The Origins Of Religion

"One of the most important realizations that any spiritual seeker can come to is that there are many valid ways to seek to explain the universal truth of God."

There would certainly be less destruction in the world if people of different beliefs spent at least some of their time trying to establish connections with one another instead of focusing on their differences. An integral aspect of religion is surely spirituality, love and understanding not fear, hate and ignorance.

By allowing some knowledge and analysis of other people's faiths it then becomes possible to see connections with your own, which might in turn help to unite people from around the world. The Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran, for instance, includes stories and characters from the Hebrew Old Testament, which in turn has its roots in the ancient religions of Egypt, Babylon, Mesopotamia, Sumeria, and so on in a long, rich bloodline.

As you travel further back into man's distant past, you would see the elemental forces of nature, such as storms, thunder, lightening and rain, being worshipped by people who lived close to the land and relied on the natural world to provide everything they needed for survival and pleasure.

The Sun, Moon and stars have always had a powerful hold on the collective human imagination and occupied a major place in most early religions. The Sun was a god who brought energy, light, warmth and made the crops grow each year, while the Moon brought light to the dark night and was spiritual and mysterious. To the Inca people gold was the sweat of the Sun and silver the tears of the Moon.

Today, most of the stars and constellations we see in the night sky still carry the name of the various mythological gods and goddesses who existed in man's distant and shared past.