Chapter 9 - Summary The Worlds Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions PDF

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A mandatory assignment unavailable on Shmoop, this is a summary of Chapter 9 from "The Worlds Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions" by Huston Smith...

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Dr. Oughton, World Religions Chapter 9 Summary The Primal Religions 

Primal religions existed before the major religions today o Alternatively called tribal because its groupings were invariably small o Oral because writing was unknown to them o Mode of religiosity continues in Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Siberia, and among the Indians of North and South America o Numbers are diminishing

The Australian Experience 

Australia is the only continent that did not undergo the Neolithic experience

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The world that the aborigines ordinarily experience is measured out by time o Seasons cycle and generations come and go

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Aboriginal religion does not focus on worship o Focuses on identification

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The entire aboriginal religion is ritual

Orality, Place, and Time 

Literacy is unknown to primal religions

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Writing does not leave the virtues of orality intact o In important ways, writing undercuts these virtues

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“Each member of the tribe becomes its walking library”

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A disadvantage of writing is its ability to proliferate to the point that people get lost in its “endless corridors”

o Secondary material blurs what is important 

“Place is not space”

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In contrast to the historical religions of the West, primal religions give the appearance of looking toward the past o Primal time is neither linear nor cyclic o Primal time is “atemporal”

The Primal World 

“The web of tribal relationships sustains them psychologically and energizes every aspect of their life”

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Tribe is embedded in nature

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Through principle of totemism, primal people disregard altogether the division between animals and humans o Animals and birds are frequently referred to as “peoples”

The Symbolic Mind 

Symbolist mentality is the most important single feature of living primal spirituality o Symbolist vision sees the things of the world as transparent to their divine source

Conclusion 

Time appears to be on the side of historical religions

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“[Primal peoples] are not backward; they are different. They are not impaired; they are apart”

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“Every people, ourselves not excepted, needs to think well of its origins”...