Religion is an integral part of human history, and contrary to the statements of many ideologues of atheism, religious beliefs are far from a relic of the past. They largely shape modern reality and influence the course of history. We will talk about what religious belief is, how it arose and how it developed in the world, and in particular among the Slavs, in this article.
Dawn of civilization
It is not known for certain where and when for the first time representatives of ancient mankind manifested a religious feeling. Archaeological finds, while shedding some light on this question, nevertheless leave many mysteries behind them. Attempts to find answers to them led to the fact that several schools were formed in the religious studies community that postulated certain views.
Mythological school
For example,the mythological school, once of great weight, claimed that the ancient savages, not knowing the true causes of natural phenomena, began to deify certain phenomena, such as the sun, moon, wind, and so on. Over time, however, scientists have come to the conclusion that this view presents an extremely simplified and generally incorrect picture. Explaining the emergence of religious beliefs from this position is now considered bad form and ignorance.
Alternative views
The mythological school has been replaced by many others that cling to various aspects of human life in their attempts to find answers. Someone proceeds from the fact that religion was a consequence of the development of agriculture and crafts. Others try to find an answer to the question of how the religious beliefs of primitive people appeared through psychological functions. Some are looking for an answer in myths, the second - in ancient artifacts, and others - in the human psyche and DNA. But as yet there is no unified theory that could explain what religious belief is. That's how complex this phenomenon is. It is only known for certain that religion appeared before humanity itself remembers. There is irrefutable evidence that at least thirty thousand years ago the tribes that inhabited Europe and Asia had fairly developed cults.
Great Mother
Echoes of the cult remain in almost all religions, even in the monotheistic ones of the Abrahamic persuasionGreat mother. The spirituality of this goddess is considered the most ancient in the world, as evidenced by the numerous vocative, that is, prayer statuettes found in abundance in different places. Their age is thousands of years, in some cases we are talking about tens of thousands of years.
Today we are accustomed to the fact that according to the religious ideas of most creeds, God is at the head of the world. But the religious beliefs of primitive people were focused on the worship of the female divinity, personifying all nature, which gives birth to and absorbs back everything generated. In general, the archetype of the Great Mother is quite complex, since it includes both the earth and the underworld, as well as the moon. Probably, all other goddesses in various pagan pantheons were the result of the development and differentiation of a single image of the mother goddess. Obviously, such a high role played by the figure of the divine woman is associated with the matriarchal structure of the ancient tribal communities leading a nomadic lifestyle.
The emergence of patriarchal cults
The oldest religious beliefs, as we have already found out, were matriarchal in nature. Gradually, however, they began to fade away, giving way to a male deity. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the tribes began to switch to a settled way of life, because of which private property appeared, agriculture, trade, and the economy began to develop. As a result, the role of a man has increased - a warrior, a protector, a breadwinner. The role of a woman, on the contrary, began to recedeto the background. So the figure of a male deity came out on top.
What is a religious belief based on the worship of God? It is worth saying that the supremacy of the god did not abolish the worship of the goddess. On the contrary, they began to be thought of as a single married couple, which gives birth to the whole world and people. Since men began to play the dominant role in human families at that time, the god began to dominate the goddess, but not replace her. This divine syzygy began to have offspring who become gods, in charge of certain areas of human life and the life of the world as a whole. The mythologies of all peoples tell about this in one form or another.
The Emergence of Monotheism
In some cultures, the role of a man has become so dominant over the female role that a significant upheaval has taken place in their creed - the goddess has completely lost her identity, her face. This is how monotheism was born. What is a religious belief based on the worship of a single god? This is a creed that insists that there is only one god who transcends all and rises above all. The rest, in comparison with him, are not gods, but something like service spirits. They are not worthy of worship. However, monotheists most often simply deny the existence of any deities other than a single creator. Unbalanced by the spirituality of the goddess, the monotheistic cult was expressed in various unpleasant psychological costs. Therefore, they began to balance it, introducing some feminineelements like the Divinity and the Holy Spirit in Judaism - the most successful attempt to create a monotheistic cult. As for modern Christianity, this balance is achieved thanks to the figure of the Virgin Mary, who is revered in no way less, if not more, than God himself.
Religious beliefs of the Slavs
Originally, the beliefs of the Slavs were pagan and came from a common Proto-Indo-European source. They included many gods and goddesses and were patriarchal in nature, that is, they were headed by a male god. Then, however, at the suggestion of Prince Vladimir, the East Slavic tribes began to actively become Christianized, as a result of which, today, Eastern Orthodoxy is considered the traditional religion of Russia. As for the Western Slavs, they, being pagans, also underwent Christianization at different times. However, they were more influenced by Western Roman Catholicism than Greek orthodoxy.
