Paper 85 Overview: The Origins of Worship

Primitive religion began from human fears and evolved through illusions, not from moral or spiritual influences. Early worship was focused on things people could see in nature before their minds could understand complex ideas about the afterlife.

As religion evolved beyond nature worship, it developed roots in spirit but was still shaped by society. Humans have worshiped almost everything on earth including natural forces, animals, other humans, and even themselves because they did not understand the powers they observed.

Religion started in a biological way through natural evolution, separate from moral connections and spiritual influences. Higher animals have fears but no illusions, so they don't have religion, while humans created primitive religions from their fears and illusions.

Early worship appeared long before humans could form complex ideas about current and future life that we now call religion. Early religion was based on simple thinking and on what people experienced around them. The objects they worshiped were things from nature that were nearby or seemed important to early people.

The first object worshiped by evolving humans was a stone. Today, some people in southern and northern India still worship stones. Stones impressed early humans because they would suddenly appear in fields, and some stones resembled animals or human faces.

The most impressive stones were meteors, which primitive humans saw as flaming spirits coming to earth. All ancient tribes had sacred stones, and many modern people still show respect for certain types of stones like jewels. Hills were worshiped after stones, especially large stone formations.

Plants were first feared and then worshiped because of the intoxicating drinks made from them. Early humans believed that becoming drunk was somehow divine and that there was something special about this experience.

Tree worship is among the oldest religious groups. Early marriages were held under trees, and women who wanted children would sometimes hug oak trees. Many plants and trees were respected for their real or imagined healing powers because primitive people believed that chemical effects came from supernatural forces.

Primitive humans had a special connection with higher animals because their ancestors had lived with them and even mated with them. In southern Asia, people believed that human souls returned to earth as animals, which came from the earlier practice of worshiping animals.

Early humans respected animals for their power and cleverness. They thought that animals' keen sense of smell and good eyesight showed spirit guidance. Every race has worshiped some animal at some point, including creatures that were thought to be half-human and half-animal, like centaurs and mermaids.

Mankind has worshiped earth, air, water, and fire. Early races honored springs and worshiped rivers, and even today in Mongolia, there is an influential river cult. Baptism became a religious ceremony in Babylon, and the Greeks practiced yearly ritual baths.

Moving waters greatly impressed simple minds with beliefs in spirit life and supernatural power. Many things have triggered religious responses in different peoples throughout history. A rainbow is still worshiped by hill tribes in India, and in both India and Africa, the rainbow is thought to be a giant celestial snake.

The worship of rocks, hills, trees, and animals naturally developed into the worship of the sun, moon, and stars. In India and elsewhere, stars were seen as the glorified souls of great men who had died. The Chaldean star worshipers considered themselves the children of the sky father and earth mother.

Moon worship came before sun worship. Moon worship was strongest during the hunting era, while sun worship became the main religious ceremony during the farming ages. Sun worship first took strong root in India and lasted longest there, while in Persia, it led to the later Mithraic cult.

After worshiping everything else on earth and in the sky, humans did not hesitate to honor themselves with such adoration. Simple-minded primitive people did not make clear distinctions between animals, humans, and gods.

Early humans regarded unusual persons as superhuman and feared them with reverence. Even having twins was seen as either very lucky or unlucky. People with mental disorders were often worshiped by normal people who believed gods lived inside them. Priests, kings, and prophets were worshiped as people inspired by gods.

Nature worship seems to have developed naturally in the minds of primitive men and women, and it did. But at the same time, the sixth adjutant spirit was working in these primitive minds, directing this phase of human evolution. This spirit constantly encouraged the worship urge in humans, no matter how primitive it first appeared.

The spirit of worship gave clear origin to the human desire to worship, even though animal fear motivated how worship was expressed and early practice focused on nature objects. When the worship urge is guided by wisdom—thoughtful and experience-based thinking—it begins to develop into real religion. When the seventh adjutant spirit, the spirit of wisdom, effectively ministers, then in worship humans begin to turn away from nature to the God of nature and the eternal Creator.