Do animals have gods and goddesses?

[sionnach]

I am sure this may seem and absurd question but I was curious if anyone else has a thought on the subject. It may actually be more of an issue if one sees the gods and goddesses in human form. If your belief symbolic or in and animist or pantheist viewpoint then it may not even be an issue. But if one sees the Gods and Goddesses as having human form and connecting primarily with humans (although there are clearly gods and goddesses connected with animals) do animal such as cats, dolphins, wolves and other animals have their own form of animal gods and goddesses.

(it is late and should have just gone to bed but this thought kept me up)

[thalassa]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Are you saying are their gods that represent those organisms, or that other organisms have their own religion?

[Rae'ya]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

I am sure this may seem and absurd question but I was curious if anyone else has a thought on the subject. It may actually be more of an issue if one sees the gods and goddesses in human form. If your belief symbolic or in and animist or pantheist viewpoint then it may not even be an issue. But if one sees the Gods and Goddesses as having human form and connecting primarily with humans (although there are clearly gods and goddesses connected with animals) do animal such as cats, dolphins, wolves and other animals have their own form of animal gods and goddesses.

(it is late and should have just gone to bed but this thought kept me up)

The closest I've come to answering that question is the overarching 'grandparent' spirit of a species (ie Domestic Cat, Bottle-Nosed Dolphin, Grey Wolf etc). I don't know if animals commune with their 'gods' or have religion, but those entities are the ones I've met who are closest to being what we would conceive of as their gods. I also suspect that if animals had gods and religion, they would possibly worship land spirits and the like.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Having spoken to my friend and mentor, Homer the Bassett Hound, I am assured that all species have a spiritual life. In fact, he regards homo sapiens as peculiarly backward in this respect, although when pressed he refused to say any more, claiming it might upset me.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Hmmm... I'll work on Remmie the Beagle. He tends to get excited and starts babbling.

No point trying Lily Dog. She's neurotic, and she'd have a panic attack.

[anunitu]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Well,my cats from before used to revere me by bowing and they did it so their rear ends were showing,and everyone knows that is a submissive position,or Mooning maybe.

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Also alien probes,just saying aliens are in your cereal box....

[sionnach]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Having spoken to my friend and mentor, Homer the Bassett Hound, I am assured that all species have a spiritual life. In fact, he regards homo sapiens as peculiarly backward in this respect, although when pressed he refused to say any more, claiming it might upset me.

Tell Homer thank you and I personally agree with him.

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Are you saying are their gods that represent those organisms, or that other organisms have their own religion?

Do animals have gods/goddesses that represent those organisms? Is there a cat god/goddess, a Elephant god/goddess, dog or wolf god or goddess. As for their religion that is a much more complex question. I remember in one of Jane Goodall's books she observed certain display patterns of behavior usually performed for other chimpanzees but in some cases the same display patterns occurred in at a site of a waterfall. There were no other chimpanzees to see the display behavior pattern which made her as a simple question, who was the display for. She added a question of could this be early patterns of a religions belief. She also saw cases of a child returning again and again to the site where the mother died with and altered usually very subdued behavioral pattern long after the body was gone. I guess I do not see why gods and goddesses only are for humans or even just as disturbing when I talk with people who can only see one god only and clearly male.

Thank you for taking my question seriously.

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Well,my cats from before used to revere me by bowing and they did it so their rear ends were showing,and everyone knows that is a submissive position,or Mooning maybe.

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Also alien probes,just saying aliens are in your cereal box....

I do not understand the reference of the alien probes. I have no experience with aliens (of a different planet) however would be interested in hearing your experiences with aliens in you cereal box.

[anunitu]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Captin Crunch..need I say more..

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But to be serious,many animals show what might be described as transcendental like aspects as one would expect in a person praying.

[habbalah]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

I always figured that cats thought they were their own gods.

[NeoPlatonic]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Well, a lot of gods have certain favorite animals and/or were commonly displayed as such animals so in theory you could say those were animal gods who happened to receive human worship.

In a more scientific note, Neanderthals were found to make (and bury the deceased with) religious artifacts.

[Munin-Hugin]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

I always figured that cats thought they were their own gods.

Someone once said "Ancient Egyptians once worshiped cats as gods. Even after all these years, cats have never forgotten this." If you've ever been a cat owner, you know full well just how true this is lol.

[habbalah]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Someone once said "Ancient Egyptians once worshiped cats as gods. Even after all these years, cats have never forgotten this." If you've ever been a cat owner, you know full well just how true this is lol.

I have two ungrateful furtubes. I know it's true.

[Medusa]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

I'd like to believe they are atheists because they know better.

[thalassa]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

Do animals have gods/goddesses that represent those organisms? Is there a cat god/goddess, a Elephant god/goddess, dog or wolf god or goddess. As for their religion that is a much more complex question. I remember in one of Jane Goodall's books she observed certain display patterns of behavior usually performed for other chimpanzees but in some cases the same display patterns occurred in at a site of a waterfall. There were no other chimpanzees to see the display behavior pattern which made her as a simple question, who was the display for. She added a question of could this be early patterns of a religions belief. She also saw cases of a child returning again and again to the site where the mother died with and altered usually very subdued behavioral pattern long after the body was gone. I guess I do not see why gods and goddesses only are for humans or even just as disturbing when I talk with people who can only see one god only and clearly male.

Thank you for taking my question seriously.

So, if you are interested in this, I really recommend reading Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved by Matt Rossano.... He spends a good portion of the book talking about ritualistic behaviors as a mechanism for regulating relationships in organisms with a complex social structure--its about kin selection, and how religion may have evolved in humans. Religion is about relationships, specifically the relationships between individuals, between individual and the environment, and individuals and their "supernatural" agents. But ritualistic behavior is not belief in supernatural agents, there are reasons for ritualistic behavior that are purely selection-based; I'll add that I think religion is also selection-based, but I don't think any other species are capable of it at this point in their evolution, because I don't think they've had a need of it. If I am wrong and if organisms do have religion I think it would be reserved to organisms with a high social complexity, complex language, and incredibly complex neurology.

[faye_cat]

Re: Do animals have gods and goddesses?

This is a very interesting question.

In my experience, animals are definitely more attuned to the spiritual than most people. They definitely know what's going on energy wise, and they definitely sense what people can't.

I remember reading a book about cats called "Tailchaser's Song" when I was little, and the author gave them a simple spirituality, for example they would have rituals at sunrise and other noticeable daily ebbs and flows, as well as had a "higher" benevolent being and a "lower" unnatural being. (Man, I really need to reread this book, I can't explain/remember it well). Very good book if you like cats.

I believe that one could argure animals have the capacity to worship, have holy grounds, etc. Whether or not it's entirely conscious, or instinctive, or varies from individuals of the same species is debatable.

I'm not too sure if they would have concrete pantheons/beings in place though.