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i am sure that we all come from different parts of the world and have had different cultural and religious believes that have influenced us. I was wondering if any one was aware how much of an influence past ascenstral religions or cultural ideas have had an effect on us today.

from the way we behave in certain social gatherings or celebrations ..ect ect ect.. without being aware of the initial roots and or intend of past religions that it was based on...

so i was wondering if anyone knows anything about their religious and cultural heritage and are ok with it or just dont consider them of any import and have replaced them with modern believe systems..

maybe post a cool pic of your ascenstral religion and kick down some knowledge.

explain which is you favorite, and lay to claim.

http://viriatha.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/quetzalcoatl_by_genzoman.jpg

sacrificied himself for humanity

My ancestral religion is Christianity...I think 1500 years of shaping the country and the deep impact it has had on history qualifies it more than druidism or whatever for that post.

I don't have a cultural or religious heritage. I snag what I want from whatever I want when its convenient. Including fictional religions lol.

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
i am sure that we all come from different parts of the world and have had different cultural and religious believes that have influenced us. I was wondering if any one was aware how much of an influence past ascenstral religions or cultural ideas have had an effect on us today.

from the way we behave in certain social gatherings or celebrations ..ect ect ect.. without being aware of the initial roots and or intend of past religions that it was based on...

so i was wondering if anyone knows anything about their religious and cultural heritage and are ok with it or just dont consider them of any import and have replaced them with modern believe systems..

maybe post a cool pic of your ascenstral religion and kick down some knowledge.

explain which is you favorite, and lay to claim.

http://viriatha.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/quetzalcoatl_by_genzoman.jpg

sacrificied himself for humanity

Is that meant to be Quetzalcoatl?

no just a modern rendition of his symbolism.... i figured it was cool

kulkulcan/quetzalcotl

Originally posted by Grand-Moff-Gav
My ancestral religion is Christianity...I think 1500 years of shaping the country and the deep impact it has had on history qualifies it more than druidism or whatever for that post.

It qualifies it as a cultural influence more than druidism, but not as a religion. That assertion is simply an appeal to authority, or a bandwagon approach to valid claims. More people do it, so it must be right?

...

Also, what's an ancestral religion? A pagan religion? A multi-theistic one? Something my ancestors believed? I don't really have a working definition for it

Originally posted by Digi
It qualifies it as a cultural influence more than druidism, but not as a religion. That assertion is simply an appeal to authority, or a bandwagon approach to valid claims. More people do it, so it must be right?

...

Also, what's an ancestral religion? A pagan religion? A multi-theistic one? Something my ancestors believed? I don't really have a working definition for it

yes, yes, yes, yes, to all of them.. you want an example... my family celebrate day of the dead lighting candles for each family member that has passed on.. all rooted to an aztec tradition.. even the baking of candy bread and a small figurine hidden inside of it..


all because it was believed that the souls could rise on that day and visit families and cause them ill will..or simply wonder and attack ppl so ppl would paint their faces to trick or scare the spirits..ect ect.... their is more to this but it is just an example of how old religions has stuck around in my culture that it is still celebrated..

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
yes, yes, yes, yes, to all of them.. you want an example... my family celebrate day of the dead lighting candles for each family member that has passed on.. all rooted to an aztec tradition.. even the baking of candy bread and a small figurine hidden inside of it..

Obviously you're delusional and deserve to be mocked constantly.

Originally posted by Digi
It qualifies it as a cultural influence more than druidism, but not as a religion. That assertion is simply an appeal to authority, or a bandwagon approach to valid claims. More people do it, so it must be right?

...

Also, what's an ancestral religion? A pagan religion? A multi-theistic one? Something my ancestors believed? I don't really have a working definition for it

How about: a religion practiced by one's ancestors? For Gav Christianity obviously qualifies since it's been part of his culture for a very long time and was likely followed by many of his . . . ancestors.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Obviously you're delusional and deserve to be mocked constantly.


how am i delusional? because i admitted to that my culture celebrate a holiday based on old religious and cultural believes?


its no different then saint patty's day or christmas or halloween .. ect ect..

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
how am i delusional? because i admitted to that my culture celebrate a holiday based on old religious and cultural believes?

Yup.

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
its no different then saint patty's day or christmas or halloween .. ect ect..

Been here around Christmas time?

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Yup.



Been here around Christmas time?


where is here?

Ancestral religions is largely going to be equivalent to saying "Christianity" on this forum. Even among non-Christians, it's overwhelmingly likely that our immediate ancestors practiced Christianity, as we're nearly all Europeans or descendant of European settlers in the US.

no celebrations that are customs to a specific culture? you would think ppl would unknowingly still have some or at least know a little about their heritage..

Well they don't because they're ignorant.

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
no celebrations that are customs to a specific culture? you would think ppl would unknowingly still have some or at least know a little about their heritage..

Originally posted by Ordo
Well they don't because they're ignorant.

Or they do because they know a little about their heritage? Erm...let's see....I eat a traditional Slavic Christmas Eve dinner because my grandpa taught us the recipes, passed down from who knows how long ago.

So is this a religious question then, WS? If it's ancestral religions, an absurd percentage of us will have Christian ancestors. And if it's cultural influences from our families, how is it about religion?

Okay so celebrating the Day of the Dead is pagan, so is Christianity based on pagan beliefs.

because some cultures and or religious assimilate one another so it can be both at times...i was just curious what some family celebrate that is unique and if they know where it came from..

Well, we can go even further...the presence of divine rulers was very popular in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire in the time before Christ. Augustus was considered a deity among many of these peoples, incorporated a lot of the sun imagery that was later attributed to Christ and was resurrected from the dead long before it was written that Christ did. He had the whole star/comet thing in the night sky going on too. A lot of this mythology was taken from Roman and other cultural histories at the time. Everyone was resurrected lol.

Christianity, in its conception and mythology, is nothing really original or unique (with some exceptions). (What is unique is how it was implemented and what happened after.) But this is not surprising or something to shout about. All of our futures are rooted in our pasts. We build one layer of bricks upon another.

Originally posted by Deja~vu
Okay so celebrating the Day of the Dead is pagan, so is Christianity based on pagan beliefs.

Not based on...incorporates.

I think perhaps what Wild Shadow meant by ancestral religions was the religions which perhaps predated Christianity/Islam or the other newer religions such as Bahai(sp).

For example, in Norway it is most likely that the literal ancestral religion would be Christianity- as it is probably the religion followed by most of a person's ancestors going back a few hundred years. However, because it is possible/likely that a contemporary Norwegian is also Christian they would consider the ancestral religion the one that came before the current- in this case Odin/Thor etc.

Which is why people might say that in Scotland Christianity is not the ancestral religion even though it has been the established state religion (de facto and de jure) for centuries- they might rather consider older Pictish, druid pagan religions as they have a more ancient, mystical feel than Christianity.

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
because some cultures and or religious assimilate one another so it can be both at times...i was just curious what some family celebrate that is unique and if they know where it came from..

I see. A decent thread idea, but probably not religion forum material per se.

Originally posted by Digi
I see. A decent thread idea, but probably not religion forum material per se.

It makes a pleasant change from:

JIA: Evolution is wrong.
Ordo: No it isn't.

WS: Creationism is wrong.
Ushomefree: No it isn't.

Times 1000 each.

so no one has a "weird" custom that they celebrate or focus on?
weird foods that are only eaten on a certain day?
or a national holiday that is an old pagan day of celebration..

you guys are no fun here i am wanting to learn more about ppl and cultures and no one is giving any details...

i got another old family custom pretty weird wondering if any one can help track it down and know where it comes from...

my family used to put metal crosses over baby's cribs because they believed that it would protect the baby from bad spirits or keep from being taken by little ppl.. not sure how this idea came about but it was widely believed.. so much so that my family still do it.



you think ppl with catholic roots could have or would have incorporated certain pagan religions of the area to help spread their believes system..

http://www.playbackstl.com/images/stories/paneldiscussion/0408/thoragesofthunderpreview5.jpg

http://students.ou.edu/H/Melissa.A.Harper-1/Leprechaun.jpg


http://graceofthenorth.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/lucky.jpg

so are you saying that leprechauns are responsible?

Originally posted by Wild Shadow
so are you saying that leprechauns are responsible?

...Yes. For everything.

This guy is responsible for all of my problems, and probably your too! (He is omnipresent.)