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ANIMAL WORSHIP
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See also:ANIMAL See also:WORSHIP , an See also:ill-defined See also:term, covering facts ranging from the worship of the real divine animal, commonly conceived as a See also:god-See also:body," at one end of the See also:scale, to respect for the bones of a slain animal or even the use of a respectful name for the living animal at the other end. Added to this, in many See also:works on the subject we find reliance placed, especially for the See also:African facts, on reports of travellers who were merely visitors to the regions on which they wrote. See also:Classification.—Animal cults may be classified in two ways: (A) according to their outward See also:form; (B) according to their inward meaning, which may of course undergo transformations. (A) There are two broad divisions: (r) all animals of a given See also:species are sacred, perhaps owing to the impossibility of distinguishing the sacred few from the profane See also:crowd; (2) one or a fixed number of a species are sacred. It is probable that the first of these forms is the See also:primary one and the second in most cases a development from it due to (i.) the See also:influence of other individual cults, (ii.) anthropomorphic tendencies, (iii.) the influence of chieftainship, hereditary and otherwise, (iv.) See also:annual See also:sacrifice of the sacred animal and mystical ideas connected therewith, (v.) See also:syncretism, due either to unity of See also:function or to a philosophic unification, (vi.) the See also:desire to do See also:honour to the species in the See also:person of one of its members, and possibly other less easily traceable causes. (B) Treating cults according to their meaning, which is not necessarily identical with the cause which first led to the deification of the animal in question, we can classify them under ten specific heads: (i.) See also:pastoral cults; (ii.) See also:hunting cults; (iii.) cults of dangerous or noxious animals; (iv.) cults of animals regarded as human souls or their embodiment; (v.) totemistic cults; (vi.) cults of See also:secret See also:societies, and individual cults of tutelary animals; (vii.) cults of See also:tree and vegetation See also:spirits; (viii.) cults of ominous animals; (ix.) cults, probably derivative, of animals associated with certain deities; (x.) cults of animals used in magic. (i.) The pastoral type falls into two sub-types, in which the species (a) is spared and (b) sometimes receives See also:special honour at intervals in the person of an individual. (See See also:Cattle, See also:Buffalo, below.) (ii.) In hunting cults the species is habitually killed, but (a) occasionally honoured in the person of a single individual, or (b) each slaughtered animal receives divine honours. (See See also:Bear, below.) (iii.) The cult of dangerous animals is due (a) to the fear that the soul of the slain beast may take vengeance on the See also:hunter, (b) to a desire to placate the See also:rest of the species. (See See also:Leopard, below.) (iv.) Animals are frequently regarded as the See also:abode, temporary or permanent, of the souls of the dead, sometimes as the actual souls of the dead. Respect for them is due to two See also:main reasons: (a) the kinsmen of the dead desire to preserve the See also:goodwill of their dead relatives; (b) they wish at the same See also:time to secure that their kinsmen are not molested and caused to undergo unnecessary suffering. (Sec See also:Serpent, below.) (v.) One of the most widely found modes of showing respect to animals is known as See also:totemism (see TOTEM AND TOTEMISM), but except in decadent -forms there is but little See also:positive worship; in Central See also:Australia, however, the See also:rites of the Wollunqua totem See also:group are directed towards placating this mythical animal, and cannot be termed anything but religious ceremonies. (vi.) In secret societies we find bodies of men grouped together with a single tutelary animal; the individual, in the same way, acquires the nagual or individual totem, sometimes by ceremonies of the nature of the bloodbond. (vii.) Spirits of vegetation in See also:ancient and See also:modern See also:Europe and in See also:China are conceived in animal form. (See See also:Goat, below.) (viii.) The ominous animal or See also:bird may develop into a deity. (See See also:Hawk, below.) (ix.) It is commonly assumed that the animals associated with certain deities are sacred because the god was originally theriomorphic; this is doubtless the See also:case in certain instances; but See also:Apollo Smintheus, See also:Dionysus Bassareus and other examples seem to show that the god may have been appealed to for help and thus become associated with the animals from whom he protected the crops, &c. (x.) The use of animals in magic may sometimes give rise to a See also:kind of respect for them, but this is of a negative nature. See, however, articles by Preuss in Globus,vol.lxvii., in which he maintains that animals of magical influence are elevated into divinities. Bear.—The bear enjoys a large measure of respect from all See also:savage races that come in contact with it, which shows itself in apologies and in festivals in its honour. The most important developments of the cult are in See also:East See also:Asia among the Siberian tribes; among the See also:Ainu of Sak- halin a See also:young bear is caught at the end of See also:winter and fed for some nine months; then after receiving honours it is killed, and the See also:people, who previously show marks of grief at its approaching See also:fate, See also:dance merrily and feast on its body. Among the Gilyaks a similar festival is found, but here it takes the form of a celebration in honour of a recently dead kinsman, to whom the spirit of the bear is sent. Whether this feature or a cult of the hunting type was the primary form, is so far an open question. There is.a See also:good See also:deal of See also:evidence to connect the See also:Greek goddess See also:Artemis with a cult of the bear; girls danced as "bears" in her honour, and might not marry before undergoing this ceremony. The bear is traditionally associated with See also:Bern in See also:Switzerland, and in 1832 a statue of Artio, a bear goddess, was dug up there. See also:Buff alo.—The See also:Todas of S. See also:India abstain from the flesh of their domestic animal, the buffalo; but once a See also:year they sacrifice a See also:bull See also:calf, which is eaten in the See also:forest by the adult See also:males.
Cattle.—Cattle are respected by many pastoral peoples; they live on See also:milk or See also:game, and the killing of an ox is a sacrificial function. Conspicuous among See also:Egyptian animal cults was that of the bull, See also:Apis. It was distinguished by certain marks, and when the old Apis died a new one was sought; the finder was rewarded, and the bull underwent four months' See also:education at Nilopolis. Its birthday was celebrated once a year; oxen, which had to be pure See also: W. See also:America; and all over that region it is the chief figure in a group of myths, fulfilling the See also:office of a culture See also:hero who brings the See also:light, gives See also:fire to mankind, &c. Together with the See also:eagle-hawk the crow plays a See also:great See also:part in the See also:mythology of S.E. Australia.
See also:Dog.—Actual dog-worship is uncommon; the Nosarii of western Asia are said to worship a dog; the Kalangs of See also:Java had a cult of the red dog, each See also:family keeping one in the See also:house; according to one authority the See also:dogs are images of See also:wood which are worshipped after the death of a member of the family and burnt after a thousand days. In See also:Nepal it is said that dogs are worshipped at the festival called Khicha Puja. Among the Harranians dogs were sacred, but this was rather as See also:brothers of the mystae.
See also:Elephant.—In See also:Siam it is believed that a white elephant may contain the soul of a dead person, perhaps a See also:Buddha; when one is taken the capturer. is rewarded and the animal brought to the See also: The cult of the white elephant is also found at Ennarea, See also:southern See also:Abyssinia. See also:Fish.—Dagon seems to have been a fish-god with human See also:head and hands; his worshippers wore fish-skins. In the temples of Apollo and See also:Aphrodite were sacred fish, which may point to a fish cult. See also:Atargatis is said to have had sacred fish at Askelon, and from See also:Xenophon we read that the fish of the Chalus were regarded as gods. Goat.—Dionysus was believed to take the form of a goat, probably as a divinity of vegetation. See also:Pan, See also:Silenus, the See also:Satyrs and. the Fauns were either capriform or had some part of their bodies shaped like that of a goat. In See also:northern Europe the wood spirit, Ljesche, is believed to have a goat's horns, ears and legs. In Africa the Bijagos are said to have a goat as their See also:principal divinity. See also:Hare.—In See also:North America the See also:Algonquin tribes had as their chief deity a " mighty great hare " to whom they went at death. According to one See also:account See also:lie lived in the east, according to another in the north. In his anthropomorphized form he was known as Menabosho or Michabo. Hawk.—In North See also:Borneo we seem to see the See also:evolution of a Animal cults.
god in the three stages of the cult of the hawk among the Kenyahs, the Kayans and the See also:sea See also:Dyaks. The Kenyahs will not kill it, address to it thanks for assistance, and formally consult it before leaving See also:home on an expedition; it seems, however, to be regarded as the messenger of the supreme god Balli Penyalong. The Kayans have a hawk-god, Laki Neho, but seem to regard the hawk as the servant of the chief god, Laki Tenangan. Singalang Burong, the hawk-god of the Dyaks, is completely anthropomorphized. He is god of omens and ruler of the See also:omen birds; but the hawk is not his messenger, for he never leaves his house; stories are, however, told of his attending feasts in human form and flying away in hawk form when all was over.
See also:Horse.—There is some See also:reason to believe that See also:Poseidon, like other See also:water gods, was originally conceived under the form of a horse. In the See also:cave of See also:Phigalia See also:Demeter was, according to popular tradition, represented with the head and mane of a horse, possibly a relic of the time when a non-specialized See also:corn-spirit See also:bore this form. Her priests were called Poloi (colts) in See also:Laconia. In See also:Gaul we find a horse-goddess, See also:Epona; there are also traces of a horse-god, Rudiobus. The See also:Gonda in India worship a horse-god, Koda See also:Pen, in the form of a shapeless See also: Among the See also:Ewe a See also:man who kills one is liable to be put to death; no leopard skin may be exposed to view, but a stuffed leopard is worshipped. On the See also:Gold See also:Coast a leopard hunter who has killed his victim is carried See also:round the See also:town behind the body of the leopard; he may not speak, must besmear himself so as to look like a leopard and imitate its movements. In See also:Loango a See also:prince's cap is put upon the head of a dead leopard, and dances are held in its honour. See also:Lion.—The lion was associated with the Egyptian gods Re and Horns; there was a lion-god at See also:Baalbek and a lion-headed goddess Sekhet. The See also:Arabs had a lion-god, Yaghuth. In modern Africa we find a lion-idol among the Balonda. See also:Lizard.—The cult of the lizard is most prominent in the Pacific, where it appears as an incarnation of Tangaloa. In See also:Easter See also:Island a form of the house-god is the lizard; it is also a tutelary deity in Madagascar. See also:Mantis.—Cagn is a prominent figure in Bushman mythology; the mantis and the See also:caterpillar, Ngo, are his incarnations. It was called the " See also:Hottentots' god " by See also:early settlers. See also:Monkey.—In India the monkey-god, See also:Hanuman, is a prominent figure; in orthodox villages monkeys are safe from harm. Monkeys are said to be worshipped in See also:Togo. At See also:Porto Novo, in See also:French West Africa, twins have tutelary spirits in the shape of small monkeys. . Serpent.—The cult of the serpent is found in many parts of the Old See also:World; it is also not unknown in America; in Australia, on the other See also:hand, though many species of serpent are found, there does not appear to be any species of cult unless we include the Warramunga cult of the mythical Wollunqua totem animal, whom they seek to placate by rites. In Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was See also:Dahomey; but the cult of the See also:python seems to have been of See also:exotic origin, dating back to the first See also:quarter of the 17th See also:century. By the See also:conquest of Whydah the Dahomeyans were brought in contact with a people of serpent worshippers, and ended by adopting from them the cult which they at first despised. At Whydah, the chief centre, there is a serpent See also:temple, tenanted by some fifty See also:snakes; every python of the danh-gbi kind must be treated with respect, and death is the See also:penalty for killing one, even by See also:accident. Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; a . python was carried round the town in a See also:hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the See also:expulsion of evils. The See also:rainbow-god of the Ewe was also conceived to have the form of a snake; his messenger was said to be a small variety of See also:boa; but only certain individuals, not the whole species, were sacred. In many parts of Africa the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives; among the Amazulu, as among the Betsileo of Madagascar,certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes; the See also:Masai, on the other hand, regard each species as the See also:habitat of a particular family of the tribe. In America some of the Amerindian tribes reverence the See also:rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give See also:fair winds or cause See also:tempest. Among the See also:Hopi (Moqui) of See also:Arizona the serpent figures largely in one of the dances. The rattlesnake was worshipped in the See also:Natchez temple of the See also:sun; and the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl was a serpent-god. The tribes of See also:Peru are said to have adored great snakes in the pre-Inca days; and in See also:Chile the See also:Araucanians made a serpent figure in their See also:deluge myth. Over a large part of India there are carved representations of cobras (Nagas) or stones as substitutes; to these human See also:food and See also:flowers are offered and See also:lights are burned before the shrines. Among the Dravidians a See also:cobra which is accidentally killed is burned like a human being; no one would kill one intentionally; the serpent-god's See also:image is carried in an annual procession by a celibate priestess. Serpent cults were well known in ancient Europe; there does not, it is true, appear to be much ground for supposing that See also:Aesculapius was a serpent-god in spite of his connexion with serpents. On the other hand, we learn from See also:Herodotus of the great serpent which defended the citadel of See also:Athens; the See also:Roman See also:genius loci took the form of a serpent; a snake was kept and fed with milk in the temple of Potrimpos, an old See also:Slavonic god. To this day there are numerous traces in popular belief, especially in See also:Germany, of respect for the snake, which seems to be a survival of ancestor worship, such as still exists among the Zulus and other savage tribes; the " house-snake," as it is called, cares for the cows and the See also:children, and its See also:appearance is an omen of death, and the See also:life of a pair of house-snakes is often held to be See also:bound up with that of the See also:master 'and See also:mistress themselves. Tradition says that one of the Gnostic sects known as the See also:Ophites caused a tame serpent to coil round the sacramental See also:bread and worshipped it as the representative of the Saviour. See also SERPENT-WORSHIP. See also:Sheep.—Only in Africa do we find a sheep-god proper; See also:Ammon was the god of See also:Thebes; he was represented as See also:ram-headed; his worshippers held the ram to be sacred; it was, however, sacrificed once a year, and its fleece formed the clothing of the idol. See also:Tiger.—The tiger is associated with See also:Siva and See also:Durga, but its cult is confined to the wilder tribes; in Nepal the tiger festival is known as Bagh Jatra, and the worshippers dance disguised as tigers. The Waralis worship Waghia the See also:lord of tigers in the form of a shapeless stone. In See also:Hanoi and See also:Manchuria tiger-gods are also found. See also:Wolf.—Both See also:Zeus and Apollo were associated with the wolf by the Greeks; but it is not clear that this implies a previous cult of the wolf. It is frequently found among the tutelary deities of North See also:American dancing or secret societies. The Thlinkits had a god, Khanukh, whose name means "wolf," and worshipped a wolf-headed image.
AurnoRITIEs.—For a See also:fuller discussion and full references to these and other cults, that of the serpent excepted, see N. W. See also: 312. For the bull, &c., in See also:Egypt, see EGYPT: See also:Religion. (N. W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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