At 03:20 PM 3/30/01 -0500, Stacie Tolen wrote:
>>Some easy examples are how the agricultural/pastural ones emphasize
>>gods/goddesses/rituals/etc. based on their need for good weather, good
>>harvests, protection of their land.  Hunter/gatherers are often more
>>animistic, needing, I think, to be more aware of how intimately connected
>>with their ecosystem they have to be to survive.  And we're still seeing
>>the effects of nomadic belief systems in the middle east...
>>
>
>But many H/Gs had rituals regarding the hunt. Even in Greek mythology, there
>is a goddess of the hunt (Diana).

The greeks were "civilised"--I wouldn't call them H/G.

A better example would be some of the celtic tribes, particulary the first
wave of them.

>Probably much is lost when we try and translate aspects of others' cultures
>into "our own" terms. If you know many Native Americans, they generally
>avoid discussing their spiritual issues with non-Indians due to what they
>regard as gross misinterpretations and downright stealing by New Ageans.
>Christianity as an organized religion today also has a history of such
>translation problems. The farther it moved west, the more was lost through
>translations. If you want the most accurate interpretation of the Bible
>(technically), you'll have to learn to read Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
>Undertstand the language and culture. Most people don't understand that much
>is lost when you translate a non-Romance language into any Romance language.
>Most American schools only teach Romance languages in the foreign language
>program. A lot of Americans think that for every English word, there's an
>equal Arabic, or Mohawk, or Japanese word.

Agreed.  Although I've given up trying to explain that to folks around here
who are sure their bible was written in archaic English!

>Consider how apalled the Christians were by the ancient tradition of Day of
>The Dead http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rjsalvad/scmfaq/muertos.html
>When the Euros first encountered the Incas, to them it seemed grisly that
>these people were so obsessed with death, they had skull images painted
>everywhere. Actually to the Incas, the skull symbolized life, not a
>preoccupation with death. Consider also that when scientists discovered the
>voluptuous statue Venus of Willendorf, they had the impression of an ancient
>culture obsessed with sex. This is what I mean by "translating" a culture.
>
>Someone here has a sig that says "In a cat's eyes, all things belong to
>cats". Beauty isn't the only thing that's in the eye of the beholder.

Again, I agree...  I guess I'm not exactly sure about what you're aiming
at... you started out "but" which implied an alternate POV... what you've
said is not incompatible, so I must've missed something?

>Stacie
>(but you all have pig faces! - remember that TZ episode? and the SNL spoof?)

I'm ashamed to admit that doesn't ring a bell!  My memory must be going :)

Dianne