Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions": Conclusion

This is a six part series of short postings of a longer article viewable at this link: Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions".  These shorter periodic postings may make reviewing the article more time efficient for you.

The Ainu had no written language. Their stories were orally conveyed from generation to generation over thousands of years. Word of mouth was the only way in which their traditions were perpetuated. 

They believed conversations between deities sounded like music.  Therefore their stories were sung in epic poems called Yukar. Elderly women sang these stories to their grandchildren and thereby perpetuated the tradition of appreciation to, respect for, and admiration of the deities and of Nature. 

For example, in their traditional lifestyle the Ainu gathered firewood by collecting dead tree trunks and dry twigs but seldom acquired them by cutting down living trees. They respected the river-god and never drained dirty or contaminated water into a river or washed in a river; for all water courses were considered sacred and therefore had to be kept pristine.

Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions": Humanity, the Heart of Reverence

This is a six part series of short postings of a longer article viewable at this link: Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions".  These shorter periodic postings may make reviewing the article more time efficient for you.

When an Ainu house was built, the goddess of fire was invited to dwell in it through the performance of a special ritual. This goddess was an intermediary between humans and some of the deities. Traditional Ainu houses are therefore regarded as temples. A fire-hole was made in the center of the house to warm the house and to cook food. Once the ritual of fire ignition had been performed, the goddess of the fire was believed to have entered and taken residence in the fire-hole and the fire had to be kept alive from then on.  The recently arrived goddess of the fire was called abekakemat meaning “the lady of fire,” and after a period of a day or two, she was called abefuchi meaning “the grandmother of fire.”

Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions": A Glimpse into Ainu Beliefs

This is a six part series of short postings of a longer article viewable at this link: Insights to Humanity's "Nature Religions".  These shorter periodic postings may make reviewing the article more time efficient for you.

Let me now introduce you to the traditional beliefs of the Ainu people that I believe may be quite similar to those of the ancient peoples around the world. 

The Ainu classified all souls into three categories.  The first consists of the souls of deities.  The Ainu concept of deities was different from that of most other forms of animism. Deities in this first group were the souls of creatures having powers and abilities exceeding those of humans, e.g. owls typically have far better night vision than humans; bears have far greater strength than humans; wolves have an endurance, sense of smell, and cunning far exceeding that of humans; killer whales and sea lions operate with ease and ferocity in a watery realm that humans seldom enter; and snakes, though much smaller than humans, still possess poisons that can easily kill. The souls of such creatures were all regarded as deities who wore their animal bodies only temporarily and gave them up to Ainu hunters when they were ready to enter the hereafter and therefore allowed themselves to be successfully hunted.