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Religions

Ancient Origins articles related to Religions, we investigate the creation beliefs of the major world religions and then address the controversies surrounding the account.

The all-seeing Eye of Providence symbol 	Source: markus dehlzeit / Adobe stock

What’s the Truth Behind the All-Seeing Eye of Providence?

The Eye of Providence (known also as the all-seeing eye of God) is a well-known and popular symbol. This symbol has been used for centuries in both religious and secular contexts, and therefore its...
Depiction of a Christmas ghost standing under the moonlight in the snow. Source: Bashkatov / Adobe Stock

Why Do Christmas Ghost Stories Have Such Enduring Appeal?

Our fascination with ghostly tales around Christmas time goes back thousands of years and is rooted in ancient celebrations of the winter solstice. In the depths of winter, pagan traditions included...
St Augustine of Canterbury preaches to Aethelberht of Kent during Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England 	Photo source: James William Edmund Doyle / Public domain

How Anglo-Saxon England Made the Radical Change to Christianity

The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England began towards the end of the 6 th century AD, and by the end of the succeeding century, all the kings of Anglo-Saxon England were Christian, at least...
Longinus piercing Christ’s side with the Holy Lance    Source: Gerrit De La Vallé / Public domain

Piercing the Veil: Uncovering the Secrets of The Holy Lance

Christianity, as one of the world’s most prominent and widely practiced religions, brings along a whole string of myths, stories, historical occurrences, and relics. From saints and their remains, to...
Nephilim - Giants - Sons of God And Daughters Of Man

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Who were the nephilim ? The word nephilim appears twice in the Old Testament of the Bible. They are first mentioned in chapter 6 of the book of Genesis and then again in Number 13:33. But their brief...
The White Lotus Society was a political, religious, and revolutionary movement that that rebelled against the government in imperial China.

The White Lotus Secret Society and the Demise of Mongol Rule in China

The White Lotus Society / Sect (written in Chinese as 白莲教, and Romanized as ‘Bai Lian Jiao’) was a millenarian movement that existed in imperial China. As a religious movement, the teachings of the...
Egyptian mummy. Credit: markrhhiggins / Adobe Stock

Nine Parts of the Human Soul According to the Ancient Egyptians

The idea of the human soul has fascinated humankind for thousands of years. Cultures around the world have sought to explain the soul or spirit in a wide and fascinating variety of ways. The soul is...
cosmic ocean, primeval waters, creation, religion, mythology, spiritual, universe, primordial waters Facebook: Primeval water is a consistent concept across ancient cultures and played a critical,

Cosmic Oceans: The Primordial Waters of Ancient Creation Myths

Almost without exception, mythological and folkloric traditions around the ancient world were concerned with the matter of deep time and the earth’s creation. While creation myths exhibit great...
Ezekiel’s vision ‘The Valley of Dry Bones”.      Source: loswl / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Resurrecting the Ancient Israelites From the Valley of Dry Bones

The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones prophecy is one of the most powerful prophecies of the prophet Ezekiel . In this vision, Ezekiel finds himself in a valley full of dry human bones of Israelite...
Queen Dido, founder of Carthage and the Punic pantheon. Source: Eloquence / Public Domain.

Gods of Carthage and The Punic Power House of Baal Hammon and Tanit

According to tradition, the city of Carthage was founded in 814 BC by the legendary Queen Dido . The founder of this city was originally a princess from the Phoenician city of Tyre. She was, however...
Creation. Source: AGPhotography / Adobe Stock.

How the Universe Came to Be: The Bible and Science Finally in Accord?

For most of our history, scientists have primarily believed that the universe is eternal and unchanging. Aristotle in the fourth century BC asserted that the world is without beginning or end. But...
Flower of Life.

What Ancient Secrets Lie Within the Flower of Life?

The Flower of Life is a name for a geometrical figure composed of seven or more evenly-spaced, overlapping circles. This figure, used as a decorative motif since ancient times, forms a flower-like...
Beltane Fire Festival Celebrations.

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

As more and more people describe themselves as ‘spiritual’ rather than religious, experts expect eco-friendly pagan movements will continue to grow. Already there are perhaps a million pagans in the...
Akhenaten, relief of the pylons of the house of Panehsy, Chief Servitor of the Aten. It depicts Akhenaten making offerings to the Aten.

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Amenhotep IV, also known as the Pharaoh Akhenaten, was destined to be remembered for his attempt at a religious conversion of ancient Egypt; one that saw the old gods put aside and replaced by a...
Sumerian warriors

The Sumerian Seven: The Top-Ranking Gods in the Sumerian Pantheon

The Sumerian religion was polytheistic in nature, and the Sumerians worshipped a great number of deities. These deities were anthropomorphic beings, and were meant to represent the natural forces of...
Heavens Gates Opening. Source: Alswart / Adobe.

What and Where is Heaven? The Answers Are at the Heart of the Easter Story

My pious Baptist grandmother once shockingly confessed, at the ripe old age of 93, that she didn’t want to go to heaven. “Why,” we asked? “Well, I think it will be rather boring just sitting around...
Concubine

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

In many ancient cultures and religious traditions, rulers and elite members of society not only had wives, they also had concubines. Concubines normally served a dual purpose – to increase a man’s...
Osiris, Egyptian God of the Underworld

The Outstanding Story of Osiris: His Myth, Symbols, and Significance in Ancient Egypt

Osiris, the green-skinned god of the underworld, lord of the afterlife and judge of the dead, is one of the best-known gods from ancient Egypt. His story provided his followers with reassurance for...
Sacrifices of Cain and Abel. Fresco from Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum, Rome.

Dwelling in the Land of Nod – Was it a Real City?

The Land of Nod is not just a place we go to catch a few winks but was mentioned in Genesis as the place where Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, was cast away after murdering his brother Abel...
‘Indian Barbers Saharanpore’ by Edwin Lord Weeks. Scientists have recently found just how diverse both Indian and Jewish genes really are.

Unity in Diversity: Studies Reveal Surprising Stories for the Genes of Ancient Hindus and Jews

New research using ancient DNA is rewriting the genetic history of two ancient peoples; the Hindus and the Jews - and it shows that their two religious civilizations are the result of multiple...
 A journey from London to Persepolis; including wanderings in Daghestan, Georgia, Armenia., by USSHER, John. Source:  (British Library / Public Domain)

Who Are the Yazidis and Why Have They Been Continually Persecuted?

The Yazidis (also spelled as Yezidis) are a religious minority found primarily in northern Iraq. In recent years, the Yazidis have received the attention of the international media as a result of...
Three different Jewish people giving Selichot prayers at the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

Can Jewish People be a Nation, and a Religion, and a Race?

Although Jewish people usually, but not always, share a common gene pool, they are not a race because any non-Jew who converts to Judaism will be recognized as being Jewish by all those rabbis who...
Shinto painting from manuscript of Todaiji, Nara, Japan

Purification as the Core of the Ancient Shinto Faith

A ritual based religion, Shintoism is defined as "the way of the gods" in Japan, from the Chinese Shendao. It is the indigenous religion of the country, and survives today as the state religion,...
Asherah - Veiled Mother of the World

Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife

Those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition may be surprised to learn that the god we were told was singularly sacred once had a wife. How do we know? Asherah figures prominently as the wife of El—...

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