Britain.
Catholic Church in the WCC would be disproportionate
and cause alarm to member churches that have numerically
Other specific steps toward organic unity will be com-
small constituencies. Nevertheless, a close working relation-
pleted only after years of further discussion and exploration.
ship has been established between Geneva and Rome, not
A proposal for reunification of ten denominations in the
only in areas of social service projects, such as the Commis-
United States, the Consultation on Church Union, is now,
sion on Society, Development, and Peace, but in the theo-
after years of high-level ecumenical discussion, moving into
logical arena as well, and Roman Catholic theologians have
a time of local denominational reacquaintance at the grass-
for some time been full voting members on the Commission
roots level before any final decisions are made.
on Faith and Order, contributing to discussions and reports
The tender spots in negotiating denominational merg-
about ministry, baptism, and Eucharist.
ers center less on theology than on polity. Theological agree-
A further ecumenical contribution has come from
ment on most, if not all, issues is increasingly reachable, but
Roman Catholicism. Building on the Vatican II document
the form and structure of new denominations is rendered dif-
“The Church and the World Today,” Catholics in Third
ficult when any of the three major polities—congregational,
World countries, particularly Latin America, have created a
presbyterian, or episcopal—are being combined. The
“theology of liberation,” affirmed by the Latin American
Church of South India (1947) was the first such reunifica-
bishops in a meeting in Puebla, Mexico, in 1979, which in-
tion to draw all three types of church government within a
volves committing the church to making “a preferential op-
single new structure.
tion for the poor.” This has led to significant numbers of
Within all denominations, and within the World Coun-
Catholics, frequently joined by Protestants, siding with the
cil of Churches, a new intramural issue has emerged with a
destitute at great personal risk in oppressive situations; Cath-
vitality not anticipated even a short time ago: the role of
olic-Protestant differences have paled before the awesome re-
women within the life of the church. Not only have such is-
sponsibility of ecumenical challenges to the oppressive status
sues as the ordination of women and the holding of church
quo. This “practical ecumenism” provides a significant
office by women been treated very differently by the historic
model for ecumenical involvement elsewhere.
Christian confessions, but cultural influences, often uncon-
EXTENDING INTRAMURAL CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY. Within the
sciously appropriated by various church groups and imposed
Christian family the impetus of ecumenical concern has not
on the intramural discussions, have made this a “radicaliz-
only led Christian bodies to seek closer contacts with one an-
ing” issue for many women, who have been active in ecu-
other and to work together whenever possible, but also led
menical affairs and have discovered that they have been the
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
victims of conscious, or even unconscious, discrimination
“Faith in the Midst of Faiths,” which sought to explore new
within the churches. The World Council of Churches has
ways of dealing with the many communities of faith that
included a division within its structure to deal with the prob-
exist in a world where Christians have often claimed to be
lem in an ongoing way, and a major consultation was held
the unique community of faith. The discussion goes back to
at Sheffield, England, in 1981; however, equality of status
a meeting of the International Missionary Council in Madras
is far from a reality, either ecumenically or denominationally,
in 1938 on the Christian message to a non-Christian world.
and ongoing discussion and action on this matter will be
The issue is to discover a modus vivendi for all, between an
high on the ecumenical agenda for the foreseeable future.
attitude of theological imperialism, which implies that if one
faith is the truth no other faiths really have a right to exist,
EXTRAMURAL ECUMENICAL DEVELOPMENTS. In addition to
and a syncretism, which implies that there are not enough
all the ecumenical concerns that center on mission and unity,
differences between the faiths to pose an issue and that some
there is the further meaning of oikoumen¯e that calls attention
amalgamating of them all can create a new faith for the fu-
to the whole of “the inhabited world” and comprises not
ture. The unattractiveness of both options means that the
only service to every member of the human family but also
discussion will continue.
a certain way of thinking about and relating to those who
are part of the human family but not the Christian family.
A third area of extramural ecumenical dialogue has had
There are at least four areas in which the inner life of the ecu-
varying degrees of success and failure: the relationship be-
menical movement has been turning outward toward ap-
tween Christianity and Marxism. In the years immediately
praisal of and dialogue with groups that Christians cannot
after World War II, an extended dialogue between Christians
avoid confronting in an ever-shrinking world, and with
and Marxists flourished in Europe, since many Christians
whom they must seek terms of mutual understanding.
had been united with Russians and other communists in op-
posing the fascism of Hitler and Mussolini. However, the
One of the most important of these areas has been the
European dialogue was severely set back by Soviet takeovers
new attention accorded the relationship between Christians
in such places as Czechoslovakia. The issue of how Christians
and Jews. Christians, born of the family of Abraham and
are to approach Marxism and communism is vitally impor-
Sarah, are beginning to acknowledge that they have been at
tant, as a matter of daily life as well as intellectual dialogue,
best ungrateful heirs, and at worst despicable destroyers, of
because in many areas of the world Christians live under so-
a faith apart from which they cannot truly define themselves.
cialist or communist regimes. The entrance of the Russian
The ongoing history of destructive relations between Chris-
Orthodox Church into the WCC at the New Delhi world
tians and Jews, frequently the result of a Christian theologi-
assembly (1961) assured that the issue of Christian presence
cal imperialism, has been exacerbated in recent times by the
within a Marxist state would be under continual scrutiny.
Holocaust and the murdering by the Nazis of six million
Jews, with the passive complicity and at times the active in-
The matter is rendered even more urgent in parts of the
volvement of the Christian world. In the emerging ecumeni-
world where socialism or communism are seen as possible al-
cal discussion, a new emphasis on the eternal nature of God’s
ternatives to oppressive governments that are perceived to be
covenant with the Jews (based in large part on fresh study
linked to imperialistic forms of capitalism. In Latin America,
of Romans 9–11) is beginning to challenge the more tradi-
for example, the issue of Christian involvement in move-
tional “supercessionist” view—that the coming of Christ su-
ments seeking to overthrow oppressive dictators cannot be
perseded the divine covenant with Abraham—which has re-
separated from the question of the degree to which Chris-
duced the Jews living in the common era to objects for
tians are willing to work with Marxists in such situations or
conversion. The WCC has sponsored several consultations
to accept certain elements of Marxist analysis in seeking to
on the relationship between Jews and Christians. Vatican II
create a society more in keeping with their understanding of
opened some doors for the new discussion by its clear decla-
the Christian gospel. Although in the United States concern
ration that anti-Semitism can in no way be grounded in the
about Marxism is frequently interpreted as the camel’s nose
Christian scriptures, and many Protestant denominations,
of subversion entering the tent of ecclesiology, the dialogue
including a number in Germany, the location of Hitler’s rise
will remain crucial on an ecumenical level as long as Marxism
to power, have been exploring in fresh ways the implications
represents an option for millions of people living in a world
of a view that Christians and Jews, who have lived in such
Christians are called upon to serve.
destructive tension in the past, can create a more positive fu-
ture together.
A further area of dialogical involvement centers on the
appropriate relationship between Christians and those who
A concern to understand the relationship of Christianity
are defined by a term such as secularism. A significant part
to other world religions is a second area that has been the
of every world assembly of the WCC has addressed matters
object of increasing ecumenical attention. A Vatican II decla-
like international relations, racism, poverty, violence, and so-
ration, “The Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian
cial embodiments of evil. Vatican II called attention to this
Religions” (1965), began to open doors on the Roman Cath-
new dialogue in its document “The Church and the World
olic side, and the WCC has held a series of consultations,
Today” (1965), which dealt with problems of culture, the
such as one at Chiang Mai, Thailand, in April 1977, on
spread of atheism (for which the church acknowledged some
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
2689
responsibility), the role of secular agencies in bringing about
But Catholics and Protestants, for example, are much
social change, and so forth.
closer than before on such issues as the authority of scripture,
But there is an even more fundamental issue, to which
the relationship of scripture to tradition, the meaning of “the
the Faith and Order division of the WCC has been directing
priesthood of all believers,” the nature of liturgy, the mean-
attention and which is summarized in the title of one Faith
ing of faith, and the necessity of social involvement on the
and Order study: “Unity of the Church—Unity of Human-
part of Christians for the good of all. The office of the papacy
kind.” Recognizing that there is a unity that binds all people
naturally continues to divide Roman Catholics from the Or-
together as part of the human family, quite apart from the
thodox, Anglicans, and Protestants, and the claim to infalli-
unity some of them have consciously chosen by their alle-
bility of church teaching, while interpreted in different ways
giance to Christ, how are those two kinds of unity to be relat-
by the Orthodox and the Catholics, is an area where they are
ed to one another? Does the former negate the significance
discernibly closer to each other than either of them is to the
of the latter, or vice versa? Can the two unities coexist? Is one
Protestants. The role of Mary in the economy of salvation
too narrow, the other too broad?
is another unresolved area, although the Mary of the Magnif-
icat (Lk. 1:46–55) is increasingly important to Protestants as
The above are only a few examples of ways in which
well as Catholics.
contemporary ecumenical concern is becoming broader and
deeper. The original commitment to Christian cooperation
The difference of atmosphere from earlier times, howev-
has grown beyond issues of exclusive interest to Christians.
er, is marked. Rather than closing off unassailable areas from
SOME UNRESOLVED ECUMENICAL ISSUES. The ecumenical
discussion, there is a willingness to reexamine and even re-
movement is not so close to being successful that it will
state deeply held truths in the light of what is learned in ecu-
shortly render itself unnecessary. The three areas of mission,
menical dialogue. Many non-Catholics, for example, could
doctrine, and service still contain formidable obstacles to be
now acknowledge the possibility of some form of papacy, if
overcome, though their formulation has shifted in some in-
defined as primus inter pares, the pope as a “first among
teresting ways since 1910.
equals.” While this is not a definition acceptable to Roman
Catholics, many Catholics are nevertheless attempting to de-
In the area of mission the matter of “sending ambassa-
fine more precisely the meaning of papal authority, especially
dors of Christ” to faraway places must be viewed from a new
in the light of Vatican II’s conclusion that the bishop of
perspective, since it now depends on who is deciding what
Rome shares teaching authority with the other bishops in the
is “far away.” “Foreign missions” used to mean activities be-
“episcopal college.”
yond the boundaries of North America and Europe. These
continents constituted the “center,” the rest of the world the
Another doctrinal issue, however, will be increasingly
“periphery.” Mission was conceived of as a one-way street,
important in the life of the ecumenical movement. It has lit-
emanating from the center toward the periphery. By the time
tle to do with formulations of a doctrine of the papacy or
of the Whitby conference of the International Missionary
Eucharist or baptism, but a great deal to do with how doc-
Council in 1947, it was clearly and even sternly affirmed that
trines are actually formulated. Protestant ecumenical theolo-
mission had become a two-way street and must remain that
gy has had a strong classical European stamp upon it, solidly
way. The new Christian vitality in the last half of the twenti-
rooted in the biblical heritage of Luther and Calvin. Roman
eth century seems to be coming from what used to be called
Catholic ecumenical thought has likewise been nurtured by
the periphery, that is, the younger churches.
a European frame of reference, though, thanks to thinkers
The real issue in the 1980s and 1990s and beyond may
like Karl Rahner, it has been moving in new directions. Or-
be the degree to which the “older churches” at the “center”
thodox theologians have seen themselves as guarantors of
can have the grace to be recipients of new understandings of
past tradition, and their modes of describing that tradition
the gospel that will come from the “younger churches” at the
have the stamp of centuries upon them.
“periphery.” For the time being, at least, it may be more ecu-
But this is not the background from which Asians, Afri-
menically blessed for the older churches to receive than to
cans, and Latin Americans have come into the ecumenical
give. (The WCC, which at its inception was made up almost
movement. There is no reason, this new generation argues,
entirely of “leaders” from North America and Europe, has
why ways of doing theology in Europe should be normative
responded creatively to the new situation. Increasing num-
everywhere. They are insisting that their own theology must
bers of its staff and leadership are drawn from other parts of
now be done indigenously, arising out of their own cultures
the world.)
and using imagery appropriate to those cultures. Thus Afri-
In the area of doctrine there have been a surprising
can Christians are drawing on images and experiences that
number of theological convergences, even though certain un-
maintain some continuity with their tribal pasts, to provide
resolved issues remain central to the question of church re-
new metaphors to speak of the love of God in Jesus Christ.
unions. There are increasing degrees of consensus on the
Asians are doing the same with a heritage more venerable
meaning of baptism and even on Eucharist, though the mat-
than that of Europe, and “water-buffalo theology” (Kosuke
ter of ministry (i.e., who is properly validated to administer
Koyama) is more resonant for them than forensic images
the sacraments) is far from resolved.
drawn from medieval courts of law. Latin Americans are 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
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ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
sisting that theology must grow out of the experience of the
in the twenty-first century are better able to tolerate doctrinal
poor, rather than being imposed on the poor by intellectuals
differences on the meaning of the real presence in the Eucha-
in universities. A theological system arises out of human
rist than to allow for two points of view on whether or not
struggle, they are asserting, rather than being provided ahead
“class struggle” is a legitimate descriptive term in Christian
of time by experts and then “applied” to specific situations.
social analysis. So it is tensions within the realm of service—
To the degree that the former “periphery” does begin to
how the church is to relate to the world, what it is to do in
speak to the former “center”—and is heard—the issue of
relation to revolutionary situations, how it is to make a cri-
theological methodology will become an increasingly critical
tique of the economic order (or whether it is even appropri-
area of discussion.
ate to do so)—that have become the causes of the deepest
ecumenical ruptures.
In the third area, that of service, many difficult ecumen-
ical issues have been posed for discussion, and the drawing
Beyond the focal points of mission, doctrine, and ser-
of lines of difference bears little resemblance to the situation
vice, other unresolved, structural issues remain. For example,
at the beginning of the modern ecumenical era. If, in the ear-
what should be the relationship of world confessional bodies,
lier period, it was true to say that “doctrine divides, service
which are global expressions of denominationalism, to the
unites,” the reverse has almost become the descriptive reality:
WCC? Is the continuation of such groups as the Lutheran
service divides, doctrine unites.
World Federation or the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches a contribution or a detriment to ecumenism? Do
A basic difference between two types of Christian ap-
they impede the cause of Christian unity, or are they provi-
proach to service seems to be part of a legacy that each era
sionally necessary for the maintenance of certain doctrinal
leaves to its successor. This legacy is a distinction between
emphases and portions of a tradition that might otherwise
(1) those who see the Christian life as fundamentally an indi-
be lost?
vidual matter, in which, by giving sufficient attention to the
personal and inner dimensions of life, a spirit is created that
Coupled with such matters is the problem of size. Is
will transform the outer structures of society, and (2) those
there a “critical mass” beyond which concern for the Chris-
who believe that Christian faith is so incurably social that it
tian message will be dissipated simply because of the need
is never enough just to change individuals and assume they
to keep the wheels of a large organization running smoothly?
will change society. This second view necessitates a simulta-
To the degree that ecumenical dialogue brings about new
neous frontal attack on the unjust structures of society be-
understandings that render unnecessary the ongoing life of
cause they are causes of and manifestations of, as well as the
separate denominations, will the resultant mergers necessari-
results of, human sin. Almost all Christians, when pressed,
ly be vehicles for a refining of the prophetic nature of the gos-
would agree that both concerns must be present and that a
pel, or will bigness breed slowness and timidity? Whatever
theology containing one and not the other would be truncat-
the answers to these and yet unanticipated questions, ecu-
ed and incorrect. But in practice, the matter of priority, or,
menical concerns will persist in the life of the church as long
even more, proportion, between the two is a significant cause
as there is a discrepancy between the actual state of the
of division.
church and the will of the head of the church “that all may
be one.”
What becomes ecumenically confusing is that divisions
over such matters bear no resemblance to past denomina-
SEE ALSO African Religions, article on New Religious
tional or confessional allegiances. For example, the lines be-
Movements; Anti-Semitism; Australian Indigenous Reli-
tween Roman Catholics and Protestants are not usually
gions, articles on Aboriginal Christianity, New Religious
drawn on an issue such as the appropriateness from a Chris-
Movements; Christian Ethics; Christianity; Church, article
tian perspective of possessing nuclear weapons. Some Catho-
on Church Polity; Councils, article on Christian Councils;
lics will be closer to some Protestants than they will be to
Creeds, article on Christian Creeds; Denominationalism;
most other Catholics; some Presbyterians may be more at
Dialogue of Religions; Eucharist; Faith; Holocaust, The;
home in the company of Methodists on this matter than
Marxism; Mary; Ministry; Missions, article on Christian
with their fellow Presbyterians. Within a Catholic religious
Missions; North American Indian Religions, article on New
order, the most diversified opinions may be found on the
Religious Movements; Oceanic Religions, article on Mis-
ethical responsibility of multinationals, and within member
sionary Movements; Papacy; Political Theology; Reforma-
churches of the WCC similar divisions occur.
tion; Sacrament, article on Christian Sacraments; Schism,
article on Christian Schism; Theology, article on Christian
Issues of practice, then, are more often volatile sources
Theology; Vatican Councils, articles on Vatican II.
of disagreement than issues of belief. For example, when
“conservatives” attack the WCC, the issue is less likely to be
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a Faith and Order commission report on baptism than the
For a history of the mission and expansion of Christianity, the
allocation of funds for the Program to Combat Racism.
movement out of which modern ecumenism grew, the best
Some Catholics appear to be more upset with the social anal-
overall resource is still K. S. Latourette’s Christianity in a Rev-
ysis of Catholic liberation theologians than with Protestant
olutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and
views of the meaning of papal infallibility. Church members
Twentieth Centuries, 5 vols. (New York, 1958–1962). Docu-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EDDAS
2691
ments pertinent to the development of the modern ecumeni-
el (New York, 1983) represent fresh attempts to reconstitute
cal movement are conveniently collected in Documents on
Christian theology by taking its relationship to Judaism with
Christian Unity, 4 vols., edited by G. K. A. Bell (London,
new seriousness.
1924–1958), which includes Protestant, Catholic, and Or-
The most useful ecumenical periodical is Journal of Ecumenical
thodox materials. For a full history of the ecumenical move-
Studies (Pittsburgh, 1974–), published triannually, with arti-
ment, with special attention to the formation of the World
cles, extensive reportage on ecumenical activities throughout
Council of Churches, consult A History of the Ecumenical
the world, and book reviews of new ecumenical literature.
Movement, 1517–1948, 2d ed., edited by Ruth Rouse and
The Ecumenical Review (Geneva, 1948–), a quarterly publi-
Stephen C. Neill (London, 1957), and its sequel, The Ecu-
cation of the WCC, contains articles, extensive journals of
menical Advance: A History of the Ecumenical Movement, vol.
WCC activities, and book reviews covering ecumenical con-
2, 1948–1968, edited by Harold E. Fey (Philadelphia,
tributions from all over the world. The Information Service
1970). An interpretive account of the Faith and Order move-
of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, published in
ment can be found in A Documentary History of the Faith and
Rome, gives papers, digests, and summaries of ecumenical
Order Movement, 1927–1963, edited by Lukas Vischer
activities in which the Secretariat is involved.
(Saint Louis, 1963), which contains excerpts from all the
Faith and Order conferences through the New Delhi assem-
ROBERT MCAFEE BROWN (1987)
bly (1961). The closest comparable volume tracing the Life
and Work movement is Paul Bock’s In Search of a Responsible
World Society: The Social Teachings of the World Council of
Churches (Philadelphia, 1974). The reports of all the WCC
EDDAS. The Icelandic works known as the Eddas form
assemblies contain speeches, reports of the various commis-
our most important sources for Scandinavian mythology.
sions, and other pertinent information. These are The First
The Poetic Edda is a collection of alliterative poems. First in
Assembly of the World Council of Churches: The Official Report
the Danish Royal Library (hence the collection’s name,
(New York, 1949), The Second Assembly of the World Council
Codex Regius), this manuscript was transferred to Iceland in
of Churches: The Evanston Report (New York, 1955), The
1971. Sixteen pages were lost from the middle between 1641
Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches: The New
and 1643; the remaining ninety pages contain eleven poems
Delhi Report (New York, 1962), all edited by W. A. Visser
about the gods and eighteen about Germanic heroes. A few
’t Hooft; The Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Church-
poems in a similar style are found in other medieval manu-
es: The Uppsala Report, edited by Norman Goodall (Geneva,
1968); Breaking Barriers: Nairobi 1975, edited by David M.
scripts. The work known as the Prose Edda or Snorri’s Edda
Paton (London, 1975); and Gathered for Life: Official Report,
is a handbook of poetry written by Snorri Sturluson between
Sixth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, edited by
around 1225 and 1230. To explain circumlocutions such as
David Gill (Geneva, 1983). My The Ecumenical Revolution,
“Freyja’s tears” for “gold,” Snorri relates myths about the
rev. ed. (Garden City, N.Y., 1969), is a history of both Prot-
gods. In one manuscript the work is given the title Edda. The
estant and Catholic ecumenism through the Uppsala assem-
derivation of this word is obscure, although several explana-
bly in 1968.
tions have been proposed.
For an account of the “ecumenical pioneers” who were active be-
The authorship, date, and place of origin of the eddic
fore Roman Catholic ecumenism was widely sanctioned, see
poems are unknown. The Codex Regius was written about
Leonard J. Swidler’s The Ecumenical Vanguard (Pittsburgh,
1270, but its poems were copied from several manuscripts
1966), which gives special attention to the Una Sancta move-
ment. Hans Küng’s Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth
that are now lost. The poems quoted in Snorri’s Edda must
and a Catholic Reflection (London, 1964) is a good example
be from before 1230, and close echoes of them are found in
of one of the earliest serious attempts to bridge the Protes-
court verse from the tenth and eleventh centuries. Their
tant-Catholic chasm.
mythological lore must be older still, for it underlies the met-
Two accounts of the Second Vatican Council are of special inter-
aphors used by Norwegian court poets from the ninth centu-
est: the reports from Le monde by the French journalist Henri
ry on. Eddic poetry was probably being composed in Scandi-
Fesquet available as The Drama of Vatican II (New York,
navia by the ninth century, although the content and form
1967), and Xavier Rynne’s Letters from Vatican City: Vatican
of these poems is unknown. Their mythological and heroic
Council II (New York, 1963). The latter is an expansion of
lore existed for two hundred years in Christian oral tradition,
a famous series of New Yorker accounts, published pseudony-
most likely for its entertainment value.
mously throughout the council. The most easily available
ORGANIZATION OF THE CODEX REGIUS. The Codex Regius
collection of the results of Vatican II is Documents of Vatican
has a clear hierarchical organization. It starts with cosmology;
II, edited by Walter M. Abbott and Joseph Gallagher (New
York, 1966). Since Vatican II, a series of volumes known as
continues with Óðinn, Freyr, Þórr, and other supernatural
“Concilium,” with more than a hundred titles, has been pub-
beings; and concludes with human heroes. The poems on
lished by various publishers at regular intervals.
their own are not easy to understand, as they assume famil-
As an example of new theological and ecumenical understanding,
iarity with the myths; therefore, the compiler supplies some
Gustavo Gutiérrez’s A Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll,
commentary. But even so, knowledge of Scandinavian my-
N.Y., 1973) is the best introduction to post-Vatican II liber-
thology would be sparse were it not for Snorri, who also orga-
ation theology, and Paul M. Van Buren’s Discerning the Way
nizes and explains the mythological lore he sets down. A pro-
(New York, 1980) and A Christian Theology of the People Isra-
logue asserts that the heathen religion arose from nature
E N C Y C L O P E D I 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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EDDAS
worship and that the gods known as the Æsir are actually
from the World Tree for nine nights, wounded with a spear,
men, the descendants of King Priam of Troy. They emigrat-
a sacrifice of himself to himself. The elements of this myth
ed from Asia, from which their name derives, and their king,
all have parallels in Norse tradition, and it is probably not
Óðinn, gave his sons the rule of Sweden, Denmark, and
influenced by the Christian crucifixion. Next are two short
Norway. This section, reflecting patristic approaches to pa-
narratives about Óðinn’s unsuccessful wooing of a resolute
ganism, may be intended to deflect any criticism of the retell-
maiden and his seduction of a giant’s daughter in order to
ing of pagan mythology.
steal the mead of poetic inspiration. Finally, a long series of
proverbs offers advice. References to cremation and memori-
The next part, the Gylfaginning (Deluding of Gylfi),
al stones indicate the poem’s origin in pagan Norway. In the
uses a frame narrative—the quest of the Swedish king Gylfi
third poem, Vafþrúðnismál (The lay of Vafþrúðnir), Óðinn
to learn about the Æsir—to retell myths about the creation,
holds a riddle contest with the giant Vafþrúðnir to see who
cosmology, some two dozen gods and goddesses, and the end
knows the most mythological lore; defeat means death for
of the mythological world at Ragnaro˛k. The triad of gods
the vanquished. They cover creation, the halls of the gods,
who answer Gylfi’s questions appears to be modeled on the
the World Tree and the creatures that live on it, the life of
Christian Trinity. The third section, Skáldskaparmál (Lan-
warriors after death in the hall of Óðinn, and the events lead-
guage of poetry), uses a different dialogue to present addi-
ing to Ragnaro˛k. A variant of this myth is found in the fourth
tional myths, but it primarily discusses the diction of court
poem, Grímnismál (The lay of Grímnir).
poetry. The last section, Háttatal (Enumeration of meters),
contains three of Snorri’s poems illustrating many Norse
The fifth poem, Skírnismál (The lay of Skírnir), tells of
verse forms, together with a prose commentary. Snorri most
the wooing of the fair giantess Gerðr by Freyr, the fertility
likely included mythology in his Edda because so many poet-
god. This myth seems quite archaic, and even if one sets aside
ic circumlocutions required a knowledge of it. Viewing the
the interpretations associating the story with any particular
heathen religion with detachment, he writes about the gods
fertility ritual, there can be no doubt that sex and fertility lie
with irony and humor. He has little interest in allegorical or
at its core. The myth has also been interpreted as reaffirming
symbolic explanations of myths, and where he does offer an
the patriarchal structure of Old Norse society, depicting a
interpretation, it is an etiological one.
male-female struggle for power and providing a matrix for
Given the inescapably mediated nature of the Eddas,
resolving conflict between different families through a sys-
can anything about authentic Scandinavian paganism be
tem of exchange and intermarriage.
learned from them? The thirteenth-century forms were re-
ÞÓRR: FOUR POEMS. Þórr is the subject of the next four
corded by people who cannot have held them sacred, making
poems. In Hárbarðsljóð (The song of Hárbarðr) he tries to
them an unreliable source for religious history. Nonetheless,
compel Óðinn, who is disguised as a ferryman, to take him
the myths do seem to be a reflex of paganism, as seen by the
across a fjord. When they recognize one another, they ex-
parallels between Snorri’s myths and those of Saxo Gram-
change insults referring to shameful incidents in the past.
maticus (c. 1150–after 1216), whose work predates Snorri’s
Hymiskviða (The lay of Hymir) describes how Þórr went
and was not known in Iceland. In addition, the eddic depic-
fishing with the giant Hymir and nearly caught the sea ser-
tions of the gods correspond to what is known of the earlier
pent that encircles the earth. The tale is humorously told, but
Germanic pantheon.
this does not diminish its underlying seriousness, for the
THE FIRST FIVE POEMS. The Poetic Edda opens with Voluspá
emergence of the monster from the depths is the signal for
E
(Prophecy of the seeress), composed perhaps in late-tenth-
the beginning of Ragnaro˛k and the end of the world. The
or early-eleventh-century Iceland. It relates the creation of
importance of this myth is seen from its depiction on Viking
the worlds, the war between the two groups of gods (Æsir
Age carved stones in Sweden, Denmark, and England. Lo-
and Vanir), the death of Baldr, the fall of the gods, the de-
kasenna (Loki’s exchange of insults) tells how the mischie-
struction of the earth by fire and water, and its reemergence
vous Loki is evicted from the gods’ banquet for killing a ser-
from the sea, beginning a new age. The poet was probably
vant. He immediately returns, and a heated exchange of
not a Christian, but the moral framework, the idea of pun-
abuse ensues in which he reminds each god of some humili-
ishment or reward for human beings after death, the coming
ating incident. Lokasenna was grouped with the poems about
of an unnamed new god referred to only as inn ríki (the
Þórr because Loki leaves only when faced with Þórr’s fury.
mighty one), and the obsession with the end of the world do
The poet’s purpose was probably to recite a catalogue of the
suggest syncretic use of Christian material. If the poet was
important stories about the gods, perhaps as an aide-
a Christian, he was well versed in pagan mythology and does
mémoire.
not display the hostility towards it common among early
Þrymskviða (The lay of Þrymr), thought to be one of the
Norse Christians.
youngest mythological poems (from the beginning of the
The second poem, Hávamál (Speech of the High One),
thirteenth century), borrows phrases from older poems to de-
begins the sequence about Óðinn. A composite work drawn
scribe the theft of Þórr’s hammer by the giant Þrymr, who
from at least six sources, it lists the spells known to Óðinn
wants to exchange it for the hand of Freyja, goddess of love.
and describes his winning the secret of runes by hanging
Þórr goes to Þrymr disguised as Freyja, his face covered 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
EDDAS
2693
the bridal veil, and Loki accompanies him disguised as a
and the interrelationship of noble families and legendary he-
maid. Thanks to this ruse, Þórr is able to recover his hammer
roic figures suggests that it is a mythologization created for
when it is brought in as part of the wedding ceremony. Like
sociolegal purposes.
Hymiskviða, Þrymskviða treats a serious threat in a comic
SNORRI’S SOURCES. When Snorri assembled the myths in his
vein. Without Þórr’s hammer to protect them, the gods
Edda, he made extensive use of the eddic poems and also
would be at the mercy of the giants, but Þórr’s unfeminine
drew on tales of the gods from other, unknown sources. He
behavior and Loki’s inspired excuses for him are truly amus-
gives several traditional views about the creation of the
ing. However, this myth is otherwise unknown, and it may
world; describes the gods and goddesses and other supernatu-
simply be a skillful imitation of “authentic” mythological
ral beings, listing lesser ones about whom little or nothing
poems.
is known; and explains how Óðinn and two companions cre-
T
ated the first man and woman from logs of wood. Snorri also
HE FINAL POEMS ON THE GODS. The last two mythologi-
cal poems nominally deal with lesser supernatural beings.
recounts a number of myths and legends concerning the gods
Völundarvkiða (The lay of Völundr) tells the tragic story of
and the giants. One is the tale of how a giant built the strong-
the smith Völundr (in English: Weland, Wayland), who ex-
hold of Ásgarðr, whereupon the gods cheated him out of his
acts a grisly vengeance on the king who captures him. Völun-
wages and took his life; Óðinn’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir
dr is probably not a native figure of Scandinavian mythology,
was an unintended result of the gods’ trickery. Another re-
but his Norse appellation álfa dróttinn (Lord of Elves) seems
lates how the god Ty´r lost his hand in the process of binding
to have led the compiler of the Codex Regius to place the
the wolf Fenrir. Other tales relate how Óðinn brought the
poem here, rather than with the heroic poems with which
mead of poetry to Ásgarðr, which treasures the dwarfs fash-
modern scholars classify it. Alvíssmál (The lay of Alvíss) is a
ioned for the gods, what befell Þórr in the land of the giants
wisdom contest like Vafþrúðnismál. Here Þórr uses questions
and at the court of Útgarða-Loki, and how he dueled with
to keep the dwarf Alvíss (All-Wise)—who has persuaded the
the giant Hrungnir. The defeat of the giant Þjazi results in
other gods to give him Þórr’s daughter as a bride—up all
the marriage of his daughter Skaði to one of the Vanir hos-
night until the rays of the sun turn him into stone.
tages, the sea god Njörðr. Loki’s escapades culminate in the
tale of how he caused the death of Baldr and was bound by
OUTSIDE THE CODEX REGIUS. Eddic poems not in the
the gods under the earth as a punishment. Finally, Snorri
Codex Regius include Baldrs draumar (Dreams of Baldr),
gives an account of Ragnaro˛k that is based on Voluspá but
which describes how Óðinn seeks information from a seeress
E
which incorporates popular beliefs about the world’s ending.
about the fate of his son Baldr. The incomplete Rígsþula
(Rígr’s list of names) treats the origin and structure of human
SEE ALSO Freyr; Óðinn; Saxo Grammaticus; Snorri Sturlu-
society. Rígr (whom the medieval scribe says is the god
son; Ty´r.
Heimdallr) visits three farms, where each housewife gives
birth to a boy nine months later. The child at the first farm
BIBLIOGRAPHY
is named Þræll (Slave), the child at the second is Karl (Free-
Carolyne Larrington’s The Poetic Edda (Oxford, 1996) is a good
man), and the child at the third is Jarl (Earl). Each has the
translation of the entire Poetic Edda. B. S. Benedikz and John
stereotypical appearance of his social class. The poem thus
McKinnell offer a translation with commentary in Voluspá
employs an aristocratic, secular perspective in its survey of
E
(Durham, N.C., 1978). Ursula Dronke’s The Poetic Edda,
the social hierarchy and reflects archaic insular influences—
vol. 2, Mythological Poems (Oxford, 1997), does the same for
such as the name Rígr, which corresponds to the Old Irish
Voluspá, Baldrs draumar, Rígsþula, Völundarkvíða, Lokasen-
E
rí (king)—and the implicit sanction of the custom of allow-
na, and Skírnismál. The Everyman edition of Snorri Sturlu-
ing distinguished visitors to have sexual relations with the
son: Edda (London, 1987), translated and edited by Anthony
wife of the host. Scholars are split between regarding it as a
Faulkes, is the best and most complete translation of Snorri’s
Edda, omitting only an appendix. For a translation of the
mirror of Viking Age society (tenth century to c. 1100) and
prologue, Gylfaginning, and selections from Skáldskaparmál,
as a product of the learned milieu of late-twelfth-century and
see Jean I. Young, The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson: Tales
thirteenth-century Norway and Iceland.
from Norse Mythology (Cambridge, U.K., 1954).
Grottasöngr tells how King Fróði of Denmark had a mill
Studies of the eddic myths include Gabriel Turville-Petre’s Myth
that would grind out whatever its owner wished for. At first
and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia
the king ordered it to grind gold and happiness for himself
(London, 1964) and Hilda Ellis Davidson’s Gods and Myths
and peace for his kingdom, but his greed drove the two slaves
of Northern Europe (Harmondsworth, U.K., 1965). In Gods
who worked the mill to rebel and grind out vengeance and
of the Ancient Northmen (Berkeley, Calif., 1973), Georges
Dumézil deals with the eddic myths in the light of other
destruction. Hyndluljóð’s recounts how Freyja forces the gi-
Indo-European mythologies. Papers on the Poetic Edda are
antess Hyndla to tell the genealogy of her protégé Óttarr. In
gathered in Edda: A Collection of Essays (Manitoba, Canada,
addition to this information, Hyndla recites a version of
1983), edited by Robert J. Glendinning and Haraldur Bessa-
Voluspá. Most scholars believe that this was originally a sepa-
E
son. Jónas Kristjánsson’s Eddas and Sagas: Iceland’s Medieval
rate poem older than the verses about Freyja and Óttarr but
Literature (Reykjavík, 1988), translated by Peter Foote, is a
younger than Voluspá. Hyndluljóð’s emphasis on genealogy
popular, illustrated treatment, while Margaret Clunies Ross
E
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2694
EDDY, MARY BAKER
takes an academic, sociological approach in the first volume
raphy, Retrospection and Introspection, she wrote that her fa-
of Prolonged Echoes: Old Norse Myths in Medieval Northern
ther was “taught to believe” her brain was too large for her
Society (Odense, Denmark, 1994). For bibliography and a
body (Eddy, 1891, p. 10). Even though her schooling was
valuable survey of scholarship up to 1985, consult Joseph
uneven, she spent several terms at academies for young
Harris, “Eddic Poetry,” in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A
women.
Critical Guide, edited by Carol J. Clover and John Lindow
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1985). Further references can be found in
Eddy was a keen learner and an avid reader, and
John Lindow’s Scandinavian Mythology: An Annotated Bibli-
throughout her life she kept scrapbooks of writings that had
ography (New York, 1988). Phillip Pulsiano’s Medieval Scan-
attracted her. In Science and Health she praised observation,
dinavia: An Encyclopedia (New York, 1993), Rudolf Simek’s
invention, study, and original thought as “academics of the
Dictionary of Northern Mythology (Cambridge, U.K., 1993),
right sort” (Eddy, 1875, p. 195). Typically, what interested
and John Lindow’s Handbook of Norse Mythology (Santa Bar-
her were the ways thought was expanded through learning,
bara, Calif., 2001) supply useful encyclopedia-style entries.
rather than learning as mere acquisition of facts.
ELIZABETH ASHMAN ROWE (2005)
MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD. Eddy’s first marriage, in
1843, was to George Washington Glover. He died of yellow
fever the following year, however. The pregnant widow re-
EDDY, MARY BAKER
turned to New England from her home in South Carolina,
(1821–1910), the American
and eventually her young son was put in the care of a family
discoverer of Christian Science, founded the Church of
retainer. Eddy was not reunited with him until he was grown
Christ, Scientist, “to commemorate the word and works” of
and a parent himself.
Christ Jesus and “to reinstate primitive Christianity and its
lost element of healing” (Eddy, 1895, p. 17). The subject of
In 1853, in the hope of providing a home for her son,
vehement attack by the popular press and male theologians
Eddy married Daniel Patterson. He, however, was unwilling
of her day, and of staunch defense by proponents of her
to have the boy. An itinerant dentist, Patterson was frequent-
teaching, Eddy remains a controversial figure.
ly absent from home, and in 1866 he abandoned his wife
permanently. It was not until 1873 that Eddy applied for and
Prayer, biblical readings, and religious discussion were
was granted a divorce.
prominent features of her rural New England upbringing,
and Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational clergy frequent-
During these years Eddy suffered various illnesses that
ed the family home. As a child, Eddy rebelled against the
often kept her bedridden. She sought relief through a variety
stern Calvinism of her father’s religion, preferring the more
of alternative medical methods, including allopathy, home-
loving deity of her mother’s teaching. Despite her reserva-
opathy, and hydropathy. In 1862 she traveled to the Port-
tions about the doctrine of predestination, Eddy joined the
land, Maine, clinic of Dr. Phineas P. Quimby, a magnetic
Congregational Church and remained a member until she
healer. The extent of Quimby’s influence on Eddy’s thought
founded her own religious organization.
is one of the more controversial aspects of her life.
In the late twentieth century, feminist scholars turned
After Eddy had become well known, Quimby’s son and
to Eddy’s life and leadership, hoping to find in her a model
several of the doctor’s associates claimed she had misrepre-
of empowerment for women. Eddy was not, however, pri-
sented Quimby’s teaching as her own. Eddy acknowledged
marily interested in political freedom but in a liberation the-
she had edited Quimby’s notes but denied that he was her
ology that freed people from the “bondage of sickness and
source for Christian Science. In fact, Quimby’s techniques
sin” (Eddy, 1875, p. 368).
were based on mesmerism, while Eddy’s practice was firmly
rooted in the Christianity that had always been her strength.
Critics sought to dismiss Eddy by accusing her of being
a hysterical female in the stereotypical nineteenth-century
Eddy’s faith was tested after Quimby’s death when in
mode. This accusation failed to take into account an ancient
1866 she suffered internal injuries following a fall on an icy
precedent that may be more relevant in Eddy’s case. In the
path. Eddy later recalled that she turned to her Bible and
second and third centuries CE Christian women were accused
read an account of one of Jesus’ healings recorded in the Gos-
of hysteria by an emerging male religious hierarchy as a
pels. Subsequently she spoke of her instant recovery as a
means of marginalizing women’s religious authority. The ac-
transformative experience in which she glimpsed “Life in and
cusation is particularly notable in patriarchal dismissal of fe-
of Spirit” (Eddy, 1896, p. 24). The fall on the ice has as-
male theologians who, like Eddy, functioned without defer-
sumed mythic importance in the history of Christian Sci-
ence to male authority. This precedent provides a historical
ence. Although the homeopathic physician who was called
antecedent, and not just a cultural one, for the opposition
to Eddy’s bedside later claimed it was his treatment that
Eddy’s teachings attracted.
healed her, Eddy insisted it was her glimpse of a spiritual re-
E
ality that effected the physical healing. The discovery of
ARLY LIFE. Eddy was born in Bow, New Hampshire, the
youngest of the six children of Mark Baker and Abigail Am-
Christian Science is dated from this event.
brose Baker. Her formal education was sporadic, and she was
Eddy’s third marriage was to Asa Gilbert Eddy in 1877.
often kept home from school due to illness. In her autobiog-
Their brief union ended with his death in 1882. Gilbert
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EDDY, MARY BAKER
2695
Eddy was one of his wife’s early followers and the first to
developed a highly centralized government for her church,
publicly advertise as a Christian Science healer.
delegating daily oversight to a board of directors. Both men
and women were eligible to serve in this capacity, although
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. Prior to her fall, Eddy’s life had been
female directors remained in the minority. Eddy also set up
fairly conventional. In nineteenth-century America, men
a structure for theological education, the teachers of which
held legal, financial, and decision-making power over
could be either men or women. Most notable, however, was
women’s lives. Women, especially genteel women, were
the prominence of females in the public practice of what
daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, widows—and Eddy was
Eddy called Christian healing.
all of these. Even in religion women were denied a public
voice in worship and were expected to assent to the beliefs
During the remainder of her life Eddy faced repeated
of their male relatives. In preaching a theology that promoted
internal dissension from followers wishing to supplement or
biblical authority over clerical teaching, and in founding a
supplant her teaching with their own. Most of these left
church, Eddy threatened established patriarchal positions
Christian Science, and several of the women eventually be-
and subsequently suffered legal, verbal, and even physical
came religious leaders in their own right, particularly in the
consequences.
New Thought movement. Eddy was convinced that the
glimpse of spiritual reality she had experienced in 1866 and
Following her recovery, Eddy committed herself to a
its subsequent refinement was divinely inspired and, as such,
deep study of the Bible, spending the next several years seek-
could not be modified by anyone else. Neither the church
ing the spiritual significance of biblical accounts of healing.
government she formed nor the denominational textbook
She searched for the “primitive Christianity” of Jesus and the
she wrote can be revised. Her final achievement was the
early Christians in the period before the institutional church
founding of an international newspaper, the Christian Science
darkened its hue (Eddy, 1875, p. 139). This was her concept
Monitor, in 1908.
of evangelical religion. She wrote extensive exegetical notes,
particularly reflecting on the books of Genesis and Revelation.
At a time when many women lived domestically cen-
Revisions of these books, and the addition of a glossary con-
tered lives, Eddy’s talent for organization and for conducting
taining her interpretation of the spiritual meaning of selected
business, skills nineteenth-century society usually associated
terms mainly drawn from these two books, later formed the
with men, attracted hostility and opposition. Followers de-
basis of her class teaching and the “Key to the Scriptures” sec-
fected and opponents criticized the control she maintained.
tion of the Christian Science textbook. As her radical ideas
At the same time, others found healing through the teachings
developed and she began to broadcast them, she found her-
of Christian Science.
self at odds with family and friends.
THEOLOGICAL TEACHINGS. As a child Eddy was immersed
Over the next few years Eddy moved from boarding-
in the thought and language of the Bible. Her mature writ-
house to boardinghouse. She had little in the way of financial
ings are replete with biblical allusions and citations. Her
resources and made her living through modest literary con-
reading of the Bible, though, was often unconventional, and
tributions and eventually by taking students, to whom she
both nineteenth- and twentieth-century commentators criti-
began to teach her theology of healing. Her teaching was re-
cized her theology as abstruse, uninformed, even heterodox.
inforced by her own healing practice. During this period she
In her spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, first
began writing her major work, Science and Health with Key
published in 1891, Eddy defined God as Father and Mother.
to the Scriptures, the first edition of which was published in
In 1900 she changed the designation to Father-Mother.
1875. The book went through eight major revisions and over
Eddy was not the first female theologian to identify God in
two hundred lesser versions before Eddy’s death.
this way. Julian of Norwich (1342–after 1416) and the Shak-
er Mother Ann Lee (1736–1784) had described God as
Initially Eddy hoped her ideas would be adopted by ex-
Mother, and there are biblical precedents as well. Hannah
isting churches. When this did not happen, she organized her
Whitall Smith, a contemporary of Eddy and a member of
own church in 1879, only to abandon its charter in 1889.
the Holiness movement in Philadelphia, also likened God to
In 1892 she reorganized the church and named it the First
a Mother. However, there is no evidence that Eddy drew on
Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. Al-
any of these for her own interpretation.
though Eddy herself preached both from the pulpit and in
public halls, she decreed in 1895 that there would be no or-
From the third through the fifteenth editions of Science
dained clergy in her church. Instead she “ordained” the Bible
and Health, Eddy used the feminine pronoun for God in her
and Science and Health as its pastor. Worship services consist-
chapter “Creation,” reverting to the masculine pronoun in
ed of readings from the Bible and “correlative passages” from
1886. She also consistently employed nongendered termi-
her book. The readers, one man and one woman, were elect-
nology for God, referring to the deity as Life, Truth, Love,
ed for a stipulated term from the lay membership.
Spirit, Soul, Mind, and Principle.
In addition to Sunday and midweek worship, Eddy pro-
Eddy’s theological reflections in her chapter “Science,
vided for lecturers who visited communities by invitation.
Theology, and Medicine” primarily relate to the nature of
Both women and men could be called to this position. She
Christ and the character of Jesus. She wrote that Jesus was
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2696
EDO RELIGION
the highest human concept, inseparable from Christ, which
on material that has been published previously by other crit-
she defined “as the divine idea of God outside the flesh”
ics. Gillian Gill, Mary Baker Eddy (Radcliffe Biography Se-
(Eddy, 1875, p. 482).
ries, Reading, Mass., 1998), is a massive, heavily notated bi-
ography. Gill offers detailed analysis of Eddy’s childhood and
To a twenty-first-century reader, Eddy’s use of man as
family relationships and chronicles her public life. Gill had
a generic term sounds dated. However, she declared that
unprecedented access to church archives, and much original
masculine, feminine, and neuter genders are “human con-
material was published for the first time in this volume. She
cepts,” weakened by anthropomorphism (Eddy, 1875,
also provides a useful annotated bibliography of both the fa-
p. 516). For Eddy, generic man was a nongendered spiritual
vorable and the critical literature on Eddy. Stephen Gotts-
idea, neither an “Eve or an Adam” (Eddy, 1887, p. 51). Fem-
chalk, The Emergence of Christian Science in American Reli-
inist commentators operating out of a body-affirming late-
gious Life (Berkeley, Calif., 1973), includes biographical data
twentieth-century and early-twenty-first-century imagina-
on Eddy but is primarily a social-intellectual history of Chris-
tion have been disappointed that Eddy’s teaching does not
tian Science as a cultural phenomenon. Bliss Knapp, The
Destiny of the Mother Church (Boston, 1991), originally
relate to female bodies any more or less than to male bodies.
copyrighted in 1947 but not published until over forty years
Her rejection of corporeality as the real embodiment of
later, is a biography that caused profound internal church
woman and man is based on her teaching that the physical
controversy. Richard A. Nenneman, Persistent Pilgrim: The
condition is a misapprehension. Eddy posits, on a biblical
Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Etna, N.H., 1997), offers an over-
basis, that creation was originally and is ultimately spiritual.
view of key events in Eddy’s life with particular emphasis on
This spiritual image of body held in thought affects physical
critical moments during the establishment of the Christian
conditions in a redemptive manner that heals the human
Science movement. Nenneman cites previously unpublished
body.
material from church archives.
Robert Peel, Mary Baker Eddy, vol. 1, The Years of Discovery; vol.
A theologian, healer, teacher, author, and publisher,
2, The Years of Trial; vol. 3, The Years of Authority (New
Eddy continued to function as leader of her church into her
York, 1966–1977), a biography written by a Christian Scien-
ninetieth year. In the twenty-first century Eddy has been rec-
tist, is a contextualized and well-documented treatment of
ognized for her pioneering work in the field of spiritual
Eddy with particular emphasis on her evolving leadership.
healing.
Ann Braude, “The Perils of Passivity: Women’s Leadership
in Spiritualism and Christian Science,” in Women’s Leader-
SEE ALSO Christian Science; Lee, Ann; New Thought
ship in Marginal Religions, edited by Catherine Wessinger,
Movement.
pp. 55–67 (Urbana, Ill., 1993), asks whether women are em-
powered in movements founded by women. Braude priorit-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
izes organizational factors over theological ones when consid-
Eddy published Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (Bos-
ering Eddy’s relationships with potential rivals, either male
ton, 1875; reprint, Boston, 2000), the textbook of Christian
or female.
Science. Retrospection and Introspection (Boston, 1891),
DIANE TREACY-COLE (2005)
Eddy’s autobiography, is more of a theological statement
than an account of her life. It is included in a collection, Prose
Works (Boston, 1925), as is Unity of Good (Boston, 1887).
Miscellaneous Writings (Boston, 1896) reprints addresses, let-
EDO RELIGION. The Edo-speaking peoples live in a
ters, sermons, poems and articles written between 1883 and
tropical forest region of southern Nigeria. Their language
1896. Manual of the Mother Church (Boston, 1895) speci-
formerly belonged to the Kwa family of Niger-Congo lan-
fies the governing structure of the First Church of Christ,
guages and is now classified with the South Central Niger-
Scientist.
Congo group (Ruhlen, 1991). The Edo proper, centered in
Mary Farrell Bednarowski, The Religious Imagination of American
and around Benin City, are of long standing in this region.
Women (Bloomington, Ind., 1999), includes a short section
Oral traditions suggest that by the thirteenth or fourteenth
on Eddy that considers her and the religious movement she
century, the Edo were united into a powerful kingdom that
founded as the outcome of her emphasis on a practical reci-
by the fifteenth century had embarked on a course of aggres-
procity between theology and healing. Bednarowski identi-
sive military expansion in southern Nigeria. At the end of
fies several areas where, she argues, contemporary women
the fifteenth century, Portuguese explorers made contact
healers owe an often unacknowledged debt to Eddy’s efforts.
with them, recording for the first time the name Benin,
Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend War-
which has been used since to refer to the kingdom (the peo-
neck, Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer (Boston, 1998), is
a collection of testimonials from individuals who benefited
ple are sometimes referred to as the Bini). In the ensuing 500
from Eddy’s healing gifts. The accounts are interspersed with
years following contact with Portugal, the Benin traded with
biographical details and comments about events in the histo-
many European nations until, in 1897, Benin fell to British
ry of the church, and the book includes brief notes about per-
colonial expansion and was incorporated into the wider po-
sons cited in the text.
litical framework of Nigeria. Benin City, the capital of the
Martin Gardner, The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy: The
kingdom from medieval times, is today the administrative
Rise and Fall of Christian Science (Buffalo, N.Y., 1993), writ-
center and capital of modern Edo State, one of thirty-three
ten by a person who is not an admirer of Eddy, relies heavily
states created in late-twentieth-century, postcolonial Nigeria.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EDO RELIGION
2697
Traditional Edo religion divides the world into two
Throughout the year priests hold annual festivals to honor
realms: a visible world of ordinary human experience, and
their own deity (usually Olokun or Ogun) and others. They
an invisible world of gods, ancestors, and other supernatural
also hold an annual festival to honor the deity who “speaks”
beings. The spirit world is a realm located under the ground
through them. Although some priests have the knowledge to
or where the sky and earth meet. It has a parallel existence
cure illness, the Osun specialists are the primary medical ex-
that constantly affects the everyday world. Rituals central to
perts in traditional Edo religion and culture. The adept of
Edo religion, including prayers, offerings, and sacrifices, take
Osun, seeking to gain knowledge of the power inherent in
place at meeting points between both realms, at shrines in-
leaves and herbs, undergoes an apprenticeship, after which
side homes and villages, or at the foot of trees, crossroads,
he is able to divine the causes of sickness, prescribe herbal
or the banks of rivers.
treatments; in the old days, he also administered poison and
other ordeals. Witchcraft is widely believed to be the ulti-
The two realms were created by the supreme being,
mate cause of illness. Witches are identified as persons of evil
Osanobua. He also established the framework of space and
intent who use their knowledge of herbalism to cause barren-
time and made the first humans by breathing lifeforce into
ness, disease, and premature death. At night witches are able
molded clay images. Osanobua is envisioned as a king living
to transform themselves into predatory birds and fly about.
in a palace from which he presides over the spirit world, hav-
They meet in trees and plot to harm their innocent victims.
ing delegated responsibility for the everyday world to his
children, the other gods of the Edo pantheon. The most im-
Adult men and women who have lived a full lifespan
portant among them is Olokun, his son and ruler of the great
and have children receive a proper burial. The male heads
waters, who resides in his own palace under the Ethiope
of families join the group’s ancestors who reside in the spirit
River, which the Edo believe is the source of all the world’s
world, but maintain their interest and involvement in the
waters. From there Olokun sends the blessings of wealth and
daily lives of their descendants. The ancestral altar located
children to his faithful devotees, especially women who de-
in the home of the senior male of a lineage, or the shrine in
sire children. Olokun’s wives and chiefs are the gods of the
a special section of a ward or a village, is the focus of sacrifices
main rivers of the kingdom and are worshiped locally by vil-
and prayers at periodic rituals and in times of crisis, when
lagers.
appeals for help are made.
Ogun, another son of Osanobua, is the patron deity of
The ancestors of the king of Benin (who is known as
all who work and use metal: the blacksmiths and brass and
the oba) are considered the protectors of the nation at large.
bronze casters; and the warriors, hunters, farmers, and mod-
Their altars are national shrines housed in the royal palace.
ern vehicle drivers, for example. Ogun is seen as the god
As the descendant of these divine kings and the possessor of
“who opens the way”—that is, he makes it possible for other
vast supernatural powers, the oba is a central figure in Edo
deities and ancestors to be effective. Olokun and Ogun are
religion. In Edo cosmology, the oba is called “king of dry
vital forces in contemporary Edo religious life, but some dei-
land,” and he is the earthly counterpart of the great deity
ties, such as Ogiuwu, god of death, and Obiemwen, the great
Olokun, “king of the waters,” giver of wealth and children.
mother goddess, are no longer worshiped in Benin. Other
The king and his court are occupied throughout the year
deities, including Esu, Sango, and Oronmila, have been bor-
with public and private rituals aimed at preserving the well-
rowed from the Yoruba to the west of Benin, especially in
being and prosperity of the Edo nation.
border areas where the two ethnic groups have been in close
In the early sixteenth century the oba permitted Portu-
contact. Mammy Water is a cult borrowed from the Igbo
guese Catholic missionaries to establish their church in
area to the east.
Benin City; it lasted until the late seventeenth century. The
Edo men and women alike may keep a shrine or shrines
church was reestablished in the twentieth century and is
to Olokun, Ogun, or other gods. In addition, families and
known as the oba’s church, with worshipers at three locations
subdivisions (quarters) of towns and villages also keep com-
in the city. Twentieth-century missionary activity by Protes-
munal shrines for the worship of various local deities. A fami-
tant denominations and many evangelical groups converted
ly or ancestral shrine is kept in the house of the eldest son,
some Edo to Christianity, and some Edo have converted to
who inherits all his father’s property. Requests for assistance
Islam, but traditional religion, with the oba at its core, con-
and appeals are addressed to these ancestors as well as to the
tinues to flourish.
gods.
Individuals both male and female become religious spe-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cialists through apprenticeship, attainment of seniority, or a
R. E. Bradbury’s The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-Speaking Peoples
of South-Western Nigeria (London, 1957) provides a brief
by a religious “calling” signaled in trance states. There are
overview of Edo religion, and his collected essays, Benin
two main religious roles: priest or priestess and Osun adept,
Studies, edited by Peter Morton-Williams (London, 1973),
Osun being the god of medicines. Priests and priestesses offi-
explore specific issues in depth. Paula Ben-Amos has dis-
ciate at ceremonies, perform sacrifices, lead songs and
cussed religious iconography in The Art of Benin (London,
prayers, and convey messages from a deity who “speaks”
1980) and in several articles: “Ekpo Ritual in Avbiama Vil-
through them while they are dancing and/or in a trance.
lage,” African Arts 2, no. 4 (1969): 8–13, 79, written jointly
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2698
EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS
with Osarenren Omoregie; “Symbolism in Olokun Mud
grandfather in Northampton. He was ordained in February
Art,” African Arts 6, no. 4 (1973): 28–31, 95; and “Men and
1727 and in the same year married Sarah Pierrepont, the
Animals in Benin Art,” Man n.s. 2, no. 2 (1976): 243–252.
daughter of the Congregational minister in New Haven.
Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan provides holistic views and con-
Upon the death of Stoddard in 1729, Edwards became the
text into Benin religion in: “Some Thoughts on Ideology,
full minister in Northampton.
Beliefs, and Sacred Kingship among the Edo (Benin) People
of Nigeria,” in African Spirituality: Forms, Meanings, and Ex-
The following years were times of expanding responsi-
pressions, edited by Jacob K. Olupona (New York, 2002);
bilities. Edwards paid a great deal of attention to the prepara-
and the roles of the Oba and of sacrifices in Benin religion
tion of sermons. A lecture he gave at Boston in 1731 became
in greater detail in “Understanding Sacrifice and Sanctity in
the first of his sermons to be published. He began to gain
Benin Indigenous Religion: A Case Study,” in Beyond Primi-
a reputation as a defender of Reformed doctrines. Edwards
tivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity, edited
became a leading member of the Hampshire Association, an
by Jacob K. Olupona (London and New York, 2003). Afri-
organization of clergymen in the county. His family also ex-
can language classification is updated in Merritt Ruhlen’s A
Guide to the World’s Languages, vol. 1: Classification. Stan-
panded with regularity, eventually reaching a total of eleven
ford, Calif., 1991(1987). Additional important sources in-
children.
clude Ekhaguosa, Aisen, Iwu, the Body Markings of the Edo
The congregation at Northampton experienced an ex-
People (Benin City, Nigeria, 1986); Imoagene, Oshomha,
traordinary manifestation of religious zeal during the winter
The Edo and their Neighbours (Ibadan, Nigeria, 1990);
of 1734–1735. The ferment spread to other communities in
Momoh, Tony, Edo Culture Group in the Nigerian Polity in
the Connecticut River valley. Accounts of these events sent
Search of Sanity (Lagos, Nigeria, 1996); and Oyakhire,
George B. L., An Edo Civilization: Owan Chieftancy Institu-
by Edwards to Boston eventually circulated in expanded
tion (Benin City, Nigeria, 1997).
form throughout the American colonies and Great Britain,
making him something of a celebrity. To his dismay, howev-
PAULA BEN-AMOS (1987)
er, the religious fervor in Northampton proved short-lived.
FLORA EDOUWAYE S. KAPLAN (2005)
In the fall of 1740 the languishing religious situation in
New England changed dramatically with the arrival from
EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS S
England of George Whitefield, who in mid-October visited
EE RELIGIOUS
EDUCATION
Northampton, where his preaching affected many, including
Edwards. Scores of ministers adopted Whitefield’s pattern of
itinerancy and began to preach outside their own pulpits. In
July 1741, for example, Edwards preached his now-famous
EDWARDS, JONATHAN (1703–1758), was an
sermon titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at En-
American theologian and philosopher. Born in East Wind-
field, Connecticut, having delivered earlier versions at several
sor, Connecticut, Edwards was the only son in a family of
locations. The emotional outbursts accompanying the Great
eleven children. His father, Timothy Edwards, a graduate of
Awakening became increasingly controversial, causing critics
Harvard College, was the minister of the Congregational
to question the legitimacy of the revivalists and of the “New
church in that town. His mother was the daughter of Solo-
Lights.” By 1742 the opponents of the revivals, led by
mon Stoddard, the minister at Northampton, Massa-
Charles Chauncy of Boston’s First Church, stepped up their
chusetts.
attacks. Edwards answered these “Old Lights” by publishing
LIFE AND WORK. As a youth Edwards was nurtured and in-
a major defense of the revivals, declaring them the work of
structed in the tenets of Reformed theology and the practices
God’s spirit and a harbinger of the millennial age. During
of Puritan piety. He entered the Collegiate School (later Yale
the same period he preached a series of sermons that became
College) in 1716; the course of study included classical and
the nucleus for his fullest statement on the evangelical nature
biblical languages, logic, natural philosophy, and the “new
of true religion, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.
philosophy.” He received the B.A. degree in 1720 and subse-
After the revivals waned again, he sought new ways to foster
quently spent two additional years in New Haven studying
religious concern: For example, he supported a plan for a
theology. These early years, during which Edwards’s inclina-
worldwide concert of prayer.
tion toward intellectual pursuits quickly became evident,
Late in the 1740s Edwards was forced to turn his atten-
were difficult but significant; the same period proved decisive
tion to problems in Northampton. Conflict developed with
religiously, too.
members of his congregation over questions of ministerial
In August 1722 Edwards accepted his first pastorate at
authority. An open rupture was provoked by Edwards’s an-
a Presbyterian congregation in New York City, a position he
nouncement that he intended to discontinue his grandfa-
held until May of the following year. In the fall of 1723 he
ther’s practice of admitting to communion those in good
became the pastor at Bolton, Connecticut, but after a short
standing, unless they could provide evidence of a work of
time gave up the position. In May 1724 he assumed respon-
grace in their lives. The conflict spread into town politics and
sibilities as a tutor at Yale College. Two years later he re-
into relations with neighboring ministers; bitter factionalism
signed to become the ministerial colleague of his maternal
prevailed. After months of controversy, a council of ministers
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EDWARDS, JONATHAN
2699
and laity recommended a separation, and Edwards’s formal
trast with the partisan, celebratory tone of Some Thoughts.
dismissal followed in mid-1750.
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections is theologically re-
flective, the Life of Brainerd didactic, and An Humble Attempt
Edwards faced uncertain prospects following his remov-
guardedly optimistic. All form part of an extended apology
al. After receiving several offers to settle, including one tenta-
for evangelical religion. His publications relating to the com-
tive proposal from Scotland, in May 1751 he accepted a pas-
munion controversy, although polemical, reinforce the same
toral call to Stockbridge in western Massachusetts, a mission
concerns.
outpost populated by a few whites and more than 250 Indian
families. Life at Stockbridge was difficult, especially after the
Nearly all of Edwards’s writings are in a sense occasion-
outbreak of warfare in the mid-1750s. Despite the circum-
al. Several of his publications, however, are more program-
stances, these years were perhaps Edwards’s most productive.
matic, defining fundamental theological and philosophical
Not only did he continue his pattern of study, but he wrote
positions. For example, in the treatises Free Will and Original
several major treatises. His writings gave voice to a lifetime
Sin, Edwards addressed himself to questions regarding
of reflection.
human nature and human capacity. But they too were writ-
In the fall of 1757 Edwards received an invitation from
ten in response to Enlightenment assaults upon traditional
the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) to become presi-
views and are part of his defense of classic Reformed doc-
dent of that young Presbyterian institution. After some re-
trines. Shorter writings, titled End of Creation and True Vir-
luctance, he consented and in February 1758 journeyed to
tue, have an even more abstract quality. At his death Edwards
New Jersey. One week after his arrival he was inoculated
was at work on a rational defense of Christianity,
against smallpox; less than one month later he became a vic-
a harmony of scripture, and a history of the work of re-
tim of that disease. Edwards was buried in the cemetery at
demption.
Princeton.
Edwards’s study habits yielded an immense amount of
WRITINGS. The writings of Edwards fall into five categories:
material in his private notebooks. The notebooks “Natural
personal writings, sermons, occasional pieces, philosophical
Philosophy” and “The Mind” have received widespread at-
and theological works less directly occasional, and private
tention, but the “Miscellanies,” which contains theological,
notebooks. A substantial body of materials exists in each of
biblical, and philosophical reflections, is the most important
these categories.
source for tracing the development of his ideas. He also de-
Edwards’s most significant personal writings from the
voted separate notebooks to general biblical commentary,
early period of his life, the “Diary” and “Resolutions,” pro-
apocalyptic writing, typology, prophecy, history, sermon
vide a contemporary record of his spiritual struggles and of
ideas, and symbolism in nature. Edwards’s method of study
his determination to pursue the religious life. The “Personal
included writing and rewriting his ideas, developing certain
Narrative,” a later recollection, records for spiritual edifica-
themes, and citing or paraphrasing works he read. The “Ca-
tion his youthful experiences. Moreover, Edwards’s corre-
talogue,” a notebook referring to his reading, contains a
spondence was voluminous. He wrote to family members,
working bibliography that documents the wide range of his
students and colleagues, business associates, and evangelical
interests.
leaders in America and Great Britain. His letters reveal a per-
THOUGHT. Edwards’s religious and philosophical ideas form
sonal side not evident in the standard depictions of him as
a coherent body of thought, but no complete system was
an intellectual, a preacher, and a polemicist.
stated by him. Among his unfinished projects were plans for
Edwards’s most pressing responsibility was preaching to
such a statement. He must be viewed as a transitional think-
his congregation. He invested heavily in the preparation of
er, looking back to the Reformed heritage and also drawing
sermons, which often gave the first public expression to ideas
heavily upon the Enlightenment. Edwards employed biblical
developed in his notebooks. During his lifetime Edwards
concepts as well as insights from the new science. He set for
published eighteen sermons. The most famous of all, his En-
himself the task of defending orthodox views against liberal
field sermon, continues to attract widespread attention
assaults from the Arminian party, but he also borrowed the
today. Of greater significance, perhaps, is the “Farewell Ser-
ideas of his contemporaries to revise and restate the tradition.
mon” in which he revealed his personal perspective upon the
One central theme in Edwards’s thought is the universal
Northampton controversy. Two of Edwards’s sermon series,
depravity of humankind. According to him, all humanity
A History of the Work of Redemption and Charity and Its
shared in the original sin of Adam whereby a supernatural
Fruits, were published as treatises after his death. Today there
gift of grace was lost. The identity of humankind with Adam
is extant a collection of approximately thirteen hundred
was constituted by divine decree, and by virtue of that identi-
manuscript sermons.
ty, the fall condemned all to a life of certain and actual sin.
A substantial number of Edwards’s publications were
Sin, in turn, merits condemnation and punishment; the
written in response to particular circumstances. The most
greater the sin, the greater the deserved punishment. Trans-
notable of his occasional writings describe and defend the re-
gressions against God are deserving of eternal retribution.
vivals. A Faithful Narrative is clinically descriptive by con-
Since the fall, humans are not truly free to choose the good.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2700
EDWARDS, JONATHAN
Free will is a matter of semantics, for the will is free only to
Finally, Edwards’s system also embraced a vision of fu-
choose sin.
ture glory. In his belief, the church comprises the community
of the elect on earth, that is, those who have experienced
A second major theme in Edwards’s thought is the suffi-
grace in their lives. In covenant with others, the saints engage
ciency of God in the work of redemption. Humanity is total-
in the business of religion: good works, attendance at ordi-
ly dependent upon a gracious God who from eternity elected
nances, worship, prayer, reading the Bible, and pursuit of
some for salvation. Edwards described God’s nature various-
their vocations. These activities reflect the kingdom of God
ly. During his youth he spoke in idealistic categories, posit-
in the world. Under the leadership of the ministry, the
ing the necessary existence of an eternal Mind. Later he de-
church seeks to expand and increase. Edwards’s interest in
scribed God as the sun and the light from which everything
missions reflected his larger understanding of history. The
derives its existence. He also employed the traditional lan-
work of redemption, according to him, has progressed by
guage of the Trinity: The Father generates the Son from
God’s direction from the time of biblical history to the con-
himself and is himself the source and object of his loving
temporary moment and is moving toward a millennial cli-
Spirit. In the redemptive act the Father appoints the Son as
max on earth. The culmination of the Kingdom will bring
the Redeemer and accepts him as a sufficient price, and
the greater glory of God—the ultimate goal of creation and
through his Spirit he communicates the good that has been
the purpose of the created order. Edwards looked eagerly for
purchased to those who have been chosen. The excellency
the fulfillment of this biblical vision.
of Christ is sufficient for the work of redemption. The pres-
ence of the Spirit defines a saint; only those with the indwell-
INFLUENCE. During his lifetime Edwards achieved promi-
ing divine principle are saved. The new birth signals the res-
nence and widespread reputation as a preacher, a leader of
toration of the supernatural gift lost with the fall into sin.
the revivalistic faction, and an evangelical theologian. Less
Conversion is the moment when grace is infused into the life
than a decade after his death, Samuel Hopkins, disciple and
of the individual.
close friend, declared that Edwards was one of the greatest
theologians of the age. A school of New England theologians
A third major theme is the legitimacy of the affections
that emerged during the second half of the eighteenth centu-
in true religion. Edwards believed that faith necessarily in-
ry and that included Hopkins, Joseph Bellamy, and Jonathan
volves both the intellect or understanding and the volition
Edwards, Jr., among its members held Edwards in high es-
or will. It is an act of affective knowledge, a sense of the heart.
teem even while beginning to depart from his specific views;
Belief inclines the heart toward what the understanding
that departure reflected the growing influence of the Enlight-
chooses. This holistic approach to religious experience was
enment on American theology. Evangelicals in the first half
the linchpin for Edwards’s case against both the rationalists
of the nineteenth century continued this pattern of response.
and the enthusiasts. Against the former he held that, contrary
The publication and republication during this period of Ed-
to their belief, the emotions are legitimate in the religious
wards’s works in collected editions is striking evidence of his
life. Although he shared with John Locke a fear of the pas-
stature, as is the circulation by tract societies of his works in
sions, he was unwilling to rule out the affections because he
abridged editions. On the other hand, the contrasting views
had investigated with great care specific cases of emotional
of Charles Grandison Finney are a useful measure of the
religion and found them to be genuine. At the same time,
evangelical movement away from Edwards in antebellum
he charged the enthusiasts with ignoring the role of the intel-
America.
lect in religious experience.
The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed an
Edwards inherited his interest in practical religion from
erosion of interest in Edwards and an increasing hostility to-
the Puritans, but the revivals raised the question of how to
ward his theological positions, particularly his commitment
distinguish genuine religion from false. He sought to answer
to the notion of human depravity, the doctrine of necessity,
this question by establishing clear signs for the former. In
and the idea of eternal retribution. Although considerable
true religion, he said, the witness of the Spirit is manifest
praise was given to Edwards’s skills as a metaphysician and
both in the exercises of grace within the heart and in outward
logician, theological and cultural liberals condemned his
practice. True conversion is evident from the presence of
ideas; even those who admired him and accepted his evangel-
both faith and love within the person. Self-examination is
ical premises often viewed him as a tragic figure. The bicen-
one way to test the state of grace, but the expression of holy
tennial of his birth produced only a small surge of interest
affections in love of God and human beings is the chief
in Edwards the man.
means of assurance. Moreover, for Edwards conversion was
never an end in itself but merely the beginning of the Chris-
By the middle of the twentieth century, the prevailing
tian life; the responsibility of the elect to pursue this godly
attitude toward Edwards’s work changed dramatically as a
life was another major theme in his thought. Sanctification,
confluence of circumstances brought about a renaissance of
he held, follows justification as the product of the indwelling
interest in his ideas and a reassessment of his significance.
Spirit. Edwards insisted that true virtue consists in consent
This new interest, which had begun as a trickle of scholarship
to or union with being in general, and that love of God for
in the late 1930s, has in the present time risen to a flood tide.
its own sake is the foundation for all other morality.
Edwards has become a major figure, a creative force, one 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
EGG
2701
the most original thinkers in the American experience.
1978), and Bruce Kuklick’s Churchmen and Philosophers:
Among the reasons for the change have been the new cultural
From Jonathan Edwards to John Dewey (New Haven, 1985).
climate in America following the Great Depression, the ac-
STEPHEN J. STEIN (1987)
companying theological reappraisal that gave rise in Ameri-
can Protestantism to neoorthodoxy, and the growing con-
cern about national origins, including the role of the Puritans
EGG. The egg has aroused feelings of wonder in cultures
in American life. An increasing number of conservative Prot-
all over the world. Its smooth, elliptical shell conceals the
estants in America have also identified their thought with his
mystery of new life in formation. The sight of an egg hatch-
evangelical views. This renewed engagement with the full
ing and a young creature bursting out from an apparently
range of Edwards’s ideas has manifested itself among scholars
lifeless object stimulated ancient peoples to think about the
in their support for a new critical edition of his writings.
creative process. It would have been difficult for early hu-
Today Edwards remains the object of sustained investigation
mans to understand an abstraction such as the creation of the
by many in a variety of fields. For the moment, his place is
world, but they could watch a similar process in the hatching
secure within the pantheon of American thinkers.
of an egg. Thus the egg became an important symbol in cre-
ation stories.
B
The concept of a world egg that hatched the first creator
IBLIOGRAPHY
appears in many early myths. The Harris Magical Papyrus,
The works of Jonathan Edwards were collected several times in the
an Egyptian manuscript of the New Kingdom period (1569–
nineteenth century. A new edition, Works, edited by Perry
1085 BCE), contains the earliest known reference to a world
Miller and subsequently by John E. Smith, is in preparation
egg emerging from the primeval waters. Several Egyptian dei-
(New Haven, 1957–). The monographic essays that consti-
ties are associated with the egg: Thoth, god of the moon; the
tute introductions to the volumes of this edition focus upon
a range of particular religious issues relating to the life,
sun god, Re; the celestial goose, Seb, god of the earth; Ptah
thought, and influence of Edwards. The earliest biography
of Memphis; and Khnum, god of creation, who shaped the
of Edwards, which contains the text of the “Personal Narra-
world egg on his potter’s wheel.
tive,” is Samuel Hopkins’s The Life and Character of the Late
The Hindu Upanis:ads (c. 600–300 BCE) describe the
Reverend Mr. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College at
first act of creation as an egg breaking in two. The R:gveda,
New-Jersey (Boston, 1765). It has been reprinted in Jonathan
a body of Hindu hymns, sacrificial formulas, and incanta-
Edwards: A Profile, edited by David Levin (New York, 1969).
tions collected in the first millennium BCE, speaks of
Numerous personal documents and items of correspondence
Praja¯pati, Lord of Creation, who fertilizes the waters of cre-
from Edwards appear in Sereno E. Dwight’s The Life of Presi-
ation, which change into a golden egg. Inside sits the golden
dent Edwards (New York, 1829), the first volume of an edi-
figure of Brahma, floating in the primeval waters for a thou-
tion of The Works of President Edwards, 10 vols. (New York,
sand years, his golden light shining through seven shells.
1829–1830). The story of Edwards’s life is told without
Land, sea, mountains, planets, gods, and humankind are all
undue concern for its intellectual dimensions in Ola E.
Winslow’s Jonathan Edwards, 1703–1758 (New York,
inside the egg with him.
1940), a prizewinning biography. The pastoral career of Ed-
In Chinese legend Pangu, the first man, emerged from
wards is the focus of Patricia J. Tracy’s Jonathan Edwards,
the cosmic egg, as did Sun Wukong, the popular monkey
Pastor: Religion and Society in Eighteenth Century Northamp-
king of Daoist and Buddhist legend.
ton (New York, 1980). Perhaps the volume most responsible
Oceania has many stories of the origin of humankind
for the renaissance of scholarly interest in Edwards since the
from eggs. The divine bird laid one on the water, according
1940s is Perry Miller’s Jonathan Edwards (New York, 1949),
to the Sandwich Islanders, and their islands hatched from its
a problematical interpretation focusing upon the influence
shell. Fijians attribute the origin of humans to Ngendei, who
of John Locke and Isaac Newton. The relationship between
Edwards’s thought and the tradition of Reformed theology
nurtured the world egg, and tribes in southeastern Aus-
is treated with care and precision in Conrad Cherry’s The
tralia believe the sun emerged from an emu egg thrown into
Theology of Jonathan Edwards: A Reappraisal (Garden City,
the air.
N.Y., 1966). The influence of the English moral philoso-
In the Jewish tradition, eggs are used on many ceremo-
phers on Edwards is discussed in Norman Fiering’s Jonathan
nial occasions. Lag ba-EOmer, a joyful festival honoring the
Edwards’s Moral Thought and Its British Context (Chapel
memory of Rabbi ShimEon bar Yoh:ai, falls on the thirty-
Hill, N.C., 1981). The most comprehensive bibliography of
third day between Passover and Pentecost. Children and
writings about Edwards is M. X. Lesser’s Jonathan Edwards:
their parents picnic with colored eggs. While the pious rabbi
A Reference Guide (Boston, 1981). Lesser’s volume consists
lived, God’s symbolic rainbow, a sign that he would not de-
of an excellent essay focusing upon the changing interpreta-
stroy the world, was unnecessary. When he died, people
tion of Edwards and an annotated, descriptive bibliography.
needed the rainbow and hastened its coming by dyeing eggs
Three volumes that place Edwards centrally in the develop-
ment of American thought and culture are Alan E. Heimert’s
in many colors.
Religion and the American Mind (Cambridge, Mass., 1966),
The Seder, or Passover meal, always includes among its
Sacvan Bercovitch’s The American Jeremiad (Madison, Wis.,
ritual foods a roasted egg. This is variously explained as 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
2702
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
symbol of the additional sacrifice offered in the Temple at
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Passover, the sacrifice of travelers, or the departure from
Newall, Venetia. An Egg at Easter: A Folklore Study. Bloomington,
Egypt. More likely it signified rebirth, since Jewish mourners
Ind., 1971. A comparative treatment of the egg myth from
are traditionally fed baked eggs.
the earliest recorded references until contemporary usage,
and a study of the egg’s symbolic role in tradition and belief.
In the third and fourth centuries of the common era,
Shoemaker, Alfred L. Eastertide in Pennsylvania. Kutztown, Pa.,
the Christian church gradually adopted a Lenten fast of forty
1960. Provides information about Easter egg customs of the
days commemorating the time Christ spent without food in
Pennsylvania Dutch community.
the wilderness. Pope Gregory the Great (r. 590–604 CE) de-
creed that all Christians must renounce meat, cheese, butter,
Václavík, Antonín. Vyrocni obyceje a lidové umeni. Prague, 1959.
A handsomely illustrated volume that shows examples of the
milk, and eggs at this time. The Orthodox church was very
ornate Easter eggs prepared in Czechoslovakia. English and
strict and permitted only the consumption of fruit, vegeta-
Russian summaries of the text are provided.
bles, bread, honey, and nuts. Hence it is not surprising that
Weinhold, Gertrud. Das schöne Osterei in Europa. Kassel, 1967.
eggs form an important part of the festival food at Easter.
A well-illustrated little book that provides a brief and popu-
Easter is a major feast for Orthodox Christians in Russia
larly presented overview of the Easter egg customs in Europe.
and other countries of the former Soviet Union, and church-
Wildhaber, Robert. Wir färben Ostereier. Bern, 1957. An attrac-
es are filled for the midnight Mass. On Easter Sunday the
tive booklet by the late director of the Swiss Folklore Muse-
dead are remembered. Hundreds visit the cemeteries to sit
um, Basel, which contains a large and famous collection of
by the graves of their loved ones. They consume red eggs and
decorated Easter eggs.
scatter the shells on the soil.
VENETIA NEWALL (1987)
It is not clear when the custom of exchanging eggs at
Easter was first established. In his book Easter: Its Story and
Meaning (1950), Alan Watts suggests that there are no west-
EGYPTIAN RELIGION
ern European records of Easter eggs prior to the fifteenth
This entry consists of the following articles:
century. But the household accounts of the English king Ed-
AN OVERVIEW
ward I for 1290 record that eighteen pence was spent on dec-
THE LITERATURE
orating Easter eggs with gold leaf for presentation to mem-
HISTORY OF STUDY
bers of his court. Poles were preparing Easter eggs before the
eleventh century, and two goose eggs adorned with stripes
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
and dots were found in a grave at Worms, Germany, dated
Before beginning to survey ancient Egyptian religion, a num-
320 CE. Scholars are not sure whether this grave was the site
ber of limiting factors must be considered. The data upon
of a Christian burial.
which this survey rests come from all periods and many dif-
For Christians the Easter egg is a symbol of the resurrec-
ferent sites, but these times and places are very unevenly rep-
tion of Christ. As a bird breaks out from its shell, so Christ
resented. Clearly, more data survive from the later periods,
arose from his tomb at the resurrection. In the Middle Ages
from the south of the country (Upper Egypt), and from the
it was a usual practice to place colored eggs in the replica of
very highest social strata. Some cult centers were totally lost
the tomb during the Easter service. Sometimes the clergy laid
long ago. Others required periodic renovation, while the in-
them on the altar as they greeted each other with the words
creased devotion and/or increased wealth of later generations
“Christ is risen.” This custom was observed in parts of France
also led to large-scale rebuilding efforts. Because of this it is
until the eighteenth century.
often impossible to survey what went on for thousands of
In traditional folk religion the egg is a powerful symbol
years at the major temples of Memphis and Heliopolis, diffi-
of fertility, purity, and rebirth. It is used in magical rituals
cult to assess the cultic changes at major sites such as the Kar-
to promote fertility and restore virility; to look into the fu-
nak and Luxor temples, and almost impossible to reconstruct
ture; to bring good weather; to encourage the growth of the
the pre-Greek beliefs and cultic practices from the largely
crops and protect both cattle and children against misfor-
Ptolemaic remains at the sites of Edfu, Dendera, and Philae.
tune, especially the dreaded evil eye. All over the world it rep-
Material from numerous cemeteries in the deserts near town
resents life and creation, fertility and resurrection. It appears
sites, sometimes on the opposite side of the Nile, provides
at all the major events in the life cycle: birth, courtship, mar-
more eschatological data than anything else, but it also occa-
riage, sickness, and death, as well as during Holy Week and
sionally provides doctrinal, devotional, ethical, or cosmologi-
the Easter period. It is the bearer of strength because it con-
cal information about one or another of the creeds of ancient
tains the seeds of life. In early times eggs were interred with
Egypt. Monumental architecture is often not synchronous
the dead. Later they were linked with Easter. The church did
with monumental pieces of religious literature, and some of
not oppose this, though many egg customs were pre-
the most commonly repeated texts are often much less in-
Christian in origin, because the egg provided a fresh and
sightful than some unique, fragmentary pieces.
powerful symbol of the resurrection and the transformation
RELIGIOUS TEXTS AND HISTORICAL SETTING. Of the texts
of death into life.
that survive from ancient Egypt, the religious literature as 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
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2703
whole remains the most difficult to comprehend. There are
highest levels, with the political motive often as weighty as
a variety of explanations for this, including the carelessness
the religious.
of scribes, the composite nature of the collections, efforts to
Already in prehistoric times, burial customs indicated
keep the material esoteric or arcane, and also factors having
a belief in life after death, which would have required that
to do with the modern editing of the texts. In examples from
the body be preserved along with some household furnish-
both temple walls and papyri, the original scribe’s efforts
ings and food offerings. The expectation or hope was for a
have been mishandled by copyists and artists. Texts chosen
life after death that was not unlike human existence in this
from different sources for a new purpose were not always
world. The locations of tombs and position of the bodies in
fully understood by the scribes, who tried to incorporate old
their graves became traditional, and the traditions may have
or unfamiliar bits. For much of the religious literature re-
been more or less religious. Bodies were usually in a crouched
searchers are simply not familiar enough with all the mytho-
position on their left sides with the head to the south and
logical allusions, the magic, the rites, and the puns, and in
facing west, a custom that could be associated with the cult
the case of the Ptolemaic material, efforts were made origi-
of Osiris or other gods of the dead in a western necropolis,
nally to encode the texts with widespread and multifold sign
or even with the location of the setting sun and perhaps the
substitution. These Ptolemaic hieroglyphs, which contain
cult of the sun god. The exceptional site with a head to the
much of the accumulated myths and rituals at several major
north could also be understood in terms of an astral cult (re-
sites, also were not completely consistent from one site to an-
flected in later Pyramid Texts), with the goal of the deceased
other. One problem with modern editions of the religious
being to join the imperishable stars in the northern sky.
literature is that the major concern has been to establish the
There has been a great deal of speculation concerning the as-
best text by assembling parallels, with the result that the indi-
sociation of various cults with different localities in Egyptian
vidual complete manuscripts are not understood or easily
prehistory, some of this based on finds but most on later evi-
compared. The order of the texts in these editions is generally
dence and claims. With the wealth of material available from
not that of any individual manuscript, and the variations that
historical context, it is surely best to omit speculation on un-
occur are completely lost in them, and in the translations
documented origins and on the supposed interactions of the
made directly from them.
various prehistoric cult centers.
On the positive side, it should be noted that a large
At the very beginnings of Egyptian history the slate pal-
quantity of texts have been published now, and these include
ette of Narmer (c. 3110–3056 BCE) shows this king of Upper
almost all the texts on several large temples. The temple texts
Egypt, who is wearing the white crown of the south, smiting
furnish descriptions of the deities, their mythic significance,
a northerner, while on the reverse side of the palette Narmer
daily rites, and festivals, and to some extent the interaction
is shown wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. Whether
between the human and divine worlds. Not all of the texts
Narmer or his son, Aha, was actually the first king (later
have been translated yet, but some important ones on rites
known as Menes) of the first dynasty is still debatable, but
and feasts have been, and attempts based on the texts found
some of the emblematic representations on the palette may
on the temple walls to explain the function of various parts
have mythological significance. Both the bull and the falcon
of temples are not far off the mark. The major collections
can represent aspects of the king’s power, but the latter seems
of mortuary or funerary texts from tombs are also available
very likely to be associated with the identification of the king
now, and preliminary published translations at least present
as the god Horus, a principal element in the myth of divine
the different Egyptian views concerning the afterlife and pro-
kingship. Since all but one king of Egypt is known to have
vide additional information concerning almost all aspects of
been identified with the title “Horus,” this myth is both very
Egyptian religion. There have also been numerous studies
early and also, perhaps, one of the cornerstones of Egypt’s
dealing with individual deities or concepts based on the phe-
success. There are several aspects of Horus, however, and
nomena encountered in all sources, and while these may not
even several Horuses, so that the full and precise meaning
accurately reflect what the religion was for any one time or
of this early representation could easily be overstated if it
place, they do provide useful references for future synchronic
were said that all that is known of the association of the king
studies, and again are probably not terribly far from the
and Horus from later texts had already been formulated at
this stage. Many accretions must have occurred with later ex-
mark. Surveys of all of ancient Egyptian religion, also for the
plication. The divinity of the pharaoh and the notion of di-
most part phenomenological, almost always have important
vine or sacred kingship have recently been challenged be-
observations to offer, though they do tend to be much less
cause of specific later references indicating that there were
accurate in their generalizations and their subjectivity is often
clear distinctions between the respect accorded the kings and
too significant an ingredient. Any details from which such
the worship accorded the greatest gods. It will be seen, how-
generalizations are made may have applied to only an indi-
ever, that the myth persisted, undoubtedly supported by the
vidual or a small group, when many different levels of belief
kings, some without doubt more vigorously than others.
and devotion were possibly current at the same time. To
some extent, the survey that follows indicates trends, tenden-
Menes, besides identifying with Horus and unifying or
cies, and what apparently was appealing or approved at the
reunifying the Two Lands, traditionally founded the capital,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2704
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
Memphis, and erected a temple there, presumably to the god
across the heavens, and guards Re and guides his bark past
Ptah. His civic contributions were equaled by his religious
the perils, usually snakes, that threaten them. The rites, some
devotion, and he was thus an exemplary model for all suc-
of which may have taken place in these rooms or in the mor-
ceeding kings. The kings of the first two dynasties probably
tuary temple or valley temple to the east of the pyramid, in-
had both tombs and cenotaphs that supported the new role
cluded provision for opening the tomb, sacrificing an ox, and
of dual kingship, but their monuments at Abydos may also
breaking jars for magical protection. The descriptions of the
have had some bearing on the relationship of the living
ascension in the tomb’s antechamber provide alternative ex-
Horus to the deceased Osiris, whose cult was later at least
planations that may have come originally from separate
maintained there. The fact that kings at the end of the sec-
sources. They have the king ascending on the wings or backs
ond dynasty could take a “Seth” or a “Horus and Seth” title
of birds, on the incense wafting upward, on reed rafts, or on
would indicate that the myth of the contending of Horus
the outstretched arms of gods forming a ladder for him. On
and Seth for the patrimony of Osiris was certainly known.
entering the tomb the king is still addressed as Horus; on as-
But it is doubtful that this reflected a shift in religious belief;
cension to the sky he is called Osiris. In the so-called cannibal
more likely a it was political move that was given a mytholog-
hymn, he devours gods to acquire their attributes. He pro-
ical framework.
tests his guiltlessness and claims his divine perquisites. With-
in the burial chamber the king is presented to the great gods,
For the first half of the Old Kingdom—the third and
and the offering-lists and spells are provided for him, while
fourth dynasties—the great pyramids themselves remain, un-
on the west gable are inscribed the serpent spells, incanta-
fortunately, the principal monuments to the current beliefs.
tions possibly intended to protect the tomb or to be used in
The attention given to these elaborate tombs clearly sur-
guiding Re’s bark.
passed any other contemporaneous projects and would seem
to show that the power of the king was reflected in the cult
Apart from the central theme of this collection, one
of his divine kingship. If the pyramids are not exclusively
learns much more about the religion of Egypt from these
symbolic of royal power, they could also be symbols of divine
texts through the king’s relationship to various deities and
power, either of the Horus-king or of his new father, the sun
also through citations or mythological allusions from the
god, Re. The famous statue of Khafre with his headdress in-
texts of the other religions of the Egyptians. Here the king’s
corporating the Horus Falcon can be used to argue for the
genealogy is presented clearly by making him the product of
former, but the title “Son of Re,” the use of Re in the theo-
the Heliopolitan Ennead. This family of nine gods represents
phoric royal names, and the true pyramid shape associated
a cosmological or cosmogonical explanation of creation by
with the sun’s rays and/or the Benben stone of Re point to
Atum (the complete one), who by himself created Shu (air)
the likelihood of either a developed or developing solar cult.
and Tefnut (moisture). From this pair, Geb (earth) and Nut
In the second half of the Old Kingdom—the fifth and sixth
(watery sky) came forth, and in the next generation they pro-
dynasties—the central importance of the cult of Re is very
duced the two brothers Osiris and Seth and their sisters, Isis
well documented. The kings generally have Re in their name,
and Nephthys. Osiris, the eldest, ruled on earth in place of
and in addition to their smaller pyramids, they constructed
his father, but he was slain by his stronger brother, Seth. It
substantial temples to the sun god. The story of the Miracles
fell to Osiris’ son, Horus, born after his death, to avenge the
That Happened in the Reign of King Khufu (Westcar Papyrus)
slaying and assume the rule of this world.
was probably written in the Middle Kingdom, but it reflects
what was viewed as having happened earlier. The text pur-
In the form in which this genealogy survives, the signifi-
ports to prophesy that a new dynasty will succeed Khufu’s
cance of the Ennead is really subordinated to the son, Horus,
successors and that its first three new kings will be born to
on the one hand, and on the other to Re, who is alternately
the wife of a priest of Re.
assimilated to Atum or placed before him as his creator. In
the Pyramid Texts the Ennead is personified as the goddess
Much more significant for an understanding of the reli-
Hathor (House of Horus), and so Re and Hathor are the par-
gion of this period and of much that had been developing
ents of Horus just as surely as Osiris and Isis. Horus is also
and evolving before it are the Pyramid Texts, first recorded
said here to be a son of Sekhmet, a statement of interest be-
in the interior burial rooms of the pyramid of Unas, the last
cause Sekhmet was the consort of Ptah, the creator god of
king of the fifth dynasty. These texts in vertical columns,
Memphis. According to later texts (the Shabaka Stone), Ptah
lacking the illustrations and rubrics of later such mortuary
sprang forth from primeval chaos conceiving the creator,
or funerary literature, provided a combination of rituals,
Atum, in his heart and bringing him forth on his tongue by
hymns, prayers, incantations, and offering lists, all designed
speaking his name. The chaos from which Ptah came is also
to ensure that the king would reach his goal in the afterlife
known as the Hermopolitan Ogdoad: The four pairs of dei-
and have the information and provisions that he would need
ties represent the different aspects of chaos from which an
there. The texts were evidently compiled by priests connect-
egg appeared as the inundation receded at Hermopolis, thus
ed with the temple of Re at Heliopolis. They indicate accep-
producing the creator. The names of the four pairs are not
tance of the fact that the king is a god who ascends to the
consistent in different texts, but they generally include Amun
sky, joins Re on the solar bark for his voyage back and forth
and Amaunet (hiddenness), Kuk and Kauket (darkness),
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2705
Huh and Hauhet (formlessness), and Nun and Naunet (the
waterway surrounded by mounds to represent the day sky,
watery abyss). The creator god of Hermopolis might well
and a black land route, surrounded by water, representing
have been Thoth, the moon god of that city, but in these
the night sky. This cosmological plan provided the earliest
Heliopolitan texts the creator remains Atum, while Thoth
illustrated guidebook to the beyond and attempted to locate
is included as a member of the Ennead and as a companion
various uncommon demons as well as some commonly
of Re in the sky. Because the son of Ptah and Sekhmet is Ne-
known terms for places in the afterlife. Apart from the central
fertem, the child appearing from the lotus, the king was asso-
plan, however, the book is really two different books. The
ciated with the scions and creator gods of all three of these
earliest version was apparently written as a guide for follow-
important and early cult centers of Egypt.
ers of the Osirian religion, and the goal of several of its sec-
tions was to aid these followers to pass the various gates and
It should be noted that the roles of both Thoth and Ptah
demon keepers leading to the mansion of Osiris. The later
in this connection are not spelled out, but they seem to be
version has the plan and one section as a guide to the route
clearly alluded to. There were thus probably some limits on
leading to the mansion of Osiris, but it also has one whole
how far the Heliopolitan priests would go in assimilating the
section dealing with Thoth, another dealing with Re, and a
doctrines and deities of their counterparts or rivals. To some
conclusion that ties together the whole in terms of knowl-
extent the priests of the other temples must have approved
edge of spells about the beyond. If the deceased knows the
of some such accommodation to guarantee the continuing
spells to the first stage, he will become a star in the sky with
favor and actual support of the crown, but because the for-
the moon god, Thoth. If he knows them to the next stage
mulation had been Heliopolitan, the cult of Re became pre-
he will join Osiris in his mansion, and if he knows all the
eminent, and for the most part it remained so for most of
spells he will join Re on his bark in the sky. These goals also
Egyptian history.
appear to be put in terms of social standing, commoners
In the fifth dynasty society in general became more
being associated with Thoth, great ones with Osiris, and, ob-
open, and many of the highest offices in the land could be
viously, royalty with Re. What this does is to democratize
attained by people not related to the royal family. At least
the hereafter by making the highest goals available to anyone
a few utterances from the Pyramid Texts indicate that they
who has the book. It was clearly based on an original Osirian
were not written originally for a king, so that the goal of a
text, and in the hands of the priests of Re it would have be-
blessed hereafter was not exclusively a royal prerogative. Fur-
come a good prosyletizing text for the solar religion.
ther decentralization of power occurs in the sixth dynasty,
and local nomarchs are provided with quite respectable
The Book of Two Ways concludes with the famous state-
tombs. These tombs may have been equipped with religious
ment by the All-Lord, Re, that he “made the four winds that
texts on coffins or papyri that have not survived, but certain-
every man might breathe,” “made the great flood that the
ly in the First Intermediate Period, with the breakdown of
poor as well as the great might have power,” “made every
central authority, several claimants to kingship, and actual
man like his fellow (I did not command that they do evil.
civil war, the claimants to earthly power also made claim to
It is their hearts that disobey what I have said),” and “made
divinity.
their hearts to cease forgetting the West, in order to make
divine offerings to the gods of the nomes.” The All-Lord
The texts on the interior of the single or nested wooden
says, “it is with my sweat that I created the gods. Mankind
coffins of nobles from many sites in Egypt are in some cases
is from the weeping of my eye,” and a little later he adds that
identical to the earlier royal Pyramid Texts, and in other
after the deceased has spent millions of years between Re and
cases are considerably expanded. The texts from different
Osiris, “we will sit together in one place. Ruins will be cities
sites vary more than the texts found at each site. The local
and vice versa; house will desolate house.” These remarks
differences are not all explained as yet, but some reasonably
provide rather interesting insights into the metaphysics and
significant collections of spells labeled “books” on the coffins
ethics of the Re religion as well as a noteworthy example of
from El Bersha (the necropolis of Hermopolis) have been
early ecumenism. These particular Coffin Texts came from
studied. These coffins have on their fronts (the side faced by
a necropolis of Hermopolis, in middle Egypt. Whether Re
the mummy lying on its left side) a false door to facilitate
priests from Hermopolis or Heliopolis were responsible is
the deceased’s mobility; a painted table of offerings to pro-
still debatable. But another text of this same chaotic period,
vide sustenance; a plan and description of the Field of Hetep,
from Heracleopolis in middle Egypt, although it is a literary
which is at least one version of the paradise these Egyptians
text in the “instruction” genre, is actually one of the most
hoped for; and a list of ship’s parts, information useful for
religious documents surviving from ancient Egypt. A com-
the deceased, who joins the sun god in his bark and guides
pact section at the end provides in capsulized form the com-
it through the skies.
plete philosophy and theology of the Re religion:
On the inside surface of the bottom of most of the El
One generation of men passes to another, and God,
Bersha coffins was painted an elaborate illustrated plan or
who knows characters, has hidden Himself, . . . so
map with descriptive texts known today as the Book of Two
worship God upon his way. . . . The soul goes to the
Ways. (The Book of Two Ways is a collection within the Cof-
place it knows. . . . Beautify your mansion in the
fin Texts.) The plans are all roughly comparable, with a blue
West, embellish your place in the necropolis with
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2706
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
straightforwardness and just dealing; . . . more accept-
ret I is called a god without peer, “no other came to be before
able is the character of the straightforward man than the
him.” In order to consolidate his power, Senusret III deposed
ox of the wrongdoer. Serve God, that He may do the
a number of powerful nomarchs and divided the country
like for you, with offerings for replenishing the altars
into departments that were to be administered from the capi-
and with carving; it is that which will show forth your
tal by his appointees. At the same time, in a cycle of songs
name, and God is aware of whoever serves Him. Pro-
in his honor and in a loyalist instruction he is called the
vide for men, the cattle of God, for He made heaven
and earth at their desire. He suppressed the greed of the
“unique divine being” and is identified as Re himself. Re-
waters, he gave the breath of life to their noses, for they
markably, the propaganda literature of this dynasty remained
are likenesses of Him which issued from His flesh. He
popular for at least 900 years, and the tradition of Senusret’s
shines in the sky for the benefit of their hearts; He has
special position among the kings of Egypt also survived
made herbs, cattle, and fish to nourish them. He has
through Greek sources to the present.
killed His enemies and destroyed His own children, be-
cause they had planned to make rebellion; He makes
The Second Intermediate period was marked both by
daylight for the benefit of their hearts, and He sails
internal weakness eventually giving way to division and by
around in order to see them, . . . and when they weep,
foreign occupation of at least the major part of the delta.
He hears. . . . He has made for them magic to be
These Hyksos rulers were eventually driven out of their capi-
weapons to ward off what may happen.
tal at Avaris by a new Theban family, which reunited the
From this it is seen that Re is hidden, omniscient, provident,
land and began the period of greatest imperialistic expansion,
responsive and just. Humans, who are created in the likeness
the New Kingdom. The new family was devoted to the cult
of God, and for whom heaven and earth were created, must
of Amun-Re at Karnak, and also had a special interest in the
worship God, and provide for their fellow people. Hypocrisy
moon god in several earlier forms, including Iah (the moon
is of no avail, but God gave humans magic to ward off
itself), Thoth, and Khonsu, who was now the son of Amun-
“what may happen.”
Re and Mut (the mother). Thutmose I (c. 1509–1497 BCE),
perhaps the first king of the eighteenth dynasty to have a pal-
This text of the instruction of a Heracleopolitan king
ace in the north, was also responsible for leading expeditions
to his son, Merikare, anticipates the fall of the tenth dynasty
far into Syria, perhaps to the Euphrates. His credentials as
(2040 BCE) to the Theban family of dynasty eleven. Coffin
a god-king were evidently well established, but not those of
Texts continue to be used in the Middle Kingdom, and this
his successors. His daughter by his chief wife had to become
indicates that for the most part the religion or religions of
the people did not change drastically with this change in gov-
consort to his son by a lesser wife to secure that son’s succes-
ernment. The official doctrine of the state, however, had to
sion as Thutmose II. But when the latter died, handing over
be supported by a great deal of political propaganda literature
the throne to a son by another wife, his half sister and chief
to account for the reunification under the new Theban king,
wife, Hatshepsut, took the throne for herself. There were
Mentuhotep II, then the apparent usurpation by his vizier,
probably very practical explanations for her success in this
and finally the assassination of this vizier become king,
maneuver, but the justification she chose to propagate was
Amenemhet I. Amenemhet had already returned the capital
her own “divine birth.” She had this recorded on the walls
to the north and constructed defenses on Egypt’s borders,
of her mortuary temple at Deir al-Bahri, which depicted
but he was apparently not prepared for the threat from with-
Amun-Re in the form of her father, Thutmose I, coming to
in his own palace. The change from dynasty eleven to dynas-
her mother Ahmose, who conceived the goddess-king, the
ty twelve was also marked by a shift in the Theban’s titular
female Horus.
god and the formulation of a new national god. Previously
Hatshepsut’s mythologizing goes beyond this with the
Montu, a war god, was worshiped at perhaps four separate
commemoration of her restoration efforts since the expulsion
temples in the Theban nome, but with Amenemhet (“Amun
of the Hyksos. They had “ruled without Re,” and she was
is in front”) Amun and his new cult begin a long and steady
indeed favored by the gods of Egypt. She had extensive work
growth in the south in spite of the fact that the kings of this
done at the temple of Karnak, adding a new sanctuary, pylon
and succeeding dynasties ruled from the north. The new god
gates, and very tall obelisks, monuments as much to herself
is perhaps a conflation of Montu with Min, the ithyphallic
as to Amun-Re, her father. Her small cult temple at Medinet
fertility god of Coptos, which had been allied with Thebes
Habu (ancient Djeme) probably has particular significance
in the war against Heracleopolis, and also, of course, with
mythologically for the later association of the Hermopolitan
Amun, the first of the primordial gods of Hermopolis. This
Ogdoad with this sacred site. According to a Ptolemaic text
latter element may have provided the priority of the new god
in the Khonsu temple at Karnak, Amun was the father of the
in the minds of the formulators, but the association with Re
fathers of the Ogdoad who (as Ptah) created the egg at Her-
as Amun-Re was probably the significant factor in guarantee-
mopolis and later traveled (khenesh) to Thebes in his new
ing some continuity with the earlier dynastic gods.
name of Khonsu. Together with the Ogdoad, he is in the
The king of the twelfth dynasty was still Horus, but be-
tomb chamber in the necropolis at Medinet Habu. Indeed,
ginning with Senusret I (1971–1928 BCE) important new
it seems likely that Hatshepsut and her supporters were con-
claims to kingly divinity surface. In the Story of Sinuhe Senus-
cerned not only with her genealogy but with the genealogy
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EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2707
of the Theban gods. Her husband’s son, Thutmose III, who
a Nile in the sky that it may descend for them and make
succeeded her and eventually tried to blot out her memory,
waves upon the mountains like the sea to irrigate the
was primarily involved with military expeditions to Syria and
fields in their towns. How efficient are your designs,
Palestine, and he used his additions to the Karnak temple to
Lord of eternity: a Nile in the sky for foreigners and all
publicize his victories. The temple became wealthy and influ-
creatures that go upon their feet, a Nile coming back
ential because of his generosity and devotion. His successors
from the underworld for Egypt.
continued to benefit from and build upon his achievements
Most aspects of this hymn can be found stated in almost
in the international sphere; foreign alliances, foreign wives,
identical terms in the universalist hymn to Amun-Re, so it
and foreign deities were all introduced in this period, which
cannot be regarded as totally original or epoch-making in it-
peaked in the reign of Amenhotep III (1403–1366 BCE).
self. A claim in the hymn that there is no other who knows
the Aton except his son, Akhenaton, is noteworthy, and the
The son of Amenhotep III, who may have been his core-
statement that the whole land was founded and its crops were
gent for as long as ten years, changed his name from Amen-
raised by the Aton for Akhenaton and Nefertiti is egocentric,
hotep IV to Akhenaton by his fifth year and moved his resi-
to say the least.
dence to a new site, Akhetaton (modern Tell al-EAmarna).
He devoted himself to one aspect of the solar cult, the sun
Akhenaton’s coregent and short-lived successor, Se-
disk (Aton) itself. He saw himself and perhaps his wife, Ne-
menkhkare, who some now believe may have been none
fertiti, as the only representatives or intermediaries between
other than Nefertiti herself, seems to have attempted recon-
the Aton and the rest of creation. Akhenaton’s monolatry or
ciliation with the priesthood of Amun-Re. But Tutankhaton
henotheism, while apparently accepted by his chief officials,
(c. 1348–1339 BCE), who next assumed the throne, changed
eventually did bring him into direct conflict with the power-
his name to Tutankhamen, had statues of himself made both
ful temple staff of Karnak. His supporters attacked the name
as Amun and as Osiris, and decorated the Luxor temple with
“Amun” and the word gods throughout the Theban area.
scenes of the restored Opet feast. (The main feature of this
They were probably sent to eradicate the full name “Amun-
feast was the procession of Amun’s cult image from the Kar-
Re, King of the Gods,” but this attempt to erase (primarily
nak temple to the Luxor temple and back.) He even had a
from monuments) the term gods has been viewed by many
restoration stela set up at Karnak. After his death and that
as a monotheistic revolution. Later reaction to Akhenaton as
of his successor, Ay, the temple reliefs and stela were usurped
a heretic is known, but what he intended or how far he went
by his former general, Horemheb, who on becoming king
to not as clear. The Aton was not his creation either as an
began attacks on his four predecessors who were involved
icon or as a deity. It had increased in significance in the early
with the movement, now regarded as heretical.
eighteenth dynasty. The emblems of almost all the gods of
Egypt survive from Tell al-EAmarna, indicating that Akhena-
Horemheb’s successor was his vizier, who came from
ton’s followers either had no fear of keeping them or had
Tanis. As Ramses I he began the nineteenth dynasty, which
greater fear of abandoning them. The fact that Akhenaton’s
for various reasons is seen as most significant in the history
own prenomen is Waen-Re (“the unique one of Re”) is in-
of Egyptian religion. On the one hand, the pharaohs of this
dicative of his continued acceptance of the old solar cult, or
dynasty had to indicate their continuity with the past and
perhaps even of the Heliopolitan priests’ support of the new
assure their support in all the cult centers of Egypt. They
cult. Something of Akhenaton’s attitude toward the Aton in
built extensively at all the old temple sites and went over-
this international period can be seen in the following excerpt
board to demonstrate their polytheism. Temples now had
from his famous hymn to the Aton.
multiple chapels and sanctuaries dedicated to various deities,
but the monuments also were used as propaganda to show
How plentiful it is, what you have made, although they
the power of the kings, to depict their victories, to record
[the creatures made by Aton] are hidden from view, sole
their legitimate succession, and to indicate their great devo-
god, without another beside you; you created the earth
tion to the gods and their munificence to both the gods and
as you wished, when you were by yourself, before man-
their own subjects. On the other hand, the pharaohs suc-
kind, all cattle and kine, all beings on land, who fare
ceeded in reinstating their own god, Seth, whom they com-
upon their feet, and all beings in the air, who fly with
memorated as having been in their new capital since the time
their wings. The lands of Khor and Kush and the land
of the Hyksos. Seth was included in the royal names now and
of Egypt: you have set every man in his place, you have
allotted their needs, every one of them according to his
also had one of the Egyptian armies named for him.
diet, and his lifetime is counted out. Tongues are sepa-
In the early Ramessid period the tombs of nobles had
rate in speech, and their characters as well; their skins
much less of the biographical material and scenes of everyday
are different, for you have differentiated the foreigners.
life that were common earlier. Now the emphasis was on the
In the underworld you have made a Nile that you may
bring it forth as you wish to feed the populace, since
funerary rites and any religious offices the deceased had held.
you made them for yourself, their utter master, growing
There appears to be a very conservative religious reaction to
weary on their account, lord of every land. For them the
what had taken place in the eighteenth dynasty. Even the lit-
Aton of the daytime arises, great in awesomeness. All
erary texts have primarily mythological settings and content
distant lands, you have made them live, for you have set
for stories, but interestingly, these often make the gods look
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2708
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
foolish and cannot be considered very pietistic. Women,
O-Eater-of-Entrails, who comes forth from the Thirty,
even goddesses, in these texts are cast in an unflattering light,
I have not practised usury. . . .
again perhaps in reaction to the powerful queens of the pre-
O Wanderer, who comes forth from Bubastis,
ceding dynasty. The long reign of Ramses II produced nu-
I have not gossiped. . . .
merous temple constructions with colossal statues and repre-
sentations of himself, but these seem to indicate that he was
O Wamemti-Serpent, who comes forth from the place of
judgment,
glorifying himself as much as any of the other gods. The
I have not committed adultery.
group of four deities at the back of his temple at Abu Simbel
shows that he was placing himself on the same level as the
O Maa-Intef, who comes forth from the Temple of Min,
three earlier dynastic gods of Egypt—Ptah, Re-Harakhty,
I have not defiled myself. . . .
and Amun-Re.
O Ser-Kheru, who comes forth from Wensi,
The religious texts with which people were buried in the
I have not been quarrelsome.
New Kingdom and later are now known as the Book of Going
O Bastet, who comes forth from the sanctum,
Forth by Day but they actually constituted at least two differ-
I have not winked.
ent collections, again emphasizing in introductions or con-
O His-Face-behind-Him, who comes forth from Tep-het-
clusions either an Osirian or a solar afterlife, often with some
djat,
elements of both in between. These papyri, illustrated with
I have not been perverted; I have not had sexual relations
vignettes, vary greatly in length and include many interesting
with a boy. . . .
chapters, such as that with the servant statue or Shawabti
spell (chap. 6), the heart spell (chap. 30), a spell to enable
O Tem-sep, who comes forth from Busiris,
the deceased to have all requisite knowledge in one chapter
I have not been abusive against a king.
(chap. 162), and the famous negative confession and judg-
O Acting-with-His-Heart, who comes forth from Tjebu,
ment scene (chap. 125). The negative confession is not con-
I have not waded in water.
fession at all but rather a protestation of innocence between
O Flowing-One, who comes forth from Nun,
forty-two judges of the underworld. Following the psy-
My voice has not been loud. . . .
chostasia, or weighing of the deceased’s heart, in relation to
The judges and the places from which they come are not
the feather of Maat, or Truth, the deceased inevitably escapes
consistently prominent or frightening and cannot logically
the devourer and is presented to Osiris, but most often goes
be connected with the forty-two nomes of Egypt, but while
forth past the gatekeepers and joins Re as well. The New
a few of the statements have uncertain meaning, the vast ma-
Kingdom copies of the Book of Going Forth by Day are com-
jority are perfectly clear and not particularly surprising.
monly called the Theban recension because so many copies
come from Theban tombs. But the texts generally, even in
From the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty the prin-
the negative confession, indicate a northern origin, most
cipal religious text selected to decorate the walls of the royal
likely Heliopolitan. Many texts outside of the negative con-
burial chambers was the so-called book of Amduat, or That
fession are modifications or corruptions of the earlier Coffin
Which Is in the Netherworld. This book, which resembles a
Texts versions.
large-scale papyrus unrolled on the walls, treats of the voyage
of the solar bark through the hours of the night sky, but it
The negative confession, though less than ideal as a code
involves Sokar, the god of the Memphite necropolis (Rose-
of ethics, cannot be ignored, because it survived in thousands
tau), as chief god of the underworld. The nineteenth-dynasty
of copies spanning fifteen hundred years. A portion of the
kings, different as they may have been from their eighteenth-
fuller list follows:
dynasty counterparts, were also buried in tombs in the The-
O Wide-of-Stride, who comes forth from Heliopolis,
ban Valley of the Kings, but their tombs were more elabor-
I have not committed evil.
ately decorated, with relief carving and paintings of the Book
O Embracer-of-Fire, who comes forth from Babylon,
of Gates and the journey of the sun through the body of the
I have not stolen.
goddess Nut.
O Nosey, who comes forth from Hermopolis,
When Ramses II made peace with the Hittites some
I have not been covetous. . . .
time after the nearly disastrous battle of Kadesh, a thousand
deities on either side were called to witness, and foreign dei-
O Dangerous-of-Face, who comes forth from Rosetau,
ties such as Anat, Astarte, and Reshef became even more pop-
I have not killed men.
ular in Egypt. His successor, Merneptah, was beset with at-
O Ruti, who comes forth from heaven,
tacks from Libyans and the Sea Peoples. It is from his reign
I have not damaged the grain-measure. . . .
that the earliest surviving reference to Israel is found, but
O Breaker-of-Bones, who comes forth from Heracleopolis,
without other corroborating documentation for the story of
I have not told lies. . . .
the Exodus aside from its reasonably accurate setting.
O White-of-Teeth, who comes forth from the Fayum,
Ramses III of the twentieth dynasty was the last great
I have not trespassed. . . .
pharaonic ruler of Egypt. His building efforts included a sep-
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EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2709
arate small temple at Karnak, as well as a very large mortuary
(twenty-sixth) dynasty. This period marked one of the last
temple for himself at medinet Habu. This latter, which sur-
Egyptian revivals, with a great deal of temple and tomb con-
vives in very good condition, contains descriptions of the
struction. In many respects the Saite period harked back to
complete festivals of Min and Sokar in addition to the usual
the Old Kingdom; several huge Theban tombs of this time
battle scenes, and it also has an elaborate calendar of feasts
had extensive collections of the Pyramid Texts.
and offerings. The whole was surrounded by a wall with two
With the Persian conquest of Egypt by Cambyses in 525
fortifiable gateways, which probably reflect the worsening
BCE, there are indications that the conquering kings had
political situation of the whole country. There were strikes
good intentions with regard to maintaining the cultural,
by the royal tomb workers, who had to be provisioned by
legal, and religious traditions of the Egyptians. Although
the temple storehouses; there were attacks by a coalition of
Herodotos, who was not unbiased, accused Cyrus of sacrilege
foreigners, principally Libyan; and finally, the king was slain
in Egypt, it is known that this king dutifully performed buri-
in a harem conspiracy. In addition to punishing those re-
al rites for an Apis bull and also had small temples erected
sponsible, his son Ramses IV recorded in a very interesting
to the Egyptian gods. The Persian satraps who actually ad-
document, the great Papyrus Harris I (c. 1150 BCE), all the
ministered the country were doubtless less highly esteemed,
benefactions that his father had made to the temples of
probably deservedly so. With several native rebellions and
Egypt. The Wilbour Papyrus, of slightly later date (1140
one last gasp of independence in the thirtieth dynasty, Egypt
BCE), confirms that the temple of Amun-Re alone controlled
fell again to the Persians, and in turn welcomed Alexander
an exorbitant amount of land and the population of a large
the Great in 332 BCE as a savior from the Persian oppressors.
area in middle Egypt hundreds of miles away.
Alexander was probably convinced of his own divinity
By the end of the twentieth dynasty the High Priest of
on visiting the oracle of Amun at the Siwa oasis, but this was
Amun, Herihor, was for all practical purposes the ruler of
not enough to guarantee a long life. Under his successor,
Upper Egypt, and the twenty-first dynasty began with one
Philip Arrhidaeus, the sanctuary of the Karnak temple was
of his sons assuming the kingship at Tanis in the north while
rebuilt. When Alexander’s general, Ptolemy, became king of
another succeeded him as high priest in the south. Several
Egypt, much new construction was begun. Alexandria, with
of the priestly successors also claimed royal titles in the The-
its library, museum, and new government offices, was
ban area, and eventually the two offices were combined in
founded, while other Greek cities in Egypt were enlarged or
one. Unlike the earlier usurpations of viziers or generals, who
planned. Under the Ptolemys truly great temples were erect-
undoubtedly had a military power base, the base for the
ed at some ancient cult sites, and countless smaller temples,
priests seems to have been primarily economic. The process
gates, appendages, and inscriptions were added to other
can be traced back to the nineteenth dynasty, to a priestly
places. All the main structures at the temple of Horus at Edfu
family that gained control not only of the temple treasury
are Ptolemaic. The vast main temple and its surrounding
but also of the royal treasury. Throughout the Ramessid peri-
walls are covered from top to bottom with scenes and texts
od there are indications that all was not what it was supposed
dealing with Horus, his myths and rituals. The texts have un-
to be in this period of religious fervor. Banquet songs stress
dergone a complicated encoding with a sixfold increase in the
a carpe diem attitude; a workman in the royal necropolis
number of hieroglyphic signs used, and a wide range of possi-
shows no respect for his deceased king, and eventually almost
ble substitutions for many standard signs is also encountered.
all of the Theban tombs were systematically looted. Some of
The language is classical Middle Egyptian, and presumably
the robbers were accused and tried, but evidently those chief-
the texts were from earlier material chosen by Egyptian
ly responsible got away with their crimes. The priests rebu-
priests from their own libraries, or perhaps from several sites
ried the royal mummies, but with none of their original trap-
in Egypt. The inscriptions are quite distinctive but often dif-
pings or treasure. The priests apparently did not approve of
ficult to translate. They seem intentionally obscure despite
the reinstatement of Seth by the Ramessid kings, and the
their accessibility, and the encoding must have been used to
god’s name was attacked at their capital in the north.
make these texts more esoteric or arcane to their own follow-
ers and perhaps to the Greeks as well.
When a Libyan family, the twenty-second dynasty, took
over in the Third Intermediate Period they ruled from the
The temple of Hathor at Dendera has similar encoding
north also, but controlled the south by appointing a daughter
of texts, as well as mamisi (birth houses) for the goddess, se-
to serve as Divine Adoratress of Amun, a new position above
cret crypts, and a combined Egyptian-Greek zodiac on the
that of high priest. The Nubian Piye (Piankhy), a very de-
ceiling of a small room on the temple’s roof. The dual temple
vout follower of Amun, conquered all of Egypt to set things
of Haroeris and Sobek (the crocodile god) at Kom Ombo
right there but did not remain to rule himself, although he
may have had a crypt for oracular pronouncements. At Esna
did appoint his sister (Amenirdis I) to be the successor of the
the creator god, Khnum, who fashions on the potter’s wheel,
current Divine Adoratress (Shepenwepet I) when she eventu-
is commemorated. The temple of Isis on the island of Philae
ally died. His good intentions were not sufficient, however,
had many separate buildings with inscriptions dating well
and the Nubians (twenty-fifth dynasty) did return to rule the
into the Roman period. The cult of Isis, incorporating much
country, losing to the Assyrians, who installed the Saite
of the cult of Hathor as well, is probably better known now
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2710
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
from the Isiac temples in the rest of the Mediterranean than
view, the sky was a giant cow whose four legs were supported
it is from this, the greatest center of the worship of the Egyp-
by four deities, while other deities (stars) on small crescent-
tian goddess of love. Now that the entire temple complex has
shaped boats sailed on her belly. This heavenly cow may be
been moved to higher ground on a neighboring island, much
associated with Hathor, who according to the Heliopolitan
more work will be possible here. Following construction of
cosmogony was variously seen as consort of Re and mother
the old high dam at Aswan, the temple was under water for
of Horus, but also as consort of Horus and mother of Ihy,
most of the year. Another major Oriental cult in the Greco-
a form of the sun god to whom she gives birth. The sun god,
Roman world that had at least some roots in Egypt was that
Re, is also frequently shown being born to the goddess Nut,
of Serapis, whose name comes from Osiris and the Apis bull
whose body spans the sky from east to west. According to
of Ptah of Memphis. These particular sacred bulls, chosen
the Heliopolitan cosmogony she should, of course, be de-
for their markings, had been mummified and buried in large
scended from him. Nevertheless, as regularly depicted on the
sarcophagi at the Serapium in Saqqara throughout much of
ceilings of royal bed chambers, the sun appears and crosses
the late period in Egyptian history.
the goddess’s body during the day, but is swallowed by her
Alexandria early became one of the principal centers in
at night, passing through her body from west to east to be
the world for the study of philosophy and theology, and
born again.
when Egypt converted to Christianity many of the Alexan-
All of these concepts view the earth as quite solid, gener-
drian Church Fathers became deeply embroiled in contro-
ally flat, and practically limitless in extent. The sky (Nut) re-
versies. Philo, Origen, Arrius, and Clement represent a few
ceives her support from the earth (Geb), and sometimes is
of the different positions originating in Alexandria. Tradi-
shown held apart from him by the air god, Shu. All that the
tional Greek philosophers and pagan, Jewish, Christian, or-
sun encounters in its day and its night voyage is above the
thodox, and heterodox interpretations—all had their adher-
earth. The locations generally translated as “netherworld” or
ents here, living virtually side by side for some time. The
“underworld” (imht and duat) both actually appear to have
Septuagint and Hexapla were produced here, and the Coptic
been in the sky originally. Some descriptions indicate that
Gnostic library found in Upper Egypt at Nag Hammadi
the Egyptians also conceived of an undersky (nenet) and a
probably originated here as well. The hermetic tractates may
topsy-turvy afterlife, so that one of the terms (duat) seems
provide some link to earlier Egyptian notions, but the apoc-
to have been relocated later. As if this were not confusing
rypha and Gospel of Thomas preserved in this archive most
enough, another mythological cosmology would have one
likely originated elsewhere.
form of the falcon god, Horus, represent the entire sky, with
Monasticism in both its eremetic and cenobitic forms
his two eyes as the sun and the moon. The moon was the
originated and became very popular in Egypt, partially
eye injured in the battle with his uncle, Seth, to avenge the
spread by conditions in the country under the Romans, who
death of his father, Osiris, in order to assume his inheritance.
overtaxed the people and provided them little protection
This great Horus would seem to be as much greater than Re,
from the Blemmyes’ invasions. The monasteries provided
the sun, as the Heliopolitan Re of the Pyramid Texts is above
food, protection, and solace. The monastic rule of Pachomi-
his son, the Horus-king. Such seemingly incompatible cos-
us became the standard in many Egyptian monasteries, and
mologies may represent either earlier separate traditions or
it was introduced to the west by John Cassian, becoming the
later attempted rationalizations.
basis of Western Benedictine monasticism.
CONCEPTIONS OF HUMAN NATURE AND DESTINY. The
The early Christians in Egypt suffered persecution
Egyptians’ view of their own nature certainly varied in some
under the Romans, but after Rome converted to Christiani-
respects from time to time, place to place, and person to per-
ty, the pagans suffered as well. The Neoplatonic philosopher
son, but a few terms persisted expressing notions about their
Hypatia was stoned to death in Alexandria in 415 CE, and
ontology that are reasonably consistent. People were created
the last outpost of paganism in the Roman Empire, at the
in God’s image, from the weeping of his (Re’s) eye, were con-
temple of Isis at Philae, was finally overcome in the late fifth
ceived in God’s heart (mind) and spoken by his tongue
century. When the Arab general EAmr ibn al-EAs: took Egypt
(Ptah), or were fashioned on the potter’s wheel (Khnum).
in 641 conversion to Islam was rapid, due as much to eco-
One’s body had to be preserved in order to enable it to prop-
nomic advantages as to the attractions of the QurDa¯n.
erly live again in the afterlife. To ensure this a replica of the
CONCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE. The ancient Egyptians
body was thought to have been fashioned by the gods at
conceived of their universe in a number of different ways.
birth; more were made later by sculptors and painters as
One view was that the firmament (bia) was a huge inverted
stand-ins for bodies that might be lost. These ka figures, en-
metal colander, from which pieces fell; these wonders or mar-
livened by the Opening of the Mouth ritual, served as second
vels (biau) included meteoric iron (biat), which was used in
effective personalities, but they could also be protecting
making ceremonial implements such as the adzes for the ritu-
genii. At least by the Late period even the great gods such
al of the Opening of the Mouth. This ritual was performed
as Re and Thoth have a number of these kas or “attributes,”
to give life to statues or other representations and also to re-
including Hu (authoritative utterance), Sia (perception),
vivify the mummies of the deceased. According to another
Maa (sight), and Sedem (hearing).
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EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2711
The term most closely approximating “soul” for the
course this can also be said of the Hebrew Bible and the New
Egyptians was ba, which was represented in hieroglyphic as
Testament. Tradition is the principal source for both the
a small bird and was also depicted in burial scenes departing
Jewish and the Christian monotheistic doctrine, but it is
from the body as a bird flying up to the sky. In at least one
lacking for Egyptian religion. Without this tradition the
literary text, the Dispute of a Man with His Ba, this con-
multiplicity of denominations and sects, the veneration of
science or other self is present in life to be argued with and
saints, and the loose use of “divine” and “godlike” for popu-
to help the person make up his mind after considering both
lar heroes would all conspire to challenge the generally ac-
sides of a question, in this case the serious question of wheth-
cepted monotheistic aspect of modern Western religions and
er to go on living. Another literary text, the Lamentations of
of Western civilization. For the Atenist heresy of Akhenaton
Khakheperreseneb, has the scribe address his heart (ib), which
the situation is somewhat different, because the Hymn to the
cannot respond, rather than his ba. It was generally the heart
Aton states that there is no god beside (or like) Aton, there
that was considered the seat of both intellect and will.
was an attack on other gods and the plural “gods,” and Akhe-
naton was later clearly regarded as having attempted to dis-
Another significant aspect of an individual’s person or
rupt the established religious system. Most likely the notion
personality is the akh, or “spirit,” which is what remains
of monotheism was present in this period, in some minds at
apart from the body or at least is not limited by the body
least, though it was harshly dispelled. By syncretizing the
after death. A person wants to become an akh aper, an
names and aspects of various deities into powerful new gods,
“equipped spirit” or “perfect spirit,” in the afterlife, and to
the Egyptians widened the gap between the greatest god and
this end he prepares himself with the required religious spells
all the rest. Re-Atum, Amun-Re, and Pre-Harakhty were un-
from one or the other collections available, often including
challenged national gods each in his own time.
as many books and variations as possible and both full and
shortened versions. The spirits in the hereafter were some-
Probably second in importance to the great national
times thought to be not content to rest in peace in a blessed
gods was the cult of the god of the dead. This evolved very
state, nor were they always allowed to. Another literary text,
early, evidently from several separate cults. The cult of Osiris,
the Ghost Story, tells of a long-dead spirit who appears to a
originally from Busiris, superseded the cults of Khentyimen-
priest and requests that his cracked and drafty tomb be re-
tiu (“foremost of the westerners”) and Wepwawet (“opener
paired. Many letters to the dead are also found; they were
of the ways”) from Abydos and Siut, respectively. The cults
left with food offerings by living relatives to urge some specif-
of Osiris and Re intermingle in most of the mortuary litera-
ic action on their behalf in the spirit world. These usually
ture, and in at least one instance come close to merging.
mention past favors and show confidence in the deceased’s
When the cult of Sokar becomes a major element in royal
ability to effect change for righting the injustice.
funerary literature and later in all the funerary literature of
the New Kingdom, it leads to perhaps the ultimate syncre-
GODS, CULTS, AND MAGIC. While the deceased in the ne-
tism in the late New Kingdom of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris-
cropolis were regularly called akhs, they were also occasional-
Tatenen.
ly termed netjeru (“gods”). A curse left on a square block at
the door of a tomb threatened dire consequences to anyone
The Osiris cult certainly permeated almost all aspects
who disturbed even a pebble in the tomb, and it advised find-
of Egyptian culture. Osirid statues decorated the courts of
ing a place that would not impinge upon the tombs of any
temples, and the Osiris suites are a major feature of the mor-
of the gods in the necropolis. For the Egyptians the word net-
tuary temples. Every owner of a book of mortuary literature
jer (“god”) was used broadly to cover all levels of divinity,
is given the title “Osiris,” and every deceased person named
from the greatest gods to the justified dead (that is, those de-
in tomb or stele has the epithet “true of voice” or “vindicat-
clared “true of voice” in the judgment before Osiris). Mono-
ed” with respect to his last judgment before this great god.
theism, if it ever existed in ancient Egypt, was never clearly
The association of Osiris with death, resurrection, fertility,
formulated and apparently was never established as doctrine
and the Nile touched everyone, and his cult center at Aby-
in any of the native religions. From almost all periods come
dos, where he was supposed to have been buried, became the
texts that indicate the uniqueness of one or the other gods,
most important pilgrimage site in the country.
usually some form of the sun god, but this monolatry or
henotheism cannot be demonstrated to have the exclusivity
The living king is generally called the “good god,” while
necessary to fit the modern definition of monotheism.
the deceased king is the “great god.” Whether death actually
enhanced the king’s status is debatable. As the embodiment
There are numerous references to “god” and “the god”
or incarnation of the god Horus, he is already a major god
in Egyptian literary texts, particularly in the instructions. In
on earth, and much of the doctrine of his divinity and his
some cases these may refer to a local god or to the king, but
perquisites was widely published and accepted. Certainly the
most frequently they refer to Re or Pre (the sun). He is often
king who instructed Merikare was more aware personally of
called the neb-er-djer (“lord to the limit, universal lord”), and
his limitations than Senusret III or Ramses II would have
can indeed appear practically transcendent, as in the Instruc-
been. The whole concept could have been viewed in different
tion for Merikare, quoted above. The only important point
ways at different times by different people. Based on the
lacking here is a statement that no other god exists, but of
number of persons who had as their goal in the afterlife
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2712
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
something approaching or equaling the goals of their kings,
serpent spells, but it is also driven back by the spears, and
perhaps more would have believed in their sovereign’s divini-
bows and arrows of protecting deities such as the four sons
ty and their own potential divinity than some modern schol-
of Horus—Imesty, Hapi, Duamutef, and Khebeksenuef—
ars are now prepared to accept. Of course there are excep-
who are also the protective gods represented on the Canopic
tions—the Song of the Harper and the story of the Man Who
jars containing the internal organs of the mummified dead.
Was Tired of Life both reflect despair about the afterlife.
Although oxen and smaller cattle were among the offer-
Some kings were assassinated, and all the royal tombs were
ings made to the gods in their temples, the Apis bull, which
robbed. Aware of the difficulty of securing their burials, the
was emblematic of and sacred to Ptah in the New Kingdom
Egyptians tried incredible masses of stone, secret hidden pas-
and later, had a very special position and would have been
sages, tricks, provision of security guards, and also magic and
considered by many as the embodiment of a god on earth.
curses. In a sense all of these would have been attempts by
Burials of each successive Apis bull and its cow mother were
believers to thwart the unbelievers.
performed with great solemnity. Later, in the Greek period,
Some individuals, even nonroyal personages, attained a
the proliferation of cemeteries for mummified cats sacred to
state of divinity far above the ordinary. The cult of deceased
both Bast and Paket, crocodiles sacred to Sobek, ibises sacred
kings would generally not have outlived the endowment of
to Thoth and Imhotep, baboons sacred to Thoth, and fal-
their funerary establishment, but Amenhotep I, together
cons sacred to Horus reached all parts of Egypt, to the point
with his mother, Ahmose Nefertari, continued for centuries
that demand for some of these creatures as votive offerings
to be venerated by the workmen of Deir al-Medineh as the
began to exceed the supplies available; sometimes people
great patrons or patron saints of the place. The architect of
who thought they had purchased jars with mummified ani-
the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, Imhotep, was deified,
mals actually left sealed jars of sand to be buried in the huge
and his cult became ever more popular more than two mil-
catacombs at sacred sites.
lennia after his death. He was revered as a sage and was also
Magic was clearly a significant aspect of Egyptian life.
identified with the Greek god Asklepios. Another architect
Again, as noted in the Instruction for Merikare, magic was
and sage, Amenhotep Son of hapu (the epithet is traditional-
considered a gift of the great god, Re. There was a goddess
ly part of his name), was also exceptionally revered. In sum,
called Weret-Hekau (Great of Magic), and several texts refer
the Egyptians seem to have had a number of different levels
to the books containing the secret knowledge of Thoth,
of divinity, several equivalent to different levels of sainthood,
whom the Greeks later identified with Hermes and whose
with only one word, netjer, to cover them all.
legendary knowledge is still being touted by certain groups
today (e.g., the Rosicrucians). The Egyptians had magical
Worship of animals does not seem to have been a signif-
spells believed to prolong life, to alter fate, to help in ro-
icant element in any of the religions of Egypt. The use of ani-
mance, and to combat any number of physical and mental
mals to represent some attributes of gods, or the gods them-
afflictions. A combination of entreaty and threat is found in
selves, is frequent, and in most religious artwork their
one type of love charm:
primary importance is clearly in differentiating the princi-
pals. The conventional linking of the falcon with Horus, the
Hail to you, Re-Harakhty, father of the gods!
falcon and disk with Re, the cow with Hathor, the baboon
Hail to you, Seven Hathors, who are adorned with strings
or ibis with Thoth, the jackal with Anubis, the crocodile with
of red thread!
Sobek, and the ram with Amun-Re was generally recognized
Hail to you, all the gods of heaven and earth!
throughout the country and in all periods following its for-
Come make so-and-so [f.] born of so-and-so come after
mulation, whereas strictly anthropomorphic representations
me,
would have been confusing. It is possible that for some ritual
Like an ox after grass, like a nursemaid after her children,
reenactments priests would have worn the animal masks of
like a herdsman after his herd!
the gods and recited the words attributed to the gods in nu-
If you do not make her come after me, then I will set fire
merous temple reliefs. The cobra Edjo of Buto and the vul-
to Busiris and burn Osiris.
ture Nekhbet of Al-Kab are usually represented in their total-
Some magic spells survive in the funerary literature, some
ly animal forms, but they are protective deities for the king
references occur in the literature, and much is found in the
of Upper and Lower Egypt, and were more intimidating in
medical texts. The rubrics of chapters in the New Kingdom
this form. The often malevolent but sometimes protective
Book of Going Forth by Day frequently provide information
deity Seth is represented as either partially or totally animal,
about the very ancient origins of these spells for transforma-
though there was in antiquity, and there is now, little agree-
tion and glorification, and they also provide instructions
ment as to what the animal was. Pig, hippopotamus, donkey,
concerning the rites accompanying recitation of the spells.
hound, and giraffe are all plausible in different documents
In some cases complete secrecy is required, and one frequent-
or reliefs. Evil beings or demons are often composite, fanciful
ly encounters the claim that a particular spell was tried and
creations that must be armed with knives to be really threat-
proved a million times. Chapter 64 of the Book of Going
ening. The evil serpent Apophis, perhaps the greatest demon,
Forth by Day is “The Chapter for Knowing the Chapters of
is repulsed from attacking the sun god by means of numerous
Coming Forth by Day in a Single Chapter.” Its rubric adds:
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2713
If this chapter is known by the deceased, he will be
In addition to reserve heads and ka-statues, the deceased
mighty both on earth and in the otherworld, and he will
in his tomb frequently had a supply of servant statues. In the
perform every act of a living person. It is a great protec-
earlier periods they were shown doing exactly what they
tion that has been given by God. This chapter was
would have done in life, but in the New Kingdom they were
found in the city of Hermopolis on a block of iron of
represented merely as mummified figures, with chapter 6 of
the south, which has been inlaid with real lapis lazuli,
the Book of Going Forth by Day written on them. This is the
under the feet of the god during the reign of his majes-
ty, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkaure, jus-
magic spell that says that if the deceased is called upon to do
tified [i.e., deceased], by Prince Hordedef, justified. He
any work in the afterlife, such as moving sand from one bank
found it when he was journeying to make an inspection
to another, the “answerer” (the figurine) will respond that
of the temples. One Nakht was with him who was dili-
he is present to do it. A different type of magic is found in
gent in making him understand it, and he brought it
the Cannibal Hymn, in Pyramid Text utterances 273–274.
to the king as a wonderful object when he saw that it
Here the deceased king goes about devouring the gods, both
was a thing of great mystery, which had never before
to demonstrate that he has gained power over them in death
been seen or looked upon. This chapter shall be recited
and in order to acquire their strength and attributes.
by a man who is ritually clean and pure, who has not
eaten the flesh of animals or fish, and who has not had
POPULAR RELIGION AND PERSONAL PIETY. Among the nu-
intercourse with women. And you shall make a scarab
merous amulets used by the Egyptians a few stand out and
of green stone, with a rim plated with gold, which shall
deserve attention. Probably the best-known amulet and sym-
be placed in the heart of a man, and it shall perform for
bol is the ankh sign, the hieroglyph for “life,” which is most
him the opening of the mouth. And you shall anoint
frequently shown being presented by the gods to humans.
it with anti-unguent, and you shall recite over it these
Considerably more important for the Egyptians was the
spells. . . .
udjat, the eye of Horus, which symbolized the sacrifice en-
The words that follow are the heart spell of chapter 30. The
dured by Horus in his struggle to avenge his father’s murder.
discovery of the text by such a famous sage in so significant
This eye was used to designate any offering or sacrifice and
a place clearly enhanced its value.
also to represent the sun and the moon gods and their barks.
Those Egyptian medical texts that deal with surgical
Similar falcon eyes are found on the fronts of Middle King-
procedures tend to be reasonably scientific, but for the vast
dom coffins, presumably to enable the deceased to see; on
majority of human ailments treated in most medical texts the
the prows of boats and in mummy wrappings these might
Egyptians relied on magic—potions, poultices, or salves ap-
also have been chosen to ward off evil.
plied with written or recited spells. Headaches and stomach
The scarab beetle was a symbol that had religious signif-
disorders are obvious targets, and there are lengthy series of
icance, but it was frequently used for the very practical pur-
spells for hastening birth that recall the travail of Isis in giv-
pose of identification, as a seal bearing the owner’s name on
ing birth to Horus.
its flat underside. Some scarabs have ornamental decoration
Magic was also used in the Execration Texts, which the
and the vast majority have royal names, usually of Thutmose
Egyptians devised to overcome enemies perhaps too difficult
III or Ramses II. The scarab itself was a symbol of the sun
to overcome by any other means. These bowls or figurines,
god, apparently derived from the image of this beetle slowly
inscribed with a fairly standard selection of the names of
pushing along a nutritious ball of dung. The Egyptian word
Egypt’s foreign and domestic enemies plus all evil thoughts,
for this beetle was kheper, a homonym for their word mean-
words, and deeds, were deliberately smashed to try to destroy
ing “to come to be” or “to happen,” and the word also be-
any and all persons and things listed thereon.
came the name of the early morning sun deity. Re, then, is
the powerful and bright noonday sun, and Atum the old and
The Opening of the Mouth ritual, already referred to
worn-out evening sun.
above, was obviously a magical rite to bring to life mummies
and other representations of individuals. Sculpted portraits
Two symbolic figures often found on amulets seem to
(called reserve heads) in Old Kingdom mastaba tombs were
have been primarily associated with household deities and
magical stand-ins. The eradication from statues, stelae, and
were particularly important for their connection with fertili-
tomb and temple walls of names and representations of indi-
ty and the successful conclusion of pregnancy. These are of
viduals was thought to be a way of eliminating those persons
the gods Bes, the grotesque human-faced baboon or monkey,
magically. The texts in some tombs had the animal hiero-
and Taweret, the not very attractive female hippopotamus/
glyphs either halved or with knives in them, to prevent them
crocodile who stands on her hind legs and holds another am-
from being a danger to the deceased. The names of individu-
ulet, the “knot of Isis,” in her hands. Amulets of the frog god-
als involved in the harem conspiracy against Ramses III were
dess, Heket, and the knot of Isis were probably used similarly
often changed in the records to evil-sounding names, primar-
by women. The feather of Maat (Truth or Justice) also sym-
ily so that the evil person’s memory would not live on. In
bolized order, and in those countless temple scenes showing
this same conspiracy, magic was also apparently involved in
the king presenting to various deities the small figure of the
the making of waxen images by the conspirators. Exactly
goddess wearing the feather and seated on a basket, the king
how these were to be used is unclear.
is both claiming and promising to preserve order on earth
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2714
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
on behalf of all the other gods. The plump hermaphrodite
of the god”), which the Greeks rendered as “prophet.” The
figures of Hapy are symbolic of the fertility of the Nile in
great temple of Amun-Re at Karnak had four ranked proph-
flood and are frequently shown tying together the sedge plant
ets, and the first prophet had one of the highest positions in
of Upper Egypt and the papyrus of Lower Egypt.
the land. In addition to his religious duties involving the
daily temple ritual and rites connected with many special
The numerous stelae and votive offerings left at cult
feasts, he exercised temporal power over a vast amount of
centers provide adequate testimony of the personal piety of
landholdings and over the people who worked those lands.
the Egyptians. Many of the stelae were inscribed with a plea
He also served as a judge in the tribunal headed by the vizier.
to the god of the place, and some had a human ear or ears
Some did rise to the higher priestly offices by coming up
carved on them as if to entreat the god to be especially atten-
through the ranks and being recognized for their abilities,
tive. Because the common people would not have had access
but it was also the case that they could start at the top, appar-
to the god in the interior of his temple, they had their own
ently with the king’s patronage. Royal princes frequently
preferred shrines, statues, or reliefs of the god (often Amun)
held the post of high priest of the temple of Ptah at Mem-
“who hears prayers” outside the temple proper but within the
phis. At Thebes the office of high priest often was hereditary,
sacred precincts. If they were patient they could wait to ap-
and it became a power base from which individuals could
proach the god on his processions in connection with major
claim and acquire the kingship of the entire land (twenty-
feasts. These occasions were regularly used to make requests
first dynasty).
of the gods, and the nod of the god, perhaps aided by the
shoulders of the men carrying the god, was considered a sig-
Little is known about the lesser prophets, though the of-
nificant oracular response. The “power” or “manifestation”
fice of second prophet seems in one case to have been given
of a god is mentioned in several texts as punishment for an
over to a queen, Akhmose Nefertari of the eighteenth dynas-
offense (e.g., being blinded for lying) or as a force compelling
ty, either to exercise the office or to award it to another. Later
a person to recant earlier testimony. Some women called
a famous fourth prophet of Amun, Montuemhet (twenty-
“knowledgeable” could use their powers for conjuring or
sixth dynasty), was simultaneously mayor of Thebes, and his
healing. Omens were important to the Egyptians, many dif-
great wealth and prestige probably accrued from that posi-
ferent dreams were interpreted as good or bad, and at least
tion. It is not known whether any of these figureheads and
by the Late Period they had calendars of lucky and unlucky
administrators were also knowledgeable theologians.
days.
Those temple scribes who were familiar with the sacred
One final indication of the religiosity of the Egyptians
writings were called chery-heb (“lector priest”). It was their
and also of their trust in magic is the very frequent occur-
responsibility to interpret omens and dreams, to know the
rence, both on stelae and in graffiti, of a list of good works
magical spells required for any eventuality, and to read the
the writer had done, followed by his request that any passer-
required texts for the rituals of embalmment and burial. The
by reading the text pronounce his name and the formula “A
scribes most likely also provided the copies of funerary texts
thousand bread, beer, oxen, and fowl,” so that some day he
that people wanted to be buried with, and would either have
would magically receive these stereotypical offerings. The
served as physicians themselves or would have provided the
Egyptians had a great deal of confidence in both the written
magical medical spells that the physicians used.
and the spoken word and a proper respect for things sacred.
In all the temples most of the lesser tasks were in the
A woman from Deir al-Medineh accused of stealing a work-
hands of the faithful. All would be called upon to do their
man’s tool compounded her guilt enormously when she
monthly service, and because they were regularly divided
swore a false oath and it was discovered that she stole not
into four phylae, this meant that they alternated but served
only the tool but also a vessel from a temple.
three months out of the year. These common priests (wabu,
TEMPLES. The priests and priestesses of ancient Egypt in-
“pure ones”) shaved their hair, washed frequently in the sa-
cluded a very high percentage of the population. The king
cred lakes near the temples, and maintained ritual purity to
himself seems to have been the principal intermediary be-
enable them to serve the god in his mansion. They served
tween gods and humans. He is shown making offerings,
as porters, watchmen, and attendants, assisted with offerings
pouring libations, and burning incense before almost all the
and rites, and probably did their share of cleaning, polishing,
gods in all the temples. How much of the king’s time was
painting, and moving things around.
actually spent in religious ritual is not known and probably
There was of course a major distinction between the city
varied from dynasty to dynasty and from one king to anoth-
cult temples and the mortuary temple establishments. The
er. The large amount of civil authority delegated to viziers
great mortuary temples grew out of the smaller chapels erect-
would have released time for more religious activities if that
ed above shaft tombs, and these in turn developed from the
were desired. Some kings, however, seem to have preferred
small offering niches in Old Kingdom mastaba tombs. The
leading military expeditions, perhaps finding these more es-
offerings to be left at the chapels of nobles or temples of kings
sential or more interesting.
were provided by endowments, and the priests who adminis-
The actual high priests of each temple had different ti-
tered the endowments were called hemu-ka (“servants of the
tles. The word used most frequently was hem-netjer (“servant
ka”). If the endowment included lands, the produce would
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
2715
have provided offerings as well as an income for the individu-
of Amun-Re recorded at the Luxor and Karnak temples, the
al “priests.” They would also benefit from the unconsumed
mortuary temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu contains
offerings that they provided each day. These endowments
records of the festival processions of Min and Sokar illustrat-
became an important part of the individual’s property and
ed in great detail.
tended to be collected and handed on to heirs.
MYTHOLOGY. Mythology is encountered in almost every-
Women in all periods shared at least some priestly re-
thing that survives from ancient Egypt. Texts, whether reli-
sponsibilities and enjoyed priestly titles. In the Old Kingdom
gious, historical, literary, medical, or legal, or merely person-
many women were priestesses of Hathor, Neith, or Nut. In
al correspondence, all contain mythological allusions. Art of
the early New Kingdom the great royal wives were also the
all kinds and on all scales, and artifacts of all types, made use
“god’s wives of Amun” and as such bore the next divine son,
of easily recognizable mythological symbols. This does not
but they did as well participate with male priests in temple
mean that everything had a ritual purpose or that the Egyp-
rites. Of course Hatshepsut as king (she took the masculine
tians had narrow one-track minds, but it does show how my-
title, and even wore a false beard) was also priest, but remark-
thology and religion had permeated the culture, and also
ably, Nefertiti appeared alone or with her daughter, making
how artisans and craftsmen could capitalize on this.
offerings to her god, Aton. The wives of nobles and even the
It is not surprising to find that the Egyptians’ mytholo-
working women of Deir al-Medineh were very frequently
gy was not detailed and collected in any one place, but surely
called songstresses of Amun and were depicted in tombs
the various traditions were handed down by word of mouth
bearing two symbols of this office, the sistrum and the menit-
and were generally well known. Temple libraries, known in
necklace, with which they provided musical accompaniment
the Late period as “houses of life,” certainly contained medi-
for rituals at both the great and the lesser temples. Women
co-magical texts, and also would have had many ritual, his-
in general also served as ka-priests and professional mourn-
torical, and theological texts and treatises. Many of these
ers. In the late New Kingdom the wives of the high priests
contained mythological material, but none was entitled
of Amun held the title of chief concubine of Amun-Re, but
Egyptian Mythology. There may have been individual texts re-
while it is known that they had a great deal of influence, it
lating to the individual cults or sites, such as Papyrus
is not known precisely what religious responsibilities they
Jumilac. The cosmogonical myths that were excerpted for
had. Daughters of the first prophets of Amun were given the
use in the mortuary literature and that have been briefly sum-
title of “God’s Wife” in the twenty-first dynasty, and then,
marized above were included in the Pyramid Texts to indi-
to assume greater control of the south, the Tanite kings gave
cate the power of the king, his genealogy, or his goal, rather
this position to their own daughters. The next step in the
than to explain or justify the other gods. The temple texts
process is the evolution of a new position, that of Divine Ad-
of individual gods are remarkable for the little mythological
oratress, from the office of God’s Wife; the new position is
information they contain and the vast amount of knowledge
clearly ranked above that of the high priest. Since the Divine
they presume.
Adoratress remains a virgin, she adopts her successor from
Some texts, such as the Story of the Two Brothers and the
among the daughters of the king.
Blinding of Truth by Falsehood, are in large part mythological
The Egyptian temple was the mansion of the god, his
without being mythic in purpose. The Contendings of Horus
abode on earth or, at least, the abode of his principal cult
and Seth has a totally mythological setting, but it is a bur-
statue. The daily ritual for a god in his temple was limited
lesque of the real myth, and perhaps a sophisticated attack
to a few priests present, and consisted of their approaching
on the entire pantheon as well. The Myth of the Destruction
the sanctuary, opening the shrine, removing the statue, un-
of Mankind is slightly more serious in intent, showing hu-
dressing it, washing it, censing it, making offerings to it,
mans to be totally at the mercy of the gods if they cross them.
clothing it in fresh garments, replacing it, sealing the shrine,
In this myth Hathor was sent to slay men because they had
and retreating, with care taken to sweep away their foot-
plotted in the presence of Re, but Re decided to save them
prints. Although the faithful did not have the opportunity
by making bloodlike red beer to deceive and distract her. The
to participate in the daily ritual, they were able to see the god
goddess became so drunk that she could not perceive human-
during special feasts, when the statue of the god would leave
kind, and what had begun as a story about punishment for
the temple. For the feast of Opet the statue and shrine of the
sin becomes an etiological explanation for drinking to the
god Amun-Re was taken from its sanctuary at the Karnak
point of drunkenness at the feast of Hathor. Another remark-
temple, placed on a bark held aloft by priests with carrying
able document from the late Ptolemaic period is Papyrus
poles on their shoulders, and carried to its river transport for
Jumilac, which provides the entire religious history, largely
the two-mile voyage to the Luxor temple, the southern
mythological, of the otherwise little-known eighteenth nome
harem, for a sojourn there before the return voyage. The
of Upper Egypt.
Beautiful Feast of the Valley involved Amun-Re’s voyage
SURVIVALS. Egyptian religion does not seem to have been
across the river to western Thebes to visit the major temples
greatly changed by any outside influences. In the New King-
there, but numerous stops were made at small temples and
dom several Asiatic deities were introduced into the Egyptian
way stations along the route. In addition to these great feasts
pantheon, including Reshef, Kadesh, Anat, and Astarte. 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
2716
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: AN OVERVIEW
story of Astarte and the Insatiable Sea has been proposed as
fate. They desired a long life and eventually a proper Egyp-
one example of Egyptian borrowing from the Ugaritic Poem
tian burial. To a great extent they wanted to continue living
of Baal, but the counterargument for the indigenous nature
after death a life very like their life on earth. They were clear-
of most of the contents of this text posits that only the names
ly optimistic about vindication in a last judgment and their
of the principals were changed to those of well-known Semit-
ability to attain the highest goals in the afterlife.
ic deities. The Canaanite god Baal was regularly identified
Two characteristic features of Egyptian religious litera-
with Seth, and later many Greek gods became identified with
ture are syncretism and a multiplicity of approaches, and
the older Egyptian gods (e.g., Hermes-Thoth, Hephaistos-
these perhaps show steps in the process of developing doc-
Ptah, and Min-Pan). The Isis-aretalogies that survive in
trine. In the case of the descriptions of the afterlife, the Egyp-
Greek have a few descriptions of the goddess that may be
tians could on the one hand place separate, mutually exclu-
traced back to Egyptian antecedents, but for the most part
sive descriptions side by side without indicating that one is
the composition appears to have been primarily Greek.
better or more accurate than another; on the other hand,
Many scholars have seen similarities between the Egyptian
they could combine in the same document aspects from dif-
Hymn to the Aton and the biblical Psalms, the Instruction of
ferent traditions in a new, apparently superior, composite,
Amenemope and Proverbs, or the collections of Egyptian love
and theoretically logical entity. Perhaps this was one way of
songs and the Song of Songs. If there were instances of bor-
dealing with the problem of conservatively maintaining the
rowing (and this is not universally accepted), they would in
old while also accepting the new.
each case have been from the slightly earlier Egyptian texts.
The Egyptians did not believe in the transmigration of
Among the religious survivals from ancient Egypt, the
souls, but among the hymns, guidebooks, offering texts, and
language used in the Coptic Christian liturgy down to the
rituals with which the deceased were buried are many spells
present time represents the latest stage of ancient Egyptian,
for transformations—often into the form of birds, perhaps
but it is written in the Greek alphabet. The decoration of
because of a desire to achieve their apparent freedom. Pre-
early Coptic textiles used as vestments had incorporated ankh
sumably, an Egyptian purchased the texts he wanted well in
signs as well as udjat. As noted above, the institution of mo-
advance of his death. Some manuscripts could have been
nasticism in both its eremetic and cenobitic forms, and the
read in advance by their owners, but many texts are quite
earliest monastic rule, can be clearly traced to Egypt. Wheth-
flawed in extant copies and might not have been intelligible
er the late cult of Isis had any influence on the story of the
even if the person had bothered to read them. Scribes also
Blessed Virgin, or whether the story of the death and resur-
had serious problems understanding some texts, and in at
rection of Osiris influenced the gospel narrative of Christ,
least one case (Book of Going Forth by Day, chap. 17) a tradi-
would be hotly contested by many Christians. In doctrinal
tion of various interpretations is handed down in the form
matters it has been proposed that the Egyptian triads (such
of glosses incorporated into the text.
as that of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu of Thebes) influenced
the concepts of the Trinity and the Holy Family, and that
Hymns are probably a good gauge of the religiosity and
descriptions of the Field of Hetep (paradise) and of places
sophistication of the priest-scribes and theologians, as well
of torment in the afterlife were predecessors for the concepts
as of the believers, of ancient Egypt. The short hymns, per-
of heaven and hell. Slightly less controversial would be the
haps excerpts, found in the earlier mortuary literature even-
question of Egyptian influence on the doctrines of the resur-
tually developed into carefully constructed, easily read, edify-
rection of the body and the communion of saints. The tradi-
ing, and glowing tributes to the gods that spell out the gods’
tional sites for the finding of the infant Moses at the river’s
links with nature and their special concern for humankind.
edge, and the places visited by the Holy Family on their so-
The Hymn to the Nile, the Hymn to Amun-Re, the Hymn to
journ in Egypt, are indeed very old, but how accurate they
the Aton, hymns found in nobles’ tombs to the rising and set-
are historically is questionable. Surviving traditions in mod-
ting sun, and the hymns to Osiris and to Re in the Book of
ern Egypt include the use of mourners at funerals, visits to
Going Forth by Day might not be as exciting and different
tombs, the leaving of food offerings, and the burning of in-
as the so-called Cannibal Hymn. But these were very proper
cense at services. Modern beliefs in afreets or ghosts certainly
and popular works, indicating a considerable refinement in
have ancient roots, and the modern Luxor processions carry-
ancient Egypt that is not often recognized and appreciated
ing boats on the feast of the Muslim saint Abul Hagag are
by historians of religion.
clearly reminiscent of ancient festivals.
CONCLUSIONS. In general the Egyptians seem to have been
BIBLIOGRAPHY
very religious, believed in an afterlife, and devoted much of
Allen, Thomas George. The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by
Day. Chicago, 1974.
their energy to preparing for this. Their preparations includ-
ed both the physical burial equipment and the spiritual: rites,
Anthes, Rudolf. “Egyptian Theology in the Third Millennium
temple services, offerings, good works, and avoidance of evil
B.C.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 18 (1959): 170–212.
deeds. They believed that they were destined from birth to
Assmann, Jan. Ägyptische Hymnen und Gebete. Zurich, 1975.
a particular fate, but they were also optimistic that they
Bell, H. Idris. Cults and Creeds of Graeco-Roman Egypt. Liverpool,
could, perhaps with the help of a god, change an unfortunate
1953.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
2717
Bonnet, Hans. Reallexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte. Ber-
Posener, Georges. De la divinité du Pharaon. Paris, 1960.
lin, 1952.
Sauneron, Serge. Les prêtres de l’ancienne Égypte. Paris, 1957.
Breasted, James H. The Development of Religion and Thought in
Sauneron, Serge. Les fêtes religieuses d’Esna. Cairo, 1962.
Ancient Egypt. New York, 1912.
Schweitzer, Ursula. Das Wesen des Ka im Diesseits und Jenseits der
Cerny, Jaroslav. Ancient Egyptian Religion. London, 1952.
alten Ägypter. Glückstadt, 1956.
Englund, Gertie. Akh: Une notion religieuse dans l’Égypte
Sethe, Kurt H. Dramatische Texte zu den altägyptischen Mysterien-
pharaonique. Uppsala, 1978.
spielen. Leipzig, 1928.
Erman, Adolf. Die Religion der Ägypter: Ihr Werden und ihr Verge-
Sethe, Kurt H. Amun und die acht Urgötter von Hermopolis. Berlin,
hen in vier Jahrtausenden. Berlin, 1934.
1929.
Faulkner, Raymond. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Oxford,
Sethe, Kurt H. Urgeschichte und älteste Religion der Ägypter. Leip-
1969.
zig, 1930.
Faulkner, Raymond. The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts. 3 vols.
Oxford, 1973–1978.
Spiegel, Joachim. “Das Auferstehungsritual der Unaspyramide.”
Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte 53 (1956): 339–
Frankfort, Henri. Kingship and the Gods. Chicago, 1948.
439.
Frankfort, Henri. Before Philosophy. Baltimore, 1954.
Vandier, Jacques. La religion égyptienne. Paris, 1944.
Frankfort, Henri. Ancient Egyptian Religion. New York, 1961.
Vandier, Jacques. Le Papyrus Jumilhac. Paris, 1961.
Greven, Liselotte. Der Ka in Theologie und Königskult der Ägypter
Westendorf, Wolfhart, ed. Aspekte der spätägyptischen Religion.
des Alten Reiches. Glückstadt, 1952.
Wiesbaden, 1979.
Griffiths, J. Gwyn. The Origins of Osiris and His Cult. Leiden,
Wilson, John A. The Burden of Egypt. Chicago, 1951.
1980.
Wolf, Walther. Das schöne Fest von Opet. Leipzig, 1931.
Hornung, Erik. Altägyptische Höllenvorstellungen. Leipzig, 1968.
Hornung, Erik. Ägyptische Unterweltsbücher. Zurich, 1972.
Zabkar, Louis V. A Study of the Ba Concept in Ancient Egyptian
Texts. Chicago, 1968.
Hornung, Erik. Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt. Ithaca, N.Y.,
1982.
Zandee, Jan. Death as an Enemy. Leiden, 1960.
Junker, Hermann. Die Götterlehre von Memphis (Schabaka-
LEONARD H. LESKO (1987)
Inschrift). Berlin, 1940.
Kees, Hermann. Das Priestertum in ägyptischen Staat vom Neuen
Reich bis zur Spätzeit. Leiden, 1953.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
Kees, Hermann. Der Götterglaube im alten Ägypten. 2d ed. Berlin,
From the dawn of Egyptian history, and throughout the
1956.
three and a half millennia of their currency, religious beliefs
Kees, Hermann. Totenglauben und Jenseitsvorstellungen der alten
and practices were for practical purposes committed to writ-
Ägypter. 2d ed. Berlin, 1956.
ten form. The singular phenomenon of the nation-state the
Lesko, Leonard H. “Some Observations on the Composition of
pharaohs had created put far greater stock in the hieroglyphic
the Book of Two Ways.” Journal of the American Oriental So-
script, the novel creation of a bureaucracy of wise men, than
ciety 91 (1971): 30–43.
it did in any memory, individual or collective, that might
Lesko, Leonard H. “The Field of Hetep in Egyptian Coffin
serve as a repository for the important knowledge of the com-
Texts.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 9
munity. The scribal tradition, therefore, at an early date took
(1971–1972): 89–101.
precedence over the oral in Egypt, and the scribe became re-
Morenz, Siegfried. Egyptian Religion. Ithaca, N.Y., 1973.
corder and transmitter of all that was deemed important
Morenz, Siegfried. Religion und Geschichte des alten Ägypten: Ge-
among the intellectual creations of pharaonic society. Egyp-
sammelte Aufsätze. Weimar, 1975.
tian religion was practiced according to beliefs and directives
Morenz, Siegfried, and Dieter Müller. Untersuchungen zur Rolle
“as they were [found] in writing,” and scorn was poured on
des Schicksals in der ägyptischen Religion. Berlin, 1960.
anything that remained in an oral stage of transmission. The
Moret, Alexandre. Le rituel du culte divin journalier en Égypte
latter was “the narrative discourse of the people,” and was
d’après les papyrus de Berlin et les textes du temple de Séti Pre-
considered to be unsophisticated, hyperbolic, and unreliable.
mier à Abydos. Paris, 1902.
In the light of this it should come as no surprise to learn
Mueller, Dieter. “An Early Egyptian Guide to the Hereafter.”
that the scribe in ancient Egypt was the kingpin in the run-
Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 58 (1972): 99–125.
ning of the government, and the most respected member of
Otto, Eberhard. Das Ägyptische Mundoffnungsritual. Wiesbaden,
the community (Williams, 1972). The “scribe of the god’s
1960.
book,” later to become the sacred scribe, and the “lector-
Piankoff, Alexandre. Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon. Princeton, N.J.,
priest” (lit., “he who carries the book role”) are found already
1955.
in the Early Dynastic period (c. 3000–2650 BCE). Precisely
Piankoff, Alexandre. The Wandering of the Soul. Princeton, N.J.,
what kind of sacred literature such worthies wrote, copied,
1974.
and guarded at this early time is difficult to ascertain. 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
2718
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
vast majority of texts, both originals and copies, were written
balmment and purification, the “opening of the mouth” cer-
on papyrus, it is scarcely to be wondered at that none has
emony (to revivify the mummy and the mortuary statues),
survived from the Old Kingdom (c. 3000–2200 BCE), and
coronation, rites of passage, and the offering liturgy.
very few from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2134–1660 BCE).
Something of the early history of the sacred library can, how-
While this was not their primary intent, the Pyramid
ever, be reconstructed from hieroglyphic records and from
Texts provide an introduction to the cult and pantheon of
the known exigencies of the cult. Thus, the overriding im-
the gods current in Egypt during the Old Kingdom. The
portance of sacred monarchy demanded that rites concerned
texts were undoubtedly produced by the theologians and
with coronation and jubilee be regulated by written directo-
scribes of the great center of sun worship, Heliopolis, where
ries, and the remarkable uniformity of relief-scenes and texts
lay the “great mansion” of the sun god, Re-Atum. Reflecting
commemorating these ceremonies over three millennia ar-
the amazing political unity the Egyptian state had achieved
gues the presence, already in the Old Kingdom, of written
under pharaonic administration by the middle of the third
prescriptions.
millennium BCE, these Heliopolitan priests had synthesized
the religion of the Nile Valley and Delta into a unified
Of equal, if not greater, importance to the ancient
whole, and enlisted its aid in effecting the king’s journey to
Egyptian community were two rites intimately connected
the solar beyond (Anthes, 1959). The Pyramid Texts can,
with the funerary cult—the offering to the ancestors and the
therefore, be used—with appropriate caution—as a source
mortuary liturgy. The former called forth at the very dawn
for Egyptian religion during the Old Kingdom.
of Egyptian history the offering-list, a formal and compre-
The Coffin Texts. This body of literature, comprising
hensive listing of foodstuffs and other requirements of the
more than 1,150 “spells” and called in Egyptian the Book of
dead, together with name and titles of the ancestor and occa-
Justifying a Man in the Realm of the Dead, is known in numer-
sionally a formulaic text to be used orally (Barta, 1963). The
ous copies from the ninth dynasty through the thirteenth (c.
mortuary liturgy became the starting point for that ever-
2150–1650
burgeoning body of texts known to the Egyptians as sakhu
BCE). Although a few extant fragments make it
plain that the original was written up in papyrus copies, the
(“[funerary] beatifications”), pronounced by the lector-priest
vast majority of examples are found written in ink in vertical
on the day of the obsequies to assist the deceased in securing
columns (in apparent imitation of the Pyramid Texts), on
a glorified existence in the beyond. Any person for whom of-
the insides of the large, rectangular wooden coffins that were
fering-list and beatifications had been provided could ipso
characteristic of the period (Faulkner, 1973–1978). Unlike
facto be termed “a competent and equipped spirit.”
the Pyramid Texts, of which they could be considered a later
MORTUARY LITERATURE. Although one must await the
development, the Coffin Texts often precede a spell with a
twenty-fourth century BCE for the first extensive texts of fu-
rubric docket giving the purpose of the piece, and follow it
nerary purport, from that point the genre rapidly becomes
with another supplying directions for use. The latter might
one of the most frequent in the repertoire of Egyptian
suggest use by cult initiates during life, and indeed the Book
writings.
of Two Ways has been taken to be a manual of initiation. On
the other hand, the rubric headings of spells most frequently
The Pyramid Texts. The corpus of religious literature
point to their construing by the ancients as magical incanta-
called the Pyramid Texts comprises approximately 760 indi-
tions designed to circumvent obstacles, combat dangers, and
vidual paragraphs, or “spells,” inscribed on the walls of the
ensure the well-being of the deceased in the next life. Over
tomb chambers and entrance corridors of Egyptian kings
half of the spells are concerned with mystical transformations
(and occasionally queens) from Wenis (c. 2410–2380 BCE)
of the deceased into animals, gods, objects, or desirable ele-
to Aba (fl. c. 2185 BCE). As such it represents the earliest, and
ments in nature (the Nile, grain, air, and so on), and in a
in some respects the most interesting, body of sacred litera-
large proportion of them magical effectiveness is ensured by
ture in the ancient world (Faulkner, 1969; Barta, 1981). In
the knowledge of esoteric mythology to which the deceased
later times the material was sporadically revived and reco-
lays claim.
pied; but the original exemplars reflect its heyday. (Even
when first seen, however, the corpus was undergoing a rapid
Much of the Coffin Texts derives from the Pyramid
evolution: Much of the content of the Wenis texts is missing
Texts, and belongs under the general rubric of “beatifica-
and has been replaced with additional material of like sort
tions,” but the content and atmosphere of the Coffin Texts
in the pyramid of Pepi II [c. 2290–2200 BCE].) The texts fol-
sometimes differ markedly from the aristocratic or royal aura
low no special sequence, other than a general “order of ser-
of the Pyramid Texts. Often a spell from the latter is distort-
vice” from the arrival of the funeral cortege at the pyramid
ed and misinterpreted, either to suit the new requirements
to the king’s acceptance by the sun god in heaven. Broadly
of life in a different age or, more often, through ignorance
speaking, the intent is that of an apologia on behalf of the
of what it originally meant. Like the Pyramid Texts, the Cof-
deceased in order to secure the gods’ acquiescence to his eter-
fin Texts come from the context of the sun cult, but yield
nal stay among them. The Pyramid Texts incorporate hymns
more information on other cult centers, such as Abydos,
to the gods, magical incantations, prayers for the dead, litur-
Mendes, and Buto. For the first time in Egyptian religious
gical pieces, and ritual texts, and as such envisage rites of em-
literature, prominence is given to the concept of the judg-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
2719
ment of the dead in the afterlife; and Osiris and his cycle,
(Hornung, 1980). The very names of the books comprising
on the ascendant in the later versions of the Pyramid Texts,
this esoteric library reveal the nature of the realm described:
are very much to the fore in the Coffin Texts.
the Book of What Is in the Underworld, the Book of Gates, the
Book of Caverns, the Litany of Re, the Book of Traversing Eter-
Book of Going Forth by Day. By the beginning of the
nity. Though they were genuine papyrus books whose origins
eighteenth dynasty (c. 1569 BCE), the vast corpus of “beatifi-
in some cases possibly date before the New Kingdom, most
cations” represented by the Coffin Texts was being pressed
of these pieces are known from hieroglyphic copies inscribed
into service as a source for a new document of funerary use,
on the walls of the tombs of the kings at Thebes. They de-
the Book of Going Forth by Day, erroneously termed the Book
scribe an underworld divided into twelve regions (corre-
of the Dead by moderns (Allen, 1974). Written most com-
sponding to the hours of the night), peopled by fierce de-
monly on a papyrus roll that was placed in the coffin beside
mons and fraught with dangers for gods and mortals alike.
the mummy (of both royalty and commoners), the Book of
It is a place of punishment from which all people fervently
Going Forth by Day derives nearly 60 percent of its material
pray to be saved. Concern for such salvation, as well as for
from the known Coffin Texts; but the spells were evolving
well-being in life, led in the first millennium BCE to the prac-
under constant pressure of reinterpretation, and new incan-
tice of placing “decrees” in the mouths of the gods on behalf
tations were being added. Their magical intent is clearer than
of other gods and individual human beings, and inscribing
ever: Each spell has a title, and most a prescription for use.
them on prophylactery strips of papyrus or on tablets.
All were, as is to be expected, intended for the well-being of
the deceased in the next life, although, as is the case with the
The cosmic balance between Re and Osiris and the nat-
Coffin Texts, use by the living is not entirely excluded. The
ural principles for which they stood were of great concern
Book of Going Forth by Day continues and expands a practice
in the Late period (second half of the first millennium BCE).
begun on a small scale by the Coffin Texts, that of glossing
Underworld literature envisages a union of the two at a cru-
selected spells with colored vignettes showing the deceased
cial point in Re’s nightly passage through the underworld.
before various gods or engaged in cultic acts. Whereas for the
In a curious ritual called the Rite of the House of Life, de-
New Kingdom spells are treated as individual units having
signed to preserve life in the universe and prevent the sun
little connection with other material and no fixed position
crashing to the earth, Osiris was united with Re in the form
in a canonical order, the “archaizing” revival of the Kushite-
of a mummy.
Saite period (712–525 BCE) produced a standard sequence
of spells that survived into Roman times.
Communications between living and dead. Central to
Egyptian mortuary practices was the offering to the ances-
The Book of Going Forth by Day shows the concept of
tors. The entire tomb in its layout and decoration focused
the Egyptian afterlife at a stage from which it developed lit-
upon the offering station with its stone table, libation stone,
tle. The concept of the judgment, or psychostasia, is virtually
and sculpted or painted representation of the deceased. Here
full-blown, the trust in the efficacy of magic at its height. It
the dead met the living, as it were, and lively “conversation”
now becomes standard procedure to place certain spells on
was the result. At a very early date, certainly by the close of
“shawabtis” (servant figurines) to activate them, or on “heart
the third dynasty (c. 2650 BCE), tomb owners had begun to
scarabs” (beetle pectorals) to prevent the heart from testify-
use the wall space in the tomb chapel to convey messages to
ing against its owner. Proper use of chapter 125 will ensure
posterity: personal identification (name and titles), legal con-
that the deceased emerges from the divine tribunal un-
tracts with mortuary priests, scenes from the life of the de-
scathed, whether he be “guilty” or not; the pious intoning
ceased, and formal addresses to the living. The last, intro-
of hymns to the sun at dawn and sunset will elicit divine in-
duced by the heading “He [the tomb owner] says . . .” and
dulgence for eternity.
followed by direct speech, constituted a biographical state-
ment, and throughout Egyptian history this statement be-
Underworld literature. From the earliest period one
came a major source not only for history but also for personal
can sense an antithesis between Re, the supernal sun god, fons
ethics and conduct in society. Very frequently the tomb
et origo of the universe of light, and Osiris, the passive infer-
owner used it as a vehicle to cajole or harangue the passerby
nal hypostasis of the mystery of fertility, death, and the earth.
into either making a formal offering or (more often) pro-
Every night the sun passed through the perils of the infernal
nouncing the offering formula whereby the foodstuffs named
regions where Osiris dwelt, and it was only by magic and the
were actualized for the deceased in the next life. The tomb
prayers of the devout that it emerged whole in the morning.
owner sensed that his visitor might be reluctant to comply
The “well-equipped” soul showed an ambivalence in its post-
with his request, and so he presented arguments of conve-
mortem desires, now striving to accompany the sun boat in
nience and self-interest; at times he all but threatened. The
its eternal round through sky and the underworld for ever,
same type of text could be used as a means of warding off
now craving identity with Osiris, embedded forever in the
would-be violators of the tomb, usually by threatening them
life-giving soil. Preoccupation with these aims, ostensibly ir-
with a lawsuit at the court of the Great God in the Beyond.
reconcilable, conjured up in the New Kingdom (c. 1569–
1085 BCE) an ever-increasing literature on the underworld
Conversation of the living with the ancestors was also
and the mystery of the eventual union of Re with Osiris
possible. This took the form of “letters to the dead,” written
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2720
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
on bowls, shards, or papyrus and placed in the offering
(Sethe, 1928). Although the alleged antiquity of the text has
chamber of the tomb, to be seen by the spirit when it
been doubted, the same concepts it sets forth are clearly al-
emerged to partake of the food offerings. Frequently the let-
luded to in New Kingdom religious literature. The claim,
ters incorporated complaints that the dead relative was inter-
often made, that it does in fact date from the late third mil-
fering in the writer’s life.
lennium BCE may yet prove correct.
MYTHOLOGY. No myths have come down from ancient
Myths of kingship and fertility. These center upon
Egypt composed solely for the sake of the narrative itself
two great cycles of myths, the Horus-Seth conflict and the
(Schott, 1945). No practical need was felt to produce an edi-
death of Osiris. The former describes the struggle of Order
tio princeps. But mythology was constantly used, so powerful
with Chaos, variously cast as an act of revenge, a fight over
were its archetypal protagonists and events felt to be as a basis
the right to rule, or simply a natural struggle. When linked
for cult procedure, and mythology was drawn on as an inex-
with the Osiris myth, the fight is sharpened and humanized:
haustible source of prototypes and identifications in the
It is not only a son’s act of revenge upon his father’s murder-
realm of magic. Further, the cultic and magical act enjoyed
er, but also the son’s assertion of his legal and political rights.
a reciprocal influence on the myth, and the latter is found
When the king adopts the role of Horus and performs the
evolving and reproducing under the influence of a changing
obsequies for his deceased father, “Osiris,” the whole myth
cult. This evolution, however, was not in the hands of the
takes on heightened significance as the mythological under-
scribe. In the cult, indeed in everyday life, the spoken word
pinning of the monarchy (Anthes, 1959).
predominated; and variant forms of myth are often found
From an early period the whole is inextricably inter-
developing from like-sounding words or phrases. One senses
twined with the myth of fertility, and Osiris and those gods
a creative impulse here that derives from the common Egyp-
with whom he is associated become hypostases of the princi-
tian belief that sound structure constitutes a powerful force
ple of fertility. While it may well be a skewing of the evidence
throughout the elements of the created world.
through the haphazard of preservation, texts pointing to Osi-
Cosmogonies. There is no single text from the phara-
ris and his congeners as associated with the Nile, the fertile
onic period whose sole purpose is to set forth a creation
soil, and the crops tend to become more numerous as the
myth; but allusions to creation motifs are legion in all types
Late Period approaches.
of religious literature. Four basic patterns manifest them-
Like cosmogonies, fertility myths are not in ancient
selves, in all of which the act of creation is construed as the
Egypt accorded any special archetypal publication. There
elimination of chaos and the ordering of preexistent ele-
was no need for one. No canonical version existed, and cons-
ments: (1) the primeval ocean and the creator-god or creative
tant use in the cult and in everyday life continued to produce
element that appears within it; (2) the separation of earth
changes in detail. Seldom is the myth of Osiris epitomized
from sky, both personified in a sexual union; (3) creation by
in the literature of the pharaonic period from beginning to
means of a skilled craft (e.g., the ceramic expertise of
end (cf. as exceptions the eighteenth-dynasty hymn to Osiris
Khnum, the plastic modeling of Ptah, or the weaving of
in Louvre stele c. 286 and the Plutarch version, the latter in
Neith); (4) the conflict between hero-god and monster, out
Griffiths, 1970). But allusions of widely varying length to
of whose carcass the world is created. Of the four the last is
fertility myths are legion in all types of religious literature.
the least known, the motif in Egypt having been early carried
over into a cosmic explanation of the continued integrity of
Myths about the destruction of humankind. Another
creation. Thanks to its espousal by the dominant solar theol-
well-defined group of myths centers upon a feline deity dis-
ogy of Heliopolis, the first is by far the most common, but
patched by the gods to punish humankind for disobedience.
perhaps the most crass (expectoration, masturbation, and
Identified as the sun’s “eye” (i.e., the fierce heat of the sun
weeping being mechanisms involved).
disk, personified) or the goddess of plague, she ranges far
over the earth effecting the gods’ will; but soon she exhibits
A rather more sophisticated approach to the problem of
a mind of her own and refuses to follow the directives of the
creation was essayed at Hermopolis and Memphis. At the
head of the pantheon. The plot turns on the means used by
former site, the abstract qualities of the Primeval Ocean
the gods to subdue her and bring her back into the divine
(Nun) are personified as four gods (with their consorts):
fold (Hornung, 1981).
Nothingness, Inertness, Limitlessness, and Darkness. At
Memphis, Thought and Fiat are singled out as the essence
Mythological stories. Several pieces of writing exist
of the divine, in this case the god Ptah, and are made the sole
that can be broadly characterized as elaborations on a mytho-
elements in the creation process. Wherever rationality and
logical theme. Most date from the New Kingdom and are
the capability of enunciating thought exist in the created
written in the Late Egyptian dialect (current as a literary me-
world, there exists Ptah, sustaining and informing his cre-
dium from c. 1320 BCE to nearly 1000 BCE), but sporadic
ation. This doctrine is most clearly set forth in the Memphite
references suggest the presence of the genre already in the
Theology, a commentary on a dramatic text, appearing under
Middle Kingdom. These works center upon a known inci-
Shabaka (712–697 BCE) as an inscription on stone but pur-
dent in a myth and rework it into a coherent narrative, often
porting to have been copied from a much older document
with dramatic overtones, lending a charming, human cast 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
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
2721
the divine protagonists. Favorite foci around which interest
yond the grave, and the need to live life to the full here and
gravitates are the topos of Isis and baby Horus hiding in the
now. Although most examples of the genre are today found
marshes of the Nile Delta, and the conflict/trial of Horus and
on tomb walls in association with a scene of the harper before
Seth. Some, like the stories of Papyrus d’Orbiney, Papyrus
the deceased, there is good reason to believe that such songs
Chester Beatty I, or the Amherst Papyrus, constitute inde-
enjoyed a primary Sitz im Leben among the living. The con-
pendent works; others are found only in secondary contexts,
tent of individual pieces tends to become cliché-ridden as
where they are used as magic spells. Occasionally in the New
time goes on, but the tone is always lively, with a tendency
Kingdom, themes of Canaanite mythology appear in Egyp-
toward impiety. Harpers’ songs remained popular for centu-
tian translation (Simpson, 1973; Lichtheim, 1973–1980).
ries, and their irreverent nature occasionally evoked a coun-
terblast from the pious.
SPECULATIVE LITERATURE. The complete collapse of society
and government in the obscure “revolution” that brought an
The pessimistic view of humanity’s ability to forecast
end to the Old Kingdom (c. 2200 BCE) shook the Egyptians’
what will be met beyond the grave leads naturally, though
confidence in traditional beliefs and procedures. In the litera-
illogically, to the proposition that the afterlife, in pointed
ture of the First Intermediate period that followed (c. 2200–
contrast to what is expected by all, is in fact a realm of gloom
2050 BCE) a questioning tone may be sensed; Egypt, or at
and misery. A story of thirteenth-century date in which a
least a part of it, was engaged in a fundamental reappraisal
pious priest encounters the spirit of one long departed who
of the nation’s institutions and identity. While the continu-
enlightens him on this score, sets forth this view, and a few
um in the mortuary cult attested by the Coffin Texts shows
mortuary stelae of later times elaborate on the same theme.
the presence of a traditional “mainstream” in Egyptian
Discourse. The Egyptians, like many ancient peoples,
thought, a surprisingly large number of pieces written during
identified one sort of wisdom with the ability to foretell the
the period display a questing spirit prepared to break with
future under divine inspiration. The verb meaning “to fore-
the past and espouse heterodox views.
tell, to announce in advance” did not, however, give rise to
Dialogues and harpers’ songs. An untraditional, in-
a genre term. More often than not it is the wise man himself
deed agnostic, view of humankind’s prospects beyond the
whose name is the identifying element, and the text goes
tomb was the contribution of a very special group of texts
under the label of “The discourse (lit., the word) of so-and-
that must have had their birth in the First Intermediate peri-
so.” Broadly speaking, such declamations are grouped by the
od. In the genre of the dialogue, two proponents of differing
ancients under the general rubric of “teachings.”
(if not opposing) points of view engage each other in conver-
The turbulent years of the First Intermediate period
sation, and the views expressed are startlingly heterodox. In
were the heyday of the prophetic discourse, although as a
one example, Osiris, typifying the soul on the point of enter-
“literary” phenomenon it had a longer life. In the main it
ing the afterlife, gives vent to his fear of the unknown, in
constituted a lament over the sorry condition of the land,
spite of centuries of confident mortuary practices; and Atum
gone to ruin politically and socially, and could be cast either
is obliged to offer him the assurance of eternal survival and
as a backdated prediction or a contemporary description
union with the creator himself. Even more peculiar is the Di-
(Junge, 1977). With the coming to power of the twelfth
alogue of a Man with His Soul (a modern title—the ancient
dynasty (c. 1991–1778 BCE) the prophecy was used as a pow-
has not survived). In the sole surviving manuscript of this
erful tool of propaganda to bolster the regime’s claim to legit-
work, which lacks the first few pages, an unnamed man con-
imacy; it might even be placed in the mouth of a god to sup-
templates the prospect of death and declares his determina-
port the pretensions of an individual ruler.
tion to pursue the traditional course of preparing a tomb, the
funeral service, and an endowment. His soul, however,
The discourses of the First Intermediate period fre-
whose acquiescence in all this is crucial to the man’s hope
quently reveal themselves as vehicles of heterodox messages.
of future existence, expresses profound doubts on the efficacy
Ipuwer, an otherwise unknown wise man of the past, rails
of the customary procedure, on the alleged happiness of life
in a lengthy tirade against none other than the creator god
in the beyond, and even on man’s ability to attain an afterlife
himself, and lays at his feet the blame for having allowed the
(Williams, 1962).
land to go to ruin under unjust administrators. A peasant,
wrongfully deprived of his possessions, goes to lodge an offi-
The note of doubt sounded in these works gives over
cial complaint before the appropriate magistrate, and the re-
into the advocacy of a hedonistic approach to life in a well-
sult is a series of paeons adulating justice and decrying civil
represented genre known as “harpers’ songs” (Williams,
corruption. The theme of the petitioner in a lawsuit robbed
1981, pp. 4f.). Derived from the innocuous banquet song
of a just hearing turns up in several works of the period.
whose sole purpose is entertainment at a social event, the har-
pers’ songs originated in the troubled times of the twenty-
MAGICAL TEXTS. The Egyptians conceived of magic (heka)
second century BCE as a vehicle for the expression of a pro-
as a powerful element in the universe that, if controlled,
found disillusionment with traditional views of the afterlife.
could be employed to any end, even to the constraint of the
Recurring themes include the desuetude of tombs and mor-
gods themselves and the dislocation of the cosmos. So domi-
tuary installations, the impossibility of knowing what is be-
nant was the preoccupation with this possibility that litera-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2722
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
ture with magical intent constitutes the most common genre
where sufferers from various diseases came for healing. The
in the corpus of ancient Egyptian writings. Broadly speaking,
magical stelae and cippi were intended for private protection,
magical texts can be divided into two subgroups on the basis
and often show representations of the child Horus and the
of purpose, those concerned with the official cult and those
creatures against whom protection is sought.
for private use; but the Egyptians themselves never made this
W
distinction. Incantations are introduced under several head-
ISDOM LITERATURE. The word that in Egyptian ap-
proaches closest to the concept conveyed by the Hebrew
ings: “The protection against . . .” (sau nu . . .), “The spell
hokhmah (“wisdom”) is sebayt (“teaching”), but this word is
of . . .” (ra n . . .), “The repelling of . . .” (sehry), “The
so loosely used that it can scarcely point to a formal genre.
book of . . .” (medjat), “The protection of . . .” (meket),
Any text with broad didactic purpose could be grouped
“The protection book . . .” (nehet) (Redford, 1985, p. 104,
under this heading. Thus it is found used of collections of
n. 60). As in the case of mortuary literature, rubrics specify-
maxims (most frequently), but also of texts of occupational
ing use are sometimes included, but stories in which magi-
guidance, model letters for students, political pamphlets,
cians appear as protagonists often reflect the procedures in-
word lists, and so on. Anything, in fact, within the purview
volved.
of the teacher-scribe that could be used for instruction fell
The purpose of magic spells varied. Most often they
broadly under this rubric.
were designed to ward off external forces of evil, whether
It is, however, to aphoristic literature that the term is
ethereal or concrete. Temple ritual invoked magic to ensure
most often applied. A piece will begin with some such intro-
the integrity of the rites, the cult personnel, the parapherna-
duction as “Here begins the life-teaching, the attestations to
lia, and the installation. So closely intertwined in the ritual
well-being, all instructions of executive deportment and the
was the magical incantation that frequently it is difficult to
regular procedure of courtiers” or “Here begins the instruc-
distinguish cultic prescriptions, prayers, and hymns from
tion that educates the heart and witnesses to the ignorant.”
texts with purely magical intent. A perusal of the famous
The inclusion of “testimonies” and “sayings of the way of
Edfu library catalogue, for example, will reveal the startling
life” generally denotes the incorporation of a collection of
fact that much of what would pass as ritual is subsumed
proverbs. The usual context of wisdom literature is the fa-
under magic! Private use was concerned with protection
ther-to-son chat, in which fatherly advice is given to the
from disease, bodily harm, or demons who effect harm, and
young on how to win friends and influence people and, gen-
thus was closely associated with medicine. Very common
erally, how to lead a successful life. Much of the worldly wis-
were spells to ward off snakes, scorpions, crocodiles, and
dom set forth suggests an origin in everyday life and a prima-
other noisome animals, or to neutralize the evil intent of peo-
ry oral transmission. Nevertheless, from the earliest period
ple (often foreign), of the dead, or of the evil eye. Formal exe-
canonical versions of many books of wisdom existed, in
cration of foreign enemies, employing the ritual smashing of
which wording and sequence of pericopes were of paramount
pots and figurines, was well known in the sphere of pharaon-
importance; and the motif of a wise man’s words being taken
ic statecraft. Productive, as opposed to prophylactic, magic
down in writing at the moment of delivery is a commonplace
is not well attested.
in Egyptian literature.
By his thorough training in magical lore, the magi-
cian—the Egyptians used such a word (hekay), but magic
Collections of wise sayings originate in all periods of
could be learned by anyone intelligent enough—could con-
Egyptian history. Purporting to be the work of a vizier of the
front the most powerful hostile force and triumph. Most
fifth dynasty (c. twenty-fifth century BCE), the Wisdom of
often the speaker identified himself in a spell with a god, or
Ptahhotep is known in a complete text, while the wisdom
invoked a mythological incident as precedent. Numerous
writings under the names of Prince Hor-djedef and Vizier
myths are in fact known only because they were considered
Kagemni, also known Old Kingdom figures, have survived
efficacious enough to be used as spells! Identification of cele-
in less satisfactory condition. From the First Intermediate pe-
brant or victim with a divine figure, or the extensive use of
riod comes the Instruction for Merikare (c. 2075 BCE), a fasci-
homophonous words (“pious puns”), was considered useful
nating treatise on statecraft written by a king of the tenth
in ensuring the effectiveness of the spell (Borghouts, 1978).
dynasty for his son and successor on the throne. The twelfth
dynasty has bequeathed a wealth of wisdom literature, in-
Great compilations of magical texts were copied on pa-
cluding the posthumous Instruction of Amenemhet, a political
pyrus and kept in temple libraries, but few of these have sur-
tract “written” from the grave and placed in the mouth of
vived, and one is often thrown back on “unofficial” copies.
the assassinated founder of the house; a “loyalist” treatise
Private scribal libraries have occasionally yielded magical pa-
supporting adherence to the pharaonic government; a “sat-
pyri, but casual copies on ostraca are more numerous. Of
ire” of the trades, an early schoolboy text advocating the
special interest are the prophylactic statues of mortals or gods
scribal calling; and several minor collections of maxims. The
in various poses, covered with magical spells and provided
teachings of Ani and the thirty wise sayings of Amenemope
with the means of collecting water poured over them. These
come from the later New Kingdom; and the first millennium
usually were installed in sanatoriums attached to the temples
BCE has preserved the Wisdom of Onkhsheshongy and Papyrus
(especially in the second half of the first millennium BCE),
Insinger, both of which show traces of foreign influence.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
2723
Although very much akin in form and content to its
book”). This was a sort of breviary or missal, giving the order
biblical or Akkadian counterparts, Egyptian wisdom litera-
of service and the texts that were to be read. Occasionally the
ture had only limited influence abroad. The Wisdom of
book was identified with a particular cult, as “the hebet of
Amenemope had long been considered (rightly) the basis of
the temple of Ptah.” Slightly later terms, used of documents
Proverbs 30, and Psalm 104 seems to be more than an echo
as well as in the abstract, were net- E (“customary procedure,
of Akhenaton’s “teaching,” as represented in his hymn to the
ritual”; also pressed into service to render the Akkadian word
sun disk (fourteenth century BCE). But biblical, Mesopota-
for “treaty”) and iru (“cultic forms/acts”). Sometimes “book
mian, and Greek folklore with a “wisdom” element owe
of ” is substituted for net- E. During the Middle Kingdom a
more to local themes and sources than to Egypt (Williams,
compendious order of service was referred to as “the com-
1972, 1981).
plete [guide],” and the requirements of the ritual and, curi-
ously, the spells to be recited were contained in the “god’s
TEMPLE LIBRARIES. While the “House of the God’s Book”
offeringbook.” Among the few ritual papyri that have sur-
was originally, in the Old Kingdom, a secular registry office
vived, one may cite a funerary ritual and a rite of succession
for royal rescripts, by the Middle Kingdom the term god was
from the Middle Kingdom, a daily offering liturgy from the
being construed as a reference not to the king but to a mem-
New Kingdom, and rituals for various gods’ festivals from
ber of the pantheon, and the expression was coming to mean
the Late period. It is important to note that, whatever mne-
“temple library” (Schott, 1972, 1977). Occasionally alternat-
monic devices a priest may have employed, a ritual was al-
ing with such terms as chamber, office, or hall of writings (the
ways performed “in accordance with that which is in
last a repository of more secular documents), this department
writing.”
of temple administration was overseen by librarians (“keepers
of the writings”), and was open to lector-priests, scribes of
Beatifications. The category of “beatifications” (sakhu,
the god’s book, and temple scribes in general. Scrolls were
from a causative root meaning “to turn someone into a glori-
copied out in an adjacent scriptorium and then deposited in
fied spirit”) encompasses texts intended to “actualize” the fu-
the library in wooden chests, less frequently in jars. Associat-
ture glorified state of the deceased in the beyond. The term
ed with the sacred library but outside the temple proper was
is often used in captions to a scene depicting the lector-priest
the “House of Life,” an institution open only to the highest
reading from a scroll on the day of burial. Oblique references
grade of skilled scribes and to the king. Here were copied and
make plain the esoteric nature of the material in their allu-
composed the most holy rituals, hymns, commentaries, and
sion to “that secret writing of the lector-priest’s craft,” by
magical texts, and here also the most esoteric rites were per-
which beatifications are undoubtedly meant. In all probabili-
formed in secret.
ty this is the rubric under which the ancients classified such
collections of mortuary spells as the Pyramid Texts and the
As an archive constantly referred to in all aspects of tem-
Coffin Texts, and there can be little doubt that they were in-
ple life and procedure, the temple library was treated by the
tended to be read aloud.
Egyptians as their most precious textual resource. Thoth, the
inventor and master of the hieroglyphs, was the library’s pa-
Hymns. In Egyptian the hymn goes under several desig-
tron, and Seshat, the goddess of books, presided over its con-
nations. Most common is duau (“adoration”); less frequent,
tents. The scribes were proud of their ability to compose,
senemehu or sensu (“supplication”). Often inscribed on stelae,
copy, and edit texts, and were strictly enjoined not to let their
this adoration of the deity is sometimes explicit in its pur-
“fingers tamper with the god’s words.” One senses a continu-
pose, “propitiating the spirit” of the gods or goddesses ad-
um in the life of temple archives over many centuries in the
dressed. Hymns are often characterized by the recurrent re-
three and a half millennia of Egyptian history. Users could
frain “Hail to thee!” followed by a direct invocation of the
ferret out scrolls of high antiquity and marvel at the difficult
deity, replete with epithets. Less often the key words are
syntax and archaic vocabulary. The most skilled scribes
“Praise to thee!” The genre includes such formal hymns as
boasted of their ability to restore what was lost in lacunae in
cultic supplications to individual gods, litanies, and even
moth-eaten originals. Although many such references are cli-
royal apologias; but it also encompasses the popular, private
ché-ridden, there is every reason to believe that a priestly
hymns to the sun god at dawn and sunset, and even the in-
scribe such as Manetho, living in the third century BCE, had
scribed “testimonies” of the semiliterate class of workers, wit-
access to written sources ranging back through three millen-
nessing to healing and forgiveness. By extension duau may
nia. In the present time, although no temple library has sur-
also be applied to the “adorations” of Hathor, goddess of love
vived intact, the contents of a typical collection are easy to
(i.e. to love poetry). The term can refer as well to the out-
reconstruct from the copious references in inscriptions and
burst of praise, spontaneous or formal, of the king by the
from a few papyrus caches (Reymond, 1977; Redford,
people.
1985).
Several longer hymns, intended for temple service, were
Ritual texts. Several terms designate this broad genre.
nonetheless didactic in nature. Such were the hymns to Re-
The oldest, which is attested already at the dawn of Egyptian
Harakhty, Amun-Re, the sun disk, and Ptah, which are
history, is hebet (“ritual book”), the special preserve of the
known from New Kingdom exemplars. These display a so-
chery-hebet (lector-priest; lit., “he who carries the ritual
phisticated universalism, and preach (in the case of the hymn
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2724
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
to Ptah) the same syncretistic deism as is found in the Mem-
an account of divine acts. Derived from an old word for “an-
phite Theology. The monotheism of the hymn to the sun disk
nals” used originally of the yearly records of the king, the
is well known.
“annals of the gods” first appeared in texts of the New King-
dom and, although examples are lacking, they probably con-
Most examples imply or state directly that the hymns
tained cosmogonic and mythological material. These
are to be intoned, either by private individuals as pious acts
“mighty acts of the gods,” which of course reflect the histor-
of devotion, or in a temple context by a priest or a choir. In
icization of the world of the gods, were the special preserve
temple ritual the papyrus containing the order of service will
of the House of Life. Examples are rare in the New King-
often give only the incipit of a hymn; the choristers and the
dom. The Book of the Cow of Heaven, though used as a set
celebrant undoubtedly knew it by heart.
of magic spells in the extant versions, contains an etiological
Mythological compendiums. The Egyptians loved to
account of the reign of Re (Hornung, 1981). Both Ramses
compile catalogs of the salient features of the cult(s) and of
II (c. 1304–1237 BCE) and Ramses IV (c. 1167–1161 BCE)
the gods and their mythology for a particular nome or group
refer to certain books in the House of Life that contain cos-
of nomes. Known especially from the first millennium BCE,
mogonic material from the reigns of the gods. Late versions
the genre undoubtedly has an earlier history, which is today,
of well-known myths that might qualify for inclusion in this
unfortunately, not directly attested. Late hieroglyphic texts
genre are the reigns of Shu and Geb from the Wady el-Arish
refer to the scroll of the Directory of Mounds of the Early Pri-
naos, the myth of Horus of Edfu, and the Expulsion of Seth.
maeval Ones and the Reckoning of Every Cult Seat and the
In using these well-known pieces, however, it is well to re-
Knowing of What Is in Them. Elsewhere one hears of the
member that they were recast in a period of history (fourth
Great Plan of the Two Lands, which contained information
century BCE) when xenophobia and paranoia because of for-
on Egypt and its arable land.
eign conquest lent a tendentious tone to theme and content.
Chronicles and narratives. Chronicles cannot be iden-
Directories and prescriptions. Prescriptive manuals
tified as a native Egyptian genre, the form being derived from
abounded, especially in the late period. One of the earliest
Babylonia some time in the first millennium BCE. From the
was the Great Inventory, the standard compilation of direc-
early Ptolemaic period (third century BCE) comes the so-
tions for the manufacture of cult images and paraphernalia,
called Demotic Chronicle, in actuality a tendentious inter-
the decoration of shrines, and so on. Manuals on the con-
pretation of selected events in the recent past that in form
struction and decoration of temples were often ascribed to
and inspiration shows strong influence from Asia. Narratives
Imhotep, the almost-legendary savant of the reign of Djoser
are more common. The papyrus fragments from the library
(twenty-seventh century BCE). Under the same heading are
of the temple of Sobek in the Fayum (the lakeland immedi-
directories of purification, manuals of offering, and festival
ately west of the Nile, about fifty miles south of present-day
calendars.
Cairo) contained a number of quasi-legendary romances, in-
Omen texts and related genres. Omina are not com-
cluding stories of the magician Setna, the Romance of King
mon in the Egyptian religious corpus because they are con-
Petubastis, the story of King Djoser and his Assyrian cam-
fined to the Late period, when contact with Mesopotamia
paign, the Amazon romance, and the Prophecy of the Lamb.
was more frequent. Hemerologies and oneiromancies, on the
Similar material has been unearthed in temple libraries at
other hand, enjoyed native popularity and development at
Saqqara, the necropolis of Memphis (Redford, 1985,
an early stage of Egyptian history. The former were apparent-
chap. 8).
ly called “That Which Is in the Year,” though known exem-
King-lists and offering-lists. It is most probable that
plars assign a variety of specific titles. What is important is
temple libraries possessed historical source material in the
that the explanation of why a particular day was considered
form of king-lists and offering-lists. The offering cult of the
propitious or inimical was always assigned a mythological
royal ancestors had been maintained in the chief temples in
context (Brunner-Traut, 1981), and in the process a myth
the land from the earliest dynasties, and had involved an “of-
was often adumbrated. Egyptians, like most ancient peoples,
fering invocation” in which the spirits of the deceased kings
took dreams seriously, and this is reflected in the literature.
and queens were called by name to the offering table. From
Oracle texts. The belief that a god made his will known
the twelfth dynasty at latest there had existed a formal king-
through oracular utterances can be traced back to a relatively
list, tracing the occupancy of the pharaonic seat from the cre-
early period in Egypt’s history, but the practice of employing
ator Ptah through an unbroken line of divine and human in-
oracles as an administrative and juridical mechanism dates
cumbents. Such a king-list was known to and used by Ma-
from the nineteenth dynasty (thirteenth century
netho, the priest-scribe who wrote a history of Egypt in
BCE).
Whether in the seclusion of the shrine or at the public pro-
Greek (third century BCE), and the relative accuracy of his
cession of the god in his sacred bark, eliciting the god’s re-
Aegyptiaca attests to its uninterrupted and sober transmission
sponse to solve a problem became so common that a special
(Waddell, 1940; Redford, 1985).
scribal office was called into being, that of “the scribe of ora-
Annals of the gods. Closely allied to the compendiums
cles,” to keep the records. Examples of the questions put to
mentioned above is a type of document purporting to give
the god (demanding affirmative or negative responses) are
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
2725
extant, as are the beautiful papyrus records of the petitioner’s
were delivered to the temples and deposited in papyrus form
appeal and the results. Often, especially from the twentieth
in the archives there. Any records of special importance to
to the twenty-second dynasties (c. 1200–730 BCE), a hiero-
the temple community, such as royal decrees, inductions and
glyphic record of the oracle, including a vignette showing the
promotions of priests, and lists of royal and private bequests,
petitioner(s) and the divine bark, might be set up in a promi-
were often culled from their primary locus in daybooks and
nent place in the temple to serve as a legal record.
the like, and inscribed in more permanent form on stelae,
walls, and architraves for ease of reference (Redford, 1985;
Medical texts. The writing of medical prescriptions and
Reymond, 1977).
procedures and of the pharmacopoeia was one of the earliest
acts of scribal activity in ancient Egypt. Later traditions are
In addition to the above textual classifications, many of
unanimous in ascribing certain medical books to the kings
the genres already discussed, such as wisdom literature and
and wise men of the Old Kingdom, and in some cases the
magical texts, were also represented in temple libraries. There
archaic syntax and vocabulary of surviving papyri bear this
is every reason to believe that information on such subjects
out. Written and edited by the sacred scribes associated with
as geography, mineralogy, and biology was to be found there
the House of Life, the papyri that have survived are collec-
as well, but it is difficult to say whether any ancient categories
tions of cases and recipes more or less united in common
corresponded to these modern terms of disciplinary research.
areas of interest or practice. Thus there are papyri on gyne-
TEMPLE INSCRIPTIONS. The wall space provided by temple
cology (P. Kahun), obstetrics and pediatrics (P. Ramesseum
construction in ancient Egypt was used as a medium for di-
and P. Carlsberg), surgery (P. Edwin Smith), and veterinary
dactic, reference, and propaganda purposes. Because the
medicine (P. Kahun); in some of the longest papyri (P. Ebers
source for almost all of this textual and iconographic decora-
and the Berlin and London papyri) there is a miscellany of
tion was the temple library, temples that have survived pro-
prescriptions and recipes. References to works now lost show
vide a most precious record of genres whose originals have
specialization in diseases of the heart, eye, and abdomen, in
perished.
anatomy and hygiene. While many magical incantations are
found throughout these papyri in greater or smaller concen-
For the Old Kingdom the material is limited to a hand-
trations, there is everywhere in evidence an insight into pa-
ful of royal mortuary establishments (pyramid-temples).
thology and pharmacology that is based on objective diagno-
Here the range of inscriptions is wider and more varied than
sis and scientific deduction.
was later to be the case. Decorated walls display scenes and
texts recounting battles, the gathering of booty, the transpor-
Administrative texts. In ancient Egypt the temple was
tation of captives, construction, and famine, as well as sing-
not only the “god’s mansion” where he resided and was min-
ing, dancing, and royal processions. The celebration of festi-
istered to by his servants, the priests, but also the hub of a
vals (especially the jubilee) is also present in the subject
large landowning institution comprising a number of dispa-
matter, but purely cultic commemoration is not as common
rate organs of production. Tenant farmers, herdsmen, arti-
as might be thought. The listing of townships and estates as
sans, and merchants all worked for their master, the god, and
part of the record of endowment of the temple takes the form
the revenue they raised provided a sizable income for the
of servant personifications, arranged in rows along the bases
temple estate. The business documents that recorded this
of walls.
commercial aspect of temple life formed a major segment of
any temple’s archives. One of the oldest caches of papyri ex-
While little remains from the Middle Kingdom—the
tant today, the Abusir Papyri, reflects the contents of such
eleventh-dynasty temples show mutatis mutandis a continua-
an archive from the pyramid-temple of Neferirkare I of the
tion of Old Kingdom themes, while the twelfth has left virtu-
fifth dynasty, spanning a period of approximately fifty years
ally nothing—the New Kingdom and later periods have be-
queathed a wealth of inscriptional and iconographic
several generations after the death of the king (c. 2370–2320
evidence. As a rule, a New Kingdom “processional” (axial)
BCE). Here are found inventories of temple furniture, daily
temple will display on its wall surfaces texts appropriate to
records of income, monthly accounts of food distribution
the status of those allowed to view them. Thus, those parts
and expenditures, and duty tables. In the Middle Kingdom,
of the temple on view to the laity—external walls, pylon, and
temple daybooks put in an appearance. These record income
first court—are often decorated with vaguely “propagandis-
and disbursements, letters received in the temple office, ce-
tic” intent, and the repertoire tends toward stereotype. Here
lestial observations, work assignments, lists of personnel, re-
are scenes and texts of foreign wars, standard head-smiting
cords of cultic celebrations, and so on, all organized simply
scenes, lists of conquered places, and the welcoming of the
by calendrical notation. Throughout most periods, temple
king by the god (which continues as a major motif through-
libraries contained inventories of land, personnel, and goods
out the temple).
receivable; priestly correspondence; and account texts. Taxa-
tion documents, specifying quotas levied on sharecroppers
Most often, walls of inner courts and hypostyle hall are
and herdsmen on the temple estates or placed under obliga-
adorned with sequences of vignettes and accompanying texts
tion by the crown, were also to be found in the library. More-
showing the daily liturgy of waking, adorning, and offering
over, during imperial times lists of booty from foreign wars
to the god, with the king as celebrant, taken from the ritual
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2726
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: THE LITERATURE
books of the temple. Specific festivals, such as those of the
(3) The stone naos wherein the cult image resides has be-
jubilee, coronation, the gods Sokar and Min, the Opet feast,
come a major focus of the rites, and its sides are covered
the foundation of the temple, and so on, are often elaborately
with a representative list of all the divine denizens of the
depicted with large excerpts of accompanying texts. Proces-
temple.
sions of princes and princesses, personifications of town-
(4) One senses a tendency to inscribe large excerpts from
ships, towns, and the Nile are used as decorative dadoes, or
ritual books, mythological compendiums, and hymns
as scenes in their own right. Rooms for storage and the prep-
on the walls, wherever space is available, conveying a
aration of cult requirements are decorated with offering
false sense of horor vacui.
scenes of a “neutral” nature, which makes it difficult to ascer-
tain the precise use of some rooms. Certain temples have pre-
These later temples contain a wealth of (local) mythological
served the records of rituals or beliefs peculiar to their locali-
material, but the degree to which they reflect genuinely an-
ties. One may mention in this regard the Osirian rites
cient beliefs and practices is unclear.
recorded in the Sety I temple at Abydos, the Horian myths
at Edfu, the ritual adapted for royal use in the Theban mor-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tuary temples, and the jubilee rites at Soleb, Karnak, and Bu-
Allen, Thomas George, ed. The Book of the Dead. Chicago, 1974.
bastis.
The most authoritative translation of the Book of Going Forth
by Day in English, by a scholar who devoted his life to its
The temple courts and the immediate surroundings of
study.
the structure were deemed suitable for the display of texts set
Anthes, Rudolf. “Egyptian Theology in the Third Millennium
up for a variety of purposes. Prominence of place was given
B.C.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 18 (July 1959): 169–
to royal inscriptions, either on freestanding stelae or on tem-
212. The most detailed and incisive treatment of basic
ple walls. These are records of royal acts or regulatory decrees
mythological concepts in ancient Egypt, using mainly the ev-
affecting the temple (frequently the product of a king’s
idence of the Pyramid Texts.
speech delivered at a “royal sitting”), and often involve build-
Barta, Winfried. Die altägyptische Opferliste von der Frühzeit bis zur
ing inscriptions and offering endowments. The contents of
griechisch-römischer Epoche. Berlin, 1963. The standard treat-
such inscriptions, though rhetorically embellished for popu-
ment of the most common type of funerary text in ancient
lar consumption, are usually derived from such official re-
Egyptian tombs.
cords as the “daybook of the king’s house.”
Barta, Winfried. Die Bedeutung der Pyramidentexte für den verstor-
Another type of stele, set up before or just inside the
benen König. Munich, 1981. An excellent summary, with
useful indexes and tables, of the major theories on the origins
temple, was inscribed with a royal encomium. Clearly associ-
and purpose of the Pyramid Texts.
ated with occasions of oral delivery, such adulations took the
form either of stereotyped praise of the king in prose for his
Borghouts, J. F., trans. Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts. Leiden,
1978. A well-written and well-translated compendium of
“mighty acts” or deeds, or, more often (especially in the later
representative incantations, with a brief but useful com-
New Kingdom), a formal “song” to be sung to harp accom-
mentary.
paniment, each strophe ending with the names of the king.
Brunner-Traut, Emma. Gelebte Mythen. Darmstadt, 1981. A col-
Private individuals of high rank were allowed to set up, in
lection of five articles on specific aspects of Egyptian mythol-
an ambulatory within the temple, statues of themselves with
ogy, with a pithy introduction, useful for the student.
lengthy inscriptions. Such statue inscriptions, while most
Faulkner, Raymond, trans. and ed. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
often cast in the form of an address to the passerby, inevita-
Texts. Oxford, 1969. The most up-to-date translation into
bly incorporate biographical and genealogical information of
English of this early corpus of texts.
the highest importance. Citizens of low rank might, certainly
in smaller temples, hope to be able to set up hymns, prayers,
Faulkner, Raymond, trans. and ed. The Ancient Egyptian Coffin
Texts. 3 vols. Warminster, 1973–1978. The best—and the
and testimonials to the gods on stelae where the god might
only—comprehensive translation of the Coffin Texts avail-
see them and honor their requests.
able.
The best-preserved temples in Egypt date from the
Griffiths, J. Gwyn, trans. Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride. Cardiff,
fourth century BCE to the first century CE, and ultimately re-
1970. There is no more authoritative treatment of the Osiri-
flect the risorgimento of the cult during the Saite Period
an cycle of deities and their mythology in any language than
(664–525 BCE). In the main they follow the New Kingdom
this work. It is the best translation and commentary on Plu-
tradition, but with some modifications:
tarch’s De Iside available today.
(1) Offering vignettes showing king or god before the di-
Hornung, Erik. “Jenseitsführer.” In Lexikon der Ägyptologie, com-
vine owner of the temple or his guests, and derived from
piled by Hans Wolfgang Helck and Eberhard Otto, vol. 3.
Wiesbaden, 1980. The most recent introduction to New
the daily offering liturgy, are now repeated on the walls,
Kingdom literature relating to the underworld.
both interior and exterior, ad nauseam.
Hornung, Erik. Das Buch des Himmelskuh. Göttingen, 1981. A
(2) The mystic birth of the god-child, offspring of the god-
new publication and commentary of a long-known “under-
dess of the temple, is given great prominence in text and
world” book, containing the story of the destruction of hu-
iconography.
mankind.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
2727
Junge, Friedrich. “Die Welt der Klagen.” In Fragen an die alt-
tained that the history of the study of religion should begin
ägyptische Literatur, edited by Jan Assmann et al.,
in the Pharaonic period. During the long period of Egyptian
pp. 275–285. Wiesbaden, 1977. A study of those Middle
history, the ancient Egyptian priesthood time and again
Kingdom compositions that describe the anarchy ensuing
studied and reinterpreted aspects of their ancient religious
upon the collapse of society.
traditions. However, although evidence can be gleaned from
Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Read-
this, there are not many actual accounts or treatises. There-
ings. 3 vols. Berkeley, Calif., 1973–1980. A selection of rep-
fore, this survey starts with explicit evidence by several classi-
resentative texts from various genres. The translations are
cal authors, followed by the accounts of early travelers, and
first-rate, and the commentary brief but very useful for the
concentrating on the results of modern scholarship. A dis-
novice.
tinction is made between research efforts that concentrate on
Redford, Donald B. King-lists, Annals and Daybooks. Toronto,
the recording and publication of religious architecture and
1985. A contribution to the historiography of ancient Egypt.
textual material on the one hand, and the analysis and inter-
Manetho is treated in some detail.
pretation of evidence for religious traditions, belief systems,
Reymond, Eve A. E., trans. From Ancient Egyptian Hermetic Writ-
and practices on the other hand. The second part is divided
ings. Vienna, 1977. Fragmentary ritual and prescriptive texts
into several subsections, although many scholars have
on temple buildings and cult procedure from a temple library
bridged a number of these.
of the Roman period. The translation is not always as reliable
as one would like.
RECORDING AND PUBLICATION. The accounts of sixteenth-
and seventeenth-century travelers to Egypt are of great im-
Schott, E. “Bücher und Bibliotheken im alten Ägypten.” Göttinger
portance. Even though the authors could not decipher the
Miszellen 1 (1972): 24–27 and 25 (1977): 73–75. A brief
hieroglyphs before the groundbreaking work of savants such
statement of work done on the study of ancient Egyptian
books and libraries, an area of research in which the author’s
as Thomas Young, and especially Jean Francois Champol-
late husband excelled.
lion, around 1824, they have published detailed descriptions
and drawings of monuments, reliefs, and inscriptions, many
Schott, Siegfried. Mythe und Mythenbildung im alten Ägypten.
of which have since been damaged or completely destroyed.
Leipzig, 1945. A fundamental investigation of the myth-
making process in ancient Egypt.
One of the earliest accounts is that of the English traveler,
Laurence Aldersey (fl. c. 1581–1586), who visited Alexan-
Sethe, Kurt H., ed. and trans. Dramatische Texte zu altägyptischen
dria and Cairo in 1586. Aldersey’s descriptions have been
Mysterienspielen. Leipzig, 1928. A fundamental work on
preserved by the collector of travel narratives, Richard Hak-
Egyptian religion, incorporating two studies: (1) a transla-
tion and interpretation of the Memphite Theology; (2) the text
luyt (1552–1616, listed by Quinn, p. 410). Most travelers
of a ritual papyrus of Middle Kingdom date in the British
concentrated on the Giza pyramids and the sphinx, such as
Museum.
Pietro Della Valle (1586–1652), who also acquired Coptic
manuscripts and grammars; George Sandys (1578–1644)
Simpson, William K., ed. The Literature of Ancient Egypt. New
Haven, Conn., 1973. A set of translations, by leading Egyp-
published an account on the pyramids of Giza in 1615 (The
tologists, of selected stories, wisdom texts, and poetry.
Relation of a Journey begun an. Dom. 1610, in four books),
which could not compete with the precise survey of John
Waddell, W. G. Manetho. London, 1940. The only accessible
Greaves, published in 1646 (Pyramidographia, or a Discourse
translation of the history of Egypt by Manetho (third century
of the Pyramids in Aegypt).
BCE). The commentary is slim and occasionally inaccurate.
Williams, R. J. “Reflections on the Lebensmüde.” Journal of Egyp-
The eighteenth century saw a marked growth in interest
tian Archaeology 48 (1962): 49–56. Possibly the most judi-
in ancient Egypt, and the increase in visitors is reflected in
cious assessment of the enigmatic dialogue that goes under
the number of very important collections of drawings and
the title The Man Who Was Tired of Life.
copies of reliefs and inscriptions. From 1743 to 1745, Rich-
Williams, R. J. “Scribal Training in Ancient Egypt.” Journal of the
ard Pococke, an English traveler, published an account of
American Oriental Society 92 (April–June 1972): 214–221.
Upper and Lower Egypt, including the Valley of the Kings,
in two volumes: A Description of the East, and Some Other
Williams, R. J. “The Sages of Ancient Egypt in the Light of Re-
Countries. Around the same time, N. Granger (d. 1733), a
cent Scholarship.” Journal of the American Oriental Society
101 (January–March 1981): 1–19. An excellent summing-
French physician, published the story of his travels in Rela-
up of present work in the sphere of Egyptian wisdom litera-
tion d’un voyage fait en Egypte en l’année 1730. Richard Dal-
ture, with complete bibliography.
ton (1715–1791), an English draughtsman published 131
plates in Views and Engravings in Greece and Egypt in 1790
DONALD B. REDFORD (1987)
and 1791. One of the great feats of Napoleon Bonaparte’s
expedition to Egypt from 1799 to 1801 was his involvement
of a large number of scholars and artists, whose combined
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
work was published in the Description de l’Égypte between
The study of ancient Egyptian religion shows an enormous
1808 and 1822.
breadth and depth, varying over time with academic fashion
The early nineteenth century witnessed a surge in travel-
and the interests of individual authors. It could be main-
ers who, in many cases, went to Egypt with the explicit 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
2728
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
pose of documenting the antiquities. Henry Salt (1780–
Cauville. The IFAO also brought out eight volumes on the
1827) was the secretary and draughtsman to the Viscount
temple of Esna (between 1959 and 1982 by Serge Sauneron),
Valentia, employed to illustrate Voyages and Travels, which
and a 1995 publication on the temple of Kom Ombo (by
appeared in 1809. Although Giovanni Belzoni (1778–1823)
Adolphe Gutbub). The temple of Edfu has been published
is mostly notorious for his rough approach to archaeology,
in fourteen volumes, between 1897 and 1934 by Émile
he copied his discoveries diligently. His full-scale reproduc-
Chassinat and Maxence Chavet Marquis de Rochemonteix.
tion of the tomb of Seti I was exhibited in London in 1818,
A fifteenth volume and a second edition of the first two vol-
and he published many of his drawings in the Narrative of
umes have been published by Sylvie Cauville and Didier De-
Operations and Recent Discoveries (1820). Sir Charles Barry
vauchelle (1984–1990). The Egypt exploration society and
(1795–1860) made plans and drawings of temples and
the University of Chicago jointly published the temple of
tombs that are now in the Griffith Institute in Oxford. The
Sety I in Abydos in five volumes (in 1933 by Sir Alan Gardi-
British Museum has the collections of Robert Hay (1799–
ner and Amice Calverley). From 1927 to 1951, Bertha Porter
1863), comprising forty-nine volumes of drawings, plans,
and Rosalind Moss published the seven volumes of their To-
and copies of inscriptions and reliefs (Add. MSS. 29812-60)
pographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic
and no less than sixty-three volumes of drawings and plans
Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, revised and augmented from
of James Burton (1788–1862, Add. MSS. 25613-75). Balt-
1960 to 1972. Further revisions and the addition of an
zar Cronstrand (1794–1876) was a Swedish army officer and
eighth volume on objects without provenance were pub-
traveler, whose excellent drawings of Karnak temple, Medi-
lished between 1978 and 2003 and were edited by Jaromir
net Habu, the Ramesseum, and the tombs of Beni Hasan are
Malek.
now in the National Museum of Stockholm and form an im-
portant source of information on temple architecture. Jean
Apart from texts on temple walls, funerary text collec-
François Champollion organized an expedition to Egypt in
tions are of great importance in the study of religion. Gaston
1828–1829. John Gardner Wilkinson (1797–1875) pro-
Maspero collected the Pyramid Texts and published these
duced very precise plans and copies of hieroglyphic texts. His
between 1882 and 1893 in Recueil des Travaux. A publica-
many publications and notes on contemporary and ancient
tion that offered a comparison of different versions of the
Egypt comprise fifty-six bound volumes, which the Griffith
textual corpus was prepared by Kurt Sethe between 1908 and
Institute in Oxford has on loan. A brilliant draftsman and
1922. The fact that he transferred the columns into lines of
artist was Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds, a
hieroglyphs expresses that he saw the inner decoration of the
French geographer and explorer (1799–1883). Copies of his
pyramids mainly as textual evidence and not as an integrated
notes can be found in the Louvre and the Griffith Institute
composition with its own rules, orientation, word, and sign
in Oxford. In 1842, a well-equipped Prussian expedition set
play. Sethe’s rendering of the texts is very precise, but by now
out to Egypt, directed by Karl Richard Lepsius (1810–1884).
no longer represents all the textual variations that are known,
In three years’ time, this expedition excavated and recorded
due to the discovery of other inscribed pyramids. In 2001,
an enormous number of individual monuments, concentrat-
the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale published the
ing on a precise copy of the hieroglyphic texts.
texts from the pyramid of Pepi I. The two volumes include
a reproduction of the text by Isabelle Pierre-Croisiau, and a
Systematic epigraphical work started in the mid-
translation and explanation by Catherine Berger El-Naggar.
nineteenth century. The most famous and longest lasting en-
In the previous edition of this encyclopedia, criticism was
deavor is that of the epigraphic survey of the Oriental Insti-
given to the order in which Sethe published the texts. One
tute of the University of Chicago. The publication of the
could say, however, that Sethe’s numbering foreshadowed
temple of Medinet Habu in eight volumes (1930–1970), of
the later interpretation of Jürgen Osing’s Zur Disposition der
the temple of Karnak in four volumes (1936–1954), of the
Pyramidentexte des Unas (1986): the text starts in the burial
Khonsu temple in two volumes (1979–1981) and of the
chamber, is read through the ante-chamber, and culminates
temple of Luxor in two volumes (1994–1998) all mark im-
towards the exit of the pyramid at the north side. The pyra-
portant milestones in the epigraphy of the Theban monu-
mid “entrance” now is interpreted as an exit toward the cir-
ments. Other major and minor temple complexes have been
cumpolar stars. Thomas Allen’s Occurrences of Pyramid Texts
published by the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale
gives a good overview of the text publications prior to 1950,
(IFAO) in Cairo. The small but fascinating temples of Deir
but is now outdated.
el-Shelwit, between Luxor and Armant, were described in
four volumes by Christiane Zivie (between 1982 and 1992)
Translations of the Pyramid Texts have been published
and the description of the temple of el-Qa’la (north of Luxor
in French by Gaston Maspero and in German by Kurt Sethe
in the village of Quft) was published by Laure Pantalaci and
(from 1935 to 1962). The first English translation was made
Claude Traunecker in 1990 and 1998. To date, seventeen
by Samual Mercer in 1952. Alexandre Piankoff concentrated
volumes have been published on the temple of Dendara. Be-
on the text from the pyramid of Unas and published an inte-
tween 1870 and 1890, Auguste Mariette published six vol-
gral translation in French in 1968, while Raymond Faulk-
umes, while the IFAO has published a series of eleven vol-
ner’s English translation from 1969 was based on Sethe’s
umes by Émile Chassinat, François Daumas, and Sylvie
publication of the original hieroglyphic text.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
2729
The Middle Kingdom was heir to the religious tradition
lavishly illustrated The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.
as reflected in the Pyramid Texts, which were written on the
The standard translation in German was published as Das
walls of the (mostly wooden) coffins. The variety of Coffin
Totenbuch by Erik Hornung in 1979.
Texts is much larger than that of the Pyramid Texts: Faulk-
In 1915, Günther Roeder published a survey of Egyp-
ner’s publication has 759 Pyramid Texts compared to the
tian religious documents in Urkunden zur Religion des alten
1,200 Coffin Texts published by Adriaan de Buck. The work
Ägypten. Alexandre Piankoff’s The Tomb of Ramesses VI
of the latter has provided an enormous service for the study
(1954) and The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon (1955) provide
of religious notions connected to the afterlife. As with the
a partial publication of several of the guidebooks to the Un-
publication of the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts are often
derworld found in the New Kingdom Royal Tombs, such
considered without reference to their material context. The
as the Amduat, the Book of Gates, the Enigmatic Book of the
selection, order, and position of the texts on the wall of the
Netherworld, the Book of Caverns, the Book of the Earth, the
coffins are rarely taken into consideration. An exception to
Book of the Day, the Book of the Night, and the Book of
this is Harco Willems’s Chests of Life, which presents an ex-
the Heavenly Cow. Erik Hornung published Das Amduat
cellent multi-disciplinary study of Middle Kingdom coffins.
(three volumes from 1963 to 1967), Das Buch von den Pfor-
Translations of the Coffin Texts have been published
ten des Jenseits (1979), and a translation and commentary in
by Louis Speleers in Textes des cercueils du Moyen Empire
his Ägyptische Unterweltsbücher (1972). The Litany of Re,
égyptien (1947), which includes only the first two volumes
published by Piankoff in 1964, is incorporated in Marshall
of De Buck’s collection of spells. Between 1973 and 1978,
Clagett’s Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book (1989–
Raymond Faulkner published the translation in English of
1999), which also includes the Book of Nut.
the entire corpus of De Buck in three volumes. A very useful
Analysis and Interpretation. Herodotos traveled
publication is Leonard Lesko’s Index of the Spells on Egyptian
through Egypt in the fourth century BCE, Diodorus Siculus
Middle Kingdom Coffins and Related Documents (1979),
in the first century BCE, and Plutarch visited Alexandria in
which shows the variety of texts incorporated and the order
the first century CE. Their accounts reflect information pro-
in which these texts occurred. Recently, a Web-based Coffin
vided by priests of a late, but living phase of Egyptian reli-
Text index has become available, which can be accessed
gion.
through the Web page of the University of Göttingen at
http://www.aegyptologie.uni-goettingen.de/. In 2000, Rami
Before the first half of the nineteenth century, any theo-
van der Molen published a dictionary to the Coffin Texts.
ry on the religion of ancient Egypt was based on an interpre-
tation of architecture and the depictions of the gods in the
Collections and publications of texts of the Book of
reliefs and tomb paintings. These early interpretations of an-
Going Forth by Day, also known as the Book of the Dead have
cient Egyptian religion focused on the most visible monu-
been composed by several authors, the earliest of whom were
ments and were intrinsically connected to biblical and koran-
Karl Richard Lepsius in 1842 (based on a Ptolemaic papyrus
ic interpretations. In the mid-eighth century CE, Bishop
in the Turin collection) and Édouard Naville, who published
Cosmas of Jerusalem maintained that he had identified the
many New Kingdom parallels in two volumes in 1886, fol-
pyramids as the granaries of Joseph. The ninth century Patri-
lowing the order of Lepsius’s publication. E. A. Wallis Budge
arch of Antioch, who had entered a pyramid and stated that
published several manuscripts of the Book of Going Forth by
they were undoubtedly the tombs of kings, rejected this the-
Day from the collection of the British Museum. English lan-
ory. In the early thirteenth century, Al-Idrisi described his
guage grammars and dictionaries generally refer to the publi-
visit to the pyramids with an envoy of King Friedrich II of
cation of Budge by page and line number. Since his works
Hohenstaufen. In his Book of the Lights of the Pyramids, he
have known several editions and reprints, this reference only
claimed that Latin inscriptions had been discovered in the
works with the first edition of his The Chapters of Coming
pyramids, which he had translated into Arabic. Other Islam-
Forth by Day from 1898, a three-volume set of text, vocabu-
ic scholars such as al-Maqr¯ız¯ı, who lived 1364–1442, won-
lary, and translation.
dered whether the pyramids had been built before, or after,
the Great Flood.
Translations of the Book of Going Forth by Day have
been published by Thomas George Allen in The Egyptian
The German scientist and draftsman, Athanasius Kir-
Book of the Dead: Documents in the Oriental Institute Museum
cher, wrote several works on aspects of Egyptian civilization,
(1960) and Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day (1974).
including its religion. His Oedipus aegyptiacus, published be-
These publications have translations of all the spells, but do
tween 1652 and 1655, consisted of three volumes. His work
not give the illustrations known as vignettes. Paul Barguet,
is often ridiculed for the purely symbolic interpretation of
on the other hand, incorporated the vignettes with his trans-
the imagery of hieroglyphs, but his work is often misrepre-
lation in French published as Le livre des morts des anciens
sented and, in hindsight, he had touched upon a relevant no-
Égyptiens (1967) and made use of parallels in the Coffin
tion: associative sign play is an important part of the use of
Texts to clarify difficult or garbled passages. Raymond Faulk-
the Egyptian language in its religious context. Between 1750
ner published a literal translation in 1972 in The Book of the
and 1752, the German theologian and orientalist, Paul Ernst
Dead, which was reissued by Carol Andrews in 1985 as the
Jablonski, published three volumes on Egyptian religion, 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
2730
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
the French priest and scholar, Antoine Banier, wrote a three-
not all of his ideas still stand today, the information pres-
volume work on mythology and fables (expanded to eight
ented in the book, and in the revised edition of 1959, is still
volumes by the second edition), which was translated and
very useful.
published in four English volumes in 1739. Neither this
A great name in the study of Egyptian religion, and rep-
work, nor the work on religion and history of Egypt by Jean
resentative of the accepted school of thought, is Hermann
François Champollion, published in 1814, was based on any
Kees, whose Götterglaube im alten Ägypten was published in
translations of textual material.
1941. Jacques Vandier’s Religion Égyptienne (1944) gave an
Belief systems and general overviews. In most of the
excellent broad overview and is one of the classic texts, be-
interpretations of ancient Egyptian religion, the implicit
cause it drew together the work of many of his contempo-
conviction that ancient Egypt was a high-standing culture
raries and predecessors and had an extensive bibliography.
can be discerned. The existence and form of polytheism has
A more anthropological approach was presented by
been explained and ordered in a wide variety of belief sys-
Henri Frankfort in Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man
tems. In many cases, these seem to reflect the unconscious
(1946) and Ancient Egyptian Religion (1948). He suggested
convictions of the modern writers and the problems they had
replacing Breasted’s interpretation that Egyptian religion is,
with a multitude of gods, often in the form of animals or ani-
by definition, syncretistic with the notion of “multiplicity of
mal-headed human forms, rather than the core of Egyptian
approaches,” the existence of parallel truths. Such an inter-
religion. Classical accounts and interpretations of ancient
pretation could only be given by an author who did not
Egyptian religion led to theories of a high-brow mystery cult.
(un)consciously try to understand Egyptian religion from
The name of the god Amun, the hidden one, and the impor-
within the mental boundaries of the Judeo-Christian tradi-
tant position of his cult through much of Egyptian history,
tion. This notion did not truly reverberate until postmodern
provoked theories of an inherent, but hidden, monotheism
approaches to Egyptian religion began to take some hold in
in contrast with the polytheistic, animistic, magic-ridden re-
the 1990s. Siegfried Morenz, for instance, published a book
ligion for the people. On the other hand, the worship of the
in which the phenomenological approach shows a bias for
Aten, in combination with biblical references to Egypt, led
“religions of the word” over “cult religions” (Ägyptische Reli-
to theories that the cradle of Christianity stood in Egypt,
gion, 1960, translated as Egyptian Religion, 1973).
while afrocentric literature emphasized the African roots of
Western culture, via ancient Egypt.
Kurt Sethe stirred up considerable controversy with his
discussion of the gods and their cults in prehistoric Egypt in
Some of these theories were built on thorough scholar-
his Urgeschichte und älteste Religion der Ägypter (1930). Re-
ship, whereas others were not. Although the books of Wallis
cent work on the predynastic period put emphasis on the
Budge are still for sale in cheap reprints, these volumes, such
context, and clearly stressed the realization that an interpreta-
as The Gods of the Egyptians and his Book of the Dead, mostly
tion of the earliest phases of Egyptian religion cannot be
serve as an example of imprecise transliterations, translations,
based solely on the knowledge of religious thought and prac-
and interpretations of the textual material. Other works that
tice often centuries or millennia later. Barry Kemp touched
date to the same general period have withstood the test of
upon this theme when he discussed the colossi of Koptos and
time, and later scholarship are much better, mostly because
ancient temple architecture in his Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of
they were written with a deeper knowledge and interpreted
a Civilization (1989).
with a more careful approach. The oldest general overview
of Egyptian religion that is still worth reading today is Adolf
Sydney Aufrère has written some thought-provoking
Erman’s Die Ägyptische Religion (1905), later published as
publications on the relation between religion and economics,
Die Religion der Ägypter (1934). In Erman’s opinion, the
as well as religion and landscape, well-rooted in the study of
material culture. Perhaps the most encompassing are
drive behind Egyptian religion was mostly a practical, deeply
L’Univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne (1991) and the
felt fear of natural phenomena and an attempt to contain or
Encyclopédie religieuse de l’univers végétal (1999–2001).
control these. He disagreed strongly with the work of Alex-
andre Moret, who explained the multiplicity of gods from
The accepted approach of Egyptian religion in the late
a totemic origin in which the Nome gods were united into
twentieth and early twenty-first centuries is one that stresses
one religious system with the political unification of Egypt
multivocality and development and change over time. With-
(From Tribe to Empire; Social Organization among Primitives
in this approach, several authors have highlighted specific as-
and in the Ancient East, translated by V. Gordon Childe from
pects of Egyptian religion. The two names that dominate the
the 1923 French original, and published in 1926). In 1912,
field are those of Erik Hornung and Jan Assmann, the first
James Breasted published Development of Religion and
in a much more concise fashion than the latter. In a relatively
Thought in Ancient Egypt, in which he presented a wealth of
brief and yet stunningly complete overview published in
detail and drew broad lines on how the Egyptian religion de-
1973 (translated into English in 1983 as Conceptions of God
veloped from the prehistoric period to the New Kingdom.
in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many), Erik Hornung pro-
He suggested the gradual democratization of the afterlife
vided an outline of the academic consensus regarding the
from the Pyramid Texts to the Book of the Dead. Although
Egyptian belief system. With his impressive list of publica-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
2731
tions, Jan Assmann has determined much of the discussion.
texts. An example was James P. Allen’s “Reading a Pyramid”
His incredible mastery of the source material enables him to
(1994), in which he followed up on Osing’s article from
set up original, at times almost esoteric, theories on the reli-
1986 and used the orientation and place of the texts to inter-
gion of ancient Egypt, which are always thoroughly rooted
pret their function within the ritual context. The publication
in the textual and iconographical evidence. Perhaps the best
of the full texts of the Pepi I Pyramid Texts will enable future
example is Ägypten; Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen
testing of his interpretation.
Hochkultur (1984), published in English as The Search for
Temple ritual. The often-underestimated connection
God in Ancient Egypt (2001).
of text and context, the placement of texts and depictions on
For the Greco-Roman era, there is Harold Idris Bell’s
temple walls in relation to the words spoken and actions per-
Cults and Creeds of Graeco-Roman Egypt, published in 1953,
formed inside the spaces thus decorated, has been the subject
and the contributions in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römisc-
of a number of important contributions to the understand-
hen Welt (especially II 18.5, 1995). Other important publica-
ing of Egyptian religion. Already in 1962, Dieter Arnold
tions are Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance
published his Wandrelief und Raumfunktion in ägyptischen
by David Frankfurter (1998) and the contributions in An-
Tempeln des Neuen Reiches. Other work focusing on the rela-
cient Egyptian Religion, the Last Thousand Years, published in
tion between space, wall reliefs, and ritual are Rosalie David’s
1998 in memory of Jan Quaegebeur whose important work
A Guide to Religious Ritual at Abydos (1981) and Françoise
was brought to an end by his untimely death.
Labrique’s Stylistique et Théologie à Edfou (1992). An inter-
esting approach was taken by Dimitri Meeks and Christine
The influence of women’s studies on the study of Egyp-
Favard-Meeks in Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods (1996 trans-
tian religion is limited and plays out mostly in literature on
lation of 1993 French text).
specific goddesses or the role of women in society. Publica-
tions that stress the African origins of Egyptian culture, in-
Günter Dreyer’s report on the Satet temple on Elephan-
cluding the religion, are mostly considered unscholarly by
tine (1986) illustrated how archaeology can show immaterial
mainstream Egyptology. The fact that Egypt is located in Af-
aspects of religion such as the physical expression (in the
rica and that, especially in its earliest phases, the Egyptian
form of a shaft) of the strong continuation in belief and ritual
religion was based on oral tradition and cattle culture is only
that connected the earliest shrine to each subsequent newly
taken into account in some publications. One of the few
built temple phase.
publications to address this issue explicitly is an essay by Ann
Gods and goddesses. Treatises on the aspects of indi-
Macy Roth titled “Building Bridges to Afrocentrism: A Let-
vidual gods are found in a number of monographs, for in-
ter to My Egyptological Colleagues” (Web publication
stance in the Dutch tradition of Claas Jouco Bleeker (Hathor
1995).
and Thoth, 1973) and Herman te Velde’s Seth, God of Confu-
Afterlife and funerary rites. Apart from his general in-
sion, first published in 1967. Kurt Sethe discussed the Her-
troduction into Egyptian religion, Hermann Kees also wrote
mopolitan ogdoad in Amun und die acht Urgötter von Her-
an important treatise on the early mortuary literature and the
mopolis (1929), while Karol Myˇsliwiec published two
guidebooks to the netherworld. Totenglauben und Jenseitsvor-
volumes on the god Atum (1978 and 1979). In the work on
stellungen der alten Ägypter was published in 1926 and a re-
some of the goddesses, there is sometimes a more woman-
vised edition, in which some important corrections were
centered approach to Egyptian religion, often written by fe-
made, came out in 1956. Matthieu Heerma van Voss pub-
male Egyptologists. Elise J. Baumgartel put an emphasis on
lished detailed analyses of several chapters of the Book of the
the cow as the mother-goddess in her The Cultures of Prehis-
Dead (cf. 1963). The great scholar of underworld books is
toric Egypt (1947). Barbara Lesko concentrated on the female
Erik Hornung who gave an excellent overview in Altägyptis-
perspective in The Great Goddesses of Egypt (1999) and Alison
che Jenseitsbücher ein einführender Überblick, which was
Roberts specifically wrote about Hathor Rising, with two in-
translated and published in English in 1999 as The Ancient
creasingly popularizing subtitles (1995, 1997). Thorough
Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. The question whether the
and concentrating on the Greco-Roman and Late Antique
chthonic or the celestial and solar aspects of the mortuary
periods were R. E. Witt’s books on Isis (1971, 1979).
cult are the most ancient, has found several discussants. Jan
An important source is Christian Leitz’s Lexikon der
Assmann explicated his viewpoints in Tod und Jenseits im
ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen published in
Alten Ägypten (2001). Leonard Lesko purported in his publi-
2002, which presents an excellent overview in no less than
cations on the Book of Two Ways (1969 and 1972) that the
seven volumes of the names, epithets, and cult centers of
democratization of the netherworld should be explained in
Egyptian gods and goddesses. It shows a painstakingly pre-
terms of solarization of the Osirian cult, rather than a gradual
cise approach that undoubtedly will prove to be of consider-
spread of chthonic aspects. This discussion was taken up by
able use for a large group of scholars.
Edmund Hermsen in Die zwei Wege des Jenseits: das altägyp-
tische Zweiwegebuch und seine Topgraphie. An important shift
Priesthood. Gustave Lefebvre emphasized the political
was the change from considering funerary texts foremost as
and economic power of the Egyptian priesthood in Histoire
theological treatises to interpreting them primarily as ritual
des grands prêtres d’Amon de Karnak (1929). Serge Sauneron
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2732
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
wrote a concise, but excellent book on priesthood in ancient
Allen, Thomas George. Occurrences of Pyramid Texts, with Cross
Egypt in 1957, which was revised and republished in 1998,
Indexes of These and Other Egyptian Mortuary Texts. The Ori-
and translated for the second time into English in 2000
ental Institute of the University of Chicago. Studies in An-
under the title The Priests of Ancient Egypt. He drew greatly
cient Oriental Civilization, No. 27. Chicago, 1950.
on written sources from the Late Period and the Greco-
Allen, Thomas George. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Documents
Roman era. The Greco-Roman era had been discussed as
in the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago.
early as 1905 by Walter Otto in Priester und Tempel im hel-
The University of Chicago: Oriental Institute Publications;
Volume 82. Chicago, 1960. The facsimiles of the original
lenistischen Ägypten, an extremely thorough work, that was
texts with description, translations, and notes.
reprinted in 1975 because it still had much to offer. There
Allen, Thomas George. The Book of the Dead: Or, Going Forth by
has been little attention to the role of women in ancient
Day: Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians Concerning the Hereafter
Egyptian religion. Gay Robins wrote a very useful chapter
as Expressed in Their Own Terms. Chicago, 1974.
on women and the temple ritual in her book on Women in
Arnold, Dieter. Wandrelief und Raumfunktion in ägyptischen Tem-
Ancient Egypt (1993), from which it is clear that female cult
peln des neuen Reiches. Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 2.
specialists exclusively occur in the realm of female goddesses.
Berlin, 1962.
An exception is the highly politicized function of the “hand
Arnold, Dieter. Temples of the Last Pharaohs. New York, 1999.
of Amun,” or the Divine Adoratress / God’s Wife of Amun,
Assmann, Jan. Zeit und Ewigkeit im alten ägypten: Ein Beitrag zur
on which several works have been published.
Geschichte der Ewigkeit. Heidelberg, Germany, 1975.
Personal religion. Relatively scant attention is paid to
Assmann, Jan. Re und Amun: Die Krise des polytheistischen Welt-
this aspect, but Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and
bilds im ägypten der 18.-20. Dynastie. Göttingen, Germany,
Personal Practice (published in 1991, edited by Byron Shafer)
1983.
did take it explicitly into account. Personal religion had a
Assmann, Jan. Ägypten: Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen
place outside the temples, in house shrines, during festivals,
Hochkultur. Stuttgart, Germany, 1984. Translated as The
and especially in the realm of magic. On the latter subject,
Search for God in Ancient Egypt.
Joris Borghouts’s Ancient Egyptian magical texts (1978) and
Assmann, Jan. Ma’at: Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im alten
Robert Ritner’s The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical
Ägypten. Munich, 1990.
Practice (1993) should be highlighted. In her attempt to in-
Assmann, Jan. Agypten; Eine Sinngeschichte. Munich and Vienna,
clude social theory in an approach of Egyptian village life,
1996.
Lynn Meskell put more emphasis on the agency of individu-
Assmann, Jan. Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western
als in Deir el-Medina (1999 and 2002). Taking into account
Monotheism. Cambridge, Mass., 1997.
the personal choices and the mechanisms of coping of ordi-
Assmann, Jan. Tod Und Jenseits Im Alten Ägypten. Munich, 2001.
nary Egyptians was an important addition to the study of the
Assmann, Jan. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt. Translated by
religion and an aspect that had long been disregarded.
David Lorton. Ithaca, N.Y., 2001.
General reference works. Hans Bonnet composed the
Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the
Reallexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte in 1952, which
Time of the Pharaohs. Translated by Andrew Jenkins. New
covered almost all aspects of Egyptian religion in brief arti-
York, 2002.
cles and included a thorough bibliography. Many of the en-
Aufrère, Sydney. L’univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne. 2 vols.
tries of the seven volumes of the Lexikon der Ägyptologie, ed-
Cairo, 1991. Volume 1 is titled L’Influence du désert et des
ited by Eberhard Otto, Wolfgang Helck, and Wolfhart
minéraux sur la mentalité des anciens Égyptiens. Volume 2 fo-
cuses on L’Intégration des minéraux, des métaux et des “trésors”
Westendorf (1975), catalog an even more extensive collec-
dans la marche de l’univers et dans la vie divine. The two vol-
tion of brief introductions into many aspects of ancient
umes focus on the relation between minerals, metals, “trea-
Egyptian religion by the most important specialists of the
sures,” and the desert, where all of these originate, with the
1970s and 1980s. The brief bibliographies per subject pro-
Egyptian way of thinking, the Egyptian mentality, the course
vide a good entry for further study. The articles dealing with
of the universe, and the life of the gods.
religion from the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (ed-
Aufrère, Sydney. Encyclopédie religieuse de l’univers végétal. Croy-
ited by Donald Redford, 2001) have been published in iden-
ance phytoreligieuse de l’Égypte ancienne. 2 vols. Montpellier,
tical form under the title The Ancient Gods Speak: a Guide
France, 1999–2001.
to Egyptian Religion (2002). The guide does not give an ex-
Banier, Antoine. The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients, Ex-
tensive update on the literature, the more recent articles do
plain’d from History. 4 vols. London, 1739. Translated from
not necessarily supersede their “predecessors” in the Lexikon
the original French.
der Ägyptologie, but the fact that they are in English makes
Barguet, Paul. Le Livre des morts des anciens Égyptiens. Littératures
them more accessible to an English-speaking audience.
anciennes du proche-orient. Paris, 1967. Includes an introduc-
tion, a translation, and a commentary.
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2733
Belzoni, Giovanni Battista. Narrative of the Operations and Recent
stairs, and the kiosk (Le Temple de Dendara volumes 7 and
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8), while the fourth volume (OLA 101, 2001) contains the
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Red Sea in Search of the Ancient Berenice, and of Another to
such as the hypostyle hall and bordering storerooms (Le
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Temple de Dendara volumes 7, 9, and 11).
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Breasted, James Henry. Development of Religion and Thought in
skipped and with new photographs, was published by Sylvie
Ancient Egypt. London, 1912. Lectures delivered on the
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Devauchelle (Volume I, parts 1 and 2 in 1984, parts 3 and
Buck, Adriaan de. The Egyptian Coffin Texts. Edited by Alan H.
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76–163. Volume 3 (1947) Texts of Spells 164–267. Volume
Dendara 1–4 record the sanctuary and the six cult chapels
4 (1951) Texts of Spells 268–354. Volume 5 (1956) Texts of
(1934–1935 by Chassinat). Volumes 4, 7, and 8 record the
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Volume 7 (1963) Texts of Spells 787–1185.
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Egyptian Text According to the Theban Recension in Hiero-
of the crypts. The hypostyle hall and the cult chapels are sub-
glyphic. Three vols. London, 1898. Volume 1: The Egyptian
jects of volumes 9 (1987) and 11 (2000) by Daumas and
text in hieroglyphic. Volume 2: An English translation with
Cauville, respectively. Volume 10 records the Osirien chap-
introduction, notes, etc. Volume 3: A vocabulary in hiero-
els (1997 by Cauville).
glyphic to the Theban recension of the Book of the Dead.
Clagett, Marshall. Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book. Mem-
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Knowledge and order (tomes 1–2). Volume 2 (1995). Calen-
tian Mythology. Two vols. Chicago, 1904. Reprinted in 1969
dars, clocks, and astronomy. Volume 3 (1999). Ancient
by Dover Publications, this work of Budge is still found in
Egyptian mathematics. Not an Egyptologist, but a historian
many bookstores, while the quality would merit it to be qui-
specializing in science in the ancient world, Clagett cites con-
etly forgotten.
siderable portions of the books of the underworld.
Clarysse, Willy, A. Schoors, and Harco Willems. Egyptian Reli-
Cauville, Sylvie. Dendara Traduction. Orientalia Lovaniensia Ana-
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volumes with translations of the texts from the Temple of
Dendara. Volume 1 (OLA 81, 1998) concentrates on the
Dalton, Richard. Views and Engravings in Greece and Egypt. Lon-
theological texts (from the sanctuary and surrounding chap-
don, 1790–1791. The work of Dalton, librarian to the Brit-
els, reproduced in Chassinat, Daumas, Cauville Le Temple
ish king, is specifically of interest because the engravings en-
de Dendara volumes 1 through 4). Volume 2 (OLA 88,
able a comparison between the present and eighteenth-
1999) is a translation of the theological and cultic texts from
century condition of many of the Egyptian monuments.
the crypts (Le Temple de Dendara volumes 5 and 6). The
David, A. Rosalie. A Guide to Religious Ritual at Abydos. Warmin-
third volume (OLA 95, 2000) concentrates on the wabet, the
ster, U.K., 1981.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2734
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
Dawson, Warren R., and Eric P. Uphill. Who Was Who in Egyptol-
1933. A joint publication of the Egypt Exploration Society
ogy. London, 1972. A very useful encyclopedic overview of
(Archaeological Survey) and of the Oriental Institute of the
early Egyptology from the sixteenth until the mid-twentieth
University of Chicago.
century.
Granger, N. Relation d’un voyage fait En Égypte en l’année 1730.
Denon, Dominique Vivant. Égypte, documents d’art égyptien
Paris, 1744. A description of visits of this French physician
d’apres la description de l’Égypte, expédition de l’armee française
to, among other sites in Egypt, the Fayum, Beni Hassan,
sous Napoleon Ier, l’expédition d’Égypte, dessins du Baron
Abydos, Thebes, and Edfu, translated into German in 1751
Denon, et le musée égyptien. Paris, 1808–1822. The results of
and English in 1773.
the scholarly team accompanying Napoleon Bonaparte from
Greaves, John. Pyramidographia, or, a Description of the Pyramids
1798–1799 on his Egyptian campaign are collected in several
in Aegypt. London, 1646. English mathematician who set out
large volumes of descriptions and plates describing every-
to Cairo to measure the pyramids with the proper instru-
thing from contemporary crafts, flora and fauna to antiqui-
ments. His thorough survey of the Giza plateau is of great
ties.
interest today.
Diodorus. The Antiquities of Egypt: A Translation with Notes of
Gutbub, Adolphe. Kom Ombo I; Les inscriptions du Naos (Sanc-
Book I of the Library of History, of Diodorus Siculus. Translat-
tuaires, salle de l’ennde, salle des offrandes, coloir mystérieux).
ed by Edwin Murphy. New Brunswick, N.J., 1990.
Cairo, 1995. Text edited by Danielle Inconnu-Bocquillon.
Dreyer, Günter. Der Tempel der Satet: Die Funde der Frühzeit und
Gutbub, Adolphe. Textes fondamentaux de la théologie de Kom
des alten Reiches. Mainz am Rhein, Germany, 1986.
Ombo. Bibliothèque D’étude; T. 47. 2 vols. Cairo, 1973.
Translation of and commentary on inscriptions from the
Erman, Adolf. Die Ägyptische Religion. Berlin, 1905. Reprinted in
temple of Kom Ombo. Indexes in Volume 2.
1909 and published in an augmented and edited version
under the title Die Religion der Ägypter in 1934.
Heerma van Voss, Matthieu S. H. G. De Oudste Versie Van Do-
denboek 17a: Coffin Texts Spreuk 335a. Leiden, 1963.
Erman, Adolf. Die Religion der Ägypter, Ihr Werden und Vergehen
Hermsen, Edmund. Die zwei Wege des Jenseits: Das Altägyptische
in Vier Jahrtausenden. Berlin, 1934. Augmented version of
Zweiwegebuch und seine Topographie. Obo 112. Freiburg,
Erman’s 1905 publication.
Gottingen, Germany, 1991.
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts.
Herodotus. Herodotus, Book II. Translated by W. G. Waddell.
Special edition, Oxford and New York, 1998. Reprint of the
Letchworth, U.K., 1979.
original text that was published in 1969.
Hornung, Erik. Das Amduat: Die Schrift des verborgenen Raumes.
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts,
Agyptologische Abhandlungen. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, Germa-
Translated into English. Oxford, 1969.
ny, 1963–1967.
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver. The Book of the Dead: A Collection of
Hornung, Erik. Ägyptische Unterweltsbücher: Eingeleitet, Ubersetzt
Spells. Edited and Translated from Papyri in the British Muse-
und Erlautert. 3d ed. Munich, 1972. Contains selections
um. New York, 1972.
from various chthonic books.
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver. The Book of the Dead: A Collection of
Hornung, Erik. Der Eine und die Vielen; Ägyptische Gottesvorstel-
Spells. Edited and Translated from Papyri in the British Muse-
lungen. Darmstadt, 1973. Translated as Conceptions of God
um. London and New York, 1985. Colorful edition by C.
in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many. Translated by John
Andrews with lavish illustrations from the British Museum
Baines. London, 1983. A very concise, but magnificently
papyri.
thorough and useful introduction into ancient Egyptian reli-
gion. Has determined the development of thinking about
Frankfort, Henri. Ancient Egyptian Religion, an Interpretation.
Egyptian religion in much of the late twentieth and early
New York, 1948. Republished in 1961.
twenty-first centuries.
Frankfort, Henri, ed. The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man:
Hornung, Erik. Das Totenbuch der Ägypter: Eingeleitet, Übersetzt
An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East.
und Erläutert. 2d ed. Zurich, 1990.
Chicago, 1946. Based on lectures given at the University of
Chicago by different authors. Introduction: Myth and reali-
Hornung, Erik. Das Buch von den Pforten des Jenseits: Nach den
ty, by H. and H. A. Frankfort—Egypt: The nature of the
Versionen des neuen Reiches. 2 vols. Geneva, 1979–1980. The
universe. The function of the state. The values of life. By
two volumes contain the text, the translation into German,
J. A. Wilson—Mesopotamia: The cosmos of the state. The
and the commentary on the Book of Gates.
function of the state. The good life. By T. Jacobsen. —Con-
Hornung, Erik. Texte Zum Amduat. 2 vols. Geneva, 1987–1992.
clusion: The emancipation of thought from myth, by H. and
Hornung, Erik. Altägyptische Jenseitsbücher; ein einführender Über-
H. A. Frankfort.
blick. 1997. Translated as The Ancient Egyptian Books of the
Frankfort, Henri, ed. Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure
Afterlife. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca, N.Y., 1999.
of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the An-
Introduction into a wide range of books dealing with the af-
cient Near East. Harmondsworth, U.K., and Baltimore,
terlife. The book contains scenes and excerpts from the Pyra-
1949. A reworked edition of the intellectual adventure of an-
mid Texts, the Coffin Texts, the Book of the Dead, the
cient man.
Books of Breathing, the Amduat, the Spell of the Twelve
Caves, the Book of Gates, the Enigmatic Book of the Nether-
Frankfurter, David. Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Re-
world, the Book of Caverns, the Book of the Earth, the
sistance. Princeton, N.J., 1998.
Books of the Sky, the Book of Nut, the Book of the Day,
Gardiner, Alan Henderson, Sir, and Amice Mary Calverley. The
the Book of the Night, the Litany of Re, the Book of the
Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos. London and Chicago,
Heavenly Cow, and the Book of Traversing Eternity.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
2735
Jablonski, Paul Ernst. “Commentatio de diebus Aegyptiacis, in ve-
Lesko, Leonard H. The Composition of the Book of Two Ways. Chi-
tusto kalendario komano commemoratis.” Miscellanea Bero-
cago, 1969.
linensia Ad Incrementum Scientiarum, vol. 7. Edited by
Lesko, Leonard H. The Ancient Egyptian Book of Two Ways. Berke-
Michaelis Berolini. Rome, 1743.
ley, Calif., 1972.
Kees, Hermann. Totenglauben und Jenseitsvorstellungen der alten
Lesko, Leonard H. Index of the Spells on Egyptian Middle Kingdom
Ägypter, Grundlagen und Entwicklung bis zum Ende des mit-
Coffins and Related Documents. Berkeley, Calif., 1979.
tleren Reiches. Leipzig, 1926. Revised and republished in
1956.
Linant de Bellefonds, Louis Maurice Adolphe. Linant de Belle-
Kees, Hermann. Der Götterglaube im alten Aegypten. Leipzig,
fonds: Journal d’un voyage à Meroe dans les années 1821 et
1941. Still a very worthwhile read. A second edition was
1822. Khartoum, 1958. Notes of Linant de Bellefonds, ed-
published in 1956, reprinted in 1977.
ited by Margaret Shinnie.
Kemp, Barry J. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. London
Mariette, Auguste. Denderah: Description générale du grand temple
and New York, 1989. Innovative thinking about aspects of
de cette ville. 6 vols. Paris, 1870–1890. Volume 1, Interieur
Egyptian society, including some important remarks about
du temple. Volume 2, Interieur du temple. Volume 3, Cryptes.
religion, from an archaeological viewpoint.
Volume 4, Terrasses. Volume 5, Supplement aux planches.
Volume 6, Texte. These six parts have been reproduced in
Kircher, Athanasius. Oedipvs aegyptiacvs hoc est vniuersalis hierog-
two volumes in 1981 by G. Olms (Hildesheim and New
lyphicae veterum doctrinae temporum iniuria abolitae instavra-
York).
tio, opus ex omni orientalium doctrina & sapientia conditum,
nec non viginti diuersarium linguarum authoritate stabilitum.
Maspero, Gaston. Recueil des travaux relatifs a la philologie et
Published as three volumes, bound in four volumes. Rome,
l’archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes. Paris, 1882–1883.
1652–1655.
Medelhavsmuseet (Stockholm), Baltzar Cronstrand, Beate
Kurth, Dieter. Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I:
George, and Bengt Peterson. Die Karnak-Zeichnungen Von
Übersetzungen, Bd. 1, Edfou VIII. Wiesbaden, Germany,
Baltzar Cronstrand 1836–1837. Stockholm, 1979.
1998. With contributions by A. Behrmann, D. Budde, A.
Meeks, Dimitri, and Christine Favard-Meeks. La vie quotidienne
Effland, H. Felber, E. Pardey, S. Ruter, W. Waitkus, S. Wie-
des dieux égyptiens. Paris, 1993. Translated as Daily Life of the
bach, and S. Woodhouse.
Egyptian Gods. Translated by G. M. Goshgarian. Ithaca,
Labrique, Françoise. Stylistique et théologie à Edfou: Le rituel de
N.Y. and London, 1996. This book represents an original
l’offrande de la campagne: Étude de la composition. Louvain,
and thorough approach to Egyptian religion.
1992.
Mercer, Samuel A. B. The Pyramid Texts. New York, 1952.
Leclant, Jean. Les textes de la pyramide de Pepi Ier (Saqqara) recons-
titution de la paroi est de L’antichambre. Paris, 1977.
Meskell, Lynn. Archaeologies of Social Life: Age, Sex, Class et Cetera
in Ancient Egypt. Social Archaeology. Oxford, U.K. and Mal-
Leclant, Jean, Cathérine Berger-el Naggar, Bernard Mathieu, and
den, Mass., 1999.
Isabelle Pierre-Croisiau. Les textes de la pyramide de Pepy Ier.
2 vols. Cairo, 2001.
Meskell, Lynn. Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt. Princeton,
N.J., 2002.
Lefebvre, Gustave. Histoire des grands prêtres d’Amon de Karnak
jusqu’a la XXIe dynastie. Paris, 1929.
Molen, Rami van der. A Hieroglyphic Dictionary of Egyptian Coffin
Leitz, Christian. Lexikon der Ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeich-
Texts. Probleme Der Ägyptologie 15. Leiden and Boston,
nungen. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. Vol. 110–116. 7
2000.
vols. Louvain, 2002. An excellent overview of the names, epi-
Morenz, Siegfried. Ägyptische Religion. Stuttgart, Germany, 1960.
thets, and cult centers of Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Translated as Egyptian Religion. Translated by Ann E. Keep.
Lepsius, Richard Karl. Das Todtenbuch der Ägypter: Nach dem
London, 1973.
hieroglyphischen Papyrus im Turin. Leipzig, 1842. A transla-
Moret, Alexandre, and Georges Davy. Des clans aux empires;
tion of a Ptolemaic papyrus in the collection of the Egyp-
L’organisation sociale chez les primitifs et dans l’orient ancien.
tological Museum in Turin, Italy. In 1969, a reprint was
Paris, 1923. Translated as From Tribe to Empire; Social Orga-
published of Lepsius’s text.
nization among Primitives and in the Ancient East. Translated
Lepsius, Richard Karl. Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien: Nach
by V. Gordon Childe. New York, 1926.
den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige von
Myˇsliwiec, Karol. Studien Zum Gott Atum. 2 vols. Hildesheim,
Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach Diesen Landern Gesende-
1978–1979.
ten und in den Jahren 1842–1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlic-
Naville, Édouard. Das Aegyptische Totenbuch der XVII. bis XX.
hen Expedition. 12 vols. Berlin, 1849. Published in English
Dynastie: Aus verschiedenen urkunden Zusammengestellt und
in 1853, with notes by Kenneth McKenzie. A reprint of
Herausgegeben. 2 vols. Berlin, 1886. A reproduction of Navil-
1972 provides a slightly reduced replica of the text and plates
le’s book appeared in 1971.
and is published by the Biblio Verlag in Osnabruck,
Germany.
Osing, Jürgen. “Zur Disposition der Pyramidentexte des Unas.”
Lesko, Barbara S. The Great Goddesses of Egypt. Norman, Okla.,
Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Ab-
1999. The book presents histories of the cults of seven major
teilung Kairo (Cairo) 42 (1986): 131–144.
goddesses and many excerpts from their literature—hymns,
Otto, Eberhard, Wolfgang Helck, and Wolfhart Westendorf, eds.
prayers, and magical spells as well as descriptions of ritual,
Lexikon der Ägyptologie. 7 vols. Wiesbaden, 1972–1986. A
temples, and clergy.
very important source of information with concise articles
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2736
EGYPTIAN RELIGION: HISTORY OF STUDY
and references for an incredible number of entries, written
Ritner, Robert Kriech. The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical
by the top specialists in the field. The Lexikon was published
Practice. Chicago, 1993.
gradually in small issues. The bibliographies are now out of
Roberts, Alison. Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient
date, especially for the earliest issues (Volume 1 was com-
Egypt. Translated, Rochester, Vt., 1995.
pletely published in 1975, Volume 2 in 1977, Volume 3 in
Roberts, Alison. Hathor Rising: The Power of the Goddess in Ancient
1980, Volume 4 in 1982, Volume 5 in 1984, and Volume
Egypt. Rochester, Vt., 1997.
6 in 1986; Volume 7 is an index volume).
Otto, Walter Gustav Albrecht. Priester und Tempel im hellenistisc-
Robins, Gay. Women in Ancient Egypt. London, 1993.
hen Ägypten: Ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte des Hellenismus.
Roeder, Günther. Die ägyptische Religion im Texten und Bildern.
2 vols. Leipzig, 1905.
Die Bibliothek Der Alten Welt. Reihe Der Alte Orient. 4
Pantalacci, Laure, and Claude Traunecker. Le Temple d’el-Qal’a.
vols. Zurich, 1959–1961.
2 vols. Cairo, 1990–1998.
Roeder, Günther.Urkunden zur Religion des alten Ägypten. Jena,
Piankoff, Alexandre. The Tomb of Ramesses VI. New York, 1954.
Germany, 1915.
Piankoff, Alexandre. The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon. Bollingen
Roth, Ann Macy. Building Bridges to Afrocentrism: A Letter to My
Series, 40:2. New York, 1955–1962.
Egyptological Colleagues. 1995. Available: http://www.sas.
Piankoff, Alexandre. The Litany of Re. Bollingen Series, 40. New
upenn.edu / African_Studies / Articles_Gen / afrocent_roth.
York, 1964.
html.
Piankoff, Alexandre. The Pyramid of Unas. Texts Translated with
Sandys, George. A Relation of a Journey begun An: Dom: 1610:
Commentary by Alexandre Piankoff. Bollingen Series, 40: 5.
Fovre Bookes. Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire,
Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations. Princeton,
of Aegypt of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and
N.J., 1968.
Ilands Adioyning. London, 1615. Travel description that has
Plutarch. Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride. Translated by John Gwyn
known several editions (third edition, 1632). Sandys correct-
Griffiths. Cardiff, 1970.
ed several faulty interpretations of the pyramids, such as the
Pococke, Richard. A Description of the East, and Some Other Coun-
one claiming that the pyramids were the granaries of Joseph
tries. 2 vols. London, 1743. An English bishop describes his
and were built by the Hebrews.
travels to many regions of the world, including Egypt.
Sauneron, Serge. Les Prêtres de l’ancienne Égypte, 1957. Translated
Porter, Bertha, Rosalind Louisa Beaufort Moss, and Jaromir
as The Priests of Ancient Egypt., 1998. Translated by David
Malek. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hiero-
Lorton. Ithaca, N.Y., 2000. A readable and accessible ac-
glyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings. 8 vols. 2d ed. Oxford,
count of priesthood through Egyptian history and the cults
1927–2003. Porter and Moss gave brief descriptions and
of different temples in Egypt.
plans of the temples and tombs, organized by geographical
Sethe, Kurt. Die altäegyptischen Pyramidentexte nach den Papierab-
region. Between 1927 and 1951, they wrote a total of seven
drücken und Photographien des Berliner Museums. 4 vols. in
volumes and in 1960 started revising them. The first two vol-
3 vols. Leipzig, 1908–1922.
umes were revised and augmented with assistance from Ethel
Sethe, Kurt. Amun und die Acht Urgötter von Hermopolis: Eine Un-
W. Burney. Jaromir Malek revised and augmented the third
tersuchung über Ursprung und Wesen des ägyptischen Göt-
volume and added an eighth volume. Volume 1. The The-
terkönigs. Berlin, 1929.
ban necropolis, part 1 (1927–1960) private tombs, part 2
(1928–1964) royal tombs and smaller cemeteries. Volume 2
Sethe, Kurt. Urgeschichte und älteste Religion der Ägypter. Leipzig,
(1929–1972) Theban temples. Volume 3 (1931–1974) Abu
1930. Republished in 1960 in Liechtenstein.
Rawash to Dahshur, including the Memphis area, Volume
Sethe, Kurt. Übersetzung und Kommentar zu den altägyptischen
4 (1934) Lower and Middle Egypt (Delta and Cairo to
Pyramidentexten. 4 vols. Gluckstadt, Germany, 1935–1962.
Asyut). Volume 5 (1937) the sites of Upper Egypt (Deir Rifa
Shafer, Byron E., John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, and David P.
to Aswan, excluding Thebes and the major temples). Volume
Silverman. Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Per-
6 (1939) describes the best-preserved temples of Upper
sonal Practice. Ithaca, N.Y., 1991.
Egypt (excluding Thebes): Abydos, Dendera, Esna, Edfu,
Kom Ombo, and Philae. Volume 7 (1951) describes the
Speleers, Louis. Les Textes des Pyramides égyptiennes. 2 vols. Brus-
temples of Nubia, the deserts, and outside Egypt. Volume 8
sels, 1923–1924.
was published from 1999 onwards and consists of three
Speleers, Louis. Textes Des Cercueils Du Moyen Empire Égyptien.
parts, listing objects of unknown provenance (by Jaromir
Brussels, 1947.
Malek, assisted by Diana Magee and Elizabeth Miles).
Starkey, Paul, and Janet Starkey, eds. Travellers in Egypt. London,
Quinn, David Beers, ed. The Hakluyt Handbook. Vol. 2. London,
1998. Edited volume with in-depth contributions on early
1974. Scholarly edition of the works of Richard Hakluyt
travelers to Egypt, focusing on specific persons (such as Bel-
(1552–1616), a voyager who not only recorded his own trav-
zoni or Linant de Bellefonds) or on specific categories such
els, but also collected the accounts of others.
as women, literary travelers, and Egyptian travelers to
Redford, Donald B., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt.
Europe.
New York, 2001.
Starkey, Paul, and Janet Starkey, eds. Interpreting the Orient: Trav-
Redford, Donald B., ed. The Ancient Gods Speak: A Guide to Egyp-
ellers in Egypt and the Near East. Reading, U.K., 2001. Arti-
tian Religion. Oxford and New York, 2002. A bundle of the
cles exploring the activities of nineteenth-century travelers
articles from the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt that
from the West, and the influence of their accounts on the
focus on religion.
image of the Orient and the rise of orientalism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EIGHTFOLD PATH
2737
University of Chicago. Oriental Institute. Epigraphic Survey.
EIDETIC VISION SEE PHENOMENOLOGY OF
Medinet Habu. 8 vols. Chicago, 1930–1970.
RELIGION
University of Chicago. Reliefs and Inscriptions at Karnak. 4 vols.
Chicago, 1936–1954.
EIGHTFOLD PATH. The noble eightfold path (Pali,
University of Chicago. The Temple of Khonsu. 2 vols. Chicago,
ariyo at:t:han˙giko maggo) is among the earliest formulations of
1979–1981.
the Buddhist path of practice. The Dhammacakkhappavat-
University of Chicago. Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple. 2
tana Sutta (Setting the wheel of dhamma in motion), tradi-
vols. Chicago, 1994–1998.
tionally regarded as the Buddha’s first discourse, introduces
the eightfold path as a middle way between two extremes:
Valentia, George, Viscount. Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon,
indulgence in sensual pleasure and self-mortification. Sensu-
the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt: In the Years 1802, 1803,
1804, 1805, and 1806. 3 vols. London, 1809. An English
al indulgence is condemned as “gross, domestic, common,
benefactor, employed Henry Salt in 1802 as secretary and il-
ignoble, and not conducive to the goal.” Self-mortification
lustrator of this book. In 1816, Salt became British Consul-
is condemned as “painful, ignoble, and not conducive to the
General in Egypt and carried out excavations to collect Egyp-
goal.” The eightfold path, however, is praised as productive
tian antiquities for the British Museum.
of vision, productive of knowledge, and conducive to calm,
direct knowing, self-awakening, and nirva¯n:a. These state-
Vandier, Jacques. La religion égyptienne. Paris, 1944. Second aug-
ments are best evaluated in light of the story of the Buddha’s
mented edition of a publication from 1904. Part of a series
on world religions, subseries on ancient oriental religions.
quest for awakening, which provides the path with both nar-
The bibliography was made by Henri-Charles Puech. A third
rative and theoretical context.
edition was published in 1949.
Having enjoyed lavish sensual pleasures in his youth, the
young bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) realized that these plea-
Velde, H. te. Seth, God of Confusion: A Study of His Role in Egyp-
sures—subject to aging, illness, and death—could provide
tian Mythology and Religion. Translated by G. E. van Baaren-
Pape. Probleme Der Agyptologie 6. Leiden, 1967.
no lasting happiness. So he left home and took up the life
of a wilderness mendicant to see if a deathless happiness
Wilkinson, John Gardner. Materia Hieroglyphica. Containing the
could be attained through human effort. After six years of
Egyptian Pantheon and the Succession of the Pharaohs, from the
exploring various dead-end paths, including extreme self-
Earliest Times, to the Conquest of Alexander, and Other Hiero-
mortification, he happened upon a path whose central factor
glyphical Subjects. With Plates, and Notes Explanatory of the
consisted of a focused mental absorption called jha¯na (Skt.,
Same. Malta, 1828.
dhya¯na). Developing this absorption to a level of pure mind-
Wilkinson, John Gardner. Topography of Thebes, and General
fulness and equanimity, he applied his mind to developing
View of Egypt: Being a Short Account of the Principal Objects
three knowledges: knowledge of previous lifetimes, knowl-
Worth of Notice in the Valley of the Nile. London, 1835.
edge of the passing away and re-arising of living beings, and
knowledge of the ending of a¯savas (“effluents” or “fermenta-
Wilkinson, John Gardner. Manners and Customs of the Ancient
Egyptians, Including Their Private Life, Government, Laws,
tions” that defile the mind). Through this third knowledge,
Art, Manufactures, Religions, and Early History; Derived from
the bodhisattva gained release from the a¯savas of sensuality,
a Comparison of the Paintings, Sculptures, and Monuments
ignorance, and “becoming”—the process whereby craving
Still Existing, with the Accounts of Ancient Authors. Illustrated
and clinging lead to rebirth. With this release, he realized the
by Drawings of Those Subjects. Three vols. London, 1837. In
deathless and was now a Buddha: an awakened one.
1841 a second series of “Manners and Customs of the An-
The Pali discourses state that the first two of the three
cient Egyptians” was published, while an abridged version
knowledges contained elements in common with other reli-
appeared in 1854. The 1883 edition joins the information
of the two series. In 1857, Wilkinson also published an ac-
gious teachings of the time, but that the second knowledge
count for the Crystal Palace Egyptian collection at the World
also contained an element distinctive to the Buddha: his in-
Exhibition in London.
sight that the level of an individual’s rebirth was due to the
quality of his or her intentional actions, or kamma (Skt., kar-
Wilkinson, John Gardner. A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyp-
man). Actions performed under the influence of right views
tians. 2 vols. New York, 1854. A revised and abridged work
led to a happy rebirth on the higher levels of becoming; those
of the “Manners and Customs” series. Accessible electroni-
performed under the influence of wrong views, led to a pain-
cally at http://uclibs.org/PID/28301.
ful rebirth on the lower levels. Thus, action leading to rebirth
Willems, Harco. Chests of Life: A Study of the Typology and Concep-
was of three types: skillful, unskillful, and mixed. However,
tual Development of Middle Kingdom Standard Class Coffins.
the impermanence characterizing all levels of becoming
Leiden, 1988.
meant that they caused suffering for anyone searching for
lasting happiness. Seeing this, the bodhisattva then applied
Zivie, Christiane M. Le temple de Deir Chelouit. 5 vols. Cairo,
Egypt, 1982–1992.
his insight to the role of views in shaping action to see what
kind of views would condition a fourth type of action, lead-
WILLEKE WENDRICH (2005)
ing to the end of action and thus to the end of becoming.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2738
EIGHTFOLD PATH
This question was answered in the third knowledge: A
means not trying to attract material support by means of
path of action based on viewing experience in terms of four
scheming, persuading, hinting, belittling, or offering materi-
categories—suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path of
al incentives.
action leading to its cessation—led to a realization of the
Right effort tries to prevent unskillful mental states
deathless. Because this path could be perfected, he realized
from arising, to abandon unskillful mental states that have
that it was a matter of skill, rather than of grace, fate, or coin-
already arisen, to give rise to skillful mental states, and to
cidence. Thus, to teach that skill to others, he formulated the
bring already-existing skillful mental states to the culmina-
four view-categories underlying it as the four noble truths;
tion of their development.
and the fourth truth—the path of action leading to the
deathless—he formulated as the eightfold path.
Right mindfulness entails four activities. The first is
The Pali discourses repeatedly cite the Buddha’s insights
keeping track of the body in and of itself—ardent, alert, and
into the nature and scope of action as the primary teachings
mindful—putting aside grief and distress with regard to the
distinguishing Buddhism from other contemporary reli-
world. The remaining three activities follow the same formu-
gions. The eightfold path, as the expression of these insights,
la, replacing “body” with feelings, mind states, and mental
is thus the quintessential Buddhist teaching. According to
qualities.
the Maha¯parinibba¯na Sutta, the Buddha on the night of his
Right concentration consists of four levels of jha¯na. The
passing away taught the eightfold path to his last convert in
first is composed of directed thought and evaluation focused
response to the question of whether teachers of other reli-
on a single object—a classic object being the breath—
gions were also awakened. Only in a teaching that promoted
accompanied by pleasure and rapture born of seclusion. The
the eightfold path, he maintained, could awakened people
second jha¯na consists of mental unification, devoid of direct-
be found.
ed thought and evaluation, accompanied by pleasure and
The first discourse lists the path factors without expla-
rapture born of concentration. The third jha¯na is a pleasant
nation: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action,
equanimous state, devoid of rapture. The fourth jha¯na con-
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right
sists of purity of mindfulness and equanimity, free from plea-
concentration. Other Pali discourses classify these eight fac-
sure or pain. One discourse, in defining noble right concen-
tors under three headings: the first two under discernment,
tration, adds a fifth factor to these four jha¯nas: the ability to
the next three under virtue, and the last three under concen-
step back from any level of jha¯na to observe it. Another dis-
tration. Still others define the factors in detail. Because the
course states that one may use jha¯na as a basis for awakening
path to the deathless overlaps somewhat with the actions
by observing its factors in terms of the four noble truths, so
leading to happy results in present and future lifetimes, the
as to develop dispassion for those factors, and then inclining
path can be taken as a guide, not only to transcendent happi-
the mind to the deathless.
ness, but also to mundane happiness. Thus each factor of the
According to the Bhu¯mija Sutta, the rightness of these
path has a mundane and a transcendent level.
factors is an objective quality, determined by their ability to
Right view on the mundane level encapsulates the bo-
issue in the deathless when put into practice, regardless of
dhisattva’s second knowledge: that there is value in the act
whether one expresses a wish for that aim. This principle is
of giving; that skillful and unskillful actions bear, respective-
illustrated with similes: trying to attain the deathless by
ly, pleasant and unpleasant fruit; that there are other levels
means of wrong view, wrong resolve, and so on, is like trying
of being; and that there are people who, practicing rightly,
to squeeze sesame oil from gravel. Following the path of right
have directly known these principles for themselves. Tran-
view, and so on, is like obtaining sesame oil by squeezing ses-
scendent right view encapsulates the third knowledge: know-
ame seeds.
ing in terms of the four noble truths.
The Pali discourses depict the relationships among these
Mundane right resolve aims at renouncing sensual pas-
eight factors in a variety of ways, in keeping with the com-
sion, at freedom from ill will, and at freedom from harmful-
plexity of early Buddhist teachings on causality. Individuals
ness. Transcendent right resolve entails directed thought and
at different points in the causal patterns leading to suffering
evaluation as factors of right concentration.
will need differing explanations of how to dismantle those
Right speech abstains from lies, harsh speech, divisive
patterns to meet their specific needs. Some discourses depict
speech, and idle chatter. This and the remaining factors are
a linear relationship among the factors, but in two different
mundane or transcendent depending on whether they are in-
patterns: one, following the order in which the eight factors
formed by mundane or transcendent right view and right re-
are listed; and another beginning with the virtue factors, fol-
solve.
lowed by the concentration and then the discernment fac-
Right action abstains from killing, from stealing, and
tors. Other discourses suggest that specific factors—such as
from sexual misconduct (or from sexual intercourse, accord-
right effort or right mindfulness—when pursued in all their
ing to one of the discourses).
ramifications, incorporate all the other path factors as well.
Right livelihood, for lay people, means not selling meat,
The most complex treatment of the relationships among
poison, weapons, slaves, or intoxicants. For monastics it
the factors is found in the Maha¯catta¯r¯ısaka Sutta (The great
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EINSTEIN, ALBERT
2739
forty), which places right concentration at the heart of the
Nika¯ya (Boston, 2000), pp. 1843–1847. A translation of the
path, with the other seven factors its “requisites.” This dis-
Maggavibhan˙ga Sutta, which analyzes the individual factors
course adds, however, that right view, right effort, and right
of the path, is included in the same work, pp. 1528–1529.
mindfulness underlie the development of all eight factors.
A translation of the Maha¯parinibba¯na Sutta is included in
This same discourse also maintains that the eightfold path
Maurice Walsh, trans., The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A
leads only to a preliminary level of awakening. Full awaken-
Translation of the D¯ıgha Nika¯ya (Boston, 1995),
pp. 231–277. Bhikkhu Ña¯n:amoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi,
ing requires two further factors—right knowledge and right
trans., The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New
release—although these factors are nowhere defined in the
Translation of the Majjhima Nika¯ya (Boston, 1995), contains
Pali discourses.
translations of the Maha¯catta¯r¯ısaka Sutta (pp. 934–940) and
The eightfold path was central to the teachings of all the
the Bhu¯mija Sutta (pp. 997–1001). Alternative translations
early schools of Buddhism, but succeeding generations devel-
for all of these discourses are available from Access to Insight
oped it in new directions. Before the early canons were
at: www.accesstoinsight.org.
closed, the question arose as to how a Buddha’s path of prac-
THANISSARO BHIKKHU (2005)
tice might differ from that of his arahant (Skt., arhat) disci-
ples. The various schools mined their ja¯taka stories (accounts
of the Buddha’s previous lives) to produce lists of perfections
EINSTEIN, ALBERT (1879–1955), was the origina-
(Pali, pa¯ram¯ı; Skt., pa¯ramita¯) that constituted the Buddha’s
tor of the theory of relativity and widely regarded as the
path. The Sarva¯stiva¯dins, whose list later formed the frame-
greatest scientist of modern times. He was born at Ulm, Ger-
work for the Maha¯ya¯na bodhisattva path, found six perfec-
many, of particularly loving parents who were said by friends
tions embodied in their ja¯takas: giving, virtue, energy, endur-
to be “always on a honeymoon.” Although Jewish by descent,
ance, dhya¯na, and discernment. Five of these perfections
the family was freethinking and cared little for religious tra-
correspond directly to factors of the eightfold path: virtue to
dition. Einstein was slow in learning to speak and was far
right speech, action, and livelihood; energy and endurance
from fluent even at age nine; his parents actually feared that
to right effort; dhya¯na to right concentration; and discern-
he might be subnormal. Furthermore, the boy intensely dis-
ment to right view and resolve. As for giving, it derives from
liked school and did well only in mathematics and science.
mundane right view.
He learned to play the violin in childhood and maintained
Over time, however, Maha¯ya¯na discourses redefined the
a lifelong interest in music; at one point he seriously consid-
individual perfections. The bodhisattva’s perfection of dis-
ered becoming a professional violinist.
cernment, for instance, consisted of insight into the lack of
In 1895, Einstein’s plan to enroll at the Swiss Federal
essential nature in all phenomena. His perfection of virtue
Polytechnic School in Zurich was frustrated when he failed
allowed him to kill, for example, if his larger motivation was
the entrance examination. He managed, however, to pass the
compassionate. In this way, the bodhisattva path, while re-
exam the following year and was graduated from the school
taining some of the structure of the eightfold path, filled that
in 1900. But formal study was so disagreeable to him that
structure with new elements. The Therava¯din school, in its
he did practically nothing for a year after graduation. He
commentaries, made its own de facto changes in the eightfold
stayed in Zurich and supported himself by teaching part
path, redefining the practice of jha¯na and treating it as an
time, for he was unable to secure a regular academic post.
optional factor.
In 1901 he became a Swiss citizen and also published his first
In modern times, two developments—the rise of Pali
scientific paper. The next year, he secured a probationary po-
studies in Japan and the rise of lay meditation movements,
sition at the Swiss patent office in Bern. There, he developed
based on Therava¯da techniques, in Asia and the West—have
several important friendships that lasted throughout his life.
prompted interest in using the structure of the eightfold path
Also during this period, he married a fellow student from his
to provide a guide for lay daily life.
Zurich days.
In these ways, succeeding generations of Buddhists, lay
The year 1905 was Einstein’s annus mirabilis; while still
and monastic, have continued to mine the eightfold path for
working at the patent office, he published five papers in the
guidance in their quest for happiness.
Annalen der Physik that proved to be revolutionary. Three of
the papers—among the greatest in the history of science—
SEE ALSO Four Noble Truths.
were, in the words of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “paralyzingly
beautiful.” One of them outlined Einstein’s special theory of
BIBLIOGRAPHY
relativity, on the basis of which he derived later in the same
A modern Western introduction to the eightfold path is Bhikkhu
year the well-known formula E = mc2, expressing the precise
Bodhi, The Noble Eightfold Path (Seattle, 1994). A modern
Asian treatment is Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, The Path to
quantitative relationship between a particle’s energy and
Peace and Freedom for the Mind, available at:
mass. Another of these publications was an important paper
www.accesstoinsight.org. The Dhammacakkappavatana
on Brownian motion, and yet another dealt with the photo-
Sutta is translated in Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans., The Connected
electric effect. In this work, Einstein introduced a fundamen-
Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Sam
˙ yutta
tal concept of quantum physics—namely, that of quanta 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
2740
EINSTEIN, ALBERT
light energy, which were later called photons. It was actually
political situation in Germany worsened and, as a pacifist
for his work on the photoelectric effect—not for the relativi-
and a Jew, Einstein became a double target for the Nazis, he
ty theory—that he received the Nobel Prize for physics in
decided to accept a position at the Institute for Advanced
1922.
Study at Princeton, New Jersey. He retired from the institute
in 1945 but stayed on in Princeton, often working at the in-
Ironically, it was on the basis of Einstein’s work on rela-
stitute. In 1952 he was offered the presidency of Israel, which
tivity that the University of Bern had earlier rejected him
he declined. Einstein was active and mentally vigorous until
when he applied for a place on the faculty. Only in 1908,
the end. He said, a few days before his death on April 18,
after such great physicists as Max Planck and H. A. Lorentz
1955, “Here on earth I have done my job.”
had recognized his genius, was he given the position at Bern.
After that, academic appointments came in quick succession:
Einstein described his religious feeling as one of “raptur-
In 1909, Einstein was appointed to a professorship at the
ous amazement at the harmony of natural law.” Many people
university at Zurich; in 1911, to a senior professorship at the
who knew him personally insisted that he was the most reli-
German university in Prague; and in 1912, again a position
gious person they had ever met. But Einstein was not reli-
at Zurich. It was there, in 1913, that he published his first
gious in any churchly or denominational manner. As he said
paper on the theory of general relativity. This work was
many times and in many ways, “My religion consists of a
brought to completion in 1916, when Einstein was a profes-
humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who re-
sor at the Prussian Academy and director of the Kaiser Wil-
veals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with
helm Institute of Physics in Berlin. Another great physicist,
our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction
J. J. Thompson, called Einstein’s work on the theory of gen-
of the presence of a superior reasoning power that is revealed
eral relativity “perhaps the greatest achievement in the histo-
in the incomprehensible universe forms my idea of God.”
ry of human thought.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Immediately after publishing his theory of general rela-
There is no standard biography of Einstein; perhaps the best one
tivity, Einstein started working out its cosmological implica-
available is Ronald W. Clark’s Einstein: The Life and Times
tions, including the idea that the cosmos is, on the whole,
(Cambridge, U.K., 2000). Leopold Infeld’s Albert Einstein:
dynamic and expanding. Back from the many travels that en-
His Work and Its Influence on Our World (New York, 1950)
sued from worldwide fame, Einstein began his last great proj-
gives a good introduction to Einstein’s scientific work by one
ect, the search for a unified field theory. He worked on this
of his collaborators. Carl Seelig’s Albert Einstein: A Documen-
until the last day of his life, but the project remained unfin-
tary Biography (London, 1956) gives the best account of Ein-
ished. Also, by the late 1920s, the main focus of interest in
stein’s life in Switzerland, whereas Philipp Frank’s Einstein:
physics had shifted to quantum mechanics, which proved ex-
His Life and Times (New York, 1963) is the best report on
tremely fertile in application but which lacked, as far as Ein-
Einstein’s life in Prague. The biography by Banesh Hoff-
mann, with the collaboration of Helen Dukas, Albert Ein-
stein was concerned, philosophical rigor and aesthetic beau-
stein: Creator and Rebel (New York, 1972), places much
ty. He could never accept as complete and final the
greater emphasis on Einstein’s involvement in world affairs.
probabilistic interpretation of cosmic processes offered by
The International Commission on Physics Education
quantum physics, and thus he was gradually estranged from
brought out Einstein: A Centenary Volume, edited by A. P.
the mainstream in his field.
French (Cambridge, U.K., 1979); it is rich in reminiscences
and contains some fine general-interest essays. Albert Ein-
Einstein was always a loner, often pursuing unfashion-
stein: Philosopher-Scientist, 2 vols., edited by Paul Arthur
able paths. As he, in his well-known essay “Science and Reli-
Schilpp (New York, 1951), contains Einstein’s autobiogra-
gion,” wrote, “It is strange to be known so universally and
phy, descriptive and critical essays on his work, and Ein-
yet to be so lonely.” He could not accept the probabilistic
stein’s reply to these. Einstein’s nonscientific writings are to
interpretation of nature because of his “deep conviction of
be found at many places, particularly in his Essays in Science
the rationality of the universe.” He called this conviction a
(1934; reprint, New York, 1955), Out of My Later Years
“cosmic religious feeling” and regarded it as the “strongest
(New York, 1950), and Ideas and Opinions (New York,
and noblest motive for scientific research.” His intuitive feel-
1954). The last two of these books contain his superb essay
ing for this rational order was offended by quantum mechan-
“Science and Religion.”
ics. He wrote to the American physicist James Franck, “I can,
New Sources
if the worse comes to the worst, still realize that God may
Aczel, Amir D. God’s Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Ex-
have created a world in which there are no natural laws. In
panding Universe. New York, 1999.
short, a chaos. But that there should be statistical laws with
Bodanis, David. E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous
definite solutions, i.e., laws which compel God to throw the
Equation. New York, 2000.
dice in each individual case, I find highly disagreeable” (Ein-
Brian, Denis. Einstein: A Life. New York, 1996.
stein: A Centenary Volume, p. 6).
Coles, Peter. Einstein and the Birth of Big Science. Cambridge,
Throughout his life, and particularly after becoming a
U.K., 2000.
public figure, Einstein championed the causes of social jus-
RAVI RAVINDRA (1987)
tice, freedom of conscience, and peace. When in 1933 the
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
EISAI
2741
EISAI (1141–1215) was the founder of the Rinzai (Chin.,
In 1187 Eisai again set out for China. His hope was to
Linji) school of Zen (Chin., Chan) in Japan. A scholarly
journey on to India in pilgrimage to the sacred sites associat-
monk and religious reformer, Eisai was also the popularizer
ed with the life of the Buddha, but because of disturbances
of the practice of tea drinking in Japan. Although he began
on the borders, his request for a travel permit was rejected
life in modest circumstances, he eventually gained the pa-
by the Chinese authorities. Frustrated, Eisai made his way
tronage of the shogun heading the warrior government, the
to Mount Tiantai. There he met the Chan master Xuan
bakufu, in Kamakura. With the shogun’s backing he built
Huaichang, under whose guidance he deepened his knowl-
monasteries in which Zen was fostered; he was also active in
edge of the tradition. Just before returning to Japan in 1191,
the rebuilding of monasteries of the older Buddhist schools.
Eisai committed himself to the bodhisattva precepts and was
Eisai has been eclipsed in historical reputation by such later
granted a monk’s robe and certificate of enlightenment by
Rinzai monks as Daito¯, Muso¯ So¯seki, Ikkyu¯ So¯jun, and
Xuan.
Hakuin, and by the So¯to¯ monk Do¯gen Kigen. In his day,
After his second visit to China, Eisai began to actively
however, Eisai was an important figure and played a major
promote Zen. He established small temples on Kyushu and
role in securing at least partial acceptance for Zen in the Japa-
along the coast of the Inland Sea, where he combined the
nese religious world. Together with his near contemporaries
study of Zen with devotion to the Lotus Su¯tra. This activity
Honen (1133–1212) and Shinran (1173–1263), the found-
did not go unnoticed in Tendai Buddhist circles. In 1194
ers of popular Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, Eisai can be
monks from Enryakuji, arguing that Eisai was heretically en-
counted among the figures contributing to the Buddhist ref-
gaged in an attempt to establish a new branch of Buddhism
ormation of the thirteenth century.
in Japan, persuaded the court to issue an edict proscribing
Zen. In an attempt to defend himself and justify his espousal
Eisai’s full religious name is Myo¯an Eisai. (The charac-
of Zen, Eisai wrote Ko¯zen gokokuron (Arguments in favor of
ters are sometimes read Myo¯an Yo¯sai.) He was born into the
the promulgation of Zen as a defense of the country). In this
family of priests at the Kibitsu shrine in Bizen, modern Oka-
long work Eisai offered four major arguments in favor of
yama prefecture. Probably through his father’s influence, he
Zen: that it was the very essence of Buddhism; that it was
began to study Buddhist texts while still a child and took the
not a new teaching but had been accepted by Saicho¯ and
vows of a novice in the Kyoto monastery of Enryakuji at the
other patriarchs of Tendai Buddhism; that it was based on
age of fourteen. Enryakuji was a center not only for the study
the disciplined observance of the Buddhist precepts; and that
of the scholastic Tendai (Chin., Tiantai) Buddhism intro-
its sponsorship would certainly lead to the rejuvenation of
duced to Japan by the monk Saicho¯ (767–822), but also for
Buddhism in Japan and to the prosperity and security of the
Esoteric (Taimitsu, in this case) Buddhist practices. The
nation.
monastery, however, had lost the spiritual vitality evident in
Saicho¯’s day. While some Tendai monks still devoted them-
The defense of Zen offered by Eisai did little to assuage
selves to prayer and study, others made light of their vows,
the hostility of the Buddhist establishment in Kyoto. In 1199
engaged in political intrigue, and saw little amiss in the use
Eisai set out for eastern Japan, where he found powerful pa-
of military force to promote monastic interests. In this de-
trons in the Kamakura warrior regime. Here Eisai was pres-
generating spiritual environment some earnest young monks
ented with an opportunity to spread Zen in the heartland of
conceived the desire to restore Enryakuji and Tendai Bud-
warrior power, well away from the interference of Enryakuji.
dhism to their earlier glory; Eisai too became convinced of
But while he presumably talked privately to his patrons
the urgent need to revitalize Buddhism in Japan. Like many
about Zen, the record of his public functions reveals only
monks in the ancient period, he believed that the sources of
the conduct of Esoteric rituals and prayer ceremonies in
this regeneration would be found in China.
Kamakura.
In 1168, at the age of twenty-eight, Eisai made the first
In 1202 Eisai returned to Kyoto. There, with the sho-
of two pilgrimages to China. In his travels he became aware
gun Yoriie’s backing, he established the monastery of Ken-
of the influence of Chan, but as he was in China for only
ninji, in which Zen was to be practiced in concert with Ten-
six months, he did not have time to delve very deeply into
dai and Esoteric Buddhism. The writings and activities of the
its teachings. On his return to Japan Eisai brought with him
last twenty years of Eisai’s life all reflect his conviction of the
some sixty volumes of Tendai-related texts, gathered on
importance of renewing a broadly based Buddhism deriving
Mount Tiantai and elsewhere, which he presented to the
its strength from the strict observance of the rules of lay and
chief abbot of Enrya kuji. For the next twenty years Eisai di-
monastic life. This is the message of his Nippon buppo¯ chu¯ko¯
vided his time between Kyoto and Bizen. He led an active
ganbun (An appeal for the restoration of Japanese Bud-
life, writing commentaries on the su¯tras, lecturing on the
dhism), written in 1204. Before his death in 1215, Eisai
Lotus Su¯tra (Ho¯kekyo¯), conducting Esoteric rituals for rain or
made one last visit to Kamakura, where he presented to the
relief from sickness, and establishing small communities of
shogun Minamoto Sanetomo a treatise on the efficacy of tea
disciples. Most of this activity seems to have been devoted
drinking, the Kissa yo¯jo¯ki.
not to the propagation of Zen but to the reform of Tendai
Had Japanese knowledge of Chan come to an end with
Buddhism.
Eisai, it is unlikely that it would ever have taken deep root
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2742
EL
in Japan. Although Eisai provided a vigorous intellectual de-
without fear of losing his or her own position. Even Mot
fense of Zen, he did not seek to put it on an independent
(Death), the “beloved of El,” is subdued when the sun god-
footing. This was to be the task of his successors, monks such
dess Shapsh threatens him with El’s displeasure: “Surely he
as Do¯gen, Enni of To¯fukuji, and the Chinese masters who
will remove the support of your throne; surely he will over-
came to Japan beginning in the mid-thirteenth century.
turn the seat of your kingship; surely he will break the scepter
Eisai, however, framed the terms of the debate that would
of your rule.” The decree of El carries ultimate authority
continue over the acceptance of Zen, and whetted the curios-
among the gods.
ity of a small band of followers, some of whom would them-
selves go to China in search of a deeper understanding of Zen
El’s most common Ugaritic epithet is “bull” (tr), a sym-
¯
practice.
bol of his power and strength. One Ugaritic myth, “The
Birth of the Gracious Gods,” portrays El as a virile and lusty
SEE ALSO Zen.
god who seduces two goddesses on the beach. Using “hand”
(yd) as a euphemism for penis, the text states that “El’s ‘hand’
BIBLIOGRAPHY
grows as long as the sea” (tirkm yd il kym). He impregnates
Collcut, Martin. Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institu-
the two goddesses, who give birth to the gods Dawn and
tion in Medieval Japan. Cambridge, Mass., 1981.
Dusk (ˇsh:r wˇslm). Similarly in the Baal Cycle, El welcomes
Dumoulin, Heinrich. A History of Zen Buddhism. Translated by
the entrance of his consort to his throne room by playfully
Paul Peachey. New York, 1963.
asking, “Does the ‘hand’ of El the King excite you, the love
Furuta Sho¯kin. Eisai, Nihon no Zen goruku. Tokyo, 1977.
of the Bull arouse you?” Indeed, El can be a less-than-
dignified character in Ugaritic myth. In one text, El drinks
MARTIN COLLCUTT (1987)
to inebriation at a divine feast (mrzh:) and is berated by a god
“with two horns and a tail” as he staggers home. El then col-
lapses and apparently becomes incontinent, wallowing in his
EL. Originally an appellative that simply means “god” in
own feces and urine. (This text appropriately concludes with
common Semitic, El (’il) is the proper name of the grey-
the recipe for a hangover remedy.) Some scholars also identi-
bearded patriarch of the Syro-Palestinian, or “Canaanite,”
fy El with the “king of eternity” (mlk ’lm), the divine leader
pantheon. Although references to El are found in texts
of the underworld shades of deceased kings (rpum) in the
throughout the ancient Near East, this West Semitic deity
Ugaritic corpus, but there is no consensus on this identifica-
plays an active mythological and cultic role only in the Late
tion.
Bronze Age texts from the Syrian city of Ugarit (modern Ras
The Hebrew Bible frequently uses the word ’¯el as a refer-
Shamra). Here he is portrayed as a wise patriarch and the el-
ence to the Israelite god, both by itself and in combination
dest of the gods, the grey-haired “father of years” (ab ˇsnm).
with other epithets, such as El Olam, El Elyon, and El Shad-
El is “the father of the gods” (ab ilm) and “the creator of crea-
day (e.g., Gen. 21:33; Exod. 6:2–3). Yahweh and El share
tures” (bny bnwt), while his consort, Athirat, is “the progeni-
many common features. Ugaritic El is “beneficent El, the
tress of the gods” (qnyt ilm). El is also credited with creating
kindly one” (l:tpn il dpid), while Yahweh is “a compassionate
the earth in later Phoenician and Punic inscriptions, but
and gracious god” (’¯el rah:ûm w˘eh:annûn) (Exod. 34:6). A
Ugaritic texts do not include this tradition. Iconographic
Phoenician inscription from Karatepe invokes “El, the cre-
sources from Ugarit appear to present “beneficent El, the
kindly one” (l:tpn Dl dpid) as an enthroned, bearded figure
ator of the earth” (’l qn ars:), similar to the biblical blessing
with his right hand raised in a benedictory gesture. As the
of “God Most High, creator of the heavens and the earth”
“father of humanity” (ab adm), El is invoked to cure diseases
(’¯e Eelyôn qo¯nê ˇsa¯mayim wa¯’a¯res:) (Gen. 14:19). Historically,
and grant the blessing of children in Ugaritic epics.
El is probably identified with Yahweh in ancient Israel, as
suggested by the phrase “El, the god of Israel” (’¯el ’˘elo¯hê
Some scholars have argued that the Ugaritic texts por-
yi´sra¯’¯el) in Genesis 33:20, and by the use of ’¯el as a common
tray El as an otiose deity who is replaced by the virile young
theophoric element in Hebrew names. Finally, El appears oc-
Baal as the leader of the gods. Most scholars, however, now
casionally in Phoenician and Punic sources from the first
agree that El retains his authoritative position as the head of
millennium BCE, including the Phoenician history allegedly
the pantheon even as the storm-god Baal exercises power
written by Sanchuniathon, which is partially preserved via
over the earth on behalf of the gods. As “king” (mlk) and
Philo Byblius in Eusebius’s Praeparatio evangelica.
“judge” (tpt), El presides over the divine council, which
¯
meets at his own mountain home “at the sources of the riv-
ers, amid the confluence of the deeps.” It is El’s perquisite
BIBLIOGRAPHY
to appoint and legitimize (yknn) the god who will serve as
Day, John. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Shef-
“king” (mlk), and so Baal rules only with the consent of the
field, U.K., 2000.
divine patriarch. El receives homage and obeisance from the
Hermann, W. “El.” In Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the
gods, and apart from Anat’s impetuous threats to her indul-
Bible, edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and
gent father, no deity openly challenges the authority of El
Pieter W. van der Horst, 2d ed., pp. 274–280. Leiden, 1999.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELEAZAR BEN PEDAT
2743
Parker, Simon B., ed. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Atlanta, 1997. Ex-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cellent and accessible English translations of the Ugaritic
The Traditions of Eleazar ben Azariah, by Tzvee Zahavy (Missoula,
mythological texts.
Mont., 1977), is the most comprehensive work available on
Pope, Marvin H. El in the Ugaritic Texts. Leiden, 1955. A classic
ElEazar. The traditions relating the ascension of ElEazar to the
and still-useful study.
leadership of the Yavneh academy are analyzed by Robert
Goldenberg in “The Deposition of Rabban Gamaliel II: An
Smith, Mark S. The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Poly-
Examination of the Sources,” Journal of Jewish Studies 23
theistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts. Oxford, 2001.
(Autumn 1972): 167–190. Essential contributions to under-
Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other
standing these traditions are also made by Louis Ginzberg in
Deities in Ancient Israel. 2d ed. Grand Rapids, Mich., 2002.
Perushim ve-h:iddushim bi-Yerushalmi, vol. 4 (New York,
An excellent introduction with comprehensive bibliographic
1961), pp. 174–220.
references to recent work.
New Sources
N
Boyarin, Daniel. “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and
EAL H. WALLS (2005)
Rabbinic Ecclesiology.” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21–62.
DAVID KRAEMER (1987)
Revised Bibliography
ELEAZAR BEN EAZARYAH (late first and early sec-
ond centuries CE), Palestinian tanna, was a rabbinic sage of
the Mishnaic period. ElEazar, whose traditions are recorded
in the Mishnah and related texts, is described as a wealthy
ELEAZAR BEN PEDAT was an amoraic authority of
priest who was a direct descendant of Ezra. It is as a result
the third century. Of Babylonian origin (J.T., Ber. 2.1, 4b),
of this status that ElEazar was appointed to be the head of the
ElEazar made his career in the rabbinic academies of the Land
academy in Yavneh during the brief period that GamliDel of
of Israel, chiefly in Tiberias. Because both ElEazar ben Pedat
Yavneh was removed from that position (J.T., Ber. 4.1, 7d
and the rather earlier ElEazar ben ShammuEa are frequently
and parallels). This event is already echoed in the Mishnah
cited without their patronymics, some uncertainty about as-
(e.g., Yad. chap. 4), but its full import is unclear. The Baby-
cription is attached to traditions bearing their names. Never-
lonian tradition claims that “on that very day [when ElEazar
theless, it is clear that ElEazar ben Pedat left Babylonia after
was appointed] Eeduyyot was taught . . .” (B.T., Ber. 28a).
having studied with Rav and ShemuDel. In the Jerusalem Tal-
Some modern scholars have understood this tradition to
mud he is once called the disciple of HiyyaD bar AbbaD (J.T.,
mean that the Mishnaic tractate EEduyyot, which they take
Qid. 1.4, 60b), but he eventually came to be associated with
to be the earliest tractate, was composed on that day under
Yoh:anan bar NappahaD in Tiberias (J.T., San. 1.1, 18b). He
the direction of ElEazar. Internal evidence, however, does not
ended his career as Yoh:ananDs disciple-colleague (B.T., B. M.
support this assertion. Whatever the nature of the event, it
84a) and spokesman in the academy (J.T., Meg. 1.11, 72b).
is clear that it had significant contemporary impact.
Possibly because of his Babylonian origins, ElEazar was
The position of honor accorded ElEazar is illustrated by
of great interest to the nah:ottei, traveling scholars who went
his frequent appearance in the company of the most respect-
back and forth between Babylonia and the Land of Israel car-
ed sages of his generation. Also central to ElEazar’s image is
rying reports of recent teachings of leading rabbis from one
his moderation. This is the ideal that he advocates in the
center to the other. (The work of these correspondents dur-
Mishnah (Avot 3.17), where in a list of similar statements he
ing the early generations of rabbinical activity in Babylonia
suggests that “if there is no flour there can be no Torah, if
was of great importance in preserving the unity and coordi-
no Torah, there can be no flour.” Such moderate tendencies
nation of a movement that could have broken down into a
are particularly meaningful against the background of his
number of relatively isolated national or regional branches.)
prestige and legendary wealth; he is described as being espe-
ElEazar’s academy at Tiberias was a leading center for such
cially sensitive to the difficulty of supporting oneself in this
exchanges of information. In the Babylonian Talmud,
world (B.T., Pes. 118a). Moderation may have also been one
ElEazar is called “the master of [or from] the Land of Israel”
of the lessons in his replacement of GamliDel; Gam-liDel was
and the standard Babylonian formula “They sent from there”
insensitive to the difficulty of making a living, and while
(i.e., from the Land of Israel) was understood by some as a
GamliDel restricted entrance into the academy, ElEazar
reference to his teaching (B.T., San. 17b).
opened the doors to all.
As a legal authority, ElEazar was noted for his efforts to
ElEazar contributed to both the legal and exegetical tra-
identify the masters whose teachings were incorporated with-
ditions. His legal record reflects no overall agenda or philoso-
out attribution in the Mishnah; he frequently sought to sepa-
phy, although in certain notable cases moderation is evident.
rate consecutive clauses of single Mishnaic pericope, saying,
In exegesis he is considered to have been willing to accept
“Break it up; the one who taught this [part of the text] did
the simple meaning of scripture.
not teach that” (B.T., Shab. 92b, Ker. 24b; see also Bava
Metsi EaD 51a). He was the author of many aggadot (nonlegal
SEE ALSO Tannaim.
rabbinic teachings) but was remembered for his aversion to
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2744
ELECTION
the esoteric lore of merkavah mysticism (B.T., H:ag. 13a). Ac-
group of people to be “his people,” thus making himself
cording to the medieval Epistle of Rabbi Sherira D Gaon (c.
known as “their God.” In the covenant that he establishes
992), ElEazar died in the year 279, the same year as his master
with Abraham, he promises to make of Abraham and his de-
Yoh:anan.
scendants a great nation, bringing them to a land that would
be their own. The covenant that he establishes at Mount
SEE ALSO Amoraim.
Sinai becomes a renewal and extension of the earlier,
Abrahamic covenant. Establishing a special relationship with
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Israelites as a whole, he here identifies himself not only
Aaron Hyman’s Toledot tanna Dim ve-amoraDim (1910; reprint, Je-
as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” but also, more
rusalem, 1964) is an altogether uncritical compendium of
generally, as the “God of Israel.”
traditional lore concerning ElEazar. It is almost useless as a
tool for modern, critical biography, but it remains valuable
The election of Israel, it seems, stems solely from God’s
as an encyclopedic gathering of information. The articles ti-
love, not from any evidence of superiority or merit on Israel’s
tled “Eleazar ben Pedat” in the Jewish Encyclopedia (New
behalf. Similarly, their election is one not of privilege but of
York, 1906) and in the Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem,
obligation. “Let my people go,” God repeatedly demands of
1971) are also useful.
Pharaoh, “that they may serve me” (Ex. 8:1ff.). In order to
New Sources
serve him, the Israelites are enjoined to refrain from worship-
Arbel, Vita Daphna. Beholders of Divine Secrets: Mysticism and
ing or entering into a covenant with other gods (Ex. 20:3,
Myth in Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature. Albany, N.Y.,
22:20, 23:32), and they are commanded to follow a clearly
2003.
delineated code of moral and cultic behavior. Thus, by the
R
eighth century
OBERT GOLDENBERG (1987)
BCE, the prophet Isaiah admonishes those
Revised Bibliography
who outwardly follow cultic prescriptions but fail to recog-
nize either the proper intent with which sacrifices are to be
offered or the kind of moral life that divine election entails.
As a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, they, as the proph-
ELECTION. The concept of divine election appears in
et Micah maintains, are to “do justice, and to love kindness,
a number of religious traditions that espouse belief in an om-
and to walk humbly with [their] God” (Mi. 6:8). They alone,
nipotent and personal God. Although not unknown among
the prophet Amos reminds them, have been known by God
certain religious groups in ancient Greece and India, it has
(Am. 3:2). Consequently, they bear a greater responsibility
had particular significance in Judaism, Christianity, and
for their actions than do other people and will be punished
Islam. In each of these faiths, one finds the claim that God,
by God for their transgressions. Nevertheless, as the eighth-
although universal, has freely elected or chosen a particular
century prophet Hosea insists, punishment does not negate
group of people for a particular destiny or relationship with
their election. Comparing Israel to Gomer, the “wife of har-
him. While belief in the conditions and beneficiaries of elec-
lotry” whom the Lord commanded him to marry, he tells his
tion vary even within the traditions themselves, a common
listeners that while they have been “adulterous” in worship-
set of difficult, and in some cases, unanswered questions un-
ing other gods and, like Gomer, will be punished for their
derlie this article. First, how can belief in the election of a
actions, God will later renew his vow of betrothal, promising
particular group of people be reconciled with belief in a uni-
them, as Hosea promised Gomer, that if they return to him,
versal God? Second, does the concept of election necessarily
he will “heal their faithfulness,” turn aside his anger, and
imply belief in the superiority of the chosen? Third, what is
“love them freely” forever (Hos. 14:4).
the relationship between election, predestination, and free
will? And finally, how, in the face of competing claims to
According to the biblical view, certain Israelites are fur-
election, can one know if one’s own claim is true?
ther elected for a specific role or office. Included are priests
(Dt. 18:5, 1 Sm. 2:28) as well as kings (2 Sm. 6:21, Kgs.
JUDAISM. Belief in God’s having chosen Israel to be his Eam
8:16). Emphasis is placed on the responsibilities that they are
segullah (“chosen people”) has remained a central element of
given. Here, as elsewhere, divine election clearly implies a
Jewish thought. Rooted in the biblical concept of covenant,
setting apart for service.
it is developed further in the Talmud, in medieval philosoph-
ical and mystical writings, and in modern literary and theo-
In the sixth century BCE, following the capture of Jerusa-
logical texts. Although the concept of election is most closely
lem by Nebuchadrezzar, the destruction of the Temple, and
associated with the Hebrew verb bah:ar (“chose”), reference
the exile into Babylonia, the concept of election took on new
to election is often implied in other words. Indeed, belief in
and greater importance. Bereft of their holy sanctuary, with
the election of Israel predates the introduction of the techni-
many exiled from their Holy Land, Israel, the people of
cal term bah:ar in Deuteronomy (7:6, 14:2), a biblical text not
God’s promise, now known as Jews, came to identify suffer-
written until the seventh century BCE. Underlying God’s
ing as a mark of their election. Although belief in the univer-
promises to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12, and
sality of their God, as expressed in the writings of the sixth-
those to Moses and the people of Israel in Exodus 19 as well,
century “Second Isaiah,” might have led them to conclude
is the conviction that Yahveh has freely chosen a particular
that their God, as God of the universe, had chosen another
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2745
group of his creations to be his treasured people, their con-
election continued to serve as a source of pride, strength, and
tinued insistence that it was they alone whom God had cho-
hope for a better future. As rabbinic Judaism developed con-
sen helped to create and nourish the hope that they would
cepts that were to become normative for Jewish life, election
be redeemed in the future. In order to reconcile the particu-
remained, as Solomon Schechter (1909) notes, an “unfor-
larity of Israel’s election with the universality of God, proph-
mulated dogma” running throughout rabbinic literature. Be-
ets like “Second Isaiah” maintained that Israel had been cho-
ginning in the late first century CE with the teachings of Yo-
sen as a “light to the nations” (Is. 42:6). God had entered
hanan ben ZakkDai, emphasis was placed not only on the
into a covenant with the people of Israel so that they might
close relationship that continued to exist between God and
bear testimony to his reality, bringing others to recognize his
Israel but also on the life of Torah, by which Jews, chosen
greatness and to acknowledge that “besides [him] there is no
for holiness by God, were to live. Holiness, as ben ZakkDai
god” (Is. 44:6).
maintained, depended on neither state nor sanctuary (Avot
2.8) but on the fulfillment of the Torah that alone constitut-
The theme of Israel’s election is reiterated throughout
ed what EAqivaD ben Yosef identified as the essence of Jewish
Jewish Hellenistic literature. In the Apocrypha, for example,
existence (Sifrei Dt. 11.22).
Ben Sira describes the Lord as distinguishing between his cre-
ations, blessing and exalting some (i.e., Israel), cursing others
According to Benjamin Helfgott (1954), rabbinic em-
(Sir. 33:12), while the author of 2 Esdras specifically men-
phasis on the election of Israel needs to be seen as part of a
tions Israel as the one people loved by God (2 Esd. 5:27).
Jewish response to the Christian claim that Jews were no lon-
Philo Judaeus and Josephus similarly refer to the spiritual
ger God’s chosen people. While Helfgott admits that empha-
uniqueness of the Jews. As Philo writes in his Life of Moses,
sis on Israel’s election as a response to an anti-Jewish polemic
although “their bodies have been moulded from human
predates the rise of Christianity and can be found as early
seeds . . . their souls are sprung from Divine seeds, and
as 300 BCE, one can justifiably argue that the Christian chal-
therefore their stock is akin to God” (1.278–279).
lenge to the Jewish concept of election was more severe than
A more exclusivist view of election appears in the writ-
those that predated it because Christianity’s identification of
ings of the Jewish schismatics living near the Dead Sea dur-
the church as the true Israel posed a direct challenge to the
ing the first centuries before and after the beginning of the
theological foundations of Judaism itself.
common era. They alone, they claimed, were the true Israel.
The rabbis of the Talmud met this challenge not by di-
Pointing to the revelation of truth given by God to their
rect debate but by reasserting their own doctrine of election
Teacher of Righteousness, they saw themselves as the faithful
with renewed emphasis and vigor. They insisted that the
remnant of Israel, the last in line of those whom God had
bond between God and Israel was indissoluble (B.T., Yev.
chosen. They had been chosen, they believed, to receive both
102b, Qid. 36a). Moreover, they maintained that even the
divine grace and eternal knowledge (Rule of Community 11).
destruction of the Second Temple needed to be seen within
In return for these gifts and for the new covenant established
the larger context of a universal divine plan that included the
with them, they were strictly to obey the teachings of Moses
future fulfillment of those prophetic promises made to the
and the prophets and consciously to live their lives under the
people of Israel. Thus, even in the face of calamity, the rabbis
guidance of the spirit of truth. Members of the community
retained an unqualified faith in God’s continuing love for Is-
identified themselves as sons of light, set apart and prepared
rael and Israel’s love for God. To underscore their contention
for battle against the wicked sons of darkness. It was their
that God’s love for Israel was not arbitrary, the rabbis offered
contention that this battle would soon occur, in which they,
a number of explanations as to why Israel had been chosen.
as sons of light, would emerge victorious.
According to Numbers Rabbah 14.10, for example, Israel was
As Géza Vermès implies in his introduction to The Dead
chosen because no other nation, though offered God’s
Sea Scrolls in English (1962), a predestinarian element seems
Torah, was willing to accept its precepts, while according to
to underlie the community’s assertion that it was loved by
Genesis Rabbah 1.4, Israel’s election was predestined even be-
God before creation, its members destined to become sons
fore the world was created. Some rabbis pointed to the hu-
of light. Yet as Vermès further maintains, the Qumran com-
mility and meekness of the Israelites as making them worthy
munity, like other Jewish groups, continually insisted that
of election, while most remained silent as to the merits or
election was not an inherited privilege. Only through a freely
attributes that might have led to Israel’s becoming the trea-
taken oath of allegiance to God and to the teachings by
sured people of God. None, however, believed that merit
which the community lived could one claim to be a member
alone was sufficient cause for election. Quoting scripture to
of the new covenant of grace that God had established. Only
support their claim, they attributed Israel’s election to God’s
then could one claim to be a member of the elect, chosen
freely given act of love.
by God “for an everlasting covenant” and for everlasting
Faith in God’s special love for Israel came to be ex-
glory.
pressed most clearly in daily prayer. Biblically based concepts
With the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE and a Dias-
of election were incorporated into the liturgy as expressions
pora existence that forced Jews to live as a minority among
of gratitude to the God who had chosen Israel from all peo-
people who often sought to oppress them, the concept of
ple, loved and exalted them above others, sanctified them by
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2746
ELECTION
his commandments, and brought them “unto [his] service.”
tions notwithstanding, did seem to be a claim to superiority,
One finds these ideas articulated further in the works of such
his concept of vocation as the communal purpose that a spe-
medieval thinkers as SaEadyah Gaon, Avraham ibn Daud,
cific group of people choose for themselves suggests that Jews
H:asdai Crescas, and Isaac Abravanel. They receive greatest
are no more unique than others.
attention, however, in the twelfth-century Sefer ha-Kuzari by
A number of theologians recently have sought to refute,
Yehudah ha-Levi, a work in which the concept of chosenness
either directly or indirectly, Kaplan’s notion of Jewish “nor-
plays a central role. Written as a defense of Judaism, it identi-
malcy.” Among them has been Michael Wyschogrod, who,
fies religious truth with that that was revealed at Sinai. Con-
in The Body of Faith: Judaism as Corporeal Election (New
sequently, it declares that the Jews, chosen to bear that truth,
York, 1983), advances the provocative claim that in choosing
are alone able to grasp what transcends the limits of reason.
Israel God chose a biological rather than an ideological peo-
As Henry Slonimsky writes in his introduction to Judah
ple. Thus, he maintains, both religious and secular Jews are
Halevi: The Kuzari (1964), the concept of Israel’s election
exclusively loved by God and have been chosen to enter into
leads ha-Levi to claim, for the Jewish people and their histo-
a covenantal relationship with him. No matter what the Jew
ry, a unique and supernatural character. Yet, according to
does or believes, the fact remains that he or she has been cho-
Slonimsky, it is because ha-Levi wishes to eliminate from his
sen to serve as the vehicle through which God acts in history.
concept of chosenness either hatred or intolerance that he as-
signs other historical functions to Christianity and Islam,
CHRISTIANITY. The Christian concept of election is rooted
maintaining that in the future they will be converted to reli-
in the self-identification of the early church as the true Israel.
gious truth.
While acknowledging that the Jewish people had originally
been the chosen of God, early Christian theologians insisted
The assigning of supernatural uniqueness to the Jewish
that those Jews refusing to acknowledge Jesus as their Messi-
people finds further expression in Jewish mystical works of
ah could no longer claim the status of divine privilege. View-
the Middle Ages. One finds in qabbalistic literature, for ex-
ing Israel as a community of the faithful rather than as the
ample, the claim that only the souls of Israel are from God
biological descendants of Abraham, Paul declares that “not
while the souls of others are base material, or qellipot
all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Rom.
(“shells”). Given the precarious position of the Jew in medi-
9:6). His contention here, as elsewhere, is that the concept
eval Europe, such claims, it seems, became a means of mak-
of election, though once referring solely to the Jewish people,
ing bearable, if not intelligible, the continued oppression of
the Israel of the flesh, had been superseded by a new concept
the Jewish people.
referring to those Jews and Gentiles who, by accepting the
church’s teachings, can justifiably claim to be the true Israel
Yet by the eighteenth century, with the growing accep-
of the spirit. Identifying the spiritual Israel with Isaiah’s
tance of Jews into European society, the question of how one
faithful remnant, Paul maintains that they alone are the heirs
could become part of the modern world while retaining be-
to God’s promise of redemption.
lief in a concept that clearly differentiated Jews from their
non-Jewish neighbors, needed new answers. Even if one
Reinterpreting the biblical concept of covenant, Paul
could demonstrate that the traditional concept of election
proclaims a new covenant of salvation, available to all who
was intended to imply a consecration for service rather than
profess faith in the risen Christ. Given apart from the cove-
a claim to superiority, did not the claim serve to separate the
nant with Abraham and his spiritual seed, it actually precedes
Jews from the very people of whom they wanted to be part?
the Mosaic covenant (obedience to the Torah), which, ac-
Although some, like the eighteenth-century philosopher
cording to Paul, is a covenant of slavery (Gal. 4:2–31). Al-
Moses Mendelssohn in his Jerusalem, assured his non-Jewish
though Paul does not argue that Jews should no longer keep
readers that the election of Israel did not entail privilege but
the Law, he does insist that the Law in and of itself cannot
obligations that could not be dismissed, nineteenth-century
lead to salvation. Given to Israel as a means of curbing sin,
religious reformers in Germany, America, and later in En-
the Law, Paul says, can only bring condemnation, while the
gland, emphasized the universal nature of Israel’s election, re-
new covenant of faith brings rebirth and freedom. Paul does
iterating that the spiritual mission with which they had been
not deny that the Jews remain chosen by God. Indeed, in
entrusted would benefit humanity as a whole.
Romans 11:29 he states that the “gifts and the call of God
are irrevocable.” Yet Paul equates the Mosaic covenant sim-
While, as Arnold M. Eisen (1983) convincingly demon-
ply with Law, as opposed to spirit, and with privilege, as op-
strates, the concept of election remained a preoccupation
posed to service. Given this understanding, he then distin-
among twentieth-century American Jewish thinkers, some,
guishes between the Law, which is irrevocable though
most notably Mordecai Kaplan, founder of Reconstruction-
ultimately ineffectual, and the privileged relationship be-
ism, sought to eliminate the concept altogether. In his Juda-
tween God and Israel, which, as John Gager argues in his The
ism as a Civilization (1934), Kaplan suggested replacing the
Origins of Anti-Semitism (New York, 1983), Paul believes to
concept of election with that of vocation. Reflecting Kaplan’s
have been “momentarily suspended.”
own rejection of belief in a supernatural God as well as his
conviction that Jews could not hope to gain acceptance in
Paul’s extension of the concept of election to include
American society as long as they maintained what, protesta-
Jews and Gentiles served as both a stimulus to greater mis-
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ELECTION
2747
sionary effort and as a didactic vehicle through which the re-
sacred books to the civil authorities, it began to consecrate
sponsibilities and privileges of the Christian life were made
its own bishops, beginning with Majorinus as bishop of Car-
clear. By the second half of the first century, however, as the
thage in the year 312. Claiming that the traditores (sur-
rift between Judaism and Christianity deepened, giving way
renderers) and their successors did not possess the Holy Spir-
to a predominantly Gentile church, Christians focused their
it and therefore could not validly administer the rite of
claim to election on the church (Gr., ekkl¯esia, “the chosen”)
baptism, it maintained that it alone represented the catholic
alone, with some, like Stephen, insisting that the Israelites,
(or universal) church of Peter. Those who developed Donat-
in his view stiff-necked and resistant to the Holy Spirit, had
ist teachings, and in particular Majorinus’s successor Dona-
actually never been God’s chosen people (Acts 7:51). Accord-
tus, from whom the church took its name, viewed the world
ing to this view, the Mosaic covenant existed only to predict
as the dominion of Satan represented by the wicked “sons
the true covenant of the future. In the Gospels and other
of traditores.” Forced to separate from a church that had pol-
New Testament texts, emphasis is placed not only on the
luted itself through its alliance with worldly powers, they in-
elect, whose righteousness and faith reveal the workings of
sisted that only they were pure, “without spot or wrinkle.”
the Holy Spirit, but also on Christ as the elect one, the model
As such, they believed, they alone were the elect of God.
of repentance and faith necessary to enter God’s kingdom
While the opposition of Augustine and others eventually
(Lk. 9:35, 23:35). Although election ultimately rests on an
curbed its influence and growth, Donatism persisted in
act of divine grace, proof of one’s election lies in obedience
North Africa through the sixth century and quite probably
to the call that Christ has issued. Indeed, as John maintains,
into the seventh century and the arrival of Islam.
using the image of Jesus as a shepherd gathering the elect of
Between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, a number
all nations, it is only through Christ, the “door of the sheep-
of neo-Manichaean Christian sects similarly laid claim
fold,” that one gains access to the Father (Jn. 10:1ff.).
to election. Identified by orthodox Christianity as
“Manichaean” because of their dualist worldview, their iden-
In the epistles of the first- and early second-century
tification of the God of the Hebrew Bible with Satan, and
bishop Ignatius, emphasis is placed on the spiritual gifts, or
their strict asceticism—all characteristics of the Manichaean
privileges, that divine election entails. Although all people,
religion founded in the third century by the Persian Mani—
he writes, enjoy such temporal blessings as food and drink,
such groups as the Armenian Paulicians, the Byzantine Bo-
only baptism leads to the bestowal of both spiritual nourish-
gomils, and the Latin Cathari denied that they were either
ment (i.e., the Eucharist) and eternal life. From the second
heretics or Manichaeans; rather, they insisted, they alone rep-
through the sixth century, a number of works were written
resented true Christianity. While the label neo-Manichaean
proclaiming the election of the church as a substitute for the
reflects the recognition by contemporary historians that
election of Israel. Thus, for example, in his Three Books of
Manichaean elements were present in each of these groups,
Testimonies against the Jews, the third-century bishop Cypri-
scholars disagree as to whether or not a direct connection can
an maintains that with the cessation of all tokens of the “old
be established between the Manichaeism of Mani and its
dispensation,” a new law, leadership, prophecy, and election
later Christian manifestations. In either case, however, like
would occur, with Gentiles replacing Jews as God’s chosen
the early Manichaeans, these medieval Christian sects divid-
people. Rosemary Ruether, in her Faith and Fratricide (New
ed their members into different grades or classes, including
York, 1974), views this literary tradition as part of an ongo-
the two primary classes of the “elect” and the “hearers.” Like
ing polemic against a Judaism that by its continued and ac-
the early gnostic pneumatics (also identified as the elect),
tive existence seemed to challenge many of the church’s
those who were initiated into the class of the elect claimed
teachings. Moreover, she maintains, by establishing a num-
to possess true knowledge of the self, the world, and God.
ber of contrasting images between the synagogue and the
Among the Cathari, the neo-Manichaean group about
church—carnality versus spirituality, blindness versus sight,
whom there exists greatest knowledge and whose influence
rejection versus election—the church was better able to af-
seemed to be most widespread, members of the elect dressed
firm who it was and what it hoped to be. Although the
in black, carried a copy of the New Testament in a leather
church’s anti-Judaism did not always lead to a position of
bag, and embraced a rigorous asceticism that was intended
anti-Semitism, the use of such biblical narratives as that of
to free them from contact with the material world. Bound
the older brother Esau’s forfeiting his birthright to his youn-
to chastity, poverty, and abstention from meat, milk, eggs,
ger twin brother, Jacob, to convey the relationship between
cheese, and presumably wine, they ate only one meal (of veg-
Judaism and Christianity powerfully underscored the
etables) a day, fasted several days a week and at particular sea-
church’s theological claim that it alone was the true “seed of
sons, regularly engaged in prayer, and yearly accepted one
Abraham,” elected by God to enter the kingdom of heaven.
new piece of clothing. Prohibited from owning property, ac-
The schismatic Donatist church of North Africa, origi-
cumulating wealth, and working in any occupation, they
nating in the early fourth century and formally denounced
were cared for by the hearers, whose confessions they heard
as heretical in the year 405, advanced its own concept of elec-
and in whose religious instruction they were engaged.
tion. Formed in opposition to those bishops who, in re-
For the Cathari, as for other neo-Manichaean groups,
sponse to the Diocletian edict of May 303, surrendered their
election implied purity, perfection, and knowledge. 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
2748
ELECTION
elect saw themselves as superior to others in having nearly
stitution of the halfway covenant enabled those who had
achieved a state of pure spirit during their lifetime; they
been raised as Puritans but had not undergone the personal
claimed that they alone had the privilege of entering the Par-
experience of conversion to retain their membership, Puritan
adise of Light immediately after death. According to Mal-
churches in America continued to identify themselves as con-
colm Lambert (1977), both religious and social consider-
gregations of visible saints, called by God to a glorious future
ations led many to Catharism and to preparation for their
for which they had made elaborate preparation.
future initiation as one of the elect. While some became Ca-
Greater awareness and appreciation of the religious be-
thari solely out of religious conviction, many, especially
liefs of others has led a number of contemporary Catholic
among the rural aristocracy and the lower classes, turned to
and Protestant theologians to reassess the traditional Chris-
Catharism as a result of their rejection of what they perceived
tian concept of election. Ruether, for example, concludes her
to be the growing luxury and corruption of orthodox Chris-
Faith and Fratricide by offering ways in which the Christian
tianity and as a positive affirmation of self-sacrifice and pov-
understanding of the new covenant as superseding the old
erty. In addition, Lambert maintains, the initial equality of
might be relativized so as to acknowledge the legitimacy of
men and women within the class of the elect attracted a sig-
ongoing Jewish claims. Similarly, Paul Van Buren, in his Dis-
nificant number of women to Catharism and to the high rit-
cerning the Way (New York, 1980), suggests that Jewish and
ual status that it alone afforded.
Christian concepts of election be seen as parallel claims that
Within the reformed tradition, and especially within
point toward a common hope for redemption. Sharing the
Calvinism, the concept of election came to play a particularly
concerns of both Ruether and Van Buren, Walter Bühl-
prominent role. Identifying the elect as those individuals pre-
mann, in God’s Chosen Peoples (Maryknoll, N.Y., 1982), sug-
destined for salvation, John Calvin asserted that election was
gests that chosenness be seen not as an exclusive privilege but
rooted in a divine purpose that predated the creation of the
as an inclusive model of human closeness to God. Distin-
world. According to Calvin, humanity existed in a state of
guishing between a theology and an ideology of election, he
total depravation. Although God had sent his son to atone
warns against using religious convictions to generate and per-
for human sinfulness, the efficacy of this atonement extend-
petuate a mentality of intolerance and supremacy.
ed only to those whom God already had chosen. Rooted sole-
ISLAM. Although the concept of election is not as fully articu-
ly in God’s love and mercy, election, in Calvin’s view, was
lated in Islam as it is in Judaism and Christianity, the QurDa¯n
completely gratuitous, bearing no relationship to human
frequently uses the word Eahd (“injunction, command”) to
merit. While the few who were elected into the “covenant
convey the agreement or covenantal relationship existing be-
of life” would be redeemed, the majority of humanity, reject-
tween Alla¯h and his prophets and believers. Occasionally
ed by God, would be condemned to eternal damnation. In
used as a synonym for Eaqd (“contract”), Eahd implies the dy-
his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), Calvin describes
namic, religious engagement of the believer with Alla¯h, man-
the election of Israel as a first degree of election, superseded
ifest through the obligations that the believer agrees to
by a second degree in which God retains some of Israel as
assume.
his children and freely adopts others. Through the preaching
The QurDa¯n affirms the election of both particular indi-
of the gospel and an accompanying “illumination of the spir-
viduals, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Hebrew
it,” the elect are called to membership in Christ, bound
prophets, and Jesus, and their communities. It further af-
through their election to one another. Faith, Calvin main-
firms the election of God’s last and greatest prophet,
tains, is a seal of one’s election that, together with the attain-
Muh:ammad, and his community of believers. This commu-
ing of righteousness, becomes a confirmation to the individ-
nity (the ummah) is identified in the QurDa¯n with the biblical
ual that he or she indeed has been chosen.
saving remnant. For the Muslims, other nations have sought
English Puritans and their American descendants simi-
after God, but it is the Islamic community alone that has
larly placed the concept of election at the heart of their theol-
drawn close to him. This community is not to be identified
ogy. Sharing Calvin’s belief in a double predestination con-
with any ethnic or social group but consists of all believers.
sisting of the election of the few and the condemnation of
While, according to John Wansbrough (1977), specific doc-
the many, they described in great detail the covenant of grace
trines identifying Muslims as superior did not develop until
later, the QurDa¯n distinguishes Alla¯h’s servants from others
into which the elect had entered. Made possible through
by identifying Muslims as the “purified ones” (su¯rah 37:40)
Christ’s perfect obedience, this covenant held out both the
or, more simply, as “the elect” (38:47).
assurance of forgiveness and the promise of salvation. Ac-
cording to the Puritans, this covenant needed to be appropri-
It is in Sufism, however, that the concept of election re-
ated in faith, with salvation subsequently mediated through
ceives greatest attention. Developed during the ninth and
established laws and institutions. Great emphasis was placed
tenth centuries CE, Sufism proclaimed that nothing exists but
on the experience of regenerating grace as a sign of one’s elec-
Alla¯h. The S:u¯f¯ıs arrived at this claim not through intellectual
tion. By the end of the seventeenth century, this experience
knowledge but through mystical insight, or gnosis. The S:u¯f¯ıs
became a necessary requirement for membership in both
identified this insight as the inward essence of islam, or sub-
American and English Puritan churches. While the later in-
mission to God, an essence that, they maintained, could 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
ELEPHANTS
2749
penetrated only by the elect. According to the S:u¯f¯ıs, the elect
Arnold M. Eisen’s The Chosen People in America: A Study in
were those who not only experienced the divine directly but
Jewish Religious Ideology (Bloomington, Ind., 1983), which
also, as Martin Lings (1961) notes, could pass with no transi-
offers a penetrating analysis of what Israel’s election has
tion from thought to action, from the “next world” and its
mean to American rabbis and theologians from 1930 to the
mysteries to this world and all that it contained.
present.
J. C. V. Durell, in his The Historic Church (1906; New York,
Believing that gnosis led one to attain the highest rank
1969), gives an excellent summary of the concept of election
of human perfection, second only to the prophets, S:u¯f¯ıs laid
in early Christianity. The Donatist claim to election is clearly
claim to sainthood. They based this claim not on personal
detailed in W. H. C. Frend’s The Donatist Church (1952;
merit but on Alla¯h’s love or grace. To be chosen, then, was
Oxford, 1971). Perhaps the most extensive study of neo-
to receive the gift of sainthood, a gift that enabled one to
Manichaeanism to date is Steven Runciman’s The Medieval
penetrate into mysteries that could not be grasped through
Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy (Cam-
rational comprehension. Quoting a S:u¯f¯ı poet, Lings de-
bridge, 1947). Also of interest, especially in its examination
scribes the mystical intelligence of the S:u¯f¯ı as a flawless jewel,
of the social conditions leading to neo-Manichaean claims to
an exquisitely beautiful gift that enables the elect to lift the
election, is Malcolm D. Lambert’s Medieval Heresy (New
veil from the “light of Alla¯h” and recognize that there is
York, 1977). The concept of election in Calvinism and in
Reformed theology as a whole is well summarized in Hein-
nothing but God.
rich Heppe’s Reformed Dogmatics (London, 1950). For a
The concept of election as a gift given to special souls
more detailed and exhaustive examination of this concept,
even before their creation has led a number of scholars to as-
especially in American Puritanism, see Edmund S. Morgan’s
sociate the S:u¯f¯ı claim to election with that of predestination.
Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea (New York,
While these concepts are not identical with one another, the
1963).
sense of being not merely called by God but overwhelmed
John Wansbrough’s Quranic Studies (Oxford, 1977) provides a
by him, led early S:u¯f¯ıs in particular to view their decision
fine overview of the QurDanic concept of election, showing
to leave the world and devote themselves to Alla¯h as a deci-
its relationship to themes of retribution, covenant, and exile.
sion dictated or suggested to them. As Annemarie Schimmel
The development of this concept in Sufism is clearly traced
writes in her Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill,
by Robert C. Zaehner in his Hindu and Muslim Mysticism
(London, 1960) and receives special attention in Martin
N.C., 1975), the mystic has been chosen (is:t:afa¯) by God for
Lings’s A Moslem Saint of the Twentieth Century: Shaikh
himself, not only to become a vessel of his love but also to
Ahmad al-Alawi (London, 1961).
participate in the primordial covenant established even be-
fore the creation of Adam and to remain pure through
New Sources
the meticulous observance of both Islamic law and Islamic
Abrahamov, Binyamin. Divine Love in Islamic Mysticism: The
Teachings of al-Ghazâlî and al-Dabbâgh. Routledge Curzon
tradition.
Sufi Series. London and New York, 2003.
SEE ALSO Free Will and Determinism; Free Will and Pre-
Bader-Saye, Scott. Church and Israel after Christendom: The Poli-
destination.
tics of Election. Boulder, Colo., 1999.
Cosgrove, Charles H. Elusive Israel: The Puzzle of Election in Ro-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
mans. Louisville, Ky., 1997.
While most works on election have been narrowly focused, Steven
Jacobs, Louis. God, Torah, Israel: Traditionalism without Funda-
T. Katz’s Jewish Ideas and Concepts (New York, 1977) and
mentalism. Cincinnati, 1990.
the essay on “Chosen People” by Nelson Glueck and others
Neusner, Jacob, Bruce Chilton, and William Graham. Three
in The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, 1941) pro-
Faiths, One God: The Formative Faith and Practice of Judaism,
vide good overviews of the appearance of this concept
Christianity, and Islam. Boston, 2002.
throughout Jewish history. Harold H. Rowley’s The Biblical
Doctrine of Election (London, 1950), although written from
Novak, David. The Election of Israel: The Idea of the Chosen People.
an explicitly Christian perspective, is useful in illuminating
Cambridge and New York, 1995.
most of the major references to this concept in the Hebrew
Peters, Francis E. The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Bible, while Solomon Schechter’s Aspects of Rabbinic Theolo-
in Conflict and Competition. Princeton, N.J., 2003.
gy (1909; New York, 1961) and Benjamin Helfgott’s The
Wells, Jo Bailey. God’s Holy People: A Theme in Bibical Theology.
Doctrine of Election in Tannaitic Literature (New York, 1954)
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Se-
remain important sources of information in discovering the
ries, no. 305. Sheffield, U.K., 2000.
development of this concept in early rabbinic literature. For
a detailed description of the appearance of this concept in
ELLEN M. UMANSKY (1987)
qabbalistic literature, see Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends
Revised Bibliography
in Jewish Mysticism (1941; New York, 1961). Eugene B. Bo-
rowitz’s Choices in Modern Jewish Thought (New York, 1983)
offers a clear, though brief, summary of the development or
rejection of the concept of election in the works of such
ELEPHANTS. Indigenous to both Africa and India, the
twentieth-century Jewish thinkers as Leo Baeck, Mordecai
elephant is the largest of all living land animals. A peaceful
Kaplan, and Richard Rubenstein. Particularly noteworthy is
herbivore, the adult of the species has no fear of any 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
2750
ELEPHANTS
animal, with the exceptions of the human hunter and small
As the embodiment of perfect wisdom and royal digni-
rodents that might crawl up its trunk. Because of its awesome
ty, the Buddha himself is often referred to as an elephant.
strength and great size, the elephant—whether wild or tamed
According to the older, verse version of the Lalitavistara, the
as a beast of burden—is commonly a symbol of power: both
Buddha was conceived when his mother, Maya, dreamed of
the brute force that supports the cosmos and its life forms
his descent from heaven in the form of a white elephant. This
and the majesty of royal power. At the same time, the wild
motif is depicted in a medallion on a balustrade of the
elephant demonstrates numerous characteristics shared by
Bharhut Stupa dating from the second or first century BCE,
human beings—such as longevity, social customs, and varied
and from that time onward, it appears repeatedly in Buddhist
personality traits—which give rise to tales in which the ele-
iconography throughout India. The later, prose version of
phant may be a companion to humans or may exhibit hu-
the Lalitavistara, followed by the Maha¯vastu, states more em-
manlike qualities such as fearfulness, rage, and stubbornness.
phatically that the Buddha descended into his mother’s
In India, the elephant-headed god Gan:e´sa has been
womb in elephantine form. In subsequent centuries, the
widely revered as a remover of obstacles, hence as a bringer
Buddhist community has generally accepted the idea that a
of success, among both Hindus and Buddhists. His enor-
Buddha, either of the past or of the future, must enter his
mous popularity is also attested outside India. As Indian cul-
mother’s womb in the form of an elephant.
ture spread, the cult of Gan:e´sa was enthusiastically accepted
in Southwest Asia, and in China and Japan, Gan:e´sa became
Many of the myths from Africa about the elephant em-
well known through the introduction of Tantric Buddhism
phasize the ways in which elephants and human beings share
to these lands.
certain characteristics. Perhaps it is because the African ele-
phant remained wild in comparison to its Indian cousin that
Since ancient times, especially in India and North Afri-
its natural habits had more effect on the form of its symbol-
ca, the elephant has been domesticated and trained as a beast
ism. For instance, wild elephants are very social, living in
of burden. The Carthaginians, for example, rode on ele-
groups with definite customs. The life expectancy of the ele-
phants in their war against the Romans. In Hindu mytholo-
phant is somewhere between sixty and seventy years. It is an
gy, elephants hold up the four quarters of the universe: the
intelligent creature and capable of complex emotions, even
earth rests on the back of elephants, which rest, in turn, on
neurosis and insanity. These attributes indicate ways in
the back of a huge tortoise. According to the Maha¯bha¯rata,
which human beings and elephants are similar, and therefore
the divine elephant Aira¯vata was born out of the primeval
it is no surprise that the elephant is often regarded as a special
milky ocean as it was being churned by the gods and demons.
companion of the mythical ancestors. For example, the
This elephant was destined to be the mount of Indra, the god
Nandi in East Africa recount the story of how one day, when
of thunder and battle, protector of the cosmos.
Asista, the creator, arrived on earth in order to arrange the
The intimate connection in Hindu mythology between
creation, or to prepare the present condition of things, he
Aira¯vata and Indra indicates that the elephant is not simply
found three beings already there, living together: the thun-
a symbol for brute force but is also most broadly associated
der, a Dorobo (a member of a hunting tribe believed by the
with the powers that support and protect life. Probably be-
Nandi to be their mythical ancestors), and an elephant. A
cause of its round shape and gray color, the elephant is re-
similar tale is told by the Maasai. According to the Yao, the
garded as a “rain cloud” that walks the earth, endowed with
first human being emerged from the primeval wilderness car-
the magico-religious ability to produce rain clouds at will.
rying an elephant on his shoulders. The elephant made him
In present-day India, the elephant plays a significant part in
a great hunter by teaching him about the natures of all the
an annual ceremony celebrated in New Delhi for the pur-
animals, granting him wild honey for food, and training him
poses of inducing rainfall, good harvest, and the fertility of
in the art of killing. Moreover, the hunter found his wife in
human beings and their livestock. An elephant, painted
the land of the elephants, and together they became the pri-
white with sandal paste, is led in solemn procession through
mordial ancestors of the Yao. In southern Africa, it is widely
the city. The men attending the elephant wear women’s
believed that elephants can transform themselves into human
clothes and utter obscene words, as if to stimulate the dor-
beings and vice versa.
mant powers of fertility.
Although in the period of the R:gveda elephants were
Apparently the elephant shares with human beings the
tamed but little used in war, by the middle of the first millen-
capacity for antagonizing the gods: According to the Tim in
nium BCE, the owning of elephants had become a prerogative
central Togo, West Africa, at the time of the beginning, the
of kings and chieftains, who used them in warfare and on
god Esso and all the animals lived together in harmony. They
ceremonial occasions. Elephants, particularly albino ones,
even shared water from the same spring. But the elephant
became the mounts of kings and, hence, symbolic of royal
picked a quarrel with the god, who thereupon left the earth
power. In the mythology of kingship, the white elephant ap-
and its inhabitants and withdrew to his heaven so that he
pears as one of the seven treasures of the universal monarch
might enjoy peace and quiet.
(cakravartin), who rides upon it as he sets out on his world-
inspection tours.
SEE ALSO Gan:e´sa.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
2751
BIBLIOGRAPHY
By the second half of the fifth century, in the Classical
The classic analysis of elephant symbolism in India remains Hein-
period of Greek culture, participation in the rites at Eleusis,
rich Zimmer’s Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civiliza-
previously restricted to Athenians, was open to all Greeks.
tion, edited by Joseph Campbell (1946; reprint, Princeton,
In Hellenistic and imperial times, the mysteries gained even
N.J., 1972), pp. 102ff. A more comprehensive discussion is
more prestige; they were now open to mustai from all over
presented by Jan Gonda in his Change and Continuity in In-
the Roman Empire. The eschatological hopes offered by the
dian Religion (The Hague, 1965), pp. 90ff. On the symbol-
rites attracted philosophers and emperors alike. Marcus Au-
ism of the elephant in Buddhism, see Alfred Foucher’s La vie
du Bouddha (Paris, 1948), translated by Simone B. Boas as
relius, who was both, rebuilt the sanctuary after a barbarian
The Life of Buddha according to the Ancient Texts and Monu-
invasion in 170 CE. The Christian emperor Theodosius (r.
ments of India (Middletown, Conn., 1963), pp. 22ff. On
379–395) interdicted participation in the mysteries, as in all
Gan:e´sa, there is a study by Alice Getty, Gan:e´sa: A Mono-
pagan cults, and shortly afterward, in 395 CE, the invading
graph on the Elephant-Faced God, 2d ed. (New Delhi, 1971).
Goths destroyed the sanctuary.
MANABU WAIDA (1987)
ORGANIZATION. Besides the priestess of Demeter, who lived
in the sanctuary, the temple of Eleusis was attended by a host
of officials, both religious and secular. The main religious of-
ficial was the hierophant (Gr., hierophantes; lit., “he who
ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. The most important
shows the sacred things”), chosen from the Eleusinian family
mystery cult of the ancient world was that connected with
of the Eumolpides to serve for life. From the family of the
the sanctuary of Demeter Eleusinia on a hillside outside
Kerukes came the daidouchos (“torchbearer”) and the
Eleusis, about fourteen miles northwest of Athens.
hierokerux (“sacred herald”), the two officials next in rank.
ORIGINS AND HISTORY. The ritual of initiation into the El-
IDEOLOGY. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, composed be-
eusinian mysteries preserves memories of an earlier phase
fore Athenian control (between 650 and 550 BCE), narrates
during which the mysteries were the initiation ritual of a po-
how Demeter’s daughter, Kore (“maiden”), also called Per-
litical and, at an earlier stage, clan community, especially in
sephone, was carried off by Hades. After an unsuccessful
the initiation of the pais aph Dhestias, the “boy from the
search for Kore, Demeter in human disguise came to Eleusis
hearth,” the religious center of house and state: he was an
and was engaged as a nurse to the baby prince Demophon,
Athenian boy chosen by lot who underwent initiation at the
whom she tried to make immortal by immersion in fire.
cost and on behalf of the polis of Athens. Other traces are
Found out, she revealed her divinity, ordered a temple to be
preserved in the cult of Demeter Eleusinia, which was wide-
built, and, by stopping the growth of crops, blackmailed
spread throughout Greece. On the island of Thasos, it was
Zeus into restoring her daughter, at least for half a year; the
still a clan cult in the fourth century BCE; in Laconia, it con-
other half Kore had to spend in the underworld with her hus-
cerned especially the initiation of women. These local varia-
band Hades. Demeter then restored life to the crops and re-
tions show that cults of Demeter Eleusinia existed in Greece
vealed the mysteries to the Eleusinian princes.
before the local ritual of Eleusis developed into the mysteries.
Contrary to previous belief, however, the cult at Eleusis has
This narrative uses a traditional theme—the rape and
no demonstrable Bronze Age roots; Mycenaean walls that
restoration of a maiden are elements of a fertility theme that
have been discovered under the later sanctuary belong to sec-
appears in various Near Eastern mythologies—to account for
ular structures. The first archaeologically recoverable sanctu-
the origins of the Eleusinian cult. It is the central text for the
ary shows traces of an apsidal or oval cult house enclosed by
mysteries. To those “who have seen these things,” it promises
a wall, both from the eighth century BCE. It is debatable
a better fate after death (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 480ff.).
when Athens took control of the cult—either in or before
In Peisistratean times, Athenian mythmakers introduced an
the time of Solon (c. 600 BCE) or, at the latest, in the time
important change: Demeter was said to have given the cereal
of Peisitratus (mid-sixth century BCE), when the sanctuary
crops to the Eleusinians, who had not known them before,
underwent a fundamental restructuring that gave it the plan
and Triptolemos, one of the Eleusinian heroes, was credited
it was to have for the rest of its existence.
with teaching the art of agriculture to humankind. Vase
At this time, a monumental new gateway was construct-
paintings attest to the popularity of this myth from the late
ed, looking not toward Eleusis but toward Athens, and a
sixth century onward. Not much later, another change was
square initiation hall (telest¯erion) was erected, incorporating
introduced that gave more concrete forms to the vague escha-
the innermost sanctum (anaktoron) of a Solonian temple. In
tological hopes raised by the mysteries: the mustai could now
the second half of the fifth century
look forward to a blessed paradise, the uninitiated to punish-
BCE, the sanctuary was
expanded by Ictinus and other architects to its final form. A
ments after death. From the fifth century onward, both these
new telest¯erion was built, large enough to accommodate sev-
changes are reflected in poems ascribed to Musaios (a hero
eral thousand initiands (mustai), who during the initiation
related to Eumolpos, the ancestor of the Eumolpidai) and to
rites stood on steps along the four inner walls. In the center
Orpheus.
of the telest¯erion stood the anaktoron in its traditional
THE RITUAL. The initiation rites were secret. Current
location.
knowledge is restricted to scraps of information provided 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
2752
ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
those who dared to divulge them (especially converted pa-
Initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries was, in historical
gans) and to those rituals that were public.
times, an affair of individuals, as in the imperial mystery
cults, but unlike them, it always remained bound to one
The initiation formed part of the state festival of the
place, Eleusis, and had presumably grown out of gentilitial
Musteria, or Greater Mysteries, in the Athenian month of
cults of the Eleusinian families.
Boedromion (September–October). Initiation at Eleusis was
preceded by a preliminary ritual, at Agrai, just outside Ath-
SEE ALSO Demeter and Persephone; Mystery Religions.
ens, that took place in the month of Anthesterion (February–
March). Pictorial sources show that this ritual, called the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lesser Mysteries, had a predominantly purificatory character:
The most competent archaeological account of the Eleusinian
it contained the sacrifice of a piglet and purifications through
mysteries (with a much less convincing part on the ritual) is
fire (a burning torch) and air (by means of a fan). The Great-
George E. Mylonas’s Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries
er Mysteries themselves began with preparations in Athens:
(Princeton, 1961). Corrections regarding the Mycenaean or-
assembly of the mustai and formal exclusion of “murderers
igin are presented by Pascal Darcque in “Les vestiges mycé-
niens découverts sous le Telestérion d’Eleusis,” Bulletin de
and barbarians” (on 15 Boedromion), a ritual bath in the sea
correspondance hellénique 105 (1981): 593–605. The Homer-
(on 16 Boedromion), and three days of fast. On 19 Boedro-
ic hymn has been edited, with ample commentary, by N. J.
mion, the mustai marched in procession from Athens to
Richardson in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Oxford,
Eleusis, guided by the statue of Iacchos, the god who imper-
1974); the later poems are reconstructed in my Eleusis und
sonated the ecstatic shouts (iacchazein, “to shout”) of the
die orphische Dichtung Athens in vorhellenistischer Zeit (Berlin,
crowd and was later identified with the ecstatic Dionysos.
1974). The iconographical sources are collected by Ugo
Bianchi in The Greek Mysteries (Leiden, 1976). Interesting
Toward dusk, the mustai entered the sanctuary at Eleu-
insights, despite many debatable arguments, are given in
sis. A secret password, known through a Christian source,
Karóly Kerényi’s Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and
provides information about the preliminary rites (Clement
Daughter, translated by Ralph Manheim (New York, 1967).
of Alexandria, Protrepticus 21.8): “I fasted; I drank the
Walter Burkert’s Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient
kukeo¯n; I took from the chest; having done my task, I placed
Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth, edited and translated by
in the basket, and from the basket into the chest.” The
Peter Bing (Berkeley, Calif., 1983), approaches the mysteries
kukeo¯n is known to have been a mixture of water, barley, and
through the phenomenology of sacrificial ritual; see also his
spice, taken to break the fast (Hymn to Demeter 206ff.), but
short but masterly account in Greek Religion, Archaic and
details of the rest of the ritual are obscure. Perhaps the mustai
Classical (Cambridge, Mass., 1985), pp. 285–290. Bruce M.
took a mortar from the sacred chest and ground some grains
Metzger’s “Bibliography of Mystery Religions: IV, The Eleu-
sinian Mysteries,” in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen
of wheat. They also enacted the search for Kore by torchlight
Welt, vol. 2.17.3 (Berlin and New York, 1984), pp.
(ibid., 47ff.).
1317–1329, 1407–1409, covers the years 1927–1977 and is
The central rite is clear only in its outline. Crowded in
a very thorough listing, albeit without annotation.
the telest¯erion for the whole night, the mustai underwent ter-
New Sources
rifying darkness; then came a climax full of illumination,
Alderink, Larry. “The Eleusinian Mysteries in Roman Imperial
“when the anaktoron was opened” (Plutarch, Moralia 81d–e)
Times.” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt
and a huge fire burst forth. (Note the parallel to the motif
2.18.2, pp. 1499–1539. Berlin and New York, 1989.
of immersion in fire to gain immortality in Hymn to Demeter
Bianchi, Ugo. “Saggezza olimpica e mistica eleusina nell’Inno
239f.) Details of what followed are conjectural, based largely
Omerico a Demetra.” Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Reli-
on the account of Hippolytus (c. 170–236). “Under a huge
gioni 35 (1964): 161–193.
fire,” he reports, “the hierophant shouts, ‘The Mistress has
Burkert, Walter. Ancient Mystery Cults. Cambridge, Mass., 1987.
given birth to a sacred child, Brimo to Brimos’” (Refutation
Clinton, Kevin. Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Eleusinian
of All Heresies 5.8). Perhaps “the mistress” is Demeter and
Mysteries. The M.P. Nilsson Lectures on Greek Religion, Deliv-
the “sacred child” Ploutos (Plutus), or Wealth, symbolized
ered 19–21 Nov. 1990 at the Swedish Institute at Athens. Gö-
by an ear of wheat, for Hippolytus describes another ritual
teborg, 1992.
thus: “The hierophant showed the initiates the great . . .
Clinton, Kevin. “Stages of Initiation in the Eleusinian and Samo-
mystery, an ear cut in silence” (ibid.).
thracian Mysteries.” In Greek Mysteries, edited by Michael B.
Cosmopoulos, pp. 50–78. London and New York, 2003.
The central rite must have evoked eschatological hopes
Cosmopoulos, Michael B. “Micenean Religion at Eleusis: The Ar-
by ritual means, not by teaching. (Teaching is expressly ex-
chitecture and Stratigraphy of Megaron B.” In Greek Myster-
cluded by Aristotle, Fragment 15.) The symbolism of the
ies, edited by Michael B. Cosmopoulos, pp. 1–24. London
grain lends itself to such an explanation, as does the symbol-
and New York, 2003.
ism of a new birth. A year after his initiation (mu¯esis), the
Dietrich, Bernard C. “The Religious Prehistory of Demeter’s El-
must¯es could attain the degree of epopteia. The rituals of this
eusinian Mysteries.” In La soteriologia dei culti orientali
degree are unknown; many scholars maintain that the show-
nell’impero romano. Atti del Colloquio internazionale, Roma,
ing of the ear belongs to this degree, on the strength of Hip-
24–28 settembre 1979, edited by Ugo Bianchi and Maarten
polytus’s terminology.
J. Vermaseren, pp. 445–471. Leiden, 1982.
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2753
Dowden, Ken. “Grades in the Eleusinian Mysteries.” Revue
Eliade became particularly interested in the philosophy of
d’Histoire des Religions 197 (1980): 409–427.
the Italian Renaissance, especially in Marsilio Ficino’s redis-
Foucart, Paul. Les mystères d’éleusis. Puiseaux, 1941, reprint 1999.
covery of Greek philosophy.
Gallant, Christine. “A Jungian Interpretation of the Eleusinian
Eliade was blessed with the happy combination of an
Myth and Mysteries.” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römisc-
unusually keen mind, strong intuition, a fertile imagination,
hen Welt 2.18.2, pp. 1540–1563. Berlin and New York,
and the determination to work hard. Much of the structure
1989.
of his later thought, and some of the paradoxes of his life,
Janda, Michael. Eleusis. Innsbruck, 2000.
were foreshadowed during his student years. Simultaneously
Lauenstein, Diether. Die Mysterien von Eleusis. Stuttgart, 1987.
he was both a Romanian patriot and a world citizen. He was
Motte, André. “Silence et sécret dans les mystères d’éleusis.” In Les
proud of Western civilization, although he lamented its pro-
rites d’initiation. Actes du Colloque de Liège et Louvain la
vincial character, particularly its will to “universalize” West-
Neuve, 20–21 novembre 1984, edited by Julien Ries and
ern ideas and values into the norm for all of humankind.
Henri Limet, pp. 317–334. Louvain la Neuve, 1986.
Looking back, he could see that in his country previous gen-
Robertson, Noel. Festivals and Legends: The Formation of Greek
erations had had no cause to question their historic mission
Cities in the Light of Public Ritual. Toronto, 1992.
to consolidate Romania’s national identity. His own genera-
Robertson, Noel. “The Two Processions to Eleusis and the Pro-
tion, though, had experienced World War I and seemed to
gram of the Mysteries.” American Journal of Philology 119
have no ready-made model or mission for themselves.
(1998): 547–575.
Eliade’s plea was that his compatriots should exploit this pe-
Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia. Misteri e culti mistici di Demetra.
riod of “creative freedom” from tradition and should try to
Rome, 1986.
learn from other parts of the world what possibilities for life
Sourvinou Inwood, Christine. “Festival and Mysteries: Aspect of
and thought there were. His ultimate concern was the revital-
Eleusinian Cult.” In Greek Mysteries, edited by Michael B.
ization of all branches of learning and the arts, and his great
Cosmopoulos, pp. 25–49. London and New York, 2003.
hope was to decipher the message of the cosmos, which to
him was a great repository of hidden meanings. Judging from
Speyer, Wolfgang. “Einblicke in die Mysterien von Eleusis.” In
Religio Graeco-Romana. Festschrift für Walter Pötscher, edited
his diaries and other writings, it seems that Eliade always had
by Joachim Dalfen, Gerhard Petersmann, and Franz Ferdi-
a strong sense of destiny, from his youth until his last day
nand Schwarz, pp. 15–33. Horn, 1993.
in Chicago, calling him from one phase of life to the next,
Wasson, R. Gordon, Albert Hofmann, and Carl A. P. Ruck. The
though he felt he was not always conscious of what lay in
Road to Eleusis, preface by Huston Smith; afterword by Al-
store for him along the way.
bert Hofmann. Los Angeles, 1998.
Concerning his preoccupation with the Italian Renais-
FRITZ GRAF (1987)
sance in his college days, Eliade later stated, “Perhaps, with-
Revised Bibliography
out knowing it, I was in search of a new, wider humanism,
bolder than the humanism of the Renaissance, which was too
dependent on the models of Mediterranean classicism. . . .
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FIRST EDITION] (1907–
Ultimately, I dreamed of rediscovering the model of a ‘uni-
1986), Romanian-born historian of religions, humanist, ori-
versal man’” (No Souvenirs: Journal, 1957–1969, London,
entalist, philosopher, and creative writer. The career of Mir-
1978, p. 17). As though to fulfill Eliade’s preordained desti-
cea Eliade, who served as editor in chief of this encyclopedia,
ny, the maharaja of Kassimbazar offered him a grant to study
was long and multifaceted. Since this article can give only
Indian philosophy with Surendranath Dasgupta at the Uni-
a brief, general introduction, those who wish to know more
versity of Calcutta (1928–1932). He also spent six months
of his life and work are referred to the works cited in the fol-
in the ashram of Rishikesh in the Himalayas. To him, India
lowing bibliography.
was more than a place for scholarly research. He felt that a
mystery was hidden somewhere in India, and deciphering it
STUDENT YEARS. Born in Bucharest, the son of an army offi-
would disclose the mystery of his own existence. India indeed
cer, Eliade witnessed the German occupation of his home-
revealed to him the profound meaning of the freedom that
land when he was only nine years old. His lifelong fascina-
can be achieved by abolishing the routine conditions of
tion with literature, philosophy, oriental studies, alchemy,
human existence, a meaning indicated in the subtitle of his
and the history of religions began when he was still at the
book on Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.
lycée. An early article entitled “The Enemy of the Silkworm”
reflects the boy’s intense interest in plants, animals, and in-
The stay in India also opened his eyes to the existence
sects. In fact he had already published his one hundredth ar-
of common elements in all peasant cultures—for example,
ticle by the time he entered the University of Bucharest in
in China, Southeast Asia, pre-Aryan aboriginal India, the
1925. At the university, he became a devoted disciple of the
Mediterranean world, and the Iberian Peninsula—the ele-
philosopher Nae Ionescu, who taught him the importance
ments from which he would later derive the notion of “cos-
of life experience, commitment, intuition, and the spiritual
mic religion.” In fact, the discovery of pre-Aryan aboriginal
or psychological reality of mental worlds. At the university
Indian spirituality (which has remained an important thread
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ELIADE, MIRCEA [FIRST EDITION]
in the fabric of Hinduism to the present) led Eliade to specu-
mythology, oriental studies, philosophy, symbology, metal-
late on a comparable synthesis in southeastern Europe, where
lurgy, and the history of religions. In 1938 he founded the
the ancient culture of the Dacians formed the “autochtho-
journal Zalmoxis: Revue des études religieuses. (Unfortunately,
nous base” of present-day Romanian culture. (Dacian cul-
circulation ceased after 1942.) Eliade was also active in the
ture had been reconstructed by a Romanian philosopher-
so-called Criterion group, consisting of male and female in-
folklorist, B. P. Hasdeu.) Moreover, Eliade came to believe
tellectuals. This group was a significant collective manifesta-
that the substratum of peasant cultures of southeastern Eu-
tion of the “young generation” of Romanians, which spon-
rope has been preserved to this day, underneath the cultural
sored public lectures, symposia, and discussion about
influences of the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, and
important contemporary intellectual issues as a new type of
Christianity, and he went so far as to suggest that the peasant
Socratic dialogue. “The goal we were pursuing,” Eliade said,
roots of Romanian culture could become the basis of a genu-
“was not only to inform people; above all, we were seeking
ine universalism, transcending nationalism and cultural pro-
to ‘awaken’ the audience, to confront them with ideas, and
vincialism. He believed that the oppressed peoples of Asia
ultimately to modify their mode of being in the world” (Au-
and elsewhere might take their rightful place in world history
tobiography, vol. 1, p. 237).
through such universalism. “We, the people of Eastern Eu-
rope, would be able to serve as a bridge between the West
Meanwhile, Romania could not help but be touched by
and Asia.” As he remarked in his autobiography, “A good
the political whirlwind that was rising in Europe, manifested
part of my activity in [Romania] between 1932 and 1940
in the conflicts and tensions between communism and de-
found its point of departure in these intuitions and observa-
mocracy, fascism and Nazism. Following the assassination of
tions” (Autobiography: Journey East, Journey West, vol. 1,
Romanian Prime Minister Duca in December 1933, Eliade’s
1981, p. 204).
mentor Nae Ionescu was arrested on suspicion that he was
E
an antiroyalist rightist. Also arrested were the leaders of the
ARLY LITERARY AND INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY. In 1932
Eliade returned to Romania and was appointed to assist Nae
pro-Nazi Legion of the Archangel Michael, commonly
Ionescu at the University of Bucharest in the following year.
known as the Legionnaires or the Iron Guard, and some of
His publication of Yoga: Essai sur les origines de la mystique
Eliade’s friends in the Criterion group. Of course the Criteri-
indienne (1936), in which he attempted a new interpretation
on experiment ceased to function because it was impossible
of the myths and symbolism of archaic and oriental religions,
for Legionnaires, democrats, and communists to share the
attracted the attention of such eminent European scholars as
same platform. Thus, Romania entered a “broken-off era,”
Jean Przyluski, Louis de La Vallée Poussin, Heinrich Zim-
as Eliade called it with fear and trembling. The tense political
mer, and Giuseppe Tucci. He also plunged feverishly into
atmosphere, the cruelties and excesses of all sorts, find their
literary activities. Many people were under the impression
echoes in Eliade’s Huliganii, 2 vols. (The Hooligans; 1935),
then that Eliade thought of himself primarily as a novelist,
although he explicitly said that the hooligans in the novel
although he was strongly motivated to engage in scholarly
were very different from the actual Romanian hooligans of
activities as well. Eliade had made his literary debut in 1930
the 1930s—those “groups of young antisemites, ready to
with Isabel si Apele Diavolului (Isabel and the Devil’s Water),
break windows or heads, to attack or loot synagogues” (Auto-
which was obviously colored by his Indian experience. Ac-
biography, vol. 1, p. 301). What concerned Eliade was not
cording to Matei Calinescu, in his essay “‘The Function of
only the sad political reality of his homeland. He wrote, “I
the Unreal’: Reflections on Mircea Eliade’s Short Fiction”
had had the premonition long before . . . that we would not
(in Girardot and Ricketts, 1982), most of Eliade’s fiction in-
have time. I sensed now not only that time was limited, but
spired by India was written between 1930 and 1935, and his
that there would come a terrifying time (the time of the ‘ter-
earlier novels with Indian themes (e.g., Maitreyi, 1933) were
ror of history’)” (Autobiography, p. 292). In 1938 the royal
strongly autobiographical. He also points out that Eliade’s
dictatorship in Romania was proclaimed; then came World
later novellas on these themes, such as Secretul Doctorului
War II.
Honigberger (The Secret of Doctor Honigberger) and Nop¸ti
EMIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT. In 1940 Eliade was ap-
la Serampore (Night in Serampore), both published in a sin-
pointed cultural attaché at the Royal Romanian Legation in
gle volume entitled Secretul Doctoru-lui Honigberger (1940),
war-torn London. In the following year he became a cultural
“deal with the major problem of the fully mature Eliade, that
counselor in Lisbon, in neutral Portugal. When the war was
of the ambiguities of the sacred and the profane in their
over in 1945, Eliade went directly to Paris, thus starting the
characteristical relationship”; Calimescu concludes that
life of self-imposed exile. Although he could write and lec-
“Eliade had discovered the ‘ontological’ signification of nar-
ture in French, starting a new life in a foreign country at the
ration” by 1940 (Girardot and Ricketts, p. 142).
age of thirty-eight required considerable adjustment. On the
Eliade once stated that young Romanians had a very
other hand, by that time he was already a highly respected,
short period of creative freedom, and fear that this observa-
mature scholar. “It took me ten years to understand,” he said,
tion might apply to himself compelled him to work against
“that the Indian experience alone could not reveal to me the
the clock. Accordingly, he published not only literary works
universal man I had been looking for” (No Souvenirs, p. 17).
but also a series of important scholarly studies on alchemy,
For this task he acknowledged the necessity of combining the
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ELIADE, MIRCEA [FIRST EDITION]
2755
history of religions, orientalism, ethnology, and other disci-
the discipline of the history of religions (Allgemeine Religion-
plines. He wrote:
swissenschaft) consisted of two dimensions, historical and sys-
tematic. Characteristically, he worked first on the systematic
The correct analyses of myths and of mythical thought,
dimension (using the “morphological” method, inspired by
of symbols and primordial images, especially the reli-
gious creations that emerge from Oriental and “primi-
Goethe), as exemplified by his Traité (Patterns in Compara-
tive” cultures, are . . . the only way to open the West-
tive Religion), which presents an astonishing variety of reli-
ern mind and to introduce a new, planetary
gious data and their basic “patterns.” The book starts with
humanism. . . . Thus, the proper procedure for grasp-
certain “cosmic” hierophanies (i.e., manifestations of the sa-
ing their meaning is not the naturalist’s “objectivity,”
cred), such as the sky, waters, earth, and stones. Analyses of
but the intelligent sympathy of the hermeneut. It was
these manifestations are based on Eliade’s notion of the dia-
the procedure itself that had to be changed. . . . This
lectic of the sacred, in order to show how far those hieropha-
conviction guided my research on the meaning and
nies constitute autonomous forms. He goes on to discuss the
function of myths, the structure of religious symbols,
“biological” hierophanies (from the rhythm of the moon to
and in general, of the dialectics of the sacred and the
profane. (No Souvenirs, p. xii)
sexuality), “local” hierophanies such as consecrated places,
and “myths and symbols.” Throughout the book, Eliade ex-
In 1946 Eliade was invited to serve as a visiting professor at
amines both the “lower” and “higher” religious forms side
the École des Hautes Études of the Sorbonne. He then pro-
by side instead of moving from lower to higher forms, as is
ceeded to publish such famous works as Techniques du Yoga
done in evolutionary schemes. He takes pain to explain that
(1948), Traité d’histoire des religions (1949; revised transla-
“religious wholes are not seen in bits and pieces, for each class
tion, Patterns in Comparative Religion, 1958), Le mythe de
of hierophanies . . . forms, in its own way, a whole, both
l’eternel retour (1949; revised translation, The Myth of the
morphologically . . . and historically” (Patterns in Compara-
Eternal Return, 1954), Le chamanisme et les techniques ar-
tive Religion, New York, 1958, p. xvi).
chaiques de l’extase (1951; revised and enlarged translation,
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, 1964), and so on.
It is not surprising that Eliade’s morphology of religion,
He was also invited by many leading universities in Europe
which is his version of the systematic aspect of the history
to deliver lectures, and he appeared in a number of seminars
of religions, has much in common with the phenomenology
and conferences, for example, the annual meetings at As-
of religion of Gerardus van der Leeuw (1890–1950), a
cona, Switzerland.
Dutch historian of religions, theologian, ethnologist, and
phenomenologist. Eliade wrote a very positive review of van
In retrospect, it becomes clear that during his stay in
der Leeuw’s Religion in Essence and Manifestation in Revue
Paris (1945–1955) Eliade solidified most of his important
d’histoire des religions 138 (1950): 108–111. Although Eliade
concepts and categories, including those of homo religiosus,
is uneasy with van der Leeuw’s starting point, he praises the
homo symbolicus, archetypes, coincidentia oppositorum, hiero-
book because it shows that human beings can and do find
phany, axis mundi, the cosmic rope, the nostalgia for Para-
religious meaning even in the most banal physiological activ-
dise, androgyny, the initiatory scenario, and so on, all of
ities such as eating and sexuality, and the book portrays the
which became integral parts of a coherent outlook or system
entire cosmos with its most humble parts serving as grounds
that aimed at what Eliade later called a total hermeneutics.
for the manifestation of the sacred. It should be noted that
This may account for the impossibility of isolating, or even
religion has two dimensions in van der Leeuw’s scheme,
criticizing, any part of his system without disturbing the en-
namely, “religion as experience,” which can be studied phe-
tire framework. Side by side with this development, one no-
nomenologically, and “religion as revelation,” which is basi-
tices the shift in his personal orientation. Before World War
cally incomprehensible and thus can be studied only theolog-
II, his scholarly and literary activities had focused very much
ically. Furthermore, van der Leeuw never claimed that his
on Romania. In those years, he affirmed that “the orthodox
phenomenological study is empirical, because to him empiri-
heritage could constitute a total conception of the world and
cal research is needed only to control what has been under-
existence, and that this synthesis, if it could be realized,
stood phenomenologically. Similarly, Eliade never claimed
would be a new phenomenon in the history of modern Ro-
that the history of religions, including its systematic task, is
manian culture” (Autobiography, vol. 1, p. 132). After the
empirical in a narrow scientific sense, even though it certain-
war, he continued to regard himself as a Romanian writer,
ly has empirical dimensions.
but something new was added. The sense that his experience
suggested the paradigm of the homeless exile as a symbol of
Eliade always felt a need for the alternating modes of the
religious reality for modern, secularized humankind. In this
creative spirit—the “diurnal,” rational mode of scholarship,
situation, his literary works, too, took on the “coloring of a
which he expressed in his French writings, and the “noctur-
redeeming force (forta recuperatoare),” to quote Eugen Simion
nal,” mythological mode of imagination and fantasy, which
(in Girardot and Ricketts, 1982, p. 136).
he continued to express in Romanian. In 1955, the French
METHODOLOGY AND IMAGINATION. Like many other histo-
translation of his major novel, Forêt interdite, appeared. Ac-
rians of religions—for example, Raffaele Pettazzoni (1883–
cording to Mac Linscott Ricketts, who with M. P. Stevenson
1959) and Joachim Wach (1898–1955)—Eliade held that
translated this novel into English (The Forbidden Forest,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2756
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FIRST EDITION]
1978), Eliade felt it would be more for this work and other
There were three new factors that helped Eliade’s cause
fiction that he would be remembered by later generations
enormously. The first was the founding in the summer of
than for his erudite scholarly works. The Forbidden Forest is
1961 of a new international journal for comparative histori-
in a sense a historical novel, dealing with the events and ac-
cal studies called History of Religion. Wisely, Eliade suggested
tivities of the protagonist and his lovers, friends, and foes
making it an English-language journal instead of a multi-
during the turbulent twelve years from 1936 to 1948, in Ro-
language one. For the opening issue, Eliade wrote the famous
mania, London, Lisbon, Russia, and Paris. In another sense
article entitled “History of Religions and a New Humanism”
it is an original novel. Eliade skillfully creates characters, all
(History of Religions 1, Summer 1961, pp. 1–8). In it, he ex-
of whom are caught by “destiny,” as people often are in his
pressed his sympathy with young scholars who would have
other stories. All of them try to escape from the network of
become historians of religions but who, in a world that exalts
historical events and from destructive “time,” which is the
specialists, had resorted to becoming specialists in one reli-
central theme of this novel. The tangled story begins on the
gion or even in a particular period or a single aspect of that
summer solstice in a forest near Bucharest. After twelve years,
religion. Historians of religions, he said, are called to be
again on the summer solstice but in a French forest near the
learned generalists. He recognized the danger of “reduction-
Swiss border, the protagonist encounters his long-lost girl-
ism” in the history of religions as much as in the interpreta-
friend, and he finds salvation, which is “a kind of transcen-
tion of art and literary works. He insisted that a work of art,
dental love for a girl—and death” (Ricketts, in Imagination
for example, reveals its meaning only when it is seen as an
and Meaning, p. 105). To be sure, the novels were not meant
autonomous artistic creation and nothing else. In the case of
to be literary illustrations of Eliade’s theories, but he admits
the history of religions he realized that the situation is com-
there are some structural analogies between the scientific and
plex because there is no such thing as a “pure” religious
literary imaginations, such as the structure of sacred and
datum, and that a human datum is also a historical datum.
mythical space, and more especially “a considerable number
But this does not imply that, for historians of religions, a his-
of strange, unfamiliar, and enigmatic worlds of meaning”
torical datum is in any way reducible to a nonreligious, eco-
(No Souvenirs, p. ix).
nomic, social, cultural, psychological, or political meaning.
YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES. In 1956 Eliade was invited
And, quoting the words of Raffaele Pettazzoni, he exhorted
by the University of Chicago to deliver the Haskell Lectures,
readers to engage in the twin (systematic and historical) tasks
which were published under the title Birth and Rebirth
of the history of religions. But to him, ultimately, the history
(1958). In 1957 he joined the University of Chicago faculty
of religions was more than merely an academic pursuit. He
and continued to live in that city after his retirement. At the
wrote:
time of his death in 1986, he was the Sewell L. Avery Distin-
The History of Religions is destined to play an impor-
guished Service Professor Emeritus.
tant role in contemporary cultural life. This is not only
Eliade’s move to the United States at the age of forty-
because an understanding of exotic and archaic reli-
gions will significantly assist in a cultural dialogue with
nine meant a second emigration for him, but he made an ex-
the representatives of such religions. It is more especial-
cellent adjustment to the new environment. The University
ly because . . . the history of religions will inevitably
of Chicago had traditionally been an important center for the
attain to a deeper knowledge of man. It is on the basis
study of the history of religions, and graduates trained by
of such knowledge that a new humanism, on a world-
Eliade’s predecessor, Joachim Wach, were scattered in many
wide scale, could develop. (“History of Religions,”
parts of North America and on other continents. Eliade’s ap-
pp. 2–3)
pointment at Chicago coincided with the sudden mush-
Second, Eliade took an active part as a member (and presi-
rooming of departments of religion or religious studies as
dent for a term) of a small group of North American scholars
part of the liberal arts programs of various colleges and uni-
called the American Society for the Study of Religion
versities in North America. Fortunately, his books and arti-
(ASSR), established in Chicago in 1958. It was through this
cles—mostly the scholarly ones and not his literary works—
group that much of Eliade’s personal contacts with fellow
were beginning to be translated into English, and the reading
historians of religions and scholars in related fields in North
public devoured them. Eliade made a deep impression on
America were made.
young readers with such works as Cosmos and History (1959),
The Sacred and the Profane (1959), Myths, Dreams and Mys-
Third, Eliade, who had previously worked either on
teries (1960), Images and Symbols (1969), Myths and Reality
“systematic” endeavors or on studies of “particular” religious
(1963), Mephistopheles and the Androgyne (1965), Zalmoxis
forms (e.g., yoga, shamanism, Romanian folk religion, or
(1972), The Forge and the Crucible (1962), The Quest (1969),
Australian religion) always from the perspective of the histo-
and others. He also exerted a tremendous influence on more
ry of religions, embarked during his Chicago days on a new
advanced students with Yoga (1958), Shamanism (1964), and
genre, namely, a “historical” study of the history of religions.
Australian Religions (1973). The fact that Eliade was willing
Initially he worked on a “thematic source book” entitled
to use nonphilosophical and nontheological terms in an ele-
From Primitive to Zen (1968) dealing with religious data
gant literary style to discuss religious subjects attracted many
from nonliterate, ancient, medieval, and modern religions.
secularized youths.
Then he envisaged the publication of four volumes (though
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ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
2757
his health prevented his working on the fourth volume him-
and articles, even the major ones, although efforts were made
self) entitled A History of Religious Ideas (1978–1986). Al-
to include the major titles in the foregoing text. Fortunately,
though the scheme of the series follows manifestations of the
there are some Eliade bibliographies in English that are readi-
sacred and the creative moments of the different traditions
ly available to readers, such as the one included in Myths and
more or less in chronological order, readers will recognize
Symbols: Studies in Honor of Mircea Eliade, edited by Joseph
that these books reflect faithfully his lifelong conviction
M. Kitagawa and Charles H. Long (Chicago, 1969), and a
more up-to-date one, edited by Douglas Allen and Dennis
about the fundamental unity of all religious phenomena.
Doeing, Mircea Eliade: An Annotated Bibliography, (New
Thus, in his historical studies as much as in his systematic
York, 1980). One of the best introductions to Eliade’s
endeavors, he was true to his hypothesis that “every rite,
thought is his Ordeal by Labyrinth: Conversations with Cl-
every myth, every belief or divine figure reflects the experi-
aude-Henri Rocquet either in its French original (Paris, 1978)
ence of the sacred and hence implies the notions of being,
or in its English translation (Chicago, 1982). This book has
of meaning, and of truth” (A History of Religious Ideas, vol.
the virtues of unfolding Eliade’s own mature views about
1, Chicago, 1978, p. xiii).
himself, and it includes “A Chronology of Mircea Eliade’s
Life,” which calls attention to his major writings. There are
During the latter part of his stay in Chicago, fame and
also many articles and books in various languages on Eliade’s
honor came his way from various parts of the world. By that
scholarly and literary works, some critical, some sympathetic,
time, many of his books, including his literary works, had
and some favorable. The third section of the above-
been translated into several languages. He had his share of
mentioned Myths and Symbols, as well as Imagination and
critics. Some people thought that he was not religious
Meaning: The Scholarly and Literary Worlds of Mircea Eliade,
enough, while others accused him of being too philosophical
edited by N. J. Girardot and Mac Linscott Ricketts (New
and not humanistic enough, historical enough, scientific
York, 1982), and Waiting for the Dawn: Mircea Eliade in Per-
spective, edited by Davíd Carrasco and J. M. Swanberg
enough, or empirical enough. But, as hinted earlier, he held
(Boulder, 1985), make helpful references to his creative writ-
a consistent viewpoint that penetrated all aspects of his schol-
ing, although his scholarly side inevitably comes into the pic-
arly and literary works, so that it is difficult to be for or
ture too.
against any part of his writings without having to judge the
whole framework.
There are many other works (mentioning only monographs) that
readers should find useful. See Douglas Allen’s Structure and
Eliade’s last major undertaking in his life was the pres-
Creativity in Religion: Mircea Eliade’s Phenomenology and
ent Encyclopedia of Religion. As he stated himself, what he
New Directions (The Hague, 1978); Thomas J. J. Altizer’s
had in mind was not a dictionary but an encyclopedia—a se-
Mircea Eliade and the Dialectic of the Sacred (Philadelphia,
lection of all the important ideas and beliefs, rituals and
1963); Guilford Dudley’s Religion on Trial: Mircea Eliade
myths, symbols and persons, all that played a role in the uni-
and His Critics (Philadelphia, 1977); Jonathan Z. Smith’s
versal history of the religious experience of humankind from
Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions (Lei-
den, 1978); Ioan Petro Culianu’s Mircea Eliade (Assisi,
the Paleolithic age to our time. It is to his credit that various
1978); and Antonio B. de Silva’s The Phenomenology of Reli-
scholars from every continent cooperated on the encyclope-
gion as a Philosophical Problem: An Analysis of the Theoretical
dia to produce concise, clear descriptions of a number of reli-
Background of the Phenomenology of Religion, in General, and
gious forms within the limits of our present knowledge. As
of M. Eliade’s Phenomenological Approach, in Particular
soon as he had completed the major portion of his work as
(Uppsala, 1982).
editor in chief of the encyclopedia, he was already thinking
of several new projects, among them ones that would develop
JOSEPH M. KITAGAWA (1987)
the themes of cosmos, humankind, and time. Throughout
his life, Eliade never claimed that he had the answer to the
riddle of life, but he was willing to advance daring
hypotheses.
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDER-
ATIONS]. Since his death in 1986 Eliade’s status has
Once Eliade paid a high tribute to his friend and col-
been problematic and the value of his contribution to the ac-
league, Paul Tillich, at the latter’s memorial service in Chica-
ademic study of religion has been widely debated. His pres-
go, and if the name of Tillich is replaced with that of Eliade,
ence in the English-speaking academic world has diminished
it portrays the latter admirably: “Faithful to his vocation and
since the 1980s. Use of his work in graduate courses has de-
his destiny [Eliade] did not die at the end of his career, when
clined, and there has been no repetition of the large-scale
he had supposedly said everything important that he could
conferences on his views such as those held in connection
say. . . . Thus, his death is even more tragic. But it is also
with Carrasco and Swanberg’s Waiting for the Dawn or Ri-
symbolic” (Criterion 5, no. 1, 1968, p. 15).
cketts and Girardot’s Imagination and Meaning. In the 1990s
considerations of his contributions were rare at American
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Academy of Religion Conferences, and more interest in
Both as a scholar and as a writer, Eliade was prolific throughout
Eliade’s literature was shown by the Modern Language Asso-
his life, and his works have been translated into many lan-
ciation, perhaps confirming Eliade’s feeling that it would be
guages. Thus, it is virtually impossible to list all his books
mainly for his fiction that he would be remembered. Howev-
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2758
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
er, most of his books remain in print and continue to sell
Saul Bellow’s 2000 novel, Ravelstein, added to these
strongly to the popular reader and to academic readers else-
concerns. Bellow was a close friend from Eliade’s Chicago
where in the world.
years, and the book features a Romanian historian of reli-
gions apparently concealing an anti-Semitic past. The same
Despite the defense of his work mounted by some writ-
year saw the publication in English of the journal of Eliade’s
ers, criticism of his thought has been consistent and influen-
friend of the 1930s, Mihail Sebastian. Sebastian was a Jewish
tial. Beyond the scholarly debate over the academic value of
writer who attributed the deterioration of his friendship with
his analytic categories and theoretical approach, a wealth of
Eliade to the latter’s politics. Some saw his testimony as con-
historical material has become available, the implications
clusive proof that Eliade was, indeed, anti-Semitic. Public re-
of which have also been debated. Romanian and other ar-
action is suggested by a letter to the New Yorker from Harvey
chives have been investigated in detail, and several biogra-
Cox, professor at the Harvard Divinity School (“A Study in
phies have appeared, raising new considerations. Much of
Fascism,” October 30, 2000), who concluded that Sebas-
this work remains in other European languages and is only
tian’s Journal put Eliade’s “virulently anti-Semitic views . . .
slowly becoming available to an English readership. It is wor-
on the record for all to see.”
thy of note that despite strident condemnations of Eliade’s
political past, this material has so far revealed no incontro-
Even given newly available information, a clear and un-
vertible evidence of egregious wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the
ambiguous judgment remains difficult to attain. There re-
case has important implications for scholars’ reflexive under-
mains significant doubt that Eliade ever was “virulently anti-
standing in the study of religions, emphasizing as it does the
Semitic.” While Bellow’s novel may be inspired by reality,
need for meticulous self-awareness of possible complicity
it remains fiction, although Eliade did undeniably champion
with institutional power structures.
the Legion of the Archangel Michael. Between January 1937
and February 1938, when he was thirty, Eliade wrote more
It might be suggested that since Eliade’s death there has
than a dozen articles in the Legion’s support, and there is
been a period in which the significance of the study of Eliade
some evidence that he participated in electioneering for the
has superseded the significance of his studies of religions.
Legion in December 1937. However, a distinction has to be
Whether this period will eventually result in the rejection or
made between an involvement with the politics of the right
the rehabilitation of his work remains to be seen, but it is
and anti-Semitism, and a brief period of political activity
clear that Eliade’s legacy requires further investigation. Be-
does not necessarily indicate a lifelong commitment.
cause of his position as an internationally successful synthe-
Through the early 1930s Eliade took a deliberately
sizer of studies of religion, his case has become emblematic
“apolitical” stance in the specific sense of withholding alle-
of several key issues: the role played by the “great man” figure
giance from the increasingly radical popular parties of both
in the establishment of the academic discipline of the study
left and right. He saw these parties as rootless, foreign, brutal,
and teaching of religions; the “insider/outsider” question in
and uncultured, and he championed tradition, culture, and
the study of religion; historiography and the interpretation
the intellect in opposition. However, he was increasingly
of historical evidence in relation to ideology; and the inter-
drawn into a nationalist position whose dangers are now all
penetration of lived experience, political activity, and theo-
too well known. After his return from India in 1931, Eliade
retical categories. As was the case with Martin Heidegger and
participated in an intellectual group called Criterion, which
Paul de Man, later scholars need to understand clearly how
brought informed debate of significant issues to the Bucha-
scholars’ specifically academic production is affected by other
rest public. There were suspicions that this group was crypto-
activities.
communist, and it had at least two Jewish members, but it
POLITICAL PROBLEMS. The attempt to unravel Eliade’s po-
also had members whose sympathies were to the right, and
litical position is an exemplar of the task confronting the his-
in 1932 some of these founded a review called Axa (The
torian of religions. Unearthing as much data as possible does
Axis), which gave open support to the Legion. Eliade never
not complete our undertaking—beyond that, there is always
contributed to that journal. In fact, in 1933, along with some
the call to interpret the data and to reach some conclusion
thirty other intellectuals and artists, he signed a protest
while remaining scrupulously conscious of what we ourselves
against the return to barbarism portended by anti-Semitic
introduce. Eliade’s political involvement in interwar Roma-
persecutions in Hitler’s Germany. The same year his article
nia was largely unacknowledged in the United States until
“Racism in the Cinema” protested against “Aryan” racist
the late 1980s. However, the works of Ivan Strenski, Adriana
apologetics, and he explicitly rejected the confusion of na-
Berger, and Leon Volovici raised specific questions: had
tionalism and anti-Semitism in an article objecting to the ex-
Eliade been a supporter of the Legion of the Archangel Mi-
pulsion from Romania of the Jewish scholars Moses Gaster
chael, a militant Romanian, Orthodox/nationalist organiza-
and Laza˘r S¸a˘ineanu in 1885 and 1901 respectively. In 1934
tion also known as the Iron Guard? Since this organization
he wrote (under the pseudonym “Ion Pla˘e¸su”) an article,
was openly anti-Semitic, had Eliade been, and did he remain,
“Against Left and Right,” arguing against the totalitarianism
anti-Semitic himself? The work in French of Daniel Dubuis-
of both political extremes. However, he remained reluctant
son and Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine is particularly critical
to become directly involved with political allegiances, even
in this respect.
as he sought to clarify their foundations.
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ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
2759
In 1934 Sebastian’s autobiographical novel on the con-
of Romania with God.” Here Eliade saw a religious appeal
temporary position of Romanian Jewish intellectuals ap-
that called upon neither class struggle, nor political interests,
peared. De doua˘ mii de ani (For Two Thousand Years) bore
nor economic instincts, nor biological distinctions. The lead-
a preface by the actively right-wing Bucharest philosopher,
er was Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of the Legion
Nae Ionescu. Ionescu had been the professor and mentor of
of the Archangel Michael, a group formed in a split from the
both Eliade and Sebastian, and editor of the widely circulat-
League for National Christian Defense. This was the earliest
ed review, Cuvântul, to which both men had regularly con-
expression of Eliade’s admiration for Codreanu, and it did
tributed before its prohibition in 1934. His preface was
not, at that time, extend to the movement itself. Eliade seems
openly anti-Semitic, in theological rather than racial terms,
to have seen Codreanu’s “religious” appeal as a means of
but Sebastian retained it out of loyalty. Eliade responded in
popularizing the type of cultural creation that he had previ-
print, attempting to mediate between his friend and their
ously attributed to the intellectual and writer by appealing
professor and to reject the latter’s anti-Semitism, again on
to deep traditional roots. In another article of the same year,
theological grounds. However, it is obvious that Eliade op-
Eliade made it clear that he considered creators of culture to
posed only the most obvious manifestations of anti-Semitism
be a country’s most potent force—the most effective nation-
and failed to appreciate the dangers of other anti-Semitic
alists, thanks to whom a nation “conquers eternity. . . . No
rhetoric.
matter what happens in Italy now” he wrote in October
1935, “no historical power can remove Italy from her place
At the beginning of 1935 Eliade’s journalism openly
in eternity. No revolution, no massacre, no catastrophe can
continued to denounce both Nazism and Communism as
wipe out Dante, Michelangelo, Leonardo” (“România în et-
forms of modern idolatry that dissolve moral distinctions in
ernitate,” Vremea, October 13, 1935). Eliade’s disposition to
favor of biological or social criteria. He maintained his
see the Legion as a religious cultural movement was increased
“apolitical” stance, arguing that the greatest weapon of any
by his visit in June 1936 to England as Romanian delegate
writer is independence vis-à-vis every political group. Yet it
to the Oxford Group, a Christian revivalist movement. It
is in this period that the beginnings of his slide into political
was this “religious” and “traditional” aspect of the Legion
involvement can be seen. Eliade’s “apolitical” stance was crit-
that attracted his open support. (See Nagy-Talavera’s work,
icized from both the left and the right and attracted scant
cited in the bibliography, for a detailed history of the
appreciation. His appeal for cultural sophistication rather
Legion.)
than the popularist barbarism of political mass movements
was largely ignored. The somewhat inept and corrupt incum-
There is disagreement as to whether Eliade actually en-
bent “liberal” government failed to increase financial support
rolled in the Legionary movement. No Legionary records re-
for cultural activity but rather increased taxation of authors,
main and possibly none were ever kept. Government ar-
provoking censure from Eliade. Even though he was not en-
chives of the period indicate that the police suspected him
gaged in Ionescu’s political activities, Eliade’s friendship with
of joining sometime in 1935 and belonging to a Legionary
the philosopher and his former affiliation with Cuvântul suf-
cell or “nest” led by Radu Demetrescu Gyr. However, most
ficed to establish an initial connection to the right. One of
commentators think it very unlikely that he joined before
Eliade’s perennial themes of the period was the unhappy fi-
1937, and some insist that he belonged to a different nest
nancial situation of writers in Romania. When the state in-
associated with the journal Axa. Thus, police suspicions re-
troduced a duty on writers’ royalties in 1935, Eliade was con-
main unproven, and no certain evidence of membership has
vinced that the money would not be used for cultural
ever been brought forward. What is certain is that he contrib-
advancement and reacted badly. He accused not only the
uted his written support to the Legion and thereby supported
state but also the bourgeois-capitalist public of indifference.
an openly anti-Semitic movement whose leader proclaimed
Shortly after, he was threatened with the seizure of his furni-
a Jewish conspiracy, and whose second-in-command, Ion
ture in lieu of the duty on his royalties. The refusal of the
Mo¸ta, had translated the anti-Semitic propaganda, The Pro-
incumbent government to found an institute of Middle East-
tocols of the Elders of Zion, into Romanian.
ern and Oriental Studies made Eliade sharply aware of the
contrast between, for example, fascist Italy, which had such
Eliade’s writings themselves express no anti-Semitism of
an institute, and Romania, which did not.
this order. Only three of these “Legionary” articles mention
Jews, and it is clear that his was, first and foremost, a rhetoric
Eliade’s scorn for the political left at that time was based
proceeding from a sentiment of general xenophobia com-
mainly upon his belief that the principal superstition of the
monly associated with nationalism. He continued to de-
modern period concerns single, universal explanations that
nounce elsewhere the intolerant, vulgar anti-Semitism he
effectively remove human freedom. Among these he counted
perceived around him. In June 1936 he had written an article
Hegelian historicism, Freudianism, and Marxism. Unable to
in homage to Moses Gaster, who had made a large donation
sympathize with either the left or the incumbent govern-
of old books and manuscripts to the Romanian Academy.
ment, Eliade in earlier articles indicated no leanings to the
Eliade opposed anti-Semitism that might reduce Romania’s
right either. However, in December 1935 he noted that one
culture, as had Gaster’s expulsion, but he seemed ready to
“youth leader” described his mission as “the reconciliation
accept anti-Semitism that would deny Jews equal status with
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2760
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
ethnic Romanians. That he was also prepared to deny such
with a Bengali woman but loses his love after their clandes-
status to ethnic Bulgarians and Hungarians hardly excuses
tine sexual liaison is discovered. Eliade was, in fact, expelled
this position, but it does put it into perspective: relations be-
from the Dasgupta household after some kind of romantic
tween ethnic and non-ethnic Romanians had been problem-
relationship between him and Maitreyi became known. The
atic since the founding of the nation in 1881.
particulars of the accounts in each novel differ considerably,
although both conform to that historical basis. The true de-
The Legion was officially proscribed early in 1938, and
tails of this affair may never be known, and it is fruitless to
Eliade’s last supportive article appeared in February of that
speculate on them here. However, it is clear that the dividing
year. Codreanu was arrested in April and clandestinely exe-
line between Eliade’s biography and his fiction is not always
cuted in November. Eliade spent almost four months in a
easy to draw.
camp for Legionary sympathizers, from July to November,
during which time he never acknowledged membership but
The Romanian scholar Liviu Borda¸s has convincingly
refused to sign a declaration of separation from the Legion.
demonstrated that Eliade’s autobiographical accounts of his
After his release he ceased to express any sympathies for the
stay in India suffer from some confusion of fact and fiction
Iron Guard but concentrated on his cultural productivity.
in other respects. Particularly “mythologized” are the ac-
He was appointed to the press services section of the Roma-
counts of his stay at the ashram at Rish¯ıkesh, implications
nian Cultural Legation to London in April 1940. This ap-
of esoteric initiation, the account of his forced departure
pointment came from the royalist dictatorship that had or-
from India after three years in order to satisfy his military ser-
dered the execution of Codreanu and the massacre of some
vice, and the account of his intention to eventually return
250 Legionaries in 1939. Was Eliade’s appointment a sign
to a “cave in Himalaya.” While the misrepresentation of fact
of his detachment from the remaining Legionaries or, on the
is not radical—six months instead of the actual three at the
contrary, was it a sign of the government’s deliberate attempt
ashram, the exaggerated “initiation” into Tantric mysteries,
at a rapprochement with them? That they still had consider-
his determination to perform his military duty as opposed
able political influence became obvious in September 1940
to his inability to avoid it, and so on—this is enough to cast
when a “National Legionary State” was declared in Romania.
unfortunate doubt on the veracity of autobiographical details
In the legation in London, Eliade apparently boasted of his
in other instances. Such misrepresentation can only confuse
support for, and suffering on behalf of, the Legion, but the
history rather than clarifying anything.
National Legionary State lasted only four months and Eliade
did not benefit from it. In February 1941, when England
THEORETICAL INFLUENCES. Related to all of the above has
broke diplomatic relations with Romania, he was posted to
been the question of Eliade’s formative influences. As already
neutral Portugal. There he remained until the end of the war,
mentioned, he championed tradition against the novelties of
after which he stayed in Paris until his employment by the
modernism. In March 1938 a meeting took place in Bucha-
University of Chicago in 1957. During his tenure as a func-
rest between Corneliu Codreanu and Julius Evola, an
tionary of the Office of Press and Propaganda of a country
ideologue of the Italian fascists and a champion of the idea
allied to Nazi Germany and a state enforcing openly anti-
of a single unified tradition supposedly at the base of all an-
Semitic policies, Eliade produced neither anti-Semitic nor
cient civilizations. Eliade’s role in that meeting is unclear.
pro-Nazi rhetoric. Several commentators have also men-
Evola claims that Eliade arranged the meeting; Eliade denied
tioned the fact that many colleagues and friends of Eliade’s
this—but he was involved somehow, and he did have some
American years were Jewish and not one of them ever detect-
correspondence with champions of “traditionalist” meta-
ed any sign of anti-Semitism in his deportment. Despite re-
physics such as Evola and Ananda Coomaraswamy. Some
cent determined attempts to disclose anti-Semitism in
commentators, notably Daniel Dubuisson and Steven
Eliade’s academic work, nothing indubitable has been estab-
Wasserstrom, have argued that this is the most significant
lished.
single influence on Eliade’s understanding of religions. Oth-
ers (Liviu Borda¸s, Natale Spineto, Mac Linscott Ricketts)
BIOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. One factor that has exac-
have made the more convincing case against this, although
erbated suspicions about Eliade’s past is his occasional ten-
all recognize that Eliade was certainly not ignorant of tradi-
dency to “mythologize” or “fictionalize” his autobiography.
tionalism. A closely allied concern is the role of Eliade’s expe-
This has been most clearly established in relation to Eliade’s
rience of India in the formation of his theoretical position.
period in India but appears to be true of other portions of
Once again scholars are divided in their conclusions. Sergiu
his life. The sometimes confused relationship between his
Al-George, Douglas Allen, and Borda¸s emphasize the trans-
fiction and his biography perhaps became most pointed in
formative effect of Eliade’s visit to the subcontinent. Ricket-
1994 with the publication in English of both his 1933 novel,
ts, Wilhelm Danca, Ansgar Paus, and A. F. C. Webster have,
Maitreyi, and the response to it, also in novel form, from
on the other hand, emphasized the earlier formative influ-
Maitreyi Devi, It Does not Die. Maitreyi was the daughter of
ences of Eastern Orthodoxy on Eliade’s thought.
Eliade’s Indian host, Surendranath Dasgupta, and provided
the inspiration for the eponymous character in a novel that
ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS. All of the above issues have
presented itself as being uncompromisingly realistic. The
their impact on the scholarly evaluation of Eliade’s work,
protagonist of the novel, a Romanian engineer, falls in love
which has left a series of questions with contending answers.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
2761
(The annotated bibliography can be consulted for specific
ascription of a religious nature, brought about by develop-
scholars who consider the various questions and attempt
ments in the history of religions. Thus, even modern histori-
their own answers.) The clarification of Eliade’s political and
cists who limit all effective causality to historical realities can
biographical history, and of his theoretical and cultural influ-
be classed as religious in this way. This gives rise to another
ences, would have significant implications for the determina-
of Eliade’s widely critiqued claims: the ubiquity of religion.
tion of the utility of his categories and methodology. What
All human beings are religious according to the preface to
is of importance is not so much the putative source of
The Quest (1969), and that the sacred is a ubiquitous catego-
Eliade’s terms in Indian, Eastern Orthodox, or traditionalist
ry of human consciousness is his frequently repeated claim.
thought but the degree to which authoritatively identifying
Scholarly consensus is lacking with respect to these ques-
such a source could clarify the meaning of his terms. The im-
tions, too. Is it appropriate to describe all of humanity as reli-
plication of this must be immediately recognized—these
gious? Is it at all helpful to redefine religion in such a way
terms are not made entirely clear by Eliade’s writings. It is
as to remove the possibility of entirely “nonreligious” people?
a particularly trenchant criticism that the “literary” prose
Is it at all meaningful to recognize the active agency of “ahi-
style that made his work appealing to so many readers, espe-
storical entities”? Here the central question of reductionism
cially to nonspecialists, might make his categories so indeter-
appears. Eliade takes religion and religiousness to be irreduc-
minate as to be obscurantist rather than helpful. The ques-
ible realities. That is, they cannot be explained or defined
tion then remains and has attracted widely divergent
without remainder in entirely nonreligious terms. Religion
answers—is his analysis of religion finally accurate and co-
is thus a reality sui generis—of its own unique natural sort.
herent, and does it bring any greater clarity?
These, too, are undecided issues in the study of religion.
Equally unclear in the Eliadean corpus is his personal
The initial approach and institutional training of schol-
theological position. Although early articles make clear his
ars of religion will never be disconnected from their answers
perhaps surprisingly credulous stance in respect of claims re-
to any of these questions. Those who prefer to conceive of
garding supernatural phenomena and his later theoretical
the study of religion as an enterprise more closely allied to
work makes plain his understanding of the sacred as the real
the social sciences than to the humanities will tend to avoid
par excellence, he has also expressed a modern skepticism
dependence upon empirically unavailable and thus “nonhis-
concerning a historically incredible God (Ricketts, 1988,
torical” concepts and categories and will be more ready to
p. 123; Norman Girardot in Rennie, 2001). In a body of
recognize a religious/nonreligious dichotomy determined
writing as extensive as Eliade’s, it may be unrealistic to expect
along lines of dependence upon or independence from such
consistency, but the debate over Eliade’s theological position
concepts and categories. Those who prefer to conceive of the
has been perpetuated by such apparent inconsistencies. Some
study of religion as a humanistic discipline more closely al-
have seen a latent theological agenda in his work, while oth-
lied to a philosophical and cultural anthropology will be
ers have read a strictly phenomenological description of
more open to the consideration of religious concepts and cat-
human behaviors. So the question remains: what did Eliade
egories as the effective products of human culture whose
himself believe, and does his personal belief add to or detract
“historical reality” may thus be constrained but is nonethe-
from his value as a scholar of religion?
less factual. In this context the English-language distinction
between the humanities and the sciences is less helpful than
Closely related to the question of Eliade’s personal belief
the Germanic distinction between Geisteswissenschaft and
are questions concerning the nature of the sacred in Eliade’s
Naturswissenschaft. Eliade’s history of religions clearly be-
thought and his normativity. What did Eliade take the sacred
longs to the former—on that one point at least consensus can
to be? An actual and autonomous power? Or does he, rather,
be reached. Whatever is finally deemed to be the value of the
describe the apprehension of such power by religious believ-
Eliadean oeuvre, the clarification of the questions raised in
ers? In so doing does he transgress appropriate limitations by
its consideration can only serve to further clarify our under-
assuming the rectitude of his own observations and instruct-
standing of religion and the processes involved in its study.
ing his readers in what they ought to believe and how they
ought to proceed?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Other closely connected questions arising from Eliade’s
The bibliography for Eliade studies is extensive. For Eliade’s own
work concern historicism and the ubiquity of religion. It has
works those books mentioned in the main entry on Eliade
are helpful, and there is a compact but quite extensive bibli-
been one of the most repeated criticisms of Eliade that he
ography in Rennie (1996). The most exhaustive bibliography
is “ahistorical” or perhaps “ahistoricist.” That is, his “mor-
to date is the three-volume Biobibliografie by Mircea Hando-
phology” ignores the historical context of religious realities,
ca, which, despite being written in Romanian, is useful to all
grouping and analyzing by superficial similarities, and also
readers since it lists Eliade’s works in the languages of publi-
he grants effective agency to “sacred” categories that lack his-
cation. The following works include the most significant ar-
torical autonomy. Eliade’s position, most clearly stated in
guments raised since his death.
Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return (1954),
Al-George, Sergiu. “India in the Cultural Destiny of Mircea
is that the modern evaluation of historical realities as the only
Eliade.” The Mankind Quarterly 25 (1984): 115–135. This
source of significance, meaning, truth, and power is itself an
is a consideration of Eliade’s debt to Indian 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
2762
ELIADE, MIRCEA [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]
Allen, Douglas. Myth and Religion in Mircea Eliade. New York
Handoca, Mircea. Mircea Eliade: Biobibliografie. 3 vols. Bucha-
and London, 1998. Broadly favorable to Eliade as a useful
rest, 1997, 1998, 1999. The most complete bibliography of
guide in the study of religions, Allen’s major concentration
Eliade’s prodigious output yet compiled.
is on Eliade’s normative claims.
Idinopulos, Thomas A., and Edward Yonan. Religion and Reduc-
Bellow, Saul. Ravelstein. New York, 2000. Despite being a fiction-
tionism: Essays on Eliade, Segal, and the Challenge of the Social
al novel, some have seen the fact that this work was written
Sciences for the Study of Religion. Leiden, Netherlands, 1994.
by a close friend who spoke at Eliade’s funeral as a guarantee
Critical considerations by various authors of the question of
of its historical accuracy. Closely based on Bellow’s friend,
reductionism and the interrelations of Eliade, Robert Segal,
Allan Bloom, the eponymous protagonist of the novel con-
and the social scientific approach to the study of religion.
stantly warns the Jewish author that one Radu Grielecu, a
Laignel-Lavastine, Alexandra. Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco: L’Oubli di
Romanian professor at the University of Chicago, was once
Fascisme. Paris, 2002. One of the most detailed attempts to
a member of the Iron Guard.
assert Eliade’s long-standing commitment to the Iron Guard.
Berger, A. “Fascism and Religion in Romania.” The Annals of
Despite its apparent thoroughness, this work shows signs of
Scholarship 6 no. 4 (1989): 455–465.
prejudgment and selective use of sources and has been called
“excessively polemical” even by Eliade’s critics.
Berger, A. “Anti-Judaism and Anti-Historicism in Eliade’s Writ-
ings.” In Tainted Greatness: Antisemitism and Cultural He-
McCutcheon, Russell T. “The Myth of the Apolitical Scholar.”
roes, edited by Nancy A. Harrowitz, pp. 51–74. Philadelphia,
Queen’s Quarterly 100 (1993): 642–646. A consideration of
1994. Berger’s earlier articles are appreciative of Eliade’s the-
Eliade’s case and his claims to “apolitical” status. What are
oretical position. However, in her two later articles Berger
the implications of an acceptance of Eliade’s “apolitical”
details her increasing conviction that Eliade was tainted with
claims?
an anti-Semitism that pervaded his history of religions.
McCutcheon, Russell T. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on
Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York,
Cave, John David. Mircea Eliade’s Vision for a New Humanism.
1997. An example of the post-Eliadean critique, particularly
New York, 1992. In a generally appreciative consideration
concerning the sui generis nature of religion.
of Eliade, Cave focuses on his new humanism as the key to
understanding the scholar’s thought.
Nagy-Talavera, Nicholas. The Green Shirts and the Others: A His-
tory of Fascism in Hungary and Romania. Ia¸si, Oxford, and
Culianu, Ioan P., ed. Geschichte der religiösen Ideen. Vol. 4: Vom
Portland, Ore., 2001. A general history of Hungarian and
Zeitalter der Entdeckungen bis zur Gegenwart. Freiburg im
Romanian militant nationalism, especially of the “Green
Breisgau, Germany, 1991. Planned as a four-volume work,
Shirts,” that is, Codreanu’s Iron Guard.
Eliade’s History of Religious Ideas was not finished before his
death. This entirely German anthology seeks to complete the
Olsen, Carl. The Theology and Philosophy of Eliade. New York,
project.
1992. An attempt to evaluate Eliade’s analysis of religion as
revealing his own theology and philosophy. Olsen concen-
Devi, Maitreyi. It Does Not Die: A Romance. Calcutta, 1976. Re-
trates on the symbolism of the search for the center and
printed Chicago, 1994. The response in novel form to
Eliade’s search for his own center.
Eliade’s novel Maitreyi (Bengal Nights) by the eponymous
Paden, William. “Before the Sacred became Theological: Reread-
heroine.
ing the Durkheimian Legacy.” In Religion and Reductionism:
Dubuisson, Daniel. Mythologies du XXe Siècle (Dumézil, Lévi-
Essays on Eliade, Segal, and the Challenge of the Social Sciences
Strauss, Eliade). Lille, France, 1993. A consideration of the
for the Study of Religion, edited by Thomas A. Idinopulos and
three thinkers that concludes that Eliade’s anti-Semitism per-
Edward Yonan, pp. 198–209. Leiden, Netherlands, 1994.
vades the whole of his ontological understanding of the his-
Paden argues that Eliade’s concept of the sacred owes more
tory of religions.
to the Durkheimian understanding of the sacred as a human
Duerr, Hans Peter. Die Mitte der Welt: Aufsätze zu Mircea Eliade.
attribution than to Rudolf Otto’s numinous sacred.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1984. A collection of articles
Paus, Ansgar. “The Secret Nostalgia of Mircea Eliade for Paradise:
about Eliade by authors including Paul Ricoeur, Kurt Ru-
Observations on Method in the Study of Religion.” Religion
dolf, Ninian Smart, Ugo Bianchi, Douglas Allen, Zwi Wer-
19 (1989): 137–150. In a perception of Eliade as a “sec-
blowski, T. J. J. Altizer, Emile Cioran, Ioan Culianu, Mac
ularized mystic,” Paus considers his Eastern Orthodox
Linscott Ricketts, Joseph Kitagawa, Adrian Marino, Eugen
influences.
Simion, and Matei Calinescu.
Rennie, Bryan. Reconstructing Eliade: Making Sense of Religion. Al-
Eliade, Mircea. Bengal Nights. Chicago, 1994. The English trans-
bany, N.Y., 1996. An attempt to clarify the categories of
lation of Eliade’s 1933 Maitreyi. This is the fictionalized ac-
Eliade’s thought and account for their prevalent misunder-
count of Eliade’s amorous relationship with the daughter of
standing. This addresses the questions of anti-Semitism, la-
his Indian host, Surendranath Dasgupta.
tent theology, and attitudes to history.
Girardot, Norman. “Whispers and Smiles: Nostalgic Reflections
Rennie, Bryan. Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End
on Mircea Eliade’s Significance for the Study of Religion.”
of Mircea Eliade. Albany, N.Y., 2001. An anthology of An-
In Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End of Mir-
glophone scholars both critical and appreciative of Eliade, in-
cea Eliade, edited by Bryan Rennie, pp. 143–163. Albany,
cluding a previously unpublished short story by Eliade and
N.Y., 2001. Based on the author’s reflections on his acquain-
extracts from his Indian journals.
tance with Eliade, this touches on the questions of personal
Rennie, Bryan. Review of Journal, 1935–1944: The Fascist Years,
belief and integrity.
by Mihail Sebastian. Religion 32, no. 2 (2002): 172–175.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIEEZER BEN HYRCANUS
2763
Rennie, Bryan. “Religion after Religion, History after History:
(1948–1977).” Four Parts: Archævs: Études D’Histoire des Re-
Postmodern Historiography and the Study of Religions.”
ligions 4, no. 3 (2000): 157–185; 4, no. 4 (2000): 179–208;
Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 15, no. 3 (2003):
5, nos. 3–4 (2001): 75–119; 6, nos. 3–4 (2002): 325–394.
68–99. A consideration of contemporary understandings of
Although published in a Romanian journal of limited circu-
the problems of historiography, including a response to Ste-
lation, this is a valuable complement to the study of Eliade’s
ven Wasserstrom’s critique of Eliade.
life and thought.
Rennie, Bryan. The International Eliade. Albany, N.Y., 2005. An
Turcanu, Florin. Mircea Eliade: Le Prisonnier de l’Histoire. Paris,
anthology of essays from non-Anglophone scholars, includ-
2003. A detailed and well-researched biography that covers
ing considerations of many of the open questions of Eliade
Eliade’s entire life and avoids most of the polemical prejudg-
scholarship and an Eliade play from 1944.
ments of the Laignel-Lavastine volume.
Ricketts, Mac Linscott. Mircea Eliade: The Romanian Roots,
Volovici, Leon. Nationalist Ideology and Antisemitism: The Case of
1907–1945. Vols. 1 and 2. New York, 1988. This meticu-
Romanian Intellectuals in the 30s. New York, 1991. Although
lously researched biography of Eliade’s early life reveals most
Volovici is not a specialist on Eliade, this clearly indicates the
of the historical details later debated.
sources of the suspicions directed against him.
Ricketts, Mac Linscott. Former Friends and Forgotten Facts. Nor-
Wasserstrom, Steven. Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem,
cross, Ga., 2003. A compilation of papers revealing in detail
Mircea Eliade, and Henri Corbin at Eranos. Princeton, N.J.,
the inaccuracies of some criticisms of Eliade.
1999. A very well-written and compelling account of the im-
Ries, Julien, and Natale Spineto, eds. Esploratori del pensiero
plications of those historians of religions who attended C. G.
umano. Georges Dumézil e Mircea Eliade. Milan, 2000,
Jung’s Eranos conferences. This work is perhaps one of those
pp. 201–248. Also published in French: Deux explorateurs de
showing evidence of somewhat forced argument concerning
la pensée humaine: Georges Dumézil et Mircea Eliade. Turn-
Eliade’s anti-Semitism.
hout, Belgium, 2003. A collection of articles on Dumézil
Webster, A. F. C. “Orthodox Mystical Tradition and the Com-
and/or Eliade. Douglas Allen and Mac Linscott Ricketts con-
parative Study of Religion: An Experimental Synthesis.”
tribute in English, while others write in Italian or French.
Journal of Ecumenical Studies 23 (1986): 621–649. Webster
Noteworthy are contributions by Natale Spineto, Roberto
raised the question of the role of Eastern Orthodoxy in
Scagno, Julien Ries, Natale Terrin, and Mircea Handoca.
Eliade’s understanding of religion. It is to be hoped that this
Sebastian, Mihail. Journal: 1935–1944. Chicago, 2000. An im-
topic will attract further study.
portant insight into the dynamics of anti-Semitism in 1930s
Romania, Sebastian’s Journal gives an alternative insight into
BRYAN S. RENNIE (2005)
Eliade’s development.
Simion, Eugen. Mircea Eliade: A Spirit of Amplitude. New York,
2001. A detailed analysis of Eliade’s literary work by the pres-
ELIEEZER BEN HYRCANUS, also known as
ident of the Romanian Academy, who is also a professor of
EliEezer the Great, but usually simply as Rabbi EliEezer, was
Romanian literature at the Sorbonne, Paris.
a Jewish sage of the late first and early second centuries CE,
Smith, J. Z. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chica-
the first generation of the tannaitic period. The legends sur-
go, 1982.
rounding EliEezer’s beginnings, although contradictory, are
Smith, J. Z. To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Chicago,
united in seeking to create an aura of greatness. According
1987.
to the dominant tradition, EliEezer, like EAqivaD ben Yosef,
Smith, J. Z. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions.
was an adult before he began his studies. Despite this, he was
Chicago, 1993.
soon found to be “explicating matters that no ear had ever
Smith, J. Z. Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion. Chica-
before heard.” Elsewhere, EliEezer is described as a child
go, 2004. Although almost all general works on the history
prodigy, and those who saw him as a child predicted that he
of religions and the study of religion mention Eliade, those
would one day be a great sage. The legends about EliEezer
of J. Z. Smith are particularly thoughtful and critical, al-
convey a close association between him and Yoh:anan ben
though they are not specialist studies of the complexity of the
ZakkDai, whom EliEezer and his colleague YehoshuEa ben Ha-
Eliadean oeuvre.
nanyah were entrusted to smuggle in a coffin from the em-
Spineto, Natale, ed. Mircea Eliade, Raffaele Pettazzoni, L’Histoire
battled Jerusalem. The same association is emphasized in
des religions a-t-elle un sens? Correspondance 1926–1959.
Avot (2.8), where Yoh:anan declares that EliEezer’s great wis-
Paris, 1994. This volume is an important insight into
Eliade’s thought by way of his lengthy correspondence with
dom outweighs that of all the sages of Israel.
the Italian historian of religions.
EliEezer’s statements regarding himself reflect what
Strenski, I. “Mircea Eliade: Some Theoretical Problems.” In The
might be termed an intense, even obsessive work ethic. He
Theory of Myth: Six Studies, edited by Adrian Cunningham,
describes his extraordinary perseverance in Torah study
pp. 40–78. London, 1973.
(B.T., Suk. 28a), and in the same tradition he claims never
Strenski, I. “Love and Anarchy in Romania.” Religion 12 no. 4
to have uttered a profane word. Elsewhere EliEezer voices sus-
(1982): 391–404.
picion of sexuality. Most crucial, perhaps, is the claim of ex-
Timu¸s, Mihaela, and Eugen Ciurtin. “The Unpublished Corre-
treme conservatism in matters of tradition ascribed to
spondence between Mircea Eliade and Stig Wikander
EliEezer; he declares that he “never uttered a word that he did
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2764
ELIJAH
not hear from his teacher” (ibid.). Although not literally true,
superior to any employed previously. A useful synthetic anal-
this accurately portrays the conservatism of EliEezer’s legal
ysis of EliEezer’s legal traditions is Itzchak Gilath’s Rabbi
opinions. EliEezer’s legal concerns closely parallel those of his
Eliezer ben Hyrcanus: A Scholar Outcast (Ramat Gan, Israel,
Pharisaic predecessors, to the extent that they can be recon-
1984). A full review of the literature on EliEezer is given in
structed. His exegetical method is also often conservative, a
volume 2 of Neusner’s book, pages 249–286.
tendency that sometimes leads him to conclusions that are
New Sources
harshly literal.
Goldin, Judah. “On the Account of the Banning of R. Eliezer ben
A picture of EliEezer’s persona is derived to a great extent
Hyrqanus: An Analysis and Proposal.” JANES 16–17
(1987): 85–97.
from reports of an event that led to his ban (h:erem) from rab-
binical circles. The traditions that describe the precipitating
Gutoff, Joshua. “The Necessary Outlaw: The Catastrophic Ex-
event (B.T., B.M. 59b; J.T. Mo Eed Q. 3.1, 81c–d), composed
communication & Paradoxical Rehabilitation of Rabbi
long after it occurred, are not unified in their description, but
Eliezer ben Hyrcanus.” Journal of Law and Religion 11
they agree that the immediate dispute concerned the ritual
(1994–1995): 733–748.
purity of a certain oven (“the oven of EAkhnDai”), and they
Jaffé, Dan. “Les relations entre les Sages et les judéo-chrétiens du-
appear to agree that EliEezer’s refusal to submit to the will
rant l’époque de la Mishna; R. Eliézer ben Hyrcanus et Jacob
of the majority was the cause for his ban. This is a compelling
le ‘min’ disciple de Jésus de Nazareth.” Pardès 35 (2003): 57–
explanation because contemporary conditions demanded co-
77.
operation with the new rabbinic center of power, the author-
DAVID KRAEMER (1987)
ity of which EliEezer was challenging. Still, other explanations
Revised Bibliography
for EliEezer’s exclusion developed. One suggests that
EliEezer’s offense was his ascription to beit Shammai (the
school of Shammai). Although widely repeated, there is no
support for this conclusion in earlier sources. Another possi-
ELIJAH (mid-ninth century BCE), or, in Hebrew, Eliy-
ble explanation is suggested by an enigmatic tradition that
yahu, was a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel during
speaks of EliEezer’s arrest for dealings with minim
the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah and a leader in the opposi-
(“sectarians”; Christians?). Whatever the reason, the effect of
tion to the worship of Baal in Israel.
the ban is felt in a wide variety of sources. This is particularly
HISTORICITY OF ELIJAH. While few scholars doubt the exis-
true in the traditions that describe EliEezer’s death (where Ye-
tence of Elijah as a religious figure of great personal dyna-
hoshuEa arose and declared “the vow is annulled”), but it ex-
mism and conservative zeal and as the leader of resistance to
tends even to the Mishnah itself, where a few of EliEezer’s
the rise of Baal worship in Israel in the ninth century BCE,
views are explicitly suppressed.
the biblical presentation of the prophet cannot be taken as
Despite this, EliEezer’s immense contribution to the rab-
historical documentation of his activity. His career is pres-
binic corpus is indicative of the respect that his genius com-
ented through the eyes of popular legend and subsequent
manded. EliEezer is mentioned by name in the Mishnah
theological reflection, which consider him a personality of
more often than any of his contemporaries. His opinions are
heroic proportions. In this process his actions and relations
often debated in the Talmuds, and despite his ban, they form
to the people and the king became stereotyped, and the pre-
the basis of halakhic (legal) decisions. Legend reflects the
sentation of his behavior, paradigmatic. The politics of the
same conclusion. Even the text that describes the ban dem-
reign of Ahab (c. 869–850 BCE) provided an appropriate oc-
onstrates heavenly support for EliEezer’s view, support that
casion for cultural and religious conflict between conserva-
is repeated elsewhere. Much later, respect for EliEezer led to
tive elements in Israel and the foreign Phoenician influence
the pseudonymous attribution of the Midrashic work Pirqei
at the court in Samaria. But how closely the portrayal of that
de-Rabbi Eli Eezer (ninth century) to him.
controversy in the biblical story of Elijah corresponds to the
actual situation is an issue that cannot be easily resolved.
EliEezer’s contributions are particularly prevalent in the
L
areas of purity and sacrifice, perhaps a reflection of his belief
ITERARY SOURCES. The reason for the difficulty in assessing
the biblical figure of Elijah lies in the nature of the literary
that the Temple would soon be rebuilt. He was a zealot for
sources that are contained in 1 Kings 17–19 and 21 and 2
the circumcision ritual, preparation for which he permitted
Kings 1–2. (An additional story in 2 Chronicles 21:12–15
even on the Sabbath. In matters of commandment and trans-
about a letter from Elijah to Jehoram, king of Judah, is the
gression he was concerned for the act, and not the intention.
Chronicler’s invention and cannot be taken seriously as part
SEE ALSO Tannaim.
of the Elijah tradition.) The stories about Elijah in Kings do
not represent a unified tradition or the work of one author.
B
Episodes narrated in 1 Kings 20 and 22, involving two other
IBLIOGRAPHY
By far the best work on EliEezer is Eliezer ben Hyrcanus: The Tradi-
prophets, interrupt the account of Elijah’s career and give a
tion and the Man, 2 vols. (Leiden, 1973), by Jacob Neusner.
somewhat different view of Ahab and the court. But even
Though one might dispute individual interpretations or con-
when these are bracketed, the resulting presentation can
clusions, Neusner’s work is comprehensive and his method
hardly be derived from one literary source or author. In fact,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIJAH
2765
at least three separate sources may be identified: (1) 1 Kings
fearful fugitive who must learn that God is not present to his
17–19, usually regarded as the oldest story and the nucleus
people primarily in the theophany of a storm (as with Baal)
of the Elijah tradition; (2) 1 Kings 21 and 2 Kings 1, stories
but in the quiet voice of inner conviction. The faithful rem-
composed by the historian of Kings or extensively edited by
nant are ultimately vindicated by the subsequent events of
him; and (3) 2 Kings 2, an account of the transition of the
history.
prophetic office to Elisha, which is regarded as belonging to
Many scholars regard the stories in 1 Kings 17–19 as
the collection of Elisha stories.
early, even of the ninth century, and as an independent com-
BIBLICAL TRADITION. The historian’s view of Elijah in 1
position prior to its incorporation into the history of Kings.
Kings 21 and 2 Kings 1 is stereotyped. It represents the
This, however, seems unlikely, because these chapters reflect
prophet as a spokesperson for the deity in issuing a repri-
nothing of the historian’s editing and seem to be unknown
mand and a word of judgment upon the king; Elijah’s role
to him. It is more plausible to suggest that 1 Kings 17–19
here is similar to the role of other prophets in this source.
is a later addition to the history of Kings. In it the author has
The remarks in 2 Kings 1:9–16 about Elijah calling down fire
portrayed the life of the prophet in such a way as to make
from heaven upon the king’s soldiers present the prophet in
him the medium for a theological message, one that expresses
a somewhat different role, that is, as a wonder-worker. But
the major concerns of the exilic period. Whatever traditions
these verses seem superfluous; because nothing is altered by
lie behind these stories, they are now so thoroughly reshaped
this activity, the unit has often been viewed as a later addi-
by the writer’s theological interests that they cannot be recov-
tion. Only the description of Elijah as an ascetic who wore
ered by a tradition history.
haircloth and a leather girdle (2 Kgs. 1:8) suggests a distinc-
tive tradition about an unusual personality. What is note-
The story of Elijah’s ascent to heaven in a chariot of fire
worthy, however, is that the historian’s treatment of Elijah
while Elisha looks on and receives a portion of his spirit (2
in 1 Kings 21 and 2 Kings 1 does not reflect any knowledge
Kgs. 2) presupposes both the reputation of Elijah as an excep-
of the stories contained in 1 Kings 17–19 or any suggestion
tional “man of God” and the subsequent career of Elisha as
of Elijah’s miraculous powers.
wonder-worker. It was probably composed to bridge the two
bodies of tradition but belongs more closely to the Elisha
The impression of Elijah as a major personality in Israel-
stories.
ite history is based upon the stories in 1 Kings 17–19. Here
Elijah is a recluse and a solitary figure fed by ravens in a re-
The manner of Elijah’s ascension is so remarkable with-
mote region, as well as a wonder-worker who can withhold
in the biblical tradition that it calls for some comment.
or bring rain “by my word,” who can feed a starving widow’s
Scholars have been quick to note that the chariot and horses
family, and who can raise the widow’s son from the dead.
of fire are strongly reminiscent of the fiery chariot of the sun
These stories are based upon the prophetic legend, some of
so widely attested in antiquity and even in the Hebrew scrip-
them paralleling similar legends about Elisha. But all the
tures (2 Kgs. 23:11). Does this account suggest that Elijah
scenes and episodes in 1 Kings 17–19, whatever their origin,
was transported by the deity himself to a realm beyond
have been subordinated to the purpose of portraying the
death? Or is this an attempt to assimilate a foreign religious
theological theme “Yahveh is God,” which is also the mean-
symbol by association with a great figure in Israel’s own tra-
ing of Elijah’s name.
dition? Whatever the explanation, the story is so exceptional
in the Bible that it sets Elijah, along with Moses and Enoch,
The affirmation that Yahveh is God is demonstrated
quite apart from all other mortals as one who did not die.
first of all by the announcement of the drought and the final
coming of the rain, the events that frame and provide the
Finally, in Malachi 3:23–24 (Eng. version 4:5–6) Elijah
background for all the scenes within chapters 17 and 18.
is viewed as returning to Israel to bring the Israelites to re-
Each episode represents a contest between Yahveh, the God
pentance before the day of judgment. Perhaps this return is
of Israel, and Baal, god of the Phoenicians, whose worshipers
based upon the notion that Elijah never actually experienced
regard him as god of the storm and the giver of rain and fer-
death.
tility. The contest comes to a head on Mount Carmel when
ELIJAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. The New Testament
the 450 prophets of Baal are unable to produce fire from
places special emphasis upon Elijah as the forerunner of the
heaven for their altar, while Elijah, the single prophet of Yah-
messianic age. It seems to have regarded John the Baptist and
veh, produces fire for his altar and wins the people over. The
his ministry of repentance as performing in the “spirit and
prophets of Baal are slain, and then comes the rain. This
power of Elijah” (Lk. 1:17; cf. Mt. 11:14, 17:10–13) and as
struggle between Yahveh and Baal is not just for territory but
an appropriate preparation for the ministry of Jesus as the
is meant to convince Israel that Yahveh alone is God. The
Messiah. Yet the writer of John’s gospel has John the Baptist
issue in the story is monotheism.
reject his identification with Elijah (Jn. 1:21) so as not to de-
tract from the importance of Jesus’ ministry.
The flight of the prophet to Mount Horeb (1 Kgs. 19)
takes up the theme of the faithful remnant who remains true
Elijah also appears in a vision together with Moses at
to Yahveh as the only God in the face of great adversity. For
the scene of Jesus’ transfiguration to speak about Jesus’ own
this purpose the fear-inspiring prophet now becomes the
“departure” (Mt. 17:3–4, Mk. 9:4–5, Lk. 9:30–31). The fact
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2766
ELIJAH
that the scene is associated with prayer and a trancelike expe-
garded as one who still roamed the earth in the guise of a
rience suggests a connection with a mystical tradition.
beggar or a peasant performing wondrous deeds to help the
poor and the needy (Ginzberg, 1909–1938, pp. 202–211).
ELIJAH IN POSTBIBLICAL JUDAISM. The biblical tradition of
On this level too Elijah became associated with the venera-
Elijah received a great deal of attention in Judaism: in the
tion of a number of places, either because they were identi-
apocalyptic tradition, in rabbinic aggadah, in Jewish mysti-
fied with events in the biblical tradition or because they were
cism, and in folklore (see Ginzberg, 1909–1938). It is re-
places where Elijah had appeared to later generations and
markable how the figure of Elijah could become all things
performed his miracles.
to all people.
A number of customs are also connected with the figure
As in Christianity, Elijah was the forerunner of the mes-
of Elijah. At the ceremony of circumcision a chair is set for
sianic age, the herald of Israel’s redemption (Ginzberg,
him in order to invoke his presence as “angel of the cove-
1909–1938, pp. 233–235). He would cooperate with the
nant” of Abraham to oversee and, by proxy, to carry out the
Messiah as a conqueror of the world powers, he would solve
requirements of the law. Elijah was also regarded as healer
all the halakhic problems that still remained to be dealt with
and guardian of the newborn because of his care for the
(B.T., Meg. 15b; Sheq. 2.5; B.M. 3.4–5), and as the one to
widow’s son. In this respect amulets containing the name of
blow the last trumpet, he would be responsible for the resur-
the prophet were good luck charms. At the Passover Seder
rection of the dead. He would also restore the lost furnish-
a cup of wine is placed on the table as the cup of Elijah and
ings of the Temple and provide for the anointing of the Mes-
is not drunk. This was interpreted eschatologically as an an-
siah (Mekhilta D de-Rabbi Shim Eon bar Yoh: Dai 51b).
ticipation of the final deliverance from bondage.
Not only is Elijah thought of in connection with the fu-
ture, but he also continues to play an active role in this pres-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ent age by virtue of the fact that he never actually died. Be-
There are few detailed monographs in English on the Elijah tradi-
cause he ascended to heaven in a miraculous way and was
tion. In German the standard treatments are Georg Fohrer’s
translated into a realm of existence akin to that of a divine
Elia, 2d ed. (Zurich, 1968); and Odil H. Steck’s Überlie-
being or angel, he seems to have been regarded as a special
ferung und Zeitgeschichte in den Elia-Erzählungen (Neukirc-
heavenly emissary who could appear in human form to righ-
hen, 1968). Two shorter essays worthy of mention are Har-
teous persons either to instruct them or to aid them in time
old H. Rowley’s “Elijah on Mount Carmel,” Bulletin of the
of trouble (see Ginzberg, 1909–1938, pp. 201–203). The
John Rylands Library (Manchester) 43 (1960): 190–219, re-
mystical tradition went so far as to suggest that Elijah was
printed in his Men of God (New York, 1963); and Ernst
Würthwein’s “Elijah at Horeb: Reflections on 1 Kings 19.9–
not human but an angel who appeared on earth for a time
18,” in Proclamation and Presence: Old Testament Essays in
in human form. Perhaps as a counter to excessive veneration
Honour of Gwynne Henton Davies, edited by John I. Durham
of the prophet, some rabbis argued that Elijah had died (B.
and J. Roy Porter (London, 1970), pp. 152–166.
T., Suk. 5a) in spite of the biblical tradition about his ascen-
sion. They were also critical of some aspects of his ministry
For a sociological approach to the tradition, see Robert R. Wil-
son’s Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Philadelphia,
(B.T., B.M. 85b; Sg. Rab. 1.6.1). But any efforts to downplay
1980), pp. 192–200. For a psychological perspective, see
the prophet’s reputation seem to have had little effect.
Aaron Wiener’s The Prophet Elijah in the Development of Ju-
Elijah’s mediation between the heavenly realm and the
daism: A Depth-Psychological Study (East Brunswick, N.J.,
mundane world expressed itself in a variety of ways. To those
1978).
engrossed in the study of the law Elijah might appear in a
An older but very useful commentary is the one by James A.
vision or dream as their counselor or teacher because he was
Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the
known for his zeal for the law and the covenant (Ginzberg,
Books of Kings, edited by Henry S. Gehman (New York,
1909–1938, pp. 217–223). He was often compared with
1951). Materials on the biblical tradition of Elijah are col-
Moses, especially as one who had also received a revelation
lected in Louis Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Jews, vol. 4
of God at Mount Horeb. A number of sayings in the Talmud
(Philadelphia, 1913), pp. 189–235, with notes in vol. 6,
pp. 316–342. Especially helpful for materials on the later
are attributed to a “school of Elijah,” perhaps a school
Jewish and Christian traditions are the articles under “Elijah”
founded in his honor. But in later times this notion devel-
in Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem, 1971) and those under
oped into a large collection of midrashim, Tanna de-vei Eliy-
“Elia” in Theologische Realenzyklopädie (New York, 1982).
yahu (also known as Seder Eliyyahu Rabbah and Zut:aD),
This last work has a very full and up-to-date bibliography.
which was believed to stem in some way from Elijah himself.
New Sources
To the mystics of the Qabbalah Elijah was also a myst-
Coote, Robert B., ed. Elijah and Elisha in Socioliterary Perspective.
agogue who had access to the heavenly realm and could re-
Atlanta, 1992.
veal its secrets (Ginzberg, 1909–1938, pp. 229–233). To
Keinänen, Jyrki. Traditions in Collision: A Literary and Redaction-
others Elijah was a psychopomp who transported the souls
Critical Study on the Elijah Narratives 1 Kings 17–19. Publi-
of the righteous to paradise and the wicked to perdition (Pir-
cations of the Finnish Exegetical Society, no. 80. Helsinki,
qei de-Rabbi Eli Eezer 15). In Jewish folklore Elijah was re-
2001.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIMELEKH OF LIZHENSK
2767
Merchant, William Moelwyn. Fire from the Heights. Princeton
spread rapidly, especially with the aid of his chief protégé,
Theological Monograph Series, no. 27. Allison Park, Penn.,
Malcolm X (1925–1965). During its peak years the Nation
1991.
of Islam numbered more than half a million devoted follow-
Otto, Susanne. “The Composition of the Elijah-Elisha Stories and
ers, influenced millions more, and accumulated an economic
the Deuteronomistic History.” JSOT 27 (2003): 487–508.
empire worth an estimated eighty million dollars. Elijah Mu-
Speyr, Adrienne von. Elijah. Translated by Brian McNeil. San
hammad died on February 25, 1975, in Chicago and was
Francisco, 1990.
succeeded by one of his six sons, Wallace Deen Muhammad.
JOHN VAN SETERS (1987)
SEE ALSO Malcolm X.
Revised Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clegge, Claude III. An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah
ELIJAH BEN SOLOMUN ZALMAN
Muhammad. New York, 1997. A biography of Elijah Mu-
SEE
hammad.
ELIYYAHU BEN SHELOMOH ZALMAN
Elijah Muhammad. The Supreme Wisdom: Solution to the So-
Called Negroe’s Problem. Chicago, 1957.
Elijah Muhammad. Message to the Blackman in America. Chicago,
ELIJAH MUHAMMAD (1897–1975), major leader
1965.
of the American Black Muslim movement, the Nation of
Essien-Udom, E. U. Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity
Islam, for forty-one years. Born Robert Elijah Poole on Oc-
in America. Chicago, 1962. A sociological study of the Na-
tober 10, 1897, near Sandersville, Georgia, he was one of
tion of Islam in Chicago.
thirteen children of an itinerant Baptist preacher. He attend-
Lincoln, C. Eric. The Black Muslims in America. Boston, 1961.
ed rural schools but dropped out at the fourth grade to be-
Lincoln was officially given access to the Nation of Islam by
come a sharecropper in order to help his family. In 1919
Elijah Muhammad, and his study remains the best historical
Poole married Clara Evans and in 1923 his family joined the
overview of the development of the movement.
black migration from the South, moving to Detroit. For six
Mamiya, Lawrence H. “Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Final
years, until the beginning of the Great Depression, he
Call: Schism in the Muslim Movement.” In The Muslim
worked at various jobs in industrial plants. From 1929 to
Community in North America, edited by Earle H. Waugh,
1931 Poole and his family survived on charity and relief, an
Baha Abu-Laban, and Regula B. Qureshi. Edmonton, Alber-
experience that was reflected in his later hostility toward any
ta, 1983. A study of Louis Farrakhan, who as successor to
form of public assistance and in his strong emphasis on a pro-
Malcolm X as “national representative,” has sustained the
black nationalist emphases and other teachings of Elijah Mu-
gram of economic self-help for the Nation of Islam. “Do for
hammad.
self” became his rallying cry.
LAWRENCE H. MAMIYA (1987 AND 2005)
In 1931 Poole met Wallace D. Fard (1877?–1934?, also
known, among other aliases, as Walli Farrad and Prophet
Fard), who had established the first Temple of Islam in De-
troit. He became a totally devoted follower of Prophet Fard
ELIMELEKH OF LIZHENSK (1717?–1787), Ha-
and was consequently chosen by Fard as a chief aide and lieu-
sidic teacher and leading theoretician of the tsaddiq concept.
tenant. Fard named him “minister of Islam,” made him drop
Elimelekh and his brother, Zusya of Hanipol, who lived for
his “slave name,” Poole, and restored his “true Muslim
some time as wandering ascetics, were both attracted to the
name,” Muhammad. Fard mysteriously disappeared in 1934,
teachings of Dov Ber of Mezhirich (Mie˛dzyrzecz, Poland)
and, after some internal conflict among Fard’s followers, Eli-
and became his disciples. After his master’s death, Elimelekh
jah Muhammad led a major faction to Chicago, where he es-
settled in Lizhensk (Lesajsk, Poland) and became the major
tablished Temple No. 2, which became the main headquar-
disseminator of Hasidic teachings in Galicia. Most of the
ters for the Nation of Islam. He also instituted the worship
later schools of Polish and Galician Hasidism, including
of Prophet Fard as Allah and of himself as the Messenger of
Prsyzucha, Kotsk (Kock), Ger (Góra), Sandz (Halberstadt),
Allah. As head of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad
and Belz (Beltsy, Moldova), are ultimately derived from Eli-
was always addressed as “the Honorable.” He built on the
melekh’s influence, especially through his disciple and suc-
teachings of Fard and combined aspects of Islam and Chris-
cessor YaEaqov Yitsh:aq, the “Seer” of Lublin (1744/45–
tianity with the black nationalism of Marcus Garvey (1887–
1815). The collection of Elimelekh’s homilies, published as
1940) into an unorthodox Islam with a strong racial slant.
No Eam Elimelekh (1787), was one of the most popular and
His message of racial separation focused on the recognition
widely reprinted volumes of Hasidic teaching.
of true black identity and stressed economic independence.
These homilies are primarily concerned with the pro-
Elijah Muhammad spent four years of a five-year sen-
mulgation of a single concept, that of the tsaddiq. No matter
tence in federal prison for encouraging draft refusal during
what the weekly scripture reading, Elimelekh ingeniously
World War II. After his release in 1946 the movement
leads his discussion back to this theme. The tsaddiq, or holy
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2768
ELISHA
man, is the necessary link between heaven and earth; the
New Sources
community around him is dependent upon his blessing for
Elimelekh of Lizhensk. Sidur tefilah EAvodat Elimelekh: seder ha-
both spiritual and material well-being. Using strands of tra-
tefilot le-khol yeme ha-shanah u-me Eu·tar be-likutim. Jerusa-
dition that had a venerable history in Judaism, Elimelekh
lem, 1988 or 1989.
wove a picture of a universe wholly sustained by the special
Elimelekh of Lizhensk. Ha-Shabat no Eam ha-neshamot: Eimrot
divine grace called forth by these few charismatic individuals.
ve- Euvdot be- Einyene Shabat kodesh. Jerusalem, 2001.
Even prayer was to be directed heavenward by means of the
Elimelekh of Lizhensk. Shivhe ha-Rabi Elimelekh: Likut nifla mi-
tsaddiq, because only to him were the “pathways of heaven”
toldot hayav ufe Ealav shel Elimelekh mi-Lizensk. Edited by
familiar.
Menasheh Yitshak MeDir Shif. Ashdod, Israel, 2002.
ARTHUR GREEN (1987)
An important part of the tsaddiq idea was the notion of
Revised Bibliography
his descent, usually depicted as a voluntary movement, from
the heights of contemplation and absorption in God in order
to raise up those more ordinary mortals who awaited his aid.
ELISHA (last half of the ninth century BCE) was a prophet
Sometimes, however, this descent was also viewed as a “fall,”
of the northern kingdom of Israel. The prophet Elisha (Heb.,
in which the sins of the world were of such overbearing
ElishaE) is presented in the Hebrew scriptures not primarily
power that they caused even the tsaddiq to fall from his rung.
as a spokesperson for God to king and people, as the other
In either case, this was a “descent for the sake of ascent”: As
prophets were, but as a holy man and a wonder-worker. In
he returned to his elevated state, the tsaddiq would carry with
a series of hagiographic tales (2 Kgs. 2–8), his unusual powers
him those souls and sparks of holiness that had turned to him
are portrayed by his control over nature, his multiplication
in search of redemption.
of food and oil, his healing the sick or raising the dead, and
This notion of repeated descents and ascents in the life
his powers of extrasensory perception. Such stories are simi-
of the tsaddiq was adapted by Hasidism from the earlier
lar to the legends of Christian saints and Jewish rabbis.
Shabbatean movement (seventeenth century), where the
Elisha is associated with prophetic guilds known as the
“fall” or “descent” of the tsaddiq/messiah was used to explain
sons of the prophets; he served as their leader, or “father.”
Shabbetai Tsevi’s bouts with depression and ultimately also
The social status and religious purpose of such communities
to justify his seemingly treasonous act of conversion to Islam.
are quite unclear from the texts, so they shed little light on
In Hasidism the notion has been “purified” of its element
the nature of Elisha’s prophetic office. In some stories Elisha
of intentional sin, which was particularly prominent in the
is an itinerant prophet, traveling from place to place with his
Frankist version of Shabbateanism, also current in eastern
assistant; in others, he is a city dweller and property owner.
Europe. The BeSHT (YisraDel ben EliEezer, c. 1700–1760)
The tradition says nothing about his teaching or his social
had spoken chiefly of the “uplifting of wayward thoughts,”
and religious concerns. Nor does it reflect any protest against
portraying even the entry of a stray thought during prayer
political and religious authorities, such as in the case of Elijah
as sufficient taste of sin for the tsaddiq. In Elimelekh’s work
and the eighth-century prophets.
the rhythm of ascent and descent is also frequently used to
While some scholars accept the biblical chronology and
assert the supremacy of the “revealed” tsaddiq, serving as
order of events, it seems more likely that the period of Eli-
communal leader, over the hidden one, who cultivates only
sha’s activity should be placed entirely within the reigns of
his own mystical life. It is the tsaddiq serving as a public fig-
Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (c. 842–786 BCE). This was a
ure who “descends” in order to meet the people and can thus
period of Syrian domination of Israel, a fact that is reflected
ascend to greater heights.
in several of the stories. The historian of Kings, however, mis-
Elimelekh was known as a saintly and humble man who
takenly placed the Elisha cycle in the time before the revolt
did not use his extreme views of the tsaddiq’s powers for per-
of Jehu. In this way he extended Elisha’s ministry back to
sonal gain. Abuses of this notion by later generations have
the time of Ahab and made him a successor of Elijah (1 Kgs.
often been unfairly attributed to him. During the last years
19:19–21, 2 Kgs. 2), suggesting a tradition of regular pro-
of his life he withdrew from public leadership, and his disci-
phetic succession. Thus two quite distinct prophetic tradi-
ple YaEaqov Yitsh:aq began conducting himself as a Hasidic
tions influenced each other in the final formation of the text.
master, causing some conflict between them. Others of his
disciples include YisraDel of Kozienice, Mendel of Rymanów,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and Naftali of Ropczyce.
There are no extensive treatments of the Elisha cycle in English.
For the present, therefore, see the brief discussion by Joseph
Blenkinsopp, A History of Prophecy in Israel (Philadelphia,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1983), pp. 68–77. Two studies of special importance are J.
No Eam Elimelekh has been published in an annotated edition by
Maxwell Miller’s “The Elisha Cycle and the Accounts of the
Gedalyah Nigal (Jerusalem, 1978). The introduction to that
Omride Wars,” Journal of Biblical Literature 85 (December
work deals at length with major themes in Elimelekh’s writ-
1966): 441–454, and Alexander Rofé’s “The Classification
ings. The most complete legendary biography is the Ohel Eli-
of the Prophetical Stories,” Journal of Biblical Literature 89
melekh by A. H. Michelson (1910; reprint, Jerusalem, 1967).
(December 1970): 427–440.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELISHAE BEN AVUYAH
2769
New Sources
ElishaE, along with Ben EAzzDai, Ben ZomaD, and EAkivaD,
Bergen, Wesley J. Elisha and the End of Prophetism. Sheffield,
is said to have entered the “orchard,” or pardes (Tosefta H:ag
1999.
2:3). The ancient sages and scholars have interpreted this epi-
JOHN VAN SETERS (1987)
sode along three major lines: (1) it hints at the mystical prac-
Revised Bibliography
tices in which these four sages were engaged; (2) it is a para-
ble about these sages’ investigations into a variety mystical
practices; and (3) it points to various aspects of Torah study.
ELISHAE BEN AVUYAH (first half of the second cen-
The passage states that ElishaE “gazed and cut the shoots” and
tury CE), also known as Aher (the “other”), a Palestinian
then cites Qoh 5:5. Generations of ancient sages and modern
tanna (sage), is unique among the Jewish sages of the first
scholars have labored fruitlessly over this passage. The most
centuries of the common era. Even though he was thorough-
commonly held scholarly opinion is that ElishaE became a
ly versed in rabbinic Judaism and had been the teacher of
Gnostic dualist. This is based on ElishaE’s confrontation with
MeDir (one of the leading sages of the latter half of the second
Metatron, presumably in Heaven, in which he seems to have
century), ElishaE eventually rejected his heritage.
referred to two ruling powers (B.T. H:ag 15a–b). The ancient
mystical traditions combine a good deal of imagery, so that
There are numerous accounts of the life of ElishaE as a
ElishaE plays a minor role in both the Hekhalot traditions
rabbi and of his eventual rejection of the rabbinic teachings
and the Merkabah traditions, based on his experience in
(B.T., H:ag 14b–15b; J.T., H:ag 2.1, 77b-c; Ru. Rab. 6.4;
pardes and his conversations with Metatron.
Eccl. Rab. 7.8). The Tosefta names ElishaE, along with Ben
EAzzDai, Ben ZomaD and EAqivaD ben Yosef, as one who en-
The story of ElishaE’s life, his grounding in Judaism dur-
tered the “orchard” (pardes) where he “mutilated the shoots”
ing his youth, and his rejection of it during his adulthood
(Tosefta H:ag 2.3), a phrase explained in several different
resonated in the souls of a number of writers who confronted
ways in Talmudic literature (B.T., H:ag 15a; J.T., H:ag 77b;
the impact of modernity following the Jewish Enlighten-
Sg. Rab. 1.4; Dt. Rab. 1.4).
ment. Meir Halevi Letteris (c. 1800–1871), Elisha Rodin
Many have attempted to explain the apostasy of ElishaE
(1888–1946), and Benjamin Silkiner (1882–1933) all utilize
in terms of the philosophical schools of his time—
the image of ElishaE in their works. In addition, Milton
Gnosticism, Epicureanism, and the like—while some have
Steinberg used the life of ElishaE as the basis for his novel As
seen the story of his life as presenting an opposition between
a Driven Leaf, in which the American rabbi raises the prob-
Jewish and non-Jewish thought. Talmudic sources give sev-
lem of Jewish identity in a non-Jewish environment and the
eral reasons why ElishaE left Judaism. One source claims that
importance of Jewish values in comparison with those of the
when ElishaE saw that the righteous suffer while the wicked
secular culture.
were rewarded, he decided that following the laws of the
Torah was of no avail. Elsewhere, the Talmud explains that
SEE ALSO Tannaim.
while ElishaE was in his mother’s womb, she passed by a
pagan temple and the odor of the incense being burned for
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the idol within affected the embryo in her womb.
For traditional views of ElishaE, see the Encyclopedia of Talmudic
and Geonic Literature, edited by Mordechai Margalioth (Tel
ElishaE is accused of committing a variety of sins. He is
Aviv, 1945), vol. 1, pp. 105–109; Aaron Hyman’s Toledot
charged with killing rabbis, discouraging their disciples from
tanna Dim ve-amoraDim (1910; reprint, Jerusalem, 1964), vol.
continuing their studies, exacting forced labor from the Jews
1, pp. 155–157; and Samuel Safrai’s “Elisha ben Avuyah,”
on the Sabbath during the persecutions of Hadrian, riding
in Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem, 1971), vol. 6, cols. 668–
a horse on the Sabbath, and interrupting a Torah lesson on
690. Milton Steinberg’s As a Driven Leaf (New York, 1939)
another Sabbath. The results of his actions are described in
is a superb novel based on the life and times of ElishaE. For
dramatic fashion. ElishaE claims to have heard a voice from
a modern critical evaluation of the ElishaE material, see Wil-
heaven that proclaimed that all would be forgiven except for
liam S. Green’s “Otherness Within: Towards a Theory of
ElishaE. After ElishaE was buried, fire came forth from heaven
Difference in Rabbinic Judaism,” in To See Ourselves as Oth-
and burned his grave.
ers See Us, edited by Jacob Neusner and E. Frerichs (Chico,
Calif., 1985); Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Talmudic Stories: Narra-
Although the sources are unanimous in their picture of
tive Art, Composition, and Culture (Baltimore and London,
ElishaE as an apostate, they do not place him completely out-
1999), pp. 64–104; Alan F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven:
side the rabbinical circle. MeDir never lost respect for his
Early Rabbinic Reports about Christianity and Gnosticism (Lei-
teacher and continued to discuss the law with him even after
den, 1977); and David J. Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot:
his apostasy. When the daughter of ElishaE sought charity
Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel’s Vision (Tübingen, 1988).
after her father’s death, the sages stated, “Do not look at his
For a recent reconsideration of the ElishaE tradition, see Alon
deeds, look at his Torah,” and allowed her to be supported
Goshen-Gottstein, The Sinner and the Amnesiac: The Rabbin-
ic Invention of Elisha ben Abuya and Eleazar ben Arach (Stan-
by the community (J.T., Hag. 2.1, 77c). In addition, Avot
ford, Calif., 2000).
de-Rabbi Natan contains a collection of sayings attributed to
ElishaE that emphasize the value of good deeds.
GARY G. PORTON (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
2770
ELIXIR
ELIXIR, a Latinized form of the Arabic word al-iks¯ır, is
ANCIENT AND TRIBAL RELIGIONS. In ancient and tribal reli-
related to the Greek word xerion, denoting a dry powder used
gions characterized by shamanism, elixirs are available to the
for medicine and alchemical transmutation. Elixirs are po-
community in the form of drugs. The use of hallucinogens,
tions believed to have restorative and curative powers. The
intoxicants, and narcotics is important for inducing the ec-
term was first used by alchemists to describe the substance
static visions that are regarded as being able to bring shamans
(also known as the philosophers’ stone) that was believed to
and their followers into contact with a spiritual world more
transmute base metal into gold, cure disease, and promise
perfect and real than that in which they live. The soma ritual
immortality. The term is also used in medical pharmacy to
described in the R:gveda is the oldest recorded religious ritual
mean “a sweetened hydroalcoholic solution containing fla-
involving the preparation and use of an elixir. Opinion varies
voring materials and usually medicinal substances” (Ency-
as to what soma actually was. From the research of R. Gordon
clopædia Britannica, 1964, vol. 8, p. 288). Ambrosia and nec-
Wasson (1968), however, it now seems likely that soma was
tar are related terms, especially in classical Western religion
originally extracted from the mushroom Amanita muscaria,
and mythology, where all three are sometimes used inter-
the juices of which are lethal at full strength but hallucino-
changeably for the divine drink and food of the gods. In
genic when diluted. In the case of soma, the visions of im-
some senses they relate to the concept of a substance that
mortality inspired by the drink became identified with the
confers immortality. There is the possibility, too, that the
drink itself. Soma was deified and the men who drank it be-
idea of an ingestible substance of divine origin or potency
came immortal gods.
may have grown out of the early sense of wonder induced
The use of soma disappeared by the end of the Vedic
by the seemingly miraculous ability of the bee to produce
period. Some scholars attribute this development to the mi-
honey. Honey is symbolically linked to divine power in Deu-
gration of the Indo-Aryans away from sites where the mush-
teronomy 32:13, “he [God] made him to suck honey out of
rooms grew.
the rock and oil out of the flinty rock.”
KAVA ELIXIR. Nevertheless, a remarkable use of a nonpsyche-
CHARACTERISTICS AND SIGNIFICANCE. In religions, myths,
delic, mildly narcotic, soporific muscle-relaxant drug is nota-
and fairy tales, the hope has prevailed that there exists, some-
ble throughout many Pacific islands up until today. In its im-
where, a plant, fountain, stone, or intoxicating beverage that
bibable form, this drug is referred to generically as kava, and
rejuvenates the old, cures the sick, and confers wealth and
is derived from a shrub, Piper methysticum, cultivated specifi-
eternal life on those wise, lucky, or cunning enough to snatch
cally for the preparation of the drink or “elixir.” “Its active
a bite, a sip, or a sniff. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the mighty
principles, a series of kavalactones, are concentrated in the
king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, sets out to discover the secret of
rootstock and roots. Islanders ingest these psychoactive
eternal life and is fortunate enough to find the miraculous
chemicals by drinking cold-water infusions of chewed,
plant of immortality growing at the bottom of the sea. He
ground, pounded, or otherwise macerated kava stumps and
plucks it, but carelessly leaves it unguarded, and it is stolen
roots” (Lebot et al., 1997, p. 1). In all the different regions
by a water snake.
of its use, local mythologies commonly link kava to female
sexuality and death. Although the drinking of kava is gener-
The belief that humanity was once immortal, and
ally—but now not exclusively—limited to sexually mature
should be still, is enshrined in the many myths that tell the
males in traditional societies, it is believed to give its drinkers
disastrous tale of how death entered the world. Stories such
access to the other world and to enable them to communi-
as the one from the Epic of Gilgamesh mentioned above ap-
cate with the dead. In fact, the location of traditional kava
pear throughout the world; all are variations on a basic myth
drinking areas in the community is sometimes associated
in which a serpent or sea monster guards the source of im-
with burial grounds to facilitate such communication with
mortality, which can be represented as a sacred spring, a tree
departed ancestors (Lebot et al., 1997).
of life, a fountain of youth, golden apples, and so on. Behind
WORLD RELIGIONS. As shamanism gave way to more orga-
these stories lies the fear that the gods themselves are jealous
nized religious worship, the ritual use of elixirs in the form
and wish to keep the elixir of immortality beyond the reach
of mind-altering drugs was gradually discontinued or re-
of mortal hands (see Gen. 3:22).
placed by symbolic rituals that were the province of the
T
priestly hierarchy or other religious specialists. The ritual
HE WATER OF LIFE. In Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, Babylo-
nian, and Hebrew creation myths, life emerges from the wa-
consumption of the sacred drink kukeon in the Eleusinian
ters, the primal substance containing the seeds of all things.
mysteries provides an example of the way organized religion
In deluge myths, life returns to the waters (undifferentiated
created a communal event mediated by an ordained priest.
form), from which it can reemerge in new forms. As such,
Reference to this mediation does not completely explain the
water becomes the supreme magical and medicinal sub-
experience of the initiates at Eleusis, however, since the cen-
stance. It purifies, restores youth, and ensures eternal life in
tral secret of the Mystery is still unknown and may have been
this world or the next. This magical “water of life” has taken
of a paranormal nature.
many different forms—soma, haoma, ambrosia, wine—each
CLASSICAL HINDUISM. From the classical period onward
one a sacred beverage.
(after c. 600 BCE), Hinduism, perhaps under the influence
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIXIR
2771
of Jainism, Buddhism, and other movements originated by
gle-minded in their quest for physical immortality than Indi-
ascetics such as Maha¯v¯ıra or Gautama Buddha, focused more
an, Greek, or Western alchemists. Hence, Chinese religion
on the mystical and psychological possibilities of human
is the sine qua non among religions with an alchemical di-
consciousness in its pursuit of elevated spiritual states. The
mension. The Chinese never made the invidious distinction
complexity of this development defies a simple elucidation,
between this world and the next so characteristic of Western
but two examples are suggestive. In the first case, the practice
thought, nor did they seek eventual liberation from the cos-
of yoga in its different forms, but primarily ra¯ja yoga, com-
mos like Greek and Indian alchemists. For the Chinese, mat-
plemented by hat:ha yoga, required a strict ascetic discipline
ter and spirit were part of an organic continuum, and the
so that the practitioner could realize in an internal state the
function of elixirs was to act as a kind of permanent glue,
identity of a¯tman or purus:a with the highest transcendent
keeping body and soul eternally united, and thus preserving
state beyond all physical forms. To attain this identification,
“spirit” (shen).
the male practitioner, according to the further example of
Tantra yoga, might have to learn to transform the semen vir-
The Chinese were always interested in prolonging life,
ile into the elixir of immortality by retaining it during coitus
but the idea of an elixir of immortality appears to have first
and forcing its power or ´sakti to ascend to the highest cakra
emerged in the fourth century BCE as a result of a literal inter-
of the mystical physiology. The various techniques of physi-
pretation of early Daoist philosophy. The term dao originally
cal yoga, whether through sexual practices or otherwise, led
stood for the life force that makes material bodies develop
to internal states of bliss and spiritual intoxication that were
and function. Over time, Daoist alchemists transformed this
of a nearly ineffable nature, although the nineteenth century
abstract principle into an edible elixir. The only difficulty lay
Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna attempted to describe them.
in determining the material constituents of the dao and put-
ting them in a digestible form.
The second example, among many possibilities in what
is called the bhakti yoga tradition, is drawn from the cult of
The claim that the ore known as cinnabar was the ideal
the deities Ra¯dha¯ and Kr:s:n:a in medieval north-Indian
substance for the elixir rested on its color and chemical com-
Vais:n:avism. Their relationship is set forth in a story meant
position. Cinnabar is red, the color of blood, and, since cin-
to evoke the ultimate beauty of paradise, which becomes ac-
nabar is mercuric sulfide, it can be transformed into mercury
cessible to the devotee through contemplation of the story’s
(quicksilver), the most “alive” of all the metals. The problem,
poetic descriptions and subsequently through rebirth in the
of course, was that cinnabar is poisonous; but immortality
company of the deities. Both on earth and in heaven, the goal
was a powerful vision, and alchemists, like many others, ac-
of the devotees is to drink with their eyes the rasa, or elixir,
cepted suffering as the necessary price. Between 820 and 859
as a spiritual intoxicant that fills them with unspeakable bliss
CE, no fewer than six emperors were poisoned by the elixirs
in the contemplation of the divine union (White, 1977).
they took in the confident expectation that they would live
forever. Joseph Needham (1947/1983) suggests that elixir
CHRISTIANITY. In the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist
poisoning was an important factor in the decline of Chinese
the promise of immortality implicit in the concept of an elix-
alchemy after the ninth century. Mircea Eliade (1984), how-
ir is at the very heart of the ritual. According to the Gospel
ever, points out that the Chinese alchemical theories relating
of John (6:51ff.) and other sections of the New Testament,
to the transformation of base metal into gold provide a three-
the bread and wine—the matter of the sacrament—become
part sequence: (1) the transmutation into gold; (2) the trans-
the body and blood of Christ through the power of the or-
mutation of gold into the elixir of immortality; (3) the mate-
dained priesthood pronouncing the words of Christ recorded
rialization of the “immortals” who have attained the final
at the last supper. The communicant receiving the consecrat-
transmutation. Access to the “immortals” on the mystical
ed bread and wine under the right conditions is ensured eter-
level remained a possibility throughout Daoist religious
nal life. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–c. 107) described the Eu-
history.
charist as the medicine of immortality and the antidote
against death. Even though by a miracle the outward forms
MONGOLIAN RELIGION. In the related cultural area of Mon-
of the Eucharist—that is, bread and wine—remain sensible,
golia, the mysterious power of the world conqueror Chinggis
the “substance,” according to St. Thomas Aquinas and oth-
Khan (1162?–1227) was attributed to the divine elixir that
ers, changes completely into the true Body and Blood of
miraculously descended from the “Powerful God Khormus-
Christ. This is sometimes referred to as the Real Presence.
da” into Chinggis Khan’s hands, as he sat alone in his tent-
The rite of the Eucharist may also be thought of as a reenact-
palace. The Mongolian chronicle states that he had earned
ment of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross. Protestant Chris-
the right to the elixir because of his intrepid pursuit of victo-
tians often interpret the Eucharist as being a memorial of the
ry against his enemies (Bawden, 2000, p. 37).
last supper, but much of the symbolism of the Eucharistic
I
elixir is, notwithstanding, understood.
SLAM AND THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES. In the Holy
QurDa¯n, the state of the blessed in heaven is linked to an elix-
CHINESE RELIGIONS AND ALCHEMY. Eastern and Western
ir: “In the Gardens of delight. / On couches, facing one an-
alchemists alike claimed to have produced elixirs that ren-
other; / A cup from a gushing spring is brought round for
dered men immortal. But Chinese alchemists were more sin-
them. / White, delicious to the drinkers. / Wherein there 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
2772
ELIXIR
no headache nor are they made mad thereby.” (XXXVII,
of Saint-Germain for the new age, presented to Mr. Ballard
43–47; see Pickthall, 1977).
in encounters in the western mountains of the United States.
These writings further report that Saint-Germain gave an
The idea of an alchemical elixir came to the West via
elixir and a kind of energy-charged food to Mr. Ballard—
Islam in the early Middle Ages. The story of its permutations
who was at times in an out-of-body state—as part of Mr. Bal-
is linked to the medieval literature of Europe. One of the
lard’s initiation into the leadership.
most beautiful expressions of the idea of the elixir is the story
of the Grail or Gral, most strikingly rendered in the German
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the idea of
version of Wolfram von Eschenbach. In Eschenbach’s early-
the Elixir of Immortality is very much alive. There are thou-
thirteenth-century epic poem Parzifal, the Grail or Gral is
sands of links on the internet to consult, including links to
not the chalice of the Last Supper but a magical stone:
individuals claiming either to have drunk the elixir them-
selves and to be hundreds of years old or to know someone
It is called “Lapsit exillis.” By virtue of the Stone the
else in that condition. Along with these are listed various sci-
Phoenix is burned to ashes, in which he is reborn.—
entific approaches to the indefinite prolongation of human
Thus does the Phoenix moult its feathers! Which done,
life.
it shines dazzling bright and lovely as before! Further:
however ill a mortal may be, from the day on which he
SEE ALSO Alchemy, overview article; Psychedelic Drugs;
sees the Stone he cannot die for that week, nor does he
Soma; and Water.
lose his colour . . . if anyone, maid or man, were to
look at the Gral for two hundred years, you would have
to admit that his colour was as fresh as in his early prime
BIBLIOGRAPHY
. . .—Such powers does the Stone confer on mortal
For an excellent discussion of rebirth and regeneration and the
men that their flesh and bones are soon made young
part played in both by sun, moon, and water symbolism, see
again. This Stone is called “The Gral.” (White et al.,
Mircea Eliade’s Patterns in Comparative Religion, translated
1990, p. 463)
by Rosemary Sheed (New York, 1958). On shamanism, see
T
Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, translated
HE COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN. The story of the Comte
de Saint-Germain, also called Master Rakoczi, allegedly com-
by Willard R. Trask, rev. and enl. ed. (New York, 1964);
Weston La Barre’s The Peyote Cult, enl. ed. (New York,
mences in the early eighteenth century, when Saint-Germain
1969); and Hallucinogens and Shamanism, edited by Michael
began to be noticed in different royal courts and countries
J. Harner (Oxford, 1973). R. Gordon Wasson identifies
of Europe; from that time onwards, the tales of his longevity
soma and describes its effects in Soma: Divine Mushroom of
and paranormal powers proliferated. In Isabel Cooper-
Immortality (New York, 1968), and Joseph Needham gives
Oakley’s biography, The Count of Saint-Germain, which is
a full account of Daoist elixir addicts in Science and Civilisa-
based on eighteenth-century sources, a couple of incidents
tion in China, vol. 5 (1947; reprint, Cambridge, U.K.,
are mentioned: In the Court of France a friend of Madame
1983). Elixirs in Eastern and Western alchemy are disussed
de Pompadour claimed that “during her first stay in Venice,
in Allison Coudert’s Alchemy: The Philosopher’s Stone (Boul-
she received from him [Saint-Germain] an Elixir which for
der, Colo., 1980). The amazing complexity of bee life and
fully a quarter of a century preserved unaltered the youthful
honey production is discussed in Thomas D. Seeley’s The
Wisdom of the Hive: The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colo-
charms she possessed at 25” (p. 31). Another person report-
nies (Cambridge, Mass., 1995). For the full story on kava, in-
ed, “Among a number of his accomplishments, he made,
cluding ample scientific documentation, see Vincent Lebot,
under my own eyes some experiments, of which the most im-
Mark Merlin, and Lamont Lindstrom’s Kava—The Pacific
portant were the transmutation of iron into a metal as beauti-
Elixir: The Definitive Guide to Its Ethnobotany, History, and
ful as gold, and at least as good for all goldsmith’s work”
Chemistry (New Haven, Conn., 1997). Two classic authors
(p. 43).
discuss various aspects of yoga, including the conversion of
semen virile into elixir: Mircea Eliade in his Yoga: Immortality
In time, the roles of the “masters,” who included Saint-
and Freedom, translated by Willard R. Trask (New York,
Germain in their ranks, were extensively developed in the lit-
1958), and Swami Agehananda Bharati (a European convert
erature of the Theosophical Society. Other “New Age”
to Hinduism) in The Ochre Robe: An Autobiography (Lon-
movements were influenced by Theosophy or independently
don, 1961; reprint, Santa Barbara, Calif., 1980) and The
acknowledged Saint-Germain as their principal “Guide.”
Tantric Tradition (London, 1965); also, see Benjamin Walk-
One of the groups of this type, perhaps the most significant,
er’s The Hindu World (London, 1968). On Sri Ramakrish-
bears as one of its titles the name “The Saint Germain Foun-
na’s experiences (from 1836 to 1886), see The Gospel of Sri
dation.” It is also referred to as the “‘I AM’ Activity,”and in-
Ramakrishna, translated by Swami Nikhilananda (New York,
formally as the “‘I Am’ movement.” The founders of this reli-
1942). For the bhakti experience of rasa as the elixir of divine
contemplation, see Charles S. J. White’s The Caurasi Pad of
gious organization, Mr. and Mrs. Guy W. Ballard, began
Sri Hit Harivams (Honolulu, 1977) and his “The Remaining
their work in the early 1930s under the direction of Ascend-
Hindi Works of S´r¯ı Hit Harivam:´s,” Journal of Vais:n:ava
ed Master Saint-Germain. During their lifetimes the Ballards
Studies 4, no.4 (1996): 87–104. Discussions of Chinese al-
received numerous communications from various masters,
chemy are contained in Mircea Eliade’s A History of Religious
but the originating documents of the movement, Unveiled
Ideas, vol. 2, From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of Chris-
Mysteries and The Magic Presence, discuss in detail the plan
tianity, translated by Willard R. Trask (Chicago, 1984). Dis-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ELIYYAHU BEN SHELOMOH ZALMAN
2773
cussion of Chinggis Khan’s receiving the divine elixir is
essential to an elucidation of the sacred texts. Thus, follow-
found in Charles R. Bawden’s Mongolian Traditional Litera-
ing the example of a small minority of Ashkenazic sages
ture: An Anthology (London, 2000). An excerpt from Wol-
through the centuries, Eliyyahu taught himself mathematics,
fram von Eschenbach’s Parzifal is found in Transformations
astronomy, geography, and anatomy through the medium of
of Myth through Time: An Anthology of Readings (San Diego,
medieval Hebrew science, and, in at least one case, approved
Calif., 1990), prepared by Charles S. J. White et al. to ac-
the further transmission of scientific knowledge to tradition-
company a PBS television course on Joseph Campbell. Mu-
al Jews by encouraging a student to translate Euclid into
hammad Marmaduke Pickthall, a convert to Islam, produced
The Glorious Qur Da¯n: Text and Explanatory Translation
Hebrew.
(Mecca al-Mukarramah, Saudi Arabia, 1977). This transla-
Equally at variance with contemporary practice, al-
tion is much admired by English-speaking Muslims. Isabel
though buttressed by precedent and authority, the Gaon op-
Cooper-Oakley produced a biography of The Count of Saint-
posed the practice of explaining textual problems in the Tal-
Germain (Milan, 1912; reprint, New York, 1970). The basic
teaching of the “I AM” Activity is found in two books by
mud through an overreliance on the hermeneutic techniques
Godfré Ray King [Guy W. Ballard], Unveiled Mysteries, 3d
of h:illuq or pilpul (dialectic reasoning). Instead, he insisted
ed. (Santa Fe, N.Mex., 1939), and The Magic Presence, 4th
on a thorough study of all the cognate sources and especially
ed. (Santa Fe, N.Mex., 1974). An official history by the Saint
the Jerusalem Talmud, which had been long neglected in
Germain Foundation is found in The History of the “I AM”
favor of the Babylonian Talmud. On the basis of his mastery
Activity and Saint Germain Foundation (Schaumburg, Ill.,
of classic rabbinics, but without access to manuscript vari-
2003).
ants, he was able and willing to suggest a large number of
ALLISON COUDERT (1987)
emendations and corrections in the Talmudic text, many of
CHARLES S. J. WHITE (2005)
which resulted in contradicting the interpretations of post-
Talmudic masters. This approach may be dubbed critical,
and indeed Eliyyahu has been called “the father of Talmud
criticism.” But the Gaon’s source criticism, as well as his in-
ELIYYAHU BEN SHELOMOH ZALMAN
vestigations into scientific teachings, were grounded in and
(1720–1797), known as the Vilna Gaon, was a scholar and
defined by an assumption of the infallibility of tradition.
theologian. Born in Selets, Lithuania, to a family renowned
Textual emendations or astronomical charts were permissible
for its Talmudic erudition, Eliyyahu became one of the
as ancillary tools in exegesis, not as competing sources of au-
major intellectual and spiritual figures in Judaism, the pre-
thority. The Talmud and subsequent Jewish law could only
eminent representative of rabbinism in the eighteenth centu-
be explicated by these devices, never overruled; indeed, the
ry. At an early age he displayed both a prodigious memory
point of the endeavor was to demonstrate the eternal veracity
and a striking aptitude for analysis, which he applied to all
of the biblical canon and rabbinic tradition as a whole, the
branches of Jewish learning—the Torah, Mishnah, Talmud,
possibility of understanding God’s purpose through a life of
Midrash, rabbinic codes, and Qabbalah. As a youth, his au-
uninterrupted study of his words.
thoritative knowledge was acknowledged throughout Ashke-
nazic Jewry, and he soon became known simply as “the
This basic theological stance led the Vilna Gaon to
Gaon,” the genius (an honorific title not to be confused with
spearhead the opposition to the new form of Jewish religiosi-
the title of the heads of the Babylonian yeshivot a thousand
ty that emerged in his time, the Hasidic movement. Regard-
years earlier). After his marriage and a tour of the Jewish
ing the anti-intellectualism and spiritualism of Hasidism as
communities of Poland and Germany, Eliyyahu settled in
a perversion of Judaism, Eliyyahu signed a writ of excommu-
Vilnius (Vilna), where he lived for the rest of this life except
nication against the H:asidim in 1772 and refused to meet
for a brief, and unsuccessful, pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In Vil-
with a delegation of Hasidic masters including ShneDur Zal-
nius, Eliyyahu was supported by the community although
man of Lyady. Under the Gaon’s aegis, Vilnius became the
he eschewed public office and formal rabbinical positions for
center of anti-Hasidic propaganda and activity. The venom
the life of the solitary scholar. After the age of forty, he began
of the opposition was heightened in response to the publica-
to lecture to a small group of disciples, who subsequently
tion in 1781 of one of the basic tracts of Hasidic doctrine,
broadcast his scholarly and religious teachings through a net-
YaEaqov Yosef of Polonnoye’s Toledot Ya Eaqov Yosef, which
work of Talmudic academies that was established in Lithua-
severely criticized the rabbinical leadership of the age and
nia and continues to this day in Israel and the United States.
laid out the radical new doctrine of the tsaddiq, or “righteous
man,” a term referring to the Hasidic master. The Gaon
At the heart of the Gaon’s approach was his extreme in-
again ordered the excommunication of the new sect and
tellectuality, his determination to reach truth through a rig-
called for the burning of its literature. It was only after his
orous, untrammeled study of the classics of the Jewish tradi-
death in 1797 that the breach between the two camps of tra-
tion. This belief in the supreme religious worth of study was
ditional Jewry in eastern Europe could begin to be healed.
expressed in the rabbi’s quasi-ascetic regimen—he was re-
ported to sleep only two hours a night and to forbid talk not
The Vilna Gaon’s denunciation of Hasidism was in no
devoted to the Torah—and, perhaps more fundamentally,
way a rejection of mysticism on the part of a rigid rational-
in his dedication to acquiring all the skills and information
ist—as it has often been portrayed in popular literature. On
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2774
EMERSON, RALPH WALDO
the contrary, the Gaon was a consistent student of Jewish
EMERSON, RALPH WALDO (1803–1882),
mysticism, and he had an exceptionally vivid visionary life,
American essayist, poet, and lecturer, was a leading figure
although he consciously constrained his mystical graces and
among the New England Transcendentalists. Born in Bos-
revelations from interfering in his legal and scholarly func-
ton, Emerson was descended from a long line of Christian
tions. He believed that true charisma inhered only in the
ministers. The son of a distinguished Unitarian minister and
Torah, not in its teachers. His students reveled in his person-
a deeply religious mother, he was heir to the dual legacy of
ality and produced a bountiful hagiographic literature about
Boston Unitarianism: liberalism in matters of theology and
him, and for over a century he was revered as a saint by mass-
Puritan piety in matters of personal devotion, morals, and
es of Jews in eastern Europe.
manners.
The Gaon never published his views. His writings, in-
Emerson himself became a Unitarian minister, and by
cluding notes and jottings not intended for the public eye,
1829 he had secured a desirable position as pastor of the Sec-
were published by his disciples after his death. These include
ond Church of Boston. This followed an undistinguished
commentaries on most of the Bible, the Mishnah, the Jerusa-
four years at Harvard College, from which he graduated in
lem and Babylonian Talmuds, the Mekhilta D, Sifrei, and
1817, and a period of study at Harvard Divinity School, dur-
Sifra D (three halakhic midrashim); glosses on the Zohar, Sefer
ing which he also worked, with little satisfaction, as a school-
yetsirah, and other qabbalistic classics; treatises on mathemat-
master. With the pastorate of the Second Church, Emerson
ics, astronomy, and Hebrew grammar; and perhaps his most
for the first time felt secure both professionally and financial-
important work, his commentary on the Shulhan Earukh.
ly. During this period he married Ellen Louisa Tucker, a
younger woman of a sensitive nature and delicate health. Her
BIBLIOGRAPHY
death from tuberculosis, less than two years after their mar-
There is no full-fledged scholarly biography of the Vilna Gaon,
riage, seems to have wrought important changes in Emer-
although the literature on him is enormous. The most acces-
son’s attitudes and thought. A rebellious strain in his charac-
sible treatments of his teachings and personality are two
ter was perhaps strengthened; incipient attitudes were more
charming essays in works by major modern Jewish scholars:
strongly voiced. In his solitariness he found his faith in the
Louis Ginzberg’s Students, Scholars, and Saints (Philadelphia,
primacy of the individual’s relation to God strengthened, so
1928), pp. 125–144, and Solomon Schechter’s Studies in Ju-
too an impatience with the theological inheritance of re-
daism, vol. 1 (1896; Cleveland, 1958), pp. 298–320. More
ceived religion. He wrote in his journal in June 1831:
recent scholarship has revealed a good deal about Eliyyahu’s
personality and influence; particularly interesting are H. H.
I suppose it is not wise, not being natural, to belong to
Ben-Sasson’s “The Personality of Elijah, Gaon of Vilna, and
any religious party. In the bible you are not directed to
His Historical Influence” (in Hebrew), Zion 31 (1966): 39–
be a Unitarian or a Calvinist or an Episcopalian. . . .
86, 197–216, and Immanuel Etkes’s “The Gaon of Vilna
I am God’s child, a disciple of Christ. . . . As fast as
and the Haskalah: Image and Reality” (in Hebrew), in
any man becomes great, that is, thinks, he becomes a
Studies in the History of the Jewish Community in the Middle
new party.
Ages and Modern Times Dedicated to Professor Jacob Katz, ed-
ited by Yosef Salmon (Jerusalem, 1982), pp. 192–217. A
Emerson eventually gave up the pastorate of the Second
brief but fascinating glimpse into the Gaon’s mystical life can
Church, taking issue with the congregation’s customary ad-
be found in R. J. Zwi Werblowsky’s Joseph Karo: Lawyer and
ministration of the Lord’s Supper; by 1838 he stopped
Mystic (London, 1962), pp. 311–316. A succinct, useful out-
preaching altogether.
line of his life and teachings is the Hebrew pamphlet by Israel
Though Emerson would certainly always have consid-
Klausner, The Gaon Eliyyahu of Vilna (Tel Aviv, 1969).
ered himself a “disciple of Christ,” his mature thought, as ex-
New Sources
pressed in his essays and poetry, was not beholden to histori-
Etkes, Immanuel. The Gaon of Vilna: The Man and His Image.
cal Christianity. He passionately sought for the essential
Translated by Jeff Green. Berkeley, 2002.
spirit of religion a local habitation—temporally, geographi-
Halamish, Moshe, Yosef Rivlin, and RefaDel Shuhat, eds. Vilna
cally, and in the life of the individual. In the introduction
Gaon and His Disciples (in Hebrew). Ramat-Gan, Israel,
to Nature (1833), which came to be his most widely read
2003.
essay, he wrote: “The foregoing generations beheld God and
Leiman, Sid (Shnayer) Z. “When a Rabbi Is Accused of Heresy:
nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should we
The Stance of the Gaon of Vilna in the Emden-Eibeschuetz
not also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why
Controversy.” Me Eah She Earim (2001): 251–263.
should we not have . . . a religion of revelation to us and
Lempertas, Izraelis, comp. The Gaon of Vilnius and the Annals of
not the history of theirs?”
Jewish Culture: Materials of the International Scientific Confer-
Emerson was not a systematic thinker, and his ideas re-
ence, 1997. Vilnius, 1998.
sist any ready summation. The essays are homiletic and aph-
Schochet, Elijah Judah. The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of
oristic and have a cumulative power not dependent on force
Vilna. Northvale, N.J., 1994.
of logic. Certain strains can be identified, however, that un-
MICHAEL STANISLAWSKI (1987)
dermine basic Christian conceptions. Emerson’s worldview
Revised Bibliography
is essentially nonteleological. In his radical assertion that 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
EMPEDOCLES
2775
individual soul must remake anew an original relation to the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
world, he puts the perceiving self at the center of that world.
The primary resources for the study of Emerson are The Complete
To borrow the terms of German idealist philosophy, to
Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 12 vols., edited by Edward
which he was deeply indebted, Emerson took the transcen-
W. Emerson, and The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks
dental ego, posited as a merely formal, logical entity by Kant
of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 14 vols. (Cambridge, Mass, 1960–
and subsumed under the collective will by Hegel, and made
1978). The best recent biography is Gay Wilson Allen’s
it an object of experience. In this he anticipated figures as
Waldo Emerson (New York, 1981). Stephen E. Whicher’s
Freedom and Fate: An Inner Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 2d
distant as the philosophers Husserl and Sartre and the poet
ed. (Philadelphia, 1971), is a watershed study, a point of de-
Wallace Stevens. That the experience of this transcendental
parture for much later criticism. Jonathan Bishop’s Emerson
ego is akin to mysticism as it had been known even within
on the Soul (Cambridge, Mass., 1964) is another good ac-
Christianity is apparent from this famous passage from
count of Emerson’s intellectual and religious development,
Nature:
as is Joel Porte’s Representative Man: Ralph Waldo Emerson
in His Time (New York, 1979). Two useful collections of
Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight,
criticism are The Recognition of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Select-
under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts
ed Criticism since 1837, edited by Milton R. Konvitz (Ann
any occurence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed
Arbor, Mich.,1972), and Critical Essays on Ralph Waldo Em-
a perfect exhiliration. I am glad to the brink of
erson, edited by Robert E. Burkholder and Joel Myerson
fear. . . . Standing on the bare ground,—my head
(Boston, 1983).
bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite
space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transpar-
DAVID SASSIAN (1987)
ent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the
Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or par-
cel of God.
EMPEDOCLES of Acragas (Sicily), a Greek philoso-
Though there is an aspect of passivity in this experience that
pher and sage who lived in the first half of the fifth century
is reminiscent of an experience of divine grace, the experience
BCE (c. 495–435 BCE) and who ended his life, according to
proceeds upward and outward, clearly centered in the per-
a widespread but apocryphal tradition, by jumping into the
ceiver. This spatialization is telling. Often called a pantheist,
crater of the volcano Etna. The ancient biographical tradi-
Emerson repeatedly asserted the unity of all individual souls
tion made him a pupil both of Pythagoras and of Parmenides
with one another and with God. With God deposed from
of Elea and ascribed to him several texts, among others a
the pinnacle of this relationship, the world becomes not hier-
prose treatise titled “Medical Discourses” (Iatrikoi logoi), the
archical but a plurality of parts in any of which the whole
hexametrical “On Nature” (Peri physeos), and “Purifications”
might be read: “A subtle chain of countless rings / The next
(Katharmoi) (which has been preserved in fragments). Both
unto the farthest brings.”
sets of information reflect what the ancient tradition, from
Aristotle onwards, already regarded as the somewhat discon-
The distance between his mature views and his Chris-
certing double character of Empedocles’ work—the extant
tian background seems not to have troubled Emerson, per-
hexametrical fragments combine “modern” ontology and
haps because he did not see the two as incompatible. As
physics inspired by Parmenides with an anthropology and es-
prophet to an age “destitute of faith, but terrified of skepti-
chatology that derived in large part from Pythagoras’s doc-
cism,” as his friend Thomas Carlyle characterized it, Emer-
trine of reincarnation (groups of Pythagoreans were active in
son advanced his unorthodox views forthrightly and un-
many places in Southern Italy and Sicily during Empedocles’
apologetically, secure in his advocacy of “truer” religion. (We
lifetime).
need only turn to Nietzsche, who admired the “cheerfulness”
of Emerson, to be reminded of how free of anxiety the latter’s
Modern interpreters usually attributed Empedocles’
writings are.) There is a consistent strain of optimism in his
physical and ontological fragments to the “modern” “On
work that helped win him a wide audience and also has
Nature,” and the religious teachings to “Purifications” (see
brought him some criticism, namely that he avoided any
the standard edition of the pre-Socratic philosphers by Her-
note of tragedy in his writings, even while his journal reveals
man Diels of 1903 that has been many times since reedited).
that he was well acquainted with tragedy in life. Indeed his
Such a reading was helped by the simplistic evolutionary
doctrine of “compensation” for evil and suffering is so philo-
model “from mythos to logos” that Wilhelm Nestle’s 1940
sophically ungrounded as to seem merely sentimental. But
book, Vom Mythos zum Logos, popularized. The discovery,
in the confidence with which Emerson forwarded his original
in 1994, of new fragments in a Strasbourg Papyrus, however,
and radical message, and in the audience he found, may be
makes it more likely that all extant fragments belong to one
seen not merely evidence of an uncommonly balanced spirit
hexametrical poem only, whose two titles are later alterna-
and not merely the popular appeal of optimism; one sees the
tives. Neither title is likely to go back to Empedocles’ epoch.
flowering of that America observed by Hegel, where “the
It goes without saying that this discovery challenges the tra-
most unbounded license of imagination in religious matters
ditional, Aristotelian way of understanding the development
prevails.”
of Greek thought that has survived despite growing criticism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2776
EMPEROR’S CULT
The consequences for Empedocles’ poem have yet to be de-
CONCLUSION. The autobiographical statements preserved in
termined.
his fragments confirm Empedocles’ status as a charismatic.
In a famous address to the inhabitants of Acragas, he under-
EMPEDOCLES’ PHYSICS. In his physics, Empedocles reacts to
stands himself as nearly being released from the cycle of rein-
Parmenides’ radical separation between being and nonbeing
carnations, as an “immortal god, no more mortal” (Diels and
and its concomitant rejection of the reliance on sense percep-
Kranz, 1934, 31 B 112.4). He describes how, on his arrival
tion; Empedocles reasserts the validity of sense perception as
in the city, the people flock together and ask him for oracles
a guide to humankind’s understanding of nature. In a revolu-
and healing. He claims not only to know drugs that help
tionary move, he posits four “roots” of being, which he alter-
fight disease—and even old age—but he also claims that he
nately calls Zeus, Here, Aidoneus, and Nestis (Diels and
can command the weather—the wind, and the rain—and
Kranz, 1934, 31 B 6), or, as later interpreters clarify (with
that he has an ability to call back the dead from Hades (Diels
disagreement in detail) fire, air, earth, and water. The divine
and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 111). The later biographical tradition
names underline the fundamental nature of these elements.
agrees with these statements, although its reliability has al-
The existence of cosmos is dominated by the forces of
ways been a problem. Empedocles’ pupil Gorgias claimed,
“Friendship” (Philotes) and “Strife” (Neikos)—under their
however, to have seen him perform magic (go¯eteuein, Dioge-
influence, the elements either congregate into bodies or dis-
nes Laertius 8.59). Gorgias himself was the first highly influ-
integrate again in an eternal cycle, “and these things never
ential teacher of rhetoric that Empedocles was said to have
cease their interchange” (Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 17).
invented, and which some believe he may even have invented
Due to its impact on later philosophers, especially on
(Aristotle, in Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 A 1.57). This ties
Plato and Aristotle, the theory of the four elements became
in with other scholarship and materials that make Empedo-
fundamental in ancient, medieval, and early modern physics
cles, against all odds, a staunch democrat, and once again un-
well beyond the revival of atomism among German doctors
derlines the complexity of his life and thought, defying easy
of the seventeenth century. Leucippus and Democritus,
assumptions about the development of Greek philosophy
in turn, developed their atomism partly in reaction to
and religion.
Empedocles.
SEE ALSO Afterlife, article on Greek and Roman Concepts;
E
Demons, overview article; Dualism; Orpheus; Parmenides;
MPEDOCLES’ ANTHROPOLOGY. In his anthropology, Em-
pedocles posits the divine nature of the soul; however, it does
Pythagoras; Reincarnation; Transmigration.
not seem to imply immortality (this would contradict his
cosmology) but only a long duration of the soul’s existence
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 115.5). In its original state,
Burkert, Walter. Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism.
Translated by Edwin L. Minar, Jr. Cambridge, Mass., 1972.
the soul was a theios or daimo¯n, “a divine being.” Incarnation
Diels, Hermann, ed. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 5th
into a human body is an exile of the soul, due to some crime
ed., chp. 31 (DK 31). Revised by Walter Kranz. Berlin,
committed among the gods (Empedocles seems to draw a
1934. Inwood, Brad. The Poem of Empedocles: A Text and
grim picture of human existence; Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31
Translation with an Introduction. Toronto, 1992. Kingsley,
B 120, 121). The aim of incarnation is punishment and puri-
Peter. Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic: Empedocles and
fication in order to be able to return to its former divine
Pythagorean Tradition. Oxford, 1995. Martin, Alain, and Ol-
abode. According to each life, the soul is reincarnated in a
iver Primavesi. L’Empédocle de Strasbourg (P. Strasb. Gr. Inv.
new terrestrian body that might be either a human, a plant,
1665–1666). Introduction, Édition et Commentaire. Stras-
or an animal—the most noble plant is Apollo’s laurel and the
bourg and Berlin, 1999. Zuntz, Günther. Persephone: Three
most noble animal is the lion (Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B
Essays in Religion and Thought in Magna Graecia, pt. 3. Ox-
ford, 1971.
127).
FRITZ GRAF (2005)
A virtuous life is rewarded by a better reincarnation, the
final one being that of a “seer or singer or doctor or prince
among humans” (Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 146). Given
the range of possible incarnations, vegetarism is an inevitable
EMPEROR’S CULT. Ruler worship was a characteris-
consequence, as it was with the Pythagoreans, on whose doc-
tic statement of Greco-Roman paganism, reflecting its defi-
trine Empedocles depends—he even bans the eating of some
nition of godhead as a power capable of rendering benefits
plants such as beans (again a Pythagorean prohibition) or
to the community of worshipers, and its ability to create an
laurel leaves (Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 140). This anthro-
endless supply of cults in honor of new and specifically enti-
pology led him to construct an evolutionary history of hu-
tled manifestations of such beneficent divine power. The
manity that began in total harmony, under the reign of Aph-
granting of cult honors to a ruler, living or deceased, was an
rodite, in which humans refrained from bloodshed and from
act of homage made in return for his bestowal of specific ben-
animal sacrifice (Diels and Kranz, 1934, 31 B 128). In
efits upon the community. It recognized him as the possessor
Olympia, as is written in one anecdote, Empedocles is said
of supernormal power and sought to regularize his beneficent
to have offered an ox made of different spices.
relationship with the community by establishing the 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
EMPEROR’S CULT
2777
elements of cult, including feast days, festivals, priesthoods,
jan (d. 117 CE), were recognized as divinities (divi) upon
and shrines.
their decease; a formal ceremony and a senatorial decree at-
Actual cult worship of the ruler was uncommon in phar-
tested to their apotheosis and new status as immortal. Fol-
aonic Egypt and extremely rare in ancient Mesopotamia. The
lowing the tenets of Stoic philosophy and popular belief,
Roman practice owed nothing to such Near Eastern anteced-
such deification was regarded as an attestation of the “vir-
ents. Rather, it was formed entirely under the impress of de-
tues” of the emperor; that is, the emperor had been the vehi-
velopments in the political and cult life of Greece. At first
cle for the operation of divine and beneficent qualities like
the Greeks offered posthumous cult honors to particular in-
Peace, Abundance, Victory, Liberty, and Security, which
dividuals distinguished for bravery or other personal prow-
through his person and activities had operated for the benefit
ess. Then, in the late fourth and third century
of his fellow citizens. Under such names as Pax Augusta,
BCE, it became
common for individual cities to establish cults in honor of
Abundantia Augusti, Victoria Augusti, Libertas Augusti, and
living rulers. Already in 218 BCE Roman state religion adopt-
Securitas Augusti, these imperial virtues were themselves the
ed the Greek practice of personifying and worshiping the col-
object of widespread cult activity at both the official and the
lective personality of the citizen body in the cult of the Ge-
private level.
nius Populi Romani (“genius of the Roman people”). From
Quite apart from the official pantheon of the Roman
the early second century BCE on, Rome’s emergence as the
people, cities throughout the empire established cults in
dominant political force in the Greek world led individual
honor of emperors both living and deceased. Moreover, cults
Greek cities to establish cults in honor of Roman generals
of particular emperors were established by private individuals
and provincial administrators who had rendered specific
and especially by corporations. The emperor himself was the
benefits to the community concerned. In the first century
main object of cult worship; but in Roman cult, municipal
BCE, the last century of republican government at Rome, this
cults, and private worship, deification of members of the im-
practice of establishing municipal cults to Roman statesmen
perial family was increasingly common from the time of Au-
was intensified under the impact of such charismatic leaders
gustus on.
as Pompey (d. 48 BCE) and Julius Caesar (d. 44 BCE).
After his assassination, Julius Caesar was deified. Within
In founding cults, building shrines, and maintaining
the context of the Roman religious mentality, this means that
regular worship, the imperial cult was one of the most vital
he was officially recognized by decree as a divine entity who
features of Greco-Roman paganism in the first two centuries
had bestowed supernatural benefits upon the Roman people
of the Christian era. To be sure, there were those who criti-
and in consequence had been granted immortality by the
cized the worship of an emperor or of any mortal as an act
gods. Caesar was thus worthy to receive continuing cult wor-
of impiety; moreover, there is no real evidence that men and
ship from the Roman people and accordingly was adopted
women turned to the divine emperor as they might to Apollo
into the pantheon of the state religion with his own temple
or Asklepios in time of sickness or personal crisis. But it
and feast day. With this development the imperial cult be-
would be wrong to dismiss the imperial cult as the empty
came an official part of Roman religion. The guidance and
product of political sycophancy or religious decay. The func-
regularization of such cult expressions was a key feature in
tion of the emperor as divinity was not to alleviate illness or
the monarchical system established during the long reign of
to intervene in personal crisis. His divine power functioned
Augustus (31 BCE–14 CE), and the forms that he established
in the sphere of material benefits, the delivery of free grain
were determinative for later developments. During the first
to a famine-stricken region, gifts of money to victims of
and second centuries CE, many cities throughout the empire
earthquakes, and the general securing of peace and prosperity
founded cults in honor of successive emperors. The intensity
throughout a vast empire. In these terms he was called and
of such worship began to diminish in the third century. In
genuinely regarded as “savior and benefactor of the human
the fourth century, with the adoption of Christianity as the
race.” He was regarded as a divine entity who had been cho-
official religion and subsequent imperial prohibition of all
sen by the supreme god Zeus/Jupiter to rule humankind
pagan cult activity, the worship of emperors came to an end.
with beneficence as the earthly vicegerent of the gods. His
reward for fulfilling this task was immortality. From this per-
Under the Roman Empire there was no single imperial
spective, the imperial cult was a forceful and creative re-
cult. Instead, there was a wide variety of cults of the emper-
sponse to that need for a unity of shared belief that is essen-
ors, which took three main forms: the official state cult of
tial to the integration and successful functioning of a
Rome, municipal cults of cities in the empire, and private
pluralistic society. Fostered by a well-orchestrated and all-
cults.
pervasive system of imperial propaganda, the image of the
In the Roman state cult, worship of the living emperor
emperor as a divine savior sent by the supreme god and tri-
took the indirect form of the cult of the emperor’s genius,
umphant over fate and death played a seminal role in the
the divine element and creative force that resided in the em-
development of the terminology and content of Christian
peror and guided him like a guardian angel. Following the
soteriology.
precedent established in the case of Julius Caesar, numerous
emperors, such as Augustus, Vespasian (d. 79 CE), and Tra-
SEE ALSO Apotheosis; Deification.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2778
EMPIRICISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schmid, Stephan G. “Worshipping the Emperor(s).” Journal of
For an extensive bibliography, see Peter Herz’s “Bibliographie
Roman Archaeology 14 (2001): 113–142.
zum römischen Kaiserkult,” in Aufstieg und Niedergang der
Small, Alastair M., ed. Subject and Rulers: The Cult of the Ruling
römischen Welt, vol. 2.16.2 (Berlin and New York, 1978),
Power in Classical Antiquity. Papers presented at a Conference
pp. 833–910. Useful collections of evidence can be found in
held in The University of Alberta on April 13–15, 1994, to cel-
Charisma, 2 vols., by Fritz Taeger (Stuttgart, 1957–1960),
ebrate the 65th anniversary of Duncan Fishwick. Ann Arbor,
and The Imperial Cult in the Latin West by Duncan Fishwick
Mich., 1996.
(Leiden, 1985). For interpretive studies that treat the imperi-
al cult as a religious as well as historical phenomenon, see my
J. RUFUS FEARS (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Princeps a Diis Electus: The Divine Election of the Emperor as
a Political Concept at Rome (Rome, 1977); “The Cult of Jupi-
ter and Roman Imperial Ideology” and “The Cult of Virtues
and Roman Ideology,” in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römisc-
EMPIRICISM is best understood not as a single doctrine
hen Welt, vol. 2.17.2 (Berlin and New York, 1981),
but as a cluster of theses, each of which affirms the primacy
pp. 3–141, 827–948; and “Gottesgnadentum,” in Reallex-
of human experience in the general area of epistemology. As
ikon für Antike und Christentum, vol. 11, (Stuttgart, 1950).
used here, the term experience refers primarily to sense experi-
New Sources
ence, but it must also be extended to cover introspective ex-
Brent, Allen. The Imperial Cult and the Development of Church
perience. Insofar as other types of awarenesses, such as feeling
Order. Leiden, 1999.
states, pains, pangs, and so forth, are not already included
Campanile, Maria Domitilla. “Il culto imperiale in Frigia.” In
in one of these categories, they too should be separately in-
Frigi e frigio. Atti del primo Simposio Internazionale, Roma,
cluded in the general class of experiences. Following are dis-
16–17 ottobre 1995, edited by Roberto Gusmani, Mirjo Sal-
cussions of three theses usually associated with empiricism.
vini, and Pietro Vannicelli, pp. 219–227. Rome, 1997.
The first two have had considerable impact on the history
Campanile, Maria Domitilla. “Ancora sul culto imperiale in Asia.”
of Christian theology; the third has not.
Mediterraneo Antico 4.2 (2001): 473–488.
The first thesis is that ideas are derived entirely from ex-
Campanile, Maria Domitilla. “Asiarchi e archiereis d’Asia: titola-
perience. For example, the idea of red is derived entirely from
tura, condizione giuridica e posizione sociale dei supremi
experiences of red things—in this case visual sense percep-
dignitari del culto imperiale.” In Les cultes locaux dans le
tions or impressions of red objects. A complex idea such as
monde grec et romain. Actes du colloque de Lyon 7–8 juin
2001, edited by Guy Labarre, et al., pp. 69–79. Paris, 2004.
the idea of a desk or of a unicorn may be derived directly
from complex sense impressions (e.g., perceptions of desks),
Cerfaux, Lucien, and Julien Tondriau. Un concurrent du christian-
isme: le culte des souverains dans la civilisation gréco-romain.
or may be constructed out of other ideas that are, in turn,
Tournai, 1957.
derived entirely from sense impressions. Assuming, for in-
stance, that no one has ever seen (i.e., had a complex sense
Clauss, Manfred. Kaiser und Gott. Herrscherkult im römischen Rei-
ches. Stuttgart, 1999.
impression of) a unicorn, still there are no elements of this
idea that are not themselves derived from sense impressions.
de Jonge, Henk J. “The Apocalypse of John and the Imperial
Cult.” In Kykeon. Studies in Honor of Hendrik S. Versnel, ed-
That ideas have their origin in perception is a view
ited by H. F. J. Horstmannshoff, H. W. Singor, F. T. van
worked out in some detail by Epicurus (341–270 BCE) in his
Straten, and J. H. M. Strubbe, pp. 127–141. Leiden, 2002.
work On Nature. It is also a thesis held by Thomas Aquinas
Fischler, Susan. “Imperial Cult: Engendering the Cosmos.” In
(Summa theologiae 1.84.3, 6, 7) who in turn claimed to find
When Men were Men. Masculinity, Power and Identity in
it in Aristotle. As a doctrine of importance in modern philos-
Classical Antiquity, pp. 165–183. London, 1998.
ophy, however, it is identified primarily with the classical
Friesen, Steven J. Twice Neokoros. Leiden, 1993.
British empirical tradition of the seventeenth and eighteenth
Friesen, Steven J. Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Read-
centuries, as represented in the epistemological writings of
ing Revelation in the Ruins. Oxford, 2001.
Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. In contrast to the doctrine of
Gradel, Ittai. Emperor Worship and Roman Religion. Oxford,
innate ideas held by Descartes and other so-called rational-
2002.
ists, such as Leibniz, Locke insisted that all ideas are derived
from experience. In its original state, Locke said, the mind
Liertz, Uta-Maria. Kult und Kaiser: Studien zu Kaiserkult und
Kaiserverehrung in den germanischen Provinzen und in Gallia
is a blank tablet (tabula rasa) and, as such, does not possess
Belgica zur römischen Kaiserzeit. Rome, 1998.
ideas. Ideas are acquired either as a result of the operation
of the sense faculties (the idea of red); or as a result of the
Price, Simon R. F. Rituals of Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in
Asia Minor. Cambridge, U.K., 1984.
mind’s operation on the data supplied by the sense faculties
(the idea of a unicorn); or as a result of introspection (what
Reynolds, Joyce M. “The Origins and Beginning of Imperial Cult
Locke called “inner sense”), observing the mind as it operates
at Aphrodisias.” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological So-
ciety 26 (1980): 70–84.
on materials supplied by the sense faculties (for instance, the
idea of mind).
Reynolds, Joyce M. “New Evidence for the Imperial Cult in Julio-
Claudian Aphrodisias.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie une Epi-
In Hume, the claim that all ideas are derived entirely
graphik 43 (1981): 317–327.
from impressions served as the cornerstone of his empirical
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EMPIRICISM
2779
theory of meaning. Hume held that a word has meaning only
ous ingredient feelings. Following Schleiermacher, Otto in-
when it is (to use his phrase) “annexed” to an idea. A term’s
sisted that the content of the concept of God is determined
specific meaning can be decided only by consulting the con-
by the preconceptual religious phenomena of which that
tent of the idea annexed to it. But because, as Hume claimed,
concept is the schematization. Although this theory differs
the content of any given idea is completely determined by
from the one given by Berkeley, it clearly reflects the influ-
the impressions from which it is derived, the meaning of a
ence of classical empiricist thought. Framed in the language
given word can be exhaustively analyzed by itemizing the im-
of Locke or Hume, the claim is made that the idea of God
pressions from which the idea annexed to that word is de-
comes directly from religious experiences. Berkeley (and
rived. Hume relied on this theory of meaning when he dis-
Thomas) would disagree only with respect to the claim that
missed as meaningless a host of traditional metaphysical
the experiences in question are of a specifically religious
items such as the Aristotelian doctrine of substratum. With
nature.
respect to the latter, Hume argued that because one has no
impression of substratum, one has no such idea; thus the op-
The second thesis associated with empiricism is that
erative term used by metaphysicians when formulating this
human knowledge concerning matters of fact is grounded ul-
doctrine is without meaning. An argument of this sort was
timately in experience. Because there is a distinction between
used to establish virtually all the doctrines usually associated
an idea (e.g., the idea of red) and a statement (e.g., “Apples
with Hume’s “skeptical” philosophy—for instance, his well-
are red”), and because knowledge is formulated in state-
known analysis of “causation” and his highly controversial
ments, one must distinguish a theory concerning the origin
analysis of “mind.”
of ideas from a theory concerning the source of knowledge.
Unlike the former, the latter specifies conditions under
In Alciphron, one of his last major works, Berkeley re-
which it can be legitimately claimed that a statement is true.
viewed with approval a theory concerning the origin of the
These are conditions under which a knowledge claim is war-
idea of God. According to the theory in question, the idea
ranted. According to this second thesis, whatever may be the
of God is a complex having as ingredients ideas generated
origin of one’s ideas, one’s knowledge of facts about the
from one’s experience of creatures. Thus, for example, the
world is formulated in statements supported entirely by em-
idea of a being who has knowledge is derived from one’s ex-
pirical evidence. This claim stands opposed to one made by
perience of finite beings like one’s self. Though one does not
Kant (and a number of other modern and medieval thinkers
have any direct experience of the perfect case, one can con-
such as Descartes and Thomas Aquinas), namely, that some
struct the idea of perfect knowledge by imagining away the
statements that describe facts about the world (e.g., “Every
imperfections (e.g., limited scope) that invariably attach to
event has a cause”) are known to be true a priori, that is, prior
knowledge in imperfect cases. This provides the idea of om-
to or independent of experience. Such statements are some-
niscience, the exemplary version of knowledge. Ideas of the
times described as self-evident. The empiricist’s claim is that
other so-called perfections standardly attributed to God (om-
all factual knowledge is, by contrast, a posteriori, that is,
nipotence, eternity, etc.) are derived by a similar process
posterior to and consequent upon experience. No factual
from the ideas one has of attributes possessed by finite be-
statement is self-evident, if this means that the statement in
ings. Berkeley said that this account of the idea of God is pre-
question can be known to be true without consulting obser-
cisely the one given by Thomas Aquinas and developed by
vational evidence.
the Schoolmen under the title “analogy by proportionality.”
This interpretation of Thomas’s doctrine of analogy is sup-
It is important to note that the thesis just reviewed is
ported by a number of contemporary commentators as well
explicitly restricted to knowledge about the world, that is, to
(e.g., Copleston, History of Philosophy, vol. 2, chap. 38). It
knowledge of what Hume called “matters of fact.” It is thus
is an account that fits well both with Berkeley’s and with
not extended to knowledge formulated in what Kant labeled
Thomas’s general empiricist stance concerning the origin of
“analytic” statements, that is, to statements whose truth val-
ideas.
ues depend entirely on word meanings. As regards these lat-
ter statements, empiricists acknowledge that they are a priori.
Perhaps the most provocative empiricist account of the
They add, however, that such statements are empty of factual
ideas operative in the area of religion is the one advanced by
content. This is to say that, while a priori statements may
Friedrich Schleiermacher in The Christian Faith (1830) and
reveal something about the way one uses words or about
subsequently expanded by his student Rudolf Otto in The
what Hume referred to as “relations between ideas,” they re-
Idea of the Holy (1917), which no doubt is the most influen-
veal nothing about the objects or circumstances to which
tial study in the phenomenology of religion published in the
these words presumably refer or to which one’s ideas presum-
twentieth century. According to Otto, the idea of God is de-
ably correspond. This dichotomy between the factual a
rived from a complex “nonrational” (i.e., preconceptual)
posteriori and the analytic a priori remains to this day a point
awareness that he referred to as “the experience of the
of embarrassment for empiricists. The problem is not that
Numen.” Otto undertook to show how this primitive aware-
the distinction is unintelligible or inapplicable, but rather
ness is (as he said) “schematized” (i.e., conceptualized) in
that some knowledge statements do not fit comfortably into
standard theological doctrines that give expression to its vari-
either class. As mentioned above, Kant thought that the
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EMPIRICISM
statement “Every event has a cause” is of the kind last men-
in principle knowable. But if a given statement is in principle
tioned. He also thought that mathematical knowledge such
knowable, then, by one’s first assumption, it is also in princi-
as that formulated in the statement “2 + 3 = 5” defies classifi-
ple verifiable. By this sequence of reasonings, the second em-
cation in either of these categories.
piricist thesis discussed above yields the following theory:
The meaning of any statement whose truth value cannot be
The idea that knowledge about the world is grounded
determined by reference to the meanings of its constituent
in experience is the hallmark of what is usually thought of
words consists entirely of its empirically verifiable content.
as the “scientific” mentality. As such, it is antithetical to the
Of course, given this theory, any statement about the world
traditional Christian insistence that revelation is the ultimate
for which no verifying observations could in principle be
source of the factual knowledge codified in theological doc-
specified would not count as a genuine statement: it would
trine. Still, in the three centuries that have elapsed since the
be devoid of meaning. This is because according to the prin-
publication of Newton’s Principles, Christian theology has
ciple before us, any purported statement about the world is
exhibited some affection for the scientific style of theory con-
meaningful only to the extent that it is empirically verifiable.
struction. Largely inspired by the theological writings of
This last principle, usually referred to as the verifiability
Newton, eighteenth-century England was crowded with ad-
principle, became the centerpiece of empiricism—called log-
vocates of what Hume called “experimental theism,” that is,
ical empiricism or more often logical positivism—during the
theism entertained as a hypothesis and supported by refer-
second quarter of the twentieth century. It is important to
ence to evidence provided by the appearance of design in na-
see that it connects not only with the second of the empiricist
ture. This trend stood in contrast to medieval methods for
theses treated above (as indicated in the last paragraph), but
proving the existence of God by purely a priori consider-
with the first as well. Here, for the second time, one is con-
ations, as in Anselm’s ontological argument, or by arguments
fronted with a theory of meaning. Of course the verifiability
making use of a priori (self-evident) factual premises such as
principle is not the same as the theory used by Hume. In fact,
the first three of Thomas’s five proofs for the existence of
it differs on two counts: (1) it takes statements rather than
God. Theism cast as a scientific theory and supported by the
individual words as the meaningful units; and (2) it requires
abductive logical procedures characteristic of the natural sci-
empirical consequences rather than antecedently acquired
ences reached its climax in the nineteenth century in William
empirical ideas as the conditions of meaning. Still, the veri-
Paley’s monumental work Natural Theology (1825). Al-
fiability principle is a recognizable cousin of Hume’s empiri-
though this approach to Christian apologetics is still prac-
cal theory of meaning. It was also utilized by positivists such
ticed (witness Robert Clark’s The Universe: Plan or Accident,
as A. J. Ayer, in a characteristically Humean program, to dis-
Oxford, 1961), it is not widely held to be effective. A great
miss as meaningless a whole range of traditional metaphysical
many contemporary philosophers of religion think that
doctrines. At its height, positivism dominated the philosoph-
Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779) con-
ical community, influencing as well trends in psychology
stitutes the definitive critique of theism as an explanatory hy-
(behaviorism) and in the physical sciences (operationalism).
pothesis.
Burdened, however, by its own inability to provide a version
The third thesis associated with empiricism is that factu-
of the verifiability principle acceptable to philosophers of sci-
al statements are meaningful only insofar as they are verifi-
ence, at the end of the 1950s this theory vanished quite
able. If one assumes that all knowledge concerning matters
abruptly from the philosophical scene. It is now dead—or
of fact is ultimately grounded in experience, it follows that,
at least as dead as any philosophical theory can be.
except for statements whose truth values can be determined
As for the impact of logical positivism on theology or
by reference to the meanings of the terms they employ, any
on religious studies more generally, there is little to say. That
statement known to be true is so only because it has been
there exists a transcendent being who created the universe is
verified by experience. Given the same exclusion, it follows
one of the metaphysical doctrines that positivists typically
that, insofar as a statement affirms something knowable, to
dismissed as meaningless. Of course this was not atheism, if
that extent it affirms something verifiable. Anything that
one understands atheism to be the view that God does not
cannot be verified cannot be known. Let a second assump-
exist, that is, that the statement “God exists” is false. To have
tion now be made, namely, that a statement is meaningful
a truth value—that is, to be either true or false—a statement
insofar, but only insofar, as it has a discoverable truth value.
must have meaning. For positivists, the words “God ex-
Restricting attention to statements whose truth values can-
ists”—being, as A. J. Ayer used to say “nonsensical”—simply
not be determined by reference to the meanings of their con-
did not have credentials enough to be false. As yet few (if
stituent words, this second assumption reveals that all mean-
any) religious thinkers have found this position worthy of se-
ingful statements affirm something that is knowable. This is
rious attention.
so because, for any meaningful statement that is not contra-
SEE ALSO Logical Positivism.
dictory (in which case its truth value can indeed be deter-
mined by reference to the meanings of its constituent words),
BIBLIOGRAPHY
there is some possible world in which it is true and in which
Ayer, A. J. Language, Truth and Logic. 2d ed. London, 1946. See
it has been discovered (i.e., is known) to be true. It is, then,
also Logical Positivism (Glencoe, Ill., 1959), edited by Ayer,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENCHIN
2781
which contains essays by most leading positivists such as Car-
school of Japanese Buddhism and one of the so-called
nap, Neurath, Schlick, and Ayer himself. It also contains es-
nitto¯-hakke, or “eight (Esoteric) masters who studied in
says by other important twentieth-century empiricists such
China.” Enchin, a distant cousin of Ku¯kai (Ko¯bo¯ Daishi,
as Russell and Stevenson. The bibliography is amazingly
774–835), founder of the Shingon sect, was born on the is-
complete.
land of Shikoku. From the age of fifteen he studied under
Epicurus. On Nature. In Epicurus: The Extant Remains, translated
Gishin, a direct disciple of Saicho¯ (Dengyo¯ Daishi, 767–
by Cyril Bailey. Oxford, 1926.
822), founder of the Tendai sect, at the Enryakuji on Mount
Paley, William. Natural Theology (1802). Edited by Frederick
Hiei, the center of the Tendai monastic establishment.
Ferré. Indianapolis, 1963.
Enchin was sent by the government to China, where he
Schleiermacher, Friedrich. The Christian Faith. Translated from
studied from 853 to 859, first on Mount Tiantai (center of
the second German edition. New York, 1963. Schleierma-
the Tiantai sect), and then at the Qinglong Monastery in the
cher’s best-known student and disciple was Rudolf Otto,
whose study of the nature of religious experience in Das
capital, Chang’an, thus absorbing the teachings and practices
Heilige (Breslau, 1917), translated by John W. Harvey as The
of both Tendai and Esoteric Buddhism. Upon his return to
Idea of the Holy, 2d ed. (1950; New York, 1970), is a modern
Japan he was sponsored by the court (he established an initia-
classic in religious studies.
tion hall within the precincts of the imperial palace) and by
Taylor, Richard, ed. The Empiricists. Garden City, N.Y., 1974.
the leaders of the Fujiwara clan, and took up residence in the
Contains a handy collection of the writings of Locke, Berke-
Onjo¯ji in Shiga prefecture, at the foot of Mount Hiei. In 868
ley, and Hume. Unfortunately, Taylor’s text does not in-
he became zasu of the Tendai sect, a position he held until
clude Hume’s Treatise, which is available in Enquiries Con-
his death. Together with Ennin (Jikaku Daishi, 794–864),
cerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles
he was a central figure in the development of classical Japa-
of Morals, 3d ed., edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge (Oxford,
nese Tendai Buddhism.
1975).
Thomas Aquinas. “Treatise on Man,” Summa theologiae 1.75–89.
Enchin’s contributions gave rise to a movement that re-
In Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1, edited by
sulted in the complete esotericization of Tendai thought and
Anton C. Pegis. New York, 1945. Helpful studies of Thom-
practice, leading to the creation of “Tendai Esotericism”
as’s theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind can be
(Taimitsu, as opposed to “Shingon Esotericism,” or Tomit-
found in Frederick C. Copleston’s History of Philosophy, vol.
su). Enchin believed that the teachings of Tendai and Shin-
2 (Westminster, Md., 1952), chapter 38; and in chapter 4
gon were of equal value (in contradistinction to various hier-
of Copleston’s Aquinas (Baltimore, 1967).
archical gradings fashionable at the time), but he also
New Sources
believed that the praxis of Shingon was superior (rido¯-jisho¯).
Carruthers, Peter. Human Knowledge and Human Nature: A New
He also stated that the transcendental Buddha appearing in
Introduction to an Ancient Debate. New York, 1992.
Tendai’s major scripture, the Lotus Su¯tra, was the same as
Dupre, John, ed. Human Nature and the Limits of Science. New
Maha¯vairocana, the main figure of the pantheon of Shingon
York, 2002.
Buddhism. Enchin was also the first proponent of the hon-
Kitcher, Philip. Science, Truth, and Democracy. Oxford Studies in
gaku (“original enlightenment”) theory, according to which
the Philosophy of Science. New York, 2001.
all sentient and nonsentient beings are from the outset fully
endowed with complete awakening. This theory played a
Roth, Robert. British Empiricism and American Pragmatism: New
central function in the evolution of Tendai doctrine and
Directions and Neglected Arguments. New York, 1993.
Buddhism at large, and was also instrumental in the theoreti-
Searle, Jonathan. The Construction of Social Reality. 1995; reprint
cal interpretations of the associations between Shinto¯ and
New York, 1997.
Buddhist divinities (shinbutsu-shu¯go¯). Finally, Enchin was
Solomon, Miriam. Social Empiricism. Cambridge, Mass., 2001.
also, according to the tradition, a key figure in the develop-
Van Fraasen, Bas C. The Empirical Stance. New Haven, 2002.
ment of the Tendai branch of mountain asceticism
N
(Shugendo¯), especially in the Kumano region.
ELSON PIKE (1987)
Revised Bibliography
In the generation after Enchin, the Onjo¯ji came to be
known as the Jimon branch of the Tendai sect, in opposition
to the Sanmon branch located in Enryakuji. The Jimon
EMPTINESS SEE S´U¯NYAM AND S´U¯NYATA¯
branch was run by the disciples of Enchin, the Sanmon
branch by Ennin’s disciples. The patriarchs of the Tendai
sect were to be chosen from either Ennin’s or Enchin’s lin-
EMRE, YUNUS SEE YUNUS EMRE
eage. This and other questions ultimately led to friction be-
tween the two institutions, and then to armed attacks, pro-
voked largely by political considerations. During the late
Heian period the so-called warrior monks (so¯hei) of these
ENCHIN (814/5–891/2), posthumously known as
great monasteries battled the government and each other
Chisho¯ Daishi, was the sixth patriarch (zasu) of the Tendai
mercilessly in a quest for privileges, land, domains, 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
2782
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
power. This situation resulted in the demise of the Tendai
laboration of many people over a long period of time. And
institutions at the end of the medieval period, and in the
it “can hardly be done without some overarching goal, some
total destruction of the monasteries by Oda Nobunaga in
hope of making a point, or at least without reflecting on the
1571.
relationship of knowledge to truth and the impact of such
Enchin had many disciples and composed a large num-
truth on individual and social life and the direction of histo-
ber of doctrinal treatises, among which the Dainichikyo¯-shiiki
ry” (Sullivan, 1990, p. 317). Indeed, since presenting the
(The final truth of the Maha¯vairocana Su¯tra) and the
complete knowledge of humankind is a futile task, it is im-
Ko¯en-hokke-gi (Lectures on the rites of the lotus blossom) are
portant to note that behind encyclopedic treatment of
noteworthy. After his death, Enchin became the object of a
knowledge there stands a certain ideology that structures the
cult centered around a sculptured representation holding his
pieces of knowledge in a way that fits a preconceived pro-
ashes.
gram or discourse. Given this subtext of the encyclopedic
genre, it is astonishing that encyclopedias as discursive
SEE ALSO Shingonshu¯; Shugendo¯; Tendaishu¯.
sources, organizing knowledge in a meaningful way, have
only rarely been the object of scholarly scrutiny (but see Kir-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cher, 2003).
Chisho¯ Daishi. O
¯ tsu, 1937. Published under the auspices of the
It is noteworthy that the understanding of encyclope-
Onjo¯ji (Miidera).
dias as representing the ultimate knowledge of humankind
Murayama Shu¯ichi. Hieizan to Tendai bukkyo¯ no kenkyu¯. Tokyo,
is a product of an ideology that viewed the cosmos as utterly
1975.
decipherable. Vincent of Beauvais, for instance, entitled his
Tsuji Zennosuke. Nihon bukkyo¯shi; jo¯sei-hen, vol. 1. Tokyo, 1944.
seminal medieval encyclopedia Speculum maius (The Greater
ALLAN G. GRAPARD (1987)
Mirror, 1244) because his book was thought to represent the
perfect integrity and harmony of the universe. The same is
true for the twelfth-century encyclopedia Speculum universale
(Universal Mirror) by the French preacher Raoul Ardent.
ENCYCLOPEDIAS. Most generally, there are two
The world itself is a text, and its hidden truth—its texture—
ways of understanding encyclopedia (from Greek kúklos, “cir-
is made accessible to humankind by means of textual repre-
cle,” and paideía, “education”), namely: (1) after Hippias of
sentation. The claim to present the entirety of human knowl-
Elis, a Sophist of the fifth century BCE, as a term denoting
edge is also a claim to master the universe, a totalizing atti-
a universal education, subsequently the everyday education
tude that had its impact on discourses and power relations.
that prepares for the universal education (Isocrates, 436–338
With the early-modern growth of scientific knowledge and
BCE). Since Marcus Terentius Varro (116–17 BCE) the ency-
the encounter with formerly unknown regions and cultures,
clopedia is organized within the system of the artes liberales
the encyclopedia as an instrument of power gained new mo-
as a preparation and introduction to philosophy, in the Mid-
mentum. Examples of this are Paul Scalich’s Encyclopaedia:
dle Ages also to theology (already in Jerome’s Chronicon (380
seu, orbis disciplinarum, tam sacrarum quam prophanum ep-
CE). Rabelais, in Pantagruel (1532), still referred to encyclo-
istemon (Encyclopedia; or [knowledge of] the world of disci-
pedia as a formal education and complete system of learning.
plines, both sacred and profane, Basel, 1559), a decisively Prot-
From the seventeenth century onward—mainly through the
estant publication that for the first time used the term
influence of the French encyclopedists—it was used to de-
“encyclopedia” to designate a book; and Francis Bacon’s fa-
note the entirety of human knowledge. (2) Encyclopedia is
mous encyclopedia Instauratio magna (The Great Renewal,
also common to indicate a presentation of the contents of
London, 1620), with a frontispiece showing a vessel that sails
knowledge, either in certain fields of interest or in a general
through the pillars of civilization into the wide open of un-
way, along with a detailed description of respective subjects.
known seas to be explored.
While in earlier times the systematic encyclopedia was more
EARLY ENCYCLOPEDIAS. The beginnings of systematic ency-
prominent—that is, an encyclopedia structured according to
clopedias are usually related to Plato’s nephew Speusippus
themes and issues—since the eighteenth century the alpha-
(c. 408–339 BCE), but of his encyclopedia only fragments re-
betical encyclopedia gained the upper hand. The latter is often
main. Varro compiled an encyclopedic reference work for
referred to as a “General” or “Universal Encyclopedia”; in
stately affairs, including information about the people and
German as Realenzyklopädie, Reallexikon, Sachwörterbuch, or
geography of the Roman Empire, government, state, law,
Konversationslexikon. Although there are many overlaps and
and religion (Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum
although the differentiation is debated among scholars, it is
[History of Human and Divine Matters]). In this tradition
often argued that encyclopedias explicate subjects while dic-
stood Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) with his famous Historia
tionaries explicate words. In the end, however, subjects are
naturalis (Natural History, 77 CE), in which he tackled geog-
also words, a fact that makes the differentiation difficult.
raphy, astronomy, meteorology, ethnography, anthropology,
The aim to present principally everything that is known
zoology, botany, medicine, dietetics, magic, mineralogy, and
about a great variety of subjects and fields in one publication
the arts. Along with the Origines or Etymologiae (Etymologies,
is an ambitious project (Cappelletti, 1983). It needs the col-
in fact an encyclopedia with little use of etymologies 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
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
2783
modern sense of the word) of Isidore of Seville (560–636)
already because it puts forward a new conception with clear,
and Jerome’s Chronicon, the Historia naturalis remained the
brief, critical (“enlightened”) articles instead of uncritical
most influential encyclopedia for the Middle Ages.
compilations of quotations. Its influence is reflected in a
Among the medieval encyclopedias reference must be
number of translations, among them the German version of
made of the Hortus deliciarum (Garden of Joy) of Herad of
J. C. Gottsched (Historisches und Critisches Wörterbuch
Landsberg (c. 1125–1195), as this is the first encyclopedia
[1741–1744]). These works set the tone for the enormous
compiled by a woman. Vincent of Beauvais’s Speculum maius
encyclopedic projects that followed the European Enlight-
had a tremendous impact on the high Middle Ages and the
enment.
Renaissance; compiled from some two thousand sources, it
ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND ENLIGHTENMENT. In the eighteenth
deals with the issues of God and creation, or the human and
century the Enlightenment led to a new phase in encyclope-
the divine (physics, geography, agriculture, alchemy, botany,
dic publishing (Kafker, 1981). In all cultural centers in Eu-
astronomy, language, grammar, logic, rhetoric, ethics, fami-
rope projects were launched that by far surpassed the ency-
ly, economy, politics, law, handicraft, architecture, war,
clopedias known from early modern times. The underlying
sports, seafaring, medicine, mathematics, metaphysics, theol-
rationale of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century encyclo-
ogy, history, culture). The Compendium philosophiae, com-
pedias was an ideology of enlightenment—sometimes in
piled before 1320, is usually seen as the first modern encyclo-
clear opposition to clerical truth claims—and of education
pedia because it mirrors the thirteenth-century merging of
of the masses or, rather, the middle class. Of paramount im-
Aristotelianism with the Scholastic doctrine in the genre of
portance was the effort of the so-called encyclopedists in
encyclopedia; it strives for objectivity and wants to inform
France.
about the newest scientific developments. Most encyclope-
dias of that time were written in Latin. There are exceptions,
The Encyclopédie. “Encyclopedists” is the name for the
however. The German Buch der Natur (Book of Nature,
group of scholars that—under the direction of Denis Dide-
1350) by Konrad of Megenberg and P. Königsschlacher’s
rot and, in its mathematical part (until 1759), Jean le Rond
untitled encyclopedia (1472) were simplified works written
d’Alembert—collaborated in the publication of the Ency-
for a lay public; they were based on Thomas of Cantimprés’s
clopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des
Liber de naturis rerum (Book of Things in Nature).
Métiers par une société des gens de Lettres (35 vols., 1751–
Particularly in the Middle Ages, the Arabic and Chinese
1780; about 72,000 entries in seventeen volumes of letter-
encyclopedic literature was blossoming. In “Sources of His-
press, eleven volumes of engraved plates, five supplement
tory,” Ibn Qutayba (828–889) devoted a single volume of
volumes, and two index volumes). Taking up an idea of
his ten-volume encyclopedia to the issues of sovereignty, war,
Leibniz, and building on the older English (e.g., Ephraim
nobility, character, education and rhetoric, asceticism,
Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, 1727) and French encyclopedias
friendship, prayer, food, and women, respectively. The ency-
(e.g., Pierre Bayle’s Dictionnaire historique et critique), the en-
clopedia T’ung-tien by Tu Yu (eighth century) informed
cyclopedists intended to present the complete knowledge of
about the sciences, educational systems, government, cus-
the time (Lough, 1971). With its discussion of all relevant
toms, music, army, jurisprudence, political geography, and
problems, from general philosophical to religious, scientific,
defense. As a matter of fact, the encyclopedia as a genre of
historiographical, ethical, political, and social issues, along
its own has a tradition in China that exceeds the Western de-
with Voltaire’s writings the Encyclopédie is regarded as the cli-
velopment. From the no longer extant Huang-lan (Emperor’s
max of the French Enlightenment. Of the important authors
Mirror, compiled in 220
who considerably contributed to the ideological framework
CE) to the revised four-hundred-
volume edition of the Qing chao xu wen xian tong kao, edited
of the encyclopedia, alongside the editors (see particularly
by Liujin Zao in Beijing in 1921, Chinese encyclopedias—as
d’Alembert’s Discours préliminaire, which is still read in
their Muslim fellow publications—followed an agenda of ed-
French schools today), special mention must be made of Vol-
ucating the civil servants (see Giles, 1911).
taire, who collaborated until the letter M before he began his
own Dictionnaire philosophique; Holbach with his articles
Early alphabetic encyclopedias. While alphabetic en-
about chemistry; Mallet, Bergier, and others for theology and
cyclopedias are dominant in modernity, there are only a few
history; Yvon for ethics and metaphysics; and Montesquieu
forerunners in antiquity. The most important is De verborum
and von Grimm. The political, philosophical, and religious
significatu (The Meaning of Words, early first century CE) of
positions of the authors vary, although they are united in a
M. Verrius Flaccus, a dictionary of rare terms with grammat-
confrontation against radicalism and control of thought that
ical and historical explanation that transmitted the findings
were seen in the intolerant despotism of the ancien régime
of late Republican scholarship (Varro) to later generations.
and the church. With regard to religion and theology, differ-
In the seventeenth century, three encyclopedias were in-
ences can be noticed between Diderot and d’Alembert on the
fluential: L. Moréri’s Grand dictionnaire historique . . .
one hand, and Mallet and his party on the other. While Di-
(1674), A. Furetièr’s Dictionnaire universel des arts et sciences
derot in his comparative articles on religion gives long ex-
(1690), and P. Bayle’s Dictionnaire historique et critique
cerpts from the works of English Deism (see his articles on
(1696–1697). The latter is seen as a modern encyclopedia
Christianisme, Foi, Raison, Révélation, Religion naturelle, Thé-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2784
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
isme, Théologie, etc.), Mallet shows a determined anti-Deistic
culture” under the auspices of the academies of arts and
polemic (see his Bible, Dogme, Inspiration, Prophétie, etc.).
sciences.
Censorship (or the fear of it), however, had its influence
ENCYCLOPEDIC WORK IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES. Encyclope-
on many of the articles, a problem that increasingly troubled
dias played a crucial role in the development and emancipa-
the whole project (see Darnton, 1979). Even d’Alembert
tion of various scientific disciplines, both in the humanities
agreed to include the petites orthodoxies in the encyclopedia—
and the natural sciences (chemistry, medicine, technology,
albeit not without trying to undermine their content with
geography, linguistics, musicology, etc.). With the academic
renvois, that is, “allusions/suggestions.” On July 21, 1757, he
study of religion emerging as a separate area of scholarship,
replied to Voltaire, who had grumbled about the meekness
it comes as no surprise that there was a growing interest in
in matters theological: “We published bad articles about reli-
encyclopedias that covered either the whole of religion or
gion and metaphysics; but with theological censors and such
specific fields of study. This does not mean, of course, that
a restrictive permission of publication, I beg you to write bet-
religion was an issue of less importance in earlier encyclope-
ter ones!”
dic discourse—quite the contrary. Not only did religious ra-
tionales influence the structure of almost all early encyclope-
Other seminal contributions. The French Encyclopé-
dias (including the “enlightened” ones), but also the
die, although paradigmatic in its intentions, was not the only
customs, religious traditions, and myths of people played a
important encyclopedia of the eighteenth century. In En-
significant role in all these publications. In addition, from
gland, the Encyclopaedia Britannica (3 vols., 1768–1771)
early on there existed published encyclopedias that gave spe-
gained international fame. In 1976, the entries were divided
cial attention to customs and mythologies. As for mytholo-
in so-called Macropaedia (that is, the major articles in nine-
gies, one may think of Antoine Banier’s La Mythologie et les
teen volumes) and Micropaedia (that is, the smaller articles
fables expliquées par l’histoire (3 vols., Paris, 1738–1740);
in ten volumes). The Encyclopaedia Britannica became a vital
Benjamin Hederich’s Lexicon Mythologicum (Leipzig, 1724);
reference point for the Scottish Enlightenment. How impor-
John Bell’s New Pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the
tant these publications were in religious-political discourse
Gods, Demi-gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity
can be seen from the fact that historian of religion William
(2 vols., London, 1790); William Sheldon’s History of the
Robertson Smith (1846–1894), who was involved in the
Heathen Gods, and Heroes of Antiquity (Boston, 1810); and
ninth edition of the encyclopedia, lost his professorship and
Henry Christmas’s Universal Mythology: An Account of the
good reputation in the Free Church of Scotland because of
Most Important Systems (London, 1838).
his article “Bible.”
When it comes to encyclopedias that specifically focus
In the nineteenth century other seminal encyclopedias
on religion, one of the earliest major contributions is the
followed. For philosophical discourse, of outstanding impor-
Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche (26
tance was G. W. F. Hegel’s Enzyklopädie der philosophischen
vols., Basel 1854–1868) by the Swiss theologian J. J. Herzog.
Wissenschaften (1817), in which he presented his system of
This publication of German-speaking Protestantism was
philosophy in three parts: Logic, Nature, and Mind. The
countered by French Protestants with the Encyclopédie des sci-
most extensive European project to date, the Allgemeine En-
ences religieuses (5 vols., Strasbourg 1877–1882). The editor,
cyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste by J. S. Ersch and
F. Lichtenberger, openly referred to Herzog’s encyclopedia
J. G. Gruber (167 vols., 1818–1889) remained unfinished.
as an inspiration and provocation, and it is clear that the
The Conversationslexikon of K. G. Löbel was bought in 1808
Strasbourg publication was meant as a nationalistic answer
by F. A. Brockhaus, who republished it one year later and
to the Basel project. From the Christian perspective, a num-
(with additional material) in 1810–1811; to the fifth edition
ber of important encyclopedic contributions came from
(1819–1820), with a new academic systematization, a num-
James Hastings, a Scottish cleric. His A Dictionary of the
ber of important scholars contributed. Der Große Brockhaus
Bible (London, 1898–1904), A Dictionary of Christ and the
became one of the leading encyclopedias in the German lan-
Gospels (London, 1906–1908), A Dictionary of the Apostolic
guage, with more than 200,000 articles in its 1928–1935
Church (London, 1915–1918), and—most influential—the
edition. As a response to Brockhaus’s Protestant dictionaries,
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (reprint Edinburgh,
Herder’s Konversations-Lexikon (1853–1857) was published
1955) were milestones in the formation phase of (theologi-
with a Catholic agenda.
cally informed) religious studies.
J. Meyer published Das Große Conversations-Lexicon für
Along with the emancipation of more specialized disci-
die gebildeten Stände (46 vols., 1840–1855) with the clear po-
plines within the academic study of religions, other encyclo-
litical intention to educate the lower and middle classes and
pedias entered the stage, among them The Encyclopedia of
to enable them an intellectual emancipation. This agenda
Islam (Leiden, 1913–1936, new ed., 1960) and the Encyclo-
can still be found in encyclopedias of the early twentieth cen-
paedia Judaica (Jerusalem, 1971–1972). German classical
tury. In addition, accompanying the emergence of the mod-
philology and historiography culminated in the Real-
ern nation-state, encyclopedic projects were more and more
Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaften, launched
absorbed by nationalistic interests, representing the “national
by August von Pauly in 1837 and revised by Georg Wissowa
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
2785
in 1893. In fact, the Pauly-Wissowa gained such fame that
World Dictionaries in Print: A Guide to General and Subject Dictio-
this encyclopedia was a main reason for earlier generations
naries in World Languages. New York, 1983. See comment
of scholars to learn German. Today, Der Neue Pauly and Der
for Brewer.
Kleine Pauly cling to this long-gone tradition of scholarship
KOCKU VON STUCKRAD (2005)
without really matching it.
Sometimes, a comparison between different editions of
the same encyclopedia “offers a unique chance to have a look
ENDOWMENTS, MUSLIM SEE WAQF
behind the scenes and to disclose elements of construction
of an ‘innocent’ dictionary” (Kippenberg, 2003, p. 464), as
Hans G. Kippenberg showed with regard to the celebrated
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Handwörterbuch für
END TIME SEE ESCHATOLOGY
Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, of which the first edition
was published 1909–1913 and the fourth edition is in the
process of being published (since 1998; an English transla-
ENGAGED BUDDHISM. Engaged Buddhism, or
tion is in preparation). A similar case can be made of the sem-
“socially engaged Buddhism,” denotes the rise of political ac-
inal Encyclopedia of Religion that started in 1979 as a project
tivism and social service by Buddhist communities and orga-
that strongly reflected the particular phenomenological
nizations in Asia and the West since the 1950s. Paralleling
method of its editor, Mircea Eliade, but that subsequently
a global increase of political involvement by religious groups
grew into a landmark of scholarly discussion, mirroring a va-
within the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu traditions,
riety of different approaches to the study of religion (see Sul-
engaged Buddhists have supported campaigns for conflict
livan, 1990, pp. 333–339).
resolution, human rights, economic development, national
S
self-determination, and environmental protection. They
EE ALSO Festschriften; Reference Works.
have undertaken medical and pastoral care, educational pro-
grams, and community building among economically margi-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
nalized and low-caste communities, women and children,
Brewer, Annie M., ed. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Other
Word-Related Books, 3d ed., suppl. Detroit, Mich., 1983.
persons with HIV/AIDS, and prison inmates. They have in-
Along with the World Dictionaries in Print, a standard refer-
sisted that Buddhist mindfulness, morality, and social action
ence work that renders encyclopedias in hundreds of lan-
be integrated into all facets of daily life in both ordained and
guages.
lay communities. Engaged Buddhists share the belief that
mindful social action is consistent with traditional notions
Cappelletti, Vincenzo. “Il problema dell’enciclopedia.” Veltro 27,
no. 506 (1983): 765–781. Good analysis of the problems of
of Buddhist practice and its goal, the universal relief of suf-
encyclopedic publication.
fering, and the awakening of human potential.
Collison, Robert L. Encyclopedias: Their History throughout the
The term engaged Buddhism was coined by the Vietnam-
Ages. 2d ed. New York, 1966. Global account.
ese Thi1n (Zen) monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh (b.
Darnton, Robert. The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing His-
1926), who founded peace-oriented educational and reli-
tory of the Encyclopédie, 1775–1800. Cambridge, Mass.,
gious institutions during the Vietnam War, led antiwar pro-
1979.
tests, rebuilt villages, resettled refugees, lobbied internation-
ally for peace talks, and published articles and books on the
Giles, Lionel. An Alphabetical Index to the Chinese Encyclopedia.
crisis facing his country and the Buddhist tradition. The gov-
London, 1911.
ernments of Saigon, Hanoi, and Washington opposed these
Kafker, Frank A., ed. Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Centu-
actions, and thousands of Nhat Hanh’s followers were killed
ry: Notable Encyclopedias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
or jailed. In 1963 photographs of a burning monk on a Sai-
Centuries: Nine Predecessors of the Encyclopédie. Oxford,
gon street appeared in the international media, illustrating
1981.
the determination of the newly engaged Buddhists. After the
Kippenberg, Hans G. “A Wealth of Small Articles, but Theoreti-
war, Thich Nhat Hanh, exiled from his country, spread the
cal Reflections in Tiny Doses: An Evaluation of the New
practice and teachings of engaged Buddhism in more than
RGG4.” Numen 50 (2003): 464–474.
eighty-five books of commentary, poetry, and meditation,
Kircher, Andreas B. Mathesis und poiesis: Enzyklopädik der Litera-
through mindfulness retreats at Plum Village in southern
tur 1600 bis 2000. Munich, 2003.
France, and in public gatherings throughout the world
Lough, John. The Encyclopédie. New York, 1971.
(King, 1996; Hunt-Perry and Fine, 2000).
Steinberg, Sigfrid H. “Encyclopedias.” Signature, n.s., no. 12
Since the 1960s Buddhist movements for nonviolent so-
(1951): 3–22. Brief, yet clear overview.
cial change and human rights have proliferated in Asia and
Sullivan, Lawrence E. “Circumscribing Knowledge: Encyclope-
the West. In addition to the Vietnam peace movement, these
dias in Historical Perspective.” Journal of Religion 70 (1990):
include the Buddhist conversion and anticaste movement
315–339.
launched in 1956 by B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) 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
2786
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
the dalit (“oppressed” or ex-untouchable) peoples of India;
and organizes international pressure on the Chinese govern-
the Sarvodaya Shramadana (Universal Awakening through
ment to respect the human rights and cultural traditions of
Cooperative Work) village development and peace move-
the Tibetan people, whom it has subjugated since 1959. Two
ment of Sri Lanka, founded in 1958 by A. T. Ariyaratne; the
engaged Buddhists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for
struggle of the Tibetan people, both inside Tibet and in exile,
Peace, Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet
led by the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, to reclaim
(1989), and Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader in
the lands and culture devastated since the Chinese takeover
Myanmar (1991), and three others, Thich Nhat Hanh of
of the country in 1959; the Pan-Asian movement to restore
Vietnam, Maha Ghosananda of Cambodia, and Sulak Si-
the Buddhist order of ordained women, or bhikkhun¯ı
varaksa of Thailand, have been nominated for the prize.
sam:gha, in countries in which such ordination is opposed by
ORIGINS OF ENGAGED BUDDHISM. The canonical and extra-
male hierarchies; the three Nichiren-inspired “new religions”
canonical writings of Buddhist Asia, while focusing on mo-
that took root in Japan after World War II and that have
nastic order, personal morality, spiritual practice, and philo-
gained international followers for their peace and cultural re-
sophical analysis, also include teachings on service to others
newal campaigns—So¯ka Gakkai International (12 million
and social policies that promote general welfare. The Pali
members in 187 countries and territories), Rissho¯ Ko¯seikai
Ja¯taka and Sanskrit Ja¯takama¯la¯, for example, illustrate the
(6 million members worldwide), and Nipponzan Myo¯ho¯ji
virtues of generosity and compassion through fables in which
(1,500 ordained and lay members worldwide); the Tzu-Chi
the future Buddha, born as a deer, a monkey, a parrot, or
Foundation (Fuojiao Tzu-chi Gongde Hui or Buddhist
an elephant, risks or sacrifices his life to save others from
Compassionate-Relief Merit Society) founded in Taiwan in
harm. Didactic texts setting forth social ethics for laypersons
the 1960s by the nun Cheng-yen to defray medical expenses
include the Cakkavattisihanada-sutta and the Kutadanta-
of the poor by collecting the equivalent of 25 cents per
sutta of the D¯ıgha-nika¯ya, which argue that crimes of proper-
month from lay followers, which now claims 5 million mem-
ty and violence are often related to poverty, and that govern-
bers in 28 countries, runs 2 modern 900-bed hospitals, a uni-
ment (i.e., the righteous king) should intervene to provide
versity, a high school, and a TV channel in Taiwan, and di-
farmers with grain, merchants with investment capital, and
rects $600 million in donations to medical relief projects in
workers with fair wages in order to promote harmonious so-
more than 30 countries around the world; in South Korea,
ciety. Indeed, instructions to the ideal monarch (Pali, cak-
the Buddhist Coalition for Economic Justice, the Jung To
kavatti or dhammara¯ja), such as the Dhammapada¯t:t:hakatha¯
Society (environmental activism), Buddhist Solidarity for
(Buddha’s advice to rulers), the “Ten Duties of the King”
Reform (representing 40 civil organizations), and the Indra
(dasa-ra¯jadhamma, contained in the Ja¯taka), and later
Net Life Community (representing 23 temples and Buddhist
Maha¯ya¯na texts such as the Indian philosopher Na¯ga¯rjuna’s
nongovernmental organizations); and the Thailand-based
Jewel Garland of Royal Counsels (second century CE) and Jap-
International Network of Engaged Buddhists, founded in
anese Prince Sho¯tuku’s Fourteen Article Constitution (sixth to
1989 by the Thai Buddhist writer and reformer Sulak Si-
seventh century CE), find early expression in the rock-hewn
varaksa to provide a forum for the bourgeoning organizations
edicts of the Buddhist king, A´soka Maurya (reigned in
and movements that share a socially engaged Buddhist per-
northern India c. 270 to 230 BCE), promoting universal tol-
spective. (For surveys of engaged Buddhist movements in
erance and social welfare and suggesting the pervasiveness of
Asia, see Queen and King, 1996; and Queen, Prebish, and
Buddhist ideal conceptions of a just and humane society
Keown, 2003.)
(Harvey, 2000). The sam:gha (monastic order) founded by
Siddha¯rtha Gautama, the historical Buddha, in the sixth to
In North America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa,
fifth century BCE, would appear to embody certain progres-
Buddhist organizations dedicated to social activism and ser-
sive values and social options associated with modernity in
vice have also appeared with growing frequency. The Cali-
the West: equality of access to men and women of all classes
fornia-based Buddhist Peace Fellowship, founded in 1977 by
and castes, a meritocracy based on personal attainment rather
the Zen teacher Robert Aitken, coordinates programs for
than birth or wealth, and a program of self-cultivation and
community development, prison reform, and international
community development based on rational analysis and
relief through chapters in the United States and its quarterly
practical training rather than esoteric knowledge and ritual.
Turning Wheel: The Journal of Socially Engaged Buddhism.
Furthermore, the career of the bodhisattva or Buddhist savior
Peacemaker Circle International, headquartered in Massa-
that marked the rise of Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism in the centuries
chusetts and founded in 1996 by Bernie Glassman, a former
following A´soka is based on a vow to save all sentient beings
aeronautical engineer and lineage holder in the Japanese So¯to¯
from suffering and calamity.
Zen tradition, sponsors “bearing witness retreats” in centers
of suffering and violence, such as the streets of lower Man-
Yet it would be wrong to conclude that the social goals
hattan, the death-camp sites at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Po-
of engaged Buddhists in the early twenty-first century
land, and Jewish and Palestinian communities in the Middle
evolved directly from Buddhist teachings in the past. As the
East. The International Campaign for Tibet, based in New
historian Bardwell Smith has observed,
York and Washington, D.C., coordinates public support for
The primary goal of [traditional] Buddhism is not a sta-
the refugee and exile communities of the Tibetan diaspora
ble order or a just society but the discovery of genuine
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
2787
freedom (or awakening) by each person. It has never
Buddhist movements of the twentieth century “direct their
been asserted that the conditions of society are unim-
energies toward social conditions over which the state has
portant or unrelated to this more important goal, but
legal authority, if not control; but their objective is to influ-
it is critical to stress the distinction between what is pri-
ence the exercise of temporal power, not to wield it” (Queen,
mary and what is not. . . . Even the vocation of the
1996, p. 19). As Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand’s leading Bud-
bodhisattva is not as social reformer but as the catalyst
dhist intellectual and founder of the International Network
to personal transformation within society. (Smith,
1972, p. 106)
of Engaged Buddhists, has written: “Buddhism, as practiced
in most Asian countries today, serves mainly to legitimize
Since the time of the Buddha and A´soka, many of the social
dictatorial regimes and multinational corporations. If we
and political ideals inscribed in the early literature and mon-
Buddhists want to redirect our energies towards enlighten-
uments of Buddhism have faded. Buddhist kings, such as the
ment and universal love, we should begin by spelling Bud-
second-century BCE Sinhalese Dut:t:haga¯min:¯ı, have been as
dhism with a small ‘b’”—in contrast to the “capital-B Bud-
prone to wage holy war against the infidel, as were their non-
dhism” that shares influence and favors with the power elite
Buddhist neighbors, while “Chinese and Japanese military
(Sivaraksa, 1993, p. 68).
forces have used Buddhist symbols, banners, mudra¯s, and
mantras to empower their actions and intimidate opponents”
Engaged Buddhism in Asia is thus an emerging grass-
(Harvey, 2000, p. 263). In medieval Japan, the largest
roots movement that may be traced across national and sec-
monasteries supported standing armies as fearsome as those
tarian boundaries—not a series of reforms instituted by local
of the emperor, and as late as the twentieth century “imperi-
governments or religious hierarchies. Even when Buddhist
al-way Buddhism” (ko¯do¯ Bukkyo¯), embraced by all schools,
movements and leaders have ties to temporal power, such as
supported the nation’s major wars: from those against China
the Dalai Lama’s dual role as spiritual and temporal head of
(1894–1895) and Russia (1904–1905) to World War II,
Tibet, the So¯ka Gakkai’s affiliation with the Ko¯meito¯ politi-
when Zen temples sponsored meditation training camps for
cal party in Japan, and the “friendly relations” (jie-yuan) be-
the armed forces, raised money to purchase new aircraft, and
tween the Taiwanese government and the Tzu Chi Compas-
recruited and trained school boys for kamikaze missions for
sionate Relief Foundation and the Foguang Shan sect of Pure
“love of Emperor and in service to Buddha” (Victoria, 1997,
Land Buddhism, each of these movements is both indepen-
pp. 128–129).
dent of state power (it is worth recalling that the Dalai Lama
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw a general
is the exiled leader of Tibet) and increasingly globalized in
decline of Buddhist institutions throughout Asia. As Ian
its relations with Tibetan, Japanese, and Taiwanese ethnic
Harris has observed: “It is difficult to point to any part of
diasporas and with their nonnative members and supporters
the contemporary Buddhist world that has not been massive-
around the world. The transnational, transsectarian or non-
ly transformed by at least one aspect of modernity, be it colo-
sectarian character of engaged Buddhism often derives from
nialism, industrialization, telecommunications, consumer-
the life experience of its leaders, charismatic personalities
ism, ultra-individualism, or totalitarianism of the left or
whose education and careers linked or blended Asian and
right. In this radically new situation Buddhists have been
Western influences. Ambedkar chose Columbia University
forced to adapt or risk the possibility of substantial decline”
in New York and the University of London for his graduate
(Harris, 2001, p. 19). In country after country—notably
training; Thich Nhat Hanh studied and lectured at Prince-
China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tibet, and Myanmar
ton and Columbia, traveled to nineteen countries in Europe
(Burma)—Buddhist leaders and institutions have been mar-
and North America in his quest for peace in Vietnam, and
ginalized or assaulted by hostile regimes or changing social
associated closely with the American religious leaders Thom-
conditions. Even in nations in which the tradition was inter-
as Merton and Martin Luther King Jr.; and the young Tai-
rupted by colonialism, revolution, civil war, and invasion—
wanese Venerable Cheng-yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foun-
such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Korea—the Bud-
dation, rejected conversion to Christianity by convincing
dhist sam:gha has not often been aligned with progressive pol-
three Catholic missionary nuns of the universal compassion
itics, human rights, or social services.
of the Buddha while at the same time acknowledging that
Buddhists must emulate Christians in serving the poor by
Against this backdrop, progressive, nonviolent Buddhist
building hospitals and schools.
activism has nevertheless appeared with growing frequency.
“There is plenty of evidence of significant Buddhist involve-
The cultural hybridity of the new Buddhism—as well
ment in anticolonial movements, particularly since the Sec-
as its activism and social service—may be traced to the inter-
ond World War. Similarly, new or revamped Buddhist orga-
action of Buddhists and Christians in the late Victorian era.
nizations with strongly nationalist, reformist, social-activist,
Representative figures include the founders of the Theosoph-
therapeutic or reactionary-fundamentalist character are
ical Society, Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Petrovna Blavat-
much in evidence throughout the 20th century,” according
sky, who publicly converted to Buddhism in Colombo in
to Harris (2001, p. 19). These spontaneous, often charismat-
1880, and their associate, the Sinhalese Buddhist activist
ic movements represent a marked departure from state-
Anaga¯rika Dharmapa¯la (Don David Hewavitarne), who,
supported Buddhist establishments of the past. Engaged
with the Japanese Zen master Shaku So¯en and the Hindu
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2788
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
swami Vivekananda, electrified crowds at the World’s Parlia-
Nhat Hanh warns: “Do not think that the knowledge you
ment of Religions in Chicago in 1893 with their evangelical
presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being
fervor for the wisdom of the East. By this time, Sir Edwin
narrow-minded and bound to present views. . . . Find ways
Arnold’s romantic verse narrative of the life of the Buddha,
to be with those who are suffering by all means, including
The Light of Asia, had become a best-seller in the English-
personal contact and visits, images, sound. By such means
speaking world. Thomas Tweed remarked on the growing
awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the
consensus among Buddhists and their admirers in the West
world” (Nhat Hanh, 1987, pp. 90–91). Glassman Roshi in-
regarding the social impact of religious faith: “With few ex-
vites his followers to follow the “Zen Peacemaker Order Te-
ceptions, Buddhist apologists stood united with American
nets” (1998): “I commit myself to not-knowing, the source
critics, travelers, and scholars in implicitly or explicitly af-
of all manifestations. . . . I commit myself to bearing wit-
firming the role of religion in stimulating effective economic,
ness fully by allowing myself to be touched by the joy and
political, and social activity. Almost all participants in Victo-
pain of the universe. I invite all hungry spirits into the man-
rian culture and contributors to the public discourse about
dala of my being and commit my energy and love to my own
Buddhism agreed: whatever else true religion was, it was op-
healing, the healing of the earth, humanity and all creations”
timistic and activistic” (Tweed, 1992, p. 155).
(Glassman, 1998, pp. 68–89). In these teachings, wisdom is
TEACHINGS OF ENGAGED BUDDHISM. Traditional teachings
associated with a radical agnosticism in a world of violently
of the Buddhist dharma often find new meaning and applica-
competing ideologies in the hope that a mindful openness
tion in the practice of engaged Buddhism. Familiar doctrines
to the experience of others will result in a deeper identifica-
such as nonviolence, interdependence, selflessness, mindful-
tion and commitment to help. Likewise, both teachings illus-
ness, and compassion are interpreted in ways that address so-
trate a special concern for suffering beings (echoing the
cial and institutional dimensions of suffering in the world.
“preferential option for the poor” of the liberation theology
Likewise, ethical guidelines such as right speech, right liveli-
of Latin American Catholicism), whereby the Buddhist vow
hood, and skillful means are understood in ways that ac-
of universal compassion is enacted in concrete programs of
knowledge structural shifts in the economic life, geopolitics,
service and activism (Queen, 2002).
and information technology of the early twenty-first century.
Buddhist environmentalism is a striking example of the
Sulak Sivaraksa interprets the traditional five precepts
adaptation of the traditional Buddhist worldview to contem-
(pancha shila) to encompass institutional and transnational
porary modes of thought, specifically the findings of modern
realities as well as interpersonal morality, for example. Non-
science. While the Buddhist teachings of the “wheel of life”
harming is conceived in a global context:
and “dependent co-origination” were not based on modern
Hunger is caused only by unequal economic and power
theories of evolutionary biology, for example, their meta-
structures that do not allow food to end up where it is
phorical expression in the ancient literature has resonated
needed, even when those in need are the food produc-
strongly for ecological activists in the early twenty-first cen-
ers. And we must look at the sales of arms and challenge
tury. Illustrating how the language of awakening and libera-
these structures, which are responsible for murder. Kill-
tion may be projected from individual to ecosystem, Joanna
ing permeates our modern way of life—wars, racial con-
Macy invokes the general systems theory of Ludwig von
flicts, breeding animals to serve human markets, and
Bertalanffy and Ervin Laszlo to make the connection:
using harmful insecticides. (Sivaraksa, 1993, p. 74)
Likewise, non-stealing is treated in terms of economic justice
Far from the nihilism and escapism that is often imput-
(“right livelihood”) and voluntary simplicity. Sexual miscon-
ed to the Buddhist path, this liberation, this awakening
puts one into the world with a livelier, more caring
duct concerns the global exploitation of women by male hi-
sense of social engagement. The sense of interconnec-
erarchies, as well as the global traffic in pornography and
tedness that can then arise, is imaged—in one of the
prostitution. Avoiding false speech entails the responsible use
most beautiful images of the Mahayana—as the jeweled
of the mass media, education, and political discourse in order
net of Indra. It is a vision of reality structured very
to rescue truth from propaganda and trivialization and to
much like the holographic view of the universe, so that
confront power elites with the effects of their policies. The
each being is at each node of the net, each jewel reflects
fifth precept, against intoxicants, offers Sivaraksa the occa-
all the others, reflecting back and catching the reflec-
sion to consider the economic addiction of Third World
tion, just as systems theory sees that the part contains
farmers to the production of heroin, coco, coffee, and tobac-
the whole. (Macy, 1990, p. 61)
co as well as the use of related products that cloud the mind,
In practical terms, engaged Buddhist monks in Thailand
for “in Buddhism, a clear mind is a precious gem” (Sivaraksa,
have faced arrest for “ordaining” trees in the rainforests to
1993, pp. 75–79).
protect them from clear-cutting by international timber car-
The twin virtues of wisdom and compassion are under-
tels (Darlington, 2003), while members of the Buddhist
stood in similar ways by the Vietnamese Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace Fellowship have participated in nonviolent civil dis-
and the American Bernie Glassman, two influential voices
obedience to prevent nuclear testing at the U.S. government
of engaged Buddhism. In his “Tiep Hien Order Precepts,”
test site in Nevada (Kaza, 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
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
2789
Perhaps the most significant shift, or enlargement, of
manism, Roman and Anglo-Saxon law, the scientific and so-
meaning in the practice of engaged Buddhism involves the
cial Enlightenment of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
central doctrine of suffering (Pali, dukkha). The Buddha is
Europe, and the pragmatism and progressivism of nine-
credited with saying, “In the past, bhikkhus, as well as now,
teenth- and twentieth-century America. In this regard, Am-
I teach only dukkha and the utter quenching of dukkha” (Al-
bedkar stands as an exemplar of the synthesis of the ancient
agaddupama-sutta, Majjhima-nika¯ya [M.i.140], cited in San-
and modern, intellectual and activist, and personal and insti-
tikaro Bhikkhu, 1996, p. 156). As elaborated in the four
tutional dimensions of engaged Buddhism. As one of the first
noble truths, suffering is universal, it is rooted in psychologi-
untouchables to attend college in India, Ambedkar emulated
cal craving born of ignorance, it is “quenchable” in the peace
the ecumenical tolerance of the Muslim-Hindu poet-saint
of nirva¯n:a (freedom from craving and other mental defile-
Kab¯ır (c. 1440–1580), the anticaste activism of the Ma-
ments), and it is subject to the benefits of the eightfold path:
harashtrian educator Mahatma Phule (1827–1890), and the
efficacious view, aspiration, action, speech, livelihood, exer-
social and spiritual reformism he found in the life and teach-
tion, mindfulness, and concentration. Yet the logic underly-
ings of the Buddha. As a graduate student at Columbia Uni-
ing this and other early teachings is that dukkha is both the
versity in New York from 1913 to 1916, Ambedkar absorbed
experience and the responsibility of the sufferer. There can
the pragmatic philosophy of his mentor John Dewey (1859–
be no victims; every sufferer is held accountable for his or
1952) as well as the Social Gospel of Protestant theologians
her own misery. Here the cure depends on the effort of the
like Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918), who wrote that re-
sufferer to tread the eightfold path or, in the case of the Pure
ligion is “not a matter of saving human atoms, but of saving
Land tradition popular in central and East Asia, to entreat
the social organism. It is not a matter of getting individuals
Amita¯bha Buddha to intervene on one’s behalf. In the case
to heaven, but of transforming life on earth into the harmony
of the Maha¯ya¯na bodhisattva who vows to save all sentient
of heaven” (Rauschenbusch, 1964/1909, p. 65). And, as an
beings, the mechanism remains a change of heart and behav-
activist for untouchable rights in the decades leading up to
ior on the part of each being, never a group dispensation for
Indian independence and as law minister and chairman of
all who are fortunate enough to hear the dharma and enact
the constitution drafting committee in Jawaharlal Nehru’s
its injunctions or to receive the mercy of a buddha or bodhi-
first government, Ambedkar added to his emerging world-
sattva.
view the slogans of Western progressivism, “Liberty, Equali-
ty, Fraternity” and “Educate, Agitate, Organize,” and the
The hallmark of engaged Buddhism, on the other hand,
theories of law and government he encountered at the Uni-
is its collectivist application of the teaching of interdepen-
versity of London and Gray’s Inn. All of these influences
dence (Pali, pat:iccasamuppa¯da) to the experience of suffering
were woven seamlessly into the traditional rendering of the
in the world. For if it is possible to suffer as a result of social
Buddha’s life and teachings in Ambedkar’s final work,
conditions or natural circumstances that transcend one’s psy-
The Buddha and His Dhamma (1957)—a manifesto of en-
chological (or karmic) states of being—such as poverty, in-
gaged Buddhism that remains the bible for tens of millions
justice, tyranny, or natural disaster—then dukkha must be
of Ambedkar’s Buddhists followers in the early twenty-first
addressed in a collective way to remove these conditions for
century.
all members of the affected group. Thus in Sivaraksa’s inter-
pretation of the five precepts is an abiding concern with all
CONCLUSION. When Ambedkar was asked by reporters what
who are hungry and injured by wars, racial conflicts, envi-
kind of Buddhism he would embrace at the mass Buddhist
ronmental pollution, and economic conditions that favor the
conversion in 1956, he replied: “Our Buddhism will follow
farming, manufacture, and marketing of deadly drugs. For
the tenets of the faith preached by Lord Buddha himself,
Ambedkar and the 380,000 dalits who embraced Buddhism
without stirring up the old divisions of H¯ınaya¯na and
on October 14, 1956, the ceremony offered hope to millions
Maha¯ya¯na. Our Buddhism will be a Neo-Buddhism—a
oppressed by the Hindu caste system, while the college stu-
Navayana” (paraphrased from Keer, 1971, p. 498). Many
dents, monks, and villagers who dig wells and build schools
teachings and practices of engaged Buddhism transcend the
in more than 11,000 villages in Sri Lanka believe they em-
ancient yanas or sectarian “vehicles”—the H¯ınaya¯na or “elite
body the name of their sponsoring organization, Sarvodaya
vehicle,” the Maha¯ya¯na or “universal vehicle,” and the
Shramadana (Universal Awakening through Cooperative
Vajraya¯na or “diamond vehicle”—by drawing teachings and
Work).
practices from them all and by adapting these in keeping
with modern notions of suffering, human rights, social re-
This evolution of Buddhist ethics from one of individu-
form, and environmental sustainability. Accordingly, some
al discipline, virtue, and altruism to one of collective suffer-
observers have proposed that Ambedkar’s Navayana (“new
ing, struggle, and liberation illustrates the cultural interac-
vehicle”), prefiguring the beliefs and practices of engaged
tion and mutual sharing with religious and political ideas of
Buddhism as a global movement today, represents the emer-
the West, such as the notions of covenant community, social
gence of a “fourth yana” in the history of Buddhism; others
justice, and prophetic witness of the biblical Hebrews and
argue that the patterns of thought and action of the “en-
Christians, and the secular conceptions of human rights, ju-
gaged” Buddhists fall comfortably within the purview of tra-
dicial due process, and democracy associated with Greek hu-
ditional Buddhism (Queen, 2000, pp. 22–26). Whichever
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2790
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
interpretation meets the tests of history, the sharp rise of
Ling, Trevor. Buddhism, Imperialism, and War: Burma and Thai-
Buddhist social engagement and activism in the twentieth
land in Modern History. London, 1979.
century and the pervasiveness of its influence on Buddhist
Macy, Joanna. “The Greening of the Self.” In Dharma Gaia: A
institutions and ideology is not in dispute.
Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology, edited by Allan
Hunt Badiner. Berkeley, Calif., 1990.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Macy, Joanna. Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems
Aitken, Robert. The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics.
Theory: The Dharma of Natural Systems. Albany, N.Y., 1991.
San Francisco, 1984. Essays by a founder of the Buddhist
Offers a full exposition of a systems theory of Buddhist
Peace Fellowship.
ethics.
Ambedkar, B. R. The Buddha and His Dhamma. 3d ed. Bombay,
Nhat Hanh, Thich. Being Peace. Berkeley, Calif., 1987. See pages
2001. Has achieved canonical status for ex-untouchable
90–91. The most influential collection of teachings by the
Buddhist converts in India.
Vietnamese Zen teacher and activist.
Chappell, David, ed. Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of
Queen, Christopher S. “Introduction: The Shapes and Sources of
Peace. Boston, 2000. Brief essays by engaged Buddhist think-
Engaged Buddhism.” In Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Libera-
ers and movement leaders in Asia and the West.
tion Movements in Asia, edited by Christopher S. Queen and
Dalai Lama. Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings by and
Sallie B. King, p. 19. Albany, 1996.
about the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, N.Y., 1990. The Nobel Peace
Queen, Christopher S. “The Peace Wheel: Nonviolent Activism
laureate reflects with others on Buddhism and history.
in the Buddhist Tradition.” In Subverting Hatred: The Chal-
Darlington, Susan M. “Buddhism and Development: The Ecolo-
lenge of Nonviolence in Religious Traditions, edited by Daniel
gy Monks of Thailand.” In Action Dharma: New Studies in
L. Smith-Christopher, pp. 25–48. Cambridge, Mass., 1998.
Engaged Buddhism, edited by Christopher S. Queen, Charles
Queen, Christopher S. “Engaged Buddhism: Agnosticism, Inter-
Prebish, and Damien Keown, pp. 96–109. London, 2003.
dependence, Globalization.” In Westward Dharma: Bud-
Eppsteiner, Fred, ed. The Path of Compassion: Writings on Socially
dhism beyond Asia, edited by Charles S. Prebish and Martin
Engaged Buddhism. 2d ed. Berkeley, Calif., 1988. A widely
Baumann, pp. 324–347. Berkeley, Calif., 2002.
influential collection featuring the most prominent actors
and commentators in the late 1980s.
Queen, Christopher S., ed. Engaged Buddhism in the West. Boston,
2000. Comprehensive treatment of eighteen movements in
Glassman, Bernard. Bearing Witness: A Zen Master’s Lessons in
North America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.
Making Peace. New York, 1998. Sequel to Instructions to the
Cook (1996), detailing a Zen Roshi’s innovative experiments
Queen, Christopher S., and Sallie B. King, eds. Engaged Bud-
in social engagement.
dhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. Albany, N.Y.,
1996. The first scholarly treatment of engaged Buddhism,
Gross, Rita. Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analy-
surveying nine movements.
sis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism. Albany, N.Y., 1993. His-
torical analysis and manifesto by an activist-scholar; a touch-
Queen, Christopher S., Charles Prebish, and Damien Keown, eds.
stone of Buddhist feminism.
Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. London,
Harris, Ian, ed. Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth-Century Asia.
2003. Historical, ethnographic, and methodological essays
London, 2001.
from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics online conference.
Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations,
Rauschenbusch, Walter. Christianity and the Social Crisis (1909).
Values, and Issues. London, 2000. A useful survey of the clas-
New York, 1964.
sical foundations of engaged Buddhism.
Rothberg, Donald. “Resources on Socially Engaged Buddhism.”
Hunt-Perry, Patricia, and Lyn Fine. “All Buddhism Is Engaged:
Turning Wheel: The Journal of Socially Engaged Buddhism
Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing.” In Engaged
(Spring 2004): 30–37. A comprehensive bibliography of
Buddhism in the West, edited by Christopher S. Queen,
books, articles, and online references.
pp. 35–65. Boston, 2000.
Santikaro Bikkhu. “Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: Life and Society
Kaza, Stephanie. “To Save All Beings: Buddhist Environmental
through the Natural Eyes of Voidness.” In Engaged Bud-
Activism.” In Engaged Buddhism in the West, edited by Chris-
dhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, edited by
topher Queen, pp. 159–217. Boston, 2000.
Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King. Albany, N.Y.,
Keer, Dhananjay. Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission. 3d ed. Bom-
1996.
bay, 1971.
Sivaraksa, Sulak. Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing
King, Sallie B. “Thich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist
Society. Berkeley, Calif., 1993. Selected essays by the Thai
Church: Nondualism in Action.” In Engaged Buddhism:
Budhhist activist.
Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, edited by Christo-
Smith, Bardwell L. “Sinhalese Buddhism and the Dilemmas of
pher S. Queen and Sallie B. King, pp. 321–363. Albany,
Reinterpretation.” In The Two Wheels of Dhamma: Essays on
N.Y., 1996.
the Theravada Tradition in India and Ceylon, edited by Bar-
Kraft, Kenneth, ed. Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism
dwell L. Smith, Frank Reynolds, and Gananath Ob-
and Nonviolence. Albany, N.Y., 1992. Critical essays by
eyesekere. Chambersberg, Pa., 1972.
scholars and practitioners of engaged Buddhism.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and Duncan Williams, eds. Buddhism and
Leyland, Winston, ed. Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists. 2
Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds. Cam-
vols. San Francisco, 1998. Pathbreaking essays on Bud-
bridge, Mass., 1998. Scholarly papers on Buddhist environ-
dhism, gender, and sexual preference.
mentalism presented at a Harvard University conference.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENKI
2791
Tweed, Thomas A. The American Encounter with Buddhism:
tion and the surrounding environment. Enki decides to cross
1844–1912, Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent.
the sea in his boat and visit every country, but he especially
Bloomington, Ind., 1992.
wants to go to Sumer. After he has performed the rituals of
Victoria, Brian. Zen at War. New York, 1997. Pathbreaking work
purification, the god sails. In Sumer, Ur, Meluææa, Dilmun,
on Budhhism and violence.
and Martu, the land of nomads, he bestows his blessing and
Yarnell, Thomas Freeman. “Engaged Buddhism: New and Im-
praises the progress already made. Enki addresses the natural
proved? Made in the USA of Asian Materials.” In Action
environment and reforms human activities by putting a par-
Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism, edited by Chris-
ticular divinity in charge of each activity to oversee it and
topher S. Queen, Charles Prebish, and Damien Keown, eds.,
guarantee its future well-being. There follows a list of the
pp. 286–344. London, 2003.
spheres of activity and the divinities appointed.
CHRISTOPHER S. QUEEN (2005)
Merely listing the activities mentioned in the myth is
enough to understand and appreciate the work of the god
of wisdom. But any change, by its very nature, produces
ENKI. Despite the name “lord of the earth,” Enki is the
some discontent, especially among those convinced that
god of the Abyss and is known as the “king of the Abyss.”
things were better as they were. This is the case with Inanna,
He is the poliad god of Eridu and the guardian god of
who is displaced from her established functions. She is im-
Eengurra, which is built in the Abyss. Along with An and
mediately critical of Enki’s work and tries to ensure greater
Enlil, he is part of the most powerful triad in the Sumerian
importance for the female goddesses of childbirth. Except for
pantheon and a permanent member of the assembly of the
Nanshe, these goddesses were completely forgotten by Enki,
gods. He is third, after An and Enlil, and creates and orga-
and in a way Inanna completes Enki’s task. Inanna continues
nizes the world. Well-liked by Enlil, and An’s favorite, he is
her speech, however, stressing that her name has been totally
the son of the king of heaven and earth and is Enlil’s younger
ignored in the list given by Enki, and she asks him for a spe-
brother as well as the lord of plenty of the Anunna, their
cific role. Enki answers her, listing all her spheres of activity
elder brother, and their leader. In the myth of Enki and Nin-
and thus denying her a specific role in the new world order
hursaga, Ninsikil is his wife, while later it is Ninhursaga or
he has devised.
Nintu. In the myth The Assault of the Demons on the Moon
The events preceding the Flood are described next,
Enki’s close connection with magic and his incantations
starting from the observation that the human race in primor-
against the demons are emphasized.
dial times was not doing well. This explains the need to
SUMERIAN MYTH MAKING. The prologue of the Debate be-
create the Sumerians and allow them to raise livestock and
tween Bird and Fish provides a different cosmogony from
then to bestow the gifts of kingship and agriculture. When
that given in many other texts. Although the three most pow-
the text resumes after a lacuna, some of the gods seem per-
erful gods of the Sumerian pantheon are present, their re-
plexed by the decision. Enki broods over it and definitely
spective roles are clearly defined. An and Enlil are the cre-
does not agree. Devising a plan, he gives King Ziusudra ad-
ators of the universe, but Enki, the god of wisdom, is its real
vance warning of the Flood. The passage concerning the con-
organizing power.
struction of the ship has been lost. When the text resumes,
Enki begins by creating the Tigris and the Euphrates,
there is a description of the storm, which lasts for seven days
filling them with water, and providing irrigation channels.
and seven nights. At the end of the Flood, Ziusudra disem-
He then establishes the raising of livestock and a sedentary
barks from the ship and offers a sacrifice to the gods. The
way of life with the foundation of cities, providing a king as
final part of the story describes the decision of the gods to
ruler of the black-headed people. Finally, he organizes the
grant immortality to Ziusudra and his wife because they were
marshy area, creating flora and fauna, which will be a bless-
the means by which the human race was saved.
ing to humanity and the gods themselves. The text ends with
AKKADIAN DEVELOPMENTS. An Akkadian incantation text
the allocation of different tasks to the new creatures.
is directly linked to the ritual of water purification and is di-
The myth Enki and the World Order describes the sys-
rected at the river, whose waters must carry away every ill
tematic organization of earthly life as the work of Enki. A
that afflicts humankind. The river bears the epithet “creator
thorough reading of the text makes it clear that Enki’s ac-
of everything” but is itself the work of the gods. In fact it
tions have been requested by the god Enlil and that the god
is the work of the “major gods,” who set all good things on
of wisdom has done everything to satisfy Enlil and his city
its banks when they dug it out. Ea and Marduk bestowed its
Nippur. The text opens with the scribe’s description of the
purifying qualities, together with “fire and rage, horror and
god, in which the god is praised in terms of his relations with
terror” (Kramer, 1989, pp. 516–517). Because of its sacred
the other gods, with the earth, and with the human race, and
nature, and because it runs through the innermost parts of
as the provider of prosperity. A description immediately fol-
sanctuaries, the river alone has the power of judgment over
lows, set forth by Enki himself, praising the god’s knowledge,
people, a privilege most often exercised in the form of trial
which is fully appreciated in the divine world, and a second
by ordeal. After a request for quiet, it is exhorted to free hu-
eulogy describes in a nutshell the role of the god in civiliza-
mankind from sins and evil.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2792
ENLIGHTENMENT
In another text the act of creation is attributed to two
The direct link between the god Enki and water is clear
gods, Anu and Ea, with Enlil apparently not present, al-
in several myths. His emblem, as befits a god of water, is a
though he must appear in the second part of the document,
fish, the mullet. But the so-called myth of Dilmun should
which is now lost. Anu is only mentioned as the creator of
not be ignored.
the heavens and has no involvement in subsequent creative
acts, leaving this to Ea alone. The title preferred by scholars,
SEE ALSO Mesopotamian Religions, overview article; Nin-
therefore, is “Ea the Creator.” Ea, the main player, after cre-
hursaga; Tricksters, overview article; Water.
ating Apsu, his home, uses a handful of clay to create Kulla
(the architect god), building materials (reeds and wood), and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
divinities connected with the construction of sacred build-
Albright, William F. “Ea-Mummu and Anu-Adapa in the Panegy-
ings. After making arrangements for the construction and
ric of Cyrus.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 26 (1926):
285–295.
adornment of these buildings, Ea takes care to ensure that
the gods will be provided for through the production and
Buccellati, Giorgio. “Adapa, Genesis, and the Notion of Faith.”
collection of regular offerings. He thus assigns cult functions
Ugarit-Forschungen 5 (1973): 61–66.
to a priestly class and entrusts the king with the provision
Cavigneaux, Antoine, and Farouk Al-Rawi. “New Sumerian Liter-
of supplies. After establishing the divine organizational struc-
ary Texts from Tell Haddad (Ancient Meturan): A First Sur-
ture (building of temples, supplies for the gods, allocation
vey.” Iraq 55 (1993): 91–105.
of ritual and administrative responsibilities) the god finally
Civil, Miguel. “The Sumerian Flood Story.” In Atra-Has¯ıs: The
proceeds with the creation of humankind, whose task is to
Babylonian Story of the Flood, edited by W. G. Lambert and
carry out the work of the gods. The stress of the entire cre-
A. R. Millard, with the Sumerian Flood story by Miguel
Civil. Oxford, U.K., 1969.
ative work is quite unique, even understanding that the
theme of the passage concerning the gods and their temples,
Dhorme, Édouard. Les Religions de Babylonie et d’Assyrie. Paris,
with all that it implies, was of primary importance in Babylo-
1949.
nian religion. Hence the god of wisdom Enki carries out his
Edzard, D. O. “Mesopotamien: Die Mythologie der Sumerer und
creative work in an unusual order.
der Akkader.” In Wörterbuch der Mythologie. Vol. 1: Götter
und Mythen im Vorderen Orient, edited by Hans Wilhelm
Various myths illustrate Enki/Ea in the role of benefac-
Haussig, pp. 56–57. Stuttgart, Germany, 1965.
tor, including the Flood narratives mentioned above and
Galter, Hannes D. Der Gott Ea/Enki in der Akkadischen Überlie-
those concerning the journeys to the underworld by Inanna/
ferung. Graz, Austria, 1983.
Ishtar and Nergal. One text, however, seems at odds with the
Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis: The Story of Creation.
familiar theme of the kindness of Enki/Ea, and it tells how
Chicago. 1963.
the god gave deceitful advice to his servant Adapa. The
Komoróczy, Geza. “Zur Deutung der altbabylonischen Epen
manuscripts that reconstruct the story of wise Adapa and
Adapa und Etana.” In Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte der alten
how he opposed the South Wind belong to two periods of
Welt, vol. 1, edited by Hans Joachim Diesner and Elisabeth
Mesopotamian civilization, the El Armana period (fifteenth
Charlotte Welskopf. Berlin, 1964.
century BCE and the neo-Assyrian period (seventh century
Kramer, Samuel Noah, and John Maier, eds. Myths of Enki, the
BCE).
Crafty God. New York, 1989.
The story of Adapa is told in a Sumerian manuscript
Kristensen, W.B. “De goddelijke bedrieger” (1928). In Verzam-
found at an Iraqi excavation at Meturan (Tell Haddad) in
elde bijdragen tot kennis der antieke godsdiensten,
1993. The text describes Adapa’s normal everyday occupa-
pp. 105-124. Amsterdam, 1947.
tion as a pious, devout fisherman, his conflict with the South
Pettinato, Giovanni, ed. Mitologia Sumerica. Turin, 2001.
Wind, the summons by Anu to account for what he has
Picchioni, Sergio A. Il poemetto di Adapa. Budapest, 1981.
done, and the advice of Ea not to accept any gifts from Anu
GIOVANNI PETTINATO (2005)
but to curry favor with the two doorkeepers, Dumuzi and
Translated from Italian by Paul Ellis
Ningizzida, at the gates of the pantheon. Finally, the ending
leaves a sour taste when Anu does not intend to punish
Adapa but rather to give him divine status. Adapa’s refusal
(as suggested by Ea) to accept the offer of divinity robs the
ENLIGHTENMENT. In the context of Asian reli-
wise man of a brighter future. At the end of the story Ea be-
gious traditions, especially of Buddhism, what is often trans-
stows a new destiny upon his favorite. Some scholars,
lated as enlightenment typically refers to that existentially
brought out the supposition that the nature of Enki was am-
transformative experience in which one reaches complete
biguous and supposed the figure of Enki as a trickster (Kris-
and thorough understanding of the nature of reality and
tensen, 1947). Scholars have examined the problem of this
gains control over those psychic proclivities that determine
myth and the difficulty of its interpretation, but the majority
the apparent structures and dynamics of the world. As is con-
of them, despite extensive analysis from numerous angles,
sistent with a general South and East Asian notion that final
have not reached a satisfactory solution.
truth is apprehended through extraordinary “sight” (hence,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENLIGHTENMENT
2793
religious “insight” or “vision”), enlightenment is often de-
And what, from a Buddhist perspective, would people
picted as an experience in which one is said to “see” things
“see” when they have so deconditioned their response to, and
as they really are, rather than as they merely appear to be.
analysis of, the world? Sanskrit and Pali accounts of
To have gained enlightenment is to have seen through the
Siddha¯rtha Gautama’s enlightenment at the age of thirty-five
misleading textures of illusion and ignorance, through the
as he sat under a tree near what is now the north Indian town
dark veils of habitual comprehension, to the light and clarity
of Bodh Gaya¯ through the night of the full moon in the
of truth itself.
spring of ca. 538 BCE might well serve to summarize the ele-
ments early South Asian Buddhist understanding of the pro-
The English word enlightenment usually translates the
cess and nature of enlightenment.
Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit term bodhi, meaning in a general
sense “wise, intelligent, fully aware.” Thus, bodhi signifies a
First, people would have to confront and defeat, as Gau-
certain “brightness” (again, a visual theme) to one’s con-
tama is reported to have done, all of the various temptations,
sciousness. The term bodhi is built on the same verbal root—
selfish desires, and fears (sexual lust, faint-heartedness, physi-
cal weakness, passion, laziness, cowardice, doubt, hypocrisy,
Sanskrit budh (“awaken, become conscious”)—as that from
pride, and self-aggrandizement) that usually define and de-
which derives the adjective buddha (“awakened one”). Thus,
limit their sense of identity, an exceedingly difficult task rep-
an enlightened being, a buddha, is one who has dispelled all
resented in Buddhist myth and iconography as Gautama’s
of the personal and cosmic effects of ignorance and has be-
struggle in the late afternoon with the demonic and tempting
come fully awake to reality as it truly is. From the word bodhi
Ma¯ra, the evil one.
come also the terms sambodhi and sambodha, the “highest”
or “most complete enlightenment.”
Second—still following hagiographical accounts and
traditional teachings as the paradigm—they would enter into
The word enlightenment also, yet less often, translates
four levels of meditative absorption (Sanskrit, dhya¯na; Pali,
other Sanskrit and Sanskrit-related terms from a variety of
jha¯na. Technical terms will hereafter be given first in the
religious traditions other than Buddhism. The Jain notion
Sanskrit, with Pali and other terms following when appropri-
of kevalajña¯na (omniscience, knowledge unhindered by the
ate.) At the first level they would detach their attention from
karmic residues of former modes of understanding the
the objects of the senses and look inward into their own
world) describes in part the quality of an arhat, a person wor-
minds. Their thoughts would be discursive in nature, and
thy of highest respect. The paradigmatic arhats in the Jain
they would feel relaxed but energetic. Entering the second
context are the twenty-four t¯ırthan˙karas, those “ford-
level, their thoughts would no longer be discursive, but they
crossers” (the most recent being Vardhama¯na Maha¯v¯ıra in
would still feel great energy, comfort, and trust. At the third
the sixth century BCE) whose experiences of such enlighten-
level the feeling of zest would give way to a sense of dispas-
ment stand at the center of Jain religious history. Similarly,
sionate bliss, and at the fourth level they would feel free of
yogic Hindu traditions teach of the experience of sama¯dhi
all opposites such as pleasure and pain, euphoria and anxiety.
(“absolute equanimity”) and of kaivalya (“the supreme au-
This fourth level of meditation would be characterized by
tonomous state of being free of ignorance”), both of which
pure and absolute awareness and complete calmness.
lead the yogin to the experience of moks:a, the release from
Gautama is said to have mastered all four of these stages
the hitherto ceaseless and painful cycle of transmigration.
of meditative concentration and could move from one to the
But it is to Buddhist traditions that the experience of
other with ease. This was to be of central importance to his
enlightenment is most pertinent. Although Buddhist lessons
subsequent series of insights gained through the night, for
regarding enlightenment (bodhi and its correlatives, Chinese
through them he perceived what are known as the six types
pudi, wu, or jue, Tibetan byan˙ chub, and Japanese satori) vary
of extraordinary knowledge (abhijña¯; abhiñña¯): magical
somewhat, Buddhism in general has stressed the key signifi-
physical powers, the ability to hear voices and sounds from
cance of that experience in which one fully and compassion-
all parts of the universe, the ability to know other people’s
ately understands the world without discoloring or disfigur-
thoughts, memory of his former lives, the ability to see all
ing it according to one’s desires, expectations, or habits. The
creatures in the world, and the extinction of all harmful psy-
Buddhist insight into the nature of pain and suffering, of fear
chological states. One would have to use these skills in order
and doubt, of the feelings of insecurity and hopelessness, is
to understand the nature of suffering in the world, for not
that these states arise in one’s ignorant mind as one selfishly
to do so would mean that one were merely a wizard or magi-
tries to have reality the way one wants it rather than to know
cian rather than a healer.
it as it is. The Buddhist way to freedom from the suffering
Third, having gained control over their entrapping
these states cause, therefore, is to remove—usually through
emotions, and having mastered the four levels of contempla-
the practice of meditation or through the development of
tion, aspirants would endeavor through meditative analysis
compassion—the conditions one places on the world, on
of their lives to comprehend how the present is determined
other people, and on oneself. Thus, Buddhist enlightenment
by the sum total of their past actions. They would see that
constitutes an experiential transforming and normative “de-
each person is responsible for his or her own personality and
conditioning” of the self and of the world.
that others cannot be blamed for one’s psychological predica-
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2794
ENLIGHTENMENT
ment. This third stage of enlightenment finds narrative rep-
sa¯vakabodhi (“enlightenment gained by one who has heard
resentation in traditional accounts of Gautama’s ability to re-
[the Buddha’s lessons]”) applies to the disciples of the Bud-
member, in order, all of his former lives (pu¯rvaniva¯sa¯nu-
dha; paccekabodhi (“enlightenment in solitude”) refers to the
smr:ti-jña¯na; pubbeneva¯sa¯nusatti-ña¯n:a) and to understand
enlightenment experienced by a person who has never actual-
how all of those lives led to the present one. Gautama is said
ly heard the Buddha’s teachings but, nevertheless, has under-
to have gained this insight during the first watch of the night.
stood in full the nature of reality. (Therava¯da tradition does
not recognize the teachings of a paccekabuddha but does not
Fourth, they would develop their ability to understand
dispute the validity of his or her experience); samma¯-
other people’s idiosyncratic psychological and existential pre-
sambodhi is the complete and absolute enlightenment known
dicaments in the same manner as they have understood
by Gotama (Gautama) and other Buddhas in other world
their’s own. That is to say, they would be able to see how
cycles.
people have become who they are how they have created
their own problems, even though they may not know it. As-
Recognizing the important link between ignorance
pirants for enlightenment would then be able to respond
(avidya¯; avijja¯) of the way things are and the craving (tr:s:n:a¯;
fully and compassionately to any given situation with other
tan˙ha¯) to have them otherwise, Therava¯da Buddhist com-
people. Buddhist hagiographies say that Gautama gained
mentarial tradition has tended to equate the experience of
such a skill during the second watch of the night, a time in
enlightenment with that of the extinction of desire
which he attained the “divine vision” (divyacaks:u; dibbacak-
(tr:s:n:a¯ks:aya; tan˙ha¯khaya), and thus not only to nirva¯n:a but
khu) to see all of the former lives of all beings in the universe.
also to the third of the four noble truths, namely, nirodha
(“cessation”). Other near-synonyms for nibba¯na appear
Finally, they would comprehend and destroy the source
throughout the earliest Pali texts: the abolition of passion
of all psychological “poison” (a¯´srava; a¯sava: “projection, be-
(ra¯gaks:aya; ra¯gakkhaya), the cessation of hatred (do´saks:aya;
fuddling outflow”) and come to realize what are known as
dosakkhaya), the extinction of illusion (mohaks:aya; mohak-
the four noble truths: (1) that conditioned existence is per-
khaya), and uncompounded or unconditioned existence
meated by suffering (duh:kha; dukkha); (2) that this suffering
(asam:skr:ta; asamkhata) all restate the general connotations of
has an origin (samuda¯ya); (3) that, because it has its cause,
the enlightenment experience.
this suffering, therefore, can come to an end (nirodha); and
(4) that the way one brings an end to all suffering is to follow
The Maha¯ya¯na tradition, too, has understood enlight-
the Buddhist way of life, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
enment to include the direct perception of things-as-they-
To tread this path, one practices: (1) the right view (dr:s:t:i;
are. According to the Maha¯ya¯na, the enlightened being sees
ditthi) of the true nature of things, (2) right thought, (3)
all beings in their “suchness” (Skt., tathata¯, yatha¯bhu¯ta; Tib.,
right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right
yan˙ dag pa ji lta ba bz´in du) or their “thatness” (tattva; Tib.,
effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration.
de kho na [n
¯ id]), this is to say, in their uncategorical integrity.
Ma¯dhyamika Buddhist tracts hold that to perceive all things
Gautama is said to have realized the four noble truths
in their suchness is to see that they are empty (´su¯nya) of any
during the third watch of the night, in the dark hours before
independent, substantial, essential, or eternal being. The
dawn. Gaining these insights, he saw that one’s ignorance of
Prajña¯pa¯ramita¯ (Perfection of Wisdom) school of the
the fact that it is the thirst (tr:s:n:a¯; tan˙ha¯) for sensual, emo-
Maha¯ya¯na holds that a person who is to understand the simi-
tional, or personal gratification that leads one to think and
lar “emptiness” (´su¯nyata¯) of the world—that nothing exists
act in certain ways, and that those thoughts and actions then
in its own nature independent of a multitude or even infinite
determine how one understands and lives one’s life. In other
number of interdependent causes and forces—must cultivate
words, it is people’s desire to have the world the way they
wisdom (prajña¯), a wisdom that is identical with awareness
want it to be rather than to know it as it is, free of their pre-
of all things (sarvajña¯ta¯) and perfect enlightenment (sambod-
conceptions and demands, that leads to suffering. The cure
hi).
for this disease, according to Buddhist tradition, is to relin-
quish one’s attachment to the world as one thinks it is, or
Virtually all schools of Buddhist thought recognize the
should be, so that one can be free to see it as it really is. One
key relationship between enlightenment and the practice of
has to blow out the flames of one’s unquenchable desires in
meditation, for it is through meditation that the mind is un-
order to know the cool waters of truth, of dharma.
derstood to become clear and focused enough to allow one’s
illuminating awareness to shine clearly. Indeed, for Do¯gen,
This “blowing out” of conditioned existence, this
a thirteenth-century Zen master from Japan, the practice of
nirva¯n:a (nibba¯na), is enlightenment. Gautama is said to have
meditation and the entry into enlightenment are one and the
attained nirva¯n:a as the sun came up, an appropriate time to
same thing, for meditation is a spiritual discipline that reveals
be “awakened” to the nature of reality. Standing up from his
one’s already enlightened mind.
place under the tree, Gautama then walked forth as the
Buddhist though varies regarding how long it may take
Buddha.
to gain enlightenment and whether if, once gained, it can be
Therava¯da Buddhism recognizes three different types of
blurred or lost. Possible answers to these question may into
people who have gained enlightenment. The term
some ways be represented by two attitudes toward enlighten-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE
2795
ment in the Zen tradition. In one, represented by the Chi-
enlightenment, see Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Enlightenment:
nese ideogram kan jing (Japanese kanjo¯), “paying attention
Origins and Meaning (New York and Tokyo, 1979).
to purity,” the mind is understood to be continually fogged
WILLIAM K. MAHONY (1987 AND 2005)
and distorted by various forces, so must be cleansed gradually
over long periods of sitting meditation. In another, described
as jianxing (Japanese kensho¯),“seeing into one’s true nature,”
there is the possibility of a sudden recognition of the awak-
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE. The eighteenth-
ened state that is one’s inherent nature that may take place
century European intellectual movement known as the En-
at any moment, no matter how long one has been sitting in
lightenment was affiliated with the rise of the bourgeoisie
formal meditation. In either case, enlightenment is directly
and the influence of modern science; it promoted the values
associated the ability to see the “is-as-it-isness” (Japanese
of intellectual and material progress, toleration, and critical
kono-mama) of the moment, free of the mind’s categories,
reason as opposed to authority and tradition in matters of
projections, habitual tendencies, desires, expectations, and
politics and religion. The eighteenth century itself is some-
demands. Indeed, according to Buddhist thought in general
times referred to as “the Enlightenment,” but this appella-
across its many schools, the unencumbered, direct percep-
tion is highly misleading. For despite the patronage of a few
tion into the true nature of things beyond all categorical
powerful individuals (Frederick the Great of Prussia, Cather-
modes of understanding, including the mind, constitutes
ine the Great of Russia, Josef II of Austria, and Pope Boni-
awakened enlightenment itself.
face XIV), the Enlightenment was always a critical and often
a subversive movement in relation to the established political
Despite the many and long discourses on the subject,
and religious order. Its values may have dominated certain
Buddhist sensibilities, particularly those associated with the
intellectual circles in the eighteenth century, especially in
various schools of the Maha¯ya¯na, holds that the experience
France, but they did not dominate the political structures or
of enlightenment is an ineffable one, for what lies beyond all
the religious life of eighteenth-century people generally; and
categories cannot itself be expressed in words. That it cannot
though many political goals of the Enlightenment were
be expressed, however, is part of its experience. The Mumon-
largely achieved in the nineteenth century, few of them were
kan, a Zen Buddhist chronicle, recounts a story purported
achieved in the eighteenth. In the eighteenth century, more-
to appear in an as yet undiscovered su¯tra that would exempli-
over, there were other powerful movements, particularly reli-
fy this point: When asked about the nature of truth, the Bud-
gious ones, that diverged from and were sometimes decidedly
dha silently held up a flower in front of his followers. No-
hostile to the Enlightenment (among them, Pietism, Jansen-
body understood his point except for the venerable Ka´syapa,
ism, and Methodism). It is also a mistake to suggest that the
who said nothing but smiled softly. Seeing his smile, the
ideas and values of the Enlightenment were limited to eigh-
Buddha knew that his disciple had understood, and declared
teenth-century thinkers, for these values have had a promi-
Ka´syapa to be enlightened.
nent place in European thought down to the present day.
SEE ALSO Buddha; Four Noble Truths; Moks:a; Sama¯dhi;
The Enlightenment has always been regarded as pre-
S´u¯nyam and S´u¯nyata¯; and Truth.
dominantly a French movement, but its influence was cer-
tainly felt elsewhere, chiefly in Germany, England, and the
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American colonies. The terms éclaircissement and Aufklärung
The most accessible Sanskrit account of Gautama Buddha’s en-
were generally used by its proponents, but the English term
lightenment is the Buddhacarita, A´svaghosa’s poem written
enlightenment does not appear to have been widely used until
in the first century CE. English translations of the sections on
the nineteenth century, when it had largely derogatory con-
the temptation by Ma¯ra and the enlightenment appear in
notations associated with the continent. In Germany too, the
The Buddhacarita, or Acts of the Buddha, translated and ed-
movement’s opponents frequently played on anti-French
ited by Edward H. Johnston (1935–1936; reprint, Delhi,
sentiments.
1972), pp. 188–217, and in Buddhist Scriptures, translated
and edited by Edward Conze (Harmondsworth, 1959),
The way was paved for the French Enlightenment by
pp. 48–53. Translations from selected Pali literatures perti-
the wide influence of Cartesian philosophy and science in the
nent to the enlightenment appear in Henry Clark Warren’s
latter half of the seventeenth century. But it also took stimu-
Buddhism in Translations (1896; reprint, New York, 1976),
lus from philosophical and scientific advances elsewhere, par-
pp. 129–159. Historical and analytical discussions of the
ticularly in England. Within France, the principal forerunner
Buddha’s enlightenment appear in Edward J. Thomas’s The
of the Enlightenment was Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), whose
Life of Buddha as Legend and History, 3d ed. (1949; reprint,
Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697) combined sharp
London, 1969), pp. 61–80: Bhikkhu Na¯n:amoli’s The Life of
wit, copious historical learning, and dialectical skill with a
the Buddha (Kandy, 1972); Richard H. Robinson and Wil-
lard L. Johnson’s The Buddhist Religion, 3d ed. (Belmont,
skeptical temper and a deep commitment to the values of in-
Calif., 1982), pp. 5–20; Hajime Nakamura’s Gautama Bud-
tellectual openness and toleration, especially in religious mat-
dha (Los Angeles and Tokyo, 1972), pp. 57–65; and Wins-
ters. In the sciences, the Enlightenment owed much to the
ton L. King’s Therava¯da Meditation (University Park, Pa.,
publicist Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757),
1980), pp. 1–17. On Zen definitions of and attitudes toward
whose long and active career brought the ideas of scientific
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2796
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE
philosophers, especially Descartes, Leibniz, and Newton,
posed to the simpler and more direct atheism of materialists
into currency in France. But the chief philosophical inspira-
such as d’Holbach.
tion for the French Enlightenment was provided by John
The first volume of Diderot’s Encyclopedia was pub-
Locke (1632–1704), whose epistemology, political theory,
lished in 1751, prefaced by the famous “Preliminary Dis-
and conception of the relation of reason to religion became
course” by the scientist Jean Le Rond d’Alembert (1717–
models for French Enlightenment thinkers.
1783). Seven volumes were published by 1759, when the
We may distinguish two generations of French Enlight-
work was suppressed by royal decree as causing “irreparable
enment thinkers, with the transition occurring around 1750.
damage to morality and religion.” In the same year, Pope
The principal representatives of the first generation were
Clement XIII threatened those who read it or possessed cop-
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, 1694–1778) and the Baron
ies of it with excommunication. Six years later, with tacit per-
de Montesquieu (Charles-Louis de Secondat, 1689–1755).
mission of the government, Diderot managed to publish the
Montesquieu’s chief writings were in social theory, political
remaining ten volumes. The Encyclopedia contained articles
theory, and history. His Persian Letters (1721) and The Spirit
by many distinguished French intellectuals: Voltaire and
of the Laws (1748) give the lie to the common charge that
Montesquieu, Rousseau and Condorcet, Quesnay and Tur-
the Enlightenment perspective on society and history was
got. Some of the articles are anonymous, perhaps written by
shallow, naive, reductionistic, and ethnocentric. Voltaire’s
Diderot himself, or taken by him from other sources. (The
massive oeuvre includes poetry, plays, and novels, as well as
article “Reason,” for instance, is a close paraphrase of Coste’s
philosophical treatises and innumerable essays on the most
translation of Locke’s Essay concerning Human Understanding
varied subjects. His interests were exceptionally broad, but
[4.18.10–11], an eloquent part of Locke’s treatment of the
perhaps his chief concern was with religion. Voltaire’s fa-
relation of reason to faith.) The Encyclopedia by no means
mous motto Écrasez l’infâme! (“Crush the infamous thing!”)
disseminated a single “party line” on moral, political, or reli-
gious questions. Many of the articles on theological subjects,
accurately portrays his hostility toward the Roman Catholic
for instance, were by Abbé Claude Yvon (1714–1791), who,
Church and toward clericalism in all forms. His writings
in his article “Atheists,” attacks Bayle’s view that atheism
contain many eloquent pleas for religious toleration and
should be tolerated and that the morals of atheists are as high
numberless irreverent satires on the narrowness, irrationality,
as those of believers. The real ideology behind the encyclope-
and superstition of traditional Christianity. Voltaire was
dia is its confidence that moral, political, and religious prog-
characteristic of Enlightenment thinkers in that he was un-
ress can be achieved in society by the simple means of “rais-
compromisingly anticlerical, but it would be wholly incor-
ing the level of debate” on these matters. It was precisely this,
rect to describe him as an atheist and inaccurate to call him
and not immoralist or antireligious propaganda, that aroused
an irreligious man. His writings bear witness to a lifelong
the fear of Louis XV and Pope Clement XIII.
struggle to achieve a rational piety that might sustain a per-
son of moral disposition in a world full of monstrous human
The most important epistemologist and psychologist of
crimes and terrible human sufferings.
the second-generation philosophes was Étienne Bonnot, abbé
de Condillac (1715–1780), whose Treatise on Systems (1749)
The younger generation of French Enlightenment
and Treatise on Sensations (1754) developed a theory of
thinkers (or philosophes) represents a considerable variety of
human knowledge grounded wholly on sense experience. It
viewpoints, some of them far more radical politically and
is probably in Condillac, in fact, together with David Hume
more antireligious than those of Voltaire and Montesquieu.
(1711–1776), that we find the true beginnings of modern
The leading French philosopher of this generation was Denis
empiricism.
Diderot (1713–1784), a versatile and gifted writer, and the
principal editor of the massive Encyclopedia, unquestionably
The philosophes also included some infamous philosoph-
the greatest scholarly and literary achievement of the French
ical radicals, particularly Julien Offroy de La Mettrie (1709–
Enlightenment. Diderot left no finished philosophical sys-
1751), Claude-Adrien Helvétius (1715–1771), and Paul-
tem, but rather a variety of writings that expressed an ever-
Henri Thiry, baron d’Holbach (1723–1789). La Mettrie ex-
changing point of view and covered many subjects—
pounded an openly materialist theory of the soul in Man a
metaphysics, natural science, psychology, aesthetics, criti-
Machine (1748) and a blatantly hedonist ethics in Discourse
cism, society, politics, morality, and religion. In religion, Di-
on Happiness (1750). Helvétius’s On the Mind (published
derot began as a Deist, but later abandoned this position as
posthumously, 1772) presents a thoroughgoing determinist
an unworthy compromise with religious superstition. Yet
and environmentalist psychology, together with a utilitarian
even as an atheist, he retained great sympathy for many as-
ethical theory. D’Holbach’s attack on religion was begun in
pects of religion, especially for the religious predicament of
his Christianisme dévoilé (1761; the title is cleverly ambigu-
the conscientious individual moral agent. His atheism has
ous: “revealed Christianity” or “Christianity exposed”); it
sometimes been accurately (if anachronistically) described as
was continued in his materialistic, deterministic, and atheis-
existentialist in character. In his later years, he occasionally
tic System of Nature (1770).
flirted with some form of theism, especially with a sort of
Elsewhere in Europe, the Enlightenment took more
naturalistic pantheism. Like Voltaire, he was adamantly op-
moderate forms. In Germany, the alleged religious unortho-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE
2797
doxy of the Aufklärung’s representatives often made them ob-
devotional reading of the Bible and on prayer as means of
jects of controversy, sometimes victims of persecution. But
raising oneself to an actual experience of grace and justifica-
in fact there was nothing more radical among them than a
tion) harshly criticize them as fanaticism (Schwärmerei) sub-
rather conservative form of Deism. The founder of the Ger-
versive of moral autonomy. Kant’s theology was always a
man Enlightenment was Christian Wolff (1679–1754). He
form of Wolffian rationalism, his moral religion a form of
was possessed of an unoriginal but encyclopedic mind suited
Enlightenment Deism. Kant’s famous avowal that he “limits
to the task of exercising a dominant influence on German
knowledge in order to make room for faith” makes reference
academic philosophy. And this he did during the whole of
not to a voluntarist or irrationalist “leap,” still less to a bibli-
the eighteenth century, at least until its last two decades. Al-
cal faith. Kantian moral faith is a form of rational belief, jus-
though Wolff’s theology was orthodox to the point of scho-
tified by a subtle (and usually underrated) philosophical ar-
lasticism, his rationalistic approach to theology brought
gument. Throughout his maturity, and even during his term
upon him the wrath of the German Pietists, who had him
as rector of the University of Königsberg, Kant refused on
dismissed from his professorship at Halle in 1723. (He was
principle to participate in religious services (which he con-
reinstated by Frederick the Great, however, on the latter’s ac-
demned as “superstitious pseudo-service” [Afterdienst] of
cession in 1740.) Among the influential exponents of Wolffi-
God). His uncompromising anticlericalism and deep suspi-
anism in the Aufklärung were the metaphysician and aesthe-
cion of popular religion (“vulgar superstition”) are character-
tician Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714–1762), the
istic French Enlightenment attitudes. Kant’s 1784 essay
first to describe philosophy of art as “aesthetics”; the “neolo-
“What Is Enlightenment?” expressed wholehearted support
gist” theologian Johann Salomo Semler (1725–1791); and
for the movement and for the policies of academic openness,
the controversial early biblical critic Hermann Samuel Rei-
religious toleration, and anticlericalism pursued by Frederick
marus (1694–1768).
the Great.
The Aufklärung flourished during the reign of Frederick
The Enlightenment in Britain is represented in theology
the Great (r. 1740–1786). Himself a Deist and an admirer
by the tradition of British Deism (the position of such men
of the philosophes, Frederick refounded the Berlin Academy
as John Toland and Matthew Tindal) and in politics by
in 1744 and brought the distinguished French scientist
Whig liberalism. Representative of both trends was the phi-
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759) to Berlin
losopher, scientist, and Presbyterian (and Unitarian) cleric
as its head, along with Voltaire, La Mettrie, and d’Alembert.
Joseph Priestley (1733–1804). Other Britons displaying the
The academy’s nonresident members included Wolff,
impact of the Enlightenment included the utilitarian Jeremy
Baumgarten, Fontenelle, Helvétius, and d’Holbach. Beyond
Bentham (1748–1832), the economist and moral theorist
(or beneath) the patronage of Frederick, there were also the
Adam Smith (1723–1790), the historian Edward Gibbon
so-called popular Enlightenment thinkers, such as Christoph
(1737–1794), and the radical political thinker William God-
Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811) and Christian Garve (1742–
win (1756–1836). Hume is often regarded as an opponent,
1798). By far their most distinguished representative, howev-
even a great subverter, of the Enlightenment, partly because
er, was the Jewish Deist Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786),
of his political conservatism, but chiefly because of his skepti-
a gifted German prose stylist, an early advocate of the dises-
cal attack on the pretensions of human reason. Hume was,
tablishment of religion, and the grandfather of composer
however, personally on good terms with many of the philo-
Felix Mendelssohn.
sophes and at one with their views on religious matters. To
see Hume’s attack on reason as anti-Enlightenment is to ig-
One of the most independent and influential voices of
nore the fact that it is carried on in the name of the other
the German Enlightenment was that of Mendelssohn’s close
important Enlightenment ideal, nature. Along with Condil-
friend Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), a dramatist,
lac and the philosophes, Hume views our cognitive powers as
critic, theologian, and admirer of Spinoza and Leibniz. Les-
part of our natural equipment as living organisms and urges
sing’s theological writings are powerful but enigmatic in con-
us to view our use of them as bound up with our practical
tent, perhaps because his aim was simultaneously to criticize
needs. His skeptical attack on reason is an attack not on the
the arid rationalism of Wolffian theology and to reject the
faculty praised by the Enlightenment, but rather on that ap-
irrationalism and bibliolatry of Pietism. (The term bibliola-
pealed to by vain scholastic metaphysicians and crafty soph-
try as an epithet of opprobrium was coined by him.)
ists hoping to provide “shelter to popular superstitions” by
In the second half of the eighteenth century, there arose
“raising entangling brambles to cover their weakness.” Far
several empiricist critics of Wolffianism in Germany, notably
from being a critic of the Enlightenment, Hume is one of
Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728–1777) and Johannes
its most characteristic and articulate voices.
Nikolaus Tetens (1736–1807). But towering over them, and
The founding fathers of the United States included
indeed over all other philosophers of the German Enlighten-
prominent Enlightenment figures: Thomas Paine, Benjamin
ment, is the foremost critic of Wolffian philosophy, Imman-
Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist suspicion of
uel Kant (1724–1804). It is often said that Kant’s ethics dis-
centralized state power and the hostility to clericalism moti-
plays signs of his Pietist upbringing. In fact, however, Kant’s
vating the complete separation of church and state in the new
specific references to Pietist forms of religiosity (emphasis on
republic both reflect the influence of Enlightenment ideas.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2798
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE
Even today we still tend to view the Enlightenment
what they will believe. The Enlightenment’s demand for tol-
through the distorting lens of nineteenth-century romanti-
eration is thus the demand that people be given the opportu-
cism and its reactionary preconceptions. Enlightenment
nity to fulfill their deepest spiritual vocation: that of using
thought is still accused of being ahistorical and ethnocentric,
their intellects to determine the faith they will live by. People
when (as Ernst Cassirer has shown) the conceptual tools used
miss this vocation whenever “faith” for them ceases to be a
by post-Enlightenment historians and anthropologists were
belief founded on their own evaluation of the evidence be-
all forged by the Enlightenment itself. Enlightenment
fore them and becomes the submission of their intellect to
thought is charged with naive optimism, despite the fact that
some unquestioned authority. The Enlightenment’s judg-
some of the most characteristic Enlightenment thinkers
ment on such a spiritually crippling, unenlightened “faith”
(Voltaire, Mendelssohn) were historical pessimists. It is said
was pronounced most eloquently by the father of Enlighten-
that the Enlightenment had too much confidence in human
ment thought, John Locke.
reason, despite its preoccupation with the limits of human
There is a use of the word Reason, wherein it is opposed
cognitive powers. Moreover, many of the Enlightenment
to Faith. . . . Only . . . Faith is nothing but a firm
thinkers who were most hopeful of salutary social change be-
Assent of the Mind: which if it be regulated as is our
cause of the progress of reason also expressed profound
Duty, cannot be afforded to any thing, but upon good
doubts about this (witness Diderot’s posthumously pub-
Reason. . . . He that believes, without having any rea-
lished masterpiece Rameau’s Nephew).
son for believing . . . neither seeks Truth as he ought,
nor pays the Obedience due to his Maker, who would
On the subject of religion, the common twentieth-
have him use those discerning Faculties he has given
century view—inherited from nineteenth-century romanti-
him. (Essay concerning Human Understanding 4.17.24)
cism—was that Enlightenment thinkers were shallow and ar-
Enlightenment is release from tutelage. It is not surpris-
rogant, showing an irreverence and contempt for tradition
ing that a person who subjects himself to the authority of
and authority. Of course, any movement that (like the En-
church or scripture or to his own fancies should be intolerant
lightenment) sets out to deflate the pretensions of pseudo-
of others’ beliefs and should attempt to impose his own upon
profundity will naturally be accused of shallowness by those
them. “For,” asks Locke, “how almost can it be otherwise,
it makes its targets. It is equally natural that people who are
but that he should be ready to impose on others Belief, who
outraged by crimes and hypocrisy carried on under the pro-
has already imposed on his own?”
tection of an attitude of reverence for tradition and authority
should choose irreverent wit and satire as appropriate vehi-
Kant, writing in 1784, did not claim to be living in an
cles for their criticism. In fact, the Enlightenment attack on
enlightened age, an age in which people had come to intellec-
religious authority and tradition was motivated by a pro-
tual maturity and governed their own beliefs through reason;
found concern for what it conceived to be the most essential
but he did claim to be living in an age of enlightenment, an
values of the human spirit, the foundations of any true
age in which people were gaining the courage to free them-
religion.
selves from the spiritual oppression of tradition and authori-
ty. Before we dismiss Enlightenment thought as shallow or
Kant defines “enlightenment” as “the human being’s re-
as irrelevant to our time, we should ask ourselves whether we
lease from self-imposed tutelage”; by “tutelage,” he means
can say even as much for our age as Kant was willing to say
the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance
for his.
from another, the state of a child whose spiritual life is still
held in benevolent bondage by his parents. Tutelage is self-
SEE ALSO Atheism; Cassirer, Ernst; Deism; Descartes, René;
imposed when it results not from immaturity or inability to
Doubt and Belief; Empiricism; Faith; Hume, David; Kant,
think for oneself, but rather from a lack of courage to do so.
Immanuel; Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm; Lessing, G. E.;
Thus enlightenment is the process by which human individ-
Locke, John; Mendelssohn, Moses; Methodist Churches; Pi-
uals receive the courage to think for themselves about morali-
etism; Reimarus, Hermann Samuel; Rousseau, Jean-Jacques;
ty, religion, and politics, instead of having their opinions dic-
Spinoza, Barukh; Theism; Truth; Wolff, Christian.
tated to them by political, ecclesiastical, or scriptural
authorities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The best general study of Enlightenment thought is Ernst Cas-
The battle cry of the Enlightenment in religious matters
sirer’s The Philosophy of Enlightenment (Boston, 1951). Also
was toleration. The cry now sounds faint and irrelevant to
valuable are Paul Hazard’s European Thought in the Eigh-
us, partly because we flatter ourselves that we long ago
teenth Century (New Haven, 1954) and Frederick C. Coples-
achieved what it demands, and partly because toleration itself
ton’s A History of Philosophy, vol. 6, Wolff to Kant (Westmin-
ster, Md., 1963), parts 1 and 2. Carl Becker’s The Heavenly
appears to be a value that is bloodless and without specific
City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers (New Haven,
content. But on both counts we seriously misconceive the
1932) is a famous and paradoxical defense of the continuity
meaning the Enlightenment attached to toleration. Tolera-
between Enlightenment thinkers and the Christian tradition
tion is the beginning of enlightenment as Europe in the eigh-
they criticized. The best known of many replies to it is Peter
teenth century conceived it because it is the necessary social
Gay’s The Enlightenment, 2 vols. (New York, 1966), especial-
condition for people to use their own intellects to decide
ly volume 1, The Rise of Modern Paganism.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENLIL
2799
On the French Enlightenment, see Frank E. Manuel’s The Proph-
other Sumerian myths has been shown by Manfred Kreb-
ets of Paris (Cambridge, Mass., 1962); on England, see John
ernik and M. P. Streck, and the epithet of Enlil in Sumerian
Plamenatz’s The English Utilitarians, 2d ed. (Oxford, 1958).
literature is kur-gal (great mountain), suggesting origins in
An excellent treatment of the German Enlightenment can be
eastern Mesopotamia.
found in chapters 10–17 of Lewis White Beck’s Early Ger-
man Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors (Cambridge,
The myth of Enlil and Ninlil, who in Mesopotamian re-
Mass., 1969). Studies emphasizing the religious thought of
ligious tradition were seen as the principal gods of Nippur,
the four most important Enlightenment thinkers are Nor-
is both a sacred marriage text (or hierogamy), as well as a the-
man L. Torrey’s Voltaire and the English Deists (1930; re-
ogony, since it narrates not only the marriage but also the
print, Hamden, Conn., 1967); Aram Vartanian’s Diderot
birth of four heavenly gods, one of them the Moon god. The
and Descartes (Princeton, 1953); Hume on Religion (New
story begins with an introduction praising Nippur, setting
York, 1963), edited by Richard Wollheim; and my book
Kant’s Moral Religion (Ithaca, N. Y., 1970).
the scene where the action unfolds, and a description of the
two main characters, Enlil and Ninlil. Well aware of the hot-
New Sources
blooded nature of the youth of the city, Ninlil’s wise mother,
Barnett, S. J. The Enlightenment and Religion: The Myths of Moder-
Nunbarshegunu, advises her daughter not to bathe in the
nity. New York, 2003.
river because she could tempt one of the young men. When
Darnton, Robert. George Washington’s False Teeth: An Unconven-
Ninlil disobeys her mother and bathes in the river, Enlil
tional Guide to the Eighteenth Century. New York, 2003.
spots her and immediately makes advances to her, which
Gordon, Daniel. Citizens without Sovereignty: Equality and Socia-
Ninlil rejects. Enlil then sails on the river with the help of
bility in French Thought. Princeton, 1994.
his herald Nusku, and renews his advances. This time the
Mah, Harold. Enlightenment Phantasies: Cultural Identity in
young woman is unable to resist, so the god has intercourse
France and Germany. Ithaca, N.Y., 2003.
with her and impregnates her with Sin-Ashimbabbar. Enlil’s
Melton, James Von Horn. The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment
scandalous behavior causes the gods to banish him from the
Europe. New York, 2001.
city. When he leaves the city, Ninlil follows him and finds
where he is hiding, having intercourse with him three more
Muthu, Sankar. Enlightenment against Empire. Princeton, 2003.
times and producing three more gods: Nergal, Ninazu, and
Porter, Roy. Flesh in the Age of Reason. New York, 2003.
Enbilulu. The text concludes with a doxology praising both
Zakai, Avihu. Jonathan Edwards’s Philosophy of History: The Reen-
divinities, after a hymn in honor of Enlil.
chantment with the World in the Age of Enlightenment. Prince-
ton, 2003.
In contrast to the preceding myth, where the circum-
stances in which Enlil and Ninlil marry are somewhat per-
ALLEN W. WOOD (1987)
plexing, another version of the myth faithfully reflects the
Revised Bibliography
custom and practice of Sumerian society. The story begins
by introducing the characters and establishing that Enlil is
not yet married. On a journey through the land of Sumer,
ENLIL, the “wind god,” was the principal god of the Su-
Enlil reaches Eresh, where he meets the young Sud. He en-
merian pantheon and poliad god of Nippur, the religious
gages in conversation with her, making clear his intentions,
center of the country. Enlil was also guardian god of the tem-
but the god has scarcely begun to approach her when Sud
ple Ekur (“mountain house”) and the husband of Ninlil, or
proudly slams the door in his face. Enlil, already enamored,
Sud. Together with An and Enki, Enlil was the third mem-
turns to Nusku and entrusts him with the task of going to
ber of the great triad of the Sumerian pantheon and a perma-
Eresh to ask Sud’s mother Nidaba for the hand of her daugh-
nent member of the assembly of the gods. When the cosmos
ter. Nidaba consents, but on the condition of a journey by
was divided, Enlil took the earth for himself, while An ruled
Aruru, Enlil’s sister, to Eresh, followed by her journey to
the sky and Ereshkigal was given the underworld. Enlil is the
Nippur. When the messenger returns to Nippur and brings
elder brother of Enki, whom he entrusted with the task of
back the message, Enlil prepares lavish gifts, which are taken
putting the world in order. After the great Flood, Enlil and
by caravan to Eresh. The gifts are received graciously, and
An gave Ziusudra (the hero of the flood) “life, like (that of)
preparations begin for the marriage and the actual ceremony.
a god.” The Moon god (Nanna-Sin, Ashimbabbar), Nergal,
Enlil then blesses his wife and gives her the name Ninlil.
Ninazu, and Enbilulu were born from Enlil’s union with
A series of documents tell of the Journeys of the Gods to
Ninlil. In the myth The Assault of the Demons on the Moon,
obtain blessings and prosperity for the cities under their pro-
when the demons besiege heaven and black out the moon,
tection. The first of these journeys is undertaken by the
Enlil deals with the situation by having Enki, the god of
Moon god Nanna, the poliad god of Ur and son of Enlil and
magic, intervene.
Ninlil, who goes to the city of his birth, Nippur. After a eulo-
Piotr Steinkeller (1999) and Piotr Michalowski (1998)
gy of his city, in which he praises its antiquity, the god
have cast doubt upon the Sumerian nature of the god Enlil.
Nanna sends messengers throughout the country and also to
They discuss the actual meaning of the name, equating the
other distant countries to collect the required materials so
Eblaite I-li-lu with Enlil. Just how at variance this is with
that he can build a boat. When he has constructed the boat,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2800
ENLIL
there is an inventory of the goods loaded upon it, and then
living like animals. The gods put right the forgetfulness of
begins the long journey to carry the god to the city of Nip-
An by making grain and sheep appear in their house on the
pur. The boat makes several stops en route, first at Ennegi,
sacred hill, and they ate and drank plentifully, but were not
where the goddess Ningirida, hoping to receive Nanna’s pre-
sated. At this point the gods decide to bestow their new cre-
cious cargo, welcomes him, but he refuses her. The same
ation on humankind, and Enki advises Enlil to give sheep
thing happens at Larsa, the home of the goddess Sherida; at
and grain to humans as a gift. Thus, via the intervention of
Uruk, home of the goddess Inanna; at Shuruppak, home of
these two supreme gods, sheep and grain are brought from
the goddess Ninunu; and at Tummal, home of Ninlil.
the sacred hill to the earth for the use of human beings.
The boat finally reaches Nippur, where Nanna asks for
Enlil, though, is not always beneficent to humans, and
and is granted permission to enter, and he sets down the gifts
the negative aspects of divine behavior towards the human
he has brought. His father Enlil joyfully welcomes his son
race are described in the myth of Atrahasis, as well as the
and serves a sumptuous feast for him, which ends with a re-
myth of the Sumerian flood and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In
quest for a general blessing for the city under his protection.
the Epic of Atrahasis, Enlil is portrayed as one who, alarmed
A special request is then put to the sovereign, but his re-
by the rapid growth of the human race (whose noise disturbs
sponse is ambiguous. Two other journeys concern the guard-
his sleep), attempts to reduce and eventually destroy human-
ian divinities of the city of Isin, the god Pabilsag and the god-
kind by plague, by drought, and finally by flood. In the La-
dess Nininsina; both of them travel to Nippur to beg for a
ment for Ur, the destruction of the city Ur is attributed to
blessing for themselves and their adopted city.
Enlil’s storm “that annihilated the land.” One petitioner be-
moans in a prayer the fact that Enlil is “the storm destroying
Enlil’s active involvement with humankind is shown in
the cattle pen, uprooting the sheepfold; my roots are torn up,
various documents. In The Song of the Hoe, Enlil, after sepa-
my forests denuded.”
rating heaven and earth so that humans can cultivate the
earth, makes an opening in the floor of the earth. He then
Commencing with the Old Babylonian period, Enlil oc-
creates a hoe, establishes the various kinds of labor, describes
cupied a less exalted position in the pantheon. Many of his
the qualities of the hoe in detail, and sets it in the place where
attributes were assumed by Marduk in Babylonia and by
the first human being will appear. When the human race
Ashur in Assyria. Indeed, it is likely that Marduk’s and
springs from mold that had been placed in the hole, and
Ashur’s prominent roles in the great Mesopotamian national
when grass grows, Enlil gives the humans the hoe, while the
epic, Enuma elish (in the extant Babylonian and Assyrian re-
gods express their wholehearted approval. It is interesting to
censions, respectively), originally belonged to Enlil.
note the writer’s belief, already clear from these lines, that
the first human being was Sumerian.
SEE ALSO Ashur; Marduk; Mesopotamian Religion, over-
view article.
Another document, which dates to after 1100 BCE, is the
only one in which blood is necessary for the creation of hu-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
mans, an element completely absent in the Sumerian cre-
Behrens, Hermann. Enlil und Ninlil: Ein sumerischer Mythos aus
ation myths and probably derived from a Semitic tradition.
Nippur. Rome, 1978.
The story links the creation of the human race to the very
beginnings of the world, when the gods had come into being,
Civil, Miguel. “Enlil and Ninlil: The Marriage of Sud.” Journal
of American Oriental Society 103 (1983): 43–66.
heaven and earth had been separated, and the basis for life
on earth had been established by digging rivers and channels
Kramer, Samuel Noah. “BM 23631: Bread for Enlil, Sex for Inan-
so water could flow. At a meeting involving the three main
na” Orientalia 54 (1985): 117–132.
gods and the Anunna (all the great gods), Enlil poses the
Krebernik, Manfred. “Ninlil (Mulliltu, Mullisu), Göttin, Ge-
question as to whether or not they want him to carry on with
mahlin Enlils.” Reallexikon der Assyriologie 9 (1998–2001):
the act of creation. Their unanimous response is to let hu-
453–461.
mankind emerge in the temple of Enlil by mixing clay with
Michalowski, Piotr. “The Unbearable Lightness of Enlil.” Comptes
the blood of the god Alla. The new creatures, called Ullegarra
rendues de la Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 43
and Annegarra, are given the task of manual labor, and they
(1998): 237–247.
are to make the land rich in plenty, holding sumptuous feasts
Pettinato, Giovanni. Mitologia sumerica. Turin, 2001.
for the world of the gods. This is the law laid down by Aruru,
Pettinato, Giovanni. “Enlil: La parola immutabile.” In Parole,
the sister of Enlil, and the goddess Nisaba ensured that it was
parola: Alle origini della comunicazione, pp. 7–32. Milan,
duly observed.
2001.
The prologue of the Debate between Sheep and Grain
Steinkeller, Piotr. “On Rulers and Officials in the Ancient Near
contains a cosmogonic allusion to the birth of two gods that
East.” In Priests and Officials in the Ancient Near East, edited
were essential for human life, Ashnan (grain) and Uttu (the
by Kazuko Watanabe, pp. 103–137. Heidelberg, Germany,
spinning of wool). The god An had not created them in the
1999.
beginning, so the earth did not have grain, sheep, or goats,
Streck, Michael P. “Ninurta/Ningirsu. A. I. In Mesopotamien”
and human beings did not have bread or clothes and were
Reallexikon der Assyriologie 9 (1998–2001): 512–522.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENNIN
2801
Such-Gutierrez, Marcos. Beiträge zum Pantheon von Nippur im 3.
on Emperor Seiwa in 859. Incumbency of the office of zasu,
Jahtausend, Teil I and II (Materiali per i Vocabolario Sumeri-
or abbot, of the Tendai school was granted him by the court
co) 9, nos. 1–2 (2003): 31–108.
in 853. Ennin died in 864 (some sources have 866). In 866
D
he was granted the exalted title Jikaku Daishi (“master of
AVID MARCUS (1987)
GIOVANNI PETTINATO (2005)
compassionate awakening”); Saicho¯ was (posthumously)
Translated from Italian by Paul Ellis
given the title Dengyo¯ Daishi (“master of the transmission
of the teachings”) at the same time. This was the first use of
the title Daishi in Japan.
ENNIN (794–864), posthumous title, Jikaku Daishi; was
The contributions of Ennin to Japanese Buddhism are
a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Tendai school. Ennin was
as follows:
born in north-central Japan. At fifteen he entered the monas-
(1) The transmission of Pure Land practices from Mount
tic center on Mount Hiei, the headquarters of the Tendai
Wutai. Although Saicho¯ had already introduced a type
school, where he soon became a favorite disciple of Saicho¯
of Pure Land practice, the verbal Nembutsu introduced
(767–822), the Japanese monk who transmitted the Tendai
by Ennin provided the foundation for the later indepen-
(Chin., Tiantai) teachings to Japan from China. In 814
dent Pure Land schools of the Kamakura period (1185–
Ennin became a full-fledged monk, after which he studied
1333).
the Buddhist precepts at To¯daiji in Nara for seven years.
(2) Compilation of his diary of his journey to China, an ex-
Eventually, a physical ailment forced him to retire to a hut
tremely valuable and unique record of Tang China.
at Yokawa in the northern part of Mount Hiei, where he
waited quietly for death. According to legend, Ennin devoted
(3) Consolidation of Tendai Mikkyo¯. Ennin completed
himself to copying the Lotus Su¯tra (Jpn. Ho¯kekyo¯; Skt.,
Saicho¯’s limited transmission of Mikkyo¯ so that the
Saddharmapun:d:arika Su¯tra) for three years, and miraculous-
Tendai Mikkyo¯ tradition, known as Taimitsu, could
ly regained his health after experiencing a vision of the Bud-
successfully compete with the To¯mitsu Mikkyo¯ of the
dha in a dream. The next year (835) Ennin petitioned the
Shingon school transmitted and founded by Ku¯kai
court for permission to visit China. He left Japan in 838 with
(774–835).
the last official Japanese embassy to the Tang court. Unable
(4) Introduction of sho¯myo¯, a melodious method of chant-
to gain permission to visit Mount Tiantai, eponymous head-
ing the scriptures, and transmission of new Pure Land,
quarters of the Chinese Tiantai school, he studied Sanskrit
Mikkyo¯, confessional, and memorial ceremonies; con-
and received initiation into the Vajradha¯tu Man:d:ala and the
struction of many important buildings on Mount Hiei;
Garbhako´sadha¯tu Man:d:ala and other Esoteric (Mikkyo¯)
and development of the Yokawa area of Mount Hiei.
doctrines and practices.
(5) Strengthening of the position of the Maha¯ya¯na precepts
The following year he made a pilgrimage to Mount
platform on Mount Hiei through his contacts with the
Wutai in northern China, a center of Pure Land practices.
imperial court. Ennin’s Kenyo¯ daikai ron, an important
Here, Ennin studied Tiantai texts and Mikkyo¯, and partici-
treatise on the subject, further contributed to the power
pated in Pure Land practices. In 840 he went to the capital,
and influence of the ordination center on Mount Hiei.
Chang’an, where for six years he deepened his knowledge
(6) Cultivation of many important disciples. Ennin’s lin-
and added expertise in the susiddhi, an Esoteric tradition as
eage, called the Sanmon-ha, although in competition
yet unknown in Japan. Ennin survived the persecution of
with the Jimon-ha of Enchin (814–891), dominated the
Buddhism under Emperor Wuzong and finally returned to
Tendai hierarchy for centuries.
Japan in 847 with hundreds of Buddhist scriptures from the
Tiantai, Esoteric, Chan, and Pure Land traditions, as well as
Ennin’s legacy thus includes the development of the doc-
treatises on Sanskrit, Buddhist images, assorted ceremonial
trine, practices, and social prestige of the Japanese Tendai
objects, and even rocks from Mount Wutai. These are listed
school to the point where it dominated the Japanese Bud-
in the Nitto¯ shingu sho¯gyo¯ mokuroku, a catalogue Ennin sub-
dhist world of the later Heian period (866–1185) and pro-
mitted to the court. Ennin also returned with a diary, the
vided the basis for the Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren schools.
Nitto¯ guho¯ junrei ko¯ki, a scrupulously accurate account of his
Ennin’s meticulous diary is also the best source of informa-
travels and of the China of Tang times, and with new knowl-
tion on the daily life and times of Tang China.
edge and experience to lead the Japanese Tendai school to
social and doctrinal preeminence in Japan.
SEE ALSO Tendaishu¯.
His busy career after returning to Japan was a combina-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion of hectic activity and prestigious official recognition. On
The only English-language work on Ennin is Edwin O. Reisch-
Mount Hiei he founded centers for Pure Land and Lotus
auer’s pioneering study, Ennin’s Travels in Tang China, and
Su¯tra practices. He presided over an initiation for a thousand
his translation of Ennin’s diary, Ennin’s Diary: The Record of
people in 849, an initiation for Emperor Montoku and the
a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (New York, 1955).
crown prince in 855, and bestowed the Mahayana precepts
This work is widely recognized as authoritative, but its ap-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2802
EN NO GYO
¯ JA
proach is historical rather than religious and does not cover
he was exiled to the island of Izu. The account in the Nihon
Ennin’s life and contributions after his return to Japan. The
ryo¯iki reports that during his exile he walked nightly from
most detailed study and translation of Ennin’s diary in Japa-
Izu to the mainland in order to ascend Mount Fuji. In 701
nese is Ono Katsutoshi’s four-volume Nitto¯ guho¯ junrei ko¯ki
he was allowed to return to Kyoto, after which he traveled
no kenkyu¯ (Tokyo, 1964–1969). There are two volumes of
to Kyushu to continue his ascetic practices until his death
collected essays concerning Ennin, Jikaku Daishi sango¯shu¯,
later that year.
edited by Yamada Etai (Kyoto, 1963), and the more scholar-
ly Jikaku Daishi kenkyu¯, edited by Fukui Ko¯jun (1964; re-
En no Gyo¯ja’s reputation as the prototypical mountain
print, Tokyo 1980), first published on the eleven hundredth
wizard, who commands the powers of nature and engages in
anniversary of Ennin’s death. There is no single collection of
prolific displays of magical prowess gained through his ascet-
Ennin’s works, which are instead scattered throughout vari-
ic activities, led him to be canonized as the founder of the
ous collections of Buddhist texts.
Shugendo¯ sect of mountain ascetics. In his doctrines, En no
PAUL L. SWANSON (1987)
Gyo¯ja is recorded to have attempted to harmonize the Japa-
nese respect for nature and belief in the sacrality of mountain
precincts with the teachings of Buddhism. His followers in
later generations came to recognize in certain mountain
EN NO GYO
¯ JA (634?–701), literally, “En the ascetic
peaks and caves the indigenous equivalents of the Kongo¯kai
(a¯ca¯rya)”; famous Japanese mountain ascetic and hijiri. De-
(Diamond Realm) and Taizo¯kai (Womb Realm) man:d:alas
tails of his life have been recorded, inter alia, in the Nihon
of the Tendai and Shingon esoteric traditions in Japan. En
ryo¯iki (820) and in his biography, En no Gyo¯ja hongi (724).
no Gyo¯ja’s legacy continued to inform the mind of Heian
He is also known as En no Ozunu, En no Sho¯zunu,
Japan (794–1185): instances of his legend may be found in
Sho¯kaku, or simply as the Master En.
the Makurazo¯shi (Pillow sketches) of Sei Sho¯nagon and in
En no Gyo¯ja was born to a family of Shinto¯ priests in
the Konjaku monogatari (Narratives of past and present). As
the village of Kuwahara in Yamato province (Nara prefec-
late as 1799 he was awarded the honorary title Daibosatsu
ture). Although he converted to Buddhism as a youth, he de-
Shimben, “Great Bodhisattva of Divine Change.”
cided to forgo ordination as a monk and to remain a layman.
As a result, he is often referred to as En no Ubasoku, “the
SEE ALSO Shugendo¯.
layman En,” after the Japanese transcription of the Sanskrit
upa¯saka (“layman”). At the age of thirty-two he retreated to
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mount Katsuragi (Nara prefecture) and adopted the severe
Coates, H. H., and Ryu¯gaku Ishizuka. Honen the Buddhist Saint.
life of a mountain ascetic, clothing himself in grasses and liv-
5 vols. Kyoto, 1949.
ing on the bark of trees. In a cave on the mountainside he
Hori Ichiro¯. Folk Religion in Japan. Edited and translated by Jo-
installed a copper statue of his patron the bodhisattva Kujaku
seph M. Kitagawa and Alan L. Miller. Chicago, 1968.
Myo¯-o¯ (Skt., Mayu¯r¯ıra¯ja), who is believed to assume the
New Sources
shape of a bird in order to dispense his mercies. For more
Ishikawa, Tomohiko, and Hiromu Ozawa. Zusetsu En no Gyo¯ja:
than thirty years En no Gyo¯ja practiced austerities and medi-
Shugendo¯ to En no Gyo¯ja emaki. Tokyo, 2000.
tation in front of this statue. During this period he also for-
Miyake, Hitoshi. En no Gyo¯ja to Shugendo¯ no rekishi. Tokyo,
ayed to other famous peaks, including the Omine range and
2000.
Mount Kimbusen, which later became important centers of
Zenitani, Buhei. En no Gyo¯ja denki shu¯sei. Osaka, 1994.
yamabushi activity. His experience of enlightenment, the cul-
mination of years of ascetic practice, he recorded in this way:
J. H. KAMSTRA (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Long ago I listened to Shaka (i.e., S´a¯kyamuni Buddha)
himself as he was preaching on the Eagle mountain
[Gr:dhraku¯t:a]. Later I became an emperor of Japan and
ruled the empire. Here I am now on this mountain in
ENOCH, or, in Hebrew, H:anokh (from a Hebrew root
a different body, to engage in the work of saving sen-
meaning “consecrate, initiate”) was the son of Jared, accord-
tient being. (Coates and Ishizuka, 1949, p. 18)
ing to biblical tradition; righteous antediluvian; and the sub-
Tradition relates that with the attainment of enlighten-
ject of substantial hagiography in the Jewish and Christian
ment En no Gyo¯ja became endowed with miraculous pow-
traditions.
ers, including command of the winds and clouds and even
IN THE HEBREW BIBLE. Genesis, in listing the descendants
of the indigenous kami; his use of a Buddhist spell (dha¯ran:¯ı)
of Adam until Noah and his sons, mentions Enoch, the sev-
to exorcise the god Hitokotonushi offered vivid proof of the
enth, in ways distinct from the others: Enoch “walked with
superior magical power available to the practitioner of Bud-
God”; he lived only 365 years, a considerably shorter time
dhism and went far to establish his reputation. Such epi-
than the others; and at the end of his life he “was no more,
sodes, however, brought him the disfavor of the public offi-
for God took him” (Gn. 5:21–24). Modern scholars agree
cials, who were chary of the potential for political and social
that a fuller tradition about Enoch lies behind the preserved
disruption presented by such episodes, and so in the year 700
fragment. They disagree, however, on whether that 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
ENOCH
2803
can be recovered from depictions of Enoch in postbiblical
drawn with the seventh (or sixth or eighth) member of the
Jewish literature of Hellenistic times and from parallel depic-
Sumerian antediluvian king-list, Enmeduranna. According
tions of antediluvian kings, sages, and flood heroes in ancient
to some versions of this tradition, the king, associated with
Mesopotamian literature.
the city of the sun god Shamash, is received into fellowship
I
with the gods and is initiated into the secrets of heaven and
N JEWISH LITERATURE OF SECOND TEMPLE TIMES. The
Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Bible, c. 250
earth, including the art of divination, knowledge of which
BCE),
Ben Sira (c. 190
he passes on to his son. Other scholars, noting that no men-
BCE), and the Jewish Antiquities by Josephus
Flavius (37/8–c. 100
tion is made of Enmeduranna’s transcendence of death, find
CE) all state that Enoch was taken by
or returned to the deity. The Wisdom of Solomon (first centu-
Enoch’s antecedents in the wise flood heroes Ziusudra and
ry
Utnapishtim, who are said to have been rewarded with eter-
BCE) explains that God prematurely terminated Enoch’s
life on earth so that wickedness would not infect his perfect
nal life in paradise. Most recently, scholars have argued that
saintliness. Philo Judaeus (d. 45–50
Enoch is modeled after the apkallu sages, who reveal wisdom
CE) allegorizes Enoch so
as to represent the person who is ecstatically transported
and the civilized arts to antediluvian humanity, the seventh
(echoing the Septuagint) from perishable (physical) to im-
(utuabzu) of whom is said to have ascended to heaven.
perishable (spiritual and intellectual) aspects of existence,
IN CHRISTIANITY. The church fathers exhibit considerable
and from mortality to (spiritual) immortality. Like the Greek
interest in Enoch’s transcendence of death as a paradigm for
version of Ben Sira, Philo describes Enoch as a sign of repen-
Jesus and the Christian elect. However, some stress that it
tance for having changed from the “worse life to the better.”
was only with Jesus’ resurrection that Enoch’s ascension was
Enoch is not found among the sinful multitude but in soli-
consummated. In the second and third centuries, Christian
tude. Philo contrasts Enoch’s piety with that of Abraham,
writers (among them, Tertullian and Irenaeus) place particu-
which is exercised within society rather than in isolation.
lar emphasis on Enoch’s bodily assumption in support of be-
lief in physical resurrection. Some (Tertullian, Hippolytus,
The portrayals of Enoch in contemporary writings dis-
and Jerome) identify him as one of the two witnesses of Reve-
playing apocalyptic interests are considerably more laudatory
lations 11:3–13 who battle and are killed by the Antichrist,
of him and expansive of the underlying biblical text. Here
are resurrected a few days later, and are taken to heaven.
Enoch is depicted as a medium for the revelation of heavenly
Ephraem of Syria (fourth century) stresses that Enoch, like
secrets to humanity: secrets of cosmology, sacred history, and
Jesus, in conquering sin and death and in regaining paradise
eschatology. The principal sources for these traditions are 1
in spirit as well as body, is the antipode of Adam. Because
and 2 Enoch, Jubilees, Pseudo-Eupolemus, and previously un-
Enoch precedes the covenant of law (he is said to be uncir-
known writings among the Dead Sea Scrolls. They span a
cumcised and unobservant of the Sabbath), his faith and re-
period from the third century BCE to the first century CE.
ward are of particular importance to Christianity in its po-
Enoch’s “life” and the secrets revealed to him are sum-
lemic against Judaism and in its mission to the Gentiles.
marized in Jubilees 4:16–26 and detailed in the Books of
IN RABBINIC JUDAISM. Rabbinic exegesis is concerned less
Enoch. Enoch receives these revelations first in nocturnal vi-
with Enoch’s righteousness during life, questioned by some
sions, and then in a heavenly journey lasting three hundred
early rabbis, than with the nature of his end. The main issue
years, during which he dwells with angels and is instructed
of dispute is whether he died like other righteous people, his
by them in hidden cosmological and historical knowledge.
soul returning to God, or whether he was transported, body
After a brief return to earth to transmit a record of his witness
and soul (like Elijah), to heaven or paradise.
to his descendants, he is removed to the Garden of Eden,
where he continues to testify to humanity’s sins and to record
Some rabbinical circles, initially those responsible for
God’s judgments of these sins until the final judgment.
the mystical, theosophical literature of Merkavah (divine
Enoch is also said to officiate in paradise at the sanctuary be-
chariot) speculation (our earliest texts are from the fifth to
fore God. Elsewhere, certain religious laws are said to have
sixth centuries), adapted prerabbinic traditions of Enoch’s
originated with Enoch and his books. In some later parts of
transformation into an angel. This angel (now identified
this literature, Enoch himself becomes a divine figure who
with the archangel Metatron) is said to rule the heavenly
dwells in heaven and executes justice. In most traditions,
“palace,” to have a role in the revelation of Torah and its
however, he is an intermediary between the divine and
teaching on high, and to guide the righteous in their tours
human, even after his transfer to paradise. Thus, Enoch com-
of heaven. The tension between the mystical exaltation of
bines the functions of prophet, priest, scribe, lawgiver, sage,
Enoch and the more qualified praise of him and denial of
and judge.
his assumption continues through medieval Jewish literature.
ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN PARALLELS. For more than a cen-
IN ISLAM. In the QurDa¯n (19:57–58, 21:85), Idr¯ıs is said to
tury, scholars have argued that the biblical Enoch has his
have been an “upright man and a prophet,” who was “raised
roots in Mesopotamian lore about similar antediluvian fig-
to a high place.” While Idr¯ıs’s identity within the QurDa¯n is
ures, and that the likenesses between Enoch and such figures
uncertain, Muslim writers, drawing upon Jewish sources that
reemerge in the depictions of Enoch in Jewish literature of
venerate him, have regularly identified him with Enoch
Hellenistic times. Such parallels have most frequently been
(Arab., Akhnu¯kh). He is said to have introduced several sci-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2804
ENTHUSIASM
ences and arts, practiced ascetic piety, received revelation,
New Sources
and entered paradise while still alive.
Dacy, Marianne. “Paradise Lost: The Fallen Angels in the Book
of Enoch.” Australian Journal of Jewish Studies 17 (2003):
SEE ALSO Apocalypse, article on Jewish Apocalypticism to
51–65.
the Rabbinic Period.
Hannah, Darrell D. “The Throne of His Glory: The Divine
Throne and Heavenly Mediators in Revelation and the Si-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
militudes of Enoch.” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche
There is no comprehensive work on the figure of Enoch in biblical
Wissenschaft 94 (2003): 68–96.
and postbiblical religious traditions. For a thorough treat-
Nickelsburg, George W. E. 1 Enoch: A Commentary on the Book
ment of the biblical, Mesopotamian, and apocalyptic
of 1 Enoch. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commen-
sources, see James C. Vanderkam’s Enoch and the Growth of
tary on the Bible. Minneapolis, 2001.
an Apocalyptic Tradition, “Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Monograph Series,” no. 18 (Washington, D.C., 1984). For
Suter, David Winston. “Why Galilee? Galilean Regionalism in the
a pastiche of some of the Jewish traditions with notes refer-
Interpretation of 1 ‘Enoch’ 6–16.” Henoch 25 (2003):
ring to most of the others, see Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of
167–212.
the Jews, 7 vols., translated by Henrietta Szold et al. (1909–
VanderKam, James C. “Biblical Interpretation in 1 Enoch and Ju-
1938; reprint, Philadelphia, 1946–1955), vol. 1,
bilees.” In The Pseudepigrapha and Early Biblical Interpreta-
pp. 125–140, and vol. 5, pp. 156–164. His notes, while
tion, edited by James H. Charlesworth and Craig A. Evans,
comprehensive, are not always sufficiently critical. A collec-
pp. 96–125. Sheffield, 1993.
tion of short treatments of Enoch in Jewish and Christian
primary sources can be found in Society of Biblical Literature
STEVEN D. FRAADE (1987)
1978 Seminar Papers, edited by Paul J. Achtemeier (Missou-
Revised Bibliography
la, Mont., 1978), vol. 1, pp. 229–276.
On the biblical tradition of Enoch, see, in addition to
Vanderkam’s book, the following representative commen-
ENTHUSIASM. The history of enthusiasm is as much
taries: John Skinner’s A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
the history of the word as of the phenomenon it signifies. In
on Genesis, 2d ed. (Edinburgh, 1930), pp. 131–132; Umber-
the English-speaking world, the word came to prominence
to Cassuto’s A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, vol. 1,
as a technical religious term in the seventeenth century, used
From Adam to Noah, translated by Israel Abrahams (Jerusa-
always in reference to religious experience, and, for the most
lem, 1961), pp. 263, 281–286; and Claus Westermann’s
Genesis (1–11) (Minneapolis, 1984).
part, as a term of denigration. For about two hundred years,
the usual usage was to denote ill-regulated religious emotion
For a comprehensive bibliographical review of recent scholarship
on the Books of Enoch, see George W. E. Nickelsburg’s “The
or, more specifically, fancied inspiration, the false or deluded
Books of Enoch in Recent Research,” Religious Studies Re-
claim to have received divine communications or private rev-
view 7 (1981): 210–217. Important additions to that bibli-
elations. In the course of the last hundred years the technical
ography are Devorah Dimant’s “The Biography of Enoch
religious meaning has been almost completely superseded by
and the Books of Enoch,” Vetus Testamentum 33 (January
the more positive meaning now current (ardent zeal for a
1983): 14–29, and Moshe Gil’s “H:anokh be-erets
person, principle, or cause), though unfavorable overtones
h:e-hayyim” (Enoch in the Land of Eternal Life), Tarbiz 38
still cling to the derivative term, enthusiast, as connoting an
(June 1969): 322–327 (with an English summary,
impractical visionary or self-deluded person. It is, however,
pp. I–III). On the significance of the Enochic literature for
the technical religious term with which we are here con-
the history of Judaism, see, besides Vanderkam’s work, Mi-
cerned.
chael Edward Stone’s essay “The Book of Enoch and Juda-
ism in the Third Century B.C.E.,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly
A discussion of enthusiasm is also a discussion of the
40 (October 1978): 479–492.
word, in the important sense that disputes over its applicabil-
On the ancient Near Eastern background to the biblical Enoch
ity were also disputes over the propriety and validity of any
and his postbiblical depictions, see Pierre Grelot’s “La lé-
claims to divine inspiration and revelation. For those hostile
gende d’Hénoch dans les apocryphes et dans la Bible: Ori-
to religion as such—or to any save a strictly rational reli-
gine et signification,” Recherches de science religieuse 46
gion—enthusiasm was no different from superstition, a
(1958): 5–26, and Rykle Borger’s “Die Beschwörungsserie
charge which could be brought against the Jewish prophets
Bit Meseri und die Himmelfahrt Henochs,” Journal of Near
of old, the apostle Paul, or Muh:ammad with as much justice
Eastern Studies 33 (April 1974): 183–196. Both refer exten-
as against John Wesley (1703–1791). For members of the
sively to earlier scholarship.
established church who were fearful of schism, enthusiasm
On Enoch in Merkavah and related traditions, see Jonas C.
was another name for sectarianism, and as such could be used
Greenfield’s prolegomenon to 3 Enoch, or The Hebrew Book
of Francis of Assisi or Dominic, or “papists” in general, as
of Enoch, edited by Hugo Odeberg (New York, 1973),
pp. xi–xlvii. For a Christian treatment of Enoch, see Jean
well as the followers of George Fox (1624–1691) or Madame
Daniélou’s Holy Pagans in the Old Testament, translated by
Guyon (1648–1717). For those suspicious of any display of
Felix Faber (Baltimore, 1957), pp. 42–56. For Idr¯ıs in post-
emotion, particularly in religion, enthusiasm was synony-
QurDanic Islamic literature, see Georges Vajda’s “Idr¯ıs,” in
mous with fanaticism. Only in the nineteenth century, under
The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (Leiden, 1960–).
the influence of the Romantic revival, did a more positive
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENTHUSIASM
2805
sense of enthusiasm—as emotion deeply felt or the height-
the Scripture, by which religions . . . are to be tried”
ened perception of poetic inspiration—begin to free the
(p. 152, note 3). In the twofold implication of this assertion,
word from the negative overtones of religious disapproval.
the marks of the enthusiast are clearly evident: the claim to
an immediacy of inspiration (comparable to that elsewhere
In a strict sense, then, the study of enthusiasm is the
readily acknowledged in, but otherwise confined to, the bib-
study of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Christianity,
lical writers) not to be confused with reason or conscience;
understood as the study of movements within Christianity
and the claim that this inner illumination is the true source
that were regarded by their critics as peripheral and as threat-
of authority above the letter of scripture, the creeds, and the
ening to the integrity of Christianity, although perhaps it
ordinances of church and state. The violent tremblings
could more properly be understood as the study of the atti-
which often accompanied and were thought to attest to the
tudes of those who condemned such movements as “enthusi-
movement of the Holy Spirit, and from which the nickname
astic.” In addition, it should be borne in mind that enthusiast
“Quakers” was derived, apparently occurred only in the very
was used as a translation of the German Schwärmer, a term
early days.
used by Martin Luther to describe such radical reformers as
Andreas Karlstadt, Thomas Müntzer, and the Anabaptists.
The central section of Knox’s monograph is given over
Like the English “enthusiasts,” the German Schwärmer pre-
to a treatment of Jansenism (mid-seventeenth to mid-
tended to divine inspirations and revelations and could be
eighteenth centuries) and quietism (latter half of the seven-
classed as fanatics and sectarians. As a technical religious
teenth century). Significant certainly for their challenge to
term, therefore, enthusiasm denotes the diverse expressions
the mainstream of Roman Catholic tradition, these move-
of radical, spiritualist, or sectarian Christianity, particularly
ments should probably not be classified as examples of en-
in Europe, during the three hundred years from the begin-
thusiasm, at least in the technical sense of the word as used
ning of the Reformation to the nineteenth century.
by Knox. Jansenism stressed the corruption of human nature
by original sin and the power of divine grace. Rigorist in
RONALD KNOX’S ENTHUSIASM. It is this narrowly defined
character—a kind of Roman Catholic Puritanism—it came
enthusiasm which Ronald Knox describes in his classic study
closest to enthusiasm in the degree to which it understood
Enthusiasm. “Enthusiasm did not really begin to take shape
grace in terms of experiences of “sensible devotion”
until the moment when Luther shook up the whole pattern
(pp. 224–225). Quietism was a doctrine of Christian spiritu-
of European theology” (Knox, 1950, p. 4). “Enthusiasm in
ality which sought to suppress all human effort, so that di-
the religious sense belongs to the seventeenth and eighteenth
vine action might have full sway over the passive soul. It em-
centuries; it hardly reappears without inverted commas after
phasized the immediacy of contact between the soul and
1823” (p. 6). To be sure, Knox notes that the pattern of en-
God, but since it also denied that such contact need be a
thusiasm is one which recurs spontaneously throughout
matter of conscious experience, quietism is better studied in
church history, and he presents brief studies of the Corinthi-
connection with Christian mysticism than (Christian) en-
an church, the Montanists, the Donatists, and some medi-
thusiasm.
eval sects, particularly the Waldensians and the Cathari. But
The real targets of Knox’s critique at this point are Ma-
Donatists are hardly a good example of enthusiasm, despite
dame Guyon and the convulsionaries at Saint Médard.
their zeal for martyrdom. Knox dismisses Montanism as
Guyon, who did much to promote quietism, evidently epito-
“naked fanaticism” (p. 49) and the medieval movements as
mizes a good deal of what Knox regarded as detestable in en-
fed by an inspiration “alien to the genius of Europe” or
thusiasm: particularly her spiritual “smugness” and, not least,
as “sporadic and unimportant, freaks of religious history”
the prominent role of influential women in supporting en-
(p. 4). All these are brought into the picture less as examples
thusiastic movements. The convulsions at the Paris cemetery
of enthusiasm requiring analysis in their own right than as
of Saint Médard in the early 1730s (including ecstatic danc-
foils to the subsequent descriptions of enthusiasm proper.
ing, many alleged cures, and speaking in unknown lan-
Even the Anabaptists, the Schwärmer themselves, are given
guages) were regarded by participants as the outpouring of
scant treatment and serve largely as a vehicle for Knox’s
the Holy Spirit expected in the last days. But for Knox they
Roman Catholic disapproval of Luther and the Reformation.
are a fitting expression of popular Jansenism and a terrible
In all this, it is clear that Knox’s chief objection to enthusias-
warning of what can happen to a movement which sits too
tic movements is their tendency to schismatic sectarianism.
loose to ecclesiastical authority. Similar to the Jansenist
“The enthusiast always begins by trying to form a church
Catholic convulsionaries were the Huguenot Camisards in
within the Church, always ends by finding himself commit-
southern France (late seventeenth to early eighteenth centu-
ted to sectarian opposition” (p. 109).
ries), among whom a form of ecstatic prophecy, involving
Knox’s somewhat more sympathetic depiction of enthu-
prostrations, trancelike states, and glossolalia, was promi-
siasm begins with his treatment of Fox, the founder of the
nent, and who in exile in Britain (where they were known
Society of Friends (Quakers). His attention naturally focuses
as “the French Prophets”) converted Ann Lee, the subse-
on Fox’s belief in “the inner light,” as illustrated by Fox’s in-
quent founder of the North American Shakers.
terruption of a preacher at Nottingham: “It is not the Scrip-
The other main object of Knox’s analysis is Wesley.
ture, it is the Holy Spirit by which holy men of old gave forth
Here Knox’s critique focuses on the religion of experience.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2806
ENTHUSIASM
An initial chapter examines the Moravian piety inculcated
identified by Knox with three roughly contemporaneous
in Germany by Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf (1700–1760).
movements in the first half of the nineteenth century—one
Like the quietists, the Moravians practiced a piety of stillness.
in Prussia, one in England, and one in North America (the
But unlike the quietists, Zinzendorf preached religion as felt
only other example of North American enthusiasm that
experience and salvation “as an immediate and joyful appre-
Knox really considers). All three shared the belief that the ex-
hension of a loving Father” (Knox, 1950, p. 410), assurance
perience of conversion made sin an impossibility.
not merely as a doctrine believed but as something felt, the
From all this it is possible to derive a thumbnail sketch
sense of God’s protective love. It was the importance of such
of the typical enthusiast in classical terms. The fundamental
experience which Wesley learned from the Moravians and
belief of the enthusiast is in the immediacy and directness
emphasized in his own doctrine of assurance—assurance of
of his experience of God. For the enthusiast, as distinct from
present pardon, the inner witness of the Spirit of God. Wes-
the quietist, this experience is self-evident and self-
ley never abandoned this belief in the importance of feelings,
authenticating: self-evident, because it will be marked by dis-
of “heart-religion,” though he did subsequently concede that
tinct inward impressions (a clear sense of God’s presence or
the consciousness of God’s acceptance was not an invariable
acceptance, and inspiration or particular revelations, includ-
or essential concomitant of that acceptance (p. 539).
ing visions) or by outward bodily manifestations (trembling
These examples might seem to have represented rela-
or prostration, inspired utterance, or miraculous healings);
tively mild forms of enthusiasm. But it is the consequences
self-authenticating, because it bears greater authority than
of such emphases, when freed from the constraints of tradi-
scripture (as usually interpreted), ecclesiastical creed, rite, or
tional discipline and ecclesiastical authority, which concern
office—greater, even, than reason itself. The enthusiast
Knox. It was the place given to the nonrational in Wesley’s
knows God’s will and acts as his agent, accountable only and
scheme of things which incited the famous remark of Bishop
directly to him. Such experiences will regularly lead the en-
Butler to Wesley: “Sir, the pretending to extraordinary reve-
thusiast to conclude (1) that he is more spiritual than other
lations and gifts of the Holy Ghost is a horrid thing, a very
believers, or that he has reached a higher stage in the Chris-
horrid thing” (p. 450). So, too, under the heading “Wesley
tian life; (2) that a less restrained form of worship should be
and the religion of experience,” Knox describes the convul-
permitted or encouraged, one in which the outward manifes-
sions, weeping, and crying out which often accompanied
tations of the Holy Spirit have proper place; and (3) that any
Wesley’s preaching. Wesley’s willingness to recognize the
forms and structures of traditional Christianity which stifle
work of God in such paroxysms and to defend their occur-
the Holy Spirit should be dispensed with. Not untypically,
rence makes the charge of enthusiast harder for him to es-
such convictions can have a strong eschatological tinge—a
cape, though Wesley himself resisted the charge, was never
belief that the millennium has dawned or that Christ’s sec-
carried away with such enthusiasm, and clearly perceived its
ond coming is imminent—which invests the enthusiastic in-
dangers. The other aspect of his teaching which might seem
dividual or sect with universal significance and can thus justi-
to merit the accusation was his view of Christian perfection,
fy strongly antisocial or revolutionary action.
since a belief in the possibility of achieving sinless perfection
TOWARD A BROADER EVALUATION OF ENTHUSIASM. Obvi-
results inevitably in spiritual elitism and claims of special rev-
ously, then, the classic view of enthusiasm has to a consider-
elation. However, “sinless perfection” was never Wesley’s
able extent been determined by the negative connotations at-
own phrase: what he encouraged his followers to seek was re-
tached to the word. Within Christianity, because of fear of
newal in love or entire sanctification; nor did he indulge in
superstition, fanaticism, and sectarianism, claims to inspira-
or encourage the more extreme ideas which his teaching
tion and fresh revelation have repeatedly been labeled as “en-
sometimes precipitated.
thusiastic” without more ado. Even Knox, in this love-hate
fascination with the subject, regularly allows his account of
Knox’s survey concludes with a brief foray into the nine-
enthusiastic eccentricities to color the total picture. Howev-
teenth century and a reference to the Irvingites, the Shakers,
er, the very evolution in the meaning of the word itself, from
and Perfectionism. Under the ministry of Edward Irving in
censure to approbation, invites a broader evaluation of the
London in the 1830s, prophecy and speaking in tongues be-
subject matter, regarding both the range of phenomena cov-
came prominent, understood as utterances in the vernacular
ered (outside as well as inside historical Christianity) and the
and in unknown languages prompted by the Holy Spirit,
possibility of a less negative appraisal. In particular, a less
comparable to the first Christian Pentecost. For Irving, these
value-laden approach to enthusiasm must view more objec-
manifestations confirmed his belief that the second coming
tively the fact that claims to inspiration and fresh revelation
of Christ was imminent. The Shakers emerged in the second
are a fundamental feature of most religions, not least of all
half of the eighteenth century from a branch of English
Christianity itself. Such an approach should therefore in-
Quakers who adopted the Camisards’ ritual practice of devo-
clude a fuller analysis of why some such claims are acceptable
tional dance to induce states of inspiration (the “shaking
and others are not.
Quakers”). Under Lee, who was convinced by revelation that
the millennium had already dawned, the movement was
Outside Christianity. A history of religions approach,
transplanted to North America in 1774. “Perfectionism” is
which looks beyond the traditional intra-Christian critique
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENTHUSIASM
2807
of enthusiasm, broadens the range of the phenomena studied
ther than the Muslim fraternity known as the dervishes, who
and of the tools used in evaluation.
since the twelfth century have sought clearer apprehension
of God and greater spiritual illumination through hypnotic-
An obvious starting point is the context of Greek
like trance culminating often in a whirling dance.
thought and religion, from which the word enthusiasm
comes, and in which one could regard enthusiasm as some-
A further advantage enjoyed by present-day students of
thing positive without being uncritical. According to Plato’s
enthusiasm over their predecessors is the availability of devel-
Socrates, “our greatest blessings come to us by way of mad-
oped analyses of the social functions and psychological
ness, provided the madness is given us by divine gift” (Phae-
mechanisms of enthusiasm: for example, the shaman’s role
drus 244a). Socrates proceeded to distinguish four types of
in enabling a community to cope with the unknown or with
this “divine madness”—as E. R. Dodds has shown in his con-
sickness and death; the techniques by which ecstasy can be
cise summary (1951): (1) prophetic madness, whose patron
induced; or the way in which ecstasy can be manipulated to
god is Apollo; (2) telestic or ritual madness, whose patron
strengthen and legitimize a leader’s authority or to voice the
is Dionysos; (3) poetic madness, inspired by the Muses; and
protest of a deprived section of society. It would be unfortu-
(4) erotic madness, inspired by Aphrodite and Eros. Madness
nate, however, if such analyses were confined to the field of
(mania) is not synonymous with enthusiasm (entheos, “full
abnormal psychology or subordinated to theories of social
of or inspired by the god”; enthousiasmos, “inspiration, fren-
and economic deprivation, as has often been the case. Enthu-
zy”), but there is considerable overlap in meaning, since en-
siasm in itself deserves neither praise nor blame; it can be as
thusiasm also designated the classic examples of the first two
integrative for some individuals and communities as it is dis-
kinds of madness: the Pythia of the Delphic oracle, who
integrative for others. The extreme forms of enthusiasm are
prophesied in a state of possession, speaking in the first per-
just that, extreme forms, and may be as much due to the hos-
son as Apollo’s voice, and the frenzied dancing of the Diony-
tility of those who feel threatened by any expression of en-
sian cult, through which the devotees sought the release of
thusiasm as to the enthusiast’s own lack of control. We can
ecstasy. This early recognition of a dimension of experience
speak of the cathartic benefit of phenomena such as a Diony-
beyond control of the human mind—of an inspiration expe-
sian ritual (and not only for the less articulate) and compare
rienced as coming from without, to which one must yield
it to the temporarily inhibition-loosening benefits of a festi-
in order to experience its full benefit—is of lasting relevance
val like the Mardi Gras. Enthusiasm can bring to expression
in any critique of enthusiasm, as is the recognition of a conti-
nonrational and unconscious aspects of the personality and
nuity or similarity between poetic inspiration and sexual ec-
thus provide both release and stimulus for the individual and
stasy on the one hand and enthusiasm on the other. And,
the community if sympathetically handled. In a fully round-
while Christianity looks more to the Hebrew idea of prophe-
ed assessment of enthusiasm, psychological and sociological
cy than to the ecstatic prophecy of the Hellenistic world, the
categories should not be permitted to squeeze out the more
phenomenology of Hebrew inspiration is not so very differ-
theological categories of symbol and sacrament.
ent, as the visions and first-person oracles of the major
prophets of the Hebrew scriptures clearly testify.
Christian enthusiasm. A broader evaluation of enthusi-
asm must also take full account of the extent of enthusiasm
The association of enthusiasm with the ancient Baccha-
within the Christian tradition itself. Not least in importance
nalia was well known by those who first used the term in the
is the fact that Christianity in its beginnings can properly be
seventeenth century, which explains their heavy note of dis-
described as an enthusiastic sect within first-century Juda-
approval. In the past hundred years, however, documenta-
ism. Jesus himself can hardly be called an ecstatic, but the
tion of similar phenomena from other cultures has grown
immediacy of his experience of God as Father and of the
apace. Most striking of these is shamanism, defined by Mir-
power of the Holy Spirit, not to mention his healings and
cea Eliade as a “technique of ecstasy.”
claims to eschatological finality, are clearly attested in Chris-
By examining the religious interpretations and inten-
tian sources and have left their mark on subsequent spiritual-
tions of shamans who communicate directly with the super-
ity as well as doctrine. However, so far as enthusiasm is con-
natural world, Eliade argues for a more precise distinction
cerned, much more influential has been the record, given in
between ecstasy and enthusiasm. In ecstasy, the soul is be-
the Acts of the Apostles, of the Christian movement itself, from
lieved to leave the body during a trance in order to ascend
the first Christian Pentecost onward. According to this ac-
to the sky or descend to the underworld, where it may re-
count, ecstatic visions (described on two occasions precisely
trieve the soul of sick persons and restore them to health. En-
in those terms) played a significant part in directing the
thusiasm, on the other hand, is a term more suitably applied
course of the earliest Christian expansion. Regular reports are
to cases in which a supernatural being (divinity, ancestor, or
given of miracles, including healings effected by Peter’s shad-
demon) inhabits or possesses an individual’s body or person-
ow or handkerchiefs touched by Paul. The Holy Spirit was
ality. As in the many instances already mentioned, the in-
understood to come upon, enter, and fill the individual
dwelling spirit is recognized by some unusual behavior, senti-
Christian with a clear physical impact which included glosso-
ments, or especially sounds. For a parallel to the group
lalia. Experiences of inspired utterances were evidently
ecstasy of the Camisards or the Shakers, we need look no fur-
prized, not least as evidence that the long withdrawn spirit
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2808
ENTHUSIASM
of prophecy had been poured out in eschatological fullness.
the traditions of Western rationalism and most conducive to
All this is the stuff of enthusiasm throughout the history of
the emergence of indigenous forms of Christianity in Africa
Christianity, so it is hardly surprising that the desire to recov-
and South America, as illustrated especially by the profusion
er or experience again the Pentecostal spirit of the primitive
of independent African churches which are Pentecostal (i.e.,
church is one of the most recurrent features of enthusiasm
enthusiastic) in character. This suggests, once again, that Eu-
from the radical Reformation onward. Similarly, it should
ropean antipathy to enthusiasm reflects as much the culture
occasion little surprise that the canonical Revelation to John
patterns particularly of northern Europe as it does the em-
has provided a ready source of inspiration for apocalyptic and
phasis of enthusiasm on experience and emotion. Further-
millenarian movements within Christianity down through
more, since the 1950s, Pentecostalism has been increasingly
the centuries.
recognized as a valid and vital expression of Christianity—
the first formal recognition from within mainstream Western
Paul was no stranger to enthusiastic phenomena, in-
Christianity that the enthusiastic dimension should have a
cluding the ascent to heaven and speaking in tongues. But
place within a fully rounded Christianity. Finally, while clas-
his approach to excessive enthusiasm, particularly in the
sical Pentecostalism was largely vulnerable to reductive psy-
church at Corinth, is marked by a rare balance of sympathy
chological and sociological analyses, the spread of Pentecos-
and firmness. In Paul, the older Jewish recognition of the
tal emphases into the older Christian denominations with
need to “test the spirits” in cases of claimed inspiration
the charismatic renewal which began in the 1960s has em-
achieves a degree of sophistication seldom matched before or
braced a much broader range of society and undermined
since. To be accepted as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit,
many analytic stereotypes.
inspiration (1) must be in accord with the gospel, whose
power constituted them as Christians, (2) must be consistent
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. Enthusiasm should not be dis-
with and expressive of love for fellow Christians, and (3)
missed as a primitive throwback or marginal movement,
should aim to provide beneficial service to the community.
whether in religion in general or in Christianity in particular.
In short, Paul viewed enthusiasm as an aberrant phenome-
It expresses a fundamental aspect, an experiential dimension,
non only when it offended the love of neighbor which Jesus
of religion. Within the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially,
so completely embodied.
it forms a strand as important as scripture, creed, or priest-
hood—an experience of the Spirit of God not restricted to
A broader critique of enthusiasm, less dominated by
mediation by holy book or holy ritual. The history of enthu-
Western rationalist perspectives, would also take fuller ac-
siasm within Christianity strongly suggests that, unless given
count of the whole phenomenon of Eastern Christian spiri-
adequate expression within Christian worship and spirituali-
tuality, including such early writings as the Odes of Solomon
ty, it will burst forth sooner or later outside organized struc-
and the homilies of Makarios of Egypt, and such early move-
tures, often in exotic forms. This further suggests that, with-
ments as that of the Desert Fathers and Messalianism, the
out checks such as those counseled by Paul, enthusiasm all
latter the only Christian sect to be explicitly called “enthusi-
too soon becomes the reductio ad absurdum of the religion
ast” by the church fathers. In the medieval period, mysticism
of the Spirit. Here, too, the words of Jonathan Edwards on
as well as millenarianism provide overlapping phenomena,
the similar theme of “religious affections” have continued ap-
and with the fuller documentation now available, it is possi-
plication. “As there is no true religion where there is nothing
ble to achieve a more balanced view than that attained by
else but affection, so there is no true religion where there is
Knox of both the prophetic impact of Joachim of Fiore
no religious affection” ([1746] 1959, p. 120).
(1145–1202) and the character of the radical Reformation.
Most striking of all, for an author writing in the mid-
SEE ALSO Ecstasy; Frenzy; Glossolalia; Inspiration; Moravi-
twentieth century, was Knox’s neglect of enthusiastic features
ans; Oracles; Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity;
of North American Christianity during the nineteenth cen-
Prophecy; Quakers; Quietism; Shakers; Spirit Possession;
tury, particularly camp meetings, revivalism, and the holiness
Wesley Brothers.
movement, as well as his neglect of the emergence in Britain
of primitive Methodism and “higher life” teaching. Nor
BIBLIOGRAPHY
should the role of claimed revelations and prophecies in the
Given the ambiguity of the word enthusiasm, the reader should
beginnings of the Church of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
consult Susie I. Tucker’s Enthusiasm: A Study in Semantic
and of the Seventh-day Adventists be ignored.
Change (Cambridge, U.K., 1972), which traces the evolution
of the meaning of the word.
A prime example of enthusiastic Christianity is the
twentieth-century Pentecostal movement, with its special
For the background in Greek thought, see E. R. Dodds’s The
Greeks and the Irrational (Berkeley, 1951), especially chapter
emphasis on a second experience of the Holy Spirit distinct
3, and Walter F. Otto’s Dionysus: Myth and Cult (Blooming-
from and subsequent to conversion, on continued bestowal
ton, Ind., 1973). Alfred Guillaume’s 1938 Bampton Lec-
of spiritual gifts, and particularly on speaking in tongues.
tures, Prophecy and Divination among the Hebrews and Other
Within the history of Christian enthusiasm, the importance
Semites (London, 1938), treats enthusiasm in Jewish and
of Pentecostalism can hardly be overestimated. It is the form
Muslim tradition. Mircea Eliade’s classic history of religions
of Western Christianity which has been least influenced by
study, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (1951; rev.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ENUMA ELISH
2809
& enl. ed., London, 1964), examines shamanism in Siberia
ly 1000 to 300 BCE, so the date of composition is established
and elsewhere. Eliade’s study is complemented by I. M.
with some certainty in the final period of Mesopotamian civ-
Lewis’s Ecstatic Religion: An Anthropological Study of Spirit
ilization.
Possession and Shamanism (Harmondsworth, 1971). Still
valuable are the psychological observations of William
In contrast to Sumerian mythology, which attributes
James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in
the beginnings of the creation of the cosmos to two essential
Human Nature (New York, 1902).
elements, heaven and earth, from which the gods and the
For enthusiasm within Christianity, the period of Christian begin-
human race both sprang, the Enuma elish myth places the
nings is covered in P. G. S. Hopwood’s The Religious Experi-
origins of the cosmos before heaven and earth in a far-off
ence of the Primitive Church (New York, 1937) and in my
time. Only primeval waters existed: salt water, called Tiamat,
Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic
and sweet water, called Apsu, the first living things in the
Experience of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the
cosmos. Given the prominent part played by salt water (Tia-
New Testament (Philadelphia, 1975). Simon Tugwell pro-
mat) in the Enuma elish story, some have concluded that this
vides a light introduction to the enthusiasm of Eastern Chris-
myth must be non-Mesopotamian in origin, maybe Syrian
tian spirituality in his Did You Receive the Spirit? (London,
or at least Semitic (Jacobsen, 1976, pp. 165–187; Durand,
1972). For the medieval period, see the fascinating account
1993, pp. 41–61). This theory is somewhat puzzling because
of the revolutionary millenarian sects in Norman R. C.
the main god of the myth, Marduk, does not have the quali-
Cohn’s The Pursuit of the Millennium, 3d ed. (New York,
1970). For one of several specialist studies of Joachim of
ties of Adad, the main god of the Semitic-Occidental tale,
Fiore and his influence, see Marjorie E. Reeves’s The Influ-
who also appears in a different story in Assyro-Babylonian
ence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages: A Study of Joachi-
mythology.
mism (Oxford, 1969). Equally fascinating is Herbert Thurs-
The myth is taken from seven tablets and closes with
ton’s The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism (London, 1952).
the words of the “Hymn of Marduk” (VI.161). The hymn
George H. Williams’s The Radical Reformation (Philadelphia,
was certainly recited if not actually sung, as recorded in the
1962) corrects the traditional “bad press” given to the most
enthusiastic strand of the Reformation.
ritual for the festival of the New Year at the temple Akitu.
The festival record also notes the day on which the priest car-
Any enquiry into the Christian phenomena must begin with Ron-
ried out the rite, the fourth day of the eleven set aside for
ald Knox’s Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion
the entire festival, which was celebrated in the month of
with Special Reference to the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Cen-
turies (Oxford, 1950), which, despite the deficiencies noted
Nisan.
above, remains a magnificent and magisterial study. From
THE PLOT. The document opens with a description of the
the period treated by Knox, two contributions from men of
situation in the beginning, when Apsu and Tiamat exist and
stature who knew enthusiastic movements from the inside
mix their waters, from which emerges the first pair of prime-
are still worth considering: John Wesley’s sermon The Nature
val divinities, Lahmu and Lahama. In turn, Lahmu and
of Enthusiasm (1750), usually printed as sermon 32 in stan-
Lahama produce Anshar and Kishar, from whom comes
dard collections of Wesley’s forty-four sermons; and Jona-
Anu, who produces Nudimmud, otherwise known as Ea, the
than Edwards’s A Treatise concerning Religious Affections
god of wisdom (I.1–20). The new generation of gods make
(Boston, 1746), which is reproduced in volume 2 of The
Works of Jonathan Edwards, edited by John E. Smith (New
too much noise and disturb Apsu’s sleep. Apsu becomes
Haven, 1959).
angry and wants to punish the young gods, but their mother
Tiamat disagrees. The young gods, however, give no indica-
For the modern period, Timothy L. Smith provides a balanced
view in his Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth-
tion of being sorry, so Apsu, urged on by his herald Mummu,
Century America (New York, 1957). The compendious study
plans to destroy the troublemakers.
by Walter J. Hollenweger, The Pentecostals (London, 1972),
The young gods hear of these plans, and Ea decides to
is the standard work on the subject. Kilian McDonnell pro-
protect the new generation from Apsu’s attack. Ea uses his
vides a countercritique of the wide range of psychological
magic to send Apsu to sleep and kills him (I.21–70). In this
and sociological analyses of Pentecostal phenomena in Char-
way Ea takes over the home of Apsu and settles in there with
ismatic Renewal and the Churches (New York, 1976).
his consort, producing the hero of the myth, Marduk. Even
JAMES D. G. DUNN (1987)
at birth Marduk already demonstrates a physical strength
that makes him superior to all the other gods (I.71–109).
In the meantime, Tiamat, even more upset by the noise
ENUMA ELISH, the name given to the myth that con-
of the young gods, seeks the help of the other primeval gods
tains the theological thoughts of Babylon in the first millen-
to put an end to the continuing disturbance. With the help
nium, is so called from its opening words, “When above.”
of Æubur, who produces enormous dragons, she creates elev-
The style and content of the poem indicate that it is indeed
en giant, frightening monsters, and she engages in battle
the authentic product of the new religious thinking that
against her sons. Tiamat makes Kingu leader of her forces
placed the god Marduk at the head of the pantheon. Manu-
for the purpose, and she also marries him and entrusts him
scripts of this myth have been found at many different sites
with the tablets of destiny. This news reaches of Ea, who in-
in Assyria and Babylon, covering a period from approximate-
forms the assembly of the gods (I.101–II.70).
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2810
ENUMA ELISH
Anshar, to whom Ea has turned, first rebukes him for
to build the Sumerian cities that had not existed previously
killing Apsu and then sends the god of wisdom to Tiamat
along with their temples (ll. 35–39ff.). The cities concerned
to calm her and thus forestall the catastrophe. Ea goes to Tia-
are Nippur with the temple Ekur, Uruk with the temple
mat, who is enraged and refuses to accept his apologies, so
Eanna, Eridu with the temple Apsu, and the sacred cities of
the divine messenger returns empty-handed. Anshar tries
Enlil, Inanna, and Enki, the cities of the Sumerian principal
again, sending his son Anu, who returns with the same result
gods. The symbiotic relationship between Eridu and Baby-
as Ea. A mood of dejection sets in throughout the divine
lon, connected by the Esagila temple, forms the basis for the
world. As ever, Ea proposes the perfect solution—to call for
accession of Marduk to the head of the pantheon, which had
Marduk’s help. Marduk is warned in advance by his father
once been Sumerian but has become Babylonian.
and goes to Anshar to volunteer his services on condition
I
that the gods grant him supreme power among the gods if
NTERPRETATION. The scribes had grasped that there were
two possible ways to elevate their poliad god to a central posi-
he is victorious (II.71–162).
tion in the pantheon: either to link Marduk to the god of
The gods hold an assembly and agree to grant Marduk
Nippur (Enlil) or, certainly more subtle, to relate him to the
the power he has requested so he can confront the hostile
god Enki. It may be surprising that they chose to establish
army straightaway (III.1–IV.34). Marduk dons his fighting
a father-son relationship between Enki and Marduk, because
gear and creates new weapons, including a spell to counteract
the former had never historically guaranteed the kingship.
Tiamat’s poison. There is a titanic struggle, but Marduk’s
Yet the choice of the scribes shows a quite remarkable intelli-
arrow strikes Tiamat’s heart. She collapses to the ground
gence: they wanted to overturn historical reality and turn it
while her army is captured (IV.35–128).
to something of cosmic significance.
Marduk now begins his work of creation. He cuts Tia-
All the Sumerian traditions assigned the position of
mat’s body in two. With the upper part of her body he forms
principal god in their pantheon to Enlil. But at the same time
the heavens with all the established points, the year and the
they emphasized that the first seat of the kingship before the
month, the sun and the moon. With the lower part he creates
Flood was the city of Eridu, the home of the god Enki, who
the earth with its mountains and rivers. Marduk receives
was thus regarded as the first holder of royal power on earth.
praise and honor from all the gods. He then decides to create
Hence the scribes decided to make Marduk the son of Enki.
a suitable sanctuary for himself, which is called Babylon
Their syllogistic reasoning thus becomes quite clear: if Enki
(IV.129–V.156). Marduk continues his work of creation,
the king is Marduk’s father, then Marduk becomes the king.
making the human race from the blood of Kingu, giving it
In addition, if Eridu is the home of Enki and the place of
the task of labor, and he reorganizes the pantheon into great-
his kingship, then Babylon, the home of Marduk, is auto-
er and lesser gods, who all sing a hymn to his glory in Baby-
matically the one true location of the kingship. So the words
lon (VI.1–120). The poem ends with a litany of fifty names
of Berossus (third century BCE) that the first royal capital on
of Marduk and a doxology (VI.121–VII.162).
earth was Babylon explains how convincing the syllogism de-
Directly linked to this, at least in terms of ideas, is an
vised by the scribes of Babylon became for later generations.
incantation that contains in its opening passage the story of
One important indication of the process begun by
the creation or an account of the way the earth was arranged.
Marduk’s priests is the fact that among the various names of
The god responsible for this creative process is Marduk, who
Babylon is Nun(ki), or Eridu(ki), the city sacred to the god
has replaced the cosmic trio of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, upon
Enki, the father of Marduk, and the first city established on
whom this high honor and task is normally bestowed. This
earth according to Sumerian tradition. This tradition allows
text is a forerunner of the great religious revolution by which
the Babylonian scholars to compare the two cities of Eridu
the Babylonian priests placed their god at the head of the
and Babylon in the first instance, and then to replace the for-
pantheon, a task completed by the creation of the poem
mer with the latter. This is without doubt the first step in
Enuma elish.
the slow development through which Babylon categorizes it-
The story may be divided into three quite distinct parts.
self as an ancient city, dating from the earliest times and ris-
In the first, it is clear that the earth was still untouched and
ing to the definitive status of the first city founded by the
all the lands still seas, so there were no cities or materials to
gods. The idea in the biblical story of the Tower of Babel
build them, and thus no temples either (obv. ll.1–11). In the
that Babel was the first city the human race had tried to build
second part, Marduk intervenes and begins to separate the
has a perfect counterpart in a Babylonian mythological text.
waters of the sea and to carry out the work that produces
The Babylonian scholar responsible had subtly adapted the
the present world order. He creates humanity and the ani-
new reality to the earlier mythological situation. Here too,
mals of Sumukan, along with the entire environment, the
Eridu is the first city founded, but with subtle shrewdness
flora and fauna, to make the world a pleasant place to visit.
a substitution takes place. No longer does Eridu—ancient
He of course pays a good deal of attention to Babylon and
Eridu, that is—hold the leading position, but Babylon and
the Esagila, which the Anunna call “a pure city, home of the
its main temple Esagila have become in this document the
heart’s desire” (ll.12–34). In the third part, once the earth
key to understanding the situation. Eridu is quite clearly an
has been made habitable, Marduk creates bricks and begins
epithet of Babylon, it is Babylon where the gods decide 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
ENUMA ELISH
2811
live, and it is Marduk, under the name Lugaldukuga, who
mian religious texts shudder. Almost nothing is known of the
creates the city and builds the temple dedicated to him, the
history of Babylon in this final time; that is, the Achemenid
Esagila.
and Greek periods. Reading the fragments of Berossus, one
is able to form the idea that the Babylonian religion centered
With this delicate substitution the Babylonians manage
around Marduk and that his son Nabu continued it. On the
to establish their city as the first human urban settlement,
other hand little is known of the fate of the cosmic triad Anu,
as one may deduce from the biblical narrative and, subse-
quently, from later literature. It is not by chance or by mis-
Enlil, and Ea, who are in a backroom position to say the
take that Berossus, when he deals in his Babiloniaka with the
least.
cities founded by the gods before the Flood, lists Babylon in
These commentaries, however, relate the violent end of
first place, proving that the substitution effected by the Baby-
these gods at the hands of Bel, the title assumed by Marduk
lonians had by then become part of the accepted cultural her-
when he became head of the pantheon, the greatest and most
itage of the ancient world. The god central to Enuma elish
exalted of the Sumerian pantheon, to whom was attributed
is clearly Marduk, the principal god of Babylon, who was
the creation and organization of the cosmos. The end is
credited not only with the mythical foundation of the city
bloody, as subsequent texts reveal, for Marduk’s father Ea,
but also with the creation of the other principal cities of
who is sent away to Apsu; for Enlil, banished to the under-
Sumer.
world; and for Anu and his father Anshar. Ishtaran is also
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. The origin of the universe, as
killed to hurt the goddess Ishtar, for reasons that remain un-
told in Enuma elish, has counterparts in the works of other
clear. Nabu is responsible for killing the eagle Anzu. The
Hellenistic and Syrian writers. A few of the surviving pas-
texts of course refer to these killings symbolically during
sages are mentioned below.
the various ceremonies at the different festivals, especially at
The first and the closest to the Babylonian account
the most important one for the New Year. The same theolog-
seems to be that in Eudemus (third century
ical commentaries that mention the killing of the principal
BCE), quoted by
the later philosopher Damascius (fifth–sixth century
gods of the Sumerian pantheon, especially Anu, Enlil, and
CE),
who put the matter as follows:
Ea, also mention the enemies of Marduk, the god of Baby-
lon, who meet their end in the poem Enuma elish. The texts
Amongst the barbarians, it does not seem that the Baby-
mention Tiamat and Kingu by name, along with their seven
lonians talked of a single universal principle. They held
children and forty children respectively. Another recurring
the theory that there were two: Thaute and Apason,
figure is Anzu. As emphasized above, the most powerful gods
making the latter the husband of the former, whom
of the Sumerian pantheon, Anu and Enlil, along with their
they call the “mother of the gods.” In the first instance
they gave birth to a single baby, Moümis, who I sup-
children, are victims of the same violent acts.
pose represented the intelligible world (derived from
ENUMA ELISH AND THE BIBLE. Ever since the first publica-
the two principles). Another generation followed, off-
tion of the work’s text, comparisons have been drawn be-
spring of the same parents: Dachê and Dachos. Then
tween Enuma elish and the Bible, particularly the first chap-
a third, Kissarê and Assôros, who produced the trio
Anos, Illinos, and Aos. Aos and Dauche brought into
ter of Genesis. Attention has been drawn to the parallels
the world a son called Bel, and they say that he was the
between the seven tablets of Enuma elish and the biblical
Creator. (Bottéro-Kramer, 1989, pp. 721–722)
seven days of creation. Both stories begin with primeval
water, which in the Bible is called tehom, the Hebrew cognate
Berossus, whose work has survived in fragments thanks to
of Tiamat; the biblical spirit (or wind) of God that hovered
later writers, offers a vision of the origin of the world only
over the waters bears some similarity to the winds of Anu
partly similar to the Babylonian one. The principle appears
that roiled Tiamat. Both stories contain the notion of cre-
to be water, more precisely salt water, called Thalatta, which
ative work: the biblical sky divides the waters above from the
had produced animals and monsters together with primitive
waters below, as the upper half of Tiamat’s body is divided
people who lived like wild animals. Those people needed to
from her lower half by the sky, and both stories depict in the
be taught by a sage named Oan, who was half man and half
same way the origin and function of the sun and the moon.
fish. While these beings were living in a chaotic magma,
However, the differences between Genesis 1 and Enuma elish
Belos attacked and destroyed them. Belos rose up and cut
are so vast that there is no reason to talk of mythological sim-
Thalatta in two. With one half he made earth, with the other
ilarity or literary dependence. The similarities are evidence
half, heaven. After he cut off her head, he mixed the blood
only of a shared cosmology, a shared “science” that saw the
that gushed out with earth and created human beings with
world as beginning in water and surrounded by it, a concept
their divine qualities, and then all the animals of the present
also found in early Greece. The importance of Enuma elish
world. These writers generally regard water as the primordial
to the study of Genesis 1 is to demonstrate that these concepts
element.
were in fact (and were almost certainly perceived to be) com-
The theological commentaries edited at Uruk in the
mon Near Eastern lore rather than data of Israel’s revelation,
final period of the cuneiform culture include accounts that
and that Israel used this lore to convey its own independent
would make even the most detached reader of Mesopota-
message.
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2812
EOHESUS, COUNCIL OF
The most striking parallels between Enuma elish and the
EPHRAEM OF SYRIA (c. 306–373) was a theologian,
Bible are not to Genesis but to the scattered poetic passages
biblical interpreter, teacher, poet, and hymnographer whose
that allude to the Lord’s defeat of the sea in primordial times.
teaching activity and prolific writings have had lasting influ-
This defeat of the sea is often accompanied by mention of
ence on the Christian tradition. Renowned for his hymns
the kingship of God, the creation of the world, and some-
and poetic homilies, he is regarded as the preeminent Syrian
times the creation of the Temple. These themes present a
father, a doctor of the universal church, and, according to
fundamental biblical cluster of ideas, one that has striking
Robert Murray, “the greatest poet of the patristic age . . .
similarities with ideas in Enuma elish. This does not mean
perhaps, the only theologian-poet to rank beside Dante”
that the motifs have a Babylonian origin. The defeat of the
(“Ephrem Syrus, St.,” in Catholic Dictionary of Theology, vol.
sea, the kingship of the god, and the building of the god’s
2, London, 1967, p. 222).
palace (but not the theme of creation) are also found together
in the Ugaritic Baal epic, written circa 1500
Born in Edessa (present-day Urfa, Turkey) in a Chris-
BCE and there-
fore (it is believed) earlier than Enuma elish. This cluster is
tian family (not a pagan household as some sources would
not found in earlier Mesopotamian sources; most probably
have it), Ephraem lived for many years in Nisibis and taught
it was an ancient West Semitic collection of ideas that found
at the catechetical school there. A town on the eastern
expression in Ugaritic literary works and the Bible and that
Roman frontier, Nisibis was frequently pressed by the Per-
at some point was brought into Mesopotamia.
sians. It was finally ceded to them in 363, at which time
Ephraem, with the larger part of the Christian population,
SEE ALSO Akitu; Cosmogony; Marduk; Mesopotamian Reli-
fled westward to Edessa, a partially Hellenized cultural center
gions, overview article; Polytheism.
still in Roman hands. Ephraem’s hymns on Nisibis reflect
the vicissitudes of the Christian community there.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Edessa was a hotbed of heresies, where Arians,
Al Rawi, F. N. H., and A. R. George. “Tablets from the Sippar
Manichaeans, Marcionites, and the followers of the famous
Library. II. Tablet II of the Babylonian Creation Epic.” Iraq
Bardaisan (Bardesanes)—many of whom successfully spread
52 (1990): 149–157.
their teachings through poems and songs—had confused and
Bottéro, Jean. Mythes et rites de Babylone. Paris, 1985.
divided the Christians. It was here that Ephraem, perhaps or-
Bottéro, Jean, and Samuel Noah Kramer. Lorsque les dieux faisai-
dained a deacon by this time, flourished as an orthodox
ent l’homme. Mythologie mésopotamienne. Paris, 1989.
teacher, effective apologist, and unifying leader.
Clifford, Richard J. Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and
Ephraem was called “the harp of the Spirit” by his con-
in the Bible. Washington, D.C., 1994.
temporaries. His fame spread after his death, and he came
Durand, Jean-Marie.“Le mithologème du combat entre le dieu de
to be venerated as a saint. His ancient biographers embel-
l’orage et la mer en Mésopotamie.” MARI 7 (1993): 41–61.
lished his life with many accounts emphasizing his apologetic
Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis. Chicago, 1942.
work against the Arians and highlighting the traditional view
of Ephraem as father of Syrian monasticism. He is said to
Jacobsen, Thorkild. “The Battle between Marduk and Tiamat.”
Journal of the American Oriental Society 88 (January–March
have visited the great monastic centers in Egypt; it is also told
1968): 104–108.
that upon his return he met with Basil of Caesarea, in whose
presence he miraculously spoke Greek. Although Ephraem
Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness. New Haven,
no doubt led a celibate life of evangelical fervor and simplici-
Conn., 1987.
ty and greatly admired contemporary ascetics, the traditional
Labat, René. Le poème babylonien de la création. Paris, 1935.
image of him as a monk does not fit his actual intense activity
Lambert, W. G. “Akkadische Mythen und Epen: Enuma Elisch.”
as a Christian teacher, public defender of the faith, and in-
In Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments III/II,
spired poet who led people in song.
pp. 565–601. Gütersloh, Germany, 1994.
An immense legacy of writings in Syriac, Armenian,
Lambert, W. G., and Simon B. Parker. Enuma Elish: The Babylo-
Greek, and Latin has been preserved under Ephraem’s name,
nian Epic of Creation: The Cuneiform Text. Oxford, 1966.
but much of it is spurious, especially the materials in Greek
Pettinato, Giovanni. Babilonia: Centro dell’Universo. Milan, 1988.
and Latin. Nevertheless, scholarship after World War II has
Schnabel, Paul. Berossos und die babylonisch-hellenistische Literatur.
uncovered an impressive body of authentic works in the orig-
Leipzig, 1915.
inal Syriac and also in Armenian versions.
TIKVA FRYMER-KENSKY (1987)
Ephraem’s writings consist of prose works, poetic homi-
GIOVANNI PETTINATO (2005)
lies, and hymns. Of his prose works the most numerous are
Translated from Italian by Paul Ellis
biblical commentaries (on Genesis, Exodus, the letters of Paul,
and Tatian’s Diatessaron). He also wrote prose refutations
against Mani, Marcion, and Bardaisan, as well as a number
EOHESUS, COUNCIL OF SEE COUNCILS,
of prose sermons and ascetical works the authenticity of
ARTICLE ON CHRISTIAN COUNCILS
which is disputed. Ephraem’s poetical homilies are metrical
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EPICS
2813
sermons intended for recitation rather than singing. Among
BIBLIOGRAPHY
them are the six Sermons on Faith deriving from the Nisibine
The following sources and studies can be recommended for fur-
period and containing references to the Persian danger.
ther reading. A systematic study of Ephraem’s theology is yet
Many other similar metrical sermons on various topics attri-
to be written.
buted to him are of doubtful authenticity.
Beck, Edmund, ed. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium,
Scriptores Syri. Louvain, 1955–1975. The standard editions
Ephraem’s fame justly rests on hundreds of exquisite po-
of the hymns and homilies of Ephraem, with German trans-
etic hymns that interpret, defend, and celebrate the basic
lations, are available in different volumes in this series.
mysteries of the Christian faith: creation, incarnation, re-
Brock, Sebastian, trans. The Harp of the Spirit. Studies Supple-
demption, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Mary, the church, sacra-
mentary to Sobornost, no. 4. San Bernardino, Calif., 1983.
ments, and the kingdom of God. They are preserved in indi-
The best collection of English translations of seventeen of
vidual collections under such titles as Hymns on Faith, Hymns
Ephraem’s hymns and the Homily on the Nativity.
against Heresies, Hymns on the Crucifixion, Hymns on Para-
Gwynn, John, ed. Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of
dise, and Hymns on the Church. Acknowledged as jewels of
Ephraim the Syrian. Select Library of Nicene and Post-
Semitic poetry, these hymns reflect Ephraem’s superb talents
Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 8, pt. 2. Grand Rapids,
in their diverse symmetrical forms, cascades of imagery,
Mich., 1969. English translations of the hymns on nativity,
breathtaking parallelisms, and artistic wordplays, all extreme-
Epiphany, faith, and Nisibis, as well as of the homilies on the
ly difficult to render in English. Although many are com-
Lord, repentance, and the Sinful Woman.
posed of multiple stanzas accompanied by refrains, others are
Murray, Robert. Symbols of Church and Kingdom: A Study in Early
cast in the form of dramatic disputations, for example, be-
Syriac Tradition. London, 1975. A pioneering exploration of
tween Death and Christ or Death and Satan, a style with
sources and themes of early Syrian writers, especially Aphr-
Mesopotamian precedents.
aates and Ephraem, dealing with Christ and the church.
Vööbus, Arthur. Literary, Critical and Historical Studies in Ephrem
Although Ephraem used traditional Christian themes
the Syrian. Uppsala, 1958. An analysis of the sources, life,
and known Semitic literary forms, his originality and fresh-
thought, and role of Ephraem in the tradition of Syrian mo-
ness are striking. Some examples may indicate why he is
nasticism.
hailed as one of the world’s greatest religious poets. In one
hymn to Christ, translated by Robert Murray in Eastern
THEODORE STYLIANOPOULOS (1987)
Churches Review 3 (1970), Ephraem vividly associates images
of the Holy Spirit’s descent on Mary, Jesus’ baptism, Chris-
tian baptism, and the Eucharist:
EPICS are extended narrative poems that establish for their
See, Fire and Spirit in the womb that bore You!
hearers and/or readers a particular universe of the imagina-
See, Fire and Spirit in the river where you were baptized!
tion by means of cosmogonic and sacrificial mythologies,
Fire and Spirit in our Baptism;
chronicles of kings and nobles, religious and philosophical
in the Bread and the Cup, Fire and Holy Spirit!
teachings, and, above all, the heroic exploits of a past age.
Where a living oral tradition persists, this bygone age of gods,
In another incarnational hymn, Ephraem fashions extended
goddesses, and heroes may be reactualized and experienced
imagery of Christ as the pearl. This hymn plays on the words
anew each time an epic is recited or sung and performed in
amoda (“diver”) and amida (“baptized”). The pearl is found
ritual, festival, or secular contexts. The capacity of an oral
by plunging into the water, but it must be pierced (a refer-
epic to change is definitive, for it is continually re-created by
ence to Christ’s suffering) before it can be set in its place of
singers, actors, audiences, and environments, and the se-
honor.
quence and length of its episodes remain fluid. By contrast,
The form of the dramatic disputation is exemplified by
epics that have passed from oral to written poetry or height-
several hymns on Christ’s descent into hell that celebrate his
ened prose with no surviving performance traditions, and
cosmic victory over Death. In one such hymn, Death ad-
epics such as Vergil’s Aeneid that were first composed in writ-
dresses Christ on the cross, challenging and taunting him in
ing, have become records of particular worldviews, histories,
his apparent weakness. Then Jesus signals his own death with
and religious attitudes that now are modified only by various
a loud cry (“Our Lord’s voice rang out thunderously in
interpretations of them.
Sheol”), and angels of light illumine the darkness of hell.
Because they are indeed “epic” in scope, there is scarcely
Seized by terrible fear, Death repents of its prideful words,
a dimension of human experience that may be excluded from
confesses Jesus as king, and submissively hands over Adam
these versified repositories. The Sanskrit Maha¯bha¯rata, lon-
as the first fruits of death with the words: “As first hostage
gest of oral-literary epics with its 100,000 verses in eighteen
I give you Adam’s body. Ascend now and reign over all, and
books, serves as a vast library of mythology, folklore, religion,
when I hear your trumpet call, with my own hands I will
and philosophy, compiled from oral traditions during a peri-
bring forth the dead at your coming” (Brock, 1983, p. 44).
od of eight centuries in the formative age of classical Hindu-
The hymn ends in a crescendo of praise to Christ that is typi-
ism. Major narrative portions are still recited in Sanskrit all
cal of Ephraem’s poetry.
over India, and various regions have vernacular versions, as
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2814
EPICS
is the case also with the other great Sanskrit epic, the
where the complex destinies of the heroes are assumed into
Ra¯ma¯yana. In the nearly sixty thousand verses of the Persian
the sacrifice and regeneration of the cosmos itself.
Sha¯h-na¯mah, the poet Firdawsi, working from older sources,
The great majority of known epics, whether oral in
undertook nothing less than the history of Iran from creation
composition, oral-literary, or solely literary, have been heroic
to the Arab conquest in the seventh century. The effort re-
ones. They are dominated by heroes (rarely heroines) whose
quired thirty-five years, but one poet produced the Persian
actions and fates not only dramatize particular human emo-
national epic. Even the shortest of epics, folk or classical, oral
tions, predicaments, and responses, but whose destinies rein-
or literary, suspends in its episodes the details of a worldview.
force essential religious statements and paradigms. Among
A worldview may be articulated directly or obliquely, within
these paradigms are certain roles of the hero as shaman, sor-
the context of individual heroic quests or in the intricate rela-
cerer, or warrior (or combinations of these); certain concepts
tions of a diverse range of characters and subcultures, in a
of space, order, time, and deity; as well as all-important ex-
close-knit set of episodes and locales or on a heterogeneous
pressions of the meaning of death and salvation.
scale that spans generations of time and worlds of space.
SHAMANS AND JOURNEYS OF THE SOUL. The hero as sha-
Some epics speak directly from living religious traditions, al-
man-sorcerer and the religious significance of the journey of
though the faith of contemporary singers and audiences may
the soul are well known in the oral epics of northern and cen-
vary markedly from that of distant epic origins. Other epics
tral Asia and appear in such diverse characters as Grandfather
are cryptic memorials or vague signposts to religious tradi-
Qorqut in the oldest epic of the Oghuz Turks, the Kitabi
tions only dimly apprehended in their narratives, as is the
Dedem Qorqut; Volkh or Vseslav in the epic song form
case with suspected Anatolian expressions fossilized, but still
known to Russian singers as starina (bylina); and Gesar in
undeciphered, in the linguistic, folkloric, and symbolic strata
the Tibetan epic that bears his name. The sage Väinämöinen
of Homer’s Iliad.
journeys as a serpent to Tuonela, the netherworld, and this
Oral epics emergent to literary forms have almost every-
magical transformation in a northern Eurasian shamanic epi-
where been influenced and more or less reshaped by new reli-
sode survives into the late compilation of the Finnish nation-
gions, as well as by new literary tastes and conventions. Cer-
al epic, the Kalevala.
tain themes in ancient India persisted in oral form side by
Several scholars have noted that sources of epic poetry
side with, but unrepresented in, the thousand-year textual
may in part be sought in the narratives of shamanic visions,
production of Vedic religion, then surfaced in classical San-
ecstatic journeys, and initiatory ordeals. As Mircea Eliade has
skrit and Tamil epics, where they were given structure and
shown in The History of Religious Ideas (vol. 1, Chicago,
redefinition by sectarian Hinduism. Similarly, mythic
1978, p. 80), Gilgamesh undergoes several ordeals of an ini-
themes of Iran’s ancient heritage, disguised by the monothe-
tiatory type, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, “the first masterpiece
istic reforms of Zoroaster, found new expression in the epic
of universal literature,” may be understood from one per-
of Firdawsi and other Persian narrative poetry, although this
spective as the dramatization of a failed initiation. His jour-
time within an Islamic ethos. And as Christian tradition rides
ney to the bottom of the sea to find the plant that restores
lightly on the surface of the ancient heroic mythology pre-
youth, a plant he then loses to a serpent in the discovery of
served in Beowulf, so too does Muslim tradition appear only
his mortal destiny, has numerous parallels in other epics in
marginally in the Mandingo (Malinke) epic Sundiata of the
which heroes learn of their fates in descents to the under-
Mali Empire.
world and combats with chthonic powers, or in magical
Some epics, such as the vast Kirghiz cycle known as
flights to celestial realms. The popularity of such motifs in
Manas, declare mythicized history, while others, such as the
the epic genre has carried them far from the traditional loci
Aeneid, display cores that are historicized myths. But almost
of Asian shamanism.
every epic immerses its hearers and readers in the largest of
Despite reworking in the direction of medieval romance
human questions: human nature and its destiny; the struc-
conventions, the Germanic epic Nibelungenlied retains such
ture of society with its hierarchies and tensions; the character
a quest in narratives of Siegfried, better known as a warrior-
of supernatural beings and powers, of gods, goddesses, de-
hero, and one with older analogues in the Scandinavian
mons, and of the proper human response to each of them
Eddas and sagas. Siegfried journeys to the land of the Ni-
in ritual, devotion, propitiation, or defiance; the problems
belungen and there discovers the sword and treasure that,
of evil and good, insurrection and authority, guilt and inno-
like Gilgamesh’s plant, hold not immortality but his fate. He
cence, cowardice and valor, suffering and reward. Because
also gains a magic cape, as well as invulnerability, from bath-
epics are frequently dramas of great migrations and violent
ing in the blood of the dragon he has dispatched in combat.
conflicts in the divine and human worlds, questions of theol-
And in one of South India’s great store of living folk epics,
ogy and history, eschatology and fate, death, regeneration,
the Telugu Epic of Palna¯d:u, a performance tradition eight
and salvation are often posed in the context of cosmic war-
centuries old, continues to dramatize with a mélange of sha-
fare (the Akkadian epic Enuma elish), or cultural confronta-
manic motifs the heroes’ prescient skills, their ascents by
tions (the Iliad), or dynastic strife (the Japanese Heike mono-
magical beasts, cosmic trees, or turbans; initiatory dismem-
gatari), or a melding of all of these, as in the Maha¯bha¯rata,
berment and reconstitution by healing; descent to the under-
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EPICS
2815
world; combat with monsters; trance states; nurturance by
European ones, and these derive from a deep and complex
and guises as animals. These motifs in the Palna¯d:u and cer-
mythological base. Comparative studies, in particular those
tain other South Asian and Southeast Asian oral epics and
of Georges Dumézil and Stig Wikander, have revealed the
songs are all the more arresting in the context of contempo-
religious significance of a Proto-Indo-European warrior tra-
rary performances in which individuals emulating the heroes
dition. Reconstruction from mythic and epic details dis-
undergo spirit possession and séances of self-immolation and
persed from Iceland to India permits a vision of the parent
regeneration. In a word, their ancient heroes, in roles as ei-
culture as it may have existed six or seven thousand years ago,
ther shaman-redeemers or warriors, are alive today in ritual-
a culture in which the warrior occupied a key median posi-
ized epic time.
tion in a three-class hierarchy between the dominant priestly-
sovereign class and that great bulk of society in the third es-
WARRIORS AND DECISIVE BATTLES. More common in epic
tate, the producers.
narrative than the high calling of the shaman who journeys
to the other world and establishes defenses against demons,
Continuities between a divine tripartite trifunctional hi-
diseases, and death is the role of warrior in this world, often
erarchy and this human social hierarchy allowed for homolo-
a hero of “outsiderhood” who must overcome great odds to
gies between gods and heroes and, later, between mythic and
gain or regain a heritage or position denied him or stolen
epic themes. The fact that both the mythic human heroes
from him. Strength, courage, and personal honor are his
and the epic warrior heroes are narrative continuations of the
major assets. While the resourceful shamanic hero engages
mythic warrior god is significant and enables us to under-
in fabulous struggles with death, the warrior hero stands up
stand certain configurations of the Proto-Indo-European
to its blood-red realities. At times the warrior seems to be
warrior cult and mythology. The warrior enters, for example,
locked in combat with himself as well as designated demons
a state of intoxication or heated fury, becoming invincible
and enemies. This-worldly aspirations, the ambiguities of his
like fire, or he terrorizes enemies by assuming the form of
morals and actions, limitations placed upon him by nature,
a wolf or a bear, subsequent to initiatory ordeals undergone
fate, divine or human treachery, all balance out his superhu-
for acceptance into the warrior society. Combat with a three-
man traits and heroic pedigree (semidivine or miraculous
headed monster, first sacrifice, and ritualized cattle raids are
birth, surrogate parenting by animals, discovery by shepherds
a part of this myth-ritual complex, as Bruce Lincoln has
or fisherfolk, precocious skills and strengths), and render him
demonstrated for the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition that is the
more accessible to the epic audience. There is a recognizable
backdrop to many themes of the later epics in India and Iran.
trajectory to his career after his astonishing youth, including
confrontation with established authority, exile, return and
Many important themes have moved with the currents
conquest, heroic status, frequently an early death, and apo-
from Indo-European mythic to epic genres and surfaced in
theosis. The popularity of the cult that succeeds this life cycle
diverse regional literatures and languages (including some
proves the value of his tragic death and the repeated singing
non-Indo-European ones), from the twelfth-century Danish
of it.
historian Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum to Russian,
Rajasthani, or Tamil oral poetry. One of Dumézil’s special
It is sometimes stated that violent cultural changes and
contributions to an ongoing profile of the warrior’s “destiny”
social upheavals attendant upon warfare and great migrations
has been his study of the hero’s programmatically untoward
were productive of epic themes in a “heroic age.” The history
behavior that leads to self-destruction. The warrior may
of China, however, as turbulent and war-scarred as that of
commit three successive sins against the three functional
any long, cumulative civilization, produced no surviving epic
classes: betrayal of sovereign trust, strikingly uncharacteristic
tradition, and only a few lines of the classic Shi jing (Book
acts of cowardice within his own echelon, and crimes of ava-
of poetry) recall the exploits of heroic ancestors. By contrast,
rice or rape. As a consequence he suffers successive losses of
a brief period of epics in the thirteenth century emerged di-
his spirituality, force of arms, and beauty or form, and dies
rectly from the brutal succession of wars that devastated early
the warrior’s typical early, tragic death. Another recurrent
medieval Japan. These poetic-prose war tales (gunki monoga-
theme is a tension between two types of warrior figures, one
tari), a genre with no counterpart in Chinese literature, were
superhuman and aristocratic, a warrior who fights with prop-
composed in the same period as the chansons de geste of medi-
er weapons and, ideally, a code of chivalry (Arjuna, Sigurd,
eval Europe and various regional battle epics of South Asia.
Aeneas), the other a subhuman, animalistic or monstrous
More important than the common factor of war may have
hero who fights brutal, solitary battles without standard
been a particular cultural glorification of the warrior. While
weapons or code (Bh¯ıma, Starkad, Turnus). Still another
China gave him little recognition in a social hierarchy that
characteristic Indo-European theme is the special relation-
established the scholar-bureaucrat above peasants, artisans,
ship that may develop between the warrior and a goddess or
and merchants, it was the epic age of medieval Japan that
heroine-goddess. Herakles and Hera or Athena, Camillus
produced a warrior aristocracy, the samurai, and an elaborate
and Matuta, Arjuna and Draupadi (S´r¯ı) have all provided
warrior code eventually known as Bushido.
complex illustrations of this liaison.
The best known of warrior cults, and prolonged epics
Divine warrior heroes such as Marduk in the Akkadian
in which their traditions are displayed, remain the Indo-
epic Enuma elish, the Canaanite Baal, the Hittite Taru, Zeus
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2816
EPICS
of the Theogony, or Indra of the R:gveda are all, in their re-
in interdependence under an ideal hero-king and divine
spective single combats with Tiamat, Yamm, Illuyanka,
mandate.
Typhon, and Vr:tra, involved variously in cosmogonic acts
One of the richest themes concerning the values of space
or paradigmatic contests for celestial sovereignty. Human
and time is that of the epic hero or heroine in exile. Banished
warrior heroes, by contrast, are most often revealed in epic
to the wilderness or the seas, deprived of lands, family, status,
action in medias res, preparing to defend a tribe or a nation
and pride, the hero in exile is literally outside, in nature apart
in jeopardy. Such epics program their episodes toward deci-
from culture. Gilgamesh as questing hero journeys outside
sive battles in which warrior heroes are driven to fulfill their
purposefully, but the hero in exile is a wanderer. Ra¯ma and
destinies. Necessity becomes a standard impulse, as in Dio-
S¯ıta¯, the Pa¯n:d:avas in their forest exile, and Odysseus during
medes’ terse proclamation in the Iliad when he and the
his nineteen years on the seas are such wanderers. The Bible,
Achaeans are backed up to the sea, their best warriors and
too, has been discussed in themes of exile (slavery in Egypt,
leader Agamemnon disabled: “Let us return to the battle,
the Babylonian captivity, Jesus in the wilderness or the tomb)
wounded as we are. We must.” This necessity bears the
and restoration (delivery, return, resurrection), occurring in
stamp of the mythic heritage: The hero, semidivine or
what some have seen as a grand epic cycle of narratives mov-
blessed by divine guidance and the powers of order and jus-
ing from creation to apocalypse, and including the quest of
tice, opposes an enemy, semidemonic or impelled by a hand
the hero (Messiah-Christ), his early death, and apotheosis.
from the powers of evil and chaos, and the tribe or nation
defended represents the created world.
The importance of remembering exemplary events of
SPACES, TIMES, AND AUTHORITY. The notion of founding
the past was no doubt of central importance in the creation
the world anew, reestablishing world space, time, and order
and preservation of epics. The compilation of the
through the holocaust of battle, is a widespread epic theme.
Maha¯bha¯rata was to some extent furthered by the demand
Numerous cycles have been labeled “national epics,” for they
for great cycles of songs in which local kings, performing
are the songs of peoples establishing identities, legitimizing
Vedic royal sacrifices such as the A´svamedha or the Ra¯jasu¯ya,
traditions of particular places and events, and carrying an au-
were equated with victorious heroes and kings of past ages.
thority, certified by the blood of heroes, from past to present.
Albert Lord’s hypothesis that “the special, peculiar purpose
In the singing of the epic, episode by episode, all of the true
of oral epic song at its origin . . . was magical and ritual be-
points of the world are connected once again. As Gene
fore it became heroic” (Lord, 1960, p. 66) may not be prov-
Roghair has said of the people who preserve the Palna¯d:u
able, but nevertheless is cogent. In many regions of Africa
epic, it “is the history of their land” and “seems largely suffi-
and Asia today, particular epics are linked to seasonal festivals
cient to satisfy the local need for knowledge of the past”
such as sowing or harvesting. Others involve not cosmic but
(Roghair, 1982, p. 70). All the features of the local villages,
personal time, such as those performed at life-cycle rites, in
temples, crop fields, rivers, and roads have epic associations,
which births, puberty ceremonies or initiations, marriages,
and a rock inscription, for example, may be ascribed to a par-
and deaths become the foci for narratives culled from mirror
ticular Palnadu hero, or to something done, quite simply, in
episodes in the life cycles of epic heroes and heroines.
“that time.”
DEATHS AND REGENERATIONS. It is India once again that
provides the strongest drama of epic warfare as sacrifice, even
The recognition of the local region or kingdom as or-
cosmic destruction and renewal, although several sacred texts
dered space, and local history as ultimate time, leads also to
from Scandinavia and Iran also reveal the theme of final cata-
the designation of outside space and time as disordered, wild,
clysm. Behind them, as Wikander has shown, is a Proto-
threatening. W. T. H. Jackson has considered the inside-
Indo-European eschatological myth in which the forces of
outside dichotomy in European epics from Homer to The
evil and good confront one another in the decisive time. The
Cid as a theme of paradigmatic conflict between the intruder
Battle of Brávellir, an episode in Icelandic sagas and in Saxo’s
hero as mobile, active, unpredictable outsider and challenger,
narratives, is the Scandinavian heroic parallel to the
and the older, established king as settled, passive, predictable
Maha¯bha¯rata eschaton.
insider. Achilles and Agamemnon, Beowulf and Hrothgar,
Siegfried and Gunther are among his examples, to which
And it is Kr:s:n:a in the Maha¯bha¯rata, sometimes the de-
could be added for an enriched set of subthemes Arjuna and
tached, transcendent deity Vis:n:u, beyond the tensions of
Yudhis:t:hira, Rostam and Sha¯h Ka¯vus, the legendary Cyrus
battle and reconciliation, sometimes imminent counselor,
and Astyages, and others, as well as discussion of that seminal
involved in human time and space, who are reminders of the
tension in Proto-Indo-European mythology between the
broad range of roles taken by deities in epics, from distant
sovereign and warrior ethos. Much of this conflict, according
observers to randomly intrusive actors, and to immediate
to Jackson, turns on the movement from an ageing king who
saviors and redeemers. Apollo moves once to restore the fall-
upholds the social order to a challenger hero whose aims are
en Hektor, but cannot deter the moment of his fate. The Kir-
personal honor and glory. What seems equally important in
ghiz Manas is in the act of prayer when his destiny traces him
the structure of Indo-European epic tradition is the alliance
and, armorless, he is dispatched. Once served by fate, howev-
of both ruler and heroes over against the agriculturalist-
er, heroes may, like the world itself, be regenerated, and this
producers, and the resultant hierarchy of three ranked estates
is the special talent of Hindu gods and goddesses in both
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EPICS
2817
classical and regional epics. In the best known of Tamil liter-
The Destiny of a King (Chicago, 1973); Camillus: A Study of
ary epics, the Cilappatika¯ram, the heroine-become-goddess
Indo-European Religion as Roman History, edited by Udo
Kan:n:aki restores her wrongfully executed husband, the hero
Strutynski (Berkeley, Calif., 1980); and The Stakes of the
Ko¯valan, by destroying the city (world) of injustice.
Warrior, edited by Jaan Puhvel (Berkeley, Calif., 1983). See
¯
also the untranslated first volume of Mythe et épopée and The
This sacrificial regeneration is perhaps the strongest of
Destiny of the Warrior (Chicago, 1970). Bruce Lincoln has
many links between classical and folk epics of South Asia and
summarized the Indo-Iranian warrior and priestly traditions
is reinforced by numerous active cults of heroes and heroines
that provide much of the background to the Sanskrit and
from the Sanskrit epics and uncounted regional ones. These
Persian epics in Priests, Warriors, and Cattle (Berkeley, Calif.,
include the enshrinement and ritual use of heroes’ weapons
1981). Alf Hiltebeitel, in The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the
and the sacrality of spirit residences such as caves and are
Maha¯bha¯rata (Ithaca, N. Y., 1976), has continued the pio-
reminiscent of ancient cults of heroes in Greece in which
neering efforts of Dumézil, Stig Wikander, and Madeleine
Biardeau in relating the Maha¯bha¯rata to other Indo-
relic bones, weapons, and ships were preserved in sanctuaries,
European mythic and epic narratives.
as the bones and weapons of medieval heroes and saints were
An older effort accomplished in the myth-ritual context is Ger-
kept in the churches of Europe. Unlike immortal gods, the
trude R. Levy’s The Sword from the Rock (London, 1953), a
heroes have died significant deaths and then have conquered
broad comparative discussion of the Mesopotamian, San-
time; their weapons are still a vivid point of contact for the
skrit, and Homeric epics. Although lacking attention to
religious experience of their return and, in the case of several
mythic themes or Indo-European studies on kingship and
oral epics of South India, spontaneous possession of mem-
warrior traditions, W. T. H. Jackson provides a suggestive
bers of the audience, whose dramatic “deaths” and revivifica-
analysis of the confrontation between intruder-hero (individ-
tions while the epic is under way are undeniable proof of the
ual) and establishment-king (society) in the works of Homer
living presence of the heroes.
and Vergil and in the medieval European epics in his The
Hero and the King: An Epic Theme (New York, 1982).
The nearly universal appeal of the epic must reside in
A basic discussion of epic poetry in oral composition is the work
the charisma of an old and much-loved tale well told and the
of Milman Parry and Albert B. Lord, summarized in Lord’s
glimpse it provides into definitions of human existence. Dur-
The Singer of Tales (Cambridge, Mass., 1960). Theories gen-
ing its performance, the channels are open to a time and
erated by their studies of epic singers in Yugoslavia are ap-
space that remain powerful, accessible, and paradigmatic.
plied to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Among recent studies of
Heroes and heroines challenge, and thereby define, limita-
South Asian oral epics, the most complete is that of Gene H.
tions placed by gods, fate, or self-absorption, as well as those
Roghair, The Epic of Palna¯d:u (Oxford, 1982), a translation
social, political, economic, religious, and sexual roles by
and study of a recitation of a Telugu epic in Andhra. Farther
which humans divide themselves. To the audience the reso-
south in India, Brenda E. F. Beck has investigated a Tamil
lution may be clear at the outset, but the telling of the drama
epic in The Three Twins: The Telling of a South Indian Folk
Epic (Bloomington, Ind., 1982). The image of the hero in
of transformation, sung now as it was in “that time,” is itself
a dozen sub-Saharan oral epics, and the usefulness of the
a powerful form of renewal.
Parry-Lord hypothesis, are the subjects of Isidore Okpewho
in The Epic in Africa: Toward a Poetics of the Oral Perfor-
SEE ALSO Enuma Elish; Flight; Gilgamesh; Heroes;
mance (New York, 1979).
Maha¯bha¯rata; Quests; Ra¯ma¯yan:a; Shamanism; War and
Jeffrey H. Tigay’s The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Philadel-
Warriors.
phia, 1982) is a study of the Old Babylonian epic as it
emerged from older Sumerian tales, myths, and folklore. On
BIBLIOGRAPHY
folkloric motifs in the Iliad and the Odyssey, see Rhys Car-
Brief surveys by fifteen specialists and bibliographies for major
penter’s Folk Tale, Fiction and Saga in the Homeric Epics
epic traditions, including texts, translations, and studies, may
(Berkeley, 1946). Despite a Frazerian style of compilation,
be found in Heroic Epic and Saga, edited by Felix J. Oinas
Martti Haavio provides important shamanic-folkloric back-
(Bloomington, Ind., 1978). Discussions of background tra-
grounds to themes in the Kalevala in Väinämöinen, Eternal
ditions by twelve other specialists in epics are in Traditions
Sage (Helsinki, 1952).
of Heroic and Epic Poetry, vol. 1, The Traditions, presented
New Sources
by Robert Auty and others under the editorship of A. T.
Alles, Gregory D. The Iliad, the Ramayana, and the Work of Reli-
Hatto (London, 1980). Jan de Vries’s Heroic Song and Heroic
gion: Failed Persuasion and Religious Mystification. University
Legend (London, 1963) is a short, readable overview. The
Park, 1994.
Growth of Literature, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1932–1940), by H.
Munro Chadwick and Nora Kershaw Chadwick remains a
Belcher, Stephen Paterson. Epic Traditions of Africa. Blooming-
valuable resource despite sections now dated; particularly
ton, 1999.
useful are chapters on Turkic, Russian, and Yugoslav epics.
Hiltebeitel, Alf. Rethinking India’s Oral and Classical Epics: Drau-
padi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. Chicago, 1999.
Where comparative studies of epics are concerned it is largely the
Indo-Europeanists who have been productive for the history
Hodder, Alan D., and Robert E. Meagher. The Epic Voice. West-
of religions. All of the many works of Georges Dumézil have
port, Conn., 2002.
relevance for epic research. Parts of Mythe et épopée, 3 vols.
Honko, Lauri. Religion, Myth, and Folklore in the World’s Epics:
(Paris, 1968–1973), have appeared in English translation as
The Kalevala and its Predecessors. Berlin, 1990.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2818
EPIPHANY
Jackson-Laufer, Guida M. Encyclopedia of Traditional Epics. Santa
year on January 6. Throughout the East, Epiphany, together
Barbara, 1994.
with Easter, was a special day for performing baptisms. The
Johnson, John William, Thomas A. Hale, and Stephen Paterson
most enduring custom, however, has been the blessing of the
Belcher, eds. Oral Epics from Africa: Vibrant Voices from a
waters on Epiphany. There are two blessings. The first takes
Vast Continent. Bloomington,1997.
place during the vigil of Epiphany in the evening and is fol-
Patton, Laurie L., and Wendy Doniger, eds. Myth and Method.
lowed by the priest’s sprinkling of the town or village with
Charlottesville, Va., 1996.
the blessed water. The second blessing takes place on the day
Schein, Seth L., ed. Reading the Odyssey: Selected Interpretative Es-
of Epiphany itself, when the local waters of stream, lake, or
says. Princeton, N. J., 1996.
sea are blessed by having a cross thrown into them, after
which young men dive into the waters to retrieve it.
DAVID M. KNIPE (1987)
Revised Bibliography
The Western observance of Epiphany has centered on
the figures of the Magi, popularly called the Three Kings.
Their cult was especially strong at Cologne in the Middle
Ages, for their supposed relics had been brought there in the
EPIPHANY is the Christian feast of the manifestation of
twelfth century. The idea that the Magi were kings was de-
Jesus Christ. Traditionally celebrated on January 6; it is also
rived from several verses of scripture (Ps. 71:10, Is. 60:3–6).
celebrated by the Roman rite in some places on the Sunday
The tradition that there were three of them was probably de-
following the octave of Christmas. The feast is called Epi-
rived from the number of gifts mentioned in the biblical ac-
phania (“manifestation”) among Western Christians and
count of their visit (Mt. 2:1–12). The account of the visit of
Theophaneia (“manifestation of God”) among Eastern
the Magi and of the miraculous star that guided them in-
Christians. That the feast is of Eastern origin is indicated by
spired several mystery plays during the Middle Ages. The
the Greek origin of both names. Epiphany is one of the
story of their visit also gave rise to the custom of gift giving
twelve major feasts of the Orthodox church year.
on Epiphany: In Italy gifts are given on that day by an old
The origins of Epiphany are obscure and much debated.
woman named Befana, and the feast is also an occasion for
It was originally either a feast of Christ’s baptism in the Jor-
gift giving in Spanish cultures.
dan or of his birth at Bethlehem. The theory that the date
S
of January 6 corresponded to an old date for the Egyptian
EE ALSO Baptism; Gift Giving.
winter solstice has been largely discredited. The date may
have at first been observed as a feast of the baptism of Christ
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For a survey of the development of Epiphany and associated cus-
among the second-century Basilidian gnostics. In the fourth
toms, see Francis X. Weiser’s Handbook of Christian Feasts
century it was certainly a feast of the nativity of Christ, cele-
and Customs (New York, 1958). For a view of Epiphany from
brated with an octave, or eight days of celebration, at Bethle-
the perspective of the history of religions, see E. O. James’s
hem and all the holy places of Jerusalem.
Seasonal Feasts and Festivals (New York, 1961). For Greek
At the end of the fourth century, when the Western
customs associated with Epiphany, see George A. Megas’s
feast of the nativity of Christ came to be observed in the East
Greek Calendar Customs, 2d ed. (Athens, 1963).
on December 25, January 6 came to be widely celebrated as
JOHN F. BALDOVIN (1987)
the feast of Christ’s baptism, although among the Armenians
Epiphany is the only nativity feast celebrated to this day. As
the feast of Christ’s baptism, Epiphany became for Eastern
Christians a major baptismal day, and hence it was given the
EPISCOPALIANISM SEE ANGLICANISM
Greek name Ta Phota (“the lights”); baptism itself was called
photismos (“enlightenment”).
At the same time as the East was accepting the Western
EPISTEMOLOGY. This branch of philosophy studies
Christmas, the Feast of Epiphany was being adopted in the
the nature, origin, and validity of knowledge; it is sometimes
West. Outside of Rome it was celebrated as the Feast of the
called “theory of knowledge.” Epistemology has been central
Three Miracles, comprising the visit of the Magi, the bap-
to modern philosophy since the sixteenth century, although
tism of Christ, and the miracle of changing water into wine
it originally developed in Greek philosophy in close relation
at the wedding feast of Cana. In Rome, however, the feast
to ontology (theory of being) and metaphysics. (It is an open
concentrated solely on the visit of the Magi, connoting
question whether epistemology can be completely disentan-
Christ’s manifestation to the Gentiles. With their adoption
gled from metaphysics.)
of the Roman liturgy all other Western Christians eventually
In Greek philosophy, and especially in Plato and Aris-
came to observe Epiphany as the Feast of the Magi.
totle, the two words used to mean “knowledge” are epist¯em¯e
Among Eastern Christians the celebration of Epiphany
and gno¯sis, the former having the narrower, more scientific
is notable for several reasons. At Alexandria the patriarch
connotation in opposition to doxa (“belief”), the latter the
would solemnly announce the date of Easter for the current
wider one, covering also perception, memory, and experi-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EPISTEMOLOGY
2819
ence. Plato and Aristotle relate these two conceptions to the
tempting to escape the Scylla of fideism, in which knowledge
terms no¯esis (“thinking, intuition”) and sophia (“wisdom”).
ultimately has no place at all in religion, Western religions
The Western Christian tradition, however, has paid more at-
have always been in danger of running afoul of the Charybdis
tention to epistemology than to gnoseology; the latter plays
of gnosticism, in which there is no need or room for faith.
a greater role in Eastern Christian philosophy and theology,
And behind these doctrines lurk the still greater dangers of
and, it goes without saying, among the gnostics.
atheism and pantheism, as well as gnostic dualism.
Among the various epistemological positions (that is,
Epistemological issues in modern times have tended to
theories of knowledge in the narrower sense), realism, which
revolve around the question of the existence of God and
is the claim—deriving from Plato and Aristotle—that forms
whether it is possible to know this or to establish it by some
and universals are objectively real (whether ante rem, “before
kind of “proof.” Thus Anselm’s purely a priori “ontological
things,” as in Plato or in re, “in things,” as in Aristotle) has
proof” vies with Thomas Aquinas’s “five ways,” which alleg-
had by far the longest tenure. In modern times, at least since
edly derive from empirical experience. All such “proofs” were
William of Ockham in the fourteenth century, nominalism,
rejected by Kant in favor of a moral argument that finds God
or the view that forms and universals are only in language
a necessary presupposition of the moral, or practical reason.
and in the mind, has held the field. The issue, however, is
Here epistemology once again is closely related to ethics, as
by no means dead and, oddly enough, returns in connection
it had been in a different way in Greek and medieval philoso-
with modern philosophies of mathematics and even in the
phy. If the medieval world culminated in Dante’s visionary
understanding of information theory.
belief that knowledge is love, the modern world has been
working out the quite different formula of Francis Bacon
A second, equally important epistemological question
that knowledge is power. The limits of this power, now com-
has been whether universal ideas are innate or only obtained
ing into view, suggest the limits of the conception of knowl-
through the senses. The two positions on this question were
edge and perhaps the limits of the epistemological enterprise
staked out by Plato and Aristotle respectively, the controver-
as a whole.
sy continuing through the Middle Ages, with Augustine on
the Platonic side and Thomas Aquinas on the Aristotelian.
A word must be said also about mysticism as a way of
Modern philosophy begins with Descartes’s emphatic sup-
knowing in religion, apart from both reason and ordinary ex-
port for the Platonic-Augustinian position. His contention
perience. When, for example, the poet Henry Vaughan says,
that clear and distinct ideas are innate (a view often called
“I saw eternity the other night,” or an otherwise normal and
epistemological idealism, to distinguish it from Plato’s joint
ordinary person reports, “In one moment I was liberated and
ontological and epistemological idealism) was challenged in
knew the purpose of life,” we do not have criteria for judging
turn by the British empiricists (Locke, Berkeley, and Hume),
the validity of the “knowledge” involved. Epistemology
who sought to show that all ideas derive from the senses.
tends to look at such matters in terms of psychology and eth-
Kant defined a new position by arguing the so-called presup-
ics, rather than ontology and metaphysics.
positional character of the “forms of perception” and “cate-
Since the twentieth century there have been signs that
gories of understanding.”
the three-hundred-year-old predominance of epistemology
These epistemological controversies (which find re-
in philosophy is giving way to a concern with semantics,
markable—although still insufficiently studied—parallels in
semiology, and meaning. If epistemology cannot find its way
the histories of both Hindu and Buddhist philosophies) have
out of either subjectivism (Cartesianism, psychologism, psy-
had a close relation to religious practices and doctrines, not
choanalysis) or objectivism (materialism, positivism, Marx-
only among Christians, but also among Jews and Muslims.
ism), it is perhaps because these are simply two faces of the
Thus, for example, realism appears to support the theological
epistemological attitude itself, which, because it begins with
doctrine concerning the real presence of the body and blood
the separation of knower and known (and, as it were, makes
of Christ in the Mass, while nominalism is more congruent
this central), cannot get them back together except in these
with the Protestant idea of the last supper, or “meal of re-
unsatisfactory ways. Seen in this light, epistemology may lose
membrance.” Similarly, realism is helpful in harmonizing re-
its central role in philosophy. Other ways of conceiving
vealed and natural theology, while voluntarism and fideism
human involvement in the world may turn out to be more
are more naturally related to nominalism.
sensible and useful.
Christianity, like the other monotheistic religions, can-
If religion has been on the defensive against science in
not submit knowledge about God to ordinary epistemic
the modern era, the difficulty may turn out to lie not so
criteria. Nor can it, without abjuring the biblical conception
much in the differences between religious and scientific ways
of faith, accept the pretensions of unrestrained gnosis or eso-
of knowing as in the epistemological stance itself. Important
teric accretions. The resultant difficulties have given rise to
modern philosophers, particularly Martin Heidegger and
such theological maneuvers as the Averroistic “double truth”
Ludwig Wittgenstein, abandoned the epistemological or
(one for the natural, the other for the revealed) and the Tho-
“representational” point of view itself in their later philoso-
mistic “analogy of being” (in which the possibility of a single
phies. And this is very likely to be the direction to which phi-
univocal meaning for the word being is renounced). In at-
losophy itself will go in the future.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EPOCHE¯
2820
SEE ALSO Metaphysics.
Her Celtic name is related to the general designation for
the horse, epos (Irish, ech; Welsh, ebol; Breton, ebeul, “foal,”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
from *epalo-s), and a suffix of theonymic derivation, -ona,
No outstanding survey history of epistemology exists. The most
suggests that Epona was the goddess of horses, if not of sta-
important works on the subject are the classic sources them-
bles. Actually, the Gallo-Roman iconography of Epona is di-
selves.
vided into two main types of depictions: Epona on horseback
Aristotle. Posterior Analytics. In The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited
and Epona between two facing horses. It is very likely that
by Richard McKeon. New York, 1941.
Epona represents a Celtic transposition and interpretation of
Augustine. Concerning the Teacher. Translated by G. C. Leckie.
the Hellenistic theme of the “lady of horses.” The images are
In Basic Writings of Saint Augustine, edited by Whitney J.
foreign, but the name is Celtic and has been applied to the
Oates, vol. 1, pp. 361–389. New York, 1948.
great sovereign feminine divinity (often called Augusta and
Berkeley, George. A Treatise concerning the Principles of Human
Regina in the Celtic-Roman inscriptions). There is no corre-
Knowledge. Edited by A. C. Frazer. London, 1901.
spondence in the insular Celtic cultures.
Descartes, René. Meditations. In Philosophical Works of Descartes,
Care must be taken not to see Epona as a hippomorphic
edited by Elizabeth S. Haldane and G. R. T. Ross. Cam-
bridge, U.K., 1911.
divinity, that is, as one possessing equine attributes. Henri
Hubert and Jean Gricourt have made comparisons—all falla-
Hegel, G. W. F. The Phenomenology of Mind. Translated by J. B.
cious—to insular deities, the Welsh Rhiannon (“great
Baillie. New York, 1910.
queen”) and the Irish Macha (“plain”), eponym for Emhain
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Human Reason. Translated by Nor-
Mhacha, residence of King Conchobhar in the tales from the
man Kemp Smith. London, 1950.
Ulster Cycle, but neither of these mythic figures is any more
Leibniz, G. W. New Essays on Human Understanding. Edited by
hippomorphic than Epona herself. In the Mabinogion Rhian-
A. G. Langley. La Salle, Ill., 1949.
non is the wife of Pwyll, and after being falsely accused of
Locke, John. An Essay concerning Human Understanding. 2 vols.
slaying her newborn son she is condemned to carry on her
Edited by A. C. Frazer. Oxford, 1894.
back the visitors to her husband’s court for seven years.
Plato. Theaetetus. In Plato’s Theory of Knowledge: The Theaetetus
Macha is a war goddess of Irish tradition; after some impru-
and the Sophist of Plato, edited by Francis M. Cornford. Lon-
dent bragging on the part of her husband, Crunnchu, Macha
don, 1935.
is forced, despite her advanced pregnancy, to run a race on
Russell, Bertrand. Human Knowledge, Its Scope and Limits. New
a solemn feast day against the king’s horses. She wins the race
York, 1948.
and then dies giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But be-
Thomas Aquinas. Truth. 3 vols. Translated by R. W. Mulligan,
fore dying she hurls a cry to punish Ulates, and all the men
J. V. McGlynn, and R. W. Schmidt. Chicago, 1952–1954.
of Ulster who hear her (and all their descendants for nine
New Sources
generations) are condemned not to have more strength dur-
Alcoff, Linda, ed. Epistemology: The Big Question. Oxford, U.K.,
ing military encounters than a woman in childbed.
1998.
It is difficult to view Rhiannon as anything other than
Anderson, Pamela Sue. A Feminist Philosophy of Religion: The Ra-
a queen or sovereign deity. As to Macha, she is a trifunctional
tionality and Myths of Religious Belief. London, 1997.
divinity who also goes by the names of Bodb and Morríghan,
Bonjour, Laurence. Epistemology: Classical Problems and Contem-
warrior goddess of Ireland. The problem posed by Epona’s
porary Responses. Lanham, Md., 2002.
plurality must be reexamined in light of these facts about
Plantinga, Alvin. Warrant and Proper Function. New York, 1993.
Rhiannon and Macha.
Sosa, Ernest. Knowledge in Perspective: Selected Essays in Epistemol-
ogy. 1991; reprint Cambridge, U.K., 2003.
SEE ALSO Horses.
HENRY LE ROY FINCH (1987)
Revised Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Benoit, Fernand. Les mythes de l’Outre-Tombe, le cavalier à
l’anguipède et l’écuyère Epona. Brussels, 1950.
EPOCHE¯ SEE PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION
Le Roux, Françoise. “Epona.” Ph.D. diss., École Pratique des
Hautes Études, Paris, 1955.
Le Roux, Françoise, and Christian-J. Guyonvarc’h. “Morrigan-
EPONA is a Celtic goddess associated with horses. Her
Bodb-Macha: La souveraineté guerrière de l’Irlande.” Cel-
name is attested in Gaul and throughout the Roman empire
ticum (Rennes), no. 25 (1984).
of the first three centuries CE by about 250 figurative monu-
Magnen, René, and Émile Thevenot. Epona, déesse gauloise des
ments and more than 60 votive inscriptions. In fact, she is
chevaux, protectrice des cavaliers. Bordeaux, 1953.
the Celtic divinity whose name, if not whose cult, appears
FRANÇOISE LE ROUX (1987)
beyond the Gaulish borders. It is also exceptional that her
CHRISTIAN-J. GUYONVARC’H (1987)
name has been retained by several Latin writers.
Translated from French by Erica Meltzer
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ERASMUS, DESIDERIUS
2821
EQBAL, MUH:AMMAD SEE IQBA¯L,
he furnished with a new Latin translation, notes, and pref-
MUH:AMMAD
aces, including the famous Paraclesis (a prefatory “exhorta-
tion” to study the philosophy of Christ). In the succeeding
two decades, his series of editions of Greek and Latin fathers
appeared, beginning with Jerome (1516) and ending with
ERASMUS, DESIDERIUS (1469?–1536), Dutch
Origen (1536), his two favorites.
scholar, is called the “prince of humanists.” Neither the date
In a third group of writings, Erasmus exposed to mock-
nor the place of Erasmus’s birth is known with certainty; he
ery the moral failures and religious abuses of the day, nota-
was probably born in 1469 in Rotterdam (he styled himself
bly, in his Moriae encomium (Praise of folly; 1511), some of
Roterodamus).
the Colloquia familiaria (Familiar colloquies; 1st ed., 1518)
LIFE AND WORKS. Erasmus’s life was wholly dedicated to
and, if he did indeed write it, the anonymous pamphlet Julius
scholarship. After his early education, mainly in the school
exclusus e coelis (Julius [the warrior pope] shut out of heaven;
of the Brethren of the Common Life at Deventer (1475–
1517). Finally, to a fourth group of writings, which present
1483), his guardians sent him to the monastery of the Augus-
Erasmus’s own Christian vision, may be assigned the Enchi-
tinian canons at Steyn. Ordained to the priesthood in 1492,
ridion militis Christiani (Handbook [or weapon] for the
he entered the service of Henry of Bergen, bishop of Cam-
Christian soldier; 1503), a powerful plea for an inward, spiri-
brai, who gave him leave to study theology at the University
tual, and moral piety that does not lean on outward religious
of Paris (1495–1498). A visit to Oxford (1499–1500)
observances. The strongly pacifist vein in Erasmus’s piety is
brought him into the company of such kindred spirits as
reflected in his Institutio principis Christiani (Instruction for
John Colet (1466?–1519) and Thomas More (1478–1535).
a Christian prince; 1516) and especially in Querela pacis (The
Later he visited the cradle of the Renaissance, Italy (1506–
complaint of peace; 1517).
1509), and made further journeys to England, including
T
Cambridge, before settling in the Netherlands, at Louvain
HE ERASMIAN PROGRAM. A consistent humanistic pro-
gram, in which learning assumes a moral and religious char-
(1517–1521). There, at the height of his fame, he intended
acter, lends unity to Erasmus’s many writings. The study of
to devote himself quietly to the cause of classical and sacred
ancient languages and literature is propaedeutic to following
literature.
the philosophy of Christ, which can be recovered in its purity
But from 1518, Erasmus’s labors were increasingly over-
only if the theologians will leave, or at least moderate, their
shadowed by the Lutheran Reformation. He could not but
endless squabbles and turn back to the sources of the faith
welcome the addition of Martin Luther’s voice to his own
equipped with the tools of the new learning. The program
outspoken criticisms of ecclesiastical abuses, yet he distrusted
is not antitheological, but it is antischolastic: Moral utility,
Luther’s aggressive manner, which he feared could only harm
rather than dialectical subtlety and metaphysical speculation,
the cause of learning and piety. His friends and patrons final-
becomes the test of genuine theology. Erasmus proposed a
ly induced him to challenge Luther in print. The ostensible
new ideal of the theologian as more a scholar than a school-
theme of his De libero arbitrio (On free choice; 1524) was
man, an ideal that made a profound impact on many who
the freedom denied by Luther’s necessitarianism, but more
did not share the Erasmian view of the gospel, including the
fundamentally the book was a warning against theological
Protestants.
contentiousness.
What Erasmus discovered in the New Testament was,
In 1521, driven from Louvain by the hostility of the
above all, the precepts and example of Christ. To be a Chris-
Dominicans to the new learning, Erasmus moved to Basel,
tian is to enlist under Christ’s banner. The philosophy of
home of publisher Johann Froben (c. 1460–1527). When
Christ is not speculation or disputation, but the good life—a
Basel turned Protestant, he moved to Freiburg im Breisgau
philosophy not essentially different from the teaching of the
(1529–1535), but it was in Protestant Basel that he died
best classical moralists, only conveyed with unique authority
without the ministrations of the old church, which later
and made accessible to all. It would be a mistake, however,
placed his books on the Index.
to reduce the Erasmian imitation of Christ to mere copying
of an external model; in the scriptures, as Erasmus reads
In response to the requests of his friends, Erasmus him-
them, the Savior comes alive, and Christ’s philosophy is
self drew up a “catalog” of his numerous writings in nine di-
nothing less than a dying and living in him.
visions. The items vary widely in literary form, from letters
to treatises, and in readership intended, from schoolboys to
The work of Erasmus marked an important stage in the
princes. But many of them can be distinguished by certain
course of biblical and patristic scholarship. It is true that his
dominant themes. Some embody Erasmus’s research on the
New Testament text rested on inferior manuscripts and had
language, literature, and wisdom of classical antiquity. Oth-
no lasting usefulness, but his biblical studies, even when viti-
ers apply the tools of classical scholarship to the original
ated by overeagerness to extract an edifying lesson from the
sources of Christianity, this being what is generally meant by
text by means of spiritual exegesis, established a new empha-
“Christian humanism.” In 1516, Erasmus brought out the
sis on the human and historical character of the sacred text.
first published edition of the Greek New Testament, which
No less historically important is the fact that he arrived,
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2822
EREMITISM
through his study of the Gospels, at a distinctive interpreta-
tianity has traditionally regarded eremitism as the purest and
tion of Christianity and of religion generally.
most perfect form of a life consecrated to God. While other
Stormier religious personalities, such as Luther, have
forms of monasticism or of the religious life have striven to
found the Erasmian outlook bland. They have judged Chris-
bring religious experience to bear on human relationships
tian existence to be neither as simple nor as placid as Erasmus
(Western Christianity especially emphasizes external service),
supposed, because God makes a Christian not by gently
eremitism has always been purely contemplative in thrust.
strengthening a feeble will but by putting to death a vigor-
Hermits live only in order to cultivate their spiritual life in
ous, arrogant will. But the recall of Christians to a simpler,
prayer, meditation, reading, silence, asceticism, manual
more practical ideal of discipleship has continued to win
work, and, perhaps, in intellectual pursuits. In eremitism, the
friends for Erasmus among those who doubt the usefulness
celibacy characteristically practiced in monachism extends to
of the constant refinement of dogma.
the suppression of all social relationships. While Christian
monks have always stressed charity in relationships within
Some have hailed the Erasmian dislike of dogmatism as
the monastic group and, in the Middle Ages especially, writ-
one source of modern undogmatic Christianity, or even of
ten treatises on Christian friendship, Buddhist monks have
religious skepticism. Historically, that is a correct estimate
emphasized the necessity for freedom from every affective re-
of his actual influence, or at least of one strand of it. No
lationship that might hinder the achievement of enlighten-
doubt, it must be qualified by Erasmus’s own professed sub-
ment.
mission to the decrees of the church. But nothing he says has
quite laid to rest the suspicion that, for him, the institutional
While isolation for a limited period of time is common
church was not so much directly salvific as a condition of
in many religions, especially as part of a process of initiation
that outward order and peace without which scholarship and
or as a special time dedicated to prayer and reflection, eremit-
the gospel cannot flourish.
ism as a permanent vocation or prolonged phase of asceti-
cism is found only in those religions that grant monasticism
BIBLIOGRAPHY
an established and determinative role. The religions in ques-
Erasmus published about one hundred writings, some of which
tion are salvation religions, whether in the sense of self-
were very popular and went through several editions. Many
liberation or of redemption. In Buddhism, Jainism, and
have been translated into English. An English translation of
Christianity religiosity has a personal character as opposed
his voluminous correspondence and all the major writings is
to a merely societal character (religion as a series of beliefs
being published as Collected Works of Erasmus, 40–45 vols.
and rites of a tribe, polis, or state). Buddhism, Jainism, and
projected (Toronto, 1974–). Erasmus samplers are The Es-
Manichaeism are essentially monastic religions, owing to the
sential Erasmus, translated and edited by John P. Dolan
importance they attach to the pursuit of the self-liberation
(New York, 1964), and Christian Humanism and the Refor-
of the human being. Christian hermits, too, often went into
mation: Selected Writings of Erasmus with the Life of Erasmus
the wilderness in hopes of finding there the answer to the all-
by Beatus Rhenanus, rev. ed., edited by John C. Olin (New
York, 1975). Dolan has the Enchiridion, Moriae encomium,
absorbing question: “How can I attain salvation?”
and Querela pacis; Olin includes the Paraclesis, perhaps the
However, the theme of personal salvation does not seem
best statement of the Erasmian program. Other translations
to be the deepest and most constant motive behind the ere-
are Ten Colloquies of Erasmus (New York, 1957) and The
Colloquies of Erasmus (Chicago, 1965), both translated and
mitical vocation. The S:u¯f¯ı mystics, as well as many Christian
edited by Craig R. Thompson; The Education of a Christian
monks and nuns, have gone primarily in pursuit of union
Prince, translated and edited by Lester K. Born (New York,
with God. Some of them, such as Teresa of Ávila or Thérèse
1936); The Julius Exclusus of Erasmus, translated by Paul Pas-
of Lisieux, have consecrated their lives to interceding for the
cal, edited by J. Kelley Sowards (Bloomington, Ind., 1968);
world. Monks who, like Thomas Merton, distance them-
and Erasmus-Luther: Discourse on Free Will, translated and
selves even from their own monastery, do so not to assure
edited by Ernst F. Winter (New York, 1961). An excellent
their own salvation but rather to devote themselves to cons-
biographical study is Roland H. Bainton’s Erasmus of Chris-
tant prayer. In the early Christian world it was commonly
tendom (New York, 1969), and a useful companion to Eras-
said that solitaries pursued an angelic life, because they
mus’s writings is Essays on the Works of Erasmus, edited by
wished to be, like the angels, always in the presence of God.
Richard L. DeMolen (New Haven, Conn., 1978).
It can be legitimately affirmed, then, that what really permits
B. A. GERRISH (1987)
the birth of monasticism in general and of eremitism in par-
ticular is the desire to consecrate one’s whole life to religious
experience.
EREMITISM is a form of monastic life characterized by
Historically, there have been two forms of eremitism.
solitariness. (The term derives from the Greek er¯emos, “wil-
The more common form is that of the anchorite, a term de-
derness, uninhabited regions,” whence comes the English er-
rived from the Greek verb anacho¯rein, originally used to des-
emite, “solitary.”) In this type of life, the social dimension of
ignate the act of draft dodging or tax evasion by fleeing to
human existence is totally or largely sacrificed to the primacy
out-of-the-way places. In Hellenistic times, the word came
of religious experience. It is thus understandable that Chris-
to refer generally to those who moved far away from towns
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EREMITISM
2823
and particularly to sages who withdrew in order to devote
at a life of communion with nature in places removed from
themselves to contemplation. The less common type of ere-
the social mainstream. Both of the original great heroes of
mitism is that of the recluse, who often remained in town
Jainism lived largely eremitical lives. Go´sa¯la, the founder of
but enclosed himself in a cell, communicating with the out-
the A¯j¯ıvikas in the sixth century BCE, began his ascetical life
side world only through a small window. In the Middle East
by withdrawing naked into the forest.
during the early Christian period there were anchorites (male
and female) who not only went into the wilderness but also
In the fourth century BCE, the conquests of Alexander
became recluses, in a spirit of penitence. In their different
the Great in the Middle East and his expeditions into India
ways both anchorites and recluses profess a life of solitude
brought the Greek world into contact with Hindu philoso-
as a privileged situation for personal growth.
phy and religion. Pyrrho of Elis, who took part in the Indian
expedition, displayed afterward a strong inclination toward
EREMITISM IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. Eremitism first ap-
tranquil solitude, so much so, in fact, that he rarely presented
peared as a lifelong vocation in India among the numerous
himself even to the members of his household. It is said that
ascetics on the margin of Aryan society. The ascetics stood
he did so because he had heard a Hindu admonish Anaxar-
out from the general population by their long hair and dis-
chos that the latter could hardly pretend to be good, let alone
tinctive dress, or by their wearing no clothes at all. Some
instruct others, because he frequented the court. Philostratus
lived in tombs, while others, the “ascetics of the forest,” lived
and Hippolytus later praised the asceticism of the Hindu
in the woods. From them is derived the most archaic strata
philosophers. From about the first century BCE to the second
of the Upanis:ads and the A¯ran:yakas, dating from the eighth
century CE there arose in Hellenism the ideal of the sage as
century BCE. The Aryan ascetics withdrew from society in
one who had achieved a personal contemplative relationship
order to pursue individual religious experiences that were
with the divine through the practice of solitude and certain
fostered by a series of extraordinary renunciations. Their as-
ascetical techniques. Seneca recommended that Lucilius live
cetical discipline was aimed to induce a state characterized
a quiet and retiring life (“consistere et secum morari”). Thus
by illumination and by the attainment of supernatural pow-
the way was paved for the emergence of the figure of the her-
ers. The withdrawal of these ascetics seems to have involved
mit. Plutarch in the first century CE speaks of a famous soli-
a rejection of priestly mediation and can be interpreted as re-
tary who lived on the shore of the Eritrean Sea and commu-
flecting a crisis in a ritual system that had become somewhat
nicated with others only once a year. Lucian tells of a recluse
fossilized.
who had remained for twenty-three years in a subterranean
temple, where he was instructed by Isis. Around the second
The life of Siddha¯rtha Gautama, called the Buddha (the
century CE the verb anacho¯rein and the noun anacho¯r¯esis un-
Enlightened One), established the paradigm for eremitism
derwent an evolution of meaning and came to indicate a
in Indian culture. After his conversion experience, Gautama
withdrawal from social commitments in order to pursue
determined to become a truth-seeker and placed himself
inner wisdom.
under the direction of some famous sages. After this period
of discipleship, Gautama withdrew to a lovely woodland
The influence of these tendencies is observable also in
grove, where he gave himself over to the practice of extreme
Hellenistic Judaism. In Palestine, the Essenes withdrew from
asceticism and came to be surrounded by a small group of
the sway of normative Judaism and created their own com-
disciples. One day, Gautama observed to a certain adept that
munity of salvation with a strict, ritualized life. In Egypt, the
physical asceticism had not led him where he wished to go
Therapeutae mentioned by Philo Judaeus followed a pre-
and that he had therefore given it up. Upon hearing this, his
dominantly eremitical form of life. They confined them-
disciples, bound to the ascetical tradition, abandoned him.
selves to individual cells, where they devoted themselves to
So Gautama remained alone, and alone he ultimately
asceticism and meditation, coming together only on the Sab-
reached enlightenment. After attaining this fulfillment, the
bath for community worship.
Buddha went forth to preach his message. His spiritual itin-
erary is an exemplary instance of the four stages (a¯´sramas)
Ascetical renunciation became central to Manichaeism,
into which Hindu tradition divides the journey of a brah-
the religion founded in Babylonia by Mani in the third cen-
man: student, father of a family, forest dweller or solitary
tury CE. Asceticism became so important because Mani attri-
(va¯naprasthin), and, finally, renouncer (sam:nya¯sin), follower
buted the material world to the workings of the principle of
of an itinerant and often mendicant life. The withdrawal into
evil. Because the material world was thus to be shunned, this
solitude for a certain time is, thus, an integral part not only
doctrine implied almost necessarily a monastic conception
of Buddhist spirituality but of various forms of Hindu spiri-
of life. There seems to have been some Hindu influence on
tuality as well.
the group, for its members were divided into the elect
(monks) and the “hearers” (laity); the latter received the same
Withdrawal into solitude is likewise observable in other
name as was given to the laity in Jainism. The elect professed
types of monastic movements that appeared in India from
a radical poverty and sexual continence, which some carried
the sixth century BCE onward. It may also be observed in
to the point of castration. Among the elect, many were itin-
Jainism, begun by Pa¯r´svana¯tha in the eighth century BCE and
erant ascetics, although some of them withdrew into soli-
reformed by Maha¯v¯ıra in the sixth century BCE. Jainism aims
tude.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2824
EREMITISM
PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN EREMITISM. Tertullian, the celebrat-
It should be noted that, since the time of Tertullian and
ed African writer, stated in the second century CE that among
Origen, the two great Christian writers of the third century,
Christians there were no naked philosophers, brahmans, or
the idea of retreat to the desert had become emblematic of
forest dwellers, but that all lived in moderation among the
a new religious attitude. The gospel accounts of the time
rest of those devoted to family and public life (Apologeticum
Jesus spent in the desert lent a profound significance to the
42.1). A century later eremitism launched a veritable inva-
biblical traditions of Israel’s wanderings through the wilder-
sion of Christian churches. What, one may ask, had hap-
ness and the withdrawal of some of the Israelite prophets into
pened to bring about this apparent reversal?
solitude. Tertullian wrote to the Christian martyrs that their
The radical commitment that Jesus asked of his disci-
isolation from the rest of the world during their imprison-
ples, involving faith, conversion, and suffering, was lived by
ment might well engender the spiritual benefits that the de-
his first followers within the context of a prophetic mission
sert or solitude had given the prophets and the apostles: a
organized around the announcement of the imminence of
lively experience of the glory of God. Origen used the desert
the kingdom of God. This mission necessarily led them to
as a symbol of spiritual progress and also transformed it into
involve themselves with society, and especially with those on
an emblem of the solitude and peace that are necessary to en-
its margins. In contrast to John the Baptist and his followers,
counter the word and wisdom of God. It is significant that
Jesus neither practiced asceticism as a preparation for the
the first translators of the Greek Bible into Latin coined the
judgment of God nor had recourse to solitude, except in de-
noun eremus (“desert”), which did not exist in profane Latin.
cisive moments requiring prayer and reflection. It is signifi-
Thus the desert, the eremus, had been converted into a sym-
cant, then, that the first Christian ascetics frequently in-
bol of a spiritual attitude, a reliving of certain incidents in
voked, not the example of Jesus, but rather that of Elijah or
the Christ event foreshadowed by the passage of Israel
of John the Baptist. Early on, a group of wandering prophets
through the wilderness.
who preached the imminent return of the Son of humankind
seem to have taken quite literally the recommendations of
These precedents must be considered in any account of
Jesus on the need to abandon all things (Didach¯e 11.8).
the origins of Christian eremitism. The first influential
Their asceticism developed in the context of a prophetic mis-
Christian eremite is Anthony, a Coptic Christian born
sion, sustained by their hope in the end of the present world.
around 250. Anthony was early converted to asceticism and
then retired to the desert at about age thirty-five; he enclosed
Only at a later date did this radical discipleship trans-
himself for the next twenty years in a small, ruined fortress.
form into an asceticism aimed at personal perfection or salva-
Athanasius describes this period of reclusion as the phase of
tion. This step from commitment as a prophet to pursuit of
Anthony’s mystical initiation. At the end of this period, An-
individual asceticism—both expressions of Christian radical-
thony accepted a few disciples. Toward the end of his life,
ism—came about simultaneously with the step from the es-
he withdrew alone to a place near the Gulf of Suez, although
chatological dualism of Jesus (the “already” and the “not yet”
he continued to make periodic visits to some of his anchorite
of the kingdom of God) to the static dualism of the Hellenis-
followers who dwelt nearby. He died in 356, his fame wide-
tic world (the world above versus the world below, spirit and
spread. His biography, written a few years after his death by
body). The number of ascetics seems to have increased con-
Athanasius and twice translated into Latin, enjoyed a re-
siderably throughout the third century. While some prac-
markable success and inaugurated a new Christian literary
ticed asceticism in the cities, numerous others built cells near
genre. Jerome later used Athanasius’s work as a model for his
towns or villages and committed themselves to prayer in an
lives of Paul, Malchus, and Hilarion.
early attempt at the solitary life. There were a few cases of
ascetics seeking a more total isolation in the desert. Eusebius
Very early on, even during the lifetime of Anthony,
relates that Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, weary of slanders
Egypt had a large number of anchorites. Paul of Thebes, the
against him and eager to embrace a philosophical life, retired
hero whose novelistic life was written by Jerome, lived as a
to the wilderness around 212. The ecclesiastical writer Socra-
solitary on Mount Colzim, near the Gulf of Suez. Amun of
tes mentions a certain Eutychianus, a hermit living in Asia
Nitria, who like Paul was a disciple of Anthony, began a col-
Minor around 310.
ony of hermits in the Nitrian desert (today’s Wadi el Natrun)
But it was only toward the end of the third century in
to the east of the Nile Delta. There were also the two great
Egypt that Christian eremitism appeared in a definitive and
hermits named Makarios: Makarios of Egypt and Makarios
exemplary manner. Once martyrdom, as an extreme test of
of Alexandria, both of whom died around 390. In the desert
fidelity to the gospel, ceased to occur and once the church
of Scete, forty miles beyond the Wadi el Natrun, lived the
with its bishops became recognized as part of the urban es-
celebrated Arsenius (354–449), his contemporary Agathon
tablishment, numerous men and some women fled to the
(a disciple of the first abbot, Daniel), and later Isaias. The
solitude of the desert in search of God. There they defiantly
sayings of the principal solitaries were gathered into popular
faced the demons whom popular belief assigned to such soli-
collections called Apophthegmata Patrum (lit., “sayings of the
tary places. Thus arose a type of Christian life characterized
fathers,” but referring specifically to the Desert Fathers). The
by solitude, constant prayer, radical poverty, manual labor,
collections were first set in alphabetical order according to
and practices of mortification.
author by compilers writing in Greek around 450. Not long
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EREMITISM
2825
after this an excellent collection was drawn up arranged ac-
themselves in cells. The great Anthony spent his first twenty
cording to subject matter.
years of solitude as a recluse. The famous John of Nicopolis
(fourth century) lived in the same manner. Likewise, the soli-
There were as well three famous women who were de-
taries of the Desert of Cells, east of the Nile near Cairo, pre-
sert solitaries, Theodora, Sarah, and Syncletica. From the be-
ferred to live a life of withdrawal in their caves, which were
ginning of Christian monasticism, there were anchoresses, al-
“like hyenas’ dens.”
though it is impossible to accurately assess their number.
That the Apophthegmata Patrum include the sayings of some
Anchorites and recluses held one basic attitude in com-
women, and that the lives of certain spiritual women were
mon: a radical lack of interest in the world, that is, in human
written, suggests that any apparent silence on women is most
society and history. They called this attitude xenoteia (from
likely due to the fact that a relatively small number settled
Gr. xenos), the condition of being a stranger, an alien, a pas-
in the wilderness. One obvious reason for a relative dearth
serby. Their disinterest was motivated by a desire for total
of anchoritic women would be the frequency with which
self-commitment to God in contemplative quiet. The Chris-
bands of robbers and highwaymen attacked isolates in the de-
tian anchorite was at the same time in pursuit of interior
sert; women were presumably in greater danger than men.
peace, which could be attained only through apatheia, or de-
It must be acknowledged, however, that the spirituality of
tachment from the passions. The experience of God in his
the first Christian anchorites had a very masculine slant, for
mystical fullness was for the anchorite a return to the primor-
athletic and military terminology abounds in their biogra-
dial condition of the human being. One could not return to
phies and writings. It is not surprising, then, that this quality
this lost paradise except by way of a continual struggle with
influenced the anchoresses, who affirmed their spiritual mas-
the demons that populate society, allusions to which appear
culinity. Sarah stated a number of times that although she
in many personal accounts. The hermits often acquired a
was a woman as to her sex, she was not so in spirit and re-
great analytical acuteness, yet numerous allusions to dreams
solve. Syncletica also used terminology drawn from military
and visions show some of the negative effects of a life of pure
life and athletic contests. The practice of some anchoresses
interiority. Although the dialectical orientation of human
of disguising themselves as men probably arose from their
nature was safeguarded by the constant dialogue with God,
concern for personal security in a time and place that was ex-
the fact that this dialogue was almost completely interior
tremely hazardous for all travelers.
may well have overintensified psychic activity.
The most celebrated anchoress was undoubtedly Mary
It should be remembered that at the outset hermits
of Egypt (344–421), who underwent a conversion while on
could not count on the help of the Christian community.
pilgrimage to the Holy Land and went to live in solitude on
They were laypersons, who had separated themselves even
the other side of the Jordan River, where she spent the next
from ecclesiastical society and were unable to participate in
forty-seven years. Her life, first alluded to by Cyril of
the common liturgy or the sacraments. The life of Anthony
Scythopolis in his sixth-century Life of Cyriacus, became a
makes no allusion to the Eucharist. Soon the solitaries dis-
legend. Alexandra, a serving girl who enclosed herself in a fu-
covered the need to consult those who were more experi-
neral grotto, receives mention in Palladius’s Historia Lausia-
enced and began to make visits to them, which began with
ca. Another legendary figure is Theodora, a married woman
a customary greeting, “Give me a word.” They also felt the
who abandoned her husband and, fearing that she might be
need of listening to the exhortations of the most famous holy
recognized by him if she entered a nunnery, decided to dis-
men and of celebrating the liturgy together. This gave rise
guise herself as a man and managed to enter instead a monas-
to colonies of hermits who gathered together on certain days
tery outside Alexandria. In time the monks accused her of
of the week for the liturgy and conferences. Anchorites who
being the father of a baby boy whom an unhappy young
periodically went to churches for worship (this became com-
woman had left at her doorstep and expelled her from the
mon at an early date) were allowed to bring the Eucharist
community. She was obliged to live with the boy in the wil-
with them to their retreats, so that they could receive daily
derness for seven years. After that time she was readmitted
Communion alone. From the beginning, however, it was the
to the monastery, where she became a recluse in a cell apart
Bible that occupied the central position in the spiritual life
from the rest. Syncletica (sixth century), too, withdrew to a
of the Christian hermit. Even those who did not know how
tomb not far from Alexandria; she has the distinction of
to read customarily memorized psalms and New Testament
being the first Christian heroine to be the subject of a biogra-
passages for recitation and meditation. They turned to the
phy. Sarah lived a solitary life for some seventy years on the
Bible whenever they needed a standard for conduct. Never-
eastern branch of the Nile. The sayings of Theodora, Syncle-
theless, the anti-intellectualism of the majority led them to
tica, and Sarah may be found in the Apophthegmata Patrum.
oppose all theological reflection on the sacred book.
These anchorites and anchoresses were not the only
Basil of Caesarea (329?–379) is the only father of the
Christians to practice the eremitical life. Alongside them,
church who ruled out the possibility of a solitary life, basing
from the beginning, existed another group of solitaries: the
his reasoning on both anthropological (the social dimension
recluses. The latter separated themselves from the world not
of the human being) and religious (the Christian vocation
by going to some far-off place but by enclosing or immuring
to communion) insights. Augustine also expressed reserva-
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2826
EREMITISM
tions regarding the eremitical life, believing that Christian
in Mesopotamia, and in the mountainous region around An-
charity can never prescind from the neighbor. In general,
tioch. The origins of eremitism in Palestine are unknown;
however, the church continued to regard eremitism as the
it is known only that around 330 Hilarion began a form of
highest, though most difficult, vocation, one meant only for
eremitism similar to that of the Egyptian anchorites.
the strongest and best-formed personalities. The vast majori-
Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries, hermits were very
ty of the early anchorites were simple folk with little educa-
common in Palestine. Around 390, the well-publicized pil-
tion. Many of those of Coptic origin were ignorant of Greek;
grim Egeria found them nearly everywhere.
indeed, many were illiterate. Early on, it became requisite
that candidates for eremitism place themselves under the di-
In the West, the Latin translation of the life of Anthony
rection of an experienced anchorite before undertaking the
seems to have given rise not only to numerous admirers but
solitary life. Later, once cenobitical monasticism (monks and
also to some imitators. Already in the second half of the
nuns living in community) spread, a consensus arose that
fourth century, numerous hermitages appeared on the is-
subjection to the discipline of a community was the best
lands and islets surrounding Italy (Gallinaria, Noli, Mon-
preparation for the eremitical life. The Palestinian laura,
tecristo), and a colony of Syrian hermits settled near Spoleto.
made up of a central monastery surrounded by a scattering
By his own example Eusebius of Vercelli gave rise to a group
of eremitical cells, is based on this idea. The Trullan Synod
in the mountains of Oropa. Somewhat later, there were her-
(692) decreed that future recluses should submit to at least
mitages on the hills about Rome. Ascetics had lived in France
three years of community discipline before going into reclu-
since the second half of the second century. One of the early
sion. The canonists eventually extended this norm to all soli-
martyrs of Lyon and Vienne had sustained himself on bread
taries.
and water. But it was Martin of Tours (316?–397) who truly
propagated eremitism in Gaul. His life, written by Sulpicius
Although the first solitaries in Egypt and Syria were for
Severus, contributed effectively to the movement. Converted
the most part unlettered countryfolk, they developed a rich
to the monastic life in Milan, Martin underwent his first an-
spiritual doctrine. Drawing on their own experience, their
choritic experience on the island of Gallinaria and later set-
prayers and their temptations, they developed and orally
tled at Ligugé. There a number of disciples established their
transmitted the first art of spiritual direction, as well as the
cells near his. Made bishop of Tours in 371 by popular accla-
first analyses in Christianity of interior states. Toward the
mation, he alternated the exercise of his pastoral office with
end of the fourth century, a number of scholars educated in
the life of a hermit, and in these solitary periods he was again
Greek culture went to listen and learn from the solitaries.
joined by numerous disciples.
Rufinus of Aquileia, a famous sage at first admired but later
attacked by Jerome, arrived in Egypt in 371. Evagrios of
Between the fifth and eighth centuries, hermits
Pontus began his apprenticeship around 383. Palladius, the
abounded in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In Spain, howev-
future historian of the desert, arrived there around 389. John
er, solitaries were not established until the sixth century. The
Cassian spent ten years in Egypt toward the end of the fourth
bishops of the Iberian Peninsula took a dim view of asceti-
century. Later, he founded two monasteries, one for men and
cism as a result of their struggle with the ascetic rigorism of
the other for women, in Marseilles. His Monastic Institutions
the monk Priscillian (340?–385) and his followers, who are
(twelve books) and his Conferences exercised a lasting influ-
said to have felt the greatest scorn for those Christians who
ence on Western spirituality.
would not embrace their austerities.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF EREMITISM.
In the Eastern churches, eremitism has always enjoyed
Eremitism spread rapidly throughout the Middle East. It was
great prestige, although the spread of monachism in commu-
also developing, contemporaneously and independently, in
nity (cenobitism) considerably reduced the number. Periodic
Syro-Mesopotamian Christianity, where it assumed some
reactions against cenobitism, in part inspired by Basil of Cae-
quite original forms. Some eremites, the Dendrites, lived in
sarea, have promoted a type of monastic life focused on con-
trees or in hollow tree trunks; others lived always in the open
templative quiet and personal prayer, rather than on liturgi-
air, either on a rocky height or in groves, while still others
cal worship. Among the proponents of hesychasm
lived in huts. The celebrated Simeon (390?–459) mounted
(cultivators of inner peace, or h¯esuchia) were the Sinaitic
a pillar in order to escape the importunities of people who
school of the seventh century and Symeon the New Theolo-
sought his prayers, inspiring numerous imitators (the Styli-
gian (949?–1022). The laura of Mount Athos was founded
tes). There were a great number of recluses who, like James
in 963 by Athanasius, although solitaries had already been
and Sisinnius, dwelt in tombs or, like Thalalaeus, in hovels
living on the mountain. Another famous laura is the Monas-
with roofs built so low that it was impossible to stand inside.
tery of Saint John, founded in 1068 on the island of Patmos.
Marana and Cyriaca loaded themselves with heavy chains.
Both still exist today. At almost the same time, monachism
All the hermits practiced great mortifications. Some of their
was introduced into Russia by Anthony of Kiev, who had
actions and words seem inspired by a Manichaean world-
formerly been a monk at Mount Athos. When he returned
view, while others resemble the feats attributed to the Indian
to Russia, he chose as his dwelling a cave on the side of a hill
fakirs. Toward the middle of the fourth century, many her-
that faced the city of Kiev. Numerous disciples joined him
mits lived in the mountains near Nisibus, on Mount Gaugal
there, thus giving rise to the Pecherskaia Laura, the Monas-
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EREMITISM
2827
tery of the Caves. Sergii of Radonezh (1314–1392), saint-
situated around a cloister and met only for liturgical prayer
protector of Moscow and all Russia, spent several years in
in the church. Around 1090, Stephen of Muret founded the
complete solitude. Nil Sorskii (1433?–1508) spent a great
Order of Hermits of Grandmont at Haute-Vienne, France.
part of his life in complete solitude, developing his version
In a short time the order had spread widely. Small groups
of the hesychasm he had learned during a stay at Mount
of solitaries began to multiply in Italy and became more
Athos. Cornelius of Komel shared his love of poverty and sol-
common in the west of France during the twelfth century.
itude. In the nineteenth century the eremitic ideal held a
Others appeared in Italy in the thirteenth century. Francis
strong attraction for a significant group of Russian person-
of Assisi, for example, was strongly attracted to the eremitical
ages who spent the last stages of their lives in solitude. From
life and wrote a rule for it and for his disciples.
this time date Feofan the Recluse (1815–1894), translator of
the Philokalia, who remained in strict enclosure from 1872
But there were also instances of an opposite phenome-
until his death, and Serafim of Sarov (1759–1833).
non—groups of hermits who gave rise to orders character-
ized by a more communal way of life. The Carmelite order,
The Maronite church, founded by the Syrian monk
for example, was started by hermits from the West who set-
Maron (fourth century), has always professed a particular de-
tled at Mount Carmel in Palestine during the twelfth centu-
votion to monachism. Among the Maronites, too, has arisen
ry; as the order spread in the West it evolved into a conventu-
the practice of solitaries situating themselves in the neighbor-
al order. Something similar happened to the Servites,
hood of its monasteries. Two Maronite hermits, the brothers
founded near Florence, and to the Hermits of Saint Augus-
Michael and Sergius ar-Rizzi, became patriarchs toward the
tine, an order formed by the coming together of various ere-
end of the sixteenth century. The last illustrious example of
mitic and semi-eremitic Italian groups.
this tradition is Charbel Maklouf, a popular thaumaturge of
the nineteenth century.
Alongside the eremitic life organized within an institu-
tional framework, the individual eremitic life has persisted
In the West, eremites were always less numerous than
sporadically. Instances from twelfth-century England in-
in the Middle East. The teaching of Augustine on the central
clude the solitaries Henry, Caradoc, Wilfrid, and Godric.
value of fraternal communion in the service of Christ, the
Richard Rolle de Hampole, a hermit and director of recluses,
preference of John Cassian for cenobitism, and, above all, the
was a spiritual master and esteemed writer of the fourteenth
gradual conquest of the West by the Rule of Saint Benedict
century. The most celebrated English anchoress was Julian
all converged to impose community monasticism as the com-
of Norwich, whose Revelations of Divine Love remains a spiri-
mon form. Nevertheless, even in the European West there
tual classic. In fourteenth-century Spain, John de la Pena was
have always been hermits. The fact that the councils of Van-
the founder of a colony of hermitages. In Switzerland, there
nes (463), Agde (506), and Toledo VI (638) all gave rules
is the celebrated case of Nicholas of Flüe (1417–1487), a lay-
for recluses indicates that they were not a rare phenomenon.
man who at the age of fifty left his wife and children to go
In the days of the French queen and saint Radegunda (518–
into solitude, where he spent the last twenty years of his life.
587), a liturgical ceremony celebrated the entry of recluses
“Bruder Klaus,” as he is affectionately known in Switzerland,
into their cells. Grimlac, a tenth-century hermit of Lorraine,
was canonized in 1947 and is venerated there by both Catho-
wrote the first regula solitariorum known in the West. Fur-
lics and Protestants because of the ecumenical guidance he
ther such rules were written in the twelfth century by Ethel-
gave from his hermitage.
red of York and, for the recluses of Cluny, by Peter the Ven-
erable. Even in a community as well organized as that of
In sixteenth-century Spain, the noblewoman Catalina
Cluny, some monks were permitted to go into reclusion and
of Cardona escaped from the ducal palace to take refuge as
separate themselves from community life after a certain num-
a hermitess on the banks of the river Júcar. Later she founded
ber of years. The same practice was in effect in the Cistercian
a convent of Carmelite nuns and then spent the rest of her
monasteries, despite the communitarian spirituality that had
life in a nearby cave. In the fifteenth century an unnamed
developed at Cïteaux.
woman supposedly lived disguised as a friar in the Franciscan
hermitage of the Carceri near Assisi. Another woman, who
These developments were varied manifestations of a ten-
died around 1225, lived in the same manner in Burgundy.
dency toward solitude that had been growing since the tenth
Perhaps these women were imitating the legend of the desert
century. The early eleventh century saw the founding in Italy
eremite Theodora. Some scholars have suspected that the
of the monastic congregations of Fuente Avellana by Peter
stories of these women are fictional legends that arose in the
Damian and of Camaldoli by Romuald. These monastic
exclusively masculine environment of the monastery, where
congregations were made up of groups of mutually indepen-
the presence of a woman disguised as a monk could easily
dent hermitages or monasteries, or of a monastery and a col-
have been felt as a threat to the monastic vocation. Another
ony of hermitages united under the prior of the colony. Si-
type of mitigated feminine eremitism was initiated by Teresa
lence and individual solitude predominated. (These
of Ávila (1515–1582) under the influence of the primitive
congregations were joined in 1569.) In 1084, Bruno of Co-
ideal of the monastery of Mount Carmel and the example
logne settled in Chartreuse, France, and established there a
of her confessor and spiritual adviser, Peter of Alcántara
monastery where monks lived separately in small hermitages
(1499–1562), who built a separate hut for himself in the
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2828
EREMITISM
monastery garden. Something similar happened in a number
of Canon Law. The new code (canon 603) officially recog-
of Poor Clare convents in Spain, again under the influence
nizes the eremitical state, even among those who do not be-
of Peter of Alcántara.
long to any monastic institute.
In the seventeenth century, there was a new flowering
EREMITISM IN ISLAM. In Islam, eremitism is regarded as an
of eremitical spirituality. New editions of various writings of
exceptional type of life. In general, the religious life is lived
the Desert Fathers, as well as numerous paintings of the
either in the bosom of the family or in a community made
saints Anthony and Jerome and the penitent Mary Magda-
up of a master and a number of disciples. However, a radical
lene, reflect this interest. Notable among other eremitical
form of Sufism is found among itinerant monks, who express
foundations in Spain at the time was the hillside colony at
their estrangement from the world in a manner somewhat
Cordova, which continued to exist until the mid-twentieth
reminiscent of Hindu or Syrian practitioners of pilgrimage.
century. In the eighteenth century there were still some her-
Many S:u¯f¯ıs, even if they do not fully profess this type of life,
mits living in the vicinity of Rome, and some new groupings
spend a certain number of years traveling throughout the
of hermits arose in Germany. In the history of Christian ere-
Muslim world in search of a spiritual master. The ideal of
mitism in the West, the nineteenth century was one of the
the Muslim spiritual masters is “solitude in the midst of the
most desolate periods. Significantly, in the 1917 Code of
multitude” (kalwat dar anjuman), that is, a state of remain-
Canon Law for the Roman Catholic church, pure eremitism
ing habitually in the presence of God without being touched
disappeared as an officially recognized form of monastic life
by the tumult of one’s surroundings. As means for achieving
because of the code’s insistence on community life as an es-
this state spiritual masters recommend detachment, silence,
sential element of all monastic life.
and interior peace. Some S:u¯f¯ı orders insist on both material
and spiritual withdrawal or retreat.
In contrast, the twentieth century witnessed a reflour-
ishing of the eremitical life, beginning with the withdrawal
Nevertheless, a commitment to serving God while re-
of Charles-Eugène Foucauld (1858–1916), a French cavalry
maining in his presence has led more than a few Muslim spir-
officer, to the Sahara. He spent the last fifteen years of his
itual adepts to seek material solitude. In contradistinction to
life as a hermit. John C. Hawes (d. 1956), an Anglican mis-
the khalwah (“retreat,” i.e., the house of a man or woman
sionary who later joined the Roman Catholic church, spent
of God), ra¯bit:ah designates an isolated dwelling for a person
the last years of his life as a hermit on Cat Island in the Baha-
committed to the cultivation of his or her spiritual life, that
mas. Foundations of eremitical groups have been established
is, a hermitage. Ibn al-EArab¯ı tells of an Andalusian mystic,
in Germany, France, and Canada. The phenomenon seems
Abu¯ Yah:ya¯ al-Sunha¯j¯ı, who often traveled along the coast
to have been particularly intense in the United States. A
looking for solitary places in which he could live. He also tells
strong current of mystical spirituality, together with a certain
of a holy woman of Seville who lived in a hut built so low
disenchantment with the life of many apostolic communi-
to the ground that she could hardly stand up straight within
ties, has led a certain number of religious, especially women,
it. Although Muslims have always professed a lively devotion
to seek the solitary life. The Trappist monk Thomas Merton
toward these servants of God, there has always been also a
(1915–1968) influenced this movement to a great extent.
certain opposition to what is regarded as an extreme way of
After spending twenty years at the Abbey of Gethsemani in
life. This ambivalence is expressed in the following story.
Kentucky in an atmosphere combining total silence and in-
One day, a S:u¯f¯ı who lived in a city received a visit from a
tense group life, Merton arrived at a paradoxical state: He
pilgrim who brought him greetings from a man who had fled
had a keen and very open awareness of a pressing need for
to the mountains. The S:u¯f¯ı replied, “A person should live
dialogue with the contemporary world, yet he withdrew for
with God in the bazaar, not in the mountains” (Javad Nur-
some time into profound solitude. In 1963, he obtained per-
bakhash, Masters of the Path, New York, 1980, p. 80).
mission to withdraw periodically to a small hut on a hillside
E
near the abbey. In October 1964, thanks to his efforts, a
REMITISM AND COMMUNION. Eremitism in its pure form
meeting of Trappist abbots modified the order’s official atti-
is beset with a few serious difficulties, because the solitary life
tude toward eremitism. The order now regards eremitism as
projects an image of spirituality exclusively in terms of interi-
a possible option for monks who have spent a certain number
ority, an image involving individual prayer or meditation, in-
of years in community. As he grew older, Merton’s recourse
tense inner struggles, and so on. What role does the believing
to solitude became increasingly continuous. At present, a cer-
community play in this conception of spirituality? Not sur-
tain number of Trappists follow the eremitical life.
prisingly, the Buddha provided certain community horizons
for the individual search for salvation in order to mitigate the
The Church of England has also witnessed a revival of
extremes of ascetic traditions of his day. Nor is it surprising
one of its ancient traditions, in a number of women soli-
that many Muslim teachers note that materially suppressing
taries. Prayer and silence predominate in the first purely con-
outward “noise” is far less important than remaining open
templative Anglican community, the Sisters of the Love of
to inner silence, even amid the bustle of the marketplace.
God, founded by Father Hollings in 1906. In response to
Pure eremitism encounters insuperable objections in relation
this strong trend the Roman Catholic church revised its offi-
to the Christian concept of community as the vehicle of sal-
cial attitude toward eremitism, as stated in the 1917 Code
vation. What role do the sacraments play in such a scheme?
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
EREMITISM
2829
Are rites of all sorts only for “beginners,” with the more de-
itude and went to Alexandria in order to defend the orthodox
veloped not in need of such props? It is easy to discern in
cause against the Arians. The church meant more to him
these questions a potential for Gnostic aberrations, such as
than a quest for pure interiority. Other solitaries sold their
were possible in the context of the total isolation of the prim-
produce at market, bought what they needed for survival,
itive Christian anchorites. Understandably, total and sus-
and distributed among the poor any surplus before returning
tained isolation soon disappeared in Christianity, and the er-
to their hermitages. Anthony worked not only for his main-
emitical life became limited to colonies or lauras, where
tenance but also for the needy. Poemen recommended that
adherents listened to the word and participated in the sacra-
the brethren work as much as possible so that they could give
ments. Today Christian churches would not accept any form
alms.
of total isolation.
A famous saying of Evagrios of Pontus is often quoted:
In reality, the difficulties come not only from the com-
“The monk lives separate from all and united to all.” Signifi-
munitarian vocation of the believer but also from the basic
cantly, he places this saying in the context of a group of say-
social orientation of human beings. People need others, with
ings that stress the solitary’s communion with other human
both their experience and their limitations, in order to grow.
beings, rejoicing in their joys, seeing God and himself in
After nine years of austere solitude, Pachomius (290?–346)
them. This meant not simply that the solitary, in finding
reacted angrily to a slight disagreement. Seven years of fasts
God, finds all good things, rather that through solitude he
and vigils had not taught him patience. Here, for the first
learns to see God in his neighbor. Peter Damian explains that
time in the history of Christian monasticism, interpersonal
hermits, although they celebrate the Eucharist alone, should
relationship appears as a form of mutual purification. Doro-
always use the greeting “The Lord be with you,” because the
theus of Gaza (sixth century) affirmed: “The cell exalts us,
solitude of the hermit is a solitudo pluralis, a corporate soli-
the neighbor puts us to the test.” The praxis of charity shows
tude, and his cell is a miniature church. The whole church
whether personal progress has been real or illusory, but inter-
is present in the solitary, and the solitary is most present to
personal relationships are also a source of enrichment. Doro-
the whole church. Teresa of Ávila would invite her daughters
theus repeats a traditional saying when he states, “To stay in
to pray for the divided church and to respond to the division
one’s cell is one half, and to go and see the elders is the other
among Christians (of the Reformation and the Counter-
half.”
Reformation) by intensifying their own fidelity to the gospel.
EREMITISM AND HUMAN SOLIDARITY. The quest for person-
In the present era Thomas Merton has exemplified the
al salvation, carried out in a type of life withdrawn from soci-
possible ambiguity latent in the relationship between the her-
ety and history, does not seem to leave room for solidarity
mit and the exterior world. Merton, who desired to devote
with the rest of humanity. Today, when human communion
his life to prayer in solitude, regarded the Trappist Abbey of
and interdependence are so strongly felt, eremitism might
Gethsemani as “the only real city in America” (Secular Jour-
seem like little more than a form of solitary egoism, giving
nal, New York, 1959, p. 183). For years, his life involved
rise to serious doubts as to its basic morality. The Buddhist
total silence (the monks communicated their needs only by
vision of history as pure illusion presents a different perspec-
signs), common and individual prayer, and agricultural
tive. From the Buddhist point of view, no good results from
work. His first writings reflect an elitist view of contempla-
immersing oneself in this illusion, in this flux of sorrows and
tive monachism and a negative view of the secular milieu. In
joys. On the contrary, one would do better to put oneself be-
Seeds of Contemplation (1949) he said that whoever wanted
yond the contingent and illusory, thus giving others the testi-
to develop the interior life had no recourse other than to
mony of one’s victory and wisdom. It is significant that in
withdraw, to shun theaters, television, and the news media,
the life of the Buddha, as well as in the Hindu tradition gen-
and to retreat periodically from the city. In New Seeds of Con-
erally, a phase of itinerant monasticism follows the period of
templation (1979), however, he wrote that “solitude is not
eremitism.
separation” and revealed total openness to the world. More
paradoxically, during these years of growing openness he in-
Christian anchorites, too, often consider themselves
creasingly distanced himself from his community, becoming
alien travelers who cannot afford to be concerned with earth-
a virtual hermit.
ly affairs. But Christian eremitism constantly encounters a
serious difficulty. If the transcendent God of the Bible reveals
SEE ALSO Deserts; Exile; Monasticism; Retreat; Sam:nya¯sa.
himself in the often tortuous and painful history of the
human race, can any Christian turn away from history in
BIBLIOGRAPHY
order to encounter God? Would this God really be the God
General information on eremitism can be found in most encyclo-
of the Bible, or would he not be some remote god encoun-
pedia articles on monasticism; see, for example, “Mönch-
tered only in a flight from the world? Many Christian ancho-
tum,” in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3d ed.,
rites reveal the tensive pull of this implicit dualism. Never-
vol. 4 (Tübingen, 1960); “Monachismo,” in Enciclopedia
theless, their deep sense of being pilgrims and exiles has not
delle religioni, vol. 4 (Florence, 1972); and “Monasticism,”
prevented many of them from feeling and identifying with
in Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 12 (Chicago, 1982). On er-
the problems of their contemporaries. Athanasius left his sol-
emitism in Buddhism and Hinduism, see A. S. Geden’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
2830
ERIUGENA, JOHN SCOTTUS
“Monasticism, Buddhist” and “Monasticism, Hindu” in the
lence (855) and Langres (859). Nevertheless, he was invited
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Has-
sometime before 859 by Charles the Bald to attempt a new
tings, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1915). For the Hellenic tradition,
translation of the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. This
see A. J. Festugière’s Personal Religion among the Greeks
work, Translation of the Works of Saint Dionysius the Areopa-
(Berkeley, 1954). On Christian eremitism, see Clément Lia-
gite, he completed in the years 860 to 862. Subsequently, he
line and Pierre Doyère’s “Eremitisme,” in the Dictionnaire
translated into Latin Matters of Question and Questions to
de spiritualité, vol. 4 (Paris, 1960); Jean Leclercq’s “Eremus
Thalassios of Maximos the Confessor (862–864), On the
et eremita,” Collectanae Ordinis Cisterciensium Reformatorum
(Rome) 25 (1963): 8–30; and Louis Bouyer and others’ A
Making of Man of Gregory of Nyssa, and possibly some other
History of Christian Spirituality, 3 vols. (New York, 1963–
Greek theological texts. The effect on him of such an immer-
1969). On Muslim practices, see A. J. Wensink’s “Rahbani-
sion in Greek theology was profound and abiding. From
ya” and “Rahib” in the Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Lei-
then on his compositions, despite his dependence on and
den, 1974) and Hermann Landolt’s “Khalwa” in The Ency-
reverence for Augustine of Hippo, show a strong Neoplaton-
clopaedia of Islam, new ed., vol. 4 (Leiden, 1978); see also
ic influence. Apart from his writings little more is known of
René Brunel’s Le monachisme errant dans l’Islam (Paris,
Eriugena, and one loses track of him altogether around 877.
1955) and J. Spencer Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders in Islam
There remain, however, a number of well-known legends
(New York, 1971).
about him.
New Sources
Chevillat, Alain. Moines du désert Egypte. Lyon, France, 1990.
From 859 to 860 Eriugena composed a commentary on
Martianus Capella’s On the Marriage of Philology and Mercu-
Colegate, Isabel. A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaires and
ry. This was followed by the translations mentioned above.
Recluses. Washington, D.C., 2002.
From 864 to 866 Eriugena wrote his great original work,
Coon, Linda. “Historical Fact and Exegetical Fiction in the Caro-
Periphyseon, also known as De divisione naturae (The division
lingian Vita S. Sualonis.” Church History 72 (March 2003):
of nature). This was followed between 865 and 870 by Expo-
1–25.
sitiones, or Commentary on the Celestial Hierarchy of Dionysius
Driot, Marcel. Les Pères du désert: vie et spiritualite. Montreal,
the Areopagite, and by a homily and a commentary on the
1991.
Gospel of John. Finally, he composed some verses of only
France, Peter. Hermits: The Insights of Solitude. London, 1996.
moderate poetical quality. Other works are also attributed to
him. The body of his works is to be found in the edition of
Jantzen, Grace. Julian of Norwich: Mystic and Theologian. 1987;
reprint, New York, 2000.
H. J. Floss in J.-P. Migne’s Patrologia Latina (vol. 122).
Jotischky, Andrew. The Perfection of Solitude: Hermits and Monks
The theology of Eriugena may be seen most clearly in
in the Crusader States. University Park, Pa., 1995.
his Periphyseon, a work of some quarter of a million words
Jourdan, Michel. La vie d’ermite. Paris, 1992.
divided into five books. Nature, or all existing things, is di-
vided or distinguished into four parts: that which creates but
Paper, Jordan. “Eremitism in China.” Journal of Asian and African
is not created (God as source, book 1); that which is created
Studies 34 (February 1999): 46–56.
and creates (the Word and the primordial causes, book 2);
Vauchez, Andri. Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages, translated by
that which is created but does not create (the created uni-
Jean Birrell. Cambridge, U.K., 1997.
verse, book 3); and that which does not create and is not cre-
JUAN MANUEL LOZANO (1987)
ated (God as end, books 4 and 5). The work therefore takes
Revised Bibliography
the Neoplatonic approach of the progression from and re-
gression of all things to the Father. The primary division of
nature, however, is into being and nonbeing, both of which
can be considered in five different modes: according to the
ERIUGENA, JOHN SCOTTUS (fl. 847–877), was
perceptibility of the object; according to its order or place
a Christian theologian and philosopher. Eriugena was born
on the descending and ascending scale between the creator
in Ireland in the first quarter of the ninth century, and there
and the creature; according to its actualization (as against
he received his early education (which probably included
mere possibility); according to its perceptibility by intellect
some Greek). He appeared around 847 in France at the itin-
or sense; and according to its realization as the image of God.
erant court of Charles the Bald. Later, in Laon, he found
himself in the company of a number of Irish scholars who
God does not come within any of the categories of na-
were distinguished for their knowledge of Greek, the most
ture. He cannot be seen, although the divine nature does ap-
important of whom was Martin Scottus. Although a teacher,
pear to angels and has appeared and will appear to human
Eriugena may not have been a cleric. He was invited by Arch-
beings in theophanies, or appearances. One cannot know
bishop Hincmar of Reims and Pardulus of Laon to refute the
what God is, only that he is. More is known about him
predestinarian errors of the theologian Gottschalk of Orbais.
through negative rather than affirmative theology: One can
In so doing, he produced his first work, On Predestination,
more truly say what God is not than what he is. The primor-
which did not meet with the approval of Hincmar and
dial causes, also called divine ideas or volitions, remain invisi-
Pardulus and which was condemned by the councils of Va-
ble in the Word. In these are established the unchangeable
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ERLIK
2831
“reasons” of all things to be made. The biblical Book of Gene-
l’histoire de la philosophie, edited by René Roques (Paris,
sis gives the account of how creatures, and especially human
1977), and Eriugena: Studien zu seinen Quellen, edited by
beings, were made. One can say that all things always were,
Werner Beierwaltes (Heidelberg, 1980).
are, and always will be because they always had being in
Sheldon-Williams, I. P., ed. Iohannis Scotti Eriugenae Periphyseon.
God’s wisdom through the primordial causes: “We should
3 vols. to date. Dublin, 1968–1981. Two more volumes of
not understand God and the creature as two things removed
this modern edition of the Periphyseon, which includes an
from one another, but as one and the same thing. For the
English translation, are projected.
creature subsists in God, and God is created in the creature
JOHN J. O’MEARA (1987)
in a wonderful and ineffable way, making Himself manifest,
invisible making Himself visible.”
The divine nature, however, is above being and is differ-
ERLIK, or Erlik Khan (“King Erlik”), is a deity of the
ent from what it creates within itself: In this way pantheism
Turkic peoples of Siberia (Yakuts, Altai-Sayan Turkic tribes,
is avoided. The return of all things to God is best seen in the
Tuvin) and of the Mongolian tribes (Mongols, Buriats,
human creature, who, being body, living, sensible, rational,
Oirats/Kalmucks). Generally, Erlik is considered to be lord
and intellectual, is a harmony of all things. Originally, hu-
of the lower world and judge of the dead.
mankind was simple, spiritual, celestial, and individual. The
division into male and female was caused by sin; it was some-
It seems, however, that Erlik (possibly meaning “the
thing added to true human nature. Humanity will return by
mighty one,” from the Old Turkic term erklig) originally was
stages to become intellect (here Eriugena follows Gregory of
a celestial god. This role can be surmised from Erlik’s charac-
Nyssa); the body will resolve into its physical elements; the
ter as Lord Spirit of the Blue Boundlessness in the religion
human person in the resurrection shall recover the body from
of the Yakuts of northeastern Siberia, who separated from
these elements; the body will be changed into spirit; that
their Turkic and Mongolian kinsmen in early times. Erlik’s
spirit will return to the primordial causes. Finally, all nature
heavenly origin is also attested by Altai-Sayan Turkic tradi-
and its causes will be moved toward God; there will be noth-
tion. Here, however, he has already been degraded to a posi-
ing but God alone.
tion second to Ülgen (Kudai), their supreme deity. He is the
The influence of Eriugena has been important and con-
first man, Ülgen’s brother or created by him, assisting him
tinuous in philosophy and theology. Remigius and Heiric of
in the creation of the earth. Erlik wants to become equal to
Auxerre and Pope Sylvester II were his early followers. Those
Ülgen, however; he wants to create land himself. He also tries
of a mystical disposition made great use of him: the school
to seize all human beings created by Ülgen, seducing them
of Saint Victor, Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Jan van
to take forbidden food from the first tree. As a result, Erlik
Ruusbroec, Nicholas of Cusa, and Giordano Bruno. His rep-
is banished from the celestial realm.
utation, however, suffered from the enthusiasm of Berengar
Thus Erlik becomes the ruler of the lower world, the
of Tours, Gilbert of Poitiers, Almaric of Bena, and David of
king of the realm of darkness, which is opposed to the upper
Dinant, all of whose espousal of his doctrine led to its con-
world, the realm of light. Erlik, his sons and daughters, and
demnation by the councils of Vercelli (1050) and Rome
a host of other mischievous spirits created by him cause all
(1059) and in a bull of Honorius III (1225). His ideas, nev-
kinds of misfortune, sickness, and death. Animals must be
ertheless, have persisted, especially among German philoso-
sacrificed to pacify the evil forces, sometimes with the help
phers, and a reawakening of interest in him and his thought
of shamans who risk the dangerous descent into Erlik’s
has begun.
world. Specific sites in this place of horror, such as the lake
of tears and the bridge of one hair that must be crossed, as
BIBLIOGRAPHY
well as details of Erlik’s sanguinary appearance, are vividly
Brennan, Mary. A Bibliography of Publications in the Field of Eriu-
described in various myths.
genian Studies, 1800–1975. Estratto degli Studi Medievali,
third series, vol. 18, no. 1. Spoleto, 1977.
Heavenly origin is also attributed to Erlik in Buriat,
Tuvin, and Mongol traditions. In Buriat shamanism, Erlen
Cappuyns, Maieul. Jean Scot Érigène (1933). Reprint, Brussels,
(i.e., Erlik) Khan leads the cruel black or eastern spirits
1969. By far the best book on Eriugena’s life, works, and
thought.
against the friendly white or western spirits. At the same time
he is the king of the lower world.
Contreni, John J. The Cathedral School of Laon from 850 to 930:
Its Manuscripts and Masters. Munich, 1978. Gives the con-
Erlik’s role, however, has not become completely nega-
text of Eriugena’s life.
tive, as can be seen from the special relationship between him
O’Meara, John J. Eriugena. Cork, 1969. A brief introduction.
and the souls of humans. In Altai-Sayan tradition Ülgen
O’Meara, John J., and Ludwig Bieler, eds. The Mind of Eriugena.
makes the body from soil and stone, and Erlik blows in the
Dublin, 1973. Papers of a colloquium held in Dublin (1970)
soul. When Erlik became the devil, he remained as subject
by the Society for the Promotion of Eriugenian Studies. Sub-
to Ülgen as he had been when he assisted him in creation.
sequent papers from Laon (1975) and Freiburg im Breisgau
Of course, he tries to force the souls of the deceased into his
(1979) were published, respectively, in Jean Scot Érigène et
realm in order to make them his servants. Soon he becomes
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2832
EROS
an agent of divine justice, however, the judge of the dead
phenomenon without roots in popular religion. At Thespiae
who administers his office by order of Ülgen. His judgment
(Boeotia) a sacred stone, perhaps a menhir, was venerated as
is not arbitrary, but just.
Eros, but it is doubtful how old the identification was. Oth-
Erlik remained a figure in the religious thought of the
erwise cults of Eros do not seem to have been established be-
Christianized Turkic peoples, and he became identified with
fore the Classical period. He was often honored in the gym-
the Mongolian Buddhist judge of the dead, the Tibetan
nasia (sports centers), where adolescent males were constant
Gsinrje, and the Indian Hindu-Buddhist Yama. Erlik, the
objects of attraction for older men. The Spartans and Cre-
bull-headed, dreadful “protector of the [Buddhist] religion”
tans are said to have sacrificed to Eros before battles because
(nom-un sakighulsun) and “king of Dharma” (nom-un khan),
the soldiers’ personal devotion to one another was recognized
judges the dead using his mirror and the count of white and
as an important military factor.
black pebbles representing good and evil deeds. Those con-
Eros is represented in Greek literature as a beautiful
demned to hellish punishments are tortured by Erlik’s execu-
youth, or later as a young boy, and as the son or attendant
tioners. There can be no doubt that Erlik also preserves traits
of Aphrodite, the goddess who presided over sexual union.
of the Indian Yama’s Iranian counterpart Yima, who is re-
He is sportive and mischievous; he plays roughly with men;
garded as primordial man and primordial king.
he shoots arrows into them (this first in the dramas of Euripi-
des, c. 480–406 BCE). Poetic conceit may predicate of him
SEE ALSO Ülgen.
whatever is appropriate to the effects he produced. He can
be called blind, for instance, because he chooses his victims
BIBLIOGRAPHY
so indiscriminately. Sometimes, in and after the fifth century
Erlik’s character in the religion of the Altai-Sayan Turkic peoples
BCE, poets speak of the plural ero¯tes, corresponding to the
has been discussed by Wilhelm Schmidt in volume 9 of his
Der Ursprung der Gottesidee (Münster, 1949). Erlik’s fall is
many separate loves that are always flaring up.
impressively related in an Altai Turkic myth translated by V.
Eros appears in art from the sixth century BCE but be-
V. Radlov in his Proben der Volkslitteratur der türkischen
comes much more common in that of the fifth. He is usually
Stämme, vol. 1 (Saint Petersburg, 1866), pp. 175–184. Erlen
shown as winged and carrying a lyre and a garland, both ap-
Khan of the Buriats is described in Garma Sandschejew’s
propriate to the symposium, at which he was always active.
“Weltanschauung und Schamanismus der Alaren-Burjaten,”
Anthropos 23 (1928): 538–560, 967–986. Notes about Erlik
Often he hovers above scenes of amorous import. In the
Khan and his cult among the Mongols can be found in Alek-
fourth century the sculptors Praxiteles and Scopas portrayed
sei M. Pozdneyev’s Religion and Ritual in Society: Lamaist
him in celebrated statues. Praxiteles’s mistress donated one
Buddhism in Late Nineteenth-Century Mongolia, edited by
of these to the sanctuary at Thespiae.
John R. Krueger, translated from the Russian by Alo Raun
and Linda Raun (Bloomington, Ind., 1978), pp. 122–123.
Eros had a special significance in cosmogonic myth. He-
Important additional information about Erlik can be found
siod (c. 730–700 BCE) places him among the first gods to
in recent Russian publications, for example, see T. M.
come into being, and several later poets echo this. As they
Mikhailov’s Iz istorii buriatskogo shamanizma (Novosibirsk,
saw cosmic evolution in terms of sexual reproduction of di-
1980), pp. 168–169, which also examines divergent opinions
vine entities, Eros was needed from the start to provide the
about the etymology and character of Erlik/Erlen.
impulse. In a cosmogony composed under the name of Or-
New Sources
pheus about 500 BCE, Eros (also called Protogonos, “first-
Rinchen. Les matériaux pour l’etude du chamanisme mongol. Wies-
born,” and Phanes, “manifest”) came out of a shining egg
baden, 1959.
created by Time; he fertilized the cosmic darkness, and
Roux, Jean P. “Les religions dans les societes turco-mongoles.”
Heaven and Earth were born. This account has connections
Revue de l’Histoire des Religions 201 (1984): 393–420.
with Semitic, Iranian, and Indian cosmogonies.
Urbanaeva, I. S., and Institut mongolovedeniia buddologii i tibe-
Although partially comparable with some figures (espe-
tologii. Shamanskaia filosofiia buriat-mongolov: tsen-
cially winged demons) belonging to the cults of the Middle
tral’noaziatskoe tengrianstvo v svete dukhovnykh uchenii: v
East, Eros appears to be a peculiar creation of the Greeks.
2-kh chastiakh. Ulan-Ude, 2000.
He is worshiped in an atypical way, with few sanctuaries (the
KLAUS SAGASTER (1987)
most important of which was in the Boeotian town of
Revised Bibliography
Thespiae) and a scarce inventory of myths and ritual epithets.
Unknown to the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns,
Eros first appears in two passages of Hesiod’s Theogony. In
EROS.
the first passage (vv. 120–122) he is presented as the most
Eros was the ancient Greek god of sexual (either
ancient god after Chaos and Gaia. He has the power to sub-
homosexual or heterosexual) love or desire. The word ero¯s is
jugate the mind and the will of both gods and men, and he
the ordinary noun denoting that emotion; it could be per-
has neither parents nor other deities for companions.
sonified and treated as an external being because of its un-
fathomable and irresistible power over humans (and animals
On the other hand, in Theogony (201) Eros (along with
and gods). This was, however, a sophisticated, largely literary
Himeros) is included in Aphrodite’s retinue and accompa-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ESCHATOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
2833
nies her in the same way that the paredros of the Asian reli-
giving rise to a great number of treatises on this subject. Aca-
gions escorts Ishtar/Astarte. Such a subordinate figure ap-
demics, Peripatetics, Stoics, and Epicureans wrote works
pears different from the representation offered by Hesiod in
(mostly dialogues) with such titles as On Love, Dialogue on
the preceding verses (v. 120ff.), where Eros is described as
Love, and The Art of Loving. Although these works are almost
a primeval, lonely, and very powerful deity.
completely lost (except for a few fragments), presumably they
This incongruity is only an example of the numerous
dwelt upon the ambiguous and contradictory nature of Eros,
contradictions in Greek literature, philosophy, and mytho-
especially the god’s habit of bringing, under different cir-
graphy dealing with Eros’s character and genealogy. Pausani-
cumstances, either joy and happiness or grief and downfall
as (IX 27,3 = Sappho fr. 198, Voigt) claims that Sappho ded-
(also in Cercidas’s second Meliamb, probably influenced by
icated to Eros “a lot of poems not matching with each other.”
Stoicism).
Evidence for this statement can be obtained by comparing
During the Hellenistic age, Eros was mostly represented
Sappho from 159, where Eros is only a “servant” of the god-
as the little, naughty son of Aphrodite and became a stereo-
dess, and Theocritus 13,1–2c (Wendel, p. 258; Sappho fr.
typed figure (see Apollonius Rhodius 3.91–99; Theocritus
198b), which reports that Sappho described Eros as Aphrodi-
19). However, he also became the hero of an inspired fable
tes’s son and attributed to him a father of such nobility as
concerning his love story with a beautiful girl named Psyche.
Uranus (the Sky); nevertheless it seems that, in a third poem
The tale probably originated within Platonic circles and owes
(mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius III 26 = Sapph. fr. 198a),
most of its fame to a work written in the second century CE,
Sappho represented Eros as generated not by Uranus and
that is, Apuleius’s Metamorphoses, or The golden ass.
Aphrodite but by Uranus and Mother Earth.
Different genealogies are suggested by later authors. Ac-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cording to Simonides (fr. 575 P.), Eros is the son of “the de-
Blanc, Nicole, and Françoise Gury. “Eros.” Lexicon iconograph-
ceptive Aphrodite, who bore him to Ares, the contriver of
icum mythologiae classicae (LIMC) 3, no. 1 (1981), 850–
1049.
frauds.” In an inspired stasimon of the Hippolytus, Euripides
says that Eros is a “son of Zeus” (v. 533). Before them, Alcae-
Calame, Claude. The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece. Translated
us had suggested an original version of the matter by defining
by Janet Lloyd. Princeton, N.J., 1999.
Eros as “the most terrible god, whom Iris with fine sandals
Cavallini, Eleonora. Il fiore del desiderio: Afrodite e il suo corteggio
bore to golden-haired Zephyr” (fr. 327 V). It is not easy to
fra mito e letteratura. Lecce, Italy, 2000.
establish whether the poet drew inspiration from certain Les-
Fasce, Silvana. Eros: La figura e il culto. Genoa, Italy, 1977.
bian cults or from his own imagination. If one considers the
Lasserre, François. La figure d’Éros dans la poésie grecque. Lau-
scarceness of concrete cultural evidence, it seems plausible
sanne, Switzerland, 1946.
that ancient Greek poets felt free to give personal interpreta-
Page, Denys. Sappho and Alcaeus: An Introduction to the Study of
tions of Eros’s birth and nature.
Ancient Lesbian Poetry. Oxford, U.K., 1955.
Discordant points of view can also be found among his-
Rudhardt, Jean. Le rôle d’Eros et d’Aphrodite dans les cosmogonies
torians and philosophers. Whereas Pherekydes (7 B 3 Diels-
grecques. Paris, 1986.
Kranz), Acusilaus (9 B 1 Diels-Kranz), and Parmenides (28
M. L. WEST (1987)
B 13 Diels-Kranz) seem to follow Hesiod’s tradition in plac-
ELEONORA CAVALLINI (2005)
ing Eros in the first stage of the theocosmogonic process,
Plato’s reflection can be considered as a decisive turning
point. In Plato’s representation (Symposium, 203b–204a),
Eros is the son of two figures suspended between myth and
ESCHATOLOGY
allegory, Poros (expedient) and Penia (poverty), and he par-
This entry consists of the following articles:
takes of the nature of both; he is neither a god nor a mortal,
AN OVERVIEW
neither a sage nor a fool, but a paradoxical set of contrasting
ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
elements.
Plato’s influence can be perceived in the Middle Come-
ESCHATOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
dy. For instance, a fragment of Alexis’s Phaedrus (fr. 247 Kas-
The term eschatology means “the science or teachings con-
sel–Austin) describes Eros as a strange being, “neither female
cerning the last things.” Derived from the Greek eschatos
nor male, neither god nor man, neither foolish nor wise . . .
(“last”) and eschata (“the last things”), the term does not
but with a lot of aspects in one shape.” It is worth noting
seem to have been in use in English before the nineteenth
that the iconographic type of Eros as a winged androgyne fre-
century, but since then it has become a major concept, espe-
quently appears in fourth-century South Italian pottery. A
cially in Christian theology.
different representation is offered by Praxiteles, whose cele-
Most religions entertain ideas, teachings, or mythologies
brated Eros looked like a young man with charming eyes.
concerning the beginnings of things: the gods, the world, the
In the same period the debate on Eros appears to attract
human race. Parallel to these are accounts of the end of
the attention of the most important philosophical schools,
things, which do not necessarily deal with the absolute 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
2834
ESCHATOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
final end or with the consummation of all things. The end
Daoism, like Buddhism, entertained notions concern-
may be conceived positively, as the kingdom of God, a “new
ing a postmortem judgment. According to Daoist belief, the
heaven and a new earth,” and the like, or negatively, for in-
judgment took place before a tribunal of judges of the dead
stance as the “twilight of the gods.” Sometimes these ac-
who decided the subsequent fate of the soul and assigned it
counts refer to events expected to take place in a more or less
to one of the many hells or heavens that figured in the popu-
distant future. There is considerable overlap with messia-
lar mythologies. Confucianism, however, has no eschatology
nism, which may, therefore, be considered as one form of es-
in the narrow sense of the term; it has no doctrines concern-
chatology.
ing a day of judgment, a catastrophic end of this world, or
a messianic millennium. Other Chinese ideas of individual
An important distinction has to be drawn between indi-
eschatology were in part drawn from ancient lore and were
vidual and general, or cosmic, eschatology. Individual escha-
later amalgamated with Buddhist and Daoist elements. Japa-
tology deals with the fate of the individual person, that is,
nese Shinto¯ has no cosmic eschatology and only vague ideas
the fate of the soul after death. This may be seen in terms
concerning the state of the dead. It is precisely this vacuum
of the judgment of the dead, the transmigration of the soul
that was filled by Buddhism in the history of Japanese
to other existences, or an afterlife in some spiritual realm.
religion.
Cosmic eschatology envisages more general transformations
or the end of the present world. The eschatological consum-
ZOROASTRIANISM. Individual and universal, or cosmic, es-
mation can be conceived as restorative in character, for exam-
chatology merge when the ultimate fate of the individual is
ple as the Endzeit that restores the lost perfection of a primor-
related to that of the world. In such a case the individual is
dial Urzeit, or as more utopian, that is, the transformation
believed to remain in a kind of “provisional state” (which
and inauguration of a state of perfection the like of which
may be heaven or hell, a state of bliss or one of suffering)
never existed before.
pending the final denouement of the historical cosmic pro-
cess. One religion of this eschatological type is Zoroastrian-
ASIAN RELIGIONS. Cultures that view time as an endless suc-
ism, a religion in which world history is seen as a cosmic
cession of repetitive cycles (as in the Indian notions of yuga
struggle between the forces of light led by Ahura Mazda¯
and kalpa) develop only “relative eschatologies,” because the
(Pahl., O
¯ hrmazd) and the forces of darkness led by Angra
concept of an ultimate consummation of history is alien to
Mainyu (Pahl., Ahriman). This struggle will end with the
them. Individual eschatology means liberation from the end-
victory of light, the resurrection of the dead, a general judg-
less, weary wheel of death and rebirth by escaping into an
ment in the form of an ordeal of molten metal (similar to
eternal, or rather timeless, transmundane reality that is re-
the individual postmortem ordeal when the soul has to cross
ferred to as moks:a in Hinduism and nirva¯n:a in Buddhism.
the Chinvat Bridge), and the final destruction of evil. Some
Within the cosmic cycles there are periods of rise and de-
of these Iranian beliefs, especially those concerning the resur-
cline. According to Indian perceptions of time, the present
rection of the dead, seem to have influenced Jewish and, sub-
age is the kaliyuga, the last of the four great yugas, or world
sequently, Christian eschatology.
epochs. In various traditions these periods often end in a uni-
versal catastrophe, conflagration, or cataclysmic annihilation,
BIBLICAL RELIGIONS. In the Hebrew Bible the terms ah:arit
to be followed by a new beginning inaugurated by the ap-
(“end”) and ah:arit yamim (“end of days”) originally referred
pearance of a savior figure, such as the ava¯tara (incarnation)
to a more or less distant future and not to the cosmic and
of a deity or the manifestation of a new Buddha.
final end of days, that is, of history. Nevertheless, in due
course eschatological ideas and beliefs developed, especially
Chinese Buddhism developed the idea of periods of suc-
as a result of disappointment with the moral failings of the
cessive, inexorable decline (Chin., mofa; Jpn., mappo¯), at the
Jewish kings, who theoretically were “the Lord’s anointed”
end of which the future Buddha Maitreya (Chin., Miluofo;
of the House of David. In addition, a series of misfortunes
Jpn., Miroku), who is currently biding his time in the Tus:ita
led to the further development of these ideas: the incursions
Heaven, will appear and establish a kind of millennial king-
and devastations by enemy armies; the fall of Jerusalem and
dom and inaugurate a new era of bliss and salvation for all.
the destruction of the Temple in 587/6 BCE; the Babylonian
“Messianic” and “millennial” movements in China and
exile; the failure of the “return to Zion” to usher in the ex-
Southeast Asia, some of which became social revolts and
pected golden age so rhapsodically prophesied by the “Sec-
peasant rebellions, have often been associated with expecta-
ond Isaiah”; the persecutions (e.g., under the Seleucid rulers
tions of the coming of Maitreya. Occasionally political agita-
and reflected in the Book of Daniel); the disappointments
tion and ideologies of rebellion developed without Buddhist
suffered under the Hasmonean kings; Roman rule and op-
influences on the basis of purely Daoist or even Confucian
pression; and finally the second destruction of Jerusalem by
ideas. But in these cases the ideology was “restorative” rather
the Romans in 70 CE, which, after the failure of subsequent
than eschatological in character; it announced the restoration
revolts, initiated a long period of exile, tribulation, and
of the lost original “great peace” (Taiping)—as, for example,
“waiting for redemption.”
at the end of the Han dynasty or in the fourth-century Mao-
shan sect—or propagated the message that the mandate of
The predictions of the Old Testament prophets regard-
Heaven had been withdrawn from the reigning dynasty.
ing the restoration of a golden age, which could be perceived
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ESCHATOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
2835
as the renewal of an idealized past or the inauguration of a
of the church, as a series of decisions to be apprehended in
utopian future, subsequently merged with Persian and Helle-
an eschatological perspective. C. H. Dodd, in his conception
nistic influences and ideas. Prophecy gave way to apocalypse,
of “realized eschatology,” has stressed the present significance
and eschatological and messianic ideas of diverse kinds devel-
of future eschatology. Christian history has been punctuated
oped. As a result, alternative and even mutually exclusive
throughout by movements of a millenarian, chiliastic, and
ideas and beliefs existed side by side; only at a much later
eschatological character. Certain modern movements (e.g.,
stage did theologians try to harmonize these in a consistent
Marxism) are interpreted by some thinkers as secularized ver-
system. Thus there were hopes and expectations concerning
sions of traditional utopian eschatologies.
a worldly, glorious, national restoration under a Davidic king
ISLAM. The tradition of Islam absorbed so many Jewish and
or victorious military leader, or through miraculous interven-
Christian influences in its formative period that it is usually
tion from above. The ideal redeemer would be either a scion
counted among the biblical (or “biblical type”) religions.
of the House of David or a supernatural celestial being re-
While the eschatological aspects of these traditions were de-
ferred to as the “Son of man.” Significantly, Jesus, who seems
emphasized in later Islamic doctrines, they undoubtedly
to have avoided the term messiah, possibly because of its po-
played a major role in the original religious experience of the
litical overtones, and preferred the appellation Son of man,
prophet Muh:ammad, for whom the end of the historical
nevertheless was subsequently identified by the early church
process and God’s final judgment were a central concern.
as the Messiah (“the Lord’s anointed”; in Greek, christos,
The notion of “the hour,” that is, the day of judgment and
hence Christ) and was provided with a genealogy (see Mt.
the final catastrophe, the exact time of which was known to
1) that legitimated this claim through his descent from
God alone, looms large in his message and is vividly por-
David.
trayed in the QurDa¯n (see su¯rahs 7:187, 18:50, 36:81, and
Redemption could thus mean a better and more peace-
78:17ff.). As in the Jewish and Christian traditions on which
ful world (the wolf lying down with the lamb) or the utter
Muh:ammad drew, God will judge the living and the dead
end and annihilation of this age, the ushering in, amid catas-
on a day of judgment that will be preceded by a general resur-
trophe and judgment, of a “new heaven and a new earth,”
rection (su¯rah 75). The agents of the final hour will be Gog
as in the later Christian beliefs concerning a last judgment,
and Magog (su¯rahs 18:95ff. and 21:96), led, according to
Armageddon, and so on. The doctrine of the resurrection of
some sources, by the antichrist.
the dead played a major role in the eschatological beliefs held
There is also a messianic figure, the Mahdi (the “rightly
by the Pharisees and was also shared by Jesus. The chaotic
guided one”), and Mahdist, or messianic, movements have
welter of these ideas is visible not only in the so-called apoc-
not been infrequent in Muslim history. The eschatological
ryphal books of the Old Testament, many of which are apoc-
Mahdi is more prominent in Sh¯ıEah than in Sunn¯ı Islam. In
alypses (i.e., compositions recounting the revelations con-
the latter, belief in the Mahdi is a matter of popular religion
cerning the final events allegedly granted to certain
rather than official dogma. As regards individual eschatology,
visionaries), but also in the New Testament.
Muslim belief in Paradise and Hell, in spite of much varia-
CHRISTIANITY. The message and teachings of the “historical
tion in detail, is essentially analogous to that of Judaism and
Jesus” (as distinct from those of the Christ of the early
Christianity.
church) are considered by most historians as beyond recov-
PRIMAL RELIGIONS. In most primal religions eschatology
ery. There has been, however, a wide scholarly consensus, es-
plays no major role, because they are generally based on the
pecially at the beginning of the twentieth century, that Jesus
notion of cyclical renewal rather than on a movement toward
can be interpreted correctly only in terms of the eschatologi-
a final consummation or end. While it is hazardous to gener-
cal beliefs and expectations current in the Judaism of his
alize on the subject, in such traditions eschatological or mes-
time. The Qumran sect (also known as the Dead Sea sect)
sianic beliefs and expectations are often due to direct or indi-
was perhaps one of the most eschatologically radical groups
rect Christian or Western influences, whether relayed
at the time. In other words, he preached and expected the
through missionaries or through more general cultural con-
end of this world and age, and its replacement in the imme-
tact. These influences can precipitate crises that result in so-
diate future, after judgment, by the “kingdom of God.” Early
called crisis cults (many of which are of a markedly messianic
Christianity was thus presented as an eschatological message
character); they can also introduce eschatological notions
of judgment and salvation that, after the crucifixion and res-
concerning conceptions of time and history.
urrection, emphasized the expectation of the imminent sec-
ond coming. The subsequent history of the church was ex-
For example, according to the ancient Germanic myths
plained by these scholars as a result of the crisis of
recounted in the Eddas and the Voluspá, in the fullness of
E
eschatology caused by the continued delay of the second
time all things are doomed to final destruction in a universal
coming. Some modern theologians have taken up the idea
cataclysm called Ragnarok, the “doom of the gods.” During
E
of eschatology as the essence of the Christian message,
this cataclysm there will be a succession of terrible winters
though interpreting it in a less literal-historical and more
accompanied by moral disintegration, at the end of which
spiritual or existential manner. Karl Barth, for example, has
the Fenrisúlfr (Fenriswolf) will swallow the sun and then run
portrayed the life of the individual Christian, as well as that
wild; the heavens will split, the cosmic tree Yggdrasill will
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2836
ESCHATOLOGY: ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
shake, the gods will go forth to their last battle, and finally
New Sources
a fire will consume all things. There are some vague but in-
Cohn, Norman Rufus Colin. Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to
conclusive indications that this total doom may be followed
Come: The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith. New Haven,
by a new beginning. Scholars are at variance on the question
Conn., 1993.
of possible Christian influences on Germanic mythology. Of
Evans, Craig A., and Peter W. Flint. Eschatology, Messianism, and
greater methodological relevance to the present consider-
the Dead Sea Scrolls. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1997.
ations is the question as to what extent this mythology was
Polkinghorne, J. C. The God of Hope and the End of the World.
a response to a crisis. In other words, Christianity may have
New Haven, Conn., 2002.
to be considered not as a hypothetical source of “influences”
R. J. ZWI WERBLOWSKY (1987)
but as the cause of crises within the non-Christian cultures
Revised Bibliography
it confronted. Thus the “doom of the gods” mythology may
have developed as an expression of the sense of doom that
engulfed the original Nordic culture as a result of its disinte-
ESCHATOLOGY: ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
gration under the impact of triumphant Christianity.
In every area of religious life, the scriptural religions have de-
The contemporary sense of crisis and fear aroused by ex-
veloped along courses charted between the constraints and
pectations of imminent nuclear catastrophe and cosmic de-
potentialities of their sacred texts and the expectations of the
struction has reawakened an apocalyptic-eschatological
popular imagination. Nowhere has this process been more
mood in many circles. Some Christian groups, especially
evident than in the development of Islamic eschatology,
those in the United States, calling upon their particular inter-
which has never been completely systematized. Many inter-
pretations of biblical prophecies, are “waiting for the end”—
twining factors account for this situation. Like all scriptures,
it being understood that the believing elect will somehow be
the Muslim sacred book is elliptical. The QurDa¯n may ham-
saved from the universal holocaust, possibly by being “rapt
mer away at the inevitability of resurrection and the rewards
up” and transferred to other spheres. This phenomenon is
and punishments of the afterlife, but of the period between
not, however, confined to the Christian West. Some of the
death and resurrection, the topography of heaven and hell,
so-called new religions in Japan and elsewhere similarly ex-
the possibility of intercession, or the nature of redemption
hibit millenarian and even eschatological characteristics,
it says little indeed.
often related to the figure of Maitreya, the Buddha of the
Furthermore, the otherworldly, radical dualism of the
future.
monotheistic scriptures has rarely existed in pure form; it has
usually been blurred through interaction with popular ideas
SEE ALSO Afterlife; Cosmogony; Cosmology; Death; Heaven
and practices. Special tensions arise in the handling of death,
and Hell; Judgment of the Dead; Messianism; Millenarian-
where this world meets the next; thus eschatology becomes
ism; Paradise; Resurrection.
particularly complex. Of the monotheistic faiths, Islam had
perhaps the richest backdrop and the widest cross-cultural
BIBLIOGRAPHY
stage. Preceded by a rich pagan heritage, the pioneers of
Because Judaism and Christianity possess the most highly devel-
Islam also worked within a larger monotheistic environment:
oped eschatological doctrines, most of the relevant literature
some actually entered Islam from Judaism, Christianity, or
has been produced by theologians and students of these reli-
Zoroastrianism; others came into contact with the practi-
gions. In addition to the works of Albert Schweitzer, Johan-
tioners of those religions. The impact of Islamic eschatology
nes Weiss, and, in the first half of the twentieth century, the
on this and other types of exposure was particularly pro-
Protestant theologians Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, the fol-
nounced, as was the Islamic cast given even to the most close-
lowing should be noted: R. H. Charles’s Eschatology, 2d ed.
ly shared elements. Finally, the natural temporal, geographi-
(London, 1913); Hermann Gunkel’s Schöpfung und Chaos in
cal, and ideological variations of the first thirteen centuries
Urzeit und Endzeit (Göttingen, 1895); F. Holstrom’s Das es-
of an expanding Islam have been joined in its fourteenth and
chatologische Denken der Gegenwart (1936); Rudolf Bult-
mann’s History and Eschatology (Edinburgh, 1957); C. H.
fifteenth centuries by modernist rethinkings.
Dodds’s “Eschatology and History,” in his The Apostolic
THE QURDANIC FOUNDATION. Not even a casual reader
Preaching and Its Developments, 2d ed. (New York, 1951);
could miss the QurDa¯n’s emphasis on the final reckoning and
W. O. E. Oesterley’s The Doctrine of the Last Things: Jewish
dispensation, or its parallel concentration on the homiletic
and Christian (London, 1908); Paul Volz’s Die Eschatologie
and hortatory dimensions of the prophetic role itself; almost
der jüdischen Gemeinde im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (Tü-
every su¯rah refers to eschatology, particularly to the physical
bingen, 1934); Roman Guardini’s Die letzten Dinge, 2d ed.
rewards and punishments of heaven and hell. However, one
(Würzburg, 1949); Norman Perrin’s The Kingdom of God in
must always keep in view the larger ethical and monotheistic
the Teaching of Jesus (Philadelphia, 1963); and Reinhold Nie-
buhr’s The Nature and Destiny of Man, vol. 2, Human Desti-
context that surrounds the QurDa¯n’s insistence on physical
ny (New York, 1943), pp. 287ff. For a review of the current
resurrection and consignment; taking this insistence out of
interest in apocalyptic prophecy, see William Martin’s jour-
context has led many modern Western scholars to confuse
nalistic but instructive report, “Waiting for the End,” Atlan-
the sensuous with the sensual while they ignore the equally
tic Monthly (June 1982), pp. 31–37.
sensuous treatments of a Dante or a Bosch.
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ESCHATOLOGY: ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
2837
The QurDa¯n’s pervasive appeal to the senses—the con-
garments, peaceful, never fatigued, sheltered, eating fruits in
crete, graphic presentation of the two dispensations and most
a refined way, drinking a musk-perfumed wine that produces
other matters as well—is consistent not only with its oral na-
no sickness or intoxication, and enjoying the presence of the
ture but also with its need for reiterated proof of the most
h:u¯r, “wives” made pure and untouched. (Although the
persuasive kind. As a didactic as well as apocalyptic work, it
QurDa¯n says that women gain entrance to the Garden, too,
must argue against an archaic Arabian cosmos in which fate-
it describes no pleasure for women equivalent to the h:u¯r.)
ful time determined the course of life and assured the finality
See, the inhabitants of Paradise today are busy in their
of death, neither of which depended on the creator’s inten-
rejoicing, they and their spouses, reclining upon couch-
tions:
es in the shade; therein they have fruits, and they have
And when they see a sign [from God], they would scoff.
all that they call for. (36:55–57)
And they say, “This is nothing but manifest sorcery.
This marvelously wrought dichotomy underscores the need
What! when we are dead and become dust and bones,
for humans to choose. Fire and Garden appear not for their
shall we indeed be raised up?” (37:14–16)
own sake but as signs of God’s mercy or wrath. Belief in the
In contrast, the QurDa¯n’s caring creator, Alla¯h, is also the an-
last day is only a small part of the total challenge (see, for
nihilating judge who will end the human world at his chosen
example, su¯rah 2:172–173). Although Adam’s expulsion
time (Yawm al-Qiya¯mah, the Day of Resurrection; al-Sa¯Eah,
from the original Garden is acknowledged, it produced no
the Hour); resurrect humans, body and soul; judge them ac-
original sin that must be redeemed, even if Iblis, the fallen
cording to their acceptance or rejection of his clear signs as
angel, does constantly tempt humans to wrongdoing. One
elucidated by the many messengers he has sent; and consign
earns one’s fate by choosing to adhere or not adhere to clearly
them to their eternal reward—the fiery suffering of Jahan-
specified spiritual and behavioral norms. Judgment is as fair
nam (Hell, Gehenna) or the easeful pleasure of Jannah (Gar-
as a business transaction: one’s deeds are weighed in the bal-
den, Paradise):
ance, neither wealth nor kin availing. If one has been faithful
and grateful, accepted his signs and messengers as true,
And they [the unbelievers] say, “Woe, alas for us! This
prayed, and given charity, one is rewarded. If one has been
is the Day of Doom. This is the Day of Decision, even
that you cried lies to.” (37:20–21)
faithless and ungrateful, given the lie to the signs and mes-
sengers, given God partners, prayed insincerely or not at all,
The distinction between these two is stark and unequivocal,
and been selfish with and prideful of one’s material goods,
much like the distinction between desert and oasis. Fire and
one is punished. In this instance of the radical transvaluation
the Garden are a pair of polar opposites, each being every-
common to the monotheistic religions, what one valued is
thing the other is not (dead/living, shady/hot, shadowy/
taken away, and what one did not value becomes an eternal
light), just as the inhabitants of one are everything the inhab-
reward.
itants of the other are not (bestial/human, deaf/hearing,
ignorant/understanding, blind/ sighted, living/dead,
The signs of the advent of the Day are equally frequent
dumb/speaking, ungrateful/grateful, neglectful/mindful, un-
and graphic: people scattered like moths, mountains plucked
charitable/charitable, indecent/chaste, faithful/idolatrous,
like wool tufts and turned to sand, earth shaken and ground
prideful/humble):
to powder, heavens split and rolled back, stars scattered, seas
boiling over, and sun darkened. However, not every question
The unbelievers . . . shall be in the fire of Gehenna,
is anticipated, and little attention is paid to the period be-
therein dwelling forever; those are the worst of crea-
tween revelation and eschaton, even less to the time between
tures. But those who believe, and do righteous deeds,
death and resurrection, except to say that it will seem like
those are the best of creatures. (98:6–7)
nothing. As later Muslims took the QurDanic eschatological
Jahannam is, like the desert, hot and dry, its inhabitants al-
drama to heart, they interpreted it where is was specific and
ways thirsty; Jannah is cool and moist, its inhabitants never
elaborated it where is was not.
wanting. Irony informs the contrast. The denizens of Hell
POST-QURDANIC VARIATIONS. This process of elaboration
are given “drinks,” but of molten metal or oozing pus that
produced considerable variation, in scholarly discourse as
melts the contents of their stomachs; they are “cooled” by
well as in the popular imagination, where the rich folklore
boiling water poured over their heads, new skins replacing
of millennia was enriched by the new religion and transmit-
the burned ones; and they are “sheltered” by columns of fire
ted in elaborate detail.
over their heads. They are “clothed,” but in garments of
pitch or fire; they eat, but like cattle:
Sunn¯ı variations. The Sunn¯ı majority turned to the
elaboration of the QurDanic eschatological schema as soon as
As for the unbelievers, for them garments of fire shall
the h:ad¯ıth (reports about the exemplary deeds, utterances,
be cut, and there shall be poured over their heads boil-
and unspoken approval of the Prophet) began to form; sig-
ing water whereby whatsoever is in their bellies and
nificant developments continued for centuries, especially in
their skins shall be melted. . . . (22:19–20)
three topic areas: (1) the period between death and resurrec-
The Garden has rivers flowing underneath and fountains; its
tion; (2) the role of eschatological figures; and (3) judgment,
inhabitants recline on cushioned couches, clothed in brocade
afterlife, and the mitigation of punishment.
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2838
ESCHATOLOGY: ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
1. In classical thought, the word barzakh came to stand
munity. At the pool or pond (h:awd:), the Prophet may inter-
for both the time and place of waiting between death and
cede for some of the Muslim faithful in the Fire. However,
resurrection, even though the QurDa¯n uses the word rarely
some authors even argued that the Fire was a kind of purga-
and only in the sense of a barrier. By the time of the famous
tory for not only some but all its inhabitants.
theologian al-Ghaza¯l¯ı (d. 1111), who wrote in detail about
The structure of Fire and Garden was delineated, too,
the barzakh, a clearer picture had emerged. At the moment
with architectural models preferred, as in the QurDa¯n. The
of death, EIzra¯D¯ıl, the angel of death, appears; then the soul
Fire has seven concentric circles or layers, representing hier-
slips easily from the body, borne upward by other angels.
archically arranged levels of punishment; the Garden has
Subsequently, the angelic pair Munkar and Nak¯ır question
seven or eight layers, perhaps pyramidal, with the throne of
the dead in their graves about their deeds. The interrogation
God at the top. This kind of elaboration was promoted by
is followed by pressure on all grave-dwellers and punishment
the concomitant development of several genres of literature
of some. Whether this punishment prefigures or mitigates
that detailed the Prophet’s famous night journey to Jerusa-
later punishment is unclear. According to some, the dead
lem and ascension from there through the seven heavens.
may interact with the living during the barzakh, particularly
in their dreams.
Sh¯ıE¯ı variations. The informal structure of Sunn¯ı es-
chatological figures has a formal analog in the Sh¯ıE¯ı imamate.
2. The period between revelation of the QurDa¯n and the
Among the Twelver Sh¯ıEa¯h, the cosmic order and the escha-
Day of Judgment, as well as the eschatological figures who
ton’s arrival depend absolutely on a line of descendants of
function therein, also received further attention. Key figures
the Prophet through his daughter Fa¯t:imah and cousin EAl¯ı.
include al-Dajja¯l, the false savior or “Antichrist,” and the
These imams, as they are called, are understood to have been
Mahdi, the divinely guided one. Al-Dajja¯l, who appears in
conceived in God’s mind from one beginning as the princi-
the h:ad¯ıth but not in the QurDa¯n, will emerge toward the end
ple of good, to have been transmitted for centuries as light
of time after a long period of social and natural disintegra-
in the loins of the prophets and the wombs of holy women,
tion, and he will conquer the earth until killed either by the
and to have emerged in human form as the twelve vicegerents
returned Jesus or the Mahdi, another non-QurDanic figure.
of Muh:ammad (like the twelve assistants of all previous
The latter, in this sense, is an unnamed reforming member
prophets).
of the family of the Prophet who will be sent to restore peace
and justice on earth for a period of time before the end and
They suffered, as had all the prophets, and their suffer-
to fulfill the mission of Muh:ammad as his last temporal suc-
ing and that of all previous and subsequent humanity culmi-
cessor (caliph), as interpreter of his revelation, and as enforc-
nated in the martyrdom of the third of their line, H:usayn,
er of Islamic law (shar¯ı Eah).
at the hands of the sixth caliph, Yaz¯ıd (680–683). H:usayn’s
suffering was the central redemptive act in the cosmic drama,
However, not all Sunn¯ı Muslims expect such a figure
shared in and made visible to all previous prophets and iden-
and the term has often been used more like the related mu-
tified with by later followers. Its final avenging on the Day
jaddid, that is, a divinely guided renewer who at any point
of Judgment will symbolize the triumph of good over evil,
may bring the Muslim community from deviation back onto
justice over injustice. The followers of the imams will be re-
God’s straight path through intellectual, spiritual, or tempo-
deemed not only through H:usayn’s actions but also by the
ral leadership. Unlike mahd¯ı, mujaddid has cyclical connota-
identification with his suffering they demonstrate when they
tions; it has been applied to figures at the turn of each Mus-
weep and when they visit Karbala, the site of his martyrdom,
lim century, from the first to the most recent. Since the
reenacting its drama (ta Eziyah), and reciting poetic laments.
eschaton failed to arrive, and since Muh:ammad was believed
to have purified and sealed off revelation for all time, not to
Before the Day, the twelfth and absent imam, al-Qa¯Dim,
reappear until the Day of Judgment, other figures could fre-
will have returned as Mahdi to prepare the way. The Mahdi
quently rise to importance.
will arrive at the end of a long period of disintegration culmi-
nating in the appearance of al-Dajja¯l, whom he will kill, just
3. According to many post-QurDanic commentaries, the
as he will kill all the enemies of the family of the Prophet.
Day of Judgment will be announced by two blasts from the
By then Jesus will have returned and will rule for a time, after
trumpet of the archangel Isra¯f¯ıl, whereupon souls will be re-
which the Mahdi (and perhaps H:usayn himself) will reign
united with bodies in the graves, resurrected, and assembled,
in peace and justice, fulfilling the mission of all the prophets.
perhaps to wait for an extended period of time. Their deeds
The family of the Prophet will participate not only in inter-
will be read out of the heavenly books and weighed in the
cession but in judgment as well, in the persons of EAl¯ı or
balance. When they cross the bridge over the Fire, the reck-
Fa¯t:imah or H:usayn.
oning will be verified: sinning believers will fall into the Fire
temporarily; sinning nonbelievers, permanently. Saved be-
S:U¯F¯I VARIATIONS. Muslims who adopted a S:u¯f¯ı orientation
lievers will cross safely into the Garden, where some kind of
were led to special eschatological views as a result of their as-
“vision” of God may await them. According to many writers,
ceticism, their search for union with God in this life, and
each prophet will lead his own community, with the whole
their extreme love of God. Early ascetics such as H:asan
procession led in turn by Muh:ammad and the Muslim com-
al-Bas:r¯ı (d. 728) stressed their fear of Hell and their desire
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ESCHATOLOGY: ISLAMIC ESCHATOLOGY
2839
for Paradise because they were ultrasensitive to their human
dead think about and help the living. In between the two
sinfulness; they tended to seek the otherworld because they
poles are various modernists who tend to downplay the tradi-
so strongly rejected this one. In H:asan’s words, “Be with this
tional eschatological specifics in favor of a stress on the conti-
world as if you had never been there, and with the other-
nuity between this life and the next, the naturalness of death
world as if you would never leave it.” However, when love
and the likeness of the barzakh to sleep or semiconsciousness,
of God became a key element in Sufism, new views of the
and the nature of human responsibility and accountability.
otherworld began to appear. For the earliest Muslim love
Many practice allegorical interpretations of the QurDa¯n. For
mystic, the Arab poetess Ra¯biEah al-EAdaw¯ıyah (d. 801), self-
example, Syed Ameer Ali (d. 1928) sees a spiritual meaning
less love of God required the S:u¯f¯ı to be veiled from both this
in the QurDa¯n’s sensuous descriptions of Paradise and Ge-
world and the other by her vision of God, whom the S:u¯f¯ı
henna. Abu¯ al-AEla¯ al-Mawdu¯d¯ı (d. 1979) stresses the practi-
must love so much that Paradise and Hell are both forgotten.
cal value of Islamic eschatology in helping human beings deal
S:u¯f¯ıs such as Yah:ya¯ ibn MuEa¯dh al-Ra¯z¯ı (d. 871) replaced
with death and mortality. Muh:ammad Iqbal (d. 1938), in
fear of punishment and hope of reward with complete trust
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, describes
in God’s mercy and found death beautiful because it joined
Paradise and Gehenna as states rather than localities.
friend with friend. Others went much further. The Turkish
Modernist thought has also taken forms much less con-
poet Yunus Emre (d. 1321?) argued that the S:u¯f¯ı must reject
sistent with received eschatological thinking. The founder of
not only this world but also the next; some of his poems ridi-
the Ah:mad¯ıyah sect, M¯ırza¯ Ghula¯m Ah:mad of Punjab
culed a literal interpretation of the QurDa¯n’s eschatological
(d. 1908), made eschatological claims of his own, asserting
details.
in 1880 that he was the Mahdi, at once the incarnation of
Among those S:u¯f¯ıs who sought union with God and a
Jesus, Muh:ammad, and Krs:n:a. Ah:mad¯ı QurDa¯n commen-
vision of him in this life, that experience transformed con-
taries, such as that of Maulana Muh:ammad Ali (d. 1951),
ventional notions of Paradise and Hell. For them, the perfect
have continued to develop unusual eschatological views. For
S:u¯f¯ı was not subject to changing states, including death, or
example, the opening of the graves is said to be prefigured
concerned about created states, such as the otherworld. Some
by the opening of the earth to the mining of precious metals;
came to believe that having been touched by the primordial
the afterlife is seen as an example of the unceasing progress
fire and light of God’s love made them impervious to the
that also takes place on earth; the resurrection is presented
fires of Hell, and that Paradise would provide pure experi-
as a new manifestation of hidden realities; and a heaven on
ence of God, not the sensuous delights described in the
earth is anticipated as well as a heaven after death.
QurDa¯n. In the words of Shibl¯ı (d. 945), “the fire of Hell will
The use of allegorical interpretation in the service of
not touch me; I can extinguish it.” S:u¯f¯ı enlargements of
modernist rationalization has not been universal. Important
Muslim eschatological thinking was not without its ironies:
modernists such as Muh:ammad al-Muba¯rak, Sayyid Qut:b,
while popular S:u¯f¯ı practice encouraged rituals that might in-
Mus:t:afa¯ Mah:mu¯d, and Muh:ammad EAbduh have remained
crease the joys of Paradise, cultivated S:u¯f¯ı thought discour-
loyal to QurDa¯n and h:ad¯ıth in their rejection of allegorical
aged hoping for Paradise even for the vision of God it might
interpretation but have also argued against literalism, finding
provide.
both of them inadequate means of expressing the realities of
MODERN RESPONSES. Many modern Sunn¯ı thinkers do not
the next world. Others have established a relationship be-
discuss the eschaton at all, apparently finding it too difficult
tween the eschaton and the widely perceived need for social
to rationalize. The concerns of those who do treat the escha-
reconstruction. For them, death and resurrection are most
ton are unusually continuous with those of their premodern
meaningful in the context of living an ethical life. They em-
counterparts, but modern thinkers have also developed new
phasize human accountability and focus on the ways in
emphases and rediscovered old ones.
which considerations of the next world can promote morality
in this one. These approaches have their parallel among those
Along the traditionalist end of the spectrum, thinkers
Sh¯ıE¯ı Muslims who, embarrassed by the supernaturalism of
such as Ah:mad Fa¯Diz (d. 1918), Muh:ammad EAwwa¯d
traditional eschatology, deny the return of the last imam and
(d. 1980), Shaykh al-Isla¯m Ibra¯h¯ım al-Bayju¯r¯ı, Muh:ammad
yet find meaning and a redemptive quality in H:usayn’s death
Khal¯ıfah, Mus:t:afa¯ al-T:ayr, and Ahmad Galwash tend to-
when it is understood as a protest against injustice and op-
ward various kinds of literalism, reiterating in modern lan-
pression. Such thinkers seem to have rediscovered ancient
guage such concerns as the agony of death, questioning and
QurDa¯nic priorities in their pursuit of modernization.
punishment/reward in the grave, the awareness of the dead,
and the physicality of resurrection and afterlife. At the other
SEE ALSO Imamate; Messianism, article on Messianism in
end of the spectrum are those, such as M. Sadeddin Evrin,
the Muslim Tradition; MiEra¯j; Nubu¯wah.
who attempt to verify the QurDa¯n with scientific research (the
description of the signs of the eschaton, for example). Some,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
such as T:ant:a¯w¯ı Jawhar¯ı (d. 1940) Muh:ammad Far¯ıd
The only comprehensive study of Islamic eschatology is Jane I.
Wajd¯ı (d. 1954), lean toward a kind of European-inspired
Smith’s and Yvonne Y. Haddad’s The Islamic Understanding
spiritualism that posits a world from which the spirits of the
of Death and Resurrection (Albany, N. Y., 1981), an unprece-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2840
ESHMUN
dented survey, largely of Sunn¯ı thought, clearly and simply
Schafer, Peter, and Mark R. Cohen, eds. Toward the Millenium:
organized and concisely presented, with unusual attention
Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco Studies in the
given to modern thinkers of several kinds. Fritz Meier’s “The
History of Religions 77. Boston, 1998.
Ultimate Origin and the Hereafter in Islam,” in Islam and
Umar, Muhammad S. “Muslims’ Eschatological Discourses on
Its Cultural Divergence: Studies in Honor of Gustave E. von
Colonialism in Northern Nigeria.” Journal of the American
Grunebaum, edited by Girdhari L. Tikku, (Urbana, Ill.,
Academy of Religion 67 (March 1999), 59–85.
1971), pp. 96–112, is an awkwardly translated general survey
with a useful comparison of Sunn¯ı and Sh¯ıE¯ı concepts of rev-
MARILYN ROBINSON WALDMAN (1987)
elation, their relationship to other forms of divinely inspired
Revised Bibliography
knowledge and leadership, and their place in eschatology.
Annemarie Schimmel’s Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel
Hill, N.C., 1975) contains fascinating material on S:u¯f¯ı es-
chatology throughout.
ESHMUN was a Phoenician healer god, later identified
Works that address the issue of eschatology in the Sh¯ıE¯ı tradition
with Asklepios, the patron of medicine, by the Greeks and
in particular include S. Husain M. Jafri’s Origins and Early
the Romans. He seems to be attested since the third millen-
Development of Sh¯ı Ea Islam (London, 1979), a straightfor-
nium BCE in Syria, though his physiognomy becomes clear
ward, narrative, chronological account that stresses the ways
only in the first millennium BCE. The etymology of Eshmun
in which pre-Islamic views of leadership informed various
clearly connects him with “oil,” which had therapeutic and
Sh¯ıE¯ı constituencies, concentrating on the centrist, legitimist
ritual functions (in relationship with the kingship ritual) in
Twelver Sh¯ıEa¯h and the contributions of JaEfar al-S:a¯diq to
the ancient Near East. In the Ebla archives (middle of the
their institutionalization. Mahmoud Ayoub’s Redemptive
third millennium BCE), the theophoric element sí-mi-nu/a is
Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of
EA¯shu¯ra¯D in Twelver Sh¯ı Eism (The Hague, 1978) is a moving
found in some personal names, written dì-giˇs in Sumerian,
and deeply felt rendering of eschatologically relevant piety,
meaning “oil.” In the ritual texts of Ugarit and Ras Ibn Hani,
with suggestive comparative comments. A. A. Sachedina’s Is-
in the late Bronze Age (eighteenth century BCE), the god Sˇmn
lamic Messianism: The Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Sh¯ı Eism
is also mentioned as a beneficiary of offerings (Keilalphabe-
(Albany, N.Y., 1981) is a clear interpretive account of an im-
tischen Texte aus Ugarit 1.164:9, 1.41:[45], 1.87:50). Unfor-
portant topic, with a particularly important analysis of the
tunately nothing is known about the functions or the role
relationship between imam and prophet.
of this god in the Syrian pantheons, but his connection with
An important case study is Ignácz Goldziher’s “Zur Charakteristik
oil must indicate that he was “the one who oils,” and thus
Gelâl ud-dïn us-SujûtEï’s und seiner literarischen Thätig-
“the one who heals.” This is surely the main reason why Esh-
keit,” Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissen-
mun was later assimilated to Asklepios/Aesculapius. His oc-
schaften in Wien 69 (1871): 7–28, a rare history and analysis
casional interpretatio as Apollo (for example, in Carthage) is
of the concept of mujaddid, with an emphasis on one impor-
also based on the same background, because Apollo was also
tant thinker’s identification with the role. John B. Taylor’s
a salvific god. According to Philo of Byblos (Eus., Praepara-
“Some Aspects of Islamic Eschatology,” Religious Studies 4
tion Evangelica I, 10, 38), Eshmun was Sydyk’s son (Sydyk
(October, 1968): 57–76, is a selective comparison of
QurDanic and Mongol-period views, with eschatological
was the personification of Justice), while Damascius (Vita Is.
thought divided into three categories: didactic, apocalyptic,
ß 302) knows his father as Sadykos, who had first seven sons,
and mystical. Taylor’s references to modern Muslim re-
the Dioscouri or Kabeiri, then an eighth son, Eshmun (Es-
sponses to the topic are unfortunately seriously outdated.
mounos; the number 8 was a sign of election, of a special des-
Useful information can be found also in the Shorter Encyclopaedia
tiny). According to Pausanias (VII, 23,7–8), who refers a Si-
of Islam (Leiden, 1974), in the following articles in particu-
donian testimony, Eshmun’s father was Apollo, while the
lar: “Barzakh,” “al-Dadjdja¯l,” “Djahannam,” “Djanna,” “Fir-
god himself was the Air, which brings health. According to
daws,” “H:awd:,” “Ibl¯ıs,” “EIsa¯,” “Isra¯f¯ıl,” “EIzra¯D¯ıl,”
Cicero (Nat. deor. III, 22, 57) and Lydus (De mens. IV, 142),
“ak-K:iya¯ma,” “al-Mahd¯ı,” “Mala¯Dika,” “Munkar wa-Nak¯ır,”
Arsippos was the name of the third Aesculapius, that is,
“Shafa¯Ea,” and “Ya¯dju¯j wa-Ma¯dju¯j.” However, the articles are
Rashap (Reshef), the semitic Apollo.
sometimes unclearly or elliptically presented or marred by
ESHMUN AND THE BAAL TRADITION. From a typological
the open display or subtle influence of many of the ethnocen-
tric biases of earlier generations of scholars, especially as re-
and historical point of view, Eshmun, though he is not a
gards the allegedly derivative, irrational nature of Islam.
storm god, seems to be near to the Syrian Baal tradition,
which emphasizes the salvific functions of the god, docu-
New Sources
mented in Ugarit through Baal’s connection with the Rapiu/
Cook, David B. Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic. Princeton, N.J.,
Refaim (“the healers”=the dead). Eshmun’s cult is docu-
2002.
mented not only in the sphere of public religion, but also on
Kelsay, John, and James Turner Johnson, ed. Just War and Jihad:
the level of private or popular beliefs, where the questions
Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on War and Peace in
of health, wealth, and salvation were essential.
Western and Islamic Traditions. New York, 1991.
Robbins, Thomas, and Susan J. Palmer, eds. Millennium, Messi-
The earliest attestation of Eshmun seems to be the Lon-
ahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements. New
don Medical Papyrus, where we find, transcribed into Egyp-
York, 1997.
tian hieratic syllabic script, some short West Semitic magical
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ESHMUN
2841
texts, dated from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries
monumental and richly decorated podium (decorated with
BCE (Steiner, J. C., Journal of Near Eastern Studies 51, 1992,
hunting scenes), built against the mountain, there was a
pp. 191–200). One of them (no. 28) contains the name of
sanctuary constructed of Greek marble that remained in use
Eshmun and probably also of Astarte, while the text of num-
until the fourth century BCE. In the northwest part of the
ber 33 alludes to an anonymous “healer” (rpy), who is proba-
sanctuary the Eshmun’s tribune (a big socle, or base, for a
bly Eshmun.
colossal statue or an altar) was built, seven meters high and
ESHMUN IN PHOENICIA. The first epigraphical evidence re-
decorated with dances and other “Apollonian” images. An-
lated to Eshmun is the treaty (754 BCE) between Mati’el, the
other shrine, further down and located to the east, was asso-
king of Arpad (North Syria) and Assurnirari V, king of Assyr-
ciated with a cultic pool, and a stone throne decorated with
ia, where Eshmun is mentioned in the group of the Syrian
sphinx and lions was dedicated to Astarte, the paredros of Es-
gods who warrant the treaty, together with Melqart (the Baal
hmun. This temple complex was excavated beginning in the
of Tyre; cf. State Archives of Assyria II, 1988, no. 2, VI, 22,
1963–1964 period, and among the finds from the temple’s
p. 13). Both appear again in the treaty between Asarhaddon
favissa were votive statues dedicated to Eshmun, on behalf
of Assyria and Baal of Tyre (675–670 BCE). The conse-
of children (1–2 years old) who may have been sick or were
quences are stated, should the Tyrian king not respect the
subjected to an initiation ritual (the so-called temple-boys).
oath: “May Melqart and Eshmun deliver your land to de-
Eshmun was also venerated in Berytos (Beirut), and as
struction and your people to deportation; may they [uproot]
late as the rule of the Roman emperor Elagabalus (218–222
you from your land and take away the food from your
CE) coins of Berytos depict Eshmun on the back, usually with
mouth, the clothes from your body, and the oil for your
a caduceus or a border of snakes (symbol of healing). In the
anointing” (State Archives of Assyria II, 1988, no. 5, IV, 14–
same region, according to Damascius, Vita Is. ß 302 (sixth
17, p. 27). The mention of the oil probably alludes to Esh-
century BCE), a young hunter named Asklepios was obliged
mun’s specific functions. The association of Melqart, Baal of
to practice self-castration because of Astronoe’s passion for
Tyre, and Eshmun, Baal of Sidon, is not rare. For example,
him. The goddess, “mother of the gods,” brought him to life
in Batsalos, near Kition (Cyprus), the double divine name,
again after the castration, using the “vital heat.” This story
Eshmun-Melqart, indicates a strong cultural association be-
presents several analogies with Attis’s myth, but probably
tween the two gods, who protected and defended the people.
contains an authentically Phoenician mythical tradition.
Eshmun is also present in the onomastics of the Phoeni-
Like Melqart, a god dies and then returns to life through the
cians who were deported to Assyria (Nimrud) in the seventh
actions of a goddess who gives him immortality and divine
century BCE. In the fifth to fourth century BCE, Eshmun’s
powers. It is worth noting that the Lebanese toponym Qabr
cult is documented in Amrith, probably in connection with
Smun (Eshmun’s Tomb) lies near Beirut. In this case, just
the salvific waters of the sanctuary (the so-called Maabed),
like in Melqart’s case, the Frazerian typology of the “dying
where Melqart seems to be the major god, and in Sarepta,
and rising god,” with its seasonal pattern, seems to be a re-
under the name of Asklepios (bilingual dedication made by
ductive interpretation, though not completely wrong. (In
a Cypriot in Greek and syllabic Cypriot writings, fourth cen-
The Golden Bough [1914], J. G. Frazer devised the category
tury BCE). But the main center of Eshmun’s cult is clearly
of “dying and rising gods,” which included Adonis, Osiris,
Sidon: he is called Baal of Sidon in the famous funerary in-
Attis, and others.) Besides, the fertility aspect is not the pri-
scription of Eshmunazor II (“Eshmun has saved”), circa 475
mary characteristic of Eshmun, who is first of all a healer,
BCE (Kanaansische und aramsische Inschriften [KAI] 14). He
the Baal of the town. He is more obviously the heir of the
is also mentioned in the two series of Bodashtart’s inscrip-
Syrian Bronze Age traditions incarnate in Baal and the dead
tions (KAI 15–16), which record the restoration of the god’s
kings who are immortalized.
sanctuary, and in the inscription of the young prince Baal-
ESHMUN OUTSIDE PHOENICIA, IN THE NEAR EAST. Else-
shillem (Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions, T III, no.
where in the Near Eastern world, Eshmun is attested through
29). Eshmun was the most important god of Sidon, the dy-
dedications or onomastics in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. The
nastic god, the “holy prince” (ˇsr qdˇs) of the city. He was asso-
Nebi Yunis inscription (third to second century BCE), which
ciated, like Melqart in Tyre, with the goddess Astarte, who
mentions a molk (sacrifice) in honor of Eshmun, is probably
bore the title of ˇsm b’l, “Name of Baal” (already mentioned
false, while the presence of Eshmun’s name on an ostrakon
in Ugarit). In Sidon, Eshmun had at least two sanctuaries:
from Shiqmona (end of the eighth century BCE) is also ques-
one in the city (“Sidon-on-the-sea”) and one outside the city
tionable. In Cyprus, Eshmun’s cult is well documented, es-
(“Sidon-in-the-countryside”), in Bostan esh-Sheikh, along
pecially in Kition, sometimes together with Melqart (at Bats-
the Nahr el-Awali (Bostrenus), near the Yidal source, where
alos), probably because these two Baals had salvific functions.
the god was associated with Astarte. Initially, in the neo-
In Kition a god named Baal Marpe, the healing Lord, is men-
Babylonian period (sixth century BCE), a ziggurat was built,
tioned, who could be identical with Eshmun or with Esh-
already associated with a sacral pool, probably for therapeutic
mun-Melqart.
rituals. The sanctuary was rebuilt in Persian times (fifth cen-
tury BCE) in the Greek style. It was a very large sacral com-
ESHMUN IN WESTERN CONTEXTS. In Western contexts, Es-
plex, with different shrines and cultural buildings. On a
hmun is also an important god, especially in Carthage, where
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2842
ESKIMO RELIGION
he was, according to Apuleius (Florida 18), the city’s numen.
Mettinger, N. The Riddle of Resurrection. Dying and Rising Gods
Eshmun’s temple in Carthage, on the Byrsa acropolis, was
in the Ancient Near East. Stockholm, 2001. See pages
indeed very famous and very rich. The Senate’s meetings
155–165.
took placed in this sanctuary. In 146 BCE, at the end of the
Ribinichi, S. “Eshmun.” In Dictionary of Deities and Demons in
Third Punic War, the last defenders of the city found refuge
the Bible, edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and
in this temple, which was destroyed by fire. Eshmun’s temple
Pieter W. van der Horst, pp. 583-587. Leiden, 1995.
and Eshmuns priests are often mentioned in the Carthagin-
Stucky, R. A. Tribune d’Echmoun. Basel, 1984.
ian inscriptions. The god was probably venerated together
Stucky, R. A. “Das Heiligtum des Eschmun bei Sidon in vorhel-
with Astarte, as the divine name Eshmun-Astarte is men-
lenistischer Zeit.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins
tioned in at least one inscription. In the Roman period, Esh-
118 (2002): 66–86.
mun, who was named Aesculapius, continued to play an im-
Xella, P. “Eschmun von Sidon.” In Mesopotamica-Ugaritica-
portant role in the religious life of Carthage. His paredra
Biblica, edited by M. Dietrich and O. Loretz, pp. 481–498.
(divine feminine partner) was Caelestis, with whom Aescula-
Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany, 1993.
pius is frequently associated in Roman Africa. The Cartha-
Xella, P. “Les plus anciens témoignages sur le dieu Eshmoun: une
ginians also venerated a golden statue of Apollo, which was
mise au point.” In The World of the Aramaeans, II, Studies
taken away by the Romans and placed in front of the Circus
in Honour of P.-E. Dion, edited by P. M. Michèle Daviau et
Maximus in Rome. This god could be another interpretatio
al., pp. 230–241. Sheffield, U.K., 2001.
of Eshmun.
CORINNE BONNET (2005)
Eshmun, under the name Aesculapius or Apollo, is also
documented in Bulla Regia, Maktar, Lambesa, Oea, and
elsewhere, but it is not easy to distinguish between the possi-
ESKIMO RELIGION SEE ARCTIC RELIGIONS;
ble Punic roots and the Roman manifestations. The top-
INUIT RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
onym Rusucmona (Cape of Eshmun) is located near Utica,
where there was an important and archaic temple to Apollo.
In Sardinia, the most important evidence of Eshmun is
ESOTERIC BUDDHISM S
the trilingual dedication to Eshmun/Asklepios/Aesculapius,
EE BUDDHISM,
SCHOOLS OF, ARTICLE ON TANTRIC RITUAL
which appears in Punic, Greek, and Latin on a bronze altar
SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM
at S. Nicolò Gerrei (second century BCE). Near Cagliari, a
votive hand (ex-voto) was dedicated to “Eshmun who lis-
tens,” the one who fulfills prayers and heals the ill. In Spain,
there probably was an Eshmun’s temple in Carthagena (on
ESOTERICISM. Esotericism has several meanings. After
the Acropolis; Polybius X, 10, 8).
presenting a list of them, this article deals with the use of the
Eshmun is also very frequently found in onomastics in
term in scholarly parlance and with the various approaches
Phoenicia and in all the “colonies” (more than seven hun-
toward this academic speciality in religious studies.
dred just at Carthage). The verbs linked to Eshmun in the
A VARIETY OF MEANINGS. The substantive esotericism seems
personal names stress the healing functions of the god, who
to have first appeared in French (l’ésotérisme) in Jacques Mat-
“protects,” “gives (life/health),” “saves,” “delivers,” and so
ter’s Histoire critique du Gnosticisme et de son influence (A
on. In the Latin transcriptions, Eshmun’s name can be writ-
Critical History of Gnosticism and Its Influence), published
ten as Sum/n-, San/m-, and A/Ismun-.
in 1828. Along with its adjective form esoteric, esotericism
until the early twenty-first century has carried different
On the basis of such documentation, it is obviously im-
meanings that overlap only in part:
possible to present Eshmun as a simple “vegetation god,” as
suggested in the works of W. Baudissin and R. Dussaud.
1. Booksellers and publishers tend to group under this
Like the different Bronze Age Baals, who are related to the
heading (or under that of the occult or even metaphys-
Syrian tradition on kingship, Eshmun or Melqart, the Phoe-
ics) a plethora of domains concerned with the paranor-
nician Iron Age Baals, are complex personalities to whom
mal, exotic and particularly Eastern wisdom traditions,
people asked a large protection: for food, for health, for sta-
New Age literature, and magical literature.
bility, for fertility, for peace.
2. Esoteric is used to designate teachings or doctrines that
are purposely kept secret, generally with a view to distin-
SEE ALSO Asklepios; Phoenician Religion.
guish between initiates and noninitiates (the former are
supposed to respect the so-called discipline of the ar-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cane).
Baudissin, W. Adonis und Esmun. Leipzig, 1911.
3. Esoteric refers to the hidden meanings of apparent reality
Lipinski, E. Dieux et déesses de l’univers phénicienn et punique. Leu-
(i.e., of nature, history, and mythical narratives) and to
ven, 1985. See pages 154–169.
the deeper, inner mysteries of religion as opposed to 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
ESOTERICISM
2843
merely external or exoteric dimensions. In this under-
4. alchemy of the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, un-
standing, esotericism tends to designate the ways likely
derstood as a spiritual form of meditation and practice;
to provide an access to these deeper meanings. Here
5. astrology (in its speculative more than its divinatory
gno¯sis is often used as a synonym of esotericism.
form);
4. Within the so-called perennialist discourses, notably
those of the traditionalist school of religious studies
6. Paracelsism (the philosophy of Paracelsus in the first
(e.g., in René Guénon’s and Frtijof Schon’s works), “es-
half of the sixteenth century) and that of his followers
oterism” (used rather than esotericism) is the doctrine ac-
bent upon giving a chemical or alchemical interpreta-
cording to which there is a transcendental unity of reli-
tion of nature;
gions—sometimes called the primordial tradition—and
7. Rosicrucianism, which began to flourish at the begin-
the ways to try to recover it.
ning of the seventeenth century, and its numerous varie-
5. The term is often used in a rather broad sense as a near
ties until the early twenty-first century;
synonym of (again) gno¯sis, understood as a mode of
8. theosophy (the current that began to flourish with Jacob
knowing that emphasizes the experiential, the mythical,
Böhme) in the seventeenth century but also the history
and the symbolic rather than the dogmatic and discur-
of the Theosophical Society since the end of the nine-
sive forms of expression.
teenth century;
6. Mainly since the beginning of the 1990s, esotericism,
9. the so-called illuminist current (c. 1750 to 1820);
or rather Western esotericism, has been used in academ-
ic parlance to designate (from a strictly historical per-
10. the occultist current (mid–nineteenth century to the
spective) a speciality covering a number of currents and
first half of the twentieth century) and its related devel-
traditions that present some obvious similarities. West-
opments.
ern here refers to the medieval and modern Greco-Latin
ACADEMIC APPROACHES: 1964–1990. Giordano Bruno and
world in which the religious traditions of Judaism and
the Hermetic Tradition (1964) by Frances A. Yates has been
Christianity have coexisted for centuries, visited by
instrumental in calling attention to the importance and sig-
those of Islam. In an even stricter sense, this speciality
nificance of hermetism in the history of the Renaissance and
has developed into modern Western esotericism. This
consequently to that of the esoteric currents that flourished
expression was chosen by scholars among other available
at that time and later. Yates’s book caused a flurry of debates
ones (e.g., hermeticism or hermetic philosophy, which
over what Wouter J. Hanegraaff has felicitously called “the
some other scholars conveniently use, but they do so in
Yates paradigm” (Hanegraaff, 2001, p. 5). Indeed Yates has
the same sense). It was a matter of choosing a term to
created a grand narrative, as it were, based on two main as-
designate a historical field. This latter corresponds to a
sumptions. First is the existence of what she called “the Her-
specific phenomenon that appeared at the beginning of
metic Tradition,” in which she saw a more or less covert reac-
the early modern period (i.e., of the Renaissance) and
tion against both Christianity and the rise of scientific
is represented by a number of specific spiritual currents.
worldviews. Second, however paradoxical it may seem, is the
It is in this latter, stricter sense that esotericism is intended
claim that the essential tradition of magic—which Yates con-
in the present article. It is to be understood as a historical
sidered essentially nonprogressive—was an important factor
construct, not as a type of religion but as a general label for
in the development of the scientific revolution. Neither of
some currents in Western culture that display certain similar-
these two tenets has proved resistant to close scrutiny, but
ities and are historically related. Although there is still some
this work paved the way for an ongoing academic recogni-
debate about the definition and the demarcation of this do-
tion and institutionalization of modern Western esoteric cur-
main, notably of its historical scope, a widespread consensus
rents as a specialty in their own right.
has been reached about the main currents that form its core.
Even within the pale of academic scholarship, the Yates
They are mainly of the following ones (the list is not exhaus-
paradigm was used by a number of authors with a more or
tive):
less religionist-esoteric persuasion within the intellectual cli-
1. the Renaissance revival of hermetism (i.e., the literature
mate of the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. Indeed
bearing witness to an intense, renewed interest in the
they were prone to consider esoteric currrents in general as
Greek hermetica of late antiquity, in particular in the
a form of counterculture, just as Yates’s narrative portrayed
Corpus Hermeticum attributed to the legendary Hermes
the Renaissance magus as a rebel against the dogmas of the
Trismegistus);
established churches and later against the claims of mecha-
nistic science. Such an interpretation is illustrated, for exam-
2. Christian Qabbalah of the Renaissance and post-
ple, by many scholars associated with the Eranos group, like
Christian Qabbalah;
Carl Gustav Jung, Mircea Eliade, Henry Corbin, Ernst Benz,
3. the so-called occult philosophy of the Renaissance (see,
or Joseph Campbell (see Wasserstrom, 1999; Hakl, 2001).
for example, Cornelius Agrippa’s De Occulta Philo-
Therefore, on the one hand, the Eranosian production was
sophia, 1533) and its later developments;
viewed with suspicion by scholars of a a strictly historical per-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2844
ESOTERICISM
suasion; on the other hand and more importantly, the study
Occult relationships govern the metals, the planets, and
of Western esotericism found in Eranos a place in which pre-
the parts of the human body. There are also correspon-
cedence was given to a “phenomenological” even apologeti-
dences between nature and history on the one hand and
cal approach.
the revealed texts (the myths of foundation or origin)
on the other hand.
What seems to be the first methodological attempt
proper was proposed in 1990 by Pierre Riffard. Starting from
2. Living nature. The cosmos is not merely complex or
the idea that there is a universal esotericism, this scholar at-
plural, nor can it be reduced to a network of correspon-
tempted to find what its invariables might be. He found
dences. It is also alive. Viewed as a seat of sympathies
seven: author’s impersonality, distinction between the pro-
and antipathies, it is palpitating in all its parts, permeat-
fane and the initiated, correspondences, the subtle, arith-
ed and animated by a spiritual presence, a life force, or
mology (the esoteric science of numbers), occult arts, and
a light—a hidden fire that circulates through it.
initiation. Given its universalizing aspect in terms of areas
3. Imagination and mediations. These two notions are
and eras, that is, its lack of precise anchoring in history, such
complementary. Rituals, man:d:alas, symbols charged
a position evinces a tendency toward essentialism and reli-
with polysemia, and intermediate beings (like angels)
gionism. Nevertheless it is not devoid of interest insofar
are mediators that allow the various levels of reality to
as it is likely to be appropriable by anthropology and
be (re)connected to one another. And imagination is
psychology.
understood here as a specific faculty (a magical one, as
ACADEMIC APPROACHES: 1991–EARLY TWENTY-FIRST
it were) of the human mind to use these intermediaries,
CENTURY. Not until as late as the beginning of the 1990s
symbols, and images for acquiring a higher knowledge.
did the study of modern Western esotericism begin to be se-
Imagination (often compared here with magnet,
riously recognized as an academic field of study in its own
mageia, imago) is the tool of knowledge of the self, of
right. In these years the Yates paradigm as well as its religion-
the world, of myth—it is the “eyes of fire” that makes
ist interpretation from a countercultural perspective were
visible the invisible.
challenged by a different paradigm introduced by Antoine
4. The experience of transmutation. This fourth element
Faivre that can be seen as encompassing the entire period
comes in to complete the first three. It adds to them the
from the Renaissance to the early twenty-first century while
dimension of a living experience. It may be the transmu-
still clearly demarcating the field from nonesoteric currents.
tation of oneself through an illuminated knowledge that
As a result during the 1990s Faivre’s approach was adopted
favors a second birth but also of a part of nature itself
by many other scholars and tended to replace Yates’s grand
(such is the case of course in alchemy).
narrative as the major paradigm in the field.
The two secondary characteristics include, first, the idea of
In a number of publications in the 1990s, Faivre sub-
concordance, which posits the existence of common denomi-
mitted an academic construct based on empirical observa-
nators (a fundamental concordance) between several or all
tions (i.e., not on an essentialist or religionist position claim-
spiritual traditions, then studies these by comparing them,
ing to deal with the essence of esotericism, which he
in the hopes of bringing out the forgotten hidden trunk of
considered problematic). He proposed calling esotericism in
which each particular one would be only one visible branch.
the modern West a form of thought identifiable by the pres-
Second is transmission, which has become rather common
ence of six characteristics distributed in varying proportions.
since the eighteenth century. Transmission emphasizes the
Four are intrinsic in that their simultaneous presence is sup-
importance of channels; for example, transmission from mas-
posed to be a necessary and sufficient condition for a dis-
ter to disciple or initiatory societies (one cannot initiate one-
course to be identified as esoteric (although of course no dis-
self). Some insist on the authenticity of the regularity of the
course turns out to be that only). With them are joined two
channels of filiation supposed to transmit what could not be
others, which he calls secondary, that is, not intrinsic, but
obtained without them.
whose presence is frequent next to the four others. That said,
it is clear that none of the six characteristics belongs to es-
Some aspects and implications of Faivre’s construct
otericism alone.
have been challenged. Hanegraaff (1996, 2004) has cogently
argued that it applies mostly to the Renaissance occult phi-
The four intrinsic characteristics are:
losophy and to the late-eighteeth-century and early-
1. The idea of correspondences. There exist invisible and
ninteenth-century illuminist and Romantic contexts but fails
noncausal correspondences between all visible and invis-
to fully account for developments within the spiritualist-
ible dimensions of the cosmos. This is illustrated, for ex-
pietist context since the seventeenth century and the secular-
ample, by the old notion of macrocosm and microcosm
ization of esotericism over the long period of the nineteenth
and the principle of universal relationships between all
and twentieth centuries. Kocku von Stuckrad (2004) has
things within the universe. The latter is a theater of mir-
suggested that the limitations of Faivre’s concept of a form
rors, a mosaic of hieroglyphs to be decoded. Everything
of thought could be overcome by a discursive approach. Fur-
in nature is a sign, and the least object is hiding a secret.
thermore the relation of Western esotericism to Christianity
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ESSENES
2845
and to the other religions of the book lends itself to ongoing
Geistesgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Bretten, Germany,
debates (Hanegraaff, 1995, 2004; Neugebauer-Wölk, 2003;
2001.
Stuckrad, 2004). It seems likely that such discussions, which
Hammer, Olav. Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology
are already operating in several directions, will contribute to
from Theosophy to the New Age. Leiden, 2001.
further developments in the study of Western esotericism.
Hammer, Olav. “Esotericism in New Religious Movements.” In
THE ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF ESOTERICISM:
The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, edited by
A SHORT OVERVIEW. This long-neglected domain has been
James R. Lewis, pp. 445–465. Oxford, 2004.
increasingly recognized in the early twenty-first century as an
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “Empirical Method in the Study of Esoteri-
area of academic research and has gained a foothold in ac-
cism.” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 7, no. 2
ademia. It has been instrumental in bringing about a reap-
(1995): 99–129.
praisal of the understanding of Western culture in general
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Es-
and of its religious history in particular. Indeed even before
otericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Leiden, 1996; re-
methodological questions were seriously raised, the École
print, Albany, N.Y., 1998.
Pratique des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Religieuses
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “On the Construction of ‘Esoteric Tradi-
(Paris, Sorbonne), created in 1964 the chair History of
tions.’” In Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion, ed-
Christian Esotericism, which became in 1979 the History of
ited by Antoine Faivre and Wouter J. Hanegraaff,
the Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Contemporary Europe
pp. 11–61. Louvain, 1998.
(in 2001 the adjective mystical was deleted). The University
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “Beyond the Yates Paradigm: The Study
of Amsterdam in 1999 created a chair of the History of Her-
of Western Esotericism between Counterculture and New
metic Philosophy and Related Currents from the Renais-
Complexity.” Aries 1, no. 1 (2001): 5–37.
sance to the Present, which encompasses a full academic cur-
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “The Study of Western Esotericism: New
riculum, from the undergraduate to the doctorate levels. In
Approaches to Christian and Secular Culture.” In New Ap-
Lampeter, United Kingdom, in 2001 another was estab-
proaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Peter Antes, Armin
lished, History of the Western Esoteric Tradition. Within
W. Geertz, and Randi Warne. Berlin and New York, 2004.
the American Academy of Religion, a program unit func-
Introvigne, Massimo. Il cappello del mago. Milan, 1990.
tioned from 1986 to 2000 under several titles, the latest one
Laurant, Jean-Pierre. L’ésotérisme chrétien en France au XIXè siècle.
being Western Esotericism since the Early Modern Period.
Lausanne, 1992.
The International Association for the History of Religions
Laurant, Jean-Pierre. L’ésotérisme. Paris, 1993.
held a conference in Mexico City in 2000, “Western Esoteri-
cism and the Science of Religion” (see Faivre and Hane-
Matter, Jacques. Histoire critique du Gnosticisme et de son influence.
graaff, 1998), and another one in Durban in 2000, “Western
Paris, 1828.
Esotericism and Jewish Mysticism.” Other similar examples
Neugebauer-Wölk, Monika. “Esoterik und Christentum vor
could be adduced.
1800: Prolegomena zu einer Bestimmung ihrer Differenz.”
Aries 3, no. 2 (2003): 127–165.
SEE ALSO Alchemy; Astrology; Hermetism; Nature; Theo-
Neugebauer-Wölk, Monika, ed. Aufklärung und Esoterik. Ham-
sophical Society.
burg, 1999.
Riffard, Pierre A. L’ésotérisme: Qu’est-ce que l’ésotérisme? Anthologie
BIBLIOGRAPHY
de l’ésotérisme occidental. Paris, 1990.
Broek, Roelof van den, and Wouter J. Hanegraaff, eds. Gnosis and
Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times. Albany, N.Y.,
Servier, Jean, ed. Dictionnaire critique de l’ésotérisme. Paris, 1998.
1998.
Stuckrad, Kocku von. Was ist Esoterik? Kleine Geschichte des gehei-
Caron, Richard, Joscelyn Godwin, Wouter. J. Hanegraaff, and
men Wissens. Munich, 2004.
Jean-Louis Vieillard-Baron, eds. Esotérisme, Gnoses, et Im-
Wasserstrom, Steven M. Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem,
aginaire symbolique: Mélanges offerts à Antoine Faivre. Lou-
Mircea Eliade, and Henry Corbin at Eranos. Princeton, N.J.,
vain, 2001.
1999.
Faivre, Antoine. Access to Western Esotericism. Albany, N.Y., 1994.
Yates, Frances Amelia. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradi-
Includes a detailed bibliography of scholarly studies devoted
tion. London, 1964.
to specific modern Western esoteric currents, pp. 297–348.
ANTOINE FAIVRE (1987 AND 2005)
Faivre, Antoine. Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in
Western Esotericism. Albany, N.Y., 2000. Includes a detailed
bibliography of scholarly studies devoted to specific modern
Western esoteric currents, pp. 248–259.
ESSENES. The Essenes were a sect of Jews during the
Faivre, Antoine. L’ésotérisme. Rev. and enlarged ed. Paris, 2002.
Hasmonean and Roman periods of Jewish history (c. 150
Faivre, Antoine, and Wouter J. Hanegraaff, eds. Western Esoteri-
BCE–74 CE). This group was noted for its piety and distinc-
cism and the Science of Religion. Louvain, 1998.
tive theology. The Essenes were known in Greek as Essenoi
Hakl, Hans Thomas. Der verborgene Geist von Eranos:Unbekannte
or Essaioi. Numerous suggestions have been made regarding
Begegnungen von Wissenschaft und Esoterik; Eine alternative
the etymology of the name, among which are derivation
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2846
ESSENES
from Syriac h:aseD (“pious”), Aramaic asayyaD (“healers”),
104 and 103 BCE (Antiquities 13.311–313). Herod excused
Greek hosios (“holy”), and Hebrew h:ashaDim (“silent ones”).
the Essenes from swearing a loyalty oath because, in the view
The very fact that so many suggestions as to etymology have
of Josephus (or his source), Menahem the Essene had fore-
been made and that none has carried a scholarly consensus
told a lengthy reign for Herod (Antiquities 15.371–378). A
shows that the derivation of the term cannot be established
certain Simeon the Essene predicted dire circumstances for
with certainty. No Hebrew cognate appears either in the
Archelaus, the son of Herod and ethnarch of Judah (4 BCE–c.
Dead Sea Scrolls, taken by many scholars to be the writings
6 CE; Antiquities 17.345–348); clearly, the Essenes were
of this sect, or in rabbinic literature (the Talmuds and mid-
known for their prediction of the future.
rashim). Only with the Jewish rediscovery of Philo Judaeus
John the Essene was one of the Jewish generals in the
(d. 45–50 CE) and Josephus Flavius (d. 100 CE?) in the Re-
great revolt against Rome in 66–74 CE (War 2.567). Jose-
naissance was the Hebrew word issiyyim (Essenes) coined.
phus relates that the Essenes were tortured by the Romans
HISTORICAL SOURCES. Until the twentieth century, the Es-
during the great revolt (War 2.152–153); this may indicate
senes were known only from Greek sources. They are de-
further their participation in the war against the Romans. An
scribed twice by Philo, in Hypothetica (11.1–18) and Every
entrance through the south wall of Jerusalem was called the
Good Man Is Free (12.75–13.91). Both of these accounts
“gate of the Essenes” (War 5.145). With the destruction of
were written by 50 CE and, in turn, drew on a common, earli-
the province of Judaea following in the wake of the unsuc-
er source. (Philo also described a similar sect, the Th-
cessful uprising against Rome in 66–74 CE, the Essenes dis-
erapeutae, in On the Contemplative Life.)
appear from the stage of history.
Josephus describes the Essenes in passages of several of
THE ESSENE WAY OF LIFE. There were about four thousand
his books. In The Jewish War, written around 75–79
Essenes, according to the testimony of Philo and Josephus.
CE,
there is a detailed account (2.119–161). Jewish Antiquities
They apparently were scattered in communities throughout
contains a shorter account (18.18–22). In his autobiography,
Palestine, although some evidence exists that they avoided
written about 100
the larger cities. According to Pliny, there was an Essene set-
CE, Josephus relates that he investigated
the Essenes, among other Jewish sects, in his youth (The Life
tlement between Jericho and EEin Gedi on the western shore
2.9–11). Scattered references to the Essenes occur elsewhere
of the Dead Sea. This description has been taken by many
in the works of Josephus.
scholars as indicating that the Qumran sect whose library was
found at the shore of the Dead Sea is to be identified with
Pliny the Elder wrote about the Essenes in his Natural
the Essenes of Philo and Josephus.
History (5.73), completed in 77 CE. Philosophumena (9.18–
30), considered to have been written by Hippolytus, a third-
Membership and initiation. Only adult males could
century bishop, contains a description of the Essenes that,
enter the Essene sect. Sources tell of both married and celi-
in part, is drawn from a no longer extant source that was also
bate Essenes. It may be assumed that in the case of married
used by Josephus.
Essenes, full membership was not extended to women. Rath-
er, their status was determined by their being wives or daugh-
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran
ters of members. Children were educated in the ways of the
in 1947, a consensus has developed that identifies the sect
community.
of the scrolls with the Essenes described by Philo and Jose-
The Essenes were organized under officials to whom
phus. This view has led many scholars to interpret the Greek
obedience was required. Members who transgressed could be
texts describing the Essenes in light of the scrolls from Qum-
expelled from the community by the Essene court of one
ran, and the scrolls in light of the Greek texts, although the
hundred. Aspiring members received three items—a hatchet,
term Essene is absent from the Qumran scrolls. To avoid this
an apron, and a white garment—and had to undergo a de-
methodological pitfall, evidence for the Essenes will first be
tailed initiation process that included a year of probation. An
presented and then compared with the corpus of the Dead
initiate was then eligible for the ritual ablutions. Subsequent-
Sea Scrolls.
ly, he had to undergo a further two years of probation, after
HISTORY. No solution to the question of the origins of Esse-
which time he was to swear an oath, the only oath the Es-
nism is likely to emerge from the available sources. Sugges-
senes permitted. In this oath the candidate bound himself to
tions of Iranian and Hellenistic influence are possible but
piety toward God, justice to men, honesty with his fellow Es-
cannot be documented.
senes, the proper transmission of the teachings of the sect,
Josephus (Antiquities 13.171–173) first mentions the
and the preservation of the secrecy by which the sect’s doc-
Essenes in his account of the reign of Jonathan the Has-
trines were guarded from outsiders. Among the teachings to
monean (r. 161–143/2
be kept secret were the Essenes’ traditions concerning the
BCE). There he briefly describes the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. He himself claims to have
names of the angels. The candidate was now able to partici-
known of the three sects through “personal experience” (Life
pate in the communal meals of the sect and was a full-fledged
2.10–11) in the mid-first century
member.
CE. He then mentions
Judas, an Essene prophet, who was instructing his disciples
Social system. The Essenes practiced community of
in fortune-telling during the reign of Judah Aristobulus I in
property. Upon admission, new members turned their prop-
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ESSENES
2847
erty over to the group, whose elected officials administered
serving the Sabbath. Their teachings were recorded in books
it for the benefit of all. Hence, all members shared wealth
that the members were required to pass on with great care.
equally, with no distinctions between rich and poor. Mem-
The Essenes were experts in medicinal roots and the proper-
bers earned income for the group through various occupa-
ties of stones, the healing powers of which they claimed to
tions, including agriculture and trades. (The Essenes avoided
have derived from ancient writings.
commerce and the manufacture of weapons.) All earnings
Most notable among the doctrines of the Essenes was
were turned over to the officials, who distributed funds for
their belief in the immortality of the soul. According to Jose-
purchasing necessities and for taking care of older or ill mem-
phus, they believed that only the soul survived after death,
bers of the community. In addition, the Essenes dispensed
a concept of Hellenistic origin. However, according to the
charity throughout the country, much of it to those outside
Philosophumena (c. 225; generally ascribed to Hippolytus of
their group. Traveling members were taken care of by special
Rome), the Essenes believed that the body survived as well
officers in each town.
and would eventually be revived.
Characteristic of the Essenes was their moderation and
T
avoidance of luxury, as evidenced in their eating and drink-
HE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. Since the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls, the majority of scholars have taken the view that
ing habits, their clothing, and the fact that they did not
these documents were the library of the Essenes who, accord-
anoint themselves with oil, a practice common among the
ingly, were settled at Qumran. Indeed, many parallels do
Jews of the Greco-Roman period. For them, wealth was only
exist between the sect described by the Greek sources and the
a means to provide the necessities of life. This asceticism also
seat of the scrolls from Qumran. Similar initiation ceremo-
manifested itself among those Essenes who were celibate. On
nies exist for both groups, although the procedure described
the other hand, it appears that in many cases this celibacy
in the classical sources diverges in some respects from that
was embarked on later in life, after having had children, so
of the Qumran texts. The Essenes seem to have eaten com-
that it was not absolute.
munal meals regularly. The Qumran texts, however, envisage
Religious life. The Essenes had an ambivalent relation-
only occasional communal meals. For the Essenes all proper-
ship with the Jerusalem Temple. While they sent voluntary
ty was held in common, whereas at Qumran private owner-
offerings to the Temple, they themselves did not participate
ship prevailed, and only the use of property was common.
in the sacrificial worship there.
The Essenes’ observances of ritual purity, although paralleled
at Qumran, were not uncommon among the sects of this
The members of the sect began their day with prayer.
period.
After prayer, they worked at their occupations. Later, they
assembled for purification rituals and a communal meal that
The main weakness of the identification of these two
was prepared by priests and eaten while wearing special gar-
groups is the fact that the word Essene or its equivalent is not
ments. After the members took their places at the table in
present in the Qumran scrolls. In addition, the texts have
silence, the baker and cook distributed the food to each
many small discrepancies. There is no evidence that the Es-
in order of his status. A priest recited a short prayer before
senes had the apocalyptic dreams of the Dead Sea sect. Nor
and after the meal. The community then returned to work
is it known whether they adhered to a calendar of solar
and came together once again in the evening for another
months such as that which the Qumran sect followed. Schol-
meal. At the setting of the sun they recited prayers to God.
ars usually account for these minor differences by saying that
(These prayers cannot have been directed to the sun, as some
the classical sources, especially Josephus, were written with
scholars suggest, in view of the Essenes’ close adherence to
a Greek-speaking audience in mind and, therefore, described
basic Jewish theology, that is, to a biblical conception of
the sect in terms that would be understandable to such
God.)
readers.
Ritual purity was greatly emphasized. Not only were ab-
If, indeed, the Essenes are to be identified with the sect
lutions required before the communal meals, but they were
of the Dead Sea Scrolls, then the Qumran evidence may be
also performed after relieving oneself, or after coming in con-
used to fill in the picture derived from the classical sources.
tact with a nonmember or novice. Members were extremely
If not, scholars would have to reckon with two sects having
careful in attending to natural functions, and in bathing and
similar teachings and similar ways of life. As a matter of fact,
expectorating. The Essenes were accustomed to wearing
Palestine in the Second Commonwealth period was replete
white garments, and rules of modesty were very important.
with various sects and movements, each contributing to the
religious ferment of the times.
THEOLOGY. The Essenes are said to have believed in absolute
predestination. Probably related to this doctrine was their
JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY. Although the Essenes are no-
gift of prophecy. Josephus asserts that the Essenes seldom
where mentioned in the New Testament, certain parallels
erred in their predictions. The name of Moses was held in
may indicate an indirect influence of this sect on nascent
high esteem, and the Essenes saw blasphemy of it as a capital
Christianity. It may be generally stated that the various sects
crime. They studied the Torah and its ethics, and interpreted
of Second Temple Judaism provide important background
the scriptures allegorically. They were extremely strict in ob-
material for understanding the rise of the new faith.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
2848
ESTHER
The end product of the ferment mentioned above, com-
biblical Book (or Scroll) of Esther purports to record. The
bined with the great revolt of the Jews against Rome and the
story of this deliverance, which draws on ancient Near East-
resulting destruction of the land, was rabbinic Judaism.
ern courtier motifs, wisdom themes, and, quite possibly,
Some scholars have claimed that Talmudic sources refer to
topoi from Mesopotamian and Persian New Year festivals,
the Essenes; however, the term Essene is not mentioned.
serves as a festal legend for the Jewish holiday of Purim.
While definite evidence is lacking, one can speculate that Es-
sene teachings must have contributed, at least indirectly, to
The main outline of the Book of Esther is as follows. At
the subsequent development of Jewish tradition regarding
the outset, the Persian ruler Ahasuerus has a grand feast that
such topics as purity, cult, angelology, and the division of
is spoiled when his wife, Vashti, refuses his demand that she
body and soul.
perform before the assembled males. Vashti is banished, a de-
cree is issued that all wives must honor their husbands, and
SEE ALSO Dead Sea Scrolls; Judaism, overview article.
the stage is set for a search to replace the defiant queen. The
choice is Esther, a Jewess, who follows Mordecai’s counsel
BIBLIOGRAPHY
not to reveal her ethnic-religious origins (Est. 2:1–18). While
An excellent introduction is found in volume 2 of Emil Schürer’s
Esther keeps her secret at the court, Mordecai uncovers a plot
The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, 175
to kill the king. Meanwhile, one of the viziers, Haman, is ele-
B.C.–A.D. 135, revised and edited by Géza Vermès, Fergus
vated to a position of high power. Piqued by the refusal of
Millar, and Matthew Black and translated by T. A. Burkill
Mordecai to bow down in homage to him, Haman slanders
et al. (Edinburgh, 1979), pp. 555–597. Extremely important
the Jews to the king and, with the use of lots (Heb., purim),
is Morton Smith’s “The Description of the Essenes in Jose-
sets a date for their annihilation (Est. 3). Mordecai now en-
phus and the Philosophumena,” Hebrew Union College An-
nual 29 (1958): 273–313. Frank Moore Cross’s The Ancient
lists the help of Esther on behalf of her people (Est. 4:1–17).
Library of Qumrân and Modern Biblical Studies, rev. ed. (Gar-
An initial soiree between the king and queen passes success-
den City, N.Y., 1961), pp. 70–106, argues for the identifica-
fully. Several minor scenes follow dealing with Haman’s plot
tion of the Essenes with the Dead Sea sect. The treatment
to hang Mordecai (Est. 5:9–14) and Ahasuerus’s insomnia,
in Martin Hengel’s Judaism and Hellenism, vol. 1, translated
during which he learns of Mordecai’s role in saving his life
by John Bowden (Philadelphia, 1974), pp. 218–247, accepts
and determines to reward him, an event that provokes
this identification yet discusses at length the problem of Hel-
Haman’s shame (Est. 6:1–14). A second soiree leads to the
lenistic influence. For the phenomenon of Jewish sectarian-
disgrace of Haman, the elevation of Mordecai, the disclosure
ism in the Greco-Roman period, see my “Jewish Sectarian-
ism in Second Temple Times,” in Great Schisms in Jewish
of the plot against the Jews, and, finally, royal permission for
History, edited by Raphael Jospe and Stanley M. Wagner
the Jews to protect themselves on the day of the planned up-
(New York, 1981), pp. 1–46.
rising (Est. 7:1–8:17), so that a day of national fasting and
sorrow is turned into a time of joy and gladness (Est. 9–10).
New Sources
Boccaccini, Gabriele. Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of
Mordecai is presented as descended from Saul, the Ben-
the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism. Grand Rap-
jaminite, and Haman, from Agag, the Amalekite; in this way,
ids, Mich., 1998.
the novella dramatizes a typological repetition of the episode
Cansdale, Lena. Qumran and the Essenes: A Re-evaluation of the Ev-
reported in 1 Samuel 15 and recalls the divine exhortation
idence. Tübingen, 1997.
never to forget the destructive deeds of Amalek (Dt. 24:
García Martínez, Florentino, and Julio Trebolle Barrera. The Peo-
17–19).
ple of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Translated by Wilfred G. E. Wat-
son. Leiden, 1995.
Various additions to Esther have been incorporated into
Hutchesson, Ian. “The Essene Hypothesis after Fifty Years: An
the Apocrypha and Septuagint, and there are numerous ex-
Assessment.” Qumran Chronicle 9 (2000): 17–34.
pansions in the Aramaic Targum sheni. In the Middle Ages,
Stegemann, Hartmut. The Library of Qumran, on the Essenes,
the role of Esther took on powerful symbolic dimensions
Qumran, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Grand Rapids, Mich.,
among Jews for at least three reasons. First, Esther came to
and Leiden, 1998.
symbolize the court Jew who risked everything to defend the
nation so often slandered, despised, and threatened. Second,
LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN (1987)
Revised Bibliography
Esther, as a “hidden” Jew (together with the frequently noted
absence of an explicit reference to God in the scroll), symbol-
ized in mystical circles the hiddenness of the Shekhinah (di-
vine feminine presence) in the world and in the Jewish exile.
ESTHER, or, in Hebrew, Ester; the daughter of Abihail,
And finally, Esther (and the festival of Purim) was a great fa-
also called Hadassah; heroine of the biblical book that bears
vorite of the Marranos in Spain and in their far-flung disper-
her name. Adopted and raised by her cousin Mordecai, Es-
sion; they saw in her disguised condition the factual and psy-
ther, whose name is derived from the Persian stara, “star,”
chological prototype of their own disguised condition.
plays a crucial role in the event of persecution and deliver-
ance of the Jews in the ancient Persian empire that the late
SEE ALSO Purim.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N
ESTHER
2849
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Moore, Carey A. “Esther.” Anchor Bible, vol. 7B. Garden City,
Bickerman, Elias J. Four Strange Books of the Bible: Jonah, Daniel,
N.Y., 1971.
Koheleth, Esther. New York, 1967. See pages 171–240.
Réau, Louis. Iconographie de l’art chrétien, vol. 2. Paris, 1956. See
Gaster, Theodor H. Purim and Hanukkah in Custom and Tradi-
pages 335–342.
tion. New York, 1950.
MICHAEL FISHBANE (1987)
Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (1909–1938). 7 vols.
Translated by Henrietta Szold et al. Reprint, Philadelphia,
1937–1966. See the index, s.v. Esther.
E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F R E L I G I O N , S E C O N D E D I T I O N