Human Religious Archetypes

Excerpts from the lecture at The Artists’ House, 13.02.2014

 

Human Religious Archetypes

I. On the Inherent Nature of the Divine

The Creator is non-definable due to the inherent nature of being beyond time and space – the existential criteria of the living creatures.

The human race very frequently misunderstands the inherent nature of The Infinite, attempting to concretize the worship as may be seen in the variety of the community praying spaces (synagogues, churches, mosques, temples, outdoor ceremonies in natural power spots, etc.).

The representations of Divinity, functioning as mediators between the believer and God, are reflected in different forms and ceremonial worships.

In most cases, the believers are tempted to grasp the concrete mediators as the Divine, The Infinite.

However, theologians along history have supported the visual mediators, serving to focus and channel the mind of the believer so as to attain Pure Abstraction, The Infinite.

Absurdly, the bloody wars of religions in history took place because of the debates about these concrete mediators confounded with Pure Abstraction, The Infinite.

Side by side, along the bloody wars of religions, a secret hermetic craft has never ceased teaching insights about the common ground of all sentient beings – Pure Abstraction, The Infinite.

Such insights aimed to detach the believers of the concrete mediators, enabling them to reach the Unreachable – The Infinite.

II. On the Need of Sacrifice

Except the concrete mediators, believers along history felt forced to sacrifice man, animal, or plant to their respective gods as an act of gratitude or as a plead to appease the fury of the gods.

Believers functioned as sacrificing, sacrificed, or as both.

 

III. The Belief on the Double Aspects of The Divine

Religions have personalized The Infinite, granting concrete polar characteristics of virtue and vice.

Thus, a corpus of human mediators, ceremonial icons, prayers, and talismans were necessary to instigate life or a virtuous act for oneself or to invoke the power of vice to annihilate the adversary.

Believers have extended the concept of The Divine and attributed power to human mediators, seen as: reflections of The Divine in flesh and blood, saintly beings, or direct manifestations of God.

 

IV.

Earth, heaven and hell are interconnected and many myths tell about the journeys by humans who had a sur-natural experience, and as a result, gained insights, or experienced the phenomenon of transfiguration – transcending their corporeal nature.

These humans attained sanctity and often were worshipped by believers.

The performing and visual worship is always tainted by the believers’ ethnic and cultural traits.

 

 

We would like to conclude by adding two additional insights:

 

First: The unfortunate exclusivity which characterizes most of human religions and is the main reason of religious belligerence, aggression, and intolerance.

 

Secondly: Any form of institutional religion, strict atheism, positivistic science, or mass culture, eventually only adhere to one absolute truth. Here, definite answers will be sought and provided, with no room for truly appreciating the world and its phenomena by quest and bewilderment.

In addition, such an outlook causes the need for a supreme authority to adhere to as well, whether in the form of a cleric, a secular ruler, or a contemporary celebrity.