Animal worship

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Animal worship (also zoolatry or theriolatry) is an umbrella term designating religious or ritual practices involving animals. This includes the worship of animal deities or animal sacrifice. An animal 'cult' is formed when a species is taken to represent a religious figure (Teeter et al., 2002, p. 355). Animal cults can be classified according to their formal features or by their symbolic content (Thomas 1911, p. 51).

The classical author Diodorus situated the origin of animal worship in a myth in which the gods, threatened by giants, disguised themselves as animals. The people then began to worship these animals and continued even after the gods returned to their normal state (

The idea that divinity embodies itself in animals, such as a deity incarnate, and then lives on earth among human beings is disregarded by

There is evidence that connects the Greek goddess Artemis with a cult of the bear. Girls danced as "bears" in her honour, and might not marry before undergoing this ceremony (Thomas 1911, p. 51). According to mythology, the goddess once transformed a nymph into a bear and then into the constellation Ursa Major.

The existence of an ancient bear cult among Neanderthals in the Middle Paleolithic period has been a topic of discussion spurred by archaeological findings (Wunn, 2000, p. 434-435). Ancient bear bones have been discovered in several different caves and their peculiar arrangement is believed by some archaeologists to be evidence of a bear cult during the Paleolithic era. (Wunn, 2000, p. 435).

The

Whales were little understood for most of human history as they spend up to 90% of their lives underwater, only surfacing briefly to breathe (Bird 2007). Many cultures, even those that have hunted them, hold whales in awe and feature them in their mythologies.

A prevalent whale cult in Japan occurs around the coastal area. There are cemeteries with memorial stones dedicated to the whales which were hunted and killed to feed the people (Naumann, 1974, p. 4). Buddhist epitaphs mark these stones which implore that Buddha is reborn as a whale (Naumann, 1974, p. 4). Along with these memorials, there is evidence that whale embryos, found in a deceased mother's womb, were extracted and buried with the same respect as a human being (Naumann, 1974, p. 5). For certain shrines, the bones of a perished whale were also deposited in the area (Naumann, 1974, p. 5).

In Alaska, there are cultures that have ceremonial tributes to whales after they are captured in a hunt (Lantis 1938, p. 445). Some tribes bring the hump, the fins, or the nose of the whale into their camps or the whaler's house. These parts are meant to represent the entirety of the whale and are honored as such during the festival (Lantis 1938, p. 445). The bones of a whale are also given ritual treatment. The Alaskan tribes that participate in such acts believe that their ceremonies protect the whale's soul from injury and the soul can then be free to return to the sea (Lantis 1938, p. 445).

In China, Yu-kiang, a whale with the hands and feet of a man, was said to rule the ocean (Siebert 2011, pp. 15–16).

In the

Paikea (also Maori name for humpback whales^[3]), the youngest and favourite son of the chief Uenuku from the island of Mangaia, in the present day Cook Islands, was said by the Kati Kuri people of Kaikōura to have come from the Pacific Islands on the back of the whale Tohora (Maori name for southern right whales^[3]) many centuries before.^[4]

The whale features in Inuit creation myths. When 'Big Raven', a deity in human form, found a stranded whale, he was told by the Great Spirit where to find special mushrooms that would give him the strength to drag the whale back to the sea and thus return the order to the world (Siebert 2011, pp. 15–16).

The Tlingit people of northern Canada say that the orcas were created when the hunter Natsihlane carved eight fish from yellow cedar, sang his most powerful spirit song and commanded the fish to leap into the water (Heimlich & Boran 2001, p. 7).

In Icelandic legend, a man threw a stone at a fin whale and hit the blowhole, causing the whale to burst. The man was told not to go to sea for twenty years, but in the nineteenth year he went fishing and a whale came and killed him.^[5]

In East African legend, King Sulemani asked God that he might permit him to feed all the beings on earth. A whale came and ate until there was no corn left and then told Sulemani that he was still hungry and that there were 70,000 more in his tribe. Sulemani then prayed to God for forgiveness and thanked the creature for teaching him a lesson in humility (Siebert 2011, pp. 15–16).

Some cultures that associate divinity with whales, such as some Ghanaians and Vietnamese (also known as Cá Ông), coastal Chinese except for southernmost region,^[6] Japanese (also known as Ebisu),^[7][8] occasionally hold funerals for beached whales; a throwback to Vietnam's ancient sea-based Austro-Asiatic culture.^[9][10](Viegas 2010)^[11] See also the below-mentioned Ebisu in fish part for more details. In some lore, whales have been told to work for Ryūgū-jō as well.

Indigenous

Domesticated mammals

Cattle and buffalo

Many religions have considered

While there are several animals that are worshipped in India, the supreme position is held by the cow (Margul, 1968, p. 63). The humped zebu, a breed of cow, is central to the religion of Hinduism (Margul, 1968, p. 63). Mythological legends have supported the sanctity of the zebu throughout India (Margul, 1968, p. 64). Such myths have included the creation of a divine cow mother and cow heaven by the God, Brahma and Prithu, the sovereign of the universe, who created the earth's vegetation, edible fruits, and vegetables, disguised as a cow (Margul, 1968, p. 64).

According to Tadeusz Margul, observations of the Hindu religion and the cow have led to a misunderstanding that Hindi has a servile relationship with the zebu, giving prayers and offerings to it daily. Typically, however, only during the Cow Holiday, an annual event, is the cow the recipient of such practices (Margul, 1968, p. 65). Margul suggests that the sanctity of the cow is based on four foundations: abstaining from cow slaughter, abstaining from beef consumption, control of breeding and ownership, and belief in the purification qualities of cow products (milk, curd, ghee, dung, and urine) (Margul, 1968, p. 65-66).

Sheep

The Ancient Egyptians worshipped several gods with the head of a ram, including Khnum, Heryshaf, Banebdjedet, Ra (sometimes) and Kherty. Amun, the god of Thebes, Egypt, was also associated with the ram, and in later periods was sometimes represented as ram-headed. His worshippers held the ram to be sacred, however, it was sacrificed once a year. Its fleece formed the clothing of the idol (Thomas 1911, p. 52).

Goat

Excavations in Central Asia have revealed ancient ritual goat-burial that show the religious significance of the goat predominantly in the area (Sidky 1990, p. 286). These findings have been used as evidence for a goat cult in Asia originating either in the Neolithic or Bronze Ages (Sidky 1990, p. 286).

Dog

Dogs have a major religious significance among the

Horse worship has been practiced by a number of Indo-European and Turkic peoples. In the nomadic tradition, the horse is one of the mythological animals, embodying the connection with the other world, with the supernatural. The horse, exceptionally white, has always been associated with the sun, with daytime clarity, with fire, air, sky, water, and solar heroes, as an expression of good human aspirations in daily work and struggle against difficulties. The white sun horse is an attribute of divine forces that are constantly fighting against evil — an opposition to death.

In the beliefs and rites of the nomads, first, the horse itself, second, its separate parts — the skull, cervical vertebrae, skin, hair, and third, objects associated with it — bridle, clamp, sweat, reins, whip, fallen horseshoe, image, etc., act as the patroness and protector of people. The horse is seen to have the ability to drive out evil forces from the human body.

A bronze top with the image of a horse was found in the Ferghana Valley in the early twentieth century, the only one found so far in the

There is some reason to believe that

Among the Balkan culture, swaddling an unmarried person in a horse girth is a typical ritual. It is thought that the sexual potency of the horse is passed to the individual wrapped in its girth (Vukanović 1980, p. 112). Along with the Balkan swaddling, Virgil's Aeneid bases the founding of the great city of Carthage upon a horse (Qtd. in Brown 1950, p. 32). When the Phoenicians dug up a horse head from the ground they decided to build their city (Carthage) upon that spot because the horse was a sign of success (Qtd. in Brown 1950, p. 32). Thus, Brown argued that the horse was sacred to the Phoenician people (Brown 1950, p. 32).

Horses are godlike beings to Romani people.^[13]

Elephant

In Thailand it is believed that a white elephant may contain the soul of a dead person, perhaps a Buddha. When one is taken the capturer is rewarded and the animal is brought to the king to be kept ever afterward. It cannot be bought or sold. It is baptized and fêted and mourned for like a human being at its death. In some parts of Indochina, the belief is that the soul of the elephant may injure people after death; it is therefore fêted by a whole village. In Cambodia it is held to bring luck to the kingdom. The cult of the white elephant is also found at Ennarea in southern Ethiopia (Thomas 1911, p. 51). In India, the popular Hindu god Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a torso of a human.

In

Certain cultures also used elephant figurines to display the animal's importance. There was evidence of an ancient elephant cult in Sumatra (Schnitger, 1938, p. 41). Stone elephant figurines were built as "seats of the souls" in the Sumatran culture (Schnitger, 1938, p. 41). In North Borneo, however, wooden elephant figurines were placed on the top of a bamboo pole. This bamboo pole was only erected after the tribe chief had collected a certain number of human heads (Schnitger, 1938, p. 41).

Wild mammals

Hare

In North America, the

The deer is important in the mythology of many peoples. To the Greeks it was sacred to the goddess Artemis, while in Hinduism it is linked to the goddess Saraswati. The deer also held spiritual significance to the pastoralist cultures of the Eurasian Steppe. The golden stag figurine found in the Pazyryk burials is one of the most famous pieces of Scythian art.

Wolf

In the story of

Among the Ancient Egyptians, the gods Anubis and Wepwawet both took the form of a wolf, jackal or wild dog, or a man with the head of such a creature. Anubis was a funerary deity, considered the patron of the mummification process and a protector of tombs. In the afterlife, it was he who performed the crucial role in the Weighing of the Heart ceremony that decided the individual's post-mortem fate. In earlier times Anubis was the supreme god of the underworld, but he was later replaced in that role by the human-formed Osiris. It is possible that the Egyptians originally conceived of Anubis as a wild dog because of the animal's location on the outskirts of towns, near the tombs of the dead, or possibly because of their scavenging of corpses, which led them to congregate near tombs. Wepwawet was a deity more focussed on the world of the living, whose chief role was to 'open the way', whether this is opening the way of the pharaoh to victory in battle, opening the way for the priests in a ritual procession, or any other application. The great antiquity of Wepwawet's worship in Egypt is evidenced by the Narmer Palette, made by the very first of the dynastic pharaohs, including the image of a wolf on a standard as a part of a ritual procession. It has been suggested that Wepwawet's depiction as a wolf stems from the animal's keen sense of smell, allowing it to 'open the way' to find something important.

Big cats

The cult of the

Tigers were either worshipped directly or used as a symbols of aspects of the divine in

In many parts of Vietnam, the tiger is a revered creature with many villages having a tiger temple.^{[citation needed]} This Vietnamese folk religion might have stem from the fear of tigers used to raid human settlements in ancient times. Tigers are admired for their great strength, ferocity, and grace. The tiger is also considered a guardian deity. Tiger statutes are also seen at the entrance of temples and palaces, keeping evil spirits from entering those places.

The tiger is associated with the

In Hinduism, the monkey deity, Hanuman, is a prominent figure. He is a reincarnation of Shiva, the god of destruction. In orthodox villages monkeys are safe from harm (Thomas 1911, p. 52).

Monkeys are said to be worshipped in

In Ancient Egyptian religion, the hippopotamus had both positive and negative associations. On the one hand, the strong maternal instinct of female hippos led to the worship of several female hippo goddesses, usually as goddesses of pregnancy and motherhood, and protectors of women and children. The most famous of these hippopotamus goddesses is Taweret, a very common household deity among the common people of Egypt, and many amulets were made in her form. Others included Opet or Ipet, who was similar to Taweret but a little more stately, as well as Reret, who personified the constellation of Draco. On the other hand, the destructive capabilities of the hippopotamus towards useful boats led to it also being seen as a force of chaos, and so it also became associated with the god of disorder, Set. Though normally depicted as a man with the head of the mysterious "sha" animal, in scenes of the battles between Seth and Horus, Seth can sometimes be shown in hippopotamus form, with Horus standing on a papyrus raft and spearing him with a harpoon. This victory of Horus over Seth was symbolically re-enacted during royal hunting expeditions, with the king taking the role of Horus, and a wild hippopotamus embodying Seth. The king's successful slaughter of the hippopotamus thus connected his martial prowess to that of Horus himself, demonstrating his right to be king.

Rodent

In some countries, e.g. India, a small number of temples are dedicated to the worship of wild

Birds

Crow/raven

The

According to Florance Waterbury, hawk worship was universal (Waterbury 1952, p. 26). This particular bird was "a heavenly deity; its wings were the sky, the sun and moon were its eyes" (Waterbury 1952, p. 26).

The hawk is commonly associated with the Egyptian god

Egypt was not the only location of hawk worshippers. There were several other cultures that held the hawk in high regard. The hawk was a deity on the island of Hawaii and symbolized swift justice (Waterbury 1952, p. 62). Along with the lone island from the Hawaiian archipelago, the Fiji islands also had some tribes who worshipped a hawk god (Waterbury 1952, p. 62). Furthermore, although animal worshipping is not a part of Sikh culture, a white falcon bird is primarily regarded in Sikhism as it was associated with the sixth guru and especially the tenth guru. The tenth guru would always carry a white falcon perched on his hand when going out to hunt. The tenth guru was known as the Master of White Hawk. Many people believe that the bird carried by Guru Gobind Singh was a hawk, however, historians believe that the bird was a gyrfalcon or a saker falcon.

Frigatebird

On

In Ancient Egypt, the ibis was considered sacred as it was viewed as a manifestation of Thoth, a god of the moon and wisdom. In art, Thoth was usually depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, or more rarely as a baboon. Sacred ibises were kept and fed in temples in his honour, and mummified ibises were given to him as votive offerings. It is thought that the association of the ibis with Thoth may have originated from the curved shape of the bird's beak, which resembles a crescent moon.

Vulture

Another species of bird that was considered sacred in Ancient Egypt was the

In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Jatayu, the "King of Vultures"(gṛdhrarāja),^[23] fights valiantly with the rakshasa Ravana to prevent him from abducting Sita. However, as Jatayu was very old, Ravana soon defeated him, clipping his wings, and Jatayu descended upon the earth. Rama and Lakshmana, while searching for Sita, chanced upon the stricken and dying Jatayu, who informed them of the battle with Ravana, and told them that Ravana had headed south. Jatayu then died of his wounds and Rama performed his final funeral rites.^[24][25] Jatayu's elder brother Sampati later helps Rama and Lakshmana find Sita.

Jatayu is worshipped at the Vijayaraghava Perumal temple (Thiruputkuli, Tamil Nadu), which is believed to be the site where he fell.

Other non-mammals

Serpents

The worship of the serpent is found in many parts of the Old World, and in the Americas (Thomas 1911, p. 52).

In India

At one time there were many prevalent different renditions of the serpent cult located in India. In Northern India, a masculine version of the serpent named Nagaraja, known as the "king of the serpents" was worshipped. Instead of the "king of the serpents," actual live snakes were worshipped in South India (Bhattacharyya 1965, p. 1). The Manasa cult in Bengal, India, however, was dedicated to the anthropomorphic serpent goddess, Manasa (Bhattacharyya 1965, p. 1).

In Africa the chief centre of

In Ancient Egyptian religion, serpents had both positive and negative representations. On the one hand, the Egyptians worshipped several beneficent snake deities, including Wadjet, Renenutet, Meretseger, Nehebkau and Mehen. The uraeus was a fierce divine cobra that protected Egyptian kings and major deities. On the other hand, the serpent Apophis was a malevolent demon, who endeavoured to destroy the chief deity Ra.

The Sumerians had a serpent god

Other reptiles

As well as the serpent, the Nile crocodile was another important reptile in Ancient Egyptian religion. Several deities were depicted in crocodilian form, but the most famous and important of these was undoubtedly the god

According to the

In Japan, there was a deity called Ebisu-gami who, according to Sakurada Katsunori, was widely revered by fishing communities and industries (Qtd. in Naumann, 1974, p. 1). Ebisu, in later traditions, normally appeared in the form of a fisherman holding a fishing pole and carrying a red tai (a perch), but would sometimes take the form of a whale, shark, human corpse, or rock (Naumann, 1974, p. 1). The general image of Ebisu, however, appears to be the whale or the shark, according to Sakurada (Qtd. in Naumann, 1974, p. 2).

During Ebisu-gami festivals, there have been legends told of strange fish creatures which have arrived and been considered sacred. Examples of such fish creatures include familiar species of fish with multiple tails (Naumann, 1974, p. 2). Sometimes these fish were considered to be simply an offering to the deity. Other times, however, they were considered to be Ebisu himself, visiting on the festival day (Naumann, 1974, p. 2). Large marine megafaunas such as whales and whale sharks (also called "Ebisu-shark") were often referred to as Ebisu himself to bring a mass of fish among them and as guardians of fishermen.^[8]

The Ancient Egyptian goddess Hatmehit from the city of Mendes was depicted as a fish, fish-woman hybrid, or a woman with a fish emblem or crown on her head. She was a goddess of life and protection. Fish, specifically Nile perch, were also held sacred to the Egyptian goddess Neith at her temple at Esna, though she was never depicted in their form.^{[citation needed]}

Amphibians

The Ancient Egyptians worshipped a goddess in the form of a frog, named Heqet. She was a goddess of fertility, both the fertility of the land and the fertility of human reproduction. She was particularly associated with the final stages of the Nile flood, as well as the final stages of human birth. She was portrayed as a divine midwife and was considered the consort of the god Khnum due to their similar roles.

Insects

The dung beetle, or scarab, was an important symbol in Ancient Egyptian religion. The behaviour of the beetle rolling its ball of dung along the ground was likened to the sun god rolling the sun across the sky. As a result, the beetle god Khepri received worship in the city of Heliopolis, the main sanctuary of the sun god Ra. In addition, the birth of young beetles from eggs laid in dung was an important symbol of rebirth, so amulets in the shape of scarabs were often included in tombs.

Another insect (although, technically an arachnid) venerated by the Egyptians was the scorpion. The goddess

Animals are frequently used for the purposes of divination.

A popular North American tradition is Groundhog Day, in which on February 2 each year a groundhog is used to predict whether there will be an early spring.

Notable oracular animals of the modern period include Lady Wonder, Punxsutawney Phil, Maggie the Monkey, Lazdeika the Crab, Paul the Octopus, and Sonny Wool.

Shamanism and animals

Animals were an important aspect of the Shaman religion in Central Asia. Also known as "assistant spirits," "guardian spirits," and "helping spirits," animal spirits are an integral part of a shaman's work. The more animal spirits a shaman had under his control, the more powerful the shaman (Waida, 1983, p. 228-229). When a shaman set out to journey spiritually to the outer world, animals were a key component, assisting him in his work. There were three primary reasons for a shaman to take such a journey: to find a lost soul, to bring an animal spirit to the high gods, or to lead a soul to its new resting place in the underworld. All of these were extremely important to followers of shamanism and animals were extremely important in facilitating the shaman's efforts (Waida, 1983, p. 231).

An example of animal spirits in Shamanism comes from the Yenisei Ostiaks culture. During a healing procedure, a shaman invokes a number of animal spirits to help him. The spirits arrive and enter his body. The shaman is not possessed by these spirits; he is free to expel them at any time (Waida, 1983, p. 223). His body begins to leap all over the place, symbolizing that his soul is rising, leaving the earth and going up to the sky. It is a bird spirit that is lifting him through the atmosphere and he cries for it to take him higher so he can see further. According to Adolf Friedrich, at this point the shaman's essence has, in fact, transformed into the bird spirit that crossed the threshold into his body (Waida, 1983, p. 223). He finally spots what he is looking for, the soul of his ill patient. Still assisting him, the animal spirits carry the shaman to the patient's soul. The shaman retrieves it and returns the soul to its rightful place, healing the patient. Without the presence of animal spirits, the shaman could not have accomplished such a feat (Waida, 1983, p. 231).

In the Inner Eurasian religion, the transformation of a shaman's essence into an animal spirit is referred to as "becoming an animal" (Baldick 2000, p. 167). The importance of animals in this shamanic religion is shown by the capabilities that animals grant to human beings. Without the assistance of animals, humans from Inner Eurasia were not capable of reaching the sky, traveling rapidly throughout the earth, or going beneath the earth's outer crust, all of which were important activities to the culture (Baldick 2000, p. 167). Heaven was not attainable for a person without the assistance of an eagle. Because of the eagle, an animal, the Inner Eurasians believed that they were capable of achieving their after-life and living in the home of their ancestors and Supreme God after their departure from the earth (Baldick 2000, p. 167). Heaven was represented by the people in assemblies of animals, usually grouped in sevens or nines (Baldick 2000, p. 167). When participating in hunting or warfare, Inner Eurasians also took on animal qualities because they believed it would increase their success (Baldick 2000, p. 167). Animals were a central part of this religion (Baldick 2000, p. 167).

Religious and Cultural Representation of Animals

Buddhism

One of the most important sanctions of the

Avoiding the destruction of life can affect aspects beyond a Buddhist's diet, such as travel plans. In order to avoid crushing any living thing, be it plant, insect, or animal, some Buddhist monks do not travel during rainy seasons (Regenstein 1991, p. 236). Originally, shortly after Buddhism was first founded, monks traveled during all seasons, but public opinion changed this. The people protested that so much life was crushed and destroyed when monks traveled during the wet season. As a result, monks were required to seek shelter during this season and abstain from journeys (Chapple 1993, p. 22).

Living creatures, including humans, culminate to form one large, united life force in the Buddhist religion. Buddhists, therefore, believe that to harm another living creature is to, in fact, harm yourself as all life forms are interrelated (

There are some exceptions to ahimsa in Hinduism - mainly dealing with religious rituals to please gods on special occasions and for daily sustenance. While Hindu belief proscribes the slaughter for human pleasure or lavishness ^{[citation needed]}, animal sacrifice has been an accepted ritual in some parts of India (Regenstein 1991, p. 225). An example of such lavishness would be hunting for pleasure, a fur coat made from animal skin, etc. An explanation for this supposed paradox is that a sacrificial animal is not really considered to be an animal, but a symbol. Thus, when the animal is sacrificed, they are sacrificing the symbol and not the animal (Regenstein 1991, p. 226).

Inca Empire

The Inca Empire, the most well-known indigenous group of people in South America, had a strong religious relationship with animals in their environment, believing that they were the gods presenting themselves to the Incas. This was reflected in the form of ceramics such as Huaco and in metalwork such as the "Inca Silver Alpaca".

One Incan animal god is the

Jainism

Jainism includes a lay form that is somewhat less restrictive (Regenstein 1991, p. 231). Basically lay Jains must distinguish between what forms of violence are necessary and unnecessary, but do not have to abstain entirely (Vallely 2002, p. 5). This results in avoiding all forms of hunting, tilling the soil (tilling involved disturbing creatures embedded in the earth), and brewing (brewing involved using living organisms such as yeasts) (Regenstein 1991, p. 231).

Food will never be prepared especially for them. They beg for food from others believing that because the food was prepared for someone else, they are not the cause of violence towards living creatures (Vallely 2002, p. 5).

Lay Jains, who have the financial capacity, will visit animal markets and buy/rescue animals destined for slaughter for the good that it does. (Regenstein 1991, p. 232).

See also

• Animal welfare
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Animism
• Anthrozoology
• Moral status of animals in the ancient world
• Nature worship
• Totemism

Notes