All of my comments here are about things that really pre-date Darwin’s
theory of evolution by natural selection. I am not here to discuss that, as it
seems to me to be as factually evident as plate tectonics. I can’t see it
happening, but in the right conditions it can be measured and proven to
function as predicted. What I am talking about is the relationship between
people and animals, so save any Darwin comments for another blog, please.
Hunter-gatherers and Animals Had Much in Common
Animals were once a closer part of our world. We were not separate from
them. We worshiped or propitiated their spirits, especially of those we killed
for food, as with the various bear fetishes existing in many early human
communities. This was still actively practiced by the Ainu people in Japan
until very recently; a line of tradition going back perhaps 10,000 years or
more. Native American and Canadian peoples still maintain some rituals
harkening back to these earlier spiritualistic symbiotic relationships between
humans and animals. Sadly, these seem to have degenerated into mere
cultural exercises rather than remaining part of a vibrant religious tradition
deeply impacting their social ethos.
Perhaps it was partly the loss of freedom through domestication that
resulted in the downgrading of animals from the human perspective. If the
animal was caged, tied or herded, we did not depend on some natural force
to bring it to us to be killed and eaten. We were doing that work ourselves.
Animals were still seen as important, but they appear to have lost the
equivalency they may have had before in the human consciousness when
they ran free upon the plains or in the forests. For example, none of the
mystery cults that flourished in the Roman and Greek worlds focused on
animal life, other than the bull cult of Mithras. (If you know of others, please
let me know.) Most were focused on the miracle of agriculture, including
wine, rather than the majesty of the animal.
My Brother the Ox, on the Wheel of Life
P a g e | 103