Transcript Religious Symbols

Introduction
 Most animals have ways of communicating
 Human communication is the most complex
 We use symbols to discuss abstract topics or ideas
 Future events, supernatural, emotions, etc.
 Define what a symbol is and give examples…
What is a Symbol?
 Something that stands for something else
 Everyone in community has to agree to its meaning
 Bald eagle = America
 Skull and crossbones = poison or danger
 Characteristics:
 Displacement: symbols that refer to remote things
 Arbitrary: symbols that have no direct connection to
what they symbolize
 Openness: can create new symbols
 Symbols can be physical items, songs, sounds,
movement, etc.
Religious Symbols
 Many religious ceremonies center on symbols
 Statues
 Masks to impersonate gods
 Words, chants
 Music and dance
Video
 Watch the following video on a Roman sarcophagus
and list symbolism discussed
 https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-arthistory/ancient-mediterranean-AP/AP-ancientrome/v/battle-of-the-romans-and-barbarians-ludovisi-battle-sarcophagus---c--250-260-c-e
More Practice
 Try to identify the religious symbols
Judaism
Christianity
(St. Peter’s Cross)
Shinto
Buddhism
Buddhism
Islam
Rastafarianism
Zoroastrianism
Islam
Hinduism
Wicca
Christianity
(from Galatians)
 Shinto: spiritual practice of ancient Japan (based on
ancestral spirits)
 Zoroastrianism: ancient Iranian religion with dual aspects:
Illuminating Wisdom and Destructive Spirit
 Rastafarianism: Ethiopian sect of Christianity
 Wicca: Modern witchcraft and pagan rituals; connection to
Mother Earth
Religious Symbols
 What symbol is this?
 What does it mean to
you?
Religious Symbols
 It is actually an ancient
symbol from Sanskrit
meaning “good” “to
exist”
 Used in Buddhism and
Hinduism
 Used in Navaho art to
represent creation myth
of Whirling Log
 How did the Nazis change
and take control of this
symbol?
Religious Symbols
 What is this symbol?
 What does it mean to
you?
Religious Symbols
 It is actually a pagan
symbol representing
the sacred fruit of the
apple
 Is used to represent the
five books of the Torah
(Pentateuch)
 Did not represent evil
until Witchcraze
 Wiccans use it to
represent earth, air,
fire, water, and spirit
Religious Symbols
 Now linked to Satanic
worship
 See the difference?
Religious Symbols
 Christian symbols also have many varieties
 The cross was not accepted for many centuries
 Now linked to different denominations
Religious Symbols
 Roman Catholic
 Body of Christ
 Protestant
 No body of Christ (he is
risen)
 Methodist
 2 flames: Christ and
Holy Spirit
 Orthodox
 3 bars: inscription,
arms, footrest
Religious Symbols
 The most important early Christian symbol was the
fish
 Apostles are “fishers of men”
 Acrostic of Greek work icthus (“Jesus Christ of God the
Son and Savior”)
 Password for early persecuted Christians
Video: Swastika
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_reuMKpgow
Color as a Symbol
 Connects to culture and religious beliefs
 What color is associated with weddings in US?
Funerals?
 In China, the bride wears red
Meaning of Color
 English has eleven basic color terms: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, pink, black,
white, and grey
 We define colors narrowly and have specialized
terms
 Blue  turquoise, navy, teal, sky, etc.
 Industrialized societies have more basic color terms
than languages in less complex societies
 Why?
Meaning of Color
 Color is a symbol!
 What does “blue” mean?
Is it the same as “azule”?
Or as “navy?”
 It depends on context
 Navaho think turquoise is
the ideal blue color
 It has religious
significance and is
important in their
culture
Meaning of Color
 The Yoruba of Nigeria
have only three color
terms
 Funfun ~ white, silver,
gray
 Pupa ~ red, pink,
orange, deep yellow
 Dudu ~ black, blue,
purple, green, brown,
red-brown, dark gray
Yoruba beaded artwork
Meaning of Color
 In English, colors can be
emotions:
 What are the emotions
for:




Red
Green
Yellow
Blue
Use of Time and Space
 Symbols are used to create sacred realities
 Supernatural
 Sacred space
 Divisions of time
Use of Time and Space
 Idea of time is related to culture
 People make recurring units of time that are based
on observable events (sun, moon)
 We then divide these into phases
 But we also make units that are completely arbitrary
 Time is connected to rituals and religious ceremonies
Time and Space
 Mayan:
 Calendar based on sun
(365 days) but 18 months
of 20 days and one month
of 5 days
 Second calendar (260
days) that ran
simultaneously
 18,980 combinations of
days
 52 years to go through all
combinations
 Used to predict events
(remember end of the
world in 2012?)
Time and Rituals
 Many rituals performed
in cycles: periodic
rituals
 Ex. Ramadan is 9th
months of Islamic
calendar
 Usually celebrate or
commemorate
important event
 When Qur’an was sent
down from heaven to
Mohammad
 Lunar calendar
 Means date of
Ramadan is different
each year
Time and Rituals
 Jewish high holy days
 Lunar calendar
 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish
New Year) until Yom
Kippur (Day of
Atonement)
 A 13th month is added
sometimes to keep
dates from varying too
much
 Shiva is the time after a
person dies
 Family or friends stay
with the body and
mourn/pray
 Similar to a wake in
Christian ritual
Music and Dance
 These play special roles in religious rituals
 A lot of variation
 Tell stories or myths through music and movement
Music
 Very important part of ritual
 Set the mood or tone
 (think organ playing at funeral)
 Tell religious stories
 important in oral traditions
 Helps with memorization
 Way for humans to communicate with gods
Music
 Since music is connected to culture, musical meaning
is not universal
 Early missionaries found that indigenous people did
not connect to their hymns and Westerners often do
not connect to indigenous music
 Now people fuse traditional music with
contemporary music in a way called syncretism
Music in Ritual
 Four types of instruments
 Idiophones
 Shaken, struck, or rubbed (rattles, marimbas,
xylophones)
 Membranophones
 Taut skin (drums)
 Cordophones
 Plucked or strummed (harp, violin)
 Aerophones
 Air blown into or across (pipe)
Music in Ritual
 Music can be used in hunting rituals or in healing
rituals
 Used in initiations
 Membranophones are very important in storytelling
and rituals
 Rhythm is critical
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSlR7HvWxeY
Dance
 Not very common in American rituals
 In other cultures can represent supernatural, tell
stories, show entering another realm, be offerings to
deities
 Dance is a system of patterned movements
 Varies by culture
 Culturally determined meaning
 Spirit can enter the human body to make movement
 Voodoo
 Pentecostal
 Whirling Dirvishes
Assignment
 ICA #2: Making Joyful Noise (with videos)
Videos (dance/music)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaSR6W_JOKc
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw43wqAtQhA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHjFgOfoZ7M