mentored1
May 19th 2006, 08:56 PM
Hail and Well Met...
It seems in some sense that many of the "ancient" gods and goddesses were tied to astronomical or astrological ideas (when the two "sciences" were more intertwined).
There is much to be said for the correlation of the religions and mythology of polytheistic cultures and their fascination and preoccupation with celestial mechanics. What is expressed in terms of number today seems to have been expressed as story then.
When we hear of the condemnation of worshipping other "gods" are we hearing of a condemnation of venerating the stars? Was there, in monotheism perhaps more so, a desire to separate man's worship of the heavens and direct to a more esoteric entity?
Imagine understanding the stars and their apparent motion as the great drama of the gods. You have something solid to tie the stories to, a mythological view of the cosmos. The sun-god in his fiery chariot racing across the sky can be, in a sense, observed. Would this have strengthened your belief in the divine dramas?
When a system arose that dispensed with this tie to the observable heavens and demanded belief in something that could not be physically correlated it would have been, methinks, a radical paradigm shift.
What affect, if any, did this have on us in the long term? When the object of revelation is removed afar did it have an effect on our desire to study the former "star gods" through a telescope - or was it the other way around?
Take care
It seems in some sense that many of the "ancient" gods and goddesses were tied to astronomical or astrological ideas (when the two "sciences" were more intertwined).
There is much to be said for the correlation of the religions and mythology of polytheistic cultures and their fascination and preoccupation with celestial mechanics. What is expressed in terms of number today seems to have been expressed as story then.
When we hear of the condemnation of worshipping other "gods" are we hearing of a condemnation of venerating the stars? Was there, in monotheism perhaps more so, a desire to separate man's worship of the heavens and direct to a more esoteric entity?
Imagine understanding the stars and their apparent motion as the great drama of the gods. You have something solid to tie the stories to, a mythological view of the cosmos. The sun-god in his fiery chariot racing across the sky can be, in a sense, observed. Would this have strengthened your belief in the divine dramas?
When a system arose that dispensed with this tie to the observable heavens and demanded belief in something that could not be physically correlated it would have been, methinks, a radical paradigm shift.
What affect, if any, did this have on us in the long term? When the object of revelation is removed afar did it have an effect on our desire to study the former "star gods" through a telescope - or was it the other way around?
Take care