Dear List,
Seeing the postings on 'saintly gardeners', I was reminded that in a couple
of works I have read, saints and saints cults are interpreted as a sort of
Christian version of or disguise for pagan ancestor worship. That is not to
say that the saints themselves were regarded as ancestors, but that they
fulfilled the same role as the ancestors had in the past, as a protective
force that could be relied upon to look after you and your family, if they
were treated and revered in the right way.
It always seemed strange to me that people converting to Christianity could
accept and understand the concept of a number of holy men and women with
supernatural abilities, while at the same time being told that it was
totally wrong to have more than one god. Transferring some of the beliefs
connected with ancestors, who everybody knew were people, to the saints,
seemed to me a sensible explanation of how they understood the concept of
saints, as well as filling what must have been a void in their belief: being
able to communicate with people 'on the other side', so to speak.
If anyone has any comments, I would be very interested to know.
Ingegerd H.
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|