Reflection: Conceptions of Supernatural

Reflection: Conceptions of Supernatural
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Reflection: Conceptions of Supernatural
The section “Conception of Supernatural” expounds on the elusive nature of the early civilization’s view of the supernatural (Trigger, 2003). Paying particular attention to the most popular of ancient civilizations: Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Yoruba, Andes, ancient Mexicans, and the Aztec, the author draws some interesting revelations on their relationship with the supernatural. A common phenomenon among the earlier civilizations is the idea that the supernaturals most often manifest themselves in human nature, with attributes of some other animals (Trigger, 2003). Others believed in the manifestation of the supernatural in the form of natural phenomena such as trees, stars, rocks among other inanimate things (Trigger, 2003). Ancient Egypt, which is one of the most regarded of the ancient civilizations had their deities communicate with their subjects in the form of dreams, visions, and spirit possession, which were common phenomena among most of the ancient civilizations. The priests or the officials of the cults are portrayed as the core targets for the manifestation of deities in ancient civilization, and they were mainly tasked with making sacrifices and offerings to the deities in cult premises or the temple.
Although both monotheism and polytheism were common among the ancient civilizations, monotheism seemed to take prevalence, with only the Mesopotamians and the early Mexicans depicting noticeable elements of polytheism. Trigger (2003) went ahead to portray some of the morals of the ancient civilizations’ deities. Owing to the prevalence of humans in the conceptualization of ancient deities, the morality of these supernaturals replicates those of humans in society, both for the morally des...